Chapter 5 – Light After Darkness
by konkonocturneTracklist
Ennea stared up at the corkboard, both spotlighted by the crescent moon shining down through the roof. It was so complicated now… but after talking with some of the locals in her dream she had determined a couple of things. Namely, the culprit’s general profile.
They were someone who had been in Epiphany for a while, and were well aware of the Merx family and their behaviors. Enough to know or accurately predict when few would be home. Part of this was due to their involvement in planning some aspect of the manor, gaining knowledge of the secret garden in the process.
The rest was more speculative. They likely had schemed this for some time, and had some way of storing the money that still hadn’t been found. Now, there was the small possibility that it was literally just their home, but that would carry with it the implication that they didn’t have anyone who’d notice the sudden appearance of a million Poké. It was more likely to be somewhere else. Somewhere they knew nobody would check.
The good news was that they were most definitely still in Epiphany. Carrying that much cash long distance with a major injury would be bad enough on its own, but doing so without being found out? Practically impossible, and a very bad idea once you factor in bandits on the road. Unless they did something crazy like use the sack of money as a bludgeoning weapon…. Probably not possible for a quadruped, even if Ennea found the idea incredibly cool.
Ennea threw open the door to her home, still decorated in her current investigative profession, and stepped out to take a short walk through the city in her dreams. Massive cliffs broke up the roads to make way for cascading waterfalls which filled the whole town with mist. It would have made the stark-white buildings hard to spot were they not topped with bright roofs in every color. Except for green, to spite her parents.
Heading down to the base of the town, Ennea reached the entrance gate, the only landmark taller than the cliffs. There really wasn’t any reason for the monumental arch to be so big, but that was the benefit of dream architecture. There didn’t need to be a reason other than the fact that she liked it.
Normally, this was when she’d head out into the world she’d spent years creating to find adventure. There wasn’t any shortage of it here, that was for sure.
“…we’re in this together now, okay?”
Yeah, yeah, Ennea knew, she didn’t need voices in her dream quoting her.
Normally, she’d go off and spend the whole weekend in her dreams. But these last few days weren’t normal. For once, her adventures would take place in the real world.
Time to get investigating.
Ennea stretched as far as her body would allow, straining the blankets she’d become tangled in over the night. She brought a paw to her eyes to rub the sleep out of them, but instead got a good bit of sweat.
It was definitely spring. Too hot for an Eevee to need blankets. She pushed them aside and flopped down to the floor, its wood refreshingly cool at the early hour. Weak sunbeams were still trying to make touchdown, giving the room barely enough light to see. Thanks to that and her bleariness, it took a bit for Ennea to notice the empty couch across from her.
“Huh…?” Ennea peeled herself off the ground. “Autumnal, where’d you go?”
“Mm.”
Ennea managed to follow the hum to the kitchenette, where Autumnal was skimming through her pantry and lone Preservation Pot. She gave a glance back to the clock. 5:13. He was seriously already up?
A paw waved for her attention. Autumnal opened his mouth, reconsidered, then tapped that paw to it a couple of times while tilting his head.
“Food?” Ennea guessed. “You’re wondering about food?” She gave a quick glance to her bed-fur. Ennea would never hear the end of it if she went out like this. Honestly, she wondered how Autumnal had managed to get himself presentable so quickly. “I’ve gotta do a couple things to get ready, so we can figure something out after.”
Autumnal shook his head, and held an invisible pan over the visible stove.
“Wait, are you offering to cook? Sure, I’m down! Go for it.”
Ennea slunk into the bathroom to get herself in order. It wasn’t like she had anything to hide, but it still somehow felt more respectable to do this privately. Her grooming gradually grew more energetic as the smell of eggs began to overtake her home, and after hurrying to check her bangle for any blemishes, she popped back out to a set table where Autumnal was patiently waiting.
For some reason, the stove was glowing. She had always assumed Fire-types would just use their breath. Maybe this way was more consistent?
More importantly, there was food, so Ennea joined Autumnal at the table. The breakfast he’d whipped up was pretty simple, just some eggs on toast and half an apple for each of them. But hey, it was a free meal!
“Alright! Thanks, Autumnal.” Ennea went for the food before stopping herself. “Oh, wait. Um, wanna do a quick prayer?” She had no idea if he was religious, but figured it was better not to chance it.
Autumnal’s nose twitched a few times before he gave a slight nod.
“Cool, let’s do this, then.”
Now, who to pray to. There were a lot of options, but if you were unsure it was usually fine to just default to Xerneas, Mew, or Arceus. Was there anything specific they needed blessings on?
Oh, of course. The answer was quite close to them, in fact.
Ennea cleared her throat and closed her eyes. “Uxie, bringer of knowledge, we thank you for our minds, thoughts, and logic. May we forevermore seek enlightenment to lift ourselves up from the aberrants and properly use the gifts you have blessed us with….” Aaand she forgot how you were supposed to end prayers to Uxie. Shoot.
With the prayer just sort of drifting off awkwardly, Ennea had to wait for Autumnal to realize he could open his eyes again.
“Yeah…” Ennea played with her bangle. “Kinda just improvised it. Actually, since we’re trying to find the truth, maybe I should’ve done one for Reshiram instead. You’re um… not a stickler for this kinda thing, are you?”
Luckily, Autumnal gave a shrug. That was the 2nd happiest she’d ever been to get one of those.
“Phew, alright. Let’s not let your food get cold, then.”
She paused for a moment due to the amused look Autumnal gave her, but then mirrored his shrug and dug in. By the gods. This food. This food was…!
It was okay. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was hard to make eggs on toast taste bad. It might’ve been better than what she could make? But it was awfully rare that someone who only cooked for themselves made anything beyond just edible.
Still, there was something nice about the scenario. Eating an early meal with someone else, that is. It wasn’t like going out to eat at a tavern, but it also wasn’t like eating breakfast alone. It was a quiet, relaxing experience, filled with the soft sounds of the duo eating spiced up by occasional creaks of wood or clinks of a plate. No pressure. It was almost like another step in waking up, a final preparation for the day. One that you had help for, even if it was silent help.
“Right,” Ennea murmured between bites. “Kinda up to me to carry the conversation, isn’t it?”
Autumnal nodded, but then snapped his head back up, visibly reconsidering his answer.
“That’s true, your way of talking isn’t impeded by having food in your mouth.” Ennea used a slice of toast to point at Autumnal. “But I’ll bite. It’s been a while since I’ve had breakfast with someone. Since I came to Epiphany, in fact. Last time was with my nan.”
Autumnal gave a tilt of his head mid-chew.
“Oh, I guess I didn’t mention her last night. She’s the one who raised me. I knew her a bit before getting kicked out of the castle, and afterwards she took me in. Apart from the couple of times she was able to get a tutor or two, she pretty much taught me everything, too. Obviously, a noble, even a ninth one, could never be allowed to go to—gasp—public school.”
There was a pause as Ennea stopped to savor another bite. Sure, maybe it should’ve been just okay, but food made by a friend always tastes better.
“Anyway, she’s pretty great. Kinda miss having breakfast with her. What about you? How were your breakfasts back home?”
Autumnal raised a paw, then let it hang in the air for a moment.
“Not something you can easily explain, huh? What about this: why’d you come to Epiphany, anyway? Apart from to get framed for crimes, I mean.”
After scanning the walls for a moment, Autumnal pointed up and to the distance. Ennea followed to find… the intersection between the wall and the roof.
She glanced back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The Vulpix softly huffed for a moment before using both paws to draw out some sort of triangle, then pointed to its tip.
“I get it! You’re talking about Mount Cephalo. You came all the way to see it? Does that mean you’re a tourist?”
Autumnal sucked in air through his teeth, head slowly going further and further off-kilter as he squinted.
“Kinda, but that doesn’t really describe it?” Ennea guessed.
With the last bite of his food, Autumnal nodded.
“Sheesh, you eat fast.” Ennea still had an entire slice of toast left on her plate. “Hey, when was the last time you had breakfast with someone else?”
The response she got was just Autumnal looking down. At first, Ennea assumed he was avoiding the question, but she saw his tails moving from side to side, one after the other. He was counting on them.
“That long…? Even though you can cook?”
That seemed to remind him of something, as Autumnal interrupted by tapping a paw to his mouth once again. Then he brought one paw above the other, pretended to drop something in it, and made a couple of vague clinking noises with his mouth.
Ennea’s tail began to dance. This was actually a pretty good way of getting her mind working. “Is that meant to be money? Food then money? You’re asking how expensive food is?”
Autumnal wobbled a paw. Sort of. Then he pointed to Ennea’s still remaining slice of toast.
“Oh, you mean this food. What, you wanna know how much it costs?” Weird thing to ask. “I dunno, like… 40 Poké, tops? Like, half of that was the apple.” It wasn’t exactly a high-cost meal. In fact, it was quite cost-effective.
Apparently that was interesting to Autumnal as well, as he slowly nodded to himself.
He really did finish his food quickly. Now he’d have to wait for her to get to that last slice, and the room was already brightening up a lot.
Wait. Ennea’s head snapped back to the clock. It was 5:50.
She leaped off her seat. “Oh shoot! We’re supposed to meet Salute ‘first thing!’ That’s gotta be at 6! We’ll be late if we don’t go!”
Autumnal was right behind her as Ennea snatched up her bag, stored her keys back in her tail, and lunged for the door, stopping a few centimeters away from the handle. She looked back at the plates on the table. She didn’t mind leaving them out so much, but abandoning that last piece of toast felt wrong. Her friend made her that! She wasn’t about to refuse it!
She’d have to eat it without wasting time… because she was about to be late… and—
“Oh Arceus, I can’t believe I have an excuse to do this.”
Salute was out by the entrance of the Guard’s Hall, waiting while chipping away at a wall with his wing. Ennea expected him to leap down the steps to greet them, but he stayed put, forcing her and Autumnal to scamper up to him.
“Finally.” Salute stopped his wing tapping. “3 minutes late, and— what in the world is that?”
“Brefapht.” Ennea spoke with her half-eaten toast still hanging out of her mouth.
“Why.”
“Befau—” Ennea took the toast out. “Because, it’s the proper way to start an adventure!”
Salute’s heads hunched suspiciously. “Running around town with toast in your maw?”
“Exactly! C’mon, you get it, right Autumnal?”
Autumnal’s mouth shifted as he pointed to himself, then tapped his head. I think?
“You need to read more if you can’t appreciate such a classic trope.” She whirled around to Salute. “Anyway, it made us less late! That should make it a win in your book, right?”
“Yeah,” Salute mumbled. “I guess.”
That wasn’t normal. To test, Ennea tried pushing further.
“We can get going right away!” She announced. “We’ll interrogate the last thief and find the truth! For justice!”
Salute’s jaws remained locked in an extreme frown. “Uh-huh.”
Ennea’s tail drooped as her ears tilted. “You doing okay? Did… you get chewed out that badly for letting Autumnal stay with me?”
“No, I— well, yeah.” Salute shuffled in place for a bit. “Yeah, it was bad. Lasted a while. Thyreos got involved, too.” His heads turned away from the duo. “That’s all.”
Well, that confirmed he wasn’t great at lying. What else could’ve happened to bother Salute so much?
“We’re wasting time.” Salute pushed past Ennea. “Trial’s in roughly 13 hours.”
“Fair.” Before he could completely dismiss the topic, Ennea circled back around Salute. “But hey, despite whatever happened… I did wanna say thanks. Having an actual place to sleep helped, right?”
Autumnal gave a nod, then a bow.
Salute sighed. “Yeah. I don’t regret that. Now let’s go.”
Ennea felt a bit bad that her expectations were entirely proven correct. The home they’d been brought to was the exact kind of unkind image that came to mind when one thought “house of a criminal.” Boarded up windows, multiple signs telling solicitors to “buzz off,” a patch of dirt in place of any sort of lawn or garden, the works. It didn’t help that it was on the edge of the Parietal Sector, far enough from the Merxes and their influence that the neighborhood was in noticeably rougher shape.
I’ll make a note that the council could really stand to spend more of their budget on areas like this. Or wait, would that be gentrification? Hm. At the very least, it could use some more plants and streetlamps.
“Hey.” Salute jolted Ennea out of her thoughts. “Go and knock, already. He won’t answer for me.”
“Right, right.” Ennea trespassed around a few signs and headed up to the door. Somehow, this was harder than Merx Manor….
She looked back at Autumnal, whose face was still, but whose tails were twisting into knots. See, it isn’t just me! With her confidence somehow bolstered by Autumnal’s lack of it, she brought her paw to the door.
Knock-knock-knock.
…
“You sure he’s home?” Ennea turned to Salute, who was loitering behind one of the signs.
“Certain.”
“Guess I’ll just try again….”
Knock-knock-knock.
“Leave me alone,” came an annoyed, dead voice from behind the door.
“I just wanted to talk for a bit. Mind giving me a couple minutes of your time?”
The door flew open, then abruptly stopped after just a crack. The chain of a deadbolt was clearly holding it back, and from the shadows inside, roughly 30% of a Scrafty’s face could be seen.
“The fuck’s he doing here?” They jabbed their head at Salute.
“Um, he’s…” Ennea improvised as quickly as possible to get on this guy’s good side. “Stalking us.” Her tail pointed at Autumnal. “This Vulpix was accused of a crime, so now we can’t get rid of him.”
“Yeah? And how’s that my problem?”
“Well, he was accused of stealing from Merx Manor—”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Yes, I know, but—”
“Check the sign.”
Ennea looked back at one of those signs. “Buzz off.” Although “buzz” was clearly a replacement for another, likely harsher word that had been blacked out.
Slam!
“Wha—?” Snapping back to the now shut door, Ennea realized her mistake. With an irritated growl, she knocked again.
The door opened an inch.
“It’s piss early. Let me sleep,” the Scrafty complained.
“Look, we already know you have no involvement in this case. The thief was quadrupedal. You’re good.”
“Yeah. So get out of here.”
Ennea put her paw into the crack before the door closed, only realizing a second later that she was real lucky this guy wasn’t violent. Either way, she forced it to stay open.
“We just want to ask some questions about what went on back then.” She pointed to Autumnal again. “He was framed, and we need evidence of that. Your knowledge might help.”
“Not my problem.”
“…Well, we’ll leave you alone if you do. It’ll be much faster than trying to wait us out.”
The Scrafty glared down at Ennea with utter contempt. She gave as insufferable of a look as she could manage in return.
Scoffing, the Scrafty undid a couple of locks, then opened the door enough to lean back on the frame. Surprisingly, he had a bulky belt that was keeping the loose skin of his “pants” up. Both the belt and pants had tons of tools, carpenter pencils, and rolled up papers tucked inside.
“You better make this damn quick. And I’ll only answer what I feel like.”
“Well, here’s an easy one. What’s your name?”
He crossed his arms. “To you? It’s Chim.”
Salute popped up from behind his sign. “Actually, his legal name is—”
“Chim. Stay out of this, scruffy.”
Salute grumbled and crouched back down into his hiding spot.
“Chim it is. Next up: you stole from Merx Manor a few years back. Why?”
“Why do you care?” Chim deflected, more interested in the pencil he twirled in his hand.
“We still haven’t figured out the motive in the current case. It’d be helpful to know the reasons why one steals from the Merxes in the first place.”
“They’ve got money.”
“Yes, yes they do,” Ennea deadpanned. “And what kinda stuff does someone need that much money for?”
“A mansion. I was tired of building them for others, and wanted the cash for my own.”
“That’s… really it?”
Chim jabbed his pencil at Ennea. “No one ever said it was a good reason.”
It was at least more information. “Anyway… how’d you actually perform the heist back then?”
“Heist? Giving it a lotta dignity it doesn’t deserve.”
“Okay?” Ennea tilted her head. “I guess I am? So, your answer…?”
“That’s my answer.”
Ennea’s ears flicked. That topic’s completely off limits for now. Maybe I can lead into it more gracefully.
“So Chief Hiketeria arrested you, right? And given how Calvera is, I’d bet she sprung for a hefty sentence… but you were only in jail for a year. What hap—” Ennea stopped herself with a paw. “How did you manage to get let out so quickly?”
“I was offered a deal. Use my skills and be let out early.” Chim looked away while pointing to Salute. “With supervision. Damn my luck.”
“I’m not sure that part was mandated. Who exactly offered you the deal, and apart from ‘using your skills,’ what does it involve?”
“Chief lady. Pissed me off, that’s for sure. But it’d take an idiot not to take a deal like that.”
He’s avoiding that topic as well. What if I guess it first, will he talk then?
Ennea looked at the tools and blueprints stowed at Chim’s hip. He obviously worked in construction or carpentry, and it was Hiketeria who offered him a deal. There was something he’d be good at that she wanted him working on. The Hall? No, that building was too historic.
Oh, son of a—!
“The sewers,” Ennea sighed. “She wanted you to work on the sewer renovation project, didn’t she?”
“Bingo. A lot nastier than what I used to work on.”
“So what, does that mean you’ve been on break for a whole season?”
Chim ruffled his mohawk. “Basically. Still getting paid, but I’m bored as shit.”
“You’re welcome, then.” Ennea gained a smirk as Chim grimaced. “You sure the sewers have to be off limits all winter?”
“It’s what the lady ordered this year. ‘If it’s cold enough, some stuff down there might freeze over.’ Nobody’s gonna deal with some shmuck slipping and breaking their back.”
Whatever, I shouldn’t get distracted. Ennea tapped her paw to the ground. He’s willing to talk if I bring up the specifics myself, it seems. What do I know about the theft three years ago?
“Right. The um… the key. I heard you managed to steal one back in the day.” Ennea made an offering with her paw. “Is that true?”
“What’s it to you?”
“The way the thief in this case entered the mansion is a major mystery. I just want to know the vulnerabilities it has.”
After a long grumble, Chim continued. “Yeah. I nabbed one. There was this guard that I saw around town. Clueless guy. Didn’t keep his stuff locked down very well.”
“Got it. So you pocketed it and used it to break in. What happened to that key?”
Chim’s glare continued as he screwed around with his pencil.
“What, you seriously don’t wanna tell us?” Ennea facepalmed. “Is it really too much to ask that you just answer my questions?”
“Is it too much to ask that you lot leave me the fuck alone?”
“Mm.”
Ennea brought her now tired eyes to Autumnal, whose paw was over his mouth. He gave her a wave, then scanned the front dirt-patch for a moment before excitedly pointing to nothing.
He found something? Wait, no, he didn’t point to anything real. This is more abstract. But it is about finding….
“Aha!” Ennea slammed a paw down to the ground as she spun back to Chim. “Someone found that key! It led to your arrest, didn’t it!”
“Eugh. Don’t remind me.” Chim squeezed the pencil hard enough to break it in half. “When she pulled out that damn thing in front of my face, it was the shittiest moment of my life.”
Ennea gave a flourish with her tail. “Well then, why don’t we talk about something else? You used the key to open up the mansion, but what were the other steps in getting the money?”
“You’re a pain, know that?” Chim paused to sharpen the broken halves into two usable pencils. “I went past the guards, opened the door, and grabbed the cash. That was it.”
“You just ‘got past the guards’ like it was nothing?”
“Yeah. Their pattern was basic. Anyone could see that.”
…I nearly forgot. Urania said they changed the guard plan three years ago. That must’ve been in response to the theft. They also probably got someone new to do it if the previous plan was so lackluster.
“What about the safe?” Ennea continued. “How’d you get past that? There was nearly no way to crack it.”
“Eh? I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. How’d you get the money?”
“I took the safe.” Chim picked at his teeth. “I was gonna figure out how to open it up later, but I left the damn thing and the key at home. The Chief lady found them while I was at work. Fuck me for wanting to finish my team’s projects before I bounced.”
“Huh?! How in the world were you were able to just carry it?”
“A couple uses of Bulk Up, some moving blankets, and a dolly to wheel it off was all it took.”
Seriously? But the manor is full of elevation changes! Or maybe that’s new, too….
“You done?” Chim spat.
“No, not—”
Chim squatted down to glare at Ennea more directly. “Look, kid. You’re wasting everyone’s time. This junk that happened 3 years ago, now? Ancient history. Whatever happened this time’s got nothing to do with me, and frankly, I do not give a shit. Let the Merxes get robbed, or not, and let someone get framed, or don’t, it’s all the same to me.” He leaned in extra close. “Pointless. I’ve got my new gig, and so I’m not getting into garbage that doesn’t involve me.”
Before he could slam the door, Ennea threw her paw in once again. It took more force this time.
“Yeah, well what if it does involve you?” she argued.
“I told you, I didn’t—”
“Not that, jeez! What if they used some part of your plan?”
“So what?” Chim tried to shut the door again. Ennea barely overpowered him. “Ugh. Even if they copied me, it doesn’t mean shit. They didn’t frame me, they framed that—” he pointed to Autumnal, squinting for a moment. “…boy. Yeah, that boy.” His point aimed back at Ennea. “What would they use from my dumb plan? I bet most of y’all would stop at the safe. And the guard I used got fired, I’m betting.”
“Yeah, but that’s not all of your plan!” Ennea’s tail swatted at the air as she improvised. “The thief this time didn’t use a window, and didn’t pick the lock on the door. And you didn’t rule out the key.”
“Then lemme handle that for you right now. The Merx Hawlucha went on a big spiel during the trial that she’d destroy every key save two. You calling her a liar?”
Ennea bared her teeth. “No, obviously she did that.”
“Then my key got melted, too. Give it up. It’s gone.”
“Well, what about a copy?! They could’ve made a mold of the key.”
“Chief lady found it the day after I took it.” Chim ripped the door out of Ennea’s paw.
“Wait!” Ennea shouted as the door slammed shut. “What about the time between that and the trial?! That would mean… that….”
The world was still. No breeze blew, and no sounds were made. No one said anything new, or even shuffled around. The sun didn’t shift, and the temperature didn’t change.
And yet everything was different.
“No, that’s not possible…” Ennea didn’t even notice as she paced through the dirt, or that the door creaked back open a bit. “Even if they had the opportunity. It’s not like they would—but the typing matches up with way the garden was….”
“What’re you on about now?” Chim raised an eyebrow from his crack in the door.
Ennea took a long, shaky breath in. That was hardly the only part of her that was shaking. She brought a jittery paw up to address Chim.
“C-can you wait a minute?”
With that, she threw herself fully into a sprint, on a path back to the lakefront. Autumnal kept by her side, though he didn’t seem to realize what she had just chanced upon. Even Ennea hadn’t truly realized it just yet. She was looking to be proven wrong as she came back to a low, den-like building sandwiched between other, taller ones.
With no time to waste, Ennea stumbled down the steps and rapped the door. When there was no response, she did it again. And again. And again.
After an agonizing wait, the door opened slowly. Too slowly, thanks to the sleepy, bandaged Mudsdale on the other side.
“Huh…?” Kyniska groaned. “Ennea, was it? Is it an emergency?”
“I need… I need to ask you something,” Ennea stammered.
Kyniska slowly blinked. “You woke me up. It’s hardly 6, can it wait?”
6. “That-that’s fine! Thank you!”
Ennea turned tail and was off again, unable to keep herself still for another second. Her gaze fell on Autumnal, whose own wide eyes showed that he was starting to piece things together, too. As they ran, she looked off into the distance, waiting for a familiar sound that would determine the truth of the case.
And finally, that sound came, as the clock tower chimed its hourly chime.
9 times.
It was like a ray of light that illuminated the deepest recesses of her mind. Everything connected. The way the thief had gotten inside the manor, how they slipped away, and how they stored the money. All three were answered with that revelation.
The pair came to a sliding stop back at Chim’s house. By now, he was waiting outside, too interested in Ennea’s sudden change in attitude. Salute was hunched over, still behind his sign.
“Chim, I need you to come with us right now,” Ennea panted, as Autumnal went up to the Scrafty’s side and pointed him towards her.
“Eh? I thought I told you I’ve got nothing to do with—”
You do. You have for years, and you don’t even know it. “What about your gig? What if this was about that?”
Chim was back to his scowl. “This had better be real. No one fucks with my work.”
And she was off! Ennea sped back, this time to Frontal Heights. She didn’t wait to see if the others would follow; she trusted that Autumnal would handle it. That is, until they got a little too close to their destination.
“Whoa, the fuck’s wrong with you?!” Chim stomped to a stop, pointing at a familiar wall in the distance. “You trying to piss me off?! I don’t need the rich snobs getting all uppity because they saw me nearby! Should’ve known you’d pull something!”
“This isn’t that!” Ennea’s eyes flared. “We’re not going to the front, we’re going behind! I need you to see something there!”
“I don’t—”
Chim’s complaints were cut short by Autumnal making a series of gestures involving his cuffs, the huge building in the distance, several expressions, a clap of his paws, and a whole lot of pointing. Ennea immediately understood it as: “They’ll hate seeing me more than you! Please follow!”
“Argh!” Chim messed up his mohawk. “What am I supposed to get from that?! Dammit, they better not see me!”
Yes! It was back to sprinting. As she had said, Ennea didn’t lead them to the entrance to Merx Manor, but instead the street behind it. The same one that the thief had leaped to, out the window.
Ennea scanned the road, hyperventilating as she did. It was the opposite of Chim’s street. Well maintained, populated, and blessed with every public system and amenity the town had to offer.
She finally found it. A manhole. “‘Monhole?” Not important.
This street had an entrance to the sewers.
Ennea scampered over to the closed utility hole. “Here! You can open this, right?! We need to check down there!”
“What. Are. You. Talking about?!” Chim dug his feet into the ground. “You better explain yourself right now, or I’m not taking another step!”
“Okay. Okay.” Ennea slowed her breathing as much as she could, but lost it when she looked at Salute, loitering behind Chim with that same sour expression he’d had all day. She was about to make it worse.
Ennea squeezed her eyes shut as she desperately tried to wet her dry mouth. “I-…I think there’s a chance that Chief Hiketeria could have done it.”
“What? Get real.”
“She had your key. In fact, she might’ve been the only one with access to it the entire time leading up to your trial. If anyone could’ve made a secret copy, it’d be her. And if a key was used, it would explain why the lock had no signs of tampering.”
“Like she’d do that.”
Ennea’s chest heaved. “She’s a Grass-type. Which would explain why the secret garden’s plants were disturbed, but not damaged. Even if she trampled them, she’d have the means to keep them alive.”
“What about her alibi?” Salute mumbled. “I thought you said she had one.”
“It… it doesn’t hold up. Me and Autumnal, we just checked. Kyniska thought it was 6. But it’s 9! Her clock must be three hours slow, and she doesn’t know it! She even was going to do lunch extra late yesterday, and didn’t seem to realize at all how weird that was!”
“Yeah?” Chim was much closer now. “Still doesn’t have to do with me, or my gig.”
“But it does!” Ennea tapped the metal cover she was standing on. “The thief found an escape route away from the mansion, even as guards were looking for them! And they must have some place to store all the money! The sewers! No one’s allowed down there right now, and as the one in charge of their renovation project, she’d have access to them!”
In a rare moment, Chim didn’t talk back. His eyebrows twitched down as she stared at the utility hole.
“She could have done it.” Ennea pushed further. “And if she did, not only did she use your project, but also a copy of your key. Which means she had been planning it, even back when she arrested you. Maybe-… maybe the deal you got was a part of this, too.”
“…That bitch. I should’ve known. Step aside.”
“Wait.” Ennea’s tail lay flat on the ground. “I could still be wrong about this. I mean, she isn’t injured like she’s supposed to be. We just need to check if—”
“Mm.”
Ennea brought her gaze up to Autumnal, who placed both his paws atop his head, facing upwards.
“What? Is that meant to be your ears?”
“Horns.” Salute spoke, though his back as to the group. “They’re horns. Horn Leech. The signature move of a Sawsbuck. Not only is it a powerful Grass move, but it has healing effects on the user.”
That’s…!
“I wish she had used fewer of her Grass moves on me,” Kyniska had said.
She would’ve been able to gain an alibi and cover up her injuries at the same time!
“Hey,” Chim ordered. “Out of the way. I’m sticking my neck out for you by letting you down there. Could lose my job.”
“Ah… r-right.” Ennea shuffled off the metal cover.
Chim pulled out a long, hook-like object from his pants, and jabbed it into a hole on the cover. A low, heavy clank rang out as he twisted both, unlocking it. With a deep breath and a sudden flaring of his muscles, Chim ripped off the cover, revealing a ladder down into the dark.
You couldn’t even see the bottom. But before anything else, Ennea had to face the Zweilous behind her.
“Salute… I know this isn’t allowed. It might even break a few laws, but—”
Salute’s heads turned, just enough to address her, and no more.
“The Chief’s really gonna let me have it,” he sighed. “Losing track of both the people I was supposed to guard. And after she trusted me to keep them out of trouble.”
He looked up to the sky. “Thyreos, too. He’ll hate to know I let them get away because I got distracted keeping an eye on someone who’s been crime free for 2 years.”
Chim grumbled. “Of course. Was hoping to have a good day for once. Now I’ve gotta spend it with scruffy.”
“I…!” Ennea steadied herself by gently placing a paw on her chest. “Thank you. Autumnal, we’re up.” She managed a small smile. “You ready to head down there?”
There was no hesitation in his nod. Autumnal latched onto the ladder, and with a final wave to both Salute and Chim, began the descent down below.
Ennea hopped on as well, but gave one more look to Salute.
“I still might be wrong about this. I don’t want to think it’s her, either! There’s still a chance that what we find down there will prove her innocent, so—”
She was silenced by Salute spinning on his heels and snapping to a perfect attention.
“Ennea!” he barked.
“Y-yeah?!”
“You have a job to do. Find the truth, no matter what.”
His stance relaxed a bit. “Trust in that. Trust that you can bring justice to light. There’s nothing else to worry about.”
“Yeah.” Ennea nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll do it. No, actually.” She wasn’t alone in this. She still had her assistant. “We’ll do it. For justice.”
“Perfect.”
Just as Ennea was starting down the ladder, Salute spoke one last time.
“Ennea.”
She looked up, finding Salute once again staring off into the distance.
“I learned something that bothered me this morning,” he spoke in shockingly low voice for him. “The Merx Guard plan. The one that didn’t have a shred of justice. It was made by Chief Hiketeria. After she solved the previous theft.”
There it was. Hiketeria would’ve known about the secret garden. No, she would’ve known exactly where the guards would’ve been, too! Of the 4 puzzles in this case, Hiketeria now fit as the answer for 3 of them.
“Salute. Thanks for everything.” Ennea gave him a smirk. “You’re a lot better at investigations than you give yourself credit for.”
“Get going. Court won’t wait for you.”
“Right. See you there.”
The slide down the ladder was dark and long, enough that Ennea’s eyes had time to adjust while the sounds of the town were replaced by a low, atmospheric rumble. Before it could become monotonous, the sloshing of liquids began to join in.
When she saw a faint spot of orange ahead, Ennea knew she’d made it. She brought her slide to a stop just in time, hopping off and joining Autumnal on the worryingly slick ground. Gross. They’d have to take a long visit to the baths once this was all over.
There was also the air. Smelled awful, and was totally stagnant, making breathing more of an assault on the senses than anything. Yeah, they’d need to spend as little time here as possible.
“Alright,” Ennea spoke as she stepped on forward, the glow from her eyes barely illuminating a path forward. “If we start down this way, it should lead to where Kyniska’s is—roughly. If Hiketeria really did use the sewers to escape to there, she’d likely have to stash the money somewhere along the way.”
It was a bit hard to see due to how well he seemed to blend in with the dark, but Autumnal did give a nod.
“Great.” Ennea continued onward over a metal walkway to a side ledge, avoiding whatever awful concoction was flowing below. Before them was a tunnel you couldn’t even begin to see the end of. Somewhere at the end of it was answers for them. “Then hopefully this’ll just be a quick in and out. We’ll nab the evidence we need, then you’ll be—”
Ennea’s whole being lurched. She heard Autumnal yelp as she nearly stumbled overboard before steadying herself at the last moment. Even once she was still, it felt like she was in free fall, as if there was no ground under her. No, it was even worse than that. It was like the concept of downwards had been completely upended.
This feeling of vertigo as she stared, wide-eyed into the deep black in front of her… she’d never felt it before, but it was impossible to mistake. The feeling that space and time no longer behaved, no longer existed. It could only mean one thing.
Ennea was standing at the entrance to a Mystery Dungeon.
But that was impossible! A new Mystery Dungeon forming hadn’t been reported globally in nearly a century, and it was even longer still since any had formed on the Star Continent! How could there be one in a sewer that was being worked on less than a year ago?!
“Autumnal,” Ennea managed, her voice small and uneven. “I don’t know how—there shouldn’t be any way—but there—” she caught her breath. “There’s a Dungeon here. We need to turn back. Maybe there’s an Exploration Team in town we can find who can—”
Her breath hitched once more as she saw Autumnal step past her. His footsteps, though soft, reverberated in Ennea’s ears. They suddenly seemed much more deliberate than she had noticed before. As her eyes snapped up to his face, she found he had a look of steely determination.
He was… going to go in?
“No… no way!” she pleaded. “You can’t! We aren’t allowed! It’s way too dangerous!”
Autumnal pushed the air with a paw. Stay back. In spite of the continent’s most well-known rule—never enter a Mystery Dungeon unless you’re a guild member—he didn’t look concerned for himself at all. Could that mean…?
“Wait, Autumnal! Have you been in a Mystery Dungeon before?”
He nodded, then pointed far up. Mount Cephalo. Not just once. Multiple times.
Ennea’s eyes began to gleam. “A-are you a guild member?! Do you have a badge and everything?!”
Autumnal flinched. Not the pained kind. The kind where you hear exactly what you were expecting to hear. He gave a sigh, and slowly shook his head.
“You go into Dungeons without—” Saying it out loud made Ennea realize. “You’re a Dungeoneer?!”
Someone who broke that well-known rule, and went into Mystery Dungeons without the backing of any guild. A Dungeoneer. Adventurers who’d forgo all regulations, safety measures, and dignity to scrape out a living off whatever treasure they could find in the world’s most dangerous territories. Hardly anyone knew a real-life Dungeoneer since they often tended to be vagrants, and more often tended to be dead. Ennea had been investigating with one all this time?!
As she was having her crisis, Autumnal turned back to the Mystery Dungeon ahead of them and pressed onward, undeterred by the risk.
Although as undeterred as he may have seemed, they were short on time, and wouldn’t know where to even begin looking for an Exploration Team. A guilty verdict for Autumnal would almost certainly mean a life rotting away in prison, or worse. Calvera hated him, and Hiketeria wouldn’t be offering any sort of deal this time. If they couldn’t find evidence now, it was over. He didn’t have much of a choice, did he?
“Wait!” Ennea grabbed onto Autumnal, keeping him from leaving. “I’m…!” She swallowed something. Her fear, maybe? “I’m going, too! We’re in this together, right? So I… I won’t let you risk yourself all alone. You need someone to watch your back in there. I don’t have much more than basic combat training, but I can keep you safe. ‘Kay?”
Autumnal stared back at her. Neither of them said anything. In a funny way, now they were both trying to communicate without talking, only having the expressions of the other’s face to go off of. Ennea gave him as much as she could in that moment, trying to convince him that they were doing this as a team. And he was starting to agree.
Autumnal’s eyes looked so different than they had in his cell. They were still darker than the darkness around them, sure, but it was a different kind of dark. Not dark like a desolate void, but dark like hiding under the covers on a cold night. A darkness of comfort, almost. Or maybe a darkness of relief.
Then, whatever understanding they had was cut by Autumnal’s eyes going impossibly wide. Ennea could feel the heat from his face flushing all the way from here.
Huh? Why’s he—oh no! Ennea finally let go of the tail she had grabbed. Oh no oh shoot oh fuck, and right after stepping around in the sewers, too! She was so getting cursed for this. Please don’t hold a grudge until you evolve….
“Lexwya!” Autumnal cried. “Tiy lew ewlkkt awbsubf nw nuzws aufblka. Tiy’ew kyxjt U’n bir la dyaat lviyr rglr la niar Cykouzwa.”
“S-sorry,” Ennea murmured. She felt like maybe he should’ve been yelling at her, instead of muttering at the wall like he currently was.
Autumnal took a deep breath that ended in a silent laugh, making Ennea’s ears perk back up. “Tiy’cw nlsw nw dwwk l kir rgwaw klar rgeww slta. Qw xlb alt rglr qla rgw oiubr id tiy cuiklrubf nw hyar biq, nwlbubf rglr qw’ew wcwb.”
“Does that… mean we’re good?” Ennea’s gave a small, hopeful smile.
Autumnal nodded.
“Okay, okay. Great.” She let out a massive sigh. “Then let’s just forget about that whole thing. Never gotta talk about it again.”
They turned back towards the gaping maw of a tunnel ahead of them, facing it together.
“Can’t forget about this, though. You ready?”
Autumnal nodded, and thumped a fist to his chest.
“Then let’s do this. Go ahead, I’ll follow your lead.”
Ennea’s ears twitched as she looked around, still following Autumnal into the Dungeon. How long had they been walking for?
“Hey, Autumnal? When do we get into the Dungeon?”
Autumnal turned around and shook his head, then pointed to the ground.
“No? Wait, we’re already here? But when did we enter?”
Autumnal closed his eyes in thought, before miming the hands of a clock and pointing to the ground again. Just now.
“What? But we’ve been walking forever without anything changing!”
“Mm-mm.” Autumnal shook his head again, tapped a paw to it, then threw that paw over his shoulder. Think back.
So she did. They began their entrance into the dungeon like, 20 minutes ago. Was that too far? After that they started walking. And then they walked. And then they walked. And then—
“What, what the heck? Why can I barely remember anything from the last while?”
Autumnal shook his head.
“Jeez, it’s like… like my memories just jumped, or something.” Ennea paced around on the stone brick floor. “Feels like we’ve already been here forever. You’re really saying that talk we had was just a little bit ago?”
Bizarre. It was like when a story skips a chunk of time, except real. Actually, no. It was far more like the start of a dream. There’s no introduction. It just happens, and once it does, it feels like it’s been happening forever.
It finally hit Ennea that she was in a Mystery Dungeon.
It still resembled the sewers, with narrow ledges and metal walkways over what Ennea was going to pretend was just water. But somehow the Dungeon was lit, as if by the glow of several nonexistent lanterns. What was once just one tunnel now abruptly split and forked into several, broken up by large chambers resembling the landing they had first dropped down into.
This place was a maze. It was like trying to navigate the fractured memory of a place you’d never seen.
“We’re looking for stairs, right?” Ennea had read a lot more literature about this than she’d readily admit, but it was already clear that stories could never live up to the real thing.
As he chose a path and started down, Autumnal used a tail to make a wobbling motion. Sort of. Then he brought two together before expanding them out.
“More than just that?” Ennea followed barely a pace behind. “You don’t think Hiketeria left the money in the Dungeon, do you?”
Autumnal shook his head but gave up trying to explain further. Instead, he gave a quick flick of his ears. Keep them open.
“Right, right.” This was a dangerous place Ennea was looking around. “There are aberrants here.” Now she had a million questions for Autumnal. “Hey, is it really true that they sometimes look like people?”
“Hm.” Autumnal shrugged.
“Sorry, should I maybe be quiet? Will they be listening for us? I—wait, what’s that?”
Ennea squeezed past Autumnal into another chamber. A brick bridge allowed for passage over the waterway, but that wasn’t what Ennea was interested in. Scampering on over to the other side, she found a glass bottle, lying near the wall.
Okay, maybe this wasn’t something to freak out over. Honestly, it didn’t even look out of place now that she thought about it. It wasn’t that weird to see the occasional empty bottle near a work site. Still, this was the first object she’d seen.
“Ah.” Autumnal walked over, picked up the bottle, and flipped it, causing something inside to clink down. Whatever it was, it was actually too big to get out, so he settled for just smashing the bottle against the wall.
Whoa! Guess us making noise isn’t his biggest concern? Sifting through the freshly shattered glass netted Ennea a large, blue seed with a small vine growing around it in a ring. Hey, this is one of those special seeds! This is how you find items in Dunegons?
“Mm.” Autumnal pointed to Ennea’s bag.
“Right.” She put the seed into an easily accessible pocket. No telling when they’d need this. “Actually, what does this even do? Can you tell?”
Autumnal nodded, looking ready to explain…! Until he wilted a bit, tilting his head as he looked up.
“Hard to explain this one, okay. What about this: do I use it on one of us, or an enemy?”
Autumnal pretended to throw something across the room. Enemy.
“Alright. Yeah. Yeah! I’ll be the item girl!” Ennea sidled up to Autumnal, barely keeping from touching him. “See, aren’t you glad you brought me along?”
After giving what might have been a smile, Autumnal used his tails to form a thumbs-up and headed off into another tunnel. As Ennea followed, she noticed that he’d occasionally tap a tail to the curved wall, though she had no idea why.
Just before Ennea could run ahead to the next chamber, Autumnal’s ears twitched, and he crouched down low.
Oh shit. Does he hear something? Is there an aberrant?
Inelegantly trying to look around him, Ennea noticed another new object in the next room: a set of stairs! So they were looking for those! She’d always expected them to look out of place, but seeing a set of stairs in the sewer really didn’t look that strange.
And then, as she was marveling at the unremarkable stairs, Autumnal leaped into the chamber, sliding and turning to the side as his eyes flared with purple flames.
Wait, I thought I was— Ennea’s thought was cut short by a blob of green lunging at the Vulpix, forcing her to stumble back into the safety of the hall. A Gulpin was attacking him! It galumphed towards him, swiping away with the yellow growth atop its head.
“Autumnal!” Ennea gasped. She moved to help him but stopped when a violet fireball exploded out of the aberrant Gulpin, sending the thing rolling back before that very same flame flung back and crashed back into it. So that was what a successful use of Hex looked like!
Before anyone involved could catch their breath, the Gulpin coughed up a glob of vile fluid right at Autumnal. Was that Sludge?! Autumnal jumped out of the way, but the Sludge seeped out onto the ground, contaminating it. Unfortunately, the Gulpin realized it was onto something and hacked up another towards Autumnal, its spread trapping him behind a pool of poison. He was right at the edge of the waterway, with nowhere left to dodge!
Ennea took a step forward, letting a familiar energy well up at the base of her being. When a harsh glow came at the edges of her vision, it confirmed she still had it. Just as it was turning towards the light as well, the Gulpin was pelted by a series of stars, completely distracting it from its previous opponent.
Autumnal used the opportunity to make a great leap, barely able to clear the pool of slime. He rushed up to the Gulpin, trailing tails gaining a metallic sheen, before whipping his whole body and smacking it with a fanned Iron Tail(s). The clunk it made was unbelievably satisfying, and the impact tossed the aberrant into the very same waterway it had used to trap Autumnal.
While the Gulpin was carried off by the current, Ennea caught her breath.
“Whew, there you go! Someone to watch your back.” She tip-toed around the gunk to rejoin Autumnal’s side. “Basic combat training can help out from time to time, I guess!”
Autumnal tilted his head for some reason. “…Rglr qla ‘vlaux?’”
“Right!” Ennea led them across the room to her original interest. “These are the stairs, right? They aren’t just like, normal sewer stairs?”
“Mm-hm.” Autumnal pointed her to the bottom.
“Huh?” Looking at where he was pointing didn’t really reveal anything. It was just stairs.
Sensing her confusion, Autumnal pointed again, then leaned in while squinting. Look closely.
She took the advice a bit literally, mimicking his action to get a good look at whatever was up with where these stairs led. But there was nothing to stand out.
Wait, no. That was the problem. Nothing stood out. It was like… she could see it, but not focus on it. Not in the way that it was blurry just… nondescript, slipping the mind even when stared at. It would never stick out at a glance, but when focused on it was so inoffensive that it was eerie.
“What in the world…” Ennea murmured. “Is that how you can tell? Stairs to the next floor are… freakishly nebulous?”
“Twa.” And with his lesson complete, Autumnal went down until he began to look just as nondescript as the destination. Seeing that happen to a friend bothered Ennea, so she quickly followed.
Ennea sighed. “When is this going to end? I thought the next floor would be—”
She stopped herself. She could remember what just happened 5 seconds ago. That meant this was the next floor.
She turned to Autumnal, just beside her in the thin chamber they’d arrived in. “You ever get used to that?”
He nodded.
“Jeez. I can’t imagine….”
He gave a quick nod forward with his head. Come on. Then he snuck into another tunnel.
This passageway split into several, and Autumnal took the very first turn he could. Whether there was some sort of method or if it was just luck, it paid off, as at the end of the long path, another chamber containing stairs could be seen.
“Hey, look at that!” Ennea marveled. “We practically spawned right next to them!”
Autumnal gave a nod back, and broke into a run for the room, which Ennea was all to glad to follow. Halfway through their sprint, a metallic crash was heard as the prelude to a clang clang clang that kept on going as it built up speed. Autumnal hit the brakes, sliding on the stone bricks until he smacked into something, and Ennea smacked into his back.
“What happened?! Why’d we stop?” Ennea pulled herself out of the mess they’d landed in and immediately was face to face with an iron grate blocking off the tunnel’s exit. “What the—? That can happen?!”
It must’ve fallen as they were running. Shoot, why’d Autumnal stop? They totally could’ve made it! Or… he could’ve. There was a good chance it would’ve separated them. Ennea’s heart sank as she noticed that the room with the stairs didn’t have any other visible entrances.
Other than a soft huff, Autumnal wasn’t nearly as bothered. He picked himself back up, carefully slid around Ennea without making contact, and doubled back the way they’d came. She noticed that he was tapping the walls more frequently now. Was he checking them?
“How’re we going to get past the bars? Can you melt them or something?”
Autumnal shook his head. “Ud lbt irgwe Cykouz qla gwew, tiy xiyks.” Using the tail opposite of the one tapping the wall, Autumnal pretended to grab something and pull.
“Oh!” The pep in Ennea’s step returned. “There’s a lever? It’s not totally random?”
“Mm-hm.”
Unfortunately, the lever’s location was. They checked roughly a dozen rooms and tunnels without any luck. She wasn’t about to question her friend’s knowledge about this, but by the time the duo were on the opposite side of the floor Ennea was starting to wonder if there was something she wasn’t getting.
In the depths of a passageway, Autumnal’s ears once again twitched, and he ducked down low.
“Another aberrant? Are we—”
Autumnal held up a paw. Wait.
Ennea ducked down, too, holding her breath to hear that there definitely was movement nearby. Another Gulpin?
Autumnal turned to her, beckoned, took a deep gasp, then pursed his lips. Get close and hold your breath.
She didn’t delay, shuffling in and following the advice as Autumnal took another inhale. W-wait! He’s not going to breathe fire in here, is he?!
At the last moment, he brought his head down low, further spooking Ennea and making her grab one of his hind paws. And then, from his maw, a massive cloud of smoke erupted, blanketing Ennea’s vision completely. Now there was nothing but the swirling plumes of shadow around them. That was—wait, can Vulpixes even learn Smokescreen?
She lost grip of his paw as Autumnal stepped out. One of his tails swept away a bit of smoke, enough to be visible, and motioned for Ennea to follow.
When she emerged from the cloud, Ennea nearly gasped, stopping herself just in time. A huge, purple blob was lumbering around on the other side of the room, it’s back thankfully turned towards them. An aberrant Swalot. Much more dangerous than a Gulpin.
Following Autumnal and sneaking around the walls, Ennea kept her eyes trained on the Swalot. It didn’t seem to be doing anything, just… staring. When it scanned over the smoke, it didn’t even react. Was it not capable of telling something there was wrong?
And then, just as they were about to get out of the room with the beast, Ennea caught a glimpse of its eyes. They were hauntingly empty. No light. No darkness. Just nothing. They were eyes that couldn’t see the world or the people in it as anything more than obstructions. And it was in that moment that Ennea understood why everybody knew that aberrants were incapable of feeling.
It took a while for Ennea to catch her breath after they scampered off into another room. She waited two more to even chance speaking again, but the streak was broken when the last chamber they explored, one without any waterway, also featured a metal lever atop a small platform.
“Hey, there it is!” Ennea skipped up the steps and checked the thing out. It looked pretty uncomfortable to grab, but if it’d get them further, it was worth a shot! She clamped onto it using her paws and pulled back, finding that it was stuck good.
“Ack.” Ennea shook off her paws. “Is this thing super old or something? Can stuff in Dungeons even be old?”
Autumnal joined her on the other side, experimentally giving it a tug as well. No dice.
“We don’t wanna be here forever, right? Who knows when an aberrant will show up.” Ennea hooked a paw onto the lever. “Wanna try it together?”
After a hesitant nod, Autumnal grabbed on as well, slightly below where Ennea had.
“Alright, go!”
They both pulled, combined effort causing the metal rod to squeal. That was progress! But they needed more power, to throw their whole bodies into it! To pull harder, Ennea added her other paw, unthinkingly placing it over Autumnal’s. As it turned out, his resulting panic was exactly what they needed, and the lever instantly swung on over the rest of the way and tossed the pair into a heap on the ground.
Autumnal was off Ennea before she could even blink, clinging to a nearby wall and panting like he should’ve been for any other part of their excursion into the Dungeon so far.
“I—oh, shoot. Sorry.” Ennea had forgotten about his aversion to touch. It was a bit weird to try and reconcile how strangely unflinching he could be in the face of actual danger with how jumpy he could be in the face of mundane situations.
Autumnal waved her concerns off with a paw. “Ur’a dubw. Yaylkkt ur’a qieaw rglb rglr.” He used a tail to point towards the exit.
Ennea went back to silence as she followed. She was dreading having to sneak around the Swalot, after all.
As she soon discovered, what caused far more dread was seeing that the chamber it had once inhabited was empty.
O-oh no. Is it just wandering around? Does it know we’re here?
Not helping was that Autumnal’s pace quickened afterwards. Ennea stuck to him as close as she could without touching him again as they trotted through the path back to the grate.
While jogging along, Autumnal looked back at Ennea. Oh no! Was it behind her? She cast a glance over her shoulder, thankfully finding it was still just them in here.
“Mm,” Autumnal hummed gently. He softened his expression and pointed Ennea to the bag at her side.
That calmed her a bit. She still had that seed they’d found, and it must’ve been a pretty good one if he thought it could solve the Swalot problem. Plus, there was the Petrify Orb that Salute had given her. Although Autumnal didn’t know about that one. Did he really trust her aim that much?
It didn’t actually matter, since they arrived back at the now raised grate. It was still a mystery how it fell in the first place, but perhaps that was par for the course here. The final chamber was remarkably well lit (still by no visible lanterns) and had the stairs smack dab in the center. Almost like it was a lure. Oh Arceus, was the Dungeon sentient? There were still so many questions that Autumnal could answer!
A low, guttural cry pierced the tunnel they’d just come from. She didn’t even have to look to know that Swalot was coming for them. The quickly rising volume of its gurgling roars did that for her.
Ennea scrambled for her bag, checking the wrong side first, then the wrong pocket, then fumbling the button, then—
“Ah!” Autumnal called.
Ennea snapped her head towards him. He was standing at the top of the stairs and repeatedly motioning for her to join him. But what about the danger?
Ennea shook her head. Trust your friend. That was the rule down here. She leapt to follow, and they both dashed down the stairs.
Do I remember things now? Ennea wondered for the umpteenth time.
Oh. The answer’s yes.
“Wait!” Ennea frantically looked around. “Won’t the Swalot follow us?!”
Autumnal shook his head, made a cut-off motion, and gave a thumbs down with his tails. No way. Not a chance in the world.
“Okay.” Ennea caught her breath. “Okay. Aberrants are freaky. How on earth do you stay calm around big ones like that?”
Autumnal shrugged, pointed to an invisible one, tapped his head, then shook it. Eh. They don’t really think.
“What, they don’t?” Ennea’s expression shifted back to a more familiar smile. “Or wait, are you calling them stupid?”
“Hm.” After mulling it over for a surprising amount of time, Autumnal looked right at her and nodded. Yeah.
“Jeez, you’re lucky they’re not able to hear you say that.”
“Mm-mm.” Autumnal repeated the pantomime with raised eyebrows. They don’t think.
“Pfft. So stupid to not even know they’re being called stupid? You can be a lot more vicious than I thought.” Ennea’s ears went straight up as she gave him her complete attention. “So. Where to?”
Autumnal led them down another path, luckily without any grate incidents or sudden stealth missions. For a while, it was just the tunnels and chambers, refreshingly empty apart from the bridges and waterways, apart from one unfortunate tunnel that was half-filled with water, forcing the pair to shimmy across the walls to avoid it.
“Hm?” Autumnal tapped the wall of the chamber they were in. He’d continued that tapping with his tails the whole time thus far.
“You found something? There something up with the wall?”
Autumnal nodded, and began to prod its bricks with his paws.
Eager to help, Ennea joined in too, tapping and pushing them like it was a game. She must’ve had a knack for this one, given that one of the bricks actually responded to her press.
“Huh? Hey, I got it!” Ennea slid the brick out of the wall and tossed it. Inside the gap was… a twig. “Okay, never mind.”
“Ah!” Autumnal snatched up the twig, closely inspecting it. Was it really that special, other than the novelty of a stick being found so deep underground? It had a pretty neat coloring, a very cool, dark brown, and a sharp point, but that was all.
Ennea’s head continued tilting as Autumnal continued playing with the stick, until he shook it, causing a sickly green liquid to splash out.
“Whoa, what? Is this thing actually useful?”
Autumnal nodded and pretended to throw it. Quickly shifting to the role of someone being hit by the point, he made a tired, queasy face. Hit someone with this, and they’ll get poisoned.
“Oh shoot, that’s—!” Ennea snatched up the Poison Spike, but stopped. “That doesn’t actually sound that useful down here.” All they’d seen were two poison types.
The response she got was, predictably, a shrug, after which Autumnal pointed Ennea to her bag.
“Right, right.” Useful for the future. She had to find a pocket she didn’t much care for, but Ennea stowed the Poison Spike away. Hopefully it wouldn’t leak.
And so it was back to wandering. Ennea tried her best to mentally map out their path, but with all the sudden splits and junctions, occasional dead ends, and the plain and simple fact that half of these rooms looked the same, it was a lot of trouble. Autumnal didn’t seem to struggle, though. Maybe there was some sort of trick to it?
Well, it didn’t take any special method to know that the especially wide hallway they found past a series of small, awkwardly shaped chambers was important. Unlike the rest of the tunnels, this one had enough room for Ennea and Autumnal to walk side by side. Total endgame material, just like checkers.
It even led into a room that matched the atmosphere: a comfortable chamber that was a straight shot to the next tunnel. Easy. It was practically a glorified hall.
…Except there was no bridge over this room’s waterway.
Autumnal gave Ennea a questioning look and a small bounce. You good to jump?
“Yeah I am! C’mon, did you see the hops I had back at the gardens?”
Another amused expression from Autumnal. She’d have to ask what those were for. But not now, as he turned to the gap and took a running start. He was pretty good at this, waiting until the very last moment to spring up and leap over.
Until he was sent flying the exact opposite direction. He crashed back down into a roll that carried him all the way to the corner of the room.
“Autumnal!” Ennea scurried over to check up on him but couldn’t begin to figure out how to without touching. Plus, he was… wet.
“Ah!” Her head snapped back to the gap as Autumnal shakily pulled himself back up. “There’s something in the water!” It must’ve blasted him.
How were they supposed to handle this? Autumnal definitely couldn’t jump again if he was at risk of being hit by Water attacks! But they also couldn’t see the enemy, or more importantly, hit them. Not without going up to the ledge and basically giving it a free shot.
“Hey, you doing okay?” Ennea asked as Autumnal shook himself out. “I’ve got an idea. I’m going in.”
Before he could protest, Ennea took a running start of her own, once again allowing an energy at her very base build up. Right as she was about to leap herself, she released it, shooting off and across far faster than any normal run would allow. Quick Attack’s secondary usage as a movement technique was well known and super useful, even if Ennea somehow always felt it lacking.
Not this time, though, as Ennea cleared the gap. Behind her, a ring of water few up and popped, the miss making it less dangerous and more celebratory. But her job was far from over, as Ennea whirled back around.
“Go now!” Ennea encouraged. “I’ll distract whatever’s down there!”
She took another speed leap, Quick Attack once again keeping her ahead of the Water Pulse sent her way. She watched Autumnal gear up for his own jump as she made her third.
Something wrapped around Ennea’s leg, sending her to the floor early. Everything in her body immediately spasmed, and Ennea settled for just spamming Quick Attack over and over to avoid the fact that whatever just grabbed her was trying to pull her into the waterway. She had no idea which side she’d landed on or which way she was going, just that she needed whatever was on to get off of her immediately.
Unknowingly, Ennea was actually winning the tug of war. She personally discovered this when something at the end of her unwanted rope hit the ground, causing her to look back and see that she’d dragged an entire aberrant Tentacool out of the waterway. That did little to mitigate her panic, because it didn’t seem to care, and was readying an attack she’d have no way to dodge.
She was saved when a cloudy orb of energy smashed into the horrid thing, releasing its grip and launching it into a corner of its own. Before it had even landed, Ennea sent the stars of Swift its way, beating it until it didn’t move anymore.
Autumnal being beside her was the first thing Ennea noticed when she regained comprehension of her surroundings. She gave him way too eager of a smile, but he somehow didn’t flinch.
“D-distraction!” She laughed in relief. “See, th-that works!”
Autumnal pointed to her and gave a tail thumbs-up. Are you okay?
“Yeah, I’m alright! You? You got hit way worse than I did!”
Autumnal gave a slow nod, but continued looking at Ennea with supreme concern.
“Oh my gosh, this is terrifying!” Ennea excitedly gushed. “You seriously do this all the time?! How?!”
“Don’t be! This is so freaking much!” Ennea skipped off to the tunnel, still jittery from everything. “That way’s the stairs, I can feel it!”
Ennea was entirely correct in that. The room at the end of the hallway had the stairs, and no more enemies. With another victorious look, Ennea and Autumnal made their exit.
The darkness was back. Luckily, all the excitement had made Ennea’s eyes quite bright, giving her a view of her immediate surroundings.
“We did it! Autumnal, we made it!” Ennea’s first adventure in reality, a rousing success!
She managed to make out a nod from the Vulpix before he went further into the shadows. “Hm?” he wondered aloud.
“What’s up? You find something?” Ennea joined him, discovering a lantern on the ground, complete with a tinderbox nearby.
Ennea lit the lantern, bringing light into the small room they’d found. It was surprisingly cozy for being in a sewer, filled with boxes and supplies. Some for construction, others seemingly for survival, like rope and canteens.
“I bet she was in here,” Ennea mused. She looked over to one of the boxes. “Hey Autumnal, mind helping me open one of these?”
Of course he agreed. Ennea cleared the junk off the top, Autumnal tipped it onto its side, and they both worked together to pop the lid off, sending several bags onto the ground. All of them jingled.
“Ah!” Ennea picked one up. It was heavy. “Whoa, cross that one off the list! We actually found the money!” At least Calvera would be happy.
The bag was weird though. Ennea had to hold it up high, because it was crazy deep. The burlap sack wound up having an almost pole-like shape because of its length: nearly 2 whole feet. Most of the Poké inside wound up stacked because of it.
Ennea stared at that bag for a while, illuminated only by her eyes and the lantern behind her. There tons of them, and the strange design unfortunately meant they probably couldn’t take back more than a few. Ennea and Autumnal didn’t really have any way to hold them effectively.
Wait.
“This…!” Ennea held the bag up as high as she could. “This is it!” She spun around to show Autumnal. “This is our evidence! This is how we prove you innocent! No, not even! This solves the whole case!”
Autumnal inspected the bag, before turning his attention to Ennea and blinking.
Ennea leaned in close. “I’m serious! You’ve gotta trust me on this!”
The edges of his mouth curved up again in that same, barely noticeable smile. Autumnal gave Ennea a nod.
Thanks, Autumnal. I promise you won’t regret it. I’m about to save you.
She looked up at a ladder, leading back up to the surface. It was a long climb back up, but it would be worth it.
They had a trial to crash.
2. Salute ~ Due Process (ND Arrangement) END POINT
3. Gotta Start Somewhere… ~ for Epiphany Sewers END POINT
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