"Thank you two so much." Abra smiles. "I thought I was going to be done for if you two hadn't come along."
At what was possibly a mere hour or two before the sun rose the trio of pokemon made it to halfway rock. Masters found one the only places open at this forsaken hour, a tavern built into the shadiest corner of the giant rock, and they had stopped by it to say farewell to the Abra. The curtains of every room are deep red, their glass thick. Lucario examines his arm in the purple lantern light while Masters speaks on the duo's behalf.
"Couldn't agree more. Say, did you always know your farm was home to…you know," Masters glances at the nonexistent crowds, "one of those things?"
"I had no idea, we just thought the water was special there. Our berry trees grew impeccably fast, and as a result we always had problems with feral bug types." Abra puts their head down, eyes shut tight. "The surge in bug-types is one thing, but when the big guy took the thing he agitated the lake. I thought it was just some flying mons preying on all the bugs, hoo boy was I surprised."
They sigh, looking around them. Their eyebrows twitch as if they're seeing something in the distance they can't. It's probably some psychic-type nonsense.
"I'll keep what happened there between all of us, you have my word." They extend a hand, Masters shakes it firmly. "Good luck. May the moon shine bright in your travels."
Lucario's ears twitch. That's a prayer he's never heard of before, must be for a patron of psychics like them. Both pokemon watch Abra till he vanishes into the sea of tents, and when they're gone, Masters looks to Lucario.
"How's your body?"
Lucario takes a look. Most of his fur has grown back over the long walk, though some patches are still scored black from the point-blank blast seeds. His legs are still tired, his arms are worn out, but he's not the shambling mound he was earlier. A sleep, more than anything else, will do him good.
"Could be better." Lucario groans. "You're not about to ask me to walk another two hours, are you? I think I'm gonna collapse."
"No." Masters flashes a small pouch he didn't have before, then nods towards the tavern's big purple door. "Your ex-boss was nice enough to pay for our room. Let's go, Luc."
As soon as Masters opens up the purple door, a dense, sweet smelling haze hits their nostrils. It's not bad, no, it's overwhelming. It makes Lucario following him light headed, and honestly a bit angry.
"Why does everywhere we go reek?" Lucario laments.
At least this place was furnished, unlike that wretched barn. The yellowish stone walls have been painted over with arrays of bright scarlets and deep violets. It's like walking into the sunset, if it reeked of this chemically sweet-smelling stuff. The dim lighting adds to the veneer of mystique and fancy this place has, and there's plenty of lounges in this main room alone for a pokemon to crumble asleep on. Most importantly of all was the selection of bottles behind the bar. Expensive stuff, probably. Lucario could go for anything at this point.
The pokemon behind the bar, this tall gray-ish lizard with violet serpent-like eyes, smiles at their arrival. Her tongue licks the hazy air.
"Welcome to The Shroud, what can I do for you two?" The Salazzle asks, grinning.
Lucario already didn't like the vibes this place gave off, the big lizard isn't helping. Masters steps up to the counter, dropping the sack of coins on the table.
"He and I need a room for tonight." Masters gestures between them..
"You're in luck, then." She chuckles, opening up something underneath the bar. "If you don't mind having no windows, there's a couples room way in the back with your names on it."
"A couple's room?" Lucario stutters out.
"It's one big bed for you two, nice and furnished. It's the only room we have with a Luminous Orb light, which you'll find a lot more vibrant than a usual lamp. Its glow will make you forget you're holed up in a windowless little nook in the wall. You can order some additional services too, if you'd like."
"We'll just take the room, thanks." Masters exchanges half the pouch's contents for their room key. It has a moon-shaped charm on it. "Once we've settled, me and my partner will be right back down for drinks."
"Partner?" Lucario stammers out. Masters taps him on the shoulder.
Masters basically drags Lucario up the narrow spiraling stairs to the second floor. Together they tredge down the velvet runway upstairs, making it to a thick looking door marked by a crescent blue moon. The key slides in, and the door opens to a quaint room.
The bed takes up the vast majority of the room, opposite of it is a display built into the wall - little reflective stars twinkling under a Luminous Orb moon. Masters instantly begins setting his thing on the one wardrobe, while Lucario throws himself on the fluffy scarlet bed. It feels like a cloud is caressing his back.
"Oh yeah! This is a great place!" Lucario sighs, watching Masters from the bedside. "Come on, try this thing out!"
Masters glances over his shoulder. His two bandoliers are all over the wardrobe, contents strewn about: a vial of a half-gobbled Elixir, a worn looking notepad, a seed, a coinpurse fistfulls of Iapapa and Colbur berries. There's no sign of the thing he had seen in his hat. When he turns around, it's impossible to unsee the thing jutting ever so subtly from behind his hat's dark metal quill.
"I'll try it out later." He says, taking the purse from the pile of his things. "I'm heading down for a few drinks, you can come or you can stay up here and snooze."
"I can go for some drinks, I had just thought you'd…" Lucario sits back up, folding his arms. "Look. Before we go I need to ask something because I saw something earlier, something in your hat."
"You mean this?" Masters pulls out the metallic quill before Lucario can stop him, fanning it out in the Orb's vibrant glow. The rolled up thing is nowhere to be seen, he must've palmed it, cheeky jerk. "It's a Corviknight plume, who're these big scary birds from lands afar - they're cousins to Skarmory, but way larger. People used their feathers to make armor when people still used to do those sorts of things. Skarmory feathers are still better, obviously."
"Wanna feel it?" Masters says, holding it out. "It's not sharp."
"I appreciate your history lesson 'M, but I'm not interested in your quill." Lucario points up to his hat. "You're hiding something else in there, stop playing with me! I'm pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating!"
"Maybe." He blinks, slowly stuffing the feather back into place. The look in his eyes is expressionless. Did Lucario hit his one and only nerve? "Let's go downstairs, you look like you can use a drink."
He's being swept under the rug, it's blatantly obvious. But Lucario isn't going to turn down an excuse to drink after the very long day he's had. Lucario stands up, and before he can touch the door, Masters stops him.
"You still got it on you?"
Lucario lifts his head to the side, revealing the Time Gear hanging from his neck like a noose. The frigid metal is attached to him by a piece of twine. It's as uncomfortable as it looks. His torn mailman's cape hides it out of sight.
With it confirmed safe in Lucario's possession, Masters lets him pass and down towards the bar the two pokemon go, the tavern below is as hazy and as empty as they left it. The chemical smell in the air is so strong it could've totally cleaned out the infested barn from earlier.
There are two booths down here, big booths, the ones with fancy red cushions people other than royalty don't usually purchase. Additionally, there appears to be rooms on the bottom floor as well, but these don't have the luxury of doors. Instead there's these giant red curtains hiding them away. None of these extra rooms look occupied. It's only these two explorers at this awful hour and the lady serving them.
"Sour stuff, please." Masters rolls up the bench in front of the bar.
"Spicy." Lucario says, sitting down next to him.
She prepares them each a glass, one having the pasty orange of a slightly distilled Iapapa drink, while the other's either some red Cheri or Spelon brew. Lucario can handle either. Both explorers take a first sip in unison while the Salazzle watches on, seemingly nothing else better to do.
"Are you two partners?" She asks nonchallantly, striking up conversation. "How do you two like the room up there?"
"The bed's nice." Lucario snorts. "We aren't partners though, it's-"
"Yeah, we are partners. Partners in crime, though what we do isn't crime per say." Masters puts on his signature, kindly smile. "We're more like business partners."
"Interesting. I thought you two were together." The Salazzle laughs back, purple smoke billowing from her nostrils, rising up and clinging to the ceiling. There's the source of the funny smelling air. "We get plenty of explorers as clientele. In all my time here I haven't seen a pair come through here who weren't just partners in the 'guild' sense. If you know what I'm getting at."
He should've guessed by curtains everywhere this tavern was one of those places, couples' places. Guess a roof overhead is a roof overhead no matter the added embrassment. The use of the word clientele begs the question.
"Your clients, right?" Lucario licks away the wine from around his mouth. "Is there a no snitching policy here?"
"Of course there is, silly." She looks at her claws, like she's about ready to slap him for insisting something so inane. "No place like this would stay afloat if they didn't have some form of policy. You can only imagine the sorts of things I've heard from explorers here; I began working for the gossip alone."
"Why else did I bring us here, Luc?" Masters sips.
"I thought you were doing this as a joke 'M! You called me your partner for Winter's sake!"
The Typhlosion's cheeks puff out. His eyes are bulgbing, and he barely manages to keep himself from spitting out his glass. He swallows his drink down like it's a bag of rocks, coughing just a tiny bit.
"No, no - I mean." Masters turns back to Salazzle. "I do appreciate your vibes here, fantastic place madam. But I only came here for confidentiality. Lucario and I are truly just business partners."
"Shush boy, you mustn't apologize. Sometimes you just need an ear, someone who will listen and never tell." She laughs softly, leaning back. Her chair there looks as lavish as the lounges themselves; mighty expensive. "I need to be here for business reasons, but if you need to talk, by all means talk. And if you need a drink, call on me."
Her tail flicks up a book from under the counter. If he had to take a guess from its bright cover, Lucario would guess it to be one of those cheap Guild-themed romance books. Although the smoke continues to billow out of her face like she's had a comically hot berry, she's otherwise fully immersed in her reading. They have their privacy.
Lucario takes a deep breath as Masters drinks from his glass unperturbed, he's almost done his first glass by time Lucario works up the courage to speak again.
"So, 'M. What did you mean about graduating?" Lucario taps his own shoulder, the cold metal brushing his fur. "You know, when you gave me the thing. You said I graduated."
"Remember what I said back in the Tavern in Calico?" Masters says, looking at his eyes. "You graduated from business friend to friend friend. I consider you my partner in crime now. You'd be my partner if you and I were an exploration team. That's a trust I don't hand out so freely. You've earned it, friend."
The way he says that makes Lucario feel all fuzzy inside. Lucario, despite all the truths Honchkrow laid bare and the quarrel they had below the lake, is worthy of this ghostly Typhlosion's trust. He didn't know if he should feel honored or not, but the feeling inside him isn't an unwelcome one. If he trusts him this much, what else is Masters willing to divulge?
"Oh, well, I guess I'll drink to becoming your friend. Didn't know being your friend was such a rare commodity."
Lucario raises his glass, Masters taps it with his own, they both nab a quick shot.
"It never used to be, you know." Masters put his glass on the table, laying his chin in his hands. "My life's complicated, and I don't take pleasure in talking about it. You can do me a favor by respecting that, Lu-"
Masters' eye suddenly darts in his direction, as if a thought has suddenly gain complete utter control of him
"Wait a minute, I can't keep calling you Lucario. What's your name?" The Typhlosion asks, his flames flaring with anticipation. "Lucario can't be your name. If we're going to be friends, you have to tell me!"
A dry feeling rushes up Lucario's throat, and he drowns it down with a spicy flush of Spelon Wine or whatever this stuff is. Lucario taps the table, and Salazzle puts her book down long enough to fill up his glass once more. When the last drop enters his glass she leaps back into guildie dreamland.
"There's a problem." Lucario taps his glass nervously. He can feel his face heating up. Was he this drunk already? "You see…er…"
"Don't tell me you don't have a name. Everyone's got something to call themselves, we all don't go by our species." Masters looks him up and down. "Heck, if you don't have a name we can always make one up for you. I just need something to call you if we're to be partners."
"I do have a name."
"Well then tell me, spit out already!." Master groans. "If I wanted to report you to the magnemite, I would've already. What's the worst that can happen?"
Caught between a Typhlosion and a hard place, he watches him finish his drink tap the bar.. Salazzle flicks Masters' glass into her hand with her tail, fills it up from the bottle behind her, then slams it down for him as she goes back to her books. Smooth moves for a lizard.
Lucario hits own glass up to his mouth, swigging down as much as he can of his cup as the overwhelming spice burns away any inhibitions he may have had. He needs this. Lucario burps, shuffles in place, does all manner of twitchy things before he finally surrenders to the prying eyes of his new friend. Here goes nothing.
"My real name is Rei."
"Rei? Really?" Masters rolls his eyes. "Oh c'mon Rei isn't a bad name, I was expecting something worse!"
"N-no, it isn't a bad name! It's just!" Rei stutters, and Masters guides Rei's hand to his glass, getting him to shut up by shoving another drink down his pipe. It takes him a good few seconds to digest the poison and to speak once more. "J-Just call me Lucario, okay! You can call me Rei when no one's around!"
"I don't get it through - what's so bad about your name?" Masters laughs in his face, swiveling around in his seat till he's facing him head on. "Rei's pretty bog standard for a fighting type."
"Shut up! I said not to say it! Arrgh!" Rei's hands fly up, as if he's trying to block the bullets which are the Typhlosion's probing and prying. "I said I didn't like it, okay? Rei's a stupid name, I don't care what you say!"
"Cmon, how is it stupid?" Masters is grinning from ear to ear. He's not going to stop asking. Lucario just gives sin.
"I didn't stick with my parents very long, they named me whatever! The Krows took me in, they're my real mom and pops. I guess they couldn't care to come up with anything original so they chose Rei." Rei smothers his temples. "I hate them for that, you know! Why not Aura? Why not Cobalt? Why not Riley? Why not Rick, Rio or Lucian?! Why not something cool and mysterious sounding!? It's like they knew I was gonna end up a stupid jobber for the 'Krows! Let Winter freeze those idiots! If I ever find them I'll-"
"Oh calm down, Rei! It's just a stupid name, you know?" Masters lays a hand on Rei's shoulder, trying not to laugh in his face. "You get to choose what the world remembers you by. I chose Masters, you can always pick something else if you don't like yours so much!"
"No, I'm sticking by Lucario! It's gonna be on my headstone if I don't suddenly come to this world as a Dusknoir or a ghost or something." Rei struggles to keep the glass on his lips, Master stills it for him. The rest of the liquor flushes down his pipe. "It's a personal thing - it's stupid, alright?"
"You're talking in circles." Masters taps the bar, and Salazzle refills the Typhlosion's glass. "Come on, it can't be because it's stupid."
"They named me Rei." Rei groans loudly. "Like Rei, as in Reiolu. It's a pun! They didn't care about the egg they ended up with! They let me out to dry, leaving me to be taken! They named me something stupid too! I hate it!"
Masters bursts out laughing. Oh goodness, he shouldn't have opened his mouth. It's the alcohol ain't it? He washes down the feeling with a tiny little sip of his glass. He'll lay off a wee bit.
"What about you then? You said you can choose your name, so is Masters your real name?" Lucario lays his drunken head on the table, poison gushing through his noggin. "Come on, it's gotta be something dumb too!"
"It is dumb. It's a pun like yours. My real name's Cole, Cole Masters. I'd rather you just call me Masters, Cole's just kinda silly." Masters is nowhere near as insecure as Rei about his name. He just takes a sip and calmly collects himself. "I'll keep calling you Luc, you can keep calling me 'M or Masters. Are we good?"
Rei agrees, better than being reminded of the stupid joke those Murkrow used to tease him with. His wine-addled mind tries to think of what else to ask after Master's not so grand reveal, and the only thing coming to the forefront of his mind was whatever Masters was hiding in his hat. It has to be personal if he's hiding it so much. He needs to find out one way or another and stealing it is plain rude and out of the question.
"Y-Yeah, we are totally good." Lucario slurs, shooting looks between Salazzle at Masters. "The thing in your hat, 'M, what was it?"
Masters leans forwards, slumping onto the table, his eyes are addled and wavering but he maintains this playful grin of his. He strokes his chin, looking up to the blurry looking ceiling.
"You only just now graduated, and I already told you my name sooo…" He bobs his head from side to side. "I'm gonna give you one question, one question to ask me, and one question I'll spill the beans about. It can be anything, I'll answer it truthfully! And if you think I'm lying you can pick any patron you can think of and I'll totally swear by them."
"Any question?" Rei raises an eyebrow.
"Any question." Masters nods enthusiastically.
Oh, did Rei have tons of questions. Like where he was from, why was he so good at fighting, what did he do before they met? He was wondering about the Typhlosion's name since he said it, and with that mystery crossed off the list there were two questions at the forefront of Rei's mind. He has a choice: either ask about what the sixth sense he used at the tavern, or what's the deal with the thing in his hat he's obviously hiding from him?
Rei's addled thoughts were in no place to think about this. If he had a coin, he'd flip it, but Masters has all his money. He's going to go with the first question to surface in his mind.
Rei bites his lip, those stupid brass teeth of his sticking out like a Bibarrel's chompers. The Salazzle seemingly sees the message carved into Rei's teeth from afar and chuckles to herself.
"Errr…" Rei rubs his head. "I was gonna ask about your sixth sense or whatever but something - maybe it's the Abra rubbing off of me - is telling me I'm gonna figure that out sooner or later. So you know what?"
He finishes his glass, slamming it down on the countertop. He spins in his seat, meeting the Typhlosion face-to-face. Rei points a big finger at Masters' plumed hat.
"What's that thing in your hat? Tell me! If I don't ask you right now you're gonna dodge it forever, so show me! Spill your secrets, magic Masters!"
There's a booming laugh - as the Typhlosion nearly falls face first onto the counter. He clacks his glass on the counter then reaches under his cloak, into his shoulder, and reveals one of the crinkles to be the rolled up thing hidden in plain sight. He holds it out, wriggling the rolled up cloth in front of him like it's a plaything. It's so tempting to snatch it, but the thieving Lucario manages to keep his drunken paws to himself.
"You know, you're gonna be the first pokemon since Minstrel I show this to right?." Masters nods at Salazzle in the back. "Except for her, she doesn't count."
"Oh no, I'm hardly listening!" She giggles from her chair."
"Okay, good! You, Luc, can consider yourself among the precious few who get to be one of my friend friends and the even rarer few who get to know about this silly thing of mine."
The Typhlosion keeps the cloth rolled up and in the Lucario's face. The tension is killing Rei. Both pokemon hold their breaths as Master's fingers part, unrolling the dark gray cloth before their eyes like it's a grand prize of sorts. What's in the cloth is not a relic of a mythical pokemon, it's not even an embarrassing letter or anything close. All that's on this piece of cloth is a faded symbol embroidered into it, a symbol with four distinct hooks and four "wings", the hook-like things spiraling while the wings fan out into the cardinal directions. The radial is unlike any mark Rei has seen before, truly one of a kind.
"Long time ago I became lost in the endless Sea. I woke up, alive on a beach. I didn't know who I was, where I was, or what I had done. I just remember there was this symbol burned into my mind and I drew onto the sand where I woke. Later, I hemmed it onto cloth."
"I woke to a Grass Continent that had moved on from me. Fifteen years I was gone, and it took one whole year to fully remember who I was. If I didn't remember this symbol I'd never remember the things I did when I was alive, I would've just become another shambling ghost. This symbol saved me from a forever of wandering."
His gaze is unflinching, Masters is pouring his heart out to him and if he dares look away he'll regret it forever. Master's breath is shaking. Rei rests a hand on his shoulder, resisting the urge to smother him with drunken sentimentality.
"Saving the world became attributed to the person who did me in. I'd hate him if he didn't set things right when I was gone, they even wrote ballads about his heroics, and if Minstrel didn't go looking for the truth it'd have been lost forever. I don't even think anyone believes Minstrel, they sure don't believe me."
He's a hero, the very person who the novel Salazzle's reading would star in. Masters is the real deal. He's got the fame, and the fortune, yet he's out here chasing gears as though he were any other broken explorer from lands afar. The situation bewilders Rei, and his words slip out.
"Why don't you go tell everyone?" Rei asks, slurring over his words. "Sell your story in a novel, make all sorts of coins!"
"I don't care about coins, I lost it all when I lost my body!" Anger spikes within Masters. Before it takes him, he lets the fires vent out with a sigh. "Everyone who knew about me in the Grass Continent has cemented their idea of me as this heroic guy who perished spreading peace. I met kids who were named after me. Do you know how many mini Coles are out there? More than one! What right do I have to tell those dads naming their sons after me was the stupidest thing they've done?"
Rei tugs on his shoulder, and the old Typhlosion practically melts into his chest. He barely manages to keep himself from falling off the counter, Masters' red eyes quiver as they hold off a river's worth of tears. He couldn't begin to think of what to say to this man, he could hardly process the tidal wave of information he threw into his Lap, yet alone what to say to someone crumbling before him. He's here for him regardless, holding the Typhlosion as the battle silently rages, and miraculously, the old Typhlosion has beaten the tide of tears - pulling away.
"Miss, I'm going upstairs." He drops the pouch onto the counter, coins spilling all over. "I need to rest. Good night."
The Salazzle wraps up the purse immediately, taking the coins which spilled out as hers while throwing the rest back to Rei. As Masters stumbles away she looks from her book into the Lucario's eyes.
"Keep it, and promise me you'll bring your friend back some other day." The Lizard closes her book. "His is more entertaining than any story I've heard here. That isn't something I say lightly."
"Gotchya. Rei says, swiping up the pouch. He waves goodbye, and follows Masters, stumbling up the spiral staircase.
Upstairs the crescent moon door is open, and inside was the Typhlosion, crumbled up into a ball with his hat on the floor. In his embrace was the blue plush whom he purchased from early. He's not using the blankets, and there's ample room for Rei to catch some shut eye without awkwardly brushing up against the ghostly Typhlosion.
Rei throws himself into bed, smothering himself into the red pillows.
"Good night." he mutters to the Typhlosion behind him.
Silence, not even a "you too", just the sound of a fully grown person trying not to cry.
/ Yes, the symbol is that symbol. Look at the art on the AO3 ver if you have any doubts. Both this chapter and the last were edited and written during the first few days of Nano.