Chapter 6: The Burned Tower

"So, is this legal?" I asked, peering around at the overgrown vines and bushes covering what remained of the Brass Tower. The two stories of rotting wood and drooping shingles bore little resemblance to the proud monument on the other side of town.

"It's a public place," said Joana cheerfully, leaning against the gate. "It's only the actual tower that's off limits. It's owned by the gym leader and his family. They used to let people come in and tour, but it was decided that it was no longer safe many years ago. That's when they built this fence to keep people out, but you can still come and see it any time you want."

"Yeah, but what's the fun of just standing outside a gate?" said a familiar voice from behind us.

Joana and I both turned to see Signalis and Sheena standing a short distance away, looking past us at the ruins. Sheena met my eyes briefly and smiled, but Signalis didn't look at me.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, the restaurant in the Pokemon Center was closed down so we had to go out and find something to eat. There was this picture on the wall at the place we found that had a picture of the Brass Tower, the way it looked before it burned down, I mean. It wasn't too far away and I was curious to see it in person."

"Right," said Signalis, rolling his eyes, "and I had to come because exploring old run-down dumps is a two person job, apparently," he looked from the tower to me and then to Joana. "I guess you thought so, too, which is odd since you seemed so determined to go off on your own."

I ignored him and looked at the Burned Tower again. I felt a strange urge to go inside, but I knew it was crazy to do so. The whole place could collapse at any moment.

"Well," said Signalis, moving forward, "what do you girls say? Up for an adventure?" He placed one hand on the fence as though about to climb it.

"You can't be serious," said Joana, placing her hands on her hips, "we can't go inside. That would be trespassing and dangerous. We could get hurt!"

"So? Where's the fun without a little risk." He hooked one foot into a fence rung and began climbing.

"Hey!" said Joana angrily, hurrying forward, "stop!"

I hesitated and looked back at the tower. What was it about that place? It felt as though something was calling to me…

'Ren,' said Laila, placing a paw on my leg, 'think before you do anything rash.'

I looked down at her, hesitating. A gentle breeze began blowing, ruffling Laila's smooth fur and blowing my blonde hair into my face. I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed in. The wind brought with it the smell of rain. I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky, my heart racing. The wind was blowing from the north. It had to be a sign. I hooked one foot through a rung on the fence and reached up to begin climbing.

"Ren!" cried Joana anxiously, turning from me to Signalis, who was grinning. "Come on, you can't. No one is supposed to go in there!"

"Yeah, it's against the law," said Sheena anxiously. "Come on, let's just go back to the Pokemon Center and get some sleep."

"No thanks," I said, grinning down at her, "and don't worry. I'm just going to get closer, I won't actually go in."

"Tch," said Signalis, reaching the top of the fence and swinging his legs over the top, "I will if I can find a way."

"What you do is none of my concern," I said, reaching the top and swinging over as well.

'You're both stupid,' said Laila irritably, now digging at the dirt so that she could squeeze underneath. With a squeak, Joana's Furret bounded forward and began to help.

"Furret," said Joana angrily, "don't help them." The Furret looked up and said something to its trainer, then continued digging. "Oh, fine then," sighed the younger trainer, and she began climbing.

Sheena hesitated, tugging at her scarf and hopping from one foot to the other. "I'm so not comfortable with this," she muttered, but gave in and followed Joana.

We walked slowly towards the base of the tower, stepping over stones and old bits of wood that had fallen off. The grass got taller and taller as we got closer until finally it reached our waists. Laila and Furret were completely lost from sight, though it wasn't too hard to locate them. The tip of Laila's tail poked above the grass, and the Furret's movements were easy to spot.

I reached into my small bag and pulled out thin rod which I hooked to the side of my Trainer Band. The rod activated and a beam of light illuminated the area in front of me. Signalis, Sheena, and Joana followed suit and soon four beams of light were dancing over the charred remains of the tower.

I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be. Vines had covered so much of the wood that it was hard to tell where nature ended and the building began. The area where a door would logically be had collapsed and was now covered with weeds and splinters of wood. No windows seemed to be visible which made the idea of entering virtually impossible.

"Hey, check this out," came Signalis's voice from the back of the building. We rounded the corner to see him pointing at a small gap between two boards.

"Yeah," I said, bending down to examine it, "so what? None of us could fit through there."

"Why would we want to?" asked Joana suspiciously, "you said you just wanted to get a closer look."

"I did," I replied, smiling at her, "and now I am. Anyway, we couldn't get inside if we wanted to." I had barely finished speaking when the wind picked up again causing one of the boards to rattle. I looked at it uncertainly for a moment, then reached out and tried to shift it. At once the board slid away from the base, the nails that held it in place sliding through the wood like a knife through butter. I pushed the board aside as far as it would go and aimed my light through the hole. There was a room on the other side. Without thinking, I squeezed myself through the gap and into the room. I could hear Sheena and Joana protesting behind me, but ignored them.

The inside of the Burned Tower wasn't much more impressive than the outside. Nature had begun to reclaim the wooden floorboards and staircases and the soft squeaks of Zubat could be heard from somewhere high above.

"Ren," snapped Joana from behind me, "we can't be in here. It's against the law and it's dangerous. Come on."

"Let's look around a bit first," said Signalis, coming to stand next to us.

'This is a terrible idea,' said Laila softly, her warm body pressing against my leg. 'The foundation of this building is severely damaged. If you bump into something the wrong way, the whole place could come down.'

"Then we won't touch anything," I said cheerfully, reaching down to stroke her soft fur. "We'll just walk around until we've seen everything, then we'll leave."

"I have to protest," said Joana, reaching out to take my arm, "I may not be the caretaker here, but I'm friends with the family who owns this place. I can't let you go wandering around. If you damage something-"

"Damage something?" scoffed Signalis, now examining the molding staircase with interest. "What could we possibly damage in here?"

"This place is sacred to the people of this region," she snapped back, tugging on my arm. "You should know that, Ren, even if he doesn't."

"I promise we won't damage anything," I said, pulling my arm out of her grip. I moved slowly around the room with Joana right behind me, huffing and holding onto my shirt in a nervous sort of way. I had no idea what I was looking for or why I was even in here, but I felt that there was somehow an important clue hidden inside this tower. If I could just find it…and there it was.

I hadn't known I had been listening for the sound of water until I heard it. A soft dripping came from somewhere just ahead. "Can you hear that?" I asked quietly.

"Here what?" whispered Joana, tightening her grip on my shirt. I could tell she was nervous.

"Listen," I whispered back.

Signalis walked over to stand next to us. Sheena's light shone in our direction, but she didn't join us. "I can't hear anything," said Signalis, his voice low.

"I swear I can hear," I began, taking a step forward. There was a loud creak. I froze, my eyes on the floor.

"We should get out of here," whispered Joana.

I shook my head. "Not just yet, I want to find out where that noise is coming from."

'There's no noise, Ren,' said Laila gently. 'Now come-Ren!'

I took another step. There was a deafening crack and I felt myself lurch forward. Signalis let out a yell and Joana screamed, her hand wrenched from my shirt as together we fell through the darkness.