Author's note: this chapter is at about double the length of all chapters prior. Please allow yourself plenty of time if you intend to read the chapter in one sitting.
...
"Something's not right this morning. I'm telling you, I can feel it, something's going terribly wrong," Sophitia said. Her head was in her feelers as she was walked, so she bump into Pokémon in the school hallways.
"What's with her?" Cinder leaned in to whisper. He, Raiju, and Lute weren't far behind.
"I don't know. She's been saying stuff like that all morning," Lute said.
"Oooh, were you two up to some naughties?" Raiju said, half-lidded. Sophitia suddenly flew across the hallway and slapped him down.
"Don't say something so dumb. I would never!" she cried. "I've told you before that I can sense Pokémon's emotions, right?"
"You can do that?" Lute gasped. Cinder looked surprised, too.
"It's how I was able to tell Infia was hiding something. To tell the truth, Infia's the only Pokémon whose emotions I've been able to sense so far. I'm guessing it has something to do with how strong they are," Sophitia rubbed her chin. "After that incident, the feeling stopped. But last night and this morning, the feeling's back, and it's more uncomfortable than ever."
"You're probably just feeling something else. You ate a lot yesterday, maybe it's indigestion?" Lute suggested.
"Indigest- I think I'd be able to tell the difference between that. If anything, I'm still hungry," she replied.
"Of course you are," Cinder rolled his eyes.
"Wait, seriously? You had like seven stacks of pancakes this morning. And all of them had sauce!" Lute cried.
"Wow. Keep eating like that, and you'll turn into a marshmallow," Raiju giggled.
"You're gonna drop fat jokes here and I'm gonna say I don't care. What matters is my emotion sensors are outta control right now. I think something really bad's gonna happen to Infia," she looked away. The school jingle went off, signalling everyone to head to their classrooms.
"Urf, I really feel like you're overthinking. Infia's probably fine. We walked her home yesterday," Lute said as he took his place in the classroom. Sophitia moaned but joined him, but constantly watched the students as they piled into the room.
When rollcall started, it became clear to her. Infia didn't come into the room at all. That foreboding wasn't mere foreboding.
Sophitia had been woken up by the horrible tingle in her feelers. It felt the same way as when she initially sensed Infia's discomfort, only this time, it was miles worse. The fact that she felt it when the Minun wasn't anywhere near her told of just how powerful those feelings were.
It felt like a dark storm cloud had been smothering her all morning. She was cold enough to shiver, and had no idea of when this storm would end. The clouds brewed a gloomy feeling within her, but she wouldn't give in to it. Not as long as she knew that this gloom belonged to someone else.
That said, it was too much. It was too much to sit here and concentrate on trivial schoolwork while Infia was out there, feeling far worse than she could've imagined. The fear that whatever was wrong with the Minun, by the time school was over it'd probably be too late. All it took was that thought for her to bolt to her feet.
"No, I can't!" Sophitia shouted, silencing Anbi. The Umbreon gawked at her. "Sorry sir, but I need to go. Like, right now!"
"Sophitia?" Lute said.
"And you're coming with!" she demanded.
"Wait, what? Why—" he gasped, but was choked as she yanked him out of the room. Anbi put a paw out to stop them, while Raiju and Cinder ran after them. They managed to stop them in the hallway.
"Whoa whoa hey now, what in the world do you think you're doing?" Cinder hissed and flared his mane. "You can't just up and walk out of class like that. Get back in there."
"Yeah, if you leave now, Anbi's gonna kill you," Raiju added. Sophitia growled and shoved them both aside.
"This is more important. I know what I'm feeling and when my feelings are right, I'm right. Look, ah, I can't explain it," she leapt away. Lute and trio exchanged glances, and then jogged to catch up.
"Can't we talk about this properly?" Lute said.
"This isn't supposed to be talked about, this is an emergency, I know it! Think, why would Infia just not show up? She was totally fine physically, and—" she said, freezing upon exiting the building. The school gate was locked. "Lute, is there a Deposit Box in here?"
"A Deposit Box? Why would- wait, you can't, not in front of Raiju and Cinder," Lute said.
"It's an emergency, Lute. Is or isn't there a box here?" Sophitia urged.
The Eevee went quiet, prompting Cinder to speak up again. "Lute, c'mon. Help us talk some sense into her."
He stayed quiet and stared at her with a straight face. She didn't waver from her serious look at all, so he sighed aloud. "You really are convinced? Something's wrong with Infia?"
"Let's at least go to her house and see what's happened. Please," she proposed.
"Alright," he said with a gulp. Raiju and Cinder exchanged gawks.
"You realise what you're saying, right? Anbi's gonna have like, the angriest meeting with our parents if you really go through with this. What's gotten into you, how can you be on board with aimlessly stepping out of school like this?" Cinder hissed again.
"It's not aimless. It's Sophitia," Lute replied. They both frowned at him. "I know better than anyone how much trouble we're going to get in. But Sophitia's shown strange powers numerous times now. If she says she can feel something bad with Infia, and there's a chance that she's right, then I don't really want to risk it. You two should go back."
He ignored their jaw-dropped faces and led the way around the school walls, where a Deposit Box was hidden in the shade right by the wall. As soon as she saw it, Sophitia hovered toward it.
"I thought you said Everend only had one of these?" she questioned.
"It's super close to the other one, so I count it as one. And students sort of aren't supposed to use this one. It's to store tools for outside classes," he said as he used his badge on it. Raiju and Cinder rambled questions but fell to shock when they saw his badge and its effect. Lute and Sophitia ignored them and jumped into the portal.
"I-I-I'm not seeing things, am I? That was an Agents of King's Shield badge?" Raiju said, jaw-dropped. Cinder shook himself off and approached the portal.
"So that's why they've all been acting so strange, missing classes and stuff. And they never even had the chance to stop and talk to me about it," he shut his eyes.
"Cinder?" Raiju said.
"Without me even realising it... the moment Sophitia showed up, little Lute started growing up. C'mon, or we'll get left behind," he said as he made space to run and jump.
"Ah-aaahhh you as well? I thought I was going Spinda, but you as well?" Raiju cried. He whined as he watched Cinder disappear into the light. "We're gonna get in so much trouble for this!"
They both fell out of the portal onto their faces on the other side of the school walls. Lute and Sophitia weren't waiting for them, so they called out and caught up.
The group was silent, besides Raiju's questions and interest. No one answered him however, leading to an awkward trip until Infia's residence came into sight. Lute slowed down a bit, impressed with how fancy the house was. He had rarely been this close, and even though he'd seen it last night, this was his first time actually being there with the time and freedom to look around. The colours and finesse were better than he imagined from memory.
"Lute, why does Infia live in a house like this?" Sophitia asked.
"Huh? Is there something wrong with it?" he wondered.
"Kinda? It's nothing like the other houses in Everend, so I thought Pokémon would get a bit antsy and stuff with it," she mumbled a bit. "I guess this house belonged to Victoria, and she's sorta snobby, so."
"How're you feeling, though? Can you still feel Infia?" Cinder asked.
"Of course I can. In fact, it's grown stronger since we got here," she said as she approached the door. She gave it two hard knocks with a paw and stood back, letting silence fall. There was no response, even after a minute.
"Guess nobody's home," Raiju smiled.
"No no, she's in there. I know she is," Sophitia knocked again. "It's a big house, maybe she just takes a while to answer."
"Shouldn't the four of you be at school?" a deep voice said aloud, making them all flinch. They slowly turned away to see a Fennekin watching them from beyond the columns that held up the balcony.
"That guy," Lute whispered. "Wait, you're Mister Phoenix, right?"
"Oh right, the agent that was meant to look after her. You know where Infia is, don't you?" Sophitia asked. Phoenix blinked at her. "She didn't come into school today. A-and I wasn't feeling all that right either, so we came to see how she was and stuff..."
Phoenix barely moved as she trailed off, and his cold glare tore apart her confidence. Something about him felt overpowering, like his mere presence exuded authority that she daren't challenge. She gulped, half expecting him to suddenly bark so loud her ear drums would break. But he didn't, and instead marched up to the door to unlock it with an old, shapely key.
He didn't say a word, but him holding the door open was all they needed. Sophitia gulped again and warily strolled in. Her and the group were stunned by just the opening hallway. Lute's house was better than she ever anticipated a Pokémon home to look like, but this blew it all out of the water.
All the floors were carpeted and softer than a Swirlix. Fancy paintings and sculptures decorated the rooms and hallways, all neatly placed and free of dust. It was warm, well lit, and so homely that she felt shameful just being a part of it. If she knew she was going to a house like this, she'd have ensured she washed properly this morning.
More importantly, those horrible vibes hit her like a truck. She sucked in a breath and shivered as negativity trampled her from all directions. All she did was step in, yet the atmosphere here destroyed her.
"Her room is upstairs and the first right," Phoenix said. His voice was deep and static, almost robotic.
"Thanks," Lute nodded. "We'll just see if she's there or not. If everything's okay, then we'll head back to school. That's all."
"You sound so calm about it, like we're not gonna have to deal with Anbi," Raiju said, sweating.
"I'm sure it's nothing, but still," Lute said as he knocked on her door. "U-uh, hi Infia! It's us, Lute and the others."
There was no response. "U-uh er, we're coming in."
Everyone entered the same way, nervous at first and then quick once they realised that she wasn't there. Everything appeared orderly besides a broken mirror above her desk, the shards of which covered the surface. Lute and Sophitia shuddered as they slithered toward it, where they found a note. Lute hesitantly picked it up and read it in his head.
"I dunno why I'm surprised, but Infia's room is really girly. Everything's so pink and fluffy. She's got lots of Pikachu plushies!" Raiju giggled.
"It's merch from that pop star, Esther. Look at all this stuff. Lucky her, she has the room for posters and books, and is that a stack of magazines? It's like she's got every single issue or something," Cinder gawked at it all.
"Wait really? We don't even sell mags in Everend! How?" Raiju gasped.
While they rambled in awe at Infia's dedicated collection, Sophitia started her own investigation. The negative vibes had vanished, so she could focus her thoughts. She tried to look away from the obvious at first, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary besides that note and the broken mirror. She slid a feeler between some shards to brush them aside, trying not to drop them on the floor. The desk was marked with red splotches.
"B-blood?" she whispered. Cinder and Raiju stepped over. "It's dry, too. This looks like it happened last night."
"But nothing else in the room is damaged. So then, what?" Cinder said. "Lute, what does the note say?"
All eyes turned to the Eevee, but he didn't reply. He sounded like he was mumbling in terror, and his face was turning pale.
"Lute?" Sophitia said louder. He still didn't respond, so she snatched the note from him and read aloud. "By the time you are reading this, I will be long gone. If there is a soul that cares enough after finding this note, you will find my remains at the Radial Castle east of Everend."
"My remains?" Cinder said, exchanging a shocked glance with Raiju.
"I have decided that I hate this world and the Pokémon in it. Attempting to live for the sake of others has shown me that there isn't a single Pokémon worth living for, and none care for my being enough for me to stay here. And so, I relinquish all of my belongings to Lute, and I will leave the world for good," Sophitia said. She froze when it hit her. She slowly put the note down to meet everyone's speechless faces. "Wha-what the hell?"
"But why? Didn't you say you took her home last night? How did—" Cinder staggered. "Tha-that blood on the desk, don't tell me that's hers?"
"Did something happen last night? This is serious!" Raiju said.
"I can't," Lute said on a shuddering breath. It looked like tears were already forming in his eyes.
"Lute?" Cinder said.
"I just- I can't... why did she..." he muttered, blinking a lot as well. "... She's really gone?"
"No! Don't say that you idiot, she's not gone!" Sophitia shouted, looking back and forth. "She had to have written this in the morning. That means she's still here, she's gone to that Radial Castle place instead of going to school. It's still early, we can catch her!"
"You're right, she can't have gotten far. P-plus, the Radial Castle is... I don't think she can get there easily on her own," Cinder said. "You guys, we need to go. Like, now!"
"You really mean it? She's not... dead yet? We can save her?" Lute said quietly.
His voice had no strength to it at all, so no one answered. They all exchanged shaky breaths and awkward glances, until Raiju started growling, and he released a Thundershock in the space between them.
"Yes. We. Can! But not if we keep letting surprise get the better of us. Like Cinder said, we gotta go right now right this very minute," Raiju shouted, and then bolted out. Cinder growled and followed him, though the others couldn't keep up with him. The dashed after him, leaving Infia's door wide open. Phoenix was still at the bottom of the stairs, unbothered by Raiju's anxious sprint past him.
"Phoenix! Why didn't you stop her?" Sophitia screamed.
"Stop her?" The Fennekin replied.
"Infia! She left this note and she's gone off to kill herself. How don't you know about this?" Sophitia shouted.
"I was on an objective last night. This is actually my first time home since a few days ago," Phoenix took the note to skim read it. He didn't react. "Go to the Radial Castle. I'll make sure you have help."
"You're not coming with us?" she said.
"I have work to do. I can'," he stated.
"But you're supposed to be her guardian! This is kinda more important than work? Sophitia said, grabbing her fur with her feelers. Phoenix didn't change face once. "Argh, forget you! I shouldn't be surprised that bastard agents like you exist."
Phoenix still didn't react to her. Not one emotion showed on his face, not even after the group had vanished into Everend's distance.
...
If Lute ever wanted to know what true panic felt like, now he knew. Soon after their trip to the east of Everend started, all he could think about was Infia. He knew that the Minun was upset at Sophitia, but he had thought it a simple problem with Sophitia's actions, not something so bad that she would pull a stunt like this.
He didn't want to do it, but he was mentally preparing himself for the worst of this. He didn't know how to, but he expected to deal with Infia no longer being around. He couldn't imagine it either, and that thought was what had him so jittery and weak. If somebody else found something to be upset about right this very moment, he might just explode into tears.
Thankfully, no one said anything that might cause that to happen. Everyone was silent and focused, though their faces told of whether their frustration or sadness drove them. The further out from the town they went, the more those emotions disappeared into concern at their surroundings.
Lute and his friends had never been this far away from the town before. Beyond the river cave and into the distant fields normally obscured by fog during cold weather, the hilly fields of the countryside turned into tangled webs of curly weeds and soggy soil. The greenery grew long enough to tickle Lute's cheeks, while the shape of it all grew into erratic yet ugly patterns. There were enough trees and flowers to be called a forest as well, and some of it even grew fruit.
All the time during their travel, the silhouette of the towering castle in the distance became closer and closer, and as it did, so did the fog and chilly weather. It was as if Lute's increasing fears set the scenery for him, obscuring his future and forcing him to be more careful than he had ever been before.
"Do you guys know anything about this castle? Infia knew the name of it and stuff, so I'm wondering why she chose to go there," Sophitia finally broke the silence.
"It's one of Everend's only landmarks, if you can call it that. One of the places that travelling Pokémon come to town to explore. I don't really know anything else besides rumours," Cinder stated.
"Whatever's worth making note of," Sophitia said.
"They say it used to be a castle that ancient Pokémon used. Weird facts like the castle being able to fly in the sky, but now it's rooted into the ground in such a way that it's leaning constantly," Cinder explained. Lute and Raiju raised their heads in interest. "It's supposed to be a real sight to see. But feral Pokémon live there now, so Pokémon from the town normally leave it alone."
"I'm not the only one that feels like it's been covered in fog for ages now, am I?" Raiju said.
"I... think it has. I kinda saw it briefly when I first came to Everend, but even then, it was barely visible through the fog," Sophitia rubbed her chin. Lute slowly looked up at her. "Before you say anything, we both saw it when we came out of the river cave. I'm not suddenly remembering anything."
That wasn't important now, anyway. Under normal circumstances, rumours like that would drive his curiosity and excite him. But he just couldn't. The way he felt right now, any other thought was a distraction from the potential life-changing disaster that was Infia's dark note.
"Okay, now it's my turn to ask a question. Can you still feel Infia's emotions?" Cinder asked.
Sophitia stopped and shivered as chilly moisture stuck to her. "I can't. But it stopped after we found her note. It's more like the feelings were coming from the note itself and not her?"
"So we have no idea if we're too late or not," he became stern. Lute shivered hard, and he gasped quietly.
"Don't say stuff like that you dingus!" Raiju cried.
"What do you mean? That's just all the more reason to hurry," Cinder said, taking the lead. He stopped almost immediately, revealing that they had reached the castle. Just like the aforementioned rumours, the whole structure was rooted into the ground in such a way that the floor was tilted, but it didn't look difficult to walk on. Everything was made of stone, so it looked even colder inside.
Not that they could even see inside. There weren't any candles, lights, or even signs to help guide, leading to a short field of view. It didn't look like there were any decorations either, as if the place had been stripped of all evidence that it was once inhabited. It was just a stone dungeon with the layout of a castle.
"Infia really went to somewhere like this? This is scary," Lute said. "Is she planning to let feral Pokémon eat her or something?"
"I wouldn't think about that. She's somewhere here, and we need to find her. Which brings me to my next question for you two," Cinder said, still stern. "I figured it's because you're both Agents of King's Shield now, but why didn't you contact the police for this?"
"You came with us all this way before asking something like that?" Sophitia said. He didn't reply. "That's just the way how I work. I don't think the police could get here in time."
Cinder hesitated for a moment. "You're telling the truth? What about you, Lute?"
Lute flinched. "Me? Uh... I-I... I wasn't thinking straight. I just... Infia..."
"Those are pretty simple questions not to have an answer to," a new voice took their attention, making them all flinch. Lute cried out, though everyone took sides stood back to back with one another. There were no silhouettes. "Up here!"
Lute quickly turned up and quickly spotted a shadow in one of the trees nearby. It jumped towards him before he could get a proper look at it, and he cried out again, only to get muffled as the Pokémon snatched him up.
"Lute!" Sophitia gasped, following the figure with her feelers. Both were slapped away by an attack, but that let Raiju and Cinder confront the figure with bared flames and crackling electricity.
"Hey hey, quieten down already! Are you trying to get us all killed?" the Pokémon replied, stood defensively.
It was a Chespin as tall as Sophitia. He held Lute tightly under one arm while the other held the green thorns of a Needle Arm attack. The leaves of his green hood were spiked as well. Lute squirmed and let out muffled moans until the Chespin let him free from annoyance.
He was bulky for his species, bulky and tall. His figure was sturdy, the darker brown spots of his fur were styled, and he even had excess fur in a ponytail behind his head. "Kids like you are way out of your league hanging about a place like this. You wanna leave this to the experts."
"We can't do that. Our friend is in there," Sophitia said.
Chespin raised an eyebrow. "Inside a Spirle hideout?"
"Yeah! Inside the- wait wait wha whoa who wha?" Raiju spat. "Spirle hideout?"
"That's the Radial Castle. It's just a landmark for—" Cinder said.
"It's now a hideout for Spirle goons and a High Point. Take the word of a mercenary," Chespin corrected them. A sloppy roar echoed through the air, and they all turned to the castle. "Look, I don't have time for this. Be good kids and just get out of here, okay?"
He ran inside before anyone could object, though more of the cries came from within. Lute shook himself off and ran after him. "We don't have time to be standing around, either! Guys, let's just go!"
"So to answer my questions, you two are just the attack first, ask questions later type?" Cinder said.
"I guess you could say that, but does it matter?" Sophitia said.
The group ran inside but quickly halted when the sound of a battle took over. It was too dark and foggy to see the distant walls from in here, but there were flashes and glows from attacks going off. A fierce battle was going down between the Chespin and some dark coloured opponents, a couple of giants.
"Wait a minute, those noises, are those Risen?" Sophitia gasped.
"Sophitia, observe first, strategize!" Cinder cried.
She didn't listen to him. She ran right towards the combatants. They were Risen after all, the slimy, mud-coloured monsters with fat scythes for arms and hulking figures. One of them roared at Sophitia from behind its mask, making her fur stand on end. Its piercing red eyes were the only feature that stood out in the lighting.
Lute was right behind her. He didn't think twice about using Swift. He jumped above the blue Sylveon and threw his attack at the Risen, and although it didn't flinch, it turned its attention on him, evident by a roar in his direction.
"Uh oh," he staggered away.
"Hey Lute, not the time for training. I'll take him out, you guys look for Infia," Sophitia called out as she summoned her magic sword and shield. She bashed against the monster's arm and then tried to slice it, but her blade bounced right off its muddy skin. "What the?"
"Get down!" Chespin cried, coming out of nowhere. He punched the back of her head hard enough to knock her to the floor, but that let a Fire Blast attack stream right over her.
She didn't have time to thank him, though. There were two Risen, and the one that Chespin fought held a large fireball on each hand. It unleashed them one at a time, the first one at Chespin who dodged with a dive to the side, while Sophitia blocked the second with her shield. It still sent her skidding across the floor, however.
"Sophitia!" Lute cried, blinking tears away. "N-no, I'm not going to leave you like this."
"Then just don't get yourself hurt," she growled.
"You gotta be kiddin' me," Raiju popped up beside them. "Look I'm ready to run when you guys are, but I ain't bein' the scaredy Meowth of the group."
"If we take this thing down, we're doing it together. Everyone, attack at once," Cinder growled at it as well.
"But I can't—" Sophitia was about to say. She cut herself off when she saw the three of them ready their powers. Lute used Swift, Cinder threw up a Flamethrower, and Raiju cried out to release a Thunderbolt. The three attacks hit one of the Risen directly in the chest, making it cry out. A blast occurred, and it stumbled and fell to its back. "Wow. You two are stronger than I expected."
"Evolution gives you a default edge," Raiju snickered.
Meanwhile, Chespin was still dealing with the fire-throwing Risen. He alone had the strength to stagger it with Needle Arm, but nothing brought it to the ground. He avoided several blasts of flame and countered with hefty punches, but his fight halted when that Risen suddenly backed off from him.
The other Risen stood back up and communicated with its partner through gurgled growls. That raised eyebrows and obvious questions, but all were answered soon after when the muddy monsters dove into one another. Their dirty figures glowed for a moment, and then began to melt into each other, combining into one colossal, hulking monstrosity. With four arms, sludgy waste that dribbled off constantly, and a hunching pose that made it look like it didn't even fit into the room, it roared with an irritating volume.
"Okay, that's new," Chespin said, wide-eyed. The Risen drew back two of its fists, and he shot over to Lute and the others. "Oh shit!"
All of them cried out as the fists were swung, but all they felt was the force of a heavy impact that shook the ground. Sophitia was the first to look up. The Chespin protected them all. A large, thorny shield had grown from his glowing back. "Of course, Spiky Shield."
"Less wows, more gettin' out of here like I told you to," Chespin growled, straining to keep the shield up.
"Right," Lute cried as he dashed free with the others. The moment they all moved away, Chespin let up his shield and jumped high to avoid another punch. He ended up diving and rolling across the ground to avoid subsequent attacks from the colossal Risen, ending with his back to a corner of the room.
"Oh no, we've gotta help him," Raiju cried.
"How? We can't even touch something like that," Cinder said.
"Well we've got to do something," Sophitia cried.
The fight continued before they were ready, with the Risen holding two of its hands high. Fire Blast attacks emerged at the palms of both, while the other two arms pulled back to smash the ground. Chespin stared it all down with a cocky smile.
The Fire Blasts came first. The moment one was fired, he dove into a Rollout attack and slipped between the Risen's feet. He kept rolling and curled around the second Fire Blast, and then jumped out of his attack to let vines extend from his shoulders. As the Risen twisted around to try and smash him into the ground, he wrapped his vines around its legs, releasing the attack by flipping back into Rollout.
Before anyone realised, there was a thick tangle of vines around the legs of the Risen. Chespin didn't stop there however - he rolled up the monster's arm, swinging himself with fluent momentum until he reached the monster's head. Once there, he kicked off of it to launch himself even higher, coming down with both arms pulled back. However, his body glowed with a sparkling burst of green energy.
"Frenzy Plant!" Chespin roared at the top of his voice, using both arms to hammer down into the Risen.
The green energy exploded from him in the shape of vicious roots lined with spikes. The roots wrapped themselves around the top half of the Risen, making it stumble backward. It tripped thanks to the prior Vine Whip, and then the roots exploded, sending the monster to the ground with enough force to shake the whole castle.
Cries and smoke took over the room from the impact, and Lute and the others had to shield themselves even from their distance. Several angst filled moments later, the smoke began to clear and the cries of the Risen stopped. The entire top half of the monster had been disintegrated, leaving only a melting bottom half. Chespin was a good distance from it, breathing aloud and crouched on one hand. Once the smoke cleared, he stood up in triumph. "Now that was a workout."
"H-he took that whole thing out by himself," Sophitia said, jaw-dropped.
"If that was a Chesnaught, I wouldn't be so surprised. But I'm not dreaming, am I?" Cinder said. "Did you see that? He knew Frenzy Plant."
"The strongest grass type move," Raiju remarked.
"So what, you kids don't know how to follow instructions or something?" Chespin commented. "I told you to leave how many times. Don't make me have to make you leave."
"We-were not going. I-I mean, thank you, you're amazing!" Lute shook himself.
"Okay. Are you just dumb sightseers?" Chespin raised an eyebrow.
"No. We came here to find our friend. She's here, she came here to... oh gods, we don't have time to mess around. We need to find Infia, she could be anywhere here," Lute glanced at the others.
"Infia?" Chespin repeated.
"Lute, what've I told you about saying too much? Yeah our friend a Minun came here. I'm not gonna doubt you in that this is a Spirle hideout since those Risen were here, but we really can't leave until we find her," Sophitia explained. Chespin was quiet.
"So that's what this is about. You're just her friends I take it?" Chespin folded his arms. "Well this is a horrible place for a game of hide and seek, but I'll let you look around if you follow my lead and don't get in my way."
Sophitia groaned while Cinder stepped forward and bowed. Raiju copied a moment later. "We really appreciate your help, sir. Thank you for saving us as well."
"A High Point is here, so I'm serious. Don't play hero and stay behind me," Chespin instructed as he walked past them.
"Risen, a High Point, Spirle members..." Lute hung his head. "N-no. I can't be scared. Infia came here, but she's still alive. She has to be."
"If she was killed by those Risen, we'd have found a body. So you don't need to worry about that," Chespin said. Lute looked up at him in surprise, even though he wasn't looking at them. "Stay behind me, now."
Lute and the others exchanged weird glances and then followed at a distance. At one of the corners of the room was an unseen staircase that spiralled upwards in a square fashion. At the end of each steep section was a corridor to another area of the castle or a room. All of it was so high up and distant that the furthest walls were shrouded in fog, and their field of view soon reduced to the limited light Sophitia's magic shield gave off. Chespin didn't seem to be bothered by that, however.
"Hey er, mister? What's your name?" Raiju asked once they came to a stop. Chespin checked out one of the corridors, but quickly concluded to move on.
"I don't think that's important," he replied.
"That... makes it hard to trust you, even though you just saved us," Cinder said.
"You're good kids, and I'm just a naughty mercenary that you're probably not gonna run into again after today," Chepsin smirked.
"But you—" Lute began.
"Trust me, kid. It's much better if you don't know who I am. After today, forget that you saw me," Chespin glanced back. His serious look made Lute's heart heavy.
"Yeah. Like we're just supposed to accept that as a reason," Sophitia said. "So what's so important about you that you have to stay secret? Who are you?"
"What do you wanna know about me?" Chespin raised both eyebrows at her.
"Ugh, don't give me that look. I just asked for your name," she turned away. He answered her by holding out his right arm. Only now they noticed a gold bracelet on it. "So what? You're rich or something?"
"No Sophitia, it's a unison bracelet. Pokémon who are married wear matching bracelets or rings with their partners," Cinder stated.
"Hu-what? What does that have to do with me asking questions?" she replied.
"It means I'm taken, hun. No names, no addresses. Plus, you should probably aim for a dude your own age," Chespin said.
"That's not what I'm talking about!" she cried.
"Oh, so you swing both ways?" he commented.
"What- tsk, you're going to annoy me rather than answer, aren't you?" she growled.
"Well you won't take no for an answer, so," he shrugged, stopping at another corridor. His face switched. "This isn't good. It's starting to look like Spirle bailed while we were fighting. This place is empty. Their machines aren't even around."
"But then where would Infia be?" Lute moaned. Chespin thought about it for a moment. "Sh-she came here to kill herself!"
Chespin flinched. "Why didn't you tell me it was that serious? At the top. If I was to guess a suicide method that wasn't those Risen, then a jump from the peak would—"
"N-no, I don't want to- Infia!" Lute cried, shaking his head. He flew into a Quick Attack and bolted up the stairs.
"Wait you idiot, this might be a trap!" Chespin cried, sticking an arm out.
"Lute!" the others called out as well.
It was still a long way up, but Quick Attack made it more of a long sprint. If there was a chance she was there, then Lute desperately didn't want to miss her. He couldn't afford to, and he hadn't let go of that thought even once.
The staircase reached its peak in the middle of the wall rather than in a corner, where the final steps led out onto a flat roof high in the sky. He had to skid to a stop to not crash into the wall thanks to how sudden the change of layout was, but that enabled him to see all that he needed to see.
There she was. Infia was at the far end of the roof, stood on top of the battlements with her back to him. It looked like she was hugging herself, but it was difficult to make out the details thanks to the sunset obscuring her colours. He knew it was her. The shape and height matched up perfectly.
He lost his voice as she stepped forward. Just then, everything besides Infia, this setting, and himself, seemed to vanish from reality. She stepped off the roof, and he was the only one who could have stopped her. He screamed her name and burst forward with Quick Attack again, throwing himself over the merlon without thinking about it.
He met her lifeless face once he was over the edge, catching up enough to cradle her in his front paws. His chest heaved with the crazy increase in momentum, and he shut his tearing eyes, doing nothing but pull her into his chest as tightly as he could.
"Son of a- argh!" Chespin roared, on the edge of the roof himself. His vines were stretched out and had just about grasped Lute by his tail, but that awful grip had him slide forward just too far. He made an effort to pull back, but his feet slipped off the footing.
"No!" Sophitia screamed. The moment he slipped off the ledge, her paws wrapped around Chespin's front, and then Raiju's wrapped around her waist, with Cinder doing the same for Raiju. With a Pokémon chain formed, the lot of them pulled back with all their might, flinging Lute and Infia high in the air. They all landed in a messy, painful heap, but Lute ignored all of those feelings to get up and cradle Infia once again.
"Oh my gods," he whispered continuously, trembling uncontrollably. She didn't move in his arms, but that didn't stop him from nuzzling into her. She was almost like a lifeless doll, limp and expressionless.
"Holy cow that was close," Raiju said as he stood up with everyone else.
"Close is an understatement," Cinder huffed.
Chespin looked like he was going to have a go at them until he realised Lute's state. The Eevee and Minun both shivered hard from the near-death situation, so he decided to step back instead, sliding out of view of Lute's friends who crowded round.
"Infia... please, don't ever do that again," Lute whispered, moaning in an effort to hold back tears. They were both still breathing heavily, but quietened down.
Although her blank appearance never changed, Infia eventually slid her arms around Lute and slowly slid her face into his mane. Never before had it felt so good to bury herself into his warmth.