*Edited*
When I came to my head felt like it just got hit with a boulder. The world seemed to run in a constant spiral around me, and having my eyes shut only made it feel like I was trapped on a never ending roller coaster.
"I think she's waking up." Aisha's soft voices rippled through the rhythmic beeping beside me.
"A-are you sure?" Elsword's voice replied. "Maybe you're just seeing things."
"I saw her fingers twitch, doofus." Aisha snapped loudly. A sharp pain pierced through my head at the noise.
"Maybe we should poke her."
"No," I could imagine her punching Elsword on the arm. "We can't just poke her."
"Why not?"
Aisha groaned," I really hope you're just acting this stupid."
I begin to crack my eyes open, snapping them shut the instant a blinding white light pierced my vision. It took me several more tries to successfully pry them both open, by then Aisha and Elsword had already fell into silence.
"Well look who decided to wake up." Elsword greeted once I managed to fully awaken. "Good morning, sleeping beauty." He winked.
"M-morning?" My voice came out hoarse.
Aisha's lower lip trembled. Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong she enveloped me in a gentle hug.
"Don't you dare do that again." Aisha scolded, breaking the warm embrace. "Do you know how worried we were?"
"Aisha, I don't think we have to worry about her from now on." Elsword shivered at the memory. "A-and I think we learned to never piss her off."
I tilted my head in confusion," what are you talking about?"
Aisha opened her mouth to respond but bit down on her lower lip before the words could come out.
"W-what happened out there?" I persisted, now my arms and legs were starting to feel like jelly.
"Some...crazy things." Aisha answered hesitantly.
"Crazy indeed." Camilla entered the room with arms on her hips, I absentminded shrunk into my bed at her arrival. She pointed at me angrily," I can't believe you participated in that fight with these two. You could've died out there, young lady."
I broke eye contact with my teacher," but I didn't die." I mumbled.
"Y'know I would love to hear how you survived." Camilla went on, her voice made my head pound with greater intensity. "You have lots of explaining to do, Ara."
"Indeed you do." Aisha agreed.
I ran my hand through my hair—ignoring the sharp pain in my shoulder," I-I don't know what happened okay? I j-just remember blacking out and then waking up--" I was cut off with a dry cough. The burning pain in my shoulder shot down my arm with each convulsing hack.
Camilla's angered expression softened in an instant.
"Maybe you were too harsh on her," I heard Elsword whispering to Camilla.
"I-I know," she sighed, dropping her arms down. "I was just worried. I-I really thought she wouldn't wake up." My chest ached upon catching the tears stirring in her eyes.
Great, you hurt the one person who cared about you all these years. Good job, Ara.
I swallowed down the lump quickly forming at the back of my throat and asked,"I want answers too. Can someone tell me what happened?" I eyed my visitors desperately, hoping someone would spill the beans.
Aisha and Elsword exchanged glances with each other, their eyes buzzing with worry.
"Let's get you some water first." Aisha was the first to speak up.
________________________________________________________________________________
I drowned the cup of water in a matter of seconds. Elsword, Aisha, and Camilla watched my every move in silence. I wanted to scream at them to stop treating me like a newly discovered species.
I placed the glass cup down beside me and gestured Aisha and Elsword to start explaining. The two friends seemed to tense in response.
"I don't even know where to start." Elsword began, his eyes wandering around the room. "We started freaking out when you didn't get up. W-we were sure you died." He paused to wipe the corner of his eye.
" I-I wanted to fight that demon for what it did, but before I could attack something pushed the demon onto its back." He finished.
"That's when we saw you fight back." Aisha took over, with hands clasped together.
I raised my brow," wait, I fought back?" I mindlessly let out a chuckle. "H-how is that possible? I know I passed out on the roof."
Aisha shrugged," there was something odd though." She continued, this time in a much lower tone. She darted her eyes around the room frantically, like a deer searching for possible hunters, before continuing. "You attacked the demon without your spear. I-it was like you were using claws to throw the demon back."
"It wasn't the way you fought that was scary; in fact, you were freakin' cool. What threw us off was your appearance, you were kinda scary." Elsword scratched the back of his head. "N-no offence." He added hastily.
"What do you mean by scary?" I asked hesitantly.
"Y-you had snow-white hair," Aisha shifted her legs uncomfortably. "Your eyes were blood red, and you had strange red markings on your face."
"You also grew nine white tails. No offence but you looked and fought like a demon." Elsword added hastily. He opened his mouth to say more but snapped it shut once he realized he had said enough.
I dropped my gaze down to my closed hands, both fists were trembling at the new information.
Nine tails, red eyes; white hair? Are these guys trying to trick me; or am I just loopy on medicine? This all sounded like something you'd hear from an over imaginative child.
"N-now I know you think we lost a few marbles," Aisha piped in. "But I promise we're telling the truth."
"T-that can't be true." I felt my eyes welling up with tears. "Y-you're saying I-I'm a demon?"
"N-no, they didn't say that." Camilla clamped her hand around my ice cold fist, her warmth enveloping it like a blanket.
"It's not that hard to figure out, Camilla." I pulled my hand away, instantly missing the warmth of her touch. "I-I know what they're trying to say."
"But with these powers you can be stronger." Elsword added with a tight smile. "Demons are really strong to begin with."
"Demons are evil." I corrected. "Demons kill everyone and everything. In the end they leave you with nothing but pain."
I tried to hold back the tears but I couldn't fight them any longer. I buried my face into my hands cried. I shook, consequently shooting the pain down my arm, with every gasping breath I forced in.
No one went out of their way to say something to comfort me; but who could blame them? There's nothing they could say that would make me feel better—I should be used to this by now.
A couple minutes passed before I could recollect myself. Aisha handed me a box of tissues to which I gladly accepted.
"She's had some bad experiences with demons." Camilla clarified as I wiped my burning eyes dry.
"Just kill me," I requested weakly, Aisha gasped at my request. Camilla and Elsword's jaw both dropped in response "'I could kill everyone in this room one day."
"Don't say that." Aisha placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "That's not true."
"How can you be sure?" I felt another wave of tears forming in my eyes, I quickly wiped them dry before they could make an appearance. "Y-you of all people should know that demons are evil."
"Well you aren't an evil demon." She defended, her grip on my shoulder tightened. "An evil demon would've attacked us, but you saved our lives instead. If you hadn't fought back there, hundreds of people would still be in danger."
I shook my head, unable to believe anything Aisha was telling me," there's no such thing as a good demon. They're all the same."
"Ara..." Aisha lifted her hand off me.
"You're a good kid, Ara." Camilla said with a warm smile. "You may be reckless and hollow headed, but you're one of my best students."
Good? Am I really good if I have the potential to go beserk and murder everyone?
"There is such thing as good demons." Elsword piped in softly. "I've heard some cool stories about demons and humans working together. There isn't a lot, but they still exist."
His words made some of the tears evaporate, but it wasn't enough to lift the weight crushing my shoulders.
"Wow, that's deep." Aisha playfully pounded his arm. "That still doesn't change the fact that you're dumb."
"Whatever, nerd." He countered.
I laughed at their responses," thanks guys."
"All jokes aside," Aisha elbowed Elsword one last time in the chest. "You said you couldn't remember defeating the demon?" I bobbed my head. "In that case, it's safe to assume you can't control yourself in that state."
The room fell silent once again. I used that time to wipe off any lingering tears.
While Elsword's speech about good demons lifted some of the emotional weight off my mind, I still refuse to believe my demonic powers were good. Who's to say I won't lash out randomly one day—especially if I have no control of myself?
I still think it's best to send me to Mother and Father early. The world could do with one less demon.
Elsword abruptly snapped his fingers together, drawing our attention to him.
Elsword averted his attention towards Camilla," this is gonna sound crazy; but may I take Ara in as one of my team members?"
Camilla's eyes widened at his question," absolutely not. She nearly got killed today in a harmless spar. How can you expect her to go out and fight real demons?" She snapped.
Yikes, looks like she's still bitter about that.
"We have smart people in the Red Knight community." Elsword explained calmly. "Maybe someone can help control her demonic powers." He flashed a smile so big it could rival that of a child's on their birthday. She returned the gesture by folding her arms.
"W-we can help her grow in battle too." Aisha chimed in. "I'm sure she'll gain some valuable experience through us."
Camilla tapped her index finger against her chin," true, but I'm worried about her well-being. Ara is still young and reckless."
"So are we." Elsword gestures to himself and Aisha. "We're all around the same age and look how strong Aisha and I are now. With some training and experience Ara can be like us."
Camilla chuckled," hopefully she'll turn out like Aisha. If she turns out like you I will be highly disappointed."
Aisha and I laughed while Elsword went on a tangent about how great he really was.
"So can I join them?" I asked over his ramblings. I mentally braced myself for her to say no.
"Being a Red Knight won't be easy, Ara." The air seemed to thicken at her response—even Elsword quieted down from his speech," your everyday life will be more stressful and tiring, and you can die battle. Are you sure you'll be able to handle that?"
"B-but I'll train really hard." I felt my lower lip trembling. "I-I know life will be tough but I w-won't give up."
My heart was hammering faster than ever before. I haven't felt this rush since the day I tried stealing a cookie from Camilla's lunchbox.
"We started out the same way as her," Aisha jumped in to defend me. "Camilla, you remember when Elsword had trouble swinging his wooden sword and when I kept burning myself with my own spells. Look at us now, we're not perfect but we've improved a lot."
"We're still learning like her," Elsword added.
"Pl-please, Camilla." I begged. This was the first time I had two other people believing in me. Camilla should know how crushed I'd be if she took this opportunity away.
A moment of silence followed shortly, my ear buzzed with each passing second.
After what felt like years had passed, shebroke into a smile," as long as you don't forget about me, dear."
Aisha and Elsword high-fived at her approval. I was left in a tearful mess.
"I-I won't ever forget you, Camilla." I gestured Camilla to give me a hug. "You're like a mother to me."
"Oh, Ara." Camilla responded instantly with a bone crushing hug, pain shot through my body from the embrace but I didn't protest. "Just promise me you'll stay safe. I-I don't want to wake up one morning to learn you passed away in battle."
"I will, Camilla. Thank you so much for allowing me to join them." I broke the hug with a toothy grin still stretched on my face. Camilla; on the other hand, was stuck between laughter and tears
"I still can't believe this is happening." I squealed.
As the idea sunk deeper in my mind the world seemed to brighten. I could picture the long awaited sunlight breaking the murky clouds constantly in my mind, bathing my world with its golden warmth.
"Well you better believe it," Elsword held out his hand to me." Welcome to the team, Ara."