Chapter 2 – Long Con
by konkonocturneTracklist
The light of the late-afternoon gave the golden gate of the Merx estate a fabulous glint. But the shadow beginning to draw over the ornamental columns bordering said gate spoke to how close the day was to being over. It was time to get a move on.
Ennea strode forth and—
Hold on.
The Eevee turned back to Autumnal and Salute while she was in mid-step.
“Um… how do we get in?” she asked.
The gate was closed and nobody was nearby. And while the white brick wall surrounding the estate had decorative gaps left in it, they were only big enough to look through. Anyone larger than a Natu was quite literally walled off.
Salute impatiently flapped a wing. “You’re the noble, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you know how to do this stuff?”
“Not exactly,” Ennea murmured.
Autumnal turned his head and looked up at nothing. Even now, his face had remained static. After a moment, he mimed a knocking motion with a paw and shrugged.
Well, that wasn’t the worst idea. “Dunno if they’ll hear me knocking all the way out here, though,” Ennea said as she turned back to the gate. “I’ll try yelling, instead.”
“Qlur, rglr’a bir qglr U—”
“Heeey!” Ennea shouted, cupping a paw at the end of her muzzle. “Anyone there?! We’ve got important business relating to the theft that happened!”
Ennea turned back to find Autumnal’s eyes wide and his body recoiling back from the gate, shoulders hunched and fur bristling. He looked mortified. It was probably the most expressive the Vulpix had been all day. She gave an uneven smile at his second-hand embarrassment. It even made the first-hand embarrassment worth it.
“Excuse me.”
The sudden drawl coming from behind gave Ennea a start. Turning once more greeted her with the sight of a Golduck looming on the other side of the gate, staring her down with an utterly unamused expression that perfectly suited their serious face. Ennea wilted under their gaze. Maybe it wasn’t so worth it after all.
“What exactly is causing you to make such a racket?” They spoke in a voice so devoid of pitch that it even gave the town council a run for their money.
“Ah, um.” Ennea uncomfortably brushed a paw through her fur collar. “We need to talk to Calvera. Can you tell her that a member of House Harmonie is here to see her?”
The Golduck barely raised an eyebrow. “Which member of House Harmonie?”
“…The youngest.” Ennea considered her next words carefully. “We have important information about the theft that just occurred. The one the guards arrested is innocent. Tell her that he’s here as well.”
The Golduck bored down on her for a tense moment before answering. “…It will be considered.” Then they turned and walked off with a baffling amount of speed.
Ennea sighed, deflated. That wasn’t really a yes or a no….
“Now what?” Salute had added another wing to his impatient flapping.
“Now,” Ennea explained. “We wait. Hopefully they don’t turn us away.” She turned to Autumnal, whose tails were still puffed up. “You good?”
Autumnal quickly used his paws to smooth them back down. “U’n dubw.” He exhaled, and then was back to his poker-face. Then he pointed at Ennea and thumped a fist against his chest.
Ennea tilted her head, a small smile returning to her as she tried to work out the puzzle. What did that mean? Obviously, it was something about her, but the chest thump could mean a lot of things. She was sturdy? Brave? Fearless? Undignified? Going to get punched in the chest?
The Eevee gave an evasive wave. “I’ll assume that was a compliment, whatever it was, so thanks.”
“…Tiy’ew lkai l kurrkw xelmt,” Autumnal finished under his breath.
“Excuse me.”
The sudden drawl coming from behind gave Ennea a start and a major case of déjà vu. The Golduck was back a lot faster than expected.
“You should feel honored,” they continued. “Lady Calvera has agreed to speak with you. Come along, now.”
And just like that, the gate swung open, giving everyone passage into the garden. Immediately, the Golduck began to walk away with a relaxed gait that was unbelievably fast. However they were managing to do that, it forced Ennea to jog to keep up.
Merx garden was stunning, designed in several layers. In the center, and what the group currently had to rush through, was a series of wooden pathways across a massive fountain complex that was clearly the Merxs’ pride and joy. Really, it was large enough to classify as an artificial lake, with a series of jets spurting up across the whole surface. Surrounding the fountain were the hedges, in a maze of geometric designs punctuated by olive trees and the occasional bed of flowers. Further beyond that, where the first hints of natural disorder began to show, was a thicket of the flora native to the Star Continent’s Southern Arm. Mostly the conifers of the temperate areas, but a few oaks and shrubs representing the chaparral coast as well.
“Do you manage all of this? Where are all the other guards?” Ennea asked as she ran around the massive geyser in the middle of the fountain complex.
“I do,” the Golduck deadpanned while strolling at Mach 2. “Urania, at your service. The other guards are present, as well.”
“Really? I don’t see them.”
“That is the point.”
Salute scoffed. “That’s dumb. Guards are meant to be protectors of the people. We stay out in the open so that everyone feels safe and happy. You guys are basically acting like shady criminals yourselves.”
“This way is effective,” Urania explained.
“Not effective enough. Whoever came up with your system must not have had any justice in their—”
Salute’s rant was interrupted by a sudden blast of water from below. As he hissed and jumped back, he revealed a jet bursting up from where he had unfortunately just run across. The fur on his front side now drooped and flattened, dripping all over the walkway and causing everyone to stop and turn back to the dragon.
“That won’t do.” Urania’s arms were folded behind their back. “We cannot have you entering the manor while you’re soaking wet. You really must be more careful in the future. Please remain outside until you have properly dried yourself off.”
“What?!” Salute cried, as one of his heads bit at the fountain that had hit him.
“We will do our utmost to assist in making you presentable.” As Urania continued, a Talonflame swooped down from seemingly nowhere to escort Salute off. “Once you are ready, we will let you know.”
“Unbelievable,” Salute complained. “What an injustice….”
“Oh, wait!” Ennea called before Salute could be taken away. “Maybe you could use this as an opportunity to check out how the guards are doing things? You know, see if they’re really doing stuff well or not.”
Salute’s scowl deepened for a moment, but he eventually sighed. “Yeah, fine. I’ll see just how deep this injustice runs, and why someone was easily able to sneak in without them noticing.”
“Thanks, and sorry about this. We’ll be back, and won’t commit any crimes while you’re not around!”
Salute still grumbled as he left, but he at least seemed a bit more purposeful.
“Now then, I believe we may continue.” Urania turned and began their supersonic walk once more. Just as they were taking off, Ennea saw them flick a webbed hand, and suddenly the fountain that had nailed Salute stopped.
“Wait,” she thought aloud as she began to run. “You did that?” A water-type known for having telekinetic powers. It would be easy for them to activate a jet of water.
“The water tricks are my favorite part of managing the garden,” Urania explained in a mirthless tone. “Lady Calvera agreed to see the member of House Harmonie and the accused thief. A member of the town guard was not part of that.”
“Jeez, that’s cold.” Ennea glanced to Autumnal, who’d been keeping up surprisingly well despite his injuries. “Maybe you should watch your step as well. Who knows what they’ll try.”
Autumnal gave a noncommittal huff as the group’s pace finally began to slow to an actual walking speed.
“What, you really that confident?”
He dismissed that idea with a shake of his head.
“I do not mean to interrupt,” Urania interrupted. “But we are here.”
Ennea looked forward to find Merx Manor standing in front of them, taking up her entire vision. Despite its size, every angle was perfectly symmetrical, down to the very last roof tile, and kept in pristine condition, which helped its colors pop. They really love their whites and reds…. The double doors of the entrance were framed by an arch, the keystone of which depicted a stylized feather.
Just as she was about to hop up to open the door, Ennea was stopped by Urania.
“Please,” they chided. “Leave such tasks to the proper personnel.” Urania then opened the doors themselves, stepping to the side to show them in.
“R-right,” Ennea stammered apologetically. Maybe she was the one who needed to watch out the most. There was no telling what a mistake like that could cost here.
As expected, the interior of the manor was just as opulent as the façade, if not more so. Everything had some sort of flourish to it, with every room just shy of visual overload. It helped that the actual organization and decoration of the place seemed pretty tasteful as far as Ennea could tell, though there were probably more chandeliers than necessary. Part of that may have been due to how the place was designed with Flying-Types in mind: there were perches and nesting corners everywhere, and certain areas required long detours to get to if you couldn’t just fly up to them.
Urania walked at a notably reasonable pace as they led Ennea and Autumnal up to the second floor, past several portraits all the way to a sunroom. Inside, a Hawlucha was laying on a lounge chair, watching the changing colors of the sky.
“Lady Calvera.” Urania greeted her with a bow, despite Calvera not even sparing a look in their direction. “The guests you agreed to have been brought.”
“Quick as always. Thank you, Urania.” Calvera’s gaze remained firmly set on the world outdoors.
“Of course. Would you like anything else? A drink, perhaps?”
Calvera drew herself up from the chair in a slow, effortless motion, like a perfect reverse of laying down. She gave a cursory glance over Ennea, but lingered for a moment on Autumnal.
“…Yes,” she finally answered. “A drink would do quite well. Bring two.”
“It shall be done.” And Urania left, leaving the pair alone with Calvera.
Calvera herself was… not exactly what Ennea was expecting. She certainly had the grace of an aristocrat, but there was also an underlying intensity to her. Maybe it was just her Fighting-Typing, but she seemed to be in way better physical shape than most of the nobility. And yet she seemingly used all of that strength to carry herself with as much dignity as possible. She held her wings like a robe, and heavy looking weights made of precious metals adorned her ankles.
“So then,” Calvera began. “You are Ennea Harmonie?”
The Eevee fought to maintain eye contact, narrowly succeeding. “I’m Ennea, yes.”
“Hm.” Calvera seemed to judge more harshly with every slight movement of her eyes. “I had heard you were in Epiphany but was starting to believe it was just a rumor. Is this what you do nowadays?”
Okay, so now the interrogation had been flipped. Ennea desperately fought the urge to respond with: “I’m the one asking the questions here, buddy.” It was terribly tempting.
“I guess it is, at least recently,” was what she finally settled on. “Someone may as well help find the truth. I figure that would be better for you, as well.”
“If that’s what you believe you’re doing.” Calvera made her way over to Autumnal. “I hadn’t gotten the chance to see the accused thief yet.”
Then the Hawlucha’s entire demeanor changed. Whatever poise and reservation she had before was cut away in a moment, and only strength remained. She glared down upon Autumnal while rising over him, using her form as a tool for intimidation. Every muscle in her body seemed ready to strike and rip the Vulpix apart at a moment’s notice as she leaned in to the point where her beak could tear out his eyes.
“You’re an awfully filthy thing,” Calvera hissed, right in his face. “Do you know how much trouble it is, to lose that much of what is ours? Of course not.”
Ennea tensed, her instincts urging her to take some sort of action, either to fight or flee. But she held back, knowing that doing so may only cause an early attack. As was often the case, Ennea could only watch.
“Mercantile business is not a cheap affair,” Calvera continued. “If our current trades are to fail now, we will have nothing to fall back on. It would devastate far more than just ourselves. Thousands rely on us for their supplies. That devastation is what you will have caused, if you do not return what you took.”
Despite everything, Autumnal managed to meet Calvera’s glare without even flinching. His face remained the same as always, revealing nothing as he stared back at the matron, his body completely still even as she held herself back just an inch from ending him.
“Lady Calvera.”
Ennea snapped her head towards Urania, who was standing in the doorway with two full glasses on a platter. Just in the nick of time.
“The drinks you requested,” they finished.
Calvera leaned back, returning to her previous disposition and allowing Autumnal to have personal space once more. “Thank you, Urania. Give one to dear Ennea here.”
“Ah, u-um, thanks,” Ennea said as she accepted a glass full of fizzy red liquid. She was still a bit shaky. “Wait, what about Autumnal?”
“Thieves do not get any amenities.” Calvera gave a cold look to the Vulpix. “They have already taken enough.”
Sheesh, what was with these people? Would it kill them to be nice to a stranger for once?
“C’mon, you can’t seriously believe he did it.” Ennea swirled her glass to keep the frustration out of her tone.
Calvera raised an eyebrow as she sipped her own drink. “I can quite easily believe he did it. But I suppose there’s no harm in being thorough. I assume that’s why you’re here? To inquire about the theft?”
At least she cut to the chase, and not Autumnal’s jugular. “Yeah. We’re here to find out who really did it, and we need to hear everything you know to do that.”
Annoyingly, it was a dismissive laugh that Calvera gave in response. “I’m sure. This at the very least increases the likelihood that someone will find our funds. Very well. I shall indulge you.” Calvera left the sunroom, beckoning Ennea and Autumnal to follow. “This way.”
“Great, I—” Ennea stopped herself before she stepped off. She still had a drink in her paw and didn’t have any way to store it while walking.
“Miss Ennea, I believe I can carry that for you,” Urania offered.
Ennea sighed. “No, no need. I’ve got it.” She looked at the full glass for a moment, the effervescent liquid inside calling to her still shot nerves, but the reflection of her face reminding her of the status she was meant to uphold.
Screw it. Ennea downed the whole glass. A bad idea, as the sudden burst of flavor nearly caused her to gag. But damn it, if Ennea was going to do something stupid, she was going to commit. She continued to drink, her tongue screaming from the rush of overwhelmingly sweet, tangy, and even sour liquid dancing across it. It was a gift from the heavens when it finally ended, and Ennea could finally bring both her head and the glass down with a fierce look of victory.
…Only to be greeted by judgement from the aristocrats. Calvera looked just about ready to gag herself. Great, now Ennea felt even—
She was distracted by a sound coming from her side, immediately looking to find Autumnal there, lightly clapping for her. All at once, whatever terrible feeling had been building up disappeared, and a goofy pride returned to her. Yeah, I just did that. It was dumb. And fun. She gave a smile back to Urania as she held out the empty glass.
“There. It’s finished. Thank you very much for the refreshment.”
“…You are welcome.” Urania hesitantly took the glass back. “I see that you enjoyed it.”
“Sparkling Liechi juice,” Calvera explained. “Helps revitalize one’s energy. Drinking it… like that will give you quite the kick.”
“Good, then we can get this show on the road without wasting any time.” Ennea began walking forward, spurring everyone else to do the same. “Sparkling, huh?”
“Yes, a member of the family tried it while traveling and insisted we have it as well.”
“So, it’s not alcoholic, then?” Ennea kinda hadn’t considered whether or not it was before deciding to chug the glass.
“No, it is not.”
Autumnal tilted his head and sniffed for a second. After getting Ennea’s attention, he pointed to Calvera’s glass with a tail. Hers is.
Huh, that might be helpful to know, Ennea thought. Maybe she’ll be loose lipped. Er, beaked.
“By the way.” Ennea gave an aside to Autumnal as they were lead by Calvera. “I don’t get it. You avoided Bezel’s touch like she was going to kill you, but when Calvera was getting all up in your face you treated it like it was nothing. What gives? I mean, good job and all, but still.”
Autumnal thought for a while before he sighed and clearly gave up on pantomiming his thought process.
“Qwkk, twlg. Ur’a l rgewlr. Rgewlra lew wlat, rgwew’a vlauxlkkt bi qlt U xlb axewq rgwn yo. Qiear xinwa ri qiear, U hyar suw.” He looked up for a moment. “Huh. Biq U’n jubsl fkls tiy xlb’r ybswearlbs nw.”
Ennea gave an exasperated smile. “I got ‘huh’ from that. Whatever it is, you’ll have to explain later.”
“I’m not in the mood to waste time. If you have questions for me, ask them,” Calvera commanded.
“Yeah, okay.” Ennea took a second to consider. Better to just get the whole story. “We know the basics of the case. Someone broke in, was seen, then vanished. But I’d like to hear it from your perspective.”
“Hm. You may be disappointed to know that I was not the one who saw the thief.”
“Alright, but who was? Who even is still here? I heard most of the family’s out right now.”
Calvera gave a dismissive wave with her half-full glass. “Currently, it is just myself and my daughter, Polaris. As it would happen, she was the one to spot the criminal as he was leaving.”
“So the thief timed it pretty well, then?” Ennea looked to Autumnal. “They’d have to be pretty up to date on your all’s activities. Someone who just arrived recently’d never be able to do it.”
“Perhaps,” Calvera conceded. “Or they simply got lucky. I would hesitate to give credit to such a lowly individual.”
“Okay, but—” Ennea stopped herself. She was getting sidetracked with this argument. “Sure. Okay, they got lucky. But what exactly happened, where and when?”
“Take a look.” Calvera turned into an unassuming door in the hall they’d been walking through. Or at least, it was no more assuming than everything else in the manor. Inside was a massive, dark safe, its black-purple coloring standing out against the lighter tones of everything else. It looked supremely complicated.
“This is where we had stored our backup funds,” Calvera explained. “This safe is one of the greatest in the world. Somehow, he cracked it at some time around 1 AM this morning.”
“Somehow… so you don’t know?” Ennea took a closer look at the brass handle and dial of the safe’s door.
“Of course not. By all means, it should have been impossible. The smith who created it is a master, and this was his finest work. I checked it myself, and even now, I cannot find any signs of tampering.”
Ennea continued to pace around the thing, inspecting every side. As far as she could tell, Calvera was right. “Is it possible they just… cut a hole then fixed it?”
“It’s made of a very particular alloy. To reforge any damage would take days, and I check the thing every night.”
“What about… just phasing right through? A Ghost-Type might be able to.” Not that there were many Ghost-Type quadrupeds, but it was worth investigating.
“I welcome you to try.”
Autumnal tilted his head. He leaned in and glared at the safe, purple wisps beginning to glow around his eyes. Was that… Hex? Suddenly, he blinked and recoiled, the move abruptly ending.
Calvera gave a pleased exhale at his failure. “That alloy I was mentioning includes Dusk Stones. Such things will not work. As well, manipulating the mechanics with Psychic techniques would be impossible.”
“Psychic…” That gave Ennea an idea. “Maybe it’s simpler than that, then. Maybe they just figured out the code and opened it.” Simple solutions were often the best ones, after all.
“No. The dial is completely silent. No matter how good your hearing is, you’d never be able to use that trick.”
Okay, this was starting to get annoying. Just how many failsafes did this thing have tacked on? “But they could have still figured it out another way. Maybe they learned the code from someone who knew it already.”
“There is only one ‘mon in the entire world who knows the combination: myself.” Calvera crossed her wings. “The code was chosen randomly, and there are no hints to it. And I certainly did not write it down anywhere.”
“But.” Ennea held up a paw. “They could have read your mind. Nothing’s ever 100% safe with Psychic-Types.”
“They didn’t.”
Ennea furrowed her brows. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Goodness, you really don’t know anything.” Calvera rubbed a talon against her temple. “I suppose I will have to educate you.” She took a deep breath before shouting. “Polaris!”
Almost immediately, a Meditite with oversized, round glasses peered in from the door. “Yes, mother?”
Calvera’s expression notably softened a bit. “Could you be a dear and help me explain the finer points of mental manipulation to Miss Ennea here?”
“Oh, hello!” Polaris greeted Ennea. “Um… give me just a moment.”
Ennea waited, watching the Meditite seemingly just staring at her in some sort of intense concentration. .
The bronze bangle Ennea was wearing on her forepaw was special, and custom made. There was only one other in the entire world. She’d had hers for over nine years, now. Though the pattern engraved on it appeared to most to be floral, there was a secret to it that only Ennea and one other person knew.
Ennea blinked and looked down at the bangle. Why did she suddenly just think about that? Was that…?
“The mind naturally rejects thoughts which aren’t its own,” Calvera explained. “To be subtle about extracting information from someone requires a truly baffling amount of skill. And even if one has that skill, the moment they are found out, the victim’s mind becomes resistant. Now that you realize Polaris was in your head, think back.”
Ennea gave a worried look up at Calvera, but listened. She mentally returned to just before the bangle popped into her mind and tried searching for anything unusual. The moment she did, she remembered a voice, silent in the moment, but perfectly audible in hindsight. It had given her a simple instruction:
“Please tell me about that bangle of yours, but only what you’d be comfortable having a stranger know.”
“Whoa…” Ennea gasped.
“Um…” a slightly familiar voice now spoke in her mind. “Can you hear me? You should be able to hear me, now.”
Is this Polaris? Ennea thought.
“Yes! I’m trying to be silent, but now that your mind has identified mine, it can hear me no matter what. Apologies, I hope I wasn’t too intrusive. Um… I think that bangle of yours is nice! Thank you for telling me about it.”
S-sure. Ennea was a bit put off by talking to someone mentally. No problem.
“Okay,” Ennea spoke aloud. “I think I get it. If someone had plucked the combination from your head, you’d be able to find them out if you looked hard enough.”
“Indeed.” Calvera leaned back, pleased. “Polaris herself checked my mind to be certain that there were no Psychic intruders. Unless our culprit is the most skilled mental manipulator in a century—” she glared at Autumnal. “—which I think he isn’t, the possibility that someone read my mind for the combination is impossible.” She turned to her daughter. “Polaris, you may go now.”
Polaris nodded. “Okay, I’ll be out in the garden if you need me. It was nice to meet you, Ennea.”
“Likewise.”
Just as Polaris ducked out, Ennea smacked a paw to her forehead. Oh, damn it! I should’ve asked her what happened when she saw the thief!
“So then,” Calvera asked. “Any other theories you wish to have disproven?”
“I—” Ennea pursed her lips. She wasn’t a fan of the way that was phrased… but she had nothing. They couldn’t have broken the safe with any method she could imagine, and they couldn’t have figured out how to open it. By all means, they really shouldn’t have been able to manage the theft at all.
“I see.” Calvera gave that look of dismissive disappointment that Ennea was getting far too used to. “Well then, I believe that we can be done here.”
“Hold on.” Ennea hopped in front of the doorway. “I’m not done yet. The fact of the matter is, even if we don’t know how the thief got into the safe, they did. We can get hung up on the method later. Maybe an expert would be able to figure it out. More importantly, you still haven’t told us what you were doing at the time of the theft.”
“It was early in the morning.” Calvera finished off her drink. “I was asleep.”
“Okay, but how did you find out about the theft? And what else do you know?”
Calvera sighed as she handed off the empty glass to a suddenly present Urania. “You’ll take up the entire day at this point. You wish to speak to an expert about the safe? As it would happen, the one who created it resides in this very town. A Wyrdeer by the name of Ward. Bother him.”
Ennea was startled by a tap on the shoulder from Urania, who handed her a card with an address in the Parietal Sector. They just have other peoples’ business cards on the ready?
“I learned about the theft when Polaris woke me up about it,” Calvera continued as she pushed past Ennea. She gestured for everyone to follow her into the hall. “Around 1:40 or so. At the time, we weren’t aware that he’d managed to get into the safe, just that he broke in and left when Polaris saw him.”
For a moment, Ennea stopped, nearly being left behind by the others. Except for Autumnal—he stopped too, and was giving her a curious look.
“They made their escape through here.” Calvera pointed to a large window taking up the whole wall at the very end of the hall.
Ennea shook her head and scampered on over to the mentioned window. It seemed like they were near the back of the manor. More importantly, the wall around the garden was right there, with the street easily visible on the other side. Since they were on the second story, a good leap would clear it, and a hypothetical thief making their escape would be home free.
…Well, sort of. The road here was jam packed with buildings for several blocks. Densely populated, and easy to cut off. And it was highly developed, too. Pretty much every public system and amenity in the town had a presence on this street. Not the kind of place it was easy to stay hidden.
“I see…” Ennea mused aloud. “How soon were you able to get eyes on the street?”
“Almost immediately,” Calvera replied. “Our guards were still on duty. We swept practically every street in Frontal Heights, and checked to be sure that he wasn’t being sheltered in any of the homes. To no avail, at least until the Town Guard caught him.”
Ennea plopped herself down in front of the window, staring through it as she thought.
Okay, so they must’ve had some sort of way to get by covertly. She now knew better than to run any of her theories by Calvera. A disguise, maybe? Teleport? Dunno if that’d be workable. Teleport was notoriously inaccurate unless you were extremely familiar with both the location of departure and destination. I think there’s a quadruped or two who can learn it, so it’s not impossible. But it’s bright and takes a while. And I think there’s a weight limit… 1 million Poké would probably break that. Too many flaws. Teleport’s out. And I have no idea how a disguise wouldn’t be found out.
The how still evaded her, but that wasn’t as important right now. Ennea finally knew the what of the case, as far as Calvera was going to tell her.
Ennea brought her paw down from its position under her chin and stood back up. “Alright, I think that’s all we need for now. From you, at least.”
“Good.” Calvera glanced to a nearby grandfather clock. “Curfew is at 10, as I’m sure you’re well aware, but I’d prefer for you to be out of here by 9.”
Ugh, of course. “Alright. We’ve still got a few hours then. We’re going to go talk to Polaris to get her testimony.” To push her luck, Ennea leaned in with a knowing smirk. “You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
Calvera gave a dismissive gesture. “She’s old enough to make her own decisions. If she has no problem with having her time wasted, then neither do I. But…” Calvera’s talons glinted as she gave a wicked glare. “If she does not want to talk to you, you will leave her be.”
Ennea recoiled a bit. “Well. Okay then.” At least it seems like a relationship full of love?
The Hawlucha didn’t even spare them another word, sauntering off and around the corner of the hall. The moment she was out of sight, a great wingbeat was heard.
It took a moment of mentally retracing her steps and looking down the path in front of them before Ennea was ready to admit something.
“Do you… remember the way back?” she asked Autumnal. Ennea wasn’t so great with big, complex homes. It really didn’t help that this one had random level changes that were only navigable if you could fly. Autumnal opened his mouth to say—
“I believe I can be of assistance.”
Ennea stumbled back, successfully being jumpscared by the sudden reappearance of Urania. From her new position laying on the floor, Ennea looked up to see the Golduck standing over her.
“Jeez!” Ennea scrambled back onto her feet, nearly bowling over Autumnal as she did. It caused him to jump as well, causing a chain reaction of tripping until they were both suddenly halted mid fall.
“Apologies for startling you.” Urania was holding up a glowing, webbed hand. “I can show you out.”
Ennea touched back down to the ground. “You just keep vanishing and showing back up.” She shook her head. “What gives?”
“I appear only when I am needed.”
“Is insane stealth a prerequisite for working here?” How did you all not catch the thief if you’re this good?
“We simply have good training. Professionals adapt to the plan.” Urania gestured for Ennea to follow.
“Adapt…” Ennea’s ear twitched. “Does that mean you didn’t always do it like this?”
Urania managed to get them back to the stairs in the foyer in record time. “Quite astute. Yes, we changed our guard plan around 3 years ago. This is the first time it has ever failed.”
“I… have no idea if that’s a good thing or not.”
While opening the front door for Ennea, Urania continued. “Many have their eyes set on this manor. With absolutely no incidents for such a string of time, I would say that ‘a good thing’ would be putting it lightly.”
“Mm.” Autumnal gave a low, monotone hum.
“What are—” Ennea looked back to find Autumnal still floating behind her, looking like he was having the worst time of his life.
“Um.” Ennea gave Urania a confused squint. “You can put him down.”
The Golduck flicked a hand, and Autumnal was unceremoniously dumped onto the front steps outside. “We have never failed before, and I will not let such a lapse happen again. Any thieves shall be kept under my control.”
“I told you he’s not—” Ennea closed her eyes for a moment. “Whatever. Thanks, I guess.”
After checking to make sure Autumnal had gotten his bearings, Ennea trotted back down into the garden with “the thief,” this time keeping him firmly in her sight.
“Did they also do that when we were going up?”
Autumnal nodded.
“What the heck is with these people?” Ennea’s tail lashed behind her. “You should’ve told me!”
Autumnal shrugged, and then drew a tail over his mouth. A reminder that he couldn’t speak.
“Oh. Wait, no! You totally could’ve just made a sound!” Ennea leaned her head in to serve as an accusatory point. “You literally just did, a moment ago!”
Another shrug was the Vulpix’s response before he pointed up at the sun. Or at least, where it would be if it weren’t currently behind the mountain. They were low on time.
Ennea frowned as she backed off. She wasn’t sure if that was just meant to change the subject or was meant to explain his previous actions. But the assessment that they needed to get a move on was correct. If Polaris was in the garden, she probably wouldn’t be once twilight was over, and whether or not Urania would let them back in the mansion was up in the air.
Oh, wait. Urania.
“Hey, Urania? Do you think you could show us where Polaris is? Or Salute, we could really—”
Ennea looked around her, finding a garden devoid of other Pokémon, save for her and Autumnal.
“’Only when you’re needed,’ huh?” Ennea sighed. “Guess we’re on our own.” And definitely not being allowed back inside.
Autumnal gave his 81st shrug of the day.
“You’re right!” Ennea smiled. “We can totally do this on our own! We’re basically professionals at bothering aristocrats. We’ll have this done in no time!”
To Ennea’s surprise, Autumnal gave her a determined nod in response. She was purposely interpreting his shrug as overly optimistic, but now she was kinda feeling it!
The Eevee jumped into the nearest hedge maze. “Let’s go, then!”
Merx Gardens
1F
…Okay, the hedge maze wasn’t actually a Mystery Dungeon. But Ennea could pretend. It certainly made wandering around a lot more fun. The good news was that the hedges weren’t really that high; a good jump allowed her to see over, thanks to her and her family’s extra size.
“I don’t—” Ennea jumped. “—see her—” And she landed. “—over here! What about you?”
Autumnal shook his head.
Landing from another bounce, Ennea gave the Vulpix an encouraging smile. “You should jump, too! We’re around the same height, you’d be able to check.”
“Ah.” Autumnal looked away apologetically and used a tail to point back to his swollen leg. “Aieet. U’n retubf ri ufbiew ur, vyr….”
“Oh… well, maybe we can just do this the old-fashioned way.”
Ennea led the team further into the maze. Things were well manicured here. The hedges didn’t catch any tufts of fur, and the gravel was so fine that it barely crunched under her paws. Pretty weak adventure material. And even when they managed to go deep enough to find one of the olive trees and an arc of flowers surrounding it, Polaris still wasn’t anywhere to be found.
But both of those problems were solved by taking a path into the thicket. It wasn’t exactly a wild looking area, but the higher density of flora made it feel more like a hike and less like a stroll. It also made things way harder to see, since the limited light could barely penetrate the canopy. Padding down the wood path, Ennea and Autumnal searched through the half-shadowed plants, finding the occasional cool rock or branch, but no Polaris, no matter how far they went.
Pressing past some overgrown buckbrush, Ennea emerged back into the fading light. Their path had taken them all the way around the garden, to a slope down that would return them to the hedge maze.
“I don’t get it… where is she?” Ennea frowned as she brought a paw to her head. “She can’t have already gone back in, could she?”
The Eevee surveyed the inner two layers of the garden from her elevated position. Most of the fountain and hedge areas could be seen from here, and neither of them were populated.
“It’s like everyone’s hidden somehow.” Ennea spoke under her breath. “The guards, Polaris… what could be the secret?”
What could be the secret?
What could be…
…the secret…?
“Gah!” Ennea suddenly sprinted forward. To no place in particular, she just had to vent the sudden burst of energy her realization had caused.
“Autumnal!” She whipped her head back to a very confused Autumnal, doing his best to keep up.
“I totally forgot!” Ennea continued. “The secret garden! Most big, high budget gardens have one!” She began to pace back and forth. “It’s supposed to only be a place for the high class. Usually, only the residents and the architect knows about it. If Polaris wanted to relax in the garden, that’d be where she’d go!”
But Ennea had no idea where or how they were hidden. She looked up at the darkening sky. Sunset was practically over. It was the start of the blue hour.
“Shoot, we have no time! We’ve gotta find it, fast!”
Ennea rushed back into the hedge maze, weaving around the corners to try and find any sign of something wrong. Autumnal followed close behind, dragging a tail against the side of a hedge.
Oh, no, no, no! Ennea had completely wasted their time! No matter how many bends she checked, or how many olive trees she found, none of them had any secret paths to speak of! Why couldn’t she have just remembered earlier?!
“Ah!”
Ennea stopped, turning to find that she’d left Autumnal behind. Following the sound of his voice as quickly as she could, she found the Vulpix a few turns back, slowly treading around one of the flowerbeds.
“Huh? What’s up?” Ennea asked.
Autumnal scowled at the arc of flowers in front of him. They’d all had the same design: segmented into a series of colors that could all be found on a Hawlucha’s plumage. Reds, oranges, greens, and whites, in a perfectly symmetrical pattern.
Or so it seemed, until Autumnal stepped aside. One of the colors on this arc was wrong. A red section was replaced with a violet one. He followed it like an arrow, past the tree and to the hedge wall, ducking down and prodding it with his nose.
“Hah!” Autumnal popped back up and spun around to Ennea, sending his hair flying in the process. Completely ignoring it whipping him in the face, he pointed to a low spot on the hedge before parting it open with a paw.
“Whoa!” Ennea immediately scrambled on over. Sure enough, there was a small tunnel through this hedge that seemed to lead into an unpathed part of the thicket.
The Eevee gave a big, uneven grin. “You found it!” She spared one more look up to the sky, the last pastels fading to a navy blue. “I’d totally congratulate you, but we’ve gotta go!” Ennea stuffed herself into the tunnel, tail wagging behind her.
“U susb’r wcwb glcw ri yaw nt xlow die rgua ibw.” Autumnal followed her in, looking a bit proud of himself.
It didn’t matter that the tunnel was quite long, Ennea made sure to clear it in no time, popping back out in the thicket on a path that was completely separated from the others, and hidden by an overgrowth of colorful shrubs. Though she couldn’t see what was at the end of the path, in her heart of hearts, she knew.
“Oh, wait, hold on.” Ennea stopped Autumnal before they could go too far.
Autumnal cocked his head, glancing up at the sky for a moment.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, but before we go and talk to her, I’ve got an idea.” Ennea had a smile on her face. A lopsided one that always meant she was up to something.
“So.” She took began to pace and gesture at nothing, as if she was giving a presentation. “Everyone so far has been super accusatory, and immediately assumes you did it.” She whirled back around, holding a paw up. “And I’m sick of it! So I’m gonna make sure Polaris doesn’t make the same mistake.”
Autumnal looked back and forth a couple of times. I don’t follow.
“Y’know how the Town Guard thought you were foreign? I’m gonna lean into that.” Ennea suppressed a snicker. “I’m gonna say you’re royalty.”
Autumnal’s look turned to extreme, deadpan incredulity as he made a sweeping gesture to his own body. He looked like you could’ve fished him out of a dumpster.
Ennea’s smile only grew. “You’ve just fallen on hard times, that’s all! Happens to the best of us. Just trust me, and follow my lead.”
It took a moment, but Autumnal acquiesced. Ennea had never been so happy to see him shrug.
After a short skip through the thicket, Ennea finally came to a lovely clearing where the last bit of light could be seen. On an island in the middle of a small pond, surrounded by a rainbow of aquatic plants, was an arbor covered in flowering vines. And on a bench under that arbor was a familiar Meditite.
“Hey there,” Ennea greeted. “Hope we’re not interrupting.”
“Oh!” Polaris adjusted her glasses. “Hello, Ennea. Not at all, I was wondering if you’d want to talk to me tonight.”
“Well, you were a bit hard to find.”
“Oh, my apologies.” Polaris scooted over on the bench. “I admit the thought that you wouldn’t know where I was had slipped my mind. Would you like to sit?”
“That would be—” Ennea paused. “Um… there’s only room for two, it seems. I don’t wanna force Autumnal to be the only one standing.”
“Hm?” Polaris looked around Ennea, finding Autumnal behind her. “Oh! Goodness, I didn’t realize he was here as well. He’s the accused thief, right?”
“You may think that.” Ennea was nearly vibrating with excitement. “But would you believe that he’s actually…” She took a hop to the side as she showed off the Vulpix. “A prince from the Sea of Wonders?!”
Autumnal stepped forward, taking a slight pose as he did. All things considered, he actually managed the look pretty well. His static expression could look almost regal in the right context, and the stance he took was nice and subtle. A well-timed gust of wind even caused his hair to flow ever so slightly. You could almost believe Ennea’s claim.
You know, if you ignored everything else about his appearance.
Polaris glanced back and forth between Ennea and Autumnal while gaining a worried look, sitting straight up with her hands tightly holding onto her knees.
“O-oh…!” The Meditite forced a smile. “I-I see! It’s… nice to meet you, Mister Prince!”
Oh no. Oh no. She doesn’t buy it at all, but is playing along to be nice. Maybe Bezel was onto something with that whole “too perfect for this world” thing.
“Okay…” Ennea sighed. “I’m just kidding. He’s not, actually. But he really didn’t do it….”
“I understand.” Polaris gave a gentle nod. “He hasn’t exactly been proven guilty beyond doubt, right? And if you believe that he didn’t commit the crime, you must have a good reason.”
“Yeah! Jeez, you’re like, the first person to not just assume it was him.” Ennea made a mental note that Bezel had good taste in potential partners. Hopefully her plan for the ball worked out.
“I do hate to say… but I can understand why. It’s quite the bizarre situation.” Polaris visibly relaxed her sitting position. “That’s what you wanted to ask about, right?”
“Yep. We’ve gotta learn as much as possible if we wanna prove our case.”
“Then feel free to ask. This is a good place to talk.”
“Alright!” Ennea moved so that her, Polaris, and Autumnal were all facing each other. Sure, Autumnal couldn’t talk, but Ennea still wanted him to be included in his own trial investigation. “This is a pretty easy start. So, you saw the thief. What was up with that? What happened?”
Polaris gently brought a hand to half-cover her mouth. “Well, you see, I happened to wake up in the night. I tried to get back to sleep, but I could not. I didn’t hear the thief at the time, but I still felt like something was wrong.”
“You felt like something was wrong?”
Polaris quickly waved both of her hands in dismissal. “It wasn’t anything more than a feeling! I was simply bothered by the fact that I had woken up at all. It can be hard to force yourself back to sleep. Can you relate?”
Ennea looked up in thought. “Not really, no. But alright, so you woke up and felt weird about it.”
An uneasy smile came to Polaris’s face. “I suppose you could put it like that. I had been up for potentially 20 minutes or so before deciding to try and get a drink, hoping it would help me. As I made my way down to the kitchen, I happened to walk into the hall with the safe room, and saw a Pokémon in front of the window at its end.”
“Right. You caught them in the act, just as they were leaving.”
Polaris nodded. “Yes, I did. I called out, asking them to identify themselves, but they didn’t respond, instead jumping straight out that window. It had already been opened by the time I arrived, so I suppose that if I was even a moment later, I would have missed them.”
The slow building of Ennea’s tail swishing behind her began to make a low rustle. “So, they just escaped, like that?”
“Oh, not quite!” Polaris looked away. “It is a bit embarrassing to admit… but I panicked, and did something I may have regretted, if it had turned out they weren’t a criminal. I… attacked them.”
“Whoa, really? What’d you hit them with?”
“Gravity.” Polaris pushed off from the bench, sailing over both Ennea and Autumnal for several seconds before lightly touching down to the ground. “It helps me get around the house, you see.”
“Oh, wait!” Ennea slammed a paw down on the ground. “That’s what caused the fall! You intensified their gravity! I was wondering how that happened!”
Polaris gave a sheepish nod. “Yes… it wouldn’t have harmed them, normally… but with such extreme gravity, the fall was several times worse. Afterward, I woke up my mother, and after getting our guards searching for the intruder, we discovered that they had taken our back-up funds.”
“But by then, they were already gone. And I’m guessing you don’t know how they managed that.”
“Yes. I’m afraid I have no earthly idea how they managed to suddenly evade everybody. The injury that… I suppose I gave them… it would have been quite severe.”
Ennea looked at Autumnal, who was idly brushing a paw through his hair to remove some tangles near his chest. His leg did look pretty bad… so that couldn’t exactly be used to acquit him.
“Right.” Ennea turned back to Polaris. “I’ve been meaning to ask: what’s with the weak description of the thief? You saw them and everything, after all.”
“Unfortunately, it was dark, so it was difficult to make out their form. As well…” Polaris took off her huge glasses. “I didn’t have these on at the time. Apart from their silhouette, I wasn’t able to gleam many details of their appearance.”
“What, like you couldn’t even get their size?”
Polaris sadly shook her head. “Without my glasses, I have depth perception issues. My apologies. Part of why I had used Gravity when I did was that I assumed they were far closer than they really were. I did not realize they had already cleared the wall.”
“Well…” Ennea pawed at the ground. “That’s a shame. ‘Quadrupedal’s’ still not a lot to go off of.”
“Hm? Well, yes.” Polaris looked confused.
“I—” Ennea matched Polaris’s confusion. “Yeah.”
“Is… that all you were told?”
The Eevee’s eyes widened. “Yeah. Yeah, it was! Are you saying that wasn’t it?!”
“Oh, goodness, no! That would be nothing to go off of!”
“Right?!” Ennea gave a victorious look to the Vulpix at her side. “This is it, Autumnal! We’ve finally got it!”
Polaris gave a look to Autumnal as well. “I-I mean….”
Ennea bounced up and down as she leaned in closer to Polaris. “C’mon, tell us! Don’t leave us hanging!”
Polaris avoided looking at Ennea. “It’s not that, it’s just—”
“This is how we can find the truth!”
Polaris winced, and gave Autumnal an apologetic look.
“Okay…” she sighed. “When I saw the thief, their appearance stood out to me….”
She closed her eyes once more before forcing herself to continue.
“Because… they were a quadruped with very long hair.”
Ennea stopped. She looked to Autumnal, whose face remained blank for a moment as he touched a paw to the overgrown mess hanging from his head. Slowly, he brought his eyes to hers.
“…Aieet,” was all that he said.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.
1. Tricks of the Trade END POINT
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