Rex wore a cheerful smile—almost identical to Ryo's. Same lift, same crinkle at the eyes. He'd always looked up to him like a brother, and often tried to mimic certain qualities he liked, not just from him, but from each of us five.
He twirled his long-barreled gun and sent it to the holster on his hip and started walking toward us.
He adjusted his posture mid-walk. Then again. And again. He tried to keep a cool face the whole time, futile as it was... He looked ridiculous.
By the time he got to us, his face had completely contorted. I couldn't tell if he was sad, nervous, or both.
"Man... my goosebumps are getting goosebumps," Havoc said as he watched Rex give an awkward smile, twitching his lip.
"Yeah... That's hard to watch," I replied.
Awkwardly, Rex bowed his head and shouted, "It's an honor to be in your presence again, Ophelia of the Black Wolf Knights!"
Ah... That's right... I thought.
Code rolled his eyes as Rex got on his knees, clapping his palms together in a praying position over his head and chanted, "PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!"
He said over and over in front of Ophelia as she stood there in a cute, pigeon-toed manner. Her exposed eye seemed to glow as she looked down at him—smiling like he belonged there.
Havoc burst out in laughter. "Wow, this guy's an even bigger simp than Snow!"
Ophelia interrupted his chanting, "Rexy-poo… Could you please show us the way out of here? Pretty please? I've got all this sand on me, and I'm in desperate need of a shower," she said so seductively as she slightly removed her Black Wolves jacket from her porcelain shoulders, revealing those soft hills perspiring delicately beneath her neckline.
I swore, at this moment, I could hear Rex's heartbeat from where I was standing. His eyes were shadows as he continued to look down. A drop of blood fell on the church floor…
"YES, MY LADY, YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND. I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, ANYTHING!" Rex recited as if the Keeper had saved him in this abandoned church. He whipped his head to face the light of the open ceiling above him. His arms wide open, like a born-again devout of the Keeper, soul saved. And Ophelia, standing before him, her back to the rummaged podium and cracked statues covered in vines and weeds. There in the center, like the goddess he worshipped. And his nose, bleeding profusely all the while.
He got up with an entirely changed mood, dusted himself off, and turned away from her now. He carried a solemn look upon his face as he said, "Let's go, dusk is approaching…"
Havoc laughed hysterically at him, nudging me as Rex made his way to the church doors. "This guy is so funny! It's not even dusk."
Eventually, we got moving. It was only a quarter past 1300. So no, dusk was not approaching… But we finally headed out as Rex led the way back in the direction of the Valley Kingdom.
***
We chatted on the way. It seems the abandoned church we ended up at was about twenty kilometers south of the Valley Kingdom, in an area where the forest started to span out near a Sub-Kingdom called the Forest Kingdom, which was under the Valley's jurisdiction.
We still didn't know why we were kidnapped or why we ended up in a fake Black Wolves hideout. We also thought it was odd that Henza of the Blue Phoenix Knights was there, given that he attended the Guild meeting and should have still been there around the time we were at the church… Without Rex, I would have never been able to quickly dictate such keen details, causing Henza to turn away. Even though Rex wasn't in the Valley, he was still well informed. "I have eyes and ears everywhere." He said proudly, the words of his Captain.
So many questions, no answers. We were just glad Rex so happened to be in the area when he was.
We talked all the way back on the trip. From relaying what had just happened to reminiscing about our novice days. Rex's adrenaline was in full swing now with his romantic interest, Ophelia, there with us, playing the doe to him so that he may lead us to the Valley faster.
He and Snow always fought over her ever since they first found her online, and she was new to the Black Wolves. To them, she was their perfect goth princess… Or something along those lines… They started calling me 'Dweeb' and 'hoarder' to get back at me since then.
Today, Ophelia had finally found out that Rex, Snow, and I were acquainted. It didn't change her opinion of me, though.
We brought Rex up to speed on the way.
"Wait, so, Dweeb, you're telling me there was a nullifying magic barrier in that hourglass? And you broke through it? How?"
I looked at him, then looked away as I started to scratch my head, pretending I had no idea. And I really didn't, besides the fact that I just knew I could. "On a whim, I guess…"
"No way your Copper magic has that dense of properties… Suspicious…" He observed me up and down in an annoying manner.
"But! If you say so, I believe it. You always had a way out of tough situations, even back when we were rookies! I shouldn't be surprised."
He went on. Rex wasn't gullible, but when it came to close friends, he took their word as truth, trusting completely. He also wasn't the type to keep prying; none of them were. If he liked someone, then their word was enough.
From there, Ophelia kept jumping from arguing with Havoc to nervously keeping Rex at bay until we had to part ways with him.
Rex only traveled with us for more than ten or so kilometers as he still needed to complete his current mission. But we knew the way back after he showed us the way out of the forest, and we saw the Valley Kingdom in the far distance.
"All right, you can take it from here." His mood became serious again. "I'm suspicious with Henza's activities. I need to report to Captain Laylee after she's done in the Kingdom's Guild meeting for an action plan. So, for now, this is goodbye," he said, and exchanged his feeble goodbyes to Ophelia then to us before he was off, disappearing into the forest ever so stealthily.
It took us less than two hours to get back to the Valley Kingdom. We used Ophelia's magic to fly us halfway there, and then we used Code's magic to teleport us the rest of the way once their mana recharged a bit from walking.
"Ohhh… I need a nice, hot shower after all that today…" Ophelia stretched as we stood on a bridge heading to the South Gate of the Valley Kingdom.
"I'm fuckin sleepy again… Take me home now…" Havoc added, exhausted once more. His energy always depleted a bit faster after using his magic to transform fully. This was why he only used his power in increments in most cases, transforming only parts of his body to reserve his energy. Primals could only transform once a day, and it was universally known.
"Let's use a teleportation waypoint to get back. My mana's shot." Code said. He had teleported us at least six kilometers on the way back and had used a lot of his mana during our time in the hourglass.
I led us in the walk toward the South Gate, and Code met me as the other two dragged back.
"We need to discuss some things, so come with me to get groceries after we've freshened up a bit," he said to me and me only so the other two didn't hear. Though I bet they still did anyway; they were both unhealthily nosy.
"Sure," I said, still facing forward as we walked, hands in my pockets.
After arriving back, Code and I headed out and talked, which was rare since we found peace in not talking to each other most of the time. The need for silence and the unspoken gratefulness for being friends was the only glue needed that bonded us, even though we didn't act like it.
One could not deny that we worked so well with each other. We were often in sync even without having to discuss a strategy or game plan in dire situations. The battle with that six-armed mech was a prime example.
The conversation between us that evening was an eventful one. We managed to confirm a lot, and speculations have now become facts after a certain occurrence had happened during our errand.
Code had already deduced the situation we were in, and tomorrow, my duty was to see the plan through.
If all goes accordingly, then we could go as far as stopping the fake Black Wolves and maybe even catch the mastermind of this operation altogether.
Now... we just needed proof to show the rest of the Valley. Because with our reputation, who would believe a bunch of 'dogs'?
When I came back to the Den after groceries and errands, Code didn't come back with me. And I had a feeling I wouldn't be seeing him around for a bit.