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teshadraws · 4 months ago

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 60]

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Tobias speaks with Dismas.

CW: Blood, violence, child death.

In the silence, Dismas gives them an uninterested onceover, starting at Nia and ending with Tobias. When the pangoro reaches Tobias’ face, his brow furrows, his chin lifting with a spark of interest.

Tobias can’t decide if he wants to glare back or look away. His throat is tight. He balls the hand not holding Nia’s into a fist, trying to keep himself from shaking like a newborn.

Suddenly, the pangoro’s brows rise, and a toothy grin lights up his face. He rears back as much as he can in his chains, roaring with laughter. He’d probably be slapping his knee if he could.

Tobias stares, stunned. When he’d imagined this in the past, thought about coming face-to-face with one of the outlaws, he’d never pictured laughter. He kind of feels like puking.

Dismas�� laughter dies down, but the jovial expression remains. “You’re the little brat from the mountains! How long’s it been? Five years? Six?”

He says it like a distant relative catching up. Like he’s asking how Tobias’ training has been going, instead of reuniting with the child he made an orphan.

“It’s been eight years,” Tobias hisses. He can’t decide if he wants to attack the pangoro or run away. Nia’s grip anchors him in place.

“Huh. Time flies. You’re still a squirt, but you were a tiny little thing then. No bigger than my paw.”

Dismas lifts a paw as far as he can with the chains restricting him, and wiggles his fingers. His claws flash in the low light. He could probably still crush Tobias without a second thought, but when Tobias was younger, when he was half his current size, it would’ve been effortless. Vivi was even tinier.

Tobias grits his teeth, anger slowly overpowering the terror. He can feel his control slipping, embers climbing into his throat.

“You a big-shot Seeker now?” Dismas asks, still so casual. He gestures to the scarf around Tobias’ throat.

Tobias’ free hand lifts, grabbing the worn material as if to keep it from him. This scarf was Vivi’s, and Tobias will die before he lets this monster touch it.

Dismas’ gaze moves to Nia. “This your little partner?”

Nia doesn’t answer, but Tobias can feel her squeeze his hand just a bit tighter. She’s standing tall out of the corner of his eye.

Dismas huffs. “You gonna say anything or are you two just here to waste my time?”

Tobias takes a step forward, fire boiling over. “Shut up! You aren’t the one asking questions here!”

Dismas’ brow rises. “Well, go on then. I don’t have all day.”

Tobias wants to lunge for the pangoro’s throat. Nia tugs him back a step, away from Dismas and back to her side. Tobias can’t tell if she’s shaking too, or if that’s just him.

Tobias swallows, gut churning.

“Why?” He rasps. “Why did you kill them?”

Dismas looks unimpressed by the question. “You were there, brat. Surely you remember.”

Tobias was there, but he doesn’t remember. He can’t. Every time he’s ever tried to remember the details, panic has risen like a tide, swamping his thoughts and choking him for air, sending him flailing until he stops.

Dismas, in response to Tobias’ silence, shrugs a shoulder. “Sulien ordered it.”

Tobias takes a breath, tears brimming in his eyes. He blinks them back. “Why did Sulien want to kill them? My dad was an instrument-maker. My mom was a mail-mon. My sister was six. They…there’s no way they were involved in something shady, and we…it’s not like we had a lot of money. So why?”

Tobias hates the way his voice breaks. He hates that this is how he has to get his answers. He hates being at the mercy of Dismas yet again.

The pangoro snorts. “It’s not like we went there planning it. There was a storm.”

Tobias knows there was a storm, but that doesn’t explain anything. Why would the storm be important? Tobias doesn’t know, he doesn’t remember, he—

…He does. He does remember.

———————————————————

It’s raining. Hard. Has been all day, and although storms usually pass quickly in the mountains, this one doesn’t look like it’s gonna let up anytime soon.

Since she can’t fly safely in this kind of weather, Mama’s home today—a rarity in the middle of the afternoon. She takes over for Papa’s lessons to let him work in peace, playing little games with Toby and Vivi to help them learn their letters and math.

Each time they finish a lesson, Mama lets them each hold onto one of her giant wings. She flaps them open to fling her children up with shrieks of laughter before gently catching them and lowering them back to the ground. Usually they can get three rounds out of her with cries of “Again! Again!” before she puts her foot down and they have to start the next lesson.

It’s a peaceful day. A bit boring, even, until late afternoon when a shadow—three shadows—block out the gray light from the mouth of the cave.

Toby recognizes the biggest Pokemon from one of his books. He remembers, ‘cause he’s a fire type like them. A growlithe, maybe? Wait, no, an arcanine.

His ear is shredded like an old piece of fabric, scars cutting through his fur and across one of his eyes. His fur is limp with rain, though, and he has a sheepish smile on his face, so he doesn’t seem scary.

There’s another Pokemon standing behind him with his arms folded and an unhappy scowl on his face. He’s tall, with black and white fur.

The third Pokemon, a crobat, came in dangling from the tall Pokemon’s arm, but quickly hopped off to huddle in the dirt instead. His wings are crossed over his body, looking too drenched to fly.

“Sorry for intruding,” the arcanine says, friendly and warm. “We were hoping we could get out of the rain for a while?”

———————————————————

Tobias blinks. He stares at Dismas. “You…you said you wanted to get out of the rain.”

“Yup.”

“But that…” Tobias’ heart is pounding faster. Why does he feel like he’s the one being interrogated here?

Tobias glances at the quagsire standing guard off to the side, as if she’ll somehow have the answers. The quagsire looks back at him, sharp gaze softened by something sad and sympathetic.

Tobias doesn’t have time for her pity. He avoids Nia’s gaze entirely, looking back at Dismas. “B-But that wasn’t true, right? You were just…lying. To get to us.”

Dismas snorts. “Why would we lie? The idiots wanted out of the rain.”

“But why our cave?!”

“We ran across your cave by chance, brat. Your family just had the bad luck of living in the first decent shelter we found going over the mountain range.”

Tobias stares at Dismas, disbelief making him feel numb.

By chance? Bad luck?

Tobias’ family was killed because of bad luck?

That—that can’t be right. Tobias lost his whole world that night. There has to be a better reason. There has to be some reason why his family had to go through that. Why he had to go through that.

“What do you mean?” Tobias asks, trying make the words a demand. They come out weak and lost. “If it was just by chance that you met us, then why did you attack us?!”

“You don’t remember.”

No, Tobias doesn’t remember, because he can’t ever let himself remember that night in full. Because when he tries, the panic comes back in full force and shuts him down before he even gets a chance.

Tobias snarls, a wordless and feral sound. A threat.

Dismas rolls his eyes. “Your mom figured us out.”

Tobias stops, breathing hard. Embers flutter in the edges of his vision.

Just like that, just like a twig holding together a dam, everything falls loose.

He remembers.

———————————————————

His parents are welcoming, at first. His mama jokes with the arcanine and crobat, Sulien and Asra, about the rain while his father adds kindling to the fire to give it extra warm.

Toby is a little shy, as he always is around strangers. Even more with big, strong strangers like these ones.

Vivi echoes all of his awe without the shyness, immediately bouncing around the strangers’ paws with question after question about their names and species and types and where they’re from. The tall one, a pangoro named Dismas, is clearly annoyed by her curiosity, but Asra and Sulien smile and answer patiently.

The storm rages on far longer than anyone expects, into the evening. Vivi has graduated from crawling around Sulien’s giant paws to to climbing over the arcanine’s fluffy back and mane. She’d scrambled her way up the fire type’s shoulders before their parents could stop her, and once there the arcanine had assured them she was fine. Toby had settled in at Sulien’s paws, listening to the adults talk.

The strangers tell them that they’re called Team Zenith, and they focus on rescue work.

“Is that how you got that scar on your face?” Vivi asks, sprawled stop Sulien’s fluffy head and peering down at him.

“Vivian!” Mama scolds.

Sulien laughs. “It’s fine. No, this one was from a nasty fight.”

Vivi gasps. “A bad guy?!”

Sulien nods, solemn. “The worst.”

“Whoa.”

Toby echoes his sister, leaning back against the arcanine’s warm, fluffy chest. He loves his Mama and Papa, but there’s something really nice about a pelt so soft.

“Maybe I wanna be a Seeker when I grow up,” Toby muses.

“Oh! Me too! Me too!”

“You’ll both have to get a bit bigger first,” Mama teases, flicking her tail over to tickle Tobias’ side. He giggles and kicks her away.

Eventually, Mama excuses herself from the warmth of the fire to grab her mail for the following day. When the storm clears up, she’ll have a lot of deliveries to make. She brings them to the fire to organize by neighborhood, sorting them into piles.

Toby crawls into her lap, watching as she reads the name and location on each one before deciding which pile it belongs to. He tries to read them too and make it a race, but he’s a lot slower than her.

Conversation continues between the adults, interrupted only by Vivi’s occasional question or exclamation. Toby mostly listens, and reads, and sometimes puts a letter on the right pile when Mama points it out to him.

He perks up when they’re done with the regular mail and get to the guild notices. A lot of the papers are boring stuff that just go to the local guild outpost, but sometimes they have wanted posters that Mama has to pin up in town. Those are a little scary, but they’re kind of exciting, too.

Tobias skims the words he can see on the current paper, the sheet held a little too high over his head as Mama reads. Finally, she hands it over to him, pointing out where it needs to go. He lays it gently in place.

Mama picks up the next letter, and Toby feels it when she suddenly goes tense underneath him. Confused, he looks up at the paper she’s holding, seeing that it’s a wanted poster with pictures of outlaws on it.

Huh. Mama doesn’t usually get scared by wanted posters like Toby and Vivi sometimes do.

It’s taking way too long for her to hand it to him, so Toby tugs impatiently on his mom’s wrist. The paper is yanked down just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the pictures.

An arcanine with a scar. A crobat. A pangoro.

Mom yanks the letter away from him. He lets her, frowning up at her face in confusion.

“Mama, what—"

“Toby, go over to Papa.”

Toby hesitates, feeling like something is…wrong. Why was Team Zenith on the wanted poster? Toby thought those were only for bad Pokemon.

Mama doesn’t wait for him, sliding him off her lap and standing. She gathers the piles of letters with unusually sharp movements.

“Mama?”

“You’re fine, sweetie,” Mama says, neck dipping to brush her muzzle over his head. “I just don’t feel like working on those anymore tonight. I’ll get your help with them again later. Go over to your dad, okay?”

Her voice shakes.

Toby glances at Papa. He’s watching Mama now, smile gone.

Toby looks back at Mama. She’s watching Vivi, who is crawling all over Sulien and still chattering on about something.

Mama’s quiet. Like something’s wrong but she doesn’t want Toby and Vivi to know about it.

The arcanine smiles at Mama, apparently picking up on it, too. “Something wrong, ma’am?”

“No no. Just—Vivi, get off Mr. Sulien, all right?”

“Aww, why?” Vivi whines, little fingers tightening in his fur.

“Vivian!” Mama snaps.

Toby and Vivi both wince. Slowly, with a pout, Vivi slides down Sulien’s back and trudges over to Papa, leaning into his side. He wraps his tail around her.

“Toby, why don’t you come over here too?” Papa says, voice light. “It’s about time for bed.”

There’s something about his tone, though, that makes Tobias tense.

Toby doesn’t move. He doesn’t understand why that outlaw paper had Team Zenith on it, or why everyone suddenly got so quiet.

Mama is standing, not putting her papers away like she said she would. Like it’s important that Toby goes over to Papa before she does.

Papa is sitting up straighter than before, not letting Vivi move. He motions Toby closer.

It’s Asra who really makes Toby upset, though. The crobat suddenly looks sick to his stomach, gaze flicking between Sulien and Mama.

Sulien smiles. “You’re sure nothing is wrong?”

Thunder rumbles outside, long and low. Like the sky is growling.

Toby finally darts to his sister’s side, ducking under his papa’s tail and pressing close to his belly where it’s safe. He’s scared. He doesn’t know why he’s scared.

“You said you’re a mail mon, right?” Sulien asks politely.

His mama doesn’t answer.

“That includes notices to the guild, doesn’t it?”

Sulien stands up. He stretches, muscles rippling under striped fur.

“Show me that last notice you were sorting.”

Mama shakes her head. Toby doesn’t think he’s ever seen that look on her face. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“Shame,” Sulien says, casual. “Neither did I. But it seems trouble has found us regardless.”

Papa’s tail curls tighter around them, pressing them close.

“We don’t have much,” Mama says, low. Fervent. “But you can have it. Just go. Or let us go. We’ll go.”

“I’m afraid that’s really not the problem here,” Sulien says. “The problem is that we need to get out of this mountain range without anyone knowing where we’re heading next.”

“We won’t say anything,” Mama says, quick. Desperate. She’s usually the one picking fights, not trying to compromise.

Toby’s stomach feels cold.

“S-Sulien,” Asra says, hushed. “Come on, they said they won’t say anything. We can make them leave and—"

Sulien sighs, cutting the crobat off. “I’d really like to believe that. Unfortunately, you know I’d rather not take any chances.”

He flexes his paw, claws extending in the firelight.

Tobias flinches.

Vivi whimpers.

A growl pours from Papa’s throat.

His mama’s wings spread, making her bigger. She looks angry. She looks terrified.

———————————————————

“You really didn’t come there looking for us,” Tobias whispers, staring at Dismas. The pangoro stares back, expressionless.

It wasn’t some kind of shady business. Or even a robbery. It wasn’t anything against his parents at all.

They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. They extended their kindness to the wrong Pokemon.

———————————————————

“I’m afraid I’d rather play it safe,” Sulien says. He flicks his shredded ear.

Dismas launches himself forward. Toby doesn’t even see the move that sends Mama flying back into the cave wall with a crack.

“Mama!” Toby shrieks.

He and Vivi try to push past Papa’s tail, but he drags them back.

“Aria!” His papa yells.

Mama pushes herself up, blowing a wave of fire out in front of her to ward the pangoro off. She glances at them, eyes wild. “Run, Silas!”

Papa hesitates for only a second. Then he scoops Tobias and Vivi up in his arms and bolts towards the mouth of the cave.

But it’s storming! Mama said they can never fly when it’s storming! It’s too dangerous. There’s rain and lightning and wind and—

And Sulien is there, standing large and proud against the darkness.

Papa stops. Toby can hear Mama fighting with the pangoro behind them.

“They’re just kids,” his papa says, voice tight. “Let them go.”

Sulien’s eyes move down to Toby and Vivi. “They are. But eventually they’ll be adults. And that one—” he nods at Vivi, who bares her teeth and growls, even with tears in her eyes. “Has the look of a hero. No, they’re old enough to realize what happened here.”

Toby feels his papa’s heart racing against his back, skin hot and clammy all at once. Slowly, he’s put down beside Vivi.

“Papa?” Toby asks, shaky. He’s trying to sniff back tears, but he can hear his mama snarling and the FWOOSH and heat of fire and Sulien is looking at them like a stranger, like a villain in a story and—

“Toby. Take your sister and run.”

Papa’s voice is low. Almost too low to hear.

Toby blinks. “W-What?”

They aren’t allowed out in storms, and definitely not on their own.

Papa spares him a glance. He swallows. “Run. Don’t stop running until you’re safe. And take care of your sister.”

“Papa?” Vivi says.

“We love you both,” Papa whispers. His voice is higher than usual. Rough. “So much.”

Before Tobias can answer, Papa is using his tail to sweep the two of them towards the mouth of the cave. Toby stumbles, Vivi crying out at his side.

Then Papa is arcing over them with a roar that shakes Toby to his bones. He watches with wide eyes as Papa and Sulien tumble together in a snarling blur of orange.

Everything is chaos. Growling and crashing and fire and—

Vivi slams into him, hugging him desperately. He wraps his arms around her on instinct, claws bunching into the oversized red scarf she always wears like a little cape.

“Tobias!” His mother roars. He looks over at her, panicked. She’s panting, one of her wings hanging in a sickening way at her side as the pangoro recovers from a heavy hit. “Run!”

“Asra!” Sulien barks. “Grab them!”

Tobias spins, locking eyes with the crobat. He’s flapping in midair, looking just as scared as Tobias feels.

“Sulien, they’re—they’re just kids. Surely we don’t need to hurt them, right?”

The word ‘hurt’ jolts Toby into movement. He grabs his sister by the hand and yanks her towards the entrance, tears blurring his vision.

A flash of purple flies by and blocks the entrance, making them stumble back. The crobat flaps in place, brow furrowed as he glances between them and Sulien.

Toby grabs Vivi tighter and darts to the side, hoping to skirt around the crobat. The crobat swoops at them, barely missing them. It feels threatening, like he’s going to pick them up and carry them away, but—

——————————————————

“He wasn’t really trying, was he?” Tobias rasps. “He…he was so much faster than that. He wanted us to escape. But…”

——————————————————

For an instant, Toby thinks they’re going to make it. They duck under the crobat’s wings and—

A heavy weight—a thousand times heavier than Mama and Papa when they play fight with them—slams into Toby, pinning him on his back. It knocks the air out of him. He tries to gasp for air as he looks up at his attacker.

Sulien doesn’t look scared like Asra. He doesn’t look like he’s feeling anything, except mild irritation. Toby feels the arcanine’s claws dig into his throat, bruising in their force and cutting off his air as something wet leaks down his skin.

Toby tries to kick, but he can’t reach the arcanine’s chest. Vivi screams and grabs the arcanine’s paw, trying to pull it off of him.

Sulien grabs her in his mouth like she’s nothing more than a toy, throwing her aside. She slams into the cave wall with a cracking sound and lands hard on her stomach.

Tobias tries to turn his head, his sister’s name on his tongue, but pain sears through his neck as claws tear at his soft throat.

Sulien’s mouth opens, and Toby sees nothing but fangs and fire lunging at him as he squeezes his eyes shut.

There’s a roar and a gust of hot air, and then the weight is gone from him entirely. Mama slams the arcanine into the wall with a sound that echoes and sends stone raining down from the ceiling.

Toby gasps and coughs as he scrambles up, reaching for his neck. His palm comes away red and slick with blood. It tickles as it streaks down his chest.

Toby ignores it, still coughing as he stumbles to Vivi’s side. She’s trying to push herself up, but one of her hands is pressed to the back of her head and the other shakes and trembles.

“Lemme see,” Toby rasps, kneeling at her side. He helps her sit up, then peels away the hand on her head. His heart stops when he sees slick red on her palm.

Vivi whines, slumping into Toby’s shoulder. He pulls her close, looking around frantically.

Mama is wrestling with Sulien now. Papa has turned on the pangoro, cornering him in the back of the cave. Asra is still stalled in place, staring at them with wide yellow eyes.

“Tobias! Run!” Mama yells again.

Toby jolts, then staggers to his feet. He feels lightheaded, spots in his vision, but he knows he needs to move. Vivi is clinging to him weakly, but she can’t seem to get her feet under her even when he tries to pull her up.

Toby feels renewed panic lap at him. Usually when they get hurt, when they scrape a knee or pull a claw, they go to their parents. And Vivi is clearly hurt, stumbling and tilting as if she’s dizzy.

He doesn’t know how to fix this.

Tobias decides on a different course of action. He swings Vivi around and pulls her onto his back, hopping to secure her higher. He nearly falls from the weight throwing him off balance, but staggers towards the mouth of the cave all the same.

“Asra, get those kids or you’re next!” Sulien snarls.

There’s no protest this time. A blur of purple flashes out of the corner of Toby’s eye, swooping for him again. He ducks and runs faster, out of the cave.

The storm slams into him like a wall. The cold rain stings against his skin, whipping into his face like needles. He squints against it. Between the rain and wind and darkness, he can hardly see two feet in front of him.

Another snarl comes from the cave. Toby startles and takes off, stumbling over rocks and slipping in mud. Each time he does, Vivi whimpers, her face tucked away in the crook of his bloodied neck.

Tobias runs and runs through the darkness, sliding down steep inclines and through scraggly groups of trees. It’s a miracle he doesn’t run himself right off the cliffside, guided only by hazy memory and luck.

He feels like he runs forever.

His lungs burn. He can’t feel his legs. Vivi sits like a boulder tied to his back, deadweight, but he doesn’t dare slow down. His fingers feel locked into place by the cold.

He doesn’t stop until a deep mud puddle sucks his foot down. He falls hard onto his front, then lays gasping in the mud. Its icy cold burns, and eventually he summons the strength to push himself up and crawl out of the puddle he’d landed in.

He gently deposits Vivi onto the ground behind him.

She slumps over.

“Vivi?” Toby asks, panting.

Vivi lies motionless on the grass. Too quiet. Too still. She’s never that quiet and still, even when she’s asleep.

“Vivi?” Toby asks again, shaking her gently. She feels cold, but everything feels cold right now.

He turns her over, to find her eyes closed and her little brow furrowed. He pats her cheek. “Vivi? Vivi, c’mon. W-Wake up! We…we gotta go. We gotta hide. O-Or get help, or…”

Vivi doesn’t answer. Fresh panic blooms in Tobias’ chest, and hot tears flood his eyes. He can’t tell what’s rain and what’s tears.

He shakes her a little harder. Her head lolls.

“Vivi!” He shouts.

She doesn’t wake up. Is it—is it because she hit her head?

He turns her over in his lap, breath hitching when he sees the place she smacked the back of her head against the cave wall when Sulien threw her. The rain has been washing out the wound, but it still glistens with fresh blood. Tobias knows head wounds bleed a lot, especially in the mountains, but the scariest part is how the spot looks almost…dented. Just a bit.

Toby looks around desperately. He can’t see anyone in the darkness and rain, and he knows there aren’t many other Pokemon who live near their home, but—

But he’s so scared. He’s never been so scared in his entire life.

“Help!” Toby yells, voice hoarse. Sulien and Asra and Dismas might hear him, but…but his sister is hurt.

“Help!” He yells again, a hot wave of tears filling his eyes to streak down chilled cheeks. “Please!”

He yells and yells, but nobody answers.

Tobias suddenly remembers what Papa told them, a long time ago. That they should pray to Entei if they ever feel scared or unsafe. He protects kids like them! He’ll help. He has to.

“E-Entei, please help us. Please, I’m really scared and Vivi needs help a-and I don’t know what else to do.”

Toby waits again. The storm continues overhead, loud and cold and endless. Entei doesn’t appear on fiery paws to whisk them away. There’s no big, strong presence to shield them from the rain.

They’re on their own.

Toby sniffs hard, looking down at Vivi. He doesn’t know what to do. Did she lose too much blood? Or is something inside her hurt? What did Mama say that one time about bad injuries?

You…you need to stop the bleeding if you get hurt real bad. You need to put something on the injury.

Tobias doesn’t have supplies, but his eyes land on Vivi’s scarf, its red hue looking dull and drab in the darkness and rain. Vivi’s going to be so mad at him for getting blood on her favorite scarf, but—but this is more important.

Toby unknots the scarf with shaking hands, then presses the soaking wet fabric against the wound. He expects Vivi to whine or cry out, since it has to hurt.

She doesn’t move. She still hasn’t moved.

Thunder rumbles again. The rain comes down in sheets, painful and freezing against his nearly-numb skin. Toby needs to find shelter soon. Sitting out in the rain for too long is dangerous for any fire type, but especially kids. Especially in the mountains.

Toby starts to drag Vivi onto his back again, when something catches his eye.

The tip of her short tail.

Dark.

Tobias drops her. He hates himself for it immediately, but he does. He hovers over her—her body—her, and shivers, and stares.

No. No no no.

B-But—but maybe she’s still okay? Maybe she’s just hurt, really bad, but if he gets her help, then…

Tobias presses the side of his head to Vivi’s chest.

He waits. And waits. Two rolls of thunder. Three. The rain doesn’t let up.

No breath. No heartbeat.

Toby whimpers. Then he gathers air into his lungs and wails. He thought that he knew what it was like, to be upset. To be scared. To be in pain. He remembers crying to Mama and Papa really hard that one time he pulled a claw.

This is something else. His voice rips out of him like it’s alive, like he has no control over it. He drapes himself over Vivi, crying, pleading for her to come back. He doesn’t know how long.

She doesn’t answer.

Tobias doesn’t remember getting up. He doesn’t remember leaving Vivi. He doesn’t remember wandering off with his sister’s scarf clenched tight in his fingers.

He does remember stepping just a bit too close to a cliffside that was loosened by the rain. Remembers how it gave out from underneath him. Remembers how he didn’t even yell, falling and falling and then—

Darkness.

Next time he woke up, he was bandaged and warm, tucked into a soft bed. The nice Pokemon who found him half-buried under rubble had taken him to the village doctor. Tobias had asked the doctor where his sister was, or his parents, and he knew right away what the old ‘mon’s tight smile and evasive answers meant.

His family was gone.

——————————————————

A painful squeeze of Tobias’ hand catches his attention. What is that? Did Sulien come back for him? No, he’s safe at the doctor’s house, he—

He stares at the riolu in front of him, uncomprehending. There’s not a riolu at the doctor’s, and certainly not in his cave.

Her ruby eyes are glassy with tears, and she’s holding his hand. Something about her makes him feel safe.

She’s saying something, but Tobias can’t hear her, his heartbeat loud in his ears. He can read her lips, though, as she repeats one word to him, over and over.

Breathe.

Tobias tries to listen, taking a shaky breath of air. Then another, and another. The riolu doesn’t look away, smiling encouragingly and breathing with him.

Slowly, Tobias feels his body settle into the room around him. It’s warmer here than in the rain, but colder than the doctor’s house. Darker, lit a muted green. His ears feel funny. His free hand is pulling at his—at Vivi’s scarf, and his neck burns as if the marks left there haven’t long since scarred over. There’s a quagsire and malamar watching him with sympathetic expressions, and—

Tobias freezes when he sees the pangoro. Dismas. Dismas is here, he’s going to hurt Mama and Papa and Vivi and the riolu and—

“Tobias!” The riolu places both paws on either side of his face, turning him away from the pangoro until all he can see is her. “Ignore him. Keep breathing with me, okay?”

Tobias doesn’t think he can, but he nods anyways and tries to follow the riolu’s exaggerated breaths. In. Out. Again.

Tobias doesn’t know when the riolu in front of him turns into someone he knows, but suddenly his brain remembers that she has a name.

Nia.

He latches onto her paws, taking stock of himself.

His eyes sting, as if he was crying. He’s still shaking, but his breathing is steadier. The grief and terror in his chest feels fresh, painful as the day he lost his family.

Tobias must make a pitiful sound, because Nia shushes him gently, murmuring, “Hey, stay here with me, okay? You back?”

Tobias nods, trying to stay in the present. He focuses on the cool metal underfoot. Nia’s soft paws on his cheeks. The sight of her eyes, red cooled to a deep brown in the green light. The quiet creak of the metal room around them.

He’s here. He’s in Kaleido Bay, with Nia. And he finally has the answer he has wanted all these years. He finally knows why his family was ripped away from him.

Chance.

Has Tobias wasted the last eight years of his life, looking for this? For a simple, nonsensical answer that changes nothing? An answer that was hidden away inside his own head?

If Sulien gets captured by other Seekers like Dismas had, then…what is Tobias’ goal? Without answers to find and the outlaws to track down, what does he have to strive towards?

What does he even have to live for?

“We really messed you up, huh?” Dismas says. The pangoro doesn’t sound remorseful. If anything, he says it like a joke, lighthearted and casual.

Nia snaps her teeth at him. “Shut up!”

Tobias looks at Dismas again. He tries to speak, then has to clear his throat to get the words to come. “You…don’t even care, do you? About what you did?”

Dismas snorts. “Your family wasn’t the first ‘mon we had to take out, kid. I can’t afford to get all weepy about it. I’m not Asra.”

“The crobat?” Nia murmurs. “Wasn’t he your partner?”

“A coward is what he was. Always trying to avoid getting his claws dirty. I bet that softhearted idiot didn’t even look for you brats after Sulien told him to. I was surprised Sulien let him run off at all, at least with his skull intact.”

Nia glances at Tobias before saying, “Asra’s, um…dead. He died in a rockslide.”

Dismas barks a laugh. “Ah, there it is! Looks like Sulien found him after all.”

Their faces must ask the question for them.

“Asra was spineless, but he was fast. He wouldn’t have gotten taken out by a rock slide. Not a natural one, at least.”

Nia looks vaguely sick. “You mean..?”

“Sulien always hated how much of a softie Asra was. Trying to run and start a new life with so much blood on his fangs? When he knew all of our history? Nah. He was a danger Sulien couldn’t risk keeping alive. It was only a matter of time for him.”

“And you?” Nia challenges. “Is Sulien the reason you got caught?”

Dismas laughs again. “No, we parted ways a while ago. I had enough of his brilliant ideas and decided to strike out on my own.”

“Lot of good that did you,” Nia mutters.

“You mean this place?” Dismas asks, making a vague gesture around the room with one restrained paw. “I needed somewhere to crash for a while. Time to figure out where I’m going next and all that. But now that you mention it, I am getting sick of the slop they serve here as food.”

Dismas looks past them, towards the malamar standing guard at the door. “Hey, beak face!”

The malamar straightens up, tentacles flaring. “Quiet down, D22.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be quick.” Dismas grins, toothy and goading. “Just thought you’d want to know that your little disable treatments haven’t been lasting as long as you wanted ‘em to.”

He lifts both paws as high as he can, curling them into fists. One paw bursts into flames, bright enough to be painful to Tobias’ eyes in the dim light. The other fist glints in the fire’s light, coated in ice.

Tobias feels a familiar sense of dread pool in his gut.

“Put your attacks away!” the malamar shouts, marching closer. The quagsire backs up a step, falling into a defensive stance.

“Aw, but I’ve been having a lot of fun in here with my little science experiments,” Dismas chuckles, opening his fists and dismissing the elemental energy. “You do know what happens when you heat and cool chains so frequently, right?”

The pangoro pulls his arms in, straining them against the metal chains. Tobias can hear them creak and groan for just a second before—

The chains snap like a cheap toy.

Tobias scrambles backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet. Nia moves with him.

Dismas isn’t the fastest ‘mon, but he’s still faster than the quagsire beside him. Before the water type can shoot off a move, the pangoro spins to punch her in the gut, the bright glint of metal following in his wake.

Bullet punch.

The quagsire resists steel type moves, but she still goes skidding back, slamming into the metal wall with a loud bang. Tobias flinches, seeing Vivi, hearing rain—

The malamar rushes past them, pushing Nia and Tobias back with one tentacle and attacking Dismas with the other. Dismas catches the move in a giant paw, grinning, shackles and broken chains dangling from his wrists.

The pangoro turns, swinging the malamar with him, and slams him into the floor, leaving a dent in the metal.

“Miro!” the quagsire calls, getting back to her feet. “Send out an alert!”

Right! The malamar’s a psychic-type. They must have some kind of telepathy system set up here to communicate.

Except the malamar doesn’t answer, rolling to dodge a heavy fist. He lunges into a peck that Dismas barely wards off with his legs and neck still shackled. The malamar looks almost frenzied, going after the pangoro with a vicious aggression. It’s strange, and so unsettling a strategy to see from a psychic type that Tobias realizes with a sinking heart what Dismas was doing earlier.

Taunt.

All the malamar can do is attack. And that is a terrible thing for a Pokemon who likely relies on stat changes and status moves to fight.

It’s clear from the easy way that Dismas handles the psychic type. With a single throat chop that leaves the malamar gasping, Tobias can see the end coming. Dismas sweeps his arm back, dark type energy leaving streaks like black lightning in its wake, then stabs a shadow claw through the malamar’s gut.

Nia makes a shrill sound, stumbling back with her paws clamped over her muzzle. Tobias just watches with a sick sense of deja vu.

Dismas lets the energy dissipate.

The malamar drops and lies still.

Tobias has to believe he’s alive, despite the odds. He can’t watch this monster kill another Pokemon right in front of him.

Dismas takes advantage of the moment of stunned silence. He lifts massive paws to grab either side of the shackle around his neck, snapping it open like a chestnut to drop at his paws. He sighs, satisfied, and rolls his neck with a crack that makes both Nia and Tobias wince.

The quagsire jumps into action, rushing at the pangoro. Her cheeks puff up with a water gun.

Dismas ducks under the first jet, fists flashing with fire before he punches right through the two chains holding his legs in place. Those, too, break with little resistance, likely weakened beforehand for this chance at escape.

The quagsire is slower than Dismas, but she fights strategically, keeping her distance when possible to shoot off a water pulse or mud shot. When she sees an opening, she moves in closer for an aqua tail or slam attack.

Tobias wants to help, afraid of what will happen if and when the quagsire goes down, but…Tobias knows what it’s like, trying to fight in close quarters with a partner you’re unused to. It can cause more problems than staying out of the fight entirely. They’d likely just get in the way.

Tobias glances at the crank to the door over his shoulder, wondering if they could open it themselves, but it’s nearly as tall as them. There’s no way they could get enough leverage.

Before Tobias can think of anything else, the quagsire is slammed down with enough force to dent the metal floor. She’s still fighting, landing a powerful drain punch on the pangoro that actually makes him grunt in pain, but Tobias gets the feeling that she isn’t going all-out. Whether that’s because she can’t use moves like surf or earthquake in this delicate prison cell without risking collateral damage or because she’s afraid of hurting Nia, Tobias, and the malamar, it’s clear to Tobias that she’s holding back.

She still puts up an impressive fight, but it only takes a few more powerful, unrestrained blows from Dismas before the quagsire thuds to the metal floor and stays there, out cold.

And with that, everything falls quiet. All Tobias can hear is the roar of his heartbeat in his ears. He stares at the pangoro, fear building in his gut.

Not again. He can’t do this again.

Nia steps in front of him, paws raised in a fighting stance. She looks confident, if you aren’t close enough to see the way she’s trembling.

Dismas turns to the two of them, huffing a laugh when he sees Nia’s stance. “What, you squirts wanna fight? You could just let me walk out, you know.”

Nia glances back at Tobias, as if asking what he wants to do. Tobias stares past her, unable to answer. He knows he’s shaking.

Tobias wanted this, not so long ago. He wanted the chance to take down the outlaws that killed his family. But now, trapped in here with Dismas, knowing he and Nia’s lives are on the line if they try to fight? Knowing what the pangoro can and will do, without a second thought?

Tobias is afraid. He wants to run. Hide. Let Dismas go without a fight.

But he can’t.

He can’t risk Dismas going free. He can’t risk the pangoro doing more harm to anyone else.

Tobias forces himself to breathe. Forces himself to step forward on stiff, shaky legs to stand beside Nia. He crouches into his own battle stance, trying to summon his fire.

Dismas laughs. “I’m impressed! Seeing as you just about wet yourself earlier, I thought you’d turn tail at the first sign of trouble.”

The pangoro strolls away from them, towards the far wall of the room. His broken chains drag on the metal floor with every step. He stops in front of the nearest of the tall, slim windows.

“If you wanna play hero…”

Dismas flings out a paw, slamming it into the window with a heart-stopping crack. It’s the way he’s holding his fingers, flat in a chopping motion, that tips Tobias off to what he just did.

The reflect and light screen cast over the glass, the only thing reinforcing it, stand no chance against a brick break attack. The barriers flicker, shimmering outward from the hit before dissipating entirely.

The unprotected glass cracks, splintering like a fault line. Right where Dismas’ fist hit, frothy water bursts in, spilling across the floor in an endless, powerful jet of water. In a room like this, sealed tight, it’s only a matter of time before it floods the space completely. It’d be a death trap for most Pokemon, but especially for Tobias.

Dismas grins as he turns back to them, toothy and ruthless. “Then let’s play.”

#pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd #pangoro #riolu #charmander #pokemon #quagsire #tesha draws #tesha writes #teshamerkel

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teshadraws · 4 months ago

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 61]

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AO3 Link

Tobias and Nia fight to stay alive.

CW: Discussion of death, survivor’s guilt, and vaguely suicidal thoughts in the last scene. Stay safe!

Without another word, Dismas launches himself at them. Nia yelps and dives out of the way. Tobias rolls the other direction. The pangoro’s fist swings past them, hard enough for a gust of wind to follow.

Tobias has enough time to lock wide, terrified eyes with Nia before they’re forced into battle in earnest.

The pangoro kicks out with a low sweep of his leg, probably hoping to get both of them. Tobias stumbles back to avoid it while Nia hops over the attack. She wastes no time summoning her aura, pulling it into the form of a staff to deflect another swing of the pangoro’s fist. It’s glittering with ice in the blue glow of her energy.

Tobias can’t get between the two in such close quarters without causing problems for Nia, so he skirts around Dismas to attack his back with bursts of flame. The pangoro is distracted enough to send a move Tobias’ way, but he quickly focuses on Nia again. His onslaught is relentless, slowly pushing their battle closer to the wall.

Tobias continues his assault and tries to keep a handle on his frantic thoughts, but the loud rush of water spilling through the window behind him isn’t helping. Think, Toby. They can’t win a battle of pure strength, not against Dismas. They’re outclassed and Tobias knows it. So they need a plan.

Tobias’ eyes flick around the cell between attacks, trying to find something to help. They can’t escape the room—the door crank is too heavy, too far off the ground. The guards are both unconscious on the floor. The rest of the room is bereft of exits, unless they manage to float to the top of the room and crawl up the air vent before the water catches up to them.

No, that won’t work. The water would swallow him and Nia, short as they are, way before it impeded Dismas. And Tobias can’t swim.

Tobias’ eyes catch again on the cracked window, gushing water at a steady rate. He’d thought at first that the water was just to slow them—him, specifically—down. But Dismas can’t be thinking they’re that much of a threat. He’s clearly confident in his abilities, and for good reason.

Is it some kind of sick power play to mess with Tobias? Is Dismas so confident that he put a self-imposed timer on himself just for fun? Or is he hoping to take the entire prison down with him? Punch the door down and let the whole place flood? Tobias wouldn’t be surprised if the pangoro’s escape plan was to just keep swinging until he was free and cause as much damage as possible on the way out.

Either way, it adds a whole new layer of terror to a situation that was already bad enough. The seawater spilling into the room is already reaching them, lapping at their feet in a thin layer. It burns underfoot, and Tobias grits his teeth against the sensation.

Nia gasps as the water reaches her. She ducks under another fist. “Tobias! The guards!”

It takes a moment for Tobias to understand what she’s talking about. Then he curses, glancing at the quagsire and malamar lying unconscious on the floor. Which is now flooding. They don’t have anywhere safe they can put them, even if they had the time and safety to, but they can’t just let them drown, either.

Maybe that’s what Dismas was aiming for.

Tobias growls, dodging a retaliatory kick from Dismas and going for the malamar first. He avoids looking at where the Pokemon was stabbed through the gut, and instead puts his whole body into rolling the malamar onto their back.

Tobias looks frantically for any sign of gills. The malamar’s body seems like it could be conducive for swimming, but Tobias can’t be sure considering he was breathing air earlier.

Then his eyes catch on the suction cups on the malamar’s tentacle-like arms.

…Oh, this is such a stupid idea.

Tobias glances back at Nia. The riolu is just barely managing to ward off Dismas, aura staff helping her sidestep and deflect heavy punches, but she’s clearly struggling to keep up. Tobias has to hurry.

Tobias puts his whole body into shoving the malamar the few feet over to the wall, then props the psychic type up against the metal. Then he grabs the malamar’s tentacle-like arm and jumps as high as he can to slap it sucker-side-down against the wall.

When Tobias lands with a splash, the malamar’s arm hangs securely to the wall. It’s holding the guard upright, so that his face is now a few feet above the rising tide.

Good enough.

Tobias looks at the quagsire. She’s already lying face-up and doesn’t have anything obvious that could help her stay upright like the malamar’s suction cups. He could try to prop her against the wall so she’s at least sitting up, but he’s honestly not sure he could move her. She looks even heavier than her colleague.

A loud BANG comes from Nia and Dismas’ fight. Tobias glances over his shoulder, terrified of what he’ll see, only to find that Nia has just barely evaded a punch that put a giant dent into the metal wall.

He doesn’t have time to sit here and figure something out. Nia needs him. The quagsire is a water-type—he’ll just have to hope that she’s either naturally buoyant enough to float, or that she can breathe underwater somehow.

Tobias runs back to the fight, noting how strange it was that Dismas hadn’t gone after him at all in his absence. The pangoro has been pursuing Nia almost single-mindedly for most of the fight, only attacking Tobias when he needs to get him off his back. At first, Tobias had just figured he’d picked a target at random between the two of them, or maybe he wanted to be extra sadistic and take out Tobias’ partner first.

But even now, as Tobias sends a dragon rage at the pangoro’s back that actually makes him grunt, Dismas only retaliates enough to send Tobias on the retreat before bearing down on Nia again. It’s not until Nia uses the opportunity to take a swing of her own with her aura club that Tobias realizes why she’s the target.

Because Dismas dodges, jerking away from the hit.

Nia’s strong, but no more than Tobias is. So why would Dismas be wary of her hits and practically ignore Tobias? It’s not like her moves are—

Oh, of course. Dismas doesn’t know that Nia can’t use fighting type energy. He’s expecting super-effective hits, and trying to avoid any of them landing, even if that means he has to wall Tobias’ attacks in the meantime.

He’s trying to take out the bigger threat first.

Okay, that’s not great, but maybe they can use that to their advantage somehow. They certainly need every advantage they can get, Tobias thinks, distracted by the water now covering the entirety of the floor in a thin sheen, lapping and rippling like a spring. It splashes underfoot with every step.

Tobias sends another glance at the door. He really doesn’t think they can open it, but they need out of this deathtrap just as much as they need to get away from Dismas. They can’t dodge forever, and he doubts anyone on the outside even knows what’s happening down here.

…Wait.

Tobias glances again at the window, at the glow of green visible past the break.

This much water should disrupt the currents around the prison, and there are guards outside. Surely water types meant to be patrolling the area will notice that something is drawing water in towards the prison, right? He has to believe they will. If a guard notices the break, then they’re sure to investigate and send someone to help, which means…

They don’t have to win this fight. They just have to outlast Dismas until reinforcements arrive.

Nia is already panting hard, though, having had no chance to catch her breath despite Dismas’ slower speed. They can’t risk either of them getting hit by a single move head-on, so evasion is top priority. She needs a break.

Tobias will just have to give her one.

He leaps up onto Dismas’ back, grabbing fistfuls of thick fur and pulling himself up to the pangoro’s shoulder. Dismas growls, irritated, and tries to shake him off.

Tobias holds tighter, calling his fire to his mouth and puffing his cheeks. He hasn’t tried this move before—he doesn’t like the brutality of biting if he doesn’t have to—but if anyone deserves it, Dismas does.

Fangs molten with heat, Tobias clamps down as hard as he can on the segment between Dismas’ neck and shoulder, past fur and straight into flesh. Dismas snarls, trying to grab Tobias to wrench him free.

Nia hesitates for a second, but then uses a quick attack to dart to the other side of the room in a flash, stumbling over her paws and leaning against the wall to recover with heavy breaths.

Dismas finally manages to snag Tobias’ side with a sharp claw, yanking him off. Tobias is thrown heavily into the thin layer of water, but he rolls to his feet relatively unharmed. Blood drips down his side, but the gash doesn’t seem deep. He licks his fangs, grimacing at the taste of iron there.

Dismas doesn’t give him time to think, immediately coming at him with a bullet punch. Tobias jerks away, and the ineffective move doesn’t do more than graze him, but he’s still sent staggering by the sheer force of it.

Before Dismas can attack again, Nia shoots past Tobias, quick attack making her a blur of blue. She swings her aura staff and slams it into Dismas’ hip. He grunts, but simply catches the staff before it can retract, snapping the aura in half as easily as a twig between his fingers.

Nia watches her aura flicker out, ears pinning flat.

Dismas’ gaze narrows. “…No fighting type moves, Riolu? You’re either real soft or real stupid, and they’re the same in my book.”

He doesn’t wait for a response, lunging into an attack that has Nia and Tobias scrambling away again.

Dismas must suspect that something’s off about Nia’s attacks after that, but if anything it only seems to make him more suspicious, bearing down on Nia even harder than before. She uses small patches of protect to avoid getting hit, rather than dodging around every attack and wearing herself out so quickly. Their satchel swings and bounces with each blow, and Tobias’ eyes lock onto it.

Do they have anything useful in their bag? They passed by that item shop earlier, but Tobias didn’t buy anything despite the fact that he should know better by now, with their record of running into trouble.

But wait—Xander and Avery, they gave them—

Tobias sucks in a deep breath, then releases a thick gray cloud of smokescreen.

Just in time, too, as Dismas gets sick of Nia’s protection strategy and uses a brick break to shatter her next shield. She cries out, stumbling back.

Luckily, the smokescreen spreads quickly enough to give the pangoro pause. The already dim green light of the room grows even hazier, Dismas and Nia melting away into vague silhouettes before vanishing almost entirely.

Tobias squints, grateful that his eyes are sharp enough to pick out Dismas in the smoke, stance wary, and Nia, who has backed away from the fight to look around frantically.

Tobias moves to her side, grateful that the dull roar of water pouring into the room hides the sound of his splashing steps. He grabs her arm, slapping a hand over her mouth to stop her from yelping.

“Gimme the bag,” Tobias whispers.

Nia quickly complies. She swings the satchel around for Tobias to dig through, and he finds the smooth surface of the orb within. He pulls it out, then grabs Nia’s paw to place it onto the item as well.

“Tobias, what—"

“Close your eyes.”

Tobias has heard about orbs before from passing Seeker teams, so he hopes he’s remembering how to activate one correctly. He squeezes his eyes shut and twists the top half of the orb. A blinding blue-white light flashes through his eyelids.

And then he feels it. The energy contained within the all power-up orb rushes through his body, making him feel stronger. His fire burns hotter in his belly.

Nia blinks at the hollow shell of the orb, then at him. “What..?”

Tobias flings the orb aside. “We’ll be stronger for a while. C’mon, we can’t waste this chance. We have to stall him.”

Nia bites her lip, but nods. “I’ll have to wait for the smoke to clear a bit so I can see.”

“I’ll start, then,” Tobias says, darting in to attack.

Dismas’ ears twitch as he tries to track the sound of Tobias’ approach, luckily distorted by the water and the metallic enclosure. Tobias doesn’t give him the chance to figure it out. He unleashes a dragon rage on the pangoro’s side. The purple flames light up the haze of smoke, and Dismas slashes blindly in his direction.

Tobias dodges and switches to flame bursts, trying to use the lingering smokescreen to his advantage to circle the pangoro and disorient him.

After a few blows, Dismas snarls.

The sound is weighty, carrying with it some kind of move energy. It hits Tobias in a dark wave, strong enough to hurt but weak enough for him to keep his footing. His fire suddenly feels less powerful, though.

Before Dismas can continue his attack, a sphere of blue aura launches from the smoke into Dismas’ back. He growls and spins, seeing Nia’s silhouette in the fading smoke just as she can see him. Still, she takes the opportunity to throw another ball of aura as he lunges for her. Nia rolls out of the way in a loud splash, but then is back on the defensive, using a staff of aura to deflect and dodge his heavy hits.

Tobias growls and launches himself back into the fight, the two of them once again dancing around the lumbering Pokemon’s devastating moves. But they’re getting knicked more and more as the fight drags on and they slow down, their movements growing sloppy. It doesn’t help that the water underfoot continues to rise, now up to Tobias’ ankles. It adds an extra weight to each of his steps, making him slower and clumsier.

They can’t afford to keep this fight going much longer.

Nia must think the same, because after she narrowly avoids a terrifying shadow claw to the chest she calls out, “Tobias! Use smokescreen again!”

Tobias can’t spare Nia a glance, but his voice is bewildered as he shouts, “What?!”

Sure, Tobias would have an advantage with his sharper eyes, but Nia would be just as blind as Dismas.

“Trust me!” Nia says, slipping into Dismas’ space to…tap him with her paw?

Tobias has no idea what she’s planning, but he listens. Dismas doesn’t seem to like the idea, because he turns and takes a swing at Tobias. Tobias hops back from it, then spews a dark cloud of smoke, even thicker than earlier. It hazes the room in seconds

Dismas makes a frustrated sound, punching in Tobias’ direction. Tobias takes his chance to back up and take a breather. He glances at Nia.

The riolu has also backed up. She’s panting hard, but a rest doesn’t seem to be her plan. Instead, her aura staff vanishes, and she closes her eyes. A moment later, the faint blue of her aura outlines her, the appendages on either side of her face lifting.

Then Tobias feels it. It’s faint, almost unnoticeable, like Nia has brushed up against him. Not forceful, but definitely present.

Her aura. She tagged him. That explains what she was doing earlier, too, when she made such light contact with Dismas. She’s tracking the two of them by their energy.

Nia moves. Her steps gain confidence as she runs to Tobias’ side, giving Dismas a wide berth. The pangoro’s head snaps side to side, trying to find them in the impenetrable smoke.

“Aura,” Nia explains breathlessly, eyes still closed. “I’ve gotta thank Val later for making me brush up on my training. Now what’s the plan?”

Tobias looks back at Dismas. “We’ve mostly been dodging, but we need to get some hard hits in before the orb wears off if we want to have a chance at outlasting him. I’ll keep the smokescreen up if you can keep using your aura.”

Nia nods. “I-I think I can. Flank him?”

“Circle him. Keep moving. He’s still dangerous even if he can’t see exactly where we are.”

“Right.”

As one, Tobias and Nia run at Dismas, splitting around him like water. Dismas must notice their presence, because he bares his teeth, crouching lower in preparation to strike.

Tobias begins the attack, trying to keep his distance as much as possible by using his flames. He starts at Dismas’ back, then his side, then his chest, focused on staying moving. Each hit lights up the smoke in a bright, dizzying haze.

Nia joins in with her own attacks, sometimes throwing messy aura spheres and sometimes darting in to take a swing with her aura staff before vanishing back into the smoke just as quickly.

Dismas is clearly irritated by the tactic, swinging for them blindly with heavy paws. At one point he tries to use another snarl attack, and Tobias only avoids the shockwave of sound because Nia is crossing by him and blocks it with a flicker of protect.

Dismas sees the bright blue of her energy in the fading smokescreen, and lunges. They separate again.

“Tobias—more smoke!”

“No,” Dismas snaps. “Your little game ends here.”

The words are thick with frustration, but that’s not what makes Tobias’ skin tingle and a hot fog fall over his thoughts. Distantly, he recognizes the energy projected through the words themselves.

Taunt. No more smokescreen, then. Tobias has to fight. He feels the heat of it in his bones.

Tobias growls and launches himself at Dismas, strategy thrown to the wayside in exchange for claws and teeth.

Dismas grins, welcoming the full-frontal attack. While Tobias gets a slash or two off on the pangoro in his frenzy, slicing through pelt and skin, both blows land on Dismas’ arms, relatively harmless.

In such close quarters, Dismas is able to grab Tobias easily. He swings him around before slamming him down into the water covering the ground. Tobias’ spine hits the metal underneath painfully hard, sending a spike of jarring pain through his body. Even worse, the cold ocean water laps over his body, burning against his skin and leaving him gasping.

At least his head feels a bit clearer.

“Let him go!”

Nia flickers between them and wheels her staff back to smack the pangoro’s arm away. To Tobias’ surprise, there’s enough power there to make it happen.

As soon as he’s released, Tobias scrambles back.

Nia is on the offensive, now, slamming her staff into the pangoro’s legs and sides and leaping around his retaliatory blows using little bursts of quick attack. Her hits seem to be landing harder, not just making Dismas brace against them but actively chasing him backwards.

Is she just that angry, or did she sneak in a work up, boosting her attack even more? Tobias knows they can’t afford to hold back, but he’s getting a bit worried about her energy reserves.

As if to spite him for the thought, Nia stumbles as she tries to dodge Dismas’ next punch. Her quick attack falters, and she can’t move fast enough with the water lapping at her ankles, slowing her down.

Dismas’ fist doesn’t hit her head-on, but even a blow to the side is enough to send her flying back, skimming across the shallow water like a stone before slamming into the metal wall and slumping to the ground.

“Nia!” Tobia screams.

He stares, seeing Vivi and desperately thinking Get up get up get up you have to get up—

He only dodges Dismas’ incoming attack on instinct, feeling the pangoro’s fur brush his side. With Nia down, Dismas has officially switched targets.

Tobias is more worried about his partner, though. He tries to get to her, but Dismas blocks his path, using Tobias’ obvious distraction to his advantage. He’d had a hold on his fear before, but it has returned in an all-consuming wave of terror.

Tobias dodges attack after attack, trying to create an opening to check on Nia. Finally, after a particularly large burst of fire that makes even Dismas step back, Tobias manages a glimpse in the riolu’s direction.

His heart skips a beat.

Nia is leaning heavily on the wall, one paw braced against it. The other is pressed tight against her side. Her face is twisted with pain.

But she’s alive. She’s standing.

Dismas follows Tobias’ gaze, clearly weighing whether or not to go finish the job. Something protective and feral and furious rises in Tobias’ gut in response. He’s done playing fair.

“Hey!” He snaps.

Dismas glances down at him, and Tobias spits fire directly into his eyes.

The pangoro roars, stumbling back. Tobias takes his chance and sprints to Nia’s side.

“Tobias,” she wheezes.

“You’re hurt,” he says, like an idiot. He peels her paw away from her side, doing his best to ignore her pained whine.

No blood, thank Arceus, but that just means the damage is internal. Which is almost more worrying.

“Think it’s my ribs,” she murmurs, looking like she’s fighting to stay conscious. “I-I don’t…”

“Shh, don’t move. I got it. Just…"

Tobias looks around, hoping that help has somehow magically appeared in the last ten seconds. But no, it’s still just the two of them and Dismas, who is scrubbing at his eyes. The guards lie unconscious nearby.

The water is rising higher. The green glow from the window reflects onto the rippling waves, the whole room a surreal fractured mirror. It’s already up to Tobias’ knees.

Wait.

“A mirror,” Tobias breathes.

Between the dim lighting and the constant ripple running through the water, the reflection isn’t super clear, though, the image fractured and faint. Will it be enough?

Dismas finally lifts his head, locking eyes with Tobias. He snarls, fists clenching.

Tobias can’t afford not to try.

“Giratina!” He shouts, desperate.

Nia blinks, mind clearly clouded with pain as she struggles to understand what he’s doing.

And then, a moment later, Tobias sees him. In the rippling reflection below, a familiar pair of glowing red eyes and a golden mask-like face. Giratina glances at the pangoro across the room, then glares at Nia and Tobias.

“Get us out of here or we’re dead,” Tobias says, less of a command and more of a plea.

Dismas roars, charging them. Tobias steps in front of Nia. He presses them both back against the wall, praying under his breath and fighting to keep his eyes open against the charging outlaw.

And then, as Dismas nears with his fist raised, Tobias and Nia

are

yanked

down.

Tobias stomach flips. Gravity itself seems to turn, the air suddenly much drier, and nearly silent. He lands hard on rocky ground. Nia cries out as she lands beside him.

Tobias looks around wildly, only to find himself in one of the strangest places he’s ever seen. It’s an endless indigo abyss, like a starless night. Chunks of land float throughout the space like islands that escaped gravity’s grasp. Patches of light hang like colorful windows throughout the void, glimpses into brighter worlds.

And above them floats a banished god, easily the largest Pokémon Tobias has ever seen.

Giratina leans closer to them, looming with all the ire of a furious parent. “What in the gods’ name is happening here?”

“Long story,” Tobias says, kneeling to help Nia into a sitting position. “But we need help.”

“That much is obvious.”

“Before that,” Nia rasps, coughing then wincing. “C-Can you bring the quagsire and malamar here too? They were in the same room as us.”

Giratina’s eyes narrow, but he wordlessly moves up to one of the patches of light, a larger one with a familiar green glow to it. Tobias realizes all at once that it’s a portal. Likely the one they were yanked through—the reflection created by the water on the prison floor. Giratina uses a wing-like tendril to touch it, and a moment later, the malamar is pulled through, limp, and laid onto the rocky ground beside Nia and Tobias. A few seconds later, the quagsire joins him.

“Good,” Tobias says. Then he cranes his head back to meet Giratina’s eyes. He would probably feel intimidated if he were here in any other circumstance, but all of his adrenaline is still locked onto the battle with Dismas. “Keep them safe. Nia too.”

“What?” Nia asks, head snapping up. She tries to push away from him to stand, and nearly falls on her face. Tobias settles her back onto the ground

“Keep her here,” Tobias says to Giratina, voice hard. “She can’t fight in this condition.”

Nia whines a protest, trying and failing to get to her feet again. He ignores the way his body itches to help her. She can’t possibly think he’d let her back in there with Dismas, not with that kind of injury.

“You want to return?” Giratina rumbles to Tobias.

“I don’t want to,” Tobias admits, watching Dismas through the reflection they arrived in. It’s a surreal view from below, as if they were seeing him through a glass floor. His paws are sharp against the glass, but everything else is blurred and distorted. The water ripples green and black, warping the view of the ceiling. Even still, Tobias can tell the pangoro is looking around the room in a battle stance, suspicious about their sudden disappearance. “But if no one’s there to keep him occupied, then he’s going to rip his way through the prison and destroy the whole place in the process. He might kill someone.”

“He’ll kill you!” Nia says.

“He will if he gets the chance, but unless you or Giratina have any other brilliant ideas, then…”

Nia looks up at Giratina, tears in her eyes. “C-Can’t you grab Dismas? You’re a god!”

“He is powerful, and a dark type as well,” Giratina says with a rueful shake of his head. “I cannot drag him here against his will. Not at my current strength. I can slow him down, but that is all.”

That would help, but it wouldn’t be enough on its own. The water in the room is still rising, and soon it’ll be too high for Tobias to move through at all without wading, which would render him practically useless.

No, he needs another form of attack. Something that’ll keep him moving quickly enough. But there isn’t any higher ground to stand on in the little prison cell, or even floating debris to hop between. It’s practically empty, the pangoro and the pool of water the only things of note.

Tobias stares up at the portal, imagining what he’d do after Giratina flung him back through.

And then he gets his actual stupidest idea of the fight. His breath catches.

“Tobias?”

“Giratina,” Tobias says, slowly. “What happens if you throw someone through a portal?”

Nia and Giratina stare at him with equally dumbfounded looks.

“Well?”

“If you were to go through the portal at such a speed, you would continue your momentum into the mortal realm,” Giratina says.

“So I’d just shoot up out of the water, right?”

“In theory, yes.”

“And you could catch me again when I landed. Bring me back here.”

“You’re going to play whack-a-mole with a murderer,” Nia says, in disbelief. “Tobias, no, that’s so risky!”

Tobias doesn’t admit that she’s right. He flattens his mouth, looking up to meet Giratina’s eyes. “You willing to help? The water’s too deep for me to fight otherwise.”

Giratina doesn’t answer.

Tobias swallows. “Please. He can’t be set free.”

Giratina rumbles a mildly irritated sort of noise. “Do not expect this to become a habit.”

Nia makes a sound of protest, but Tobias just gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile before hopping onto Giratina’s offered wing-tendril-thing.

Tobias is lifted up to the portal. “All right. Let’s try this. Ready?”

“Mm.”

Tobias braces himself. Giratina lowers his wing, then launches him up with surprising force. Tobias resists the urge to close his eyes, rocketing through the portal and—

And flying up into humid air, the sound of rushing water in the enclosed space like a slap to the face. Green light and metal surrounds him once again. Dismas whips his head around, staring at Tobias as he slows mid-air against gravity.

Tobias, with a vicious grin, spins to thwack the pangoro with his tail before gravity takes him and he drops again. Dismas, completely unprepared, stumbles back with a grunt.

Instead of landing in the water, Tobias phases through the reflection and into Giratina’s dimension, caught by the tendrils of the legendary in question.

Tobias can’t believe that worked. He laughs, probably a little hysterically. “Can you keep doing that? Just…keep me coming in at different angles so it’s less predictable.”

Giratina doesn’t look thrilled by the prospect, but he wordlessly braces himself for another throw. Tobias tenses.

Giratina chucks him again, and this time Tobias re-enters the battlefield from behind Dismas. The pangoro spins to meet him, but not before Tobias spits another flame burst at his face, dropping again just as quickly.

Just as before, he phases through the portal and back into the dry, quiet air of the distortion world. Giratina’s tendrils catch him, cold against his back.

He’s launched back up for another attack. And another. And another.

Each time, Tobias gets more confident. He hits the pangoro with a burst of fire or dragon rage, or swipes at him with his claws or a swing of his tail before falling back to safety. Dismas starts trying to grab him, but Giratina keeps Tobias’ entry point random each time and drags Dismas’ feet as much as possible to make him stumble and slow.

Tobias would almost say Dismas is starting to lag, the slightest bit.

Tobias’ own muscles burn with overuse, screaming for a break, but he needs to stall for as long as physically possibly, until help arrives.

He grunts as Giratina launches him through the portal once more. Tobias summons his fire for another flame burst—

Dismas snatches Tobias out of midair. Before Tobias can even register what’s happening, he’s being swung around and slammed down into the water again. His back presses against the metal floor, and burning cold water closes over his head. He chokes on it, struggling against the massive paw holding him down.

It’s loud under the water, an endless roar in his ears, and Tobias realizes that the pangoro has pinned him closer to the crack in the window. The water is likely too agitated here for a reflection to work as a portal.

Panic sets in immediately.

Dismas doesn’t move, as unyielding as a statue as he holds Tobias down. He’s not even going to crush Tobias—he’s going to make him suffer. Drown him slowly.

Tobias is going to die here.

He’s going to die to the same monster that killed his family. He doesn’t want to die.

He doesn’t want to die.

Tobias hears something, a vague yell that sounds suspiciously like Nia. He cracks his eyes open against stinging saltwater just in time to see the water above light up with the blue of her aura.

Of course.

The weight of Dismas’ paw is suddenly gone.

Tobias sits up, coughing and spluttering. He gasps in air, lungs burning, skin numb with pain. He feels too heavy to stand up.

A quiet splash and a whimper, nearly lost to the torrent of water gushing in, is the only thing that manages to lift Tobias’ head. Nia, hand still pressed to her side and visibly trembling, limps to his side.

“T-Tobias! Are you okay?”

“You were supposed to stay with Giratina,” he says, glaring at her.

“Change of plans?” Nia says with a shaky smile.

As one, he and Nia see movement and look over. Dismas is pushing himself to his feet against the far wall. He’s soaking wet, and he looks livid.

Nia presses silently against Tobias’ side, the two of them facing the pangoro head-on.

A piercing crack comes from behind them. Tobias stiffens, glancing back.

The pressure of the water against the window has finally gotten to be too much. The cracks around the break lengthen, branching out in loud, jarring jolts.

…Wait. Is that the shadow of a Pokemon on the other side of the glass?

The rest of the window suddenly shatters. Water comes at them in a wave.

Nia grabs Tobias’ arm, and the blue of her aura flickers to life around them, encasing them in a bubble of protection. Against the semi-translucent barrier, seawater crashes in, swirling against the surface in whorls and waves. Tobias can feel the pressure of the ocean settling around them, like being jammed into a too-small space.

Through the frothy water, Tobias sees Dismas get slammed by the current. The water rises immediately to his waist, then incrementally higher. For the first time, the pangoro actually looks afraid, trying to back away with nowhere to go.

Then, Tobias sees them: Pokemon. Bright streaks of light as guards swarm the room through the broken window. Tobias recognizes the yellow glow of the lanturn he’d noticed earlier, as well as the crawdaunt with his mossy green lantern. A dewgong and an octillery swim by as well, their tones bright against the dark green water. A kingdra and vaporeon slip past the window’s jagged edges with ease. Finally, a sharpedo barrels through and attacks Dismas immediately, latching onto the pangoro’s arm with razor-sharp teeth to hold the outlaw in place.

It’s chaos, but it’s clearly controlled chaos as they all follow some unspoken protocol, three or four of the water types corralling and containing the pangoro in seconds. Moments later, they tug him out of the cell and through the window, presumably up to the surface.

Tobias is relieved when he sees the octillery and dewgong speed out of the room as well, the two injured, unconscious guards held tight between them. Giratina must’ve slipped them back into the room amidst the flurry of activity.

At this point the room has flooded almost entirely, making the water seem almost calm outside of their bubble. Only one or two ‘mon are left after the rush, and the sudden stillness is almost unnerving.

Tobias jumps when he turns his head and notices a giant blue face peering in at them, barely small enough to fit through the broken window. His fanged mouth is large enough to swallow them whole, but he nods reassuringly when he meets Tobias’ eyes. He has a crest at his forehead, fins framing his face, and long blue whiskers.

A gyarados.

The gyarados swims through the window, carefully avoiding broken glass, and wraps his long tail around their protect bubble. Tobias holds Nia to his side, stumbling when their bubble is easily picked up in the gyarados’ grasp and maneuvered through the window into the open ocean beyond.

The gyarados doesn’t move nearly as quickly as Tobias would like, seeming almost leisurely as he swims up to the surface. As the pressure in Tobias’ ears shifts uncomfortably, he figures the gyarados probably has his reasons for the slow ascent, but he still can’t help wishing the water type would hurry up.

Nia is breathing hard, shaking like a leaf in a storm, likely on her very last restores of energy after such a tough fight. Tobias has no idea how she’s still holding on to the protect at all, honestly. He pulls her into a hug, letting her lean most of her weight on him, and she squeezes him hard, fingers digging into his skin. He uses his thumbs to rub circles into her back in return, murmuring encouragements.

Slowly, the surface comes closer. The ocean around them fades from heavy black and bright green to a gentle, sunlit blue. And finally, finally, they break the surface. The gyarados lifts their bubble onto his broad back, finally safe in the open air.

“You can relax, Riolu,” the gyarados says, just loud enough to be heard through the barrier.

Nia doesn’t, arms still locked tight around Tobias.

Tobias taps her back. “Nia, you can let go.”

She whimpers quietly. A questioning, uncertain noise.

“They’ve got us. We’re safe.”

Another beat of hesitation, and then Nia releases the protect. Bright sunlight and fresh, cool air hit Tobias’ chilled skin. Nia slumps against him, complete deadweight.

“Nia?”

Tobias feels a sudden rush of fear, remembering Vivi’s small body doing the same. He hurriedly sits and eases her into his lap, face-up. To his relief, her brow creases with the movement. Her chest rises and falls, shallower than he would like but otherwise steady.

She’s fine. Out like a light, but alive.

Tobias exhales, leaning forward to wrap his arms loosely around Nia’s shoulders. He presses his face into the ruff of fur around her neck.

Alive. She’s alive. He’s alive. They fell into a deathtrap with Dismas and survived.

Tobias barks a laugh, eyes stinging with tears. Then he can’t seem to stop laughing, until he’s gasping for air and crying too, shaking. Nia’s going to have to wash her fur.

The tension and terror that has been sitting like bile in his gut since they first saw Dismas finally starts to ease. It feels like breaching the surface all over again. It feels like relief.

The gyarados brings them to a dock at the edge of the city, where officials are trying to keep a gawking crowd of bystanders at bay with shouts and only half-succeeding. Word must’ve spread that something exciting was happening.

Tobias barely registers it, only focused on sticking by Nia as they’re handed off to another ‘mon and carted off somewhere.

He doesn’t come back to himself until two healer ‘mon try to separate Nia from his death grip. It’s likely for treatment, considering that when he lifts his head they’re in what is clearly a small clinic, but he’s still reluctant to part from her.

“I’m her partner,” Tobias rasps, though it comes out as more of a whine.

The Pokemon trying to see to their injuries, an audino and a clefable, exchange looks.

“We aren’t separating you,” the audino assures, voice low and soothing. “But you have to let go so we can look you both over.”

Tobias reluctantly releases Nia, relieved when they’re only parted by a few feet so the medics have enough room to work.

“She got hit on her right side,” Tobias says to the clefable looking him over, letting the fairy type move his limbs around as she checks for mobility issues. “Check her ribs.”

“Lerin knows what he’s doing,” the clefable says, though she sounds more amused than anything. “Don’t worry. Your partner is in good hands.”

Tobias nods, forcing himself to relax and follow the clefable’s directions as she gives him a thorough checkup. After cleaning and bandaging the gash on his side and running him through a heal pulse session, Tobias is feeling fuzzy-headed and ready to sleep for a week, but otherwise significantly better.

The clefable eases Tobias into a large, mossy nest, soft against his raw and water-chafed skin. Sleep tugs at him, but…

“Nia?” Tobias mumbles.

“She has a fracture on one rib,” the audino answers, carefully laying Nia into the nest next to Tobias. “Otherwise, only some nasty bruising. It’ll hurt and she’ll need to take it easy for a week or so—no combat—but the heal pulse kickstarted the healing process. She’ll be fine. Probably up and about in a day or two.”

Good. Tobias hums his thanks, wiggling closer until he can lie right next to Nia, tucking his face into the fluff around her neck to feel her breathe.

And then he’s out.

—————————————————————————

It feels like Tobias has only just closed his eyes when he’s woken by a quiet, cut-off sound of pain. His eyes snap open in an instant.

Nia stares back at him like a child caught doing something they shouldn't be. She’s still lying down, but her paw is pressed against her injured side and her body is curled tight with tension.

“Careful," Tobias mumbles, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "You cracked a rib.”

“You don’t say,” Nia huffs, somewhere between pained and amused. She visibly forces herself to relax, gingerly laying her arm down and trying to uncurl.

It’s early morning, warm sunshine just starting to filter into the room through sheer curtains and painting everything in a golden light.

“So we didn’t die?” Nia asks, only half-joking.

Tobias breathes a laugh. “We survived. Somehow. You got the worst of it.”

“I’d say. Feels like I got hit by a truck.”

Tobias’ smile falters. “They said you’ll have to take it easy for a couple weeks, but you should be able to walk around in a day or two.”

Nia tries to take a deeper breath, and winces when she can't. She exhales with a forced steadiness. “Junie’s gonna kill me.”

“You? I’m definitely getting the blame for this.”

Nia laughs, but quickly chokes off into a pained sound.

Tobias’ heart sinks. He looks away. “…I’m sorry. That you got hurt. And for, uh…getting us into that situation in the first place. Every time we try to learn more about Team Zenith, I feel like we end up fighting for our lives.”

Nia is quiet for a moment. Then she reaches over and takes his hand, uncurling his fingers to intertwine their hands and give a squeeze. “This time wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m the reason we were there at all.”

“It was important to you. You couldn’t have known he’d break free like that.”

“Still. You got hurt.”

“That’s just part of the Seeker lifestyle, Tobias.”

“Wish it wasn’t.” Tobias finally works up the courage to meet Nia’s eyes again, feeling unworthy of the soft affection he sees there.

But then her expression falls, brow furrowing. Hesitantly, as if afraid to hear the answer, Nia asks, “Have you heard anything about the guards? Did they..?”

Survive? Tobias feels more guilt pile onto his shoulders.

Tobias shakes his head. “I don’t know. I know they got ‘em out, but I haven’t heard anything else.”

Nia hums, but doesn’t push. Then she runs her thumb over the back of his hand. “How about you? How are you feeling about…everything?”

Tobias knows what she’s asking. How is he handling what he learned from Dismas? What he remembered about that night?

The fact that his family died just to cover Team Zenith’s tracks.

The reminder makes hot tears prick at Tobias’ eyes. He takes a shaky breath. “Honestly? Not great.”

Nia makes a wordless sound of encouragement.

“It’s just...I always figured there had to be a reason, you know? Something I could point to and say, ‘This is why that happened.’ Some big, important motive. And knowing it was all just bad timing? Just Sulien covering his tracks? It feels…wrong.”

Tobias sniffs. He feels a few tears spill over, streaking sideways down his face. He lowers his chin, but doesn’t bother wiping the tears away. He knows there are more coming. His throat is tight.

“They never deserved to die, but at least if there was a better reason, there would be some kind of logic to it, y’know? But no, it was all just…chance.”

The knowledge leaves Tobias feeling strangely unmoored. He would’ve guessed that this revelation would stoke his rage more than ever. Instead, the burning hate that has kept him going the past eight years, that has driven him to hunt down the outlaws and make them pay, has…dampened.

He still hates Team Zenith, of course, and Sulien still needs to be stopped, but for the first time ever Tobias is realizing how…insignificant all of this is, in the grand scheme of things. This whole city has no idea who Dismas is, or what he did to Tobias’ family. They’re just tourists and locals going on with their lives, happily unaware.

That night destroyed Tobias’ world, but for everyone else? For Sulien? It meant absolutely nothing.

Does it even matter that Tobias survived? He wasn’t the one who stopped Asra, or who brought Dismas to this prison. Sulien will likely be caught by some random high-ranking team without Tobias even knowing it.

So what’s the point? Why is he still here when his family isn’t? He’s justified his survival with vengeance for so long, but when that isn’t a real factor, all that’s left to ask is why he got to live when they didn't. Once Sulien is taken care of, what is he even supposed to do with his life?

To Tobias’ surprise, a sob rips from his throat. This time, the shame is too much, and he curls up tighter in the nest, covering his face with his hands so he can cry without Nia seeing him.

Of course she won’t let that stand. Nia’s soft, cool paws tug at his shoulders, coaxing him closer until he can bury himself in her neck, crying into her soft fur. One paw comes up to cup the back of his head, the other stroking at his shoulder blades while she murmurs words too quiet to understand.

For a moment, Tobias is torn between mortification and relief, before grief hits him like a wave and buries it all. It drowns him more thoroughly than the ocean had, leaving him gasping for air and trembling with pain.

“I miss them so much,” he whimpers.

Nia’s hold tightens. He can feel her swallow. “I know.”

“I-I don’t—they should’ve lived. Vivi should’ve lived."

“I know. But you did the best you could, Tobias. It’s a miracle you even survived.”

“I shouldn’t have!” Tobias cries. “I should’ve died with her.”

Nia’s breath hitches. She holds him even tighter, voice shaking. “Well...I’m glad you survived, for what it's worth. And your family would be happy you did, too.”

Tobias shakes his head. “But I couldn’t even avenge them! I-I didn’t catch Asra, or Dismas. I-I…What good am I if I can’t even do that? That’s all I’m here for!”

At that, Nia wrenches them apart. Through Tobias’ tears, she looks on the verge of tears herself. “You’re here to live, Tobias. You don’t have to do anything to deserve that. I…I didn’t know your family, but I’m positive that’s what they would have wanted, too.”

The words strike Tobias in the chest. They feel blasphemous. They feel like a gasp of air after drowning for nearly a decade.

“I don’t deserve it,” Tobias whispers.

“You do. You deserve to be happy, Tobias. It wasn’t your fault.”

It feels shameful, admitting that some part of him wants Nia to be right. Wants that burden lifted off his back.

“It’s not fair,” he rasps, “That I got to live and they didn’t.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Nia’s words are sympathetic. Forgiving. Tobias can’t ingest them, not with guilt still choking him like a physical thing. Like Dismas himself is here with his fingers around Tobias’ throat.

Tobias doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to forgive himself for not doing enough. For not saving them, somehow. For surviving when they didn’t.

But...Nia’s also right. His family wouldn’t have wanted him to be miserable his entire life. They definitely wouldn’t have wanted him to die with them. They loved him as much as he loved them.

When Dismas was trying to drown him earlier, Tobias remembers thinking that he didn’t want to die. He was scared, sure, but here with Nia he realizes that it wasn’t just fear talking, or a desire to take down Team Zenith.

He’d wanted to live, too.

Tobias had thought he didn’t care whether he lived or died, after the mines in Fort Asra. But…he does care. Surprisingly, he doesn’t actually want to die.

The thought feels selfish and too large to comprehend, almost heavier than the shame and hate he has carried around all these years. He wouldn’t know what to do with that kind of freedom, with his life not constantly weighed down by thoughts of the outlaws and his family’s tragic deaths.

...Could he really do that? Choke down the guilt and live a life for someone other than his ghosts? Live purely for himself? It sounds so wrong.

But…Nia says he deserves it. And he trusts her.

Maybe he could just try it. Try…living for the sake of living, rather than as a means to an end. For Nia’s sake, and for Maggie’s, and for the Pokemon at the guild he’s starting to think of as friends.

Maybe Nia’s right. Maybe he wasn’t just left alive as some sick memorial to the worst night of his life. Even when guilt threatens to consume him whole, maybe it’s okay for him to try to be happy.

Maybe one day he’ll even believe he deserves it.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #charmander #pangoro #pmd seekers of soul #tesha writes #tesha draws #teshamerkel

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