LUSTER'S POV

My perspective...my perspective on this all? I feel partially to blame. I should have known that after organizing everyone's diets by name that someone would try and use that against us. I'll make sure to be better, for everyone, for Vanta...and for Galant.

The thought still lingers in my head; Galant was Vanta's murderer. Something about that didn't ring that, and I would have trouble believing it if Galant hadn't used that memory gem. This begs the question; how many more deaths will be caused by regaining our memories? It can't be a coincidence how many of us are terrible people in our pasts.

I don't want to be Vanta's replacement, but I still want to be everyone's new leader—someone to try and keep things under control. While I know I can't do as well as he did, I can surely try.

"Good morning..." I heard a sweet voice call to me from the other end of the bed. After craning my head over I realized that Grace, my new roommate, was wide awake. "You move a lot in your sleep."

Lancer used to complain about that...is it really that bad? "My bad, did I crush you?" I sat up to my haunches and noticed the Eevee's matted fur. Shit, I definitely crushed her.

"Don't worry, it wasn't bad...I somehow managed to flip you back over to your side." Grace reassured me with a slight smile.

"Well, that's sorta relieving..." I chuckled at her enthusiasm before leaping off the bed. "I have to prepare everyone's breakfast, wanna join me?"

She quickly nodded, seemingly fine with hopping on my back—mostly because she was too short to open the door herself. We made a quick walk past the living room and straight towards the kitchen, where I then entered the large walk-in pantry.

"I don't know how you keep track of this all." Grace curiously noted as I portioned today's ingredients on a counter. "I'd get lost."

At first I just emptily hummed in response, my tail getting to work at chopping berries with a knife while my paws kneaded at the dough below me. "Well..." I chuckled lightly at the thought. "I changed the whole layout so I would remember it."

"Ah, so it's just that you organized it yourself?"

I replied with a small nod before continuing with my preparations. Occasionally, I wrapped my tail around a piece of chopped sitrus berry and hovered it towards the Eevee. Each time I did so I felt the fruit almost instantly disappear the moment I offered it.

It didn't take very long for me to prepare everyone's breakfast. Most of it was variations of homemade bread, oats, and fruits. Every time I make the food I find myself having to make less each time, and it's almost as if I forget people have died. I had to stop myself from portioning food into Galant and Vanta's plates, and I heard a small whine of sadness from Grace when I made that mistake.

Today's breakfast was a success so far, and I watched as everyone flooded into the kitchen dining table to eat their share. Grace hopped off my back to leap into her spot, and we had our second fully attended dinner—sadly, with two seats now empty.

Loki's condition seems to be worsening—or was it always that bad? Nonetheless, I never noticed until she had to be handicapped by Laker to her chair. Sherwood seemed to be getting in good spirits with Leon, and it made me wonder if he forgave him for their past traumas.

Zantai was definitely hungry; he managed to scarf down his entire meal before shamelessly nudging his plate toward mine. I generously offered him a slice of my bread before he shoved it in his beak.

"Mmm, I needed somethin' like this..." The Blaziken murmured through the food particles in his mouth.

"As graceful as Suicune." Leon narrowed his eyes at the bird's table manners.

"What? You act like I have strangers watching me." Zantai shrugged and continued munching. He was somewhat right in that sense, everybody here knows one another and their habits. If anything, I expected Zantai to be like this so I always serve him on a larger plate than normal. He still finds a way to make a mess, though.

"Did anybody notice the temperature yesterday?" Loki spoke up after swallowing her bite—much better compared to a certain someone. "It was freezing."

"Hah! Yeah, Vince started clinging to me in his sleep!" Zantai turned his head and grinned widely at the frog. Vince forced a smile before coating his webbed hand in water and jabbing the Blaziken's side. "Oouf! That's super effective..."

"I did notice the cold." Sammy frowned and picked at her food with a fork...she always seemed to have less of an appetite compared to the rest of us, and part of me was shocked she still has any body fat. "Usually there's a malfunction in the system when that happens."

More than a month ago that would have given us hope for an escape, but we figured out pretty soon that we were trapped in a large dome underground.

After a few more minutes of small talk, we decided to move our conversation to the living room, where everyone could get more comfortable. The only real benefit to having fewer people in the mansion is that everyone could spread out on certain parts of the couch now.

On one side of the room, Sherwood was propped up against the wall on his own—but preferred—lonesome. Both Vince and Zantai were on the same end of a couch, Grace taking a humorously odd spot on top of the Greninja's head. Laker and Rayne were sharing a decently big chair next to them, and it seemed like they were comfortable enough with the space they had.

I personally preferred not to use any chair, and it seemed Loki took advantage of this by using my back as a leg rest, so by law of nature I stayed comfortably in front of her seat.

Leon and Sammy were nowhere to be seen, and it appeared that the conversation was continuing without them.

"We gotta start bein' careful 'bout how we spend our time alone." Sherwood picked at the weed in his maw. "Especially if someone uses a gem."

"Like that'll ever happen again." Zantai scoffed in awe. "I still can't believe we're still using them, fuckin' stupid."

"It's in our nature to be curious." Rayne frowned and ran her paw against the chair arm. "Especially if we're stuck with nothing else to do."

"It can't be too hard with some company..." Grace reasoned as she kneaded the top of Vince's head to inspect a few strands of red fur. "How did this get here?"

"Guess how?" Zantai couldn't help a small grin, this time leaning away from the Greninja in case he decided to attack once again.

"I'm sleeping on the ceiling next time." Vince grumbled lightly and crossed his arms.

"It's no shocker we were all cold." Loki seemed to stifle a laugh at Vince and Zantai's dynamic.

"Not me!" Laker proudly smirked.

"The ice type..." Sherwood shook his head. "That's quite obvious."

"Say, Laker." Rayne turned her head to the weasel next to her. "How many of our motive cards have you collected so far?"

The Weavile was a little taken aback by the sudden question, but he still shuffled around in his satchel to read the names.

"Uh, I have...Zantai, Lancer, Talus, Vince, Rayne, Inu, Leon, Galant, and Vanta's." He read aloud, raising a few brows from the other contestants.

"A few of those alarm me. How do you have both Galant and Vanta's cards if they only recently died?" Loki tilted her head in confusion.

"I can't explain all of it. A few of these were given to me directly, and the rest were Sam giving me any deceased Pokemon's cards." Laker placed a claw against his chin in thought. "I wonder why she even does that?"

"You know, you read everyone's motive cards, but what about yours?" I narrowed my eyes at the weasel, who visibly gulped at the question. It seemed like he feared someone would ask him that one day.

"I planned to reveal mine once I had everyone's cards." He sheepishly admitted, his eyes glued to the papers in his claws.

Suddenly, a paw was placed on his lap. Laker turned to watch as Rayne offered him a gentle smile. "You don't have to be ashamed about whatever it is, I'm sure it's no worse than everyone else's."

"Yeah, at this point I wouldn't mind giving mine, either." I nodded.

"Leon and I have a bit of theory that our motive cards could be fake." Zantai stated, all eyes now focused on him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Loki seemed almost offended at the thought.

"Well, my card stated that I killed Vanta's sister." The Blaziken started, and after a few seconds of connecting the dots, we all turned to Grace. "But we all know Vanta's sister is actually alive, so what did I do?"

"But I remember mine like it was yesterday..." Loki shook her head in denial. "I can still recall visions of me burning down that forest long ago...I don't know about yours, but mine was absolutely not fake."

"Hmm..." Laker paused for a moment before continuing. "Is there a possibility that mine is fake?"

"Don't even think about it." An unfamiliar gruff voice called out from the halls, and we all stayed alert to watch a large silhouette make his way toward the light.

"It's you again..!" Grace seemed to know this person, and after carefully watching, I noticed the 'mon was a Toxicroak. We haven't seen a new face around here for weeks, the idea that someone could just waltz in here was insane. Maybe he worked for Sam?

"Grace, you know this guy?" Vince looked up at the Eevee on his head with a small frown.

"Yeah, I think he's the guy that cleans up the bodies." The fox replied, earning a loud groan of frustration from the poison frog.

"Ugh, I'm supposed to be." The Toxicroak shook his head and pointed toward the weasel on the chair. "You! You've been stuck in this little world of yours for too long!"

What the hell was he talking about? Does he also know Laker?

"Who the fuck are you?" Laker scoffed lightly and leaped off the chair to eye the poison type. "I have no idea who you are."

"Does the name Kanom ring a bell? How the hell did your motive card fail to work?" Kanom crossed his arms and eyed the satchel Laker was holding.

"I don't know, and I don't care." The Weavile stood his ground with a small grimace.

"If you don't care, then you should read it out to everyone." Kanom mocked.

Laker visibly hesitated, his arms not daring to reach for his own card.

"Laker..."

The Weavile turned to notice Rayne was looking at him with a concerned expression. While she was wary of the Toxicroak in front of her, she couldn't help but continue her curiosity with the note. "It can't be bad."

"I never told anyone because I strongly disagree with it." Laker finally reached into his bag and slipped out presumably his motive card. Choosing to not read it himself, the weasel tossed it at the Manectric, who promptly secured it with two paws. "Please don't let this change anything."

I watched as Rayne read the note, her expression shifting from a neutral to a completely horrified look. She had to brace herself before clearing her throat and rereading it aloud.

"Hello, Laker. If you are reading this, you are my right-hand man in this game. Thank you for gathering everyone, and return to me for your memories."

THIRD PERSON

All eyes were on Laker after the motive was read, a mixture of shock and confusion apparent on the group's faces. It didn't take long for someone to speak up, however. "I-I mean, if he doesn't remember then...I think it's fine." Grace muttered with a hint of unsureness.

Even though the topic of previously working for Sam was touchy, they still somewhat resonated with the Eevee's words.

"I get why that must have been harder to reveal earlier in the game..." Luster nodded and offered the weasel a nod of affirmation.

"Doesn't change the fact that he still needs to do his job." Kanom pointed his singular poisoned claw at the Weavile. "I've been doing your dirty work this entire time."

"It's gonna stay that way." Laker proudly walked closer to the claw, almost taunting the poison frog. "I'm not gonna work for Sam."

"Shame." Kanom groaned and shuffled around for something in his throat sac. "I didn't wanna have to do this."

In an instant, the Toxicroak lunged his arm forward to forcefully press what looked to be a memory gem against the weasel's forehead. This sudden act caused Rayne to leap forward and harshly slug her shoulder against the poison frog, lunging him halfway across the room. Before he could even get up, the Manectric shot a bright ray of electricity to keep Kanom down before utilizing her body weight to pin him against the floor.

Feeling confident that the trained bounty hunter would keep the Toxicroak down, the rest of the room leaped out of their seats—except Loki—and promptly checked up on the now fallen Weavile.

"Shit..!" Zantai cursed under his breath before kneeling to cup the weasel's cheek. "He's out cold, that fucker forced a memory on him."

"This can't be good, he could wake up a different person." Luster eyed the unconscious weasel before turning to Rayne. "Keep him down."

"Already on it." Rayne muttered, the Manectric's eyes resembling her old, coldhearted glare.

"Luster." Loki called from the other side of the room, gaining the feline's attention. "Can you please carry me over to Rayne?"

Now that things had somewhat gotten under control, Luster didn't hesitate to make his way over to the other side of the room. As the feline left an open spot for her, Loki slid her haunches onto his back before being carried across the room.

Loki felt a small pit in her stomach after getting closer to the pinned Toxicroak. Those pale white eyes...they reminded her of something important.

"Y-You..." The Zoroark trembled at the sight of him, the Luxray carrying her craning his head in worry.

"Loki? What's up?"

"He's...He's the one who dumped gasoline on me in the furnace!" She pointed a claw at the poison frog. "I know him by the eyes! No one else has pale white eyes..!"

"What?" A unanimous reaction.

By definition, the Toxicroak was also to blame for Hydra's death, and that alone was enough to bring the Zoroark into hysterics. "What the hell did you do to him? Why isn't he back?"

At first, Kanom didn't answer, but Rayne was surely good to do some convincing. After a controlled shock, the poison frog gritted his teeth in frustration. "F-Fuck off! Why do you want to know so badly?"

"He promised me something." Loki scowled. "I don't have to tell you any more. You were in the place he went to, what happened?"

"Urgh, stop worrying so much. I can't really answer that question the way you want...he's neither dead nor alive." Kanom groaned, his anticipation ability fearing the next shock from the Manectric.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rayne narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know! Some bullshit Sam gets up to." The Toxicroak attempted to wiggle past the Manectric's grasp—his attempts were in vain. "He's like in limbo, he's being experimented on right now."

"Experimented on..." Loki echoed, her eyes still glued to the Toxicroak's eyes. "Why the hell would Sam want to do that?"

"She's getting desperate." Sammy's voice was heard entering from the hallway, Leon standing next to her. "It's nice to see you again, Kanom."

"Urgh, you." Kanom almost spat.

It wasn't exactly a shock to find out these two knew each other, so the group passed it off as common knowledge.

"It ain't the first time Sam got desperate." Sherwood commented.

"This is different, though. I'm very sure the revival gem she used was very difficult to replicate." The younger Braixen crossed her arms at the grounded Toxicroak. "It would take her weeks, even months to create another."

"What's your point?" Loki tilted her head in confusion.

"It means that she's trying to do the same thing...without that gem. It's a dangerous procedure." Sammy found herself frowning at the idea. The younger Braixen knew her sister was acting strange, even for Sam's standards.

"He's waking up..." Grace whispered as she watched Laker's eyelids twitch.

The Weavile didn't exactly get up with a bright start, his eyes sluggishly opening as he sat up while groaning. "Mmhh...how long was I out?"

"A few minutes." Zantai quickly replied.

"No...not that..." The Weavile turned to look at the Blaziken with a solemn expression. "How long has it been since I was supposed to get my memories back?"

"We're closing in on two months." Kanom craned his head to look at the weasel with a sly grin. "Welcome back, Laker. You can finally do your job."

...

The Weavile didn't exactly know how to comment on that, and yet he still remembered exactly who he was. "This should have been done earlier..."

"What?" Kanom raised a brow.

"I mean I should have had my memories returned the day of the game." Laker grimaced. "I-I..."

The weasel shook his head, almost as if he could shake off the frustration. "I'm too attached to these people now, Kanom."