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Chapter 62
Basin Canyon
The Pokémon crowded closer to the table as Ursa set down a small map of Ambera and explained.
"Cepheus was spotted by Syr himself. Right around this area. Near Sitrus City."
"I wonder, what was Syr doing there? He never flies his own missions anymore," said Shander.
"Well, I was told he was doing something with Marrow and Team Ember. Something about trying to foil one of Adiel's traps and get Saura to see his dad again. But they were sent out to carry the mail through here and here, and scouted ahead for trouble. Turns out they found him right where the mail route ended. Right in eastern Sitrus City itself."
Scythe wore a beaming smile and said, "Hah, I knew he'd turn up eventually. Remind me to give that old bird a word of thanks next time I see him. Anything else? Do we know what he's doing over there?"
"Well, yes," Ursa continued. "Team Silverwing spied on him a bit, and he seems to be quite the active Nidoking. He was running around everywhere… and we think he might have been spying on Saura when he went to visit his home. Given everything we know, we believe that his base of operations is somewhere around Sitrus City. It must be very well-hidden, because we couldn't figure out where he kept going. Sometimes, he just seemed to disappear."
"This doesn't make sense. Sitrus City is nowhere near here." Daemon grumbled. "What business does he have there? If he's orchestrating the downfall of this canyon, I don't see how it would be of any use to be running around up there. Last I checked, Sitrus City's economy is based on its orchards, not for its blacksmithing or spellweaving, or anything that could be used to siege this canyon!"
"Well, that leads me to the puzzling thing," Ursa said hesitantly. "Silverwing was watching him for a bit, and they concluded… either he's multitasking and he's working two assignments at once, or… Um, well, how do I put this…? There's no reason to believe he cares about the canyon at all."
The room was silent for a moment. Daemon scowled.
"Let me see if I understand," the dark hound seethed, looking as though he'd cast fire from his nostrils and light the map on fire. "If what you are saying is true… If Adiel is gone off duty, and Cepheus has no business with us... then the implications are… that we are settling here in this canyon completely uncontested?!"
A murmur rose from the group as the Houndoom locked eyes with the Umbreon at the other end of the table.
"W-wait! No, are you saying you don't believe me? I saw Cepheus in Ingrain Town! Daemon, you have to listen to me!" the Umbreon cried. "We can't afford to walk right into his trap."
"Could it be that he needed the invisible seeds from Ingrain Town to use them elsewhere? That might explain his presence there," Kyria offered.
"Wait! Wait, hold on!" the Umbreon shouted over the muttering voices. "Are you sure it was Cepheus? Are you sure that's who Syr saw?"
"Well, yeah, he was sure," Ursa replied. "Didn't have to get too close to figure it out. His armor gave it away. The chestplate he was wearing… Amaranthine is the only place on earth where they make that, and only for the royalty. He's the Starborn, all right."
Raon's mind flashed back to the night he'd spied on the villainous Nidoking in Ingrain town. He was indeed clad in silvery, royal armor that seemed too bulky for a Nidoking to even wear… But more than the armor, he remembered the red eyes that glinted in the light of the sol-rock flames…
Daemon closed his eyes and sighed. "If we find out that all these preparations were for nothing… If I find out that we could have moved into this canyon years ago…"
"Daemon, listen to me!" Raon urged, fear in his eyes. "Scythe… Daemon… Please, don't trust him. This is exactly what he wants us to think. Remember what happened last time when we thought Cepheus wouldn't be a problem? Don't you remember when we lost Rautzen? We-we can't have that happen all over again. We're better than that. Maybe he knew we were watching him so he tried not to act suspicious."
The Umbreon's words seemed to reach Daemon, and he grit his teeth in acceptance. "It is true, there are still too many unknowns," he said. "Scythe, this one's going to be your call."
Scythe turned from his teammates and spent a moment of silence staring at a nearby wall. He bowed his head in thought as his subordinates awaited his word.
"Keep an eye on him," Scythe said after the hesitation. "The closer we get to getting the Sandslash clan back here, the more likely the Starborn will make a move. Besides, after we get all the tunnels done and the entrances blocked up, he's not getting in anyway."
"At least not without a good fight, that's for sure," Craw added.
"Fine, then," Daemon said, pushing the tiny map of Ambera off from the table. "Keep surveillance on the Starborn. In the meantime, we need to—"
"I'm sorry if I'm late," a voice said from the room's entrance.
Daemon and the rest of the warrior Pokémon turned to see the figure of a tall Pokémon standing in the doorway.
It was a Scyther.
"I had a lapse of memory, and walked down the wrong tunnel," the Scyther said, entering the room. "Now… what's this about finding the Starborn?"
"Ah… good to see you," Scythe said with a pleased smile. "We were waiting for you. We have much to discuss."
Shamble Forest
A chilly breeze shifted through the forest treetops and rustled the leaves. The sky was darkened with long streaks of clouds high in the atmosphere, and the temperature had dropped just low enough to silence the songbirds and cast the forest into an eerie but peaceful quiet.
One particular Bulbasaur was anything but quiet.
"…And I found out that if you get buried, you can actually survive under the ground for a little while without breathing."
"You're kidding, how's that work?"
"It's just something that plant Pokémon can do naturally. As long as we make sure to store up some good sunlight in the seed, it can breathe for you when there's no air!"
"Somehow, I don't really believe that."
"But it's true, brother! I did it myself! You just have to resist the urge not to panic and breathe in the dirt. Try it yourself if you don't believe me."
"No thanks, I think I'll pass…"
Though a bit overwhelmed at his enthusiasm, Saurvor felt very proud of his little brother as he explained all the things he learned from his mysterious former team. Many of the things Saura rambled about were things even he didn't know.
"And if I get enough sunlight, I can concentrate it all into the seed, and blast it out like a huge sun beam," Saura explained proudly. "It takes standing in the sun a very long time, though. But if I can store it up and use it in a cave or something where there usually isn't sunlight, it's really strong against all the Pokémon who live in the dark and hate sunlight."
"Wow, Saura. How many of these tricks do you know, anyway?"
"I don't know, twenty?"
For a moment, the Ivysaur disbelievingly gaped at his brother, wondering how so many skills could even fit inside such a small Pokémon.
"Twenty? Saura, most Pokémon don't learn that many fighting moves in a lifetime!" he cried. "What did they do to you on your team?"
Saura shrugged. "We went into a lot of mystery dungeons, fought all kinds of wilds. Eventually you just learn these things because you want to be able to defend yourself in all kinds of situations. But you know, after a while, you start forgetting about all the separate moves and tricks you know… they just, I guess, blend together, so it all just becomes one skill. It's just… battle. Defending yourself. You got to know how to react to more and more situations, and you start forgetting about what all the tricks are called, and you just… use them when you feel like you need to use them."
The Ivysaur nodded, grinning at his little brother. "Sounds like you learned a lot," he said. "…But did you learn this?"
While Saura wasn't looking, the Ivysaur had run a vine through the grass and slung it over the branch of a nearby tree. When he snapped his vine, a lasso tightened around Saura's hind leg and the Bulbasaur suddenly found himself lifted into the air.
"AAH! Hey!" he yelped in surprise, flailing with his paws as he watched the ground spin in circles beneath him. "Alright, alright! Very funny, brother. Are you going to let me down? I can slice your vine, you know. I know how to make the razor leaves."
"Heh! Fine," the Ivysaur sighed, loosening the knot around Saura's paw and watching him thump forehead-first onto the ground.
Saura scrambled back to his feet and shook his head, then smiled at his brother. "That was pretty good," he said. "I didn't even see that coming. How'd you do it?"
"That's a trick we like to call the grass knot," the Ivysaur said proudly. "You just make a little slip-knot with your vine. It takes some practice learning how to tie a knot fast enough that someone else can't see it. Then you can camouflage it in the grass and wait for someone to step in it. Then… yank. Most of the time it'll trip up the bad guy and make them fall on their face."
"Whoa. You've got to teach me how to do that," Saura said with a beaming smile. "That sounds really useful!"
"Heh, sure. But remember, it's better against enemies that are bigger. It didn't really hurt you because you're pretty small – no offense. But the bigger the enemy is, the more it'll hurt when they fall on their face."
Saura laughed awkwardly to himself. I wish I would have known this earlier, he thought. It might have been useful to know at Temporal Tower. It might not be so handy anymore now that, well, I'm not really a warrior anymore.
"See? Your big brother knows a few things, too," Saurvor goaded, nudging Saura's forehead. "Maybe I know some more. Maybe we could find something to use as target practice—"
The Ivysaur stopped in his tracks, looking as shocked as though he had just stepped on a nail. He paused for a moment, sniffing the air, before he stood up on his hind legs and peered around like a rodent.
Saura blinked. "Brother, what's—"
"Shh!" his brother hissed, turning his head all around with his ears perked. Then, in a quieter voice, he said, "Saura… do you ever get the weird feeling that you're… being watched?"
Saura suddenly felt nervous. In truth, there were many times he'd felt that way, and they were not pleasant memories.
"Yeah…? Sometimes. Why? What is it?"
"Nothing that I can see," Saurvor whispered. "Just a weird feeling I got. You know how they say that every Pokémon has at least some small ability to sense the aura of other living things? So… sometimes, if you feel like you're being watched, it could be more than just a feeling."
"Yeah? You know what else they say? When you're being watched, you should act normal," Saura hissed in reply, almost frustrated. "Don't let them know that you saw them. Well, it's too late now. If someone's watching us, they already know."
"Yeah, you're right," Saurvor said uneasily, dropping back to all fours. "Sorry… we just spent a long time on the road looking over our shoulders. It's just going to take me a while to adjust to not being hunted by that Flareon and the Scizor anymore. C'mon, let's find a wild Rhyhorn or something to fight."
Saura continued to follow his brother deeper into the woods, but now he didn't feel so comfortable. He couldn't deny the feeling in the air that Saurvor had noticed. Maybe it was the weird silence of the crisp autumn morning, with no birds or insects singing in the trees. Or maybe it was a weird scent in the wind, something just barely subtle enough not to draw attention to itself.
Then again, maybe it was nothing.
Anvil Quarry, B3F
"Deeper, deeper, down into the chasm! Deeper, deeper, down we go!"
"Terror, horror, wait at every corner! How much farther? We don't know."
"Daylight is waning, and darkness consuming! There's no escaping a labyrinth so confusing! Everyone will—"
"Raichu! Do you mind?!" the Espeon shouted. "We could very well get trapped forever down here, is it quite necessary to break our focus?"
"Aww, what?" the Raichu pouted. "I always sing things when we're on a tough mission, it lightens the mood!"
"Then do you really need to sing about how awful and hopeless our plight is?!"
"But I'm celebrating the challenge! Isn't it awesome how we can go into such mysterious and deadly places, and then brush them off like they're nothing? That's the thrill of being an explorer! That's the best part!"
Char shook his head as he listened to the two bicker, but he was admittedly a bit concerned about his new teammate. Eva was a complete wreck, and that was putting it lightly; her fur was clearly standing on end, her drawn claws clacked on the stone floor with every step she took, and every word she spoke suggested that her self-control was draining quickly. But he knew there wasn't nearly as much risk involved as Ray's song might have suggested, seeing that she walked alongside a worthy team of well-equipped Pokémon, and even wore a rescue emblem that would grant her safe passage back to the entrance. He hoped that in showing her how simple and painless a basic dungeon mission could be, he could inspire some confidence and courage into her, but so far, things only seemed to be getting worse.
The dungeon itself had fascinating differences to others Char had visited, as most dungeons tended to have. The Anvil Quarry dungeon was made of wide, tall tunnels of stone that were always perfectly rectangular and intersected at sharp right angles, making it something like a true labyrinth. Though there was no apparent light source, Char could see quite far down each tunnel only by the light of his tail, as the perfect corners of the caves somehow stood out to him through the darkness. At regular points in the walls, there stood metal support beams, or rather, the same metal support beam copied numerous times in different places. It made Char wonder how small this cave truly was without the mystery dungeon obscuring it, and how far the workers of the quarry had gone carving their neat and rectangular tunnel before being forced to evacuate.
There was something else that Ray pointed out which was very fascinating – not about the quarry dungeon, but the stairwells which separated the floors. Most mystery dungeons had staircases, notably those in caves which would descend deeper with each level. When they found the first staircase in Anvil Quarry, Ray mentioned that the staircase design didn't resemble the rest of the dungeon at all, and that it actually more reminded him of the staircases in a certain tower they had visited – he didn't mention Temporal Tower directly, because Marrow was listening, but Char understood. The staircases did not come from Temporal Tower, clearly, but looked like they might have been designed for some other type of tower, perhaps one of a similar nature. It made him start wondering more about the true nature of the dungeons – was there some other divine tower, similar to Temporal Tower, which existed somewhere? And were they visiting a tiny part of that tower every time they found a dungeon staircase?
To make up for the short trek to the site, the mission required a lot of walking. Char and his team had to scour every corner of the quarry cave in search of the lost scarf. Though they had not met any enemies on the first two floors, Char knew he still needed to search efficiently; he still remembered the fateful sound of the mysterious wind and what it had done to the dungeon in Temporal Tower, and he had no intention of ever wanting to see it again.
About halfway down the large tunnel, a few side passageways opened. The dungeon was getting more complex the deeper Char went, opening more alternate routes to explore.
"Looks like a crossroads," Marrow said, standing back. "What's your call here, Char?"
Char signaled to Otto who took off down the nearest passage. He returned in seconds, only to disappear down the other hallway for another few moments.
"To your left, there is a corner followed by a dead-end," Otto reported after returning. "There is a Joltik nest at the end of the hallway, but nothing else of note. To the right, the tunnel continues and more branches open. The tunnels also appear to shrink in size."
"And the straight-away?" Char asked.
"I could see no objects on the floor. From here, it appears to be a dead-end."
Char nodded. "Looks like we're headed that way," he said, pointing to the right and directing his team to follow.
"In caves such as this one, we cannot exchange signals while I am separated from you, so I could not fly very far," Otto noted. "With the cooperation of a psychic, it is possible to relay my findings back to you with more efficiency, but Eva was not cooperative."
"Excuse me for not listening to your tiny mind without advance warning," Eva hissed, looking like she wanted to rake her claws through the little bird. "I couldn't hear your thoughts above my own."
Char rubbed his head. Eva, I don't know what's going on with you, but this is ridiculous, he said to himself, making sure his thoughts were not shouted loud enough for her to hear. I need to make you see that you're not under any danger, and I need to do it fast. Otherwise, I don't know if you'll make it out of here without going crazy…
The opportunity came soon enough; after a short walk down the next path, the team encountered the first unavoidable enemy: a tiny Joltik.
Just as Otto had noted, the side tunnel had funneled down into a smaller size. Although the little spider Pokémon didn't notice the team barging through the abandoned mining tunnel just yet, there was no way around it. It was going to notice them in a few steps through the vibrations in the ground alone. There was going to be a fight.
"Aww, it's so cute," Ray said. "I almost don't want to fight it. Aww, can we make it like us? We should recruit it… it can be another Otto!"
"Highly unlikely," Otto quipped. After an awkward pause, he added, "…Besides, I was planning to eat it."
Ray looked shocked. "Aww, Otto! He's just a little guy! Don't eat him!"
"I eat bugs often. There are thousands of others, each with an equal chance of befriending us."
"C'mon, Otto… can't you give this one a break? I can't just watch you eat a brother electric Pokémon. Pleease?"
"Doesn't matter whether or not it gets eaten, someone's gotta beat it up first," Marrow said. "They're tiny, but they can be naggy little things if you're not careful. They jump around fast and they'll latch onto your back in a place you can't reach, and good luck gettin' them off. Who's up for the challenge?"
"I volunteer Eva," Char said smugly, before anyone else could answer.
In unison, the party hushed themselves and turned to the Espeon. She snapped to attention and took a wary step backwards. She trembled on her hind legs when she stepped, as though the little tick was a creature out of her worst nightmares.
"Me…? I… I can't fight it," Eva gasped in a horrified yelp. "Why not the Marowak? He's immune to that thing's attacks…"
"Nice try, but I'm mostly just here to watch, and correct Char when he makes a mistake," Marrow said in amusement, stepping back and leaning against a wall. "'Sides, they have more ways of attacking than just using electricity, you know. I wouldn't be immune to all of 'em."
"Well, why do we even have to attack in the first place?!" Eva shot back to nobody in particular. "We are obviously stronger, won't it just run away from us?"
"Nope, wild Pokémon in dungeons always attack civil Pokémon, no matter how strong or weak they are," Marrow said. "When it sees us, it'll attack. Those are just the rules."
Eva locked her legs in place and looked frozen stiff, as though she couldn't decide whether the fuzzy little spider was more terrifying than fleeing into the darkness by herself.
"I… I hate spiders," she pleaded. "Y-you don't understand!"
Char sighed, crossing his arms. "Eva… I just want to see how you fight, alright? And this is the most harmless opponent you could ask for. Just give it a try, alright? We'll help you out if you get stuck."
At first, it seemed like the Espeon hadn't heard a word that Char said. But after a short starting contest between herself and her team leader, she finally relented. Scowling, she took a reluctant step forward, keeping her eyes pinned to the tiny opponent.
You… you just don't understand, Char, she whispered silently to him. You just don't understand.
If you want me to understand, you need to show me, Char said to himself, hoping she wouldn't hear his thoughts.
The team backed out of Eva's way as she tiptoed towards the oblivious yellow bug. She crouched low to the ground and folded her ears, looking as though she would pounce, but she only became more filled with terror. Char saw her legs quaking, failing to support the weight of her body.
You can do it, Char hoped. There's nothing to be afraid of, Eva…
Eva twitched for a brief moment as though she wanted to attack, but decided against it at the last moment. She instead backpedaled by her own momentum, scraping her claws on the stone floor and finally drawing the Joltik's attention.
The little bug twitched and turned to face its opponent, and there was a brief standoff as it stared the intruder, a mess of an Espeon who looked like she would sooner hyperventilate than strike a blow.
Char…
Her telepathic voice echoed in Char's head.
Char responded, what is it?
Promise me something, she said, her fear and regret flowing through her telepathy. Promise me…
Before she could finish her thought, the little bug bounced in her direction, latching onto her forehead. Releasing a shrill scream into the depths of the quarry's caverns, she collapsed onto her side, completely helpless.
Eva…? Char tried contacting her telepathically, startled at the sudden attack. He had hoped she was still conscious. When he tried to listen to her mind, he was surprised at what he found.
There was only a single repeating thought in her mind, distorted and wrought with terror: Can't move, can't move, can't move, can't move.
Char clawed at his forehead. "She's paralyzed," he groaned. "Ray?"
"I'm on it!"
Ray rushed to help her, plucking the little tick from her head and hurling it away down the hall. He produced a heal seed from the bag and forcefully slammed it onto her side. It made a loud snapping sound, and Eva jumped straight into the air, screeching like an alarmed cat.
And then she ran for it. Giving no thought to the rest of the team, she bounded down the hallway in the direction they had come, nearly tripping over her own legs and tail.
"Gods…!" Char growled angrily. "Ray…?"
"I'm on it…" he sighed.
The Raichu bolted after his fleeing teammate, releasing a thick field of static in her direction. Caught up in the web of tiny static charges, she slumped to the ground, once again motionless.
Soon she found herself staring at a very annoyed team leader.
Eva, what is your problem?! Char yelled into her mind, standing over her. What are you doing?!
Char… promise me something, she said again. Promise me you'll get me out of here alive.
Eva, I promised you that before we even left, Char said. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making this feel like an escort mission.
You just don't understand! she pleaded, still completely motionless.
I understand that you're being completely useless, Char said. I understand that you're not giving me any reason to trust you. If you want to be on this team, you'll need to be able to do things much harder than fighting against a tiny bug. How do I know that you'll be able to do anything harder if you can't even do that?!
Eva's eyes were full of spite. I told you, Char, but you're just not listening; I'm perfectly capable of swatting a bug. It's this dungeon that is destroying my focus. These dungeons destroy me from the inside; I cannot stand becoming a prisoner to a dungeon.
I thought Espeon was supposed to be the most intelligent of your kind,Char shot.
Char felt a moment of satisfaction when Eva halted her complaining, her telepathic thoughts taking insult. He pressed further.
You're certainly not showing it, he said. Because if you were using your brain right now, you'd know that you're not in any danger. That's why we brought all these magic orbs and emblems into the dungeon. They're going to save us if something goes wrong. Now I understand there's some reason you really don't like dungeons, but you need to stop letting your fear control you. That's why Pokémon have brains; it's so that we can disobey our feelings when they're being irrational and not making any sense. I need you to stop acting irrational and use your brain.
Your patronizing makes me sick, Eva blasted.
Yeah, well I wouldn't have to be patronizing if you weren't being a liability to this team. Maybe I could remind you that you're being just as bad as Saura was with his nightmares? Remember when you said he couldn't be trusted as a teammate when he kept having headaches all the time? Well, what does that say about you and the way you're acting right now?
Char felt it when Eva finally admitted defeat. When she realized she had no comeback for the argument, he felt a painful twinge of humility hit her, and her fear and her rage were tempered.
I will cooperate, she finally said, as long as you make me a promise. Human… promise me that you will never leave me in a mystery dungeon. If you were to only keep one promise to me, at least promise me that.
Char smiled and crossed his arms. You're part of my team now, Eva. I've never left a teammate stranded in a dungeon before, why would you be any different? I'll never willfully leave you. And if something goes wrong, I'll come back for you. That's a promise.
At Char's signal, Ray threw another healing seed, and Eva was cured of her paralysis again. She climbed back onto her feet and they stood eye-to-eye for a moment.
If I can trust you to uphold that promise, then perhaps I can find it within myself to overcome my fear, she said calmly. Pardon my behavior, then. I suppose it could be said that we all need to have our temper tantrums every now and again… even the best of us.
After taking a moment to shake the dust out of her fur, Eva sighed and walked past Char into the darkness of the hallway. Char was about to ask where she was going, until he noticed that the little spider which Ray had thrown down the hallway was trying to make its way back. Again, it stood at a standoff with the Espeon, but this time the Espeon did not look so cowardly and frail.
The little bug let out a squeak of surprise as it rose into the air, powerless to escape an invisible force. There was a sickening crunch as its body imploded, and it fell back to the ground as an unrecognizable heap of matter.
Eva glanced back at Char with a smug but unamused expression. "Happy?" she muttered.
"Well… it's a start," Char replied.
Anvil Quarry, B4F
Farther down into the quarry, the hallways kept their same rectangular shape, but grew smaller and more numerous. There were many more caves to check for the lost scarf, and more enemies guarding the tunnels to avoid.
It also became clear to Char that he'd greatly underestimated Eva's helpfulness. Once she agreed to act as a telepathic relay for Otto, the team found that they didn't even need to explore most of the floor themselves; Otto's speed and sense of orientation made him a good scout, even in such a dark cave.
"Another dead end… pile of rotten fruit," Eva reported. "Second hall on the right… dead end. Third hall… Servine guarding a seed. He doesn't know what kind. Then… oh, dear."
"What?! What is it?" Ray gasped.
She was silent, staring into space.
"…He engaged a Golbat in battle… defeated it," she eventually said. "I can't see through his eyes, so I can only wait until he tells me what he sees."
Char sighed in relief, and Marrow leaned against the wall of the chamber looking amused. "Ah, the joys of getting paid for doing nothing! Never seems to happen so much anymore. Though, think I'm gettin' a bit hungry, Char. Care to ration off some food?"
"Yeah, I guess it's about time for a snack break," Char said with a shrug. "Might as well. How are we on food?"
"We've covered more ground than planned! We have plenty of food," Ray said, settling down in the corner and digging into the bag. "Let's see… we have pecha slices, nuts…"
As there didn't seem to be any enemies in the area, Char felt comfortable with taking a rest. In trying to deal with Eva, he had hardly noticed his own growing hunger, and food sounded quite good to him at the moment. He readily accepted some rations from Ray.
Once the team had settled down, Char saw Eva's ears perking up. "Otto asks a question," she said oddly. "Do we have any… recall orbs?"
"Huh? You mean roll-call orbs? Yeah, I brought one," Ray said, his mouth full of fruit. "How come?"
"He says he wants you to use one… as soon as possible," Eva said.
Ray's eyes went wide, and he nearly dumped out the entire bag in search of the orb. After diving in headfirst, he found the one he was looking for, and Otto suddenly appeared out of thin air directly next to Char, his wings hopelessly tangled in a massive, static-ridden tangle of web. He slumped to the ground, completely motionless – he was paralyzed.
"Huh. Must have hit a Garvantula nest," Marrow said. "Looks like he's going to be okay, though. Give him a moment to rest. You won't even have to use another seed if you let the paralysis wear off."
Though Char was a bit disturbed at the sight of the Pidgey in such a mess of tangled feathers and silk, he knew Marrow was right. Once the static charge on the webbing would wear off, Char could help the Pidgey escape the snare and he'd be fine.
Eva, however, seemed both amazed and petrified at the sight of the bird. She sat over him, her pupils widened as though she'd just seen a miracle.
"What is it?" Char asked her. "Something wrong?"
She touched his wing gently. The static charges caused her tiny hairs to stand on end.
"He teleported" she said simply. "He was caught in a spiderweb. He was doomed… but he teleported, and he's saved."
"Yeah!" Ray said between bites of his apple. "We used the orb on him."
"…But Pidgey can't teleport," Eva said, as though not listening. "Pidgey can't… teleport. But you made him teleport here… how?"
"The roll-call orb," Char said. "That's why we bring all these magical things into the dungeons with us. They help us deal with the dangers in these places."
"…I've never heard of an orb that can… allow teleportation," Eva said calmly. "I've handled many orbs in my time, but why haven't I heard of this before?"
"…Well, maybe because some orbs can only work inside of a dungeon?" Ray offered. "If you hate dungeons so much… maybe you've never needed them before?"
"Yeah, and that's not even mentioning the reviver seeds," Marrow said. "Maybe I'd demonstrate one of those for you, but those are about as valuable as a living Pokémon, so they're not worth wasting for that sake. Those are best demonstrated entirely on accident."
"So… these are orbs… that allow teleportation," Eva said, as though it was something truly profound. "Inside of a dungeon… they allow teleportation."
The gemstone on Eva's forehead glimmered, and the Pidgey gently rose into the air before her. Carefully and gracefully, she rotated his body, using telekinesis to scrape the webbing from his feathers.
"So, we are truly safe," Eva muttered quietly, as though speaking to herself, as she helped Otto become free. "I see now… if we have the power of teleportation even within a dungeon… we are safe. I did not believe you, Char, but you were not exaggerating. As long as we have these powers, we are safe here. Even though the dungeon might have the power to trap us forever, we are safe."
Char couldn't imagine why Eva thought it was such an amazing feat of magic to use orbs in a dungeon. To him, it was one of the first things an explorer learns: you bring equipment into a dungeon, and that equipment makes you safer and less likely to fail the mission. But Eva just kept repeating it, as though she was struggling to understand and accept the concept.
Maybe it's just because she's new to this, he thought. I remember when I was learning about dungeons for the first time, I had a lot of questions about them. Maybe she just spent so long staying away from the dungeons, she had some misconceptions…
Though still more than a little ruffled, Otto was soon free. He levitated slowly down onto his two legs, where Eva released him from her hold, and he was able to stand upright. His head twitched slightly as he struggled to rein control of his muscles from the paralysis.
"Otto thanks you for rescuing him," Eva said plainly. "He says he flew into the web blindly, and the Garvantula was approaching him when you used the orb. He says he is relieved."
"The thanks would go to you, actually," Marrow corrected. "See, Char… when you're able to relay messages telepathically in a cave like this, it completely changes the game. But psychics have got their disadvantages, too. Just like birds do. So you need to learn to use them when you need them."
"Yeah, I think I understand that now," Char said, as he leaned back and let his stomach settle. "Thank you, Eva."
"You are welcome," Eva said, simply and sincerely. "I am glad to be of service."
She sat herself down to rest before hesitantly continuing her thought. "I… I suppose I can tell you something I know about mystery dungeons, which not many Pokémon are aware of…"
"Oh? Somethin' about why they give you the creeps?" Marrow asked jovially.
"You might say it is… related to the reasons," Eva replied. "When I was… younger, before I discovered the existence of the Gold Division, I… learned of some disturbing qualities which dungeons have, and I have spent a great majority of my life trying to stay away from them. For instance, do you know of the mysterious wind which will strike if you remain in one place for too long, and expel you from the dungeon?"
"Yes! We do!" Char cried, feeling a shiver run through him merely thinking about it. "We've heard it before. Some of us have even… had it come for us. Why? Do you know something about it?"
"I do," Eva said plainly. "When I was younger, I was vaguely acquainted with a team of ghost Pokémon who would rescue others who were trapped in dungeons, and I heard them mention the wind on more than one occasion. So one day I asked them, 'why do you need to rescue Pokémon from dungeons, if the wind will just blow them to freedom anyway?' and they told me the reason. It is because… the dungeon is alive, and self-aware. It is able to distinguish between those which are prisoners, and those which are intruders."
"Hmm… that's a tall claim, miss, if I might say so," Marrow said, scratching his chin. "We've had our top minds studying dungeons for decades. From what I've heard, we've never found anything that suggests they're alive. They play off your fears, but that's just your own consciousness doing that to you. The dungeons themselves don't have thoughts or feelings."
Eva swished her tail and looked sternly into the eyes of the Marowak's skull. "If you do not believe me, then tell me, how do you think the dungeon is able to distinguish between a wild Pokémon and a civil one? Earlier, you explained to me that ferals will always attack civils with no exceptions. Why do you think that is, if the dungeon is not somehow intelligent enough to tell them apart? Hmm?"
"Running theory has it that the dungeon does something to the brain," Marrow replied, shrugging. "Some sort of corruption. But the civil Pokémon are just strong enough resist it, and the ferals aren't."
"Yes, but can you explain to me, using this model of thought, why ferals do not get blown away by the wind, but sentient explorers do?" Eva pressed further. "And why do some explorers become trapped in the dungeon, while others do not? What is the running theory for that?"
That's actually a good question, Char realized. Never thought of that before. That Bagon who had the taint didn't get expelled from the dungeon. Neither did Fern, so long ago. We had to find them ourselves. So…
…So why do we have to run from the wind and not them?
"Uhh… no idea, honestly," Marrow said. "Always just assumed mystery dungeons are full of unexplained things. Hence the name."
"In that case, let me shed some light for you on another one of those mysteries," Eva said arrogantly. "Mystery dungeons read your mind. This dungeon is reading all of our minds right now. It knows who we are, why we're here, and everything we are thinking. And it has plans for each one of us. It desires only to absorb us into itself and use us as instruments of its will, so that we will become part of the dungeon, like the ferals we see infesting this quarry. That's what the wind truly is. The dungeon decides whether to expel you, or to assimilate you. And when you become assimilated, you lose your sanity. You lose your self-awareness. You begin to become like the ferals which the dungeon keeps as pets, or worse… you begin to forget you are living in a dungeon at all, and lose your desire to leave. The dungeon could mutilate you, or kill you, or manipulate you in whatever way it wishes, and you would never know that it is happening. It is the same as being trapped in a nightmare, where the laws of the world are always changing, but you don't notice because you cannot think rationally while dreaming. The ferals only attack us because the dungeon knows that we are a threat. That is the fate of being trapped in a dungeon. And every time we enter one, we're walking right into it."
"Pardon me if I'm still skeptical, but tell me again how you know this?" Marrow challenged.
"Someone told me, once," Eva replied curtly.
"And I'm to assume this person who told you, they had all of this on good authority?"
"Precisely."
Marrow stood up and stretched his arms. "Not convinced," he said, turning away from her. "Sorry; to me, all that sounds like paranoid drivel. Sure, you bring up a handful of interesting points, but I've read up on the inner workings of dungeons, mind you, and I have to say that none of that matches with anything I've ever seen to be true. Mystery dungeons happen wherever space and time unravel. They've been known to play on your fears, but nothing has proven they have rational thought. That's all. And besides…"
He turned to her once more, a gleam in his eye from behind his mask.
"I have it on good authority that you're quite a good liar."
Eva turned her head away in a huff. "Fine, then. If you must know, your good authority is absolutely correct," she chirped. "And yes, perhaps most of that was my own delusional speculation based on what only a few have told me… but nonetheless, I stand by it."
"And I stand by the fact that none of that hardly matters if we get in 'n' out before the wind catches us in the first place," Marrow said flatly. "We're equipped to handle the job, we're nearly done, so what if the dungeon reads our minds the whole way? Fine by me, I've got nothin' to hide. What good does that do it? Why even bother tryin' to make it more scary than it deserves to be if the effects are just the same?"
"I concur," Otto said suddenly, speaking up. "The longer we stay here, the longer we risk hearing the wind. Now that I can move my wings again, let us leave this place."
In an effort to diffuse the awkwardness, Char agreed that it was a good idea to get moving again, so he told Ray to pack up the bag and everyone else to finish what they were eating while they walked. Once they were ready to go, Char eyed Eva suspiciously.
Wait, so, were you lying or not? he asked her. Was any of that true?
I was mainly trying to play with Marrow's mind, she admitted. He calls himself fearless, so I wanted to see if I could worm some fear into his mind. Seems he didn't fall for the bait. That's good; it means you're right to trust him.
But was it really true? Char said again.
Depends on your definition of truth, Eva said. Dungeons indeed differentiate between who is a victim and who is an intruder, just as they differentiate between ferals and civils. That much is true undeniably. But to what effect, and by what means… I can't tell you, because I don't know. I can only speculate… and exaggerate. My claims are true only as far as you trust me and my personal account of experiences.
And is that why you hate dungeons? Char asked.
No… it's not, Eva replied. As I said before, it's related to the reason, but the reason is quite different. Perhaps that is a topic for another day. But for now, I don't wish to talk about it.
After apologizing again for nearly using a reviver seed, and promising not to fly into any more spider webs, Otto found the stairs quite nearby and the team continued even deeper into the abandoned quarry.
Anvil Quarry B5F
The mysterious light which filled the quarry chambers was diminishing, and Char found that he had to rely on his tail flame – and his trust in Otto's eyes – to see what appeared in the darkness.
"Fifth floor. The job description said the scarf would be on this floor," Otto reported, riding atop Marrow's bone club. "Should I scout ahead?"
"Nah, stay here for now," Char decided. "I want to see Eva fight something else. Something more challenging. And she can't do that if she's listening to your reports."
"That is fair," Otto said, noting the annoyed glare that Eva shot at Char. "But keep in mind that we might need to progress further. Team Carrier reported that they lost the scarf on this floor, but it was only a speculation. If we do not find it, we must continue further until at least the seventh floor, as that is the condition of the job request."
"How deep does this dungeon go?" Ray wondered.
"This dungeon is twenty-five floors deep," Otto responded. "On the twenty-fourth floor, the hallways become so small that only some tiny Pokémon have been capable of exploring them, such as intelligent Joltik, Pichu, and Rattata. It is unknown if the twenty-fifth floor has a staircase."
"Ack. Let's hope the scarf is here, and hasn't been warped around the dungeon yet," Char said.
The dungeon was very labyrinthine now. The hallways had been cut into a third of the size they had been on the top few floors, and every few steps Char spotted another side path branching off from the hallway. It began to frighten him a bit, but he decided not to show it; he needed to be trustworthy for Eva, and he wanted to impress Marrow as well, so he held his chest high and his tail as far in front of him as it would go, lighting the way for everyone.
Char didn't have to wait long to meet an enemy Pokémon, however; a Raticate scurried out of a side passage and instantly saw them, cowering back into the shadows as it planned its attack.
"I take it you want me to defeat that rodent," Eva said, walking in front of Char. "I suppose I could certainly try. But if I do, would you mind letting Otto fly his scouting path again so we can get this over as soon as possible?"
"A fair proposal," Char said, smiling. "Fine. Show me what you can do."
Eva stepped forward, skirting the edge of the light bubble which Char's tail cast onto the floor, and sending a long, ghostly shadow into the darkness. She glanced around for signs of the wild rodent, her ears perked and her legs coiled, ready to pounce.
After a few moments, it appeared as though she gave up entirely. She stood upright and casually began walking back in Char's direction with her usual smug grin.
Char was about to ask her what was wrong, when he spotted the Raticate bounding after her, attempting to pounce at her from behind.
"Look out!" Char warned, his gasp joining with Ray's.
But Eva didn't seem bothered with the rabid rodent who was about to leap at her neck. Instead, she only paused and waited for it to approach…
Right when the rat would have pounced for the kill, it took a sharp turn to the right and headbutted directly into a protruding corner where the hall met a side-passage. The impact was so gruesome that it sent the rodent into shock, and it keeled over, its forehead split open and bleeding profusely.
"Hah!" Marrow said, clapping once in surprise. "Well done. Confusion attack, am I right?"
"I only lied to it," Eva said, shrugging. "Some ferals are so suggestable. I only told it I was over there, and not here. And it believed me."
"Impressive," Otto said. "You defeated it without touching it, just like the Joltik."
"Well, yes, I prefer not to stain my claws," she said. "Anyway, now that I have demonstrated my battle prowess to your liking, would you mind if we found the scarf and left this place so we can begin preparations for the thief mission?"
"Don't mind at all," Char said, waving a signal to Otto. "I'm satisfied. Now, let's get this over with…"
There was a rumbling underfoot. The team froze in fright as pebbles rained from the ceiling and tumbled down the walls.
Char winced as a particularly hefty rock conked him on the head. He waited a moment for the wave of pain, but remembered it wouldn't come. He realized that being trapped after a cave-in, immunity or not, wasn't a pleasant prospect for him or the rest of his team.
Even Marrow tensed in wary anticipation, waiting for the tremor to end. "Sounded like something big," he said, holding his club defensively. "Don't suppose there are bigger monsters down here than just rats?"
"There were no large monsters on the dungeon description, besides perhaps Servine. But I do not see how Servine could survive this far underground without sunlight."
"Alright. Move faster," Char decided, eyeing the ceiling not so far above his head. "Let's not find out what's down here if we don't need to."