Most of the people have already returned from the portal, but no sign of Zaiden or The Hunter just yet. They, of course, would take awhile with their moment of confrontation with the frozen ALTER leader. I wouldn't know much, The Hunter and Zaiden have been enemies with Darka for YEARS. I could even say that rivalry lasted even longer than my own life has so far. I didn't understand much, except for that Darka was a leader who enjoyed the mass murder of thousands of people, so it was best for me to assume that he was bad.

I stayed at the portal, waiting for Zaiden to come back from the ALTER world, as I thought to myself; "It's finally over." It really was over. All the attacks, the ambushes, the murders, everything. I could finally have no worry in my head, other than the people of this HQ that i have to keep order to.

But as those thoughts raced through my head, Zaiden had already unexpectedly came back.
"O-oh, Zaiden-" I said a bit surprised.
"We- no, I, am done." Zaiden said to me, walking past me as if i did not exist.
I gave him a puzzled look. "We? You mean The Hunter went with you?" I asked.
"He has his reasons." Zaiden said, exiting the room.

I tried to say something, but couldn't get the courage to say it. I looked back at the portal, no-one there. I had to close it soon, otherwise it would destabilize and cause problems. That ALTER portal, unlike Tey-Ra's home dimension portal, can't last forever, and i was the one put in charge of closing and opening it. Yes, i know i'm in charge of almost everything here, but i never was an expert with interdimensional portals and all that.

"You just gonna stand there and stare at Arceus knows what!? Or are you gonna close the portal!?" The Hunter exclaimed loudly, as of he were still the Rukanian general.
"Aah! Hunter!? Geez! I- I- I was getting to it!" I said frantically, not even noticing he had stepped out.

I ran over to the console near the portal, and shut it off immediately.
The Hunter just gave me an annoyed look.
"If Zaiden introduced me to y'all way earlier, i would have taught you all the importance of paying attention and listening for once." The Hunter said, leaving the HQ in its entirety.

Now i felt a bit humiliated, as almost everyone was looking at me.

I scoff. "Hunter, Hunter, always the stubborn one, right?" I said to everyone, trying to make it as if i wanted to make The Hunter mad. Some just shrugged as others went back to doing whatever they were doing.

"Weirdo Zeraora, sometimes you just gotta pay attention." Tey-Ra said, seemingly coming out of nowhere, as most people have been doing lately.
"I, wha- Huh??" I said, surprised once again.
She simply chuckled as a response.
"Maybe if you were a goddess... And maybe if you were a Lucario like me, you'd be fit as a leader, despite you already being one. Or shall i say... Part of one." Tey-Ra said, patting my head roughly.
Frankly, i didn't care if she was a goddess, but if it weren't for my thinking then, i just would've said something mean or whatnot, but it seemed her momentary dominance made me stay quiet.
"Now anyways, i have some things to attend to in my own dimension. You have fun now, if you so choose." She said, lifting her arms and disappearing.

At this point, i wouldn't be surprised if Darka himself showed up behind me, because i was, at the moment, getting that sort of feeling. I kinda felt disappointed about Tey-Ra's words, however; "Or shall i say... Part of one."
I knew i was a good leader, i felt confident in myself to believe so, but the truth is that it is not what you feel that makes you a better leader, it is what your teammates believe that can make it all work. So the only vibe i'm getting out of their words is that i need to get stronger, and act much less of a wimp.

Taking this disappointment to my mind, i decided to go outside, not really wanting to do much but relax. Back when we met Darka, there was only constant fear among the group, mostly for Vera though, so there was no possible way to relax without that.
I looked up into the sky, the wind blew gently on me.
"Ah yes, sunshine, without a worry in the world..." I could finally say. Confidence in my newfound safe haven has fulfilled me. I could live out my life just as i wanted to. I am free again.