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Acertus x〤x Saesia

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Acertus x〤x Saesia

As the greenhorn team made its way up to the bulletin board plastered with missions Aloura was filled with a buoyant happiness that could have lifted her off her paws. It had been a slow two weeks while Lavicus had healed. It was spent mostly locked up in their room for lack of connections and, in Aloura's case, lack of courage to make them. Now, though, that the Seviper was healed, team Snow Hushed was about to take on its first missions and Aloura was ecstatic. Two months ago she didn't even know a world outside her little clan existed and now... “They are of many numbers!” the absol gaped as she and her partner stopped in front of the board. “How can we decide?”

Lavicus didn't say a word, but simply scanned the board for something plausible for the team. Aloura didn't seem to mind. She was too busy ogling at the board. The snake sighed at his partner, a habit he'd seem to have taken up of late. Privately, however, he was pleased about the mission as well. Being cooped up was not something he was used to or by any stretch of the imagination enjoyed. Besides, this was what he'd come here to do. This felt... right. Not that he'd say anything of the sort of course. “This should do,” he said eventually, pulling down a sheet of paper and showing it to Aloura. It was a short mission, something they could hopefully handle. Plus the mission didn't involve any pokemon in danger, so it wasn't as if a life would depended on them. Those missions would come later when they knew what they were doing. “I can do no explaining of ruins,” Aloura sounded uncertain, looking to Lavicus for an explanation. “The client wants a team to show him to ruins, not tell him everything about them,” the serpent spoke flatly, “Aside from that I've heard quite a few tales about the desert ruins that should satisfy him. We should be fine.” Reassured, and curious now, Aloura nodded. “That is understood. Off we will be then?

“More or less so,” came the response. The team made their way back to their room collect a satchel loaded with the few supplies the guild had given them. After a short trip resulting in the acquisition of some more supplies at the expense of half their funds, the team was off. Headed for disaster? Probably to some extent. There was no way their first mission would be perfect, but it is what it is. With mistake as their teacher they'd certainly learn quickly enough.

~ ♠ ~ ♥ ~ ♣ ~ ♦ ~



“Hi! My name is Connery!” piped a short mudkip in a cheerful tone. Large circular wire framed glasses dominated the little pokemon's face and a miniature green plaid tie was fastened around his neck. Strapped to his back was a small bag stuffed with a good sized red notebook, a few well worn pencils, and a couple of black crayons. The clothing screamed 'nerd' and looked more than a little ridiculous, but somehow, as often is the case with little kids, Connery managed to make it look cute. The cute effect was aided by the fact that the little pokemon looked so eager and exited that it appeared as if it might start leaping up and down at any moment. Aloura could not help but smile warmly at him. “Greetings Connery, the absol said, her warm smile reflected in her voice, “I bear the name Aloura and my partner is called Lavicus. The partner in question looked down at the mudkip which, due partly to Lavicus's hight compared to the little thing and partly to the fact that Lavicus was slightly skeptical of the child, was rather intimidating.

Shrinking back a little from the snake, the mudkips enthusiasm was snuffed out by Lavicus's intimidating look. Doubt flashed across his little face, and he seemed about ready to turn tail and run. Reading the plain unease on his face, Aloura stepped in front of Lavicus cutting off his glare. “Do not mind this one, she said lightly with a hint of teasing in her voice in an attempt to calm the child, “He is simply out of temper. He normally lets it lie if you give him no attention. Now, we are to show you to the ruins. Are you prepared? With Aloura's intervention, the mudkips energy returned as swiftly as it had fled, lighting up his eyes like a candle. “Yes!!” He shouted, literally jumping up and down at the prospect. Unfortunately this caused his over-sized glasses to fall off his face. Quickly scooping them up, he rubbed them off on his tie and replaced them on his face while asking. “Can we go right now?”

“We may go,” Aloura laughed softly. Lavicus, unhappy at being cowed by the absol, took the lead without a word. They weren't far from the ruins- the team had meet with their client under a patch of scraggly trees an easy distance from the broken temple. The heat, however, for Aloura especially, made the walk seem much longer than it was. The sand beneath them seemed as scorching as the sun to the touch and the arid atmosphere seemed to dry their mouths in seconds. It was a relief when the party drew near enough the ruins to enjoy the shade of tumbled pillars and huge crumbled stones. Though it did nothing to ease the dryness of the air, it at least cooled the temperature. It was also strangely thrilling to step into the shadow of the fragmented wonder, something Connery promptly addressed. “This is so cool!” the child exclaimed as the team walked into the first of the shadows. His eyes seemed to be ever where at once. “Indeed,” Aloura responded breathlessly before the party lapsed into an awed silence. Even Lavicus had taken a moment to look around. It was amazing in a way. Predictably, however, Lavicus did not let his fascination show but pressed on relentlessly towards the entrance. Once they passed the first pillar, the entrance was only a couple of lengths away. It took all of five minutes to reach it. “This isn't going to be completely safe. We may even be attacked, Lavicus warned the mudkip bluntly as the three paused in front of the precarious entrance. Connery, who had been wiping the dust from his glasses, straightened clumsily and puffed his chest out, “I know! I'm ready for anything!” Somehow, Lavicus doubted that. Particularly the last statement. Never the less, he lead the team through the entrance; none of them quite sure what to expect.

~ ♠ ~ ♥ ~ ♣ ~ ♦ ~

At first, the interior of the ruins boasted not a wonder to speak of. The walls were a plain, muddy brown color composed of unpolished, cracked stone that seemed to stretch on forever. The floor and the ceiling were no different. It was almost ugly. The only thing they had to be exited about was that it was much cooler inside than the burning desert. The initial awe that had settled over the party quickly began to thin. Even Connery started to loss his energy. “Is this all there is?” He complained softly, talking more to himself than to either Aloura or Lavicus, “My book said there were carvings on the walls and stuff. They made it sound really cool!”

“The right words could make a heap of dirt sound 'cool.'” Lavicus responded flatly. Connery deflated further as the seviper spoke, prompting a disapproving glance from Aloura. He did not need to be so harsh. “Perhaps the carvings are buried deeper?” she tried to reassure the child. “You're just saying that to make me feel better,” Connery sulked. There was nothing Aloura could say to that. She sighed softly. Not twenty minutes in, and the mission was already starting to take a turn for the worse. Letting her head drop for a moment, she was surprised to see odd markings spiraling out from her paw. Startled, she quickly withdrew the appendage to reveal the center of the queer design. “Connery! Look upon this!” she called out happily. Connery looked up hopefully, “What is it?” He asked with a shadow of his previous energy. “Come!” the absol insisted. The mudkip complied. When he saw the carving, his eyes lit up, but only slightly. His excitement was tempered by wariness. “That's great... but what if it's the only one?” He asked grumpily. Even as he said this he had pulled out his notebook and was taking notes furiously, quite the contrary of his unhappy tone. “There will come more,” Aloura promised. As it turned out, she was right.

From that first carving, it did not take long for the ruins the begin to show their true colors. As the party made their way through the maze like passages an ancient carving would pop up hear or a bit of faded text there. The little oddities dotted the walls more and more frequently until there was a constant stream of text lining the bottoms and tops of walls with carved pictures peppering the blank space between. Connery, who seemed to pick up more lost energy with every sighting, seemed to be on an energy high when they reached that point. By that time he was running a little ahead of Aloura and Lavicus and stopping at each little thing. He'd pause a moment to jot down a few notes, sketch a picture, or put a piece of paper on the wall and rub one of his crayons over it then run on to the next thing. All the while he made remarks exclaiming how neat this was and how much fun he was having. It was rather amusing to watch him.

“Wow! Look at all this writing!!” Connery exclaimed, darting back to Aloura and Lavicus for a moment. “It's so... awesome! I wonder what it means? We studies some of this in class... from there he launched into a long winded explanation of how old the ruins were, and who created them, and what the text might possibly mean. It was as if he was giving a lecture to an imaginary class. “It's a chant,” Lavicus cut in irritably. He just wanted the kid to shut up. “You can read this!?” the mudkip looked at Lavicus with awe.

“Bits and pieces of it,” was the somewhat annoyed response. He'd picked up a little of a language very similar to this from one of the members of the dance troupe.

“What does it say? What does it say!?

“It's just a bunch of nonsense,” Lavicus shook his head. “I may be translating it wrong.”

“Oh...” The mudkip looked crest fallen.

“Lavicus...” Aloura said softly, “You should inform. Even if the sense is little he thinks this as important.” Lavicus looked from his partner to the little pokemon and sighed. She was right of course, but her chiding was getting on her nerves. Never the mind, he began to quote “Desert moonstone, purest water, darkest hidden secret under, orange sandstone peaking high, break the boundary, devil's child. One to shun and one to keep, lost of love, forever sleep. Lavicus paused to look over to the mudkip who's pencil was scribbling furiously. He'd only translated a small scribble etched hastily into the wall. It wasn't any of the large text running along the halls, but it seemed to satisfy the kid. “That's all I can read. Happy? There was a brief silence while Connery finished scribbling down every word the serpent had muttered before the mudkip shouted a delayed “Yes! Thank you so much!!” He hugged the notebook close to his chest, beaming, “This will be great for my presentation!” As perfectly ecstatic as he seemed it was not long before he was off ooing and ahing over little pictures etched into the walls and such with just as much energy.

Aloura looked fondly after the child for a moment- she'd already grown to like him- before looking to Lavicus. There was a silent thank you in her stunning blue eyes. Lavicus didn't respond at first, but eventually gave a stiff nod. They walked on in silence for a few moments of somewhat awkward silence, before Aloura ventured “That seems to veil meaning...?” she referred to the runes, lifting the end of her sentence into a question. She too had been rather amazed that the seviper had been able the translate the text. The absol knew less about the ruins than the mudkip did, however, so even Connery's miniature lecture had amazed her. “I don't think so,” Lavicus replied to his partner, keeping a close eye on Connery as if determined not to look at the absol. Aloura persisted “It certainly had the feel of secrets.”

“Aloura, I'm not even sure if I translated that correctly. If I did it was probably just part of some story. I assure you that it means nothing to us but a happy mudkip."

The absol was still not convinced- she had a habit of believing in stories -but she let the subject drop. She had tried arguing with Lavicus before. He was as stubborn as a bolder. “There is very much awe down here. It is amazing to think of those many years it has stood.”

Lavicus nodded, “It is fascinating.”

“Do you ever imagine the life of those who treaded here?”

“Not particularly.”

There was not much Aloura could say to that. It was frustrating, sometimes, trying to talk to her partner. He always seemed irritable and clammed up and didn't ever try to make conversation with her. She often got the feeling that he was fed up with her. It was grating on her nerves. She normally kept to herself, but this was bothering her so much that she couldn't help herself. “Lavicus,” she blurted out, rather louder than she normally spoke, causing the seviper to turn and look at her. With his attention all her own, she continued in a much quieter tone, though it was filled with a cold spark of accusation “Do you think I have taken no notice of you? You treat me like a child. I am without knowledge of this world, yes, but I do have thoughts. I am not, what do you say? 'Stupid.' Is that what you think of me?”

Lavicus was taken aback. Of all the things, he would not have guessed that Aloura would say that. She normally seemed so clueless. In truth, she often did act like a child, Lavicus would still stand by that, and he had treated her as such. He hadn't expected her to pick up on the fact, however.. It made him think. Perhaps he had under estimated her. While it was true that it frequently seemed that she didn't have a clue, he thought that he was justified in that thought, perhaps she did deserve more credit that he had given her. Perhaps.

Lavicus had just began formulating an appropriate response to his leader when a sharp yelp caused him to turn. Connery was racing towards them yelling something about rocks with a sandshrew and a sandslash hot on his tail.



Abandoning the conversation with a pointed look, Aloura raced to stand between their client and the pursuing pokemon. “Cease!” she cried. The two pokemon stopped for a moment, more out of shock than anything else, but the moment was brief. “He knocked over my rock tower!” cried out the little sandshrew aiming a blow at Aloura. She dodged it easily. “Your going to attack the mudkip because he knocked over your tower?” Lavicus asked incredulously, his disdained glare causing the tiny thing to shrink into itself. “I will attack whomever upsets my son!” the sandslash declared, “Even if I have to fight through you to do so!” It stepped in close and swiped out a paw that Lavicus only just avoided.

“You're pathetic.” Lavicus responded calmly. Truthfully, however, he was a touch worried. Ground type was super effect against him while his poison attacks would do next to nothing. This was not the best situation to be in. He didn't have much time to contemplate his situation: It wasn't long before the sandslash unleashed a round of fury swipe, forcing the seviper to dodge. He held his own, receiving a few cuts and scrapes, but nothing to serious. When the pokemon paused for a moment to catch it's breath Lavicus darted in and delivered a harsh bite to the pokemon's arm. It let out a scream of pain and lashed out randomly, forcing the serpent to draw back and thus continue the deadly dance.

In the mean time, Aloura was dealing with the little sandshrew. It's blows were easy to avoid, though a few that did hit true stung. Alouras problem was simply that she reluctant to hurt it. It was a child after all. After a few moments of hesitant dodging, she ended up darting around the pokemon and nipping it here and there. Her goal was to tire it out, not deal permanent injuries. When the little pokemon was covered with more than a few cuts and bruises, it had apparently had enough. “You're so mean!” it cried out, turning and kicking sand directly into Aloura's eyes. Coughing and stuttering, she was forced to squeeze her eyes shut and back away. The little thing took advantage of her temporary blindness and and rushed up to her, slashing at her with its sharp claws. Aloura struck out blindly and tried to blink the sand from her eyes, but was largely unsuccessful in both ventures. “Enough!” she growled in a deep voice, feeling anger bubble up inside her. Blocking out the sharp sting of claws from her thoughts, she concentrated, drawing on a inward store of energy. Her eyes closed, she arranged the stored energy carefully, building it up until... Aloura's eyes flew open and at that moment blades formed from the wind it self lashed out at the sandshrew and the sandslash both. The biting attack knocked the sandshrew squarely out, causing it to collapse in a heap.

At that same moment, Lavicus took advantage and wrapped around the badly hurt sandslash. The pokemon understandably became hysterical as she saw her child fall, and struggled against the snakes grip. “It is a fault of yours, Aloura said coolly to the mouse like pokemon, “To attack with lack of reason and expect no repercussions is folly. Your son is not of the deceased. We will release you if you depart from us.

“Never!” cried out the irrepressible sandslash. Though obviously fatigued it twisted violently against Lavicus's tight hold, managing to free itself with the rapid spinning motion. Though it was far from a glancing blow to the serpent, Lavicus turned instinctively, lodging his fangs in the pokemon's leg with a grunt. At the exact same time Aloura racked her claws over the sandslash's face leaving bright red trails of blood. The pokemon collapsed, much like her son, with a pitiful yowl.

For a moment it was all the two team members both to stand there panting. The attack had come and ended so swiftly it was as if their minds now needed a moment to catch up. As the adrenalin faded, however, Aloura quickly recalled the cause of said attack. “Connery, are your hurts bad?” the absol asked suddenly, whirling around and urgently trotting over to the mudkip, her sapphire eyes filled with worry.

“No, I'm okay... replied the child, looking and sounding shaken but otherwise unharmed.

“And you Lavicus?

The seviper slithered over, “I'll be fine.” Aloura gave a sigh of relief. Lavicus was not so easily satisfied. “Tell us what happened," the snake demanded of the mudkip.

“Well...” Connery began in a small, frightened voice. Lavicus's manner wasn't helping. “Well... ummm.... I saw this pile of rocks laying by the ground right by the wall and there was this pretty red one. So I went to pick it up and the whole thing fell over. Then that sandshrew came out of no where and started crying so loud that his mom came and started chasing me! And... well you know the rest from there. I didn't mean to do anything! I swear! It didn't look like somebody's rock castle or anything! I mean... they didn't have to attack me!” The poor thing looked to be at the verge of tears.

“Be soothed. You are safe now. We are not angered,” Aloura said gently, bending her head down to rest it reassuringly on the mudkips shoulder.

“Thank you Aloura,” the mudkip said, giving the absol a hug. Aloura didn't respond for a moment out of surprise, but a split second later she smiled warmly. “It is our duty.” she replied. They stayed in that position for a long moment, the duration of which Aloura could feel the child relaxing. When Connery seemed completely calm, she pulled away lightly. “Would you like to continue?” she asked.

“Yeah.... Oh!” the mudkip exclaimed suddenly, “I almost forgot! I found something I wanted to show you!” Connery refused to explain what it was he had found. Insisting that they would see when they got there, the little pokemon lead Aloura and Lavicus around the corner the two pokemon had chased him about. There were a number of rocks, presumably the sandshrews rock tower, scattered about the floor near a dead end wall. Well, it would have been a dead end if it wasn't for a three foot crack in the damaged structure. “When the rock tower fell over it made it so you could see this hole. Then I heard dripping in there,” the mudkip explained, pointing to the crack, “I'm pretty sure there's a pool in there. Can we go look at it? Please?” He was a water pokemon. It didn't come as a surprise that he was exited by the prospect of water, especially in a place as dry as this. Aloura nodded her head in consent, “I do not see reasons against it.”

“Yesss!!!” The mudkip yelled gleefully, looking thoroughly pleased. “I'll lead the way,” Lavicus offered as if trying to make up his previous abuse of the child. He had to lay his head close to the ground so that his long slim body would fit through the hole, but other than that it was no trouble for him. “All right!” Connery said in a sing-songie voice. The tiny pokemon followed the seviper through the hole easily, and without a moment's hesitation. The same could not be said for Aloura. Peering nervously into the dark, narrow hole that swallowed up her team mate and client she was filled with strong sense of doubt. It was not that she was afraid of the dark or of small places, she simply was dubious of her fitting. She was on the small side for an absol, but even so the chances of her squeezing through the hole were slim. If the crack whittled itself down by so much as a few inches she would likely become stuck. What were her options though? She most certainly could not go back, and Arceus knew that she hadn't a clue of an alternate rout. Nor was she just going to stand there and wait for them to come back. “Aloura, are you coming?” Connery called out. Aloura sighed deeply, resigning herself to her fate. She had to follow them. She could only hope her luck would hold out. “I follow,” she called out in response. “Well you better hurry up or you'll get left behind!” the mudkip sounded delighted to be telling her off, as if he was often told the same thing and relished in the small opportunity to use it on someone else. Sighing again, Aloura couched down to make herself as small as possible, squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself the crawl into the unintended bypass.

It was slow, making her way through the tight passage, which thankfully had not become tighter still. The walls were made of some sandy stone that flaked off into her fur and she quickly discovered that it made little, neigh, no difference weather her eyes were opened or closed. She did not even know how close she was to the others until she bumped her nose into Connery, causing her to flinch back. This was already not a very enjoyable experience for her.

“There you are!” said Connery's disembodied voice. Aloura grumbled something about getting out of there as soon as possible, but the mudkip ignored her, directing his voice to Lavicus, “Lavicus, Aloura is here.” In response came the soft, somewhat chilling sound of scales sliding against stone as Lavicus readjusted himself. “Hold on to my tail. Be careful not to cut yourself,” the seviper's voice instructed. “Right right.... let's see... um where is it...... There! I got it!” The mudkip sounded throughly proud, “Aloura, you hold on to mine.” Aloura made a soft 'Mmm' noise in consent and began searching for said tail with her snout. She felt something brushing methodically on the tip of her nose when she thrust it forward, presumably Connery's tail, but was unable to grab it. “If you would cease its movement?” Aloura said patiently, though her nerves were quite on end. The mudkip seemed confused for a moment, voicing a faint 'what?' This was quickly followed by a not quite as faint 'Oh!' and the thing in front of her face stopped moving. “My thanks to you,” the absol said distractedly as she delicately grasped the tail in her mouth, careful not to hurt the mudkip. “That feels weird!” the mudkip informed the party, wriggling slightly to Aloura dismay. Lavicus sighed slightly at the small pokemon, ignoring his comment in lieu of inquiring bluntly, “Are we ready?”

“Yup!” the mudkip responded, his enthusiasm not daunted by Lavicus this time around. There was the sound of scale brushing up against stone again, and the party was off.

If it had not been for Aloura, they would have made reasonably good time. Crunched as the absol was, however, her movement was severely restricted. This led to a slow pace that got them only the scantest distance for a ridiculously draw out amount of time made longer by the cramped pitch darkness. Thought the passage did not grow any smaller, neither did it grow larger, which Aloura both cursed and blessed. Every moment spent in the claustrophobic tunnel made her want out even more. It was not helped by the maddening drip, drip, drip of the pool they were hopefully headed for. Just imagining the disaster that their spelunking could lead to made her uneasy enough to almost suggest going back. The though of getting stuck particularly unnerved her.

As such dark thoughts passed through her mind, she felt the ceiling dip downward slightly. She only paid half a mind to it, thinking it would be nothing serious, until she found herself unable to inch forward. Panicking, her eyes grew wide in fear as she began to trash in an attempt to dislodge herself. At the same time a muffled scream escaped around Connery's tail, which she had instinctively bit down on. “OUCH!!!” The mudkip cried out in pain and shock, his voice echoing back through the passages, “What was that for?!” Aloura promptly released the tail, fighting back another scream and suppressing her scrambling efforts. Other outlets to express her dismay thus repressed, tears sprang to her eyes, though no one could see them in the darkness. “I beg your forgiveness,” Aloura spoke in strained, distraught tones, “My freedom of movement has been forsaken.” The mudkip, who was attempting to tend to his now slightly bleeding tail, was not empathetic. “Your freedom of moment has been forsaken,” he said irritably, “What is that supposed to mean? Can't you even talk normal? In any case that was no reason to bite my tail! That really hurt!”

“Connery, she's stuck,” Lavicus said, his voice filled with a low rage and blatant distaste of the mudkip. The kid had not been all that bad up till now. Tolerable, at least. Now though, here he was having a go at his partner when the fool didn't even know what was going on. Had he not heard the distress in Aloura's voice? Even if he hadn't, was he really so flippant that he would lecture her so harshly when not long ago he was hugging her and thanking her for saving him from a disaster he had incurred? Lavicus would not put up with that. “Try to pull her out, the seviper ordered menacingly.

“She bit me!” the mudkip protested indignantly.

Lavicus hissed loudly in unadulterated anger, causing Connery to cringe. “Connery, I am truly sorry,” Aloura intoned, trying to break the building stress between the two. Even as she tried to place peace-keeper, she bit back tears, trying to keep the strain from her voice, “Lavicus, the fault rests with me. Do not scold a child such this way. He is our client whom we must treat with the best. Please, I am so sorry. I am deserved of his reaction.”

“No!” hissed the seviper loudly, his tone shocking both his team member and Connery. Aloura could not fool him with her attempts to hide her extreme unease. She could not fool a sleeping snorlax. If she was not going to stand up for herself, then he would do it for her, client or not. “You already apologized to him. You saved him a great deal of injuries, it the least he can do to forgive you for a single accidental one. He should be the one to apologize to you at this point. Now, Connery. Pull. Her. Out.”

There was a moment of stunned silence following Lavicus's speech. Neither of them had expected him to become so enraged, and Aloura was none to happy about it. This was their first mission, and it was going terribly. If it kept going on like this, with the shouting and her being stuck.... she didn't have a clue what she could do. On the verge of breaking out into sobs, she forced out a confused burble, breaking the silence, “No.... Lavicus.... Connery..... My apologize. I shou...”

“I'm sorry! Connery interrupted Aloura, on the verge of tears himself now, “It.... it... it was just I wasn't expecting it, and it really hurt and stuff. I didn't mean to get so mad!” As he spoke, he had groped around in the darkness for the absol eventually finding her horn. “I'm sorry, Aloura. I'll try to pull you out!”

Considerably calmed, and more than a little relieved she let her eyes close; releasing a long slow breath to disperse the threatening tears. “Connery, my thanks goes to you,” she smiled slightly, though no one could see it, “I will push on the ground of the third count. Will you grant me the favor of pulling?”

“Of course,” the mudkip responded, grasping her horn tightly.

“Again, my thanks, Aloura braced her hind legs against the stone, “One, two, three!” On three, she pushed against the ground while Connery tugged at her horn with all his might. Her back scraped painfully against the dipped roof, but she ignored it. If anything, it was good. It meant she was moving. They repeated this several times until Aloura felt as if she was almost free, which she informed the mudkip of. “I believe I am near the out of it! Continue Connery!”

“Got it!” the child replied, his voice inflicted with determination. Giving the count off again, the absol pushed back strongly with her hind legs while Connery gave a final tug. With an unexpected jolt, Aloura was wrenched free. The sudden lack of a backwards force sent the mudkip flying slightly back and would have Aloura too if there had been more space in the crack.
The result was that the smaller pokemon landed atop the serpent. “I...I...I'm sorry!” Connery stuttered, jumping off Lavicus as quickly as possible. Lavicus, still angry at the mudkip for his previous actions, said nothing. Aloura, however, laughed softly both out of relief and at the pure ridiculousness of the situation. It did not take long for Connery to join her, though his laugh was still a tad nervous. “Thanks to you Connery,” she managed as her laughter faded. She felt as though she would have gone mad if she'd been left in that small tight passage. “You don't need to thank me,” the mudkip responded, his nervous laughter quitting entirely. Aloura had been about to protest that when Lavicus cut in irritably, “I don't plan to spend the rest of the day here.”

“Yeah,” Connery said just a tad to swiftly, reveling his eagerness to be out of the dark passage, “We should go.” Aloura nodded her head, though no one could see that, and made a short approving noise. The tiny party took up their positions again, Aloura being careful not to touch the part of Connery's tail she had bitten, and slowly carried on. Time seemed to elongate once again, but Aloura could have sworn that the dripping was getting louder. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her, Arceus send it wasn't so, but if her ears held true that meant they were close to being out. Though she tried to cling to the certainty that it would open up near the water, pessimistic images of the pool leaving no way out and giving the party no more space plagued her mind. The very thought of going back through the place that she'd become stuck in made her shudder. It would be a few more painfully slowed minutes before such thoughts were dispelled, but they were none the less.

“It's opening up,” Lavicus called back to the mudkip and absol. The dripping was now quite loud, “and there's light. Lavicus wasn't particularly relieved by this, he didn't mind the dark nor was he even slightly claustrophobic, but he knew the other two would be. He could hear their sighs of relief. As the seviper pressed on, he was able to raise his head above the ground into his normal stance. The dim light revealed the other two exiting as well. Connery made no change of position though he did take his glasses of and rub the dust from them. Aloura, on the other hand, straightened as she left the cramped space. She looked stiff, a probable result from crouching in the same attitude for so long. As if to prove that point, she pushed her front legs out in a stretch, lolling her head gently from side to side. Lavicus thought her heard some of her joints cracking and popping. “We can rest by the pool, he made the decision for the other two. “Am I allowed to swim?” the mudkip looked from the absol to the seviper hopefully. Aloura gave her partner an uncertain look. It was so dry here it was no wonder that he wanted to get wet, but Arceus knew what lurked in that water. If Connery was attacked by something and dragged underwater they could do little to help him. “We'll see,” Lavicus answered eventually. Connery's face fell a little, “What does that mean?”

“It means we'll see.”

“We have yet looked upon it,” Aloura intoned, trying to save Connery's mood once again, “We have no knowledge about it. We don't want you to become injured.”

“Okay,” the mudkip said, clinging to the fact that no one had told him no yet, “Let's go see it then!” Leading the group Connery practically bounced along the much wider passage. The stones still had the same dusty quality, but they seemed to be arranged more regularly. Even so, there was a rugged look about them that was by no means consistent with the rest of the ruins. The result was that it was impossible to tell whether the passage was natural or not. Aloura did not particularly care either way, just so long as she didn't have to go through that tight passage way again.

“Wow!” Connery's voice echoed back to the team from where he had run ahead, “Hurry up guys! You have to see this!” Lavicus was not expecting much but he picked up his pace none the less. After the last incident, he didn't feel quite comfortable with their client to far ahead of him. As he drew up to the mudkip, his expectations were proved entirely wrong. They now stood in a massive circular chamber, the sandy brown stone replaced by polished red marble. Where Lavicus had been expecting a hole in the structure filled with water there was a massive, deep blue, circular pool set in the middle of the room. To the left of the room was a tall statue of a gardevoir, the strange glittering white stone untouched by the ages. It stood eyes closed with its arms held out to its side, palms open as if letting go of something while its elaborate robes swept around it. Every detail was so perfect, its melancholy expression so realistic, that one could almost believe that it was a once living gardevoir simply turned to stone if it weren't for the twin holes in its palms. From the holes dripped a tiny tickle of water which rolled down the slanted, stepped channel to the pool, indicating its use as the source of water for the pool. From the center of the pool sprouted a large translucent crystal which almost appeared as if it was some sort of pedestal. Whatever had once rested there, however, was long gone. Around the pool were long, thin strokes of the same translucent material, impossibly swirling around the edges like crystal ripples of sand caught in a twisting wind. The only place the circle of crystal sand was broken was were the channel leading from the gardevoir met the pool.

Further from the water and encircling both it and the pokemon statue were tall pillars of red marble, impossibly thin for their height. More spherical at the bottom but tapering quickly to an even thickness, the columns were completely smooth save for the bases which were carved in intricate design and a language long lost to the world. Of the countless pillars, only one had fallen, resting just behind the statue of gardevoir in a wave of stone its fall had created. The top jagged and the whole length of it covered with cracks, it was somehow eerie to look at.

Far above the ground, the pillars supported the giant domed ceiling, the source of light. Composed of a metal frame filled in was a radiating pattern of colored glass, it was clear that it had once been a thing of beauty. Now, however, much of the pattern was broken. Jagged shards filled some of the metal frames while in some of the places the glass was completely missing. One could still see the broken piles of colorful glass laying about the room like forgotten crystals. The center of the design, a large circle, was most notably missing, laying instead in dark blue glitters about the pedestal. “Such beauty...” Aloura marveled, noticing how how the stained glass ceiling dyed the crystal whirlwind around the pool in a fuzzy copy of the dome. “And there's another way out,” Lavicus pointed out, indicating the three stair cases about the room with his tail. All on opposite sides of the room and each just as grand as the other two. The one across from the passage way they stood in led up while the ones directly behind and in front of the statue led down. “They didn't even have this in my book!” Connery said, talking more to himself than anyone else. He'd apparently completely forgotten how badly he wanted to swim and was furiously taking notes of everything. His black crayon in hand, he wandered away from Lavicus and Aloura again, appeared set on takeing a rubbing off of every single one of the pillars.

Aloura herself began to wander, making her way to the statue of the gardevoir. “I wonder of what this is constructed,” she said to herself as she neared the beautifully carved figure. The glittering white stone reminded her of newly fallen snow at noon sun. Closing her eyes, she moved to touch the statue with her nose on a sudden, compelling impulse. “Don't touch that!” a warning came out of no where. Shocked, Aloura's eyes flew open as she flinched back, whirling to find the source of the voice.



To her surprise, she saw a pokemon emerging from the water with something clamped in its mouth. The large dragon-like pokemon was gasping slightly, apparently not used to holding its breath for long periods of time. Unfurling it's sopping wings and removing the thing from his mouth, a necklace, in favor of clutching it close to his chest, he advanced on the stunned absol. The pokemon was a faded dark charcoal with teal green orbs for eyes with the same color out lining his wings and three leaf like structors on the end of his tail. Aloura, who had never seen a flygon, didn't know that this was strange coloring at all, but she could guess that the unusual cyan tattoos that covered its body were out of the ordinary. Not that any of this mattered at the moment. The fact that the huge creature looked none to pleased and more than capable of being dangerous was what most concerned the absol at present. “I meant no harm,” Aloura said uneasily, her eyes never leaving the pokemon. “I will not harm you,” reassured the flygon, his voice much gentler than before as he drew to a stop towering over the absol,

“It... it is understood,” Aloura replied, backing further away from the statue. Though the pokemon claimed to have no intentions of hurting her, his size still left her jittery. Sensing this, the flygon heaved a deep sight, as if used to this sort of treatment and none to happy with it, “Please, be at ease,” he insisted, “Even if I wanted to harm you, I would be unable too. It is forbidden in this chamber. My name is Cyan. May I ask yours? And perhaps what lead you hear?” Cyan looked over his shoulder to where Lavicus stood warily, guarding Connery, not far off, “You as well,” he addressed them. At Aloura's beckoning, the seviper made his way towards the flygon, though still obviously suspicious of him, followed closely by Connery. When they were all assembled, Aloura introduced the small party and detailed why and how they were in the amazing chamber. Cyan listened attentively the duration of the story while Lavicus watched Cyan just as attentively.

“So you are hear to show the little one the ruins...” the flygon trailed off thoughtfully, when Aloura finished, “I'm sure I can help with that, if I may?”

“We would certainly be very appreciative,” Aloura nodded, surprised at the pokemon's offer.

“Very well then, Connery, that is your name right?” Cyan addressed the mudkip. “Yeah, that's right,” the child responded, placing his glasses back on his face. “Good. Connery, would you like to hear about this room? I'm sure you do not know anything about it. Very few know it exist.” The mudkip's eyes glowed at the prospect, drawing out his notebook he said, “That would be great! Will you really tell me?

“Yes,” Cyan smiled oddly, “but only on one condition.”

“What?”

“You come with me.” Without a moments warning, the flygon took off, garbing the mudkip as it took to the air. Lavicus, who hadn't really let his guard down around the pokemon, shot forward, his height allowing him to sink his fangs into the flygon's back leg with an infuriated hiss. Before he was able to clamp down security, however, Cyan's tail whipped around, the sharp blades on the end knocking the seviper off. “s**t!” Lavicus hissed as he looked up to where the dragon pokemon was flying towards a large gap near the ceiling the party hadn't noticed earlier, lugging his screaming cargo. The rapid flapping of his wings emitted a strange melodic sound, almost like a woman singing some long forgotten song, in an eerie, hollow voice. The trait that had earned flygon the title 'desert spirit' and the only way the team had a chance of tracking Cyan and recovering their client. “Aloura, this way!” Lavicus sped towards the stairs leading up. Aloura followed without a word, forcing herself to run almost faster than the serpent could move. This was their first mission and they could not lose their client. At any cost they had too- had too!- find Connery!

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