An Unsung Hero

The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed

Divine breathed out heavily, for just ahead of her, were the castle doors and behind those doors was Cassius the Gallade. The castle itself was like any other castle, with an entrance and walls, except it was made up except it was covered in precious gems. The walls and door were engraved and made of marble and the massive door was covered in jade and it's handles were made of gold. Normally these doors would make Divine feel safe but she was very nervous. Hok'ee rubbed her left shoulder in attempt to calm her but he did so awkwardly. He wasn't quite used to seeing her in distress. "He will be okay. Everything will be fine. Your father is safe and I don't think Cassius will do anything. Hurting your brother would be a foolish move on his part. You're ​just flustered." Blanche reasoned. The Gardevoir looked to her over her right shoulder. "Y-you're right. Everything will be fine, I'm sure." Divine stammered, swinging open the heavy doors. Inside was the great hall, where the King could usually be found. It was opulent. Hok'ee marveled at the great hall, mouth agape and eyes fixed. A great carpet lay spread down the hall from one end to the other, about two hundred feet. It was white and embroided with swirls and other patterns. Parallel to the carpet were two long tables made of cherrywood. Goblets, both empty and full, and stained platters were littered on the table.
"How dirty" Blanche commented. Directly above the carpet hung two ornate chandeliers. They were large the little bit of light that peeked through the small windows beamed down on them and made them shine. The light that refracted off of the chandeliers did a better job of lightning up the great hall than the chandeliers' candles. The pillars that kept the castle from collapsing in on itself were even made of marble. At the very end of the hall facing the doors was the King's throne and sitting snug in Divine's father's place was a Gallade. To his left, a Greninja sat on the ground and to his right was a Blaziken, standing tall and proud. The Gallade grinned at Blanche and Divine, still slouched in his golden throne. "So you came!" he exclaimed gleefully. Neither Divine or Blanche shared his enthusiasm. The three hadn't noticed him sitting there until he had called out to them. "Cassius" Divine mumbled with disgust.
They walked towards him and stopped feet away from him. He was similar in appearance to Divine, though he was more 'masculine', if that's the right word for it. He was green, white, and had a red fin just like Divine, though his was twice as big and jutted out the top of his head rather than from his chest. He lacked the flowing dress that Divine had and his arms were like giant blades. Cassiusooked at Hok'ee, who stood almost shoulder to shoulder with Divine, with curiosity. "And you brought a little Lucario with you?" he smirked at Blanche and chuckled. "I never thought that you were attracted to Lucarios...or...anyone!" Blanche flinched in embarrassment and her eyes grew wide. Divine shook her head in response. "No, he is with me." She buried her entire face in her ears when Hok'ee looked over Divine's shoulder and blushed so hard, her furry cheeks flushed red. Not everything Cassius said to Blanche was false, it seemed.
"Interesting. I thought you liked Gallades."
"Gallade, Lucario, it doesn't matter to me."
Cassius shook his head in disapproval. "Your father wouldn't be happy that you are with that. Your betraying your family's traditions."
"Don't pretend you care about this kingdom or my family's values. You poisoned my father and seized power!" Divine shouted loudly, making both Hok'ee and Blanche's ears quiver. Cassius laughed and stood up from his golden seat. "I'll admit, my methods of seizing the throne were questionable. To tell you the truth, after your father succumbed to my poison, I was going to poison you as well but with you your father sick, and with you in a far away land, I saw no reason to kill you anymore."
"You also have my brother hostage."
"Actually, I do not! What made you think I did?" Casca cut into their exchange. "I am responsible for this, my Lord. I took it into my own hands." Casca was quiet the whole time up until then. "I thought that with a hostage, we could make them, our only enemies, surrender. I purposefully left the Lucario alive for I knew that she'd take him to the wizard to heal him. How did I know this? I suspected that she cared deeply for that poor Lucario-" Ligarius interrupted him. "No! I did!" He pointed to himself but Casca did not acknowledge him. "My primary mission was to seize the medicine but the wizard stole it back" Casca gave Blanche a sour look. "After that, I needed a new bargaining chip. I took the boy and hid him away from the wizard. It was from there that all I needed to do was follow her to her den, where I would eventually come back with a message. "You may punish me now, my Lord."
The Gallade's smile turned to a frown.
"It's clear that your plans went deep, deeper than mine. I am lucky to have someone such as yourself on my side. I will allow you to continue with your plan, great Casca. Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin it. I don't think any psychic could've constructed such a plan."
"Thank you, my Lord." the Greninja nodded and with a snap of his webbed fingers, the Ralts appeared seemingly out of thin air and into the arms of Ligarius.
Cassius pointed to the three of them.
"You will recognize me as King, or I will order Ligarius to burn the boy." Divine, enraged, took a step forward, Blanche and Hok'ee just behind her, but they were halted by Casca. Cassius chuckled.
"What makes you think you are fit to be a king!? You are just a pretender." Divine protested, trying to push through Casca. Both Blanche and Hok'ee tried to hold her back. "I am much more than that. I for one, am simply a better leader. You aren't mature enough to take over. Where were you when your father was dying? Where were you for the past several weeks?"
"I was getting him medicine!!"
"And you were doddling!!" he said, pacing back and forth in front of them. "You spent so much time on that Lucario and what for!? Because you expected him, a peasant to possibly aid you? Such malarkey!!! You were clearly chasing boys!! In two years, your father would be able to step down and give up the throne, assuming he's alive. I doubt you'll have matured at all by the time those two years are up. With all that boy chasing, you'd neglect your duties. And even if you were mature, you still are not a strong leader..." He looked into her eyes. "Has it occured to you yet?" At this point, Divine accepted her defeat and half-heartedly said no. "No? You out of everyone standing here, should remember, my pretty flower." Divine winced. His choice of words. 'Pretty flower'. Something else was amiss, and only Divine knew it. "After your father, you are next to rule and comparably, I was the next head of my family, a family of nobles once close to your father's​ family. You see, my true name is not Cassius, it is Brutus, Brutus of the Dragonsoul clan! Surely you, of everyone standing here, remember that name. We were in a relationship as children, long before we were engaged." "What!?" Blanche and Divine said, dumbfounded. Blanche began to back away a little. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. Despite listening closely, Hok'ee was completely lost as to what was happening and his natural response was to just stand there like a fool.
Divine recalled the ancient memory, a fond memory of a sweet little Kirlia, whom she loved to tease and play with in the big streets of Evergreen. That handsome devil of a boy, along with his entire family, perished.
"Yes, I will explain everything. It begins with my family.." Before he could continue, Blanche sighed loudly, making it known that she was, in fact, inpatient. Hok'ee grew tired as well. "As I was saying..it begins with my family. My family has historically provided yours with generals and contributed to their wars in other ways, until approximately ten years ago. The war ten years ago, the war that to this day Evergreen is still recovering from was the only time that the Dragonsoul clan ever refused the king's requests...ever. Perhaps due to the stress and ever looming threat of a siege on Evergreen, he reacted harshly. He stripped my family of it's rights and that caused my family to rebel. They fought. I was spared from battle, being so young..though the rest of my family was not as lucky." Hearing this made Divine shed a tear because she lost her mother in that fight. Hok'ee seemed to sense her sorrow, and held her close trying to comfort her. "My brothers died in the rebellion and I watched my father publicly executed. And my mother...I don't ​know what happened to her. She is surely dead. I ran away and my entire family crumbled to nothing. Most people declared me either missing or dead, as no one could find me. So I went by a new name and the years flowed by. Young Brutus fell off the face of the Earth and was eventually forgotten, as if he never existed. I was now known as Cassius and eventually a family of rich merchants took me in. I was another person. In that time since, I developed a hatred for your family. At the time, I did not understand. All I knew was that if given the chance, the king would kill me as well. But now I am mature. With my age, I know now why my family was destroyed. My desire for revenge has only grown..and for years I planned, I planned to seize power and topple your family, to kill your father as well as you-" he was very blunt when he said that. He showed no sense of compassion, even for his former love. "-for it is not enough that I should succeed, you should fail as well!!! And now you know who I am. You know why I did all of this. Now bow to me or the boy, along with all of you will die."
Blanche was quite literally about to pounce on him, but Divine placed her arm at her breast to stop her. "Listen to him. There is nothing that we can do. We can't possibly fight him now. We can't do anything that'll risk my brother's life. His plan was the one to go deeper and he won. All we can do is hope." Brutus chuckled at what she said. The small Braixen was shocked. Divine was finally submitting,
The Braixen begrudgingly bowed, as well as Divine. However, Jack did not. Nevertheless, Casca sat down back at the left hand of Brutus, and believed his work to be done. Brutus barked at him. "Did I stutter? I ordered ALL of you to bow!"
The Lucario cackled at Brutus. "Why?"
"No, Hok'ee, don't do anything stupid. My brother's life is in danger. Please, do this for me." Divine whispered to him, begging him. Hok'ee acknowledged her but he did not listen to her. He knelt down and hugged her. "Don't worry about me." he assured her and then took a stand in front of the witch and princess. These words sent shivers down her entire body.
The Gallade licked is lips. "I never got your name. You haven't spoken much. Might I ask who are you? And what makes you think you can just disrespect me, the King?" The great hall grew silent for the Lucario with matted fur and red eyes. The Greninja, the witch, even the Ralts, who is still imprisoned in the Blaziken's arms. "I'm not gonna beat around the bush. I'm no one really important. As a matter of fact, I don't even live here inside these walls."
"An outsider? Where are you from?" Brutus asked, intrigued. "I don't know. I have no family. I have nothing. I'm a nobody." Brutus looked down at him. "I can sympathize. And given the fact that that you are an outsider, I shall spare your life, but only if you bow to me as well." Hok'ee responded with a no, much his displeasure. "You are not at all worthy of standing in this castle." Brutus responded harshly. "Well you are just a lowly beggar. What do you know?"
"That you lack honor." Divine was contemplating tackling him, but was dissuaded by her concern for her brother's life. Brutus tightened his fist.
"You are wasting your life challenging me. You'd best rethink this."
"Friend, my life isn't worth much and I've never been scared of death. I've always been a lowly sod with nothing to look forward to. And in all honesty, I still hate myself. And despite all of my blaring flaws, she still made the effort to get close to me."
"Loyalty. That is your Achille's heel." He said, snapping his fingers. "Fine, peasant. I will kill you quickly." He turned to Legarius, barking orders. "Legarius, let the boy go. I shall deal with him."
The Blaziken obeyed and the little Ralts was freed from his clutches. He ran towards Divine.
Brutus whet his blade-like arms. "Come then. Do it." Hok'ee td. Without warning, Brutus charged at him, already declaring his victory. His blades dug right into Hok'ee's stomach and completely severing the flesh around it. Blanche looked away as Divine watched in horror. He I began to bleed. Hok'ee looked down at the Gallade's arm, which impaled him and was still buried in his belly. Brutus laughed hysterically, relishing in his victory, he didn't notice Hok'ee raising his arm to him. With the last bit of strength he had left, he plunged the massive spike on his wrist into his neck. The Gallade's face grew white and his eyes turned cold. His smile broke, and he slowly fell backwards​, pulling his arm out of Hok'ee in the process and fell. He didn't break eye contact with him that entire time. He was dead. Pride was his Achilles's​ heel. Casca and Ligarius fled after witnessing their master's defeat. The pretender was no more and Evergreen was safe. The only ones that remained were Blanche, Divine, the Ralts and a profusely bleeding Lucario. Hok'ee stood there, dazed, with an arm over the gaping hole in his stomach. He teetered forward and finally tumbled backwards. Divine and Blanche scrambled to his aid. Blanche tried magic, but it failed. Divine could no longer hold her tears back and wept. With him in her arms, she nuzzled his forhead affectionately but he did not respond. She held her friend, hero, and love close, as his short life came to a bitter end, and there was nothing but a corpse to hold on to.

~End~

And that's all she wrote. Sorry for the delay. I slacked a bit. This has to have been the longest chapter I've written. 2,561 is the amount of words, not counting this part. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this story. I worked really hard on it and it was my first story. Leave comments and votes, or not. That's also cool. Bye.