Black sail of the labyrinth Part 3

Eika laid motionless impaled on one of the jagged rocks as the boat approached her. Emeri frantically tried to dive in and swim to her, but Yuni managed to hold her back.

As the boat pulled up next to Eika, Emeri reached out and removed her gag.

“E-me-ri...” Eika moaned as blood trickled out of her mouth.

“NO! WHY!? I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! YOU CAN’T DIE ON ME AGAIN!” Emeri tearfully screamed.

Eika’s vision became blurry as she breathed heavily.

“Emeri.,, I’m sorry. I tried to run, but they found me. I’m... sorry. Sorry I couldn’t protect ya from them. I didn’t tell ya cuz I didn’t want ya ta get swept up in Ginkawa affairs. Sorry I pushed ya so hard on sports. I wanted ya to be strong an healthy. Sorry I’m not the brightest, if I was smarter, maybe I could’ve prevented this like a good mother. Tell Rumi-ne I’m sorry for screwin' up and for not beein' able to reunite. Don't worry, I’ll tell Koki and Eriza you’re alright when I see em soon…”

“WE SAVED ERIZA!"

Eika tearfully smiled. “Good, at least my daughters will live on. Be a good sister an make sure you an Eriza live long happy lives…”

Light vanished from Eika’s eyes as Emeri screamed and sobbed in agony.

Serika, Yuni, and Madoka also teared up as they tried to comfort Emeri.

Suddenly, Melinda pulled up on jet ski. "Ah, boo hoo. You lose! Guess you only saved your sister, but even then, girl's balder than a naked mole rat. Uglier than one too."

Rage immediately flooded into Emeri's eyes as an aura of murder and malice erupted from her. “YOU BITCH! YOU F****** BITCH! YOU MURDERED MY PARENTS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Yeesh, ever hear about not making death threats? I mean, you went full Theseus not me.

"...!?"

"Huh!? I gotta spell it out for ya? Just like Theseus, ya sailed to Crete to rescue people from the labyrinth. You also killed the minotaur... With a moped. Yeah, historically inaccurate, but you were too weak to press the off-button on your own. But I did give you a fighting chance and ya blew it. You also f***** up royally and forgot to change the sail-"

"I thought they were dead. YOU SAID THEY WERE IN THE-"

"I said there were lifelike statues of your folks in the labyrinth. Your sister was the only real one. Anyway, if you'd changed that sail, regardless of if ya saved anyone, I'd have lost."

"You think I'd believe you!? You'd have just dumped her over the cliff anyway like you just did!"

Melinda shot Emeri a nasty glare. "Oi, us Moriartys got pride. We lose the game, we lose. And ya know what, since you pissed me off, I'm gonna tell ya somethin' real nasty; You also went full Oedipus.”

Yuni began to tremble at the mention of the name.

"Looks like Kabuki's daughter gets it. Well, ya gonna tell he what she did," Melinda sneered as she pulled out her selfie stick.

Yuni broke down crying as she couldn’t bear to tell Emeri what she had done.

"Whelp, guess innocence is bliss... PSYCH! Oedipus was a messed up f***** that accidentally married his mother and f***** her and... He also unknowingly murdered his father."

Emeri’s heart began to beat faster. “No... There's no way I'd kill him-"

"The minotaur was him all along," Melinda sneered as she pulled out a tablet.

On it, footage of the minotaur's corpse was shown. A masked goon then walked over and removed the bull head, revealing Koki's face beneath the mask.

Emeri began to tremble and hyperventilate as she fell to her knees. “NO IT’S IMPOSSIBLE!”

“I merely placed a mind control device on him. My deliberate referring to the moped as a chariot was also a final lifeline for ya. Oedipus unknowingly killed his father after they got into a quarrel while traveling. One account says the quarrel began after they crashed their chariots into each other. Just like Oedipus, ya unknowingly got into a fight with your father and killed him. And I even provided an antidote for the poison that ultimately killed him, but you were so stupid ya just killed him and moved on. Bet he was crying out for help too. Must have broke him to have ya murder him so coldly. But then again, you never loved your family anyway so embrace your murderer status with pride, BITCH!”

Emeri’s dam completely burst. “NO! YOU BITCH! I HATED DOING SPORTS, BUT I STILL LOVED THEM! I WOULDN’T KILL THEM OVER THAT!”

“Please, disagreements about lifestyles are one of the core reasons people despise and/or kill each another. Many simply resort to verbal attacks or angry forum posts, but some resort to physical violence to lash out at someone they disagree with. You simply proved you are part of the latter, mur-der-er."

Emeri broke down and began screaming and crying uncontrollably. Melinda chuckled and tossed a small case to her. Emeri frantically opened the case to find a pair of sharp sewing needles.

“Upon realizing the truth, Oedipus gouged his eyes out with needles. Since I failed to retrieve my flash drive, I'll offer this to you as mercy to ease your pain,” Melinda sneered as she sailed away.

Emeri immediately reached for the needles, and attempted to gauge her eyes out only for Madoka to desperately restrain her wrists.

“NO! I NEED TO ATONE! I DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL HIM! I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT THEM! I... I... AHHHHH! LET ME ATONE!”

Her mind was completely broken, and she was unable to think straight as she forcibly tried to break free of Madoka’s grasp.

“DON’T DO THIS! SHE’S MESSING- “

“SHUT UP! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! MY PARENTS ARE GONE! ALL BECAUSE OF MY SELFISHNESS! I NEED TO BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR UNFAIR DEATHS!”

“I’m sorry I can’t understand, and for what I’m about to do. I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good,” Madoka cried.

Crunch!

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

Emeri screamed in pain as Madoka broke her wrists causing her to drop the needles. She then mustered her strength to pin her down while Yuni helped restrain her.

All the while, Serika could do nothing but watch in agony. "Emeri, I'm sorry I was so useless here."

...

“I apologize for the ruckus we caused,” Yuni bowed to the ferryman.

“Well, I can’t blame her. If what that girl said was true, she must be in tremendous emotional pain. I’d recommend sticking by her side, without being too pushy."

Everyone got off and headed back to the hotel. Since Eriza was still unconscious, she ended up having to be pushed in wheelchair by Yuni along with Serika. Madoka was also wheelchair-bound, but was at least able to drive herself around since her arms were still functioning. Emeri simply walked in silence as her now bandaged hands hung at her sides and she stared at the ground.

“I’ve never seen Emeri like this before. She’s always been so calm and level-headed,” Madoka lamented.

“That evil woman subjected her to a cruel punishment. The best we can do is try to help her overcome it," Yuni sighed.

“I really hope so. It’d be a lousy birthday present to see her depressed and miserable.”

“Wait, is your birthday today!?”

“No, it’s tomorrow on the 24th. Though, it’s probably not a good idea to celebrate considering what happened. I’ll try contacting momma. Though, I don’t think she’ll like the news."

Madoka quickly dialed up Harumi and informed her on what happened. Harumi didn't take the news well and began to sob.

“I’m sorry momma. I’m sorry I had to tell you some bad news,” Madoka cried.

“No, I’m glad you told me everything. Rest up for now, I need to do something important.”

Harumi hung up and sent a text message before sobbing.

“Kina, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, and for dragging you back into the life you wished to escape.”

...

Serika laid on the bed as Emeri sat down next to her. She had calmed down a bit, however, she was still distraught.

“Are you feeling better?” Serika asked.

“How can I feel better? They’re all dead.”

“I can give you a kiss if it makes you feel- “

“A kiss isn’t going to make this better! Be a bit more considerate would you!” Emeri yelled.

Serika was at a loss on what to do. Emotional support was not something she was good at, nor could she truly relate to the pain Emeri felt. Despite that, she knew she needed to stay by Emeri’s side. Mustering all her strength, she managed to move her hand enough to put it over one of Emeri's

"What are you doing!? Could you move this whole time!?"

"I wish, but this is all I can muster, this shit lives up to it's name. And as for why I'm doing this, it’s the only thing I can think of that will help you. It’s what helped me get my head back in the game.”

“I’m not like you.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re not a murderer.”

“Yes I am! I killed him!”

“No, that bitch is the one that did it. You thought you were fighting a monster to save us.”

“But- “

Serika sighed as her hand went limp again. “You really think those dumb jocks would be mad at you? They’d probably be OK with laying down their lives to ensure you live on. Besides, there’s no way to know if that bitch was even telling the truth. I bet she’d have still murdered your mother even if we changed the sail. It’s not your fault, it’s that bitch's!”

“But this whole thing started because I approached them. If I had never met them here-”

“Come on, that bitch was here to begin with. If anything, she probably was surveilling your family before we arrived.”

“You don’t know for sure.”

“So?”

“UGH! You’re being just as dumb as they were!”

“Hey, I’m trying my best. I’m the one who usually needs the emotional support!”

"Eriza's still out cold, but will probably wake up soon."

"So why are you sad-"

"What am I going to tell her!?"

Serika went silent as she tried to come up with a response. “Dammit, I can’t think of anything to say that would calm her down. Think girl! How did Sensei calm me down when I was a terrified wreck?” Serika thought.

“Hey Emeri, momma’s on the line and wants to talk with you,” Madoka said as she held the phone up to Emeri’s ear.

“What!?” Emeri growled.

"Emeri, I know you must be feeling awful, but this is not your fault."

"It was. I lost myself and couldn't think straight! It's not fair! They left the family so that they wouldn't be dragged into it's problems, but now-"

"Then as the head of the family, I'm just as at fault. I should have done more to protect them. That's why I need to honor Kina's will and protect you and Eriza."

“You better follow through dammit,” Emeri muttered as she drifted off to sleep.

Madoka took the phone back and began talking with Harumi again.

"Hmm? An antidote for the serum? Pretty sure some was packed in one of the suitcases that you checked. It would be in a secret compartment though. Oh, and there's also a compartment containing an emergency milk supply. It's not much, but it should heal you back up to wear you can at least walk and fight if need be."

Madoka nodded and directed Yuni towards the secret compartments in the suitcase. After allocating the milk and giving Serika the antidote, Madoka began chugging through her allotted milk. Within minutes, she could walk again.

"Ngh, what's with all the racket," Emeri grumbled as she awoke.

"Oh, you're up. Sorry about snapping your wrists, but I didn’t want you to hurt your eyes,” Madoka stated as she held a glass of milk up to Emeri's face.

Emeri sighed before sipping all the milk.

“No, I was too distraught back then, still am a bit,” she mumbled as Madoka went to refill the glass.

“Yeah, you really showed your worst, but despite that, I stuck with you," Serika smiled as she sat down next to her.

Emeri perked up a bit at the mention of those words. "What you said- WAIT! You can move again!?"

"Yeah, your aunt packed the antidote so now I can move."

The revelation ended up worsening Emeri's mood though. "We could have one-uped her, but I was too stupid."

Serika glared and gently slapped Emeri on the cheek. "I know you’re the one who said you’d give me love, but I think you’re the one that needs love and support more than me now."

Tears rolled down Emeri’s cheeks as she leaned her head on Serika’s shoulder.

“Thank you for sticking with me, Serika-chan.”

“No problem, Emeri,” Serika smiled as she stroked Emeri’s head.