Whispers of Mhynt and Nova

[Jackie Cat]

They say the pokémon of the Taleska Nation take secrets very seriously. Everyone knows the lapines love their gossip, but gossip is just amateur journalism. The truth of the heart, though—

Keep that close to the chest, lest the Comb catches it.

<><><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

Nova found himself stepping into the next floor with one Mhynt missing, and the landscape abruptly shifting to that of a dusty city of black obsidian and purple-leafed trees. Shadowy creatures manned stalls for commercial needs, passing out alien, darkened foods to other, shadowy creatures, but several of them, with their beady white eyes, stared at Nova with apprehension. None wanted to make direct eye contact with him.

. . . alone . . . empty.

Nova found that he had a new item in his bag: A mundane notebook. It had, on the front, the plain wording of "Errands."

You there? . . . Nova . . . cold . . . dry . . .

The air was stagnant. The atmosphere, oppressive. Perhaps some of it, to Nova, was familiar. Yet there was a heightened sense of heavy, cold darkness about it that made it... different.

. . . nobody around . . . hello?

 

[Ambyssin]

This was... not what he was suspecting. But dungeon energy must've separated them somehow. And the whispering this time was familiar.

"Mhynt?" he called. Nova cautiously proceeded down the street, eyeing the stalls. Obvious dungeon trickery. He called her name again, tilting his head up in the hopes it'd carry through the air a bit.

The dungeon was a cave, yet the sky seemed like it had gotten darker. A vaguely familiar darkness that made him walk quickly.

 

[Namohysip]

Can't tell . . . are . . .

The voice seemed to come from nowhere, almost a trick of the mind. It could have been next to him just as easily as it could have been shouted from across the city.

Nova walked around what seemed to be an endless street of shadowy people and their daily lives. Every time Nova got close, they tensed, sometimes outright fled, at the mere sight of him.

All the while, the notebook named 'Errands' weighed heavily on him, almost symbolically like a weight on his mind.

. . . find . . . puzzle . . .

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova stopped walking. He blinked, then shook his head. Was that really her? Or the dungeon? It wasn't coming from any direction, so—

Errands? Well, there was a task he had to do. The task of getting through this place.

Focus. He took another breath. His cheek bolts turned in their sockets. A dungeon couldn't be infinite, so he had to keep walking. Walking and looking through the shadows.

The shadows.

Everything around him was dark and shadowy. Dungeons couldn't legitimately replicate shadow-type, could they?

It didn't matter. If everything looked shadows, then maybe the way forward would be easier to spot if he cut through them in some manner.

Nova continued forward. He concentrated to pull a sliver of radiance to the tip of his crest. Then he flicked his head and sent that mote toward the shadows as if he was using a Tri-Attack or an Air Slash. Moves he used to rely on often, but couldn't on Forlas.

 

[Namohysip]

The moment Nova showed any sign of aggression to those shadowy creatures, they immediately jumped and screeched in reply, scattering in all directions. Shopping, queued in a line, or behind the stall, it didn't matter. They all fled from Nova like he was a feral, rabid beast.

. . . Hello? Can . . . sentence . . .

 

[Ambyssin]

Well, that didn't exactly help. Though at least now there wasn't blobs anywhere.

... Waaaaaait a tic. These were like the blobs in Twilight Quarry, weren't they?

Nova stopped walking again. He looked down at the ground, that at the black sky. Twilight Quarry had become a chocolate-flavored dungeon because of the angry stowaway from Mhynt's world, right? And now this dungeon was chocolate-flavored. Well, he wasn't staring down three angry heads, so what did it mean?

"Mhyyyyyyyynt?" Nova called again. "The dungeon's got me somewhere that looks like the Quarry. Do you feel like your mind itches?" Maybe they were both asleep and this was some Nightmare fuckery.

 

[Namohysip]

. . . What?! Don't . . .

The wind blew, kicking up purple dust in Nova's face, plinking against the metal parts of his beak. It tasted like ash and bile.

. . . shadows . . . corrupt you, here? . . .

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

Someone was behind him. Standing tall, looking perplexed and annoyed, was... the black silhouette of an Inteleon. Unlike all the other shadow things, this one was well-defined, but pitch-dark, with tiny pinprick, white pupils where his eyes should have been. Yet, somehow, Nova knew he was glaring at him.

. . . do you see? . . . around?

The Inteleon snatched Nova's notebook. "Do you not remember your assignments?" he hissed. "Honestly, I don't know what T̷͍̀ḧ̸͖e̷̝͝ ̸̬̓K̶̯̉ḯ̵̝n̵̰̓g̴̟̅ sees in you. These should be trivial." He dangled it in front of Nova so it was easy to grab back.

 

[Ambyssin]

Okay, yeah. This was totally Mhynt flavored.

"Well, I've actually got meat on my bones, unlike you, Twinkle." Nova took the ??? In his talons.

To the nasty air he said, "There's some inteleon with a stick up his ass."

 

[Namohysip]

. . . naturally skinny . . . rude . . .

Something about what Nova said must have deeply offended the Inteleon because he flinched and hissed in response. Once Nova took the notebook, Inteleon turned around.

"Go already, or I'll inform T̷͍̀ḧ̸͖e̷̝͝ ̸̬̓K̶̯̉ḯ̵̝n̵̰̓g̴̟̅ that you're betraying him. I know your secret. You won't fool me."

. . . Some . . . what? . . . can't . . . where? . . . swing that way . . .

Nova somehow knew that he couldn't afford to raise too many suspicions while in here. Perhaps that notebook was the Dungeon's way of hinting at its puzzle... or it was a greater illusion. Still, for now, it seemed like Nova was wandering through this strange realm without aim.

 

[Ambyssin]

"I think I'm where you live," Nova said to the air. "Twinkie here is talking about a king. Alexander, I guess?"

He didn't want to open the notebook right this second. Instead, he asked Twinkie, "Go where?" At least this wasn't a bluff. He genuinely wasn't sure where an Alexander apparition would be. "The King didn't give me his schedule. And I know he's not dumb enough to send you to fetch me and not say where he is."

 

[Namohysip]

. . . king? King Twinkie? . . . don't fall . . . seduction . . . what?

"At the Castle, obviously. He does not have time for these menial things like quashing usurpers and rebel efforts." He shook his head. "Now, I'm busy. Go."

And with that, the Inteleon walked away, though there was the vague sense he'd be watching anyway...

 

[Ambyssin]

"No, Alexander!" Nova said. Maybe he needed to talk slower if the dungeon was going to "signal jam." "I'm... in... Alex... xander's... domain."

He scanned the area and assumed the big castle-looking thing in the distance was the castle in question. So, Nova started toward it. He pulled out the notebook to see if the dungeon was going to put contents in it or just have it be a random prop.

 

[Namohysip]

. . . there?! Run! . . . too strong . . . away!

The notebook in question indeed had things written in it--notes, errands. So far, there was only one written down. It was an address for one of the buildings a few streets down, complete with a basic map of directions, and the note: "Suppress rebellion."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Not... here."

Nova slowed his pace and changed course in the direction the notebook had mapped out.

"Was... there... rebels... you... fought... recently?" God, talking like that was annoying.

 

[Namohysip]

To this, Nova received no immediate reply.

As he continued down the road, shadowy figures continued to evade him. Perhaps word had spread, one way or another, of his original aggression.

The building was an unassuming one. Perhaps an apartment complex of some kind? The door was unlocked, as it was a public entryway. He was supposed to go into the third room on the left, on the second floor.

. . . didn't . . . slower . . . doesn't . . .

 

[Ambyssin]

Oh, lovely. "Then we're not gonna be able to talk much."

With his crest, Nova nudged the door open and made his way up the stairs. Notebook said to suppress, but it didn't mention any specifics. So, he was choosing to proceed with that in mind.

He reached the room in question and knocked on the door. "Delivery," Nova said.

 

[Namohysip]

"Delivery?" called someone from the other side. The door cracked open.

. . . gonna . . . talk delivery ? . . . child . . . trouble? . . . hot water . . .

And the occupant on the other side -- another hazy, shadowy creature -- froze in place. Behind him were five others, similarly frozen. One checked the outside window like he was going to make a break for it.

The notepad's contents changed before Nova's eyes, the text glowing faintly to catch his gaze's attention.

It said: "Leave no survivors."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova looked at the notebook's changing contents with a frown. His cheek bolts dimmed. For a moment, he didn't see a notebook, but a silhouette. There were no lips that moved but orders came from a soothing yet firm female voice.

"You must take care of them. By any means necessary."

His talons curled. He'd played the part of the 'good, loyal soldier.' Long enough ago for it to be hazy. But he could at least remember how it ate at him.

"Yeah, delivery." Nova tossed the notebook into the room. He leaned over and, quieter, said, "Whatever you're planning here? Over. Donezo. The King knows." He looked in particular at the shadow nearing the window. In a whisper, he continued, "I'll give you one chance: disappear yourselves. Go underground with your tails between your legs."

 

[Namohysip]

Nova's eyes were somehow drawn to the notebook like a compulsion. It never left his view or his mind, but... it didn't seem to halt his activity. The silhouettes stared at him, dumbfounded, but then didn't leave the opportunity untouched. One burst from the window and seemed to dig underground, literally, upon touching the dark earth. Others slipped around Nova and fled down the stairs. There were two who remained. One who had passed out from the shock, and another who didn't seem to believe Nova.

. . . King . . . watch out . . . talking to?

"You... you're lying!" the silhouette shouted. It was vaguely bipedal and crouched into a feral pounce. "I'll... I won't let you get away with this! You'll... you'll pay! You already took my brother, my father, and...!"

Then came a feral cry as he rushed Nova for a downward punch.