Little Scriven Lumirror Forest

[Weazel]

The more time he spent in Lumirror Forest, the more Archie was sure he’d see the place in his nightmares. It wasn’t like the dungeon was particularly terrifying, or even threatening at all. It just had that sense of uncanny wrongness to it that left one feeling a lingering sense of dread. He’d never experienced a Mystery Dungeon quite like this one, not even Silver Ravine could compare on the ‘this is not a place for mortal eyes to see’ scale. What really sealed the deal, though, was when they’d finally bumbled their way through the blinding maze, only to momentarily find themselves in the Void. The great expanse of nothingness lasted for just long enough to make the Oshawott start to stress that maybe they’d been trapped within it, before, finally, reality started pulling itself back together.

Here, they were confronted with their third – possibly final? – challenge. A riddle, something they could only have so long as they didn’t share it. And in order to progress, they’d have to share one… if they had it, they didn’t share it. If they shared it, they didn’t have it. Usually the answers to these kinds of riddles were deceptively simple. The trick was not to overthink it. So, keeping that in mind, the first possible answer that came to mind was…

“A secret?” The Oshawott asked, “Does it want us to share a secret with each other?”

 

[MintyMimix]

The leaves all around them shimmered in a beautiful prismatic wave as the bud of the paper flower shuffled a bit in place. The dungeon was pleased with Archie's answer.

"I think ya hit the mark there, friend," Ghaspius remarked with a chuckle. "Maybe it likes stories, too?"

He spun upside down as he let out a long hum. "I guess I ought to start this, since I dragged y'all here. Let's see... secret, secret— ah, I got one!" The metaphorical light bulb above his head was quickly knocked away as he righted himself and took on a more serious expression. His next words came in a whisper.

"My secret is... I'm a self-made orphan." His eyes shifted from side-to-side. The leaves almost appeared to lean in, as though eager to listen. "Uh, not in that way. We were merchants. Parents kept tryin' to get me to 'inherit the family business'. Showed me every dirty trick in the book to fleece money outta folk. Even go as far as to poison on purpose to sell 'em medicine."

The Misdreavus furiously shook his head. "I ran off, met my sister, and got into the Sun tribe, and well, the rest is history." He didn't seem too eager to go into the rest, but his smile returned as he looked to the others. "I think it wants to hear what you all have to say, too."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Gladion felt a song of fear in his heart. This was worst possible “puzzle” he could have been faced with. He scrambled for some other secret, some lesser truth to share. One that wasn’t as mortifying as the one drilling it’s way through his skull right now. But he couldn’t, because there was only one thing burning in every corner of his mind, feeling as if it could suck all the oxygen from the inside of his helmet until—

“I’m also a ‘self-made orphan’ of a sense. Family had unnatural amounts of money, and wanted a successor. I… was not that. My parents wanted one kid, to make sure there could be no disputes, but they ended up with twins. Got the sense I was the excess one. There were… pieces of myself I wasn’t willing to compromise on, we fought about it. My father bit it, the fighting got worse, I bailed…”

He took a deep breath. “I left my sister, though. She… didn’t have the same issues that drove me off, per se. Don’t know how that went, we haven’t spoken since.”

He could only hope that was good enough.

 

[canisaries]

Andre figured out the answer moments before the oshawott spoke it. He froze. Would he really have to share a secret? Surely the riddle only meant one of them needed to, right?

Well, no. It seemed like the dungeon wanted everyone to go. Shit. What could he say? He obviously couldn't tell them the secret. Was there a smaller one?

Well...

There was one that he'd feel better getting off his chest. It would show the others that he wasn't as innocent as he acted, but not much more.

He sighed. "You all remember how, in the team meeting, we went over how Wayfarers struck by Shadow attacks heard a voice in their dreams the night after, a voice we now know to have been Powehi? Well... I heard it, too. But I lied about it to Ridley, and I was going to lie to everyone else as well. I thought that only I had heard it. 'You don't belong here.' I thought the voice that said it knew things about me. Things I've done that are... disagreeable. That would mean I wasn't a hero. And I thought I shouldn't tell anyone in case they'd find out too. But... now you know. I know I can't force you to keep that secret, but I would really prefer it if you did. I don't want people to distrust me. I don't want us to distrust each other in general."

He paused, eyeing the others, hoping that no one would press him on what those 'disagreeable' things had been. Or question whether he actually regretted them.

 

[MintyMimix]

Ghaspius's expression turned serious and moved towards the Graydian. "Hey, I totally get it," he said, as the whimsy in voice slowly left behind. "Family's what you find in your heart, not what's in your blood." His intense red eyes indicated a want to speak more on it, but he shook his head. He knew when not to press on.

"I ain't no hero either. Ya think a potion man with a cart is a savior?" he asked as he spun to meet Andre's gaze. "What matters is that you're here now, ya know?" His expression softened. "Together. And we'll need to be honest with each to build that trust."


The petals shuffled, pleased with Ghaspius's words. A few cranes settled down close to them — curious listeners enraptured by the tales of woe they weaved. Still, a few of them shook, not quite satisfied. There was still another that needed to answer.

One even leapt up towards the Wayfarers and unfolded itself. 'Good, good. Let yourselves reflect with these tales! But oh, is it really enough? Aren't you all omitting something just beneath the surface? Not even the deepest of secrets, but a simple basic fact you hide? We sense it from at least two of you!'


Ghaspius winced at that. While he wasn't sure about the others, he himself let out a sigh. "Okay, fine. Fine. The other part I didn't say is... I know exactly how my parents wanted me to conduct business. It involves a potion recipe I discovered while I was under them. An icky, nasty, slimy potion."

His expression twisted. "It can cure anything in my world, but it's kinda... sorta... hypnotic. In a mind control-y way. I don't want to say anymore. I don't even want to think about it. And I sure as stars ain't givin' to them or anyone else in the world."

 

[Weazel]

So, each of them had to reveal a secret? Did he even have one to reveal to begin with? Most of his own life was a secret even to Archie! Should he tell them about what happened in Silver Ravine? No, Koa had already spilled the beans on that. Somehow, it didn't feel like it would count if the others already knew. So, that just left...

"Earlier, when I said I was an Oshawott Adventurer in my previous world, that wasn't the whole truth," he said. "See, originally, I'm a human, from a place called Castelia City. That was where I grew up. Until, one day..."

He hesitated, took a deep breath, the continued, "One day my world ended. A monster appeared, and it ate the sun. I escaped through a portal into a new world, where I became an Oshawott, and started a new life."

Hopefully that was enough to satisfy the Dungeon.

 

[canisaries]

"I ain't no hero either. Ya think a potion man with a cart is a savior?" he asked as he spun to meet Andre's gaze. "What matters is that you're here now, ya know?" His expression softened. "Together. And we'll need to be honest with each to build that trust."

Andre smiled at that. "Thanks," he said quietly.

One even leapt up towards the Wayfarers and unfolded itself. 'Good, good. Let yourselves reflect with these tales! But oh, is it really enough? Aren't you all omitting something just beneath the surface? Not even the deepest of secrets, but a simple basic fact you hide? We sense it from at least two of you!'

He froze at his confession apparently not having been enough, but the fact that they specified it to be just something simple...

Fine. "Alright. I also want to say that I do not regret what I did. I thought I did the right thing." And I would do it again. And I have.

He hesitated, took a deep breath, the continued, "One day my world ended. A monster appeared, and it ate the sun. I escaped through a portal into a new world, where I became an Oshawott, and started a new life."

Andre could visualize the sun going out. He could imagine the Earth growing colder, plants dying, ecosystems collapsing, oxygen depleting, the entire population of the planet dying out.

"Gods, that's terrible," Andre said. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Earlier, when I said I was an Oshawott Adventurer in my previous world, that wasn't the whole truth, . . . I became an Oshawott, and started a new life."

“Shit…”

Gladion felt his secret was almost petty in comparison. Not enough to want to share anything el—

'Good, good. Let yourselves reflect with these tales! But oh, is it really enough? Aren't you all omitting something just beneath the surface? Not even the deepest of secrets, but a simple basic fact you hide? We sense it from at least two of you!'

Fuck.

Okay, Ghaspius was one. Archie seemed above-board. Andre… he’d really hoped the other was Andre, but… Andre wasn’t admitting to basic facts, he was going off the shadow lie and talking about whole new subjects… Sure, he was flagrantly burying the details of the new one, but that probably hadn’t been the problem. He almost wanted to keep waiting to see if it would press him but the longer he was silent the worse it was going to be when it didn’t happen. Because it would suggest he was ashamed of it, and he knew better than that. As much as he didn’t like sharing it, as much as a sense of dread was boring through him at the thought of doing so, that feeling wasn’t shame… was it? Though really, what else could it have been? Couldn’t even say he was afraid of being tied to his past this time.

And there was no point in waiting to see, no matter if Ghaspius or Andre had the first to lie by omission. He knew who other person was.

Someone who left out a single word.

People hadn’t stopped talking yet. Archie’s secret… Of course people were paying attention to that. Consoling him. He should still be, too. But he had something else to say instead. A fix for the largest, smallest, frightening, and most trivial lie-by-omission.

“…Identical twin…”

Rationally, he doubted it would matter. Dead worlds were in play. It shouldn’t matter, and yet he emotionally braced for impact anyway.

 

[MintyMimix]

He hesitated, took a deep breath, the continued, "One day my world ended. A monster appeared, and it ate the sun. I escaped through a portal into a new world, where I became an Oshawott, and started a new life."

"It... ate the sun?" Ghaspius muttered in disbelief as he tried to wipe the sweat off his brow. "Well, I can't say I blame ya for wantin' to associate yourself with one life instead of the other, but still..." The number of actual Pokémon he knew was dwindling. What, was he going to find out he was human at some point, too?

“…Identical twin…”

The Misdreavus nearly missed the Graydian's words in his musings, but he tilted his head at that. Why would he be ashamed of having being a twin? Double eggs happened all the time. He opened his mouth to ask, but he got hit in the face with a crane before he could say anything more.

'You have all laid your hearts bare and the reflection shines brilliantly. But there is yet one more amongst your group that ought to speak. The one whose presence called us to open the path to begin with. Their secret, their stories... intrigue us most!'

"Uh, Betel, I think the dungeon... wants you to join in...?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

...Me?

Oh.

...Oh!

I did not anticipate that I should be considered part of the group for the purposes of the puzzle! How unexpected, and diverting...! I shall have to think of a secret to share, then!

Oh, but... Secrets are only secrets because one does not wish to share them. And to share secrets, one must have secrets to begin with. I now... understand.

...

I have a secret to share.

I have many questions about myself, as have many Wayfarers. Since summoning you, I have been searching for answers to those questions, and thinking on what I know already. ...I realised something about myself some time ago, and did not inform the party of my conclusion. I have never lied to any of you, heroic spirits. Nor shall I; I promise. But I did not tell you what I realised about myself, because I was... afraid.

...Neither have I told you what I remember of my life before I summoned you.

​

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Even if it didn’t slow his heart racing, Gladion didn’t mind a new subject to latch on to.

“Alright! I guess you’ve got two options. Which one are you more comfortable with? Or, also any too important to stay quiet about…”

 

[MintyMimix]

A brief glimmer of the heart shined for the briefest of moments as the paper petals shifted with great interest, but it quickly sealed them back up as the dungeon realized its folly. Even if it had no direct involvement, there was a clear enough sense of gravitas to what was being conveyed to catch their wonder.

"Afraid? Why would it be somethin' to fear?" Ghaspius innocently asked as he tilted his head to the endless white void above. "Ya brought us here to help, and you've been nothin' but a good, helpful voice-pal. Whatever spooky stuff ya got behind ya, it ain't gonna change any of that one bit!"

His pearls shined beneath his scarf alongside the patterning upon his forehead. "I promise! You can tell us what ya realized 'bout yourself. We won't judge."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Before I met any of you, I have memories of being... tested.

I know that I was not yet fully aware of myself, and had not learned to navigate the Astral Plains. I believe that I must have been incompletely formed, or subdued in some way, or perhaps had not fully entered that plane. All the same, I recall being asked questions, and to perform tasks. I was asked what I knew about the world before I even knew that there was a world, or what one was. I was asked if I could manifest a true physical form.

I was asked to bring humans to Forlas.

It was not the hero – Starr Sakari – who asked these things. She came later, just as I was becoming fully aware of myself, and of the Astral Plains. Her request was... different. Only to send a message, a plea for help, answered by the will of distant worlds. The ones before wanted me to seek out humans myself, and take them from their worlds. Many humans. Countless humans.

Knowing what I now know...

I can only conclude that I was created, not very much more than a year ago, for the purpose of bringing humans to Forlas, en masse.

Perhaps this is why I brought so many of you, when a Voice of Life is only ever meant to summon one.​

 

[Shiny Phantump]

This was enough to start pushing Gladion back into business mode. The sense that what he’d said would still come back to him lingered, but was pressed to the corners of his mind instead of the forefront.

I see. Thank you for sharing that. I apologize if I’m pushing for too much more, but… That does leave me with some questions I think might matter. Were you summoning specific humans, or just... humans in general? If it was the former, I'd imagine they were someone your creators knew. That could help give us some more information.

 

[Weazel]

“To be honest, I lost a lot of my memory, when I transformed,” he said, “I’ve been recovering bits and pieces here and there since. I think, maybe, not remembering all of it helps me stay functioning?”

To be honest, the condolences always felt weird. To be fair, the Oshawott didn’t really know what else people could say when he dropped something as heavy as surviving an apocalypse on them. But, it almost felt like he didn’t deserve their sympathy. He’d escaped, made a new life for himself, forgot most of the horrors he’d gone through, and the more he remembered, the more he was certain that, if he did remember everything he’d done to ensure his own survival, he’d probably hate the man that crisis had shaped him into.

Thankfully, the spotlight quickly started jumping around again, before ultimately settling on Betel. In the chaos, Archie almost missed Gladion’s little addendum to his own secret. An identical twin, a sister, but Gladion was almost certainly a man. Which meant… Well, that wasn’t Archie’s business, now was it? Perhaps in this world the Graydian was able to be a little closer to who he was meant to be. The Oshawott shot the masked chimera a sympathetic look, but otherwise didn’t draw attention to the detail.

Once again, it seemed like the more they knew about Betel, the more questions Archie had. So, they were artificial in some respect? Created to bring many humans to Forlas all at once? Well, they’d certainly succeeded in that particular task. But, who would desire such a thing, and why? Knowing what they knew now, that every additional human put a strain on the fabric of reality, a strain that took years of naturalizing to heal, it sounded like a dangerous game was being played. One that could well threaten the entire universe.

 

[MintyMimix]

As the chatter continued, the paper cranes scattered away as a gentle breeze brushed against everyone's cheeks. The dungeon had gotten more than it had bargained for, it seemed, and it was ready to lay its own heart bare just as the others had.

The center paper flow unfolded like a lotus — revealing a glistening spherical mirror. As the group gazed into its reflection, the "sky" above shimmered as the light began to bend and twist. An overwhelming canopy of reflective branches and leaves that had been reflecting the white "walls" and "floor" below. Now that they were angling, however, their shimmering glory was clear to see. And somehow, its glare was tolerable this time around.

They were inside the heart the whole time. Sometimes, all one needed to was to reflect and change their perspectives, and new insights would manifest.

Ghaspius floated up to once of the branches and plucked it clean. A few leaves fell down and silently shattered as though it were mute glass.

"Like this, right, Archie?" The Misdreavus asked, leaving the questions to Betel for the others, "What do we do after we got a piece?" He descended and presented the branch to the others for them to grab.

 

[Weazel]

Once again, Archie couldn’t help but compare Lumirror Forest and Silver Ravine. The process of getting the cutting hadn’t been near so dramatic in the latter. A simple matter of swimming across a pond to an island, and cutting a sapling loose. This one involved quite the light show, though this time Archie didn’t feel the need to cover his eyes because of it. Thankfully, the forest surrendered one of its branches with far less effort required on their part. Ghaspius was simply able to pluck it from one of the trees.

“Just like that, yeah!” The Oshawott nodded, “Now that we have a cutting, we have to plant it near the entrance to the dungeon. It should take root pretty easily. Then Betel will just need some time to connect to it.”

Still, Archie eyed the sapling warily, keeping his paws in his pockets. He’d carried the last one, and been extremely weirded out by the way it’d writhed in his paws like a tiny irate Sudowoodo. He was not looking to replicate that experience if he could avoid it.

 

[MintyMimix]

"Alrighty, then let's get to it!"

As though responding to his call, the forest's lights dimmed as the trees became fully visible once more. They shifted and parted — forging a clear, straight path outward. The dungeon had much to chew on, yes. Much of a story to think on, to muse on, to imagine scenarios and envision whimsical fiction about.

"Seems like we might have a fan," Ghaspius joked as he led the way back towards the entrance. The branch, while it didn't writhe, certainly did bend and curl around, as though trying to always have a reflection against the sunlight and its fellow mirror bark.

As soon as they reached the entrance, Ghaspius immediately took to digging a hole — forcefully, with a Shadow Ball — and then more gently planted the branch as he gingerly patted the soul with his tendrils.

'We can talk while you do your thing, Betel. I think ya got a lot you wanna say.'

The Misdreavus looked back at the others. "Not sure how tight-lipped y'all want me to be about what we heard today, but, ah..." He rubbed his forehead with a tendril, uncertain if he should ask them in return. He wanted to give them the freedom of choice, but he also knew just how much his own skeletons rattled in his head. Well, as much of a skeleton as a ghost could have, at least.

 

[canisaries]

“…Identical twin…”

Andre's eyebrows rose, then lowered in a frown at the dungeon around him. Forcing someone to out themselves was not cool.

Betel saying that they were created... that was huge. He wanted to ask if they remembered anything about their creators, but figured that could be done after the sapling was planted so that the rest of the Wayfarers could hear it.

The Misdreavus looked back at the others. "Not sure how tight-lipped y'all want me to be about what we heard today, but, ah..." He rubbed his forehead with a tendril, uncertain if he should ask them in return. He wanted to give them the freedom of choice, but he also knew just how much his own skeletons rattled in his head. Well, as much of a skeleton as a ghost could have, at least.

"Well, I, for one, will not share a word of what was said," Andre proclaimed. He looked to Gladion. "Especially of your secret."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

He looked to Gladion. "Especially of your secret."

"Thanks. Really don't think this place knew what it was asking there... Or had better not have. But... s'fine."

He'd gotten the impression when they'd first met that Andre seemed a bit stuck-up. Too goody-two-shoes, but in retrospect... Andre'd probably been trying to figure out why he was there instead. Trying to figure out if he didn't belong...

"And the same to you, of course. For what it's worth, I'd still believe you belong here... Insofar as any of us do, at least."