Mystery Continent ~ Southern Beach

[Namohysip]

"Nate..." Owen sighed. "I noticed you had a lot of trouble during that fight. That could have been a serious issue had Diyem not been guarding you... If we weren't combating our own darkness, Diyem had to cover for us. Takes a lot of energy..."

"Perhaps he picked up on your slack, too," Wishkeeper got to the point. "That is not how you deal with a Shadow. It is just as tangible as developing stress-ulcers, of which I'm sure you also have."

 

[Negrek]

"Hey!" Nate snapped, crossing his arms. "What the hell is this? Did you come over here just to bust my balls about some battle we won? We're all going home in a week anyhow, who even gives a fuck?"

 

[Namohysip]

"...There is no telling how much will be remembered, and how much will carry over in some other way," Wishkeeper said. "This nihilistic view that everything here won't matter... is the lazy approach. The optimistic one." He loomed over them, but then disappeared into Owen with parting words. "Optimism has done little but cause trouble for us in the past. Forgive my caution."

Owen sighed once Wishkeeper disappeared completely, nodding. "...As long as I am around my teammates, I'm going to be worried about them," he said. "How long have you been like this?"

 

[Negrek]

"Like what? Cranky? Since I was fucking born." Nate was staring at the space where Wishkeeper had been. "Did that guy really just accuse me of being optimistic?"

 

[Namohysip]

"In a roundabout way," Owen said, nodding as he sat down. The sheer tremor would be nearly enough to knock Nate off of his feet. "It's pretty optimistic to think that you'll forget all your problems in a week. Possible, maybe... but not the only outcome we know of."

 

[Negrek]

Nate staggered as Owen took a heavy seat in the sand, then glanced back at Rocky. They probably weren't getting out of this now, but all the same, he didn't exactly feel like getting comfortable. "Oh, yeah? Diyem seemed pretty adamant about everybody's memories going poof straight off. Seems like that's how it worked for all those Miracle Matter people." But he was getting sidetracked. "Not that it matters, since I ain't gotta worry about no problems following me home nohow. Ain't how my world works."

 

[Namohysip]

"I guess so," Owen said, deciding that pursuing this line wasn't going to do any good if they couldn't agree on the premise. From this angle, at least. "Never know when they'll come back, though. Diyem said once the hero's aura fades, there's no telling when they'll come back. ...And there's also the impression you'll be leaving behind. The memory of you will live on." His eyes trailed of Rocky, then at the bag. "Don't you wanna end on a good note?"

 

[Negrek]

"Yes," Rocky said emphatically from behind them. It took all the self-restraint Nate had to ignore him.

"I mean, we just saved like the entire fucking multiverse or something," he said. "Seems like a good enough note to go out on to me. But I still don't think I'm getting you. Just what sort of horrible thing is supposed to happen when my memories come back?"

 

[Namohysip]

There was a flash--very briefly--of a deep darkness in Owen's eyes, but then he smiled and it was gone just as quickly. "Well, think about it!" he replied cheerfully. "If you got your memories back, you'd think about how you wasted that time here, or something like that, you know? Things you could have said, but now it's so many years in the future and so far away... Things that future you might regret."

 

[Negrek]

Nate drew back, wary, when Owen's expression briefly turned ominous. "I still don't think I'm picking up what you're putting down," he said uneasily. "Wasted time? I thought you were talking about shadow shit."

"What he means," Rocky said, stalking up beside Nate, hands on hips, "is you should stop being so mean and pretending like you can make me leave you behind. We should be having fun! We don't have much time left!"

What? Nate held up a hand. "I don't think that's what he means." He frowned up at Owen. "This is personal to you, ain't it? This whole thing reminding you of something?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen thought about it, tilting his head, and then nodded. "I guess it is personal," he said. "I've been going around trying to find everybody to see if they're alright. If they're ready to go. It's personal because... I envy all of you for having this kind of opportunity in the first place, I guess."

 

[Negrek]

"Oh, he's ready to go," Rocky scoffed. The familiar had his arms crossed now too, tail flicking in agitation.

"Envy us, huh?" Nate took a seat in the gritty sand, leaning back on his hands. "I mean, you're doing the same thing as the rest of us, ain't you? I know it ain't the same for you in your world, with your memories and all, but other than that... I don't get why it would be different."

 

[Namohysip]

"No, that's not it," Owen said. "I'm in the same situation as all of you right now... Well, aside from Bahamut. But the difference is... back home, where I'm from... I'd lost my memories, too. A lot of them. And eventually, I got them back. All of them." He looked away. "But the difference is, I didn't get advanced warning for when I'd lose that old life."

 

[Negrek]

"Oh," Nate said. "Yeah. That's rough." He let that sit for a few seconds, thinking. "I mean, if what you're worried about is me leaving loose ends or whatever, like, I still got some goodbyes to say, but I got it under control. I ain't got no big regrets or nothing. I'm pretty much ready to go."

"What about me?" Rocky said acidly. "Are you going to just go and leave me like this? I know what you're trying to do. It won't work."

Nate rubbed his face. "Rocky, we can talk later. For fuck's sake."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen frowned, shaking his head. "I'm probably the most likely to forget everything for a long, long time, Nate. You'll be long dead and floating in some Overworld place by the time I remember anything here, if I had to guess. So... If you want me to help sort out whatever's going on here..." He gestured to Rocky, then at the bag. "It's not like that information's going anywhere else. I can keep a secret or two for a week, at least." This was somewhat of a lie, but Owen didn't think there'd be any use in sharing it anyway.

"And... saying later, when our spirits are already losing their hold of our bodies... I don't know, Nate. I don't think we can say 'later' anymore."

 

[Negrek]

"I don't mean later later," Nate snapped. "I just mean not right now."

"He's right, you know," Rocky said, looming over Nate. "You think you can wait until you leave and then you won't have to deal with anything because you'll be on another planet. It's not going to work!"

"What's going on between me and Rocky is between me and Rocky," Nate insisted. "I don't know what you think you can help with here."

"Maybe with this!" Rocky pulled a dark, dripping shape out of his bag, holding it up for Owen to see. The shadowy mudkip gasped and tried to hide its face under its oozing arms. Oily tears ran down its face and spattered on the sand below. "Marshtomp's shadow's been following us around since the fight on the moon, and he won't take it back! And he won't listen when I say he should."

Nate glared death at Rocky. "Yeah, because my world doesn't have shadows, so it will go away when I leave. I ain't absorbing that thing or whatever the fuck you want."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen frowned, looking at the Shadowy Nate, then at Nate himself. "Are you sure?" he asked, glancing toward Destiny Village. "...Did you ever talk to Mergo, by any chance? I talked with other me about him. Did you know that a Shadow of his still exists in other Cibus? Not a mirror of him... but an aspect of his memory that gained a spirit of its own. If you aren't careful..."

 

[Negrek]

"That guy." Rocky scowled. "Figures."

Nate blinked. "I mean, yeah, I talked to Mergo. But he never mentioned any shit like that." Not that there would be any reason to, of course, just like there was no reason to be having this entire fucking conversation. "What, did the shadow, like, just hang out until it decided to go it on its own or something? Get zapped by Xerneas or something? Ain't sure what I should be careful of, here."

 

[Namohysip]

"I'm not really sure. Maybe yours will just fade... I think Mergo wanted his to stay around as a companion for his Void Eterna, or something. Still..." He sighed. "It's probably a risk anyway for you, if you don't find a way to make peace with him. Doesn't look like he's very happy anyway..." He looked at the oily Mudkip. "What's wrong?" he asked him.

 

[Negrek]

(( FYI, generally only Nate, Rocky, and other shadows can hear Nate's shadow. ))

"So he wanted it to be like that," Nate said. Sounded like a pretty different sort of situation, then. Still... He glanced at Rocky, and the familiar gave him a hostile look back. Well, okay, then, it had just been an idea. Geez.

The shadow mudkip squeezed his eyes shut when Owen addressed him, cringing away. "I'm scared," he whispered.

Nate snorted. "It's scared. And you might as well save your breath. It ain't never fucking happy."