~Chapter 67: Aisha's Warning~


During the silent night, the eyes of a certain purple head has finally opened. Aisha was awake, however... She could feel her consciousness slipping out of her grasp. She knew she can't stay awake for long. She stared at the red head in front of her. Her eye twitched lightly before she weakly tugged on his shirt.

Elsword tried his best to ignore the tugging on his shirt, however.. The tugging stopped just for a moment before his face received a weak impact of a slap. Elsword snapped open his eyes, grabbing Aisha's hand before it came in contact with his cheek. His blazing red eyes widened as they stared into the gentle lavender ones.

"A-Aisha..."

"Elsword.. I can't stay awake any longer than now. Just listen to me. Rena.. Watch over Rena. If you don't, then she might cause the blood shed."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Rena.. She will have this urge to kill and splatter blood around. I believe that it's symptom of a certain poison. I'm not very sure, but.. Once Rena sees a particular scene where something or someone precious to her is not by her side and makes her feel distant or confused, that's when it starts. She'll first see nothing, but black and white. It depends on when she was poisoned. As time passes.. She'll feel the urge to kill. That's when she'll see nothing, but blood."

"That's the poison's effect?!"

"Yeah. Another effect is that.. It slowly destroy her cells. Not only that, she won't feel pain at all. It may be a good thing, but it's not. As long as there's no pain, then she'll be just like a reckless killing machine. This particular poison doesn't take effect until a certain point. It could take seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years.."

"Is there a cure?"

"Yeah. Wally has the antidote, but his castle is destroyed as well as himself. Echo.. Is no longer here. Altera and their plains. It's also where the peaceful souls rest. And... Deep inside Hamel's ruins. There are 3 stages. Currently.. Rena is in the first stage. Seeing only black and white, and the intent to kill appears. It's easy to snap her back to normal. The 2nd stage is when she begins to hallucinations and the intent to kill becomes stronger. It's also when the poison begin to destroy her.. The last stage is also when she'll lose her sanity, become the reckless killing machine.."

"Alright. I'll watch over her, but... What are you going to do?"

"I should be sleeping, but.. Thanks to this certain person. He gave me a chance to warn you.. If you see him, be sure to thank him.. His name is.. Glaive.."

A certain sound, similar to a clock hand hitting it's destined time, Aisha's eyes slowly closed peacefully. Elsword shook Aisha's shoulders as he desperately called out her name. Her breaths were slow as he realized that Aisha fell back into her coma.

He stared at her before kissing her forehead softly. He silently climbed out of bed, pulling the covers over Aisha. He held Aisha's hand in his tightly before smiling softly.

"I'll be back.."

The door was opened as Elsword began to search for Rena who was now gone from the palace. Muttering a silent curse under his breath, he came out to the balcony. He desperately looked for Rena. A hint of spring green grabbed his attention as it moves. He jumped on the railings before swinging his legs off, letting himself descend. His feet touched the soft grass as the short fall was over. Rena was in sight,walking aimlessly into the village.

"To live is to die. To love is to hate."

Elsword narrowed his eyes at Rena, trying to hide his presence as he follows her. Rena walked down the path where she stared at one of the houses with a dull look. She silently reached out for the door to one of the houses. She easily destroyed the knob, walking inside without a hint of hesitation.

She walked up the stairs, going inside a bedroom. Inside, a sleeping mother and her child in their bed, not noticing Rena's presence. Rena raised her blade, ready to slash down, aiming for a kill. The sleeping mother's eyes slowly opened, finding her and her child's life to be nearing death. She shielded her child as the blade came slashing down, however.. A loud sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the silent night.

Blazing red eyes glared into dull emerald ones. Tears rolled down the mother's eyes as she covered her child in a blanket. Elsword stared at her before swiftly kicking Rena out of the room, letting her roll down the stairs.

He immediately came after Rena, slamming the door to the bedroom tightly. Rena immediately ran out the house, running back to the palace. Elsword chased her down with his blade in hand. The moment he got close to Rena, he thrust his blade forward, snipping a small part of her long hair before three Cornwells came in and pierced her. Rena fell down as Elsword pinned her down.

"Rena! Wake up!"

Rena merely struggled under his strong grip. Elsword's eye twitch as his hand came in contact with Rena's cheek. Her eyes widened, the colors returning back. She stared at Elsword's blazing red eyes with confused emerald eyes.

"Elsword...? Where are we?"

"We're outside the palace, in the village. Rena... What can you see?"

"Your blazing eyes with the same type of color as your hair. Parts of it is dyed in jet black.. The sky is dark, it should be midnight and... The faint dim blue light shines down from the sky.."

Elsword sighed as he got off her. He held his hand out for her as she silently took it with confusion. Elsword merely held her hand, walking back to the palace in silence. Rena tilted her head to the side. She couldn't remember what had happened after Alex had called out for her.

'Did something... Happen..? Is Elsword hiding something?'

"Rena.. When you feel something strange happening in your body.. Immediately find someone and have them stay beside you."

'For now... The only way for Rena to snap back to her normal self is to attack her and make physical contact. Currently, Rena should only be in the first stage.. Hopefully, it'll stay that way until I can find the cure for it, but... I need to discuss this with Chung and Eve..'

"Yeah.. Thank you, Elsword~"

Rena genuinely smiled at Elsword. They went back to the palace, only to find a certain worried Raven running around looking for Rena. Raven's eye twitch slightly before sighing in relief. Elsword dragged Rena towards Raven and placed her hand in Raven's. A quiet yawn escaped Elsword's mouth as he left them alone, waving casually.

"Good night..."

Raven stared at Rena before whispering a soft "Sorry" in her ears. He kissed her forehead softly causing her to blush as she smiled. Raven accompanied Rena until the end, staying beside her as she fell into slumber.


~Author's Note~

Looks like Glaive is doing stuff behind the scenes~ He gave Aisha enough time to warn Elsword about Rena's condition and giving information. Too bad... It's temporary. She'll wake up someday, just not now.

So... Would anyone like to take a guess on when Rena got poisoned? :D Anyways, it's an all-out war for fruits in my family now... And my dad ate all my corn! OAO Now... I'm so hungry.. :x

Here are my replies to my generous reviewers~

The Cynical Asian: *high fives* :D Asian buddies! And I heard you are Chinese? :D *pats your head before tying you up* It's for your own good. I'm also worried. I don't think I want to see this area in ruins. XD You're special in a way. So, good for you. :P Alright.. Update within a month. I'm watching you. o-o

Kat Neko983: Well, I figured as much since I couldn't find any Ace on your profile. XD Wait! Hold it right there cowgirl! XD Raven is the one at fault for now because of his feelings. So... Eve! You get Chung! Rena! Uh.. Choose whoever. Alex! Go get Seris or Rena! There. XD

Guest(1): Ah.. Thank you so much! I knew there was something wrong in the chapter, but I didn't know what! :D Thank you! Also.. You didn't have to double-post it. XD

Tsurara-Oikawa Chan: XD I know.. She was like: "No! I give up! They cannot make me do this!" I know the feeling as well... And I still need to know the passives for Deadly Chaser! What the hell is Gas Piston System?! :x I spent quite a bit for the accessories and costumes. I've seen Penensio's skills before.. XD Deciding the skills was definitely the devastating thing that ever happened. It's in 9 days? :D *counts* Hmm.. July 15th? I can't count dates. Hmm.. I don't know. XD You may help or you can watch on the sidelines to avoid the violence. XD And I did, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the 4th of July as well!

Lolita Saber Yumi: XD Your little girl has finally grown up and became bold in her actions. XD Hmm.. I guess you say that. Her world is a colorless world, well.. In her eyes.

Guest(2): Are you xXkito-kunXx? It's hard to tell people from people when it's guests... :x And good luck in your oncoming arena battles!

Sweet Trickster: Surprising, isn't it? XD Alex didn't do anything to Rena. People use Seris in relationships too often. Let Alex have the fun~ :D Yeah, it sucks. Glad it made you giggle. XD You'll know why soon enough~ :3 I listen to them for the lyrics. Although, my interest is mainly Vocaloid: Kagamine Rin+Len and their touching lyrics~ :3

Rosamanelle: No, you're actually on target. XD Yes, they're "normal" peasants, but.. Alex had already attacked Rena, so the "normal" was just like music to the ears. Revealing his rules of killing didn't matter to them. XD Elsword geniunely wanted Eve to slap him. XD Eve is bold. Chung is sly. XD Such a fitting couple. Truthfully, I did not expect you to actually get Aisha waking up part.. XD Oh well~ *gives you a remote control* Press this button. :D

Orithia WindBell: ^o^ No problem~ Review anytime you want! :D Lol! I haven't posted any good ones yet, so no worries. XD So far, I only released another promised one shot and my friend's series of one shots. I hope you're feeling better! *grabs your knife and throws it out the window* Don't die! And it's fine! OAO

MarioFireRed: Yeah, it's temporary. XD Well, Elsword does seem like the type to do that. O: Ooh! Good luck on it and hopefully you'll overachieve! Hooray for Chung! ;D 4 more days~ :3 You're obsessed with Attack on Titan, aren't you?

Light15XV: You got a mini Elsword x Aisha moment. XD I'm glad you like the previous chapters! :D

SnuggleBears: Lol! Review anytime you want! Aye! Alex likes Rena. Seris is just going to be watching. XD

An0n Author: *drags you out of the emo corner* Calm down. You can achieve it if you try hard! Believe that you can do it! ;D

RubyCrusade: XD Looks like Aren will be having nightmares for a few decades. I wish I can help Aren, but... Sadly, I am killing him off. Now that you mention it.. Aren was forgotten. :x I forgot about him completely until you mention him right now. XD I thought the same as well! I thought Elsa would be some kind of challenging boss in some dungeon. I guess I'll help you plotting some plans in killing~ ^o^ We're friends! It'll be complete when Aren meets Elsa in heaven. ;D

Konjiki No Yami: *gives you a paper fan* You may smack him with this. :) It's deadly, but it doesn't seem like it. XD Elsword was willing to let Eve slap him to death.

QueenNoob: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like them!

SeouLee: XD Welcome back! Well, instead of Seris, I used Alex~ :D It's uncommon? XD I doubt that I was busy. I was probably just checking my inventory and looking at the items in the Item Shop or talking to my guild. XD Yes, say something next time. XD I'll add you as well! Well, just choose someone randomly to be the one shot person. You'll try again for 850th.. XD By the way.. You reviewed at the last moment when I'm about to upload the chapter.

Thanks for reading!

(=^o^=)