Hi, it's been a while. Tee-hee. Forgive me. *peace*

~~~~~

"Welcome to Eruditio City!"

Lesley couldn't help it but to admire the whole city. There were different objects flying, every vehicle looked so modern, robots and androids could be seen everywhere–

Eruditio City was indeed a very advanced city in terms of technology.

Lesley was gaping the whole time while walking inside the city.

She felt someone held her chin to make her mouth close, "Careful or you will drool or worst, catch some insects in your mouth." She heard him chuckled.

She swatted his hand in a playful way, "Stop it."

"Eruditio is actually the wealthiest city in the Moniyan Empire." Gusion explained while they were still walking.

"It's too obvious. Feels like this city is from another dimension."

Gusion shrugged his shoulders, "We should eat first before heading to SABER's headquarters."

"Layla would be there, right?"

"Of course, she's a member of the squad."

Lesley fidgetted her fingernails, "Would she forgive for what I have done? For leaving so suddenly?"

Gusion smiled and patted her head before leaning his face towards her, "Why would she forgive you when you didn't even do anything wrong? I'm sure she misses you. Even Fanny and Kimmy– especially Harith and all of the Moniyan heroes."

Lesley felt relieved a bit upon hearing those words from Gusion. She smiled at him as a thank you.

He returned the smile before composing himself, "So, where do you want to eat?"

=====

After a long walk, they were now here in front of SABER Squad Headquarters.

Lesley unconsciously fidgetted her fingernails– Gusion noticed that it was Lesley's habit whenever she was nervous or thinking.

Gusion patted her back, "Relax Les. The squad won't bite you."

She let out a nervous laugh before they went in front of a high tech gate.

"Welcome to SABER Squad Headquarters. How may I help you?" They heard a male robotic voice then a screen appeared in front of them.

"Uhh... We actually want to ask for some help from SABER squad." Lesley answered.

"Sorry Ms. Lesley Vance, can you be more specific?" The male robotic voice said.

Lesley's eyes widened and looked at Gusion, "Wait, how did he know my name?"

"Ms. Breacher included your data in our system Ms. Vance, as well as the other Moniyan heroes."

"Breacher?" Lesley asked in confusion.

"That's Layla. It's her code name." Gusion answered.

"Speaking of Layla, is she there inside? I want to talk to her, as well as to the whole SABER squad." Lesley asked.

"Yes Ms. Vance. You may come in." The male robotic voice said and the gate opened.

"Thank you." Lesley said as they started walking inside.

Lesley was gaping once again. The headquarters looked so amazing– beyond amazing. It had a well-equipped training ground, there were androids who served as the squad's staff– it was the perfect definition of high technology.

One male android went near them and even bowed to them before guiding them to where they would meet the squad.

"I feel so small." Lesley whispered to Gusion.

Gusion chuckled, "Don't worry, I feel the same."

The android led them to a room that looked like a conference room. Once they were seated, the android brought them some coffee.

The android was about to put a cream on her coffee but before she could protest, Gusion already did it.

"She doesn't like cream on her coffee. Just add four tablespoons of sugar on that. Thank you." Gusion instructed the android.

"How did you know I didn't want cream on my coffee?"

She wasn't really a fan of coffee with cream, she preferred it pure and sweet– that explained the four tablespoons of sugar.

Gusion shrugged, "You stayed with us for two months in the castle and we've been together for almost a month now. Observations, Ms. Vance."

We've been together– that sounded wrong and right at the same time.

She blushed at the thought. Right, they were in this journey for almost a month now. She learned a lot of things about him– he didn't like vegetables (but now he could eat a few because she threatened him she would blow off his skull using her rifle if he didn't eat), very sarcastic and humurous at the same time, won't back down in an argument because he was that hard-headed– and yes, very rude, except for elderly people and her, she thought.

But despite of those traits, he was really a gentleman and cared for her. Though he was being shy whenever he was being kind to her.

"Lesley!"

Lesley's reveries were cut when someone called her and she was welcomed by Layla's tight hug.

"I miss you! How are you? Did you get into troubles while travelling? How can you leave us so suddenly? You made Kimmy and Fanny cry!" Layla said nonstop, not giving her a chance to answer and defend herself.

Lesley chuckled and hugged Layla back, "I miss you too Layla."

Layla then cried out so loud like a child that made her cringe but then she patted her friend's back to calm her down.

She saw that Gusion was just smiling at them and the rest of the SABER squad.

"That's enough Layla, you're suffocating her." Gusion said, trying to pull her from Layla's hug.

"No!" Layla protested and hugged her again, "Let me hug her for another minute. You were already with her along the way here so I'll have Les for a while. Don't be selfish, Gus."

Gusion was about to speak but he chose not to. She could see his face having a hue of pale pink.

"Enough with that for now Layla. I believe that they have a reason why they are here." A man with two blades said. "I'm Saber by the way, the leader of this squad."

Lesley smiled, "Oh! You're Saber? The one that Fanny still loves?"

The squad gasped– especially Saber who was now blushing, she could see it, while Gusion chuckled.

"Fanny will kill you, Les." Gusion whispered to her.

She gasped and put a hand on her mouth, "Now, I should really hide from Moniyan heroes, right?"

Gusion laughed, "Just kidding. Of course, Fanny won't do that. You're her friend."

"Really? I hope so."

Their conversation was cut when they heard Saber cleared his throat.

"I-it's uhh... it's nice to know that you're a friend of Fanny." Saber said.

"Of course, she's very lovely." She said while smiling. She missed Fanny– Kimmy too and the rest of Moniyan heroes.

"I know." Saber agreed and then he smiled, "So shall we take our seats now to start this meeting?"

They all nodded while sitting on their respective seats. Before the meeting started, the rest of the squad members introduced themselves to her.

"So, what is it that you want to talk about?" Saber asked.

"Is it still about your little brother, Lesley?" Layla asked with concern.

Lesley nodded after sipping her coffee, "Yes. I still couldn't find him after months of searching."

"We will do anything to find him, Lesley. Don't worry." Rafaela assured her.

"Worst case scenario but he might be a member of the unknown group today who were intruding different cities, searching for something." Johnson said, "We want you to be ready, Miss Lesley."

Lesley's breathing hitched with what he said. She knew that there was a possibility but she want to hope it was not.

"Here, please wear this." Exploder– or also known as Cyclops– handed them a bracelet with a button. "It has a tracker on it. Push the button if you need help and we'll be there."

"We will also inform you immediately once we have gather information about the whereabouts of your little brother." Rafaela assured her and held both of her hands, cheering her up.

Lesley smiled genuinely to them, bowing her head as a sign of gratitude, "Thank you for your help."

=====

"I suggest you stay here in the headquarters for– I don't know, two to three days?" Layla suggested while she was touring her and Gusion around the headquarters, "I want to spend time with you Les. I don't know when we'll see each other again after this. How I wish Kimmy and Fanny are here too."

"And what? I'll be ignored for the rest of the days while you are having some girls' time?" Gusion snorted.

Layla raised an eyebrow to Gusion, "Why are you complaining? You've been with Lesley for almost a month now. You can have her again after that. Don't be selfish you rude. It's not like Lesley is your lover, duh." Layla even rolled her eyes.

Both Lesley and Gusion gasped with what Layla said. Lesley looked at her horrifiedly while Gusion avoided his gaze.

"Layla! We're just friends! What are you saying?" Lesley scolded Layla while frowning.

Layla bursted in laughter, "I don't know if I'll be thankful that you're dense or not." She then went to Gusion and tapped his shoulders, "Good luck Gusion. It seems you'll be needing a lot of that."

"Whatever pigtails." Gusion said before dashing away from them.

Lesley was confused by Gusion's actions but she just shrugged it off and looked at Layla, "I think it wouldn't be convenient to stay here for that long Layla. We need to keep on going until we find Harley. We need to leave tomorrow."

Layla's face saddened, "I want to complain but you're right. We're here to find your little brother. Don't worry Les, we will do anything to find him."

She smiled and hugged her friend. She was very thankful that she had friends who were willing to help her.

=====

"Can't sleep?"

Lesley was startled when she heard that particular voice.

It was Gusion.

She smiled at him before looking at the sky once again, "I think it's obvious. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

Gusion gaped at her before clapping his hands in a slow manner– like he was being sarcastic, "Wow, now you're being sarcastic."

"And whose fault it is?" She asked him teasingly while chuckling.

"Damn right. I'm a bad influence." Gusion admitted while laughing.

"It's good that you know it." She teased him more.

Gusion facepalmed, "You're a fast learner."

Lesley laughed at his reaction. It was like Gusion was contemplating if he would be happy or not with her remarks.

Gusion just shook his head lightly, but a smile was formed in his lips, "I think you need some fresh air, lady. You in?"

"Are you crazy? Wouldn't we be waking up the whole squad? I'm sure we can't go out that easily since this place has a high security and technology."

"Don't be silly. Of course it won't. It's not like we're trying to barge in."

Lesley hesitated, but the moment Gusion offered his hand to her, she automatically accepted it without thinking twice.

And true to his words, they went out from the headquarters without any problem. She forgot that their names were already registered in the security system.

They were still a couple of meters away from the city proper but she could already see the city lights. Even though it was already near midnight, the city was still alive as if it was still daytime.

"Eruditio is the city that never sleeps." Gusion said out of nowhere, "It's night life is better than day life."

"How do you say so?"

Gusion smiled mysteriously, "You'll see." He said before holding her hand and pulled her towards the city.

Lesley was amazed while looking around. There were different food stalls, trading stalls and even stalls for equipment. It was like a night market.

She went straight to a stall that was selling a lot of sweets– candies, chocolate, ice cream– name it.

She immediately bought some crackers with chocolate dip. She dipped one cracker on the chocolate and ate it.

Some of the chocolate went to the sides of her lips and Gusion noticed that Lesley used her tongue to clean it.

Fuck. Gusion thought. That's very tempting.

"Do you want some?" Lesley offered him.

Gusion shook his head. He wasn't really fond of sweets. But he would love to taste some only if he would get to taste it in her lips–

Fuck! Gusion cursed himself. Stop fantasizing you moron!

"Gusion?" Lesley called him. Maybe she noticed that he was thinking.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, I was just asking you how many times have you been here in Eruditio?"

Gusion smacked himself mentally to compose himself, "I don't know– thrice maybe? I was assigned here before and sometimes if we aren't busy, we come here to visit."

"Oh." Lesley smiled, "It's good to know that you still have time to relax yourselves."

They continued walking around the night market. It was a blessing that they brought some money to buy things. Lesley just bought new pistol and grenade holder, a big hat with feathers, eyepatches and new hair ties. While Gusion on the other hand, bought some new blade holder, armors and mufflers.

They were about to go back to the headquarters when everyone panicked because they couldn't move one by one. It was like they were being trapped by a spider-web like thing on the ground. Not long after, people were being tied by a string– a string that looked very familiar to Lesley.

"Gusion, it's that unknown group." Lesley told Gusion before she camouflaged to run where the attacks were coming from.

Gusion nodded, and dashed to follow her.

Lesley saw that familiar vehicle once again. That scorpion-like vehicle.

She saw a woman with mask and jet black hair sitting on the vehicle. She was about to shoot her but a wall appeared in front of her.

A very familiar wall.

It's them! The ones who took Harley!

Lesley was about to use her grenade so she could jump over the wall when someone appeared in front of her.

She was frozen in her place while staring at the face she was looking for months. His appearance was different but she knew it was him.

"H-Harley?" Her voice barely came out from her lips. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Her little brother was alive!

She dropped her rifle and kneeled to hug her little brother. She was crying in happiness now. Lesley knew it, Harley was alive. She knew it because she believe in capabilities of her little brother.

"I'm so glad that you're alive Harls. You don't know how much I miss you little brother." Lesley said while crying.

The little boy looked at her with no emotions at all, "I'm sorry but do I know you?"

~~~~~

Dun dun dun dun~

I know, I know– don't remind me, I know it's trashy. HAHAHAHAHA.

Heyaaa~ do you miss me? XD