It was another day in the Hamel capital and the el-explorers were relaxing before being sent to scout Resiam outskirts. Raven was clutching his Nasod arm in pain, Aisha was reading one of her spell books, and Rena was talking to Elsword. Chung, the newest member of their little crew, was running around looking for something.
"Yeah, I know... but what happens if he loses control and ends up hurting himself or one of us?" Rena asked, glancing nervously at Raven. The man curled and uncurled his metal hand into a fist.
"He hasn't lost control yet, I wouldn't worry." Elsword told her honestly. Chung, for the hundredth time, came running. Only this time he looked panicked. The redhead put a hand on the armor-clad blonde's shoulder. "What's got you all wound up?"
"I can't find Eve anywhere. She said something about taking a walk, but she should've been back by now." he said when he caught his breath. Everyone shared a glance.
"We gotta find her!" Aisha said, jumping up. The five of them split up and began their search for the Little Queen of the Nasods.
Eve slammed into the wall. She knew it was foolish to go without the others, and regretted it. The Shadow Master watched her stand up shakily. Her drones looked at her, obviously worried. The monster hovered over and picked her up by her head. She let out a yelp when she went flying through the air.
"Why am I afraid? F-fear is an emotion... Nasods don't have emotions." she whispered before hitting another wall. She slid down and lay motionless. Her body was starting to fail. She knew what was going to happen, first it failed to respond to her commands, and then it would fail to supply her with power. Then it would shut down, the Nasod equivalent to death.
The Shadow Master picked her up and started reading the thoughts going through her head. The loudest one in her mind was her asking if she was going to die here. Eve knew the answer, but didn't like it.
She coughed and the thing dropped her. A fireball tore through the air and struck it square in the chest. Aisha looked and saw Eve on the floor. "Hey Raven! I found this big guy, and Eve!" She called and he ran in.
The Shadow Master hovered toward them. Two chains of energy attached themselves to Aisha and Raven's wrists. Aisha grunted, trying to get free. It teleported directly in front of the mage and picked her up by the hair. It threw her at Raven, severing the magic chains. Eve lay on the ground, watching and barely conscious.
Elsword charged forward and slashed at a giant shadow monster. It shot spikes out of its arms, which Chung destroyed. "How the hell are we supposed to hurt this thing?" Elsword barked, deflecting another of the thing's attacks.
"Shadow monsters don't have physical bodies! Hit 'em with magic attacks!" Chung shouted taking cover behind his Destroyer. He pulled out one of his pistols and put his hand on the portable cannon's handle. He was about to start shooting it when the ground beneath it erupted into a pillar of fire.
"Chung, you go on ahead. Those two might need the extra help." Rena told him firing an ice arrow at the shadow. He nodded, running past it. Elsword ran forward and dove past one of the attacks, before summoning a blade from mid-air. The magic sword stabbed into the creature and it shrieked in pain.
It slammed its hands on the ground, sending spikes shooting out of its body. One of these spikes caught the redhead's cheek, cutting it. The creature thrust its chest out, sending a column of orange crystals out toward the elf. She narrowly dodged and rolled to her feet.
"This thing's tough." Elsword chuckled, wiping the blood off his cheek.
When Chung arrived at the Shadow Master's pit, it was throwing Aisha and Raven around. He spotted Eve on the ground, motionless. Raven jabbed his fist into wall, before catching Aisha with his free hand.
"We need to get to Eve, but this thing won't let us." he grunted, his arm started making a humming noise. He jumped off the wall when a ball of shadow flew toward him. He set Aisha down and sprinted toward the monster. The monster swatted him aside, but not before Raven dropped a small explosive. The charge detonated, stunning the monster. Aisha made her way to Eve, while the creature was disorientated.
"I got her!" she yelled, teleporting the two of them away. They reappeared behind Chung and Raven hit the wall next to them, having been swatted again. They turned and ran outside. The Shadow Master watched them leave, unable to do anything since he was sealed to this chamber.
The Shadow Stinger held Rena by her head, examining her. The elf was kicking at the air, trying to break free. The monster turned its gaze to the boy it pinned on the ground. Elsword wasn't struggling but he was muttering something under his breath. The monster lifted its hand to smash him. But a bright blue blade stuck the hand to the ground, a few feet from the caster's head.
It dropped Rena in surprise and the elf shot another ice arrow. The arrow shattered on impact, spreading the magic ice until it was frozen solid. Elsword was about ready to smash it with a rune, but he saw the others running toward them.
"We gotta go now!" Aisha yelled, grabbing Elsword's collar. He yelped in surprise. She ended up dragging him as they ran.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted at the mage. "We could've beaten that thing!" Then he noticed Eve in Raven's arms.
"I hope she'll be okay..." Rena thought aloud. Everyone silently agreed.
A few hours passed since they got back to the Hamel capital. Everyone nervously awaiting news of Eve's condition, Elsword and Aisha were off to the side, talking about why they think Eve went alone. Raven was scowling at his strength compared to the monsters. Chung was off in the corner, holding his head in his hands. Rena was watching him sadly. Slowly, the elf walked toward him.
"It's my fault... if I had tried to stop her... if I had offered to go with her... she wouldn't have gotten hurt..." she heard him whisper before putting her hand on his shoulder. He looked up, eyes full of tears.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly, already knowing the answer. Chung lowered his head again.
"I'm fine..." he lied shaking his head. Rena sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug.
"No, you're not. I can tell." she whispered to him, her voice shaking. "You didn't know what Eve was going to do... it's not your fault." she told him quietly. More tears streamed down his face.
"Excuse me. But Mistress Eve would like to speak with you all." Ophelia said, loudly enough they could hear her from her position at next to the door leading into Eve's room. Rena smiled warmly at Chung, before following the others into the room. He thought she didn't want to see him, so he stayed. "It is her wish to speak with you most urgently." she told him, turning on her heel and disappearing past the doorway.
Eve sat up in her bed, avoiding everyone's gaze. Chung finally crept through the door and Ophelia closed it quietly behind him.
"I apologize... for going alone. It... It was reckless and I regret it. I am pleased none of you were injured..." She said quietly. She still refused to meet any of their gazes. None of them knew what to say, filling the room with an awkward silence.
"Yeah it was reckless. But now we know what's gonna be waiting for us. We'll wait for you to recover, and then take the fight to those shadows." Raven said after a few minutes. Eve's lip trembled, and Rena smacked Raven's arm.
"What Raven meant was... we're glad you're okay." The elf told her gently. Eve shook her head, tears forming in her orange eyes. Elsword cleared his throat and everyone looked at him.
"Eve, everyone makes mistakes. People learn from them. And don't say 'I'm a Nasod, not a person.' because to us, your friends, you're just as much a person as we are." he told her, folding his arms. Eve clutched her sheets in her hands, tears dripping on it. Aisha turned and glared at him.
"Way to go! You mad her cry!" she snapped, and the two of them started arguing. Rena walked over and slapped their heads. They were about to start yelling at the elf, but she nodded toward the bed.
Eve was hugging her drones tightly, crying softly. "I believe if you all continue 'comforting' our mistress, I will be forced to send into the hall." Ophelia told them all. Slowly they left the room. Chung was about to return to the hallway, but Oberon stopped him.
"She wanted to speak with you privately." he said simply, leading the Nasod maid out. Chung gulped and turned, nervously toward Eve.
"I... I wanted to apologize... for not telling you what I was planning. It's not your fault I was injured, it's mine." Eve said with a sniffle. "Sadness and guilt are emotions... I... I shouldn't have emotions. But I do." She bit her lip. She let go of her drones and they nudged Chung closer.
"Eve... I think it's cool you have emotions. It shows you that you're developing a human side. As for it being your fault..." he paused, looking at her. "It's my fault. I should have tried to stop you, or offered to go with you." He said, tears filling his eyes. "You wouldn't have gotten hurt." Eve's drones turned him around and made him sit on the bed.
Eve placed her hand on his. "If you blame yourself, I might not be able to stop Ophelia from beating you. I plan on telling her this was a malfunction that I corrected after awakening. Please... I do not wish for you to feel pain because of me." One of her drones pushed him closer to her and she kissed his forehead.
Chung blushed and quickly turned away. Eve giggled at his reaction, and his blush deepened. "F-f-f-fine... w-whatever you s-say... I-I guess." He stood up and left the room. He roughly sat on a bench along the wall. His mind was replaying that moment. "This is really weird..." he groaned. Had she really taken an interest in me? He asked himself. He didn't know what was in his future except for lots of awkward moments on his part.