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timegearing · 6 years

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PMD: The Course of Everything- Chapter One: Clarity

Lyre was not one to act cowardly. This was a fact upon which the Jolteon prided himself, almost more than the knowledge that he had made it into the Clarity Exploration Guild. But, after the events of the night previous, a seedling of doubt nestled into his heart.

He paced the length of Bounty’s Keep for the fifth time that morning, passing townsfolk and familiar sales-mon alike. He had done everything right, hadn’t he? He hadn’t attacked when her back was turned, hadn’t fought dirty, and most importantly, fought with justification, hadn’t he? He’d recited Destine the Lucario’s three terms of honorable battle once again, and again, until the sun had come up and the evidence of his deed had faded from sight.

“Hello there, Lyre!”

Lyre jumped almost a foot off the ground, sparks flying from his fur in shock. He spun to face Neandra, a Prinlup who worked alongside him in the Clarity Guild. Lyre shuffled his front paws, his false-foot scraping on the ground below.

“Calm down there, sparky,” She yelped, taking a step back, “Just wanted to say hi!”

“Sorry,” Lyre choked out, forcing the quills on his back to smooth. “Didn’t know it was you.”

“What’s got you all electrified?” Neandra chuckled, “Had a crazy night or something?”

Lyre was too tense to speak up about her pun as he normally would have, instead searching her gaze for any shred of knowledge of what he had done. All he found was cool teasing. Lyre swallowed the lump rising in his throat.

“Just had a nightmare!” He exclaimed, a wide, toothy grin on his muzzle, “Just had to go for a walk, away from the Guild, haha!”

“Okay,” Neandra said slowly, an eyebrow raised, “Well, anyways, Verity wants to see you.”

“O-oh?” Lyre feigned surprise at the statement.

“You should probably hurry up and find her,” the Prinplup began to walk away from him, down the cobblestone path leading to not the gorge(to Lyre’s relief), but to Alakazam’s Cafe a few stores away. “She seemed pretty wound up about something.”

Lyre nodded his goodbyes until the Prinplup disappeared into the lively cafe. Then, he spun on his paws and cursed enough to make Giratina quiver in their scales. He knew he shouldn’t have lolly-gagged; Verity had ordered him back by sunrise.

Lyre raced up the cobblestone road. Several Pokemon greeted him as he went, but he didn’t respond. He didn’t slow until he approached the golden, shimmering fort ahead of him: Clarity’s Exploration Guild.

The outside of the Guild was a testament to the organization’s success: several stories tall, with exterior walls glimmering with treasured gems and stones. Two opalescent totem-poles depicting the two leaders of the guild flanked the wide entrance. On the left was a glimmering, almost pearl-like likeness of Clairie, the Audino who ran the Rescue side of the guild. Even sculpted, the Audino seemed motherly, her face plump and relaxed, and her arms outstretched as if to welcome any pokemon in need. To the right was an obsidian, striking likeness of Verity, the Liepard who lead the discovery aspect of the Guild-- and the Pokemon Lyre was summoned to meet.

He crept past the watchful eyes of the statue, wondering if he could be seen through the statue’s eyes. He made his way inside and up the ladders, passing a handful of Pokemon he was familiar with but didn’t greet. The main room was sparsely populated when Lyre got there, to his relief.

The door leading into Verity’s quarters was ajar, but Lyre nonetheless considered knocking. She never liked Pokemon invading her privacy, and he wasn’t sure if the same would be true for a Pokemon she had summoned. Lyre didn’t have to wonder for long: a lean, royal-purple and cream figure came into view, and her glistening red eyes caught his.

“Get in here,” the Liepard hissed.

“Y-yes ma’am,” Lyre stammered.Once he was inside, Verity slammed the door behind him, and locked the deadbolt with a flick of her tail. She rounded on him, and Lyre felt as if he were an Eevee again.

“What took you so long?” Verity demanded. She led him to the expansive room in which she operated, taking her seat on a comfy-looking sewn cushion. Lyre had been inside here a few times, once the day before, but was still awe-struck by the riches inside. Mounted on the walls and displayed on shelves were rarities from evolution stones and gold bars to expensive, powerful bands and species-specific items rarely found elsewhere. The ceiling was glass, and displayed the rising sun’s rays to the entire room. Lyre felt as if he would lower the value of any of the items displayed with a mere breathe.

“I’m waiting,” Verity said.

“I-I did what you asked,” Lyre said, a lump once again rising in his throat, “Harper’s gone.”

“Did you kill her?” Verity demanded, her eyes burning into his. Lyre flinched, looking at the sky above.

“Yes,” he said, his voice a whisper, “I threw her into the gorge.”

“Good,” Verity’s fur flattened. “I was worried you failed.”

Lyre didn’t respond, unable to meet her gaze. What was there to say? The reality of the situation had hit him, and despite his previous feelings on the Pokemon in question, he struggled to dredge up any sense of accomplishment. The silence stretched out, until Verity spoke once more.

“Are you having doubts?” Verity asked. Lyre looking at her, seeing nothing but cold disinterest. When the Jolteon remained quiet, Verity scoffed.

“I wouldn’t have asked you to do it if I didn’t think it had to be done,” she said, “Harper was a deadweight to this Guild,” Verity paused, and looking him up and down. “You were more aware of that than anyone else, weren’t you?”

Lyre put a paw to his eyepatch, and then to the scarred remains of his front leg. He looked back up at her.

“Of course.”

Nothing else was said. Verity gestured for him to leave the room, and he complied, padding steadily to the exit.

Even before Lyre opened the door, he knew there was some sort of commotion. Verity could hear it too: in a flash, she was opening the door in front of him, revealing the crowd outside. Clairie, Verity’s partner, was talking with a concerned, rustled crowd, all of them shouting questions at one another.

“What’s going on?” Verity demanded. Clairie turned to face her, eyes round and wet. In front of her was a trio of Chinchou, who were bearing the brunt of the questions. Lyre recognized them; they were part of the Ambassador guild for the Mirror Cove, a city that lay under the seas outside of the jungle-expanse that surrounded Bounty’s Keep.

“We’ve received terrible news,” Clairie spoke softly, “A body has been found on the outskirts of Mirror Cove.”

Lyre’s stomach dropped to his paws. He looked to Verity, whose expression remained blank despite the news.

“Have either of you seen Harper recently?” Clairie asked, somewhat louder this time. “I know you were friends with her, Lyre.”

The crowd quieted almost instantly, and all Pokemon present turned their gazes to him. He cleared his throat, but couldn’t choke out a response. Thankfully, it was Verity that answered for him.

“We haven’t seen her, why?” The Liepard growled.

“Oh, dear…” Clairie sniffed a bit, her voice strangled. She put a paw on Lyre’s shoulder, her wide eyes meeting his.

“The body was an Archen’s, dear. It was Harper.”

The rest of the day passed by slowly, but eventfully. The Chinchou had reported that they had found the dead body of his former-partner, but they couldn’t seem to get it straight where the body was now. Lyre waited for a Pokemon to call him out, to reveal his guilt, but no such conversation came. As Lyre made his way through the guild, doing his best to avoid the other Pokemon, he was accosted by stranger and acquaintance alike, offering condolences for his loss. He didn’t have the heart to remind them of his publically-known hatred of Harper. Within an hour of discussion of the topic, one thing was made clear: the discussion of the topic in public spaces was now banned, courtesy of Verity and Clairie.

Lyre now found himself in his shared room with his new partner, and boyfriend, Bayer. The Buizel had been gone on a solo-expedition for two nights now, and had told Lyre before he left that it would take at least a week for him to return. Lyre couldn’t figure out if he wanted Bayer to be here to distract him from the conflicting feelings he felt in the moment, or if he wanted Bayer to remain gone until the whole thing blew over.

It was much to Lyre’s surprise when, an hour after the sun went down and he had settled in to bed for some much-needed sleep, he heard a familiar voice call his name.

“Lyre?”

Lyre turned around in time to catch sight of something leaping towards him, and moments later, felt the embrace of his smooth-furred, chubby partner around his neck.

“Bayer?” Lyre exclaimed, “What are you doing back?”

The Buizel released him, his eyes glistening with tears as he pulled back. Lyre turned to face him, and was met with another hug.

“I heard the news, and came back as fast as I could!” Bayer explained, “I’m so sorry, Lyre! I’m so, so sorry!”

“Err...it’s okay,” Lyre patted his boyfriend on the back, straining to get out of the hug.

“No it’s not!” Bayer said, dismayed, “I know she used to be your partner, it’s okay for you to be upset!”

“I’m fine, really--” Lyre averted his gaze, flicking a long ear in discomfort.

“This has to be hard for you, it’s okay to cry!” Bayer soothed, placing a paw on Lyre’s face. Lyre backed away with a growl, his back hitting the wall behind him.

“I’m not gonna cry!” Lyre exclaimed, “I didn’t even like her, Bay.”

“You’re upset though, aren’t you?” Bayer asked, eyes wide, “You guys used to be so close.”

At Bayer’s geniune, questioning gaze, Lyre felt a stab of guilt. He relaxed a little, looking at his paws.

“I suppose…”

The two sat in silence for a while. Lyre replayed the last night’s events in his head: the questioning cries of his former-partner, the anger coursing through him as he sunk his teeth into her neck, the sight of her falling helplessly into the rapids below. There was a dread rising in his stomach, a tug at his paws that led him to lean his head into Bayer’s shoulder fur. As Bayer rubbed a paw on Lyre’s quilled back, something broke within him, and he looked up to him.

“Bay, I can tell you anything, can’t I?” He asked, voice catching in the back of his throat.

“Of course, honey,” Bayer soothed, his face hidden in the Jolteon’s mane.

“I…” Lyre felt, once again lump rise in his throat. Bayer urged him on with a silent brush of his paw, and he steeled himself.

“Please don’t get mad, but…” Lyre took a breathe.

“I killed Harper.”

That rat bastard! She thought, searching the contents of the cave for something-anything- that would aid her. There were berries and healing items everywhere, but her bag had been lost--or destroyed, more like. That spiky little curse! That rotten apple of a ‘mon!

She turned back to look at the Pokemon sleeping near her--too near her for comfort. They were an Absol, purely unfamiliar to her. At the sight of the Pokemon’s long claws and fangs, she shuddered, and hurried back to her feverish search for a bag. Her feathers were still ruffled from the day before, both metaphorically and literally. She felt a fresh wave of anguish, and began to curse under her breathe again.

That mangy, stinking Magikarp! That two-faced, hypocritical, disgusting-- She was driven from her inward ranting by the feel of tough, canvas fabric in her talons. She clenched her beak shut on a note of glee- a bag! As quietly as she could manage, she pulled it down, and realizing with a further note of relief that it was the right size to almost fit her as well. She clicked her wing-talons together anxiously, looking over her shoulder. Now was her chance to leave.

She swept a row of Oran berries into her bag, along with a few apples and seeds. The rest of the things she would need were too high for her to reach without climbing, and she didn’t trust herself to be silent in retrieving them. The bag was now comfortably full, and despite her misgivings of the unfamiliar woods outside, she decided it was a good a time as any to go.

If there was one thing Harper was good at, it was fleeing.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #tcoe #tcoechapter #the course of everything #archen #harper #jolteon #lyre #bayer #buizel #verity #liepard #clarie #audino

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