Sojaveña Wilds Silver Ravine Mystery Dungeon

[Tetra]

"...You met him?" A day ago he would have been more shocked by the information but after everything that had just happened it felt like a drop in the bucket of confusion. Although the mention that it had been Wes behind the idea left a sour taste in his mouth. And you think you're better? "I guess that explains why he's supposedly so strong." He eyed Archie, feeling a pang of sympathy. "I'md glad you got away okay though."

Koa started to walk back in the direction of town as he mulled over everything Archie said. "So the the shadow voice... you think thats the same as the 'organic shadows' Alex mentioned? They don't seem to be working together but maybe their voice is using them?"

 

[Weazel]

The Oshawott nodded, falling into step beside the Electrike, paws in his pockets.

“I think it’s likely,” he said, “They’re both obsessed with this balance and how we go against it somehow. They're both using Shadow powers but acting in opposition to the artificial Shadows. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex himself is the Shadow Voice, to be honest. I don’t exactly trust that Zweilous to be entirely truthful…”

He glanced at Koa, pensively, before finally asking, “Are… You going to be okay? I think this is, uh… A lot to deal with all at once.”

 

[Tetra]

Alex being the shadow voice wasn't something he hadn't considered. At Archie's next question, Koa fell quiet for a moment. "I shouldn't have brought you out here. I-I'm sorry. I thought..." You thought you were so clever. But you're a failure. He frowned, then shook his head. It didn't manner anymore what he thought they could do.

"Do you think Alex was right? Will we really have to use these 'shadows'?"

 

[Weazel]

“Hey, don’t be sorry,” the Oshawott said, trying his best to be soothing. “I made the decision to come here myself, you didn’t force me or anything.”

In fact, it was Archie’s fault they’d come all the way to Silver Ravine to begin with. Koa couldn’t blame himself for that! Although, the Electrike didn’t exactly answer his question, either… Maybe it was too difficult a topic to broach right now?

“Well, I hope we don’t have to,” he shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was give in to the corruption, or accidentally spread it further, “Still, we’re going to come up against tougher and tougher opponents, that much is true. The temptation’s going to be there, and, there may come a time we have to decide if we want to risk using this power, or let someone get hurt when we could’ve prevented it...”

 

[Tetra]

He wanted to protest that trying to get information from Alex had been his idea, and going off into the wilderness had been his too. That Archie didn't deserve to get dragged into his stupid decision. But the words stuck in his throat. What was the point? It wouldn't change anything now. "I hope we don't." Liar. What would he do if it came to that? A dreadful feeling deep inside him told him one way or another, they would find out.

"We might not have a choice," he added softly, soft enough that it was barely audible. Mewtwo's question echoed in his thoughts.

"Someone asked me a question a little while go. What do you think it means to have power? What's important about it?" He turned to Archie, both curious and somehow apprehensive to hear what he thought. "What do you think?"

 

[Weazel]

He paused, taking a moment to stare at Koa in some confusion. That was a strange question out of nowhere! He wondered just where it had come from, or what had possessed Koa to ask it… Still, he wanted to give a decent answer, at least.

“The thing about power is, it reveals,” Archie said, “when you give someone the power to do anything they want to do, you very quickly learn what it is they want to do. And, just as importantly, you learn what isn’t particularly important to them.”

He shrugged, apologetically, “Sorry, I guess that’s a little esoteric? But, basically, the most important thing about power, to me, is what having it tells you about someone. And it’s not just physical strength, either. Even physically strong Pokemon can be powerless. Real power is often soft, sometimes it’s even unnoticeable.”

 

[Tetra]

What will it reveal about you?

Koa hummed in agreement, but didn't reply for several seconds. How many times had it taken someone with power to take action back home? Those who were responsible for stopping evil. The way Giratina had stepped in to stop Galactic, who's come so close to using the power of legendaries. And now here they were growing stronger daily thanks to whatever forces were at play. Except Alex was like them too, possibly even more powerful.

"So you think we should use this power if we have to then?"

 

[Weazel]

Archie hesitated again. He really didn't want to have anything to do with this power. He'd rather just forget it existed. Maybe that made him a coward? But, even so, if it came down to it, if the option was to use the Shadow or see someone get hurt, would he be able to forgive himself if he chose the latter? Would Koa?

"I wouldn't think any less of you if you choose not to use it," he said. "But... If someone got hurt because I was too scared to do anything, I don't know if I could live with myself."

He took a deep, shaky breath, "And, I think Alex's right. We need to at least learn to control it, so we don't put the others in danger."

 

[Tetra]

Archie's answers felt somewhat evasive, but then he couldn't blame the Oshawott. He didn't even know how he himself really felt yet. "Then I guess we don't have a choice. You're right. We have to learn so that if the time comes we can do use it." He couldn't muster any conviction behind his words however. He felt trapped. They were already tainted. And yet...

Dragging his thoughts away from the spiral, he tried to keep his focus on the present. One paw in front of the other. "Power is to protect so... I'll try to protect and help anyone I can."

 

[Weazel]

Koa had a good head on his shoulders. Archie felt that if anyone could prove the old maxim about there being no such thing as good and evil powers, just good and evil people, true, it would be the Electrike. And he was right, besides! If they had to use this power, they would use it to keep people safe. And who knew, if their motives stayed pure, and their cause remained just, maybe it would help them not lose themselves to the Shadows.

“I’ll try, too,” the Oshawott nodded. They couldn’t give into despair. It’d only make things worse.

But for now, the most important thing was learning to control it. They had three days to inform the others and gather them all together for the first lesson. The Oshawott was dreading having to explain to everyone else from the Haus misadventure that they were now corrupted, even if just a little. And that was before having to consider the group at large knowing, too. Maybe they could convince Betel to keep that little bit secret, at least until they’d informed the people the corruption may have actually seeped into.

 

[Tetra]

At least he wasn't entirely alone in facing shadows. As unhappy as he was that Archie had been dragged into this, perhaps it was better not to be in solitude.

Speaking of being alone... "I wonder if Betel is back," he mused.

'Betel? Can you hear us again? Are you ok? Do you know who or what that was?'

 

[Jackie Cat]

There was a light pressure in the air, and then, like a word coming to mind after an age on the tip of one's tongue, there was Betel's presence again in their minds.

Koa?

Archie?

There you are! I can hear you again, at last.

Are you safe? Are you well?

...

What... happened to you both?

Why do you look like that?​

 

[Tetra]

Koa stopped dead in his tracks. His heart skipped a beat.

'Look like what? And why do you sound like that? Betel what's going on?'

 

[Weazel]

Archie practically froze midstep, as the relief from hearing their Guardian's voice again was quickly replaced by a growing lump in his stomach. He felt his blood turn to ice again, and for a moment, he wondered if Alex had returned to hit them with another of those dark bolts of his.

Betel? We're okay, but... Are you?

 

[Jackie Cat]

...I do not know. ​

Communication with Betel usually gave the Wayfarers a faint, gentle sense of their presence. Easy, unobtrusive, placid. Like a soft light, adding in the slightest way to an otherwise lit room. A candle in the dawn.

Archie. You have... Shadow in you.​

Now, however, that gentle presence seemed to gutter and flare and suck at the light around it.

It is in ME, now.
​

A sense of hollowness in the back of one's mind. A sense of darkness. A sense of falling.

​

I cannot help it! We are linked! I reach for you and the Shadow enters me!
​

Panic.

​

This is UNFAIR! I HATE this!!
​

What happened?? What did he do to you? What did YOU do??

I did not know what was going on! I waited! I was so SCARED.
​

I am always so scared.​

​

Koa. It is in you too. Why do you have Shadow in your soul??

What do I do? How can I get RID of it? I do not know what to do.
​

Please. Help me.​

I do not know what I am doing. I do not know who I am. I do not know what I am for.

I am so...

...useless.​

 

[Weazel]

I…

Even though Betel wasn’t actually, physically, in front of them, Archie still found himself taking a step back from the sudden intensity of the reaction coming from the voice. They way their voice shifted, small to large, loud to quiet, smooth to rough. It sounded so much like how Seth’s voice got, when the Lycanroc’s emotions were flaring. The Shadow had somehow made the jump from them to Betel. And, if it could jump from them to their Guardian, then, surely the reverse must be true, too. That meant…

Very soon, the corruption will have spread to every one of them. Archie covered his muzzle with a paw, and placed the other over top of his stomach. The Oshawott thought he was going to be sick. What were they going to do now?

I… Betel, we’re so sorry. We’re scared too, and… We don’t know what to do either.

 

[Tetra]

What did you do? Its inside you. Inside you...
Look what you did. You did this.

Betel's frenzied ramble swallowed his thoughts. The ground under Koa seemed to tilt and sway. Archie's voice faded and the world narrowed. He dug his claws into the dirt, trying to steady himself. His breath caught in his throat.

Shadow in your soul.

He opened his mouth to speak. To say something. All the words he wanted to say seemed to simply slip leech away. He was a failure. Tainted. Corrupted. And now he'd passed it on to Betel.

'I'm.. I'm sorry Betel. I didn't mean... I' His thoughts jumbled together. 'You're not useless. We just have to... Figure this out...' He couldn't muster any conviction in his words.

 

[Jackie Cat]

The sensation of dread ebbed, flowed... stabilised.

Figure this out...?

I can try.

Oh... I am sorry for panicking. I do not mean to be unhelpful.

...Koa. Archie.

Everything... will be alright.
​

There was a long pause. Betel's voice was not really a sound, but it still felt like speech. On occasion, the stilted lexis they used made the absense of breaths noticeable. Following their brief but acutely distressing breakdown, the lack of sobs and panting was particularly evident.

It is okay. I can connect to you, without... being overwhelmed.

I can tolerate the darkness and not despair.​

 

[Tetra]

'I'm sorry,' he said again softly. He'd had no problem putting himself in danger to try and help the team. But the realization that what they'd done had affected Betel so badly...

Guilt gnawed at Koa relentlessly, but at least hearing Betel slowly calming helped take of the edge. His thoughts were still spiraling, but he forced himself to focus on present. The ground beneath his paws, the sense of Archie enarby, the breeze stirring his fur. He had to fix this, somehow. Had to keep moving forward.

'Betel do you know... what it was that silenced you? Anything at all?'

 

[Weazel]

‘It’s okay to feel overwhelmed sometimes.’ Archie thought, trying to be consoling. It seemed that the initial shock had passed, at least. Hopefully Betel was right. Hopefully everything would be okay after all. They’d be able to figure something out together. At least, the Oshawott had to tell himself that, for his own mental wellbeing. Something Alex had said was still bothering him, though…

Oh, Betel? It’s okay if you’re not sure, but Alex thought you might have some guesses about who he’s working for. He said that they’re concerned with the natural balance of the world, and while they’re not evil, they are the source of natural shadow in this world. They’re not keen on us being here, but are maybe willing to accept it in the short term so long as we all leave this world once it’s been saved…

The Oshawott crossed his arms, and frowned again. That had been the idea, right? They’d all go home once whatever crisis had necessitated their summoning was dealt with. And they’d forget everything that had happened here, too… For some reason, Archie was finding himself increasingly less keen on that second bit.

I think… Unless Alex is lying about something, the Shadow Voice that’s been contacting us in our dreams is this supposed master of his, if it’s not the Zweilous himself.