Tale of a Mew
Bella led Myu to her hut. She opened the door and ran inside pulling him through the hut, until she came up to a door. She opened it and led Myu inside.
"This is my bedroom, and it's where you'll stay," Bella said. Myu looked around. It was virtually bare, except for a bed made of stacked leaves and a small pool. "I know it's not much, but I've got my own private room. I've only got the one bed but I can make something for you."
Bella ran over to her bed and pulled out a few leaves. She laid them down on the floor, making a makeshift mat for Myu to sleep on. "That's the best I can do, but if you are like other feline Pokémon I've seen, you prefer to sleep curled up. Most actually sleep on the floor, so you should be fine." She stretched and let out a yawn. "Well, it's late, and I need to go to sleep. So good night." She laid down on the leaves, resting her head on a pillow made from a brown pelt. She grabbed a blanket made from the same thing and covered herself with it.
Myu looked down at the little pallet of leaves, realizing that Bella was right. He laid down on the leaves and curled up, which felt rather natural, and his tail curled up around him. Due to its length, it curled completely around him with the end by his head. He pondered on all that had happened, until exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep.
The morning light eventually awoke Myu from his sleep. He stirred on his small pile of leaves, eventually stretching himself to correct his back. He heard what sounded like water and turned his head to see Bella bathing in the pool. Near the edge, laying discarded, was her skirt and blue leggings. It took a second for this to register to Myu what that meant, and he quickly looked away from Bella.
Bella sensed Myu's embarrassment, and turned to look at him, only to find him looking away. "Something wrong?" she asked.
"It's just, I didn't expect your skirt and leggings to come off," Myu said, only partially turning his head so she could hear him.
"Well, of course they come off," she remarked. "Do you really think something like that is comfortable to wear all the time?"
"I guess not," Myu admitted.
"You know you are free to look at me, right?"
"Um, no."
"Why?"
"Where I'm from, it's rude to look at a woman without clothes."
"Your people have strange customs," Bella chuckled. "I'll respect your peoples' customs." She continued to bathe, and Myu decided to get up and move around, making sure to not look at Bella all the while. He walked around and came up to her closet. He saw that it consisted of the same things; white tops with skirts, and blue leggings. He didn't comment on that, but just continued to look around, anywhere but at Bella.
After she had finished, she stepped out, walking to her closet to grab a new set of clothes. She had been so tired last night that she hadn't noticed the soot that had stained her clothes and covered her skin. She only noticed it this morning when she saw her pillow had a black spot on it and decided to take a bath to clean herself. She grabbed a spare set of clothes and proceeded to dress herself.
Myu looked back at her closet and noticed a few sets without the skirt, and guessed that's what she normally sleeps in. After Bella finished dressing herself, Myu stopped ignoring her. He noticed that her top had straps that she put her arms through.
Once that was finished, Devoir came in to tell them that breakfast was ready. Bella escorted Myu to the dining area of the hut, where Devoir and Don the Charizard were already seated. They sat a wooden table. Myu had a problem. He was so short, and Devoir didn't have any chairs for his height. Myu tried to hop onto the table, but was too small to reach. Don reached down and picked Myu up gently with his clawed hands, setting him on the table.
"Thanks," Myu said.
"You're welcome," Don replied.
"So, Don," Devoir began, "are you recovered enough to start flying back to Azure Village?"
"I think so, but I'm going to spend the morning here and fly back this afternoon. I'm going to see if there's anything in your marketplace I need to get back," Don replied.
"So, what do you recall from being a Shadow?" Myu asked, nibbling on a pink Poffin.
"Hmm… nothing really," Don answered. "I remember taking a walk when I blacked out. Next thing I know, I'm in Crimson Village with frozen wings."
"Well, at least we know what happened to you," Bella said. "Do you think that's what happened to all of the other missing Pokémon? They got turned into Shadows?"
"I hope not," Devoir answered solemnly.
"Chances are high that it probably is some of them," Myu stated. "All Shadow Pokémon are Pokémon that have gone missing."
"Good grief," Devoir exclaimed. "If that's true, then we must be careful not to harm them from now on."
"What I want to know is what Shadow Don was after," Myu said. When everyone looked at him, he explained. "He wasn't trying to kill anyone, just scare you out of the village. His attack was concentrated to the huts. That implies that he didn't want to damage something. Question is, what?"
"Huh, Shadows don't normally look for something. They just attack," Bella said.
"Yes, they attack all over Avalon," Devoir explained. "When they first started appearing, it was just in the wilderness. Then, they started attacking individuals on the roads, then whole groups."
"All over Avalon?" Myu asked for clarification. When he got a series of nods, he realized something. "Then it isn't random attacks, they're searching for something. Is there something specific in this village that they can't get anywhere else?"
"Well, there is a stone building in the northeast part of the village, but no one's been in there for years," Devoir answered.
"How many years?"
"Um… it was before I was born," Devoir explained.
"Where is this stone building?" Myu asked.
"We actually passed it on our tour," Bella said.
"Shall we go take a look after breakfast?" Myu asked.
"Um, I guess," Bella agreed.
"Good." Myu had finished eating and was now waiting on the rest of them.
"Um, aren't you going to eat more?" Devoir asked, as Myu had only eaten a single Poffin.
"Nah, I'm good," Myu said. This surprised everyone present, as they had expected him to eat a lot more.
"Your species must not eat a lot," Bella commented.
After breakfast, Myu and Bella left the hut. Don had left for the market to get supplies for his way back to Azure Village. Myu had Bella lead him to the ancient stone building. When they arrived, Myu saw the building was dome-shaped, with two circular holes for windows, and an archway for entry.
"Well, this is quite big," Myu said. He started to walk forward, but he noticed that Bella wasn't following him. "Something wrong?"
"It just that… no one's been in there in a long time," Bella said. "I'm just worried that something might be dangerous in there."
"If no one has been in there, how do you know that something in there is dangerous?" Myu asked. Myu walked forward into the structure with Bella following reluctantly.
Myu looked around inside the structure, but the darkness made it difficult to see inside the room. He continued to look around and he noticed there were faded paintings at his eye level. He walked over to one of the paintings to examine it further. Bella was hesitant to follow, as it was too dark for her to see properly. Myu had no trouble as his night vision was better than hers. He tried to examine one of the paintings but was having difficulty due to the low light levels.
"I can't see these paintings," Myu complained. "We need more light. Are there any Pokémon that can produce a flame?"
"There is someone who might be able to help," Bella said.
"Get Zeni too," Myu said. "I think he might like to look at these."
A few minutes later, Bella returned with a Braixen and Zeni the Squirtle. "What is it that you need me to do?" the Braixen asked.
"Just light up the end of your stick," Bella said. The Braixen did ask asked and pulled her stick out, lighting up the end of it. The walls lit up in an orange glow. Myu looked up and saw that there were more paintings above and they were in full color.
"Guys, look up," Myu said. They looked up and saw the paintings.
"What are those?" Zeni asked.
"They're obviously paintings," Bella deadpanned.
"I know that. I meant, what they are depicting," Zeni rebutted.
"Well, they seem to show the function of this place," Myu said.
"Which is what?" Bella asked.
Myu looked at the paintings harder, and saw that many of the Pokémon in the paintings seemed to be worshiping others. There were symbols that denoted religious significance. "I think this might be a temple."
"What's a temple?" Bella wondered.
Zeni had an idea. "If I remember right, temple are places where Pokémon go to worship."
"Worship what?"
"Um… I don't know."
"To worship gods," Myu explained. "My people have places like these."
"Gods?" Bella asked.
"Supernatural beings that control the very fabric of nature," Myu elaborated.
"That's ridiculous," Zeni said. He didn't believe in things like that.
"Hey, I don't really buy it either, but it's what a lot of my people think."
"So, this place is to honor some 'gods'," Bella asked.
"Temples are usually to honor a single god, not all of them," Myu said. "Look at some of the paintings. See if there's one figure consistent in them."
The other two did as told, and looked at all the various murals to see if they could spot a similar being in all of them. Eventually they found that there was one blue figure that appeared in many of them.
"Looks like this place was built to worship some kind of water fairy," Zeni said.
"So, a small creature that's associated with water," Myu summarized. "Anything else?"
"Doesn't look like it," Bella said.
"Hmm. In my experience, places like this have some kind of hidden chamber," Myu said. "Look around the walls. See if there's anything like that here." They looked around, but couldn't find any kind of hidden door, at least until Zeni leaned against a wall, pushing a brick a way in and causing the section of the wall he was leaning on to spin around really fast.
"Hey, where's Zeni?" Bella asked.
Myu looked around but couldn't find the Squirtle. "Wasn't he here a second ago?" He walked over to where he saw him last, and noticed the wall was slightly turned. "Something's weird here." Before he could inspect any further, the wall spun again. Now Zeni, looking green, was standing where Myu had just been.
"I don't feel well," Zeni said before collapsing.
"Myu!" Bella exclaimed as she ran to the wall. "Myu, are you there?"
"I'm here," Myu's voice said, muffled by the wall. "I guess we found a hidden chamber."
"How do we get you out?"
"Ask Zeni."
"I don't think he's feeling well enough for that."
"Get your mom. I'm going to look around in here for a while."
"Okay, I'll be back!" Bella told the Braixen to remain there and watch over Zeni as she went to get Devoir. Meanwhile, Myu walked away from the wall to look around as best he could, which was hard considering the lack of light.
"Good thing I'm a cat with excellent night vision," Myu muttered to himself. Despite the night vision, it was still hard to see, as it was pitch dark. "How am I going to see in here?" He thought about Pokémon moves and how some could produce light. Problem was, he didn't know how to use them, if he even could.
Wait, I can use them. That sand shield, I did that maybe with Psychic? Myu thought. If he could use Psychic, what else could he use. He wracked his brain, trying to think if he knew any moves, but came up empty. Come on, I need something, at least one move that produces light. It doesn't have to be big and powerful like Hyper Beam, just something that can create light. He put his paws in front of him. A small blue light appeared between his paws. He lost concentration and it dissipated in a blue fog. What was that? He concentrated again, keeping his paws apart, when the blue light appeared again. It grew in size until it was as big as his paws and kept growing until it was twice that size. It condensed into a glowing blue sphere of power and Myu recognized the move. Aura Sphere! He knew that he was supposed to launch it, but instead, he 'held' it in one of his paws and used it as a light source.
"This will help," Myu said. He looked around the temple walls and noticed that the paintings were describing something. He looked closer, trying to figure out what's the paintings were saying. He heard a loud sound behind him and turned around to see Bella had entered.
"Ugh, I don't feel so good," Bella said.
"How did you get in here?" Myu asked.
"I was feeling around the wall you disappeared through, and my hand brushed against a stone that was jutting out of the wall," Bella explained.
"Well, now that you are here, maybe you can help me figure out what these paintings are saying," Myu said. He gestured to the paintings his Aura Sphere was illuminating. Bella glanced at the paintings before she noticed the light he held in his paw.
"Is that Aura Sphere?" Bella asked.
"I think it is," Myu stated.
"But I thought only Lucario could use that?"
"Not only Lucario," Myu said. "There are other species of Pokémon that can use it."
"Oh, cool" Bella said.
"Now then. Can you help me figure out what these paintings are saying?" Myu asked. The two of them worked to decipher the paintings.
"I think what they are saying, is that this was actually part of a larger place," Bella said.
Myu looked at some of the paintings, and he noted that they seemed to describe a specific location. "I think some of these are a map."
"They are?"
"Do you think you can get Zeni?"
"How do you suggest I do that?"
"Well, there seems to be some sort of lever you pushed to turn the wall," Myu said. "Try pushing it again."
"But... it makes me feel sick when I do that."
"Zeni is the only one with paper," Myu explained. "We need him to copy these maps."
"Okay, fine," Bella reluctantly agreed. She walked over to the wall and started feeling around for the lever. She pressed it by accident and the wall spun around again. Myu waited a couple seconds for Bella to get Zeni. The wall spun around again, and this time the Squirtle was with the Kirlia. They stumbled around for a few seconds before walking over to Myu.
"Okay, Myu," Zeni began, "Bella said you asked for me. What is it?"
"I need you to copy these maps," Myu said, gesturing to the drawings on the walls.
"All right, I'm on it," Zeni said. He retracted his arm into his shell and when it came back out, it had a few sheets of paper with it. He retracted his other arm into his shell and when it came out, he was holding a charcoal stick. He started to copy the maps onto the sheets of paper as best as he could. After a few minutes, he had the maps copied out. "All right, I'm done."
"All right then, let's get out of here," Myu said. He walked over to the wall with Bella and Zeni behind him. He felt around the wall trying to find the lever that activated it. Eventually one of his paws pressed against one of the stone bricks. The wall spun around again, and they were back in the main chamber. "All right, let's get these to Devoir."
A little while later, the three of them were before Devoir, and she was looking at the papers with the maps.
"Hmm, interesting," Devoir muttered.
"Do you have any idea where this map leads?" Myu asked.
"Well, it seems to lead to some stone structures to the west," Devoir said. "But that place is dangerous."
"Dangerous how?" Myu asked.
"There are rumors circulating around that place," Devoir explained. "There are supposed to be dangerous creatures lurking about that place."
"Well, whatever is there, these so-called Shadows want it. We need to get their first," Myu said.
"I can't just let you go there alone," Devoir said.
"Then how about I take a few other Pokémon with me," Myu asked.
"Are you sure about that?" Devoir asked.
"I'm sure."
"I'll gather the village together and see who wants to go along."
A short while later, the entire village was in the Gathering Hall. Devoir stood before a crowd of Pokémon with Myu next to her.
"May I have your attention, please!" Devoir shouted. All the Pokémon turned to look at her. "Thank you. Now, the reason I have gathered you all here, is because Myu," she gestured to the blue feline, "needs a group of people to help him explore the stone structures to the west of the village. Myu, explain what you need." She stepped to the side so that Myu became the center of attention.
"I need a small group, eight at most, to come with me to that place to investigate it. I don't really require anything, but you need to be able to leave for a couple of days. This could be dangerous, so don't feel obligated to go. Those who wish to come, may stand here," Myu gestured to his side.
"I'll go!" a Riolu said, jumping up and then running over. Myu recognized him as the Riolu he met yesterday. Lykos was his name.
"Welcome aboard," Myu said. Lykos didn't understand what 'aboard' meant, but he didn't question it.
"I'll come too," Zeni said, walking up. "You're going to need real brains on this."
"And someone to take care of you," a Buneary said, walking over. "Hi, I'm Mimi."
"I'll come too," a Dratini said, whom Myu recognized as Ryu. She slithered over and stopped next to Myu.
Myu looked over to Bella, silently asking her to come. She seemed hesitant, but eventually walked over.
"I guess I'll come along," she said. A big figured showed up behind her.
"I'm coming too. You're going to need some real muscle," Dominus the Eelektross said.
"Okay then. I can take one more," Myu announced.
"You kids are going to need an adult to help," a Machoke said, walking up. "I'm coming along, too."
"Alright then. Welcome," Myu said. He turned to face Devoir. "This is all I'm willing to take. We'll head for the stone structures tomorrow after we get supplies."
"Good, but take good care of my daughter, okay?" Devoir asked.
"I'll take good care of her," Myu promised. The crowd of Pokémon dispersed.
"Well, I'm going back to my hut to get some sleep. I can tell tomorrow is going to be a long day," the Machoke said, walking away.
"I'm going to get some practice in so I can protect all of you weaklings when we go," Dominus said, floating away. When they were gone, Myu turned to the five other Pokémon that were left.
"I'm glad you all are coming, and I'm especially grateful to you Bella, for being willing to come along," Myu said.
"You're welcome."
"I'm excited to get going!" Lykos said, almost bouncing up and down. "I can't wait to get there!"
"It will take almost the whole day to walk there," Zeni said. "You'll have to wait."
"Calm down, Lykos, or you won't be able to sleep tonight," Mimi warned.
"We'll need to get supplies in the morning before we leave," Myu said. "For now, return to your huts and sleep for the night and Bella and I will come get you in the morning."
They all said goodbye and left, leaving Myu and Bella alone.
"So, I guess I'm staying at your place, again," Myu said. "By the way. Are you comfortable with this? Leaving the village and going on an adventure away from home?" Bella pondered that for a while, but before she could answer, Myu spoke. "And I want a straight answer."
She paused and then said, "I've always wanted to go on an adventure."
End of Chapter 2