Emotions Chapter 1: Prologue
Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword Online or any of the content associated with them. All of them are property of KOG.
Eve is sitting on a rock surrounding a campfire in the middle of the field between Feita and Bethma that Aisha had created with her fire magic. Next to her are her twin nasod drones which are busy chasing each other round and round the Nasod Queen's feet, being the childlike nasods they are. The "Little Queen of Nasods" herself actually busies herself with observing the rest of the gang or "Elgang" as the people call them nowadays.
Elsword is biting into the barbequed meat on the stick with gusto, Aisha is berating him eating habit which the Rune Slayer conveniently ignore, Rena being the wise elven lady she is decides to just look at the two in amusement, Raven silently polishing his blade with a piece of cloth seemingly uninterested to what is happening although those who looks close enough will be able to tell that he was watching over them, Chung has his guns on his lap as he tinkers with them and finally Ara, the newest addition to their growing party is already asleep in her sleeping bag.
As Eve continues to look at her friends, a "feeling" of trepidation enters her consciousness. Her mind goes back to the code that she with the help of the very same people in front of her managed to salvage from the tyrant King Nasod, The Battle Seraph Code or Seraph Code for short. Every attempt to integrate the new code into her existing Electra Code keeps showing the same errors, that she lack a catalyst to combine them and another additional problem to be solved.
The former problem has been fixed with the help of the moonstone piece now in a flask in her possession which the Battle Magician Aisha had told her and coincidentally also need in order to get to the next step of her magical study. The second error though is the one that creates the unrest within the beautiful nasod.
Although she has told the others about the necessity of the catalyst to activate the Seraph Code, she has purposely skip on telling them about the second problem. The reason for her keeping the second problem is both simple and complex but more more than anything else is ironic due to the humanity of it, Fear.
What she fears though is not the process of installing the code, the process of installing the code itself is fairly easy and simple, all she needs to do is just put the items into their respective places and it can be either success or it is definitely not the process that scares her, in contrast though, she fears the end result of it or to be exact, what she will become if the installation is successful. Afterall, in order to activate the Seraph Code, there is an existing process that Eve has to sacrifice due to the conflict between the two codes: Her emotional control unit.
In contrary to her lack of expression, Eve treasures the time she has accumulate with the Elgang; not that she will admit it, of course. Therefore, she fears of what her friends would think of her if she is to tell them about the cost of her pursuit for power to restore the Nasod Kingdom to its former problem being that on one side, she fears that they would disapprove of it and cuts her off for being selfish in her pursuit.
On the other hand, she also detests the idea of them approving the loss of her emotion for power as it would imply that all she is to them is a battle asset and nothing more. The queen closes her eyes as she lets out a deep sigh that fortunately has escaped the attention of the others, the last thing she wants it to worry them with her own dilemma, especially that worrywart Elven Grand Archer.
Finally, one by one, the Elgang members retreat into their respective sleeping bags or at least Elsword, Aisha and Rena does while Raven has contented himself with leaning on nearby tree covered only in blanket. Eve herself has also went for for her usual "sleep mode" as she told the others, or at least she looks like it before her eyes opens once again after she makes sure that the others are already sleeping. The young nasod stands up from her position followed by her two drones which then followed their mistress' action as they floats besides her.
Eve turns toward the same stone that she has been sitting on, revealing that she has left a message for the group, or carve it would be a more accurate saying since her message has been imprinted on it with Moby and Remy's blades as they pretends to play around her. The moonlight above gives her a clear view of what she has written on it, "There is something I need to do. Leave without me, I'll catch up. Eve."
For a moment, Eve keeps looking at the carved words until Moby and Remy floats up her shoulder to attract her attention. The female Nasod immediately straighten herself as she speaks, "I'm fine, I have decided." Suddenly, a familiar male voice speaks behind her, "Decide on what?"
Eve whips her body around toward the source of the voice and immediately finds that a certain Blade Master has his eyes open and alert. Raven doesn't change his body position but his expression shows that he will not let her dodge the question so easily. Eve meets the man's golden eyes with her own and for a minute, only the rustling of grass and sand can be heard between them before she speaks again, "Something that I have to do… for the resurrection of Nasod Kingdom."
Raven narrows his eyes toward the nasod queen as if trying to make sense of her answer. For a moment, Eve thought that the man will draw his sword toward her. Afterall, what happened to him has been due to the very same kingdom that she had and still attempts to rebuild. It will not be a surprise if the thought that killing her to prevent her from succeeding has cross the blade master then or even in the past.
In fact, truth to be told, Eve isn't really sure if she has the power to even stop him considering the man's sharp increase in ability since they passed Altera and bested the King Nasod himself. Yet the next thing she knows, Raven has closed his eyes once again though he does leave one last question, "You will be back, right?" Eve merely nods her head as she speaks, "I promise." When she isn't getting any more words from the sleeping man, she turns away from the camp and starts gliding toward Bethma.
A Few Days Later…
Eve stands before the now inactive remains of King Nasod and involuntarily clenches her hands besides her. Even with its life fading, the giant of a nasod still radiates the aura of power and dignity that few could match. In fact, Eve cannot help but think that the fact that the entire Elgang has manages to subdue the monster will their lifes and limbs intact was nothing short of miracle and most likely due to dumb luck. She closes her eyes for a moment as if gathering her courage before she makes her way toward the giant's centre piece.
As she approaches until she reaches within touching distance of the glass the core of the giant nasod, she can see a small opening inside the giant's chest behind the glass. It was where she was supposed to be connected to the giant, it is no coincidence that her title is the "Little Queen of Nasod". Truly, compared to the King Nasod's body, Eve would be no bigger than his pinky.
Eve points her finger toward a pair of opening on the left and right of the glass as her faithful drones immediately puts themselves into both opening. Once Moby and Remy are inside their respective position, the glass lets out a hiss as it swings open gently, allowing Eve to enter.
Eve gently glides through the opening until she reaches something that resembles a control room with a console filled with buttons inside. She reaches for a cable with a connector on its end before plugging it into the connector in her body hidden behind her neck by her long silver hair. Immediately the console lights up, allowing Eve to operate it by typing on the console. She inserts the Seraph Code and the Moonstone piece into their respective places and as expected, an error shows up on the screen, "Error. Conflicting process found: Emotional Control Unit. Disable the process?" Eve's finger hover over the keyboard's confirming button and for a moment she stops as if she hesitates in pressing the button.
Eve closes her eyes as memories of her times with the Elgang flashes inside her mind, most of them are memories of Elsword and Aisha arguing, memories of fighting enemies, dangerous moments as they fight against the bosses, but more than anything, they are fun times. Times that Eve would hate to lose and memories that she have to let go for the resurrection of her kingdom, Is it really worth it…? Unconsciously, a lone tear escaped from her eyes as Eve opens them.
She lets out a bitter smile as she speaks to herself, "What a stupid question… The resurrection of the Nasod Kingdom is of the greatest importance. Nothing else is more important than that." With a final determination, her finger pushes the button as the screen changes, "Removal of emotional control process has been approved. No conflict found with installation of new code. Continuing Procedure."
The cables around her seem to come alive as they move like striking snakes as they attaches to her body one by one. As more cables attach themselves to her, Eve feels her body being lifted by them with her body forcefully spread eagle as if she is hung on a cross.
Suddenly, a great pain shots out from inside her as if she is being electrocuted with high voltage electricity before everything went black, the last thing she hears being the console speaking, "Removing emotional control process… Removal complete."
Eve slowly opens her eyes in what feels like eternity and greeted by darkness around her. She soon realizes that she has been lying on the floor of the console room inside King Nasod. The silver haired nasod looks around her until the flashing of light of the console screen attracts her attention with a message on it, "Battle Seraph Code Installation Complete."
For a moment, Eve looks at the screen in confusion before turning around as she makes her way back toward the entrance. She points her palms toward the glass as she lets out her first words since her awakening, "Giga Stream." Suddenly light fills the view as the bullet proof glass blasted to pieces by the massive laser that escapes from the female nasod's palms, even blowing a huge hole on the wall of the Altera Core straight to the outside, allowing the sun ray to enter the building straight toward the center of the King Nasod remains as if illuminating the appearance of a divine being.
Eve steps out of the now gaping hole on the King Nasod's chest that she herself creates just now, the light showing her new appearance. Her silver hair which has reached to her middle back before has grown even longer as they reaches all the way down to her ankle, it is split in the middle as if to accommodate for a pair of wings.
Her stature has also changes significantly as if the installation of the code allows her to grow up several years, making her look like a beautiful young woman instead of the tween look she has as Code Electra. Even her clothes have changed from the innocent looking dress to something more provocative that exhibits her beauty.
Eve puts her palms over her chest as she lets out an angry shout that is loud enough to be heard all the way to Bethma, "Why my chest doesn't grow at all?!"
And everyone knows that something has gone terribly wrong...