A vast collection of plain gems lit up an otherwise featureless room, giving everything a rather mundane glow. But the good sort of mundane, if that made any sense. It really drove home the fact that this room was just that. Mundane and plain. Even the floor was smooth and free of bumps and indents. Despite the rich aura in the air, and the rise of energy inside him, Rio felt remarkably ordinary here. Not that he knew what to expect going in, but it all felt… flavorless, for lack of a better term, and even that didn't really fit.
"And this is where Eva and Mia are supposed to be?" Rio asked Kane, mostly skeptical. "Not to say you don't know what you're doing, I'll be honest, me and Minerva have been running around blind for what felt like a year–"
Mew decided to let out a loud, interruptive yawn, even making sure everyone's eyes were on her. "Oh yeah it's been over a year, but only a few days though! Not that anyone's keeping track, ya know? Definitely not me, that's for sure!"
Rio ignored her, figuring it was better than pressing her on that. Or on anything else she'd say. "-but this floor feels so bland that I might actually fall asleep." He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, actually, I feel I could get out of bed in the morning. Refreshed, at least, but nothing more than that. Mmm… that's not right either…"
"I said the same shit the first time Diana and I fumbled down here. It's so… average. There ain't even any bugs to squash," Kane said, noticeably disappointed. He headed for the one tunnel leading out of this room. "I ain't one to bitch and moan like Klepto over here, but I'd rather not stay down here too long," he nodded over at Minerva as he said that.
A quiet moment passed before the Meowth realized she was getting talked about. Minerva gritted her teeth, hissing at Kane and shouting, "And who the hell do ya think you're bad mouthin' huh?! Actin' like I won't come up there and beat ya to a bloody paste!"
With a tired, aggravated groan, Jirachi flew ahead of Rio and Minerva. "It doesn't count as bad mouthing if he has a damn point. What the hell, is one of your parents an Exploud?"
"Keep talkin' shit, I'll tear you apart as soon as I'm done with Kane!" Minerva barked, unknowingly digging her claws into Rio's shoulder. The Lucario let out a whimper, biting his lip, but Minerva didn't notice, or maybe didn't care. "And ain't ya the one who bitched and moaned to stay in the safe room?! The hell're ya doin' sneakin' along with us and the first thing ya do is bitchin' about me?!"
And then, Mew made herself known again. This time, by brushing up against Minerva and nuzzling into her neck. "Wow, so feisty~!" she cooed, winking. "I hope you'll tear me apart too, that sounds like so much fun!"
A disgusted chill shot up Minerva's spine, and she leapt right off of Rio, dashing down the tunnel for safety. "EW! EWEWEWEWEWEW, GROSS!" Minerva cried out, still shuddering as she ran. Mew followed right behind her, giggling to herself.
'Wow, we are just so lucky to have this be the group we're stuck with, huh?' a voice in Rio's head spoke. Orion, fortunately. Rio didn't know what he'd do if another one popped up suddenly, and knowing there was still just the one was damn reassuring with his external company. 'How's the shoulder?"
Rio waited a few seconds, just to make sure the others were out of earshot. It'd be hard to explain that he was talking to a voice in his head, he felt. "Fine, not bleeding, thankfully." He rested a paw on his shoulder, wincing slightly. There were teeny, tiny little cuts in his skin, but nothing more than that. "Boy does it sting," he chuckled, walking down the tunnel.
'Good, wouldn't wanna be down an arm in a mystery dungeon, right? Even if Kane says this place is empty, doesn't mean he was right,' Orion warned, and Rio could tell he was wagging a claw at him. Partly because he did it himself without knowing at first. 'Although… I wonder what would happen if you absorbed one of these gems. The electric ones charged you up, but… what on earth could a Normal Gem do?"
"Probably a lot, I know you can sense how strong these are too," Rio muttered, brushing his paw against one such gem as he passed by. For a brief moment, power surged up his arm, but it didn't really feel like anything. It was, again, like he woke up really refreshed. A nice feeling, yeah, but nothing compared to the shock of energy he felt when he absorbed an Electric Gem.
'Obviously you'd get a power up, I'm talking about looks! Like, are you gonna turn piss yellow again? Or a boring grey? Will you get more slender, or bulk up a bit? These are important questions, Rio!' Orion huffed, jokingly. He then let out a nostalgic sigh, chuckling to himself. 'Ah, it's like using the scientific method again! But this time I get a look on the inside in a far easier fashion than an autopsy.'
That last sentence almost went over Rio's head. The Lucario blinked and raised an eyebrow as he caught it. "Autopsy? What, did you work in… uh…" To his surprise, he didn't actually know who'd perform an autopsy.
'You're thinking of a morgue, and no, I had a much more fun vocation than that, not that it matters now… I think,' Orion muttered, shrugging. 'I'll be honest, there's a lot you and I might need to cover, but I think it'll be best to cross those bridges when we get to them. No need to worry about them now. Besides, we got more important things to deal with.'
Rio nodded in agreement, pumping his arms and grinning. "Yeah, saving our friends and beating Lee's face in! Which are both easier said than done, but at least we got… most of us together again."
"Yo! Rio! Hurry the hell up already!" A voice echoed from deeper in the tunnel, Kane's from the sound of it.
'Shoot, he beat me to it! I wanted to tell you to hurry up, because, like, I was actually referring to what we were doing down on this floor in the first place and…' Orion's voice trailed off, and he sighed and waved it off. 'Nevermind, just hurry it up. Like Kane said. Thunder stealer…' he muttered.
Rio wasn't that far behind the others, but it still took a bit to catch up. The tunnel led to another chamber, but there was more than just boring and bland nothing. Some of the gems were charred and covered in soot, and there was a smoky scent still in the air. Minerva stood with her arms crossed next to the tunnel, Kane was on the opposite side of the chamber, Jirachi laid on a high gem sticking out of the wall, and Mew was touching one of the charred gems, wincing slightly and taking her paw off, then went back to touching it again. On the ground was some loose, white and brown fur, and a couple pinkish-red strands too. There was only one other tunnel than the one Rio just came from, and that was the exit from the look of it.
"Good, you ain't lost," Kane chuckled, nodding to the Lucario. He was probably making a joke. "Anyway, looks like we came to the right place. A few of these black spots are still hot, as Mew would tell ya," he said, looking at Mew and sighing. His disappointment seemed to be shared with Minerva as well. "We just missed Eva, and if that brown fur is anythin' to care about, that Eevee runt is with her too. Mia, or something like that. Kai's friend."
"Great! Now all we gotta do is find them, right? They can't have gone far," Rio said, confident and relieved with what was possibly the best news he's heard down here so far. "As long as they stick together, we shouldn't have too much trouble finding them."
Kane shrugged, shaking his head. "Hard to tell, depends on which floor they end up on, and us too. I wish I could tell 'em to stay in one place, but…" his voice trailed off, then he turned to the side and sucked his teeth. "Whatever, she'll be fine. Since we're here, grab some Normal Gems before we head out. I ain't gotta tell y'all that this is some strong stuff, which means it's useful."
"Ya ain't gotta tell us shit," Minerva scoffed, breaking one of the large gems and carrying it overhead. "I'm takin' this so I can sell it when we're off this island. I'm gettin' Kora, Rio, and me right the hell off this rock first chance I get!"
"Ooooooo! Take me with you! Take me with you!" Mew exclaimed, still messing with the burning-hot gem. "And Rachi too! Don't forget about him!" The star-headed Pokemon in question floated back down, grimacing slightly but not saying anything. Mew, in turn, beamed. "See! He's excited to go out on an adventure too!"
"I ain't goin' nowhere with a nutcase like you and a deadbeat like him!" Minerva barked, hissing before turning to Kane. "Lizard breath! Hurry up and do that thing with the exit so we can leave!"
The Scrafty rolled his eyes, breaking a pocket sized chunk off a gem for himself. "...I could tell you to buzz off and find the next floor by yourself, but Diana would kill me, so just shut it and follow me. We'll be headin' to the fire type floor. There usually ain't anythin' down there, at least the few times I went with Diana."
This whole time, Rio was trying to break off a piece of gem for himself, but it wasn't exactly easy for him. Turns out, gems are really stuck in the walls they sprout from. It, uh, was getting kind of embarrassing, so he gave up before too long to save face.
'I don't even have a snide remark that fits. Just, wow,' Orion whistled, snickering. 'Oh, I got one!' he cleared his throat, and despite being in Rio's head, flashed a smug, shit eating grin. 'The hero of the world, everybody. Please, hold your applause.'
Rio muttered profanities under his breath, all of which directed to Orion, then followed Kane through the exit. He could've sworn he heard Mew giggling at him as he went, which was equal parts embarrassing and unsettling since she could've been doing it for literally any reason and Rio wanted to know none of them.
To no one's surprise, the fire floor was hot. The room they ended up in felt like a sauna but just a bit too hot to be relaxing enough to unwind in. Fiery gems lit up the room, warping the air closely around them and giving off an orange glow. Standing still for more than a few seconds started to burn the paw-padded members' feet, other than Rio, or Mew since she could fly. So, basically, just Minerva. And she soon started to regret bringing such a big gem along.
"Ow! Shit! Ow! Shit!" Minerva hissed, hopping from foot to foot, still carrying her prized gem. "I already hate it here!"
"And you aren't making it any better for anyone," Jirachi groaned.
"Again! Why the hell are ya here?!" Minerva barked. "Just leave! It ain't like we're gonna miss ya!"
Kane slammed his tail on the floor, getting everyone's attention. He glared dead at Minerva, cold enough to chill the room a bit. "Shut it, Minerva. I ain't dealin' with the arguing on every floor, and I mean it when I say I will knock your ass out to keep things quiet."
"I'd like to see ya try, Lizard Breath," Minerva scoffed, but as Kane's glare sharpened on her, she backpedaled. "...Fine, whatever. I didn't wanna waste my breath on both of ya assholes anyway."
Rio sighed and shook his head, quickly getting tired of this. But at least Minerva knew to contain herself, he thought. Speaking of thoughts, one just so happened to cross the Lucario's mind. He could use his aura sense to try and sense if Eva and Mia are here. 'Finally, a chance to be actually helpful!' Rio closed his eyes, focusing. All he saw was… well nothing. It was nothing but fire, as far as he could sense. And it all burned. It was like standing too close to a bonefire, hell, like he was standing in the middle of it. It was hard to tell if he was actually on fire or not, but he imagined it'd feel almost exactly like this. Rio sucked his teeth and stumbled back, panting heavily as he fell to a knee, fanning himself. "N-Nevermind. That… really hurt..."
"Was that you tryin' to sense aura?" Kane asked, then clicked his tongue and looked off to the side. "I uh, probably should've warned ya. These floors are full of aura, but this one is the worst. Diana was teachin' me how to sense aura myself, and the second we ended up here, she had to teach me how to shut that sense off completely." He chuckled, then cleared his throat. "At least there ain't any bugs down here to fight, last time I checked. We won't need to sense for anythin'."
"G-Good to know," Rio panted, still fanning himself. He would have found it ironic that one of the few times he's gotten his aura sense to work, it absolutely backfired and actually burned him. At least Orion found it funny, laughing inside Rio's head.
Mew, who was suspiciously quiet this entire time, appeared curled around Rio's neck. The Lucario jumped, startled, and was about to shoo her off when a more pleasant chill cooled him down. Coming from Mew, no less. The pink feline giggled, purring gently as a cold, foggy exhale left her mouth. "I figured having such soft, warm fur would make this place not fun for you at all! So I might as well keep you cool, right?"
"I-I… don't like how you said that. Any of that," Rio muttered, greatly reconsidering getting Mew off him, but the coolness was very persuasive. "So, uh, don't make this weird, please?"
Mew shot Rio a wink, purring more. "It'll only be weird if you make it weird, Bluey~"
A less pleasant chill ran up Rio's spine, and he quickly threw Mew off of him. She floated haphazardly through the air, giggling playfully. "AND now! I'm suddenly perfectly fine! Let's get the hell outta here! Haha!" he forcefully laughed, running down a tunnel as fast as he possibly could.
"Why the hell are ya like this?" Minerva glared at the pink feline, who had the proudest, deviously playful look on her face.
Mew floated up to Minerva, sticking out her tongue. "All I did was help a brand new friend out! There ain't nothin' wrong wi–"
Minerva, pissed, pinched shut Mew's lips, bearing her claws on her free paw. "Don't."
Sliding out of Minerva's grasp, Mew nodded and fluttered down the same tunnel Rio ran down. Kane and Minerva both let out an aggravated sigh, glaring at each other for a moment before entering the tunnel themselves.
Being the first into the tunnel, and also trying his damnedest to get as far into it as he could, Rio reasonably made it to the chamber it connected to. A massive, wide-open chamber with tall, jagged spires of stone littering the area, some rising high above Rio's head. Long, narrow paths of stone stretched over familiar pits, where a faint red haze and embers rose from. Surprisingly, there weren't any fire gems to be seen. It was hotter here than in the other room, but not yet unbearable.
"Whoa…" Rio muttered, forgetting why he was running so hard just moments ago. "This place just keeps getting bigger, doesn't it? It's almost kinda… what's the word? Majestic?"
"Maybe to you." Jirachi's sudden voice and appearance made Rio jump, in spite of the lack of emotion in it. "All I see is more hell to wade through."
Rio let out a sigh, holding his chest. "I don't think it's that bad, Jirachi."
"You could have stopped that sentence at three words," the star-shaped Pokemon said, blunt.
It took Rio a few seconds to realize what he meant, but before he could say anything the others finally caught up. As soon as Mew showed up again, Rio made sure to have at least Minerva between the both of them. Kane stepped to the front of the group, motioning for the others to follow him. "I don't think I have to say to watch your step here. Be careful."
"Because of the fall?" Rio asked, tilting his head. He hadn't looked over into any of the drop-offs yet, but they seemed pretty steep.
"Oh, no, there's more stone bridges under these, tunnels that lead back up here, and the walls are rocky enough for anyone to climb if they had to," Kane replied, crossing his arms and frowning slightly. "It's because, if you fall, Mew will help you back up." At the mention of her name, Mew fluttered over to Kane's shoulder, smiling and sticking her tongue out at Rio and Minerva.
"Noted," Rio gulped nervously and shivered.
"She ain't gonna do shit if she knows what's good for her," Minerva growled, glaring at the mischievous feline.
Kane, deadpanned, scoffed at Minerva. "You say that as if threats like that are gonna work on her."
"Yep! Fall Prevention Officer Mew is reporting for duty!" Mew chirped, pumping her arms and giggling.
With that all sorted out, Kane led the group onto one of the stone bridges, walking slowly enough for the rest to follow. Rio, wanting to know how deep the drop off went, looked over the side of the path. Like Kane said, several other pathways stretched out below, leading to tunnels and cliffs and all that. And, also like Kane mentioned, the walls looked very climbable, if that was a real word. There were even more pointy stones jutting out of the walls. What really caught Rio's eye was this… weird red glow far at the bottom. The haze and rising embers wasn't helping him see any better, but he assumed that was where the fire gems were.
"...Why does this place look so different from the other floors? Well, other than the electric one, but even that one didn't have a haze, or big pointy rocks," Rio spoke up, standing from the edge and making sure not to stay too close to it.
Kane shrugged, slowing his pace and looking around again. "I don't know… Probably got somethin' to do with the type of this floor." For some reason, he stopped in his tracks, visibly tensing up. "But… these rocks, you notice somethin' off about them, Rio?"
Something off? They looked like normal rocks to Rio at least, just really big and pointy. Although, within the few close enough for Rio to still see… There was a slight difference between a few of them. Some of the large stones looked more rounded, blending into the ground beneath them, but the really pointy ones looked like they were actually breaking through the floor. "Actually… yeah. Some of them look like they were… dug up? I think?"
"Good, you picked up on that faster than I was expectin'," Kane said, looking back at the Lucario and nodding before facing the front again. "Unless I ain't rememberin' right, there shouldn't be anyone down here with rock-type attacks, right?"
Rio shook his head. "Not that I know of, even the guy we were chasing was more… dark, kinda? He was really weird, and fast, and strong… but I don't think he ever used anything rock-typey."
"Shit, then there's someone else down here? Somethin' about that ain't rubbin' me the right way," Kane sucked his teeth, running down the path. "Mew, scout ahead. If you see anyone, do not mess with them and report right back to us."
Mew gave a salute and smiled. "Yes sir!" she chirped before shooting off into the chamber. Jirachi watched her go, his eyes narrowing slightly, then followed behind her without another word.
"Good, that's two of the three assholes outta the way," Minerva scoffed, eyeing Kane. "Feel like goin' ahead or some shit?"
"Sure," Kane said, already walking down the pathway. He made sure to grab Rio by the arm, dragging the jackal behind him. "Come on, Rio. If there's a fight, we ain't gonna let the lady with the shiny rock slow us down." Rio didn't realize he was grabbed at first, blinking and wondering why everything was moving and the backs of his ankles burned.
"Wh- HEY! Don'cha two assholes leave me alone!" Minerva barked, chasing after the two. Her run was about as fast as their walk., or walk and being-dragged-along.
Despite being on high alert, the trio moved through the chamber quickly. Coincidentally, the further they got the more of those different looking stones they found. They appeared in clusters, and quite a few were broken or scorched. That was both a really good sign… and a bad one.
"Uh oh," Rio muttered, his fur standing on end. He sped up to be side by side with Kane, who was more focused on their surroundings to notice him until he spoke. "You did say there weren't any ferals here, right?"
Kane's eyes glanced at Rio for a second before he nodded. "You don't actually think a Galvantula coulda done this, do you?"
Insulted, not because Kane was insinuating something wrong, but because Rio was found out so easily, the jackal pouted and crossed his arms. "O-Of course not! But maybe there are fire or rock type ferals down here! It's not like we could sense them!"
"Oh yeah? Name a fire or rock feral you saw down here," Kane scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I know for a fact you ain't seen nothin' but Galvantula down here."
Rio felt like someone was staring at him smugly, only to then hear Orion chuckle inside his head. 'You totally thought a Galvantula did this, didn't you?'
'No! Not the stones at least!' Rio thought back, pouting harder. 'But electricity can leave scorch marks! A Galvantula could have totally burned these rocks!''
Orion laughed, mentally pointing at the Lucario and even slapping his knee. Rio had to stop himself from pouting any harder. Fortunately, or possibly unfortunately, Mew and Jirachi returned pretty quickly, the former frantic and wouldn't have been cause for alarm, but even Jirachi, in his mostly apathetic Jirachi-ness, looked like he was thinking about being worried about something.
"What's wrong? Did Mew start chasing her tail and forgot what she was doing again?" Kane asked, which sounded like a joke, but his tone wasn't exactly comical.
The pink feline shook her head, then put her paws on her knees, gasping for air. She held up a digit, asking to give her a sec, until Jirachi rolled his eyes and spoke up for her. "We found someone, a Blaziken. He's out cold on a battlefield full of rocks."
"More of these rocks, right?" Kane asked, nodding towards the out-of-place boulders. Jirachi crossed his arms, not answering. Kane shook his head, realizing it was a stupid question anyway. "Doesn't matter, if it's a Blaziken, I'm willin' to bet it's Zeke. Lead us to 'im, he's lucky he got his clock cleaned here of all places." Jirachi didn't reply at all, but he turned and flew off in the direction he came from. Mew, seeing the shooting star sprite leave, took a long inhale and followed behind him. The Scrafty turned and motioned for Rio and Minerva to follow him. "Try and keep up, if somethin's still down here, well, I shouldn't have to say we don't wanna get separated."
"Then why'd ya say it?" Minerva huffed, sucking her teeth. Kane looked back to retort, but gritted his teeth and didn't bother, continuing forward. Taking it as a win, Minerva beamed proudly and puffed out her chess. "Ha! Score one million for me! How's that, scaly-breath?"
Kane growled under his breath, fighting to not let such a petty, childish taunt get to him. Meanwhile, Rio wondered how winning once meant winning a million times, and was even more curious on what Kane's score might've been. Although… something told him not to ask either of them about it right now.
Jirachi wasn't lying when he said it was a battlefield full of rocks, or sarcastic because obviously there'd be rocks here, in a cave. More of those sharp, jutting stones were scattered as far as the eye could see. Most of them burnt, others shattered to pieces, it looked like a brutal mess. Like a war was fought here instead of some fight.
"What the hell happened here?" Minerva said, looking over it all, amazed. She looked to Kane, who didn't spend as much time surveying the damage as her. "Now I know ya were talkin' outta your ass about this place bein' empty."
Still following Jirachi and Mew, Kane waved Minerva's comment off. "It doesn't matter that I was wrong. A year was barely long enough to learn how to survive, let alone figure out all the feral bastards that live in this hellhole." If it wasn't obvious before that Kane didn't like this place, the resentment lining his tone of voice should've been a clear sign. It made Rio wonder what happened while Kane was here, but… he didn't want to ask just yet. Or ever, just so he wouldn't have to worry about Kane beating him to a pulp for it.
"He's, hah… Over here!" Mew panted, her exhaustion feeling a bit forced at this point. "We got… I found… phew, geez..!"
"Mew, please, stop," Kane said, totally deadpanned as he and the others approached. Sure enough laying in a small nook formed by the stones jutting out of the ground, was an unconscious Zeke. He was bruised pretty badly, and his body was eerily still. Kane knelt over the avian, bringing his ear close to Zeke's beak. Fortunately, he was still breathing. Ragged, weak breaths, but a sign of life nonetheless. Relieved, Kane turned to Mew, grimaced as she fluttered her eyelids back at him, then looked to Jirachi. "Get me a fire gem, quick."
Jirachi sucked his teeth, then elbowed Mew. "Quit playing around and get some gems," he said, somehow less emotive than usual..
"Aye aye, Cap-Bro!" Mew saluted, shooting off in some direction without any fuss. "Weeeeee!"
"For the love of…" Kane groaned, then shook his head, giving Jirachi a glare right after. "We need those gems now, why the hell did you send Mew?" the reptile scoffed.
"Because I didn't feel like getting them," Jirachi replied, blunt as steel and just as uncaring. "If it was such an issue, why not go get them yourself?"
"Or you could've sent one of us?" Rio muttered, slightly nervous. Seeing Zeke in his current state did not help with that; deathly silent, bruised and beaten, and tossed into a stone hideaway. Yeah no, that didn't feel right, or good, and neither did Rio. Not even Minerva seemed all that quippy in the moment, and the silence was only making things worse. To try and get his mind off of it, Rio tried talking to fill the dead air. "Actually… why do you need fire gems? I know there aren't any berries here but surely there's something that'll heal him, right?"
Kane kneeled beside Zeke and exhaled, glancing up at Rio before answering. "You're in for a treat, then. Diana and I didn't last so long down here without gettin' hurt. Had to learn a thing or two ourselves."
Much quicker than anyone was expecting of her, Mew returned with a large, fiery gem in her mitts. Rio didn't need his aura sense to know how powerful that gem was, he could feel the fire just fine from where he was standing. Kane nodded to the floating feline and took the gem from her. "How about that, you didn't goof off this time. Thanks," he said.
"Dawww, it ain't nothin'!" Mew gushed, but as Minerva and Kane glared at her, she coughed and floated over to Jirachi's side. "I mean, you are very much welcome!"
"Yeah, whatever," Kane rolled his eyes, then turned to Rio and Minerva. "As I was sayin'... eh, screw it, just watch." He held the fire gem over Zeke and broke the gem in his hand. With surprisingly little effort too. Ember-like aura scattered in all directions, fading into the air around them, but some of it drifted down and into Zeke's body. The avian's body started to glow with a faint, fiery aura. Other than that, nothing happened at first, but then his wounds and the blood on his body started to fade. After that, Zeke started to move; his eyes twitched, his chest rose and fell more noticeably, and his wrists crackled with small flames.
Rio and Minerva both dove next to Zeke, their eyes teary and wide with amazement and relief as the dreadfully still Blaziken slowly stirred back to life. "Z-Zeke!" Minerva exclaimed, pushing on Zeke's shoulder in an effort to wake him faster. "Zeke ya lazy prick, get up!"
"Minerva he was knocked out!" Rio said, baffled. "Wh-What do you mean lazy?!"
Zeke coughed, raising his claw to his face to cover his eyes from the brightness of the cavern. What little brightness there was, at least. He blinked, looking at Minerva, then Rio, and finally let out a weaky, ragged chuckle. "N-No… she's got a point. I had to be pretty lazy to get knocked out in the first place. Doesn't make the fractured ribs any less fractured…" He tried to sit up, but even with his external wounds being mostly faded, Zeke let out a pained hiss as he propped himself up on a nearby stone. "Or my concussion any less concussed. And I could name a helluva lot of other things that wolf bastard messed up too…" Zeke turned to Rio and grinned, then coughed. "Aren't both of you kids a sight for sore eyes, huh? For a second, I thought I saw an old friend of mine… and I was worried my time was up, haha."
"Hell're ya callin' a kid?" Minerva scoffed, gritting her teeth. "Just because you're an old prick don't mean I'm some kid. Rio, maybe, but sure as hell not me!"
Rio, baffled once more, pouted at Minerva. "Don't throw me under the age bus, I'm an adult too!"
Zeke winced as the two voices grated against his pained head, then chuckled lightly. "O-Ok, but maybe cool the shouting a bit? Concussed, remember?"
"We might need a few more gems," Kane spoke, nodding to Mew who was too busy eyeing Zeke to notice. Until Kane poked her in the chest and told her again. "For the love of Arceus…" he muttered to himself, then turned back to Zeke. "Welcome to hell, as Jirachi would tell you. Long time no see, Chicken Legs."
Zeke stared at Kane for a moment, blinking in surprise. "...Kane? Why do you look so… different?" he asked, bringing his knee to his chest and wincing again. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a long exhale, then added, "I mean that in the nicest way possible, also."
"Long story, and I ain't sure if you're ready to hear it. Don't wanna make your concussion worse," Kane chuckled, then turned a bit more serious. "More importantly, what happened to you?"
The Blaziken shook and lowered his head. "Can't remember everything, but I know I got in a fight with Lee. Well… it was less of a fight, and more of him beating my ass. If it wasn't for Eva and Nate…" he paused, then his eyes suddenly widened and he gripped his knee. He tried to push himself off the ground, but his body refused. Kane and Rio helped ease him back down, worry on the latter's face.
"H-Hey, take it easy!" Rio said. "Just, uh, calm down for a sec and breathe. What's wrong?"
"D-Damnit…" Zeke groaned, trying to take Rio's advice. Once he wasn't as agitated, he answered. "Eva and Nate, they're both still fighting him. I think… Mia too. Kid's got more fight in her than I thought."
Kane flinched and tensed up, then shut his eyes and inhaled, calm. "Eva and Mia are with Nate and whoever Lee is. What type is Lee, we might have to bet on a fifty-fifty to find them, or even a three way split since our luck is so shit."
"No idea, but if I had to guess, he might be a rock type, and a powerful one too. I know Stone Edge is violent, even as an attack but all of this…" Zeke gestured to the rest of the pointed rocks around them, then shook his head. "This is on a level I've never really seen before. Not from a normal Pokemon."
Rio blinked, the color and warmth fading from his body as he looked over the battlefield. It didn't seem as majestic and mesmerizing as before… more like a death trap that they were lucky enough to miss. "Lee… did all this?"
"B-Bullshit! Quit tryin' to get under our skin like that, this is a shitty time for jokes!" Minerva barked, her body shaking as she climbed back onto Rio's shoulders. Her tail was wrapped firmly around her waist, and she clung to Rio more tightly than usual. In her nervousness, Minerva dropped her big crystal. Luckily, Rio was still down to earth enough to catch it and set it down.
Zeke looked at the both of them, then chuckled. "...Yeah, my bad. And I'm afraid I got more bad news too," he sighed and shook his head. "We found the exit to this place in our fight, and Lee was trying to escape through it with… what I could have sworn was Kora, or Diana. I'm… not really sure. My mind's still foggy."
"Kora was here too..? With… W-With…" Minerva swallowed, her grip on Rio tightening. She narrowed her glare at Zeke, growling. "What the hell, I thought I said to cut the joke shit out!"
"I hope I'm wrong, all I remember is it's a Zoroark that I recognize, and they were strong too. Kinda narrows things down, doesn't it?" Zeke replied, letting out a chuckle that was interrupted by a cough. Rio reached towards him, but the Blaziken gently pushed the helping paw away. "That's not all either… When they were about to leave, I-I remember there being a bright white light. I'm not the best with aura sense, but I could tell that there was something way, way off about it."
"Really? Are you sure it was a white light and not grey? Did you see what sort of gem they might've used?" Kane asked, and for once in the conversation, Jirachi actually looked interested in something they were saying.
Zeke shook his head, grimacing as he recalled things further. "No, I didn't see them use any gem. But I know a bright white light came from the exit… and right after that, Lee tried to hit Eva with Stone Edge. I got her out of the way, took the hit in her place, and now I'm here," he said, managing to chuckle this time. "It feels like a miracle I didn't get skewered on the way down."
Now disinterested again, Jirachi turned away and crossed his arms. "Tsk… Where the hell is Mew this time? She should've been back by now."
"Oh I was just waiting for you all to stop talking. I didn't wanna be rude, you know?" The always-chipper Mew replied, appearing right beside her grumpy star brother. She held a larger stone in her arms, which she showed off to Kane like a trophy. "Are ya gonna say thanks to me again? I did good this time, right! I'm a good girl! The Best!"
The Scrafty deadpanned, then cleared his throat and took the gem from Mew. "Yeah, uh, good job." Mew opened her mouth to speak, but Kane quickly shushed her. "I am not callin' you that." He kneeled down to Zeke, readying to break the gem over him like before. "Hopefully, this'll be enough to get you back on your feet." Kane crushed the gem, and it turned into embers just like the one before, and the process repeated itself almost exactly. This time, though, Zeke was awake and winced at the aura embers fading into his body. Whatever wounds were still visible faded even more, and Zeke's labored breathing became relaxed and controlled.
"Whoa…" Zeke whistled and raised his eyebrows in surprise. He flexed his claws and arms, then rolled his shoulders and neck. "Color me impressed, I actually feel pretty good," he laughed, then winced and clutched his head. "N-Not perfect, but still good."
"As long as you can walk, let's get movin'," Kane nodded, pulling Zeke up off the ground. "Not sayin' Nate can't beat him, but if Lee can rock your shit that easily, then we gotta get everyone out of here as soon as possible. You remember where the exit is, right?"
Minerva scoffed and glared at Kane, her tail flicking behind her, annoyed. "Oh yea, the second ya hear about ya crush muckin' around down here, ya suddenly wanna get her outta here, huh? What about Kora, jackass?"
"We don't have time to argue. And Kora's gonna be fine, anyway. You should know that better than anyone," Kane said bluntly, keeping his eyes on Zeke. "I'm sorry to rush you just after gettin' you back on your feet."
Zeke shook his head and dusted himself off. "Don't worry about me, and yeah, I know how to get out of here. Vaguely, but I can find the exit pretty quickly, I imagine."
Since Zeke and Kane were already leaving, Minerva didn't have the time to argue back. So, she grabbed her prized gem off the floor and hopped back up to Rio's shoulder, holding the normal gem over her head like a trophy. "C'mon, Blue. 'Least ya ain't pissin' me off."
Having already chosen to be quiet in all that, Rio decided to stay that way as he and the others made their way through the rest of the chamber. He thought it'd be awkward to try and lighten up the mood, and he also didn't know how to go about that anyway. But, he looked on the bright side; he felt that they'd all be out of here soon enough. It was only a matter of time, yeah.
The further the group got from where they found Zeke, the more Rio was surprised that Zeke was even alive when they found him. By the time they found the exit, hidden away on one of the lower levels of a crevasse, the Lucario was shocked that all it took was two gems to get Zeke moving again. And apparently he was the only one that thought about that since no one else seemed to be tackling the absurdity of Zeke currently living.
"Yep, this is the place," Zeke said, clenching his fists tightly. Shattered stone and scorch marks littered the area. "Looks like they fought even after I got launched… that's good. Tch," he huffed and walked over to the exit tunnel, staring into its darkness before turning back to Kane. "Any idea on how to follow them? I assume not knowing what gem they might've used, if they used one at all, makes things difficult."
"Yeah, but not as bad as you think. Lucky for us, Rio can get us to one specific room no matter what, and from there we can go into almost any floor we can think of," Kane explained, patting Rio on the back and pushing him forward. "Work your magic, Outlander."
Rio, knocked out of his "how and why is Zeke alive" trance, chuckled and nodded. "Uh, yeah, sure… But I don't know what sort of gem is bright white. I don't remember seeing one back at the gem room at all," he said as he approached the exit, standing before it and gazing into its darkness. It always felt creepy, but it quickly grew on Rio, to his surprise.
"Better to return to that crossroads than remain here," Jirachi grimaced, crossing his arms and gritting his teeth. "I hate it here, it's far more humid than a cave should be."
"And it's hot and stuffy too!" Mew chirped, resting her head on Jirachi's. The shooting star didn't seem to care. "Come on, I wanna get to the next floor already! I wanna meet a whole lotta new friends!"
Minerva scoffed, glaring at Mew, entirely skeptical. "As if I'd just let ya creep the rest o' my friends out, creep."
Mew pouted in response, quivering her bottom lip and staring at Minerva with innocent baby-doll eyes. "B-But Minerva! What if I pwomise to play nice?" she pleaded, batting her eyes at the other feline. Everyone else felt the overbearing weight of second-hand embarrassment. Besides Jirachi, obviously. Rio and Kane could barely stand it, and Zeke had to prop up against a wall to save himself from falling to his knees.
"Sh-Shit… What the hell was that?" Zeke choked, clutching his chest. "I-I'm gonna need more of that red gem stuff. K-Kane..!"
The pink cat pouted, and her eyes seemed to get even bigger. "What's wong, Zekey?" she asked, to which Zeke doubled over and groaned in pain. Mew gasped, flying over to the Blaziken who flinched at the sight of her. "Oh noes! Zekey-poo!"
"Ew! No! Stop that!" Minerva gagged, flicking Rio's cheek with her tail and nudging his head to the exit. "Get us the hell outta here! An' try to leave that creep here by herself!"
"Y-You don't gotta tell me twice!" Rio yipped, stumbling to the exit and putting his arm through it. Suddenly, the immediate area was blanketed in a blinding white light, yet it somehow was gentle on the eyes. Soothing, even. It was enough to ease Zeke's Mew-pains since the feline herself was completely distracted by it.
"O-Oh…" muttered Rio, eyes wide in wonder. This light, it was definitely some kind of aura. It felt nothing like any other aura Rio felt before, and it was so… much. Rio could use his aura sense freely without getting burned by the burning aura of the rest of the chamber. "Oh this is… really nice."
"Yea, I almost forgot that we're tryin' to ditch Mew," Minerva whistled, cringing at herself mentioning Mew at all.
Kane basked in the light for a moment, a pleasant look falling onto his face as he took in a deep breath, then let it out. "Is this the light you were talkin' about Zeke? You forget to mention how great it feels or somethin'?" he asked the Blaziken, walking over and helping him off the ground.
"Maybe. Can't help but feel like getting stoned might've distracted me somewhat," Zeke chuckled, taking a few breaths as he held his chest and winced. "Should not have fallen… It wasn't even funny. Not at all worth it."
As expected, Jirachi didn't look all that pleased about the bright light. In fact, he looked even more pissed than normal. Odder still, Mew wasn't ecstatic and hyper. She was nervous and shaky, floating to Jirachi's side and remaining uncharacteristically quiet. If no one else knew any better, they'd assume she was scared.
It felt weird seeing Mew like this, regardless of how unnervingly "friendly" she was, Rio felt that somebody had to ask if she was already. Jirachi too, honestly. But no one else stepped up to ask so… "Are you two, uh, alright..?" the Lucario asked, facing them both, a clear look of worry on his face.
Jirachi glared back and growled, gritting his teeth. All of a sudden, the mostly quiet and closed-off Jirachi had an intense threatening air to him. The others, including Mew, flinched in surprise. "I thought we were leaving, the hell are the rest of you idiots doing standing around for?" Jirachi snapped, floating towards the exit himself and passing through by himself.
"A-Ah, uh, what a jokester he is, haha! 'Rachi's so funny with how… er…" Mew stammered, then tried to put on a funny face. It looked more distressed than anything, which only made the others more worried. Mew cleared her throat, putting on a smile and batting her eyes at Rio. "Aw, isn't it sweet how much you care for us! You're a great friend, uh, Bluey!" she purred, attempting to nuzzle up to him, but was stopped by his paw gently pushing her back.
"Yeah, right," Rio hummed, then turned back to the exit and groaned. "Why are the both of you so off..?" A few seconds passed before Rio realized that he said that out loud. Fearing he might've hurt Mew's feelings, Rio quickly doubled back. "I, uh, no! I didn't mean–"
"Yep! We're definitely off! Weird too! Downright unnatural!" Mew tittered, then floated past Rio and right up to the exit tunnel. "Now if you'll excuuuuuse me, I gotta go catch up with my weird and off brother so we can be more weird and odd! I mean off!" the feline let out a louder-than-natural laugh and left into the void of light.
A collective, tired sigh filled the silence after Mew and Jirachi left ahead of the others. Hoping to speed things along, and also to help clear the awkwardness of the past few minutes, Rio clapped his paws and exhaled. "Alright! I've gotten sick of this place for the hundredth time, so how about we get outta here?"
"Agreed," Kane nodded, patting Zeke on the back. "How're ya holdin' up? Feel like you can walk on your own?"
Zeke smiled weakly, but put his claws on his hips and puffed out his chest. "I'm feeling like we should skip the small talk and just get this over with."
"Same here," Rio said, putting a foot in the exit and stepping through. "See you both on the other side!" he waved, as the void of light engulfed him and Minerva.
Unlike the other, normal exit tunnels, Rio didn't walk through it at all. The moment he stepped into the light, he fell straight down. Faster and faster, deeper and deeper. He quickly lost track of how long he had been falling when he just… stopped. That was when he realized he was screaming this entire time, and that Minerva was nowhere to be seen. Looking up or at least tilting his head upwards, there was nothing but an endless void of bright white. Looking below didn't help at all either. All things considered… it sort of felt like a dream.
"...Hey Orion?" Rio called out, his voice echoing into the vast emptiness around him. A moment passed, then several more. Seconds, minutes… No response. Mental or otherwise. Being so alone, Rio thought he would've started panicking or something… But no, he was fine. The pleasant feeling of the light kept him calm. For whatever reason, Rio knew that this was a safe place.
…
…
…
For a brief moment, through the all encompassing silence, Rio felt someone or something else. He turned and looked, spun in all directions, disorienting himself, but saw no one else there. Not physically. The longer he searched for that presence, the sooner Rio thought he knew where it was coming from. Staring directly in one spot, the feeling of locking eyes with something causing his heart to skip a beat, the Lucario simply… waved. Which didn't feel right, like there were more things he had to greet, but he couldn't "lock eyes" with anything else from the look of it.
Rio couldn't see anything wave back, but some part of him felt like his gesture was returned. That should've made Rio feel better, he thought, but it felt more awkward than anything. Waving to someone that you couldn't exactly see was definitely on that list of awkward things he'd done. Rio didn't know what to do from then either… or if he even could in the first place. Maybe he should… talk to it? Them?
"Uh… Hi?" Rio tittered, nervous and anxious. He barely said anything but it felt like he said the wrong things already. He cleared his throat and tried to play it off like he hadn't said anything, but he could feel whatever was out there staring right through him, judgingly.
'Oh gods… why do I gotta be alone here?' Rio thought, whimpering quietly to himself. 'J-Just let me get to the others already, so I don't have to think about this ever again. Please? Is that too much to a–'
Miraculously, Rio started to fall again. It was like his silent prayers were answered! He never felt so relieved to be falling from some unknown height. That was, until he realized just how fast he was falling, and how far he might've been going, and how there was suddenly a bottom to this deceptively endless void of light.
The Lucario flailed his arms, screaming his lungs out and spinning helplessly in the space. "O-OH WAIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–!"
"Oooooooooo… Ouch… Oh gods, my back… My everything…" Much to Rio's surprise, his landing was only moderately painful. All it did was leave him winded and sore, and luckily for him, he was already used to one of those things thanks to his training earlier on. And it was fun thoughts like his training that kept Rio from feeling any worse.
It took Rio several long, excruciating moments before he could sit up and figure out where he ended up. There wasn't exactly anything new here, it was just a big, open area. Again. For a mystery dungeon, or whatever this place was supposed to be called, Rio thought there'd be a bit more variety in how every floor looked. But wait, there actually was something unique about this place; a blurry fog or haze over everything! It was cold and felt eerily heavy. Couple that with Rio's body feeling like a tossed sack of bricks, and the simple act of standing was damn near impossible.
"Rio? Thank god, Rio you're up!" Orion's voice exclaimed in the Lucario's head. It started making Rio wonder what he was so relieved about. "I thought I was gonna have to start piloting your unconscious body around. Actually… that sounds like a lot fun. You wouldn't mind, uh…"
"Yes, I would mind," Rio scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Where… Where is everyone?"
"How should I know? Don't know if you noticed, but we can't sense anything down here. Up here? Here. Wherever "here" is in relation to where we were," Orion said as Rio crossed his arms. "What were you dreaming about, if you don't mind me asking?"
Rio blinked, tilting his head. "Dreaming? I fell asleep? Wait, you were being serious about me being unconscious?"
Orion pouted, tapping his foot on… the "ground" of wherever he was standing in Rio's mind? His brain? "I may be many things, including an exaggerator, but I am not a liar."
"Sounds like a liar to me," Rio snickered.
"Semantics. Anyway, yes, you were asleep. At least that's what I think it was, but I couldn't go into your dream no matter how hard I tried," Orion sighed, defeated. "Unless you somehow learned to block off your mind in the seconds it took for us to get here, I don't, uh… exactly what to think of it, actually."
That uncertainty didn't rub Rio the right way. He couldn't tell if it was from the haze or that thought alone, but a chill crawled up Rio's back soon after. "Ok, that's not good, I guess. Feels like nothing down here ever really is either," Rio sucked his teeth, shaking his head. "Let's just… focus on getting out of here instead. We can always figure out what happened later."
"Aha, yes, the good ol' "leave today's problems for tomorrow's me" tactic. Smart, Rio, and I actually fully agree," Orion replied. "And I mean that. In hindsight, it sounds sarcastic, but I'm not being sarcastic I swear. I'll keep trying to find something, you just… I dunno, do whatever you feel like I guess."
"Uh huh," Rio rolled his eyes and nodded, then picked a direction and did what he did best here; started walking. It took exactly three steps for him to come upon something that could be good news or bad news.
Jirachi. No Mew, no Kane or Zeke or Minerva… just Jirachi. The star sprite was just floating there, staring off into the distance, just barely visible through the haze. And well within earshot. The jackal's face heated up, embarrassed that it looked like he was talking to himself, but it was probably better that Jirachi was the one that overheard him and Orion. Anyone else would probably show some interest in it and push further.
Rio nervously approached the sulking star and waved to him. Not that he expected to get a wave in return. "Oh, uh, h-hey there, Jirachi! Don't mind any of that, I was just… uh…"
"Whether you're insane or telepathic, I. Do not. Care." Jirachi was just as blunt and cold as ever. Which was… good? Maybe? Hopefully?
Worried that Jirachi was still upset about what happened earlier, Rio walked next to him and considered putting a paw on Jirachi's shoulder. However, he didn't want to risk making things worse like that, and decided to just try and talk. "Are you alright?" Rio asked, his voice worried and soft.
Jirachi suddenly glared at Rio, that frightening, angry look piercing right through Rio. "Stop. That. I don't give a shit if you want to come off as nice. Keep trying to pry into my business and I promise you I'll send you back to whatever world you came from in a coffin, Outlander."
"O-Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!" Rio cried out, putting his arms up defensively and backing away. "Y-You're just so upset and I wanted t–"
"What did I just say," Jirachi growled, a mysterious pink aura crackling from his body, overpowering the haze around them and actually pushing it away. Even with Rio curled into a ball and praying that he would see the light of day at least one more time, he felt the weight of the haze shift and his aura sense kicked back into action on its own. Or rather, thanks to Orion staying on standby.
The chamber was even more vast than Rio first thought, being much taller than any other chamber or floor Rio had been in before, and probably even further since Rio couldn't sense as far as usual. Even more notably, there weren't any other strong auras or anything, at least not in the area that Jirachi unintentionally cleared. Unlike the other floors, this one felt totally barren. Rio popped his head up and looked around, forgetting about Jirachi as he tried to sense even further, but the haze was still there and walled him off from everything else.
For whatever reason, Jirachi calmed himself down and shut his aura off, allowing the haze to quickly return and Rio to feel like he ran into a wall. But the pain spread to his entire head instead of just his snout. "G-Gah, wh-what was that?" Rio groaned, holding his now-aching head and scrambling to his feet.
"Shut it. Be grateful I don't feel like staining this place with your blood and fur," Jirachi spat, then started floating off into the haze. "I'm leaving."
Horrifying threat aside, that felt too much like a certainty coming from Jirachi, Rio hurriedly followed behind him. If Jirachi knew the way out, then Rio figured it'd be best to try and follow him regardless of how scared he was of the shooting star. At the very least, he made sure to keep absolutely quiet, and it looked like Orion had the same idea. Rio had to applaud the voice in his head from having the self restraint to not try and quip right then and there.
Walking in absolute silence was about as riveting as one would expect, being not at all. If anything, all the silence did was make this place more ominous and unnerving. Rio was beginning to think that maybe the others didn't end up here after all, and that he and Jirachi ended up here thanks to some untimely bad luck. Hopefully, Rio thought, that meant the others were safe… However safe they could be while pursuing Lee.
Rio followed Jirachi further into the dark, haze-filled chamber for what felt like forever. The long stretches of nothing followed by longer stretches of nothing were a great help in making Rio feel lost and lose track of time. The thought that maybe Jirachi didn't know where he was going came to Rio's mind pretty quickly, and it was soon replaced by the idea that Jirachi was trying to wear Rio out to leave him here where no one could possibly find him. But this little shooting star guy wouldn't do that right?
Before those thoughts were given the chance to remain rent-free in Rio's mind, Jirachi suddenly stopped. And Rio made a far more sudden stop trying not to bump into the star sprite. Uncaring of whatever Rio was doing, Jirachi held up his arms, and his aura flowed from his body and pushed away the surrounding haze once more. Rio stumbled back slightly, thinking for a moment that Jirachi was going to attack him, but was quickly drawn to what Jirachi had revealed.
A stone door. Massive and ornate, with a green fire design that felt vaguely familiar to Rio. He went up to it himself, gliding his paw against it as he took in its craftsmanship. Then, the band on his arm started to tingle, and Rio pulled his arm away. "Isn't this… the entrance? It's how I got in here, right?" he muttered, mostly asking himself.
"How the hell should I know?" Jirachi replied, sounding less pissed than before much to Rio's relief. "Open it."
Rio looked back at Jirachi, about to say something, and was met with another sharp glare from the star sprite. Rio snapped back to the door, his fur standing on end and swallowing. "O-Ok..!" He took a deep breath, then put both paws on the door.
His armband started to glow a deep green, the faint tingle in his arm becoming more like a painful sting, as he pushed with all his might. His armband's glow burned brighter and brighter, spreading over the door itself and washing over Rio and Jirachi like an emerald wave. The fiery designs of the door came to life; scorching, emerald flames raced up the ancient stone, causing the rock to change color several times before fading back into its usual, dull state. Rio would have admired it more if there wasn't a perpetually pissed and impatient star floating right next to him.
Stone scraping against stone was not a sound Rio could say he enjoyed, but a rush of cool, rejuvinating air soon washed over the Lucario from beyond door. It was refreshing enough to distract him from the ringing in his ears and the ache in his right arm. The cool air was followed by a light, bright and white, and faintly warm as it touched Rio's body. If he didn't know any better, he'd have mistaken those for fresh air and sunlight. However, the stone floors and walls, and multitude of gems that soon caught his eye, were quick to bring him back to reality.
Rio stared in disbelief, his eyes searching for something that was different here than any other floor aside from the giant door, but to no avail. It was just another long, flat room but now with gems to light up the nothing inside it. The haze wasn't present here, in fact, the "air" seemed to do the same thing the haze did anyway because why would Rio ever be able to use the most helpful power he had?
"How is… everything still the goddamn same?" Rio growled, gritting his teeth and rubbing his temples. "This place is a nightmare…"
"If you're going to start crying, go back through the door and shut it behind you. I do not want to hear the whines of some bitch here," Jirachi said coldly, letting out a deep sigh before entering the chamber. "What right do you have to complain about this place?"
Rio wanted to say something back, but ended up keeping his mouth shut. There were more important things, like trying again to find his friends, and getting beat to a pulp wouldn't help with that.
'...Psst, Rio,' Orion's voice whispered in the jackal's head. If Jirachi could hear Orion at all… would that even be effective? 'This guy's temper is as short as he is, isn't it?'
As it turns out, no, it wasn't effective. At all. Jirachi turned to stare Rio down, his aura popping and crackling around him as he floated up to the Lucario's face. He didn't have any particular expression on his face, but Rio felt an intense air of danger under Jirachi's silent fury. "Be. Quiet."
"Y-Y-Yessir..!" Rio nodded frantically, all the color drained from his fur, his body shaking like a dog caught out in the rain.
'I-I'm sorry! Really really sorry!' Orion squeaked. 'I d-didn't mean anything bad! I actually really like short dudes! M-My brother's short! So is his d-d-daughter!'
A groan left Jirachi as he deadpanned, pinching between his eyes in aggravation. "I said be quiet, not give me your life story." He turned and started floating deeper into the dungeon, grumbling to himself. "Hurry the hell up, I am not going to wait for you."
"Yessir! S-Sorry sir!" Rio yipped, then clamped his mouth shut. Traveling with Jirachi was like traveling with Zen, but it was even easier to get on this guy's bad side. It… actually made Rio think he missed the big, sharp guy a bit. Kinda. Maybe…
Unlike the part of the floor before the door there actually were signs of life the further Rio and Jirachi went. Some of the gems were broken, which isn't much but it's definitely something. At first, Rio thought it was a good sign, a great one even! Jirachi, inversely, didn't seem all that ecstatic about it. No, he looked… sadder than normal, staring at a few of the shattered gem clusters and letting out a deep sigh. Even though Rio really wanted to ask what was wrong, he held his tongue, not wanting to make things worse.
Venturing even deeper, more and more of the gems were shattered, and the air started to get colder. It was still winter outside of the mountain, right? It only made sense that it'd get colder the closer they got to the exit. And the gems… could have been Minerva. She couldn't possibly resist the chance to grab as many of these gems as she could to eventually pawn off later on, right?
Further still, and Rio started to spot claw marks and scorches. And not too long after those appeared, so did those sharp, jagged stones. They looked just as out of place here as they did on the fire floor. It didn't get any warmer either, which was a good thing, right? The temperature was only dropping lower and lower because it was probably still snowing outside, and the exit must be wide open because everyone got out already!
Even further… most of the gemstones were shattered entirely. The stones that jutted from the floor were larger and more jagged, forcing Rio and Jirachi to walk and float carefully between them. Every exhale the two made turned into a cloud of condensation, and unnerving chills shot up Rio's spine. The Lucario struggled to make a logical, positive reason for any of this, but when nothing came to mind, he decided to just ignore it.
But that ignorance could only last so long. There was a sound. A faint sound, but one Rio picked up on almost immediately. Someone was here, and he didn't know if that was good or not. As the two came up on the other side of the stony maze, they saw where the battle that took place here was decided. Craters littered the floors and walls. There weren't any gems here either, none that were still partially intact anyway. Despite the "air" of the dungeon messing with his aura sense, he could feel some very familiar auras… the auras of his friends.
And, in the center of it all, what caused Rio's fur to stand on end and his eyes to widen, and his heart to race, the cause of that faint sound from before, was a single Zoroark. Crouching, sobbing over a large, red and white fur covered body. Rio recognized them quickly, the fox and the wolf. Lee was unconscious, being held in the arms of…
"...Z?" Rio muttered, and the fox jumped slightly. Having gotten his answer, Rio took a step forward, but couldn't get himself to get any closer. "What are you… why are you..?"
The Zoroark turned, his eyes red and puffy as he looked Rio over, then went wide in recognition. He didn't even pay Jirachi any mind. "R-Rio? You're here? Y-You're alright?" he asked, joy and sorrow lining his voice, and he clung to Lee's body tighter. The wolf wasn't moving, at all, and Z himself looked hurt.
"Yeah I'm… fine," Rio replied, his eyes never once leaving Lee. Something was wrong, really wrong. It made Rio's heart race, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it was. "Where is everyone? Why are you… with him?" the Lucario asked, pointing at the wolf in Z's arms.
Z took in a shaky breath before answering. "H-He and the others, they're… they f-fought. I couldn't stop them, a-and now he's… h-he's…" the Zoroark bit his lip and shut his eyes tightly, wiping the tears from his face and trying to calm himself down. "Th-They need your help. Please."
That feeling in Rio grew stronger, that something was still wrong, but his worry was quickly starting to overtake that feeling. "What do you mean? What happened? Where is everyone?" Rio's voice was filled with more urgency. "Are they hurt? Are they in danger?"
"They're trapped in s-some rooms," Z answered, swallowing. He then started to stand, still holding Lee in his arms. "Follow me, I-I can take you to them, I promise."
Silence followed. Rio still couldn't look away from Lee, not for long. Everything in his body was telling him different things; to stay, to run, to help, to hide. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to trust Z, he really did, and he wanted to help but… something was wrong. Incredibly wrong.
Spotting Rio's hesitation, Z let out a whimper and turned to face him fully. The front of his body, even with his fur covering everything, was bruised badly. Part of his abdomen was darker than normal and seemed to glisten. Rio… didn't want to admit to what it was. Z took a step towards the jackal, and Rio took a step back. "Rio… please, help me. Help them. E-Everyone needs you… please…"
Rio could feel his heart ache from the desperation in Z's voice alone. He couldn't just… not do anything here, right? Even if his everything was confused and conflicted…. Someone needed help. "Alright. Take me to them."
Z lit up, then winced and whined painfully. "Th-Thank you, Rio..! Thank you so much!" he said, gratitude coming off of him in waves. "I-It's gonna be a bit of a walk, b-but it shouldn't take too long, I promise..!" Z reassured Rio.
Before Rio followed the Zoroark, he turned to Jirachi, expecting… something out of him. Yet, to no one's surprise, the star sprite was just as disinterested as ever. Jirachi gave Rio a sideways glance, then floated on ahead. Rio was surprised he wanted to come with, honestly. Maybe he realized it was better to stick together down here, or he was feeling the same bad feeling Rio was
Rio hoped, as he followed Z deeper into the floor, and as that bad feeling grew stronger, that everything would be alright in the end…