Bold: Flashback
~oOo~

"So we all going to stay in Hamel?"

"We can't lose anyone."

"About Sander?"

"I have already sent someone there."

"What? When? How? And who?"

"You guys will meet them soon."

~oOo~

"Can I have some cookies after this?"

"They are in the kitchen, I'll give you some."

"Yay!"

~oOo~

Apparently, Elsword has some bad news after he returned from the little meeting with Chung's parents.

But first,

What is the Elgang doing in Hamel main castle? Aren't they supposed to be in Sander right now?

Yes, they should be in Sander right now. But the King and Queen held them back. The first reason was they want to reward them, and because of looked how much they want to, Elsword couldn't do anything else but agreed to stay. And now, they are asking for the last favor. Destroy Hall of Water and make Ran disappear. In another word, kick every last demon out of Hamel.

Even though Sander has been sending aid called for help, but the Elgang couldn't decline the quest, so they decided to stay.

At first, Elesis suggested that they should divide into two groups. Four of them could stay back at Hamel and the rest can go on by themselves. But Elsword strongly opposed. If they want to kill every last demon in Hamel, they have to start all over again. Plus, Ran might not be in Hall of Water anymore, that place is pretty much corrupted. So the best way is to start over, run each dungeon at least two to three times. "Ran is not a demon that we could just ignore and look down on." Stated Elsword.

Last time when they fought him, it was almost a big lost. Everybody was injured, they almost lost Eve and Aisha, Elsword broke his arms, Raven got another big scar on his back, Elesis lost conscious for a week straight, Add and Chung lost a lot of blood and couldn't even walk. But Rena and Ara, because of Chloe and Ran, they were in a coma. It took them a month to open their eyes and another month to completely recover, though with Ara, she had an additional week of breaking down.

~oOo~

"I'm fine for now guys, stop crying." Rena and Ara just woke up and everyone was around them, even Add, the anti-social one. Asking, hugging, welcoming and telling everything that happened while they were in a coma.

"Aisha was crying like a baby after she woke up." Elsword cracked up and pointed at the Elemental Master.

"Shut up!" Aisha yelled. "What about you?! You were crying with Elesis hugging you and trying to calm you down!" Aisha smirked. And they get in a fight again. Yelling in each other's ears and pulling each hair.

"What a lively atmosphere! Haha." Rena giggled. She doesn't care what happened while she was in a coma, but she is happy if the the group is still lively like this. But there was Ara, her eyes are dull. All you could see is a dark brown color without life.

Ara couldn't believe it, she could never believe it. Her neck was about to be cut off by her own brother, the only Aren that she had hope in had almost killed her if Chung didn't step in. "No one will abandon you, even myself." What a lie! Just why? He had already broken his own promise and left her. Now? He couldn't even look at her and tried to kill his own sister. No, that was not right! It has never been right! Everything is so wrong right now. Does this life even supposed to be right?

"You two should stop." The Grand Master eyed them sadly, intended to point out the condition that Ara is in right now. No one has noticed, not until a scene of an Albino sitting next to a broken Xia quietly flashed through the corner of Elesis' eyes.

"Eve?" Chung quietly called out.

"I can't seem to scan any type of illness through Ara's body. Everything is normal, and her body system is doing fine." Eve replied then backed up. Then do a fast check up on her body. Her system itself was also damaged by the demon's commander, and the one who fixed her was Add. She wasn't sure if he had done anything to her system that lower her scanner, or it was just some emotional problems that occurred in a human body. She couldn't tell, she is just a restarted Nasod Queen, anyway.

"That Chibi Fox is fine, just mentally shut down for who knows how long." Add spoke up. He has been quiet for a while, sitting and worrying about the spear woman next to her bed. They didn't talk, Ara was just sitting there and staring at her hands, while Add was sitting and holding it. He didn't know why but he felt like he should do it, he knew he did not need to talk, just needed to hold her hands.

"Add, are you... ok?" Rena asked. Others just stared at him. The El members, for the first time, have ever seen the Lunatic Psyker that worries. Even though they haven't observed the Albino that much, but they could tell that he is cocky and arrogant, probably doesn't even care about others. And yet, Add is sitting next to Ara worrying.

"Yes, I lost some blood but I managed to–"

"I mean are you you? You look... worry..." Rena cut in, explaining her question a little bit more with details. The others just nod. Add just stares then stands up and walks away.

~oOo~

That was one of the reason why Elsword was strongly opposed to the ideas of dividing the gang into two groups. If they had got that much of injures on their 10th time fighting with Ran with nine people, can you even imagine when there are only four of them? Death is a big price just to fight a demon, and you couldn't just pay two to three lives for a fight.

"Karis has already been to Sander, and the tribes have started a war because of the missing priest." Elesis brought up the most important issue. Every region has a priest, priest is their leader and resources, and no region could survive without a leader.

Elsword started to debating, he might be the leader, but his sister was the leader of the Red Knights for years. After all, she has more experience than him, and a more open mind. However, four lives are not small, once they're gone, they cannot be taken back.

"Chung, you can't convince them?"

"I tried, not once but twice. Their answer is still no. They said Velder is falling, even with our help. They don't want the same thing happen here."

"... I have my decisions now." Seems like we do need their help.

~oOo~

Apparently, this chapter is off, totally off. I need to find a way to fix it. Arghhhh. And one more thing, you guys probably know who would be added to the characters list so I probably don't need to talk about them much right? Also, I heard that LuCiel's third path is coming to KR server, good time since I need them for the third book, tho my first plan was to use my own design of 3rd path inspired by a fan art. Those are just some extra stuffs, till next time :D

7XO