Thank you all for the reviews! Well..the pairing suggestions I got were good, but I'll probably only be using some of them.

And I'm not gonna tell you which. *evil laughter and shippers screaming in the distance*

The Seer

"The prophecy is unfolding."

"Gods are not supposed to meddle in these events. If you get caught.."

"I know. But it was necessary. Her life is too precious to be lost this early."

"Where is she running to?"

"She does not know. She is running blindly, trying to escape her burning home and the hatred there."

"And the Seer?"

"She knows the Vessel is near. She waits for her."

"Let us pray that the Seer finds her."

"What about the Lie and Truth?"

"Mm..their story is just beginning. The Chessmaster and the Doll approach.."

Elsword sighed, rolling a pawn in his hands. Chung tapped his foot, smirking triumphantly.

"Well, Elsword? We can't just sit here all day. Make your move." his guardian gestured to the board, where Elsword's king was cornered by Chung's pawn, queen, and knight.

Elsword groaned. "Why? You're going to beat me anyways! You've got me surrounded, and it's checkmate, so just get it over with."

Chung laughed. "Don't give up just like that. Are you a quitter, Prince Elsword?"

"Quiet, you," Elsword grumbled, shaking his head. "I'm only playing this damn game to pass time."

"Really? Is that why you challenge me to a rematch every morning?" God, Elsword could hear the eye roll in Chung's voice.

"Prince Elsword?" a maid stepped into the room, dusting off her dress. "Lady Rena asked me to come and get you."

"Oh, right. I've got..oh dear," Elsword sighed. "it's time for Rena to go back to Elvier, isn't it?"

"It is, my Prince," the maid bowed. "She has something to give you, I believe." with that, the maid left the room and Chung shook his head.

"I didn't think she'd be leaving so suddenly. I guess that Elvier's magic is running lower than I thought.."

"We gave her all we could, but I wish we had more.." Elsword walked out into the hallway, Chung trailing behind him. "But if we give the Elves any more of our El, we'll start losing vitality. Hamel has too many citizens for us to give away large quantities of our El."

Chung nodded. "I feel the same way you do, Els, but we can't do anything right now but pray that Rena and her people recover safely." Chung opened the door to the palace gates, and saw Rena waiting there, brushing the hair out of her face from the wind. She glanced over and them and smiled.

"Hello, Prince Elsword. Chung."

"Rena. Are you doing well?"

Rena chuckled. "As well as I can be. From the letter I got from our Elder, the forest is even starting to die in places..I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but my duty as a Grand Archer of Elvier calls."

Elsword smiled. "It's fine, Rena. I'm glad we could help as much as we could."

Rena turned towards the duo, her eyes dull and tired, bags beginning to form under her eyes. Her smile turned sad. "The Elder..she's dying, I believe. But..she won't tell anyone about it. But her handwriting is shaky. If..if she dies.." Rena's voice cracked, tears forming in her emerald eyes. Chung frowned, putting a hand on her shoulder. Elsword realized just how thin she had been stretching herself for the past week she had spent in Hamel.

"Rena.." Chung didn't know what to say to the elf, whose lips were trembling. Rena took a deep breath and sighed, staring at the ground. When she looked back up, she shook her head.

"Sorry. Don't worry about me. I should be back in about a month or so. Good luck with the wedding, Prince Elsword. Oh.." Rena forced a giggle. "Queen Eve and her adviser are coming today, right?"

Elsword's eyes widened. "Oh sh-" Chung glanced at him. "damn. I completely forgot she'd be coming today.."

Rena nodded and gestured to the gates. "I should get going. I have a long journey ahead of me."

Chung and Elsword nodded. "Well, I pray you reach Elvier safely, Rena."

Rena nodded and waved before turning towards the gate and opening it, which the gate complied with a loud creak. When Rena stepped outside of the palace and down to Hamel's city, she didn't look back.

Ara's legs hurt. Her lungs hurt. Everything hurt. Trying to steady her breathing while balancing her weight on a large tree branch wasn't exactly easy. She had managed to run from Fahrmann, and hid inside of a small, cool trench near the end of the desert. Once Elesis and her soldiers had given up the search for the day, she had fled into the forest and was currently searching for any more of the Red Knights, in case they had followed her.

I think..I'm safe, for now. Should I climb down? Ara glanced at the ground, and then at the tree branch she was sitting on. Luckily, it was quite sturdy, and Ara's breathing was beginning to slow down. She looked up at the sky and sighed.

"I didn't realize how late it was getting. Some of the stars are already coming out. And.." Ara was cut out with a yawn, and she leaned back on the tree. "I'm..so tired.."

Ara's eyes fluttered shut, despite her attempts to get them open, and she drifted off into sleep.

Aisha sighed happily, stretching and gazing around the forest. It was oddly calm during the night, and she loved when these moments came around while she was out gathering herbs. She gazed up at the glowing white crescent moon in the sky and crossed her arms.

"You'd think that Edan would be a bit more considerate, sending us out to do this shit." Speka strode up beside her, placing her hands on her hips, a scowl on her face. Her bat familiar, Anger, floated behind her.

"Oh come on, Speka. We'll be fine. Edan knows what he's doing. Besides, we're low on healing herbs."

Speka rolled her eyes. "Of course you're taking his side, Aisha. Anything to please dear old leader."

"Oh shut up, Speka! Just because I'm not lazy with everything I do like you-"

"Hey, I'm not lazy about fighting."

"-That's because you like seeing guts fly!"

"And? The problem with that is~?" Speka smirked at Aisha, who crossed her arms and huffed.

"You're such a pain in the ass."

"I'm the pain in the ass? When you first joined this little group you-" Speka stopped suddenly, squinting at a large oak tree. Aisha raised an eyebrow at her odd face, and gave her an inquisitive look once Speka nodded at Anger. Anger let out a small mischievous giggle and flew up towards the tree stopping near a large branch. Aisha stepped closer and looked at the branch, trying to see what Anger was staring at. She could vaguely see a silhouette lying on the branch, seemingly asleep. Anger grinned, showing a row of fangs, and sunk them into the silhouette's arm.

A shriek rang out in the forest, followed by an 'oof' as the figure landed on the ground. Speka laughed.

"Niice one Anger!" The familiar purred and flew next to its master, who was scratching its head lovingly. Aisha rushed towards the figure, rolling them over to see if they were okay. Aisha gasped at her twitching white ears on her head, her tail swishing behind her. The girl got up and growled, using her spear as a crutch.

"Get away from me." She held her shoulder, wincing when she touched it. Aisha raised her hands up to show she wasn't armed and walked closer to her slowly.

"I'm sorry that we woke you. But you..you need help."

"I don't need help! Get away, please.." her voice cracked and she shuddered, her coughs shaking her whole body. She tensed once Speka walked up beside Aisha, crossing her arms and looking her over.

"Jeez, Anger really scared the shit outta you, huh? Come on, you're fine. We can take her back to camp if she's so injured." Speka scoffed. Aisha glared at her.

"She needs help Speka. We can't just leave her. Dragging her to camp like a prisoner isn't exactly the best thing to do either," Aisha turned towards Ara and her eyes softened. "I'm sorry. Could you please tell me your name?"

Ara glanced at the two of them before sighing in defeat. "I'm..I'm Ara."

Speka's eyebrow's raised. "As in Ara Haan? That little prized treasure of the Haan family?"

Ara's eyes narrowed and her tail waved from side to side. "What do you mean by that?"

Speka smiled. "I can feel the godlike power emanating from inside you..do you feel it too?" Speka nudged Aisha. "You've been touched by some sort of..being. Mmm..now I'm interested. Those fox ears, where did you-"

"SPEKA!" Aisha yelled, smacking her companion's arm. Speka scowled. "Shut it, Speka. I'm pretty sure the last thing she wants to do is be interrogated when she's injured." Aisha began to walk closer and Ara stayed still, her eyes never leaving Aisha's.

"I won't hurt you, Ara. I swear." Aisha smiled, holding her hand out to Ara. Ara stared at it, her ears flicking occasionally. She hesitantly raised her hand, wincing at the pain and placed her hand on Aisha's. Aisha's smile turned into a grin. "Thank you Ara."

Ara sighed in relief. "I'm..thank you.."

Speka groaned loudly, stomping her foot. "Bo-oring! Honestly, can we get back to camp now? This sappy diabetes shit is making me wanna hurl."

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, let's get going."

Ara smiled weakly when Aisha turned back to her with a warm look.

I'm..I'm safe, right? Ara thought, staring at Aisha's gloved hand.

"Ugh, Aisha! How far did we walk?"

"Oh Speka, you're so lazy!"

"Well a Princess of Darkness like myself shouldn't be subjected to such-"

"Speka."

"UUUUGHHH."

"From the Nasod Kingdom, Her Elegance, Queen Eve!" Add raised his hand to help his queen down from the craft. Her eyes were cold, merciless. Behind Eve, two androids emerged and flanked her. Elsword felt a shiver run down his spine. Chung nudged him and whispered,

"Elsword, stay strong. It's only a few months."

"Until we get married." Elsword muttered back. Chung rolled his eyes and stared at Eve and her adviser as they walked towards them. Add and Eve stopped in front of the duo and Add bowed.

"Ah, Prince Elsword, Guardian Chung. A pleasure to see you after such a long time." Add smiled. Elsword nodded.

Oh El, his voice is so weird..he's like a snake..

"It's nice to see you again too, Add. How are you, Queen Eve?"

Eve's eyes flicked towards Elsword's. "I am fine. Thank you for asking, Prince Elsword. May we enter?"

I feel..uneasy. Something's not right. Elsword glanced at Add, then at Eve, and finally at Chung, who nodded.

"You may." Chung stood to the side and raised his arm to the gatekeeper, who grunted and pushed open the gates. Eve glided through, Add right behind her. Chung and Elsword exchanged a nervous glance. Chung's gaze became serious.

"My Prince, stay quiet most of the time. Do not speak unless you need to."

Elsword shrugged. "You don't need to tell me twice.."

When the gates shut behind them, Elsword's feeling of unease grew. Add's head turned to look at them and a grin crept up on his face. Elsword looked away as quickly as he could.

His wedding wasn't that far away now.

Alrighty! Shut-In's chapter should be coming up sometime this week..I'm not sure. I just barely got this done.

Anyways, I'll start working on Chapter 3 soon!