It wasn't long before we hit the exact same barrier we had the first time we came to this building: the front door. It stood there, as unmovable as always, and I had already resigned myself to the idea of waiting for a human to come by and open it so that we could go inside. It was a complete mystery how Brio, a quadruped, was able to get in and out of the building without aid.
Aeris tugged on the handle vainly for several moments as I sat on the step. Asgard hovered nearby with a look of obvious confusion on his face, as if he was expecting a joke, but wasn't sure when the punch line was coming.
"Okay, fine, I'll bite," he sighed. "Why aren't we going inside?"
"We can't open the door," I answered, gesturing to the heavy door. The Togetic stared at me, again as if he was expecting one of us to burst into laughter at any moment and confess that we were pulling his leg. "What, you think you can do better?" I challenged, repeating the gesture. "Give it a shot."
Aeris dropped to the ground and moved aside to let the Togetic try. To my tremendous alarm, the fairy Pokémon managed to crack the door open with absolutely no problem. "Um...have you two tried turning the knob?" Asgard wondered uncertainly.
"What does that mean?"
Asgard scratched the back of his head with one paw. "Um...some doors open by turning the handle and then pulling. This is one of them. Door's a bit heavy, but not that much," he added as an afterthought. Brilliant. The only thing that could have made this more awkward was if we had spent several minutes with the door, instead of just a couple.
Needless to say, the Togetic got us inside the library with no further incident, and the entry brought the stomach-churning feeling of oppression and silence, as if every step treaded upon forbidden ground. After this morning, I would not have been surprised if police officers were standing guard, or if the librarian was going to whisper loudly for us to leave. I made a mental note to not talk loudly, lest Brio scold me again.
Thinking of the Glaceon, where was he? This place was deceptively large, with the columns of bookshelves hiding the inhabitants from view, and the ice Eon being small enough that his steps would be muffled, even if he was moving. Aeris looked around enthusiastically, and Asgard was silent, his wings not even making a sound. If anything, that was even more unnerving.
"So what are we doing here?" Asgard wondered abruptly, although his voice had dropped to a whisper that Brio would have deemed appropriate.
"Meeting up with Brio. He's a Glaceon, so tell me if you see him," I responded in a hushed voice. Ugh, it feels so strange to talk like this, and even the whisper seemed uncomfortably loud in this deadly silent environment. I can only pray that I don't get used to it.
"Let's spread out!" Aeris chirped enthusiastically. I cringed, expecting a reprimand for the breach in whispering, but none came. Even Asgard seemed uncomfortable with the volume of the Gligar's suggestion. Without another word, I walked down one row of shelves, peering down each one without results. One or two of the rows did contain a browsing human, but no Glaceon.
I sighed. Did that mean Brio hadn't found any information he was looking for yet? If he wasn't curled up somewhere reading, he may still be searching for the right book. Considering how difficult it was to find specific people in this library, he could be here for weeks looking for something the size of a book, not even counting the time it would take to read them.
Unfortunately, we were on a strict time limit.
"Brio!" I called to the air. There was a stifled growl from a few shelves down. Oh good, I think I found him. Sure enough, the Glaceon's head peered out from behind the shelf ahead.
"Sy..."
"I know, I know. Be quiet, bark bark," I said dryly, before he could say anything further. He frowned and I walked over to where he stood. "What'd you find?"
"It was a little harder than I hoped, and you're back sooner than I expected," Brio answered awkwardly, examining the shelves before using a paw to tug a book from its place. He caught the spine of the book in his mouth and set off dutifully towards one of the chairs in the main area. I followed behind him, waiting for him to elaborate on what he was talking about, but none came.
"And what exactly are you looking for?" I pressed. "Does it have something to do with what happened at the post office? That's when you said you had a hunch."
Brio nodded grimly. "I think I know where I can find some background information. It could take me a while-"
"Found him!" Asgard said suddenly. Brio hissed and turned to shoot the Togetic a glare, but I gave him a light slap to the back of the head, which was sufficient to distract him from what he was doing in favor of giving me a shocked look.
"Your blood pressure is going to go through the roof if you keep doing that," I said with a shrug. Asgard and Aeris came over to where we were, and Brio gave Aeris a curious look but chose not to ask why she was there. Probably the best option for now. "You were saying, Brio?"
"Right," the Glaceon muttered. "I'm going to look up some background information on the Plates, see if I can uncover anything about their history and where they might be now. I don't know where Huntress got hers, but the one Aeris took was practically an heirloom, so maybe other clans or groups are treasuring the others."
"I guess it's the best we can do," I said, not really convinced this was the right direction to go. "But what about Huntress herself? We only have three days to..." I trailed off, casting an uncomfortable glance in Aeris' direction. She was watching Asgard with a vaguely dreamy expression, completely oblivious to what I was talking about. That was not going to be a fun conversation to bring up, but I would have to share it with her eventually. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I deliberately withheld the danger from her. Still, I didn't want to touch upon details while Asgard was around. I didn't know him much beyond his name and wasn't comfortable with him hearing everything we were talking about.
Unfortunately, the Togetic was more observant than Aeris. "Three days for what?" he wondered. I winced.
"Nothing important," I answered vaguely. Brio's eyes flicked towards me thoughtfully, something I pounced upon in the hope of changing the subject. "Yeah? What's up?" I asked quickly.
"Hm? Oh, just thinking about how your tails flick to the left whenever you lie."
"Wow, seriously, Brio? Of all the things that could cross your mind at this moment, that was the one you chose to share?" I deadpanned, crossing my arms. "I'd totally ask how you learned that, but I'm not sure if I want to hear the explanation."
"I've been reading up on body language, remember?" Brio said with a shrug.
"Oh, that's right. And secretly measuring my tail lengths," I sighed. Judging by the look on Asgard's face, he was dying to ask for the explanation behind the comment, but was wisely remaining silent. Aeris stifled a giggle.
An awkward silence fell between the four of us, broken only by Brio turning the pages of the book. Aeris moved closer to the Togetic and the two of them engaged in a surprisingly quiet (for Aeris) discussion. The exact topic, I couldn't be sure, but I wasn't bothered enough to ask. I had more pressing things on my mind, namely the sheer fact that Huntress seemed to be an infinitely more competent battler than I was, yet we would be required to confront her again. I wasn't cut out for battling for serious stakes, not without guidance, and while Brio seemed wholly unconcerned with the physical aspect of our little quest, it was nagging at me endlessly.
"Here we go!" Brio whispered, his ears perking up and pointing his paw at a section of the page. "I'll just give you a summary. The Elemental Plates are a set of sixteen stones, each corresponding to a different Elemental Typing, and believed to be have been created and wielded by none other than Arceus."
"Ooh!" Aeris squealed. I said nothing, waiting for Brio to continue.
The Glaceon scanned the page for a few seconds, clearing his throat gently before adding, "According to legend, the Plates were fragments of Arceus' total power, and after fashioning the universe, Arceus released the Plates throughout the world, entrusting them to several legendaries to help the first generation of legends make and maintain their respective realms."
"A common legend," Asgard noted. "And several variations of what became of the Plates afterwards. Some were lost, some were passed to another generation of legend, and some were cherished as sacred items."
Brio seemed surprised. "You've heard of these legends before?"
Asgard nodded. "There are tons of stories about legendaries and their associated artifacts. Half of them are probably false or exaggerated, though. It comes down to spiritual beliefs for some. The Plates do exist, but one legend states that after a few generations, they've run low on power due to being separated from Arceus for so long, so they're no longer divine artifacts, and just relics of the creation myth."
"What about the engraving on the one we found?" I wondered, hoping that by some sheer stroke of luck that Brio had memorized the cryptic message.
"I found it!" Aeris protested loudly. Brio winced, but naturally didn't scold the Gligar for her outburst.
"What engraving?" Asgard wondered. It took a few seconds for us to describe the carvings upon the Plate Aeris had found, and this naturally led to an explanation of what had happened to the Plate since that morning, when the Togetic had last seen Aeris with it. We gave him the shortened version, and I kept my mouth shut about the Beedrill hive and the post office incident.
"But we're going to get it back!" Aeris finished excitedly. It's amazing how Aeris can make me feel guilty even when oblivious to the painful context her statement was providing. We'd definitely get it back...or die trying.
"So Brio, what does that background info do for us? Does it give us anything we need to know how to proceed from here?" I asked flatly.
Brio considered. "I had hoped it would give us a lead. If we're going to get the Plate back, we have to figure out somewhere we can find her. And my only idea is to find a Plate before she does."
"Even if we do that, she'll crush us and take it, just like last time," I complained. "Are any of us actually battle capable on the same level as her?"
"No," Brio conceded.
"I'm battle capable," Asgard said, sounding slightly hurt that none of us seemed to consider this. I rolled my eyes, a sentiment evidently shared by the Glaceon.
"Where did you even come from?" he wondered.
"Ecruteak City, thereabouts," Asgard said promptly. Brio's expression told me that hadn't been what he meant at all, but before he could say so, I cut him off with a shake of my head.
"How battle capable?"
Asgard looked at me strangely. "My mom runs a training dojo almost exclusively for Pokémon, trainers optional. So...I'd like to think pretty good...why, you don't believe me?"
"I don't recall acting skeptical, but you'd certainly...my tails don't give away when I lie!" I said, emitting a quiet growl when the Togetic glanced at them with the air of someone insisting a kit look him in the eye when recanting their fib.
"Not when she's being sarcastic, anyway," Brio muttered.
I sighed and shook my head, rubbing my forehead. Why had such a simple day degenerated into situations like this? "My point is, we can't even beat Huntress in a fight, regardless of whether we can confront her or not. So what do we do?"
"You could get a battle lesson from my mom," Asgard suggested. "Personal recommendation from me, and you can't go wrong with that. I could pull some strings, make it free and whatever else might hold you back."
"Does she normally drop everything she's doing because you ask her to?" I asked, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.
"Not until after I've dropped and given her a hundred," Asgard said. Brio snorted into his paw, staring at the page innocently when we all turned to stare at him. "Come on, what have you got to lose?"
"Time?"
"Well...yeah, I guess...aside from time?"
"Our lives?"
"Never mind, forget I offered," Asgard said, clearly put out by my lack of enthusiasm.
"I want a lesson!" Aeris whined. "Pleeeeease?" Her eyes shimmered hopefully and the Togetic's stern expression softened, followed by a nod. "Sy too?" Aeris asked, not changing her expression. Another nod from the Togetic. "Yay!"