A/N: I don't own Elsword. Hope you enjoy!
6/23/19: I realized how poor my writing skills were back then, so I updated it. Fixed grammar and edits!
Elsword: Rune Slayer
Aisha: Elemental Master
Ain: Erbluhen Emotion
Add: Mastermind
In Elder Village, most of the Elgang went on preparing the surprise birthday party since the morning. Ciel, Ara, and Lu were in charge of baking the food. Raven and Rena went to buy birthday supplies. Elesis, Eve and Chung were in charge of setting up the location where the party will be held. Meanwhile, Elsword, Aisha, and Ain decided to stay in the living room to solve their most challenging problem yet; finding the perfect gift for Add.
"I must ask, why is it hard finding something for Ancient boy?" Ain asked as he casually leaned his back against the wall. Out of the three, he does not care about finding a gift whatsoever.
Elsword is pacing back and forth, trying to think. "Add is...how should I describe him. Hard to figure out?" he said.
"Ugh, I'm losing motivation," Aisha whined, sitting on the couch. "I don't know much about him besides that he has a knack for sweets and Nasod stuff."
Ain frowned at their misery. "Why not ask others for help?"
They both groaned out loud.
"I've already asked my sis, but she was worried that I would copy her gift!" Elsword replied. He then gazed away and mumbled, not particularly to anyone. "Though, she wouldn't be wrong..."
Aisha sank herself further into the couch's cushions. "My idea was to give him some chocolate, but Lu and Ciel already beat me to it." she sighed with her face buried into the fabric. Her voice muffled, "If it weren't for Rena, I could've just scavenged for some old Nasod scraps and call it a day."
Ain's eyebrows narrowed and grabbed his chin. "I don't understand. They used so much energy just to find a present for someone that they're not particularly close to. It's almost pitiful, really." he thought.
Elsword stopped his pacing when a new idea came to his mind. "If we can't figure out what Add would want, then we'll have to ask him ourselves!" he exclaimed.
Aisha quickly stood up from her coach to protest. "Idiot! He would likely catch on!" she hit him on the head. "Are you trying to ruin the surprise party!"
"Do you have a better plan then?" he snapped back.
"No, but I'm saying that none of us should be the one to do it!"
The two gave each other a battle glare.
"Elsword, Ms. Wizard." Ain breaks them up. "No need to get heated. If you want to find a gift for Ancient boy, then we should work together."
Aisha twirled her head to him. "Hey, why not let Ain do it?" she suggested with a wide grin on her face.
Elsword followed up with a brightened face. "Hey, that's not a bad idea."
The edge of the Ain's mouth slightly twitched upon hearing that. Nonetheless, he managed to keep his smile unfazed. "They completely ignored what I said, haha..." he muttered. He laughed,
"Me? Why should I?"
"It's simple. Add would never listen to us." Aisha explained. "Not only that, but you probably had the least bone to pick with him compared to us."
Ain immediately became poker-faced. He wouldn't consider himself to be the best option, honestly. Far from it even. Rena would be the ideal person to do the deed, but unfortunately, she is gone to somewhere else.
However...
Aisha and Elsword stare intently at the man as they wait for an answer that will ultimately decide the fate of finding their "perfect" gift.
"...Alright. You win." Ain gave in. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to try to do something this foolish for their sake.
The priest stood in front of Add's room door while adjusting a marble-sized walkie-talkie into his right ear.
"Can you hear me alright, Ain?" Elsword's voice emitted from it. The duo is hiding in an empty closet room, each donning on a headphone with a single microphone.
"All clear."
"Alright! You can start whenever you're ready."
Ain knocked on the door five times and patiently waited. A full minute passed before the door finally creaked open.
On the other side and looking quite exhausted, Add raised an eyebrow upon seeing the grey-haired man. "...What do you want?" he asked rather crudely.
Ain propped up his best smile. "Good afternoon, Ancient boy."
Add couldn't help but grimace a little by how fake that sounded. He can't describe why, but the priest is giving him uncomfortable vibes. "When will you stop calling me that?" he scowled at him.
"How about Mr. Ancient? Is that better?"
"Whatever. Anyway, why are you here?"
"Well..." Ain started. "If you don't mind, I want to ask some questions about yourself."
Add blinked, raising his eyebrow even higher.
"What?" he blurted. "I thought we've agreed to stay out of each other's business awhile back."
Ain can already feel a wave of doubt running down his neck. Now he understood why Elsword and Ms. Wizard refused to do this.
"There's nothing wrong with a person wanting to learn more about his friend, don't you agree?"
The scientist gave him a look of aloofness and grunted. This guy is obnoxious, he thought.
"Hmph...since when did I agree to be your friend?"
That. That does it.
Ain chuckled softly. "Hahaha...Mr. Ancient, have you ever heard of sarcasm?" he softly said, eyes gleaming with grim intent. "Or has your mind became rusty lately from too much room shut-it?"
Add's expression immediately twisted into bitterness and anger. His teeth bared. "You dare to make fun of me?" he growled at him.
"What are you doing!? Don't make him angry!" Aisha's booming voice cried out in Ain's earpiece.
The priest bit his tongue in displease, regretting his choice of words just now. "I might have snapped just now. I need to be more careful with my emotions next time." he thought to himself.
Add proceeded to close the door, too tired to even deal with this idiocy. "Listen, freak. I'm busy right now. If you're not going to say anything worthwhile, I'm leaving." he grumbled.
"Tell him that this won't take long!" Elsword screamed at the top of his lungs. Ain nearly jumped up by the deafening loudness in his ear. It hurts!
Gripping on his ringing ear, he reaches out towards the door with his other hand. "Wait, wait, Mr. Ancient! If you can-"
Without warning, Add accidentally slammed the door onto his fingers.
There wasn't an instant painful screaming at first. Just a brief moment of sheer silence. But eventually, Ain erupted a slow and high-pitched cry like a dying cat. Elsword, Aisha and Add felt the chills just listening to it; they never heard anything so terrifying since Rena's rabid anger.
Add opened the door and finds the poor priest holding onto his fingers.
Worried and slightly scared, Elsword took up the microphone and ushered. "H-Hey Ain, buddy, you alright?"
"H-Haha...I'm fine. This pain is nothing to someone like me." Ain reassured. He managed to keep up his smile when in reality, he's doing his damnedest not to wince. "Nothing is broken. Not even a bruise. See?" His hand is shaking.
"...Sorry." Add apologized, still taken back by what just happened. How the hell did he fit his fingers through the gap like that?
As if instantly recovered, Ain took this chance to resume what he wanted to say. "Ahem...anyway, Mr. Ancient. If you can give some of your time, I can assure you that this won't take too long." he added, "And I'm sorry for what I said to you. It was supposed to be...a joke!"
Of course, Add highly doubted that was just a "joke."At the very least he sounds genuine about his apology. "Sure...I'll let that annoyance slide. But I will still not-" Before the scientist could finish his sentence, a new voice intervened from behind him.
"What was that screaming? Was it a frog!?" someone yelled. A long-eared woman with long green hair appeared behind Add. "Oh hello, Ain!" she greeted him.
"Rena!?" Elsword and Aisha exclaimed at the same time. Of course, they can recognize the voice that scolded them so many times before!
Ain greeted her back. "Why hello, Ms. Elf. What are you doing here?"
"I'm helping out Add with cleaning his room. It's a total mess, as you see."
"I see. Well, I'm here to Mr. Ancient some questions. Care to listen?"
"If you don't mind, sure. I need a break anyway." she smiled, resting a hand on her hip.
Ain nodded. "We're just about to start. Mr. Ancient, are you ready?"
"Damn, you..." Add silently cursed. He knows that he can't be rude with the elf woman around. "Tch...whatever, fine."
Elsword and Aisha high-five in triumph. "Alright, leave it to me," the redhead spoke with enthusiasm. "I'll ask the best one!"
After carefully listening, Ain repeated the question back. "What is your number one interest?" he asked.
Add took less than a second to answer. "Kukuku...it's Eve, of course! What else could match her perfection!" his mouth grew into a hysterical smirk.
Rena just stayed silent, of course, unsettled with such a response. Ain just remained indifferent.
Well, that was completely useless.
The mage snatched away the microphone after smacking Elsword on the head.
"What kind of books do you enjoy reading?" Ain asked the next question from Aisha.
"..." Add began rubbing his forehead with two fingers, looking as if he's having a massive headache. "I've only read about Nasod for all my life. Just thinking about that makes me tired than I already am."
"What's up with his dumb answers? I don't understand this guy!" Aisha huffed.
"He better not bother Eve again." Elsword lowly remarked.
Right then, Rena raised her hand as if wanting to make a request. "Can I ask a personal question?"
"I would prefer if yours is the last one." Add told her. For the love of El, he just wants to leave already!
The mage and knight looked at each other. What question could Rena possibly ask?
Add stares at the woman, waiting for whatever pathetic question that will throw in his way.
"Um...what is your favorite childhood memory?" she asked.
He blinked. What?
Unlike the last two questions, Add went quiet for a minute to think it over.
"That's..." he hesitated, unsure whether or not he should say it. This is embarrassing. Heck, since when did he started to become self-conscious?
He'd usually keep personal things to himself. He hated when people get too nosy into his own business, but also he knew that something like this could become inevitable. Fine.
Add let out a deep sigh. "...When I was younger, my mother used to have a greenhouse filled with flowers and plants. Back then, I used to visit her in that greenhouse all the time."
Everyone went completely silent, astonished that they were even able to learn a sliver of his past.
"What kind of flowers were they?" The archer further asked.
"My mother raised many different types, but I can't remember what most were. I don't know...white lilies? It doesn't matter anyway because they're probably extinct by now." For just a split second, sadness is reflected in his violet eyes. He turned away. "Now leave me alone. If you still have any more questions, come back when I'm not busy."
With that, the scientist left the elf and priest alone at the door.
"Add...I wonder if he misses his mother dearly." Rena uttered, helplessly.
Ain closed his eyes, feeling some sympathy for the guy for the first time. "Whatever happened to Mr. Ancient's mother, I can assume that it did not have a happy ending."
"It's not good to be dwelling in the past. That is why we're going to celebrate Add's birthday. To show him that we're a family here." Rena smiled, trying to spark a light of hope.
"Perhaps you're right, Ms. Elf," said Ain. Maybe there is a significant meaning behind birthday gifts to humans afterall, he thought. In that case, he would need also to find a gift too.
Aisha nudged Elsword on the arm.
"Hey, I was thinking...after hearing Add's story, I have a brilliant idea," she proposed.
Elsword smirked. "I have one too. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Heh."
Meanwhile, Ain looked at the archer who's still at the door. "Ms. Elf, I thought you were doing errands with Raven?" he inquired.
"Oh, right," she explained, "We finished early, so I decided to come here as a way to keep Add from finding out about the party."
She then beckoned him to come closer to her. "By the way Ain, can you come here for a bit?"
"Uh, alright?" Mildly confused, he obliged.
Without warning, Rena snatched the walkie-talkie right out of his ear. "I figured something was up. Is it you, Elsword and Aisha?"
The two eavesdroppers started panicking. "She found out!"
"I see, so you two were listening in the entire time. Care to explain to me?" the elf's voice became incredibly icy in the last sentence.
"I-It isn't anything that you're thinking. We promise!" Elsword assured her. "We were still stuck on what to give Add, so we had Ain to ask him for us!"
"We had just figured it out too. So, please listen to what we have to say." Aisha pleaded with her. "I'm sure you're going to like this."
The next morning, Add found a note lying beside his bed that instructed him to follow specific directions. Sketchy? Definitely. Nonetheless, he decided to follow it because his dearest Eve signed it. Maybe this was an invitation and she finally realized his talents, huhu.
After 20 minutes of following the steps, Add soon found himself in the middle of the forest ruins. When he finally went into the clearing, he stopped in his tracks in shock.
Right before his eyes is a wide open field of flowers along with a clear cerulean sky. Not only that, but his comrades are standing there with decorations and tables full of food behind them. Hanging above them are giant letters that read, "Happy Birthday, Add!"
"Surprise!" the El Search Party cried out. Popped confetti landed on the scientist's hair as they proceeded to sing the birthday song.
"H-Hold on a second!" he disrupted. Everyone stopped singing.
"What is this? Are all of you out of your minds!?"
"No silly, this is your birthday party!" Elesis burst out laughing.
"As far as we know, we've never celebrated your birthday before. So, here it is," said Raven.
Rena stood behind Elsword and Aisha placed her hands their shoulders. "These two spent hours yesterday trying to find this place. It's a miracle that we were able to move everything here in time," she said.
The young knight propped a toothy grin. "We had a hunch that you'd prefer having a party celebrated in a place like this. Honestly, I think it's pretty amazing if I say so myself," he said.
"Thanks to me, I was able to sparkle up this field with a little bit of magic! Consider this as Elsword's and my gift." Aisha proudly stated.
Add's attention went to the flowers. There were multiple types that range from many colors, however, the ones that caught his attention the most were the small white lilies. Right then and there, a nostalgia feeling hit him. It was just like back then...
Add couldn't help but gazed away, clearly flustered. He isn't used to getting treated like this at all, or rather bonding with a group of morons that call themselves a "family." But...
"Not bad. Not bad at all." he managed to choke up. "Tha...Thank you all."
After receiving everyone else's gifts and eating his heart out, Add has separated himself from the group to have some quiet time to himself. Hlilieson the soft grass and next to the lillies, quietly reminiscing the happier times.
"There you are, Mr. Ancient."
Great...it's him again, he bitterly thought.
"What do you want?" Add groaned as he sat up. He can see the gray-haired man holding something in his hands.
"I'm here to give you my gift," Ain stated. He handed him a small cactus pot that grows a single red flower. Add raised an eyebrow, having no idea what his motive is to give him such a thing.
"It's prickly, dry and hard to take care. Just like you." Ain said it in a rather cheerful tone.
Add's eye twitched and glared. "Tsk... Are you mocking me again?"
"It's a joke. Look, there's even a flower to symbolize our budding friendship, haha." the priest teased. "It is like what they always say, a perfect gift comes from the heart."
"Shut up."
A/N: I will gladly appreciate constructive feedback and reviews~! Thanks for reading!