(no subject)
I'd often been told my curiosity would be the end of me. Sometimes, I think that may be right. Mew only knows how my life would have ended up if I'd been satisfied to accept that a killer had been found and leave it at that.
But I wasn't. Some morbid little corner of my mind wanted to know more, to see what could possibly drive a person to murder an innocent Walrein. Enoki agreed to accompany me to the dusty, misused prison to take a look. When we arrived, I was surprised to see Aycee sitting out front. She scratched behind her ear uncomfortably, avoiding my gaze. "Oh... uh... Thierry. Hi."
"Aycee... what are you doing here?"
Beside me, Enoki spoke up. "Sorry, guess I forgot to mention it. So this little place doesn't even have a sheriff, right? No wonder you guys were so big on forming a rescue team. We're the closest Northvale's got to law enforcement. Your mayor had me and Aycee bring the Mothim in, and now Aycee's been made the prison guard."
Aycee nodded, showing me the first smile I'd seen in a while. "Pretty cool, huh? Mayor Leopold said he might even give me a badge. Hey, listen, um... I've been kind of a jerk. I should've had more faith in you. We're teammates, we're supposed to be there for each other. Think I can make it up to you?"
It had been hard, having Aycee distance herself for so long, but... in a way, I couldn't really blame her. Father Hough had been important to all of us, and we'd never been faced with a tragedy of this size before. Anyone would had been shaken... right? Anyway, I wouldn't have been much of a friend if I couldn't forgive her. "Well... if you let me see the Mothim, then I'll call it even."
"What, that's it?" Aycee snorted. "Jeez, Thierry, of course you can see him. You're part of Team Silvertongues too." She hopped up onto her feet and opened the door, bowing grandly. "I gotta stay out here and keep watch, but knock yourself out. It's the only cell with someone in it. Can't miss him."
I glanced to Enoki, but he just nodded for me to go on ahead; it seemed I was the only one who happened to be in the mood to converse with dangerous killers. Fine with me. I went in alone. It wasn't nearly as eerie as I thought it would be. Back in the day, these ten cells must have been crammed with bloodthirsty lawbreakers. But now... there was enough dust for me to see the footprints where Aycee had dragged the Mothim into his cell. It was the one closest to the door on the right.
I approached cautiously, just to be safe, but it seemed as though I needn't have bothered. I had never seen a Mothim before, so I hadn't been sure what to expect. The Pokemon in that cell, though... even without any expectations, I couldn't help but feel vaguely underwhelmed. He looked about as tall as I was, though most of that height seemed to be wings and antennae. He sat in a sad little pile on the floor, and he didn't even bother looking up when I drew near. Somehow, I hadn't expected for a ruthless poisoner to look so small and miserable.
"Ah... hello?" I ventured. No response, so I tried again. "My name is Thierry Blackwell. I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk." Still nothing. This was getting me nowhere; may as well cut to the chase. "So... why'd you do it?"
And that got his attention. His head snapped up, and he looked at me with giant, watery eyes. "Didn't!!"
Startled by the sudden burst of noise, I stumbled back a pace. "E-excuse me?"
"I didn't do it! I didn't! Why won't anyone believe me?"
He was in denial, huh...? I crossed my arms and let out a sigh. "I don't see how it could be anyone else, Mothim. They said it was Poisonpowder that killed him. Besides, everyone in Northvale loved Father Hough. There isn't a single person here with both the motive and the means. I'm not sure what made you do it, but... you're the only one who was capable of it."
"But I didn't! Honest to Arceus! Mew! I swear to every legendary ever that I didn't do it! Why would I wanna kill that Walrein guy, anyway? He was nice to me! He let me stay in the church and he'd tell me stories about Mew and he made sure I always had something to eat!" The Mothim insisted, tottering onto his feet.
"They'll probably go easier on you if you quit denying, you know," I replied. "Didn't you hear me the first time? You're the only one in town who knows Poisonpowder. Father Hough was poisoned. You were staying in the church he worked at. Even without a motive, that sounds pretty incriminating to me." I didn't know who this bug thought he was fooling, but it was clear as day that he was guilty if you looked at the facts of the case. Father Hough was poisoned, and they found some kind of insect scales or pollen on his skin. That was damning evidence, even if the dust from the mine shaft cave-in made it hard to tell exactly what it was.
...The mine shaft cave-in. That was one thing that bothered me. "Hey, Mothim... why Leopold Mine?"
"Huh? Where's that?" The Mothim had shuffled closer to the bars separating us, head tilted curiously.
"Oh, don't play dumb. You know where I mean. I suppose you would have wanted to hide the body somewhere remote. The permafrost makes the ground too hard to bury the body. But how'd you get him to agree to head all the way up there? Father Hough was sort of... well, he wasn't in the best shape of his life, and that path is so overgrown that it isn't easy to navigate, especially if you're dragging that much bulk." At this point, I was talking more to myself than to the Mothim, but I continued. "Maybe he had already been poisoned, and he was trying to get away from you? No... that makes no sense. If I were being attacked, I would head for the nearest house and ask for help, instead of going all that way to a remote mine shaft. There's no way somebody your size could have killed him and dragged the body up there, either. So the poisoning must have happened in the mine, then."
The Mothim just stared. I seemed to have lost him. "Look. There's no reason for Father Hough to go that far out of his way. Somehow, you convinced him to go to all that trouble, right? So how'd you do it?"
"I'm telling you! I didn't! I don't even know what that place is or how to get there!" He seemed determined to stick to that song and dance. It didn't seem like I was going to pry an answer out of him anytime soon, so I filed that question away.
"Fine, whatever you say. Let's... just leave that topic for now. Do you have a name, Mothim? What brings you up to Northvale, anyway?" Besides murdering, of course.
"...Basil. My name's Basil. I'm... I decided I was gonna travel the world until I found my true calling."
Really? That was the best he could give? "Your true calling."
"Yep! My purpose, you know? Right now... I don't have anything or anyone. So that's what I'm trying to find. The one thing that makes me go, 'this is what I was meant to be doing and this is where I'm s'posed to belong'. Like... you must have something like that, right?"
"I suppose that would be my rescue team." Basil looked a little doubtful, and I didn't blame him -- even I could tell how uncertain my answer was. I cleared my throat, standing up straighter. "Anyway, if a preacher's life is the price for finding your purpose, then I think you were better off lost. I'm going."
I was wasting my time here. Basil squeaked for me to wait, but I didn't bother. I'd heard enough already.
But I wasn't. Some morbid little corner of my mind wanted to know more, to see what could possibly drive a person to murder an innocent Walrein. Enoki agreed to accompany me to the dusty, misused prison to take a look. When we arrived, I was surprised to see Aycee sitting out front. She scratched behind her ear uncomfortably, avoiding my gaze. "Oh... uh... Thierry. Hi."
"Aycee... what are you doing here?"
Beside me, Enoki spoke up. "Sorry, guess I forgot to mention it. So this little place doesn't even have a sheriff, right? No wonder you guys were so big on forming a rescue team. We're the closest Northvale's got to law enforcement. Your mayor had me and Aycee bring the Mothim in, and now Aycee's been made the prison guard."
Aycee nodded, showing me the first smile I'd seen in a while. "Pretty cool, huh? Mayor Leopold said he might even give me a badge. Hey, listen, um... I've been kind of a jerk. I should've had more faith in you. We're teammates, we're supposed to be there for each other. Think I can make it up to you?"
It had been hard, having Aycee distance herself for so long, but... in a way, I couldn't really blame her. Father Hough had been important to all of us, and we'd never been faced with a tragedy of this size before. Anyone would had been shaken... right? Anyway, I wouldn't have been much of a friend if I couldn't forgive her. "Well... if you let me see the Mothim, then I'll call it even."
"What, that's it?" Aycee snorted. "Jeez, Thierry, of course you can see him. You're part of Team Silvertongues too." She hopped up onto her feet and opened the door, bowing grandly. "I gotta stay out here and keep watch, but knock yourself out. It's the only cell with someone in it. Can't miss him."
I glanced to Enoki, but he just nodded for me to go on ahead; it seemed I was the only one who happened to be in the mood to converse with dangerous killers. Fine with me. I went in alone. It wasn't nearly as eerie as I thought it would be. Back in the day, these ten cells must have been crammed with bloodthirsty lawbreakers. But now... there was enough dust for me to see the footprints where Aycee had dragged the Mothim into his cell. It was the one closest to the door on the right.
I approached cautiously, just to be safe, but it seemed as though I needn't have bothered. I had never seen a Mothim before, so I hadn't been sure what to expect. The Pokemon in that cell, though... even without any expectations, I couldn't help but feel vaguely underwhelmed. He looked about as tall as I was, though most of that height seemed to be wings and antennae. He sat in a sad little pile on the floor, and he didn't even bother looking up when I drew near. Somehow, I hadn't expected for a ruthless poisoner to look so small and miserable.
"Ah... hello?" I ventured. No response, so I tried again. "My name is Thierry Blackwell. I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk." Still nothing. This was getting me nowhere; may as well cut to the chase. "So... why'd you do it?"
And that got his attention. His head snapped up, and he looked at me with giant, watery eyes. "Didn't!!"
Startled by the sudden burst of noise, I stumbled back a pace. "E-excuse me?"
"I didn't do it! I didn't! Why won't anyone believe me?"
He was in denial, huh...? I crossed my arms and let out a sigh. "I don't see how it could be anyone else, Mothim. They said it was Poisonpowder that killed him. Besides, everyone in Northvale loved Father Hough. There isn't a single person here with both the motive and the means. I'm not sure what made you do it, but... you're the only one who was capable of it."
"But I didn't! Honest to Arceus! Mew! I swear to every legendary ever that I didn't do it! Why would I wanna kill that Walrein guy, anyway? He was nice to me! He let me stay in the church and he'd tell me stories about Mew and he made sure I always had something to eat!" The Mothim insisted, tottering onto his feet.
"They'll probably go easier on you if you quit denying, you know," I replied. "Didn't you hear me the first time? You're the only one in town who knows Poisonpowder. Father Hough was poisoned. You were staying in the church he worked at. Even without a motive, that sounds pretty incriminating to me." I didn't know who this bug thought he was fooling, but it was clear as day that he was guilty if you looked at the facts of the case. Father Hough was poisoned, and they found some kind of insect scales or pollen on his skin. That was damning evidence, even if the dust from the mine shaft cave-in made it hard to tell exactly what it was.
...The mine shaft cave-in. That was one thing that bothered me. "Hey, Mothim... why Leopold Mine?"
"Huh? Where's that?" The Mothim had shuffled closer to the bars separating us, head tilted curiously.
"Oh, don't play dumb. You know where I mean. I suppose you would have wanted to hide the body somewhere remote. The permafrost makes the ground too hard to bury the body. But how'd you get him to agree to head all the way up there? Father Hough was sort of... well, he wasn't in the best shape of his life, and that path is so overgrown that it isn't easy to navigate, especially if you're dragging that much bulk." At this point, I was talking more to myself than to the Mothim, but I continued. "Maybe he had already been poisoned, and he was trying to get away from you? No... that makes no sense. If I were being attacked, I would head for the nearest house and ask for help, instead of going all that way to a remote mine shaft. There's no way somebody your size could have killed him and dragged the body up there, either. So the poisoning must have happened in the mine, then."
The Mothim just stared. I seemed to have lost him. "Look. There's no reason for Father Hough to go that far out of his way. Somehow, you convinced him to go to all that trouble, right? So how'd you do it?"
"I'm telling you! I didn't! I don't even know what that place is or how to get there!" He seemed determined to stick to that song and dance. It didn't seem like I was going to pry an answer out of him anytime soon, so I filed that question away.
"Fine, whatever you say. Let's... just leave that topic for now. Do you have a name, Mothim? What brings you up to Northvale, anyway?" Besides murdering, of course.
"...Basil. My name's Basil. I'm... I decided I was gonna travel the world until I found my true calling."
Really? That was the best he could give? "Your true calling."
"Yep! My purpose, you know? Right now... I don't have anything or anyone. So that's what I'm trying to find. The one thing that makes me go, 'this is what I was meant to be doing and this is where I'm s'posed to belong'. Like... you must have something like that, right?"
"I suppose that would be my rescue team." Basil looked a little doubtful, and I didn't blame him -- even I could tell how uncertain my answer was. I cleared my throat, standing up straighter. "Anyway, if a preacher's life is the price for finding your purpose, then I think you were better off lost. I'm going."
I was wasting my time here. Basil squeaked for me to wait, but I didn't bother. I'd heard enough already.