Long time no see!

Believe it or not, I didn't forget about updating. I actually had to rewrite this chapter a hundred times until I had something that I actually felt satisfied with. And with a bunch of stuff to do between each attempt, of course. But as I told you on an author's note, this fanfic isn't dead until I say so myself!

So uh, enjoy?

I do not own Elsword nor its characters.

The tense atmosphere was so dense it seemed to condense and wrap tightly around her; the derogative stares of those elegantly dressed people around her weighting on her back, following every step. She knew her worn out fighting clothes made her stand out in the crowd, but she was oblivious to the negative attention everyone threw on her like invisible knives of disapprobation. Her eyes were fixed on the couple at the center of the salon, her determination unrelenting, erasing her surroundings. A soft waltz played shyly on the background as the sound of the cutting edge of her sword scratching the tiles took over the room like a dreadful sentence making multiple faces flinch in unison.

Her gaze fixated on the pale face of her old friend, that traitor. How immensely irritating it was to see her with that self-sufficient and fearless expression, even though she noticed her eyebrows furrowing just slightly in anger or worry, she couldn't tell. Ara held her stare firmly, not even flinching at the threat she represented for both of them or the surprise of her presence. Sometimes she forgot how strong of a woman she was. That white haired abomination, on the other hand, showed absolutely no expression whatsoever.

She walked slowly, almost savoring each step taking her closer to the purge she had set her mind on. All of the pieces had suddenly clicked together one day, showing the horrible picture to her. Ever since the ball had taken place she had been pondering about the shadowy events of that night in the alleyway, a feeling in her guts urging her to believe there was something wrong about what had happened. And then she remembered, the dried out body on the ground, the man with the shotgun, that monster covered in blood; the liquid that dripped out of his mouth. She understood he was dangerous, but then the marks all over Ara's body every time she came back home at night and the multiple bodies the group managed to find, without a single trace of blood spilling out of them. The demons weren't as clean or careful as to fix the mess their inhuman hunger used to leave, so there had to be something else. And it made sense. The mythical creatures of the books, the kings of the demons that had their fearsome presence reduced to legends for so long; it was clear it was one of them. And to top it off, her loyal friend and comrade had been feeding him. If it was true that vampires were the most powerful upon the demons then they had to have their hands on what had been tormenting the town for centuries. And she was going to stop it, even if it meant erasing old friends, traitors, out of the way.

The ample room filled with exclamations of surprise and horror when the tip of her sword met eye-level with Ara, who had positioned herself in front of the white haired man. Add, was it? She couldn't remember his name. Ara didn't flinch; she didn't take a single step back. Her stance was protective, her expression impassive. Elesis knew perfectly well how impossible it was going to be to convince her out of her own ways; the fierce shine on her eyes reminded her that.

"How rude of you to attend a ball uninvited. And what's more, carrying a weapon" the girl in front of her spoke with a silky voice, shaking her head softly in a gesture of disapproval. It was hard to believe how not too long ago they had hugged each other tightly in the middle of a dark room, filled with the corpses of their friends, comforting each other. And now she was talking to her with such a cold and distant tone, like an old enemy. But of course, she was pointing at her with a sword.

"Move, or I'll slice you too" Elesis said merely, her own determination flooding the unshakable voice that came out huskily through her throat. Ara had betrayed their cause, but if she let her kill the monster without interruptions her life could be spared. She was an old friend, after all. She heard the multitude gasp in horror, whimper and exclaim in confusion. The sounds of the crowd moving disorderly filled the room. She felt multiple steps hurrying towards her from behind, and she moved quickly around to face the disgusting expressions of those soulless servants that came to stop her from hurting their master. They moved like automats, it was going to be no problem for her to finish them. She swung her sword skillfully, aiming for their heads when they threw themselves at her, wanting to grab her and restrain her limbs. The cutting edge of her weapon reached for the neck of one of them, it was going to be a clean cut, but it stopped in mid air.

Ara's body was pressing against her back, her firm grip restraining her hands, holding her wrists. Elesis movements were fast, but so were hers. How could she forget? Her arms were strongly retained. She gave a step back, swinging her arm backwards, aiming her elbow to the girl's chest. With a single, swift movement she dodged to a side, releasing Elesis wrists from one of her hands for a short moment she used to shake her grip off and free both of her arms. Immediately after Ara was in front of her, taking advantage of that second of confusion to hit her wrists harshly, nearly making her drop her sword. The handle slipped briefly from the palms of her hands, she hurried to catch it again before it would hit the ground but the other girl's hands had already grabbed it. Both of them had the handle between their hands and were looking into each other's eyes with sparkles of resolution shinning on them dangerously. If she wanted to free herself from that inconvenient situation she had to act fast.

Elesis charged against her, using her shoulders to push her away and, hopefully, force her to let go of her sword. But as much as she wanted her to lose her balance and drop the weapon, her grip on it was way too firm and her reaction way too fast. Of course, she was a martial artist after all; but what could she do, dressed like that? Ara moved to the side quickly, using the momentum of Elesis charge to her advantage when her knee rose up to intercept her body and her arms pulled of the handle downwards, forcing Elesis to lose balance and fall forward over her bent knee. The impossible position of the redhead's arms gave her free way to take possession of the sword completely, ripping it out of her hands with ease.

Fearing Ara would take the chance to cut through her with the sword, she stood up quickly. But the ebonette threw the weapon away, making a loud, metallic noise when its edge hit the tiles. The people gathering around them moved away when the sword fell to the ground.

"Listen everyone! I deeply appreciate your presence here, but I beg you to leave the castle immediately in order to preserve your safety! Worry not, this lunatic is soon going to be taken care of!" the strong and deep voice of the up until then silent host of the party resounded on the large salon, urging everyone to leave. The crowd started to move hurriedly towards the big gates of the entrance, murmuring excitedly on their way out. The big room was soon emptied until there was no one but the three of them and the servants. Elesis glared at him furiously, a killer instinct shinning on her eyes as she ran towards her disposed sword. But Ara intercepted her again, pressing her foot down against the metal, holding the weapon on its place. She looked at her defiantly.

"Elesis, please calm yourself down now" the woman said calmly, yet with a authoritative undertone on her voice that made a chill run down through her spine.

"He is a vampire isn't he? A demon. I haven't forgotten about our duty, unlike you" she retorted with a poisonous tone, anger twirling on her stomach.

"Oh, I haven't either" she furrowed her brows. "But it has nothing to do with this" she replied.

"It does! He's a demon! He's killed innocents for blood! He's a murderer, probably allied with the demons invading us" she shouted with exasperation, getting closer and closer to Ara as she clenched her fists.

"Why is it only black and white with you? Don't you understand the world works in a more complex way? How can you talk like that when you don't really understand what's happening?" she reproached her irritated, not even needing to raise her tone as well to show how much Elesis words bothered her. "Do you really think I'd side with someone even remotely related to the tragedy that has been hurting everyone, myself included?" she added, narrowing her eyes to gaze at her with anger.

"You're such an hypocrite…" she started saying, her words violently cut off by a hand that grabbed her neck from behind, lifting her in the air as if she weighted nothing, the moment her body started to move towards Ara furiously. She found herself at least a meter from the ground, her legs hanging without being able to do much to release herself. The strength with which she was being held was enough to choke her if it had been applied to the front of her neck instead. Looking down, she saw the white haired man holding her up. Rage built up inside of her even more. "Let go of me, you monster!" she shouted.

Add looked up at her with a blank expression, every muscle on his face unmovable, yet with a dangerous light blazing on his eyes. She saw them slowly turning from their regular magenta shade to a dark red, shadowing over his gaze.

"You dare to walk into my residence carrying a sword, scare everyone away, threaten to kill me, then attack your own friend" he spoke calmly, a gelid tone making the air around them freeze for a moment. "And you call me a monster?".

She saw how Ara picked the sword up from the ground, handing it to one of the servants that had previously tried to attack her. The expressionless, moving corpse took the weapon away. Then the girl looked up to meet her gaze.

"Enough is enough, Elesis. If there's a savage in this room, it is you" she started, frowning. "I want justice and revenge as much as you do. Do not dare forgetting that. But this is not the way to do it, Add has nothing to do with all of this. If you won't trust him, then trust me".

"Trust you? You're a traitor" she retorted angrily. The strength applied on her increasing every second.

"Oh? How have I betrayed you? Have you noticed those dried out-bodies-killings have stopped completely? Why do you think that is?" she said coldly. "My family, my friends, everyone I know have been killed by demons. I've suffered as much as you have, I want revenge as much as you do. Then why would you think I'd side with someone even remotely responsible for what has happened? Use your head, Elesis" she added, her voice starting to shake slightly with irritation.

Elesis held her stare for several seconds, feeling on her the weight of her words, the weight of her feelings and intentions being conveyed to her. She saw into those honey eyes and felt the seriousness behind them, the deep compromise that hid under that penetrating and strong gaze. She felt like a fool.

"Let me go!" she shouted to the top of her lungs, nearly ripping off her own throat. Her legs started to move forward and backwards, kicking disorderly the chest and stomach of the man holding her up. But his body didn't move an inch with her hits and he remained impassive.

"As you wish" he spoke huskily before letting go of her.

Before her body could hit the ground, Ara took a step closer to wrap her arms around her back, holding her firmly. She struggled to break free from her firm, yet gentle grip but the other girl didn't move.

"Elesis…I know it is hard to listen to what I'm asking you to do. I know he has killed innocents before, and that it is inexcusable. But please hear me out. I am your friend; I have always been, so trust me with this. I would never do anything to hurt those who don't deserve it; I would never abandon the cause that has motivated me all my life. I won't betray our duty, nor the pain that has made us comrades, nor the memory of our friends" she spoke softly, strongly. "There are things I need to do, things I need to discover. Things that he can help me with, so please understand. Not everything is as absolute as you think it is. So leave it to me".

She pushed her away, finally releasing herself from the hug.

"Just one mistake and you'll both regret it. I'm not forgetting this, Ara, Add" she spoke coldly, her pride broken inside of her, hurting her chest. "I will know" she said finally before walking away from them, feeling the burning gaze of that man piercing on her back as she left for the entrance of the castle, completely defeated. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going to forgive. Just to honor the friendship that had held them together for so many years, through so many fights, she chose to believe what her old comrade had to say. Even if she wanted, she couldn't forget all the time they had spent together, fighting for the same cause, with the same vehemence and conviction. She had seen the rage boiling inside of Ara, showing on her eyes before and so many times in the past when facing the demons. The same kind of gaze she showed her today, it was something she couldn't shake off. Ara was being honest, she knew her enough to know. That man, on the other hand, was someone she couldn't trust. Even if her friend's intentions were good, nothing could prove to her that Add shared them, that he wasn't manipulating her into believing he was a good companion. She had nothing left but being attentive to whatever could happen in the future, and be there to exterminate him if he proved to be a threat. In the meantime, Ara was strong enough to protect herself.

The sword had been neatly placed next to the big gates, waiting for her to leave. A grunt escaped from her throat as she grabbed the handle, placing the sword back onto its scabbard. Taking a moment to look at her friend for the last time, she turned her head to gaze back at the big salon. Both of them were still standing in the middle of it, now closer. They were looking into each other's eyes, she had her hands placed delicately on his chest and her eyes displayed an expression of pure seriousness. He stood still, looking down at her. They were talking calmly, and she could see a hint of worry on Ara's eyes as she looked up at him. Then, both of them walked up the stairs into the second floor of the castle, he was leading the way in front of her.

Elesis furrowed her brows as the old woodened door creaked, revealing the dark exterior showing in front of her.

Just what was it that she had to discover?

And that's it!

Please feel free to review or write me a message if you want, leave your impressions, etc~

Until next time.