Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 50 - Heart to Heart

His toes squished against the malleable flesh. The Aerodactyl gagged, shutting his eyes tight. This entire day has been one long nightmare, and this was the finale, sealed away inside a Legendary demon with no chance to escape, under the pretense of being healed. He should have known better than to trust a bunch of freaks, Hearts, and freak Hearts.

He heard the squishy pitter-patter of the Vaporeon coming closer. He reluctantly opened his eyes to reintroduce himself to his surroundings. He focused on Tanneth; the Stable Scarf was in her mouth. She stuck her head out, offering it to Jerry. It was a bit darker, and it hung heavily from her teeth. But it was either that, or die. No, not even die. Star said she didn't know where the auras of those who melted went. That could mean a lot of things...

Jerry reached out and touched the scarf. Squish. His claws hesitantly wrapped around it completely and pulled back. It felt lukewarm. Tanneth let go, giggling. "See? Dry!"

In that moment, there was no fiber in Jerry's being that had even an ounce of joy toward the Vaporeon, the Lugia, or anybody else on that entire island. For the briefest moments, he wondered what it was that led to this very instance. Trapped and eaten, forced to choose between adorning himself with a Lugia-soaked scarf, or a death that would not even grant him the peace of the aura sea. Was it petty? Perhaps it was. But in that instance, Jerry considered throwing the scarf back at Tanneth.

"What's wrong?" Tanneth asked.

Jerry stared at the scarf. That wasn't going around his neck. "Nothing. Shouldn't you be chatting with the monster?"

"Monster?"

"The one who ate us."

"Aw, she didn't eat you, silly!" Tanneth said, giggling. "Emily doesn't eat!"

No words or sounds left Jerry. There was something in his mind—some small, quiet part of his mental fortitude—that finally crumbled away. Perhaps it happened when he stared at Tanneth's closed, happy eyes. Perhaps it was earlier, when he finally touched the scarf. Or perhaps even still, it was just the culmination of everything in his life that led to that moment. Jerry was sure it was all of these things. But whatever it was, it was enough for him to finally nod to the Vaporeon. He put a smile on his face, dropped the scarf on the ground, and said, "Go away."

"Oh! Okay." Tanneth nodded. "You need your rest! I'll see you later. You look okay, but your friend will probably need all night until she's better."

Jerry said nothing. He only waved at Tanneth with his right wing, still smiling. He practically mirrored Tanneth's expression. This satisfied her, and she waved back with her paw, sank into the walls, and left them alone.

The Aerodactyl waved for a bit longer, as if to be sure that she wouldn't peek and see him suddenly stop waving. Once he felt an appropriate amount of time passed, he brought his wing to his side. He took two paces to the left and turned around, looking at the walls. He then looked up, at the fleshy ceiling, and at the sealed hole that blocked the way to Emily's esophagus.

Jerry closed his eyes and nodded to himself. And then, he looked back at the wall.

Jerry screamed. With a single, deep breath, and with every ounce of strain in his throat, the Aerodactyl opened his mouth as wide as he could and yelled as loudly as his chest allowed. All of his fears, all of his disbelief, all of his complete resignation was concentrated and distilled into a single, drawn-out roar.

He eventually ran out of air. He panted, grunting, hunched over. His tail flicked angrily, slamming wetly against the ground. The only reason he wasn't clawing at the walls was because he didn't want to get any more of the creature on him than he had to.