Me: Alright why did I never think of this before. Next time I'm stuck on some place I could always just send a document here at Doc Manager XD!
Mario: It took you 19 stories and 5 months to finally be this smart huh Fire? Anyway what happens now?
Crystal: You will know once you read it Mario.
Tinker: Mhm Mhm! C'mon Robo Birdie, reading's good for your health!
Me: Indeed. Anyway...Chapter 2, START!
Chapter 2: The Broken Knights
"I am Raven, an Archangel sent by the Gods to eradicate the demons!" The black-winged angel introduced himself assertively to Elsword and his supposed little gang of children. Raven felt the piercing of air as the Infinity Sword drew closer with immeasurable speed as the latter pressed cold metal at the unflinching Archangel's throat.
"You can spout petty claims or boast acts of justice all you want angel!" The crimson-haired teen threatened Raven, intensifying his scowl at the word "angel". "Why the hell should any of us trust you!" He asked with venom present in his voice.
"The same should be applied to you!" Raven challenged gruffly, pushing the tip of one of Elsword's blades away using his Nasod Arm. "You seem very shady yourself, plus what's with that black tint of darkness in your hair?" Two sets of eyes, one golden and the other crimson red, glaring at each other as if they were sworn enemies.
"At least I'm a human being who can suppress the darkness and quench the demons out there!" The Infinity Sword scoffed back at the Archangel. "I'm not some freak with a mechanical arm just like those Nasods then have the audacity to actually proclaim myself a savior for mankind! Unlike me no one knows about you, not even these kids!" At the mention of them the trio of children instantly nodded vigorously in agreement with their leader.
Like a pack of domesticated dogs trained to heed their master's every command. Raven noticed, their bleak eyes in stark contrast to Elsword's more livelier and fiery ones. "So you know that my left arm is of a Nasod product. How would a human like you in a remote area like Ruben know about this?" He questioned the spiky-haired crimson teen.
"Tch..." Elsword hesitated and sheathed his swords, Raven knew he won this battle for now. "Fine I trust you're on our side but make no mistake!" He sent the three kids to walk ahead back to their hideout, the crimson teen threatening the Archangel one more time. "If I notice you defecting to the other side in any way, I'll kill you on the spot and protect my comrades!" With an audible snort and grunt the Infinity Sword motioned Raven to follow. "Follow me. We might as well give you a place to stay, even if you're our prisoner."
"I understand." Raven complied with no complaints, understanding of Elsword's reasoning. I would've done the same if an enemy soldier tried to convince one of our men that he's a new recruit of the Crow Mercenaries when it was still alive. The Archangel thought to himself as their two sets of footsteps, both steel, trampled the dead grass beneath them as they made their way back into the Ruben Forest.
Several moments pass in silence as dusk transformed into night with the illuminating moon as evidence. Raven continued trekking after Elsword, the two occasionally jumping over a fallen log here and there. Even in Ruben nature lost its battle against the darkness and the leafless barren trees displayed it. It was only after Elsword's comment that they were nearing their destination that the black-winged angel disrupted their otherwise empty walk.
"Hey." The Archangel broke the silence. "From the way we're walking, is your hideout located in that gigantic tree over there?" The two glanced up at the faintly bluish glowing tree located in the heart of the forest, like a mother overlooking her many children, and continued walking.
"No way! How'd you guess!" Elsword retorted back in a very sarcastic manner, spitting on the ground after that over the top answer.
"If you don't mind me asking, I have two questions for you Elsword."
Well the children are way out of earshot. Good, any burden brought up by this guy's so-called questions is mine alone to bear. The crimson teenager thought, assuring himself. "Alright then, blast away Archangel."
"Okay then first question. How many people do you have in this group of rebels do you have with you Elsword?" Raven asked stoically, careful that the Infinity Sword doesn't glimpse his curious golden eyes should he turn around.
Elsword let out a drawn out sigh before responding. "If you include me and those three kids...there's one other person, our mechanic, which leaves us with five members."
So little...are the six of us enough to eradicate the Demons from Elrios? Raven thought bleakly, not even imaging that the number of recruits in Elsword's rebel group is less than 1/5 of the former Crow Mercenaries. He shook his mind out of that and began to ask the second question. "So the blue light coming from the tree. Is it the Pure El?"
"Yes. It's only as big as that tree over there now, and the only source that allows us to trek into the darkness that engulfed the rest of Elrios." The crimson-haired teenager answered bluntly, pointing to a tree in similar height to the Archangel.
"I see..." The black-winged angel flicked away the red highlights of his hair away from his eyes and flattened his wings as the two drew closer to the Tree of El, as Elsword names it. "What about the other residents in Ruben, what happened to them?"
"I thought I was going to answer two questions!" Elsword scowled, reminding the curious Archangel in a gruff voice. Suddenly he stopped and turned around to Raven in the most distrusting face you could pull off. "Here we are, the remnants of the Tree of El.
The rebel group's supposed hideout was even less organized than the Archangel thought. The group's hideout, Elsword dubbing the group the "Red Knights", was nothing more than a more run down version of post-apocalyptic Ruben. Raven grimaced and walked around the broken wooden bits called a floor, recalling the burning oil drums people on the streets of Velder used for warmth, and scanned the vicinity for the remaining members. Right away he spotted the three kids, the two boys sparring with each other with the wooden swords as the girl merely spectated from the sidelines.
"You want to meet our mechanic?" The crimson leader bluntly asked Raven without turning around, giving advice to the trio of children while waiting for his answer.
"Yes. We'll need all the help we can get if humanity is going to reclaim Elrios from the Demons." The Archangel nodded.
Elsword returned the nod and the two walked towards a silver haired woman donned in a metallic black suit with pink highlights as if it was a short dress. The woman tinkered with her black and white drones armored with blades similar to the design of her "wings" with black gloves protecting her. Her thigh-high boots with the same design as her suit tapped the floor in irritation and impatience of the black drone's constant tendency to shy away from being repaired.
"Hey Eve." The Infinity Sword addressed the silver-haired mechanic.
"What is it now Elsword, I'm too busy for one of your games." Eve curtly responded, noticing the Archangel beside Elsword. "Oh did you actually catch one of the Demons?"
"What?! I'm no demon!" Raven shouted back, flaring up his golden eyes at the insult.
The crimson teenager merely picked his ear in boredom in both of their responses. "No he isn't. Eve meet Raven, a self-proclaimed Archangel sent by the El Masters themselves. Raven meet Eve, our Nasod mechanic who would've bit the dust had I not rescued her back in Altera Core. She calls herself the Code Nemesis." He briefly introduced the two to each other, making hand motions along the way. "Now if you excuse me," Elsword left his more metallic sword on Eve's hands, bringing along the more materialized one, "Conwell and I ought to get some food for us." Without a second thought he dashed straight back into the bleak forest.
"Dammit Elsword wait! What am I supposed to repai-" Eve yelled to no avail. "Damn it not again..." She muttered to herself, picking up the blade and inspecting it at different angles for any signs in need of fixing.
"Here let me take a look at it." Raven offered, unconsciously outstretching his Nasod Arm instead of the one holding his own Gun Blade. "In the past I was once the leader of a mercenary group and have years of experience with swords, unlike your own who darted for the groves without a second thought."
CLANK! Eve widened her golden eyes at the sight of the arm and dropped the sword, gripping instead the aforementioned limb tightly. "You're...an incomplete Nasod." Her voice lowered to a whisper, however that didn't stop her angered tone.
"Incomplete Nasod? How would you know what a Nasod i-" Raven stopped himself as the blue orb on Eve's forehead shone brightly, a physical feature of hers Elsword either forgot to mention or didn't bother explaining.
"Who did this?! Moby! Reby! Analyze the arm, I want to find out the names of the traitors who gave this to you." The Code Nemesis called for her black drone then her white one. The two proceeded to prod the mechanical limb repeatedly with their blades for arms.
"H-Hey it's just a regular limb transplant! The fact that the arm and the surgeons were both Nasod is just pure coincidence!" Raven countered, fidgeting roughly to loosen Eve's hold on the arm.
"So how did you get this!"
"It's none of your business!" The Archangel pulled his arm out of her grasp in one swift motion. "Anyway what's with that sudden change in attitude? Are you a Nasod as well?"
SLAP! The next thing the black-winged angel knew he landed on the ground posterior first, wincing at the pain Eve's hand gave to his cheek as the woman stared him down fiercely. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with, mere Archangel? I am the Queen of Nasods, Eve." The Nasod mechanic revealed her royal status.
"W-Wow you're a Queen Ms. Eve?" To both of their shock, the audibly air-piercing slap drew the three children over to their general location, who just received information about the mechanic's claim of royalty.
The Code Nemesis turned her attention to the suddenly cheerful little girl who gave the aforementioned outburst as the two boys were equally amazed. "Yes Anna I am, although it's been a very long time since my status has actually benefited me. Why don't you take Lowell and Harry with you and continue sparring until Elsword comes back." A total whiplash in tone. The black-winged angel was shocked but warmed at the Nasod Queen's motherly tone with the little girl.
Anna, Lowell, and Harry. So those are the names of these three kids. Raven thought absentmindedly, prodding himself up and patted his clothes dust-free.
"O-Okay!" The pink-haired Anne attempted to lead the two boys to the "Sparring Arena" of their hideout (mainly just elevated ground with softer patches of grass than the rest of the place), beckoning them to follow as if they were livestock.
"What about Elsword? I thought he was gonna teach us some new fighting moves today!" Lowell, the impatient gray-haired boy, let out a sigh as the two followed Anna.
"Well we just need to make ourselves stronger until he gets back then." The brown-haired Harry answered his friend, who snorted in contempt as they fade away from a distance.
"Such idealistic children." Raven commented on their behavior just now, which was a stark contrast to the wild and animalistic one they displayed when they first met the Archangel several moments ago. "How could this bleak world transform three perfectly normal kids into soldiers ready to kill without any second guessing?"
"Did you ever notice that there was no one in Ruben village, not even a single trace of human life or a body?" Eve's question surprised the Archangel, he didn't expect anyone to answer him at all. Clank! Clank! The Code Nemesis sighed in relief when she finally inspected the crimson teenager's sword long enough to notice something to fix, ordering her drones instructions to repair it back into top condition.
"Yes. Until those kids showed up to "attack" me, not a soul stirred back in the town."
"It's just like all the demon raids. Several of them barged in and killed all the inhabitants, including the mother and fathers of those children." Clang! Moby's audibly loud repair of the blade filled the silence that followed.
"I understand now. So now they want revenge on the demons for taking the lives of their guardians."
"It's more than that. I myself don't know much of the details to know exactly what happened and the children were obviously too young or blinded by vengeance to remember it. If you want to know exactly why he formed this rebel group called the Red Knights, ask Elsword himself." After her monotone speech Eve inspected the sword once more, confirming it to be complete.
Rustle! Rustle! The bushes where Elsword departed danced roughly as a red patch of hair struggled to overcome the obstacle it possessed. Splat! Right as he gave up the Infinity Sword finally crossed the bushes...after he crash landed into the last one. "Phew! Plaugh! Damn Nature!" The crimson teenager cursed at himself, spewing out stray leaves out of his mouth and coming back to the grins the two sets of golden eyes greeted him with.
"Speak of the devil! I assume the hunting expedition didn't go so well?" Eve smirked deviously much to Elsword's chagrin. The Infinity Sword knew the Nasod Queen would use this as blackmail evidence sometimes down the road.
"Shut up Eve! And don't butt in Raven!" He irritably spoke before calming down and returning back to the green patches of nature. "C'mon c'mon where the hell is it?!" Elsword struggled to part away the leaves of the bushes as he inspects the area thoroughly. The Archangel glanced beside him to notice Eve's cheeks faintly tinting red at the sight of the Infinity Sword bending over.
Ah so the Nasod mechanic has a thing for the leader of the Red Knights? I wouldn't be surprised, a Nasod in her early production years having feelings for the only male who happens to be around her age. It's Raven's turn to gather blackmail against the Code Nemesis.
"Alright here it is!" Elsword happily announced, holding what appears to be a wooden basket in his hands above his head while clicking his heels together in joy. Once again forgetting and regretting that the Archangel and Nasod Queen the Infinity Sword quickly paced over to the mechanic's workshop table and firmly placed the basket there while retrieving his sword.
"So what's in the basket?" Raven asked, if only because Eve's too busy mentally recovering from that image of Elsword.
"Food, what else?" Elsword bluntly answered, inspecting the metallic sword if the repair was a success. "I managed to find some bushes still ripe with berries somehow thanks to the pure El's radiance. And I may or may not have killed some wild Phorus that managed to stray over here." He ended with an evil gleam in his crimson eyes.
"Okay, but where did you get the basket?"
"Man for a self-proclaimed Archangel you ask a lot of questions huh?" The Infinity Sword sighed then switched his attention to Eve. "Anyway thanks for the repair Ev- hey are you feeling alright?"
The Code Nemesis suddenly tensed up and cleared her throat. "Yes I'm fine Elsword. Anyway answer Raven's question." Back to her usual stoic tone, albeit with a little stuttering here and there.
"Fine. A strange girl gave it to me when I asked her how I was supposed to carry all these rations."
"And you didn't recruit her with your group why?" Raven asked as Elsword suddenly hid his eyes in his hair.
"...CRAP WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!"
"..." The two stood motionless as the Infinity Sword scratched his hair furiously for a few moments. After his mini-rant ended Elsword took the basket and started a campfire. "I'll go prepare the fire."
"You wanted to know what happened that day right?" Elsword asked Raven and Eve a few hours later. The moon rose at its highest point and the children already fell asleep. Those three on the other hand merely warmed themselves around the campfire.
"Yes, but you don't need to if it brings back terrible memories." The Archangel responded back as the Code Nemesis sat quietly intent to listen. I understand his position fully, I'd be hesitant too if I have to reveal what happened back at Velder.
"Alright then. Here's how the story went." The Infinity Sword slowly inhaled and let out a deep breath.
"The raid occurred about a month ago." Elsword started bluntly and continued explaining as the campfire's flames flickered and illuminated the small area. "Over the past few weeks leading up to the eventual Ruben Massacre the residents of the town lived their lives and their final moments in fear. Fear about the constant news of the arrival of the Demons. Rumors spread as everyone, even the children, gossiped uneasily as if a demon spy disguised as one of them is just around the corner. This continued in a boiling pot, filling and filling up as it ran through fear and resentment of others. Ruben split into sides and the once peaceful town slowly transformed into one corrupt with midday dog fights, daily robberies, and constant headaches for the few peacemakers in the town."
"Then on that fateful day, the boiling pot capped and the demons arrived at Ruben." The Infinity Sword's hands shook with fury, obviously remembering the bloody massacre that ensued. "Luckily these three children were out in the forest playing when it occurred so they were safe. I however had to be protected because I wasn't strong enough to fight them!" He bared his teeth and stabbed the ground with both his swords. "Anne...Lowe...Hagus...all of them died." Elsword recounted the memory, a young Knight restrained to kill the demons as the more experienced warriors and even citizens died protecting him. "Anne was Anna's mother, as Lowe is Lowell's father and Hagus to Harry's."
"I hated being the one to inform those three the news once the demons left me alone for some goddamn reason." As he was nearing the end of his tale, the Infinity Sword grimaced as he continued on. "I almost broke down when I told them then hearing their crying and pleading screams for their loved ones to come back to life. I...I had to remind them that the dead don't come back with the living and they can no longer see them ever again." Elsword paused, staring at the soundly asleep children, and turned his attention back to the two. "Well we managed somehow right? I recreated the Red Knights from scratch and with the children and Eve swore vengeance against the Demons and purge Elrios of them."
As opposed to the stoic Eve, the Archangel solemnly took in the information quietly. After a few moments he offered a proposal. "Then let me join the Red Knights. As an Archangel I trained with the El Masters themselves and having an experienced fighter on your team helps accomplish both of our goals and betters our odds against the Demons."
"Well...you don't look like someone who would betray a comrade." Elsword thought about it.
"I believe that despite his angel and Nasod hybrid origins he would be an effective teammate." The Code Nemesis chimed in her two cents.
"Okay then you're in." The Infinity Sword decided with a bow of thanks from the Archangel. "But first we need to get some sleep-"
"Get out the way!" Raven called out as the three suddenly notice a dark-imbued bomb fall from the sky. The three immediately react and jumped away as it crash landed onto the campfire, obliterating it as well as a small radius, it's aftershock loud enough to wake up the children.
"H-Huh what's going on?"
"We're being attacked?"
"W-Who was it Elsword?" The three kids groggily woke up, immediately wiping their eyes devoid of sleep as they regrouped with the others.
"Tch. Show yourself Demon!" Elsword called out skyward. Unexpectedly he got his answer right away as the figure descended from her flight and landed on the ground.
Their attacker took the form of a teenage purplenette with her hair tied in twin tails above her head. She adorned a revealing purplish attire consisting of a tube top barely covering her chest and a skirt doing the same to her thighs. She cleared her throat as the silver metallic choker on her neck connecting to her long frilly purple sleeves didn't give a lot of breathing room. Twirling an axe-like staff with a bat design at the head, the girl tapped the ground with her thigh high boots before finally donning a smirk.
"Well I never expected this. It's been a while, Elsword and Eve." Her devilish lavender eyes gleamed in excitement, donning an amused smirk.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Raven called out, getting his Gun Blade ready as the rest of the group armed their weapons.
"I'd like to know that too, Aisha the Void Princess." Eve responded, her golden eyes anguished at the sight of the girl.
Me: AND CLIFFHANGER! Anyway I think I should get the story more interesting from here.
Tinker: -sobs over Ruben's past-
Mario: Wait a minute who let this kid in here? -points at Tinker-
Me: She's my new OC, say hi.
Mario/Crystal: ...hi
Me: Alright then, till next chapter folks!