Hello again! Yay I finally finished a fic and get to submit it at the correct time. (Yes V-Day pftt)

To complete the Ara x Elesis trinity, here have some Crimson Avenger x Asura fluff... or not.

Warning: Above statement may or may not be violated. Proceed if you dare...


Title: Scar Traces

Summary: Peace doesn't last very long in Elrios. Elesis finds out about a new demon invasion but Ara will not allow danger to befall her beloved anymore.

Character info: You guys know the drill, everyone's in their 3rd path. (IS, CBS, As, CrA)


Ruben Village, also known as the Town of Beginnings, rarely experienced any disturbances. It was a quaint little town, almost isolated from the rest of Elrios. Being part of a semi-rural area, it was often considered to be an inconvenient detour for travelers and the natives take pride on this fact of infrequency.

However, there are a select few who consider this village as their solace. This minority have established their main headquarters in this town. Consider this as a nostalgic act of returning to one's start.

These known select few are dubbed as the "El Search Party".

After three long years of pursuing the El, and eventually bringing peace up to Sander, the team had decided to retire near its roots. The gang still accepted urgent missions from time to time but El seeking and being Vanessa's pawns of war had all been put behind them.

For the El Search Party, Ruben was the ideal place for building their permanent nest. Not only was it away from the busying cities like Velder and Hamel, it was also a place untainted by natural phenomena. Heat waves in summer and blizzards at winter were uncommon in these suburbs. According to scholars, Ruben never experiences snow 99.9% of the time during the cold season. This countryside almost never receives the brunt of these changes in climates.

Almost.


"And that 0.1% had to be right now…" mumbled a half-asleep Elesis. It was a few hours past midnight. The sky was still pitch black but flecks of white were littered in the atmosphere, floating down like Cocktigle feathers.

The redhead groggily yawned. With her vision blurred from the remnants of sleep, she didn't bother raising her head to check the weather through the window. Just by the wisps of cold wind whipping against her exposed calves was more than enough to inform her that it was snowing. "Cold,"rubbing her eyes, she tried to locate where she had placed her blanket by aimlessly groping in the dark. Her arms were the only ones moving whilst the rest of her body remained motionless. The Dark El had truly reduced the Red Knight into a lazy lump, at least when not in battle.

Upon contact with some fabric, she instinctively cuddled onto it, in the hopes to keep warm. She snuggled deeper and buried her cheek onto said cloth. "Warmth… how I take it for granted," she mused, subconsciously. Elesis proceeded to rub her face onto the soft cotton fabric, only be interrupted by the textile's owner.

"My, now aren't we a bit too clingly today?"

Elesis's eyes widened at the sound of someone else's voice. Her usually half-lidded eyes grew larger by a fraction of a centimeter. All traces of sleep were gone from her muddled-golden irises as she recoiled backwards; knocking her head roughly onto her bed's headboard. The impact on the wooden frame was enough to jolt the knight from her stupor.

Shutting her eyes to get a hold of what in El's name was going on, the Crimson Avenger tried to piece her memory together. Elesis rubbed her temples, hoping to get a clear understanding of why Ara was on her bed.

What Elesis had actually grabbed onto was Ara's nightgown. What she had actually pressed onto was the latter's sizeable bosom.


Cracking an eye open, she saw the Asura – who was raised on one elbow, staring right back at her. "Good morning, Elesis," she calmly greeted the knight. Ara smiled warmly at the groggy crimsonette. The redhead groaned in response, her head still aching slightly from both physical and mental pain. She cursed inwardly, reminding herself to lock the door before sleeping. "Why are you here," Elesis flatly replied. It was more of a statement, rather than a question. The heterochromatic girl dropped her grin at the serious one's response.

"Awh, don't you find it cold during this season?" Ara sat up as she replied, combing her long hair with her fingers. The redhead collapsed back on her bed, one arm draped across her eyes. "Leave me alone," she tonelessly muttered. Regaining her upbeat mood, the Asura poked the Crimson Avenger's exposed side in the hopes to elicit a reaction. Elesis moved her bent arm upwards, giving an evil eye to Ara. Ignoring the hateful stare being shot at her, the ebonette started to run her fingers on the scarlet-haired maiden's side.

The once emotionless girl started stifling hints of chuckles.

Ara grinned at her handiwork. She continued brushing her fingertips against the other girl's waist, much to the latter's displeasure. Elesis squirmed, although not evidently, under Ara's ministrations. The younger girl gritted her teeth, preventing a held up laugh from spilling out of her mouth. The skunk-striped-haired one did the laughing for the crimsonette. Elesis had removed her arms from her eyes, but couldn't bring herself to pry the other girl's playful hands away from her.

Wanting this tickling-nightmare to end, the sharp-eyed one swiftly swiped her hand across the heterochromatic's face. Ara winced at the sudden strike, but the impact was strong enough for her upper body to reel backwards and slam onto the floor beneath. The Asura's bare legs were her only body parts still on the bed. Ara stared at the ceiling. She felt her wounded cheek; the stinging pain lingered.

"I think I went too far." Both girls voiced that in their heads.

Recovering from her overreaction, Elesis scoffed. "You had it coming," she monotonously stated. Ara smirked upon hearing the claymore-bearer's attempt to hide her true feelings. "I know," the ebonette replied, eyes still glued to the ceiling above. The Red Knight shot a questioning look at the Haan descendant. About a minute had passed in silence before the usually untalkative crimsonette spoke up.

"What do you want." Her voice made all of her questions sound like mere statements.

"You, of course!" Ara grinned cheerfully, still not getting up from her fallen position. She realized how silly she looked when proclaiming to Elesis that. The redhead simply stared, she looked unaffected by how Ara flirted with her constantly but her inner conscience feels otherwise.

The older girl had been trying to get the younger one's attention since they met.


Just then, a thought crossed the 20-year old's mind and she inwardly chuckled at her plan.

"Help me up, would you?" Ara asked innocently as she kicked her feet in the air like a kid.

Elesis eyed the girl's legs, noting how (unsurprisingly) childish the older girl was acting at this hour. Back before Elesis had absorbed the Dark El, the redhead would've instantly squealed in delight at Ara's mannerisms.

When Shade, her Dark El Avatar had come into her life, her current personality was born.

Nonetheless, she silently extended her arm towards the ebonette.

Without missing a beat, Ara grasped onto Elesis's outstretched hand and pulled herself up but didn't stop halfway. With a wolfish grin on her face, she forcefully pinned the Dark Knight against the headboard. The Asura firmly placed her hands against the wooden edges of the board, preventing any means of escape for the Crimson Avenger. Half-lidded eyes were now as wide as dinner plates at this rapid pacing of events. The redhead's mouth hung open in shock, much to the ebonette's delight. A slight tinge of pink graced the pale cheeks of the knight.

"Thanks for the boost," Ara cheekily smiled, showing her fangs. Elesis was keeping her face jaded but the close proximity with the other girl was not helping her cause. Her murky golden orbs, once fiery crimson, grew even wider when she felt their noses touching. The knight's mind was thrown in disarray at all that was happening. Elesis could have sworn that she saw an illusion of a white fox tail whipping happily. Eun was really rubbing off on Ara.

"Noona! Are you up yet?"

Brought back to reality, Elesis roughly shoved Ara aside. A high-pitched "Yelp!" was heard from the ebonette as she tumbled to the other side of the bed. Elsword knocked loudly on his sister's door. "I'm coming in, noona," he had already opened the door when he had said this.

"At least he knocks," Elesis glared at Ara who was holding her arms in the air as a sign of defeat.

"Umm, didn't you tell her?" The Infinity Sword asked the Asura.

"I told her that we'd make-out before you guys left, but I don't think she was read-"

"Too much information!" Elsword nearly screamed. He had to keep it down because half of the El Search Party was still in slumber-land. An annoyed Elesis grabbed Ara's arm and held it behind her back. "O-okay! I give! Don't be rough on me, E-Elesiiiiis," the heterochromatic whimpered. "Get serious, unless you want to leave this room with only one arm," the crimsonette threatened. "What do you want to tell me."

Ara sighed dejectedly. Before Ara could say anything, Elsword coughed, trying to ease the tension by delivering his news. "There are recent traces about Scar."

"… the coward demon general?" Of all the possible things she would hear from her brother, this was something Elesis wasn't prepared to hear.

"Yes, the one that attacked us here in Ruben, years back," Elsword continued. "He was sighted in the outskirts of Sander, somewhere beyond the Behemoth Crater where we finished off Karis."

"So he's still alive…" Elesis stared meaningfully at her younger brother. Their relationship as siblings had been strained ever since Elsword found out that his sister easily accepted a dark force in exchange for enormous power. His image of a caring and warm older sister was shattered completely. They barely exchanged any words back when they reunited. Although Elsword had been trying to patch things up, Elesis didn't seem to reciprocate. It's as if the Dark El had turned the girl into a killer machine, unable to feel anything.

"I heard this news from Penensio and other Sander garrisons positioned outside the desert. They're probably fighting that guy right now," the spiky-haired redhead stated. "I was thinking… we can end it once and for all?"

"Elsword," Ara interrupted. "I know this is something you guys want to settle but how sure are you that it's really him? It might be some other demon that just looks like him or something along those lines."

"Scar or not, it's still a demon," the Crimson Avenger interjected. Her tone was sullen and unforgiving. "I will rid all of those pests." Ara stared in worriedly at Elesis, shaking her head at every word that the crimsonette had said.

"You can't!" Ara pleaded, but she felt small under Elesis's glare.

"You are aware that I'm making an exception to you, Ara," Elesis darkly said. "Had you not been a long-time teammate, I would have destroyed you along with that demon spirit of yours."

"Eun is not a demon!" The Asura defended. It was a fact that Eun had demonic origins but her spirit was a good-natured one. It took some time for Elesis to accept this fact and not have murderous intentions towards the fox spectre.

Just merely speaking about demons could make the once silent girl into a resentful and glowering knight. Demons were a berserk button for her.

"Noona, we leave today," Elsword placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. He gave a light squeeze on it. Understanding that getting heated up over something like this was not going to help and after a few seconds, the Red Knight had calmed down. "I'll wait for you downstairs, noona. If we leave before sunrise, we can get to Sander by tomorrow afternoon." These were the Infinity Sword's final words before he left the room.

An awkward silence continued.

Figures, death threats weren't the best things to use in prolonging conversations.


"Calmed down yet?" Ara ventured quietly.

"… I'm leaving." Elesis muttered under her breath.

"I'll come along. You'll need all the help-"

"No," the younger girl faced Ara. "This is our fight." Choosing her words again, she continued, "And by 'our fight', I mean mine and Elsword's." With a tone of finality, she added: "You stay out of it."

"But I-"

Irritated, Elesis got up and planted her feet firmly on the floor. She stomped once before staring back at the Asura, who was sitting upright on her bed. "You couldn't even tell me honestly that Scar was sighted. You just waltzed into my room, slept with me for a few minutes and wouldn't let me know about what Elsword was going to tell me. You knew all along and were planning to mask this information from me." Elesis gritted her teeth after she had finished. "Selfish," the redhead stormed out of her room, leaving the ebonette behind.

"That's not what I was going to tell you…" Ara whimpered and let a tear slide from her crimson-tinted eye.

"I… love you."


Outside, Elesis punched the stone wall adjacent to her room.

"Why did I have to tell her that?" She asked herself as she silently stared at her wounded hand.

"Pathetic… I'm pathetic."


It was still relatively dark when the Sieghart siblings were ready to embark on another journey. Food, clothing, maps and mounts were all ready and prepared for them by Rena the other day. Chung and Raven had left them some grenades and ammunition, in case their swords were going to be futile in battle.

"The place is called Lanox," Eve was awake at this dark hour of dawn and was instructing both redheads. They were at the wide foyer of the El Search Team's mansion. "According to my research, the volcanic energy produced by the igneous meteorites found in the craters of the town is what causes the arousal of demonic activity in the vicinity."

"Enough with the jargon and get to the part how we can find Scar!" Elsword reasoned.

"Hmph, humans have no sense of value for such intricate information." Eve said, feigning offense since Nasods were naturally emotionless beings. "Demons usually cluster in groups; the leader is always at the heart of those hordes."

"Alright, so we just bust our way through!" Elsword shot his hand in the air. Elesis nodded silently in agreement.

"Do what you want," Eve massaged her temples at Elsword's actions. "Are you sure it's just the two of you who's going?"

"Yeah. It's me and noona's fight. We don't want to drag the team into our business."

"Really? Then explain how Eun's puppet is here?" Eve pointed at behind them. Both redheads turned.

Elesis scowled when she saw the familiar skunk-striped haired girl. The Red Knight had not forgotten what she said back in her room, but a tinge of guilt had slightly struck upon her.

"You know what; I'll go get the mounts ready for our mission, noona," Elsword made his way to the front door and shut it behind him.

"Agreed, I shall be taking my leave and retire back to my solace…" the Battle Seraph commented before interjecting, "…To give you two some privacy."

Only the two girls were left at the foyer. The sun was rising, signaling that day was near.


Ara shifted uneasily at Elesis's icy stare. This was ironic due to the Red Knight being a once fiery and passionate person. Seeing that a staring contest will not do any good, the fox maiden spoke up.

"I'm going with you two," Ara started but wasn't able to finish when she felt the knight's strong grip upon her left wrist. This was the same arm that was forcefully locked behind her back by the same girl. Ara was unfazed, but her own arm trembled as if it recalled what had happened and didn't want to be hurt again. Elesis caught this and softened her grip. Seeing that that arm wouldn't keep still, the redhead slid her fingers down the captured wrist until she brushed against Ara's fingertips and held her there.

"Don't even bother," Elesis glanced at their linked hands.

"No, don't say that. It's no problem for me," Ara averted her gaze to her fingers that were tangled around Elesis's.

The Crimson Avenger sighed deeply. "Why are you so keen on stopping me? This is my mission," Elesis clenched her free hand tightly. The Asura could see that and closed the distance between them. There was still a respectable one foot-gap between them but it was close enough for Ara lean in and whisper into Elesis's ear.

"I'll miss you."

"… I will too."

Haan's final descendant couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Y-you mean that?" Ara was cut-off midsentence as she was pulled to an awkward embrace. Elesis gripped tighter onto the other girl's hand; if she didn't regulate her strength, she could break a bone or two. Her free hand relaxed and Elesis used it to wrap it around the taller girl's waist.

"Yes, I can't convey it properly through my tone but… " The claymore-wielder held onto the spear-maiden's waist as if it were her life-source. "I will also feel empty, perhaps even emptier if I don't see you. I can't let you go with me, you could get killed and I…" Frustrated at how uncaring she sounded, Elesis gushed out one last sentence, hoping that some emotion would finally surface from her.

"I care about you, Ara."

The older girl wasn't expecting this flat out confession. Her original plan was just to forcefully join their travel to Lanox but in two minutes flat, Elesis was able to turn this encounter by 360 degrees.

"You really mean that?" the Asura asked again.

"I don't like repeating what I say," the Crimson Avenger mumbled. "You should know tha-"

It was Elesis's turn to be interrupted. She felt the grip of the other girl become stronger and before she knew it, a pair of lips had assaulted her own. It was quick and not messy, barely lasting three seconds. Unable to register what had happened, she just stared bewilderedly at the older girl. Ara giggled like a child and relaxed her hold on Elesis's hand.

"That's my goodbye kiss to you," Ara explained while a ghost of a smile played on her lips. "Couples do it before one of them leaves home,"

Elesis decided to keep silent and just nodded, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up her face. She let go of Ara's hand, noting how the absence of her beloved's touch made her own hand go cold. Turning, she made her way to the main door, feeling the cold knob, and watched from the back of her head at how Ara was following her.

"Can we exchange hair ribbons?" Ara asked, tugging onto Elesis's crimson scrap of cloth that was dangling loosely on her hair. The Crimson Avenger stared back at the Asura's gaze and undid her own pony tail. "I… don't see the significance of this," Elesis started as she handed the torn-up fabric to Ara. In turn, the spear-wielder tied her silk hair bow to the younger girl.

Ara chuckled, "Just promise me to come back safely and return that to me."

Elesis nodded again and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth on the silk. "I don't keep promises often." The Red Knight said and opened the door, allowing rays of light to pass through. Snapping back from her reverie, she turned to face the raven-haired maiden.

Ara could've sworn that Elesis's eyes were back to its original fiery crimson color. Or maybe it was just thanks to the light brought by the break of dawn.

"But, you can count on that," Elesis faintly smiled.

That was her first and last promise to Ara.


((A/N: Note, this isn't a cliffhanger...

I... just can't see CrA and Asura being all "happy-happy" because of what they've gone through. XD

Grand Master x Sakra Devanam is still easiest and most fun to write... I'll most likely continue writing more about them. :3

Note: This series will not die (evil laugh here) until KoG does something that'll make AraElesis un-canon or something.

Please rate and review! Happy Valentines Day, everyone~

~BreadCrumble out!))