Explorations

The rest of the day went somewhat uneventful, making the team go home earlier. Since Simon and Mark were probably going to sleep together, they asked Rachel if she wanted to stay with them. Surprisingly, she said yes.

That night, she took the couch while the other two shared Simon’s bed. Mark noticed at that point that the room was the same one he was treated in when they first found him. It brought back memories, but he didn’t know yet if they were good or bad.

In the end, he had the best sleep he’d had in weeks. Resting in a decent bed without the stress of keeping his secrets as someone he loved embraced him, it was the perfect combination.

As he woke up, however, there was something wrong. It took him a couple seconds to regain his clarity and notice that Simon was trembling, mumbling something in his sleep with an exaggerated frown. It could have simply been a bad dream, but it really looked like he was in pain.

“Simon…” Mark whispered, shaking him softly. It didn’t do much, so he tried again just a smidge stronger than before. “Simon… C’mon, what’s wrong…?”

It took some more attempts at waking him up before he opened his eyes with a gasp, sitting in place. He took a look around as if to remember where he was, which calmed him down once he got his answer.

“Are you okay?”

Simon took a deep breath. “So… you’re not gonna believe me.”

“After all this bullshit, I’ll believe anything.”

“I had a dream, with Dialga.”

“You what?”

“They said that we’d find Arceus at Stargazing Ravine… wherever that is.”

“Okay, okay, but you know Dialga is dead, right?”

“I know, but think about it. There are two possibilities. Either this really is Dialga talking to me from some sort of afterlife and they’re helping us, or this is Arceus’ doing and they’re leading us into a trap, a trap that we need to get into anyways if we want to confront him.”

“Simon, it’s… it’s too early for this.”

“No, it’s not. We gotta let Gren know. The earlier we can deal with this, the better.”

“I…” He sighed. “Okay, fine, you win. Let’s go.”

It took close to an extra twenty minutes to get Rachel up and running, she wasn’t happy to get woken up like that, but they wanted to get to the guild before any of the teams left. The sun wasn’t even out yet, so it was a calm walk to the guild.

Not even Daniel was there to greet them. In fact, Mark would have thought they were alone if it wasn’t for the Guildmaster’s office having the lights on.

“Why is this place open all the time, anyways?”

“For emergencies, mostly. Everything past the lobby is closed, though.” Simon responded.

“Wait, so does Gren sleep in their office?”

“I mean, there’s an actual personal room adjacent to it, but yeah, pretty much.”

“That cannot be healthy.” Mark retorted.

He knocked on the door, causing some noise from the inside. He heard some careful footsteps approaching the door before it opened, revealing the ready to attack Grumpig. They relaxed when they realized who was on the other side. “You three better have an excuse to be here so early, you scared the hell out of me.”

“We do, actually.” Simon said. “Do you mind if we…” He signaled to the inside of the room, to which Gren nodded, letting them get in and take a seat.

“Ok, what’s the deal? It has to be pretty serious to come here at these hours.”

“So I think I know where Arceus might be.” That sentence was enough for Gren to become wide-eyed. “I had a dream with Dialga, and they told me where they are. Of course, either they can communicate from the dead, or it’s clearly a trap.”

“Okay, slow down. Where did they say Arceus is?”

“Some place called Stargazing Ravine. Do you know it?”

They seemed to think for a second. “I do, but are you sure? Basing all of this out of a dream seems very sketchy.”

“I am sure. It was the same as my first dream with Dialga, there’s no way I’d forget that feeling…”

They stayed silent for a moment before getting up and getting a big roll of paper from their drawer. They opened it on their desk, revealing a huge map, even more detailed than the one Simon had.

“Honestly the fact that you knew about that place should’ve made it clear enough that it wasn’t just a dream.” They said. “Stargazing Ravine is nearby but there’s a reason why it’s not in any common map. It’s here, to the west.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“In a sense, but it is a sacred place. It honestly doesn’t surprise me that much that Arceus decided to land there.”

“Isn’t Obair-Ghreis Temple also a sacred place? What makes this so different?”

“For one, this one isn’t meant to be visited. And also, because of that, it is full of traps.” Gren said. “And we’re talking about dangerous ones. I lost one of my former team members there. It wasn’t fun.”

“O-oh…”

“As long as we’re careful, we should be fine. But I also have some news for you.” They rolled the map and got a device out. “I stayed the whole afternoon yesterday researching for more possible machines we could use. And lo and behold, there were.”

Mark inspected the machine. It was small, consisting of only a single button. “This right here, functions the same way as a Rollcall Orb. Except it is reusable, and it teleports everyone in the guild to your location, no matter where in the dungeon you are. Actually, you don’t even have to be in a dungeon, it works everywhere.” They approached Mark and used the attachment to pin the device to his bandana. It stuck to the cloth seamlessly. “I will give one to every team leader, and one to each of you specifically, since this situation involves you three so much more.”

“Oh, uh… thank you, Gren.” Simon said as they attached another device to his bandana.

“It’s not a problem, we’re all here to support you, okay?” They did the same to Rachel. “If any of you need anything, you just have to ask.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. “Come in!”

When it opened, it was none other than Verm. “Hey, Gren. Oh, you three are here. Wait, does that mean-”

“That’s right. But we’ll talk about that once everyone is ready. What did you want?” Gren responded.

“Charlie wanted to talk to you. He said he needed you to go upstairs.”

“Oh, well that’s my cue to leave. And I’m not leaving anyone alone in my office, so c’mon.”

The team was pretty much pushed out of the room. Luckily there was nothing else to say.

“So… is it happening already? Just the day after?” Verm asked.

“I’m afraid so. It wasn’t in our plan to get going so soon either.” Simon said, leaning against the wall. “And by the looks of it, it won’t be a walk in the park either.”

“It’ll be fine. You know how strong this guild is. We’re not going down easily.” The ghost tackled Simon lightly on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up. It somewhat worked, as the Squirtle gave him a weak smile.

A grumble on Mark’s stomach made it clear that they should go eat something. After all, they had to prepare for the upcoming mission. Only fifteen minutes after, everyone seemed to be ready, gathering together in the lobby.

“Alright, everyone.” Gren said, standing in front. “I know it is sudden, but we have notice of Arceus’ location, that being Stargazing Ravine. If you haven’t heard of that place before, it’s a sacred location, full of traps around every corner. It is no wonder that Arceus is there. For that reason, me and Lance have developed a device thanks to some of the old books in the archive. Team leaders, please get closer.”

And so they did, except Team Timeless of course, they already had the teleporter in them. One by one, they got their machine attached to their cloth.

“Our plan is simple. We’ll get there, and we’ll separate. Between all of us, someone will eventually encounter Arceus. When that happens, I need that someone to press the button I just attached to your scarves. It will teleport every member of the guild to their location, wasting no time in reuniting. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Guildmaster!” Every member shouted in unison. It was admirable, really, to have such a kind and patient leader that could also be respected and assertive in battle. It was the best of both sides.

“All of you have 20 minutes to buy whatever items you need. Don’t be shy on the amounts, if the need arises, I’ll be the one covering the costs. Kecleon already owes me anyway. Now, go.”

As they left, Mark slowed behind the other two. His head was trying to somehow figure out a way to not have to do this. But those thoughts cleared out when Simon backtracked to walk beside him. They had to fight, there were no other options.

And he was going to make sure to fight until the very end.