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Notes: Chapter Three's title is an obtuse reference to Puella Magi Madoka Magica, referring to the contracts the girls make with Kyubey. I wanted to have one Madoka reference in this fic, just because of the Wishing Star, so here it is.

---

Mable put together decent omelettes, which surprised Rose, given what he saw of the state of the kitchen. With how much dirty dishes were left on the counters, he would have considered himself grateful to get anything edible.

As it was, he hadn't realize how hungry he was until he tasted something that wasn't hospital food. He devoured the omelette in short time, and was embarrassed afterwards at how desperate he must have looked.

Mable didn't comment. "We are doing the experiment again," she said, jabbing a fork at him. "You've had time to get over it, and I want to take actual measurements of whatever's going on in there."

"That's fine," Rose said. "I'll handle it better now that I know what will happen."

He went to clean his plate, stared at the mountain of dishes in the sink, and instead put his plate on top of the pile. He only had to stay one day, he told himself. Just one day, and that night, he would leave.

"Good," Mable said. "I'll get the equipment as soon as I'm done eating."

She took her own omelette and sat at the table with it's one chair. While Mable ate, Rose tapped his foot and glanced back at her.

"How did you come to study immortality?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Mable said, his back turned to him.

"It's only natural for me to be curious, isn't it? It's not exactly a common line of research."

Mable paused. "I'm from Kalos," she said. "We have an immortal guy walking around. Former king of the region, three thousand years old. It's a more common thing to look into when you have the actual evidence that it exists."

"Was there not already evidence? I thought some legendary pokémon possessed immortality."

"Sure, sure, but AZ was human. Not a whole lot of immortal humans in the world." Mable turned around and grinned. "And now you're one of them!"

Rose frowned. "I'm not convinced I'm immortal. Just because I survived one fatal injury…"

"Hey, but you did survive it." She turned away again. "And that scar tissue didn't look natural to me. I don't know what happened with that pokémon you woke up, but something's powering you that's not like anything I've ever seen."

"Maybe," said Rose. The omelette wasn't sitting right in his stomach anymore. "Regardless, whether I can die or not is not something I want to test in the event it turns out I can."

"Sure," Mable said. "Still a lot of other things to test."

"Right." Rose decided to pursue a more pressing matter. "Do you have a bathroom?"

---

After he took care of his needs, Mable instructed Rose to wait on the couch and disappeared down the basement stairs. Rose waited as patiently as he could until boredom struck and he decided to look through the papers on the bookshelf.

Most of the papers were scientific jargon, but he caught a few words that stood out to him: "energy," "eternal," and "weapon." The origin of the papers appeared to be a place called "Lysandre Labs," which Rose didn't remember hearing about before, but the name felt… dangerous, somehow.

He heard Mable's footsteps returning on the stairs. "Put those down," she snapped, carrying an armful of small devices. "You probably can't understand them, anyway."
"I can understand some," Rose said, putting the papers back on the shelf. "You were studying some sort of energy?"

"Of course that's what catches your eye." Mable glared at him. "Just forget about it, alright? It didn't go anywhere."

"If you say so."

Someone knocked on the door. Rose flinched. Mable swore under her breath and dumped the equipment on the couch. "If that's Acacius again…"

While she answered the door, Rose hid on the stairs to the basement. He sat on the top step and looked down into the darkness. What did Mable have down there? Could he look for himself? Rose didn't want to give her an excuse to treat him poorly, but the mention of Lysandre Labs incited suspicion.

Mable called out: "You can come out! I know her, she won't snitch!"

Rose sighed and stood up.

The woman visiting had purple hair cut short and a sullen expression. "For real?" she said, looking at Mable. "You bust him out yourself or something?"

He answered before Mable could. "We happened to meet at the energy plant," Rose said. "She offered to help me. I accepted."

"Help you to…"

"Oh my God," Mable said. "I told you, Celosia. That thing he woke up replaced his heart."

Rose frowned. "You told her about me already?"

Mable shrugged. "Does it matter? Like I said, she won't snitch."

The woman, Celosia, rolled her eyes. "Well, Chairman," she said, "I know who you are already. I'm Celosia. Used to work with Mable and the others."

"Others?"

"We had the same project at our old job," Mable said, which didn't answer the question. She grabbed Celosia's arm. "Hey, give us a moment to catch up, alright?"

Rose watched as she pulled Celosia to the bedroom. When the door closed, he crept to it as close as he dared and listened.

"Keep your mouth shut, he doesn't know."

"What do you mean, he doesn't know? Even that camper–"

"I'm sure not going to tell him!"

"What's the big deal? It's something you've got in common."

"He already doesn't trust me! Listen–"

Mable lowered her voice to a level Rose couldn't hear. He took a deep breath and backed away.

He suspected Mable was involved in criminal activity, and, well, he couldn't really judge her for it–but there was something she didn't want him knowing, and Rose wasn't interested in staying long enough to find out what it was.

He couldn't wait until nightfall. It was time to go.

Rose swiftly crossed the door and put his hand on the handle. After only a moment's hesitation, he swung it open and closed it behind him. No sound from inside; they must still be talking. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to walk into the Wild Area.

A budew blocked his path.

"Oh," Rose said. "Excuse me."

He moved to step around it. The budew moved with him and puffed itself up.

Rose smiled. The pokémon was clearly too weak to pose a threat, and he found it cute that it wanted to battle so badly. "I'm afraid I don't have any pokémon with me," he told it. "If you want a battle–"

"Budew! Get back here!"

The budew chirped and turned to meet its trainer just as Acacius burst out of the bushes.

The two men stared at each other. Acacius was built short and sturdy with a square jaw that was currently hanging open. He had curly brown hair and light, flushed skin, and he stared at Rose with eyes that had deep bags under them. Rose mentally floundered for the right words to aid his escape.

Their awkward silence was interrupted when Mable slammed her door open. "Get back in here!" she shouted.

"What?" said Acacius.

"Excuse me," Rose said, and he turned to face Mable, Celosia peeking her head out behind her. "I appreciate the help you have given me so far," he said with a smile, "but I am leaving."

"The hell you are," Mable said, and she threw a pokéball hard on the ground. The houndoom that emerged crouched and snarled at him, a few flames spouting from its nostrils. Rose's smile faded.

He heard another pokéball release behind him. A flapple squawked and flew between him and the houndoom, bouncing up and down in the air with each flap of its wings.

"Hey, Chairman," Acacius said slowly. "Do you know who that is?"

Mable grit her teeth. "Stay out of my business!"

"She told me her name and not much else," said Rose, backing up. "I'm assuming she did not have the best intentions for me."

"Sure didn't." Acacius picked up the budew and tucked it under his arm. It didn't appear bothered. "She's an ex-Flare scientist–you know, Team Flare? The people from Kalos who tried to wipe out everyone on the planet."

That was where he heard of Lysandre Labs–from Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare. Rose felt a chill run down his spine–that was where Mable had studied immortality.

Mable practically snarled at Acacius' reveal. "Celosia!" she yelled. "This is your fault! Help me out!"

Almost as an afterthought, she said, "Houndoom, flamethrower."

The houndoom barked once and breathed a stream of fire out if its mouth. Acacius grabbed Rose's arm and yanked him back. "Protect!" he shouted.

Flapple curled up, its pieces of armor snapping back together to form a complete apple. The fire dissipated when it made contact, and Flapple burst out unharmed.

Another pokémon joined the houndoom, a manectric with visible electricity running through its fur. "God, Mable, don't pin it on me," Celosia said, rolling her eyes. "You're the one who scared him off."

"Shut up and battle."

"I don't suppose you have your pokémon?" Acacius asked.

"Still in custody, I'm afraid," said Rose.

Acacius let out a curse and took out another pokéball. "Trevenant's my only other," he said as the pokémon materialized in front of him. "I just have the two. Budew doesn't battle."

Nestled against Acacius, the budew chirped. Rose glanced at Mable and Celosia, who surely had more than two pokémon between them.

"Then we need to strategize," he said.

"Manectric, thunder fang," Celosia commanded.

The manectric's jaws sparked and it leapt forward, catching one of the trevenant's arms in its jaws. The trevenant hissed and swung it off–and shrieked in pain when the houndoom engulfed it in another stream of fire.

"Flapple, dragon breath! Trevenant, shadow claw!" Acacius adjusted his grip on Budew and looked at Rose. "You got any ideas?"

Rose nodded. "How fast are your pokémon?"

"Uh, Trevenant, not so much, but I think Flapple's pretty fast? Don't ask me the exact stats, I don't–"

Trevenant toppled over, felled by another flamethrower attack. Flapple shrieked and darted out of the way, hovering just in front of Acacius and Rose.

Acacius recalled Trevenant, his expression stony. "I'm running out of ideas," he said. "What's your plan?"

Rose spun around and ran.

"Hey!" Mable yelled. Behind him, Rose heard Acacius' footsteps close behind him, and his shout: "Flapple, cover us!"

Rose ran towards Hammerlocke, deeper into the wooded zone around the city border. The bushes slowed him down, and he only hoped Mable and Celosia would face the same trouble.

He soon had a titch in his side. He pushed himself faster. Through the trees, he spotted the broken fence and started to slow down.

Strong arms grabbed him around the chest and yanked him back. Rose was too shocked to cry out–lucky for him, because Acacius hissed in his ear the next moment. "Cop ahead!"

He and Rose crouched down behind a tree, breathing hard. The forest was quiet after the ruckus they had made running through it, and Rose put a hand over his chest before remembering his heart wouldn't be pounding.

"Flapple's on lookout," Acacius whispered. "He'll let us know when it's safe."

Rose nodded, too frazzled to speak.

The time passed. The forest noises slowly built up to an ambient buzz. Through it, Rose heard a rustle above them, and Flapple shortly landed in front of them.
Acacius sighed and patted its head. "Good job, guy," he said. "I think we're good now."

Rose sighed in relief. "Thank you for your help," he said. "I don't know what I would have done had I not run into you."

"What are you even doing out here?" Acacius frowned. "Did Mable kidnap you? That goes against our deal, if she did."

"I went with her out of my own free will, though I wasn't aware of her previous occupation at the time." He frowned. "She certainly intended to hold me captive when I changed my mind. You had a deal with her?"

"Eh, sort of." Acacius scratched his flapple's chin. "When she first moved in to that wreck, I did a little research and found out she was ex-Flare. Should've reported her then and there, but, y'know, I'm not a snitch, and going to the police would've gotten me in trouble, too. Our deal was that I'd stay quiet, she'd let me use her shower, and neither of us would bring any attention to this place." He huffed. "I'd say whatever that was breaks that deal, even if you did agree at first."

"Understandable."

"Your turn." Both Acacius and the flapple turned to Rose, fixing him in two stern gazes. "What are you doing here?"

Rose hesitated. "How much do you know about my… situation?"

"You woke up the pokémon that caused the Darkest Day and it attacked you. Last I heard, you were supposed to be in the hospital still." Acacius averted his eyes. "Some of the tabloids said… that the pokémon did something to you. I mean, they're tabloids, so they could be making stuff up."

He took a deep breath. "Not in this case," Rose said. "When Eternatus attacked me, a… piece of it was left inside me. A Wishing Star." He realized his hand was still on his chest and moved it to his lap. "It functions as my heart, after my original one was… removed."

Acacius took a sharp breath. "And Mable said she could help you?"

"She told me she studied immortality, and that what happened to me was within her speciality." Rose sighed. "I shouldn't have trusted her, but I was desperate for answers."

"Well, yeah." Acacius ran a hand through his hair. "I mean… man, I would have been desperate, too. Hospital couldn't tell you anything?"

"Not much, and I wasn't in a position to ask more of them. I would have gone to prison had I not left when I did."

"Wouldn't there be, like, extenuating circumstances or something? Like…"

He trailed off. Rose shook his head. "If you have ideas for my lawyer–"

"Quiet," Acacius said.

Rose shut his mouth. Flapple craned his neck and stared into the forest. Rose couldn't see anything, but once he stopped talking, he could hear a faint crunching sound. Footsteps on dead leaves? It was too quiet to be a human.

A dark shape launched itself out of the woods and hit Rose hard in the chest. He was able to recognize a weavile before it dug its claws into his throat.

---

The world was filled with a smoky red haze. Rose stumbled across the landscape, his jacket pulled up and bunched over his mouth and nose. It didn't stop the metallic smell from seeping in. His vision was clouded; to his eyes, his own clothes appeared stained with red.

The haze began to clear, a pink light shining above him. Rose looked up.

A huge, skeletal creature unfurled and looked down at him, softly growling as it curved its body towards him. The pink light came from its torso, where the core of its power sat nestled within spindly ribs. The dragon held itself aloft through that power alone, its wings stripped of flesh, its bones held together by plates of red energy.

The smell was overpowering. With a jolt, he identified it–blood.

As Rose watched, frozen in fear, Eternatus bent down towards him and opened its mouth, its head filling his entire field of vision, each spiky tooth like a sword, and said, "Back off, Budew, I think he's waking up."

---

Rose woke up with his throat burning. He rolled on his side and started hacking up dark red globs; he hoped they were congealed blood and not bits of flesh. When he was finished coughing up everything stuck in his throat, he sat up and felt his neck. There was a patch of new skin that felt thick and leathery, but no wound. The burning sensation slowly faded.

He took a breath and was hit with a new smell: curry.

"Hey," Acacius said, and Rose remembered he wasn't alone.

He was in a tent. He was lying on top of a sleeping bag, which he had unfortunately gotten blood on. Acacius sat next to him holding Budew on his lap, the pokémon squirming and clearly trying to get free. Rose stared blankly at him for a moment. "What happened?" he asked.

"The weavile was Mable's," Acacius said. "Flapple got it off you, and I gave Trevenant a revive and told him to get you out of there. Meanwhile, I went after Mable with my other two pokémon."

"You have more pokémon?" Rose asked.

"Yep." Acacius held up his fists. "Righty and Lefty, heh."

"I don't…" Rose blinked. "You assaulted her?"

"Oh, come on, her pokémon assaulted you!"

"I'm not complaining," he clarified. "You probably saved my life."

Acacius lowered his hands. "Didn't feel like it at first," he said. "I was just hoping she wasn't talking nonsense when she said you wouldn't die, y'know? Thought I was carrying around a dead body for a bit there."

Rose swallowed. His throat tingled unpleasantly. "Right," he said. "Well, thank you very much for your help. I should…"

He hesitated. Acacius stared at him for a long moment.

"Chairman," he said, "do you have anyone else who can help you?"

"My assistant," Rose said. "Oleana. She helped me out of the hospital, but… I don't have a way to contact her." He should have accepted her offer to return to Wyndon, he thought, but there was no use disparaging himself for choices already made.

Acacius let out a long, slow breath. "Look," he said, "it's up to you, and I'm not going to force you to go anywhere you don't want to go… but I think you're gonna need my help, especially if Mable's still after you."

Even if Rose barely knew Acacius, the man had saved him twice already. It was a relief to hear his offer. "I would appreciate it," he said. "I just need to get in touch with Oleana. Thank you, Acacius."

"Sure," Acacius said. "Can't promise how much help I'll be, but I'll try."

Flapple stuck his head into the tent and squawked. "Curry's done," Acacius said, standing up and placing Budew under his arm. "You want any, Chairman?"

"That would be wonderful," Rose said. He stood up and found himself stable. "Thank you."

The curry had been not insignificantly burned, and the berries used were bitter and otherwise tasteless. Rose didn't complain. It was an improvement over Mable's omelettes that morning.