- Chapter 20: The Vanguard -
Like he just realized he was holding a hot iron rod, Icarus abruptly released Ray. The riolu dropped to ground, gasping as his breath returned to him. Neither Mr. Ace nor the two of us uttered a word as Ray managed to push himself to his feet, one paw proped against the tunnel.
"Ray, I hardly recognized you. Your aura is so different," Icarus breathed.
Ray wiped his mouth with the back of a paw. "You sure your memory hasn't gone bad?" he poked flatly.
"Gods, Ray," Icarus breathed. Then, he bent down and pulled his younger brother into a hug. Ray appeared shocked by the maneuver, tentatively creeping his free arm up and placing it on Icarus's back. A warmth blossomed in my heart, and not even the sound of the tunnel's door shutting broke their hug.
Pulling back from Ray, Icarus asked, "How did you find me?"
Ray's flat expression twitched into the ghost of a scowl. "That's not important. What have you been doing? Why did you leave?"
Icarus's eyes shone with concealed emotion. "Ray, something important had to be done," he replied, his voice unapologetic.
"Important? How important could it be? Mom's heart broke when you left!" Ray shouted at his older brother.
"And what of you? Aren't you here as well?" Icarus shot back. While my mind was still processing the fact that these two were brothers, I recognized a common trait between them: throwing the conversation back at the other person to avoid answering a question.
"You know darn well why I'm probably here," Ray spat. His eyes burned with a fury I had never seen in them.
"You can't be serious," Icarus whispered.
"Like the dead," Ray re-affirmed.
"Which you're somehow not," Icarus muttered, clearly pondering a thought.
What the heck are they talking about? I thought, utterly confused. As if hearing my mental words, Icarus's eyes snapped in our direction. He shifted to place Ray behind him, and he straightened himself swiftly.
"We've got more company," he said. Mr. Ace turned in our direction and aimed the point of his Leaf Blade at a point above my head and to my right. He could not tell our exact position, but things were going south all too quickly for that minor detail to matter. We had to reveal ourselves or end up as a new type of shish kabob.
"Wait! We're not here to fight you!" I called. At the sound of my voice, recognition flashed across Mr. Ace's face. He turned to examine Ray more carefully, then glanced back in my direction.
"I knew that I've seen you before, riolu. Mona, is that you?" Ace shouted back to me. Feeling the tension ease slightly, I crept forward into the light of his blade.
"Yes, it's me," I replied. He started when he saw me, an unmasked expression of surprise flitting across his features. He lowered his Leaf Blade to the ground, yet he kept it active.
"How did you—? What are you doing here?" he asked me. Raising his head, he squinted and added, "Eris? You're there too, aren't you?" I could no longer tell whether he spoke out of shock or fury.
Taking control of the conversation, I pressed Mr. Ace. All the frustrtion that I had kept in check just for him now came welling forth. "I'm here for the truth, Mr. Ace. You've been keeping something from me, something important, ever since Shroud set the school on fire. I want to know everything."
"You tracked me all the way down for this? Color me impressed, but this is none of your business," Mr. Ace retorted.
Not willing concede, I took a step closer to him. I bore my gaze into his own, channeling all my determination into it. "It's been my business since Shroud killed my best friend. It's been my business since Shroud beat Kyle and Zane to the brink of death just to make a point out of them. Eris and Ray feel just as strongly as I do, and we're not leaving until we have answers."
Mr. Ace beat his tail against the ground. "Why do you think I didn't tell you more about Shroud when we spoke during graduation?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "So, you really do know something after all," I growled. In my head, the curse within me pounded against my mental barrier, feeding off my rampant anger. I exhaled deeply, attempting to calm myself before I spun out of control. Right then, I felt a hand lay on my shoulder, and I peered upward to find that Eris had approached while I was speaking. She must have sensed my instability, and with gratitude, I fleetingly smiled at her. My emotions cooled from a boil to a lukewarm temperature.
"You can be killed. I'm sure you can see that since you've gotten this far," Mr. Ace said, his voice sounding softer.
"We're not going," I stated simply. Having drawn a line, I now waited to know if Ace would cross it. Mr. Ace's poorly-concealed confliction—he kept looking between me, Ray, and Eris—left me guessing.
At that pivotal moment, Icarus said, "Ace, I think you should tell them. I may not know those ladies like you do, but if I know my brother, he's not going to give up his stake in this very willingly." The burning desire in Ray's eyes confirmed Icarus's declaration. I could not blame the riolu; if I had just discovered my brother was involved in something this secret, I would want to know everything about it, too.
Mr. Ace grimaced. "I'll trust your judgement, Icarus." The serperior slithered away from me and said, "Follow us, you three. It's better that I show you rather than tell you."
Icarus strode forward until he was abreast of Mr. Ace. Ray hung back with me and Eris, his composure regained. Icarus snatched a furtive glance over his shoulder, which Ray returned with cool indifference. While our attitudes had cooled, the tension in the atmosphere still burned scorching hot.
The passageway continued straight for some time, reminding me of the old tunnel we had traversed yesterday. This tunnel, however, felt newer—or, at least, very well-traveled. No stalactites dangled from the ceiling, nor rough stone scraped at my paw pads. After a few minutes, Icarus and Mr. Ace both halted. Spying through Icarus's legs, I beheld wooden, rectangular double doors. An emblem of a silver broadsword pointing downward through a gold ring covered most of the doors' center.
A vine curled from Mr. Ace's leafy collar and rapped lightly on a door. Silence greeted us. Mr. Ace grunted in disapproval and knocked again. No response.
"Hello?" he called. Nobody answered.
"Is your guardsman slacking?" Icarus said, a light note of humor in his voice.
"Wouldn't be the first time they pulled a prank like this," Mr. Ace grumbled.
"Clearly. How about this?" Icarus said with a suggestive tone. He pressed his paw against the door and shoved, and the door swung open without remiss. Judging by the expressions of surprise on both of their faces, I guessed that this was not the usual outcome.
"What in the name...?" Mr. Ace breathed. He slammed the doors wide open, exposing us to a wide room with wooden floors, a wooden ceiling, and many pieces of equipment. A cup of water was overturned on the floor, its contents splayed unevaporated beside it.
Not a single living soul was present.
"Are the troops supposed to be doing drills today?" Icarus asked Mr. Ace.
Mr. Ace's brow creased. "No, they're not. Something's not right. We need to check upstairs. You three: stay here."
Without further hesitation, Mr. Ace and Icarus darted toward a staircase on the left wall and climbed up it, leaving us in the dark. With a sigh, I created a few Swift stars to shed some light on our surroundings.
"Pretty bland for the basement of a fortress," Ray commented. He slunk over to the fallen cup and examined it. "Whoever must've been here left not too long ago; there's still drops of water clinging to the cup's insides."
Carefully, I tip-toed forward, side-stepping benches and dropped towels. Raising my stars higher, I spotted the silhouettes of straw dummies, thick sticks, and wooden armor pieces. A circular mat filled one of the far corners of the room.
"This is some sort of training area," I observed. Training area, searching for Shroud, knowing where Shroud is, Shroud gathering a following...
"Weird to be using weapons," Ray remarked, experimentally swinging one of the shorter sticks.
Weapons and armor are older forms of combat, typically used with armies, I thought. I began to puzzle the scene around me, and when I arrived at conclusion—rather quickly, I must say—I shared my idea.
"Guys, I think Mr. Ace is leading some sort of attack against Shroud. If Shroud's got supporters behind him, then it only makes sense," I told Ray and Eris, who had approached me while I was contemplating the area.
"Gundabad could be a benefactor. He seems to be involved in all this, too," Ray added.
Eris stepped in front of both of us. "W-Wait, hold on! Sh-Shroud having supporters? G-Gundabad? C-Could someone please just...?"
"Remember the first time we met Team Crescent in the guild, when they started talking about Shroud when we were leaving Gundabad's quarters, and Yurk?" I asked her.
She titled her head to the side. "Sure, yeah, but...uh..."
"Please just trust me on this, okay? I'm sure of it."
"M-Maybe, but—"
Clank.
My head twisted at the sound, throbbing painfully. As I winced, all three of us whirled toward the side of the room opposite the stairs. A training dummy rolled around on the ground, straw tumbling out of a gash on its side. Its head lolled nearly ninety degrees to the side.
Fearful, I mentally guided my stars over to that side of the room. A startled yelp echoed, and the sound of more crashing ensued. When the clamor had settled, the Swift stars exposed a cowering mawile, his hands shielding his face from the light.
"Hey? You okay?" I asked the mawile. The loudness of my voice pierced my skull, eliciting another cringe from me. The mawile lowered his arms, exposing an array of gashes and blood on his body. Eris gasped and covered her mouth.
The mawile shakily exhaled, then took a few steps toward us. I thought I could see his mouth trying form words, but before he could utter them, he collapsed.
"Wh-What? Is he...?" Eris stammered, frightened by his sudden appearance.
Ray's brow furrowed, and cautiously, he began to creep toward the fallen pokémon. Eris raised an arm toward Ray and nervously said, "Ray, w-wait! We don't know if he's... Wait!"
Not heeding her words, Ray crept forward until he hovered over the mawile's body. Bending down, he placed a paw on the person's neck. After a few moments, he said, "I feel a pulse; the guy's still alive."
Ray began to retract his paw. As soon as his paw lifted from the pokémon's neck, the mawile's body jerkily twitched. The giant mouth dangling from the back of his head reared with a groan. With groggy movement, the jaws lunged, aiming for Ray's entire torso. With incredible reflexes, the riolu barely managed to leap backward in time to escape the massive jaws. Eris screamed in terror.
"Son of a—," he started to say, but the mawile pushed himself to his feet and dove at Ray. Eris screamed again, exclaiming, "Ray! Get out of there!"
Ray rolled under the mawile's dive, stopping several feet away. He sprung to his feet and assumed a fighting stance, retreat clearly the last option in his mind. As the mawile recovered, black smoke began seeping from the free-hanging jaws.
Ray swore when the smoke enveloped the mawile's feet. "Not another one of these freaks!" he hissed. His words pricked my heart a little. Freak.
Spinning one-hundred-eighty degrees, the mawile leapt toward Ray with the massive jaws in front. Ducking under the brutal Bite, Ray swung his paw in a right uppercut toward the mawile's head. The creature titled its head at the last minute and retaliated with an elbow to Ray's ribs. The attack glanced off Ray's side, deterring him from a follow-up.
The mawile made another lunge with its jaws. This time, Ray fully leapt out of the way, and the jaws sunk into a bench that lay just behind the riolu's former position. Ray attempted to capitalize on the mawile's disadvantaged state, but the mawile jerked the bench off the floor and slammed it into Ray. The riolu put a guard up at the last second, but the force of the impact catapulted him into the training dummies.
"Ray!" I screamed. Growling, I aimed my Swift stars at the mawile and let them fall. With my attention so focused on the mawile, I hardly had to exert any mental effort to guide them. They nailed its head, arms, knees, and chest in a veritable meteor shower. When the light pollution had eliminated my sight on him, I halted my attack. Blinking out the spots in my vision, I barely registered a gaping maw soaring toward me. Its wide teeth descended toward me, ready to swallow me whole.
Instead of a terrified eevee, the mouth ate a luminescent blue sphere. The jaws instinctively snapped shut, and the mawile tumbled to the ground mere inches from me. The jaws hacked over and over as they tried to remoisturize its now-dry mouth. I scrambled away from the creature, my breathing near hyperventialization levels.
"Mona! Did it bite you?" a voice cried. Icarus jogged up next to me, alert for the mawile's next move. His paws glowed with an orange light, identical to Ray's own Force Palm technique.
"No, I'm—I'm okay," I shakily replied. I had never considered that my own attack would blind me and leave me open for a counterattack. I filed this lesson away for the future...assuming I would still have one at this rate.
"Icarus! What did you sense?" I heard Mr. Ace call from behind me.
"One of the soldiers, but he's been overtaken," Icarus replied. Stretching a paw in front of me and Eris, he added, "You two should step back. This isn't over yet."
Not wanting to lose my head, I gave Icarus a healthy amount of space. Eris cowered behind me, and I found amusement in the fact that she chose to hide behind the shortest person in the room.
Mr. Ace slithered next to Icarus and readied twin vines from his shoulders. When the mawile tried to stand, Icarus stomped a foot into its stomach, knocking the wind out of it. As it wheezed, Icarus closed his eyes, and the appendages on the side of his head lifted into the air.
"How far gone is he?" Mr. Ace asked. After a moment, Icarus opened his eyes slowly. "Too far gone," he solemnly replied. With a mournful air, he bent down over the mawile and grasped its head. The mawile fought weakly against him. For a few seconds, Icarus did nothing; then, he snapped the mawile's neck. The creature's body immediately fell limp.
On the other side of the room, Ray gazed upon the proceedings with a stony countenance. I, on the other hand, could not contain my fear. In my mind's eye, I saw myself laying in the place of the mawile, Icarus's paws around my own head. A low growl gurgled in my throat.
Mortified, Eris whispered, "Why...did they...did you...?"
"He was already dead, anyway," Mr. Ace stated abruptly. Icarus lowered his head, eyes closed once more.
In a quiet voice, I said, "Who are you, Mr. Ace?"
His vines retreated into his shoulders, and he straightened himself. "The better question is who we really are," he corrected me. "We are the Vanguard, in existence since before the Dark Age. It is our mission to find and eradicate all supernatural threats to this world."
"And what exactly would be 'supernatural'?" Ray questioned with suspicion. He stepped over the bench with which the mawile had hit him; he was nursing his arms gingerly.
"For starters, that," he replied, pointing to the dead mawile with his tail. "We don't just deal with small incidents, however. Every time the world has been threatened, we have succeeded in ending the supernatural menace."
Clearly, Ray did not buy his explanation. "But most of the recent catastrophes have been solved by a human crossing into our world."
Mr. Ace shook his head. "Those were merely one side of the coin. Could the worldwide natural disasters from two centuries ago have really come from the unknown presence of a single human? Could Darkrai alone have destabilized time and space, the domains of individuals equal to, if not above, his power? How did an object such as the Bittercold form itself if its fuel was something intangible? Each of these instances, and more, were the work of something far more sinister. Shroud is the most recent example."
"Shroud's not natural. Great," I muttered to myself, boggled from the revelation. To Mr. Ace, I asked, "So, what have you actually done?" My head was spinning enough as it is, and I could not decide whether what he said was true enough to believe. The mawile certainly provided him powerful evidence, not to mention myself.
"There's not enough time for that. We have to find the others quickly." He snaked his way over to the far side of the room, powering up a Leaf Blade along the way. The green light from the blade exposed rectangular wooden doors with the same sword-and-ring symbol as on the entrance door.
"I figured you would say that, Ace. Let's not be too hasty. I'll go get some provisions," Icarus cautioned, and he strode to the staircase. While Icarus hunted for supplies, Mr. Ace waited by the door, leaving the three of us to our own devices.
Eris and I gathered near Ray. "Well, wh-what should we, uh, do? Follow them?" Eris asked me and Ray.
"Duh. I'm not getting left behind here," Ray stated. He uncrossed his arms and let them dangle at his sides.
Usually, I would agree with the idea of going, but trepidation seized me. This was the real deal. We were here in the Ruins of Eld, and we were tantalizingly close to Shroud. My justice for Lucy lied just outside my reach, yet my motivation felt strangely empty. Something grander than vengeance loomed over me. Now that I knew Mr. Ace's true purpose in his pursuit of Shroud, I felt a compulsion to aid him despite his ruthlessness.
At that instant, shame washed over me. Here I was, acting this whole time out of my own selfish ideals, when there were people out there fighting the good fight for the sake of others. How far have I dragged Eris down with me? How much have I manipulated Ray? Have I been assuming all this time?
"Mona? You o-okay?" Eris asked me in concern when I remained silent. I shook my head lightly to clear it; Eris always could tell other's emotions too well.
"I'm sorry, guys," I said.
"Sorry for what?" Ray asked in confusion.
"I've—I've dragged you guys down for so long. All I've wanted up until this point was to get justice for Shroud killing Lucy, and I never really thought about what you guys wanted to do. I've just pushed you and pushed you, and for that, I'm really, really sorry." I had to fight to keep my voice even, such was the level of emotions coursing through me.
Ray and Eris both stared at me, dumbstruck. Taking their silence negatively, I continued, "If you guys don't want to go with them, that's fine. I'm sure Icarus and Mr. Ace would let you guys go."
After I finished, Eris's lip quivered as she searched for words to say. Eventually, she spoke: "M-Mona, you really think that you've been...p-p-pulling me along...?"
"Well, what else could I have been doing?" I asked her in despair.
Eris straightened herself, her eyes alight with passion. "You weren't... No! Mona! I c-came along because I—because I wanted to. I didn't w-want vengeance like you did, but I am always, always w-willing to support you. Please...don't e-ever-r forget that!"
My mouth parted in awe. "R-Really?"
Ray huffed several times as he rubbed his nose. "Yeah, Mona. Geez. Sure, I'll admit that my motives were more in line with finding my brother, but heck, that doesn't mean I wasn't behind you. I get that you wanted to know the truth and make Shroud pay. I do. Now that I know just how ugly that bastard really is, all I want to do is take my fists and go rip him a new one. I'm with you all the way."
Tears welled up in my eyes. "Wow, guys. Thanks. This really means a lot."
"I'm s-s-sorry for not telling you before. I should have, um, seen it s-sooner," Eris apologized, clearly upset herself.
"While I'm not opposed to being sappy, Icarus just came back," Ray interjected, pointing over his shoulder at the now-present lucario. "We going or what?"
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I answered, "Totally going."
Eris nodded. "Yep."
Turning around, Ray yelled at Mr. Ace, "Hey, don't be leaving us here! We're coming, too!" He began moving toward the far doors, gesturing at me and Eris to follow him.
Palpable disdain emanated from the serperior. "What we're going to be doing is dangerous. I don't want you three losing limbs—or worse, your lives."
"That's not very wise, turning down help like this, Ace," Icarus rebuked him.
"They're just kids, Icarus," Mr. Ace protested indignantly.
"And we're two men against what could be an entirely corrupted contingent plus Shroud's already-too-numerous followers," Icarus pointed out with precision. Mr. Ace thumped his tail against the ground as he weighed both sides. Eventually, he turned to the three of us and motioned us forward with his tail. I smiled giddily as the three of us jaunted over to the two of them.
"Don't blame me if you die," Mr. Ace said grimly.
"Love those warm, fuzzy thoughts, but shouldn't we be going?" Ray stated cockily.
He really loves lording his victories over others, I thought amusedly.
Mr. Ace clicked his tongue in irritation, then pushed open the doors. He took the lead and guided the four of us down the passageway. Ray gave Icarus a once-over, huffed, and stuck himself in the space between Mr. Ace and Icarus. Eager to leave behind the empty training room, Eris joined Mr. Ace, leaving me in the back with Icarus. To keep up with Mr. Ace's pace, I forced myself into a light run.
Icarus jogged abreast of me. "You're taking this the most easily, Mona," he coolly remarked. I titled my head toward him, anxious about the implications of his statement. Could he be on to me? Can he sense Shroud's curse in me? I thought. My mind was still dealing with guilt; I was in no mood to be playing mind games.
Thankfully, my aptitude for lying kicked in for me. "I've seen someone like that mawile before. I guess it'd take more than that to get to me," I replied, omitting my true feelings. Perhaps I've lied to my parents for too long if I can speak this smoothly.
"That surely must have been something to remember," Icarus said. He seemed dissatisfied with my answer.
"Tell me about it," I mumbled to myself.
"Say something?"
"Oh, nothing. Just...never knew Ray had a brother," I quickly supplied, using the opportunity to change the subject.
"It's not surprising that he didn't tell you. He's never been the most open person in the world," he said. I snickered at his remark. He continued, "We didn't exactly part in the best circumstances."
I hummed with interest. "What circumstances were those? Uh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Icarus shook his head in dismissal. "No, I don't mind. It's just a long story, and we don't have a lot of time on our hands."
"That's fine," I assured. I wondered if those circumstances had anything to do with their argument earlier. Then, I realized that my headache had dissipated. More annoyed than curious, I pondered over the nature of these mysterious afflictions: they appeared and disappeared quickly at the inanest moments.
Moments that all involved afflicted people like me.
The realization struck me like a lightning bolt from Zapdos himself. Was my body somehow reacting to others in a similar state as me whenever they came in a close enough proximity?
Wait, no. I remember my head hurting the entire time I was in that Magnagate dungeon during finals, and nobody in my class was cursed. I think it also hurt when Shroud was around...can't remember that one too well.
Finding an answer, only to create more confusion. I sighed softly. This new paradigm in my life really stank; I simply wanted a straightforward answer for once.
Ahead of us, Mr. Ace, Ray, and Eris curved to the left. When Icarus and I followed suit, we encountered a short, ascending staircase that culminated in double doors much the same as the others. After pushing himself in an odd, winding manner up the stairs, Mr. Ace cracked open the door and shone his Leaf Blade into the area. We clambered after him.
The Leaf Blade's green light washed over a modest hall. A faded white carpet stretched across the floor, dust coating its surface. Sconces clung to the walls in narrowly recessed alcoves. The ceiling curved upward, its finer details lost in the gloom. Not too far to my left, rubble sealed off the hall. Stray boulders and rocks extended out from the pile's base.
Mr. Ace carefully examined the floor, illuminating a variety of footprints on the carpet. "They're been here recently," he deduced. He raised his blade to the right side of the hall. At that side, the smooth surface of the walls devolved into waves, and the hall itself started warping to the side. The carpet remained centered rather than having slid to the lower end, and scattered pebbles remained likewise unaffected. A single sconce bore a flame, blue and white instead of red and orange. Even with the extra light, darkness drenched the depths of the hallway.
"Th-That's, uh, weird," Eris said as she observed the hallway.
"It's the Mystery Dungeon. On the other side is Shroud's territory," Mr. Ace explained. "For some reason, all the troops went into the dungeon."
"Did you plan an offensive recently?" Icarus inquired of the serperior.
"Yes, but that wasn't for a few weeks at least. Something must have happened while I was away to cause them to push up the date," he said. I bit my lip as I thought of the mawile.
Ray crossed his arms. "So why leave if you had a big plan coming up?"
Mr. Ace glared lightly at Ray. "I left to personally deal with a pocket of halflings."
Halflings. The word sent a shiver down my spine. Whatever creatures they were must be nasty.
"Wh-What are those...?" Eris whispered.
Mr. Ace nodded his head back to the doors we had entered. "They're what that mawile had become, except worse. He was only in the first stage of his transformation. You don't want to see what they really become."
What they really become. Halfings.
They could get worse than that mawile? Worse than Yurk?
My Arceus, I need to get this thing out of me! I thought with conviction.
"Is Shroud really the one doing all of this?" I posed to Mr. Ace.
Instead of him answering, Icarus replied in his stead. "Yes, we're sure he is. He's using ages-old magic, but what has us stumped is how he's converting at such a phenomenal rate. Every time we stomp down a group of them, three more seem to spring up in its place."
"That's not important right now. We have to go now," Mr. Ace cut in. He slithered toward the twisted hallway, and Ray tailed after him.
"We should all stick close together. This dungeon makes the Treeshroud Forest look like a cakewalk," Icarus cautioned.
"What's a Treeshroud...Forest?" Eris asked.
"Nevermind. Ace and Ray are leaving us behind," Icarus said.
The three of us jogged to catch up to the retreating figures. As I closed in on the dungeon, I thought that I would have to fight gravity on the awkward incline. To my surprise, gravity tilted along with me, and my world turned sideways. Glancing over my shoulder, the old hallway now appeared as the twisted one. Freaked out, I faced the dungeon once more and, with a deep breath, surged into it.
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