Chapter Forty-Six: A Night In The Woods
It was a beautiful night, with clear skies and beautiful stars shining brightly.
"It really is beautiful."
Adelia and Alex were camping together on their way to meet Percival, Adelia's brother.
The two had been traveling for three days at this point, making their way into the southwest part of the Empire, where it was mostly farmland and very few big cities. They had gone through town after town while also taking a few jobs at the mercenary guild here and there.
It turns out Adelia was an A-rank member of the mercenary guild, so she was able to go with Alex on a few jobs. During these jobs, he was promoted to a C-Rank guild member as well.
Alex, however, had an uneasy feeling, as if they were being watched, but he couldn't sense anybody around.
Eventually the two decided to make camp and do some stargazing, which they both enjoyed.
"You know, I heard a fairy tale that every star in the sky has other worlds like ours." Adelia said.
"Really Now?" Alex responded.
"Wait, is it possible that this world is just another planet?" Alex thought to himself.
Alex looked around the sky and couldn't find any of the known constellations his world had.
"Is it possible?" Alex thought.
While Alex was in thought, Adelia started to talk again.
"Yeah, apparently some of the well-known astronomers concluded that, so that means we're not alone in the universe, if they're right, that is."
Alex was thinking deeply about whether his world is still out there, but quickly his mood worsened due to him realizing space travel doesn't exist in this world, so there was no way for him to go back home.
"Well, I wonder what kind of worlds there are out there if that's true." Alex said.
"I do too; I think it would be interesting." Adelia said.
The two continued chatting away until they started to hear the bushes rustle.
"What was that?" Adelia asked, putting her hand on her weapon.
"I'll check it out." Alex said.
"Nope, I'm coming with." Adelia said.
"Fine, it might just be a squirrel or something, though."
Adelia smiled and said "Squirrels can be scary; have you never seen a pissed-off squirrel before?"
Alex looked at her confused and said "No, I can't say I have."
"Then if it was one, better protect your nuts." Adelia laughed.
"Thank you for your concern about my nuts." Alex teased back.
"I see you two are getting along."
"AAAHHH!" both Alex and Adelia screamed in surprise.
Alex immediately recognized who it was and had to stop Adelia from pulling out her sword.
"Wait Adelia Stop! I know who it is." He told Adelia.
Adelia did what he said and sheathed her sword, but she kept her hand on it to be ready.
"Claire, what are you doing here?" Alex asked.
"What are you doing? I saw you leave the city with this girl and followed you; why did you leave us?" Claire said with a saddened face.
"I had to; it was just something that needed to be done." Alex said.
"Bullshit!"
Claire yelled at Alex, stomping towards him.
"You said you would stay by all of our sides, including mine, but you planned to leave all of us; well, you failed, because you can never leave me."
"Is she your girlfriend or something, Alex?" Adelia asked.
"No, but she's a good friend." Alex said.
"Claire, please go back; I have to do this." Alex told Claire.
"No."
Claire firmly stated and stared Alex in the eyes.
"I will never leave you; I don't care what you do; I don't care! Im staying by your side, no matter what!"
"Claire..."
Alex was shocked. Claire had rarely shown so much emotion; her eyes were tearing up. He didn't expect this from her. The only time she had shown this much emotion to him was when they first met.
"Adelia, is it a problem if she comes with us?" Alex asked.
"I would say yes, but it seems no matter what, she'll follow us anyway. So up to you." Adelia said.
"Fine, you can come with me." Alex said to Claire.
"I was going to anyway; your permissions just mean you'll see me now." Claire said, smiling.
"Well, I think it's time we bring this eventful night to a close, Alex and Claire, was it? I'll see you two in the morning." Adelia said, and she started to walk back to the camp.
"Claire, this is an issue; however, we don't have enough sleeping bags for three." Alex said.
"That's fine; I'll just sleep with you." Claire said.
"What?"
"I said I'd sleep with you, unless you want me to sleep in the trees as I have been." Claire teased.
"Ok, then, let's get back to camp." Alex said.
"We will, but first..."
To Alex's surprise, Claire pushed him against a tree and placed a kiss on his lips; her lips were soft to Alex. She put her hands on his cheeks, and in response, Alex put his hands on her lower back.
The kiss continued and got more intimate as soon as their tongues entered each other's mouths as they enjoyed each other.
After a few minutes, the kiss stopped, and Alex moved his head away.
"Claire...why?" he asked.
He then noticed Claire was still crying, but smiling.
"Because I love you. I have since we met. I was scared you were going to abandon me. I don't want to lose the one thing that brings me happiness. I can't lose you, Alex. So please, stay by my side." Claire said.
Alex smiled as Claire continued talking. "I don't care if I'm the only one you love, but please stay with me, Alex."
Alex said nothing as he embraced her in a warm hug.
"I don't know if I can return your love, at least as of right now, but I promise Claire to stay by your side as long as you want to stay by mine."
Alex didn't expect her to declare her love; his feelings for her were still clouded. He didn't know how he truly felt about anyone. He never expected her to tell him she loved him. Alex had a lot to consider, but he would never reject her now that she had finally opened up to him.
The two stayed together in a warm embrace before retiring to bed, as Claire cuddled with Alex, not letting him out of her grasp.
"So soft..." Alex thought.
Claire's chest was directly above Alex's. She was pretty well-endowed and gorgeous, which made Alex's thoughts linger.
"Stay down, please, goddess, stay down; it's not the time!" Alex said to himself, hoping his mini-Alex would stay asleep.
Claire, still asleep, snuggled even closer to Alex, putting her body even more on top of Alex's.
"Damn, this girl is going to be the death of me."
* Elsewhere the next morning*
Raven was staring out of her window with her makeup smeared around her eyes. She had been crying since Alex left; everyone tried to help her, but nothing worked. However, this morning was different. No tears came from her face. She went to her bathroom, cleaned her face off, and thought to herself.
"Alex wouldn't want me to fall apart; I need to get myself together."
Raven got into her shower and washed her body. She cleaned herself up and put on some of her new clothes.
"Did they get bigger?" She asked herself, as her bra no longer fit nicely.
"I guess I'll have to ask Eve to get some new ones."
Raven proceeded downstairs in a nice and casual outfit, which surprised everyone.
She seemed like her old self, but more determined.
"Auntie Lyanna?" She asked.
"Yes dear?"
"When do the Xymaris Magic Academy entrance tests begin?"
"Oh? Well, Next month is for the 17-year-olds first year entrance test; I believe signups are later this week to fill out the 128 possible freshman."
"Could you take me to sign up?" Raven asked.
"Sure, dear, that's not an issue. What inspired this?" Lyanna asked.
"I have to get stronger for when Alex is back. So when he comes back, I can show him that Im strong now and will stay by his side." Raven said which surprised her aunt.
"And to teach him a lesson for leaving me...the idiot." She thought to herself.
*Elsewhere*
Alex's body shivered as he was making breakfast.
"I've got a bad feeling."
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AN: Hey everyone we're back to continue the story of the 2nd arc. Im excited to get his going.
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