Pokémon XYZ: Life, Death, Order, and Chaos (book 2 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 75: Night Chase

My dreams were chaotic to say the least. Flashes of memories of past encounters with the Cult kept resurfacing, along with the death of Mira. Clara kept popping up along with my other friends. Fears of their deaths were brought to life within the nightmare, jerking me awake.

"Eep!" A girl with long black hair who was passing by me with a tray nearly fell over, the mugs falling over the side. Before the dark liquid or glass touched the ground however, a psychic force stopped them midair. They floated back up and landed neatly on the tray, the liquid falling back in with a satisfying plop. An Espurr tottered over, purring as she rubbed against the girl's leg. 

"Sorry," I apologized, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. 

"No no," she shook her head, violet eyes wide. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I nearly spilled your drink after all." She held out her free hand. "I'm Emma and this is Mimi." She gestured to the Espurr cuddling against her leg. 

"I'm Zeno," I shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Emma." She wore a ragged blue blouse matched with an orange skirt along with black leggings and orange shoes. Her curly black hair was tied into poofy pigtails and their was a yellow M patched into her blouse. She smiled sweetly as she handed me a mug of coffee, then headed over to where Looker was sitting at a desk, writing something with a pen. 

Looking around Looker's office, I noticed a fridge on one wall with a large map of Lumiose hanging next to the sink beside the fridge. There was a little sitting area with wooden barriers and the front door had multi-colored rectangular windows that continued up to the ceiling, where a strip of checkered tiles spanned around the room. In the very back was where the couches were. They looked old and worn and didn't match the decor of the room, so I assume they were here before Looker moved in here and he hadn't had the time to move them out. Alex, Robert, and Preston were laying on three other similar faded green couches, but upon closer inspection, I realized Preston was awake and staring at the ceiling blankly.

Taking a quick sip, I set the mug down on the floor and headed over to Preston. I knelt and he glanced at me. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, sitting up, rubbing his eyes. "Just..." He shook his head miserably. "I feel like a failure."

"It's not your fault," I told him firmly, standing. "And we're going to find her. Then you can offer your thanks to Clara."

Preston only nodded, still looking downcast. Emma nodded to me as she walked past and offered Preston a mug. Hearing a groan, I looked to see Robert sitting up. He glanced at me. "Everything hurts man."

"That's what you get for jumping out of a helicopter and onto a giant Wailord," I patted him on the shoulder and he winced. 

"Not too rough," he complained, laying back down, then glanced to see Preston finally taking the coffee. "Hey. Room service please." He yelped as a couch cushion slammed into his chest.

"Ignore him," Alex leaned over the back of her couch, glaring at Robert. Her hair was messy after sleeping on the couch all day. Since we had met up on the beginning of our journey in this region, the red highlights in her hair had faded somewhat. As if she knew what I was thinking, she lifted a faded red strand. "Yep, I need to get this redone. Or go with something different." She fell back onto the couch with a huff. "How are you not sore, Zeno?"

"I'm used to this sort of thing," I shrugged, heading over to Looker, trying not to show just how sore I was really feeling as I moved. His sleek oak desk was a jumbled mess of papers, his lamp dangerously close to falling. "You find anything?"

"Some sightings of people in purple cloaks," he sighed, not looking up as he signed his signature on the bottom of a paper and moved it on top of a messy pile. He folded his hands and looked up at me. "It's going to be hard finding them in the state Lumiose is in. I hear there's around half of the vines still protruding from one thing or another. I'm sorry to say this, but we might not be able to find any solid leads until the city is cleaned up, and that's if we're lucky."