Chapter 7 – Case Closed

Tracklist

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“Hah! We… we did it!”

Ennea pulled herself up the last branch, rolling over atop the canopy of the World Tree. The cool breeze at this altitude did wonders for her exhausted limbs. She sank down into the bed of leaves, sighing as the tree itself cradled her.

“Mm!”

Right! She couldn’t rest just yet! Ennea popped back up and grabbed a paw sticking out from below. She put far too much strength into hoisting the Vulpix up to join her, sending them both tumbling into a heap at the edge of the treetop.

They were hardly an inch away from falling off into a 50,000-foot plunge, but Ennea just laughed, enjoying the moment before helping him off of her. After everything else this climb, what was one more close call? Besides, they’d always had each other’s backs. So long as they were together, they’d be just fine.

Ennea settled down, feeling the wind through her fur as she gazed out at the wonderful sight they’d earned.

“Look at all the realms you can reach from here….” Winding branches further down the tree curled up into shimmering portals containing the skylines of fantastical worlds. Their glow could be seen even through the impossibly fluffy clouds that drifted by, coating everything they touched in a fine dew.

And further out below was the fantastical world they’d been journeying through. From so high, you could see the very curve of the planet across the expanse of land, filled with plains, forests, hamlets, snowfields, glaciers, cities, beaches, valleys, and so, so much more. And all the mountains they’d climbed along the way, so small compared to where they now sat….

They had everything below them. And the only thing left above was the glittering sky and crescent moon. A star shot across the night, leaving a glowing streak in its wake.

Ennea just watched it fly. She’d already gotten her wish.

“So,” she finally asked, turning to face her adventuring partner. “What next? I mean, there’s still so much we can do! Where do we—”

She came to a stop when she finally looked right at the Vulpix’s face. His eyes… they were so… light. And the moment she saw that, everything else came cascading down. His smile was too wide, his hair too static, his tails too orderly.

“Y-you’re not Autumnal…” Ennea looked at the world around her. “Wait, this is…?”

 

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An uncomfortable smell forced itself into Ennea’s nose. It was only recently familiar to her. She rubbed her eyes, foggy memory failing to place a name to the scent.

It had been a long time since she’d dreamt without realizing it. And she’d never had an aspect of one just… fail like that. It had been so good until she noticed, too…. Having something so obviously fake made it feel a lot more lifeless.

Wait, lifeless. That reminded her just what the scent was.

Sterility. It was a sterile smell.

Ennea struggled to get up from her seat, a slow and exhausting process since her body still ached like nothing else. She had to pass the minute it took to stand by looking around at their room in the hospital.

Being here was a new experience, albeit an unexciting one. The room had evergreen walls that paired well with the warm, wooden trim, but not much else for decoration. The best they had was a familiar pair of shackles laying on a corner table. Of course, there was another darn clock in here, ticking away incessantly. Like Ennea needed that right now.

A small window nearly touching the ceiling let the morning rays in, beaming down yet missing the cot in the center of the room.

Ennea sighed as she rose enough to look at Autumnal, splayed out in his bed, a mass of bandages cinched around his waist. He looked hurt even still, thanks to the spots of missing fur on his forelegs from where injections had been required. Ennea didn’t know half of what had been required for his treatment. All she knew was that his chest was moving.

It had been a few days since she’d woken up, but he was still fast asleep. Apart from several bruises and exhaustion, she’d actually gotten off pretty easy from the battle with Hiketeria. After another day or two, it’d be impossible to tell she’d been in a fight at all.

Ennea’s ears flattened. Her right one now split at the end. Maybe not… impossible to tell. That tear would be permanent. Good thing her parents didn’t care about using her anymore. If something like this happened when she was younger, they’d have a fit over the damage to her image.

But who cared about that? She’d live. And if Autumnal would too, then whatever happened had been worth it.

All he had to do was wake up. Sometimes that was hard, Ennea knew. Beds could be more comforting than life some days. But it was easier if you had someone there for you. Ennea reached out to Autumnal—

Her grasp for his paw stopped at the very last moment. She nearly forgot he didn’t like that. Her own paw now lay on the side of his bed, just about to touch his.

She wanted to help, to support him, but didn’t know how. If he couldn’t see or hear, and she couldn’t touch, then did he even realize she was here at all? She just wanted him to know he wasn’t alone. That was all she could do for him.

Ennea’s head sank into the corner of the cot. She could swear that Autumnal sighed and shifted a bit in response.

…Maybe this was okay. She could stay with him, and hope that he would be able to tell that she was here.

Can you feel it, Autumnal? Can you feel my presence…?

A creak of wood got Ennea’s head back up, ears perked towards the door. She moved off the bed just before the door opened and a Leavanny entered. The doctor paused when she saw Ennea.

“Oh, Ennea. There you are.” The doctor adjusted her glasses. “You’ve already been cleared. If you’d like, you can go home.”

“I know. But I….” Ennea trailed off as she checked Autumnal’s breathing. “…How is he?”

The doctor took a long look at her clipboard.

“It was a close call, but he’s recovering. He’s gotten through the worst of it, at least. Right now we’re focusing on helping his body replenish the blood that was lost.”

Ennea winced, averting her eyes as she remembered the aftermath of Hiketeria’s attack. There was probably a lot that needed replenishing….

“That will just take time and some dietary considerations,” the doctor continued. “We were able to save his leg as well—”

Ennea whipped her head around. “Wait, what?! ‘Save’ his leg?!”

The next moment was agony. The doctor looked Ennea up and down before finally giving her a response.

“Yes. The nerves were quite damaged. Surgery was required.”

Ennea chest fought against her as she lifted up the sheets covering Autumnal’s lower body. Sure enough, one of his hind legs was just as bandaged as his stomach.

“I—!” Ennea cut herself off. Of course. Of course his leg was in bad shape. She knew that from the very beginning. That was half of the reason he was able to be framed for the crime. And she’d had him running around town on it for three whole days.

“It should still be usable, but we’ll have to see how long it takes for him to regain feeling in it.”

“…I’m sorry.”

The doctor turned the clipboard over in her blades while watching Ennea curiously. “For what?”

“I made it worse. I kept having him go places! And he took the attack that should’ve been mine! I got him hurt!”

“Hm. True.” The doctor pointed to the shackles on their corner table. “But you also prevented him from being found guilty, and had him brought here for treatment. If nothing else, the fact that he took that attack should tell you that he appreciated what you did for him.”

Ennea laid her paw near Autumnal’s once again. She did have a lot of fun on the way… and it seemed like he did, too. But was that really okay? Did her keeping him out of his cell justify how much he’d gone through in the process? Did Ennea really do any good for him in the end?

“When you… said ‘it was a close call…’ how close did you mean?”

“The attack went quite deep, but stopped just in time. If it were any more effective, his organs would’ve been too damaged to accept the Sitrus Berries we needed just to stabilize him. He was saved by his typing.”

The doctor turned to leave, but spoke over her shoulder one last time.

“You should try to get back to your schedule. It will be longer yet before he regains consciousness.”

And she gently shut the door, leaving the two alone.

He was saved by his typing. In other words, if Ennea had taken that attack, she would’ve….

“Oh Autumnal….”

 

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Ennea, youngest of House Harmonie, meandered down the cobbled streets as they winded through the town, having to make way for the occasional pedestrian outspeeding her. She may have been cleared from the hospital, but it would take time before she was ready to sprint everywhere again. And while the doctor had told her to get back to her schedule, Ennea wasn’t sure what that really was anymore.

The town was changing. All those tall, storied buildings were having flags and banners hung across from them in preparation for the festival was coming far faster than expected. The most dedicated amongst the homeowners were planting flowering vines on windowsills, trying to cultivate them into coatings or trims for the houses that would last the whole season.

The breeze now brought with it petals that swirled as they whooshed by Ennea. It was a much warmer gust than in weeks past. A long winter was finally ending, and the world was blooming in response.

A long walk later, and Ennea settled down by the steps to the Guard’s Hall. It was still just as grand, but now it felt like the rest of the town matched it.

She’d seen a lot over those three days. Gone places she’d never been before, and never would have otherwise. Now it was hard to just go back to how things were before.

But things weren’t how they were before. After whatever dreadful council work she’d have to sit in on, then instead of just heading to her apartment to sleep the rest of the day off, Ennea now had people to see that would give the rest of her day meaning. And yet today she just told the council she wouldn’t be showing up. Why couldn’t she go back?

Ennea tapped the ground, playing with some of the petals scattered around. Underneath was the sewers. A Mystery Dungeon. One that she and her friend had braved before any Exploration Team. She’d truly gone on an adventure.

And it was fun! Scary, sure, but she wasn’t too freaked out until Hiketeria made everything go sideways. She’d felt needed, supported, and was having all of that while doing something that was entirely her decision. Not something her parents had planned just to get her out of the way.

For just three days, Ennea had lived her life. A real one, in the real world. It wasn’t what she’d ever expected, but she liked that life. Even if it ended in blood and tears.

Or had it? Was it really over? If Autumnal was going to wake up and be okay, then what had happened in the courtroom wasn’t the end. Maybe it was something else.

There was a question looming over Ennea. One that she couldn’t figure out the words to, especially when she was on her own. 

“Oh. Ennea.”

Ennea brought her gaze down from the town’s skyline to an Excadrill that had just exited the Hall.

“Thyreos? What are you doing here?” Wait. Stupid question. “I mean, how are things? Since, you know….”

Thyreos sat down on a step near Ennea, though the motion was far more akin to the collapse of a building. “Chaotic. The Chief’s been detained. Now we’re having to figure out what’s next.”

Ennea tilted her head. “What do you mean? Shouldn’t someone else just… step up to the position?”

“You’d think.” Thyreos kept his head from crashing down into the ground with a claw. “But despite all the bureaucracy, the one thing the Chief never did was set up a proper successor. Not that it’d matter. No matter who we choose, with her arrest the Theives’ Guild will be coming back.”

“What?”

“The Chief really was incredible. She managed to translate a portion of Theives’ Cant, completely disrupting their operations in town.” A small huff escaped Thyreos. “They just abandoned their members here, so Chief Hiketeria was able to stamp them all out. Kept things safe for nearly a decade.”

“Oh. And she never… gave the rest of you a primer or anything?”

“We’re checking all the documents she left behind. But her ability to do that scared them off. Whoever comes next won’t be so lucky.”

“So, who’s it going to be?”

“Well.” Thyreos scraped at the ground. “I am the Head Guard. Order of succession means it should be me.”

Ennea’s split ear dropped, while the other stuck further up. “But you’re talking like it’s not gonna be you. Are you trying to avoid the position?”

“…Yes. It shouldn’t be me, and I’m arguing against it. When the Chief attacked, I froze. I didn’t even move to save someone dying right next to me. You had to force me. Then I couldn’t bring myself to fight her. I left that to Salute and a civilian. I’m no leader.”

As much as Ennea would have liked to give him some reassuring platitude… he was sorta right. “So then who? Salute?”

“He was the one to stand up to her. Before that, as well. He pushed to let you investigate freely, while I simply followed the Chief’s orders. He’s someone who can be trusted to do the right thing.”

Ennea gave a shaky smile. “Yeah, but he’s also….”

“He’s also Salute,” Thyreos chuckled. “I may be insane for even suggesting the idea. But maybe he’ll be ready in time.”

“Maybe having someone who’ll just eat all the paperwork will be a good thing, you never know.”

Ennea wasn’t sure whether or not she said that as a joke.

“I’m kinda surprised you’re not mad at me,” Ennea admitted. “For getting her arrested.”

“Preposterous. You uncovered a criminal. One who was taking underhanded actions right under our noses. Even if it takes time to heal, this will be better for everyone. That’s justice.”

Thyreos paused as Ennea gave him a look.

“…By the gods, I’m even starting to sound like him. Maybe he could be a good leader. That’s what I’m attempting to convince the rest of the Guard of, at least. I’ll stick to that conviction.”

“Yeah… if you feel like it’s right, then go for it.” Ennea nodded at her own words. She stood up rather quickly this time, aided by the wind at her back. “I’ve gotta go. Got a friend I wanna be with. Tell Salute I say ‘hi and justice.’”

“I’ll just tell him the ‘justice’ part. He’ll appreciate it more.”

“Right.” Ennea started off as fast as she could manage. “See you both soon!”

 

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Ennea was recognized the moment she returned to the hospital.

“Oh, Ennea.” The Leavanny doctor was carefully balancing a pile of berries and vials in her arms. “Interesting timing. Your friend regained consciousness just under an hour ago—”

Ennea’s eyes flashed. “Really?!”

Ignoring the ache, she darted through the doctor’s legs doctor up some stairs, past the room she’d recovered in, and back into to the room next door without wasting another second.

Atop the bed inside, a Vulpix’s ears perked up, lifting the rest of his head off the mattress he was lying on. Though his expression wouldn’t seem nearly as jubilant as hers to most, Ennea could see something flower in his eyes.

Dark eyes. He was real.

“Autumnal!” Ennea nearly tackled him, but got ahold of herself just fast enough to instead skid to a stop in front of his bed. “You’re finally awake! It’s been nearly a week, I was so worried! And bored! Oh my gosh you have no idea how dull my job can be, especially when I have to get through it while still sore! So much happened while you were out! Well honestly, most of it was when right after you got hit, but still!”

Autumnal blinked, a small smile beginning to form at the edges of his mouth.

“Ah….” His smile faded when his eyes fell on the split in Ennea’s ear.

“Oh, this?” Ennea’s ear dropped so she could stroke it in her paws. “Yeah, it happened when Hiketeria attacked.” That ear shot back up as she leaned in, pointing with her nose at Autumnal’s bandages. “But who cares about that? I’ll live. What about you? Are you feeling okay?”

Autumnal nodded, though he visibly struggled to pull himself up into a sitting position.

“What about… your leg?” Ennea’s own smile wavered. “Can you feel anything in it?”

Autumnal reached down and felt his hind paw, squeezing it for a moment while frowning at the wall. He returned to Ennea’s gaze, bringing his forepaws together to be close, but not touching. A little.

“How… how long was it numb?”

The pause that Autumnal had to take was deeply concerning. Eventually, he settled on pointing down to the ground. Since we went to the sewers.

“You should’ve told me….” Now it was hard to look Autumnal in the eye. Ennea only managed it when she started to talk again. “I didn’t know how much you were hurting. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Autumnal took a deep breath, also avoiding eye contact. He placed a paw on his chest, shook his head, then reached out to grab something invisible.

The puzzle made Ennea’s tail start to swish. “Grabbing…?”

He didn’t “reach?” He didn’t “grasp,” maybe “realize?” No, then he’d tap his head. What did you grab for?

“Aha!” Ennea smacked a paw to the floor. “‘Want?’ Is that meant to be ‘want?’”

Autumnal nodded and started over. He placed a paw on his chest, shook his head, and tried to grab something. He pointed to Ennea, then showed one paw getting blocked by another. I didn’t want to hinder you.

“What?” The absurdity of it made Ennea’s smile uneasily return. “I mean, maybe. Sure, we were low on time, but there’s still stuff we could’ve done to make it better without losing too much! You could’ve stayed home for part of the investigation and rested! What’s the point of setting you free if you can’t even walk by the time it’s over?”

Autumnal shrugged, then shifted his shoulders. Maybe, but….

Looking down at one of the bedsheets, he continued. He pointed at himself, then Ennea, then moved his two paws together. He took a moment to breathe. Slowly, he pointed to himself again, tapped his head, and gave a tail thumbs up.

Hanging out with you… I thought it was fun.

Ennea sighed as her body relaxed. She really did do him some good by keeping him out of his cell. Enough that he didn’t want to go back even when he needed to. It was starting to look like the damage to his leg was something both of them were at fault for.

“Well, all’s well that ends well. But you better not do that again!” Ennea stood straight and gave Autumnal a grin. “No hanging around me without telling me if you’re in pain! We can do something about it!”

“Owegloa, vyr… oyagubf rgeiyfg rgw olub bi nlrrwe qglr, rglr’a giq U’n ayooiaws ri wzuar. U xlb’r kwr ntawkd fwr ub rgw qlt hyar vwxlyaw nt vist fucwa iyr.”

“I’d really love if I could understand what you’re saying.”

Autumnal gave his slight smile, lack of eye contact making it look quite bashful. “U’n bir ayew tiy qiyks.”

“My word, you’re fast,” the doctor sighed as she walked in, a Psychic-type Ponyta nurse wheeling a cart of medical supplies behind her. “I was just about to tell you that you may want to wait a moment longer. His leg needs one last round of surgery, and the stitches on his abdomen are to be removed.”

The doctor turned to Autumnal and pointed to one of two vials on the cart behind her. “We were planning on putting you to sleep for the process. Are you okay with that?”

Autumnal quickly shook his head, face showing no more emotion.

“Alright then. We’ll use a different anesthetic.” She tapped the other vial, and it began to float up, the fluid inside swirling around in beige and gold. “This one is made from Stun Seeds and Stun Spores. You’ll remain conscious but will be numb and paralyzed for a few hours. Ennea, you can wait in the lobby.”

“Ah, wait!” Ennea circled around to the other side of the cot, drawing Autumnal’s eyes away from the doctor. It occurred to her that surgery would mean them touching him. A lot. “Is it okay if I stay? I’ll just be talking to him.”

If Autumnal’s eyes were on her, and he couldn’t feel anything, he wouldn’t have to know when he was being touched. It might not bother him that way. Ennea wasn’t sure if that was how it worked, but even if it wasn’t, she could show him that he wasn’t alone.

“Well,” the doctor mused. “He won’t be able to talk back. Are you sure?”

“Oh yeah! We’ve had lots of practice dealing with that.”

“Suit yourself.”

Autumnal rolled over, laying to be completely facing Ennea as the Ponyta jabbed him with the anesthetic. After a momentary flick of his ears, his body went limp. Ennea wasn’t even sure if he could move his face, but she could see in his eyes that he was listening.

“Right! So!” Ennea tried to keep her gaze away from the nurse preparing Autumnal’s leg. “I never told you what happened after you got hit! It was easily the craziest fight I’ve ever been in!” And the only one, apart from sparring during combat lessons with her nan.

The sight of the Leavanny slowly slicing open Autumnal’s thigh made Ennea’s story stutter for a moment, but she shook it off when she looked back at his face.

“So there I was, in the courtroom, seeing something truly awful: Hiketeria having beaten 5 guards in less than a minute, and about to take down Salute to make it 6! To make it worse, she was right in front of the exit! To make sure my client, now proven innocent but badly hurt, could get to safety, there was only one thing to do. I had to join in! I leaped up onto the podium, then….”

And so Ennea told Autumnal of the battle that had nearly killed her. Of course, she omitted all the parts where she was too scared to even move. As she did, something funny started to happen. With each blow she dramatically recounted, and each tiny movement of Autumnal’s eyes to accompany it, that savage, terrifying brawl stopped feeling so scary.

“…and it was just—blast after blast of these broken desk chunks! I burst into a sprint, but these explosions followed my charge the whole way! That is, until I fired off a Quick Attack and crashed down back to the floor!”

“Hhh…!”

For a moment, Ennea worried that Autumnal was wincing in pain. But his eyes were as invested as ever, and she could swear his mouth twitched up for a moment. He was amused for some reason. That was the closest he could manage to a laugh right now.

You liked that part, huh? It made Ennea’s grin even goofier.

“Of course, I was quicker than she could pitch! I’m basically a master of baseball, as it turns out. And thanks to Salute using Dragon Rush again, I was able to go back on the offensive….”

Once his leg was finished and the cut was Heal Pulsed shut, the doctor had Autumnal laid onto his back to get the stitches pulled out. His eyes went cold as he was shifted, but the next twist of Ennea’s story got him back to normal. At some point, Ennea noticed the medical procedure had stopped, but this had turned out to be so much fun that she kept going for as long as Autumnal would listen.

“…so I was right! And her leg was broken again! With that, the battle was over; Salute and I stood victorious over the corrupt chief! A decisive victory… for justice!

“…and that’s basically everything you missed!” Ennea gave a wink and a bow to wrap things up.

Autumnal gave the best applause he could with his teeth. The anesthetic was wearing off a little at a time.

“Thank you, thank you! You’ve been a wonderful audience.” Ennea turned to the medical staff. “Alright, I’m done.”

“Yes, we noticed,” the Leavanny sighed. The Ponyta’s horn glowed for a moment, and two pairs of earplugs popped out from their heads.

“Now then, even with berries and healing moves to speed it up, it will still take some time before his leg will be fully functional again.” The doctor tiredly gestured to the new brace on Autumnal’s leg. “We’ll have to monitor it over the next couple of days.”

“Oh.” Ennea’s tail finally slowed to a stop. “Does that mean he’s gotta stay in bed the whole time?”

“No, not the whole time. In fact, he’ll need to make sure he’s using the leg for a bit each day.”

“So does that mean he could go out for a while?!”

The doctor and nurse shared a look. “…Yes. But he’ll need to be supervised in case of an emergency.”

“I can do it!”

“Goodness, I never could have guessed. Are you certain you’re up for it?”

“Yeah!” Ennea bounced between her front and back paws as her grin turned to a sarcastic smirk. “I mean, I’ve been the one dealing with him so far. It’s only right that I handle the burden.”

“Excellent. Now, shoo. It’s late.”

“It is?” Ennea looked up at the window, now seeing just how dark it was getting outside. “Oh shoot, it is. Alright, then.”

While trotting to the doorway, Ennea turned to Autumnal, who was still stuck lying flat on the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Dunno what we’ll do without a looming investigation, but we can figure it out then!”

“Ah….” Autumnal mumbled into his sheets. He strained for a moment, forcing his ear to flick at Ennea a few times in a makeshift wave.

That made Ennea’s smile go lopsided. She had no choice but to give him an ear wave in return, barely holding in a giggle as the medical staff looked on them incredulously.

Tomorrow’s meeting might be the hardest to sit through yet.

 

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“Then only these major roads from the Frontal, Parietal, and Occipital districts will be permitted to be used for festival activities.” The councilmember used a pointer to trace lines across a map of Epiphany. “All in favor of this final drawing?”

Of the eight, seven gave ayes. For once, that made everyone glare at someone other than Ennea.

“If we don’t include any of the streets in the Temporal Center,” the dissenter argued. “Much of the traffic will congregate around the Merxes’ estate. I trust I don’t need to explain again why we cannot have this. There are multiple roads in the Temporal Center whose closure wouldn’t impede religious services.”

The eight looked at the clock. They’d been on this for hours. Ennea had checked out a long time before that and had been passing the time abusing her access to the council’s messengers to slowly plan a meeting with Salute.

As it turned out, having things to look forward to in her life made her job even more impossible to tolerate. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to focus on it again. Why bother struggling up just so that she could stay on her parents’ paycheck? The thought made that wordless question float around in her mind.

“Fine then.” The pointer smacked to the map. “There. One road in the Temporal Center. That will be all for today. Consider this meeting adjourned.”

Finally! Ennea launched off her seat and right out the door, hopping onto and sliding down the stairs’ handrail. For quadrupeds, that was basically all it was good for. Before anyone could tell her to stop, Ennea leaped off and burst outside, being welcomed by the overwhelming smell of flowers.

“Ack! Ow-ow-ow…!” And the overwhelming pain of having pushed herself too far. The sprint Ennea had landed into sputtered to a stop.

After shaking the cramps out of her legs, Ennea managed to continue, her pace being forced down to a skip. It brought her back to the hospital, a small, homely building that wasn’t considered a clinic purely on technicality. She busted on in all the same, and just as she was gearing up to try repeating that rail-grinding trick to the second floor—

“Wait just one moment.” The Leavanny blocked her. “He’ll be ready to see you shortly.”

Well, that was a shame, but not enough to rob Ennea of her smile. She plopped down on a seat in the lobby, idly dusting it off with her tail as she waited a couple eternities. Her mind raced with possibilities for the day and those that would follow it.

“Uh….”

Ennea recognized that mumbling! She popped off and landed in front of the Vulpix right as he got off the stairs, leaning in close and meeting his face with an overly enthusiastic grin. “Autumnal! Good morning! Or afternoon? I dunno, it’s been a bit!”

Surprisingly, Autumnal hardly recoiled, instead tilting his head in slight surprise. He thought for a moment and settled on responding with a short wave of his paw.

“Aw. Am I gonna have to try harder to get a good expression out of you?” Before letting him think too much about that comment, Ennea backed off and continued. “So, how does it feel to finally have those shackles off?”

“Hm….” Autumnal placed his head on his paw and closed his eyes, grimacing as he did. Then he opened his eyes and sighed in relief.

“Hm? Like waking up? What’s with the sour face though?”

He responded by pretending to sleep again, tapping a paw to his head as he did and continuing to look bothered.

“Dreaming?”

Autumnal gave a single nod, then used his tails for a thumbs-down.

“Dreaming but bad…? Is that even a thing?”

Autumnal blinked.

“…Oh, right! A nightmare!” Ennea smacked a paw to her forehead. “Sorry, I don’t get those. I forget they’re even a thing sometimes.”

“Wow. Kyxjt. Vyr rglr nljwa nw fkls. Tiy swawecw fiis sewlna.”

“Hey! Something made it through! You said ‘wow!’”

“Rglr’a vwrrwe rglb birgubf. U fywaa U xiyks oirwbrulkkt alt ‘U’kk qiq tiy.’” Autumnal’s breath caught, and he furrowed his brows. “Wow. ‘U’kk qiq tiy.’ Wow. Qiq.”

“Wait, does it… sometimes not make it through? Is that what those ‘qiqs’ are about?”

Autumnal nodded and shrugged in defeat.

Now that was interesting. But before she could theorize, Ennea’s eyes wandered to a wall clock.

“Right, we’ll have to experiment more later!” Ennea began to skip off, before thinking better of it and correcting to a pace that Autumnal could keep up with. “C’mon, we’ve got a few people to see!”

The Leavanny cleared her throat as she finally made it down the stairs. “Only two hours for today. No strenuous activity.”

“Two hours?! We’ll really have to hurry, then!” Ennea placed her paw on the door before sheepishly looking back. “Um, but healthily! Without getting anyone hurt!”

With a push, the door flew open and bathed the duo in light. Ennea stepped out into it, waiting for Autumnal to recover from being blinded. As he moved his paw away from shielding his face, his eyes widened at the town outside.

Billowing flags in soft greens, yellows, and pinks, planters being hung out of every window, papers barely hanging on to the posts and walls they were nailed to, and a whole lot of people out and about, setting up further decoration or reading up on all the random articles. Festival season.

“Pretty cool, right?” Ennea began to lead Autumnal through a less crowded path. Didn’t want to risk him getting bumped. “Epiphany takes the Sky’s Bloom pretty seriously. It’s a week-long thing here!” Ennea looked off in the direction of the lake. “But part of that’s because they’ve gotta pull double duty on the celebrations. Apparently a certain somebody doesn’t like when they only revere Shaymin.”

Ennea stopped, spinning around to look at Autumnal expectantly. “Or is that also something you already knew? That one’s gotta be new for you, right?”

Autumnal nodded and gestured for Ennea to keep talking.

“Ha! Finally! So yeah, that’s why all the random papers are around. If you wanna waste a few hours, pick a few up! Almost none of the information’s useful, but it is all interesting.” Ennea grabbed one off a lamppost. It detailed the history of dye traders from the Eastern Arm. “It’s a form of worship for some people. Anyway, the more traditional celebrations will happen at the end of festival week.”

Autumnal’s tails curled as he glanced over a nearby flier, but he left it hanging.

“What, not interested in….” Ennea looked over his shoulder. “…the proliferation of steelmaking techniques across the continent? Not a fan of the Western Arm?”

Though his ears faced her, Autumnal didn’t respond immediately. He stared at the paper for a moment longer before shaking his head at Ennea, pointing to his eyes, then the page. No, I read it.

“Oh, so now we’re back to normal!” The doctor must’ve brought a copy for him to keep himself entertained or something.

As quickly as was manageable, Ennea brought Autumnal back to Bezel’s shop. The building was flashier than ever, with a swath of pink and orange flowers being grown to pair with the purple roof. They had grown them well (and fast!), even the door was florally framed!

Thud.

…And locked. Brushing aside some red flowers, Ennea was able to spot a BE BACK SOON sign behind a window. Bezel or her parents must’ve been on break.

“Shoot. I never know which days she goes out for lunch….” Ennea complained as she found a nearby bench to plop down on. Oh well. This was a nice enough spot to wait.

…Really nice, actually. The area was sparsely populated today, with most people likely focusing festival preparations on the streets that would be open for activities. That left the unobstructed lakefront glimmering in the distance, with the great peak of Mount Cephalo hanging over it, draped in sunlight.

Ennea glanced back down at Autumnal. He was hovering around the bench, impressively managing to be both too close to be uninterested, but too far to keep it from being awkward.

“C’mon, get up here already!” Ennea patted the spot next to her with her tail. “Oh! Or is that too much for you with the brace?”

“Ah.” Autumnal shook his head and took her cue, scaling up the bench and joining Ennea by her side.

“Yeah, there you go! Given what you managed before, I’d have been shocked if that was too much for you.” Ennea had to be careful to keep her swishing tail from swatting him.

Now things were perfect. A quiet moment on a loud day, to be enjoyed with someone you liked. Ennea looked up at the mountain again. She’d spent a lot of time wondering just what kinds of adventures went on up there, but never with company.

Ennea suddenly whipped around and nearly jabbed Autumnal’s nose with her own. This time she got a jump out of him. “Alright, I’ve kept this in for long enough! When were you gonna tell me you were a Dungeoneer?!”

“Ah. Hm. Uh.” Autumnal bristled and played with his hair for a moment. Then he just shook his head.

“Never?! I mean, I get why you’d wanna keep it under wraps, but like, come on!” Ennea gave him back his personal space as she pointed up at the mountain. “You said you went to Mount Cephalo! That’s a freaking adventure right there!

Ennea shook her head to focus up. “Alright, alright. Lemme start with some questions. How long have you been a Dungeoneer? How many years?”

Autumnal quickly tapped 1, then paused.

“One year? That’s not too too long I guess.”

“Ah.” Autumnal shook his head, but then nodded. Yes and no.

He started over, tapping a 1, then shifted his shoulders and tapped 5.

“One year, but also five?”

“Mhm.” Autumnal tapped 1, then dropped a couple invisible coins into his other paw (complete with sound effects). Then he tapped 5, and waved a paw around flippantly. I’ve been doing it for one year as a job, but five as a thing on the side.

“Whoa, what? You consider it your job? Dungeoneers make money?” Ennea gave an incredulous smile. “You guys don’t just strand yourselves in Dungeons and force Guild Members to rescue you?”

Autumnal pouted and shook his head hard. He grabbed the scruff of his neck, then crossed his arms over his chest in an X. I never make someone rescue me.

“Well, I guess I should’ve expected that! I did see your skills down in the sewers.” Autumnal must’ve been one of the good ones… that apparently existed.

“Maybe we can just call you an adventurer instead. Much better than lumping you in with Dungeoneers,” Ennea offered.

Autumnal just shrugged.

“What, you don’t think it fits? If you’ve been going into Dungeons—oh, wait! Do you have a partner or something? Someone you go with?”

“Bi….” Autumnal’s eye got caught on a stray paper on the ground.

“Uh oh. You didn’t have a falling out with them, did you? Sorry if I touched a nerve.”

“Ah.” Autumnal gave a reassuring look and shook his head. It’s okay, I never had one.

“What?!” Ennea stood up on the bench, before the stares from the few nearby onlookers made her sit back down. “That’s insane! You’ve been doing all this alone?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s just—oh my gosh, this speech thing is the worst! You must have some of the craziest stories!” Ennea had to pop her tail through a gap in the backrest to keep it from slapping Autumnal. There was no way to stop its wagging at this point.

Autumnal hummed pensively, then shook his head.

“C’mon, don’t be modest! It took just three days of hanging out with you for me to have the wildest adventure of my life! I know you can’t tell them, but you’ve been to fantastic places and brushed up with vicious danger! Your whole life’s gotta be an adventure!”

Autumnal shrugged. “Ur bwcwe… dwkr kujw lb lscwbryew vwdiew biq.”

“Okay, okay, what about Mount Cephalo? Is there anything crazy up there? Does the peak really give you life-changing revelations?”

Autumnal bobbed his head back and forth. He tapped his head then shook it. He pointed to himself, shook his head again, then used his paw to give something to his head. I don’t know. I didn’t get one.

The pantomiming was broken by Autumnal tilting his head and frowning. “…Ie ud U sus, rgwb ur qlab’r l fiis ibw.”

“Inconclusive—got it. Guess that’s standard fare for Mystery Dungeons, though.”

“Why, fancy meeting you here.”

Ennea popped up, facing her whole body to the Swablu fluttering on in. “Bezel! I mean—yes indeed. How lovely it is to see you once again.”

“Oh, drop it.” Bezel unlocked her shop. “If you miss your chance to mock me you shall not regain it. Good day to you as well, Autumnal. I see that you’re free and not following my make-up advice.”

“Aieet.”

“Wha—? Don’t apologize! Bezel, that’s not eyeliner, that’s just his natural fur patterning!”

“Oh, is it? Then he would be wise to use make-up to fix it.” Bezel propped open the door with a potted plant and waved for the duo to follow. “I jest, of course. I suppose it could be fashionable if you wish to look like a Typhlosion.”

“Jeez, you’re really laying the fancy-talk on thick today.” Ennea looked the shop up and down before spotting Ward’s model safe laying hidden behind a corner table.

“I must. My day of reckoning is fast approaching, after all.”

“Right, right, the festival and stuff. Any updates on that situation?” Ennea watched as Autumnal sniffed around the shop. Now that she knew his job, it was hard not to see adventuring in everything he did.

“No, not as of yet. Now tell me, what brings you to my shop today?”

“Oh, right! I should warn you, we’re expecting a third and there’s a good chance that he’ll—”

CRASH!

“Sorry that I’m late!” The Zweilous that had just bulldozed in brought a claw up to his chest in an awkward salute. “Being late is an injustice, but so is leaving work when you still have duties to uphold!”

“M-my word!” Bezel fluttered over past Salute. “Our door!” It was completely broken off its hinges.

Salute himself jumped and scrambled back at the sight of the door he himself had destroyed. “Again?!” He grumbled and pulled out a bag of coins and a slip of paper. “Go to this address. They’ll have it fixed within the hour.”

“You have a fixer for this on the ready…?” Ennea asked.

“It’s a common problem. I’m very good at breaking doors.” Salute straightened up. “Now then! What did you call me here for?”

“Ah, well. First off, sorry Bezel.”

“Apology accepted.” Bezel hopped back to her spot. “We weren’t getting many customers today regardless.”

“That’s a relief. Anyway Salute, I just wanted your help hauling the model safe back to my place.”

“Oh.” Salute trudged on over to it. “That may be difficult.” Both heads looked straight at Ennea. The right was still visibly missing a fang. “One of my bites isn’t so good now.”

“Wait, your tooth’s still gone?”

“It won’t grow back until I evolve.” Salute’s right head turned away. “…I can’t eat as much anymore.”

“But it’s okay!” The left head chimed in. “I’ll eat enough for both of us! There’s still work to do!”

“Okay, well….” Ennea stared down the safe as she thought. “Think you’ll be fine once it’s on your back? I can be the other half lifting it this time.”

“I hope you don’t think I’ll be helping.” Bezel laid back on her spot. “I’ve already done enough, keeping it here for so long.”

Autumnal tilted his head.

“Since it seems you’re unaware, it is quite the problem.” Bezel swept her wings around the store. “Can’t you see just how terribly it clashes with the décor?”

“Hm….” Autumnal’s tails curled as he studied the room.

“Whew! There we go!” Ennea hopped back, already finished hauling the safe onto its trusty steed. “Thanks Bezel! Sorry again about the door! I promise there’ll be something to make up for it!”

“Oh, no, no. I quite like you owing me two favors.” Bezel waved the trio off. “Stop by the first morning of the festival. We can catch up properly over breakfast.”

“Gotcha, but don’t be surprised if I show up real early!”

Salute carried the safe for them all the way back to Ennea’s apartment. It seemed he had a reputation, as the growing crowd parted for him. It made him easy to follow, though he nearly passed their destination.

“That’s where you live?” Salute looked the building up and down.

“Yeah… third floor. We can just bring it up outside.”

Ennea opened the stairwell and started up, only to hear a loud THUD shortly follow. “Wha—?”

Looking back showed her the safe now at the bottom of the stairs on its side. It had fallen off.

“Oh, shoot.” Ennea used her arms to simulate the angles at play here.

“It’s too steep.” Salute came to the same conclusion. “If I go up the steps it’ll slide off.”

Ennea circled around to the bottom, taking her spot in between Autumnal and Salute. “Then I guess this’ll just have to be a bit cumbersome. Here, let’s get it back on your back. When you go up the stairs, I’ll push it from behind.”

“Mm.” Autumnal waved for Ennea’s attention and pointed to himself. I can help.

“Nuh-uh! You’re not ruining your leg again the very first day you’re able to walk! Me and Salute will handle the grunt work.” To make her point, Ennea leaned in real close. “Your job is to sit there and look pretty!”

“A-ah?!” Autumnal recoiled, his mouth pursing unevenly as heat seemed to emanate from his face.

“Oh? …Oh?” Was he… flustered? Ennea had to check out his face from different angles, it was easily his best yet! His ears nervously twitched and his eyes followed Ennea as she bobbed around him while he tried to hide a paw he brushed through his hair.

Salute cleared his throat. “I don’t have much time left.”

“Right, right.” Ennea stuck out her tongue at Autumnal before returning to the task at hand. “Well, let’s all make sure to do our jobs well!”

After hoisting the safe back onto Salute, they began their expert movers operation. Keeping pace with Salute while pushing hard enough to avoid slippage was tough, but nothing Ennea couldn’t handle with both paws. Maybe balancing on her hind legs all the way up the stairs wasn’t a great idea, but if worst came to worst, she’d fall back onto Autumnal, which would be pretty funny. Alas, this extremely humorous circumstance did not come to pass, and they managed to get the safe up and to the entrance of Ennea’s apartment without issue.

Just before Salute dropped the safe to the floor, Ennea managed to catch it and lower it much more softly.

“B-be careful!” she shout-whispered. “The neighbors don’t like it when I make too much noise.”

“That’s stupid. The noise ordinance doesn’t apply in the afternoon. Are we bringing the safe inside?”

“No, that’s fine. I think we’ve got it from here.”

Ennea looked at Autumnal to prompt him to agree.

“Ah.” Instead, he took a sensual pose, draped a paw behind his head, and flipped his hair, sending it flying in an impressive, dramatic display.

When the show was over, he tilted his head at Ennea questioningly.

“Cool, but why did—?” Ennea snorted as she understood all at once. She told him to look pretty.

“I—! That’s not—! I didn’t mean literally!” she managed between giggles. “I just meant you didn’t have to do anything!” Was he posing and stuff the whole time right behind her?! It took bracing herself against the wall to recover. “But yes, excellent work. Very pretty.” She turned back to Salute. “As you can see, it’s in good paws.”

“I can see.” Salute brought a claw up to his chest in a poor facsimile of his namesake. “Then I’ll be off! There’s justice to find!”

“And ‘lil Justice to be a father to! But before you go, I’ve been meaning to ask: why do you salute like that, Salute?”

Salute did it again to prove his point, accidentally proving Ennea’s. “What do you mean? This is the proper way for quadrupeds to do it!”

“But your legs are really short. Wouldn’t a wing be able to reach better?”

Salute dropped his leg and stood completely still for a moment, like he was a statue. It was almost possible to hear the cogs turning in his two heads. Was he even breathing…?

Then he snapped back to attention, bringing a wing up to one of his heads in an actual salute.

“I see! Thank you, Ace Investigator Ennea! This is a great victory for justice! I hope to see you again soon!”

Ennea waved him off. “Same here! And I hope to know what position you’re filling in the Town Guard then!”

I still have no idea if him being the new Chief would benefit the town… or ruin it.

“…Glad he isn’t about to see how an Ace Investigator lives,” Ennea muttered.

Autumnal tilted his head and pointed to himself.

“Oh, no. You’re fine. I mean, you’ve already seen it.” Plus, the way he looked at her home made it seem less shameful.

Sure enough, the moment she opened the door, Autumnal took it all in once again. The cramped walls and cheap furniture seemed magnificent with the way he gazed around at it.

“C’mon, you’ve seen rooms before. Even if you’re an adventurer, you’ve gotta have stayed in inns and stuff.”

Autumnal nodded, but shifted his shoulders, gesturing to the poor apartment, then Ennea. Yeah. But this one’s yours.

“Pfft. You’re weird. But anyway!” Ennea grunted as she shoved the model safe on over. “May as well spruce it up a little! If anyone ever breaks in, they’ll rack their brains trying to figure out how to open this, painfully unaware that we’ve already closed that door. Where do you think it should go?”

There wasn’t much space for it. Really, the question was which corner it should get shoved in, unless they wanted it to sit in the middle of the floor.

“Hmm.” Autumnal scanned around, then pointed behind Ennea to a place she hadn’t even considered: the kitchenette.

“What? How would it go there? I need to be able to walk around so I can reach up to the cabinets and stuff.”

“Mhm, mhm!” Autumnal trotted over, then perched onto the safe.

“Whoa, that’s crazy! Use it as a step-stool?” Was it a dignified use of a decoration? No. But it was thematic. This case had allowed Ennea to step up in life. Now she’d be using it to literally reach stuff she couldn’t before. “Yeah! I’m down! Let’s—!”

An angry banging from the western wall made Ennea flinch, the glow from her eyes fading as she was brought back down to reality.

“Ah, whoops. Too loud, I guess….”

Autumnal frowned, bringing a paw to his mouth. He looked around Ennea’s home again, with purpose this time.

He turned back to her, went over to grab the blanket on her bed, shifted his paws to another spot, pointed to Ennea, shook his head, then grabbed for nothing. After pausing for a moment, he put his paws together, then brought them a bit further apart. Do you have another blanket you don’t want? Preferably a thick one.

“Oh, um. Yeah,” Ennea mumbled. “They’re shoved in the closet.” Bedding was the one thing she invested in. She was going to be using it a lot, so may as well.

“Mm.” Autumnal pointed Ennea to the safe.

“’Kay….” Ennea returned to sliding the safe on over to its new rightful place, though it was harder to put her whole heart into it. She wound up deliberating on which of her two cabinets to place it under for quite a while, stuck thinking about how much of a nuisance the neighbors seemed to think of her as. The very sound of her voice was a bother for them. Even if they couldn’t do anything else, they could remind her of that.

Ennea pushed the safe into a corner. “Well, I guess this’ll be fine.” It was still under a cabinet, like she’d said… but more importantly, it was out of the way.

Ennea stopped when she turned around, seeing that her apartment had been rearranged a bit. Autumnal had been busy. Her bookshelf had been moved to the western wall, and a thick blanket with a great design that turned out to be quite uncomfortable was hung across behind it. It made for decent decoration like that.

“What’s that all for? I mean, it’s cool, don’t get me wrong.” Ennea looked at Autumnal suspiciously. “And are you sure that was a good idea to do with your leg?”

Autumnal nodded, then moved his mouth a bit, before gesturing for more from Ennea.

“What, you want me to keep talking? Why would—wait.” Ennea stood a bit taller, looking at the western wall and its extra padding. “…Right, so! I’ve been meaning to ask, which defendant do you think you’re the most like? ‘Cuz there was that one that couldn’t speak Arcaic, but he didn’t feel much like you.” Ennea paused, waiting for the neighbors to complain.

…

She whirled back to Autumnal, eyes beginning to shine. “And then I remembered about that one lady from the really long case! You totally feel like you’ve got the same kinda quiet, aloof demeanor! And she tried to refuse her defense, kinda like you did on the second day. But she didn’t help out with the investigation the same way you did!”

Ennea paused again, but no angry banging followed, and nobody was knocking on her door to tell her to shut up.

“No way. You soundproofed the wall? A blanket and my bookshelf was all it took? C-can I be as loud as I want now?!”

Autumnal quickly gestured that no, she could not be as loud as she wanted. Then he brought his paws close and made a show of moving them further apart. But you can be a bit louder than before.

“This is great! Thanks, Autumnal!” While glancing around at her home, a term that suddenly seemed more fitting to her, Ennea’s eye caught on the clock. It had been over 3 hours.

“O-oh shoot! We’ve gotta go!” Ennea scrambled out the door. “C’mon, Autumnal, I’ve gotta prepare an apology to the doctor so that we can see each other again tomorrow!”

 

---

 

Ennea and Autumnal stood in front of a golden gate. Each day he’d been allowed out for a bit longer, and by this point they had enough time to kill to try visiting the Merxes.

Ennea waltzed on up to the gate, ready to shout for Urania. She took a deep breath….

…and turned right back around to Autumnal. “Actually, you know what?” How about you do it?”

Autumnal raised an eyebrow, gesturing to his throat. But I can’t talk.

“It’s fine! Just do what you normally do, but like, really loud!”

With a shrug, Autumnal came up to the gate. His paw shot out to the side, then he threw it in a massive wave, managing to make an impressive whoosh with the motion.

“Pfft. I didn’t mean that way!” Ennea laughed. “Do your gibberish! I’m starting to recognize a couple of words!”

Autumnal hung his paw for a moment as he thought. He kept a straight face when he brought that paw to be cupped around his muzzle, but his tails had begun to dance behind him.

“’Ayo vurxgwa?! Qw’ew gwew ri wlr tiye diis lbs arwlk tiye slyfgrwe!”

“Good day.”

Ennea jumped as Urania stepped in from the side with unfathomable speed. Autumnal looked at the Golduck expectantly.

“…Ennea Harmonie and Autumnal.” Urania gave a bow. “My pleasure to see you both once more.”

“U xlb ewlkkt hyar alt qglrwcwe, xlb’r U…?”

Ennea recognized a word or two in the sentence, but weirdly, most sounded new… oh well. She’d have to ask about it later.

“Hey Urania!” Ennea took over the negotiations. “Is Polaris free today? We wanted to check up on her, maybe see if she wants to get lunch.”

“Let us see.” With a flick of a hand, the gate opened, and Urania started off. “Young Lady Polaris is in the garden, and I can confirm she has not yet had lunch.”

Whoa, we’re just getting let in like that?! Guess we’re on their good side now!

“Oh, wait!” Ennea pointed to Autumnal’s leg brace. “Mind if we take it a bit slow? Autumnal’s still recovering, and while he’s been allowed out for a few days now, I don’t wanna push it.”

“Very well.” Urania snapped to a reasonable walking speed. “Please let me know if there are any other accommodations you are needed.”

Going at a stroll was for the best, as it gave ample time to take in the Merxes’ decoration of their estate. Their massive garden was now a collection of practically every flower on the continent, all cultivated with pristine care. The fluttering of the unseen guards made these flowers soar up into the air as if the festival had come early, before they slowly drifted down and found their place in the fountain complex. Their swirling around in the water made it resemble a rainbow mixture of paint.

Urania took them through the hedge maze, now having sections devoted to the rarest plants that had been gathered. They weren’t skimping out on the other half of the festival either, as each flowerbed had an accompanying plaque detailing their biology, history, and implications in the language of flowers. It was a shame all of this would only be open to the public for one night.

“Mm.” Autumnal got Ennea’s attention. Using a tail, he pointed to her, then his eyes, then the garden around them, before pointing to Ennea again and bringing his tail down closer to the ground. You didn’t see stuff like this when you were little?

“Nah, my parents kinda suck.” Ennea paused when Urania gave her a side eye. “Hey, I’m allowed to say it! Rulers or not, they’re still my parents! And the castle never got done up for any holidays, except for like, the anniversary of our House.” And when that happened, it just got way gaudier and more overdesigned. “I saw more fun stuff like this with my nan.”

Thanks to all the new decoration, it was hard to tell when they reached the hidden entrance to the secret garden, but a swipe of Urania’s hand made an arch stretch open in one of the hedges. How they managed to duck down into it while still looking dignified was beyond Ennea.

She was going to wait for Autumnal to go first, taking things single file, but a whim made Ennea suddenly squeeze in with him. He yipped as Ennea pressed up right against him, her eyes illuminating his face.

“That’s right! Autumnal, we should totally decorate my place! I can’t believe we didn’t think of doing that before!”

He jolted when her tail brushed his leg, but Autumnal managed to keep moving, even if his steps lost their evenness. He tilted his head, pointing to himself and dancing his tails up and down to mimic flames. Me? But I’m a Fire-Type.

“Aw, that’s fine! I’m honestly not that great with plants either.” Now Ennea’s side was pleasantly warm. “Besides, keeping you out and about hasn’t left me with any time to do it.”

For some reason, Autumnal frowned at that. The warmth left Ennea’s side as they emerged from the tunnel into the secret garden, now a lush, canopied forest with enough curling vines and floating pollen that it looked plucked out of a fairy tale. Good to know Polaris had her aesthetic pinned down.

“Please wait a moment, I must be sure that Young Lady Polaris finds herself presentable.” Urania stopped Ennea and Autumnal with a hand before zipping off towards a bend.

“That’s alright!” Polaris interrupted from beyond. “Would that happen to be Ennea?”

“Yes, Young Lady Polaris! She has come to visit!”

“And Autumnal!” Ennea chimed in.

“Then it’s fine! They can come over!”

With no more than a slight shift of their beak, Urania stepped aside, presenting the path forward.

As expected, Polaris’s spot was a wonderland of aquatic flowers, though some parts were still bare. The Meditite herself was hard at work, spade in hand and soil covering her legs. She wiped her forehead, pushing up a sunhat she’d donned that paired perfectly with her huge glasses.

“Hello again, Ennea,” Polaris panted. “And you as well, Autumnal. It’s good to see you both recovering.”

“Hey Polaris! How’ve you been? You checked out that perfumery yet?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid. Mother hasn’t allowed me to leave the estate since the trial.”

“Oh. Well shoot, I was gonna ask if you wanted to go get lunch.”

“If I may.” Urania leaned in. “Should you both wish it, you may eat here.”

“Well sure, I’m cool with that!” Ennea looked to both Autumnal and Polaris. “What about you all?”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind.” Polaris sighed as she set down the spade. “I could use the break.”

“Excellent.” Urania threw down a table and three seats, managing to set it with a tablecloth and plates before Ennea knew what was happening. “I’ll be back with drinks shortly.”

Best not to question Urania’s abilities. Ennea took her seat. “You’re really not allowed out at all, huh?”

“I’m afraid not. Hiketeria’s attack in the courtroom has made her a tad overprotective.”

“Maybe you could convince her if you have supervision?” Ennea smiled at Autumnal. “I mean, that’s basically what we’re dealing with.”

“It’s worth a try.” Polaris held out her hand, and Urania immediately supplied it with a drink. “I do wish to see if this perfumery is as good as you say it is.”

“Oh! When you do go!” Ennea pointed to Polaris’s sunhat. “Wear that.”

“Really? To go indoors? But why?”

“Just trust me.” If Bezel saw Polaris in that hat, she’d never recover. What kind of friend would Ennea be if she didn’t make sure it would happen?

Urania cleared their throat. They had a small notepad with them. “What would satisfy your palate?”

“I would be in the mood for something simple today,” Polaris began. “A Pecha and strawberry galette, if you’d please.”

“Very well. Would you like a side of fairy bread?”

Polaris brought a finger to her lip as she thought. “…Yes, I would. Thank you, Urania.”

“Of course. And you, Ennea?”

“Oh, um, I dunno what you all have, so I’ll just take a sandwich with whatever kinda sauce you think would be interesting, thanks.”

“As you wish. And you?” Urania turned to Autumnal.

Autumnal fidgeted in his seat. In fact, he’d looked sorta uncomfortable since the table had been brought in, avoiding its pure white tablecloth even as errant gusts blew it towards him.

“Oh, right! Um, just give him the same as me.” Ennea then sat straight up. “Oh wait! But with a different sauce!”

“It shall be done.” Urania bowed, then fled.

“Hope you don’t mind, Autumnal. Since you can’t just point to a menu or anything, I figured ordering for you would be for the best.”

“I can understand that. But why the different sauces?” Polaris asked.

“Simple!” Ennea grinned with pride. “So we can trade half and try both!” She relaxed back into the seat. “Crazy that we basically got the restaurant experience anyway. Is that how lunches are for you all the time?”

“On most days, yes. Though I have learned to cook for myself as well, of course.”

Autumnal tilted his head and pointed to Ennea. What about you?

“Well, I basically always had to cook for myself. Sometimes my twin brother would help.” Ennea leaned in close to whisper to Autumnal. “Most times I’d just sneak scraps from my siblings though. Things were way easier once I was with my nan.”

“Oh?” Polaris’s voice had an amused lilt. “Keeping secrets with each other?”

“Just um, less glamorous stuff about being nobility,” Ennea admitted.

“Speaking of glamour, I’ve been meaning to ask. Were you planning on coming to the ball?”

Ennea bobbed her head back and forth. “I dunno. I’m not great with those kinds of formal events anymore.” Too much familiar pressure. “Besides, I definitely wouldn’t be able to get done up enough for it.”

“Why not? You certainly have the finances to manage.”

Oh wow. Polaris must not have realized.

“My family has the finances,” Ennea corrected quietly. “I don’t.”

Polaris blinked. Then she adjusted her glasses, taking a haughty demeanor.

“Well then, that won’t do. We’ll just have to convince my mother to part with some of hers. Consider it payment for a job well done.”

“You sure?” Ennea grabbed her split ear. “No amount of make-up or accessories could fix this.”

“Ah, well. That’s not such a big deal,” Polaris politely dismissed. “I’m sure Autumnal would agree.”

“Mm. Mm.” Autumnal quickly nodded. “U rgubj ur kiija xiik.”

Ennea’s eyes shone as she tried to work out the puzzle. “Okay, that one started with ‘I!’ And then there’s ‘rgubj,’ which you’ve used a few times… what’s that one mean?”

Autumnal tapped his head.

“’Think!’ See, we’ll figure this out eventually!” Ennea turned to Polaris. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask: would it be possible to silence someone with psychic manipulation?”

Everything in Polaris’s demeanor suddenly changed. Her smile evaporated and her glasses glinted as she brought her head down, deadly serious. Even as Urania delivered their food, Polaris kept that cold, stern glare.

“…Why?” she finally asked.

“I—!” Ennea didn’t know this was such a big deal! She looked to Autumnal, who seemed similarly taken aback. It got Ennea back on track. “Well, we still haven’t figured out why Autumnal can’t talk. But we have figured out some of the rules.

“We went to the library the other day to get him some books to read in the hospital, and found one on sign language. I thought we could use it to get around the speech thing, but….”

Ennea turned back to Autumnal. “Let’s try ‘apple’ again.”

Ennea demonstrated, curling the end of her tail into a loop and twisting it. It probably wasn’t fluent, but it was a decent enough showing of the sign for their body type.

Autumnal, while still watching Ennea, brought a tail forward to sign.  He bunched it up into a knot and twisted. Completely wrong, even if the motion was close. What he did would mean something completely different.

“I think the rule is this,” Ennea explained. “Anything with a definition gets scrambled somehow. So pantomiming is fine, but signs aren’t. Exclamations are fine, but words aren’t. And that’s really specific. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of thing someone else would have put in place?”

“…I suppose we can’t rule it out.”

“Yeah! So do you think you could poke around in his head to check?”

Polaris stood up from the table. “Let us see.” Her tone suddenly shifted, becoming almost infantilizing. “Autumnal, do you think you could raise your right paw for me?”

Autumnal tilted his head. Then he shrugged and hopped down to the ground as well. He raised his right paw without hesitation.

“Good. Now, can you use that paw to point to my right hand?”

Autumnal pointed to Polaris’s right hand. Which, of course, was on his left.

“Okay, good job.” Polaris grabbed a mirror off the table and used it to shine the sun into Autumnal’s eyes. He flinched at it.

“Is this painful?” Polaris asked. “Does it make you feel lost?”

Autumnal shook his head but shooed the mirror away. Once the light was out of his eyes, he bowed apologetically.

“Okay, you’re doing really well. Just one more thing: how have your emotions been recently? Have they felt the same as they normally do?”

Autumnal shook his head.

Polaris’s look turned grave. “They’re different? How? Do they feel lesser? Duller?”

Autumnal quickly shook his head, then crossed his paws.

“Oh, that usually means ‘the opposite’ for us,” Ennea informed her.

“Does that mean you’ve been more irritable? Frustrated?”

Autumnal shook his head again. He hesitated for a moment, before putting a paw over his mouth so Ennea couldn’t see it.

Polaris sighed at the expression he made. “Okay. That’s a relief.”

“What was all that about, anyway?”

“You remember my demonstration on mental manipulation before? The mind rejects thoughts that aren’t its own.” Polaris sat down at the table again, propping her elbows and locking her hands together atop it. “This makes techniques like suggestion and mind reading difficult enough. But some have tried to go further. They’ve tried to permanently alter a mind for whatever reason.”

She gave Autumnal a pitying look. “It doesn’t end well. The victim’s mind becomes irreversibly damaged, rejecting not only the manipulator’s thoughts, but their own, as well. The result is a mind that is dangerous even for other psychics to look in. No one has ever recovered.”

Her light, kind demeanor suddenly returned. “Luckily, Autumnal doesn’t show any signs of mental deterioration. I should be safe to check.”

After Autumnal sat back down at the table, Polaris put a hand to her temple. The air seemed to warp sightly around her as both her and Autumnal closed her eyes. Then both of them grimaced.

“Goodness.” Polaris lightly shook her head. “That’s unhelpful. It’s all gibberish in there.”

“Mm-mm!” Autumnal disagreed. He pointed to Polaris, then the center of his forehead, then crossed his paws while shaking his head.

“Whoa, what?!” Ennea leaned so far forward in her seat that she nearly fell over. “It changed when Polaris entered your head?”

Autumnal nodded.

“If that’s the case, this certainly goes beyond just mental manipulation.” Polaris looked up in thought, still managing to be elegant as she did so. “A case like this is likely on the fringes of knowledge as a whole.”

“And like, you’re sure this is a recent thing, right?” Ennea asked.

Autumnal nodded. He mimicked the hands of a clock, then clamped a paw around his wrist. It started after I was arrested.

“Crazy….” Ennea’s tail wagged behind her. “Well, that’s fine! I’ve already been doing all the work to understand you anyway.”

Things were still inconclusive, but that was more information on how Autumnal’s speech worked and what didn’t cause it. This would be an even harder case for them to solve than the Merx Fortune Case.

Something about that made Ennea unbelievably excited for the future.

 

---

 

“Ennea…” the Leavanny groaned. “It’s hardly 4 AM.”

“Yeah, I know!” Ennea forced her way into the hospital. “But you said he’d be ready to go first thing in the morning!”

“I would personally qualify 4 in the morning as nighttime.”

“But you just said it! 4 in the morning!”

The doctor raised a blade to argue… then dropped it. “We’ll see if he’s even awake. Most people would sleep at least until—”

“Uh….” Autumnal poked his head down the stairs.

“…Never mind. You both are a headache.”

“Hey Autumnal!” Ennea trotted with him over to the front counter. “Ah, right. Um, about the bill….”

“Already covered by the Town Guard. You can go now.”

Ennea grinned and bounded out the door, Autumnal following quickly behind. The smell of spring in the air woke her up the rest of the way.

Autumnal had finally been cleared, and as fortune would have it, it was the very first day of the Sky’s Bloom festival. Even at the early hour, with light barely showing over the horizon, the town was full of people, ready for festivities to begin.

“Phew! I’m glad you’re awake, Autumnal! I didn’t want to this whole ‘recovery arc’ of ours to go on another moment!” Ennea spun around to face him. “This should be perfect timing, too! Here, take off your leg brace when I say so!”

No convincing was needed, Autumnal immediately hooked a paw around the strap of the brace, patiently waiting for his cue.

“Okay… now!”

The brace clattered down to the ground, finally allowing Autumnal’s leg to be free.

And as it did, the bell tower began to chime. But not its normal, hourly chime. This chime was musical, a far-off melody flowing through like the wind. The whole town was silent as the clanging reverberated, almost reverent in their listening. Because this sound was special.

It was the signal that the festival had begun.

Flowers flew, carried up and into the air as an offering. Already a few Flying-Types shot past, making a game out of keeping those flowers in the air for as long as possible. The colors in the sky made it an eternal rainbow, even though the sun hadn’t yet risen.

Things on the ground began to buzz with activity, already as loud as a normal busy day. And it would only get louder as the day went on. After all, who knew if this would be the year the town would be visited by Shaymin themselves? Good thing Ennea knew all the streets that would be opened. She took Autumnal through one where they would have a good view, but fewer folks about.

“Y’know, things wound up taking a lot longer than I expected.” Ennea talked as they walked, just saying what was coming to mind. “I mean, when I took that case, I kinda thought it would only really be a thing for three days at the most!”

They had to wait for some kids to run by, searching around barrels and crates for hidden flowers. Some festival stalls allowed you to exchange certain ones for food. Food they’d definitely have to try later.

“It’s kinda fitting that it’d wrap up right now though. It’s a new season! A perfect time to move on.”

Autumnal gave a slow nod. Stray petals caught in his hair, but Ennea resisted the urge to pick them out. For now.

“Then as your Ace Investigator, let me be the one to say that the Merx Fortune Theft is officially case closed!” Ennea struck a pose. It being festival season, nobody seemed to mind.

“Rglbj tiy.” Autumnal brought his legs together and gave Ennea a bow. “U’kk… ario virgweubf tiy biq.”

Ennea smiled at that. She could figure it out from the bow. Autumnal was thanking her.

But the more she thought about it, she felt like thanking him. She’d had more fun these last few weeks than ever before. Even the festival itself paled in comparison. And after hanging out for long enough, she’d finally put words to that question that had been floating around her head.

Where do we go from here?

Ennea looked up at Mt. Cephalo as flowers flew by it. It was obvious, wasn’t it?

“You know….” Ennea spoke without looking back. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what comes next. And I just… don’t want things to be the same as they were before. ‘Cuz they can be better than that. For you, too. Even if your speech stuff seems weird and confusing now, I know we can find answers for it. I dunno what it’ll take, but I’m ready to try, because….

“…I want to go somewhere. And I’m not really sure where, just that it’ll feel like home.

“And I know I can find that somewhere with you.”

That was where they could go from here. To find answers, help each other, and have as much fun as they could along the way.

“Well, what do you think, Autumnal? Are you ready to—”

But when Ennea turned around, there wasn’t anybody there. She was alone on the street, crowd growing around her.

“Oh….”

People passed by, most in groups, ready to begin the celebrations. But none of them were who she was looking for.

Autumnal was gone.

“Then… that’s it…?”

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TRACKLIST:

 

1. The Morning After                                                             END POINT

2. Tricks of the Trade                              END POINT

3. On the Cusp of Freedom                                               END POINT