Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 73 - Gather

With so much that had happened, it was a miracle that they could clean up Quartz HQ at all. There was still a lot more to do. The walls of the fifth floor were still wrecked here and there, holes making new passageways into rooms, rendering the actual doorways useless. Blood coated parts of the halls on various other floors. Severed plants, rubble, and cooled molten rock littered the floor, and the air was filled with the lingering pressure of countless stressed mutants.

What's wrong? What's wrong?

I can't see. Can't see.

Lavvie, open your eyes! I want to see!

Lavender frowned, complying. His eyes trailed over the trembling mutants, still in shock from the battle. Next to Lavender was Lucas, no longer in his Mega form, looking skinny and frightened. He let out soft whines now and then, flinching to any form of contact. Lavender tried to ease him out of it, but he was inconsolable.

Dad? How about Dad?

Is Dad okay?

He's alive, right?

Lavender let out a sound that was a mixture of a whine and a chirp. The chimeric Pokémon crouched down and paced toward Eon, bumping his beak against the other Espurr. "Dad?"

Eon jumped, looking at Lavender, then back at Rim. She was still staring emptily forward, a bit of drool collecting at the corner of her mouth. Eon reached forward with a paw and cleaned some of it off; Rim didn't respond. Was she getting worse? Her aura felt so weak. It was barely keeping itself together.

"Rim..." Eon reached closer, rubbing under her chin. Her eyes remained open; Eon looked like he was in pain when he reached forward to close her eyelids. They didn't reopen.

"No," Lavender whispered. "She's... she's still alive. I feel it." He reached out to paw at her, but then stared at his own talons. He'd risk cutting through her fur if he got too rough. A simple scrape, the way she was... Rim was always delicate. Her barrier kept her safe, yet now...

"She just n-needs some rest," Eon said, nodding. "I... St-Star... Star did something bad to her, Lavender," he explained. "B-but I'll find a way to fix it. Always do. I'll find a way. I'll..."

They all fell into silence; Lavender looked at the remaining mutants.

Can we help?

What can we do?

Lavender, do something!

Countless voices echoed in Lavender's mind. He winced. Shh, shh, let me think... And the voices quieted down, though a few of them still seemed to mutter little concerns and ideas.

"What happened to Owen, Dad?" a mutant asked—this one was a Raichu with the wings of a Mothim and the claws of a Sandslash. "He looked so..."

"Star possessed him. And then she..." Eon shook his head, his body expanding and shifting from an Espurr to Owen's mutant form, towering over all of them. He staggered back so he didn't accidentally crush the comatose Espurr. "She must have planned to do that eventually. Using Owen to kill me. M-my own Owen... h-how could she—how could she—"

"Dad," Lavender said shakily.

Eon took in a muted gasp, hiding his face from the others. "I—I'm sorry. You shouldn't see me like this. I'm... I'm your father. We need to get through this together."

"But how?" Lavender asked. "Owen... he looked so angry... but why? Shouldn't he be angry at Star, and not... you?"

Eon clenched his jaws. A few of the mutants looked at one another with uncertainty, then back at their father.