The Villain Of Arise

xxxvii: the one who ran away

Adalynnnnn ^^ (guess what character she's based off by) :D

Anyway, for clarification I actually wrote the last chapter ages ago but wasn't satisfied because (lol it's made as a filler chapter so boring) plus this chapter was very irritating to write and I didn't want a filler chapter followed up by nothing so I was going to do two updates but obviously I had no motivation (oh and this one science assessment for the science convention which was actually fun but difficult to do) so yeah I'll update the rest of arc IV tomorrow since everything has been set up and been written down ig :)

"How are you faring, Damon?"

The man slowly swivelled towards him, shaking his head. "I feel as good as my looks," he said, beckoning to his tired, sleepless self. "This assessment is horrifying to say at the least."

"Agreed," said Jaehyung. He gazed up at the cloudless sky and the bright, shining sun. He was relieved to say at the least. It looked like today would be a peaceful day.

The watch blinked red and an alert began to appear on his Metallix board. Gazing at the holographic screen, Jaehyung was evidently surprised to find that the flag had been moved. Toshiro's signal had gone out too - meaning that his watch was now broken. Jaehyung suspected that Team Night were attacking his team's camp.

Mari, who had been guarding Damon earlier immediately jerked up as the notification rang. Mortified, she gazed at the notification in horror.
"Is our defence that bad?" she cried out. "How come I didn't detect anything?"

Damon smiled, "Teamwork makes the dream work."

Jaehyung gave a glance at Damon and internally, he smiled. "Mari, let's find the person who took the flag," he informed her.

They took off, and Jaehyung saw with a glance that Evangeline was left along with him. He turned away, deciding to leave them alone.

The birds continued to chirp, birdsong breezing through the air. The wind was cool, tickling his skin and making Jaehyung's hair brush around his face. They continued to sprint, scouting the area.

They could find nothing.

Another alert rang in his watch. Mari looked positively relieved once the message said that the flag has been retrieved back from the enemy. It seemed Toshiro had sent it to everyone.

"Okay, phew," she let out a sigh of relief.

Jaehyung looked over at her but decided not to say anything. He gazed up at the sky and an eagle flew past.

An eagle...

The world around him burst into colour. Jaehyung rushed past, getting back to the jail and found Evangeline and Damon to be gone.

"Shoot," Mari murmured behind him. It turned out she had followed him all along. "Damn those cunning no good freaks. Where did Evangeline even go?"

An squawk resounded in the air. Jaehyung turned around, a rustle in the bushes, a shadow peeling through the shrubbery. Mari jolted to her feet as the figure jumped and began to run away. She quickly followed after him.

"Strange..." Jaehyung murmured. The figure looked... peculiar. It was almost out of place in this whole forest. The figure almost looked inhumane.

Jaehyung sighed, shaking his head. He was seeing things, an imaginary world in the depths of his mind. Imagining it to be a hallucination was absurd - he manipulated hallucinations. But why did something feel off?

There was that unsettling feeling once more.

Taking no note of it, Jaehyung stepped back, crossing his arms. There was no way that Team Day was going to win. Not with this mess, anyway.

"You can come out now," Jaehyung spoke softly, instantly recognizing somebody hiding in the distance. Adalyn Brandt stepped out of the shrubbery, her hair a mess full of twigs and sticks.

"Relax," she said, "I'm here to help."

"Help?" Jaehyung raised an eyebrow. "When you're clearly in the enemy team."

"I'm part of your team," said Adalyn. "I'm the mole of Team Night."

Jaehyung gave out a laugh, however he was simply amused at the irony of the situation. "Ah, is that so?"

Shadows swirled around his hands. Adalyn's eyes widened slightly as the shadows trickled along her skin. She began to shiver and a cloud slowly blocked the sun. It was at that instance did a cool, chilling breeze swept over them.

"And how do I know that you're not lying?"

"You'll see," Adalyn said, smiling despite herself. "Normally I wouldn't associate anything that has to do with you but I bet in Team Day you're the one that everyone goes to for advice. It isn't a far-fetched idea that you are probably the brains of your team."

"How flattering."

Suddenly an alert of his watch resounded through the air with that irritating beeping noise ringing once again. Jaehyung frowned and his vision blurred suddenly.

"Jaehyung!" Toshiro called, followed by Melinda and Mari.

"An intruder?" Before Adalyn could react, Mari was by their side, tagging Adalyn.

"You're not fraternizing with the enemy, are you Jaehyung? Mari asked, giving him a suspicious glance.

"I am not," said Jaehyung smoothly. "In fact, this intruder had an interesting prospect that she wanted to talk about."

Melinda laughed, though she looked somewhat distraught. "Either way, we have to hurry. Damon's free from jail and Evangeline is nowhere to be found."

"I found them two not so long ago," Toshiro informed him. "I felt something was off around here. Seemed my intuition was correct."

"What, with Jaehyung being this chummy with that girl?" Mari snorted, rolling her eyes. Jaehyung gave her a levelled look. In response, Mari huffed, crossing her arms.

Adalyn's eyes visibly narrowed and she began to tense. It wasn't in any use either way. She was already caught, and now jailed. The clouds shifted and the sun was finally freed from the clouds and at that point on, Adalyn began to laugh cheerfully and a gleam appeared shining in her eyes.

"The flag," she said simply, grinning wickedly. "It's already past your border and into my team's territory right this instance."