And now for a five-point summary of the last chapter:

1) Echo has a way back to the school, but refuses to give it up!

Echo: PARROT IS ECHO'S TWIN SISTER! ECHO - I MEAN PARROT - SWEARS!

2) Ara can taste the evil in the air!

Ara: Tastes like chicken.

3) Eve likes fluffy kitties!

Eve: I shall take over the world with my fluffy kitties.

4) Knight's sword is super cold!

Knight: Whoops, looks like me hand froze again. Sorry about that.

5) Karis and her minions attack!

Karis: Wait... Like, attack now?

CHAPTER START!

Add had enough. Just... enough.

If he had to listen to one more word that came out of that redheaded bimbo's mouth, he was going to have to murder something. The aforementioned redheaded bimbo, Karis, glared at him for interrupting her re-run of her so-called 'incredible' speech.

"You! Hot stuff with the silver hair! Shut it. The Queen is at work."

Add gaped. "Excuse me? Hot stuff? Me?"

Erilot nodded sagely. "Yes. Silver is totally in. Hey, Goddess Queen, are you going to dye your hair silver to follow the trend?"

As the incubi and succubi started to bicker over following modern trends and keeping in style, Add felt his blood begin to boil. How dare they.

How dare they.

"How dare you call yourself a goddess?!"

Dumb, dumber, and dumbest turned to him, blinking owlishly. "What?"

Add fumed, a circle of crackling mauve electricity flaring to life around him, dynamos circling viciously. "You are no Goddess! There are only two Goddesses on this blessed planet - and you are not one of them!"

Karis' eyes flashed dangerously, a clawed finger finding its way to her lower lip. Now that she wasn't bickering and squealing like a pre-teen girl playing dress up, she seemed more like a villain - not that Add particularly cared. "Oh? And who would these so-called 'Goddesses' be, then."

Add's eyes narrowed. "The Goddesses are none other than the Nasod Queens! Now, bow before their glory!"

As if on cue, both Eve and Eva burst out from one of the remaining tents, Eve immediately leaping straight into the middle of the budding battle with her drones spinning around her furiously. "Hello, bitches." A smirk played across her normally stoic face as a drone slammed into Erilot's stomach, the second casting a blue shield to protect her from Incoolord's launched attack.

Eva stretched her hand out, Oberon and Ophelia materializing on either side of her. "Oberon, Ophelia. Destroy them." The duo bowed in unison before leaping into the fray, a third servant appearing behind Eva, hovering menacingly. "Ferdinand Prototype one. Your orders are you defend your mistress."

The third servant, a white-haired male clad in formal wear and a golden visor, bowed slightly. "Understood, Milady." Eva nodded in satisfaction.

Add cracked his knuckles, a holographic triangle appearing over his left eye. "Target locked on. Dynamo configuration complete."

Recovering quickly, Erilot sent out a wave of multicolored hearts that slammed into Eve, slipping past her electronic barrier. Whirling around, the blonde slashed down at Eve, forcing her to deactivate her hovering mechanism and drop to the ground. Incoolord clasped his hands together, summoning a void of dark energy that sucked both Oberon and Ophelia towards it, leaping towards Eva.

Ferdinand stepped forward, sending out several pulsor blasts that tore up the ground, sending dirt flying. Eva herself turned a sharp eye to the military standing by. "Well? Are you going to fight or not?"

Her words seemed to spur them into action as they reached for their weapons, ready to turn on their assailants. Karis, who hadn't moved as of yet, cackled, waving her hand and conjuring a gigantic scythe. "Tsk tsk, little Queen. Did you really think I was that stupid?" She smirked, slashing her scythe in a semi-circle and sending a menacing wave of black magic that billowed out like a cloud.

The cloud quickly fell upon the soldiers, filling their mouths and practically choking them. Add covered his mouth and nose hastily, sparing a dynamo to turn into a makeshift air filter. The Succubus Queen cackled again as the soldiers drowned in her black smog, waving a hand imperiously. "Animi keoteurio!"

The soldiers screamed silently, gasping for breath, before they collapsed to the ground in unison. Eve inhaled sharply. "Animi keoteurio. The spell of ultimate control."

Karis nodded, obviously very pleased with herself. "Yes. The final stage of 'mind control': complete binding. An interesting process, right? Kill them all and bind their insignificant wills to mine. Now this," she spread her arms out, motioning to the army beneath her that began to move, eyes glowing an eerie gold as black smoke poured from their mouths. "This is Karis' Fabulous Love-Love Army!" Squealing with laughter, Karis launched her scythe forward. "Nok Spear!"

Dark runes exploded across Add's vision, nearly knocking him back. Eva gripped her drones to keep her balance as Ferdinand shielded her, Eve subtly altering her gravitational field to stay standing. The dark army surged forwards, weapons at the ready and magic charging.

Gritting his teeth, Add launched his dynamos forwards, expanding one to leap on it and use it as a stepping stone to reach Karis. The succubus smirked, swinging her scythe around once more to collide with Add's attack. Snarling, Add swung out another dynamo, violet light surrounding it. "Starfall!"

Pulsing blasts of light fell from the sky, colliding with anything that it could. Incoolord dodged one, only to run into a blast sent by Ferdinand and then get hit violently by both Oberon's outstretched blade and Ophelia's rose-colored blast of electricity.

Erilot whipped around at the sound of Incoolord's pained groan, the split-second distraction preventing her from avoiding a powerful blow from Eve. She dropped to the ground, but not before screeching loudly and forcing Eve to cover her auditory receptors.

Karis shrieked as her comrades fell, violently swinging her scythe back and forth in any direction she could, erratically firing runes and magic. "Kill! My army, destroy! Ravage! Avenge! Animi keoteurio! Corpus revenimis!"

Dark magic exploded, more of the thick black fog rolling out, crackling and shivering. Add swore, leaping out of the way of a stray shot,, eyes narrowing at the bank of black fog. Eve's drones shivered and sparked as the mist infected them, prompting her to flee from the fog as quickly as possible, towing her now-useless drones behind her. A burst of magic struck Oberon, sending him flying and crashing into Ferdinand. Both androids struggled to their feet, shiny metal surfaces scuffed and

"Humming Wind!"

Magical wind thrummed through the camp, pushing the black fog back as far as it could. Karis shrieked in rage, firing more magic off in Rena's general direction. The archer ducked behind Aisha, who twirled her staff before slamming it into the ground and closing her eyes, a shimmering purple barrier sparking to life and deflecting the magic effortlessly. Twirling her staff again, the shield melted away before collecting into a ball of lighting. Eyes flashing, Aisha swung her staff as hard as she could, scattering the lightning in all directions. "Lighting Shower!"

Karis flew out of the way, swinging her scythe over her head in an arc. The sweep sent several conjured bats straight into the lightning, colliding and exploding as the magic clashed. Before Karis could do anything, Rune leapt over an overturned wreckage, sword drawing a complicated rune in midair. "Reseregeum!"

A fiery dragon burst to life, spewing bright flames that heated the air to sweltering temperatures. The spectral beast roared, the very sound shaking the ground. Add gaped at the massive beast at it flew overhead, coiling gracefully and letting out another ground-shaking roar. The spell caster himself had closed his eyes, hands poised in front of him as he guided his magical summon through the air, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Aisha and Rena quickly moved in to flank him, knocking several enemies to the ground as they approached.

Karis shrieked in pain and fury, retreating as far from the dragon as she could. "What! Th-"

Cut off by another roar, the dragon uncoiled and struck like a cobra, passing through as many chests of the possessed soldier as it could in one blow before rearing up once more, striking out at Karis with fiery teeth. The Bat Queen ducked, the ends of her maroon hair singeing from the heat. Hissing menacingly, Karis struck a theatrical pose. "My army! Take out this beast!"

Rune, who had opened his eyes at this point, let out a strained chuckle, relaxing his clenched jaw. "Stupid bitch," he said, arms shaking slightly from the effort exerted to control the fiery beast. "You should know your magic. The ultimate shackle-breaking spell, Reseregeum. Said to have been the only way to open the ancient dragons' treasure troves and passed down over centuries." He glanced at Aisha, steadying his hands once more before clenching his fists, forcing the magic dragon to bend to his will. "Of course, 'shackles' can mean mental control, too."

As if on cue, the soldiers that the spell had passed through began to blink as if waking up from a daze, the golden glow disappearing from their eyes. "Now." It was Aisha who spoke, a hand finding its way to Rune's shoulder to steady him and subtly pass on some of her extra mana. "I think it's time we let this Succubus Queen burn in the hell she crawled out of, right?"

Nodding in agreement, Rune relinquished his slight control over the dragon, letting it fully burst to life as it hunted down Karis. Flames exploded in the clearing, forcing the onlookers to block their eyes or risk being blinded.

Looking back once the light died down, Rena gasped. The dragon, the black magic, and all three demons had disappeared, leaving behind burning wreckage and dazed discarded puppets. "It's gone," she said, her eyes still wide. "I can't feel their presence anymore."

Aisha tsked, swinging her staff once more for good measure before letting it rest lightly on the ground, pristine tip dragging in the dirt. "Karis, no doubt. She must've teleported out after realizing that she was outnumbered. Smart move on her part, bad for us."

Aren suddenly tore through the wreckage in a path towards them, his hair in a wild disarray and dirt streaking his face. "What happened over here?! Is everyone alright?!"

Eva nodded curtly, brushing invisible dirt off of her dress and inspecting Ferdinand for any damage. "Yes. Karis, otherwise known as the Succubus Queen, and her underlings attack the camp. We drove them off with no causalities as far as I know. Speaking of which, where were you and the others?"

Aren let out a sigh of relief before his expression darkened significantly. "Glitter attack on the perimeter. A code six, I'd say. I had to pull whoever was available to fend them off. We heard the explosions, but we were a little too occupied to investigate." He turned to Aisha and Rena, nodding briefly. "Thanks for going ahead. That really saved our asses back here."

Rena cracked a small smile, one that looked forced and strained on her delicate features. "They had it pretty much covered over here. We were more additional support. Have you found Elsa yet?"

Aren let out a sigh, kicking a bit of mangled bedframe out of the way. "No. She's tough though, I'm sure she's alright. Let's start the cleanup - medical or otherwise. The sun is going to go down in a couple of hours and I'd rather not have hundreds of soldiers sleeping out in the cold."

Chung sat in the medical tent, staring blankly down at Rune's sleeping form. The redhead had over exerted himself during the fight with Karis, expending almost all of his mana at once. Knight silently padded up to him, a hand resting on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

Blinking, Chung turned slightly to face Knight, flashing him the tiniest of smiles. "I should be asking you that. He's your brother, not mine."

Knight raised an eyebrow, and Chung couldn't help but feel like Knight was reading his soul with that one look. "But you think of him like one." Chung turned back to the younger redhead as Knight chuckled. "Don't worry. He has that effect on people." Knight's smile turned a little bitter, looking at his sleeping brother. "Always the social butterfly. Always getting himself into trouble because of his flirtatious habits." Knight sniffed slightly, a gentle flare of his nostrils that betrayed his annoyance. "And it was always me that had to get him out of the trouble he caused."

Chung glanced at Knight. "Why are you telling me this?"

Plopping down rather ungracefully on a plastic chair, Knight stared at Chung with such intensity that he thought he might burst into flames. "I know things," he said, his voice low and serious. "Or rather, I've been... seeing things."

Chung's eyebrows furrowed as he pulled up his own chair. Rune stirred slightly, shifting onto his side. Knight, eyes gentle, pulled the blankets up higher over his brother. "What do you mean, seeing things."

It was a statement, not a question.

Knight pressed his lips into a thin line. "I don't think you know about this, but I can see the past - communicate with it, according to what Aisha said. Don't ask me how it works; it includes way too much terminology for me to keep up with it." Chung nodded, silently waiting for Knight to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Knight folded his fingers in front of him. "It might not seem like it, but I love my brothers very much. Both of them." Chung opened his mouth to speak, but Knight held up a hand to stop him. "No, stop. Just... Listen. Please." Grimacing to himself, Knight shifted uncomfortably. "Lately I've been able to see more - years into the past, speak to people who've died a long time ago. And... I saw us. My brother and I, when we were young."

Chung raised an eyebrow. "And? How is that bad?"

"Because," Knight said, eyes flashing. "There was only one of us. Sister called him Elsword."

Knight paused, letting the information sink in. "Only one of us - Infi, Rune, or myself - is an actual person. The other two never existed. My question to you is this: if there is only one Elsword, then why are there three of us?"

Red eyes opened, narrowing into sharp slits. Only one of us is real...

Her eyes traced nonsensical patterns in the clouds, fingers drawing circles in the ground. Anything to distract her from the horrible taste - that bitter, indescribable taste of evil that burned her tongue like acid.

Ara was good at distracting herself, but today wasn't exactly a good day. Soft footsteps approached her, but Ara paid them no mind. "Raven," she said, eyes fluttering shut as she basked in the last rays of sunlight. "Get the fuck away from me or I'm going to spear you."

"Oi."

Golden eyes snapped open. That was definitely not Raven.

"I-Infi?! You're not... you're not running away from me today?"

Turning 'till she gave herself whiplash, Ara gaped at Infi. Sure enough, he was standing there in all his glory, sunset light glinting off his gear attractively. Except... He wasn't talking to her.

Instead, the redhead had called out to Aisha, the purple-haired mage a few paces away. Ara narrowed her eyes, but surprised herself with the lack of anger that usually simmered in her gut when the redhead talked to the mage.

Ara wasn't stupid.

She could see Infi's little crush from almost a mile away.

Instead of storming over to separate the two, Ara decided she would distract herself in a much better way: watching and observing.

Aisha turned around to face Infi, a clearly disinterested expression crossing her face. "What do you want now?" Her hip jutted out to the side in an uncannily sassy manner - Ara was beginning to think that Aisha was secretly a mini-diva, or maybe Add's sass-master sister. Both were possible.

Infi scowled in response, but it lacked the usual bite that his scowls normally had. Ara almost felt disappointed - this was playing out almost like one of those cheesy dramas that were always on TV that she was admittedly partial to. But, just like those cheesy TV dramas, even if you knew what was going to happen, you just had to keep watching.

"Listen. I just wanted to say... thanks."

Aisha, obviously not expecting that response, physically recoiled. "What?"

Flushing slightly, Infi crossed his arms and turned to the side. Oh my El, Ara thought to herself. Infi is totally one of those cold bad-boy types. She paused, tilting her head. And I'm actually such a creep, watching them for entertainment. Oh well.

"I mean... Thanks. For supporting my crappy older brother. I know that he was pushing himself by showing off, but if you hadn't given him your extra mana, he could be in a lot worse condition right now. So... thanks."

Aisha gaped. "Oh my El Infi just said thank you."

At this Infi snapped, growling menacingly. "Want a recording, huh? Fucking nuts, that's what you are."

Aisha sneered in response, before fidgeting slightly. "I... um... It was no problem." Here she flushed, shyly scratching her cheek. "I-I can't just let a fellow mage collapse from exhaustion and all..."

At this, Infi's face hardened. "Fellow mage, huh." He sounded thoroughly unimpressed.

Ara nearly squealed. Classic love triangle! This is so cliché that it's so good!

Shaking her head, Aisha smiled weakly, her face still red. "Well... I've got to... go? Yeah. I've got to go. Bye. And, uh, you're welcome. Yeah." The mage fled, and with her hasty retreat, something inside Ara clicked.

Now she understood everything.

Nodding determinedly, Ara stood up and marched straight up to Infi. "Infi!" Said redhead whipped around to face her, eyes narrowing. "Shit. It's you. What do you want, insane bitch?"

Ara held up her chin. "I just realized that I don't like you."

Infi gaped. "What?"

Nodding to herself, Ara continued. "I don't like you romantically speaking. Maybe. I don't know. But you and your love life is way too interesting to leave alone! So," she pointed at him, eyes narrowing. "You're going to keep me amused so I don't keep tasting nasty shit in the air. Capiche?"

Oh. My. El.

[A/N:]

Is anyone still reading this? Finally an update, though! This one's a little longer than usual to make up for my many-month absence. And I solemnly swear to at least try to update more frequently (keyword: try) but there's no guarantee. Sorry, but life likes to get in the way. I'll definitely finish this and all my other stories, though!

And, I know that I totally said that I was going to switch over to PM responses, but I'm lazy, so back to business as usual. Yay!

SIDE NOTE: I'm probably going to go back and clean up previous chapters. Just formatting, A/Ns, spelling and grammar errors, etc. will be changed, so old readers don't necessarily have to re-read chapters because nothing will be added. Just letting you know.

Moving on, onto REVIEWER REPLIES!

Astaria Mel Kanariane - I know, I'm literally the queen of infrequent updates XD In my head, Knight actually has a reel of potty-words that he never actually says out loud, so it makes sense to me, but maybe not so much to you? I'm glad you still find this funny ^^ I try!

Risingwind - Yes. Kitty obsession and color-tasting ftw. In the Elsword 'movies', Karis is working for Ran, but my version isn't directly under him. More of like a subordinate of a subordinate? So they still work together, just not as closely.

LucasTheCookie - Totally have an InfixAra scene. Just... Minus the fighting XD

ThatOneExoticPotato - I nearly cried writing Karis' speech because my friends were giving me input and dramatically re-enacting it behind me. My mom now thinks we're insane XD Yay! Echo's chair is totally clean! I like Knight's development myself, but it's too slow for others, I guess? I don't know. It just bothered me and I exploded a little :P

Yami - I fully intend to milk Eva's slap score for as long as I can XD Just so I can see how much I abuse Rune in the end, I think. YES. BROTHER-IN-LAW BONDING TIME ACTIVATED. Oh my god, I've been obsessed with them too (which is totally where that came from, I mean, I had to slip it in somewhere!). As for a quick update... Oops?

TheTrueMasterofTempest (chpt. 4) - Me too. Me too.

GirlyTurtle (chpt. 10) - Yay new readers! Welcome to the insanity! Unfortunately my little guessing game is closed now :( But! Another one should be coming out soon! So stay tuned ;)

That's it for now! Hopefully I'll update faster next time. So! Don't forget to R&R, follow and favorite if you want, and see you all next chapter!

| Rosamanelle