#about his guildmembers and his guildmaster? ALSO yes.

[shima-draws]

Wow the writer of this game REALLY does not like Chatot

[mlynar-nearl]

Do you also think that it is easy for Toland to reach or get to My, since he knows where he works, lives, what bus he tskes, what lunch he orders and papers to read lol. But here's the prompt, when Mlynar wants to send a msg to Toland, how does he do that?

Oh, yes, Toland knows everything about Młynar's life and patterns, and Młynar knows much less about Toland's. You'd think it uneven, but...

--

A thing:

On the front porch of the Nearl estate in the Kawalerielki, there is a series of potted plants that were once kept as a tiny hobby by Yolanta Krol Nearl. As a gesture of goodwill shortly before her marriage to Schnitz, she entrusted a few of them to her future brother-in-law, and Młynar, for all of his work-focused routines, keeps a close eye on them. Often, if someone wants to leave him a note, they'll pin it under one of the small pots so that the wind doesn't carry it away. Młynar, who looks at the flowers whenever he gets home for the night, will always notice it- as a rule. It isn't just Toland who knows how to leave a letter for him this way. But sometimes, if Młynar knows Toland is in the area, he will leave a letter under the plants- not uncommon to see on their front step- but this one is meant to be taken by an outsider, not by the residents.

Another thing:

The Kazimierz Bounty Hunters' guild is technically illegal, and therefore, exists in the rat holes and empty spaces of the Kawalerielki. Every year after the Major the city grows, and as the city grows they gain yet more spaces to hide. It's not easy to remember them all, keep track of all of them, but Młynar Nearl certainly knows a few. Like many secret brotherhoods, the guild has its signs and symbols that denote membership. Whether to prospective clients or fellow members, there is a signal there, though with a degree of plausible deniability. Młynar, though, knows what clothing makes someone a guildmember in disguise, what way they walk, what they carry. The small quirks that a normal salaryman wouldn't notice, but that Młynar Nearl does. Coming across one of them makes contacting Toland by word of mouth simple, because if they know all the conventions for being part of the guild, well, Młynar does too. After all, he is the lifelong partner of the guildmaster. It's little work to see one of them, at the bus station, on a street corner, or somewhere else he has a few moments to talk.

-For the Guildmaster. Tell him to make contact with M.

And he leaves that there to lay, not acting any different from normal. For all that someone observing knows (provided they can't read lips), he remarked on the weather, or apologized for bumping into that stranger.

Sure, there is the chance that they won't report back to Toland, but Młynar knows that Toland is much too good at his job to let his juniors keep secrets from him. Everyone tends to think bounty hunters are flashy, but several, at any given time, are tracking a target the smart way, or looking for a trail. And so many trails lead right through the Kawalerielki, that Młynar can always find a way to intersect with one.

No matter what happens between dropping that message on one of Toland's juniors and the response, it's the same every time.

Toland arrives, at great personal risk, and asks what he needs.

Młynar has only done this once or twice, and only for something very, very important. But it's worked, with flawless efficiency and consistency. A bit like him.

[infini-tree]

FANFIC: against all odds - part 2

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Summary: One time they dwell on the thought of being caught, and the one time they were. It all works out, kind of. (Piqua Mystery Dungeon)

A/N: ‘i make no promises,’ i say, immediately writing the third fic for this au in one week? have I ever mentioned that the first thing I made fancontent of was the first pmd game?

Also, this really is just an opportunity to practice writing more scenes with the boys and figure out their tone.

_____________________________

George recalled a time when his dad called him precocious. 

What does that mean, he remembered saying. 

It means that you’re very smart for your age, his dad replied with a grin. You already get basic type matchups and dungeon theory better than most groups your mom’s mentoring in the guild she’s workin’ with!

The snivy had let out a laugh at the mental image of himself trouncing a bunch of grown-ups. Whoa, really?

Swear on the Lake Trio’s jewels, he said, putting up a hand to his chest, and he let out a little giggle as he lifted him up, up, up.

Experiencing the real thing was a bit of a-- well, maybe disappointment wasn’t the right word. Accurate, but not fitting. Tedious, maybe. The long stretches of nothing in-between took up more time than the actual dungeons themselves. He looked over to Harold, and he knew he felt the same.

The walk was silent and oppressive. George unfurled his vine-tie slightly and something fell out and onto his palm. It was a shiny half of a disc, but upon closer inspection its lustre had flaked away to reveal the clay underneath.

Sometimes he would turn the thing over in his hands, but if he had to be honest he had no idea why he kept the remains of the novelty hypno pendulum.

When the snivy first used it, he hadn’t expected anything to happen. He heard tales of the line being able to hypnotize its foes to sleep, and in the more outlandish stories suggest them to do something. Ultimately, it was a desperate act, and maybe that desperation was the thing that made it work.

It wouldn’t be the strangest thing that happened to them, but it had the distinction of being one of the first.

The latest strange thing was the quiet. Him and Harold knew Krupp-- knew how to get under his skin in record time, how to avoid him, the works. They knew how explosive his temper was-- even for an ice-type!

They also know that he was at its worst when he was quiet, so when the abomasnow didn’t react to the bombshell that was being Captain Underpants, it was... unnerving.

For the past few minutes, the boys were giving each other a Look, nudging the other into asking what was on both of their minds. Eventually, hesitance wore into mild frustration. George sighed, then pointed a glance Harold-wards that meant you owe me before breaking the silence with a long “Uuuuuuuh...”

“Yes?” Krupp cut in.

The snivy flipped the pendulum piece to his other hand. “Aren’t you mad?”

“About what?”

“About, you know-- hypnotizing you?” When no answer came, he prodded with, “Being Captain Underpants?”

The pine needles on his arm adjusted themselves in agitation. The snow on it sloughed off at the sudden motion and the boys had to step around the snow drift that was now on the middle of the road.

“You are mad!” Harold interjected.

The abomasnow’s tail slammed to the ground. “Of course I’m mad.”

“What he means is, we kind of expected, I dunno, yelling?” George explained. “Something about how we’re literally the worst-- anything!”

His pace slowed down. Krupp finally looked back at them for the first time since they explained the whole thing, but the expression was all wrong. His brow was more pinched in confusion than frustration. “What, you want me to yell at you?”

“No, but we’re kind of expecting it and would like to get it over with,” the snivy said with a shrug.

The temperature dropped several degrees. There was the frustration. Harold brought himself closer to George, and he leaned into the fluffy warmth.

“Get it over with--” Krupp spluttered. “We are literally being hunted down by every team this side of the region. Someone claiming to be one of my students from the future is spearheading that hunt and not only are pokemon listening to that, but he ripped my guildmaster title from me in what is essentially a forceful takeover.”

A thin layer of frost began forming on the path.

“I’m sorry I’m not dedicating every moment of my time being the World’s Worst Guildmaster, but some of us here have priorities. Like, say keeping himself and two children from not dying on his watch? From not getting caught?” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what they’re going to do to us if they catch us?

“I know those idiotic comics were a parody of the actual stories, but do you know what you’re parodying in the first place?” Puffs of frost breath punctuated each breath. “I know neither of you like applying yourselves, but you have to be at least a little aware.”

Harold had taken to picking at the ground with one of his front hooves. George traced a digit over the edge of the broken piece anxiously. Neither of them spoke up.

“Are you satisfied with that lecture?” And just like that, the frost started to melt. It slowly got warmer. “Because I’m not.”

(The boys never liked the quiet in general. Maybe that was why they were always so offput whenever he was.)

_____________________________

It wasn’t long before Krupp and Captain Underpants started talking. They kind of expected that. More often than not, they would wake up to scratching noises as one of them tried to write in the dirt with one of their pine needles.

What was more surprising was how quickly they had compromised on the whole switching thing.

“I’m good at fighting, and Guildmaster is good at planning travel stuff,” Captain explained as he floated them over to where the stairs were. “Neither of us are good at puzzles, but at least we haven’t encountered any!”

“Just like that?” Harold tilted his head.

The abomasnow ground his teeth in what was his attempt at a grimace. It looked weird on his face. “He said it was a matter of practicality, and working with what we’re good at makes sens-- ACH!”

His body tensed up in pain, and he instinctively held them closer to protect them. Harold began to struggle in his tight grip, eyes darting in every direction to figure out what had hit them.

“Captain? What’s wrong?” Panic began to creep into George’s tone.

“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice cut in.

George and Harold paled at the sight of Erica clambering up on the abomasnow’s shoulder. Even in the gloom of the dungeon, the violet crest around her neck glinted.

And Captain was going down, down, down. They braced for impact.

_____________________________

Erica, out of the boys’ circle of friends, was one of the ones who was more in-tune into their misadventures and ready to lend a helping hand. Erica was also the scariest guildmember-slash-student they’ve ever met; she had a cool head and popped up where you least expected. 

It was honestly no surprise that out of everyone, she was the first one who cornered them, and right between the stairs out of this place, too!

“What did you do to him?” Harold yelled, nudging the abomasnow to his feet. 

Captain looked, for a lack of a better word-- terrible. He looked like one more hit would do him in. While landing face-first would definitely leave a mark, they knew him long enough that it shouldn’t leave him straining.

And that’s when George finally noticed what was in the axew’s hands. In one hand was the three-pronged pounce wand that brought her up there with them, whining as the last vestiges of its power left it. In the other, the spiked two-edged wand also making a dying down noise-- it was most likely the thing that brought them down.

“Relax, I just didn’t want you guys to immediately fly off.”

Still, there were more pressing questions, like, “Why are you helping Melvinborg?” George made a face like the name was as bitter as the duosion’s personality.

“We all... kinda got no choice,” Erica replied with the nonchalance of listing off the day’s errands. The only thing that betrayed her was how she gripped the now-defunct wands in a vicegrip. Then, belatedly, “Sorry.”

“Wait, wait, wait, um-- uh--” Captain rushed forward in front of them, his arms spread out to protect them despite his fatigue. His face was scrunched up in the way he does when he was overthinking and none of them could tell whether it was because of the abomasnow’s fatigue or because he really didn’t know that he settled on, “Before you, uh-- take us in-- Plungerina can we talk, one human-turned-pokemon to another?”

To Erica’s credit, she was only tripped up for a moment before she steeled herself for a bit of improv. “Sure, right after I catch you.” She lunged forward and--

Tripped. Somehow. She poked her head up to look at the one entrance to the room, then seeing that no one was there, she opened her backpack and threw a box at their feet.

“Oh no, I am petrified,” she said, practically announced for all the floor to hear. Then, in a more regular speaking volume, “I hope they don’t take the care package I dropped that has supplies and letters from their friends and family.”

There was a moment of silence as the three of them processed what she said. And when they did, George put it in his satchel. “I... thanks, Erica.”

“You’re not welcome, because you stole from me, remember?” she said with a conspiratorial wink. She turned her attention to Captain. “You got one question before the rest catch up.”

“Do you know what they’re going to do to us once you turn us in?” The abomasnow was concerned, to put it mildly. But his tone reminded Harold of the same one he had when he asked long ago where dad went. Naïve, but you knew deep down.

Considering his talks with Krupp, he probably knows in some capacity.

“I figured you’ve been in tough scrapes like this, but I suppose maybe not?” His arms lowered. Harold looked at him worriedly; his pine needles were still shot up and pierced through his cape, despite the lull.

The axew appraised him for a moment, and she noticed the needles, too. “It’s weird to see you think this hard about anything.”

The boys grimaced at how blunt she was, but its definitely crossed their minds.

“It’s weird to think hard about anything!” Captain laughed.

“To answer your question, no, I don’t,” she frowned. “Knowing Melvin, and by extension Melvinborg, it’s probably something else than the, uh... standard. You know how he is with tinkering dungeon items to be more potent.”

And just like that, Captain’s cheery mood was back, even if it was a little more sedate than usual. The needles settled to its more natural position. “Okey-dokey, thanks Plungerina!”

All four of them tensed up at the sudden sound of shouting.

“Time’s up,” she gave a half-smirk half-smile. “Also, there’s a petrify orb in the package. Gotta make this look convincing, you know?”

“O-- oh!” George floundered for a moment before opening the box and taking it out. It let out a low hum.

“Don’t expect this to be a repeat thing,” she added, in the tone of voice that mean to definitely expect it. She stared at him, sensing his hesitance. “Relax, I’ll be fine-- the other teams are coming up and will bring me back first before getting to you. It’ll buy you a bit more time.”

The snivy was still a bit unsure about the whole prospect, but he held it high anyway. It flashed and it froze Erica in place before disappearing in a puff of smoke. And then they ran for the stairs.

(And then they continued to run.)

[eeveevie]

15. Catching the other before they fall for Bryn and Fiona, please?

falling

Fiona literally cannot with her feelings. Brynjolf’s grand romantic gesture only further complicates matters. Falling in love is inevitable, it seems.

:D play on words! :D 

Brynjolf x f!Dragonborn (Fiona)

2524 words (under a cut) | Ao3

“Never thought I’d ever see you without ol’ Bryn attached to your hip!”

Fiona’s ears perked at Vex’s teasing voice, watching as the Breton slid into the vacant seat next to her at the Flaggon bar. There was something else in her tone—a little more taunting than playful, but Fiona chose to ignore it, knowing better than to take the bait Vex was trying to lay. Instead, she motioned for Vekel to serve them another round and smiled at her Guildmate.

“And where’s your shadow? Did Devlin decide to leave you alone for once while you bathed tonight?”

Vex breathed a laugh, taking a short swig of her ale. “Only because I threatened to depart him from his most valuable jewels if he followed me to the river,” she explained, gesturing to the dagger on her belt. “Delvin is different. I don’t want his attention. You and Brynjolf on the other hand…”

“We’ve been though this before,” Fiona grumbled as she took a long sip of her drink.

“You two sure have an interesting relationship,” she grinned, obviously noting Fiona’s discomfort with the word. “We all get a kick out of watching the two of you dance around each other, flirting.”

“And?” Fiona probed, wondering where Vex was leading this conversation.

“I’m curious to know if you had any intention of…taking it seriously with him or not,” she replied.

Fiona raised a brow, lowering her tankard slightly to peer at the other blonde with skepticism. “Is this some sort of pep-talk? ‘Break-Brynjolf’s heart and I’ll kill you?’” she asked. “Or…are you jealous?”

Vex huffed in offense, rolling her eyes. “No. Most definitely not either of those things,” she began again. “I’m asking so you don’t accidentally hurt yourself.”

“Excuse me?”

“We both know Bryn’s reputation, how many women he’s—”

“Yes, we’ve been thought this before, as well!” Fiona repeated, voice curt, teeth clenched.

She liked Vex, respected the shit out of her. Hell, even called the woman a friend. But Divines—she was a stubborn bitch sometimes. Yes, Fiona was perfectly aware of Brynjolf’s repute of a ladies’ man, but she was in no position to judge, or to be jealous. He was a handsome man, with an excellent physique—whatever he wanted to do with said body was his choice. Fiona had her fair share of fun and while that had slowed since her arrival in Riften, that didn’t mean everybody she knew had to stop having sex.

“Why are you bringing this up again?” she questioned.

“Look, I’m only saying this because I like you and I want you to stick around and not be scared off by his stupidity,” Vex sighed, eyeing the contents of her tankard. “Did you ever think that maybe Brynjolf really is after one thing with you?”

“Yes,” Fiona answered, surprising Vex. “I’m not daft.”

Before she could continue to explain that it wasn’t what she truly thought, at least not recently, Vekel came by with a refill for Vex. He was shaking his head, lips poised in a pensive frown.

“Have you given any thought that perhaps ol’ Bryn has changed?” he asked.

“Pfft,” Vex waved him off as she practically inhaled her second ale.

Vekel peered at Fiona with a softer expression. “I’ve known Bryn a long time and Vex is right about one thing—we enjoy watching the two of you,” he smiled warmly and something about it that made her cheeks flush. “But because I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bryn act so…carefree. Around anyone, let alone a woman.”

“Ugh,” Vex groaned, clearly unhappy with Vekel’s sappy comments. She continued to drink.

“I also see and hear everything that happens in these Guildmember’s lives, regardless if they like it,” he made a lingering glare at Vex as she silently mocked him. “And I haven’t seen Bryn sneaking off to be with anybody since you’ve arrived. No rumors or gossip from the Bee and Barb or the bunkhouse either. Taking in the time before, that’s a considerable dry spell for him! Must account for something.”

“Sure, air out all of Bryn’s sex issues,” Vex mumbled.

“He’s not getting any younger,” Vekel continued, ignoring the other woman. “Not one’s first reason for wanting to slow down and rethink how to go about love and romance, but perhaps he’s outgrown the wild days of his youth.”

“That’s a load of horseshit and you know it,” Vex argued, face scrunched up.

Fiona meanwhile felt her gut clench at Vekel’s use of the word love. He probably didn’t even realize he had used it, but it had resonated so deep within her that the rest of their conversation fell away. All she felt was an overwhelming sense of dread. Sure, she liked Brynjolf—really liked him. She liked having his attention, his flirtations, his company, and everything in-between. But the thought of anything more, was terrifying. The thought of anything less—being reduced to just another roll in the hay? That was somehow entirely worse. What was so wrong about keeping their dynamic the way it was?  

Without another word she stood up, the sharp squeak of her barstool causing the two to stop whatever they were saying to stare at her in confusion. Fiona shook her head—she wanted to say something to fill the quiet, to offer some excuse, but her mind was so muffled that all she could do was sigh and walk away, defeated. She hoped the two wouldn’t read into her silence as she departed through to the Cistern.

It was out of habit that Fiona tried to find Brynjolf as she crossed through the walkway, her eyes darting across the waterways to spot the familiar auburn of his hair. Vex and Vekel’s words would continue to cause her turmoil until she could see him, speak to him about all of this. Either directly, or by some other means. Maybe it would put her mind at ease. Or ruin everything. The contingency plan Fiona always thought of when her anxiety flared flashed through her mind—run—but she pushed away the idea. She was past running away from her problems. Well…sort of.

Instead, all she found were the usual Guild members and Delvin, who was perched up on the counter next to the alchemy lab. He was flicking through a small notebook, lips twisting up into a smirk as he noticed Fiona approaching.

“Ah, there’s my favorite girl,” he greeted.

Fiona chuckled, shaking her head. “Your favorite? What, this week?”

Calling his bluff, Delvin copied her laugh and shut his book to give her his full attention. “Hmm, but I can tell I’m not the man you’re looking for,” he said pointedly. “Bryn isn’t around, unfortunately. Left this mornin’ on a job for Mercer.”

While Fiona tried not to react to this information, she must’ve frowned enough for Delvin to notice, his eyebrows perking up curiously. “Why? Upset he didn’t take you along? Mercer didn’t really give him the option—”

“Nothing like that,” Fiona interrupted. She understood that there were some jobs that Brynjolf had to take on his own, being the Second for the Guild. As she was still working her way through the ranks and proving her worth to the Guildmaster, she couldn’t expect to always be by his side on every job.

Delvin leaned forward, still interested. “Then what is it?”

Fiona reluctantly divulged the basics of the situation to Delvin, carefully observing his features for even the slightest hint of humor or mockery. She trusted Delvin—maybe more than anyone else in the Guild besides Brynjolf—and valued his opinion, even if he was the most lecherous of them. In the months that she had known him, he had always offered the soundest advice in a straight-forward and blunt way—something she appreciated. Hopefully now he could do the same when it came to affairs that were a little more delicate.

“Well, well,” he sighed with a grin, reaching up to scratch at his jawline. “I must say my little Vex is being quite the sweetheart looking out for you, even if she’s completely baseless.”

Fiona widened her eyes, slightly shocked. “What?”

“There’s some truth to what Vekel says,” he started. “Bryn’s been acting…I wouldn’t say strangely, just differently. A good different.” Delvin’s smile grew as he thought of his friend fondly. “I’ve known that bastard longer than anyone here. If this new side of Brynjolf is here to stay, then good.”

“Even if it makes him a big ol’ romantic softy,” Delvin continued.

That alarmed Fiona. “Delvin, do you know something?”

“Hmm?” he shrugged. “He’s been going on about doin’ something nice for you, after all the good luck you’ve given us—grain of salt dear, we were about six drinks in when this topic came up.”

Regardless, this information didn’t settle right with her. If anything, it only made her feel more anxious than before. Of all the times for Brynjolf to not be in the Cistern or Riften. But he had only just left and maybe she could track him through the forest paths—she’d always been good at that. Delvin only flashed a knowing smile as she slinked away, headed for the graveyard exit.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Fiona paused, an unpleasant shiver crawling up her spine as Mercer slowly stepped to prevent her leaving. She faced him with a neutral expression, holding back the urge to shove him out of the way. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with the Guildmaster, but she knew that Mercer was not a man to be trusted. Her instincts hadn’t failed her yet when traveling Skyrim, but she had to be careful now that she was seeking refuge in Riften.

“I have a job from Delvin,” she lied, knowing he must’ve seen her speaking with the Breton. “Falkreath. Should be back—”

“It will have to wait,” Mercer interrupted. “I have some work for you here in the city, so you won’t be leaving.”

Fiona didn’t appreciate his tone. If only he knew that she could tear his body to shreds with one simple shout from her lips. It would be so satisfying, but ultimately her undoing. Instead, she breathed out and nodded, taking the missive from his hand.

“We’ll be watching you.”

A threat that only had Fiona feeling more conflicted than ever. She exited the Ratways into the misty evening of the Riften courtyard, eventually finding her way to the Bee and Barb. She ordered a hot meal and mulled over her limited options as she read over the list of menial tasks Mercer wanted done. By the time she was finished, she decided to spend the evening in one of the available tavern rooms. She was aggravated with Mercer, but there was that lingering feeling that while Brynjolf was away, the Cistern was not the safest place for her to be. Dragonborn or not.

It was the middle of the night when Fiona awoke, suddenly sensing that something wasn’t right. She could hear the quiet sounds of the tavern downstairs—nothing sounded amiss—no brawls, no panic, yet her heart was hammering in her chest. The room was practically pitch black, save for the sliver of light coming in through the bottom of door. Fiona squinted, noticing the light was obstructed. Something—someone was outside her door.

She exhaled and slowly began to move. Feet on the ground,she first reached for her dagger on the nightstand before silently creeping towards the door. An assassin? Would Mercer really stoop so low to remove her from the Guild? Worse thoughts wormed their way through her mind. Had destiny finally caught up to her by sending the Greybeards to fetch her away? There was a special irony in finding them more frightening than assassins.

Fiona carefully removed the chair she had wedged under the doorknob (she never trusted tavern locks) and then quietly unlocked the door. She jerked the door wide open but before she could drop back into a defensive stance a body came tumbling through the doorframe back-first with a loud yelp—a familiar body. She scrambled to catch Brynjolf, dropping her dagger, but the combined weight of his body and the sheer shock of his appearance had them toppling to the ground.

Fiona leaned herself up and looked down at him—flat on his back, wide eyed but smiling that ever-ridiculous smile. Her eyes flicked to where his hands were clutching a bunch of parchment wrapped flowers. Her chest tightened and she gulped. Her heart was racing again, this time for an entirely different reason.

“Brynjolf?”

“Help an old man up, will you lass?”

She forced a smile and pushed herself off the floor, reaching down to tug on his free hand to pull him to his feet. Simultaneously she moved to light the oil lamp on her nightstand while he closed the door. Finally, she snatched up her night-coat from the storage-chest tugging it across her shoulders much to Brynjolf’s disappointment as she covered up the exposed skin her nightgown showed. His eyes still flickered as he looked over her form, silently drinking her in.

They met halfway, standing near the foot of the bed. Fiona didn’t feel uncomfortable, per-say, just nervous. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he said. Her gaze danced across his arms where the bundle of flowers was, and he softly laughed. “I brought you these, I hope they are to your liking.”

She gasped when he handed them over, their color visible now in the light. Yellow-mountain flowers. Incredibly rare and her absolute favorite. Fiona racked her mind trying to recall when she had ever told Brynjolf about them when she was hit with a sudden wave of collected memories. Falkreath—months ago now, when they barely knew each other, and were making an effort to learn more. But they had been drinking, and she didn’t think that he was paying attention, let alone that he would remember.

“Brynjolf, I—” she breathed, overwhelmed. “I don’t know what to say.” When she looked at him again he was smiling, a mix of self-satisfaction and wonderment as he watched her reaction. She found it incredibly difficult to focus on the shine of his eyes. “This seems like quite the grand gesture, even for you, Bryn. Where did you even find them?”

“It’s a secret,” he teased. “I’ll take you there one day.”

All of Fiona’s earlier emotions came crashing down, causing an incredible ache to her chest. She blinked hard to prevent the sting of tears that threatened to develop, not wanting to cry in front of him. Not over something like this.

“What are you doing, Bryn?” she asked, bluntly. She decided direct honesty would be best this time. “Whatever it is, I like what we have now. I don’t want that to change.”

Brynjolf’s demeanor didn’t change, as if he hadn’t just been rejected—to some degree. He shifted closer, hands covering hers. She didn’t pull away.

“I think it’s a little late for that, lass.”

The worst part was that he was right.  

[catflowerqueen]

Hidden In Plain Sight

Don’t expect any fast updates on this (or any of my other stories, really), because classes restart for me today, and I already spent a lot longer working on this than I really should have at the moment, considering that I still have some paperwork I really need to do, which I probably should have done a few days ago, but... please enjoy another part of my “What if...?” series.

Summary:  Wherein Uxie takes his role as the Being of Knowledge the slightest bit more seriously, and an offer to help Laura with her amnesia leads to the Wigglytuff Guild taking temporary custody of the Time Gear of Fogbound Lake. Grovyle is not amused. Also, Chatot contemplates the merits of establishing better intraguild communications, or, at the very least, instituting a minimum age for admittance into the Wigglytuff Guild.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Chapter One:           

   “I shall not take away your memories of this place. You have earned my trust. But I must ask that you keep this place a secret,” Uxie declared, to the relief of the Wigglytuff Guild whose members gathered by the lakeshore, drinking in its stunning sights. Sure, after seeing what exactly the treasure of Fogbound Lake was they all completely understood why the Being of Knowledge resorted to such extreme measures in the first place in order to protect it, and in the back of their minds they had already resigned themselves to losing some of their memories in order to help protect the Time Gear… but the sight of the lake before them really was beautiful, and it would have been a shame to lose such precious memories. But just before Guildmaster Wigglytuff was about to open his mouth to give his assurances that his guild would keep their silence, as well as to give thanks to Uxie for his generosity, the Being of Knowledge spoke again.

                “Speaking of memories, however… I do believe we have some unfinished memories in regards to yours, Laura,” he said, surprising everyone present, if not for quite the same reasons.

                “Huh? But I thought that you said you didn’t know anything about what caused her memory loss?” Paula asked.

                “That is true,” Uxie confirmed, completely ignoring everyone else’s confusion and sudden intakes of shock over this bit of knowledge about their friend. “But as I was about to say before the rest of your fellow guildmates appeared… while I have, lately, been more focused on erasing memories, it is also possible for me to help people regain them as well.” Upon seeing the dual hopeful looks that started to spring up on Team Rainbow’s faces, he hastened to add, “It is not always foolproof, as memories and the mind are complex things. Depending on the actual cause of your friend’s amnesia, it may not be possible for me to do much. Laura’s unique circumstances in regards to her species might also complicate things.”

                “That’s perfectly all right!” Paula exclaimed. “Any little bit would be a big help. Right, Laura?”

                But before the treecko had the chance to give her opinion, Loudred interjected, loudly demanding “WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Just… HOLD ON there for a second. What… what are you TALKING about? Laura has AMNESIA? Since WHEN?”

                Laura blinked at this before cringing a bit and blushing upon realizing that she’d never actually shared this piece of information with any of the other guildmembers. “Um… Ever since I met Paula,” she confessed.

                “Yeah,” Paula gave a nervous chuckle, sheepishly rubbing her neck, “that’s actually why she agreed to form an exploration team with me in the first place—I thought that since the Wigglytuff Guild was so well known and had so many resources, you might be able to help her figure out her past.”

                “…And the reason you never informed us of this so that we could, actually try and help you with this is because…?” Chatot asked, his eye developing a mild twitch at the fact that, first of all, this pair of recruits had neglected to inform anyone of the serious issues that were plaguing Laura, and, secondly, that this neglect occurred in spite of the hope for help being one of their main goals for joining in the first place.

                “I mean… we were really busy settling in those first few days… and then there was that whole thing with Azurill… and then by that point it just felt kind of… awkward, I guess?” Paula shrugged, a blush rising to her face as well.

                “Especially since you didn’t seem to know much about the other issue I had, when I asked,” Laura added quietly.

                “What ‘other issue?’” Diglett asked.

                “Indeed, what could be a more pressing issue than the fact that you have amnesia?” his father inquired.

                Wigglytuff, meanwhile, who was just as surprised as everyone else by this turn of events but was trying to be a bit more rational, for once—as he realized that this explained a lot about some of the more concerning things he’d noticed about his precious apprentice, and was trying to do some preliminary planning on what he could do to help her once they got back home, especially if Uxie wasn’t able to help her retrieve any of her memories—suddenly recalled a conversation the guild had participated in shortly after Team Rainbow’s first major exploration. “Oh! Does it have something to do with humans?” he asked.

                That jogged Chatot’s memories, which he had been searching through in an attempt to recall any questions Laura had asked him recently that he hadn’t been able to answer that seemed particularly strange or out of the ordinary at the time. “Ah, yes!” he exclaimed. “Thank you for the reminder, Guildmaster! If I recall correctly… you and Paula were curious about their stories, yes? Specifically, if there were any about humans who were turned into—” he cut the thought off as something suddenly clicked, and then he sputtered, “SQUAWK! Wh-what?! You can’t be serious! Are you… are you seriously trying to imply that Laura, our Laura who is obviously a treecko, at one point used to be a human?!”

                “WHAT?!” the remaining guildmembers, sans Paula, Laura, and Wigglytuff, screamed. “YOU USED TO BE HUMAN?!”

                Laura rubbed her arm nervously as she gave a quiet affirmation.

                This just shocked everyone even more. “But… how is that POSSIBLE?!” Loudred demanded. But then he, too, recalled that conversation and remembered something that Croagunk had brought up during it in regards to legends about humans. “Unless… did Laura maybe PULL on a ninetales’ TAIL?”

                “Oh my gosh, Loudred, how could you even think something like that?” Sunflora demanded, sounding affronted on her friend’s behalf. “No way would Laura do something that cruel!”

                “But how would we even KNOW?” Loudred asked, his face becoming pinched as he actually stopped for a moment to contemplate the possibility. He suddenly turned his gaze towards Laura, and she cringed under the scrutiny. “If you REALLY don’t remember anything about your past, then for all we, OR you, know… maybe you actually WERE a really mean person!”

                Sunflora and Chimecho gasped in shock at his audacity, and Paula’s expression became enraged. But before she had the chance to lay into him, Dugtrio barked out “Loudred! That is crossing a line! Apologize to Laura at once!”

                “I—” Loudred looked around at the disappointed faces of his fellow apprentices and superiors, cringing when he saw the unhappy frown on Wigglytuff’s face, and then cringing even harder when he saw that Laura had withdrawn even further into herself than usual and was clutching her arm tightly in a trembling grip. “I—that’s—ugh… You’re RIGHT. That was WAY out line… I’m really, REALLY sorry, Laura.”

                “Well, whether she had the capacity for that sort of thing or not, we can definitely confirm—without even having to look into her memories, actually—that Laura was not the human in that particular legend,” Uxie suddenly piped up, making many of the assembled jump slightly in surprise, as they had momentarily forgotten his presence. He seemed rather amused by the whole situation, really. “Despite there being many iterations of that particular legend, all of them do share the same detail in common: the human was to be reborn as a pokémon. This implies that after spending an entire life as a human, they would then die and reincarnate—and it is this reincarnation which would be a pokémon. In Laura’s case, however, she was born a human and then changed into a pokémon during this lifetime. Therefore, she does not fit the requirements set by this specific legend,” he explained. Sunflora crossed her leaves and raised a brow at Loudred in an “I-told-you-so” sort of way, and he shrunk back under the scrutiny.

 “Furthermore,” Uxie added, “it’s my experience that when memory loss is involved, it typically does not result in drastic personality changes. Therefore, if your friend’s current attitude and demeanor indicates that she is incapable of that sort of cruelty, then it is highly likely that this held true in the past as well. If there was some sort of major personality difference, then it indicates a much larger problem.” He then gave everyone a moment to absorb that information, taking special of note of Laura and ensuring that she was able to regain a bit of her confidence before he switched back to the actual matter at hand. “In any case… as I was trying to explain, the fact that your natural species is a human might complicate things in regards to how much help I can ultimately give you. Though, that is not so much because you were a human, but more because it is unclear what caused you to switch species in the first place.”

                Laura gave a slow, thoughtful nod. It made perfect sense… though it also made her a little nervous. What if he couldn’t restore all of her memories? It would be one thing if he just couldn’t help at all—a bit disappointing, maybe, but it would ultimately leave her no worse off than she already was—but given how maddening it was to be in this place, and to have these vague feelings of familiarity with no clear explanation as for why… if a partial recall led to such scenarios becoming even more common, then she thought that might actually be worse. But at the same time… it really did bother her that she couldn’t remember anything about her past, even if she didn’t express those sentiments too often. Or at all, really, since no one else outside of Paula had any clue there was even an issue until today.

                Wigglytuff noticed her nervousness. “It’s okay if you don’t want to do this, Laura,” he told her, moving to be closer to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes. “Whether you get your memories back or not, you’re still our friendly-friend, and we’ll always do our best to support you,” he assured her, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze.

                “Yes,” Uxie agreed. “It is entirely your decision whether you want me to try and use my powers or not; memories are intensely personal things, and the process would still be rather invasive, even though I would be trying to help you regain your memories, rather than take them away. Also: even if you do decide that you would rather forgo my help at the moment… that doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind and return at a later date.”

                Laura took a moment to think it over. “I think…” she paused, taking in everyone’s encouraging faces. Then she took in a deep breath to steady herself, and declared, “I think I do want you to try. Even if it turns out that you can’t help much… I think I would regret it if I didn’t at least make the attempt.”

                Uxie nodded. “Very well. In that case, I suggest that you sit down—the process shouldn’t hurt, but it might leave you a bit dizzy, or disoriented.”

                Laura nodded, and Wigglytuff pulled her into a brief hug before he helped her settle on the ground. Uxie floated over and placed his hands on her temples. “Close your eyes,” he instructed her. Once she complied, he continued, “I will begin on the count of three. One… two… three.”

                At that, his eyes, though still shut, began to glow slightly, and Laura’s expression became a little pinched. But neither of them made a sound. The members of the Wigglytuff Guild waited with baited breath, but as the minutes ticked by with nothing happening, they began getting a bit restless. Before anyone could say something to break the silence, however, Uxie gave a small “Hm,” and lifted his hands from Laura’s head. Laura, in turn, scrunched her face up even more before relaxing and blinking her eyes open, her expression a bit dazed.

                “So… did it work?” Corphish asked, looking between the two of them. The other apprentices were eager to know as well… but their hearts sank when Laura frowned and gave a disappointed shake of her head.

                “Unfortunately, I was unable to uncover any concrete memories,” Uxie informed the crowd. Their hearts sank even more, and they tried to prepare themselves to give him thanks for trying, or to comfort Laura over the failure, but before they could, Uxie said something else which brought a bit of hope back. “However, that in itself, Laura, gives me some clues to your past.”

                “R-Really? That’s great! Paula exclaimed. “What does it tell you?”

                “First, I should explain a bit what I look for when I delve into someone’s mind,” Uxie said, settling down on the ground himself so that he would be more comfortable while he explained. He waited for everyone else to follow suit before continuing, ”When I delve into someone’s mind to manipulate their memories, I typically don’t do so with intent to pry—even when my goal is to erase memories of Fogbound Lake, I try not to look beyond the surface level since, frankly, it isn’t any of my business. So, what I do instead is to search for certain impressions which I either draw closer to the surface to make them easier to look at, or push farther back into the subconscious, rendering them nearly inaccessible. In truth… when I erase someone’s memories, I typically don’t actually remove them so much as I simply push the contents down deep within their minds,” he admitted. “After all, it is far more likely that people would become suspicious and attempt to come back and search the area if there was actually a chunk of their memories missing, rather than if they still retained some memory of an exploration, but no memories of actually reaching Fogbound Lake.”

                “I see! So, then they would assume that they really had searched everywhere, but just hadn’t been able to find anything, right?” Chimecho guessed.

                “Correct,” Uxie affirmed, a proud grin on his face. “And this is typically the case with amnesiacs as well—it isn’t that their memories are gone, it’s just that they are inaccessible for some reason. Typically, what I would see in these instances is a sort of… fog, almost.” He paused here, considering something, and then gave an amused shake of the head. “It’s actually a little like Fogbound Lake, in a way—the mental fog obscures the paths that one would typically use to find and access their memories, much like the fog here obscures access to the path one needs to take in order to reach the Time Gear. So what I do in this sort of situation is to, essentially, clear away the fog of one’s mind.”

                “But if you couldn’t do that this time, then what does it mean for Laura?” Paula asked, glancing between Uxie and her partner—who actually seemed more interested in the explanation on the mechanics of memory retrieval than disappointed that it hadn’t worked for her.

                “In Laura’s case… there really isn’t any fog to sift through,” Uxie shrugged. “There is a little bit, yes, and some dim impressions and recollections—which is likely why you felt this place was familiar to you—but for the most part… the area of your mind where memories are stored is just… blank. As if it was empty, or locked behind some sort of impenetrable door.”

              “If that’s the case, then… hey, hey! How does that give you any clues to hercpast?” Corphish wondered.

                “Ah, because you see… this is not the first time I have come across such a condition in humans.”

                Paula frowned. “But… hold on a minute. Uxie, didn’t you say that humans had never come to the lake before? If that’s the case, then how…?”

                “I see your confusion, but while it is true that humans have never come here, that doesn’t mean I’ve never met any—it simply means that in order to interact with the ones I know of, it meant that I had to leave my lake for a while. I actually used to visit with a group of them fairly regularly, but something changed roughly a millennia ago and I haven’t really gone out much since.” Uxie paused here with a sigh, sounding almost nostalgic. But then he shook his head, continuing, “Ah… in any case, this particular condition is rather rare, and is typically found only in one specific… subset, shall we say.”

                “OH! I get it NOW! So you’re saying that since Laura has the condition too… then it means SHE’S probably part of that subset!” Loudred exclaimed, feeling pleased with himself for putting all that together when Uxie nodded.

                “Exactly right. Mind you, this is only a guess at this point—circumstances being what they are at the moment, and especially with the transformation, I cannot say for sure… but the probability is high.”

                “So… what are these people like?” Laura finally piped up and asked. “If you’re right, and I was one of them… what does that mean for me?”

                Uxie turned back to her, and she blinked upon seeing a bit more warmth in his expression than had been there previously. It wasn’t as though he’d looked unfriendly or mean or anything, but his expression before sifting through her mind had been more placid, full of a more neutral sort of geniality.

 “Well,” he began, “I suppose that the most important thing would probably be—”

 But he abruptly cut himself off, tilting his head in consideration and looking between her and the lake. “Hm… Now there’s and interesting idea… and since I’m the one doing it, it shouldn’t have any negative effects…” he mumbled before turning to the group as a whole. “Please wait here for a moment,” he requested.

 Everyone was confused at the abrupt topic change, but readily complied. They watched as Uxie swiftly flew over towards the middle of the lake until he was right above the Time Gear… and then their jaws dropped in complete and utter shock when he suddenly ducked down beneath the water and re-emerged with the Time Gear in his arms. The light dimmed around the Time Gear’s holding place, and they all looked around wildly, fearful of time stopping around them… but nothing else happened.

 “There is no need for alarm,” Uxie told them as he flew back to the shore, easily detecting their panic and immediately guessing its source. “I am the guardian of this particular Time Gear, so the area shouldn’t experience any negative effects of time stopping so long as it is in my possession.” Everyone gave a sigh of relief, and they watched curiously as he came to a stop before Laura. “That being said, however… would the Wigglytuff Guild mind doing a favor for me?”

 Wigglytuff tilted his head, “A favor? Sure! We’d be glad to help you, friendly-friend! And it would only be right after all you’ve done to help us!”

 “Good. Then… would you please hold on to this Time Gear for me?” he asked, offering the precious treasure to the treecko in front of him. Her eyes—along with everyone else’s, honestly—widened in shock and she quickly backed up, holding her hands out as if to ward him away… even as a tiny part of her screamed out that she should take it from him, now, right now, she needed it…!

 But she didn’t betray any of these inner thoughts, instead offering a breathless “Wh-what?!”

 This exclamation was echoed by a much louder “WHAT?!” from Chatot. “F-Far be it for our humble guild to question your judgement, Uxie, but why in the world would you ask us such a thing?! For us to take this Time Gear, when another has already been stolen—!”

 “Yes… but that very threat is why I wish you to take it with you, and protect it at your guild.” That cut the panicking off short, and Uxie further explained, “The Time Gear that has already been stolen, it is the one from Treeshroud Forest. Unlike the Time Gear here at Fogbound Lake, or the one in Limestone Cavern which your esteemed guildmaster has seen,” at this everyone jolted and looked to Wigglytuff in surprise—both at the fact that he’d apparently seen a Time Gear before this one and because Uxie apparently knew about it, “that particular location has no secondary defenses. There is no puzzle to solve, or guardian to best. There is only the dungeon itself, which, while perhaps a little larger than most others, is just as ordinary at it appears to be. In that sense, one could say that its best defense was the fact that the Time Gear was, essentially, hidden in plain sight.”

 “I see, I see… and because it is so ordinary and plain-seeming, no one would think it hid such an important treasure. As a consequence, no one would go looking for one,” Dugtrio nodded, thinking the reasoning through.

 Paula frowned. “In that case… isn’t it possible that the thief just didn’t realize it was a Time Gear? I mean, I didn’t know what Time Gears looked like until you told us about this one, Uxie, so if they just thought it was some other sort of treasure… then maybe everyone is worrying over nothing? I mean… the fact that it’s gone is still really bad, but if it was just an accident, maybe we don’t need to worry about any others being taken.”

 “I wouldn’t count on it, meh heh heh,” Croagunk shook his head. “Even if they did initially take it without realizing what it was, the fact that time stopped after it was removed would have been a big tip-off that something was wrong.”

 “Oh, yeah, good point.”

 “Indeed,” Uxie concurred. “That leads me to believe that someone stole it deliberately. And the fact that they even knew to check Treeshroud Forest in the first place…”

 “…Means that it’s possible they might look for others as well… and that they may already know where some are located,” Wigglytuff finished for him, his face grim.

 “Exactly. Which is why, if the thief does already have information on the other Time Gear locations… by moving one of them to a completely different area, it would hopefully throw them off the trail. Or, at the very least, give us more time to try and stop them,” Uxie reasoned.

 “Okay, I reckon I can understand that,” Bidoof said, “but why choose our guild, then? We get tons of pokémon coming in and out every day… wouldn’t that just make it more likely for someone to find out about it?”

 “…No,” Laura said quietly, the reasoning dawning on her. “Because they wouldn’t expect that we had it… right? Our reputation would protect us… and also the Time Gear… because it would hidden in plain sight, just like the one in Treeshroud Forest. Right?”

 Uxie smiled at her cleverness. “Indeed, and that very reputation is one of the reasons why I know I could trust you with this task. Your renown and notoriety are such that even I, who spends much of my time alone, have heard of it… and added to that, another guardian has already proved that your leader, Guildmaster Wigglytuff, is trustworthy.”

 “Oh, oh? You heard from Ditto?” Wigglytuff asked, growing excited at the thought of his old friend.

 Uxie nodded, this time fondly as he recalled the younger pokémon. “Yes. Ditto is probably the most… proactive of the guardians, seconded only by my brother, Azelf, and he always lets us know whenever someone seems to be extremely persistent in regards to finding the ‘treasure’ of Limestone Cavern… or, in your case, when someone actually manages to figure out the secret in its entirety.”

 “So, um… what’s the other reason?” Chimecho asked. “You said there was more than one… right?”

 “Yes,” Uxie confirmed, “and that actually brings us back to you, Laura.”

 Laura blinked in surprise, and her partner asked, “Huh? What does Laura have to do with anything?”

 “Just a moment ago, you asked what the people whom I suspect you are a part of are like… the most important thing to know about them is probably the fact that they worship a deity known as ‘Relatia’… and that this deity is the one responsible for bringing the Time Gears to our world.” Laura’s eyes widened. “As such, if you truly do belong to those people… then you would be more entitled than most to deal with the Time Gear, and to act as its protector.”

 “But… but you said that you weren’t certain that I was actually a member of that group,” Laura pointed out. “So in that case…”

 Uxie merely shrugged. “In that case, my first line of reasoning still holds. But I truly do believe that when you were a human, that you worshipped Relatia; it would certainly explain why this place felt familiar to you—despite never having been here before—as Relatia’s people are some of the few who know the locations of the Time Gears,” He allowed everyone a moment to let that sink in, before he asked again, “So, having explained all that… will you, the Wigglytuff Guild, undertake the task of guarding my Time Gear? At least until this crisis has passed?”

 The guild turned towards their guildmaster, who had a serious expression on his face once more. He looked at Uxie, with his patient expression; at Laura, with an expression that was half scared, half hopeful; at the Time Gear, which, as an inanimate object, had no expression, but which still looked so vulnerable nonetheless, especially now that it was out in the open, and not surrounded by an intricate pattern of light and energy. The he looked back at Uxie, and his mouth widened into a big grin. “Of course we will, friendly-friend!”

 Uxie tried to hide a sigh of relief—it wouldn’t have been a big deal if Wigglytuff hadn’t agreed, and he wouldn’t have blamed him one bit for opting out of such an important and potentially dangerous task, but the fact that there was now this extra measure of safety in a situation as dire as this current crisis already made him feel a lot more hopeful about the situation. “In that case, this next part may be a bit tricky; while there are safeties in place that allows a Time Gear’s guardian to remove it from its area with no ill consequences, it is not certain what happens when one of them willingly gives it up to another. So we all should be prepared to run as soon as this Time Gear leaves my hands.”

 “Understood,” Chatot said, nodding decisively. Then he turned to the recruits and squawked, “Well? You heard the pokémon! Get ready to run!”

 “Yes, sir!” the apprentices all cheered as they put their weight in their front feet (or whatever the equivalent action was, for those whose appendages and methods of locomotion didn’t quite fit that description) and turned towards the exit—but only slightly, as they were all still supremely curious and wanted to see the actual hand off for themselves.

 Uxie moved even closer to Laura, and once more offered her the Time Gear. “Are you ready, Laura?”

 Laura started to reach her hands out for the precious artifact… but then she hesitated momentarily, still wary of the feelings that looking at it invoked. She took a deep breath, centering herself, before trying again. This time she was successful, and placed her hands on the Time Gear in a secure grip. It felt surprisingly warm beneath her fingers, for something which had just been residing at the bottom of a lake, and rather than feeling metallic, like she would have expected, it felt almost like… stone? But smooth stone, rather than crumbly or rough. But more than anything, it almost felt like… like it was alive, in a way. Or that it at least had some sort of emotional ability. Because as she stared into it, and into the light it pulsated… she could swear it emanated some sort of feeling of… joy? Relief? Holding it felt like… like she was coming home, for the first time in… in so, so long…

 Laura was so absorbed in the sensation of touching the Time Gear that she almost didn’t notice when Uxie let go. Actually, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all if not for the unexpected weight change causing her to stumble. The Time Gear was a bit heavier than it looked, though not so heavy as one would assume based on its composition. But before she could devote any more time into inspecting it, there was a bright flash of light, and she felt a surge of energy that sent her tumbling to her knees. Luckily, though, she managed to keep her tight grip on the Time Gear. Unluckily, however, it meant that she was now in a position where she wouldn’t easily be able to escape if something did end up happening to the flow of time in the area. But once the light died down and she was able to blink away the spots in her vision… nothing really happened. She looked around a little, but nothing seemed to have changed. Maybe it was a bit darker in the area? But that could easily be attributed to the late hour, or the fact that most of the volbeat and illumise had finished their dances above the water and were headed home. She glanced back towards the entrance to see her fellow guild members slowly relaxing from their tensed positions and also look around in confusion.

 “Hm… I suppose that was rather anticlimactic,” Uxie said from in front of her, causing her to jolt in surprise and whip her head back towards him, since she hadn’t realized he was there. “I’ll admit, that was not what I expected to happen… but it is a potentially useful situation, if someone else does end up coming here in search of the Time Gear.” He floated a bit away from her, slowly turning around and taking in all the sights before turning his gaze back on the artifact in her arms. “Of course, the fact that the Time Gear is still in close proximity to the lake, despite no longer being in my possession, might be affecting things somewhat…” He hummed again before coming closer again and offering her a hand up, which she took, before leading her towards the rest of the guild. “Come—I will join you for a bit of your journey back down, in order that I might observe the effects of distance on the lake.”

 It was, admittedly, a little awkward to be sharing the presence with a legendary, especially one who was treating the endeavor as an almost scientific curiosity. The fact that no one really had the chance to discuss what had just happened—whether in regards to the revelations about their teammate or the ramification of the task they’d just been given—didn’t help much either. Although, speaking of recent events…

 “So, um, Uxie… I know that you couldn’t help Laura out with regaining any of her actual memories… but do you know of anything else we can do to try and help?” Paula asked on behalf of her partner—who seemed too absorbed in hugging the bag now holding the Time Gear close to her chest to pay much attention to the attempts at small talk going on around her. She’d had enough presence of mind to put it out of sight once Loudred made a joke about the possibility that she was the real Time Gear thief all along, with how much focus she was putting on it and the way she’d refused to let anyone carry it, but she hadn’t noticed when Sunflora subsequently exploded on him, scolding him for the tasteless joke—especially since she hadn’t let him off the hook yet for how mean he’d been to her over the whole ninetales thing.

 “Hm?” Uxie replied, rather distracted, as he glanced at her from where he was floating—backwards, so that he could keep an eye on the lake as it seemed to grow smaller and smaller the farther they moved away from it. But the change in perspectives seemed to be the only change afflicting Fogbound Lake; it was otherwise perfectly normal, despite its lack of Time Gear. “Oh, right…” Uxie said once Paula’s words finally registered. He tilted his head, thinking through some possibilities. “I suppose that using an aura crystal might help, but those are extremely rare. Especially lately, for some reason,” he mulled things over a bit more before shaking his head. “Unfortunately, there typically isn’t much that can be done about this specific condition. However… I believe in Laura’s specific case that the issue will resolve itself when she’s a bit older.”

 “Oh wow, really?” Paula asked, excited, before shaking her friend’s shoulder in an attempt to get her attention. Once she caught the treecko’s gaze, she smiled widely at her. “Hear that, Laura? Uxie thinks that you just need a little patience, and that you’ll get your memories back when you’re older!”

 “Golly, that really is great news!” Bidoof, who had evidently been listening in on the conversation—like most everyone else had been, actually, even if some were better at hiding the fact than others—said from Paula’s other side. “How long do you reckon she’ll have to wait?”

 “Not too long—if my theory is correct, then things should become clearer for you once you turn thirteen.”

 Everything screeched to a halt.

 “What?” Chatot asked, sounding scandalized. “What do you mean, once she turns thirteen? How… how old is she now?”

 “Based on how developed your mind seemed to be… I would estimate somewhere around ten, maybe eleven years of age. Possibly twelve, at maximum.”

 “WHAT?! YOU’RE ONLY HOW OLD?!” everyone demanded, absolutely flabbergasted by the revelation of how young she actually was.

 Everyone except Paula, however, who was significantly calmer as she said, “Huh. I thought you were a bit closer to my age, but it looks like you’re actually a few years younger than me!”

 Chatot’s eye started to twitch. “And… dare I ask exactly how old you are?” he said in a strangled voice, extremely wary of the answer.

 “Thirteen,” was Paula’s matter-of-fact reply.

 “WHAAAAAAAAT?!”

[rainbow-squirrels-7]

DND tonight on The Kleos Guild

-We began with scenes to set the tone of what was going on. Like scenes that the audience saw but the characters didn’t. 

-We had a suspicion throw on Peregrine, who was shown to be crossing out places where the Song Thief struck

-We had a scene of Murphy (whose town just got trapped by losing its Song Crystal) have a sad moment but be comforted by Peregrine

-There were a few scenes in Roots showing the trapped citizens including my breakfast lizards and my raven man Huitzilopotchli and my annoyed retail employee/artist, Frida 

-We saw some rich folks annoyed because their rich people cactus juice wasn’t able to be delivered, and also a meeting in Ferryrock that explained all the Guild knew about the rash of Song Crystal thefts, as this couldn’t be kept under wraps for any longer

-and we saw a scene of the Song Thief in a savanna environment knocking out some guards and heading into a jungle

-Also our Monk left the group because she was too busy, but for my plot to work out, I had to make it like she was never there, not like she just left

-anyway, my players were summoned by Peregrine who said Sam the Tiefling Guildmaster of the Emerald Division was at the Guild and said there was an emergency

-they were given some ‘morph suits’ as I described them, which had a button on the collar that caused a fishbowl air bubble to pop out when pressed. 

-My Druid kept her bubble up the whole time even before they went to the jungle

-They the warped to the jungle islands and found an African-style village, but no one was there until Sam put down the illusion and it was revealed to be a very large group of guildmembers with instruments

-the whole Divisions concept (but specifically the Emerald Division) is based on the PMD fanfiction, The Silver Resistance where there are different Divisions of Pokemon instead of Guilds, and anyway, the Emerald Division in that story is kind of stoic and uncaring, which is the inspiration for Sam’s personality. And in the story, there’s a fallen Rayquaza statue in the Emerald Division, which inspired my fallen Tree of Life statue at my own Emerald Division 

-Sam had her Division play a song: link and projected an illusion that told the story of the islands and the Emerald Division

-the Emerald Division had been on the island for generations and their ancestors found the Tree of Life deep in the jungle, and they also found a vein of pure magic within the earth, and they built a temple complex and treated the tree as sacred. then, scientists came to the island, hearing about the magic, and they forced the Emerald Division ancestors out, building the city of Noble Springs and their nucleo-magic plant on top of the temples. then there was a Chernobyl-style nuclear meltdown and the city was destroyed and abandoned and the entire jungle was made radioactive

-the players were then lead to the jungle and told that the Song Thief took one of the longer routes, but they will be taking the shortest route, trying to reach the temple before him

-my Bard has also had a Hat of Disguise this whole time, which he changes to match my environments. He had a stetson hat in Roots and he had a pith helmet in this jungle.

-they then trekked through the jungle (which had glowing green plants and irradiated animals like monkeys with two heads and birds with four wings and centipedes like eight feet long) and came across a sign they couldn’t read with an elephant on it. I was expecting someone to use a comprehend languages spell, but no one could, so they were left to wonder what it said. It said “test of faith”, though... anyway, they went forward and found a patch of quicksand.

-my Druid Tarzan-swung across, my Paladin (and Peregrine) shimmied along the edge on the trees, and my Bard froze the surface and walked across

-then they stopped to rest for the night and Peregrine requested of them all for them to let her talk to the Song Thief before they attacked. My players reluctantly agreed (they very much want to kill the Song Thief)

-the next morning, they found another sign, this time with more unreadable words (it said “test of wits”) and a picture of a panther. The test was a raging river to cross. My Druid did another vine swing. My Paladin threw a javelin across the river with a rope tied to it, and then my Bard tightrope-walked across (though it was shaky with my Druid trying to hold it while failing strength saves). My Paladin and Peregrine just hand over hand crawled across under the rope.

-then they came to the ruined city, which I described as ‘looking like Chernobyl because that’s what it’s based on”

-my Bard went to investigate a creaky rusty noise and left the party to wait for him. He came to an ‘old abandoned old abandoned amusement park’ and found a ferris wheel. he poked a ferris wheel cart and angered a gorilla that was taking a nap. the gorilla also had four arms. My Bard then thought quickly and cast an illusion of a ‘really pretty gorilla’ and my buff gorilla failed his save and went chasing after it and my Bard ‘ruined my entire giant gorilla fight’

-so he went back to the others and went up to the temple, where my Paladin saw movement around earlier. they found the door closed with this riddle on it:

-I bring back light in the darkest of times. I give hope to the hopeless in a verse that rhymes. I may give out glory, I may give out none. I am left to remember when the story is done. What am I?

-they immediately said ‘song’ but the actual answer was to play a song, so they waffled around a bit guessing things like poem, ballad, ect. until my Paladin suggested they actually play a song, and my Bard chose to play the Campfire Song Song from Spongebob. Which opened the door.

-inside, they found a hallway, and after convincing the Bard that he didn’t need to keep watch, he was left inside anyway when the door shut behind him. Then the walls started getting all Inception-y and things started getting weird. They were in an illusion of Roots, then in the battlefield where they played the Tree of Life to stop the monsters, and then in Bard City, then the arena at Gods’ Doorstep, and then in the shipyard in Ferryrock, and then on the hill in the Town of Heroes where the journey started. And then they saw stuff they didn’t recognize, which was a deep, dark, misty, quiet forest (which I had my Druid recognize vaguely, like deja-vu), and then a ruined temple that none of them recognized. 

-these last two scenes are actually places in the future, but none of them remember they’re from the future, and Peregrine lied and said she didn’t recognize them either. 

-they then found a grid of tiles on the ground, and my Bard stepped past my traps again and used Mage Hand to press on each tile individually, testing each for poison darts. And then he walked by all of them, using Mage Hand to block the dart as he stepped on the tiles. 

-then they went down a floor and found  along hallway with doors that had just shut at the end. And Peregrine ran faster than the rest of them and threw the doors open to find the Song Thief inches away from taking the Song Crystal

-There was a silent face off for a moment between both sides and Peregrine said “You have to stop this. You know what will happen.”

-and the Song Thief replied, “Then you know why I can’t do that.” and he grabbed the Song Crystal and used an Escape Orb to get out. 

-and then my players used their own Escape Orb and got out of the temple to the edge of the jungle where they got in and started running away back to the village

-they were, with combined 5+ rolls on a D10 able to yell out and tell the Emerald Division to get to the warp panel, able to save about half the Division, with the rest of them trapped on the island in silence, just like Roots and Bard City

-everyone got back to the Guild, and at this point my players are VERY suspicious of Peregrine, and she says that she has some things to say, and she calls a town meeting

-Peregrine gets anxious easily (I have her constantly holding her violin and messing with it. I only realized after we ended that I never said ‘fiddled with her violin’, which I must remedy next session) and she doesn’t like public speaking, but she gave a speech about what was going on, and what just happened in Noble Springs.

-and then she said that there are some things that are hard to believe. Including that the Song Thief was never part of the Ameythyst Division. 

-but mostly that she and the Song Thief are from the future

-and my Paladin’s player (who has played PMD) gave me a look and said “you’re having fun with this, aren’t you?” and I said, “Yes, yes I am”

-and everyone was surprised, (I had them hear a “WHAT THE-” and then get cut off, which was Rowena getting censored by her wife, Lily) and stuff. But they hatched a plan to capture the Song Thief at King’s Reach in the mountains where the Sapphire Division is based. My Bard wanted to use some sort of guarding runes or something to basically set a fire trap, but Peregrine insisted that they not kill the Song Thief, she wants to capture him and take him to face justice in the future. She suggests that they use the Tree of Life song to freeze the Song Thief in place and stop him from taking the last Song Crystal

-and then the players had another meeting with only the Guildmasters, where they tried to interrogate Peregrine, who was constantly lying through her teeth. She said she doesn’t know who the Song Thief is, that she doesn’t know why he’s stealing the Song Crystals, that she doesn’t have any connection to him. None of which is true

-My players do NOT trust Peregrine

-Which I guess is okay. They shouldn’t. But going on PMD, at this point, the Hero and Partner still trusted Dusknoir. By the PMD plot, we’re at the part just before Grovyle is captured at Crystal Cave

-Anyway, after a visit to Gerald and Charlie (my players used his Swap Cauldron to get some cool items. My Paladin got a Robot Boy which takes a player’s failed Death Save [based on the creepy doll from TAZ]. My Druid got a thermos of Super Spicy Curry that allows for a cast of Fire Bolt and a spicy aftertaste. And my Bard got some Thunder Tapshoes which can cast Thunderwave [based on the Thunder Tapshoes in BombBarded.]) my players wanted to have a private meeting with the Guildmasters minus Peregrine

-they found them and tried to interrogate them as well, asking mostly if they knew anything about Peregrine. They only said that she’s kind of a new Guildmaster (she only became it two months ago, when Bard City fell) and that she was a Professional Hero before becoming the Guildmaster. The other Guildmasters also said that they didn’t want to kill the Song Thief either, they just want things to go back to normal

-my Druid and Bard, however, do want him dead. My Paladin doesn’t. They had a player-on-player altercation that was really amazing. My Bard even cast Hold Person on my Paladin to stop her from walking out of the room because he though she was going to go tell Peregrine that they were talking behind her back

-I love when drama writes itself

-anyway, the last thing that happened was that my Paladin went outside and used her Holy Megaphone (which allows the user to shout to the sky at their god [the DM] and ask them one yes or no question). My Bard and Druid players were actually arguing at this time, so it was even better that they didn’t hear the question, as their characters weren’t there. My Paladin (who serves the Moon goddess, Selune) asked if Peregrine was telling them the whole truth. And the moon answered “No.”

-It reminded me of that whole scene with Magnus and the Voidfish, with him asking whether he should trust the Director. Man, it was cool. 

-anyway, next, they’re off to King’s Reach, where the Sapphire Division is based, and Bremen Manor, where the Song Crystal is located. I’m still deciding whether I should have a murder mystery episode because frankly, I don’t know if my players’ characters would care too much if they had to solve a mystery because they’re too focused on catching the Song Thief. But oh well, I’ll work it out. Maybe I’ll just have the capture go smoothly, and then just get on to them getting dragged to the future

-they suspect that Peregrine has some personal connection to the Song Thief, which explains why she doesn’t want to kill him. I think it’s okay that they’re figuring that out. But I don’t think any of them (besides my Paladin’s player) suspect they’re from the future, too. And nobody expects that my Bard is actually Peregrine and Kes’ half-brother.