Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation ~ The Final Chapters

Chapter 167 - Being a Hero

Anam took a seat at the base of Heart HQ's stairs. His legs were tired from all the walking and his feet ached. He wanted to slide into a pool and fall asleep for a whole day. But a burning urge in his guts told him he had to keep the Village safe. Keep everyone safe, even if he couldn't do that as well anymore...

The sky was a bright and beautiful orange with purple clouds rolling over calm winds. The Dungeons were at least eradicated from Kilo Village thanks to innovations made by Diyem and the others. Rain Dance, too, flowed through the drainage system into the caldera's edges. The air was damp with remnant rain and the grass seemed a little greener on the edges of the well-trodden dirt roads.

Someone cursed near the top of the Heart HQ stairs. Anam tilted his head back until he plopped against the stairs, seeing Jerry.

"Hi, Jerry!"

"Eh? Oh, hey," Jerry mumbled.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just... tired. Glad the day's over." Jerry gave Anam an uneasy glance. Anam wondered if he would fly away without saying anything else.

But to Anam's surprise, Jerry hopped down the stairs and stared awkwardly at him instead.

"...You... seem tired, too. I guess."

"A little..." Anam trailed off.

More silence. The questions that raced through Anam's mind were somehow colder than the chilly winds of another winter night.

"I'm sorry," Anam finally said. The statement had no thought-out plan behind it. It... just spilled out.

"...Sorry," Jerry said, folding his wings down and sitting a few feet away from Anam on the same step. "...What for?"

"For... the South. For what it did to you. I should have helped more. I... I messed up a lot."

Diyem wasn't there to tell him what he said wrong. He had no idea if Jerry hated him or... But if he did, Anam would deserve it, right?

"I used a dark power to get rid of other dark powers," Anam said. "And... and I used that same power to try to make Diyem happy, but it also meant everyone else had to lose their power. I, um... Was I a tyrant?"

"All this time," Jerry said, "and you're only wondering these questions... now?"

Anam winced, wanting to sink into himself.

Jerry seemed to be awaiting a response. When none came, he sighed and said, "Look, I get it. You saved the world from a lot of trouble. And yeah, fine, you tried to preserve the way of life for all those places you conquered... You didn't even hurt anyone, aside from Dad, but he was... I get it with Dad."

"M-mm." Anam nodded nervously. Was there going to be some sort of caveat to it? Jerry hated him, so...

"Why'd you leave me behind for that?" Jerry asked.

"H-huh?" Anam, caught off guard, turned to look at him directly.

Only then did he realize that Jerry wasn't angry. If anything, he looked... pained. But he was good at hiding it.

"You integrated the Southern Kingdom. You did all you could, reached out, blessed the Dungeons, and made life better for everyone.

"So, why'd you ignore me?"

Anam stared, dumbfounded, as the wind blew a few loose end-of-autumn leaves against his gooey skin.

"Ignore you?" he said. "I... I thought... you'd be fine. You were the king, you..."