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The Ruined Chateau.... Given Sova had been here once already and explored the interior, it now looked smaller from the outside, all except for the massive double-doors. Then again, given the things he'd witnessed inside, it probably WAS somehow smaller on the outside. Still, this wasn't going to deter or scare him. The only thing he was worried for was anyone else aiming to go there. Today, the one who happened to want to go with him was Varda. This was odd, since the two usually only did missions together, but today.... there was no mission here. Actually, the guild had sort of made it a mission to explore the things happening and this seemed like the place to go, so maybe it was a mission. Just, without the rewards.

He looked up to the sky and stared at the gloomy dark clouds for a moment, as if just making sure the sky wasn't changing before he set his attention back on the Chateau. "Remember, Varda, stay close to me in here. This place will literally change with you in it, so if we get separated, we could have a lot of trouble finding each other. There's also a lot of really dangerous and hostile pokemon in here and since most of the rooms aren't exactly huge, I won't be able to go all out with you here," he explained, relaying his past experience in this horrible house to the swablu.

He wanted his ally to be ready for everything in here, after all. Especially since there was a good chance he was going to need some help.... if not with fighting, then with finding his way around. He would have brought some of his other new allies along, but oddly enough.... the little fluff-ball was still the one he trusted most alongside him. At that, Varda was the only one he trusted to manage to capably and safely navigate this place, and more importantly, to LISTEN to him. Sure, Dusk knew the area given she'd come with him before, but she had mostly just been a hindrance in fights and never listened.

Sova kept ready to immediately attack if this light showed itself to be something hostile as he approached it, his light-bearing friend nearby. He appreciated the light, but he was also happy to have Varda so close. Not for his own safety, but so that if this thing decided to attack the swablu instead of him, he could easily intervene. However, his caution faded as he realized just what this thing was; A mere duskull. He sighed in relief as he realized what it was, staring at it for a moment before it disappeared. He merely shrugged, perhaps it was shy, but it hadn't attacked so he didn't care.

"Just a duskull," he commented, in case Varda was confused.
He knew the bird had a tendency to become lost to events, unaware of things at times, so he figured he would clarify just in case. The swablu certainly seemed surprised at the events, but he wasn't sure if it was at not knowing what a duskull was or just at the sudden disappearance of said duskull. "Anyways, it didn't really look interested in attacking us, so lets just continue," he suggested, but paused and looked through the darkness.

"....Guessing you don't know where the door is?," he questioned, realizing it was unclear where the door was.... or if there were multiple doors, or none at all.
It wasn't even clear where the walls were. He supposed they would just have to walk in random directions until they found a way out, which was annoying as well as dangerous with the limited visibility, but he supposed it could have been worse. They could have been led into some of the rooms he'd experienced in the past.... things that managed to horrify even him, one who had rarely felt fear even when he was younger. He couldn't imagine having Varda subjected to things like that.

Varda flew in place, surprised and confused. They didn't get attacked, so that was good, but... The way the Pokémon had just suddenly appeared and disappeared sure was a strange sight all of a sudden in this darkness! Now it just seemed like such a funny thing, looking back at it, his own reaction... The bird was suddenly just smiling and almost ready to laugh.
"I wonder how it's like to just disappear like that! I wonder how it feels," he cooed, his voice sounding like he was deep in thought. He was a physical being with mass, so he couldn't just disappear into nothingness like these ghost Pokémon... Or maybe they just turned invisible? Where did they go?

But the door. When Sova brought it up, the Swablu first looked at his friend and then at their surroundings. There was nothing but darkness all around them, he couldn't make up any doors or even the walls that – hopefully – were around them.
"I don't even know where the walls are," Varda chirped, looking at Sova. He didn't seem very discouraged however, as this information was something they could easily find out. Or so he thought, at least.
"We'd have to find those first, right?"

Bird carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

Sova had listened to the swablu, but didn't really have anything to add on, so he just remained neutral on the topic of how being a ghost felt. However, he did indeed reply to the mention of having to find walls. "Yep, but that, I can do," he stated, already having learned how to navigate the darkness to an extent.
His strategy wasn't very useful in open environments, but in an enclosed area such as a room in a house, it worked fine. He took a deep breath and blew out a haze of bluish-white mist, which flew into the darkness then made a light sound a few seconds later as it made impact against something. The wall didn't sound too far away, so he wasn't worried.

He then bolted forward suddenly, firing off a few more shots of Frost Breath as he ran along and timing how long it took each one to hit the wall to see how close he was getting. It didn't take long for him to near the wall, which prompted him to stop. "That wasn't too hard," he stated as he carefully walked forward, reaching his paws out further than normal in order to feel for the wall. Sure enough, it was there, so now all they had to do was run along it with the light and find a door. It seemed like an easy enough task, one he could only hope would prove to be as such.

Varda tilted his head slightly as his friend claimed to have a solution to the door problem, quite certain that Sova couldn't see in the dark. If he could, then well, the candle wouldn't be needed here! Or at least Sova wouldn't need it, the bird still would as he couldn't see a thing without the light. Before he got the chance to ask, the Glaceon already was using his freezing breath to... Do something. He had no idea, so the bird could just watch silently from the sidelines. The air in the room felt colder even though he wasn't in front of the hazy mist of ice that floated in the air. The candle caused the little ice particles to sparkle as they danced in the air, but once they got too far, the darkness swallowed them. The attack didn't seem to light their surroundings up, at least...

"A-Ah, wait, Sova!" The bird called out as the Ice-type Pokémon suddenly dashed forward, still using his breath to do something that he did not understand. It took him a moment to actually react to it, flying after his friend. The Swablu didn't know what Sova had found, not even knowing where to look... Until he noticed how the light from the candle was hitting something. The pure darkness had been replaced by something solid, the circle of light growing larger and larger until Varda realized to come to a sudden stop before he flew right into the wall!
"Oh, that was close!" He chirped, flying in place,
"How did you find it...?"

Sova looked back at the swablu with a slight smile at the clear confusion in the little bird. Of course, it was certainly odd to see someone like him able to navigate the darkness. The way he was doing it would be something one would probably expect a zubat or something of the sort to be doing, not a glaceon. Of course, he couldn't really use echolocation, but this worked to an extent.... or maybe it was echolocation? Technically he was locating things using the echoes of his attacks, so the term seemed fitting. Well, that didn't matter, it wasn't necessary to explaining how he was doing it.

"I could hear the Frost Breath hitting the wall. It's kind of like a really bad version of echolocation," he explained, though he didn't seem overly proud of himself for this.
To him, it seemed obvious; Shoot a wall and you'll hear a noise, then step closer, shoot again, it'll hit the wall faster and you'll hear a noise faster. Rinse and repeat and you'll be able to tell how close you are to the wall.... somewhat. Sure, it was a bit dangerous and he hadn't really practiced it much, having only just picked the tactic up recently, but it definitely seemed to work if he really needed it.

Varda cooed in awe as he listened to Sova's explanation. He didn't really know what the echo-thingy was like, but his friend already explain it in easier terms: the attack hit the wall and he heard it. That was amazing, after all, he hadn't heard anything himself! If it made some kind of sound, it couldn't possibly be a very loud one... So how on earth did the Glaceon hear it? The bird certainly seemed like he was taken aback by this trick, his eyes wide and sparkling in the darkness.

"I didn't hear it!" He chirped, his voice quite excited even though he had failed to do the most crucial step himself, but he was more excited that someone could do it. Rarely was he disappointed because he couldn't do something, often just happy seeing a neat trick pulled off by someone else.
"That's so amazing," the Swablu continued, completely swallowed by his thoughts and his voice certainly had a certain dreaming edge to it. Varda was currently in his own dreamworld doing whatever it was birds like him did there.

Sova shrugged, clearly not feeling his little trick was all that amazing. "I've just got big ears," he responded as he began to walk along the wall, having not yet decided between walking slowly so Varda could easily follow along and light the way, or trying to find a door quickly.
He had a good idea of how to find a door without a light, it was something he'd done before and something he knew he could do again. "I'm gonna go find the door now," he commented as his fur began to freeze in preparation for a sprint around the room.
Now that he'd located a wall, he could follow it until he reached either a door or the next wall.

The glaceon bolted to the left, brushing his tail against the wall as he ran to feel for any inconsistencies that would indicate a door. He continued using Frost Breath for his knockoff-echolocation as he ran, stopping when he grew close to the next wall. He turned to the left once more and continued running along, brushing his tail against the wall. After a moment, he felt something different from the smooth walls on his tail. "Over here," he spoke up as he stopped, the ice around his fur beginning to warm up and melt away almost immediately.

(O right, 1 energy from the page. Not for long.)

Lord E V carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

"Oh. I guess you do!" Varda chirped as the Glaceon made a mention of his large ears. That certainly was true, especially compared to the bird! He did have ears himself, of course, but not that kind of large, external ears that could be moved. Maybe it just made sense that someone with bigger ears would have a better sense of hearing! Still, in the Swablu's eyes, it was a really cool trick.
"Not that it's a bad thing! Large ears, I mean," he ended up adding, just in case Sova felt like large ears were a bad thing and an insult!

But Sova was much too fast! Before he even had the chance to react, the Ice-type Pokémon had bolted off and disappeared into the darkness. Again the bird cried out telling his friend to wait up, flying after him with the candle, but... Sova was the faster one, it seemed. He could hear the slight scratching sounds in the darkness, but he wasn't having as easy of a time trying to find his friend based on those alone – especially when his target was constantly moving! Varda didn't dare to fly too fast in the darkness so nothing suddenly popped right in front of him, so soon he found himself being alone...

A voice called out from the darkness, causing the Swablu to perk up.
"A-Alright!" He chirped, wanting his friend to know that he was still there – though seeing him in the darkness was much easier, considering that he was carrying the candle. Doing his best, he eventually did find Sova – and a door. Varda cooed as he saw it, landing on the floor and placing the candle down as well as he could so it wouldn't fall over right away. Finally, they could move on...
"Did you try it yet?" The bird asked, hopping closer to take a better look. It was possible that Sova had peeked in before like he had earlier, but it was also possible that he had waited for his friend. Using his small body, the Swablu leaned into the door as he tried to open it... But he was much too light for this one!

Sova shook his head in response as the swablu approached. He hadn't tried the door, because he couldn't actually see in the dark and wanted to wait for the candle, just in case they needed it. Seeing Varda try to open the door alone, he chuckled and put a paw on it, expecting it to be easy. However, he soon realized it was actually quite heavy, even to him. "Wow," he muttered before leaning against it with his side and pushing as hard as he could, finally getting it to move.
As the door slowly opened, it revealed.... nothing. More specifically, what seemed to be a hallway with no lights in it, thus they couldn't really see anything past a few feet in front of them. He noticed the edges of a few paintings on the walls, but the candle was too far away to fully illuminate them, making it impossible to actually see what was on the paintings. At first, he simply took a step further inside.

Then he stopped and realized.... he'd been here before.

"Varda, leave the candle," he said in a very serious tone as he looked to his fluffy little friend.
He'd been to this place before, he knew the things depicted on the paintings lining the walls of the next area weren't something Varda would want to see. Even the least morbid and terrifying of the selecting of works would likely sadden the swablu; The worst would probably horrify the poor thing. If they anted to continue on through this place, they needed to do it without the light, unless Varda felt confident he could avoid looking at the paintings entirely. Sova wasn't sure, but he doubted his friend had that kind of self-restraint.... it was something he doubted even he himself had.

The only other options seemed to be allowing Varda to see the paintings - which he wasn't planning on doing - and trying to find another door. It was quite possible that there were no other doors to be found in this room and he didn't want to waste too much time, so as much as he hated such a risky move as traversing a room blind, he didn't see any other choice. Besides, even if there were enemies, they likely wouldn't be able to see in the dark either.

Varda tried to push the door open, but he just couldn't do it. His feet were slipping and sliding on the wooden floor, even his entire weight was nothing. Luckily Sova came to help, but even then it wasn't an easy task. The two Pokémon really had to work to get the door open, almost as if the thing didn't even want to open to them or was stuck somehow! But teamwork eventually got them where they wanted – if the bird could even be said to have helped, as he unfortunately wasn't very strong physically. Or in many other ways. But the door was finally pushed ajar, making it slightly easier to push it open enough for them to enter the room.

It was dark on the other side as well. There were no candles anywhere he could see, none on the walls or the floor. Luckily, they had brought their own... But then Sova suddenly asked him to leave it behind. At first the Swablu thought that it was a joke or something, blinking in confusion... But the Glaceon didn't look like he was joking, his voice dead serious. The bird's eyes glanced from the candle to the dark room, tilting his head in a questioning manner.
"But... It's pitch black in there. We can't even see where we're going – or each other! We'd get lost..."

Sova looked back towards the darkness as his friend mentioned they'd get lost in this area. One thing going for him here was he'd already navigated it before, in the dark, for the same exact reason. Maybe Varda would understand if he explained his reasoning, but how was he supposed to do so without upsetting the swablu? He thought for a moment before responding, "Trust me, you don't want to see what's in here. There's paintings with.... horrible things on them, enough to upset me. I know how to get through here in the dark, as long as you stay close to me we'll be fine," assuring both that blindness was better than sight here and that he could navigate this area in the dark.

He'd already proven he could navigate in the dark to an extent and he'd done it once before in this exact area, so why not again? It wasn't the most reliable thing in the world, but he could at least tell if there was a wall in front of them. Sure, there was still the option of trying to find another door, but there was probably only the one and even if there wasn't, they were in almost as much danger navigating the giant dark room with a light than they were in the small corridor with no light.

Varda frowned a bit as he heard his friend's explanation, his little beady eyes looking into the dark room. He didn't see anything horrible in there... Because he couldn't see anything, the darkness covering everything with a thick blanket. Was it better to not see horrible things or know there were horrible things one could not see around them? He didn't really know, but it was making him feel a bit anxious. Or perhaps he was feeling more anxious when they would have to navigate through such a dark room? Sova had warned him about getting separated, saying that they might never find each other again... And right now the chances of it happening seemed to be pretty big.

"Al...Right," the bird chirped, letting the candle stay on the floor as he took those first steps into the dark room. The candle's light wouldn't carry them for far, and the moment the door closed, it would be gone completely... Sova had managed to find his way in the darkness, so maybe he shouldn't be too concerned about that. As long as they stayed together, they'd make it through, right?
"What should we do? Should I hold onto you?"

Sova sighed in relief as Varda agreed to do things his way, albeit hesitantly.  He just didn't want the swablu to have to see the things he'd seen.  Of course, it was also possible that this was a completely different area with totally different and much more friendly paintings and this house was just trying to get them to wander around in the dark, but why take the chance of checking?  "Just perch on my back if you want," he replied to Varda's question, offering to have himself be used as a ride.
He couldn't help but wonder if he could get any side-money by being a knockoff-gogoat for things he could easily carry.  He already did it all the time for free, so why not try to get some money for it?

The glaceon stepped into the room, allowing the swablu to step in as well before letting the door shut.  If Varda had kept persisting in wanting to see things, he may have just allowed it to happen to show his friend why he was against it, but luckily, the little bird had just taken his word for it and made both of their lives a lot easier for the time-being.  If Varda wanted to know what was so bad about the paintings still, he could always try to explain it without being detailed about it.  His only hope now was that this place didn't lead to the same type of rooms it had the first time he'd been here.  The room it'd led him to.... was far worse than the morbid paintings could ever be.

((Sova-Senpai forgot to roll and eat a Senzu Bean reviver seed...BAAAAKAAAAA! >:I))

Lord E V carried out 4 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

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Varda nodded to the suggestion of him just sitting on the Glaceon, feeling like that might be the best way to make sure they weren't separated. He could try to keep a wing on his friend all the time, but something might cause them to get separated for a moment and then it might be too late! Or maybe he would accidentally touch something else and be led into a completely wrong direction! What a horrible thought. This way there was no way Sova could disappear from under him without him realizing it, right?

The bird spread his wings and jumped into the air, landing gently on his friend's back and doing his best to not let his claws dig into Sova's flesh. Good thing he was pretty good at resting on different surfaces! The door closed behind them with a long creak and a hollow click, and Varda folded his wings against his sides neatly, ready to continue.
"What is wrong with the paintings, though? Are they bad...?"

What was wrong with the paintings? The question Sova was already thinking about how to answer.... How was he supposed to explain this without horrifying his innocent-minded little friend? The paintings had seemingly been of outsiders unlucky and weak enough to be caught by the residents of the chateau.... before and after some.... rather drastic and morbid changes. He was fairly certain the paintings served as documentation of those killed in this place, how they looked in their last moments - which generally involved very depressing facial expressions - and of course, the things he assumed to be after-pictures.... Things that even he couldn't really handle seeing. Not only that, but a certain cold-hearted outlaw zoroark whom he knew had been pretty bad about it as well. It was truly that horrible.

"Well.... I think they show those who were caught by some.... very hostile residents of this place. There are pictures of random pokemon, they usually look sad or scared in the pictures.... then there are.... lets just say I'm pretty sure they all died and there's before and after pictures," he did his best to explain honestly while still being considerate of his friend.
It was difficult, though, as he knew everything he was saying would probably horrify Varda, granted seeing the pictures would surely be far worse, especially since he was purposely not being specific about anything.

(Energy - 67)