Blessed Combat

20 - Lucky and Not So Lucky

“There you are!” Caterpillar’s voice rang out in relief as he strolled towards the bus stop. Sophie was sitting on the bench alone, her eyes glazed over and staring at one point in a distance. She wasn’t completely in the present yet and more into her little world of who knows what goes in that mind of hers? Frowning, the lad stood in front of the silver haired girl and crouched down low so that he was at eye level with his sister. Even as he did this, there was no response from Sophie.

“Sophie~...” Caterpillar called out playfully only to sulk lightly when she didn’t counter again. Sighing, Caterpillar snapped two fingers before the girl, snapping the silver haired girl out of her trance like daze. She glanced up, blinking in confusion at the other lad before processing that this guy here was the brother she was searching for all this while. It took her approximately five seconds for her mind to return back to its normal speed.

“Where the heck were you and what were you thinking when you led an army of cats? Cats!” Sophie bellowed loudly in disbelief, causing Caterpillar to recoil back from her outburst and almost regretting to awaken her from her silent form, almost. He raised his hands in surrender, a gesture that Sophie understood that she should be quiet and let him explain.

“Well it’s not my fault that cats have a strong affinity towards me and it’s not my fault that I find them adorable. Anyway, what’s up with you? You look out of it. Like you seen a ghost or something...” Sophie stared at him expressionlessly before sighing.

“Not a ghost...Ophelia.” As she mentioned this name in particular, Caterpillar’s eyes hardened lightly and his jaw went slightly locked. He knew that this was a personal subject to the silver haired girl but Sophie was family and he needed to make sure she was alright both physically and psychologically.

“Did she fight you?” Sophie shook her head negatively.

“No...She didn’t even recognise me...she also send this present of poison to that ‘Lone Wolf’s’ partner and the guy just disappeared to thin air. I can only guess somehow or another he managed to stop that girl from opening that present.” Caterpillar nodded silently as he sorted out her words in a more understandable form before processing it. Sophie observed him as she registered the ring at the edge of his pupils shifted from grey to blue.

“Hopefully she is still alive. After all, Boss’s orders were to keep them from harm.” Sophie raised both eyebrows questioningly at the brown haired lad, clearly hearing this for the first time.

“I thought that was to protect them from Team Fourteen?”

“At that time it was from them but...how to say...Boss says that he will keep us informed who we have to look out for next. Apparently these two are important players that have a lot more than what the eyes see in them.” Caterpillar explained lightly while nonchalantly scratching the back of his head. Sophie continued to furrow her pale eyebrows together before shrugging it off. After many months of constantly being in the dark about what her brother and the ‘Boss’ kept from the world; she had learned to simply go with it.

“Also, it seems that those two has the worse luck for their second trial. The Boss had told me who they are going to face next and sadly we can’t help them this time. It’s a duel trial.” Caterpillar spoke sympathetically causing Sophie to narrow her eyes in suspicion. The results of the second trial hasn’t even came out yet so how did this ‘Boss’ figured out who Team twenty three, Armageddon and Zessica was up against? When she realised that her brother sounded too sympathetic, she guessed who exactly those two were up against.

“Don’t tell me...please don’t tell me...”

Caterpillar responded back in silence, confirming Sophie’s ultimate nightmare.