Work Text:
“Fireball!”
“Lance, for the last time, stop setting the grass around me on fire! We are fighting fire types, you idiot, it aint doing shit!” Cynthia shouts as she steps hastily around the flame to dodge yet another attack from the agitated Infernape. It growls upon missing - ready to attack again - but Cynthia swings her sword without hesitation and slashes right through it before looking sideways to glare at the man in the question.
“Well, it’s not like I have any other spells. At least it does some damage.” Lance grunts in response, crossing his arms and omitting the battlefield with a disdainful gaze. The fact that most of it is set ablaze is definitely not helping.
Diantha rolls her eyes, releasing an arrow she’s been holding for a while now and hits one of the angry Pokémon right in the head, lowering its health bar significantly. It’s more yellow than green now, but still nowhere near the red Steven was hoping for.
Not that the yellow or green is bad, of course, but it generally means that they are either fucking around and will be finding out soon or something has gone very, very wrong. The red is, overall, more appealing to see when the opponents they’ve been fighting with for a good chunk of hour now are, well, still there, and not disappearing fast enough for anyone’s comfort.
Steven certainly isn’t starting to get a bad feeling about this commission all of a sudden, no, what are you talking about?
“Fight fire with fire!” Iris states cheerfully as she throws her dagger into one of the Monfernos at her right. She seems to be in her element, laughing maniacally while tossing her knives back and forth. “That’s what they say and it has been working for me so far!”
“I'm not sure if they mean it that literally.” Leon points out skeptically. He is surrounded by a bunch of tiny Chimchars but his summons, who quite ironically are a Sizzlipede and a Numel, are holding pretty well against them. Who would have thought that his power would be that useful?
Steven, on the other hand, is rendered quite useless in the fight. His staff is made entirely out of wood and, well, he might be a bit behind when it comes to putting his points into strength or combat. Who is he kidding, it’s a shining, bald zero while others had put at least something in that category. But guess who has the second biggest mana stat and the shortest cooldown on abilities?
Exactly. Though the second one was more out of necessity than anything, given his party’s talent for getting into troubles.
But that’s also probably (definitely) why he’s the only one struggling to keep up with the fight, especially when the grass around him is covered in flames, slowly chipping away at his health point, and the only thing protecting him from getting manhandled by one of the Monferons is a literal stick.
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} is already in use!]
[Your new wounds cannot be healed right now]
“Of course they can’t…” Steven mutters to himself as he barely ducks a nasty swing at his side. The fire Pokémon snarls upon missing, baring its teeth for the world to see. Steven honestly starts to consider throwing himself at Iris in a desperate attempt at preserving his life. The teen will be more than happy to take care of this nuance for him.
He is so focused on dodging the next attack that when he hears a scream it takes a couple of seconds before the meaning behind actually hits him.
“Steven, behind you!” Someone shouts, but it’s far too late. The rabid Infernape that managed to sneak around him has ignited its fist and is swinging it mercilessly right at him with all its might.
Steven has only a fraction of a second to turn around before he gets sucker punched straight to the face. Someone makes a strange ‘Oof’ sound and another hisses in sympathy, but he is too stunned to register it.
He does, however, notice how his own health bar drops drastically, instantly turning red he was just reminiscing about.
Quite an irony, isn’t it?
The Infernape that attacked him looks up at him with its feral eyes, bloodlust dripping from their fangs, and Steven swallows hard around the lump in his throat, trying to at least get up from the grass.
[Effect: {Burning} has already been applied!]
He is cornered and on the verge of dying.
Shit.
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} is already in use!]
The Infernape exhales slowly and steps closer, ready to finish him off.
Shit, shit, shit…
[Your new wounds cannot be healed right now]
A rapid sound of the wind is the only alert he gets before an arrow lodges itself into the head of the Infernape. The creature recoils, growling in irritation as it redirects its focus to another, bigger threat nearby. But even as it steps away, it doesn’t change the fact that Steven is positively, and definitely not figuratively, burning up.
He can only watch helplessly as his last few health points decrease towards zero, the fire around licking him with its wisps.
The world starts to fade before his eyes.
“Lance! See what you have done?!” Are the last words he hears before it all turns black and a familiar blue screen pops up again.
[You have been killed…]
Well… Fuck.
~*~
Steven has been floating in the colorless void for a while now.
Four minutes and twenty-two seconds, to be exact.
How does he know?
As it turns out, the game they’ve been transported into doesn’t seem to be too keen on killing a character, and so he is only temporarily suspended there while waiting for his revival. At least that’s what Steven concluded, because the only clue he's got is a giant timer that’s been ticking above his head non-stop for the past minutes.
It has only thirty seconds left as of now and Steven honestly doesn’t know what else can happen when it counts to zero. Not that there are a lot of options to choose from, he is dead after all.
If that isn’t comforting, he doesn’t know what is.
He watches with anticipation as the numbers lower with every second, but just as they are about to drop to the single digits, the timer stops suddenly, glitching out of existence.
[Warning: Revival canceled]
[Someone is attempting to summon you forth!]
“What the…”
He isn’t able to finish his sentence as a black sludge starts to creep up on his body. He starts thrashing around, trying to fight it back, but the hold it has over him strengthens in response as if sensing his protes, and from there it’s only a matter of second before he ends up entirely covered by the dark goo. It’s a gruesome sensation and Steven actually feels like passing out soon. What is going on!?
[An outside force has succeeded in trapping your soul]
The screen exclaims helpfully, a second before his vision turns black once again.
~*~
“-it even work? He doesn’t look like he’s breathing…”
“I mean, does he even need to- Holy Fuck!”
Steven jerks back to life in accompaniment of a horrific scream. He blinks sluggishly, eyelids heavier than ever, and immediately tries to stand up only to regret this attempt a second later when his muscles buckle in refusal and he is sent sprawling on the ground once again.
“Yooo! It actually worked!” Iris shouts from his left, looking at him like he’s a miracle come true. Next to her, Lance lets out an unimpressed sigh.
“Of course it worked. It’s Leon's power after all.” He states impassively, eyeing Steven with something akin to discomfort. Steven doesn’t know why, but the bad feeling he had earlier returns tenfold. It doesn’t help that he suddenly feels a strange itch everywhere…
“I have been resurrecting only small pokemon so far, you know, I honestly didn’t know if it would work on a human like you said.” Leon adds from the side and …ah, is that it?
Steven looks down at his hand, watching with morbid fascination how the dark wisps of Leon’s power swirl lazily above his skin. If he could focus enough, he would also be able to sense an unfamiliar swell of energy right next to his own mana pool, beating like a new heart to keep him alive. He doesn’t try though, unable to concentrate whilst his emotions grow heavier and heavier.
“You used your power to bring me back from the dead?” His throat feels dry when he directs the question to the Champion of Galar.
Leon nods enthusiastically, “Pretty much.” He states with a satisfied smile, “It was a lot harder than I anticipated though…” He scratches his chin, ignorant of the way Steven’s expression twists with every second.
“Well, it’s not like we could just let you die such a pitiful death. You quite literally got defeated by Lance’s fire.” Cynthia says casually from his left. Between Iris’ and Leon’s sincere joy and Lance’s vague uneasiness, she looks the most indifferent to Steven’s newfound state of…living(?), focusing on only one thing. “It would be an insult to his spotless record now, wouldn’t it? You know he’s trying to keep that cool, G-man persona.”
“Cynthia…” Lance says slowly in warning but the woman just waves him off.
“Oh excuse me Mr. Great Sorcerer Who’s Only Spell Is a Fucking Fire Ball.” She spats cynically in his direction, her sword appearing in a swift ray of light. The sun gleams off the metal over her chest, presenting her armor in its full glory. “You put the entire field on fire! How was that even helpful?” She asks, pointing the sharp object towards the man in the cape. Well, one of them at least…
“It did some damage to the monsters…” Diantha supplies from behind.
“See?” Lance puffs up immediately.
“Though I don’t know if it was worth it…” She adds quickly, as if regretting her words.
The red hair omits her with an empty stare, not an ounce of emotion in his eyes.
“What matters is that you’re back up with us.” Iris chimes in, redirecting the focus of the conversation back to Steven.
Most of them hum in agreement. “It was a close one.” Leon admits, lazily scratching himself with the tip of his wand. “You had that weird timer when I got to you. I barely summoned your soul before it ended. I wonder what it meant…”
Steven only stares at them, too stunned to do anything. He opens his mouth and closes it right after, gaping at the Galar Champion in disbelief. The smile on the other man’s face falters ever slightly as he looks at Steven with newfound doubt.
“Did I do something wrong?” Leon asks, genuinely puzzled.
“I don’t think he appreciates getting resurrected.” Diantha whispers to him.
Cynthia snorts violently at that, “Who would though?” She resorts loudly, pointing towards Leon, “He’s literally at this idiot’s mercy now.”
“I know he’s a summon now and it kind of sucks, but isn’t it still better than dying?” Iris cocks her, also confused.
“Not if you asked me.” Cynthia replies surely, “I would rather die.”
“Hey!”
“What? It’s true.”
“Leon, don’t worry. I don’t think Cynthia meant it that way.”
“I meant exactly what I said.”
“After second thoughts, maybe dying would be better…”
“Iris! You too?!”
Steven and Lance exchange an exhausted look - the latter still sulking in the corner, watching the slowly emerging brawl with bored expression, while Steven can focus on only one thing in his mind. He should really tell them, shouldn’t he?
It’s only when the fight is starting to reach a heating point that Steven finally gathers his courage and speaks up for the first time.
“Actually, I was just about to be revived by the system…”
The following silence is almost deafening.
“… It doesn’t seem to be working as planned.” Iris whispers conspiratorially to Lance, who in turn looks at her with his eyebrows raised.
“Really now?” He replies dryly, “I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“No need to be so sarcastic...” Iris crosses her arms and scowls at the dragon master. “I just said it because you’ve been staring at him for the past two minutes.” She nudges her head towards Steven, who is lying lifelessly in the small circle of flames on the grass.
With the news that he wasn’t actually going to die when the timer went off came the realization that maybe, only maybe, resurrecting him with Leon’s power might not have been the brightest thing to do.
Because right now Steven is left stuck as an undead specter for an indefinite period of time.
Not that that in itself is bad per se. He still can use his abilities and all and it’s actually kind of convenient to not feel hunger or fatigue (especially the latter looks very promising as, so far, Steven spent almost half of their earnings to satisfy his caffeine craving).
No, the real kicker is the fact that because he is technically, well, dead, most of his system options kind of stopped working. Kind of meaning completely, and the thing is, he was the one responsible for keeping the gold they earned in his inventory, and with his equipment unable to show up, it got locked away for good. The despair upon realizing this was overwhelming and the joint decision of the group was made faster than ever: un-unalive Steven once again, and what’s a better way to achieve this than just repeating what happened in the first place?
Thus the impromptu fire pit created courtesy of Lance’s Best-And-Only spell for the sole purpose of recreating this surely tragic scenario of burning alive( a-dead?). A fool-proof plan one could say, but something had gone awry during the realization process. What was that?
Well…
[Through constant use of the ability the level of your skill has been upgraded!]
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} has reached Level 3]
[The wounds you sustained were minimal and have been healed instantly by your passive skill]
Yeah…
Steven doesn’t know what else to do so he just keeps laying in this small circle of flames, staring at the blue window before him without a coherent thought. The should-be scorching temperature of fire is dimmed greatly by his dulled senses to the cozy warmth, one akin to that of a thick, woolen blanket, and the grass, or rather burnt patches of it, are quite comfortable to lay on despite the appearance.
Should he feel guilty for quite enjoying himself over there? Probably…
Is he?
Eh, not really…
“So they were right.” Cynthia nods to herself as if something just made sense to her, “What kills you makes you stronger.”
Diantha looks at her perplexed, “Wasn’t that ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’?”
“Is it?” Cynthia questions with surprise that only leads to further confusion, “But it doesn’t seem to be working in his case…”
“Hey!” Steven feels lowkey insulted.
It’s not his fault his ability evolved only after he got brought back from the dead.
“Welp. The fire’s definitely not the solution.” Leon notes with resignation. He’s sulking because he himself doesn’t know how else to cancel the summoning. So far, all the Pokémon he called crumbled right after he cut off the mana link, no longer able to stay in the world of living.
Steven, however, has his own mana, and it’s quite stubborn about not letting its owner be euthanized in such a way.
“I mean. We could just stab him.” Cynthia points out, idly tracing her sword over the burned up patch of grass near Steven’s right leg. Huh… it looks kind of like Shroomish - one with greatly elongated legs and head two times bigger than it should be. “The fire isn’t doing enough damage but a couple of swings should do the job.”
“Hey!”
“That’s pretty morbid.” Lance frowns, crossing his arms. He looks like he's aged at least a decade in these few minutes. “If anything, let’s leave this as a last resort.”
“So… what do we do for now then?” Iris asks curiously. “Do we have any other ideas on how to kill Steven off less brutally?”
Cynthia lets out a contemplative hum, “I mean, we could throw him off the cliff. It would be like an assisted suicide.”
“That’s also drastic…” Lance argues back.
“Wait, why do I suddenly have nothing to say about my own death?” Steven piques in, pushing himself off the ground to lean against his elbows. Cynthia and Iris hush him immediately while Lance spares but a brief glare in his direction. Only Diantha and Leon seem to be somehow sympathetic to his situation. “And if we go by that logic, any kind of murder is just assisted suicide.”
“Well, technically…” Iris starts, but before she can give her surely valid argument Diantha cuts her off.
“Actually, I might have an idea…”
“I have a mixed feeling about this.” Steven mutters for the n-th time as he tightens the dark cloak around his body, looking cautiously around. It’s a pretty convincing disguise, as far as their options went, but it does little to ease his worries. It still doesn’t stop somebody in the city from noticing he’s a necromancer’s summon.
But as they say - in for a penny, in for a pound.
(Does that mean that Steven is owed right now? He didn’t sign for this after all…)
“Come on, stop complaining.” Cynthia nudges him at the shoulder, almost making him lose his balance and trip. The part of his back she touched tingles viciously, as if reacting warily to the sudden contact with energy of a living being. “You are only making yourself a bigger attraction.” She adds in a hushed tone, gesturing at the people around.
So far, quite a couple of heads had taken to observing them as they strolled through the more obscure parts of the city. They don’t always stare for long, only enough to scrutinize Steven’s appearance from head to toe, but it’s still kind of uncomfortable. He’s used to being in the spotlight, but that’s something else….
“I’m sure no one would bat an eye about me if it weren’t for you guys.” Steven whispers back and his eyelid twitches with irritation. He could pass off as a normal traveler if it weren't for five people, loosely looking like a decent party of adventures, trailing a few steps behind him like lost puppies. Or stalkers. Very incompetent stalkers.
“He has a point.” Iris says aloud after a second of thought. “We do make a strange crowd.”
Three women with sharp, cold weapons, two tall mages right behind them, and a dark-cloaked figure on the front.
No, really? Nothing suspicious here….
“Relax you all, we’re almost there.” Diantha chides them, her bow hung over her shoulder. The arrows in her quiver clanging with every step she makes. “It’s right around the corner. Just turn left.”
When they stop, it’s before a normal looking building. It has a small window, way out of the way, and doors in the color of fuchsia with a nice pattern. Diantha shushes at them, more out of obligation than anything, and knocks twice before waiting for someone to open up.
“Diantha!” A woman Steven vaguely recognizes as one of the Gym Leaders from Johto opens the doors with an enthusiastic shout. “I was waiting for you. I just completed your order. The newest batch is-” She stops when he sees the rest of Diantha’s convoy at her doors.
“Hello there! Nice to meet you!” Iris immediately takes action. Her eyes are practically glued to the woman's attire as she drinks sight before her. “You look cool, holy hell! I didn’t know you lived here. I’m Iris by the way, and yo-”
Lance sends her a thundering glare, kicking her in the shin. “Behave.” he hisses under his nose and Iris’ mouth snaps shut as she starts nursing her leg.
The woman’s very wide eyes very slowly beacon towards Diantha, holding more than a few silent questions within them.
“Ah, Janine, don’t worry, they are with me.” Diantha smiles, albeit it’s a bit more strained than earlier. “Remember the favor you owe me, right?”
Janine, as apparently her name is, nods mutedly, still looking at Diantha like she hopes to get even a piece of information about what the hell is going on. The Kalos’ Champion, though, only gestures towards the empty hallway and quietly adds, “Mind if we come inside? It’s a rather uncanny matter.”
~*~
“So, let me get that straight. You want me to test my poisons on this man?”
“Yes.” Diantha says with a straight face and detached smile like she didn’t just ask someone to murder an innocent guy. Janine scrunches her eyebrows even harder at the answer and she glances nervously to her right.
“And you… uh..?”
“You can call me Steven.” Steven offers, maybe a bit too jovial because Janine looks slightly taken aback, stumbling over her next words.
“S-Sorry, uhm… Steven, but… are you sure about this? I mean, they are created to affect monsters but some of them are still lethal to people… obviously… and-”
“Well, I don’t think I have anything to say in this matter.” He states simply and Cynthia nods solemnly from her corner.
“We need the money he is keeping.” She agrees.
The words seem to finally spark a reaction different from confusion from their newest acquaintance. Janine’s eyes immediately shoot towards the Knight, her mouth opening as if to say something but closing quickly as a slight frown makes its way on her face. She looks over the room, her gaze stopping briefly at the daggers Iris keeps playing with, a sword that somehow appeared in Cynthia’s hand, and a full-of-arrows quiver Diantha is sporting right behind her back.
With a polite smile, one that just couldn’t be more natural, she leans a bit closer to Steven and whispers discreetly, “Are… are you threatened to do that? I thought I knew Diantha pretty well, but...” She bites her lower lips, eyeing the untroubled expression of Kalos’ finest Champion. When Diantha turns towards her with a soft hmm? the saccharine-sweet, customer-service smile returns onto Janine’s face once again and she excuses herself swiftly. Out of the view, her hand catches Steven’s wrist and squeezes it in comfort, “If you are a hostage, you can let me know. Blink two times and I will try to free you up.”
Steven looks at her. Truly looks at her. He studies the hesitant determination in Janine’s eyes and the taunt of the muscles in her hand as it drops towards the knives at her waist, and with the best poker face he can muster in this situation he says “Everything’s fine.” and his eye twitches only once. Whether it was the lack of the second blink, something in his voice, or a healthy dose of self-inflicted denial, Janine exhales with barely concealed relief.
“Oh gods, thank you…” she mutters to herself and Steven doesn't want to ask whether it is because she’s glad Diantha didn’t turned out to be an actual alley kidnapper in an innocent disguise, or she just didn’t think through the notion of facing this bizarre looking group of adventurers that suddenly appeared in her house.
Both options are equally valid. He’s not one to judge.
“So, uh… what now?”
Ah, he almost forgot about that part…
“Maybe we could start with a poison made out of Croagunk’s venom?” Diantha supplies from the side, still with that detached smile of hers, “I think you mentioned it’s easily obtainable and quite fast to take effect. We don’t want to rip you off of precious ingredients, especially given that you agreed to do this for free.”
“Right… ” Janine chuckles, a tiny bit hysterically - as if she too just remembered what they are about to do - and starts going towards one of her cabinets. She opens it with a small key, revealing many colorful vials kept safely in a neat row. Looking back at Steven, as if steeling herself for what she’s about to do, she reaches towards the first bootle.
“You know, Janine, while we do need that money of his, it’s also about the time.” Cynthia says off-handedly with a sly smile that indicates she knows something they don’t. “So best it be something that doesn’t take hours to work.”
Janine’s hand freezes midway before hesitantly going a bit to the left. “Right…” She mutters once again and there is a minute tremble to it now. Looks like they haven't made that much progress in convincing her it’s all consensual…
Have they done any in the first place?
Honestly… - Steven sighs internally, looking at the purple vial Janine takes out of the cabinet and offers him with a strained smile - let’s just get over it…
~*~
[Effect: {Poisoning} has been applied]
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
[The damage caused by the effect {Poisoning} been healed by your passive skill]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has been applied]
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
[The damage caused by the effect {Poisoning} been healed by your passive skill]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has been applied]
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
[The damage caused by the effect {Poisoning} been healed by your passive skill]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has been applied]
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has already been applied!]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has already been applied!]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has already been applied!]
[Effect: {Poisoning} has already been applied!]
[The severe damage caused by the effect {Poisoning} been healed by your passive skill]
[Through constant use of the ability the level of your skill has been upgraded!]
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} has reached Level. 4]
[Congratulations!]
[Due to the constant exposure to the effect: {Poisoning} you have developed a tolerance!]
[Rare passive skill: {Poison immunity} has been acquired]
~*~
“I don't really know how to feel about this.” Steven admits somewhere in between the heated debate about their next steps.
“What, about the fact that you somehow managed not to die?” Cynthia says from the side, stopping her wild gestures in favor of omitting Steven with an exasperated glance. “You could have put a little more effort into that, honestly...”
Steven sighs sourly at the reminder, unwanted images of chugging poison after poison appearing one after another. “Well, thank you, I will surely try to do better next time, but also, I wasn’t talking about this.”
“Oh, you meant that?” Iris picks up immediately, “I think you made Janine rethink her entire career choice. But, hey, at least you don’t have to worry about being poisoned ever again, right?”
No, looks like he won’t… Also, poor Janine for being involuntarily roped into everything. The aghast expression - a crude mix of horror and utter confusion - that had gotten stuck on her face after the first few minutes when none of her poison worked will be visiting them all for quite a while. At last, she looked somewhat relieved when the group, along with none-worse-to-wear Steven, announced that it’s getting late and they will be going now.
She didn't ask Diantha if she would be coming back for another order though.
Speaking of which, Diantha is probably the only one who left the place with something other than disappointment, albeit it was still present somewhere. The bundle of poison-imbed arrows was practically shoved into her hands at the doorstep by Janine, who muttered something about keeping the change and needing a break, and the Archer has been glowing with satisfaction ever since.
Good for her, Steven thinks privately, even as he too questions why she would even need them. He doesn’t know if they really want to know the answer…
Still, two facts are for certain. First, the plan on killing him with poison has failed, back-fired even, and second, it was indeed getting quite late.
The setting sun has started to paint the streets orange with its hue and the people they passed strolling through the city were fewer than before. The night is approaching, and with it, the end of the first day of Steven’s undead existence. The last bit is starting to weigh not only on him but also on others.
“Wait, how are we going to pay for a night in our inn?” Leon asks panicked when they are only a couple of minutes away from the building they used to stay at for the past couple of days. It’s a humble abode, with only a few narrow rooms, but it’s been cheap and served its purpose. That is, when they still had the money to pay for it, which, as someone just pointed out, is not the case right now.
Lance stops midway his step, turning around to look at Leon with an unreadable expression. “What do you mean? We have just paid a few nights in advance.” He sounds so genuinely confused that Steven doesn’t have a heart to tell him. He’s alone on that one, though.
“Lance, ah, Lance,” Cynthia sighs, resigned, prompting the Dragon Master to stare at her instead.
“What?”
“If you paid any kind of attention then you would have known we are totally getting kicked out of this place today.”
“The deal expired yesterday.” Diantha supplies when Lance's expression still remains blank after Cynthia’s words. It takes a few seconds to let the meaning sink in, but when it does, the most respectable G-man lets out only a quiet, intelligent “...Oh…”
Oh indeed.
“But… What about today’s commission?” Iris asks from the side, looking frazzled by the mere thought of sleeping outside again. “We earned some money. Surely it’s enough to cover for one night?”
Diantha takes out the pouch with today’s payment out of her inventory and starts counting as everyone shuffles closer, desperate to see the result.
…
5 gold and 20 silver coins
It is not.
“H-Hey, that’s not bad. We only need eighty more silver coins, right? We must have at least that much…”
…
…
…
65 silver and 29 bronze coins
…
They did not.
Steven watches with disinterest as Leon stifles another jaw-cracking yawn, stretching for the fourth time in the past twenty minutes.
They are close to their destination now - right at the base of the hill leading to the ‘Lake of Rage’ - but they all decided to take a short breather before continuing.
The break was a very much needed one, taking into account that none of them (except for Steven, he didn’t really need to sleep) got any real rest during the previous night. And who can blame them? When even after scraping all of their coins together it still wasn’t enough to pay for one more night at the inn, they had to turn to the forgotten since coming to the city method of survival - camping. It was nowhere near as safe or comfortable as sleeping in a warm inn but they had managed. They did so earlier anyway.
But it didn’t change the fact that none of the participants of this impromptu trip to the wilderness was mentally prepared to say goodbye to the cozy bed in favor of a barren ground. They might have survived the night, but it wasn’t without costs they’ve been paying for since this morning. Cracking joints and darkened eye bags were the most prominent features yet still nothing compared to the overall sour mood that hung over the party.
Steven sighs internally, knowing it all could have been avoided if he just didn’t die in the first place. Or hadn’t been the one to hold onto their budget. Or if Leon hadn’t resurrected him at the last moment… As you can see, there are many things to choose from.
But it’s all in the past now and what matters the most is getting out of this bizarre predicament, which could easily be done just by killing him. Or starting to gather the money from scratch again as Lance had argued. Because we are not barbarians, he said.
Hypocrite was what Cynthia whispered at that and Steven was inclined to agree. Talk about the late ‘no-killing-people’ policy…
Nevertheless, today has been spent as every other day they had so far. Namely, taking a commission and fulfilling it as quickly as possible. That’s exactly what led them to this obscure location, looking out to complete their quest of… catching two dozen Magikarps.
…
That’s it. A true peak moment of any adventurers’ journey.
Anyway, the bar hadn’t been set low yet this commission was the only one that seemed not difficult enough for them to struggle like the last time while also paying stupidly high for that specific type of task. Seriously, who would even offer ten golden coins for catching some fish? Well, that one old grandpa at the outskirts of the city apparently. He not only got weirdly ecstatic when he heard that someone finally had accepted his request but also sent them all off with that gratified smile, telling them how brave and helpful they are.
What a nice older gentleman Steven had thought at that moment. Now, when they are two hours into the walk to the Lake of Rage he kind of wants to take that back. Only kind of, because when they finally scale the hill and are faced with a vast landscape of abundant lakewater, Steven still can’t help but think that the pay is stupidly good.
Without further-ado Lance rolls up the sleeves of his outfit and steps into the water, quoting only: “Let’s just be done with it.” Despite being hailed as a Dragon Master, he looks more like a life-weared fisherman preparing for yet another angler attempt, already knowing it will not end up as they want. Save to say, it’s hilarious to see their ever-stoic Champion of Indigo Plateau try to catch a gaping Magikarp bare hand, only for it to slip away the first chance it gets. Steven and Diantha chuckle quietly at the sight while Leon, Iris and Cynthia burst out into a fit of laughter.
Lance doesn’t even spare them a glance. “When you are done making fun of me, you can all come here and help.” He growls only, hands kept still underwater as another unaware Magikarp begins to swim right next to them. He catches it swiftly once again, but this time the creature doesn’t manage to escape before the white light engulfs it and it disappears out of Lance’s embrace.
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (1/24)]
“Oi, no need to be so bossy.” Iris shouts back but ultimately also jumps into the water, splashing it around everywhere and on everyone. “You looked like you had everything under control there. Sheesh” Without a prompt she swims deeper into the lake, so far that only her head is poking out of the vibrant blue water, and gives Lance a brief, indignant puff of her cheeks before disappearing out of the view as she dives in. Only a muffled triumphant cry is heard before the window pops up before everyone.
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (2/24)]
Lance says nothing, even if seconds later Iris emerges to the surface with a victorious grin. His body is taunt and eyes are focused as he grabs yet another oblivious fish that managed to flop its way onto the shallow waters he’s standing in. When he catches it, his thundering glance omits other Champions who are still standing on the grass, nowhere nearer the water he’s in. The wriggling Magikarp in his arms makes him look more intimidating than it should…
“Are you going to help or not?”
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (3/24)]
They don’t have a choice, don’t they? Steven doesn’t know what to say so instead he just lowers his head and starts dragging himself towards the water. Next to him, Cynthia also groans, calling off most of her armor and a sword, and other Champions soon follow after her example.
Catching the Magikarps it is then…
~*~
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (4/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (5/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (6/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (7/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (8/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (9/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (10/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (11/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (12/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (13/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (14/24)]
~*~
“Hey, Steven, are you gonna help or something? You’ve already caught all the Magikarps at the shore, just move on.” Iris shouts at him from afar. She’s staying afloat only thanks to the constant flapping of her legs and Steven has no idea how she can even scream when half of her face is partially underwater. He doesn’t think he will ever understand the workings of it…
“I don’t think you need more hands there…” He only says wryly as he watches Leon and Lance teaming up against Cynthia and Diantha. What started as a minute brawl between the Champions of Sinnoh and Indigo Plateau has turned into a full-on water fight that sucked in everyone else. Honestly, they should’ve expected things to end up like that, but then again, it is quite strange that Iris was the one to resist the temptation of joining in, keeping herself occupied by dutifully catching the Magikarps swimming around the group before they scatter more around the lake. Guess she enjoys diving more than splashing water at each other…
And what about Steven you may ask?
Well, it’s safe to say that he is enjoying himself in the more shallow waters, far away from the deeper, and definitely not more app(e)aling parts of the Lake of Rage. He will stay as close to the land as possible, thank you very much. The reason for that? Well….
It’s not like he is the one to loathe the areas with abundance of liquid. Having been raised in Hoenn it’s inevitable that he’s become accustomed to such places - fond of, even. The thing is, despite all of Wallace’s sincere efforts, Steven never quite got a good hang of this ‘swimming’.
Sure, he knows how to stay afloat - Learn at least that, I don’t want you to drown on me - and theoretically speaking he also knows the few styles you can move with in water - No, no no. You need to use your legs more, and, for the love of god, please stop trashing your hands like that - but the desire, or even appreciation, for the motion never just… stuck, much to the disappointment of the person teaching.
He is more than content to just stand there, with his pants rolled up and water barely reaching his knees, and when, by any chance, some stray carp swims a bit closer to his position, he might even attempt to chase after it. This minimum amount of enthusiasm and effort has gotten him a few disapproving glances, but no one said anything as he still caught a Magikarp or two.
But the cunning beasts are fast to learn and have quickly come to avoid the waters near the shore where they were hunted, and so the group was forced to move a bit further into the lake in hopes of completing the quest. Steven really doesn’t see the reason for him to follow after others into the threading water when they are more than halfway through the task, and really, what difference does one more person make at this point?
Well, seeing how currently only Iris is doing the job, it would theoretically cut the time in half, but Steven sincerely doubts the statistic would hold through in his case.
The sudden exchange, however, garners some attention from others who don’t share his sentiment.
“Iris is right. You could at least pretend to do something useful.” Cynthia says, gracing Steven with a brief glance before her focus is back at dodging Leon’s attack. She twists herself in a way that makes the Galar’s Champion miss completely and, unable to stop himself on any obstacle, Leon is hurled back into the water with a resounding splash.
“You could too.” Steven responds, slightly bemused. It is actually quite entertaining to watch them all behave like five-years old children put off the leash - any semblance of dignity long forgotten.
“Maybe he’s just scared of water.” Iris teases playfully but it quickly turns into a scandalous expression when she sees his sour face “Wait, don’t tell me, really?”
“But isn’t Wallace your best friend? How can you be scared of water?” Leon questions. He has emerged back to the surface, backing up a little from the ongoing brawl. Looks like it’s Lance against Diantha and Cynthia now. Poor guy…
“I- How is that even relevant? Besides, I’m not scared of water.” Steven’s denial doesn’t seem to convince them very much. Iris raises a doubtful eyebrow while Leon just stares at him blankly. “I just…I’m not very good at swimming…”
“Isn’t Hoenn like sixty percent sea ?” Leon doesn’t seem to be bent on brushing the topic off, pressing with more disbelief than earlier, “And you don’t know how to swim?”
“I know how to swim.” Steven protests quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly, because the bemused expressions of his fellow Champions only get more teasing. “I’m just… I don’t really want to. Go further than necessary, that is…”
“Yeah, suuure…” Iris rolls her eyes, giving him a totally empathetic glance. Leon, on the other hand, looks more confused than anything else.
“But….what are you scared of? It’s not like you can drown or anything.” He argues and for a second Steven has to resist an urge to bash his head against the nearest wall because really?, but the sudden realization hits him square not a moment later, just as it does to Iris.
“Ooooh, right. You are already dead.” She says with wonder of discovering man anew - eyes sparkly and voice full of awe. “Does it mean you actually can’t drown?”
“W-Well…” Steven stutters, unsure. Can he really?, “... I don’t know.”
Iris’ enthusiastic clap distracts Steven before his thoughts can fully spiral out of control. “So it’s decided!” She announces loudly, getting everyone’s attention on herself. She uses this moment of fame to chuckle quite villainously and point her finger at him “Get into the water, we are drowning you!”
Oh how her happy tone contrasts with her words... Steven doesn’t know how to feel about the eagerness with which she mentions putting him down but the enthusiasm is appreciated. Nonetheless, it takes another couple of enthusiastic screams and a few rather colorful threats directed at his stone collection back at Hoenn from other Champions before he begrudgingly takes his first step towards the deep of the lake.
The water should be chilly, but that change of temperature has already proven to fly over his new body’s head. Instead, it’s slightly disturbing how the only thing that indicates he’s soaked from head to toe is a minute weight of clothes pressing against his skin as he begrudgingly gets deeper into the water. With nothing really slowing him down, Steven is nearing the middle of the lake in under a minute, quite surprised at possibly his newest, best record at swimming such distance.
“Okay, I think it’s enough. Now just go underwater and don’t come back!” Iris yells, giving him a cheerful thumbs-up. Steven sends her one of his more displeased grimaces but dutifully dives into the lake, be it from his own morbid fascination.
He splashes his way towards the sandy floor of the lake, and begins to wait.
And wait…
And wait…
Seconds fly by and Steven doesn’t really feel much different. His lungs aren’t protesting about the extended lack of oxygen, which is as concerning as it is relieving in this situation, and none of his motor function seem to get handicapped by the prolonged visit underwater, and thus one fact presents itself clear.
No, apparently he cannot drown.
He tries to stay a bit longer at the bottom, be it for a good measure, but as nothing changes, the hope of dying this way slowly begins to evade him. There aren’t even bubbles escaping from his nose or mouth at this point. Sighing, disjointed by this failure, Steven gathers his remaining will to live and bounces off the lake floor, starting to clumsily flop his way towards the surface.
It is in this precise moment that the world seems to finally remember that hey, I actually really hate that guy and a deep, muffed rumble sounds behind him, startling him mid way through his most professional attempt at swimming upwards.
“Gyaarrrr…”
It is quite shameful to admit, but Steven quite literally freezes in his spot with a chill traveling up his spine that has nothing to do with temperature. Slowly turning around, he tries to ignore the familiar blue window popping up to life on his side. Just as he had spun enough to come face to face with a giant maw full of teeth in front of him and a pair of big onyx eyes that stare deep right into his resurrected soul, the window finishes materializing and the message is clear to read
[Limited Time Quest Appared!]
[Goal: Defeat the ‘Guardian of the Lake of Fury’ who protects the hidden treasure of the place!]
[Time: 20:00]
Shit, he screams internally.
Holy fucking Shit.
WHAT IN THE ACTUAL-
Steven’s face must have made quite a bizarre contortion because in a matter of seconds the frown on Gyarados’ face deepens significantly, making him look way more pissed off than before. Swallowing tentatively around the lump in his throat, Steven can only continue to stare at the beast in front of him like a Deerling caught in car lights, unable to even move a muscle lest he gets devoured whole.
“Gyaa!!”
One thing’s for sure. Steven has never, ever, swam faster in his life than he did at this moment. His legs and arms moved automatically as they took him towards the shore and he’s pretty sure he made some grossly muffed, panicked noises when he started reaching the surface, unconsciously intending to somehow alert the rest of Champions of the monstrosity that was currently tailing him with an intent that definitely wasn’t hugs and snuggles.
“Holy fucking shit!” Is what he hears when he breaches the water. A few more curses and exclamations are thrown but he mutes them out as he flops his way out of the fucking water.
“What is that?!”
“What is happening?!”
“Steven, what the actuall fuck?!”
Steven has only one thing in his mind as he narrowly dodges the jaws snapping behind him with a frantic skip of his legs.
Gods, he fucking hates swimming.
~*~
[Time Left: 17:58]
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
[The damage caused has been healed by your passive skill]
[Time Left: 12:41]
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} is already in use!]
[Your new wounds cannot be healed right now]
“Hit it on the gills! Just cook this fish up!”
“I’m trying to!”
[Effect: {Burning} has been applied]
“Hey!”
“Don’t aim at him you idiot!”
[Effect: {Burning} has been nullified by the water around you]
“You’re the one to talk? Only Diantha and I are doing any damage.”
“Well, you try to beat this eel with a fucking sword.”
“Or a dagger.”
“...”
“Sorry, Lance. I can’t really summon anything right now. Steven is keeping the slot.”
“For a record, I didn’t sign up for this…”
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} is already in use!]
[Your new wounds cannot be healed right now]
[The damage caused has been healed by your passive skill]
[Time Left: 08:27]
“What is it doing?”
“I don’t know, but boy am I glad it stopped creating these Twisters for a momen.t”
“Huh. Doesn’t it kinda look like it’s charging something?”
“Does it? Oh shit-”
“Watch out!”
[You are immune to the effect: {Poison}]
“Eww…How does it even know that?”
“I’d rather that remain a mystery...”
“Fair..”
.
[Time Left: 05:14]
[Time Left: 03:52]
[Time Left: 01:58]
.
.
[Congratulations!]
[You and your party has defeated the ‘Guardian of the Lake of Fury’]
[You have obtained: Scales of the sea creature x3]
[Your party have completed: Limited Time Quest]
[Time Left: 01:21]
[Rewards:
20 Golden Coins
2000 Experience
Collectable item: ‘A map of hidden treasure’]
[Due to the insufficient time left the bonus rewards have not been assigned]
~*~
“I’m never doing it again.” Cynthia announces aloud when she fully drags herself out of water. There’s a stray kelp tangled somewhere between her hair, sticking out like some sort of crude accessory, and she doesn’t seem keen to even acknowledge it, least of all get it out at the moment.
“It’s not like you did much anyway.” Lance grumbles from the side, earning a scornful glance from the Champion of Sinnoh, but otherwise Cynthia remains quiet at the remark, and what is it if not a silent agreement?
“I mean, it wasn’t that bad, right?” Iris tries to cheer up the somewhat gloomy atmosphere, but Steven and Leon only look at her in disbelief.
“That was a total disaster.” The letter says and Steven nods solemnly along.
The fight in itself was dragging on for forever, and the fact that neither Steven nor Leon have had any real weapon to attack with has put them in quite a tough spot. At least it did so to Steven, who got rendered to some sort of living(?)-distraction-bait, whilst Leon just backed off and was forced to watch the entire thing from afar. On second thoughts, Steven doesn’t know why the man is even complaining.
“Well, now I am quite glad to have bought these poisoned arrows.” Diantha comments, swirling one of said objects in her hand.. There’s that unsettling certainty that the fight wouldn’t end up as smoothly as it had without them, and well, isn’t that just comforting?
“I am more concerned with one other thing.” Cynthia says, turning accusingly towards Steven “And it’s the fact that you didn’t even try to get killed by this monster. It was such a perfect opportunity!”
“Hey! I agreed to try getting drowned, not to be eaten by a fucking Gyarados!” Steven protests, scrambling to protect what’s left of his life with what's left of his honor. “I wonder what you would do if we swapped places, huh?”
“Well, I would just let myself get stabbed at the beginning, obviously.” Cynthia rolls her eyes, “And I wouldn't let the ‘Oooh, you can’t just do that, that’s not okay’ to stop me” She says, sending a glare in Lance’s direction.
“Is it wrong to not want to be responsible for the murder of my colleague?” Lance asks indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Well, the second time's a charm as they say.” Cynthia scoffs, sending him a nasty glare, “Besides, is it really a murder if it’s consensual for both parties?”
“What else is it then?”
Steven promptly stops listening, wishing - not for the first time - he had gone deaf upon resurrection…
~*~
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (15/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (16/24)]
…
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (23/24)]
[Party Quest Progress: Magikarps collected (24/24)]
[All requirements have been met]
[Party Quest is completed]
[Return the Magikarps to collect rewards]
“So, do I just stand here or what?” Steven asks, looking at the lone patch of grass in the middle of the ravaged field. There really isn’t much of it left since Lance’s stunt yesterday.
After a rather heated philosophical dispute that Steven didn’t exactly follow, the party had unanimously come to a conclusion that while killing someone isn’t entirely ‘ethical’ per se, doing so with a greater good in mind shouldn’t be frowned upon, because, really. What do you do when life gives you lemons? You squeeze them into a lemonade. Simple.
And what do you do with a necromantic summon of your dead friend that unwittingly holds hostage all of your life savings and quite accidentally is immune to poison and doesn’t exactly need air?
Well…you stab him to death.
…for the greater good of course.
“Just stay still.” Cynthia orders him, “And try not to flinch away.” She adds with not so subtly hidden glee.
Greater good my ass, Steven thinks as he eyes the sword in her hands. The metal shines in the evening sun, reflecting the rays of light towards the barren land below. If it wasn’t for the situation, he would have half a mind to marvel at the unique alloy this particular thing seems to be made of, but, well..
Not exactly the best moment here, isn’t it?
“Right…” He sighs and finally starts shuffling towards his resting place. The rest of the Champions are circled around them, looking at the ongoing show with various expressions that are mainly a mix of hope, amusement, scepticism and some sort of crude, morbid fascination if he will really die from this.
Gods, he hopes so. If only to spare himself from their burning glares when this eventually doesn’t work out.
Not waiting for him to get ready - or just simply not caring enough to inform him - Cynthia takes a small step forward and swings her giant sword in his direction. In one, fluid motion she stabs Steven’s torso with enough force to send him stumbling over his feet for a moment. Thankfully, just like with the fire, it doesn’t really hurt, although the feeling of the steel against his internal organs makes him squirm a little.
[You have sustained 12 Points of Damage]
[Effect: {Puncture} has been applied]
Surprisingly, the stabbing can be quite ticklish.
Color him stocked…
“Right in the kidney.” He comments idly, ignoring the blue window and looking down at the sword sticking out of his abdomen like one might at the particularly interesting Caterpie. Or a rock in his case. “Soo… what now ?”
“Beats me…” Cynthia shrugs and steps back. She takes a moment to admire her work before cocking her head in perplexion. “I thought you would just keel over and die like a sick victorian child you are.”
“Excuse me?!” Ouch? That certainly hurt more than the sword…
“Maybe he needs some time to bleed out?” Iris speculates from the side, leaning closer to get a better look at the space where Cynthia’s sword connects with his body.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but he doesn’t exactly bleed in this state” Lance deadpans back at Iris. Truthfully, there’s nothing coming out of the newly gained wound on Steven's side. Huh, does he even have blood in his body? It seemed likely before, but then again, no one had a chance to see if any of Leon’s summons bleed before. They usually crumbled to dust from blows way weaker than this one..
[Activating passive skill: {Self-regeneration}]
Ugh... really?
“I don’t think this is going to work out.” Steven mumbles quietly, regarding the blue window with disdain. The Champions grunt in agreement, probably also aware of the futility of the attempt. The damage Steven sustained has already almost healed, leaving only the effect to chip at his health.
"Why do you always have to make things harder?" Cynthia grumbles, rolling her eyes as she wrenches the sword from his gut, causing another window to pop up to life.
[The effect {Puncture} been nullified and the damage it caused has been healed by your passive skill]
"I'm sorry?" Steven shoots back, but it lacks the usual exasperation.
"I mean, it keeps things interesting." Cynthia hums and tightens her grip on the sword, regarding him with a calculating gaze. "But right now you are kind of forcing my hand, you know? If you want to blame someone for this then blame Lance.” She adds, sending him a vaguely sinister smirk.
Huh? “Wh-?”
His sentence doesn’t even have a chance to fully form as Cynthia flexes her arm and swings forward. Steven’s throat prickles for a fraction of a second but then the deafening swoosh of Cynthia’s sword ends and the world suddenly tilts on its axis, spinning before his eyes. The word he had in his mouth turns into a gaggled mess as the synapses in his brain short circuit, trying - and failing - to do something other than frantic panic, because-
Hold up, why doesn't he feel his legs anymore?
And even worse.
Is that his body that’s falling to the ground??
The last thing that Steven registers is the aggravating blue of the popping window before his vision darkens completely.
[You have been killed…]
~*~
“Cynthia!” Lance screams as soon as her sword decapitates Steven, sending his head rolling on the ground and the rest of his body to fall limply at the side. The horrified shouts of others aren’t necessarily directed at her so she ignored them altogether.
“What?” She asks, turning her eyes away from the body at her feet to the furious face of Indigo Plateau Champion.
“You weren’t supposed to do that!” The man almost screeches, tugging at his hair in a frenzy and pointing at Steven’s corpse. “And what do you mean I’m the one to blame?!”
“Stabbing him did nothing, you saw that yourself” Cynthia argues, “And you know exactly what I mean by that.” In all honesty, she’s not sure what his problem even is? Is he that pissy about his ruined clean record or was it about the ‘decapitating’ thing. If the second, then didn’t they just have a talk about it? For the greater good and all? She’s just speeding it up a little.
“It was a bit more extreme than what we discussed.” Leon comments, still observing Steven’s corpse with an uneasy expression.
‘Hush you now.” Cynthia huffs, flicking her sword off the dark wisps clinging to the metal and dismissing the item back to her inventory before looking back at Leon. “It still did the job, didn’t it?”
“... I guess.” The man admits reluctantly just at the moment a blue window pops up before him, instantly making him more gratified. “Holy shit!” He exclaims loudly, blinking at the message before him with bewilderment. “My skill just leveled up four times! Thanks a lot, Steven!” He gives the unmoving corpse an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Steven does not respond. Not that anyone expected him to…
“Shouldn’t we get him back together?” Iris asks after a moment, looking towards the still rolling-away head with great interest. “I mean, it would suck to get revived as a head only, wouldn’t it?” She points out, and honestly? Fair.
“Sure would,” Cynthia agrees easily and scoops the escaping bundle of silver-blue hair, dragging it back to the main part. She ponders for a second about the angle, but ultimately just shrugs and carelessly tucks the element where it belonged. The head, however, just starts merrily rolling away. Frowning, she catches the head before it gets out of reach and presses it against the bloodless neck. Once again, the shit doesn’t seem to really stick together.
“Uh oh.” Cynthia can only say, watching as the parts don’t just miraculously merge together like she expected them to do. “We might have a new problem?”
“Oh, really?!” Lance snaps sarcastically from his sulking corner. “Who would have guessed?” He hisses bitterly but still comes closer to try and secure Steven’s head with Steven’s body himself.
“Smartass…” Cynthia mutters, faking a cough when he looks up at her venomously. After a few tries he also gives up, not much luckier than she was in regards to their new jigsaw puzzle.
“Did you really expect it would just…. heal back the moment you pressed them together?” Diantha asks her, curiously looking from above her shoulder towards Steven’s non-behaving head.
“I kind of did.” Cynthia admits, reluctantly, “You know, with the whole shtick he has for healing…” The shtick that apparently - even though it did so a few moments ago - doesn’t seem to be working from the grave.
“I mean, if we can’t heal him then maybe we can just stitch him together?” Iris, always the voice of reason, butts in, and, hold up, it actually does sound pretty sound. “His healing should take care of the rest when he wakes up, shouldn’t it?”
“Let’s fucking hope so.” Lance says, exasperated.
“Do any of you have a thread and a needle?” Diantha asks, but that’s a useless question. Why would they have any? They are magical adventurers that kill pokemon in this ridiculous world, not a group of traveling tailors.
Just as Cynthia is about to open her mouth and say so aloud, something happens. Choosing the worst moment of them all, Steven's head suddenly twitches, jerking away from Lance’s unstable grip and falling onto the grass. There’s a brief pause where everyone just stares at the spasming appendix before the muscles of Steven’s face contort and he opens his eyes.
At first he just blinks at them owlishly but just as it looks like he wants to take a breath his face starts convulsing and a gurgling sound escapes his mouth. He looks like he’s choking on air - which, how? His lungs are literally a few feets away - and it all ends up as poorly as one might expect. In a span of a seconds, Steven’s eyes just roll back into his head and he stops flapping around, stilling on the ground as he returns to the state of unliving once more.
As the gurgling sound finally ceases, an indescribable silence falls over the clearing.
“Well, that wasn’t the prettiest.” Diantha says after a few loaded beats.
“No shit….” Lance’s shoulder slump in defeat as he looks up at the sky and sighs tiredly. “No fucking shit…”
~*~
Leon’s hands fumble awkwardly as he holds Steven's head by the remaining part of the other’s neck. The position isn't very comfortable, Leon feels like he's strangling the poor guy, but he also doesn’t have any better idea what to do with it after Cynthia pushed the bundle into his arms. It would be quite rude to hold the head by the hair, wouldn’t it? Tucking it under the arm like a soccer ball is also off the table…
He turns around, hoping for a sliver of advice on the matter, but Iris and Diantha just shrug their shoulders at his pleading gaze and Lance ignores him altogether, seemingly too busy staring at the rest of Steven’s.
“This is not happening…” The dragon master mutters with a look of a maniac on the verge of an episode “It’s all a dream. I’m just hallucinating helping get rid of the body of my colleague in a weird, fantasy world.”
“Oi, stop being dramatic. It’s not like we are dumping it into a lake” Cynthia scoffs, stopping her attempt at hoisting the corpse up onto her back in favor of giving Lance an exasperated eye-roll, “And honestly, you could help me a little. Grab those legs and chop chop. The faster we get to the city the better.”
“It’s a dream... It’s all just a dream...” Lance keeps repeating his newfound mantra, tone turning disturbingly hysterical. He looks completely out of it, mindlessly helping Cynthia haul the limp body off the ground. He doesn’t even seem to notice that the women had pushed the corpse onto his back instead, rendering him the designated mule for the oncoming journey back.
“Everyone good to go now?” Cynthia asks after that, turning back to face the rest of the Champions. Not even waiting for their agreement, she just starts going in the direction of the village, leaving Leon, Iris, Diantha, and the still not-so-out-of-it Lance scrambling to catch up.
It isn’t long into their trek that Steven decides to grace the world with his consciousness one more time before promptly dying once again. Leon’s face contorts a little as he looks down on the twitching mess of a head in his arms.
“We should probably take care of this before getting into the city.” He notes, “And maybe hide it a little from the view. If we just parade in with a head that wakes up screaming every five minutes then they are gonna chase us out on the spot” Leon grimes at the thought. Their first few days in the village were less than ideal in this regard.
“Good point.” Cynthia hums, looking around. She reaches towards Steven's body on Lance’s back and pulls at his ridiculous red tie. When it comes undone, she rolls it up into a ball. “Here.” She hands the creation to Leon, who just looks at her dumbly.
Exasperated, she motions him to bring Steven closer and when he does so, she promptly shoves the make-shift gag into the mouth of Hoenn's deceased Champion. “Done.” She dusts off her hands, sending the stunned Leon a smug smirk.
“What about the ‘out of view’ part?” Iris piques in, looking pointedly at the eye-catching red tie in Steven’s mouth. The sight is, to put it simply, quite grotesque.
“...Right.” Cynthia scratches her head, perplexedly looking around. After a few seconds her eyes seem to fall on Leon once again and a devilish smirk starts forming on her face.
“I think we might have finally found some use for this.” She tilts her head at the Galar Champion and, huh, what does she-
“Oh hell no.” Leon backs off, mortified. “Not a chance-” With his hands preoccupied he can’t really do anything but squirm out of the way of Cynthia’s hands as they try - and unfortunately, succeed- grabbing at his precious cape. “Everything but this!” He pleads, desperate, but it’s in vain.
Cynthia simply cackles in response, snatching the fabric from his shoulders and making quick work of tying it into a crudely looking bindle.
“A purse for his majesty.” She offers mockingly, holding it out towards Leon, who can only stare at the staple-to-his-identity turned make-shift bag.
“That’s quite impressive.” Diantha comments, eyeing the bag with a hint of respect. “Although you could use a better knot for this. It would fold more neatly.”
Cynthia looks intrigued by the idea, “You’ll have to show me that later.”
“Can we just.. move on?” Lance grumbles from the side, evidently feeling better if the snark is his voice is something to go by.
“You heard the man.” Cynthia practically pushes the bag into Leon, who finally gives in and snatches his cape from her grip. He carefully ‘packs’ Steven’s gagged head into the fabric and slings the package over his shoulder before continuing after the rest of the party.
~*~
Diantha isn’t sure what they are actually doing.
They managed to get back to the city surprisingly smoothly, with only a few hitches here and there. As the only ones with free hands, she, Cynthia, and Iris finished the monsters on the road in no time. The real challenge, however, began the moment they stepped into the village.
“...What’s that on his back?”
“Is that a body…?”
“...Look it has no head.”
“...Oh gods, what did they do again?”
If the bindle in Leon’s hands garnered some curious glances, then Lance got literally swarmed with suspicious looks and hushed whispers. It’s safe to say that Diantha and the rest of the party were sweating buckets while trying to avoid more open streets and dodging stray, inquiring questions thrown in their direction. It didn’t always work out…
“Well, excuse you?” Cynthia explodes at the poor, older man that dared to say loudly that the thing on Lance's back looks like a ‘headless corpse of their missing friend’. While he isn’t exactly wrong, it wasn’t quite good for their crumbling reputation to have it said out so blatantly. “Do you have a proble-”
“What she means- ” Diantha cuts in, sending Cynthia a meaningful look telling her to ‘shut up’ before she can make things worse, “-is that we are aware of that fact. You see, this is merely, uh… a prop, and our friend, Steven, has happened to… have things to take care of elsewhere.”
A muffled scream can be heard from Leon’s bag, and the man turns wide-eyed in that direction, causing the Galar Champion to cringe and shuffle it out of the view.
“That’s, uh… um…” He gives her a panicked look.
“And that-” Diantha continues, undeterred “-was a Rattata we picked up for a quest. A living one, you see. As per customer’s order.”
The old man doesn’t seem too convinced by that, and so acting in their great interest Cynthia snatches the bag from Leon’s hands and gets it in front of the man's face in one stride. The man backs off a little, now shooting the bag an alarmed glance.
In a sickly sweet voice Cynthia tells the man, “We get through a lot of trouble to get this wild Rattata into this bag, you know? I think we can both agree it would be a shame if it accidentally escaped, hmm?” She asks, shaking it before the man’s eyes. It seems even the gods are in their favor, because from inside the bag comes another gurgled scream. Thanks Steven.
“I-I guess?” The man gulps visibly, looking more uncomfortable with every second.
“But you know, we can always go and catch another. I bet this one will find some nice, cozy place to live in here. Preferably a basement or attic.” She continues cooing, dangling the bag as if she’s trying to hypnotize the man, who starts growing a bit afraid of the woman before him. “You don’t happen to live nearby, do you?”
“I- absolutely. Sorry, but I think I have to go now.” The man almost sprints off into a nearby alley a moment these shaky words leave his mouth. The people watching also seem to scatter more widely around the street, now deliberately avoiding looking in their direction. Huh, that was surprisingly helpful.
They somehow manage to continue their trip undisturbed for the rest of the journey, with each step coming closer and closer to the heart of the village. Not before long a familiar to every Pokémon trainer sight of white roof greets them with its radiance.
The doors to the ‘Health Center’ - as it seems to be called in this world - are partially closed, probably thanks to the fact that the dusk has already settled, and so the party doesn’t waste time barging through the hinges and scaring to death every person inside.
“Medic!!” Iris shouts cheerily as soon as they steep through the door, garnering even more attention to their bizarre group, “We need a medic!”
“What happened?” In an instance, a nurse materializes beside them, hovering over with a concerned look. “Did any of you get hurt by a wild monster?”
“Umm…” Despite her earlier statement, Iris doesn’t seem to be really sure what to give in response to this question. “No?”
Nurse Joy raises an eyebrow at her.
“Uh, I meant-” Iris tries to correct herself immediately, only to be cut off by Cynthia.
“He did.” She says, tilting her head in Steven’s direction. “At least, kind of…”
Nurse Joy obediently looks towards the body on Lance’s back and cringes as soon as she assesses it properly. Diantha briefly wonders what caused this kind of reaction. Was it the gaping lack of head it seemed to possess or maybe the truly noticeable lack of blood gushing from such a wound?
For a good measure, Nurse Joy stares at the lifeless corpse a few seconds longer, eyes slowly trailing towards their slightly disheveled appearance - all thanks to the imprompu fight with Gyarados - before going back to Steven's headless body.
“I… don’t think your friend... has made it.” She says it in a tone so full of pity it’s clear she hates being the one to break that news to them.
“That was our goal.” Cynthia nods along, clearly oblivious. Diantha elbows her.
“We are aware of that fact.” She says instead, carefully choosing her words, “But we would still appreciate it if you could help us heal him back.”
Nurse Joy casts a quick, doubtful glance at Steven’s corpse before turning back to Diantha. “I’m sorry,” she says gently, as if in condolence, “I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help you.”
“Nonsense.” Cynthia puffs, crossing her arms on her chest and uh oh, “We have all the parts, it’s just a matter of assembling them together.”
“I… see?” The nurse says - asks - unsure. Trying to be of more help, Leon steps closer and hands her the bag he’s been holding. The nurse takes it hesitantly, peeking inside. Instantly, her face turns white, then green, and at last blue, before she shakily shoves the bag back into Leon’s hands and sprints towards the nearest bin in the corner of the room.
After emptying her insides, Nurse Joy sways on her heels and looks back at them, nausea still written on her face. When she takes in their awaiting, nonchalant appearance, she suddenly starts laughing. Quite hysterically, if Diantha might add. The patrons at the Center seem to grow a bit uncomfortable as they watch their doctor freak out.
“W-What do you expect me to do?” Nurse Joy hiccups between her mania, sending at them a frantic look, “Make a fucking Frankestein? Stitch him up and raise his soul from the dead?”
“Oh no, the second part would just waste all of our efforts.” Cynthia counters, watching with great interest as the woman before her seems to lose all her marbles “Besides-”
Her statement is cut short as a muffled scream escapes from the bag, echoing across the suddenly dead silent room. Everyone stares horrified at the source of faint, gagging sounds that seem to pierce the atmosphere around, no one daring to move a muscle.
As soon as the sound dies out there's a few beat of tense stillness, before the hysterical laughter picks up again as the infamous Nurse Joy finally goes cuckoo from all the strain of running a hospital in this strange fantasy world.
~*~
Steven glares at the timer ticking over his head with enough hatred to set it aflame if he ever had the power to do so. The numbers are getting closer and closer to zero, and while it was preferable the two first times he saw it, now it’s but a countdown to his unending demise.
Seriously, If he sees yet another ‘ you have died of natural causes’ the moment he wakes up again, he’s going to drag Cynthia’s soul to this paneless land and beat the shit out of her. Repeatedly. For the rest of this accursed eternity.
Not to mention Lance. Oh, Lance... Steven had quite a lot of time to think in this space and Cynthia’s last words were constantly ringing at the back of his head. Try as he might, Steven isn’t the one to just take other’s words at face value, but after careful recounting of everything that has happened even he came to the conclusion that the fault also laid partially in the dragon master.
Thirty three percent to be exactly, because the last third was entirely Leon's. If Lance was the one who started it all, then Leon was the one who sealed his fate with that careless summoning of his.
Although, thinking along those lines, maybe it’s actually Cynthia's fault he is stuck in this unending cycle of death. If she didn’t have to overcompensate for his magical self-healing by cutting of his fucking head, then maybe, just maybe, Steven would revive the first time normally, without having to worry about the missing sensation of everything from the neck down.
But alas, it wouldn’t have had to happen had Lance not killed him in the first place, and so on and on. He could go forever about this circle of faults, had it not been for the timer finally dropping down to singular seconds.
[Time remaining : 00:03]
[Time remaining : 00:02]
[Time remaining : 00:01]
Steven sighs internally, already adding this attempt to the growing number of ‘failed resurrections’ he had since getting decapitated. Talk about being lucky…
[Revival status: Completed!]
[Beginning a soul transfer…]
[Soul transfer: 09%...]
[Soul transfer: 37%...]
[Soul transfer: 62%...]
[Soul transfer: 85%...]
[Soul transfer: Completed!]
As the soft, golden light of resurrections washes over him once again, something surprising catches Steven’s attention.
Namely, the fact that this time around he can actually feel the rest of his body. Even more, the lack of immediate alarm sounding in head tells him that he is no longer gagged by his own, stylish tie. A huge improvement from the last dozens of times.
Steven takes a tentative breath, relishing the fact that he can actually do so, as the rest of his senses slowly settles into his unusually painless body. If there’s a perfect adjective to describe how he feels right now it would definitely be ‘blissful’.
Because what else could you say when you are laying on a bed so soft it feels like a cloud, with all your limbs intact and connected to you body, and feeling rested like never before in your entire life? Blissful…
Steven stretches tentatively, satisfied by the sound of popping joints, and yawns as if he had just woken up from the longest nap ever. In a sense, he just did…
This blissfulness, however, doesn’t last long. In fact, it doesn’t last at all, because the moment he actually stretches enough to taunt his muscles in a pleasant way, he is brutally yanked off the bed by his arm.
“Is the princess awake now?” Cynthia gives him a taunting smirk, snapping him straight onto his legs. He wobbles a little and catches her for better support. Then, as if remembering who’s holding him up, he releases her arm with a scowl and gives her a middle finger, right from the depths of his soul.
“Fuck you.”
“Oooh, it bites now.” Cynthia cackles but ultimately shuffles away from him. It gives Steven a moment to properly scan the room he is in.
It’s a hospital, that much is obvious from the choice of decorum. What else could be so eye-bleaching white? The rest of the Champions are also there, either looking between him and Cynthia with raised eyebrows or snickering under their breath. What puzzles him the most, however, is a small figure hunched over in the top most corner.
After a quick examination, the figure turns out to be Nurse Joy - someone he personally had yet to see in this world - but looking very much on a verge of a psychotic episode if the way she keeps deliriously muttering something to herself while sending him more crazed glances are anything to go by.
Steven backs off a little, not entirely sure if he wants to know about this one.
“Did I miss something?” He asks instead, earning a few different responses
“Not really?” Leon says just as Iris gives an excited, “That you even need to ask…”, all coupled with Diantha’s “Actually, quite a lot.”
Steven doesn’t know what to do with these answers so he simply turns towards Cynthia who is yet to offer hers. She raises an eyebrow at him, silently asking ‘why are you even looking at me?’ and so Steven promptly does the second best thing and turns toward Lance.
The ever-tired Dragon Master sends him an exhausted look, looking him dead in the eye.
“I don’t think you really want to know.”
Well... He guesses that’s quite fair…
[You have unlocked a new achievement: ‘What kills you, makes you stronger!’ ]
[Through constant use of the ability the level of your skill has been upgraded!]
[Passive skill: {Self-regeneration} has reached Level 5]
[Party Quest: ‘A fisherman’s break’ completed]
[Rewards:
10 Golden Coins
700 Experience
5 Party Points]
[Congratulations!]
[You have gained enough experience to level up!]
[You have reached: Level 4]
[New Skills have been registered in you Skill Tree]
[You have gained 4 additional skill points]
[Congratulations!]
[Party Level has been increased!]
[Your party has reached: Level 2]
[New Party Quest is available!]
[Would you like to follow the new Party Quest?]
[Yes] [No]