Earthbound: Champions of the Future

Chapter Fourty Three

~ Akuro Katsumata's POV ~

Just like Gaius said, everyone was waiting for us when we left my house. "Finally," Emi grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "You took a long time. Do you like wasting time or something?"

Kireina looked really mad; she almost lunged at Emi for saying something like that. Luckily, I was there to squeeze her hand to remind her that everything was okay, and that seemed to calm her down, even if only a little.

"Akuro says that she hasn't seen Ciar." Gaius announced. "Which, considering he said he'd be here, is just a bit concerning."

"He could have lied." S'yan suggested, echoing Kireina's earlier thoughts. "It would not be beneath him to do so."

"But why?" Syo questioned. "Why would he just want us to run around?"

"He could have wanted to distract us!" I exclaimed. "He's such a meanie, he'd do anything to get on our nerves!"

"But what would he be after?" Emi sighed. "What or who else could he possibly be...?" Emi's voice died away, her eyes widening as a light gasp escaped her lips. "Oh no," she whispered.

"What is it?" S'yan asked.

"Laurent." Emi responded. "He's after Laurent. He wanted us to move as far away from Siton as much as possible so he could look for Laurent without us getting in his way!"

"Laurent?" I repeated. "Is that the guy with the red hair and the glasses?"

Emi nodded, beginning to pace the area. "Yeah. Of course, why didn't I see it before...? Laurent's still the stuck-up brainiac he always was. Ciar's probably planning to use him for something. I do remember hearing him mention 'that other PSI guy'... he must have meant Laurent!"

"Uh, when Ciar said 'that other PSI guy', couldn't he have also meant Gandamu?" Naoma suggested. "He's also been missing for a while now..."

"Who cares about that goth?" Emi snapped. "We need to find Laurent as soon as possible."

"Well, I'll be darned." Gaius commented. "If I didn't know any better, I'd go so far as to say that you're actually concerned about this dude."

"I-I'm not concerned." Emi retaliated, although the stammering and the pink on her cheeks seemed to suggest otherwise.

"Nevertheless, I agree that Laurent could be in considerable danger." S'yan cut in, getting us back on topic. "Locating him, on the other hand, could prove to be a challenge."

"Oh! Oh! I have an idea!" Naoma cried, waving her arm around madly. "Gaius, can you teleport us back to Xeterra? Maybe Abbess Mizu can help us out with this!"

I huffed. "What's a 'zeh-terror'?" I asked. "It sounds scary."

"It's a place." Naoma answered. "That's where Azura is right now. We found her long lost mother there in some kind of huge temple and it was really awesome because the abbess is really nice and the size of that temple is huge, it's really like some kind of castle-"

"Enough." S'yan interrupted. "What about this place will be helpful to us in any way?"

Naoma shrugged. "I don't know. I just get the feeling that the abbess knows a lot of things. I bet she'll be more than happy to help us find where Laurent is."

"We won't know until we try!" I exclaimed. "We should do it! Besides, I love checking out new places! Plus, I'm hungry! Maybe this person can make some food for us!"

"It's decided, then!" Naoma grinned. "Gaius, if you would be so kind..."

"What am I, a psychic taxi service?" Gaius sighed. Even though he didn't seem happy about it, he clicked his fingers and there was this huge blue and white flash.  It took me a few moments to snap out of it. When the lights had stopped dancing around in front of my eyes, I gasped. We were outside a large building, hosting a giant stone steeple that towered over us. A bridge was directly in front of us, making a path over the deep moat that surrounded the castle.