Usually it never made (y/n) second guess anything when Add crossed her mind. She had known him for nearly a year now, and felt as though they were already the best of friends and even family. Although it had taken her some time to get used to his ways, (y/n) felt like she could trust Add with just about anything. Usually it took longer for someone to reach that point, but saving one another's lives on the day they both met brought them closer far quicker than average.

        "He's just like any other person. A little traumatized, but nothing can be done about that now," (y/n) thought to herself as she slowly walked down the city streets. So far, she hadn't gone home yet. (Y/n) had left Add's house so that she could think carefully about her abrupt change in viewpoints. Job searching was just the side quest to keep her from getting overwhelmed by her new thoughts. "I don't know what to do."

        Add was currently the most important person in her life. Her village had been burned to the ground, her parents weren't around, and she felt as though she couldn't really fit in well with either species to which she belonged. Had she not met Add when she was escaping, she might not have had such a comfortable life now. Though it hadn't been long, (y/n) had gotten attached to Elder because it was all she had left. The city and Add. That was it.

        "I don't want anything to change," she decided. (Y/n) couldn't determine if her feelings about Add were turning into something permanent or temporarily shifting because of a simple realization. It wasn't a risk she wanted to take. "But if there comes a day when I change my mind, I won't hesitate." She had learned the hard way that life could be taken from anyone at any time. There was not always a tomorrow, but that didn't mean she could hastily make decisions that could alter her entire way of life.

        "Oh, I almost passed it." (Y/n) stopped at the inn that was turned into an apartment building. Elder was a prosperous place with plenty of upscale residences, but many were too expensive for a runaway to afford. Besides, (y/n) didn't mind. She had a soft safe place to rest at night. In her old village, she and her father had often camped outside to get closer to nature. It had been some time since she had done so, but Elder was not the place where one could sleep peacefully under the stars without worry.

        When (y/n) entered the lobby, the receptionist waved at her. "Welcome back. You had some visitors yesterday," he greeted.

        "Visitors?" The only person she could think of was her former boss, but (y/n) had already said her goodbyes to the generous woman. She even recieved a week's worth of advanced payment along with the parting gift that she had shared with Add.

        "They said they were coworkers of yours. I can't stop anyone from going up to the apartments unless I have reason to suspect them, and that group seemed suspicious. I told them you weren't taking visitors today, even showed them that you were on the do not disturb list."

        "When was this exactly? What time?"

        "Hm? I can't remember but I had night shift. My shift actually ends soon, so I'm glad I was able to tell you before I had to leave. We have to keep our residents safe here," the kind young man answered.

        "Thank you. I'll be careful." He gave her a nod in return.

        (Y/n) headed up to the second floor with her key already in her hand ready to be used. She stopped just before reaching her door. An ominous feeling kept her from even touching it. Her mind kept going back to the stalker she had a couple days ago as well as the missing girls. The door itself was already unlocked. Her intuition alone is what told her so.

        "Guess I'm staying with Add again tonight. He won't mind if I borrow his clothes again."

        Without a second glance, (y/n) left her apartment and headed towards the market to buy dinner to share with Add later. He would likely get upset when she returned with the news from the receptionist, and she didn't like seeing his research suffer as a result of his emotional state. Food easily reset his mood, and (y/n) was sure that he wouldn't turn down her company.

        It was when she had finished her brief shopping that she felt as though she were being watched. It was easy to tell because of her past training. Even with all the eyes of the city's residents passing over her, she could feel a certain gaze locked onto her.

        "Nope. I'm going straight home. No more stops," (y/n) determined. She had meant to look and see if any of her actual former coworkers had any plants for sale, but she wasn't about to risk her safety. Handling a kidnapper or two, maybe even three, was no problem. Afterall, she had successfully gotten away from twelve before with Add's help at the very end. The only difference now was that she was not in familiar turf. The city was not as easy to fight in as the forest was.

        Once she got to the city gates, the feeling finally vanished, but by no means did (y/n) slow down. Her trip was made in haste, reaching Add's little home in record time.

        "Add, I'm back! Hope you're home!" she called as she knocked on the door only for it to crack open. A feeling of dread passed over her, and she found herself quickly setting aside her bag and opening the door. Add wasn't there, but something else was. Even though what stood before her looked human, (y/n) couldn't hear a heartbeat coming from it. Add's files and notes were scattered around it in pieces, torn to shreds. Another peeked out of Add's open storage closet, but the boy himself was nowhere to be found. Although (y/n) had never actually seen one before, she knew thanks to Add that these beings were nasods because of the azure cores showing at the center of their chests. The short moment that it took for both the nasods and (y/n) to process one another's precense was immediately ended by the two nasods going on the attack.

        (Y/n) wasted no time in leaping away from the door just in time to avoid the searing heat of a short lazer beam. She was furious and scared. Nearly all of Add's hard work had been completely undone by these machines. The shredded papers and torn books that had been thrown across the floor brought her a type of distress that she didn't even know she could feel.

        "Those monsters! I'll destroy them!"

        (Y/n) immediately pulled out two random stones from her bag. One was deep orange while the other was the familiar blue. Just as she confirmed their colors, the nasods exited Add's home to finish their extermination. The first one that stepped out of the door was immediately hit by the blue stone that (y/n) had flicked at it.

        Lightning shot down from the sky, stunning the nasod in place as the other continued onward. It spotted (y/n) and raised its glowing hand to shoot at her. She lept into a forward roll to dodge the blast. Dirt blasted through the air behind her, some of it splattering across her as she landed and flicked her own attack at the nasod. A blast of rock and fire shot up from the earth like a geyser and engulfed the nasod in lava. The machine still tried to move even as it melted before (y/n)'s eyes. She pulled free another stone, yet again orange, but heard another laser firing. The half elf girl dropped flat to the ground just in time to avoid the first nasod's murder attempt.

        (Y/n) was surprised that the lightning attack hadn't completely fried the nasod's system, but it was still active. Sparks had begun to fly from its joints, but it otherwise had resumed all functions again. (Y/n) found herself muttering an elven curse while she quickly scrambled to her feet. The lazer didn't hit her, but it's heat caught her ankle causing her to yelp as she fell to the meet the ground once more. As the dirt cleared, she threw the stone at the nasod's feet. It shocked her to see it dodge the rock, but it still exploded on the ground behind the nasod, sending it flying forwards towards (y/n).

        "Stay down!!" She pulled three random stones from her bag and threw them at the nasod without even checking their color. Two were green and one was blue. The green stones were meant to simply trap the target by erupting into branches and vines, but the added effect of the lighting stimulated the growth of the usually harmless branches. They burst forth, piercing the nasod's armor and blasting its core apart.

        (Y/n) dropped to her knees and began to catch her breath which she had been holding out of anticipation. "Wait, where's Add?!" She pushed herself to stand back up and rushed over to the home that had been left in disarray. There was nothing there to indicate where Add had gone. "No, this can't be happening again!" Just to be sure, (y/n) searched around the outside of the home, but she could not find that familiar boy.

        She had only wanted to clear her thoughts. There wasn't supposed to be anything wrong when she came back. Add was supposed to be there waiting for her. She didn't want to lose anyone else in her family to tragedy ever again. Add was her last hope.

        But Add, her last chance, was gone.

        The wind obtained a mind of its own, and a piece of paper caught (y/n)'s eye. She ignored it, but the wind was adamant about bothering her with it. The note fluttered up to fly across her face before floating down to rest at her feet.
____________________________________

Here we go! Ready for what this is about to bring along? I really hope so! Until next time you beautiful readers!