From the Vast

Chapter 25: Hell

"~C'mon, keep up!~"

The schoolgirl stared over her shoulder with a flat expression, foot tapping on the underbrush as she waited for her classmate to catch up with her. Despite her determination, though, he wasn't anywhere near as eager for their entire plan, especially as it hit him just how bad this entire trip could go.

"~S-Susie, maybe we really should t-turn back—~"

"~Joeeeeey, I told you nothing bad's gonna happen!~"

"~B-but it's still a wild Mismagius!~"

"~It's our Mismagius, it won't hurt us!~"

The boy was well aware of the bespoke local attraction of a ghost not having hurt anyone in recorded history, but that fact filled him with much less confidence than he hoped it would. Nice or not, it was still a wild mon, a powerful wild mon, a powerful wild mon that really enjoyed scaring the nearby kids. Encountering it in person was all but a codified rite of passage at their shoddy little school—enough so to make the headmaster put up larger and larger fences in the backyard to stop them from doing just that—but that didn't make it any less terrifying.

He would never forget all the examples his personal safety classes gave of just how much wild mons could hurt them.

"~C-can't you do it on your own then? I'll be back—~"

Before he could even finish turning around, Joey found himself being dragged backwards by the collar of his shirt.

"~You promised it'd be both of us! Nothing bad is gonna happen to us, come ooooon!~"

"~T-the headmaster is gonna be so upset...~"

"~She's upset at everyone, we'll be fine. *Sigh*...~"

After having to waddle in reverse for the past few moments to keep his balance, the boy suddenly found himself standing up straight again, his friend distraught.

"~Don't you wanna meet it, Joey? Not every hole in the ground has their own friendly ghost, you know.~"

That particular line of persuasion was much more effective, giving the boy a pause. It was true, 'their' Mismagius sure looked to be much friendlier than almost all other wild mons—and definitely more so than other wild ghosts—but it still left doubts. What if one moment it would just... stop being friendly? What if they suddenly went from an undead prankster landmark, to an active threat that the League would have to send someone in to deal with?

He's had this kind of chat many times in the past, both with Susie and his other classmates. They were right in that nothing stopped a human with a gun from also turning on their friends on a whim and killing them in moments, but it never quite sat right with him. The distinction between man and mon was still there, right?

Wild mons loved to fight, after all. That was supposed to be the one trait they all shared, the love of fighting that was then fulfilled in league battles. Obviously, 'their' Mismagius would've been battling plenty in its 'spare' time and getting their fill that way, but what if it just didn't? What if it had to make do with using them as targets for its practice?

It was dumb; it didn't sound all too plausible even for him, but it was still possible, right?

And if it happened, there would be absolutely nothing they could do to save themselves.

"~Joey?~"

"~S-sorry, it's... it's scary.~"

"~A bit, but it's gonna be alright! Worst case happens you can use me as a meat shield, ha!~"

Susie's joking tone sent a shiver down Joey's back as he begrudgingly continued. No matter how much he wanted to turn back, he knew he'd be kicking himself down for not taking the chance, even without taking others' goading into account. Plus, there were a couple of trainers in Lillywood right now, right? They'd keep them all safe.