Chapter Eight – Found!
Guy groaned as he rolled over onto his other side and reluctantly opened his eyes. At first, he was wondering why he was so sore. True, his bed hadn't been the most comfortable, but it never caused his entire body to ache. Then, the blonde realized; he was in Malkuth, just outside the city of Engeve, on a search to find Luke, with Alex. Sighing, he forced himself into a sitting position and stretched out a little bit to get rid of any stiffness or aches. It helped a little, but only just enough so that he wouldn't be skewered if any monsters decided to attack. "Alex. . .you awake?" he asked, barely concealing a yawn as he looked in the direction the boy had been sleeping in. The sight he saw. . .was something he had totallynot expected.
Alex wasn't there. His sleeping bag was empty, his bag was laying on top of it, slightly open. Wide awake, Guy scrambled up and scanned the area; the boy wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere nearby. And though the blonde doubted that he was anywhere away from the village, he couldn't help but panic as Duke Fabre's parting words haunted him
"Guy?" The blonde looked up at the mention of his name, turning in the direction of his door, where Duke Fabre stood. He looked serious, with his arms folded. Alex had already packed and was off waiting in front of the entrance, probably.
"Yes, sir?" asked the servant, straightening up to a suitable posture. He did fear the man, after all.
"While you and Van are separated, report to him at least once every two days by carrier pigeon. He will then alert me of anything important," the Duke informed as he stepped over to Guy and closed the door behind him; he didn't want to be over heard. This was a private matter, one that only few of the servants actually knew of. And Guy was one of them.
"Yes, sir," the blonde bowed, though he couldn't help a questioning glance as the Duke shut the door. And another question was begging to be let out before it drove him insane. "Your Grace, may I ask why you're allowing Alex to accompany me?"
"Ah. I knew you would ask." The Duke sighed, looking out of one of the only two windows in the room as Guy took the chance to straighten up again. "Had I not let him, he would have come after you, whether I knew it or not. And also, he seems. . .attached to you." Guy shot another questioning glance at the Duke, though it quickly vanished when the powerful man looked him in the eye. "That, and there are other reasons. I trust you remember the events of seven years ago?"
"Yes."
"Good. Then while he is under your care, keep his identity hidden. Some of the other nobles are getting suspicious while others already know and are pestering the King and me about it. If word of it got to Malkuth, we would be in a serious bind. Understood?"
"Yes. . .sir."
Guy groaned and smacked a hand to his forehead; the Duke would have his head if he lost the kid. The blonde swore out loud before quickly packing up his and the kid's stuff, attaching his own around his waist and slinging Alex's over his shoulder and, after reattaching his sword, quickly set off into the village.
If Tear didn't know any better, she'd guess that Luke was naturally an early riser. By the time she herself had woken up and gotten ready, he was standing there, arms folded, foot tapping with an impatient scowl on his face. He also had, in his hand, his wooden sword. But attached behind him was another sword and in a sheathe; probably one better suited for combat. Without a word, the two made sure to buy some apple and orange gels while Tear thanked the innkeeper for the room. But before they had even left the village, something collided into the girl's back, though she was thankfully able to keep her balance. Upon instinct, she spun around and drew out a knife, ready to strike. But what she saw surprised her.
Sitting on the ground, muttering several inaudible words was a small boy with bright-blue hair. Beside him was a paper bag and several of its scattered contents, which were (Tear noted with a pang of guilt) various pieces of fruit and vegetables as well as some meat and bread. There was even a water bottle or two in there; surely it was too much for such a small kid. Which led Tear to think that it wasn't just for him. Oh dear. . .
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" Tear asked as she knelt down by the boy and helped make sure he was alright. Luke rolled his eyes and didn't even bother to look at him, earning himself a small glare from Tear.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," the boy muttered as he quickly gathered up the items that were covered which (Tear was relieved to know) was quite a few of them. As soon as the boy had done that, he adjusted the cloak that was around his shoulders, making sure it was comfortable, before he picked up the bag full of items and looked up at Tear. Then his eyes widened. "It's you!" he gasped. The girl looked at him questioningly as he looked up at Luke, next. "Luke!"
"Hm?" The redhead looked down at the boy when his name was called, eyes widening when he realized who it was. "Alex?!"
"We finally found you!" the blue-haired boy cheered, beaming happily before he buried himself behind the paper bag, obviously trying to conceal the overwhelming joy. When he looked up again, he looked from Tear to Luke. "Never thought you two would be here. Ah! And your dad's worried, you know! So was Van. We split up from with him at the river."
"Master Van's here?" Luke asked, completely surprised. The tan-haired girl was also surprised, though she was having quite a difficult time keeping her composure the more she looked at Alex; he was small, a child, and he looked so. . .cute. The boy noticed her staring at him and took a step away a little bit, feeling uncomfortable.
"Yeah. Van's looking, too. Ah, and so is Guy! Actually, I kindda left him at our camp outside the village to get breakfast. Hope he hasn't woken up yet," the child sighed, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.
"Well, we were just—"
"I'll go get him!" And before either Luke or Tear could protest, Alex dashed passed them in the direction that apparently the camp he shared with Guy was.
"S-Should we have told him where we were going first?" Tear asked, standing up as she watched Alex disappear from sight; she noted a small design on the back of that cloak of his, and while she hadn't seen it clearly, she felt like she'd seen it somewhere before.
"Probably. Oh, well. Let's get going to the woods," Luke shrugged as he turned and started walking towards said woods.
"B-But what if they come back and don't know where we are?!"
"If Guy woke up while Alex snuck off, then they're gonna be stationary for a while. Trust me."
Tear looked in the direction Alex had vanished from, fighting against her urge to stay and her urge to follow after Luke, just so he didn't get hurt.
"What did I tell you about running off!" Guy scolded, looking down on Alex with an angered expression. "Soldiers won't go easy on you just because you're a child. Do you even know how worried I was?"
"I was just getting food for us," Alex defended, trembling slightly; he hated getting yelled at. It freaked him out. Especially when Guy or Luke got mad at him. "Besides, I—"
"You could've at least left a note or something!"
"I know, but—"
"The Duke would have my head if I lost you!"
"Okay, Guy, but—"
Guy folded his arms and turned away from Alex, picking up the kid's bag and handing it to him. "Come on. Let's keep searching around here. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can get away from that landship." And without even listening to what Alex was trying to say, the blonde picked up his own pack and headed off into the village, leaving Alex to stand there. The boy groaned, then suddenly kicked at the ground, upsetting some pebbles; the man never listened! Especially when he was like that! Sighing, Alex adjusted his bag slightly, transferring over the food from the paper bag into his stronger one before abandoning the paper bag and chasing after Guy.
The boy could only hope that Luke and Tear were still there when they got there.
A/N - Ick. a bit short. Reviews are loved!
