"Hurry...I need to hurry!" The panic in the words from this voice was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. The woman who spoke said words was running with the utmost speed she could muster from her petite legs.
The current situation was of the utmost importance. The woman was running through the El Tower, which was now slowly crumbling to pieces. The lady's vibrant yellow dress was torn in various pieces and her cheek had a few scratches and bruises on it.
She had been in an altercation with the various Nasods that were currently attempting to siege the tower and capture the El Lady. Luckily, the El Lady was able to fend them off with her various magic powers. She was lucky enough to have been able to control her powers at the moment. Her powers had been very unstable for a long while, and she knew of two reasons why.
The first reason was that the El was weakening. Without the El, her powers would slowly start to diminish, so not only were her current powers unstable, but coupled with the fact that her powers were weakening, she was in a very vulnerable state. It wouldn't be long before she would be completely defenseless.
The second reason was the thing she was currently running to the top of the El Tower to reach. However, it was not the El she was looking for.
"A-almost there..." She panted as she continued to run to the top. She looked out over the edge of the tower and watched in horror as the destruction of her domain was happening right before her eyes. She looked back in front of her as her eyes narrowed.
He did this...he had to done it. He's the only one.
The man the woman was referring to was none other than the Master of the Sun, Solace. As to why he would do this, she had no idea. All she knew was that needed to get to the top of this building immediately.
However, the nasods were trying their best to make sure it did not to pass. A missile suddenly flew by the El Lady's head, crashing into the nearby wall, which she responded to with a yelp and falling back to the ground on her rear, panicking a bit. That almost hit me!
Not soon after, she was there at the top. She stopped for a second to stare around the large, brightly illuminated room she was standing in alone. She stared at the two glowing objects situated in the middle of the room.
One was the El. The large, glowing blue gem that illuminated and brought life to all of Elrios. The object next to it, however, was something that not even the El Lady knew too much about.
It was a gigantic orange-yellow orb that resonated with various vibrant light. The El Lady felt almost as if it was sentient. She walked towards it, but as she headed towards it, her legs started to tremble. She winced in pain as she fell to one knee, but she quickly shook it off and stood back up on her feet. She reached into the cleavage of her dress and pulled out what appeared to be a shard of the El.
"This object is nothing but trouble, I need to get rid of it..." For whatever reason, this object was impervious to her magic. She had tried multiple time before to destroy, but each time, she failed. But now, she was here to try a different method. She needed to work quickly. The Nasods were slowly closing in on her location, and it wouldn't be long before they reached the top.
"What exactly are you planning to do?" A calm, yet cold and calculating voice rang out, startling the El Lady as her eyes widened. She looked around to find the source of the voice, but no one appeared to be around. Uneasiness dripped in her voice as she spoke.
"Who's there? Solace?! Is that you...show yourself!" She yelled.
The voice let out a slow, eerie laugh before silencing itself for a bit. The voice then came back once again.
"It's not Solace...Solace is a bit...inconvenienced at the moment. Hopefully for you, he can make it here in time."
"Who are you?" The El Lady called out, demanding to know who this voice belonged to.
"Who I am doesn't matter right now. All you need to know...is that this is a very dire situation. Listen carefully...that object right there is unable to be effected by anything from the El. It is impervious to it..."
"I figured that much already when I tried to destroy it!' The El Lady yelled out in frustration. "I need to know...what is this thing? How can I rid Elrios of its presence?"
"Hmm...well, there is one way...but you must act quick, or-"
"Target in sight. Preparing to destroy." A robotic voice slowly said. The El Lady's eyes widened in fright as she turned in shock to stare at the Nasod.
"Oh my god..."
The El Lady reached her hand out to strike the sentient robot with a bolt of el energy from her hand, but nothing came out.
"No...no. Not now..." She whispered to herself. This moment of not paying attention to her surroundings cost her. By the time she looked up, the Nasod had quickly rushed forward to grab her by the throat, proceeding to strangle her. The woman yelped in pain as she was hoisted into the air, trying to grab the robot's arm in a feeble attempt to free herself. Coughs and gasps made their way out of her throat. As her eyes closed shut, A stray tear found itself leaking its way down her cheek.
Is this how it ends...?
As soon as the El Lady was ready to accept her fate, a loud noise that could be made out as slashes of a swift blade rang out in her ears. She opened her eyes to notice that the Nasod that was attempting to strangle her had been cut in various places. The robot held itself for a few seconds before completely falling to pieces and shambles on the floor. The arm that was holding the El Lady dropped, thus releasing her from its grip as she landed to floor softly on her knees.
She struggled for a bit to catch her breath. After she did just that, she looked up to notice the figure of a man. A man she knew all too well. She narrowed her eyes in anger and contempt as she watched the man look down at her with a goofy grin on his face.
"Well, well, well. Fancy running into you here." The man shrouded in a red cloak with black pants and red combat boots, and a red and orange blade on his hip, spoke as he watched in amusement at the look on the lady's face in front of him.
"Solace..." With a sudden burst of energy, The El Lady soon got up to her feet and aimed a fist at Solace's jaw, but was caught off guard when Solace quickly grabbed her hand and held it in place.
"Whoa! Calm down there. I didn't think you would be this feisty. After all these years of you guarding the El, I thought you would have calmed down quite a bit.
"Enough of your ranting!" The El Lady said with a yell as she pulled her hand free from Solace's grip, staring at him. "What are you doing here?...It was you who sent these Nasods here, wasn't it?!"
Solace tilted his head in curiousness. "Me? I think you've got the wrong person here, babe. I just arrived in time to save your hide from being strangled to death. I doubt I would save you if I was the one behind this."
"Well, if it wasn't you, than who was it that..."
As the El Lady attempted to speak, the sound of shaking and rumbling drowned out her attempt to speak.
The cool, laid back, shit-eating look that was plastered on Solace's face was soon replaced with one of pure and complete seriousness aimed directly at the El Lady. The El Lady stared back, having never seen Solace like this.
"We need to get out of here now... This tower is falling apart!" Solace spoke in a low, but hurried tone.
"But what about the El? We can't leave it here to get crushed! And this...this thing beside it!" The Lady responds in a panicked tone.
"We can't take both of these with us. I can use my magic to seal one and bring it with us to my domain. You need to choose one, and quick." Solace responds.
The El Lady looked at the two objects before and processed the situation. If she chose the El, she could preserve it and rebuild everything elsewhere, but she would also be leaving behind the continent that is Elrios, and without the El, the lifeforms in this world would never be able to survive.
She quickly made up her mind.
"Take this thing!" She pointed to the orange-yellow object to the right of her. She knew not of what thing was, but if she was ever to find out, she needed it with her.
Solace nodded and agreed with her decision. "I've dispatched a group of my followers. They are on their way here right now. We have to leave it up to them to take care of the El. The main priority at hand is getting you out of here safely."
Solace quickly rushed to the humongous yellow orange object in front of him and placed his hand on it before closing his eyes and speaking an incantation in some language the El Lady could not make out.
Soon, the object started to resonate with a red aura. Afterwards, Solace unsheathed his sword and swiped it down in the air, opening a hole out of thin air. From what the El Lady could make out of it, the portal was an opening to Solace's domain. Soon, the portal tripled in size, making more than enough room for the object to fit.
Solace hurried behind it and signaled for the El Lady to help him push it through the portal.
"Come on, hurry!" Solace yelled, to which the Lady responded by quickly hurrying over beside Solace and pushing on the object with all of the strength she could muster.
With luck, the two were able to get the object out of the room and into the portal. Solace then quickly grabbed The El Lady's hand and pulled her into the portal as she stepped through it.
"Let's go!" Solace yelled as the two of them ventured deep into the portal, which quickly closed behind them, disappearing into thin air.
Inside the portal, the two were in an astral like plane, the area blank and void. It was like a void of nothingness. The two, along with the object, were floating in it, the portal quickly leading them to Solace's domain.
"We're on our way there now..." Solace spoke as he sighed in relief. "Soon, we can take time to access the situation, and hopefully come back to save-"
At that the moment, the void the two were floating in became completely dark.
Solace, in shock and confusion, wondering hat exactly was going on.
"What's happening?!" The El Lady yelled out as she tried to look around for Solace, to no avail.
"I don't know...but it can't be good..." Solace said. Oh, how right he was.
Soon, a voice rung out to both individuals.
"That object is coming with me..."
The El Lady's eyes widened.
"That voice...it's the same one I heard a while ago! Who...?"
"So, it's you, eh?" Solace said as he cut off the Lady. He was speaking in particular to the voice.
"I'm afraid so...this object could be of use to me...so I'm afraid I must take it...Solace...see you around." The voice laughed a errie laugh as soon, a lightning bolt struck out and hit Solace in the chest, knocking him back further into the abyss of the portal.
"Solace!" The El Lady yelled out in concern. But before she could receive a response, the woman was soon struck by a bolt of lightning herself which knocked her back further into the portal along with Solace.
As the two were speeding further and further back into the abyss, getting closer to Solace's domain, Solace quickly wrapped his arms around the El Lady, pulling her close.
"I've got you!" Solace said as he looked back, noticing the opening to his domain was close by. They were approaching it fast.
"This is gonna be bumpy!" Solace yelled as he and the Lady embraced for impact, the both of them yelling as they soon were propelled into the entrance of Solace's domain. The portal leading to Solace's domain quickly closing behind them just a second after they entered.
The object they had tried so hard to begin back with them was left in the void, floating. That was until the voice spoke up once again. The voice soon took on the form of a human like being, his face and body shrouded in mystery.
He stood there, staring at the object as it floated. Another eerie chuckle erupted from his mouth.
"Hmm, there seems to be a piece missing from this thing...I was hoping for it to be intact...oh well, it's still in good condition." The entity grinned to himself as he snapped his fingers, a portal ripping open in the void.
"Now go...make things interesting for me, will you?" With that, the object was sucked into the portal that the entity created, the portal quickly closing behind it. But not before the entity got a good look at the place where the giant object was now headed. It seemed to be a void of black, with various stars and round planets floating about. What intrigued he entity is where the object was headed. The object was head straight into in a collision course what looked like a large blue and green planet.
"Hmm...looks like things will be getting very interesting from now on. I'm curious to see how these things manifest themselves...
"Hehehehehe...life fibers. What interesting organisms..."
The Time is Near
Chapter 1: Thank Me Later
Present-day
A loud snore leaked from the mouth of a spiky redhead boy as he laid back on his bed, his white t-shirt riding up on his stomach. The boy was sprawled out on his bed in the laziest position that one could muster. It was an early morning Monday, and the boy was looking to sleep in and get some much wanted rest.
The boy's name was Elsword Sieghart, a seventeen year old boy and an up-and-coming swordsman and practitioner of the mystical art of rune magic. He was also the leader of the El Search Team, which consisted of his older sister Elesis and his friends, Aisha, Rena, Raven, Eve, Chung, Ara, and Add. He liked to call it the Elgang, for short.
Deep in his sleep, Elsword did not see it coming. Out of nowhere, his older sister splashed a bucket of ice water onto Elsword's face, which in turn, shocked Elsword out of his slumber. Not knowing what was happening, Elsword yelled out and quickly got up to his feet, prepping his hand to form a rune to launch, when he noticed that all it was his sister that had indeed dropped a bucket of water on him to wake him up.
"Rise and shine, brother!" Elesis said as she chuckled at Elsword's reaction to what just happened. Elsword looked over at his sister and frowned.
"What the hell, sis? Were tapping me on my shoulder or calling my name not valid options?" Elsword asked as he looked down at himself, all drenched.
"You never seem to wake up any other way, so there." Elesis grinned as she shook her head slightly.
"Well then...I was planning to sleep in again, but I guess that won't be happening. So, what's up? Pretty sure you didn't do that just for the laughs." Elsword said as he reached to grab his favorite comb from his nightstand. "Bed hair sucks." Elsword thought.
"Get dressed, and meet the rest of the gang downstairs. After breakfast, we're heading out. We're wanted for a meeting with Hoffman over in his office."
Elsword sighed. "Well, whatever he wants, I just hope it's not anything to do with phorus. William still keeps trying to Or even worse, another big baddie. I'm still sore fro the whole Karis thing back in Sander." Elsword shivered slightly in disgust as he thought back to fighting the tentacle monster in Behemoth. "Never again."
"I'll see you guys down there." Elsword said as Elesis nodded in response and left the room.
It had been a few months since the last altercation with Karis and in the meantime, the whole team decided to head back to Elder Village to stay there in a huge home that Hoffman was more than happy to let them have. They did manage to save Elder, after all. Elsword wasn't very eager to get back into the hero scene just yet, however. But no matter what he did, trouble seemed to find him wherever he went.
"It's the life of a hero, I guess..." Elsword rubbed the back of his head as he proceeded to get himself ready for the day.
Elsword, now fully dressed in his usual outfit, rushed to the steps and slid down the rail on the steps and down to the living room, where he noticed the rest of the Elgang sitting down at the table, all eating breakfast, which was all done by none other than the master to do with kicking, who also doubled as an excellent cook, Rena.
Elsword, wanting to hurry and see what Hoffman wanted, just ran to the table and grabbed a slice of toast from a plate in the middle, taking a bite of it. Elsword started to eat the toast eagerly.
"Slow down, will you? The bread's not going anywhere." The team's very own expert mage, Aisha, spoke as she watched in slight disgust as Elsword ate.
"Sorry, grapehead. A guy's gotta eat, ya know?" Elsword grinned as he finished his toast. He then greeted the rest of his friends at the table. Elsword turns to his sister and proceeds to ask. "So, what's Hoffman want us for?"
"Not sure. Eve was out and about looking for traces of Nasods left behind from when Wally was stationed her, and she was approached by Luichel. Care to give us the rundown, Eve?"
Eve sat at the far end of the table, petting the head of one of her drones, while typing on her holographic projection computer, she proceeded to tell what she knows.
"Apparently, there's been a recent batch of quote on quote "strange activity" being exhibited from the various creatures in the underground tunnels and caves underneath the village. From what the girl said, Hoffman would give us more details once we arrive at his office."
"Sounds a bit fishy, if you asked me." Add said as he leaned back in his chair, his dynamos laying on the table. "Ever since you guys ran Wally out of town, any traces of Nasod influence over the creatures that reside in the lower areas of the city. They should be acting as normal at the moment.
"It does seem rather strange." Ara nodded in response. Chung agreed with Ara's thought as well.
"Hopefully, it's not more Nasods again. The ones before were already a pain." Raven muttered as he crossed his arms, a content look on his face.
"Well, what are we waiting for? I could use some action. Let's go!" Elsword exclaimed as he reached for his sword and headed for the door.
Aisha rolled her eyes, sighing slightly. "So overeager..."
Eve, in slight uneasiness, looked over at Elsword as he walked out of the door, the rest of the team in tow. She then glanced to Elesis, who was the last to head out behind the others. She quickly turned to the door and continued on her way.
Eve placed her hand on her chin, thinking for a bit.
"It can't be...it's a possibility, but..."
As Elsword and the rest of the gang reached Hoffman's office, they all walked inside and were lead to Hoffman's office by his guards. Hoffman was leaning forward in his chair and onto his desk, his fingers entwined with his elbows on the desk.
"Ah, good to see you all again." Hoffman mentioned as he was happy to see the ones who saved his village. He was grateful for the accomplishment, but now he was sure he would need their help once again for the issue at hand.
"So, what's the issue, sir?" Aisha asked as she looked curiously, wondering what the issue at hand was.
"As I told Luchiel to mention to Ms. Eve, there is a matter of utmost importance. The creatures lurking underground in the tunnels and caves under Elder Village have been exhibiting strange behavior as of late. The reason as to why, is unknown, which is where you come in. We have not confirmed what's causing this, but from what we have figured out, we have seen that it has absolutely nothing to do with the former influence of Nasods due to the evil deeds committed by Wally."
"Has there been any type of clue whatsoever as to what may be causing this?" asked Rena as she placed her hand under her chin, taking on a curious look.
"Well, there's one thing...I sent some of my mercenaries down there to check out the mysterious occurrences, they...ended up coming back very injured. One of my mercenaries reported to have seen strange red auras glowing around the various critters."
"Well, that's very odd...you think it could be a form of awakening?" Chung asked as he contemplated the reasoning behind the issue the gang had just been told.
"Sounds pretty unlikely, if you asked me. Only humans are capable of using awakening." Elsword rebutted to Chung's theory as he turned to Hoffman. "Well, whatever it is, we'll make sure these guys don't cause any more trouble. I sure as hell don't want any more big battles to deal with at the moment." Elsword turned to the rest of the team, flashing an eager grin. "Let's get it done!"
It had been a little more than half an hour since the Elgang had made their way under the village and into the deepest, darkest depths of the underground waterway. Elsword stood at the front of the group, his arms crossed behind his head lazily as he looked around, the rest of the gang not far behind.
"Man, we've been here forever and we haven't seen a glimpse of anything so far. Is the old man sure about what his guys saw down here?" Elsword asked to no one in particular as he yawned slightly out of boredom. "If it was going to be this uneventful, we could have just stayed home."
"Quit complaining. You agreed to come down here, so you have to deal with it." said Aisha, annoyed with the idiot's constant whining."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Elsword replied, not paying too much attention to Aisha's statement." Elesis reached out to whack her younger brother over the head, to which Elsword responded with a pained "Ow!" and a small growl.
After taking a second to reprimand Elsword, Elesis turned to Eve and Add, hoping for some sort of clarification on the situation in front of them.
"Is there anything the two of you can do? Like scan the area for concentrations of El?"
Eve and Add both rebutted with shakes of the head.
"Currently, there are no readings on my radar for any sort of life anywhere." said Eve.
"Yeah, and my dynamos aren't detecting a damn thing. It's unlikely that they are hiding from range of our scanning. There simply must not be anything down here..." Add groaned as he wondered just exactly what was going on here.
"Something's not right here..." Raven mused as he walked on. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this whole situation.
Ara was leaning behind Chung, slightly frightened by the aspect of something attacking at any moment, to which Chung responded with a reassuring smile and a pat on her shoulder.
Little did the group know is that they were indeed not alone, but that they were being watched at this very moment.
Elsword whistled quietly to himself. "I say we just go back-"
As Elsword was talking, out of nowhere, what appeared to be a huge metal rod shaped like a harpoon was headed straight for him.
"Elsword, look out!" Elesis yelled as she noticed the object coming towards him at a speed like no other. Elsword, luckily being fast enough, quickly rolled out of the path of the projectile as he watched it sail over the heads of the rest of the group and it crashed into the nearest wall, causing an eruption of dust and debris, to which the group moved as far away from as they could, not being able to see in this smoke from the explosion.
"Ah! I can't see!" yelled a panicked Aisha as she, along with the other members, covered their mouths in an attempt to not breathe in too much of the smoke.
Luckily for the gang, the smoke started to clear out, leaving in the path of the group a clear sight of the abomination that stood before them. Every member of the group's eyes widened a bit as they stared at the automaton that was in front of them.
From first glance, it simply appeared to be a humongous Nasod that only paled in size to the original Wally MK-2 machine that once laid dormant in Wally's former underground laboratory. But the two things that made this Nasod stand out from any one that the group had seen before was this. The eyes of the robotic creature glowed with an voluminous shade of dark red, along with black schlera.
The second thing is that the body of the automaton was glowing what seemed like a red and blackish glow. It was as if the nasod was completely covered in red and black stitching.
Elsword turned to his group, grinning as he unsheathed his sword from off of his back. "Something tells me this one isn't here as the welcoming committee."
"What is wrong with that nasod? Its design is odd...it's unlike anything I have ever seen before." Add exclaimed as he checked his dynamos for any readings on what the robot may be harboring in the metal heap.
"What I want to know is how the hell it went undetected by both Add and Eve's radars..." Raven said as he slowly leaned back, his swift blade already unsheathed and ready to cut down anything in its path.
"Well, I'd say its most likely not going to give any answers, so how about we get this show on the road?" Elsword said as he grinned, the rest of the team replying by readying themselves for battle.
And at that moment, it was on. Elsword quickly rushed forward with great speed, leaping in the air to launch three runes at the now approaching creature, hoping to end this quickly so he could go back home and catch up on some much wanted sleep. However, he wasn't going to receive that any time soon if the Nasod had anything to do about it.
Elsword grunted in slight surprise as he noticed that his runes didn't do much damage on it for some odd reason. As Elsword was in the air, the nasod angrily swatted Elsword away. Luckily, Elsword was able to lift his sword up in front of him to withstand a bit more of the blow. Elsword was knocked back into the air by the blow, but he managed to regain his composure and flip backwards, landing on his feet.
"That was a hell of an attack, even stronger than that Wally bot." Elsword grunted as he wiped his cheek as a bit of blood leaked from his mouth.
Elesis leaned down to check on her younger brother, but before she could check too much, the nasod opened a vent on its various missiles towards the group, which they all jumped of the way in time to avoid the incoming onslaught of missiles. The missiles were causing various amounts of damage to the tunnels, debris flying everywhere.
Elesis unsheathed her claymore and with force and determination, leaped into the air and slammed her sword down onto the nasod's head, hoping to split the abomination in two with one slice. However, this did not come to pass. The attack made no dent in the nasod's metal body. She stared in confusion before launching several swift slashes and strikes, but to no avail. Before she could wonder just exactly why her attacks were not working, the automaton quickly reached out to grab Elesis by the throat, trying to squeeze the life out of her.
"Sis!" Elsword yelled as he quickly got up to his feet in a rush to attack. Aisha conjured a spell and pointed her staff forward in order to implement the attack.
"Chain Lightning!" Aisha yelled as the various bolts of electricity struck the Nasod. That had to have damaged it, right? Wrong. Aisha stared in shock as the attacks appeared to do no damage, just like Elesis's previous attacks.
"Nothing's working..." Aisha whispered to no one in particular. One by one, the others launched themselves into attacks. They all soon found out that their attacks yielded the same results. Nothing.
"I don't understand...how is this thing still standing?" Raven questioned as he stared at the creature, wondering if there was any way at all to take down this invincible automaton.
Soon, the ground around the Elgang started rumbling.
"What's going on?!" Chung yelled as he quickly turned his head around back and forth.
Eve turned to look at the nasod as it started to shake and twitch rapidly, the red and black aura surrounding the nasod started to fluctuate speedily, the ground under the feet of the nasod quaking underneath its pressure.
Soon, a burst of what seemed to be red and white light with stars riddled within the light was sent outwards towards the entire group, sending them back a great deal into the nearby wall. Slowly, everyone groaned in pain as they tried to regather themselves.
"Ugh..." Elsword rubbed the back of his head as he winced in pain and looked up from his spot near the wall to look up at the nasod. But the nasod wasn't there. What was there, however, made Elsword's eyes widen.
"What...is that thing?" Elsword said as the rest of the team looked up to see what Elsword was taking about. What they saw sent cold shivers down their spines.
It appeared to be what looked like a gigantic white dress suit with a red bowtie. The suit was was completely empty, no person inside it. It was there on its own.
The suit let emanated a low, animalistic growl as it quickly rushed towards the one it had its sights on. Elsword. Elsword could make out words coming from the growl.
Before Elsword could react, the suit-like creature wrapped its sleeve around Elsword's neck, lifting him up into the air. Elsword gasped for air, clutching at the suit's grip, trying to free himself, but to no avail.
"Elsword!" Elesis yelled as she attempted to run forward to try and combat the beast, but was quickly stopped by Eve putting a hand on her shoulder, giving her an analyzing look. Elesis quickly caught on and held back.
Elsword quickly, on instinct, did the only thing he could do in that situation and raised his fist in the air, his hand surrounded with a coat of thick flames. He quickly thrust his fist into the suit's chest. The creature growled in pain as it quickly let go of Elsword, clutching at its now burned chest. Elsword took a quick second to stare at the hole in the creature's chest. He hurriedly slid over to the side to grab his sword off of the ground and with ease rebounded and quickly rushed forwards, jumping into the air and swinging his sword before bringing it down onto the suit's chest. The creature yelled out as it turned to stare at Elsword.
"Sword Fire..."
BOOM!
With that, the creature burst into as an eruption from flames flowed from Elsword's blade, coating the entire creature in flames. Elsword backflipped off of the creature's chest, landing perfectly onto his feet. He, as well as the rest of the Elgang watched in awe as the creature burned into ashes.
"Well, that's that." Elsword said as he sheathed his sword on his back, turning to the rest of the group.
"Why did Elbrat's attacks work while the rest of ours had no effect?" Add questioned as he looked over at the burnt pile of ashes.
"To hell if I know. Maybe I'm just better than you." Elsword grinned, to which Add's eye twitched a bit.
"We'll try to figure that out later. Right now, we should get out of her before anything else like that thing pops up, and go tell Hoffman what we've discovered." Elesis spoke as everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Hold on, let me check something for a second!" Add quickly rushed over to what was left of the now deceased abomination. He summoned one of his dynamo drone forth to do a scan on the remains.
"This creature was unlike anything I've ever seen before. It'd be foolish to not try gather more information on it. Why did it look like a business suit? Was that the only one in existence? So many questions, and so little answers..." Add was engrossed in figuring out as much as he possibly could. He quickly gathered a sample of the charred remains in a small bag and shoved it into his pants pocket. "Looks like Eve and I will have something to research for the next few days.
"At any rate, let's just get out of here. I've had enough of this place for one day." Elsword said as he proceeded to walk where he and the group entered through. Elsword was behind the rest of the group as they walked, taking one last look at what was left of the suit-like monster. As he stared at leftover bits and pieces of the former suit, he looked up in air and squinted his eyes slightly at what he saw. He noticed two small red thread float into the air and make their way towards him.
He didn't know why, but it felt like they were purposely coming to him rather than aimlessly floating in the air. For whatever reason, he felt it necessary to grab them, so he did. When he looked at what was in his palm, he noticed an eerie red glow resonating from the threads. He shoved them into his pocket before continuing to walk.
"And that's all you saw?" Hoffman asked as he wondered curiously about the details of the apparent creature that once resided in the depths of the underground waterway.
"There wasn't anything else down there like you mentioned before we left to enter the waterway. All we found was that...that thing." Ara said with a bit of uneasiness as she thought back to the unnerving feeling she got when she first saw that thing.
"It looked like some fancy shmancy business suit on steroids. Like Add's suit, but better looking." Elsword said as he looked over at Add, with a shit-eating grin. Add was tempted to Panzer Buster him, but took a deep breath, restrained himself, and
"I've taken some samples from the remains of this...whatever it was, and will take it back to our place to analyze it. It's very strange..." Add said as he typed away on his hologram light screen.
"I see...Well, we appreciate the help. I'll dispatch a few soldiers down there to sift through the waterway one last time for anything else suspicious. That will be all for now. You all are free to go."
"Finally!" Elsword exclaimed as he hurriedly rushed out of the room, Aisha shaking her head slightly as she and gang followed behind him.
It was currently evening, and the Elgang was back at home, all of them in their separate rooms, doing their own things.
Currently, Elsword was laying back on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head. He was staring aimlessly at the ceiling.
"That thing...what was it?...the feeling from it was...strange. Almost...ancient. And these threads. What are they...?"
These were the questions that ran through Elsword's mind as he laid in bed. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the threads he found earlier in the day in the underground waterway. He held them up to the light in his room, staring curiously.
Do you wish to know more?
A feminine voice rung out in Elsword's head, to which he responded with both a slight gasp and leaning up from his position, taking a second to look around.
"What the hell...?" Elsword questioned as he rubbed the back of his head.
"All the fights recently must be messing with my head. I'm hearing things..." Elsword assumed is was just that. However, the voice popping up in his head again reassured him that his idea was far from the case.
"Who are you?" Elsword quietly called out to the voice in his head. The voice responded.
That's of no concern right now. All you must know is that there is a situation of the utmost importance at hand, and the root of it all revolves around those threads you have in your hand.
"These things...what are they?" Elsword asked, hoping to get more out of the mysterious voice that was speaking to him.
I can't say too much. But I can tell you the name they are given. These...are Life Fibers.
"Life Fibers? So these threads are alive?" questioned Elsword. He was having a hard time believing this, but then again, there was a voice speaking to him in his head, so he couldn't really call it off as nonsense given what was happening right now.
They are indeed alive. They are of another world, a world once forgotten, and now they have found a place to live once again. A dimension that is far different from the one you call home. That is where you come in.
"Me? What do I have to do with this?" Elsword asked, desperately wanting some insight on the situation. As if the safety of various villages in Elrios resting on his shoulder wasn't enough, now he was being called to help another dimension?
Whether you are fond of this or not, part of ensuring this dimension's safety lies in your hands. Not only the dimension I have mentioned, but your home one as well.
"In my hands? ...This is all too much. I'm just a seventeen year old kid. How do I have what it takes to help save two dimensions?" Elsword exclaimed.
It will be a heavy burden indeed, and so will the road to completing this task. But you do have what it takes. You will not be alone in this plight.
Elsword contemplated his thoughts about this whole situation. He just got done saving Sander Village, and now he was somehow destined to save Elrios and another dimension?
This was a lot to take in in such a short time. But if what this mysterious lady speaking to him in his head was true, then he had no choice but to comply.
To him, this all ties in to what Elsword previously said about trouble always finding him wherever he went. But even with this momentous task being suddenly thrust at him, he couldn't help but feel excited at the idea of a whole new adventure. One unlike anything he had ever seen before. And fighting for a good cause at the same time? There's no way he could turn this down. It was decided.
"This...sounds interesting." Elsword spoke to the mysterious voice, who, unknown to Elsword, was slightly shocked at his sudden change in demeanor. Nonetheless, she was glad that he was coming to terms with this.
"I'll do it...but one thing. How am I supposed to get to this other dimension?" Elsword asked.
You must contact the one called Glave. The Lord of Henir's Time and Space. I have instructed him to open a portal for you to get there in the morning. There is one more thing that you should know.
Due to the difference of this dimension with the other, a lot of things will be unfamiliar to you, as vice versa. Therefore, it would be wise to not share any details of your world to anyone you may encounter there unless you are absolutely certain that they will not release said information without your permission.
"Don't spill the beans unless needed. Got it."
Also, it would be wise for you to take this trip on your own for now.
Elsword didn't like the sound of that. "What? But I'm always with my friends. Inever go into serious business without them with me..."
Do not fret, for you shall see them again, sooner than you think, but you shall also make new friends along the way. As I said before, you will not be alone.
"Ugh...alright."
For now, you should rest up. Starting tomorrow, you have a long journey ahead of you. All shall be made clearer as the days go on. Sleep well, young hero.
And with that, the mental link between Elsword and the mysterious lady was cut off.
Elsword still couldn't believe what he had heard, but it was apparently all true. He leaned back in his bed and looked up at the ceiling.
"Life fibers...new dimension...something tells me these next few days are going to be fun..." Elsword spoke quietly to no one in particular as he shut his eyes, ready to drift off into would be his last night of sleeping in Elrios for a while.
Little did Elsword know that a certain older sibling of his was leaning against the wall just outside of his room, staring intensely at the wall in front of her.
"It's almost time..."
The Next Morning
"So, you're really going huh?" Aisha spoke as she looked up at Elsword, the taller boy staring down at her with an apologetic look. He then turned to everyone else in his group, who were all there to support him.
It had been a few hours since Elsword woke up and explained his entire agenda, which consisted of the mental encounter he had with this mysterious lady the night before and what the monster they encountered was made of as well as the task he needed to complete. He was needed. And as a hero, Elsword felt obligated to answer the plea for his assistance.
"Don't you worry about me. I'm not going away for too long. Try not to dork up the place too much while I'm gone, alright?" Elsword flashed a reassuring grin as he playfully ruffled Aisha's hair, to which she responded with a blush and a whack onto Elsword's head. Elsword quickly grabbed his head as he winced in pain.
"Screw you..." Aisha whispered as she puffed her cheeks out cutely. But soon, the grumpy look on her face deteriorated into her usual pretty smile. "Try not to be too much of an idiot..."
"No promises..." Elsword said as he then turned to Elesis and gave her a loving hug, to which she responded to wholeheartedly.
"You take care of yourself, Elsword. Don't laze around too much when you're not being a hero." Elesis said with a laugh.
"Okay, mom.' Elsword responded in a joking manner to which Elesis rolled her eyes at. Elsword then walked up to his other friends and shared an individual goodbye with each of them. And with this, he was ready to go. Knapsack in hand, and sword on his back, he started to walk off into the distance, headed towards Glave's domain.
"Elsword!" Elesis managed to call out before Elsword could too far away. Elsword turned around and looked at his older sister, wondering what is it that she wanted.
"Yeah?" He asked.
Elsword looked down as Elesis handed him what looked to be an...extra change of clothes. It was wrapped in a tightly sealed cloth. Elsword couldn't see what the clothes looked like, but judging from the texture he felt when grabbing it, it felt like a jumpsuit.
"Here's a jumpsuit I got for you. It's special...make sure you take care of it. And whatever you do, don't let it out of your sight and don't take it out of the packaging until absolutely needed. You'll know when you need it."
Elsword stared at his sister for a second, wondering why it was so important for him to take care of some regular old jumpsuit. In the end, he just boiled it down to her looking out for him and smiled before placing the change of clothes into his knapsack.
"See you guys on the flipside." Elsword said as he continued on the path away from the house and out of Elder Village. The rest of the Elgang headed back into their house. All except for two members.
Elesis stood there, staring at Elsword's back as he slowly disappeared from sight, walking too far for her to see him.
Eve came up beside Elesis, and looked over at her.
"Are you sure he'll be able to control it?"
Elesis looked over at Eve for a few seconds before turning her attention back to where she was previously staring at, a slightly concerned look on his face.
"I hope..."
Elsword had arrived, here at Henir's Time and Space. He had hurriedly ran to the entrance that would usually open around in the outskirts of Elder Village at random times. Elsword was glad he made it when he did. Who knows how long it would have been before another one opened.
Elsword looked around in awe at the amazing sight of the mysterious void around him. Henir's Time and Space truly was magnificent.
"You seem to be taking quite a liking to the scenery." Glave spoke as he slowly appeared from out nowhere behind Elsword, who didn't turn around to acknowledge his presence. He didn't particularly like being around Glave. After the few encounters he and his team had with him in-between travels, he didn't trust him too much. He always felt as if Glave had a hidden reason for everything he said and did, and the thought of that, knowing who Glave was, unnerved Elsword greatly.
"Perhaps you should come to be my apprentice. You could learn so much from me about this place." Glave offered as he slowly juggled a pair of blue dice with no numbered dots on them, up and down in his gloved hand.
"No way...you gonna open up the portal or not?" Elsword asked, ready to get as far away from Glave as he could and on with his business.
"Eager one, aren't we? Very well..." Glave snapped his fingers and in response, a portal opened right in front of Elsword. A portal that would lead him to where he needed to be.
"Good luck, kid." Glave spoke from behind that broken mask of his.
For whatever reason, Elsword felt like that statement wasn't sincere, but he overlooked it and proceeded to step into the portal. The portal then closed behind him.
Glave stared as the portal close behind Elsword. Glave then chuckled to himself.
"Humans...are such interesting creatures..."
As Elsword floated on his feet in the portal, quickly floating to hs destination, he pondered what this world would be like. What kind of people were there? What kind of issue was great enough that it called for him to help? And how do Life Fibers tie into all of this? He wished that lady would have given him a bit more insight. But it wasn't too big of a deal. He knew what he need to do, and he would get it done, no matter what.
"Next stop...a new world! Damn, I'm hyped!"
A/N: And that's a wrap, guys! It's happening! I was so hyped at the idea of writing this crossover, and now it's finally into fruition. I was originally planning for this to be out earlier this week, if you've read the update I posted on my profile, but due to how long this chapter is, it got pushed back a bit.
I usually never write chapters this long, but now I feel it's probably the best way to go. The usual 3000-4000 words just seems way too small for a crossover that I've got big plans for in the future. If the length turns you off, I apologize.
However, if you've made it to his note, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I honestly appreciate not leave a review if you did? It really helps me out. Any comments, questions, and constructive criticisms are welcome. Be on the look out for more content in the future, and I will see you guys next time.
Peace!