"GUSION!" Hanabi called him while he was drowning himself in guilty thoughts while he was flicking blades towards one of the trees in the woods.
Gusion had been doing nothing for the last couple of days since Angela was captured because of him.
His team was still relying on his decisions despite the fact that he let them down, but he couldn't dare face them without having a sound plan.
He wanted to go take back Angela.
But he couldn't risk another one of them getting left behind or lethally injured, especially when there was Dyrroth and probably Alice.
And there was this growing fear inside him.
What if Guinevere was there because Alice succeeded on her plan of getting Guinevere's ruthless side awaken?
Her presence on the enemy's side...it would be enough to make him useless.
He'd proven that from the recent fight. Just the mere sight of her distracted him from every goal he had.
And he didn't want to cause anyone on his team harm just because of that fear.
"Leave me alone." He said without looking at Hanabi as he went to retrieve his blades off the tree's trunk.
"No! It's Angela!"
Gusion spun around. "Why? What is it?"
"She's back."
He frowned, taking a second to register what she was trying to say.
Then he blinked towards where his teammates made camp for the last couple of days.
Relief flooded all over him the moment he saw the mechanical girl looking exhausted and drained but still alive as she lied over a cloth on the ground while Harley was making her drink a potion.
The kid just got so many different kinds of potion on him.
He let himself fall right beside her and grabbed her hand.
"Gela! H-how did you escape?" He asked.
A hundred questions zoomed inside his head that he couldn't figure out what to say first, making him stutter.
Angela's eyes, which incredibly looked human, stared at him. "They left me alone in a tent...and I managed to escape."
"Did y-you...did you perhaps meet the girl in a lotus dress?"
Angela frowned. "I didn't. Why?"
"Why would you be asking about someone else now?" Hanabi spat angrily. "She'd just got here safely! You should be asking if she's alright."
Gusion breathed deeply, calming himself down.
Hanabi was right. He should be acting as the leader of their squad and not the impulsive boy he used to be back then.
So he checked Angela's condition.
Apart from a few cuts in her arms and face, she appeared to be alright.
"Did Dyrroth hurt you?" He asked.
"No."
Gusion frowned. He knew Dyrroth well enough to know the boy would not pass a chance to hurt someone, even if it would be just for fun.
But he was relieved that he did otherwise, or Gusion wouldn't be able to forgive himself.
Gusion nodded, thinking having Angela back safely was enough.
So he looked at Harley. "Take care of her.'
"Aren't we going back to Zen City?" Grock asked.
Gusion felt guilty, but he wasn't determined to go back there while knowing Guinevere was in the enemy's territory.
"Not yet." He answered and went back to the woods.
Now that Angela was back, he would be able to think of a better plan to find out why Guinevere was really there.
And he had to come up with a good one. He couldn't risk her getting in danger for a failed attempt.
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"I'm going back to Dyrroth's camp." Gusion announced later that night while they were around the fire.
He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep while being confused as to why Guinevere was there.
So he had to go there and see for himself.
He saw no sense in dragging it out and wasting time.
His member's eyes were all on him.
Hanabi looked disappointed, making him immediately guilty.
Grock was looking at him as if he saw absolutely no sense of him going back at harm's way, but he didn't say anything, just like he usually did.
Gusion couldn't read Angela's expression, as if she was trying hard to conceal what she was thinking.
And Harley...Harley looked against the idea but he was somehow aware Gusion wasn't doing this out of recklessness.
"Why would you go back there?" Hanabi asked, a crease forming in her brows
"I have to find out the truth."
"About what?!"
"Who is this girl in a lotus dress?" Harley demanded.
Gusion turned to him. "Guinevere."
The magician's eyes widened before turning into a frown. "No way. Why would she be there?"
"That's what I want to know."
"That couldn't be Guinevere!" Harley argued.
"It was." Gusion insisted, growing impatient. "Yes, her hair was black and her magic looked different but I could recognize her from a mile away!"
"Who is this Guinevere and why the hell are you so worked up?" Hanabi butted in.
Gusion caught Harley's look at him, but he just looked away.
"She's Gusion's...friend." Harley answered for him.
But Hanabi looked unconvinced as she frowned. "That's some reaction upon seeing a friend being in the enemy territory."
"She's not just a friend." Gusion corrected.
He caught how Hanabi's eyes shifted at him weakly, as if she was trying to hide something inside her. "S-so...a girlfriend?"
"N—she's someone who would risk everything she's had to save a friend. And I would do the same for her."
"So this is you risking us to save her?"
Gusion looked away guiltily. "I'm going alone because I couldn't risk any of you getting hurt again."
"You're leaving us."
"I am not!" He snapped. "I'll be back before you even know it."
"But Gusion, she helped that witch when I attacked her. Guinevere would never be on their side. What if you were mistaken this time?"
"I could be wrong in many things but not this." He insisted. "And sh-she could be...on their side." He added, gulping down the bitterness of his words.
Harley stared at him. "What do you know?"
He looked away, irritation growing inside him at how useless he was becoming. "Alice did something to her when she was a child."
"If that's the case...what would you do if she really is on their side?"
"I don't know." He got to his feet. "But she's strong. It'll take a great deal to make her waver."
Hanabi scoffed. "Your faith in her is astonishing." She said bitterly.
"Hanabi, I promise I'll be back. I'll just go sneak in and find out the truth, maybe even get her out of there, but I will be back. With or without her." He assured.
"I lied." Angela said, finally breaking her silence.
The rest of them turned to her direction.
"What are you saying, Gela?"
She was looking at the fire in front of them, its orange blaze emphasizing the guilt in her green eyes.
"I'm sorry, Gusion, I lied to you." She repeated, finally looking at him with tears in her eyes. "I met her. Guinevere..."
Gusion blinked towards Angela's direction, bending in one knee to face her. "Is she alright? Has she gone evil? What did they do to her?"
"No. She helped me. She's the one who kept Dyrroth and the others from hurting me. She's the one who helped me escape."
Gusion held her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me this in the first place?!" He exclaimed.
"Gusion! You're hurting her!" Hanabi snapped, swatting away his hands off Angela's shoulders.
Only then did he realize he was actually gripping it too tightly.
Hanabi pulled Angela safely in her arms as she glared at him.
"I'm sorry, Gus. She made me promise not to tell anyone. I think she did it so you wouldn't find out. Now I know why."
"What?" He snapped. "She didn't want anyone to know?"
Angela nodded. "I told her we could escape together. But she won't. She said she couldn't escape. No one was hurting her in the camp though."
Dread spread in Gusion's chest.
What Angela was saying made him even more confused.
Was Guinevere in trouble? Or was she there in her own will?
The fact that no one was hurting her in the camp only meant the others sees her as an ally.
There was just no other explanation on that.
But why did she help Angela escape then?
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he got to his feet.
The thoughts in his head were giving him migraines.
He was not someone who could rely on his own ideas.
He usually just do whatever deemed appropriate and hoped things would go his way.
But right now it wasn't the best thing to do. It was taking all of his will just trying to stop himself from immediately fleeing towards the certain camp.
"Harley."
"Yes?"
"You're keeping track of your sister, right?"
"How do you know that?" Harley asked, surprised.
"I just know."
Harley's brows furrowed, irritated at the fact that he was being observed. "So what if I am?"
"Can you tell me where she is right now?"
"Why would I tell you that?!"
"Just tell me."
"No way you're dragging her into this!" He exclaimed, a tone of anger suddenly ringing in his voice.
"Harley, I need her and Granger to help." He said, hoping the urgency in his voice would change Harley's mind.
"Do you realize how completely insulting that sounds, in all levels?" Harley asked, looking at him as if he couldn't believe he was hearing it from Gusion.
"How is that insulting?"
Harley advanced to his direction, anger shining in his glare. "How? You left without telling her, and now you're trying to get in touch all because you need her help rescue another girl?"
"Having her on my team makes me at ease! I'm already afraid enough I might lose one of you again."
"Which brings us to the second reason why you're sounding so damn insulting!"
Gusion stared at Harley in complete confusion.
"Grock is a lot stronger than any other orc!" Harley exclaimed, gesturing at Grock who was watching them argue from one of the tree's roots. "Angela could pretty much make you invincible! I could handle a lot of those demons with my cards, and Hanabi could take down an army with just one swing of her blade! Why are you looking for reinforcements as if we aren't enough?!"
"I'm not risking it! It's Dyrroth we're talking about here!" He reasoned, but there was something he couldn't say as he stared at his team who seemed to have so much trust on him.
He needed Lesley and Granger because he wanted to make sure there would be people to snap some sense into him if ever he would go too impulsive and do something stupid.
Going into that camp and finding out Guinevere had really switched sides might make him do something stupid.
"And there's the third reason. Need I remind you that you, Silvanna, Guinevere, Granger and Alucard had to snap and get lethally injured before you made Dyrroth retreat?"
Gusion looked away guiltily. "I couldn't force you into this. If you'll back out, I'll take no grudge against you." He said, looking at each of his squad members.
But Grock, Hanabi and Angela merely stared at back at him with determination, relieving him.
He was actually afraid they might really back out, which would lower the chance for his rescue attempt to be successful.
"Now, Harley, lead me to your sister please."
"No way."
Gusion, seeing no other way to make Harley do so, flitted right past Harley in a blur, stopping a few meters away from where he was before with now a glowing blue stone in his hand.
Harley's eyes widened the moment he realized what just happened, then he frowned at Gusion angrily.
"This is what's letting you know where Lesley is, isn't it?" Gusion asked, though already knew the answer.
He'd seen the magician check it a few times when he thought everybody was already sleeping.
"Now tell me how it works." He demanded.
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Hello!
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Your dear author,
mongjiiiiii 🐱😘