Rex wore a cheerful smile that was almost as radiant as Ryo's. He copied it the exact way, even down to where his cheeks rested on his face and the crinkles from the side of his eyes. He always looked up to him like a big brother and often tried to mimic certain qualities he liked, not just from him, but from each of us five.
He twirled his long barrel gun and sent it to the holster on his hip, beginning now to walk toward us.
Adjusting how he walked multiple times heading our way, he tried to keep a cool face the whole time, futile as it was... He looked extremely odd as he did so.
By the time he got to us, his face had completely contorted, I couldn't tell if he was sad, nervous, or both.
"Why does he look constipated?" Havoc said as he watched Rex give an awkward smile, twitching his lip.
"Uh... No clue," 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—arms straightened to her side and wrists bent upward, almost in a nervous way. Her exposed eye looked as if it glowed red as she looked down at him like a dominatrix watching him grovel. And 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 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, 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 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."
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 physically present in the Valley at this current time, he was still so 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 on me though.
We brought Rex up to speed on the way. 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, starting to scratch my head, and pretended 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.
"Alright, you can take it from here," his mood 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 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. Which 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 times. We never bantered or small-talked to pass the time. The need for silence and the unspoken gratefulness for being friends was the only glue needed to bond us, even though we didn't act like it most times.
One could not deny 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 now became facts.
Code had already deduced the situation we were in, and tomorrow, my duty was to see the plan through.
If all goes as we planned, then maybe 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...
And if we were wrong... well, we're already at the bottom. Only we could dig our hole deeper than it was.
When I came back to the Den after getting groceries 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.