This is my entry for the "Turned into an animal" Prompt held by the Elsword Fanfiction Brigade. PM me if you want an invitation link, by the way. We are a huge community of writers, readers, artist or just gamers that love this game one way or another.
So, about the prompt, I wanted this to be really short but I got a bit carried away with so... well, enjoy it :3
Fire and sparkles lighted up the night sky. A big fireworks exhibition marked the end of the year for everyone watching at the outskirts of Hamel city. The El Search Party was looking from a particular isolated clear in the forest. Mesmerized by the beautiful mix of color and gunpowder in the sky, every one of them enjoyed the last moments of this year.
Although not all of them was totally happy. There were some of them who carried some regret from the past year into the new one. Eve was one of them, she wasn't looking at the fireworks, and rather she was more interested in her surroundings. Right in front of her Elsword and Aisha were sat, hugging each other as they watched the spectacle. Not far from them, Chung and Ara were also starting to get all lovey-dovey. They finally softened up after the Ran incident; in the end they admitted the feelings for each other. Next to her there was Raven, who has his human hand intertwined with the elf Rena. As much as he hates to admit it, they had grown dear to each other. She heard a playful laugh and looked back to see the demon queen and her bodyguard whispering in each other ear who knows what.
So many time surrounded with these creatures made Eve felt… bothered. She wondered what that thing that she was missing was. Was loving and being loved back so amazing that those humans would completely modify their behavior in order to do that? She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked back to meet with the newest member of the group, a mysterious man called Ain. He showed her a graceful smile and she replied with an elegant nod.
"Lady Eve, I feel like you are really troubled," The man said with his angelic voice.
"You have to be really sharp to tell…" Eve answered.
"That would be ages ago, but today you're an open book for almost anyone. Allow me to ask, what is troubling you?" He said, sitting right next to her and offering her a drink.
Eve accepted it, and her reply was to simply look around at all the couples.
"I see. So you too can feel lonely." Ain said, looking at the sky.
"I don't feel lonely. What I feel is… that a lot of things are changing," She said, resting her eyes on Aisha who was as red as the fireworks.
"You're not the only one feeling like that, my dear. To be honest, I'm really happy to see Elsword doing so well," He stopped to let out a tiny laugh "But the other ones…"
Ain didn't finish his sentence; he waited for Eve to look in the direction he was pointing. The rest of the members of the El Search Party were scattered there as interested in the fireworks as her. The weird girl who loves to fill her pockets with weapons. Although she usually stays away from all of them, she accepted accompanying them just for this night. And Elsword's sister, a girl that never seemed interested in anything. Her blood red eyes were fixed on the ground, were she was lazily drawing random shapes with a stick. And… was not there someone else? Eve remembered a weird guy who tagged along with the group when they left Sander. She didn't remember his name but he was always rambling about her and about traveling in time, maybe he finally achieved that and is now lost in another era.
She stood and left Ain's side, he didn't stop her, knowing where she was going.
"They grow so fast, huh?" Elesis said with a tired voice when she felt Eve's presence near her.
"Compared to the time it takes to build a Nasod, they actually grow painfully slow," Eve said, sitting next to her.
Elesis laughed, "You're right. They are kids for so many time that you forget about letting them go and suddenly one day they fly from the nest."
Eve let out a sigh, she drew near her. Elesis looked at her and without a word she threw her arm over her shoulders, prompting her to accommodate at her side, resting her head on her shoulder.
The two of them had now known each other for a long time, but it wasn't until Elsword and Aisha starting dating that they got closer to each other. Eve would usually only stick with Elsword, as he was her friend, or so she said. And Elesis was usually looking after her brother from afar, trying not to make him uncomfortable. But now her girlfriend kept him busy almost all the time, leaving no time for him to spend with Eve and at the same time making Elesis feel like she wasn't needed as her mother anymore.
With the new company on her side, Eve looked at the sky. The fireworks still going. Elesis did the same. As the display's end drew near, both of them wished for something for the new year.
She woke up and rubbed her eyes. The sound of glass and bottles being pushed away welcomed her to this new day. She get out of bed and searched through the mess for her slippers. The party last night got a bit out of hand, even when she was not the type to indulge herself in such kind of celebrations. Elesis stood up and headed outside the room. She was surprised to find Ain staring at her right on the other side of the door.
"Good morning, Lady Elesis," He said, his resonating voice causing Elesis head to hurt.
She hushed at him, "Keep it low, my head is going to break…"
"Oh, I'm sorry," He said not even trying to low his volume "I just wanted to check that everything was going ok."
Elesis raised an eyebrow. Seeing Ain worrying about someone who wasn't Elsword was really strange, however she wasn't interested. She went back to the room and opened her drawer. She saw herself on the mirror and realized she was still in last night clothes. Her red suit was stained with alcohol and dirt. She hurried to take it off and replace it with an oversized t-shirt and some comfortable panties. She decided she would get rid of her hangover by not going out at all. She browsed the selves for a nice book to read and plummeted back in bed with a volume about the latest designs in weapons and armors. The weird designs that the CoBo Company always displays is usually funny.
It was when she was most comfortable that she felt a pinch on her side. She jumped out of bed surprised, but instantly regretted it, as any sudden movement would make her head spin. She calmed down and searched for the source of the pain. With a wide movement she lifted the bed's sheets. Hoping to find a rat, a snake or even a bug; what she found instead was a cat. A white and black cat was lying on her bed, rolling over its back. The cat sat when Elesis looked at it and waited for her to come back at bed.
"Where are you coming from?" She wondered.
With caution she got near the cat, reaching for it with her hand. The feline sniffed it before standing off and letting itself be pet by it, walking in circles under it.
"Well, I guess you can stay here… just don't pinch me again." Elesis said, going back to bed and placing the cat on her lap.
She took a better look at it. The white fur covered almost all of its body, while some odd black strips extended through its legs. It had two beautiful golden eyes and, oddly enough, two patches of blue fur right under its eyes. She looked at it puzzled, never remembering seeing a cat with blue fur before. Somehow it really remembered her of something, but her head wasn't going to work in the state she was.
She placed a big cushion on her back and relaxed with the book on her hands, letting the cat to get on her lap. Whit one hand she held the book while the other one softly rubbed the animal's chin, only stopping to turn the pages. It purred at her petting, the vibrations from it where so calming that Elesis eventually stopped reading and almost fell asleep. It was a knock on her door what kept her from getting knock out. She hurried to open it just to find Ain again.
"We're leaving, looks like Eve is missing."
It took some time for her to register what he said.
"Don't worry, you can stay here, she probably left to visit the town and got lost. I bet she found one of those ancient Nasod in the old Watergates and is trying to bring him back to life or something."
He laughs at it and left without her saying a word. Elesis walked back to the cat and heard the sound of the front door closing.
"Looks like we are alone, little pal." She said at the cat, taking it in her arms.
She walked outside the room and into the corridor. The whole place was empty. To celebrate the new year, they decided to stay in one of Chung's family many properties. This one was a little bungalow in the outskirts. It was the perfect place to stay while being away from the people. Or so Elesis thought. She made her way to the kitchen and searched in every corner for something to have as a makeshift breakfast. She didn't found anything, anything that she would like; and gave up. Letting herself fall on the living room sofa. The cat jumped on her back, prompting her to roll over to embrace it.
"You know, you remember me of her, with those blue things," She said.
"My blue things are really cute I'll let you know"
Elesis moved the cat's paws while imitating its voice in a weird way. She was glad nobody was there to hear it except for the cat.
"Yeah, they really are," She rolled over again, letting the cat in the floor "I wonder if I should go look with them… Ain said it was nothing but its really weird for Eve to get lost like that…"
The cat sat straight, looking at her. Elesis felt as if the cat were interested in hearing to what she has to say, so she just continued.
"When Elsword started to spend time with Aisha, she started to stick with me a lot more. I guess she was feeling left out, just like me. You know, I'm glad that she's here, I'll be really lonely otherwise," Elesis paused her narration to sat up "Even if we don't speak to each other that much…"
The cat meowed, Elesis stopped her rambling.
"Oh sorry, I guess you're hungry," She said, standing up to serve some milk in a plate for the feline.
However the cat just sniffed the milk without drinking any of it.
"You don't like milk huh? Just like me," She said with a chuckle.
While she was searching for something else for the cat, she heard it meowing again. She looked for him and saw him waiting on the stairs. She wondered where it was going so she followed it upstairs. The cat leaded her back to her room, scratching the door asking Elesis to open it, once inside it jumped onto the bed and waited there.
"So you just want to laze around all day? Well, I guess we can do that," Elesis said, going back to bed with her book and with the cat on her lap, this time nothing prevented her from falling asleep.
Someone was knocking on the door. Elesis awakened refreshed from the long nap. The hangover disappeared. She searched for the cat as she got out of bed and found it scratching the legs of a chair. The feline looked back at her as if it were proud of what its claws just did. Elesis let out a smile and went to open the door. It was Ain.
"We're back, unfortunately we didn't found Eve. However, both Raven and Rena said to not worry, she may just come back tomorrow as if nothing happened."
"Didn't she even left a note in her room or something?" Elesis asked, this time a little bit worried.
"I'm afraid that none of us dared to check her room."
Elesis let out a sigh. What sense does it have to go out to look for someone without checking their room first? She knew that she can't let them be on their own, or else things like this would happen. She felt something on her leg and looked down to see the cat walking between them, tickling her with the tail. She put it in her arms and headed for Eve's room.
Once on the door she knocked even if she expected no reply. It wasn't that weird for Eve to spend all day isolated in her room, but even when she did that she would usually come out to eat with the others. The cat meowed and Elesis opened the door.
She wasn't there. Her room was as faultless as ever. Everything that she brought with her was neatly stored in the drawer or the desk. The only thing that seemed out of place was the tools she use to maintain her two drones. They were resting on the desk as if she were repairing them when she went missing. The cat jumped out of her embrace and skillfully landed on the ground. She let it explore the room while she checked the desk or the tables looking for any kind of note.
"It looks like there's no note after all."
The cat looked at her. She wasn't expecting it to understand her. After giving up her search for a note she checked the closet. The clothes that Eve brought with her were still in there. The white dress with the black spikes embedded with beautiful blue gems and her other casual clothes too. She pulled one of the drawers in there and found a collection of shoes. Most of them were either heels or high boots. She checked another one drawer and found a neatly ordered collection of underwear. The cat meowed in rather an annoyed way, startling her.
"Hey, it's not like I was looking for them… I'm just looking for clues about her leave."
She was surprised though, there was some pieces there that she wouldn't imagine Eve wearing. After closing the drawers she sat on the bed and waited there. The cat rushed to her lap again.
"If she doesn't come back tomorrow, I guess that will be it."
The cat looked at her eyes as if it were questioning her words.
"After all now that we are at peace again she doesn't have any reason to stick with us. She probably felt left out and decided to go elsewhere. Maybe she went back with her kind in Elision…"
Elesis hugged her knees. There was a bitter sadness building up in her words. A tiny tear formed under her eye, but a weird feeling stopped her from crying. The cat was licking her hand. She laughed at it.
"At least I have you to keep me from being all alone, right?" She said, cheerfully raising the cat above her.
And while she was doing so, she saw it. A note on the ledge of the window. How could she have missed it before? She wondered that as she picked it up. It was folded in half and beautifully handwritten. The cat made her way up to Elesis shoulder in order to read the note too.
"Dear Elesis
I hope that you find this note. If you're reading this I may have disappeared. Don't worry, nothing bad happen to me. It's only that I can't stand it anymore. I've been waiting for so long that you…"
As she was reading it, the cat suddenly jumped out of her shoulder, snatching the note from her, and ran away. She chased it as fast as she could, but its four legs easily outrun her.
"You damn animal!" She cursed, causing Aisha to come out of her room.
"Elesis, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, just a stray cat that stole something from me," She answered with a chuckle.
"Are… you sure it's nothing?"
Elesis noticed that there was a cold tear running along her cheek, she wiped it and nodded at Aisha before storming off. She hid in her room and it wasn't long until she heard some scratches on the door. After a while she lazily let the cat inside.
"I'm sorry, it doesn't really matter, I can already imagine what the note said," she said as she placed the cat on her lap again "I'm not an idiot. I know that after Elsword and Aisha started going out Eve and me got closer."
The cat stared at her as always, listening to her story.
"But I guess I was just too distracted with everything going on to realize that we were much closer than just that. After all it's really weird that she cares about someone else that is not Elsword. She probably…"
Elesis didn't finish her words.
"And now that she's not gone, I realize how much I miss her right now…"
The door opened with Elsword coming in without warning.
"Sis! We're going to a parade in the city, do you want to come?"
"Elsword! What are you doing? I could be changing or something!"
"Oh please, I don't want to hear that from the sister that came out of the shower without wearing a towel once when I was little and invited a girl over our house," Elsword said, rolling his eyes.
"But you were just kids that time! Get out now! And I don't want to go anywhere, thank you."
He went out; Elesis remained in bed, petting the cat until she finally fell asleep.
The singing of the birds woke her up. She was feeling almost as she had a hangover again. Her body ached and her head hurt. She rolled and felt the soft fur of the cat next to her. She embraced it against her chest and tried to go back to sleep but she hear a weird groan coming from it. She raised the sheets to check on him and jumped out of bed startled by what she saw.
It was Eve, she sat up in bed rubbing her eye as Elesis just woke her up.
"Eve!" She said, not believing it.
It took some time to the Nasod to get aware of the situation. After the drowsiness went away, she quickly pulled the sheets over her, realizing she was stark naked.
"Elesis! What happened? Where are my clothes?" Eve asked each question with growing worry.
"Hum… I don't really know," Elesis said "But what's more important is that you're back! I missed you, please don't ever go away again!" Elesis said, rushing to hug her.
"What are you talking about? I don't remember going anywhere without all of you."
Elesis laughed after hearing this. Was it all a dream? After all everything that happen yesterday was oddly weird. Ain worrying about her, the mysterious cat, Eve banishing without telling anyone… But if all was just a dream, then what does the current situation mean? Why was Elesis sleeping with Eve, more precisely, naked Eve.
"Hum… Eve… do you remember about last night?"
Eve covered her mouth with the back of her hand as blood rushed to her cheeks. This only made Elesis more confused. There was a chance that THAT happened?!
"My blue things are really cute I'll let you know," Eve said, moving her hands and imitating what Elesis would say it's a cat voice.
The two of them stayed silent for a while until Elesis finally realized. Her face was now burning red and it took her all that she had to not let a loud scream out.