Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword nor its characters. Enjoy and have a happy Thanksgiving~!

"Ugh..." Aisha woke up with a huge headache. She regretted staying up till 3 a.m. to finish a book on elemental usage. She only got 3 hours of sleep before the sun hit her from where the desk was at the crack of dawn. She yawned begrudgingly and stretched while leaning back on her chair. She found herself unable to sleep last night and just decided to read.

Aisha leaned a little too far back and ended up tipping over in her chair. "WAH!" She fell onto the floor loudly and painfully.

The purplette groaned and sit up to rub her back, then she dragged herself out of her seat to change out of her purple pajamas. After that, she is in dire need of coffee or she'll die...or at least she won't be able to handle the rest of the day without being in a cranky mood.

A cup of coffee a day makes the dark clouds go away.

Aisha got her coffee from the kitchen, make a turn, and stops.

Wasn't this supposed to take her to the lobby? The Elemental Master mulled over this peculiarity and facepalmed herself. She totally forgot that she's not at her home right now. This is a different place so of course it's going to have a different layout. She should start memorizing the layout of the building so that she doesn't get lost in here often.

After an hour, the coffee took in effect and she was fully awake.

"Morning Ara." She greeted upon seeing the ebony girl coming into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

Ara waved and smiled. "I'm taking Elsword's breakfast to him."

The purplette raised an eyebrow. "Really? What kind of lazy butt is he?"

"It's not like that!" Ara defended. "He's locked up in his studies again..."

"...And?" Aisha pressed on, not getting the point in this picture.

"And usually, he doesn't come out or let anyone in until he sees fit."

"So? Why does it matter?" The magician responded blatantly. "Just let him starve to death."

"Aisha!" The ebony girl whined. "Don't be so cold to him!"

"Dear Lady El, you sound like Rena right now," Aisha rolled her eyes, then walked out while waving a hand at the Sander Princess. "Good luck."

Aisha sat on the couch, absorbed in a book that she didn't realize Rena approaching her.

"Aisha, aren't you supposed to be tutoring Elsword?" Rena leaned over to the purplette. Aisha glanced up from her book, then back before giving a shrug.

"He locked himself up when Ara told me this morning," She replied flippantly. "Ara's probably in there trying to convince him to eat or something."

"He's skipping again?!" Rena said in exasperation. "Honestly, he used to eat regularly. Ever since Ara came, he's been isolating himself!"

"What?" The girl perked up at that. So he's been trying to avoid Ara be starving himself? ...Interesting technique...if he wants to die. And believe her, she was kind of hoping he would.

Rena nodded in confirmation. "Why that boy doesn't like Ara is beyond me. She's a sweet little girl, any guy would be lucky to have her."

"..." The magician got up from her comfortable spot on the couch and marched out of the room, with Rena calling out to her, asking where she was going. Aisha didn't reply, nor did she hear the question. Her mind was set on something and she wasn't going to be stopped. She was going to give that Eldork a piece of her mind for ignoring Ara.

Aisha stalked up the stairs and made a right turn to see Ara knocking and pleading Elsword to open the door, all the while holding a tray of pancakes in her hand. She walked up to her and asked for what the situation was. Ara shook her head, stating that she have no luck. This ticked the purplette off and suggested to Ara that she give it a try.

Ara complied with her request and handed her the food tray. The purplette told the girl to step back and she did so, with perplexity.

Aisha knocked on the door three times like she did yesterday. No response as usual. A tick mark appeared on her head in annoyance and her face boiled in anger for someone she thought she could care less about. She skipped the second and third try, knowing that those won't work - at least not right now.

In her frustration, she willed the door open herself - meaning bursting it upon - and slammed it against the wall next to it, creating a small - huge - dent on the wall where the door knob hit.

"OI ELBRAT! OPEN UP THIS DAMN THING WHEN SOMEONE'S KNOCKING!"

Elsword gave her a dumbfounded look. He was used to Rena doing that that he doesn't get shocked by the sudden outburst, but he was surprised to see Aisha suddenly bursting in the room...like yesterday, minus for the yelling part.

"What the hell did you do to my door?!" was his first response, pointing at the doorway. Aisha glanced at the door to see that it was slipping on its fringes, and then look back to him with a straight face.

"Magic."

He gave Aisha an incredulous look.

"It was locked so I had to force it open with my magic," She elaborated nonchalantly and then smile sardonically. "Maybe this should teach you to open the door the next time someone comes knocking on it."

"...I wouldn't be able to open it if it's broken." He countered smoothly. Aisha gave him a look that said 'does it look like I care?'

"Not my problem now, and you can always repair it."

Elsword noticed the tray in her hands and a smirk found its way to his face. "I didn't think you care but you brought me my breakfast? That's nice. Or are you just working as a maid again?"

Aisha blinked several times before looking down at what she was holding. The tiniest tint of red tainted her pale cheeks. "Lazy idiot!" She fumed. "I'm not the one who brought it!"

She pulled Ara from the side so that she can be visible and placed the tray on her hands, then pushed Ara in front of her. "Ara was the one who bothered to do that!"

The ebony girl looked back at her with shock but Aisha shooed her away with the motion of her hands, telling her to place it on his desk. Ara timidly set it in front of the red haired prince, telling him that he should eat breakfast for the sake of his health. Elsword dismissed it with a simple thanks and went back to his notes. The ebony girl looked crestfallen at the response. Aisha, however, was about to explode.

"THAT'S IT?!" She roared, walking forward and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?! YOU SHOULD BE MORE GRATEFUL THAT ARA'S DOING THIS! IF SHE DIDN'T, WHO KNOWS WHEN YOU'LL BE STARVED TO DEATH!"

"A-Aisha!" Ara tried to pull the raging purplette off Elsword's case while he just stared at Aisha with widen eyes. "C-calm down!"

"I'LL CALM DOWN WHEN HE EATS THE FOOD YOU BROUGHT UP FOR HIM!" She exclaimed with fury. She couldn't believe this guy, why does he have to be so cold to Ara? What did Ara ever do to deserve this kind of treatment? It just isn't fair, even if he didn't have feelings for her.

Aisha let Elsword plummet back into his chair. She towered over him with folded arms and cantered her hip to the side. "We're not leaving until you finish the whole thing." Malice was dripping from her tone.

Elsword muttered incoherent words before stabbing a fork into the pancakes.

"And don't even think about complaining whether it's cold or not," The magician put it out there just in case. "It's your fault for not eating when it's hot."

After he finished, Ara took it away and return it to the kitchen.

"Are you happy now?" The prince inquired indignantly.

"Very," Aisha said with a mollified tone. "Now let's get cracking. Since I'll be tutoring you, I need to know what you're strength and weaknesses are. That means I'll need some assessments."

"Who said you'll be teaching me?" Elsword frowned.

Aisha glared at him acrimoniously. "Who said I want to be wasting my time with you? I'm not the one who decided on this and both of us don't have a choice. Now...to the library!" She suddenly switched to a childish manner, pointing the way out in excitement.

"What's wrong with being here?"

The purplette rolled her eyes. "There's more books there."

"That's your reasoning?" Elsword said incredulously.

"Yes, because we're wasting time talking here," She summoned her staff and teleported both of them into a room with shelves filled with books that reached the ceiling. "And you need a change of scenery anyways."

"Now, tell me what you're struggling at and we'll work from there."

Elsword gave her a strange look. He's impressed that she's putting aside the face that she hate his guts and work with him. "Are you really okay with this?"

Aisha sighed, "Honestly, no. I want to send you to the next millennium every time I see you."

"So blunt." The red haired boy replied sardonically. Aisha ignored the comment and continued.

"But if I have to, I'll put aside the differences, sit down, and deal with you."

"...You make me sound like some kind of troublesome kid."

"You're not?"

"Ouch," Elsword placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Are you always this blunt?"

"Mostly," Aisha replied. "Especially with someone as troublesome as you."

"Heehh," He smirked, leaning in close and tilted Aisha's head by placing his index finger on her chin so that she could look him in the eyes. "And what will you do about me being 'troublesome'?"

He chuckled subtly at Aisha's blushing face. She closed her eyes in annoyance and whacked him on the head with her staff.

"Ow!" He rubbed his throbbing skull.

"Okay," She huffed, hands on her hips. "Rule number one, don't you EVER touch me so stop playing around!"

"You could've just said so." The red haired boy muttered bitterly.

"Hmph." Aisha jerked her head away from him. They started working afterwards, with Aisha giving instructions on the assignments they were to do. They tackled various subjects and breezed through with ease. Elsword was more intelligent than Aisha had initially thought of him, which was a surprise but all the more better because she'll be finish quicker than she expected.

"Let see..." The purplette read through a piece of paper. "All you're having trouble with are related to ancient rune magic."

"You know something about them?" Elsword inquired with doubt. She tapped a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"Well...I ran across the subject while I was studying elemental magic. They're in the more higher level of magical studies; not hard but they're not easy either, though an interesting topic nonetheless."

Aisha looked at the time and realized that it was way past noon. They been in here for hours, yet it felt way shorter than that.

"We'll stop for today, seeing how far we gone through," Aisha decided, looking at the stacks of books. "Let's go have lunch."

To the magician's surprise, Elsword complied without any protests. He reasoned that he'll eat when he's hungry and he's hungry right now. Aisha shrugged, whatever floats his boat.

The two found Rena and Ara outside eating while watching Raven train of his own. Aisha and Elsword greeted the two and they were surprised that Aisha managed to persuade Elsword out.

"Not exactly..." She averted her gaze and sat down. Elsword followed suit, sitting next to Aisha, which was the empty seat next to Ara as well.

"How long has Raven's been doing that?" Aisha queried, looking at the Blade Master concentrating on the swings of his blade.

"Don't know," Rena replied thoughtfully. "I saw him out there when I came."

The purplette decided to call Raven over and told him to have a seat so that he could have lunch. Raven declined the offer but Aisha insisted with an authoritative tone at him. He sat himself in between Aisha and Rena, stiffly.

"Hey Raven," Elsword called to the ebony man's attention while they were eating. "You think you can spar me?"

The man raised an eyebrow in question.

"I haven't found any good sparring partners lately. Maybe you'll be a good challenge."

"It would be an honor." Raven answered with a subtle bow. Both males got out of their seat and headed out to spar, with the girls observing in the shelter blocking the sun's rays. Aisha didn't bothered looking though, not till Ara spoke up about it.

"Isn't he skillful?"

"Hm?" She looked up at Ara from a book, then back. "Sure sure."

Rena giggled. "Aisha, you're not even paying attention to the fight!"

The magician sighed and snapped her book shut, forcing her gaze to the two male fighting. The moment she does, she was mesmerized by their show of strength and determination, especially Elsword's since it looked like he was having trouble against the Blade Master. But he wouldn't give up no matter how wide of a gape he and Raven have in their swordsmanship.

"Raven's on par with Elsword!" Rena exclaimed in amazement.

The two males crossed swords, each not budging from their spots. Elsword placed a immobilization rune on Raven and did a number on him before the Blade Master could retaliate back. Raven caught Elsword's last hit and turned it against him, sending him back. He then disappearing and reappeared behind Elsword, launching a series of attacks.

It ended with Raven sending Elsword's sword flying out of his hand and his blade pointing down at the red haired boy's throat.

"Well play." Elsword complimented.

"As to you." Raven replied with a smirk. He would usually show a stoic expression to his opponents but to show something to Elsword, that meant that the Blade Master recognizes the red knight's abilities. He was one of the few that fought Raven on equal grounds.

Rena and Ara applauded at their performance while Aisha refuse to show signs of praising the red haired prince. She'll never admit that he was pretty skillful out loud.

"No criticisms Grape?" the taunting voice of the Elbrat popped Aisha's thought bubble, making her scowl.

"Please Cherry, your movements are so sloppy compare to Raven's," The purplette retorted.

"Aw, glad to hear that you paid attention~" Elsword teased coyly.

Aisha was taken aback at the comeback and tried to think of one to counter. "W-who would look at you?!" She then proceed to stand up to leave."Now if you'll excuse me, I got better things to do."

Rena sighed inwardly. When are they going to reconcile?

Until next time,

R&R~