The purple luminescence still glowed, growing brighter, and brighter. It started to spread, not rapidly, but gradually. The villagers noticed, and edged towards it, and some started to panic.
"W-What?! Why is the El turning purple?!"
"That means impurity! Demons!"
"Oh, The Lord...we're doomed!"
"God bless us...the world will end too soon."
A loud booming voice cleared the villager's murmurs, and it belonged to none other than Elder Fathertree.
"Calm down my fellow elves! I summon a meeting with the El Gods and our elders and advisers! It is not to worry! We will fight this evil that has started to take control of the main El crystal!"
Courage rushed through the deep depths of my heart, making me feel as light as a bird. Elder Fathertree retreated to his chambers, presumably talking to the other elders and advisers. We sat still, waiting. He returned, a bright smile reflected onto his wrinkled face.
"My fellow elves, we have decided to make our own army! We shall start training warriors, those who want to apply, of course. We will not force you to fight, but if we cannot fight...we have to leave our home village. This is the opposite of what we want."
"Fight! Fight! Fight!," hurrahed the villagers, raising their fists into the air.
I couldn't bring myself to join in, for some odd reason. It just didn't...seem right.
"We shall join with the magicians and nasods to fight, even though all we had done before was provide them with resources. Now, we will prove we are a powerful ally to never be harmed, and we will be FEARED by the swordsmen and cannoneers. They will NOT DARE to try and harm our village once more, or they will suffer our WRATH!," he boomed, his voice overpowering the villagers'.
I walked away from the village, and found my favourite tree. I jumped up from the branches, they creaked and groaned but still withheld my weight. In no time, I got to the top of the tree, and relaxed on the leaves and branches. It was sunset, an array of warm colours streaked across the sky. A dark blue edged from the opposite side of the sun, a dark blue with bits of stars.
I continued to stay, even as the sun disappeared. The moon was up, it was clear and closer than usual. The stars shined around it, seeming like bits of light dots that ran across the sky. For once, I enjoyed the night breeze, it was perfect. It was warm, yet cool. My name echoed across the forest, and my calm focus was broken.
"RENA!," yelled my mother.
"Coming!," I replied, jumping down the branches.
My mother was certainly angry, her hands on her hips and a frown replacing her usual smile. I must've been gone for so long, I've been in the tree for the whole sunset and night. It was almost midnight, no wonder my mother was worried. Lime was behind her, but she was snickering. Her eyes clearly said, Now you're in trouble. Instead of looking angry, I stayed calm.
"Rena, you better get back. Now."
"Yes, mother. I will, but can I please stay in the tree? It's such a beautiful night, see? You can see the stars clearly, the moon is so close and clear, it feels as if I can touch it. And the night breeze feels nice, warm yet cool. Please, mom?"
"Ugh...fine," answered my mom after a minute, her face relaxing and she turned around, stalking back to our house.
Lime followed, a click of her mouth, tsk. I smirked, turned around, and once more, climbed up the tree. I laid down on the tree top, the leaves comfortable brushing my arms. The wind lulled my eyelids to close, making my mind wander until –at last– slumber took possession of my body.
Aisha's POV
I stared at the layout of the swordsmen's and cannoneers' base that I received from Eve. It was filled with traps, and soldiers were positioned almost everywhere around the castle, one in every single room and hallway. For my troops and I to get in there, we would have to constantly teleport and put up our mana shields. We would even have to use invisibility magic, which takes up much of our magic. It seems that I would have to do this solo if I were to barge in, I have limitless amounts of mana.
I pushed the thought away, it would be pointless to start another reason for us to fight against each other. We could negotiate, but their terms must have some terrible expense to it. The meeting tomorrow between all the groups' leaders frightens me. I just hope Noah and Speka come back perfectly safe and uninjured.
Two leaders for each group. Seems like a hassle. For the archers, there is Amelia and Lime, they're both sisters of a family, surprisingly they are twenty years old, yet their bodies say different. The leaders of the swordsmen are Lowe and Penensio, but they also have two representatives if they're missing; Valak and Edan. They are bloody, merciless monsters, it would be difficult to make negotiations with them. The cannoneers are very devoted to the swordsmen, they don't have any leaders, so you can say that Valak and Edan can represent them. For the nasods, there is Apple and Code:Q-PROTO_00. As I said earlier, Noah and Speka are the magicians' leaders. They are my sisters, both of them have trained me, and I have trained myself as well. I've made new runes, new magic, nothing that previous magic prodigies have done before. Most magic prodigies die early due to boasting off their magic.
I left my office, my staff in my hand. There were magicians marching through the hallways, a riot perhaps down there. Then I saw a flurry of swords. Those didn't belong to our people. Swordsmen. Shit! Why hasn't the alarm been set?! Immediately, I pushed the red button, an alarm signal echoing through the whole headquarters. A monotone echoed through the base.
"Code:Black. Code:Black. Extermination of invaders underway. All magicians will be ordered to exterminate the swordsmen."
Doors opened, magicians flooded out of the hallways. I stayed hidden, although my purple hair contrasted. I saw red. Red? That's unusual. Maybe it's the leader of their squad. The mana shield specialized magicians walked first, blocking all the attacks while the others set traps all around the swordsmen. A bubble enclosed their exits, making it useless to escape. Several tried to poke through it, however the bubble just bended like bubble gum.
"Aisha-chan. You can take care of the job, yes?," asked Noah and Speka, both speaking through my earphones.
"Yes, Noah-chan and Speka-chan. I'll take care of the job perfectly well. Dead or alive?"
"Some prisoners will do."
"Okay."
The magicians cleared the way, I stomped my way down the hallway and ended at the bubble that enclosed them. The wind howled outside, and glass formed around the bubble. I reinforced the bubble, making a glass dome.
"You can get rid of your bubble. I'll do fine with this glass dome."
"Yes, Mistress Aisha," they replied, letting the bubble fade away.
Everyone stayed still, until the leader started. He was an infinity sword, a very annoying kind of swordsmen.
"Let us out, bitch."
"Why should I? You sound as if you're like Valak or Edan. Merciless and you've already killed some of our magicians. I guess you can all die. I'll let you watch as your soldiers die, one by one, while you can do nothing," I deviously grinned, giggling.
I let vines slip through, but only at a small part. Those vines would be enough to end this. Sighing, I felt the wind blow the vines around. Oh, that girl looks very defiant and courageous. She should die first to bring down their moral. The vines grew through my magic, and the vines' grip wrapped around her. She screamed, her friends trying to slash at the vines which reformed. It was crushing her, crushing, crushing, splat. Her head hung to one side, very awkwardly, her blood lightly splattered onto the vines.
"YOU BITCH. HOW DARE YOU."
"Why did you invade our headquarters? I'll let the rest of you leave alive and unharmed, if you would tell me."
"Like hell I will."
"KYAAAAAA!," screamed another girl victim, her body crushing like the previous victim.
"Feel like spilling now?"
"FINE! WE INVADED UNDER VALAK'S AND EDAN'S ORDERS. HAPPY?"
"What about Lowe and Penensio?"
"I KILLED THEM. HAHA."
This boy was truly terrifying, to laugh at this state. He murdered his leaders. Rage overfilled me at the way he was laughing, even though I laughed the way he did, his was more maniacal, more scary, more disgusting. Rage filled every corner of my body. My body shook with anger, not fear. I can't lose control. I'll kill them all. I can't lost control. I can't lose control. I can't lose control. I CAN'T LOSE CON-. Too late.
Screams filled the glass orb, and I looked away. I lost control. The magicians lightly widened their eyes, but said not a word. They probably knew that I had this problem, most did. When it comes to invasions and killing, Speka and I are the most appropriate for the job. A hump of bodies lay on the glass orb, but one...the red-head? I thought I killed him. The vine disappeared, the blood completely coating it. I broke the glass orb that contained them, and he fell, screaming.
"YOU. YOU BROKE MY LEGS! AAAAGGGHHHH!"
"Retrieve him and put him in the cells. Clean up this mess, put them in the graveyard and pay their respects. You, red-head...remember the name Aisha, the one who murdered your troops, and the one murderer that is slowly coming for your head. Got that?"
"No, you better listen to me. Remember Elsword, I'll be the one who will cut that head of yours off for murdering my troops. YOU GOT THAT?!"
He was dragged off, leaving a trail of blood from his legs. I hopelessly stared at the bodies that I had crumpled so easily, sobbing. My life was terrible. It wasn't something that somebody can deal with. Sobbing, the El necklace turned blue instead of its normal lavender state, showing my sadness and regret.