He was still in the basement when the Judge found him.

He wore that old feline-like mask again, the eerie fanged grin stretched over the white cloth despite his defeated posture. Zacharie looked up as the little cat trotted down the stairs. He raised a hand, the bulky sleeve of his sweater sliding down an inch, and crooked his fingers in a feeble greeting: "Miaou."

The Judge's tail swished contemplatively. "I must admit, my insatiable tradesman, I had altogether forgotten you were still hereabouts with me," the cat chattered through his perpetually grinning lips. "I would have assumed that the malignant Batter would have ensured your demise as well."

"Heh heh." Zacharie scratched the back of his neck. "Why would he? I'm the invaluable game items merchant. I was the one enabling him to continue on his sacred quest." He leaned back against the wall of the basement with a sigh.

The Judge hissed, the fur along his back bristling up as he stalked towards the masked merchant. "He destroyed everything!"

"I know."

"He killed everyone!"

"I know."

Zacharie jerked his head back when the cat reached up to swipe at his mask. "He killed my brother!"

Zacharie's fingers fisted in one of the many piles of sugar. He raised his hand, watching in silence as the white crystals trickling from the gaps between his fingers. "He killed Sugar too," Zacharie reported quietly.

"…I see."

"She could really see him, too," the salesman added, looking over at the eerily-grinning Judge again. "She thought he was a giant ducky. Heh heh." He wiped off the sugar in his hand onto his pants. "It was the sugar that made her think that, I guess. Probably. Let her deal with reality and all that."

"Hm."

"I guess it was for the best."

The Judge began to groom himself, considering. "It is indeed fortunate, then, that I constructed this room. It was intended to house Valerie and I, but…" He trailed off, pretending to be preoccupied with cleaning his ears. "…Regardless. It was crafted to forget one's woes in, and I suppose that that is what you intended to do with her, and I shan't fault your for that much. And now certainly you have enough sugar left to occupy yourself and perhaps a small cat for quite some time. Shall we begin to partake in the common communion of saccharine self-consolation?"

Zacharie scratched the side of his head where the band of his mask pressed against his skin. "Heh. Maybe later," he decided, leaning forward against his crooked knees.

The basement was quiet for a minute, and then Zacharie spoke up again. "Could I ask your help for something, though?"

Pablo yawned, leaning forward to stretch his back. "Certainly." He shook himself off. "Many people would like my services, after all. Everybody loves cats." The little white cat headbutted against Zacharie's hand. "We rub ourselves against their legs and purr in the most insistent manner. They adore that."

"Heh heh." Zacharie let Pablo climb onto him, whispers tickling his neck and a continuous purr rumbling in his ear. He began absently scratching Pablo's ears. "Yeah. That sounds good right about now."