The air inside Elsa's tent was tense. You could practically see the tension as it filled the air, thick enough to cut.

Raven cleared his throat. "So now we sort of know what's going on."

Aren sighed, running a hand through his hair, the other tracing random patterns on the armrest of his seat. "We still don't know enough. Like when will the others wake up? Why now of all times? When will Ran make his move?"

The unsaid question hung heavily in the air. When will Aren stop being able to control Ran?

Unfolding her arms, Elsa leaned forwards, chewing on a bit of her ruby hair. "We know that we only have a limited amount of time to work with, so we need to work fast. There has to be some way to stop what Ran is planning to do before it even starts, right?"

"Conspiring so early in the morning without me? For shame~"

Scooting backwards in alarm, Raven turned his amber gaze on to the tent flap. "Rena?! What are you doing here?"

The elf smiled, waving courteously to Aren and Elsa. "While I was back in the Elven world to attend to some business, my... affliction became apparent. As for why I'm here, I happened to be passing by, and overheard part of your conversation. This obviously has something to do with all of us, doesn't it?"

Elsa swallowed. "...So you've awakened?"

Rena smiled brightly. "Yup. But don't worry, I figured out how to control it. Oh, and Raven?" Raven raised an eyebrow at her. "You better figure yourself out soon. They're going to need all the help they can get."

Elsa grimaced, crossing one leg over the other, throwing Rena the sternest gaze she could muster at the moment. The blonde elf tilted her head, waiting for Elsa to speak. "I think I know what you're going to say, but I have to ask. Friend or foe?"

Sighing, Rena walked further into the tent, perching herself on the edge of Elsa's unoccupied cot. "I haven't picked a side yet. But I'm leaning towards friend, if you must know. Someone else needs to hurry up and wake up, I'm getting lonely all by myself!"

Aren pressed his lips together, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "If you've really woken, then the others are going to be following soon. Raven, you're no exception to this."

Ruffling his hair, Raven frowned. "I'd like to think that if I awaken I'll have enough control to stop myself from destroying everything, but... There are no guarantees. After all, Rena's first awakening ended with her threatening Seris and myself."

"Hey! She deserved it!"

Ignoring Rena's outburst, Elsa furrowed her eyebrows, letting out a deep breath. "We're definitely going to need to figure something out. If we don't have a plan of action, this will end in disaster."

Wetting his lips, Aren stared at the ground in front of him. "I'm worried that even if we have a plan, this will end in disaster anyways."

The room fell silent again. After a few tense moments, Raven broke the silence. "I say the next person to wake will be Chung."

Rena pursed her lips, shifting on the spot. "It doesn't seem like he's too close to waking. As sad as it is to say, Knight and Infi are closer to waking. And we all know that can't happen before the rest wake."

Growling softly, Elsa stood up, pushing her chair behind her. The chair clattered to the ground, being knocked over by the force behind Elsa's hand. "Well there must be something we can do! Rena, can't you do anything?!"

Rena sighed, smiling sadly. "I can't do anything. I protect and I see; not set into motion or bloom. If you want to speed up an awakening, you'll need one of those two, and neither of them are ready to step into their role. She might be able to help, but I don't think she wants to reveal her presence just yet."

Cursing under her breath, Elsa turned to Aren. "How much longer do you think we have?"

Aren ground his teeth together. "Less than a month. Maybe less. He's getting stronger, and I'm getting weaker." Whirling to face Rena and Raven, Elsa scowled.

"Raven. Would you be able to do anything?"

Raven shook his head. "I'm nowhere close."

"Even if he were, there's nothing he could do by himself," Rena added. Tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ears, Rena stood up. "But there might be something I can do." Walking towards Aren, she cast a regretful glance at Raven. "This would be more effective if Raven and I could combine powers, but for now this will have to do." Holding a hand out over Aren's forehead, Rena's eyes misted over, glowing with an eerie light. A glittering green-gold light flashed in the palm of her hand, bursting to encompass Aren.

"Ran Haan, demon of the night, bearer of a soul of pure black. You do not have permission to walk in this world. I command thee to sleep; never set foot in this land until your soul is of pure white. Should you enter this land, you will wither and die."

Retracting her hand, Rena blinked several times, her eyes returning to their usual luster. "Hopefully that'll buy us some time. I wasn't able to cast a very strong spell over Ran, otherwise I could've destroyed Aren accidentally and set Ran free, which would be counter-productive. There are thousands of loopholes and thousands of keys he could use to get out of this one."

Elsa clapped her on the back in a friendly gesture. "You did great, Rena. Even a few more days is vital to our operations." Aren sent Rena a bright smile.

"Either way, I think it's working for now. Thank you for not disintegrating me on the spot..." He paused for a moment, before lowering his head respectfully. "...My Lady."

Back in the main part of the camp, Ara was busy throwing a tantrum. She had found her clothing stuffed inside her mattress and was throwing a fit over how crumpled they were.

"SERIOUSLY EVE! YOU KNOW THAT I ONLY HAVE THIS ONE SET OF CLOTHING WITH ME AND YOU GO AND RUIN IT! GEEZ! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU! GET OVER HERE SO I CAN TURN YOU INTO A PILE OF JUNK!"

Rune, who had followed Ara alongside Aisha, wrinkled his nose. "You should probably get those washed. Elsa had some spare military uniforms we could wear set out in the tents."

Ara spat at the duo, narrowing her eyes. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME DAMN MILITARY UNIFORM! I just want my own freaking clothing! Who cares if it smells like sweat and smoke and whatever the hell it'll smell like?!"

Raising an eyebrow, Rune shrugged. "O-kay then. You can smell bad for all you want. Sorry for trying to spare you from the horrors called the smell of the military."

Gently punching Rune in the arm, Aisha glared at him. "Stop being so sarcastic. But he's probably right, Ara. I don't think you want to wear the uniform." Scowling, Ara stared at her rumpled school uniform. Tossing it over her shoulder, she pulled out the tan military uniform that Elsa had left in the tents. Coughing awkwardly, Rune backpedaled away from the tent, giving Ara room to change. The action didn't go unnoticed by Aisha.

Not. At. All.

"Rune... Could it be that you look like and act like a Casa Nova, but you're actually too shy to do anything...?"

Spluttering and flushing a brilliant bright red, Rune sent her a glare that was ruined by the bright color of his cheeks. "What the El are you talking about?! Jeez Aisha, you're so... so weird!"

Aisha rolled her eyes, a small smirk working its way onto her face. "Okay then. Nice comeback, by the way." Rune scowled, sassily tossing his hair before turning to walk away, leaving behind a purple-haired mage who was desperately trying not to laugh.

Making his way through the military camp, he somehow ended up in a small clearing in the woods where Infi, Add, and Chung were gathered around a table. And they were arm wrestling. Chung, glancing up from Infi and Add's battle, caught sight of Rune, cheerily waving at him as he motioned for him to come over. "Hey Rune!" He chirped cheerily, scooting over to one side so Rune could sit down. "Add and Infi asked for me to referee their arm wrestling match. This is their fifth round."

Raising an eyebrow, Rune glance as his younger brother finally forced Add's arm to the ground. Crowing in delight, Infi raised a fist, an exuberant yet sharp smile plastered across his face, ruby eyes twinkling as he basked in his victory. Add groaned, his forehead meeting the wooden tabletop. "Ha!" Infi shouted, pointing triumphantly at Add's snowy head. "I won! That makes the score 3-2! You owe me fifty ED, brat!" Add muttered something that was muffled by the table but sounded suspiciously like 'hell no.' Infi took the opportunity to smack Add on the head, cackling as Add fell backwards off of his chair, clutching his head.

"The El?! Infi you bastard, you'll have to pay for my hospital fees!" Pretending to die in a melodramatic fashion, Add fell limp. Infi scoffed, nudging him with the toe of his shoe.

"And we have a winner for the worst actor award of the year, Add Ition! Congratulations, you suck!"

Add stuck out his tongue. "You're just jealous of my awesomeness."

Infi rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. Chung watched with mild amusement from behind him. "Why do you even exist?"

"Because I'm fabulous - but please, no pictures. I don't do autographs, either."

Rune snorted, holding back laughter. "You two are such idiots it's not even funny!" The aforementioned idiots glared at him in sync. Backing up, Rune held out his hands. "No, hear me out. You guys met what, a week ago? And now you're all buddy-buddy like you've been friends forever."

Infi shrugged. "Add's cool. Plus, have you seen his Nasod bees before? They're awesome! I might put some in Knight's bed later... Hey, Add! Help me?"

Chung frowned, leaning forwards on the table. One hand fiddled with a lock of his long blond hair, twirling it around his finger before letting it unwind, repeating the process. "You know, I don't think Knight will appreciate that. Nasod bees are known to be quite venomous..."

Narrowing his eyes, Infi whirled on Chung. "Okay She-Man, listen. I. Don't. Care."

Pursing his lips, Chung held out his hand. "Tell you what, if you can beat me in arm wrestling, I won't interfere with your plans to prank Knight for the rest of the year. Sound good?"

Contemplating the offer took Infi a total of 0.000000001 seconds."Sure. Don't be upset when I win." He glanced at Chung's hands. "Are you right-handed or left-handed?"

Sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, Chung chuckled. "Truthfully, I'm left-handed, but I always hold my weapon in my right."

Rune wrinkled his nose. "That's weird." Chung shrugged. "Hey, Destroyers don't come in a left-handed version."

Infi smirked. "Your loss. I happen to be left-handed as well." This made Rune cough, nearly falling off of his chair as he started backwards.

"WHAT?!"

Raising an eyebrow, Infi glanced at his brother. "Didn't you know?"

Rune spluttered. "But if you're left-handed, why hold Cornwell in your right?! It's the better sword!"

Infi rolled his eyes, punching Rune in the shoulder rather hard. Ignoring Rune's squeak of pain, Infi continued. "It's BECAUSE my right side is my weaker side, dumbass. Cornwell makes up for all the weaknesses on that side. Now can we just get this on? I don't have all day to chat with you idiots."

It took a total of 0.000000001 seconds for Chung to have Infi's arm pinned against the table. Infi screeched in surprise. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR ARM MADE OF?! FIFTY POUND BRICKS?!"

Chung beamed brightly, his blue eyes shining with laughter. "You do realize that I used to carry around a Destroyer all day for the past ten years, right? And that thing weighs more than you do."

Add, from his position on the ground, laughed, clutching his stomach with one hand. "Oh my El! That was the fastest arm wrestling contest I've ever seen!"

Infi growled at him. "Fuck you, Add."

Add laughed, flicking his white bangs out of his face. "That's gross. No thank you." Sighing, Chung stood up.

"Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I have some important matters to attend to now. If you'll excuse me." Nodding to Add and sending a bright smile to Rune, Chung turned to leave, flicking some hair off of his shoulder as he left.

The small tremor that ran through Chung's left hand wasn't missed by Rune's observant gaze.

"I'm still putting bees in Knight's bed," Infi muttered.

On the other side of camp, Knight sneezed. Aisha, who was sitting across from him, looked up in alarm. "Are you alright?"

Smiling, Knight folded his hands in front of him. "Ah, I'm fine. Perhaps I'm catching a bit of a cold?"

Nodding, Aisha quickly looked Knight up and down. "So... That explosion of magic... You were saying you had something to do with it?" Nodding solemnly, Knight sighed.

"At some point last night I lost consciousness, but I could feel magic power flowing out of me to a certain extent. When I woke up, Add wouldn't look me in the eye and I had a killer headache, although I suspect Add threw a beside table at me to stop whatever magic I was using and that contributed to the headache."

Pursing her lips, Aisha drummed her fingers on the bench they were sitting on. "Hmm... That does sound rather unusual. Did you pass out from exhaustion? Or was it something else?"

Knight sighed, staring off into the distance. "It wasn't exhaustion, that's for sure. Add was telling me about how he got his scar when I started feeling this strange tingling in my fingertips, and then that's when I blacked out."

Nodding, Aisha pulled out a book and a pen, scribbling something in it. "I understand. Was there anything else you felt? Maybe you heard something or saw something?"

Pressing his lips together in a thin line, Knight tilted his head. "Yeah. Somewhere in the back of my head I heard this really deep, scratchy voice. It was whispering something, but I couldn't really tell what it was. It sounded like it said 'Elsword,' but I don't know what that means..."

Aisha stiffened. "Are you sure the voice said 'Elsword?'" Knight nodded. Aisha paled. "And you said it was really deep, right? Deeper than Raven's?" Another nod. "Was it... invasive? Like it wasn't supposed to be there? Or it didn't feel right?" Thinking for a moment, Knight licked his lips.

"Yeah. I don't think the voice was produced because of whatever I was doing, it was like it was someone from the outside forcing their way in."

Swallowing nervously, Aisha's eyes flicked to her book before returning to Knight. "The voice... Did it say anything else?"

Knight nodded slowly. "Come to think of it, it did. Right as I was blacking out, it said 'I found you...' Aisha, what does it mean? That it found me?" Paling even more, Aisha stood upright.

"Lady El!" Snatching up her notebook, Aisha frantically dashed off, pausing only for a moment to call back to Knight. "I have to go now! It's urgent! Sorry for leaving so suddenly!"

Tilting his head, Knight blinked. "Okay then...?" Standing up, he brushed off his pants, glancing around the camp. No one was really doing anything, and Knight was pretty sure that if the Glitters decided to attack they would all be screwed and would be dead in a matter of minutes.

Spotting Chung walking by at a fast pace, Knight decided to go and talk to him. Weaving in and out of the tents, Chung ducked into one with a string of beads hanging from the tarp. Before Knight could wonder what Chung was doing in there, a hand plopped itself down on his shoulder. Knight yelped. "Oh my El, you scared me Eve!"

The silver-haired Nasod smiled slightly, turning her gaze to the tent. "Is Chung in there?" Knight nodded. "I was going to ask him something about Rune, but then he walked into here and it'd be quite rude to just walk in." Nodding, Eve motioned towards the tent with her head.

"Well then, I'm inviting you in. Let's go."

As Knight was dragged into the tent, he wasn't sure what to expect. But he sure as El wasn't expecting to see Chung's left arm strapped down to a table and split open at the middle, complex wiring and circuitry spilling out of the metal shell, Eva posed over it with a small screwdriver. Glancing at the opening of the tent, Eva nodded to Knight. "Hello. What brings you here?"

Chung's head snapped up, staring wide-eyed at Knight. "O-Oh, Knight! What're you doing here?" His voice was thick with tension, the smile on his face obviously strained. Knight raised an eyebrow.

"I was going to ask you something about Rune, but seeing that you're... busy, I can come back later." Chung let out a sigh.

"Sit. This won't take long, so you can talk to me after this."

Nodding, Knight sat on a wooden chair, staring at Chung's arm. Eva bent over it, deftly unhooking wires and reconnecting them. "Whatever have you been doing, Chung? The wires are all out of order and some of the circuits are damaged. No wonder you were having issues with it!" She lifted out a damaged part, the delicate wiring sizzling and crackling.

Chung cringed. "The other day in Advanced Alchemy we were learning how to create an electromagnetic bomb, and I couldn't exactly give any reasons why I couldn't be in the classroom." Eva sighed.

"You need to take better care of this arm. It will hurt to repair this, and it must have hurt walking around without getting your arm repaired for the past few days."

Eve flicked Chung's head. "You should treat our technology with respect, Guardian boy. Otherwise the treaty will never work."

Snorting, Chung rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm planning to jeopardize the entire thing. Peace negotiations need to work if we want to be prepared for what's to come."

Clearing his throat, Knight shifted in his seat. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get that arm?"

Chung sighed. "You know how thirteen years back Hamel flooded and there was that demon invasion?" Knight nodded. Chung smiled shakily. "I was only three at the time. A demon caught up with me and my mother and bit my arm off." Chung's breathing quickened, before Eva soothingly rubbed his shoulder.

"Hush. If you panic I'll never be able to fix your arm."

Nodding, Chung swallowed, continuing. "Thankfully my father was able to reach us in time, but... I needed a prosthetic limb after that."

Knight sighed. "I'm sorry for making you remember that." Shaking his head, Chung chuckled, twisting awkwardly to face Knight, his arm still strapped to the table. Eva let out a whine of annoyance.

"Stop moving, you oaf!"

Ignoring Eva, Chung smiled at Knight. "It's okay, it's only a memory. What's in the past is in the past, right?"

Grinning slightly, Knight chuckled. "Right."

Elsa growled, glaring at something scribbled on a piece of paper. "None of this is ever going to work! We'll need at least three of the awakened for all of these to work, not two!" Scowling, she tore the paper in half before scrunching it into a ball and tossing it into an ever-growing mound of paper in the center of the room. Her companions who were scattered around the tent wore matching gloomy faces, staring forlornly at the pile of discarded plans.

Aren groaned. "We're doomed."

Sighing, Rena flopped back on Elsa's bed. "I hate to say it, but I think Aren's right. Unless we could somehow get support from the others, we're doomed."

Aren groaned again. "Rena, that was your cue to say everything's going to be alright."

Rolling over onto her stomach, Rena glared at Aren. "I refuse to lie to satisfy your need for reassurance!" Before Aren could snap at Rena, Raven cut in.

"Alright, that's enough you two. Everyone's frustrated and tired. We've outnumbered, outgunned, and unfortunately outsmarted. But we will turn this situation around, one way or another."

Before anyone else could speak, the 'door' to the tent was flung open, and out of breath Aisha panting in the doorway. "I know I was supposed to be hiding my presence from you and whatnot, but there's a major emergency."

Rena giggled airily, trying to ease the tension that was building up. "I know you've been awake since I came back from the Elven land, Aisha. But... What's so pressing that you came out?"

Aisha tossed the book in her hand onto Elsa's desk, causing the redhead to skitter back out of surprise. "I've been keeping tabs on Knight's progress and trying to slow him to buy everyone else more time."

Raven furrowed his eyebrows. "And...?"

Aisha bit her lip, her eyes welling with unshed tears. "It's Ran. He's found them."

The stunned silence was broken by Elsa. "Shit."

After getting his arm fixed by Eva, Chung left the tent, holding open the flap for Eva. Rune (who had run over as fast as he could, his Cheva detector went into a frenzy and like hell he was going to let an opportunity to tease them slip past him!) chuckled, nudging Chung in the ribs. "Sooo... What were you two doing in that tent? Alone? For at least an hour?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Thwack!

Chung hit him. With his left hand, which Knight now knew was made of METAL.

Slap!

In a very Eva-like fashion, Eva slapped him.

Eva: 21

Chung: 5

Rune: 1

"How rude. I would like to inform you that we were doing nothing of what you are suggesting."

"Rune, you deserved it. Plus, Knight and Eve were in the tent as well."

Oh. My. El.

Me: Woot! So, those of you who have been complaining about all the conspiracy and demanded answers, HERE YOU GO! OVER 1000 WORDS OF ANSWERS!

Aisha: But you just made more questions...

Me: Hush. It's necessary.

Rena: So Rosa decided that instead of writing more chapters for the rest of the summer she needs to go to FREAKING CHINA for two weeks~!

Me: OH MY GOD RENA YOU'RE SO SARCASTIC! But yes, I will be in China from July 27th to August 7th, so don't expect me to reply to PMs/review stories/write chapters during that time span! Thank you for your consideration~

Elsword: But to make up for that time spent out of country... GUESS FOR A ONE SHOT TIME!

Chung: For those of you who don't remember the rules, a question will be asked based on this story. The first person to get the correct answer will win a oneshot with any pairing of their choice!

Me: And now for the question!

Q: What chapter of 'Oh My El' is the only chapter that does not end (before the A/N) with 'Oh. My. El.'?

Me: Guess away! And now onto REVIEWER REPLIES!

Yami - Sometimes I think I bounce back and forth from serious to funny too much, but hey, if it works it works! I see Add as a really sarcastic character with random outbursts of crazy, plus there can only be so many insane characters in one story. I'm one of those people who doesn't drink coffee, but ALL HAIL ANYTHING WITH CAFFEINE. I didn't actually intend to put a RunexAisha moment in, but then I thought 'why not?' XD That's a good moral of the story. I like that moral. IF YOU GO IN THERE AND PUNCH ELESIS SHE'LL GO 'WTF?' AND SLICE YOU WITH HER SWORD O_O

DevilWolf641 - Eh, whatever works for you. OH HEY YOU SOUND LIKE ONE OF MY FRIENDS, EXCEPT WHENEVER HE GOES INTO PSYCHO-MODE WE IGNORE HIM! :D Oooh, you're called 'The Devil' and 'The Little Devil'...? Maybe you're related to the Yama Raja class! XD

DerpyKanshii - Thank you! And never mess with Ara's clothes.

Aya-pi - 1000 words of answers plus 1000 more questions! You're welcome! XD I've got something pretty badass planned out for Rune to make up for his constant abuse. And Rena's a special snowflake so no one cares at the moment. Ah yes, hit-and-run comedy. Works every time :P Thank you very much~!

InfinityEls - Two things: One, it's a whole bathroom full of frogs, not just one. Two, this LK has a serious phobia of frogs. But thanks for the review!

xXHakuraXx - *looks down* ...Hi?

Qweenie123 (Guest) chapters 1- 6 - Thank you for your continued support! I'm glad you enjoyed the story and I hope you continue reading it!

Kiyo - Thank you very much! As for your question... Maaaaaybe :P

Epsilon - That's a pretty accurate representation about half of this story, except Eva's slapping Rune and Eve's strangling Infi, not having Moby and Remy hold him XD

AvidMind (Guest) - I'm very happy that you like this story, although I'm fairly certain Google translate helped a lot with that writing-in-Korean thing XD In all honesty I was really worried that once I made the transition from light, comedic randomness to something darker but still comedic that not a lot of people would like it, but this really reassures me. Ah, as for the pairings, all of the pairings in this story were planned out from almost the beginning, so yes, Knight will be paired up with someone. Right now I'm focusing on building the suspense up while easing into the more romantic parts of the story. Thank you so much for your kind review! I hope you continue to enjoy this story!

Me: So that's that, I guess?

Add: You ramble too much.

Me: And you're a Nasod obsessed mechanic with one weird eyeball.

Add: Touche.

Raven: Planning on rambling anymore?

Me: Nah, I'm gonna go and be lazy now. ROLL THE END CREDITS!

Eve: Please do not forget to R&R.

Elesis: Follow and favorite, too!

Ara: See you all next chapter!

Me: Love y'all! Chu~