- Chapter 6: Advent -
A symphony of noise and light ushered us into a grandiose hall. In its center rose a dramatic statue of an explorer's badge. The jewel in the badge's center featured a seven-point star.
Door lined the sides of the walls, and hallways extended back into the building. A post office, busy with late-evening deliveries, sat to my left. To my right was a lobby of sorts, furnished with tables and chairs. Brilliant torches illuminated everything. A crowd of pokémon swarmed about the hall, many toting stacks of papers.
"Welcome to Ironfist Guild," a voice said above me, "and welcome back, Ray." A beheeyem floated down in front of us and bowed. "My name is Walter, and I am the gatekeeper here."
"Nice to meet you, Walter. Why do you sound so different?" I asked. I stored away the knowledge that the gatekeeper knew Ray.
Though his face bore no mouth, I could sense that he was smiling. "That is simply a trick of the trade, Miss Mona," he said. Before I could ask him how he knew my name, he continued, "I am required to perform a surface-level examination of your mind to discern your identity."
The way he stated that so matter-of-factly disturbed me. He's just allowed to invade my mind? How is that even legal? I thought. Back at home, the psychic pokémon in Evergreen were bound by law to not enter into other people's minds. The only reason I knew that they had abided by that rule was because my secret had never been brought to light.
Then, I began to panic. Could Walter see deep enough to discover it? If so, would he tell the guildmaster? A guildmaster would never accept a pokémon that could not evolve. I might be doomed from the get-go.
No, no, get it together, Mona. Stop thinking about it! I chastised myself. He could have tuned in to all of that just then. I had to watch what I was thinking when I was around him; the consequences were just too risky.
Eris had introduced us while I blanked out. Graciously, Walter pointed out the path to the guildmaster: descend the stairs at the back and go the opposite end of the downstairs hall. After thanking him, he vanished without a trace.
"Some guy," I commented.
Ray grunted. "He's a piece of work. Let's get going."
We soon reached the stairs and began our descent. Fire danced in narrow alcoves on the walls. Smooth stone pressed into the underside of my paws with each step. The gaps between the rough cobblestones on the walls stared at me like empty eye sockets.
As Eris, Ray, and I descended, my thoughts drifted to my journey and life up until this point. I put so much effort just to reach this point. I fought through six years of academic and physical training. I endured countless embarrassing moments at the hands of Lucy and others. I survived a hostile Mystery Dungeon. I came out in mostly one piece after a semi-feral pokémon attack. I lived through a fire in a wooden building to reach this point. All of my effort leads up to today, right here, right now. I can't fail now. I just can't. Not after all I've been through.
The staircase branched to the left and right. Descending to the right, we reached an iron door inscribed with the seven-point-star explorer's badge. The center of the carving slightly depressed into the wall. When I tried to push it open, the door did not budge.
"What's going on? Why is it not opening?" I asked aloud, slightly panicking. If we could not get inside the guild, then we could not apply for membership. That would mean no exploration team. I started pawing the door's surface for any hidden handles.
"Move aside."
Ray strode up next to me and reached into the bag loosely tied around his waist. Pulling out his tarnished reserve badge, he fitted it into the depression in the door's center. A white light rippled across the doors' surface. The ripples congregated in the center of the reserve badge, then spread into a thin, vertical line. When the edges of the line touched the floor and the upper doorframe, the door split into two and swung inward on undetectable hinges. Ray grabbed his Badge before it hit the floor.
"Here we are: the guild proper," Ray stated blandly. He strutted through the open doors.
The grandeur before us poorly matched Ray's tone. Reaching from floor to ceiling, red granite columns sparkled in the flickering torchlight from the scones on the walls. A high vaulted ceiling glittered with flecks of quartz and clear crystal. Smooth black stone comprised the floor. Despite being encased like in a tomb, a pleasant warmth pervaded the atmosphere.
I started to follow Ray, but I noticed that I did not hear Eris's footsteps behind me. I turned around to find that Eris had not moved an inch from the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes were steadily trained at the floor.
"Eris, what's wrong?" I asked concernedly.
She did not look at me. Instead, she grabbed her tail and pulled it close to her. "Are we...really ready for this, Mona?" she asked in a soft tone.
Her question startled me. I did not think she would act like this when she had seemed so excited to form a team minutes earlier. I responded the only way I could: truthfully. "I-I think so. Why do you ask?"
Eris gripped her tail tighter. "It's just... we had this grand idea of coming to Treasure Town and getting a nice job as an exploration team, but...we might be...um...rushing into this?" she finished uncertainly.
I placed a paw on her knee. "Of course we're not rushing. We went to school for this, remember?" I reassured. Honestly, I could not say that I was without a shadow of a doubt, but I knew that my doubt only originated from my nerves.
My mind briefly flashed back to the last time I had to reassure Eris: the school fire. I shivered at the mental image of the raging inferno and of the haunting figure that tried to kill me. I barely managed to shove it to a corner of my mind and refocus on the situation. I had a purpose, too; I would be wise not to forget it.
"Eris, we're going to be fine. Our efforts and dreams are right here, about to be realized. There's no turning back. This is your dream, too. Don't lose sight of it now."
Eris's grip on her tail loosened. "You're right. I'm sorry for getting so worked up," she said.
My paw slid off of her knee. "Don't worry about it. Let's go," I said, gently smiling.
Eris nodded and released her tail. She shakily stood and followed behind me as I strode over to Ray, whose arms were crossed and feet were tapping.
Ray's face was like stone as he said, "Took you long enough. What was that about?"
Anger flared in me at his insensate comment, but I evenly responded, "We're good. Just had a moment. Let's keep going. Where's the guildmaster's room?"
"Down at the end," he said. He pointed over his shoulder without turning his head.
While traversing the hall, Eris exclaimed in surprise and darted over to a section of the wall. Carved in deep lines was a duo of a chikorita and a meowth battling a fearsome dragon pokémon. A giant, flaming rock completely filled the background, and wispy clouds decorated the foreground.
My eyes widened when I recognized the historical meaning behind the artistry. "That's the battle between Rayquaza and Team Azure that helped save the world," I whispered. Ray gazed intently at the painting, remaining silent. I could not ascertain if his expression reflected amazement or apathy. Probably the latter.
A crowd of pokémon milled about the end of the hallway, its noise magnified by the hall's acoustics. Because of the density, we had to forcibly push our way through it. The guild members ignored the three of us as we passed alongside them, but I could sense eyes boring into my back. Those stares painfully reminded me of my days at the school in Oran Forest.
And I won't even be able to remedy that..., I thought dejectedly. No, Mona! Don't go down that line of thought! You've been doing so well lately. Just focus.
I breathed a sigh of relief when we exited the throng. In front of me, an iron-wrought door stood under a sign on the wall that depicted a fin with a jagged back.
Appraising the door, I said, "Impressive. This can't be easy to open."
"Yeah," Eris said without thinking. She seemed caught up in her thoughts.
"Well, let's go in," I said, reaching to knock.
"Wait," Ray said, raising a paw to bar me. I cocked my head at him curiously.
"What is it, Ray?" I asked him.
Still holding out his paw, he responded, "I've been thinking about your offer earlier. I want to accept."
For a second, I did not understand what he meant. Then, I realized that was talking about my offer for him to join our exploration team. "Is that so? You really mean it?" I questioned incredulously.
"Yes," he said, sounding irritated at having to repeat himself. "We seem to work well together. I thought it would be a good idea."
I can't argue with him there, I thought.
"I don't have any objections," I said. "Do you, Eris?"
Eris's mouth opened and closed like a magikarp's. "Ah, uh, well, I…sure? Yeah, sure," she sputtered.
I'll take that as a yes, then, I thought. Smiling at Ray, I said, "Well then, welcome to the team, Ray."
Instead of thanking us, he rapped sharply on the door. "Guildmaster? We're here to apply for guild membership."
I heard the sound of rustling coming from behind the door. "Enter," a gravelly voice commanded. Ray wrapped his paw around the door handle. The muscles in shoulders tightened powerfully as he swung the door open in a single fluid motion.
For all of the rooms I could have entered, the unexpected splendor of guildmaster's room astonished me. Along the walls, trophies hung from nails or laid in glass cases. A tattered cape and a golden scarf were pinned to the wall, and a case next to it held a row of eight trophies. I barely made out the words "Continental All-Types Battling Tournament-1st Place" on the first trophy, and all of the other trophies were the same as the first. A glass chandelier hung from the elevated ceiling, illuminating the wall's bright brown planks.
In the center of the room stood a burly, hardened garchomp. His immense height towered over all three of us. His scaly blue skin, powerful tail, and blade-like wings only added to his menacing image. Golden eyes, despite their brightness, regarded us coldly.
The guildmaster said nothing at first. I felt as if his stare penetrated me, bearing the entirety of me open for him to view. I tried to meet his eyes, but their intensity forced me to look away.
The guilmaster huffed at my inability to look him in the eyes. "So, you're the new batch of whelps, huh?" he stated rhetorically, passing his eyes over us again. When he reached Ray, his eyes narrowed to slits, and the tension in the room rose several notches.
"What are you doing back here?" the guildmaster growled.
Ray, to his credit, did not quail under the guildmaster's unrelenting gaze. "You told me that you wouldn't accept me unless I had at least one more team member. I have two more pokémon with me now. I've fulfilled your requirements, Guildmaster."
I could almost physically see the barbs in Ray's words. The guildmaster perceived them as well, and his face darkened. He crossed his arms over his chest, still not breaking eye contact with Ray. "You have two more pokémon with you; I can see that. But are they your team members?" he asked.
Ray quickly responded, "Yes, they are."
I finally understood Ray's apprehension with coming here. Ironfist was the guild to which he had applied before, apparently, and the guildmaster had denied him entry because Ray was by himself. No wonder he had told us that entering into Ironfist was difficult; he had been denied despite owning a reserve badge.
The guildmaster appeared miffed at his statement. Abruptly shifting the conversation toward me, he asked, "What is your name?"
Keeping calm, I said, "My name is Mona."
"Yours?" the guildmaster asked Eris.
"M-My name's E-Eris," the breloom answered nervously.
"Why have you decided to form an exploration team?" the guildmaster asked us.
I felt fear prick my heart. Don't panic. Don't panic. You know what to say, I encouraged myself. Mustering my courage, I stepped forward. This time, I held eye contact with him, and a wave of adrenaline rushed through me. I lifted my chin high and said, "It's our collective dream to explore the mysteries of the world and discover the secrets it still hides. Alongside exploration, we want to help those who have been lost or are trapped in Mystery Dungeons. To this end, we wished to form an exploration team. In fact, sir, it's a not a decision to form an exploration team: it's a realization of our aspirations."
I thought I saw the guildmaster's mouth twitch in a brief smile of approval, but it vanished as quickly as it came. "A team with a goal doesn't say everything about that team," he said. "How long have you three known—"
The door behind me—or, more accurately, a smaller door that was in the lower half of the big door—suddenly burst open, cutting off the guildmaster's sentence. A small growlithe darted into the room, his red-furred sides heaving.
"Guildmaster Gundabad, sir!" the growlithe gasped, standing to attention while simultaneous straightening the white, dusty cap on his head. "You have a message!"
The guildmaster turned his harsh glare on the growlithe. "This is not the best time, Blaze. What is it?"
Blaze stuttered nervously, "Um, sir, it's a very important message that you have to receive right now!"
The guildmaster uncrossed his arms and said, "Get to the point, Blaze. What is the message?"
The messenger growlithe appeared flustered for a second. "W-well, sir, the message is actually, er, pokémon themselves."
Gundabad sighed angrily. "Blaze. I will not ask again. Tell me the message."
Blaze looked over his shoulder for a second, then nodded. He faced the guildmaster again. "Sir, it's...Team Crescent. They are here to deliver the message themselves since it's critically important," he finished.
The guildmaster's attitude immediately flipped from stern to concerned, completely surprising me. "Get them in here. Now," he ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Blaze responded enthusiastically. He hopped back through the tiny door. After a moment, Team Crescent silently entered into the guildmaster's room. Upon seeing them, I felt my jaw drop off my face.
"Mr. Ace?!" I exclaimed in shock.
Mr. Ace stood before me, Maple and Sculle standing at his sides. Like me, Mr. Ace appeared shocked, but he concealed his emotions much better than I.
"Mona, what are you doing here?" he asked. He sounded almost genuinely curious.
"I'm applying for a guild membership," I responded. I didn't know that Mr. Ace was a part of Ironfist! I thought in astonishment.
However, my surprise morphed into resentment when memories of our previous encounter resurfaced. He had refused to inform me about Shroud and actually insinuated that I would be too emotionally weak to handle it.
Mr. Ace glanced between me, Eris, and Ray. His eyes briefly flickered when he saw me. A palpable tension accrued between us, and I fought the compelling urge to scowl at him. After a moment, he simply slithered past us to the guildmaster.
"Gundabad," he began, "we have urgent news concerning the school fire."
The guildmaster turned his back to them and paced to the back of the room, which had a large, thin mat. He sat down, his back still turned to us. I saw his chest rise and fall, and then he spoke in a harsh tone to us. "You three. Leave. Your ears are not meant for this."
I opened my mouth, but then closed it. I can't argue with a guildmaster, I scolded myself. I'd probably just botch all of our chances of getting into Ironfist. I'd be better if we just left; although, I really want to hear what they're going to talk about...
"Wait," Mr. Ace commanded. I looked up at him, but his attention was directed towards the guildmaster. "Gundabad, the eevee and the breloom should actually stay here. They were witnesses to the school fire," he said.
Intrigued, Gundabad peered at me and Eris. His gaze reappraised us, and I thought I saw some of his hostility fade.
"How coincidental. You two will stay, then," he amended.
Ray spoke up as well. "If they're staying, I'm staying." Nobody argued with him; although, Gundabad did softly sigh.
"Tell me your account. Spare nothing," he said. Accordingly, Eris and I explained to him what happened at the school. I did most of the talking; Eris only pitched in when our perspectives slightly diverged (or, when I let her speak so as to give her a better impression with the guildmaster).
When we finished, Gundabad seemed disturbed by our tale. He paced back and forth near a desk at the back of the room. Each of his heavy steps rattled an ink pot on his desk. His tail nicked a piece of wood off the desk, one of several chips already in the wood.
"Crescent," Gundabad finally said, alluding to Mr. Ace's team's name, "is this true?"
"Yup. He got away before Ace could properly tie him down," Maple, the ambipom, said.
"Any other casualties besides the glaceon?" Gundabad asked.
"No," Sculle said. That was the first time that I had heard him speak. His voice sounded much younger than I had anticipated.
"He's still following his pattern, then," Gundabad mused.
Too curious to hold myself back, I asked, "Excuse me, sir, but what do you mean?"
"This is not the first time he's attacked," Gundabad said. He stopped pacing and faced his back to me. He had forgotten his previous comment about our ears not being worthy enough for this information. "Two months ago, I received a report from one of my exploration teams stationed in Hawthorne's satellite town. A fire had suddenly sprung up in a nearby mining town, destroying all of the month's harvest of coal. A strange, hostile figure appeared when the blaze was at its peak. The figure then killed a golett miner and fled the scene."
The guildmaster began to pace back and forth. "Another three weeks later, a report came in from an exploration team near Happy Outlook. A monastery dedicated to the strict worship of Arceus suddenly collapsed under a rockslide from the cliff above it. Shortly after the dust settled, a cloaked figure revealed itself and murdered a xatu monk. In both incidents, the teams quoted the figure saying, 'This is only the beginning.'"
The guildmaster's pacing increased. "Recently, a handful of my exploration teams have been returning from dungeons in extreme conditions. Some have even been close to dying and could only be saved through the efforts of the local hospitals. I know the mysteriousness levels of each and every dungeon on the job request and outlaw boards. Those dungeons should not have capability of producing enough danger to almost outright kill entire teams of trained, hardened explorers. I purposely make sure that I take in what my members can stomach, not what they can't."
He suddenly froze and turned to observe me and Eris. "Now, you tell me about this figure burning down a school, murdering a glaceon student, and reportedly kidnapping a luxio. I can't make sense of it."
Gundabad smashed a claw into the wall in frustration. I cringed from his sudden display of anger. Eris squealed and ducked behind me.
Gundabad removed his claw from the wall, raining splinters onto the floor below. Behind the hole, I saw a solid stone wall with a sizeable dent in it. My Arceus, I thought, how strong is he?
When Gundabad had collected himself, he asked, "Ace, do you have any other information to report? I need anything that you can give me."
Mr. Ace was silent for a few seconds. Then, he said, "Yes, but it must be discussed in private."
"Very well, then. You three need to leave," the guildmaster stated again. "You've heard enough. Wait outside my door. And if you want to join my guild...don't say anything to anyone about this matter. I don't want wild rumors to start spreading in this guild."
I bowed to him in respect. Eris followed suit. Ray just marched straight to the door and flung it open. As I followed him out of the room, I cocked my head back and saw Team Crescent conversing in low tones with the guildmaster. Mr. Ace gestured to me once, and the guildmaster gave me an appraising look. Eris moved to close the door.
However, before she did, I heard Maple say: "Our findings at the Ruins of Eld were confirmed. Shroud does seem to be active there, but we've barely found anything."
"Nothing? After all these weeks, nothing—"
The door swung fully shut.
They do know something after all, I thought with dark satisfaction. Mr. Ace had been hiding something from me back during the graduation ceremony. Back when Shroud and Mr. Ace fought, they had interacted on a familiar basis. Given what I had heard then and heard now, Team Crescent had obviously been pursuing him for a long time.
I would have to check out those "Ruins of Eld" in a library later.
"So, um...What do we do now?" Eris asked meekly. Ray leaned against a wall near the door.
"We wait for the guildmaster or Team Crescent to come out, I guess," I said. Team Crescent… That name's been tickling me. Team Crescent, Team Crescent…hold on…
"Ray, do you know anything about Team Crescent? I feel like I've heard the name before," I said to Ray.
He moved from leaning against the wall to standing in front of me. "Yeah, I've heard about them," he answered disinterestedly. "From city rumor, they're apparently the first team to have ventured to all parts of Zero Isle and brought back proof of having cleared its Mystery Dungeons."
I felt my jaw drop, and Eris let go of her tail in shock. "Zero Isle?! That's one of the most difficult dungeons on the continent!" I exclaimed.
Ray shrugged indifferently. "It's just a title. They didn't seem that impressive to me." He plopped down onto the floor with a grunt.
Something had been eating me since we first started speaking with the guildmaster. "What's up between you and Gundabad?" I asked as unthreateningly as I possibly could.
Ray made aggressive eye contact with me. "That's none of your business," he said sharply. I internally sighed. I was starting to learn that Ray truly did not like people asking him questions about himself.
However, I did not expect Eris to say what she did next. "Um, Ray, you can talk about it. We're not going to judge you or anything like that. We're only just curious, and we're teammates and all, so..."
I could see Ray's mind rapidly searching for an answer. "Fine, I'll tell you," he said reluctantly, "but it's not much. I just came in one day, looking to form an exploration team by myself, and he," he spat this word, "bluntly said no. Then he just told me to get some teammates or never come back."
Eris and I exchanged glances. I hesitantly said, "That's it? That's all the beef between you two?"
"Yep," he curtly replied, only looking at the floor. I sighed and curled up on the ground. Oh well. At least we made a breakthrough, I dryly remarked to myself.
We sat there next to the guildmaster's door for what felt like hours but was most likely only twenty minutes. We must have looked like delinquents because a slew of suspicious or downright unfriendly stares came our way.
Mild depression settled over me and penetrated my thoughts. I can't ever get away from this. No matter where I go, I always get these stares. They mock me. I bet they're doing it on purpose. Nobody looks at a pokémon like the way they do at me.
I wonder…what is it like to evolve? Is it something painful because your bones are growing and realigning? Is it something powerful because you've got a whole new strength that you've never had before? I hate that I—
I rapidly shook my head. No, I'm doing it again! I need to stop. Pokémon go into depression thinking like this. Just...read. Yes, read.
With that thought, I flipped open my bag, which was lying on the ground, with my nose. My reserve badge clinked onto the ground along with a few poké. I hastily threw the coins back into my bag, then gently set my Badge into a side pocket. I then dug through the main section, selecting my favorite novel, Gilded Tears, by Lucan Lorraine.
I leapt back onto my chair. The chair wobbled under the sudden force, but I steadied it and carefully set my novel onto the table. I respectfully opened the velvet cover and began reading the first chapter.
"I know not of the events of the future, but I know of the happenings of the past. I do not claim to know its entirety. Only Arceus holds that honor. What I write here is a small aspect of the past from my limited pool of knowledge. It is a tale from a time long ago, a time when peace was fleeting, when love was tarnished, and when tears were gilded in blood..."
Every time I read the beginning, I could not help but feel a chill go down my spine. I knew the story by heart, but anticipation never failed to seize me.
Something rustled on my right. I paid it no mind as I was in a reading trance. The rustling sounded again. I still disregarded it. Then, a green hat shoved its way into my field of view.
"Uh...Eris?" I said awkwardly. "You're kind of blocking my view if you don't mind."
Blushing, she quickly retracted her head from its close proximity to the pages. "Sorry," she murmured sheepishly. "I was just curious, that's all..."
A smile crept onto my face. "No, it's fine. If you want to read, too, I won't stop you. It's a great book."
She gave me a small smile and eagerly leaned towards the pages. I read along with her.
"In a small farm out in the wide countryside, a young ralts sung a gentle, sweet song. The words drifted across the farm's meadows and wheat crops. The notes hung in the air as if nature was yearning to hold each note for fear of it slipping away. Of course, all songs had to come to an end, and it was the case with this song. The last lyric danced in the air before the wind whisked it away.
"The ralts felt the joy the song gave her fly away with it, for she only sang the song to conceal the sadness she felt inside of her. Around her, the farm was dying. The grass had wilted away long ago, exposing the dry dirt underneath it. The farmhouse's wood had begun to rot from lack of proper care. The few crops that grew in the pasture bore little fruit. All of this originated from one thing.
"The Eternal War."
Once again, a bright green hat blocked my view of the book. Shaking my head, I pushed the book fully in front of Eris. I could read it another time. Eris did not even register the fact that she had complete control of the book; she kept reading as if nothing had changed.
My means of entertainment gone, I laid my head on my paws. The three of us stayed the way we were—me resting, Ray mussing up his collar fur, and Eris reading my book—until the door swung open.
Team Crescent tromped out of the guildmaster's quarters. Ace and Sculle were engaged in a heated conversation, muttering about supplies. Maple, upon noticing us, said, "The guildmaster's summoned you. Get in there." After a pause, she added with a wink, "He's in a better mood now. He's not so tough once you get to know him. Heh."
She waved daintily as she and her teammates waded through the crowd. When they vanished from sight, the pokémon collectively turned toward us. Uncomfortable with the sudden attention, I hastily whisked inside of the guildmaster's room.
"Finally," Ray said as he trailed in after me.
"You three," Gundabad said. He stood like a statue in the center of the room, his arms crossed, acting as if there had been no interruption. "Team Crescent gave me some interesting information regarding you. I have reconsidered whether or not I should accept you, but first, I want to know more about you. Remind me of your names."
"My name is Mona," I answered automatically.
"My name is Eris," Eris said right after me.
"...You already know my name," Ray grunted.
The guildmaster coughed roughly and gave Ray a hard look.
Ray rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm Ray." He plastered a falsely cheerful smile itself onto his face. I elbowed his waist in response, morphing his smile into a grimace.
"You've already told me why you're here, so let me ask you this: are you willing to become an exploration team together, despite how your personalities are?" Gundabad posed.
His question gave me pause. Admittedly, I felt that we were a merry bunch (cough, cough), but I was pleased with our current state of affairs. We trusted each other; that's what counted. An exploration team is impossible without trust.
"Yes, I am willing," I stated proudly.
"So am I," Eris declared in as proud a voice as she could muster.
"I am, too," Ray said in a proud-ish voice.
"Very well. That's all I need to know. Now, I have made my decision," the guildmaster said. He paused for effect, then declared, "I hereby accept you as members of the Ironfist Guild. What is your team name?"
The sudden euphoria that blanketed me when he said that he would accept us suddenly vanished. Ohhh crap. What was the team name again? Eris and I decided it on the way to Treasure Town. It was… It was…that!
During our long travel to Treasure Town, Eris and I had debated for a long time over what our exploration team's name should be. We had bounced name after name off of each other until we settled on a name that had satisfied both of us.
I quietly whispered the name to Ray, who said, "Really?"
"You got any better name?" I replied.
He paused for a moment, then snorted and rolled his eyes in sarcastic concession.
Satisfied, I lifted my head up high. "Our team name will be Team Advent," I uttered.
The guildmaster stared at me long and hard for several seconds, making me squirm uncomfortably. "Interesting name...," he thought aloud.
He turned his back to me, almost striking me with his tail. He strode over to his desk and levitated a nearby Levi-pen over a piece of paper beside the mat. After deftly jotting down several lines of script, he set down the pen and bent over a section of the wall. I could not see what he was doing, but he returned to us moments later with a small bag mysteriously in his claws.
"While you are still officially not an exploration team until this continent's HAPPI branch confirms your registration, you hold all of the rights and permits as if you were an exploration team. Here's your treasure bag," he explained, tossing the bag down at my feet.
I was paralyzed; I could not believe it. Here I was, actually having formed an exploration team. I did it. I actually did it! I'm in an exploration team!
I gingerly slid my current bag off my shoulder and reverently slipped the new one onto it. My internal excitement rose several notches.
"Open the bag," Gundabad commanded.
Since I already had the bag on my shoulders, Eris stooped down and lifted the bag's leather flap. She reached inside the bag and miraculously fit her entire forearm into it. Her eyes widened in shock, and she quickly yanked her hand out of the bag.
The guildmaster laughed at the sight. "You haven't seen a treasure bag before, have you? They're enchanted," the word oddly dropped off his lips, "to contain more room than they should. It allows an explorer to hold more items that a properly dimensioned bag would. Now, reach in there again."
Eris looked between the guildmaster and the bag. She gulped, then lifted the flap and reached into the bag again. She flinched as her wrist and forearm disappeared into the bag's magically expanded interior. I heard her hand brush against a cluster of objects. She quickly retracted her arm, which held a myriad of items, and closed shut the bag.
I observed each item as the laid them out onto the floor: several explorer's badges, a map, a power band, a defense scarf, and a detect band.
"You've had the proper schooling; I don't need to tell you what these scarves do. The map is…enchantedto give you all the locations of all the known dungeons on , you should know this: these explorer's badges carry the weight of our guild with them. If you dishonor yourselves while wearing these badges, you dishonor the whole guild. Do not disappoint," Gundabad said gravely.
Ray immediately reached past me and yanked up the power band. "I should get this one for obvious reasons," he stated airily as he tied the band to his wrist.
I reached forward to take second pick, but I halted my forepaw and stepped back. "Eris, you get second pick," I offered humbly.
Eris seemed shocked and hastily tried to get me to pick one. I denied her attempts and gestured towards the remaining band and scarf. She gave me one final glance, then silently picked up the defense scarf.
Her choice left me with the detect band, which I was going to select anyway. Due to my lack of necessary flexibility, Eris had to tie it around my neck for me, though she had difficulty since she lacked opposable thumbs.
She finished tying it, and I felt a sense of power flow through me. My muscles seemed lighter and more responsive. I felt like I could dodge anything coming my way. So, this is the evasive power of the Detect Band,I mused.
"Team Advent," Gundabad said, using our new team name, "you have reached a point in your lives where a new chapter begins. Challenges you have never faced before will stand before you, and it is up to you whether or not you will fight to overcome them. Are you prepared to accept this?"
I knew the answer before his question even finished crossing his lips. "Yes, we are ready," I said.
A ghost of a smile touched Gundabad's lips. "Then welcome to the world of exploration, Team Advent."
After congratulating us, the guildmaster gave us a slip of paper and told us to bring it told an altaria named Alice, who was the guild's head secretary. She would give us our room assignment. Her office was located to the right of the stairs on the ground floor, down a hallway, and back of the first room on the right in that hallway.
The altaria had been busy writing in a ledger when we burst in. After handing her our slip, she hastily skimmed through a massive filing cabinet and pulled out a key from one of the folders. She told us our room number was 415 in the member's hall on the floor below, then promptly shooed us out.
Ray told me and Eris that he had to return to his old hideout to grab his stuff. He rebuffed our offer to help him, instead taking the treasure bag. Brusquely saying that he would be back within the hour, he jogged down the street. I half-hoped the dewott would come back just so they could smack him.
Eris and I decided to find our room and wait for Ray to return. Downstairs, the member's hall was much less stately than the Grand Hall, but tall columns still stretched from floor to ceiling. Several floors opened into the hall on the left side, each complete with long balconies. Stone stairs connected each level of rooms.
We climbed up four flights of stairs, me having to awkwardly leap up each step since my legs were too small for them. As such, by the time we reached door number fifteen on floor number four, my legs were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.
Eris pushed open the handle-less door to the cozy room. While it had no fireplace like Ray's hideout, it did contain a large cabinet, a circular table with three chairs, and three beds made of straw that were covered in fabric.
True to his word, Ray soon returned, carrying trinkets in his arms. The treasure bag bulged as if threatening to burst. Quickly relieving himself of trinkets by placing them on the table, he dumped the entirety of the contents in the treasure bag on the floor.
"Really, Ray?" I groaned. My inner peace with the orderliness of the room corrupted into turmoil.
"What? We're going to get it sorted," he said.
"But did you have to dump it all over the ground?"
"It's not like I was going to dump it on the bed or the table. I'm going to get it cleaned up."
Typical guys.
Luckily for him, I was too tired to care much about it. Muttering that we could deal with it in the morning, I curled up onto the middle bed and sighed in pleasure. The fabric bed sheet prevented the firm ends of the straw from poking into me while still allowing me to comfortably settle myself on the bed. Eris shoved a few of Ray's things off to the side before settled next to me.
My Arceus. We've done it, I thought. This is…crazy. I can't believe this hasn't hit me yet. I'm an explorer now. I'm an explorer now! Holy crap!
Despite my excitement, I had only lain on the bed for a few minutes before I drifted into the realm of sleep.
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