Rex wore a cheery smile, almost as radiant as Ryo's. He always looked up to him like a big brother and often tried to mimic certain qualities he liked from each of us five.
He twirled his long barrel gun and sent it to its holster, then began walking toward us. He adjusted how he walked multiple times as he headed our way, trying to keep a cool face the whole time. He looked extremely odd as he did so.
By the time he got to us, his face had completely changed, progressively becoming more and more nervous as he stood before us.
"Why does he look constipated?" Havoc joked as he watched Rex give an awkward smile, twitching his lip.
"That's just his face… Well, I actually don't know… Forget I said anything." I replied to him. I, too, was watching his face contort.
Awkwardly, Rex bowed his head and started shouting, "It's an honor to be in your presence again, Ophelia of the Black Wolf Knights!"
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 manner—pigeon-toed in her stance. Her eyes seemed as if they were glowing red—even her right eye behind her eyepatch seemed that way behind its covers. She looked down at him like a dominatrix as she watched him grovel. Her face harbored a dimpled smile the whole time that was almost sinister.
Havoc burst out in laughter. "Wow, this guy's an even bigger simp than Snow!"
Ophelia interrupted his chant. "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 from within her cleavage.
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, a born-again, devout to the Keeper at this very moment, 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, mood completely changed, dusting himself off. Turning away from her now, he carried a serious and focused look upon his face.
"Let's go, dusk is approaching…"
Havoc laughed hysterically in the background, nudging me as Rex made his way to the church doors. "This guy is so funny! It's not even dusk."
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 back. 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 it led us to a fake Black Wolves hideout. We also thought it was weird 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 discern such keen details, causing Henza to turn away. Even though Rex wasn't physically present in the Valley at this current time, he was still so well informed. "I have eyes and ears everywhere." He said proudly.
So many questions, no answers. We were just glad Rex so happened to be in the area for a mission 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 met her, 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 to get back at me since then, simply because me and her had been in the same Guild.
We brought Rex up to speed on our way back to the Kingdom. He asked many questions.
"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 and started scratching my head as I faced down and closed my eyes. Pretending I had no idea. And I really didn't, besides the fact that I just knew that I could do it. "On a whim, I guess…"
"No way your Copper magic has that dense of properties to do that… 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. 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 in, 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.
"Alright, you can take it from here," his mood changed, becoming serious once more, "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 those series of events today…" Ophelia stretched as we stood on a bridge at the South Gate of the Valley Kingdom.
"I'm fuckin sleepy again… Take me home now…" Havoc added, exhausted once again. His energy always depleted a bit faster after using his magic to transform fully. Which was why he only used his power in increments in most cases, transforming only parts of his body to reserve his energy.
"Let's use a teleportation waypoint to get back. My mana's shot." Code concluded. 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 so the other two couldn't hear.
"Sure," I said, still facing forward as we walked, hands in my pockets.
The rest of the day consisted of us getting back home and gathering groceries for dinner. Code and I talked, which was rare since we only talked about serious matters. We never bantered or small-talked to pass the time. The need for silence and the gratefulness of being friends was the glue that bonded us together. That's why we worked so well with each other, even without having to discuss a strategy or game plan in dire situations.
The conversation between us that evening was an eventful one. What was supposed to be a normal discussion over errands became something more that would be the foundation of success with the plans we had decided to lay out.
Code had already deduced the situation we were in, and tomorrow, my duty was to see the plan through.
If all goes as planned, then maybe we could go as far as stopping the fake Black Wolves altogether. And maybe even catch the mastermind of this operation, whom we already had a hunch who it was.
But we had to be right first. Because if we weren't, we'd just be accused even more. And the downward spiral of events would go on from there.
It was either us or them. And we chose them.
When I came back to the Den after running errands in the Valley with Code. He didn't come back with me. And there was a possibility I wasn't going to see him for a while after that.