No author note this time I guess...
______________________________________

        "Are you sure that you can do this? It's not that I entirely doubt you..." (y/n) muttered as he stood in the kitchen to watch over Elsword. "I'm fine, (y/n). I appreciate your concern, but I know what I'm doing. I just...have to pull myself together is all," Elsword said. The two of them decided to work together to fill in for kitchen duty after finishing the tea Ara had made them. Elsword had claimed the main task of actually cooking, so (y/n) was just an assistant.

        After Elsword changed clothes and (y/n) made sure Ykuei was still safe, the two of them had gone to the kitchen only to get stuck at the beginning of their task. "If you need my help, just let me know. I don't have much experience with cooking in a kitchen, but I can cook just about anything over an open fire in the open air of the Sander deserts," (y/n) said. He saw Elsword crack a smile at his words. "Is that so? You and I aren't too much different in this department then. That's a relief," Elsword said. "Is it really?" (y/n) asked. Elsword sighed and glanced at him before pouting a bit.

        In truth, neither of them had any idea how to cook in a kitchen space. Elsword was still determined to complete the task anyway, so (y/n) would do what he could to assist. Just before they could start anything, two of their allies returned. The two of them went into the main lobby just in time to see Chung and Aisha stumble through the door. Chung had minor wounds although his armor displayed markings and scratches from a recent battle. Even so, he seemed like he was about to collapse.

        Aisha was the one they really needed to worry about. At first glance, one might assume she was dead. Red certainly did not suit her either. (Y/n) and Elsword didn't hesitate to rush to their aid. Neither of them spoke as Elsword took Aisha and rushed her upstairs while (y/n) guided Chung to a nearby chair. If he remembered correctly, the two of them had gone to search for Elesis against Elsword's judgement. "What happened to you two?" (y/n) inquired as he pulled Chung's cannon from his grasp.

        "We found her..." he muttered although he didn't seem to happy about it. (Y/n) would have asked more, but he heard his name being called from upstairs. "I'll be right back. Just hang in there," (y/n) stated before rushing upstairs. He noticed his speed returning just a bit which he was highly grateful for. It didn't take long for him to catch up to Elsword just as he got to the room they had designated for the injured members of the team.

        "She's not breathing but her heart is still going," Elsword informed when (y/n) was close enough. He opened the door to let Elsword in. Ara was startled by their sudden appearance but quickly gained her composure when she saw the situation. "(Y/n), clear that space right there. Elsword, get water as soon as you put her down," Ara demanded. It was unusual for her to take charge like that, but there was an emergency at the moment. "She's not breathing but her heart is still going," Elsword relayed the message before leaving to get the water.

        Then it hit him. (Y/n) nearly facepalmed at his lack of noticing something so important. "Elsword wait, come back," he called. Ara looked at him like he was crazy but he had no time to explain. "You've finally decided to rely on me? Good. Make sure you aren't too close. She's in bad condition so I'll need to use a lot of energy," Illipia spoke. Just as Elsword returned, (y/n) pulled Ara back from Aisha's side.

        Another crest of a Illipia appeared but not just above Aisha. There was one for each of their harmed comrades who were resting to heal their previous injuries. The phenomenon was almost unbelievable as the whole room practically glowed with golden light. The only thing left unfixed were the rips in their clothing which could easily be handled later.

        "Thanks," (y/n) spoke aloud to the goddess. She gave no reply but (y/n) didn't care. He was relieved that no one else died. "Did you just ask the goddess Illipia to heal everyone?!" Elsword questioned. "Well technically she read my thoughts before I could ask. I didn't think to do that until now. She's the one that saved you too," (y/n) explained. "You're incredible," Ara commented as she checked Aisha's temperature. "It wasn't me though..." (y/n) muttered.

        He didn't bother to say anything else though. He just stood up and headed back downstairs to make sure that Chung was okay. "Don't worry. I didn't leave him out. He is perfectly fine," Illipia spoke. Although that was one of his concerns, he was also curious about what actually happened to Chung and Aisha while they were looking for Elesis. All he knew so far was that Chung claimed they had found her, but she was not with them.

        "You're curious about what happened too?" Elsword asked as he caught up to him. "Yeah, I am. You too I'm guessing," (y/n) said. Elsword shook his head. "Not entirely. I want to know, but I wanted to make sure everyone was okay first. Ara kicked me out though. She said I didn't need to put myself up under anymore stress or something like that," he explained as he followed (y/n) downstairs. Chung was in the same spot and so were Ykuei and Rose. Chung immediately pointed at her when he noticed them returning.

        "Who is that and why is she our hostage?" he questioned. (Y/n) then wondered if the El Search Party had ever taken hostages before since that was the first thing Chung assumed. To be fair, the blonde girl's hands were tied behind her back with some spare cloth and Elsword had suggested tying her leg to one of Zhu's legs. It made perfect sense for Chung to assume she was a prisoner, but a hostage was for bargaining situations. If it weren't for the information the blonde possessed, (y/n) would have let Zhu kill her.

        "We don't know who she is. She's more like a prisoner than a hostage. We'll tell you our end of the story after you explain what happened to you two," (y/n) said. Chung immediately looked to Elsword making his unease evident. "Elsword, you might want to sit down," Chung said. Whatever he had to say must not have been good. (Y/n) had suspected such beforehand and was already prepared for any type of shocking news. The worst case was that Elesis was no more which (y/n) could have Illipia fix if that were the case.

        Chung only continued speaking when Elsword was seated. (Y/n) remained standing just in case things got out of hand although he doubted Chung and Elsword would get into any kind of trouble. "We found Elesis," Chung stated. He paused waiting for Elsword's reaction but the red head seemed to already be expecting bad news and simply waited for Chung to continue. "She tried to kill us. Scar seems to have brainwashed her or something, and now she's obsessed with making her enemies bleed. It's terrifying," Chung explained.

        For a moment, nothing happened. Chung still waited for a reaction and (y/n) reconsidered the thought of not having to worry about a dispute. Elsword was way to silent which was the exact opposite of his usual self. "We tried talking to her but she wouldn't listen," Chung muttered likely not knowing what else to say. That wasn't the best of options, but Elsword finally stopped blankly staring at the floor. "Are you sure it was her?" he asked as he met Chung's gaze. The Hamel boy nodded and watched Elsword with worry.

        "Well that makes things worse, doesn't it. Our options are way too limited to have my sister on the wrong side of things," Elsword said with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration before standing up. "(Y/n), help Ara get the others downstairs. We all need to figure this out before we run out of actions to take," Elsword said. "Add, Raven, and Ain aren't here yet. It would be best to wait," Chung spoke up. Elsword froze and thought about his words before nodding.

        "You're right. Okay. Then we focus on the small things. Kitchen duty still needs to be taken care of. Rena will likely be healthy enough to take care of it soon. I need someone to keep guard of Ykuei until he wakes up," Elsword said. (Y/n) put a hand on his shoulder stopping him from saying anything else. "Dude, are you okay? If you need a moment, you can take all the time you need. We'll have to wait anyway," (y/n) spoke. Elsword's stress was practically suffocating them with the unease it produced.

        "I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. I have to be. We can't afford to waste any time. At this rate, we'll have casualties on our end, and I'd rather not die again," Elsword said before pushing (y/n)'s hand off of his shoulder. "You can't go around acting like you're okay when you're clearly not," (y/n) said. Elsword shook his head at him. "I have to. If I don't, I know I'll do something reckless. I need to keep myself occupied. At least let me do that," he spoke. Chung ended up joining the conversation before anything else could be said.

        "You said again. Why did you say again?" he spoke. He looked at them in confusion as if Elsword had told a joke that was taken too seriously. To him, it very well might have seemed that way, but Elsword really hadn't been joking. "Yeah...I said again," Elsword confirmed although he didn't answer the question. "Guys, please don't tell me Ara accidentally drugged your tea," Chung said.

        (Y/n) looked at him in horror. How does one accidentally drug tea?! "That's happened before?" (y/n) asked. Elsword nearly laughed at his reaction and Chung nodded. "I was told that she always used to make different teas for each new place we went to. When the search party got to Hamel, she unknowingly used an herb in her tea that was used by our healers to cure a variety of things," Chung explained. Elsword was doing his best not to laugh about it. "We were so awake that we couldn't sleep for two days," he added as he also tried to contain his laughter.

        "I wish I'd been told about this before now..." (y/n) muttered. He actually really liked the tea Ara made, but now he would have to be cautious about any tea. "She didn't drug our tea this time, Chung. I really did die. Now come help us out with kitchen duty. You at least know how to cook in a kitchen, so that should help," Elsword said. He didn't hesitate to leave the area before Chung could say anything else. In fact, it took a moment for Chung to process those words so (y/n) also took the opportunity to head to the kitchen as well.
______________________________________

Ara can make good tea....but sometimes things just don't go the way we want. Happens to the best of us. Until next time you amazing readers!