Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dreamstone

by Slink34884

A Fennekin's family is killed, leaving him as the only survivor. The last thing his father said to him, "find the Dreamstone". Now with the help of an Espeon with a troubled past and a young Vulpix, he must find the mythical artifact, dodging the Evil Team Hatred at every step. But can he afford to look when finding the stone might cost him everything?

15. Father

Hello everyone, how are you doing? We've got a lot to cover before the story can happen, so let's get to it.

First off, you probably noticed that today isn't Monday. I've decided to change the schedule to the Wednesday closest to the 20th. Honestly it is only two days later than the other schedule. This is to correspond with a couple of special dates and anniversaries later in the year. More on that later.

Secondly I have many people I have to thank this chapter. First, if you haven't noticed already, we have a new cover. Thank you to Windskull for the amazing cover. It is fantastic. Go check out their story Places We Call Home when you get a chance. I highly recommend it. Next, thanks to Team_Ion for helping me hash out the chapter. This chapter wouldn't have gotten to you, and/or would've been far worse without their help. They also have a story here, PMD: Warped Skies. Check that one out as well. Finally, once again a huge thank you to Dashiesplash for beta reading this chapter.

Okay, so who is ready for Chapter 15: Enzo?

Hobey-ho, let's go!

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Xen stared at me for a moment. "Dreamstone? You're talking about…?"

I wasn't sure whether to be hopeful, or worried at her tone. "The Hatred took a crystal shard from your home. I have reason to believe that it has something to do with something called the Dreamstone. Do either of those ring a bell?"

"I thought it was just a myth." Xen muttered to herself, a hint of awe in her voice. She shook her head refocusing on me. "My mother told me stories about that. You said the Dreamstone?"

I thought my heart was going to explode from anticipation. Was I seriously about to get answers. Xen bit her lip thoughtfully. "You both may want to sit down. My mother said a lot, and I'm honestly not sure what is fact and what is fiction at this point."

"Any information helps. I just need to know." Xen flopped down in a straight-backed blue armchair as Eve and I settled on the couch. Somehow Charlie looked even more uncomfortable than before we sat down, but all I could focus on at that point was Xen.

"My grandmother was born on the Mist Continent, although where my family came from before that, I have no idea. She worked for the Paradise for quite a while and was one of their top explorers. In fact the only reason she stopped was that she found out she was pregnant with my mother. Before that the Paradise relied on her to help them try and get an accurate map of the other continents." She glanced at Eve and me before grimacing apologetically. "No offense to you guys, but the Paradise never had the resources to develop anything like your Nexus, and the Expedition Society is a bit stingy with their intelligence."

"None taken," Eve smirked.

"Right, well before she was retired the Paradise sent grandmother to the Water Continent to be their representative at the Decennial Council."

"Wait, Decennial Council?" I interrupted.

"It's an event that started nearly 300 years ago,when the Societies on all the different Continents discovered one another." Eve suddenly butted in, sounding more than a little excited. "They compared notes and found that nearly every continent had faced a world-ending threat, and each happened about 100 years apart once they corrected for the different calendars everyone used. They decided that in order to defend against future threats, each Guild would send a representative to a Council every ten years in order to notify the others of any potential world-ending threats."

Xen and I stared at her. "Uhhh," I began.

Eve blushed. "I had a lot of time while I was waiting for the Rescue Party. I spent a lot of it in the library looking for any and all information on the Hatred. I learned a few things."

"Anyway," Xen continued, "it was a while ago, one or two after the whole Dark-Matter disaster. She was actually surprised to see that one of the representatives from the Expedition Society was also a Delphox. Apparently the two became friends rather quickly, and she actually stayed behind on the Water Continent for a few weeks afterwards." Xen laughed, "Her 'official' story was that she stayed so that she could spend more time exploring the Continent. But the way I was told, I'm certain something else was going on."

"What do you mean?" Eve asked raising an eyebrow.

Xen grinned impishly. "Let's just say that based on when my mother was born, the timeline matches up." She shook her head. "Unfortunately she was eventually called back to the Mist Continent. By the time she got back, life just got in the way. She fell back into her job, and then by the time she would have gotten a break she found out she was expecting mother. The Paradise grounded her. She wasn't allowed to use any Paradise resources or do any Paradise work until I was born. I know that she wanted to go back to the Water continent and find my grandfather, but she obviously couldn't use the Paradise's Lapras Port. She would have used the civilian one, but that was when the Fire Continent was first discovered."

"Why was that a problem?" I asked. Sure this story was interesting, but so far it had nothing to do with the Dreamstone. I hoped that if I was patient, Xen would get there.

"It became almost a land rush. Every Pokemon on the planet wanted to go see the new land, all of the Societies wanted to get a foothold and gain control over it. After a small Rescue team was attacked by some ferals, the Paradise at least banned anyone from going there until it could be proven to be safe. They closed down the ports so that nobody could access the new continent anyways. It was over a year after my mother was born that my grandmother was able to get to the Water Continent. Grandma eventually was able to find that Delphox, but it was too late. He had become mates with another Delphox, and she was already expecting."

Xen sighed. "If he was my grandfather, my mother never resented him. I don't think my grandmother did either. Still, they left the Water Continent almost immediately afterward. Grandma eventually became mates with the Infernape on her team. He treated mother like his own daughter, even though it was almost impossible that they were related by blood. They were happy for a while."

"Excuse me," Eve interrupted again, "but what does any of that have to do with the Dreamstone or the crystal shard?" I didn't want to say it. Glad Eve did.

Xen nodded. "Sorry, I guess I got a little distracted there. Let's see. I guess it really all started one stormy night when I was a child. I was awoken not by the booming thunder, but by an insistent knocking on the door. My bedroom door was cracked open slightly, and I watched as my parents rushed to the door. That Delphox, my grandfather, nearly stumbled into the house as the door opened." She paused, tapping her paw on her leg as she thought. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember much about his visit. The only thing I remember is him handing my mother a cloth-wrapped bundle. Then he disappeared back into the night. None of us ever saw him again."

"I only ever found out what the bundle was the day Charlie and I became mates. I remember my mom…" Xen trailed off, her face twisting into a scowl. Eve and I exchanged a glance. What was wrong?

"Ar-are you okay?" I asked tentatively.

"Huh?" Xen said as she snapped back to attention. "Oh sorry. I was just... I remember the whole thing so vividly. I've used Psychic to preserve that day perfectly in my mind. I'm just not sure what is important. I don't want to leave out vital information by accident." She stared out the window for a minute, biting her lip. When she turned back to us, she refused to meet my gaze. "You brought my daughter back. I owe you everything. You're Psychic too. Let me show you the memory."

I squirmed in my seat as she said that. "Are-are you sure? You trust me to go into your head?"

Xen tried a smile. "Come on Slink. We are both Psychic. Not quite sure it's a matter of trust. I read you as soon as you came inside, just like your partner there read me." Eve blushed as Xen called her out. "Quit making such a big deal out of this. Let me share this memory with you."

Xen was being cavalier with this, but I could tell she was nervous. "Reading" a person meant simply getting a look at their mind without going inside or alerting them. Because of this you could only see surface level stuff. Who are they? What do they want? Sometimes you could even get a memory or two that they were dwelling on. That's why it was so commonplace and accepted among Psychics. But showing someone a memory was different. It was showing them everything from that moment. The outside, like what you said, but also the inside. How you felt, what you thought, any stray thoughts that crossed your mind would be made clear. That's why the Society created such stern laws to protect people from Psychics.

This woman trusted me with that. She trusted me with who she was, for good and bad. "Thank you," I finally said, my mouth dry. "If you think it is best, show me." Xen nodded as she drew her wand. She sat cross legged, her eyes closed, and both hands resting on the long willow branch that she wrapped around her waist. The tip glowed with a faint purple light. I closed my eyes too as I felt a gentle presence pressing in on my mind. Taking a deep breath, I dropped my wards and let it in. I reached out with my own power so it was pressed up against hers. The world seemed to vanish around me as the memory played out.

I was walking down the corridor of the Paradise HQ, my mother at my side. We were in no hurry. We had just finished all of the paperwork the guild requires. It was official, Charlie and I were now officially mates.

I had one hand at my throat as we walked, my fingers unconsciously stroking the silken cyan scarf tied there. My claws occasionally caught on the brilliant golden pin shaped like a willow tree that was stuck in the knot. Both were gifts from my new mate, tokens of mateship. That's what my mother and I were doing. I had to find Charlie some matching tokens. Perhaps he would like a scarf as well? Or maybe a golden amulet on a silken blue cord.

"What's your rush dear?" mother asked. I hadn't realized it, but I had sped up to almost a jog as I pondered and my mother, bless her heart, was barely keeping place.

"Sorry mother," I said sheepishly as I dropped back to a more comfortable speed, "I'm just so excited. Part of me wants to get this shopping done as quickly as possible so we can go find Charlie and dad."

"They aren't expecting us for another three hours love," mother wheezed. A surge of guilt shot through my gut as she spoke. She certainly wasn't as young as she once was. "We might as well take as much time as we need. You want to get the perfect token for your Charlie, right?"

I stopped in my tracks. "Of course mother. You are right." I turned to face her. "But first, maybe you should sit down for a moment. You don't look good."

"Just exerted myself a bit too much," mother said waving her hand. Still she sat down on one of the simple wooden benches that lined the hall. "I'm fine, I just need a moment."

She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. I settled down next to her, although a small, selfish voice in the back of my head was impatiently goading me to hurry to the market. Despite its insistence, I did my best to ignore it. I couldn't simply leave mother behind.

"You look beautiful Xen dear," mother said, her eyes still closed. "I am so proud of you. So is your father."

"Thank you mom," I replied with a smile. "I'm glad you and dad were here to see it."

"So am I," mother said. She sat up before fixing me with a smile that never really reached her eyes. Those remained firm and determined. "Before I forget dear, I have a gift for you. Really a gift for your new family."

I cocked my head at her. She didn't have a bag, and she certainly was not holding a gift. Still, I decided to humor her. "Thank you mother. Where- I mean - what is it?"

Mother smiled, this time a hint of laughter sparkled in her eyes. She reached down to her hip, her fingers digging into the pocket of fur normally occupied by her wand. Instead of the short, knobby length of Black Walnut, she drew out a small cloth-wrapped bundle.

"The male who gave this to me asked me to pass it on once you were mated. He told me that you should also pass it on to your son or daughter when they eventually are mated." As she spoke, she was slowly unwrapping the bundle, whatever it was.

"This item is a safety net as it were. The Delphox who gave it to me called it such. He said that one day a Fennekin would come, and they would desperately need this item. He told me that until such a time arrives, I was to keep it safe."

The object was finally uncovered right as she finished speaking. A shard of impossibly clear crystal sat in the bundle of cloth. It looked a bit like a Tauros horn, the way that it curved and tapered. One side of it though was covered in sharp protrusions that "flowed" out of the main body. I reached out to pick up the thing, but mother drew back as I neared. "It has a bit of a bite," mother explained, "best you leave it be."

"Will this Fennekin be of our line? Is that why we were given it?" I asked. Staring at the thing warily. I wasn't sure what to make of any of this.

Mother shrugged. "He didn't say. I don't think he knew. Still he did tell me two things that I will now pass on to you." I was completely enraptured at this point. I barely even noticed as mother transferred the bundle into my paws and wrapped it back up. "This shard is one of four that will open a Dream Dungeon. Within that Dungeon the Fennekin will find a temple which houses the Dreamstone. The four crystal keys are the only way to use the stone."

I stared at her, waiting for more, but she remained silent. "Is that it? Where is this Dream Dungeon? Where are the other three keys? Why-?"

"Xen, calm yourself," my mother said her hand on my cheek. "Xen you aren't the Fennekin. Why are you so worried? It could be centuries before the Fennekin will need the keys. Don't dwell on things you may never know. You need only pass it on when the time comes."

The image faded from my mind as Xen pulled away. "That was all she told me. For the rest of her life she only ever made passing references to her 'gift', simply making sure I still had it."

The older Delphox shifted on her chair, idlily twirling her wand between her palms. I shifted as well so that I was closer to Eve. I could see into my bag where it sat open on the floor. The slight glint of light glittering off of the "keys" holding my attention.

"When Ashley got taken…" Xen's voice trembled softly. "I didn't even think of the shard. It was only once we had gotten here that I remembered my mother's words. This item is a safety net as it were. For the briefest moment, I found hope that these keys and this Dreamstone might be able to help my daughter. But when I looked I realized that the Hatred had taken it too."

That made my decision far easier. At first I attempted to levitate the shard out of my bag, forgetting that Psychic didn't work on the crystals. I got up digging through my bag and placing the shard on the table between us. "This is your shard right?" I asked as Xen fixated on it.

Xen regarded me for a moment before reaching out and prodding the crystal towards me with her wand. "It was mine. I don't believe so anymore. Perhaps I am wrong, but I believe that you are the Fennekin my mother and grandfather talked about. I'm guessing you are already searching for the Dreamstone, right? If so, I wish you luck on your quest."

My mouth was dry as I took the crystal back. "Thank you," I gasped as the full weight of her words hit me.

"No Slink, thank you," the Delphox said smiling at me. Tentatively she reached out and placed her paw on top of my head between my ears. I shivered slightly, my mother used to do the same thing. "Tonight you gave me everything. This story is so little compared to how much I owe you. If you need anything else, if you ever need help, I will be there. You can count on it."

Eve and I were curled up back to back under an old desk hidden in the depths of the Library. An old, handwritten tome lay open in front of me while Eve had two immaculately printed and annotated maps spread in front of her. We had built this nest only a few days after returning to the Fire Continent and had spent nearly every waking hour here.

Our conversation with Xen had opened up a whole new avenue of questions. Her story had given us some answers, but like everything else on this Arceus-damn search it just lead to more and more questions. Where could I even start? Who was the Delphox? What did he mean about the Dreamstone being a fail-safe? How'd he know a Fennekin was going to need it? Was that me? Trying to focus on all of these questions would have left me sobbing in a corner, so I decided to focus on one at a time.

Who was that Delphox? For this question I had at least a lot to go on. According to Xen's grandmother, the Delphox in question had been an esteemed member of the Expedition Society, or at least esteemed enough to be their representative to the Decennial Council. Still that had to have been over seventy years ago. The Expedition Society kept meticulous records of course, but after getting the dusty old tomes I discovered that the Expedition Society had employed over a dozen Delphoxes over the past fifty years, and that was on the Water Continent alone. So far I had found eight different candidates, but I still had three tomes and nearly forty years of history to still go through.

On the other hand,Eve was covering the other lead I had gotten. Surprisingly it hadn't come from Xen, but from Shane. Now that I knew for certain that the Hatred was searching for the Dreamstone, I had Eve searching for the "Dream Dungeon" Xen had mentioned. Eve and I had narrowed down the location already to the Water, Fire, and Mist Continents. In Shane's office however he had eliminated the Sand, Air, and most importantly the Fire Continent. Still, that left Eve with two Continents to scour.

All of it was monotonous work, but being snuggled up in a forgotten corner of the library with your partner did make the work more tolerable. That and what we were avoiding. Since we had gone to take Ashley home, things had gotten a bit… tense. Vix would never admit it, at least to anyone but me, but according to Sierra Vix had had nightmares every night we were gone. Abby had at least stepped up in our absence and had done everything she could to help comfort her friend. Some mornings Sierra would wake up to find Abby curled around Vix; the Vulpix clinging desperately to her friend in sleep. Of course neither girl got much sleep during that time, and that specifically didn't help Vix's already poor mood or her frayed nerves. I know Sierra was just trying to help, but I also know that Vix wouldn't have accepted his help even if she was in the mood for it. According to Gregory the resulting shouting match was loud enough that it could be heard on the street outside. It had sent Abby running to the library where it took Kegan and Candice several hours to extract her from under Dimitri's desk.

When we arrived home, Vix had asked to sleep in the extra bed in our room. She claimed that it made her feel safer and lessened the nightmares. Really, I knew it was almost certainly to get away from Sierra, especially since the frequency of the nightmares seemed consistent. Sometimes I would roll over at night and see her; her face twisted into a scowl, her feet kicking out instinctively as whimpers were torn from her throat.

It didn't help that she wouldn't let Eve or me into her head. I'm certain either of us could have fixed things in a second, but she wouldn't even talk to us about the nightmares, much less let us inside to help out. Eventually Eve figured out a loophole where we could push thoughts into Vix mind while she was sleeping to potentially refocus her mind. It didn't always work, but it helped to feel like I could do something.

It wasn't even like we could go off on missions or anything to get our minds off of things or give the two some distance. The Hatred still hadn't been sighted, even four weeks after the raid. Kegan refused to let any of our team out of the city limits until they were located. It was fair to say that most of us were going stir crazy.

Thankfully Vix chose to come with us each day to HQ. I am certain that was the only reason why Sierra and Abby were still living with us. Of course Vix could only spend so much time in the library before getting bored, an hour and ten minutes to be exact. Thankfully Kegan was quick to start her on her own task. The two had spent the past couple of weeks drafting a map of the Hatred base. Vix was the only Pokémon on the planet (outside of the Hatred) who had seen the whole thing, and an asset like that would be invaluable if the Society ever managed to locate the Hatred base again.

But for the moment I was just focused on the mouldering book in front of me. Although at this point I could barely focus on the handwritten records before me. "Ampharos, Mawile, Buizel, Dedenne, Riolu…" blah, blah, blah. Uggh.

I rolled over, resting my chin on Eve's back and watching over her shoulder as she worked. I definitely couldn't have stayed focused for as long as she had. It looked as though she was staring off into space. In all actuality she was regarding a pair of maps that we had stuck to the underside of the desk that charted known ley line locations across the two continents we were interested in.

I opened my mouth to ask Eve a question but before I could even draw breath, her tail came up with one of the prongs directly over my mouth. Eve's attention quickly shot from the charts overhead, to the maps, to the book of recorded Dungeons that lay open by her feet, before a quill sprung up from the next desk over and circled a point in the mountainous region of the Mist Continent, just north of Post town. That made for a grand total of… thirty possible locations of the Dream Dungeon across both maps. Damn, we were never gonna find this thing.

Eve quickly returned the quill to the desk before turning to regard me. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

I grinned up at her, "I was just gonna ask, what makes you choose a Dungeon as a possible location?"

The Espeon shrugged, "There are a few things. I check how many ley lines it has. I figure the one for the Dreamstone must be pretty powerful. At least three ley lines. Then I look at these reports, see if the whole Dungeon had been explored, or if there were any anomalies or alternate routes in there. These thirty are the only ones that meet those expectations." Suddenly the quill was there. It quickly scratched out two Xs on the maps: a small coastal mountain on the Water Continent, and a point just West of a giant Glacier on the Mist Continent. "I just hope that it isn't one of these places. The Society and the Paradise have deemed them off limits. Instant Outlaw status to anyone who sets foot in them, with the highest bounty allowable." She huffed in frustration. "With our usual luck that is almost certainly where the Dreamstone is."

I shrugged, dragging my chin up her back so that I could meet her eyes. "Well, we have thirty others to check before we get there right?" I rolled over onto my back, batting my paws at the ley charts on the roof of our fort. "I think I've reached my limit of focus today. What time is it anyway?"

The Espeon rolled her eyes at me, before pulling the Expedition Gadget to her. "Huh, nearly six. We should probably get going. Vix is probably bored out of her mind by now"

I quickly rolled over onto my belly. I stretched forward, feeling the blood rush back into my hindpaws. I hadn't even known they were asleep. Paper crackled as Eve carefully folded up her maps before tucking them into my logbook to mark my place. She rose too, butting her head against my shoulder playfully as she stretched her back legs.

Our bags were laying against the base of a shelf just a few feet away. Trying to be nice, I went over to grab them both while Eve continued to pack up. What I didn't expect was to find Dimitri hulking over the desk, his purple eye staring directly at me. I yelped and shot back under the desk, ducking behind Eve. To be fair, I was still a bit on edge from the whole kidnapping deal. Eve poked her head out from under the desk, and smiled. "Hey Dimitri. Were you waiting for us?"

Dimitri's eye turned yellow as he nodded. He pointed back towards the main desk as a familiar voice rang from the stacks. "Dimitri, have you found them yet?" Vix called. She turned the corner and then stopped as she saw the big tree. She glanced under the desk, grinning at Eve and me. "There you are. Nice place you got there." She straightened up and turned around. "Kegan needs to talk to you guys," she called over her shoulder. "You should hurry up so we can get home."

I made to follow her, but Dimitri gave a small hop so that he was directly in my way. I raised an eyebrow at him, but before I could ask he had gently picked me up and settled me on his shoulder. Before I really had a good grip, he bent down again to get Eve. I dug my claws into the soft wood of Dimitri's shoulder so I wouldn't fall off. To be fair though, the Trevnant didn't even seem to notice. He set Eve on his opposite shoulder and then took off, only stopping to scoop up Vix as we shot by.

Sooner than I thought possible, we had arrived at Kegan's office. I had always thought that the desk Kegan was always behind was his "office" but no. Whenever he wasn't manning the front desk, he was in his office located beneath the building's main staircase. I would never have noticed the innocuous door had Dimitri not set us down right in front of it. The lumbering tree carefully stepped around us and knocked firmly on the door..

"Come in please," Kegan's voice barely carried through the door. Vix shrugged and shouldered open the door.

"Was literally just in here," she muttered under her breath, "don't know why I suddenly need permission to go in."

The place was surprisingly roomy considering it was squeezed under the stairs. The ceiling was sloped; probably twice Dimitri's height on one end, and just taller than Kegan at the other. Bookshelves lined the room on the short end, most of them filled with scrolls, maps, and logbooks. Everything one might need to run this chapter of the Society. A large desk sat along the back wall facing the door. At the moment it was covered in all sorts of papers and almost half a dozen broken quills. On the wall behind the desk Kegan's grey-leather bag hung on a hook next to a large painting of him, Dimitri, and Candice standing in front of the guild with their arms around each other. That seemed to be the only personal decoration though. A shorter, circular table filled another section of the room. On it were several rolls of parchment that seemed to be the fruits of Vix's labors in recreating the Hatred's base. Next to them sat a single silver spoon that seemed to glow with an odd inner light.

Looking back I could never remember Kegan using this item synonymous with his species before. I had never thought of it before.

Speaking of the Kedabra, he was sitting at the smaller table carefully tracing over the latest map with ink. He looked up as we entered before placing his quill down on the table. "Team Mindfire. Thanks for coming. This will only be a minute." He stood carefully bringing the map he had been working on with him, rolling it carefully into a tight scroll. As he walked to his shelves to put the new document away, I felt a pulse of Psychic from him. The lights in the room slowly faded as a strange device sprouted from the mapping table. Kegan approached, tapping at the screen of his Expedition Gadget before he inserted it into a small slot on top of the device. Immediately the whole thing whirred to life. The wall across from us started to hum before the whole thing lit up with a flickering blue light.

It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at, especially as the image moved, but eventually I realized that it was the Nexus, only it was being projected onto a flat wall. The image shifted slowly, mirroring the rotation of the globe in the library. Still it was impressive.

"Just a few minutes ago, I got a report from one of our flying teams." Kegan said as he rested his hand on the Connection Orb that stuck out of the odd projector. He tapped it a few times before rolling the crystal sphere under his palm. The map corresponded accordingly as it focused in on the Fire continent, then zoomed in on the Reshiram Cape to the south. A small red dot flashed on the far side of the Mountain range that bisected the land. "Team Iron Feather reported seeing a group of three Pokemon, all shiny, at this location earlier today. They approached the group peacefully, however the Zebstrika among the group started raining thunderbolts down on Team IronFeather. By the time the team made it to the ground safely, the shinies had gone."

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Eve asked excitedly. Meanwhile, a pit of dread was growing in my stomach.

Kegan grinned. "We have our first Hatred sighting. No doubt about it. Now based on where we saw them I am certain that their base has somehow migrated South. There is no way they could have gotten where they were without us seeing them if they were situated further north than, well, here." He tapped the green sphere on his Expedition Gadget, and suddenly a dark red line shot across the map, just south where Lapras Port was. "Because of this, I will allow your team to leave town on work. However for safety reasons I insist that your work takes you North of Festive Town."

"Yes," Eve cheered excitedly while a pit grew in my stomach. Thankfully Eve was so excited that she didn't even notice my lack of enthusiasm at the news. Surprisingly though I wasn't the only one underwhelmed by the news. I had expected Vix to be excited, or at the very least happy, but she simply stood there with a scowl across her face.

"Thanks for telling us Kegan. Sierra and Abby will be so happy when we tell them. Speaking of which," she turned back to me and Vix. I barely managed to fix a smile onto my face, "we need to get home. Sierra probably has dinner on the table by now."

"Then let's go. Thanks Kegan." I said already headed toward the door.

"Eve, I expect full travel plans plugged into the Nexus tomorrow." Kegan called after us as he sat down at his desk with a sigh.

As we opened the door to the apartment, we were met with the sweet sound of screeching metal. Abby was on the couch, her paws pressed firmly over her ears and her eyes screwed shut. Meanwhile Sierra was standing on the counter,clumsily scraping at the stovetop with his claws.

"Sierra? What the hell are you doing?" Eve shouted across the room. Her voice sounded stern, but the look on her face was trapped somewhere between disapproving and holding back laughter.

The Absol looked up suddenly, his wide eyes making him look like an Espurr. "The stove broke." He said as if that explained everything.

"Yeah," Eve said, "there is an Absol tearing it apart."

Sierra's cheeks flushed. "It wasn't thing that lights the burners is broken. I think it fell into the top. I'm trying to fix it, but…" he held up his paw, flexing the claw-like digits. "I'm not exactly built for this."

"And that is why we don't try to do that." Eve sighed in exasperation. "Why didn't you call Gregory? I'm certain he could have come and fixed it."

"As a matter of fact, I did call him." Sierra argued. "He isn't here though. He's visiting family near Lapras Port. The Pokemon I talked to said he would be back tomorrow. Doesn't help me for tonight though."

Despite how much I was enjoying the argument, I decided it was time to break it up. "Guys, it's fine. Sierra just leave it for tonight. Kegan just cleared us to do a mission tomorrow. We can leave our key on Gregory's desk tomorrow morning and he can come figure it out while we are gone."

"We're clear for missions again?" Sierra asked, his tail wagging slightly behind him. "Oh, thank Arceus I've been so bored." He shook his head. "Sure that works, but what are we doing for dinner tonight?"

"Seriously boys, this shouldn't be so hard," Eve rolled her eyes, "Slink and I can go grab something for tonight. It really is no big deal."

"Actually," Sierra said sheepishly, "I'd already fixed most of the meal when I found out the burner wouldn't light. Other than the part I have to heat, everything is done, and I'm not sure it will keep for the next couple of days."

"Dad." Abby butted in suddenly. I didn't know she was even listening to be honest. "Didn't you say that the sparker is the only bit broken?" Sierra nodded. "You have two Fire Types here. Can't they light it, at least for tonight?"

All three of us "adults" stood there in silence for a moment. Eve and I weren't currently connected, and neither of us could connect with Sierra, but I knew we were all thinking the same thing. How come I didn't think of that?

"That's brilliant Abs," Sierra said. "Er, Vix would you be willing to...?"

"No," she said simply before heading towards our room. "Hey Abs since we have a while before dinner will be ready, want to play a game?"

I huffed to myself as the pair ran off. This feud between Sierra and Vix was simply exhausting. Then I realized that Eve and Sierra were now staring at me. "I guess that means you're up Slink." Eve said gesturing towards the stove.

"Yeah," I said sheepishly. I was feeling pretty cool, so I knew I needed to push myself into Fire before I could do anything. I took a few deep breaths, but nothing was happening. Most of the time, that was all it took to get Fire. I tried focusing on my frustration towards Sierra and Vix. This time though, I swear I got colder, not warmer.

My head pounded as I concentrated. Anger. Fear, Rage, Passion. My heart started pounding, and my breath started coming in short gasps but finally, I could feel myself growing warmer. Then, just as I felt myself pass into Fire, two images flashed through my head: Stanley holding Vix by her neck, and Stanley, a charred husk on the ground, with claw and teeth marks marring his melted flesh.

A chill shrouded my body, sinking deep into my bones, as I snapped back to Psychic. Belatedly, I tried to use my Fire. Instead of the ember or spark that they expected, Eve and Sierra were both caught off guard by the blast of Psychic. Obviously it didn't do anything to Sierra, but Eve was caught up in it, the blast throwing her into the wall.

"Eve!" I rushed forward. "Are you okay? Arceus, I'm sorry."

She waved me off with her tail as she got shakily to her feet. "I'm fine. Just a tad surprised."

"What the hell was that?" Sierra said echoing the thought that I'm sure Eve was thinking but was too polite to say.

I blushed tucking my ears and ducking my head. "Sorry. I don't know what happened. I can try again…" but just as the concept of Fire entered my head, my stomach seized up. Without another word I sprinted to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. Thankfully I didn't throw up, but I stayed in there for a while, curled up on the floor and trying to calm my breathing.

"Slink?" Eve's gentle voice rang through the door. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes. I think I am." I croaked back.

The handle rattled as Eve tried it. I was secretly glad that I had locked the door. I just needed to be alone for a minute. She could have Psychically unlocked the door, but she let it be. "Are you sure you are okay? Are you sick? We don't have to do anything tomorrow if you're-"

"I'm fine," I snapped. Slowly I sucked in a deep breath and let it out. "Sorry. I really am fine, I just need a minute."

Eve didn't say another word. She simply padded away. I think I was only there on the floor for another ten minutes, but it felt like hours. When I left the bathroom, dinner was ready, and everyone was sitting at the table waiting.

The rest of the night things were a bit tense. At least around me. I think the rest of them were nervous about what might set me off again. Hell, I wasn't even sure what had happened. Throughout dinner, I kept catching Eve staring at me with concern etched into her face. Every time I met her gaze it seemed like she wanted to say something, but each time she simply looked away. I could feel her mind buzzing, and I knew something was coming.

Later that night, after even Vix had sunk into an unfortunately still fitful sleep, Eve decided it was time to talk. Without any sort of warning she had stood up from our normal sleeping position, turned around, and settled down again facing me. Our noses were barely an inch from each other, and I could see what little moonlight that filtered in through the window reflected in her eyes.

"Slink, I know you said you are okay, but…" she trailed off. "Look I have to ask before we head out tomorrow. Before you… uh… in Kegan's office you didn't exactly look excited and…"

She paused, her eyes closed, as she sucked in a deep breath. "I know you don't really want to go tomorrow. I have to know, is it because of the Hatred?"

My hesitation wasn't even intentional. In all honesty I hadn't even considered that. "That's part of it. A little bit I guess. Kegan says we should be safe, and I trust him, but that nagging voice in the back of my head keeps reminding me how close we came to disaster. Part of me never wants to risk it again." I saw Eve was about to say something, so I rushed to cut her off. "But I'm good to go. I'm not that...afraid."

Eve gave a half smile, half grimace. "You don't have to," she whispered. She shifted just a little bit closer to me. "You said that was only part of it. What's the other part?"

I shrugged trying to dismiss it. "Nothing, I just… We've made so much progress in the last couple of weeks. It feels like we are so close to finding an answer on the Dreamstone. I just don't want to quit while we are so close." I shrugged again. "It's selfish and stupid."

"Yeah it is, but I don't blame you." She licked my nose. "Let's do this job, and then we can spend all weekend in the Library. I think I have the Dungeon narrowed down as far as I can at this point. I can help you out with the records when we get back."

"Yeah," I grumbled, "when we get back."

Eve wiggled closer so her head was tucked under my chin. "It'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Come on, I can promise you that you won't be kidnapped again." I know she was just trying to make me feel better, but at the same time she really shouldn't have tempted fate like that.

"Uggh, where are we going, the moon?" Sierra grumbled as we mounted what felt like the hundreth switchback on the mountain slope. Above us the sky was entirely grey. Behind us, to the East, a monstrous, early-winter storm was gathering.

"Didn't your species originate in the mountains of the Mist Continent?" Eve called back. "You were literally built to climb mountains."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Sierra muttered. "And that doesn't mean that I enjoy running up mountains either."

"Are you guys sure we are safe up here," Abby whimpered, her gaze fixed on the oncoming storm. As she spoke she lifted a foreleg, pressing her paw firmly to the base of her horn.

Eve glanced at the clouds, biting her lip. "From what I was told this Dungeon has plenty of tree cover, and there are several places where it intersects a couple of cave systems. Besides, I doubt it'll take us more than an hour to get through. The Pokemon we're looking for should only be a floor or two in. We'll be long gone before this storm hits.

"Eve," Vix called weakly. I think we all glanced back to where the Vulpix was trotting along at the back of the pack. She had barely gotten any sleep last night, and with the pace we were going I'm impressed that she was still even moving. "Can we please slow down a little?"

"I'm sorry guys, but we can't afford to waste any time. We can rest for a moment when we get to the Dungeon, but until then just hang on." Eve was trying to be sympathetic, but there was a note of urgency in her voice.

"Eve, at least slow down a little." I suggested. Mentally I added, I'm not sure how much longer Vix can go. We'll take even longer if we exhaust her before we even get to the Dungeon.

I could feel Eve thinking before she begrudgingly paused, letting Vix catch her breath.. "Fine. We are almost at the top anyway." When we set off again, it was at a much slower pace.

I glanced back at the Vulpix. Her ears and tails drooped, the dark circles under her eyes only highlighting her unfocused gaze. She only really seemed to focus whenever the path doubled back on itself, but then she just seemed to follow after Abby mechanically.

I stopped suddenly, squeezing near the wall and waving Sierra and Abby past. The road was too thin for Vix and I to safely walk side by side, so I followed just behind her. "You okay?"

"Huh," Vix muttered blearily. Her posture straightened as she realized what I had asked. "Er, yeah… I'm fine… just... uh… ti-tired."

Of course I had guessed that much. I wasn't quite sure how to phrase this next part. "Vix this mission is urgent. Are you… will you be able to focus enough to get us through this Dungeon quickly?"

Vix was silent for a while, to the point where I was afraid that she had zoned out. "I think so. I just… I just need… Slink do you have any Chesto berries or something?"

I glanced into my bag rooting around for the yellow and blue berries. "Um… yes! Here." Vix scarfed down the berry as soon as I handed it to her. I offered her a second one and she stuffed it into her mouth barely even chewing the thing. "The nightmares are still getting to you huh?"

"What was your first clue?" she grumbled under her breath.

"You want to talk about them? Maybe that will make things better?"

"No," Vix answered immediately. "I-I- I can't. I can't talk about it. Not with you. Or Eve."

I didn't know how to respond to that, and before I had any time to think about it the path we were on leveled out as we reached a triangular meadow between three of the mountain peaks. Eve led us far enough into the meadow so that we were at least away from the sheer cliff we had just climbed before finally allowing us to rest. Vix almost immediately collapsed. Abby flopped close by her, occasionally pressing her paw to the base of her horn. Sierra sat back on his haunches and panted heavily.

Eve grimaced as she saw the state of the team, although we weren't any better considering the two of us were breathing heavier from the exertion. She pulled her canteen out of her bag and after taking a long sip she handed it to Sierra. I followed her lead, passing my water off to Vix. "Guess we are a bit out of practice adventuring, huh." I said trying to lighten the mood.

We rested for a few minutes but the rest felt all too short as Eve decided that we were all sufficiently refreshed from our hike. She gathered her bag together before prepping us for the job ahead. "Alright you guys. Remember we are looking for…" she glanced at the expedition Gadget, "a Mightyena. They are almost certainly stuck or lost, and by Kegan's best guess they are on one of the first three floors. Since they are a Dark Type, Slink and I won't be able to sense him, so we may have to thoroughly search each floor. I don't think we should spit up just in case the Mightyena is pinned down by ferals. Vix, you good to go?"

"Yeah, I'm good." The Vulpix said. The Chesto berries thankfully seemed to be having an effect. She seemed more focused, and she now held her ears and tails in her normal stance. Still she had dark bags under her eyes, and her brown eyes themselves were bloodshot. I trusted that Vix would be fine, but I was still worried.

It was then that Abby's behavior caught my eye. She had her chin pressed to the ground with both of her paws scratching at the top of her head near her horn. "Abby? Abigail? Are you okay?" Sierra got to his feet and lept to the aid of his daughter. "Is it the storm Abs?"

"Yeah," Abby grunted between scratches. "I don't think I've ever been this high during a storm. My horn is killing me!"

"Are you okay?" Eve asked staring at the two Absol.

Sierra looked up at Eve and nodded. "She's fine. We're Absol you know. Disaster Pokemon and all that. Whenever there's an impending storm or earthquake or something our horns will start to tingle. The more potential danger to us and those around us, the worse, and more painful it gets." I didn't notice it before he brought it up, but Sierra too would occasionally grimace, his paw twitching as he forced himself to not touch his horn. "I'm certain we'll be fine," Sierra said in response to the growing look of concern on Eve's face, "my horn isn't bothering me too much. Abigail just hasn't been this near too many storms."

"Okay then," Eve said nervously. "Are you okay to start moving Abby?"

"Yeah," Abby nodded, gritting her teeth. "Just give me a second. I didn't mean to worry you. This is just a bit new to me is all…" she gestured to her horn.

I think we were all a bit on edge as we headed deeper into the meadow. For a while it seemed like we were never going to reach the Dungeon. We just kept getting closer to the Northernmost mountain until we finally passed through the Dungeon's boundary. Vix immediately shifted into her lead position as Navigator as we trudged into the Dungeon.

Searching each floor was so tedious. Dungeon's weren't really built to be Navigated this way. Several times we had to double back from dead ends or endlessly looping paths. I could tell Vix was frustrated, especially since she had gotten used to getting to the end of Dungeons as quickly as possible. Plus her exhaustion added to the struggle with how often she hesitated at any crossroad. We were on the floor for nearly twenty minutes before Vix led us to the portal.

Speaking of the portal, this was the first Dungeon we had ever been in that combined different environments. So while the first floor was the same evergreen forest as the mountains we had passed through, the portal was tucked next to the mountain under a small overhang of stone. When we landed on the next floor we were surprised to find ourselves in a cathedral like cavern. High above we could see grey light filtering in from outside. That didn't mean the caverns were dark, most if not all of the rooms had some crack or hole in the ceiling letting in some light, meanwhile the rooms and corridors were filled with the glow of dozens of species of bioluminescent fungi.

We had never been in a cave Dungeon before either. Honestly, if we hadn't been in such a hurry I don't think any of us would have minded taking more time examining the various rock formations and mushrooms. There were a few formations we couldn't ignore though. There was a huge column, stretching nearly twenty feet from floor to ceiling, the stone nearly a foot in diameter. Later on we found a small alcove where the stone was blood-red. A formation of Firestones added a cheerful orange glow to the small space, making the walls seem to shift and breathe.

Even with these diversions we spent more than twice the amount of time on this floor than the last, although I'm not sure that was purposeful. There were several times when Vix hesitated at crossroads. Occasionally she would look around for almost a minute before deciding on a course.

"Caves are weird," she grumbled when I asked her about it. She nodded up towards the ceiling, or more precisely the almost perfectly circular hole in the ceiling. Through it I could see that the cavern went on another six feet or so before becoming solid rock. Between stalactites and stalagmites I could just see an alcove that seemed to go on for at least a few feet. "This place is far more… three dimentional I guess than I'm used to. If you went up there and took the path to the north, you would reach a chamber that is right above the portal, and to the south there is an underground lake. If we were looking for a flying type in here we would have twice the area to search."

Unfortunately the trapped Mightyena wasn't on the second floor. If that wasn't enough, the third floor was a bit...problematic. I landed on the floor, took three steps, and walked directly into a Spinarak strand. I jumped nearly a foot in the air as I dragged my paws across my face attempting to dislodge the sticky thread from my fur. A shiver ran down my spine as I forced myself to settle down, and my heart started pounding as I heard the scuttling of little arachnid feet against stone. Glancing up I just caught the tail end of a Spinarak as it scurried into the cavern above the room. I scrambled backwards nervously, an almost instinctual panic driving me back.

"Slink!" Eve's shout of surprise mixed with my yelp she appeared in the air directly above me. " What are you doing?"

I scrambled away from her, but I didn't go far. Instead of looking at her, my head was constantly on a swivel as I frantically searched around for any other Spinnarark or Ariados. "Slink, are you okay?" Eve asked, her annoyance turning to concern.

"Yeah," I'm… I glanced around. "You know how you feel about snakes? That is about how I feel about spiders."

"But you talk to that Galvantula down the hall all the time." Eve said.

"I don't mind them in and of themselves," I muttered, jumping slightly as I heard more scuttling feet. "I don't like them when they are attacking me."

Eve gave me a half smile. "Well then I guess it's time to repay you for the Ekans situation." She stepped closer to me, rubbing against my side.

Despite everything I had to laugh. "Even after nearly a year and a half, we're still not even for that?"

At least she cheered me up, and I certainly needed that. Because feral Pokemon had completely taken over the floor.

Every stone surface was covered in sticky webbing. In the larger caverns large sections were completely blocked off by large dome like structures, while the walls and ceilings of the corridors were so thick with webs that Sierra could barely make it through. There were several areas where Abby had to cut Sierra free or vice-versa. The worst for me though were the creatures. For the whole journey across the floor my skin itched and crawled. I could feel their beady, black eyes staring at me out of the shadows. Whenever we actually found one we all froze as the feral just sat there, watching us. Inevitably they would simply turn around and vanish deeper into the Dungeon.

The floor was smaller than the others, in that there were very few places to look. Vix warned us that most of the floor was occupied by a gigantic room that also happened to contain the portal. She didn't say, but she didn't need to, that all of the retreating Spinarak we encountered were headed towards that main room. Sooner or later we would have to go there.

As we approached the room, we heard what sounded like a raging river. It was a constant angry drone full of the scratch of claws against stone, and hundreds of tiny legs rubbing against one another. I felt my hackles raised as the noise got louder, almost seeming to come from within my chest.

Vix turned the final corner and froze. We fanned out around her in the mouth of the cavern, but were met with an impenetrable wall of darkness. Vix took a single step forward, a soft orange glow appearing around her body. "What could possibly go wrong?" she muttered to herself. She half glanced back at us. "Are you ready?"

She took a deep breath before throwing her head back, a ball of fire exploding from her muzzle. The flames shot skyward trailing smoke as it arced towards the roof of the massive cavern. The flare of orange light was just enough to illuminate the nightmare we had found ourselves in. The room was filled with a lattice of spiderwebs, the sticky threads stuck to the walls, the floor, the ceiling, turning the room into a labyrinth. In the back corner of the room, most of the thick strands converged on a huge dome-like structure.

The flickering firelight also revealed what looked like hundreds of Spinarak covering the system of webs. Some seemed asleep, their eyes closed. Some were simply going about their duty, crawling along the three dimensional walkways every which way carrying berries, twigs, glowing mushrooms, and suspicious chunks of...stuff. Plenty of the giant spiders were focused on us. As the light briefly illuminated them, they shivered on their webs staring at us and snapping their mandibles excitedly. Even when Vix's flames eventually flickered out, we could still feel their gazes focused on us, as well as the continued rustle of thousands of tiny spider legs.

"Wait, guys, did you see that?" Abby whimpered softly.

"What? The spiders?" Vix hissed. "No I didn't notice."

"No," Abby huffed, "there was a...bundle. It was right near the big dome. Vix can you give us another light?"

"Let's not unless we have to," I muttered. "I don't want to provoke the creepy crawlies into attacking." I thought for a moment. "Vix can you light up your tails, just enough that we don't run into anything?"

There was a soft rustle as Vix shifted beside me in the near darkness, then a faint red glow appeared. The tiny point of light spread out until I could just make out the outlines of my Team. "How's that?" Vix muttered as she swung her tails around her. Her fur was glowing from the heat, tiny red flickers of flame occasionally sparking up. Moving slowly, one step at a time, Vix led the way into the cavern. Her ears were perked and constantly.

Eve and I did what we could to help. At first we tried to Psychically keep track of any attackers, but the sheer amount of chaotic thoughts all around us nearly made me pass out. Instead we set up a five foot radius from the group where we could feel whatever came in and out.

"Guys," Vix breathed after about a minute of shuffling along, "The portal is directly ahead of us, but I think we are headed towards that big dome."

Thud. We all flinched as we heard the sound of something hitting the floor. My sensitive ears immediately latched onto the sound of tiny feet scuttling against stone, but I couldn't tell if it was headed towards us, or away.

Eve and I both spun around, our fur standing on end as something brushed against the edge of our dome. We waited, but nothing else appeared. Again, we felt the slightest flicker as an arachnid leg grazed the circle. A minute passed, another.

"I think we are fine for the moment," I whispered. My heart jumped as I felt the warning, but I couldn't move fast enough. In Vix's faint light I could just see beady, black eyes and long fangs dripping with purple fluid, before the air seemed to come alive around me. A burst of power intercepted the Ariados midair, blowing off one of its legs and flinging it back into the inky darkness.

Eve stood there, the glow from her gem slowly fading. She met my eyes for a moment and offered me a half-smile. "I think we are even now."

My heart was pounding in my throat. A shudder ran down my spine, but from there it just got bigger until my entire body was shivering. Ice-water filled my veins, my throat closing. MY muscles froze, and I wasn't sure I was ever going to move again.

"Slink, you gotta move," Eve said, her smile gone. The simple contact sent warmth throughout my body. I still couldn't move, but I could breathe again. "I understand how you feel, but there are other spiders, and if you stay here they will get all of us. You can freak out later, but right now you have to move."

A pulse of Psychic from Eve cleared my head of the fear, at least temporarily. I gasped in a short breath, before nodding to her. I could feel the terror skulking at the base of my skull, but for the moment I had it under control again.

We made decent progress after that. The party was still moving at a snail's pace, but we weren't attacked again. I'm not sure if the spiders didn't know where we are (that may have just been wishful thinking on my part), or if they were afraid to get near us. Still, I wouldn't relax until we were through the portal and out of what must have been my personal hell.

Of course that was the moment I ran right into something. It was a bit larger than me, with a sticky, spongy surface. As my chest impacted it, the surface molded around me. MY fur immediately caught on the tackiness of whatever it was, pulling me even further in. At the same time the core was more solid than I expected. At first I believed it was just a rock cocooned in thread. It was probably just an anchor for the network of webbing. As the light came closer however, I realized just how wrong that was.

I was quite literally face to face with another Pokemon. A shiny black nose had wormed its way through the suffocating threads, and beyond the gossamer film I could see two blood-red eyes reflecting the light. And then they moved, focusing on me.

I may have panicked just a little. "Ahhhh," I shouted involuntarily. I dug my claws into the rocky floor beneath me as I scrabbled backwards trying to detach myself. That vine of terror in the back of my mind surged forward, threatening to strangle me once again. Whatever natural glue that coated these threads held strong, yanking painfully on my fur in some places or completely ripping chunks out in others. The red eyes widened in alarm at my struggles, the black snout huffing in either panic or frustration.

"Slink," a sharp hiss entered my ear, "shut up! You're attracting attention!"

A large paw clamped itself over my mouth, silky, white fur coating my tongue as my mouth continued to hang open in a silent scream. Sierra ducked his head, using his horn to cut me free of the clinging webs. Slowly my breathing calmed down as I forced down my fear, but across from me the red eyes widened in panic. A strangled whimper seemed to echo endlessly in the mostly silent room.

I wrenched my way free of Sierra as soon as I was cut loose. I spat out all of the shed hair I had accumulated, licking at my foreleg to try to get the taste of his hair out of my mouth. "Slink, what were you shouting about?!" Eve hissed at me.

"I found the client," I grumbled, pointing. Eve immediately turned to the gift-wrapped Mightyena.

"Sierra, we have to get them out. Do you think that you can cut through it?"

"Probably not all the way through. Not without a move. And then I'm afraid I might cut a bit too far then."

"Uh, guys," Abby said.

"Vix, perhaps you could burn it away?"

"That's not a great idea. They would end up a bit...crispier than they might prefer."

"Guys," Abby said, far louder this time.

The sound of scuttling feet slowly grew around us. I turned slowly in a circle, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from in the near blackness. "Vix, I think we need a bit more light here." The flames that flickered through her fur spread from her tails to her entire body, the color shifting from red to yellow.

A lump grew in my throat. In the sudden light the swarm of arachnids was revealed. Hundreds of them had made their way to the floor and were scurrying just outside the reaches of the light. None of them seemed brave enough yet, and the whole swarm didn't realize that we couldn't take all of them at once.

The only direction that was clear was directly behind us, because we had reached the giant dome of web. "Change of plans then," I said to the others. "Sierra, you start cutting the cocoon open. Vix, you get us into the dome. Burn your way through if you need to." I shivered as I thought about the spiders lurking just outside the firelight. "The rest of us will keep them away."

And then Arceus must have decided things weren't bad enough. Without warning, a massive Ariados dropped from the ceiling, its thread detaching as it landed on Abby's back. Its six tiny legs clamped tightly to her in a vice grip. Thin threads started to appear around the Absol as the spider reared its head back, fangs glowing.

A pulse of Psychic power filled the room, and a pink nimbus appeared around the Ariados, dragging its head back even further away from Abby's neck. "Slink," Eve grunted, "a little help here." Reaching out with my power I levitated several pebbles littered around me. I layered the power on, creating a sharp purple aura around each stone before I fired them all at insane speeds towards the spider. The creature gave a pained shriek as it was torn away from Abby, spinning away into the darkness.

Pain flared in my right hind leg. Looking down I could see one of the Spinaraks plunge its sting into my thigh once again. In an instant it came face to face with a pissed off Fennekin. Honestly I felt at least a little bad for it as its eyes widened and it started to back away. That didn't prevent me from launching it into the darkness.

I turned to face Sierra, only to find him frantically slashing away at the cocoon. "Sierra, be careful!"

"Screw being careful," Sierra growled back. "We need to get out of here!" His horn glowed a brilliant blue-white as an odd wind filled the cavern. Silver sheets of wind exploded from the Absol and started spinning around the cocoon. For a moment all I could see were flying scraps of silk. Eventually it faded, revealing a disheveled Mightyena with several nicks and one large scratch running across their chest and belly. They took a deep shuddering breath before their eyes rolled up into their head and they collapsed.

"Slink," Vix shouted, "I got the dome open!"

What were we going to do? The Mightyena was far too large for any of us to carry. In retrospect we all should have just warped out then and there. Honestly the stress made that possibility flee from my mind. I'm certain the others felt the same.

I rushed forward, picking up several scraps of webbing as I went. Thankfully there were still several strands tangled in the Mightyena's fur and around their limbs. All I really had to do was lengthen the threads already there. A few moments later the Mightyena was in a makeshift harness so that we could drag them out of here.

I passed the bundle of silk to Sierra. "Get him out of here. We'll cover you." He quickly took the threads in his mouth, but then he turned towards Abby. "Trust me, I'll take care of her. Just go!"

The Absol nodded as he backed up slowly, dragging the unconscious Mightyena along with him. I spun around, keeping my back to him, batting away the dozens of daring Spinarak that challenged me.

It felt like hours, but was actually only about six minutes before we got the all clear. "Slink, Eve, Abs, Sierra is clear. Hurry up." Vix was hopping from foot to foot in the mouth of the dome. She looked like she wanted to rush forward to help us, but from her sluggish movements I could tell it was all she could do to keep her light.

The three of us all but sprinted at the portal, but we weren't even close when five Ariados dropped down landing between us in the portal. One immediately clicked angrily at Vix, advancing on her with its abdomen raised. "Vix, go!" Eve shouted. The Vulpix didn't think twice, but she didn't really have a chance. She took one step backwards onto the portal before vanishing.

Immediately the cave faded back into pitch blackness. Thankfully the dome of web was still smouldering, providing the slightest amount of red light. "Slink, we could really use some Fire right now!"

"I'm sure we could," I replied, my mouth dry. Obviously I couldn't see Eve, but I knew from experience the exact exasperated expression she was directing at me. "Eve, I am terrified right now. Any other day I would already be on Fire, but I can't. I don't know what is happening. Besides," I muttered to myself, "we don't necessarily need fire. We just need light."

"Slink, you better have an idea!" Eve warned, as she moved closer to me. The sound of scuttling legs inched closer and closer to us.

"Eve, can you run while using Future Sight?"

"If you guide me, I guess. Where am I aiming it?"

"Dead ahead. Just a few feet away." I turned to where I assumed Abby was. "When I say now, start running and don't look back."

Eve was silent as I felt her gather Psychic power. Once I was certain she had enough, I directed myself at the portal and grabbed Eve's tail with mine. "NOW!" Eve released the power, her gem flaring to the point where it seemed like the sun had spontaneously appeared in the underground cavern. The result was nearly instantaneous; a grating, unearthly screech filled the room. The creepy-crawlies were all looking at Eve as she unleashed her power, and were blinded. We sprinted towards the portal, knocking the dazed Ariados out of the way.

We were only half way there when the spiders regained focus, but that was when the actual attack kicked in. A second ball of light, somehow even larger and brighter than the last appeared in the middle of the room, all but incinerating two unlucky Ariados. By the time the swarm had recovered again, we were already gone.

As we landed on the other side I immediately let go of Eve and turned to face the point where we had come from. I knew that ferals never left their floors, some theories believed that they couldn't, but I didn't want to risk it.

The panic faded, replaced by what I can only describe as absolute terror combined with disgust. I froze up again, and my skin seemed to crawl beneath my fur. I could almost feel them, thousands of them crawling beneath my skin. My paws clenched, claws digging long furrows in the soil. My mind was tangled in my own fear, entombed in spiderwebs, trapped.

"Slink?" I knew I heard the words, but I don't remember it. The sound couldn't penetrate my occupied mind. "Slink? Slink?!" Slink!

That did it. The burt of Psychic contained within that one word snapped me out of it, at least a little. I looked up to find Eve sitting right in front of me. The next thing I knew, my face was buried in her shoulder. She held me as I shuddered, nuzzling me and licking my cheeks.

"Slink you did amazing in there. We wouldn't have gotten out of there without you. I'm so proud." My shaking had stopped, and now I was simply basking in the comforting closeness. "Remember what you told me when I was in this situation?" I could feel her smile. "Slink I will never let anyone or anything hurt you if I can help it."

I chuckled, letting out some tension. "I love you too. Jeez, I said that? No wonder Vix started shipping us immediately." Eve laughed too. "Thanks Eve. Come on, let's finish this job and go home."

I turned around to find Sierra circling Abby, checking her over for injuries. Really he was acting as though he hadn't seen her in hours instead of just minutes. Abby wore a resigned expression the whole time, shooting a sarcastic grin and eye-roll at where Vix had collapsed.

The Vulpix looked half asleep, even worse than she had this morning. Of course I couldn't blame her. With the amount of firepower she had used, anyone would be beyond exhausted. "I'm proud of you, you know," I said softly as I approached. Her ears flicked up at my words, but she didn't seem like she could even lift her head to acknowledge me. "You did well back there. We couldn't have done it without you."

Instead of the self-satisfied grin such a compliment would normally have garnered, the Vulpix could only give a tired smile. "You know we finished the job. You could probably go home. I'd give you my set of keys so that you could go take a nap if you want. We'd be right behind you."

Vix put more effort into her response this time. She lifted her head a few inches and gently shook it. "I'm… I'm good. I want to stay with you guys." Perhaps it was her exhaustion, but I thought there was a small amount of fear in her voice. "Do you have another Chesto berry? That'll tide me over until we get home."

Personally, I would have preferred she go home anyway. Regardless I started looking around in my bag. Wordlessly I handed over my last Chesto. Eve probably had some in her bag that would do for emergencies. I watched Vix closely as she snapped the berry up in two bites.

"Mr. Mightyena," I heard Eve begin, "are you alright?" I looked around, wondering how I hadn't noticed the client before then. To be fair, he was sitting apart from the rest of the group awkwardly watching us. Eve had caught him as he was bent nearly double, licking at the scratch Sierra had accidentally given him.

"Er, I'm fine. A bit dehydrated, and my hind legs are asleep after all of that," he growled. He didn't seem angry or afraid, that just seemed to be his normal voice. "Thank you for the rescue. The name's Enzo." He offered Eve a paw and she quickly took it. I noted with some amusement that he still had a few strands of spider silk attached to his tail.

Next to me I felt Vix tense the instant the Mightyena started talking, and I thought she was going to pass out as his name was stated. "Vix," I asked nervously glancing between her and Enzo, "what's wrong? Do you know him?"

"No," she said hurriedly. "It's...I felt the... uh... Chesto berry kick in. You know that burst of energy you get?"

I eyed her. There was certainly something going on, but I didn't press. Instead I tried to focus in on the conversation Eve was having with Enzo.

"Yes, well," Eve said matter-of-factly, "I think my team is ready. I'll send you back to HQ and then we can all be on our way."

"Wait," the Mightyena stepped backwards as Eve took her badge in paw, "we're headed back to Festive Town?" He sounded more disappointed than anything.

"Yes, that is standard procedure once a job is completed," Eve said patiently, "is that a problem?"

"Yeah, a little. I just left from there this morning. I'm trying to get to Ogon Village. Going back would just set me back another day."

"Why'd you take this pass?" Vix butted in. "There is one a few miles south of here that is a far weaker Dungeon."

Enzo looked like he wasn't quite sure what to make of the Vulpix. "Er, I...can't. I...that pass holds some bad memories for me." He eventually said. "Sorry, I just need to get to the other side of this Dungeon."

"I guess we could arrange for payment here, and then you can go on your way." Eve said biting her lip.

Enzo shook his head. "Actually I was hoping you could provide an escort for me. You know, just in case I run into any more...situations." He ducked his head sheepishly. "I would obviously compensate you for your time and effort of course."

"I guess that would be okay," Eve said. She glanced back at us. "Of course I need to confer with my team first."

She quickly trotted over to where Vix and I were standing. Abby and Sierra joined us only a moment later. "Vix, how many more floors in this Dungeon?"

"A dozen I think. We've got quite a ways to go. Thankfully though there aren't any more caves." Vix shrugged.

I glanced upwards. "We'll be out in the open. Are we still safe from that?"

A sudden boom of thunder seemed to punctuate my words. Siarra and Abby both grimaced and touched their horns. "Other than...that," Sierra grunted, "I think we are mostly fine. I only feel anything when lightning strikes. We should be good, but I'll try and warn you if it gets worse."

"I guess...we'll burn that bridge when we get there." Eve muttered to herself. I couldn't help but chuckle. "What?"

"Nothing," I smiled. That was a turn of phrase I had picked up from my father. Glad to see Eve was also picking it up.

Shrugging, Eve wandered over to the Mightyena to tell him what we had decided. Abby and Sierra followed only a few steps behind. I stayed behind as Vix got to her feet, still a little groggy. "That mountain pass you suggested Enzo take...isn't that the one where you were living?"

"Oh, was it," Vix said, "I just remembered that it was an easier Dungeon than this. Huh,I wonder why he didn't take it?" She raised an eyebrow at me and then trotted off after the others.

Over the next few floors, Vix suddenly became way more talkative than she had ever been in the past, to the point where she seemed to forget to Navigate. She was constantly asking the Mightyena questions. All seemed innocent, but I could hint a note of Fire behind the majority. "So Enzo, you got a family? Parents? Mate? Kids?"

"Er, no. No parents, and no mate at the moment." He shrugged.

I think we all knew that Vix was acting strange. The fact that she was talking to a stranger alone was a giant red flag. Still none of us commented on this odd behavior. It got me to thinking though.

"Oh." Vix slowed her pace a little. "You didn't exactly answer the kid part though. So how 'bout it? Got a son? Daughter?" Her voice was tight as she spoke. Flames flared in her eyes.

"Um...I...er…" he stammered.

"Vix!" Eve scolded. "Sorry Enzo. I can see that is a tough question for you. You don't have to answer." The Mightyena nodded nervously, but I could see him eyeing Vix curiously.

That dried up the questioning for a few minutes, especially as Enzo fell back to get some distance from Vix. He fell into step next to me, head hunched slightly. "Sorry about Vix," I said eventually. "She's not great around strangers."

He shrugged. "She's a kid. They always have so many questions. I'm used to it. So tell me a bit about you guys since…" he glanced up at Vix, "you got to learn so much about me. How'd you all get together?"

"Well, Eve and I are partners. She saved my life and we joined the Society along with Vix more than a year ago. Sierra and Abby joined last year. We helped him rescue his daughter-"

"-From the Hatred?" I shot him a look and he gave me an impish grin. "I don't mean to assume, but I mean Abby is shiny. Do you guys run into the Hatred often?"

"You could say that," I muttered. I didn't think he needed to know how "involved" we were with the Hatred. "Of course they are kinda the bane of the Expedition Society as of late."

"I get that," he nodded. "So how are you related to Vix? You never really said how she got involved. She seems to talk to you more than the others."

"That's a bit personal," I muttered. "But at this point, I guess that is a Gengar calling a Mimikyu scary. We've always been pretty close since we first found her. A couple weeks ago, I called her my daughter for the first time. I'm not sure how she feels about that or about me." I blinked, shaking my head. I hadn't realized how deep I had been digging in my thoughts. Enzo though had frozen, his shoulders hunched.

"You said you found her… where did you-?"

Boom! "Ahhh," Abby screamed out as a bolt of lightning clipped the tree directly overhead. We all ducked as splinters of wood rained down, but Abby stumbled and nearly fainted.

"We need to stop," Sierra called to the rest of us. "Vix, is there anywhere that could be a shelter? A shelf of stone or something? A small den?"

"This way," Vix said hurriedly, sounding a lot more like herself. She veered right, leading us into a side corridor. This sudden change separated Enzo and me for a few moments. I stared at the Mightyena who seemed to be deep in thought himself. Vix knew this guy, I knew she did. How though? Unless...

This section of the Dungeon must have been really close to the caves. The further along the corridor, the more and more a shelf of rock stretched across until we reached a point where the stone just touched the other side. We had around fifteen feet of corridor that was relatively safe.

"Sierra," Eve grumbled as we all got under cover, "do you know if this is gonna pass soon?"

"I can't exactly see the future. But from what my horn is telling me, this is gonna get worse before it gets better."

"Fine," Eve growled. "Sorry Enzo, I guess we are gonna be stuck here for a while. We are willing to wait for this to pass, but we would also be willing to escort you tomorrow. We could all go back to Festive Town and...uh...Enzo?"

I looked back. Enzo didn't seem to be listening. He was staring off into space, hard lines etched into his face as he muttered to himself. Too late, I realized that he wasn't staring blankly, he was staring at Vix. An expression of sudden understanding washed over his face. He moved faster than any of us could have expected, lunging at the Vulpix with claws extended. Eve and I reflexively raised barriers, but he passed through them like they were nothing. In only a second he had two of his claws tangled in the golden wires of Vix's bracelet. The sound of screeching metal seemed to echo endlessly in our tiny shelter as he tore the bracelet away from her. We all stood frozen as Enzo stood enraptured by Vix's black ring of fur.

"Vulpix?' He asked, his voice trembling.

"Enzo, what the hell..?" Eve sputtered. I didn't dare move, I didn't know what to do.

"Little Vixen?" Enzo whined louder. His voice was drenched in desperation.

"Don't call me that!" Vix growled. "My name is Vix!"

"Litt- I mean Vix, how are you…" he trailed off, audibly swallowing. "You're alive," it came out as a moan of relief.

"So what do you care," Vix snapped, blue tounges of flame flickered over her tails and paws.

Enzo wasn't put off. "I went looking for you, four months ago. When I got there Rose's burrow was gone. I thought you were dead."

"Great," Vix snapped, "six years later and you finally decide I am worth your time?"

Sierra stepped forward so he was between the pair. "What the hell is going on?"

"Stay out of this," Enzo snarled, "this is a family matter!"

"Family?" Eve said, taken aback at both his words and his tone. "Wait...Vix is this guy your father?"

"Yes," Enzo growled.

"No," Vix snarled.

"Vix, listen please," Enzo charged on as if he hadn't heard the Vulpix. "Just come with me for a little bit and-"

"-Everyone shut up!" For the first time in weeks, I felt some heat as I stepped forward. It was nowhere near Fire, but at least everyone was now silent. I glared at Enzo. "Let's get this one thing straight. Vix is staying with us."

"You have no right! I am her father," Enzo snapped. He stared me up and down. "And no matter what you think, you aren't!"

Eve stepped up beside me. "But we do have custody of her. If you want to dispute that, you can take it up with the Expedition Society." But there is a Snover's chance in hell of Kegan giving it over to you, she added mentally.

I could feel Enzo's glare pressing down on me like a weight. The same smokey Aura Shane got when he was angry flickered around the Mightyena. Sierra was slowly sidling his way closer to Enzo, just in case he decided to do something rash. I risked glancing over at Vix who was still growling at Enzo, her upper lip curling up to expose her teeth. I hoped that Enzo didn't notice, but the flames around her had vanished, and her tails and ears were starting to droop. That last Chesto was starting to wear off.

The next instant is when everything seemed to go wrong. Out of nowhere, Abby let out a stranged cry and collapsed. Sierra seemed to completely forget about Vix and Enzo for a moment as he rushed to his daughter's aid. Enzo saw the opportunity and took it. He charged, but not at Vix. The next thing I knew I had been wrenched off my feet and was dangling from the Mightyena's jaws. He was holding me off the ground, at an angle so that I couldn't pull myself free.

"Slink!" Vix screamed, drowning out Eve's simultaneous cry of alarm. The Vulpix was on the verge of panic, her anger turned to fear in an instant.

"Get back all of you!" Enzo growled. It was a bit muffled, but everyone could understand him. Reluctantly the others took a few steps back. Nobody wanted to give him a reason. Tears streamed down my cheeks, not from fear or even anger, but from frustration. My rage was boiling but there was no heat, no Fire. I wanted my fur to catch. I wanted to fill his mouth with flames and force him to let me go. But all I could do was push fruitlessly against his jaw with Psychic.

"Vix. Come here." At first the Vulpix didn't move. Enzo clenched his jaw slightly, and I couldn't help letting out an involuntary yelp as his teeth pressed into my throat. "Now!"

Vix took half a step forward before Eve threw her tail out to stop her. "Warp back. Tell Kegan where we are and what is happening. He only wants you."

Enzo said nothing in response. Instead he curled his lips, showing his teeth to the others. All at once they burst into smokey black flames. I tried to brace myself, but nothing could prepare me for the Bite. There was very little pressure from his teeth, but I couldn't stop myself from screaming as the darkness seemed to eat into my flesh. The world seemed to blur around me as the shadows began to eat their way towards my core. I could already feel my Psychic being leeched away.

"Stop!" Vix screamed, tears streaming down her snout. "I'll go with you. I won't run; I promise. Just let him go!"

Enzo considered it for a moment, before nodding. "Come, stand behind me," he commanded. Vix rushed forward, her tails tucked sheepishly between her legs. She met eyes with me briefly, an apology buried within, before she dropped her head. I tried to twist to keep her in sight, but Enzo gave me a sharp nip to discourage such behavior.

"Don't follow us," Enzo commanded as he started backing up, herding Vix along with him.

Eve stared at us with the same desperation as the last time a Dark type took everything away from her. "Don't do this," she said, practically begging. "You'll be an outlaw. The entire Expedition Society will be hunting you. We will catch you eventually. If you let them go, I promise we will forget this ever happened."

Enzo's grip on me loosened somewhat. "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you. I never did. I just cannot lose my daughter again, especially since I just got her back. She'll be safe with me. Don't worry." Despite my situation, I couldn't let this happen. As long as I was alive, I wasn't about to let Vix get hurt when I could do something to help. I started thrashing in his grip, digging at the ground, him, myself; anything that would give me enough leverage to get out.

The paw struck my ribs, the soft pads feeling more like rocks as they smacked into me. It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did, but the paw brought an immediate shock of pain followed by the almost acidic feeling of darkness eating into me. A freezing numbness followed after as my strength drained out of me. Some part of me realized that Fire would be able to stop the cold, but I couldn't even conjure a spark!

Enzo hung his head, letting most of my body lay on the ground. My limbs were twisted awkwardly, but I could barely feel them. "Sorry about this Slink," he muttered. Before I could recognize the warning, I felt the darkness eating away at me once again.

Thinks shifted in and out of focus for a while. I was vaguely aware that there weren't teeth pressing in on my neck anymore. I could just hear the sounds of running footsteps. But the clearest sensation beyond the blistering pain burrowing its way into my heart and mind was the slow ebb of my Psychic draining away. I forced myself over onto my stomach, my vision blurring. The last thing I saw was a red-brown smudge turning a corner and vanishing from sight.

I had no Fire, no Psychic, and now even Vix was gone.