No more

It took a bit longer than Mark expected, but eventually they made it to the entrance of Angel’s Window. It looked exactly like your average cave, but he had learned to not underestimate Mystery Dungeons.

Mark immediately noticed the same rectangular rooms and way-too-perfect halls that connected them. The environment was different, the inhabitants were different, but that’s all that changed from Poison Garden.

“Say, Simon? I wanted to ask, and forgive me if it’s too intrusive, but…” Mark had to make some conversation somehow, the silence was killing him. And what better way to do that than asking what was bothering him? “Why are you so scared? Like, when Rose disappeared, you… you broke instantly… You didn’t try to look for her around the guild or anything, you just knew she got kidnapped.”

Simon hesitated to answer, like he was running through his thoughts multiple times to see if he could say them. “This isn’t the first time it has happened, you know? Not the kidnapping thing, but… Pokémon going after me. My sister has been in danger a lot of times and it still breaks me all the same. If something happens to her, I’m alone, and I’m not ready for that again…”

“And why would they go after you? Have you done anything or…?”

“I legitimately don’t know. All I know is I’m a target for some reason, and if it wasn’t for the guild, I would’ve been killed multiple times by now.”

“Why are you still here then? Why not leave somewhere else?”

But he didn’t get a response. Simon stared at the ground, pensive. “I can’t tell you. Not yet.”

Mark wasn’t expecting that. He thought there wouldn’t be secrets between them, but then again, he was the one keeping to Simon the whole being human thing. There had to be a reason for him to not talk.

The dungeon exploring went as well as Simon said it would. The ferals had no chance against him, and the few items that he needed were given to him immediately. Mark felt kind of proud of himself for doing a good job, but that feeling vanished quickly as he remembered why he was there.

The Squirtle found the stairs, these ones going down this time. “So how many floors are in this one?”

“In theory, ten. Though I doubt we will find Rose on the last floor. Or at least, I hope not.”

The next few floors went by semi-quickly so Mark spent the time reflecting about everything. He was happy to be with Simon and Rose, he felt like he belonged somewhere even if his lack of fighting bothered him. But now… seeing all the danger that both of them were apparently constantly in, he was questioning it. He felt sorry, but mostly concerned. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to help. No, he needed to. They were the ones that literally saved him from starving to death and gave him a life he could adhere to, all with no questions asked. He wanted to prove himself and show that he could protect them too.

Of course, that only made him slump harder, as he hadn’t done anything for them at all yet. In his eyes, at least.

“Mark?”

“O-oh, yeah, what?”

“I was talking to you, I said, have you gotten hit yet?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so.”

“You mind using an Align Orb then? I’m already feeling tired.”

“Y-yeah, sure.”

That was the reminder he needed to stay focused. He’d think about all his troubles later, once everyone was safe.

---

It wasn’t long until some noise was heard. It sounded like growling, growling from a familiar voice.

“Rose…” Simon whispered, he couldn’t risk being heard and throw the surprise attack away.

‘Good. She’s conscious at least. But there has to be a reason why she’s not screaming for help or attacking. She should have the advantage.’

They explored the floor thoroughly, making sure they knew of all the halls and rooms they could take advantage of. There weren’t any ferals, the Abomasnow had to have dealt with them already. It didn’t take them long to find the one room where he was, and most importantly, Rose.

Rose wasn’t moving, she was stuck in place, shaking. The Abomasnow was next to her, looking around. He had an orb next to him, Foe-Hold. Wouldn’t be surprising if he had more than one, and used them on Rose so she couldn’t move. 

“We need to get rid of that orb.” Simon whispered.

“But how?” Mark went through everything in his head, and he noticed how there was an alternate entrance to the room. He remembered the way there, he could be bait. “Okay, I have an idea, get ready and don’t miss the chance.”

Simon was about to ask what the plan was, but Mark had already rushed off.

‘…okay, Mark. I know you’re scared, I know you’re nervous, but you really need to do this right, so focus.’

He was looking at the Abomasnow from the other side of the room. In fact, he could make eye contact with Simon from here. He took a deep breath and used his bone club to hit the wall of the hall he was in as hard as he could.

It obviously made a sound, and it was enough for Zigg to notice. The ice monster got up, clutching the orb and slowly made his way to the entrance where the Cubone was located.

Mark had already stepped back quite a bit, which should be enough to avoid being seen, but his heart rate was going faster than he even thought was possible. He wasn’t even noticing he wasn’t breathing, just avoiding doing anything at all to not make another sound.

Luckily, Simon didn’t hesitate. He snuck on the Abomasnow from behind, and snatched the orb from his paw, immediately smashing it down himself.

After taking the second to confirm that Zigg was now frozen in place, they went rushing to Rose. She was bruised, but nothing too big.

“Mark, hit her.”

“What?”

“The orb takes effect until she is hit, and you don’t know moves, you won’t hurt her.”

“O-okay.”

Mark used his club to hesitantly hit Rose. With a gasp, she fell to the ground.

“Arceus, Rose…”

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine…”

Now it was Zigg’s turn to growl. Simon approached him, getting in front of him.

“You made a big mistake taking my sister away.”

“What do we do with him?” Mark was still tending to Rose, making sure she could stand up and walk.

“Part of me wants to leave him like this. He’s stuck until someone attacks, and there are no ferals around. I wonder how long it would take until somebody comes to this dungeon and finds him.”

Simon was clearly trying to scare him. And by the trembles from the Abomasnow, it was working.

“I sense a ‘but’.”

“But, I am not a heartless monster like him.” The menacing look Simon gave was cold, almost devoid of any emotion. “So I might as well have fun.”

“Simon, what are you-” But before Rose could answer, Simon’s paw glowed. He jumped, hitting Zigg in the head with a chop. It was enough for him to get launched to the other side of the room.

But when Simon turned around to his sister, he heard giggling.

“Heh… Of course you would…”

“…what?”

“You know the best part of having long fur like this…?” He hid his paw between the fur tufts on his chest before showing off an orb. The team tried to run to him but he smashed it down before anyone could act. It was another Foe-Hold. They were done. “… I can hide things in it…”

Zigg groaned in pain, standing up. “I’d say I’m sorry… But after the nightmare you’re making me go through, Simon, I’m really not. I know you’re the cause of this, and I’m going to make sure you don’t get to live another day.”

He positioned himself, covering his paw with ice, before landing his fist into Simon with as much force as he could muster. Simon yelped, but that’s the only noise he made as he bounced on the ground from the recoil. He fainted.

Mark and Rose looked at each other, terrified. “And about you two… You’re the ones I’m actually sorry for. You have nothing to do with this, and yet, I can’t let you get away.” He materialized a shard of ice, aiming it precisely. “So goodbye.” And he launched the shard.

The Cubone saw the shard go at top speed, targeting Rose. She got hit by it, immediately slamming against the wall behind her. Mark thought that was it. But it wasn’t.

Rose didn’t fall to the ground again. She was pinned against the wall because of the shard. The shard that pierced through her chest and left her hanging there, with her eyes open and the small sound of blood trickling down to the floor.

Mark knew what had happened. There was no logical way that she could have survived that. And although logic didn’t seem to have that much impact in this world, the Abomasnow’s reaction made it pretty clear that he got what he wanted. She was dead.

He wanted to puke. He wanted to cry. He wanted to rush to her and pray that there was a solution to this. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t move at all.

“Don’t worry. You’re next. I need to make this quickly so your friend over there doesn’t wake up just yet.” He materialized another shard, this time aiming at Mark.

In that split second, he remembered everything that had happened. He remembered himself starving, being rescued by the kindest souls he could have hoped for. He remembered his frustration with himself on his first attempt at Poison Garden.

The talk with Simon, the second attempt, the guild tour… Simon had broken the promise he made to Verm, they weren’t going to return.

He thought of the other guild members. Sanah, Alphonse, Dave… All of them trusting they would get out of this without a problem. But they wouldn’t, because they couldn’t follow Gren’s advice.

And in the end, the need that Mark had to prove himself vanished. He was right from the very beginning, he was useless, he never helped, he was only there to make things worse.

The shard launched, and all Mark could think about was how he wished he was back at the start.

…and such is the end of his story…