Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
*Boots Writer’s Block in the butt*
Chapter 5
Erika was waiting when they arrived, a map in her hands and a bouquet of white lilies besides.
“It is good to see you again.”
Red and Lance smiled and bowed, and several of the maids in waiting giggled at the sight of what they thought were two handsome young men.
If only things were that simple!
“Are these the directions to lord Morty, my lady?”
“Indeed they are, and you must ere in haste, for he is not long in this world…”
Red nodded, understanding perfectly. Lance gave a curt nod and they hurriedly left the palace without further ado.
“A Necromancer, dying?”
“Well, perhaps he is a very old man, or perhaps his dabbling gave his life up and burned it out much too quickly.”
“I’d wager the latter were true.” Red said grimly. “I feel a bad omen.”
It was storming heavily as they ran through the wet grass and forest, heading for Lavender Town. It was very small with only a few farmers living here, but a large tower of lavender stone dominated the scenery, giving the town its name.
They found the tower securely locked, but Red’s lock picking skills did not fail them. As the two continued deeper on into the area, a feeling of strangeness began to fill the air, along with a foreboding chill.
“I have a bad feeling about this…
“You already said so, Red. There is no point in repeating yourself.”
“Yes, I know, but I am still worried… what if we are too late and he has already died?”
“All we need is his belt buckle, if he’s dead and not yet interred we’ll just take it and bury him properly.”
“You’re so morbid, Lance…”
“No, I’m being practical. There is a difference there, you know.”
Red scowled. “I know.”
They climbed up another flight of stairs and found several graves, which was surprising, but they were apparently for favored pets. After reading the inscriptions of all to make sure they had not overlooked anything, they were preparing to head up to the next floor when Red set off a trap.
Pink dust billowed out from above their heads and both started coughing. Lance gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and cast a Dispel Magic spell, but nothing happened.
“At least it doesn’t itch.” Red said helpfully. Not having the sensitive eyes of elvenkind, he was not in agony and was now furiously inspecting the ground, angry that his Trap sense had failed him.
“You’re not being helpful Red. I still can’t see a thing.”
“Let me check to see if I have eyewash.”
Unfortunately, as Red bent down to rifle through his backpack, and set it down on a convenient tombstone nearby, he set off yet another trap. The floor under his feet fell down and he fell down the hole with it.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Lance winced and waited for a thud. It never came. That meant that either Red had fallen dong a very deep hole, which was doubtful, or that he had managed to snag some projection along the wall. She knelt down on the ground and began crawling towards Red’s position. Soon, she found the edge of the hole.
“Red, are you down there?” She called.
No reply came. Frowning, Lance dug in her pack for a flash stick and dropped it in. immediately, bright light lit up the hole. Several curses drifted up, faintly.
Aha…
Lance dug around in her pack, found the pocket with her coil of silken rope, tied it securely with a dead man’s knot around the tombstone, and then proceeded to lower herself down. There, she found Red, raising hell.
“Red, you idiot, come on, let’s climb up.”
“I’m not very good at climbing rope Lance….”
“Did you break anything that you won’t tell me about?”
“What? No! Of course not!”
“Then quit being such a baby and climb. Up. The. Rope.”
Red leapt to obey, sensing dangerous vibes. It never paid to make women angry… because even if Lance wasn’t as girly as some, she was still a girl.
The silk robe held strong, and they both made it to the top safely, despite Red’s grumbles. The drop had only been about twenty feet down, but odd…
“If it wasn’t even that far, how come I could not hear you?”
“Beats me, maybe something in this tower damps sound.”
“That could be it…”
“Oh. Right.” Red procured his eyewash and watched as Lance rinsed her eyes well, ridding them of a disgustingly cheerful pink murky film.
“Did it hurt? I hope you aren’t allergic.”
“My eyes are still a tad sore, but I will be fine. Do not worry.”
“Oh good.” He sounded quite relieved as he brushed some dirt off his armor. “Well, let’s head up to the next level, shall we?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They equipped themselves to fight, Lance taking her powerful bow with an arrow at the ready, himself carrying his greatsword in both hands, but there was nothing on the stairs, luckily, and neither of them heard rustling to indicate life forms above…
Still, Red kept his trap sense on full alert, not wanting to fall into any more pits. It had been an amateur mistake to make, and his pride was rankling.
Why do the simplest things hide the most effectively?
Well, perhaps it is because when you are higher up and more experienced, you scoff at the idea that your opponents will resort to the more primitive means.
Still, a trap’s job is to harm and hinder whatever prey is intended, and the traps had worked almost too well. It was lucky the powder had not been of a more dangerous form and substance. Things could have gotten really nasty under those circumstances.
The next level was clear of pitfalls and snares, or at least the tiles they had walked upon were safe, so they headed up to the next.
As soon as they rounded the stairways, they found a wall and a door. The door was a shiny mahogany color, but pitted with age and cracked with much force…
“This is it?”
“I think so. Let’s go.”
End Chapter
Completed 1/17/06
Finally finished after putting this fic on hiatus. May the block plague some other author, preferably one I don’t like!