Lethe

[Namohysip]

"The first path to redemption is to completely strip him of power," Owen said. "If there's no way to do that, then I don't think we can safely leave him alive."

Mhynt huffed. "Odd to hear that from you, Owen. I expected mercy."

"I can be practical!"

"...If we can strip him of his power," Zena said, "and expose his misdeeds for the world to see, not distorted by his political favor... then I would be satisfied--no, I'd recommend keeping him alive. He can't be dead and escape the justice the world would want of him. He should be alive to see it, not in the safety beyond the aether where he could potentially ignore it all as a past life..."

 

[Tetra]

Three heads became one again and Anubis stood once more in his ordinary body, though the burning heat of pride still remained. He bowed, even though Powehi's corporeal form had briefly faded.

Alpha looked exhausted, barely on his paws, but he was still standing. Anubis felt proud of him. He knew not what, but he could sense his trainer had overcome something.

He snorted a plume of smoke. Powehi had good sense, he believed. He'd never met the counterpart Koa spoke of but the solution appeared plainly obvious to protect everyone. "We will make sure this world is safe from Arthur and if that means his death than so be it."

"If you plan to kill him, I have no objections to make. However, my counterpart expects that I convey to you that there is... technically... some hope for the redemption of any soul."

The dog's lip curled up in naked contempt.

"In my mind, that only makes it all the more tragic that he has wasted a century of life on his inane ambitions. He will not listen to you. He has never listened to anyone."

Is there? Yeah right. Powehi's declarations stoked a bitter flame in Koa's soul. "You can't save someone who thinks they're fixing the world," he growled, half under his breath. Something stirred in chest between and heartache and hate.

He didn't register Anubis words until after the haze of battle exhaustion began to wane. So be it... Giratina flashed through his thoughts, a looming shadow swallowing all... To save the world.

"So be it," he said wearily. He exhaled, fighting through the exhausting emotions clouding his thoughts. "Arthur's fate is in his hands."

 

[Phoenixsong]

They'd won. They'd actually done it. Leaf felt like she could do one of the Cyclone's stupid anime jumps straight up into the stars and not come back down for ages. It was tempting, even with the adrenaline and energy wearing off and exhaustion bulldozing its way back in. But they weren't done, and they didn't have a lot of time, and they had to focus on what was next. Still, she turned to share a smile with Blue. See? They could do it.

Blue had been smiling a minute ago—panting and shaking with exertion, perhaps, but with a big dog grin on his face that even he couldn't hide—but all that had vanished in an instant, replaced with a defensive snarl as he glared between Anubis, Gladion, Powehi and Mhynt.

"Who the fuck is 'we'? Fuck off. I'm not killing anyone," he said, backing away from them. "I didn't get dragged out here to kill people. Look, it sucks that things've gone to shit here, and I'd love to take the king guy down a billion pegs, but if that's where this is going then— then I'm out. You, you freaks do what you want, but I— you can't make me—" He rounded on Leaf, but there was a desperate look under the anger. "Y-you're not..."

"No one's... no one's going to force anybody to kill anybody. I don't want to, either." Hopefully that'd come out reassuring enough, given how uncomfortable the topic was suddenly making her, too. Honestly, she didn't even like the idea of participating in something that leads directly to someone's death, even if ~technically~ she wasn't the one who... She shook her head. "I know we all agreed Forlas comes first, and I don't want to go back on that. If it really comes to that, then... that's it, I guess.

"But I'm not marching into every difficult encounter we have left assuming the worst. We're not killing Lorrel. We're not making up excuses to kill Lorrel. We saved Amida without having to kill her or let her die; we can get through to him, too. And Arthur..."

It wasn't that she felt bad for him. She categorically did not, aside from it being sort of abstractly sad that someone could get so messed up that this was the only way they could think of to do any real good. But it didn't feel like it should be her decision to do something that... final. Or any of their decisions. If anyone did have any right to make that call, it was the Forlasans who'd been hurt by him directly, not the Wayfarers. (Beetle had that right, if... if that ended up being... what they really wanted.) And...

"Stopping him comes first, but real justice is Arthur fixing what he ruined." She nodded at Zena. "Maybe it'll be a while before that can happen, I dunno. Maybe he did so much damage that it can't ever all be repaired, by him or anybody or everyone together. But whatever can be undone, the Forlasans shouldn't have to do it all themselves when it wasn't their fault. If there's a chance of getting him to see sense and then doing something about it, then it's worth at least trying."

He wouldn't listen to them or anyone, huh. Maybe. Powehi wasn't right about everything. (Definitely not, said the last of the battle-rush as it finally settled.) Auriga clearly wasn't, either. But still.

It wouldn't be easy. If he was really that dead set on playing god, it'd probably be harder than just... dealing with him. But if there was any shot at all...

(And given what they'd learned, what they'd been putting together... even if Lorrel wouldn't listen to them, he might listen to Amida, right. Maybe there was someone or something that might just get Arthur to listen, too.)

"We're going to resolve this either way. I know that. But we've proved you wrong before, Powehi. We might as well give it a shot one more time."

 

[Chibi Pika]

"If you plan to kill him, I have no objections to make. However, my counterpart expects that I convey to you that there is... technically... some hope for the redemption of any soul. In my mind, that only makes it all the more tragic that he has wasted a century of life on his inane ambitions. He will not listen to you. He has never listened to anyone."

Virga folded her wings with an air of finality. "Very well. If he cannot be swayed, then the way forward seems clear."

"Mm," Jade replied noncommittally. She wasn't keen on repeating the argument they'd had back home, not so soon after they'd fought in perfect sync. And it wasn't like she'd ever been under the impression that the Rockets could be persuaded to change course either. She wasn't that naive.

It was simple. Just make the problem go away. But the idea that after everything they'd accomplished, after all the impossible feats, those were somehow the only two options? It left a bitter taste in her mouth. It practically felt like giving up without even trying.

"The first path to redemption is to completely strip him of power," Owen said. "If there's no way to do that, then I don't think we can safely leave him alive."

Jade's ears flicked toward Owen. If something like that were possible...

"We're going to resolve this either way. I know that. But we've proved you wrong before, Powehi. We might as well give it a shot one more time."

Jade found herself nodding along with Leaf. "We've... done a lot of impossible things already," she said, her gaze wandering toward Betel, the biggest impossibility in their group. "What's one more?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Yes! It was finally over. Not only had they proved themselves to Powehi, but everyone — Betey included — had unleashed some brand-new and fabulous transformations? That was a success for sure, but Lyra was way too worried about Silver to fully enjoy this moment of euphoria.

“Gosh… What did you do to yourself, Silver?” she muttered under her breath while patching up his injuries, one arm wrapped around the now-Sneasler-again’s torso to keep him sitting and the other rubbing some berry juice on his darkened pelt. Luckily his body didn’t get nearly as wrecked and charred as she thought it would be after exploding like that (Betey must have taken most of the burden or something), but she could still tell he was beyond knackered and far from lucid. He kept his face hidden with a set of claws and mumbled some words she couldn’t parse, not unlike someone who was recovering from a heavy hangover. “It’s always all or nothing for you, huh?”

Silver grumbled a bit louder, but again, it was unclear whether he was protesting in reflex or reluctantly agreeing with her assessment. Knowing him, it was surely the former.

When the topics of Lorrel and Calyrex popped up, Lyra felt her blood chilling instantly, and yet her mind burned with sheer disbelief.

“Wha-kill?! W-why are you even considering something so… so… extreme and definitive?!” she cried out, utterly horrified and flustered by the proposal, and she shook her head vigorously. “No. No! Nononononono absolutely no!!”

Silver lowered his claws and blinked wearily, his gaze moving slowly between her and the others. There were some words hanging on his tongue, but he was too exhausted to express what he was thinking. Lyra shot him an unimpressed gaze that said, ‘You can’t be seriously considering that, too!’, then focused again on the others.

“There’s no way I’m gonna get anyone’s blood spilled on my conscience, no matter who that belongs to! If… If we’re gonna use an extreme solution against someone who’s willing to resort to extreme solutions, then… wouldn’t that mean we’re stooping to his level, by using the whole ‘the goal justifies the means’ stuff?”

Lyra found herself glancing at Andre and Ben, recalling the conversations she had with them. How Andre justified his bloodthirsty impulses by unleashing them against the people who ‘deserved it’, and how her heart broke at feeling all the pain and trauma in Ben’s voice when he talked about his beloved late trainer.

No. That kind of rationale wasn’t worth it then, and it wouldn’t be worth it now.

Lyra shook her head once more. “I wanna find a solution to this situation just as much as everyone, don’t get me wrong, but… but death?” She glanced at Zena, then at Leaf and Jade, and raised a hand in agreement. “I’m gonna give my support to the suggestion of removing Arthur’s power in some way, and if that doesn’t work, well… we’ll just look for another solution! Like, I dunno, maybe there’s some red line Arthur isn’t willing to cross or someone he isn’t willing to sacrifice for his goal?” She placed her free hand on her heart and sighed. “Y’all defied the odds countless times, no? How’s this time any different?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

Betel, who had been looking a little forlorn as the conversation turned to murder, brightened considerably at Jade's encouragement.

"I agree with Jade! We shall try to achieve what seems impossible. If there is any chance of success, it will only be through making the attempt."

Powehi sniffed irritably. "If you must try, then do so. So long as it does not cause you to fail."

Would it cause them to fail? Would they have to be so utterly ruthless?

Laura got unsteadily to her feet. "We've proven ourselves already, and we did so doing things our way. We'll keep doing things our way. Nothing we've experienced has persuaded me to be fatalistic, Dark Matter. I'm sorry you can only see things that way."

For a moment, she felt Malachai's approving gaze on her.

"I am what I am," replied Dark Matter.

The Lucario didn't even look offended – in fact, he looked almost wistful. Then Powehi waved his paw, and the realm of Lethe began to fade, like a trick of the light.

"Go now. Give him justice. Give this world justice."

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