Once a Thief

by Fobbie

Two years ago, Lyle left Outlaw life for what he hoped was forever. But when wartime hardship pulls him into one last job, a stroke of fate brings Lyle and his fellows across an Axew thief after a legendary treasure, along with the army nipping at her heels. But why would the army send troops after a treasure during a war? And will things really be as simple as snagging it first?

27. Chapter 26 - Reality

Chapter 26 - Reality

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Während vieles von dem, woran wir uns über die Götter und ihre Interaktionen mit den Menschen vor dem glühenden Blitz erinnern können, in das Reich der Mythen verblasst ist, wissen wir, dass sich die Menschen ebenso wie wir über ihren Platz im Kosmos und dessen Mächte, die ihn regieren, Gedanken gemacht haben. Und wie wir hatten auch die Menschen Mythen über Ereignisse und Wissen, welche so weit entfernt waren, dass sie selbst für sie nur verworrene Erinnerungen waren.

Einer der merkwürdigeren Mythen besagte, dass unser Universum von einem einzigen Wesen entstand – einer 'Monade', die der Anfang von allem war. Von dort aus bildete 'Monade' die 'Dyade', eine besondere Einheit oder Gruppe davon, deren Definition je nach Erzähler unterschiedlich war: Materie, Macht, die Energien, die unserer materiellen Welt zugrunde liegen. Alle völlig unterschiedlich und einzig darin übereinstimmend, dass 'Dyade' der 'Monade' untergeordnet war, die sie geschaffen hat.

Einige Erzählungen dieses Mythos besagen, dass 'Dyade' dazu beigetragen hat, unser Universum noch weiter zu erschaffen. Manche sagen, dass aus 'Dyade' Zahlen und Zeichen kamen, die Linien und Flächen bildeten, aus denen sich feste Körper und dann die Elemente bildeten. Andere sagen, dass aus 'Dyade' die 'Triade' entstand, ein Gleichgewicht und eine Harmonie, aus der sich der Rest des Kosmos formte. Aus einem kamen zwei, aus zwei kamen drei und aus drei kamen zehntausend Dinge.

Es wird gesagt, dass Mythen im Allgemeinen die fernen Erinnerungen an Zivilisationen sind, welche so verblasst sind, dass sie mit Träumen und Fantasien verschwimmen. Während es ein Rätsel bleibt, ob unser Universum wirklich das Produkt einer 'Monade' war, kann man verzeihen, wenn man durch den namenlosen Drachen, den Ur-Drachen, Echos eines solchen Wesens sieht, der im Leben selbst die Götter hervorbringt, die das Universum formen, Schicksal der Länder, denen sie begegnen, ähnlich wie in früheren Zeiten mit Einall.

- Auszug aus »Ein und Alles - Von Göttern eines Landes von Schwarz und Weiß«

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Lyle's vents flared to life as a low boom rumbled in the distance, only for him to sharply tamp them down and hold his breath. They were in some sort of large, empty space that Dalton claimed was used as a public shelter for times of crisis. He supposed that he couldn't rule the idea out—there were some scorch marks on the concrete here and there that looked like they'd been left behind from fires that had been set there in the past. Even if Lyle didn't know for the life of him how a 'mon was supposed to stay sane in this sorry place while crowded together with a bunch of strangers.

The place reminded him a bit of those chambers in the Undercity with the curiously long platforms—bare, weathered concrete above and below them and on pylons where he could see corroded metal poking through in parts. Really, the only reminder that they weren't deep underground at the moment was the occasional ray of dim light poking through a missing panel of cladding on the ancient tower's exterior like the one that Dalton was peering out from… and the miserable sound of howling wind outside and rain coming down in buckets.

"Careful with your flames, Lyle," Dalton whispered. "Just because the Air Marshals look like they've thinned out outside doesn't mean we're alone on this floor. Especially in this part of the city."

Lyle hastily obliged and held his breath as sure enough, he heard the sound of footsteps faintly pacing about on the floor they were on from somewhere closer to the center of the tower. Right, they'd glimpsed Gendarmen prowling around a few times while making their way down these floors. They'd deliberately avoided the main stairwells in favor of other ways down because of them, sometimes taking the scaffolding outside, other times taking ramps that had been left behind on chunks of collapsed flooring. Having to stop and try and dry off every time their feet got wet to avoid leaving tracks had similarly constrained their pace and kept them from moving too quickly.

It'd kept them undiscovered in this vacant ruin so far, but he didn't see how it was going to get them into the one the Royal Library was built into.

"Dalton, if there's Pokémon down here, how are we supposed to make it across that rope bridge without them noticing?" Irune asked.

"By drawing their attention elsewhere through misdirection," the Heliolisk explained. "We cause a distraction somewhere other than the bridge where we're really headed and then run across it as fast as we can."

There was a moment of blinking silence, before a knowing grin spread over Kate's face.

"Hah, so you do have it in you to raise some hell, Scales-!"

"I said a distraction, Kate," Dalton harrumphed. "That means finding a clear path to the ropeway first and then figuring out how to get those Grünhäuter away from it."

Lyle probably ought to have been worried if Kate was finding the idea sound. But even if it was obviously risky, Dalton's idea seemed sensible enough when the actual process of finding the ropeway was easy enough. They knew where it was, and the hard part was just getting there.

… That, and it wasn't exactly easy to think of better alternatives to suggest.

"We're on the right floor, at least," Dalton said. "Let's make our way back to the west side of the building and figure things out from there."

Everyone nodded in agreement as Team Forager made their way along the floor, dutifully taking advantage of the occasional half-rotted partition, tarp, or pile of dust-caked construction materials for cover. Odds and ends that from their condition, looked like they hadn't been moved since Lyle first hatched. After a brief moment to hide behind whatever cover they came across, Lyle or one of his teammates would check if the coast was clear and then carry on. The west side of the ruin started to come into view again as dim light began to stream in through gaps in the tower's cladding as he and his teammates crept along.

It was almost like going through a Mystery Dungeon, except things were more predictable, and there weren't stairs or items aside from the ones they'd pooled together in their bags to count on to help shake enemies.

"Wait, I think that's it up there."

Irune raised a hand and motioned off at a gap in the paneling where dim light was coming through along with the sound of dripping water. Lyle crept forward and let his eyes adjust to the change in lighting as he began to make out the immediate surroundings: a stack of bags of mix for mortar under a tarp to the left, a hole in the floor to the right along with a crude ramp leading downstairs, and a wince-worthy puddle that streamed in from outside which spilled over the gap in rivulets.

And just past it was the ropeway, along with the Royal Library's tower in the distance.

His ears suddenly pricked up and his breath caught in his throat. Footsteps. Slow, plodding, and coming from the right up ahead.

"Gottverdammt."

Lyle froze as a Turtonator in Grünhäuter plates lumbered up the ramp and stopped, staring at the puddle with a disgusted grimace.

"I guess that answers the question of where all the water's been coming from. I told Erwin to put that sluice down before the rain came!"

The four hurriedly shrank back as the Turtonator grudgingly trudged through the puddle and grabbed the tarp off the pile of construction materials, which slid past them with a small racket. Lyle stood frozen in place for a moment as his mind went blank in a panic, before feeling a nudge at his shoulder.

"Think we can use him as a distraction?" Kate asked.

"Yes, actually," Dalton replied. "Just follow me, and stay quiet."

Lyle wasn't sure what Dalton was planning, but trailed after him and crept up to the other end of the stack of bags. He crouched behind them as the Turtonator trudged back towards the ramp, when the Quilava noticed sparks crackling on Dalton's scales. Before he could ask, a weak arc jumped from the Heliolisk's body and into the puddle on the floor.

"Agh!"

Lyle saw the Turtonator stiffen up at the top of the ramp, only to lose balance and fall forward. There was a series of yelping thuds, followed by a loud blast that shook the dust off the nearby piles of bags. Right, Turtonator shells did that whenever they were disturbed too much. He caught Irune worriedly peeking out and hastily pulled her back. From the woozy groans coming from below, the Grünhäuter was probably just a little dazed.

"Gah! What on earth was that?!"

"It sounded like it came from Torsten's end!"

The other voices and footsteps were a good enough sign to not stick around to check for sure. Lyle tore off for the rope bridge, jumping forward into a lunge that made the surrounding world blur around him. The planks of the ropeway jostled under his feet and fat droplets pattered against his pelt. By the time his Quick Attack began to wear off, he was just a few paces away from the scaffolding on the Royal Library's tower. Mercifully, there were tarps hung up that looked like they'd block some of the rain out.

He bolted into the scaffolding and rounded a corner, where Lyle hid behind the fabric, panting as water dripped down his fur. One by one, his teammates caught up and joined his hiding place—not a moment too soon based on the movement coming from on the chunk of the Upper Streets overlooking the roadway and in the air from the direction of the tower they'd just left.

They stood there briefly, brushing water off their bodies as Irune turned to Dalton with a worried tug at his good arm.

"Dalton, how many floors do we have to go up to get into the Royal Library?" she asked.

"It should be three," he replied. "Just check your surroundings while moving around, since I'm not sure how long those guards' attention will stay on the other side of the ropeway."

Lyle nodded back and hurriedly carried along, darting from one tarp to another as he and his teammates made their way up the scaffolding in fits and spurts up. The first floor went by without incident until they found a ramp up, which mercifully had a switchback that carried on to the second and third levels.

"Well, that was easy," Kate said. "Come on, slowpokes."

She and Dalton were the first to make their way up the ramps, then Irune followed, while Lyle… tried to keep his distance from the edge as rain blew in from the ongoing storm. He made his way up and fought back a disgusted shudder as the damp rain seeped under his pelt and lowered his head to keep pressing on. Just as he and Irune made it up to the last ramp, there was a sudden woosh in the air along with a pair of blue-and-green blurs that shot past. His eyes widened, and he hurriedly yanked Irune back and dropped down, crouching along the planks.

Lyle lay there panting for a moment. Were those Grünhäuter? Had they spotted them? He stayed there for a moment, heart fluttering in his chest as nothing answered him beyond the sound of the stormy weather outside. He got up onto all fours and looked over at Irune: she was pale and breathing in shakily.

"L-Lyle? Who was that?"

"I don't know, I didn't get a good look at them, but at least one of those flyers that just passed us was pretty big."

He suddenly felt so alone up so high in the air, with nothing but empty void and the ground far, far below off just to his right. The Quilava tried his hardest not to look down. If those fliers had lingered a bit longer or looked just a little closer…

"Lyle? I think we've got a problem up here."

Lyle's ears pricked at Kate's voice coming from the level above. He hurriedly nudged Irune along as the pair made their way up the final ramp. As he made it to the top, he already saw Kate and Dalton waiting for them, with the Sneasel motioning off at the wall of the tower to her left.

Lyle followed her claws over with his eyes and grimaced. There was a window there alright, with cheaply made wooden shutters that looked like they were meant to be temporary that Kate had opened up… along with a set of metal bars behind them blocking the way.

"Scales, are these supposed to be here right now?" she asked.

"I didn't know that they'd be here," Dalton murmured. "I… suppose that I should've known better with how important the Royal Library is to the crown…"

Lyle's mind went blank for a moment. After coming this far, they were seriously going to be thwarted by some gottverdammten bars? He felt a tug at his shoulder, and saw Irune studying the bars over the window closely, before turning back to him.

"Lyle? Remind me, how did you force your way into that wagon I was being carried in?"

"Kate and I heated up and cooled the metal on the lock a few times," he explained. "Metal expands when it's hot and contracts when it's cooled. We just did it quickly enough that it became brittle enough to break. Why?"

"Do you think we'd be able to do the same thing on these bars?"

Lyle watched as Kate turned her head and followed suit, to see Irune pointing at the bars over the window just right of their current one. Ones that had clearly seen their better days from how corroded they were.

"I mean, I think we could get through them, but I don't know how quietly we can pull it off," he said. "Those guards aren't that far away from us right now."

"Isn't that all the more reason to light them up?" Kate asked. "We do at least have the rain in the background and it's not as if we're not taking a risk of getting spotted just hanging around here like this."

Lyle flicked his ears and listened in on the loud, flinchworthy sound of rain in the background. Loud enough that between it and the wind, he couldn't hear anything from the bridge on the Upper Streets that couldn't have been more than a hundred paces away at most.

He looked back at the bars and ran a paw against them. They were firm to the touch, but they definitely looked like they were on the thin side. Thinner than the ones that had been on Irune's cage…

Lyle sucked in sharply as his vents came alive. Screw it, they were already taking risks coming here, what was one more?

"Right, let's make this fast, then."

He exhaled and he spat out a brilliant gout of fire over the window's bars. The dust and grime caked on them burned away, as the corroded metal started to glow from the heat. Guess he really was getting the hang of that Flamethrower tay-ehm Spark tutored him.

As soon as Lyle finished, he ducked out the way for Kate to spit up an Icy Wind, which hissed and dripped water on contact. After a quick repetition of attacks between the two of them, Kate turned her head to Irune motioning at the bars with her claws.

"Give 'em a few hard strikes near their welds!" she insisted. "That's about as good as we're going to get here!"

Irune ran forward and obliged with a set of hacks from her tusks, which knocked the bar loose inside with an audible clatter. Lyle and Dalton both winced and grimaced at the noise, but after a moment's hesitation, Irune moved onto the next bar and repeated much the same.

… Except this time, when the bar broke and fell in, the sound of movement came from the lower levels of the scaffolding, prompting Kate to pin her ears flat and look down past the edge.

"Hey! There's someone down there on the scaffolding!"

Lyle's heart almost jumped up into his throat at the voice, and he felt Irune cling and dig her claws into his pelt. There was a moment of collective shock, before Kate turned her body and began to reach for the gap in the bars.

"Time to go!"

Kate crawled through the gap in the bars, wincing a little as her pelt brushed still-hot embers that her Icy Wind hadn't smothered. Lyle followed suit after her, then Irune, and lastly Dalton, who Kate and Lyle pulled in. The Heliolisk fell as Kate grabbed him and jerked him to keep him from landing on his splinted arm. It still wasn't enough to keep the lizard from letting out a small yelp, making Lyle flinch and turn his head back up towards the window.

Those footsteps were much louder right now. Much closer, too.

Lyle squirmed and inched back from the window as his mind went blank as to how in the hell they were supposed to hide that damage. Before he could say anything, Kate turned her attention to the loose bars lying on the floor, before motioning at the shutters on the window's sides.

"Quick! Pull those closed!" she insisted.

Lyle hurriedly went over and tugged one end with Irune while Dalton and Kate pulled the other. Lyle cringed after feeling moisture on the shutter's surface, and looked down to see there were still holes in the ratty piece of crap. How was this supposed to help at all?

"Give me some space!" Kate cried.

He and the others did so, as Kate slid and grabbed one of the bars by a lump of half-melted ice clinging to it and hastily wedged it at the base of the shutters. She blew out a small puff of icy breath to freeze it into place, when the sound of footsteps against the scaffolding grew louder and louder and wingbeats joined in with them.

Lyle hurriedly pulled Irune away from the window as Dalton and Kate did much the same. He held his breath and covered Irune's mouth, quietly gulping as he caught a glimpse of a Pidgeot peering through the holes in the shutters. The Pidgeot grabbed the handles with his beak to try and open it, only for the shutters to refuse to budge from the icy lump at the bottom. The Pidgeot gave another, fruitless tug, before frowning and walking away.

"Useless piece of junk's rusted shut," the Pidgeot harrumphed. "Check the rest of the scaffolding on this level. Whoever you saw on this side of the library couldn't have gotten far!"

Oh thank gods, that actually worked. Mostly, since they'd still managed to get spotted in the end, but Lyle decided he'd take what he could get. The Quilava let out a sigh of relief and shakily wandered deeper into the room they were in.

"O-Oh Götterblut, that was way too close."

"Gee, light up the room a bit more, why don't ya?" Kate scoffed.

Lyle hadn't noticed it, but his vents were positively pouring fire at the moment. When he looked around, he saw that they were in some sort of dingy room with rows of shelves with boxes on them.

He blinked, trying to calm his racing heart as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

"... Where on earth are we right now?" the Quilava asked.

Dalton looked up at the wall behind them briefly. Lyle and his teammates followed along, when Kate stopped and pointed out runes on a wood and metal plaque by the door. Some numbers, and then one that looked vaguely like an Unown that was used to render terms inherited from human times that had unknown original meanings.

"... I think I have an idea of where we are in the library right now," the Heliolisk said.

"Wait, you do?" Irune asked.

"We're in the records room. Or one of them, anyways."

Dalton held out his good hand and revealed a few cards in them. Each of them were made out of a solid color with some runes on them. Numbers, another one of those Unown-looking ones, and then what looked like book titles. Lyle noticed Kate blinking a moment at the sight of the cards, quirking a brow back at her Heliolisk teammate.

"Wait, Scales. Are these the books?" she asked. "Since they sure as hell look like the weirdest books I've ever seen if they are."

"Hardly. These cards are part of a system labeling where different books are in this library," the Electric-type answered. "The ones I grabbed are just some random titles, but from the way they're organized, it looks like this library's still using the same system we used to use in university."

The Heliolisk trailed off a moment, before turning his attention down the hallway and studying the darkened corridors carefully.

"And that means we should be looking around for some stairs," the Heliolisk said. "Since I know that I've seen copies of every title on that list Igna and Ansel gave us before in the central reading room here. The sorts of mythology books that Irune was looking ought to be there too."

"'The central reading… room'?" Kate asked.

Lyle watched as her teammates turned puzzled stares over at the Heliolisk, and honestly, he was a bit confused herself. Just what on earth did this reading room look like? And if it was a central one, did that mean there were others that they might be missing out on?

Dalton gave no answer, as he trudged down the left side of the corridor and motioned for everybody to follow along with a low grunt.

"Trust me, you'll know when you see it," Dalton said. "Just stick close to me and stay on your guard."

---

Five minutes later, Irune had followed the rest of Team Forager through the darkened corridors of what Dalton insisted was the Royal Library. She hadn't seen any shelves of books, which according to the Heliolisk was because they were on a basement level… which she wasn't fully sure how that was supposed to work when they were gods-knew-how-many metri above the ground right now.

Before long, they came across a door labeled as belonging to a stairwell at the north side of the building. Or at least, that was what the runes she'd been able to make out from the dim lighting had said, and the stairs that seemingly just kept going up and up confirmed it..

Every so often, Lyle and Kate would stop and sniff the air or twitch their ears as they climbed for any sign of other Pokémon up ahead. And every time, her breath would tighten. It wasn't just from the idea of stumbling into an armored soldier that had put her on edge, but a lingering dread that had gotten worse and worse to the point where she swore she could feel it burning her up from the inside.

She knew well enough what Lacan and Sophia thought she was, and this whole time, she'd held out hope that they were wrong. Or at least wrong enough that she could just abandon her journey to the Divine Roost and brush it off as having gotten swept up in a superstitious panic. That was why she wanted to try and find some confirmation one way or the other even back when they were in Errberk Village.

… But what if Lacan and Sophia were right? It was easy enough to dismiss those strange powers when it was just that strange fire which started popping up, but then came that strange electricity. And those dreams. She first started having them even before her powers started coming out, which had only grown more frequent and she kept getting new ones.

And from the stories she'd heard while on the run the few times she'd shared them with others, it was hard to shake the sense that they were something much more than just mere nightmares.

"... This one's locked, too."

Irune snapped to attention and saw Kate frowning and pressing up against a push pad. Right, Dalton said on the way over that the doors along the stairwells had labels for where they led to, and the runes on the last few placards on this side of the stairwell did say they led to the Central Reading Room.

Except this had been the third door that was supposed to lead to that reading room which they'd tried to open, and like the others before it, the door just wouldn't budge, much to her Sneasel teammate's visible frustration.

"... Any other brilliant ideas for getting in?"

Irune watched as Lyle bit his lip and grimaced. She subconsciously pawed at her amulet and sucked in a tense breath. Maybe they ought to just turn back and take their chances sneaking out of the city. Even with the Central Reading Room right on the other end, it wasn't as if they could just break the door down and get it. This was a library, any racket would tip any guards inside off about them in an instant.

… No, if Lacan was right about what she was, those powers within her needed to be restrained. To be sealed away and kept from ever being wielded by another Pokémon. For forever, if she could manage it. And she didn't know where she was supposed to start beyond that the treasure her amulet looked like was somehow supposed to be able to help with that.

She snapped to attention after a warm prod at her shoulder. It was Lyle, casting a worried stare down at her.

"The hell would a bunch of Grünhäuter need from a library?" he asked. "Has Lacan gone to one before or something?"

Irune blinked. Even if her life for the past year had had some improbable-sounding events, she never would've imagined that they'd be here of all places even a week ago. And she just couldn't think of a reason why Lacan would need to go to a library of all places if he needed a book…

"If he has, I certainly don't know about it," she replied, shaking her head. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm wondering if he somehow knew you were trying to get here," the Quilava replied.

Irune's heart skipped a beat and she set her teeth on edge. It was harder and harder to shake the feeling that Lyle was onto something. Had someone from the Möbius somehow tipped one of his underlings off? Had they been noticed while passing through the city gates after all? She knew full well how difficult it had been to get more than a few days' respite from Lacan and his Fähnlein hounding her for the past year—why he'd managed to track them down in the middle of their flight with Hermes for gods' sake!

Just then, Irune saw Lyle's ears prick at the sound of a door creaking and footsteps entering the stairwell from below. Further down, Kate jolted away from the door with a start, which prompted Lyle to quickly smother his fire as Dalton hurriedly tugged him up the stairs. Irune all but dove behind the stone railing as the others piled in, helping to steady Dalton as he almost brushed his splint against the railing as they collectively held their breaths and looked down. There, she could just faintly make out the outlines of a bipedal Lycanroc and Houndoom coming to the door. Ones which were clearly wearing armor plates on their bodies.

"I told you there was a quicker way up, dingus," the Lycanroc's voice grumbled. "How the hell do you manage to get us lost just trying to find a big central room anyways?"

"Oh shut up, Lykos," a Houndoom's voice snapped. "It's not as if I live here, alright? … Though why's this stairwell smell like smoke?"

"Feris. You smell like smoke-"

"Someone else's smoke."

Irune felt Lyle bristle beside her, and saw his ears were pinned flat and his vents were smoldering from fright. She knew that Pokémon like those two had good senses from smell, but they could distinguish types of smoke from each other? Irune's heart raced in her chest, when she noticed a jingling sound, which knowing her hearing meant that those soldiers were far too close for comfort.

"Feris, there's other Fire-types in the ranks. One of them probably just passed through earlier," the Lycanroc replied. "Anyhow, we're running late for our posts, and I don't feel like getting an earful because of you!"

She could already see the pair's bodies poking up over the railing when Kate fished through her bag and pulled out a branch of pink-and-white wood with glassy knobs at its tip… a Slumber Wand? Lyle and Dalton noticed it too and widened their eyes, as the Quilava of the pair turned to Kate with a harsh whisper.

"Kate, what are you-?!"

Kate suddenly cut him off and flicked the Slumber Wand, flinging a peach-colored orb of light at the red Lycanroc. Everything seemed to come one after the other afterwards: the orb dissolved into a cloud of mist around the soldier's face. The Lycanroc freezing up and beginning to gag. The Houndoom scarcely having a chance to react before the Lycanroc lost his grip on his lantern as it smashed against the floor. And then the stairwell plunging into darkness as the Houndoom's snarls filled the air ahead of her.

"Hey! Who's there?!"

Irune's jaw flopped open in shock. Reshiram's Fur, was, Kate seriously picking a fight right now?! She briefly caught a flash of light as, Lyle ducked ahead and spewed out a Smokescreen down the stairs and filled it with an ash-smelling cloud. Irune began to feel lightheaded as an almost electric feeling coursed through her body and her senses began to fade out. She could faintly hear loud hacking and wheezing, and froze as the Houndoom stumbled out in front of her.

"Gah! Little pest got smoke up my nose-!"

The electric warmth spiked as she ran ahead to engage the Houndoom, only for Dalton to sharply jerk her back. She snapped back to her senses as a second light came from Kate's Wand and struck the Houndoom between his eyes. The soldier's eyes briefly widened as he stumbled forward and his coughing slowed, his eyes glazing over before he pitched forward and fell on top of his Lycanroc counterpart.

Irune sucked in uneven breaths as the feeling inside her ebbed away, and looked up to see Dalton worriedly eying her. Damn it, she thought that she had more control over herself. That was the second time that her powers almost came out here in this city, as if they didn't have enough problems to worry about.

She turned back to Kate rounding the corner further up the stairwell and looking down at her spent Slumber Wand. The Sneasel played with it briefly on her way down, before throwing it aside with a clatter and planting a foot on the Lycanroc's head with a smug smirk.

"Sleep tight, lovebirds," she taunted. "I knew holding onto that Slumber Wand would come in handy."

Irune shook her head and frowned at the dozing soldiers. She didn't know how popular she'd have been in her hometown rooting for an Outlaw, but it was hard not to feel a twinge of satisfaction over Kate getting the better of them. The stairwell suddenly came alight with whitish tones. That one was Lyle's doing, as his vents were burning white hot and his face was screwed up into a seething scowl.

"Kate," he hissed. "What the hell were you thinking there?!"

"No, no, those Grünhäuter had it coming," Dalton remarked. "And as much as I can't believe I'm saying this, she actually had the right idea there."

Irune blinked. Dalton… was agreeing with Kate for once? That had to have been a first since they all met, especially with how befuddled Lyle's face looked right now. The Axew watched as Dalton sauntered up to the Lycanroc and tugged at something under the Lycanroc's army scarf that gave a metallic-sounding jingle. When he pulled it back, he revealed a keyring attached to a length of cord, swinging it about in his good hand.

"Those two would've just locked the door behind them after they went out into the central reading room," he explained. "I'm not sure if trying to follow them inside would've been a better option."

That… was admittedly a good point. It probably wasn't the smartest idea of Kate's, but the Sneasel clearly had sharp instincts as an Outlaw. Except… there were two very big problems with their plan that were now sprawled out on the ground.

"... What are we supposed to do with them?" Lyle asked, motioning at the sleeping guards. "It's not as if they're not going to tip off their buddies about us being here."

"I mean, we could kill them," Kate said. "That'd definitely shut them up."

Irune's eyes shrank to pins as her teammates stiffened up and whirled over to Kate. Sh-She wasn't seriously proposing killing these 'mons, was she? The Sneasel stooped by the Lycanroc's neck and flexed her claws nonchalantly by it. Fearing the worst, Irune reached out to try and stop her, only for the Sneasel to casually tear a strip off the Rock-type's scarf. They weren't stained red, thank gods, and clutching a strip with a glinting badge attached.

"Buuut I've never had to get my claws dirty like that," the Dark-type said, smirking. "Don't feel like starting with these jokers, either," she said.

Irune breathed a sigh of relief. It was a bit hard to tell when Pokémon like Kate were joking or not. Except, it beggared the question…

"Wait, what are you going to do to them, then?" the Axew asked.

Kate gave no answer, other than to lift a satchel from the Lycanroc as a devilish smirk came over her face.

"Oh, I was thinking of a more fun way of handling them that wouldn't take much longer to pull off," she said. "I'm pretty sure these two have everything we'd need in their bags, too."

---

Dealing with the Lycanroc and the Houndoom went by more quickly than Lyle expected. While Kate got to work "handling" the pair, Lyle lit his vents up for illumination and hurriedly made his way down to the basement levels and locked up the doors along the way with the purloined keyring. By the time he'd made it to the top and then returned to the landing where his teammates were, they had the still-snoring soldiers propped up against the stone railing. He saw Irune pull her hands back from a knot and saw that they'd tied up the Grünhäuter with lengths of rope—probably from the pair's bags—and gagged them with their own scarves.

The whole process couldn't have taken more than about a minute, but he supposed it was good enough since the effects of that Slumber Wand would start wearing off soon. Lyle made his way over to the door along with Irune as Dalton stuffed a pair of badges into his bag, only to notice Kate was still lingering behind where the soldiers were. She was still perched in front of the still-sleeping Lycanroc and moving her claws about the mon's face.

"Kate?" he asked. "What are you doing?"

"Ah-ah-ah! Just need a little longer…"

The Quilava cocked a brow and glanced at his other teammates. Irune had an exhausted scowl on her face, while Dalton was burying his into the hand of his uninjured arm. Just then, Kate pulled back, twirling a small charcoal nub in her claws as she faced them with a beaming smile.

"There we go!" she cheered. "All done!"

Lyle walked over to get a better look at the Lycanroc's face only for his expression to instantly fall. There were charcoal scrawls all over it, with similar streaks on the Houndoom's made from white chalk. He flattened his ears out, before sharply frowning at his Sneasel teammate.

"Seriously, Kate?"

"What?" she asked, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. "You're not seriously complaining about me giving something for those Grünhäuter to remember us by, are you?"

"M-Mrgh…"

Lyle jumped up after a loud snort and muffled protest from the Lycanroc. There was a bright orange glow as he lit up the stairwell from his vents pouring startled fire. The wolf's eyelids briefly fluttered as the Grünhäuter shifted in place, before the Rock-type slumped over muffledly mumbling in his sleep. An impatient hiss came from the door, where Dalton was already leaning against it, and impatiently motioning for everyone to follow.

"Look, let's just hurry up and leave already before those two wake up!" he snapped.

Lyle didn't need further convincing. He and Kate hurried over as the Electric-type pushed the door open and they all slipped out into a large, circular chamber. The space had walls with white-and-gray designs, white floors with orange tiling along the fringes, and bookshelves that followed the walls' curvature.

"I'll just be borrowing this for a moment."

Lyle looked back just in time as Kate took the keyring from Dalton's hand and went back to the door. In a swift motion, she slipped it into the keyhole and twisted it to lock it behind them.

"There," she said, throwing the keyring into her bag. "That should buy us some time."

Lyle wasn't so sure about that if these soldiers were going around with so many keys, but lost his train of thought from the sound of a quiet thump, The Quilava turned just in time to see Dalton up ahead hurriedly pulling a book off one of the lower shelves and shoveling the soldiers' badges at the back of it before setting the book back. At least they wouldn't have to worry about those Grünhäuter calling for help for a while. Even if it was probably best not to assume their reprieve would last all that long.

His attention turned back to his surroundings, where everywhere he looked, there were shelves that stood as tall as a Golurk and were packed on every level with books of various sizes and colors. Lyle eventually wound up looking over his shoulder and stiffened up after he noticed Irune wasn't there. A quick glance around the corner revealed her making her way down a row of shelves and approaching light at its end. The stoat grumbled under his breath and darted over, biting his tongue to fight back the urge to loudly chew Irune out for wandering off as it slowly dawned on him that she had an awed expression on her face.

"Reshiram's Fur, just look at this place."

Lyle reared up as he approached and his eyes widened at the sight. In the middle of the chamber they were in, there was a tall hollow built around a circular shaft. Pylons held up the floors around it, spaced much wider than anything that Pokémon could've built in in modern times. Everywhere he looked, there were bookshelves dimly lit up by lanterns filled with Luminous Moss, while a closer look at the floors around the shaft revealed little nubs that jutted out at regular intervals, along with steps that went up and down the central hollow almost in a spiral. They continued up another five floors up towards a painting on the ceiling of Reshiram in flight with a fiery contrail following and almost forming a closed loop. Below them, there were other sets of stairs headed three floors downward to some sort of ground floor where desks and seats for a study area of some kind were set out.

Lyle had to admit that the place was impressive, and he couldn't help but stop and stare a bit himself. Enough so that he didn't even notice Dalton and Kate approaching until the Heliolisk spoke up.

"That's the Royal Library for you. There's almost a millennium of knowledge gathered here in this reading room and the other rooms and archives here," Dalton said. "Though I'd encourage you not to get too wrapped up with sightseeing."

Lyle shot Dalton a sidelong glance in reply, when Kate's fur suddenly stood on end and she sharply tugged Irune back towards the bookcases. Lyle reflexively dropped back down to all fours and scooted back along with them, holding his breath, when he saw what had spooked Kate so badly. There was a Hitmontop and Orbeetle on the other end of the chamber, both clad in army plates, who exited out into the path next to the central hollow before ducking back into the thick of the bookshelves.

Lyle breathed out and felt his heart thump inside his chest, before feeling a nudge at his shoulder and looking to see Dalton glancing down at him.

"These aren't exactly normal times here and we're not normal visitors," the Heliolisk reminded.

Lyle sucked in a sharp breath and felt his stomach flutter. Gods, just how many soldiers were in this building? And he doubted ambushing soldiers here would be anywhere as easy to keep quiet as those last two they ran into, and with how tall the bookshelves were, they'd never see them coming until it was too late!

What on earth was going on here? Igna and Ansel had mentioned security had been stepped up around the University. Closing a library down lined up with that, but why would so many guards be needed inside a place that was empty?

The Quilava saw a flash of Kate's claws as she motioned for silence. He held his breath when he heard faint footsteps in the distance to their left, going away from them, thank gods.

"I suppose that's one way to make us keep quiet here," the Sneasel murmured.

Lyle quietly sucked a breath in as he gaped about his surroundings. With all the books and shelves around, it was hard to settle on a place to start looking around. Irune looked similarly uneasy, as she gave a gulping paw at her tusks.

"How are we supposed to find anything at all with so many books here?"

"You remember those cards that we swiped back in the records room?" Dalton asked, as he pulled out a card from his bag with some sort of off-yellow square on it.

"Try looking up at the shelves next to us."

Lyle glimpsed up at the shelves and noticed that the entire top had been painted with a matching stripe, and the fringe of the flooring looked like it matched too. Maybe some shade of orange from how similar it looked to the fire on the Reshiram design. The Quilava warily poked his head around the corner and looked out towards the central hollow. He had to squint a little, but from the change in tint, he could make out that the shelves on the floor above them were definitely yellow. So these colors were actually used for something?

"So whatever book that card belongs to is here on this floor?" the Quilava asked.

"That's right. Every one of these cards is coded with a color and a set of numbers," Dalton explained. "As you already gathered, the color specifies the floor it's kept on. And the number on it specifies the shelf, which has books sorted by the writing order of the first rune. For the book on this card in particular, it should be right over…"

Dalton moved his fingers along the spines of the books, eying them as he walked along, before abruptly stopping and reaching his good arm forward to pull out a thick, brown book.

"Here," he said. "It's that tome of The Royal Lexicon of Sciences and Arts on our list."

Lyle blinked and made his way over with his teammates as the Heliolisk held up the book. Sure enough, the title of the book matched up, with Dalton opening it to a page that had a Gem much like the one they'd seen in that contraption back at the University, with a blurb about how it was composed of crystalized Ether. The Quilava raised a brow at how the Electric-type was able to zero in on the book so quickly, when he noticed that the spines of all the books on the shelf had colored labels matching the floor's stripe and three sets of numbers labeling them. … Those must've been the seals that Igna and Ansel had been talking about.

"Huh, shame that more of our marks don't have a system like this for their stuff," Kate murmured as she pawed at the encyclopedia volume. "It makes finding everything so easy."

"Indeed," Dalton replied. "Though there's nothing keeping us from also picking up books that are handy for ourselves which aren't on Igna and Ansel's list. For instance, we could stand to have a new set of maps after we soaked that handbook we stole from those Hunters."

Dalton passed the encyclopedia over to Lyle, who quietly stuffed it into his bag. The Quilava slung his satchel back over his shoulder, only to pause and catch himself briefly.

"Wait, so are the rest of the books that we need also on this floor?" he asked.

"I'd be shocked if they were," Dalton answered. "For example, The Complete Tales of Shiren the Wanderer would either be shelved in the literature or the history section. There's some room to quibble with where it ought to be, which is why I got cards for books that were in both of those sections."

The Heliolisk held out a pair of cards, one yellow and one that was either red or green from the way it looked to him. Lyle raised a brow puzzledly and was about to ask how they'd know where to go, when he suddenly noticed Irune catch herself as a light of realization came over her eyes.

"Wait a minute…" she said "If the color above us is yellow, does that mean these floors laid out in the same order as a rainbow?"

"Along with black at the very bottom and white at the very top, but yes," Dalton added. "For obvious reasons, literature is the closer of the two sections to us, so we should check it first for books if we can."

That… made a lot of sense, actually. Even if Lyle was surprised Dalton thought it'd be possible that a bunch of folktales would be put in a history section. Then the best way of handling things would be to simply go to the floors where they expected the books they needed would be, and grab everything on the list that was there before moving on. Lyle started to creep ahead, only to stop after hearing Kate tap her foot beside him.

"... Wouldn't it be faster for us to just split up and check both sections at once?" she asked, putting a claw to her mouth. "And shouldn't we be checking the green floor first? That's where the history stuff is, right? Don't we have more books we need to get from there?"

Lyle pinned his ears back at Kate's suggestion. Blauflamme, was she hearing herself talk right now? The others looked similarly unenthused about the proposal, as Dalton narrowed his eyes back with a low scoff.

"Did you hit your head earlier, or did you not see all the Grünhäuter crawling around?" the Heliolisk harrumphed. "In what world would it be a good idea to split up right now when we could just search each section and move on together?"

"The one in which we don't know exactly where stuff like Ansel's book of fairy tales is at?" Kate scoffed back. "Besides, what are we supposed to do if someone misshelved it?"

Dalton bit his tongue in reply. Lyle guessed that was one way to tell he hadn't considered that possibility. Though the more he thought about it, it was hard to argue that Kate didn't have a point. Sticking together in a big group the whole time meant covering less ground and being more at risk of making a slip-up that would give their position away…

The Quilava faltered a moment as he was unsure what the lesser evil of the two ideas was, when he heard quiet pattering against the tiles. He turned, and saw Irune looking up at him and his teammates.

"Why don't we start with the green floor go in teams of two?" the Axew suggested. "That way, we would be able to tell each other when we need to move on more easily and fall back to the yellow floor where we keep searching. That way, if one team gets in trouble, the other one would still be close enough to come and help."

Lyle blinked in reply at the Axew's suggestion. For a 'mon who was a novice thief at best, Irune sure was able to come up with some solid suggestions. Had she gone through another situation like this sometime before they met? Kate seemed to like the idea based on the smile she was cracking, as she sidled up and poked at Irune.

"So you did learn something from your old buddies, huh?" she teased. "Well, I think that the teams we should split up into are obvious enough. Scales and I will stick together, while Lyle can stick with you."

The Heliolisk stiffened up and frowned sharply. He turned his head aside, shooting a skeptical glance out the side of his eye.

"Kate, you do realize that if we ran into a Fighting-type together-"

"That you can use Thunder Wave to slow them down and I'd have Psycho Cut to deal with 'em? Yeah? What's your point?" she asked. "Besides, Irune's the one that those soldiers want so badly, so shouldn't whoever's paired with her be the 'mon that's best at stalling for time? It's not like Lyle's ever gone wrong doing that with a burn or a Smokescreen in the past."

Lyle looked down at Irune, who seemed to hesitate briefly. He didn't know how he felt about the idea of being the one stuck with the biggest target on his back, but between the splint on Dalton's arm and Kate's perennial daredevil tendencies… he supposed he really was the best candidate for watching over Irune.

"We'll make it work. Irune and I will take the left side of the stairs, you two take the right," he sighed. "We'll work our way towards each other, just leave a book at the end of the shelf when you find something."

The Quilava's fellows nodded their agreement and broke into pairs. Lyle and Irune made their way over to the stairs and crept up them, making their way up to the shelves on the next floor when they heard footsteps approaching and hurriedly ducked behind them for cover. The pair sucked their breaths in as an Inteleon and a Scolipede in green armor stepped out, the Inteleon stopping and shooting a dubious frown to his counterpart.

"Cera, are you sure we're on the right floor?"

"Of course I am!" the Scolipede snapped. "We were posted to keep watch in the literature section, right?"

Lyle froze and held his breath and looked over at the pair of Grünhäuter. Good thing they weren't starting on this floor. He wasn't sure if Kate and Dalton could see them coming up the steps, but if those soldiers so much as looked around the corner right now to stop to try and scent the air…

The stoat remained still, not daring to so much as turn and check up on Irune as his heart pounded in his chest. All the while, uncomfortable memories of hiding on night when the Foehn Gang started coming back to his mind. Of curling up trembling in that dingy burrow as armored Pokémon prowled about snarling. Suddenly, he heard the crash of books come from further off on the floor, and the Inteleon abruptly whirled around in alarm.

"Huh?! What the-?!"

"Easy, Karl," the Scolipede chided. "You probably just brushed up against a book on the way over. Come on, let's see what fell out."

The soldiers drifted off, and Lyle let out a stifled sigh of relief. He turned back and suddenly flared up after seeing Irune wasn't behind him. Blauflamme, where on earth could she-?!

"Did they buy it?"

There, at the far end of the bookcase, the Axew popped around the corner and crept up to him. She was panting from stress, and Lyle had to fight to smother the fire from his vents.

"Don't sneak off like that!" he hissed. "You had me worried sick there!"

She looked up at him, and a part of him was surprised to hear the words leave his mouth. As weird as it was, he really did feel worried for her back there. Probably just some sentimental side getting the better of him. From the stairs, Lyle caught a glimpse of Kate and Dalton making their way up the next set of steps. The coast must've looked clear, so it was their cue to get moving.

Except the Axew was looking aside and seemed troubled. He hadn't been that harsh toward her, had he?

"Look, your distraction worked well enough," he whispered. "Just give me a bit more warning next time."

She nodded back and her mood at least seemed to improve a bit… maybe. He admittedly hadn't paid that much attention as they made their way up the next flight of stairs to the green floor. On the way up, he noticed the little nubs were actually statuettes of Reshiram. Perhaps whoever built this place wanted to make some sort of statement about how this was a place to find out truths, but surely this was laying it on a bit thick.

They waited briefly on Kate and Dalton, before their pairings parted ways and scanned the bookshelves from opposite directions. The titles all seemed to blur together going over the shelves as they scanned them for runes that matched the start of any of the books on the list and cross-checking against their names. The routine grew familiar enough after a while: go and check the shelves, and wait or fall back whenever they heard the sound of footsteps getting too close. Thankfully nobody had instructed the soldiers posted in this library to stay stealthy, so it at least made it easy to hear them coming.

He just wished that Ansel had picked a book that didn't have The as the start of its title, since even if they'd found a copy of The Varhyder Chronicles that way, he'd lost count of how many gottverdammte books on this floor must've had titles that started with it. He tried keeping an eye out for runes that matched the ones in 'Shiren', but he was starting to lose hope that it'd be here on this floor. Meanwhile, he heard Irune murmur to herself as her eyes wandered towards some of the titles on the spine and blinked puzzledly as they passed.

"'The Will to Might', 'On the Other Side of Good and Evil', 'So Spoke Zah-Rah-Toos-Trah'…" the Axew murmured. "... Why do all of these book titles sound so weird? And why's their color different from this floor?"

Lyle blinked and turned to see Irune eyeing three books with ascending numbers on their covers that indicated they were part of a set, with seals on them that looked like the ones all around the shelf… unless they were meant to be red seals.

Though he supposed that the titles were weird for what were supposed to be history texts. The titles Irune mentioned were all technically correct, but he was pretty sure the runes were meant to be read differently. After all, something about 'Beyond Good and Evil' had more of a ring to it, even if the specific runes used made him suspect it was meant to be read in Hightongue as 'Jenseits von Gut und Böse₁'.

A part of him was curious what the three books were even about, when a little ways up on the shelf above them, he finally saw it: a set of runes reading 'Shiren' on the spine. They were rendered in a set of simple runes meant to mark their rhythms, to be expected from names whose meanings weren't clear, and not a single book around shared the same runes in their titles.

He couldn't believe he was seriously coming across this in a history section, but he wasn't going to complain.

"I think that's it," he whispered. "Though let's go check up on the others, since we shouldn't hang out in this section longer than we have to."

Irune nodded and hurried off as Lyle pulled the book out and looked down on it. There on its cover was an illustration of a Grovyle with Leaf Blades drawn and a Mienfoo standing at his side. The Quilava cracked the book open and leafed through to the table of contents… 'The Magic Castle of the Desert'... yes, this would do quite nicely for getting Igna and Ansel off their backs.

The Quilava's ears flickered at the sound of quiet footsteps approaching and froze, hurriedly whirling about expecting to come face-to-face with some scowling soldier. Much to his relief, he found Irune leading his teammates forward, prompting him to shake his head with a quiet sigh.

"Say something when you're nearby next time, I almost burned you there!" he sighed. "Though we picked up two books from the list while we were going around, how about you two?"

"Scales and I found one on the floor we came from, two up here plus a replacement for that Handbook we got soaked in the river," Kate replied. "I think we're just down to a book or two from the mythology section, and then we can get out of here."

Music to his ears, really. The others traded nods with Kate, before they made their way towards the reading room's outer wall and studied it. Once they finished, they just needed to find a door to one of those stairwells and find their way back to that records room. Lyle… wasn't sure how dicey or not it'd be to slip back out onto that scaffolding outside, but as long as they retraced their steps, they had an exit already waiting for them to go back to that records room.

"Lacan, are we sure that the Dyad wouldn't have already come here? I can't imagine she wouldn't have fled the Capital of all places if she didn't have the chance."

Lyle's blood ran cold and he instinctively froze with his teammates at the sound of a Corvisquire's cawing voice. An uncomfortably familiar Corvisquire's cawing voice…

A quick glance down the central shaft confirmed his worst fears. There just below them on the orange floor they'd entered from, were Lacan and Sophia, making their way around along the railing overlooking the central atrium. Team Forager reflexively dove behind the railing, peeking out as the pair made their way past unaware of their presence.

"The record of checked-out books over the past few days speaks for itself, along with the others transferred into this library. I doubt the report of that disturbance on the east side of the library was just a fluke, Sophia," the Salamence remarked. "Though even if it was, we've lost too much of their trail as-is. We're better off trying to make sense of what the Dyad hopes to accomplish by heading to the Divine Roost while she's still relatively close to us."

Lyle struggled to stifle startled fire from his vents along with an overpowering urge to scream. His breath tightened as he saw his teammates' eyes had visibly widened. Gottverdammt, Lacan already knew they were going to the Divine Roost? How? And how had he been expecting them to come here?

Had someone at the Möbius tipped them off? But if so, who?

The Quilava started to feel lightheaded when he heard the rattle of the mail in Lacan's armor stop. A rumbling hem and haw came from the bottom of the atrium. The Salamence fidgeted his wings in thought, when he turned and looked over at his Corvisquire partner with a shake of his head.

"... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do another check. Though while you're there, grab the copy of The Collected Legends from Wander on the shelf," he explained. "There was an older edition that was not accounted for earlier in the backroom, along with a copy of Eins und Alles. The thought crossed my mind that it might be pertinent to hold onto it until our mission is over."

Wait, 'The Collected Legends from Wander'? Lyle had heard that title before somewhere, but where?

"Perhaps it's just paranoia," the Salamence said. "But for a text containing passages concerning the reawakening of beings like the Dyad, information hidden behind even small differences in nuance or detail could potentially affect our mission's outcome."

Lyle watched as Lacan and Sophia drifted off, before exhaling and panting tensely as he felt his stomach settle and began to calm down. Except something in him couldn't calm down. He glanced over at Irune, who was shrinking back wide-eyed from him and the others.

Just what the hell was she? Kate glanced over with her ears pinned back and a wary tilt of her head, blinking briefly before she managed out a puzzled murmur to the Dragon-type.

"'Reawakening'? 'Dyad' is what he's been calling you all this time, so does that mean those freaky power things you've been doing are supposed to get even stronger?"

"I'm… not fully sure," the Axew said. "But we need to get that book before Lacan and Sophia do."

"And why do we want to do that when those two are specifically looking for it?" the Sneasel pressed. "I get that it probably has stuff about your powers in there, but can't we just snag a copy from outside?"

"Because it was on the list of books that Igna and Ansel gave us and they said that they specifically needed copies from this library."

Scheiße₂. Lyle knew he'd heard that title somewhere. He hurriedly double-checked the list of books on the paper that Igna and Ansel passed onto them, and sure enough it was there. Lyle bit his tongue and hesitated. He didn't know where that backroom was, but it couldn't possibly be any less guarded than this reading room, and they were already running out of time.

Maybe there were other advantages to trying to grab that copy, too. He wasn't sure how ignorant Irune really was about her powers, but she didn't seem to be lying earlier. If Lacan already knew where they were trying to go, they needed every advantage they could get for trying to beat him to the Divine Roost.

Lyle turned over to Dalton, nervously looking down at the floor below where the Salamence and his Corvisquire underling had just been. A thought briefly crossed his mind that Lacan and Sophia had mentioned they'd had trouble finding the copy of The Collected Legends from Wander as he thought back to those misshelved books he spotted earlier…

"Dalton, if a 'mon were to lose a mythology book here in the central reading room, where would it most likely wind up?" he asked.

"It'd have to be misshelved somewhere on the same floor as the mythology section, since those labels are pretty hard to mistake," he replied. "I'm not sure how the librarians could've managed that unless something happened to the runes on the spine, unless there just weren't any labeling that particular book."

"Scales, can you narrow that down for us at all a bit?" Kate tsked. "Since you never told us where the myth-"

"It's on the floor below us," the Heliolisk explained. "The mythology and literature sections are on different parts of the Yellow floor."

Lyle supposed that that made sense since even if nobody knew who wrote the stories first, mythology was a kind of literature. Except there was just one problem:

Heavy wingbeats filled the air as Lyle saw Lacan spring up and fly up to the ledge of the yellow floor off to his right. He ducked back along the shelves and cringed, his heart racing in his chest as for a moment he thought the Salamence had seen him. There was a moment of deathly silence as he saw Sophia follow and the Graf wait on her to hop off the railing, before the pair made their way into the shelves.

… How the hell were they supposed to find that book when those two had already beaten them onto the floor?

"Hey, has anyone seen Soldat Lykos or Soldat Feris?"

Lyle and his companions held their breaths and warily glanced over as saw a Blastoise in army plates emerge a few shelves down. The Water-type paced out into the hallway between shelves, before he stopped and spoke into the badge with an annoyed grunt.

"Aren't those two supposed to be watching the upper floors?" the Blastoise asked. "Though why are you on my team's channel asking where they are?"

"They've gone dark for fifteen minutes! Dispatch can't get a hold of them!"

Lyle supposed it was a good thing that they weren't planning to stick around after snagging those last couple books, since he could've sworn that one of those soldiers they ambushed was named 'Feris'. He and the others crept along, past the Blastoise and towards the steps. They froze as the turtle plodded forward when the Blastoise hesitated briefly. Lyle held his breath as the soldier was squinting his eyes, before sighing and raising his badge up to his mouth.

"Gerda, get Lucard and his team to go and check the stairwells."

"The stairwells?" another voice asked. "Weren't we supposed to focus on the perimeter, Gemeinwebel Breuer?"

"A couple of Strachey's 'mons went dark. It's probably something stupid like them managing to lock themselves out," the Blastoise said. "I don't know what those two did with their badges, but Lucard should be able to find them fast with those feelers of his."

Lyle wasn't sure what to make of the mention of 'feelers' there, but a quick glance at the Blastoise's scarf revealed a triple chevron pattern on it—as good a sign as any that he was strong and they didn't want to fight him. The four crept along past the turtle as his shelled back was turned and made their way for the stairs, when they noticed shapes drifting off for the outer edges of the floors.

Other soldiers. Lyle wasn't sure whether they were also looking for those soldiers they ambushed or had gotten other instructions, but it was one way to get their attention elsewhere…

"I think this is as good an opening as we're going to get," he said. "Come on."

Lyle and his companions hastily darted down the steps, occasionally stopping to check their surroundings whenever they were about to break cover. After ducking behind a yellow-lined bookshelf, they stole a quick glimpse past the corner… and saw Lacan and Sophia were already scanning the ones on the other side of the atrium.

Lyle felt his blood run cold and set his teeth on edge, before slowly looking over at his companions.

"... Any brilliant ideas of how we're supposed to get those two away from there?" he asked. "Since even with Irune's weird powers, I don't think we're going to last long fighting with that Salamence."

There was a moment of tense silence as his teammates stared blankly around the corner at the Salamence and Corvisquire as they appeared between gaps in the shelves. Dalton subconsciously pawed at the splint on his arm, as he idly mused aloud under his breath.

"The book must not be in its expected place if those two were having trouble finding it earlier," he murmured. "We just need some way of distracting them and getting them out of there, and-"

Dalton trailed off after the sound of footsteps shifting pricked Lyle's ears and the Heliolisk's eyes briefly widened. Lyle turned to see and spotted Kate sneaking over with a book in her paw. She pulled it back and flung it out over the railing. Lyle lit up in startled alarm, barely managing to keep his voice in a whisper as his eyes shrank to pins.

"Kate! What are you-?!"

The Sneasel swiftly clamped a paw over his mouth as the twinkling of shattering glass rang out below. Dalton and Irune's jaws both dropped in shock, and from the corner of his eye, Lyle saw that Kate's book had struck a lantern on a table and dashed it to pieces. Sharp barks rang out as various figures in green plates darted out into the center of the reading room on the ground floor, as a Ferrothorn hurried over to the ledge from a couple floors above and called out below.

"Hey! Someone's down on the bottom floor!"

Lyle and the rest of Team Forager reflexively retreated into the rows of shelves as a few guards passed by on the downward stairs, a few of them flying or gliding the distance down the central shaft. Among them, the four briefly glimpsed Lacan beating his wings to slow his descent. Lyle bit his lip tensely as they glimpsed back at the shelves where Lacan and his underling were, only to see they were empty.

"What's going on down here?!"

Lyle sighed in relief after realizing that the Salamence's growls were coming from the bottom of the atrium. A firm poke at his shoulder snapped him to attention, prompting him to turn and see Kate prodding at him, with Dalton and Irune both staring stunned at her.

"Hope there wasn't anything important in that old Handbook that's not in our replacement, since we're never getting that back," Kate said. "They'll realize soon that nobody's down there, so we're going to need to make this an in-and-out job."

"Right, let's stick together this time," Lyle said. "That way we're all together if we have to leave in a hurry."

Nobody objected, and he and the others quickly darted over the section of shelves where Lacan and Sophia had been. Lyle already began to scan the shelves for any sign of the runes relating to 'Collect' or 'Collecting' as he arrived when a stifled hiss pricked his ears.

"Ow, son of a-!"

Lyle whirled around and saw Dalton and Irune looking back, with Kate pulling a foot back from stumbling over a book that was lying on the floor. The Quilava let his eyes dart over to the book and the yellow label on its binding… was this really that copy of The Collected Legends from Wander? He didn't think that Lacan or Sophia would be careless enough to just leave it lying around, but…

The Quilava flipped the book over and immediately felt a pang of disappointment as his eyes came over the title on the cover:

"'The Nameless Songs'?"

The others began to crowd around him out of curiosity, with Dalton stopping and running his fingers underneath with a shake of his head.

"That's actually a book we still needed, so that works out for us. Though I'm pretty sure you're meant to read those runes in Hightongue, so that'd be 'Die Namenloslieder₃'" Dalton corrected. "Sounds a bit more natural when it's said that way, don't you think?"

Right, Lacan had mentioned that there were old versions of books on the shelf. Even if the condition of the binding didn't look that much worse than a book from a secondhand store. He grabbed the book and shoved it into his satchel, when he noticed Irune stealing puzzled glances between it and Dalton.

"Wait, But why would there be a songbook in a mythology section?" Irune asked. "And why would those songs be 'nameless'?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a play on words," the Heliolisk replied. "A 'Lied₄' can refer a type of poem about heroes and their accomplishments, while calling something 'nameless' in Hightongue can be a way of saying that it's indescribably great or strong. So-"

"Oi, Scales. Are you gonna keep running your mouth off or are you gonna help scan the shelves here?"

Lyle and the others turned up to see Kate looking down from climbing up to the upper shelves with an annoyed frown. Dalton blinked a moment, before shoving the book away with a sigh.

"Right, another time," Dalton said. "Let's get what we came for and get out of here."

Lyle and his teammates divided the shelves up among each other, opting to go by relative height. He and Irune took the lower shelves from their stature, while Dalton took the middle, and Kate the upper ones thanks to her ability to clamber around on their ledges.

Lyle hurriedly scanned the bottom shelves for any sign of The Collected Legends from Wander, but no matter what he tried, he just couldn't find anything that had 'Wander' in the title.

A sinking feeling came over his stomach. Lacan and Sophia had only been around these shelves for all of a minute at most. They couldn't have already found it and taken it, could they?

"Ack!"

Lyle hurriedly stepped aside as a thick apple-colored tome hit the ground with an audible thud, with Kate staring down with a startled grimace. The Quilava froze and held his breath for what felt like a small eternity, as he expected a snarling soldier to round the corner at any moment. The seconds dragged on, and after realizing the sound he could hear was still coming from the floors below, Lyle exhaled and steadied his breath as Kate neared the fallen book with a curious poke.

"Wait, is this one it?" Kate asked. "Since that was one hell of a tree-killer there, so you'd think it'd be important-"

The Sneasel gaped down at the title, only to frown and furrow her brow as her eyes fell across its runes.

"Hrmph, guess not," she murmured. "This one says 'The Kingdom, the...' uh..."

She trailed off and blinked, before shaking her head with a puzzled frown.

"Er… I can't make out most of the rest of them. But the point is that the title's wrong."

Lyle went over and looked down at the runes on the cover. He supposed that he couldn't fault Kate too hard for struggling with reading it. The runes for the subtitle were so small that he had to squint to read them, and a number of runes on the cover looked particularly flowery.

"It says 'The Kingdom, the Republic, and the Empire: Tales of a Great Nation of Legend'. Pretty sure the last two are types of countries from faraway lands and fairy tales," Lyle remarked. "Don't ask me how the hell's anyone supposed to casually read that subtitle."

"Must have been a quirk from when its edition was first written, since the title certainly sounds like it was written a long time ago," Dalton remarked. "Shame we're in such a hurry, since 'Das Königreich, Die Republik, und Das Kaiserreich'₅ has a ring to it for a title."

"Sounds more like something that'd put me to sleep," Kate muttered, pinning her ears back. "Who on earth would read something like that for fun?"

Lyle cast an aside glance and noticed Dalton briefly frowning at the Sneasel's reply. He supposed that was one way to get an answer to Kate's question. He briefly felt Irune brush past him and saw her walk up blinking, briefly pawing at the spine of the strange tome.

"With a title like that and how big it is, I wonder why they didn't split it into three smaller books," Irune murmured. "Though is this really a collection of myths? Why, it almost sounds like a history text!"

"Well, whatever it is, I'm pretty sure you could knock someone into next week flinging it," Kate remarked. "So, I guess it's got some practical value-"

This was going on long enough. They had precious moments to work with at the moment, so it didn't make sense getting distracted over a doorstopper like this.

"Look, just stay focused on books with the rune for 'Wander' on it!" Lyle insisted. "It's supposed to look fairly similar both in Footprint Runes and normal ones, and…"

Lyle trailed off after noticing that on the bottom shelf, by Kate's heel, there was a book buried in the corner with archaic runes on the spine that looked much like footprints, along small ones that had been added as a superscript. Small enough that he had to squint to make out.

'The Collected Legends of Wonder'? Lyle at first thought it was strange until he remembered Dalton's comment about titles which were meant to be read in Hightongue. Gods, he felt stupid. All this time he'd been looking for the wrong rune in the title! 'Wander' was written with the same rune as 'wonder' in Hightongue, so then that book was…

"Ah! That's it down there!" Lyle cried.

Lyle crouched and grabbed onto the spine of the book with his mouth and forepaws. Gods, with a place on the bottom shelf like that no wonder why Lacan and Sophia had overlooked it. The Quilava yanked it free, passing it up to Kate who stuffed it into her satchel in a swift motion.

"Scales, are we missing anything from that list?"

The Heliolisk briefly fished out the list that Igna and Ansel gave them and scanned its contents. Almost as quickly as he'd pulled it out, the Heliolisk shoved it back in with a shake of his head.

"No, that's everything."

"Great, so how do we get out of here, then?"

"Towards the wall" Dalton said. "The nearest exit should be along it and to the left."

Thank gods. Lyle took off running along with Kate and Dalton as his heart fluttered in his chest and a sense of unreality came over him. They- They were actually pulling this job off. They'd still have to get back to the Möbius and pay Igna and Ansel and their Thieves' Guild buddies off, but at least they could worry more about sneaking out of the city. Why, even managed to accomplish their goal of helping Irune get to the bottom of-

The Quilava froze after noticing that the Axew wasn't at his side. He skidded to a stop and whirled back, where she remained in place at the bookcase.

"... Irune?"

Blauflamme, why on earth was she just standing there?! Lyle hurried back over to the bookshelf and reached out with a paw to grab her, when she kept her eyes fixed blankly at the lower shelf and stooped down to pull something from it. Lyle hesitated briefly after seeing the book she pulled out, when Kate and Dalton caught up with him from behind.

"Irune, what are you doing?!" Kate demanded. "We need to get-!"

The Axew turned the book around for everyone to see it and for Kate and Dalton to freeze alongside him. There on the cover, in between lines of what looked like arrangements of footprints, was the same triangular design as they'd seen at that Kyurem shrine by the river leading into Newangle City.

The same one as that pendant Irune always wore.

"What's this?" Lyle asked. "And why does it have the same design as your pendant?"

"It's a copy of Eins und Alles, a mythology text telling of our patron goddess, her counterpart deities, and what we know of their history with our world."

Lyle felt his vents flare to life whirled around with his companions and felt the color drain out of his face. There, right front of them, was that damned Corvisquire from Lacan's Fähnlein cutting off their escape route.

He was such a gottverdammter idiot. Of course Lacan wouldn't just leave these shelves unwatched! Lyle's vents flared to life as his teammates braced themselves at the armored crow's appearance, as Irune pointed at her with a frightened squeak.

"Y-You! You're-!"

"Sophia Krarmors, Ritterin von Herbergau and the Oberstleutnant of Graf von Wellenhafen," the Corvisquire answered. "There's not much time to steer things to a peaceful resolution, so let's be direct: you all know why I'm here, and it's not for an extra copy of a book that Graf Wellenhafen and I already have."

Lyle started to feel lightheaded as he crouched and grit his teeth. He oughta light up this damned bird right here and now! It was because of her that Alvin had gotten caught in the first place! She was the one who'd gotten them shot down with Hermes over Primordial Woods!

… Except, he could see the Stabsoffizier blue on her scarf as clear as day. And he knew from past experience that she surely didn't get it through nepotism. Did- Did they even have a chance fighting against her right now?

"Hrmph, so you just expect us to roll over for you?" Kate spat. "Yeah, keep dreaming!"

Sophia narrowed her eyes briefly, before batting out her wings with a sharp scoff.

"I'd encourage you to read the room better, Outlaw," the Corvisquire chided. "Or did you really think you could make a racket here without alerting every soldier and Gendarm in this chamber?"

Lyle bit his lip and looked back nervously at the open shaft of the library. So even if they did get the better of this Sophia, it'd just be leaping from the frying pan and into the fire. Lyle's breaths grew tighter and tighter as he suddenly felt blocked off from every end. Just what was he supposed to do when Sophia had them dead to rights like this?

Except, no blow followed, nor even an alerting cry. Lyle blinked for a moment and noticed his teammates staring dumbly back at the Oberstleutnant as she shook her head with a low sigh.

"I suppose that I'll have to spell things out after all," she sighed. "It's not you three that we're after. We're after her, the Dyad."

Lyle and his companions froze for a moment and stared as the Corvisquire raised a wing, pointing it off at Irune in their midst. The Axew visibly flushed pale and seemed to freeze up from panic, as Lyle traded looks between her and the soldier.

He knew that the army was after Irune. Everything that happened since Waterhead Cave had been because they'd been around her. But why? What could the army need this kid for so badly that they'd hound them across half of Varhyde?

"Why on earth does she matter so much to you?" he demanded. "What the hell is this 'Dyad' you keep going on about?"

Sophia tensed her wings, only to visibly falter and hesitate. Lyle wasn't sure what to make of that as the entire time, a serious expression remained on her face, before she shook her head with a quiet sigh.

"It is an internal name we've been using to refer to a reincarnated god," the Corvisquire explained. "That Axew with you is the Dyad of the Nameless Dragon: the reincarnation of the entity who begets our land's patron goddess and her counterparts."

---

Author's Notes:

Words and Phrases

1. Jenseits von Gut und Böse - "Beyond Good and Evil". "jenseits" carries a literal meaning of "that side", and can be translated as either "beyond" or "on the other side" depending on context of usage. "Böse" can also be used as a term to refer to a villainous figure.
2. Scheiße - "shit", direct cognate with English word, but more widely used as an intensifier or component of vulgar expressions.
3. Die Namenloslieder - "The Nameless Songs"
4. Lied - "song", both in the sense of a lyrical composition and in the sense of epic poetry
5. Das Königreich, Die Republik, und Das Kaiserreich - "The Kingdom, the Republic, and the Empire"

Teaser Text - Special thanks to TorchicBellow for Translation

While much of what we can remember of the gods and their interactions with humans before the Great Flash has faded into the realm of myths, we know that like us, that humans also wondered about their place in the cosmos and the powers that govern it. And like us, humans too, had myths of events and knowledge so distant that they were muddled memories even for them.

One of the more curious myths was one which claimed that our universe originated from a singular being—a 'Monad' which was the beginning of everything. From there Monad formed 'Dyad', a peculiar entity or group thereof whose definition varied depending on its teller: matter, power, the energies that undergird our material world. All wildly different, and agreeing only that 'Dyad' was subordinate to the Monad which created it.

Some tellings of that myth say that 'Dyad' helped create our universe further still. Some say that from Dyad came numbers, and signs, which formed lines and planes from which solid bodies and then the elements formed. Others say that from Dyad came 'Triad', a balance and harmony from which the rest of the cosmos formed. That from one came two, from two came three, and from three came ten thousand things.

It is said that myths in general are the distant memories of civilizations, faded to the point of blurring together with dreams and fantasy. While it remains a mystery as to whether our universe was truly the product of a 'Monad', one can be forgiven for seeing echoes of such a being through the Nameless Dragon: the primordial dragonᵃ which in life itself begets the gods that shape the fate of the lands they come across much as they did with Annal in bygone times.

- Excerpt from 'Ein und Alles - Of Gods from a Land of Black and White'

a. German fandom term. "Ur" as a prefix in German is something primal, primitive, or original. (e.x. Urwald when used to refer to a primeval or virgin forest)