Journey to a Better End (An Add x Ara Story)

Chapter 15

I should probably let you guys know something that's not even important. I had to do some research before starting this book and apparently there are a lot of characters that exist that we Elsword players don't even know exist! They're practically nonexistent!
____________________________________

       Add didn't notice that Ara had been crying. In fact, he was too worried about his own problems. How was he supposed to win against an adult with so much authority. No one would believe anything he said except perhaps Helputt. Astrin had been out to ruin Add's life every time he was anywhere near the man. Without his mother's slight authority to protect him, he couldn't simply get away with things that he really never did in the first place and now he was given the task to poison the king?!

         If Add even tried to get close to the king, he didn't doubt that he would be killed without hesitation. The poison that he was supposed to use was far more potent than any other that he had seen or heard of which made him wonder how Astrin made it. All Add had to do was pour the contents of the vile onto some exposed area of the king's skin and it would seep through it, contaminating all of the man's veins and killing him instantly. Add was surprised that the vile was even able to hold such a dangerous liquid and he had immediately removed it from his pocket and hid it under his pillow as soon as he had gotten to his bed.

        A knock was heard at the door and another servant made their way into the room. "I am here for Add. I am to escort you to be treated," he said. Add, pulled himself out of his bed and followed after the servant. He looked in Ara's direction before leaving but she seemed to be asleep so he didn't say anything to her before leaving. As he predicted, the servant took him to a bathing area and left him there with only his thoughts. Add was then escorted to an area where a variety of clothing options were displayed before him but he refused to part with anything that bore his family's symbol so he kept his clothing.

        Since he insisted on doing so, the servant had them washed and returned to him. Add was immediately returned to his room afterwards where he found Ara waiting for him and it was then that he actually noticed that she was crying. When she saw him, she wiped away her tears in a hurry and turned away from the door where he stood. "You're obviously not okay so don't even try saying that. You either tell me what's wrong with you or I make you tell me," Add said as he walked over to Ara who didn't want to look him in the eyes.

        "I'll be fine. You shouldn't worry about me," Ara said as she turned away from him again causing Add to sigh. "Ara, you can't keep doing this to me. Every time this happens, you turn me away and then expect me to just let you handle it yourself. Then when you eventually fix whatever your problem is, you expect me to continue on as if nothing happened. I'm not doing that anymore especially now that we aren't back in the village. It's just us now," Add said. Add was alarmed when Ara just started to cry again.

        "That's just it though! We aren't home and I'm not strong enough to protect myself or anyone else on my own! I relied too much on Eun and I failed again! My family is still dead and I might not even make it back home anyway. If we get caught, we'll be killed! If we aren't killed, we'll be imprisoned for the rest of our lives and Astrin will get away with it all!" Ara said as she cried even more. Stress and worry. That's what it was that was causing Ara's troubles.

         "Ara, I promise on my life that nothing will happen to you while you're here in Hamel. Since you claim not to be strong enough to protect yourself or others, I'll do my best to protect you. Ryu gave me that responsibly anyway, and I intend to take it seriously. Besides, you're all I have left until we go home and save my mother. Friends look out for each other and you've been doing that so it's my turn now," Add said as he got up and sat next to Ara who had almost completely stopped crying.