Earthbound: Champions of the Future

Chapter Ten

~ Naoma Trudeau's POV ~

"You actually managed to piece it back together?!" I exclaimed as Gandamu held up the newly revived note. "It's like magic!"

He decided not to reply to that, instead changing the subject. "It was a waste of my power. You should be grateful that I even thought about this."

"Well? What does it say?" Mr. Shirosama demanded. I peered over Gandamu's shoulder and my forest green irises scanned the page. "This is..." I whispered. "Some guy wrote to Ms. Mizu saying that... he wants to marry her at his fancy-dancy castle."

"What?!" Mr. Shirosama cried. "Who?! Who sent something like that?!"

"It is signed by a 'Lord Theodore Reed'." Gandamu told him. "Does that title sound familiar?"

"Oh, yes it does." Mr. Shirosama replied, anger flickering in his eyes. "Reed is a posh guy who lives on the mountain behind Siton. He has a large house, you can't miss it. He's barely a 'lord'; he's just a narcissist who thinks he's some kind of royal better than everyone else."

"I got it!" I exclaimed. "Ms. Mizu recieved that letter and obviously didn't want to go through with the whole thing, so she tried to forget about it. But he came and took her in the middle of the night to force her into it!"

"An ostentatious fool..."Gandamu said with a smirk. "Praying on the weak with no goal except desperation..."

"Alright! Now that we know where Ms. Mizu is, let's go save her!" I cried, punching the air.

"Not so fast, kiddo." Mr. Shirosama chuckled while placing a hand on my shoulder. "I agree that I want Azura back home as soon as possible, but you won't be able to accomplish anything if you're worn out. It's getting late; I'll let you two sleep in our guest rooms so you can set off bright and early tomorrow."

"Thank you, Mr. Shirosama!" I smiled with a bow. The room I had been allocated with wasn't as big as the room I had at home, but I didn't mind. It felt quite refreshing to sleep in a 'normal' room for once.

"So, good ni-" I began to say to Gandamu, but he slammed the door to his room in my face. I paused for a moment, staring at the white painting of the door and sighed. "Didn't even let me finish my sentence..." I muttered as I trudged into my room and closed the door. "He's not even trying to hide it. He obviously doesn't like me."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Syo shrugged. "He's been giving that glare to everyone we've come across, not just you. Maybe he just dislikes human life in general? It's not uncommon for demons and humans to... not get along."

"But if we're working together, then not getting along isn't an option." I argued. "I need to find some way to get through to him."

"We can't think about it now. It'll disrupt our sleep, after all! Good night!" Syo smiled, stretching and yawning before curling into a ball on the edge of the pillow and falling asleep instantly.

"Yeah... Good night..." I muttered even though she couldn't hear. I let my own eyes flicker for a few seconds before drifting off into sleep myself.

~ ~ ~

"You're late, human."

I groaned as I stepped out of my room the next morning and heard that voice. Gandamu was lurking near the top of the stairs, glaring at me over the top of his purple scarf. He was adjusting the bandage around his left arm in an impatient manner.

"Is it so wrong for me to sleep in?" I asked, returning the glare. "It might be new to you, but the things you call 'humans' need rest. You might not appreciate something like that, but we need sleep to function."

Gandamu looked positively offended that I would dare oppose someone of his majestic standing, but Mr. Shirosama appeared before he could say anything in response. "Hey, kids!" he cried in greeting. "Breakfast is all ready for you downstairs, so dig in! Travelling's a pain in the butt on an empty stomach!"

After finishing breakfast (in which Gandamu ate practically nothing, claiming that human food was sickly, so more food for me!), we left Mr. Shirosama's house and headed for Mr. Reed's creepy place to rescue Ms. Mizu!

~ ~ ~

"Gandamu?" I began, hoping to make conversation so the trek would be less boring.

"What?" he asked in response. "Is what you have to say worth my time?"

"Uh... that's really for you to decide." I shrugged. "I just wanted to know more about the Hydrans. You seem like the type of person who would know a lot, so..."

The demon paused in response, sighing slightly before giving in to my request. "As you already know, Hydrans are a species of human that have the ability to control water and shapeshift into dragons with the ability of a sacred piece of jewellery. Presently, only knowledge of three such jewels exists."

"What kinds of jewels are there?" I asked.

"A ring, a necklace and a crown, in order of strength." Gandamu continued. "The photograph we saw in that theatre shows that Mizu owns the necklace, although I don't know where the ring and the crown are."

"Mr. Shirosama said that Hydrans are pretty rare. Are they?" I questioned.

Gandamu nodded. "They are now. Millennia ago, while our grand ancestors existed, Hydrans were hailed as being superior to regular humans. As such, they were plentiful. Now, however, they are difficult to locate. Mizu is the first Hydran I have heard about in a long time."

"Maybe that's why she was kidnapped, too..." I sighed. "Wait, so... if Hydrans are just another version of humans, and you don't like humans, does that mean you don't like Hydrans, either?"

"Hydrans are... tolerable." Gandamu replied. "At least they have some form of abilities, unlike you plain mortals."

I admit my faith deflated a little. Gandamu found just about everything except me 'tolerable'. "If you're done indirectly insulting me, I think that's the place over there." I said, pointing to a darkly-painted mansion not too far away. "It... looks kind of foreboding, actually."

"It's not nearly as impressive as it should be." Gandamu scoffed. "I'll tear this villa to shreds." He clenched his fist, which made blue flames surround his hand for a brief moment. I watched with an expression of 'what the heck how is he able to do something like that' before marching ahead of him.

And before you suggest it, no, I was absolutely not jealous of him and his seemingly endless amount of fancy abilities. I wasn't!! Honest!!

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Yay rescue missions

AceAttorneyFan over and out!