Chapter 12: Night Terrors"I'm not surprised you would come all this way for the little kid." Stitches said. "I remember seeing how devastated you looked when they said good-bye." "That's because I never got to say good-bye." Grey sighed. "We just... let Puzzleman take them to Fate knows where." Stitches sighed. "Young Princess... it wasn't our fault, and certainly not yours, that he took those two out from our realm." Oaken quietly held and tightened his friend's hand in comfort, as the monster king spoke. "We didn't let him take them. Neither of us could have known, not even you." Grey nodded and made it seem like she felt better, but she was still hurting. A few minutes later, Mr. Stitches lead the two kids turn after turn, and the duo wondered what was down the other corridors. "So, princess, bitten any king's fingers lately?" "You're still upset about that?!" Grey asked. "You had me locked in a cage and poked me! You were being very annoying!" "Why is there so many branching paths?" Oaken asked. "To trap trespassers, and send them back to the start. Very convenient portal system." The stitched monster said. "T and I made all these branching paths to make sure we don't be disturbed when one comes across this place." "How do you know where to go?" Grey asked. "Follow a set path with special paint, and soon, the paint isn't needed and it's as simple as walking in your home." Stitches smiled. The trio soon heard the sound of keys loudly clacking and machines whirring. "How goes the search, hun?" Mr. Stitches asked as he leaned against the door frame. "65% close to Masked Kid 745 and Elizabeth." T. bur replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I'll stop soon, and let the machine continue the search on it's own while I sleep. I'll need to feed it more of 745's DNA to keep the search going." "I almost lost them once, I'm not going to lose them now!" The shark said. "What do you mean by that?" Grey asked. T. Bur looked at the princess in disguise, and shook his head. "It's time you and Oaken got some sleep, Princess." He puts a fin on her shoulder as he passed her. "You'll need all you're energy tomorrow morning." "What it because of the accident...?" Grey asked. "That's a discussion we want to have, when we find the kid and Elizabeth." Stitches said, following the shark. That night, Grey and Oaken slept in sleeping bags in a spare room. However, Grey's dreams were less than hopeful. She opened her eyes and found herself in a vast white wasteland. Nothing but floating appearing and disappearing blocks and a massive stary void could be seen ahead of her. As she started walking, she could hear whispers all around her. "Hello...?" The princess turned, only to find no one. As she resumes to walk, she smacks into an invisible wall. "Ow..." Grey groans as she rubs her nose. "Guess I can't go this way, anymore." She places her hands on the invisible wall, pressing on it, and banged her fist as hard as she can. No dent. "If I can't get passed this glass wall, maybe I could find the end." Grey decided aloud. Keeping her hand on the wall, Grey walked along the wall to the end. Despite being a sturdy wall, she could hear a shrill scream clear as day! She looked in the direction of the scream, and she felt her heart drop to her stomach... It was Mouse and Elizabeth facing off against what she assumed was a more demented version of Puzzleman. Her blood felt like it froze when she saw her friend's own streaming out their wounds, leaving dark indigo puddles as they stepped. "Green Boots! Green Boots- I mean, Mouse, I'll be right there!" Grey shouted. She turned to run, but slammed into another invisible wall. "Ow..." Grey whimpered, covering her nose. But as she turns to the left, she jumped as her hand met another wall. "You gotta be kidding me..." Turning again, and the same thing. The princess started breathing heavier as her heartbeat quickened. In a panic, Grey started slamming against the walls from all directions. Grey felt powerless watching Mouse get weaker and weaker. And the Puzzleman set a blast of energy through the poor kid's chest. "MOUSE!" The disguised princess shrieked at the top of her lungs. "NO!" Grey woke up in a cold sweat, waking Oaken with her shout. "Huh?! What's happening?! A-are we in danger?!" But when the former hero say his friend, his expression softened. Slowly and quietly, Oaken scooted closer to Grey, and remained there until Grey calmed down. When her heart stopped racing, she sniffled, and rubbed her watery eyes. Meanwhile, Mr. Stitches found himself back at his crumbling castle, kneeling before the masked kid who bested him. "Oh, who am I kidding?" Stitches sighed. "End it, child." He's accepted his fate. "The responsibility... is now yours." This kid will be the new evil leader. "At least I can finally... rest." But to his surprise, the kid dropped the hilt, and they too, fell to their feet, and cried. "No..." Mouse sobbed. Elizabeth looked at her substitute hero with remorse. "It's alright, kid. It's over..." She sighs. "I'm sorry I made you got hrough this." "W-what?! NO!" Mr. Stitches stammered. "NO! NO! NO! YOU HAVE TO!" He could feel the blood drain from his face. "You will doom us all!" The hilt rolled her eyes. "Come on, dude! Give it a rest. Don't you think the world would have ended by now?" "...You do not... understand..." Stitches's heart was beating out of his chest. "You useless fools." A familiar voice growled. That voice shook the monster king to his core. "Who the-" Before Elizabeth could finish, Puzzleman appeared before everyone! "Do you have ANY idea of what you have caused?!" He growled. "The unbalance YOU have brought to this world!" "Y-YOU?!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "You are behind all this?!" "OF COURSE I WAS!" The dice head snapped. "I've been trying to guide you all this time, and you do exactly the opposite! YOU ARE WORTHLESS!" Realization hit T. Bur like an out of control carriage. "You must be the one that has been poisoning Stitches's mind for all these years! I KNEW he wasn't mad!" "So the hero cycles are your doing!" Princess Cereza glared through her mask. "The destruction of the world..." Elizabeth thought aloud. "That was just a lie, wasn't it?" "A... lie?" The not-so mad king felt like he was going to vomit from this realization. "This runt has ruined everything! Hundreds of years of harmony, gone..." There was a collective gasp as he teleported between Mouse and Stitches. "Just so you could feel like a little HERO?!" Puzzleman grabbed Elizabeth, summoning the blade, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, KIDDO." And plunged it right into Mouse's heart. Silence... The demented game host pulled the sword out, and everyone watched as the child fell to the floor, surrounded by their pooling blood. "Look at what you've done, Salle... All this, because you couldn't finish them off." Puzzleman sneered at Stitches. "Th-they weren't supposed to be the-" "And yet, you allowed them to do it, anyway." Puzzleman snaps his fingers, and everyone in the arena was slain with a crack of thunder. Stitches felt frozen and helpless. "Now, I'm going to have to start all over..." Stitches heard one last thunderclap as he woke up. He panted as he looked around. His shark husband turned to face him. "Another nightmare, dear...?" T. Bur said in a groggy tone. Stitches nodded. "Felt just as real as the others." The shark put a fin on the burlap king's back. "Wanna talk about it?" "Puzzleman murdered Mouse... right in front of us..." Stitches murmured. "He used Elizabeth to pierce their heart... I couldn't... I couldn't do anything! I just... watched..." He sobbed. "I feel like we failed the-" T. Bur stopped Stitches and held his hands. "That is enough!" The shark said sternly. "We've come too far to feel like failures." Stitches held his husband close. "We will find 745 and Elizabeth... and we will find them alive." "You're right, babe." The burlap king smiled, and nods. "I'm really glad you didn't listen to me."Chapter 11: Getting ComfortableMouse followed the two large Pokémon to their home. A huge old temple. Hati and Skoll walked up to two large statues, two large wolves wielding a sword and a shield respectively. and bowed before heading to a smaller room that served as a kitchen. Mouse had no idea why the twins bowed to the statues, but bowed anyway, wanting to pay respect. While Hati cut meat down the middle, Skoll rinsed out rice until the water was clear. "Ever had curry?" Hati asked, as she took out the bones from the meat. Mouse shook their head no. "Whatever Mouse's diet was before I met them... It barely looked edible." "And by the looks of you, little Eevee, you were barely fed." Hati noted. "My brother and I will make sure to add some meat to your bones. The last thing we want is a starving apprentice." Mouse listened intently to their mentor, as she finished preparing the meat. "It's Slowpoke Tail. Humanely harvested from the local populace or donated from Slow tribes." Skoll said. "Thankfully their tails do grow back quick after the cut." "You eat your own people's tails?" Elizabeth asked, a slight unease in her voice. "Only donated sources or to stave off hunger." Skoll added. "The base of the Slowpoke's tail numbs itself before the cut." "The Slowpoke species is a calm and peaceful group." The Zacian said. "But their evolutions are nothing to sneeze at!" "We'd talk about their culture, but we've got a meal to make." Skoll smiles as he grabs a pawful of berries from out of a create full of other colorful berries. "By the way, what's your nature?" "Nature...?" Elizabeth asked. "Yeah, your personality. It's a big indicator on what flavor you like." Skoll answered. "I'm a bold nature, for example. I like sour tasting foods. My sister's a mild nature, she doesn't like sour foods at as much as I do." "I much prefer dry foods to sour." Hati added. "Mouse is pretty shy." Elizabeth said. "That's all I know." "Sweet curry it is." Skoll nods. "Thankfully, these Grepa berries are sweet, sour, and dry without one flavor overpowering the other." Mouse slowly walks up to the berry create and picks up the same berry that Skoll took for the meal. "Fancy a snack, small one. I'm assuming that's your first Grepa berry?" The tiny Eevee nods. "Have a bite then! There's plenty to snack on." "Don't let them eat too much, Skoll." Hati woofed. "They need room for dinner." "Relax, sis. It's just one berry." Skoll smiles as he chops the berries. Mouse lifted their mask and took a bite from the yellow fruit. There wasn't much juice in it, but there was a fine mix of sour and sweet flavors in the flesh. "The kid rarely takes that mask off, huh?" Hati asks. "Mouse's mask is special to them." Elizabeth said. "I never saw their actual face." To Hati, that statement raises more questions. "Why do you keep it on, though?" Skoll asks. "Some sort of protection thing?" "Yes, it hides their face, mixed that with their small size and timidness, makes people think their fully harmless." Elizabeth explains. "Do all the kids-" Before Skoll could finish, his sister cut him off. "I don't want these two overwhelmed with questions." She said. Mouse curiously watches their two new mentors cooking the curry, the meat frying and the sauce mixing, it all fascinated the tiny Eevee. Once the meal was prepared, Hati portions out three servings of curry on a bed of white rice. The siblings had their heads bowed for a few moments, and then began eating. Mouse picked up their fork, stabbed it into the meat and a couple of rice... Mouse couldn't tell which was better, this curry or that cafe sandwich. When dinner was done, Hati took the dishes and cleaned it in the sink. "Mouse...?" Skoll said to get the tiny Eevee's attention. He moved his head, motioning them to follow. Mouse was led down a corridor and stopped at an empty room. "We usually use this room to house guests. But since you'll be training with us, it'll be your room." There were a few empty storage boxes and a soft-looking nest. "If you need anything from me or my sister, our room is near the statues in the front." And with that, Skoll leaves Mouse and Elizabeth alone. The tiny Eevee slowly approached their new nest, took off their pouch, and laid down next Elizabeth right next to them. Mouse yawned and lay their head down. "See you and your friend tomorrow, little one." When the door shut, Mouse looked at their paw, and noticed the numbers 745 branded on the back of their paw. "Never noticed that on your hand. Or... paw in this case." The hilt noted. "Well, good night, Mouse. Tomorrow, we start our training." Elizabeth yawned. "G-good night..." Mouse murmured. They took a deep breath, and fell asleep. Meanwhile, in Hati and Skoll's room, the twins set their rusted sword and shield next to each other. Hati was the first to sit down in her nest, and Skoll laid in his own across from his sister. "You sensed it too, didn't you?" Hati asked. Skoll turned his head to his sister's location. "That little Eevee and their companion aren't from this world." Skoll paused for a moment, and nodded. "The way the hilt spoke about their homeland certainly sounded different." "And what Elizabeth said, makes me wonder if they were intentionally mistreated, or if that's all that was available back home." Hati noted. She yawned. "We can talk to those two about their home more tomorrow. Good night, Skoll." "Night, Hati." Skoll laid his head down and went to sleep. That night, Mouse had another dream. in that dream, Mouse was trying to swim against a current. The darkened waters soon overtook the small masked kid, the water got over their head, and they sank. As they were sinking, bright eyes casted a light upon them, making Mouse shield their eyes. Puzzleman took his hat off and it hovered under Mouse, and created a vortex. Mouse tried to fight back and swim faster, but the whirlpool was too strong. Behind them was a bright radiance. Mouse looked back as they heard it call their name. "....Mouse... ...Mouse..." It started out muffled and slowly got more clear. "Mouse... Mouse...! Mouse!" Mouse woke up with a start. They saw Hati standing at the door. "Ah! You're awake!" She said. "Come on, were going to get breakfast. And then we can get you geared up." "I think we're fine with the satchel Mouse already has." Elizabeth insisted. "That satchel looks like it'd fit a Lucario than an Eevee." Hati replied. "We're going to get a more suited pack for you, and power enhancing items." Mouse put their pouch on and followed the Zacian outside. The trio ordered breakfast at the cafe, and went to a fancy looking building. The outside was adorn with crystals. "This is Yamadori's boutique. The Pokémon specializes in fitting Pokémon of all walks of life with items of many kinds." Skoll said. "He made me and my sister our gear to hold our sword and shield." Both siblings gestured to their old and rusted looking tools. "No offence, but why do you have those old things?" Elizabeth asked. Hati smirks. "You two will see soon enough during training." The wolf-like Pokémon let out a small yip to alert the store owner. A bird-like Pokémon with a bare spot around his neck strolled out to see their customers. "Well, if it isn't the children of the guard." He smirked. "What honor do I have serving you two?" "We're actually here for our new apprentice." Hati said. She moved to the side to show the shy Eevee. The Fezandipiti's eyebrows raised. He slowly approached the kid, so they weren't scared off. Quite the odd mask they have. He thought to himself. "Certainly the smallest Eevee I've seen." Yamadori said aloud. "What kind of gear are you looking for?" "Just a new fitted satchel with a sword hoister, and items for an Eevee, Dori." Skoll answered. Yamadori observed Mouse, the tiny Eevee cautiously watched the large bird. His eyes focused on Elizabeth, who was also watching the bird warily. "I do have a satchel for small Pokémon, I just to add the hoister as requested." Yamadori explained. "I just need to get the kid's measurements." The bird grabbed a measuring tape. "Take off that satchel, for proper measurements." Mouse nods and took the pouch off, and stood tall. The tiny Eevee froze when they felt the strip go around their waist. Why am I so nervous...? They thought. Yamadori scrunched his face when he measured the Eevee. "When did you say you received this Eevee as your apprentice?" "They were assigned to us yesterday." Skoll said. "We don't know where they come from." "We'll tell you when we know you better." Elizabeth said. "We just met." "Fair point." Hati nodded. "Okay, I have some idea of the satchel strap for you." Yamadori said as he gathered up the measuring tape. "Which evolution is the kid looking to be?" Mouse just shrugs. "Makes sense, that's a big decision for Eevee. I'll get the satchel, but first, I need to perform an aura reading." "Aura reading...?" Elizabeth repeated. "Yes, right this way." The Fezandipity leads the group to the back outside to a crystal clear pool with a sparkling blue gemstone in the middle. "Simply touch the surface of the water." Yamadori said. "Touch the water... That's it?" The hilt asked. "That's it." The bird nodded. Mouse slowly stepped up to the water's edge, raised a paw... and splashed at the water! Wiping their paw, Mouse watched as the ripples run along the water's edge. "Ah, not that quickly, little one..." Yamadori said. "You'll need to keep your paw there for a little longer." Mouse raised their paw again, and slowly placed the pads on the surface. This time, the ripples were different. Once the ripples reached the blue gem, it shined bright. and the ripples returned to Mouse. "Keep still, kid." Hati said calmly. "Just close your eyes, breath, and relax." Mouse took a breath, as instructed. Why do I feel nervous? Mouse thought. As this was happening, Yamadori placed a pure white cloth on top of the water. "Your aura is..." The cloth turned a very beautiful shade of purple. "A royal purple." The Fezandipiti fished the cloth out of the water, and carefully rung it out. Yamadori tied the purple scarf around Mouse's neck, it was loose enough for them to breath, but secure enough so it doesn't fall off. "That aura cloth will slightly boost all of your stats." Yamadori lead the group back in the building, and picked up what looks to be a freshly made belt. "This belt is the smallest I could find." The bird said, carefully wrapping the strap around their waist. "The belt should be good until they reach their adolescence, which may not happen in a long while." "They're almost an adolescent!" Elizabeth huffed loudly. "They're ten." "I've always been smaller than children my age." Mouse signed. This made the Fezandipity raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, then, if that's the case, it'll still be good until they reach their initiation." Yamadori said. "Asuming they still want to be part of a rescue team." "Which is in...?" Elizabeth asked. "At least in five years." Hati said. "Last year, my own child had their initiation with their teammate, and they both passed with flying colors." "If Serlo didn't have a bird as a teammate, they'd just barely pass." Skoll quietly joked. Unfortunately for him, Hati heard him, and nipped his cheek, making Skoll yip. "What happens if you don't pass?" Elizabeth asked. "Then you forever lose your chance." Skoll sighs. "The Exploration Federation only accepts strong willed Pokémon. One large slip-up could cost you the whole exam." "Our job, as your mentors are to train and prepare you for your own exam." Hati explained. "Normally for an Eevee like you, you'd have a Pokémon with you that'd match the type you'll become." Hati gesgures her head to the outside. "We can continue this talk as we walk." The two warriors and Mouse make their way to the exit. Skoll looks back at the pretty bird. "Thanks for the help, Dori. See ya!" "Anytime you two, anytime." Yamadori waves as the group leaves.gif