Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Ten~

"Eugene."

The former thief opened his eyes slowly with a groan. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. Rapunzel knelt beside his make-shift bed on the floor. The others were all standing around the hallway idly, all having put away their own beds. All except for Hector.

"Eugene," Rapunzel repeated, helping her boyfriend into a sitting position. "It's time to go again. You went back to sleep on your watch shift, so we're behind on time by about two hours. It's okay! You needed sleep!"

"Where's Hector?" Eugene asked, rubbing his eyes.

Rapunzel's face fell.

"We haven't seen him since he stormed off after you guys' argument."

Eugene put his head in his hands and groaned again. All the anger and regret from a few hours ago came flooding back. Why, why had he tried to talk to him at all?! Why had he thought apologizing would make anything better?! The damage had already been done! He'd already pried too far into Hector's past, and the man had every right to be angry and run off like that. It was all his fault!

Why am I so stupid?!

Rapunzel was trying to comfort Eugene but to no avail. The others watched in sympathy. They all knew how horrible he felt and how hard it would be on him for a while to come. Everyone felt pity and empathy for Eugene. Everyone aside from Adira.

Adira couldn't remember the last time she had been really, truly angry. It had been centuries. Adira was the kind of person who kept any strong emotions to herself. Reacting rashly didn't help in any situation and it was best to stay calm and collected. However, all that had fallen away. Adira was furious.

She had never had a very strong connection to Eugene and had always thought he was far too arrogant for his own good, not to mention selfish when it came to things like his friends and family. Adira had tried throughout her time with Rapunzel and the rest of the party to tolerate the former thief and his behavior. But now he'd crossed the line.

Adira could handle his selfishness. After all it was really just protectiveness of his family, fanatic as it was. She could deal with his arrogance. Oh, how often she had been forced to live around arrogant men! But Hector was not something in her life that she would tolerate being mistreated. She had just gotten him back. She was just starting to see him open up again. She was inches away from being able to maybe talk to him like they had when they were younger. And yet Eugene had decided to push bad memories out of him, make him close in on himself, and force her to have to use tactics to calm him down that she hated using. She loved her brother with everything that she was and would rather die than see him hurt by someone else. And that was exactly what Eugene had done. Whether he had intended to or not, he had hurt Hector in a way that was far harder to heal than a scratch or burn. Though it seemed to be just a little matter to Eugene, what he said could close Hector off from his sister again for God knows how long, and that was something she would not tolerate. Adira would not lose her brother again.

Finally, after several long minutes, Eugene pulled himself together. He stood up and assured Rapunzel that he was fine now and that they should start looking for the way out of the mansion.

"You guys go," Eugene said. "I'll go look for Hector. We'll meet back up here in a couple hours."

"No!" Adira turned on Eugene with a growl. "Absolutely not!"

"Adira, you don't have to worry," Eugene insisted. "I learned my lesson last night. I just want to make sure he's okay. This is my mess to clean up anyway."

"It may be your mess, but he's my brother! You will go with everyone else while I look for him. You've done enough damage already."

"Adira, I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, but I just want to make things right. I promise I won't do anything other than bring him back. I promise! Just please trust me!"