Darkened Silverware

Micah left the Meridian family and returned to his home after the details of the engagement to Cleo had been discussed.

Pixel spend many days resting and spending her time surrounded by luxuries, Ash and Pixel were both cooking together with the ingredients given to their household until something strange happened.

An ingredient was being chopped up and then moved towards the bowl to be mixed up but the silverware suddenly changed in colour.

The silverware dropped from the hand of Ash as she looked at it in shock while the contents scattered onto the table. "This.."

Pixel picked up the silverware and examined the darkened parts carefully then her eyes became murderous. "So someone has already resorted to these tricks. It has not even been a week since the hunt but someone has already made a move."

Ash clenched her hands and grit her teeth as visible worry was displayed on her face. "They really resorted to such methods to harm us.."

Pixel nodded and calmed herself down a little. "I will take a step outside for a little while."

She walked outside of the home leaving behind her worried mother then stopped in place after walking for a while.

Pixel stood in place near a tall and sturdy tree then opened her mouth. "Tell grandfather to come quickly, poison has been slipped into the ingredients sent to me and mother. It needs to be investigated quickly otherwise the source will be lost."

She slowly walked back into her home and started to check the rest of the ingredients using the silverware then separated them into groups which could be used and what was to be handed over for investigation.

A new batch of Pokéblocks and Poképuffs were made for to share with others using the usable ingredients.

Meanwhile outside, a shadow guard was sitting up in the tree and was well hidden but stood there in shock.

They were wrapped in black clothing and had used their best abilities to remain still and silent but they had been left surprised. 'How did she find me? Has the young miss grown this much? The master must know this.'

He jumped down and made his way through the Meridian household while avoiding the eyes of others.

A knock coming from nearby startled Rufus who was busy going through many documents.

His gaze turned towards the bookcase and he pulled at a book which caused the bookcase to move.

The bookcase moved then revealed a Mink that was dressed in tight black clothing which looked similar to a ninja set of clothing.

The shadow guard knelt down and spoke. "Master. The young miss has discovered me and sent a message to you. The young miss said that there had been a poisoning attempt within her home. She is requesting your aide to investigate it."

The shadow guards were the elite assassins, guards from the shadows and watchers of the Meridian family which only Rufus had control over.

Their sole purpose was to remain hidden and carry out their duties to protect the family from internal or external threats.

None of them had a name and they all did not seem to exist in the eyes of the family or outside world because they had been secretly raised to be nothing more than a shadow.

The only time that they had revealed themselves was to aide Rufus during his sons betrayal to the family and Zou.

One had been assigned to each if the heirs to protect but also monitor their actions and progress since they had been born.

Rufus was shocked that Pixel had discovered the shadow guard then became a little uneasy upon hearing the report. 'Pixel rarely made that many visits back to the family unless it was for her studies or her business matters so it was difficult even for me to monitor her progress. It seems that sending her off to join the Guardians was a good idea.'

He had only got to see a little of her progress during the training of the Meridian family martial arts which did not reveal much of her true abilities over the years and he was left surprised when Pixel had come back from the hunting competition riding on the king of the swamp.

It made him wish to watch over her more carefully and discover how far she had grown but he did not have time since he was quickly caught up with his duties as the family head once again.

His gaze turned towards the shadow guard. "Go back to your position. I will be there soon."

The shadow guard bowed then stepped behind the bookcase once again as it was closed behind him. "Yes master."

Rufus was left in his work room with stacks of documents in front of him, he looked towards the workload in front of himself then revealed a sarcastic smile on his face. "Is this a coincidence? A poison attempt just as the elders have come forward with a lot of problems?"

Earlier in the day, the elders had come to him with a mountain of work and documents for him to check over and approve which had long overdue.

He had always asked them to complete their assigned duties on time but they kept using their old age and other excuses as a way to avoid being made responsible.

There were times that they pushed the work onto others, put it off until later or did not do any of it.

It was strange of them to all come forward together with everything completed which would need his approval before it could be properly recorded and submitted to the right places.

They rarely had such unity before and showed such enthusiasm but with the poison attempt on Ash and Pixel happening around the same time was enough to make him suspicious.

He suspected that they may have been trying to keep his eyes away from the internal affairs of the family but was still unsure if they had any big part to play in the poison attempt. "I can only try to investigate. Hah…"

Rufus walked out of the office and called several people together to go to Pixel's home.

When he had arrived, there was a small bag full of poisoned ingredients laying in the middle of the ground outside Pixel's home while Pixel was sitting outside her house waiting for people to approach.

She had a lazy posture as she leaned against the wall and brought the Poképuff to her mouth then took a bite of it. "A fast response."

Delight was seen on her face after tasting the Poképuff which showed her cute appearance to many which had come near her. "Mm.. I can eat these everyday. So good."

She was praising her and her mother's cooking abilities while enjoying the taste of the Poképuff which had quickly been devoured by her.

She licked the crumbs from around her mouth just as everyone had arrived so she pointed towards the bag. "These are the poisoned ingredients that were sent to my home to be used. There are some silverware that have blackened which have shown there have been traces of poison added to them. Grandfather, I ask for justice. How dare someone attempt to poison a child of the main line of the Meridian family."