A/N: wow this is so late i have no excuses im really sorry this is late af
and super short too wow but don't worry friends next chapter is coming very soon
lol Also I'm almost done with RISE if you are wondering, er, at least the next chapter - I need to proofread some things and ask some authors some things and yeah.
btw since it's obvious that Aisha is not murderer who do you think it is? Unfair question, actually, because I haven't introduced all the characters yet ^^; also I might add in Lu/Ciel 'cept Lu might be this badass loli ahahaha i need sleep
But if I do add in Lu and Ciel, they'll be background characters with no real plot ahahahahaaaaaaa...
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I need to stop being weird and sleep instead of playing Pokemon ORAS all night long god I need sleep
also I've been watching some little children movies because that's all that I own and recently I watched Rise of the Guardians and holy cow I was so emotional when Sandy came back to life I was crying when Jamie's light didn't snuff out I was crying when Jack realized his core I don't know why I'm so emotional lately
maybe it's because my mother has been telling me i'm fat lately
hahah jk... maybelol i'm so insane right now you don't even know
Ara nearly trips over her own feet as she hurries to Eve's room. By the time she gets up here Add is already at the door, hurling it open. A flurry of other guards rushes in behind the pair, and they gape at the cowering form on the floor.
"Eve!" Ara hurries to her side, pressing a hand gingerly on top of the princess's head. "Are you okay? What happened?"
The petite girl gulps, and then turns her eyes towards the floor near her. "There was – um – I'm not hurt. Can anybody who is not Add and Ara please leave?" She gestures to the guards, her hand shaking as she does so. "Thank you."
The guards turn around to leave at her words, and Add steps closer. "What happened?" He repeats Ara's question firmly.
Eve's glittery yellow eyes once again switch to the floor – but something different this time, rather than the floor itself. Ara follows her gaze.
Four large white-green feathers litter the floor, glossy and fairly fresh. Ara reaches for them, and they're unsurprisingly soft. "What are these?" She asks Eve in a soft tone, but the princess simply moves backward when the maid brings them closer to her. "How did they get here?"
"I cannot say," Eve mutters under her breath, her eyes switching to Add briefly. "It was… It cannot be what… I do not know," She says finally. She's plainly lying, Ara can tell. But the maid stands up, pockets the feathers, and turns to Add.
"Take care of her, will you? I need to go find out what kind of feathers these are," She says. Add nods and moves closer to Eve as Ara leaves the room.
Before closing the door, however, Ara sneaks one more glance inside, watching the childhood pair inside. Add comfortingly pats Eve's back, and she stares hollowly into the ground.
A rush of sudden, short-lived anger courses through her, and then she turns around, closing the door behind her.
Nobody in the entire castle would've guessed that the stomps echoing throughout were by the shy, raven-haired maid.
Aisha pounds her fists into the blanket, trying to get some of the dust out. Elsword watches her, amused. Of course, just about five moments ago, his elder sister Elesis had burst in in a rather loud conversation between the three of them – and had forbid Elsword to say anything more to the purple-haired girl. She had shooed Raven out – Elsword couldn't say that he felt bad for him – and had given Elsword a short lecture.
It was embarrassing, a high-knight being scolded in front of the murderer he was supposed to be guarding. He was glad when Aisha pretended not to be interested, but he heard the snickers behind his back.
Currently he was just watching her. She shakes her blanket, and then sits on it with a defeated sigh. "This is a really bad blanket," She remarks, pulling out some tangles in her matted purple hair. "perhaps you should replace it or something?"
"No," Elsword answers back and scuffles the dirt underneath his feet. This cell didn't have any flooring. "This is the cell for the real baddies. Like you." He adds after a moment of thought. Aisha's facial expression sours and she turns away from him, mumbling underneath her breath.
All is quiet for about an hour. Aisha seems to have fallen asleep, curled up on the thing that could barely pass as a blanket. He watches her, but nothing really comes out of it. But once, near her feet, there was a quick burst of hot white flames near her feet, and Elsword jumped.
He was extremely confused. Didn't she display… Like, no power? He eyes her still form suspiciously. Aisha doesn't move, and no other magic shows itself.
Who, exactly, is she?
Elsword loves Velder, but he has to admit they're not really good at doing their background checks. He'll have to ask somebody like Raven later. But definitely not his sister – she's suspicious of him enough as she is.
He pokes one of the rusty, falling-apart bars of the cells. Aisha moves this time, groaning like an old man as she turns on her side, facing him, and starts to snore. Elsword snorts at her, but she doesn't wake up. Aisha mumbles under her breath, and her sleeping face looks really childish, Elsword notes. Deciding that no, he wasn't that creepy; he turns away from her and looks out the small window next to him into the forest.
Something rustles in the bushes next to the cell – but before Elsword can move, a green-white dove bursts out from the leaves, and flies into the room. He stares at it, and for a split second he could've sworn that it stared back. But the bird continued on hopping on the dirt, pecking at the dirt near its feet before finally releasing a loud call and disappearing back into the forest.
Aisha jerks awake at the sound of the call, rubbing her purple eyes wearily as she takes in her surroundings. At the same time, the door closes and Raven seats himself on the floor. "Break time, little knight," Raven says, a stick in his hand. "Go on." He starts to draw little circles on the floor in which Elsword vaguely saw as a Phoru, but he didn't question and instead just waved his hand.
He did need some time out, though. Even though Aisha may be highly amusing and fun to tease, he still had to report her usage of magic. She was still a dangerous person after all.
A pause.
A dangerous person and Aisha didn't go well in the same sentence. He didn't know what it was about that little purple-headed midget, but there was just something about her that screamed I'm innocent!
No, he couldn't be thinking like this. I'd be like siding with the enemy, and that was never a good thing.
…
…
…
He couldn't bring himself to admit that maybe, just maybe, he didn't consider Aisha as an enemy. But he'd deal with those confusing set of feelings another day – he had to talk to his sister first.
Another rustle and Elsword is immediately alert. But the feeling turns to surprise as an elegantly dressed white-haired young woman steps out into his line of sight.
"Queen Eve!"
The figure rustles through the night, cloak flowing freely and obscuring the bearer's features. Long, slender fingers rummage through the dresser, desperately searching. A noise outside the door and the figure freezes. The fingers cease their movement as the figure listens for more noises, and when all is quiet they continue, shoving lilac-colored butler uniforms out.
When they finish, the figure growls – whatever they are looking for is not here. They scuttle over to the next drawer, but then the doorknob turns and the figure freezes yet again.
The door opens to reveal a white-haired male who gapes upon seeing the figure, hunched over his dresser. "Who are you?"
The figure releases a feminine screech before turning around and leaping through the window, leaving a wisp of dust in their wake. Add scrambles to the window, looking downwards but seeing nothing in the dusk. "What the –?" He rushes to access the damage to his things, eyes narrowed.
They couldn't have been looking for the – no, it's still there.
But his eyes are drawn to something shiny glinting on the floor, something that wasn't his and yet was in his room.
A thin, golden brooch, an orange-yellow gem at its core. Add's eyes narrow as he closes his fist over it.
It's cold.