Disclaimer: I do not own Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Mobile Legends belongs to Moonton.
Note: This oneshot had been in my documents for so long, even though I've finished writing it. But because of my exams, I became lazy to edit it. Now that my exams are over, I could finally finish and post it. Hope you guys enjoy!
Oneshot:
Babysitting Gone Wrong
Lesley stared at the printed letter in her hand for a few minutes. Absentmindedly, she started rubbing her temple. The letter said that she would have to join a battle that would probably take a day. It wasn't as if she was worried about fighting, she was more worried about leaving her little brother, Harley, behind. As much as she trusted his maturity, he was still pretty much a child. She couldn't leave him all alone, untended.
"Lesley, what's wrong?" Harley asked as he entered the kitchen. He was in his magician clothes and top hat. In his hand, was his staff. "Is that...?"
"I have to go into battle, but without you this time." Unfortunately, she added inwardly as an afterthought. This was the first time she had to go into battle without her brother. Usually, it would be the two of them together. "I'm just thinking about who is going to take care of you while I'm gone."
Harley scoffed, his chin held up high. "I can take care of myself."
"There is no doubt you could," Lesley said and smiled softly. He was, in fact, a Mage Genius. Of course he could take care of himself. "But you still need someone to look after you. They won't bother you or anything, but just keep an eye on you."
"I don't want a babysitter," he said and crossed his arms. "Babysitter are for babies."
Aren't you a baby yourself? Lesley thought, amused. Though, she didn't express that thought out loud. She said, "Harley, it'll only be for a day. I promise, once I return, they will stop taking care of you."
"But–"
"Please?" Lesley said in a gentle voice. She knew how much her brother would tolerate whenever she uses this tone. There was no way he was going to say no. "Just this once."
Harley looked up thoughtfully. Then, he sighed. "Fine."
See? Easy.
"But who's going to take care of me though?"
Good question. Lesley tapped her chin as she thought of anyone who could take care of her brother. "I'm not so sure. But I need to find one fast. I'll be leaving in a few more hours."
"Well, you better find one quick," Harley said, before a mischievous grin grew on his face. "Or I'll be in charge of the house."
"Don't worry," Lesley said and smiled at her little brother. "I have someone in mind. Someone responsible, and someone I trust."
Of all people, she just had to–
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Lesley," Gusion, also known as someone who Harley really disliked, said. He twirled a dagger in his hand with a confident grin on his face. "You can count on me. I'll keep watch on your brother while you're gone."
"Thank you so much, Gusion," Lesley said as she fidgeted with the strap of her knapsack. Harley hated how she smiled at Gusion with the same, affectionate look she would have on him. He wasn't jealous or anything, no. He just didn't like it. "Now, his dinner is in the fridge. There are vegetables in a clear container, so don't forget to give him those too. Oh, and remind him to drink a glass of milk in the morning and before he sleeps."
Gusion made an OK sign with his fingers. "All right."
Before Lesley stepped out of the house, Harley tugged at her sleeve. She halted and turned around to look at him. "But, Lesley, I don't want you to leave—especially when someone like him is taking care of me."
"Harley," Lesley said and knelt on one leg so that she could look at her brother eye-level. "It'll only be for a day. He won't bully you or anything," she looked at Gusion, "right, Gusion?"
Said man nodded with a very unconvincing grin. "Right."
Harley didn't trust the guy. At all. Lesley continued, "Take care, okay?" She kissed his forehead, before standing up. "I'll be back by tomorrow evening."
Stupid jerk, taking over the TV.
Harley watched from the stairs as Gusion and Lancelot, their neighbour, laughed out loud on the couch. They were watching some kind of comedy show that he didn't recognise. He had no idea what was so funny, because he couldn't understand a thing the jokes the people were talking about. But one thing he does know was that; Gusion had conquered the television, and he couldn't watch any of the shows he liked.
Harley narrowed his eyes when Gusion, again, let out another howl of laughter. His grip on the rail of the stairs tightened. He wished he could teach that guy a lesson for stealing the TV. But he was too lazy to cast his magic—probably because he felt a little sleepy—so that left him with glaring daggers at the man instead. At last, after a few more minutes of silent fuming, he ended up letting out a heavy sigh.
"At least he did give me the vegetables and milk—the two things that I don't want him to do," he mumbled to himself.
Since he was already halfway down the stairs, it only took him a few steps to reach the second floor. He entered his room and hopped onto his bed. He nuzzled his face into his pillow before letting out another sigh. Clutching the pillow against his face, he secretly wished Lesley was home. It wasn't as if it bothered him that Gusion was taking care of him, but he just didn't want Lesley to fight in the battlefield alone. They were supposed to fight together. With the two of them working together, it was an instant win. But that didn't happen, and, now, he missed his sister.
He turned around and laid on his back. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes and decided that he should just get some sleep. Lesley was going to return home tomorrow anyway. He rolled to sleep on his side and hugged his second pillow. It took him a while, but soon, he was able to fall into slumber.
Harley woke up early in the morning. Since he had training, he didn't waste any time and took a shower. He dressed himself in his usual magician clothes and headed out of his room. He almost bumped into Gusion—who was currently brushing his teeth while walking—but was fast enough to avoid himself from crashing into the man. Said mage assassin, on the other hand, had his hair disheveled, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Well, it seemed someone didn't get enough sleep.
"You look awful," Harley commented, his tone showing no signs of sympathy. Gusion glared at him, before entering the guest bathroom. Harley followed him and watched as he spit out some toothpaste. Grinning, he added in a sing-song voice, "Should've slept early, huh?"
"Shut up," Gusion mumbled. He cupped some water with his hands and gurgled it in his mouth. He spit it out and groaned. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt before looking at him. "There's milk on the counter. Drink it before you go training. If you don't, I'll force it down on you."
Gusion's tone was serious, and Harley was slightly taken aback by it. However, he was quick to recover and had his arms crossed over his chest now. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the mage assassin. "Geez, don't need to be so harsh."
Gusion mumbled something about him having a headache before slamming the bathroom door closed. Harley could hear the sounds of splashing water from inside and he shook his head as he started walking. Well, it wasn't his fault that Gusion decided to stay up all night and watch TV. Remembering that Gusion had stolen the TV from him, he felt like the man deserved it.
He went down the stairs and found the front door opened. He glanced outside, and, from where he was standing, he could see Lancelot talking to his housemate, Karina. The man was waving his hand around as he talked, and Karina only stared back at him; her face indifferent. Since there was nothing that interested him, Harley went into the kitchen and decided to drink the milk Gusion had told him to drink. He would have breakfast at the cafe and head to training.
He found a bottle of milk on the counter. It had weird Japanese writing. Wait, or was that Korean? He tilted the bottle and found everything written with the foreign language. Was this the milk Gusion had told him to drink? It looked a little odd, but since Gusion had told him it was on the counter, it had to be this one, right?
He shrugged and took the cap off. He drank some of it and almost spit it out when it tasted different than actual milk. He stuck his tongue out in disgust at the weird taste and inspected the bottle again. The liquid was white like milk, but why does it taste so different?
"Gusion!" Harley called, and he heard the bathroom door open. He took it as a sign that Gusion was listening. "What is this? Why does the milk taste like this?"
He could feel Gusion rolling his eyes before saying, "Stop complaining and just drink all of it. It's just milk, not poison."
"But why–" He was about to ask why Gusion had given him Korean milk, but the man slammed the door, and it left him with his mouth wide open. He stared at the bottle of milk in his hand and squinted his eyes. Whatever. Maybe Yi Sun-shin bought it for him?
He drank all of it and threw the bottle in the bin. He ignored the odd, leftover taste in his mouth and proceeded to grab his staff. He hoped that Gusion was happy that he made him drink some weird Korean milk. If it wasn't for Lesley, he would've spit it out by now.
But soon, he could feel himself slowly becoming different.
Gusion was dressed in a fresh new set of clothes. His hair was no longer sticking out, and his face looked livelier than when he first woke up. He didn't know a morning shower would leave him energetic. He went downstairs and found Harley already out. He checked the counter and was slightly pleased that the brat had actually listened to him and drank the milk he had poured for him. Now, it was time for him to search for that alcohol drink Lancelot had wanted to give to him. He searched for it on the coffee table, the island, the counter, but he found no bottle that said alcohol. Fortunately for him, Lancelot stepped inside just as he was about to give up on his search.
"Hey, where's the alcohol you told me you were going to give?" Gusion said, sticking his thumb at the kitchen's direction. "I searched for it everywhere, but I can't find it."
"It's on the kitchen counter," Lancelot answered, his brows raised. He gestured for Gusion to follow him, but when he found the alcohol missing, a frown replaced his expression instead. He scratched his head in confusion. "That's funny. I thought I put the bottle here."
Gusion crossed his arms and looked at the assassin suspiciously. "Don't give me false hopes, man. I've been wanting to taste it. You said it was good, right?"
Lancelot raised a hand, as if he was planning to give an oath. "I swear, on Odette's mother's grandmother's name, that I placed it on the counter."
"Then, who else drank it?" Gusion asked, running a hand through his hair. He sighed and leaned his back on the wall. "It couldn't be that little..." His eyes widened at the thought of Harley drinking the drink instead. He could feel the rising panic in his chest, but he forced himself to stay calm. No, just, no. There was no way Harley could have drink it. He was only supposed to drink milk. Besides, alcohol and milk were two entirely different things, and he trusted that the kid was smart enough to different shape the two different drinks. But his instincts were acting up, and Gusion couldn't help but ask Lancelot to make sure that Harley had truly drank his milk. "Hey, did you see the brat drink his milk? The one I poured in the glass?"
Lancelot blinked, then shifted so that his back straightened. He blinked a few more times before asking, "The milk you poured in the glass?"
"Yes, Lancelot. The one I poured in the glass."
"Oh, sorry, I drank all of it," Lancelot said with a hearty chuckle and waved his hand nonchantly. "I think I had too much alcohol yesterday, so I decided to drink–"
"You—what?!" Gusion shrieked, and Lancelot jumped at the sudden outburst. Gusion grabbed the front of Lancelot's shirt and yanked him forward. "If you drank the milk that Harley was supposed to drink, then that means–"
Lancelot's eyes widened in horror. "Harley must've drank the wine."
Gusion released his grip on Lancelot and shook his head in denial. He paced back and forth with the thought of Harley drinking wine. "No, no, no. That couldn't have happened. The kid's smart. Wine and milk have different colour, and there's no way he would have thought–"
"Uh..." Gusion whipped his head at Lancelot, and the assassin seemed to hesitate with what he was going to say. He scratched the back of his head before saying, "The wine I was about to give you does look like milk. It's a Korean alcoholic beverage called Makgeolli. It's white, and it was in a bottle–"
The taste. That was why Harley asked why the milk tasted different. He thought that the kid was just trying to avoid from drinking the milk he poured, but that wasn't the case here. If Harley had drank wine, then that means–
Gusion grabbed the front of Lancelot's shirt again and pulled the man closer. His teeth were gritted when he said, "Do you have any idea what thee Lesley Vance would do when she finds out that I've given wine to her underage brother?"
For a second, Lancelot stopped panicking and looked up thoughtfully. Then, his eyes focused back onto him, and he answered, "You're going to get her end of the rifle?"
"Exactly!" Gusion said, releasing him. He stared at the opened front door where Lancelot had entered. "We have to find him. If Lesley finds out that he had drank wine, I'll surely be buried six foot under, and then she'll definitely hunt me down in the afterlife."
"Pfft, relax," Lancelot said, his face carefree. "She's your girlfriend, isn't she? She'll forgive you."
"Not if it involves her brother, you idiot! When Harley Vance is added to the equation, it's a whole new nightmare."
Lancelot chuckled. "I will pray for your well-being." He turned around and flipped his hair. "As much as I love to help you search for the child, I have a date with Odette."
Gusion grabbed Lancelot's shoulder, successfully stopping him, and forced him to turn around. Lancelot raised his brows at him, but a bead of sweat instantly rolled down his forehead when he saw Gusion's face darkened. "You think you're an exception? Since you've drank the milk Harley was supposed to drink, there is no doubt that Lesley is after you too. So, if you want to live another goddamn day, you better pray that Lesley doesn't find out about this, because, if she does, she'll turn you into a corpse in a matter of seconds." Lancelot seemed to shrink as he uttered those words, but Gusion ignored his reaction and continued, "So, are you with me, or not?"
"Yes," Lancelot squeaked.
"Good." Gusion let go of the man and looked at the door. "Now, mission to find Harley Vance; starts now."
Gusion and Lancelot had ran inside the academy to search for a certain mage with a top hat. Their eyes darted around, and their heads turned every few seconds, but it seemed that searching for the child was harder than they thought. A few heroes glanced their way when they spotted their odd behaviour, but most of them didn't question on what they were doing.
Until they encountered Karina.
Gusion almost crashed into the night elf, but with quick reflexes, he was able to avoid her. She seemed to relax when the expected crash didn't happen, but, after looking at him, her face immediately turned into something that expressed anger. Gusion yelped when she pulled him forward by the front of his shirt, and he swallowed the lump in his throat when her deep, purple eyes were staring down at him.
"What in the seven hells, Paxley?" Karina said, her voice menacing. Gusion figured that she was going overboard with her anger, since it wasn't like he had crashed into her. But her sentence proved that she wasn't mad about the close accident. She was mad about something else. "Are you out of your mind? I heard you were in charge of taking care of Harley, so do explain to me why the child is drunk right now."
"You saw him?" Gusion said, releasing himself from Karina's hold. Karina's face was stoic, but she nodded nonetheless. Gusion was about to ask where he was, but, instead, he had another question in mind. "Wait, how did you know the kid was drunk?"
"His face was flushed and he laughed nonstop," Karina responded, her indifferent mask cracking. She crossed her arms and glowered at him. "There was also a faint trace of alcohol on him. Now, answer me, how did it happen? Because, unless you have some kind of death wish with the child's sister, you better explain how he had gotten his hands on it."
"It's a long story," Gusion said, throwing a glance at Lancelot. The assassin looked at him with feigned innocence, and he focused back onto the night elf in front of him. "I'll tell you after we find the brat. Where is he? Have you seen him?"
"I wanted to bring him to Rafaela, but he had disappeared before I could do so," Karina said coolly. She then let out a sigh and gazed back at him. "You better find him quick, Gusion. For a child to have alcohol, it's not good for their system. How much did you give him?"
Gusion shot Lancelot a deadly look again, and the assassin replied nervously with, "Maybe the whole bottle?"
Karina inhaled sharply, her nosetrils flaring, and she exhaled so deeply, Gusion thought she was going to hit him when she opened her eyes. He was lucky she didn't. "I wish you two the best of luck."
Gusion didn't know how to respond, so all he did was give a quick, appreciative nod at the night elf before she left. He ruffled his hair in frustration and looked around. The academy had five floors, not including the ground floor. All those five floors were surrounded by glass rails. The building had a cylindrical shape, so you can see all the floors from the bottom if you stand at the center. Gusion sighed when he realised that the place was huge. Harley could be anywhere, and it would probably take him a day before he could find–
Gusion stiffened when he heard the sound. He strained his hearing and heard it again. It was a childlike laughter, and there was no doubt that it belonged to the mage he was currently searching for. He looked at Lancelot. "Did you hear that?"
Gusion was surprised when Lancelot's face grew serious, before the assassin gestured for him to follow him. "Let's go."
Odette giggled when Harley wrapped his hands around her legs, his cheek pressed against her thighs. She patted the the top of his head and smiled as he continued to hug her. She didn't know why he was acting this way, but he looked so adorable when he was acting like a child. Usually, he was all I'm the best at being handsome, and he would wave off anyone who tries to tousle his hair. So, seeing that he was letting go of his mature act for once, she couldn't help but take this opportunity and cherish this moment.
She noticed that his face was slightly flushed, and, suddenly, she felt a little concerned. She placed a hand over his forehead, but there was no temperature. That was odd. Why was his face red? "Harley, are you feeling well?"
He rubbed his cheek against her leg with a hum and continued hugging her.
She was about to ask him another question, but, all of a sudden, two men bursted through the doors of the training section. She gasped when she spotted Gusion and Lancelot, but her expression turned sour when she spotted the Perfume Knight. The man had promised to hang out with her, but since he didn't make an appearance, she decided to train instead. But now that he was here, questions could be asked, and, maybe, he had a reasonable explanation on why he didn't visit her–
"Get him!" Lancelot shouted and lunged for the child currently attached to her leg. Harley dodged him by leaving his hat and giggled when he missed his target. Lancelot glanced at Gusion for assistance. "Gusion!"
Gusion was already making his move. Instead of just walking normally on the floor, he just had to chase Harley by leaping over the leather chairs that stood in his way. His actions left Odette with her mouth agape, and she wondered what in the Land of Dawn the two were doing that made them act so wild.
But Harley was faster, and, before they knew it, the mage had exited the training section in a blink of an eye. Gusion groaned at their failed attempt to catch him and hurried to catch up with the child. Lancelot was about to follow behind him, but Odette was quick enough to grab him by the shoulder and stop him.
"What are you two doing?" she hissed in a low voice and pointed towards the doors of the training section. "Why are you chasing Harley? And why didn't you visit me when you had promised to–"
Lancelot squeezed her hand, and she was instantly silenced by the solemn look he had on her face. Maybe he does have a reason why he didn't keep her promise. "Odette, my beautiful Odette. Forgive me, but this is a life and death situation. If you wish to see me alive tomorrow, then you must allow me to run after the child."
Odette blinked. Then, her brows furrowed. "Huh?"
Lancelot kissed her hand and dashed out of the training section. Odette was left stunned. She tried processing what all of that meant, but she failed to understand what in the world was going on.
Gusion searched everywhere, and I mean everywhere for the infamous Harley Vance. How was he able to disappear so fast? He had known that Harley was talented in disappearing, but he didn't know that he was this good. Had the kid always been this fast? Well, if he had, then he wished it wasn't this time around where the brat decided to show his true skill.
"Have you found him?" Lancelot panted, finally catching up to him.
Gusion shook his head. "No–"
He screeched when he saw Harley climbing over the rails that surrounded the fourth floor. The kid was struggling because he was slightly short, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to fall off. Gusion was now on the fifth floor, so running towards the fourth floor and heading towards the other side was going to take too long. Luckily for him, Hayabusa was currently heading over to Harley's direction with Kagura by his side. Yes, finally, a miracle.
"Hayabusa!" Gusion's voice echoed around the whole academy, so it wasn't difficult to catch the ninja's attention. He immediately pointed to Harley, who had his body over the rails already. "Get him! Hurry!"
The moment he said it, Gusion started sprinting towards the stairs. He reached the fourth floor in less than ten seconds and watched from the other side as Kagura and Hayabusa were now so close to Harley. Hayabusa had placed four shadows to move faster, but the moment he tried to catch Harley's ankle, Gusion watched in horror as Harley had flipped over and was now falling—from the fourth floor.
Harley didn't even seem to care the least about his current state. Instead, he found himself falling a huge entertainment. "Weeeee!"
Gusion looked down to see who was there to catch the kid. He couldn't help but feel relieved when most of the people down there were tanks. He shouted, "Everyone, catch him!"
It only took one statement to make everyone look at the currently-falling Harley. All of their eyes widened in alarm, and all of them extended their hands to catch the mage. They started running around, trying to predict where Harley would land.
"I got him!" Franco said.
"No, I got him!" Johnson shouted.
"No, I got him!" Balmond said.
"You fools," Aurora said, interrupting the panicking tanks. She waved her arms around and was able to create a magic slide made out of ice right under Harley—which was nowhere near where the tanks had predicted—and Harley landed on the slide with a soft thud. Aurora continued waving her hands around, and the slide grew more and more as it carefully brought Harley closer to the ground. Harley—who was oblivious to what was happening—cheered happily as he continued sliding down on his abdomen. When he reached the ground, he rolled a little and landed on his back with a wide grin. Aurora wiped her forehead and glared at the tanks who was not going to end up catching Harley. "I got him."
"That was great!" Harley said, grinning at Aurora. "Can you do it again?"
Gusion was already running towards Harley, and, before the brat could leave his hat, he grabbed the mage's forearm. Harley tried to get out of his grasp, but stopped when he gave the kid a look. The look on his face showed how very annoyed, frustrated, and angry he was. His eye was twitching rapidly, and it took all he could not to strangle the kid for what he had done. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"
"Finally," Lancelot said, dropping to the floor. He outstretched his legs before laying flat on the ground. "I feel like I've run a marathon today."
Harley blinked with an innocent expression and smiled. "That was fun!"
Gusion used his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He had to remind himself that the kid was not at his right mind, so it was no use scolding him. But still, the brat almost gave him a heart attack when he fell from the fourth floor like that. "Harley, that was not fun. Not fun at all. You fell from the fourth floor, and do you have any idea what's going to happen if Aurora hadn't caught you?"
Harley was no longer smiling, and Gusion guessed that maybe his mind could still process his words even if he was drunk. So, he continued, "You could be dead, Harley. Dead. You're not an immortal. You're–"
Gusion's eyes widened in horror when Harley's bottom lip quivered, and the child let out a sniff. He could see the kid's eyes shimmering with unshed tears, and, if Lesley sees this, he was so dead, because he had made Harley cry, and no one makes Harley Vance cry. This was it. Gusion's fate had been sealed.
"I am not getting involved in this one," Lancelot said, pointing towards Harley, who was clutching his sides. "The tears are all on you."
Gusion crouched in front of Harley and placed a hand over the kid's shoulder. "Harley, I–"
The mage batted his hand away. Then, he looked at him angrily. "Why are you so mean?! You always ruin my fun. Then you take Lesley away from me and then rub it in my face!"
"What–"
The crowd, who had somewhat formed during Harley's fall, gasped. All eyes looked at Gusion, and the mage assassin sweated nervously.
Gusion continued in a low voice, "Hey, you know I was just messing around with you–"
"It's not funny!"
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, okay?" Gusion said and inwardly felt like he wanted to die in a hole. It was a good thing Harley wasn't sober, or else, the kid will definitely bring his apology up as a teasing matter. "So... are we cool?"
Harley blinked, and his eyes stopped glimmering. He gave him one, huge, cheeky grin, before he laughed heartily. "Geez Gusion, stop looking so serious. I was just joking." He showed him two fingers. "Peace!"
The next thing he knew, the kid had left his hat and had disappeared. Gusion felt his jaw drop and his eye twitching rapidly. Did the kid just...? All of a sudden, he felt his hand clenched into a fist, and a nerve popped through his temple. How dare he. That insolent brat had pretended to cry, caused him to panic, and then told him that all of it was fake?! Gusion felt his ire rising, and he could just imagine the amount of people he could kill because of this.
The kid was going to pay.
"C-Calm down, Gusion," Kagura said, placing a hand over his shoulder. She had ran to the ground floor, along with Hayabusa, when they didn't reach Harley in time. She gave him a small yet uncertain smile. "He's just drunk. I'm sure he didn't mean..."
Gusion had a menacing smile on his face. "That kid is going to get it."
"Um, hello? Have you forgotten about Lesley?" Lancelot asked, snapping his fingers.
"Screw Lesley," Gusion said, earning gasps because of his statement. "I'm going to teach that brat a lesson."
Gusion left the scene, and everyone exchanged worried looks with each other. Johnson casted a glance at Franco, and the bearded man mouthed the words rest in peace. Johnson looked back at the direction Gusion had went and saluted to Gusion to thank his services, and probably because Gusion might not see another day after he had uttered those words. Aurora only rubbed her temple and decided that she needed a drink herself. Meanwhile, Lancelot was determined to stop Gusion from doing anything foolish, but someone stopped him by grabbing his arm.
The assassin turned around and was surprised to find Odette with a concerned look. She said, "Lancelot, you have to stop him."
"I know," he said, his brows knitted together. "Who knows what will happen to Harley if Gusion finds him?"
"What? No, I'm not worried about Harley. I'm more worried about Gusion," she said and gestured for him to move his face closer. When he did, she said in a low voice, "Do you know what happened to Claude after he stole Harley's money?"
Lancelot shook his head.
"He was found with a broken arm the next day and could barely walk. When they ask him who had hurt him, he was too scared to answer and ended up saying that he deserved it," Odette said and took a step back. "That's why you should stop Gusion from doing whatever he's planning to do. I worry for his well-being if Lesley finds out."
"Rest assured, Odette. I got this." Lancelot gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then flipped his hair. "I'm sorry for not keeping my promise about the date. But I promise, after all of this is over, we'll have lots and lots of dates."
The Swan Princess smiled. "I know."
With a wave, Lancelot disappeared, determined to search for his housemate before he does something really stupid.
Somewhere, in one of the academy rooms, lied four people; who were wearing dark-coloured cloaks. The room barely had any light. The only thing that illuminated the room was the small candle placed in the center of what it seemed like a circle drawn with chalk. The adults in the academy had known this activity had been going on for a while now, but none of them bothered to stop the four people because—well, as long as none of them did any harm, they don't see the point of stopping four children from having fun.
Yes, the four people were Cyclops, Nana, Chang'e and Diggie. And the room they were currently using right now was where they do their cult activities.
Nana pulled the hood of her cloak off her face and let out a gasp. "Okay, how do you guys handle the hood over your heads? It's so hot in here!"
"It's fine for me," Chang'e said, and Cyclops nodded at the mage's side. Chang'e continued, "You were the one who wanted us to wear the cloaks, Nana. We can always take it off if you don't want to wear it."
"No!" Nana said, her voice slightly raised. She was standing now, and she had to calm herself by sitting back on the floor, cross-legged. She cleared her throat. "I mean, no. Our cult involves us having to wear cloaks, so we must wear them."
Diggie, who had a bored look on his face, merely stared at the cat elf. "This is a waste of time. If we're not starting anything, I'm just going to go. I need to study this new encyclopedia I found in the library–"
"Silence!" Nana commanded, her voice booming. Diggie rolled his eyes and crossed his arms with a huff. She pointed at him for his insolence. "We will finish our ritual whether you like it or not, Diggie. No one is an exception. All members must join in this task to spawn the devil."
"Wait, why do we need to spawn a devil again?" Cyclops asked.
"Because..." Nana begun heatedly, but stopped midway to allow herself to think. She tapped her cheek a few times and finished with a shrug of her shoulders, "Because the Heroes here are getting bored that they have no one else to fight. You know that some Heroes are adventurers, right? They're always looking for adventures."
"So?"
"So... if there's no one for them to fight, and no adventures, they're going to leave the academy, and we don't want that." Everyone nodded their heads at Nana's logical explanation. All except Diggie.
"Well, if everyone in this cult is involved, then why isn't Harley here?" Diggie asked, raising a brow.
"Yeah, I was about to ask the same thing," Cyclops added. "Why isn't Harley here?"
"Silence!" Nana said, and everyone clamped their mouths shut when she shot them a dirty glare. She nodded in satisfaction and crossed her arms. Her chin was raised as she answered, "Harley is an exception because he can."
"That's not fair!" Diggie said.
"I know, I know," Nana said coolly.
Diggie groaned. "So, because you like him, he can escape all this nonsense now?"
"Hey!" Nana snapped. "This isn't non–" She stopped, and, abruptly, her cheeks turned red. Chang'e gave her a knowing smirk, and Cyclops let out a chuckle. Nana gathered her composure and glowered at the bird. "I don't like him."
"Uh, yes you do."
"Nu-uh!"
"Yes."
"Stop saying that!"
"Yes."
"All right, all right!" Nana said, waving her hands around as a sign of surrender. She sighed and rubbed her temple. "I tried looking for him, all right? He's not at home, and I just can't find him. That's why he's not here."
"Where did he go?" Chang'e asked.
Nana gave the mage a disappointed look. "I don't know."
Diggie let out a sigh. "You could've just said that earlier instead of allowing me to make assumptions."
"I don't want to sound unprofessional," Nana said and pouted. "How come a leader can't find her own followers?"
"It's okay, Nana. I'm sure he's at somewhere. Maybe he's busy helping the other mages out or something?" Chang'e said, and Nana nodded. "So, are we still going to call for this devil, or not?"
Nana's frown turned into a wide grin. She took out something from inside her cloak, and it turned out to be a very thick, dusty book. She blew the cover, and everyone was awestruck when they saw the title Creatures. Nana opened the book, flipped a few pages, and showed them a page that had a picture of what it looked like a naked man (no, the bottom was not drawn) with horns and muscles. The eyes had no pupils, and its hand was holding a trident. The top of it wrote The Devil.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Cyclops asked and fidgeted. Nana bobbed her head with confidence. "Isn't this a bit dangerous though?"
"Nonsense," Nana said and placed the book at the center of the circle. She extended her arms and gestured for them to hold each other's hands. "Now, follow my chant, and we'll be able to do this."
She started speaking gibberish, and the others did nothing but follow her. Inwardly, Diggie was the only one that knew that it wouldn't work. He knew that the book was fake, but, just to entertain the cat elf, he followed her lead. They all closed their eyes and waited for something to happen. All of them, except for Diggie, expected something to happen, but all of them were surprised when they heard a familiar chuckle.
Their eyelids flew open, and all of them shrieked when they found Harley grinning at the center. He didn't seem to notice their eyes on him, because he was only looking at the entrance of the room.
"Harley, what are you doing here?!" Nana exclaimed. "And why..."
"So Harley is the devil himself," Cyclops said, gasping. "I knew it!"
"Hey!" Nana said, pointing at Cyclops, then towards Harley. "Harley is no devil. There must be a logical explanation for this."
Chang'e moved closer to the book Nana had opened. "Hmm... but Harley doesn't look like the devil–"
"Harley is not a devil!" Nana exclaimed, her face flushed. She then shot Harley a look and grabbed both of his shoulders. She hissed, "Hey, where were you? I've been looking all over for–"
Everyone's jaw dropped when Harley pressed his lips towards the cat elf's. No, they were not imagining it. Harley was literally kissing Nana. The unexpected scene caused Cyclops to faint, the lens of Diggie's glasses to crack, and Chang'e could feel her face heat up by the scene (Zilong was so going to kill her for watching someone kiss at such a young age!). When Harley pulled away, he merely laughed—a genuine, childlike laughter—at Nana's very tomato-red face. Nana's bottom lip quivered as she tried to form some words, but no words came out from her mouth.
"Love you, Nana!" Harley said, as if kissing her wasn't a big deal, before running towards the doors on the other side of the room. The room had two entrances, one on the left and the other on the right side of the room. He was now exiting through the other entrance from where he came from. "Bye!"
Nana stared at where Harley had run off, her body entirely frozen. Her mind couldn't comprehend what had just happen. She brushed her fingers against her lips, and it finally dawned onto her that Harley, had indeed, kissed her. But wait, that couldn't be. Harley may have shown signs that he liked her, but he would never do something like that. He was too high and noble to do something such as kissing her. But... but that was Harley Vance right there. Maybe, just maybe, he actually loved her?
She could feel her face growing warmer just by the thought of it. Just a little more, and her mind might explode. She cupped her face in her hands and shook her head, trying her best to not to think about it in case Harley was giving her false hopes or–
"Where is he?!" Nana turned around and found Gusion lifting Cyclops by the scarf. The mage assassin was currently shaking her friend. Too bad he doesn't realise that Cyclops had passed out. He then flicked his gaze towards her. "Where's that brat?!"
"That way." Nana pointed where Harley had disappeared. Gusion gave a nod of his head and dashed right out of the room. Nana didn't know why she had helped Gusion, but it was as if her mind was being controlled.
Was this what they call 'love'?!
Layla watched as Hanabi meditated. It was interesting to see as Hanabi raised two fingers under her chin with her eyes closed. She didn't know what meditating would do, but maybe it helps the ninja focus better? She waited for a few more seconds, before she became agitated that nothing happened. She started fidgeting when Hanabi stayed silent, and it caused the ninja to open one eye.
"Stop moving. You're ruining my concentration," Hanabi said.
"Sorry, but are you done now?" Layla asked. "It's just... you say you want to show me your skills, but you're not doing anything."
Hanabi let out an exasperated sigh and closed back her eye. Layla groaned when Hanabi continued to stand in the same position, with two fingers under her chin, and her other hand holding her blade. She waited impatiently until, finally, the ninja shifted into an offensive stance.
The moment Hanabi opened both eyes, she threw numerous blades towards the dummies that sat in front of her. She leaped to the side when a hologram appeared to attack her, and she threw another blade over there. When there were more than four holograms heading her way, Hanabi leapt back, and threw a giant flower at the center.
"Higanbana!" Hanabi shouted, but her eyes widened when she spotted a small figure—must be a child—running inside the jutsu circle. Immediately, she dashed towards the figure and extended her arm to grab them. "Watch out!"
Luckily for the child, Hanabi was just in time before they got trapped inside her giant flower. She wiped her forehead when she succeeded and whipped her head when someone giggled. Her brows then furrowed in confusion when it turned out to be the mage, Harley. He was currently sitting on the floor, grinning widely as he watched her Higanbana bloom.
"Are you guys okay?!" Layla asked, running towards them. But she stopped when she spotted Harley, and her expression mirrored Hanabi's. "Harley? What are you doing here?"
"That was so cool!" Harley said and jumped to his feet. He looked at Hanabi with eyes full of anticipation. "Again! Do it again!"
"Aww," Hanabi cooed, lightly pinching his cheek. He merely smiled at her action. "I can't resist cute stuff at all."
"Woah, woah, woah—what," Layla said, pushing Hanabi aside. She moved closer towards Harley and bent down to have a better look at him. She squinted her eyes and noticed that his cheeks were slightly red. "I know that this is Harley, but this is not Harley."
"What do you mean?" Hanabi asked.
"I mean, come on," Layla said, pointing towards Harley, who now had both arms extended at his side and was making airplane noises. "Thee Harley Vance acting like a kid? This is not him. Something's definitely wrong."
"He is a kid, Layla. Let him be a kid," Hanabi said, looking at said mage with amusement. "Isn't it adorable to see him all happy?"
"Yeah, but Harley doesn't act like this." Layla shook her head and crossed her arms. "He's too proud and boastful to– what the hell is he doing?!"
Harley was currently climbing up the rails (again) and Layla and Hanabi didn't waste time to catch him. But, just as they were about to reach him, someone else had reached to him first. It turned out to be Gusion who, for some weird reason, had a very menacing smile on his face. The mage assassin had grabbed Harley by the back of his clothes and was now keeping the child from escaping his grasp.
"Let go of me!" Harley shouted, kicking and rolling, just to get Gusion to release him. Gusion continued to hold him down, and Harley's efforts proved to be futile when he was nowhere out of Gusion's hold. "Jerk! Ugly! Buttface!"
As Harley continued uttering childish insults, Gusion easily flipped the mage over his shoulder and held his waist so that he couldn't escape. Hanabi and Layla watched as Harley continously punched Gusion's back, but the Holy Blade simply ignored him. The mage assassin then looked at them and gave them a sheepish smile. "Sorry for causing you guys trouble."
"Um... is he going to be okay?" Hanabi asked, eyeing the small mage, who was now speaking gibberish.
Gusion sighed. "He's just drunk at the moment. Once this phase is over, you won't have to see it again."
"Wait, he's drunk?" Layla asked.
Gusion shook his head and used his free hand to rub his temple. "Long story, but—yeah, the kid's drunk."
"You better take care of him, Gusion. Aren't you the one who's supposed to take care of him? Lesley will hunt you down if she knows that you allowed him to get drunk," Hanabi commented.
"I know, I know," Gusion said. "When we get home," Gusion eyed the smaller mage sharply, "we're going to have a nice conversation."
Gusion left, and Harley continued to struggle in Gusion's hold. Hanabi and Layla watched the two and hoped that everything would settle between them. Because Harley's sister was Lesley, and everyone knows what would happen if something bad happens to Harley.
"Let go of me!"
Gusion rolled his eyes and kicked the front door open. Harley was clawing at his back and kicking his legs—just because he was small, doesn't mean it didn't hurt—and it was a challenge for him to not release the kid. Thank god they had arrived home, because Harley couldn't do anything ridiculous when they're here.
"Let go of me, Gusion! Let go!"
"Will you stop complaining, already?! I'm doing this for your sake," Gusion said and let go of the mage when Harley was over the couch. Harley dropped on the couch and scrambled to his feet. Just as he was about to do his disappearing hat trick, Gusion grabbed him by the back of his clothes. "Oh no you don't–"
Harley let out an ear-piercing scream—you know, the high pitched ones that only little girls would do—and Gusion could've sworn that he might have gone deaf by the sound. He was about to scold him, but then, all of a sudden, the front door flew open. Gusion whipped his head to the door's direction and narrowly missed a bullet flying his way. A nearby vase shattered, and Gusion froze when he realised that someone had almost shot him. When he lifted his gaze, he felt the life inside of him drain when that someone turned out to be Lesley.
Lesley met his gaze and looked just as shocked as he was. Her uncovered eye then darted towards her brother, and Gusion couldn't help but release Harley on the spot. Harley ran over to Lesley and immediately hugged her leg. Lesley looked at her brother with her brows furrowed, before giving him a look between confusion and anger.
"Lesleyyyyy!" Harley wailed, clutching at his sister's leg. He looked up, and Gusion paled when there were tears flowing down his cheeks (the kid was crying?! He was so dead. Dead.). "Gusion was so mean! Please don't leave me again!"
"Harley, I–" Lesley blinked, then narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you do to him? I told you not to bully him."
"I didn't!" Gusion said, waving his hands around as sign of surrender. "I swear I didn't do anything! It's just... he..."
"Liar!" Harley shouted and pointed at him with his index finger. Okay, didn't his parents teach him that pointing at people was rude? "Liar, liar, pants on fire!"
"Hey, zip it!" Gusion yelled, closing the distance between him and the shortie that dare challenge him. "You caused trouble for me the whole day. If it wasn't for you–"
Harley, all of a sudden, swayed a little. Then, his face turned pale. Like, really, really pale. Gusion grimaced when the kid gagged, and the next thing all of them knew, Harley was running up the stairs and into the bathroom. They both heard the sounds of retching, and that was all it took for Lesley to run up the stairs in a flash.
"Harley!" Lesley said, gasping when she found him throwing up all the contents in his stomach into the bowl. Gusion swallowed the lump in his throat when Lesley gave him a deadly glare. "You have three seconds to explain to me what in the world happened while I was gone."
"Are you out of your mind?! You allowed him to drink wine. Wine! He's only eleven, Gusion! Why didn't you watch him drink or–"
Gusion buried his face into his hands. He inwardly groaned as Lesley continued to give reasons why kids shouldn't drink wine. Well, she didn't have to explain it, because he had already seen the negative effects of it. After a really long vomitting session, Harley complained that his head hurt, and, now, the kid was watching his own sister ramble with half-lidded eyes. He was currently lying down on the couch, his body under a blanket. The alcohol must've affected him badly, because he wasn't even smiling as Lesley was scolding him. Usually, the brat would be all smug whenever Lesley sides with him.
"–and then there's Lancelot." Uh oh, Gusion didn't hear what she had said in between, but now, it seemed the assassin was in trouble. Where was Lancelot anyway? Had he foreseen this and was now running for his dear life? Not cool. "Why on earth did he leave wine out in the open like that? Is he not aware that this house contains a child?"
"Lesley," Harley called weakly. In an instant, his sister was right at his side, and Gusion couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when Lesley softened her features. That brat was so lucky. "It wasn't Gusion's fault. I should've stopped drinking it when it tasted funny. I'm sorry."
"Oh, Harley, it's not your fault," Lesley said and placed a hand over his cheek. Harley leaned closer to her touch, and Gusion wished that he was in the kid's position right now. "I guess it's Lancelot's fault for exchanging your milk with the wine."
Wait, did Harley just defended him? Gusion wanted to slap himself out of this dream. That couldn't be right. Harley would never, ever try to help him. If anything, the kid would only try to get him in trouble. So Gusion was surprised when Harley had stopped Lesley from continuing with her lecture.
Harley gave Lesley a faint smile. "Was your mission okay?"
"Yes," Lesley said, and started brushing her brother's hair. Another pang of jealousy hit Gusion. Oh, how he wanted that much of affection from Lesley. "But, of course, it would've been much better if I had fought alongside with you."
Harley's smile grew just a little wider, before he closed his eyes. Gusion could see his breathing becoming even, and he realised soon enough that the kid had fallen asleep. The alcohol must've used up all of his energy, and, after the amount of vomitting the kid had, it was no wonder that it left the kid exhausted.
Lesley pulled the blankets so that it was right under Harley's chin and stood up. She walked over to him, and Gusion considered running when she was standing inches away from him. Unexpectedly, she gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I got mad."
"No, it's fine. Maybe it was my fault. I mean, Harley did ask why the milk he drank tasted different, but I thought he was just trying to escape from drinking it," Gusion said and sighed. "I should've stopped him the moment he said that. Knowing you, I can't take any risks–"
Lesley punched lightly at his arm, and he smirked when he found her smiling. He knew that Lesley just cared about her brother. Harley was one lucky kid. He had no idea how everyone would be careful around him just to avoid facing his sister's wrath.
"Anyway," Gusion continued, "I didn't expect you to be back so early."
"Oh, our mission was an easy one, so we were able to head back earlier than we expected." Lesley pushed a strand of her hair over her ear and smiled teasingly. "Also, I was afraid that you two might tear each other's throats, so I came back as soon as possible."
"Hey, you can trust me," Gusion said and crossed his arms. "I've been a good babysitter you know." When Lesley raised an eyebrow, he quickly said, "Okay, maybe not that good, but at least you didn't return with the house burned down or something."
"Hmm... that's true–"
All of a sudden, the front door flew open, and Lancelot appeared at the door, currently panting. His face was covered in sweat, and he looked like he had been running for miles. It was unfortunate that the assassin had slammed the door open though, because it immediately woke Harley with a start.
Lancelot had his hands over his knees and his hair disheveled. "Gusion! You better stop this–"
Lancelot shrieked when Lesley whipped her head at him, and he instantly took a step backward when she marched at him. He raised his hands in defense, but didn't dare make another move when Lesley's face was only inches away from him.
"L-Lesley..." Lancelot stuttered, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "When did you–?"
"Let's talk," Lesley said, in a sickeningly sweet voice, before grabbing Lancelot's ear, "outside."
"Wait, Lesley! Wait–" Lancelot struggled to get out of the sniper's grasp, but with Lesley's grip firmly over his ear, it was futile. So he turned to look at Gusion and extended his hand in a gesture that was asking for help. "Gusion, help! Your woman is–"
"Just listen to her," Gusion mouthed, and Lancelot shuddered when Lesley smiled at him, before dragging him outside. Gusion couldn't help but feel sorry for Lancelot. But what could he do? The last thing he wanted was Lesley's wrath to rain down upon him, so if sacrificing Lancelot meant that he would be safe, then he would do just that.
Gusion realised that Harley was staring at him with his eyes half-opened, and it occured to him that maybe the kid needed something. As much as he didn't want to be nice to him, the least he could do was treat him nicely after he had saved him from his deadly sister.
"Do you, uh, need anything?" Gusion asked, and he couldn't help but cringe by how awkward he sounded. Harley blinked in surprised, and he cleared his throat to hide this embarrassing display. He added in a mumble, "I mean, like water or whatever."
He half-expected for Harley to smirk at him, so it shocked him when the kid only nodded.
"You mean... you want some water?"
Harley nodded again.
Okay, this Harley was creeping him out. But he grabbed for a glass of water anyway. Making sure that it wasn't wine this time, he gave the mage the drink. Harley used both hands to hold the glass and sipped down the water. When he was done, he passed it back to him.
"Thanks," Harley said, before closing his eyes.
Gusion examined the kid's face for a while, before deciding that he should just find out what was actually wrong with the mage. "Are you okay?"
Harley opened one eye. "If you think drinking a bottle of wine is okay for me, then something is definitely wrong with you."
"No, I mean–" Thank god the normal, sassy attitude had returned to the kid, because nice and quiet Harley was honestly scary. "You helped me, so..."
Harley's brows furrowed. "Helped you?"
"Well, you saved me from your sister," Gusion said. Seeing Harley's puzzled look, he sighed in frustration. "You told Lesley that it was Lancelot's fault that you became drunk. I mean, knowing how much you hate me, I expected you to just let her blame it on me."
"On normal days, I would've," Harley said, staring at the ceiling. "But... I don't know. I feel kind of bad if I did, because you did take care of me while Lesley was gone. Even if you stole the TV."
Harley's last sentence made Gusion realise that he was mad at him for that, but, thankfully, the kid didn't hold some kind of grudge on him because of it. The two of them sat quietly in awkward silence, before Harley decided to speak again.
"What did I do while I was drunk?"
"Wait," Gusion said, looking at the mage. "You're telling me that you don't remember?"
"I can remember bits and pieces, but nothing specific," Harley said, rubbing his temple. "Everything's all fuzzy."
Gusion started explaining the part where he found Harley hugging Odette, right until the part where Harley almost climbed over the rails for the second time. Harley's face was horrified as he listened to all the things he did, and, at last, he buried his face under one of the couch pillows to hide his shame.
"Kill me now," Harley muttered, his voice muffled from hiding his face. He removed the pillow and sat straight up. "I have to fix my reputation."
"Seriously? Relax, you're a kid. I don't think it's surprising they see you all bubbly and–"
Harley groaned and buried his face in his hands. He got off from the couch, and his body swayed a little when he walked, so Gusion had to hold him in case he might end up collapsing.
"You really have to take it easy," Gusion said, a hand over Harley's shoulder. "You're still tired from the alcohol. You should rest first."
Harley shook her head. "I have to apologise to Odette, Aurora and the others for troubling them–"
The two of them looked at the door when they heard a knock. They both exchanged baffled looks, before Harley went over to open it. His eyes widened when he found Nana standing at the door bashfully, a finger twirling her hair. Behind her, in the distance, he could see Chang'e, Cyclops and Diggie hiding behind a tree, looking at them. He pretended he didn't notice them and focused back onto the cat elf standing in front of him.
"Hey, Nana," he greeted. She smiled at him, and he wondered why she looked happier than usual to see him. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"I... I just..." Nana squirmed and covered her face when she said, "I love you too, Harley!"
Harley blinked, before his brows shot up as he stared at her stupidly. "Pardon?"
"I... I know it's too early and all..." Nana was hesitating as she spoke, but when she glanced behind, her friends gave her a thumbs up—Harley saw—and all the hesitation seemed to disappear. She looked at him with her fists clenched, and her face expressed determination. "W-Well... but after you kissed me–"
Kiss?
"–and told me that you love me–"
He did what?!
"–I just wanna say... I love you too!"
Harley could feel his grip over the door frame tightening. He was in between choosing whether to jump off a cliff, or asking Gusion to just stab him already. Obviously Gusion wasn't aware of this, because the mage assassin looked just as shocked as he was.
It wasn't as if what Nana said wasn't true—yes, he had feelings for Nana—but he didn't know he would actually confess and just kiss. That was like the second last step, and he had done it while he was drunk. He thought of taking things slowly, since they were still young after all, but it seemed his drunken state had sped everything up. If he had known he would do that, he would definitely prefer Gusion tying him over a chair and lock him inside this house.
But Nana was looking him with so much anticipation, he wouldn't dare break her heart with the truth. She was beaming before, but with his continued silence, it looked like she was having doubts now. Her ears started drooping, and she was now looking at him with those large, puppy eyes. As much as he wanted to tell her that he had said those words while he was drunk, making her sad was the last thing he wanted to do.
So he took a deep breath, looked up to meet her gaze, and grinned. "I knew you would like me back. I am the best at being handsome after all."
Nana's cheeks were tinted with red, and she cleared her throat when she realised that she was blushing madly. A scoff came, followed by her averting her gaze. "I... I suppose you're right about that one. So... do you want to have a... a..."
Harley's lips twitched upwards. "A...?"
"A date?!" Nana exclaimed, and her ears twitched when she could hear her friends cheering for her. Her cheeks were so red, it looked like she was representing a tomato. "Tomorrow? Lunch time?"
Harley didn't have training during that time, so he didn't see why not. He was sure that it wasn't going to be the type of date he imagined, because, judging by how wide his friends were grinning, he could somewhat tell that they were going to tag along.
"Sure," he answered.
"Yay!" Nana squealed. She spun around, and did a fist pump. She wasn't aware that he could hear her when she whispered, "Nailed it."
Harley couldn't help but smile at her face. He was glad that he didn't choose to tell her the truth, because that would definitely leave the cat elf heartbroken. The mage support waved goodbye to him, before running over to her friends—they still thought that he didn't notice them—while squealing with happiness.
Harley turned around to close the door, when Gusion peered from behind. The mage assassin remarked, "I'm sorry, but aren't you a little too young to be dating?"
Harley blushed and mumbled, "Shut up."
"I'm telling Lesley," Gusion said in a sing-song voice.
"I said shut up!" Harley yelled, his face heating up. He huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms over his chest. "I can explain to Lesley. She'll understand."
"Or will she?"
"You're so annoying," Harley muttered, heading to the kitchen. He wanted to resume with sending apologies to some of the heroes in the academy, but he wanted to eat something first. His stomach was growling. "Lesley's an understanding person. Unlike you."
"Whatever you say~"
Harley was about to grab some cereal, but was interrupted when Lesley kicked the door open and hurried towards the kitchen to grab her rifle. Harley looked at his sister questioningly. "Lesley?"
"There's a demon right on the academy grounds." Just as Lesley said it, they could feel the ground shaking, and a loud roar echoed from a distance away. Lesley looked at the front door. "I'm going to deal with it."
Harley and Gusion exchanged looks with each other, before following Lesley.
The trio hurried to the front of the academy. A few heroes had gathered to deal with the giant demon, who was holding a trident and was blowing out fire. Thank goodness the building of the academy was fireproof, because the fire had no effect against it. But it was going be a problem if the demon started roaming and reached their homes behind the academy, because their homes certainly couldn't handle the fire.
"It's huge," Harley commented, squinting his eyes to look at the demon under the shining sun. "How was it able to reach the academy without us noticing?"
Lesley shook her head. "I don't know."
They could see Lolita blocking the demon's fire with her shield, while Lancelot (Harley wondered what had happened between him and his sister) and Hayabusa advanced to attack the demon's giant feet. In the distance, they could see Johnson in his car transformation, driving at a rapid speed to the demon. The car crashed, and Odette used Swan Song when the demon was temporarily stunned by Johnson's crash.
"We have to help them!" Harley said, stepping forward, but Lesley stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. He looked at her, confused. "Lesley?"
"Oh no you don't. You're still recovering from your drunken state, so you're going to sit here, and not fight."
"But–"
"Harley," Lesley begun in a stern voice, and her face softened when he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I know you want to fight, but I don't want you to end up getting hurt. Please, just this once, you sit back and let me handle it?"
Harley knew that Lesley was just worried about him fighting, and, he may not admit it, but his body still felt weak after vomitting. So maybe it was best if he just watched his sister fight. Noticing how Lesley was eyeing him, he sighed and let out a reluctant nod.
"Such a good boy," Lesley cooed, and Harley's cheeks were flushed when she pinched them. She laughed at his reaction and tousle his hair. "For your cooperation, we'll go to the candy store after this and buy all the sweets you want."
Harley's face immediately lightened up by the thought of him getting all the sweets, so he gave his sister a vigorous nod.
Gusion shook his head. "What a spoiled brat."
Lesley smiled at the Holy Blade, before focusing onto the demon in front of her. She shifted the rifle in her hand and gestured for Gusion to follow her. "Let's go and help them, Gusion!"
Gusion nodded and instantly followed Lesley to fight the demon. Harley decided to just watch as the heroes fought the demon. He was startled when a cable was attached to a wall next to him, and Fanny made an appearance when she flew past him and swung her swords at the giant demon. It seemed that this demon was the strongest they had dealt for this year. Even if more than ten heroes were currently fighting it, it seemed to be able to withstand their attacks.
Harley couldn't help but smile when Lesley shot at the demon while it was distracted with the assassins like Lancelot and Hayabusa. Even though she had just returned from a battle, she was still excited to fight. It was no surprise, since Lesley was his sister.
Fanny used her cables to retreat, and she landed right beside him. She wiped her forehead, that was covered in sweat, and greeted, "Oh, hey, Harley. Want to join? We could use some extra help."
Harley gave her an apologetic smile. "I would love to, but Lesley doesn't allow me to join this one." He assumed that Fanny didn't know about the story where he had consumed alcohol, so he added, "It's a long story."
Fanny's mouth formed an oh, and she drank some water from a water bottle she had brought. She then waved, and Harley turned his head to the side, only to find Nana, Chang'e, Diggie and Cyclops heading his way.
"Hey, Miss Fanny!" Nana chirped, before her eyes widened at the demon currently blowing fire. She gasped in awe, before she started jumping happily in front of her friends. "See? I told you it worked!"
Diggie rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. The book wasn't fake."
Harley's brows furrowed in confusion. "What worked?"
Cyclops shrugged. "Nana was trying to summon the devil a while ago. We thought the book was fake when it didn't appear, but it seemed it worked."
Harley's jaw dropped, and Fanny was the one that exclaimed, "What?!"
"Yeah!" Nana said, beaming. She puffed her chest out, and her eyes were gleaming with wonderstruck as she spoke, "Now the heroes have something to fight–"
"You," Fanny said, grabbing Nana's ear, "are in so much trouble, young lady. I'm telling Miya."
"No, not Miss Miya!" Nana said, looking at her friends. "Guys, help me!"
Cyclops, Chang'e and Diggie took a step back, pretending that they weren't involved in this mess. Harley knew that they were, because he had known them long enough to know that the faces they have right now told him that they were guilty. But, because Fanny was a scary assassin, they wouldn't dare try to admit doing such a thing. All of them watched as Fanny pulled Nana away from the place.
"You traitors!" Nana shouted, struggling against Fanny's hold. Chang'e, Diggie, and Cyclops gave her an apologetic look. The cat elf pointed directly towards them. "You'll receive punishment for this! I repeat, you will be punished! For not helping your leader, I will..."
Fanny shook her head as Nana continued to blurt out about her leadership and her followers' punishments. Harley watched with amusement as the mage support ended up whining that her actions had been caught, where else she was the one that revealed doing it in the first place.
"You guys are terrible," Harley commented, casting a glance at his three friends currently standing beside him. "The least you could do is join Nana. I know all of you are involved."
"Hey, I got dragged into this," Diggie said, before crossing his arms. "You got lucky that you managed to escape. Where were you anyway? The next thing we know, you kissed Nana."
Harley's face instantly turned red. "Shut up! I didn't know what I was doing."
Chang'e giggled. "Seems to me like you'd enjoyed it. You should really stop watching those teenager shows, Harley."
"It was unintentional! I–"
Harley looked to the side when he felt someone patted his shoulder, and he groaned when it was Cyclops, who was now nodding his head in approval. "If only I had your kind of bravery, Harley, I would have been with Chang'e a long time ago."
Harley wished he had his hat right now so that he could hide his face under it. Great, only now he found out that his friends had seen him kiss Nana. This was so embarrasing, he wanted someone to knock him out right now. Not only had he made a fool out of himself in public, but he had done something that should be done in private (or maybe when he was a little older) in front of his friends. His face was so warm, a volcano might erupt from all the heat he was receiving.
He decided to leave his friends and head over to where Lesley was.
"Harley, where are you going?!"
He glared at his friends. "Getting that monster to stab me with its trident!"
Miya had her mouth left agape when Fanny explained what Nana had done. Beside the assassin, Nana looked like she was ready to bolt. The Moonlight Archer couldn't believe Nana would do something so ridiculous. She had been aware of the... unusual activities Nana had done for the cult she had created, but none of them had brought any harm, so she didn't bother disturbing her. But, right now, she might pull every last strand of her hair because of this tiny cat elf.
"Because of you," Miya said, a smile on her face, but it screamed danger, "I can't spend some time with Estes."
Nana shuddered. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to give some Heroes some fun. I didn't know summoning a demon would be this bad..."
"Wait, what?!"
Miya glanced to her side and found Alpha, Saber and Bruno looking at Nana. The marksman sighed, before explaining, "Yes, she was the one that summoned the demon currently raging outside of the academy."
"I told you we should've stopped their cult!" Bruno exclaimed, pointing a finger towards Miya. A nerve popped through the elf's temple. "Oh, but nooo, you didn't listen. You said they were harmless and whatever. Now, look what they had done!"
"Hey, they're just kids!"
"Evil kids!"
"Innocent kids!"
Alpha, Saber and Fanny watched as Miya and Bruno argued about what they should have done and what shouldn't. The three of them were amused when the two marksmen didn't notice that Nana had quietly fled from the place. Fanny would've stopped the cat elf, but, like Miya had said, they were just kids. It wasn't as if they knew what they were doing. Okay, maybe they were, but it wasn't as if they had thought about the consequences.
But all of them whipped their heads to the side when they heard footsteps, and they found Nana, Cyclops, Chang'e and Diggie running away as if they were trying to escape from getting scolded.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Bruno called.
"Uh..." Cyclops looked at the other midgets, and waved. "Sorry, we gotta go!"
All four of them ran away, and it left the adults baffled. After looking at each other for a few seconds, only then Miya remembered that she was supposed to be scolding Nana for what she had done.
She whirled around where the children had gone to. "Hey, Nana! Come back here–"
Miya blinked when Harley started running pass them. Just as she was about to lose him from her sight, she was quick enough to grab him by the shoulder. He spun around, and his brows furrowed when she held him. "Miya–"
"Why are you running?" Miya asked.
Harley was about to answer, but was interrupted when they heard a loud roar, followed by the sound of someone exhaling deeply. Everyone almost lost their balance when the academy shook, and Miya had to hold Harley to prevent him from falling.
When the quaking stopped, Miya slowly released Harley's arm and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me guess," she begun, "a fire, breathing dragon?"
Harley opened his mouth, then closed it. He ended up nodding.
"I told you we should've banned that cult," Bruno said, his face smug.
"I am so going to kill that kid," Miya said, before stomping to where Nana and the others had went. Her voice echoed when she shouted, "Nana, you are in so much trouble!"
You have no idea how much fun I had writing this. Writing Lancelot and Gusion working together is very entertaining. xD And now that I got this posted, I can finally work on another oneshot I've been planning to write. :) Thank you for reading!