Chapter 17: Robotic Bug

"Who is it?" Emily asked Patricia as she saw that she had just ended the call. Things has finally quieted down after Anna knocked Beck out because she gave in to Emily's long and intense 'save me' stare.

"It was Damian, he is heading back. Apparently, he's not feeling too good." Patricia explained.

"Oh... Is he going to be alright?"

"Probably, he said he needed to rest." Patricia clarified with a smile, "Don't worry about him. He's a strong young chap."

"...Yeah." She replied silently.

Suddenly, Hailey cleared her throat, "You know, I have been wondering about this. When did Damian learn martial arts?"

Emily looked at her in shocked as she realised that was indeed something was off about him, "Oh yeah, when did he...?"

"I know I've overheard him saying that he knew a little street fight, but he broke the asshole's leg within a fraction of a second. How is that 'a little street fight'? Also, don't you need to train like fifteen years or something to move like that."

"Yeah, that's true." Emily answered as she looked over to Patricia, seeing if she knew anything about this.

"Don't look at me. I know nothing. Maybe he learnt it in the past three years and that it was a coincidence that he happened to do that by accident. You know, men can be frightening when they are mad."

"Hmm, maybe." Hailey replied as she folded her arm, "I just thought that it was strange, he was able to move like lighting, during that fight."

That caught Jai's ears as he thought about the fight her had with the masked intruder during Emily's declaration ceremony, "...move like lighting? No... There's no way. She probably did not meant it literally, maybe she did it figuratively. I mean humans do that sort or things, right? Exaggeration?"

"I see. Again, it might just be luck." Patricia suggested, "Anyways, you should get more food before we need to leave."

The whole group spent the remaining time getting food and eating them, before all of them got full, excluding Lavi...

He never gets full.

All of them had a pretty good time, even though Damian was not around.

Patricia went to the counter to make her payment, while everyone else waited outside for her.

"I wonder how is Damian feeling?" Emily thought as she stared at the ground, "Should I get some medicine for him? I mean I can dropped by the pharmacy... But, he said he just needed rest. And is he still mad at me? Maybe I should apologise again."

"Hey, Emily? You okay?" Hailey asked as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "What are you thinking about? You're in a daze."

"It's nothing much." Emily lied with a forced smile, even though she had so much to think about.

"Well, I'm thinking about how to stop myself from telling you things that I shouldn't, how to deal with the future attacks that might happen to you, Patricia and also Damian." That was what she wanted to say but she didn't, for obvious reason, of course.

Hailey knew she was lying, but did not call her out for it. She knew that her best friend had already been through a lot tonight, which was definitely exhausting for her. So, she did not want to tire her out anymore. "Alright, just call me later if you want to talk. Anytime is fine, I'll be awake."

"Got it, thanks Hailey." Emily replied with a genuine smile.

"Don't mention it, it's the least I can do."

After Patricia was done paying, the whole group of them went to her house. Emily's members went there for the sole purpose of escorting that their princess to her guardian's house.

Once they reached Patricia's place and saw that their princess was safe, they bade farewell to her. Emily looked as if she wanted to spend more time on Earth, since her stepbrother was back, so they did not want to drag her back to Fiore.

They walked to a nearby parking lot where their lift was at. They went into the vehicle, so as to head back to the headquarters.

"Did you heard anything about the autopsy team?" Mary asked the whole group.

"Yeah, the knight who had died was Joseph Mauch. They found a robotic bug like device embedded at the back of his neck." Jai answered with a serious look on his face. The sound of that sent a slight shock throughout the group.

"An electronic device? There shouldn't be any advanced devices back in Fiore or any other land. So, doesn't that mean that someone in our world has been headed back and forth to get this sort of technology?" Lavi interpreted.

"That's the only theory as of now." Jai supported before continuing, "The bug like device had said to be he one behind the controlling of his corpse."

Mary's heart dropped when she heard that, "...Corpse? He was dead all along?"

"Yeah, he was. He was probably killed a few hours before the ceremony." Ben replied this time, "That bug controlled him like how a parasite does for some animals."

Ben was pretty serious, which was rare sight.

"How? That's something that the Earth hasn't found out yet." Yukiko joined in.

"Well, true, but there are some insane people on our world. I know some people who used some pretty advanced machines, created by themselves with the usual materials that humans use." Ben corrected as he tapped her on the shoulder for a couple of times, "You haven't seen the world, snow princess."

"Wait, who are you referring to?" Yukiko asked once again as she moved away from his hand, "You said you used to work with some people? Could they be the culprit?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Phantoms. I wouldn't say I worked with 'this man' directly, but I did indirectly. I'm definitely not close to him though, I don't even know his name. He has been under the radar, but he is a threat if you ask me."

Lavi's gaze went from the window and to Ben, "He's a threat even to you? Is he THAT strong?"

"Well, firstly, he is part of Phantom. So, he will be strong to a certain extent. Next, he's someone completely unknown to me, which makes him a threat, I guess. I don't know much about what he do, but he just invents and experiments on stuff. The only time I saw him speaking was to the boss and Jason. He's basically the brain of Phantom." Ben replied.

"...Do you think he's behind this?" Anna's calm voice suddenly made its way to the conversation, which is another rare occasion.

"Maybe, who knows?" Ben responded, as he closed his eyes as if he wanted to sleep.

Yukiko did not like his response and a shot a icy glare at him, "What do you mean 'maybe'? Can't you give a more concreted answer?"

"Probably?" He answered, in hopes that she would accept this answer.

...She did not.

She criticised, "Ugh! How laid back can you get?"

"Erm... Very." He replied effortlessly, without thinking about the consequence.

Yukiko manifested her sword, "I hate you so much right now."

He opened his eyes and looked over to her with a charming grin, "I think that's a 'I love you so much'. Come on, Yukiko. I know yo--"

He felt a blade poking towards his chest.

She glared at him, "Don't push it."

"Hey, hey. Okay, I was joking." He surrendered with his hands up, "Now, put your sword down."

She narrowed her gaze directly to him, but she did made a retreat. She then folded her arms, "Next time, I'll literally cut you up personally."

"Ooo... Nice. I want that." Ben bit his lips seductively.

Yukiko launched her fist into his face, "...Just die already."

"You know..." Mary spoke up suddenly, "Doesn't Damian seem a little weird? Like he's not an ordinary human."

"Something about him was familiar to me, but I can't put my finger on it..." Jai added on.

"He's probably a really good fighter of some sort. It's written all over him, saying 'I'll kick you ass'" Lavi said, "...But, he was able to suppress that perfectly, just like Ben and Jai."

Ben wiped the blood off his bloody nose that Yukiko gave and looked at Lavi, "You do that pretty good yourself." He then looked away, saying, "Honestly... I felt like I have seen him before, but I can't remember."

He followed up with a sigh, before he continued, "Well, I guess we will soon find out more about him later. As of now, we should just go with the flow."