Synopsis: Both worlds: Aernas, the material dimension and Elyos, the magical dimension, suffered a destruction that no one, even the Creator God himself had ever witnessed and predicted. Even after the success of Grand Chase for resolving the matter, nobody ever realized how damaged its dwellers became, and this took a huge toll on Aernas. The world fell apart, not only due to war and chaos, but because all races and all beings of creation lost faith and cursed their destinies. The Creator God was stripped of his omnipotence and divinity to which he received from songs and praises, ultimately becoming hollow, reducing himself into ashes. The goddesses of Archimedia wielded all of their powers to sustain the world, to prolong its life and prevent it from completely crumbling, thus, becoming the pillars that hold their precious, irreplaceable world. The Grand Chase held steadfast to their faith, and was quick to lend a hand to the goddesses, thus leading them to Xenia where the gods whose wisdom and knowledge would potentially help their rotting world. The Grand Chase were now given a task that may be very well their last mission. To fail meant to disappear completely and without a trace. How will they fare if what they need to do to save their world is to invade another realm and take a certain Magi to possibly revive the fallen Creator God?
Warning: Both Magi and Grand Chase characters may be subjected to OOC-ness. Moreover, the author favors the Grand Chase characters in terms of strength, to which they may be seen overpowering a few notable Magi characters. To Grand Chase players, characters introduced after Azin are not included. There will also be character deaths for both titles. It's going to be a surprise, so if you don't like this idea, please leave now and never come back. Actually, if you don't like even at least one of those things mentioned, save yourself and get out of here.
A/N: Yeah, I decided to pick this up once more and also rewrite it in a way I think is best for how my plot will go. Yes, I did say I lost interest due to the shutting down of the game but the memories stuck to me, and I really adored the idea so yeah, let's just get started.
Wicked Game of Chase
When all members of Grand Chase were thrown into the Mirror of Illusions, none of them wondered about the Xenian gods' words:
Please chase the Magi whose image and being molded after our Creator. He'll be able to sing songs and praises and cast aside the shadows clouding our hearts with the brilliance of his eternal divinity, undoing the Creator's hollowing and ultimately, stopping the destruction of our world.
They never wondered why they worded it as such: 'chase'. They didn't even question it. All of them were far too exhausted, far too weak and wounded to completely comprehend their request. No one even thought about jotting it down, and no one raised a question regarding the Mirror of Illusions being the direct portal to that realm itself and how it actually worked. They didn't hear about the consequences, the challenges to come and more importantly, the uncertainty of its success. There were a pile of questions needed to be asked considering how vague their request was.
How are they suppose to know that certain Magi? How will they recognize him? What does he look like? What's his name? How are they supposed to return to their own realm? What other realm? Will their abilities be affected in there? How is their trip going to be? Would they suffer some damages upon going through the portal? How does it work exactly? And where are they headed really?
Truth is, they stopped caring about those things. What they wanted was victory, to honor themselves and the fallen, to save their world - their very existence. They already suffered heavy losses: losing members of their team whose sacrifice they were not willing to go all for naught.
Those losses weighed heavily on them, especially to the people most close to them, and more so to their standing leader, Elesis. The first time around, when she saw Lass's lifeless body amidst a pile of corpses mix monsters and demons, she froze in distraught. She didn't know how to act and what to feel. She was shocked, angry, devastated, suspicious, and somehow desperate.
His silver hair sprayed with red blood, blue eyes dull and unfocused and body limp, Lass only drew a small smile before shutting his eyes close embracing death. This scene shook the young ruby knight in great extents that she hollered and went hysterical when it dawned on her it was his last breath. The other members scrambled to her aid only to find her snapping at them, holding the thief's head against her chest. She scolded them, told them it was not right to have let Lass deliver the final blow, that they should have stopped him before he jumped in, that they should have worked together properly.
"Do you really believe Lass will accept that?" Sieghart's tone was flat. He looked stern and composed, glaring down at their grieving leader. He had gained a number of wounds, his armor torn here and there and had his right arm bleeding. He fought the same battle as Lass did, and everyone knew it was vicious. There was only a handful of them, daring to destroy a horde of monsters and demons alike. None of them expected failure, but they figured they wouldn't get out of it unscathed.
"The boy didn't sacrifice himself for us. He wanted Kaze'aze's death for himself." the raven-haired gladiator announced. "This is our reality. We risk our lives here." Sieghart's grey eyes seemed to darken in Elesis's eyes. His words were cold, but true.
The ruby knight wasn't prepared for it, for she always knew they will all be all right - she believed that all is well and ends well. She swallowed her spit to hold back the tears, to stop herself from gritting her teeth, to hold her tongue against Sieghart. Ruby eyes glided over from the raven gladiator to the other members, ultimately returning to the silver-haired thief whose life has just vanished a couple of minutes ago. She had no choice but to accept it. Each and everyone suffered great damages, both physical and mental with a loss of a comrade, of a friend who fought alongside them.
"I know this war is far from over," Elesis muttered, almost biting her lip as she felt hot tears welling up under her eyelids. Her eyes glued to the young thief's face, burning the image of a faintly smiling child in her brain. She took a deep breath before finally turning her head away from the boy and faced her comrades, "But at least, I'd like for us to give Lass a burial he deserves."
Sieghart visibly flinched as he watched the young girl's tears flow steadily down her cheeks. He never considered it, but at that moment he thought it was heartbreaking to see Elesis cry. His hands balled into fists, eyes averting from the sight. He couldn't move a muscle, more so give her a reply. He was the closest to the red knight, yet he couldn't extend an arm to her and tell her-
"Okay." Ronan's voice wasn't loud at all, yet it seemed so as only his voice cut through the deafening silence in the battlefield of blood and flames. Extending his less battered arm, he stood a couple of steps ahead of Sieghart. The royal guard didn't hold a smile, and his blue eyes were filled with sadness, yet despite the blood, sweat and dirt on his face, there was still a glint of hope and determination on his features.
This uplifted Elesis's spirits. She gently wiped away her tears and looked back at the seemingly sleeping Lass. "I am proud of you, Lass." she softly mumbled, accepting their fate and keeping faithful to her remaining comrades. She understood what honor meant to the man, and recalled how valiant he was as he delivered the final blow. "Your sacrifice will not be for naught." she declared, almost as if vowing to protect the fallen's honor. She found her answer, her true purpose as the standing leader. She would protect not only her comrades' lives, but also their honor.
Chaos continued to spread like wildfire throughout the lands and across the seas, even reaching the heavens and the sacred haven of both gods and goddesses. Darkness quickly consumed their precious world, greater adversaries appearing one after another and hope seemed to have been lost forever. One sacrifice and again, the Grand Chase Team succeeded in vanquishing evil and restoring peace to the world. But it seemed they were too focused on their goal that they failed to notice the rate of decay and the amount of damage their world had taken. As they thought everything had come to a close, they were met with a graver disaster: their world was crumbling to pieces, threatening to fall into ruin, to be swallowed into the void, erased permanently - the Creator God himself has already fallen.
And so, this brought us back to the problem at hand. The Chase was falling into an endless sea of waves and ripples, of images and mirrors, of the past and present, an abyss of grey, of nothingness. Despite all that, they felt relaxed, relieved, enlightened, and although they were falling, they felt their bodies floating as if underwater.
Like everything else, they would reach the end of it, they had to. And it was abrupt, like waking up from a dream.
Bright blue skies greeted Sieghart soon as he opened his eyes. He was lying in his back, and found an unconscious redhead on top of him. He failed to notice at once how he kept a firm hold of Elesis as they fell inside the Mirror of Illusions. He recalled her struggling a tad bits but gave up midway. He stared at the gal's sleeping face, unknowingly smiling as he did. Huffing a few breaths, he decided to rise up and wake the red knight.
"Hey, red! Class is in session." Sieghart wasted no time teasing the young knight when her awareness pulled her away from slumber. He supported her as she lifted her seemingly heavy body. Exhaustion was evident just from her irregular breathing and slow response.
As expected, they did not recover.
Sieghart understood it was a portal and nothing more. But if they were given such an important task, they should have been given ample time to rest and prepare or better yet, were personally healed by the gods themselves, yet they didn't or perhaps, they couldn't. Following the long-lasting battle against the forces of darkness, the immediate realization of their doom rushed them into action. When the goddesses and the gods showed them a possible solution, without thinking they swiftly jumped in. The highlander figured it was a grievous mistake but seeing as they had no time to lounge about, he nodded to himself that it was for the best.
Sieghart scanned the place. They were in the woods surrounded by endless greenery and towering trees. Realizing there was just the two of them in the area, he hypothesized they all got separated for some reason. They knew little about the Mirror of Illusions, and for all he knew, it must be one of its perks, or he'd like to call it, bonus. Seems like there was no other mode for that realm other than 'champion'. He slightly smirked at his own joke.
"Sieghart...? Where..is this?" the young knight's voice was brittle, and it pained the gladiator to see how battered Elesis was.
"Don't rush. We're probably in the 'other realm' the gods told us about and it seems we're the only ones in this area at the moment." he quickly replied.
"Where are the others..?"
"I'm sure they're in this realm but we're separated. Probably one factor we should have considered before entering the Mirror of Illusions." Sieghart sighed. He wanted to be careful with his words and actions but he lacked the finesse for such delicate matters.
Elesis only breathed after hearing the man's reply. She had faith in them and she believed they'll come across each other soon. Grasping her sword, she picked herself up.
"The first thing to do is scout the area. Hurry up and move, Sieghart!" Elesis announced, her voice suddenly gaining vigor; her posture solemn and respectable, like usual as the standing leader of the Chase.
Sieghart only shrugged. He stood up and followed the young knight who was already striding ahead. Knowing that they're in an entirely different realm, the highlander braced himself for the worse. They could be in a realm similar to Elyos, and he experienced all kinds of pains and horrors in there for jumping in head-on without any sort of preparations. The man vowed to prevent that mistake to fall upon Elesis.
Walking around for a while or so, the duo found an empty road leading to endless wilderness. They could hope for a town at the end of said road but were unsure of their destination and the length of their exploration, so they went back into the woods and hunted for food. Finding a pond, they set up camp beside it using stems and branches of trees, and wide palm leaves as makeshift cots and roof for their would-be tent.
Elesis prepared a campfire by the edge of the pond and took the opportunity to clean her wounds and perform some first aid medication to help her heal fast. She was grateful they found themselves in the woods, although not as bountiful, it helped that it was somewhere with no people. Otherwise, it would be disastrous if they appeared in the middle of a town. If anyone saw them in that getup, with injuries all over their bodies, people will surely freak out and they will be immediately thrown into the dungeons. She thought Sieghart would probably fight but in their current state, she doubted he'd prevail. No matter how strong a gladiator he is, his strength would be considerably low with the injuries he sustained after the chaotic war.
Another thing she considered was the fact that they were strangers to the land. She wasn't even sure if this 'other realm' had any similarities to their own. Elesis wouldn't be too reckless to tough it up against fighters of a realm she's never heard of. She believed it stupid to fight a losing battle, and more so dying foolishly.
The red knight decided their priority be information gathering. They had to blend in with the people and try to familiarize themselves with this world. Since it was in fact another realm, that means it could be as large as theirs, or even larger. They're tight in schedule, she was well aware, but being thrown into another realm with little knowledge, she figured there was probably a time difference between this world and theirs, otherwise, the Xenian gods would have been very specific and should have warned them of the urgency. Therefore, moving carefully and taking it slow would be best to prevent casualties. Elesis didn't even have a clue where to start looking for this 'Magi', so it was only logical to go about it old school - step by step.
Realizing how they're almost ignorant of the world they're in, Elesis sunk back on the ground with her face up. The images of her comrades popped one after another in her head, making her face scrunch up in worry. They were practically given no instructions at all, just plain 'bring the Magi to their world'. They weren't even told how to return and now they had to rendezvous somewhere, somehow.
"Need a break?" a man with fluffy black hair and gorgeous grey eyes blocked the redhead's view of the bright blue skies.
"Oh shut up." Elesis said brusquely, turning away from the man.
"These are all I got." Sieghart pulled up a long thick rope made up of intertwined vines and displayed before him one dead spotted deer and two dead white rabbits all tied up in their feet. "I didn't want to waste time so I killed them on the spot."
"Never heard of traps? Why did we even made a rope?" Elesis inspected their haul carefully.
"I don't know how to setup traps, and it's going to take longer if I did that. Besides, we're going to cook them now, right?" Sieghart tossed their food-to-be near the campfire Elesis prepared and immediately placed himself by the said campfire. He looked annoyed but refrained from mentioning it.
"Well, I guess traps just aren't a thing for someone like you." Elesis muttered to herself. She assumed Sieghart had lost his speed due to his injuries but he proved her mistaken. Catching two rabbits and one deer without tricks, Sieghart was not a man to be taken lightly. And to think he still had the accuracy to hit them in their vital spots to avoid destroying their meat, he was truly a genius.
After a while, the two were scarfing down the rabbit meat they roasted for lunch, saving the deer for dinner. They weren't aware of the exact time and only relied to the sun's position. Seeing how it's high up, nicely bright and hot, they suspected it was already late afternoon. They had to replenish their strength before blazing across the distant wilderness they're about to venture to. It also occurred to them how necessary it was to find a change of clothes and bandages, considering they were almost out of their supply. If they were lucky and prayed hard enough, perhaps a caravan would traverse the empty road they found earlier.
"Say, do you think the others are doing well?" Elesis finally voiced out the nagging feeling she'd been keeping. At first, she didn't want to doubt her comrades, but they're friends first before soldiers so her worries couldn't be quenched. Another thing was that she very well knew Sieghart's personality, and he'll definitely say something stupid to anger her, or just totally ignore her to piss her off.
Yet, Elesis still asked that same infuriating man.
Sieghart was taken aback by this realization, leaving him frozen in his seat. Elesis always made it a point to avoid speaking to him openly like that so it was a surprise that she suddenly turned to him, of all people, for comfort. Still, he understood how heavy it must have been weighing on the red knight's heart. Turning to him like that spoke volumes of how hard Elesis tried to bottle it all up until it forcefully spilled out.
"They're fine." Sieghart's tone was firm. He didn't mean to give Elesis false hope but his eagerness to remove Elesis's restlessness won over his own logic. "It's okay. They're fine." he repeated, not only to convince the red knight but also to convince himself.
Although Sieghart wouldn't admit it, he was also worried for the others. It was uncertain whether they landed in the same situation as them. Worse, they could have landed somewhere filled with people and were probably forced into combat in spite of their injuries. There was even a chance that some of them landed somewhere alone, making them more than confused. Sieghart wasn't too optimistic to expect them to be well, but at least he hoped they're just thrown into prison for observation and were kept alive.
Elesis was surprised - completely surprised that she caught herself gawking at the man. Sieghart looked at her with determination, and his firm tone left no room for argument. Though how unexpected it may be, her mind was easily put to ease. She believed in them, and she will keep her faith close and firm. She thought, this time around, they will all be well.
As the night fast approached, the two succeeded on tidying up their temporary encampment. The resources in the woods were limited, but it was good enough that there was water. Elesis left the deer roasting over their campfire while she helped Sieghart clean his wounds and give him new wrappings. His right arm suffered great damage, and frankly, he needed it in a crutch. Still, it didn't hinder the highlander much, for he was in fact ambidextrous, even considering how he's more adept with his left hand. But Elesis grew to become such a worrywart after experiencing hellish battles and her eyes were forcibly opened by harsh reality. Even with the knowledge of Sieghart's immortality, she still hated the thought of her comrades nearing death more often than they should.
"You need to stop frowning, red. You'll gain wrinkles if you keep that up." Sieghart lightly tapped the redhead's forehead. It was obvious to the man how intently Elesis was staring at his right arm. It didn't really bother the gladiator due to the fact that his regeneration rate was above average. He even predicted his broken arm would definitely be good by the next day after tomorrow and he'd be able to move it around first thing in the morning too.
"Yes, I know. Just don't overexert yourself." Elesis replied, resuming her work on Sieghart's injuries. It was true that most of them suffered heavily, and it shamed the red knight how little injury she gained from their last battle. Above all, she couldn't comprehend how Sieghart was so hellbent on protecting her, swiftly rushing to her aid whenever she got surrounded.
It was probably true, all of them would rush to any of their friends if they needed help. Sieghart himself saved Lire, Amy, and even Dio from a few pinches they got themselves into yet she couldn't help but notice how Sieghart would only rush to her even when it was clear she could still handle the situation, although she'd probably take a few blows in the process. Elesis, of course, quickly took action and scolded Sieghart for it but he would only shrug and ignore her, saying "What difference does it make if they're in your radius? They're also in my radius so I got rid of them."
It was hard to argue with Sieghart, especially when he acted so nonchalant about the issue. Elesis was quick to raise her white flag against the man, but when it happened time and again, she found herself scolding him more often than not. Still, it didn't stop the gladiator in his shenanigans, and in their last battle, Sieghart sacrificed his right arm for her. This seriously hurt her pride, but despite that, she couldn't find the energy to scold Sieghart in their current situation. She had to clear her mind and focus on the mission at hand. Elesis knew how to organize her priorities, and it was definitely not the time to mull over a certain arrogant person's antics.
"Tomorrow morning, I think we should prepare a few lunches for our journey ahead. I want to follow the road we found and see where it will lead us. If we somehow encounter a caravan, I'd like to speak with them too." Elesis announced.
Night has fallen with the duo seated by the campfire once more, eating their dinner. Elesis declared that they make the most of their time to rest and replenish their energy for the next day. Still, she was uncertain of the danger the woods may offer them at night so she volunteered to stand guard for the first six hours to which Sieghart strongly objected.
"We're both exhausted. We should divide the guard duty and make it four hours each at best." Sieghart argued.
"You're the one who needs rest between the two of us. Stop complaining and oblige."
"I'm not so wounded that I need a whole six hours to rest, brat."
"And I'm not so weak that I need your help in all matters, Sieghart!" Elesis snapped. She glared daggers at him as she continued, "You kept throwing yourself for me! You keep shaming me!"
"Who said it was for you? I never intended to save your hide, kid! I was just making our fights swift!" Sieghart snarled back.
"Then why me?! I always made it a point to stay out of your way and you kept finding me! Tell me if it wasn't for me! Tell me!" Elesis was now shouting, her body tense, her hands shaking.
Sieghart only fell silent as he watched Elesis lose all composure she had. He couldn't find it in himself to snap back at her, let alone find an excuse to drive away her suspicions. In frustration, he clicked his tongue and averted his gaze from the red knight, mumbling to himself, "This isn't the time to argue."
Elesis faintly heard him, and it dawned on her how shameful she acted by then. She took a deep breath in hopes of calming her raging heart, and desperately searched for a recourse out of her mess. For a while, the two were silent until Elesis decided to break it.
"Guard duty will start by nine. I will stand guard first, after four hours, I'll wake you up." Elesis declared, her voice loud and clear making sure Sieghart heard every word.
Hearing Elesis's declaration, Sieghart appeared to be very pleased. With a huff, he remarked how Elesis have grown to be mature and accept logic to which the woman in question completely ignored. With that aside, Elesis went on explaining her plans throughout their mission.
"In short, no fighting. Is that it?" Sieghart was skeptical upon hearing Elesis's proposal. It was a sound idea, he admitted, but it felt too limiting.
"Yes. We'll have to focus on gathering information. Besides, we need to find the others too, so we can't make bold moves and get us killed in the process." Elesis calmly replied. She was confident she made the right decision and self-assured it'll convince Sieghart soon enough.
"But if we do as you said, it's just going to take longer to find the others. And anyway, how come you're the one suggesting this? It would've made more sense if this was Ronan's idea." Sieghart remarked, thinking about the royal guard's excellent behavior as a non-aggressive, calm and collected person. He often teased him to replace Elesis and become the standing leader for the Chase to which the humble man would simply refuse.
"May I remind you we don't have enough knowledge about this realm. Yes, I am pretty aggressive and I do like intense battles but I can be logical at times." Elesis contended, slightly frowning at the mention of the spell knight's name. She was well aware how Ronan was more fitting as a leader, and frankly, she respected the man's conduct towards things. Still, that doesn't mean she wasn't fit to lead, the two of them had different ways of doing things and that's that.
"Oh yeah? Well, that's okay with me. I don't like moving around too much anyway." Sieghart leaned back as he let his shoulders slack by the time he was done with his food. "Besides, I don't have a plan myself. I'll do whatever you want done."
Satisfied with Sieghart's answer, Elesis resumed eating. She knew it was limiting, and also risky considering the chance of the people tricking them into something they shouldn't be sticking their necks out.
"In the case of encountering hostiles, it's obvious that we'll have to fight." Elesis suddenly proclaimed.
Hostiles were everywhere, even during peace there were a few thugs and criminals walking around here and there. They might encounter such people and Elesis reminded Sieghart that 'no fighting' doesn't apply when it came to self-preservation.
"If I accidentally kill, though?" Sieghart sneered.
Elesis understood he was trying to provoke her, nonetheless, she bought it. "Then you kill. Nothing we can do about it."
Sieghart gave her a questioning look. He was shocked with the redhead's response. He expected her to snap back at him, but instead she took it seriously and answered calmly.
Elesis ignored him and kept to herself. When she was finished, she ordered Sieghart to go ahead and rest. Hearing no complaints from the man, she picked up her sword and began training. The red knight had decided to do her basic sword training while keeping guard duty, thus hitting two birds with one stone. Besides, she had no other way to keep herself busy other than that.
Once Elesis was sure Sieghart was deep asleep, she decided to venture the woods alone. After all, she did say she wanted to pack some meals before heading out. It would be more time-efficient to use her guard duty hours to hunting food and prepare them afterwards so they could begin their journey first thing in the morning. Confident that the woods posed little harm to the duo, she left Sieghart and went hunting.
Elesis was both surprised, and a bit disappointed when she found out how docile the woods were. There weren't a lot of hostile animals, and most of them were just the usual rabbits and deer. She was hoping for a bear, or a tiger but there was none. There weren't even snakes and this piqued her curiosity. What was so different with this realm and theirs? Musing over it didn't get her an answer, so Elesis went ahead and caught three rabbits and two ducks at a larger pond she found.
When Elesis was moving back to their camp, a chill went down her spine. The pressure was fairly strong at a kilometer radius from their tent. This alarmed Elesis, prompting her to run faster towards Sieghart's location. If he was under attack, it's going to be her fault for leaving her post.
As Elesis got closer, the ominous vibe grew stronger and stronger, and it strangely felt familiar. It was similar to Sieghart's rage and it baffled the red knight to find the gladiator standing alone by the campfire that is no longer lit left with a trail of smoke, clutching the red garb she previously tossed by the pond.
"Sieghart? What's going on?" Elesis inquired as she cautiously approached the man.
Upon hearing Elesis's voice, Sieghart turned his head and realized how he misunderstood the situation. The instant he saw the red knight in her red inner plate armor and black tights, the heavy atmosphere surrounding them was quickly dispelled.
"Oh, so you discarded this?" the gladiator held up the red cloth.
"Yeah, what about it?" Elesis grabbed the cloth and hung it over her shoulder. She held her gaze at the man.
"Nothing." Sieghart was quick to dismiss the issue and simply went back inside the tent. "So you went out hunting, huh? Be careful." he added before yawning and returning to his cot.
By then, Elesis understood the lack of hostile creatures earlier. Sieghart was emitting his uncanny aura that it scared most of the keen animals, leaving behind the weaker ones. She remained rooted in place, flabbergasted by the turn of events. To think that Sieghart would go such lengths to shame her, how infuriating! She found her temper steadily rising as time passed. She couldn't accept it. She wanted to shout in frustration but refrained from doing so. Puffing a few breaths, she set her hauls by the tent and resumed sword training, hoping to keep her head leveled.
Little did Elesis knew, Sieghart was pretty shaken when he saw her discarded garb by the pond. Not realizing Elesis went off by herself, he assumed some warrior of the other realm took off with her for various reasons. Sieghart boasted his keen perception when it came to hostiles, so it made him feel frustrated and agitated when his senses failed him, leaving himself unaware of his rage leaking out in his anger.
By the time his worries left him, Sieghart successfully fell asleep. Beating himself for his lack of faith towards Elesis's strength and abilities, he got tired and it lulled him to sleep. He needed that anyway, since he had been so restless since they arrived. He had to stay alert at all times to prevent getting ambushed and avoid surprise attacks. Ultimately, to keep Elesis from getting hurt.