Chapter 1 – On the Case!

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Ennea, youngest of House Harmonie, raced down the cobbled streets as they grew rougher and more weathered, weaving around the occasional pedestrian walking the same path. Buildings without any consistency in architectural style surrounded her. Some were half-timbered, some were brick, some were stone, but nearly all were at least three stories tall. Though the area was tough to get around, and she’d never once set foot in her destination, Ennea wasted no time checking for directions.

The distance between houses began to evaporate as she entered The Stem, the old part of town, meaning she was theoretically going the right way. Practically every spot along the twisting roads had been snapped up by some building, no matter how awkwardly they had to be built to fit. Just as she was passing the thinnest home she’d ever seen, Ennea heard a sound that made her wince: the deep, far-off ringing of a clock tower. It was noon… she was late. They wouldn’t mind, right? Ennea wasn’t used to having to be punctual, thanks to her job.

Ugh, her “job.” Ennea hated her job. It was the kind of easy work that most people would kill for, and that only made her despise it even more. As a representative of her House, she had been assigned to the town of Epiphany, where she would oversee the decisions made by the town council, thereby assuring the citizens that they were approved by the duchy.

In practice, she’d sit in a dull room while being ignored by a bunch of people who wished she wasn’t there.

She wasn’t a member of the town council herself, and everyone there knew her position in the family. So, there was really nothing she could do other than make suggestions considered so worthless that the council didn’t even bother countering them. They didn’t just accept tardiness from her, they preferred it.

Today, though… today was different. Someone had asked for Ennea, requested that she assist with a matter. There was something meaningful for her to do! The possibilities swirled in her mind as she finally spotted a building standing tall and proud in the distance, rising above all the others.

One could easily mistake it for a fortress. High stone walls full of pointed arches protected a central tower that speared up into the sky, holding a single stained-glass window that peered down upon the town below. Who knew why it was designed with such a gothic flair or why it was so huge, but this was the Guard’s Hall, its size and grandeur seeming to reflect the potential importance of Ennea’s visit. The Eevee gawked up at the massive, aged building as she trotted up steps toward oaken doors several times larger than she was. It took all of her strength to push them open enough for her to slip on inside.

The inside of the Hall was just as daunting, if not more so. Ribbed vaults loomed high above on the ceiling, which seemed to catch the faintest sounds and amplify them. Even the light footsteps Ennea took seemed to reverberate eternally as she made her way past cracked pillars, catching glimpses of guards busying about the whole way. By the time she made it to a counter for visitors, she was left feeling horribly out of place, though that was hardly new for her.

Ennea cleared her throat to get the attention of a Bisharp scowling at some document, though that just redirected their glare to her.

“Hi!” Ennea started, before giving a slight tilt of her head. “I’m here to see a criminal?”

The Bisharp’s expression shifted to disbelief. “…You?”

Ennea did not look like an interrogator. For an Eevee at eighteen to pull off that look would be a tall order, and her features were too soft to make her look intimidating, even if she and her family tended to be pretty large for their species. That was the other problem, though. Ennea didn’t look all that aristocratic, either. Fluffy fur which settled into a crescent-like curl on her forehead—minus a bit that always stuck straight up—was a far cry from the sleeker style of the nobility, and her pink-tinted eyes were too sharp. Though they did serve as undeniable proof of her heritage in the dark.

Ennea gave an exasperated smile. “Yeah, I know. But it was the Head Guard that asked. You can check with him, if you need.”

“No, that’s alright.” The Bisharp stood, causing the documents to flutter up just long enough for Ennea to see that one was actually a sudoku puzzle. “Follow me.”

“Thank you,” Ennea added, hoping it would soften their annoyance at least a little.

She only got a grunt in response, and the Bisharp led her to an out of the way staircase in complete silence. Ennea figured it’d be best to leave them be, instead continuing to marvel at her surroundings as they descended underground.

If the Hall itself was daunting, the dungeon below was downright oppressive. It was just a regular one for holding prisoners, no Mystery to it, but that did little to keep the shiver from running down Ennea’s spine as they entered the depths. Unlike above, the ceiling had hardly any space to it, and was held up by wooden supports so dilapidated that she would feel safer if they weren’t there. Not to mention, the walls were way too close. Their dull gray bricks were lit by old torches, and poorly.

It almost felt like they were already in a cell, but the first few rooms the Bisharp guided her through were just storage, limited space further cramped by messes of barrels and crates. It hadn’t bothered her before, but now the Bisharp’s silence was really starting to get to Ennea….

It also got her mind racing. Just what kind of criminal had she been called to see? For them to be held down here? Well, it was actually just temporary holding for untried detainees, the real jail was elsewhere. But still! The place practically oozed danger! Someone put in here just had to be important.

Maybe the crime they committed was unspeakably awful? Or what if they had dark connections to the criminal underworld? Were they part of the Thieves’ Guild?! They could be crafty… an escape artist who needed to be held in a top security prison, the kind that royal money would need to buy! Ooh, hopefully not that one… Ennea couldn’t help much if it was that. But maybe they were just super crazy powerful! That would be something… and not only was Ennea going to get to see them, but she was going to get to decide how they’d be dealt with.

Her heart was beating as fast as her thoughts when they finally reached a wooden door far less grand than the entrance’s, opening to reveal an Excadrill waiting on the other side, in conversation with another guard. The creaking was loud enough to get him to turn his head immediately, and he dropped what he was saying once he saw Ennea. The Bisharp gestured for her to enter, then quickly left, their job done.

“Ah, Ennea,” the Excadrill began. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Yep, I’m here.” Ennea was forced to pause as the door slowly squealed shut behind her. “You’re Thyreos, right? I came as soon as I could after I got your letter.”

“Fifteen minutes after you were supposed to be here,” came another voice, full of contempt. Ennea looked to the side to see an ornery-looking Zweilous, the guard the Excadrill had been conversing with. “Really, what was so important that you kept us waiting? Do you know how many things could have gone wrong in that time?”

“Don’t blame me,” Ennea defended. “I had to wait for the town council. I’d have loved to have arrived an hour early, but they go on a lot longer than they need to.”

The Zweilous nodded one of its heads, while the other continued. “I see. The Chief should really go and tell them off for that. I mean, it was—!”

“It was fine, Salute.” The Excadrill, Thyreos, covered the Zweilous with a claw before looking back to Ennea. “Truly. It’s not a big issue. The prisoner has been mostly compliant.”

“Mostly?” Ennea asked, before she unconsciously began to bounce. “And what’s the big deal with them? What’d they do? And why do you need me?” She gave a purposely cocky look. “What am I busting out my ‘house judgement’ on, exactly?”

Thyreos unfortunately didn’t match Ennea’s energy, letting out a sigh. “Well, take a look for yourself.” He stepped to the side and gestured to the cell behind him. “We captured him out in the woods, just before dawn this morning.”

Ennea peered through the rusted bars, looking up in search of the massive, imposing criminal the cell must have held… only to find it empty of such a person. It was certainly big enough for one, it would dwarf a Pokemon of her size, but it was totally empty, save for a latrine and bundle of old straw halfheartedly made into a scratchy bed.

Wait, no. Just as her heart was about to drop, Ennea saw them in a back corner, where the flickering light of the torches hardly reached. They were facing away from the guards, but turned their head towards Ennea the moment she noticed them.

The lone occupant of the cell was a Vulpix, looking to be roughly Ennea’s age. It took a moment of studying their face before she could be certain they were a boy. Part of that was the hair, which was far longer than the normal tuft on a Vulpix’s head. The back and sides were hanging down to his chest, and his unkempt bangs were long enough to run down his snout, though they didn’t completely obscure his face. Speaking of, the only thing evident in his expression was utter exhaustion. He looked like he hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest in years, if the deep lines running under his eyes were anything to go by. Strangely, he also seemed to be wearing eyeliner of all things, even though otherwise, he was a total wreck. His fur was horribly matted and scuffed up, and the way one of his hind legs was swollen seemed to indicate some serious injury to it.

Ennea attempted to visually interrogate the boy, and he awkwardly met her gaze. This was the criminal? He definitely didn’t seem “super crazy powerful,” especially given how beaten he looked. Somehow, she didn’t see him committing any “unspeakably awful” crimes either. The most believable infraction for him would probably be food robbery, and she was pretty sure that didn’t get you into the Thieves’ Guild. Although, there was a strange darkness in his eyes, reflecting the light of the fire without letting any of it in. But Ennea failed to find any malice in them.

“Um… so… who is he?” Ennea spoke without looking away. She felt a bit bad for staring, but the need to figure out what was up with him was far stronger. “And what exactly did he do?”

“He stole a family’s massive stash of savings,” Salute explained. “Massive. Career criminal levels of money.” He put a strange amount of vitriol on that last part.

“You don’t need to concern yourself with that.” Thyreos took over the explanation. “We have it under control. As to your question about who he is, it’s why we need your input. Salute, if you would.”

Salute nodded, stomped on over to the cell, and rapped a bar with a wing. “Hey. Speak.”

The Vulpix glanced at Salute with that same tired look, before giving a sigh.

“…Tiy jbiq, tiy xiyks hyar fwr ur icwe qurg lbs jukk nw. Alcw wcwetibw gwew l kir id reiyvkw.”

“Whoa.” Ennea recoiled, swirling thoughts only further stirred up by… that. “That’s not Arcaic. What language is that?”

“Not any we know, that’s for sure,” Thyreos grumbled. “A foreign language specialist couldn’t identify it, either. It could be something from the Sea of Wonders. All we know is that he refuses to speak in anything else.”

That finally made Ennea look away, raising an eyebrow at Thyreos. “Refuses?”

Thyreos turned to the Vulpix. “What’s seven times six? Tap both digits of the answer individually using your paw, separated by one second. And do it backwards.”

Immediately, the boy tapped a paw to the ground. One, two. A second of pause, then he began again. One, two, three, four. Forty-two.

“He clearly understands us well enough,” Thyreos continued. “But he won’t talk. When we found him, he had no belongings, so there’s no clue to his identity. Given the situation, and his status as a likely unknown foreigner, we’d like to defer to your authority. What should we do with him, given his serious crimes?”

Oh. So that’s what this was. Ennea’s eyes narrowed. Her tail dropped straight down to the floor, until she looked back to the boy and it began to slowly swish once more. There was a lot she still wanted to know about him, even if she now knew the real reason why she’d been called.

“He had nothing? What about the money he stole?” Ennea worked to keep her tone diplomatic.

“Already hidden,” Salute answered as one of his heads was giving a nasty look to the Vulpix. “I bet that’s why he’s not talking. Playing dumb to convince the court.”

“Convince the court? Hang on.” That didn’t add up right. “Why’d you even arrest him in the first place?”

Thyreos stepped in front of Salute. “A member of the family caught the thief as he was leaving and attacked him. Though he escaped, it wasn’t without taking a serious fall. Not only does this Vulpix have the same injuries, but he also matches the description they gave.”

Description. That was a vague way of putting it. “So it was a Vulpix the family caught? One that looked like him?”

Thyreos grunted. “They didn’t see quite that well. But he does match the description.”

“Which was?”

“…Quadrupedal.”

Ennea blinked. “And?”

Thyreos crossed his arms. “That’s what we were given.”

“How can you be so sure it was him who stole it, then?”

“Because he’s the only suspect!” one of Salute’s heads yelled.

“And he’s completely suspicious!” the other added.

“But quadrupedal’s practically nothing to go off of. That describes nearly everybody in this room.” Ennea’s diplomatic tone was gradually breaking down.

“Salute. Let me,” Thyreos commanded, before looking back to Ennea. “Those injuries are quite important, though. And he’s right about the Vulpix’s suspiciousness. He has no alibi, identity, or even someone to judge his character.”

Ennea pursed her lips. It was obvious what they wanted: a go-ahead on the Vulpix’s trial. All things considered, if nothing was done, he’d be found guilty with near certainty. The poor guy couldn’t even testify in his own defense, and the story was already being spun against him.

Ennea looked back at the Vulpix, alone in the darkness of his terrible cell, returning her stare with nothing but fatigue.

“…Xiik wtwa,” he mumbled.

“Can you leave us for a moment?” Ennea asked.

“Excuse me?” Thyreos was taken aback more than he probably meant to be.

“Can you leave us for a moment? So I can talk to him.”

“Talk to him? He won’t talk back. I don’t believe it would be a good use of your time.”

“Yeah!” Salute chimed in. “And he’s a criminal! Leaving you alone with him would be dangerous!”

“He’s behind bars,” Ennea told Salute, before turning to Thyreos. “And I don’t believe it would be good to send someone to trial without even giving them a chance to explain themselves.”

“He’s been given chances,” Thyreos countered. “And he refused them. That should be enough to convince anyone to give blessing for his trial.”

Well, there was confirmation of what he wanted. “Maybe he’d prefer to talk to someone who didn’t throw him in a cell, you never know. Five minutes. That’s all I’m asking for.”

Salute’s wings tapped against his side as he grumbled. “Well… I guess that sounds alright.”

“Salute. You’re not in charge here.” Thyreos’s claws flexed.

“But Thyreos!” Salute cried. “What’s the harm? She’ll see he’s an evildoer, and then we can move on!”

Thyreos brought a claw close to his face in an averted face-palm. “Fine. You may have five minutes. But remember that he’s a criminal.”

“And if we hear anything wrong, we’ll come right back!” Salute added before Thyreos dragged him out the door.

Ennea waited for the creaking to end and noted that no sounds followed. They were probably waiting right on the other side, listening.

“Hey,” Ennea half-whispered. “Sorry about that. Are you alright?”

The Vulpix sulked on over to the bars. Other than a slight wince as he used his wounded leg, his expression remained weary, even as he gave a nod.

“Cool,” Ennea continued. “What’s your name?”

“Lyrynblk,” he muttered.

“…That’s going to be hard to remember.” Not to mention pronounce.

The Vulpix shook his head. “Bi, Lyrynblk. Lyrynb—! Lyr—!” He gave up, ending his episode in a sigh.

“Wait, is that not it? You… can’t say it?”

The boy nodded.

“Oh, weird.” So it wasn’t a language. It was some sort of impediment, and it wasn’t something he was used to.

Ennea was jolted out of her thoughts by the Vulpix tapping the ground in front of him. Using the dirt and dust layered on top, he quickly drew four items in a clockwise pattern. They were simple, but looked to be a snowflake, a flower, a sun, and a leaf. He pointed to the leaf.

“Seasons,” Ennea thought out loud. “Fall? Does that mean your name is Fall?”

The Vulpix shook his head and made a strange gesture with a paw, facing it pads upward, then bouncing it to the side, emphasizing the new position.

Ennea thought hard to decipher the meaning. “Do you mean… not that one, but another? Another fall? Oh! Autumn, the other name for it?”

The Vulpix nodded, then did a much clearer “more” gesture.

More than just Autumn? “Um… Autumnal? Like the Autumnal Equinox?”

He nodded once more. That is, Autumnal nodded once more.

“Cool, okay! See, that wasn’t that hard.” Ennea gave a glance to the door. “I bet they didn’t even ask you. Alright then, Autumnal, be real with me. Did you do it?”

Autumnal shook his head slowly, looking down as he did.

“’Kay. I believe you.”

Autumnal looked back up with his first real expression: incredulity. It deepened as he saw Ennea warmly smiling back at him.

“Look,” she explained. “There’s basically nothing on you except some weak, circumstantial evidence and a claim that you’re ‘suspicious.’ Nobody should get screwed just because they don’t have anyone to vouch for them. I wanna get you out of here. Are you good with that?”

Though his face remained cold during his single nod, there was a small brightening in Autumnal’s eyes, which Ennea considered victory enough.

“Great!” Ennea had to bring her voice back down as she heard the door begin to creak back open. “Then just trust me for a bit. I’ve got an idea.”

The first moment he could, Salute burst back into the room, whipping his heads around in a frantic search before snapping to attention as he saw nothing was amiss. Thyreos followed soon after, playing the role of the disappointed parent.

“So,” he condescended. “Did you get what you were looking for from him?”

“As a matter of fact…” Ennea couldn’t keep a smirk from forming on her face. “I did. He’s innocent. No trial blessings from me!”

“What?!” Salute’s attention broke as he leaned in too close. “But why?!”

“Salute, quiet.” Thyreos gave the dragon a harsh look. By the time he turned his head to Ennea, he’d barely managed to get his expression back to neutrality. “Miss Ennea, we have indulged in your request, so I ask that you don’t make any rash decisions. There is nothing that points to his innocence.”

“There is. You said he had no one to judge his character. Well, now he does. I talked to him, and his character seems good enough to me. With someone vouching for him, a trial based on an injury that could have come from just about anywhere seems a bit absurd.”

“Miss Ennea.” Thyreos’s tone was slow and bitter, no longer attempting to hide his annoyance. “I am sure that your house would not be happy to hear just how uncooperative you are being. Will it be necessary to contact them? If that resulted in one of your siblings coming here, they would find out just how undignified your conduct has been.”

“Oh sure, go for it.” Ennea rolled her eyes. “Like they’d even bother. I know why you want my blessing for this trial so badly. And if I can tell, they’d definitely be able to tell. Even with my ‘undignified conduct,’ I’m still not trashing the ‘family name’ as much as you’re trying to.”

Thyreos grit his teeth. Ennea waited for him to acquiesce, but that moment failed to come. Uh oh. He really wanted Autumnal to go to trial. Possibly bad enough that he was willing to make good on his threat. That wouldn’t end well for any of them.

“Look,” Ennea lightened her tone back up a bit. “When exactly is his trial supposed to be?”

“Two days from now,” Thyreos growled. “The day after tomorrow, at sunset.”

“Give us until then.”

“For what?”

Before she really knew what she was saying, Ennea began to speak again.

“To prove he’s innocent. We’ll find evidence, and if we can’t, you can have my full blessing for the trial, no strings attached.”

“We?”

Though everything else was improvised, this part Ennea was completely certain about. She pointed to Autumnal. “He’s coming with me. I’ll need his assistance for this.”

Salute managed to open a mouth halfway before Thyreos raised a claw at him, ready to strike. It was enough to get the dragon to back away, while Thyreos closed his eyes in thought. Ennea held her breath as ages passed in that single moment, the dungeon going silent, save for the crackling of the torches.

“…Fine then,” Thyreos finally responded. “I accept your terms. Should you fail to produce sufficient evidence to prove the Vulpix’s innocence, his trial shall commence under your name. Salute, bring the cuffs and inform the Chief.”

Salute nodded and opened his mouth to say something… before deciding against it and leaving.

“Ennea,” Thyreos continued. “Good luck. You’ll be needing it.”

 

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“Sheesh, sorry you’ve gotta wear all that,” Ennea said as she and Autumnal walked the streets of the town, turning more than a few heads. It was a lot more attention than Ennea was used to.

Autumnal glanced down to his shackles. There was one on each forepaw, heavy and flat on the inner ends so that they could be magnetized together at a moment’s notice. But more notable was the metal collar they’d forced onto him. It was dull, scuffed up, and featured both the town emblem and a chain long enough to scrape the ground as he walked. It certainly got across his status to the whole world.

“Ur’a dubw.” He shrugged, before looking around at the people watching them. “…Lxrylkkt, U rgubj ur nufgr kiij qieaw die tiy. Nltvw tiy agiyksb’r vw awwb qurg nw. Qgt’s tiy gwko nw?”

Ennea had no clue what most of that meant, but she followed that the last part was a question. “Where should we start?” she offered.

Her guess was wrong, as Autumnal shook his head. “Qgt sus tiy gwko nw?”

Ennea stopped and looked at the Vulpix confusedly.

Autumnal looked down in thought for a moment, then pointed at himself and cocked his head. Me?

“Oh, are you… wondering why I’m helping you out?”

Autumnal gave a nod.

“Sorry,” Ennea said with a casual smile. “It’s pretty selfish, honestly. Those guards are total jerks. They think you’re foreign, that whatever’s going on with your speech is another language. If you were to get convicted, another continent might go and claim you as theirs, and it would be a whole diplomatic incident. They want me to give approval for the trial so that if that happens, my house gets the blame, not them. We’re both meant to be scape-Gogoats here: you for the crime, me for the trial. I just don’t want to give them that.”

Surprisingly, no expression of disappointment came to Autumnal’s face. Maybe he was just hiding it? Or perhaps he already realized that nobles like her were always selfish.

“Anyway, as I was very subtly trying to lead into: where to start? I don’t suppose you’ve got any ideas?”

Autumnal shook his head.

“Square one…” Ennea thought out loud. It made sense, he was probably completely uninvolved with the crime. But her impulsive declaration had left them stuck. They hadn’t even been told the details of what he was accused of, just that it involved a theft of a family’s “massive” stash of savings.

…How massive? Ennea looked up, seeing that the sun was still high in the sky. It wasn’t too late in the afternoon. There was a chance that they could get some information, and she could help out with another problem at hand.

“Hey, you hungry?” Ennea asked.

After fiddling with his chain for a moment, Autumnal just shrugged.

“…Really?” Ennea quirked an eyebrow. He didn’t exactly look well-fed. In fact, based on his appearance, she’d assumed that the Guards hadn’t been feeding him at all. “Well, we should still stop by a tavern anyway. If we’re lucky, a friend of mine should be there right about now.”

Ennea brought Autumnal all the way out to Frontal Heights, where a very particular tavern lay. Heartstopper’s, as it was called, was one of the best restaurants in the whole town. The building did not reflect this whatsoever. It was a ramshackle mess that had clearly undergone countless repairs and exactly zero renovations in the time it had somehow remained standing for. With all the obvious patch-jobs and crumbling timbers, many were scared away on the reasonable assumption that the building would collapse at any second. For those brave enough to enter, however, good food and a shockingly pleasant dining room awaited.

Ennea was something of a regular here, partly because of that contrast. Like always, entering the building gave her a brief impression of being sent far away. As if the inside and outside truly were different buildings, miles or perhaps even ages apart, connected by the portal that was the door. A magical otherworld lying so close, only being reached by—

She forcefully got ahold of herself before she drifted off. This wasn’t like usual; she had something important right here. Scanning the sparsely populated interior only took a second before Ennea was able to spot a Swablu. She was quite done up, and gazing out a window near the back.

The moment Ennea approached, the Swablu languidly turned just enough to look back at the Eevee, her focus still on the garden visible outside.

“Why hello there, Ennea,” she began. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Yeah, fancy that,” Ennea sarcastically replied. “Meeting at the spot you’re always at.”

The Swablu rolled a wing. “Oh, let me have some fun, at least.”

“Sure, sure, I can give you fun.” Ennea took her seat at the table. “Tell me all about your stalker findings for the day.”

“Research, Ennea. Call it research. And I’m sure you’ll be delighted to hear that the family’s going to be hosting a ball in just four weeks. My chance has arrived.”

“Are you looking for my help getting in?”

“No, I’m saving that favor until I need it.” The Swablu finally gave her full attention to Ennea. “The ball’s going to be semi-public, for the Sky’s Bloom festival. And it’s going to be taking place on Polaris’s birthday. A present, a dance, and then I’ll make my move. At most, I’ll want you to be my wing-woman.”

Ennea let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Yeah, I dunno about that. I’m not really the type for a ball. Not my thing.”

“The irony. Well, I’ve had my fun. You may as well have yours.” The Swablu visibly braced herself with a smile. “What exactly do you have to say about the town council today?”

“They’re throwing more money down the drain,” Ennea complained. “Literally. I don’t get why they allot so much of the budget to the sewers when there isn’t even anybody working on them right now, and they don’t care when I bring it up.”

“So, things are about as good as usual, then.”

Even just talking about them made Ennea’s ears begin to droop. “They only kept me for six hours today, so I can’t really complain….” Then those ears perked right back up. “My day got more interesting afterwards.”

“Right. So.” The Swablu’s face dropped. “Explain this.” She gestured to Autumnal.

“My day got more interesting afterwards.” Ennea pointed Autumnal to a seat, which he hesitantly took.

The Swablu eyed the leash hanging from Autumnal’s neck. “Ennea. Please tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”

“Bezel, this is Autumnal. Autumnal, this is my friend, Bezel.”

“Ennea, I know you hate when people bring it up, but this is the kind of thing that really isn’t good for your image.”

That brought a frown to Ennea’s face. “What, just because he looks like a criminal? I’m helping him out, Bezel!”

Bezel paused, stupefied. “Right. Yes, a criminal. That’s what he looks like. That is what this situation looks like.” She turned to Autumnal. “And you agree with this?”

“Bi, ur wurgwe kiija jubjt ie ukkwflk.”

Bezel blinked. Clearly, her stupor had been used too early.

“As you can see,” Ennea continued, smile back in full force. “He’s in a bit of a bind. Can’t talk and accused of a crime he didn’t commit. We’ve got a little over two days to prove him innocent. We could use your help.”

“Well.” Bezel hopped up and fluttered over to Autumnal. “Then the first thing I’m going to do is this.” She took his chain and tied it into some sort of knot behind his hair. Her work was complicated by Autumnal shying away from her talons, but after a few moments the thing was practically impossible to see. After landing gracefully back on her seat, Bezel puffed up a bit as she admired her handiwork. “Not perfect, but at first glance now it just looks like a weird fashion statement. You’re lucky they went with magnet cuffs.”

“Rglbja…” Autumnal muttered, staring holes into the table.

“Yes, well said, I’m sure.” Bezel nodded and turned back to Ennea. “There you are, my expert assistance.”

“That’s neat and all, but I wouldn’t be coming to you just for appearance tips.”

“If you’re asking me to join you, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.” Bezel eyed Autumnal. “I don’t want to sabotage my chances with Polaris.”

Ennea gave an exasperated look. “That’s fine, we don’t need you to come with us. The guards were real cagey with the specifics of the crime, but they said a presumably wealthy family got their savings stolen. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you, Bezel?”

“Oh.” Bezel covered her beak with the back of a wing. “Oh ho ho, so he’s the one who did it!”

“No, he’s not the one who did it, and we’re gonna prove it!”

“Right. So sorry. Yes, your hunch is correct. Just last night, the Merx family fortune was stolen. They’re in quite an uproar about it.”

Autumnal glanced back and forth between Bezel and Ennea.

“Ah, you aren’t aware,” Bezel realized. “The Merxes are a well-known, aristocratic merchant family. So successful you’d almost think they were Kecleons! I keep tabs on them for personal reasons.”

Ennea gave Autumnal a sly grin. “She’s crushing on one of them. The youngest daughter, Polaris.”

“Ennea, that is simply too weak of a term! What I feel is the deepest of loves, a pining for a beautiful soul, too perfect for this world.” Bezel gave a dreamy sigh that soon gave way to melancholy. “It breaks my heart knowing the stress this must be causing her. I can’t imagine how painful such a thing must be, and so close to her birthday.” The girl composed herself with a clap of the wings, going back to a determined, haughty smile. “If you’ll be bringing her justice, I’ll gladly tell you everything I know.”

“Awesome! I knew I could count on you.” Ennea hopped down from the table. “Gimme a minute first, I’ll get us all lunch.”

Ennea stopped by the bar to make good on that promise. It was only once she’d gotten past the short line and started to order that she realized that while she knew all Bezel’s preferences, she had no idea what Autumnal might want. She looked back to the table, seeing that Bezel was back to staring out the window, and Autumnal… was looking straight at Ennea. His face was completely neutral, impossible to read.

Well shoot, that’s no help. He’d be good at poker, at the very least. He can’t talk, either, so asking would be an ordeal….

To prevent any costly delays, Ennea decided to just settle for getting two of her order. Hopefully that’d be fine with him. It was mostly eggs and bread, anyway.

When she returned to the table, Ennea had to take a moment to pry Bezel away from the window and its view of the Merx Manor nearby.

“C’mon, I don’t think she’d be out and about at the moment,” Ennea spoke with a wry smirk. “You should just go and talk to her if you wanna date so bad, instead of just fantasizing about it.”

“That’s rich, especially coming from you,” Bezel shot back. “And I will talk to her. I simply need the moment to be right for it. I don’t have the class advantage, so a good first impression will mean everything.”

“Is that why you’ve been working so hard at perfumery recently?” Bezel’s talent at her job was evidenced by her scent: one that changed every day through a series of new, strikingly pleasant fragrances.

Bezel puffed up again. “I’m glad someone noticed. I certainly haven’t been taking this so seriously for nothing.”

“Actually, speaking of… I dunno what this investigation is gonna uncover. If it turns out chemicals were involved, you wouldn’t mind lending me some of your knowledge, right?”

“Why, at this point it almost sounds like you’re asking me to solve this for you.”

Ennea leaned forward on the table. “C’mon, nobody I know is as good with them as you. Besides, you never solve the case without a couple of experts to consult.”

“Really? And who decided that?”

“Me, obviously! Ennea: Ace Investigator!” She gestured to Autumnal. “And I’m gonna need your testimony to prove my client here innocent.”

Bezel chuckled. “Fine, fine. Most of my work is with naturally occurring ones and how they smell, but I’ll look into any chemicals for you—if it turns out they were used.”

Ennea celebrated internally, her tail wagging behind her. That was more than enough help for everything she’d need. Thanks, Bezel.

At about that time, a server arrived to deliver the food. Since Ennea and Bezel were regulars, their orders were given to them immediately. Bezel even gave a grateful nod for the free lunch. Ennea motioned for the server to give the final plate to Autumnal.

“Ah,” he muttered, seeming to be either surprised or confused. It was hard to tell. The Vulpix stared down the food with a frown, strangely looking bothered by it.

No way, Ennea thought in disbelief. Does he seriously not like it? Who in the world doesn’t like eggs?

“…U’kk olt tiy vlxj die rgua. U oeinuaw.” And then he set upon the meal like he hadn’t eaten in months. He must’ve been fine with eggs after all. A good thing, too, Ennea wasn’t sure she could prove someone who didn’t even like eggs innocent.

“Alright then, back to business.” Ennea was careful not to speak too soon after a bite of food. “What do you know about the Merx Fortune Theft?”

Bezel lazily hung a wing in the air. “Well, as much as I’d love to confirm your accusations of stalking and regale you the whole event in exacting detail, I don’t actually know all that much about it. Just the basics that have been spread around.”

“That’s fine, we’re going to have to talk to them ourselves at some point. But don’t think the Merxes will trust an investigator who doesn’t even know the basics of the crime they’re investigating.”

“I suppose that’s fair. Well then.” Bezel leaned back as she began to explain.

 “It all happened just last night, a few hours past curfew. Someone managed to sneak into Merx Manor completely undetected and made away with the entirety of their savings. It likely would’ve been an unsolvable case, but one of the family members happened to be awake and saw the thief as they were leaving. Said thief left through a window, but by the time anyone was able to check the streets, they had vanished without a trace.”

Ennea played with her food as she thought. Vanished, huh? But shouldn’t that have been when they ‘took a bad fall?’ How’d they manage to get away while injured so badly? And more importantly… why are the guards in such a hurry to find Autumnal guilty?

“When you say their savings,” she finally asked. “What exactly do you mean? Like, how was their fortune stored?”

“All cash,” Bezel explained with a dismissive wave. “And it was somewhere in the hundreds of thousands, or maybe even a million. I’m not sure where or how much, exactly. This may surprise you, but I’m not particularly interested in their wealth.”

“A million Poké….” That was a lot to carry, especially for a quadruped. Ennea gave Autumnal a look over. He wasn’t exactly a physically inclined species. Even if there were exceptions, in his state he didn’t look to be one of them. Point one for Ennea, she supposed, but the guards would probably claim he just took multiple trips.

“How does the family feel about all this?” Ennea continued the line of questioning.

“Oh, they’re overjoyed.” Bezel had a moment of self-reflection. “Apologies, I suppose now isn’t the time for sarcasm. Well, most of the family is away right now on business, but Calvera—” She gave a quick aside to Autumnal. “The matron of the family, for your information—is more than a little worked up about it. She whipped up the town guard and had them begin their investigation before dawn had even broke.”

“Guess that’d explain why they want this solved so fast.” Knowing how badly Calvera wanted this handled could give Ennea some leverage. “Let’s see… when you say the thief made it in ‘undetected,’ that means that there was some way they should’ve been detected, right?”

“Ooh, arguing semantics! Is that also a part of your playbook, Miss ‘Ace Investigator?’”

Ennea gave Bezel a look. The snark wasn’t necessary.

The Swablu looked up in thought for a moment. “Hm. I should really figure out how to turn that off.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, not only is the mansion locked, but the Merxes have their own personal guards to keep watch over the property. And yet, neither seemed to impede the culprit at all. Quite frankly, I worry that those guards won’t keep their jobs for much longer.”

“Got it, entered without a trace, managed to leave nearly the same.” Someone with skill and a plan. Ennea turned to Autumnal, who seemed to be considering the information. He’d long since finished his food. “How long have you been in town, anyway?”

Autumnal opened his mouth before reconsidering. He then made a series of confusing gestures and pantomimes that meant just about nothing to everyone at the table.

“Sorry, better way of wording it,” Ennea tried again. “How many days have you been here? Including today.”

Autumnal tapped the table a single time. Today was his first day.

“Sheesh, terrible visit, I bet.” And about what Ennea would expect from Epiphany. “Well, I know the guards won’t trust it unless you have an actual alibi, but without any time to premeditate the crime, we might be able to convince others you’re okay.”

“Well?” Bezel offered. “Anything else?”

Ennea fiddled with a bronze bangle on her forepaw, the only piece of jewelry she had. “…No, I think that should be good. That at least gives us a good overview. Thanks, Bezel.”

Autumnal gave Bezel a nod to thank her as well.

“My pleasure.” Bezel pushed her plate up while giving Autumnal an uncertain look. “Best of luck with your investigation. If you can, try and get Polaris her family’s money back.”

“We’ll try.” Ennea hopped off the seat and stretched her legs. “Finding where it’s stashed would probably prove Autumnal innocent, too.” She looked to Autumnal as he hopped down beside her. “You ready?”

“Mm,” he hummed.

Ennea tilted her head, taking a moment before continuing. “…Alright then, let’s get going. We’ve only got so long before curfew.”

Since Merx Manor was literally around the corner, it was a short walk. A good thing too, the sun had passed overhead and was on its way down. Within the hour, it would dip below the lone mountain towering over Epiphany, and they’d start to lose light. Ennea decided to ask Autumnal a few more questions as they made their way to the front gate.

“…So, how long have you been dealing with the speech thing?” It was weird. Almost everything was stuck in his garbled language, but he’d managed to get a few things across earlier without them being filtered.

Autumnal clicked his tongue a single time.

“Wait… just today?”

He nodded.

“Does that mean it’s related to the crime…?” Ennea wondered. It would be a good way to frame someone, she supposed. But would something like that even be possible?

“So,” Ennea continued. “When you try to say something, it comes out wrong, right?”

“Twlg.” Autumnal nodded.

“Was that ‘yes?’”

“Twlg—” he paused, looking like he’d just made a mistake. “U nwlb… twa.”

“Hold on, there’s something I wanna check. Say ‘ah.’”

“Ah.”

What the heck. “Now say ‘apple.’”

“Lookw.”

“So it only works on words…? What about numbers? Say n—” Ennea cringed and looked down to her bangle. “…seventeen. Say ‘seventeen.’”

“Awcwbrwwb.”

Well, that was incomprehensible. “So I guess… noises and gasps and stuff are the only exceptions? Do you know how this happened?”

Autumnal shook his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them before making a “cut-off” motion near his neck. I woke up and couldn’t speak anymore.

“Oh jeez.” A pep came to Ennea’s steps as the mystery deepened. “Is it some sorta curse then? Did you touch something you shouldn’t have? You didn’t pull a Ninetales’s tail, did you?”

Autumnal’s expression turned deadpan, with half-lidded eyes. The Vulpix stopped and made a wide gesture to himself.

Ennea gave a sheepish smile. “R-right. You’d probably know better. Or wait, hold on, does that mean you don’t curse people you know?”

“Swowbsa ib giq nyxg tiy kujw rgwn.” He shrugged. “Dlnukt’a yaylkkt idd rgw rlvkw.”

“…I’ll take that as a ‘maybe.’”

“Hold it!”

Ennea and Autumnal jumped, whirling around to see a Zweilous barreling towards them, forcing others on the road to leap out of the way. The unstoppable force of a dragon came skidding to a halt just a meter before colliding with the duo.

“I finally found you!” he panted.

“I—… yeah, I guess you did…?” Ennea confusedly muttered. “It was… Salute, right?”

At the mention of his name, the Zweilous snapped to attention, chest still heaving with exhaustion. Just how long had he been running…? “Yes! Here to uphold justice!”

“Did something go wrong? You told the Chief about the investigation stuff, right?”

Salute’s heads slumped down. “Yeah… I did, once she came back. Got chewed out for it, too….” He gave a grimace to the side. “It wasn’t even my decision….”

“Ah.” Ennea’s ear twitched apologetically. “Sorry. But at least Autumnal’s not going to be falsely convicted!”

“Is that the Vulpix? I still think he did it,” Salute proclaimed, as one of his heads clenched its jaw at Autumnal. “But yes. This way’s more fair. But we can’t have him just running around without supervision! He could escape the town!”

“Oh, really?” Well, there went Ennea’s back-up plan. Not that she actually intended on using it. Assisting a convict would doom her pretty much immediately. “But isn’t that what the shackles and collar are for?”

“Huh.” Salute brought a claw up to his chest as he thought. “You’re right. Whatever! Better safe than sorry. Point is, you’re not going anywhere without me making sure there’s no injustices.”

Ennea gave an excited gasp. “So we’ve got another member of our squad! The detective who’ll help us solve this case!”

“Huh?” Salute’s heads tilted in opposite directions. “No, I’m not really the investigative type. I’m keeping an eye on you.”

“Oh, so you’re our chaperone, then.” That was a lot less fun. It reminded Ennea of being a little kid, and not in a good way. “Can you at least try to be impartial?”

“No. I’m here to ensure that justice happens.”

Wait, Ennea might’ve had a read on this guy.

“Yeah,” she offered. “And it’s due process to consider him innocent until proven guilty.”

“…You’ve convinced me.”

Ha! Got him! Ennea beamed at Autumnal, giving him a victorious, open smile. He nodded in approval.

“Alright, then!” Ennea skipped up to the front gate. “Let’s figure this thing out, then!”

The gate, a gilded thing with a dramatic, flowery design, loomed over all three as Ennea peered into the massive garden that made up the front of the Merx estate. Seemingly several blocks deep inside, the manor itself stood, its perfectly measured architecture refusing to bend to the chaotic streets it was separated from. A perfect destination for the truth to lay hidden.

This wasn’t how she’d planned for things to go, but Ennea was sure that defending Autumnal was a decision she wouldn’t regret. She gave a confident smile, completely unaware of the events she had set into motion.

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TRACKLIST:

 

1. Darkness Before Light                                                                        END POINT

2. Slow Unraveling                                                                                 END POINT