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Brother? Huh, Eddie wouldn't have guessed it, even if he was unaware that the two were bound by something more transcendent than mere blood, [break][break]

“Yeah! He made me this big ol' axe outta ice! It was like somethin' straight out of a video game!” [break][break]

Actually, that whole ordeal kinda was like something ripped from a Johtonian RPG. It wasn't really a game, though; the monument they sat at was a testament to that. Eddie's playfulness faded, [break][break]

“Hey now,” he continued, his voice smoothing over to something softer and more reassuring, “Don't you go puttin' that on yerself.” [break][break]

Though now Eddie wondered if she possessed a certain sort of guilt more deeply felt than just that of a passive observer. Considering the way disasters in Hoenn seemed to sweep up everything and everyone in their path, the thought that she might have been fighting her own battles in Dewford on that fateful day seemed more plausible than he'd care to admit, [break][break]

“Everyone did the best they could. You can't – you can't go second-guessin' yerself when it comes ta stuff like that.”

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Eris Halla [break]

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I knew the person who did it. [break][break]

The words echoed in Eddie's mind, reverberating, almost, as though spoken into the chamber of a grand bell. Howard? howard slayte? Or rather, Admin Fox, a title Eddie exclusively associated with the battlefield and the spilling of blood. It was a strange connection, but not an altogether surprising one, the soldier realized. [break][break]

Eddie's hands, resting atop his legs, curled into fists. Bandaged knuckles strained against their gauzy constraints, [break][break]

“No. No, no – Eris.” [break][break]

Even if the girl was unable to meet his gaze, the soldier watched her with a new intensity, desperate to make her understand, [break][break]

“All'a that shit? Dewford and Petalburg? That's on him,” he continued emphatically, “I don't care if you had a million an' one chances ta snatch up his two Rock 'Em-Sock 'Em Golems; there ain't a single goddamn scenario where the shit that he did falls on you.” [break][break]

The soldier huffed with agitation, still thinking of the absent admin, and crossed his arms across his broad chest, [break][break]

“'Sides, I don't think damn near anything woulda stopped the guy from doin' what he was gonna do. Arceus himself coulda descended from the heavens ta strike 'em down, but part'a me's convinced he woulda gotten right back up an' flipped 'em the bird.” [break][break]

Eddie had watched the guy get cooked like a rotisserie Torchic by that Dynergy radiation on the day he had bestowed that Wishing Star heart upon Regice, after all. And after having spoken with that man at this very memorial not long ago, the soldier was convinced that Howard would move heaven and earth to achieve his ends. It was an attitude worthy of at least some respect, even if the means made the soldier's skin crawl.

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Eris Halla [break]

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Eris was speaking of something the soldier wasn't entirely familiar with, but he did know that it was hard to just sit on the sidelines when the world was breaking around you. Eddie understood that, empathized with that deeply, but he couldn't produce a satisfactory answer to her question. [break][break]

Because you're just a kid. [break][break]

Because you shouldn't have to. [break][break]

Because who in their right mind would wanna go up against a friend? [break][break]

Maybe he was getting somewhere with that last one, though. This war had so far produced neat little lines of delineation, in Eddie's mind. Rocket was bad, the League was good, and he didn't have to think too hard about going to battle when he was on the side of good. Things were obviously more complicated for Eris, and it made Eddie all the more furious at the admin for it. But maybe the world itself was more complicated than he had given it credit for, too, [break][break]

“Because... ” he started uneasily. [break][break]

No, he at least had to give this a shot. Eddie took a deep breath and continued, [break][break]

“Because I can't imagine anythin' harder than hurtin' someone you care about; fightin' em, goin' up against 'em. No matter what sorta nasty stuff they're cookin'.” [break][break]

Eddie hadn't thought about it before, because it hadn't been a part of his reality, but how would he fare if he came to care deeply for someone on the other side of this conflict? Someone who would cause such devastation? Someone who was going to kill a god or die trying? His heart dropped into his stomach when he finally understood – [break][break]

“I don't know if I could, at the end'a the day.” [break][break]

But God, Eddie hoped that was a day he would never come to see.

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Eris Halla [break]

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It sounded like Howard had dug a hell of a hole for himself. No wonder Eris was scared to death for him; from Eddie's perspective, it sounded like the guy had effectively sold his soul for the chance to stop Eternatus. And there was something else there, too; Eris remembered how people were treated in Rocket. Did that mean she had been a part of their ranks, once? [break][break]

But Arceus, she was still so goddamn young. Maybe she had been some kind of child soldier for them, or something? The thought made Eddie feel ill, and his face paled again. What kind of monsters would do that to a child? They really were just the worst of the worst, weren't they? [break][break]

“Arceus, kid, do ya think most people in Hoenn would risk gettin' pancaked by one'a those things?” [break][break]

Self-flagellation was a vicious cycle, a familiar ritual that Eddie was well acquainted with. He could understand the desire to put oneself down, to be wholly consumed by one's shortcomings in a desperate bid for absolution. But that was a very specific sort of hell, and one that he wouldn't wish upon most folks. So he continued, [break][break]

“I understand lookin' back at these sorta things and just gettin' caught thinkin' about the things you coulda done, I really do.” [break][break]

Because now it had become part of his routine in the wake of whatever shitshow went down in Hoenn last, [break][break]

“But none'a us, and I mean not a single goddamn person, ever do the exact right thing at the exact right time.” [break][break]

For a variety of reasons, whether it be by the whims of strong compulsion or by the cold calculus of logic. Eddie often fell into the first category, but he had seen some folks really make a mess of things by swinging farther towards the latter, [break][break]

“I don't think that decision makes ya weak or bad or anythin' other than human, but I get why ya might feel differently.”

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Eris Halla [break]

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“That's all we can do.” [break][break]

Prepare, that is. Keep training, keep getting stronger, and keep hold of the things worth fighting for, [break][break]

“And we ain't. We're gonna be right there ta stop em, and we're gonna send that bastard packin'.” [break][break]

We, because even if it was probably a smarter idea to try and talk a child out of getting caught up in this war, Eris had more skin in the game than Eddie did. Not to mention that he was certain that there was not a single thing he could say to dissuade her. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing, though; they would both need that sort of resolve the next time they stared down those colossal golems. [break][break]

A new boyish sort of grin crossed Eddie's face, affecting an easy confidence that he didn't quite feel, but he hoped he could at least show, [break][break]

“Ain't that right, Eris?”

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Eris Halla [break]

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Oh shit – another Regirock? Maybe that could be a valuable tool in this fight against the other golems. If nothing else, it'd be nice to keep another one of them out of Rocket's hands, [break][break]

“Well hey, it's worth a shot.” [break][break]

Eddie cracked his knuckles. It was good to have some sort of direction to head towards, [break][break]

“Think we oughta ship out there soon?” he offered casually, as if they were planning some sort of idyllic picnic rather than an expedition into an extra-dimensional desert, [break][break]

“Been to the Border a couple'a times, so it ain't gonna be my first rodeo.”

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Eris Halla [break]

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That settled it, then. Eddie had been given his marching orders, and he was more than happy to have a direction to head off in. He rose to his feet with a small grunt, [break][break]

“Hell yeah!” [break][break]

The soldier cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders, as if they were about to head that way right then and there. It was invigorating, to have purpose, [break][break]

“Whenever yer ready, I'll be there. Might be a little dicey gettin' where we're goin', but we'll figure it out.” [break][break]

They had to, after all. There was a lot at stake when it came to those golems, but they wouldn't falter. Eddie was sure of that.

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Eris Halla [break]