Arisen Anew- a Pokémon Fanfiction

Chapter 28 - Failed Transaction

"Chinshu," it's Neura's cold, monotonous voice that breaks the silence, sending a chill down my spine. "I'm here to collect the Intimum that you owe William."

The banister overlooking the downstairs area is the only thing between us and them. Just a line of chipped wooden bars. Nothing more. Behind me, Rosá is being brought back to consciousness by Green and Garnet, but I can hardly focus on her soft inhalations as she comes to. 

Chinshu steps back from the door, allowing Neura a wide berth to walk inside. Why is he letting her inside? They are going to kill him. Amber is right behind her, followed by Tris, and...

Azura. 

Something is distinctly off about the girl who saved us from certain death. She looks like the perfect soldier. Her posture is rod straight, eyes trained on Chinshu like he is nothing but a red ringed target. Dark blue hair shrouds her left eye in shadow, fluttering as she steps forth like the cloak she wears thrown across her shoulders. Everything about her is dark and unfamiliar. A golden earring set with a vivid green stone glints at her jaw, catching my eye. Whatever the case, she is not the same person that rescued us from the prison of Lavender Town. No, something has changed.

"Neura," Chinshu meets her words with matching cadence. "Time and time again, I've tried to tell you that allowing yourself to be used for William's whims and fancies is not the answer. I only wish you would have listened to me."

This seems to strike a chord with Amber, who slams her fist against the wall behind them, knocking a portrait of Chimecho off of the wall. It falls to the floor and the glass pane shatters into a million pieces. "Shut up! You know nothing about her. Neura, don't listen to him, it's just one more spiritual tangent--"

Neura silences Amber with just one look. "It's not your place to speak on this matter."

The girl immediately dips her head, stepping away from the wall with her lips pressed together. Tris gives her a disapproving look but says nothing. Her eyes scan the house, her nose scrunched up in scrutiny. My breath catches as her eyes slide over the stairs and to the upstairs area.

"I can only assume," says Neura, drawing up a chair and removing her cloak, throwing it across the back. Her Espeon, who I hadn't even noticed before, leaps up onto her lap. "That your insistence upon pleading to my pathos means that you don't have the Intimum you owe me."

Chinshu draws in a long breath, a man who knows no way out. I think about what he told us before. Will Neura and Team Cere kill every inhabitant of Cryptobar today? I want to move, to get between Neura and Chinshu, but I'm frozen in place. That woman turns the very blood in my veins to ice. 

"No," he says finally. "I don't."

Behind me, Diamond takes a deep breath, her eyes not leaving the scene downstairs. Cobalt squeezes her hand like he wants to pop it, his eyes wide with fear. When they discover us here, will they kill us too? Using our Pokémon isn't even an option when Operation Animus exists at the flick of Neura's fingers. 

"Then you understand what happens next," her voice is bone chilling. "You are of no more use to us."

The sound of three cloaks dropping to the floor is the only noise left in the house. It's like Neura sucked the very oxygen from the air. My ears ring, but I cannot move. Chinshu knew this was coming, he must have some sort of plan up his sleeve. He wouldn't just sit there and wait to die.

"Please," the large man begs, sounding utterly hopeless. "Don't do this. You have no idea what--"

Tris moves first. At her fists extend two short, sharp knives with handles that she grips so hard her knuckles begin to go white. The blade extends from her knuckles like the claws of a Zangoose as the metal of the lethal weapons glints dangerously at her sides. Before I can even blink, she's on the move, clearing the ground between she and Chinshu like it isn't even there.