A/N: So chapter 11 is out now.
I hope you enjoy it!
I don't own Elsword nor its characters.
Not even a single ray of light filtered through the thick and heavy curtains covering the windows inside of the library. Only the yellowish glow of the candles hanging from a chandelier illuminated the crammed room, casting shadows that extended from the stone wall's fissures and tall shelves, creating all sorts of new shapes and figures that seemed full of an autonomous life, dark creatures emerging from the light, lit by anyone who could wake them up with an active imagination. Hundreds of beautifully decorated hardback books filled the entire library, from the big shelves to piles placed carefully on the floor and on woodened tables, here and there, piled up in big towers of dark covers and golden letters. Years of both ancient and contemporary knowledge were almost palpable in the dense and oppressing air, an unmistakable aroma of dust and rustling old pages despite the neatness of the room.
The habitation had its own character, a strong and intimidating one. It made Ara's chest feel heavy as she sat down on a high backed armchair at one of the corners, the soft light of a candle placed in the side table next to her enlightened the book resting on her lap. "Ancient languages" was written on its dark blue cover, Add had given it to her after a long while searching for it between the multiple titles displayed from the floor and up to the ceiling. "You will come to understand for yourself" he told her after handing the tome. He was now sitting right next to her, reading one of his many medical books, his concentrated expression framed with shadows and the warm light of the candles radiated a supernatural, manly beauty, out of reach. She went through the pages, creaking as they slid through her fingers, looking patiently for a hint of familiarity, something that resembled what she had seen written on the glowing book. The tome was thick and it took her several minutes of wandering through its contents to find what she was looking for, though inside of the library time hardly seemed to pass.
Recognizable words and symbols finally made an appearance after a long while searching through the pages, small and unconnected phrases written at the top of the chapter that seemed to match those she had seen in the mysterious book, followed by an introduction to that particular language. She started reading with attention. The origin data of the language had been largely discussed over the years, but there seemed to be an agreement on that it was most likely originated during the Middle Ages, commonly ascribed to the practice of witchery, though there was no historical evidence of that assumption. What was, in fact, known was that it belonged to the oral traditions of small communities all over Europe, later preserved on paper, long after its presumed origin. The root of this language had been discovered to be latin, but it was never possible to determine the source since its use was only recorded to be practiced by small and unconnected communities, never adjudicated to any known nation or large group.
So its history remained a mystery. But what really interested Ara was the possibility of understanding its meanings and, through the recollection of several manuscripts and books written in that language over the course of time, it was going to be possible. She started reading the transcriptions and translations one by one, each of them explaining the grammatical implications of each form of phrase construction and the different possible meanings for each word, and she could feel herself starting to get progressively more anxious. She couldn't take the idea out of her head that the book contained in the room upstairs was an important thing to decipher, that the many mysteries held by it were of vital relevance to all, or most of the supernatural occurrences in the town. It was something like a feeling, a powerful presentiment that she didn't seem to be able to shake out of her mind, it just stuck with her ever since she laid her eyes upon that book.
Considering the amount of vocabulary and grammatical constructions implicated in the use of this idiom and the complexity that its memorization was going to involve, she decided to take one step at a time in order to do the learning properly and safely. She was going to dedicate herself to one aspect of the language by session. This time it was going to be the articles and connectors, next it could be pronouns and so on, depending on the difficulty of each part. She searched for the pages containing the information she wanted and read diligently, articulating each word with her mouth and no voice several times, until it stuck in her head. Learning the articles was an easy task, since they were just a few to remember, but she still insisted in practicing them a few more times before being absolutely sure she had memorized them all properly. She took her eyes off the book for the first time in who knows how long to look at the male beside her. The serenity and maturity reflected on his mien captivated her. For some reason, she thought he looked like himself the most whenever he was concentrated reading, even when she didn't even know him that well to begin with, but she had the strong feeling that right in that moment she could see his true self framed in a motionless moment. Her heart skipped a bit.
"Add?" she spoke up after a few minutes, slightly pained for breaking that moment.
He looked up at her, moving only his eyes as he kept the very same position he had been holding that entire time, arching his brows. She received a mere sound for an answer.
"Would it be possible for you to help me revising what I've read? I'd like to make sure I'm memorizing all of this properly without using the book" she explained herself quietly, wanting to preserve the quietness of the library.
Add marked the page he was reading with a silky lace, closing the book and leaving it aside on the side table before moving to the edge of his seat and closer to her. He motioned for her to hand him the "Ancient languages" book, to which she complied. She recited the words to him, pronouncing them in the language she was learning before making explicit their match to their own.
"You have learnt them correctly, but the pronunciation is not quite right" he told her after hearing her out and checking her words with the ones written in the pages. "Now, listen to me carefully" he said, starting to read from the book out loud, accentuating with his tone those parts where she had made mistakes, talking slowly and clearly for the correct pronunciation to be obvious. From that point on they worked together. She recited the words, meaning and connections to him and he corrected her every time she got something wrong, teaching her the correct way of reading and reminding her of the vocabulary when she forgot it.
Time seemed to freeze inside of the room, perpetually immersed in a constant night, almost indifferent to the rules of the real world outside of its walls. But even if the library felt like an atemporal capsule, the day had certainly elapsed outside of the castle, the red and orange light of the sunset covering the sky without ever penetrating the stone edification. The same way Add and Ara were aloof to the progressing of the day, talking, discussing and revising the book together restlessly until they both agreed on that enough subjects had been covered for the day. At the end she had learnt a lot more than she had originally determined to, thanks to Add's help making everything considerably quicker. But there was still a lot to do and she wasn't even near of being prepared to decipher the book.
She felt content with the progress they had made, knowing already that she would have to put a lot more effort on the task if she wanted to unravel the mystery contained in the tome soon. At the same time she felt hopeful, completely convinced about the importance of this advances. She helped Add putting everything back in its place after marking the page they had revised last to continue from that point the next time. She looked for him with her eyes, only to discover he was already staring at her.
"Are you hungry, Ara? You have spent here almost all day without eating anything" he asked her.
"Now that you mention it, I am" she said. "Though if you had acted like a good host and offered me something to eat when it was the proper time to do so, I wouldn't be" she added with a small smirk. He laughed huskily in response.
"Pardon me, but I am certain that helping you out with something completely unnecessary to me counts as being a pretty good host, in my opinion" he replied, laughing still. "Also, isn't it slightly unfair of you to accuse me of something like that, when you have not been a courteous guest either? With all your meddling and snooping".
She arched her brows, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"I didn't expect you to be the rancorous type" she said with a faked indignant tone.
"I am really not. But If you want to start with that kind of discussion, be sure you will not come out clean" he retorted, twisting his mouth in a smirk.
"Alright then, you are a marvelous host" she said and sighed, shaking her head in feigned resignation before flashing an entertained smile at him. He snickered.
"Come with me, I will ask the cook to make a meal for you" he said as he started to walk out of the library, followed by a laughing Ara.
Just like the first time, over the dining table were displayed a group of different dishes, all of them conforming a complete meal. And she was, one more time, delighted by the sight of such delicacies. Something she would never get tired of. They sat down in front of each other, Ara with several plates served for her, Add with a glass filled with a red, dense liquid. She stared at him, then at the cup in his hands.
"Is that blood?" she asked.
"What else could it be?" he simply replied. "It's animal blood".
"If you can drink that, then why am I coming here to give you mine?" she questioned, with more surprise on her voice than anything else, staring straight at him. He shrugged.
"Drinking this calms down the hunger, but it is not what I need" he explained calmly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
She gave him one last glance, twisting her mouth slightly, before going back to her food. She was hungrier than she thought, but all the time they spent in the library had passed so quickly and smoothly that it hadn't even bothered her until it was mentioned. The quality of the food was no surprise and she ate it with delight, quietly. And suddenly, a question struck her.
"Tell me, Add…If you can calm your hunger down by drinking animal blood, why did you look so desperate last night? Going as far as looking for me to let you drink" she talked to him while looking at the table, at the dishes and, finally, once she was done speaking, at his eyes.
He remained silent for a while, simply looking at her back, holding her gaze. It looked like it was a habit of him; just scrutinize her silently before any word could come out. She had become used to it.
"You haven't realized it yet, have you?" he replied with his own question, smiling just slightly.
"Realize what?" she asked back, a little bit confused, frowning.
He took a sip of his particular drink, letting it rest inside his mouth for a few seconds before swallowing it, frowning strongly when it went down his throat.
"You will understand with time, even though I am pretty sure I have been clear about it before" he answered finally.
"What is it with those mysterious answers? You never answer my questions directly. It really seems like you want to come off as a mysterious gentleman" she said as she held a small frown, her lips twisting in a smile at her last words. He snickered.
"I am not trying to seduce you with such an obvious and pathetic strategy, if that is what you're thinking" he said, laughing a little more.
He left the glass on the table, supporting his elbows on it as well and placing his chin on his united hands, looking at her with some sort of self-satisfied expression, his eyes partially closed and his mouth curved in a smile. She couldn't help but stare into his face, caught off guard by that unusual appearance. If she had to admit it, he looked weirdly handsome that way.
She almost jumped when he spoke up again.
"I told you before, Ara…I really, really like your blood" he said, widening his smile, staring deeply into her eyes. She felt her chest tighten, her heart going at full speed, her body heating up. "And I am not sure you understand completely what that means. It tastes incredibly good, sweet, better than anything I've tried before. I need it now" he paused, examining her expression, the surprise written all over her face, and something more. "And it has to be all mine now".
She watched in awe as he stood up from his seat slowly, how he moved towards her with a confidence in his movements she had never seen before. The sound of his steps, his piercing eyes, the accelerating pulse making all of the veins in her body pump under her skin, the knot in her chest. She saw him kneeling down in front of her, felt his hand reaching for hers, interlacing their fingers, the coldness of his skin like an electric wave on her body, his breath tickling her when he muttered "give some more to me" in a barely audible voice, his lips on her wrist, the fangs piercing her flesh painfully, the blood flowing out of her. He barely took a sip, a few drops, but that wasn't it. Then it was his mouth on her shoulder and more pain, the familiar sting, and a little bit more of blood. His hand holding hers still, firmly, his teeth piercing through the skin on her neck, reopening fresh wounds. Her heart was beating rapidly on her chest, threatening to come out violently, almost painfully, the temperature of her body rising and a wave of shivers shaking her, an oppressing feeling in her stomach. She closed her eyes, surrendered from the moment she had witnessed his expression, experiencing the sensations that were taking over her. There was much more than just pain, there was excitement and pleasure.
The amount of blood he took wasn't nearly as much as he had drank before, it was as if his intention was only to leave a mark, to make his point clear or to simply taste her. His actions had her confused, but the thrill she felt overwhelmed any other sensation inhabiting her body. When he moved away from her all the amazement seemed to disappear. She quickly got up.
"I am terribly sorry, but it is getting late and I have duties to attend. I hope you forgive me" she said rapidly, doing her best to sound polite. She performed a short bow as a goodbye and hurriedly left for the room without looking back at him.
Walking through the town streets she could feel her heart throbbing with no sign of calming down any time soon. She was flustered, confused and slightly irritated. At him for doing what he did, at herself for letting it happen. Her steps were quick and hurried, wanting to go back to the quietness of her own room where she could finally calm down the torrent of emotions that made her insides writhe. She opened the gates to the mansion with uncontrolled strength. Reaching for the lounge her legs stopped moving.
The walls were covered in blood, pools of the red liquid had formed on the floor, tables, chairs and sofas were knocked over and everything was a complete mess. She couldn't do anything but stare at the chaos in front of her, reality and fantasy confusing in a macabre clash, something shattering inside of her. Her eyes immediately scrutinized the room. That's when she found them.
Images of the past overlapped with the scene before her in an overwhelming rush, terrible screams of pain resonating inside her head. She saw blood and flames, saw her parents, family and neighbors laying immobile on the ground, destroyed houses, a collapsed town, bloody paintings on the walls. She saw the slaughtered bodies of those she had loved and cared for, she saw the mutilated bodies of her friends.
Everyone is dead.
A/N: Welp.
Well, uh...yeah. I'm gonna take this space to tell you once again how much I hope you're enjoying this chapters. And to say that please, by all means, leave me your comments and feedback!
It is really really important to me to know if you're enjoying the fanfic so far and what are your impressions and thoughts! I would be more than glad to read you!
I really enjoy writting this fanfic, so it would be really cool if you enjoyed reading it as well. Or you know, if you liked certain part or a certain thing, getting to know how you feel reading it is, as I said, something really important to me. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know!
So that's it. Hope you enjoyed!
Until next time .