7 7 M A G E

HARLEY WAS FEELING SUSPICIOUS when he noticed his sister wouldn't acknowledge their honorable fighter, Alucard. Lesley was a sassy pain in the arse but today she was super extra. Her mood swings were unpredictable; at one moment she was quiet but intimidating, the next minute she was shouting and bossing everybody around---all except Alucard.

Harley sighed, he wondered what had happened between them when he was asleep. The tension in the group was as thick as lava and the slow but steady burn of anticipation and fear of their inevitable destiny to battle the demonic queen were not helping.

"We need to get information about the Blood Demon Queen, Alice," Gatot said as soon as he'd sat down to meet with them.

"And where can we get information?" Angela had asked, swaying softly as she showed off her new dress. It was from Shanghai, he heard and the cloth was made of silk. Harley wanted to feel the fabric against his skin but more than that, he wanted to pull out her neatly made buns tied with red ribbons.

He'd chuckled, winking at Angela who stuck her tongue out in reply. "Have you guys heard of the necromancer in the West? Rumors told she was overthrown by the Demon Queen."

"I've heard of it," Lesley had added, "She became a vampire who feeds off young women's souls in order to forever stay young."

"Creep," Alucard had muttered as Lesley looked away, feigning ignorance of his presence.

"Then we have a destination," Gatot had stood up, adjourning their short meeting. "Let's give the Vampire Queen Vexana a visit."

And thus began their journey to seek the lost kingdom of the West. They set off by foot in the thick forest of Nambu and Harley took advantage of the situation by hiding behind a tree when the gild decided to take a break to eat a noon meal. He couldn't just sit around while his old man prepare the meals so he created himself some entertainment. Sneakily, he tugged out Angela's red silky ribbon that neatly tucked her hair in a cute little bun.

Angela screamed and chased him around the forest. He went ahead of the group and hid behind a Banyan tree shrouded with thick bushes.

He heard a rustle and thinking it was Angela, he inhaled a lungful of fresh air to frighten her but stopped his tracks when he saw a shiny rifle with the stroller. He had no idea why he decided to hide from his sister.

"You can't avoid me forever." It was Alucard. Harley stepped out a little to get a better view. Lesley's back was on him, her face unreadable.

"I can do a lot of things and ignoring you is certainly not impossible. Don't think too highly of yourself."

Harley smiled, feeling entertained. Alucard would have to try harder than that to befriend his sister.

Another rustle approached and Harley was quick to pull Angela out from the opening. He hid her beside him, covering her mouth from gasping out loud. Her eyes widened, confusion apparent on her face but nodded when he put a finger across his lips then pointed at Alucard and Lesley.

Angela blushed, her ears flaming which Harley thought was adorable. Her skin was so soft and supple, and her eyes were big and round, full of questions and eagerness. Harley liked her alright and he knew she liked him but some part of him didn't want their relationship to go further than it already was because he knew that he would fuck it up some way or the other and contaminate her to the point of breaking her. He didn't want that to happen for the sake of both of them and the gild. Harley let go of her as if she was fire yet he was not afraid of getting burnt but afraid to extinguish her fire and light.

"What's happening?" She whispered in his ear as he engulfed her vanilla scent.

Harley scooted a little farther. "Just watch," he mouthed, followed by a wink.

Alucard's composure was lost, his eyebrows crunched over as if thinking hard. He stuck his sword to the ground and sighed. "I-I don't know what to say. How do I make this better?"

"You followed me here to ask me that?" Lesley finally turned around.

"No, I---"

"How about you apologize to me," Lesley cut him off.

Alucard's eyes hardened. "I'm not sorry for anything. You were feeding your guilty conscience."

"Then we have nothing to discuss." Lesley turned to leave but Alucard caught her wrist.

"What else can I do to make it stop?" Harley could see his hold on Lesley loosening and he had a pained look in his eyes.

"Stop what?"

"To stop you from hating me. It's getting tiring."

Lesley's eyes softened as she looked up at him. She took his hand from his wrist slowly, chuckling a little, "Alucard, if I hated you, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me. You'd be dead."

"That's good to know." A small smile perked on Alucard's lips but it was gone just as quickly it appeared.

When Lesley left, Alucard lifted his sword and cut the top of the bush they were hiding in; the blade missed their heads by an inch. Angela literally froze on the spot.

"Harley, you sneaking around is really getting on my nerves lately," he said in a menacing tone.

Harley smirked as he stood up. "So what are you gonna do about it? Tattle on my sister?"

Alucard's glare was all he needed to confirm of a head to head brawl against each other. He took out his cards, shuffling them fast and proceeded to strike first.

His sister wanted an apology and because he didn't give it, he'd be sorry now.