[journey] until the darkness does recede

You step out of the cab and release your Delphox from its pokeball. After you have exited, the cab speeds away, the person behind the wheel clearly not wanting to stay here. You have taken the risk to come here, despite knowing what kind of place might be like. Though who knows, maybe it will give you the answers you seek.

You ask your pokemon whether they notice anything and you yourself also take a look around. The first thing that you notice is a door standing ajar to one of the buildings, despite some kind of light burning inside. Though the light itself is barely the size of a small flame. As your gaze travels to the building it seems like your pokemon have noticed something else. There is some movement in the alley to the right, opposite the building, though because of the shadows you have no idea what is there exactly.

Before you can make a choice you hear laughing and as you watch quietly, two children seem to be playing ahead, one running after the other, clearly trying to get to them. It takes them a moment to notice you and your pokemon, but the moment they do, they turn away from you and quickly start to run in the opposite direction.

The children running away from you, turn your attention to the building where the small light is flickering, the door slightly ajar. Thinking that the building might hold their parents you head towards it, pushing the door open wider. The door creaks loudly as you move it, no one has thought to fix that clearly.



You step inside, your pokemon following, the small light that you had seen from the outside seems to be from an oil lamp hanging on the wall. It barely lights up the hallway that you find yourself in, casting long shadows. With the front door behind you, the hallway stretches out in front of you. The inside of the building has clearly seen better days. At one point in time this might have been a place for people to live, but not anymore. The wallpaper is old and is getting loose in several places. The carpet has several stains, though you can’t be sure of what.

The hallway has several doors, leading to other rooms. There are two on the left, but both are closed. The first one on the right is closed too, but the second one doesn’t even have the door anymore. With the bit of light that the lamp provides you do notice that there are two staircases side by side at the end of the hallway. One is leading up, while another leads down. What will you do?

The hallway in front of you seems very straightforward and as you cautiously move forward the doors leading from the hallway seem to be just that, doors. The single small light hadn’t given you much to go on, but with your Delphox providing extra light, you can tell that this place is quite old. The doors seem to be made of solid wood, you can’t tell what’s behind them.



You ask your Espeon if it senses anything, any movement at all. At first it seems like it doesn’t sense anything, but the moment you pass by the opening on the right, your pokemon halts, watching something moving inside what seems to be a kitchen. At first it’s unclear to you what your pokemon has noticed, but as the figure moves closer you notice that it seems to be a butler.



”Do we have a guest?” The man asks as he comes closer and takes a closer look at you, before bowing. ”Sorry for not greeting you Miss, I was busy in the kitchen and didn’t notice you coming in.” Despite the butler being friendly and smiling at you, you get the sense that something is off. The door had creaked loudly enough when you came in that anyone would have noticed it. ”Are you here for a visit?” It’s clear that the butler expects you to answer. What will you do?

The butler is watching you quietly, his gaze not straying from you. He’s clearly waiting for your answer. As you tell him that you’re indeed here for a visit he starts to smile. A smile that doesn’t reveal anything about what the butler is thinking. ”Of course. I would have made sure that you got a better reception if I had expected your arrival.” The butler explained, momentarily pausing, almost like he was considering what to say next.

His gaze travels from you to your pokemon and back to you. ”The others are waiting for you.” He had seemed to hesitate for a moment before telling you this, almost like he didn’t expect someone like you to be here. ”I will bring you to them if you can answer the following riddle:

One with it is lacking.
Two with it is ideal.
Three with it is dangerous.
What is it?

It seems like the butler will only help you further if you give the right answer. What will you do?

The butler waits patiently for your answer, giving you the time to think over the riddle and to come up with the right answer. If you don’t give the right answer here, the butler won’t help you further. After contemplating the riddle, only one answer comes to mind: a secret.

It stays quiet for a moment, but then the butler inclines his head. ”That’s correct, if you would please follow me then.” He says while gesturing to the back of the kitchen. You hadn’t noticed before, but there is a cabinet there and as the butler approaches it he picks up a glass placed on one of the shelves. The cabinet shoves aside, revealing a passageway behind with stone steps leading down. Several lanterns hang on the walls, giving enough light for you to see where you would have to step.

Despite the lanterns, you can’t tell how far the steps will go or how deep down the butler might be leading you. ”The others will be waiting for you.” The butler tells you before he starts to walk down the stairs, expecting you to follow. You have no idea what might be waiting for you down there, what will you do?

The butler has already started to head down the stairs when you’re thinking if it might be better to ask questions first. Though you’re aware that people could easily lie to your face. It is what makes you decide not to ask questions and to just follow the butler, telling your pokemon to stay alert.

Your own footsteps echo back to you, bouncing off the stone walls surrounding you as you make your way down. The passage is just wide enough for two people to pass each other if necessary and head down in a straight line. After a few minutes the bottom of the steps appears, the butler is waiting for you there.



You find yourself in an antechamber, two huge doors in front of you. They seem the final hurdle that is separating you from wherever the others are. As you look around you notice that there isn’t much here, only the steps behind you, the doors in front of you and a closet to your right. The butler headed over there and took out a robe, holding it out to you. ”Here, wear this otherwise I can’t let you go inside.” It’s clear that the butler is waiting for you to wear it. As you take a good look at the robe, it seems to be simple at first, but the material is quite expensive, its colour a bordeaux red. The robe is long enough to cover your whole body and has a hood to help hide your face. There’s no symbol on it for as far as you can see.

Meanwhile your pokemon have been staring at the door, it’s clear that they’re sensing something from behind the doors, but it is unclear what it is. The only way to find out what is happening here is to head through the doors. Will you proceed?