~Chapter 7- A Bounty ~

"The woman that took your son is supposedly very powerful. Don't you think your brother will need help against her?" Cmar said to Razan. He couldn't help but think that he was treating it far too casually.

"Nah, Lucar can handle it," Razan said while laying in a hammock of leaves. The children seemed unreasonably calm as well. They even began playing in the woods with Nout.

It was evening when Aero and Lucar arrived.

Aero was given a big hug by Razan and Corri. One could easily tell Razan and Aero were father and son. But the red-haired Corri looked distinct, she certainly shared some features of her father, the same brown eyes and rounded face. But Cmar figured she must've taken after her mother.

Jirro and Lucar looked nearly identical, aside from their hair color. Jirro said he got his blonde hair from his mother.

The two men looked vaguely familiar before. He'd seen them somewhere, but was unsure where. He was sure it'd come to him later.

Cmar approached the family and greeted Lucar, "It's nice to finally meet the both of you!"

"Nice to meet you as well," Lucar extended his hand to Cmar. Cmar shook hit and noticed an enormous amount of strength behind his grip.

"I heard your house was damaged recently. You and your family may stay here as long as you like."

"Nah, we're good," Razan responded informally. Cmar was taken back by how quickly he had turned down his offer.

"Actually, we were going to stay with the Densius up on Platt Mountain for a while. We have friends up there," Lucar explained far more politely.

Jirro frowned, "Why can't we stay for a little while, dad?"

"Cause I said so," Lucar responded sternly, "Once things calm down a bit, maybe we can come back."

Calm down?

Regardless, Cmar said, "You folks are welcome here any time."

The children bid their farewells to the Phantine people before leaving the woods and heading north. Nout was especially glum to say goodbye to Jirro. They stood at the edge of their woods and watched the family as they left.

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"Wake up!"

Emil felt a light kick to his side, and he sprung awake. A bruised Modi was standing over him. There were bits and pieces of rocks caught in her grey hair.

Emil looked around, and saw Lucar and Aero had left, "We lost, didn't we?"

Modi bitterly nodded.

Emil sat up, "Maybe, we should've threatened to hurt the kid. Then Lucar and Razan would've been forced to turn themselves-"

"That wouldn't work," Modi said, sitting down next to Emil, "There's a reason why the bounty on those two is so high. They're unstoppable."

Emil swallowed hard. Ever since the two of them were expelled from the Fighting Academy, nothing had worked out for them. They thought they caught a break when they heard about this bounty, but this didn't work out either.

"What're we going to do?"

"We'll make do," Modi sighed.

"Maybe we could join the tournament in a few months. Make some money that way," Emil suggested.

Modi scoffed, "These old bones are tired. The last thing I want to do is fight more. Besides, in my youth, I managed to win one of the tournaments. They wouldn't let me enter now. But feel free to knock yourself out, kid."