Chapter 10: Dungeons and Dragon-Types

Cold. Coarse.

Yuna’s hands brushed against rough ground that was as frigid as the stone floors of her parents’ castle. She opened her eyes. A pile of gray sand greeted her. Yuna lifted her head. Sand streamed down from her horns. The dreepy looked around and found nothing but sand mounds.

“What… happened?” Her face scrunched up in thought. It took a few seconds, but she managed to recall exactly what went down. Yuna hadn’t been alone when Xeromus showed up. “Nikki! Chiaki!” In a less certain voice, she added, “Seifer?”

At first, the only response she got was the scratching of sand grains blown over one another by a stiff breeze. But then grunts sounded, a cloth scratched against the sand. The mound to Yuna’s right shrank down as a hatless Chiaki staggered to its top.

The grovyle looked over his shoulder. “Found Yuna.” His shirt’s right sleeve flapped in the breeze, reminding Yuna of what had happened to him when Xeromus took Nikki.

“Your arm.” She couldn’t stop herself from pointing. “What— how— you’re missing an arm!”

“Yeah. I noticed.” Chiaki flapped his right sleeve. “That dick broke old Bold and Brash.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What’s not to understand? Never seen someone with a prosthetic arm?” Chiaki clicked his tongue.

“Uh, no.” Yuna had read stories about pokémon with hooks for hands or wooden legs. But Chiaki’s fake arm was eerily convincing. “We don’t have things like that back home.”

“Yeah, I can see that. ‘Bold and Brash’ was the prosthetic’s name. The guy who built it called it a work of art.”

Yuna hovered toward him. “Why did you need a fake arm?” She tilted her head. “Did something happen to your real one?”

“How tactful.” Chiaki’s response dripped with sarcasm. “I was born without my right arm. That’s all there is to it.”

“… oh.” That was odd. Couldn’t he have grown a right arm when he evolved? Not that Yuna really knew much about defects like that. Or evolution. And she didn’t get to ask a follow-up question, because Cid and Seifer appeared by Chiaki’s side. The keldeo’s uniform and badges were scuffed and he wore an irritated expression.

“Thank goodness you’re okay.” Cid wiped his brow.

“No time for chitchat. We need to get a move on.” Seifer stuck out his left forehoof. Yuna looked over her shoulder. Sandy mounds stretched ahead for at least a few hundred meters. And the whole place was surrounded by what looked like crisscrossing, red and purple tree branches. Parts of the branches sometimes swelled up as if they were going to burst before contracting.

“Where even are we?” Yuna followed the dome up, wondering if the exit was above them. The branches coalesced into a spiraling, crystal-covered plug. “And what about Nikki? And the monster that kidnapped her?”

Chiaki shook his head. “They’re not here.”

“And I was hoping you could answer that first one.” Seifer narrowed his eyes and pointed his horn at Yuna’s pendant. “Your gemstone exploded with light and suddenly we wound up in this place. Is this some sort of trick you dragons use?”

“What? No! I didn’t— I wasn’t trying to do anything.” Yuna looked down guiltily and clasped the pendant. “I saw Nikki in trouble and I got really mad.” She gestured above her. “Then this happened.”

“Is that so?” Seifer’s furrowed brow deepened. “Because your people claim to be so good at fighting off distortion. So, it doesn’t sound unreasonable to think Aeons can jump into mystery dungeons on a whim.”

“Wait, that’s where you think we are?” Yuna looked around again. The gray sand had a red and purple tint to it. Undoubtedly from the glowing branches. Why were they even glowing, anyway? It was almost like they were full of fluid. “Hang on. I was always told that mystery dungeons are areas of chaotic distortion. Like, y’know, not something you can easily visualize.”

“Not exactly.” Seifer marched up to Yuna, avoiding eye contact. “There is land. But terrain can be radically warped without warning.”

“Which is why it’s in our best interest to get moving.” Chiaki put his claws against the breast pocket on his shirt and pressed against the rose insignia. Blue ripples spread across his clothing. A worn blue jean jacket and black t-shirt replaced his dress shirt. Black jeans overtook his legs. He adjusted the bag slung across his back.

Cid floated after Chiaki. “You had a fake outfit?” His spots flashed white. “I’ve heard of this before. But it’s usually something sold at novelty or party shops.”

“Heard of it?” Chiaki rolled his eyes. “You never celebrated Hollow’s Eve?”

“Well…” Cid trailing off and rubbing his shoulder told Yuna all she needed to know. Though she could scarcely believe it, either. He almost looked like Nikki in that outfit. There were questions she could’ve asked. Should’ve asked. But all she did was stare as the grovyle pulled a grooved metal cylinder ending in a hook from his bag.

“Looks like the Hooker’s getting a field test.” Chiaki pushed his right sleeve up and pressed the base of the cylinder against the metal stump on his elbow. Metal bolts clicked into place. Hydraulic presses vented steam and the cylinder whirred to life. Chiaki opened and closed the hook on the end, grimacing.

“What kind of sorry prosthetic is that supposed to be?” Seifer approached the grovyle, leveling his gaze with the Hooker. “It’s practically scrap metal. No company would make something this sloppy.”

“Is it that obvious?”

Yuna frowned. “Then why do you have it?” She strongly doubted he needed it because his dad owned a newspaper.

To her surprise, Chiaki looked at Seifer instead of her. “No particular reason. Maybe I like to parkour in my free time? Grappling hooks are good for wall runs.”

Even though she didn’t know what parkour referred to, Yuna got the sense that was a lame joke.

“Look, pressing the issue further won’t help us escape this place.” Chiaki pointed his claws at Seifer. “You’re the Radiant Guard here. You lead the way.”

“I was about to do that.” Seifer trotted past Chiaki. Yuna hovered after him, scanning the alien dome for any sign of a way out.

“Um, what makes you so sure this is the right way?” she asked.

“I’m not.” Seifer kept staring ahead. “It’s possible there could be pitfalls in the sand, but it’s better to go to the edges of this place and walk around the perimeter.”

Yuna pointed left. “Then why not go that way? It’s faster.”

In response, Seifer wet the sand under his hooves and rolled it into a ball. He passed it to Chiaki, who hurled it to the group’s left. A sand mound erupted and a black, fiery geyser effortlessly dissolved the ball. It was so startling, Yuna’s torso practically shrank back into her head.

“That’s why.” Seifer continued forward. “Our best way out of here is to find a rift. They’re sporadic and can appear just about anywhere.”

“You mean like the thing right behind us?”

Yuna whirled around to find a fearful Cid backing away from what appeared to be the very air in front of him breaking apart into fragments. Three bursts of black smoke with pulsating white gemstones emerged from the rift. They were eerily similar to the ashen clouds vented by sulfur plumes in Yuna’s home, except they weren’t floating up into the sky.

One cloud sent a black energy beam straight at Cid. The orbeetle barely had the time to create a psychic barrier, which nearly cracked under the pressure.

“Phantoms!” Seifer cried. A Secret Sword crescent raced past Yuna, rippling her ectoplasm and sending her torso retreating back into her head. The red beam struck the lead Phantom’s white core. It exploded in a burst of black and white smoke. The other Phantoms’ shadows coalesced around their cores, distorted energy charging for more strikes.

Seifer let loose another Secret Sword. However, jagged crystals materialized in midair to snuff out the red beam. The Phantoms popped out of the stalemate’s lingering smoke.

Yuna was scrambling to process everything. Shouts from behind her. The space above her warping around the Phantoms as they prepared another strike. All the while, the rift held up. Should she run away? Dive into the portal? Did more Phantoms await her on the other side?

It wasn’t until the rift grew closer that she realized someone else had decided for her. Chiaki’s claws were draped over her left eye. Intense heat struck her back, accompanied by a pair of abruptly cut-off screeches.

Before she could ask Chiaki what he was doing, she slipped from his grip and tumbled down a purple and red abyss. Yuna screamed as a second rift drew closer, until the light on the other side of it swallowed her up.

Noctum would be the first to admit he’d done plenty of stupid things in his life. Sticking his tail into an icy lakebed while begging for a loaf of bread that he’d later learn was stale? Dumb. Trying to cook a decaying mareep carcass he happened to find while roaming the badlands? Boneheaded. Modeling jewelry for Queen Yiazmat because he had the “most feminine figure” of all the servants? Ridiculous.

However, all that paled in comparison to trying to fly with a concussion. At least, he thought he had a concussion. Because instead of clusters of trees below him, all he saw were messy swathes of green spinning around one another. And it didn’t help he was still trying to piece together exactly what had happened.

One moment, he was beside the princess. The next, the hulking bewear that was Professor Monokuma yanked his head out of a splintered tree trunk. After throwing up the danish he scarfed down for breakfast, Noctum learned Yuna had vanished.

“You should’ve stayed behind, Charizard. Your face is losing its color.”

Noctum flinched, but managed to steady himself. Vegna and his feral pet flew to his right, gazes firmly fixed ahead.

To his left, Corviknight piped up. “Yeah, don’t expect a rescue service if you decide to keel over in midair. It’s bad enough having to carry the brat.”

“How dare you!” Shimmer bonked Corviknight’s head with a forehoof.

“Word to the wise, Dimmer Switch, don’t conk your airborne lift,” Corviknight scoffed. “Otherwise, we’ll be scraping your pancaked ass off the ground with one of them novelty spatulas.”

“Enough, Griffon.” Vegna’s eye flashed.

Griffon flapped his wings and puffed out his cheeks. “You still haven’t even told me why I’m stuck lugging Dimmer.”

“Because Yuna’s my partner for Uncle Benedict’s trail.” Shimmer wrinkled his snout. “I need to know exactly what’s going on. I’m not going to let my grade tank because she pulled a disappearing act.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, your Crown Prince,” Griffon deadpanned.

Noctum was too dizzy for his tail flame to spark further. “Princess Yuna wouldn’t—”

Whatever rebuttal he had was choked down by a fresh wave of nausea. He squeezed his snout with a hand and tasted vomit for the second time. Noctum managed to force it back down. He’d stomached much worse in the past. That mold-ridden prime rib he dumpster dove for years ago sprang to mind.

Corviknight rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and I think you two could’ve hung back.

“Exactly what lead are we pursuing?” Noctum somehow managed to get the full question out.

“The Herbrides Needle.” Vegna descended. Griffon had to slow up to help steer Noctum in the right direction. Now there were gray streaks breaking apart the green swathes. The charizard actually made out grass surrounding a gravel road. “I saw some cloaked figure running with Miss Nicolette in their grasp. They let slip the word Needle.”

Noctum frowned. “But you didn’t see the princess?”

“No.”

And Noctum really wasn’t sure how long they’d flown for. He could’ve gone faster, but not with his head pounding like a kommo-o pack beating their chests in a group Clangorous Soublaze.

The gravel road approached. Noctum struggled to swing his legs forward for a proper landing. Fortunately, a sickly purple bubble rosed from the ground to cushion what would’ve been a nasty belly flop. Noctum looked right to find Vegna stretching out his right arm so Talonflame could land on it.

“What exactly do you hope to accomplish with this Needle business?” the charizard wondered.

Vegna’s red eye glowed. “With any luck, finding out what happened to the princess.”

I fail to see the connection. Noctum rubbed the swollen spot on his head with his knuckles.

“We told you to stay back for a reason.” Griffon hovered about a meter off the ground. Shimmer, however, hopped off his back. “But no. The big, bad charizard’s gotta show how manly he is by toughing it out even though he’s totally useless in this situation.”

“The princess… is my responsibility.” Noctum dizzily stepped forward. “I have to look into this.” He couldn’t rest until he knew she was safe or at least able to be rescued.

“Yeah. Sure. Enjoy your brownie points.” Griffon turned to Vegna. “There are Radiant Guard at the checkpoint up ahead, V.”

“Of course there are.” Vegna crossed his arms while Talonflame hopped onto his skull shoulder gauntlet. “Let’s press them for what they know.”

“Aww, can’t I Body Press ’em instead?” Griffon fluttered his eyelids at Vegna.

“No.” The dusknoir pushed Griffon aside and floated off. Shimmer looked at Noctum, before following. The charizard needed a moment before he could hobble after them.

“At least tell me what will happen if we can’t find her,” Shimmer said. “I’m not failing the first assignment of the year because of her stupidity.”

Noctum really wished he could deck Shimmer. “None of this is Yuna’s fault.”

Shimmer had a retort ready when a pink glow surrounded his snout, which squeezed shut. “Silence.” Vegna turned his glare from Shimmer to Noctum. “That goes for you, too, servant-boy.”

“Y-Yessir.”

“That counts as not being silent,” Griffon mused. Talonflame cawed angrily at the corviknight. Noctum briefly wondered if there’d be bird-on-bird violence. Vegna kept the strangest company. Maybe he was a bird before he died and had his spirit recycled into a ghost-type?

“Yuna’s situation changes nothing about the trial.” Vegna returned his gaze to Shimmer. “I was planning to sit on this until after the field trip, but given things have derailed, I guess I can pass the news along.”

Shimmer stopped walking. “What news?”

“The magmar victim in the case passed away yesterday,” Vegna declared. “Your so-called uncle’s being charged with murder.”

It was faint, but Noctum swore some of the luster in Shimmer’s horn and mane dimmed. “No way…”

“Did I stutter?” Vegna growled. Talonflame snorted smoke at Shimmer. “The case was reassigned to the Crowne Courte and a new inquisitor requisitioned for the investigation. You and Princess Yuna are welcome to assist, but you won’t be leading any defense.” He shook his head. “Not that you were ever going to.”

Now it was Noctum’s turn to be confused. Hadn’t Yuna spent yesterday fretting about this assignment? “But you told Yuna—”

“I lied.”

Shimmer’s jaw slackened. “Excuse me?!”

“You heard him, Dimmer!” Griffon landed in front of the ponyta. “You got tricked, hoodwinked, bamboozled, and… uh, other phrases I’m too lazy to think up.” He pointed a wing at Shimmer. “You should see the look on your dumb face right now. Hoo! You got ’em good, V. Got ’em good.”

“Then what was that whole routine in class about?” Shimmer’s face and horn reddened. “Wait until I tell Mother about. She’ll be fuming! You gave us badges and everything!”

“News flash: she already knew.” Griffon tapped a wing to his temple. “In fact, she encouraged V to dupe you. Said you deserved a slice of humble pie.”

If Noctum wasn’t fearing for Yuna’s safety, he definitely would’ve laughed at the ponyta’s expense. Instead, he stepped between Vegna and Shimmer. “Can we drop the subject? This isn’t helping anyone right now.”

“Of course. I’ve said my piece.” Vegna floated up the path. Noctum opted to stick to the ground and lumber after the dusknoir and his avian entourage.

“H-Hey! Get back here! We’re not done with this!” Shimmer galloped ahead of Noctum, but Vegna only quickened his pace toward the row of metal stations set up in the distance.

Noctum squeezed his eyes shut. Please, Bahamut. Get Yuna back to us safe.

Yuna wasn’t dead. At least, that’s what she assumed when she felt icy glass against her face. The dreepy floated up and shook the stars from her vision. What happened? She rubbed her eyes with her hands.

Chiaki had pulled her into the rift. Then she fell through a tunnel. And now… now…

A glass floor was beneath her. Sparkling silver liquid bubbled underneath. On either side, arched walls made from the same alien branches as the room Yuna had escaped from. The hallway stretched on, bathed in multicolored lights that danced around the glass.

“What the hell is this place?”

Chiaki walked up beside her, rubbing his fake arm with his real claws. “Are those stained-glass windows? In a mystery dungeon?”

“I don’t get it either,” Seifer replied, much to Yuna’s relief. She turned around to find the keldeo standing opposite Cid. Each looked at different stained-glass murals. “The mystery dungeons I’ve done rescues in before looked more like the place we fled from. Not… this.”

Yuna looked down the hallway. There wasn’t any sort of door at the end, though she should’ve figured as much. Instead, there was an upside-down statue. Two dragonair coiling around one another and touching their snouts together. It might’ve looked nice in her parents’ castle, but what was it doing here? And hanging from the ceiling, no less.

The more she took in of the hallway, the more it brought to mind the temples back home. Sure, there was less gold and silver, but there were halls brimming with statues and stained-glass windows of Bahamut and His Luminous Sages.

“Professor.” Chiaki caught Yuna’s attention despite calling for Cid. He was standing a few meters ahead of her, pointing his hook at another mural. Yuna floated up to him along with Cid. “This mural’s got some of the same symbols you pointed out at the Herbrides Lines.”

“Ah, you’re right.” Cid pointed to the bottom of the window, where curves and straight lines crisscrossed one another. “This one’s ‘Qliphoth,’ if I’m not mistaken.”

“And that loon that kidnapped the toxtricity mentioned Qliphoth.” Seifer tapped a forehoof. “Then… maybe they really are connected.”

“Perhaps ‘Qliphoth’ refers to mystery dungeons themselves?” Cid theorized. “An entire realm where the laws of nature do not work as we know them.”

Yuna, however, was more drawn to the top of the mural. Jagged golden panes surrounded a ring with five diamonds on its border. World Ender’s sigil. What was that doing in something that could pass as part of a temple?

Around the golden panes were rainbow stars. The longer Yuna looked at them, the more it seemed like the stars were moving.

No, she wasn’t imagining it. They were moving. Arranging themselves next to one another. And their colors unraveled to spell something out.

N-O-A-T-U-N.

“Noatun.” It slipped out. Yuna only realized she said it when the others looked at her in confusion.

“Noa-what?” Chiaki frowned. “Are you about to pass out on us again?”

“No. It’s… that’s what’s written on the window.” Yuna pointed up. “Don’t you see it? The stars spell out Noatun.”

Chiaki shook his head. “You’re seeing things. There aren’t any letters in the mural.” He stepped back. “More importantly, it doesn’t look like there are any rifts here. So, we ought to keep moving.”

“To where? Both sides are dead ends.” Seifer pivoted back and forth.

“Hang on. I think I might be able to help here.” Cid put his right hand against his forehead. “I learned to use Dynascan in school. It was meant to be for things like archaeology digs, but I think it can help here.”

Seifer raised a brow. “You have Dynaforce?”

Yuna couldn’t tell from his tone if the keldeo was impressed or concerned. Nevertheless, Cid’s spots released beacons of pink light. A pink eyeball silhouette materialized over his head. Identical silhouettes overtook his spots, before they all fizzled away in red, smoky trails. Yuna looked around, but nothing had changed. What was the point of that?

“That wall isn’t entirely solid.” Cid pointed to the dragonair statue. “And I sensed one of those dragonair heads is manipulatable.”

“Great. Then let’s get the hell out of here.” The glass floor clinked with every step Chiaki took. As Yuna followed, she caught a glance at the last stained-glass mural. It had an orange person with pointed, triangular legs, but four tentacles instead of arms. The blue tentacles coiled around the orange one.

“Pay attention, Princess,” Chiaki snapped. “We don’t know what’s about to happen.”

“Ah. Sorry.” Yuna tucked her hands in and hovered to Seifer’s side. Chiaki nudged each dragonair head with his claws. The left one moved, so he twisted it until a snap echoed through the hallway.

Purple lines rippled through the statue. The empty space between the dragonair distorted and the space the statue occupied seemed to break apart. Yuna tensed up. Another rift. Were these rifts the only way to get places around here?

“See anything?” Cid asked.

Seifer stepped forward. “We have to go through the rift. Brace yourselves.” The keldeo hopped into the portal.

Yuna dashed after him, not wanted to be left behind. Like before, she soon found herself drifting through open space. There were off-colored lightning surges zigzagging around on either side of her. A second rift awaited her, projecting multicolored light. Yuna flew into it and, unlike last time, managed to stay awake.

The dreepy descended toward Seifer, who stood on a curved pane of multicolored glass. Chiaki dropped down behind her. His startled yelp drew her attention. The grovyle hopped across the glass, clutching his right foot. On closer inspection, some green scales sat on a column of black spokes to Yuna’s right.

Heck, there were multiple lines of black spokes, all running down the curved to glass to meet in a black circle in the center. “Hang on.” Yuna frowned. “This is, like, a cathedral ceiling.”

She looked up and, sure enough, there was a gray stone floor littered with wooden pulpit benches and chairs. Stone steps with draped red carpets led to a lectern made of the same sinister purple and red branches littering the walls on either side of the room.

So, what were they doing on the ceiling? Who had turned off gravity on them? And, more importantly, how could Yuna turn it back on?

“Miss Nikki!”

Yuna’s gills curled up. She glanced at Cid, who pointed to the other side of the ceiling, where Nikki stood with their back to the group. However, any relief was quickly stamped out when Yuna realized Xeromus stood beside the toxtricity.

“How delightful!” Xeromus coughed loudly and sucked in a sharp breath. “I wasn’t sure what to make of that energy spike I sensed, but here you are. I didn’t give you a door, so you made one yourself to take in the Qliphoth, just like I suggested.”

“Unhand the student!” Seifer ordered. “You’re under arrest for kidnapping and assaulting a Radiant Guardsman.”

Xeromus sighed. “Really now? You stand in Noatun, the Qliphoth’s sacred hall of worship, and all you can think of is spewing such blasphemy?” He shook his head, wheezing. “Your authority is a façade and the ether has blinded you to your ability to realize it. But the Qliphoth can purify those poisonous thoughts. Even if you won’t open your heart to Natus’ nurturing embrace, the Paradigm will guide you.”

Small green pellets nearly pelted Xeromus’ left side, but a spectral arm shredded the Bullet Seeds apart. “I see.” He stepped back. “Better you turn such aggression on a worthless omen like me. I would happily accept it, but Natus would rather see the depths of your hope. Is your so-called belief in the ether enough to make you take up arms… against an ally?”

Why does this guy always have to talk in riddles? Yuna wasn’t up for trying to parse any of it. And she knew attacking Xeromus was pointless. If Seifer and Chiaki couldn’t get hits in, what good would she do?

Instead, she waited for Xeromus to make a move. However, it was Nikki who turned around and slammed her hands onto her gills. Yuna stared into toxtricity’s empty eyes while Chiaki and Seifer barely managed to get Protect barriers up. The Boomburst still pushed them to the ceiling’s outer rim. Cid’s pained hollers echoed through the hall.

“What are you doing, Nikki? Stop it!” Yuna cried.

“Your words can’t reach her.” Xeromus’ gray eyes flickered blue. A pool of shadows swallowed him up. Blue light rippled above Yuna. She glanced up. A blue serpent had traced itself into the stone floor.

Before she could work out what was going on, Seifer shouted, “Princess, look out!”

Yuna looked down in time to see Nikki lunging for her, outstretched fist full of electricity.

Path of Valor Almanac
Herbrides takes inspiration from the Hebrides, an archipelago to the west of Scotland. In Norse mythos, Nóatún is home to the god Njörðr, who’s associated with seafaring, winds, fishing, wealth, and crops.