Champion's Sword, Galar's Shield (Leon x OC)

18 - Aftermath Part I

"Good. That's really good to hear. What happened to Swordward and Shieldbert?" she inquired, although her gut twisted at the notion people died. It was inevitable, but it still hurt.

"Well, we found Shieldbert dead just inside the castle, not far from Eternatus. He'd been crushed by rubble and apparently suffered internal bleeding. His arm was frozen, too, so there was frostbite as well. As for Swordward... He cut his own throat."

"What?!"

"We went to arrest him, and he fought back. He somehow got his weapon in the struggle, but he took it to his throat, shouting how we'd never take him alive. It's not the justice Galar or you deserve, but... they'll never bother us again, so that's something," Leon scowled, squeezing her hand. He put his smile back on, though, as he continued, "Zacian is doing fine, by the way. It took a day, but after a good, long nap in the sunshine she perked up. The dark energy from Eternatus is all but gone."

"Goo—wait... a day? How many was I out?!" she balked.

He winced, "Two and a half. You had a lot of us worried, but the doctor assured us you'd be fine—your body just had to recover on its own. And now that you are up, here. Eat this. I only got one meal since I wasn't sure you'd be up, but you need it more than me. Not too much, though. Oh, and I brought clothes for when you did wake up, so you can change into them whenever you're cleared to leave."

"Anyone tell you you're the best boyfriend?" she chuckled, taking the food and pulling out some Pidove strips to snack on. They tasted like heaven.

"Just once. And that's enough for me," he chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her brow. She giggled before chomping another bite a food and then frowned.

"So... Their plan was to make Zacian and Zamazenta crazy?" she half mumbled.

Leon frowned, "It seems like it. It's hard to say what the whole truth was but they seemed to think if they made the warriors go mad and they killed them they'd be labeled heroes? It's crazy to think about and I don't how they thought they'd succeed, the truth got out for a while now and everyone in the public eye thought of them as enemies."

"That's crazy and delusional for you. I guess they just went deranged because things weren't going their way. But how did they do know so much? About Eternatus' and then how'd they make the Dynamax energy go crazy?"

"Honestly? We're still wondering ourselves about the first part. They knew a lot for never being around until now and their family is all but nonexistent. It feels a lot like someone else had to be helping, but... There's been nothing.

He sighed to rub the back of his neck, "As for the energy... Best we can figure is that they used the wishing stars all over Galar to give the Galarian particles a massive boost which they activated all around the same time. They had more on them when we searched the two, and Sonia found they'd been super charged by Eternatus. It's how it got so bad all around, even outside Dens and the Gyms."

"Arceus. That's crazy. It... How bad did everything get? All over?"

"Not as bad as we thought it would. Your friends came just in the nick of time. It's... There's a lot of repairs to do, but Galar and its people are going to be just fine, so don't worry," he smiles warmly, reaching over to take her hand and squeeze. "Your Pokémon have been worried, by the way, but I'll let them know you're alright. We have them just outside the city in a makeshift 'ranch' like yours back home. Silver helped us set it up based on what he knew, and they seemed to be okay with it after he talked to them. Gloria and her mother took up babysitting while the League does most of the paperwork to get things cleared up. She'll get involved later, but right now it's a bit much for her still. It's pretty messy everywhere, like I said."