Arc 1, Chapter 11: Shell Scream
by owryintheblindforestIn a dark forest. Standing next to Amadeus was a Riolu with horribly ragged fur, almost looking like a zombie. But that was ridiculous to think. He also had a red scarf and a medallion similar to his.
“So, uh, what’s your name?”
“Amadeus, huh? Sounds fancy.” He extended a paw for a shake. “I don’t really have a name, though. Just, y’know, ————”
“What do you mean, ‘What’? I mean it. I didn’t like my old name, so I got rid of it. There, you happy?” The Riolu punched a tree in frustration.
“Fine, you come up with something to call me, then.”
“…Jack? Fine. I’m Jack.”
“Yeah, whatever. Nice to meet you too.”
The very next day, Amadeus found himself standing in front of the door to the Guildmaster’s office, or, more accurately, his throne room. The man was apparently royalty, after all. Amadeus was horrendously nervous. Shaking, even. He really didn’t want to screw this up.
“One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million…” He mumbled to himself. The nerves were getting to him. Haruhi, meanwhile, was staring at the door, looking like she could barely contain her excitement. Her tail was wagging ever so slightly. She turned to him.
“Can you believe it?” She whispered. “It’s finally happening…”
“I know, I know…” Amadeus answered, “This is everything you’ve ever wanted and—”
“Are you nervous?” She asked, still scarcely below a whisper.
“I don’t want to screw this up…”
“We’re already good to go, just don’t say anything dumb, and we’re golden. Ah, I’m so excited…”
“Let’s just go in before it gets to the both of us…” Amadeus gently opened the door. The throne room was almost desperately imposing. Against all odds, he found the courage to stand right where he was yesterday. The Guildmaster stared back at them, as if he was studying the two of them. Don’t flinch, Amadeus thought. Don’t show even a moment of weakness. Show your absolute best. Haruhi, meanwhile, looked ready to explode from excitement. The Guildmaster stepped down from his throne and approached the two of them, and his gaze felt almost uniquely judgmental.
“You two know why you are here,” He began, throwing all formalities to the wind, “And you know the unique opportunity you have been presented. That is?”
“…We were chosen,” Amadeus replied, choosing his words very carefully, “And we were very lucky to be chosen.”
“That you were,” Tokugawa agreed. “Chosen from a continent’s worth of potential candidates, given the opportunity of a lifetime. Why, then do you present yourself the way that you do now?”
“…What do you mean?” There was an audible confusion in Haruhi’s voice.
“You come here, to make yourselves new, and yet, you present yourselves to me as if you are already new. To impress me, I assume. You especially, Amadeus.”
“I… don’t understand, sir.” Amadeus was becoming increasingly worried.
“Nobody comes here with everything they need to succeed. You are, in fact, inexperienced and still relatively weak, despite your talents. You are not impressive. You are to be trainees for that very reason. You will be forcefully made into someone new It will be long, and difficult, and you might not make it. If you come out on the other side, only then will you be new. Only then will you achieve excellence. You will be judged on merit, not presentation. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes.” Amadeus and Haruhi responded in unison.
“Then come forward.” The Guildmaster waited for them to come within arm’s reach, before brandishing a pair of badges with accompanying licenses. “These badges are symbolic of resolve to improve, to be excellent. Respect them by displaying that resolve.” He handed them each a badge. The badges resembled the one Dumas had, but soild bronze, and far less ornate, featuring a less detailed version of the tree-with-wings design. “They also act as trackers and radios. If for whatever reason you find yourselves in danger, that is the main way you get in contact with someone who can assist you. As you are trainees, they lack the teleportation functions that higher-ranking badges might have. Also, make a note of the badge number near the top of design there. It’s your number, but you should not use it to directly identify yourselves. Instead…” He handed them a pair of licenses that looked similar to what Fudo had. They had small sketches depicting them, as well as a number matching the badges, as well as some miscellaneous information including things such as age, gender, whether they were shiny, when they would be eighteen and twenty-one, as well as when they would need to be renewed. There was also a brief physical description of the license’s owner next to the sketch. “Present these whenever you need to identify yourselves.”
“…Why not the badges?” Amadeus asked.
“The badges aren’t meant for that, they’re meant for communication. If they were all we had, it would make impersonating a Guild member easy. The licenses solve that issue.” The Guildmaster straightened his back a little. “Any further questions?”
“None at all, Guildmaster,” Haruhi replied.
“Very well.” The Guildmaster turned around and walked over to his throne. “Your first assignment is to report to the training area and spend at least six hours today training there. Be sure to note your entry using your badges. You should assume that this will be your assignment every day for what I imagine will be a week at minimum, although it may be longer. When that changes, you will be notified via your badges. That is all. You are dismissed.”
Haruhi, apparently, couldn’t contain her excitement for much longer. The second they exited the room together, she quite literally jumped for joy.
“Oh my Arceus, we’re actually part of the guild!” She nearly shouted in delight. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes—”
“C-C-Calm down there…” Amadeus said, still not wanting to make a bad impression, and having seemingly forgotten what Tokugawa said about merit over presentation.
“Oh, uh, okay… One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million, one billion, ten billion, one hundred billion, one trillion, ten trillion, one hundred trillion…” She took several deep breaths. “Okay, okay… Let’s go!”
The walk to the training area was tense, not helped by the anticipation in the air generated by it being their very first day. The excitement of it all was seemingly impossible to not get caught up in, and that was doubly so when they opened the doors and looked over the massive room. The sound of attacks firing and advice being given, and the scope of the whole place, as well as what Amadeus could only assume was an equivalent of old-timey montage music playing over the intercom left him feeling strangely pumped up. The two of them walked up to what looked like some kind of registration board. It read: ‘Affix badges to this board to mark entry into and time spent in this room. You are responsible for your own badges.’
“I guess we have to mark down that we’re here…”
With some effort, Amadeus and Haruhi stuck their badges onto the board, which snapped on with a satisfying ‘click’. It seemed to shine a little. This prompted them to gaze out at the rest of the room.
“So… do we just find an empty space?” Amadeus asked.
“Looks like it,” Haruhi observed. She pointed to a stretch of unoccupied dummies off to the side. “Let’s just… work on our techniques, I guess?”
Arceus knows I need it… “Sounds like a plan.”
Amadeus approached the dummies alongside Haruhi, and they both picked one and stood in front of it. Amadeus heard Haruhi counting under her breath while he considered what he wanted to practice. I still don’t have that great of a handle on Bite. Thundershock was alright back in that one dungeon, so I don’t think it needs much more. Amadeus briefly tried to recall how he was feeling the day he first used Bite. The jaw… the pain… the soreness of it all… how they all just keep piling all on me like I can do the damn same as they could! He felt a dull throb in his jaw, and leaped at the dummy, trying to tear it’s head off with his teeth. He felt his jaw close around it’s head, and heard a satisfying tearing noise as it came clean off. Evidently, this one was made from Velcro.
“Your form is sloppy.”
Amadeus whipped around to see Dumas standing right behind him. He spat the head out of his mouth. “W-What do you mean?”
“Hello to you too. And I meant exactly what I said. It looks like you have a decent bit of power behind the bite, but your form needs work.”
“…How so?”
Dumas picked up the dummies’ head and reattached it. “Observe.” Dumas prepared a Bite much the same way Amadeus did, but as he went in for the attack, he lunged and stayed low to the ground, and went an arm with his attack instead, despite being tall enough to reach the head without needing to leap. He tore it off easily.
“…Go for the arm?” Amadeus asked.
Dumas reattached the arm. “More than that. The important part is to stay grounded. Here, try attacking me the same way you attacked the dummy.”
Amadeus prepared another bite, and leaped at Dumas, who pulled back just enough to make Amadeus miss with his jump, and counterattacked with… some kind of normal type move, Amadeus couldn’t tell. He was given very little time to process this as he was knocked into the ground hard.
“Ahhhggg…”
“Did you see what happened?”
“N-not really…”
“Well, I’ll tell you. The problem was leaping so high up. Now get up and try it again, but try to stay low to the ground this time.”
Amadeus shook off the dull pain and stood up, then prepared another bite. He tried his best to stay grounded this time as he attacked, but Dumas easily dodged him again and went in for a counterattack. This time, though, Amadeus’ paws were already touching the ground, and he instinctively rolled out of the way. For the briefest moment, he thought he saw his father in Dumas’ failed strike and imposing form, and he shuddered, but he quickly shook the feeling off. Calm down, you’re training. Nothing bad is happening… A few shaky breaths later, Dumas continued.
“See? Since you were low to the ground, you could evade me when you attempt at offense failed. Since you can’t fly, you’re always going to be the fastest on the ground. By leaping up at your opponent’s head, you leave yourself wide open. Make sense?”
“…I think so, yeah.”
“There’s also the added benefit of being able to push off of the ground, since you’re grounded. Being able to use it as leverage also puts more power behind the rest of your body, so if you need to pull something harder—” Dumas ripped the entire dummy off of it’s stand. “—You can.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m officially certified as a combat instructor. It’s my job. Allows me to get to know the newer members of the guild better, too.”
“…I see.” Amadeus glanced over to Haruhi. It looked like she was still struggling to pull the arm off of one of the dummies. He glanced back to Dumas. Now’s probably a good time to ask. “Hey, uh, you aren’t secretly me, are you?”
Dumas paused. Froze in place, even. Then he fidgeted with his medallion. “…How much did the bitch tell you?”
“…That she used to know me and that I had a medallion that looked exactly like that?” Amadeus gestured to the extremely distinctive golden medallion hanging from his neck. “Where did you get that, anyway?”
Dumas spoke in a hushed tone. “…So you know the gist. Well, quite frankly, I don’t think I have much else to say on the matter of what happened while she knew me, other than the fact that she was completely in the wrong, and that relationship was always doomed to fail to moment she forced it to start. But never mind that. The long and short of what happened next was that I discovered I’d been assumed dead after being out of town for the tragedy, went ‘screw it’ and adopted a new identity. If anyone asks if you’re my bastard child, deny it but do so in the most suspicious way possible. It’s a convenient cover story.”
Amadeus blinked for a moment, trying to process what he’d just heard. “…Okay. Is there any particular reason I was brought here? I mean, I get the sense you’re trying to figure out what happened, but—”
“You were close to Haruhi and I’d been interested in recruiting her for a while at that point.”
“…Wait, really?” Am I really not worth much on my own?
“Don’t get me wrong, I came to Nōgyō No Machi primarily with the intention of figuring out why you had suddenly shown up there. But I wasn’t planning on bringing you here. Honestly, it was just a good way to convince Haruhi to come. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone with such talent for fire, and the Guild can use talent like that. You, on the other hand, aren’t much, as you fear. I know that better than anyone.”
Amadeus felt strangely defeated. All he could do was look down in shame. He felt Dumas pull up his chin with his paw.
“Don’t get depressed, now. With enough hard work, you might be able to compare. After all, I’m quite good. There’s potential in you yet.”
“I… Thanks.”
“But speaking of Haruhi…” Dumas walked over to Haruhi. “What do we have here?”
“A future Braixen, that’s what.” She attempted to lift the now successfully-removed arm off of the ground, and got it to slowly rise.
Dumas effortlessly lifted the arm and tossed it aside. “With what power?”
“I— Hey!” She breathed a small amount of flames.
“How’s your fire?” He had the gall to ask.
“I’ll show you fire if you want it so badly!” Haruhi aggressively shot a massive burst of flames right at Dumas, one that was so hot that Amadeus felt like he was going to be burned by just standing too close. When the smoke cleared… Dumas was fine. Surrounded by a protect shield, of course.
“Impressive. That’s the talent that I wanted to see from you. Why, then, are you so obsessed with doing something you’re not naturally inclined to do?”
“I… don’t know.”
“It isn’t because nobody liked your fire back home, is it?”
“How did you—”
“I know lots of things, and I’ve had my eye on you for a while.”
Haruhi’s eyes widened. “…Really?”
“Really. I mean it when I say that your fire puts many other fire types to shame, and I think you had ought to keep improving it. Trust me, being talented isn’t a bad thing. Some fire types would kill to have your level of talent.”
“…Huh. I… never thought about it like that.”
Dumas scoffed. “Because you were practically brainwashed to think otherwise.”
Haruhi was silent for a moment. It was obvious in hindsight, and Dumas was really only saying something she had believed on some level for a while, but something about the way he said seemed to resonate with her. At least, as far as Amadeus could tell. Haruhi looked up to Dumas with a steely determination.
“So, will you keep wasting away, or will you shoot for mastery?”
“I want to be the best.”
“Then keep working at it. There is a lot more to fire than just shooting the biggest, hottest flame, after all.”
“Got it.” Haruhi nodded firmly. “I won’t let you down!”
“I certainly hope not,” Dumas said, turning to walk off.
“Uh, Dumas?” Amadeus asked, cutting him off.
“…Yes?”
“Can we… talk later? About… home?”
Dumas seemed to instantly understand the implications of what Amadeus was saying. “…Sure. Be in my office after you’re done for the day and I’ll answer a few questions if you want regarding what I know for sure.” Dumas started walking off, but then stopped himself. “Ah, right. I nearly forgot. Have a present…” Dumas pulled a disc out of the fancy scarf he was wearing. For the tiniest moment, Amadeus thought he saw the medallion glowing yellow, but it must’ve been his imagination. “This is a TM, containing protect. It won’t stand up to everything, but it’ll save your life in a pinch. It’s got two uses, so share it.”
Haruhi perked up at the mention of the word ‘tm’. “Oh, wow. That’s really nice of you.”
“…Doesn’t this require learning a new type of move?” Amadeus asked.
“Oh, Normal-type moves are easy,” Dumas reassured him. “You just kind of… do them. You’ve probably even used Tackle without even realizing it. It’s not even difficult to use them in conjunction with other types of move, either.” With that, he walked off, leaving Amadeus and Haruhi to their own devices.
“So… how exactly does this work?” Amadeus asked.
“I think we just… press on it?”
After several seconds of pressing on the thing to no avail, it became clear that there was something wrong with that theory.
“Maybe… we put it in our mouths?” Amadeus suggested. He held the thing in his mouth for several seconds, then spat it out.
“…Put our heads to the thing?” Haruhi suggested.
Finally, this seemed to actually do something. Amadeus felt a strange pressure in his head, and suddenly, images flashed through his mind. In an instant, protect was there. In his brain. Like he’d been using it since he was a baby. He just… knew how.
“Now that is a weird feeling,” he commented.
Haruhi didn’t respond, she immediately tried out her new move. It formed a protective bubble that immediately expanded around her and stopped the moment it reached the nearest object, which was in this case Amadeus. Protect is a move that forms an extremely sturdy barrier around the user that reaches underground and stops at the nearest level object. Once formed, the use can move freely inside of it, although leaving it or attempting to use other moves will cause it to break. The barrier can be broken at any time by the user, or reinforced to take stronger attacks if they so choose. Only the user can move freely in or out of it, nothing else. I know all of this… somehow. Freaky.
“The muscle memory’s just… there,” Haruhi said in astonishment. She looked down at the now-tarnished tm. “He said two uses, right?”
“Guess both of us using it counted as two uses,” Amadeus decided.
“I’ve heard the number of uses can vary with these things… and that they’re very rare! It was crazy generous of him to just hand us that.”
“…Are they really that valuable?”
“M-hm. I’ve also heard some people that know recycle can make a fortune just from restoring these bad boys. And fresh ones sell for lots, too.”
“…I wonder where he got it.”
“Good question,” Haruhi said joining in his wonder. “Either he sent an enormous sum of money on the thing and can afford to do that or he’s been in a lot of dungeons, I figure.”
“…Both of those sound equally likely, honestly.”
“I agree.”
Eventually, just firing attacks at the dummies got boring. Amadeus felt like he was getting a solid grip on his moves and could activate them quickly enough, and started to experiment with flipping between Dark and Electric moves.
It’s an apples-to-oranges kind of deal. One is an unstable type of move fueled by emotions, and the other is an emotionless form of energy that flows between different places of my body. So how hard is it really to change between them? They’re not exactly opposites, but they’re not exactly natural partners, either. Amadeus decided to start with his Electric side. He felt the current quickly speed up near his ears, and he fired off an actually decent Thundershock. It wasn’t much, but he quickly tried to go from that to doing a Bite, which was surprisingly difficult. It took a few seconds longer to prepare the attack than he thought it would, and by the time he actually managed to attack, it had been much longer than if he had just thrown out the attack from nothing. He tried a Protect. It came out almost instantly, much easier than the Bite did. He tried switching back to using Thundershock, which again took an extra moment for the current to build up. Protect seemed to play nicely with this one, too I guess that’s what Dumas meant when he said normal-type moves are easy. You can just use them with other move types without issue. Eventually, even this kind of experimentation got boring. Judging by the windows, it had been more than a few hours.
“…How long have we been here?” Haruhi naturally asked.
Amadeus glanced at the clock on the nearby wall. “…We’re a few minutes away from reaching the six-hour mark.”
“Alright, uh…” Haruhi began, absentmindedly looking around. “I guess we haven’t really tested out the durability on Protect yet.”
“But to do that… we’d have to attack each other.”
“Well, that’s what sparring is, right?”
“I mean, you’re right, it’s just, you know…”
“You don’t think I’m going to hurt you, do you?”
“I don’t mean it like that, I’ve just… never been in a fight with someone that wasn’t a feral before. And that’s not that often, either…”
“Well, you can start now.”
I don’t come out of this looking good, do I? “Okay…” Amadeus summoned a protect barrier, and tried his best to support it.
“Let me know if it starts to crack, okay?” This was all the warning Haruhi gave before letting loose a massive stream of fire right at Amadeus. The Protect only lasted a few seconds before it began to give way and crack.
“S-Stop!”
Haruhi, to her credit, did actually listen and stop immediately, but not before a little bit of fire managed to get through. Amadeus recoiled, trying to get away from it, and it managed to graze one of his front paws. A stinging pain flared up as the protect barrier dissipated.
“S-S-Sorry!” Haruhi immediately apologized. “Oh, Arceus, are you okay? Do you need a rawst? I—”
“I’m fine!” He was not fine, he was currently suffering from a first degree burn. “Let’s just… try yours.”
Haruhi seemed genuinely a little concerned. “…Are you sure?”
“Haruhi, I’m fine.”
“Okay then,” She sighed. She quickly summoned a protect barrier around herself. “Hit me with your best shot.”
Amadeus had originally intended to use Thundershock, but in the heat of the moment, he felt inclined to use bite. He lunged at her, and to his shock, he managed to slightly crack the protect barrier with just one.
“W-whoa!” Haruhi jumped back in surprise. “I-Is mine really that weak?”
“I-I… uh…” Amadeus was briefly taken aback by his own strength. He hadn’t expected to be that strong either. He immediately got distracted by his burn. “Ow…” He clutched the painful spot with his other front paw.
“Dude, you need a rawst…”
Before Amadeus could object, she shoved a rawst into his mouth. Apparently, she’d kept them in the bag they’d been using to travel, where they’d remained good enough to eat. Amadeus felt the stinging pain recede pleasantly. He sighed.
“Wait a minute, aren’t burns supposed to make physical attacks weaker?” Haruhi asked. “You seemed… almost stronger.”
“I think you’re right. I did feel a little strong there.”
“…Could it be your ability?” Haruhi asked. “I’ve heard there are abilities that can make you stronger physically.”
“Let’s worry about that later,” Amadeus insisted. “I think we’re done for the day.”
“Didn’t you already agree to talk to Dumas?”
“…Right, that. Let’s go, then.”
They promptly retrieved their badges and went on their way. The walk over to Dumas’ office was a little confusing and convoluted, and involved asking more than a few people for directions. The bureaucratic inner workings of the Guild of Honor weren’t exactly meant for tours, which made it a bit stranger in Amadeus’ mind that trainees are allowed to explore freely. Probably a bureaucratic reason for it… Eventually, they made it to a door that didn’t look particularly more extravagant than the ones around it marked ‘Dumas Luxray’s Office’. Amadeus had to remind himself that Dumas being the seer was supposed to be a secret. Amadeus knocked on the door.
“Come in, it’s unlocked.”
After this simple prompting, Amadeus pushed open the door, with Haruhi following close behind. Amadeus wasn’t sure what he was expecting out of the room. Maybe some grand conspiracy board, or shelves of files lining the walls. Instead, he found a rather plain, if a little messy, office. The desk in the center of the room, where Dumas sat, was cluttered with papers and personal items. It was also practically the only thing in the room, save for a couple of chairs, scattered items, and the electric lamp providing a soft light. There was also a door in the back, maybe a storage closet. Somehow, Amadeus knew this was exactly how he’d organize his own room.
“Your office is a little empty,” Haruhi commented. “It could use a little decoration.”
“What for? I have chairs in here. That’s good enough, right?”
“Seems fine to me,” Amadeus agreed.
“I— Forget it.”
“Speaking of, why did you come, Haruhi? Did you have something you wanted to ask of me?” Dumas asked. “Or did you just want to gawk at two of the same person talking to each other?”
“I just… felt like I should come?” Haruhi shakily answered.
“Well, I suppose that’s as good a reason as any,” Dumas observed. “In any case, I’m sure you’ll think of something to add as we continue on with this discussion.”
“Well, I do have one thing I wanted to ask,” Haruhi said quickly. “How did you get to be the Seer?”
“The short answer is that I solved three cases that nobody else could shortly before joining. The seat was recently vacated, and, well, they saw me as a hot young talent well-suited to the role. The long answer is, well, very long, so I won’t get into it. If you’re interested, go to the local library and read up on the dropeye trade case, the silver thorn murders, and the corruption affliction murders.”
“They just… accepted you?” Amadeus asked.
“The Guild operates on merit. Aside from the Guildmaster, which is an inherited position for historical reasons, everyone here was chosen based on results. It only made sense to at least pick up someone with such a stellar start to their career.”
“I see,” Amadeus simply said. “Well, can I ask you something unrelated, then?”
“I have a funny feeling that I already know what you’re going to ask, but fire away.”
Amadeus took in a deep breath. “…Have you ever considered going home?”
Dumas paused for a while before responding. “No. Not since I first came here.”
Amadeus paused, considering this. “Really? Not even—”
“Trust me, Amadeus,” Dumas said, cutting him off. “You’ll realize sooner or later that the only reason you wanted to go home was because you were afraid of the unknown. Give it another month or two, you’ll never want to go back.”
“I— Do you really mean that?”
“I mean it. Wholeheartedly.”
There was a still silence in the room for a moment. Amadeus hardly knew what to say to such a stubborn declaration. All he could do was think. Crap, do I even want to go home? I mean I guess Dad’s home, and he’d probably be mad and say something like ‘you shouldn’t be so careless like that’ and lock… me… I… …Do I even want to see him? Samantha left at some point, would she even be there? It suddenly occurred to Amadeus that there wasn’t anyone he was particularly eager to see back home. Dumas seemed to notice.
“…Have you figured it out?” Dumas said. “That nobody really gave a shit about you besides your sister?”
Amadeus looked back up at him breathlessly. That can’t be right! I— My family cares about me! Right? I… I do love them, right? I… Oh Arceus. Amadeus forced himself to move onto the next topic. He had to, lest the thought drive him insane.
“U-um, Mayumi said that a shiny Sylveon named Samatha just happened to show up in town one day and she knew who we were. Is Samantha somewhere? Here? In this time?” Amadeus’ tone was desperate. Please. She has to be out there somewhere.
Dumas’ entire demeanor suddenly changed. The mere mention of her caused him to freeze his entire expression, caught between pain and detachment.
“S-She’s gotta still be out there somewhere. Maybe we can—”
“She’s dead, Amadeus.”
What
No
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
PLEASE
YOU LIE
Amadeus completely fell apart on the spot as one of the very few things he was holding onto hope for was ripped away from him. Then again, maybe there was never hope in the first place. The final thing tethering him to the future violently taken. For the first time since coming to the past, he started to cry. Hard. Tears, streaming down his face. Tears so thick he couldn’t even see through them. How he managed to avoid screaming in that moment, he’d never know. Dumas walked over to his side and patted him on the back, giving him the slightest comfort.
“Come on now, let it all out,” Dumas said, trying to ease Amadeus’ pain as best as he could.
Amadeus ended up crying for several minutes before he heard Haruhi’s voice.
“Amadeus? Amadeus, stay with me. Please.”
Amadeus looked up through blurry tears to see Haruhi forcing a smile at him.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
Amadeus took a deep breath. “…Yeah, I’m fine.” He turned to look up at Dumas, who he’d managed to not notice by his side until now. “What happened to her?”
“…Are you sure you want to know that? It brings me no pleasure to tell you such dreadful things, you know.”
“If I don’t, the curiosity is gonna eat me alive.”
“You’re probably right about that.” Dumas sighed. “Fine, I’ll share. I happen to know because I discovered her body myself.”
The words hung in the air like a poisonous fog.
“It was a while before I initially caught the attention of the Guild. I was travelling up in the Northerner’s Territory with a… companion of mine during a particularly nice springtime. As an aside, never travel up there during the fall and especially not the winter. The weather gets real harsh, tons of high winds and heavy snow. Just wait it out in a local town, people up there are nice. But anyway, we were traveling out in the countryside, and we happen upon this town. I’ll always remember it’s name, Gorod Otčajanija. We arrive in this town, and guess who? My sister, who I hadn’t seen in years! I spent that whole evening reuniting with her, and it was great. But my friend, see, he was interested in checking out a mystery dungeon outside of town. I wanted to keep hanging out with Samantha, but she reassured me I could hang out with Jack—that’s my friend’s name—so long as I promised to get a game of chess in with her when I returned. She said she wasn’t confident in going in a mystery dungeon at the time, and it was safe back in town.” Dumas chuckled mirthlessly. “Any sane person would’ve agreed at the time. We couldn’t have been in there for more than a few hours, it was an easy dungeon.”
Amadeus felt a deep apprehension about hearing where this was headed, but he also deeply desired to know the answer. “…What happened to her while you were in there?”
“…Have you ever heard of The Scourge of the North?”
“Oh, I’ve heard of that! It’s…” Haruhi started, but trailed off. “Oh no.”
“…What’s the Scourge of the North, Haruhi?” Amadeus immediately asked.
“It’s—”
“I’m telling this story, Amadeus,” Dumas interrupted. “The town was… carnage. It was like the entire town had decided to kill each other, all at once, and there wasn’t a single person that survived. Naturally, that included Samatha. We found her dead, mid-strangling the life out of some poor Piloswine. Apparently she died from her neck being gouged out. It was terrifying. And it wasn’t something new. It’d been happening for years in Northerner’s Territory at that point. Towns are just found in a state of bloody wreckage, and nobody can place the source of it. The only clues are that it started happening sometime around when The Light that Burned the Sky shone, but…” Dumas sighed. Amadeus could feel the how badly this weighed on him. “All of the trails lead to dead ends.”
“That’s…” Amadeus didn’t even know how to finish the sentence. He just paused, leaving it suspended in the air. Instead, he distracted himself with the impossible task of figuring out the cause. “…Isn’t it being in the Northerner’s territory a clue?”
“Well, no. Because it’s been known to randomly happen far outside of it. In fact, there’s a documented case of it happening here, on Teardrop Island. Most cases happening up north is not the same as all cases happening up north. You can’t make a connection there. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“…What about the way they die, all fighting each other?” Haruhi asked.
“That raises more questions than it answers, unfortunately. It suggests mass suggestion, which wouldn’t be a problem if that wasn’t a thousand times easier said than done. It would most certainly not have the success rate it does if it happened through known means. Unless the legends themselves have come for us.” Dumas looked uneasy. “Sometimes, between this and the other big tragedy in recent memory, I wonder if they really have.”
There was an uneasy silence in the air. None of the occupants in the room really knew how to save the conversation from that point on, and it didn’t feel right to.
“Well, that got depressing,” Dumas said, fidgeting with the Medallion around his neck. “Why don’t you two head on home? The first day as trainees of the Guild is supposed to be a happy one, after all.”
Haruhi stretched. “C’mon, Amadeus, he’s right. We gotta go.”
“Right…” Amadeus mumbled. He could use a nice dinner after hearing such distressing information. Quite frankly, Haruhi could as well, he figured. Although it wasn’t as cut-and-dry with her.
Dumas sighed as the duo left the room, easing the dreary atmosphere somewhat. He didn’t really want to share such bad news with Amadeus on what was supposed to be an exciting and fun day for him, but Amadeus probably wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. Hopefully this didn’t hamper his growth into a competent member of the Guild too badly. What a day… He still had some work to do, unfortunately. He opened the door in the back of the office to enter his private study, where he kept most sensitive information. All that was in here was a desk and many a file.
“…You took a while with them, sir.” Fudo had been there, waiting for him. Dumas felt a bit bad, as he hadn’t planned for the conversation with Amadeus at all, and it was simply done on impulse.
“Were you listening in?”
“…Maybe.”
“Well, you didn’t technically hear something you didn’t already know, so that’s fine. But refrain from eavesdropping on me in the future, got it? Don’t tell anyone what you heard, either.”
“I understand, sir.”
“How did you do with your friends today?”
“We did the escort mission that you asked. All went well.”
“And the Ultranecrozium?”
Fudo produced a tiny, beige crystal. It couldn’t have been wider than one of Amadeus’ teeth, but by the standards of crystals like these, it was massive. In pristine condition, too. “Stole it off the dude and nobody suspected a thing, not even my teammates. Just like you asked.” He handed over the crystal to Dumas. Just from feeling it, he could tell it was the genuine article. Dumas smiled.
“Fantastic work, Fudo. That’s why you’re my number one spy.”
“Well, having Magician and being the best Psychic type in the world doesn’t hurt.”
“That it doesn’t.” Dumas chuckled. He’d done well to keep such a watchful eye over Fudo. His talent had been honed to perfection, perhaps like nobody else. And to have it complimented by an exceedingly rare ability like Magician? He was a truly powerful asset to have.
“Sir?”
“Yes, Dumas?”
“…Can I finally make a team with my friends soon?”
“Soon,” Dumas confirmed. “Once this thing is done and dusted, I think we’ll be able to let you three take the test.” Dumas set the Ultranecrozium shard down on a nearby desk.
“Really?” Fudo’s eyes lit up at the prospect. Despite himself, the young man still had a few child-like tendencies.
“Yes, really. I just need to finish my work on the Ultranecrozium, and you’ll get your chance.”
“What does the Ultranecrozium even do, anyway?” Fudo asked.
“It has the power to change the world, my boy.” Dumas stared longingly at the shard, meaning what he said quite literally. A complete Ultranecrozium Z crystal had enabled the Expedition IV to travel faster than light, fueling the negative mass drives, at least from what he could remember. The power inside of this shard alone could… Better to not get too excited, you’re not out of the woods yet. You need more than this, after all. “If all goes well, all of the continents around the world will never live the same way ever again.”
Fudo stared at the thing in astonishment. “Sounds awesome.”
“Awesome is only the beginning. This will be beyond awesome, beyond revolutionary.” Dumas stared out of the nearby window. “But I’ve said enough. Aren’t you going to miss dinner if you stick around too long? You’re dismissed.”
Fudo leaned out of the window, looking into the back alley below. “Through here as always, right?”
“Yes,” Dumas confirmed. “Make sure nobody sees you. And stay out of Amadeus’ mind for the time being, if you please.”
“He already asked me to do that himself. Won’t be a problem.”
Fudo leaped out of the window, using Psychic to slow his descent. He’d been doing this for Dumas for over a year now, he wasn’t going to screw up. What mattered now was that Dumas was alone, free to do as he pleased. He opened a drawer, revealing a tablet exactly like the one he used to have. There happened to be a printer to match it in a separate drawer. He obviously didn’t have wifi here, which made printing things the way he used to annoying, but what mattered is that it made is easier to both type and hide files from unnecessary eyes. I have this wonderful golden medallion to thank for it. What a find… The ability to create whatever object he desired with some stipulations had been more than a little useful ever since he’d been given it all of those years ago. He would’ve used it to create a complete Ultranecrozium Z crystal by now, except it didn’t have the power to do that. At least, for now it doesn’t. That’s why I’m bothering with such a tedious, complex plan. Dumas fired up the tablet, and opened a file titled ‘Project Light.docx’ to record his progress. All he needed was a little bit more time, and his dream— no, his dream as well— would be realized.
Akihiro was feeling rather tired today. He hadn’t gone in to question Dumas again, seeing as that ended in flat refusal to respond to anything, so he figured he’d try his luck with the, in his mind, bastard child that had been so lovingly dumped on his doorstep. Or perhaps Dumas is planning on caring for him anyway, in that roundabout, detached way he interacts with everyone. Who’s to say, really? He opened the door to the house, expecting to have a quiet dinner, and then some answers.
“Ryo? Kids? I’m home!”
“Come in, we’re about to have dinner!” Ryo responded from the kitchen.
The first odd thing he saw was that he’d gotten home before Fudo. It wasn’t unthinkable, and it had happened before, but it was a little upsetting. Apparently he and his friends were staying later in an effort to maybe speed up the process of forming a team, according to Fudo, at least. At this point, though, even Akihiro was curious as to what was taking so long. Several higherups had recommended them to take the test already, at this point it was starting to feel like someone really disliked them. Hilariously, Fudo managed to arrive directly after Akihiro closed the door.
“Welcome home, son. What kept you so late?”
“We had to escort some guy from the Trader’s Territory. It took forever.”
“I see. Did he talk your ear off, as guys down south always do?”
“He did and then some,” Fudo replied exhaustedly. “Dumas wanted a really thorough report on the guy done, too.”
“Did he now?” Akihiro asked. “Well, I’m sure you can share the whole ordeal with us over dinner.”
The second odd thing Akihiro noticed was that Amadeus and Haruhi both looked like they were in an absolutely downtrodden mood, especially Amadeus. He would’ve expected new recruits to the Guild to be in high spirits, but it looked like much the opposite was the case. Haruhi was standing right in front of the fireplace, steadily feeding the thing gentle embers, just like her mother would occasionally do when she was upset. Amadeus was sitting on the couch, next to the radio. For some reason, he was listening to some somber blues song about a flood on the radio intently. What’s got these two in such low spirits?
“Well? How did your first day go, you two?”
“It was fine,” Amadeus quickly responded. “Did some training.”
“The Seer was nice enough to give us a TM,” Haruhi added.
“Really?” Akihiro asked. Dumas, your favoritism is showing.
“Yeah,” Amadeus confirmed. “It was one we could both use, so we both learned it.”
“Which one?” Ryo asked, mid-setting up the table.
Amadeus demonstrated with a barrier of energy. “Protect,” He replied.
“That was very nice of him,” Akihiro observed. “You should thank him.”
“We did,” Amadeus responded. He then turned to look out the window, looking tired.
Akihiro suddenly heard a voice in his head, and recognized it as Fudo.
Hey, Dad number one? If you’re wondering why these two look so gloomy, it’s because Amadeus learned someone named Samantha died to the Scourge. Dumas was the one who told him.
What? Akihiro responded. Is she related to Dumas, or…
Pretty sure it’s his Mom or his older sister or something like that. Whoever she was, she was important to Amadeus, and Dumas as well? I only overheard part of the conversation.
Akihiro was busy wondering if that made Amadeus Dumas’ nephew. I understand. I’ll go easy on him. “So, shall we have dinner?” He realized Kohana wasn’t in the room. “Kohana? It’s dinner time!”
After Kohana came running down, the dinner commenced, and was largely dominated by Fudo’s story of how escorting a rich merchant from the Trader’s territory. Namely, how much the merchant, apparently used to the arid air of the southern mainland, complained almost constantly of the humidity. And how they had to, at one point, pick up the entire contents of his bag because the dude tripped over a rock.
“The guy was fuming, but he didn’t have any real reason to be mad at us, so he just shouted angrily at us until he was sure we had everything. It was the worst!”
“Did you get a lot of money from him?” Kohana asked innocently.
“Kohana, that’s stealing,” Fudo replied cheekily.
“T-That’s not what I meant!”
Fudo laughed. “But anyway, the dude is gonna stay for another week, and then we’re gonna have to escort him again. All the way to the mainland, too. Not looking forward to that.”
“That’s nonsense,” Ryo scoffed. “There’s no way the Guild’s going to approve dedicating resources to escorting one person that distance, especially given you’d have to take a boat. They’re not making you take the trip with him.”
Eventually, the conversation turned to what Amadeus and Haruhi were doing all day. Haruhi did most of the talking, as Amadeus only seemed interested in giving short responses to questions. She briefly went over on how they’d talked to Dumas, the advice he’d given them, and how they’d tried out their new move.
“You say Amadeus got stronger while burned?”
“It looked that way, anyway. He’s normally not that strong, but he managed to crack a protect from me. I guess I’m new to the move, but still.”
“It’s definitely not inexperience,” Ryo asserted. “If you learned it from a TM, you should be able to but your full strength behind it easily.”
“Then what is it?” Amadeus asked.
“It’s apparently very rare, but some Pokémon have specific abilities that they normally don’t have,” Fudo explained. “Dumas told me that some members of the Luxray line might have Guts for their ability, for example. Maybe you have Guts?”
“…Does Guts make be stronger while I’m burned?” Amadeus asked.
“Not just while you’re burned,” Fudo started, “But experiencing any significant illness or negative condition. Drowsiness, frostbite, poisoning, paralysis, serious injuries… It’ll all make you much stronger physically.”
“…Wild.”
Eventually, the dinner wrapped up, and Amadeus excused himself to go up to Fudo’s room, saying he was tired. Naturally, Akihiro felt a need to pursue him. He wanted to hear it from him who he was to Dumas, especially given what Akihiro had just learned from Fudo regarding this ‘Samantha’ character. After some light conversation with Kohana about how her day was, Akihiro headed upstairs to confront him on the matter. He didn’t find him in Fudo’s room, so he kept searching until he eventually found him sitting on the balcony in the back. He was holding what looked like an old photo, close to the edge. It was a windy night.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
Amadeus jumped in place at his voice, and stuffed the photo he was holding into his shirt before Akihiro could get a good look at it. Evidently, he thought he was alone. “I-I’m fine.”
“…You seem a little upset for such an exciting day. Did something go wrong?”
“Not really…”
“Might I see that picture you were holding?” Akihiro asked as he sat down next to Amadeus.
Amadeus didn’t respond. Instead, he got up and headed back into the house. For a little while, Akihiro sat my himself, not really knowing how to deal with that. Neither of his two children had ever really avoided speaking to him so blatantly before. His curiosity spiked, as did worry. Something is wrong with that young man…
Eventually, he decided it would be best to see if he was in Fudo’s room again. And he was. On his bed. Wrapped up in, quite literally, a cocoon of blankets.
“Come now, clearly something’s happened. You’ll feel much better if you just talk about it.”
Amadeus didn’t respond.
Akihiro sat down on the bed next to him. He’d never experienced something like this, someone acting this closed-off. I could… No. Don’t think about that. You’re an adult, you know better than to just enter someone’s mind uninvited. The longer Akihiro sat there, however, the more the temptation grew.
Finally, Amadeus said something. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, that much is obvious,” Akihiro said in the most gentle tone he could.
Again, Amadeus fell silent. Akihiro was determined to get Amadeus to open up somehow.
“Fudo told me he overheard a conversation between you and Dumas earlier.”
Amadeus looked up at him, looking almost… betrayed. There were a few tears in his eyes. “…What do you want?”
Akihiro paused, choosing his words carefully. “If it’s not too much to ask… who was Samantha?”
“…My sister.” Amadeus almost sounded like he had to choke the words out.
“Was she important to you?”
Amadeus looked back away from Akihiro and didn’t respond.
“Amadeus…”
“I’ve already told you everything. Now go away.”
“Please—”
“Go away. I know you’re just reading my mind anyway…”
“I’m not—” Akihiro took a moment to compose himself. “Come on, be honest with me, Amadeus—”
Amadeus’ entire demeanor shifted the second the words left his mouth, his breathing grew much heavier, and he raised his voice quite a lot. “Yeah, like Fudo could’ve overheard anything. I didn’t even see him all day! Screw off!”
“I—” Akihiro was floored. Amadeus’ response was outside anything he was prepared to handle. After just gawking at him for a while, Akihiro left the room. He wasn’t done just yet, however. He still could ask Haruhi…
“I can’t just tell you that…”
…Who promptly refused him.
“But why?” Akihiro asked. “I just want to help, I didn’t expect to be cussed at.”
“Amadeus really doesn’t like telling people things. He’s really not gonna like it if I tell you.” Haruhi paused. “Wait, he really swore? He like… never does that.”
“As a matter of fact, he did.” Akihiro sighed. “What could possibly be so private that he can’t let me know anything about it?”
“He’s like that. Probably won’t be telling you.”
This is getting ridiculous… “Could you at least tell me a little bit about it?”
Haruhi paused for a long time, like she was weighing her options. “He found out from Dumas that his sister died, which is a problem because he was really hoping he could see her again.”
“And?”
“That’s what happened. There is no ‘and’.”
“Do you know anything about who Dumas is to Amadeus?”
“That’s all you’re getting. I’m not in the mood to destroy his trust in me right now.”
Why he is so secretive about all of this? Akihiro tried for a few more minutes to get Haruhi to spill the beans, but she wasn’t budging. Eventually, he finally turned to Fudo.
“Dumas has me under sworn secrecy.”
“What?”
“He told me not to tell anyone what I heard. That’s it.”
“What could possibly be such a big secret that the Seer is preventing you from tell your own father what is clearly something that only matters to a handful of people?”
“He’s got me under oath, I’m sorry.”
“I…” Akihiro tapered off. “Very well…”
Akihiro opened the door to the parent’s bedroom upstairs and sat down at his desk. Ryo noticed his apparent frustration.
“Your hunt for answers not going well, I’m guessing?”
“It’s like prying teeth. Even Fudo’s not saying what he apparently knows.”
“Let me guess, Dumas told him to stay quiet?” Ryo huffed. “Frankly, Fudo’s been getting closer and closer with him as of late, and it’s starting to get out of hand.”
“I just hope Dumas isn’t trying to cover up anything serious…”
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