Arc 1, Chapter 18: Catastrophes Before the Calamity
by owryintheblindforestThe inside of Dumas’ house was very similar to his office. That is to say, it was extremely plain. A few scattered objects lying over his countertop and a table in the center, as well as a handful for doors, some of which were presumably his bedroom and bathroom. The floor was conspicuously clean, and there was a record player off to the side playing… Punk Rock?
“So back off your rules!
Back off the jive!
‘Cause I’m sick of not living to stay alive!
Leave me alone
Asking a lot
I don’t wanna to be controlled!”
Isn’t it way too soon for Punk Rock to be invented? Also, what band is that? Amadeus wondered. “Hey, where did you—”
“Forget it,” Dumas quickly said, speed-walking over and turning off the record player. “Seems like my idiot buddy broke into my house again…”
“Um, what?” Amadeus asked.
“I said forget it,” Dumas repeated. “We can talk about that later if all this works out.”
“What do you mean, ‘if this works out’? What the hell are you going to tell us?” Haruhi asked.
“Like I said, what you are about to hear was intended for his ears only, but I digress. The way things are looking right now, I’m doubtful this will work out, so it’d be great if you and Teru could back off, thank you.”
“They already know my secrets, Dumas,” Amadeus reasoned. “They have a right to know.”
“You mean our secrets.” Dumas opened one of the doors, revealing a descending set of stairs. “This is your final chance to turn back. I’m locking the door behind us to prevent anyone from listening in. Got it?”
Dumas, what the hell is this? Amadeus nervously looked down the stairwell. It was completely unilluminated, so all he could see was a black void. If he was superstitious, he might’ve thought he was in for a terrible case of bad luck. Something just felt… wrong.
Amadeus stepped forward, ignoring that feeling.
He would never know if that was a mistake.
The stairwell was dark enough to lead him to walk down it very slowly, followed by Haruhi and Teru, and then Dumas, who, true to his word, locked the door behind him. This had the added effect of plunging the entire stairway into darkness, forcing Amadeus to walk even more slowly. Eventually, his paws made contact with what felt like the bottom floor. He took a few steps forward. Then Dumas turned on the lights.
The ceiling lamp shone directly over it.
The thing was huge, nearly twice was big as Dumas was himself, and somehow, no less menacing. The single hatch opening up to reveal an empty compartment somehow felt like an eye, staring right down at Amadeus. The fact that it was plugged into the wall was the only thing Amadeus could begin to understand of it’s purpose, whatever that was. It’s clearly a machine on some kind, but what for?
Dumas walked over to a desk drawer and pulled out several shards of Ultranecrozium, including what appeared to be Teru’s gem, which was much larger than the rest.
“Hey!” Teru exclaimed. “Give that—”
“Consider it confiscated,” Dumas immediately retorted.
“But—”
“Consider. It. Confiscated. Do I make myself clear?”
Teru looked down in frustration. “Fine…”
“Good. Now then, I already know the answer to this question, but do you know what this is?”
“It’s Ultranecrozium,” Amadeus responded. “The stuff that powered home.”
“Correct,” Dumas said, “And until I confiscated the gem formerly in Teru’s possession, I did not have much. The one he had could’ve sufficed for what I had planned by itself, which is why we’re doing this now.” Dumas took in a deep breath. “What I’m about to tell you will be difficult to accept, and your only hope is to accept it and stand by my side. So, in order to make that happen, I will tell you everything.”
“What do you mean, ‘everything’?” Amadeus asked. “What else could there be to share?”
Dumas gave him an almost disappointed look. “You and I both know that we’re liars at heart, Amadeus. Do you remember what you did the day you came here?”
“I—”
“Don’t answer that. There’s a lot to say tonight, and I think it’s best said by starting, quite literally, at the beginning. It’s time you know the full details of what happened when I first arrived. So…”
UINPICNA
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AAAAAAA AAAA AAAAAAA AA
Amadeus was in serious pain.
The ground beneath him was dirt, and he felt wind flying through the air. Clearly, he was on an alien planet somewhere, but he couldn’t possibly guess where. The lack of any type of cruiser in the sky gave him very little hope.
“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand…”
Amadeus had been walking for hours through a rather lonely forest at this point, and he’d yet to find anything that might be edible. No alien berries, no water, nothing. The exhaustion was getting to him, not helped by the pain of what he could tell were some pretty serious wounds.
His vision was seriously impaired by completely destroyed glasses. He’d apparently fallen a great distance, and landed on them somehow. No matter what, he’d destroyed them. He’d half-heartedly carried them with him, but he didn’t seriously think it would help him all that much.
I’m going to die… He thought to himself. I’m going to die out here and it’s all my fault… In his despair, he’d remembered what the Ampharos had said about cracking time travel. And it sank him further into despair. If it was true, there was no hope left for him. Nobody was coming to save him.
Amadeus walked, and walked.
At this point, he was beginning to think the breathable air was no mercy.
He heard running water.
Amadeus immediately looked around, no longer caring about the quality of the water he was about to drink. He positively sprinted in the direction of the noise—and fell directly into a steam.
“Aaaaa!”
He desperately paddled to keep his head above the water, but several times, it ended up below. Amadeus quietly wondered if drowning was the way he was going to go. The stream twisted and turned, and while he got that questionable drink of water, he barely knew how to swim like this. Somewhere along the way, he lost the backpack he’d been carrying.
With some luck, he managed to snag onto the bank of the stream and managed to pull himself out. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was still hungry, and even more exhausted, but at least he didn’t drown. Slowly, he got up on his paws and continued onward. Not that he had any idea if he was even headed in the same direction anymore.
Eventually, his suit, now a poor excuse for one, was a little drier. He was tempted to take it off, but reminded himself that he still had a handful of his personal belongings left. He confirmed this by looking. Just his destroyed glasses and his pin left.
At least I’m not going to die of thirst, He thought. A weak hope, but he needed something to cling onto at the moment. He could barely keep his head up now, and was starting to stumble with every other step. But he had to keep going.
Eventually, he reached the forest’s edge, giving way to a massive grassland. Even with a better look at the sky, still no cruisers. He stared at the horizon with a deep sense of urgency. Something had to be out there.
He could’ve sworn he spotted smoke rising in the distance, but he couldn’t make out it’s source. Not without his glasses in working order, anyway. He could barely distinguish it from the clouds.
“Are you okay?”
Amadeus whipped in the direction of the voice. He saw a lone Eevee In the moment, he thought desperately that he was being saved.
“Shhhwhat star system am I in?” He slurred out, barely noticing the degrading quality of his speech. “Wh-what distiiict…” Amadeus’ vision got even hazier than usual.
“What? Star system?” The Eevee asked him. “Are you oka—?——–—”
Amadeus’ hearing failed him, and he collapsed from exhaustion on the spot. The last thing he could make out was the Eevee dashing up to him suddenly.
Amadeus groaned as he awoke. In a hospital bed… somewhere.
He looked outside the window. Still no cruisers. There was a table to his side.
Someone had taken the time to fix his glasses. And polish his pin, too.
Someone came to help me… but who? Amadeus couldn’t help but wonder. He reached for his glasses, and managed to get them despite complaints from his legs. Clearly, they’re friendly if they went though the trouble of fixing my glasses, but… He looked out the window, and tried to stand up to see better.
He saw a city.
He kept standing, despite the complaints from his whole body now. He had to. It just made sense to. He needed to keep looking.
He saw factories, houses, and a shadow cast by the very building he was in. They looked old, but the streets were very busy.
He decided that he’d seen enough.
Okay, definitely the past, got it… Amadeus started panting. So I’m screwed… Great, great… Wonderful news…
“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million…”
An Audino walked into the room.
“Oh, good, you’re up.” The Audino walked over and force-fed him something that tasted like berries. “Drink up, you’re malnourished.”
Amadeus gulped it down, and felt slightly better.
“Who—”
“You’re in the Háo de Xiǎo Community Hospital. You’ve been out for about a day. Now then, mind telling me your name?” The Audio picked up a clipboard and clicked a pen, clearly about to write something down.
“Amadeus.”
“Right…” The Audino scribbled something down. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Any family?”
What do I say? I can’t possibly say I’m from the future, right? They’ll throw me in a psych ward or something! Uh… Amnesia. Sure, let’s go with that. “I can’t remember.”
The Audino paused, before jotting several things down. “…What can you remember?”
“N-nothing before walking up…”
The Audino made a bit of a strange expression. “Alright, why don’t we start there? What happened when you… ‘woke up’, as you say?”
“I, uh, woke up, and everything hurt. I think I must’ve fallen or something, then I walked for a while, fell in a river, uh…”
“Head trauma, maybe?” Amadeus heard the Audino mutter, while jotting down quite a lot. “Well then, Amadeus. I’ll try and see if we can get a search for your folks going, if they’re out there. For now, hang tight, okay?” The Audino turned to leave.
“What about the person that saved me?”
“Hm?”
“The Eevee.”
“Oh, right. She was here with her father before you awoke. Would you like me to call them?”
“That would be appreciated.”
“Alright.” The Audino left the room.
Amadeus now had a little more time to think.
Amnesia is amnesia, so I’d better stick to it. In the very least… He looked to the pin on the table. I can’t explain what that is. Amadeus took in a deep breath. What do I even do now, though? I’m trapped, as far as I know… All he could do was wait.
The wait wasn’t too long, though. Eventually, the Audino returned with a Jolteon and an Eevee in tow. For a moment, Amadeus stared at the two of them.
“Um, hi,” The Eevee started. “I’m Mayumi. Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.”
The Jolteon walked up to the bedside. “Hey there. Amadeus, right? Name’s Shun.”
“Hi…” Amadeus paused. “Thanks for saving me.”
“You’re welcome,” Mayumi said, looking a tiny bit proud of herself.
Shun turned to the Audino. “You said he didn’t remember anything, right?”
“That’s correct. He’s likely suffering from some sort of head trauma.”
“Is that so? How are his injuries?”
“They seemed to be mostly fine, other than the memory loss. I might be able to clear him by tonight.”
“Is that so?” Shun asked. “Say, Amadeus, since you don’t seem to have anywhere to go, would you like to stay with me for a bit? Guest bedroom’s a bit cramped, but at least you’d have somewhere to stay while we looked for someone that might know you.”
“You don’t have to do that…” Amadeus tried to argue.
“Please. You can’t stay in here forever, you know.”
“…Alright.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to leave you here without a home.”
Amadeus looked around the tiny guest room. Calling it a ‘room’ was generous. It was more like a walk-in closet that’d been repurposed for a room. In all likelihood, that was exactly what it was. A single mattress and a small desk with a clock was all that was in it, save for what was left of his suit hanging on the wall. There wasn’t even a window.
But it was better than nothing.
Amadeus plopped down on the tiny bed. It was surprisingly soft, all things considered.
He eyed his barely-recognizable looking suit. It was in tatters, but there was clearly at attempt to make it look nice again. He sighed and pulled over the covers. All he wanted to do was get right back to sleep.
“Napping already?”
Amadeus jumped at the sound of Mayumi’s voice. “Don’t scare me like that…”
Mayumi sat down on the mattress right next to Amadeus. “So, amnesia, huh? Really can’t remember anything? Nothing at all?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Nope. Just thought it was weird, I guess. Especially considering you still know your name and age.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Hm… oh, not much.”
“Glad we agree on that…” Amadeus sarcastically responded.
“Oooh, look out. We’ve got a sass master over here.”
“Is there a point to this?”
“Well, yeah. Why not?” Mayumi walked up to the coat and gave it a little tug. “See this? I looked for hours at the library yesterday and I couldn’t find the brand name on it for the life of me.”
I don’t like where this is going… “Go on.”
“You’ve got questions about where you came from, right?”
“…Well, yeah, I guess.”
“Well, I have answers. Or at least, I’m pretty sure I do!”
“Uh…”
After a long pause, Mayumi sighed frustratedly. “Alright, I’m just gonna come out and say it. I think you’re a human.”
Well, that’s a bit of a curveball. “That’s… what?”
“You know, like those heroes of legend! Big guys that save the day when the world is in danger! Stuff like that!”
“That’s stupid.”
Mayumi laughed. “Yeah, but I’m gonna join the Jīnxīng Guild soon, and I could use a partner…”
“I—”
“Besides,” Mayumi said, “Doesn’t fame and fortune sound fun to you? Whadaya say, human?”
“You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”
“Oh, absolutely not.”
“…Fine.”
Mayumi looked elated. “We’re gonna climb to the top!” Mayumi hopped down from the bed and ran out of the room. “Dad, I found a partner for the Guild!”
Amadeus could only wonder what he just signed up for.
Amadeus really wished he knew ahead of time what he was signing up for.
It had been a full three weeks since he’d agreed to join the guild with Mayumi, and two since he’d officially started. In truth, it wasn’t the worst job in the world. But it wasn’t his favorite, either. Being put to the test in mystery dungeons constantly was a little stressful.
“Amadeus, why didn’t you just follow after me?” Mayumi asked.
“There was a gap, it looked dangerous…”
“Dammit, you have to stick with me! Splitting up is dangerous!”
“I-I know that, it’s just—”
“It’s just what?”
“I don’t know, I—”
“Well, that’s an issue, isn’t it?” Mayumi sighed. “C’mon. You can do better.”
“O-okay…”
I’m holding her back… Amadeus thought. I’m not cut out for this. She’s better off with someone else…
Amadeus barely even listened to Mayumi talking as they walked home together. He was exhausted.
“So that’s why you can’t give up!” Mayumi finished.
“What?”
“Did that make sense to you?” She asked. “I’m trying to encourage you here.”
“I don’t know.”
Mayumi sighed frustratedly. “Whatever, Amadeus…”
It had now been about four months.
Little had changed. Amadeus had gotten a bit stronger, but he didn’t feel any more confident.
He was napping in his room.
“Hey, Amadeus!” Mayumi said, barging into his room. “Did you finish learning protect yet?”
“Not yet.” In truth, he hadn’t started. He’d been putting this off for a while now, and Mayumi knew it.
“Did you even try?”
“I—”
“It’s not hard, you just have to do it!” Mayumi rather unhelpfully demonstrated.
“Okay…”
Mayumi sighed. “You wanna go to the dojo so we can work on it?”
They’d tried this. Unsuccessfully. Amadeus didn’t think he’d do it any time soon. “I was going to go to the library…”
“Well, do you mind if I come with you?”
“I was going to go alone.”
Mayumi frowned. “Why do you never want to hang out in our free time? We’re supposed to be partners here. I feel like we’re just coexisting here.”
Amadeus suppressed the urge to respond with a cheeky ‘that’s because we are’. Instead, he silently got up and left. Mayumi had reacted the first time he’d done it, but now she didn’t seem to mind.
Navigating the city was a bit of a pain, but Amadeus had gotten the hang of it for the most part. Besides, being alone out in the streets helped clear his head. It was almost calming.
In fact, he was just going to wander the streets aimlessly for a while.
The night sky was almost disappointingly empty. Amadeus figured it was probably due to light pollution, but there was very little way to know for sure. Maybe the night sky was just dim in this part of the galaxy.
Amadeus found a park in the middle of town and lay down in the grass, belly up. It was nice until he decided he probably should’ve brought a quilt or something. Still, literally staring off into space made him feel just a little bit more at home.
“Why are you just staring at the sky?” Now Mayumi was here, evidently having not listened when he said he wanted to be left alone.
Amadeus got up. “It’s relaxing. Why else?”
“…It just seems a little silly, that’s all.”
Amadeus wanted to say something, but didn’t.
Mayumi eventually broke the silence. “Do you want to do anything else? Like go to the library, like you said you would?”
Amadeus didn’t have a response to that.
“Hello? Amadeus?”
“I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know?”
“…You’re gonna hate my answer to that.”
Mayumi huffed. “Alright, buddy, get up,” she said, forcing him to roll over.
“Oof—”
Mayumi yanked him by the scruff. “Come on, we’re doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Learning protect. C’mon, you should have this down by now!”
“I—”
Mayumi leaped at him. “Think fast!”
“Gah!”
Mayumi tackled him right back on the ground. “C’mon, just try it.”
“I-I don’t know how—”
“Like the instructor said! Just focus on the feeling of protection!”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s just a vague feeling! There’s nothing specific about it. C’mon, you can do this, Amadeus!”
“I can’t…”
“Yes you can!”
Mayumi kept shouting vaguely encouraging things at him for the rest of the hour, but little seemed to work. He didn’t successfully use the move even once.
I’m not good enough…
Such thoughts were starting to become a regular occurrence for Amadeus.
Amadeus wasn’t having a great day. He’d taken more than a few mud bombs to the face today, and barely managed to get the job done with Mayumi.
Then they’d been told that their performance as of late had been ‘lacking’.
Which had lead to this conversation when they got back home.
“You know, when I asked you to join, I expected you to do a little bit better.”
“I’m trying, I’m trying…” Amadeus was breathing heavily.
“Well, you could stand to do better.”
“I-I don’t—”
“C’mon, dude. You’re gonna be a hero once it’s all said and done. We’ll be rich! So, do you want to keep at it or not?”
“No.” Amadeus shocked himself by actually saying it.
There was a brief silence.
Mayumi laughed nervously. “Uh… Amadeus. The world needs you, man.”
More silence.
“Y-you can’t be serious. Amadeus, you know you have to do this, right?”
Amadeus ran up to his room and shut the door behind him.
“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million, one billion, ten billion, one hundred billion, one trillion…”
“Amadeus, please!” Mayumi begged, knocking on his door. “I need you!”
“Ten trillion, one hundred trillion, one quadrillion, ten quadrillion, one hundred quadrillion, one sextillion, ten sextillion, one hundred sextillion, one septillion, ten septillion, one hundred septillion, one octillion, ten octillion…”
“Amadeus… please come out,” Mayumi weakly asked after a while.
“One vigintillion, ten vigintillion, one hundred vigintillion, one unvigintillion, ten unvigintillion, one hundred unvigintillion, one duovigintillion…” After a while, Amadeus just walked over to his bed and lay down. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Mayumi waited at his door the whole night.
Amadeus got up the next morning slowly. He still felt extremely exhausted after yesterday, but getting up seemed necessary.
He was alone in the house. Evidently, it was some time around the afternoon. It wasn’t strange that Shun was gone—he’d been gone the past month or so, only really leaving Amadeus and Mayumi behind so they could keep working at the Jīnxīng Guild, after all—but Mayumi not waking him up in the morning was quite unusual.
She probably realized what a letdown I am, Amadeus thought. I’m not good enough…
Amadeus fixed himself a modest breakfast and then stumbled out into the street. He felt a deep need to do something today, regardless of how he felt.
He walked by a group of young Pokémon. They were all talking about their guild accomplishments, their aspirations, what they were capable of.
He made it to the park he’d started to habitually relax in. It was a nice place, for the most part. He lay down in the grass.
They’d installed a new billboard nearby for some reason. It was an advertisement for Guild applications.
He’d heard the city had been built around the Guild.
He decided to leave the park.
He didn’t know how long he walked that night.
He found himself in an alleyway. It wasn’t a particularly dark one, but it looked a little bit shady nevertheless. More importantly, it was secluded, or at least, it certainly felt that way.
Amadeus started crying.
“I can’t take this anymore…”
Tears completely clouded his eyes, leaving him to the visions that flashed through his mind. A full-blown screaming match between him and Mayumi. Him violently lunging at her with a bite. The bite plunging—
“Are you alright?”
Amadeus shot up. Right in front of him was a Snorlax wearing a plain brown cape and shirt, clashing with the golden medallion around his neck depicting a crown over a closed eye. The Snorlax was looking down at him with a warm smile.
“W-who are you?”
“You may call me Steven. Care to come with me inside?” Steven gestured to what looked like a well-maintained, but still very old wooden building. It had stained-glass windows, and almost reminded him of a church.
Seeing no other options, Amadeus accompanied him inside.
The interior looked like anything but a church. It was clearly some kind of back-room. Maybe there was a church elsewhere in the building, but he was clearly not in that section. Nearby was a Raichu, who looked… barely like a Raichu. He had dark brown fur, orange cheeks and ears, and a tail and ears that were smooth and wavy instead of spiky. He was also wearing a similar golden medallion, but this one had a flaming cartoon skull on it. Also, he was wearing a hideous leather jacket.
The Raichu put a hand up. “Not this one, Steven.”
Amadeus turned around to see Steven, with his hand raised, and dark wisps fading around it. “What were you—”
“Think nothing of it,” The Raichu immediately said, walking over to Amadeus slowly. He took in a deep breath. “Hey there, kid,” he began, “You look lost. And yet, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be…” he continued with a chuckle.
“Am I getting recruited right now?” Amadeus asked, trying to recover what semblance of self-control he still had.
“Come now, Amadeus…” He knew Amadeus’ name. How did he know that? “No need to be so shy. In fact, I have a gift for you…” He pulled out a golden Medallion with a baleful-looking eye on it. “Take this, and your wildest dreams will come true…”
Amadeus froze. Something about the medallion was tantalizing, that was for sure. Even so, a part of him was screaming not to put the thing on.
He ignored that part of himself and put it on. It felt right. It felt like—
Another expectation.
“I-I can’t do this. I’m not good enough! I’ll never be good enough for anyone! I’ll just—”
The Raichu stopped him. “I’m not asking anything of you. All you have to do is whatever your heart commands. And this—” The Raichu flicked the medallion now around Amadeus’ neck. “—will give you everything you could ever need.”
Amadeus was silent. How could a medallion help him so much? Who were these guys? Who was this Raichu? Or Steven, for that matter?
“Who… are you?”
“Let’s just say we’re a little group who helps people be who they really are,” The Raichu responded. “You can call me Dexter, kid.”
Amadeus slept unusually soundly that night.
“Hey, about the other day…”
Amadeus woke up to Mayumi shaking him awake.
“F-five more minutes…” Amadeus groaned. Wait, since when do I complain about getting up in the morning? Whatever…
“Dude, I’m sorry for yelling at you, okay?”
Amadeus suddenly got a flashback to… Mayumi’s perspective? She was taking advice from what appeared to be another apprentice at the guild, a Mawile.
“What did I even do?”
“You probably said something that sounded bad to him.”
“I tried to encourage him!”
“Just try apologizing to him, and listen. He’s clearly upset with you, and you have to figure out what that is.”
Mayumi hung her head and sighed. “Alright, I’ll try.”
The flashback ended. What? How did I do that? Amadeus wondered.
“Listen, I’m sorry, alright? So can we just get back to training already?”
“…You don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Whatever. I’ll go with you, but screw you.” Amadeus had no idea why he was suddenly feeling so assertive, but it felt good.
Mayumi looked baffled, but content. “Alright, whatever you say…”
Amadeus kept getting flashbacks of Mayumi’s perspective throughout the day. He saw her happy, playing with other children. He saw her parents, encouraging her dreams. He saw her practicing a mock speech for her fame and fortune.
He felt envy.
He almost didn’t notice as she fell over the edge of a cliff in the mystery dungeon. She was desperately clinging onto the side.
Nobody would know if I let her fall, he thought.
After what must’ve seemed like an eternity from her perspective, Amadeus pulled Mayumi up.
“W-why did you take so long?”
“I don’t know, why did you sprint around a corner?”
“I— Arceus, Amadeus…”
Deep within Amadeus’ soul, something dark whispered to him. “Shut up.” He didn’t notice, but the medallion started glowing yellow for a moment. Then he heard Mayumi choking. He turned around, seeing her seizing up for a second.
“What are you—”
Mayumi hacked up something black and chunky. It was disgusting.
“Is that a hairball?” He asked.
“L-let’s not worry about that…”
“Hey, Amadeus?” Mayumi asked, from outside his door.
“Going somewhere else today,” Amadeus responded, not even looking at her.
“Oh.” Mayumi looked around, perhaps trying to continue the conversation somehow. “Uh, where’d you get that medallion, anyway?”
“I found it.”
Mayumi snorted. “Well, obviously.” She paused expectantly for a bit. After Amadeus did not respond, she continued. “Not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“Alrighty then…”
Amadeus made his way to the same back alley where he’d gotten the medallion, and went right into the building.
Nobody was there. Amadeus explored the building for a while, and nobody was there. In the meantime, he discovered that this building probably was a place of worship at some point, but—
“Hello there,” The Raichu said, startling him.
“Y-you scared me…”
“I tend to do that to people, yeah. Have you figured out why I gave you that yet?”
Amadeus racked his brains, trying to figure out what the thing did. “It shows me other people’s memories?”
“And?”
“Uh…”
The Raichu leaned in. “I see you haven’t discovered everything just yet.”
“What am I supposed to—”
“Why don’t I help you? What’s one object you’d really like to have right about now?”
“Uh…”
“No pressure. Just name something, anything. So long as it’s a tangible thing you can hold.”
“Toast,” Amadeus blurted out.
“Good. Now, try to focus on that want.”
“Uh… okay.” Amadeus tried to concentrate on it. With barely any concentration at all, a slice of toast, made exactly the way he liked it, appeared on a plate in front of him. Amadeus paused.
“…Did I do that?”
“Yes you did.”
Amadeus scarfed down the toast. It tasted heavenly.
“T-this is amazing…”
“I call it ‘Pay the Man.’ With it, you can create anything you have the energy for.”
“…Wait, energy? Is it going to tire me out, or—”
“Don’t worry about that, you can get more energy by looking at other people’s memories. Or watching them die. Or you just un-make the things you make. I call that ‘Self Esteem.’ Simple, right?”
“Please wake me up, I’m dreaming. You just gave me Jirachi’s powers.”
“Oh, you’re awake for this, alright. And you’re gonna go far, kid. Now go do whatever you want with that thing. The world’s your oyster.”
“O-okay.” Amadeus looked around nervously. “Actually, could I have the building for a while? I want to test this…”
“Go right ahead. Nobody hangs around here but my buddies anyway.” Dexter left for… somewhere—home, Amadeus assumed—and Amadeus got to work. After one last check to make sure he really was alone, Amadeus got to work.
How much can I create? Amadeus wondered. He decided to start with empty notebooks, since he figured it wouldn’t cost much, being just paper. He entered the largest room in the building, and started creating.
By the time no more would appear, his head was pressed up against the ceiling.
Okay, that’s a lot. What about something like a battery, which contains a lot of energy already? Amadeus managed to fill up the room about halfway with batteries that were roughly the size of the notebooks. So it costs more to make something like that… What about something that’s inherently complex? Amadeus tried making a calculus textbook—specifically, the one he’d read before for school. He managed to make about the same number of them as the notebooks.
Alright, intrinsic energy matters, complexity doesn’t. Got it… What about something I don’t already know about? Amadeus immediately thought of Northerner’s territory, an area to the north of the daylight continent that he’d heard was largely inhabited by mostly shiny Pokémon. He tried to create a history textbook on said area. The book he created was… almost obsessively detailed. I’ll have to fact-check this later… Amadeus would later learn that he’d created a copy of an actual textbook used in schools.
For now, he wanted to keep experimenting.
What about a phone? he wondered. It worked. He had exactly his phone, with all of the apps it used to have and—
There was no wifi.
Should’ve seen that coming. As Amadeus un-made the phone, watching as it faded back into a yellow glow, and then disappearing altogether, he wondered what he even could make from his old life that would have any utility here.
What was the crystal that powered the Expedition IV called again? Ultra, ultra… Amadeus created a book on Z crystals. It was called Ultranecrozium. He tried creating a full crystal, and got a tiny, barely visible spec.
Does it really hold that much energy? Amadeus wondered. I suppose there isn’t much else to figure out from here… Amadeus decided to go home.
As he walked home, he decided to test out the memory-stealing ability.
He nearly passed out as someone’s entire life story was beamed directly into his head.
He kept looking, if only to satiate his curiosity.
He found destitute people, who failed to make it big in the guild.
He found people who regarded non-members as beneath them.
He found people like him who had been driven to breakdowns because they weren’t good enough.
He was not the only one who felt so down because of the guild. Some had it worse.
Something began to take root in him.
“Hey—”
“Going out again,” Amadeus interrupted.
“Oh,” Mayumi replied. She’d seemed just a little bit more upset about this as of late, but Amadeus couldn’t find it in him to care.
Amadeus roamed the streets, looking for a particular kind of person. It had been a few weeks since he’d first started looking into people’s memories, and he wanted to help someone.
It would not go well.
He located someone rather destitute, completely broken. A Seviper who, like him, had been continuously tormented by his failures at the guild, so maybe—
“You couldn’t possibly understand, kid!”
“Sir, please, if you would just listen to—”
“I’ve heard it all before. If you don’t make it in the guild, you’re worthless! You just had outside help, didn’t you?”
Amadeus wanted to object, but he couldn’t. It was true. He’d had help. Even so—
No. There was nothing he could say to this man. It was already too late for him.
“…Sorry.”
Amadeus retreated back to that same back alley building. It was usually quiet, so he could collect his thoughts.
I can’t help them, can I? I failed already… even with this new power, how could I use it? That would never—
Bastards. If you don’t want my help, why should I give any?
“You seem upset about something.” Dexter was back. Amadeus hadn’t really figured out what his deal was quite yet, but he seemed nice.
“I tried helping someone. Didn’t work.”
“Take it from me, kid. Being a savoir doesn’t work.” Dexter sat down. “I did think I’d find you here, though. Say, would you like to meet someone? They’re your age, and they’re with me, so I think you’ll get along quite well.”
Amadeus paused, tossed over the prospect of meeting someone new a few times in his head, and sighed. “Sure, why not?”
“Then step right through,” Dexter replied, opening a portal and gesturing to it.
“…Whoa.”
“Hah. You could do this to, you know.”
“Wait, I could?”
“Anything means anything,” Dexter replied. “But we’re getting sidetracked. Let’s go.”
Amadeus went through the portal first, and found himself in a dark forest. It was rather cold and there was snow on the ground, so Amadeus assumed he was somewhere up north, but he—
Was being violently yanked by the scruff. Amadeus’ head was whirled around, and made to stare directly into the eyes of a rather raggedy-looking Riolu. In some places, his fur was so gnarled and gashed that he looked almost like a zombie, and for a moment, Amadeus suspected he was, but he was a little too distracted by the fact that he was pinned to the tree to really think about it. His red scarf was equally beat-up.
“Calm down, there. He’s a friend. He’s got a medallion, see?” Dexter pointed out to the mystery Riolu.
The Riolu responded, not with words, but with dropping Amadeus to the ground. Amadeus was now more than a little taken aback by this point. He’s looking down at me…
“Well then,” Dexter said with a clap, “Have fun, you two.” Dexter left promptly after saying this. The Riolu stared at Amadeus for a while before finally speaking.
“So, uh, what’s your name?”
“A-Amadeus…”
“Amadeus, huh? Sounds fancy.” The Riolu extended a paw to Amadeus for a shake, who was currently lying down on his back in the snow. “I’d like to say hi. I don’t really have a name, though, Just, y’know, Wrath.”
“What?” What kind of name is Wrath?
“What do you mean, ‘what’? I didn’t like my old name, so I got rid of it. There, you happy?” The Riolu punched the tree behind Amadeus, seemingly frustrated.
“Well, why wrath? That isn’t really a name, is it?” Amadeus innocently asked.
‘Wrath’ seemed to realize something, and then backed away a bit. Just a bit, though. “Fine, you come up with something to call me, then.”
Amadeus, now feeling on the spot, blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Uh, Jack.”
The Riolu paused, as if he needed to process this. “…Jack? Fine, I’m Jack.”
“N-nice to meet you, Jack.”
“Yeah, whatever. Nice to meet you too.”
The silence after this was, quite frankly, painful. It was like the entire conversation had come to a screeching halt.
“So, uh, do you plan on just lying in the snow forever?” Jack asked.
“Just, uh, looking at you, I think.”
“…Why?”
“You’re cute,” Amadeus said. And then regretted. “I mean, uh, I…”
Jack walked over, crouched down, and put a hand beneath Amadeus’ chin. Arceus, help me.
It was a long day, needless to say.
The more the days had gone on, the more cynical Amadeus had gotten towards helping anyone. Every single attempt had gotten rebuffed. He was starting to think the whole town was doomed at this rate.
Every time he passed by someone who’d succeeded, he felt angrier.
Every time he passed by someone who hadn’t, he felt less and less sympathetic.
Some part of him felt that the problem was with the people, in fact. Really, everyone here had grown up thinking there was only one way to live. And that wouldn’t change as they got older.
Something drastic had to be done. Someone had to remove them. The whole thing had to start over from square one, as he saw it. And nobody else was in a position to do it but him, really. He had the powers of Jirachi now, after all.
The question was, what should he make?
He contemplated these questions as he walked down the halls of a mystery dungeon. He hadn’t quite gotten rid of Mayumi yet, so he still had to put up with her and explore dungeons and such. This time, they’d gotten the opportunity to take a promotion test: explore the dungeon in the center of town, come back with an impressive-looking gem, and they passed.
“Since when did you evolve?” Mayumi asked him.
“It just kinda happened.” A total lie, of course. Who wouldn’t use the powers of Jirachi to create TMs containing powerful moves and a pill that would instantly put themself in peak physical form? Amadeus didn’t realize this would cause him to evolve as a result, which probably was making Mayumi suspicious, but it didn’t seem to be too much of an issue.
The dungeon was uneventful thanks to Amadeus’ newfound strength. The gem they took back, however, Amadeus felt something special about. It was beige in color, and it felt… strong despite not being very large. After waiting for Mayumi to finish fawning over it for a few days, he took it to the alleyway building. By now, he’d become accustomed to hanging out there instead of at home. It was usually pretty quiet in there, and there was no need to worry about any of his own belongings so long as he had the medallion. Besides, Jack was there sometimes.
He wasn’t sure if he was dating Jack yet.
Regardless, he sat down in an empty room. He’d set up a bed in here just in case, but there really wasn’t much else to the room. He placed the gem down on the bed and stared at it for a while. There was something powerful about this gem, he was sure of it. It also felt familiar, like he’d seen it before.
Wait a minute…
Amadeus recreated the book on Z crystals and flipped through it for a while. Eventually, he found it. Ultranecrozium.
Could it be? How do I… Amadeus read the book a little more closely, which said that Ultranecrozium crystals reacted in the presence of electricity. Against his better judgement, he decided to try using charge on the thing. Immediately, he felt a burning sensation all over himself, and he instinctively backed away.
The throbbing pain did not subside for quite a while.
“Ow…”
After collecting himself, he turned back to the book, and kept reading.
In attempting to use Ultranecrozium as a power source, one must be exceedingly careful. If it is not regulated correctly, not only will it explode, it will also cause anything in circuit to also explode. This is known to scale with the total power of the circuit, so the results of an accident in connection with a power grid can be catastrophic. For these reasons, it is mandatory to—
Amadeus stopped reading. That’s crazy…
A dangerous thought crept into his mind.
Wouldn’t a big explosion do a good job of removing all of those people? I mean, if they all died— But a lot of innocents would get caught in the crossfire… I’m not a murderer! I don’t—
But anything drastic would probably kill at least a few innocents, right? I mean, it’s a little bit extreme, but… it would work.
Amadeus began to listen to those dangerous thoughts.
“Amadeus, come with me.”
“I have—”
“No you don’t,” Mayumi retorted. “Come.”
“Where are we going?”
“Just follow me, okay?”
Amadeus followed Mayumi out the door. He figured they were going to the guild, but then Mayumi started walking in a different direction.
“Uh, Mayumi, the Guild is that way.”
“We’re not going to the Guild.”
“What? Why?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
“Uh, okay…”
Amadeus became increasingly confused as they continued walking. They gradually left town, getting further and further away from anywhere Amadeus would consider important to either of them. Eventually, they were in a wide, open field, near the forest’s edge, with the town barely visible on the horizon.
“I remember when I found you. You passed out on the spot in front of me, and honestly, I figured you were going to die if I didn’t do something, so, I saved your life.” Mayumi paused. “And this is the thanks I get?”
“What are you getting at?”
Mayumi sighed. “We need to talk, Amadeus.”
“About what?”
“About us!” Mayumi nearly shouted. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Amadeus snorted. “Gee, what did I do?”
“What did you do? You’ve been prancing around, not a care in the world…” Mayumi shook her head in frustration. “Don’t think I don’t see that random Riolu you keep hanging out with! And I know damn well you’re not doing anything productive while you’re gone! It’s only a matter of time before I figure out where you keep going, I swear to Arceus…”
“You’ve been stalking me?” Amadeus questioned. Has she seen what this Medallion can do? “Why do you care so much?”
“Why do I care? Why do I care?! I thought we were partners! We—”
“We sure as hell aren’t partners, Mayumi,” Amadeus snarled. “Quite frankly, I’d much rather be partners with someone like Jack. Which is why I’m dating him. He’s much better than you.”
“…What? Why didn’t you—” Mayumi’s face was covered in shock and betrayal. In Amadeus’ mind, it was entirely unearned. And he wasn’t done rubbing salt in the wound yet.
“You’re a fucking burden on me, you know that? Every day, you think you can boss me around like you’re my damn manager. Human? Don’t make me laugh. I don’t want to hear any of your stupid, childish delusions. Maybe that’s why your parents didn’t take you home. Because they realized what a moronic disappointment you are.”
Mayumi was speechless for a short while. Undoubtedly, she felt deeply hurt by what he’d said. The thought of it gave Amadeus a dark, corrupt pleasure.
“H-how could you say that?!? After everything I’ve done for you…” Mayumi choked out, tears in her eyes. She started panting. “…I’m done. I’m done being treated like shit by you!” Mayumi started storming off, seemingly fighting the urge to cry.
“Where are you going? Gonna cry yourself a river?”
Mayumi turned back, her face twisted in rage. “…I’m going far away from here. See you in hell.” Mayumi then sprinted back to town, tears streaming down her face.
For some reason, Amadeus found himself enjoying how badly he’d upset Mayumi. Hah. Bitch.
It occurred to him he’d wasted a perfect opportunity to kill her. He didn’t mind. She’d probably die anyway in what he was about to do. For now, he made his way back to his new home in the back alley building.
Days later, Amadeus finished the rough blueprint of the machine he’d have to make. He wasn’t terribly worried about how the thing would work internally—his medallion would probably take care of that—but he still needed to design how the thing functioned. In theory, it would work so long as he plugged it into the wall, he just needed to work out a few of the details. Amadeus looked at the mediocre drawing he’d traced up, and nodded. Then he stepped back and made the thing.
In a flash of yellow light, the beast appeared. It was much bigger than he was expecting, towering over him. It made the hatch in the front a little tricky to open, but that was fine, more or less.
Well, here goes nothing. Amadeus plugged the device into the wall, opened the hatch, and reached to put the Ultranecrozium inside, but stopped. Should I tell Dexter and Jack? What if they’re in the city?
Probably best not to explain what I’m about to do…
But I like them.
Amadeus sighed and put the Ultranecrozium back. He owed it to them to at least get them out of the city before it went off. He created a radar that specifically pointed him to where Jack and Dexter were, and looked closely at it.
Jack was somewhere up north, and Dexter…
Was in the building.
“Hey, kiddo. What’s with the big metal thing?”
“Oh, hey Dexter,” Amadeus said, quickly un-making the radar. “It’s, uh…” Amadeus felt a bit guilty. How could he possibly explain what he was going to do?
Amadeus quickly threw in the Ultranecrozium and let the thing fire to life. He had no idea how long he had to get the hell out of there, but it probably wasn’t long. “Hey, can you take me outside of the city real quick?”
“…What?”
“Quickly?” The machine was starting to glow.
“Erm, okay, kid.” Dexter made a portal and motioned Amadeus to follow. When they emerged, they were in the plains surrounding the city.
Is this far enough? Probably not. “…Farther.”
“What?”
“Farther than this.”
For some reason, Dexter looked almost giddy. “You got it.”
This time, they were far enough away that the city was barely a spec on the horizon. They also happened to be nearby to another forest. This should be far enough… Amadeus sighed. Now what the hell am I going to say to this man? Am I just gonna kill myself now? Give some moody speech where—
No. To hell with what he thinks. I’m doing what needed to be done!
For several agonizing minutes, Amadeus and Dexter waited, but nothing happened. Amadeus wondered if he’d made a mistake somewhere along the way. That all of this was a mistake, that he should go back somehow. Maybe he was a failure.
Then it happened.
The Light that Burned the Sky.
For the first few seconds, it was like there was a second sun.
The light was so blinding that Amadeus couldn’t help but cover his eyes.
Then the fireball that seemed to stroke the very heavens.
Amadeus could feel it’s heat on his face. He would definitely be dead right now if he hadn’t gotten this far away.
Amadeus slowly opened his eyes, and saw a shockwave approaching him, and flames in it’s wake.
Immediately, he was knocked off of his feet as his ears began to ring. He could’ve sworn he was on fire for the smallest instant, as the heat was so intense.
For a while, he thought he might be dying.
Slowly, though, he found it in him to rise to his feet. He looked around him. The trees had mostly been uprooted or knocked over. A brief inspection of his own body revealed no obvious signs of burns. He looked back in the direction of the blast.
Where the city was, there was now a rising ball of fire in the sky. It was still very, very bright, and Amadeus forced himself to look away. The landscape around the city appeared to be a sea of flames.
There could be no doubt. It had been utterly destroyed.
“Hah… ehahaha…” Amadeus found himself laughing. He’d done it. He’d actually done it. He’d wiped an infection of a city off the map altogether. Now, something new could begin there. Now… “Ahahahaha…”
“Wow…” Dexter walked over, a look of astonishment on his face. Immediately, Amadeus took the opportunity to speak.
“Haha… You may not understand, but I don’t care. I—”
“It’s incredible.”
“What?”
Dexter stumbled forward, looking the beast of an explosion in the eye. “This… I knew you were the one when I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were worthy, but this!” Dexter started laughing a bit himself. “This exceeds any expectations I could have possibly given you. You, Amadeus, are the greatest addition to Calamity I could have possibly asked for.” Dexter turned back to him. “You are already, without question, the greatest Prophet of Envy the world has ever seen.”
“I-I don’t understand…”
“Calamity,” Dexter repeated. “The group dedicated to giving the world exactly what it deserves. We’ve spread our wings, and sowed misery for so long, and now, you!” Dexter summoned a sword, and did a knighting motion. “You’ve done more in a few short months than anyone in the history of our group has done in their entire lives.”
Amadeus paused, drinking in the information he just received. “…And you’re the leader?”
“Prophet of Pride, Dexter Raichu,” Dexter said with a nod. “If you want to be formal about it, you can call me Pride. But that would be a strange thing to start doing now.”
“Are there seven of us?”
“Well, there should be, but the medallion of Gluttony remains without a wielder. Speaking of, I should get on that, there was that Togepi…” Dexter shook his head. “Rest assured, they won’t be stealing your thunder anytime soon.”
Amadeus shook his head. “I… I don’t deserve this praise.”
“Why not?” Dexter asked. “I could not possibly be more proud of you.”
Amadeus looked back at the ball of fire. It was fading a bit now, but it was still very bright. He wasn’t quite sure what to think anymore. He felt… strangely satisfied.
“Ah,” Dexter said. “This does actually directly help me, though. I do happen to need a lot of people dead. This should speed up things a bit. For now, maybe go do some scourging with Jack… eh, do whatever. You’ve earned it.”
Something about those words struck a chord with Amadeus. “I think I will.”
There was a palpable silence in that basement.
There’s no way… Amadeus thought. This has got to be some kind of sick joke! “You can’t possibly be serious about—”
“Would I be lying? Now, of all times?” Dumas interrupted. “Besides, I’m not done talking yet.” Dumas sighed. “Now then. You have two choices: Join me, or die.”
“Y-y-you’re going to do it again, aren’t you?” Amadeus stuttered. “Y-you’re going to kill everyone!”
“To hell with your—” Haruhi started, before getting cut off by the sudden appearance of restraints and a muzzle.
Amadeus started breathing hard.
“You can’t just—” Teru started, before meeting a similar fate.
Amadeus’ thoughts began to race.
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no
It can’t be true
“Amadeus,” Dumas said calmly. “Choose.”
Amadeus quickly ran over to Haruhi. The muzzle was solid iron, clasped tightly around her entire snout and mouth. She did not look well. “S-she’s suffocating…”
“Amadeus, do you want to die?” Dumas asked, his voice not wavering in the slightest.
“She’s going to—”
“She’s going to die anyway. It’s just a matter of how painful it will be.”
Suddenly, a thought crossed Amadeus’ mind.
A single, terrible thought.
Under normal circumstances, he would’ve found the idea ridiculous. But now, he had to know.
“…What happened to Samantha?” Amadeus forced out.
“She’s dead, Amadeus.”
“That’s not what asked,” Amadeus nearly shot out, an uncharacteristic anger rising in him. “What happened to her in that town up north? What did you do?”
“…”
“Did you kill her, you monster?!?” Amadeus screamed.
“I did nothing unnecessary.”
“You…” Amadeus couldn’t even find the words to finish that sentence. The unfamiliar rage the very thought filled him with was something he couldn’t even manage properly.
Dumas watched Amadeus silently for a while. “…I suppose that’s a no, then.” His teeth started dripping with dark-type energy, sending Amadeus into something he hadn’t felt since he first arrived. He was utterly helpless.
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die
Chink!
FWOOM!
Amadeus watched Dumas get slammed with a wall of fire. Suddenly, Teru’s Ultranecrozium gem was flying into his bag. Haruhi was already undoing Teru’s restraints.
“Let’s get the hell out of here!” She yelled.
Did she just use psychic? “H-how did you—”
“Just start running already!”
The trio tried their best to scramble up the stairs, but they were quickly blocked by a net that sent all three of them tumbling back down.
“Nice try,” Dumas said, now burned slightly. “Don’t expect that to work twice, thou—”
Teru shot a Bullet Seed at the single light bulb illuminating the room. Dumas still needed to see to use the medallion, after all. With a crack, the room was instantly plunged into darkness. Not for long, though, as Haruhi burned up the net, freeing the three of them, if not a unscathed. They quickly resumed their flight up the stairs.
“Teru, smash the walls!” Haruhi commanded.
“What?”
“Like you did in the cave! Hurry! Before he sees where we are!”
Teru immediately smashed the walls, sending them partially collapsing. This did not seem to slow Dumas down whatsoever, though, as Amadeus heard a grizzly sound behind him in the dark.
Crunch!
Haruhi almost immediately turned around and shot another stream of fire, hitting Dumas directly…
As well as Teru’s limp body, who went tumbling down with him.
For the brief second that the stairwell was illuminated, Amadeus could see Haruhi frozen with terror.
Amadeus dashed forward with a renewed panic. The door was right there. The exit was so close. “Haruhi, run!” Amadeus slammed the door open with a façade, yanking Haruhi with him with his teeth. After a brief moment, she started running with him again, keeping up the fire behind her.
They made it outside.
Dumas’ house was burning behind them.
There was now a crowd starting to gather.
We… we made it… Amadeus thought. We can expose him now…
Dumas emerged from the flaming house, looking ready to attack, before seeing the crowd. It seemed to give him pause.
Teru didn’t make it… Amadeus suddenly found himself feeling horribly guilty.
The next few hours were almost agonizingly hectic. Amadeus was questioned repeatedly about what happened, and every time, he tried to tell it as best he could. For a while, he was hopeful that they could bring Dumas to justice.
He would be proven wrong about that.
Amadeus stumbled back into the house, eager to just let the day be done. He jumped onto the couch and collapsed onto it. Haruhi followed him, and snuggled up right next to him.
“Amadeus?”
“Yeah?”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know. Hope Dumas gets faces justice?” Amadeus was filled with emotions on the matter, none of them good. He couldn’t help but feel to blame. “You’re usually the one who knows what to do…”
“I know,” Haruhi responded. “And now I’m scared because of it.”
Amadeus was silent for a while. “Me too.”
After a while, Akihiro sat down on the couch next to them.
“Are you two alright?”
“No,” Haruhi honestly replied.
Akihiro sighed. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news now of all times, but…” Akihiro paused for what felt like forever. “It’s starting to look like you two will end up behind bars.”
“…What?” Amadeus asked.
“They don’t believe you two, unfortunately,” Akihiro responded. “I believe you, of course. But the entire story, including your relation to Dumas, sounded fabricated to them. They were more inclined to believe Dumas’ more simple account of the events. Especially since he had already approached the Guildmaster about similar gems beforehand.”
“D-Did they not see the machine?!?” Haruhi asked. “The fact that Dumas—”
“The machine you described wasn’t there,” Akihiro confirmed. “There’s also the matter of Dumas and Teru being covered in burns.”
“…What happened to Teru?” Haruhi asked breathlessly. “Is he—”
“He didn’t make it. His injuries were too—”
“NonononononopleaseIdidn’tkillhim—”
Akihiro put a paw on her back. “It’s alright. You didn’t, I believe what you said.”
After a while of silence punctuated only by heavy breathing, Amadeus spoke. “So… that’s it? Dumas is going to kill everyone?”
Akihiro placed a bag on the table in front of the couch. “I managed to convince them to let me have your bags.” Akihiro reached in and pulled out the Ultranecrozium gem. “He needs this to do it, right?”
“He’s just going to come and take it…” Amadeus pointed out. “He’ll probably just say that it’s evidence…”
Akihiro sighed. “I can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but… you have to run.”
“What?” Amadeus and Haruhi said in unison.
“It’s the only way for you two to get out of this mess.” Akihiro handed them the bag. “I’ll get a long-distance teleporter I know to come by in the morning. He’ll take you somewhere on the mainland, away from the Guild’s influence. After that, you have to take this and run as far as you can.”
Amadeus couldn’t speak. He wanted to object. Yet he knew that he had to.
NOOOOOO TARUUUUUUUU