Note: So uh…hey fellas. This is my first attempt in making a story in English. Please keep in mind that I have no one to act as my beta reader so you may find this story full of…mistakes, no matter how many times I checked it over and over. Grammar is not my strength so yeah…oh! And also, it is been quite some time after the last time I played Elsword so it means that theres bound to some off facts about Elsword universe. Please continue with caution!
(This story is inspired by Imyoshi's Ocean in RWBY fandom. Check it out, it is good!)
X – X – X – X – X
It all started after their successful attempt on retaking Velder from them Demons.
Rustle! Rustle!
Elsword tried to suppressing his groan when he felt the tell-tale sign of something climbing up on his bed. He tried to remain perfectly still, pretending to be sleep. For a few moments, there was nothing. Perhaps it was only a dream and there's actually nothing happened in his room. Maybe the bed he was using right now a little bit old, because he remember how rickety it is when he try to lying on it with his armor on. Maybe his tired minds procuring something that should not exist and made him heard things.
Or maybe it is his instinct that caught those sounds and it means it was real.
After all, they just successfully retaking Velder from the Demons, so it is no wonder if there were still some stray Demons that lurking on the street of Velder, trying to find the enemy powerhouse and strike them while they are blissfully unaware in their sleep.
Thankfully, it was not of Elsword concern. Contrary to popular belief, Elsword was a light sleeper. Of course, two years ago, he will sleep like a log. But now, as someone worthy enough to earn the moniker Lord Knight, Elsword made it his duty to sharpen his senses so he can protect his friends from unwanted and unexpected turn of event. He never thought he also needed to use it in his own room, though.
Not too long, the shifting and dipping of the bed made him tense. The rumpling of his blanket ever so slightly from his right side almost made him retaliate in defense immediately. If the intruder thought they were being subtle, they would never find out how subtle Elsword if he wanted to be, because they will undoubtedly become the newest victim of his sword before they realize what happened to them.
His left arm inching closer toward his sword propped up on the side of a table right beside his bed. The only thing he have to do after that is waiting the intruder to make their first move so he can counter it and surprise them.
Then, a dainty hand tapped his face lightly. He would kick the intruder right then and there if he didn't hear the voice of said intruder.
"Elsword?"
He remained quiet. He appears soundly asleep on the outside, but his thought was filled to the brim with questions. Mainly questions like 'What happen?' and 'Why me?', but most of them were 'Why Aisha here?'
"Elsword?" her voice called him again from the dark. Obviously, he can't see her face because he keeping his eyes shut. But there's something in her voice that caught his attention.
She sounds so distressed.
It took a few seconds for Elsword to decide that he needed to wake up and ask what was wrong with Aisha, and then it took another second for him to pretend to be asleep again. Because at the split moment after he decided to confront Aisha, the girl softly pressed her body to his chest, remaining quite as she try to control her breath. He can practically taste the nervousness emitting from this Elemental Master, as she trying to move one of her arms to hug him.
Well, no matter how embarrassed he felt at the moment, he can't just waking up now and hoping to survive the mage wrath later. He can imagine it: a male red-haired knight being chased around by an angry purple mage, accusing him a pervert by pretend to sleep because SHE decided to sleep on HIS bed.
Yeah, nope. Not gonna happen.
He felt one of her arm hovering on top of his arm, moving as if to try to find something. Apparently, she found what she was looking for a few moments later, because her hand stopped moving and softly grazed the bandaged part of Elsword's arm. He can hear her sigh.
"…you're one reckless boy I ever met. Idiot. Stupid. Dork. Elsword."
Ignoring that Aisha basically using his name as an insult, the knight mulling over what the girl just said.
In the two years they spent together in their journey, the red-haired knight will not argue that he is a very reckless person. Aisha always found this annoying and never failed to berate him about his recklessness. Sometimes going as far as threatening him by saying she will not heal him if he hurt himself by doing something stupid. But of course those were just empty threats and Aisha would still heal him, although not without berating him first. So why today is differen – oh. Oh.
The event at the gate that was happens few hours ago. She is still thinking about that? Elsword remember that she was the one who called his name a few seconds after he cut the chain of the gate. He can still remember the horror on her eyes for a split moments, a passing glance to make sure his friends reach the other side of the gate safely, before he felt Chloe's fist on his face.
…he made her feeling guilty after the stunt he did back there, didn't he? Well, shit. Now he felt like a jerk. While contemplating that, Elsword felt the girl moving again.
While one of her arms finding solace on the feeling of the bandage, her other hand started to move across his ribs, in an effort to not wake him up, and rested right where his heart is. It was very hard to not panic and make his heart beat faster, but he prevailed! Aisha will never find out he was awake all this time!
Then, after quite some times feeling his heartbeat (probably, since Elsword didn't know what is inside the magus head at the moment) she nuzzled her face into his body while releasing a relieved sigh and drifted of to sleep. It took half an hour, but once her breathing relaxed and the nervousness fading away from her body, Elsword have the rare chance to observe this magic scholar.
She smelled like berries. Her intoxicating smell oddly fitted her image in some way, reminding him of those berries his sister sometimes bought from a merchant that comes from a place called…Sander? Elsword quite sure it has 'sand' on its name. Against his body, he realized how she appeared so tiny and helpless, something he never seen in the battlefield. Sometimes she made some cute murmurs in her sleep, and it was very cute considering she is older than him.
Suppressing the need to sigh, Elsword didn't care anymore. If Aisha personally thought it was needed for her to check on him herself and sleep with him to make sure he is alright and not death on Chloe's hand, then who is he to judge?
Slowly, gently, Elsword pulled up the blanket to cover both of them and lazed an arm around her midriff and went to sleep.
Next morning, Aisha is nowhere to be found and his sister accused him for hogging Sander berries based on the fact that he suspiciously smelled like berries.
Really, sis? Where could he find and secure those delightful berries in this former warzone, huh?
X – X – X – X – X
This happens around the time after they saved Sasha.
This time, the one who intrude his room is one person he doesn't expect at all to sleep with him.
But lo and behold, the newest addition of their group found lying on her side on his bed, with her back facing Elsword. She trapped his right arm under her head, using it as her pillow and intertwined his fingers with her own. What confused him the most is how the heck Ara Haan, the resident clumsy girl of their group, have somehow found her way sneaking into his room without stumbling on her way here.
The elsearch party sometimes crossed path with the spear-wielding shrine maiden in Feita and Velder. She was in a journey to find someone. Leaving a trail of dead demons on her steps, she finally found the one she was searching for. Her goal made them crossed path once again at the Halls of Water.
But her action stirred some argument and protest from the group, especially from Chung Seiker.
She was searching for his brother, Aren Haan, who is controlled by a Dark El and turned him into the demon commander Ran. When Chung fired his weapon to ended Ran, she intercepted his missile (or more like, sliced it in half) and let Ran escaped.
The whole situation could turn violent in no time if he didn't try to be the voice of reason. Aisha gave him the look as if he had grown another head that day.
He couldn't help but sympathized with the shrine maiden. He was in search of his sister not too long ago, so he can safely say that he know how she felt. But their quest ended with different results. Instead him that found her, his sister was the one who found him first at Velder right when Chloe raise her blade to stab him. While Ara, rather than finally found her brother, she found the evil Ran that denied her claims and even attacking her before disappear, leaving chaos behind his trail and his sister.
Elsword can imagine how she felt at that moment.
This girl, making her own journey through many harsh obstacles and trials just to find her brother, seems frail despite her deadly techniques when handling her spear against demons.
Speaking of deadly, he remembered that sometimes Ara changed her appearance at a moment notice, literally. One moment, she was there with her with black hair, golden eyes, and shy smile. Next, she was there with white hair, red eyes, and a coy smirk. It happens so fast he could swear that he caught a glimpse of something resembling tails appeared behind her. As if she was a fox, with the tails and the ears.
While the usual Ara was dangerous enough with her precise strikes and accuracy, the white haired one was more vicious on her strikes. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was something more. Maybe it has something to do with someone called 'Eun', as Ara always said that name in the upmost respect.
But whoever it is, Elsword was thankful that this person gave Ara the strength she needed to fulfill her quest.
Elsword try to tuck her hair behind her ear so she can sleep comfortably, resulting a tired groan of protest from the girl. He then placed the hairpin that become lose and fell from the girl's hair on top of the desk and pull her body closer so he can put his chin on top of her head.
The usual cold night of Hamel make it impossible to sleep without blanket, but sleep found him immediately as the sudden warmth enveloped him.
Slowly, as his eyes dropped from exhaustion, he notice some strands of Ara's hair turned white and a pairs of fluffy ears appear on top of her head. And not too long after that, he felt as if his entire body covered with warm fur that smelled like jasmine.
'You are worthy.' A voice whispered as he fell asleep. And for some reason, he caught a glimpse of fox in his dream.
The next morning, everyone looked at him with surprised evident on their faces.
"Huh, I thought you woke up early and leave the HQ. Did you sleep well?" asked Chung as the knight sat beside him while rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah," he yawned, "Like a log. It was really warm last night, so I can sleep comfortably."
"Lucky for you," Aisha quipped, "I almost can't sleep with how cold it is last night. That sudden snowstorm was really unexpected."
Everyone nodded in agreement with Aisha's statement, which leave Elsword in confusion.
"…we have snowstorm last night?"
Most of them gave him the look that said 'are you kidding me?' while some of them laughed at his ignorance of last night's storm.
"Huh. So fox is THAT comfortable to sleep with."
No one understood his passing comment, ignore it and chalked it up as the effect of sleeping in. No one give any response, but Ara started choking on her tea after she heard his comment. Their gaze drifted toward the shrine maiden, asking if there something wrong, which she hastily denied and said there is nothing wrong.
Ara refused to meet Elsword's eyes for the rest of the week, for once feeling gratitude and anger at the same time toward her guardian spirit. The gem on her hairpin gleams in response.
X – X – X – X – X
Ziiip…Slip! Rustle!
At this point, Elsword should not surprise anymore. It happens three times already and he suspected that someone will come again.
Really, he should not really surprise anymore. But he still did, along with the feeling he recognize as embarrassment.
What's with him and older girls these days!? He knows that it is okay if they let their guard down around him, being comfortable around him and all. He also perfectly aware that they can take care of themselves should there anyone who dared to do indecent things to them. Beside, he can't think anyone who is stupid enough to even consider doing something suicidal like that.
But Rena should really consider to wearing something more…appropriate when she decided to sleep with him tonight. Preferably something that covered more skin than the current one she wore right now. Sometimes he wondered why Rena's attire consists of something that tightly hugged her body and showing so many skins. Seriously, she can catch a cold sooner or later!
Back to current situation. He didn't even need to turn around or opening his eyes to know who was hugging him from behind. He practically can feel himself drowning into something soft on the back of his head.
Contrary to popular belief, Elsword was aware that the group he lead contains a lot of attractive members, Chung included (until he find out that Chung is a boy).
He was aware of that fact. Call him a pervert, but he can't help it! He is still a hot-blooded male damn it! So what if he thought that purple magus is cute huh!? Or that he found their resident shrine maiden's clumsiness endearing!? Or how despite her cold nature, the nasod queen is unexpectedly kind and sweet!? And Lu being Lu is already cute, her title as the sovereign of demon realm not withstanding.
Damn him and his hormones. And also, while he at it, damn his companions for being sinfully attractive.
So yeah. He noticed all of it. Especially Rena's. He noticed hers alright. Elsword didn't know whether he can sleep or not tonight.
…no, he definitely can. With years of traveling with her, Elsword knows what goes through Rena's mind. Before he met his sister, she was the one who he considered as an older sister to him. Sometimes, while they camping outside, he always find her awake, keeping the bonfire alight. Every time he asks what was wrong, she always said it was nothing and giving him a genuine smile. She just enjoying the nature is all she said.
Maybe tonight something bothering her?
Elsword heard some rustling outside his tent. They once again decided to camp outside in the middle of desert of Sander. The wind blowing outside, the tell-tale sign of sandstorm draw near. The wind acted up again.
Elsword can't feel it clearly, but he can guess what was bothering Rena right now.
Being a race that bound to the nature, it is no wonder that an Elf can feel the disturbance of El energy that course through nature. Adding to the fact that wind spirits seems favoring Rena in combat, it didn't take a genius to guess what makes the Elf uncomfortable.
To him, it is just gust of wind that is stronger than usual. But to Rena, maybe it felt sinisterly wrong and sad. The disappearance of the wind priestess must be the cause of this phenomenon. No wonder she did not enjoy the wind and decided to sleep.
Now it makes some sense on why she was here. She seeks comfort from someone to accompany her through the night. He still didn't know why him though, but what the heck. May as well rest because they definitely have to spend their times walking through the middle of scorching hot desert tomorrow.
As Rena pulled him closer into her embrace, enveloping him in forest scent, he drifted to dream land.
Slowly but surely, a gentle wind caressed both Rena and Elsword, lulling them into a deep sleep. No one was aware that while the wind outside wracking havoc, in one of the tents, the wind blow gently.
The next day, when they start to move, Elsword can't help but feel his steps become lighter.
As if the wind assisting him in his journey.
X – X – X – X – X
Rustle! Rustle!...Rumble! Rumble!
Something jolted him awake when he felt the sudden shift on his bed in the middle of the night. Before he can clear the cloud on his sleep-ridden mind and give his poor head to catching up, a body dug themselves on his side, along with a blue-ish horn poking his cheek without warning. There were some shifting and turning from this person, before they eventually settled themselves in the most comfortable position between his arm and body.
This small frame…Is it Aisha?
No. this time, the intruder is smaller than Aisha.
Slowly opening his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness of his room, Elsword immediately recognize who is the intruder that disturb him when he finally able to sleep after trying to ignore the loud steam machine in Lanox village. Looking to his left, this person practically hugging his left side like it belonged to her. With her head placed on top of his chest – hence why her horn find its way to poke his cheek – Luciela R. Sourcream (or 'Lu', as her butler insisted to called her with) snore peacefully without a care to the world.
This little sovereign of demon realm had no sense of subtlety, it seems. What with her lacks of stealth and total disregard on the concept of sneaking. She just straight up crawled on his bed as if she owns it.
This made him blinked a few times and his mind whirling with so many thoughts that runs a thousand miles a minute. No matter how many times he thinks about it, he can't seems to find out the reason why Lu decided that sleeping with him is a good idea.
Lu is someone that he found…interesting. During his journey across the land with his companion, he thought he already seen everything.
A Nasod Queen.
A cyborg warrior driven with madness and revenge for his people.
A bipedal mouse(?) thing that called itself William.
Huge abomination that shoot laser out of its mouth and destroying gates just to chased them across Velder.
A gigantic colossus that was Chung's father…
A demon commander that was (supposedly) Ara's brother…
A centaur that shoots burning arrows at him.
Then he found out there's a demon that share a common interest with the elsearch party.
Demon, with a capital D. As in, the creatures they fought from Feita through Velder, now fighting by their side. Along with her butler, she assists them to lessen the number of demons in Burnint Forest of Lanox. Not to mention that she was apparently a former demon queen before some demon named Karis took her throne.
So basically, the former queen of demon realm assists them slaying other demons left and right.
Well…okay. Wow.
At this point, Elsword believed he had seen everything by now.
(And realize how wrong he was when he eventually arrived at Atlas Station)
Looking at her now, with her silver locks flow freely on top of his chest, her tiara was absent from its usual position, Elsword can't help but think that despite her haughty nature, she was just a girl with too much responsibility placed upon her tiny shoulder. Sure, the knight already seen her fight firsthand and he have no doubt that she can take care of herself just fine. Elsword tells her about this fact again after he accidently became the target of one of her attacks. So, there is no doubt about it.
Also, Elsword had a feeling that she is older than her looks. Much, much older than him. Like, Rena level older. But at the end of the day she was but a single girl, tasting the bitter pill called Betrayal, and fighting her own kind to restore the demons former pride and to retake her throne.
So, without much thought, he carefully wrapped and arm around her, which made the little demon snuggling deeper in his embrace, and snoozed away. Faintly, he caught the faint scent of tea and cookies before sleep claimed him.
The next morning, Lu approached him with haughty expression and said:
"Human, you shall spend your time with me this afternoon. Should you refuse…well, I did not take refusal kindly. Ciel make some batch of delectable treats this morning and I want you to try some with me."
Elsword blinked.
"Okay, sure."
"Then, do you have any preference in tea?"
"Uh, Chamomile's fine."
"Wonderful."
Such roundabout way to tell Elsword that she wanted to share her cookies with him made the assassin-turned-demon butler blinked a few times and then gave him an approving look. Mistaking Ciel's look as confusion, Elsword shrugged his shoulder. He didn't get the meaning behind Lu's demand, either.
(She never, not even once, shared her cookies with anyone else before.)
X – X – X – X – X
....whiiiiiiiiiiiiiir…rustle…rustle…
He can hear the nasod rotor rotating from the drones as soon as his door creaking open. She uses her drones to glide and hoping to not wake him up, eh? Smart, but she really needed to find a way to lower the voice from her partners.
He honestly though this particular person would never attempt to sleep with him. He honestly thought this particular person did not need any sleep, actually. Most of her race didn't seem need any rest before they cease from functioning and he assuming she was the same.
He felt like a racist now. He should know better than this. Sure, she is a nasod, but Eve was capable of showing human emotion too. She is a living creature, just like him! Feeling guilty would not get him anywhere though, so he might as well just let her – Guh!
Without any warning, the nasod queen sprawled herself over his body like some kind of selfish indoor cat. It might have something to do with her enhance awareness as a nasod, but every time he tried to lift his arms or legs to take a more comfortable position, the nasod queen grumbled in protest. So he let her be, lest he have to deal with an uneasy nasod queen and blow her fuse, pun not intended.
Now, after all this things happen to him several times already, he stopped complaining or questioning the reason why the girls decided to sleep with him.
Of all the members of elsearch party, Eve is the hardest member for him to understand. They started their relationship on the wrong foot, too. Him, a knucklehead with little to no sense of appropriate manner, waking the nasod queen from her slumber in the most crude way, earning him a slap on his cheek that throw him across the room by the nasod queen.
He can still remember how he can't feel his right cheek for a whole day.
At least he does not regret his decision in asking her to become his friend. She is alone in this world, he realized. Her wish to resurrect the Nasod Kingdom is the reason why she fell into deep slumber again after maintaining the king Nasod core. And what she got instead is the opposite of her wish. Now waking up in this time, she needed to lives in a world where her kingdom is nothing but a remnant of its former glory by herself.
Making sure she was not alone, he will do everything so she can feel like a part of elsearch party. It's been two years now but Elsword can't tell whether the empress already feeling comfortable around the or not. Hopefully, that was the case.
Upon waking up on the next morning, he was greeted by the sight of Ophelia on his bed side. Apparently, Eve ordered the maid to help Elsword wearing his clothes.
Of course, he declined the offer, but Ophelia being adamant to follow her queen's order so much that she started to borderline threatening him if he refused.
Elsword complied without much thought after he saw some spark on Ophelia's palm.
X – X – X – X – X
Glomp!
Ugh, for everything that is holy. Now who? Who is it that throwing subtlety out of the window by jumping on top of his bed and made his whole bed shaking? This person's attempt make Lu's attempt more subtle in comparison. This person clearly has no intention nor effort to not wake him up.
Opening his eyes in irritation, the only thing he can see is red locks. Something soft pressed against his chest. A pair of arms circled around his body and locked him in place. The aroma of Rubenian berries filled up his nostril. The scent he really fond of and missed…
…no wonder everyone thinks he has a serious case of sister complex.
In case anyone wondering: no, he did not have a sister complex. He just looks up to his sister, that's all! She was the perfect example for him! The legendary red haired knight that turning the tides in Velder civil war, his sister! Of course he admires his sister!
Well…he was. Now he didn't really chasing around his sister shadow anymore. He now forged his own path as the knight of Elrios. Not to say he didn't need his sister anymore, mind you. It's the opposite actually.
He was glad his older sister decided to join his group, really. He will trust his back on her without hesitation. He will trust her decision, as well as others in his group.
The only exception is cooking. Elesis is bad at cooking, so he won't count her on that.
But most importantly, she is the only blood-related family he had for his whole life. He won't trade anything for it.
Now, knowing his sister, she most likely came here to rest after a long day dealing with paperwork she received from Penensio. Instead of complaining as usual, she was oddly quite. Elsword return her embrace and press his nose on top of her head.
"I heard that others find their way here to seek comfort." Elesis started.
"Yeah."
"Do they know that you are actually awake?"
"What makes you think I was awake?"
His sister send him a glare.
A sigh, "I'm pretty sure some of them realized that I woke up the moment they shoved something on my face or jab my stomach with their elbow accidently when they try to find the most comfortable position."
A feminine chuckle was heard, "I'm sure that was the case."
The legendary red-haired knight stared at the knight of Elrios.
"But you never deny them?"
The male knight stared back at his sister.
"After making similar looks like yours, I can't actually turn them down, can I?"
"But you never see their face though. You always 'sound asleep'"
"But I know they will make that face if I did."
"Huh…"
Elesis back down, snuggling closer to her little brother. This is surprising. Usually, his sister will come up with smart responses or argue back. It seems that is not the case this time. His sister looks oddly dejected.
A playful smile adorned his face.
"…you're jealous, aren't you?"
"...what are you talking about?"
"Brocon."
"Shut up."
X – X – X – X – X
Elsword might not the brightest person, nor wise or powerful. He had doubts and worries too, but he didn't have the time for that.
He needed to fend of the darkness lurking underneath his companion beds that keeps them wide awake in the middle of night.
It was his duty as a knight.
X – X – X – X – X
(EXTRA)
Elsword can faintly hear some shuffling in his room. It was dark so he can't see clearly, but he can still make up some lines moving around in his room.
And then, something fell in his bed with a thump. Followed by a boyish groaned.
Lighting up the nigh lamp, he can see Chung face. His eyes widen like a deer caught in light. Elsword gave the Seiker the flattest stare he ever gave to anyone. At least Chung has the decency to look sheepish.
"Ahahaha…"
For a few moments, Elsword didn't do anything. Then he decided that he need some water to clear his mind and to avoid this situation before it turning more awkward.
Before he can step on the floor, another voice warned him.
"Watch your step. I don't want your feet on my sleep wear."
…what was Add doing here? And where he got those mattresses?
...Wait, mattresses?
The door opened and Raven comes in. Both of them stared at each other.
"Et tu, Raven?"
"It was Ciel's idea." The blade master said, throwing Ciel under the bus without any second thought.
A few seconds later, the door opened once again to reveal the demon butler with a plate full of cookies. Elsword throw a glare toward Ciel. The demon butler blantanlyy ignored his glare to closed the door.
"I thought it was only fair if you have somebody to unwind. If you always the one who have to comfort the girls, who will comfort you?" Ciel said few seconds later.
Elsword started pondering. And then, after some deliberate thinking on the pros and cons of sacrificing his sleep hour for this, he sighed loudly.
"Why they always chose me though? Why not one of you guys?"
Ciel smiled, "Because you're the leader."
"What does it have to do with anything?"
Chung chuckled, "You have no idea, El."
Elsword sighed, "Alright, might as well do this and be done with. Add, you still got those card from Sander?"
"Which one?"
"Uno."
"I've got it here."
"Thanks. And Ciel, pass the cookies please."
"Here you go, still fresh from the oven."
"Can I have a glass of hot chocolate, Ciel?"
"Of course, Chung. And you Add?"
"Same."
Elsword sighed wearily, but his smile never left his face.
He is very lucky to meet his friends.
X – X – X – X – X
Note:
For those that find their way to this bottom notes, congratulations! You survive my story and deserved a reward!...no, really, I bet it took some effort to understand what I'm trying to write. Not because how complex the story is, but because how messed up the story I made :"D
If you like my writing style, thank you! I have a plan to post a multi-chapter story in this fandom, but I still need…how do I say it…'test the water' with this fic. If I got a good response, I will write it but I do really need a beta reader. So uh, if anyone interested, I would be very happy.
See ya. This is Gearwill!