The steel chest of the Corviknight moved as she sighed. The office was filled with little to no mess. Things were in the places they should be and where things belonged. Papers were filed in order. Recognitions from the Poke-Kind Association were meticulously hung on the wall behind her in a proper order,showing whatever Pokemon the greatness of the Almas guild. She was going to look through the new recruit paperwork,resolve issues between the members and other guilds. Hell, maybe she would even get some time to indulge in some tea. But that "was'' the plan. And that "was'' how it should be. Now however. Thea was looking at a Braviary who had decided to barge in without an appointment. And through the window no less, the savage. She slightly moved her head over to her assistant guild-master. A Breloom sitting in a pile of files and papers,taken aback at the sudden flying type who entered through the window.

"Is there something you wanted Soren? Something that apparently required frightening my poor assistant?"

"Thea I-"

Thea raised a wing towards Soren's face in a bossy manner.

"Please. We've known each for so long. A formality like that is unneeded. It's Guild-master Thea now."

Thea could see the twitch in the eyes of Soren. Good.

"Guild-master." Soren said begrudgingly. "I have an issue I wanted to settle with you directly."

"Ah yes. Devlin told me all about it." A smile of faux politeness crept on her face. "There was no need to be so rude by the way."

"Well there was a need",Soren retorted. "Especially when you refused to meet with me personally."

"I have an org to run Soren. I can't just forsake responsibilities in order to run off to whatever or whoever calls me. I'm not you."

Another twitch. Another brief second of enjoyment.

"But yes, the issue of this stranger coming in is problematic. What do you know of it?"

"It's a kid. No memories, no ability to recall anything before waking up on my front lawn. So far, he hasn't made any attempt at trying to get into Yggdrasil's dungeon."

"Did you get rid of it?"

"What?"

"Did you send it along its way and tell them not to intrude? If you had to get rough, I'm far from the one to judge you on that front."

"He's a kid."

"No. It was someone who had no business being anywhere near the area. Amnesia explains the memory trouble. What it doesn't explain is how some pesky Pokemon decided that the best course of action was to travel deeper into the woods and then pass out on your doorstep. Now did you take it along its merry way or not?"

"I didn't."

"Well what a surprise. Where is it now?

There was a small rustle in Soren's left wing.

"No."

Soren tried to clasp his wings in a begging manner, shaking them up and down. "I was going to come here eventually, I might as well bring him for an evaluation with a doctor or something."

"No. No! I have had a lifetime of dealing with headaches like you. I'm not letting you bring another."

Soren hesitated and put his wings down. "Two,actually."

There was a tense moment of silence between the two of them. A silence fermented with age and familiarity.

".... They still haven't come back then?"

".....No. Have you heard anything?"

"No, I haven't. I've pursued requests for their locations but even I keep getting stone walled.by the PKA. It has been a trial to say the least."

Another moment. The only sound in the room was slowly picked up documents.

"I guess even the pencil pushers get pushed around," chuckled the Braviary.

A look of incredulity was pointed back at the red avian."I have not!"

"Oh really? What about that meeting we went to?"

"Do you mean one of the few you actually ended up attending?"

"Ah yes, I remember it well. Hey guy!" He turned to face the Breloom." You ever see a psychic type melt Steel after calling your Guild-master ~Steely~"

A Cold steel wing poked the back of Soren in a flash. "If you dare mention any more of that, I will personally clip your wings and throw you back out that window. Thank Arc you should be lucky enough to know me. It's the only reason why I'm giving the go ahead to what you've concocted." Thea was serious about throwing him out the window. But she was... grateful for the opening he gave her. Annoyance replaced regret which replaced the initial gratefulness however as Soren turned around with a sly grin.

"I haven't 'concocted' anything." The quotations made with his wings were not helping his argument.

"Don't give me that trash."

"So what if I did? What's the difference? You're 'Guild-master' now. You should be able to handle anything. Especially a couple of kids. "

This. The worst part about him was him making you regret any good feeling you had towards him in a way that infuriated you but not in a way where you felt any true malice.

"Of course I can. I would just appreciate not having someone suddenly dropped on my doorstep. "

"And that's why you're the guild-master."

For one moment, there was silence. In the next moment, there was the odd sound of boos. Thea glanced out of the window to witness what seemed to be the end of a fight with a familiar looking Lucario. She was looking down on what appeared to be an emerald green figure while holding in her paws what appeared to be a white...rabbit....

With that moment of realization, Thea looked at the window, and then at Soren.

"What?"

What formed on her face was a smile born of pure social advantage.

"It appears that Liam has gotten into his first street fight."

The Braviary's face dropped. Immediately, it moved towards the window for a rapid dismount, almost appearing to jump out of the room entirely.

The room was now with one less member, leaving only 3 things of note to Thea.

1.Thea

2.Morris finishing his gathering of files that were dropped.

And 3.The overwhelming sense of superiority of knowing that balance of power between him and her was imbalanced in her favor once more.

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Costello was frozen. His muscles tensed up and the voice in his head had silenced itself, leaving his head emptier than he was comfortable with. Instead, thought was replaced with feeling. A feeling of trepidation that had spread itself to the throat of the gecko. He was incapable of answering her query but it seemed that he didn't have to as she had lost interest in him and was now focused on Liam.

"God, I didn't hit him that hard did I? Could've sworn I held back enough. Little guy should just be a bit roughed up." She shrugged and slung him over her shoulders. She yelled over behind her. "Lumi! Report!"

The yellow lizard seemed to snap out of whatever state had locked her in place and snapped her head towards the sound of the command. "Kyllä, Styles! Oltuaan- Excuse me.We had run into a request while waiting for you to come back. After being asked to investigate a recent thievery from a merchant, we had found the culprit to be a Salandit. After cornering the suspect, they proceeded to escape with a smokescreen and stole Arno's Scalchop and Mystic Water. From there we gave pursuit until we witnessed the item change hands with another individual. Arno proceed to attempt to gain back his possessions-"

The Lucario cut her off "Which led to him dragging you two into a fight and getting his ass kicked. Got it."

The otter started to stir from his unconscious state with his shell and stone in his hands.

"I am perfectly capable,Mother. Don't give it to Alric."

The Lucario proceeded to walk over to the otter and sling him onto her free shoulder.

"This is why we don't fight strangers, Arno. And it's also why we're getting you a necklace for that rock. "

The crowd had started to dissipate with its ruby-eyed makeshift promoter walking away with a firm sense of contentment. As the street became less crowded, Costello noticed Braviary land a couple feet away from the Lucario he was assuming to be Styles. The first two words out of Braviary's mouth flowed like a rushing river and was steeled with years of parental practice. "What happened?"

Styles looked at the bird and then looked at the two teens slumped over her shoulders.

"A fight broke out and I stopped it."

"What happened to Liam?"

"Oh the fire type? He's fine, just a Force Palm is all."

"A what?!"

"Chill, chill. I didn't hit him that hard, he's just gonna be out of commission for a bit."

The nervous look in Braviary's eye didn't seem to relax at those comments. "And what happened to the Treecko?"

"Tiny bit of paralysis I think. He and his friend here really did a number on my partner." Styles pulled Liam off of her shoulders and held him by his leg. "Where'd he learn that Overheat by the way? Not gonna judge what you teach him but that could've been a nasty burn."

Braviary's eyes were focused on his semi son being suspended upside down. "Please don't hold him like that."

Style laid the rabbit down on the path while his left foot twitched in the air. "Anyway, you might wanna check up on your other little guy. I think he got hit with an Icy Wind but he shouldn't be frozen like that. Also the way he's looking at me kinda freaks me out."

Costello hadn't taken his eyes off the blue figure since she appeared. He physically couldn't. Anything below the neck had frozen up and everything above seemed to have prioritized itself on making sure the blue stranger didn't do anything suspicious. Whatever that would be. If he was any stronger, he would've cracked the ground beneath him with the way he was planting himself there. There were so many danger signs and for some reason, his guiding voice had become silenced. A kind of silence that couldn't be filled, but instead left a hole large enough to make him want to tear his head open.

Style's head moved away from the gecko as he continued to look at her in anticipation.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure this was a large misunderstanding. I'm sorry about my friend here, he can get a bit... overzealous. The name's Styles by the way."

"Soren."

Styles looked over the Pokemon in front of her."Seriously? Wow, you are... different than what Boss tells us about you."

"What does she say about me?"

"You don't wanna know. Besides, Thea talks too much about you to-"

The eyes of the Lucario widened.

"Shit,Thea! Sorry, we need to go!" With her back facing Braviary and the body of the otter slumped over her shoulder Styles said "I owe you one dude! Sorry about force palming your kid!" From there she dashed off towards the castle, leaving Lumi to chase after. As Lumi left, she nodded towards Braviary, Liam, and the gecko.

....

An hour or so later, the white lagomorph and his emerald fellow sat around the entrance of the Castle, their backs laying on the side of the steps and their faces towards the sunset. The face of Costello resembled the face of a person who looked as though he was spaced out on a cosmic cloud nine and Liam was mostly nursing a nasty hit to the solar plexus with a bag of ice shards given by a nice group of Snowrunts. The street was starting to clear up as Liam continued the rant he'd been going on for the past few minutes.

"So I wake up, Mr.Braviary takes me aside and he tells me that it was my fault for starting the bloody thing. I'm not daft, I know it's my fault. The issue is, Cos-"

"No."

"Is that mons like him are daft. Adventuring chav's like em are good for nothing."

A head was turned towards Liam. "Good for nothing?"

A head was turned towards Costello. "Good for nothing! Accusing my friend of a crime like that, you don't even have the proof! You have to defend your friends when things like that happen. It's the only thing you can do! "

"Are you sure it wasn't because he insulted your accent?"

"No. It was mostly about you." There was a slight chuckle from Liam before recoiling a little bit. "Still sore."

"Bet it is."

"Enough about me. You holding up ok? You seemed kinda rattled after that whole business. Are you still a bit frosty?"

"No, I'm good. Just didn't expect it."

"You weren't afraid of me being hurt were you? It was one hit, I was bound to get up eventually."

"I didn't doubt you for a second."

"Of course!I was way too tough for-"

"I doubted you for a solid minute."

"What? I was-"

The sounds of talons clacked against the stone stairs, the white tufts of feathers reached over the sides of the stairs as he descended down. He looked down at the two.

"So. How's the stomach?"

Liam smirked at him. "Still smarts but I'll be fine."

"And you Costello, still paralyzed?"

"So far only in the hands. Uncomfortable but livable."

"Did you learn anything from this then?"

Costello looked towards the setting sun and squinted his eyes. "I should've beaten him with the shell instead of with my hands to finish it faster."

"...I was going to say not to start fights in general."

"Fair."

"And you?"

"What Cos said."

"I'm not going to let you apply if you don't apologize to him tomorrow."

"Are you bonkers? He accused Cos and insulted the accent. The accent. That doesn't just- wait what?"

"I'm not going to let you apply. If you don't apologize to him."

The face on Liam turned to a slow elation. That elation however turned to a hesitance. Costello saw upon the face of Liam someone who saw the gates of heaven but was utterly outraged at the fact that the angels asked him to apologize for knocking on the bars. He stared into the face of the person who had put this obstacle in his path. There was no mirth on Braviary's face. There were no cracks in his image. This was his requirement and he wasn't willing to negotiate the terms.

"Really?"

"Really."

Liam sighed."Fine. I'll apologize to him, but I'm not going to like it."

A shrug came from Braviary in response. "You don't have to, just don't do it again. You're not going to go far in this world if you assault everyone who calls you different." "What about you Costello? What are you going to do? You're welcome to stay with us till I can arrange a doctor's visit."

Liam looked at Costello and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'd be really great to have you along mate." He stole a quick glance at Braviary. "But if you aren't comfortable, I'm not gonna force you to come with."

Costello thought about it for a bit.

You're applying. You have nothing else. Gain money, gain independence. This is what has to happen.

An exchange went on within the gecko's head. "Why? And where have you been?"

You were scared, mental functions have no time to support your psyche. And follow the rabbit, it seems right. More resources, more control over this situation. You can't get anywhere without resources. The best way to figure out what we're here for is to build connections and influence independent of the bird and the rabbit. And besides Do you really want to be stuck in the same city as her with no way out?

A shock of cold ran down Costello's back as his throat became choked up at the thought of her. It was a combination of her and the coldness in his mental voice.

"Y-Yes." said Costello. "I don't have anything else going for me."

"Glad to hear. In the meantime, I'll send a request for any information about a missing Treecko anywhere near the area we found you."

As Braviary looked down at Liam, Costello could see a look of pride and sadness within the eyes of the bird. As though he was losing the last signs of something dear to him, but pride was swallowing that bittersweet feeling whole. A wing was placed over the head of Liam as he smiled at him. The lights started to dim as two souls became brighter with hope and confidence. Another however, stood on the outside, the cold reminding him of what he was left to be and the sight before him reminding him of what he lacked. There was nothing. There was.... a want. And then that want was consumed by nothingness.

As it should be.