Chung quietly stared through the window of the illusory room. There wasn't much going on outside. He had changed his clothes in the meantime. Ann gave him a white suit with blue stripes, a very typical style back then in Hamel. She said that she made it herself. If it was true or not Chung couldn't tell, however, the fabric was high quality. It was far more comfortable than going around in his underwear, and decently warm too, considering how thin it was.

Ann updated Chung on the current status concerning her older sister and the blizzard. The situation put him on a crossway. The revelation that these people were vampires, added to the discovery of the blizzard being one of them was upsetting him. However his worries were confirmed the moment the door of the fake room opened. Eve walked in, she wasn't even one bit surprised in seeing him there. She stood on the side of the room and waited for him to say something. Moby, however flew happily to her side, circling around her head and annoying Remy in the process. Eve rose her hands for the little black drone to rest on her arms. She caressed its hull while waiting for Chung to speak.

It wasn't until he turned away from the window and looked at her that he realized. He was searching for her. He ran towards her, happy to find her in one piece, already raising his arms for a hug when she stopped him.

"Chung, I'm glad to see that you have escaped that cell. I was about to go look for you, but Elisa told me you were here. What are you doing here?" Eve asked, there was a clear,annoyed tone, in her voice that was only reinforced by the way she impatiently tapped Moby's forehead with her nails.

"I'm sorry. As soon as Ann let me out of my cell I started looking for you, but then I arrive at this room and…" Chung stopped, he should carefully consider his wording here, after all, he wouldn't want to say that he forgot about her "Ann briefed me about the situation."

"She did, huh?" Eve said, she let Moby fly again around her and crossed her arms "Then I guess you know what we have to do now, right?"

"Yeah, I've been discussing it with Ann, there's a way that we might be able to help-"

"Help?" Eve interrupted, Chung was left with the words on his mouth as she moved closer to him with a stern look in her eyes "Chung, we need to take care of the source. We'll do it by any means necessary, you better not get in the way of the mission with your so called noble intentions, may I remind you the trouble you've fallen into with that mindset?"

"What are you saying? Are you proposing we kill her? We can't kill an innocent like that!" Chung protested.

"Innocent? Haven't you realized what kind of monsters these creatures are?" Eve asked.

"I know they are vampires, Ann told me. But that's no reason to dispose of them as if they were some kind of evil creature."

"But they are, look at what they did to you!" Eve said, moving her arms prompting Chung to look around.

"This is just a memory she brought back for me, I know, and don't be so concerned about it." Chung explained.

"What are you saying? The only thing I see here is a kid sitting in his underwear in a dusty room."

He took a time to process it. Still struggling to comprehend it, he glanced at Ann, who has been relaxing in the couch all this time. She looked back at him and shrugged.

"I forgot to tell you, she can't see any of this. I weaved this illusion for you, but if you want I can let her see as well," Ann explained.

But that wasn't necessary. Eve was already leaving the room. She stopped by the door and turned her head just enough to see him in the corner of her eye.

"I should have foreseen this. You saved my life out there, I guess it's my turn now to get you out of this…"

She exited the room, leaving Chung as puzzled as he was when she arrived.

"What did she mean by that?" Chung questioned, looking at Ann who merely shrugged at him.

Chung sighed. He was at a loss here. It was true that he failed to find her, but seeing that she was totally fine he didn't think the situation was that dire. What was troubling him the most was that she seemed to go back at her usual self. And after he thought they got a bit closer during this expedition in the mountain. He walked back to the window and rubbed his eyes for a moment.

"Tell me your plan to help your sister," He said, turning back towards Ann.

Eve walked down the hallway hastily. She turned many corners before checking if he was following her. Her two drones flew behind her with a confused look in their small shiny eyes. After she was sure nobody was coming after her, she finally stopped and sighed.

"Elisa," She said.

"You called?" Elisa answered, right behind Eve. Her sudden appearance startled the two drones who immediately moved into combat positions until Eve raised her hand to stop them.

"What happened to him?" Eve questioned. She knew that Chung was an idealist some times, but this was far beyond what the young boy could be.

"My little sister, Ann, is a master of illusions. She's quite strong for her age. But why are you concerned about that?" Elisa asked back.

"He knows that he saw an illusion, you did something more to him."

"Illusions within illusions. As I said, Ann is a master of that art. I don't know what she is trying to do with the prisoners mind, but it'll be alright as long as it doesn't interfere with us. Were you expecting him to do something?"

Eve remained silent. Even in this confusing situation she already made up her mind. Stopping the storm was her objective, and that didn't change. Her means to achieve that, however, took an interesting turn. She was ready to negotiate with them over the older sister.

"Elisa, Chung said you were vampires. I already knew you weren't humans, but since there's a name for it, I'm guessing there's also quite the story behind it. Am I right?"

"There are many stories, however most of them were lost a long time ago. People forgot about us, they discovered new things to be afraid off. Do you wish to hear some?"

"If those stories allow me to know more about your kind, then tell me."

"Ann, can I ask you something?" Chung said. They were moving to the castle arsenal, where his armor and weapons were supposed to be stored. Ann was about to start debriefing him on how to help her older sister. As before, she would skip ahead of him, as if she were a kid.

"Of course,"

"When we arrived at the village, we saw a werewolf there, attacking the villagers. Do you have anything to do with that?"

"Hmm… The only werewolf I know is our dear pet. And we didn't order her to go into the village. Maybe that one was a male attracted to her... Were you able to take it down?" Ann questioned, stopping in front of a large wooden door.

"Yes. And unlike your pet, this one didn't came back…" Chung answered.

"I see. Not all werewolf are equally strong. Our pet has strong regenerative abilities, but the one you saw was probably a newborn…" She said, pushing the door. On the other side was a large room that extended as far as the eyes reached. Every wall was covered in weapon racks, loaded with sword, waraxes, spears and almost any imaginable weapon. Organized by size, material, kind and many other standards, they lined the surroundings of the room. On the center however there were several glass cabinets reserved for more special weapons. These ones were far more beautiful, all of them seemed to be made with special care, as if they were created for some kind of heroic task or were property of an ancient hero.

"I see," Chung said, looking around the armory, already seeing his armor and cannon in the center of the room. The armor carefully placed onto a mannequin and the cannon standing right next to it "Does that mean that your werewolf is immortal?"

"No, not at all. If you were to kill it, you'll have to destroy the source of its power," Ann said, taking the globes of the Freutinier off the mannequin and handling them to him.

"What do you mean by that?" Chung asked, starting to fit his armor. While it was a magnificent state-of-the-art protection, putting it on was a complicated process. Although it was more flexible than any other armor, when putting it on one must make sure every piece has taking it's precise location with the body, otherwise it will lock itself and hinder his movement.

"The werewolves aren't born like that. They are humans that came in contact with a curse. Some of them are cursed when another werewolf attacks them, however there's another source for the curse. If a human wears the skin of a werewolf, it'll devour the wearer and turn them into their slaves," Ann explained pretending to have a spooky voice.

"So in order to kill it I would have to destroy it's skin?" Chung questioned. He was a bit confused about it.

"More or less. They can't stay into werewolf form forever, once every day the human must take the skin off to recover themselves. During that, the skin will be as harmless as any other fur coat."

His armor was finally set. He checked the destroyer before hanging it on his back. It was nice to be back in his armor, he was already missing it. Even when he really wants to take it off after a long day, being without it for so long definitely makes him feel restless. They left the arsenal, this time heading for the front door.

"Alright, enough werewolf lore. On to this mission," Ann said, her tone changing, "My sister uses a magical crystal made of El to contain the energy that seeps out of her body. This artifact was made by our master long ago, however; due to lack of materials, it's imperfect, and soon it will reach its capacity and break. However, I've been searching for a replacement already."

"Not far away from the village you passed through there's a temple in the forest. There's a crystal there that the elves used long ago to tune in with the water energies of the spirits… or something like that, I don't really care about it. But what I do care about is its magical properties. It is powerful enough to help my sister, and I want you to go and recover it."

"I see," Chung said. They were reaching the front door. He could see the storm swirlring in the distance. "I don't feel too happy about having to cross the storm again though... "

"Don't worry, I already have that solved… Now, listen. Once we get to the village, I need you to ask your friends to help you. That place seems to be dangerous, and it would be a shame if you died there…"

"But they can't abandon the village. Other than werewolves they are under attack by many other creatures!"

"I know, Chung; and that's why I'll go with you. I'll protect the village while all of you go into the forest and recover that artifact."

She gestured with her hands and the tall frontal doors began to open. The large chains that moved the mechanism moved on their own, as if a group of ghosts was operating the machines. They were about to go out when someone else arrived.

"Chung, you're committing a grave mistake going with her. She's deceiving you. Can't you see it?"

He turned around. Eve was there, and behind her was Elisa. She didn't say anything to protect her sister. The way these people behaved towards each other was confusing to say the least.

"Eve, I have been thinking about this. When we started this quest we didn't know what the source of the storm was. And I'm not willing to kill a person to complete our mission. And to be honest, I was hoping that you weren't either."

"It's not a person. She's a monster." Eve said, even through her cold voice and emotionless face, Chung could sense her anger.

"She was turned into a monster due to a cruel fate. And considering that, I know that killing her may seem like a merciful act, but I want to exhaust any other option even before starting to consider it," He said, and walked outside with Ann. She picked up a white cloth umbrella to protect her skin from the sun. Before letting the door close behind them, Chung added: "Eve, I thought you changed. These last few days working together, you seemed like a different person. But now I see that you're back to your old methods. Stepping on anything and anyone to complete your quest, not caring about anybody."

The mechanism moved again, shutting the large gate closed. Chung turned around and followed Ann along the bridge outside the castle. He looked at his feet while murmuring.

"But I don't want to see you turning into a murderer."

Eve stood in place, not saying anything. Not to Elisa, who had closed on her to check her face and not to her drones, who rested on her shoulders worried about their master. After a while, she turned around and walked away.

"I'm amazed that after all my efforts trying to turn him into a worthy human, I've ultimately failed…" Eve said "Ann might be an incredible illusionist. But, to fool that stupid boy all you need is a sad story."

Elisa walked behind her with an amused face. Her drones scorned her with their shiny eyes for that.

"Eve, you really care about that boy… Don't worry, he'll make it back safe. And your friends, too. We'll be needing them anyways."

"I believe that I did all that I could for him. Now, this is his decision. Even if it's a mistake, I can't do anything about it," Eve said.

"There's actually a better way out of this mountain," Ann said. They had already crossed the bridge, and she was pointing at a small hut near the edge of the great abyss below the castle. Chung hadn't seen it before, but there was some ropes handing right next to it.

"Are we going to climb down there?" Chung asked, not sure if he preferred the merciless storm instead.

"Nope. That's a… hmmm… what was it called?" Ann said, she finally was able to read the small sign on the hut "A cable car!"

From up close, Chung could see a wooden chamber hanged onto the cables. It had a strange mechanism that seemed to allow it to move along them. They boarded it and took a seat. He was slightly insecure about it.

"Don't worry, I boarded this several times already. Now, hang onto something!" Ann said, giving the complicated mechanism a slap. It came back to life and started moving. Too fast for his liking, however. Chung had to latch himself onto the seat to not be thrown outside the window as the fragile wooden car was abruptly propelled into the dark hole. It moved so fast that Chung thought something was going wrong, until it suddenly stopped descending and curved into a cave. Inside the cave, Chung could see many torches placed along the way that lit up the many spiky rocks that caressed the sides of the machine.

Finally, the dreadful journey reached its end as the carrousel suddenly stopped right next another wooden hut. It was hidden between large rocks and dense vegetation, but once they walked out, Chung was surprised to see that it was actually right next to the villagers farmlands. To think that they ascended the mountain by foot having this transport available made him feel like and idiot, although, considering how terrifying the descent was he couldn't complain.

"Chung, one more thing. Please, don't tell your friends or anyone else that I'm a vampire… People… tends to react inappropriately towards us. Just tell them that I'm a magician or something, would you?"

"Sure, I guess it makes sense." Chung said. He walked in front, pushing away the corn plants that the villagers had been grown on the fields. They hadn't reached the walls on the city when he finally saw a familiar face. A purple dot on top of a building signaled the presence of Aisha, she was observing the unusual movement on the crop fields ready to give the alarm when Chung started jumping and waving his hands at her. She finally realized it was him and called for the rest to meet with them.

"Chung!" Aisha yelled, running towards him. The rest of the team rushing to catch up with her "What happened? Where's Eve?... And who's that girl?"

"Slow down with the questions," Elsword said, patting Aisha on the back "Come on Chung, let's go inside and you'll tell us. You must be exhausted."

They moved into the town hall. Chung saw the village really changed. Most streets were blocked with poorly made barricades. There were many fires where the remains of many wolves and wild creatures waited to be burn and every citizen carried either a firearm or a sharp tool. It was like the village was under siege. But the most noticeable was the aura of dread that surrounded every villager. Not long ago these people must have been content and carefree farmers, but now looking at them you could only see fear while clutching the little weapons they had.

Chung explained to them in full detail what happened since they started the climb. Including the parts where they got separated and how they ended up in the castle, as well as what the source of the storm was. However, he cleverly left out the details about the castle's inhabitants true nature. He also told them about Eve intention to kill Sarah as well as the mission that Ann tasked Chung with.

"You should have stayed with Eve," Aisha said. She was the first one to talk of the four "I'm not saying that killing the source is the right thing, but you shouldn't have left her alone like that."

"Yeah, I agree, that's against our rules," Elsword added. To Chung it was funny that they mention such a thing when in the past Eve would always leave him alone to go complete the missions on her own.

"If there's a chance to help that person we should try it, but we can't leave the village undefended," Rena argued.

"I honestly think Eve is doing the right thing," Raven said, garnering the attention from everyone else in the team "We don't know if we can stop that blizzard even with the artifact that girl told you about. And, going by the way you described things to us, it seems like those people at the castle aren't trustworthy either."

"But killing one person… she can't stop her own power. Raven, you know better than anyone here what it's like to cause harm while not being able to control yourself!" Chung protested. The former mercenary seemed annoyed by his words, but he didn't say anything. He looked at Elsword and waited for him to make a decision.

For the first time since many days, Elsword seemed to be in deep thought. He wasn't willing to allow the sacrifice of a person for their quest to be completed, but there was the point that they still needed to protect the village, and the risk of the castle's people to be scheming something.

"Chung, I'm going to need your word. Are you absolutely sure that these people are to be trusted?" Elsword asked, looking at the young boy in front of him.

"Yeah."

"Then we will make preparation and leave immediately. Ann will stay here and protect the village. If what you said is true, then she'll be more than capable of doing it. We'll go into the forest and retrieve the artifact. If we leave now, we'll probably be back before night. Pack light and meet up at the fields."

I apologize for the delay with this chapter. As some of you may already know, my laptop was broken. Now I had an SSD installed on it, which means that my 7 years old laptop can boot up faster than it can rename a file. It's funny to be honest.

I'm currently working on a one-shot involving a fluffy love story, next chapter of this story will be released later and it'll be a small break to let you know what happen before the events in the mountain as well as know a little more about vampires in Elsword world (since there aren't any actual vampires in the game, I'll have to adapt most of their myth into Elsword lore)

As always, thank you for reading :3