It was a bustling evening at Hamel's royal palace, for there is a New Year's Eve party held by Prince Chung, who had invited the El Search party. It was quite the ruckus, with Aisha singing off tune to her own songs, Eve trying to make herself not look bad, and Add simply causing general mayhem in his quest for cookies. Elesis, Rena, and Raven are mostly on their own with their own conversations, and the royal members, Chung and Lu, had a bit too much to drink. With the royal brat drunk, Ciel has a bit too much on his hands. Initially, there were fears that the Guardian Knights were going to have fights on a holiday when Velder's Red Knights showed up for the occasion, but it seems everyone is celebrating without issue. Except Sieg and Vern who are always competing with each other, but that's nothing new. Everyone was dressed in their usual, except for Chung, who's donning Hamelian formal wear.
Elsword, not the type of person to consume alcohol, hanging out by himself at a heart-shaped balcony, looked over to the rest of Hamel, looking back at his adventures and everything that he had accomplished. It's almost the start of the year after all, and it's a perfect time for introspection.
"Go to him!"
"No..! I'm too nervous..."
"You'll be fine! And it's the perfect opportunity! Go get him!"
After Elsword catches a few whispers, he turns around and sees Ara stumbling into the balcony.
"G-G-Good evening Elsword!"
Ara immediately bowed with a red hue on her face. Elsword chuckled lightly.
"Good evening Ara! Having fun?"
"Well..."
"Your majesty! Please! You've simply had too much!"
"Eyyyy, Lexshter... Cam awn... jush waan moh..."
"Your majesty?! Mmmm..!"
Immediately after, a loud cheering from the crowd can be heard.
"Yes, I am!"
The two of them laughed.
"A lot has happened this year, right Elsword?"
"Yeah... New friends..."
"Lu, please! You'll cause misunderstandings if you drink with that body!"
"Oh shaddap Cshiel! Pour meh anooothurrrrr!"
"New adventures..."
"Hey now your majesty, did you forget about little ol' me? Why don't you leave that grunt and come along with me to your chambers..?"
"Lady Sasha!"
"Ehh? Oh hi Sashaaaa... I didn't know you had a twin..."
"All in a day's work for the El Search Party right?"
"Yeah..."
The two of them looked out into the horizon.
"You know Elsword... I never got to say something to you..."
"Hmm, what is it?"
"Hey Elesis, it's me, Vern! Remember me? Hey, let's say you and me get out of this stuffy old place an -OOOOFFFOOOUUHHH!"
"I've said this before, and it's still no. Honestly!"
"Ahahaahaha! Elesis, you've could've given him a break!"
"Not in a million years!"
"Still green, aren't you Vern?"
"I wanted to say thank you."
"Thanks? For what? I don't remember doing anything special..."
"When I let Eun into my soul, I thought I had become a demon... My eyes didn't match, my eyebrows were all weird, and my nails became claws... I thought I wouldn't be accepted anymore, and that I'd be alone again..."
"Add, although it pains me to ask, what are you doing?"
"Eve, I've have not had any chocolate or cookies since that Christmas Eve party! I will not be denied right when the year is over! I will have my fix of baked goods, EVEN IF IT KILLS ME! Eve, please, let me use your Nasod Blades! I need to break into the kitchen!"
"*sigh* Moby, Reby..."
"UOHHHHHH!"
Another roar of laughter can be heard from the crowd.
"But you Elsword... After I hid myself, after I avoided everyone to not show them what I had become, you still held your hand out to me! And I will never forget that! So once again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart!"
"Oh? Is that it?"
"Look at Sasha, all over Prince Chung, hmph!"
"Ignia, please, just because Sasha isn't hanging out with us doesn't mean she doesn't love us anymore."
"Shut up Anundran! You're not helping!"
"Hauuu..."
"Ignia, it's unsightly to take your anger out an innocent girl."
"Gloria is right, you should remember that we're the El Priestesses, we must remain composed at all times."
"Easy for you to say..."
"We're friends! Back then and now! It's natural for friends to help each other out! We'll be friends, even if you really did become a demon!"
"Elsword..."
Elsword flashed a confident smile and Ara blushed.
"T-tonight..."
"Tonight?"
"Umm well..."
Eh? What's going on? Ara looks like she has a faint glow today. Elsword can't seem to take his eyes off her for some reason...
"The moon, is.. really beautiful tonight..."
Ara's slightly blushed face is actually well complimented by her special facial features. She tilted her head slightly towards the outside with her eyes fixated on Elsword's. Elsword remembered that Ara disliked putting on perfume, but for some reason, she smells rather nice right now. Also, Elsword could have swore her... front side looks a bit bigger than usual tonight...
"Y-yeah! It really is beautiful tonight..."
Half of Elsword's mind was thinking about what his big sister said when she was telling tales of her travels in Fahrmann. Something about saying the moon is beautiful. But at the moment, Elsword's mind was on Ara, and the sound of his heartbeat drowned out the sound of the crowd.
The two closed their eyes as their faces gravitated towards each other.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Ohohoho~"
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
When the two opened their eyes, they found that their lips had been touching the cheeks of a tiny humanoid fox girl. She had silver hair outfitted with a black bow and fox ears. Her petite face with her red eyes accessorized by a light pink eyeshadow and matching facial mark was said to be the cutest in all of Elrios. Wearing a miniature version of a Fahrmannian festival wear called a hanbok, customized with a mini-skirt, to fit her naturally short height of up to Elsword's knee, this adorable specimen named Miho sat conveniently on the heart-shaped balcony railing between Elsword and Ara.
"I know my beauty is admired far and wide, but please! Control yourselves! Ohohoho~"
"Miho? What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean what am I doing here? What are you doing here! It's almost time for the countdown! I want the first thing for the new year to see to be my adorable face! Ohohoho~ Everyone's waiting!"
Miho jumped down and heads back inside.
"Let's go Cherry Boy! Foxy! Ohohoho~"
"Alright alright..."
Ara lets out a slightly disappointed sigh.
"Come Ara, let's go!"
Elsword reached out his hand to Ara.
"Yes!"
Yes! I'm alive! Somehow...
Sorry about Tiny Fox, it's still being worked on.
Happy holidays you guys! What is your New Years resolution?
Mine is to actually finish Tiny Fox. Ah...
Thanks for reading!