[Elsword] - Masked Renegade

14 - Red Riddance

...

The following morning, Ara Haan woke up with an alarmed jolt, springing up from her position on the couch. She gulped, sweating from the nightmare she had, as well as the fact that a blanket had been put on her sometime during the night. She glanced around, only to be startled when she saw Add sitting patiently beside her on the floor, his eyes were glued onto her as she slept, innocently sparkling like a puppy.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "E-Eh?! Add..?! What are you doing here?!"

He shrugged helplessly. "No reason. I stopped by to deliver a blanket, since I thought you were cold... Then I ended up staying and watching you." he paused, then added a gentle murmur. "Red... eye..."

"A-Ah, um, thank you! But, red eye?" Ara blinked, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Check the mirror." he responded, standing up. He dragged her to the nearest bathroom, the puzzled Sakra Devanam following without much choice.

She took a brief look at the reflection that bounced back at her. Everything seemed fine, except, she noticed her right eye was actually red. The iris genuinely turned into a bright shade of red, which was shocking to the younger Haan sibling.

Ara touched the area around eye with her fingers. Several seconds passed, before a piercing shriek was released into the air. "K-Kyaaaaaaaaaah...!!!"

Panicking, she turned to Add, grasping onto his shoulders. "Wh-What is this..?!"

"How am I supposed to know? I don't even know that much about myself, much less whatever is happening to you..." he muttered. "But, you do look like someone I know, or at least, someone I think I'm familiar with." the albino added.

"Ah... What's her name?" Ara asked, desperately grasping at straws at this point.

"I'm not really sure, but I suppose people call her 'Ava'?"

A v a .

She was far more than desperate now. Add, who was in her previous dreams, who ended up being a real entity. Now, it seemed to be the same with Ava. It appeared far too suspicious to just be labeled as a coincidence. The Asura's words echoed in her mind.

"You can call me Ava, or maybe even Asura, but really, we're almost the same person."

"But really, we're almost the same person."

"We're almost the same person."

"Same person."

Ara began to describe Ava's physical features and characteristics. "That's the one you're referring to, right?" her voice started to quiver.

He simply nodded, the description matched the vision he had seen.

"What does this mean? Do you... b-believe in magic, Add?

The Esper bit the inside of his cheek, shrugging again before finally giving a pointless response a while later. "Abstain."

"I need to talk to Brother! And I need something to cover my eye with!" she exclaimed, darting away from the bathroom, only to bump into Aisha, who was leaving the bedroom all dressed for an occasion to go outside.

"Making a ruckus so early in the morning, aren't we? That's just perfect, my kind of style! Oh? And you're with Add? All the better!" she laughed, giving Ara a playful hug. "Be careful where you're going, Miss Clumsy Haan~ Thankfully you didn't fall. But what are those? Did you get colored contact lenses or something?" the purple-haired teenager inquired, puzzled.

"Oh... um. It kind of just happened overnight, but I don't really know why. I'm looking for Brother! And something to conceal this with." she explained, slightly embarrassed at how fake her story seemed to have been, despite being the truth.

"Well, I believe you, and I have the answer to both of those, lucky for you! Not so luckily though, Aren told me to tell you guys that he was going to be away for the day, something important popped up, apparently. He also apologizes for not being able to make breakfast because of the rush. He told me because I was up rather early today too, so I caught him before he made his departure. I think I might have a eye-patch in my bag, from one of my more delusional states in the past... ah, it's hard to explain, but I have one with me, for whatever reason. Give me a second."

Aisha returned with a white piece of cloth attached to string, also known as her eye-patch. She helped tie it on, and in no time, the mysterious red eye was covered.

"Thank you very much, Aisha!" Ara beamed. "If we don't have breakfast, then we could always snack on the container of cookies on the table. One of Aren's friends gave them to me yesterday."

"Alright! Let's do that, then." Aisha smirked, grabbing both Ara and Add, and dragging them to the couch together.

They opened the sealed cookies, and began to feast on the chocolate chip delights. Aisha was practically stuffing her face with them.

Ara giggled, a bit relieved that she seemed to have been in a happier mood than she was yesterday. The thought of Elesis being there with them crossed her mind, it couldn't be helped, though it was definitely a depressing thought.

The Void Princess swallowed. "If... she was here, then she would've told me to stop eating like a pig.

Yeah. That's what she would've done..." her mood sank, lightly biting her lip as tears formed and splattered onto her skirt. "Ahaha... oops. Maybe it really is difficult to hide your true feelings under a mask of happiness. I lied. I still miss her, more than ever...!"

Ara embraced her, rubbing her friend's back. "Aisha..."

Although Add merely sat and observed, he didn't feel pitiful. No, it was more like, he couldn't. There was an emotion inside him, an odd feeling that was telling him not to feel sorry for the girl.

"Sorry, you two. I'm going to spend today dealing with some personal stuff regarding Elesis, like, breaking the news to her brother. Sure, I could've done it over the phone or something, but it has more sentimental value when done in person, you know? I just need the day off from all of this, I'm sorry, Ara, Add. But, on the bright side, you have the house to yourselves. So, have fun... yeah. Take care." she forced a smile, wiping her tears. "I'd like to apologize. I won't be a crybaby, and I'll be strong knowing that both of you exist in my heart. See ya guys." she stood, bowed, then ran for the door.

Aisha had left before the two had the chance to say goodbye, though the doorbell rang seconds after the mage was out of the picture.

...