Imperials Vs. Sentinels- part 4- The Valiant and the Faithful

Part 18- Beyond the end

When Xavier finally regained his vision after seeing nothing but a blinding light, he found himself sitting on the ground, trees covered with snow all around him. Surprisingly, it wasn't cold. Instead, it seemed warm. Xavier was confused at first, but the confusion seemed to dissipate on its own. Xavier knew the truth. This was no dream; it was the afterlife, and he was dead. His new revelation captivated him for a moment as he reminisced over his life, and that fact that now, it was over. His body lay in a grave, but his soul now resided here. It was a weird feeling, but he knew that his days of fighting, struggling and misery were over. That gave him true peace of mind, and he stood up to admire his new surroundings. Almost subconsciously, he walked along the path in the snow, the trees lining it and glistening due to the snow. As he absentmindedly walked through the forest, he noticed a large, wooden lodge ahead of him. He could see that the lights were on inside, and a sudden sense of excitement filled him as he began to travel faster toward it.

He soon reached the wooden stairs, and by this point, he could see figures and hear voices inside. They sounded oddly familiar, and when he opened the door to peak in, he saw why.

A large number of familiar faces were inside, including Ryan, Blaze, Luca and Rendan. Xavier pushed the door open and called out to his former allies.
"I can't believe we're all together again..."
Xavier thought aloud as the four stopped their conversation to see the owner of the voice.
"Xavier!"
Ryan and Rendan simultaneously replied as Luca and Blaze invited him in.
"It's so good to see you all again!"
Xavier exclaimed as they all welcomed Xavier in and explained where he was.
"It's beautiful. Even more so now that I'm here. For so long, I thought I'd never see you all again."
Was his reply.
"It's good to see you too."
Blaze returned.
Xavier bowed respectfully before his former queen.
"It's good to see you again as well, my queen."
Blaze simply giggled, shaking her head.
"Come now, Xavier. I'm no longer your queen, but instead a friend. You need not be so formal."
Xavier sheepishly stood up straight again.
"Of course. Being here with all of you again is good enough for me."
He took a seat at the long table that was set out in front of him, food and drinks covering its wooden surface. He happily talked and laughed with his old friends, comforted by the fact that he would never have to leave them again. In all his excitement, he didn't notice that someone very close to him was missing. After he caught up with everyone, he remembered.
"Where's Shade?"
He asked, not seeing the Zoroark anywhere within the large, open room. Everyone fell silent, seemingly not wanting to answer.
"Is he not here?"
The Lucario pushed, hoping it wasn't true. Blaze eventually spoke up.
"He didn't arrive here. We presume his shame was too great to show himself."
Xavier was greatly disappointed.
"I think I'll go find him."
He stood up, ready to leave. Ryan tried to stop him.
"Xavier, this place goes on forever. You may never find him."
Xavier wasn't satisfied with that.
"I raised him as if he was my son. I have to try."
The group let him go, Luca and blaze wishing him good luck as he left.
The search didn't yield any results very quickly. Ryan's warning seemed correct, as no matter how far Xavier went, the horizon still looked unreachable. The sky above remained a clear blue, despite there being no sun. The snow along the ground and trees glistened in the light; it was a beautiful place. How beautiful it would be, Xavier thought, if he could find Shade and forgive him. He wanted to make peace for the tragic events during their final meeting, and everything before. After walking for a couple of hours, Xavier spotted another building, larger than the lodge he'd been inside. This one looked like a palace, and he saw someone in the large top window. It was Zap and his family; everyone was there except for Halvor and the nameless Braixen who Xavier had freed from Shade's prison. For a moment, Zap stopped playing with one of his sons, seeing Xavier through the window. Xavier waved with a half smile, getting Zap to nod with a straight face in reply. With that, he went back to playing with his family. Xavier understood, however. Zap had larger priorities now that his family was reunited. He had priorities of his own, and he set out to
finish what he had started.

Along the way, he met the nameless Braixen, learning that she had sadly gone to her grave without meeting Halvor. She was still bitter over that, but didn't let it show. There was no anger or sadness in this realm. She simply spoke with Xavier civilly. Xavier listened to her story, and learned she had reached the island which Zap had been killed on. Halvor as he was named was no longer there, so she had returned to her homeland to live and die with her old family. It touched Xavier, hearing the sadness behind the story. The thought of finding her son here was what comforted her. Xavier wished her luck in finding him, and pressed on.

He passed multiple buildings any many more Pokemon during his search, but he eventually found the Zoroark he was looking for, sitting in silence far from any other Pokemon. He was sitting at the base of a tree, eyes closed. He looked almost lost. Xavier was about to speak, but Shade did first.
"I didn't think you'd care enough to come and find me."
His tone was solemn and he spoke quietly. He was clearly still struggling with guilt. He stood up, facing Xavier with tired eyes.
"If you've come to berate me, then go ahead. I'll take it."
Xavier instead walked up to the Zoroark and embraced him tightly. The move shocked the dark type at first, but he soon wrapped his arms around Xavier. The two remained still, not wanting to let go. After a long silence and tight embrace, they separated and Shade spoke.
"You're not mad at me? After all I did?"
Xavier shook his head.
"I don't hold grudges. It doesn't matter what happened before. You shouldn't be ashamed to meet your friends again, Shade."
Shade didn't seem convinced, looking at the ground.
"They don't want to see me. How can they see me for who I was before I turned on you all?"
"Because none of that matters anymore."
Xavier persisted.
"You may have made mistakes, but we all did. You have to move past it now, Shade. Come and see everyone, please."
Shade appeared to understand.
"Let our old group be whole again."
A tear fell from Shade's cheek.
"You promise I'll be welcome?"
Xavier held out a paw.
"I promise."
Shade took his paw and pulled Xavier into another hug.
"Thank you, Xavier. I'm glad you found me."
Xavier nodded.
"I couldn't let you go without at least saying sorry."
With that, the two began to walk back to the lodge Xavier had met everyone in hours before.

As they walked, Xavier learned that Shade had met his family before passing the lodge, but his desire to be alone had made him move on. Before meeting Xavier, being alone saved him from his shame, leaving him too scared to meet anyone. Now, all that had been changed, and Shade was excited to meet everyone, if still a little nervous.

They reached the lodge after a long conversation, and Xavier walked inside.
"Did you find him?"
Ryan asked the question on everyone's mind. Xavier simply stepped aside, and the Zoroark walked in. The room fell silent as the shock gripped everyone at the table. His head was bowed, and his pace was slow as he stopped before the table, looking at everyone shyly.
"Xavier told me to come here, if I'm welcome."
The shock took a moment to wear off, but once it did, joy filled the room.
"Of course! Come on in, there's plenty of room!"
Ryan excitedly guided him to a chair. Everyone was eager to catch up with him, and it overjoyed Shade to be welcome among his old friends. His loneliness and guilt was replaced by happiness and comfort as he felt accepted for the first time in years. Xavier sat next to him as the others chatted eagerly among themselves.
"I told you. Nobody is going to judge or belittle you here."
Shade smiled.
"I realise that now. Thank you for bringing me here. I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

With that, another generation of friends settled in for an eternity of happiness and peace. They had lived their lives, and it was up to the generations of the future to decide their own fate. Verans's greatest heroes lived on in the afterlife and in the memories of those they touched as their hardships and heartbreaks finally pained them no more. Their immortal souls were all that remained as they talked, laughed, smiled and enjoyed each other's company for an eternity after their mortal lives ended.

May they be remembered, the great heroes of Verana.

And that's it, the real end of the imperials vs sentinels series. I can finally mark this story as finished to round off the series. For those of you who read to the end, thank you so much for your support. It's nice to finally complete this series as I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. With it finished, I can spend more time on my other stories, while hopefully having all loose ends of this series tied up. This series was such a large part of my life for so long, and although it's a little sad to end it, I couldn't be happier. Thank you to everyone who read the whole series, and as always, stay awesome.