Violet Detours (BOOK 2) : Badly, Madly, Deeply

GUSION, OVERTHINKING

"GUSION!" Hanabi called him while he was drowning himself in guilty thoughts while he was flicking blades towards one of the trees in the woods.

Gusion had been doing nothing for the last couple of days since Angela was captured because of him.

His team was still relying on his decisions despite the fact that he let them down, but he couldn't dare face them without having a sound plan.

He wanted to go take back Angela.

But he couldn't risk another one of them getting left behind or lethally injured, especially when there was Dyrroth and probably Alice.

And there was this growing fear inside him.

What if Guinevere was there because Alice succeeded on her plan of getting Guinevere's ruthless side awaken?

Her presence on the enemy's side...it would be enough to make him useless.

He'd proven that from the recent fight. Just the mere sight of her distracted him from every goal he had.

And he didn't want to cause anyone on his team harm just because of that fear.

"Leave me alone." He said without looking at Hanabi as he went to retrieve his blades off the tree's trunk.

"No! It's Angela!"

Gusion spun around. "Why? What is it?"

"She's back."

He frowned, taking a second to register what she was trying to say.

Then he blinked towards where his teammates made camp for the last couple of days.

Relief flooded all over him the moment he saw the mechanical girl looking exhausted and drained but still alive as she lied over a cloth on the ground while Harley was making her drink a potion.

The kid just got so many different kinds of potion on him.

He let himself fall right beside her and grabbed her hand.

"Gela! H-how did you escape?" He asked.

A hundred questions zoomed inside his head that he couldn't figure out what to say first, making him stutter.

Angela's eyes, which incredibly looked human, stared at him. "They left me alone in a tent...and I managed to escape."

"Did y-you...did you perhaps meet the girl in a lotus dress?"

Angela frowned. "I didn't. Why?"

"Why would you be asking about someone else now?" Hanabi spat angrily. "She'd just got here safely! You should be asking if she's alright."

Gusion breathed deeply, calming himself down.

Hanabi was right. He should be acting as the leader of their squad and not the impulsive boy he used to be back then.

So he checked Angela's condition.

Apart from a few cuts in her arms and face, she appeared to be alright.

"Did Dyrroth hurt you?" He asked.

"No."

Gusion frowned. He knew Dyrroth well enough to know the boy would not pass a chance to hurt someone, even if it would be just for fun.

But he was relieved that he did otherwise, or Gusion wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Gusion nodded, thinking having Angela back safely was enough.

So he looked at Harley. "Take care of her.'

"Aren't we going back to Zen City?" Grock asked.

Gusion felt guilty, but he wasn't determined to go back there while knowing Guinevere was in the enemy's territory.