"HONK!"

The sound of Altair's familiar honking drew the attention of Fort Lucus' nightguard. Marianne sprung from the trees alongside the Druddigon and Bellossom pair, Emile and Margot. The Luxray narrowed her glowing eyes and peered through the thick leaves, scanning the grounds around the fort.

Her eyes widened upon spotting the targets. It was the returning rescue team, and with an injured Blitz being carried by Brooklyn.

"Margot, prep the elevator. Blitz's party has returned."

She saluted. "Roger, ma'am!" She jumped from the branches and into the fort.

Emile crouched down beside Marianne and glared. "How are they?"

"They're alive as far as I can tell, though Blitz is pretty banged up. Looks like they completed their mission, thankfully."

He grunted. "As thankfully as we can be."

"Leave the rest to our esteemed leaders. I'm sure they know what they're doing." Marianne closed her eyes and sighed. For everyone's sake, I hope so.

The morning rolled around, and news of the returning rescue party sparked commotion across the fort. Foresters were barred from entering the medical hut as to not crowd Blitz, though there were so close encounters with the persistent Saga trying to ascertain details.

With the medical hut locked up, Shade focused on attending to Blitz's condition. Thanks to Shingo applying first aid beforehand, the worst of Blitz's injuries were treatable. He spent a good chunk of the morning removing any metal fragments from the skin and stitching up any stubborn wounds.

Aside from them, Lillia and Sadie were also present, with the latter acting as a secondary doctor. When Shade finished with the stitching, Sadie used her Heal Pulse to ease Blitz's wounds, all while scolding him.

"What were you doing out there? Since when does being the Foresters' greatest sniper involve life or death battles to result in these types of injuries?!"

Blitz tilted his head and smiled. "I'm happy to see you, too, Sadie."

She groaned and shook her head. "Unbelievable."

Lillia pouted. "Hey, no need to be so harsh. That bounty hunter was just as skilled as him. He would've been lucky to stay out of sight."

Sadie sighed. "Fine, fine. Sorry, I just…"

Blitz reached over and patted her hand. "I know. I love you, too." She smiled and leaned down to kiss his snout. "Shade, I'm expected to attend the council meeting later to go over my report. Will I be well enough?"

Shade took a moment to yawn and rubbed his eye. "I ask that you don't move around too much until your injuries heal, so I recommend being transported via a wheelchair."

"Very well."

A wailing pierced through the conversation, and their eyes fell upon the bedridden Otis as he tossed and turned in his bed. Just from a glance at his face, he looked paler than before, almost in pain. Lillia frowned and approached the ailing bounty hunter's bedside. "Is he okay?"

Shade scratched his head. "I'm not sure. He was fine just before you left, but he's been moaning for the last two days. I'm running some tests as we speak."

Lillia patted the Kecleon's head. "I cannot speak for what atrocities this man committed in his profession, but no one deserves to suffer like this. It makes me weep for Prince Dimitri's condition, knowing he will endure this fate in time."

Shade shook his head. "Not as long as I find a way to synthesize an antidote. I'm not getting any closer to determining the origin of the poison, but I am making progress on my studies. His contribution to my research, though unfortunate, has been fruitful."

She sighed. "Such is the sad necessity of progress." She stepped away and reached inside her uniform. "That reminds me, I feel this may contribute to your research." She pulled out the vial containing the pale green potion. "Our search into Dimitri's near assassination proved beneficial."

Shade took the vial from her and examined it. "Fascinating. This doesn't look anything like Wraith."

"No, it isn't. From what we were able to gather, it might be a sister potion to the Wraith. We will need testimony from Vanessa once Marie gets around to her interrogation, but I'm confident this was supposed to be used alongside the Wraith."

He scratched his cheek as he turned the vial between his fingers. "If that's true, it might not take me long to determine how they interact with each other. I'll have to pull out another vial of Wraith for study. Thank you very much, Lillia. This will prove useful in my research." He immediately went for his desk and gathered his equipment.

The Meowstic sighed. "At least one good thing came from this fiasco." She turned to Sadie and frowned. "That reminds me, how's…Melissa doing?"

Sadie frowned and looked away from her. "She's pretty much stopped talking to everyone. All she wants to do is bury herself in her work or sleep. She's barely eating, too."

Blitz closed his eyes and sighed. "It is…unfortunate to hear that, but there's not much we can do."

"Percival says he's doing everything he can to help her cope, but I don't think it's enough. I'm starting to wonder if this is more than just her encounter with Darby that's bugging her. Sure, that was horrible, but…why is she so insistent on continuing with her heist? Even Jason said she can take some time off."

"Perhaps it's her way of coping?" Lillia suggested.

Blitz shook his head. "I wouldn't call that coping. If she's still running herself ragged, she's only making her mental state worse."

Sadie growled. "I just…feel so useless right now! The poor thing's wasting away, and any attempt we make to help her just makes things worse."

"Not everything can be fixed with good intentions, sadly. If you ask me, whatever she's going through, she doesn't want to burden anyone else with it. She wants to figure it out on her own, like she always does."

"It stills sucks. I'm worried she's going to stop taking care of herself and…and…" She clenched her eyes shut, brimming with tears. "I don't want to say it."

Lillia patted her shoulder. "We're all worried about her. We promise, whatever you're thinking will never come to pass no matter how many times she pushes us away. She needs her space, but she also needs friends like us to look out for her."

"…I just wish I could do more."

"We all do, too." Lillia closed her eyes and sighed. "We just need to have a little faith."

Luna placed her ear against the door of her cell and listened out for her new guard, some Glaceon named Enora. Ever since Basil was reassigned, she had to put up with the anger-prone ice fox and her wildly unpredictable outbursts. Fortunately, as far as she could tell, she wasn't nearly as invasive as the Salandit. Still observant enough that discretion was required, but at least she didn't feel like eyes were watching her from every corner of the cell.

Plus, it was a million times better than having random magic tricks tested on her.

She could hear Enora mumbling to herself, possibly reading a book. From her limited knowledge of the Foresters, she come to learn she was one of the guards that overlooked the fort, so assuming she was distracted would be foolhardy of the Snivy knight. However, any sort of distraction will serve her well.

Just a little longer, and I can make my escape.

She backed away into her enclosed cell and kneeled onto the floor. She dug through a wedge in the floorboards and pulled out a sharpened piece of metal made from her provided bucket. It was wrapped in cloth for safety.

She pulled her cot out of the center of the floor, revealing a carved ring in the floor. Just before she was thrown into captivity, she got enough of a look around the fort to determine there was open space beneath her. If she cut a hole through the floor, she should be able to escape well before anyone realized her disappearance. Getting past the forest guards might be tricky, but the forest was her element just as much as it was theirs.

Holding the bladed tool in a reverse grip, she continued chipping through the floor, taking caution to be as quiet as possible. She kept most of her attention on Enora to make sure she wasn't catching on to the escape. Again, she was grateful not to have the prying eyes of the Salandit magician preying upon her in the day. Without him, escape was a hundred times more possible.

"…feel like I'm a failure."

She stopped and lifted her head to a voice from outside of the prison shack. It was faint, but close by. An extra set of ears that might picked up on her escape, too. She narrowed her eyes and continued apace, digging the shard into the floor while listening to the passing thieves.

"Don't say that, Percy. You're doing the best you can."

"But is that enough?"

"We're all stumbling. We've lost our supporters and a good chuck of the Foresters. It'll take a miracle to recover from this."

"I hardly believe in miracles."

"Neither do I, but there's naught we can do. I fear the day I'll have to prep several coffins for those who choose to stay with us. We risk too much already."

"If we stop now, Giles' sacrifice will be in vain. His death led us to uncovering Last Autumn's ploy."

Luna glared. Last…Autumn?

"But it also brought us to where we are because we're sticking our noses into territories unlike anything we've faced. This was but a revenge quest for us without a voice, but now we're on the precipice of war with our side floundering to stay above the clouds."

"The situation is indeed grim, Zephora, but we've always found a way."

"The only way I see how is to change the ways of the Foresters. Jason's too stubborn to his laws."

"It's not stubbornness that makes him enforce those laws. You know this. I'd assume you would be opposed to senseless killing."

"I've made my hatred of Darby Tetrarch clear enough. There are exceptions to every principle. A few more souls pierced by my glaive won't change that."

"Assassination and killing is precisely why we're struggling right now. It'll be some months before it hits us hard."

Luna stopped cutting into the floor to focus her attention on the conversation. She narrowed her eyes, pressing her ear to the wall. Tetrarch? Struggling? What in the name of Xerneas is happening?

She heard Percy sigh aloud. "Look, this isn't the time or place. I'm sure the others have their own opinions on the matter. I just hope we finally get some answers about the Wraith."

"Do you think it'll be enough to prove our innocence?"

"With the way things are, it might not be enough. Still, if we want to avoid tainting the Forester name further through regicide, I pray Shade conjures an antidote in time."

"It'd be a shame for such unnatural death to overtake a soul."

Luna pulled away as the conversation drifted further and further away until she couldn't hear anything. She shuffled back to her escape hatch-in-progress and gazed down on it with a confused glare. Given her isolation inside the walled-off shack, it didn't surprise her current events escaped her notice. Even so…

I wasn't aware the Foresters were struggling. It…almost sounded like they were accused of an assassination. And a member of royalty of all people? That would certainly do it. I suppose if the Foresters are losing their influence, that helps us out a lot. It would make them easier to hunt down. Still…I can't help but wonder.

She closed her eyes and sighed through her nose.

Last Autumn. If what they're saying is true, how does a long-forgotten criminal organization play into all of this? When I break out of here, I should inform Matthias just to be safe.

Jason and Marie headed down from the fort to Pandora's underground lab, where they were keeping their new prisoner locked away once more. They stood over the hidden hatch as Jason bent down to remove the camouflage.

"Remember, I'm only suspending your house arrest until we get what we need," he said. "After that, it's back to your room."

She sighed and shook her head. "This is ridiculous. I told you, I wasn't the one who injected the Wraith. It was Basil."

"And Basil keeps saying you did it."

"So, his word holds more weight than mine?"

"I don't trust either of you right now. I have just as much reason to believe he's lying."

She groaned and pinched between her eyes. "You just won't let the past go, will you? I've moved on from that life. I kept my word."

"I'm holding you to that." He turned the wheel and unlocked the underground hatch. He pried the door open and stepped back. "A word of caution. Given the circumstances of our prisoner, you may want to be careful with how you extract the information. She isn't in the best state of mind. I wouldn't forgive myself if we subjected her to unnecessary torture."

Marie glared. "I wouldn't dream of it. If she's been put through the same mental conditioning as Melissa, I…" She clenched her teeth, and her hair growled in tandem. "I won't hurt her, I promise."

Jason nodded. "Alright. I need to prepare for the meeting later. I'll check on you in a few hours." He started walking away, but Marie grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. "Hmm?"

She frowned at him. "Jason, you look terrible."

He touched his face and turned away from her. His fur was even more unkempt than when she last saw him, and the dark circles under his eyes were prominent. He brushed her hand off and walked away. "I'm fine."

"Where have I heard that before?"

He glared over his shoulder. "Just do your job. Please." He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away.

Marie sighed through her nose. "That idiot…" She dipped into the underground entrance and closed the hatch behind her.

After Marie descended into the lab, she looked ahead and spotted the awaiting Indeedee sitting in a chair, arms crossed and an annoyed looked plastered over her face. Marie sighed and approached her, hands folded behind her back.

"Vanessa, I presume?"

The maid closed her eyes and huffed. "I don't know what you people want with me, but I'm not talking."

"If you don't know what we want, you wouldn't need to preference by saying that."

"You people kidnapped and assaulted me in the dead of night. I will not cooperate with thieves."

Marie glared. "Do you even understand the magnitude of your actions? Whatever injury we inflicted in your capture, we're sorry, but you were on the cusps of execution. You tried to assassinate the prince of your kingdom."

Vanessa waved it off. "Oh, you're being dramatic. I would've been fine." She sighed dreamily and cupped her hands beneath her chin. "After all, my darling Darby was going to whisk me away to safety so we can live happily ever after."

"So, this is the lie you've been fed." Marie paced around her prisoner. "I can think of a hundred or so Pokémon who are more desirable than your precious beau, but that's beside the point. Vanessa, you're not well. The things you're thinking? These aren't your thoughts. This isn't what you want."

Vanessa growled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"We know Darby's the one who gave you the Wraith. He ordered you to assassinate Prince Dimitri. He doesn't care about you. He's a lying, manipulative bastard with no love for anyone but himself. He only loves the control he has over you, moving you along like a puppet on strings. He's not going to save you and whisk you away to a happily ever after. You're nothing but a scapegoat to him."

Vanessa rose from her seat and shoved Marie. "You don't know what you're talking about! Why should I believe anything you Foresters say? For all I know, maybe Darby wanted to get rid of you because you people are horrible thieves that prey on the innocent. You left the Verde Kingdom in shambles, you caused havoc all over Virdis, and I can only imagine there's more evil waiting to rear its ugly head from those sinister minds of yours. The Foresters deserve everything that's coming to them."

Marie narrowed her eyes. "Vanessa, you're not thinking straight. Ask yourself this. Really ask yourself. Would you ever poison Prince Dimitri?"

"What does that matter?"

"You're not answering the question. Do you hate Prince Dimitri?"

"My personal feelings toward the prince mean nothing. Darby only asked me to give him his medicine, and that's what I did."

"Is that what you believe, or is that the lie you're trying to convince yourself of? These things you're saying, these words laced by a poison on the heart, they are nothing but honied schemes. Is this what you want? Did you have any aspirations to take the prince's life? What matters to you in this moment?"

"To do as my precious Darby says, obviously."

"No, it isn't."

Vanessa snarled. "You're just jealous a prince has taken notice of me and wants me all to himself. Darby has been nothing but warm and comforting to me, helping me figure out my life. He cares about me, cares about my wellbeing and dreams. You have no right to defame him with these lies!"

"…" Marie closed her eyes and sighed sadly. "How many love potions and hours of conditioning did he subject you to?"

"None! Darby did nothing to me because he is a wonderful, amazing, honest—" Vanessa listed off before Marie clamped her mouth shut.

"You're blinded by your false attraction to him. These are not your thoughts or feelings, and I imagine the real you is screaming in tears for everything he put you through."

Vanessa slapped her hand away. "You don't know anything."

"I know plenty. These feelings of yours, I know them all too well. I've seen them with my own eyes." She clenched her fist. "It's so easy, you know. Conditioning someone to believe a certain way and going along with it for years. Being blind to your own vices and the suffering you cause because you didn't question an authority." She eased the tension in her fists and sighed. "Worst of all, when I look at Darby's actions, I'm reminded of the things I've been complacent to for too long. It disgusts me to think I would've been okay with his actions at one point in my life…"

Vanessa's glare eased up. "Huh?"

"You probably had a good life. No, you probably had a great life. I can see it in you. Someone who dedicated their life toward a goal of their own, not of the whims of someone else. You honed skills best suited for your desires, not from someone else's expectations. To have all of that taken to become someone's pawn, it makes me physically sick. To think I'm responsible for the pain and suffering of others…"

"…Miss—" Vanessa tried to speak up.

Marie sighed through her nose and looked her in the eye. "Do you have any dreams? I don't care about Darby or anything about him. I just want to hear what you dream of."

"I…" Vanessa turned away and rubbed her arm. "I…wanted to become a professional chef. My parents were unsupportive of my choice, thinking I didn't have what it took to become a chef, so I took up a job at the castle to learn some basic skills. I often volunteered for cooking duty whenever I could."

"Do you want to throw away that dream just to help Darby?"

"I…" She winced and dug her fingers into her arm. "B-But Darby said he would support me, and—"

"By using you to make us look bad? Did he even visit you when you were imprisoned? Did he ever really say how he was going to break you free and prove your innocence?"

"B-But he ordered his knights to protect me—"

"A friend of mine once told me that the best plans are ones designed to succeed in victory or failure. If that's to be believed, who's to say they weren't fighting their hardest to make it look convincing? Capturing you hardly does any favors to us. What were they protecting from us?"

"I…I—" Vanessa clutched her cheeks, panting heavily. "D-Darby's perfect. He would n-never…" Tears started brimming around her eyes. "Darby loves me. He…loves me, right?"

"Do you hate Prince Dimitri?"

"W-What?"

"Do you hate Prince Dimitri?"

Vanessa shakily looked down at her skirt, clutching it tightly. "Prince…Dimitri was a very abrasive prince, but I never took anything he said or did personally. He can be rude, but he…was worried about me when he saw me around D-Darby." She shook her head. "But that doesn't mean—"

"If you don't hate him, why did you agree to poison him?"

"Because Darby told me to?"

"And why does Darby's orders matter to you?"

"Because he loves me?"

"Does he love you?"

"Y…Yes? Probably. I…" Vanessa stumbled back, clutching her head. "Darby, he…loves me, right?"

Unbeknownst to the shaking Indeedee, Marie's left eye was glowing a faint red, projecting her Intimidate onto her. You're doubting your beliefs. The beliefs instilled into you by Darby. You know deep down nothing you're saying makes sense.

"Darby loves me. He…He does love me?" Her breaths became sharper and more panicked. Her eyes darted around the lab, tears trickling from her eyes. A faint pink glow flickered in her eyes. "He's…kind, s-sweet…and—"

"Made you poison your prince," Marie finished softly. "He doesn't love you. I'm sorry."

"I…I…" Vanessa's eyes widened. "No. No, no, no! I…" She toppled back into the chair and fell onto the floor. The dam in her eyes broke, sending a flood of tears running down her face. "No, NO, NO, NO!" She buried her face into the floor and let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Marie narrowed her eyes sadly as she watched the maid sob on the floor, trembling in her discovery. It was hard to watch, to see someone peek through the curtain propped up around them. It saddened her more to think this was the first time she saw someone break through that deception. Though glad to see the shackles withering away, it was only the first step.

She approached the sobbing Indeedee and knelt down beside her. She lifted her by the chin and looked her in her reddened eyes. Without another word, Marie pulled her into a hug and stroked her head. It made Vanessa cry harder as she hugged her back, sobbing into her shoulder.

"I…I doomed the prince. Oh…Oh Arceus, what have I…?"

"Shh," Marie hushed, trying to keep her own tears in check. "Don't speak. Just let it all out. I'm here for you, I promise."

Vanessa sniffled and hugged her tighter. "I…I'm so sorry…"

Marie closed her eyes and continued stroking her head. Sad as she felt, it was eclipsed by the rage bubbling through her blood. She could feel the hot glow of her left eye boring a hole into the floor. She restrained her rage to her thoughts, not wanting to frighten the Indeedee, though even her hair couldn't stop baring its teeth.

My only regret…is that you're the only person I was able to save. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again.

Shade toyed away through the hours, experimenting with the mystery serum uncovered by the rescue team. If it was indeed supposed to be used in tandem with the Wraith, then his search for answers were close at hand. For extra precaution, he placed a face mask over himself and kept the experiment enclosed in a glass container, his only means of operating inside being a pair of gloves inserted through the side.

With a pair of magnifying spectacles over his eyes, he tapped down a couple lenses and focused in on the sampling of Wraith inside the box. He hovered an eyedropper over the Wraith, containing the mystery serum, and dripped a drop of it.

Nothing immediately happened upon exposure to the Wraith. The drop merely skimmed the surface of the sample. However, after a minute, he noticed a reaction. The serum mixed into the Wraith, causing it to bubble like boiling water. Within seconds, the Wraith evaporated and filled the box with a purple gas.

"Fascinating." Shade picked up a vial inside the box and scooped it through the gas. He corked it just as the gas started fading away. "Most fascinating."

Blitz, still held up in bed, craned his neck in the direction of the Sableye. "What's fascinating?"

"Exposure to the serum caused the Wraith to assume a gaseous form, though briefly." He flicked a couple more lenses over his right eye and peered closer into the container. "Hardly a remnant of the poison left."

"Is it a kill agent to remove evidence?"

"I still need to run tests." He opened the container and removed the vial of trapped vapor, only there was nothing but a purple gloss left inside. "However, despite hardly being a remnant, the Wraith persists in another form."

"What does that mean?"

"When I looked into the components of the serum, I discovered an additional component similar to the makeup of the Wraith, though in a larger quantity. Through my tests, there are two poisons within the Wraith. The host poison and toxic elementium pieces. I think they work with each other to achieve something…viral."

"Viral?"

Shade scratched his cheek. "The host poison is meant to incapacitate. It's not the primary killing agent. It degrades over time. If the body can hold out, anyone afflicted by this poison would be able to fight it off, maybe even develop antibodies. In other words, my samples are beginning to degrade."

Blitz glared. "Is that a bad thing?"

"For my research, it'll hinder us a bit. But that's not the weird part." He turned back to the clear container and examined the spot the sample sat in. "The host poison turned to vapor, but the elementium pieces remained. Additionally, the toxic components within them have leaked out. Pure Poison-Type energy. This stuff is incredibly toxic. If it weren't for the elementium containing them, I can't imagine what this would do to a person's body."

"Hmm…" Blitz closed his eyes and leaned back into his bed. "Strange."

Shade scratched his chin. "I wonder if—"

"AAAAGH!"

Shade and Blitz nearly jumped into the air as Otis started flailing and screaming in his bed. The Kecleon gripped his chest and tossed around in place, his breathing becoming increasing haggard.

"W-What's going on?" Blitz asked.

Shade gasped. "I think he's having a heart attack!" He rushed to his cabinets and pulled out a potion. He raced over to Otis and held him up. "Hold still!" He bit the cork off and force-fed the concoction into the Kecleon's mouth. He set Otis and the empty flask down, then pressed his hands down on his chest. He administered a dark energy from his hands.

"Shade!" Blitz exclaimed worriedly.

"E-Everything's fine! The potion should take effect and keep his heart from being damaged. I'm using Quash to try and mitigate the—" His crystal eyes flashed in alarm. He pressed his ear down to the Kecleon's chest before gasping. "Oh no. Oh no!"

"W-What?"

Shade rubbed his hands together, generating a spark. "Shock Wave!" He pressed both hands over Otis' heart and delivered an electric shock. Sensing no change, he used Shock Wave again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And…nothing.

Shade took his hands off the Kecleon and stepped away, gaping in disbelief. "I…no."

"Shade, what happened? Is he okay?" Blitz asked.

Shade couldn't muster a response. His arms drooped to his side, and he bowed his head in shame over his patient. His body trembled, and his crystal eyes glistened with tears. His breaths were shuddery, and he could feel a cold sweat coming over him.

"Shade, what happened?" Blitz asked, now sounding extremely concerned.

The alchemist turned away from the body and covered his face. "How I envy you and your eyes right now, my friend…"

With the hour of sunset upon them, the high council of the Foresters joined together. Everyone took their seats, with Blitz being escorted in by wheelchair. Also joining the council were Marie and Shade, both prepped with news from their assignments. There was a tension in the air that everyone sensed, neither of them sensing good news from all fronts.

At the head of the table, a tired Jason let out a ragged yawn and shook the sleep from his eyes. "Al…Alright, I call this meeting to order. We've got a busy schedule ahead of us, so let's get our facts straight." The council nodded in agreement. "Today's meeting concerns the events of our rescue mission from the Senbo Kingdom. We hope to uncover details as to what went down during the Senbo party and what transpired to our current state of affairs. Blitz, if you would…"

The Charmeleon nodded. He adjusted himself in his wheelchair before saying, "Our mission into Castle Talbot proved more useful than I hoped to admit. Not only did we uncover the location of a sister vial to Wraith, we've learned more of the apparent ploy against Prince Dimitri. In addition, we've come to unearth some shocking revelations: the Tetrarch family is aligned with Last Autumn."

Most of the council gasped at the news. "You can't be serious!" Sid cried, hugging Rusty against her chest.

Jet slammed his fists down. "I knew someone that rotten came from an even rottener family! Corrupted royals, the whole of them!"

"Ease yourself, my friend," Valentine chirped in. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"You expect me to be calm when this is happening right now?!"

"Fortune favors the cautious in my eyes, so it would do you good to temper that fury until the time is nigh." Valentine turned to Blitz. "How did you come across this information?"

Blitz sighed. "From the guy that did this to me. Hobs Desierto, his name is."

Zephora glared. "That guy, huh?"

"You're familiar with him?"

"Sort of. He's a gang leader that specializes in odd jobs, though his primary profession is bounty hunting. Dead or alive, he'll take what he can get. My parents have dressed a couple corpses of his previous targets. He's a professional killer and leader. Surviving a fight with him is no easy feat."

Sid grimaced. "And for someone like that to be on the enemy's side…"

Eadwulf raised his hand. "I imagine you only learned about this because he didn't care."

Blitz nodded. "It's our word against his, and our reputation garners us little sway in the battlefield of politics. He could threaten to invade the entire Senbo Kingdom, and we'd have little authority to convince the king. He and Darby orchestrated a plan to make us public enemy number one and remove every outside connection available to us."

"I sense a follow-up to this exposition," Valentine said.

He nodded again. "However, their original plan wasn't to poison Prince Dimitri. Apparently, Darby was going to use the Wraith on himself, possibly with the same tactic of using Vanessa as a scapegoat linked to us."

Eadwulf glared. "But with Dimitri snooping around and getting too close to the truth, he saw another opportunity that favored more destructive results."

Zephora sighed. "Naturally, the best way to earn the ire of an entire region is to plan an assassination against the most powerful military force in Virdis."

Jason cupped his hands together. "The fact that this original plan involved Darby using himself as a pawn indicates the existence of an antidote. That man is too proud of himself to allow death to take hold."

"Possibly with a greater scheme involved should that plan have been executed," Blitz added.

Jet slammed his fists down again. "All the more reason to kill that bastard while we still can! I wager he's worthy of being a threat to all!"

"Steel your nerve, Jet," Jason ordered. "We can't go rushing into a fight. We're on a countdown right now. Either we're attacked by enemy forces, or they wait us out until our resources are depleted."

Zephora raised her hand. "I don't oppose to Jet's proposition. Someone who makes the business of turning the living into the dead is an offense in my eyes."

Sid slapped the table. "But being accused of killing is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place. Who's to say Last Autumn doesn't have a contingency plan for when we decide turning to the blood red path? They've already cornered us, and our influence is dwindling by the day."

Percival nodded. "Not to mention the heavy blow they dealt to our morale. There's less activity going on around the fort than before. This place use to be bustling with cheery Foresters, but now I'll be lucky to find a packed mess hall scrambling for breakfast."

Valentine crossed his arms. "What I want to know is how the Tetrarchs got involved with Last Autumn? They're a harbor kingdom that specializes in international trade, and they have one of the most influential markets and goods from across foreign regions. What do you suppose they're offering up to Last Autumn that would give them so much influence?"

"And what do the Tetrarchs get out of it?" Jason added. "Last Autumn's original goal was to overthrow the ten kingdoms. Conflict of interest would arise, so there's something else to their ploy. Either they're playing a risky game allying with their own enemy, or there's something favorable in it for the Tetrarchs."

Eadwulf raised his hand. "Would you suppose the Talbots are involved? The Tetrarchs have been cozying up to them for almost a year now."

"Hard to say, but it's not out of the question."

Sid shook her head. "This is crazy! We're talking about conspiracy after conspiracy. This sounds like the kind of thing Giles would come up with."

"Who's to say Giles didn't foresee this?" Valentine asked. "I'm still trying to decipher his notes. That guy's always been busy with something in his spare time. The fact he's the reason we've gotten this far says a lot about his dedication to research."

"Ahem." The council's eyes fell onto Marie, who reclined back into her seat with her arms crossed. "Hi, still here. How you doing?"

Jason glared. "Is something amiss, Marie?"

"Amiss is one way of putting it." She shrugged. "The fact remains that there's little in the way of evidence to what end Last Autumn wishes to carry out their plans. All we have is a poison and testimony from various people of questionable motives. Still, there's always a truth the further into the roots you look, and I believe I've extracted useful information for that very task."

Percival glared. "I take it your interrogation favored results?"

She sighed. "Calling it an interrogation doesn't do justice the torment I had to sit through. I can break a man in two and make him beg for mercy, but…this one made me feel like I was the one being tortured, and that's a fraction of what Vanessa must be feeling right now." She glared at Percival. "I demand she go into psychic therapy immediately. Just the fact I left her alone in Pandora's underground lab is killing me. The poor thing needs support."

Percival nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"What did you find out in your interro…your examination of Vanessa?" Jason asked.

Marie closed her eyes and sighed. "Not much. She's in a vulnerable state right now. Forcing her out of Darby's trance left her traumatized. I recommend setting her up with one of the spare huts. She'll need some company to support her." She shook her head. "Other than that, she was barely aware of her surroundings ever since she started interacting with Darby. She mentions loose snippets of memories here and there."

Jason glared down at the table. "That doesn't help us much."

"Not necessarily," she said. "She doesn't know anything of Darby's scheming, but I worked her through it to jog her memory. There have been a few instances where she was around Darby after she was brainwashed and before the party. She doesn't remember much, but a few specific memories. Vanessa was the one who let Darby's two accomplices infiltrate the party under the guise as waiters, and she has been hanging around them while he was briefing them in on the love potion scheme."

"What exactly did she hear?" Percival asked.

"Nothing much, as she said, though she does recall Darby pressing his accomplices to be discrete while distributing the love potion. He wanted to cause a scene to draw the Foresters out and urged them not to sell him out if they were caught. He kept saying that he needs the train project to continue apace."

Eadwulf glared. "That's it?"

"It's the only thing I could get from her. I didn't want to stress her out too much."

"Still, it's not much. The train system is an important project for both Senbo and Wick."

"True," Blitz interjected, "but now we have confirmation they work with Last Autumn. These things aren't being done at random. The Senbo Kingdom was the one who designed the train system, but the Wick Kingdom assisted in construction. They would've had foresight into the potential of a high speed wagon such as that."

Jason glared. "With the two kingdoms connected by train, there is the potential for nefarious deeds to commit. One would have to investigate."

Valentine nodded. "Like say an alternative method to invade the Senbo Kingdom?"

Percival raised his brow. "Where are you going with this?"

"Think about it. The only reason we were able to invade the capital twice is because we stayed away from full frontal attacks. We didn't ignite the wrath of the Senbo Kingdom's full power. A full-scale invasion against the capital would result in an army being decimated in seconds. Their firepower is beyond anything from the other kingdoms, the second strongest being the New Chariot Empire."

"But would they risk attacking their allies?" Sid asked.

"Let's put it like this. If the Talbots align themselves with Last Autumn, we're in trouble. If they don't and find out about the Tetrarchs schemes, they'll want to take the kingdom through subterfuge. The Wick Kingdom isn't known for their military might. It's a merchant kingdom with charismatic businessmen and swindlers. They fight with wit and words, not swords. Wouldn't that mean the best of the best were the rulers themselves?"

Jason closed his eyes. "It's a possibility. We'll have to keep an eye on both kingdoms to be sure."

Shade bowed his head. "I can only fear what they plan to do with that train system. If they wanted to take the kingdom by force, I know of a way they can in one fell swoop."

"You're looking awfully pale, Shade," Zephora commented.

He sighed. "A symptom of today's…unexpected developments. I put off from announcing this as I wanted the extra time to conduct research. It's with a heavy heart that I announce…Hollow Otis has passed."

The council's eyes widened. "What?!"

"He freakin' died?!" Jet yelled.

Blitz sighed. "It's true. I was there when it happened. I imagine it wasn't a pretty sight."

Jason glared. "I'm assuming the Wraith killed him." His eyes wandered to Marie, who noticed and subtly shielded her eyes from him.

Shade nodded. "Indeed. I used the time to determine a cause of death. He was afflicted with a heart attack caused by a sudden release of toxins into his bloodstream. It sent his heart into shock and caused it to shut down. Furthermore, the damage afflicted was too much to restart his heart. There was nothing I could do."

Zephora reached over and patted his hand. "You did the best you could."

Jet scoffed. "Whatever. One less scumbag to worry about."

Jason shook his head and asked, "Were you able to get useful information out of his…passing?"

"Fortunately, yes. With the discovery of the second vial and Otis' unfortunate passing, I was able to compile a detailed list regarding the Wraith. I still don't know what the host poison is made from, but results have been favorable. It's a two-part neutralizing poison."

"Two part?"

Shade nodded. "There were certain components of the poison that didn't make sense at the time. Why was there a secondary poison stored in the elementium bits? If this is an assassination tool, why does it only debilitate the target? It made no sense…until I got my hands on the second vial. It's a trigger with the express purpose of activating an alchemical reaction to the substance. When it comes in contact with Wraith, the reaction turns the Wraith into a vaporous form. A small sample of the stuff could fill an entire box in seconds, spreading the Wraith to anyone who happens to be near the body.

"The trigger has a secondary purpose. I recognize there was a similar component to each of the formulas, but the trigger had a higher quantity. It occurred to me this must be the solution to the energy binding formula JoJo mentioned. The one in the Wraith was made specifically to go off around the same time it expires, rendering the host poison useless, but also releasing the stored toxins in the elementium. The trigger releases a higher dosage of the solution, causing an instant heart attack and irreparable damage to the heart."

Zephora glared. "And anyone who happened to be near the body would be exposed to the vaporous Wraith."

"Exactly. It turns the victim into a delayed poison bomb. It's alchemical warfare that could spread disaster."

Sid raised her hand. "Hang on. If this is a two-part component, why didn't we find the trigger with the Wraith? And why is this stuff being sold around if it isn't an instant kill poison like it had been promoted?"

"That, I'm afraid I don't know. One theory may be that they're testing it. Keep in mind, the elementium component is probably just used to kill the target. The actual main poison can be overcome with enough time and care. I imagine if this stuff was used in actual bombs, it'd neutralize an entire city in seconds."

Jason scratched his chin. "And because the symptoms resemble a fever, most doctors won't immediately assume the victim was poison."

"And it's not uncommon for some folks to die from a fever," Zephora added.

"If that's true, is possible they're refining the formula through these sales?"

Shade nodded. "It wouldn't surprise me. Though, this discovery does put us in a tight spot. Dimitri's on a time limit now. The elementium will eventually work its away out of his system, but the formula seems to keep them from straying out of the body. We would have to synthesize an antidote or get our hands on one if we want to save his life."

"Can you do that?" Eadwulf asked.

"I'm afraid not, at least with my current set up. I would need professional help from a doctor, someone who works with medicine. That would greatly improve our chances of finding an antidote, though I would need new samples of Wraith since the ones I have went through their expiration period."

Jason groaned and massaged his temples. "If I had known this ahead of time, I wouldn't have ordered the complete disposal of those drug rings we busted."

Blitz sighed. "Not that it would do us any good. As far as I'm concerned, Last Autumn is always going to be one step ahead of us. They completely blindsided us, and now we're scrambling to stay upright."

"Something on your mind, Blitz?" Sid asked.

He closed his eyes. "I…neglected to share my thoughts on something, mainly because I'm not sure if I'm overthinking this or not."

"…" Marie narrowed her eyes and looked away.

"Feel free to share with us, friend," Valentine said. "We're all in good company."

Blitz huffed through his nostrils and glared. "Last Autumn knew we got away with a few samples of Wraith, and I highly doubt they could get a proper count of how many were smashed up after JoJo swiped them. That bounty hunter, Hobs, said it straight to my face."

Jet snorted. "So? What's the problem?"

"Something hasn't been adding up. For example, Darby's whole plan to incapacitate Dimitri and frame us. It required knowledge of our arrival to the party, something no one could've predicted with extreme confidence."

Valentine shrugged. "Oh come on, Pandora was practically biting her leg off wanting to attend that party. And it's not like we don't get involved learning about big projects from the other kingdoms."

"See, that's the issue here. We weren't planning on crashing that party. We had to go because the girls ran off. There's no way our enemy knows about Pandora's specific desire to see what they were unveiling. It was a calculated maneuver against our arrival. They knew we were going to be there."

Sid frowned. "Blitz, you're starting to scare Rusty and me." She hugged her bucket tighter."

Percival glared. "Where are you going with this?"

The Charmeleon took a deep breath and sighed. "I may just be overthinking everything, but between this intel Hobs mentioned and our expected arrival to the party, I…I think there's a traitor among the Foresters."

A dead silence permeated through the council room, all in attendance staring at Blitz in disbelief. Feeling their stares on him, he bowed his head and leaned back into his wheelchair, breathing a heavy sigh.

"Blitz," Jason spoke up, crossing his arms over the table. "This is a substantial accusation you're proposing."

"I understand, but we can't ignore the facts. There's just too much happening not to assume there's a traitor in our works."

Zephora glared. "That's ridiculous. Surely, we would've noticed someone acting suspicious by now."

"We take in a great number of Pokémon that come from sketchy backgrounds. Would we have noticed? Take the Thievery Twins as an example. They're always scheming something, but that's how they've always been. Would we notice a shift in their behavior if they were plotting against us? Or anyone else?"

"…" The Maractus looked away.

Sid raised her hand. "Even so, we would've noticed someone making contact with Last Autumn—"

"That's actually not true," Valentine interrupted. "We were oblivious to Adenine's secret affair with Prince Talbot, and she's hardly a master deceiver. It wouldn't be that hard to send letters, not unless we start rifling through everyone's mail."

Eadwulf glared. "I hate to say it, but Blitz does raise a concern for our security."

Jet growled. "I always knew there was someone out to get us."

Jason sighed and looked at Blitz. "If this is true, do you have any leads?"

He shook his head. "Afraid not. Not a name or shred of detail. A slip of the tongue, you could say."

"Maybe it's Basil," Jet suggested. "I never trusted that two-faced lizard, and he's one of the suspects against Hollow Otis' poisoning. Or…assassination, in this case."

Marie glared. "Don't you think you're being a little judgmental, Jet—"

"I have half a mind to think it was you, too!" He pressed his hands down on the table and rose up. "You're just as untrustworthy! I wouldn't be surprised if the taste for blood was too tempting for you."

She growled and stood up. "I didn't spill any blood, you little jerk!"

"A likely story!"

They leaned over the table and growled at each other, ready to throw punches until Jason jumped in between them. "Enough!" He shoved them both back and stood atop the table. "We're not going to resolve anything if we're snapping at each other's necks. For all we know, this is just another trick from Last Autumn to turn on each other. We're stressed out and paranoid."

Jet and Marie shot glares at each other before looking away.

Jason sighed. "Besides, I don't want to believe we have a deceiver among our ranks. What would any of us have to gain from taking us down?"

Valentine closed his eyes and sighed. "Given recent circumstances, who's to say our possible traitor is a willing accomplice?"

"Why am I going to regret asking you to clarify?"

The Spinda shrugged. "Marie's analysis of our new prisoner does confirm that mental manipulation isn't out of the realm of possibility. Who else among us has been subjected to similar manipulation?"

Jason narrowed his eyes for a moment, then gasped. "Wait, you're not suggesting—"

Marie stood up and growled. "Are you saying Melissa is the traitor?!"

"What the hell, Valentine?!" Jet yelled. He felt everyone staring at him in shock and sunk back into his seat, hiding his reddened cheeks. "I mean, yeah, what she said."

Valentine nodded. "It's exactly as I suggest."

Marie shook her head. "No, no way! I refuse to believe that. Melissa isn't a traitor! She never even planned to be a Forester. What kind of four dimensional chess does someone need to play to anticipate that? We couldn't anticipate that!"

Eadwulf nodded. "Plus, based on Jason's report, it sounds like Darby recently found out she and Harlow are the same person."

Valentine shook his head. "All anyone else knows for certain is that we have her imprisoned. There's no confirmation we sold her off or disposed of her."

Percival glared. "I've been removing mental triggers from her mind for days. I sense no act of treachery from her."

"But it wouldn't be an act of treachery. In that delusional state of hers, it would be an act of love."

"But how would anyone anticipate using Melissa as a pawn against us? Again, her joining the Foresters was completely outside our expectations."

Valentine shrugged. "I'm not actually suggesting Melissa is a traitor, but we don't know how long Last Autumn has been plotting against us. We only just got involved in their affairs, but maybe they were planning against us from the very beginning. Maybe Darby always knew she was Harlow, and maybe she was manipulated to run away from home and wander onto our doorstep. Melissa wouldn't even need to be consciously aware of what she's doing."

Jason looked down. "This is way too much to take in."

Jet groaned. "This definitely sounds like something Giles would come up with…"

Valentine shook his head. "I'm just saying, it wouldn't surprise me if she was standing outside the hut right now conveniently as we're discussing the possibility of her possible unwilling part in Last Autumn's overly complicated plan to get rid of us."

Sid grimaced. "I feel awful talking about this."

Zephora crossed her arms and snarled. "All the more reason we need to take the fight to Last Autumn and kill them."

Jason glared. "No, we're not going down that path—"

"Let's face the facts, Jason, we're hanging on by the skin of our teeth. In a matter of months, we're going to run low on resources. We have no allies, our numbers are dropping, and a war on the Forbidden Forest may just be over the horizon. If we're going down, the time for morals is over. This is a time for action."

He stomped his foot down. "I refuse to take a life for any reason!"

Sid stood up and nodded. "There has to be another way to resolve this without bloodshed. We can't abandon everything we've built up for ourselves just to fight on their level. We're better than that."

Blitz nodded. "I agree. The people who used to support us looked up to our steadfast morals. Abandoning them now would be tantamount to surrendering our pride."

Percival sighed. "Pride's a small price to pay. Logically, we need to consider every action if we want to stop Last Autumn."

"Even if that means being hated by everyone?!" Sid yelled.

"What difference from then to now?"

Valentine nodded. "I wouldn't mind a little anarchy."

Eadwulf stood up. "Guys, come on, let's take a deep breath and work this out like adults." His words couldn't reach the council as everyone started yelling back and forth at each other, rising from their seats and continuing to abuse their table. He frowned and sank back into his seat, covering his face.

Marie groaned and followed suit. Shade, feeling small underneath the giants, stepped out of his chair and shuffled into the corner of the room, cradling himself into a ball. This is why I work with potions, not politics.

Though the shouts and yells within the council hut were dampened by the thick walls, a lone eavesdropper too curious for their own good happened to wander by in the heat of the meeting.

And at the worst possible time, too.

"W…What?"

Melissa had dragged herself behind the council hut to get away from anyone trying to cheer her up, as they insisted. She had hoped a boring council meeting would lull her to sleep, even if sleep had become ineffective in recent days. She was caught off guard by how angry everyone was getting inside, so used to seeing the professional standards they displayed to everyone.

But none of that compared to their conversation around her, and how it twisted her heart we each sentence afterward. She was prepared to leave as soon as she heard them talking about a traitor, but she was too late before they reached her name.

A part of her wanted to march inside and call off their accusation, saying she was a full-fledged member of the Foresters to the end, but she couldn't. She wasn't sure of anything about herself anymore. Was it possible she was scribing letters to Last Autumn unknowingly, divulging valuable secrets to use against her supposed allies? Had she been in Darby's clutches far longer than she thought? Was anything she believed her own choice?

Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at her trembling hands. "Am I…Am I really a traitor?"