Raven awoke as soon as his Nasod Arm had decided to release a relentless wave of electrical shocks. He groaned in pain and began to yell as the pain grew worse and worse. He rolled out of his bed and collapsed on the wooden floor, clutching his abnormally sized hand which glowed an orange reddish color from the lines running across the arm. It was oddly shaped with large, black claws and a single orange circle in the middle of his palm which spewed fire whenever he commanded it to. Certain parts of his arm were covered in black armor while certain parts were red colored and glowed brighter and brighter as the pain grew. It had grown over the years, the more Raven had used it carelessly to take down waves of Nasod's and other enemies. He knew that it would've been better if he had taken Eve's offer to shut off the Nasod Arm and eliminate its sentience.
But he had refused, and now he was feeling the consequences.
Images and memories flashed through his head, causing him to scream and pound his fists against the ground and walls.
Raven...help me...Seris's voice rang in his head from when she was on the verge of death. The Arm reminded him of every death his existence had created. Of how Seris and his mercenaries fell to the Velder Knights. How he had dealt justice and aimed for revenge, destroying the homes of innocents and slaughtering an endless amount of people.
Remember how good it felt? The Arm whispered in his head.
Raven felt the impulse to say yes back. But he fought it down with whatever remained of his conscience. He cried out as another electrical shock ran through his body.
Kill them. Get revenge for what they did to us. It's the only way you can ever get her back, Raven.
Raven screamed, desperately trying to fight back the invasion the Arm was launching. He knew what it wanted. To control Raven and carry out its own ideals. But Raven couldn't give in. He needed to end this before he did something he would regret for the rest of his life.
Get up, Raven, show those foolish humans the power of the Nasods! The Arm screamed in his head.
Raven rose to his feet, but he had his own goal in mind.
His eyes rested on the sword hanging over his bed. It was made out of El-infused steel that reflected any projectile.
And it was sharp enough to kill in an instant.
He grabbed it with his right arm and pointed the sharp end to his chest, where his heart was.
His mind screamed in agony as the Arm did everything it could to stop him from killing himself.
No! No! No! Don't you want to see her again!? Don't you want revenge for what they did to her!? What they did to us!?
"No...no, I don't." Raven whispered as he drew back the sword and thrusted it forward, eyes closed, fully prepared to welcome's death's freedom.
But an image of Rena, dagger and bow in hand, smiling warmly flashed in his mind and he dropped his sword immediately.
He then began to cry. He cried for the monster he would become and what he would do as that monster.
We will accomplish great things together, Raven. Trust me.
"Oh god...someone help me…" Raven begged to the darkness shrouding him.
"I will." The darkness responded. Hearing that voice caused Raven to sit upright and look around the room, searching for the voice's owner.
Finally his eyes rested upon a figure in the doorway. In the dim light he could make out the shining lavender eyes and white messy hair that was drawn back in a ponytail. He wore a white hooded jacket that reached down to his knees. underneath it was a vested button-up wore white khaki pants and white shoes.
Everything about him was sophisticated and regal looking. Like Eve if she were a boy.
"I can make the pain go away. My family used to research Nasods and I followed in their footsteps. That Arm of yours? I know how to give you control." The man said.
"Who are you?" Raven managed to say between breaths.
"My name is Add. And you are Raven, yes?" Add answered.
Raven would have normally been skeptical of this white-haired man but if he knew how to put an end to his pain, then he would gladly allow him to do whatever he needed to.
"You can...take this thing off?" Raven asked, gritting his teeth as more waves of pain filled his body.
Add laughed and slowly made his way over to Raven. He knelt down and looked into his amber eyes.
"I can do much better."
He reached into his back pocket and withdrew a tiny little device. It was round with a glowing purple center. His eyes drifted down to Raven's twitching arm as he grabbed it, ignoring Raven's painful protests and attaching the device to his palm.
Raven immediately tried to retaliate and push this suspicious figure back but he failed. His arm pained him tremendously and he could only hope that what Add was doing was right and would help.
All of a sudden the pain went away. Raven stopped writhing in agony and biting his tongue viciously. The pain is gone. He thought. Beginning to laugh hysterically.
It's gone! He laughed even harder as joy spread and filled his body. He no longer had to worry about turning on his friends and killing them in cold blood. He no longer had to worry about Elsword's inevitable promise to kill him. He no longer had to push away his friends and the people in Velder that had begun to appreciate his efforts. He could finally live his life freely and enjoy it without worrying about his lack of time.
He finally had what he thought he might possibly deserve.
A future.
He looked up at Add who was smiling deviously. His eyes sparkled and Raven immediately knew something was wrong.
"What did you do?" Raven asked cautiously.
Add's smile only grew wider.
Raven felt a sudden shock course through his body as the pain returned in one vicious strike. As if the arm delivered one single power-packed punch and knocked away Raven's consciousness.
The last words he heard came from Add's smirking mouth.
"You are now my king in this wonderful little game of chess." He said. "And I'm going to win."
Elsword swung his sword back and forth. Exchanging blows with Lowe who returned each strike with a jab or a slice. Elsword grinned as he already began to plan a careful combo.
He brought his sword down towards Lowe's head which he quickly blocked with his flat-edged sword. He bit his lip as the two blades collided. Elsword quickly moved his feet, sweeping the ground and Lowe's feet up into the sky as Lowe fell onto his back hard and Elsword held his sword a few inches above Lowe's neck.
"Damn...you know I can't even keep up with you anymore." Lowe said as Elsword sheathed his blade and helped his long-time friend up to his feet. They walked back down the trail leading to the grassy clearing and made their way to Ruben Village.
"Well maybe you're not as much of a challenge as you used to be but I'm not all done with you yet." Elsword smiled.
"Please, compared to you I'm like that baby phoru Aisha always carries around." Lowe joked.
"Aw come on, you aren't that bad." Elsword contradicted.
Lowe raised his eyebrow.
"Well, what can I say? Fighting armies of nasods, demons, mercenaries, knights, and monsters does pay off in the long run." Elsword bragged.
Lowe shook his head, grinning.
"So, you heard from your friends these days? Especially...uh...that mercenary?" Lowe asked.
Elsword stopped smiling as the thought of his friend Raven floated to the surface of his mind. He recalled the last time he had seen his pained ally.
It had not went well.
"No. And I'm glad Raven hasn't even written so much as a letter to me. If he did...I don't think I'd want to even read it." Elsword said.
"You gotta kill him someday, Elsword. You said it yourself, it was inevitable. I don't know why you keep trying to find loopholes or some other way." Lowe commented, much to Elsword's annoyance.
"Because there has to be! I don't believe in accepting what fate puts on your plate. Especially when it's not fair! He's done so much for us...so much for the world and all his reward is death?"
"Elsword, sometimes you can't change things for the better. Sometimes there are casualties and-"
"Shut up." Elsword stopped walking and turned toward his friend. His face was full of anger and disbelief. "Just shut up."
Lowe took one long look at him before his gaze slowly fell upon the ground beneath him and lost all interest in a conversation.
They walked through the forest, alive with phoru's and other animals. As long as Ruben's El was present, the forest would always thrive. Bathed by the warm summer sun, it was a lush, green area with small trees and numerous amounts of bushes, shrubs, and other greenery. Pebbles and rocks littered the floor as foxes and rabbits trotted by, stepping over them and burying them deeper into the rich, brown soil.
A strange looking fox trotted by, it's head raised high as it glanced at the Elsword and Lowe. It's eyes were gleaming red and it's hind had nine tails instead of one. That alone caught the attention of the two swordsmen who immediately knelt down to get a better look at the fox.
And then it spoke, "You are Elsword, yes?"
Elsword was not a stranger to talking animals. After all they lived in a forest full of creatures that spoke, while some remained silent.
But foxes had never spoken before.
"What the hell!?" Lowe exclaimed taking a step back. Even Elsword was bewildered by the sudden voice coming from the fox.
"Please refrain from using vulgarities around me." The Fox said again, glaring at Lowe.
"Wha...I can't even…" Lowe tried to find something intelligible to say but came up with nothing. Leaving all the talking to Elsword.
"You are Elsword, yes?" The Fox said once again, this time facing Elsword looking quite impatient.
Suddenly Elsword had a vague memory of girl with the appearance of a fox like this. She had nine white tails and elegant white hair. When he had first met the girl she had seemed to be some sort of demon. But Elsword had soon learned that she was in fact a human with a fox spirit inside of her. Elsword struggled to remember her name until it finally came back to him.
"Wait, are you Ara?" Elsword squinted staring at the fox.
"No, I'm Eun. The fox spirit." The Fox said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh! Oh...but how are you not in Ara's body?"
"A sort of projection technique. I've temporarily left her body in my first form to come and find you."
"Why?" Elsword asked, now standing and focused.
"Because she needs your help. She was on her way to Velder when we were attacked. We combined our efforts to try and stop our attacker but he immediately knocked us around like we were nothing. I can't even believe I was that weak against such a strong force…" Eun explained.
Velder? Attack? There had been no news of any type of threats in Velder. If there had been Elsword would've been the first to know. Unless…
"Who was it? Who attacked you and Ara, Eun? Who did it!?" Elsword asked with more urgency this time.
"One of your comrades...the fellow with the Nasod Arm. Raven of the Black Crow Mercenaries."