~———~
Varian groaned, waking up in the middle of another camp. He saw the Saporians, Donella and Cyrus in front of him.
"What do you want, Andrew?" Varian mumbled under his breath. "How'd you get out of jail?" Andrew laughed.
"I broke out. I did it before, didn't I? But that's beside the point. I still need your help to destroy Corona," Andrew smirked.
"Free him. He does not work for you," the spirit of the moon spoke.
"Who was that?" Cyrus asked.
"It doesn't matter. Retrieve the amber from his bag," Andrew ordered a Saporian. Right as they tried, a black rock shot out of the ground. They scurried back.
"What the...?" they asked.
"Put your mind at ease, Varian. Let the black rocks become part of you," the spirit said, appearing behind the group. Varian shut his eyes, clearing his mind. More and more black rocks sprouted, even outside of the camp.
Nuru, Yong and Hugo had woken up to the sight of black and red rocks leading out of the camp. Hugo groaned, getting up. He walked over to Nuru and Yong, helping them up. Then the three walked over to the rocks.
"What now?" Yong asked.
"We follow the rocks," Hugo said, walking forward. Nuru and Yong walked after him. Nuru attempted to pull him back, but that didn't work.
"Are you insane? Did you see what they did to us? Did you see how frightened Varian looked? And you just wanna go to him?" Nuru yelled. Hugo didn't respond, only walked forward. They walked in silence, stopping when the black rocks ended their path. It was enough for Hugo to estimate whereabouts Varian might be.
"Follow me, I think I might know where he is," Hugo said. The others stayed silent. It didn't take long until the rocks Varian spouted earlier started showing. They began to run towards the camp.
"Yes, well done Varian. They found you. I must leave now," the sprit spoke, disappearing. Hugo came running in, dagger at the ready and throwing it at Andrew. It hit his arm, causing him to groan in pain. Varian got up, shaking slightly, but ran towards Hugo after grabbing the dagger. He passed it back to Hugo.
"Ah, just on que. Hello, Hugo," smirked Donella. Varian searched his bag for his chemicals. Hugo clenched his dagger tightly in his hand, ready to throw it at any second.
"Stay calm, Hugo. Your anger will only get you so far. You must not attack her now, the time is not right," spoke the sun spirit from behind him. Hugo's grip loosened. Varian got out a vial and threw it at the Saporians, trapping them in goo. Despite their best efforts, the Saporians couldn't free themselves, leaving this between Donella, Cyrus and team radical. Yong grabbed a firework, launching it in the direction of Donella, but she dogged it.
"A little birdy told me that you lied to us, Hugo," she said as the firework exploded behind her.
"How'd you free the Saporians? They were surrounded by guards," Varian asked. Hugo's hand began to shake as his grip tightened once again.
"Not yet, Hugo. I shall tell you when the time is right," the sun spirit spoke inside Hugo's head. Hugo's grip didn't loosen, but he didn't throw his dagger. He waited.
"This isn't about them. Now, Hugo-" Donella turned to Hugo to see the look on his face.
"Just a moment, Hugo. Someone is about to distract her. Only then shall you strike," the sun spirit put its hand on Hugo's shoulder. Hugo nodded.
"He won't listen to you, Donella," Nuru smirked, winking slightly. Donella went to say something when a blinding white burst of light came from behind her. Donella turned to face what it was.
"Now!" yelled the sun spirit. Hugo launched his dagger at her without hesitation. It hit her side, causing her to fall. She groaned in pain. She went to talk, but was hardly able to talk now. Hugo breathed heavily, smirking.
"Well done, Hugo," smirked the sun spirit.
"Okay we should go, like now," Varian smirked. He grabbed Hugo's wrist the the team ran off.
"Wooo! Well done, Hugo!" Yong laughed. The group also laughed.
"So, what do we do about the tents?" Nuru asked, pointing at the destroyed tents. Varian looked at Hugo who nodded.
"We could just share them until we can buy more," Varian smiled. Everyone nodded.
"I'm not sharing with Hugo," Nuru rolled her eyes.
"Varian talks in his sleep, so I'll share with Nuru," Yong chimed in. Everyone nodded. Each went to their tents, but not Varian. He went to his makeshift lab and checked everything was still fine. Luckily, it was. Slumping to the ground out of tiredness, Varian let out a sigh. After not too long, he just passed out due to exhaustion. Hugo came in after noticing Varian didn't come to the tent. He laughed slightly, smiling as he picked Varian up bridal style. He just stared at Varian's face for a few minutes, admiring his features. From his light freckles to his soft, fluffy hair to his longish eyelashes. Hugo snapped out of it and carried Varian into the tent.
It was now the next morning. From the sounds of it, everyone else was awake. Varian yawned and got out of the tent. He took off his blazer/vest(idk what it is-) as he sat on a log.
"Morning, sleep well?" Hugo smiled.
"Ehh- How'd you guys sleep?" Varian replied.
"Well, Yong isn't annoying like you two," smirked Nuru, picking up her bag.
"Yong, what did you mean by Varian talks in his sleep because I'm a light ass sleeper and I didn't wake up once last night," Hugo asked as he finished cooking. He gave Varian some food and ate some too. Varian ate it too.
"Eh, maybe he's stopped now," Yong shrugged. The group then ate in silence when they heard something from behind them.
~———~
