Planeside

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

Deeper into the darkness...

Gwen will find it difficult to run due to the clawing, reaching brambles that choke and crawl over every available space within the echo of someone's home. There are no pleasant, worn wooded walls here. No soft mosses and faintly luminous fungus. Only thorns. Thorns and a thick, brooding miasma of dread. The brambles reach for her as she brushes past, trying their best to gouge into her.

Each errant scratch will carve away a little bit of her humanity.

One of the many reasons why spending time in the Hedge is so dangerous.

Gwen's recently acquired knowledge will inform her that the path she seeks is down in the basement.

Because of course it would be down in the basement.

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

Lee's eyes widen in horror at the mass of thorns.
"You better be careful with those things. Those thorns of the Hedge are the real deal. You don't even want one scratch on you or things'll get bad in a hurry. You sure this is the only way?" he asks her shakily.

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen frowns and stops when she sees the brambles and says to Grant, "Yeah...Apparently the way we want is in the basement because things can never, ever be easy." She sighs and starts trying to carefully pick her way through the brambles, trying not to get cut, somewhat successfully, though not entirely.

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

With every scratch, Gwen will feel as though she has lost something precious.

Though... it'll be difficult for her to put her finger on precisely what it was.

Lee had best be wary of the thorns as well. He might already be a faerie, but he still has quite a bit of his humanity intact. And the thorns of the Hedge are all too happy to scour away the last vestiges of mortality on anything wandering through. Lee's mindset is still quite human, and the thorns simply won't abide with that if they can help it.

The brambles almost seem to reach for the siblings as they pick their way through...

It takes five minutes or five hours to reach the basement door through the tangle of brambles. Hard to tell which, really. Time has little meaning in a place like this. The door looming before them looks normal enough, though more than a few thorny vines have grown across it. From below the threshold bright white light shines. Or... maybe seeps would be a better word. It flows out from under the door and oozes across the floor with all the languidity of cold molasses.

Thankfully it isn't as sticky as cold molasses.

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

Lee proves quite good at avoiding the thorns, especially with his ability to glamour himself into more appropriate as needed. As such; he almost entirely escapes injury, though it'll take quite a while/
"So, uh, you want to open the door, or me?" he asks.

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen has a few cuts on her arms by the time they reach the basement, but when they arrive, she takes a deep breath and says, "Well that was...Unnerving. I feel stripped bare." She sighs as she looks at the door and says, "But we can't stop now," as she reaches out and opens it.

[Lost_Deep]

Mystery?

Jace tilts his head a bit.
"Well, there were wanted posters for him. Who posted them? Surely they can be someone to turn him in to." he says.
Like the magneton cops! They have those, right?

[Mystery?]

"That's a good question, actually," Fortuna pipes up. "What DO you do with criminals?"

Do they even HAVE criminals here? Fortuna certainly doesn't feel like lugging around an unconscious lizard if she can avoid it.

"I wouldn't know, myself, dears," Blissey says, "Perhaps Marowak knows? It might be worth asking. In any case, let's get you all fixed up!"

Blissey will then try to go about healing the group (but not Leon), getting them all back up to full health.

And then she'll go off, likely to find that Magnemite and do the same to it.

[Deathkeeper]

Mystery?

Zebes carts off Leon to the Inn, where hopefully Drowzee can supply them with a closet they can lock him in for the time being. Meanwhile, Jace will go over to one of those wanted posters and try to see if there's any sort of contact information as to who posted the posters.

[Rebonack]

[Mystery?]

"So that's two out of three," Fortuna hums, partly to herself and partly to her friends. "I guess that means we need just the last one, then we can confront whoever is behind this mess?"

That's certainly how these sorts of very simplistic quests work, typically.

"If you seek another spirit stone," Magnemite drones. "This unit has heard that one can be found in the depths of the Ruins Dungeon. If you would like, this unit can mark its location on your map."

Well!

That sure is handy, isn't it?

Khannie, meanwhile, smiles over at Jace. "When you finish your quest, that means you'll take me with you back to the human world, right?"

She sure sounds hopeful!

[The Fairy]

Gwen opens the door...

And beyond?

A lime-stone grotto, cave pearls glimmering in a sourceless, twilight glow. Water drips somewhere in the distance, carrying with it the acrid scent of rotting vegetation. If the siblings just follow their nose, they should find the shortcut to Aldrovanda's domain soon...

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

Lee gags, shaking his head as he follows Gwen closely.
"Okay, yeah, that's the right direction all right. You have a plan, or are you just going to bash her with that thing until her head comes off? Because you need a way to threaten her without killing her, or we won't get anything." says the kelpie as he resists the urge to cough more.

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen coughs and says, "Don't worry. I think *cough* I think she's smart enough to respect that I have a very real chance of killing her. And if not, I'll try to be as gentle as I *cough* can." With that, she starts trekking in the direction of the horrid scent of rot and decay.

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

And then things get worse.

"What are you doing in my home, mortal?" comes gruff voice from the darkness.

Whoever is speaking sounds pretty grumpy, but the deep shadows of the grotto obscure them completely.

Hopefully this won't be trouble...

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

"Apologies for intruding. We have business with another, and her domain is past yours. If you allow us passage through yours, we promise not to mess with your stuff." says Lee to the person obstinately not standing in the nice cave-pearl glow that would otherwise illuminate them. Lee is trying hard to sound proper, but a thirteen year old can only do so much in that respect.

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen nods and says, "We don't have a quarrel with you. Please let us pass through unharmed and I promise we will pass as swiftly and easily as possible."

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

"No," the voice grunts back. A swirl of darkness begins to coalesces, five red points of light burning in the shadows. "No, you will not pass without payment. Fetch me an ivory pixie comb, and I will allow you to pass through my domain unharmed. If not, then I will feast on your bones."

Having someone feast on your bones is rarely fun.

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

Lee's expression darkens.
"What do you need one for? That's going to be a big trade for the pixies, and I really don't want to go back through those thorns a few more times." he grumbles. Can't Gwen just cut this loser in half?

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen sighs and says, "I really don't want this to get messy." She raises her blade to a ready stance and says, "Perhaps a better way to have said that was 'Let us through or things will get messed up.'"

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

"What I need of a comb is my own business," the Thing in the Dark replies with a snort.

And then?

The sword comes out.

Hoo boy.

Now things are serious.

"Hahaha! A vorpal blade?" the monster rumbles. "A sharp toy for such a little girl. This will end poorly for you, child. You should really reconsider."

The thing is slinking through the dark toward them, but making out any details is still dreadfully difficult. One thing is obvious enough, though. Whatever this monster is? It's big. Really big.

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

"Hrm. Perhaps a sign of uh...goodwill then? The way in here is covered in thorns, and that's why we'd prefer not to go back and forth to retrieve a comb for you. Tell us how to get past them and we'll be able to run your errand." Lee offers, not really wanting to fight something in earnest.

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen nods and says, "Yeah. Don't try anything though. Or this will get ugly."

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

"I believe you find that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, little girl," the beast sneers, apparently not at all worried about Gwen's threats. "And if you wish to pass by the thorns without losing anything? Hehehe... The thorns take what they will. If you want to evade their touch, then your will must be stronger than theirs."

Huh...

Maybe Gwen can kind of just...

Dream them out of the way?

People from the waking world rarely consider the fact that places like the Fairy can by changed simply by wishing it hard enough.

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

"Well, that might work. I just hope that Aldro doesn't leave for somewhere else while we go do this..." says Lee with a sigh.

[Lost_Deep]

Mystery?

"Are we going to be able to get that stone tonight?" Kate asks, idly sunning herself. Really, with the frill fanned out she looks silly. "It's getting a bit on in the day..."

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen sighs and says, "Yeah, fine, whatever." She walks out the door and, once Grant is out, shuts it behind them, then stopping and says, "Wait. Let me try something first." She closes her eyes and focuses, trying to perfectly visualize what one of these combs is, feeling it's weight in her hand as she tries to summon one from raw dreamstuff.

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

Gwen focuses on the power of lucid dreaming and conjures up-!

A tiny ornamental pumpkin.

Yay?

[Mystery?]

"It's already pretty late in the day," Fortuna observes. "It would probably be a good idea to rest up. We can set out in the morning fresh and ready to go!"

Yeah!

That sounds like a plan.

Hopefully none of the other party members discover they have a long lost daughter while they're asleep.

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

Lee flicks an ear curiously at Gwen.
"I'm guessing you didn't mean to do that?" he asks flatly.

Mystery?

Eventually, Jace will come back, having found an actual contact system for the wanted poster, and thanks to the fairly high amount of psychic pokemon in town, was able to get a message out fairly quickly. Within a few hours Officer Magnezone and his magnet force arrive to take the wanted kecleon away.
He'll be taking some of his loot as evidence and to return to his victims, but since most of it is from the town's citizenry, it will be kept there (currently in Khannie's paws).

The party will have no issues resting that night, unless Kate has her own things to deal with. In the morning, it'll be time to head out to the last dungeon!
Which one's that, again?
"So, uh, where were we going again?" Zebes asks as they eat breakfast. Poor dragon can't be expected to remember everything.

[Lost_Deep]

Mystery?

"Um, I think it was ruins?" Kate says, sunning herself again. When was the last time she ate? "Apparently the third stone is still in place."

[Ionbound]

[The Fairy]

Gwen nods and says, "Yeah. I meant to summon one of those combs he was asking for. Hmm...I don't suppose that this is what it looks like to humans?"

[Deathkeeper]

The Fairy

Lee shakes his head.
"I don't thin k so. It looks like a vegetable to me." he says. He thinks Gwen just messed it up.

[Rebonack]

[The Fairy]

Pumpkins are a fruit!

As a matter of fact, they count as a berry.

Unlike strawberries. Weird.

Whatever the spooky thing in the darkness is, it doesn't reply to the bantering siblings.

[Mystery?]

"The Ruins Dungeon," Khannie confirms with a nod. "I've heard it has lots of really spooky ghost pokemon there!"

Oh no!

Not ghost pokemon!

They're the spookiest.

"Bluh, ghosts..." Fortuna grumbles. "At least I can type-swap over to half-normal to ward off their attacks."

Protean sure is a nifty ability.