Shining Stars and Precious Jewels

Chapter Twenty-One - Unpredictable

-Bam POV-

"Guys, wait. We don't know where Hwaryun is."

We all stopped. "Valid point, Shibisu," Anaak said. "How do you propose we find out?"

Shibisu shrugged.

"Not helpful," the lizard snarked.

"Whoever sent me the coordinates for FUG's base must have had Hwaryun's pocket," I said. "Khun, can we trace the source of the message?"

"I can try," he answered. "It's likely that it won't lead us to Hwaryun however. FUG isn't dumb."

"The message will lead us somewhere at least," Hatz said. "It might be worth checking it out anyway."

Khun nodded. "I'll work on it."

"I might talk to Rachel again. She would probably know where Hwaryun is," I volunteered.

"I don't want you to go alone," Khun said.

"I'll be fine. I promise." I squeezed his hand. It looked like Khun was going to keep protesting, but he sighed.

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

I turned to Endorsi and Hockney. "Will you guys come with me? Khun's right, I probably shouldn't go alone." They nodded.

The three of us set off towards Rachel's cell.

"Back again so soon?" Rachel said, smirking. "You just can't stay away."

"Cut it," Endorsi said. "We're not here to listen to your crap."

Rachel opened her mouth, but Hockney interrupted. "We aren't here to antagonize you either. We just want to ask about a certain someone."

"I'm not telling you anything else about them. You can try, but I won't."

"We're not here about your mysterious employer either," I said. "We want to know where Hwaryun is."

"We wouldn't mind knowing about your employer though," Endorsi muttered. "We have our suspicions, but I wouldn't mind confirmation."

"We can ask later," Hockney whispered back. "One thing at a time."

"Hwaryun?" Rachel said, her voice masked with a false innocence. "Did you lose her again? I know she has a tendency to, ah...slip away from you."

"She was supposed to send us a message," Endorsi said bluntly. "Instead, we got those coordinates. They were sent from her pocket."

"What does that have to do with me?" Rachel asked.

"You know damn well why," Endorsi growled. "Your little ambush."

"It's not my fault if she sent you the wrong coordinates." The blonde shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe she did it on purpose."

"What do you mean by that?" I didn't like where this conversation was going.

"She's always been fickle," Rachel said carelessly. "On the second floor, she told me I was going to be the heroine. But then she left, and went to you. She's certainly unpredictable."

"Hwaryun wouldn't do that." I defended the guide, but Rachel's words did their job. A little sprout of apprehensiveness bloomed in my mind.

Hockney put his hand on Endorsi's arm. "Don't say anything," he muttered. "You'll make it worse."

"What makes you think so?" Rachel taunted.

"You have nothing to offer her." I let myself slip into a colder persona from my early days in FUG. "Why would she turn her back on her god for you?" Inwardly, I cringed at the thought of being called a god. I was nowhere near being a god, nor did I want to be a god. Khun was right, it is better being human.

"You? A god?" She snorted. "I'm the one who got you out of that cave. What does that make me?" She tried to hide it, but her innocent facade was cracking.

"I'm pretty sure trying to kill me multiple times nullifies that."

"You'll never know," she said.

"I'm sure I will," I replied.

"I don't think it'll take her long to crack," Endorsi said, eyeing her. "Maybe put a bit of pressure on her."

"I'll leave you two to it." I walked away. I didn't know how to feel. My brain was a mess. My emotions were a tangle of knots. This felt so wrong, but at the same time, it felt so right.

I decided I needed sleep.

-Khun POV-

It didn't take long to trace the message's source. I managed to trace it right to the exact building. I used my lighthouse to remotely hack the building's security cameras. No Hwaryun in sight, although I did see some familiar faces...

"Hello again," I muttered, upon seeing Apple and Michael. "I can't wait to kill you."

——

It's been a while, huh? Happy belated Valentine's Day! 

Rachel lying is fun to write. I get to do it a lot.

Hwaryun is going to have a pivotal role in resolving this arc with Rachel. After that...who knows? Maybe a certain Khun will show up...;)

As always, thank you all for reading. See you next time!