When I woke up, I was wrapped around something warm and fluffy. I squinted my eyes open, adjusting to the bright sunlight streaming through the window. I was latched on to Alex, who was already awake. He had this deer-in-headlights look on his face, and he didn't move an inch. "Good morning." He turned his head slightly in my direction, but still stared straight up towards the ceiling.
"G-Good morning…" I detached from him, and he visibly deflated, like all the tension left his body.
"Sorry about latching onto you like that, hehe. I guess I did it in my sleep."
"S'okay." He sat up in bed with a stretch.
"How long have you been up for?" I stretched out my limbs under the covers, watching as my legs kicked up the blanket like a tent.
"Just a little bit." I looked out the window. The light that came in was much more abundant than our guild room with that small little window. It felt nice to wake up in a real room, in a real bed. I pushed the covers off of my upper body and reveled in the feeling of sunlight against my fur. My fur had an almost translucent quality in the sun, making it look quite pretty. I glanced over at Alex and caught him looking at my body. He quickly looked the opposite way. Maybe he noticed the same thing I did?
"Ready for our adventure today?" He turned back to face me with a smile.
"Yeah!" I was surprised by his confidence. Wasn't he nervous yesterday about it? I guess he got over it. Anyway, I was glad that he was as excited as I was for our first real mission. "Should we go to the market first, or should we go after?" I did a mental tally of our inventory. It wasn't likely to be a very long or difficult dungeon, so the materials we had now would probably be sufficient. Plus, if we went to the market after we'd have more time.
"I think we're good on items. We can go after." He nodded.
"Emilia, Alex! Are you two awake?" A voice in the distance called. It sounded like Alex's dad. "Breakfast is ready!" Breakfast?! I couldn't remember the last time that I had a decent breakfast…
"Coming!" He hopped off the bed, and I followed his lead. I salvated at the delicious smell I could smell even from upstairs. Mom and dad were already seated at the table. Each setting had a plate stacked with pancakes with a cut of butter melting over the top and syrup drizzling down. I rushed ahead of Alex and sat down, eager to start eating.
"Sleep well?" Dad directed his question towards me, but shot a look behind me towards Alex. I couldn't see his reaction.
"Yeah! Man… lemme tell you, there's just something about a real bed that does wonders for a night's sleep. I feel reborn." He chuckled. The entire house was beautifully illuminated by the morning light. It felt like a scene straight out of some fairytale.
"Did Alex sleep on the floor, then?" Alex finally sat down next to me, but seemed to freeze up when his dad asked that question.
"Of course not, I'm not that cruel. The bed was plenty big for the both of us. It's fine; I don't know Sleep Talk!" I laughed at my own joke, and mom thankfully joined in. Alex must not have heard my joke, because he was focused on his pancakes and poking at them with his fork. He had an indiscernible expression on his face, clearly avoiding eye contact with his dad across the table. He had a sly smile and was lowering his head a little to be in Alex's line of sight. I was a little confused, but I wrote it off as some family thing and turned my attention to the pancakes that had too long been uneaten. The deliciously sweet flavor spread through my mouth with the first bite. I closed my eyes in satisfaction. A warming sensation filled my insides. I wolfed down the rest of the pancakes and learned back into a ray of sunlight through the garden door. Even though I had just woken up, the sensation of the warm sunlight on my fur and the food in my belly made me want to curl up and take a nap right there.
"Are you done? We should probably head out so we can get to the market before it's too late." My moment of bliss ended when I realized what we had set out to do today. I groaned a little and climbed to my feet. At some point, Alex had finished his own food. I had been too engrossed in mine to pay attention to him. He had already strapped on the backpack with our stuff and looked ready to head out.
"Yeah… I guess. Thank you for the breakfast!" I dipped my head slightly in appreciation.
"My… you two remind me so much of us in our youth. Good luck on your adventure today. I know you'll do great." I wove my paw, and left through the door with Alex. I squinted into the morning sun that sat unobstructed in the sky.
"So, where to?" He unfolded the map from his backpack and squinted at the map.
"I think if we head east from here, we should see it." There was a path that led east from the house into a community of houses. If we passed through there, we should be closer to the waterfall. As we passed through the neighborhood, I noticed that a lot of the houses were identical in exterior. They all looked different from Alex's house.
"Hey, why do all these houses look different than yours?"
"Our parents had our house specially commissioned. Most of these houses are built by the town, but ours was built from an independent party." My head swam at all of the complicated vocabulary he used, but I got the general idea. As I thought, Alex's parents must be super wealthy. Would we be rich when we were older, too? I kinda liked the sound of that.
"Are we gonna be rich like your parents?" He laughed.
"We can only hope. Some rescuers barely make it by, others make a fair wage, and the top tier rescuers tend to make the most money, since their services are in high demand." Since I was poor as a human, hopefully I would get a second chance at wealthiness as a Pokemon. That sounded strange when I thought about it. Wealthiness seemed like something that wouldn't really matter to Pokemon. Nor did civilized society, for that matter.
"Do all Pokemon live in houses?" He shook his head.
"Some choose to, but others just live in the woods or in bodies of water. The government sanctions space for Pokemon who like to live that way." It was interesting to learn how complex Pokemon society was. We had a bunch of walking to do, so I decided to continue asking him questions.
"Are there police here?"
"Yeah. The rescue society and the police often work together, actually. Criminals apprehended in dungeons or elsewhere by the rescue society get taken in by the police. The police also lend us help in exchange when we need something from the government or any resource that we don't have access to." I tilted my head.
"Do police not go into dungeons?"
"As a general rule, Pokemon are discouraged from entering a mystery dungeon without good reason. Of course, accidents happen, which is why we exist. But, yes, police can go into dungeons. They just typically don't. If a criminal flees into a dungeon, they commission the rescue society to apprehend them." True, it did seem like mystery dungeons were slightly too dangerous for the average Pokemon, but it was strange to me why the police couldn't go in. Weren't they trained for that?
"Are the police not trained to enter dungeons?" He tilted his head back and forth, weighing the question in his head.
"...kinda. The police are trained more on detaining, rather than fighting. It's hard to get through a dungeon without being trained to fight, especially some of the more difficult ones." That made sense. I thought if I had any more questions. Oh, right. There had been one question I'd been trying to get an answer to since yesterday.
"How are eggs made?" He almost tripped over his own feet. He rubbed his paw against his forehead.
"Sorry, I can't answer that one. You might have to find that out yourself." I tried to hold back my frustration. It seemed like everyone knew the answer, so why wouldn't anyone tell me? I sighed, getting rid of my anger. It wasn't productive to be angry about it.
"If you can't answer it, where can I find the answer?" He looked uncomfortable, but gave it some consideration.
"...when we get back to Treasure Town, you can visit the library. There's probably a book about it." I wasn't thrilled about having to read about it when someone could just tell me the answer, but I figured a trip to the library might not be the worst thing anyway. It might be good to brush up on some general geography and history of this place, now that I was living in it. We spent the rest of the walk in silence. Eventually, a waterfall could be seen in the distance. As we got closer, I recognized the familiar little landing in front of the waterfall. We'd have to jump through to get to the dungeon. We stopped in front of the waterfall. "I wonder what's strange about this place? It seems to be a perfectly regular waterfall." He reached a hand out into the roaring water and immediately pulled back on contact. "Woah! That's a strong flow… you should feel it." I took a deep breath. I was probably going to get a dizzy spell after I touched the water. I tentatively reached out a paw and touched the water. Like Alex said, it was really strong. Could we really jump through this. My head started to pound. I sat down with a groan. "Emilia? Are you okay?" I couldn't answer. My vision was starting to go dark.
In my vision, I saw a dark figure jump through the waterfall to the other side. Of course, the figure was Wigglytuff, who had visited this place previously. That's how he knew there was a dungeon here. The vision faded, and my regular vision started to return. Alex was standing over me concerned. "Are you okay? What happened?" I hesitated how to go about telling him this.
"Remember when I had a vision that told me Azurill was in trouble?" He nodded. His brow was furrowed in confusion, but he knew better than to ignore me. "I just had another one. We have to… jump through the waterfall. The dungeon is on the other side." I purposely left out the details about seeing a figure jump through. I wanted him to think we were the first ones there.
"Are you crazy?! Didn't you feel how strong the current was? T-There's no way we could jump through!" He started to tremble a little bit.
"You have to trust me on this. There's a dungeon on the other side for sure. We can make it, but you have to trust me. You can't hesitate here." He looked panicked back and forth between me and the roaring waterfall. He took a deep breath.
"Okay. Okay. I trust you. And… I know that I'm not very brave. If it was just me, I would never be able to jump through." He looked at me with a nervous grin. "But, if you're with me… I think I can do it." I smiled.
"That's the spirit! Hey, if we die, we die together this time!" The look on his face told me that the joke did not come through the way I had hoped. "Well, no time to think about it. Ready? Three…" I turned to face the waterfall, getting in a running stance.
"W-Wait!"
"Two…" Alex scrambled to get in position next to me. I could tell he was doing his best to be brave. "One!" We took off, getting a running jump through the waterfall. The water crashed down on top of me, and for a moment I thought I was a goner. But, I came out the other side and sprawled out onto the floor of a cave, just as I expected. Alex was right next to me, rubbing his knees from the harsh impact on the stone.
"Ouch…" He finally looked up from his knee at the cave we landed in. The waterfall behind us cast a blue hue on the gem-covered walls. They were more likely to be pretty stones, but I'd like to think they were gems for the magic. "Hey, you were right! There actually is a cave here…" He looked around in awe, hopefully awe of the pretty cave and not awe that we didn't die thanks to me.
"Of course there is." I lifted my chin up smugly.
"That ability of yours is really useful. Imagine what kind of hidden dungeons we could find with that ability!" He was right; the possibilities for it excited me.
"Yeah… but it seems pretty random. I don't know how it is triggered or what triggers it."
"Hmm… maybe we'll come across someone who knows about it eventually." I sighed. We would, of course, but it wouldn't be who I wanted it to be. Dusknoir was certainly going to complicate things, but that was a problem for another day. For now, we had a dungeon to explore!
"Well, let's get going, shall we?"
"Yeah!"
Waterfall Cave, appropriately named for its position behind a waterfall, wasn't too difficult. It was mostly water types, which we were both neutral against. Our new moves proved to be quite powerful, and made short work of most of the Pokemon we encountered. It wasn't long before we reached the end of the cave. The cave spanned seemingly infinitely horizontally. I got an anxious feeling in my chest when I realized why that was. At the back of the cave, there was a gem (a real one this time) encrusted into the rocky cave wall. Alex ran up to it, inspecting it from every angle.
"Look, Emilia? Think we could take this back as our first real treasure from a dungeon?" He grabbed hold of it and pulled hard, but the gem hardly budged. If he was a fighting type having a hard time pulling it out, I would have no chance. "It won't budge… any suggestions?" He called out, still tinkering with the gem.
"Have you tried…" a distinct click sound could be heard as Alex pushed in the gem, "...pushing it in." I heard a faint roaring in the distance. I couldn't tell if Alex just didn't hear it, or wasn't paying enough attention, but he didn't react. I stepped closer to him, mentally and physically bracing myself for a rollercoaster ride from hell. I could see the water now rushing down through the cave. It looked shallow enough so that we wouldn't be drowning, at least. I gently tapped him on the shoulder. "One sec, I think I might be able to pull it loose." I tapped him more urgently.
"You might wanna look up." He whipped his head around, clearly irritated that whatever it was couldn't wait a bit. I pointed in the direction of the water that was now alarmingly close. His eyes widened when he saw it. He scrambled to his feet.
"R-Run!" I ran after him, but I already knew that we wouldn't make it. The water slammed into my side, sweeping me along in its current. Surprisingly, the water was quite warm. If not for the struggle trying to keep my head above water, I may have enjoyed this. I felt a hand grab at one of my legs from under the water, which must've been Alex. When he made contact with me, he grabbed on. I couldn't tell if it was to anchor himself or make sure we didn't separate. It would be nice to think of the ladder. After a few painful minutes, the current started to lessen until it was like a lazy river. The walls of the cave disappeared, opening up into sunlight. The water ran off a little ledge, leading to the both of us falling with an unimpressive splash into a pool of water beneath. It was just shallow enough for me to get solid footing. My head was spinning still when Alex resurfaced next to me, letting go of my paw.
"Ugh… are you alright?" I asked, trying to stabilize my spinning vision. He was rubbing his paws against his head.
"I think so…" The backpack on his back was drenched in water. I certainly hoped that those things were waterproof…
"Oh my, are you two youngsters alright? You must've had quite a fall." I looked in the direction of the voice, finally getting a grip of the world around me. A wrinkled Torkel approached us, moving about as slowly as he spoke. There were a couple of other Pokemon around, all who looked at us with curiosity.
"Yeah… where are we?" I looked around. We seemed to be in some circular hot spring. It was almost like the bath back at the guild.
"This is the Hot Springs. How did you two come to be here?"
"We came from the waterfall. A current of water deep in the cave behind it swept us here." After a few moments, the Torkle furrowed his brow. It was like even his reactions were slowed.
"A waterfall, you say…? Do you have a map, perchance?" Alex reached into the sopping wet backpack and pulled out the map, completely dry. I breathed a sigh of relief. Alex unfurled the map and pointed out a spot on the map for the Torkle.
"We came from here." He stared at the spot where Alex pointed, and his eyebrows slowly raised.
"That is quite a ways away from here! The water must have carried you far. Here is where we are." He raised a digit painstakingly slowly and pointed at a spot on the map much further east than the waterfall that we were originally at. He was right; it was pretty far away.
"No way…" Alex looked back up at where we fell from as if trying to gauge the distance we traveled through the water. One thing was for sure, it'd be a pain to walk back. I could tell by the nervousness on his face that he was worried about it.
"Isn't this kinda amazing, though? Not only did we discover a hidden mystery dungeon behind the waterfall, but we also found a mechanism that brings us all the way over to the Hot Springs. I would say that constitutes a successful mission!" He grinned, sharing my excitement.
"You're right. I bet Chatot will be psyched!" I beamed back at him.
"Oh my, you two are with the guild? I neglected to introduce myself; I'm Torkel, the elder of these hot springs."
"I'm Emilia, and this dummy is Alex."
"Hey!" I stuck my tongue out at him. Torkel chuckled.
"Well, you two youngsters are welcome for as long as you'd like." He turned around, and moved as slow as molasses back towards the other side of the hot springs. The other Pokemon slowly returned to their own conversations. I submerged half of my snout under water, watching as bubbles rose to the surface.
"So? Are we going to start heading back?" I groaned, which sounded choppy coming from under the water. He might be physically sturdy, but I wasn't. Parts of my body ached still from jumping through the waterfall and the rough ride we had to get here. So forgive me if I wasn't jumping at the chance to get moving again. He was looking at me expectantly. I lifted my snout just high enough above the water so I could speak.
"...Can we not stick around for a little? My body isn't made of rock, you know."
"We can, but we probably won't make it in time to visit the market." I sighed again. As much as I didn't want to start moving, I did want the chance to visit the market.
"Alright… let's get going then."
Without a towel to dry off, it felt like I was carrying 100 pounds of extra weight on the way back. I tried to shake off the water, but it only helped so much. The sun beating down overhead did help dry me off a little as we were walking. I briefly wondered if I would ever have to like, trim my fur or anything. At last, the gates to the market were in sight. The sun had mostly dried me off, leaving me only mildly damp in some places. The market was surrounded by walls on all sides with a couple of openings for carts and pedestrians. The gate we were heading towards was guarded outside by a Raichu and an Empoleon. They didn't take much interest in us as we passed through. I felt their eyes linger a little on my pale fur, but they eventually turned away. The experience was a little unnerving. Now inside the gates, it was abundantly clear how much more active Dewdrop Town's market was compared to Treasure Town's. The market itself was huge, spanning out in all directions. Pokemon on foot and the occasional Pokemon on a cart pulled by a Mudsdale ran through the cobblestone streets. Vendors occupied every free space on the side of the street, selling all sorts of items from foods to accessories to items for battle. Little alleyways opened up connecting streets, too small for carts to pass through but just large enough to take as a shortcut for a pedestrian. It was a lot to take in at first glance. Alex moved in front of my view and faced me.
"So, we're at the market. Do you have somewhere you want to go, or do you just want a tour?" His voice rose above the clamor of the market. I considered my options. The market was far too expansive to explore in entirety in one day, so it would be best to have a goal in mind going through.
"For starters, why don't we get something to eat?" It had been awhile since breakfast, and the amount of walking we did today made quite a dent in my belly. He grinned.
"I'll show you to my favorite place to eat here." He turned around and started walking through the streets. I followed close behind him so we didn't get separated. I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched as we moved through crowds of Pokemon. I guess it wasn't everyday that you saw a shiny Eevee. I tried to focus on the vendors that we passed by. A lot of them were generally uninteresting, but one of them caught my eye. It was a quaint little shop run by a Carbink at the counter. She was selling all sorts of jeweled accessories, mostly bands that looked similar to the one Alex's mom had worn. One of them in particular stood out to me. A rose gold band encrusted with gold-colored gems. She caught me staring and flashed me a grin. I looked away, embarrassed. As a human, I hadn't really had the opportunity to wear things like jewelry. I hadn't realized I had stopped moving until Alex tapped a paw on my back. I looked up in surprise and saw that he had followed my gaze to the jewelry store. "Something caught your eye…?" I started moving again, refusing to make eye contact. He followed close behind.
"N-No, that would be silly… besides, I don't think anything like that would suit me." He hummed inquisitively.
"Really? I thought they were quite nice." Idiot! I was obviously lying to save myself, so why did he have to say the thing I most wanted to hear? I just shook my head and kept moving. I realized I had no idea where I was going, so I slowed down a little and let him take the lead. The other shops seemed less interesting now that I had seen the jewelry store. I almost ran into Alex when he stopped abruptly in front of a store. "Here's the place!" The exterior was plain. A sign on the door read "Vincenzo's." Alex pushed open the door and walked in without hesitation. I hurried in behind him. Immediately, I was hit with the wonderful aroma of garlic and Italian cooking. Or, I guess not quite Italian. Did ethnicities even exist here? Regardless, it was quite an enticing smell. The room was empty, though, spare for a couple of customers quietly dining and chatting amongst themselves. The sound of pots and pans clanging together could be heard from further back in the restaurant. "Hello? Vincenzo?" A few moments later, a tall Machamp carrying a pot full of sauce in one hand dressed in a white apron opened the curtain that connected the kitchen and the dining room.
"Why, isn't it Alex!" He turned back towards the kitchen. "Boys! Alex is back! And he's brought a cute girl with him!" A chorus of voices erupted from the kitchen, and a couple of Pokemon snuck glances through the curtain at us. I felt a little put on the spot. Vincenzo turned back towards us. "So? Who's the pretty lady?" I glanced at Alex to see if he was gonna answer, but he was looking a little too flustered.
"I'm Emilia! Alex and I formed a guild team together." I nudged Alex with my leg to snap him out of it.
"T-That's right! A guild team! Nothing more!" Vincenzo hummed suspiciously as he eyed Alex.
"A guild team you say? So you finally did it, eh?" Alex regained some of his confidence as he not-so-subtly stuck out his chest to accentuate his badge.
"Yup! And we're already bronze ranked!"
"Attaboy! You two take a seat. Two of the usual, I assume?" Alex nodded, and Vincenzo disappeared behind the curtain.
"Anywhere you want to sit?" I thought about it. It might be fun to sit by the window and look at the kinds of Pokemon passing by.
"Let's sit by the window." I followed him to a table by the window away from the other customers at the table. It was my first time at a restaurant in this world, so I didn't really know what to expect. When we were seated, I asked, "so who's Vincenzo?" He rubbed his head sheepishly.
"He's a friend of the family. He's like an uncle to me." I hummed curiously and shifted my eyes towards the window. From the safety of indoors, the chaotic marketplace was quite lively and interesting. A Cherubi hopped after his buizel friend, a Delphox carried her baby Fennekin in her arms, a pair of Beautifly hovered over the crowd. I was surprised I recognized even the more obscure Pokemon. Everyone looked content around each other. I continued to watch Pokemon pass by for a while.
"Do you know every species of Pokemon?" I asked, without turning my gaze away from the street.
"Yeah, I'd say so. Why do you ask?"
"Then, if I asked you who Palkia was, would you know?" I glanced over to check his reaction. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"I don't remember learning about any Pokemon called Palkia. Is that a real Pokemon?"
"I think so."
"Huh. What kinda Pokemon is Palkia?" I broke my gaze away from the window and focused on our conversation.
"Palkia is thiiiis big! He's a legend that controls space." I spread out my paws to exaggerate how big he is. Alex seemed interested in what I was saying.
"A Pokemon like that really exists? How do you even know about Palkia?" I tilted my head.
"It's like how I can recognize most Pokemon. I have that knowledge, but I don't remember how I've learned about them. It just pops up in my head, I guess." He nodded understandingly. It pained me lying to him, but the lies had piled up too high to go back at this point.
"So, what other legends do you know?" He looked like a child about to receive a Christmas present. Did Christmas exist here?
"Well, Palkia is actually part of a trio. There's also Dialga, the one who controls time. And maybe even lesser known is Giratina, the one who controls the underworld." His eyes glistened at new information.
"I've never heard of any of them. I understand why Palkia and Dialga exist, but what purpose does Giratina serve? What does the underworld… do?" I hesitated to share all the information I had, but the way he looked at me… I couldn't just tell him I don't know.
"Hmm… well, imagine a coin. A coin has two sides, right?" He nodded. "One side can't exist without the other side. So our side, or our world, is one where time and space are ordered by Dialga and Palkia. The underworld, or the other side, is a place where time and space doesn't exist. Giratina rules over that world."
"That makes sense. I'd never thought about our world like that…" He trailed off, deep in thought, before snapping back to attention. "They must be really powerful Pokemon then! I hope we get to meet them, one day…" He lost himself in his thoughts again. Oh, we would… just not under ideal circumstances, to say the least… I hadn't even realized someone was beside us until a plate was set down in front of me. There was pasta that was somewhat similar to penne covered with a bright red tomato sauce that made my mouth water. I couldn't help but marvel at the sight of it as an identical second place was set down in front of Alex.
"Is it to your liking, young miss?" Vincenzo grinned proudly at my wondered expression. I nodded my head vigorously.
"Yes, very much so! Thank you!" He did a slight bow, hardly concealing his radiant smile.
"I'll leave you two to chow down." He retreated to the kitchen, humming happily on his way. I was touched by the way he genuinely strived to please his customers. Alex already began digging in while I strapped on my utensil. I stabbed a couple pieces with my fork and brought it to my mouth. The noodles had a wonderful bite to them that you just couldn't find in store bought pastas. The rich and acidic flavor of the sauce coated my tongue, perfectly complimenting the homemade pasta. Needless to say, the pasta did not remain on the plate for long. Alex finished before me and excused himself to the bathroom. I thought it was a little curious that he brought his bag with him, but I was a little too absorbed in the pasta to pay it any mind. I finished and sat back with a satisfied sigh.
Now that I was finished with my meal, I realized how much time had actually passed since Alex had left for the bathroom. Maybe he had stomach problems or something. I stared down at the splotches of red that dotted my plate, wistfully remembering the pasta it once held. After a little more waiting, Alex burst through a door leading towards the back of the restaurant, panting slightly. I stared at him strangely as he hurried back to our table.
"S-Sorry, I'm back." He was still slightly out of breath when he took his seat. I thought briefly about questioning him about the situation, but held back.
"Nah, I just finished. You're good." He grinned slightly, catching his breath.
"Good right? Uncle Vincenzo makes the best pasta in town."
"I don't doubt that." I patted my slightly bulging belly for emphasis.
"Well, shall we get going? I think if we set out now, we should be able to make it back for dinner. Plus, it'll be nice to report our findings to Chatot." I nodded, biting back a remark about the difficulty of the return home. Alex grabbed a couple of coins out of his bag and set them down on the table and stood. I followed his lead as he walked to the exit of the restaurant. "Bye Uncle Vincenzo!" The machamp poked his head from behind the curtain.
"Thanks for the food! It was delicious!" I added. He cracked a smile and disappeared behind the curtain once more.
"Be safe out there kids."
After bidding a quick (and embarrassingly tearful) goodbye to Alex's parents, we were back on the road towards Treasure Town. In the short time we had spent with each other, I had already gotten quite attached to his parents. I hoped we would meet again sometime in the near future. Alex and I made small talk on the way, keeping me from being too bored by the relatively flat landscape. By the time Treasure Town was in sight, the sun was setting on the horizon, lighting up the sky in a gorgeous orange hue. The temperature had cooled, too, and a soft breeze blew gently through my fur. Although I had been impatiently awaiting our arrival back, I found myself wishing the walk could be extended somehow. I turned my head as Alex cleared his throat.
"Erm, before we go back, wanna head to Sharpedo's Bluff again for a bit?" He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it shortly after.
"I was just thinking what a wonderful evening it is! Yes, let's!" He smiled, but his brows were furrowed in concern. I was about to ask, but figured I could at least wait till we got there. We walked through Treasure Town, where a few people lingered around chatting about or making purchases. In comparison to Dewdrop Town's market, I had to say it felt a little underwhelming. How many times will I be amazed in the future, in this unknown world I have come to inhabit? I laughed a little, imagining myself being surprised again and again. Alex looked at me strangely, but I just shook my head. We made our way to the cliff and started up the path towards the bluff. I gazed at the stone teeth with an odd sense of melancholy. It was only a couple days ago that I had been up here with Alex, sobbing like a baby. I walked closer to the opening and peered down at the waves crashing against the cliffeside below. I'd been through a lot the last couple of weeks, waking up in a new body, almost dying, going on missions… but standing here, with the breeze running through my fur, the sound of the waves crashing filling my ears, the shimmer on the ocean from the setting sun… I felt glad that I was here. "Hey, Alex-" I turned around, catching him fumbling around in his bag for something. When he saw I was looking, his eyes widened in panic.
"A-Ah! You're not supposed to look yet! Turn back around!" Bewildered, I turned back towards the ocean. I tried to focus in on the scene again, but my mind was preoccupied with what Alex was doing. What wasn't I allowed to see? "O-Okay… you can turn around." He sounded nervous. I turned to face him. He kept glancing off to the side, unable to maintain eye contact with me. His mouth was set in a nervous frown. He was down on one knee, holding a small box in his outstretched hands. I stood there stunned for a bit, unsure of how to react to the scene. "Go on, t-take it…" he pushed his hands towards me. I sat down and grabbed the box with my front two paws. The outside of the box had a nice velvety texture that made me think the insides were something expensive. I tentatively set the box on the ground and opened it. In the box was the band that I had been eyeing earlier at the market. The gold stones glittered in the light of the setting sun. I was at a loss for words. It felt like I had a million things to say, but when I tried to put it into words, I couldn't get a coherent sentence out.
"It's… beautiful," I settled for. It really was beautiful. I could see my stunned face reflected back in the smooth rose gold surface of the band. It had caught my eye back in the marketplace, but up close it was even prettier. "You saw me looking at it?" I flushed, embarrassed at being caught in my silly admiration.
"Yeah. I went to buy it while we were at the restaurant. Do you… like it?" I smiled, putting aside my bashfulness in face of his endearing consideration.
"I love it! Will you help me put it on?" He nodded, and grabbed the band out of the box. He knelt down by my legs and clamped it around my front left leg. It didn't feel uncomfortable at all, despite my reservations about it initially. I waved my leg around a little to see how it felt, but it never put me in discomfort. Alex was watching me with hesitant happiness. "Not that I'm not eternally grateful, but what's the occasion?" He swallowed hard before responding.
"Well, um, I know we haven't really been exploring together for that long, and this was our first major expedition, but um, I really enjoy spending time with you." He finally stopped glancing around and met my gaze. "It's… well, it's a promise band." I tilted my head slightly.
"Promise band?" He looked surprised for a moment, but quickly refocused.
"It's basically a promise that we'll be together for a long time." It felt like all of my breath left my lungs. A strange tingly feeling in my core that I've never felt before simmered in my stomach. It was like feeling anxious, excited, nervous, and happy all at the same time. I wanted it gone, but at the same time, it was strangely endearing. As much as I wanted to pick apart this feeling, I threw aside all of my thoughts. This moment would be something I would cherish for the rest of my life; there was no need to ruin it with useless thoughts. I grinned and tackled him to the ground.
"Good, cuz like it or not, I'm with you forever!"
After our emotional moment, we started down from Sharpedo Bluff and back towards the guild. By the time we left, the sun had already set, and the dark sky was filled with hundreds of tiny little stars. Without the light pollution of the city, each and every star in the sky was clearly visible. It was truly a sight to behold. The guild had quieted down significantly at night. Many were already in bed ready to rise for an early morning. I followed Alex all the way down to the bottom floor, where Chatot was pacing about impatiently, mumbling into some paperwork in his feathers. When we climbed down, he looked up from his paperwork.
"Ah, you two! Welcome back! So, how was the exploration, do tell!"
"Believe it or not the waterfall hid access to a mystery dungeon!" He looked genuinely surprised at this.
"A mystery dungeon hid behind a waterfall?! Please, elaborate!" It looked like he was getting worked up by the way his feathers were twitching. I nodded and grabbed the wonder map from Alex's backpack.
"So, here's where the waterfall is, right?" I pointed to the spot on the map where a little image of a waterfall could be seen. "We jumped through the waterfall, and on the other side is actually a little cave that leads to a mystery dungeon." I pointed to the cave revealed nearby that had appeared on the map when we stepped foot into the dungeon. "At the end of the dungeon, there was this gem embedded in the wall. When we pushed it, a huge torrent of water swept us away! It brought us all the way…" I trailed my finger across the map to the location of the hot springs, "...here, which is a hot spring. We spoke with the elder Torkoal there, who told us that he had never seen such a phenomenon." I tucked the map back into Alex's backpack.
"Wonderful, wonderful you two! Absolutely stunning discovery!" Alex and I shared a grin at each other, and a small high five. "I knew I saw potential in you two! As a reward, you can have tomorrow off. I will inform Loudred not to wake you in the morning." I was filled with elation that I wouldn't have to wake up to a splitting headache. And even though our trip to Dewdrop Town did feel pretty leisurely, I wasn't going to complain about a day off.
"Thank you Chatot!" Alex seemed to share my sentiment.
"No, thank you two! It is not often that new mystery dungeons like this get discovered! It was quite a feat that you two have accomplished. Now please, get some rest. You've earned it after your journey." Chatot took off, mumbling excitedly to himself. It was difficult to tell with all the administration work he does, but Chatot was really an explorer at heart, too. Alex and I retired to our room, opting to bathe tomorrow instead. We were both exhausted, and we had at least bathed in the hot springs earlier that day. I settled into my straw bed, trying not to think too deeply about how much better a real bed was now that I had experienced it.
"Chatot was really happy to hear about our discovery. I didn't think he was capable of such excitement!" I giggled.
"Well, he did have a point. It isn't often that new mystery dungeons are discovered, and even more rare something as exciting as that. Not many explorers would risk jumping through a waterfall, but with your ability…" he trailed off. "Sorry we couldn't learn anything about your ability. Maybe the library might have some information about it."
"Hey, no sweat. We have all the time in the world to get a good feel for it, right? This is just the beginning of our adventures." He smiled at me, face illuminated by the moonlight streaming in from the window.
"That's right. Good night, Emilia."
"Good night, Alex."