Merciless Blessings [M]

Once again, things are gonna be a bit gruesome at times in this story. Please keep this in mind before continuing. I hope you enjoy.

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"Ugh." Sunlight peered through my eyelids and I tried to cover my face with my tails. My head was pounding.

I thought the sun was supposed to be comforting for fire types.

I groaned again as I tried to wake up more, noticing the sun nearly at its highest point already. Memories of the day before flooded back. I was still lying in front of my own grave. Now though, I was alone.

I figured Mai would leave when she could. I mean, I probably seemed insane to her. I chuckled a little, remembering how I made Lyn think the same when he found me. It felt weird to laugh, though the physical reaction felt more disturbed than any kind of uplifting.

I'm apparently awful at introductions, too. Was I always so timid? As a human I could remember several contests I took part in, all with some pretty large crowds. Did I shy away from their cheers? Ah what does it even matter anymore. I'm some kind of Pokemon that doesn't understand how dying works apparently.

My heart was heavier than it had ever been before. It's not like I've never dealt with death in my life before. It's not even the first time I've been brought back to life, if that's what you want to call it. I had everything I had ever wanted, though. An adventurous life, great friends, and even a potential mate!

My fur felt weighed down. I rubbed my eyes. My back and legs struggled to pull me up. Every bone in my body felt uncomfortable and weak. The panicky feeling in my chest stopped me from even considering trying to clean my fur. I was a mess.

I walked in between the Lucario and Vulpix statues to the edge of the cliff, where the entrance to the old guild used to be. I could still see it in my head. The large pink building in the shape of wigglytuff that did nothing but house the ladder down to the base. It was a sheer drop to the rapids below now. I wondered if anyone else could still be alive before sighing.

They'd be super old by now if they were alive. How would they react, seeing me alive? Mai hadn't exactly had the best reaction in response to my "claim." Would it be better if I just let them remember the "me" from back then?

I sighed, I couldn't believe the way I acted. Mai was a complete stranger and not only did I scream at her. I also cried into her fur until I fell asleep. I appreciated how she had comforted me, though.

My tail flicked nervously as I remembered how I had basically slept on top of her. I sort of wish I got to know her better. She's the only person I've interacted with so far. I couldn't believe that for a second time, I've found myself in this town.

I'm all alone and basically lost depending on how much has changed in the last sixty fucking years I missed being dead and all. I'm going to have to meet more people, again. I miss Lyn, he did most of the talking while I stood by him quietly. The most I did was comfort any young we saved from dungeons. I didn't even talk much to the other Guild-members.

I shook my head of my thoughts, knowing they wouldn't help me. It's probably best to head to the guild first. I felt an odd wave of nostalgia hit me. The memory of when I finally succumbed to Lyn's pleas and told him I'd make a team with him. The first dungeon we explored as we searched for some stupid pokemon that managed to steal an item from Lyn.

I couldn't hide the fact that I enjoyed the experience. Learning how to use this new vulpine body. Having memories of teaching my own Vulpix helped greatly. It was like a dream to breathe my own pretty flames. The exhilaration even distracted me from the whole "I'm a pokemon, alone in a new unfamiliar world" thing.

Of course now that Team Reborn(Lyn's dumb idea) isn't a thing anymore, I'd have to start all over again. I felt that telling others that I'm not dead, or even as old as I'm supposed to be might be a bad idea. Mai hadn't mentioned any rumours about me being a human once, so I guessed that the guild kept that secret even after I died.

I wonder if their rule on at least two pokemon needed to make a team is still in effect. I pushed a small rock over the edge, watching as it fell all the way down to the raging waters below. The waves struck the base of the cliff over and over, only pulling back to show a bed of sharp rocks. I'd most likely die if I fell down from here.

Not that I'd kill myself. It was just getting harder to fear my own death when I've literally experienced it twice, now. I stretched out my front paws over the edge, my short claws popping out. I subconsciously let out small flames with every breath. I wouldn't mind starting a team with Mai if I found her again. She may not look like she's very high level at all, but at least she seems to be good company.

Thump!

I jumped at the sudden noise and turned around with my fur standing on end. I relaxed as I saw none other than Mai standing at the top of the stairs. I sighed in relief, but then noticed that she was completely pale with her maw wide open. "It-Its not worth it! Please don't do it!" she shouted.

I met her gaze, with my brow furrowed unsure of why she seemed so distressed. "Do what?" I looked behind me, seeing my back paws right on the edge of the cliff. "Oh… Oh! No, no!" I walked away from the edge. "I wasn't… I mean, I was just thinking about other things."

Colour finally came back to her as she shook her head wildly. "You can't do that to me! My heart can't handle that sort of scare." She took a deep breath. "You made me drop my food, you know."

"Sorry.." I muttered, nervously pressing down on one paw with the other. "Wait. Why did you come back? I thought you'd have left." I raised my head. I almost felt happy to see that she came back. Smiling felt too difficult to do, so I kept my normal expression.

The Eevee reached down by her front paws, grabbing a small paper bag, only stopping to push a few of the berries that had fallen out back in. She gave a small smile before talking through the bag in her teeth. "You asked me not to leave. Remember? I told you, I won't unless you ask me to." I turned away and felt my face grow warm, slightly embarrassed that she brought that up.

"Well," she continued, "technically I lied a little. I left when I woke up to get us some food and tell my boss I was taking the day off. Seeing how you were still asleep… I didn't want to wake you. You looked too peaceful to wake up and drag around town." She padded her way over to me, dropping the bag of food and rummaged through it. She offered me a pecha berry.

"Th-Thank you." I barely whispered as I took the berry. It's sweet juices made my tail shiver. I couldn't remember the last time I ate. She grinned happily in response, offering a random assortment of other berries. "Are... Are you sure you want to stay with me?" I timidly asked. "You didn't have to skip out on work."

"As if I'd say no to hanging out with the 'Hero of Time'! Besides, work is boring and half the time being broke is almost worth not having to be there." She chirped oddly cheerfully.

I let out a quiet whimper, staring at my paws. "I appreciate it, but… you don't have to entertain such a crazy idea just to make me feel better. I mean for all you know, I'm probably just some random 'mon wanting attention and making up stories." I felt her paw on my shoulder. I looked back to find her leering at me and I almost jumped in fright.

"I'm not entertaining anything, alright?" With the burning conviction she showed, it felt like she was staring into my soul.

"Crazy or not, I've made my choice to believe what you said. There was nothing made up about the emotions you showed me last night. So I believe you, okay?" I held back my tears, nodding. "Good. Now, let's finish up our meal and I'll show you around the town!" She announced, excitement filling her voice and body. I only nodded, unsure of what to say.

I ate my share, albeit much less than Mai, not being as hungry with so much still plaguing my mind. She hopped up urging me to follow, which I did in my own time. After several minutes of walking, we came upon multiple house-like structures on either side of the walking path. I had to stop myself from gaping at them with wonder. I could tell they were nothing like the much more advanced building I first grew up in, being a human.

However, these houses that were made of something very close to brick and possibly more looked structurally sound, nothing like the few homes I saw outside of dens back before I died. There were the odd shops, as well as the Guild, that sported the face of a Pokemon as part of it's architecture. These were nothing like that. Some were even two stories! The uniformity was almost unnerving, as if a step closer to what humans called their own evolution. Mai walked ahead, not paying the houses any mind since she was so used to them.

Are any of the buildings the same as I remember? Did Lyn have the Wigglytuff building changed into his own head before whatever caused it to be torn down happened? If he did, I'd be so upset to find out I missed it. I missed so much, didn't I?

I had to stop myself from thinking about this. The awkward silence between the Eevee and me wasn't helping. "Mai?" Her tail flicked in response, apparently lost in thought herself, "Where do you live?" I asked, feeling genuinely curious.

She giggled "You've gotten brave all of a sudden." she retorted, avoiding my question.

"N-No!" I stopped, my tails curled around me to cover my embarrassment. "That's not-"

"I know, I know." She laughed harder. "I'm just kidding. I actually live in a den by the beach. I was headed home when I found you trying to swim. The den's nothing special, though." She turned to me, walking backwards. " Why'd you wanna know?"

"A den?" My tails flowed back behind me as I tried to catch up. I struggled to keep my paws walking forward normally and tail aloft enough to avoid the ground, having not fully recovered from my embarrassment. "Not one of these houses?"

"Tch. I wish I could afford a house like these." She noticed my confusion and continued. "The rent. It's much too high here. Only the richest, snobbiest Pokemon live around here. The rest of us live in either the housing tunnels or dens outside of town."

"The rent?" It wasn't a new concept to me by any means, but hearing it come from a Pokemon felt off.

Even after sixty-five years, I'm constantly trying to remind myself I was human. It really doesn't matter anymore. I'm a Vulpix.

"Right... Dead for sixty years…" Mai hesitated, thinking about her words. "Be patient with me on this, I didn't exactly live through this. Everything I learned about this was also from a money grubbing prick I had the delight of calling granddad."

She spent another minute to formulate an answer before finally starting. "About 50-55 years ago, maybe? The town started expanding as much as possible to make room for all the new Pokemon coming in. Ever since… I guess your team saved all of time, Pokemon from all over the world have been moving to Treasure Town in droves. Anything to be closer to the champions recognised by the Legendary Dialga. Some for comfort, some for.. merchandising opportunities."

She flipped around again, now walking by my side. "After all the horrible things happening in the world back then. Random chunks of the world being frozen in time and nobody really being able to do anything about it. Most thought they were abandoned by the Legendaries. At least until you guys showed up. Word spread, Pokemon lost faith in their own Guilds. They moved as close as they could to those who actually did something. The Guild that saved the world. The Heroes of Time rather."

"But I was already... long dead by then." I interjected with a sigh. Cruelly reminding myself of my abnormal place in this world.

Mai nodded with a frown. "It took time to get here, most got here by boat. Which were being built like crazy to handle all the demands of people fleeing to Treasure Town."

"Sure, it sounds weird now, but nobody really knew if all of this world ending stuff was truly over. When they finally got here only to find one of their heroes dead... I've been told many mourned, not even knowing their hero. They were just too grateful for what you had done to not be hurt by your passing, I guess. "

"Guildmaster Lucario accepted all of the new Pokemon in stride. He organised those within the Guild and even those who were only residents of the town to help build. The town at this point started functioning entirely around the Guild. They built more and more to welcome all the new residents of Treasure Town."

"The Onix and other rock types, as well as any ground types dug into the earth. The tunnels under the town are where a majority of the Treasure Town residents live now. I originally lived there with my family, but when my grandfather died, my mom and I moved to the new den I live in now."

I walked closer to her, worried about her being upset. "So your family moved here at the beginning of all that, too?"

She nodded solemnly. "My grandfather was another one of those who hoped this place would be a gold mine for business once the community began to thrive. He apparently did well for himself for nearly two decades before what he calls a mistake happened. My mother was born a little while after he met some Leafeon trying to sell herbal remedies. Apparently she left him with my mom soon after since she didn't want to be tied down."

Her voice turned spiteful. "Mom says he was always sour after that and that I shouldn't hate him for it. As awful as it sounds, I wasn't really bothered by his passing. If anything, life was actually easier after we moved into the den. Plus the beach was a nice bonus."

I clenched my teeth a little, feeling a headache start to form from so much information. I tried to make the conversation lighter. "Yeah, I love the beach too. I didn't really get the chance to bring it up with him, but I was actually considering having a place built in-between the Guild and beach. It's very beautiful there."

"Yeah..." She sighed. "Sorry, I went off on a tangent there." She shook herself as if to rid herself of less than pleasant thoughts. "Anyways, the town did well for a little while. Resources started running low, though. Lucario was starting to grow desperate. Theft, as well as other crimes, were at an all time high. Nothing was working and pokemon were starving and slowly leaving the town. So they finally settled on outsourcing nearby towns that were flourishing."

"Of course, this came at a cost. Even with transport overseas being much more common by then, Treasure Town's debt was growing. An old chatot came to Lucario with an idea. It saved the town. Every home, even the small homes in the housing tunnels required a small amount of poke to live in each month. The amount was higher or lower depending on the quality of the home. Those above ground quickly ran low on poke. And if you couldn't afford to live here, you were then evicted. The Police were even involved for those who refused to pay."

"That's just how it is, though. The less demand there is for food probably helped quite a bit, too. Pokemon panicked because of this. They tried to get jobs anywhere they could and then they tried to join the guild for the free housing."

"Lucario struggled keeping all those who joined in check. They weren't taking missions, and when they did, they usually failed. Lives were lost. The guildmaster kicked almost everyone out of the guild and enforced an introductory test. Since then, not many try joining the guild anymore. They gave up after finding out what the test was. I sure as hell did." Her voice grew quiet, sounding depressed.

"You wanted to join the guild?" I asked, unsure of how to comfort my new friend. Guiltily relieved she seemed to be out of history to tell. My brain was starting to short out.

"It was my dream. I just don't have it in me. It took me years, but I've figured it out. You've either got natural talent or some crazy amount of experience… or it's just not gonna happen. Besides" She feigned a weak smile to me as she tried to hide the sarcasm in her voice. "I've gotten pretty good at my job. I've got almost all the prices memorised at the store. So I'm used to it. Better than being stuck in a childish dream."

"O-Oh... I was hoping to. I mean-nevermind..." I shied away from her gaze.

"Nevermind? What is it?" I stayed quiet, nervously looking at anything else. She sped up and stopped in front of me. "Ruby, tell me. Please?"

I sighed, giving up. "I was actually sort of hoping you'd consider joining the Guild with me. I don't really know anyone, and I enjoy your company..."

"You…" She stared at me incredulously. "You want to make a team with me?" I heard the disbelief in her voice and I started to feel sick.

"S-Sorry.."

"Yes." She answered abruptly.

My head shot up. "Huh?"

She had tears in her eyes. My stomach cramped as she screamed. "I said yes! I want to make a team with you!" She almost jumped onto me, in an impromptu hug. "Ruby! Thank you!"

"Wh-What? What about your job?" I wanted to retreat into my tails. Not that I disliked her hugging me, but out of nowhere, in public? I was starting to get panicky.

"That was a lie, Ruby! I desperately wanted to join you in the guild, I didn't think you'd be interested in me as a partner." She nuzzled into my face, I pulled away with my heart beating really hard.

"Ah..." I shook my head fervently. "Welcome to the team, I guess."

She grinned from ear to ear. "I won't let you down!" She ran around me energetically. I glanced around nervously for any onlookers. There were very few 'mon outside. Even though we were in the town square now. There were plenty of buildings, one much larger than the rest right in the middle. The only people outside were cleaning. They mostly paid us no mind.

"Mai? Where is everybody?"

She glanced around quickly. "There's hardly ever pokemon out above ground around this time. Guild members are usually up around dawn to pick out missions and supplies. They work during this time, and come home at night. Since the guild is such a large presence here, the entire town usually follows their 'schedule.' They make the most money here, and buy the most stuff."

"I see.."

"If you want," she started. "We can go ahead to the guild and let them know we plan on joining."

"Sure." Her tone made it sound like she was begging me to. I couldn't say no to her pleading face, regardless.

"It's this one!" She ran to the largest building nearly in the center. On our supposed tour, she walked us straight towards the Guild first. I exhaled out my nose a bit in mirth before following after her. I couldn't lose this worrying feeling in my chest.

Would Lyn be okay with this? Is all of this really a good idea? We ran past a large bulletin board filled with papers begging for assistance. I felt a little annoyed at how many were still up, but then relented, guessing it was because of how many people lived in this town. Mai pushed one of the large doors open and we headed inside.

I felt flabbergasted at the inside of this building. The main area was quite spacious. Towards the back was a staircase that stopped at one door before splitting off into two. They lead up to several rooms that wrap almost all the way around the building. There were four nondescript doors on the ground level as well, two on each of the far sides.

The roof above was covered with glass, the sun above still high, now nearly an hour since I woke up. Another bulletin board was up against the back wall, several letters covered it too. Right in front of us was a large desk against a podium that went all the way to the ceiling. A Bisharp sat at the desk with his hand around a pen, silently writing into a notebook. His eyes flicked up to us before returning to his notebook.

"Welcome back, Mai. You haven't tortured another male to join you again, have you?" His voice was smooth, almost melodic. He was met with silence as an answer. The scratching of his feather pen on paper echoing alongside our footsteps through the incredible building.

She walked up to the desk with a big smile on her face. I followed her, trying to hide my amazement.

"We're here to ace your dumb test, Jeremiah." She smirked at him.

The Bisharp dropped his pen in the crook of the book, before placing it down. He crossed his arms and looked us over. My heart raced as his eyes stayed on me much longer than Mai. "It's not my test, young Eevee. A bit of respect goes a long way." His eyes looked me over again. "Where are you from, young Vulpix? You're familiar, but nothing comes to mind. Forgive me."

Mai spoke up. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you!" My blood pressure spiked in panic.

"And what wouldn't I believe, pray tell?" He inquired, his eyes squinting a bit.

"You should recognise her! She's-"

Pomf

She stopped as my tails batted against her face, one even popping into her open mouth. I shook my head at her. "I'm nobody important!" I interrupted. "Just got here from overseas."

I pulled my tails from Mai. With her face red, she looked away and muttered. "I should be more upset about that than I am."

He stayed silent for a moment. Looking back and forth between the two of us, before grabbing his face. "Sure, I'll pretend like that didn't just happen! No problem." He sighed. "What's your name, young Vulpix?"

"Ruby. Named after the hero of time, no relation."

"Jeremiah, pleasure to meet you dear. Are you sure about joining under that name? I know it sounds cruel to ask you to go by a different name, but Guildmaster Lopunny may be a bit hard on you for it." I nodded, refusing to change my name. "So be it."

"Is Hapi here?" Mai piped up.

"Guildmaster Lopunny." He corrected her.

"Is Guildmaster Lopunny Hapi here?" She asked, now glaring at him.

I could feel the pressure in the air, much too timid to try to break the silence, I remained silent. "No." He finally answered. "She's out on a job. She'll be back tonight though. I can set up your test for tomorrow morning.

"Okay, bye!" She suddenly said, running outside. I bit my tongue looking from the door to Jeremiah.

"You choose interesting friends, miss Ruby." I nodded to him and ran after Mai.

Once out the door I found Mai waiting for me. "What took you so long?" She asked as if it'd been more than five seconds. "Nevermind that, we should talk strategy, Hapi punches really hard."

"W-Wait, what? We're fighting the guildmaster?" I stuttered out.

"Yeah, that's the test! Told you, it's pretty hard. So out with it, what moves do you know? Do you know what level you are? I'm not that high of a level, but I have some really cool moves!"

"M-Mai! Slow down." I leaned back a bit, crossing my front paws.

She took a deep breath. "Heh. Sorry. Just really excited for this."

"It's okay, just give me time to answer your questions… I know pretty much all the fire moves a vulpix can learn. As well as Extrasensory and Energy ball. My level.. when I was still alive, it was almost seventy."

She looked astounded. "S-S-S-Seventy?! What the hell do you mean, seventy?!" she screamed.

I pushed my paw against her mouth, "Mai, please! Lyn and I were very active explorers. It just sort of happened." I pulled away once it felt like she wasn't going to shout again.

She looked dizzy now, catching her breath and finally calming down. "Hehe.." She shook her head, "Oh! We should tell my mom!"

"O-Oh, okay." I followed after her, wondering if this having to chase after her thing is gonna be common. She started to go to the path we came here on, but first ran into one of the other buildings. The sign said that it was Felicity Bank, just like it used to be. I walked in after her. The room was separated in two. A very small section was all we had to walk in. The rest was blocked off by a counter going all the way around. Beyond the short counter, you could see a dirt ground broken into different sections by higher placed dirt. A Sandslash was talking over the counter to Mai.

I walked over to meet them, "What's your password dearie?" The Sandslash asked, her voice was like that of an innocent grandmother. I didn't hear what Mai said, but the Sandslash dug into the earth immediately after, coming back up with a bag. "And how much will you be withdrawing today?"

"200 poke, please." The eevee responded.

Sandslash quickly pulled out the needed amount and retreated underground again after giving it to Mai in a smaller bag. "Have a nice day!" she ended with.

Mai turned to me. "Hey, do you think you still have an account here?"

I glanced at the Sandslash, who kindly waved at me. The memory of a small Sandshrew shrilly cheering while watching her father dig into the earth before retrieving the amount of money I had asked Persian for came to me.

I shook my head of the thought, "I might.. But I don't know if it's a really good idea... I'm not supposed to be… you know. Alive." I whispered to her.

Mai shook her head, the poke bag in her mouth jingling. "All accounts are completely private! Even if she knows, she can't tell anyone."

I grit my teeth, still not sure, but I walked over to Sandslash anyways. "What's your name, dearie?"

"It… It's Ruby." I said, quietly.

She hesitated for a moment, before opening a very large book. I couldn't see its contents. "Do you know your account number?"

I told her the mixture of numbers I must've said a thousand times. This was perhaps the weirdest time.

She squinted at me, looking me all over. I got really uncomfortable and considered just calling it quits and running. "You sure you aren't missing a digit or two?" I shook my head. She looked down to the book reading for a bit before stopping, glancing at me and then the book again. She looked up to me. "This account has been moved to a joint account by the request of the previous guildmaster. You wouldn't happen to have the password for this account, would you?"

I took a deep breath, knowing what Lyn's password used to be. "Team Reborn is... the best.. damn team in the world." My face burned from embarrassment.

She stared into my eyes for nearly a whole minute in silence. My heart was beating so hard. I want to get out of here. I shouldn't have tried this. What am I doing?

"Here." She placed a sheet of paper in front of me where I can read it. "This is the contents of Team Reborn's account." My jaw dropped at how many zeros there were. This bank apparently functioned like Kangaskhan's storage too, having several items. I read through the list and felt my heart jump as I saw one item in particular.

"Mai?" I motioned for her to come over with my tails.

"What is it?" She saw the paper. Now with eyes the size of plates, she whimpered.

"What's your favourite colour?" I asked.

"P-P-Purple." She was hyperventilating. I showed Sandslash the paper and pointed out a few things and asked for 2,000 poke. Not thinking I'd really need more. She nodded, and dived into the ground.

I know I left a considerable amount in there just in case something happened, but this was nearly twenty times that! It had to be Lyn's money. I hope he didn't mind me using our account. I shouldn't use much of this money if I can avoid it. Although, I don't think I could spend a quarter of it if I tried.

The Sandslash appeared again. She handed me a small black bag that was designed for quadruped Pokemon to wear. It had the symbol of an explorer badge on the front which looked much more faded now. "A note came with one of the items, dearie." she mentioned. "I left it in there for you"

I nodded curious as to what it was, but decided I'll find out later. "Let's go, Mai."

"Y-Yeah... okay." She replied, still in shock.

"Have a nice day!" The Sandslash called out to us as we left. I really expected her to react more. I was certain she noticed… but she didn't say anything.

Mai and I made our way back to the beach. After maybe ten minutes, she broke the silence. "Ruby?" I looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "Are you sure about... about making a team with me?"

"Of course, I told you before. I enjoy your company." I answered without a thought, really confused on why she looked so sad all of a sudden.

She sighed. "But... what if I'm just using you? None of what I'm doing feels fair to you. I thought I was helping at first, but you're so much more capable than me. You're strong, and you probably won't be short on poke ever. You barely even know me, but I'm just butting into everything."

I glanced downwards. "I really don't understand what you mean, Mai. I guess I'd want to get to know the real you, then." The beach came into view as we kept moving forward.

She replied quickly, "Even if.. all I do is drag you down? I'm nowhere near the partner Lyn was. I'm poor, weak, and selfish. There's plenty better pokemon than me out there. All much more deserving to be in a team with you."

"Mai!" I felt my fire flicker with my frustration. "What does it matter if you don't have much money or experience? We're just starting. No, you're not Lyn, but he didn't start out perfect by any means! Do you have any clue how many times he's driven me insane by his obsession with bringing every criminal to justice?"

I groaned and shook my head. "You're Mai, and that's who I want as a partner. No one else. So please, stop trying to convince me you're anything less than you are."

She was completely taken off-guard by my sudden ferocity. Avoiding looking at me, her ears twitched anxiously with reddened cheeks. "Okay. Thank you... We should get to the den." She turned and started to run, but froze in her tracks a few steps away.

"Mai?" I ran forward a bit to catch up. She was looking ahead to the beach. Her face was pale and she looked terrified. "Everything okay?" I followed her gaze and felt my heart drop.

An Alakazam stood at the shoreline, right above the limp body of a Lopunny. He was holding only the head of the poor bunny by its ears. Fresh blood dripped from where its neck would had been. I heard him sigh as he scratched his head. "Even in death, she has such a sour face." His voice was eerily calm. My haunches raised as I quickly looked around for anyone else. We were all alone. It seemed like he hadn't noticed us yet, somehow.

This is bad. This is really bad.

I shook my head, I had to stay calm. I began to slowly back up, looking to Mai so she'd do the same. As she recognised the body, Mai let out a sharp cry "Hapi!" The fur on my back stood. I glanced back to the Alakazam. His eyes met my own, and his glare made my blood run cold.

Shit.

"You two must have some very poor luck." He clicked his tongue. He suddenly disappeared, the head falling to the ground with a thump. I didn't have any time to think, jumping into action immediately. A flash of yellow appeared beside Mai, who was still frozen in sheer terror. I tackled her out of the way. I flicked my tails, a purple fire fizzled into existence and flew straight into the Alakazam.

I quickly summoned as much fire into my chest as I could. "Oh ho ho!" He spoke with the same eerie calmness from before. I felt annoyed as I realised my will-o-wisp did next to nothing. "Now I wasn't expecting some random kids to actually spark some interest." He showed his unnaturally white teeth in a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "That Eevee should thank you. That hit would have almost ripped her in half."

I heard Mai pull herself up behind me, but I didn't risk glancing to see if she was okay. I had to somehow get away from this guy, I couldn't tell whether or not I could actually handle fighting him. Even more so considering I'd have to protect Mai. This predicament made me miss Lyn even more, he was much better at dealing with teleporters.

"Mai!" I shouted, hoping she'll listen. "I need you to get as far away from here as you can! I can handle him alone until you get some help!" I scowled through what I hoped wasn't a lie. My muscles were already struggling. Something was wrong. I should have been able to get Mai away instantly and that will-o-wisp didn't even seem to burn him a little.

"As if I'd leave you alone! He killed Hapi!" I nearly jumped at the agitation in her voice. "I promised I'd stay with you, no matter what!" A ball of dark energy shot out from behind me, flying straight at the Alakazam.

He half-heartedly lifted his arm, catching the shadow ball. "I'd suggest listening to your Vulpix friend. Not that you'd get very far. You're several levels too early to do anything worthwhile in this battle. Maybe massacre would be a better word to describe this?"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

I racked my brain for a plan. I feel weaker than I used to be, but there's no telling how much experience I lost. Can I really handle this? "If you're going to stay, Mai, keep your distance! Don't even consider any physical moves." I heard a huff of annoyance from her. Hoping that was in reluctant agreement, I shot out a quick ember.

The alakazam just sidestepped to avoid it, "Come on, now! Make it interesting!" He ordered us. The shadow ball he stopped grew in size. Now nearly five times larger, he shot it towards me. He snapped his fingers and two more shadow balls on either side of him flew at me as well. I inhaled sharply, jumping as high as I could to dodge. "Too simple!" He cheekily informed me, pointing up. His attacks followed his command, throwing themselves up at me.

I kept charging up my fire blast and used fire spin from my tail in order to protect myself. I groaned in pain, being unable to block the whole brunt of the attack. Noticing Mai had launched another shadow ball, I sent my fire spin towards it. Now glowing red with heat, our moves increased in speed.

Just as it was going to hit him, he teleported a few feet away to dodge and my cheek twitched almost into a smirk. "How's this for interesting!" I screamed, launching the hottest fire blast I could. I quickly focused on a disable, getting it just in time. His calm demeanor broke for a second as he failed to teleport again. Panic filled his face as he crossed his arms to protect himself. As my attack hit an explosion erupted, nearly blowing me back. Sand filled the air, obstructing our vision.

Since when has my fire been this strong? I'm still so much weaker, though.

"Holy shit, Ruby! You're incredible!" Mai called out. I turned to her, unsure of whether or not I should tell her I had no idea that would actually work. It was then that I noticed she was bleeding from her head. I must have hurt her when I tackled her out of the way earlier.

I won't let my weakness get her hurt anymore!

I bit my tongue, turning back. "Stay on your guard!" Until I saw him unconscious or dead, I refused to calm down. I tried to focus. The sand made it difficult to see anything in front of us.

"What do you mean?! There's no fucking way he survived that!" Mai began to walk towards me.

I caught sight of something bright, confirming my fears. "Wait! Mai!" A psybeam shot out, coming right for me. I had just enough time to deflect it. I built up a quick ember.

"R-Ruby!" Mai screamed. I glanced over to find another psybeam that was directed at her. If it doesn't kill her, it'll seriously hurt her! I whipped my head around and threw my attack in front of her instead, just barely managed to block the attack. I tried to jump out of the way of the other one. The beam hit my side, I screamed out in pain as I was thrown a few feet away.

Alakzam's outline appeared as the sand finally began to settle down. "Ahahah! I haven't felt anything like this in so long! This.. this burning! My skin's even melting away!" He cackled as he came into focus and the sickening smell of burnt flesh assaulted my nose. His arms, chest, and face were covered in burns. "I'd have never thought some random Vulpix would be able to make me feel so alive!"

The burns on him started to bubble. My eyes widened as I watched them heal before my very eyes. Whatever it was, it was so much stronger than using the move recover. His wounds were actually sealing and fading away! Like they never happened! "Your name! It's Ruby, like the pseudo-legend, right?! I've heard stories about her strength. I considered most of what I heard to be rumours. But now!" He faded for a second, only to appear right in front of me.

I built up some fire as fast as I could, but before I could release it, he grabbed me by the throat. "A-Ahh!" I choked out the fire I had prepared, coughing up smoke. He squeezed my neck unbearably tight, pulling me up into the air.

"Ruby, no!" Mai screamed out for me and shot a shadow ball at Alakazam. It hit his head and he didn't even flinch.

His unnerving smile grew. I desperately tried to claw at his hand. It was getting hard to breathe. "M-Mai.. Run.." I managed to say between gasps and coughing.

Alakazam's eyes flashed as I felt him try to invade my mind. I couldn't focus enough to fight it or use extrasensory to protect myself. "I thought you were only a distant family member, or even her daughter or granddaughter. However, that doesn't explain how you have memories of defeating the legendary Dialga." His breathing was starting to get erratic. "This explains your fire!"

He popped his neck nonchalantly. "But how? How are you alive? How are you so young? You seem confused, too. You have no idea, do you? Why you're suddenly so weak."

Please… Please just let us go. She doesn't deserve this. He ignored my current thoughts and dug deeper, eliciting a cry from me as the pain only grew. My only hope at this point is that Mai runs, seeing how outclassed we really are. Or maybe even someone swooping in at the last moment to save us.

"There's more, but it's as if there's a wall preventing me from seeing it." His eyes flashed brighter and my head started to feel like it was going to explode. I screamed out my lungs, the pain was so intense I couldn't even get my paws to fight his grasp anymore. Not even noticing all the shadow balls hitting the Alakazam in the back. "This is amazing! The amount of information I've never seen before, all wrapped up in this cute little skull of yours. I can do without that though. What interests me more is your fire… your heat." I squirmed in his hold.

"Let her go! You're hurting her, damnit!" Mai screamed as she tackled his side, bouncing off of him. He glared at the eevee with a mix of hatred and annoyance. His grip just barely loosened. I took my chance and wrapped my tail in flames and swiped him in the stomach.

"Gah!" He groaned as he dropped me. I tried catching my breath, rubbing my paws over my painfully sore neck. He recovered way too quickly. Slowly walking towards me. "More.. Burn me more." He begged. I glared, trying to build up flame again. I didn't even know how to respond to his "fetish" or whatever it is. I just wanted to hurt him.

"Leave her alone!" Mai tried to tackle him again.

He grabbed her by the head right before she hit. "You're irrelevant." He said not glancing at her.

"Mai! No!" I screamed. She was left dangling helplessly by his grip. The movement was so quick, I couldn't even tell what happened at first. I shrieked as I heard the sickening snap. Mai stopped flailing and the Alakazam dropped her body.

She landed on the sand, her neck twisted at an impossible angle. "M-Mai..." I began to hyperventilate. Blood gurgled up from the sides of her mouth. Her eyes gazed into mine in absolute horror. I cried out, words failing me. The life in her eyes slowly faded away and everything in my head blanked.

Time felt like it slowed down. Alakazam antagonized me as he stepped closer, but I didn't hear a word of it. I watched Mai's chest rise and fall much too quickly. Her eyes were a very pretty ice blue. I hadn't even noticed that before. Her ears and tail twitched as her body slowly fell still. I howled in misery.

I didn't want this. I barely even knew her, but… I felt as if I had just lost so much more than a new friend. She should still be alive... It's my fault she died! I asked her to stay with me. I should have tried harder to get her to run away.

Mai didn't deserve this. It isn't fair. This isn't fair! My grief slowly replaced itself with anger. Pure fury filled the pain in my chest. Colours faded away and I grasped at my head felt like it was going to explode, my body felt hot. It was getting hotter and hotter. I growled, tearing my eyes from Mai's broken body to glare at Alakazam. "You monster…"

He scoffed. "I gave the Eevee a quick death, it could have been much worse. Yet I'm labeled a monster?" He rolled his eyes. "No matter, I'll be taking you for your inner flame, not your opinions. Experiments always go better when only one party is in the possession of a tongue, after all." He stepped forward and I felt him try to enter my mind to inflict a hypnosis. I bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood. I hadn't even noticed how my tails were growing longer, or how my fur felt like it was on fire. A blinding light emanated from me as my body got taller than before.

He looked surprised, but immediately reacted by launching a shadow ball at me point blank. One of my tails flicked forward and I only saw a red line whip through the shadow ball, dissipating it. Blood poured down onto the sand as Alakazam's arm flew up into the air. His eyes widened as all the pain from his new wound shot through him. I realised I had just evolved, now I was a Ninetales. I scowled at him as all of my tails began to whip forward. "I'm going to rip you to fucking shreds!"

Shlick

In a flash my vision was suddenly upside down, a few feet away. The Alakazam's arm that had been cut off was now reattached and outstretched over the body of a ninetales… missing its head.. "It's regrettable, as much as I want you, I won't risk failure." He said coldly. The body slumped over and hit the ground. Tears took over my sight as I fell, hitting the ground. He grabbed my body and the Lopunny's before teleporting away, leaving Mai and my head. Darkness overtook me once more.

I'm sorry Mai. If only… If only I was stronger.

...

...

You can change this. Only you can do this. Please don't give up.

---

I screamed out, grabbing at my chest. My breathing was erratic. My eyes opened and I found myself before my grave again. The sun is nearing its highest point. I gasped for air as I looked around. The imposing Lucario and Vulpix statues standing resolute before me. I'm back here… I'm a vulpix again? I heard fast footsteps coming up the stairs. My eyes widened as I saw Mai reach the top step with a bag of food in her mouth. "M-Mai?"

Her ears dropped as she whimpered, almost shaking. "Ruby…" We ran to each other and I hugged her tightly, bawling into her fur. "How?" I shook my head. I had no answers for this.

What is this?

---

Sorry for the massive background info drop. While deaths like this won't be happening constantly, there is still more death in this story. Please remember that if this scene made you uneasy. Appreciate you guys for reading~

"Slippery son of a bitch!" Lyn roared as he once again struck the earth, missing a force palm on our target. He received only an angry hiss in response as an iron tail struck his chest and threw him a few feet away. The Riolu grabbed his shoulder before pulling himself up and glaring at his attacker.

"Careful, Lyn!" I shot an ember at the intimidating Arbok and ran to my partner's side without even looking to see if my attack hit. He groaned before shaking himself off. "He's got the type advantage here, speed too."

The blue canine growled. "If my attacks are less effective, then I'll just hit him harder. Simple as that."

I choked on a fire attack, coughing some smoke. "Th-That's not how it works!" I glanced at him incredulously. My concern only grew as I saw the seething hatred that bored holes into the thieving snake's skull. "Lyn, work with me here." I have to snap him out of it. He's wanted alive, anything less might as well be crime in itself. "Remember our practise fight with chatot?"

He snorted, letting out a short laugh and breaking out of his irritation towards the Arbok. "I don't think now's the time to be reminiscing, Ruby." The Arbok flitted his tongue as he scanned his surroundings for an escape. He grew more frustrated as he realised just how cornered he is. He took a more aggressive stance, apparently deciding on chancing a battle against us.

The fire in my chest spiked as I prepared my attack. "Just get ready. We're recreating your stupid plan."

He chuckled again, "Never would have thought you'd actually suggest it, let alone forgive me."

I rolled my eyes as I joked back, "Never said anything about forgiving you. I'm expecting several gifts before you can even consider being forgiven."

Our enemy hissed again, "Lasst chance on dropping thiss mission and going our sseparate wayss." Each "s" he pronounced lasting annoyingly longer than the rest.

"Ssssscum" Lyn drawled out as if teasing him. I inhaled sharply, unsure if that was insensitive or racist in some way. I sighed, trying to drop my preconceived notions of when I was human.

"Now!" He crossed his arms above his forehead and I jumped up, landing with a flourish right where his arms met. With all his force, he threw me into the air. I nosedived as best I could to spin and released my flames. I grit my teeth as I saw the snake's confused eyes only on me. Lyn had already dashed towards him. My fire enveloped me as my spinning picked up speed, now going straight for our foe. Before he could react, a punch met his jaw and knocked him up slightly. Just in time for my body to crash into his.

After coming to a stop, I had to push myself off the ground. My new body was still not that high of a level so I quickly grew exhausted. Turning myself I was glad to find a very unconscious snake underneath my cocky Riolu friend.

"Can't call a plan stupid if it works." He shot me a smirk.

I clicked my tongue, looking away. "Just tie him up or something."

He pulled some rope from his pack and stood above our target. "Err…" He looked at me, scratching his head. "I didn't really think this far ahead, you got any ideas? His body's a bit.. different than I'm used to."

I frowned, "I don't know! Just like.. roll him up or something. Then tie him up."

"Hmm…" He held a paw under his chin as he circled the Arbok to figure out his game plan.

Our walk home was an interesting one to say the least. Taking my words to heart, he rolled the snake into a spiral before tying it all off. I had to walk beside Lyn as he rolled the snake like a tire. Each time the Arbok's head went under he elicited a moan of pain, causing Lyn to laugh to himself almost every time.

By the time we got back, I started to worry that we might accidentally kill our target with a concussion or something. I'm still not used to how much it really takes to kill a Pokemon. Hell, they can heal a scratch in a matter of minutes with the right berries. My partner comically rolled our target right up to a very concerned Magnezone. He handed us our reward as he sent some Magnemites away with the snake.

We walked off with our reward to the Guild, ready to get some rest. "You know, you could at least pretend like you're happy." Lyn pointed to my face. "Wigglytuff's even called us incredible with how fast we're improving and yet you always look bored."

I scrunched up my face in annoyance before glaring. "I am 'happy'! What do you mean?"

He flipped around, walking backwards to keep pace as he looked closer. "Are you sure?" I spat some fire towards his feet and he quickly jumped back. "Okay, okay! I'm just saying." He gave me more space and turned back around, now walking with his hands behind his head. "It's difficult to tell. You don't really smile much. To be honest, the most expression I've seen you have was when you were spooked back when I met you on the beach. Which, by the way, still haunts my dreams. Other than that, all I get is glares."

"Hmph." I didn't reply. Obviously, I was freaked out back then. I couldn't be too upset with him, he's right. It was mostly the same when I was human too. Not that I couldn't smile or anything, it just always felt unnatural to force my face to do anything else. I figured any expression I really needed would just come naturally. Which it did do at times.

"You really are something else, Ruby. I mean that in a good way, too. At first I thought you were just arrogant and looked down on everybody." He chuckled to himself. "Now, of course, I know that couldn't be further from the truth. I've never met a more patient 'mon. It's probably because of you that a majority of our rescues don't end in them being completely scarred. Most of the young Pokemon in town absolutely adore you, you'd make a good mother one day." My face grew hot as I rolled my eyes.

Why would someone just say something like that?! Why is he acting like that's a completely acceptable thing to say? Every single time I start to feel like I'm getting used to this, Lyn throws another curve ball to confuse me. I swear he's doing it on purpose!

I lost any chance I had at being a parent when I died and somehow became a Pokemon. It's not like I'd ever consider starting a family like this, right? I mean, I've been getting used to this body pretty well these last few months, but it feels.. off to actually think about a future as this. I lied to Lyn about wanting to find a way to turn back, I knew there was no possible way. My human body is dead, there's no coming back from that.

I was beyond lucky to somehow be reborn, despite it being in an unfamiliar body with all my old memories. I sure as hell didn't deserve it. I've had the same nagging thought keep me restless for multiple nights lately. Should I just forget who I was?.. Who I am, I meant…

Who am I?

I bit my tongue and tried to shake my head of these thoughts. The pit in my stomach only grew as I tried to remember my human life. Things were missing. How much? I didn't know. I was obsessed with someone... I can't remember who. I did some awful things just to get his attention. All in vain, I'm sure. Those last few moments. The insane storm destroying everything. So many people died, and I was on the wrong side.

I remembered the boy I was supposed to be fighting against. I ignored the orders after seeing just how much devastation we caused. I even tried to help him control the orbs. I failed and after an attack from the massive fire legendary, I was thrown into a cave and pinned beneath a boulder. I couldn't move, my other pokemon that were in their balls around my waist were also crushed.

The boy actually ran in and tried to save me. I knew it was too late so I yelled at him to leave, to save the others. Of all the things he could've done, he said he wanted to go to the contest hall with me after all this was over. He cried as he ran, pulling his white hat down to dry his face.

After that I was left alone with my partner, a ninetales that had been with me since the beginning. She looked so sad. I tried to yell at her to leave, too. The earth beneath me shook and I knew the cave we were in wouldn't last much longer. I begged my ninetales to leave me, but she ignored my pleas and wrapped her body around mine. I could feel her shaking with fear, I didn't understand. I couldn't. I cried as I saw the ceiling of the cave fall apart.

I broke out of my stupor and looked at Lyn. He kept walking forward with his paws behind his head, completely oblivious to my dwelling on what was lost. I was so glad to meet him. He made things feel real. He made the future feel a little less uncertain. I don't know about starting a family, though. I wasn't sure I could get past the fact that I was doing something like that with a Pokemon.

A shiver went down my spine as I remembered the big thing Riolu and Lucario are known for. Reading auras. He could probably feel my little freak out a moment ago. "H-Hey.." I awkwardly started. "You didn't.. uh.."

"Come on, Ruby! Let's get back to the Guild already!'' The Riolu started running before I could ask him anything.

I started to run after him, worried he noticed and was trying to pretend he hadn't. He was running really fast, I groaned as I tried to speed up. "L-Lyn, slow down!" He acted as if he didn't hear me. His form grew smaller as he got further away. My heart started beating faster. The sky was growing darker despite it being early in the evening.

I started to panic. Something was wrong. "Lyn!" I slowed down to a stop as I looked around. My surroundings were all darkening, as if being erased. I circled around and everything, even the ground just disappeared to the darkness. "Lyn?!"

My voice echoed in my head as I kept looking around. This isn't right! What's going on?

"Ruby?" I gasped, seeing a blue spot in the distance calling for me. I ran as fast as I could to reach him. As I got closer, I realised he looked different. He was taller, He actually evolved? I kept running to him, but no matter how hard I tried, it was as if this small amount of distance wouldn't close. He wasn't running away, he was standing still. Why couldn't I reach him?

"Don't leave me!" I suddenly screamed. I felt confused, but I kept running. "Please don't leave me!"

"That's rich. You're the one that left me after all." His slightly deeper voice nearly stopped me in my tracks. I choked on my breath and slowed my run to a hesitant walk.

"Lyn?" He scoffed as he finally started walking towards me. I felt relieved as the distance finally started to lessen. A small bit of fear also hit me, but I couldn't understand why. There was no reason to ever be afraid of Lyn.

"What exactly did you expect, Ruby?" He was growing closed and I froze at the question. I felt so confused. As he finally reached me, I looked up to him with worry. His eyes… were angry. He reeled his leg back.

I screamed as he kicked me, I scraped against the ground as I looked back to him, tears freely falling now. "W-Why?"

"WHY?!" He ran at me and kicked me again. "Why the fuck do you think?! Did you think I'd never find out? How you just stopped trying and let Dialga beat the shit out of you? It's your own damn fault you died. You abandoned me!" He kneeled down by me and picked me up by the throat.

I cried out in pain, unable to breathe. He lifted his fist and started punching me. "I never got over you! I never found love in someone else! I thought you were the one! I thought we were destined for each other!" He hit me between each sentence. I could only cry as he bludgeoned me more and more.

"I never accepted your death! I wanted a family with you! I begged! Begged to have you back to any god that would listen! I would have given anything!" The pain was unbearable, I felt like I was about to faint. "Then I finally FINALLY got to the end of this damned life. I was actually excited to see you again, Ruby! Then I find out you're fucking alive again? What do I do with this information?!" He threw my damaged body away from him like I was trash. "You disgust me, Ruby."

I coughed out some blood, leaving a mess on the completely black ground. I tried to curl up into a ball to hide my disgusting body from view. What the fuck is wrong with me? He was completely right. This is all my fault.

I heard his footsteps get closer and I only tensed, expecting more pain. Something wet hit me and I looked up. He was crying, his head down as each tear hit my bloodied fur. "This is all wrong. R-Ruby.. I'm so sorry."

I tried to pull myself up, but failed and hit the ground again. I could only look into his eyes, every attempt at speech failed.

He sighed deeply as his eyes darkened. He kicked me away again. I looked at him in fear. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't run away. "Now you're alive again." He spoke quietly, "You're alive and joining the Guild again. You'll go on to have more adventures without me. With some random and lonely orphan trying to replace me." He hesitated and his words grew soft again. "The only thing I can feel anymore is hate, and disgust. You don't deserve this, Ruby. Remember that."

I saw him turn around and start walking away. I whined out as loudly as I could. "M.. ever..th..ng" I choked out.

He didn't even turn his head. "You aren't shit to me anymore, you freak." I cried and pulled myself into a ball again as I wanted nothing more than to die right then and there.

I should just die.

---

I coughed myself awake, tears pouring down my cheeks. I felt a pat on my side and noticed that Mai was lying down next to me. She rubbed my back as my coughing calmed down. "Mai?"

She sighed and quietly replied. "Sorry. I couldn't sleep, then I saw you were having a nightmare so I came over. I hope you don't mind" I looked away. I was still in the bed of grass Mai said I could sleep in. The room was still dark, I must not have slept very long. We were in the room separated from the rest of the den Mai had called her bedroom. It was just a small room with two beds of grass on either side and a hole in the wall going outside.

"Nightmare, right…" I hiccuped and rubbed my eyes with a paw to try and dry them. The pain in my side seemed like nothing compared to what I felt in that "dream" if I could call it that.

"We can talk about it if it'd help?" The eevee started petting my fur, trying to get me to relax.

I hiccuped again and shook my head. I couldn't relive that again. "I-" I choked on my breath and a short jet of fire shot out of my mouth. My dry throat burned from my fire suddenly forcing itself out. "Need water.." I pushed my legs out beneath me and stood on very shaky paws. I felt like I was about to throw up. I slowly made my way out of the room.

My head was filled with a haze of what I could only call distress. Despite the dark cave, I could still see just fine. I padded over to the trough of drinking water Mai had. I tried to just lower my head, but my body gave out and I fell with my head landing into the water. It splashed onto the rest of me, and I ignored the discomfort fire-types normally felt being submerged in cold water.

I gave up on trying to support myself and just took a drink of what I could. My nose was still above water so I could breathe. I did everything I could to keep my mind empty. Thinking about that… dream would only make things worse. I tried to ignore it, but there was some kind of pulse feeling in my chest. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Are you okay?" I heard Mai's voice ask me from behind me. I only gave the slightest of nods as I took another drink. I wondered if drowning hurt, I was unconscious when I almost drowned yesterday. I was disrupted as I felt something push against my fur. It felt familiar.

"Mai?" I pulled my head up and water poured out from my now heavy fur as I turned to her. She kept licking my fur clean despite my very concerned expression.

"Your fur's filthy, Ruby. Sorry I didn't think about how badly you might've been hurt yesterday." She looked up to me with determination in her eyes which only confused me even more. "If I noticed, I would've helped earlier." Her tongue brushed against my rump again and my whole body shook as I pulled away.

"M-M-Mai.." My inner fire felt like it was about to explode. I tried to release a little in a short stream to calm myself. Water dripped from my muzzle to the floor. She cocked her head. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"Cleaning your fur. What do you mean? It's what friends do for each other. Right?" Her face suddenly flared red. "R-Right? It's a thing friends do all the time! Right?" She looked away with a paw covering her face. "Th-That's what I thought friends do... They help each other. Oh Arceus. I didn't just violate you, did I?"

"Ah.. um.." My awkwardness only skyrocketed as I realised I wasn't sure either. I had mostly washed my fur with water, Lyn showed me how to clean myself without water since he knew I was human, he even helped a few times when I couldn't, but I thought it was because...

"I haven't had many friends. I-I guess I just assumed, but I really thought it was normal. I'm sorry, Ruby. I didn't mean to overstep any boundaries…"

Did I really not have any close friends other than Lyn? There were the other guild members, but I guess we weren't super close or anything. Is this really a normal thing? Oh god, did I really focus on one guy so much that I completely disregarded making friends again?

"Ruby?" She glanced back at me with fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry! I-I understand if you hate me for this."

I felt an almost unnatural rumble roll through my throat as I giggled. I actually laughed! Mai looked worried and confused. "I don't hate you, Mai. To be honest, I really don't know if it's normal either. The only person that ever did it to me was Lyn, so I probably just guessed it was like a mate thing"

Her tail twitched erratically as she shook her head. "I'm not trying to do anything like that! I just wanted to comfort you and clean your fur... I won't do it again if it makes you uncomfortable."

I shook my head. "Mai, really. It's alright. I appreciate it. If it's a thing that friends do, well I consider you a friend so it's okay."

"Really?" She could barely contain her excitement, her tail now wagging vigorously. "You don't mind?"

I sighed, sitting down. "Of course not, Mai. Just give me a little warning next time."

She happily circled around me. "You know, you look really nice with a smile on your face."

My paw shot up to my muzzle. Was I really smiling? Now that I think about it, I'm more calm than before. I was actually struggling to remember the nightmare from before. I could only remember how helpless I felt. I had to feel a little appreciative towards the Eevee who was now cleaning my shoulder. Am I really okay with this? It took me months to be comfortable with Lyn touching me.

I haven't changed, have I?

"You know, you're really salty. We might be better off going over to the hot springs."

I figured my fur would be considering I was thrown into the ocean. I turned from her to hide my heated face. I'm also probably soaked in sweat. Waking up from that nightmare really took it out of me. What was it, though? It feels so unnatural for a dream to just fade away like that. It really affected me, didn't it?

"So?" Mai asked.

"Hm?"

"Want to go to the hot springs before we go to the Guild?"

"Sure, but isn't that a bit of a walk from here?" I struggled to remember the last time I had gone. I always had to act as a median between a certain hot-headed Riolu and an older Torkoal. He never cared for us much.

"Oh no, there's one just down the road from the Guild now. It's amazing what a few Pokemon of the right types can do working together. The guy who owns it can be a bit cranky though, especially since we'd be there before the sun even rises. He'll get over it though."

"I think I could use a good bath, then."

---

The old turtle was somehow still alive! I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw him. He looked almost the same as when I met him. I knew turtles could have very long lives, but even seeing it I found myself in disbelief.

Mai had to stop me from gaping at him by pushing me towards one of the springs. It was much more expansive now, with multiple types of springs too. Some were specified for certain types, but we made our way to the normal spring and as soon as I sank into that warmth I could feel my shoulders finally relax after who knows how long.

I rested against a warm rock with Mai barely a foot away swimming in the slightly deeper water. I felt tired again. "You got any plans for fighting Hapi?" I raised my head, seeing Mai still paddling through the water.

I shook my head. "Nothing really specific. Other than the Alakazam battle, I've seen very little of what she's really capable of. Just cover your ears whenever she looks like she's about to yell. As for her physical attacks, we've gotta avoid her kicks. Punching wouldn't work well against us considering our height."

I let out a content sigh. "If she really was raised and trained by Lyn, then she's gonna know a ton of physical attacks and expect anyone she's fighting with to pick up the slack when it comes to ranged attacks. It'd explain that Bisharp's crazy hyper beams."

"Are you sure about this?" The Eevee had stopped at a part where her feet could touch the ground.

"What do you mean?"

Some bubbles rose up from her maw before she raised her head from the water again. "I'm only gonna hold you back. I know I was all excited about this, but it doesn't seem fair to just get in because I'm with you." She sunk her face beneath the surface again. Peering worriedly at me.

I flipped over and felt my back crackle all the way to my tails. I enjoyed the warmth pushing my fur around. "Like you said before, Mai. Guild members don't start out with massive amounts of experience. Things might've changed a bit since I last started a team, but strength isn't everything when it comes to being an explorer. Plus, being an explorer is one of the fastest ways to get experience, so you'll catch up with me quickly, I'm sure."

"Me? Catch up with you? You fought a-!"

"Shh!" I flipped back over and hushed her as best I could. I glanced around, glad to see that the only Pokemon nearby in the other springs were paying us no mind.

"Sorry..." She whispered. "You fought a god of all things, Ruby. I don't see myself catching up to that, even with you helping me.

"You'd be surprised. I didn't think I could handle half the Pokemon my team managed to put behind bars. I also had Lyn with me the entire time, he's always been stronger than me."

She didn't respond, but still looked down. I sighed and scratched at my ears.

"Honestly, I've been a little concerned about that lately." She met my gaze, remaining quiet. So I elaborated. "My... fire feels different. Almost as if it's unnaturally hotter. It actually hurts me a little, despite flames never having an affect on me." I thought back on our fight with the Alakazam. A shiver ran down my spine.

"That's a good thing isn't it?"

I shook my head. "Maybe, but at the same time... my body's different too." I pulled a paw in front of my face, flexing it. My almost pitiful claws are barely noticeable. "I feel sluggish. Maybe even weaker altogether. I may not be as strong as I used to be. I could keep up with everything that Alakazam did, but trying to react was draining me more and more. Before, I could've beaten a psychic type like that by myself. Probably even with his freakish healing. I could barely even protect you like this. I felt like something was off the first time, but I didn't really think about it too much. The second time it was painfully obvious."

"But you did win. Nobody died and other than you nearly drowning and Jeremiah getting knocked out, we were barely hurt at all."

"We got lucky." I lowered myself deeper into the water. "He was holding back. Something about my attacks and us showing up made him change his plans. His teleporting backfired on him when I distracted him and used disable. He could've easily just killed all of us, but something stopped him. I can't help but feel as if we're missing something. My sudden drop in strength just worries me. I could've lost several levels when I... you know."

"Excuse me!" I nearly jumped out of the water at the sudden gruff voice. A torkoal slowly made his way to the spring. Mai put herself in between us and I thankfully put myself behind her as much as possible. He got to the edge of the water, but didn't step in. He craned his neck to see me and I shyly moved myself out of sight.

Now that I could see him up close, I could tell he did look a bit different. His skin wrinkled and covered with age spots. More so than when I first met him. His whole body seemed to quiver as he talked. "Hey young ones, no need to be bashful, come on out. I'd just like a word with you two."

We were both apprehensive, but eventually we made our way out of the spring. Both of us completely soaking wet and dripping onto the colourful rocks that decorated the ground.

"Here..." He blew some steam drying us off a bit. Mai shook her fur and sprayed water everywhere. "No need to look like you're about to be scolded, you two."

I avoided eye contact and Mai groaned. "What is it, then? We were enjoying the springs."

I remembered his reactions to Lyn acting the same way and prepared to be yelled at. To my surprise, he only laughed. "I'm sure you were, Mai. Just wanted to see you two before the test later."

"How do you know about that?" I asked before I could stop myself. He glanced back to me and fear hit me as he took a second to respond.

"The Guild leader was here earlier, mentioned you two and an incident that had one of you thrown into the ocean. So I figured I'd see you here sooner or later. Especially since you're with Mai. She used to come here every day."

He stopped to reminisce about something before smiling again. "That Lopunny had quite a bit to say about you, she seems quite excited for your battle. I wanted to see if what she said was true. The little spiteful eevee that never left her mother's side finally made a friend." He said all of it calmly, as if he didn't just insult one of us.

I bit my lip worriedly. I knew he could be a bit grumpy, but that's a whole other level of being insensitive. I glanced at my new partner, surprised that she only looked annoyed.

"Ah shut up, you wrinkly old rock. I would've told you after the test."

"Yeah? Well, are you gonna introduce the rock to your new friend or not?" He chuckled lightheartedly.

She groaned again. "Ruby, this is the owner of the hot springs here. He... helped my mom and I a lot when we lost my grandfather."

I dipped my head. Pretending to not know him, I replied with, "Oh.. I see. It's nice to meet you."

"Ruby?" He muttered. His face fell before shaking his head. "It's a nice name. Glad to meet ya. Feel free to come by if you ever need anything."

I only nodded. Mai prodded me with her tail. "He's old as hell, but he's got good advice sometimes."

"Heh." He rolled his eyes. "I'm just glad I caught you beforehand. I wouldn't have been surprised to hear you passed only to find out that you immediately left the continent. You've only been talking about it since you first heard about the Guild."

Leave the continent? She did mention something about travel being more common.

"I'm not sure whether I'll leave or not anymore." Mai shook her head. "I still want more than anything to see the whole world, but I couldn't just force Ruby to drop everything and leave like that."

The old torkoal muttered. "Well then, look who's finally growing up." He shook his head. "I'm sure you've got better things to do than talk to an old rock. It was nice meeting you, Ruby. I've got some business to attend to, so if you'll excuse me." He left us without another word.

"Sorry about that." The Eevee gave a slight smile. "I figured you'd have to meet him eventually, but I worried that you knew him back before the whole incident."

"It's fine. I was only worried at first. He's calmed down quite a bit in his old age. What were you guys talking about with the leaving the continent thing, though?"

She looked confused, "I thought you knew. Since the whole time breaking thing happened, many of the major Guilds around the world have been lacking Delvers. So lately, most Guilds will send any missions they're lacking the class of explorers required for to Guilds that usually specialise in that specific class."

My mind started to spin, I shook my front paws at her to slow down. "Woah... Hold on. What? What's a delver?"

She bit her lip. "Let's make our way to the Guild, I'll try to explain it the best I can."

We dried off the best we could before waving goodbye to the turtle and hitting the road towards the guild. There were Pokemon everywhere! Either mindlessly walking to their destination, or doing everything they could to get the attention of possible customers and showing off their shop.

She wasn't kidding when she said the whole town was on a schedule.

"So you haven't heard the terms 'Hunter' or 'Delver' before?" Mai asked me. I shook my head. She sighed and gathered her thoughts. "We'll start there then. When you join a Guild, you start as a Rookie. That's the class or 'title' you're given. After a few missions and training, it'll change."

I nodded. "So what? Delvers go into mystery dungeons and Hunters focus on wanted Pokemon?"

She smiled. "You're pretty close, yeah. To be technical, all classes go into mystery dungeons for one reason or another."

"All as in there's more than those three?"

"Six in all. One to begin with, four major classes, and a title to shoot for if you're looking for fame."

I shook my head. "I don't think I need any more of that right now."

She gave a short laugh. "Delver's focus on finding and collecting rare items. They've been known to take missions to find missing belongings in mystery dungeons as well. Hunter's focus on combat. Which can be anything from being a bodyguard to, like you said, finding wanted 'mons and bringing them in to the Police. Scholars research and preserve knowledge. Mostly history, but I've heard rumours that there are some working on something called science."

"Science?" The very odd thought of Pokemon creating cars, phones, and even landing on the moon amused me a little.

"I don't really know much about it, like I said it's only rumours. Anyways, there's also Medics. Which are self explanatory. They heal all manner of wounds with mixtures of berries and roots."

"So yeah, you join a Rookie. Eventually you can specialise in either being a Delver, a Hunter, a Scholar, or a Medic. Becoming promoted from a specific class will grant you the same title, but of a higher rank. Like if you're a really good Medic, you'd become an Adept Medic."

"Who decides that you're a good enough Medic to be promoted?" I asked.

"I'm not too sure about it. Some people think it's the Guild master that decides it. But if that's the case I don't understand how someone like Hapi could change the symbol that's put on your body."

I looked down to my paws as I walked. "They put a symbol on you?"

"Yea they stopped giving out badges a while back. Some people still have them as memoirs, though. I've actually heard that the symbol is given and changed by a Legendary! If it's true though, I'm not sure which one."

"Ah… What about the sixth one, then?"

"Well, by becoming, say, an Adept Hunter, you can then start working on a different class. Becoming an adept in three of the four classes will give you the title of Ace. Usually followed by your best class. Hapi is an Ace Hunter."

"Really?" I wonder if Lyn became an Ace too. He'd probably have to be good at medicine. I knew him well enough to know that him being a Scholar wouldn't go well.

"Yep!" Mai looked up proudly at the Guild as we finally reached it. "She says that the Delver class was the hardest on her. She had to spend a month inside a mystery dungeon to find this gate thing underground."

"That sounds-"

The doors to the Guild were opened and Jeremiah, who's helmet had a noticeable dent in the side of it now, stepped out. "There you two are! In! In!" He ushered us inside before closing the doors behind us. "You were about to be late, I was about to have to hunt you two down."

Mai made to say something, but the Bisharp walked off before she could. A Monferno sitting in what I thought was Jeremiah's desk waved and watched us as we passed. We followed Jeremiah out a side door that led to a surprisingly large arena behind the Guild. A Lopunny stood alone at the opposite end of the field.

I gasped as I recognised the pattern on the ground of the arena. Completely filled with sand, one single line splitting it in half and in the middle a circle. Just like the Gyms back in my old world. This had to be a coincidence right?

"It's about time you two got here!" Hapi called after us. She stretched an arm behind her head.

This was a fucking stadium! My heart started beating harder as I saw at least thirty other Pokemon in the stands. "Mai, I didn't know there were this many people in the Guild!"

She nodded. "Yeah, there's a few missing. Not many I know."

"N-Not many?!"

"Just so you know!" Hapi called towards us again. Looking a little annoyed at us being distracted. "I'm aware you're a pretty high level for a beginner, fox. So I'm not holding back."

I saw a few Pokemon in the stands cringe and start whispering about something. I started to worry even more.

"Ruby, did you ever come up with an actual plan?" I glanced over to her and saw that she was shaking. I looked between her and Hapi for a second before forcing myself to calm down. I took a deep breath and a jet of smooth fire poured out.

"Alright. We can do this.. Mai, you said you knew a bunch of moves, right?"

"Yeah, my mom tried to teach me as many moves as she could." I whispered a question into her ear so Hapi wouldn't hear. "Yeah, I know it." I whispered again. "I-I can attempt it.."

"Good, don't use shadow ball on her, okay? It won't affect her. I received a nod in response and we stepped forward. We stood side by side and focused on the Lopunny in front of us.

"Don't disappoint me, alright?" She stepped forward as well.

Jeremiah stood on the side of the field of sand with one arm up. "We are now beginning the entry test for Mai the Eevee and Ruby the Vulpix." The pokemon behind him all looked surprised and started whispering again. The Bisharp bellowed out. "The match will begin in 3.. 2.. 1!"

Mai and I immediately dashed away from each other. Hapi ran straight for me. I growled and she hesitated for a moment, before running again. She jumped up into the air and flew straight for me, knee first. It was too fast to dodge.

I cursed at how much this is gonna hurt. I enveloped myself in fire and grit my teeth. Her knee hit my shoulder and knocked me into the ground. I quickly pushed myself up and shot a flamethrower above her waist. She crossed her arms and braced for it. I noticed several shadow balls fly into the air above us so I jumped straight towards her and swung an iron tail at her to keep her attentionl.

She easily blocked it and kicked me in the stomach again. "Don't get cocky just cause your fire is kinda toasty!"

I slid against the sand, but spit a few embers to keep her attention. Mai ran for us to join in the fight. I pushed myself up and closed my distance with the bunny. She raised her leg to kick me, but Mai hit her other foot with a quick attack and she lost balance. Before she fell I swung another iron tail into her. With the help of Mai's helping hand, Hapi slid even further away. Mai's white glow faded with the attack.

She jumped to her feet with a ferocious grin. "Now that's more like it!" I built a flame in my chest and shot a fire blast. She ducked under it with ease, now much faster than before.

"Mai, support me!" I didn't wait for an answer as I shot a flamethrower in front of me and ran straight for her. I tried to sidestep her kick, only to get thrown up into the air. I gasped in pain. Seeing her jump up to hit me again I used fire spin.

Burn! Burn! Burn!

She spun around and punched me right in the chest. I screamed out as I was thrown into the sand. I straightened myself out and did my best to stand. Now with an aching back and chest. Mai and I used quick attack to hit both of her legs. She only took the hit before falling back onto one of her hands and spinning, her legs hitting both of us and knocking us away.

Damnit! Just slow down for the love of Arceus!

I glanced at Mai and saw her struggle to get up. I pulled myself up and took in a deep breath. I've gotta get her burned! I can do this! I breathed in as much as I could, feeling my flames about to explode. My tails flexed out above me and I motioned with them for her to bring it on.

Hapi cackled as she ran towards me with new purpose.

I shouldn't have egged her on, what the fuck am I doing?!

I held my ground as she got closer. Right as she got in range, I jumped as best I could with my limbs screaming at me to stop. I swung around but didn't use iron tail. She took the bait and tried to block it, only for me to release a fire blast right in her face.

I could only hear a loud whistle as I was thrown back from the explosion. I saw my partner standing again with a white glow from another helping hand. I breathed a sigh of relief once the sand settled and saw the Lopunny with a seared arm and leg.

That'll do.

I looked Mai in the eyes and she nodded, saying she was ready.

"Let's end this!" She cried.

I groaned, shakily pulling myself up.

"I'm not losing that easily, fox!" Hapi screamed as she ran towards us with a limp. I ran alongside Mai before jumping to opposite sides like last time but much closer. Hapi started towards me, but blocked a quick attack from Mai before backhanding her away.

She landed on her feet. I screamed "Now!" as I swiped down upon her with an iron tail. Mai glowed even brighter than before.

"Shit!" Hapi cursed as she brought her arm up to block my attack. She laughed. "You can't scare me like that. An iron tail? You should've blasted me again." I fell to the ground and looked at the eevee behind her. "Even with helping hand, your physical attacks suck."

I bit my lip and looked behind her to the still glowing eevee. I shot an ember at her face and tried to put some space between us.

"Aaaah!" Mai screamed. Before Hapi could turn, the eevee hit her in the back of the head with her last resort move, throwing her head forward and knocking her into the ground.

With Hapi face down, both Mai and I did what we could to catch our breath.

"D-Did we win?"

The crowd cheered loudly, breaking us from our thoughts.

Jeremiah's voice rose again. "Mai the Eevee and Ruby the Vulpix win!"

We kept gasping for breath and met each other's gaze. She had the biggest smile on her face.

We did it.

An arm wrapped around me and pulled me away. I only panicked for a moment before seeing Hapi crouched down and had both of us under her arms. "That fucking hurt, Mai."

"I- er, Sorry…" She fumbled over her words.

"Don't be. You two did it. You won. Congrats." She gave us a smile before standing and brushing herself off. "I barely even had to hold back. You two should be proud. Welcome to the guild, foxes. I expect good things from you."

For the first time, I saw her right hand. A pure white and glowing emblem that looked like a maw with sharp teeth and a perfect circle around it.

That's the symbol Mai talked about?

"Hope you like it, fox. Because you're about to get your own. A Rookie's mark anyway." I looked back at her and nodded.

It's not the first time she's called me "fox" but it's like she refuses to say my name and wants to make it as obvious as possible. I shook my head. I didn't care enough to start something about it. Mai and I followed Hapi out of the stadium and back into the Guild.

"Oh wait!" I stopped the other's before we entered another room. "I forgot something. Go ahead, I'll be right back." I ignored the Lopunny's glare as I ran out of the Guild to the Bank across the street.

Everything went just about the same as last time. The old Sandslash hesitated here and there, stared at me a bit and got me the things I wanted. She once again told me something about some paper she found with one of the items, but I was already almost out the door.

Back in the Guild, I walked into the room Lopunny was leading us to see a brilliant glow. The fire in the middle of the room, only stopped from devouring everything in its path by the golden ring around it. It was beautiful. I probably stared at it for a solid minute before Lopunny cleared her throat.

"Are you ready?" I only turned towards her and closed my mouth, nodding. Not sure what for. "Come on then, follow me." I fell in step behind her with my eyes still on the absolutely magnificent flame. It felt as if it was calling out to me. The embers flicked against the air above them, the scent of burning cinders calmed my heart. I felt like I was starting to get light-headed.

I had to pull my head away to see Mai excitedly showing me her left paw. The pure white diamond with a dim glow contrasted against her brown fur. Hapi put a long metal pole into the flames for a moment before pulling it out.

"Where do you want your mark to be, fox?" After thinking about it, I lifted my left paw so it'd be like Mai's. The moment the thing that absolutely looked like a hot poker came in contact with my fur, everything heated up.

I almost screamed from the hot metal touching me. It's the first time I've felt a burn in so long. This was something else, though. It was like every nerve in my arm was shocked. I was left gasping for breath with Mai and the Guildmaster looking at me worriedly.

Finally!

I glanced around to see who called me, but found nobody. It sounded like it came from the flames.

"Are you alright?" My eyes shot back to Mai.

"Wh-What?"

Hapi spoke this time. "You look like you've seen a ghost, you need to sit down?"

I shook my head slowly and tried to calm down. I pulled my bag back over my shoulder. "I'm.. fine I think. Just didn't expect it to hurt so much."

"It hurt you? I didn't feel anything." Mai cocked her head. "Hapi, is it supposed to hurt?"

She shook her head. "I mean, it's possible it has something to do with how you're normally immune to fire. I don't have much experience with giving marks to Pokemon with flash fire. Let's see the mark, make sure everything went okay."

I raised my left paw again, but found myself confused with what I saw. A flickering amber was emblazoned onto my paw in the shape of a sharp stone hitting another striking some small flames into existence around it that glowed brighter than the rest. Flint and steel?

"How the fuck are you already an Adept Delver!" Hapi looked absolutely pissed. "How did you change its colour? The colour is supposed to show which Guild you hail from." I didn't know what to say so I remained silent. She groaned and put her face in her paws. "No family, huh? Lived in the wild?" She shook her head and started to walk out the room. "Follow me."

I shied away a little, but followed behind Mai as she passed and shared a worried glance. "Jeremiah, drop the front desk on the Monferno for a while longer. Come with us." The Bisharp didn't hesitate to follow his Guildmaster's order and even ran ahead to open the door one of the staircases led up to, letting us in.

The room was almost filled up entirely with a massive desk that the Lopunny populated and told the Bisharp what happened as she started pulling things from her desk. He kneeled in front of me and asked for my paw. I felt really awkward sitting with the Bisharp examining my paw.

At least he's gentle.

"It's as you said, Mistress. She appears to be an Adept Delver. A hell of a Hunter too, it seems." I looked at my paw again, but didn't see anything that had to do with the teeth that Hapi had. How could he tell?

"If I had to guess, baring the idea that she was a guild member beforehand somehow. It's possible she lived within a mystery dungeon for a time. It'd explain how her level is already in the forties."

Forties?! That was nearly two whole years of my old life down the drain. Well, I guess all of my old life is sorta down the drain.

He looked into my eyes as if asking if he was close to the mark. I shrugged, not sure whether I should actually confirm or deny it. "If this is the case, it's quite amazing you've managed to keep your sanity about you. Most would've been ferals after just a few weeks. As for the amber glow that matches her eyes, anything I say would only be a guess."

Hapi didn't look up from whatever she was writing. "Any suggestions?"

"There's not much reason to force the normal restrictions, just make sure she's well aware that if anything happened to her less experienced team member, it would be entirely her fault since she's going to be the leader of their exploration team."

I bit my lip and nodded. I figured I was probably going to be leader again so I wasn't too shocked.

Hapi sighed and stopped writing, putting her letter into one of the drawers. "So be it. You two, what's your team name?"

Mai and I looked at each other and I just shrugged. "Whatever you want."

Please don't make a name like Lyn would.

She put a paw under her chin. "How about team Victory."

Ah damn.

"Can we think of a name later?"

Mai looked down in defeat and Hapi shook her head. Team Ashes?" she tried again.

"Team Ashes it is" Hapi said before I could disagree. She did a circle with one digit. "Yoom-tah. Blah blah."

Of all the things to still be the same.

"Now, You're already free of most restrictions concerning travel and working with other Guilds, just be careful. Like Jeremiah said, it's on you to watch Mai's back and train her. We're low on rooms right now, so be patient for a bit and stay at your den. I can find you if I need you. Wait till tomorrow before choosing some mission across the ocean if you're going to, alright?

We both nodded, and with that we left, now as team Ashes. I sighed as I got Mai's attention. "Ashes as in rise from the ashes, right?"

She smiled, excitedly wagging her tail. "Yep! How'd you know."

"Just a guess." As we left the Guild, I pulled off my bag and rummaged through it for certain items.

"Oh! So you went to the Bank?"

I nodded to her question and pulled out two purple ribbons. I handed one to her. "Welcome to team Ashes, Mai."

Her grin stretched further as she nodded and took the ribbon in her mouth. I started to pick up the bag again, but stopped when I saw a square ruby glint in the sunlight. I weakly smiled as I picked it up. I felt both happy to see it and sad for what it was. I tugged on the gem and the necklace pulled a rolled up sheet of paper out of the bag. The necklace was actually tied around it. I tried to unroll it and my brow furrowed trying to read the hastily written note.

"Ruby! I can't believe you're actually coming back somehow! There's so much I want to say... I'm not sure where to start."

He knew?

---

A flashback within a flashback within a dream? What kind of nonsense-ception is this? Ha.
Anyways, this dream seemed to have way too much detail, didn't it? At the same time, how did Ruby get over it so quickly? She can't even remember it well. Dreams are always a tricky subject, they can have a profound effect as well. There seems to be more going on behind the scenes. What does this all mean...? I dunno, secret. Wait to read more and figure it out.
Now that we're caught up with where I really am, expect much slower updates! Hope you're having a nice day! 

A Review of terramew's fic for book-club.

Emotion emotion emotion, holy hell there is a lot of that running through every word that is spoken in that first chapter, all nailed to the T. To say I'm jealous of your ability to make me care for these characters despite only knowing them for not even half a chapter is a understatement. 

Everything grammar wise seems on-point, and the plot really does draw intrigue from somewhere inside me. Although personally it's not my cup of tea, you managed to perhaps draw me in, should I have some spare time

All in all, the start to this fic is amazing.