Chapter 23 - Puzzles and Promises

Something was wrong here.

Something or someone, somewhere, was causing this to happen to me intentionally, and for reasons that I was starting to disregard the desire to know of entirely. Even that unending desire of mine to understand what was going on was now beginning to turn inside-out and leave me mentally marooned. Now, I just wanted to escape my problems—whatever the root of those problems may be. But as fate would have it, committing to this would inevitably require collecting information about why I was here, and that would require facing up to the force that orchestrated it. Running away was not an option; thus, my logic would chase its tail and form a pointless loop if I tried.

No matter what I did, I couldn't escape this force now. No cataclysmic spiritual trauma could drown this one screeching realization out. This... enemy, that for my own sake I had to assume was a product of evil, knew me better than I knew myself, and would find me no matter where I went. Trying to escape from it was clearly pointless in light of the swerve this mission had taken out of absolutely nowhere. How foolish I had been to assume that the danger wouldn't follow me, that it was really secluded to three random Beeheyem and an unseen puppet-master pulling their strings. I had seen it in the unadulterated recognition in that Snivy's eyes; I was… tied to whatever it was that had possessed its deteriorating body, as if we had confronted each other before on a different timeline. For all I knew, we had done just that, and I simply couldn't remember.

Things hadn't looked up much following my collapse in that closed-off room. I had thought it was a dream at first, colored confused lying in a small bed in a small village house that was vividly reminiscent of my first awakening as a Snivy. Leah had been out gathering water while the other three were helping with the burials of the five poor souls who we had confronted underground. She arrived to find me wide awake, where my blank stare clashed with the instant mixture of relief and concern that dominated her expression. She'd nearly dropped the bucket of water when she saw me awake.

"Oh—Sage!" She quickly ran over to my side and placed a gentle paw on my head, checking me over as though I was on my deathbed. "H-How do you feel?"

I held my emotionless stare for a couple of seconds before breaking it to survey my surroundings. I had been placed on a straw bed in a dry wooden house that I right away figured must have been one of the village houses.

I opened my mouth to speak and nearly choked on the dryness of my throat. Leah lowered the bucket to me, and I gulped up as much as I could, only stopping to breathe. I sat up on one knee and splashed a little on my face, saturating my cells and bringing color back to my scales. I opened my mouth to speak again, this time with a little more success.

"I'm fine, I-I'm not injured or anything…" I rubbed my head and cringed. "Wh-what happened?"

My assurances did little to dismiss the concern expressed in Leah's tone. "…You passed out in that final room. When that Snivy attacked, it said something to you and you were out cold. I-I was worried for a moment that…" Leah paused and shook her head. "…Do you remember anything?"

I recalled everything perfectly. It had all felt like a dream, like it wasn't real, but I knew that couldn't be right. I couldn't escape from that feeling I got when I had looked into those red eyes. There had been something there, a hatred that I'd never seen in the eyes of any regular Pokemon and doubted I ever would.

Leah didn't press me far on what exactly went down in that room, which I was more than happy about. It wasn't like I knew much about it to begin with.

Mincinno, on the other hand, was much less lenient.

"What the hell was all that about?!" was the first thing he demanded to know when he barged in. His tone held an unsettling air of suspicion that caught me a bit off guard considering how well our initial acquaintance had played out. Vulpix and Helioptile trailed him, both looking nervous at his interrogative persistence but also heeding me in the same doubtful fashion. I could hardly blame them. Even though I was fairly certain they couldn't hear that Snivy's last little whisper in my ear, the turbulent speech directed at me beforehand was more than enough to raise the alarm that I wasn't the everyday Snivy they probably had thought I was.

Regardless of that reality, Leah wasn't having it. "Relax!" she shot back at him, coming to my defense in an instant. "Sage is still trying to make sense of what those Pokemon were, just like we are! Give him some sp—"

"No, not that!" Mincinno fiercely interrupted, clenching his fists at his sides and aggressively flicking his furry tail. "I meant about the 'human' part! That guy—that thing —called you a human. Care to explain that?" He glared at me, and I saw that the deduction I had been fearing was already nested firmly in his eyes. "Is there something you know that you aren't telling us?"

I almost scoffed. At this bleak point, I didn't even know right from left, so that question came off as more of a joke. His last words being rhetorical certainly didn't help. But all the same, it was a valid question; I hadn't told anyone in the Expedition Society that I was a human, to which I could only hope and pray wouldn't collapse a ceiling of controversy on my head now that it was all but revealed.

"Well?"

In a fit of resurgence, I unintentionally found the same supernatural source of anger that had come over me last night when looking into that Snivy's mocking eyes, and snapped back at him. "You know what, back off!" I hissed, my voice coming out coarse and exhausted. "I don't know what happened! I don't even think I know anything anymore! Nothing—none of this makes sense!"

"Listen very closely," Mincinno countered, his voice lowering a bit but with heightened suspicion. "We don't keep secrets in the Expedition Society. We may be on the same side, but it's hard to keep everyone safe with all sorts of unnecessary miscommunications flying around. If you have any personal involvement with that little episode in that creepy coffin room, you need to spill it. For everyone's sake."

"We just want to help you," Vulpix anxiously added. "Remember, we're here for you if something's wrong. It just requires transparency."

I sighed and gave up on what would've been a useless retort. If hiding from the abominable forces seeking my demise wasn't a plausible option anymore, then there was little point keeping my humanity a secret from those I was supposed to be trusting. I doubted I'd get kicked out of the Expedition Society for it anyway, especially since this was only my first week. At least this time likely wouldn't be a repeat of my confession at school, given that back then nobody had any incentive to believe me.

"Yeah, fine," I mumbled. "I'm—or, I was—a human, I admit it."

Mincinno's expression changed from culled suspicion to a blank stare. Vulpix's jaw dropped slightly, and she slapped a paw over her mouth to muffle a shocked gasp.

"What did you say?" Helioptile said, not quite hearing me right.

"I said I'm a human!" I was doing everything I could to remain calm, but frustration was beginning to boil over. "That's it! That's all I know! I can't remember who I was before waking up as a Snivy in the middle of some forest, and I have absolutely no idea what's going on! I have no parents, no family, no memories…"

"I'm pretty sure that thing down there knew you," Mincinno said matter-of-factly. "And you're saying you can't remember that?"

"Yes! Trust me, I'm more confused right now than you are, but that's my situation!"

Mincinno still glared at me for a short moment longer, before finally shaking his head and walking back out the door. "Whatever then. The mission is completed, so we're leaving in five minutes. Y'all be ready in three." We barely heard him mumble the end of it as he pulled the creaky door shut behind him. Just like that, the exchange with the normal-type had ceased as quickly as he'd barged in minutes prior.

A look of awe dawned on Helioptile's face as he gave me a quick once-over. He walked over to me and inspected me from every angle in a slightly comedic expression of his stupefaction. "So you legit were once a human?" he asked me in a breathy voice. "Like, you were turned into a Pokemon after being one for a time?"

He saw my perturbed nod and his facial expression contorted to one of even more reverence as what I had said apparently sunk in further.

"Yo, that is wicked! I'm actually talking to a human!" He turned to Vulpix, who also seemed to be processing my confession with more reserved discipline than her erratic teammate. "Vulpi! This is so cool!"

I rubbed the back of my head, flustered at his amazed reaction. "Y-Yeah, I'm a human, I guess. Although, it's probably been anything but 'cool' for me and anyone aligned with me."

Leah placed a comforting paw on my shoulder and smiled warmly. "It's been pretty cool for me, Sage."

Even with the gravity of what had happened, I still couldn't help but smile back and relieve some of the pressure off of my shoulders for a second. Even if Leah was wrapped up in all of this because of my presence, I couldn't paint my decision to leave with her as a regretful one, and knowing she felt the same way dismissed a lot of my doubts. It was soul-saving to have this kind of constant, reliable reassurance around when things continued to make less and less sense as time went by.

Vulpix rubbed a paw through her flowing headfur and frowned. "So, does that mean what you told us about where you came from isn't true?" Her voice held no accusation in it, instead sounding like nothing more than nagging curiosity, which was a good sign. It almost made me feel bad about not coming clean straight away, although this was still hard to place my opinion considering most of the Society members still didn't know about this. That would be an obstacle for when we got back, which I'd have to worry about then. In the meantime, I'd need to quickly clear things up with these two and the naturally-distrusting Mincinno who wasn't taking the timing of the news quite as smoothly.

"No, not necessarily," I admitted. "I woke up on the distant outskirts of Serene Village, and I was adopted by a nice Pokemon and lived there for a few months. There I met Leah, and we formed our exploration team and eventually took our talents east to join the Expedition Society. All of that is a hundred-percent true."

Vulpix turned to Leah now, giving her a questioning stare. "I'm assuming you've known for a while that he was once a human, right?"

Leah nodded, and lowered her head sheepishly. "Yeah, I knew, of course. We don't really keep secrets from each other."

"How did he prove to you that he was a human?" Helioptile asked with a frown, his childish demeanor now turned to favor a professional curiosity of his own.

The proposed question seemed to take Leah a little off guard, and she frowned as well. "Well..." she paused to think for a second, and just shrugged. "He didn't, really. I just always believed it from the start, I guess."

Vulpix was taken aback by her nonchalant answer, or lack thereof. "What?" she breathed. "I mean, after what happened in that dungeon last night, Sage's confession makes a lot of sense. That's why as unbelievable as it sounds, I believe him... But what made you trust him on something so outlandish, when for all you knew he could've been leading you on the whole time? If he's only been a human for a few months like he mentioned just now, then you surely couldn't have known each other long enough to justify not questioning the claim even a little, right?"

Leah rubbed the back of her head nervously, and exhaled deeply before elaborating. "It's a long story, but it all came together when we saved a child from a dangerous place and returned her to her mother. He believed in me when no one else would, so when he confessed being a human and was laughed at, I only felt it right to believe in him too." Then she stuck her nose in the air and smiled proudly. "—and it turns out I was right to do so, because it ended up being true. Just as I expected."

I cleared my throat loudly, getting tired of being talked about as if I weren't in the room. I pointed a partially unsheathed vine at the door, and used my other one to grab my bag, which I saw had been tossed aside by the wall. "We can talk more about it later, preferably when we're back in Lively Town with everyone present. For now, we shouldn't keep Mincinno waiting so we can get out of here."

Vulpix cast a sideways glance at the window, and sighed. "Well, I guess we technically completed the mission… e-even if the outcome wasn't exactly what anyone had hoped for. So, sure, let's go."

"Yuh," Helioptile nodded. "I don't like staying too long near places that have creepy tombs with secret-stealing ghosts nearby. Let's roll out."

The swirling clouds from the night before had poured themselves dry while we were busy chasing those villagers underground, and it left an extra medium of humidity as a symbol of its passing. I was starting to understand why this land was called the "Water Continent", and often properly given the surname "Typhoon Woodlands" by some historians. There really hadn't been much rain in my time in Serene Village, at least not apart from what one could expect in the middle of the forging drought. But this didn't seem to be the case so near the ocean, as the strategic altitude and stark design of Lively Town's port now stood out to me for this reason.

Mincinno paid me little mind through the entire day's trek down the soggy coast. He didn't seem too upset as the day went on, although I'm pretty sure Vulpix might have mentioned something about the nature my confession in order to get on his reasonable side while I was in the back mindlessly dozing during the long walk. Mincinno's attitude wasn't any more a secret than my humanity was at this point; he was a leader with a high work ethic who took every new turn with an intentionally heightened level of caution. I understood it so well and read into it perfectly because it was the same mindset I had tried to apply to my own experience in this world. I may not have executed it quite as efficiently as I saw Mincinno was able to with all past events considered, but my intentions to stay safe and figure this mess out in a cost-effective manner met a parallel with his desire to keep his team safe and get work done thoroughly. How could I hold that against someone? Even though I had probably the best excuse one could imagine for not being very trusting, I had to assume that he had his own little backstory to justify himself as well. It would probably be more believable than mine anyway.

But still, even Mincinno seemed to unconditionally trust those in the Expedition Society, especially his two teammates. It was one thing to be cautious, and another entirely different thing to be totally irrational, and I was thankful that he had shown enough reason to see this through rather than lose his professionalism over a trivial deception, however relevant or revolutionary it may have been. I saw through his front clearly enough to realize he had probably already forgiven me. It was just that, much like me, he hated not being thoroughly informed from the get-go.

Vulpix and Helioptile had also practically forgotten the mission's dark turn once we were about halfway back, smiling and cracking jokes with Leah and I. Mincinno wasn't really much of a senseless talker to begin with, but even he seemed to relax a little as the distance between our group and the savannah grew with each step down the coastline. The weight hadn't necessarily been lifted, but we at least found comfort in the salty winds and the bright pallet of the sunset coloring the jagged skyline to our left.

It was only during this walk that I found myself once again idly thinking about the encounter with that putrid reflection of my species. He, or rather whatever entity had his dead (or nearly dead) body in some kind of cerebral choke-hold, had spoken words that aligned well enough with what that Breloom girl had told us.

I hadn't forgotten a word. And I definitely hadn't forgotten the feeling it gave me when I heard that voice, and saw the evil in those demonic eyes. It had resounded within me as an echoing cry calling for my end. It felt like me and that thing simply couldn't coexist together, that each passing second with us in the same room was a contradiction of supreme will. Just thinking back on it made me uneasy. While walking, I tried to distract myself with the waves or the sand under my feet before my attention would be inevitably torn back to memories of the tomb.

That entity… I realized it had made one small slip up. It had given me some kind of informative speech, which had been pretty ineffective given that the danger had been abolished with a single swipe of my vines. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that, while this event had presented a number of questions to be considered, it had answered a few of them as well.

For starters, my concern that an unseen power larger than the Beeheyem was at work against me was now all but confirmed. Also, I knew that this thing had supernatural and possibly borderline-omnipotent capabilities, as that would be the only explanation for it leading me to that cave for a direct confrontation despite the distance I had put between myself and the general location that I had first woken up as a Pokemon with no memories. This random expedition, not even a week after leaving Serene Village, somehow landed me in an even more precarious spot than I was before. I'd have to be a fool to consider that a coincidence.

The part that captured my attention the most, however, was the word choice it used. That thing told me that I couldn't escape the inevitable, and that "my kind" would be "consumed by the sun"... whatever that was supposed to mean. Whether this a genuine foretelling or just some of the apocalyptic dribble that we were told to expect, it was definitely worth remembering for future reference. But what really had made me stop and pause was the fact that it had mentioned "what I once was". Fortunately for me, this would hopefully give me a place to start putting this million-piece puzzle together. This supported the untold feeling of recognition and understanding that had dulled my senses and shoved me forward to meet that Snivy's sporadic charge with an interceptive attack of my own. I knew that in some way, somehow, in some universe, I was affiliated with whatever that thing was.

In light of the five villagers' unfortunate passing and the nightmarish turn of events, this piece of the puzzle was a small victory in the midst of the storm. I may not know what that thing is capable of, or if it's even tied to the Beeheyem in any way, but I at least knew this. On this path of uncertainty that I was wrapped up in, there was this one constant.

We were certain to meet again.

I couldn't have been more relieved to see the glimmering lights of Lively Town stick out in the horizon's darkness as we took our last steps through the sand. Unfortunately, it had been around noon when I had woken in the village, meaning that even at a brisk pace we wouldn't have made it back at the headquarters until a couple hours past sunset. The walk back was as uneventful as the walk there, so it wasn't too difficult to predict when we'd finish the journey.

Vulpix had taken the liberty of calling in about an hour before our arrival and telling Dedenne that we would be back later than expected. The electric mouse sounded like she was getting ready for bed, which was appropriate considering the sun was already well below the jagged horizon. We didn't see it fit to camp out for the night when we were so close to Lively Town, keeping in mind that our close proximity to the ocean distanced the five of us from any mystery dungeons nearby and thus made it highly unlikely that we'd encounter any hostile Pokemon under the coastal quarter-moon. Tired as we were, we finished strong with the motivation of warm beds and fortified quarters dangling in front of us.

When we finally reached the port and climbed the wooden stairs, we emerged to find that the once busy streets of Lively Town were now abandoned at this late hour. The sheer emptiness of the town shocked me for a moment, and I did a double-take down a couple of alleyways. After looking around a bit, I could tell there wasn't anything abnormal about it, as one could expect a large majority of the residents to be asleep by this time. It was just that the only images of Lively Town I had seen was the hustle and bustle of a busy day, with loud advertisements ringing across the square and young and old Pokemon alike roaming the streets going about their lives. Now this motionless peace was all that I observed as our group strolled through the barren town square illuminated by the dim yellow glow of sparsely-placed streetlamps. The docks were left just as they had been before, with maybe a few crates added or subtracted here and there, but were now lifeless apart from the humid breeze that filtered through. We did actually see a couple of nocturnal bird Pokemon flying about as we walked down the cobblestone path leading to the headquarter's doorstep, but that would about sum up the town at this hour.

None of the windows on the front of the Expedition Society compound were emitting light, so I began the assumption that nobody was awake, and then quickly discarded it when I caught the glimpse of a lantern flicker from a side window.

"Looks like Mawile is still awake," Mincinno remarked as he saw it at the same time, breaking the tranquil silence that had settled over the sleeping town. He turned back to look at me as he held the door open. "As you know, she's the historian. If anyone can help us even begin to understand what we saw, it's her."

I briefly remembered Mawile's introduction two days ago, when she told us that if we needed any research done we should talk to her. And fortunately, this form of in-depth information was exactly what I needed. I just hoped that the mythological phenomenon of my physical transformation and slated memories wasn't so impossibly rare that she wouldn't have anything covering it. We would just have to see.

The first and second story main rooms were both still and quiet just as the town outside had been. The lack of Society members skipping through the halls running their errands was another blatant contrast to what I had become accustomed to in the two days Leah and I had been in the building. Now as we neared the end of the third, I realized I had already begun to solidify the compound in my mind as a permanent residence. Weeks ago I might have berated myself for getting too comfortable, but now I couldn't feel any doubts clawing at me. I wasn't sure whether this was a good or a bad thing, but I assumed that if it were bad, I'd recognize it as such. In light of the confusion and relentless frustration that rang through my head following that last mission, I found a lot of comfort being back here, in this building. I felt safe, my relief being further exalted by the strength in numbers that came with my association here.

Part of that strength came in the form of the knowledge we now sought from sleepless Mawile, who we found was indeed still awake sifting through a pile of papers with countless inscriptions and illustrations scribbled on. Mawile's office was what one might describe as a tidy mess; stuff was literally everywhere, but all of it had an organized purpose to it. It wasn't all that large with it being hardly the size of one of the bedrooms, but it seemed to contain an entire library's worth of material. The only wall that wasn't either covered with maps or bookshelves was the back wall with the window, where a different shelf sat just beneath it holding what appeared to be artifacts and relics preserved inside the wooden encasing with a pane of glass. The light at the top of the room was similar to the one that was hanging in our bedroom, but this one wasn't lit. Instead, a small battery-powered lamp cast a beam of light over the rectangular desk in the middle of the room, where we could faintly make out the silhouette of the researcher in question.

She saw us as soon as we saw her, and she opened her mouth to speak. A sizable yawn stole the syllables where words were intended, and Mawile shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times before clearing her throat and trying again. "Excuse me, I'm just a bit tired," she told us as she unsuccessfully tried to look wide awake by straining her young features into an uncomfortable smile. "I see you five are finally back. Dedenne came and told me you had successfully completed your job already, so you can all head to bed now." She waved us off, and began trying to focus on whatever she was doing while keeping herself awake again. The five of us continued to stand there awkwardly.

"Eh, actually, it's not quite that simple," Helioptile said after a couple seconds of silence, making Mawile glance back up and frown.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, removing her glasses for a moment.

Mincinno nudged me from behind, nodding expectantly at me to step forward. I shot him a glare, but withdrew it when it occurred to me that he was probably right that it was proper for me to explain what happened.

I stepped up and gave a detailed summary of everything that happened from our arrival in the village to the climax, where the other four then pitched in to explain the irrelevant details of what played out after I had lost consciousness. I purposely made sure to leave out the part about the spiteful connection I had unwillingly shared with the entity. That was something that I couldn't yet comprehend the reasoning behind, and for the sake of self-honesty, scared me immensely.

"Let me get this straight," Mawile finally began after a couple of seconds absorbing the brigade of information. "The five of you encountered a possessive demonic entity in a cave that was aware Sage here was a human, and was in some way or another associated with him?" She stopped briefly to polish her glasses, and then discreetly placed them back. Even the air of professionalism the specs gave the historian couldn't disguise the abashment in her expression and voice. Mawile sighed bewilderingly and looked straight at me before continuing. "And on top of that, you're claiming that you, in fact, were once a human, and that you've been changed into a Snivy. Is that right?"

I inhaled nervously and then held it in for a moment of my own consideration, before letting the air out through my nose as I completed a nodding motion. "Yes, that's about it." I paused, before remembering something important. "Oh! Just one thing- I can't actually remember my experience of being a human."

Mawile stared at me, dumbfounded. "You can't remember anything? At all?" Her voice had an unmistakable hint of disappointment in it that mirrored my initial outlook on the fact.

"Nothing. Other than the fact that I was once a human and my name, I can't remember a single thing."

Mawile rubbed her eyes absentmindedly, and moved to get up from her chair. She wobbled a bit as she rose, clearly having been sitting for a good while, before finding her balance and shuffling over to a filing cabinet placed by the wall under a multitude of cartographic sketches and illustrations.

"You okay Mawile?" Helioptile asked her as she drummed through the overflowing paper contents. "You look like you haven't slept in a week."

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Mawile said groggily. "I've gotten maybe... five, six-ish hours of sleep in the past... five, six-ish days? ...Yeah, you can do the math on that one."

"That's bloody dreadful," Mincinno remarked.

"What have you been doing?" Leah inquired, gesturing at the mess on Mawile's desk. "All of that?"

Mawile clicked her tongue and nodded. "Mm hmm. Research and paperwork. This kind of thing makes up a large part of my job here, although Dedenne and Jirachi often find themselves helping me out every now and then when I need it." She continued drumming through the cabinet for a few more seconds in impatient silence before eventually huffing in defeat and pushing it shut, evidently not finding what she was looking for. Her attention was now free to return to our group, where we waited for her to respond. "I'm afraid I can't immediately find the files I have that involve humanology at the moment. I'm a bit preoccupied as it is, so I'll have to help you tomorrow when you can give me some of the details. I'm… too tired to process that kind of stuff right now."

I shrugged. "I can live with that."

Mincinno narrowed his eyes, characteristically putting on his 'something smells fishy' face. "What's going on that's got you so preoccupied then? It's well known that you're a huge night owl, but this kind of binging just isn't healthy."

Mawile suppressed a yawn and stared blankly at him as she answered his skepticism. "You really wanna know why?" she asked dryly. Mincinno's own vigilant stare didn't shift an inch, and she sighed in acquiescence. "It's because of this whole stone thing. It's showing no signs of decelerating, and we still can't figure any of it out. Every lead has been a dud up to this point."

"Mawile, we need to be informed about this kind of thing," Mincinno argued. "You and Ampharos can't just leave the rest of us in the dark."

While he looked hardened in his convictions, his teammates didn't look too convinced. Vulpix had told me, after all, that she wasn't interested in dealing with this mysterious business in fear of being turned to stone herself. I personally wasn't sure how I felt about it, considering how I had really only heard rumors and stories about the disasters. Part of me wanted to be like Mincinno and dive in headfirst, milking the possibility that these strange incidents beginning around the same time I came to this world were more than just coincidental. Another part of me, however, wanted to avoid the issue… for the exact same reason.

Mawile glared with baggy eyes at Mincinno, who stood by the doorway facing her with his arms crossed. "Mincinno, your job as an explorer is to work in the field and do good for the Pokemon of the Water Continent. When Jirachi and I figure out the science behind these events, or I dig up some historical miracle that will pave the way, you can be rest assured that the rest of you will be sent to execute Project Chisel immediately. But until then, you'll just have to be patient." She shifted her gaze from him to me and Leah, and it softened into an apologetic gesture. "Oh, I forgot you two are new. You're probably wondering what Project Chisel is. Let me explain—"

Her summarization aligned pretty seamlessly with the one Vulpix had already given me. I assumed Leah hadn't heard it yet, though, as she took in every detail with piqued interest.

"So we're really going to be investigating this stuff?" Leah asked a little excitedly.

"At some point, you very well might," Mawile confirmed. "But don't get too worked up just yet, we still know very little about it. And from what little we do know, solving the issue probably won't be as simple as catching some petty criminal."

"Alright, fine. But always remember, we're here to help too." Mincinno answered. He turned to leave, but stopped himself and glanced over his shoulder at the bag-eyes researcher. "And Mawile... good grief, get some sleep. No offense, but you look like shit."

"Charming," Mawile mumbled, chuckling a bit to herself. She sat back down in her chair, leaning back to stretch her legs for a moment. Realizing the time, she waved us off as she let out yet another yawn, this one too hefty to hold in for manners' sake. We all got the memo and shuffled out the doorway one by one, before heading down to the first floor where our rooms sat waiting for our return. Before we split, Mincinno gathered us in a huddle in the center of the first floor meeting room for review.

"Okay, this mission pretty much went to shit as soon as that... we can call it a demon, right?" We all just shrugged, so Mincinno went with it. "—as soon as that demon recognized Sage here, and killed off the Pokemon we were trying to save. That part definitely could've gone better. But all in all, there isn't much any of us could've done to prevent that, so it can't be helped. As far as our journey through the actual dungeon went, you all performed nicely. We'll have to explain the unfortunate details to Ampharos tomorrow, but I'm sure he'll still recognize the work we did."

"Who's gonna do that?" Helioptile asked a little too loudly, earning him a soft jab from Vulpix to keep his voice down to not wake the others.

"We can work that out tomorrow," I said before Mincinno could answer. "For now, we just need sleep."

"Yeah, I'm with him," Leah concurred.

Mincinno nodded. "Alright, let's get to bed then. We can stress about all this then."

"Night you two," Vulpix yawned. "And good job today. Seems like Ampharos knew what he was doing when he let you both join."

"Yuh, we should totally pipe it up together more often," Helioptile suggested.

A smile spread across my face that was easily visible in the dim light. "We might just take you guys up on that."

"Goodnight everyone," Leah whispered behind her as our two groups parted down opposite hallways.

Mincinno nodded and fell into step with Vulpix and Helioptile. "G'night Leah. G'night human."

With all of the pressing matters at hand, I had come to ignore the weight of our new treasure bag on my shoulders. Now it felt like a hundred pounds was inside, and I sluggishly shrugged it off and tossed it by the wall where it and its contents settled in a disorderly heap. Leah and I collapsed onto our beds at the same time, and I heard the sound of feathers ruffling as she positioned her tail to curl over her exposed belly for warmth. I didn't have fur to keep me warm; my own anatomical temperature regulation was more of an internal thing… not that I felt very cold anyway.

I wanted to get to sleep right away, as I knew I would need my rest for tomorrow's duties. But there was just so much to process right now, from the so-called "demon", to the drought, to the stone incidents, and then just being in the Expedition Society in general. All of it swirled around in my head, and my initial attempts to lose consciousness fell to waste.

Even though we were living up to expectations so far, it had only been a handful of days and I was already starting to feel the effects of our labor. This was not quite like the misadventures in Serene Village where we could explore whenever and wherever we wanted and take elongated breaks to crack jokes or look at the clouds or sing silly tunes that originated from nowhere. This was a career right here, and it was just as tough as it was worth the effort.

I just hoped nothing would happen to change that. Because at the current moment, I wasn't really sure if anyone or anything around me was safe or not. Not after that thing made its presence known in a place that I had only gone to by chance since Team Carbon needed a couple of extra bodies to accompany them.

Uncomfortable in my current resting position, I shifted ever so slightly on my side as I continuously flipped and tossed the thought over and over in my head. I explored possible alternatives to the choices I had made in the past, and they really all led to the same blurry spot I was in now: surrounded by those who support me and care, and yet positively at a loss for what to do. I could only see myself moving forward at this point, hoping that I might be able to combat, or at the very least come to understand and eventually finesse, this enemy that refused to explain itself. Perhaps I could—

"Sage?"

The audible sound of a single voice beckoned my consciousness back to the level of reality, and I was keenly aware of myself and my partner in the dark bedroom. Leah's voice brought a medium of silence following its punctuation, and I shoved aside my thoughts to answer.

"Hm?" I murmured.

"You okay?" I rolled my head over to see that she had uncurled and was resting her head in her front paws, her orange eyes reflecting back some of the moonlight. "You're tossing and turning like something's bothering you... Want to talk about it?"

I supposed it was pretty obvious how much was on my mind, but I hadn't meant to be so obvious. If nothing else, I could've been more subtle about it… Oh well, I couldn't really blame Leah for having acute hearing with those big Fennekin ears of hers.

"I'm good," I dismissively whispered. "I'm just having a little trouble falling asleep, that's all."

There was a lengthy ripple in the brief conversation, and I had thought she had gone back to sleep. But then she spoke again.

"Sage? Do you... regret coming here?"

My eyes grew wide, and I grunted in surprise. "Wh-What? Do I… regret?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I—no. No, of course not." I reassured her in a hushed tone. "Why would you think that?"

"It just…" she began, before pausing to sigh. She positioned herself in her bed to sit up, thinking of ways to articulate herself. "It… seems like no matter where you go, there's something after you. It's like nature itself hates you for being human once. I thought running from Serene Village would allow you to escape that, but it ended up not mattering." She paused again, this time for longer. "So… do you regret that decision?"

"Leah… the reason I wanted to leave Serene Village was so no harm would come to the Pokemon there." Despite the heavy weight in my chest, I found it in myself to chuckle. "—And plus, I still had a promise to uphold."

"A… promise?"

"Remember? You said you wanted to be like the clouds."

"Oh! Yeah..." in the glow of the moon, I saw her face light up in the corner of my eye.

"So..." I said patiently, turning to look at her. "Do you feel like a cloud yet?"

She could not hold in an oncoming giggle, covering her mouth with a paw to keep from being too loud and possibly transmitting the sound through the walls into the other dorms. "Yes, I do. In a weird, non-literal way, I do."

"See? How could I regret this then?" I laid my head back down. "Forming this team with you is something I could never bring myself to regret. We've made it this far, and I can trust you more than anyone to get even further. For now, that's enough for me."

"…I'm glad to hear you feel that way," she mumbled after a pristine moment of silent sentiment had passed. "I needed to hear that. Just—just remember that I'll always be by your side too. I promise to help you figure out why you were turned into a Pokemon and had your memories stolen. You're right: we're a team, and nothing will change that."

I nodded and smiled. "Deal. And when we accomplish that goal, I'll get you all the chewing twigs you could ever want."

"Just get some sleep, Smugleaf," she scoffed. Still, she could not keep her own smile from carrying over into her tone of voice.

I closed my eyes in peace, my mind having settled enough to allow for exhaustion to take over. There would be plenty to worry about tomorrow, but for now I would embrace the nothingness that accompanied sleep.