Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 84 - What's Your Name?

The once pristine labyrinth of silk and glowing halls had holes torn through them to let in the light. Har's tail flame illuminated what was left, and they soon realized from the night's rainfall that they had to keep the holes better covered. The water that seeped through the webbing made everything sticky and soggy; without Trina's Mysticism to keep it regulated, their labyrinth was literally melting around them.

Snapping Har out of his thoughts was Ani's sigh. "I don't think Trina's coming back," she said. "Something happened."

Having an icy pit in his stomach was never a good feeling for a Fire. "Those explosions made it pretty obvious," Har said. "How's Lygo doing?"

"I healed him, but he still seems shaken up," Ani said.

Lygo had been their scout; when the sky had turned black, he had tried to flee. But then the lights had cut through the darkness, and the explosions made nearly everyone pass out—including Lygo, in midair. By the time he had regained consciousness, he'd struck the ground hard.

Even with his body healed, everyone felt a lot weaker. That explosion in the sky was one of the strongest things they'd ever seen. Har hadn't seen anything like it, either, even with his past life's incomplete memories. He did have a theory, though: streaks of light from a faraway place could only be something of divine nature, surely. And if the Book of Arceus was anything to go by...

"Whatever got Trina, it seems like Arceus himself is trying to suppress it," Har said, squeezing his claws. He glanced at his bag, which felt so much heavier than usual, and at the three scarves tucked away inside. He hoped they would still be effective if he wound up choosing to give it to them, but—

No, would he be doing that? Was he supposed to do that by now?

"Har."

"Oh—you're still here." Har nodded at Ani. "Sorry. I, um. Hi."

"You've been lost in thought all day," Ani hummed, frowning. The mutant Meganium wrapped a vine around his forehead. "You feel kind of hot. Are you sure you aren't coming down with something?"

"...I'm a Fire."

"Well, yeah, but hotter than usual. I feel like if I could feel pain, I'd be bringing my vine back by now." She did so anyway, inspecting it, and then showed Har the part of her vine that had touched him. "See? It looks a little burned."

"I don't see anything, and I have Perceive. I'm fine." Har crossed his arms.

"Har, I know when you're lying," Ani said. "I don't have Perceive, but I may as well with you." She prodded him with a vine, making sure one of her thorns dug into his chest's scales. "So, what's it going to be, Har?"

Always with the rhetorical questions. Har didn't have an immediate response. Instead, he let the slowly collapsing wall to his right, and its unstable silk congealing into a shapeless mess, distract him. Ani, however, was having none of it. She would have said more had it not been for the shout from across the field, audible only because the walls that separated the corridors had long since collapsed.

"Another mutant's woken up! S-someone, help!"

Ani cursed and looked to Har. "I'm not done, but we need to do this first." Even while she spoke, she pulled herself along, and Har followed, stretching his wings to conjure himself some forward updraft.

Har twisted in the air and drilled through a thin wall of silk to get to the struggle faster—he could already sense them. The middle of it all was an Umbreon being held down by a Throh and Sawk. Those two weren't mutants—he remembered their arrival several years ago. Outlaws in hiding that turned a new leaf under Trina. Good. Much more stable than the mutants who were losing it.