Chapter 17: Trouble in the fun house
"Ow!" Terry complained in stifled voice as Luna swabbed the scrapes and scratches on his face from where Dart grabbed a hold of him half an hour before.
"Sorry Terry." Luna apologized pulling the cotton swab away only to apply more alcohol rub and swab the next scratch, "It seems Dart scratched you kind of deep when she jumped off of you."
"It's ohay." He replied holding a tissue to his nose to stop it from bleeding. For the last half an hour after waking up Luna played nurse for him and bandaged the minor scratches he received during Dart and Soot's antics. He had his head in Luna's lap as she sat on the floor concentrated on her task. Karis left some time ago to buy quality liquors from the market since her secrete stash ran out the day before yesterday. Terry could only imagine how she managed to hide her drinks while they were traveling, especially from the curious duo: Dart and Mara. Emy had taken Calisto to the bathroom for the water type's daily health regiment, otherwise known as her daily battle. May and Lei were regulated to cooking duty since Dart and Soot were sent to sit in the corners of the room. The former sulked from having received a harsh lecture while the latter complained and fumed mostly to herself about being treated like a child. The final member of the group, Mara, was still asleep in May's room; it was thoroughly impressive how she was able to sleep through the mayhem of the early morning.
"All done." Luna smiled and softly patted Terry's forehead. Just as he returned her smile a loud splash came from the bathroom.
"Calisto!" Emy's upset shout was followed by a puddle of water flowing out from below the door.
Unable to suppress a grin Terry looked up and said, "Nothing like a peaceful morning, right?"
"I'm not sure how to respond to that." Luna gave Terry a troubled smile as his joke went over her head. As she was about to get up Terry placed a hand on her hip stopping her. "Terry?"
"I want to stay like this a little longer. Your scent is very relaxing." Terry smiled up at Luna feeling a little mischievous as her cheeks colored a little red. A buzzing noise followed by a high pitch tune emanated from his pocket just as he was about to tease her some more. Damn. Terry silently swore to himself, the usually pleasant tune sounded extremely annoying to him. Even though he was tempted to ignore it his mood was ruined, so he just resigned himself to answering the call.
"Hello," Terry started to go through the likely list of people who would the caller was.
"BROTHER!" Ron shouted, his voice not losing any decibels over the transmission.
"Hey Ron you're as energetic as ever," Terry greeted after moving the receiver to his other ear. Is that his usual greeting or something? That guy's going deafen me. Sitting up he removed his head from Luna's lap figuring he should get up before her legs fell asleep. "We were looking for you yesterday. What happened?"
"I'm very sorry, but we got lost in the Trick house for six hours!"
"Why did you guys go into the trick house when we were going to meet up?" Terry asked. Who gets lost in a maze for six hours?
"Well it's because we got there at about seven in the morning, and we weren't meeting until twelve or so."
"Wait, how did you guys get there before we did?" Terry asked astounded. He was fairly certain that that Verdanturf was further away from Slateport than Mauville was.
"That's because I had my cousin's truck. I always bring it when I sell gems at the market. Didn't I tell you that?" Ron asked genuinely confused.
"Uh no, no you didn't." Felling more tired than angry, Terry sighed inward as he realized they didn't have to walk the entire way. "Well, where do you want to meet up today?"
"Let's meet up at the Trick house! I'll even buy your ticket as an apology!" Ron said regaining his usual vigor.
"Okay, let's meet up early. I'll see you there in about an hour or two." Terry ended the call after they said farewell. Calling out to May where she and Lei were finishing their quick breakfast. "That was Ron; he said we're going to meet up in front of the Trick house in an hour or so."
"Okay I'll tell the others. I just finished up here too." May left to get Mara.
Thoroughly soaked Emy left the bathroom with a frown as she carried Calisto on her back. Karis opened the door just returning from her shopping. After Emy got change into a dry set of clothes everyone sat down to eat and discuss the plan for today. Cleaning up the group left to meet up with Ron.
Following Ron's directions they quickly arrived in front of the Trick house. It was easy to spot Ron and his Pokegirls mostly due to the fact that he was energetically waving and calling out to them.
"Hey brother, over here!" The well-built young man beckoned Terry's group over completely unaware of the odd looks he was receiving from the surrounding crowd.
"That must be him." May said giving Terry a humored smile. "So why does he call you 'brother?'"
"It's because I saved his life from Terra, she's the gravelgal standing behind him." Terry explained wearing a strained smile as Ron rushed over to greet them. "He said something about friends being family."
"We finally got to meet up, huh?" Ron said giving them all a cheerful smile. After a quick introduction Ron pulled out a small package from his back pocket. "Here you go this is what I promised you."
"Thanks," Terry accepted the package and removed the protective cloth around it. A bright blue sheen shone from where the sun reflected off the smooth surface of the stone. Looking closely at the stone Terry could see what looked like bubbles trapped inside the deep blue depths of the stone. "Whoa, is this a water stone?"
"Sure is!" Ron's happy ear to ear smile grew bigger as Terry continued to inspect the stone, feeling the smoothness in each of the facets. "It turns out that old wives' tale about water stones forming around lakes is true. At least that's what I believe. We were digging around that lake near Rusturf, when lo and behold we found this beauty. Do you like it?"
"It's really nice," Terry answered while he traced some slight grooves in the stone, "but what are these scratches. Are they… bite marks?"
"Aheheh, yeah. There's funny story about that." Ron answered awkwardly. "You see, as I was digging in the tunnel, Terra was rooting through the discarded rock for minerals to eat. She bit into a rock and tasted something strange, so we took a look at it we found the water stone inside."
"…Well that's one way to find it." Stunned for a second Terry commented, as he was going to hand it back to him Ron vigorously shook his head.
"Nononono, you keep it. I told you that it was for you didn't I." Ron closed Terry's hands around it and pushed towards the hesitant tamer. "This stone is repayment for saving me. Remember?"
"But these things are expensive right?"
"Yeah, that's why the first one's free. The next time I find one I'll sell it to you at a discount."
"Fair enough." Terry dropped the stone into his bag. He had just put his bag back into place when Ron threw an arm across Terry's shoulders in a friendly embrace.
"Now that that's over with," Ron said his smile returning as he dragged Terry towards the Trick house, "you should check this place out. It's really fun."
"Okay okay. I can walk myself, so stop dragging me!" Terry struggled against his friends iron grip, reminded once again that Ron had less than an inch of personal space.
"It's amazing inside there they've got hidden rooms, and false walls, and everything, even mirror mazes!" Ron enthused over the trick house deaf to Terry's complaints.
Lily hovered next to Emy and apologized once again for Ron's forceful behavior. "I'm sorry; you guys don't have to accept if you don't want to."
"It's okay." Emy reassured her as the whole group followed after the two. "You end up apologizing for him a lot don't you?"
As the last of the stragglers entered the trick house two people emerged from the shadows of the Trick house where they were hiding.
"Well this will be easy. They're practically begging us to take her." The round one said to his companion.
"Let's hurry up I can almost smell the reward money right now." With that the tall whip like one rushed into the building with light almost giddy steps.
Inside the Trick house Terry and the group were instantly greeted by a large room. Off to the side of the entrance was a reception desk manned by a cheerful woman. On the other end of the hall were three doors each marked with one symbol representing Water, Fire and Grass. As they entered the receptionist greeted them and asked, "How many in your party?"
"Three Tamer's tickets please." Ron answered her and paid for the three claiming it was his treat.
"All right then," She accepted the money and began to explain the rules for the visit. "Please choose one of the doors to go through and if you are able to reach the other end before the one hour time limit then you get a prize! Good luck!"
After she finished her scripted speech the three tamers and their Pokegirls gathered in front of the doors.
"Since I went into the Fire door the last time I'll try out the water door." Ron announced heading straight for the door he chose and disappeared behind it after wishing them luck.
"I guess I'll go for the Fire door, because… well you know." May announced giving a meaningful nod towards Soot, causing the fire type to turn away hiding a slight smile showing through her permanent scowl. May and her group left for the Fire door.
"Well I guess that leaves us with the Grass door, I was going to choose this one anyway." Terry commented to his 'girls, drawing a smile from Emy and Luna.
The room behind the door was smaller than the first with a grass design decorating the walls. It was a fairly plain room except for the fact that there was no other exit to the room.
"What?" Terry looked around searching for anything that looked like a door. "A dead end in the beginning?"
Turning around he noticed that the door behind them had seamlessly closed mimicking the rest of the wall; a plaque was placed on the door containing a clue. The words of the sign read: As any tamer would know, tall grass can hide many things.
"So the door is hidden?" Terry asked quickly figuring it out. "Well let's try searching along the walls where the grass is tallest."
Splitting off into three groups of two they began searching along the walls. Luna and Lei were running their hands along the wall searching for a hidden latch or button. Emy and Calisto figured that since it was the Grass route the correct path would have plants along it and searched using her florakenisis. Terry and Karis searched along the other wall, mainly Terry was, by knocking on it and listening for any changes in the sound.
"Aren't you going to help? Your ears are better than mine." Terry complained to Karis as she leaned against the wall watching him search.
"I have the utmost confidence that you can find the door Master." Karis smiled at him amused at his groan of displeasure.
"Karis I- Huh?" Terry stopped his complaint half way through as he listened intently to the hollow sound coming from the wall.
"""I found it.""" Three sets of voices called out in unison.
Confused they all looked at each other while Karis laughed to herself. Readjusting her position on the wall Karis felt something click and give way from behind her. Her usual smile disappeared as the door behind her and Terry swung open. Quickly grabbing onto what she could Karis ended up dragging Terry along with her as she fell through the door.
"Gack!" Terry could only make a make an unintelligible sound as Karis dragged him down by the collar.
"Master, Karis!" Emy called out as the door shut behind the two. Suddenly the floor under her and Calisto dropped forming a ramp to a lower room as a door opened behind them. Since Emy was carrying Calisto on her back they ended tumbling backwards and rolled into the other room.
Luna and Lei both turned to see what happened in only a span of five seconds, just as the door they were at decided to revolve and take the surprised duo along to the neighboring room.
Terry groaned and rubbed his neck where the collar of his shirt bit into it. Taking in his surroundings he found himself in a long dimly lit hallway lined in mirrors. The ground under his back felt unusually soft and warm particularly around the back of his head.
"Not that I mind too much Terry, but you're kind of heavy." Karis said her voice came from above his head confirming what he had already suspected.
"Sorry." Terry quickly apologized and stood up as fast as possible. Standing up Karis brushed herself off.
"I think this door is one-way." Karis muttered as she examined the door. Shrugging she turned around and gave Terry a carefree smile. "Well, we should be moving forward anyways. Don't want to let the time limit to run out, right?"
With that she started walking down the dimly lit corridor, enjoying how the mirrors changed and distorted her reflection as she passed by them. Figuring that she had the right idea Terry followed after Karis. Rounding the corner they came to what looked like a dead end.
"Did, we take a wrong turn?" Terry asked looking behind himself and only seeing the long stretch of mirrors they came from. Terry stared ahead considering the three mirrors surrounding them, while Karis screwed around watching how her body changed in the reflections as she shifted in place. She laughed little when she found a position that over exaggerated her breasts and hips. Getting distracted by both the image and the real deal Terry's eyes drifted down her body line, once again being reminded of elegant beauty.
"Naughty boy." Karis smirked at him noticing his stare out of the corner of her eye.
Quickly tuning forward Terry started speaking to cover his embarrassment, "I heard from someone that if you look at the dust on the ground and see where it was disturbed, you'll find the way forward."
Terry tried to ignore the wicked smile Karis wore and focused on the ground. Noticing the dust in front of the second mirror was gone Terry strode forward a little too quickly.
"Ah, Terry wait." Karis called out to warn Terry, but as she finished speaking her tamer plowed face first into the mirror and flew back landing on his rear. Pointing at the dust around him she said, "It seems that you weren't the only one to try that."
Feeling a little stupid Terry stood up and brushed himself off looking down out of embarrassment. Karis looked around at the mirrors in concentration, she twitched her head to the side as if she had heard something. A mischievous smile appeared on her face as she beckoned Terry over. "Hey Master over here."
"What is it?" Terry asked walking over to her. I have a bad feeling about this. He thought to himself. When he arrived Karis just grinned widely and stepped on a hidden switch. Terry was surprised when the mirror started to move out of the way revealing the path forward, but not nearly as surprised as when he felt a hand push against his back knocking him into the next room. Turning around he saw the evil smile on the elegant Pokegirl's face. "Karis what are you doing."
"Bye bye Master, have fun." She cheerfully waved as the mirror slid back into place separating the two of them.
"Terry? Is that you?" A small voice from behind drew his attention from the mirror. Tuning around Terry noticed that he was sharing the pathway with Luna and Soot.
"Well that's an unusual combination." Terry remarked as he beckoned Luna to his side, to which she happily responded. When Luna grabbed onto his arm Terry turned to Soot and asked, "How did you two meet up?"
"I was walking with May when everyone got separated by a trap set off by Dart pushing a big red button. Who does that? Everyone knows never to push any unknown buttons in a labyrinth. That's just asking for trouble, idiot." Soot began, "After getting separated I- uh May stepped on something and the wall behind me rotated switching me and Lei."
"After that we wandered around a bit and ran into you." Luna said finishing the explanation for Soot, as the fire type looked away scratching the back of her head. "What happened on your end?"
"When we got separated Karis and I also wandered for a bit before she opened a hidden door and pushed me through, leaving me behind." Terry said completely omitting the part where he ran into the mirror.
"That's mean." Luna commented looking back at the door Terry came from.
"No use staying here, so come on already let's get going." Soot turned and headed down the path not waiting for Terry and Luna.
Following the impatient Soot they came to a fork in the path. Down the left path they could hear the low sound of someone sobbing. Looking at Luna Terry remarked, "That sounds like Calisto."
Picking up the pace the three of them headed down the path and found Calisto curled up in a frightened ball in the corner quietly crying. Sprawled out on the ground like a murder victim from a bad cop show was Emy. Rushing over Terry quickly checked on Emy as Luna tried to comfort Calisto. When he lifted Emy's face off the floor he recoiled slightly, between the bloodied nose and swelling forehead the scary image before him was a far cry from her usual pleasing face. This is not a face I should let others see. To preserve her dignity he quickly pulled out a small towel reserved for emergencies like this and cleaned her up the best he could.
"Terry," Luna pulled on his arm wearing a sad and worried look, "Calisto won't respond to me…"
"Okay I'll try." Terry said getting up he approached Calisto, "Hey Calisto, It's me Terry."
Uncovering her head a little she looked up from her huddled over position. "Terry?"
Approaching her he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she grabbed onto him. "What happened?"
"When we got separated Emy and I tumbled down to a lower floor," Calisto began, "we made it into this hallway and the lights suddenly turned off and there was a loud noise and… I panicked…"
"And you somehow knocked Emy out when you ran away, right?" Terry guessed when Calisto trailed off, the water type nodded letting him know that he was correct. Turning around Terry let Calisto get up onto his back carrying her. Addressing Soot Terry asked, "Could you help carry Emy."
"Hell no!" Soot's scowl deepened, "She's heavy you do it."
"I can't carry both Calisto and Emy at once." Terry added on the side. "And you're really lucky Emy is unconscious, if she heard that she would have killed you.
"Then let me carry Calisto, she looks lighter." The water type tried to make herself smaller hiding behind Terry's back, causing Soot to frown even more.
"Sorry but, Calisto will only let Emy or me carry her."
Terry felt someone tap on his arm, looking over he noticed that Luna looked like she had something to say. "Terry, you could always return her to her pokeball."
"Huh?" Terry thought for a second, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
"How do you forget about something like that?" Soot asked looking at him as if he was the village idiot.
"Hey you forgot about that too. Besides I don't usually use them unless there is an emergency or some other need for them." Terry said looking away in embarrassment. He walked over to Emy and pulled out a pokeball ready to return her but stopped when he noticed she was starting to wake up.
"What happened?" Emy said in a groggy tone.
"You okay Emy, how do you feel?" Terry asked inspecting her for a concussion.
"Not good. My head is throbbing, and for some reason I really want to hit Soot." She said as she stood up on unsteady legs.
"Well let's not do that." Terry said giving her a wry smile, "We should hurry up and find the others."
Ushering the party along Terry lead them down the hallway as Luna supported Emy using her body like a crutch. Under his guidance the group had managed to get lost in a winding labyrinth for about twenty minutes, much to Soot's rather vocal displeasure.
"This one has to be the exit." Terry said confidently, pointing down the left path of the fifth fork they came across.
"Are you sure?" Terry could feel Soot's glare burning into his back.
"Could be the other one…"
"I think you're right." Luna said peering down the hallway. "There's a door at the very end of the hall."
"You're able to see that despite how dim it is. You're eyes are amazing Luna." Terry praised her and placed a hand on her shoulder. A happy smile peeked through her ever shadowed face.
"Yeah, yeah. Are you two are done flirting, we've got places to be." Soot brushed past the happy pair in her usual foul mood heading towards the door at a brisk pace.
"She must be missing May." Emy commented suppressing a smile.
"I am NOT!" Soot said a little too forcefully.
Following after her Terry and the others opened the door and found themselves in a large room with five doors on one side and a single door on the other. The walls were adorned with the same fire, grass, and water motifs that decorated the rest of the maze. Looking behind them as they walked into the room Terry wondered just how convoluted the maze was that it needed five exits for three entrances. As they reached the final door they realized that the door was obviously locked. The biggest giveaway was the complicated puzzle lock on the door. The puzzle contained pathways attached to gears, and beside the puzzle were various knobs that presumably controlled the gears. On the top and bottom of the puzzle were multiple lights with only one on the top and bottom turned on.
"Well this won't be too hard." Terry said, turning one of the knobs. The gear turned as he had guessed it would but so did the all of the other gears surrounding it. "Great, it's one of those puzzles."
Trying to speed it along he tried some random turns and connect the lit light to one of the unlit ones on the other side. A loud buzzer went off as the knob gave him and Calisto a small shock. "OW!"
"Stupid door," Terry sulked rubbing his hand.
"I'll take Calisto while you figure this out." Emy said letting Calisto grabbed onto her.
After some trial and error he figured out the correct procedure and connected the two lights. A congratulatory chime came from the door and it slid open. With a confident laugh Terry strode through the door and struck a pose waiting for his Pokegirl's praise.
"…Hmm?" Terry stood there like an idiot for a while hearing silence, before he noticed that the door had slid shut behind him. "What happened?!"
"Master when you walked through the door slid shut immediately and the puzzle reset." Emy's slightly muffled voice was shortly followed by a loud buzzer.
"OW! Fucking door!" *Bam*
"S-Soot, don't hit the door…" Terry could Luna's intimidated voice as she tried to warn the enraged fire type.
"Why the hell-" Soot shouted but was cut off as a buzzer rang again accompanied by the sound of electricity. *thump* "Uuuh…"
"Poor Soot…"
"Since there isn't a latch or anything on this side I'll just wait for you guys over here." Terry turned away from the door and took in the sight of the room around him. The circular room was decorated with a huge banner saying "Congratulations!" with the double exclamation point and everything. Under the banner was a pedestal with a box on it. Approaching the pedestal Terry picked up the box, inside he found some prize money and a couple free potions. Looking at his pokedex he noticed that it had been about an hour and a half since he started. "Must be the consolation prize."
Under the box he found a note. When he picked it Terry could only stare in shocked silence. It read: Terry, they took Lei.
End of chapter 17
Author's note
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always let me know what you liked and what you didn't.
Numbershooter
I'll be gone for a small bit of time so wish me luck.
