Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 143 - Fly to the City

Cipher Castle was strangely lonely. There were very few guards actually patrolling the area inside, and all the halls were far too large to be considered anything but excessive. Owen walked down a now-familiar passageway that was at least ten feet in width and hundreds in length. He led a Swampert carrying several vases with roses in them.

Two days ago, Swampert had introduced himself as Servant. He said that because he was Owen's Servant, that was simply his name. Owen, not comfortable with that, suggested just calling him Swampert for the time being.

"So, uhh," Swampert said, "any reason why I'm carrying a hundred vases with flowers in them?" He sniffed idly at a few.

"I wanted to decorate the place a little," the Charmeleon replied, arms behind his back. "And you're a lot bigger than me, so it's easier to carry. If you see any empty tables, or those tables with little candies on them, we can put flowers there."

"That does sound nice..." He hummed. "But you know this is probably suspicious, right? You didn't... put anything weird in the vases?"

Owen laughed a little and continued on. "Just put them down where you think they seem fine," he said. "Don't worry. If they're suspicious of anything, they'll take it out on me, not you. You'll be fine."

"I hope so... Mhynt gets kinda scary when you disobey her. I h-heard she turned someone to dust with just a touch, you know. And made them reborn at their weakest."

"She can be scary," Owen said, hiding a pang of disapproval.

Swampert set a vase down on an empty table. He stared at it like he was expecting it to do something. When nothing happened, he followed Owen again.

"So, uh, what about when you asked me to explore the top floor of the castle? Qitlan gave me some weird looks over that one..."

"Just part of what I need," Owen said.

"And you asked me to put down those decorative coins... You know they're gonna inspect every one, right?"

"Yeah. They won't find anything suspicious, if that's what you're worried about."

"...I—I'm not gonna get Voided for this, am I?"

"No. You did nothing wrong. You're just following the deal, right?"

He nodded nervously. Owen understood the apprehension, and in some ways, he was nervous, too. He was still using this probably-innocent Swampert for some deception and it could have resulted in Swampert being harmed.

Eventually, they made it to the end of the hall with half of the flower vases taken care of. Swampert's arms were still full, but not overfull, and Owen said, "Hey, how about a lunch break?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Can we go to the healthier spot again? I—I mean! If it... pleases—"

"Sure. You have that voucher or something, right?"

"Y-yes. Er, Mhynt said... I should make use of it." He sucked in his gut.

Owen sighed. "Well, it's good to be healthy."

"But I understand if you don't want to," Swampert added. "Don't Charmeleon usually put on a few pounds before evolving?"

"That, uh, that's a myth. Our bodies naturally bulk out on evolution. We don't really need any extra... a-anyway, sure. Food. Right."

The eatery in question was called Elegance and it was an installment that had been lucky enough to be placed right in the castle. Even Alexander occasionally visited it, and Owen wasn't really sure why because the décor didn't really fit him. Light, pastel colors and a Fairy-themed menu felt like something Alexander would fear. Unless that was his way of asserting dominance.