Earthbound: Champions of the Future

Chapter Twenty Five

~ Ciar Sparrow's POV ~

I frowned in confusion at the mystery girl who had suddenly appeared in the room. She was glaring at Naoma's father - who I now knew as Jae Trudeau - like he was some kind of limescale on a kitchen sink. That seems like an accurate metaphor.

Mr. Trudeau smirked. "Oh? You've been looking for me? What a surprise. May I ask why?"

"Don't act like you don't know!" The girl exclaimed. "My home town just outside is the one that you-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Mr. Trudeau grabbed the staff he took from Naoma and threw it at the mystery girl. She swept her hand to the side, causing a gust of air to send the staff flying away from her.

Once the staff had clattered to the ground some distance away, the girl's hand turned into a fist. Mr. Trudeau slowly began to grow paler, but the smirk was still there on his face. "You're just... going to kill me?" He choked out. "How... boring of you."

The girl growled and clenched her fist further, making Mr. Trudeau's skin turn from pale to a light purple. All I could do was watch in shock; she was choking him. But how? I deduced that it had something to do with the grey gloves that she wore. Either that or it was some other unknown power.

After a while of stunned silence, Mr. Trudeau no longer moved. His eyes were closed and he was slumped on the ground.

"Father...?" Naoma whispered, her green eyes wide. She was trembling slightly. "Did... Did you just kill him?!"

"So what if I did?" The mystery girl scoffed. "He deserved it."

"Who are you?" S'yan demanded, suddenly rather angered.

The girl hesitated, glancing away before providing a response. "Emi Naoko."

"You shouldn't have killed him," S'yan continued. "He needed to be brought to justice for everything he had done. His death wasn't necessary."

"It was necessary," Emi shot back. "He took everything I knew away from me. You'd do the same thing if you were in my position. What makes you think that he deserved justice, anyway?"

"It is one of the many rules of my tribe." S'yan explained.

"Who cares about your rules?"

"Do not insult the Panther's teachings!"

"Guys!!" Naoma eventually yelled, holding her hands up as she stood between the two of them. "Can you two stop for a minute?! It doesn't matter, anyway! He's gone!"

"What do you mean 'he's gone'?" Gandamu frowned. "The dead do not just rise again of their own will and leave."

"Apparently, he did." I shrugged. I jabbed a thumb towards where Mr. Trudeau had previously been laying dead. That space was now empty. The staff he had taken from Naoma was also gone.

"B-But he was totally dead, right?!" Akuro gasped. "How did he come back?!"

While everyone else muttered amongst themselves in confusion about the mystery of the missing body, I smirked, hiding the gesture underneath my scarf. This piece of information was going to be very useful later on...

"There is nothing we can do about it now." Azura announced. "All of us have taken a considerable amount of damage after that battle. We need to rest."

"We're fine," Kireina insisted, sheathing her katana. "We can keep going. There is little time to stop."

"But... you look like you're in pretty bad shape." Akuro pouted. "You got thrown into a wall, Kireina. I don't want you to be hurt. So... rest? Please?"

Kireina sighed, crossing her arms. "Very well." She responded. "But only because you asked me to."

~ ~ ~

I found Naoma outside on her own, staring at the soil beneath her feet. "You okay?" I asked as I approached. "You've been pretty quiet ever since we got out of that Whatever Haunt place."

"... It's my dad," she replied. "I just... never expected to see him here. He also did almost kill me, and he's taken my staff so I'm essentially useless." She sighed, rubbing her arm. "Anyway, what're you doing way out here? Where are the others?"

"Back at the mini camp we set up." I replied. "S'yan and that Emi chick are still yelling about death and justice and panthers and... yeah."

"Typical." Naoma sighed. "I'm going to head back and see if I can break it up."

I nodded and followed her back. There was a campfire set up (courtesy of me and my wonderful PSI Fire skills). Akuro and Kireina were sat to one side, the latter cleaning her katana with a cloth. Azura was trying to talk to S'yan and Emi peacefully, but it wasn't exactly working.

"I thought I told you guys that there wasn't any point to this." Naoma said, her voice sounding tired. "How about we all just put this behind us and go to sleep?"

"'Put this behind us'?" Emi repeated. "No. Not yet. I'll only be able to do that when you die."

"Whoa, what?!" Naoma exclaimed.

"You shouldn't kill unless there is a suitable reason for it." S'yan frowned.

"Is that another one of your 'rules'?" Emi taunted. "Your rules don't apply to anyone else, you know. I will kill her, no matter what you think about it."

"Um, why precisely do you want to kill her?" I asked. "That's kind of an important detail in this whole thing."

"My reasons aren't important." Emi replied sharply.

I smirked. "Feisty," I commented. "I like feisty ladies, you know."

"Ciar, no." Naoma scolded. I sighed and rolled my eyes in response.

Emi glared at me before turning to Naoma. "I'm going to be coming with you." She announced.

"U-Uh, really?" Naoma stammered. "You did just announce that you wanted to kill me... That's kind of telling me that letting you come along is a bad idea..."

Emi glared and clenched her fist. Naoma suddenly gasped and looked at her arms and legs frantically. "H-How are you doing that?!" She cried. "I-I suddenly can't feel any of my limbs!"

"I can do a lot worse," Emi muttered. "I'll resort to those methods if you don't allow my presence."

"O-Okay, okay!" Naoma nodded. "Just... can I have my arms and legs back?!"

Emi released her fist and Naoma sighed as she fell to her knees, breathing seveal sighs of relief.

"That sure was close." I chuckled nervously. "How about we finally get some sleep? We won't be able to do anything if we're dragging our feet."

Everyone seemed to agree, so we all said our goodnights. Akuro and Naoma fell asleep instantly. I also didn't realize how tired I was, so I gave up on trying to stay awake and let myself fall into the depths of unconciousness.

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emi needs to chill like seriously

death is not welcome in a panther environment

AceAttorneyFan over and out!