Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Course of Everything

Chapter Eight: At a Loss

For the first time since Lyre's confession, Bayer was at a loss.

He knew what he had to do short term: help his team find the lost Pokemon, and return the lost Pokemon to her mother. It was simple -- until he had been greeted by his little sister and his boyfriend on the brink of an actual fight.

Pearlie knew what Lyre had done. Bayer shouldn't have been surprised: Pearlie's odd knack for seeing the future was always unpredictable like that. And, this explained her inexplicable hostility towards Lyre from the moment she laid eyes on him. What he hadn't expected, though, was her complete and utter dismay at her brother's request to help them.

"I don't want to help a murderer!" she'd shouted, "I saw what he did!"

Bayer's insistence that they only wanted to see if Harper was really dead or not didn't help.

For his credit, Lyre hadn't continued the argument. He was quiet, quieter than he had been in the dungeon, brows furrowed and muzzle wrinkled at the ground. What was bothering him was hard to say; everything about the situation was troubling.

To make matters worse, Cassander wasn't found.

At least it was quiet now. The sun lay low on the horizon, and Bayer stood alone in the clearing he'd set as the team's camp. Lyre was lying in the shade of an oak, back facing Bayer. Pearlie had gone off to who-knows-where, in such a foul mood she only nodded at Bayer's warning to come back before dark. He hoped she would listen.

Bayer glanced at Lyre. The Jolteon hadn't moved since they set up camp, and Bayer frowned. Careful to not wake him, if he was asleep, Bayer crept across the clearing. To his surprise, Lyre was looking at the map. It lay in between his paws, showing a wide view of the area. Lyre's muzzle was scrunched in the way it did when he was concentrating, and his quills quivered on his flanks.

"Plotting a course?" Bayer asked.

"Huh?" Lyre twitched his ears, and dragged his gaze away from the map.

Bayer repeated himself, and Lyre made an odd gesture between a nod and a shake of the head.

"Trying to figure out where Cassander could have gone," Lyre looked back to the map, "She wasn't in Puddle Swamp, so she either cleared it or passed it by. But there's so many dungeons around here, I don't know where to begin!" His voice became sharp, but after catching the look on Bayer's face, he sighed.

"I wish I knew where she went," he said, head on his paws, "I don't even know why she left."

"Did she ever mention... running away, or something?" Bayer asked.

"Never to me, and definitely not to mother."

Nothing else was said for a few moments. Bayer furrowed his brow at the map. From where they were now, there were at least half a dozen trails within half a mile. That wasn't even counting the possibility that she had doubled back past Wisteria. What had the officers said, again? All they knew was that Cassander had last been seen walking home.

"Wait," Lyre spoke, jolting upright, "Do you think...Cassander knows?"

"Knows what?" Bayer replied.

"That I," he seemed to struggle with the words, "killed Harper? Do you think your sister told her?"

"Oh!" Bayer smacked a paw to his head, "That makes sense! She ran away after leaving our house, maybe she does know!"

"We need to find your sister," Lyre said. He got to his paws in a blink, his face set and determined. "She can tell us if Cassander knows or not."

Lyre led the way, following the path Pearlie had gone. Bayer jogged behind him, a spark of hope in his chest. He was willing to bet his badge that if Cassander knew, she was on her way to Bounty's Keep to find her brother. If Pearlie could confirm this, they would have a solid lead on how to find her. Lyre seemed to be more hopeful now, too. His green eyes glowed in the sunlight, and his pace was brisk.