Author's note: I am in a particularly good mood, so here's to sharing joy! Another bonus update! (and a tiny sorry for the cheap cliffhanger for the previous chapter, pfft)

On her way towards Hana, Cecil noticed some strange movement from the corner of her eyes. She watched as a group of bandits came together, forming a line a distance away from Gom and Hana.

Cecil skidded to a stop, thinking quickly.

No matter what they plan to do, breaking the line is the only choice I have here.

The group of bandits made similar gestures, pushing their hands outwards and Cecil mimicked them.

"Move away!" a bandit hollered out, and they retreated swiftly from Hana and Gom.

Before the two of them had the chance to react, they immediately found themselves boxed in by stone. The only open place was above them, which was too tall for a person to jump over.

"What the..." Gom muttered out.

Hana gasped, glancing around wildly, still using her shawl. Unless she could punch through stone, there was nothing she could do.

"Hana, hold onto me--" Gom said, only to be interrupted by a commotion outside.

"Gah!"

Cecil managed to strike one of the bandits off balance as they yelped. It successfully broke the formation of the line and a part of the stone shook, collapsing, revealing an opening.

She sighed in relief, seeing Gom and Hana safe inside, gesturing for them to hurry out. They rushed out at the same time, the opening big enough for two of them to squeeze through.

At that moment, Cecil watched as a flash of green made its way towards the box of stone.

A vine!

It's definitely an earth element, second form. They are definitely aiming for Hana!

The vine swooped in, and Cecil caught a glimpse of it zooming towards Hana. She gasped, reaching her arm out as she summoned her own vine. The vine curled around her arm, shooting out from her sleeves and coiled around the other vine.

The other vine wrapped itself around Hana's waist at the same time, and dragged Hana away instantly. Her wet shawl dropped to the ground, drenching the gravel path.

"Hana!" Gom called out, reaching his hand out.

Alas, Hana could only reach so far, furthermore, she was a few steps behind Gom.

Hana screamed, her eyes widening in horror as she lifted out from the box. Gom's figure growing smaller.

Cecil was dragged along as well, using her own vine to hold her by the waist. It was just blur of green and brown as they were pulled through the woods, but Cecil kept her eyes focused on Hana.

She saw as Hana was struggling against the vine, tugging at it.

"Don't pull the vine, Hana! The user may summon out its thorns!" Cecil warned, raising her voice.

Hana spun around, seeing Cecil being dragged along with her. Both of their feet weren't touching the ground.

"Cecil!" Hana beamed, nodding obediently. "Okay, I got it, I won't pull it!"

Cecil smiled back. "I'll cut the vines!"

She unsheathed her dagger, giving it a clean slice at the vine holding Hana captive. Hana was freed, landing safely as she spun around.

Cecil gave her dagger a spin, slicing at the vine. However, when she touched the vine with her dagger, the vine increased its speed and the dagger almost slipped out from her hands.

"Cecil!" Hana exclaimed, panicked.

Clicking her tongue, Cecil clutched at her dagger tighter, hastily slicing the vine. Unfortunately, another vine appeared out of nowhere, carrying a small pouch and squeezing it until it exploded, powdery substances fluttering about in the air.

Cecil, who was an inch away from cutting the vine, coughed harshly. The powder assaulted her senses, and she felt the world spinning, the dagger in her hand stopping abruptly.

"Wh-what's this?" Cecil swiped at the air with her other hand.

[ It seems to be some form of sleeping powder, Cecil Lan. ]

"Sleeping...powder...?"

[ Yes~ ]

Cecil widened her eyes, clumsily shielding to her nose, but she felt extremely light-headed, as if she was floating. She couldn't even feel herself being dragged.

Not good, I inhaled a huge amount of it just now...

True enough, Cecil felt her consciousness drifting and her eyes grew heavy.

"Damn." Cecil cursed out, her eyes closing, losing the grip of her dagger.

It dropped to the ground, silent, her figure disappearing behind the trees.

***

"Hana." Xue murmured out in realisation, rushing towards the direction of her voice.

Though, he was blocked by Leonaut before he could do so.

"Oh come on," Leonaut chuckled. "I am not going to let go to them, just when you were lured here."

"Move."

"Make me." Leonaut shrugged.

Xue gritted his teeth, lunging at Leonaut with his spear.

Unbeknownst to Xue, it was only Leonaut, Gom and him left in the area. The rest of the bandits had already dispersed.

***

Hana summomed her shawl, and she proceeded to chase after the vine, panting. Eventually, she found a group of bandits crowding around an area.

"This...isn't the one boss was looking for, right?"

"Yeah, boss wants the woman with red hair, this one's the black one."

"But I saw boss playing with her just now."

"She's pretty..."

"Hey, why not ask boss if we can keep her?"

Hana controlled her shawl adeptly, she had already soaked it back in water. Without thinking, she smacked the bandit with her shawl that said he wanted to keep Cecil.

"You can't keep Cecil!" Hana pouted angrily.

"Who the hell--"

The bandits stepped aside, revealing Cecil lying on the ground, unconscious. Her black, waist-long hair was splayed across the grass, her haughty look no longer on her delicate face, a serene expression replacing it. Her porcelain skin seemed paler in the sun, contrasting greatly against her black hair and pink lips.

The outfit she had chosen for this trip back to the school was a lacy, fully-sleeved white dress with a hint of blue; it clearly showed her lithe body. Alas, the gorgeous dress had smudges of dirt on it.

Hana could understand why they would call Cecil pretty, even when she was in this state.

"Hey, it's you! The woman that boss wants!"

It was at this moment, Hana realised how many of them there were. If it were a few bandits, Hana could definitely handle them and helped Cecil.

However, there were almost a dozen of them, and Hana wasn't sure if she could fight them all off. Even if she could, she wasn't sure if she could bring Cecil away safely.

But...but they will take Cecil away, I can't let them do that!

What if they do something bad to Cecil? They are bandits, and bandits are bad!

I will be so sad, and Xue will be even sadder!

The bandits dashed to Hana, and Hana fought three off, before she felt herself being overwhelmed. A ball of fire headed her way and Hana whimpered, squeezing her eyes close.

Suddenly, someone doused out the fire and Hana heard someone scolding another person.

"No hurting her! Boss ordered that!"

"Then what are we supposed to do? Stand here and let her hit us?!"

"Where's the damn powder?"

Hana glanced anxiously to Cecil. She guessed it right, she wasn't capable of saving Cecil.

If I can't save Cecil, I...I will go with her!

This way, if we go together, we can protect each other!

Hana saw as they threw a pouch her, and she almost reacted, wanting to avoid it. However, she resisted and the pouch shred into pieces before her eyes. The same powdery substance that Cecil saw previously surrounded her.

Hana glanced at Cecil once more, the drowsy look in her eyes holding a hint of determination.

Don't worry, Cecil.

I...I will not let you suffer alone.

She soon lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground. Her shawl falling to the grass beside her.

***

Leonaut groaned, his body hitting the floor and he barely managed to avoid a lethal attack from Xue's spear.

He had no doubt that he would suffer from bruises all over after this. There were also a few gashes on his arms and legs, his entire body stained with blood.

On the other hand, Xue was completely unscathed.

"Okay, okay!" Leonaut raised his hands up in surrender. "You can go, go after them! I give up!"

Xue took a step towards Leonaut, wanting to conjure up the blue marble to start the absorption process. However, thinking about Hana and her screaming for Cecil, Xue felt apprehensive.

"Xue!" Gom dashed towards Xue, sprinting. "Hana and Cecil are gone! I can't find them anywhere!"

Xue glanced back to Leonaut, who only smirked and threw a smoke bomb down. The two of them quickly shielded their eyes and nose.

"Too late, Xue." Leonaut smirked, his voice sounding bitter. "Hana is mine now."

Once the smoke cleared, Xue and Gom realised Leonaut was gone.

Leonaut trudged away into the woods, his mind drifting towards the beautiful, raven-haired woman with pellucid, onyx eyes.

"Pity," Leonaut sighed, shaking his head. "If only I stole that woman from him as well."

***

"..."

Leonaut looked on speechlessly at his subordinates carrying Hana and Cecil in their arms. He blinked rapidly at Cecil, clutching onto his wound on his arm.

"Well boss, we caught this woman too."

"What you wanna do?"

"..."

"Boss?"

Leonaut only laughed breathily as he stared at Cecil. "Unbelievable, you were caught as well."

"Uhhh, boss?"

"Keep them both," he simply said. "Let's get our horses and head back."

Leonaut narrowed his eyes, smirking, clenched his fists in victory.

***

An object glistened within the grass and a callous hand reached out, picking it up gently. A pair of grey eyes gazed coldly between the dagger in his hand and the shawl in his other hand.

"This is...their soulbound weapons." Gom muttered out, noticing the items in Xue's hands.

The shawl started to dissipate, a sign that the owner was getting out of range, and the soulbound weapons would rightfully return to the owner.

Xue watched as the dagger started to dissipate as well, and he clenched his fists, his fingers going through the handle of the dagger.

Kai: "This can only mean...they are both gone."

Alric: "Th-the bandits took them away!"

Zasiok: "..."

Xue inhaled deeply, suddenly recalling a memory. He walked towards one of the guest rooms in the castle, knocking on the door and it opened, revealing Hana.

***

"Xue, you are here! We can finally explore the town one last time, since Mr. Gom said so!"

Xue nodded at Hana, his eyes drifting towards Cecil in the centre of the room, immersed in practicing with her daggers.

"Ah, Cecil said she wanted to practice her daggers while waiting for me and you. I'll go and tell--"

Xue gripped lightly at Hana's wrist, stopping her.

"No need to," he said, his eyes going back to Cecil as he released Hana. "Let her practice."

"Oh, okay!"

Cecil spun the daggers around in her hands expertly, and slashed at the air a few times. After which, she paused for a moment, before spinning around and flipping in the air, slashing every part of the empty space around her. She landed gracefully on the carpeted floor, straightening herself and staring at the dagger in her hands.

She smiled, seemingly pleased that she managed to do it. She spun the daggers in her hands once more, letting out a giggle.

At such a sight, the corner of Xue's lips started to curve upwards.

"That was amazing, Cecil!" Hana squealed.

Cecil gasped, lifting her head up. "I-I thought I wouldn't be able to do it again, thank goodness I could."

"Why can't you?" Hana tilted her head.

Cecil shook her head. "Nevermind, it's nothing."

She sheathed her daggers, grabbing her backpack as she jogged forward. "Thank you for waiting, Xue."

The smile was long gone from his face, staring at the daggers on her hip. "You like practicing with your daggers?"

"Mhmm." Cecil nodded, a wide smile adorning her face. "It's fun and satisfying, just like learning dancing from my mother."

Xue blinked, looking away and Hana started to drag him and Cecil along.

"Let's goooooo!"

"Ha-Hana, you don't need to pull us!" Cecil said.

"But I wanna pull!" Hana giggled. "So I can hold onto the both of you!

Cecil smiled helplessly, shaking her head. Xue found himself smiling as well, though it went unnoticed by the two ladies.

***

The dagger had completely dissipated and Xue opened his fist up, staring at his empty palm. There was still the faint scent of flowers and herbs from his palm, a smell that only belonged to Cecil.

"Xue, you should head back to the academy with me, we can find help--"

"You go," Xue tightened his grip on his spear. "I'll find them myself."

"But Xue, that bandit isn't just..." Gom trailed off when his eyes met Xue.

There was a ruthless look in Xue's eyes, and his fingers wrapped around his spear had already turned white, trembling slightly.

Gom felt a chill running down his spine.

"I don't care," Xue spoke lowly. "Don't get in my way."

His figure became a blur, and Xue was gone from the spot.

Gom recalled the rumours of Xue's scary temper in the academy and how Cecil always acted as his pacifier. Alas, the pacifier was no longer here, stolen away from him.

"Those bandits," Gom sighed, shaking his head. "They provoked someone they shouldn't have."

***

Pt. 1

《 start 》

You lose, Xue.

I caught Hana.

I caught the woman too.

The same woman that somehow took priority over Hana.

I wonder how she even took such a big place in your heart, Xue.

I wonder what her name is.

《 stop 》

***

Pt. 2

《 start 》

They took Hana.

They took you as well. The person...the person that belongs to me.

It doesn't matter who they are.

I'll kill them.

I'll kill them all.

《 stop 》