Chapter Three
“Cyon Caught on Camera”

“Cyon. We need to talk.”

Cyon opened her eyes to a figure standing over her, with a dark void for their backdrop. She pushed herself up and gazed at the figure. The figure was a feminine Davisi with jet black hair, torn, ragged ears, and sharp red eyes. She wore a medieval gown with room for her tail to poke out. There was a scar on her neck that could look like a necklace at a passing glance. 

“Cyon, stand up. I know about that encounter,” She started, “And I must admit, it was impressive.”

Cyon blinked as she rose to her feet. “Impressive? How?”

“It was impressive that you managed to lose to a CHAIR!” She snapped. “An inanimate object! Years of combat training, and you can’t handle something people SIT on.”

Cyon winced. She knew she had messed up already, and this wasn’t helping the embarrassment. “I was doing what I could, Naga. There was just so much going on at once….”

Naga sighed. “I do have to commend you for being brave enough to jump in,” She admitted, “And for being able to keep a faster pace than that Pidgey.” 

Cyon’s heart lifted a little. “Well, at least those instincts are getting better, right?”

Naga’s tail swished in annoyance. “You’re missing my point,” she scoffed. “I might as well just guide you so you don’t mess up again.”

Cyon nodded, muttering. “Yes, Naga….” 

She knew what Naga was like. Always nagging at her, it seemed. 

PLEASE, WHY CAN’T THIS BE A NORMAL JOURNEY!? 

. . .

Cyon awoke to the sound of a certain someone slamming against her door. “GETTT UPPP!!” 

Cyon rose from her spot on the floor. Strangely, her injuries from the merciless chair attack were absent, and she felt no pain from the events of the previous night. She wasn’t paying attention to the lack of pain, though. Instead, she was already thinking about a way to prove what happened. 

She could hear Ethan trying to pick the lock on the other side. Despite knowing that he couldn’t pick a lock if his life depended on it, the worry of him barging in made her hurry. As she slipped on her coat, Naga’s voice was already in her mind. Why don’t you let him tire himself out? He’ll surrender his secrets much easier that way….

Cyon finally opened the door. Ethan quickly put his hands in his pockets, acting as if he had not been ‘picking’ her lock. She smiled and greeted him. “Morning, Ethan!-” Bring it up, BRING IT UP!! “-Remember the incident last night?”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah. You were telling me about chair assault, right?”

Cyon remembered the camera she saw when she first entered her room. "Yep. I’m pretty sure there are cameras in the rooms, so... guess who's gonna prove they aren't crazy?" I

Ethan just rolled his eyes, much to Cyon’s frustration. “Psh! Whatever.”

Come on, Cyon… You’ll prove it, won’t you? Naga whispered. You remember all the times you’ve been passed over, the times they didn’t believe you did the things you did simply because you’re smaller than them. 

Cyon’s voice had a faint tinge of anger. "C'mon! I'll prove it!" 

Ethan seemed unaffected. If anything, he sounded bored of Cyon’s determination. “Whatever you say. I still think you were just dreaming.”

Cyon grabbed his hand and started walking to the receptionist’s counter. “Well, you‘ll never know if you don’t check!” 

The receptionist looked at the two, seeming rather tired. “May I help you two?” Ethan tried to cross his arms, but couldn’t. 

Cyon took a deep breath. Handle this interaction carefully, Cyon. Sound calm and professional. "Well, last night, there was a commotion in my friend Ethan's room, and he doesn't think it happened. I want to show him the security footage to prove I'm right."

The receptionist sighed and stood up. “Follow me.” She started walking down another hall. Cyon followed, dragging Ethan, who was unusually silent. 

The group soon made it to a dark monitor room. All of the cameras seemed outdated, except for one in the center, which transmitted a full color, highly detailed image. The receptionist looked at the full-color monitor strangely.  “That’s new….”

Cyon had to ask. “Why is this the only color camera?” 

The receptionist kept looking at the monitor as she answered. “That’s new… This is your friend’s room, too. Let me rewind.”

She stopped rewinding at Ethan closing the door to his room. The footage was black and white here, like the other cameras. It was uneventful at first, simply Ethan sleeping quietly. 

Then, the nightmares started. 

The furniture lifted off from the ground, swirling like a tornado. She saw Ali scramble out the door, clearly terrified. As it continued with Cyon’s entrance, the receptionist gave Cyon a questioning glance. “You have a weapon on the premises?”

Cyon’s heart skipped a beat. Naga whispered yet again, providing Cyon with advice. Self-defense, Cyon. A simple excuse. “It’s for self-defense. I always have it with me, miss.” As the receptionist raised an eyebrow, the footage of Cyon slashing at the chair and getting stuffing in her face played on the monitor. She quickly added, “To be fair, it did provoke me.”

The receptionist just sighed again, much to Cyon’s surprise. “You’re lucky I’m not in law enforcement.”  

Eventually, the footage after Cyon’s departure from the room started. It was normal for a few moments, but then…

BBRRRRZT.

The electrical noise caused Cyon and the receptionist to flinch. When she saw the footage again, it was in color like when they entered, and they could hear sound from the monitor. Cyon focused on the audio, trying to pick up every bit of it.

A sky blue, floating catlike creature poked its head into the camera, tapping the lens with its nose. Its fur seemed to shine in the dim moonlight filtering through the half-opened curtains, giving off the distinctive sparkle of a Shiny Pokémon. /I did it right!/ 

Its voice seemed to be that of a very young child. To Cyon, it sounded like Ethan, but much younger. However, she was startled by the very appearance of this creature, and even Naga was silent.

The cat floated away from the screen a bit, seemingly thinking about something. After a few moments, some hairs appeared in its paws. Cyon felt like her heart had stopped then and there. That's what the voice was. It was that Mew.

The Mew in the footage was now celebrating, moving from side to side while swinging its arms up and down. It looked silly, but if you saw Cyon's face, you'd think it was a dark ritual of some kind. 

When it was tired of celebrating, it let out a sigh and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Ethan asleep in the wrecked room. The room was dead silent, with Cyon and the receptionist gaping at the footage. 

Cyon looked back at Ethan, and couldn’t read his expression. Wait… Where’d he get the chips from? She gave him a confused look, which only garnered an eyebrow raise and a “What?” From Ethan. 

Cyon struggled to find words. This can’t be real. It can’t be! “Mew is real…?”

Ethan slowly blinked. “A what now?”

Cyon let out an exasperated sigh. “Didn’t you see the footage?”

Ethan pushed past Cyon to look at the monitor. “Sorry, let me see-”

He was interrupted by the monitor screen suddenly shattering, with smoke and sparks now coming from where the screen once was. Cyon stared for a few moments, then turned her eyes back to Ethan, her gaze sharpening into an intimidating glare. “You’re hiding something,” she growled. 

Ethan blinked and took a step back, startled at the monitor’s sudden death. “Okay. That was just a coincidence!”

Naga’s whisper came to her again. Don’t back down, Cyon. Corner him. She took a step forward, still glaring. "If it was a coincidence, why was it so convenient, huh?" 

Ethan shrugged. “I dunno! Ask Ali! He can vouch!” Ali, who was standing aside next to Alpha in a corner of the room, simply responded with an /Eeeehhhh…./ Ethan seemed to be running out of options, and simply said, “Oh, come on, it wasn’t me! I swear!”

Cyon started to sound genuinely upset and hurt. "Even if it wasn't you, why were you denying anything happened? Why did you lie?" 

Ethan looked genuinely innocent. “What do you meeean?! You can’t do that to me! What did I even lie about?”

Cyon’s voice kept filling with emotion. "You said nothing happened. You kept saying I was just dreaming. You lied about what happened!"

Ethan sounded shocked at the accusations Cyon had hurled. “What?! How was I supposed to know?! It was three in the morning! I thought it was just a dream!”

Cyon’s voice started to louden to a frustrated shout. "Oh, I don't know - IT RUINED YOUR ROOM? IT RESPONDED TO YOUR NIGHTMARES?"

Ethan went silent, giving a poker face. This time, he was clearly playing dumb, responding simply with a “Hmm… Yes.” He then turned around and tried to head out the door, but Cyon grabbed him by the collar and gave him another sharp glare, snarling, "You are not going to just walk away."

Ethan’s eyes darted around the room in worry, and the receptionist, who had seen the whole altercation, quickly interjected. “Ma’am, please let him go.” Cyon didn’t seem to hear him, and Ethan took a deep breath before speaking. “Are we just going to be like this? Why would I lie to you? We’ve been honest with each other for a long time. Why would I change that?”

Cyon’s voice had a hint of mistrust. “How can I be sure you’ve been honest?”

Ethan gave her a soft smile. “There isn’t a way to know. Just trust me. I promise I didn’t know.” 

Cyon silently nodded and dropped him. Her mistrust was visible now, and she was not even looking Ethan in the eye. Ethan seemed hurt by this mistrust. “What did I do to deserve this?”

The receptionist had her hand over the button to call security. “Are you two done?” 

Cyon nodded. “Yes, yes we are.” She turned and walked out without another word. Alpha gave the group in the monitor-filled room an apologetic look as he followed, trailing behind her. 

Ethan followed in time as well, wisely staying out of her reach. He had seen her get into fights with others before, usually against bullies teasing her for her small stature. He decided to just wait out Cyon’s anger, hoping it would pass quickly.