That was nice. If they did get closer to me through that then that was only a second plus, it was supposed to be the main goal but… I got carried away. They remind me so much of him. I know they're not though. But just for a few moments it felt like I was talking to him again.

Canaan… I want to be with you again. I want so much for both of us. But I never gave you enough when you gave me everything you can.

Episode Three Part Four

Two Hearts Beating On Separate Rhythms

Memories, feelings, regrets of Canaan wafted through the air like the thick scent of incense in Aaron's mind. It was easily ignored when he had something else to do or a thought to be had but it was always there in the background. No matter what he did Aaron still had the aftertaste of the unshown love kept in the back of his throat from a sweet dessert that was never savored. And when he was left alone to his thoughts they would always barge in, and now? Right now the distant traces of love were like a sickeningly sweet perfume that intoxicated his mind.

Chimera reminded him so much of Canaan. Canaan was a bit of a sweet dork. It was charming. He was always so kind and considerate; it was the main reason he wanted to join Aaron. But he was never sure of himself, still he worked hard to do well for the place he loved so much.

Aaron looked up from the floor and looked at Chimera. They were talking to Charizard and Jezebel.

"Yeah sure, take the big ass room," Charizard said. Aaron didn't really listen to all of them while he was thinking. He just kind of spaced out. Charizard must've been talking about Chimera wanting a room next to Aaron's.

"Thank you very much." Chimera thanked Charizard with a thankful smile.

Chimera didn't seem awfully confident. They were a ball of nerves that would break in a single touch. But only a moment earlier a laugh filled the area from stupid puns. They were so happy from just a small instance of a genuine conversation. Which is… ironic even if Aaron didn't fully believe he did it just because of the job. They weren't a full on pity party to Aaron. They were something else and what they were was an enigma. Not because they looked strange, but because he didn't know who they were to him now.

Aaron held Canaan close to his heart. He felt like everything to him. To see him gone was like a part of himself to be torn out of his body only, and to have a walking reminder of him to be, from what he can foretell, his almost daily life? It's going to be weird.

Aaron stood up from the wall. He wanted to stay to the side to try to collect himself but now that he actually thought about any of this he's only now more confused.

With quick steps he came towards the group. But with each one it felt like they were being weighed down even if the pace was the same. He wasn't sure why.

Chimera turned their head around hearing the footsteps from Aaron, "Oh, hello!" They said with a confused smile.

"What's with the face?" Aaron asked.

"I-it kind of hurts that now you're just making a random comment about how I- oh, um, wait! Nevermind, sorry. It was just that you said you would stay back there but you came back after a minute."

"Well…" Yeah that really does sound weird. "Uh, I was going to come up with some kind of excuse but I got nothing."

Charizard looked disappointed, "Just really laying it all out there, eh?"

"Yes I am."

"Wow, no shame."

"So what are you talking about?" Aaron didn't really have much to say so he tried just getting some small talk.

"Not a lot really," Jezebel replied.

"I mean I got the room," Chimera lightly cheered.

"It was because this place ain't ever gonna get filled in with teams. This place had practically the same amount of people here as it did four years ago, when I first came in."

"You were here for four years? You seem rather young to be-"

"Hey!" A voice called out from behind, interrupting Chimera's note.

Everyone turned their head to see Goodra and a constantly smiling Sceptile wearing a turquoise bandana approaching.

"Goodra!" Chimera said excitedly, hurrying over to him.

"Hey, Chimera!" Goodra replied as he came to them.

"Where were you?"

"Oh, my friend here, Sceptile, took me around town. It's been a while since I visited so I wanted to see the place again. How are you doing?"

"I'm…" Chimera looked back to the rest of the group. "Yeah, I'm doing good…"

"That's great," Goodra didn't look to sure of his statement.

"Allow me to interrupt," The Sceptile leaned in between Chimera and Goodra . "It's nice to see that you're all good from the infirmary! My Name is Pine, I'm the Guildmaster's, or Avery as you probably may call her, assistant. Or the right hand man. Nice to meet you!"

Taken back a bit by the suddenness of the introduction, Chimera replied a bit slower. "O-oh yes. It's nice to meet you Pine. You probably already know my name."

Assistant Pine nodded his head, "Yep, it's Chimera! I wanted to talk to you as quickly as I can but I'll have to set it to the side for now since the reason I'm here is to talk to your companions. You two heard my introduction right?" He leaned back from the two and pointed at Jezebel and Aaron.

"Yeah," Jezebel replied.

"Great," He faced the two. "The Guildmaster would like to speak with you two."

"Huh? Why's that?" Aaron asked. Did they get found out already? Did Jezebel somehow slip up something to one of them and they told her? But that's impossible. Even if Jezebel sucks at telling a lie it would be hard to believe that someone already found out about their affiliations.

"I can't tell you that. I do know why, partly, it's just that these matters are a bit more… private," He folded his hands together. "I'll take you there, you'll have to miss out on the tour but you'll be here long enough for you to get used to it."

That certainly doesn't sound like we're going to get kicked out or arrested, so why have the meeting?

"C'mon, it's best to get this over quickly," He poked his head around to see Charizard. "Also hi Sodom."

"Hey," In return Charizard waved.

Jezebel whispered to Aaron, "What's all this about?"

"I'm not sure. I mean there's no real way for us to have been caught yet, right? Maybe it's just about you since you got fired from here. I think we've been doing well at keeping this secret."

Goodra looked like he was trying to stop himself from yelling something.

Wonder what's his problem.

Jezebel stopped whispering and started walking to Assistant Pine, "Well you heard the man. Might as well get going."

"Yeah," Aaron followed along.

Chimera waved as they left," See you in a bit."

"You too."

The two followed Assistant Pine as he left the hallway and began leaping up the steps. There were only a few people who populated the main hallway but they gossiped to each other about something that happened here with an Arctic Vulpix and a weird monster.

It was Chimera wasn't it.

Once making their way up the stairs in the middle of the top floor was a room with painted stars decorating the front doors and a sign that said, "Taking a nap or something. Closed, so shoo."

"Is this the Guildmasters room?" Aaron asked. Whenever he used to be at the guild in his hometown he was used to seeing quite a bit of grandiose things, this one was just a bit more space themed than the others.

"Nah," Sceptile said. "It's this one to the left." He pointed backwards with his thumb to a pair of wooden doors leading to a small office.

"Thought it would be a bit bigger," Aaron noted.

"Before this place became an official Guild this place was kind of more based on everyone kind of having their own personalized space since there were less people. At the beginning when Ampharos first made the Exploration Society Jirachi demanded a larger room for his astrology stuff. No idea what he even does though since most of the time he's napping. He doesn't even have a bed, he just floats."

"Jirachi?! You mean the wish granting Pokemon?" Aaron was shocked. He once thought of trying to get a legendary to bring back Canaan… But those were only daydreams and wishes.

"Yeah. The self proclaimed genius," Jezebel snorted. "It's weird, I've never seen him do anything with his wishes. I've seen random people try to attempt to ask but no one really here tried but me, in which he just said no and slapped me out of his room."

"Yeah me too. I've never really seen anyone who was here before me even try to ask. Which is weird since we really could've needed some with what went on around here."

"Did you guys come late or something, cause I feel like someone would've asked that by now."

"I mean kind of I guess, we only joined in by around seven years ago. We were thirteen at the time."

"Excuse me?! You were thirteen?!" Jezebel grilled Assistant Pine on the topic. "I was only sixteen when I joined and yet somehow they had children hired for longer than me!"

"That's just a testament to how horrible of a job you do," Aaron gave a snarky remarky.

"Screw you," Jezebel returned the favor with a flip of the finger.

"Yeah looking back it was kind of weird. Leaving town indefinitely for a job underneath this random guy we only met for around a day. I was pretty naive then. I don't think that it was a bad decision though," Assistant Pine gave a short glance to the Nexus just down the stairs. "But just looking back on it, yeah it was pretty dumb. I am glad that through some force of luck I was able to achieve my dream though."

For a single short moment as he said those words for the first time that he saw him his smile wavered and a melancholic expression grew onto his face but quickly switched back into a smile.

"Enough dilly dallying or whatever Nuzleaf says, it's about time for you to get one with the meeting." He opened the doors to the Guild Master office.

"Well, thanks I guess," Aaron shrugged as he and Jezebel passed him.

"Yeah, see you later," He shut the door behind them.

The office was a cozy little place, way different than the large imposing rooms he's been in that give off a sense of superiority and intimidation. Instead of that it felt like it was a place filled with care. Photos were hung on the wall, a violin case rested on the side of a bookshelf, and a large bay window with decorative pillows was embedded into the wall behind an ornate desk that seated the Guildmaster.

She was a Delphox with glasses held over her eyes and long hair rolling down to her back. On her neck held a turquoise bandana with a golden badge with a sparkling baby blue gem held in the middle pinned onto it. She gave off an air of calmness and an unshakeable steadiness that not even the strongest earthquakes can move. There was one thing strange though, Aaron felt like he had met her before. Unlike with Chimera where they felt like a reminder of a person he knew she was someone he had Aaron met, although he couldn't exactly tell who she was.

"Hello," The Guildmaster greeted with her hands folded on the messy desk that contradicted the feeling she gave off.

There were two chairs already in front of the desk. One for Jezebel and one for him. They both took a seat. Jezebel laid back in her seat, kicking it back by a bit. Aaron sat up straight as a sign of respect.

"My name is Avery Sinclair, but you will refer to me as Guild Master Avery," Guild Master Avery said with a polite sternness in her voice. She sounded very professional despite looking like she was a couple years younger than Jezebel and Aaron.

"So… what's the game?" Jezebel got straight to the point, not wanting to have to extend this any longer.

"Quick to start aren't you? Well don't worry you aren't going to be very involved with this. The only reason I want you here is because I would like to congratulate you on your return to the Expedition Society," From beneath the desk Guoldmaster Avery pulled out a small wooden box and handed it over to Jezebel.

Jezebel carefully took a peek inside expecting something strange but a disappointed frown soon appeared on her face, "Oh great, this tacky thing." Opening the box fully she plucked out a dusty gilded badge.

"It's your old Expedition Society badge. It's a bit old now since it's been seven years and there are new badges made by the High Guild but that will work just as well."

"Yeah, no," Jezebel declined the offer, flicking the old badge back into the box and tossing it back to Guild Master Avery.

Slowing down mid-air, the box slowly floated down to the table with a purple glow around it, "You really don't want it?" Guild Master Avery had a frown on her face.

"I don't care for mementos like these. They're all useless," Jezebel responded.

That's stupid, Aaron thought.

Guild Master Avery sighed, "Very well then. I'm not going to throw it away though just in case you might want it."

"Sure, whatever," Jezebel disregarded everything she said.

"That's all I have to say for you then."

Jezebel sat up in her seat, shocked. "Huh? Is that all you're going to say? Aren't you going to try to kick me out or give me a warning or something? Is there literally nothing you want with me?"

"Yes. I know why you were fired but I bet you can do better this time," Avery lied as easily as she breathed. It was easy. Which kind of scared her, but it was needed for a high ranked position like hers.

I have an idea on what's going on, but I need a full one. So I'll keep you here just so I can see what happens with Aaron.

"Actually, another thing you might want to know is that the Society members that actually know you are currently taking a vacation at the Wind Continent. They'll be back in a week so plan out that apology or eulogy before then."

"That's really all?"

"Yes."

"Well… shit," Jezebel said, defeated.

Salazzle mumbled to herself as she stood up from her chair, "The shit is with all the eulogy stuff?" Opening the door slightly she said her goodbyes to Aaron then left, "See ya."

"Yeah."

With Salazzle now gone Avery turned her head to Aaron. Now what happened to you?

"So it's my turn, ain't it?" Aaron said, turning his head back for the door to Avery.

"It indeed is. But first we'll need to do some proper introductions. Because I know you but you only know me for my title."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aaron leaned closer to the table with his eyes showing a weariness to him.

"I assume you don't know me, you must've forgotten about me since five years is a long time," Her words slid across the room all the way to Aaron's eyes slowly but steadily.

"Wait, you're her, aren't you?" Aaron realized. "You're the Braixen who was meant to help us. Or well Braixen isn't really a fulfilling title, isn't it human?" Venom coursed through Aaron's words as a snarl filled the room.

"You don't need to get hostile. I know what happened was horrible but we have something more important to discuss. But I think you already know what it is," She said, trying to redirect the conversation.

Aaron ignored it, "Didn't know you got up a rank. All the way from a lackey to the boss. Ain't that just swell?"

"It is. Now can we talk about what really matters right now-"

Aaron kept on pushing. He didn't want to move on, "It's great that you had no harm done to you. Nothing of value lost, ain't that right."

Avery grinded her teeth, "That's not important right now."

"Oh? So what's important then? Do you just not want to be reminded of your failure? Do you not want to be reminded of the mistakes you made?"

Getting fed up, she responded, "Don't act like you didn't have a part in it. You barely did anything to help. All you did was sit on your ass watching everyone else struggle," Avery's words came out harshly. Her whole demeanor changed from a calm unshakeable wall to a cold undying fire.

"You should've done more! We expected you to be able to help with all that world saving influence of yours," Aaron said sarcastically.

"Don't give me that crap!" Avery yelled, slamming her hand on the desk. "Do you think it's easy? It's not. I work hard for everything I do. I'm not just chosen and everything goes perfectly for me. Do you think I wasn't hurt from everything that happened?!"

Aaron stood up from his seat in anger, "So why did you barely do anything afterwards?! Were you embarrassed?! Were you scared?"

"I-I" Avery stopped for a moment. "I left because there was something else I needed to do," Avery looked towards the floor.

"Was it really that important?! More important than the entire-"

"Yes," Avery said bluntly. "I needed to. Besides, what else could I do to help?"

Aaron stared at her. He was frustrated and angry. How could she say that? What is just so important that she needed to leave? Did she just not care? Or was it a lie to get him off her back.

Avery had to be blunt. She couldn't tell him about it. It would've sent him into an outrage. She wanted to get it over with. Thinking back then was painful. In truth she had failed. But she would have never have been able to do much.

"You know what. I'm done with this shit. Let's get this over with. Ask me whatever the hell you want so that we're done," Aaron sat back down. He didn't understand her. What was her main goal? She seemed so selfish.

The situation cooled down only slightly. She was still able to feel the heat from the inferno that burned inside Aaron constantly needing something to consume.

"Good. Very well, let's begin."

"I've been meaning to ask if you're planning to work as part of the staff here or go out and do jobs n' stuff," Charizard asked, pulling out a pair of Cheri Berries from the basket on the table and chewing on them.

"Oh, I didn't really think about that," Chimera replied. "I'm not sure."

"I don't really think you should overwork yourself with dungeons. After all, it's only been two days since you woke up," Goodra suggested.

"I guess that's a good idea," Chimera considered it. They didn't really know what they properly wanted now. They knew they wanted their memory back but they were no real leads and it doesn't seem like there's much they can do.

"If you're not really sure about it, don't worry. You can kind of switch between them," Charizard spat out the leftover seeds into a nearby waste bucket.

It was getting late into the evening, around the eighteenth hour of the day. Charizard, Chimera, and Goodra were just resting inside the cafeteria waiting for the day to end with a basket of assorted berries Charizard bought. Unfortunately he didn't realize that he didn't have his favorite, Leppa berries. Chimera was sitting on the floor due to none of the chairs fitting them well and that they didn't need the lift, while Goodra and Charizard were sitting on the chairs around a circular table.

They had finished the tour an hour ago. All of the new recruits were allowed to just go on with their day outside the Guild which, including Jezebel and Aaron. Although Chimera hadn't seen him since he's been called into Guild Master Avery's office. Jezebel had come back to the tour fairly quickly but Aaron was still inside the office with Avery. When Chimera asked what's going on with him she said she had no clue and grumbled to herself.

At around Seven the new Guild recruitments would have to come back due to that being around the time most of the members would come back. Around that time they would do the end of week announcements and the recruitments would be introduced to the rest of the Guild. What would that be like for them though? Quite a bit of people had seen them during that encounter in the lobby and… it wasn't great. And now they would be seen by everyone in the entire Guild. Chimera had a cold sweat. It was something that had been bothering them for a while, along with another doubt in the back of his mind.

"Oh? I can?"

"Yeah, you know Lucario, Primarina, and Malamar right?"

"I've never met Malamar or Lucario."

"Well you know Primarina and seen Lucario so that's good enough. They're all staff here but they're actually a fully fledged team and everything. It's called Team Psych Locke or something. They prefer to help around the Guild for some reason though, but they do some jobs occasionally."

"I never actually knew that," Goodra realized.

"Actually, that does sound good!" Chimera said. It was a good mix of everything, unfortunately there was a caveat if they wanted to do it, "I don't really have a team though."

"Eh, that's fine. You can probably just join Team Parallel on their jobs sometimes."

"Is that really allowed?"

"Probably. The system is pretty flexible so I bet you can do it. Anyways I just realized that it's about time for me to pick up the stuff," Charizard stood up.

"Oh, the nameplates and bandanas?" Goodra asked.

"Yeah, see you in a bit," Charizard waved as he left the cafeteria.

"Goodbye," Chimera said.

"Oh wait, he left the basket here,"Goodra told them.

"Huh? Oh, should we go after him?" Chimera suggested.

"Yeah we should," Goodra took a hold of the basket and stood up.

"Is there anything inside?"

Goodra took a peek inside, "There's a few berries left. Anyways we gotta go!"

The two began to jog out of the Cafeteria and entered the hallway with Charizard being around the end of it. Chimera was still a bit new with their body but fortunately they got better in it. Lightly sprinting to Charizard they made it to the end of the hallway.

Charizard turned his head around hearing the footsteps, "Huh? What are you two running for?"

Goodra held out the basket to him, "Here, you forgot your basket back in the cafeteria."

"Oh thanks," Charizard said. "Although I don't think it would be a good idea for me to take this since I'll have to carry back the scarves and stuff. I'm sure I could hold it but it's easier to fly with less stuff."

"Is there any place we could put it for you then?" Chimera asked.

"Yeah. If you want, my room is on the second floor, right hallway. It's all the way at the end, the one with the nameplate that says Sodom. Anyways gotta head out now. See ya in a bit."

"Thanks, see you," Goodra responded.

"Goodbye," Chimera said as Charizard left the lobby through the large front doors into the city.

"Well you heard 'im let's. Let's go," Goodra waved a hand and began to make his way upwards in the lobby. He continued walking until he realized that Chimera wasn't following, "Huh?"

Goodra looked around before he saw Chimera hiding around the corner pressed into the hallway wall, "Hey Chimera!" He walked back down the stairs to them.

"What's going on? You okay?"

Chimera looked left to right nervously, "Y-yeah I'm fine… I think I might just stay here."

"Why's that? Are you nervous about something?" Goodra looked behind him. The only things he could really see were just people who began to filter into the main lobby from outside, mostly just teams walking up and down the stairs and people socializing. "Oh that must be why."

He turned his head back over to Chimera, "Do you not want to go into the crowd?"

Chimera nodded their head, "I just don't really want anyone to see me…"

"That's fine, just stay put. I'll be back in a bit," Goodra reassured.

"Okay…"

Goodra began to walk up into the second floor and followed Charizard's instructions.

Right hallway, room on the very end, and the one that says Sodom. 'Kay.

July had made his way all the way to the end of the hallway which split into two ways making the hallway to be actually shaped like a T. July looked to the left searching for a nameplate that said Charizard's name in which he found it fairly quickly.

Ah, there it is.

July walked over and stood in front of the door, holding the basket carefully.

So, should I just leave it here or should I put it inside? July jiggled the door handle. It was unlocked. July opened the door into Charizard's room to find a rather messy place littered with random pieces of paper and a variety of clothing items.

How many of these does he have? July picked up a cardigan that was in front of the door and threw it into a pile on the other side of the room. Tiptoeing his way further into the room he saw a table holding a comically large messy pile of books.

That would probably be the best spot for it. As July placed it onto the table he took a look at the pile of books with the one on the top holding the words, "Year Nineteen, July."

A month ago. July looked at the other books, What? Are these all for months in a certain year? July picked up multiple of them. This one says the year eighteen February, this one says fifteen October, this one says- actually this is just some old pale blue book. Doesn't even have a name on it. Man if he has entire diaries just for specific months he could probably replace Malamar as the archivist. July reminded himself of how the room looks. Okay maybe not.

You know, I probably shouldn't be snooping around here. July neatly placed them back on the table. Don't want to keep Chimera waiting.

July carefully walked over the various items on the floor and made his way out of the hallway. As July walked down the staircase he heard a few voices from the right hallway, where Chimera waited.

"Hey! Get out of there! What are you doing here?" A rough voice yelled along with a door being knocked on, hard.

Oh no… I was only gone for a moment.

July landed at the bottom floor and hurriedly made his way into the hallway to find a Druddigon and a Whimsicott knocking at the archives room door with Chimera nowhere in sight.

"Open up!" The Whimsicott called out while wailing her fists on the door.

Goodra walked towards them, "What's the problem?"

It's gonna be what I think it is, isn't it.

"Some shady fellow was stalking around this corner and when me and my pal tried to talk to them the bugger ran off into the archives!" The Druddigon answered.

"Yeah! Couldn't see 'em well but they were really big and really weird!" The Whimsicott added.

I was right, Goodra held his head.

"Oh, is that true? Here I think I can unlock it," Goodra walked over to the door with a key he took from his bag. He got it from Avery a few years ago because he was staying over at the Society for a while.

Don't really know why she gave a master's key though.

"What the- How did you get that?!" The Whimsicott interrogated.

"Old friend of the Guild Master, please move," July asked. The Whimsicott did as told.

July inserted the key into the hole and twisted it with a click, "There it is. Chimera it's me Goodra, I'm gonna come in!"

"Is that their name?" The Druddigon looked over to Whimsicott.

"Kind of sucks," The Whimsicott shrugged.

July took a hold of the door handle and began to twist it. As the handle turned Chimera yelped something from the other side, "Don't open it!"

Unfortunately the process had already begun as the handle had let go of the precious framing of the wall causing the door to swing open, slamming July square in the forehead knocking him off his feet as Chimera's back hit the floor.

"Ack! Damn it!" July exclaimed as he clutched his forehead.

"Eep!" A surprised Chimera cried.

"There you are! What were yoooooouuuu…? Who are you?" The Druddigun trailed off.

July stood back up slowly, "Their name is Chimera, we don't know the species, this is important Guild business, and I would appreciate it if you left."

"Hey! Is that all you're going to tell us! Are you even a part of the Guild? You don't even have a badge," The Whimsicott complained.

"I understand that you are confused but I'm pretty sure that during tonight's announcements that you'll get some explanations, but right now I would like it if you leave please."

"Yeah… Whimsicott we should probably leave," The Druddigun suggested, looking somewhat skittish.

"Fine," She crossed her arms.

The two nervously walked away from them, with the Whimsicott looking behind her back the entire time. Chimera was still lying on the floor scratching their claws, "...I'm sorry."

July sighed quietly, "It's fine."

July walked over to them and lent down his hand to them, "Here, let's get you up."

Chimera was about to grab onto it but pulled away. They got onto their side and with some effort, clumsily got onto their feet.

"So, do you care to tell me what happened?" Goodra prompted.

"Y-yes…" Still stammering are you? "I was about to walk down the hall but then those two yelled at me and… I got scared and pressed my back into that room," Their head lowered a bit.

"That was a pull door. I don't think that would've done much."

"Y-yeah I should've thought it through a bit more, and now you got hurt again," Chimera looked away.

You still care about that don't you?

Out of nowhere Chimera said something, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Huh? Okay."

"I would like to know something," Chimera looked July straight in the eyes. "Is the only reason why you don't hate me is because of your pity for me?"

July was knocked off his feet by the question, more so than the door slamming into his face, "Hey, where are you getting that idea? Why would I ever hate you?"

"I-I don't know. Just maybe that I'm acting like a burden, or a liability. I mean look at the bandages, you shouldn't have to deal with a problem that has already hurt you more than once," Chimera's voice stammered. It was shakey like an Autumn leaf blowing in a deep wind. They didn't want to hear what Goodra was going to say, but they felt like they needed to know it.

"Those are all fine to me, why would I care about those?"

"I-I don't know?! It just kind of feels like something that's crawling on the back of my mind. I'm causing you so much trouble now and… I'm sorry," Chimera's eyes started to water slightly.

Suddenly, July gave them a gentle hug, "You aren't causing me any problems. I'm glad to be able to help someone."

"B-but isn't it annoying?"

"It's okay, everything that you're doing; it's okay. I know it must be hard to deal with all of these new things that are just suddenly appearing when you only just woke up two days ago, but things will ease up. Just take it easy," July softly told them.

Those were the words that Chimera felt like they needed to properly hear. Even though their conversation with Aaron felt freeing from the tenseness that was stuck onto their back like a leech it still didn't accomplish something that needed to be done within them. They just felt like they needed an affirmation of the future. They didn't want pointless conversations or something to take their problems off their mind, they needed comfort.

"I-I, I'm sorry- no… Thank you. Thank you for helping me…" Small teardrops rolled down their face and fell to the floor.

"It's really nothing, I just want to help whoever I can."

"W-why? Why would you go through the trouble?"

"Well, I was never really the bravest person. I was a coward who could barely do anything for myself. I wanted to be braver but I barely put the effort to do anything or to try to be better. Eventually I met Avery. We first met when she saved me from a Mystery Dungeon I got myself Into. The fact that she went alone and came in just for a stranger was enough for me to idolize her. She was someone I wanted to be. She was kind of a goal to me. Someone that if I work hard enough to be, I can," July never had told anyone about this before. It was a story that was his everything. Although most could probably tell how much he used to admire Avery.

He went on, "The thought was kind of childish. You can't just completely become someone, but she was someone that changed me into who I am. To me, even if it was indirectly, she helped me. So I decided that I wanted to help whoever I can. When I first met you, you kind of reminded me of myself when I was younger. No offense."

"I'm okay with it."

"I didn't exactly think I was going to be a role model or something like that for you, it certainly was something that I naively thought though, but I did want to help in some way. Which leads us here. Although I do realize now that I wasn't doing a good job at the beginning."

"N-no, thank you so much. I needed something like this," Chimera slowly pulled themself away from Goodra to wipe away a tear.

"It's fine, I'm just glad you're feeling better."

They were feeling better. But still, they felt guilty, even if he said it's fine, even if he was never angry, they still felt bad for some reason. But for now, it doesn't matter, because with time they'll ease up.

"I think that I can tell you something now," Goodra offered with a smile.

"What is it?"

"It's my name. My name is July, and I would like if you used it," July held out a hand to them. It was the same one that had gotten cut by Chimera. It had bandages all over the wrist.

Chimera looked Goodra in the eyes. A soft smile grew on their face, "Thank you for the honor, July."

Chimera carefully brought one of their claws up to their hand and gave it a gentle shake.

The rest of the day went smoothly. After the talk with July an hour went by and all the teams and new recruits had returned to the Guild. In front of all the Guild the new teams were announced, Team Mystical Fire for the Indeedee and Armarouge, Team Stormy Gales for the Pikachu and Arctic Vulpix, Team Songbird's Melody for the Skarmory and Murkrow, and for Aaron and Jezebel, Team Ocean Mirage.

At the end of the announcements Avery brought Chimera to the front of the Guild. Chimera was still horribly frightened but they felt a comfort knowing that this would just be over soon. They knew that it would take a while for them to seem as normal within the Guild, but it was okay. They had gotten stares at by the many eyes in the crowd but in the back they saw a certain Zoroark waving in the back with an Eevee waving at them.

To the crowd Avery had explained the basics of what's going on with them, but assured the crowd that they weren't a human. Many of the teams murmured quietly after she had said that. At the very end Avery explained something that they didn't know. That the entire Guild would have to keep them a secret from the populace. It made a slight amount of sense to them but what would that mean for the future? Soon enough the teams were dismissed and allowed to go eat.

At the Cafeteria area Chimera had brought themself over to where Team Parallel had been sitting. They talked for a small while with Zoroark but Eevee seemed too tired to have a proper conversation. Chimera had looked around earlier to try to find Aaron but it seemed like he still wasn't there. The only thing they could find was a Jezebel in the corner reading some kind of file. Chimera decided it was best to leave her alone.

Sitting with Charizard, July, and Team Parallel, Chimera had a small conversation with Zoroark about what they were planning to do and how they were doing. When Chimera had asked if they could potentially join Team Parallel on missions Zoroark happily agreed. She soon had to leave because it looked like Eevee was going to fall over.

Soon it became Night and along with the other new recruits they had been brought to their new rooms by Charizard who had already placed their name plates onto the rooms. Chimera had found theirs exactly where they wished, right next to Team Parallels and Ocean Mirage's. Zoroark came out a bit after dropping Eevee off in bed and had said she was quite surprised when she had seen their name right next to hers, but she became excited to have a neighbor.

It became late quickly and everyone felt tired. Everyone in the entire Guild had left into their own rooms along with Chimera. Entering their room Chimera began to yawn, before they fell asleep though they found a lavender scarf with a Guilds badge on it. They didn't put it on yet but they smiled at it. Soon they dropped onto their straw bed and began to drift away into sleep as their new life began.

Outside the Guild a figure stood in the shadows holding a Connection orb. They pressed a button on the front and pressed it to their ear.

"Heeeeeeeeeey boss," They said with a sly smile.

"Yes, hello. I assume you have finished your infiltration already," The Boss said with a rough stern voice.

"Ya bet," Their mouth clicked.

"Very well, you already know the instructions so there's no reason to elongate this conversation-"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! I got something veeeery important to tell you."

"What is it? I need to finish this soon, he's coming soon," The Boss said, trying to rush it.

"Well that's just perfect, because I'll bet he'll want to know too."

"Just get to the point already."

"Fine, you're no fun, you know that?" They rolled their eyes. "Well if you want to know so bad, strange new species was discovered by the good ol' Guild, and it just so happens to look just. Like. Him."