*Music: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door – Palace of Shadow
“Recall….”
The echoing voices that pinned Sanvu to the ground in the non-existent space created yet another episode of bother for the dreaming creature. They bounced around, despite there being no visible walls in sight. Not even Sanvu could keep his eyes open with the volume that these words enunciated themselves with.
“…destiny….”
Sanvu had brief respite with the ever-distancing echo of that word as he picked himself up. The tree was still visible; its bark filling the shadow that once inhabited the space like a light to a lightbulb, its presence radiating some sort of calm in an environment that otherwise had very little definition.
“Destiny… memory… evaporation… destruction….”
The small green lizard could only flinch, curling down at the volume of these words as they echoed around. Could they mean his own memories, which were locked away to him even now? He couldn’t rule it out, but given that they never seemed to notice his existence in these dreams, a part of him felt it unlikely.
“um…ity…”
The words began to fade as he was forced to tune out, the waking world demanding his presence as it dragged him to the dawn.
The morning had a bitter air to it. Pachuku was still grabbing berries for the day when Sanvu arose, and though he felt fine physically, the same couldn’t be said mentally.
“…Hey,” Pachuku murmured after some time. “Sleep well?”
Sanvu could only nod silently. “Not interested in what happened?” he prodded, observing Pachuku’s odd demeanour.
“Nah, don’t feel like it today. Unless they said something particularly important?” Pachuku’s enthusiasm sounded forced, almost blatantly so. Sanvu figured that him being alone so long made him less used to hiding how he really felt.
“No, just vague spiels like usual. Honestly, it was vaguer than last time, so if you don’t wanna hear it, I won’t bombard you.”
They were silent through much of the morning, which had Sanvu particularly concerned. Yesterday had been particularly bad, sure, but he’d made up for the transgression of the Elevated Forest mission, right? Sanvu still had lingering doubts about something being up with Pachuku, especially as the loss of their teammates probably had him on edge, but enough to create irritation; the former human couldn’t entirely be sure.
Especially in relation to the dreams; Pachuku had been particularly eager when Sanvu woke from one, wanting to hear every little insignificant detail, no matter how relevant it was to the situation.
Sanvu wasn’t particularly nonplussed, yet at the same time he was. Somehow though, instinctually, he kept his mouth shut, for one reason or another that he couldn’t gather, it was better to stay silent right now than to provoke Pachuku with whatever was ailing him. Maybe today’s mission would let it all out, he hoped; he couldn’t afford to be too fussed about it, bigger things were at stake.
As if the world heeded his call, it beckoned to him with sounds from the door.
Pachuku answered, only to be met with a small green bird.
“I apologise for interrupting anything, but you must come quickly.”
~~
The two Pokemon showed up in front of Didra so quick that they didn’t even have time to prepare. She beckoned them to follow deeper into her primary quarters; as she informed them of their mission that day.
“So, I suppose I’ll just ask first, how are you two doing, today?” she probed.
“Could be better,” Sanvu admitted, shrugging.
“…I don’t wanna talk about it,” Pachuku finally spoke after a few moments of silently glaring up at Didra.
“Don’t think I can’t notice if you two aren’t feeling up to it. It wouldn’t do to keep secrets,” she advised, before settling down. “So, you know the dungeon you two saved Peko in? I believe we referred to that one as Deep Greens, if I didn’t tell you earlier…” she voiced, which had Sanvu shaking his head, correcting her.
“No, I… don’t think we ever got its name.”
“Well, it has one now. Anyway, the Amnesiacs you saved yesterday is the primary concern of today. Piki has been reunited with that Pikachu with her memories restored for a second time, but the other one, the Dedenne, is nowhere to be found. I’ve looked all over for her, and instead found a note asking your team to go to the dungeon in question to retrieve her.”
She showed them the note, which looked pretty much like a sticky note with some scrawl on it that simply read “Deep Greens, Send Minders if you want Dedenne back,” with what looked like some creepy eyes. It still bothered Sanvu how he could read this script and translate it into perfect English, but that was for another time.
“A ransom?” Pachuku puzzled, “Isn’t this suspicious?”
“It is,” she confirmed, putting the note away while sighing. “So I would like you to prepare for anything. I would not like to lose you either, given that we seemingly have members disappearing yet I cannot find any record that we had any members, and it’s beginning to bother me. Don’t bother with it if it’s too dangerous,” she warned, both of them heeding the call.
“Good, off you go, that’s all you’ll need for today.”
As the two sat in front of Pachuku’s house after doing some shopping, Sanvu couldn’t help but notice Pachuku’s anxiety had increased, even well before they’d entered a dungeon.
“What’s up?”
“Y-You know what’s up,” Pachuku growled, “This is a blatant trap, and we’re definitely going to be next after the Dedenne.”
“Isn’t that what this is for? So that we can prepare for said trap? The alternative is just letting the Dedenne be forgotten like everything else in this inconsistent town.”
Pachuku whimpered as if he were going to cry, which prompted Sanvu to sigh. He felt like he was doing a lot of that.
“Let’s just, at the very least, check it out. It can’t hurt to just walk into the dungeon, right? Unless you’re somehow afraid of those too?”
“I-It’s not the dungeon that scares me… j-just…” he continued loading items. “I just… c-can’t…”
“Can’t what? Fight? Cause I know that’s not true. Come on, just work with me here, yes, it sounds like a blatant trap, but at least we can find something out about the Dedenne like Didra wants? At the very least just to perform the mission, can you work with me on that?”
“F-Fine…” but Pachuku had a feeling that he knew Sanvu wasn’t being entirely truthful. It would never be enough for Sanvu to just want to complete the mission, after all.
Sanvu didn’t particularly catch on, but was finally satisfied with at least meeting Pachuku halfway, though in actuality he couldn’t really be sure.
Music: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door – Shadow Queen’s Theme
As they travelled towards their destination, Sanvu felt a little nostalgic. Their first dungeon felt like a long time ago now, where all he’d done was learn how to use his vines, and that they saved their first Amnesiac. Any other day, he’d probably joke about this with Pachuku, but the squirrel looked too depressed for even that.
All the while, he wondered what kind of trap this was. The individual knew their team name, but otherwise appeared to be somebody Didra didn’t know about. He hated the idea that they might end up like their friends, but what choice did they have? He wasn’t exactly about to sit idly by when he could do something about it.
He hoped Pachuku could see that; especially since Pachuku himself had said prior to this that he’d wanted to do this whole team thing precisely because the others weren’t doing a good enough job. But he wasn’t entirely sure what Pachuku wanted out of this, because even that seemed like crossing the line now.
Had the ramifications of this decision caught up to his friend? It certainly wasn’t going ignored on his own end; he wouldn’t know what to do if they ended up forgotten with their existence forgotten by everybody else. The thought bothered him as much as he thought it bothered Pachuku, but he couldn’t let it bother him for as much as he was remaining standing, as terrifying as it sounded.
So they continued in silence. The trip only took as long as it did by virtue of the distance; Mystical Woods was much closer than this dungeon had been, and they hadn’t had to visit this one much comparatively.
Not that they would want to, after this particular trip.
Immediately upon entering, black sludge coated the forest from the great reaches of the sky all the way down to the floor, immobilising the two Pokemon upon entry.
“What is this stuff?!” Pachuku cried out, finding himself unable to lift his feet very far.
Try as they might, they kept on struggling, before they were pulled into its murky black clutches. Neither of them were able to use a move to escape, it were as if their physical capacities had vanished the moment they touched the gunk.
So they struggled as the sludge engulfed them, the end feeling in sight.
~~
“Wh-What do you… want with me?” the small orange rodent squeaked.
“Quiet, you make a good hostage, all things considered. They should be here any moment now, and then we can do the real talking. So hush, you impotent pipsqueak.”
Above the rodent was a purple bat Pokemon with four wings, who glared at the thing menacingly as it was locked up in a rudimentary Mean Look move that would serve to keep the thing from running away too far. There were no physical restraints, there weren’t even really too many trees besides a small circle in their wooded area, but if the Dedenne tried to broach the invisible barrier, she would be met with an impassable mist that threatened to push her in like a springy rubber band fence, so for all intents and purposes, the Dedenne was very much caught in the cage the species it resembled in the human world very much illustrated in typical stereotypes.
A small thud was heard as the two Pokemon the Crobat had been waiting for had finally arrived, as they moved to wake, he turned around slowly.
“Finally, thought that might work. Didn’t want to wait for your slow lugs to have to trudge your way through here,” he moaned, as they began to regain consciousness.
“Who’re you?” the human prodded, with the Crobat none too bothered by either of their determined gazes.
“You need not know who I am, but it is Crobat, to you. I am but a subordinate of the superior, Dark Matter, and I’ve brought you two here for a very special reason.”
“The superior is what-now?!”
“Yes, indeed, I know who the superior is. I also know of you, Sanvu, and Pachuku, and everyone that lives in that ridiculous town you call ‘Mentage.’ One could say I know… hmm… far too much,” he crooned.
“S-Sanvu… w-we should go…”
“Don’t try,” he warned. “I’ll very easily keep you here if I have to, so don’t even bother trying to run away.”
“You… know everything? Even about me?” Sanvu inquired, somewhat genuinely curious, even though he was absolutely sure this guy was the spitting image of the villain in the story with the way his voice carried a low hiss.
“I know as much as the superior tells me. Which is a lot, if you’d be willing to listen.”
“D-Didn’t you just tell us we can’t even leave?”
“I get the feeling you wouldn’t want to. After all, it would be such of a waste of a mission,” he gestured towards the Dedenne with a wing, “You want her so terribly, don’t you?”
She ran once again towards what manifested as a cloud of black-blue mist appeared, knocking her back. Sanvu could only barely stifle a gasp, while Pachuku could only growl.
“Mean Look… huh?”
“Yes, indeed, Mean Look. So you can rest assured you can either listen to me, and I’ll give her back, or, she joins the rest of this town’s long line of recruits. What will it be?”
Sanvu could only growl himself. The nerve of this thing to make such a threat, he clearly didn’t have much of a heart if he was willing to make such a deal in the first place. Part of him wanted to roll his eyes at how obviously mean Crobat was being, but then he figured it was intentional; he knew something they didn’t, after all.
“S-Sanvu…”
“First up, do you intend to hurt us? Get rid of us, fight us, whatever?” Sanvu queried. “Are we going to join everyone else, today, regardless if we listen to you or not?”
“Good gracious, no. Just as it would be a waste for you, it would be a waste for the superior. I wouldn’t even bother wanting to bring you here if I just wanted that. There’s about a thousand different ways I could maul you explicitly, but let’s just say I’m not… in the mood,” he sneered, rolling his own eyes. “Does that help; little one?”
He was explicitly looking at Pachuku with that one remark, who looked less than convinced, but couldn’t find it himself to argue. “J-Just do it, Sanvu, he isn’t gonna let us leave if you don’t.”
“Fine, speak.”
“So, Sanvu, what in particular would you like to know? I can start anywhere, given how much I know of you.”
Sanvu pondered this for a moment. “What… do you know of my missing memories?”
“Oh I know lots of your humanity… the places you’ve been… the people you’ve seen… but I suppose I should start from the beginning, shouldn’t I, about what exactly it is I wanted you to hear.”
*Music: Deltarune Chapter 2: The Dark Truth
“So first of all, Sanvu, I know everything about you for a reason. Dark Matter shares all your memories for the world to see.
Because… Dark Matter controls this space. Everything you see around you, every blade of grass, every tree, every house, every mind, every facet of this world…. is Dark Matter’s domain.
Yes, indeed, this world is fake, thank you for clarifying. Every-thing in it is not real. Does that begin to paint a picture?
This world’s memories are being harvested for Dark Matter’s power. Dark Matter feeds on negative emotions, which’re in every memory you could possibly think of. Even the happiest ones always have a tinge of sadness to them, that’s just how the world works.
Because of this, this world is built upon the foundations of your memories. Even things you could barely remember have become embellished within the Pokemon world, affecting all you see and hear around you… I’m sure many of your experiences here match somewhere or other with events depicted in your own past. That when diluted with the memories of some of the Pokemon of this world serve as the perfect fuel for Dark Matter’s abilities within the regular Pokemon world outside of this space.
This is why you will never get them back, as well as the fact that remains that you will never go back to your own world.”
The Dedenne had somewhat stopped attempting to escape after hearing this, but could only stare in confusion since it did not understand why this was being said.
“Go on, I’m sure you want to tell your precious Didra all this as well, don’t you? Well tough, she’s not anybody you could count on. Dark Matter controls all within this space, and that includes everyone’s minds, hers included. There is no escape.”
It was mere minutes after that he lurched up, as two black splotches appeared from the ground in front of the Dedenne, who could only whimper as they appeared.
“V-Void Shadows?!” Sanvu could only gasp.
“Yes… though you shouldn’t know of them. It seems that after the other human was captured, Dark Matter had difficulty maintaining this space, and so more irked through than I’d like. But that’s for another time, isn’t it?
The reason that we haven’t taken your two fragile spirits yet is primarily one thing; the superior is… just quite frankly, not satisfied with you.
Yes, yes, you heard me. Not satisfied. I could’ve ripped the two of you outside your own house today, but that’s how dissatisfied it is, it wanted me to ensure you came here of your own volition, that’s how utterly important this is even to Dark Matter.
As I said, Dark Matter feeds on everything negative. It is necessary for greater plans that I am not at liberty to divulge.”
“Like turning everyone to stone in the real world?” The Void Shadows dissipated after the Snivy had said this.
“Oh, hardly. That is only merely part of the plan. Not even I am privy to what the superior demands we must contribute to, but it’s hardly just turning Pokemon to stone. How boring. Wouldn’t you think that boring?
No, in essence, I’m here to ask a favour. Stop trying to save the Amnesiacs of this world, and you’ll do yourself a favour.
No, I’m dead serious. Every action you have taken in defiance of this, Sanvu, from the moment you woke up within this space, has exacerbated the issue tenfold. We could’ve had every Pokemon’s memory, but then we had to have Mindscape attempt all sorts of trickery to attempt running around our loopholes that has only further delayed our goal. Oh, but that’s not why I’m telling you.
Even just for your own sake… you dream of Dark Matter, no? No other Pokemon in this space dreams, particularly because humans dream in a manner different from Pokemon. It knows you’ve been watching its plans. It doesn’t like it.
The Pokemon of the real world are being turned to stone to harvest their negative emotions while they remain as spirits in this realm. Clearly, having two humans in the same space is too much trouble, so we’re letting them off free, for the moment, but they will join their friends once enough of the planet is preserved in stone.
If you continue along this path, the superior will not be satisfied, because you will not contribute to its reign of power.
Or how about… hmm.”
The bat mused for a second, before chuckling. “We allowed you to roam free a little bit with type energy, but eventually, we had to take that away too, such as the creation of dungeons explicitly to produce multiple varieties. Don’t probe me on the specifics, Froslass was to bother with all that junk, not me, but the superior wanted you to be completely helpless. Just like…”
He pointed at Pachuku, who was trembling, and had been shaking his head almost the entire time Crobat had been talking.
“You want to know what you’re doing to this world, Sanvu? He’s one prime example.”
“Leave him out of this!” Sanvu demanded, moving to shield Pachuku with merely but an arm.
“That little Pachirisu is the primary point of my saying this to you. You want to know why he’s getting so afraid and persnickety? So uptight after merely going into a mission where the most you had to worry about was him defending you?
That is a result of your careless actions in this world. Every step you make towards stopping us, the more you turn this world against you. He experienced it firsthand when he attempting running up against this world, and any Pokemon that tries receives the same treatment… the same is true of a human attempting to break this plan. You can either give up, and you two can live out your days until the end comes, or… defy me, and you become the perfect fuel for Dark Matter’s schemes.
Dark Matter is a bit… preoccupied to be going after your spirit when you’re already inside its domain. But I can make that change… if you continue along this path. So, which will it be?”
Sanvu almost thought he wanted to joke. Give up? When he knew what was at stake? But… was the alternative any enticing? Both lead to their end. He felt helpless, but couldn’t entirely rationalise it all just yet as it all sunk into his minds and fears.
“What makes you so believable, huh? For all I know, you’re just saying all this to trick us. You sound the part.”
“I do, thanks for the compliment. I’m sure the superior will relish in that thought.”
“W-We should… l-leave…” Pachuku mumbled, as he continued to shake his head.
“Isn’t it that we can’t?!” Sanvu yelled back, causing the bat to laugh loudly.
“Has anyone before you told you anything other than vague nothings that have lead you in circles? Surely, I’m a bit more believable than all the teammates that I stole from your precious organisation that the superior controls in one of its many tentacles. And besides, if I wasn’t, I could’ve just taken you in, right now, and then poof, you wouldn’t longer exist in this world. Everyone back home would have forgotten every mention of your existence.”
“D-Don’t believe him! He’s j-just… baiting you!” Pachuku cried out, with Sanvu caught at an impasse.
“How sad, and pathetic, it must be to rely on a mere Pachirisu for advice like that. Oh, Sanvu, just what exactly have you done? It’s impressive, with barely anything on your other than your spirit, of course.”
“I said… leave him out of it,” his voice took on a low growl as he looked between the two others in the room with rising frustration.
“But can you trust him, even now, as you continue to listen to me, over him? Have you not wondered what exactly has bothered your little friend? I assure you, Dark Matter has plenty of tendrils in both of you and even myself, but it’s far too busy to have actively done anything to him. You ever wonder why… well, why everything happened to you the way it did?”
“You wouldn’t know!” the squirrel shouted, “You’re lying, Sanvu, don’t bother listening to him.”
“I have to ask if you’re just a little crazy given the fact is that he’s right. The signs, Didra’s inconsistency… doesn’t it add up?” he pleaded, to no gain as Pachuku yelped back.
“Who cares! We can find out what’s really going on without big ol’ nasty giving us a lecture, can’t we?”
“Where? Genuinely, Pachuku, I don’t know what else to say to you. Are you still bothered from that mission?”
“Rrrgh…” Pachuku growled, before stomping and shouting right in Sanvu’s face. “It’s all cause you’re human, isn’t it?! You’re always so reckless! You never care about anybody else, it’s always about you! You never want to listen to me when I just want us to be safe!” he reprimanded, panting, to a less-than-stellar-faced Snivy.
~~
*Music: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Final Wingo Phase Book One/Two
“What… did you say?” Sanvu knew what he said. He just wanted clarification, as he felt the fumes inside his body coagulate.
“Even now, we’re about to die to a Poison-type, and all you want to do is smash it in the face like you do anything! What would it take for you to listen to somebody else!” he demanded, the Crobat in hysterics.
“You see, Sanvu? I didn’t make him say that. I’m hardly the Psychic when all I can do is look at others and trap them here, Psychics tear me apart otherwise. That’s all you. So, what will it be? Give up, or remain tearing this world apart?”
Sanvu was practically boiling, mostly because he couldn’t believe anyone. Not Crobat, nor Pachuku, nor even himself. He hated this, every bit of this, but if Crobat wasn’t telling the truth, which he suspected to an extent that it wasn’t the whole truth, he wouldn’t tell Crobat the full truth either.
But Pachuku… what he’d said was inexcusable. He’d tried everything to understand the little squirrel’s position, and he had no right to be claiming Sanvu was being reckless when there literally wasn’t a choice anymore. He was literally the centrepiece of this entire operation, all of this hinged on his incurable memory loss. He wanted to hope Pachuku was being manipulated, but whether he’d been forced to say it or not, nobody says that and gets away with it.
Sanvu walked forward to Crobat, causing him to be hit particularly hard by Pachuku’s Quick Attack, which took him a distance. “Just give up, and let’s leave! We can tell Didra that we just got caught up, and we can find out elsewhere what’s going on!”
He then zapped Crobat with 8 rays of Discharge, causing the bat to wince when one of them hit him, Pachuku smiling at the attack finally having been mastered enough to the point he can use it for real.
The human wasn’t having it anymore, manifesting his vines when Pachuku tried to push Sanvu again, wrapping them around his torso and quickly slamming him into a tree to take him out. Meanwhile, Crobat just sat in hysterics, the Dedenne trembling, clutching its cheeks to cry.
Pachuku was eventually knocked down enough that he wouldn’t get the idea to fight back anymore, not enough to cause significant pain; Sanvu didn’t particularly fancy himself that cruel, so he left Pachuku alone once he was satisfied that he was lying as still as he could make. He turned towards Crobat, eyes glowing with rage, retracting his vines. He almost regretted this decision, but he was far too stubborn to have said anything else.
“Look… just let me finish Didra’s mission. I… promise… I won’t cause any further harm to this plan. Just… give us Dedenne, and let us go home.”
The bat scoffed, snickering all the while. “Oh, you’re so pathetically nice, just the way you were as a human, weren’t you? I hardly don’t have the means to contest you, so long as you realise it is futile to fight against Dark Matter, your piddly mission can be completed, yes. But don’t think you can tell Didra, and if you even think about continuing behind my back just to placate me now… I will go after you.”
Sanvu squinted. “I know. Just let me finish the mission.”
“We will know, after all. You make yourself so transparent in your dreams, after all, so don’t you dare think we won’t know.”
“Didn’t I just say I got it? I wasn’t trying to play coy.”
“Alright, but I’m just making sure you understand, is all,” his eyes glowed purple for a moment, before the Dedenne could run over to Sanvu, crying and cheering.
“You can have her back, for now. I’ll even ensure she gets proper memory restoral tonight, all things considered. Get yourselves on your way.”
Sanvu in holding the rodent brought out an Escape Orb, citing a mission complete. He at least knew what to do now.
The last gift would be to provide the squirrel his old home.
As the trio dissipated, Crobat watched, grinning all the while. He knew what Sanvu knew, after all, and he knew for a fact that they’d lied.
A voice from somewhere uttered an incomprehensible question.
“Oh yeah, the kid’s super easy to read. He’s absolutely resolute. You want me to watch him? Pretty sure he’s still gonna get in your way.”
Silence, but Crobat understood the jist.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Don’t worry. Nobody escapes the eyes of this world when they’re all you can see.”
With Dedenne restored, and Didra assured them that the mission was a success; she waved them off, rewards and all. Pachuku had healed somewhat by the time they returned, enough to once again make demands of Sanvu.
“Are you nuts?! Give up?! After everything we’ve done, you just up and believe that guy even though he blatantly wanted you to sell your soul?!”
“I’m through,” Sanvu waved him off. “You want another teammate who’ll solve this crisis your way? Then go find one. It was so easy for you last time; surely it’ll be easy enough this time.”
“And what will you do, huh?! Continue doing this alone?!”
“Yup, clearly. Cause I can’t trust you anymore.”
Those were the last words Sanvu spoke to Pachuku as he wandered away from their little house, the grim reminder dawning on Sanvu that he’d have to find somewhere to sleep outside from here on.
Although, the prospect was looking more tantalising the more time he spent outdoors. So long as he was free of Pachuku, he could do anything he wanted.
He found it somewhat intriguing that Pachuku believed him so easily. Give up? That clearly wasn’t on Sanvu’s mind. In fact, he was planning on doing anything but giving up. Didra had allowed Oshee to work alone against her rules; maybe he could work with her if merely working alone was enough to concern Didra. It was like Pachuku said; he’d wanted him to do better, so he’d do better, if only just to anger Dark Matter and Crobat more.
It wasn’t as if he could ever find out who he was ever again, and even if he somehow did, there was an end either way he looked at it. Might as well go out with a bang rather than a whimper, he could idly think.
Any thought was preferable without a potentially-manipulated individual he had the gall to call a friend once.
The unstable relationship crumbled as the fragments of discord embroiled itself around the town being infested with darkness.
~~
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