I apologize for such a long gap between chapters, but I had been wanting to get ahead a bit to stockpile some content as well as improve my consistency a bit as I often forget about some information and have trouble finding it within my notes. There have also been some real life issues that had to be taken care of but hopefully I can resume having at the very least a decent posting schedule.

Chapter 44

A large gasp escaped the Lucario's maw as he jumped from his slumber, breathing heavily as he quickly looked around to find himself still in his sleeping bag beside his trainer. Releasing a sigh of relief, Prince looked to his slumbering trainer for a moment to make sure he was deeply asleep before quietly edging out of his sack and slowly exiting the tent into the brisk night air.

Holding his sweat dampened forehead as he calmed his nerves, Prince slowly sat beside the pond and stared at his reflection. "It wasn't my fault… There was nothing I could have done back then… So why am I tormented by these nightmares?!" He muttered to himself.

"Prince?" Aura quietly called from just outside the tent.

"Oh, sorry if I woke you, Master Aura."

Aura walked over and sat beside his partner, "What's the matter? Why're you out here this late?"

"Nothing is wrong. I was just getting some fresh air." He lied. Aura wasn't buying it for a second.

"Come on, I could feel you rolling around in your sleeping bag, so just tell me what's wrong." Aura urged.

Prince sighed, "I apologize for waking you. I have just been suffering from night terrors for a while now."

Aura's tone grew more concerned, "How long exactly have they been going on?"

"I can't say exactly, but they started shortly after losing my pack." The Lucario quietly looked to the sky.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you, buddy. You know that." Aura told him.

After a minute of silence, Prince took a breath and began telling Aura of that fateful day. "I would always spend my days in our den's training room with a few of the other young pack members who wanted to become guards for the pack. And of course I was being trained to take over the pack once my father was no longer fit to lead." He released another sigh, "That's all I ever did really. Day after day I had to learn how to take care of the pack so I'd be ready when the time came to lead. Our pack wasn't ruthless like some others that resided in the area, but we were certainly no pushovers either. We've managed to make a deal with the surrounding packs to leave each other alone to avoid any conflict, and it's been like that for years, until the whole area was suddenly ambushed by a massive pack of outsiders who ravaged everything. We were caught off guard and our den was invaded within minutes." Prince grasped his head as if in pain as he relived the painful memory.

"You don't have to go on if it's that painful."

The Lucario took another deep breath, "No, I must let it out." After a minute of calming himself down, Prince resumed his story, "So many had been killed by the time us in the training room heard what was going on. Everyone there rushing to save their families, myself included. By the time I reached the main room of the den, I saw most of the invading clan had been defeated along with many of our own. I could see my father keeping the invading pack's leader at bay, so I ran to help him fight. That was when something blasted me against a wall and I began to lose consciousness as smoke and fire began filling the room, the last thing I could see was my father fighting for his life against the attackers."

"I don't know how long I was out for, but when I finally came to, I was sitting against a burned down tree as my father carried the bodies of our pack out from the den and set them in graves he must have dug while I was asleep. So I gathered enough strength to help him give our pack a proper burial, but I noticed that there was still one empty grave remaining even though we had buried every single member of the pack already. It wasn't until that moment, I realized the large gash in my fathers side and the blood pouring from it. I still remember the last thing he told me before he passed away."

"You've been trained all your life to protect those you care about. Don't think of this as you failing to do that. Think of it as there is something much more out there for you. You are still alive for a reason, never give up hope that reason will find you eventually. And no matter what, all of us will be watching over you as you find your destiny. Never forget son, something bigger needs you more than we ever did. Just never give up."

Aura stared forward blankly. "I'm sorry you had to live with that for so long."

The Lucario sighed, "It is no longer something I dread, Master Aura. I may not have been able to protect my pack, but my father was right that I survived for a reason. There was something much more for me to do in this world that I would probably never have discovered had my pack not been attacked. Nor would you have been there to rescue me from being killed by the Mightyena when we first met. I can clearly see now that the reason I am still alive is to aid you in protecting others from harm. If not, then I would have certainly died many moons ago."

Aura wiped his eye as Prince seemed to feel no pain as he spoke of his difficult losses in life. Truly the Pokemon had come to terms with the death of his family, but he was content with the new family he had found. "Trust me, Prince. I wish you didn't have to go through such a life before we met, but I'm glad to know you've accepted the life you have now."

"Of course. I am still distraught about the loss of my family, but being with you has certainly helped heal my sorrows. You and the others are my family just as much as my pack was, so I will do whatever I can to make sure I can protect you all the right way." Prince gazed up at the sky to see a few shooting stars fly through the vast open space.

While those two shared the moment with each other, up in the trees sat a hooded figure, watching the pair below with a somewhat bored grimace. "Bah. Such a pathetic excuse for the supposed Grand Guardian. Makes me sick to my stomach." The figure suddenly grabbed his head in pain for a moment before whipping their hood off, revealing the pure white hair underneath with some of it coloured blood red. "God dammit!" He hissed silently through his teeth, "Why the hell does just watching his sorry ass give me such a damn headache?!" Isaac suddenly froze as a random vision of a child and a Pokemon suddenly washed through his mind before immediately vanishing as soon as it had arrived. He let out a sigh, "One of these days I'll get an answer." Hearing something moving around in the brush a short distance behind him, Isaac looked back and scoffed at what he saw.

Prince suddenly perked up and swiveled his ears back as he picked up a sound coming from behind them. Aura following as Prince shot up and spun around to fight, the two pausing from the sight of a cloaked person with white hair standing a few meters away. Aura seemed to freeze wide eyed as he recognized the stranger, though struggled to remember exactly who he was.

Isaac gave him a puzzled look, "You don't remember me, huh?" He rubbed his chin, "Strange, maybe it's a side effect of the dark aura you were contained in. Doesn't matter, I just thought I'd give you a heads up about the swarm of Ariados heading this way."

Just as they were mentioned, the bushes suddenly erupted with at least thirty angry Ariados rushing into the clearing. Aura took up a fighting stance with his dual blades of energy materializing in his hands, while Prince took a similar stance but readying his fists instead of a weapon. "Why the hell are they here?!" Aura cried.

Isaac shrugged and walked off toward an open pathway, "Not a clue, but you should probably deal with them before they make you two their next meal. Have fun." With a casual wave, Isaac suddenly became enveloped in a swirl of dark energy and vanished without a trace.

"Who even was that man?" Prince questioned.

Aura raised his blades, "We'll worry about that later, right now we need to focus on staying alive!"


Diamond rolled around in her bed frantically as she suffered from a horrible nightmare, the fox wincing in her sleep with small tears building at the corners of her eyes. Everything about the dream felt so familiar, yet so foreign to her. But no matter what the dream was even about, it left with it a sense of agonizing dread and fear for Aura's safety.

Muttering in her sleep with sweat rolling down her forehead as she instinctively reached over to grab hold of her absent mate, her eyes eventually shot open and she quickly sat up with a shrill scream of terror, only to find herself not in the suite's bedroom, but in a calming lounge room that she has seen once before.

With her blood rushing and the bright lights of the room, Diamond's vision was somewhat blurry, but she could still make out the familiar figure who sat across from her. "You are safe my dear. Please, take a minute to breath. Everything is perfectly fine." Arceus softly told her. "I could sense your distress and pulled you from your nightmares."

Once Diamond's breathing had finally settled and her heart rate returned to normal, she sat up properly to face Arceus on the other side of the coffee table. "I don't know what to say."

"How about you talk about the dream you had?" Arceus suggested, handing Diamond a cup of warm tea.

Meekly nodding, Diamond took a short breath and began retelling what she could remember from her dream. "All I can remember is that I was running through a dark tunnel trying to get to Aura. I ran into some sort of cave where I saw him trapped in this… bubble of dark energy with some kind of black shadows standing around him." She shook her head, "Everything else is super foggy and hard to remember, but I know something terrible happened, like me and Aura nearly lost our lives in that cave, but after seeing a bright flash of light, I end up back in the tunnel hearing Aura screaming in pain."

Arceus rubbed her chin and contemplated the meaning of this nightmare, perking up a little as she recalled their locked memories. "Diamond? Do you remember when you and Aura were both brought to the Hall of Origin the night before departing Ambrette Town?"

She looked up from the untouched cup of tea and nodded slowly. "That was when you told us about the Corrupted Guardians and told us you...had to lock our memories…" Diamond slowed her speech as she realized she had completely forgotten about that moment, piecing it together that she was dreaming of those locked memories. She looked up with terror in her eyes, "Please tell me Aura is okay?!"

Arceus nodded, "He is fine I guarantee. If he were in any real trouble only then would I assist him, but both him and Prince are capable of protecting themselves." Diamond didn't like the sound of her explanation, "I would assume the only reason you are having this dream is from something or someone Aura just encountered that somehow triggered these memories to resurface. Thankfully they don't seem to have fully returned as of yet so you do not have to worry."

Diamond did feel a little more comfortable hearing this from the godly being, however something still felt off to her. "I believe you that Aura will be okay, but I can't stop feeling he's in danger still. I can just tell something is wrong where he is and I'm worried."

Arceus stood up and walked around the small coffee table, sitting beside Diamond and gently rubbing her back reassuringly. "If you wish to, you can remain in this realm for the night rather than return to your troubling nightmares." Diamond looked at her and furrowed her brow, "Your physical body is still asleep in your bed in the real world, so you could think of being here as a shared dream of sorts."

"Thank you, Arceus. This means a lot to me."

"Of course, my child. If you ever need to escape from your nightmares I can bring you here until the feeling has passed."


Backed to the edge of the pool, Aura and Prince stood back to back while the swarm of Ariados drew nearer. "Listen! We don't have to get violent with each other, okay? We just want to know why you're attacking us?" Aura told them. The largest Ariados at the front slowed and let out a very raspy sound similar to a laugh.

"Ha! Pathetic human talking like he could even understand us! I almost feel bad eating such an idiotic meatbag like this! Skekeke!" He chortled with the rest of the swarm laughing with him.

"Don't you dare insult my master like that you disgusting pests!" Prince snapped, bearing his teeth in rage as he summoned his bone staff, ready to fight at any moment.

A loud skittering noise came from the swarm as the long appendages on their backs vibrated in anger. Aura quickly put his arm out in front of his partner, "Calm down, Prince. We don't want to make things worse by being aggressive." The leading Ariados cocked his head very slightly, "Please! We don't want to fight you! We are simply camping here for a few days to train together." The skittering noise grew into more of a buzzing as the Ariados showed no sign of backing down. "If we did anything to anger you we're sorry, but I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding! I can understand the speech of Pokemon, so maybe we can just talk about this?" Aura pleaded.

The buzzing slowed down slightly, but with it a scratchy roar of laughter followed. "Insolent human! Your species can't possibly understand what we say, yet you say you can?! Pathetic!" He skittered forward slightly and hissed, "Now my swarm! Time for a feast!"

With no options left, Aura dispersed his blades and instead summoned a translucent blue staff in his hands as the Ariados drew nearer. "I didn't want it to come to this, but looks like we don't have any choice." Backs pressed together and their staffs held at the ready, Aura and Prince watched as the Ariados pounced.

Tightening his grip, Aura pushed out his back hand and thrust forth the back half of his staff, catching the Ariados directly in the chin and sending it twirling skyward unconscious. "I warned you!" Aura called.

At the same time, another Ariados lunged for Prince's neck, but it was ultimately met with the same fate as the jackal thrust forth his bone and smashed the arachnid's jaw, hearing a loud crunch while knocking it back into the bushes.

The leader hissed aggressively with no intent of backing down. "Kill them!" He screeched. All at once the swarm closed in around the pair, surrounding them with a wall of deadly stingers and fangs. Many of them reeled their heads back before snapping forward and spitting up thousands of tiny poison needles from every angle.

"Jump away!" Aura commanded, Prince launching off the ground away from the attack while Aura remained in the line of fire. A mere moment away from becoming a poisonous pincushion, Aura stabbed his staff into the dirt and created a barrier around himself that easily deflected the tiny pins and protected him from the painful toxins. The swarm hissed louder as they continued to spray Aura with the barrage of Poison Stings.

While they were distracted with Aura, Prince took the chance to rush in with his paws coated in a knife shaped energy, shouting loudly as he dove into the frey and began slashing wildly at the bug types. Those that were closer to the canine were swiftly knocked unconscious and spiraled into the air from the direct hits they took, meanwhile the others were forced to cease their Poison Sting assault and scatter before they met the same fate.

Aura took this moment to hurry away from the pond to give himself more clearance while Prince repeatedly slashed at the Ariados that tried to attack him head on, leaving only twenty of the original thirty bugs left.

Aware that they were no longer going to strike the jackal head on and instead surround him to avoid losing more numbers, Prince quickly backed out of there to a safer distance as the bugs' eyes trailed him menacingly. The Ariados lined up in rows and raised their heads, spitting up streams of both silvery grey and sickly purple threads in the pair's direction. Aura watched the purple threads fly in his direction along with a few of the grey strings, knowing full well this was their Toxic Thread and Stick Web attacks with the prior threatening the human of being poisoned in tangent with becoming extremely vulnerable.

Though Aura quickly raised his staff in defense, even creating knife-like extensions to slice through the threads, Prince didn't take the risk and swiftly jumped in front of the line of fire and became encased with the sticky substances. He wiggled around inside the cocoon of poisonous and normal webbing, thankfully the toxins having no effect on the steel type, but for a moment Aura grew concerned for his own and his companions safety as the poison bugs hissed and some charged forth.

With Prince ensnared and unable to move, Aura was forced to back away as he was attacked by the wave of Pokemon, slashing wildly at them as they pounced. Multiple times Aura's spear sliced through the bugs body, however despite it seemingly cutting in very deep, the Ariados were only left with a minor flesh wound that didn't threaten them long term, but they still felt the pain of being sliced clean into anyways with many of them either falling unconscious or fleeing in pain. Knocking their numbers down to at least fourteen.

Unfortunately, he was caught off guard by one of the many foes. Aura sensing the rear attacker just barely in time to pivot on the ball of his foot and raise his staff in defense, however his poor timing left him unprepared as the lunging Ariados struck the energy staff directly with its Shadow Sneak, applying enough force to not only knock Aura off his feet, but also snapping the rod in half and making contact with the Guardian's chest.

Aura let out a cry of pain as he flew back into the crowd of bugs, being forced to relinquish his now broken staff in exchange for a translucent barrier as he was quickly overrun by the swarm scurrying over his protective dome and striking it viciously to break through.

As things seemed bleak for Aura, he was given a moment to breath as the Ariados all paused and looked towards the wriggling mass of web that contained the Lucario. A crackling sound and column of smoke emerged from the mass, only for it to become engulfed by flames in an instant with Prince immediately leaping from the blaze with his legs coated in raging fire. He swiftly landed inches from his trainer's barrier and sent all of the Ariados flying back from the force of the strike, his bone staff firmly held in his paws while he gazed over the dwindling numbers of the swarm.

The barrier vanished from around Aura as he quickly got to his feet, "Thanks, that was way too fucking close!" Aura panted, flicking his hands to now summon his twin blades instead of a staff. "I didn't want to resort to this, but a simple staff isn't doing it anymore."

"I agree, Master Aura. We're fighting for our very lives." Prince affirmed, backing up slowly as the remaining seven Ariados closed in. One of the Ariados suddenly unleashed another furious Poison Sting at the duo, Aura raising a barrier to deflect the attack while another one spat up a Sludge Bomb, Prince smashing it with his bone and splattering the poisonous gunk across the ground.

Even though they were still outnumbered, the leader of the swarm clearly saw they had little chance of claiming victory against the pair, but he still refused to accept that and hissed more intensely than before. He leered at Aura, his eyes practically glowing with rage. "You're really pissing me off, human!" Looking to its followers, the Ariados let out a buzzing noise with the others nodding in understanding. All of a sudden the six other Ariados focused on Prince and immediately sprayed him with thick coatings of silky webbing.

"Prince!" Aura quickly turned to slice through the webs with his sword, but the leading Ariados instantly intercepted his attack with a Sucker Punch, knocking Aura to his back while the other six continued to pile on layers of web.

"It's just you and me now, human." Ariados lunged forward with his foreleg glowing dark purple. Aura acted fast and caught it's leg with his swords, leaving a crack in the spider's exoskeleton and forcing it to jump back.

"I don't know what we did to piss you off! But I don't want to kill you or any of your swarm! So just leave us alone!" Aura pleaded.

The Ariados looked at its faintly damaged leg and scowled, "If you can even understand us! Your pathetic pet triggered one of our traps, so we're here to collect our lunch!"

Aura jumped up fast and hastily fired an Aura Sphere in Prince's direction, blowing up the ground and halting the jackal from being coated any more. The cocoon shook violently before it erupted into another ball of fire with Prince swiftly leaping from the blaze, encasing his paws in the silver aura of his Metal Claw and slashing down at one of the Ariados, piercing the side of its abdomen with dark blood pouring from the wound. The bug let out a screech of pain and immediately fled the moment Prince removed his claws. One of the other Ariados running after it and out of sight.

Prince looked at his claws and saw the blood, whipping the crimson liquid off as they vanished. Thankfully he was able to avoid any of the spider's vital organs so he wouldn't have to worry about it dying any time soon. Now only four of the bugs remained, excluding the leader whom seethed with rage from watching his swarm's numbers dwindling heavily. The appendages on his back began vibrating intensely as he gave an order to his few remaining followers. "Tie up that damned mutt already! And make sure he cannot escape again! I'll handle the human!"

Hearing their plan, Prince attempted to get away, but he was instantly snared by four strategically aimed lines of thread. One around each of his forearms, one around his neck, and the last one around his torso. All he could do was let out a muffled and painful "Ack!" as he was yanked backwards and thrown into a large tree, to which he was swiftly and skillfully tied to with layers upon layers of strong threads, the jackal unable to do anything as he desperately gasped for air. Not even the flames from his Blaze Kick or his Metal Claw could reach the silk to set him free. Sadly this left Aura to fight all on his own.

"Now that we won't be interrupted! Time to end this!" Stepping back, the Ariados spat a barrage of tiny needles at Aura. The Guardian just barely managing to throw up his shield before any could actually strike him. However just as the Pin Missile ended, Ariados' eyes flashed purple as a black shadow shot forth along the ground in an instant, stopping behind Aura and rising from the earth to strike him from behind. Aura let out a cry of pain as the shield shattered from Aura crashing through it and falling to the dirt.

Aura pushed himself up just to see one of the smaller Ariados rushing towards him with their forelegs glowing purple. He quickly whipped his hand in their direction and summoned a dome around the charging spider, halting it in its tracks as it bounced off the wall. Hearing a screech, Aura quickly lifted his other hand to form a second barrier around himself to intercept a second Poison Jab from the leader, cringing slightly as the spider hung onto the dome and repeatedly bashed into it with a flurry of attacks.

Glancing back to the first Ariados, Aura quickly balled his hand into a fist with the dome instantly compacting into a large explosion, the smoke clearing to reveal the small Ariados fainted with no serious injuries on their body, but from the screech they produced they were certainly in a lot of pain.

With one issue dealt with, Aura pushed both hands against the dome surrounding himself, the translucent blue energy beginning to crack under the pressure until Aura made a last minute decision to break free. With his teeth clenched tightly, Aura motioned his hands as if struggling to slide apart two large stone blocks, only for him to fling his hands from the center to either side of his body and cause the bubble to rapidly push outward, blasting the Ariados back a few yards and giving Aura a chance to actually stand up and re-summon his blades.

The Ariados righted itself in the air and sprayed a line of web from its mouth in Aura's direction. Aura swiftly leaped back a step and watched the thread connect to the ground and the Ariados pulling itself back to the earth. The bug landed with a cloud of dust billowing around it, Ariados lashing out immediately at Aura with it's forelegs glowing purple.

Aura grunted as he deflected the Poison Jabs repeatedly. He could hear his heart pounding against his chest from the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Catching another of the arachnid's attempts to strike him down between his blades, Aura glanced over at Prince struggling to escape, each time he managed to snap one of his bindings it was instantly replaced with a fresh rope of thick webbing.

"Kekekekek! Worried about your pet I see! Well you shouldn't be, as once I'm through with you he won't be far behind!"

Unbeknownst to them all, both Arceus and Diamond had been watching the whole time from the comfort of the lounge. Though Arceus repeatedly spoke against it, Diamond's persistence to view Aura's battle finally convinced the godly being to create a projection between them that showed everything that was occurring.

Diamond cried out "No!" as they watched the Ariados suddenly spray its web on to Aura's face, blinding him as to get some distance before charging in again, successfully striking the Guardian directly with a Sucker Punch to his chest. "Why can't you help?! He might die out there!" Diamond shouted.

Arceus recoiled slightly from the Delphox's outburst, "Calm down, Diamond. Aura and Prince will both be fine."

"But what if they won't be?!" Diamond slammed her hands on the table. Arceus watched her paws ball into fists and lightly tremble in fear.

"Diamond." Arceus gently placed her hand on Diamond's shoulder. "I promise you Aura and Prince will be okay. Even if they can not win on their own, I will not let them perish like this. Aura may not always be able to rely on myself for aid, but I would never let him perish like this."

Diamond looked into Arceus' confident eyes and sighed. "I think I understand. Aura has to learn to do this on his own… But you'll step in if things go bad."

"Exactly. And I am confident Aura will make it through this on his own. Trust me." The two resumed to watch the battle just as Aura fired off an Aura Sphere at the bug. "And from the way I see it, the fight is almost over."

The Ariados flew backwards and slammed against a tree with a loud crunch echoing through the darkened forest. Aura lunged at the Pokemon with his fist glowing with energy. Inches from contact, the Ariados shot a web into the trees and yanked itself from harms way, moments before Aura leaned into his swing and his fist burrowed deep into the trunk of the tree.

Landing with a twisted laugh behind him, the Ariados leaped forward to deliver the final blow to the stuck human, though he was far too overconfident and sure of his victory and in turn he left himself open for Aura to swiftly pivot and lift his leg, forcefully smashing his heel into the side of the Ariados' face and making it screech in pain as it bounced across the ground.

The screech had caught the attention of it's remaining three followers just long enough for Prince to rip apart his arm restraints and cut himself loose with his Metal Claw. The trio of bugs turned around in horror to find their captive had escaped, unable to do anything about it as Prince moved too fast and delivered a final blow to each of the spiders.

The swarm leader struggled to stand up, freezing in place as both Aura and Prince stood above him, leering at him menacingly with a fire in their eyes. With a reluctant scoff, the large bug looked away and spoke with his raspy, pain filled voice. "What are you waiting for? You won so just kill me already!"

Aura glared at the bug and shook his head. "We should end you right here and now. But we aren't going to."

Ariados flinched for a moment and looked at the guardian. The shell over his right eye cracked and miscoloured from the impact of Aura's foot. "You're saying you're going to just let me live?! After all this?!"

Aura and Prince both nodded. "You and your swarm should be grateful of my master's mercy. We are not cold blooded killers; we are protectors, guardians."

Ariados sneered, "You're weak!"

The bug suddenly shrieked as Prince stomped on it's leg. "Master Aura may not want to end your life, but don't test my patience either!"

"Prince, calm down." Aura crouched down and looked at the unconscious Ariados lying all around the clearing. "Listen, I'd rather not kill any of you, I feel bad enough having to hurt you all this much, but you attacked us first." Aura and the Ariados stared at each other. "I know you were just hunting for food, but promise to leave humans and their Pokemon off the menu from now on and you can go free."

"That's not how it works out here in the wild, kid!"

Aura glared at the bug again, "I don't care! I'm trying to keep you safe if anything! I realize how the food chain works, but you're putting yourself in danger by fighting something you can't beat." Aura adamantly rest his hand atop the Pokemon's head, "I know you're not a bad Pokemon, none of you are. You're just doing what your instincts tell you to do." Aura lifted his hand and stood up, "Now hurry and take your friends back to your home and get them treated. I may be making a mistake letting you go so easily, but I trust we have an understanding between us now after that fight."

The Ariados somewhat scowled at the pair, then looked over to the woods as multiple bug Pokemon scurried out and surrounded them. For a moment the large spider seemed unsure, but he pushed himself up and backed away, "Fine! We'll leave you alone for now as payment for your mercy, but this doesn't change anything between us, human!" Looking to his swarm with a nod, the bugs dispersed and began to gather up their fallen allies and carry them off into the woods.

Diamond let out a sigh of relief from seeing the bugs all leave peacefully. "As I told you, Diamond. Aura is capable of protecting himself."

The fox rubbed her neck, "I'm sorry for doubting you, but I just can't stand to lose Aura."

Diamond looked up as Arceus rubbed her shoulder again, "I understand what you mean." Arceus stood up and the projection vanished from sight, "Now, it is time you returned to your slumber, my dear. I will make sure nothing bad happens to any of you."

She nodded silently and yawned, "Thank you, Arceus. Thank you."