From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@soca.com> Subject: [PW!] No place like home Date: Sunday, June 06, 1999 6:15 PM Mobius101 wrote: > Just beyond the next bend was the most commonly used passage into Mt. Moon. > Seth increased his pace. For him, Mt. Moon was filled with bad memories, but > something about the mysterious cave still held him in a kind of boyish > excitement of the unknown. This reflection captured enough of his attention that he almost missed seeing Aerie pick up her pace, then run past him into the cave. After an instinctive look back to make sure she was not running *from* something, Seth gave chase, leaving his companions behind. Aerie quickly diverged from the main route, heading into a little-used side passage that lead nowhere in particular. Duck, left, left, right, left, leap, right...it almost looked like Aerie knew where she was going; Seth could only follow her and hope she knew the way back, lest they both became lost. All of a sudden, she stopped. Seth could barely see her in the dim light, but Aerie looked different. "It's still here..." Sounded different, too. "What? Where are we?" "Seth...I'm *home*!" Seth looked around, but could not see any buildings. A hole in the rock to one side offered a breathtaking view of the forest just south of Mount Moon; he could just barely see the Bottle peeking out from the view's side. Not much light shone through the hole; what scant illumination that provided only showed rock walls to Seth's eyes. "I wonder if..." *click* Light poured into Seth's pupils, which had been adapting to the dark, forcing him to shut his eyes for a few seconds to re-adapt. When he opened them again, the rock walls presented themselves as a series of small, connected, room-like voids in the rock, almost like a dwelling carved into the stone. Primitive wiring danced along the ceiling, connecting a series of lightly glowing Voltorbs which provided illumination. At one spot, the wiring descended to a switch at waist level; just below that was Aerie. Who had changed into a 10 year old. "Oh, Seth...I haven't been here in ages..." Her voice and eyes gave testament to her happiness. "Where are we?" "I told you: my home. This is where I grew up. Daddy had me teleported to and from school in Cerulean City, along with some other kids who lived here. The last time I saw this place was just before I left for Rocket Academy." "'Daddy'?" Seth's eyes grew wide. "You mean, Doppler lives here?!?" Aerie's eyes went from joy to downcast in a heartbeat. "I know...*now* I know he's evil, but at the time...I have nothing but good memories of this place. The others who lived...*will* live here, were probably more of Doppler's followers. There's nobody here yet, and there won't be for another few years." "Except for Doppler." Seth gestured to the wiring. "He must have set this place up as a crash pad, in case he wanted to rest while in this area." "I guess..." She gasped. "DIGGY!" Seth watched her dash off into the next room. "'Diggy'?" Aerie was hugging a Diglett. "My first pet. Daddy said he seemed to know me even before he saw me. How are you, boy, hmm?" Seth pondered for a bit, then chuckled. "Gee, I wonder how he could *possibly* have met you..." "Huh? Oh!" Aerie chuckled too. "I guess you're right." "I think we lost the others. I'll go get them...that is, if I can *find* them." "Ok...oh, wait! Seth! I've got to tell you how to get around the security in this place. Daddy said we lived here so we could hide from the world when we wanted to. We're out of the way of most traffic, but we had a few traps set in case anyone we didn't want wandered too close. A few of them are probably already in place." As if on cue, a faint rumbling shook the walls. Aerie sighed. "That's the outermost one now. A rockslide, to make it seem like this part of the caves was unstable." Not too far away... "Slasher *sure* Seth go this way?" "Purr sian!" (I'd know his scent anywhere.) Marshmallow and Eevee stared at the halted avalanche above them, not quite sure why they were not now crushed despite seeing Mimic strain to hold open a path for them. "Better hurry. No want them or us buried. Mimic wonder why Aerie take off like that." "Sian? Sian?" (Who knows? Who cares?) "Seth obviously care!" "Sian...purrsian." (He would...I'd say just let her go.) "Ee! Vee eevee..." (Agreed! Scary humans aren't worth it...) Back in Aerie's future bedroom... "...and the second trap is a negative psychic generator. It puts out hostility, fear, and general negative emotions designed to turn determined intruders back, or possibly on each other if they're in a group." "Like Mimic and Slasher..." Seth stood up. "Where is it?" "Go back a few rooms; it's just above the entrance. It only affects people in the passage, not anyone already in here; it's set up so you can approach the generator from behind with no ill effects." "Right." Seth was about to head off to shut it down when the unmistakable crack of Thunder rang in his ears. TBC?