4 Crossroads

"Finally, you're awake!" The redhead by her bedside announced.

"I.. Uh..." He struggled for the words to come out of his mouth - his lips felt dry as the dessert and his body seemed like it was ran over by stampeding bulls. "Ah -- aww!" The sharp pain in his arm jolted him from his bed.

His only attendant steadied him and tried to look as stern as possible. She's probably a nurse... or maybe a physician?

He tried to remember how he'd end up in an infirmary while scanning his surroundings. Wait, why was there a rifle by the door? That's... Odd. And the nurse by her bedside isn't even dressed like one. With her black leather boots, straightcut pants and buttoned up shirt... Nope. That's not a nurse for sure.

"Who are you?" Her question forced him away from his wandering thoughts.

"I should ask the same thing about you, miss. Who are you?" He tried regaining his composure while cradling his bandaged arm. "What am I doing here?"

"I... I'm the one who saved you last night. You're here at the village infirmary," She didn't dare give her name first but still continued on handing out her questions, "Now tell me who you are and why were those men after you," She leaned closer, crossing her arms around her chest and tried to render her most intimidating look.

Her unfriendly gesture at the moment and the thought of this lady saving his sorry ass last night entirely confused him though. The wound on his arm at least confirms that last night was as real as this lady in front of him suggests.

Either way, he still owes her his explanation. After all, she was the one who saved him.

"The name's Gusion. I came from the... Magical Forest," It wasn't exactly the truth but it wasn't entirely a lie either. He knew well not to reveal his infamous last name to strangers. Even if that stranger be some brown eyed beauty in front of him. "Those men... They were after me because ---"

"GUUUUUSSSSSIIIIOOOOOOOONNNN!!!!! an annoyingly familiar voice shrieked from outside.

The lady rushed towards the window to see who was causing the ruckus. Gusion only knew too well who'd that be --- his cerulean bubble "guardian" named Harper.

"I KNOW YOU'RE INSIDE! WE NEED TO LEAVE NOWWW" The creature yelled. He had no idea how he'd find him ever since he ditched him for the nth time in the woods.

"What the heck is that blue thing doing outside?" The bewildered expression on his savior's face almost made up for the second hand embarrasment he's having from his self-proclaimed guardian.

He groaned inwardly and tried to drag himself to open the door for his friend outside. Yes. Friend. Since that's what Harper had been insisting everytime he gets a chance.

"GUUUUUSSSSSIOOON!!!" Harper bounded towards him, "You shouldn't have left me like that! I got lost in the woods! Again! If it weren't for the Lady, I wouldn't have found the way to you! Again! You know you must not avoid your quest! They are already after you!"

"Were those men last night the ones after you?" The lady shamelessly interjected, "Why were they after you?"

It was only then that his bouncing blob of a guardian noticed the other person in the room, "Oh! A girl!" was the only intellectual words it could utter.

He was, after all, about to answer that question even before Harper arrived. It was now another matter. Especially now that his guardian is here; the one who explicitly told him about the quest, and the one who reminded him to keep it as a secret.

"Answer me. I demand you," He didn't notice at first, the thing that she was gripping tightly in her palms. She eyed him warily and hid the object immediately, away from prying eyes.

He shifted uncomfortably. Why must she make him so awkward?

"Hi! I'm Harper! Who are you again?" Thank the gods his annoying companion distracted her for a moment.

"I'm..." She obviously looked flustered now, casually looking at the wall clock every now and then. Was she in a hurry or something? "I..." She looked one last time at the clock and sighed aloud, "I have no time for this. My brother is leaving soon and I only need answers from you." She grabbed her rifle by the door and aimed it at Gusion, completely ignoring the seemingly harmless Harper.

"Now answer me. WHO WERE THOSE MEN AND WHY WERE THEY AFTER YOU??" She emphasized each words while drawing them in a corner.

"Whoa there! I'm not your enemy. You just saved me and now you're gonna kill me if I don't answer you?" He backed away and pushed Harper away from her view.

He glanced back at the now worried looking Harper and then back at the impatient woman with a rifle in front of him.

He quickly weighed his odds. He's pretty much incapacitated, although he could conjure up some magic but he knew he's already spent a lot last night. The odds were clearly not in his favors. And he knew better to mess with a woman who clearly knows her guns.

"Alright, alright! Those men were after me because I've been chosen for a quest. Harper here, came after me to become my guide in a stupid quest to find the Twilight Orb. Those men were after the orb. And supposedly I knew where it is. Believe me, I don't know where it is. But this blob here says otherwise. They've been bothering me ever since afterwards." He held up his hands while explaining everything to her.

The room fell silent. Waiting for the lady to assert if his revelations were indeed true. She paused for a while then partially dropped her aim at them. "So you don't know them?"

"No. I've been running from them ever since I left the forest." He answered honestly.

The clock chimed signaling another hour has passed. She cursed and casually strapped her rifle in her shoulders while blowing a strand of stray hair from her face.

"You're torn" Harper noticed her restless demeanor. "You're unsure of what path you should take, my lady. Your brother or your vengeance." He muttered absent-mindedly as if in a trance.

"How did you know about my brother?" She gasped. Questions filling her mind at the moment.

"So... You were the one the Lady has been warning me about." He said while bouncing closer to the girl. "You're the one who's at the crossroads" He declared.

She was about to speak when Harper continued still in a trance, "Your brother is on another journey, he is as safe as you've accompanied him til this day. Soon enough you'll meet him on different terms. Once you take this road to vengeance there will be no coming back." He warned.

"However, I give you another path to take. Aside from these two fateful roads, I present you a chance to prove your worth towards the light. You will get what you want in the end, but I can't promise you won't be suffering. Be with us in our quest and I'll guide you towards the third path."

"I don't understand. If I leave with you, I'll be forsaking my brother. If I don't and look for those men, I'd be the one in peril? What do you mean?" She shook the tiny creature in her grasp as if talking to another entity.

Harper seem to get back at his senses and began to cry, "I'm sorry, miss. That was all what the Lady told me."

Her shoulders hung heavily. The rifle dropping on the floor was the only sound that resonated in the room. "Can she promise me, my brother will be safe until then?" She asked, weighing in her options.

Harper paused, hesitating for a moment, then nodded.

That was all Lesley needed, she grabbed her rifle from the floor and dashed quickly outside. Leaving an equally baffled Gusion and a desolate looking Harper.

"Well that went well," Gusion declared, feeling completely left out of their conversation.

"Come on now, we need to go" The creature beamed as if nothing had happened.

"Will she come with us after what you said?" He asked his guardian with a hint of hope.

"It's up to her, my lord. The Lady of the Light only ever revealed her path in the crossroads. It's still her choice what course to take." Harper muttered before heading for the door.

Gusion sighed one last time and let the guardian lead the way this time.

"But I didn't even get to know her name" He whispered in the wind, closing the door behind him.