Treasure Town ~ Main Square

[Adamhuarts]

"I don't want your help, I don't want to talk, I just want to be left ALONE!" Cynthian screamed at her. He had already finished charging up the Solar Beam, and he aimed it right at Skara in front of him, ready to blast her away since she just wouldn't back off!

 

[NebulaDreams]

"Hey! Hey, uh... Curio?" Was that the right name? She was pretty sure that was the riolu's name. If it wasn't, oh, well—at least the townsfolk probably wouldn't think she was talking to them, so who else would she be calling, right? "I need help— Cynthian needs help— I think he's going to attack, I don't know what to do!"

Curio didn't have time to register the Grubbin's appearance (or how the Grubbin knew her name to begin with) before she realised the gravity of the situation they were in. "Yeah, on it!"

"I don't want your help, I don't want to talk, I just want to be left ALONE!" Cynthian screamed at her. He had already finished charging up the Solar Beam, and he aimed it right at Skara in front of him, ready to blast her away since she just wouldn't back off!

She ran into the fray just as the possessed Cynthian shot that Solar Beam at the Grubbin. This was nuts. "Cynthian, this isn't like you! I know you don't wanna hurt anyone, but goddamn it, you're gonna end up killin' someone if you don't stop, and trust me, you don't wanna live with that!"

 

[Phoenixsong]

The roses were aimed right at Skara's face now, and in a panic she glanced around for anything at all she could hide behind—not much, aside from the crowds who were surely getting riled up by now. At a loss, she settled for worming backwards as quickly as possible, eyes still on Cynthian and hoping that Curio might be able to get through to him where she'd failed. Be careful...

 

[Adamhuarts]

She ran into the fray just as the possessed Cynthian shot that Solar Beam at the Grubbin. This was nuts. "Cynthian, this isn't like you! I know you don't wanna hurt anyone, but goddamn it, you're gonna end up killin' someone if you don't stop, and trust me, you don't wanna live with that!"

"This isn't like me?! THIS ISN'T LIKE ME?!" Cynthian's glare shot daggers at Curio and he grit his teeth hard while exhaling forced breaths. "You're all the same... Pushing me around all the time... Telling me what you think I am or what I I'm not!"

The black golden corruption continued to seep into Cynthian, twisting and warping his mind even further. "I know what I am, just the pathetic rose tinted beansprout from Mistifying Town. A stupid worthless flower that will never bloom!"

"You don't need a sorry excuse like me around. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of being disappointment to everyone. So, just leave me ALONE!" Cynthian waved his flower forward and blasted a cone of Sleep Powder at Curio. He noticed Skara backing away, but he didn't really care. His aim was far from precise, but like everything, it didn't really matter anymore.

 

[NebulaDreams]

"This isn't like me?! THIS ISN'T LIKE ME?!" Cynthian's glare shot daggers at Curio and he grit his teeth hard while exhaling forced breaths. "You're all the same... Pushing me around all the time... Telling me what you think I am or what I I'm not!"

Curio couldn't respond to that. Perhaps she overstepped her boundaries, but then again, it seemed like there was no reasoning with Cynthian in his state. He was spiralling, hard, just like she did.

The black golden corruption continued to seep into Cynthian, twisting and warping his mind even further. "I know what I am, just the pathetic rose tinted beansprout from Mistifying Town. A stupid worthless flower that will never bloom!"

"No, you're not!" she said. "I never want to hear you say that about yourself; you're worth much more than you think!" Not that she felt the same way about herself half the tim-- wait, no, she was just as bad as Cynthian was being right now. What if she attracted the same brainslug with these thoughts?

"You don't need a sorry excuse like me around. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of disappointment to everyone. So, just leave me ALONE!" Cynthian waved his flower forward and blasted a cone of Sleep Powder at Curio. He noticed Skara backing away, but he didn't really care. His aim was far from precise, but like everything, it didn't really matter anymore.

She backed away from the Sleep Powder. Oh, poor Cynthian. Curio sensed that nothing she'd say would get through to him. That slug was magnifying all of his negative thoughts; coalescing into one infernal aura of negative juju. The only way she was going to settle this was the old fashioned way: with a punch. But her fists on their own wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to knock the stuffing out of the slug. Then what about her--

Her heart lurched. Radiance. Electricity. Shock. Arm. Arm. Arm.

No, she couldn't cave in here, not when Cynthian needed her. What was her beef with Brisa anyway? It wasn't her fault. All of this was to do with Curio. She wasn't going to process those awful memories here; she'd possibly never unlock them for as long as she lived. But Curio needed to channel all of her pain, all her sadness, all of her burning rage into action, and that's exactly what she planned to do.

White light emerged behind Curio in the form of her Radiant Fist.

"Sorry, bud."

She ran through the drowsy mist and threw a radiant punch at Cynthian.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian was reading another Solar Beam when—

"No, you're not!" she said. "I never want to hear you say that about yourself; you're worth much more than you think!"

He paused his attack and stared at her. For a second, it seemed like her words had reached him, but he immediately wore a frown afterwards and screamed.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Stop pretending and say it to myself face already!" More of his petals fell off as he tripped forward. "Stop lying... Stop lying to make me feel be—"

Curio's Radiant Fist struck him clean on the chest. The strike sent him tumbling backwards with the light stinging against his chest and burning away at some of the shadows engulfing him.

Cynthian gazed up at Curio with pleading eyes from where he lied on the ground. His face was full of fear and sadness.

"Save me."

 

[NebulaDreams]

Cynthian was coming down. Parts of that damned slug was still in him, but it was a step up from all the 'woe is me' talk. Now who did that remind her of? Curio kept her distance from him, but she still kept her arms out, letting him know she wasn't attacking for now.

"Cynthian..." Crap, she didn't know what to say in times like this. "I know how ya feel. Really, I do. There were times where I felt useless to pretty much everyone. I still feel that way sometimes, and that's normal. That doesn't just go away in a snap. Sometimes, that's all you might think about. But at least havin' other people to talk to, it makes that awful, awful feeling go away for a bit. So please, don't let that stupid slug consume ya'."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Curio..." Cynthian stared at her with crestfallen eyes and sobbed. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

If Curio looked closer, she'd notice the remnants of her Radiant Fist still eating away at the infection around Cynthian's chest. "It's all my fault. If I wasn't so slow and weak, she would have beaten them."

The shadows started engulfing him slowly again. Cynthian whimpered while he curled himself up on the ground. His body trembled from head to toe.

"Help me, Curio! I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I don't know what to do! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio quickly cottoned onto her radiant powers. They weren't they just to look cool; they were there to fight off the shadows. Her Radiant Fist caused Cynthian's infection to stop spreading for a moment, but they were covering him once more. If she didn't act fast, she'd have to do this all over again.

"Curio..." Cynthian stared at her with crestfallen eyes and sobbed. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

Curio heard Brisa's voice in Cynthian's apology. She smiled through misty eyes. "It-it's okay, Cynthian. You didn't... you didn't mean to." A part of her was stalling to figure out something else. That sleeping powder was starting to get to her.

"Help me, Curio! I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I don't know what to do! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Cynthian..." She yawned. Oh no, she was fading. Through sheer force of will, Curio kept herself standing with wobbly knees. "Cynthian! You still have your radiance! I don't care what it does, but if that's what's repelling the shadows, then use it! Hurry!"

 

[Adamhuarts]

Radiance? How was that supposed to change anything? Cynthian struggled to understand why she told him to use it. It was painful. His mind was a swirling vortex of his amplified negative thoughts and dread. He tried his best to swallow back the bile of thoughts and looked at Curio with pleading eyes again.

"O... Kay. I trust you, Curio," Cynthian said with a nod.

Even though he felt like he was being dragged through hell beneath the ocean's bedrock, Cynthian was still able to recall how to use his Radiance. Cynthian's left rose, which had been morphed to a wilted black, gradually glowed until it reverted back to a normal Roselia rose.

His rose trembled as he lifted it at Curio. With a mental push, it radiated brightly and sent a petal onto Curio's forehead, granting her the power to see everyone's weak spots for a time.

Cynthian dropped his arm and whimpered, waiting with bated breath to see what would happen next.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hssss!"

Somehow, they were able to expel it, and the Shade jutted out of Cynthian's back. It leapt a few feet away and flopped several times on the ground, writhing in pain like it had been thrust into an open fire. It then curled up and tried to slither into a nearby bush.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Cynthian felt it when the Shade left him, like pulling out all the ink that's dissolved in a glass of water. The pervading thoughts were still there, but remarkably less haunting than the past couple of minutes.

As Cynthian tried to get up, his face fell when he spotted the squiggly Shade trying to make a break for it into the bush. Cynthian turned to ask Curio to catch it quick, but she was already getting drowsy. What about Skara? No, the shade might end up escaping if he didn't do anything.

"Stop... only cowards run!" Cynthian aimed at the Shade and showered it with a Sleep Powder. He was well aware of the hypocrisy of his own words, but Cynthian shrugged it off. He'd had enough of that sort of thinking for that day already.

 

[Namohysip]

The Sleep Powder clouded around the Shade and it hissed again, thrashing about as some of the powder landed on its body. Its thrashing went from ferocious to clumsy, and it started to stumble away next, its movements more and more careless.

 

[Adamhuarts]

Was it working? It looked like it was slowing down in a way? Cynthian was lethargic and his flowers were tied down by anvils along with the rest of his body.

"Fall asleep already!" Cynthian begged, dousing the shade with yet another one of Sleep Powder.

 

[Namohysip]

"Hssss... Ksssshhh..." It kept struggling, making it halfway into the bush, before it ultimately stopped, its head poking into the leaves but going no further. It didn't breathe, but it never did; it seemed that, for now, it wasn't able to fight back.

 

[Adamhuarts]

As much as Cynthian wanted to snatch that shade into a bottle and call it a day, he was far too tired to even stand up. His lungs burned and his head throbbed. They didn't have much time...

With the last ounce of strength he had, Cynthian pulled out his badge and navigated with trembling vines and sent a message to everyone that could receive it. After that, he dropped the badge to the ground and groaned.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Skara wormed out from under the bench and made it halfway to the stunned shade before remembering she wasn't holding a jar. Didn't need to make that mistake again. She fumbled the jar out of her pack and tried to scoop up the creature, glancing over her at Cynthian and Curio occasionally.

Well. That had certainly gone better than her attempts. For some value of "better", given the punching and screaming and bursts of radiance, but the shade was out, and Cynthian was... hopefully okay? Maybe? That was... a lot... not just the punch, but... why had he been saying all that? More than she could've worked through with a little "please calm down", for sure. How on earth had Curio known what to do, she wondered?

Skara wrangled the lid back onto the jar at last, the shade slumped inside, and then slumped a little herself. At least she'd managed that much. Kind of.

She turned and looked around at the streets again, hoping to spot someone strong and not, y'know, too confused or terrified. "Uh... can someone please help me get these two to the infirmary?"

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Could someone... give me an elixir? Please?" Cynthian asked, lying face planted on the ground.

 

[NebulaDreams]

Curio tried to keep herself awake as Cynthian fought off the infection. At last, that slug ejected itself from his body and Skara had caught it. Good riddance.

Somehow, the sleeping powder was weaker than she expected; she had no trouble staying awake after that whole kerfuffle was over. She went over to the faceplanting plant to see if he was alright.

"Damn," she said, "that was certainly a mean slug."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I really messed up, didn't I?" Cynthian began. He rolled over so he was facing Curio next to him. The edges of his eyes were still darkened by tear stains.

"I'm only the first idiot to get hit by one of those slugs, huh?" Cynthian said with a bitter chuckle. "My head hurts. It was like every fear I've ever had, every doubt, every anxious thought became the only things real to me. It was awful. I was so scared."

Even though his headache persisted, all the words he said while possessed came back to him, and Cynthian's cranial spikes jutted outwards by an inch.

"I said stupid things, didn't I? It was..." It was what? Should he say they were all lies spouted in his madness? Could he confidently say that deep down, he didn't think them all to be true? Cynthian felt a lump forming in his throat, keeping him from speaking further.