CHAPTER FOUR: Why Little Alice, Where’ve You Been?

Daphne had never actually been to the hospital before, so it took her longer than she had expected to find it. Sure, she’d had a vague idea of where it was, but she didn’t know her way around Ceres as much as she probably should after a year of living there. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hard to find, and she was soon pushing open the front doors and walking inside.

She found herself in a decently-sized room, with a few places to sit against the left and right walls, though there wasn’t anyone waiting there at the moment. The back wall held two closed doors, labelled “Hynei Wing” and “Keuppia Wing”, respectively. Between the doors, was a desk, with a Tangrowth standing behind it and leaning forward on the desk.

The Tangrowth looked up as she walked over to the desk. “Hi.”

“Uh, hi. Would I be able to visit my friend?” Daphne said, looking up. “Helioptile Chloe?”

Vines extended from the Tangrowth’s sides, pulling open a drawer and retrieving a sheet of paper. The paper looked to contain a list of names and rooms.

The Tangrowth moved a vine down the list, scanning it. “Room 6. Keppuia Wing.”

“Right. She’s fine to have visitors, then? She’s okay?” Daphne asked.

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask her assigned Healer,” the Tangrowth replied.

“Right. Well, I’m just going to go there and check, then,” she said, turning over to the door leading to the Keppuia Wing.

“Sure.”

Daphne pushed the door open and walked down the corridor, scanning the room numbers, until she reached the one labelled with a 6. She couldn’t hear any noise coming from inside, which could be either good or bad. Either way, there was no one around to stop her, so she pushed open the door.

Inside, the room was empty, save for a Helioptile lying on a straw bed on the floor. Her eyes were closed, and the sun was streaming down on her body through a window on the opposite wall. Daphne hesitated upon seeing this, unsure if Chloe was asleep.

She cautiously spoke up. “Chloe?”

The Helioptile slowly opened her eyes, blinking. “Daphne? Uh, hi.”

“Hi,” Daphne replied.

She watched as Chloe stretched her body, standing up on her hind legs and looking up at her. “What are you doing here?”

“Wanted to see how you were doing. You look better. I mean, you’re moving,” she said, moving into the room.

And, it was better than the alternative, she didn’t say, as she sat on one of the beds.

Chloe nodded. “Yeah. It was kinda weird, actually. The, um, healer here, Healer Bennett, said that there wasn’t anything really physically wrong with my body and that there was some kind of mental block I needed to get over to be able to move. And he said he’d organise for someone to come and help me with that.”

She looked up at Daphne. “A few hours later, an Espeon came and said he was here to see me. And, he fixed my mind. Or, mostly. I didn’t get my memories back, but, I can move now. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s like there’s these faint feelings in my head telling me how to move my body, how to use my abilities. Instincts, I guess. But it’s weird being aware of them like this.”

Daphne considered this for a moment. “Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone feeling like that. Or being aware of their instincts like that. I mean, I know that I have my instincts, but they’re never something I’ve really been consciously aware of like that. Maybe I’m just used to them since I’ve had them my whole life?”

“Maybe,” Chloe replied, flexing one of her front claws. “That’s not even the weirdest part, though. The Espeon: he wasn’t even meant to be here. He wasn’t the person they sent for to help me. This morning, the actual person they called, a Reuniclus, visited. From what she said, the Espeon didn’t seem to do any actual harm to my mind or anything. She said my mind felt different to what she would have expected but she didn’t know if it was due to my amnesia or if he’d used some strange method to fix it. It’s all fine, but, I don’t know… It’s weird.”

Daphne blinked. “Yeah, that’s really weird. Why would some random Pokémon just decide to fix your mind like that? How would he even know you were here?”

“Maybe it was something to do with something that happened before I lost my memories? I want to say he was kind of familiar, in the same way that you are. But I could just be imagining that. His name didn’t sound familiar, at least,” she said, with a shrug.

Daphne nodded slowly. “Yeah… But, it makes sense that they couldn’t fix your memories. Or, at least, when I went to a mind healer a while ago they couldn’t do anything about mine.”

The Helioptile looked up. “Oh, right! I wanted to ask about that. We kinda got cut off before. But, from what you said… You’re not human, are you?”

Daphne shook her head. “Nope. Or, if I am, I sure don’t remember it. I haven’t felt anything like what you’ve described though. I can’t remember being a Popplio, but I’m pretty sure I’ve always been a Pokémon.”

Chloe nodded slowly, clasping her claws together, then frowning. “Yeah, I figured. It’d be nice to have someone to talk to about the ‘being human’ thing but somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen. Still, we must’ve known each other before this somehow, right?”

“Maybe?” she replied, tilting her head to the side. “I’m not sure on that. We just both lost our memories, and you think I feel familiar, that’s all.”

The Helioptile’s tail drooped a little. “Well, maybe… But, I don’t know. It makes me feel a bit better to think I’m not completely alone here. I’d like to be friends, at least?”

Daphne smiled faintly. “Yeah. I’d like that, too.”

“Maybe we can find out what happened to our memories, together,” she said, quickly pushing her front feet together in what might have been a clap, though they didn’t seem to come together smoothly enough.

“I don’t think I’d even know where to start,” Daphne sighed. “Do we even know for sure they’re connected?”

Chloe shrugged. “I mean, no. But they probably are, right? What’s the chances that we both lost our memories? You’re the one who found me, too. That can’t have been a coincidence.”

“We both woke up in completely different places, at completely different times. It’s been about two years since I woke up, I think,” she replied. “I’m not trying to be mean, I just want to be reasonable about this.”

The Helioptile paused. “I guess. Where did you wake up, though?”

Daphne flinched. “A long way away from here.”

“Okay…” Chloe said slowly, looking up at her.

“I don’t think it’d help if I was more specific, considering you have no idea where we are,” Daphne said quickly. “Like, if I said ‘south-east of Asphodel’, that’s not going to mean anything to you.”

“I mean, I guess,” she replied, her tail flicking behind her.

There was a pause for a moment before Chloe quickly looked up. “Oh! We could try and find something at the library!”

“What?” Daphne blinked. “There’s no way you know how to read.”

“I can read! Just… not whatever everything I’ve seen here is written in,” she said hesitantly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Daphne snorted. “How did you even know there’s a library?”

Chloe’s eyes lit up, and she smiled. “Because… that Espeon told me to meet him there. So we’re going to get at least some answers when we go there.”

“Ah,” Daphne said. “Wait, if he came in and did like an illegal operation on you, why would he tell you where to find him?”

“No idea! Guess we’ll find out,” Chloe said, smiling.

“Did you tell the healers this?” she asked, looking up.

“Nope. Right now, he’s the only way I have of getting answers on something. If I tell them and they arrest him or something I don’t know if I’m going to be able to talk to him,” the Helioptile replied.

“Right… Well, I mean, I do have stuff to do today. I shouldn’t really just go running off to the library with you,” Daphne said, trying to offer up some defence against her own curiosity. “Are you even allowed to leave the hospital?”

Chloe shrugged. “Healer Bennett said I was free to go, but that I could stay for a while longer until I had somewhere to go. I’m sure if we let him know I’ll be fine to go. And please… I don’t know if I’m going to be able to find it on my own. Like you said, I can’t read. And you can. I assume.”

Daphne sighed. “I can read, yeah.”

“So…” the Helioptile said, drawing out the vowel.

“I’ll take you to the library,” she replied, closing her eyes. “But I can’t go in with you. I really need to do my job. I’m losing time even coming here.”

She paused. “Actually, when you’re done at the library, take the main road west out of town. When you get to the crossroads, keep going into Feronia Forest. Either keep going until you get to the beach or I’ll meet you coming back. If you really want to try and figure this out, I’ll show you where I found you.”

Chloe nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll… try not to get lost.”

“If you do, just ask someone. It shouldn’t be hard to find someone. Just… don’t go off the path. I don’t know that I trust you to deal with wilds.”

“Wilds?” the Helioptile said, tilting her head to the side.

“Yeah, wild Pokémon. Like, Pokémon that aren’t, uh… intelligent,” Daphne said, with a nod.

“Oh, right. I think the Corsola said something about that?” Chloe replied.

“Just make sure you stay on the path and you’ll be fine,” she said, with a small sigh. “This feels like such a bad idea.”

“I’ll be fine,” Chloe said, with a smile. “Let’s find Healer Bennett and get going.”

Daphne nodded. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go.”

She stood up, stretching her tail, and Chloe followed her out of the room.

The library was pretty much what Chloe had expected, really. It’d seemed like the trip from the Fishing Guild to the hospital had taken her from one side of town to the other, so she had a decent idea of the town’s size. So she was expecting a small town library, a nice cozy one-room space that wasn’t too large. Nothing more than that. And from the outside, it seemed like her expectations had been about right.

Daphne left her to enter on her own, heading back over to the Fishing Guild in what seemed like a bit of a hurry. She was sad to see the Brionne go, but she guessed she couldn’t really ask her to ignore her job like that. Besides, Theseus had told her to come alone. So as much as she wanted Daphne’s support, she’d have to do this on her own.

She readied herself, and pushed open the doors. They were huge, wooden doors, big even by human standards, but they seemed to push open easily enough. None of the doors she’d seen here seemed to have handles, but they all seemed easy to push open, even for her. She wondered how they worked.

Inside, she was met with a spacious room, with bookshelves against each of the side walls. Each wall had a few small, circular windows, giving the building plenty of sunlight. In the front of the room, in the left corner, there was a short counter, behind which was an Octillery, looking through some pieces of paper. The drawer of a filing cabinet was open behind them, displaying an assortment of paper within.

In the middle of the room was an area indented in the floor, with a small wooden ramp leading down to it. This carpeted area contained tables, a few with chairs beside them, though most without.

Standing beside one of these tables, a thick book open on the table in front of him, was Theseus. He looked just as he had the previous day. She paused for a moment, watching as his eyes reached the end of the page. His eyes glowed for a second, and the page glowed in return, turning over. He continued reading, seemingly unaware of her presence.

Chloe slowly moved over to him, moving around the edge of the tables until she got over to the table he was standing at. It would have been too tall for her to see over, had she not been standing on two legs. Her instincts didn’t seem to like her walking that way, but it was more comfortable to her. More familiar, at least. More normal.

“Um…” she started. “Theseus?”

The Espeon looked up at her, his ears perking up. A quick flash of his eyes closed the book in front of him. “Ah! Hello again, Chloe. It’s good to see you walking around.”

She nodded. “Yeah… Thank you, for helping me with that, I mean.”

“Of course,” he replied. “It’s my job. I assume you’re here to accept my offer on reading lessons?”

Chloe frowned. “It’s… not your job, though. The healers had no idea who you were, or how you even knew about me. They said there wasn’t even an Espeon named Theseus who was a registered mind healer.”

His expression remained neutral. “Ah. I thought that had all been sorted out. I suppose I took the stone there, as it were.”

“What?” she said, tilting her head to the side. “What do you mean? Who are you?”

He sighed. “I am, as I said, Espeon Theseus. I was assigned to help you with your mental issues.”

“By who? Healer Bennett said—”

He cut her off. “Then clearly, they did not get the memo. As for my registration, it happened very recently. Ceres is quite out of the way. Their registry is likely just out of date. I’m sure they’ll receive an updated version soon enough.”

“Oh,” she replied. “I… Sorry, I just thought…”

“That there was something else going on?” Theseus said, with a smile. “I don’t blame you, Chloe. The circumstances you were presented with do seem very suspicious. But I assure you, my primary concern has been to help you, in any way I can.”

“Is that why you offered to teach me to read? Is that… part of being a mind healer too?” she asked.

“Somewhat,” he said, tilting his head to the side. “As it is, we were mostly just unsure of how long your case would take to resolve, so I was assigned to Ceres for about a week or so, just in case. I thought that since I was assigned here to help you, I could continue to do that. It does not have to be reading lessons, if you’d like. But I thought that would be useful to you, so I suggested it.”

“What else could you help me with?” Chloe said curiously.

“Anything you wish, within reason, of course,” he said, his mouth arching into a smile. “For example, I know a great deal about many different fields. I could provide you with information about this world, about your species, about anything else you should wish to know. All you need do, is ask.”

“Okay,” she began. “Sorry, this seems, I don’t know, almost too good to be true. I’ve been feeling pretty lost since I woke up yesterday, though, so it sounds helpful.”

“Perfectly understandable, Chloe,” he said, and a sense of eagerness subtly crept into his voice as he continued. “So, shall we get started? What do you wish to know?”

“I don’t even know,” she said, looking down. “Everything?”

“I think that might be a little beyond our time frame,” Theseus responded, with a smile.

“Right,” Chloe said. “How about my— about Helioptile? The doctors told me a bit, but they didn’t seem to know much.”

“I’m not surprised,” the Espeon said. “They’re not exactly common in this part of Asphodel.”

“Yeah, they said Helioptile usually live in deserts, right? And, I know they’re electric types,” she said, briefly forming a small spark in her claws.

“Mostly accurate,” he said, with a nod. “Helioptile and Heliolisk are native to deserts, though they also tend to live in savannas, and areas with at least some tree cover. As for typing, they are dual types, lighting and basic types. Which you would know as ‘electric and normal’, though those terms are not commonly used here. A decent number of types aren’t referred to with the names you’re familiar with, here.”

Chloe frowned. “How do you know what I call the types?”

“I was in your mind. Sometimes things… slip through,” he said, his voice level.

“Okay,” she said, slowly.

“It is alright. I did not see anything that seemed private in there,” the Espeon said.

She nodded. “So, what are the types called, then? I’m assuming it’s the same eighteen types?”

“They are indeed the same types you would be familiar with, yes, just referred to by different names,” he said, smiling. “Let’s see… Rock and water are usually the same. Electric type is referred to as ‘lightning’, as established. Grass type is usually referred to as ‘plant type’. Psychic and poison are the same, though I believe some Pokémon call it ‘venom’ or ‘toxic’ type. Fire is the same, though ground type is called ‘earth’. In a similar, vein, flying is usually called ‘air’. Bug is sometimes called ‘insect’ but it is not common. Normal is ‘basic’, as we said. Ghost and fighting are the same, then steel is ‘metal’, and I believe the rest are generally the same.”

Chloe blinked. “Right. I should remember all of that, I think? It seems fairly self-explanatory, at least.”

Theseus’ eyes widened slightly. “Ah, right, sorry. That may have been a tad overwhelming. I will try to be more concise.”

“You’re fine, I just… It’s gonna be a lot,” she said, then smiled. “Like I said, I’m asking you everything.”

His ears flicked. “Well, yes. Let’s take it a little slower, though, at least. Did you have any more questions about Helioptile?”

“We have something to do with the sun, right? Or, I don’t know. Sunlight feels really nice, though. And my vision’s weird in the sun,” Chloe said, looking out at the sunlight streaming through the windows.

“Well, sunlight making you feel nice is likely at least in part due to being exothermic,” he began.

“Exothermic?” she said, slowly.

“Ah, you might know the term ‘cold-blooded’. While mammals are able to produce our own body heat, reptiles such as Helioptile rely on the environment to regulate their body temperature. When it’s warm, their body temperature can be raised, stimulating them more. When it’s too cold, their body temperature will fall, causing them to become less active, and sluggish.”

“Oh,” she said, looking down at her body. “That… that’s why my body’s felt so weird.”

“I’ve also heard that Helioptile and Heliolisk are sometimes able to forgo eating and draw energy entirely from sunlight, though I have never met a Heliolisk so I cannot be sure how accurate that is,” he continued.

“Okay, not going to try that until I know for sure,” Chloe said, fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Probably for the best,” Theseus said, with a nod. “As for your vision, I would hazard a guess that that’s likely due to you having four colour cones. Most mammals only have two, like myself, though some have three. Birds and reptiles, on the other hand, have four, and are able to see in the ultraviolet spectrum. The sun emits ultraviolet light, along with visible light, so that would likely be why you’re experiencing that.”

He let out a small, almost kind, smile. “I imagine it’s likely a bit overwhelming. Humans only have three colour cones, so I can imagine getting an extra one would be disconcerting.”

Chloe blinked. She looked up at Theseus. “…How did you know I was human? I thought you said you didn’t see anything private in my head?”

Theseus’ eyes widened. “Ah. I… Well, I didn’t want to… I didn’t think it was important to mention.”

She tilted her head to the side, feeling the frills on the sides of her head flaring out. “It wasn’t important to mention? From what I’ve heard, humans don’t even seem to exist here! How do you know about them?”

“Well, I… I saw them in your mind. I saw that you were human in your mind. And I saw that your vision had three colour cones,” he said, after a moment, not meeting her eyes. “That’s all.”

“Theseus…” she began. “I don’t… I want to believe you. I want friends here, but…”

“Chloe, I swear,” he said, looking up. The calm tone his voice had carried was gone. He seemed on edge. She caught his eyes darting around the room. “I swear I’m not a danger to you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, either.”

“What? What are you talking about?” she said.

He took a deep breath, then sighed. “Look… There are things I can’t tell you. Please, just forget about it for now. It’s not important.”

“How is it not important?! You’re lying to me, again,” she said.

“I’m not lying!” he responded quickly. “There are just, certain things, that I can’t tell you, no matter how much I want to.”

Chloe paused. “What do you mean? We only just met yesterday. Do you know something about me? Do you know why I lost my memories? Do you know why I’m like this?”

“I… You have to understand. I’ve already said too much,” he said, not meeting her gaze. “I should go. I still want to help you, Chloe. If you want to accept that help, come back here tomorrow. But you have to let this go. Don’t go around asking questions about any of this.”

He began to move backwards from the table, the wheels of his harness rolling behind him.

Chloe reached out a hand. He flinched when she touched his back. “I don’t understand. Please… Why can’t you tell me?”

Theseus was silent for a moment. “If I tell you, I can’t help you, Chloe. And I want to help you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she said, pleading with him.

He nodded, turning away. She couldn’t see his face. “I know. Goodbye, Chloe.”

“Wait!” she said, as he began to move away, her hand falling off him. “Please, Theseus.”

“I’ll be here again tomorrow, if you need help.”

She dropped down to all fours and tried to run after him, but tripped over her feet, sending her sprawling against the wooden floor.

By the time she got up, he was gone.

When Theseus returned to his hotel room, he telekinetically slammed the door behind him much harder than he had intended. Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes, attempting to calm himself down. It was okay. He could still salvage this.

Still, how could he have been so stupid? Why had he even brought up humans in the first place? She knew that he knew about her now, and there was no going back from that, no matter how much he wanted to.

Of course she’d be suspicious of him; he’d lied to her face multiple times. What was he going to do? Go back to the library and, what? Just hope she came back and agreed to not broach the subject again? Like that was going to happen.

He sighed. It had just felt so easy talking to her. So familiar, and he’d… He’d just gotten lost in it for a moment. He’d missed her so much and it was like… He had her back, and part of him hoped that things could go back to how they had been, but… That was never going to happen, was it?

No, no, it was fine. He could still fix this. He could persuade her. There had to be some part of her, even past the amnesia, that still trusted him. He wanted to help her. He needed to help her, or… Well. That didn’t bear thinking about. He finally had her back and he couldn’t lose her again. No matter who was watching him.

Still… It had been two years. Where had she been? He hadn’t found any sign of any of the others in that time, so he’d almost given up on hope. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he was the only one of them who’d ended up in Asphodel and tried to put the past behind him. And yet…

He needed a distraction. He opened his eyes and began to move forward, before immediately stopping short.

“Hello, Theseus,” said the Meowstic sitting on the windowsill. “How was your day?”

His breath froze in his throat. “Dinah. How did you get in here?”

“Ariadne, please. We’re meant to be using our aliases, Theseus. You don’t want to make Midas angry, do you?” she said, a grin on her muzzle. He noticed the open window behind her.

“Midas isn’t here,” he responded coolly.

“Oh? Well, I’ll just have to tell him next time I see him, won’t I?” she replied.

“He barely even knows who I am,” he said, with a faint hiss. “Why are you here?”

She let out a small purr. “Well, ‘Theseus’, I couldn’t help but notice that you requested a week for this mission. And I thought to myself: ‘Why, isn’t that strange? A week? For an investigation into a possible Faller? Even he isn’t that incompetent.’ So I thought I’d have Epoch drop me over and see what the issue was.”

“As I said in my request, there were potential medical issues relating to this Faller’s condition that had required her hospitalisation. I wanted time to ensure that this had been resolved,” he recited calmly.

Dinah shook her head. “Oh, Theseus. No. I don’t want the fertiliser you served up in your report. Because you and I both know that we could easily deal with any medical issues back at base. I read the report you were sent, and it said she couldn’t move. Should have been easy enough for you to grab her, contact Epoch, and bring her in.”

She jumped off the windowsill, and stared up at him with cold eyes. “I want the real reason you’re dragging this out.”

“There have been… complications,” he replied. “She is able to move again, and I cannot take her without the hospital staff growing suspicions. They already caught me in the hospital, posing as a mind healer.”

“Is that so?” she said, her ears perking up, though her eyes remaining flat. “Easy. I’ll tell them she’s being transferred and take her now.”

“She’s not at the hospital,” he said quickly.

She gave an annoyed yowl. “Then I’ll grab her when she gets back. No big deal.”

“No!” he said quickly. Too quickly.

His eyes went wide as Dinah glared up at him. “Really? Why not?”

“I…” he began, trying to maintain his composure. “I can handle it. I’ll bring her in by the end of the week. I swear.”

The Meowstic cocked her head. “Really? I’m so glad to hear it.”

She stepped back, turning back towards the window and staring out through it. “Because you now how badly we need another Faller, don’t you? So if you, gods forbid, fail this mission…”

She looked back at him, eyes of yellow and red staring into his own. “I’ll bring her in myself.”

She grinned, before jumping onto the windowsill, then disappearing.

Theseus closed his eyes. What in the name of the gods was he going to do?