"We have to go." Gusion told her the next morning after he shook her awake. "Demons are weak during the day."
Guinevere sat up and looked around. Sunlight were streaming down the spaces of the trees' leaves, making the river sparkle in their ripples.
Cecilion and Carmilla were under the shade of the big oak tree, holding each other close.
"What about them?" Guinevere asked.
Gusion stared at the couple, who looked like nothing was bothering them. "They're living better than us. They'll be fine."
Guinevere got to her feet and headed to the couple, who let go of each other to face her.
"Thank you for keeping watch through the night."
"Don't mention it. It is nothing compared to the help we got from the Lord Gusion when we were all out of hope." Cecilion answered
"Go now, Lady Guinevere. Seek your brother and go back to Castle Gorge where it's safe." Carmilla told her. "The Land isn't safe to wander anymore."
"So demons are really scattered everywhere?" Gusion asked.
"Yes. Unlike the weak ones the Land of Dawn normally had, these kinds are more vicious and harder to kill. The Prince of the Abyss is preparing his attack."
"It is happening soon. It is better for you guys," Carmilla looked from Gusion to Guinevere, "to be home when it happens."
"It's the perfect time for this lad to prove his worth." Guinevere said, looking at Gusion, knowing he was ready fighting demons along the streets to test if he was any good.
"We shall take our leave." Gusion said dismissively.
Cecilion nodded and reached out his hand to a certain direction. "You must go east. It is where Azure Lake is located. It has the bluest of water in the land. Swan castle stands proudly over it."
Gusion nodded. "Thank you."
"I shall see you again, Lady Guinevere...somehow." Carmilla said as she did a small curtsy.
"In better times, I hope, Lady Carmilla. Until then, keep yourselves safe."
Guinevere and Gusion headed out into the forest again.
"Do you think they will be alright?" Guinevere asked as they walked just to satisfy her curiosity and distract herself from the rumbling of her stomach.
"They're blood demons. You should worry about us."
There was a moment of pause from Gusion before answering again. "They're stronger together than you think they are."
Guinevere looked at him curiously. "How can you say so?"
He looked like he was gonna dismiss the subject, but reconsidered anyway. "When I was just about to pass by those guards trying to capture them both, Cecilion was already weak from fighting, especially that he was holding Carmilla safe in his arms.
The Lady Carmilla awoke by then and saw her man weak and losing consciousness. Upon doing so, she was able to create a force field so strong that she knocked out all of the guards. To think that she was able to do that out of love for Cecilion..."
Guinevere found herself listening intently to Gusion, amazed and confused of the Blood Demons' love that was becoming astonishing and complex the more she heard about it.
"So I think you need not worry about those two." Gusion added.
"Then how did you help them that night?"
"Another bunch of guards came when Carmilla became all weak after protecting themselves. So I decided to step in."
They continued to walk silently after that, until Gusion broke it.
"So why are you looking for your brother?"
Guinevere glanced at him. They had been traveling together for days, yet they did not actually know a thing about each other.
"Isn't it just your way of showing reproach to your father?"
She casted him a look, irritated that he got it partly right. "I'm also worried about him. He's been missing for a week."
"What do you think is he doing in Azure Lake?"
"I have no idea. That's what we're going to find out. What about you? Why are you refusing to mention your family name?"
His face turned hard and guarded. "I was...casted away." He fessed, looking straight ahead with furrowed brows as if he was remembering an unpleasant memory.
"I'm sorry." She said, regretting why she asked him that.
"It doesn't matter. I've never felt more free before."
There was a sudden sound of a twig breaking, making them jerk to its direction.
They scanned their surroundings carefully, Gusion already taking out his blade while Guinevere was ready to send out her magic.
A few moments of silence and there was nothing, making them relax.
"It might just be a squirrel."
"Right. Or a rabbit." She added, calming herself down.
"But just in case," Gusion drew close to her, took off one of his sword's sheath belt and coiled it around her waist.
"What are you doing?" She asked, watching him slide a blade into the sheath in her waist. "I don't need it."
"I know how draining those energy waves are. Think of it as your last resort." He said, tightening the belt around her before stepping away.
There was another blade in his sheath, as if it came out of thin air.
Guinevere glared at him anyway, not making sense of what he was doing.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I told you, just in case you run out of energy to use magic."
"No. I mean this, coming with me, giving me a blade..."
"Lady Guinevere, haven't you had any friends?" He asked as they continued walking.
Guinevere could not answer, because she could not remember anyone whom she could consider as one.
Most girls in the academy usually hated her, in reasons she found irrelevant. All she wanted to be was become the most powerful mage in the Land. So she was just as willing to ignore them unless it was necessary.
"It's not easy to have one for me."
"I could see why." Gusion muttered.
"And why do you think is it?" She asked, holding his gaze as if daring him to try and insult her.
He stared back at her though, and the way he looked from her head down and back to her eyes made her conscious of her current appearance, which was clearly not at its best state.
"Brains. Guts... And beauty. All of them see you as a threat."
She was surprised to what he said. Usually, people called her dominating and annoyingly smart, her face as beautiful as a doll that it was almost creepy, with a tone that made her think it was all bad.
But the way Gusion said it didn't really sound insulting.
She cleared the imaginary lump in her throat and looked away, hoping the way her cheeks grow warm didn't really make them the same color as cherries. "Not particularly in that order, I believe."
Gusion scoffed in humor. "And an umoving confidence that could make people feel small about themselves, I might add."
"Well, do you feel small?"
"Not me. So believe me, Lady Guinevere, when I say that this is what friends do. They look out for each other."
She frowned as she looked at him, puzzled. "Are you trying to say...that we're friends?"
He shrugged. "Your guts does feel a little bit annoying sometimes, your brain too curious. But your beauty doesn't make me insecure, and you're not...really in your best state right now." He tried to keep a straight face, but she could totally see a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Excuse me!" She snapped, a bit insulted, a bit embarrassed for him to witness her at a bad state.
But Gusion merely chuckled. "...so yes, I guess we could be friends."
She tried to get mad at him for stating embarrassing things, but all she could do was laugh at how true they were.
"I've never even bathe for days." She stated, making them both laugh even more.
"Or combed your hair." Gusion added.
"Are you seriously talking about me? You should see your hair!"
Gusion just laughed, loudly that it was contagious and it filled the silent forest.
Half an hour later and they found themselves staring in awe at the magnificently blue water of a lake, its surface sparkling in its soft ripples.
No one needed to tell them that it was the lake they were looking for. Its water was enough to tell them it was Azure Lake.
At the lake's shore ahead of them, towering proudly in beauty and elegance, was Swan Castle, glistening in the sun in soft pastel colors.
Their stomach were rumbling that the first thing they did was bent to get a drink.
Then Guinevere heard a familiar sound that made her straighten up and looked around.
Her brother's laughter was echoing across the lake.
"It must be someone from the Swan Castle." Gusion said.
"It's my brother!" She run to the Castle's direction, excited to see her brother again.
There, in the courtyard inside the towering metal gates, was her brother, in full armor. He looked as strong as ever, and he was beaming as he looked at a particular direction.
"Lancelo—!" She was cut off as a maiden came and took her brother's outstretched hand.
She stopped dead in her tracks, Gusion doing the same beside her, as she stared at the scene ahead.
Lancelot took the maiden into his arms, stared at her face with a glint in his eyes that she'd never seen before and claimed her lips.
Guinevere's jaws hanged open, disbelieving at what she was seeing.
"I might just puke!" She snapped loudly.
Lancelot and Odette let go of each other, but Guinevere was filled with disappointment and anger that she spun around and strode back to where they came.
"Lady Guinevere!" Gusion called as he grabbed her by the wrist.
But she slung it off. "You can come with me or go your way!"
Then she continued to walk away. She was so consumed with her feelings that she didn't notice the Castle gates opening and her brother running after her until he caught her by the wrist.
"LET GO OF ME!" She exclaimed, sending an energy wave along with her hand as she slung his hand off her.
"Lancelot!" The maiden yelled anxiously.
Guinevere sent Lancelot flying twenty feet away.
"YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A BROTHER!"
Lancelot grunted as he got to his feet, a defeated smile plastered on his face. "Damn, I missed feeling that."
Guinevere stomped to her brother's direction, her fists smoking with violet energy, her eyes filled with rage.
"Do you know what I've gone through just to find you?!" She exclaimed, loudly and firmly. "Only to find you happily kissing a woman!" She sent another energy wave towards him.
Lancelot jumped out of the way before it exploded on the ground he was in a split second ago.
"Guinevere, stop!" Gusion was about to get in the way when the maiden blocked him by her slender arm.
"Let them sort this out." Her voice sounded gentle and melodious.
"Aren't you worried she's gonna blast your boyfriend to pieces?"
To Gusion's surprise, she simply smiled. She looked so dazzling that he was caught off guard.
And he immediately recognized her. The rumor of her dazzling smile mesmerizing everyone who sees it had reached the walls of the Paxley house and even the ears of his brothers.
It was said that swans all over the land came to the Swan Castle when the maiden was born, and the stories spread all over the land, making her well-known.
He was staring at the Lady Odette of the Swan Castle, the beaming pride of the Regina family.
"It's just a simple sibling's quarrel." Odette said, watching the siblings' fight.
Guinevere kept firing at Lancelot, who dodged it like he'd done it a hundred times before. He also did strikes with his unsheathed sword, trying to knock Guinevere of her feet.
After a while, Lancelot finally managed to break through Guinevere's offensive guard, having yanked her over his shoulder and hurled her straight into the lake.
Guinevere splashed into it, making Odette gasp.
She later emerged into the surface fuming with anger, glaring at her brother who was laughing out loud.
"I missed you, sister!" Lancelot yelled.
"Why don't you come bring her inside?" Odette suggested to Gusion. "I'm sure you're tired and starving."
The mention of food immediately made Gusion help Guinevere out of the water.
"I'm gonna kill that idiot."
Gusion blocked her shoulders by his hands before she could advance towards her brother.
"Lady Guinevere, I know how frustrating might this be for you. But can you please set it aside until we've eaten?"
She paused for a while to think, frowned and scoffed in frustration. "Good idea. Maybe I'll have more energy after I eat."