Paradise of the Paranormal

First topic message reminder :

(Energy: 22 - 16 (entry) = 6)

Creeeeaak...

The large outer door of the Ruined Chateau opened a crack, and in peeked the long face of a Girafarig, with eyes narrowed in deep focus. Damien looked about briefly before backing out and pushing the door open some more to allow himself full entry. Behind him, a floating wax candle on a porcelain plate followed, glowing faintly with psychic energy in addition to providing light through the small flame at the tip of its wick. Though Damien mainly looked serious as he entered, the corners of his mouth were starting to tick up into a small smirk of fascination. A house that's also a mystery dungeon! Not a temple, not a shrine, but a mere home. Supposedly terrible things had transpired inside, cursing the mansion and turning it into a dungeon. Imagine what one could uncover inside such an unusual place! Whatever this "curse" was, he could possibly gain an understanding of it, and use that knowledge to understand other dungeons as well. The danger of the dungeon's mysterious and eerie nature was far outweighed by the value of the intelligence he could gain, and he was eager to take the risk.

The first room Damien reached was a walk-in closet, reminiscent of those back in his former house in Aileron. Except with copious amounts of dust and unidentified dark spills on the floor and walls. And the fact that it was right by the house's entrance instead of someplace that would make more sense. It had him furrowing his brow, but he figured it was as natural for constructed dungeons to rearrange themselves as it was for the more natural ones, even if it looked weirder. There was a tall door with an ornate frame visible in the other end of the dim room, but Damien turned to the rows of clothes and pulled his candle close rather than speeding into the next part of the house. It was investigation time!

[Energy: 0 + 1 (Page Regen) = 1]

Why was there so much talk about emotions? Yigo was not the kind of Pokémon that knew most species, so he figured that the little one here would have sensed their emotions from, well, listening to them arguing loudly and the less than pleasant threats. Does this Pokémon have the ability to look into the feelings of others? This made Yigo feel as naked as a Pokemon can feel. A facade of strength can get you far but when psychic types start peeking into one's mind, no secret or thought is safe. And, once again, the explorer's talkative nature proved to be useful by explaining the previous events while not trying to dig into them further. Was that because they had figured out that Yigo feels uncomfortable about it too or was it to avoid other Pokémon to drown out the sound of his own voice?

The fact that the explorer had also straightened their lenses without moving their body much indicated that they too were psychic. Just... great. It made Yigo roll his eyes at this unlucky expedition, unlike the small child who seemed to be disappointed at the fact that her first accusation was right. Not like it would have been any good if she had been right. Finding two friendly-ish Pokémon was better than two kidnappers, and Yigo wanted to show her that side of the argument so she could feel a little better.

"Since we all agree she's not here or... around here..." The Sandslash took a hold of the tiny psychic and get her on his back "We should probably stop wasting time and go look for her" There really wasn't any point talking this incident over and over when the group was still getting away with that Monique. Hopefully, the Pokémon dwelling on the dungeon will have slowed them down or, even better, have taken care of the problem by themselves. Additionally, this would mean that the Sandslash can finally get on with his plan of finding himself something to dine. On his back, the Pokémon should be able to hold onto him. The spikes, when folded, act as a comfy bed instead of what one would expect. Moreover, now they won't have to have this small Pokémon needing to catch up with him.

Before the parting, having made the decision by himself and not consulting anyone on the matter, he looked at the conceited explorer. A side of him wondered if he was even going to stick around or get back to his own interest. The only reason he would have to join them would probably be to keep annoying the ground type but, as much as it may upset Yigo, having a well-spoken psychic type on the group is helpful should they ever run into trouble with nasty ghosts or even with the kidnappers "We could use some help and I was counting on you coming with us. If you don't, I'll help her myself"

(Energy: 0 + 1 (new page regen) = 1)

The Hatenna's emptiness was broken through by a pint of nervousness as she was lifted onto the Sandslash's back. She seemed to expect a sharp jab at any time, but when that jab never came, she seemed to settle and calm down. It seemed to be more comfortable than the dungeon's cold floor. After she was done getting comfortable and the Sandslash had proposed they stop wasting time and look for Monique, she was even feeling up to talking again.

"So you're r-really gonna help me? Thank you so much! It didn't really feel like I could get those explorers on my own, b-but I had to try anyway... For Monique's sake. But with some help, there might be actual hope!"

Damien remained quiet for some seconds after the ground-type asked whether he would help or not. The stirring of thoughts was visible in the dark blue of his eyes as he measured the situation up. He had been planning to study this place, and that would certainly be hard if some rascals were going to run around and bother both him and the locals he'd hoped to interview. The fact that they had just gone and kidnapped some random feral also struck him as odd. What were they trying to accomplish? Getting a ransom for that would be difficult. Something had to be up, and part of him wanted to find out what. Both to sate his curiosity and on the off chance there might be something to gain or discover. Only if it would not require him to kidnap someone, of course. He wouldn't stoop that low.

"Hmph. I have business in this dungeon, and I need it to be peaceful for that reason. If helping you lets me silence the troublemakers faster, I will come along."

It was simple, it kept a certain emotional distance and it kept his full plan vague. Just how Damien liked it. That Sandslash likely wasn't fond of him, and he was not going to be the first of the two to get chummy and share everything. Especially when he still had not had his talk with him and set things straight.

The excuse the larger psychic spewed was not convincing the Sandslash. If they wanted peace, there was no reason to let Yigo and the Hatenna go on their own while he stayed behind, fiddling with whatever item they thought to be worth researching. Clearly, they must have another reason. Perhaps they wanted to help the small Pokémon but wanted to act tough? Or does their sickening interest in the Sandslash have something to do with it? Nevertheless, as said before, staying here and discussing matters further was only going to be wasting their time, and Yigo still appreciated the help for all of what it was worth.

Assuming the way the Hatenna came from was not where the kidnappers had headed into, there was but to choose another path to the depths of the dungeon. Opening the door to the next hallway required a bit of skill without having the Hatenna fall off of him this soon. Finally, the entrance was behind them and they could advance into the dungeon proper. Would ghost try to play tricks on them? Would they find remnants of previous battles between the dwellers and the invaders? One thing was for certain, there weren't any floating candles to appear on their way. A great disappointment.

Damien's answer wasn't exactly friendly, but the Hatenna gave a grateful nod regardless. "T-thank you, misters! I should probably tell you my n-name since you're helping me, so... I'm Lucille. What should I call you two?"

"Damien Neimad," was eloquently said as the group advanced through the other door. If he wanted his family name to be known far and wide for his own exploits rather than his father's, introducing himself in full was a must. As it was said, he also pulled his candle up to the back of the group. When cool floating candles don't appear to provide you light, you bring your own. Their next destination seemed brighter than the closet had been, but they could never know what kind of rooms they would encounter after this.

The hallway was long, its floor carpeted and weird smelling. Torches hung on the walls, but not all were lit. Between them were magnificent paintings, some of them recognizable to Damien but slightly... wrong. Details were missing or added, or the shapes in the picture seemed distorted. It made him wonder if they were created to look that way, or if the dungeon had warped the mansion's old paintings as well as the internal structure of the building. With his candle floating closer, he pulled a notebook and a quill pen out of his bag. Just like how the candle flew around on its own, the notebook opened and the pen began scribbling away in it without the Girafarig touching them.

Because of the noise of the quill fervently scraping against paper and his own absorption in his notetaking, a faint noise, somewhat like a small gust or a quick breath, coming from behind one of the doors went by him unnoticed. Lucille, however, did seem to catch it. She glanced toward a half-open door with what looked like crayon scrawls on it. "Did you hear that?" she asked quietly and somewhat fearfully, directed more at the Sandslash than the Girafarig, suspecting he would get unpleasant if she interrupted his little writing session. She seemed to focus on her senses for a moment after that, speaking up louder as she detected something for sure. "I-I can feel someone nearby! Th-they're d-distressed, I think!"

The small Pokémon gave her name to the two explorers, and the explorer gave his own after Lucille had introduced herself. The Sandslash noted these names and mumbled them, syllable after syllable to remember them better both pronunciation wise and to whom they belong. When it came to Yigo sharing his own name, he thought against it. It's not like it would matter since he wasn't notorious or expected to be known at all in the future. Moreover, denying Damien the chance to know him further was the cherry on top. A pause, a huff, and a sight later, Yigo replied "My name is Yigo. Pleased to meet you."

The Sandslash couldn't help but be nice when Lucille was around. Her presence made him feel less gloomy and more open to contact from other Pokémon, more so now that she was going through the same process.

Walking through the hallway proved to be safer than expected. Even though there were no signs of any past conflicts to indicate that other Pokémon had gone that way, Yigo wasn't going to complain. The odd, dusty scent of the carpet made Yigo's nose slightly itchy while the torches around them robbed him of the cloak of darkness. A penalty for himself, yes, but Damien and Lucille will probably enjoy having some lighting to give them safety. When Yigo turned his head to the sides, not only would he find the torches that brought an end to darkness but some paintings from which he couldn't feel anything uncanny due to a lack of literacy and some other doors that probably lead to single rooms or branches of the manor.

While Damien could find this amusing, Yigo was starting to feel somewhat hopeless. If the kidnappers have decided to set camp into one of the enclosed rooms instead of heading into the dungeon's core, it could be days until they find Monique and, if that theory was correct, they may even still have the entrance close enough for the Mystery Dungeon to prevent it from shifting places. It would all depend if they took any stairs up or down into the dungeon. All the while, the sound of fire crackling fire of the torches, the flickering flame of the floating candle Damien brought along, and the recently added scrapping of a quill against paper broke the monotony of the muffled steps of the party down the halls. If there was any other activity, Yigo could probably hear it.

And that he did, stopping in place and ears raising the instant something off could be heard. That should have been enough to answer the small psychic's question. Yigo had heard something, but was that trickery from the denizens of the dungeon trying to unnerve him? The more refined explorer may notice uncanniness within the paintings while these sound could be personal to Yigo. Lucille's next words made up his mind. If she could notice distress from the source of the disturbance, either the ghosts are very proficient at confusing their uninvited guests or it was no trick.

Yigo took Lucille off of his back and placed her down on the floor, just in case investigating it would lead to a surprise blow that could hurt her "Damien" It was time to tip his other companion off, pointing with his snout in the direction of the half-open door "I'm going to check it. I'll fall back if there's a trap and keep going if it's safe. Watch that no one comes behind us and protect Lucille"

Hopefully, those instructions needn't be seen through but there was no harm in issuing them either. That said, Yigo started walking in, prowling into the room the crayoned marked door had left the way open to.

"What." At first, Damien did not bother looking up from his notes. He had scribbled down the names of the painters in alphabetical order and used that to categorize the paintings he was listing. Right beside the paintings' names he noted their deviations. It already covered two pages, and he was only stopped from dishing out more by the fact that Yigo was quiet for a moment, making him realize he was not getting his answer verbally. Thus, he reluctantly moved his gaze over to the Sandslash. The door his companion pointed to made him scoff. "Wish I never meet whatever brat treats their room like that." As he was asked to watch over Lucille, he sighed but nodded. "That should be rather easy." With that, his tail briefly turned toward the group, showing off its pointy teeth in a large, zany grin. "P-please be careful," Lucille added as Yigo went to the door. "Oh, and... Don't be g-gone for too long, OK?"

Behind the childish door was an equally childish room, but it was not without its mark of the house's eerie nature. It was colourful, with bright pinks, yellows and blues making up most of the room's colour palette. But the darkness would have made that nigh impossible to discern for a pokémon without night vision. Dirty, worn building blocks were strewn across the floor, and a large yet somewhat deflated Snorlax plushie lay in a corner, gutted of a large volume of its stuffing. Said stuffing had been flung around carelessly all over the floor, making a spotty blanket of "snow" around the blocks. It was a bedroom, made apparent by the little bed tipped on its side in the middle of it, with a pink, Munna-patterned duvet thrashed and filthied just like the blocks.

And right beside that sorry bed was a bluish, spectral shape. A Misdreavus, from the looks of it. With how close they hovered to the floor, they may as well have been laying down on it. Their figure almost seemed to flicker and disappear a little as they let out sounds that were reminiscent of wheezy, pained breaths, but did not sound quite real. They were echoing as much as a louder noise would have in a large cave, and were as whispery and whistling as the sounds of a Seviper. Perhaps that was just normal for ghosts. Either way, it stopped soon after Yigo came into the room, as the ghost turned their head around to look at what was approaching through wide, wary eyes.

The snout of the Sandslash nudged into the room first, ears ready and raised to catch any shifting within the darkness or corners of the room. A sniff here and sniff there was enough to clear many red flags that may be signs of a trap inside. A click of his claw against the floor of the area marked a step inside, Yigo raising his head to look around and examine the chamber with more detail. Since Yigo never had a room like this, or at all for that matter, the nomad assumed that this room was unkempt due to the machinations of the Mystery Dungeon. Nothing but a playground for the dwellers that may find this place comfortable. He just had to be careful not to inhale the stuffing of the plushie. It was such a waste of a soft doll, not to mention the filthy quilt.

What did catch his eye was the figure that laid beside it, grieving as it seemed or breathing in a fashion that Yigo found extremely unnerving. For a moment, Yigo felt relieved. This was the Misdreavus they've been looking for! Or at least another ghost that could probably aid them. Thankfully, his better judgment kicked in before he could drop his guard. Wasn't Monique captured by some adventurers exploring the dungeon? If so, why was she alone? Best case scenario, Monique would have escaped through a wall and run back to Lucille, but no. She was there, alone. Something smelled rotten, and it was not a Gastly this time.

Yigo took a step back, so as not to be trap inside should the door close behind him "Who are you?" He spoke, clearly skeptical of the situation. Besides, he wasn't the greatest fan of Ghost types in general. Even if this was Monique, better to tread carefully "I have no intention of attacking you, but you have to tell me who you are"

A bit of a hypocritical demand, considering that Yigo acted defiantly before a situation like that with Damien, but, to Yigo's defense... Damien had it coming.

The phantom's eyes, which had been round and wide as red little moons up until this point, closed shut after Yigo spoke. Along with that, their owner shook with a loose and light laughter. It was cut short as the ghost's form began shaking and grew more transparent. They seemed to focus as they quieted down, and managed to stabilize again.

"Funny, I wanted to ask.... Just the same thing..." The voice that spoke sounded male and woozy with pain. There was also this odd, almost uncannily friendly edge to it. Like Yigo had already had been written off as an ally, or the ghost did not care what he was.

The Misdreavus slowly turned his whole body around and sunk closer to- no, partially through the floor, as he inched toward the Sandslash. Even the stuffing on the floor seemed to phase right through him. "Narcisse... That's my name," the ghost began, before lowering his voice to a murmur, "They would not come back for me, and I am sure they are still kept busy..."  He seemed to think for a moment, before exhaling deeply and continuing at an easier volume. "So then, my turn... who are you? And, do you... consider yourself to be a helpful person?"


Lucille eyed the rifts and dirt on the carpet after Yigo left, thinking to herself. Damien had returned to his notes, scribbling away contently as he moved from painting to painting, occasionally peeking up to check that all was well. He was obviously far from worried. With both Lucille and his tail keeping watch, they were unlikely to be caught by surprise even if he dedicated most of his attention to the extra research, he believed.

"Mister, you s-said you have business here... What k-kind? Is something else happening?"

"Not during our current day and time, no. But the in the past, I am sure much happened here. Discovering what took place, and the consequences of those events, that is what my business here is. There likely exist residents here with knowledge on it," he replied, not ceasing his writing or taking his eyes off the pale sheets.

"Oh. Er... I, um, haven't been here that long."

"I figured as much. You are still alive, after all."

There was a pause, making Lucille stare harder at the floor. She didn't know what to say; she was unsure about the details on the dungeon's past herself (and recalling anything all with so much else currently on her mind was a different matter altogether), but part of her expected him to say something mean if she kept stating stuff he had already guessed. If she said nothing, then surely he would figure she did not know anything either.

"I would rather speak with your friends. Once this situation is done away with, of course."

To that, she only nodded halfheartedly. Hopefully, it would be so simple as to just "do away with it."

Yigo's head bobbed, his body giving away a sign of weakness, or that something wasn't right. This lack of food was starting to make him feel dizzy, making the ghost's moves and turns appear even more surreal. Closing his eyes, Yigo shook his head and sat down before glancing at the Misdreavus. His stance tried to show that he was still in control despite the shortcomings, staring high at the half-merged ghosts. At least he had admitted to not being Monique, and didn't appear to be openly hostile.

Still skeptical, he looked back at the group he had left in the hallway. A  glance revealed that they were having a carefree chat, so this didn't look like some distraction "Yigo, although I doubt my name is important" It was fair to reply at him since he too had a similar inquiry "I try not to get in the way, and I'm already trying to help someone. Have you seen a group of outsiders causing trouble and taking a Misdreavus called Monique with them?"

Perhaps this dweller was friendly to this cause, if not for Lucille, to kick some troublemakers out of the walls of the dungeon. If not, he had probably asked to get another favor out of Yigo, and the ground type wasn't particularly interested in taking more of those. He isn't a guild member, and he too had a troubling issue that would only get delayed the more he gets involved in others' matters. Lucille only had a pass due to the Sandslash having a soft spot for the young, and this Narcisse seemed very capable of handling himself.

"Yigo, Yigo..." Narcisse muttered as he looked at the pokémon in question. He seemed to do his best to pay attention as the Sandslash spoke, occasionally repeating more words and phrases than just the name right after they were spoken, as if he needed to hear it again to make it register. It remained like that until Yigo asked a question of his own, which in turn made the Misdreavus's eyes widen in momentary surprise. They soon went back to normal, accompanied by more airy laughter. "Yes... And I'm sure they saw me too, or else I can't imagine how they aimed their attacks so well."


Back in the hallway, Lucille shifted her hair flaps in focus before walking somewhat closer to the childish door. She stopped and stared, but could only see stuffing before the rest of the room's contents were cut off by darkness. With a huff, she turned around to her "guardian", who was pushing his long face so close to a painting he may as well have kissed it.

"Er, Mister?" Damien turned his head and looked at her. "The emotion readings I'm g-getting are weird... I think- um, I think the other pokémon in there is... happy now, for some reason? Even though they're still in pain..."

"And? I expect that Sandslash is trying to be diplomatic, so a happy reaction is only advantageous to us. Unless his reading is weird, too?"

"N-no, it's not, but..." Of course, she could feel his fatigue and dizziness, but that was probably from hunger and not fighting. It was still bad, but not cause for her to believe Yigo wasn't managing his task. "I was just thinking we could maybe go look inside if it's peaceful, since you have that candle..."

Damien seemed to think for a moment, before shrugging. "I will check the last painting in this section of the hallway, then we can go." To that, Lucille nodded.


"I take it you are looking for my sister too, then... Did someone hire explorers so soon?" the Misdreavus continued inside the room, looking Yigo over again. "I can't believe I did not think of that myself. Fighting fire with fire, that's-"

Thwack!

"Aaaah, M-Mister?!"

A muffled, wooden noise had sounded from outside, followed by a somewhat sharper shriek. Narcisse feebly tried to float up to peer past Yigo, looking concerned.

"Oh dear, what was that?"

Those explorers had passed through here if this ghost has seen, and knows, the other Misdreavous. Moreover, this Pokémon has also been attacked by them. The laughter after revealing that confused Yigo, but it soon became apparent that he too shared a similar objective to Lucille's.

The ghost continued, explaining that Monique was his sister. This caused Yigo to raise an ear. Now the room and the state in which he had initially found Narcisse made sense but, before he could continue the conversation or analyze the information further, a shriek from outside the room alerted him.

"Lucille!" Yigo spoke in a commanding voice, almost as if to order himself to gather his strength and protect her. He was expecting Damien to do that but one may never know. Ignoring the Misdreavus in the room, he jumped on the spot onto all fours and dashed out, looking at the hallway in a hurry with the hopes of finding whatever may have caused Lucille to shriek. If those explorers have retraced their steps, they may be onto them.

Outside the childish room, Lucille stood all by herself. As Yigo returned, she spared no time waiting before hurriedly hopping over to his side, waving her hair flaps frantically. "Yigo! Yigo, t-this is bad, Damien, he... He fell through the floor! By the painting, he- he just fell through..."

"Oh, it really is you, Lucille! I suppose you were to one to fetch Yigo, then." A few moments after Yigo had arrived, Narcisse had saplessly passed through the wall, looking inappropriately happy for the situation at hand with his wide grin. "Are you alright? No injuries? Why the screaming?"

Lucille gave him a weird look, as if to silently ask if he really should be the one to say that, before replying. "I'm fine, b-but... Yigo came here with someone else, a-and he fell. Um, through the floor, I mean! And I- I haven't heard him hit the ground yet... The ceilings sometimes g-get really high in here, you don't think he...?" She looked back and forth between the two, clearly anxious.


Damned floorboard, what kind of prank was this? One second Damien had been approaching a painting, and the next he felt his heart nearly scale his throat and enter his mouth as the floor flipped beneath him and swallowed him whole. Had someone bothered to destroy part of the floorboards just to make him fall? He could hardly imagine how bored you'd have to be to bother with that. Not that he really had much time to think in general as he fell. With most of his focus moved from passing judgment to employing Psychic, his body abruptly stopped plummeting about as late as it could safely have, levitating inches above the floor of wherever he had gone. It lowered little by little until he was carefully placed on the hard, polished ground with a faint clack. Although the all-swallowing darkness (except for the pitiful little light ray from the displaced planks) made determining anything for sure difficult, he was positive he stood on marble or granite, tiled into small squares. Farther into the darkness he believed he could hear running water. Was this some sort of bathroom, then? And...

He stood as still as a statue, listening.

... Am I alone?

The Sandshrew had approached the Hatenna upon seeing her, his heart giving him some brief respite before he realized that someone else was left in the pack. As much as his presence was annoying to the Sandslash, the absence of Damien was worrying. His head turned to the left, then to the right before registering what the tiny Psychic type was trying to tell him. The fact that Damien had just "fell through the floor" as she explained proved to be a situation Yigo knew not how to resolve on his own.

Looking at his claws, and prodding the wooden floor on which they stood, he noted that he could probably slash through the tiling. On second thought, he figured that this would be rather pointless if this happened to be a ghostly trick. Can he know for certain that whatever room he digs himself into is the one onto which the explorer has been sucked into? Or was the disappearance more mystical, a form of teleportation or outright devouring of the party member? The Sandslash shook his head to keep those dark thoughts off of him, dropping off onto the floor as his legs gave in. He felt stunt and weak, dizzy as he tried to pick himself back up and ignore such a strange occurrence before turning to the Misdreavus "Y-You..." Yigo shuffled his footing back into a stable stance as if nothing had happened "Could you dive down into the floor yourself and check if a dressed up and... geared up yellow, black and white Pokémon is somewhere nearby?"

Yigo had seen the ghost phase through the ground when they were in the previous room, and he seemed to do it effortlessly. If anyone can easily check by going through the floor as Damien did, that was Narcisse "If you find him, I'll drop down with Lucille. If we don't..." He paused and sighed, not wanting to answer to the obvious. Unfortunately, he seemed to be the closest this group had to a leader "We will press on and find Monique the three of us"

Narcisse gave Lucille a look as Yigo faltered, as if to ask her if he was okay, but he shifted his focus right back to the Sandslash as he spoke to him, then agreed with a nod before starting to vanish into the floor. Though he had not met this pokémon, getting lost in the Chateau as an outsider was never good and he didn't wish it upon him.

"Narcisse, wait! If t-there is something... um, more down there, you can't go like that. Let me heal you first," Lucille shot in before he could get particularly far. The Misdreavus complied with that, and floated over to his friend. Lucille created droplets glowing with a magical light, which she scattered around him. Life Dew. After the droplets landed on him, Narcisse glowed faintly for a second or so before nodding, smiling with gratitude and resuming his descent. "I'll be right back!"

Deeper within the blackness, Damien swore he could see a red glow faintly reflected on the tiles. As he quietly moved away, barely lifting his hooves off the floor, the glow increasing in visibility confirmed his suspicion: there really was someone there. But what were they? And were they friend or foe? He figured it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"There you are!"

Clack!

"Ahh, Arceus!!"

Damien barely had any time to react before the one who'd surprised him reacted to a suprise of his own. He could not see much even when turning to look, but from how he could feel his tail move earlier, he figured someone had gotten close from behind and almost gotten into an accident with it."Ahaha... So it bites, huh... How scary..." For some reason this dolt seemed to know him, but Damien didn't think too hard about it. That wasn't what mattered right now. The newcomer seemed relatively harmless, but he seemed to be separate from the one in the darkness. And... now the stealth operation was likely botched. Damien turned back to look, only to see a clear red light approaching with newfound haste.

"Imbecile!" was all he hissed at the loud one before pulling at the approaching light with Psychic to keep it away. It was flung back a few times, but seemed determined to get close. Narcisse began discreetly ascending again, innocently whistling until he got close to the floorboards above.

"Yigo, Lucille! I found him! But there's trouble too!" he impatiently called through the floor, moments before emerging back where he had dived in.

The Misdreavus got into work but not before Lucille showed her talent at work. Knowing that she had healing abilities was reassuring. If they get hurt during a scrap he can count on the psychic type to get better. However, Lucille needing to see the wounds is something that'd discourage the use of this utility. It's better not to scare the child with the sight of red.

Narcisse dove into the floor as asked while Yigo continued being alert. He considered pressing his head and ear against the floor but they were still in the middle of a hallway. It was better to worry about the more accessible entrances when the party was scattered than what he could guess would be happening below, as curious as he was. That way he could watch over Lucille as well should anyone get a jump onto them. While waiting, Yigo's stomach growled again, to which Yigo whined in a pathetic tone that was beneath his stance. There is no longer the possibility of hiding that he is feeling unwell. He turns to Lucille and sighs, wanting to address this.

"Remember when I said I was hungry?" He spoke, trying to sound soft but letting that serious attitude go just for this "The band I carry lets me last longer without food, but It's been so long since last time. If I don't find anything soon, I won't be able to help you in finding Monique"

Speaking of the Misdreavus, the one sent to investigate had returned and seemed to have brought both good and bad news. Damien was right under them but there seemed to be trouble. Yigo nodded to this and looked at Lucille, wondering if she should stay where it was safe until the threat had passed or if he should bring her into the breach with him. At least he can keep an eye on her if she comes down since he doesn't know if he can get back where they were once they drop down. The Sandslash rose his claw up and struck at the wooden floor in front of him. This slashed the floor but was nothing significant enough to tear through the floor.

"Lucille, I need you to hop onto me. I'm going to tear the floor down" he asked, waiting for her to do so before stomping with his foot on the floor. The ground started shaking violently, dust, cobweb, and some rubble falling from the ceiling while the floor in front of Yigo started splitting apart due to the power of the Earthquake. He feels sorry for Damien, knowing that all that break on his level is going to be crashing down into the lower floor but it had to be done. Now that there was a way in, Yigo tried to get a hold of the Hatenna and got her against his chest before dropping down together.

Dropping down into the lower floor would put Yigo's weakened muscles to the limit. A clean landing was hardly possible as Yigo fell onto his side. Not that big of a deal since his species can jump off great heights and come out just fine, but getting up was some other endeavor entirely. He let the child go off of him, not only to free Lucille but because he needs both arms and legs to get back on all fours, and started scanning the area for the missing explorer "We are here! Damien!" He spoke, wanting to make his presence clear to both the explorer and whatever thread may be haunting him. They were probably the culprit of Damien's descent too so facing it would take care of one threat.

PrimordialPrim carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Chateau :