THIRD PERSON

The participants still hadn't fully recovered from the numerous stunts pulled yesterday. Even though an entire day had passed, Loki never left her room. She only murmured unintelligible words to Grace—her roommate—every now and then.

Even though she was pretty unsure of herself, Grace decided to dedicate the entire day to reviving Loki's spirits...and at least explaining what happened the previous day.

And she listened...

THE OTHER DAY...

"It's either now or never." Vanta had stationed himself between Zantai and Vince, who seemed to have a severe and physical hatred towards each other.

"Everyone has to grow up sometime, you know." Luster, who was similarly between Leon and Sherwood, called out to the two.

"Why do you think this solves anything?" Zantai crossed his arms and scoffed at the Umbreon. "For all I know, we could shake hands and he would still sabotage us."

"Sabotage?" Vince scoffed back. "You tried to fight me."

"I do agree with Vanta, however." Leon nodded in affirmation.

"That don't make me friends with you, though." Sherwood grimaced at the jackal, his bright eyes focusing on him. "I ain't as petty though...I'll make an exception."

"I can work with that." Luster shrugged. "So long as you both act like adults."

"Then I will shake on those terms." Leon brought forward his paw.

Sherwood carefully eyed his palm before extending his talons and wrapping them around the jackal's. After they shook, an overwhelming obligation loomed over the other two Vanta was ordering.

"Fine." The Blaziken spat. "I still hate your guts."

"I couldn't care less. Just don't hit me." Vince frowned and flashed his webbed hand to the bird.

Just like the Sceptile, Zantai waited a few seconds before shaking the Greninja's hand.

"Looks like we agree." Vanta sighed in relief and backed away. "Remember that if you keep acting the way you are, you guys might be the next to go."

NOW...

"See? There's nothing to be afraid of." Grace poked at the Zoroark's arm.

The two were on their assigned bed, Loki facing away from the Eevee trying to get her attention.

"That doesn't matter, though. There's always going to be someone deranged enough to want to kill me." She huffed.

"What do you mean?" The Eevee frowned at her comment.

"If other people saw what I just saw...they'd also go insane." Loki shuddered and sat up on the mattress. "Grace...I'm not physically capable of killing anyone...but just imagine if one of the men saw that!"

"You mean...you would kill someone right now?" The Eevee craned her head to gaze up at the other fox.

"No." Loki's head fell into her paws. "But I wouldn't blame myself if I ever did after seeing that."

"I see..." Grace pawed at the covers below her. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'll handle it, I guess." The Zoroark dropped to her back. "I have to...if I want to move on."

"Is that what she meant?" The smaller fox tilted her head.

"I think it's either this...or with the relationship. If that's Alice's real consciousness, then she doesn't want me to be lonely anymore." She let out a deep sigh. "It's really hard though..."

"I know you can do it." Grace sighed and backed away from the Zoroark. "I'll give you the time you need, though."

"Thank you...I'll be out in a minute." Loki rewarded her efforts with a slight nod, letting the smaller fox leave the room satisfied.

It didn't take much for Loki to spiral deep into her thoughts once again. The Zoroark never thought that she'd ever be in this situation, let alone have the courage to overcome it. Every passing memory kept funneling into one question:

What did she do to deserve this?

LOKI'S POV

After a bit of thinking I quickly realized that Grace was right. Not only should I not wallow in self-pity...but doing so makes me an easy target. I'd have to improve emotionally for Alice.

I mustered up the courage to leap off the bed and tidy the fur on my chest.

The moment I pushed my door open I was greeted with a high-pitched shriek. My eyes darted to find the source, which quickly landed on Aubra—who was next to Luster, presumably discussing something exciting.

I never thought I'd see those two getting along.

"Hey, Loki," Inu called to me from her comfy position on the couch, "do you feel any better?"

"A little...things could be worse." I sighed in response. It's nice to see Inu being the one to check up on me, I haven't seen her speak much in a while.

"Good, Grace was wanting to let you know something whenever you woke up." The Infernape stated, her gaze tearing from mine to focus on the chandelier above us.

"Grace?"

I could have sworn we finished our conversation, but it looks like she held back on me.

Thinking about what happened previously is only going to hurt more...but I can't get it out of my head.

What if other people experience the same thing I did? If all it took last time was a piece of paper...just imagine what that could've done to someone else?

I can't say it didn't affect me either; I'm a more likely target because I'm so emotionally unstable right now.

I guess I'll ask her about it later. For now, I need to catch up on what everyone is doing.

"Yo." I heard Vanta call out as he approached me. "Loki."

"Huh? What's up?" A little confused, I replied to him with concern. It looks like everyone is talking to me today.

"I..." The Umbreon seemed to choose his words carefully. I've never seen him act like this before, it's almost like something's affecting him. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for being so harsh on you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I was speaking more so in general. Whenever we were investigating I called you an emotionally vulnerable girl...and I think that was a bit harsh." Vanta frowned up at me. "I could have never resisted what you experienced that one night, so I'm a bit envious."

"Ah, Vanta...that's okay." I flashed him a small grin. "I did get a bit dramatic, to be fair. It wasn't okay for me to call you heartless, either."

"I'm glad I could get that out of the way." The Umbreon turned away and shook his head. "It wasn't exactly easy to admit that."

With a small chuckle earned from me, the canine trudged his way into the long hallway ahead of me.

After a few seconds of silence, I seemed to accidentally eavesdrop on someone else's conversation.

"Are you gonna set up your own shed?" I heard Aubra's voice mumble in the background.

"Maybe...I need to figure out all my passions beforehand." Luster's voice responded.

"Really? I thought you had a thing for cooking?" She giggled softly.

"Heh, yeah but I would like to remember if I had any other ones." He chuckled back.

"Memories are scary though...what happens if we get a bad one? Like Sherwood or Loki?" Aubra's voice softened with worry.

"I'm confident I'm not a bad person." Luster heaved a stressed sigh. "But from what I know, if you're not a bad person then you have a shit ton of trauma that affects your actions."

"What do you mean?" She hummed.

It was only now that I realized Aubra wasn't stuttering. It's strange seeing this side of her, but if talking to Luster helps her improve the way she speaks then I'm all down for her improvement.

"Talus was completely innocent—aside from what he did because of his brother. His actions were done because of a trauma caused by Lancer." The Luxray's voice also softened with worry. "I just don't know if my past is like that too. I also have a brother, you know."

"Do you know his name?"

"No."

I think I've overstayed my nonexistent welcome, so I quickly paced away from the living room to arrive at the front doors. These were broken by Inu a few days ago, but now they seem brand new.

I also wonder why Sam chose to lock us in and pretend that we weren't already caged in. Maybe it's because she liked the hope we had of escaping? It did provide her with some immense despair.

The moment I swung open the doors I was greeted with a gust of wind swaying my hair behind me. It took a moment to notice my surroundings, but I finally noticed the sheds they were talking about. People are setting them up?

In the distance, I also noticed a blurry blue Pokemon wave at me. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was Leon. He called out to me as loud as he could, but the sheer space between us made me only hear a deep echo.

"What!?" I yelled back in hopes that he would understand.

The jackal shook his head and ran into a specific cabin, returning with what seemed to be...a shovel?

"Leon..?" I whispered to myself. What is he doing?

The Lucario eyed me down before disappearing behind a shed.

I guess that means to follow him. I let out a groan before picking up the pace.

Then, I heard a desperate call.

I quickly picked it up to a small jog.

What the hell was going on?