Chapter 1

Elsword

"There's no point in trying to run, Banthus. You can't escape from the three of us."

Rena, Aisha, and himself had tracked down Banthus after having received word that he had planned something big. He generally wasn't the type to attempt crimes such as this, so it immediately caught Elsword's attention.

"Heh. Yes, I'm aware of that. There's no way that I could escape from you on my own. Fortunately for me..." Two other bandits jumped out from behind the bushes, attacking Rena and Aisha "... I'm not alone!"

With Elsword distracted, Banthus sprinted away with the El, leaving the three heroes. Seeing this out of the corner of his eye, Elsword decided to give chase.

"He's getting away! After him!"

"Elsword, wait!" Aisha cried from behind him as he started to sprint after Banthus.

Hearing the voice of his friend, he stopped in hesitation, before deciding to go back to help them. He quickly ran towards the bandit attacking Aisha, as she had called after him, and she had no way of defending herself at that short of a range. With one swing of his blade, he knocked the bandit off his feet, and with another, finished him. He turned to help Rena, but quickly saw that she didn't need any, as she had already finished the bandit attacking her.

"Now on to Banthus, before he gets away!" He ran off again, and the other two followed soon behind.

Rena

The bastard was faster than he looked. Banthus, she meant. Elsword, on the other hand, not so much. It wasn't long after they gave chase that he had lost Banthus, and requested that Rena tracked him. It was a simple enough task for her, as her training had included extensive tracking lessons, but it was because of how easy the task was, and how often Elsword made use of her skills that caused her frustration. She sighed.

"Fine, but promise me that after this, you'll at least try to pick this up?"

Elsword agreed, and she began tracking Banthus' tracks, which wasn't hard, as he was big and heavy, leaving deep footprints to follow. However, it wasn't long before the ground became harder, and the footprints became harder to find. It seemed like either Banthus knew the area well, or he had planned his escape in advance, which seemed unlikely to Rena as they caught him seemingly off guard.

It wasn't long after that before the footprints along with any other signs of his path disappeared entirely. However, Rena could tell what general direction he was moving in. He was headed to Ruben Village, and she knew just who to talk to about Banthus. Apparently, so did Elsword as he had cut off Rena when she began to talk to him.

"Lowe! Did Banthus just pass by?"Rena punched him in the arm, giving him a glare as if to say 'Let me handle this next time.'

"Banthus? I saw him go by here not long ago. Seemed to be in a hurry. Why? Did something happen?"

"We don't have time for thi- Wah!" Rena pushed Elsword out of the way and picked up where he left off.

"He stole the El Shard and ran off with it. Do you know where he might've gone?" She asked politely with a smile, as if oblivious to the fact that she had just pushed her friend out of the way.

"The El Shard!" he replied with shock, "By the El Lady! I never thought Banthus would have ever gone that far! In that case, we've seen some bandits nearby recently. He may have gone there. This is big! I'll get the whole of Ruben Village chasing after him! He will pay for what he's done!"

Aisha

It had to be him. It had to be him. If Elsword hadn't just had to have his grand entrance, she could have already taken Banthus down. But no. Elsword just had to have his way. Never mind that he had a witch and a ranger on his side, he had to openly announce his arrival to half of Elrios.

She didn't know why she stuck around him. It certainly wasn't out of pity. If anything, it was probably out of boredom. There were no masters she could learn from, and it seemed like trouble followed him, so it would be a good way to entertain herself for a while. And while she enjoyed watching him screw up the first few times, it became old fast. Very fast.

On their way to Noah's lake, the site where the bandits were reported, she had asked Rena why it was that she stuck around Elsword when she could be far more successful on her own.

"Why? That's easy! Because he turns every little task into an adventure. Sure, we have our by-the-book methods that are much faster, but what does it matter as long as the job gets done?"

Aisha understood why she would say this. As an elven ranger, she's supposed to be serious and strictly by-the-books, so any escape from that mundane method would be a welcomed break. As for Aisha, though, she had to learn magic on her own. Every day was an adventure when the only teacher you had to control a volatile power was a book. He pondering came to a halt as they reached Noah's Lake.

Ain

He had awoken knowing his purpose, but with no memories of the past. He knew why this was. The Goddess had created him for this purpose. This purpose that he could not take his mind off of. He was to assist a boy known as 'Elsword' in the events to come, and to protect the El.

It was a strange feeling knowing about the world when he did not learn about it, and knowing how to use a weapon he had never held before. All he knew was his purpose and how to accomplish it.

It was then that he was able to see for the first time this world that he was supposed to be protecting. It was a blur, but he understood what he was seeing. The green blur below with was the ground. The blue blur above him was the sky. The white blurs coming from a part of the blue blur that was partly in the green blur was the reflection of the sun off of a lake. However, he could not tell which lake it was.

As if by instinct, he opened a 'window' of sorts and was able to clearly see the world before him. Below was a red-haired boy carrying a sword that perhaps was a bit too large for him. His name was 'Elsword.' Following behind him were his two friends. Aisha was the one with the purple hair, and Rena was the elf with the blonde hair. He could make out the lake to be a place called 'Noah's Lake.' Near the lake were some bandits being lead by a man named 'Banthus.'

How he knew all of this, he didn't know, and it didn't particularly bother him. He knew what he was going to have to do in the near future. He would have to protect the 'Elsword' boy in case any bandits got the jump on him. He would change the boy's memory so that he remembered him as a friend, and change it again once he had completed his work. This is how it had always worked, he thought as if he'd been alive for a long time.

He began to wonder if this was truly his first time being 'alive.'

Raven

The whirring of machines could be heard all around him. He only had vague memories of what had just happened before he blacked out. He was from Velder. He led the Crow mercenary knights. He was betrayed and sent to prison. His fiancée broke him out. And then...

And then Velder knights had found and slaughtered all of his knights and fiancée, knocking him out. He wasn't sure where he was. It looked like a ship. Turning his head, he saw wires attached to an arm. An arm that was attached to him. He tried to move his arm, only to find the nasod arm moved instead.

Turning his head the other way, he still held his sword in his other hand. He wasn't sure where or why he was here, but he could feel some sense of purpose that he hadn't had before. Something different than his previous purpose. He wanted to destroy all of Velder. As these thoughts crossed his mind, he saw a figure approach the pod he was in.

"Well, well. Seems the Raven has awoken."

Add

His research was finally complete. He had finished building his nasod dynamos. Now, he would be able to take revenge on Nasod Ruler, the group who had killed his parents. After years of scavenging what he could from the surrounding area, he was finally ready to test the effectiveness of his new weapon.

"Kek. There's nothing left to research here. Guess I'll have to go and find more... research subjects... Kekeke!"

He had remembered a book that he had read recently. It made reference to the last nasod produced. A wife for the Nasod King. It was referred to as Project Eve, in the palace of the king. Allegedly, it was never activated, but he hoped that it was, to provide a test subject for his Dynamos. Either way, he was going to head to Altera to find this... Eve.

Elesis

She had traveled almost all over Elrios, and hadn't seen her brother in a long time. In her journey, she had sought to become a better swordswoman, and had succeeded greatly. Now, however, she wanted to relax a bit and complete her training with her brother. The last she had heard, he was hanging out in Ruben Village, far from where she was now.

"Ruben, huh? It'll be a nice change of scenery, at least. It's a nice and peaceful place, if I remember correctly. It'll be nice to relax some and hang out with Elsword some. I wonder if he's made any friends...?"

When she had left, she was Elswords only friend. She wondered what kind of people would be supporting him in the several years since she had left. She couldn't wait to see him again, and hoped that he had somehow gotten better than her. She knew it wouldn't be so, but she couldn't help but hope. That same night, she set out from the ash lands of Lanox to meet her brother in the rolling hills of Ruben, with little knowledge of the events that would soon follow.

Author's comments_

Me: So you're going to do thi-

Ain: no

Me:

Ain:

Me: Okay, then how ab-

Raven: no

Me:

Raven:

Me: Now we-

Add: no

Me: yes

Add: no

Me: fine. Then how about...

Elesis:

Me: Um, Elesis?

Elesis:

Me:

Elesis: *never showed up*

Me: Well, okay then