FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ok, if you're still with me, your a trooper and I salute you. This, is the chapter where most things are explained and also, the chapter where (in my opinion) my writing feels like it's back to my normal standards. Like I said, I'll let you decide that, but thanks for sticking with me if you're still here.

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Chapter 4: My Life for Hire

Marcus P.O.V

...Well, here I am again. Standing on that black and white checkered floor, surrounded by pitch nothingness, in front of that damn blue door again.

...This is the third time in one day, and by now, I am completely used to it. In fact, I knew very well that if I wasn't dead that I'd come back here. Although, maybe I am dead. Maybe this is some sort of weird purgatory. Damn, I hope I'm not stuck here for too long. Well, I guess it would be okay if that damn lucario wasn't here.

_ You were saying? _

I groaned in disappointment. "God damn it...will you get out of my head already?"

_ Would if I could, but I can't. Now stop complaining and get in here. _

I really didn't feel like talking to him, but like it or not, he was right. We were in this together. And besides, I still needed answers which I'm pretty sure he could easily provide me with.

I opened the door and stepped into the...what the heck?

The room I had entered before was completely gone and replacing it was...well, if I had to guess, I'd say it was some sort of green room. Like the one you see backstage to a concert or something. It was a small, circular room with only three pieces of furniture in the entire thing: one table and two lounge chairs. Sitting forward in one of them was the spiteful jackal who had taken up residence in my brain.

On the other end of the room was another door, although it was anyone's guess what was on the other side, and finding out wasn't exactly my top priority right now. However, the one thing that really caught my attention were all of the pictures hanging on the walls. They were all rather random drawings and I took the time to examine most of them.

A skull, a sun, a star, a flame, a...wait, that one looks familiar.

The picture I had stopped at was a drawing of a crucifix with some sort of ivy surrounding it. I racked my brain to figure out where I had seen it, and then it hit me.

I whirled my head around, searching for another one, and almost immediately found the one I was looking for.

...the lantern with the half-opened eye...it was my arcana...whatever the hell that is.

"If you would just sit down," The lucario announced, apparently ticked off by all my browsing around, "You'd find out all you want to know a lot quicker."

I rolled my eyes and took a seat opposite him. "Alright then...and I assume you know everything I need to know."

"Well don't just assume everything, kid. It'll get you killed one day."

Normally, I would have laughed at that, but taking recent events into consideration, it was completely possible.

"So what _can _you tell me?" I asked, slightly irritated.

He held up his paw. "First things first."

I groaned. "Now what, going to criticize me for not doing anything against that gyarados?"

He suppressed a growl, and continued. "Actually, no. The fact is, we might be stuck together like this for quite some time."

I mentally cursed, completely forgetting that he could hear me, and he finally released the growl he'd been holding in.

"I don't like it either, kid, but that's just the way it is. There's no use complaining about it. So, I propose a truce."

I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"We obviously don't like each other, but we aren't going to get anything done if we're at each others throats every time you come here. So we call a truce, set all our differences aside until we're done sorting everything out. Deal?" He asked, sticking his paw out.

I looked at it in skeptically, but I figured if it would get him to shut up, it would be well worth it. "Deal." I said, taking his paw in a thunder grip that I knew he couldn't return.

He either ignored it or didn't even notice as he continued. "Right, I guess I'll get to it then. Now, what do you know about aura?"

Aura? What does that have to do with anything? I thought, but still gave an answer.

"Well, it's supposedly the life force of the universe, right?"

"Somewhat, yes, but you can't explode a gyarados' head with life force."

I remembered the gory battle that happened earlier and nodded. "Point taken."

"Modern science says that it's simply vibrations emitted by living things, but that's not true either. In fact, no one really knows what it is. The best way to think of it is energy that is emitted from your soul."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Soul energy? I'm sorry, but that sounds like it's straight out of some crappy video game."

"That's why we call it aura and not soul energy." He pointed out. "As cheesy as it sounds, that's the best way to describe it. You can either accept that or not, but it doesn't change the fact that that's what it is. Now, bear with me here. Do you know anything about tarot cards, whatsoever?"

I chuckled a bit. "Only that they're completely stupid. Going and getting your fortune told is just paying to have some idiot tell you what you want to hear."

He sighed. "When you're asking some stupid human to do it, yes, that is true, but when you get one from someone who actually knows what they're doing..."

He paused as a deck of cards appeared near his left paw. "...it can be extremely accurate."

He placed his paw on the edge of the deck and slid it out across the table. Then, in one motion, he flipped the end card, which in turn, flipped all of the other cards in the deck as well.

"Each deck consists of 22 major arcana. Each one has different meanings and can change based on the situation. For example," He said, sliding a familiar card in my direction, "the hermit arcana. In the simplest of explanations, it's a card based on wisdom. In some cases, it can be interpreted as a time for introspection, using ones past experience to make a decision later in life. However, in another situation, it would mean that you will have to guide another onto the right path. You follow so far?"

I tilted my head to the side, trying to process the info. "Yeah, I guess...but what does this have to do with aura?"

"I was getting to that. You see, a persons soul is shown through their emotions, their personality, how they make decisions, that kind of stuff. That being said, there are numerous types of energies a person can emit and quite a few types of auras as well...22 to be exact."

Wait...twenty two... I thought. "Oh! I get it, so the arcana are a way showing what type of aura a person uses."

"Precisely. Glad you catch on quickly. However, a person's aura cannot be determined by simply one card. Many types of aura are mixed together to form a persons personality traits, for instance," He slid a few more cards forward. "Most of your aura would be from the hermit arcana. However, you also use a bit of the devil and strength arcana as well, and in some cases, the death arcana."

I twitched a bit at the death arcana. It was the picture of a scythe being carried by the boney hand of a skeleton. I would have to assume it didn't actually mean death, but whatever it did mean, it couldn't be good.

He must have seen my reaction because he explained. "Relax. It's not as bad as it looks. It mostly just represents a change in someone's life."

I nodded, still not completely convinced, but we needed to move on. "So, if the arcana are just considered categories of aura, what did Arceus mean when he said that I awakened it?"

"Well, that's where the shadows come in." He explained.

"Alright then, what's a shadow?"

"Well, a soul is a tricky thing to figure out. Think of it in your case. No matter how much your parents tried to warp you to be someone you weren't, you still stayed true to yourself, right?"

"Yep, and a load of good that did me." I mumbled.

"Still, you knew exactly who you are and what you wanted. Some people aren't as strong minded as you are. So, when they come into contact with outside influences, their mind tells them to be something they are not, while their soul stays exactly the same. Therefore, their body completely rejects their soul. If a person completely rejects their own soul, then, basically, it leaves."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean it leaves?"

"They expel their own soul from their own body, rejecting everything that makes them...well...them. The body becomes in empty shell with very little emotion left. I believe humans call it depression. The person just loses the will to live and either dies or decides to commit suicide. Meanwhile, the soul, having no home, manifests into a physical form, in other words, a shadow."

"So...that's it, if someone starts to pretend to be someone their not, they become a shadow."

"No no no. That's way too simple. If a shadow was created every time someone lied the entire world would be dead. It's not when they pretend to be someone they're not. It's...well. It's when they themselves forget who they really are. And I was just using your life as an example, there are plenty of other ways a person can reject their soul, but they're too numerous to count."

"Ok...but still, what does that have to do with the arcana?" I asked, getting a little impatient with his roundabout way of explaining things.

"Relax, kid, we're almost done here. Every now and then, shadows tend to get out of hand. Whether it's just coincidence or there is some sort of catalyst that's causing people to reject their souls, there needs to be some way to keep them in check. That's where we come in."

I blinked. "Wait I'm confused, what do I have to do with this explanation."

I shook his head. "Not we as in 'you and I', we as in me and the rest of the arcana."

"Hold on, you're an arcana? What the hell does that mean? I thought they were just-"

He cut me off. "Yes, I am an arcana...or rather, a master of one. When Arceus said you awakened the hermit arcana, he was talking about me. Got it?"

"I think so..."

"Good. Now, to answer your initial question of what this has to do with you. Being that the arcana guardians have no physical body of our own, we're forced to tie our souls to that of a living being, in other words, you."

"So, what, you just go tying your souls to random people who are stupid enough to sign a contract?"

He groaned. "Listen kid, no one forced you to sign it, and you would have ended up with me either way, so don't go complaining to me. I don't even know what the damn thing was for, anyways."

Damn...just one more thing Arceus left out. "Ok, so I have a question. How did I end up with you anyways? Did Arceus just force you into my body, or what?"

He rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately for my case, yes, but that's not what normally happens. You see, there were only three of us that Arceus could persuade at the moment. Me, the one who's with the girl you met on the boat, and the one that's with your little fox friend."

"Wait, wait, wait. Zorua has one too? When the hell did that happen?"

"Around the time you were drowning, she awakened to the moon arcana. She saved your life in fact."

I froze at that. How could she have saved my life? She was on the boat...wasn't she? Unless...she swam back. God damn it, why did she do that. I know I should be thankful for her saving my life and everything, but why the hell did she come back? She was safe already.

I went deep into thought for a few second before I was snapped back by the lucario. "Focus, kid. You can worry about your girlfriend later."

That definitely got my attention. "Excuse me?"

I chuckled a bit. "Come on, you can't tell me you don't see the way she acts around you."

"She's not my girlfriend...is that even legal?"

"Yep, not exactly accepted though."

I shook my head. "Whatever... just get that out of your head, because it's not happening."

"Whatever you say, kid, whatever you say."

I shot him a glare which only made him laugh more, but he quickly put a lid on it. "Right, anyways, I'm pretty much done with what I wanted to tell you, you have any questions?"

"Yeah...kind of a big one...how in the hell do you expect me to fight shadows?"

He rolled his eyes. "You really haven't pieced two and two together yet?"

I shook my head, eliciting a sigh from the annoyed jackal. "Alright, let me slow walk you there. Lucarios are able to use aura as a weapon, aura comes from the soul, and our souls are connected, therefore..." He left it open for me to finish.

"I can use aura?" I asked.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" He said in a rather snarky tone.

"...you don't have to be such a douche about it." I grumbled.

"Sorry, pure reflex." He said with a shrug. "Anything else?" He said in a way that told me he was trying to end this conversation.

"Yeah," I said. "Do I get any say in this whatsoever?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, I'm eighteen, I just got my life back, and I have no clue what the fuck I'm doing, do you really expect me to willingly put my life on hold to go and fight these things?"

He shot me an annoyed glance. "Fine then, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Sure, but I'll tell you this. Right now, due to the fact that you have two souls in one body, there's too much aura for you to control right now and it's just spewing out at random. It'll take months, maybe even years for your body to adapt. Do you have any idea how many shadows you're going to draw to you, especially with three of you in the same area?"

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. "So basically you're saying these things are going to come after us no matter what?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." He said, crossing his arms.

I mulled it over for a few seconds. It wasn't really all that much of a choice. It's either I ignore this and risk being killed by shadows, or I accept and have a chance of surviving."

"Fine...I'll do it. Just...what exactly do you want me to do about this.

"Well...honestly I'm not sure. The way this usually works is Arceus calls all the Arcana together and each chooses a person to be linked to. However, he could only find the three of us. The rest are missing somewhere. You're best bet would be to try and find them first."

"How the hell do you expect me to do that?"

He shrugged. "I wish I knew, kid. I really wish I knew. Whatever we do, we better do it fast, because the shadows are growing at an increasing rate and it's getting hard for Arceus to keep everything in check. Once we have a team built up, we need to find out what's causing all of this and fix it."

I shook my head. "Something tells me it won't be as simple as your trying to make it sound.

"Well, no sense complaining about it." He said, pulling a humungous book out of thin air and slamming it down in front of me. "Start reading."

I took one glance at the book and dropped my jaw. The cover was a picture of the hermit arcana, and I could only imagine that it was some sort of manual on how to use aura from the hermit arcana.

I looked back up. "You have got to be kidding me."

He simply smirked and walked out the door on the other side of the room. I made a move to follow him, but there was a flash of blue light and both doors completely disappeared.

...fucking bastard.

_ Hey! We have a truce, remember. _

I cracked my knuckles. Fuck off!

_ Whoa, testy. I think I'll just leave you alone for now. _

I begrudgingly sat back down at the table and started reading.

After a few hours, however, I honestly forgot that I was being forced to do this. I was never one for school, but this was at least interesting. Learning fighting techniques, ways to control aura, seeing things without the use of eyesight. I would have killed to have a class like this at my school.

Of course, I was only really skimming it and didn't go into too much detail, but I took note of a few different things that might come in handy if I get caught off guard. Even then, it was only theory. I would have to practice once I woke up.

I also came across that thing I did earlier. When I broke the card and released the asshole from my brain. Apparently it's called a persona summoning and is supposed to be used as last resort only. While he's out doing is thing, I'm left defenseless until he returns, then I'd be royally screwed if any more shadows decide to come after me.

So, I shouldn't just stick to learning aura, the smart thing to do is to learn to fight for myself if I ever have to let the jackal loose. I wonder if there are any places that teach fighting in Sandgem.

Whatever...moving on.

After skimming through most of the book, I decided to just check what was left for me to read. I found at the back of the book there were quite a few pages with portraits of people and pokémon. Apparently they were everyone who was put into my position in the past.

...and then, a sudden idea hit me.

Hey, asshole, you still there?

_ Where exactly would I go? _

...point taken, any chance I can look at any other of these books.

_ You mean books of other arcana? Why? _

Just answer the question.

There was a brief silence, and I had a pretty good idea I knew what he was doing.

_ Ah, looking for a name for your girlfriend? _

SHE'S NOT MY-

_ Yeah, yeah, I heard it before. Don't sweat it kid. _

The book in front of me dissolved into thin air and another one quickly took its place, this one had the picture of a crescent moon on it. I smiled as I flipped straight to the back of the book.

I flipped through the names rather quickly, most of them were guys anyways, but then, I stopped at a picture of a red haired woman with flawless tan skin and read the name and the brief description of who this person was.

A smile crept its way across my face. "...perfect."

---

Still Marcus P.O.V

After what felt like decades later, I finally woke up...and soon wish I hadn't. There was a blinding ceiling light that kept me from opening my eyes all the way, the smell of detergent quickly overloaded my sense of smell, I felt fiberglass casts around both of my arms, but they only hooked around my thumbs so I still had unrestricted control of my hands.

Still, one thing I didn't expect. I felt restless. Normally it takes me hours after I've woken up to actually...you know...wake up. But I felt a huge burst of energy.

I sat up rather quickly, ignoring the fact that my muscles were screaming at me to stop. I heard someone yelp in surprise. I rubbed my eyes and squinted through the bright light. As I expected I would be, I was in a hospital. I was in a completely white room complete with one bed a table and a few chairs. There was a girl I didn't recognize with her IPod in, completely immersed in something she was scrawling in a notebook.

However, that wasn't who yelped. In fact, I don't think she noticed me get up at all. I looked around to find who had been the source of the noise, and didn't have to search long before a black ball of fur leapt onto the couch and barreled into my chest, knocking me right back down on my back.

I groaned a bit and then glared at the little fox that had slammed into me. "Geeze, Zorua, still sore here!"

"Good!" She yelled at me while taking a swat at my face.

"Ouch, what the hell was that for?" I said, rubbing my cheek.

"For scaring me half to death! YOU ALMOST DIED YOU ASSHOLE!" She said, nearly bursting into tears. She clenched her eyes shut and moved closer up to my face, nuzzling my cheek which took me off guard, but I didn't object to it.

"I...I'm sorry?" I asked, more then really telling her.

"Shut up and hug me you idiot." She grumbled.

Sitting back up, I cradled her in my arms. She almost immediately relaxed and took to nuzzling against my arm. Feeling she was comfortable, I scanned over the girl in the chair. She had long, light brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a pair of glasses with square lenses that covered her bright blue eyes, giving her that whole smart girl look that usually came with being a research assistant...that is, assuming she was one, I mean, she definitely wasn't a nurse and I can't imagine another reason a random girl would be sitting in my hospital room.

"Uh, excuse me." I said, trying to get her attention by waving my hand, but it was completely useless as she kept her gaze facing downwards.

Zorua squirmed a bit, releasing herself from my hold. "It's ok, I got this."

She hopped down from the bed, onto the chair, and up onto the table. Almost instantly, the girl flipped her notebook shut, as if embarrassed by what she was writing. Zorua gestured over to the bed and the girl glanced my way. Instead of a surprised reaction like I was expecting, she simply smiled and took out her ear buds.

I immediately found out why she couldn't hear me. As soon as they left her ears, I could faintly hear the pulse pounding beat of a heavy metal song blasting out of her headphones. Still, as she wrapped her cord around her IPod, she didn't say anything. So I decided to start the conversation.

"Uh...hi, my name is-"She held up a finger to cut me off and started flipping through her book. Finding a page, she held it up for me.

Hi Marc(us), Alyson told me your name and everything, and I'm an intern at the lab. My name is Coralline, but everyone just calls me Cora. To answer the questions I'm pretty sure you're going to ask. You're at a hospital in Sandgem and you've been out for five days now.

I tilted my head a bit, and despite the fact that I had been unconscious for five days I simply had to ask. "...um, sorry to ask, Cora, but...what's with the notebook."

She placed it down and made an X with her fingers across her throat.

"Um...so...you're a mute?" I asked, hoping that was the right answer. She nodded, smiling.

"Ok...so. If it's ok for me to ask...how did I get here? I mean, they couldn't bring an ambulance through the woods and I think carrying me seven miles without a stretcher would have made any injuries worse."

She flipped to another page in her book, this one containing a drawing. The first thing I noticed (Which it shouldn't have been, but I couldn't help it) was that she was a damn good artist. Every detail was exact and, although only done with a regular pencil, not a space on the page was left uncolored.

The second thing I noticed was the absurdity of how I was transported to the hospital. It showed a rather tall guy wearing a bandanna riding a fearow over the woods that separated Sandgem and the sea. In the giant bird's talons, was me. Of course, I had been strapped down to gigantic piece of plywood that served as a stretcher, but that doesn't make me feel any less uneasy about it. I did, however, laugh slightly as I noticed Zorua clinging to my shoulder for dear life.

She climbed back into my arms, and I simply had to ask. "Did that really happen?"

She shuddered a bit. "Unfortunately...yes."

I chuckled, not because I found it funny, but because I really didn't know what else to do. I HATED heights. Even just little ones, just the mere fact that I had been that high up makes me uneasy.

I tried to change the subject to get my mind off of it. "Wait, I thought pokémon weren't allowed in patient rooms for hospitals...some crap about getting in the way of the doctors."

She smirked and nodded as she flipped a few more pages. This picture was much more comical. It was a comic strip depicting Zorua as a boxer, slamming her fist into the jaw of some guy wearing a white coat and stethoscope and the letters K.O above it.

I smirked and looked at the fox in my lap. "You tackled the guy, didn't you?"

She giggled. "Maybe."

I shook my head, imagining the scene in my head. As I began to think, though, the door flew open and a man wearing a beat up leather jacket and a red bandanna stumbled backwards until he hit the wall opposite the door. I recognized him as the guy riding the fearow in Cora's picture. Following him was a very pissed off Alyson, and an even more pissed off zangoose (Or equally pissed off, I can never tell, as zangooses just naturally look pissed off).

The guy on the floor started first. "Oh come on, give me a break."

The zangoose leapt forward, grabbing his shirt collar with its paw. "OFF LIMITS! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Despite all the rage in her voice, I could tell it was a female.

"Oh come on" the guy complained, "She came onto me first."

Alyson stooped over him and grabbed his hair through the bandanna. "Listen, Danny, I have nothing against who you are or what you do, but this is a hospital god damn it. There are people here who are sick and dying, SHOW SOME GOD DAMN RESPECT!"

He smiled. "Alyson, as I said, she came onto me, and this is some premium tail we're talking about." He said chuckling.

The zangoose held a claw up to his face. "I'm going to do you a favor and pretend that pun was unintentional. Now I say again...OFF LIMITS!"

Pun...how was that a pun? I thought. But shook it off and tried to get their attention. "Um...excuse me. Guy in the hospital bed has no clue what's going on."

All three of them glanced at me questioningly until Alyson finally registered what was going on. "You're awake!" She said, running over to give me a hug.

"GAH, STILL SORE!" I shouted, trying to push her away.

"Sorry!" She quickly apologized as she jumped back.

The zangoose retracted her claw from the man's face. "You're lucky the new guy is here to bail you out." She grumbled. She walked around the other side of the bed and stuck out her claws for what I'm assuming was a handshake. "Hey, I'm Aria, and the perv over there is Danny. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

I shook it, careful not to cut myself on her deadly fingernails. "Marc...pleasure to meet you too." I said with a smile. She tilted her head to the side, as if she was confused.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Well, you haven't freaked out yet, so there's that." She explained.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why should I be freaking out?"

She stared at me for a few seconds and then smiled. "Oh yeah, you and I are going to get along just fine."

I was about to question what the heck she was talking about when the guy on the floor stood up. "You meet many talking pokémon where you come from?"

I stared blankly for a few seconds before it hit me, and when it did, I really had to resist the urge to facepalm. Had I really acclimated so quickly to understanding pokémon that I couldn't recognize when one was _actually _speaking English? I mean all the signs were there. She was talking to a person who couldn't understand pokémon and he was responding pretty damn clearly and the way she approached me made it seem like I would have no problem understanding her as well. Of course, even if she didn't speak English, I would still be able tell what she was saying, but she didn't know that. I was really going to have to be careful about how I react to pokémon talking from now on.

"Well, I know it's not common," I tried to cover up. "but I wouldn't think it's all that uncommon either. I've heard about pokémon learning English before, it's perfectly normal, isn't it?"

Aria raised her claws to the ceiling in an overdramatic fashion. "THANK YOU ARCEUS! YOU SEND ME SOMEONE WITH A BRAIN!"

Everyone else in the room laughed and I forced a chuckle, but the mention of Arceus kind of killed the mood for me.

...damn bastard.

Once the laughter had died down, I changed the subject. "Ok...Danny, was it?"

The bandanna guy nodded. "Yeah, what's up?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what was all that about?"

He started grinning like an idiot. "Oh, nothing. Girls come on to me all the time and these two just get jealous."

"As if."

"Perv." Alyson and Aria said respectively. However, Aria continued. "She was fourteen, she didn't know what she was doing, and I will NOT let you take advantage of that."

"Really, because she seemed to know pretty damn well what she was doing when she started rubbing her face against my crotch."

"Wait, wait, wait," I interrupted, "Some girl just came up to you and started rubbing her face on your pants..."

"Yeah? What about...oh that's right, I forgot you don't know yet." He said, crossing his arms.

"Know what?" I asked.

Everyone went silent, waiting for someone else to explain what was sure to be some awkward topic. Alyson took the initiative. "Well...Danny, he...he likes pokémon in a different way then most people."

I raised an eyebrow. "Um...ok...what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Danny dropped his arms and stepped forward. "Stop trying to sugar coat it and just spit it out." He said, turning to me. "I'm what most people refer to as a furry."

"Um...I'm sorry, I still don't follow. What's a furry?"

Danny blinked in disbelief and then turned back to Alyson. "Geeze, you were right, this guy really did live under a rock."

"Technically I lived on it." I corrected, "But that doesn't change the fact that I have no clue what you're talking about."

To answer my question as bluntly as possible, Cora tossed her notebook in front of me. It was much more crudely drawn than either of her other sketches, but I still can't believe she had drawn it in a matter of seconds. It was a pairs of a poorly drawn Danny sitting in a chair with something that I would have to guess was a vulpix digging its nose into his crotch. In big bold letters above it were the words he fucks pokémon

My first instinct was to blurt out 'is that even legal?', but that question was already answered by the jackal in my brain. So instead I just stared at it blankly before simply saying. "...Well alright then."

Danny came around to look at it and smirked. "Actually, Cora, it was an umbreon, but I'll let it slide because you weren't there."

She smiled and shrugged, reaching over for her notebook, which I gladly returned to her.

"Well?" Danny asked.

"Well what?"

"What's your opinion on this? I want to know if there's going to be another douchebag walking around the lab that I have to avoid." He stated rather bluntly.

I blinked a few times, thinking it over before giving my answer. "Look, I've never even heard of pokémon and humans having relationships until right now, so how can I judge what I know nothing about. I figure whatever you do on your time is your business, not mine."

He sighed. "Good, glad to know your not being a dick about it."

Alyson spoke up. "Oh come on, you can't blame people for not understanding."

"I don't, I blame them for being assholes about not understanding." He said with a half-hearted laugh.

There was a bit of an awkward silence where no one quite knew what to say. Luckily, no one had to as a doctor came in the room reading a report rather thoroughly. As soon as he entered the room, he took one look at the crowd and groaned. "You people again? God, how many times do I have to tell you, friends and family only?"

"We are friends!" Danny stated confidently. This kind of took me off guard due to the fact that we've known each other for all of fifteen minutes, but I would have felt like a jackass had I told him otherwise, so I just nodded.

"Regardless," The doctor continued, "Visiting hours have been over for three hours. Now, It's eleven O'clock at night, and my patient needs his rest. Everyone out!"

They all nodded as they said their goodbyes and headed out the door. Alyson stayed back for a moment though. "Marc, as soon as you're let out of here, we need to talk about that one thing, got it."

I knew exactly what she was talking about and nodded before she ran to catch up with the others.

The doctor turned a glare to Zorua. "That means you too."

He reached to grab her, but she snarled at him making him yank back his hand. He glanced at me. "Sir, can you please control you're pokémon? We have yet to locate her pokeball and she's been causing a nuisance every time I come in here."

"Do you try to throw her out every time you come in here?"

"Yes. Hospital policy states that-"

"She's not in anyone's way so just leave her alone and she'll leave you alone. As for her pokeball, it's somewhere at the bottom of the ocean, and she's staying here as long as I am."

He gritted his teeth and nearly ripped his report in half at my defiance, but kept is cool and continued through clenched teeth. "Fine...anything else I can do for you now that you're awake."

I knew he was being sarcastic, but since he so generously offered... "Yeah. I've been out for five days and I'm starving, can I grab something to eat."

He scoffed at the suggestion. "You're not leaving this bed for at least another three days."

"Three days?" I groaned.

"At least." He reiterated. "You damaged nearly every muscle in your body, not to mention the numerous fractures in your arm and wrists. In fact, I'm surprised you can move at all without feeling pain."

I ignored telling him that I did feel pain every time I moved, because that wouldn't really help my situation. "Well that's all well and good, but I'm still starving here."

He sighed. "I'll have a nurse bring you something from the mess hall, good enough?"

"Sure."

"Good. I shall notify your uncle that you are awake and he'll visit you in the morning. The nurse will be here soon with a tray of food. I'm going to leave now, DON'T GET OUT OF BED!" He said very sternly, slamming the door behind him.

I looked down to Zorua who was now glaring at the door. "That's the guy you tackled?"

"Yep!" She said, instantly cheering up.

"Good, something tells me that guys a jackass." I said with a smile.

Completely ignoring his instructions, I swung my feet around off of the bed, letting my hospital gown drop down.

I got up, feeling my legs burn, but still in nowhere near as much pain as he had made my injury out to be. I stretched out a bit and walked over to the window, opening the blinds to see a starry night sky with a crescent moon hanging in the air.

I smiled as I climbed back into bed, leaning my head back against the headboard and letting Zorua climb into my lap

...which reminds me.

"Hey, so I heard you got an arcana?"

She lifted an eyelid. "Yeah...and this damn Milotic won't let me forget it either, but how'd you know?"

I smirked and pointed to my head. "From the lucario bastard who won't leave me alone"

I'm pretty sure I heard a small growl ringing in my ears, but ignored it as I continued. "You have the moon, right?"

She nodded. "And you have the hermit, right?"

I nodded, figuring that hers worked the same way mine did and no explanation was really needed.

"Well, just saying, I think I have a good name for you if you want to hear it."

Her ears perked up and she raised her head up. "I'm listening..."

"What do you think about Nyx?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What kind of a name is that?"

I smiled, knowing that she would love it once I told her what means. "Well, I'm not sure what language it is, but the basic translation for it is 'Goddess of the night'."

Her breath hitched and I could just barely make out a blush through her black fur. She stared down at her paws as she thought it over, but I already knew what the answer was going to be.

I was not, however, prepared for her response. Using my chest as a ramp to pull herself up, she planted a kiss on my cheek, causing me to blush furiously. "I love it...thank you." She whispered as she nuzzled into the crook of my neck and then sat back on my lap.

She noticed the change of color in my cheeks and giggled. "You were embarrassed by that?"

"N-no, not embarrassed, just....surprised. You're not usually that...expressive." I responded honestly.

"Well...don't get used to it. That was a one time thing." She stated as she curled up into a ball.

"Um...ok." I didn't really know how to react to that, so simply stroked my hand through her fur, eliciting a purr from the little fox pokémon. Even though I was wide awake, I could see she was falling asleep, so I brought my hand back and let her rest.

"Goodnight Nyx."

"'night, Marc."

I let my head droop to the side and looked at the stars, enjoying the scenery and somewhat wishing I had my IPod with me. I absentmindedly started humming softly and waited for a sleep that wouldn't come for quite some time.

---

? P.O.V

I stood on the dock in my black sweatpants and hoodie. Anyone who saw me probably thought I was either a gang member, or a poser. Either way, it kept people from bothering me, so I didn't mind. I stared at the wreckage out in the water with a pang of guilt.

_ Don't beat yourself up about it, it wasn't your fault, it was mine _ *. * A deep masculine voice bellowed in my head.

I twitched a bit. Still not used to this whole telepathy thing. Yeah, but your not the one who lost control and created a monster.

_ But I should have known you wouldn't be able to control it yet. This is some pretty advanced stuff we were trying. It's perfectly normal. _

But I should have done something. I should have tried to help.

_ And what exactly could you have done from way out here. _

I...I don't know...

_ Exactly. You have to learn to let things like this go. There's no use brooding about it. _

I clenched my fists in anger. I'm responsible for the deaths of over 20 innocent men...how am I supposed to brush something like that off?

_ Well...try and look at the good that came out of this. _

I made an audible 'Tch' and shoved my hands in my pockets. ...and that would be?

_ We know you're not the only one. _

I remembered watching the Lucario that had appeared out of nowhere and quite literally, ripped the head off of the shadow I had accidentally let loose.

You're positive that was another guardian?

_ Please, I know that hardass jackal anywhere. And I'm pretty sure that Milotic was an old friend of mine as well. _

Yeah...but...are they on our side...or their side.

..._ well...I guess we'll find out, won't we? _

_That doesn't exactly reassure me. _I thought, turning around and starting the long walk back to Sandgem.

_ You really need to learn to be an optimist, or at least, not a pessimist. _

Force of habit. I thought. I brought forth my tarot card, needing something to fidget with, and began twirling it in my hand.

_ Be careful with that, if it breaks I'll- _

_Yeah I know...I'll be careful. _I reassured him, letting the card rest in my hand and observing the picture.

...the picture of a scythe being carried by a boney hand.