Raven was very quick to leap out of his seat, climb over eight people, and dash out the door, dragging 'Seris' with him.
"Hey, Rena, she looks a lot like you..." Rena shrugged, smiling brightly.
"I guess so. There's an old Elven legend that for every human born on Elrios, they are given an Elven twin. Perhaps they were right, and she is my human twin...?" Aisha giggled.
"Rena, you can't be serious. You've been alive much, much longer than Seris has, it's impossible for her to be your 'twin.'" Rune sighed, resting his chin on Aisha's head, causing her to squeak with surprise.
"Oh Lady El, I wouldn't be able to stand another Infi."
Infi shrugged, flicking his hair mockingly, glaring at Rune. "You're just jealous that I'm super incredible. Now, can you two act lovey-dovey some other time? You're going to make me sick." Rune shrugged.
"So, does anyone even know what's in this... exam-thinggie?"
Outside, Raven hissed.
"Seris?! What on Elrios are you doing back here?! I thought you went to Velder Academy...
Seris sighed, clutching on to Raven's human arm. "Raven, I-"
"No, I don't want to hear it. You should leave. I'm sure Alex would like to talk to you."
Teary-eyed, Seris blinked innocently. "Raven... I... I know that I hurt you, and I'm sorry... It's just... I really, really regret leaving you..." Raven blinked incredulously, unable to think of anything to say. "I mean, Alex never treated me as nicely as you did, and... well... He changed Raven, he really did. I'm so, so sorry, Raven. Would you be able to take me back?"
A soft voice cleared their throat from behind them. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask Raven something~"
Both Seris and Raven turned in shock, staring at the elven newcomer. "R-Rena?" Rena nodded cheerily, although her smile seemed somewhat subdued.
"Do you happen to know what's on the 'exam' that we have to take?" Raven shook his head shakily. Nodding absently, Rena smiled again. "I see..." Awkward tension reigned, leaving Raven to mull over his thoughts.
Here he was, caught in between two beautiful women, and given an impossibly hard choice. Was he to return to his previous lover who abandoned him for someone better? He still loved Seris very much, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he did say yes to Seris. Raven was sure that it would only be a matter of time before he forgot about the whole 'Alex incident.' Then again, he could always pick Rena over Seris. The elf was... beautiful, to say the least, but she was also kind and optimistic. Very lady-like and mature, Rena was on a whole other level when compared to the childish and innocent Seris. But, that lead back to the root of his problem. What would he do?
"Um... I'm gonna go ask Ms. Camilla about our exam. Excuse me, you two~" Seris awkwardly backed out of the way, allowing Rena to pass by in front of her.
Once Rena was gone, Seris turned back to Raven. "She looks a lot like me. Raven, is it possible that you two...?"
Blushing a deep, ruddy red, Raven furiously waved his arms about. "Wha-? No, no! Rena and I aren't like that at all! We're friends... no, not even that! We're more like... acquaintances."
Seris raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Uh-huh. Raven... I thought you only loved me?"
Raven nodded, gripping Seris' arm. "I do! I still do, you know. Which is why it hurt so much when you left me! Why Seris, why? Why did you leave me in the first place?" Seris sighed, leaning into Raven.
"I honestly don't know..." Leaning back, she looked Raven deep in the eye. "But Raven... Can we please get back together?"
Raven sighed, staring at the ground. "I... Can you give me time to think, Seris?" She nodded, before softly clutching his arm, her eyes shining with desperation and unshed tears.
"Please come back to me... You have no idea how lonely I've been without you..."
Sighing, Raven brushed a stray strand of hair out of Seris' face. "I think I can guess..."
Chung, who had been mulling over his thoughts, raised his head carefully, his blue eyes sparkling like a many-faceted crystal.
"Hey... Do you think they - erm, the school, that is - purposely arranged the groups like this?"
Rune tilted his head, abruptly stopping his incessant teasing of Knight, who had long gone past blushing and now looked like he was on the verge of passing out, embarrassed beyond belief (Was it necessary for Rune to tell everyone about the time when Knight accidentally walked in the bathroom while Elsa was in the shower and nearly got a sword to the skull?). "What do you mean by that?"
Twirling a honey-colored strand of hair around his index finger, Chung chewed his bottom lip, before continuing to voice his train of thought. "Well... It's quite obvious that Infi and Knight are on bad terms. Aisha and Ara haven't stopped glaring at each other since they first met, and Ara doesn't seem too fond of Knight, either. Rena and Raven... They've got this weird, tense aura around them whenever they're together. Raven, Eva, and Eve can obviously barely stand to be in the same room together. Hamel and Altera have been enemies since the dawn before time, so it's only natural that the Nasod twins-"
"Cousins."
Chung glared at Eva, before correcting himself grudgingly and continuing. "- the Nasod cousins and I don't particularly get along. To top it off, Infi has made it pretty clear that he hates Nasod to a certain degree. And, well..." He paused, smirking. "You tend to irritate everyone at times."
Rune put a hand to his heart, mocking hurt, a playful grin ruining the expression. "Me? Annoying? Never."
Aisha leaned forwards, drumming her fingers against her leather-bound book which Knight could've sworn wasn't there before. "Now that you've mentioned it, it does seem very... poorly planned on the school's part. After all, forcing a whole bunch of enemies into one room can only end in disaster."
Ara snorted, tossing her sinuous ebony locks, hitting Chung, who was seated next to her, in the face with her hair. Ignoring the blonde's spluttering as he attempted to untangle himself from her raven hair, Ara growled. "It's just a freak coincidence. Lady El, it's not like they're trying to make us into best friends. I swear, I will kill the dumbass who decided to put me in the same group as you losers."
Eve calmly put down her teacup (Again, where did it come from?), crossing one leg over the other, folding her hands neatly in front of her. "With all due respect, I would rather request a group change. It seems much more... plausible and... realistic, rather than murdering someone which would ultimately end up with us staying in the same group."
"Um, sorry to burst your bubble, but there's no group changes allowed~" Standing indignantly, Eva narrowed her eyes at the returning elf, barely noticing that Raven had returned to the room.
"What do you mean by that?!"
Rena smiled, her verdant eyes becoming half-moons as she smiled sheepishly. "Exactly what I just said. Another group was trying to switch out a couple of members, and the councillor said that everything's already been finalized. Ah, but moving on..." Triumphantly, Rena waved a piece of paper around, before throwing it on the table and plopping down in the seat next to Raven, the only available seat in the room. Raven awkwardly moved his chair away from her as Rena did the same, the screeching of the chairs scrapping the tiles below them.
Cringing briefly, Knight picked up the paper Rena dropped on the table, eyeing Rena and Raven, mildly curious about what could have happened between them that was serious enough for them to not want to sit next to each other. "What is this?"
Rena smiled, before blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "It's a list of things on our exam."
A few minutes earlier...
Rena didn't mean to eavesdrop on Raven and Seris. She had just collected the itinerary for the exam, and was walking back. Raven and Seris, being in front of the door, totally blocked her path, and, seeing that they were in the middle of a conversation, decided to not interrupt them. It was the valiant thing to do, right?
They were reminiscing the past, sharing stories as their airy laughter floated down the halls, lingering in the air and glittering like droplets of water. Rena felt her chest clench as she glimpsed Raven's broad, warm smile. "Hush, Rena," she quietly chided herself, so quietly no one else heard. "You've only known him for a while, of course he wouldn't smile at you like that..."
Gathering up her courage, Rena walked around the corner, the two humans jumping with a start, surprised at the sudden appearance of the blonde elf. Her forced smile faded as she spotted their intertwined hands. "Ah! Sorry to startle you~" Waving cheerily, she gently poked Raven's arm, giggling. "Come on, playboy, we've got an examine itinerary to examine~"
Seris clutched on to Raven's arm fiercely, glaring at Rena. "Don't touch my boyfriend!" Rena froze, stiffening up.
Darkly, she muttered to herself. "So, you did return to her." The action didn't go unnoticed by Raven. Forcing a gentle smile on her face, she turned to face Seris.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to offend. It was but a simple gesture of friendliness." Turning to Raven, she nodded towards the door. "We should be going in, we've got lots of planning to do."
Opening the door, Rena stepped into the room, not bothering to see if Raven was following her. Seris clutched tighter on to his arm. "Raven, stay away from her. That She-elf... her eyes scare me."
Raven sighed, gazing worriedly at Seris as he gently pried her off his arm. "You shouldn't have called me your boyfriend; I still haven't answered you yet. And what about Rena could possibly scare you? She wouldn't dare hurt even a fly if it could be prevented."
Seris clutched Raven's arm again. "I don't want to lose you to anyone. And that She-elf..." Her eyes shone with untold fear, unshed tears glistening.
"I saw the light of insanity in her eyes."
Inside the room, Group 42A had just finished looking over the itinerary. The groups, seemingly, were assigned random numbers, as there was no Group 42B, nor was there a Group 41, but there was a Group 163C. As for the exam, it was very standard, composed of spars, basic skill tests, and a simple quest.
Rune, glancing around the room, spotted Rena glaring murderously out the window. Twisting to see just what exactly could've gotten Rena to blow up like that, Rune spotted the girl that had turned Raven into a clay statue by simply speaking his name. She was giggling, talking to another boy, batting her eyelashes shamelessly. The boy romantically held one hand out, the other clasped over his chest.
"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"
Rune, deciding that this girl bothered him (Why, she was acting all lovey-dovey with Raven a few minutes ago, and now she was blatantly flirting with someone else! What a playgirl. And that was coming from HIM), opened the window wide enough for him to stick his head out.
"It hurt, she landed on her face."
The girl turned red, spluttering angrily. "W-WHY YOU JERK!" Closing the window with a satisfied smirk, Rune turned to find Rena giggling at him.
"Now why did you do that? Miss Seris hasn't done anything to you." Rune snorted, rolling his eyes.
"She was bothering me, and obviously you don't like her. You're like a sister to me, so I'm not gonna let anyone bother you." Rena smiled brightly, chuckling at Rune's words. Eva, standing up, slapped Rune firmly across the face. Infi cackled, watching Rune rub his sore cheek.
"Eva?! What was that for?!"
Eva crossed her arms regally, holding her head high. "You simply cannot be rude to a lady."
Eva: 15
Rune: 1
My oh my.
The group split up after Rune's... unfortunate incident, leaving Knight and Aisha to have a pleasant conversation with each other as they helped Anne fold clean bed sheets and organized the lost and found pile.
"Aisha..."
Said purple-haired mage looked up, arching a delicate eyebrow. "Yes, Knight? Is something wrong?"
Biting his lip, Knight looked around nervously, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I keep... hearing things, things that I shouldn't. Do you think I'm going insane? The other day, during my follow-up check-up, I heard Ara yelling at someone in the halls, but when I looked outside, no one was there..."
Aisha smiled kindly, setting aside the sweater that she was folding, picking up a pair of socks. "I-"
Before she could continue, Rune burst into the infirmary, his eyes locking on to the pair of socks Aisha held. "Aisha, can I have a sock?" Raising an eyebrow, Aisha silently handed Rune a sock. Whooping with joy, Rune waved the sock around. "MASTER HAS GIVEN DOBBY CLOTHES! DOBBY IS FREE!" He then ran out of the infirmary squealing, waving the sock triumphantly.
Knight's jaw dropped, his eyes growing wide as he shook his head. "I don't think I'm insane anymore. But... What were those voices?"
Aisha chortled, flipping rapidly through the worn pages of her book, violet eyes tracing a passage. "I think I can answer that."
Knight shook his head, smiling kindly. "It was just a theoretical question, Aisha."
Amethyst eyes ablaze, the diminutive girl stood, pointing an accusing finger at Knight, lightening crackling dangerously on her fingertips. "You will listen to my plot-advancing lecture!"
Startled by her sudden change in demeanour, Knight nodded sharply, eyes wide. Sitting down, Aisha smiled brightly, turning back to her book. "It says here that some people were born with the ability to communicate directly to the past. It has to do with the central cortex and the hippocampus sending out radial brain waves, which are amplified as they pass through small dimensional tears and bounce back upon -" At this point, Knight had raised his hand. Lowering her book, Aisha raised an eyebrow. "Yes? What is it?"
"Can you speak English?"
In Velder, Elsa approached Aren, studying him carefully. Now that she thought of it, he looked like someone had carefully blended Ran and the Aren she saw in her dreams together, creating a human, yes, but with shadows of something much, much more sinister.
"I have to speak to you. Privately." Aren raised an eyebrow, nodding to behind a tent, away from the prying eyes of the other Velderian soldiers.
"What is it, Miss Elesis?" Taking a deep breath, Elsa calmly looked into Aren's eyes.
"I want you to tell me about how you and Ran fused, and how I can help you." Aren's orange eyes widened, his skin paling even more.
"Where did you hear that?!" He hissed, orange eyes narrowing, glittering coldly. Elsa calmly held her ground, absently combing her fingers through her crimson hair.
"You told me. That is, your dream-self. I believe it is your conscious, manifesting in the form of... how you were before Ran fused with you."
Aren sighed, massaging his temples. "It seems I was unconsciously sending out those signals. I apologize for disturbing your sleep. However, I can't tell you anything, it is Haan business, and only Haan business."
As Aren turned to leave, Elsa lurched forwards, grabbing his arm viciously. "Wait! I will give your information... about my brother." Aren raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I want information about your brother? Also, don't you have three brothers? My sister goes to their school."
Elsa took a shuddering breath, her crimson eyes shining with a grave light.
"No... I only have one. His name is Elsword." Aren gasped, before nodding his head in understanding.
"I... I will tell you everything I know..."
Chung and Eva were seated outside on a stone bench, chatting quietly. Above them, the sky was clear, a few birds flying past, some white feathers gently drifting to the ground, settling amongst the spring green strands of grass.
Suddenly, Rune came running past, waving a sock in one hand. "DOBBY IS FREE! DOBBY IS FREE!"
Chung sighed, shaking his head, before muttering under his breath. "Way to ruin an atmosphere, Rune..." Eva stood calmly, sending Chung a faint smile, before pulling a screen out.
"Please excuse me while I deal with this buffoon."
Tapping a few buttons, a massive hand fell out of the sky, slapping Rune across the entire schoolyard. He screamed, still waving the sock around.
Eva: 16
Rune: 1
Oh. My. El.
Me: You guys...
Chung: What?
Me: I HAVEN'T UPDATED SINCE LAST YEAR! XD
Raven: That is Rosa's way of saying, quote unquote, 'HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!'.
Me: Sheesh, you're so dry...
Rena: And you just broke the fourth wall AGAIN and managed to successfully add in Harry Potter -.-
Me: I had to. AND! WE'VE GOTTEN INTO THE DOUBLE-DIGITS!
Elsword: *pulls a party cracker* YEAH!
Me: Does it have a joke in it? I love the jokes :D
Elsword: ...No?
Me: DANG IT! WE HATES IT FOREVER!
Ara: Anyway, since it's the tenth chapter...
Aisha: Guess for a one shot time!
Me: So, for those of you who don't know what this is, once I reach double digits, there will be a random question about this story. After that, the questions will come randomly. First person to post a review with the correct answer wins a one shot with a pairing of their choice!
Eve: Without further ado, your question.
Q: Why are there two Nasod queens?
Me: Good luck~! And now, on to REVIEWER REPLIES!
Asian - Yes, RUN RAVEN! YOU SHALL BE SLAIN BY SERIS! ...Sorry, don't know where that came from. Well, good luck with that...? Ah, Ara... Elsword has been overflowing with them XD
Tsu-chan - You shall never know. /slapped Yes, lots and lots of comedy! And cookies! ...Um? I don't think I'd say that XD As long as you know what it means now XD Now you can yell at me because I haven't updated in a year if you want... /slapped Yes, we need more tea. BRING IN THE TEA! *shot*
Alice-Neko321 - Yesh, and I have updated again~!
MasterSpikeII - Maaaaaybe... I honestly have no clue where this story is going either XD
AkitaEls - ...Wow... I didn't realize that you liked this story so much... Thank you very much~!
xXxBlazing HeartxXx - Good! I've done a good job then. You'll be confused about that until a couple chapters later. Ah, no worries. There are only so many names you can make out of the classes, so I'm not too concerned about any of those details.
Arrow-chan3 - Eh? VP's not in this fix XD But please don't give me ideas, it's already chaotic enough just trying to form a coherent plot line that everyone else can understand XD ARROW-CHAN! *uses defibrillators* NO DYING YET!
Yami - Ara's just a brilliant character, sarcastic but hilarious in her own way XD We are gathered here today for the holy union of Yami and Rune... And yes, Seris is a purposely inserted annoying character :P
Orithia - Welcome back~! I hope you did well on your exams! Well... Rune and Aisha will be a little tricky in the near future, but yes, he'll be getting bruises XD Here's an update~
Lyte - Bleh! *sticks out tongue* That's all I have to say to you! ;)
MiyuMelody - Thank you very much~! And the entire purpose is to be confused, so I think I'm doing a pretty bang-on job ^^
Girge - Thank you very much. Hearing something like that from someone like is honestly very flattering, although I don't think I'm nearly as good as you're saying. For someone to praise something I started half-heartedly like this makes me very happy. So. Once again, thank you very much~
Luigi - OH MY EL WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING, TRYING TO SCRATCH AN ITCHY SPOT ON YOUR BRAIN?! *whispers* Don't let Adams hear you say that OAO Lots of people have been asking about 'Elsword,' but all shall be revealed soon! No spoilers for you~ ;)
Me: Now that that's done...
Rena: ?
Me: *steals a random cloak* MASTER HAS GIVEN DOBBY CLOTHES! DOBBY IS FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! *runs away while screaming*
Elgang: *facepalm*
Chung: Ahem... Uh, don't forget to R&R?
Ara: Favorite and follow as you see fit!
Elsa: And answer that dang question for a chance to win a one shot! Unless you don't want it!
Aisha: See you all next chapter!
Me: *returns* Love y'all! Chu~ *continues running around*
Elsword: Okay, who gave Rosa sugar?
Raven: I don't kn- HEY! WHAT THE EL ARE YOU-
*Connection lost*