Chapter 20:Where day one passes.
Immediately in the morning, even before the briefing has started, the absence of Axel and Amy was noticed. Steve told Alfons what happened last night. Steve thought talking with them was enough and they would never leave like this and regretted not taking care of his team mates as he should have had.
The rest of the guild was told about this and everyone was reminded that not following the rules of the guild and the orders of the guild master, or in this case the proxy, was punishable. To make sure this won't happen again Alfons ordered the twins to guard the entrance to the guild at all times, 24/7, to make sure nothing can enter or exit the HQ unnoticed.
Mo left his mouth shut about this case. No one asked him if he knew something about the event last night and he thought he would get in trouble if he confessed to have seen them leave and even talked to them without making an effort to prevent them from going. They probably also would have opened the letter Amy gave him. Mo was torn between telling or not. In the end he kept it for himself and hoped for the best. Not talking, not telling was often the best option for him. There wasn't anything he could do anyway at the moment.
Due to nothing really going on inside the HQ, beside gymnastics with Paul and Phil in Team Yellow's room, wich was out of question for Mo, because he was too lazy and without Bao it just wasn't the same, Alfons was researching about the Origin Stone, the key and it's possible location. He said he didn't found anything. It wouldn't hurt if Mo took a look himself in these books from yesterday.
Mo decided to head back to the library shortly after the morning briefing. He could not remember very well wich books he and Alfons carried, he was sure he would find most of them again.
It took quiet some time for Mo to gather enough book for him. It wasn't just about his problem climbing ladders, especially up to the top, some guild members seemed to not have any sense of order. At some point he wasn't even sure if he was the one who looked at the wrong sections. He found half of the book under "fictional stories". One book he remembered from yesterday turned out to be a collection of various fictional stories. Fairytales and such.
"If that stone is fictional, what are we doing here then?!", he thought.
Mo collected some books he found and though he could need, wich, pilled up, were larger than he was, and placed them next to him on the ground where he decided to sit and research for today. Mo preferred to sit on the floor made out of stone in the corner of the library instead of using a table or chair. He did not needed much. Just a quiet place and something to drink. He borrowed a cup from the dinning room.
Starting at the beginning, the story of the Origin Stone itself, would be a good start. Mo knew he already knew much about it, but maybe he missed something. Some details that could be important. Books and stories tend to vary.
Some time went by, but not much, when Mo noticed he wasn't alone in the library anymore. He could hear multiple steps coming closer and closer. And there they were: Team Orange.
Mo tried hard not to look at them. Forcefully focussing on his books, acting like he didn't notices them.
"Just ignore them. They'll go away by themselves. They can't see you if you can't see them.", he thought to himself. Mo didn't liked kids. At least not the kind the kind that was too immature. Of course, Mo dreamed of having kids one day, but he could not imagine himself raising them.
"Hey, Mo! What're you doing?", one of them said.
"Oh, no!", he thought to himself again.
Mo didn't saw who it was. Despite their ages and slight differences in their height all three had the exact same voice. A voice that reminded him of both Ziggy and his own father. Every time they make a sound, Mo's day is already ruined.
"... reading." Mo replied, still looking deep into the book he was reading when they arrived and still hoping they would go away.
"And what?", asked Fabius, the middle brother, and leaned forward over Mo.
It always bothered most Pokémon, even baby Pokémon, were often bigger than he was. All three were almost the double of his size.
Mo sighted quietly, just embraced the situation he was finding himself and cooperated. Jet, he still hoped the Pawniard would not stay too long.
"It's about the Origin Stone. I'm looking if we might have missed something.", Mo explained and showed the book closer to Fabius as he did. "You know. A plot hole, a secret riddle, subliminal massages. Something like this."
"Found something?", the oldest, Hilarius II. asking him, who joined his younger sibling.
"Well, no.", Mo simply said, disappointed in himself, and put the book on the ground.
Meanwhile, while Mo was talking to the other two, Publius, the youngest of the team, walked behind him, without Mo noticing at first, and was poking one of his ears with his knife like hand.
"Don't touch me!", Mo shouted as he quickly turned around to the young Pawniard.
"We're bored. We want to play something.", Publius said to him.
Despite being hurt during the invasion, he seemed to have fully recovered by now.
"How about hide-n-seek? You three hide somewhere inside the guild and I'll look for you. Wouldn't that be fun?", he suggested to them, planning to not look for them once they were gone and continue to read.
"You will not look for us.", Hilarius II. casually said to him.
"Yes, I would!", Mo lied.
"No, you won't.", Hilarius II. assured him.
"Okay.", Mo admitted and lowered his fake head.
"Old Team Purple like to play with us: I Eat.", Fabius said. For a moment Mo could literally see the nostalgia in his eyes. The memories of old times. "It's like 'I Spy' but one player eats something and the other players must guess what is was by the sound of his burp."
Mo thought his was disgusting and hilarious at the same time.
"Why are you so small?", Publius asked him, still standing behind Mo.
"Why don't you go to someone else? How about Aaron?", Mo asked them, hoping they would realise he don't wanted their company.
"Alfons said, go play with Mo.", Fabius anwered. "He also said, Aaron is a bad influence."
Mo didn't saw himself as good influence to young Pokémon either.
"Here. The Origin Stone was created by Arceus after the creation of the universe and the world. Because of the stone's power and the threat of someone using it for bad deeds, Arceus decided to hide it by handing it to the first stone carrier: Helix the Omastar.", Mo explained and pointed to a page in the book. On it was a painting of an Omastar, who is receiving a small, bright shining object from Arceus himself, who comes down from the sky.
"Why giving it to some stranger and not doing it yourself?", Hilarius II. asked him.
"According to the story Helix was some kind of saint back then and Arceus himself saw in the position of misusing the stone. It would have been better if someone hid the stone where no one could find it.", Mo explained.
"Is this yours?", Publius asked him and lifted the cup filled with the drink Mo was drinking.
"Yes, now please put it down!", Mo told him nervously.
"Is this water? It looks like water, but ...", Fabius reached the cup to his face and began to smell it, despite not having a visible nose.
"Please put it down! That's not for children!", Mo now ordered in an angered tone.
He was almost about to forcefully take the cup away from Fabius, but he put it back down himself.
Mo tried to get calm again.
"Anyway. It's nowhere written where the first hiding place was, but, somehow, over the centuries there always were various other stone carries. It is not even written how they got the informations were to find this stone or how it was chosen who should find it.", Mo continued to explain while slowly getting stressed over explaining not knowing anything. "No wonder why it is called fictional in this book. The only thing by know that is actually provable is the existence of Helix. He, somehow, got himself a cult that is still going on in parts of the-."
A loud spitting sound interrupted him. Mo first saw that the floor next to him was wet and then the source of both the puddle and the sound. Publius was holding Mo's cup again, making an disgusted expression.
"What is that?!" Seriously, what is this?!", Publius loudly asked Mo.
"Did you just drank that?! I told you to put it down!", Mo said shocked and was about to really rip that cup of his hand.
His two brother's weren't joyfully either.
"It looks like water but ...", Publius looked deeper into the cup to examine the liquid inside. "Slightly ... yellow?!"
Mo didn't knew a Pawniard could make a so disgusted and at the same time horrified expression. Turning back around, Hilarius II. and Fabius were doing almost the same expression, looking at Mo reproachfully.
"It's sake. It's some kind of wine made out of rice. That's why I told you to put it back down.", Mo explained and pulled out a small, gray bottle made out of clay from under his disguise, showing it to the three.
"Where did you get that anyway? The guild has no alcohol!", Hilarius II. asked Mo is disbelieve.
"We know.", Fabius added.
"We checked.", Publius added as well, sounding a bit sick.
Mo tried to ignore the implication that Team Orange looked for their dad's may existing hidden booze.
"I got it from home. And to my defence, there are no rules against the consumption of things like this.", Mo explained himself. He rarely does drink such stuff. Only on certain occasions. "... I should inform Alfons about this missing rule. For safety reasons."
"You're no fun!", Publius expressed.
"Because I don't want to be fun.", Mo defended his action.
"You have siblings?", Fabius asked Mo and sat down next to him.
"Are they also like you.", Hilarius II. asked.
"I have a brother.", Mo answered.
"How is he like?", Fabius asked interested.
"He's dead.", Mo emotionless said.
The Pawniard looked at Mo emotionless. At first. They couldn't say if Mo was joking or not, believing what he said.
"What happened?", Fabius asked, still sitting on the ground.
"Does it matter?", Mo asked back, just as emotionless as before.
Similar like Mo, his older brother left their parents home. He didn't really died. But for Mo, he did. A rivalry between brothers. Unlike most of these rivalries, the split with bad blood. Mo had no idea were he was right now and he didn't really cared about it anyway.
Mo closed the book in front of him and put it to his left in an kind of orderly way.
"I'm sorry guys. I really don't have time for you. I need some alone time.", Mo said and reached out his arm in Publius' direction, ordering him silently to give him his cup back, he was still holding.
He got it back, wiped around the corners of the cup with two of his finger and took a sip. Due to the taste Mo shivered for a moment in an unhealthy way and bobbed his fake head up and down.
"You okay?", Hilarius II. asked him as Mo shivered.
Mo's eyes glow up and a dark aura appeared around him as Mo looked at Hilarius II. This creeped out the three brothers and the quietly left. Mo watched them leave and kept up his glance until they were out of his sight.
Mo took a deep breath and sighted in relief. He took another book from the pile. "Mystery's of Mt. Avalanche."
His team was there. Maybe Mo remembered something. Something he hadn't noticed before. ... then again, he could bite himself if it turns out they forgot something and must go back now.
Again, Mo heard walking sound. Quick steps. He looked up an Hilarius II. quickly rushed back to him, as if he forgot something important. He stopped right in front of Mo and looked at him with big eyes and still small pupils. Mo looked back and didn't knew what Hilarius II. wanted.
"Something wrong?", Mo asked worried.
Without warning, Hilarius II. began to snuggle with Mo's fake. Petting and squishing it without hesitation.
"Don't touch me!", Mo shouted and pushed the Pawniard away from him. Mo was so closed from actually attacking him with his shadow claw, not caring how much it would hurt him or if he could get in trouble.
"They were right! You really are soft!", Hilarius II. exclaimed and quickly ran away again just like came.