Grass Continent ~ Treasure Town Beach

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Once again, Mergo made it a challenge not to break character... which would've mattered if she wasn't already preparing to pull her mask off.

"Hm. Quite the evil laugh, if a little abrupt. Though... I must ask, is comedic timing going to be an important part of our plans, or are you just showing off? Because it's not a skill I—"

With high hopes, Aria reached over and squeezed his filia.

"—have, unfortunately."

 

[MadderJacker]

Her paw pushed on the side of his waist, and Mergo’s eyes shot open as a high, toy-like squeak escaped his mouth. He cut it off short and smacked her paw away.

“You bitch,” Mergo scoffed.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

That did it. A quiet snort soon gave way to shameless snickering, as Aria grinned up at him.

"Guilty as charged. But I made you drop character first, right? Riiight?"

 

[MadderJacker]

"Because you cheated," he pouted.

Mergo considered saying something about her continuing to fall for his act, just like he had blatantly said a moment before and knew he could get away with by blaming it on a performance. It very likely would have actually confused her. Like the charlatan he was. Mergo decided to abstain on that joke.

"That area is very sensitive when my guard is down. It would be like if I... Well, I don't know if yours worked the same way, but if I used my psionics to tickle your aura sensors. Or if..."

A memory suddenly came back to him, when he and Aria had danced at the party. And the sudden overwhelming smell of fresh grass had filled the air when he'd simply...

Mergo stared straight ahead while an invisible hand was conjured behind Aria's head, and invisible fingers gently but fervently scratched at the back of her ear.

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

She squeaked in surprise — and perhaps something else — before slapping a paw over her mouth. Wide eyes glanced over at Mergo, and upon seeing his arms still by his side, she put two and two together and levelled a glare at him instead.

Not that it accomplished much, considering she hadn't actually made a move to stop him, her ear had flopped down in front of her face, and her glare struggled to stay a glare.

"P-point taken. I... had that coming, didn't I?"

 

[MadderJacker]

"For a long while, yes," Mergo answered, giving a satisfied nod. The psionic hand moved to the other ear. "But, well, I can see where you're coming from. The reactions you get from teasing can be... What was the word you used again? Right. Adorable." He made sure to drawl that last word out.

He wondered if Riley had that same weak spot. Now wouldn't that be something? A shame he wouldn't remember to try it.

"How much further until the end of this place, anyways?" Mergo asked, tilting his neck to either side to pop his joints. "So far it's just been water puddles and weirdly-placed pocket change. I'm starting to doubt your claims."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"Oh, sh-s-shush!"

And with that stuttered response, Aria swatted away the psychic distraction keeping her from stringing words together. She took a moment to brush her ears back upright, needing more than a few attempts, and to rub the grin out of her jaw.

"...Right. Okay. So, it shouldn't be much longer," she finally said, poking the ceiling to test how damp it was. The glare of the psyshocks made it hard to tell, but the smooth walls now had a hint of blue bouncing off them. "If you kill the lights and we're still able to see, that's a good sign."

 

[MadderJacker]

Mergo nodded, then proceeded to slowly extinguish the psyshocks one by one, taking away the cosmic violet ambiance. The darkness settled in bit by bit, but never completely.

"I know this place is inert, but I don't believe I've ever said just how strange this is to me," Mergo explained. "The end of a dungeon, I mean. Back home I've only stood at the end a few times. They're so vast that they take months to fully delve into, and they're perilous. And also alive to some degree. It's a novelty that I didn't really express to be able to just walk to such a place within a day here."

More psyshocks had faded. There were just two left, and their glow was contested by a blue wavering reflective light that danced across the cave walls.

"So many things I never took advantage of."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Aria shot him a glance, his face wreathed in the slowly-dimming light, before turning her gaze back to the passage ahead.

"Things that never crossed your mind? Or things you took to the grave?"

 

[MadderJacker]

His head didn't turn. Mergo continued forward as he surveyed the shift in the environment. "Some of both."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"...Mm."

The salty tang in the air suddenly felt sharper.

"Do you hate being here? On Cibus, I mean."

 

[MadderJacker]

She should've already known the answer to that. Were he in a mocking mood, he would've feigned offense.

"It's an ideal world," Mergo answered. "Its citizens are content, and the ferals are little more than a passive nuisance. Not even that much in places. Supposedly they can intermingle. There are noo concerns over hunger or medicine. Crime is under control. No broader-scale disputes between territories. Rivalries between species never become more than a simple skirmish. There's ample opportunity for people to sit down and make a life for themselves, and with the skill of the Psychics here, they can cut through lies and fraud on most levels, which leaves little room for corruption."

To the best of his knowledge, he hadn't uttered a single lie. It was not a spotless world. Leadership was still soft, and the omens had exploited its weaknesses before, but it still ticked all the boxes of a paradise. There were even beautiful vistas to explore in every open direction to pose dramatically against for the cover art.

"I know that Nero and the others call me 'edgy,' but I'd have to be on a whole new level to hate this world for being too perfect," he relented, and the final psyshock went out. Now it was only them and the dim blue. "But I have no place in paradise."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"Wouldn't be a paradise if it didn't have place for someone like you."

The dim lighting made it hard to see the half-hearted smile on her face, which Aria was glad for.

"I should've been more specific with the question, though. The world's not the important part, it's... you. The fact that you're back anywhere. Raised from the dead, as I'm sure you'd put it."

 

[MadderJacker]

"... Ah." A beat. Mergo sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head. "Forgive me. Old habits die hard."

Even now it was second nature to assume Aria was getting at something. Not that it hadn't been warranted. Maybe he was still hoping.

"It's still relevant, but, you're correct. Being here again... feels bizarre. It doesn't help that it's been forty summers since I was last called."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

"Huh, that's—"

She trailed off as the number clicked in her head.

"...S-sorry, what?! Did you just say forty?!"

 

[MadderJacker]

"I did," Mergo deadpanned. "Not actually, of course. That would be ridiculous. I just wanted to clear the air after getting too heavy by mistake. Though it's sweet to know you care."

He imagined what it would be like to have a life that long while the hero's aura still shone. What sort of things would one have ahead of them at such an age? Did his father have one until the end?

"But... Yes. It's a minor crisis," Mergo admitted. "But I've received my answer. I think I know who I am now."

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

Aria sighed in relief, but not before punching him in the shoulder.

"...Was gonna say, it'd be weird if you still remembered the ear thing after that long," she said with a smirk. "Let's hear it, though. Who are you?"

 

[MadderJacker]

He scoffed, then tilted his head to face her. "Mergo," he answered. "What, you didn't forget me, did you?"

 

[ExplosiveTurkey]

She rolled her eyes, though they glinted with amusement. "That's as good an answer as any, I suppose."

 

[MadderJacker]

Mergo snorted. After conversing with Team Spectrum, it was nice to find someone again who could see right through his non-answers to glimpse the gist. And the fact that the one who spoke his language the best was a pugilist who had no interest in politics would never stop being funny to him.

The wavering blue was now accompanied by rays of soft light, and they rounded a turn in the tunnel. Damp rock gave way to a golden beach as they found themselves on a strange patch of sand. Salt water all around them shimmered in the sunlight as it ebbed and flowed, ebbed and flowed against the shore. Strange bits of moss and sage-like brush clung to the red stone, humble but thriving. It didn’t make too much sense to have formed naturally, but this had been a dungeon once. The laws of nature were returning bit by bit.

“… I see.” Mergo strolled forward, letting his feet sink into the sand, and then into the water at the shore. “You came here often, did you?”