TOMORROW
By MargaritaDaemonelix
They're so, so close to winning, but then that one grenade that hadn't set off explodes, and chaos reigns instantly.
Elsword crashes to the ground, barely raising his sword in time to parry the blow of an incoming incubus. "Fuck," he hisses, scribbling a rune into the dirt and flinging it at the demon. "Is everyone alright?"
"I need cover!" Rena yells over the din, swinging an iron-clad foot into the head of a Waldo and pushing it away from Aisha, who grips her explosion-burned ankle and winces. "Gather here, everyone, we can't get separated!"
Eve appears in a silvery streak overhead, raining blinding shards of light upon the demons nearby, as Add, Ciel and Raven gather around to knock aside any that dare come close. "Fall back!" Raven shouts, switching his sword to his metallic arm. "We can't hold for much longer!"
Lu and Ara come crashing in from the skies, gauntlets and spear piercing into the ground before their wielders flip upright and clash with nearby enemies. Chung flips his cannon around, sending the lithe bodies of several succubi flying. Rose backs into the group, bullets flying through the rapidly warming air and seeking the hearts of the demons. Ain seems to materialize out of thin air, crashing down with a weak burst of El energy still strong enough to melt glitters to nothing.
The last ones to join the main group are Elsword and Elesis, blades dripping with the black blood of the demons as they hack their way back to the El Search Party. "Get ready," Aisha yells, pointing her staff skywards and bringing down a cascade of meteors like deadly, deadly rain.
For a deafening second, the battlefield is almost quiet. Ara hauls Aisha to her feet as Rena presses an Eldrasil leaf to her ankle. It falls away with a gasp of wind, and they take a bare moment to breathe. "Dear Ishmael," is Ain's verdict, and somehow even Lu finds it in her to nod and agree.
"We are surrounded on all sides," Eve reports, dropping back down to the ground. "Aisha's Meteor Shower cleared away the nearest wave, but the next one is still coming."
Add scowls, Dynamos whirling out behind him. "Anyone else think that coming here was a shitty idea? Y'know, outside of the reach of the El? The thing keeping us alive?"
"We didn't have any choice," Ain snaps. "And we don't have any choice now. The fate of existence is upon our shoulders."
Rena sighs and lays a hand on each of their backs. "Boys, this isn't the time to squabble," she says calmly, even as ash and fire fall into her face and hair. "Take a breath. We need to prepare ourselves for anything that might come."
They all know how empty those words seem in retrospect. They've run at the feet of huge Nephilim, slaughtered endlessly regenerating dragon heads, clashed with the husk of a once powerful man. "Anything that might come" would probably just be worse, and no one has the strength to deal with it.
"Rose, what are you humming now?" Zero snarks, tilting around mid-air to look at the woman. "We're going to die in battle, and you're going to get killed because you were too busy singing opera."
"No, it's just-" Rose looks guilty for two seconds. "It's an old battle hymn from my homeland in Empyrean."
Lu's eyes light up like stars in the dark bruises that decorate her face. "Ooh, sing it for us!"
"It's in the Empyrean language, but it's a simple song," Rose clarifies, before taking a deep breath.
"A la volonté du peuple, et à la santé du progrès
Remplis ton coeur d'un vin rebelle et à demain, ami fidèle.
Nous voulons faire la lumière malgré le masque de la nuit
Pour illuminer notre terre et changer la vie!"
Elesis's eyes go wide as she turns to her brother with a grin. "Isn't that Dad's favourite-"
"-Old battle song from the civil war," Elsword finishes, starting to catch on. "There's a version in Elrian, it's got the same tune and everything!"
"Sing it," Ara urges, a smile gracing her features despite everything going down in fire around them. "We might just catch on."
With a deep breath, Elsword begins to sing.
"Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!"
Elesis joins right in on the verse, and surprisingly, so do Raven and Rena, the former knowing the song from his time in the military and the latter from her time travelling.
"Will you join in our crusade, who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the gloom and dark, is there a life you'd like to see?
Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free!"
The next wave of demons hits them, but the strength that the music grants them rises up to push back.
"Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!
Will you give all you can give so that our banner may advance?
We fight so all may live, so wield your weapon, take your chance
And even if monsters come at us, they won't shake your stance!"
The sun rises in hell, and the blinding colours are glorious. Magic and energy fly through the air as thirteen of the most determined young warriors fight for their safety and the ones that they love.
"Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!"
The wave of demons falls spectacularly. Elsword throws a final shining rune at a straggling glitter, watching with some degree of satisfaction as the explosion rips it to bloody pieces. "That was great."
"Battle's not over yet," Ciel shouts, bringing his gun up like a sniper rifle and shooting into the distance. Somewhere, a Waldo falls. "There's still more of them coming."
It's been a long battle, but they've never been more filled with energy. "C'mon, guys," Elsword chortles, swinging around his sword, "we can take them."
He's met by grim faces, bloodied hands, pulsing electrical heartbeats and bright smiles.
They charge.
A/N: wow! a tuesday upload that isn't me scrambling to make up for monday?
actually this is my entry for the Broadway writing prompt on EFB! the song is Do you hear the people sing from Les Miz, my friends and i sing it admittedly much too often. i think we're starting to scare the teachers at school
~Marg