Chapter 20: The Cave of Reflections
The next day everyone congregated in the guild again to try to plan a new strategy.
"All right, we know that they didn't take Laura to their lakes," Chatot said, summarizing what they had determined yesterday. "Does anyone have another idea?"
There was a grave silence; no one had the slightest clue.
Chatot sighed, "Obviously not," he mumbled. Then he raised his voice and began, "All right, then. We'll just have to—"
He was cut off by a loud ringing noise coming from the direction of the sentry post.
"Oh!" Diglett exclaimed. "Someone's at the gate!"
"Maybe it's officer Magnezone with some news on Laura!" Paula guessed.
Mason's face grew hopeful as Diglett and Loudred hurried to take their positions.
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"
"It's… oh! It's Torkoal, the town elder! Torkoal, the town elder!"
"WHAT?!" Loudred exclaimed. "Okay, now it really IS like the Hidden Land all over again!"
As soon as Torkoal made it to the lower level, everyone clustered around him, eager to hear what he had to say.
"Good day, everyone!" he greeted.
"Hi, Torkoal!" Paula returned. "Did you remember something?"
Torkoal nodded. "Yes. I contemplated the problem all of yesterday while I soaked in the spring, and as I stared at my reflection… I remembered! The place where the Thought Crystals can be found is called the Cave of Reflections!"
"Golly!" Bidoof exclaimed. "Why would they call it that?"
"Meh heh heh… I think the more important question would be, 'Where is it located?'" Croagunk said, rolling his eyes.
Everyone turned to Torkoal expectantly.
"Er… I wouldn't know," he admitted. "I've never been there myself…"
Everyone sighed in disappointment before perking up in surprise when Mason slowly said, "…You might not have… but I went there a long time ago!" He slapped his forehead. "I'm such an idiot! How could I not remember that?! That cave was absolutely stunning… it was filled with crystals that reflected like mirrors… crystals that could be used to display someone's memories!"
"REALLY?" everyone asked in joyful disbelief.
"Yes!" Mason said, nodding enthusiastically. "And it's not too far from here! The entrance is near the Serenity River!
"Good!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, taking charge. "You and Paula should search there today. Everyone else, try to do some searching on your own. Let's do this, guys!"
"HOORAY!" everyone cheered before rushing off.
Mason turned to Torkoal and clasped his hands together in a gesture of gratitude. "Thank you so much for this, Torkoal!" he said, a huge smile on his face.
"Hoh hoh hoh… It was my pleasure," Torkoal assured. "I hope this aids you in finding our young friend!"
"So do I," Mason agreed, a serious look coming to his eyes.
"Oh…?" Torkoal questioned, finally noticing the pure, golden color of the celebi's eyes. "Your eyes… oh! That's right!" he exclaimed. "I remember now… the boy in that legend… his eyes were golden!"
Mason froze in surprise, but Torkoal took no notice as he continued, "That was it… the goddess came to this world with two companions: a boy with golden eyes and a girl with the eyes of a rainbow. Once they arrived, they… er…"
Torkoal turned away. "What did they do once they arrived…?" he asked himself. "I can't seem to remember…"
"Th-that's okay," Mason assured with a nervous stutter. "You needn't try to remember for my sake."
Torkoal turned back towards him with a frown. He opened his mouth to speak, but Mason cut him off by grabbing Paula's arm and dragging her towards the guild's exit. "Come on, Paula! Let's hurry!"
When Paula and Mason peered into the entrance of the cave, they immediately saw that the walls were lined with mirror-like crystals. They headed in… and walked straight into a Monster House. They were surprised to find that the pokémon within it were much stronger than usual.
Still, Paula and Mason were eventually able to defeat them all. To the duo's shock, the instant that they attained victory the bodies of their vanquished foes vanished in a burst of light.
"What?!" Paula blurted out. "Huh? What just…?"
"Those were just illusions…!" Mason muttered in realization.
"Illusions…?" Paula asked before she got a flash of recognition. "Oh! They were like Uxie's Groudon illusion at Fogbound Lake!"
Mason's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Paula noticed his expression and asked in confusion, "Um… why are you looking at me like that?"
"Paula… you're a genius!" he exclaimed. "Those pokémon… they were illusions made by Uxie!"
Paula gasped. "So… do you think that means that he and Laura are nearby?" she asked hopefully.
"Most likely!" Mason replied with joy. "I mean, why waste energy on protective illusions if you've got nothing to protect?"
"Then what are we standing around here for?" Paula demanded. "Come on! Let's go rescue Laura!"
"I'm way ahead of you!" Mason exclaimed as he rushed into another area of the cave… only to immediately rush back to avoid a Flamethrower attack and realize…
"Ack! It's another Monster House!"
Meanwhile…
The fire in the Spirit Trio's camp had burned down again, but no one took notice of it. Laura—who was closest to it, lying on one of the four beds that had been placed around it—was still unconscious. She was wearing bandages—evidence of her violent abduction—but she didn't seem to be in pain. She was just lying motionless. In fact, the only move she had made since being placed on the bed was to curl up… but it wasn't in her usual position. She had curled up into a ball… but it wasn't a tight one. It was too loose… evidence that something was wrong with her…
Uxie had gone off to do the final preparations for the plan, and Mesprit and Azelf were busying themselves with some non-reflective crystals of a pale yellow color. They were concentrating on them intently, and almost seemed to be drawing energy from them.
"Wow… these Thought Crystals certainly pack a punch!" Mesprit remarked as she felt the fresh waves of power surge within her.
"Yeah," Azelf agreed. "But do you think that it will be enough to… you know…" he trailed off, glancing over at their captive.
Mesprit bit her lip in guilt. "…We should probably check on her… I think it's time to change her bandages…" she muttered.
Azelf nodded sadly, and the two floated over to where she lay. Azelf put a hand to Laura's forehead and frowned.
"She's cold," he reported. "I'll go build up the fire."
As he went to do this, Mesprit checked Laura's wounds. She was relieved to see that they had completely healed. She took off the bandages and then tipped some water down Laura's throat.
"How is she doing?" a voice asked from behind her. She turned around to see that Uxie had returned.
Mesprit sighed before turning back towards Laura and reporting, "Well, her wounds have healed… but she still hasn't regained consciousness. It's been two days. Shouldn't the effects of Yawn have worn off by now?"
"And she can't be sick," Azelf added, turning from the now crackling fire and joining his siblings' conversation. "Her body temperature is too low for her to have a fever. She did say she was tired before we… um…" he trailed off, sighing in sadness, before continuing, "and then what happened on the beach… it probably took a lot out of her, s-so maybe that's why? I can't really sense anything from her…"
"Neither can I…" Mesprit said with a frown.
Uxie looked at Laura and sighed. "…Perhaps it would be best if she slept through the process," he said. "Her memories might manifest more easily as dreams… and it will certainly cause her far less trauma…"
He trailed off, and all three looked at Laura with expressions of guilt and remorse. Then Uxie sighed once more and shook his head. "In any case… it's time to begin."
"Already?" Azelf asked in surprise. "That was fast…"
Uxie nodded. "Yes, but it needs to be. Someone is in the cave, taking out my illusions left and right."
"Okay, then," Mesprit said, turning to Laura and lifting her up. "Upsy-daisy, Laura…"
The three carried Laura deeper into the cave…
Meanwhile…
Mason and Paula were still battling their way through the Cave of Reflections.
Paula was exhausted. "S-so…many… Monster Houses…" she panted.
"Yes," Mason agreed. "But as I said—" he cut himself off and his eyes widened in dread when he took in the sight before him. "This is… no!" he cried in despair.
There before him was a wall covered in reflective crystals. There was no other path forward.
"Is this… a dead end?" Paula whimpered. "But I… I thought for sure that Laura would be…"
"No! No! No!" Mason screamed as he pounded the wall in front of him. "It was a trick! All of it! They… they just wanted us to waste time!"
"No… Laura…!" Paula whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "This… this deep sense of despair… I bet this is how Grovyle felt when he lost Laura…"
Mason, fists raised, intending to strike the wall again, paused at hearing her words. "Wait… 'felt?' Feelings…" Mason gasped. "That's it! Mesprit is the Being of Emotion! Is she somehow influencing this place? If Laura is here… then it would make sense for all three of them to have laid traps!"
"All three of them?" Paula asked, surprise causing her tears to stop. "So… Azelf too? Hm…" She looked at the crystal wall again, and it jogged a memory. "Oh!" she gasped. "Mason! I think that Azelf's trap might be this wall! When he was trying to stop Grovyle from taking the Time Gear from Crystal Lake, he created a crystal barrier over it!"
Mason started in shock before turning to the wall. "So… maybe this…?" He placed his hands on the crystals and closed his eyes in concentration. "Yes…" he murmured. "That's it...! There's a door behind here!"
"Yes!" Paula exclaimed, pumping a paw in the air. Then she paused and blushed in embarrassment. "But, um… how will we get to it…?"
"Leave that to me!" Mason said with a smirk as he took something out of the bag at his waist. When he showed it to Paula, she saw that it was a hammer and chisel!
"Now," Mason began, turning towards the wall, "I know that breaking mirrors is supposed to bring seven years' bad luck… but these aren't really mirrors… and it never specifies on whom the bad luck will fall!"
With that, Mason began to chisel away at the crystals…
The Spirit Trio brought Laura deeper into the cave and into the room from her vision. They set her down on the ground in front of the three largest mirror-like crystals and began to prepare her for the process. Uxie was charging up with some nearby Thought Crystals one last time while Mesprit, on the right, and Azelf, on the left, placed a wedge-shaped crystal of the mirror variety beneath Laura's head, as if it were a pillow. Then they began to tie her down.
Unfortunately for them, the crystal was very cold and the shock of it caused Laura to begin to wake up.
"So… so cold…" Laura thought. "Where… where am I…?"
Mesprit noticed Laura stirring and quickly opened a telepathic channel. "Laura's waking up!"she informed her brothers.
Uxie's face became grim. "Laura… why couldn't you have stayed asleep…?"
"Hurry!" Azelf commanded. "We've got to finish restraining her before she tries to escape!"
Laura could feel them tying down her wrists and ankles, and she began to freak out. She tried to break away… but… she was still so tired…
Mesprit and Azelf tried to calm her down, and the scene from her vision began…
As Laura frantically thrashed around, she caught sight of the "mirrors" in front of her. In them she could see Uxie finish with the Thought Crystals and begin to move towards her from behind.
"Believe me when I say this," he said, sounding rather sad. "We would not do this if there were any other way."
"Don't be frightened…" Mesprit pleaded.
"This will all be over soon, and then we'll take you home. We promise," Azelf assured.
Uxie moved forward again. "Please forgive us, Laura…" he asked as he knelt behind her. "But this must be done. For the good of the world…"
Uxie placed his hands on both sides of Laura's temples. As he let his psychic energy flow through them, his eyes opened and began to glow. Laura gasped and her body stiffened as an intense pain started to build in her head.
Uxie let more energy flow, and the mirror crystals all around the room began to glow in preparation to show Laura's memories. The pain building in her head became unbearable, and Laura began to shriek in wordless agony…