FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The morning sun glowed through the open slats in the side of the barn, bathing the stall with a soft, warm light. At any other time it would have been welcoming, but to Fia, it was a harbinger of dread as fearsome as any skull-faced reaper. It meant that the day had come.

The day that Kuran had been preparing her for.

Fia rolled onto her back and looked at the stall’s ceiling, focusing on the myriad of cracks that ran through its surface. Each one was small, but they could multiply, adding up until the breaking point where the wood would give away. As she placed a hand on her chest to try and calm her racing heart, she couldn’t deny how similar she felt. It felt like there was a crushing pressure on her back that had steadily been building, building, building, and now she was being told to take a step forward. To bear the weight of so many responsibilities that should never have fallen on her.

A rumbling grumble from behind her made her look over her shoulder, back where Akio slept with one paw wrapped around her midsection. It kept her pressed close to his stomach, the soft fur a caressing blanket against the damp chill in the air. She welcomed it whole-heartedly, and the thought of leaving his embrace was like pulling teeth. Why would she ever want to leave this stall? She could just hide here for the day, at least, until Mei came to fetch her for their daily chores.

She would no doubt notice that Fia wasn’t sleeping in her room, that she had once again snuck out to the barn to have a clandestine meeting with Akio in the dead of the night. He shifted behind her, and in his sleep pulled her against his muscular chest.

Akio was warmth, Akio was strength, he was the only thing that kept her calm.

And she was going to have to leave him.

It was easier said than done. Even in his sleep he was a powerful creature that had just enough forethought to snuggle up to her before he fell asleep the night before. He was a cuddler, oddly enough, and when she wasn’t wrapped up in his paws she was silently wishing she could return to his embrace. Just like her growlithe who was still waiting for her - the poor boy must be so confused without her. He might not be as large as Akio, but he shared the bigger dog’s kind streak.

Fia shifted beneath him, wiggling in his embrace to try and find some leeway to escape from him. Every movement made what was pressing against the small of her back so much more prominent, the heat generated from it causing goosebumps to form on her arms. She knew exactly what it was, it wasn’t like she hadn’t gotten up close and personal with it over the last few days.

Sheaths were absolutely fascinating. She wasn’t sure what it was about the protective bit of skin between Akio’s legs that drew her back to it. Perhaps it was the color of his bulbous, black tip when it extended from it, or maybe it was the lurking excitement of wondering just what was left to come. Oddly enough, Akio had never gotten fully aroused around her; he didn’t seem to care for his own pleasure when he was tongue deep between her legs.

No, instead, she was getting the idea that he preferred moments like this. Grinding against her, letting her know just what he possessed. If she had more time with him, she might have taken him up on that offer.

Every passing day the wonder and curiosity grew, enveloping her mind with the question of what lurked within his sheath. His balls were huge, he was a big dog, surely he had something that would reflect that.

Fia managed to slip out of his embrace just as something wet and slick brushed against her lower back. It left behind a layer of liquid that radiated a gentle heat for a few moments, before dispersing into a cool reminder of what he had rubbed against her. Fia turned back on him just in time to dodge a lazy, lumbering swipe from the canine.

Akio’s eyes had opened and although they were bleary and weighed down with sleep, he still grinned in a canine fashion as he looked up at her. His hind legs lay partially spread apart, revealing to her that object of her affection, the plump sheath and the black, pulsating tip. In the light shining into the barn it practically sparkled with an almost ethereal wetness that made her inhale deeply. She wanted to touch him, to feel him, and by the way his drool had begun to pool from his partially opened muzzle, he was feeling the same way.

Standing before him, naked as she was, she could only imagine what was going through her head. Instincts, desires? Something akin to human levels of want that she could begin to understand, rather than the bottomless depths of feral intellect?

Fia grabbed her clothing, tossed in a haphazard pile nearby, and began to get dressed to the sound of disappointed snuffling from the arcanine.

“I know, big boy…we can’t keep Mei waiting, though.” Fia spoke in a soft whisper. “We can play tonight…”

If she would even be here, that was.

—

A soft rain fell upon the city, but it did little to deter the people that dwelled amongst its maze-like confines. The cart rocked and jolted each time Titan had to come to a stop when an errant child or distracted passerby ran in front of them. A shout from Mei did little to deter them, and they barely spared the two women a second look before continuing on their way, gradually disappearing into the fog.

Although Fia hadn’t been able to stomach anything that morning, the smell of something cooking nearby brought her hunger to life. It smelled rich, the aroma of cinnamon and spices so delectable that she could taste them on her tongue. The source of the heavenly aroma came into view and proved to be a small cafe that was little more than counter with seats out front. Behind the counter an older woman idly tossed something in a metal pan over a small flame.

“Hungry?” Mei asked, before chuckling, “I always get that way by Auntie Chiyo’s shop. If we hurry and get this delivery done in time, we can stop back and get some fried bread.”

The small foodstand was only one of many that began to pop up on either side of the road. The smells hung heavy in the air, of cooking meat, vegetables, anything that she could imagine and more. Despite the rain, people milled about the stands, speaking to the vendors or sampling their wares. Their clothing was plain, dull colors that resembled the cobblestones the wagon endlessly rolled over.

Fia pulled her cloak tighter in a failing fight to keep the dampness from soaking in to her aching joints. At least she had the benefit of the covered wagon. Poor Titan’s tail and mane were prickling with each gentle misting that shrouded his body. His nostrils continuously flared, sucking in great breaths of air and releasing in a torrential gust with an occasional flash of his square teeth. Every movement he made screamed of just how uncomfortable he was, but he wasn’t the only one that was suffering.

Akio was far less verbose about the discomfort he was feeling, at least, Fia hadn’t once noticed him flinch against the sporadic rain. His fluffy fur had matted against his form, showcasing the muscular swell of his upper shoulders and the long, slender legs that carried him effortlessly across the cobblestone. His black lip was curled back slightly, just enough to showcase the edge of yellowed fangs. He made sure she got a good look at them whenever his eyes met hers.

Each time it made Fia shiver whenever she remembered the pink tongue that also resided in his feral maw.

“Once we make this last delivery, we need to make sure we patch any holes in the barn.” Mei had been talking for quite a while now, although Fia had only been attentive for around half of it. “We want to make sure the boys stay dry tonight. My dad always said that when the water-types come out, we’re in for a downpour.” Mei held the reins tight in her hands, leaning forward in her chair and urging Titan on whenever he began to slow. She seemed just as desperate as he was to get through this tumultuous delivery route.

“Mhm.” Fia confirmed under her breath.

“The boys are going to really need us to towel them off when we get back. If we don’t, they might get sick…”

“Of course.”

“And you’d hate to see your boyfriend get sick, wouldn’t you? You’d hate to catch something from him.”

Fia turned to catch the playful smirk leveled at her, and for once she was too tired to fight the insinuation. It had taken everything in her to bite her tongue whenever Mei gave her that look, prodding and poking her to provoke a response. Every time Mei picked it back up, that night in the barn came to mind. The sight, the smells, the sounds, they were all burned so deeply into her mind that she couldn’t forget them even if she wanted to. Mei was so different in that light, and it was hard to see her without envisioning mudsdale sperm leaking down her back.

“I’d hate to see any pokemon get sick. Didn’t you want to stop and get something for Levi?” Fia hadn’t wanted to sour the mood so suddenly, but it was the quickest and easiest way to get Mei off her taunting path.

“Yeah.” Now it was Mei’s turn to give simple responses, her lips puckering up in consideration, before she sighed. “Afterwards.”

They rolled on in relative silence after that, adding to the eerie calm that hung over the city as thick as the rolling fog. The air felt heavy, but crackled with an unexplainable energy, as if it were a powder keg one spark away from going off. The entire city was on edge, waiting, watching.

Then again, perhaps that was just Fia.

This was the day after all. What a crash course from Kuran and hours repeating the plan back to her again and again was all for. That didn’t make Fia feel any more confident about this, especially since she hadn’t seen any indicator that the masked woman was even following through with her side of things.

“You don’t understand how many favors I have to call for this.” Fia remembered her saying, her silhouette in the barn rafters as welcoming as a hangman’s noose. “This needs to work perfectly.”

It had to, or she was never going to get home. To fail would mean being imprisoned for the rest of her life in some dark, dirty prison. That had been repeated again and again, her only way of escaping was through Kuran. Fia couldn’t remember the last time she had needed to rely on someone so completely and utterly. It wasn’t a feeling that she had particularly come to like, except…

Those eyes burning into her were all she needed to know that the canine walking at the carriage’s side was staring at her again. He tried to play it coy, she knew, by looking away whenever she turned her head to meet him, that same little grin turning up his black lips. Akio had undoubtedly left her with all the support she could have ever asked for, and more.

It felt like she spent more time in the barn than anywhere else, laying curled up with her head tucked against his chest, listening to the thunderous strike of his heart beating. The fur on his chest was typically coarse and gritty, but after Mei had taught her how to brush him out, it was surprisingly soft. It felt even better when her bare skin was pressed against it, after she had felt the wet lap of his tongue between her legs and was left gasping for breath.

Fia shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders.

That night in the barn might well have been a mistake, a one time occurrence that spoke nothing of just what type of woman she was. It wasn’t like she would spread her legs for any man, certainly not any pokemon that came her way. Hell, the growlithe she had originally been partnered with didn’t make her feel this way! Or rather, had she been too worried about what others might have thought if they saw how close the two of them had gotten? Those late nights in the tent, had her gaze ever fallen between his hind legs? Would things have gone further?

No, it wouldn’t have gone further. Nor would her ‘relationship’ with the arcanine go further than letting him ‘relieve stress’ with his fat tongue. After all, it wasn’t like she was returning the favor. Not that she hadn’t found herself wondering why he never pushed his interest in her.

Her hands gripped her cloak tight enough her knuckles turned a pale shade of white, and she released her breath in a shaky sigh.

Why was Kuran so willing to trust her with something like this? She truly must have been desperate, or crazy. Hell, strike that, she knew that Kuran was insane. At least Kuran knew well enough not to take the risk of waltzing right into the most heavily guarded part of the city.

After all, Kuran had vehemently refused even considering going through the gates.

“It’s not happening.” She had said, frigid as ever and with a voice as sharp as an icicle. “I can’t go in there. That’s why I need you.”

Fia had always appreciated being wanted. It coaxed a smile, however momentary and brief it lasted.

The palace walls had been an imposing sight ever since they reached the edge of town. They loomed over her even now, their plain white faces a far cry from the colorful city streets, dampened as they were under the midday fog. It wasn’t the walls that kept drawing her eyes upwards, but the twisting, metal spire in the center of the palace courtyard that rose higher than even the clouds themselves, piercing deep into the sky like the tip of a spear.

Truth be told, she couldn’t begin to imagine how they could have erected such a monolithic structure. Even from here she could see the smooth sheen of the wrapping, twisting arms that coiled around each other endlessly. They ran as smoothly as twin riverbeds, ebbing and flowing to the others exact shape, completely uniform no matter what part of it she was looking at.

“What an eyesore.” Mei grumbled at her side.

Fia glanced at her, only to receive a shrug and a gentle crack of the reins, urging Titan to pick up his already faltering pace. They had only traveled from the farm to the city, but he was already huffing as loudly as he had that night with Mei. A machine breaking down in the beginning onslaughts of rain, it wasn’t hard for her to see just how Mei was trying to guide him under overhangs and the occasional banner strung across the road.

“You don’t like it?” Fia had little desire to hold a conversation, but her nervous energy demanded an outlet. It was either that, or she was going to get out and start walking with Akio and hope that his magic touch was enough to calm her. “I guess it's… simple, but it’s kind of cool. I don’t know, I’m not an artist.”

“Hmph. I would have preferred to see the tree that used to stand there.”

The one that had been in the mural back at the farm, Fia remembered.

The same one Mei’s grandmother had to have been around to see before it was cut down to make space for the encroaching village. It was admittedly incredible that they had been able to erect such a sweeping settlement in such a short period of time. No wonder each building was so garishly decorated with a variety of lanterns, ribbons, and other unique markings. Underneath their customizations, they were all the same, nothing more than copied shells that strove to be unique thanks to their occupants' wishes.

It made her miss Mei’s farm more and more with each passing second. Now if only it had a mountain…and a hot spring. Then she’d never have a desire to leave it.

Kuran had talked about the plan with her extensively, forcing her to repeat it back to her time and again. They would get in through the main gate, Fia would meet a member of the staff that would get her a staff uniform. With that, she would need to blend in while being given a job that would get her into the dungeons.

That word alone made her tremble. The way Kuran spoke of them, it was clear that she knew it existed, but had no idea what Fia would face down there. That left Fia dependent on whatever contacts Kuran had in the palace.

Once she got to the dungeons, she would need to find the evidence room, and inside would be the mask. Then, she would just slip it under her clothing, return to her cleaning, and slip out the back when the shifts changed.

Easy. Super easy. As long as everything went to plan.

The carriage took them around the wall until they reached a section where it parted. Here, red lattice hung over the entrance and along a guard station positioned in the middle of the pathway. Fia fought not to tense up when she noticed the man outside it was wearing the same uniform as the soldiers from her arrival in this world. The leather was dampened around his shoulders and the tops of his arms, leaving her wondering just how long he had been standing in the open. There was no way except through him, that much was obvious. When he approached them, it was with one hand clenched tightly around the hilt of a polearm decorated with a spiked tip, a few bright green feathers strung around the base of it.

“What is your business here?” He spoke quickly, nearly barking out the order like a temperamental canine.

“What does it look like?” Mei surprised Fia by speaking just as brashly back at him. “I’m only here every two weeks, aren’t I, Jiro?”

As Fia watched the soldier out of the corner of her eye, the corner of his mouth twitched into a small smile. It relieved some of the tension she was feeling, but there was nothing that could calm her down now.

This was really happening, and she was going to lose it at the first obstacle?

“You know it’s my job to ask, Mei. Just like it’s your job to deliver.” Fia could feel the burn of his gaze when he turned his eyes on her. It was scalding, as if the sun had managed to pierce through the clouds overhead and was targeted solely on her.“Who's the new girl?”

“Oh, her?” Mei chuckled. “You could call her my hired help, but most of the time I catch her slacking off with Akio.”

The large canine had fallen to his haunches next to the carriage when it came to a halt, one large leg kicked up to scratch idly at his ear. If he heard them he didn’t say anything in regards to it, although Fia knew him well enough at this point to tell he was smirking. It was far more subtle with a pokemon, but his black lips against his orangish red fur were so striking it was easy to notice if you knew what you were looking for.

“Yeah…nice to meet you.” It took everything in Fia just to turn her head and nod in salutations to him. What she wouldn’t have given for Kuran’s inhumanly calm aura at that moment. “I offered to help Mei with her delivery.”

“Probably because Akio was coming with.” Mei interjected quickly, laughing just enough to make Jiro chuckle along. “Anyways, we need to get moving. Am I good?”

Jira’s jovial mood faded as quickly as it came, turning to a minute frown that ultimately ended with him shaking his head. The other guards in the station had turned to look at them now, or more so, the increasingly antsy Titan that was fidgeting in place. His hooves made a loud clatter on the cobblestones, scattering flecks of muddy dirt all over the pristine grounds.

“I can’t just let you through without checking the back.” He lifted a hand when Mei started to climb down, and nodded in Fia’s direction. “Why don’t you let the new girl show me, I need to have a word with her.”

This was it. Somehow he had to have seen through the ruse. Sorry, Kuran, but you had bet your money on the wrong horse. Fia felt downright dizzy, her world spinning when she stepped off the carriage, only for her foot to catch the edge of it. The green kimono was a lot more restrictive of her movements than her typical climbing pants, and she winced when her foot slipped on the wet rung.

Lucky for her, instead of the cold, unforgiving ground, a warm body was instantly there to support her. Akio had moved faster than she could have imagined to throw his body beneath her before she could fall. All it took was a gentle nudge of his hips to right her again and send her on her way, the tip of his fluffy tail catching against her side.

Akio had been good at sensing her emotions. It was almost as if the dog had a sixth sense for the kind of thing, because whenever she was feeling particularly downtrodden, he was there. Just that brief contact with him filled Fia with a sense of not quite determination, but something adjacent to it. That was the power of the fluffy dog, that was for sure, he made her feel as if she could keep going on just a little bit longer.

Still, that feeling didn’t last long when she came to the back of the carriage. Jira had already begun to undo the string binds that held the flaps closed to keep out the incessant rainfall. In the back was little more than the various wooden crates that were full of the farm’s bounty, each freshly picked in the past few days. Mei had been very meticulous about that, demanding that they only send the freshest of berries on this run.

“So…I guess you need to know my name?” Even her own voice seemed far away, and just getting the words out was awkward. “Or…?”

His hand lifted quickly, the other holding a death grip on the polearm so tight that she wondered if he might snap it. Jira stuck his head into the dark recesses of the carriage, just enough to give the interior a cursory glance. Once he was done, he pulled back out and shook his head quickly. When he spoke, it was in a hushed voice that fell far below the thunderous snorts of Titan’s discomfort.

“No, no I don’t need to know. You're the girl that Kuran said was coming, right?” Her stunned silence must have been enough to tell him what he already knew, and he shook his head. “You tell her…t-that we’re square. I owe her nothing, neither her or Daku.” At this, he turned his head and spat on the concrete, the name alone clearly leaving a sour taste in his mouth. “I don’t know how you got messed up with them, but…he’s not a man you want to be indebted to.”

With that, he tossed the flaps closed and gestured her to the front, which she was all too happy to comply with. As soon as she rounded the corner, she was greeted with Akio’s gently swaying tail, his head cocked to the side with pointed ears twitching. Despite his casual appearance, she noted the tension in his hind legs, the curve of his shoulders that accentuated the muscles in his form. He was no knight in shining armor, but she had no doubt he would have come to her rescue if she needed it.

Kuran had insisted on dragging him into their planning early on, not to play a part in it, but just to be aware of what they were doing. There was a lot of huffing and growling that went on whenever Kuran discussed plans with Fia, a lot of sharp glares with teeth bared thrown in Kuran’s direction. Fia couldn’t imagine having the ire of such a formidable creature centered on her, but Kuran might as well have been facing down an untrained growlithe with how much contempt she showed Akio. It probably wouldn’t be too long before Fia had to stop them from tearing out each other's throats.

Fia had to give her credit where it was due, Kuran’s only focus in life was getting her damn mask back.

Mei sighed in exasperation as soon as Fia returned to the front and took her seat.

“Are we good to go? I need to get Titan out of the city and get some fresh mud on him.” Even though she was speaking with Jiro, her eyes were constantly darting to the hulking form of the stallion tethered in front of them. The mud that had been coating his legs had either flaked off or fallen away by this point. What little protection it afforded him was lost, and when he pulled forward it was with a jolt that almost shook Fia from her seat. “See you in a couple weeks, Jiro!”

If the guards had anything left to say to them, it was lost in the rumble of the carriage’s wheels pounding over the cobblestones.

“Is he going to be okay?” Fia asked. After spending a few days just being around Levi, she couldn’t help but share the same concern that must have been eating away at Mei. It wasn’t like Levi’s medication was helping him, she had seen Mei deliver it to him almost religiously and it didn’t seem to make any difference. If the same thing had to happen with Titan, well, Akio certainly didn’t seem like the carriage-pulling type. “He doesn’t look too hot.”

The path narrowed as they walked forward, deeper into the recesses of the palace grounds where the walls started to crowd up on them from either side. They were as foreboding and impassible as any rock wall on the west end of Mt. Chimney Fia had always avoided, where lava had flowed long ago and left behind flat, smooth surfaces with no handholds.

“Tell me something I don’t know…” Mei mumbled under her breath. “I hate seeing him like this, believe me, I do.” The pain in her voice was as evident as the way she looked at him with such desperation. “This is the only way we’re going to make it to the palace. They’re such sticklers for delivery times, why the hell did they change it to now of all days?”

Another favor called in by Kuran. Fia had to spend the night before listening to Mei complain about the disruption in their work routine. It had been difficult to play dumb, especially when it forced them to pull an extra shift to fulfill the order.

The corridor ahead of them came to an abrupt halt. A magnificent archway of darkened wood spread across their path, radiant against the twin torches that glimmered just below it. A gap of wooden flooring separated the rock path, making Titan’s hooves clunk with a hollow melancholy against its surface. It was a far cry from the dull masonry that surrounded it, an expertly crafted design that Fia could only imagine took immense skill to craft.

“One sec.” Mei said while gently tugging on the reins. “Let's give Titan a chance to catch his breath.”

Titan shuddered in gratitude for what little shelter the archway provided them. It was surprising to see the normally virile creature so drained of stamina, even more so than the mornings after Mei would sneak out to the barn when she thought Fia was sleeping.

Titan tossed his head back and grunted when Akio crossed his path, the two of them briefly conversing through a series of whinnies and barks. Both seemed to find amusement in something, and although Fia almost missed it, she swore that she saw their eyes dart back to the two women behind him. Even in Titan’s beleaguered state, whatever they spoke of seemed to inspire, if only briefly, to hold his shoulders a little higher. That Titan’s tail briefly flicked up, showcasing the back of his heavy, black testicles was impossible to miss.

Great, as if Mia wasn’t bad enough.

Fia respectfully averted her gaze, more so to hide the blush apparent on her face than anything, and turned her direction to the ground. It took a moment for her to realize what she was looking at, and she leaned over the edge of the carriage to see it better. Beneath them, burned into the wooden floor, was a large symbol, charred black against the brown wood. It was partially covered with dirt and was slightly worn, but just looking at it sent a strange shiver through Fia.

It shouldn’t have, after all, it was a simple circle with a dot in the center above a malformed ‘x’.

“Hey Mei, what’s with that?”

The monumental struggle that Mei went through to tear her gaze away from the sight in front of her was written all over her face. She nibbled on her lower lip in consideration, before ultimately shrugging.

“Couldn’t tell you. They have them at every entrance, though. Someone must like the design, or they’re superstitious.” With a gentle crack of the reins, and a soft clicking of her tongue, she continued. “Anyway, that’s long enough, let’s get going.”

Titan rolled his eyes, his face indignant at the gentle tap of the ropes connected to him coercing him forward. His formerly slow and plodding steps were replaced with a revitalized vigor, one that spoke of renewed energy. He trotted ahead with a purpose, a job to do that he wouldn’t rest until it was finished. Fei had always heard that pokemon took after their trainers, and seeing Titan and Mei was enough to convince her. They were about as ‘close’ as a pokemon and their trainer could be, after all.

That moment of amusement was all it took for her to let her guard down, and she quickly felt the darkness rushing back in.

Fia shivered and rubbed her arms to try and cease the shaking that had begun to overwhelm her. That hollow chasm yawning in the pit of her stomach had grown larger at that moment, threatening to swallow her up. If she did get back, how could she live with the knowledge of what she had done with Akio? Sure, it was just his tongue, and she had said it was just once, but hadn’t they done it multiple times since then? If she did lose her outlet in Akio, would she turn to her growlithe instead? The thought of that cute, fuzzy face looking up at her made her feel differently now.

It was a frustrating, chilling realization. Could she even go back now and be the same person that she had been?

That would be a hilarious conversation with Flannery. Of course I’d like to be a trainer at the gym, hope you don’t mind that I let my pokemon eat me out.

Despite the cold, damp weather a heat blossomed in her face, one that did little to dispel the shivers running down her spine. At least she still had some level of pride. Even if it was mixed up in a dozen different emotions that were impossible to place.

“Are you really going to keep staring at your man, or are you going to answer me?”

Fia snapped back to reality with a series of rapid blinks, and she realized that she had indeed been staring at the swishing tail of the arcanine. It left her feeling like she had a mouthful of sand, and choking it down was more difficult than trying to control the feeling that was prickling in the back of her mind.

“Sorry,” Fia mumbled, “I just…” Just what? What was there she could possibly say at this point? She didn’t want to do this, she wanted to go home, she wanted to shrink into the ground and disappear from it all. It made her jump when she felt Mei’s hand rest on her shoulder, light enough that it could have darted away at any second.

“Hey, you know…I like teasing you and all.” Mei had released the reins and left their path forward up to Titan’s discretion. The rattling of the carriage’s wooden wheels against the cobblestones was almost soothing, swallowing up Mei’s voice and leaving the two to share this singular moment. “You never really get angry so I keep doing it, but…” Mei trailed off, the hand on her shoulder pressing a bit more firmly against her. “If you like pokemon, it’s okay, you know?”

Now it was the black-haired woman’s turn to blush, her normally tanned cheeks swallowing a lot of the color and leaving just enough to make it apparent. The moment hung between them, that sickly feeling in Fia’s stomach lessening, but stubbornly clinging to her and refusing to let go. What could she even say in response to that?

“I…” Fia began, only to falter when Mei squeezed her shoulder.

“Don’t say anything. I know how you feel about Akio.” A moment, a spark passed between them, shining through on that cloudy day. “Just don’t try to take my Titan.” A knowing look was written on Mei’s face, one of solidarity, perhaps even excitement at the thought. A kindred spirit just like her.

Just like her.

So much to be said, so little courage to say it. Just looking into Mei’s face, at those soft, understanding eyes and the coy smile gracing her lips, it was all Fia could do to clench her jaw shut. In the grand scheme of things, Fia knew this was so minuscule, especially when she was about to put her life, her freedom on the line. Still, to actually hear Mei finally admit out loud to what Fia had known about for the past few days was liberating, at least in some part.

“I…think I may be leaving soon.” Fia blurted it out before she could hold it back. “I…didn’t want to tell you.” She immediately saw how Mei’s face changed to one of shock, before Fia looked down at her lap. Her knuckles were bone white, clenched at the hem of her kimono and wringing the material. “I don’t know yet.”

If everything went to plan, if Kuran actually followed through with her side of things, she’d be leaving them.

The farm, Akio, her budding friendship with the girl that constantly teased her. Even if it made her roll her eyes, Fia had to admit there was some fun in being so casual about such a taboo thing.

“Well, if that’s the case, I should get as much labor out of you as I can.” It was as if a switch had been flipped in her, going from understanding to cold acceptance. Mei had sat up straight in her seat, stiff and proper with her eyes pointed straight ahead. “After we get everything unloaded, we’ll head back and get to work.”

It was easier for Fia to bite her lower lip and nod. She knew there was nothing she could say after that to provide any kind of comfort to Mei. From what she had learned in the last few days, Mei wasn’t the type to bottle up her feelings, but rather let them out in a fiery storm of raw emotions. To see this side of her, icy cold and as empty as the palace walls was more than a little unnerving.

“You’re not taking Akio.” Mei finally said.

Fia could only nod.

As they stepped out of the corridor into a large pavilion, it was as if the sky itself had succumbed to the majesty of the palace. The clouds parted just enough to allow several beams of sunlight to fall on a half dozen cherry blossom trees in full bloom, their light pink petals swaying in the wind. Occasionally one would fall away, fluttering in the breeze free of any binds, tossed from side to side before finally falling to the ground. The pavilion was deserted except for the occasional armored guard walking the path, their contemptful glares thrown their way whenever they crossed in front of the carriage. It made Fia wince to see their metal boots flatten the delicate petals into the ground, leaving behind nothing more than a pink smear on the stones.

Behind the trees stood the tower, the snaking effigy that stood so forlornly amongst the blossoming trees. This close to it, Fia could hear the wind whistling through the various twists and turns, creating an almost haunting melody that hung in the back of her mind. It reminded her of nails on a chalkboard, a maddening sound that she couldn’t quite hear, but was just loud enough to make her want to grind her teeth together. The metal had seemed so reflective and shiny from far away, a marvel of engineering that had no place in this world. Now that she was close to it, she could see the ugly surface, thick rivulets like veins running across the metal. Some spots were blackened, darkened as if scorched by fire.

It made Fia shiver. How could such a thing possibly remain standing under its own power?

“Why did you think now was a good time to tell me that?” Mei took the carriage around the far wall, keeping out of the immaculate courtyard and its unsoiled ground. Titan appeared to be walking stiffly again, whether it be from his mistress’ tone remained a mystery. “I mean, right before we make this delivery? What am I supposed to say?”

Now there was the girl that Fia had come to know. The one that swore up and down when she accidentally dropped a log on her toe. The one that could probably give a primeape a run for their money. This Mei, Fia vastly preferred.

“I didn’t know if I’d have another chance.” Fia’s voice was soft, almost muffled by the rolling of the wheels.

In this empty courtyard, with the guards so far away, there was no one that could possibly hear them. That didn’t make her feel any better about saying it out loud. Mei’s scoff seemed to echo around her, ringing in her ears no matter how desperately she tried to keep it out.

Fia knew she had to leave what had quickly become the first friend she had in years. And that hurt worse than any insult or barb Mei could throw her way. Akio stood back and away from the carriage, no doubt listening to the conversation, but keeping a respectable distance. If anything, she had expected Akio’s reaction to be akin to Mei’s, even if the canine had the luxury of a few days to prepare for this.

Akio would always fix those big, knowing eyes on her, full of animal intellect that she couldn’t begin to understand. Then, he would draw her into his paws to chase all the worries of the world away, and in that moment Fia would feel the peace that so cruelly eluded her.

“We’re going to make this quick, okay? They don’t like delivery people sticking around for long.” The change in Mei was undeniable, she spoke more firmly, direct and without the casual sense of familiarity Fia felt they had built between them. “I just don’t understand. Didn’t you say you didn’t have anywhere to go?”

“Not exactly.” Fia grumbled.

Fia had indeed told Mei that she had nowhere in this world to go, but how else could she explain it? Sorry, I have to fall through the next hole in the ground and maybe I’ll find my way home? She hated this situation, hated that she had let it slip now of all times. Would it have been worse if she just left without saying a word? No, no that would be the worst thing she could do.

The last thing she wanted was for Mei to go through a repeat of her father.

“Then…just stay a little longer.” Mei gestured broadly with her hand back towards the wagon, the words on the side proudly proclaiming the name of the berry farm. “The spring harvest is winding down, you won’t even have to do a lot of picking over the summer!” Mei grew more animated the closer they got to the back of the palace, no longer able to stay still, and as soon as they came to a stop she was out of her seat. “All you have to do is hang out and help keep the barn clean. You hang out in there so much already, that should be easy, right?”

Fia was thankful that this little nook of the palace grounds was presently deserted. It gave her an opportunity to slip from her seat while Mei threw open the doors on the back of the carriage and began to pull boxes out. Mei was rather reckless with how she handled them, sending berries tumbling along the ground from a few of the more heavily-filled boxes. That she lost them didn’t appear to register with the women moving almost robotically in her single-minded determination.

A cold, wet sensation pressed into the palm of one of Fia’s hands, soon followed by Akio’s broad head. Fia’s fingers trailed down the back of his neck before sliding down the length of his large body when his large form walked past her. He approached Mei from the side, waiting for her to set her current box down before he brushed his head against her flank. It tugged at Fia’s heartstrings to see how expertly he handled her, corralling her with a type of affection that could only come from a pokemon. It made her long for her own growlithe, although whenever she thought of her pokemon, the only thing that came to mind was Akio.

You’re not taking Akio.

To hear those words echo in her psyche made her hands tighten into fists. It wasn’t like she could take him with her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want him.

“Just…just help me unload these, okay?” Mei finally said. She sounded defeated, and that hurt Fia worse than anything. “I just want to get this done.”

—

With the two working together, it didn’t take long for them to unload the cart. The boxes were stacked along the back wall of the palace, right outside a small door that Mei kept impatiently eying every few moments. The silence was awful, and Fia wondered if this was the worst part of it all, the anticipation that came before the storm. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice in the matter.

What else was there to do than wait, after all? A sullen silence had fallen across both girls, neither willing nor able to breach it with something as mundane as conversation. Fia certainly wasn’t going to take the chance, not when she caught Mei’s accusatory stare on more than one occasion. Damn, could she ever freeze someone as effectively as any ice type.

Titan and Akio both stood beneath one of the blossoming trees, its overloaded branches providing some meager shelter from the rain. It had already begun to pick up, and despite the layer of dirt Mei had pulled from the ground beneath the trees and rubbed along Titan’s flank, he was beginning with jerky, impatient twitches.

Akio stood as still as a statue, watching and waiting. Fia would have killed for his level of quiet contemplation, a stillness that relayed a sea of confidence that she wished she could siphon.

It was almost time, and that made Fia more antsy than ever. It didn’t go unnoticed by her companion, and Mei had thrown her a look a few times, but she never made a comment on how Fia couldn’t stay still.

The door swung open, and with it Fia’s heart began to pound, rumbling in her chest with great bursts that stole her breath. A few men stepped out, dressed in the dark black and white attire of the servants, sweeping robes that hung down to their feet and hung above cloth slippers. They were followed by a woman dressed in a flowing blue kimono, her black hair pinned up with several bright red pins that resemble spikes on a qwillfish. Her nose immediately went up at the sight of Titan and Akio, and it didn’t fall an inch when she turned her gaze towards the two women.

Fia, however, garnered a slight twitch of the woman’s lower lip. If she weren’t so hyper focused on her expression, Fia might have missed it.

“It’s about time, I was beginning to think you were making us wait in the rain on purpose.” Mei grumbled. Her voice had become as sharp as a knife and twice as hard, a tone that Fia herself had had the luck of not experiencing first hand. “I love waiting out in the rain just to see your face, Cho.”

“Hmmmph.” The woman ignored them with a sweep of her shoulder. She walked towards one of the crates and raised an eyebrow as her hand glided along the top of it. “Do not mistake our continued business for any feelings of kinship on my part, Miss Hanei. You would do well to remember that there are plenty of berry farmers for the royal family to choose from. Tradition is the only thing that continues our business, especially when your deliveries have been so…lackluster, of late.” With a swish of her trailing dress, she walked back to the door she had come out of, never taking more than a couple steps in the direction of Titan or Akio.

If looks could kill, Mei would have had all the ferocity of a rampaging gyarados. Titan wasn’t much better; in fact, she had never seen the stallion wield an expression of such contemptful anger. It transcended species, and he actually took a step forward before Akio reached out with one paw and nudged him back into place.

Fia was about to say something, before she heard the sharp snap of the woman’s fingers.

“You there, you are the new chambermaid, are you not?” Cho looked at her with narrowed eyes, her mouth drawn into a tight line. “Having spent time in with such…rustic company, it doesn’t surprise me that you wish to leave the life of a commoner.”

Fia didn’t know what scared her worse. The realization that this was what Kuran had set up to get her into the palace, or the feeling of Mei’s eyes burning a hole through her. Silence hung like a funeral shroud, as dull and somber as the day itself.

“Mei, I promise I can explain.” Fia snapped her mouth shut as soon as Mei held a hand up in her direction.

“No need. You saw something better and you took it.” Mei’s hands trembled while she gestured for Titan, and no force on the planet could hold the stallion back as he rushed to her side. His large head nearly bowled her over as he pressed against her side, snorting under his breath and fixing Fia with that same judgemental stare. “You could have told me sooner, though. It’s what friends do, right?”

Worse than anything else, than the feeling of betraying her friend, it was the way that Mei dismissed her so quickly that left Fia reluctantly standing there in the open. Mei had already begun to hook Titan to the cart, although it was nothing compared to the calm professionalism she had shown that morning when she prepared him. Through it all, no second look was offered, no attempt to beg or plead, just acceptance. Cold acceptance that this was always going to happen.

Fia felt sick.

Akio had hung back, even now he stood slightly off to the side, monolithic and as still as the grave. Fia knew that this could have been the last moment she saw Mei, the last moment she got to feel the pleasant touch of Akio’s fur against her hand. How many times had Kuran told her that she needed to prepare for this moment, and how many times had she turned away?

That woman…it was all her fault that she was put in this impossible situation to begin with. What was she if not fodder, a last-ditch effort to get Kuran’s precious mask back since she was apparently too cowardly to do it herself?

Fia watched the wagon rolling away from them until it disappeared around the curve of the building, the sound eventually fading into the mist along with the last remnants of her friendship. Akio was the last thing she saw of them, his silhouette wrapped with tendrils of fog creeping along his form. He stared at her until his ears twitched and he ultimately disappeared, leaving her alone. Well, not entirely alone. The hand that clenched at her shoulder was bony and rough, enough to make her cringe when Cho pulled her up against her side.

“You will tell your employer that after this, they will forget what they think they know about me.” Cho didn’t whisper, she hissed like an arbok coiled and ready to strike, her purple lips emphasizing each word. “I will get you your uniform, and I will look the other way. That is all you shall receive from me, street rat.”

The hand that clenched her was unwelcoming, the voice giving her no option to argue. Fia could only inhale with a shallow breath before she was pulled through the open doorway into the palace.

—-

It wasn’t the palace proper; that would have been too good for the servants. Instead, Cho took her down a dimly lit hallway, past a parade of workers, each carrying a different variety of items in their hands. Plates and cutlery, long sheets of white cloth, it seemed as if everyone had a place they needed to be in that moment. They spilled around Cho and Fia like a rock in the middle of a stream, affording the gangly woman and her charge more than a wide berth. Cho was incessant, dragging her deeper down the maze-like corridors.

Kuran had instructed her to try to remember the way she came in, just in case she needed to make a fast escape. That was a great idea, and if Fia’s mind wasn’t racing she might have been able to remember more than the first three turns. Right now, her mind was a mismatch of directions that was impossible to decipher.

“You are to remain out of the palace proper. The matriarch of the royal family is holding a banquet in honor of a great hero, and you are not to disturb them.” Cho spoke in hushed tones, although their echoes against the stone walls might as well have left her speaking at normal volume. “Whatever it is you are here for, I have no desire to know of it. My graces only extend so far, so do not test me. Most importantly, keep your mouth shut. Don’t speak a word to the other servants.”

Fia had remained quiet since Cho dug her talons into her shoulder and began to drag her along. It was easier not to say anything, to just keep her mouth tightly shut instead of risking saying the wrong thing. That would have been the smart thing to do, but right now, the smart thing didn’t appeal to her. Anger was beginning to rise beneath the surface of the ocean of uncertainty, and no matter her efforts to keep it down it continued to fester.

“Why did you say that to Mei?” Fia demanded. “She’s my friend, and you made me seem like I actually wanted to leave her?” In her attempt to shake off the hand clutching at her shoulder, she succeeded in only scratching herself on the woman’s long nails before she finally released her.

Cho tucked her hands into the sleeves of her dress while Fia spoke so heatedly at her, a disturbingly calm figure like a dime-store mannequin. More than anything else about her, it annoyed her that Cho wore a constant, stone-faced expression with just a hint of a smirk, one of an unspoken victory. Fia truly wondered just what Kuran must have had on her to keep her under control.

“Let me remind you, that with one word…I could ensure you remain here for the rest of your life, however short it may be.” It wasn’t a threat, it was fact, cold and direct as it was. “I detest your kind. You’re filth, filth that corrupts the city that the royal family has done so much to create.” Cho stepped closer, and damn if it didn’t make Fia step back as well. “If your handler didn’t have such…potential allegations involving myself, then I would see to it that you share a cell with our prison’s newest arrival.”

If this were a mountain, if this were a trail, if any of this were something that Fia was used to, she wouldn’t have felt so small. A gym battle, hell, a fist fight like she got into when she was younger and the other kids went too far with their biting jests when she had no one to pick her up at the end of the day. Fia felt like nothing more than a child trying to fill the shoes of an adult, and she was achingly aware of just how far she was from pulling it off.

Perhaps she was just a poor actor. Perhaps all the confidence in the world couldn’t have prepared her for something like this.

“Now then, I’m certain we understand each other, do we not?”

Fia nodded stiffly, wishing she could have said something to wipe that small smirk off her face.

—

The clothing that Cho brought to her was vastly different from the silken kimono that Mei had leant her. She felt bad about leaving it in the changing room the brash, commanding woman had brought her into, but it wasn’t like she could take it with her. Her new outfit was as plain as they came, coarse to the touch and a dull white upon which hung a cloying scent that reminded her of a hospital ward. Her golden hair was tucked into a white cloth that partially obscured her features, making her seem like any other servant that was patrolling the grounds.

Cho had left her in one of the guest bedrooms with the simple order to work should anyone walk in on her. It was impossible to miss the self-satisfied smirk that she wore as she commanded her to actually follow through with such a menial task. It made Fia wish her nerve would return just long enough for her to get a barb in edgewise. Then she had left with a level of urgency that rivaled everyone else they had passed by.

Cho had said they were honoring a hero, and apparently it was a major deal. That was the only thing she could attribute to the noise and the agitated air of the staff. Each seemed to wear a smile that was far too forced, one that seemed crudely etched onto their face against their will. They carried serving platters of drinks in a variety of ornate glass and metal cups, platters of food, all manner of royal treats that would have caught her eye if it didn’t feel like her stomach was twisted in knots.

Time had slowed to a crawl and the wait had become oppressive, so much so that she had actually dipped the towel into the bucket provided to her and began to idly clean around the small bedroom. The entire time, she thought of Mei. The betrayed look on her face was permanently scrawled in Fia’s mind, and every time she closed her eyes it was there. Accusing, angry, hurt, she could only hope Mei would give her the opportunity to explain herself.

Hopefully Akio was there for her, Titan as well. Knowing Titan, neither hell nor high water would tear her away from his mistress’ side at a time like this. That was enough to make her smile at least a little.

Fia was about to go over the dressers a third time when the door opened. Standing there was a youthful man that didn’t appear to be quite out of his teenage years. He wore a uniform similar to her own, but the material was faded and worn at the knees, and his sleeves were already drawn back.. In one hand he clenched a bucket, and in the other was a large, metal ring adorned with several brass keys.

“Madam Cho said…you were going to help me clean the jail cells?” His voice still had the untested mettle of a young man, like a dog that had been browbeaten far too many times in the past and now focused on every spoken word. “Are you…are you sure you want to? I mean, it’s not exactly the best job.”

He shrugged, causing the keys on his belt to jingle.

“Most of the time they draw straws to see who has to go down since no one ever wants to…never really had someone volunteer, I don’t think.” He let it hang there, as if on the precipice of some great discovery before he cracked a small, but welcoming smile at her. “I-I’m Sora, by the way.”

Fia began to turn towards him, but paused when he continued.

“You can understand me, right?” He asked “I’m sorry, Miss Cho told me of your…condition. I didn’t mean to draw attention to it. I’ve just never met someone who can’t speak. It’s nice to meet you, Youko.”

Super. At least Cho was good for something, if it meant she wouldn’t have to share words with this young man. If anything, knowing that she could just remain silent was an immense relief that left her sighing inwardly.

Fia nodded curtly and kept her lips pressed tight together. How would a woman unable to speak act? This shouldn’t have been hard.

“I guess you can’t really tell someone no if you can’t talk, heh. Er, sorry, was that rude?” Sora had turned and held the door open for her, the black bob of his ponytail bouncing minutely on the back of his head. “Sorry, I’ll stop bringing it up. The others say I speak too much while I work anyways.”

Fia kept her face blank and avoided the draw of Sora’s eyes. He was certainly a brighter face than Jira and Cho, his voice as sweet as honey and just as overwhelming.

“You’ve really picked a memorable first day, I’ve never seen the palace so busy!” He spoke in hushed whispers that still seemed to be too loud in the spacious hallway. The tile floor was immaculate white marble, the red-painted walls lined with portraits from whence their occupants stared down on them. They made Fia feel uncomfortable walking past them and it became a little difficult to match the pep in Sora’s step. “It’s going to be a great day. After the ceremony is over, we get to have whatever leftovers the kitchen is going to throw out!”

What she wouldn’t give to live in a world where the greatest thing that could happen to you would be leftovers. Fia would have been willing to kill for that level of simplicity at this point.

“Right, you probably don’t know.” He stopped at the intersection of a few hallways, and quickly darted back and grabbed her hand. “Wait, come here!”

Before she could object she was pulled against the wall, as nondescript as they could be. The sudden sound of laughter and merriment met their ears as two well-dressed figures walked down the hallway in front of them, their conversation entirely focused on one another. Their robes almost glistened in the light of the oil lanterns, flecks of gold on canvases of flowing reds and purples. They were both men by the sound of their voice, as that was the only way Fia could tell what gender they were.

It chilled her to see the painted, wooden faces that they wore, blank and unmoving. Dark, sunken eyes on a canvas of white with purple and yellow facepaint. Their expression were somber in a way that conflicted with their painted features, figures seemingly right on the verge of screaming. It was no small relief that they didn’t focus on her; Fia didn’t know how she would react if they had.

Only once they had passed did Sora release his held breath. “The princess would not like it if we disgraced her guests with our presence.” They both realized at the same time just how close he was to the older woman, his face near level with her chest. “S-Sorry,” Sora pressed his hands together and let his head droop in a bow. “I feared we may walk into them! I meant nothing by it!”

Well, that was admittedly the closest a man had ever come to her chest, and although it brought warmth to her face she was able to manage it. At least Akio wasn’t there to see it, he might have gotten jealous of what he perceived as a man moving in on his territory.

Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part.

He poked out of the entryway and gave both sides of the hall a quick sweep of his head. The way his head bobbed reminded her of one of those doduo toys that dipped their beak into a cup of water before standing back up straight, constantly in motion and restless. “Tonight…tonight is a big night for the princess.”

Fia thought of how to approach the matter of the masks, and she settled on pulling her hands down over her face. Sora stared at her, blank-faced before realization struck him.

“Oh! You didn’t hear?” The change in him was noticeable, whereas he had been constantly staring at her with an expression bordering on pity, now he was incredulous. “The whole kingdom’s talking about it…Miss Cho told me you came from a, uh, distant farm.” The way he hesitated made her wonder just what choice words she had used to describe Mei’s farm.

“They captured a wanted outlaw a few days ago, one that the palace has been searching for for quite a while.” Sora continued unabated. He gestured for her to follow him. “The Ebony Oni, a bandit that robs his victims of their lives and their valuables.”

No wonder Kuran refused to come into the palace.

Fia saw the doorway and could only imagine that this was their destination. It was large, as big and unwieldy as the vault doors had been on the carriages she had seen when she first arrived. Sora walked towards it with a determined stride, already plucking his keyring from his belt and pulling out the largest brass key. With a deep, mechanic clunk it turned in the lock.

The large door opened, creaking with a deep, grating sound that made shivers run down Fia’s spine. It was like nails scratching into the wood of a coffin, and the passage behind it looked just as claustrophobic as one. The lamps here were cruder, no covers affixed over their flickering flames, allowing them to cast dancing shadows along the wall. The air that came up from the passageway was musty and stale, a sour odor that made her nose curl up despite the cloying scent of her clothing.

“He wore a mask. So now the kingdom wears masks in mockery of him.” For the first time, she saw Sora smile. Not just a half-hearted attempt at a curl of the lip, but an actual smirk. “It’s…poetic, I think? That we have taken everything from him?” He glanced forward, down the stone steps that seemed chiseled into the very walls themselves. “We…might see him if we continue, don’t be afraid, okay? Behind bars, they are no more fearsome than animals in a cage.”

If only Sora knew how truly terrified she was.

—

The mask is kept in the evidence room in the prison. That was what Kuran had learned from one of her informants.

By the bitter tone of her voice when she was telling Fia this, it had most certainly cost her another favor. Favors that were quickly starting to become short in supply if her growing exasperation was anything to go off of. It was quickly becoming apparent just how many rats were loose in the palace, from guards to even the servants. While the palace had seemed so neat and pristine, the inside was corrupted, rotting like the berries Mei told her to watch out for when she was picking.

The only way to stop rot from spreading was to cut it off. That was what Mei had said, and it made her wonder just how the royal family would react to those that betrayed them.

Hell, she didn’t need to wonder, for the proof was before her.

Wrought iron bars stood from floor to ceiling in front of cells that lined both sides of the room. Their occupants - mainly men - were dressed in little more than ragged sacks, some too small and showing patches of pale, gaunt bodies with skin that was stretched to the point of appearing paper thin. Those that seemed to still retain some part of the luster in their eyes affixed the two of them with expressions so full of hatred that she made sure to stay clear of the bars. With their cracked hands tensing and twitching, Fia could only imagine what they would do given the chance.

Dissenters, enemies of the royal family. That was how Sora referred to them.

The thing that really disturbed her though was the emptiness in some of them, the ones that were almost skeletal in appearance. Their hair hung in matted strands, uneven and patchy. They wouldn’t pace their cells like the others, instead they sat either on the pitiful ‘bedrolls’ or in the corner of their cells, staring at something only they could see. It was them that Fia feared the most.

She might end up like them.

Sora had almost seemed personally offended by their very presence, fixing them with the same disdain you would show a quivering rat crossing your path. Perhaps she had been wrong to view him as a sniveling whelp, the more he spoke of the palace and its occupants with such awe, it didn’t seem to fit him. If anything, he was more of a mewling lapdog, eating up whatever he was told.

There wasn’t a single place in the room that Fia felt comfortable, not a single cell she passed that didn’t fill her with mounting dread. The fetid odor of their occupant’s unwashed bodies was much more apparent down here, as if no amount of cleaning could remove the taint that had seeped into the very walls.

Fia was surprised to see that there weren’t many guards here. Perhaps overconfidence in the strength of their bars, or a matter of needing to be elsewhere on this special evening. Kuran had either planned their mission for tonight for a reason, or she had just been remarkably fortuitous.

No, that didn’t seem like her. Nothing about Kuran screamed that she was the type to rely on the universe to come to her aid.

They had come to a cell that was placed apart from the others, one in which chains hung from the wall and a large table sat in the middle of the room. It was easily the size of a man, with clamps positioned at the top and bottom. The wood was dark to begin with, but it couldn’t hide the staining from years of blood spilling across its thirsty surface. Fia had only been able to stare at it while Sora calmly walked in, setting to work as if this were the most common thing in the world.

His calm demeanor and casual attempt at conversation made her happy that she could fulfill the role of a mute. The more she got to know about the young man, the more unsettled she became with him. The last thing she wanted to do was risk insinuating that the royal family wasn’t the godsend that he proclaimed them to be. If she did, she had no doubt he would probably slam the cell door shut on her and leave her to answer to the guards.

It was why she jumped at the opportunity to dump their buckets when the water grew cloudy and rust-colored. Not that she did much cleaning to begin with. Just staring at the table made her feel nauseous, and she was happy that she hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast. It felt like if she listened closely, she could hear the whispered horrors that the chamber had seen over its lifetime.

It wasn’t easy to follow the directions that Sora had given her. Apparently, there was a drain where she could dump the buckets, but she must have taken a wrong turn. The twisting, labyrinthian halls all looked the same, endless catacombs of dull gray rock that sucked up most of the light shining on them. Occasionally the monotonous ocean of stone was replaced by another of those heavy, iron doors that they had used to enter the prison.

It was tight, it was hard to breathe down here. The air was so thin, as if she were standing at the peak of a mountain.

What if she never got out of here, never got to see the sky again? That beautiful swathe of blue that looked so much better from atop a towering summit, feeling the wind coursing through your hair while down below the trees rustled with a merry tune. Would she even remember the kiss of the sun after a lifetime in here? Would she end up resembling one of the walking corpses they had passed, already dead in every way but physically?

The sunken eyes of the party goers mask were there every time she closed her eyes. Kuran was wrong, this was a mistake, she was an idiot for following through with this.

Every corner passed her by sharply, her breath picking up in pace as a sharp pain surged through her chest. It was getting difficult to breathe and the edges of her vision seemed to darken with an encroaching blackness that wished to swallow her up. Every movement she made was jerky and sudden, causing her to swing the bucket and slosh some of the dirty water onto the dry stones where it was instantly sucked away.

Fia knew this feeling, and it made her think of a long time ago, when she was on her very first climb. How old had she been at that point? Seven, maybe eight?

It had been a bright and sunny day, and it had been just the two of them. Fia was ashamed to admit that it had been so long since she saw her father’s face that even now she couldn’t picture it in her memories. He was tall, with chiseled looks, wasn’t he? Or was he short with sandy blond hair, the same color that he had passed on to her? It infuriated her that her mind was racing so fast that the faceless man continued to elude her attempts of giving him form.

They had been hiking along Mt. Chimney, in a place where years later Fia would find herself constantly coming back to. She still remembered the touch of his hand as he helped her up the rock face, guiding her to which handholds and steps were the most secure. Back then, the wall had seemed so steep and treacherous, she had felt as if one wrong move would send her tumbling all the way down to the mountain. Fear had locked her up, frozen her in place while she wished for the world to pass her by and for it all to end in that instant.

That was when she heard it for the first time. It was a soft tune, one that had a smooth cadence to it and a gentle rhythm. It was a comfortable sound, one that made her feel as if the claws of despair were being forcibly retracted from her heart. That her father was humming it under his breath was all she focused on, and with each step up he took, she would follow him.

That song…she could hear it now.

Fia froze in place, the bucket falling from her hand and clattering to the stones, disgorging its contents all over her shoes and the bottom of her pants. She stood there, telling herself that what she had heard wasn’t true. It was hysteria. It was panic and anxiety driving her to think there was an ephemeral whisper of the past that had become tangible right on the cusp of mental shutdown. There was no way it could be…

It came again, faint, but still cheerful, coming from somewhere nearby.

Fia was moving, she was no longer in control of her body. Something had hotwired her limbs and was forcing her forward, not accepting her reluctance. It ignored the tight cramps in her chest, would pay no mind to her racing thoughts. Whatever urge compelled her was far too strong to resist.

It grew colder the deeper she went into the dungeon, and at one point she was certain that she had seen her own breath. She only noticed it as she came to a stop at a crossroads, the sound coming from all directions at once before she was able to pinpoint it down a particular tunnel. It was a siren song in a world gone mad, one that promised her some part of the life she had left behind. A life of freedom, of sunlight, a life free from the strife of uncertainty.

When she came to the grand door the sound was coming from behind, any hope that had been building in her was shattered.

It was taller than the other doors, wider as well. The hinges on it were just as massive as the royal wagon’s had been. Her hand pressed against the cold metal and it instantly made her shiver. It was solid, dense to the point that her knuckle made no sound tapping against it. Still, somehow, that song persisted through it, faster now, more jubilant in its pacing. Shouldn’t it have ended by now, or was it just playing on repeat? With it came a clearing of her mind, dredging to the surface what she had already buried.

The mask is kept in the evidence room of the prison. Kuran had said. Which is why I have someone leaving a key for you.

Fia cursed herself for almost forgetting something so important.

The key hung in a small alcove just to the left of the door, almost unnoticeable if you didn’t know what you were looking for. Even then, Fia passed over it twice before her fingers found the narrow crevice and came back clenched around the key as if it were a lifeline. It seemed far too small to ever be able to operate a door this massive, but when she slid it into the keyhole and turned it to the sound of a large, mechanical click.

It continued clicking in the door as pistons and levers switched open, some unseen mechanism awoken from its slumber to do the key’s bidding. Fia stood there uncertain until she had to take a quick step back when the door suddenly swung open. It was as if a soft touch had pushed it open in invitation to her, but no one waited for her on the other side of the entryway. The door was heavy, and it took some struggling on her part to manage to pry it open wide enough for her to step through.

There was little light in the room to illuminate the room, and what she could see in the light of a dimmed gas lamp was a set of shelves stretching into the darkness. Further into the darkness came another light. It was a soft, golden glow that evoked a feeling of warmth in her, one that fluctuated with the gentle tone of the music.

To get to it was difficult. She collided with a variety of objects in the darkness, some sent skittering across the floor into the inky maw of nothingness, while others held firm and reduced her to swearing under her breath as stinging pain ran up her leg. Fia’s hand hung forward, desperately yearning for that sound, that light that promised salvation and freedom from entropy. It was only when her fingers wrapped around smooth plastic did she realize what she was holding in her hand.

The screen was still cracked from where she had dropped it the very first day she had purchased it, an unsightly, jagged line in the upper right corner. It wasn’t anything special to look at, really, nothing at all like the newer models of cellphones that she hadn’t been able to afford. Her battery had always been unreliable, and after the brief surprise at finding her phone here came the realization that there was no way it would have held a charge for this long. The screen didn’t contain any icons, no numbers or contacts. The only thing it did show was a line of text.

Hello, Fia.

As soon as she read the words, the music that had been coming from the phone stopped and the light grew brighter, casting her surroundings in that warm glow. It illuminated racks full of an eclectic mix of items, no two objects the same and as varied as could be. It didn’t strike her just how cavernous the room was at first, but beyond the reach of the phone’s screen were countless racks vanishing into the darkness. The shadows seemed to claim it for themselves, roiling and shivering as if it were a living organism frustrated that it was being kept at bay.

Below the first message came a series of ellipses, before a small chime sounded.

Take your things.

She only realized it after reading it, but the relief that came over her came in crashing waves. On the same table where she had found her cellphone also lay her backpack, although its contents had been spilled out of it. It made her wince to see shattered pokeballs and broken medical containers laying in haphazard piles, some shoved off to the side. A variety of tools lay near them, from a simple hammer to a tightly pointed screwdriver. If they were trying to glean any information from them, it didn’t seem like they had much luck.

Fia grabbed her backpack and almost cried out in joy when she found her gym uniform still in one piece. It seemed that not all of her supplies had suffered the same fate as the ones she first saw. Almost half a dozen pokeballs lay nestled in the bottom of her bag, and her medicine pouch still had several full restores.

It wasn’t like her growlithe had needed such advanced medication when they were only training, but in the wilderness far from a pokemon center, she never took the chance.

What truly made her grin, however, was the familiar handle of her climbing ax. She grabbed it and held it aloft before her, the familiar weight in her hand calming her to a certain degree. It wasn’t a lie to say she had wondered if it had been left to lay in the middle of the forest, rusting away under gathering stormclouds. She hooked it onto her backpack and slid her arms through the leather straps before pulling it tight against her back.

At this point, if anyone questioned her on it they could be damned. Fia wasn’t going to leave behind what meager mementos from the future she had left.

In the excitement of the moment, she had almost forgotten her true task.

Fia turned and let the phone cast its light across the floor, guiding her way through the narrow corridors back towards the front of the room. There didn’t seem to be any good way to go about searching through this room, not when the shelves held all manner of junk items with no obvious sorting system. While Kuran might not have been the type to rely on luck, Fia wouldn’t have been against relying on it.

The phone vibrated in her hands, new words forming amongst the swirling golden background.

Near the oil lamp.

Or, she could just rely on whatever was apparently controlling her cell phone. It made the hair on the back of her neck rise to think that someone might be in the room watching her from some dark corner. Fia looked down at the words again, their simple font leaving no hint to the sender’s intent or their origin.

A thought for another time, unfortunately, all she could do now was trust that her mysterious benefactor was going to remain just that.

Fia worked her way towards the dim lamp with hurried steps. The door still hung open, letting a tiny sliver of light in that she had to pass through. She had been tempted to close the door behind her, but the thought of it sealing her in here, deep beneath the earth, that was too terrifying a thought to even consider. It made her shiver even now to consider it, all she had to do was find the…

Fia blinked a few times, and even then she didn’t want to believe what she was seeing. No matter how much she wished it to be a trick of the light, shining her cellphone over it revealed the truth.

Damn, was Kuran going to be pissed.

It seemed her pokeballs weren’t the only victims of wanton violence, as the mask of the Ebony Oni had been split into three pieces. The formerly ornate, demonically grinning face had been smashed apart, teeth knocked loose as if it had suffered a heavy blow to the jaw. One eye hole was shattered open and a spiderweb of cracks ran across the surface staining the polished black veneer. A large pair of tongs was still locked around the mask, just behind the forehead.

Fia grabbed the handles of the tongs and slowly turned them over, allowing the desecrated face the peace of no longer having to showcase its shame. The back of the mask was smooth, except for an indentation at the very center, just above the nose. There the wood was gouged where the fangs of the tongs grasped at a square, polished black stone that seemed completely unfazed by the attempts to remove it. Unlike the rest of the mask, it was pristine, its surface swallowing the light that shone upon it. It looked like its namesake, but that couldn’t have been right, wasn’t onyx supposed to be brittle? There was no way it could have stood up to the assault that the mask had suffered through.

With a loud, groaning creak she disengaged the tongs, allowing them to fall to the table with a deep ‘thunk’ that made her jump.

Great, Kuran is going to kill me.

That was a pleasant thought, almost as pleasant as being caught down here. It wasn’t exactly what she had wanted, but it was better than nothing and she quickly stuffed it into her backpack.

No sooner had she managed to zip it up then did the light on her phone suddenly vanish, leaving her kneeling in complete and utter darkness. Something inside of her told her to stay still, even if that meant letting the darkness claim her. For the longest time it seemed that the only sound she heard was the distant dripping of water far in the distance, and then she heard the voices.

“-hate going in there.” One voice said, as deep as the depths of the palace themselves. “It’s that mask, it’s cursed. I can’t seeing things in the dark and…who’s in here?!”

The booming shout nearly brought her to her feet and threatened to send her scurrying like a cornered rattata. Fia had just enough sense to duck beneath the table where the mask had previously sat, just in time for a light to sweep the room. The men that filled the doorway wore dark black leathers and large, wooden clubs swung from their belts. Fia had seen them on the way in, the jailers that oversaw the torment of the prisoners and gleefully struck the metal bars when they had spoken up.

“I told you that servant looked strange.” The other man was tall and spindly, looking just as starved and gaunt as one of the prisoners he kept. “Nasty thing wouldn’t say a word to me.”

While the other man held a lit torch, in his hand he held the bucket that Fia had left in front of the doorway. The sight of it was enough to make her curse herself. Hadn’t Kuran told her not to leave any kind of evidence behind?

“For your sake, you better hope she’s still here.” Snorted the man with the torch. “You were the one that was supposed to be watching her.” He walked into the room with a certain swagger, one without fear. “You just had to go taunt the new guy, didn’t you?”

“You wanted to see him squirm, too. Sides’, how could we throw a party without seeing the guest of honor?” His companion spat, already drawing the wooden club from his belt. “Come out, girly. You know you’re not supposed to be in here. Save yourself the trouble of us having to find you.” He said it in a jovial manner, but Fia could see his cracked grin. Ugly, yellow teeth against chapped lips, his eyes glimmered in the torchlight, leaving him as ferocious as a luxray on the hunt.

Fia crawled across the cobblestone slowly, wincing at the cobwebs that grabbed at her face and the dust irritating her lungs. It was enough to cause a tickle to build in the back of her throat, one that she was just able to stifle.

“What did that runt say her name was, Yuoko?” The thin man scoffed, “said he was one of those idiots that couldn’t speak.” There was a pause, before he turned around. Fia only had a second to pull herself out of view just as the torch danced across her. “Means she can’t scream, right? Where’s the fun in that?”

That thought alone brought bile rising in the back of Fia’s throat. Their laughter only made it worse, its mocking tone bouncing off of the stone walls and surrounding her on all sides.

“Stay here.” The one with the torch commanded. “I’ll find her and drag her out if she’s still here.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice…” The tall man grumbled, “this place hasn’t felt right since they brought that damn mask in. Why is it so important anyways?”

Fia had gotten close enough to the door that she could see it, the only obstacle in her way pacing in front of it.

“Something special, boss says.” The sound of a crash made Fia jump, and the wave of dust that was kicked up by an overturned table caused her eyes to water. “Special like that thing the boss’ got in his head. The one that makes him look all…ya know.”

Something touched Fia’s hand, the brush nearly enough to make her scream. Whatever it was was small and spherical, and in the light from the door she could see that it was one of the shattered shells of the pokeball. When he had knocked the table down he had sent them scattering across the floor, the jagged edges pointed up like caltrops.

Fia grabbed it and clung to it tightly. That same fear that had given her a brief reprieve when she found her stuff was back, and if she didn’t act soon then she’d still be here when he made his way to where she was hiding.

You got this. Fia reassured herself. You have to. Like dad always said, just keep moving.

By Arceus, if only she could believe herself.

Fia threw the shell of the pokeball across the floor, the sound of skittering accompanying it as it disappeared into the darkness of one of the shelving rows. The man with the torch acted instantaneously, pouncing towards the sound.

“Found you!” He bellowed as he raced after it.

The distraction provided just enough time for her to take off running for the door. A vibration from her pocket caused her to slow just enough that the blow of a wooden club collided right where she would have been. It was a glancing blow, one that would certainly have knocked her senseless if it collided. She slipped under it before the tall guard could regain his composure and took off running down the hallway.

“Get back here, by the order of the Emperor you are under arrest!”

—

Was this really how she saw this going?

If she were being honest, Fia couldn’t deny that she had been pretty certain something was going to go wrong. They hadn’t gotten their hands on her yet, but she was running blind through the corridors, expecting a jailer to pop out at any second to grab her. It wasn’t like she could play it off as if it weren’t her. Her formerly white uniform was stained with filth from her crawl across the floor, and although she had thought to leave her apron behind it wouldn’t be that difficult to show that it was hers.

“Doing great…” She jested with a nervous laugh, the sound little more than a squeak of misery. “Just…great.” As great as it could be when everything was shot to shit.

Kuran had warned her that she wouldn’t be able to help her if something went wrong, and that thought alone made her want to scream. This was her fault, she was the one that sent her in here, she was the one that wanted the damn mask, this was her world, not Fia’s.

Fia broke off down another corridor, farther away from the voices that echoed behind her. They had seemed to be joined by others, if the sound was anything to go off of. Or they were just making such an unholy clamor at the prospect of having failed their job that they sounded like a veritable army. Fia’s lungs still hurt from her dust bath beneath the tables, and running wasn’t helping to soothe the ache in her chest.

Even the moment she spared to lean against the wall felt like she was testing her luck, at any moment she could be found, and…

And her pocket was vibrating again.

Fia stood there silent, listening to the pulsating hum as it buzzed against her leg. It was a great time to take a message, why the hell not? Thankfully it was short and simple.

Keep going straight.

At least someone, somewhere knew what she should be doing. At least they hadn’t led her wrong yet.

Yet, being the keyword.

Fia continued down the hall at the message’s command, stopping every time she felt it buzz in her pocket. On occasion she would read a message informing her to wait while a guard walked down the hall she was about to traverse. They were clearly agitated, with club held in one hand and a torch held high in the other to dash away the shadows. It was sorely needed, this part of the basement was darker than the rest. If she didn’t know any better, the oil lamps she was running under dimmed at her passage.

Where the hell am I going? Fia begged silently, pleading for anyone to answer her.

She would find out soon enough, for the next set of instructions led her into a poorly lit antechamber that spread out in a wide circle. The room was empty except for the very center, and as she approached it she could only wonder at what she was seeing.

Great metal struts dug through the room’s ceiling and pierced into the floor of the chamber like some mechanical vine. They vibrated and trembled, filling the room with an eerie creaking noise akin to an ancient automaton that was dragging itself from the scrap pile where it had been discarded. Fia walked forward slowly, shining her phone’s light on the twisting base with a dawning sense of awe.

Well, it seemed she found out just where that spiral tower’s foundation lay.

Her foot collided with something firm, making her curse and jump back. She hadn’t noticed that this part of the floor was raised, the gray stones giving way to a wash of dark brown that filled the entirety of the chamber. Countless rings surrounded the base of the tower, traveling out in widening circles that seemed endless. It took her some time to realize just what she was looking at, and even then she had to get down on one knee and run her fingers along the coarse surface to confirm her suspicions.

Wood. It was a stump.

A sickening lurch filled her when she remembered the tapestry in Mei’s room. Of the great tree whose partial corpse now lay underfoot, buried under the palace grounds to rot in obscurity. It was so large that she couldn’t begin to fathom just how tall it must have risen. The countless rings spoke of years of growth, lifetimes that had passed under its shade. That it was reduced to this was so atrocious that she felt almost guilty by proxy.

Keep going. Her phone insisted, and as if to answer her unspoken question it continued: You are almost there.

‘There’ rested just a short flight of stairs past the mammoth slab of petrified wood which Fia was all too happy to leave behind. The air down here was thicker, the sickeningly sweet odor of decay permeating the air. She walked through a gate lined with marble columns into a long, narrow room that held no light, no sound breaking the crippling silence. Even the beat of her heart seemed sacrilegious to the hallowed ground where she stood.

Why, oh why, did her ‘friend’ bring her here?

It wasn’t hard to decipher what the immaculate white stones were, each one spaced out a good distance from each other. They were adorned with gold that shimmered in the light of her phone. Ornate words dancing across the melancholy surface, carved by a skillful hand to stand the test of time.

Names and dates.

By Arceus, she was standing in a tomb.

Fia wasn’t afraid of the dead, at least, she had never feared ghost-type pokemon. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. When she was a kid she had countless sleepless nights after her sisters recounted whatever twisted fabrication their childish brains could concoct around the glow of a flashlight. It seemed silly thinking back to that girl hiding under the covers from creatures conjured from the depths of her own mind, but standing here? It felt as if she had delivered herself straight to them.

It was so…perfect.

Why wouldn’t she want to be stuck amongst the dead, their silent voices calling out to her to join them in eternal sleep? It made her want to scream, made her want to throw her phone to the floor. In fact, her hand tightened around it and she raised it high as if to do so, before she saw the latest message.

Last one. Homura.

“No.” Fia didn’t even recognize her voice as it broke the silence. It made her look around cautiously, as if the denizens of the tomb might have taken offense to her disturbing them. “No, I’m done. Who the hell are you?”

That was it, you tell that piece of plastic. It would surely obey her if she laid down the law. Why wouldn’t they be afraid of a girl who had shown numerous times how out of her element she was?

The screen didn’t change from its previous message. In the golden glow of the light it mocked her as she read it again and again. Fia didn’t know how long she stood there waiting for something to happen, but it seemed that whatever luck she had possessed had finally run out. They had found her so much faster than they thought that they would have.

The men speaking didn’t have the same fear that kept Fia from raising her voice, they were verbose and spoke at full volume from the chamber behind her. This was it, then? She was trapped, there was nowhere else to go.

Last one. Homura.

That was all she had. And like it or not, she had no choice in the matter.

Despite the urgency she felt, she still managed to slow her pace along the rough textured floor enough that the sound was little more than a gentle thump. Fia felt numb. The cold of the crypt had sunken deep into her bones, freezing her body from the inside out. She would have done anything, anything to feel the sun one more time.

On the cliffside where her father had taken her that first climb. Just one more time.

The regal coffins she passed were all lavished with a variety of gold and silver items, old offerings that now collected dust as a final parting gift to their late owners. Each spoke highly of the individual who had taken their eternal rest in them, all except for one lone edifice at the very end of the row. There was no gold to mark its place, no gifts that lay on its dusty surface. It spoke of exclusion and isolation, and as Fia reached up to wipe away the grime that had been allowed to claim the stone, she saw the carved words on its surface.

Homura, Fire of the People.

The vibration began in her pocket again, more intense this time. Fia shrugged her backpack off and set it against the wall, letting the material slump to the floor in an adequate facsimile of its owner's mental state.

What was the point of any of this? Of the shattered mask, of her arrival in this world. Meeting Akio, meeting Mei. Why? Why her and more importantly, why wouldn’t her damn phone stop vibrating. It wasn’t like there was anywhere she could go, the voices were still behind her, and there was clearly no other exit than the way she had come in. What was she expected to do, fight her way through armed guards?

It made her wish for a pokemon.

What about Jaegar? The growlithe would have followed her orders to the letter. She wasn’t supposed to name him, but how could she resist giving him a name befitting his strength? Or there was the pokeball she had stashed in the haypile back at the barn, the one Kuran had so kindly delivered to her. The thought of using it on Akio had come to mind one night as she lay in his loving embrace, which now seemed so far away. It would have been easy, she was certain, and since Mei hadn’t captured him yet, then certainly he was free game?

What Fia wouldn’t give for him right now. To come roaring in, fire spilling from his jaws. Her own personal knight in glossy fur there to sweep her up on his back, to carry her off to freedom. Then she could reward him in a way that all fairy tales should have ended. That made her smile, something that she was truly in short supply of lately.

Fia could only ignore the phone for so long, and when she finally checked it, she almost laughed.

Open it. It’s your only choice.

Desecrate a tomb, why not? It wasn’t like she was in enough trouble already.

Her hand reached out to run along the edge of the heavy stone that capped off the coffin, and it made her wonder if she would even be able to move such a thing. Just looking at it told her that it would be a beast to lift, let alone slide off. Why in the hell would she even do such a thing? What benefit could the dead provide her that the living wouldn’t be able to overcome?

Her hand paused at one of the corners of the casket, and she took a deep breath. What did she have to lose at this point?

Fia set her phone down on the surface of the coffin, letting its light shine upwards towards the ceiling. What little comfort it provided wasn’t enough to sink her disgust at what she was doing. Her arms bulged with exertion as she pushed, grunting under her breath to try and move it even an inch. It resisted her every move, almost seeming to fight back against her as if it had a mind of its own.

“Come on…come on you bastard…” Fia hissed. “You wanted me to open it, then I’ll open it…!”

The sound of rock on rock jarred her enough that she lost her concentration and nearly slipped over the lid. It had actually given some, that alone was enough to convince her that maybe it could be done. She just needed a little help…

When she eyed her forlorn bag, she glanced down at her phone again, before nodding. “Open it. Alright, you got it, boss.”

Her climbing ax wasn’t exactly designed for this, but its pickaxe tip was just thin enough that she was able to work it into the crack she had created. “Open the coffin. Get caught by guards. Never get home.” Live the rest of her life as a prisoner. When you put it that way, what did she have to lose.

The stone rumbled deeply, the very floor beneath her feet seeming to tremble at its groaning awakening. Like the mouth of an ancient beast yawning open to gasp desperately at the stale air of the tomb, the surface gave way to the dark interior, just enough that Fia could look into it.

Not that she necessarily wanted to. She considered herself lucky in having never seen a dead body before, it wasn’t like she wanted to change that now. Still, it was strange. There was no rot that permeated the air as the seal was cracked, if anything, the air felt purer inside than it did on the outside. That gave Fia pause, and as she shone her phone into the depths of the coffin she didn’t know how to react to what she saw.

It was empty. Empty except for one thing.

It was a face, a sharply pointed one with long, triangular ears that rose in pointed spires. A black nose pressed outwards above a set of deep, ruby red lips that were pulled back in a mischievous grin. Decorative swirls coated its exterior, washing the white surface with exotic spirals and flowing shapes in confident strokes that exuded boastful confidence from its creator. The eyes were empty, but not accusatory, almost forlorn after sitting along in its grave for so long.

Before Fia realized it, she was reaching out for it, her hand scraping against the bottom of the coffin in desperate grabs at it. Her fingers just managed to tickle the smooth surface of it, before she caught it and slowly pulled it towards her. She expected a skeletal hand to try and claw it back, to deny her the prize that had been offered up to her.

It was a solid piece, one that boasted no imperfection that she could see. It was perfect, its cheerful visage looking up at her as if to ask what her worry was.

How could you possibly be afraid when wearing such a confident face?

Fia turned it over slowly in her hands, letting her fingers glide over it. A silk string hung from either side of it, deep crimson and untouched by the test of time. They still felt strong, strong enough to withstand the gentle tug that Fia gave them. There was one more part of it she noticed, something that was impossible to ignore.

It was right in the center, right where her forehead would rest if she were to put it on. It shimmered in the light, catching it and reflecting it in dazzling beams of red and gold that took Fia’s breath away.

A solid, red stone, cut into the shape of a square. It looked just as perfect as the rest of the mask, and when Fia’s hand ran over it she quickly pulled them back.

It was warm to the touch. Just the press of it against her fingers was enough to repel the frigid kiss of the catacomb. Enough to warm her heart and fill her with a joy that she hadn’t remembered feeling in a long time.

Not since that day in the sun with her father.

This time, when Fia read the new message left for her, she didn’t hesitate to follow it. There was no force that could have stopped her as she raised the mask to her face, and reached up to tie the silken strands into place.

All at once, the world went silent.

—

It was strange just how quickly her doubts had been burned away. But then again, she had never felt more confident than when she was wearing her gym attire. The bold, red and black flame motif claimed the attention of anyone that looked at it. Truthfully, she was just happy that she was able to toss her servants' attire aside and could wear something a little more fitting.

Now though, Fia had something new to add to her usual attire.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had worn a mask, that last Halloween when she was still young enough to dress up before scouring the streets for candy. Even then, they didn’t feel as comfortable as this mask. It molded to her perfectly, a second skin that she almost didn’t register was actually there.

At first she had feared the eyeholes might be too narrow and leave her blinded in her peripherals. It proved to be unfounded as she twisted her head from side to side, mostly to get a feel for the object attached to her face. It was comfortable, and she could just imagine herself wearing the fox’s confident grin that spoke of countless cunning plans and playful mischief.

“I heard it from in here…you go check.”

Fia perked up at the sound of voices so near, and in that instant she moved. In a flash she had ducked behind one of the grand monuments to the past, concealing her when a light shined across the room. It was becoming normal now, it was getting easier to avoid them. They were just as blind as she was down here, no, certainly not. Her night vision had to have been better since they held a blazing torch so close to their eyes.

Why was her breath coming so calmly, so silently, when just minutes before she had felt as if she were going to lose her mind to fear?

More importantly, why did she have her climbing ax brandished in one hand, as if she were ready to use it?

Because you are ready to use it. The little voice in the back of her mind had been quiet for so long, she had forgotten that it existed.

Back when she was young and her emotions ran wild and unabated, when she had come home with cuts and bruises from punching above her age. Before her father’s tempered voice and stern lectures tamed her and taught her to place it in a small box buried deep in her psyche. Now her father was gone, and whatever passion that drove her reignited in an intense blaze of indignation that made her hand tighten around the handle of her climbing ax.

She was ready to use it, if it meant getting out of here.

“You’re such a coward.” There was hesitation in their voice. “You know ghosts can’t get into the palace.”

“Not if they’re already here…” Grumbled their companion.

Fia remained frozen in place, not so much as twitching when the same torch wielding man and his companion walked past her. As soon as he turned around, they would see her; there was no longer anywhere for her to hide. She twirled the ax handle in her hand until the pickax portion was facing outwards, the dulled tip looking so much sharper in the dim light.

“Hey…hey, there’s something over here!” Fia tensed and readied herself, but the guard had picked up on another trail. Hurried footsteps carried him away from her hiding place, further towards the end of the tunnel. “One of the tombs is open!”

“Come on, do you really think I’d fall for that?” The other man was approaching now, his own torchlight wavering and causing the shadows to dance. They moved as if they were aware the man holding them at bay was weak-willed, ready to pounce at any moment. The beasts in the shadows ready to feed. “I swear, if you’re trying to make a fool of me, I’ll-”

He never had the opportunity to say just what he’d do. Fia moved fast, faster than she imagined herself capable of. Without a sound she had stepped in his path and caught the surprised, bewildered expression on his face. It wasn’t the same man from the evidence room, which was a pity, really. What she was about to do would have been far more satisfying if it was.

Her pickaxe swung out like an arcing scythe, cutting through the air on a direct path towards his right leg. Fia needed to move fast while he was still distracted, each second was essential to what she was going to do. Her arm jerked back as soon as she felt the pickax head catch, pulling his leg off the ground and causing him to tilt backwards. She was already in motion, spinning and jamming one of her elbows directly into his chest.

He didn’t go down as easily as those school yard bullies had, but another tug on his leg was enough to send him lumbering backwards. As soon as she heard his body crash to the ground, sending his torch scattering in a cascading shower of sparks, she was running. She didn’t stop, not until she had left the tomb behind and returned to the chamber where the tree had once sprouted.

That she was still lost did give her pause. It wasn’t like she had a map, or any idea which direction she should even take. Her eyes darted around the antechamber, from the roots of the tower to the ornate stone passageways, and then finally on the stump itself.

Circles.

She had been running in circles this entire time. The palace sat in the middle of several rings that expanded outwards, with this point being the furthest away from them. All the twists and turns, they had been the natural layout of the underground tunnels doing their job in leading her astray. It was so obvious now that she thought of it.

With a causal flick of her wrists, she twirled the keyring that she had swiped from the guard’s belt on her finger. It had been an unusual compulsion in the middle of striking him, the overwhelming compulsion to steal. She hadn’t even realized she was doing it until her hand had closed around it.

Fia turned towards one of the entryways before pausing and looking at another. The floor was covered in a shallow layer of dirt and her footprints showed as clear as day. She took a few steps down the tunnel, and with a smirk began to step backwards. It took all her balance not to disturb the phantom trail she had just created leading into the darkness, leaving it behind like a shining accusation of her passage. It remained to be seen if the guards were even smart enough to notice it, and dumb enough to fall for it. Not that she was going to stick around for it.

Fia ran. Ran as if the fires of hell were licking at her ankles and the devil himself was calling out her name. It wasn’t fear that guided her, no, it was excitement, a budding desperation to feel her heart beat faster and faster. She would have cried out if she weren’t afraid of being found. There was no reason for it, no reason except she was alive.

And she wanted everyone to know it.