Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Course of Everything

Chapter Two: The Way The Wind Blows

All in all, Lyre felt as if Bayer had handled the confession better than expected.

"I can't believe this," Bayer paced around the room again, his paws on his face and his tails winding and unwinding, "Oh stars I can't even wrap my head around this." He stopped walking, and whipped around to face Lyre, who flinched. "You, you killed her? Oh my stars!"

As Bayer began to pace again, Lyre slouched, his foot twitching from nerves.

"Are...you going to break up with me?" He asked.

"That's what you're worried about!" Bayer exclaimed to the open window, "Oh my STARS you are so dumb." The Buizel slumped onto the window pane with a heavy sigh, and began muttering to himself.

"Arceus knows I should report you to Officer Magnezone, but oh my stars, I can't imagine you in prison," Bayer spoke quickly, almost too quickly for Lyre to catch. "I'm not gonna break up with you, either," He said, and Lyre breathed in relief.

"I know you didn't like her, but you killed her?!" Bayer demanded, turning to face his boyfriend once more, "Why would you even do that?"

"Hey, be quieter!" Lyre hissed, glancing to the closed door and the open window, "I didn't do it just because I didn't like her!"

"Then why?!"

"Verity told me to!" Lyre exclaimed. Bayer froze mid-pace, and glanced towards the door.

"What?"

"A few days ago she told me to go to her office and was like 'Hey, that Harper is a terrible explorer and is dragging the whole Guild down, you should kill her!', and I was like, 'Great, swell, okay!'," Lyre explained, his voice rising in pitch with each word, "What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, not kill another Pokemon?" Bayer retorted.

"Easy for you to say!" Lyre snapped, fur bristling along his spine, "What if she did something to me if I refused?"

"That's..." Bayer trailed off, and the anger faded from his eyes, only a bit. He slumped against the wall and slid into a sitting position. "Oh my stars. I'm working for a murderer and dating a hit-mon. Oh my stars."

The two were quiet for a few minutes. Lyre took a tentative step towards Bayer, but sat back down, deciding that this wouldn't be solved with physical comfort.

"How did you even...do it?" Bayer asked, staring at the ceiling, "They said they found her body in the gorge?"

"I threw her in the gorge," Lyre said.

"And...they said they don't know where her body is?" Bayer continued, now looking at Lyre.

"Yeah?"

Bayer seemed to mull over something for a long time, eyebrows furrowing and unfurrowing, his tails thumping rhythmically against the ground. Lyre would have found this charming if it were not a result of him confessing to a murder.

"What if..." Bayer's eyes slowly lit up, and he grinned, "What if she's not actually dead!"

"What--did not you not even hear me say, 'I threw her in the gorge'?" Lyre asked, "They found her body, she's dead!"

"Then they lost her body!" Bayer jumped to his feet and crossed the room, "What if she's actually alive?"

"Bay, she's a rock type! Most water-types can't even survive the gorge!" Lyre protested, following the Buizel to where their treasure bags were nestled. "She definitely not alive!"

"But we don't know that for sure," Bayer said, digging around in his treasure bag. He pulled out his Wonder Map, a device used to track locations in real-time, and sat down, putting it in his lap.