Chaotic Good

Chapter 12: Can't Dodge Forever

note: some swearing

Mike's POV

"What the fuck. What the actual fuck. What the actual fucking fuck. How did I not see this earlier." 

I groaned, sitting up. Bad idea, instant-fucking-headache. 

"Arceus, what is it now, Zena?" I said irritably, rubbing my head.

"Theres a fucking...I don't know, rope? Wire? Line? I have no clue, but it's made of light." She swung her hand around at a spot on the floor, at something we clearly couldn't see. Merb yawned from the other side of the cabin.

"Didn't Raikou say the light will guide you or something?" LoveGame shifted a little, but didn't get up.

"Yeah, I guess he did." 

Okay, all this interaction was getting to me. I walked outside. The sun was just above the hill behind the town. I went and checked the mail, a whole load of rescue missions stuffed the mail box. Were we really gone that long? I brought them all inside and tossed them onto my bed for later. I looked over at LoveGame, who still appeared to be snoozing. 

"So, are we going to leave soon? LoveGame is still sleeping." I said. Zena then threw a Pecha berry she pulled presumably out of her ass at him and he opened his eyes to glare at her. If looks could kill, she'd be six feet under right now. 

"Why the hell do you guys wake up so early? Damn." 

"Because we're a rescue team, and that's what rescue teams do." Jay offered. LoveGame only grunted in response as he got up to stretch.  "Hey Matt, didn't you have a bag full of shit or something?" He said, yawning. Merb looked nervous for a moment, then said "Oh, uh.. I dunno, maybe it fell off while I was doing stunts on your back. Heh..." If that wasn't suspicious I don't know what is. LoveGame only raised an eyebrow at this response.

Everybody did their daily routine- Jay and Zena chatting about whatever, Matt doing yoga (which kind of surprised everybody, but not as much as seeing LoveGame meditate), and then me, who just sat around watching everybody until they were ready to do whatever it was we were going to do today. It was about half an hour before everybody was ready to head to the Forest of Life. Zena lead us out the door, and we headed towards the North to a dungeon called Fae Chasm.

It was only a small space in the side of a relatively large hill, it couldn't have been more than 13 feet across.The place could hardly be considered a dungeon, there were only three floors. The inside was made of basalt as opposed to the granite that covered the outside.  We walked inside slowly, the whole place gave off an eerie vibe. 

In the far back of the first floor was a large statue of a Pokemon; one called Uxie. As we walked closer, we noticed a silver plate above the statue. It read in Unown letters,

What is easier done than said?

Jay clapped and said "Welp! I'm not the riddle master here. Who wants to have a go?"

I didn't know, so I just looked at Jay and shrugged. Zena was staring at the statue with her mouth open. I was 88% positive she was day dreaming.

"This riddle makes no sense..." Merb said, crossing his arms. 

"Well, isn't that sort of the point of riddles?" I countered. 

"Point taken."

We stood there for a few moments before LoveGame spoke.

"Silence."

The Uxie statue shifted, and the message above it changed to say,

You are wise, Nathaniel. Use your wisdom to teach others.

We all looked at LoveGame in disbelief. He had a pretty smug look on his face, but we couldn't blame him. He practically swaggered out onto the next floor.

This floor was made of quartz as opposed to basalt, and it glistened as we walked in. A statue of another Pokemon; this time Mesprit, stood staring down at us. Unown letters appeared above the statue as it did with Uxie. This time it read

Step up under Mesprit's gaze.

Zena was the first to step up. A glint of light shone in Mesprit's glass eyes, and the Unown letters changed to read Pass. We all stepped up, and they all passed. I was the last one, and when I stepped up, Mesprits eyes turned black as charcoal. I froze in my place. The Unown letters changed again.

You live your life wearing a mask, young one. Must you hide your emotions? What are you scared of?

I cleared my throat, but I hardly got anything to come out. Last time I showed emotion, I was bullied for a year. I recalled the one horrid memory where I shed tears at the death of Silvertongue in a fairy-tale book I was reading. All of my old friends had called me a wuss. Another memory; one where I felt great pride in being the fastest digger. Again, all my friends merely called me arrogant and walked away. So many other memories flooded my mind where emotions were looked down upon.

The words started flowing before I could stop.

"All my life, showing emotion was looked down upon. I was called arrogant, stupid, scaredy-cat, and I didn't want to endure that anymore. So I guess I just sort of...stopped. Tied up all my feelings and buried them."

Mesprit's eyes turned to glass again, and the Unown letters responded.

It is bad to hide behind a wall, young one. Learn from this day. You have friends to help you along the way. 

The statue moved with a loud rumble as I walked up to join the rest of the team. Zena patted my back and smiled sadly at me. Everybody else just nodded and we kept moving. Zena kept her hand around my shoulder until we reached the third floor.