Hiiiiii guys~! I been caught back up with Elsword NA so I'm a bit slow in updating.
Here's the newest chapter! And sorry for any mistakes (Grammars, misspellings, whatnots). I haven't had the time to look over it. And if I leave it alone for a few days and come back to look over it, I have a high chance of adding more to the already long chapter... I rather not have that happening because that would take even longer to pot up a new chapter.
Guest review (Because I can't reply through pm)
Guest - Aww... I'm sorry ;; And I'm sorry about Ara too. I like her, but this story is supposed to be dark and gloomy, so there should be some character deaths some way or another. Oh, thank you for noticing my mistakes! I'll fix them right away! I'm glad someone caught them XD And about what Raven said... it means something else; not that he's blind nor is it a typo. It'll be cleared up when he comes up or when you figure out what he means.
Thanks for people who reviewed! I really appreciate it~!
Now onto the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword.
Add watched Yin and Yang play in the distance. They had really grown since he first seen them.
A solemn smiled crossed his features, feeling guilty for the twins for losing their mother when they were just infants. They had a fate similar to his. Not being able to have a mother by their side. That was the one thing he wanted to change but... it was nothing but a failure.
"No..." He'd muttered upon entering a timeline that was not his. He watched as the younger Add showed a picture book to his mother with a smile gracing both of their faces.
"This couldn't be..." Add mumbled, placing a hand over his left eye as he backed away in disblief. "There must be errors in the calculations!"
He looked back to the happy dual with jealousy building up within him. "There are... other timelines where everything gain a happily ever after...?" He asked himself. Then, out of nowhere, he laughed. An insane laugh that was worst than his usual ones as his eyes darken.
"... Someone's going to pay for ruining my world."
That was when he had started towards the path of insanity. He researched endlessly for a formula that would work and created machines that allowed him to manipulate the fabric of time and space. Though he didn't know if he had regretted that path. It was because of his developing insanity that led him to Ara.
He gave another solemn smile towards the ground as he remembered the Asura's smiles and her angry faces. At first, they were annoying, but over time, he found them a tolerable. He thought that he had always been interested in Queen Eve, but that was mainly for her codes - he would do anything for her Nasod Codes. It was a component that no one except Eve possessed and he was sure that it would help him with his projects. But when he met Ara... there were no feelings at first sight, but he developed them later.
"I should've said something..." He mumbled to himself, remembering the time when Ara came crying to her about how Elsword didn't choose her. He didn't know what to say, nor did he know how.
"Will you ever shut up Orange? Why are you so upset over something as trivial as that? No wonder Elsword didn't like you." was what he ended up saying before prying the Asura off of him. He was honestly tired of hearing Elsword this and Elsword that. He had to leave as quick as possible because there was something abnormal in his heart that he didn't know back then.
Looking back, he really should have said something else.
"Don't you like Ara?" Aisha'd asked on the eve of her 18th birthday.
He'd scoffed at the assumption. "And what made you think that?"
The purplette shrugged nonchalantly. "You're always with her when we stayed at Ruben. And you tend to annoy her a lot too."
"... that was just for my entertainment." Add'd said but he wasn't really sure.
"Are you really okay with this?" Aisha asked suddenly as she squatted down with her back against the wall. "We'll be together for the rest of our lives but we're only friends."
The Diabolic Esper gazed down at the purplette, his grip on his drink tightened. He pushed away all thoughts and lightly hit Aisha's head. "Idiot. We're doing this because your father is forcing you to take on a fiance. You want some random guy you never known before?"
The Dimension Witch looked up for a moment and smiled, though it never reached her eyes like it had always did. "This is one crappy world we live in."
Aisha had made him think. And soon, regret would surface up after that. However, as things turned out, it was a few days after Aisha's birthday did that happened. He wasn't present when all the bloodshed happened. He was out in town for a stroll to give himself a moment to think. He ended up drinking a bit at a bar but nothing came out of it.
However, when he returned to the Velder castle, blood pooled the floor, stained the carpet, the drapes, the walls, everywhere.
"Wha..."
That was one of the things that made the Diabolic Esper widen his eyes in shock. He looked around the castle, but only saw dead bodies littering the ground. Some with the head separated from the body while others had fatal wounds on the chest and neck.
It wasn't until he heard a scream did he decided to go check the throne room.
"Aisha!" Add exclaimed, seeing said person kneeling on the ground, trembling and hugging herself. He quickly made his way over to the purplette, only to see the blood stains on her face and on her clothes.
Next to her were two bodies. Upon registering that they were Aisha's parents, he was beyond shocked. It was unnerving to see the King and Queen lying lifeless on the floor.
"A-Aisha, what happened here?!"
He tried to turn her around so that he could look directly at her but when he did, her eyes were flooded with fear while tears escaped from the corners.
"Aisha, are you okay? What's wrong?" He tried to ask, but he didn't get a response at first.
"A-Add...?" Aisha finally answered, though her voice was cracked.
He nodded and waited for the Dimension Witch to continue.
"Y-you're okay..." She mumbled, her trembling hands slowly reaching for the Diabolic Esper. However, she fainted before ever reaching him.
"Aisha?" Add called as he caught the purplette and shook her. "Oi Aisha! Wake up!"
It wasn't until later on did he learned what happened. A murderer had stepped into the castle and unsuspectingly killed off the guards and made it for the King and Queen. At the time, Noah, Raven, and Aisha were present as well but they couldn't protect the Velder rulers from dying in the blade of the killer... who was none other than Edan himself.
Noah and Raven had fought against him while Aisha just caved in. They were able to successfully deal with the man that Noah so dearly loved, though he managed to escape after they chased him out of the castle walls.
He's still out there somewhere.
Add balled up his hands and gritted his teeth in frustration. He could've been there to prevent things from happening. He shouldn't have wasted time to think. If he had been there to help, Aisha and Noah wouldn't have been too affected by the event.
Guilt flooded him when he remembered the looks in their eyes.
"Aisha, you shouldn't be up walking." He'd told the purplette, which was a bit uncharacteristic of him. But Aisha was like a little sister to him, and he would care about his family whether he was insane or not.
The Dimension Witch looked over to him, her phlegmatic eyes that seemed to be hiding so many emotions took him by surprise.
"Are you really the one to care about this?" She had asked. It wasn't an insult, nor was it a joke. It was just a question to make a point. She then smiled, one that held many meanings. "Besides, I'm fine now."
All he could see was the mask that Aisha wore to protect herself.
"Aisha," came Noah's call from the distance. "Why are you up?"
"I didn't want to sit around my room all day." The younger replied.
Add dared to look at the new queen and found her gaze as piercing and cold as an ice shard.
Noah sighed, albeit tiredly. "I'm going to call Raven over to you."
"No... it's fine, really." The Dimension Witch insisted with a nervous smile. "Don't wake up him after he had received so many injuries."
The queen scrutinized Aisha for a moment before rounding on Add. He could only straight his spine to make him look... more presentable(?) "Watch Aisha for me. I have business to attend."
That was the first time he had heard the absolute authority in Noah's voice. The two definitely changed for the worst.
Add rush a hand through his hair, feeling even worst now that he thought about what happened next. It was when Ara visited them, though it was more of a secret than made publicly.
"What are you doing here?" The Diabolic Esper scowled at Ara with spite when Aisha called for him to come to her room.
When he had examined the Asura, she looked worst for wear and malnourished if the bags under her eyes and her paler than normal complexion said anything about it. She looked pitiful. Albeit he wanted to know what had happened to her, he suppressed that desire of his and kept that hostile look on his face.
"H-hey..." she greeted nervously and tiredly.
Aisha scolded at him. "Add, stop scowling. Ara came here for help and I don't want you treating her like a foreigner."
Said person ignored the comment and Ara completely as he turned to the purplette. "So, what did you call me for? I was in the middle of an experiment."
"You're always experimenting," Aisha mumbled before actually answering the question. "I need you to come with me and Ara. We're going out."
The Diabolic Esper looked at Aisha as if she just created a nuclear weapon from sticks and stones. "WHAT?!" He then looked between the two girls. "Why would I waste my time with you two?"
Aisha gave Add a look and marched over to prod repeatedly at his chest. "As my fiancé, you have the responsibility of watching over my well-being. The news of my mother and father's death are still circling among the people and I rather not have to be interrogated right now."
"Oh, so I'm just there to scare them away?" Add sallied back, rolling his eyes.
"That's part of it." Aisha replied. "The other part is that we need to find Ara a place to stay for now. She can't be seen within the palace or there will be trouble."
At that, Add quirked a brow. "And why's that?"
Annoyed, Aisha yanked the Diabolic Esper by the ear.
"Ow!"
"Stop asking questions and let's go!" Aisha hissed.
Despite his complaints then, he duly accompanied the two girls. Even though Aisha said she needed someone to scare people off, she still wore a cloak and hide herself.
Add chuckled absentmindedly when he remembered the purplette hiding behind his back like a child when they traversed the Velder streets, with Ara wearing and doing the same thing. Aisha made him go into every inn in town to see whether it was populated or not. It was a pain in the neck.
"Okay, stay at this inn for a day or two." Aisha instructed to Ara when she unlocked the door to one of the rooms of the smaller inns on the outer skirts of the capital city.
She then turned to Add, who was leaning against the wall opposite of the door. "And you. Stay here to keep Ara company while I check something."
Without hearing a reply back, she made to walk back through the hallways, only to have Add halting her by holding onto her wrist. "Where are you going?"
"Like I said, I'm going to go check something." She replied, seemingly dodging the question. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Like hell you are." Add scoffed with the usual scowl, but he was worried. "I'm coming with you."
The Dimension Witch gently ripped away his grasp, flashing a smile. "I told you, I'll be fine. Besides..." Her gaze traveled to Ara, who stood awkwardly by the door. "I think it's better if you stay with Ara. Keep her company and make sure nothing happens."
Add have had enough of all the secrecy as his face twisted in frustration. "What the hell would happen to the Orange if no one's there to watch her?! It's not like someone's going to come kill her or anything!"
Aisha blinked in start, and then let out a fit of giggles. The first in weeks. "O-Orange?!" She turned to the Asura, seeing her flushing. "T-that's a g-good one!"
Add honestly had no idea what the purplette was thinking at that moment when she suddenly pushed him towards Ara.
"Thanks for making me laugh." She winked and jogged for the stairs. "I'll be back in a jiff!"
The Diabolic Esper frowned. Wondering if Aisha had planned for it from the start, leaving him alone with Ara like that. He didn't remember much of what happened that day. All he did was have a drink... and he faintly remember Ara joining in as well.
"Um..." Ara started, sitting on the bed of the room they booked as Add placed a few wine bottles on the table - he had bought them just now.
Add waited for her to finish her sentence, but being a man of very little patience, he snapped at her about thirty seconds later. "What is it, Orange? Either talk or shut up, there's no in-between."
The Asura flinched at the harsh tone but she took a deep breath and continued. "I-is it true... that you and Aisha are... um..."
"Engaged?" Add nonchalantly finished for her while pouring out the red wine into a glass. He swirled the glass for a second before taking a sit on a chair, facing Ara, and drank half of the glass in one go.
"Y-yeah..." Asura averted her gaze as a tinge of pink dusted her pale cheeks, though her golden eyes were another story.
Add shrugged, swirling the glass again while he crossed his leg and draped an arm over the back of the chair. He directed his eyes to the Asura but they weren't exactly looking at her.
"It's just what Aisha said." Add cackled for no reason. "Why would you care about that?"
Caught off guard, Ara starting flushing, her bangs shadowing her eyes. There was a brief moment of silence before she decided to get up, made her way over to where Add sat, and pulled a chair to join him.
"I'm joining you." The Asura said firmly, snatching an extra glass and pouring it with wine. She drank the entire shot in one go.
Add chuckled in amusement, halfway through his second. "Didn't know you're a drinker."
Ara poured another round from the current bottle- there were about five more. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."
The Diabolic Esper cackled, a crazed grin curving up his lips. "You're a vixen. That's all I ever need to know." Taking a new bottle, he skipped pouring into the glass and just put it to his mouth, drinking the entity in the magnum. Ara followed right after.
Add really wondered what happened after that. He couldn't remember. All he could find in his memories were the drinks and waking up later, back in Velder castle with a major headache.
A few days later, Ara left the inn with him and Aisha. The purplette told her that there was a cabin outside of the capital, in the forest. It was as though the Asura was living in hiding and Add found it frustrating that he wasn't in the circle.
"Mind telling me what the actual hell's going on?" Add growled as they reached a small cabin. "And isn't this shack the one you used to come hang out at?"
Aisha nodded, finding fondness at the memory. "It's where I found you too remember? There was that incident..."
Add narrowed his eyes. He rather not be reminded of his childhood and how it came to be. "Not one word. Not. One. Word."
A playful grin exuded from her. "Then from now on, you're going to protect Ara."
The Diabolic Esper and the Asura both blinked in unison before blurting out "WHAT?!"
That was how he had ended up keeping a tab on the ebony princess - or should he say former royalty? For an entire two years, he made occasional visits to Ara just to make sure she was okay (Most of them were Aisha badgering him to go, albeit there was that one time when she contradicted herself by telling him not to go for a few months) and he learned of what happened from the ebony vixen. He felt a pang of guilt, along with fury when he had heard the story but he masked it away.
Nothing much happened during that two year span except for the fact that Aisha suddenly requested a cancel on their engagement.
"Did you summon me, Queen Noah?" Add asked, kneeling in front of the new queen of Velder.
"Yes." came the calm voice of the purplette. "There's been a little change."
He dare to look up from where his head was kept bowed and met with lilac eyes as cold as ice. It almost sent chills down his spine. Almost.
"Change?"
"The engagement." Noah stated simply. "I'm cancelling it."
His head jerked up almost immediately. "... what?"
Noah smiled at him, almost like her normal self. "You're still welcome here, of course. But this is something that Aisha requested and I agreed. As the only Velder royals left, we have more important matters to focus on in order to safeguard our kingdom."
"Of... of course." Add had answered and said no more.
He wasn't too sure if he had felt happy or sad about the cancellation and he wasn't sure why Aisha had done that. Sure, since Noah was now in charge, Aisha had a bit more freedom, but he had never seen her make use of any of it other than that. To him, Aisha had always seemed... chained.
"Chained to fate." Add chuckled dryly and checked on his two kids. He wasn't their when they were born, nor was he there for the first two years of their lives. Why? It was because Ara and Aisha kept it a secret from him. He didn't know about the twins' existence until...
"Just when Ara finally find solace, you just had to come ruin it! Now Yin and Yang are motherless because of you!"
That was when he found out and it was an extremely poor situation to find out as well.
It was after two years that Elsword Seighart stumbled into the forest on the outskirt of Velder Capital. On the day, he decided to give Ara a visit of his own will -which was rare - but he'd used the excuse of if he didn't go right now, then Aisha would plague him to no end of how Ara was his responsibility. He didn't really understand why Aisha had mentioned that multiple times until that day.
When he had met Elsword, his mind was filled with rage when the redhead started to attack Ara out no where. They had a brutal battle, tearing the landscape apart, therefore destroying the natural beauty.
Despite being well equipped with machinery that he made himself, he was losing to someone who fought with only swords.
In his defense, Elsword was able to summon an infinite amount of those metal sticks. He'd made a mental note to input something like that in one of his future inventions but...
Add clicked his tongue. If he hadn't thought about how to improve his weaponry, Elsword wouldn't have caught him off guard. And that was what decided Ara's fate.
He closed his eyes, remembering the scene clearly, especially Ara's voice.
"STOP!"
From the ground, his magenta eyes dilated as Ara took the blunt of the impaling sword that was meant for him. Blood splattered out, covering the ground and a part of his face and clothing.
Elsword clicked his tongue in annoyance as he pulled his sword back out from the Asura's stomach, leaving Add to catch her in his arms.
"ARA!" He exclaimed loudly as the ebony woman's upper body rested in his arm. His other hovering over her slightly, trembling. "ARE YOU REALLY THAT MUCH OF AN IDIOT?! WHY DID YOU JUMP IN LIKE THAT?!"
The Asura merely smiled gently as a weakening and trembling hand made its way up to the Diabolic Esper's face. "Y-you know... t-that's the first time... you said my name..."
"Don't talk dammit!" Add scowled at the girl. "And is that really what you should be thinking about?!"
Ara closed her eyes and smiled. "Y-yes, because it... makes me... happy..."
The albino male dropped his facade completely as he look at Ara. Something about her words hurt. And seeing Ara in this state of being was even more painful.
He placed his free have over hers, an almost desperate look in his eyes. "As long as it makes you happy, I'll always call you by your name. Just... just don't die on me. Deal? Just don't leave."
Instead of reply, she said "I... I was never... able to tell you but..." The Asura's eyes glazed over as she smiled even more widely, but softly. "Add... I... I love... you..."
Her hand went limp and fell out of Add's grip as her eyes finally closed as if drifting off to a peaceful sleep. The Diabolic's eyes were covered by his bangs, hiding his emotions.
"You..." Add began once Ara's hand fell back to her side, giving ELsword a psychotic glare that rivaled even Death's. "YOU'LL PAY!"
He was left with an eye opener and it hurts to know that he couldn't return Ara's feelings quick enough. He wasn't able to say that he loved her back. He was brimmed with rage at Elsword and still was, even after all these years.
After Ara's death and Elsword's proclamation to eliminate anyone that associate themselves with the Haans, a war was initiated between Ruben and Velder. Add only had one thing in mind at that time and that was to bring Elsword and Ruben down to hell. He was going to make them pay for taking Ara away. Just like how those people took away his mother from him.
"Add, can I talk to you?" Aisha asked.
"Not now." Add mumbled, in the middle of designing another machine for the war.
The purplette lifted an exasperated sigh, massaging her temple. "You need to stop this instant, because you have -"
"Auntie, we see daddy now?" came a small voice from behind the Dimension Witch, prompting Add to freeze immediately in what he was doing. Add dared to turn around, seeing two toddlers clinging to Aisha's legs - one of either side of her.
Aisha bend down and gave a pat to the little girl. "Your daddy is busy but I'm sure he would love to see you Yin, Yang."
"Aisha..." Add started, he wasn't sure about the situation but he was pretty darn sure who they were referring to as 'daddy'. "Why are there toddlers in my workshop?"
The Velder princess glared at the engineer. "Is that really all you care about? I thought you would just like to finally meet your kids."
"Daddy~!" Little Yin - at three years old - squealed in delight as she boldly made a run for the Diabolic Esper and clung onto his leg. "Yang, we finally got to see daddy!"
Yang was still hiding behind Aisha, reluctant to go near Add. "Yin, he's busy. We shouldn't bother him."
Add was gaping like a fish and it took him a while to recompose himself. "How...?"
The Dimension Witch raised an eyebrow but remained deadpan. "Ho? I guess you really were too drunk. You should raise your alcohol tolerance."
It was embarrassing to say the very least, having to hear what happened and how. But that was the first time he ever laid eyes on the two kids that he now considered his pride and joy. He felt guilty though. He learned of their existence a year before but he didn't bother putting a thought into seeing them until a year later. His mind was devoted to creating weapons until then. He wondered why Aisha didn't show Yin and Yang until then but her answer was reasonable.
"You were more psychotic at that time. I don't think you could raise the twins with your unstable mentality nor did I want Yin and Yang to see that they have a psychopath as a father."
It was a little rude but it made sense. However, just seeing Yin and Yang quelled him. He decided to spend less time on his inventions and more on the twins that Ara left behind.
"Daddy~!" A seven year old Yin sang, making her way over to the albino adult, who sat on a bench in the park. "Are we going to see Auntie again? She flew away before she could play with us!"
"Yin," Yang scolded. "Aunt Aisha was busy. You can't expect her to come play with us all the time."
"But Yang, don't you want to see Auntie again?" Yin pouted cutely.
"I do but..." The male twin trailed off into deep thoughts. He then turned to his father, a wave of concern washed over his violet eyes. "Dad, is Aunt Aisha okay?"
The Diabolic Esper didn't reply, because he wasn't sure if Aisha was. He knew that she had been using time magic on Raven but Rena and Raven told her to stop - after finding out the effects on the caster from Add.
"Wherever time takes me." [1] was the last thing she said before she left. Add sighed, seeing that Aisha had already decided to be carried by the wind and let fate decide where she'll go.
"But since nothing happened, I guess that you time traveling was what must have been intentionally planned by fate." That was what she said which led him wonder if it was true. If time traveling to that timeline was intention, doesn't that mean they would never be able to escape Lady Fate's strings?
Then wouldn't it mean him changing the other timeline's fate planned as well? He couldn't help but let slip a little hint for the Mastermind when he saw how his timeline was brighter and happier. [2] Was that apart of Lady Fate's plan?
... It was too confusing.
He sighed, hoping that whatever was in store for them doesn't affect their lives as much as it already have.
"Come here Yin, Yang." Add called as he stood up. The two obeyed without hesitance. The albino male them embraced them both, one of each side. "Everything will be okay alright?"
That gain two nod but one was oblivious while the other was doubtful.
"How about we give Rena and Raven a visit? How does that sound?"
Yin immediately beamed while Yang nodded in approval.
"Yay~! We're going to see Auntie Rena!" Yin cheeered.
"I like talking to Mr. Raven." Yang said with a smile.
[1] Refers to the epilogue of What Do You Think of Me Now?
[2] Refers to chapter 17 of that story above ^
Okay. I'm done. Dang it. I told myself to write less but I ended up writing more!
And uh... I think I might start a new story soon :D... -Lily has left the room-
There was a sign hanging on the wall:
Please leave all criticisms, complaints, and flames in the reviews. The authoress will get back to you as soon as possible.