"You can hide but you can't outrun me!" Lesley shouted, drawing fear.
"Ngnh!"Guinevere tripped on a tree branch, falling face first to the ground, her forehead hitting a sharp rock. She could feel it starting to bleed as it throbs in pain.
Hearing her fall, Lesley smirked and concealed herself. Each step she took was as light as a feather had it weren't for Guinevere's magical senses she wouldn't be able to see her.
The sniper removed all her adamantine bullets, replacing them with tranquilizers for this wasn't an assassination mission. This was a rescue mission, much to Guinevere's dismay.
Guinevere frowned, feeling ever so vulnerable. She's never been this underconfident of herself before and the fact that she wasn't able to see Granger worsens her low self-esteem. Especially when she doesn't exist in his memory anymore.
Guinevere had made a sniffle, and in no less than a second, Lesley shot her.
"Alas, I finally caught you after such a rat chase." The sniper huffed under her breath, billowing her long bangs. "Gusion will be so happy to see you."
⚜️⚜️⚜️
Gusion aggressively practices in the Paxley House's garden where dummies dotted the area. In a blink, Gusion would attack each one, never taking a cool-down. He needed a distraction to rid the ominous feeling upsetting him. He worried Lesley might have trouble completing her mission knowing Guinevere is known for her sneaky tactics.
Albeit if she were not able to get her, then Gusion will have to take back Guinevere himself, again. No matter what it takes for Gusion feels he should be the one in Granger's place, venturing the world with her.
"Hyah!"
The dummy is cut in half by its torso, the head falling off. Gusion spun around and perfectly kicks it, sending it to the bushes. A cynical grin appeared on his face, imagining the dummy was Granger.
Darkness now dwell in his light blue eyes. A proof that he wasn't himself anymore, yet his family doesn't know about it. He would isolate himself more often, concocting impossible plans of revenge while overdoing his training routine. Only when his family would know about his altered personality is when his dummies become real human beings.
He suddenly pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling lightheaded as his eyes begged to be closed for at least a short while.
"No," he said to himself as he rubbed his eyes. "Must not sleep... Until I get... What I want!" Out of anger, he throws a dagger, and he could've killed a guard had he wasn't armored.
⚜️⚜️⚜️
It was dinner time for the Paxleys. Everyone was chattering, excluding Gusion. His parents somehow noticed his look of tiredness at last, requesting for his presence in his father's study.
His father was a profound man, same goes to his mother. They were the best magicians in the Land and Gusion would someday inherit their greatness, like his elder brothers. But it had seemed Gusion was slowly fleeting from a bright future.
"What troubles you, my son?" His father asked, seated behind his great study table. His mother sat at the loveseat in front of it as Gusion stood between them. "You seemed to be very occupied earlier at the dinner table." His father continued.
Gusion's head was still throbbing in pain as his vision kept spinning.
"You never ate, nor have you touched your food, Gusion." His mother said with a stern tone. "Tell us, is it Guinevere?"
"Why, Mother, you are so clever." Their son hypocritically laughed, making them stare at him as though he wasn't their son anymore.
"Gusion, you are wasting a bright future ahead of you depressing over one girl. This isn't like you, love!" Cried his mother. "You have officially gone insane."
"Don't you dare call our youngest son insane!" His father defended him. "He is not insane unless he is properly diagnosed by a psychiatrist."
"Call up a psychiatrist then. And if my implications are right then we'll send him to a mental institute, got it?"
"Got it."
His parents were now fighting. He rarely sees them fight, and the last time he did was years ago when he was still a child.
As for his starvation, Gusion felt his knees weaken as his intestines battled one another. The last thing he remembered was the exhalation of his last breath before he felt his soul coming out of his body, spectating his parents' reactions after.
⚜️⚜️⚜️
"Let me go!" Guinevere yelled in pain as Lesley yanked her by her hair. She was trying to escape, but no matter how hard she tries, it would be hopeless. Lesley wasn't able to wield powerful magic but she did brought a simple spell along the way. It was enough to tame Miss Violet.
An invisible leash is tied around Gwen's neck, disallowing her to move a meter away from Lesley's body. Her invincible magic was useless for the spell was crafted from dark magic, a spell discovered by an evil sorceress in the past.
Any magical or physical damage Lesley would receive from Guinevere hurt nothing more than a poke.
Lesley knew about her being in love with the Death Chanter. She's been curious, and somehow glad that she didn't feel the same towards Gusion, which was shocking. Lesley thought no girl in the Land of Dawn would not think twice about marrying him.
But perhaps, opposites attract.
Though she didn't seem to have been attacked by Granger. Where was he, anyhow?
"Where is your Death Chanter now?" Lesley asked in a taunting manner, trying not to sound concern. Guinevere's scowl hardened as she doesn't answer her question. "Psh. What a shame, milady. Gusion was right in front of you yet you looked for someone else."
"Gusion is only but a brother to me." Guinevere seethed. " He must acknowledge that if he really loves me!"
"Such narcissism." Lesley muttered, enraging Guinevere even more.
"I have helped hundreds of people out of selflessness and I expect no return." Guinevere responded profoundly.
"But you can't help your own narcissistic self, can you?"
"Accuse me of a narcissist one last time and I will- ah!" Guinevere collapsed to the ground, hugging her stomach tight as it thronged in pain out of the blue. Her eyes lit up in realization after hearing another heartbeat inside her body.
This can't be happening, she thought, heaving large amounts of breath.
"What's wrong?" Lesley asked bluntly, assuming she was only pretending.
"N-Nothing. Just dally on." She instructed, receiving a very perplexed look from the sniper.
"Are you what I seem to be?"
"Huh?"
"Are you... With child?"
"Heavens no!" Guinevere exclaimed, throwing a large X in the air.
Lesley smirked. "What else have you two been doing then?"
"I beg your pardon?" The redhead sassily raised a brow, only making Lesley's smirk grow. Sighing, Guinevere begged. "Please don't tell anyone about this, especially Gusion. Better yet, I'll pay you more than he's given you if you only, i-if you let me go at once. I promise." She stuttered.
"I'm not a mercenary and I'm certainly not doing this mission for money." Stated Lesley. "However I'm simply doing this only because I owe him my life."
"But I can't marry Gusion carrying another man's baby!" Guinevere retorted.
"I don't care about it or your marriage. My only mission is to return you to your rightful husband at once. Now stop resisting or I'll absolutely lose it with you!"
"Urgh! I have had enough of people trying to take my freedom away from me."
"Ssh."
"Ssh what, you- hmph!"
Lesley pushed a finger to her lips, cutting her off. Lesley first examined the entrance of the town they were about to enter. It seemed to be abandoned, or everyone is hiding. A town like this is common here in the Dark Forest. She's heard stories about ghost towns in the Dark Forest, either they have been abandoned or the people were massacred by demonic monsters.
After hearing a shivering howl, Lesley already knew they were stepping into the fiery pits of hell for this town was where Shadowbringers were last reported and accused of a town massacre.