"What the hell..." Eugene muttered, unable to comprehend the situation.
The scene in front of him was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
Jade and Oliver were in their beast forms rolling on the ground. While Noah was being held down by the neck like a rogue bull.
And in the midst of the chaos stood a young girl with fierce emerald green eyes blazing under the sun. The harmless-looking girl that lay unconscious was nowhere to be seen.
"Who's rabbitnapped now?" Eugene clicked his tongue.
Before they left for the village, the twins had spread a wild rumor throughout the village altering the incident in the forest. In a small village where news travels fast, even the children knew of it in a short span of time.
"Ironic...."
Eugene felt a subtle sense of satisfaction come over him from looking at them, even though it was his friends getting beat up.
"Eugene. Raeden. Over here"
Melina came running towards them. She was standing amongst the crowd of spectators when she noticed the two in the distance.
It was not only her but a number of villagers and travelers were spectating the commotion instead of stopping them.
"How did this happen?" enquired Eugene though he could somewhat understand why the villagers were not helping.
Because forgoing the seriousness of the situation, it was simply hilarious.
Fairly lacking in entertainment in the small village, they were curious about what would happen next with snacks in their hands. Seeing the twins in the middle of it was an added benefit.
Even the customers from the breakfast house started coming out of the shop plates in hand on hearing the commotion at the front.
"I'm not sure. Maybe... she thinks we imprisoned her?
Melina's eyes darted towards the leopard walking closer to the girl with his hands in the air.
Jade was trying to communicate with her while exerting that he was harmless.
*thud*
But it was to no avail.
"Jade tried talking to her and...." Melina heaved a sigh and pointed towards the ground,
"......somehow that's how he keeps ending up. Poor Jade"
"You should talk to her, Eugene" Raeden spoke without taking his eyes off the girl.
"Why me?"
"You're the only one she's going to listen to. And change before you go"
Raeden walked into the crowd leaving behind the speechless rabbit.
'Change before I go?'
"Ok. Here I go..."
Eugene took a deep breath and strode towards the girl with Melina encouraging him.
"All the best Eugene!"
Meanwhile, Noah was having a hard time talking sense to his captor. He was unable to free himself from her grasp since she was surprisingly way stronger than what meets the eye.
"We can talk this out. Please let him go"
"Yeah... We're not trying to hurt you"
Though Jade and Oliver were trying to talk to her. Angelica only heard what she wanted to.
"Where is he?" Angelica ignored them and tightened her grip on Noah.
"Where is who?"
Noah gritted his teeth. He had no idea who she was referring to. He had only wanted to ask if she was alright. But somehow, this was how things escalated to.
Right then, Noah noticed something. It was the scent of someone he knew. He automatically surmised that he had to keep his captor distracted.
"Chirpy! I'm talking about Chirpy! Where are you hiding him?" Angelica roared.
She had reached the end of her patience, not that there were any left in the first place. The blue dog was being annoying.
"Is this Chirpy a rabbit by any chance?" Noah glanced sideways. He was seeking the right moment to jump.
"No. Chirpy's not a rabbit. He's a...."
As she spoke, Angelica pushed Noah forward in full force. She turned around at the speed of light and caught the hand that was about to strike her in the back of the neck.
"...wolf"
It was Raeden in his wolf form. He had sneaked up from behind in an attempt to make her unconscious. But didn't expect her to catch him.
"Don't" Angelica narrowed her eyes and spoke in a threatening voice,
"Even think about it"
Raeden and Angelica stood staring into each other from inches away.
"..."
"..."
There was one thing the Nero mercenaries had not anticipated.
Their opponent may not be a beastman but her instincts were just as sharp as theirs.
Angelica might have been caught last time due to the effect of the pollen in her system. But now that she was aware of her surroundings. There was nothing stopping her.
"Woah"
Bea applauded with wide eyes, completely invested in the dynamic. She too was part of the audience that was watching in awe.
Silence filled the atmosphere.
Noah, who had safely landed after the throw along with everybody else, was biting their nails in anticipation.
Disappointingly just as they thought it would get more interesting, someone stepped in.
"Let him go"
"Hmm"
Angelica tilted her head and looked behind Raeden.
Wriggling his pink nose, a greyish-white fluffy figure slowly made his way near her.
"Let him go" Eugene repeated again.
After observing him for a moment, Angelica let go of Raeden's hand and moved aside from him.
With her arms open wide she took a step forward and called in a calm voice,
"Come here"
Eugene gulped as he passed by Raeden. And just as he got near her.
"!"
Angelica pulled him into a tight hug and buried her face in his soft hair.
It seemed as if she was snuggling into a large teddy bear.
""That's it?"" The twins asked in unison.
They had to endure being almost strangled and kicked in the face. Yet it took Eugene only a hug to calm her down.
They felt cheated.
"Hey..."
Eugene tapped on Angelica's back. But there was no response.
She was entranced in her own world with her eyes closed, completely oblivious about the group of people staring at them.
"..."
"Mind letting go"
"..."
"Haaah..." Eugene sighed.
He managed to wiggle his way into turning to the other side while being in her embrace.
"So... I guess we are done here?" He awkwardly smiled at the audience.
Two hours later at Chief Gorden's residence...
"I AM EXTREMELY SORRY!" Angelica apologized while bowing down and clenching her hands together.
After the fiasco at the breakfast house, Eugene paraded all the way to the Chief's house in the middle of the village while dragging Angelica who was plastered behind him like a fridge magnet.
Somehow he managed to get her to drink the medicine Gordon prepared. And with a few minutes in the incense, Angelica was slowly getting back to her senses.
Angelica felt deeply embarrassed after hearing everything about how she ended up there. Not only did she attack the people who helped her, but she also snuggled a complete stranger in broad daylight mistaking him for Chirpy!
'Can't believe I almost cheated on my baby!' Angelica was internally screaming.
"How did you inhale so much pollen?" Gordon asked, removing the bandages on her head. The swelling had healed completely leaving no marks or whatsoever on her face.
"I met a very evil squirrel. The next second I was high on pollens and didn't know what I was doing"
"But you do remember now right?" Gordon added and stood up from his seat. He disposed of the bandages in the trash can and returned back.
"Yes. I do..... unfortunately" Angelica looked away embarrassed as she mumbled.
"I'm afraid of waking up in unknown places. I tend to freak out a bit.... lot"
"Even in an intoxicated state you took down three beastmen" Gordon fell into thought,
"That was...."
"Awesome!"
Bea came in with a knock on the door. In her hands was a cleansing drink she prepared out of honey harvested from the forest.
"Reckless. That was very dangerous. You were lucky we found you"
Angelica flinched at Gordon's stern tone.
"Ha..Ha..."
'Actually, I would've been fine. It's the other party I'm worried about'
She awkwardly scratched her cheek and turned towards Bea.
"Ah.... About your brother. He..."
"Eugene's fine" Bea waved her hand to dismiss her concern. There were more interesting things to discuss.
"Really?"
"He's perfectly fine"
In fact, he was not.
Since returning home, Eugene had cooped himself up at the corner of the house facing the wall and has refused to talk to anyone. He was mumbling to himself in an inaudible voice with a sad aura radiating around him.
"I wanted to ask. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Bea asked, passing the drink to Angelica.
"My grandmother" Angelica smiled, reminiscing about the past.
"She is.... was a very tough lady"
After a moment of silence, Bea continued her questioning,
"Why did you break the window? The door was open"
"I'm sorry. I'll.... I'll pay for it"
"Then what about my arm?" Noah walked in wearing a cast on his arm, followed by Jade and Raeden. He pulled up a stool and sat facing Angelica.
Even though he had no broken bones or sprains, Gordon made him wear the cast just in case. Still, he might have been hurt if Angelica had not let go.
"Do you... Do you want me to nurse you?" Angelica frowned.
She was not sure about her ability to nurse someone, especially since every plant in her room died without a shot of survival.
"I don't think that'll work" Oliver came in with a smile, dragging a moody Eugene behind him.
The small room was filled with people to the brim following their arrival, causing Gordon to step out.
With a single look at Eugene, Angelica understood why she was confused between him and Chipry.
Because in extreme circumstances, the heart sees only what it wants to see. She then shifted her attention to Oliver and Noah.
"Ok, there are two of you. Or am I still seeing things?" Angelica rubbed her eyes on her and checked again.
There were still two blue-haired fox beastmen in front of her. One was sitting beside her with a cast covering his arm and the other leaning on the door.
"Never seen twins before?" Oliver grinned.
"My family has a history of twins. I did think I was still hallucinating though...." Angelica smiled, causing the dimple on her left chin to deepen.
"Cool hair color by the way"
For a split second her eyes locked with Raeden's before Bea's cheery voice caught her attention.
"We're one of a kind" Noah winked and ran a hand through his bright blue hair.
"Oh! And don't worry about the Golden Rosales. We redeemed it on your behalf. Money's on the table"
On top of the table was a small pouch filled with gold coins and the rest of her stuff was on a basket on the floor.
"I totally forgot about that" Angelica knocked herself on the head with her hand.
The guild request. It was the reason why she went to the Sterron grasslands. Money aside, there was someone out there that desperately needed the plant.
If not for the Nero mercenaries picking her up in the forest, everything would have been in vain.
"Thank you. For the plant and for bringing me here. I'm indebted to you... all of you"
"Anyway..." Bea chortled and pointed at the twins.
"I was happy to know that these troublemakers were through a lesson"
"That's too harsh on us" Oliver complained along with Noah.
"We were helping from the kindness of our heart"
"Yet none of this would've happened if you hadn't brought a loaf of bread" Jade commented at Oliver.
"I told you I was hungry!"
Oliver corrected his throat before continuing,
"Ahem... That aside we only lost because we were lenient"
"Somehow that doesn't feel like the truth" Bea twisted her face. Judging from the events earlier she just could not bring herself to accept his words.
"Does that mean you want a rematch?" Angelica asked with a smile joining in the fun.
"We're up for it" Shrugged Noah and Oliver.
"Before that...." Bea remembered something important.
"You never told us your name"
"It's Ann..." Angelica stopped mid-sentence. Following the flow, she had almost blurted out her real name.
"Ann? Your name is Ann?" Bea tilted her head.
"Yeah. My name is Ann"
At that moment, Bea did not realize that in the effort to tone down two troublemakers of the village. She added the worst one to the mix that would change their lives forever.
Shortly after the rematch with Noah and Oliver, Angelica officially joined the Nero mercenaries and settled down with the Leverets.
Ann chuckled, reminded of the past. Goblins, bread, and a squirrel are what brought them together into a team.
Now, nearly two years later they were still together fighting goblins.
"As far I remember I beat your ass after that!" Ann stuck out her tongue.
"That was one time!" Oliver grumbled.
"I remember you lose at drinking night. You even started singing" Noah smirked, only to get his bandaid ripped off by Ann.
"Yeah and remember how I chased you to the end of the village for that!"
A cluster of laughter filled their small circle as the twins and Ann started squabbling.