Iconoclasm

The Cruelest Things

"Is this distant shadow a prophetic dream? Is it a nightmare?
Whispers of grief are woven in the sky."

-Ao-Iconoclast

For this child is cursed to a wretched fate…

The wind's deathly whisper danced across the solemn graveyard, the austere grey tombstones somber and stark. In the night's royal purple sky, the cold moon shone, its platinum light beams illuminating the clearing in a melancholic glow of muted colors.

With an impassive expression, Elsword knelt before an unadorned tombstone. His natty locks of vermillion fall nonchalantly across his crimson left eye, obscuring the ebon eye patch he donned to hide the injury he received four months ago during the rebellion, where his best friend- Raven gouged out his eye.

"I think… you were such an idiot… why did you do that Raven? You're lucky they didn't burn your body after your death…"

As he muttered the words, he shuddered. To even talk of such things was an ill omen. The burning of one's body denied a person passage to the afterlife and left their soul to wander forever on the face of Elrios, it was a horrible fate reserved only to the worst of criminals.

A criminal was exactly what Raven was however. After the execution of Seris- Raven's fiancée, he had went on a rampage, raising a rebellion against the Praetorian Guard, a fatal mistake and for such a petty reason too, as Seris was not the innocent saint that Raven had imagined her to be. She had opened the Abyssal Door and released her Dark Side- a malignant parasite born of chaos, leeching the life out of its host, but in the most part, restrained by the power of the Abyssal Door. Very few humans had the strength to be a host to a Dark Side and those who did were put under stringent surveillance by the Praetorian Guard. They were dangerous, the Dark Side was powerful and unstable; a human possessed by a Dark Side was a menace to everyone- friend or foe. Seris needed to be executed, a very gruesome and gut-wrenching task Elsword had been required to do himself.

Elsword grimaced and stood up. He would never forget the day when Raven rebelled, attacked him, and swore obscenities at him. Did he think that Elsword liked his job as an executioner, a spy, and an assassin? Did he truly believe that Elsword enjoyed killing? For what other option did he have? He was a rape-child, left to die in the city slums and shunned for his scarlet eyes- regarded by society as a symbol of portending doom. People were terrified of him, even when he was very young and they abused him, spitting on him, calling him one of the Possessed, and attacking him even. When he was just six, Elsword received a large gash in his back from when a besotted drunkard slashed his back open with a shard of glass, leaving a vehement red scar that did not fade in the ten years since that incident.

He had no choice when the Praetorian Guard plucked him off the streets, giving him a home and a purpose in life. In the true custom of the Guard's philosophy of equivalent exchange, Elsword was required to give his life in exchange for his life.

His loyalty for his protection.

Truly a Faustian bargain, but what choice did Elsword have but to accept it back then?

If Raven couldn't understand then he was never my friend to begin with, Elsword told himself. Still the fervent hatefulness he remembered in his former friend's face stung him. The redhead let out a cantankerous snort and tugged on his bangs, casting a black look at the tombstone as he did so.

My life was destined to suck either way…

"I should really go back and see how Aisha is doing…" He mumbled bitterly and turned away from the tombstone, feeling the caustic glare that Raven's amber eyes gave him even from the beyond.

Aisha Baskerville was a wiry, childish, and opinionated girl of eighteen years- entrusted to Elsword for observation because she possessed the Abyssal Door and by proxy, a Dark Side. With a boyish figure and a severe lack of height, Elsword found it very difficult to accept she was two years his senior, a feeling furthered by the fact he was an elite member of the Zero Squadron of the Praetorian Guard and she, the daughter of the owner of an antique store which specialized in the peddling of exotic spices, perfumes, and nonsensical dogma dealing with the arcane such as tarot cards and crystal balls. She possessed a fiery countenance, any spat Elsword had with her always left him burned, feeling frustrated and having the strong urge to shatter a few windows. Never before, even in the more renowned units of the Praetorian Guard did he know anyone with Aisha's stockade of witty repartees and her razor-sharp intelligence.

Still, despite all her foibles and quirks, he enjoyed spending time with her when he wasn't feeling the mighty urge to strangle the brat. She challenged him, made him think, and amused him.

It was such a shame that he would more than likely have to kill her one of these days, and she would never know why… because he was forbidden from telling her, lest she might run away.

"Oi! Els… Where were you? I'm famished!" Aisha leapt out of the squashy armchair she had been lounging in, practically pouncing on Elsword as he entered his apartment. "Hey! Don't- No!" Elsword cried and sprang to the side in order to avoid the blur of violet that hurtled itself at him with the speed of a bullet train. Aisha stumbled, regaining her footing, and turned towards Elsword, her amethyst orbs tapered, revealing her vexation.

"Ok… seriously Elderp, where did you disappear to? It was a hundred years since you left work… Your boss is rotting in his grave while his little shitheaded grandkids are running Rurensia." Aisha drawled, placing her hands on her hips and cantering them sassily. Elsword rolled his eyes, "Oh? Then why aren't you in your grave?" He retorted dourly and pressed his lips into a thin line. Aisha snickered and flipped her spiky lavender twin tails. "I did die from starvation… What you're seeing now is a ghost." Elsword chortled softly and poked her forehead. "Hey!" The purplenette yelped and clasped her hands over the spot where Elsword prodded her.

"Hmm… You're an awfully corporeal ghost… Why didn't you just heat something up for yourself in the microwave? I do trust you could manage that without blowing the apartment up." Elsword remarked airily, plopping down on the maroon beanbag chair which was pressed up against the off-white walls. Aisha sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I did try that… but I burned the pizza." She replied offhandedly and slinked down on the armchair diagonally positioned from where Elsword was sitting. The redhead cocked a dubious eyebrow at the purplenette. "How do you burn something in the microwave?"

Aisha snorted and crossed her legs, sticking her nose up in the air with an affronted dignity. "You're not one to judge… sure, you can work a microwave but nothing else. Why if it wasn't for Mrs. Hana, we would both starve!" She snipped. Elsword smirked and folded his arms, "You didn't answer my question~!" Aisha slumped down, exhibiting appalling posture, but she did not respond to Elsword's taunt.

"But where were you? Seriously… I'm curious…" Aisha queried, pursing her lips together into a contemplative visage. Elsword stared at her for a fleeting moment before hastily averting his gaze so she could not see his frown. "I was just visiting a friend's grave…" He trailed softly, tugging absentmindedly on the stainless steel sword ornament that hung from a dexterously crafted chain of silver slung around his neck.

"Raven's?" Aisha probed. Elsword sharply drew in his breath before releasing it in a noisy sigh. "Yeah… How'd you guess?" The purplenette shrugged and straightened herself, sitting upright. "You never really had many friends… And most of them are still alive save for Raven." Elsword nodded glumly and sucked in his cheeks. "He decided to be stupid… it's his own fault." He replied acrimoniously and bit his bottom lip.

"Hue… People are stupid all the time. You still miss him though." Aisha stated sagely. Elsword flashed her a mirthless smile and rubbed his forehead. "Che… Should I go heat up some stuff in the microwave then?" He enquired, deliberately changing the topic. Aisha noticed this, but she let it slide, nodding her head "yes". "Of course, Elderp!" The redhead rolled his eyes, pretending to be exasperated with Aisha and stuck his tongue out in a puerile gesture. "Keep that up and you shall be sent to bed without desert!" He teased. Aisha sneered at him with an expression of utmost wickedness. "Oh ho ho? Really? You forget that I'm older!"

Elsword snickered impishly. "And you forget who has the authority here." He refuted playfully. The purplenette huffed and jammed her chin into her chest. "Why is that anyways? Why would the 'almighty' Praetorian Guard be interested in a lowly commoner like me, even if the commoner's mother might've been selling some particularly shady wares?" Her tenor was light and mocking enough, but the question made Elsword balk. "I don't know," he lied with a shrug of his shoulders, "I'm just supposed to babysit you." Aisha rolled her eyes and tugged on the violaceous sleeve of her rather scant outfit. "Hue…"

"Anyways… I'm just going to get the dinner and we can talk more when we have some food in our stomachs… I'm feeling rather peckish myself." Aisha bared her teeth at Elsword's abrupt change of topic, but she let it slide. The purplenette had a rather uncomfortable feeling about why she was required to stay with Elsword, even though he was nice (if not, a little exasperating) enough. She didn't press him too hard… She had her own secrets…

Her throat became rather dry as she recalled the nightmares that continuously plagued her.

There was a corridor, dark as night and at the end of the blackness was a battered wooden door with mysterious golden insignias etched on it, glowing softly from within with their own esoteric radiance.

The door… it was always rattling, muffling the pathetic mewling that came from behind it, sounding like the wailing of a newborn babe abandoned by its mother.

A chill zapped its way up Aisha's spine as she recalled the crying, her cheeks flushed with humiliation. She was terrified of those cries; they drove her insane just listening to them. Why should she, an eighteen year old who was well-accustomed to surviving in the rougher parts of Rurensia's capital- Velder, be frightened of a baby's pathetic sobbing? It was mortifying… But she hesitated. In her dreams she had never grasped the door knob and flung the door open, releasing whatever horror was trapped behind it… at least not until last night.

She couldn't take the screaming anymore, she had to open the door or she would be driven insane by the incessant sniveling. Aisha did not recall whatever occurred afterwards, just that there was a rush of ecstasy-inducing energy enveloping her, seeping into her very soul before passing out and waking up inside her own bed.

Elsword came back into the living room, baring a tray of reheated leftovers. The sweet, somewhat sour aroma of orange chicken mixed with the redolence of jasmine rice, pervading the room and making the purplenette's stomach rumble. Seeing Aisha's apprehensive mien, Elsword set a plate down on the weathered wooden coffee table in front of her. "What's up? You look a bit pale, even paler than normal I mean."

Aisha hesitated, biting her bottom lip before blurting out- "I was thinking of a dream I had last night." Elsword's breath caught in his throat. Could she of-? No… She wouldn't be sane by now if she had…

"Oh? Can you tell me what was it about?" Elsword inquired, exerting a strenuous amount of effort to keep his voice steady and his tone relaxed. Aisha picked at her food, popping a couple pieces of chicken into her mouth before replying, "It was a variation of this dream I kept having, there was this corridor-"

Elsword's stomach dropped before tying itself into a thousand slithery knots.

"From behind the door, there was this most pathetic and awful crying, like that of a baby's. I couldn't stand it, but up until last night I never had opened it." She continued, her lips turned downwards in a worried line. "I just lost it last night and flung it open… That's all really, but still… I feel very disturb- Hmm? Something the matter? You're looking like a corpse." Aisha crinkled her brow and gazed at Elsword, looking concerned. The redhead stared down at his plate, his eyes wide with horror and his skin paling considerably. He felt like he was about to hurl.

Rapidly, he shot up, knocking his food-laden plate onto the floor and spilling everywhere. "El-Elsword?!" Aisha yelped, springing to her feet, her eyes wide and startled. "I'm… Go-gonna…" Elsword gasped and heaved. He collapsed to the ground, face first, feeling shivery, stunned, and humiliated and pathetic.

Why was he going into pieces over the fact he was going to have to kill Aisha once he reported this to his boss? He had killed several people before… Seris… Raven… So why should he get so sick and torn up over the fact he knew that he would have to murder this girl with his own two hands? He did it to countless others.

"Oh my El! Elsword!" Aisha yelped and wrapped her arms around his waist, hefting him upwards onto the armchair. "Gross… you got puke on your face…" Aisha muttered and shook her head. "Tch… doesn't matter anyways… I'm going to get a washcloth and wipe it off." She muttered distractedly to herself, pressing her fingers against Elsword's neck, checking his pulse. She ran out of the room, and hastily got a white terrycloth towel from the bathroom drawer and ran cold water from the sink, wringing it out after it was nice and soaked.

She darted back into the living room and wiped down Elsword's face, chewing her bottom lip and muttering incomprehensible phrases under her breath.

Her eyes… they're such a pretty shade of violet…

Elsword mused morbidly to himself, the corners of his lips twitched upwards in a grim smirk. "Do you feel feverish at all?" Aisha questioned, sounding a little frantic. Elsword chortled darkly and shook his head. "No… I'll be fine…" He replied. Aisha exhaled noisily and clucked her tongue. "Still… Take it easy…" She chastised tenderly and brushed Elsword's bangs out of his eyes. "You have such a bad tendency to push yourself too hard and then you wind up out of work and sick for a week. This isn't the first time you said you're fine and then I let you go on your merry way and then you come back a wreck." Aisha stated, sounding stern.

Elsword gave Aisha the mocking ghost of a smile and rubbed his forehead. "You have such a brilliant way of parroting back old events as if they were breaking news." Aisha waved her hand dismissively. "Oh shut yer' pie hole… I'm trying to help you!" She snipped, put out. The redhead shook his head folding his arms, drawing them in close. "Thanks…" He mumbled. Aisha's eyes widened into the size of cantaloupes. "Ok… now I know you're sick…"

Elsword rolled his eyes, "Whatever…" He replied in a sardonic sing-song manner. The redhead was rewarded for his flippancy by Aisha lightly cuffing him on his collarbone. "Stuff it." She demanded and bit the inside of her cheeks. "Ah… I'll just get the broom and mop and clean your mess up." The purplenette said aloud. Elsword sighed and leaned his head back. "You do that."

Aisha left the room once again, leaving Elsword alone. The redhead shuddered and drew his legs up, resting his chin on his knees, feeling the metal armor plating them digging into his skin.

This was going to be unbearable because in the five months Aisha had lived with him he grew used to her company. She broke the silence and reminded Elsword that he was still a person and she took care of him, despite all her gripes.

Sure she was as faulted as a mine shaft knowing a little too much about various plants that could kill somebody and having an unhealthy obsession with the occult and horror novels, but so was Elsword… in most ways, he was even more flawed and irreparably messed up than Aisha. Actually, the only thing he had going for him in terms of being "normal" was that he did not possess an Abyssal Door.

It seemed downright cruel to him.

The first person who didn't curse him out for having red eyes and being a member of the Zero Squadron, and he would have to kill her.

Why did he so stupidly allow himself to get attached? That was rule number one about being a member of the Zero Squadron: don't get attached to anyone, and Elsword knew he broke it big time. He had cared for her, secretly wanted her, but always repressing his feelings, or so he thought. Now Elsword realized how stupid he was and how futile his attempts to not get close were. He was going to be required to kill Aisha because he had been given his life by the Praetorian Guard in exchange for his unwavering loyalty, but Elsword recognized the fact that if he did so, he would utterly destroy himself. It would tear him apart even more than it did to execute anyone else, even more so than Raven, because Elsword had never loved anyone else.

The redhead unfolded his arms, raising a hand and holding it out as if reaching for something precious and unobtainable. To Elsword's fevered mind, it appeared to be covered in the scarlet color of blood.

A young woman with a svelte build and sinuous locks of stygian black adorned with adroitly wrought golden ornaments stood in the deserted city square. Clad in a night-black dress with golden accents and a mantle of sable covering her shoulders, she is a regal figure, poised and graceful. Her round but keen eyes of honeyed yellows survey the stone buildings, lingering a little to gaze contemptuously at a venerable marble statue of a famed and decorated war hero belonging to the Imperia Gladius- the elite knights of the Praetorian Guard. Surrounding the statue was a crown of colorful flowers, the salacious blossoms whispering giddily to each other in the breezy night.

A wry smile touches the figure's lips and she walks over to them, affectionately caressing the white petals of a lily-of-the-valley. "How ironic, they choose such beautiful things to liven up the statues of the brutal fanatics who fervidly enforce their ugly policies of hate and oppression."

A soft chuckle escapes her lips.

"Ah… but no matter how hard they try, they will never completely control everything. For that they hate us, but we shall persevere and we will destroy them. Not in such a way that one poor fool did, the Praetorian Guard is far too strong for such flamboyant recklessness. No… we will have others live our lives so it opposes their so-called 'order' and 'justice'. To topple the Praetorian Guard, we shall teach the world to adhere to the standards of freedom and mercy. The Praetorian Guard can crush all rebellions, save for individual rebellions. Choose to live your life, don't let them brainwash you into their black-and-white view of the world, question things that don't feel right. Those are the small rebellions that will eventually change the world."

Happy Valentine's Day People Who I can't see from behind the computer monitor! To celebrate this pink and candy overload holiday, I present to you the story of an IS x VP one-shot mentioned briefly at the end of a new story became through over-ambition and the authoress's laziness a two-shot. I'm sorry; I just can't write good one-shots for the life of me. So take a two-shot! I've been noticing so many IS x DWs, IS x Ems, RS x Ems, but only about 1 (Not counting my Yami No Tsurugi and potentially Rosamenelle's super-awesome Giga Theorum, which you need to check out) IS x VP being actively published and written… I must ask to all writers, why? So… I shall lead the IS x VP revolution! Starting with this two-shot! :DDD IS x VP is such a lovely pairing and we need more of it! :3 This story ish so complicated for a two-shot though, let's hope I'm able to prevent it from becoming a three-shot. Still… I must say, this story can have either a happy ending or it can end on a tragic note… You decide! :D I also toned down my OP vocab, just for now and I got a little lazy with my OP descriptions so they're UP. I hope it isn't terrible though… Next up is Yami No Tsurugi! Be expecting an embarrassing nickname for the Kenny of the story- Aren to be popping up that may or may not be a direct reference to Harry Potter O3O.

So now… I ask again… Good ending or Bad ending?