A/N: I do not own MapleStory. I only own my OCs. This is a rewrite of my first fanfiction since I have time for now. The next update is hard to tell as I am busy. Review if you have any comments and suggestions or spot any mistakes during the writing. Please don't hesitate to do that.
Rated T for just in case.
Chapter cover: A young teenage girl sitting on one of the rooftops of Henesys, staring down at the people of Henesys with a solemn look.
...
I remember dying. It was a strange feeling. I wasn't able to feel any pain but, I felt like a balloon filled with helium. I knew it was my life that was floating away from me.
I remember betrayal. It was a thing that I despised the most.
His face was burned into my memory and I was mad – mad at his actions. How dare he betray all of us!
Somehow, I found a burst of energy within myself. I, who was on the verge of death, somehow came back to life but I knew it was temporary. It must be the Transcendent Of Life who helped me. Pain racked my whole body especially when I breathe. My back was wet because of my blood.
I glared at my killer. I croaked: Idiot, do you have any idea what have you done?
I couldn't see his face but I could tell he was shocked. Despite half blind, my sight was clear.
He was silent. The aura surrounding him was no ordinary being.
I managed to laugh although it hurts. Death is my friend and so is life.
I have to help him. He has lost his way. But I won't live long enough to help. After all, my death was by his hands.
My eyelids became heavy, my vision became blurred. Before I left this world, I heard my surrogate's mother words: We will meet again…
We are both dead. How can we meet again? I guess it's up to fate, huh?
...
...
The sound of her name being called woke her up. With it, came a soft tap on her right hand.
"What?" asked the young girl, dragging the word with her tongue. Refusing to open her eyes, she swatted whatever obstacles coming towards her right hand. Her ponytail was hung loosely, the hairband threatening to unravel her hair as its grip was loosen.
"C'mon Lea. You promise me to be my partner for today's-" The speaker was silenced with a wave of Lea's hand. Lea opened her eyes and stretched. What greeted her was a blank whiteboard, staring at her.
"I am tired." Lea grumbled, turning to face her friend. She let out a long yawn to prove her point. She blinked at her friend lazily.
He raised an eyebrow. His red eyes were widened with mocking shock. He wore a white singlet with a red sweater on top of it. His pants were torn – fortunately, not at the most embarrassing place.
"But you just have a 2 hours nap!" He retorted.
Two hours? Wow. Lea thought. She covered her mouth to hide her laughter.
"You can't expect me to move at such a state, didn't you?" She drummed the table with her fingers, amused by Dual's spluttering response. His face turned red from embarrassment as he attracted stares from their classmates.
He clicked his tongue impatiently, his foot tapping the floor – expecting Lea to keep her promise. He did this for a good minute before she let out a sigh. Lea knew Dual can be super persistent if he insist.
She zipped up her tiger striped jacket and stood up. She took her duffel bag before gesturing Dual to stretch out his hands.
He did. And she dumped her bag onto his outstretched hands with a forced smile.
"Thank you." That was all she said before she walked out from the classroom, with Dual at her heels, figuring out why he is carrying her bag.
Lea could still remember the first time when Dual was extremely stubborn with her, looking at her by the corners – to the point people would mistaken him as a stalker with extreme obsession about her – leaving sticky notes at her desk about his favor and the list goes on.
She sighed inwardly. She met many strange people and Dual is unfortunately, one of them.
They kept on walking until they reached a place where a billboard was tagged with countless papers. Many students were crowding there as they examined the requests they wanted to take. There was more than one billboard which was further down. There was a C-rank request board, B-rank request board, A-rank request board and lastly, S-rank request board.
C-rank and B-rank boards were teeming with students. Leaving the duo with no choice, they went to A-rank request board.
"Gather 100 orange mushroom caps – nope. Bodyguard for a day – nope. Delivering 80 crates of herbal bottles…" Lea trailed off. Pulling out the a few requests, she found interesting, she held out to Dual.
Dual scanned through them and shook his head. "Don't they have other harder requests?"
"Don't push it." She warned him. Dual sighed.
"But-" protested Dual. Lea glared at Dual, cutting off his protest effectively. His shoulders slumped in defeat; he scratched his cheek thoughtfully with his free hand. Lea sat in front of the window and half-closed her eyes. She felt the warmth of the sun on her back but also felt she was watched by unwanted eyes.
She was aware she was being observed but she could not pinpoint his or her location as there were too many students in this hall. She shivered, she had a feeling she was being targeted.
Although she was tempted to find it, her instinct told her otherwise.
"Done!" Dual shouted. Lea raised her head, and was greeted by a request paper. She took it gingerly and made an eye-contact with Dual. His eyes told her everything.
Lea chuckled. "Shall we?"
Dual tossed Lea her bag in response.
...
...
It was almost nightfall by the time they finished their request. Lea took a sip from her bitter, black coffee while Dual was still waving goodbye at their requester. It was hard to tell time with the underground Sleepywood. Its yellow lights brightened up the town but it was still depressing in its own way.
And also perfect for ambush. Lea added in her mind.
She tapped her dagger hung by her left side, deep in thought. She watched the only entrance to Sleepywood lazily; shifting her eyes back and forth, to the bushes then the trees, anything that flickers in her eyes except for the bright, yellow lights. The citizens have gone back to their homes.
Then, a few people came in. Judging from their clothes – they were adventurers or nobles, especially the one with a fancy hat. Snowy wielded a polearm, fancy hat a…cane? Lea took another sip and her eyes travelled to the silver haired person, eyeing on his strange weapon. It doesn't look like anything as the magic staffs that mages used.
"Hmmm…" Lea set her coffee down, her eyebrows furrowed.
Suddenly, Lea sensed a killing intent coming to her right. In one millisecond, she did a back flip and landed on her feet. The table where she was sitting was charred black like charcoal. She unsheathed her dagger, her senses heightened.
At the corner of her eye, she could see Dual's jaw dropped to the ground. Almost immediately, he took his weapons out, his eyes darting around – searching for their enemies. Then, he brought his dagger up and deflected a needle.
A needle?
Lea moved her face to the right, trying to avoid a small, fast needle. It scratched her cheek, leaving a bloody red line.
She glanced back at the entrance and the three strangers were gone. The next thing she knew, one of them was protecting her back, spinning his weapon to deflect any incoming trajectories.
"Would they be so nice to come out?" The person said jokingly. For some reason, the stranger found this situation funny. Lea's eyebrow twitched.
"Whoever they are, it can't be good." Lea pointed out. Lea swatted the needles with both her free hand and dagger. Fortunately, both of her hands were gloved, unfortunately, her right forearm was bare. At least she doesn't have to worry about her back.
"True, but they are your friends, right?" The stranger asked dryly. Lea chuckled, noticing her gloves looked like a miniature hedgehog with its numerous silver, thin needles. It was a miracle they haven't aim for her right forearm. One would dismiss it as luck but to Lea, it was a vital clue.
"Who knows?" Lea answered vaguely before throwing her dagger towards her left, into the darkness. A cry of pain echoed throughout Sleepywood. The needles attack stopped and Lea grinned without her realization.
Perfect.
"Dual!"
"Got it!" Dual sprinted towards the cry. Before he could, he was knocked down by a black-robed person. Lea popped her middle finger, her eyes narrowed. The enemy was huge, twice bigger than Dual although Dual was pretty average himself. The enemy raised his foot.
Before Dual was stomp, a flash of silver saved him.
"Nice Luminous!" The stranger behind her cheered.
Confused, the black-robed figure set his sights on Lea and her new ally. The shadow of its hood hid his face but a tuff of long brown hair was loose and his eyes gleamed red. Lea wiggled her fingers with ecstasy from the challenge. She discarded the hedgehog gloves and licked her lips at her newfound prey.
Before she knew it, she sprinted towards the enemy, her fist coming down towards his head. Her knuckles made contact with metal instead of flesh as it made a scrunched sound.
Lea managed a huh before she jumped backwards, as it tried to grab her leg.
It was slow and pathetic. The metal creaked and groaned. Lea clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Bo-ring." She rubbed her bruised knuckles. "3 out of 10 for effort though."
They are coming. The wind whispered in her ears. They are coming.
Lea somersaulted in the air just in time for another enemy to slam against the trash and they both went down together. She tutted. She was well aware there were more enemies in the vicinity, their reinforcements since the bushes and trees rustled.
"0 for stealth." Lea added. Five – six – ten – twenty – no, less than that. She noted silently.
Dual has been missing for a while now, so was that fancy hat and silver dude. She sneaked a glance at the polearm wielder, his mohawk hairstyle stood out. Lea clapped her hands twice in approval. Without a doubt, Dual and his other friends took out the coming reinforcements.
Without warning, her head pounded. Lea grimaced at the pain but she couldn't afford to be distracted now.
Her vision which was sharp moments before, became blur. She found herself unsteady and she fell onto the ground. She tried to move her hands but they refused to listen to her.
Eh?
"Good evening, Miss Lea."
...
A/N: Tempted to keep each chapter short for faster update and a better flow of story. I don't know how much I have improved since my previous attempt, I hope you can judge for me and tell me your opinions via reviews.