The Heart of a Guardian (Elsword)

Chapter 11: Her Feelings

Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword or the characters in the game.

The week that followed Chung's awakening was a rollercoaster. The frequent visits from his friends were a welcome respite from being stuck alone in the medical bay but it was also a difficult learning experience being mentally connected to Eve. Because she was able to read his vitals and collect data on his thoughts, he became acutely aware of what he was thinking at any point in time.

Whenever his mind wandered to other people, Aisha specifically, Eve would be there recording his most private thoughts as if it were nothing. Whenever she'd engage in conversation with her drones, what would appear as a silent exchange between the three was a burst of colors and feelings in the back of his head. Whenever he'd speak with his friends alone, even if it were simple banter, any distinct rise in his heart rate would be reason enough for the Nasod to charge in unannounced with weapons ready to fire. The latter was the most frequent problem he had to deal with and it became increasingly difficult to even laugh without the Eve ruining the moment by kicking the door down.

He never told the others why she was being so overprotective and neither had Eve. Frankly, the idea of admitting that he and Eve were connected on a mental level was a taboo he would never be caught dead with. It was embarrassing enough that he was under her care but to tell everyone that, yes, they could read each other's minds? He was disgusted by it.

Eve sat there recording his emotions and played it back. A rush of soft murky greens and lukewarm yellows filled his head.

"Why are you so interested in recording my emotions, Eve?" Chung asked as he rubbed his temples, trying to rid the raw feeling of disgust that was pushed into his mind. His head swirled at the feeling of implanted disgust and overheating from his fever.

"Think of it as a pet project. I'm comparing the data with basic Nasod personality algorithms. So far your data is 93.377 percent similar to the programming. Fascinating, really."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Chung said.

"I think it's good," Eve stated. An alarm went off in her built in clock and she turned to the end table, unscrewing a flask of red liquid which she handed to the prince.

"Yeah if you like the idea of being compared to a lifeless machine," he retorted as he chugged the entire flask, making a face like he had just swallowed cherry-flavored bile. Hot red and rough purple flooded his mind. This was Eve's sign of annoyance and Chung made sure to hit that trigger as often as possible.

She said nothing, however, as was in almost all cases when he tried to get a rise out of her.

"So am I free, yet? I think my bones are healed now," Chung asked. The potions the alchemists have supplied him definitely sped up his healing process over the week. What would have taken a normal human a few months to fully recover, the prince had done so with his treatment in a manner of days.

Eve shook her head. "Every time I remove a piece of alloy holding your bones together, it leaves a hole that your bones need to regenerate over. You still have to use the crutches provided if you want your bones to fully recover. On top of that, your body is still rejecting the alloy hence why you're always running a high fever. I suggest you refrain from moving around too much until you fully recover."

Chung sighed. He slid out of bed dressed in his white shirt and baby blue shorts as he reached for his crutches. "Whatever, I'm tough. I can handle a little walk. It's almost time for another lesson anyways."

"I highly recommend just asking her to come to the medical bay," Eve stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm tired of being cooped up in here. It's nice to have some fresh air for once," Chung mumbled as he stood. He rested his weight on the crutches and hobbled out of the medbay with Eve in tow.