Ch 7: Baby's First DungeonMouse followed the older mons, paws crunching against the soft earth. Ivy pulled a fiery looking mask and placed it on her face, the cloak on the ogre shifted colors, from soft earthy green to fiery orange. Mouse looked at the dungeon with baited breath, following the explorers inside. Sinister Cave Mouse, Lvl:5 Ivy, Lvl:92 Typhoon, Lvl:89 The floor was moist and slippery. Water can be heard trickling from the ceiling and leaking from the cave walls. Going through this cavern brought Mouse back to the caves they went through to get to the Moth Queen's tree. Typhoon looks around, eyes scanning the dim walls. The tiny Eevee trusts these two with their safety for now, since they seem to know what they're doing. "So far, nothing out of the ordinary." Ivy commented. "If you don't mind me asking, what are we looking for?" Elizabeth asks. "We're looking for any anomalies." Typhoon answered. "What kind of anomalies?" The hilt asked. "Space time anomalies. Terrain disappearing or reappearing, Pokémon appearing where they shouldn't." Ivy listed. "I see." Elizabeth murmered. "Keep your wits up though, Mystery Dungeons are very dangerous." Typhoon warned. "Mystery Dungeons ?" Elizabeth questioned. "You must have heard of the infamous Mystery Dungeons!" Ivy explained. "Only the bravest and strongest can enter. They're called Mystery Dungeons because their shifty nature. The terrain changes daily. Traps will appear or disappear. Routes twist and turn. Tunnels close or reopen." "How are these stuff different to the anomalies?" Elizabeth asked. "The difference is the layout. Say for example, a tropical plant appears in a cave like this, that would be considered strange. Or a cave dweller appearing in a lake." Typhoon explained. "Indeed. And despite all the dungeon's dangers, many Pokémon still call these places home." Ivy added. "The dangerous, shifty, hostile dungeons are home to some Pokémon..." The hilt doubted. "Not the main dungeon itself. There's little pockets of safe spaces inside or around the dungeons completely safe from the shifting. Although the changes are constant, wild ones are still able to find their home and protect their families." The Ogerpon stated, leading the group down a lower floor. "Wild ones are Pokémon who don't prefer to live in towns or villages like we do." The Umbergia's tone was more serious as he continued. "There is one other word that begins with the letter F . Once you hear that word, you must never, ever utter that word. Not even near or towards a wild one." "We understand." Elizabeth noted. Mouse nodded, agreeing with her. "Shh...!" Ivy muttered, she lifted her mask, putting a finger to her lips. "Why are you shu-" Elizabeth was interrupted by another shush from Ivy. "Shh...! There's sleeping wild Shroomish over there..." Ivy whispered. The Ogerpon points to the sleeping mushroom Pokémon. "Wake any of them up, and we'll be in for a rough time." Ivy warned. Carefully and quietly, the Eevee padded around the sleeping Shroomish. "Seems like these Shroomish were too tired to head home." Typhoon commented. "So, they're just camping out here." Unfortunately, Mouse bumped into a smaller Shroomish. The mushroom Pokémon woke up and shrieked loudly, waking the others. The angered Shroomish spat a foul smelling mucus in the Eevee’s masked face (Shroomish used Toxic, Mouse was badly poisoned ). The rest of the horde went for Typhoon and Ivy. Pulling down her Hearthflame Mask over her face, the Ogerpon slammed a fiery cudgel on the Shroomish! (Ivy used Ivy Cudgel, it's super effective! ) Typhoon bellowed, unleashing a violent blast of wind. (Typhoon used Aeroblast, it's super effective! ) The rest of the Shroomish scattered off with fright. "And that’s why you have to be careful walking past sleeping Pokémon in dungeons." Ivy huffed, letting her club rest on her shoulder. She looked back at Mouse, and her fierce deminer changed to a more concerned one. Mouse laid down on the floor, with a sickly feeling in their stomach. I've been poisoned before... Mouse thought, but why does it feel like my insides are melting? "You've been poisoned." Ivy said. "And by the looks of it, it's pretty bad." She gives them a pink berry. "Eat this, it's called a Pecha Berry. It'll cure your poison." The thought of eating right now made them want to vomit. But, begrudgingly, the tiny Eevee took the Pecha berry, chewed, and swallowed. Almost immediately, the feeling of being poisoned vanished, like it wasn't there. Do they make antidotes out of this fruit? Mouse thought, as the tiny Eevee got up. "Thank you." Mouse signed. "You're welcome." Ivy nodded. "Come on, we're almost done patrolling this dungeon." When the duo reached the end of the dungeon, Ivy and Typhoon looked around. "Nothing out of the ordinary here." The Ogerpon noted. "Everything looks normal on my side, too." The Umbergia nodded. Mouse looked around, Just a normal cave , they thought. Water was still trickling in slowly through the walls, moss clung to the rocky walls, some brown and dry, others green and moist. "Alright, we should head out." Ivy called. "Alright, hopefully we can remember they way out." Elizabeth said as Mouse turned back. "Oh, no! Were not walking out, we're going to be transported out!" Ivy smirked. She reached into Typhoon's bag searching for something. Mouse and Elizabeth watched curiously as she pulled out a strange looking orb. It was black with a bright white center. "The Escape Orb." She explained. "This thing will teleport us safely out of the dungeon. Stand close to me." Mouse quietly trotted up to Ivy and Typhoon, where the Ogerpon smashed the orb on the ground, And a beam of light whisked the group out of the dungeon.The AccidentSlowly, Mouse opened their eyes. They were back in the Stitched Castle, Hero's Road, more specifically. Looking around, they noticed that the halls were bigger than before. Walking down the hall, they could hear voices. They ran as fast as the could, halls feeling longer the more they ran. The voices sounded... familiar... "A............ou two, list....up! ...........ches gave................ha.....way. ........ill..........pass thr...............the boss.............defeat him!" "You do.................just cannon....................we don't............that monster! ...............drop..............or something." The more those voices spoke, the more Mouse realized who those voices belonged to. "Well, we're not............ with that attitude...... Hey, you!...........The quiet one back................anything to say?" The chandelier... Mouse thought as their legs shakily caried them closer to the voices. Bumping into a large mass, Mouse looked up, and their blood went ice cold. "Ready to meet the masked void, worm?" A masked kid proclaimed. "Wow, that was awful. What does that... even mean...?" As the masked kids bickered, Mouse saw themself, shakily gripping the lever that connected to the chandelier. The same chandelier that crushed the hero. "I was so scared when the hero came, and then my fellow underlings left me behind..." As if their body was controlled by something else, Mouse's past self pulled the lever down. "Say, weren't we supposed to be a trio?" Realization hit the masked kid. "Oh, no..." At that point it was too late for anyone to react as the chandelier rapidly fell on everyone... "I snapped all of a sudden, and let the chandelier fall... I couldn't believe what I had done..." Mouse woke up screaming and clutching on to their chest. Cereza woke up to see her little friend hyperventilating. "Mouse...? Mouse?!" "Wha...what's going on...?" Elizabeth asked groggily. "I think their having a panic attack." The princess murmured. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Mouse repeated over, and over as they breathed rapidly. "Oh no..." The hilt murmured. Cereza hugged Mouse tight as they gasped and sobbed, they were unable to hear her or feel her touch. A couple minutes pass, the tiny Eevee slowly wrapped their arms around the princess, hugging her back, still crying. "It's okay... I'm here... Ellie's here... You're safe... no one's going to hurt you..." Cereza whispered. "I promise..." The two girls let the underhero cry it out, until they grew tired and fell back asleep. Cereza didn't let go of Mouse, not even as she grew drowsy herself, closing her eyes. The trio finally drift to sleep. "I... I am so sorry. :::"gif