Chapter 159 - Upset

"You should do it, wasn't that your idea in the first place anyway?" Lorenz said with a pout and even crossed his arms just before Gem barged inside the interrogation room with a judging glance.

The room was silent, the only other sound that went against the silence was Gem's embarrassed footsteps while trying to close the gap between them.

"Hello," she said with an awkward smile before going back to her shy pose.

"What's wrong with me? Why am I so shy around them? Is it because they're older than me but younger than the adults that I've always been used to crossing paths with?" Gem asked herself while trying to make contact with each one of them but failing miserably.

Somehow, ever since she came inside that room and sat on the seat in front of Karizze, everybody had been silent and avoiding eye contact with each other as if they were waiting for something to happen.

"Kar," Lorenz said after nudging Karizze with his elbow who snugged at him and gave him a threatening look as if saying, "Why me? You suggested it so you should do it! Why are you looking at me like that?!"

But in the middle of it all, the both of them became silent again when Gonder finally spoke, saying the words they wanted to tell her all along, "I'm so sorry, we didn't mean any of that to happen."

"Oh no, it's okay, I'm okay. I don't think you need to apologize for that unfortunate accident.. I'm also sorry for inconveniencing you," Gem replied with all sincerity.

"No, we have been careless and selfish," Gonder said while bowing to Gem in a ninety-degree posture along with Lorenz and Karizze.

"It's okay, really. Apology accepted," Gem said while motioning for them to stop nervously.

"But just so you know, I still don't believe in your group. I still don't understand why kids like you were chosen instead of hardworking teenagers like us and I don't think I'll ever will. So, are we done here?" Karizze said after bowing with a heavy heart.

"Do you want to join the tournament?" Gem asked even though she already knew the answer to that.

"Yes." Karizze stood up and went to the door.

"Wait, I want to know more about you," Gem said, stopping Karizze on her track and making her turn back to her again.

"What more do you possibly need to know about us?" she asked.

"Like, if you were working with someone else, or was it all just the three of you?"

"Of course we also have my sister- wait what kind of question is this? Of course, it was just us. Do you think anyone else besides us has the guts to counter this power team of yours?" Karizze said as if it were that obvious. 

But because Gem knew nothing about this place and the people in it, her innocence was obvious which made Karizze stop and go back to her seat.

"Everyone hates you here, us included."

"But why? What did we do wrong to deserve such hate?" Gem asked innocently.

"Because you're living in the clouds, that's why-"

"You mean Yvandir? What does that have anything to do with us and the tournament?" Gem cut Karizze's words once again.

"No, I didn't mean literally, what I'm trying to say is, you're too strong and we're too weak to be even given a chance to enter that tournament," Karizze explained carefully.

"What do you mean weak? You even managed to almost kill me, I wouldn't call that weak," Gem said in confusion.

"Weak means not having any kind of support, from our family and even from our community, no one believed in us. But with you and your friends, you have the full support of the people and even the Queen."

"We did have support, but just because that's all you see doesn't mean that that's just all there is to it. Venedette worked hard to form us, she wanted the best of the best to be in her team. That may not be who you are but that doesn't mean that this was the opportunity you have left. Why be upset towards us who are doing our best to survive in this cruel world when you could just use that energy to become a better version of yourself?" Gem said as if she was talking to herself and quickly apologized when she saw the three teenager's faces in the room.

"Wow, I thought you were just a spoiled kid from the outside the first time I saw you, but I didn't know your way of thinking was this mature, if only we knew…" Lorenz said as if being mesmerized by Gem.

"Wha- how dare you say that?!" 

"Stop it Karizze, she's right. Instead of wasting our energy on hating them, why don't we just train to be the best in this field?" Gonder said, stopping Karizze from moving closer to Gem with her closed fists.

"Sorry about that, her temper's really just lacking," Lorenz said with a plastered smile on his face, probably trying to make Gem smile too but she's just too upset to even smile anymore.

"I hope we could be friends if only the situation was a bit different," Gem said and stood up from her seat, "I really liked the way you guys at least tried to do something to prove yourselves to those who look down on you,"

"Aren't you doing the same? You're also looking down on us!" Karizze said while struggling to remove Gonder's hold on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry if I caused a misunderstanding, I'm really just upset right now because one of our members moved out on her own while I was unconscious. That's all I wanted to say, see you outside the borders if you still decided on showing up." 

Gem put the chair back under the table and smiled at them weakly before leaving the room at once.

"What just happened?" Von said out loud after seeing the whole commotion.

"They're kind, but they're also attached to that idea that they're great. We'll at least that mindset could bring them progress, but too much of everything is a curse and should not be practiced. They should learn how to stop faking everything once in a while," Fily said, indicating that she was still passively listening to them while sleeping.

"Gem, you okay?" Lei asked when Gem finally came back to them.

"We need to find Petunia. She's not going to make it on her own," Gem said as if there was something that she knew about Petunia that the others don't.

"What do you mean she's not going to make it on her own? Petunia used to do things all on her own before coming to us," Fily said.

"I know, but I really don't feel good about this. Why do you think she left her stat-hut for? She didn't just leave it to make us lose track of her, she left it because she wanted us to look for it!"

"For what?" Von asked, seemingly getting the idea of what Gem was stressing.

"For help, she did it to ask us for help while being unsure of asking us for it. She's just too considerate to put us in danger but why do you think she asked us to help her during that meeting in the Levi-Yacht?" Gem said while walking back and forth from one wall to another.

"Petunia is a simple cat, she asked us for a meeting so she could make use of our help and ditch us the next minute because she didn't need us anymore. What else could she be planning?" Fily said bitterly as if she was just betrayed by a close friend.

"I'm sure she needs our help right now…" Gem said and proceeded on biting her nails out of nervousness.

"If that's the case then what are we still doing here? Shouldn't we go and look for her already?" Lei suggested.

"But the sun's already down and we still need to attend that meeting first, no matter what," Von said while looking at Gem as if her life was on the line here.

"I agree with Von, we should proceed with the plan even without Petunia. She made that choice on her own and she isn't the kind to do that without a certain reason. And besides, isn't your Energy slimes still an important part of her reverse potion? I'm sure she'll come around," Fily said, stating her stand in the situation.

"I don't feel good about this," Gem said while being upset at Fily and Von on the inside for refusing to help look for Petunia.

"If only I could fly, I'd be out right now and look for her all night…" Lei said, remembering the promise that Petunia made to him about the flight potions that also went to ruins because of that incident with Monica, the wolf, and the townspeople.