Elsword RSFB Stories-Story 1-IS: Corruption
Disclaimer-This is a non-profit, fan-based story. Note that we own none of the characters or skills of the Elsword Franchise, they belong to Nexon, KOG, and KillerCombo (if I missed anyone, sorry) And note that any OCs belong to me (The hooded man in this chapter).
Note: the narrator is RS's Admin, so there will be some breaking walls, and due to the story being originally from the FB page, I decided to release the full thing at once since the Chapters/Posts there were a little short for chapters on here.
In the city of Velder, it was the beginning a bright sunny day outside, the streets were filled with vendors ready to set up shop for the day; a few pedestrians up early enough in the morning to avoid the crowds that would come later; guards tired of their late night shifts, waiting for their relief to finally let them go off to sleep; and a few businessmen, ready to start th-
BOOM!
…Really?...I can't get the full introduction in?...sigh
The explosion came from a large house, not far from the palace, and it housed the group of heroes that had saved Velder less than-
"WHO THE HECK BLEW A HOLE IN MY ROOM?"
…you know what, screw the intro, let's just start the plot, they aren't waiting for me…
"Sorry IS" A white haired (with a ponytail) man in his early 20s said to a boy with red spikey hair with a small bit of black on one side. "Just a little busy here-RS YOU GET BACK HERE AND FACE YOUR DEATH LIKE A MAN!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, chasing a certain redhead down the hallway.
"I said I'm sorry!" said the said redhead, whose spikey hair had been put into three braids, still running from MM's rage induced dynamos.
IS watched with no words to say as MM chased RS down the hallway. He then saw a girl with platinum hair watching from the hallway where the two had come from earlier. "…what did RS do this time?"
The girl, who went by the name Code Nemesis, looked at him with a smile on her face "He spilled coffee on MM's jacket…it was hilarious."
IS let out a sigh and replied "…he would snap from that…so, how long you think it'll be until GA interven-"
Then a woman's voice suddenly yelled "QUIT IT YOU LOUD IDIOTS!" her yelling loud enough to be heard from all the way from the other side of the building, as well as the sounds of RS and MM yelling in terror as GA quickly beat them senseless.
CN looked toward where the noise was and said "…well, I believe that answers your question"
"Yeah…" he replied, looking down the hallway, feeling slightly sorry for the pain those two now had to endure, but then when he noticed a certain note on the wall in his room, he remembered what plans he had for the day…which pretty much made him forget about that pity. "Hey Eve, guess what day it is today"
"The date is May 19th, 2015" she said after checking her internal calendar.
IS looked at her slightly puzzled, but then replied "Yeahhhh…but what happened this day about 3 years ago?"
"Ummmm" she replied while trying to look through her memory bank, but when she found what she was looking for, she suddenly had that sort of eureka moment, though with the phrase "oh!"
"It's the anniversary of when we first met" he said with a smile
It was a fond memory for them, when IS was a Sheath Knight, had found CN as a base Eve sitting in a corner, where she had hid for days to hide from the out of control nasods. When he held his hand out to her and said
"I'll be your friend!"
Shortly afterwards, she had met the rest of the group, and after learning that RS was the one who pretty much damaged the Altera core to the point of almost being unrepairable, slapped RS along with her sisters until he went unconscious…ok, back to the present.
"Yes it is that day I guess" she said, with a slight hint of red on her cheeks.
IS then spoke "So I was thinking, maybe we could go to the festival they're having in town later" and soon enough he started to blush as well "You know, just the two of us…"
"Sure" she said with a smile on her face.
"Great! So what time do you want to-" and once again he was interrupted, though this time, it was an arrow shot right next to his face, and RS and MM running in between them.
"YOU TWO GET BACK HERE AND FACE YOU-oh sorry about that IS-YOUR BEATING LIKE THE MEN YOU SAY YOU ARE!" a blonde elf known to them as Rena GA yelled as she continued to chase the two down the hall
"…4 o'clock?" IS said, while looking down the hall, with a slight look of fear on his face
"Sounds good" CN replied, having the same look on her face as well
Little did the two know though, that this anniversary, would not be like the rest they had…
Despite the fact that the sun was making its descent across the horizon, the city had become lit up with lanterns everywhere and its streets crowded with people.
It was one of the annual festivals they celebrated in Velder. It was one of the reasons why the Elteam came back after the business that occurred in Lanox. GrM, one of IS's older sisters, had decided that everyone needed a break after that, and considering the town of Velder decided to have their festival despite the fact portions of the city were still in repair, she saw it as a good opportunity.
As the festivies went on, IS and CN were walking down one of the many streets that were filled to the brim with all sorts of stalls of games, food, and merchants.
"So, where do you want to go first?" IS asked CN.
"How about over there!" she said, pointing toward a booth that was the classic knock over prizes with toy guns.
"Alright!" IS replied.
As they walked over, they saw WS and DC walking away from it, with a medium sized stuffed animal (well phoru to be exact) in WS's arms.
"Hey IS! What's up?" DC said to the red head.
"Just walking around the festival with CN" IS replied.
"Ah, so it's a date then?" DC said with a grin on his face.
"I could say the same to you." IS replied back.
"Well, at least I admit it! Good luck dood!" DC said as he and WS walked away.
"Sigh, sometimes I wonder if I should hit him" IS said before CN tugged his arm. "Hmm? What is it Eve?"
CN looked a little sad, and he noticed that she had not won any of the prizes.
Huh, guess she's only good with real guns he thought. "Alright, I'll give it a shot. What are you trying to get?"
She pointed toward a large Moby on the top shelf, and bunch of the toy bullets surrounding it from CN trying to shoot it down.
"Alright, let's do this!" He said as he put the money on the table and aimed the gun toward the Moby.
A few minutes later, CN had the Moby in her arms, and IS looked at his wallet which was now much lighter. But as he looked at the smile on CN's face, he decided he didn't mind. After all, it wasn't until a year or so ago that she showed any sort of smile towards him that didn't look like a pokerface.
As he opened his eyes, he noticed CN was no longer besides him, but now trying to play the dunk tank, which RS happened to be in.
"Why me?" Rune said right before CN hit the target, causing him to take a nice cold dip.
"Because, we need to pay for the repairs…or face more of GA's wrath" MM said with a slight shiver incurred from the memory of earlier that day. He then proceeded to hand CN another ball, which hit the mark right as RS sat down, catching him by surprise as he fell into the tank once again.
IS couldn't help but laugh a little and join CN in dunking his brother.
However, just as he grabbed a baseball, the sound of an explosion, and screaming, rang from somewhere in the city.
Once again, a large portion of the city of Velder was lit by a bright, malevolent flame, with glitter demons once more crowding what were just streets filled with laughter and smiles less than an hour ago.
It made IS's blood boil a little, but as he saw CN, RS, and MM running next to him, he calmed down and kept himself from going into a bloodrage.
Then he noticed an old man, probably in his 50s, getting surrounded by a group of the demons. CN noticed as well, and so they split apart to hit them from three sides.
"CRESCENT CUT!"
"ATOMIC BLASTER!"
"SPLASH EXPLOSION!"
"PHANTOM SEEKER!"
The demons stood no chance as they were caught off guard, the combined attack taking the whole lot of them.
Except for one, who then charged towards CN, only to have IS's Harsh Chaser piece through its skull. After it fell, IS went to help the old man up.
"You alright?" IS said to the man.
"My leg…" he replied, as he held it in pain.
Suddenly, RS spoke "Alright, listen" as if though taking charge. "I'll get the old man to safety. MM, I need you to find the others."
MM then retorted "And who gave you permission to-"
"Listen, we don't have the time for that right now" RS retorted to MM's reply, for a moment his eyes showing the same seriousness as his older brother, LK, in his eyes.
MM looked like he was about to retort, but being caught off guard, he shrugged "Fine, looks like we'll need the help anyhow."
"And you two" RS said as he looked toward IS and CN. "Try to hold them off, alright?" he asked the couple.
"Don't worry bro! We got it!" IS said with a cocky look on his face.
"Alright, I trust you two. And break!" RS said as the group separated. RS running towards the part of Velder that was still untouched with the injured citizen on his back, MM flying through the sky towards the El Scouts' house, and IS and CN right towards the city in flames.
"Man, is it just me, or are these things a lot more easy to fight than last time" IS said as they walked away from where the two had taken out about a dozen of the intruders.
"Yes, though something doesn't add up to me." CN replied, her pokerface almost completely void of emotion.
"Don't worry about it Nemesis, it's just we got stronger after we left here before!" IS said with a grin on his face.
"I suppose…anyhow, considering how dense the amount of soldiers are getting, we should be near the center of their formation."
IS then looked down the road that led to a nearby square. "Well then, let's get to it!" he said as he began to run towards the center, CN right behind him.
As they came into the plaza, a group of about a dozen or so Glitter Commanders looked toward the duo, ready for combat. But however, IS dashed into the middle of the group as he yelled:
"RAGE CUTTER!"
The demons flew into the air as magical blades burst from the ground.
And they flew right into CN's aim.
"ASSUALT SPEAR!"
Almost all of them were skewered by the attack, save the one or two who happened to be out of harm's way, who were now on the ground
Just as IS ran towards the demons while they recovered from the fall, CN thought for a moment.
Something isn't right…
Suddenly, she heard a pebble tumble from behind her.
And before she could turn around…
SHANK!
She screamed for a moment as a spear went through her body.
IS turned around to her voice, seeing the dreadful scene unfold before him.
"No! NOOO! NEMESIS!"
"NOOO! NEMESIS!" IS yelled, holding out his hand as he ran towards her.
The demon laughed as he watched IS's despair. But seeing how IS was coming closer, he quickly withdrew his spear from CN's body and retreated the moment.
No….this can't be happening…just now…she… he thought as CN fell to the floor.
"KYAH!" she screamed as she fell, the ground catching her fall yet causing her new injury to only become worse.
"Nemesis!" he said as he helped her sit up. "Just hang in there!" he continued, the worry he felt clearly shown on his face.
She pushed his hand away for a moment while holding her other hand toward her wound. And she said while shaking a little "Don't worry…"
"I'll be fi-" she tried to continue, but as she removed her hand, she noticed it was soaked in blood. Her blood. She quickly tried to hide it, trying not to worry IS.
IS had clearly noticed it though as he replied "You're bleeding…"
Suddenly, the demon from before had returned once again. A smirk on his face as he approached the two of them, laughing his demonic laugh.
"KUKUKU"
"Ah! It's coming back." CN said as the demon began to run towards them. She noticed that IS was moving somewhat sluggishly, still slightly in shock from what happened.
I have to….protect Infi she thought as she raised her hand.
"ATOMIC SHIELD"
A shield then began to appear around them.
Even if this action…costs me…MY LIFE!
"S-Stop it!" IS said as he noticed CN's wounds becoming worse as she used her skill.
"It's ok…I'll be fine…" she replied, her voice growing more and more faint.
Suddenly, a voice rang through IS's head.
She's going to die…
IS tried to ignore the voice as he yelled "I SAID STOP! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF?"
CN was surprised by this remark, and she realized that her dying as just as bad as him dying for IS.
But it was already too late. Her eyelids began to grow heavy. She could barely feel anything but IS's warmth.
The dark voice rang in IS's head once again.
Because you're weak…Just give in…
In the last moment before she closed her eyes, she said one last thing to her friend, her lover.
"Elsword…I'm so…sorry…"
Her eyes closed as the dark voice said
TO YOUR HATE!
He barely listened, as he held CN in his arms.
"Nemesis?"
He shook her a little, but no response came from her.
"…Hey Nemesis…No…" he said as tears began to run down his face.
I'll kill them he began to think, being influenced by the dark voice's words as he cried out, holding CN in his arms. Demon reinforcements began to gather around the square.
I'll kill…he continued to think as the shield began to fade. The demon ran right for him as soon as the barrier fell, encouraged by the appearance of its allies.
However, in almost an instant, IS stood up and as he summoned Conwell, used it to piece right through the demon's skull in a downward motion.
ALL OF THEM! He thought as his eyes were filled with a bloodthirsty rage.
One statement could describe IS's fighting style as he fought and killed demon after demon in that square.
Pure rage.
He fought as if though he was a being of pure rage and malice, fighting and killing every demon he saw, each and every one of them reminding him of the demon that had impaled the one he cared for the most.
The demon's encirclement grew weaker and weaker, as IS broke into parts of the groups, and killed them with almost inhuman speed and strength, fueled by his desire to avenge the girl now lying on the ground.
All of those he fought though were slashed to pieces either by the two blades in his hands, or by the extra ones he summoned, and his aim never faltered.
Some of the demons in the back of the lines began to back up in fear of the redhead's fighting style, but then, a male succubus demon clothed in black walked between them and into the encirclement.
"Sometimes, it's better to do it yourself." he said as he drew out his own pair of swords.
As soon as IS noticed him, he rushed toward him, blades ready to slice through his chest.
However, the succubus blocked his barrage with parries made at inhuman speed.
"Well well well, you're strong, but not enough." He said with a smile on his face.
"SHUT UP!" IS yelled in reply as he then used his Crescent Cut skill multiple times, which the demon dodged with ease.
"It's pointless!" the demon said as he went to slash IS in the stomach. IS managed to block the hit, but the force of the blow was enough to send him backwards.
"Just give up already. You're too weak to protect this city!" the demon said as he rushed IS and knocked away his Conwell sword.
Once more the voice rang in his head as the succubus prepared his swords for the final blow. A cross cut.
You're too weak…so get out of my way! HUHAHAHAHA!
And then, everything went black for IS.
Suddenly, IS moved much more quickly, catching one of the blades in his hand, and blocking the other with his sword.
"What!" the demon exclaimed in surprise.
As IS raised his head, the succubus realized he was no longer dealing with the same boy who fought him out of rage.
IS's face was slowly being covered by a black mask, his eyes had become a shade of yellow, and instead of a face filled with rage, he had the smile that reeked of insanity.
IS then kicked the succubus in the stomach, kicking not only the air out of him, but sending him through the air into a group of the demons surrounding the square. As the demon general got back up, he looked to see the red head walking towards him.
"What's the matter? Where's all your talk?" IS said, his voice mixed with the pitch of that of the boy, and of a demon.
"What are you? Some kind of demon?" the general said as an idea began to pop into his head.
"Who cares? As long as I don't have that fool to restrain me, I'm free to do whatever I want" the demonic IS replied, walking towards the succubus, sword still in hand.
"If you want destruction, you can join us. All you need to do is swear your fealty to the demon king" the succubus continued, causing his men to begin to mutter. He looked back at them and yelled "QUIET!", causing them to fall silent out of fear.
"So, do we have a deal?" he said, holding out his hand.
The half-demon grin his wicked grin once more as he answered the succubus' question
"…about that…"
Suddenly, a sword appeared from under the general, grazing the general's shoulder as the sword flew upward.
"I am my own master, and you nearly killed me earlier, so how about you all die instead!" the half-demonified IS yelled in glee as he ran towards the demons at inhuman speed. The demons, still slightly shivering in shock, quickly raised their weapons to greet their opponent.
But they were no match. The half-demon dodged, slashed, and pierced every single demon that came into his path with the blades in his hands as well as the Conwells that seemed to appear out of nowhere. And he wasn't even using his hyperactive.
As a group of demons began to try and surround him, he laughed as he summoned a Conwell to his hand and used Harsh Chaser. But he used it much differently than IS. He began to flick his wrist in such a way that it began to act like a whipblade, tearing apart every single demon around him.
However, the succubus general ran past the destructive path of the blade and towards IS, ready to kill him for sure.
Just as he was about to attack, the red head suddenly disappeared. But then, the demon heard a voice behind him, causing his eyes to widen in fear.
"You're just too slow"
IS cut through his left arm with two blades in hand, causing the demon to yell in pain as blood gushed from his wound.
"You're all so pathetic…you're all so weak...I'd thought you would be more of a challenge" the demonic IS said in glee, his face now almost completely covered in the black mask, which began to cover his neck as well.
"Oh well, guess I might as well wrap things up here." He said as his grin grew into a maniacal smile as he began to prepare his blade for the finishing blow.
Suddenly, a voice called out.
"In…fi"
It had came from the center of the plaza.
"Infi…don't…"
It was CN, who despite being unconscious, said the one set of words that could stop IS's demon side.
Get out. IS voice rang through the half-demon's head.
"No…..dammit not now!" he said, holding his hands to his head as if though he had a massive headache.
I said, GET OUT! His voice rang once more, causing the mask on his face to start to crack.
"I just got out dangit! At least let me kill him! LET ME KILL HIM!" he screamed as he began to sway back and forth, holding his hands to his head as the pain intensified for him.
GET OOOOOOUUUTT! IS's voice yelled in his head.
"YOU DAMNED FOOOOL!" he yelled as the mask on his face broke, his eyes returning to the shade of red they were once before.
Just as he broke through though, he fell to the ground, unconscious.
The succubus looked at the boy, his eyes now somewhat calm as he picked himself off the ground.
I thought he was like Ran at first, considering the black skin, but he is completely unstable. I should kill him now he thought as he walked towards the red headed warrior, his remaining sword in hand.
However, he never got the chance. A sword went through his chest and was swung upwards, killing the demon. The sword belonged to LK, who after putting away his sword, ran along with his companions towards their two unconscious friends.
RS didn't run directly to their sides though, looking at the destruction left behind by the battle.
The ground was cracked and broken all over the place, buildings had been cut in two, and hundreds of demons lay dead on the floor.
Blade Master, a man in his twenties with short black hair, looked at RS and said "Something wrong?"
RS looked toward IS, feeling the same sensation he got when he last fought Ran.
"Very." he replied to BM.
When IS opened his eyes, he saw he was surrounded by complete darkness. He looked around for a second, trying to find his friends.
"Nemesis! Rune! Chaser!" he yelled to no avail.
Just when he was about to continue calling names, he heard a very familiar laugh.
"It's pointless…just give up already!" the voice said as IS suddenly felt the voice's bloodthirst behind him.
He turned around not to see the person behind the voice, but the gruesome scene from the day before.
"YOU CAN'T PROTECT ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO WEAK!" the voice echoed once again.
Then suddenly, he woke up once more, his eyes wide and breathing heavy as he just awoke from his nightmare. After he calmed himself down, he noticed he was in the clinic of the El Scouts' home, and that in the bed that was next to his, CN was sleeping. He looked out the window next to him to see the sun making its descent. It must have been at least a day.
Then he looked back towards the Nasod Queen. The sight of her in a peaceful state calmed him down a bit, until his mind came back to the events of the day before.
He had nearly lost himself yesterday to the darkness he said he would conquer when he became an Infinity Sword. He was lucky he managed to get himself out of it, but it didn't make him feel any better about it.
"DiE, for the last time, the cookies are for them, not you" a female voice came from the hall.
"But they're chocolate…and I need something to snack on when I work" a male voice replied.
"Add, I'm surprised you can fit into that suit with how much chocolate you eat." A second male voice replied.
"Add, if you're that hungry, I can make you some later." another female voice said.
As the door opened, he saw the voice had come from EM, DiE, RS, and DW, the latter rushing to IS saying "You're awake!", though he had expected this, after all, he had at one time dated her, and despite it not working out, they became good friends.
"You two put us for quite a scare there IS" EM said, putting the tray of cookies on the bedside table, and shortly afterwards swatting DiE's hand away from the cookies.
"I guess I did" IS replied as he scratched the back of his head a little.
"Yeah you did, can you tell us what happened?" RS said, his tone filled with a little bit of worry.
"Well…" IS began to speak, but was unable to continue as his began to clutch his fists a little. Just thinking about the scene caused his blood to boil a little, and the dark voice to be clearer in his head.
"Alright, well you can tell us when you're ready. Just get some rest for now" RS said, displaying his usual grin as he began to walk out.
"Well IS, I hope you two get better soon!" EM said as she went out of the room with his brother.
"Same here!" DW said as she made her way to the door.
"Well, it would be a pain in the butt if you died, so don't do anything stupid" DiE said as he left the room, yet stealing one of the cookies as he left.
IS smiled for a moment, but frowned as he remembered the events of the day before. He then shook his head and laid down, hoping for rest to come to him as he looked at the sunset.
Despite that though, he was unable to get a wink of sleep for the next two hours. So many things flowed through his mind, making it hard for him to find any sleep at all.
But one moment kept coming back to him.
Just earlier when he had woken up and everyone checked on him.
RS didn't look him in the eye, and he knew that when RS did that, he was hiding something.
He knows IS thought.
He knows I'm starting to lose control.
He then looked at CN, remembering the monster he became the night before, and it was her voice that brought him back from the brink of losing his soul. But he was worried.
What if I….I end up killing he- he thought, but then shook his head, struggling to erase the very idea of it from his mind, yet it still kept coming back.
What if I end up killing her and everyone else? Am I right? the dark voice in rang through IS's head, a sinister laughter behind it.
His words tormented IS, the demon's words so clear as if though he was standing right behind IS.
After breathing heavily for a few moments, he heard CN's voice once again, "Infi…" He looked once again towards CN, who was still sleeping peacefully, and every now and then calling his name.
After looking down for a moment while biting his lip, he looked back towards the window, the cool crisp air clearing his mind, he then looked over towards the hall, seeing the closet where they kept all their cloaks. And an idea finally came to his mind. A way to make it so he wouldn't end up hurting his friends.
He got himself out of the bed, and walked over to the closet across the hall.
He grabbed his cloak, and walked back into the room, but continued towards the open window.
He looked at CN's face once more as he said:
"I can't travel with you all anymore…"
As the sun began to shine through the shades, RS turned over, the annoyance from the light washing over his face, which slowly began to disappear as he was once again welcomed by the cool darkness as he faced away from the window.
But it didn't last long as LK suddenly walked into the room and said "Rune, wake up."
"5 more minutes…" RS replied while still half asleep.
"We don't have 5 minutes." LK retorted to his reply. This was something that got RS's gears going. LK normally left for five minutes, only to bring GrM in to wake RS up.
"Okay okay, what's going on?" he said as he sat up in his bed. There was a small sign of bags under his eyes. Despite how he seemed to everyone yesterday, he was clearly worried, and the thoughts had managed to make it hard to sleep the night before.
"Infi is missing" LK said.
Just those three words were enough to make RS's eyes widen and snap him awake.
"So, anyone got any ideas?" RF said, just as distressed as everyone else in the group.
They already knew that IS had left on his own, considering the fact his cloak was missing.
"Maybe some demons threatened him" YR said as a suggestion.
"No, he would have wiped the floor with them if they did that" BM said.
"Oh, right…." YR replied as she looked back down towards the table.
After a few moments of silence, RS spoke "Maybe…Maybe the dark El in him is starting to have side effects."
This caught everyone's attention. Even the Adds looked towards RS.
"You sure?" DW said, slightly worried. She had been trying to help IS keep his darkness in check ever since he became an Infinity Sword.
"He has a point" CrA said as she sat up on the couch she was laying on moments ago. "He might have given in to it if he thought CN was going to die."
"Maybe, but why would he leave?" SD asked sadly.
The next to speak up was none other than IP "To protect us…"
Everyone fell dead silent. They all knew IP was right.
"That idiot!" RS said as he clenched his fist for a moment.
After a few moments, one of them spoke up.
"We should go find him, right?"
Everyone looked over to see it was none other than DiE who spoke, much to everyone's surprise.
He raised his brow as he said "It's not like a care about that idiot…it's just boring without him around…" he then looked away while blushing slightly, and said "and DW cares for him…"
This brightened all of their spirits a little. If of all people, DiE was going to be the first to suggest they find the person he hated the most out of the group, then they really needed some help.
"Okay then, any ideas how to find him?" RS said, his grin partially returned.
"I probably could find him." CrA said, for once getting herself off the couch during daytime. "After all, we both use dark el a bit, so I should be able to."
"Alright then, let's get going! We're hot on his trail now!" BH said, and despite the fact she made another fire pun, everyone couldn't help but smile.
After a few hours of taking the Cobo service to go to different towns, they ended up at of all places, near the Temple of Frozen Water.
And not even BH's constant fire puns could keep them from shivering a little.
"Of all places, he chose to go here?" LP said before he sneezed.
"Well, not many people go here anyhow" RS said, who seemed almost completely fine due to his magic affinity with fire.
"Will you two quit it?" MM said, who was smart enough to bring his winter jacket.
Meanwhile, towards the front of the group, BM asked CrA "Are we close?"
"Yeah, I can feel his presence from here…" she replied as she looked ahead.
As they made their way up the next hill covered in snow, they could see a cloaked figure in the distance. And it was wearing IS's cloak.
"IS!" RS yelled towards the figure. As soon as he spoke, the figure noticed him and began to run in the opposite direction.
"IS!" he and the others yelled again. Soon enough though, RS had begun running towards the figure with his wind rune, leaving the rest of the group behind.
Soon enough though, he had caught up with the figure, who stopped.
"Infi…" RS said as he walked towards his brother.
IS looked at him for a moment, but then looked away.
"I can't travel with you guys anymore."
"But Infi!"
"I said I can't!" he continued while looking away. "Don't you understand I'm going to become some monster?"
"Infi, we can find a way to-" RS tried to continue.
But he was cut off as IS retorted "But what if I….what if I end up killing everyone?" He then turned around, tears running down from his eyes as he yelled "WHAT THEN!?"
"Infi…we're family aren't we?…we can handle it together." RS said with a warm smile.
IS looked at his brother for a moment, but then suddenly the ground began to tilt, causing IS to slip and fall on onto the floor.
When IS stomped the ground earlier, it had caused the ice to crack.
And now it was beginning to collapse beneath them.
"IS!" RS suddenly yelled as he went to grab his brother as the floor began to fall under them.
He managed to grab him, but before he could get the chance to turn around, he slipped.
"RUNE! INFI!" some of the other members of the team yelled as they became mere figures looking at the two from above.
And so, they fell into a ravine, hidden long ago by the ice and time.
When IS opened his eyes, he was once again in surrounded by darkness.
"Just give up already…you know it's inevitable" said the dark voice once more, this time his voice clear and vivid to the point IS felt like the source of it was right behind him.
As he turned around though, he wasn't greeted by the scene from yesterday, but a much different one at that.
He found himself inside of the library he met Conwell long ago in. It was still the same as before; crammed full of books dimly lit by the candles.
As he looked around, he saw a familiar cloaked figure standing in front of the fireplace just as before.
As IS walked towards him, the figure began to speak.
"I warned you before of what might happen, Elsword Infinite Sieghart" he spoke, his voice strangely quiet.
"I know…but I can-" IS tried to reply, but he was cut off.
"Because you thought you could overcome your hatred?" the figure continued, his voice beginning to distort.
"Wait….who are you?" IS asked.
The figure stayed silent.
"What have you done with Conwell!? Answer me!" he yelled as he drew one of his blades.
Suddenly, the figure made a move as if to grab a weapon. But IS didn't give it a chance as he drove it through.
But when the hood fell, it revealed not Conwell or some stranger.
It was CN.
As IS screamed, the dark voice laughed his maniacal laughter.
IS sat up breathing quick and heavily, nearly screaming as he woke up. But then his body suddenly stung as he got up. As he looked down, he noticed his chest was covered in multiple bandages, and that he was in some sort of sleeping bag.
"You ok?" a voice to his right said. IS looked over to see RS, also covered in bandages, and a small campfire between them.
"I see you're awake." Another voice said. IS found the source of the voice was a man wearing a sort of hooded cloak. And despite the fact his face was mostly covered by the hood, IS could see the man's smile, as there was a soft green glow that came from under the hood.
"What happened?" he said as he looked up, taking in his surroundings. They were at the bottom of some sort of gorge, the sides of it covered by ice that seemed to be almost completely non-transparent. He then remembered what happened.
They fell through some sort of hole that they had accidentally broke open.
But how did we survive? IS questioned in his thoughts.
"It was quite a fall. If this guy wasn't nearby, we would both probably be dead" RS said.
IS looked toward the hooded man and gave him a closer look. From what IS could guess, he guessed the man was not much older than them actually, probably in his late teens or early 20s. He was mostly covered in a cloak.
But what stood out most to IS was that on one of his hands, he wore a black gauntlet, clearly some type of metal IS had never seen in his travels with the El Scouts.
Despite the fact what IS could see of his face looked friendly, he couldn't help but ask "Who are you exactly?"
"A traveler of sorts" the man replied, almost as if though he had said that line a million times before.
Whoever he was, IS could tell he wouldn't get anything else if he pried in more.
But IS was cut from his thoughts as the man continued "While I was walking around here, I saw you two covered in snow. Both of you were bleeding and with a few crushed bones, so I decided to set up camp here so I could fix you two up.
IS looked down at the bandages again. They all covered his injuries, and that he had a cast on his left arm.
"You're lucky neither of you landed on your heads, otherwise you'd be dead."
"Yeah…" IS replied, astonished that despite the fact he was unconscious, the man had bandaged and set his cast without IS even noticing.
"Anyhow…I heard you're in quite the predicament." The man said, catching IS's attention quickly.
Before IS got the chance to say anything, the man continued.
"You've messed with a lot of powers based off of demons, and now your own inner demon is trying to take over, right?"
IS didn't know what to say. IS could only assume that RS told him about it, but the fact he was able to say it without any hesitation caught IS off guard.
"Think of it like this" the man spoke. "Each soul has Good and Evil in it" he continued as IS listened.
"And in most cases, one side dominates the other, like say you're a good kid that likes to get into mischief, or a villain who hates the world because of the death of a loved one" he continued.
That first one sounds kinda familiar IS thought as he looked over towards his brother for a second.
"However, there are ways to shift this balance, such as using powers such as yours."
It was here IS knew the man clearly understood the situation. Because he knew that over time, as he became more and more of a powerful Infinity Sword, he tended to have his blood boil into a bloodrage more and more easily.
"So…is there a way to stop it?" IS asked, feeling the man may have an answer.
"There is one way…you have to confront your evil directly" he answered.
IS was slightly confused. "What do you mean directly?" he asked.
"You have to enter the world of your soul, and make him submit or defeat him." the man continued, answering IS's question.
IS was about to ask him about what was the world the man was talking about, but then he remembered his dream.
The library he thought, remembering how his evil side's voice was so much clearer when he was in there in his dream than back when he left the El Scout's house.
It was RS though who asked the next question.
"And if he fails?"
The man looked down and paused for a moment. He then raised his head and said.
"The demon will completely take over, and the Good side of your soul will disappear forever."
The shock hit the two brothers pretty quick. It was a classic case of life or death. Except that failing could mean they all might die.
"Isn't there some other way? Like purification?" RS said, trying to find another solution.
"No, his soul is too unstable for a purification technique to work. If it was a few months back, I'd be able to, bu-" the man replied, but was cut off as IS said:
"I'll do it"
"But IS…" RS said, looking at his brother.
"If there's any way to fight the fate I've almost resigned to, I'll take it" IS said, his tone filled with resolve.
The man stood up as he spoke "Well, with that resolve, you might manage to pull it off, but I suggest you let your wounds heal up first."
The two suddenly looked at him and RS said "You're leaving?"
He looked back towards the two, a smile on his face as he replied "Well, my job is done here. I've given you all the advice I can give, and it seems your friends are almost here."
Suddenly, as if on cue, the voices of their friends, yelling "Rune! Infi!" as if searching for the two could be heard from not too far away.
"Well anyhow tha-" RS said as he turned back around, only to see the man was no longer there, the only signs he had been were the fire, sleeping bags, their bandages, and the footprints of a pair of sneakers.
However, as their friends came around the corner, other than his need to fight the darkness within him directly, one thing was on his mind.
When the man had gotten up, he saw a little more of the face beneath the hood.
The man had glowing green irises. Just like IS had seen once before in RS's eyes.
But the thought slipped from his mind as he was smothered by his friends as they went to try and embrace him, causing some stinging from his injuries.
But he ignored the pain. Their warmth was just what he needed to remember.
They are my family. So I'll fight for them. He thought. And he swore he could hear a small 'tch' from the dark voice.
IS looked out the window as he sat on his bed.
His injuries had recovered completely since last night (much to the team's surprise), and for the last 10 or so minutes, he was in a tense, yet calm state of mind.
Today is the day he thought as he looked towards CN, who looked like she might wake up any second. He was doing this for her sake, as well as everyone else's
He heard the door open as RS invited himself in.
"Haven't you heard of knocking the door first?" IS said.
"Well, let's just say manners don't apply to siblings" RS replied with a grin.
"I just came to say good luck, you'll need it" RS continued.
"Yeah…" IS replied, knowing that the fact that failure could mean everyone could die.
Soon enough, IS walked out of the room and made his way over to the training room, which MM added in at one point after one day of training that led to him being arrowed to near death after destroying a few walls.
The room was almost empty, save for his two brothers, his sisters, DW, BM and RF, DC, and DiE.
"Where'd everyone else go?" IS asked the group.
"They're helping clean up the town, the guards were a little shorthanded" BM replied.
"Well, a lot of the men got injured during the battle, so it can't be helped" GrM replied as she let out a sigh.
"But what I'm surprised about is DiE! You actually care about me?" IS said somewhat mockingly.
"Shut up! I'm here cuz I didn't want to work, and GA said it was that or keep an eye on you Eldork!" he retorted.
"Suuuure" IS replied sarcastically.
"Just start already!" he yelled while looking the other way.
After getting one last bit of laughter out, IS sat down in the middle of the room.
It's for their sakes. For hers' he thought as he slowed his breathing.
He then began to focus on a mental image the library, while clearing away everything else.
It ends today he thought as he cleared his mind.
Soon enough, everything became silent.
He then heard the soft sound of flames.
He opened his eyes to see himself in the library once more.
IS stood up, looking around the library he had visited in his dreams not long ago.
Only this time, books were scattered over the floor in some spots, and some of the bookshelves had been smashed or cut to pieces.
"What happened?" he said, slightly confused. He walked around a bit, finding only more books scattered all over the place.
"Where's Conwell? And more importantly, where's this Evil me?…or whatever I should call it" he said out loud. He then began to walk over towards one of the piles of books.
"Such a mess" he said as he was about to pick up a book.
"YOU CALL?" the dark voice spoke, only this time, his voice was almost just like IS's, except that there was a strange echo in his voice. IS started to look back as his counterpart yelled "SWORD FALL!"
"Where?" IS said as he heard the Conwell blades appear. The sound came from…
ABOVE! He thought as he then jumped backwards.
"Too close!" he said as the blades went past him. But then, he saw that the blades literally went up to the hilt deep into the ground before they exploded.
"You gotta be kidding!" he said, surprised at the destructive power.
"Well well well" the voice said once more. "I'm surprised you made it, Elsword."
IS looked around to see the source of the voice, and said "So you're-"
The figure, his dark side, looked exactly like him, the only difference being his yellow eyes and demeanor.
"Your Evil side? Yes, I am." Dark IS said, almost pleased to say the words. As he continued, he couldn't help but smile as he said "But it makes things so much easier since you came here."
"Where's Conwell!?" IS yelled, remembering his last nightmare.
"You mean the old man we killed?" Dark IS replied.
Where's he going with this? IS thought.
"Or the sword in your hand? Or the one in mine!? Or maybe…" he said as he licked the edge of his blade. The edge of it was wet with blood.
And it wasn't IS's blood.
"You're talking about me?" he said with a grin.
"You bastard!" IS yelled as he ran up to his dark half as the demon smiled with insanity.
The two began to clash blades, yet Dark IS only parried away IS's attacks. This caused IS to snap slightly.
Is he really taking me this lightly? Well, take this! He thought as he summoned his own Sword Fall.
But right as the blades began to appear, a group of Conwell blades came out of nowhere, taking out the attack instantly.
IS then made one more move. A kill slash meant to cut straight through his phantom.
However, Dark IS just laughed as he brought out a Conwell blade instantly from his hand.
It was as if though he had complete control of the blade. Of IS's friend.
"What did you do to Conwell!?" IS yelled, demanding an answer.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Dark IS said as he took one hand off his sword, which now clutched the end of IS's blade.
"Fool!" He said as he clutched IS's blade tightly, causing the blade to break.
"NO! CONWELL!" IS yelled in a surprise, despaired as his blade began to crumble away.
Suddenly, he felt something pierce him through his chest.
It was a Conwell blade, just like his, only the yellow symbol had turned red.
"Dah!" he yelled as he coughed up blood, crimson staining the floor.
"Heh, you're so naïve Elsword" Dark IS continued.
The group sat in silence in the training room, looking at IS from the nearby table.
"He'll make it, right?" DC asked the group, looking at his unconscious comrade.
"I know he will! He's fought against it for this long!" DW answered "Have you doubted him before?"
"N-no" DC replied with a stutter.
"Then just believe in him, oka-" she continued, but was cut off as a sudden feeling of bloodlust filled the air.
The team looked around to see the darkness beginning to take hold of IS once again, the black mask appearing on his face.
"C'mon Infi…" RS said, gritting his teeth, as the team looked in shock at the event. "You can win this…"
IS tried to speak but couldn't. The sword had pierced through his lung, making it hard to breathe.
"When you took in the darkness, I became part of your power" Dark IS explained. "And over time, I slowly became the center of your power, and absorbed the power that old fart had"
IS had a hard time hearing him though. He was beginning to feel cold. He could barely keep his eyes open. He was about to die.
"And then, the more you relied on me, the more powerful I became" his dark half continued, his face growing into a grin as IS closed his eyes.
But then, a small voice popped into IS head.
"In…fi"
Dark IS hadn't heard it as he finished his explanation.
"To put simply, I have surpassed you, you weak, naive fool!" he said as he turned away.
This time, IS could see the face that belonged to the voice. It was CN.
"Infi. I love you."
CN! He thought, the voice snapping him back from the edge of death.
Dark IS was walking away, laughing as if he won the fight.
IS grabbed the hilt of the blade that had been driven in his chest.
SLIT!
Dark IS suddenly stopped in his tracks as the sound rang through the room.
As IS brought the blade to his side, energy filled the blade, causing the symbol that was once red to become yellow.
For her sake! He yelled in his mind as his sword began to emit an orange aura.
"SWORD…" he yelled as three more Conwell blades appeared behind him, also covered in an orange aura.
Dark IS turned around as he saw the blades coming towards him.
"SHIT!" he yelled, knowing he didn't have the time to dodge, block, or even parry the attack.
He was wide open.
"BLASTING!"
"This is bad, if this keeps up…" CrA said, preparing her own sword for the worst.
IS had almost been completely covered by the darkness within him.
"He can make it." A voice said from the hall.
The team looked towards the door to see CN, who was leaning on the doorway.
"CN! You should still be in bed!" LK said as he walked towards her.
"I'm fine" she said, lightly tapping LK on the face.
"I know he can make it" she continued. "Because he-"
Her next words were cut off as the dark mask and skin suddenly shattered off of IS, crumbling away in the air.
While everyone was still in shock, CN simply smiled.
"See?"
"Heheheh…seems I was the naïve one...I forgot how stubborn you are" Dark IS said.
He was lying on the bookshelf, the four blades pierced into his body, which had begun to crumble away.
"I don't care if I'm naïve, I'll protect my friends." IS stated as he looked down on his foe.
"That there! That's exactly why you're weak!" Dark IS yelled in reply.
"I chose this path to protect them, so if being stronger means abandoning them, I won't." IS said as he began to walk away.
"That's why you're so weak! That's why next time…" Dark IS yelled as he continued to crumble away into the wind, half of his face already gone.
"I'll make sure to crush your skull!" he said as he laughed maniacally, his body now completely gone, leaving behind a fading laughter and the Conwell blades where he once was.
IS closed his eyes and simply said
"No."
He then walked away, knowing there was nothing more to say to what was now just a phantom.
After the library faded away, IS opened his eyes.
He saw his friends surrounding him, all somewhat with a curious look on their faces.
"Is it really?...Infi?" RF said, breaking the silence.
IS smiled and quickly flicked DiE in the nose, knocking him off his feet (if you don't know, his physical defense is very low).
"WHAT THE HELL ELBRAT!?" DiE yelled.
RS laughed as he said "Yep, it's him."
Everyone all gathered around giving IS a hug, except for DiE, who looked away as IS got up
IS was smiling and laughing along with his friends. He felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Even CN couldn't help but smile.
"So…he ever coming back?" RS asked as he looked towards his brother.
Night had fallen onto the city, the moon above a bright white, casting its light onto the city and the balcony the two were standing on.
Inside, every else was asleep. They had been partying for hours since IS came back to them and bet his dark side.
Now, everyone was asleep from exhaustion, since most of them had been working almost nonstop since the attack on Velder. Meanwhile, in BH's case, she was asleep due to the liquor, as she continued to mummer in her sleep some 'dirty talk', thinking she was with LP.
IS smiled as he looked at the night sky as he replied "Nah, I beat him pretty hard, but if he ever does come back…"
He then summoned a blade almost instantly into his hand "I'll beat him again. That's a promise" he said with a grin.
"Heh, guess he won't stand a chance next time" RS said with his own grin. However, that grin suddenly faded.
"What's the matter?" IS said, looking confused.
"When we found you unconscious before…when I looked at you, it sorta felt like when I fought with Ran, when I thought his eye color changed for a second."
IS looked at him for a moment "What are you saying Rune?" he asked, a serious expression appearing on his face.
What the two didn't know is that another of the members was eavesdropping on them, laying on the floor, with one eye open.
A bright blue eye.
"There might be more to Ran than we first thought."
WVH: And that's the first installment of the Elsword RSFB Stories! I hope you all enjoyed it!
RS: This originally took a year to launch cuz most WVH's admins on the FB page were too lazy to draw the artworks that needed to be drawn
WVH: Well, at least that is finally over with. I also heard our CEm admin wants to make a full graphic novel version of it
RS: ...hopefully that goes well XD
WVH: Anyhow, come back next time! Whenever we get the next part done...and don't forget to R&R
HoodedMan: *walks in WVH's room* Where the heck did I end up now?
RS: ...Wolf...how is he in your dimensi-*cut off*