Draxus woke up a bit early as he needed to prepare for things regarding the mission. He wanted to make sure that everyone is in tip top condition, the members being able to prepare completely for it. He looked down to his left and noticed Gwen who was sleeping next to him. She was happily clinging on his left arm on her pajamas. Draxus tried to recollect what had happened the day before. Eventually remembering that after the date, both of them were ultimately exhausted after playing at the arcade until closing time of the mall. For the time being, while he was still being clung on by Gwen, he decided to doze off and hugged Gwen in his sleep.
After a few hours, Draxus and Gwen woke up again, this time they finally got up and prepared for the day. "Good morning Drax~..." Gwen tried to cling even more as she greeted Draxus. "Good morning Gwen..." With a wry smile, they finally left Draxus's room. Before Gwen left to work at the state cathedral, she gave Draxus a kiss to his cheek.
Draxus smiled as he received the kiss and watched her go off in a cheerful mood. He then started walking towards the underground forge where he often works in.
Just before Draxus arrived to the room, Keith was already there waiting for him.
"Keith?" Draxus was surprised, as he had never really seen Keith around the forge before. "Did something come up?" Keith looked a bit concerned, he spoke about something that he both want and didn't really want to say. "Drax, Josh has become a big problem here. He's recently had a massive argument with Gayle and there seems to be a hint of abuse. Not coming from him, but from Gayle." "From Gayle? That's not surprising. Then again, she did a lot of things against me as well." Draxus looked around, and opened the forge. "Come in the forge, nobody would be able to listen if we're in there." Draxus urged Keith to enter, to which he complied easily.
"For the time being, I had Wesley observe him from afar, and intervene if either Josh or Gayle would do something nasty. However, Josh recently vented to me that Gayle said something like: If he started to refuse trusting her, then she would kill herself." Draxus started working on Keith's sickle and chain weapon, restoring it to top condition while listening. He then commented on what Keith had said in regards to what he heard from Josh. "I guess because Josh still lives her that he tries to force himself to keep an eye on her. But what is she trying to do when telling him to trust her." "That I do not know, it may be something massive however that could likely affect their relationship completely." After a few moments, he finished the maintenance on Keith's main weapon, to which he was handed over a staff, Layla's weapon to channel her magic. "Has he considered officially breaking it off with her?" "That's what I said too, but he felt too committed, as he didn't want to waste his years on her." "Even though he's not even 20 yet? There's practically a lot of chances to develop. Yet he decided to forcefully develop the relationship instead of himself. If possible I'd like him to avoid making the same mistake as me towards the same person." "Drax, somehow you feel some compassion for him huh...?" "You could call it that, but I'd rather not let him drag my Sentinels to the ground like what he did last time in Aquila." Draxus continued performing maintenance, as he also restored the purity of the crystal which amplifies the magic on Layla's staff. After hers, Wesley's daggers were handed to him.
"So yeah, we can't really trust Gayle here, Pauleen and Juniper are trying to keep a neutral stance. Lawrence is siding with Gayle, which is not good. Tiffany and Aaliyah are trying to put up a front, but are nonetheless not appeased with what has happened." "They're basically crumbling down then, just as I predicted." Keith was surprised, as Draxus had predicted the downfall of their group which may lead to them splitting paths. "So you knew that much already?" "Yep, I knew that Josh will arrogantly play into the enemy's hand, after hearing that Aquila and Temockria's heroes are greedy and horny bozos, Pauleen's report of planning to go to Aquila on Josh's suggestion to learn more, the possibility of those horny bozos calling them and trying to capture the girls of their group, and Josh arrogantly thinking he can fight against two heroes that are not his match. Even the possibility of an intervention from [People of Earth] considering that there is possibly a base there since we have never interacted with them. I cannot allow them any leads to breaking through and forcing me to lose control of myself. Considering that is the goal of the enemy, and to take my soul away after it was pushed out by negative energy. It's kind of why I decided to act myself. If something were to happen to Pauleen and Juniper, or even in any Sentinel that gets placed in severe danger, I would be the one that's responsible for it. One, for possibly ordering them to place themselves in danger. Two, for likely not keeping an eye on them on travelling to potentially dangerous areas without my direct watch. That's how it is." Keith was amazed by how much Draxus intends to keep every bit of responsibility of their lives to himself. He knew that it is a complete weakness that Draxus holds that everyone knows. But the more they try to take advantage, the more Draxus ends up having the higher ground in planning.
Keith watched Draxus continue the maintenance as he handed over the rest of the weapons of the order. He was mostly in awe with how much Draxus is able to plan ahead and on the spot for things that could potentially be out of control. Being able to see things that can potentially make the plan completely inapplicable and prepare for it in mere seconds. However, at the last weapon that needs maintenance, Keith asked Draxus for the possible solution against the Josh and Gayle situation. "If possible they should officially separate, Gayle will continue to be a narcissistic manipulator if she continues to have a hold at Josh, or maybe not even Josh but just literally any guy. The problem with her is that she has infinite options to manipulate others with introversion as her front. She has to be forcefully placed in a position where she is completely alone with nobody to help her." "Do you have a plan for that?" "I'm still thinking of one. Developing other people is not really my thing, but the emperor's specialty. But I'll probably cook one soon enough." "I see, what about Josh?" "He needs to understand that he cannot develop others without developing himself. He's trying to push that developing others is the best way to contribute, but he forgot the vital piece of trying to develop himself first." Draxus then finally finished the maintenance of the weapons for the Sentinels, now it was his weapons that was undergoing maintenance.
"Alright, I'll try to relay to him what you said." Keith felt determined as he always saw him and Josh to be good friends. And Seeing Draxus try to think of a solution for his situation made him feel somewhat relieved as Draxus seemed to have finally decided to close out his issues with them. Keith left the forge and moved to return the weapons to their owners.
Draxus in the meantime continued working on the swords of his souls. "To be fair, I would rather kill both of them to be safe, but I don't want to turn into a being that's fueled with nothing spite. I love my girls more than I hate Gayle and Josh." Nobody heard that statement as Draxus simply continued his maintenance.