Chapter 3

Only you can do this

"How?" Mai weakly asked in my ear. I cried out, shaking my head into her fur. I didn't know what to tell her. She whimpered, the section of my fur that she was resting against was now damp.

I felt like a complete idiot. I grew complacent towards the idea of dying, I actually thought I wouldn't care if I died again. Every strand of fur on my body felt like it was standing on end. My heart was filled with dread. I couldn't stop myself from shaking.

My back claws were digging into the ground to somehow calm myself. I've had opponents out for blood before, but that… monster was something else entirely.

"He was hurting you." she whimpered again,"I-I tried to tackle him, but I was so scared. Then… then…" I squeezed her tighter. "It hurt so much. I could barely see you. Everything faded away and this pressure… It felt like it was tearing me apart. Did I..die?"

I dipped my head, sniffling. I couldn't shake away the image of that Alakazam standing above her crumpled up body. "I died too…" I felt her flinch. "After you. I-I was so furious… I actually evolved. Before I could really attack him, he killed me."

She pulled away from me. She scrunched her face up in thought, her face still damp. "Why are we alive then? How?" Her voice sounding more confused than frightened now.

I rubbed my eyes and tried to calm down. "I'm not sure." I looked at my surroundings. It was noon again. We were all alone next to Lyn's and my grave, like before. "Do you remember anything after..?" I glanced over and noticed the bag she had dropped at the stairs again. "You went out for berries again?"

She turned her head to the bag for a moment. "I… no? After the dying thing happened… I remember being somewhere dark. So dark I couldn't even see my nose. I-I couldn't breathe. My body wouldn't move at all. I tried desperately to reach up and grab my neck, but I couldn't move at all. I was so scared."

She grabbed the fur of her chest. "My lungs were burning. I couldn't breathe at all and my paws got really cold. I started losing feeling in my legs and tail. Then I started coughing and gasping for breath. The bag was already in my mouth and I was on the path below. Even now, I can still almost feel that aching in my chest." She shook her head in disbelief. "I heard you scream, so I ran up here as fast as I could."

I found myself looking over in the direction of the beach. From what I could see, no one was there. Definitely no dead bodies at least. "What is this?" I mumbled to myself, before turning back to Mai. "Have you noticed what time it is?"

She squinted her eyes at me, confused by the question. "Wh-What? It's-" She looked at the sun and froze. "It should be almost night, but it's only midday. What's going on, Ruby?! We die and time skips? We couldn't have just been knocked out."

I shook my head. "I don't think that's exactly it. We were definitely dead. My head was detached from my body…"

"What?!" I flinched as she shouted out. She marched over to me, lifting my head with her paw.

I was embarrassed as my head was now craned upwards, forced to look at the cloudy sky. I felt her move the fur around my neck with her paws. "Y-Yeah. It was after I evolved too, but here I am as a vulpix again. In the same time and place as when I woke up before we went to the guild."

She pulled back again after not finding any wounds or scars. "You... You aren't saying that we somehow got sent back in time, are you? That's insane."

I sighed, nodding. "It is. But, what else could explain what's going on? Considering everything that happened. We should absolutely be dead, but we're not. The day somehow reset itself."

She groaned. "There has to be a better answer. This sort of thing doesn't just happen for no reason!" She covered her face with a paw, thinking for a second before meeting my eyes. "Unless... You are like a hero of time or whatever."

I shook my head. "Lyn and I never got any powers like that, nor any favours from Dialga that I know of. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have died back then."

"But.. You did die before, didn't you? Was it like this?"

I took my time to answer, trying to think. "Mmmm… No." I whined out, upset about how any of this conversation makes sense in the first place. "The time before I met you, time didn't reset. I was sent into the future for some reason. Even the period where I guess I was technically dead was different. My last moments were a little more gruesome this time around, but the moment before I woke up was easier. Not drowning probably helped that."

She shivered, "That was fucking terrifying, though!" She shook her head wildly. "Is that really the afterlife? It can't be…"

"I.. couldn't say. We're alive now, though. Somehow…" I suppressed the urge to tell her about my mirror self. This was hard enough to believe as it was.

That voice… "You can change this. Only you can do this. Please don't give up." was what it said. Was it my other self? The voice itself was unfamiliar. Did someone help us? Who? Why?!

"There's no way this is anything short of legendary intervention!" Mai piped up with a surprising amount of vigor. "Are you sure Dialga doesn't have something to do with this? Most of his power is messing with time, isn't it?"

I sharply inhaled, remembering the only demonstration of power I got from Dialga were kicks to my midsection. "I can't really rule it out, so it's possible. It might explain how I got blasted into the future and how my new partner had her day reset, too. There's still so much missing, though." I groaned at the headache starting to form. "Even if all of this is somehow true, it doesn't make any sense! Why me? Why?!" I screamed out in frustration.

Mai met my questions with an uncomfortable silence, avoiding my gaze. I sighed, dragging a paw down my face.

"You know…" She stepped closer. "If we're the only ones with memory of what happened, or will happen anyway. we can change it. We can avoid dying."

Did she hear the voice, too?

"It's probably best to keep this to ourselves, Mai. As well as my actual identity." I told her, reminding her of when we met the Bisharp.

"Right. Sorry about that." She gave a weak smile. "Wait!" She piped up, hope filling her heart. "Does this mean Hapi is still alive?"

"The Lopunny?" she nodded fervently. "I think she died only a moment before we got there. Otherwise that Alakazam would've probably been long gone. Also, I don't see anyone along the beach right now."

Mai looked over to the shoreline, too. After scanning it with a disturbed expression, she turned back. "So we can save her! We know where it's going to happen, and even when it'll happen! We should warn the guild!" She turned to the stairs, getting ready to run to the guild.

"Hold on, Mai!" I tried to stop her.

"What is it?" She sounded impatient. "We have all we need to save the Guildmaster!"

"What if the guild doesn't believe us? We don't really have any proof. And if we barge in there, saying we died and got shot back into the past. It won't go over very well."

She brought up a paw, as if to counter my point. "If we can't get help, all we have to do is get there before Hapi dies. You and her could beat that Alakazam easily if you teamed up!"

"I'm not sure if that'll be the case." I stretched my legs. "I can't exactly guess how strong 'Hapi' is, but even if she's around my… level, He killed her once already. It might've been by surprise, sure. But even then.. it didn't feel like Alakazam was truly trying against me. He barely used his psychic abilities, and the few others of that evolutionary line I've dealt with in the past relied heavily on their psychic abilities."

I shivered as I recalled his grin while his burned away skin just grew back.
"The way he healed those wounds. It wasn't natural. He cut off my head faster than I could process what was happening. We can't assume that our deaths will reset the day again either."

"W-We still have to try.." Mai was obviously disheartened by what I said.

"We will." I assured her. "We just need a plan. Getting help from the guild comes first, though. We have to think of something that they'd believe." I walked after her, now going down the stairs."

"Should we really be taking our time like this? We should run as fast as we can!" She impatiently whined. She looked very antsy, and she had plenty of reason to be.

"Normally I would, but we can't exhaust ourselves. Also we don't want to rush on the off chance we somehow run into that monster early." I tried to hide the fact that I was worried.

Even with help could we win this? If all we had to do was survive, then we could just avoid the beach, but then the Lopunny would die. Mai seems close to her, I don't think I could convince myself to not try to to save her anyways.

Mai huffed as she took her place by my side, matching my stride. "I guess you're right." Her hackles were still slightly raised, but she had calmed down considerably. She mumbled, "You're sounding more and more like a hero who defeated a legendary now."

My face grew hot and my tails meekly wagged. I looked away, pretending I hadn't heard. "Do you know how strong the Guild members are? A majority of our Guild members were novices and in training. Not many of them were a level over twenty. Other than Lyn, Wigglytuff, and Chatot, I guess." It didn't help that Lyn and I took almost every mission for ourselves.

"I couldn't really tell you." She flicked her eyes all around, probably looking for an Alakazam to strike at any moment. "They all keep to themselves. I'd say they're probably not all novices, though. Hapi isn't super patient about weakness. I only know Hapi and that Bisharp because of the few attempts I've made at joining the guild…" Her voice fell quiet and sheepish.

I looked from one building to the next as we passed them. Like last time, not much was happening outside at all. "I was meaning to ask you about that. Is joining the guild really that difficult? How did these mock battle 'tests' with the guildmaster go for you?"

Mai sighed. "It's not like it's impossible. No matter how much it feels that way. You're probably not expected to win, just make a valiant effort or something. After all, guild members have to start somewhere. They don't jump right in being as strong as the guild leader."

She groaned as she looked at the sky. "I've attempted joining the guild a few times, each time with a different partner. You actually don't need to join with someone else, I just didn't have the heart to face her alone. I think Hapi could tell. Looking back, it's pretty embarrassing how I'd blindly attack her and almost forget about the fact that I had someone fighting with me. After all, nothing helps show you all your mistakes as much as giving up on your dreams does."

"Who were the other partners? Friends?"

"Hmph…" She sighed even harder than before, watching her paws as she kept pace with me. "I doubt they'd use that word anywhere around me."

I walked closer to her. "What do you mean?"

"Would you call someone who used you a friend?" My step faltered, surprised by the question. She still refused to look at me.

"I-I see. So when the Bisharp from before asked if you tortured another male to join you…" I trailed off, uncertain of how to continue.

"I just don't get along with males very much." She sped up her trot, now slightly ahead of me. "I've always been a little..obsessed about joining the Guild. Because of that, I never really got along with other pokemon my age. The males were the worst, though."

Her tail was twitching with agitation. "Almost all of them were more interested in getting some tail than being friends. Some were much older than me, too. So I sorta gave them a deal."

I watched her with concern as I sped up to her side. "Please tell me you didn't let them-"

"No, no!" Mai shook her head with a stifled laugh. "I never planned on letting any of them actually do anything with me. I only promised them a date. I always planned to drop them right after I got into the Guild. Hapi would take us on each and every time. I think she just enjoys fighting, even though the battles were so one-sided."

She chuckled darkly, thinking back on those not very pleasant memories. "I always blamed them, even screamed at them. The last time was the worst. I did something awful… If everyone didn't hate me before that, they certainly did after." Her tail dropped, now being dragged against the ground.

Did I push this too far? "It can't have been that bad.."

"It really was. It's my fault he's dead now." I flinched at how calmly she told me this.

"Oh." I hoped that she would elaborate, but she stayed quiet. We stopped near the middle of the opening that the guild was in.

"Well we're here. What's the plan?" She finally looked at me again with a frown, sadness still reminiscent in her pale blue eyes.

I mentally berated myself as I realised I completely forgot to think of a plan. "Ah, right… hold on." I clenched my eyes closed trying to think. My paw rested against my forehead, as if I was trying to push an idea into my head.

What do we even tell them? We could just lie and say there's someone hurt on the beach or something. Suspicious people walking around? Their mission boards are literally full of missions, what if he just writes it out and sticks it to the board?

How much time do we even have left? We spent about the same amount of time eating that we spent being freaked out this time around. We talked to the Bisharp… then the bank and the walk home. With that we were too late to save the Lopunny. Oh god, I'm wasting time just thinking, why on earth did I only walk here? We're low on time and I have no idea what to do! What would Lyn do?!

My breathing grew erratic as I began to panic. Realising that I was panicking made me panic more. Something cold pressed onto my nose and I jumped, gasping. Mai's face was right in front of my own. "Ya alright?" She asked, pulling her nose away from mine. "You look like you're freaking out a bit."

I stepped back to get some space. "S-Sorry… Just trying to think."

She frowned. "Well, we don't really have time for that. So, we're going to have to wing it." She spun on her front legs and pranced to the door of the guild, swinging it open.

"Wait! Mai!" I chased after her. We ran inside, stopping at the desk the bisharp sat in.

Like before, he glanced up to us, before slowly setting his pen down in the crook of his book. "Welcome back, Mai. You haven't tor-"

"No time, Jeremiah!" Mai shouted, interrupting him. "You've gotta get the guild members and send them to the beach! There's an Alakazam and he-"

"Woah woah!" This time, Jeremiah interrupted. "Slow down, Mai. Panic isn't going to help anyone."

She huffed in response, looking annoyed. "You don't understand. We're running out of time."

"Yes, I heard you the first time." He pulled out a sheet of paper. "Now, if you have a mission for the guild, you're going to have to take one of these and fill it out. I'll try to get someone on it tomorrow if possible."

I shook my head. "It'd be months before someone got to it, this is an emergency, sir." He looked at me with intense curiosity. I felt like his eyes were burning a hole into me, I wanted nothing more than to leave, just like last time. "Lives are at stake. An Alakazam is going to kill someone very soon."

"This is a very serious accusation." It was difficult to read his expression, his eyes only showed that he was probably glaring at me. "The only Alakazam within miles of here is our esteemed guest. He's a very important pokemon from the east. You can't expect me to believe this. Who's he even going to kill?"

"It's Hapi!" Mai screamed before I could stop her.

His glare moved to her and was now much more fierce. "How do you know that our guildmaster was contracted by him to escort him through drenched bluffs? He paid extra to keep this under wraps. I've got half a mind to turn you two over to the police for snooping and such outlandish accusations!" He scoffed. "The mistress killed by a pokemon who couldn't even go through drenched bluffs alone? Ridiculous."

"Please…" I pushed down my pride. "Listen to us, she's in danger." I stifled a whine as he looked back, reading my distressed face.

His eyes softened. "Look, even if someone was in danger... Half of the guild is on an expedition to the north for another escort. The ones still here already took their mission for the day and are at least an hours walk from here, if not more."

He groaned, closing the book in front of him and standing up. He walked over to a portrait I hadn't noticed before. A very well done painting of a Lopunny with an annoyed look on her face was hung behind Jeremiah's desk. "You should have faith in the mistress. She's quite strong, that I can assure you of. Not that I believe you about Alakazam of all people even considering attacking her."

"How about you?" Mai asked, her voice desperate. We really were running out of options as well as time.

He didn't turn from the portrait. "Someone must remain at the guild at all times. So, I'm sorry, I must decline."

"Damnit!" Mai shouted as she ran outside.

I started to follow after her, trying to think of a new plan. The bisharp called out to me right as I left. "I assure you, the mistress is no pushover." I met Mai outside and she was fuming.

"Pompous prick." She spat out with venom. "What do we do now? We need to hurry."

I bit my tongue again, the habit making my tongue worse for wear. "Just the guildmaster's help will have to do. Mai, would you be alright staying here and waiting for me?"

"What? No! I'm not just going to let you and Hapi fight some crazy murderer without at least trying to help!" I looked around, glad there still wasn't anybody out to hear her scream about murderers.

"Mai, It's dangerous. I don't know if-"

"Actually… I have an idea." A mischievous grin overtook her face as she headed back into the guild. "Wait here."

I sighed. I should just go on without her… I don't think I can protect her, not from that monster. She said she had a plan? If the guildmaster wasn't already dead, she will be very soon. I nervously padded around in a circle, waiting.

I was cut out of my thoughts by a loud boom. I raised my hackles, facing the door in fear of some kind of attack.

"Time to go!" Mai screamed around a book in her mouth as she ran out the doors of the Guild. She ran past me and beckoned me to follow. The doors were thrown open again, the Bisharp blasted through. I quickly ran after Mai after seeing the rage in his eyes.

"What did you do?!" I screamed after her. I glanced back, seeing the Bisharp sprinting comically like a human. His back completely straight and his arms swinging back and forth. Fear of his rage outweighed any humour.

"Get back here, you heathen!" he howled.

Mai gasped for air as she kept running. "I blew up that dumb painting and took his book!" My heart sped up as I saw he was gaining on us.

"Go faster!" We sprinted towards the beach. The fur of my neck raised. "Dodge!" We both jumped aside as a huge explosion separated us. He charged up another hyper beam, ready to blast us away. "It was just a painting!" I used a confuse ray on him as I kept running, hoping it'd take. The hyper beam was shot into the air above us and I sighed in relief.

"Halt! You heathens!" He commanded. "If you continue running away with Guild property, you will be arrested!"

"Guild property? I thought it was your diary or something!" Mai screamed back.

We continued running for a while until we reached the beach. Mai and I skidded to a stop and gasped for breath. Right as he reached us, Jeremiah kicked Mai a few feet away into the sand. He started towards her again before glancing forward and stopping.

At the edge of the water stood a Lopunny. She was looking out into the distance, holding something in her hands. The Alakazam was a short distance from her. She suddenly started swaying as if struck by vertigo and he teleported behind her. Mai shakely stood up from where she landed and I started running towards them. "Hapi!" The eevee screamed. "Behind you!"

The Lopunny glanced back shakily. "Mai?" Seeing the Alakazam right behind her made her jump. He suddenly looked panicked. His arm shot up as he attacked her. She fell back, dodging him. Right as her paws hit the sand behind her, she kicked him in the chin and knocked him back. By doing so, she put some space between herself and him.

"What's the meaning of this?!" She glared at him, clapping her hands onto her face to shake off the dizziness.

I reached them and stood by Hapi with my hackles raised and teeth bared. Jeremiah took Hapi's other side shortly after. Alakazam glanced between each of us. "You have no idea how many confuse rays it took to manage that! Such a wonderful opportunity.. wasted." He grinded his teeth in frustration. "No matter, this'll just make things more interesting." He shot off an instant lightning bolt, striking Jeremiah who screamed in pain.

I blasted him with a flamethrower and he gasped, the smell of burning flesh filled the air. He grinned as he stepped closer. I growled angrily as I focused on making my attack hotter. He stumbled and Hapi shrieked at him, using hyper voice and blasted him away. She dashed forward and pushed her foot into the Alakazam's neck. "What the hell is going on?!" She screamed at him. "You just tried to fucking kill me!"

He chuckled, as if unbothered by her trying to choke him. "Why yes, I did. I'm glad you noticed. Only been trying to do it since we first entered the bluffs, but you never dropped your guard. Not till I brought up that foolish Lucario."

She snarled at him. "You used my dad against me? Was everything you said a lie?!" She pushed harder against his throat. "Why?!"

He merely rolled his eyes. "Morality is a boring subject. I prefer a more physical kind of approach." He disappeared from beneath her. She just barely rolled out of the way as a lightning bolt struck the earth. Jeremiah started to charge up another hyper beam and I used a fire blast where he was going to land.

He teleported again and I cursed. I felt that familiar foreboding and jumped forward, just barely dodging a shadow ball from behind. With a roar, Jeremiah's attack ripped through the air and collided with the Alakazam.

"Arceus fuck, Jeremiah!" The Guildmaster retched at the sight.

"Any attempt at the Guildmaster's life shall be met with the same level of bloodlust." was all he replied with.

The Alakazam's left arm and shoulder were completely gone, and blood sputtered out from every bit that didn't immediately get cauterized. After a gurgling cough, he laughed harder as, just like the time I cut his arm off, a new one grew back in its place.

How much of this can he handle?! He's not invincible is he?

"What the fuck?!" Hapi screamed. I got ready for his next attack, trying to build up flame in my chest. He teleported away again before appearing above the Bisharp With a focus blast swallowing his fist, he thrust it down upon the dark type's head and the clang of metal rang out as his top half crashed into the ground before the rest of him.

"One down." He announced as he walked towards me calmly. I knew exactly what he'd do so I got a fire blast ready. As soon as I saw him disappear I flicked my head around and launched it. He groaned as he was hit in the chest and thrown back again.

"You…" He pulled himself up, his creepy-ass smile still as present as ever. "Your fire is absolutely frighteningly bright! Who are you?" I growled, not bothering to answer. "I thought I imagined it, but you're actually hurting me. This pain…" He rolled his neck, two shadow balls appearing in his hands. "You have no idea how much it excites me." Right before he could throw his attack, Hapi's knee collided with the side of his face and knocked him down into the sand.

"Who sent you?!" She shrieked at him in a hyper voice.

He teleported away from her. "Another siren that just has to be the center of attention." He shook his head, as if to scold her. "Sorry, my dear. Someone else has piqued my interest. So lucky day! You get to go ahead and die." A much larger amount of electric energy flared up around him as he got ready to strike Hapi down.

"Stop!" A shadow ball hit the back of his head and he released the energy, slowly turning to the Eevee that threw the attack. My heart dropped as I remembered what happened last time. I dashed toward Mai with every bit of speed I could muster.

"What was that pitiful thing?" He asked before disappearing again, making my fear a reality. His figure now standing above the doomed Eevee. "It certainly wasn't an attack, you irrelevant twat!" He grabbed for her.

"Mai!" My legs burned as my quick attack suddenly propelled me even faster. I just barely made it in time, pushing her aside and he grabbed me instead.

Clicking his tongue, he pulled me into his elbow, choking me and stopping me from using any fire. "Well then, this works too, I suppose." He turned to Mai and Hapi. "Do anything and I'll rip this one's head off." They both froze, Hapi looked annoyed while Mai was terrified.

I desperately tried to breathe. My pitiful claws did little more than scrape against him. I could only push against him with my legs, quickly finding that he was much stronger than me.

"Ruby!" Mai shouted.

"Ruby, huh? Interesting." He squeezed my neck tighter and I could only squeak in fear. He turned to Hapi. "I'll be making my exit now, Guildmaster. Be a good little girl and stop your Guild's silly attempts at gathering information. We noticed. Don't make me come back and go through with my original plan. Your head on a pike won't look too good next to your father's grave, I assure you."

"Ah!" I cried out as I thwacked his side with an iron tail.

"Gah!" He lost his grip on me and I bit hard on his arm. Right as I bit him, he managed to teleport us. I screamed, seeing that we were both now falling down the side of a cliff.

"Insolent little-!"

I hit him again with my tail, my throat being out of commission. He was now lower than me and we were both falling fast. I recognised the sharp rocks we were heading for as those right behind the cliff my grave stood on. Now we were free falling to our deaths, with him falling back first and me only a few feet above him.

Thinking quickly, I used disable on the Alakazam. His eyes widened as he realised what I did. "I hope you die!" I tried to scream, but my throat injury and the roaring winds drowned it out.

"INSOLENT BITCH!" He raised an arm towards the cliff and threw it to the other side. A massive rock dislodged from the stony wall and immediately hit me in the side before I could react and threw me far into the ocean. Everything went dark before I even hit the water.

I gasped as I came to. Everything felt heavy and painful. I glanced around, finding myself in an actual bed. Confusion hit me harder as I saw that the floor was tile and that there was a mirror facing me. Moonlight peered through the small window to my right. I was still a vulpix, but I'm in a room that looked eerily like a human's would.

I died again? No.. This is different.

I tried to pull myself up, being hit with a sharp pain in my ribs.

"Ruby!" I jumped in fear, having not noticed the chair next to my bed that Mai was sitting in. She jumped onto the bed with me and nuzzled against the top of my head. "I- I didn't think that you'd really make it!"

I tried to pull myself up again, glad to see I wasn't missing any limbs. I definitely cracked a rib or two, though. "Mai, what happened? Where are we?" I stood up, hiding the fact that my chest was writhing with pain.

"We're at the guild, Hapi's room. I should tell her you're awake!"

"No need." The door behind Mai opened to reveal the Lopunny. "I heard you, already. Try bringing it down a notch." Her face was significantly less annoyed than last I saw her. Now sporting an indifferent expression.

"S-Sorry." The eevee pulled away from me, sitting near the edge of the bed.

"I'm surprised you can actually stand, fox. I figured you would be out of commission for at least a week. As for what happened, we were hoping you'd fill us in." The bunny pokemon stepped into the room, before sitting down in the now unoccupied chair with her legs crossed.

Mai piped up. "You bit the Alakazam guy and then the both of you disappeared!" She started to quiet down as Hapi glared at her. "Then… Then we heard a scream and saw you fly out into the ocean. The only reason we managed to save you was because Hapi is such a good swimmer."

"I just barely made it." Hapi regarded me, holding her head up with a paw. "If I was even a little slower, you'd be karp food. I'm not the one you should really thank though. Mai's the one that got you breathing again, I really only moved your soon-to-be corpse."

"Th-Thank you, Mai." My voice was absolutely ragged. I rubbed my neck as if to try and soothe it. She stared at her paws. What little I could see of her face turned red through her fur.

"It's nothing." she whispered.

Hapi brought her paws behind her head. "I wouldn't say it's nothing. It was an interesting technique though."

"Huh?" I looked back to Mai and she was even redder than before.

Hapi snapped her fingers, grabbing our attention. "Moving on, after you teleported what happened? Where did the freak go?"

"R-Right." I scratched at my chin. "After I bit him, we were suddenly falling down that cliffside. The one with the graves."

"My father's statue?" She frowned. "So the old Guild's cliff. That place is pretty popular for jumpers." She mused to herself darkly.

I hesitated, but slowly continued. "We were falling fast so I used disable on him."

"Hmph. Serves the bastard right." She interrupted again.

"Before either of us landed, he hit me with a boulder. Then everything went dark."

She nodded with my words, as if she knew what I was going to say already. "With the crazy healing ability he had, it's best to assume that he's still alive. His picture has been added to the wanted list, and I've already sent letters to the other guilds to add his picture as well."

"I see…" I sighed heavily.

Of course he's still alive. It's just my luck that I've been alive for maybe a day and already have an insane and invincible monster wanting my head.

"On to a lighter topic, Mai tells me you two are planning on joining the guild."

I shyly nodded. Mai, having forgotten her embarrassment, padded over the bed to me with her head held up high and proud.

"It's nice to see Mai in such a good mood for once. You, however, I haven't had the chance to meet before. Are you from around here, fox? I haven't seen any vulpix or ninetales in this town for years."

I bit my lip, unsure of what to tell her. I knew the question was coming, but I still wasn't ready. "Err, I never really knew my parents. I mostly lived outside of the town near the mountains." I told her, repeating the same story I told Wigglytuff when I joined them.

"A wild, sentient fox outside of the mystery dungeons named after one of the heroes of time?" She questioned. I cursed under my breath, even more at a loss for words than before.

"It-It's just a coincidence.. I came up with the name after going into a town to the east for supplies."

"Capim?" I shrugged, hoping not knowing the name of the town might help my story. She hummed to herself with a frown. I looked to Mai for help, but she only bit her lip and looked away. "It's not the most creative of names, I'll admit. I've heard many stories about my father's partner, though."

Hapi cocked her head to the side, not entirely convinced. "It's just a tad bit crazy that the first place I meet you is on the beach. Not only that, but many of the things my father used to explain his partner seem to fit you. Soft voice, a constant pout, very bright flames... even the small nick in her left ear…"

I gasped quietly, pulling my ears back. "That's a pretty crazy coincidence."

She pointed right to my eyes. "The craziest part is that you even have the same colour eyes. 'A flickering amber that glowed in the moonlight' my dad would go on and on about it. Amber definitely isn't a common eye colour. It's usually always brown from what I've heard and seen."

There's no way she'll find out like this, right?! Oh god, I'm panicking. If she notices, It'd be a giveaway. A dead giveaway of what? That I'm an undead vulpix from sixty years ago that was an undead human from who knows where?

My voice was getting quieter. "I can't really say whether or not that's true. Like I said, didn't really have any family..."

She quickly shrugged. "Doesn't matter, it's not like you're really her anyways. Even if she somehow survived and they accidentally buried some other Vulpix, she'd be older than some of the elders here in town." I stopped holding my breath in relief. "I'd prefer to have someone in the family to contact if a guild member passes away, but since the both of you don't have any family I'll just have to let it go."

I glanced over to Mai after hearing that. Her expression grew dark and her demeanour changed. "It's getting late.." She suddenly said.

"Right." The Lopunny noticed her behaviour too, but said nothing about it. "Seeing as how you're able to stand, I'd like my bed back. You two can excuse yourselves for the night. In the morning, we can have the Guild entry test. After that I'd like to discuss some more. Namely, how you two even knew that I was going to be attacked."

"We can stay at my den for the night, Ruby." Mai jumped down from her seat and waited for me by the door. I gritted my teeth in pain as I jumped from the bed and met her.

Hapi flopped onto the bed behind us nearly falling asleep immediately. "You did well, for young foxes I mean." Hapi called out after us.

We left her room, finding ourselves on the second floor of the guild. We made our way down, seeing no Bisharp at the front desk. We exited the building and made the same exact walk we've done four times now. Mai stayed ahead of me and was eerily silent. I felt like I had an idea why, but I was worried that bringing it up would make things worse.

My muscles were aching with each step I took. It's been a very long day. My exhaustion creeping up on me, I felt like I could pass out while walking at this point.

Trying to keep myself awake, I got Mai's attention."Hey Mai?" She turned slightly towards me, but stayed ahead. "What happened to Jeremiah? Is he okay?"

She sighed. "He's alive. Just miffed about his helmet being almost completely smashed. He's been complaining to the Medic at the Guild about how he was knocked out right where his mistress could see."

"That's good…" I tried to pick my words carefully. "Also, about what Hapi sai-"

"You want to know why Hapi said I had no family after I mentioned my mother, right?" Mai suddenly asked, beating me to the punch.

"You don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable."

She nodded solemnly as we finally reached an empty beach. "It's fine, I was going to tell you before all this shit happened anyways. When I said that I wanted to tell my mother... I didn't mean it in the way you probably thought. It's my own fault for saying it the way I did. It just still hurts saying it out loud." Once we reached her den, I realised what she meant.

Right by the entrance to the den was a small, but very noticeable grave. She exhaled as she sat in front of the grave, facing away from me. "This is my mother's grave. She passed away a few years ago, she was sick."

"Oh…" I walked up to her and sat by her side, bowing my head a bit in respect.

"It's silly isn't it?" I glanced over, confused. Her eyes were watering as she continued. "Nearly four years and I just can't accept her death. I know it's a part of life, I know everyone goes through this one day… She was my best friend, nothing feels the same without her."

I shook my head. "It's not silly. Whether or not it's a part of nature doesn't make it easier. Losing your family… It's awful. Yes it's best to move on, but forcing yourself to do so only makes you bitter. Some people just need more time."

I felt odd telling her all of this. To be honest, everything about my interactions with Mai is odd. I've technically only known her a day, and now I have a good idea of what makes her tick and a good chunk of her life in general.

Is it really my place to comfort her like this? Everything is moving so fast. I'm almost afraid of if it keeps going like this. Do I really know her as much as I think I do, though? I feel like I can at least trust her. She's my partner now.

"I know I joke about flirting or whatever, but I really respect you. I never want to overstep anything. It… It hasn't been that long I know, but I want to ask you. Are we friends, Ruby? I won't get upset if you say no." She looked into my eyes, now freely crying.

She must've been thinking something similar to me. Like I could actually say no to her like this anyway.

I felt a pit in my stomach as I nodded. I refused to let myself cry right now. "You're my friend Mai. I promise."

"Thank you." she weakly replied. She rubbed her eyes and tried to get a hold of herself. "Would you mind if I introduced you?" She choked up a little and hiccuped.

I glanced at the blank stone marked grave."Sure, go ahead." I dipped my head in respect.

"Hi mom." She started quietly. "Sorry I took so long. I met a new friend… This is Ruby."

A/N: Sorry for the late update, my dear 18 followers. I would say that it was the world being currently on fire with the Corona virus becoming so prevalent and my job freaking out about it, but honestly that'd be a lie. I lack drive, and motivation is hard to come by for me. I apologise for the early notification on the chapter. I was trying to force myself to get it out there. The only reason I finally got around to fixing this was because of my lovely wife being as supportive as she can. I'll try to be better about this, and hopefully have the next chapter up sooner. Till next time.