Chapter 32
Honor and Commitment

Blazewing and I had gotten swift and considerable medical treatment to address the wounds. I wasn't too crazy about what passed for a suture around Symarix, but it did its job, even though it was excessively painful and these Pokémon weren't too aware of many anesthetics. I knew it would take months to heal, but I couldn't complain considering the deadly alternative.

When asked about how I got the laceration in the first place, I simply told them it was from Vorox, easily forgetting he was one of the prime enemies of the Silver Rebellion. At first, they weren't sure if I was telling the truth when I told them we really did kill him and Tychal, but I didn't know they had actually brought back his dead body to prove it. To say the least, they were deadly serious about how much they despised the Wind Striker commander.

When news of that quickly got around, I wasn't surprised when I heard there was debate when it came to honoring the five rank advancement promise that was offered to anyone that killed the Wind Striker commander. Apparently some thought it was just a rumor, a joke, or something totally made in jest while others argued considering how much of a problem it had been to stop Vorox's insatiable killing spree, we deserved the promotion. There was only one major issue. With us being the rank of Ensign, it would make us Generals. I was beginning to see the irony of Saraxa calling me that upon meeting us.

Blazewing and I were still recovering, but at least the wounds were healing and we didn't need to wear nearly as many bandages. In the end, it was up to Kamax and Jamac as to whether they wanted to promote us or not. After a few weeks of healing and plenty of controversy, Blazewing and I had presented ourselves before Kamax and Jamac in the royal Emperor's Throne Room with a fresh set of white and gray armor, again, made to look like the statue downstairs. It had been a while since I was last in the tower throne room before Jamac, and I couldn't help but think how much had changed in so short a time.

Since the issue couldn't be decided within the military jurisdiction, they had to take the matter all the way to the top. Sever was eager to volunteer to help defend my case and encourage Jamac and Kamax to favor the promotion. I knew he probably wasn't the best debater out there, but I didn't have the heart to say no.

Meanwhile, a crowd of elite soldiers and other high officials had gathered in the throne room to discuss the situation and serve as witnesses. They came in all Pokémon shapes and sizes, from the small to the gargantuan.

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It all started with a preliminary hearing to discuss the situation at hand. Oddly enough, it felt more like I was on the stand for being convicted of a crime, not for a promotion. It was... strange how the Silver Rebellion handled matters like this. It almost felt like I was supposed to feel guilty over something.

It had gone on for about fifteen minutes before Sever pointed back to the field report that Vice and I had been required to journalize that accounted for each action we had taken.

"How are we even discussing this?" Sever the Cubone asked before everyone. "Juno and Blazewing killed Vorox and Tychal! We have proof and witnesses who can confirm they were the ones!"

"That's not the issue," Kamax muttered, looking disinterested in the Cubone's claims. "We acknowledge Vorox is dead, but the five-level promotion was never an official instatement. Besides, it would make both of them Generals. That's simply out of the question as they lack the years of experience, leadership, and seniority."

I sighed, knowing in a way, he was right. Going from Ensign to General was just extreme, and if I only got promoted to Lieutenant from all this, I could at least be happy with that. Still, with Kamax being Head General, it really couldn't be argued with. I figured the offer had to be too good to be true the first time I heard it from Vice. The crowd of soldiers that were gathered in the throne room were murmuring and whispering amongst themselves, but I figured this wasn't going to go anywhere.

"On top of all that, Juno led a successful strike on Macomb!" One of the soldiers from the crowd called out. "Scouts confirmed the place was practically wiped off the map!"

"Again, Juno didn't follow protocol," Kamax argued. "According to his own report and his squad member, Vice, his squad took three casualties, showed signs of being disorganized, and his methods of freeing those prisoners was very anarchic. I read the report and was disgusted after reading he wore Crimson Stars armor to trick them to get into the prison. I wouldn't even trust a Lieutenant who did those kinds of shenanigans!"

Give me a break. I just looked down, shut my eyes, and tried to drown out the nonsense, knowing handling that in any other kind of fashion would have been suicide. Considering what we were up against, we were lucky to have survived that. Besides, I hardly saw those three causalities as my fault. Sure, I would have liked for Lahanas, Stevex, and Rackal to have survived, but what happened to them could have happened under even the best squad leader's command.

"But it worked!" Sever exclaimed. "The Crimson Stars weren't prepared for it, and in general, it was a successful mission. What more could you want!?"

"I'll be the judge of that," Jamac the Excadrill replied as looked into the Cubone's eyes, giving him a glare that told him he should stand down. "I've heard both sides of the story and this has frankly gone on long enough. Juno will not be granted any promotion or the Serious Declaration of Honor. These debates are over, and this decree is final."

I was just about to roll my eyes with a defeated sigh and a shrug when the soldiers in the throne room were livid about the final verdict. Many of them shouted and were up in arms, but they were forced out by the high guards, and even Sever was ordered to leave. He looked incredibly depressed and disappointed, and on his way toward the doors, he looked at me with a look of shame as if he felt he had completely failed me. I knew it wasn't his fault, though, and there were definitely no hard feelings between him and I.

When they were gone, I figured it was probably time we left this place also. I knew when I wasn't welcome.

"Hey, for the record," Blazewing spoke up, "exactly how were we supposed to handle that mission according to protocol, hmm? I must have missed the part where we were supposed to do a curtsey before politely knocking at the gates."

"Juno, tell your loutish mount to watch her tongue," The Vigoroth argued with an angry scowl. "Otherwise I'm sure Jamac's next decree will be to rip it out, and I would certainly support that notion."

"Why you!" Blazewing shouted before I stopped her.

"Let's just go," I told her, quickly patting her on the side to get her attention before I turned my back on the two of them. "We'll find another way around this."

They weren't worth it, and us losing our cool about it could make us lose everything. I could tell ugly politics had sunken in deep here also, and I figured the sooner we were out of that throne room, the better. Once we were out of here, then we could start discussing our options. I put my yellow paw on the ornate door handle, threw the door open, and Blazewing and I just stepped out and into the hallway.

We almost began our walk out of there when I suddenly heard the most unlikely person speak up, and I could hear him only faintly behind the door.

"Jamac, I trust you'll handle this matter with discretion," Sinis the Zangoose spoke up.

We stopped for a moment, and decided to eavesdrop on the conversation, staying close to the door to hear every word we could. I couldn't help but blink twice at the sudden revelation. It was strange. Sinis had been completely silent, sitting in the rear, and hadn't said anything the entire meeting long, and only now was he speaking up.

"What do you mean?" I heard Jamac's voice question him.

"It's time for you to decide if you want to keep Juno within the Silver Rebellion, or denounce the entire Divine Prophecy, order it to be destroyed, and exile the two of them," Sinis told him, making his voice very clear. "You cannot continue to have him revered as a prophesized hero among the people, but refuse any trace of a recompense for his efforts. The public will not stand for it that much longer as they have made it clear they value the prospect of Macomb's destruction, Vorox's assassination, and the liberation of the Macomb prisoners over battle and standard formality. You need to choose, and better you do it now."

He definitely sounded extremely neutral about this whole thing. But I figured that's what his purpose was for when it came to advising Jamac about his choices. Without a doubt, Sinis was definitely very hard to read. I would have liked to know what he personally felt, but I wouldn't get far asking him directly.

"I will discuss the matter with my Generals and tactical advisors," Kamax replied. "Once we arrive at a decision, we can then formulate a plan."

"Fine," Jamac agreed. "I want a response before the end of the day."

That didn't give us a whole lot of time. Still, I didn't think we were going to get anything more out of staying here. I quickly looked up to Blazewing, and figured we'd better get out of here before they realized we had been listening in.

"Let's go," I whispered to her.

She nodded, and we quickly headed for the elevator, trying to avoid getting caught. Once we made it to the elevator cab, I quickly pressed the button, and as soon as the doors opened, we headed inside. At least now it was just the two of us and no one could overhear us.

"They have got to be kidding," Blazewing muttered, looking up. "And here I was thinking we'd be getting a parade with all the confetti we could ever dream of in our faces. Instead, I get half my butt sliced open and now I got that white gorilla creep honking on that he wants to start cutting tongues out."

"We're definitely getting exiled," I told her, knowing Jamac and Kamax didn't seem like the type to change their minds. "I'm beginning to wonder if we should save them the trouble and just slip out the back before they realize we're gone."

"Huh, thought you'd never ask," Blazewing sighed. "With those clowns in power, I don't really feel like fighting anyway."

I realized that when I mentioned "considering the options," this was on her mind. To be honest, I wasn't sure what Kamax and Jamac expected of us. As the elevator sank lower and lower, I began to wonder... were Blazewing and I just tools or weapons for them to use? Or was this just a matter that they didn't believe in the Divine Prophecy? Either way, with them in power, we would be doing nothing but risk getting ourselves killed if we stayed here. Maybe I was right when my original hunches felt like this place would never feel like home.

As we headed toward the exit, it was impossible to not take a glance at the statue of Blazewing and myself. Was it really just a fairytale? I didn't know what to think about it anymore, but I figured if they didn't want us here, there was no reason for us to stay and risk our lives over and over again for Pokémon that didn't appreciate it in the slightest.

"We need to find Blitz and Alex before we go," I told Blazewing, knowing finding Blitz the Pachirisu wouldn't be too hard, but finding Alex was a whole other story.

"Alex..." Blazewing muttered as the elevator arrived at the last stop. "We're not even sure if he's here, do we?"

"Nope," I sighed as we got off the elevator. "But if he is, he's a Pokémon now, and we have no clue which one."

That was going to cost us time to find him. I had a few leads on how to find him, such as finding a Pokémon that was totally and utterly lost at his surroundings. I wasn't sure about his name, however. For some reason, Pokémon here just didn't understand traditional human-sounding names. Maybe that would lead us to him?

As we walked out of the spire building, I tried to think solutions, but my train of thought was suddenly derailed when as luck would have it, we were suddenly approached by Blitz. Well, at least finding him had been extremely easy. The white electric squirrel looked a little downcast when he saw the two of us.

"You don't need to tell me," Blitz muttered solemnly. "I already heard you didn't get the promotion."

"Oh, it gets even better than that!" Blazewing replied cynically. "We're getting handed a free, one way ticket out of Symarix. Wanna come?"

"Wait... are they... they're banishing you out of the city?" Blitz asked with shock.

"It's very likely," I nodded at that. "Blitz, we need to go before they upgrade that sentence to an execution, but there's one slight issue. I'm not sure if Alex is here as was part of the Macomb prisoners we rescued."

Blitz's expression seemed to change, and he looked a lot more hopeful.

"I'm pretty sure I found him while you were dealing with all that junk," Blitz smiled, looking like he was happy to be of help. "I checked up on the prisoners to see how they were all doing. Most of them admitted to being members of the Silver Rebellion, so that already cut down the numbers a lot. That left only a handful of others, so I tried to see which one of them was the most confused out of the bunch. Some of the other prisoners told me he had been acting really weird, and that's when I had a talk with him."

And that was when he looked up optimistically, looking especially perky for a Pachirisu.

"Long story short," Blitz smiled, "Alex is now a Zorua. He got a little shaken up during his time in Macomb, but he's fine now."

What a relief! The whole time, I wasn't sure if he was dead, still missing, or was lost somewhere else.

"Where is he?" I asked, wondering where he had been staying.

"He's been at a small refugee camp," Blitz told me. "Poor guy. He's broke, has no clue what's going on, and has no idea how he became a Pokémon. Some of the Silver Rebellion soldiers are trying to find his family or help him get his bearings back. They really have no idea what's going on."

Still, even so, we needed to get him out of here. I wasn't sure where we were going to go or run away to, but hanging around here was becoming a crisis that was getting further out of control.