TsukixnoEvernight's three-shot request (I made a mistake in communicating the one-shot and it somehow turned to a three-shot. Ahahaha...totally my fault, won't happen again.) Better late than never, though~ enjoy!
XXX
"Chaser."
He yelped. "Gods, Eve!"
She looked with blank eyes that reflected his silhouette in golden shades with a questioning smile. "We are preparing to leave for the next mission. It is crucial we make with the utmost haste."
He gave an involuntarily shudder; if he hadn't taken an instant to check who was sneaking up behind his back, he would have fired his shooters instantly. And Eve wasn't technically "sneaking up" on him, but his senses as an assassin were always clear and sharp.
"R-right. Tell them I'm coming soon." He studied the floor; finding it unnerving to look into her blank, emotionless face that contrasted with the unnatural curving of her lips.
"Very well." Her optic channels did not blink; unlike human eyes they were not susceptible to air and dust as a thin but durable film protected them from harm. Still, she blinked once in a while, not for her benefit, but to put others at ease. She floated through the trees with her two combat units, the light of her El tracing behind in a faint shimmer.
As he put on the additional pieces of his armour, his mind wandered while keeping his senses alert (a feat few could truly accomplish.) When Eve only had her basic code, she was...cute. Her adamant claims of having no emotion merely emphasized the fact that she did, and Chung couldn't help but tease her from time to time, which earned him a lot of blushes and even more slaps than Elsword and his 'uncouth insolence that distinguish the eastern barbarians.'
Joking aside, they showed the same determination in achieving their goals. The others had their objectives, too, but they each showed it in different ways. Elsword, his brash attitude and often recklessly stupid behaviour in becoming stronger and finding Elsa. Aisha, intelligent and clever, but her youth restricting her from seeing more than she could. Ara, her blind determination in getting whatever power to save her brother.
No. Chung was patient as well as resolute, trying to see the larger picture when possible. He couldn't retake Hamel with just a bag of shooters. He certainly couldn't save his father and the Water El that way, either. He had cast off his Seiker name because the demons had stripped him of that as well, with his guardian pride.
When he reclaimed everything that was rightfully his to protect, then he would be finally worthy of being Prince Seiker, Protector of Hamel.
Eve, like him, had lost everything, but she didn't despair, either. She was intent on rebuilding her race, but she didn't mindlessly build Nasod after Nasod or try to destroy everything. Like him, she had the gifts of patience and fortitude, silently biding her time and powers for the day we would tackle it all in one calculative stroke.
He liked that about her. Maybe that was why he couldn't seem to be able to not bother her, because when she stood alone, motionless, he would feel his own loneliness resound from within, and when he'd approach, she didn't try to slap him away. That was progress, right?
Of course, this was all before Eve took the drastic step to reconstruct her kingdom that affected her permanently.
Unless influenced by some magic or other, humans couldn't be absolutely emotionless; even the strongest, seemingly invulnerable characters had hearts that could feel. Sure, Chung had his moments when he felt depressingly empty, like he could never become cheerful again. But his friends were always there to help him back on his feet, helping him find the strength to keep going. Even Eve had once slapped him back up, saying,
"Behave like the kingly guardian you are. Wallowing in self-loathing in such a manner is disgraceful."
"But I just...don't...it's not that simple."
"An obvious revelation given the circumstances. If you were truly inept as you believe yourself to be, you may as well have perished with the others."
"...thanks Eve."
"You are not welcome. I remain the Queen of Nasods to lead my fallen kingdom to its former glory. If I cast that objective aside then I am worth no more than a pile of scrap metal that remains of my brethren. You survived the fall of Hamel because you were chosen to save it. Prove to everyone that you shall, or let your nation's pride fall with your poise."
As befitting her, she had said and done many, many more things. It was always the little things that mattered most in the end, but of course, few appreciate the smaller things in life till they missed their absence. He knew it was just one of many steps she had taken to revive what she had lost, but sometimes he wished to Hamel she had never found that Seraph Code that had transformed her into the soulless, lethal machine that replaced his friend.
Sometimes he wondered. Other time he wanted to shake her, shout at her, do anything that might provoke her from her apathetic state, but that would only hurt him more.
All that ran in the main interface of her core was cold, calculative logic. She only stayed with them because she knew she couldn't do everything alone. It was logical that she would stay with the original team because they:
a) Had ample experience in working together.
b) Travelling with them granted access to items and places barred to others.
c) They were a strong band of fighters. Who wouldn't want to fight alongside them?
Buckling his guns to his sides, he threw the cape over his shoulders as they called to him.
"Oh, you're here! Are you okay?" Aisha waved over to him, smiling at his nodding assent. "Everyone's here, so let's go!"
As they walked to their next destination, all of them looked perfectly fine. Already Elsword and Aisha were snapping at each other over something trivial with Rena attempting to calm them down, Raven followed behind while flexing his arm, the action resulting in loud, metallic grinding noises, and Ara eagerly keeping up with the rest. As for Eve...she glided without effort, moving through the air with that same smile pasted on her face.
Chung did not know whether it was better or worse now that Eve had started to smile again.
When Rena had explained to Eve that her monotonous voice and equally empty gaze unnerved others and scared away potential missions and opportunities, Eve took it upon herself to assume a placid smile in others' presence. Chung wasn't stupid as to think she did so because she was particularly happy about anything, and everyone knew it was to make the others feel less uncomfortable around her. And it worked; some of them found the smile easy to believe and pretend that nothing had changed.
"Chaser, you delay us."
Eve rarely said anything unless first spoken to, so it always gave Chung a good jolt whenever she spoke by her own.
"Yeah. Sorry." he looked away, finding the smile harder to look at. It didn't mean anything.
XXX
Rest Stop: Elder Village
"Echo! Are you really sure about this?"
"That's exactly what I should be asking you." For once she had abandoned her lollipop, taking the expected product out of her apparatus and frowning all the way. "What's got into your head, kid? You really think this'll make things right?"
Probably not.
But Chung wanted to see something other than that sometimes-frustrating, mostly saddening smile that Eve put on for his benefit; even a frown would be better. She had no emotion to display on her face...which was why he had consulted Echo for something that could reverse the effects, allowing her to keep both emotions and the Seraph Code without crashing.
It was stupid, irrational, and chances were Eve would never allow such a risk to be taken with her systems. But he asked anyway.
He had pleaded and nagged incessantly till her straight refusal softened into a "maybe", then a reluctant agreement and together, alchemist and assassin planned and built. The results: A black digital card the size of Chung's smallest fingernail that now rested in Echo's right palm. For something that took so long, the final product seemed so small.
Back to the present, Chung attempted to divert the question. "Will it work?"
She tossed her head, "It better. You had me going without sleep for days with this. The storage capacity is small enough to not disrupt any coding in her mainframe, but its hacking can last for a minute at most before it's overwhelmed by the core and destroyed. I've seen the Seraph Code; it merged with the Electra database, and together they take up pretty much her entire system. The chip can't make any permanent damage and it'll work."
"But does that mean...she has to start over?"
"Hm? Nah. You said she terminated her emotions, not her memories. For the most part her emotions would be the same. But...how are you going to convince her to install this thing? And when it's over, what then? You can't keep throwing temporary-lasting gadgets in her. She's made her choice."
"I...don't. I just...want to..." He struggled for the right words. What was the point of making Eve have emotions again for one minute? She probably didn't even care. But he wanted to see her looking not so...robot-like. The Eve she once was, the Eve that... "I just want to ask her if it was so bad having emotions. If she cared for us, even for a little bit."
Echo heaved a sigh. "Why do boys always realize this when it's too late?" She tossed the chip to Chung, who caught and held it reverently. "Kid, I don't know if doing this will get the answers you want, but I'm not doing this again, even for you. You made your choice, she made hers. After this, make sure to lay all of this to rest."
Despite him being a good foot taller than her, he was not bothered with her calling him 'kid'. Maybe that was what he was, trying to get something so hard to the point of insanity.
"Thanks, Echo."
"Good, you owe me forty-six lollipops; hand them over."
"You said it was 3, 000 ED!"
"That, and the lollipops. You know how hard you've made me work for this thing that won't even last a minute?"
"...I hate you."
"I'm feeling the love. Now give."
XXX
Now the question was, how to implant this chip in Eve...?
An emotionless being armed with lasers and death weapons was not the best thing to approach. Her two drones guarded her even when she was in Sleep Mode. And as far as Chung could see, there weren't any openings to put the chip in her. If he just went up and tried to insert the chip she'd probably recognize him as an enemy and blast him to pieces. He couldn't tell the others, not even Rena, because they would misunderstand, right? All of them were perfectly happy with pretending that Eve wasn't...really Eve anymore...
He knew he couldn't do it by force; even if he could physically, there was no way Chung would voluntarily harm her. There was a small chance of her agreeing to it, so he would have to use trickery. Assassins always planned before carrying out a mission. He squeezed the digital card in his pocket.
"Chaser, why do you look at me like that?"
He had been staring at her with rapidly changing expressions, curiosity and wistfulness only being a few. Of course, they were things Eve could no longer understand.
"Eve, I was wondering...how do you recharge your systems? You know, like when you go to sleep and such..."
"I do not sleep like you." Her voice did not reveal any suspicion or surprise at such a question. "My systems are temporarily disabled for maintenance, though not fully deactivated. Code Battle Seraph can go 65 days without rest, but to test the limit is unwise for prolonged combat. My drones contain the programs necessary for the core restoration."
"Yeah, but...how do they do it? I'm curious." He continued to prod.
"The procedure is quite simple. The mid-section of the back has a small receiver where numerous devices can be plugged at my convenience. But is such information necessary?"
"It's useful for my guns. I was wondering how to recharge the ammo and such, you know." he invented, the lies coming naturally on his lips as he hid his excitement at this new discovery.
"Do you require assistance? Perhaps I may help."
"No! No, I mean, it's okay, I was just curious as to whether it might work. Thanks, Eve!"
She blinked, but said no more as he went away grinning with anticipation.
The team managed to scrap enough cash for food and lodging for the night. Their missions had been scarce and they planned to move towards Hamel where the demons were more rampant. Nevertheless, the place they intended to rest was well-furnished and brightly lit with the innkeeper being a former swords master that understood their determination. There was even a giant field outside in the back usually used for picnics and festivals, but he said that they could use it for training practices, if they liked.
Naturally Elsword and Aisha couldn't refuse such a tempting offer to fight each other without bounds. If the locals didn't know any better they would have thought that the world was ending in fire and darkness. The Rune Slayer ducked orb after orb of crackling Hell energies, firing burning spheres of his own. It would have been comical to watch the two yelling and throwing things at each other if it wasn't so ridiculously dangerous.
"Just because you know a couple of fire tricks doesn't mean you can beat me!"
"Look at you, all talk and no strength. You're going to get burned!"
"Feel despair, lowly creature! You can't handle this!"
"Bring it, flattie!"
In the end, both idiots were so thoroughly burned out that Raven and Rena had to carry them back, but the elder pair put them together in the same bed, putting them in a cuddling position as they tucked the sheets around the oblivious couple, dead to the world. The elf stifled a giggle, and even Raven cracked a smile: they looked so cute together. It was also payback for being thoughtlessly childish and immature with their powers, again.
When everyone and everything had settled down to a reasonable extent, Chung crept towards Eve's room, giving three light knocks.
The door swung open. "Chaser, do you not require rest for tomorrow's journey?"
"Actually Eve, I was wanting to train, but Elsword and Aisha destroyed all the training dummies and everyone's sleeping...is it okay if you spar with me?"
Her eyes showed no surprise at his sudden desire to train so late into the night. It was reasonable, actually, for him, the darkness gave the assassin ample cover, more chances to strike. By doing this, even she could learn how to fight in the darkness. It was a logical choice.
"Very well."
There were still some craters smoking, but that didn't bother the two as they arranged themselves in battle formation.
"Okay...ready...go!"
Like she did with many things, the Battle Seraph fought with calculative analysis and deductive reasoning. She had already guessed that he would use the shadows to his advantage, blending into nothing. He was the tracker of death, master of stealth. But darkness faded in the presence of light.
"Hyper Optical Research." If Eve couldn't see Chung, then she could use her other senses to track him. Even an assassin couldn't hide his accelerating heartbeat and scent(even if he did wash well), if he did triumph in speed. Still, this was a friendly competition. Eve remembered that humans were more fragile than automatons, switching her internal power level settings from φ[Phi – 500] to ξ[Xi – 60] units of laser power per se; long-sustaining accidents only delayed the mission.
"Tesla Shock." The aura shield crackled around her upon her command, though she knew it would not wholly stop the assassin; this was just a precaution.
She had seen the Deadly Chaser in combat. He would first gauge his adversaries and environment from a distance, coming up with the most efficient and quickest method to dispatch his enemies. His intellect was that of above normal people, seeing as he could come up with a workable plan in approximately three and a half minutes on average.
So most likely he was analyzing her now...or not; three shells whizzed past her face and she sensed the hints of a shadow dart behind her. He was fast indeed.
There he was! Quickly she directed her drones to the silhouette, preparing a "Thousand St—"
"Sharpshooter Syndrome!"
She had miscalculated. The Chaser was 0.9% faster upon speed than she had originally assumed, leaving her wide open. Her stars could not resist the wind that pulled all of them in as she was engulfed in a cerulean-silver aura that would deal at least 35% of damage to her systems. But if she was pulled in close enough, she could surprise him by switching to Fusion Mode and dealing greater damage using their close distance.
But he did not let the windblast pull her in completely. Instead, he swerved behind her, shooting two freeze bullets that Eve dodged...only to hit Moby and Remy, making them drop to the ground like cannonballs. She barely had time to register their conditions as she blindly aimed an energy needle.
But before she could regain her control and aim a proper attack, the Tesla Shock had already worn off.
Then she felt him behind her, and in the next instant she felt herself tackled to the ground. Since when did the Chaser resort to such crudely childish tactics?
"What is the meaning—"
Chung was frantic. He didn't want to hurt Even any more than he had to, but he didn't want to get blasted to smithereens, either. He could feel Eve's back glowing, crackling with the energy that would probably hurt him...a lot. He fumbled through Eve's armour and clothing, adrenaline making him temporarily forget the indecency of his act.
To say he got the chip in time was an understatement. He had almost lost Echo's chip in the heat of the battle and had barely slipped it in Eve's data receiver before being flung back by a blast of crystal light. Eve stood, her face impassive ready to strike the death blow on him...
Click.
...and then she collapsed.
"Eve!" Chung cried, forgetting his own pain as he ran to her. Echo had warned him this was a bad idea. What if he had hurt her, or injected a virus? Carefully lifting her up in his arms, he felt like he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Did he kill her? "Eve, I'm sorry, please wake up, I'm so sorry..."
"For what?"
She was looking up, frowning. Frowning! An expression other than the deadpan mask that Chung thought would never change. The miniscule twitching of her left eye, the furrowed eyebrows...he had almost forgotten just how cute she looked when she was aggravated.
"I—what did you do?" She sounded utterly bewildered, her voice changing in tones as she spoke in astonishment. "I am feeling...I have forgotten what it's like to have emotions." Turning to him, "What have you done? My systems are—they are not malfunctioning. My memories...now have colour. They have music."
Chung hesitated, fumbling for the right words to explain. "I—well, I just wanted to—um, it's only temporary. Echo said—" He braced for the impact, imagining that she would be furious, why would he do something so reckless and irresponsible, why would he do such a thing that would serve no purpose...
I just wanted to see you smile a real smile.
"No, I can already feel it fading as we speak." Eve shook her head. "Chung, I do not know what you have done, but this...I have never hoped to be able to be sentient again, not after absorbing the Seraph Code." Unexpectedly she raised a hand, lightly touching his cheek. Eve would rarely do such a thing like that, but the Chaser did not find it unpleasant. He held her hand in place as if it was the most natural thing to do.
"Eve," Now was the time to ask her. Did she regret the sacrifice she made?
She looked directly into him, her eyes sparkling. "You will not engage in this trickery again."
He was crushed. "Why? Did I really matter that little to you? We were your friends! Were we nothing to you?!"
Chung forgot that Eve had two hands as she used the other to slap him.
Ow.
"If you did not matter, my emotions would not be as developed and there would be no need to terminate them. If you did not matter, I would have no reason to accompany you on this journey. If you did not matter, I would not be feeling regret for having traded something so precious for something so menial as more power; Electra was competent as it was, but in my foolishness—Moby, Remy, cease! Retreat immediately!"
The two defrosted drones skittered to an instant halt, inches away from impaling Chung with their spikes. Never had their mistress commanded them so harshly.
Back to Chung, she spoke as quickly as she could, feeling her systems overwhelm the single chip that mattered, "There is a great emptiness, yet I cannot extract the Seraph Code. Even without my emotions, the goal to revive the Nasod Kingdom stands absolute. I must take every power granted to my abilities, even at the cost of friends and...you.
"I am sorry."
"Don't be." Chung let his hand fall, though Eve's remained on his face, a gently touch. "I...this was stupid, it's just hurting both of us. But it's good to know that you once cared."
"I still do." Eve already half-hoped he didn't catch that. To cover her embarrassment at saying such a bold thing, she held Chung's face in both of her hands and smiled. It was not the passive turning of her lips, but a shy, grateful smile that showed all her sadness, regret, and how much she cared.
As the last bits of Echo's chip disintegrated inside Eve's circuitry, she felt compelled to ask one more thing:
"I have no right to ask you of any favours, but if I...emoti...o...n...s..."
Till then, will you wait for me?
Something clicked, like a mechanical switch, and Eve's hands slumped beside her. The light left her eyes as the last of her emotions flickered, then died.
Beyond the woods, a wolf howled.
When her internal core rebooted, she could not understand what had happened. She remembered what she said, but she could not comprehend why she had said such things. Had she said she felt emptiness? Every space within her system was used to install and upgrade her powers. And she never had a heart to begin with.
To the Chaser, she asked,
"Why do you look at me like that?"
XXX
"We are terribly sorry for the damage we caused." Raven handed over the last of their funds to the lodge-keeper. "But this is all we have for the present."
The owner accepted gratefully, replying, "Not at all! I've seldom seen such magic and it goes to show that the people of Elrios have nothing to fear from the monsters."
As they continued in their journey, Chung was dimly aware of how Elsword and Aisha blushed furiously whenever their eyes met, the former muttering about 'cooties' and the latter grumbling about stupid pervert redhead boys. Raven and Rena were scouting ahead(yes, together), so he saw little signs of them. To the left, Ara was walking happily, knowing nothing of what happened last night.
Behind, Eve drifted at a moderate pace, her drones easily keeping up. She still could not understand what had transpired during her battle with the Chaser, but scans showed that she was in functioning order. There was apparently a small piece of hardware that had somehow installed itself, but her inner core had shut it down within a minute. After some analysis, she dismissed it as an insignificant glitch that meant little to nothing.
She could not feel fear, grief, or guilt.
So perhaps it was also another glitch that she could no longer smile to the Chaser. To the others she did it with ease, but her facial expression would always shift when facing him. Whenever she caught him staring at her for too long, she would turn away, ignoring his presence, although she could not explain why.
"You made your choice, she made hers. After this, make sure to lay all of this to rest."
Chung didn't want to lay this to rest. He could still feel a part of himself cling to a hope that festered painfully within him yet he still found it impossible to give up. He had seen her smile, but why did the memory of something so precious make him feel even sadder?
He grit his teeth as he looked over at Eve, saw her catch his eye, then look away.
"Come on, we have a long day ahead of us and we have to reach Sander before nightfall." Ara nudged him.
Chung mustered a smile, picking up his pace. "Yeah, gotta go before the sun sets."