This is my first story in a long time, so it might not be as good as you, the reader, have hoped.
To make your life easier, I suggest you don't try to memorize all the names yet. Most of the characters here would probably die by the 6th chapter or something.
"Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions." -Thomas Longstride
"Queen Rena is dead."
Those dreaded words spread throughout the whole continent like a disease, hungry to devour the joy and bliss of those living in ignorance. The citizens were filled with sadness and grief as they mourned deeply for Lady Rena, the women they revered as a hero for her part in rescuing Elrios from falling into the depths of despair.
"So what? It's just another person dead."
Ignorance is bliss, they say. But what they do not know is the price that comes with this eluded happiness. What is really lost?
"Foolish child. Queen Rena is the last of the six heroes. All of them had died of a strange disease only five years after they had brought peace to Elrios!"
Indeed, it is true. The others had already passed the threshold of death. The mystery, of course, is the sickness, the illness that had brought the mighty heroes down.
Faint whispers in the streets could be heard.
"Long live the Queen."
Now that the queen has gone, there was much debate over who would ascend the throne, as Queen Rena had no family to pass on the position. There were many long and heated arguments about the matter, which could take months to settle down. During that time, the Council had appointed Lady Elsa, a member of the Red Knights, and King Elsword's sister, to stand in as a regent.
Almost immediately, Lady Elsa had made many reforms, and launched many large-scale projects to aid the land. The main assignment currently was one called "Project El". It was by far one of the most complicated and difficult campaigns ever planned, as it will be executed over the entire continent of Elrios.
"Pardon me, my Lady, but this is just outrageous!"
Lady Elsa sighed exasperatedly as Penensio fired out objections viciously. The two redheads were alone in a simple meeting room, with the vivacious woman sitting at the long conference table and the leader of the Red Knights anxiously pacing the floor in front of her.
"Penensio, I am fully aware of the costs and dangers this project may bring. However, Elrios is falling into chaos and disorder, and we need to do something about it. We can't really sit here and watch while Elrios crumbles, can't we?"
"But, my Lady, this strategy is crazy! We can't just find all the pieces of El in the world and meld them together into one whole El stone again!"
The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes.
"That is a horrible oversimplification, Penensio. Project El is an elaborate plan to make the El whole again by gathering as much El energy as possible, and placing it back at the source: The El Tree. I've had numerous scholars and alchemists research into this, and I trust them to find a way to make the El rejoin the El Tree. I know what I'm doing, alright?"
The statement only led the leader of the Red Knights to become even more distressed.
"Lady Elsa, this project can't hope to be successful! The government is already broke as it is! We can't add more expenses to it. Milking a dry udder would only serve to get you kicked off the milking stool!"
"That's a rather harsh way of putting it." Lady Elsa smiled drily. "I'll find a way to work around that. Maybe find some loyal soldiers from the military to volunteer or something."
Penensio threw up his hands. Clearly, this was a woman suited more to the battlefield than the court, and very inexperienced in affairs of the state. He sighed inwardly at the though. The Red Knights would have to be involved in political affairs yet it again, it seemed. The flaming-haired lady had no intention of backing down on her plan, so Penensio was left with no choice.
"I'll try to figure something out, my Lady." The leader of the Red Knights bowed and left the throne room.
"Excellent." Lady Elsa sighed and relaxed into her seat. Project El was a risky gamble, no doubt, but she was confident it would succeed.
"Wow, Miss Eto, you're really amazing! You killed six demons today!" A young girl stumbled after Ruka in an attempt to make a conversation with the rumored demon-hunting prodigy. Ruka sighed and rolled her eyes in an attempt to shake off the girl tailing her; she was getting uncomfortable from the attention.
It wasn't really that Ruka disliked the overenthusiastic child following her; it was just the fact that she didn't trust her. Not that it would have mattered, since the pink-haired woman rarely trusted anybody she knew. Ruka tried to avoid people in general; she never felt at ease when someone was around her. Her peers often called her a loner, saying the pink-haired girl would much rather prefer working than socializing with her colleagues. What they said was true, of course, but Ruka could care less. They could gossip all they wanted about her.
After the girl had left, Ruka paced towards the Velder Militia Headquarters. The demon hunter couldn't help but notice the guards outside whispering quietly among each other. Perhaps something important was happening, but the cynic had no time to dawdle on those thoughts. The demon hunter pushed open the huge double doors of the grand building, and immediately headed towards the south wing of the Headquarters. After passing through numerous hallways that twisted and turned throughout the building, she finally found a door leading to the office of Commander Shadistic Kensai. When she opened the door and stepped into the room, Ruka found the commander sitting at his desk and holding a cup of coffee in his hands.
"Report from the Glitter Hunter Sect, Commander." The demon hunter informed the tan-skinned man. "Twenty-seven demons were sighted today at Port Lurensia. Nineteen were killed, and the rest were captured. The creatures seemed to have arrived at the port by ship, most likely a vessel from Hamel. Shards of Dark El were found to have been in possession by the demons."
The commander tilted his sunglasses downward just enough to reveal his forest-green eyes. "Were the types of demons identified?"
"Three Shadow Snipers, six Shadow Tricksters, and fourteen Shadow Walkers were confirmed." Ruka asserted. "The rest of the bodies were either destroyed beyond recognition or thrown into the water."
"I see." The green-eyed man sighed and leaned back on his seat. "Ruka, I need you for something. I received an interesting message yesterday about Lady Elsa's projects. Namely, Project El. She requests aid from Velder's militia."
The pink-haired woman blinked. "Project El? You mean that crazy plan to collect every essence of El energy in Elrios and return it to the El Tree?"
"Yes, precisely." The commander rubbed his temple. "Normally, I wouldn't send out my men on such an atrocious attempt to restore Elrios to its previous state of economy, but Penensio absolutely insisted that I contribute to this project. I've already checked with Vanessa and the other higher-uppers, so I want you and a few other individuals to arrive in front of the Headquarters tomorrow at promptly five in the morning."
Ruka said nothing, but merely raised her eyebrow. Project El seemed like a pointless venture to her, but it seemed there wasn't a choice in the matter. It doesn't matter, anyway. The demon hunter would never disobey her commander's orders, but she knew that she wouldn't get along with the other individuals partaking in the plan.
"Blake, shut up."
Said girl quickly clamped her mouth shut, her face reddening in embarrassment. She couldn't help her chatterbox attitude; it was just her nature. The young knight knew her silly demeanor often irritated her peers, and they would often tell her to take things more seriously. Blake tried to, honestly, but she just couldn't tone her hyperactivity down. Despite her tough exterior, her fellow knights often judged her as an annoying and bratty teenage girl who talks too much.
"Oi, Blake!"
The brunette was jostled out of her thoughts by the voice of a fellow knight, jabbing Blake with her elbow.
"Did you even hear what he said?"
"Huh- wha?"
The hyperactive girl then saw an unfamiliar man standing up at the front of the conference room, speaking to the assembly of knights at the table.
"I am Shen Tsukiyomi, a paladin from Hamel. I was sent here by Penensio to bring together a unit of talented knights to partake in Project El. I am sure many of you have heard of the strategy." The tall man looked around the room as a wave of murmurs swept over the knights.
The man next to Blake muttered curses. "Project El? Penensio must be crazy to agree with that blasted woman who came up with that outrageous idea!"
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Penensio probably didn't have any choice, Zachary. Lady Elsa really is a little eccentric, though. Probably ran in the family."
Zachary snorted. "Lord Elsword was a wise king. Peculiar, yes, but he ruled wisely, unlike that ridiculous sister of his!"
"Come on, Zachary, you know that's a bit unfair-" the young knight was shushed by her comrade as the paladin from Hamel continued speaking.
"I am aware that many of you are unwilling to contribute to this project. The mission is incredibly dangerous, even to the point of being suicidal. However, Lady Elsa believes this assignment will improve the state of Elrios' economy greatly, and she requests at least five members from each province to partake in the strategy. Any help from Velder will be greatly appreciated. If you are interested, please meet in front of the Velder Militia Headquarters at five in the morning tomorrow." The Hamel paladin nodded at the assembly and sat back down in his seat.
After the meeting had ended, Blake caught up to a young woman walking in the hallway, grabbing on to the girl's shoulder as she started talking rapidly.
"Hey, Hannah, didja hear about the paladin from Hamel? He was talking about Project El and he wanted people to join his group of people to help collect El essence and return it to the El Tree and stop all the famine and poverty in Elrios and I think it's really cool if we could join that party together and save Elrios just like the Elgang did before and we would be heroes of Elrios and it would be really- "
The hyperactive chatterbox was hit upside the head before she could finish.
"No, Blake, I am not joining that ridiculous crusade to gather up every bit of El energy in Elrios! The whole plan is completely idiotic, and Lady Elsa is senile to think it would succeed!"
Blake felt like she had just been punched in the chest. "...You really think it's mad to join the group...?" She almost whispered.
Hannah whipped around her head. "Of course, you blithering idiot! We would all die if we participated! You are so naive and stupid, Blake!"
The brunette could feel her hurt giving way to fury as she silently watched her friend stomp down the hallway. She wasn't stupid. She was annoying and hyperactive, but she wasn't naive at all. The other knights didn't understand anything about Project El. They laughed and called it ridiculous and suicidal, but never once did they consider the effect if the plan succeeded. They were all selfish, refusing to let go of their easy life to fight for their country. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. Blake knew she wasn't that kind of person.
She would join the crusade.
"You did well, Tsukiyomi." A man handed the Hamel paladin a canteen of water. Shen took it gratefully, wiping the sweat from his neck that had accumulated during his speech. The two men were in the conference room after the meeting had ended, along with a small unit of Hamel's Tempest Sect.
"I didn't think it would work, Jin. Nobody would be crazy enough to go on a suicidal mission like Project El." The dark-haired man glanced hastily at Nidai. "Nobody except for our little squad here, of course."
Nidai raised an eyebrow. "Hey, just think about it. If Project El succeeded, Elrios would prosper again!"
"And what if it fails?" The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow. "This plan is suicidal, Jin. We're probably going to die before we get to Feita."
"At least we'll be able to fight for Elrios, then." Nidai looked up at the ceiling wistfully. "When I die, I'll have to hope that my mother and sister are doing well..."
Shen interrupted the daydreaming man. "Don't think like that, Jin. At least pretend you're going to try to survive."
Nidai let out a small laugh. "I know, Tsukiyomi. We only have a small hope of surviving this mission, so might as well make our life count now, eh?"
"That's a pretty strange way of putting things." The dark-haired man sighed and turned to the rest of his squad.
"We're meeting at five in the morning tomorrow. I will brief you on the assignment at that time. Dismissed."
As the small group of soldiers filed out of the room, Shen leaned back on his chair and looked out the window. It was a nice day today, even in an unfamiliar place like Velder. Puffy marshmallow clouds floated lazily across the azure blue sky as Velder citizens bustled around the city.
It had been five years after the Elgang returned home from their quest, and the economy of Elrios had improved greatly because of their deeds. However, things had started to fall apart after Lord Elsword's untimely death only three years after he ascended the throne. The rest of the group, save for Lady Rena, had all fallen ill after Lord Elsword's death. Even then, the fair elf had only lived an extra two years due to her elven genes. Nobody knew the cause of the illness, nor had they ever seen anything like it. It was a disease that had the ability to even affect Nasods, in addition to elves and humans.
"Oi, Tsukiyomi! Earth to Shen Tsukiyomi!" Nidai waved his hand in front of the paladin's face.
Shen blinked and glanced at Nidai. "What is it, Jin?"
"You seem spaced out over there. Why's that? Thinking about your girlfriend?"
The dark-haired man shot a hostile look at the snickering blonde. "Shut up, Jin."
"So it's true." Nidai raised an eyebrow at Shen teasingly.
"No, you fish scum. I was thinking about Project El."
The blue-eyed man quickly lost his taunting demeanor and looked at Shen. "Well, there's nothing we can do but follow orders, can we?" Nidai gestured around at the room they were in. "We're already here, in the Velder Militia Headquarters, so we can't exactly back down and go back home. We have no choice but to march on forward, and pray to Lady El that we don't die along the way."
"You're right, Jin." The dark-haired man didn't turn back to Nidai, instead choosing to stare at a blue bird fluttering outside. How happy the little fellow looked, soaring free in the blue sky. "Even so, I wonder about what we can really do..."