-So here's chapter 2.5.
Also, I have no idea why my author username has the '' in it. As for Rose, it slipped past me, but I'll save myself this chapter.
-last but not least, sorry for the grammar errors last chapter, I was too quick to release as I had work and suffered the consequences.
-Author's note(new 2/3/18): Sorry, this should have been released directly after the first one but I got lazy to be honest, and on top of that I had my crush over, and that went terrible. Comfort me ;-;, preferably with pie.
-Also, I just quit my horrid job so I should have more time to post, and the next chapter should be coming soon. Anyhow, enjoy :D.
Chapter 2.5- A Link Never Lasts.
Rose had managed to slip by unnoticed by the group, not that it mattered. She never ate with them, she hated the scene that always played out. No matter how silent, how separate, or even how susceptible they were to the world and all they had experienced, at the end of the day none of it mattered. None of it mattered because they were all still there, together, Like a family. Maybe it wasn't as happy as it had once been, but they had each other. Something that Rose couldn't - no something she wouldn't be a part of. She just couldn't take the sight. The sight of this connection between each of them, like they were one tightly-knit link - It was a lie, or at least it was to her. No link, not hers, not theirs, not anyone's would ever last. She had seen these connections break like glass pillars holding the world, not any world, but this world. A world with gravity strict in existence, held like a coal under tons of weight.
She was cautious and she laid her head down on the hard bed, not minding the the crank in her neck. The inn although, looking quite small from the outside - enough so to seem as if it held only one floor, actually held two. The second floor is where Rose stayed. The floor was wooden and it was creaky, old, and riddled with spots from wear over time. The wall was also worn down and dark in texture, as if the wood was decayed. Why they made the second floor wooden and left the first one made from sand-compacted material? Maybe to have the inn seem more enticing, or maybe it would have been easier to just make it wooden, although that made little to no sense, Rose really couldn't recall Insignus ever explaining why the layout of this inn had been the way it was, even at times of peace. Well either way, to Rose it really hadn't mattered. There were no windows and that's what attracted Rose to this room initially. Rose was one of the few that left her room as close to how it originally was when she had first entered as possible. Her bed was always so cold as it was just originally a stone slab, like the others' beds. The only difference now was it was layered with some blankets over it. She didn't want it any different though. Looking up at the ancient dark texture of the ceiling she wondered What shall I do? I shouldn't be here anymore, I only came here to help and I've stayed too long. Princess, Empyrean, I'm sorry. As she waited for the darkness to envelop her like every other day, she heard a soft and gentle knock on her door.
Elsword walked on the soft carpeted floor and laid down on his warm bed, he had changed the slab with a wooden frame and put many homemade blankets, courtesy of his sister, on top of it. He had made it himself and Insignus didn't mind at all. Mattresses were lacking due to the serious conditions, so most improvised.
Elsword removed his suit, it was dark and somewhat more red than usual due to the stains from his wounds that had been left before he was bandaged. He layed it near his sword which rested upon the wall, seemingly as if it were to break through the old material. Elsword could feel the warm and soft blankets on his aching body, every time they rubbed against his skin he would feel the tingly sensation of his aching body screaming out for rest. The wounds would sting, but the rest he needed, and wanted, outweighed the pain.
Elesis stared at him from the bed across from his. The room was small so their beds were only a few feet apart. She stared at him and his wincing expressions of pain. Her eyes were unfazing and dull as usual, but behind them there was a need to do something for him every time he would wince in pain.
Back in Elder when Elesis was still working with the two's father to eliminate the rebel groups causing chaos, she began allying herself with the El Search Party. Soon, she found herself differentiating herself completely from the Red Knights. The only reason she had any connection with them was their father and the much needed aid he requested. After her father was sent to hunt down Kaze'aze, a truly vile villain, he disappeared. It was speculated at one point that he was in some kind of a rift. This meaning that he had a chance to return to this dimension. After that, Elesis spent a long time wandering looking for her father, while also leading the Red Knights. After some time though, she left leadership to Penensio and followed the El Search Party permanently, mostly for Elsword.
Elsword wanted a separate room for the both of them, but his sister strongly resisted and after a constantly ongoing argument that annoyed Elsword, he gave in. At first he was annoyed but after some time he realized her presence comforted him like when he was little. Just having someone there made him feel like he could actually accept himself, accept that he was actually there. That the darkness and the things he had done, and wanted to do at times, were just figments of his imagination. Sometimes, he just wanted to let it himself go, and let it all take over, but his friends and his sister gave him power and motivation, as did a fire within him that could be soaked through thousands of waves but never be put out.
His gaze turned from the ancient-looking wall to the opposite side of the small room. There, Elesis laid with her head looking at Elsword with her dull gaze. He stared back at her too, she had on her gown, it was black and transparent. Her locks of hair sat on the bed. Suddenly she stood up and slowly made her way towards Elsword. Elsword wanted to ask what was wrong, but he was tired and he felt that it would be better he just watched. Elesis came over to his bed and slowly made her way into the spot next to him, the bed was small, but she found a way to cozily fit in. Elsword turned to face her, still wincing in pain, a little confused, but oddly not annoyed. Today he was too tired to be annoyed and even more he didn't feel the constant need to be left alone, as usual. He whispered "are you okay?" She didn't answer, instead she placed her hand on his face gently as if she was touching a jewel. "I'm okay, don't worry about me." They both sat in silence before she moved closer to him placing her head onto his chest. So warm…. Elesis thought. Elsword could smell her hair, it smelled of a fragrance he had smelled earlier, a nice one which he couldn't make out. He slowly swayed his hand on her hair, feeling every lock. It was soft and felt as if this would be how clouds would feel like, like thin strands of life, the essence of everything. His sister, his role model, was so precious to him. She moved her head up, and Elsword thought her eyes glistened for a moment. Elesis felt his hair, frizzled, but also soft. She slowly moved her hands down feeling his cheeks and how warm they were, then moved her hands down and felt his lips. Elsword didn't know how to feel, he just knew that he never wanted to stop the warmth of her hands, nor the warmth of her body. He had tinged red as he now noticed the extent of his sister's growth compared to when they were younger. Her now more noticeable chest area almost burst out as she lay on him. Her face had formed into pure beauty. He wanted to look away, but couldn't. While he tried to look away, knowing he could't look at her this way, she persisted. Her thumbs slowly felt his lips and how dry, but sensitive they felt. She said in a low voice, as if to speak a secret that only he could hear, "Elsword, I love you." She looked up only to see his once open crimson eyes, now closed fast asleep. She could feel his heavy breathing, knowing how tired he was, she smiled and closed her eyes sleeping to his slow heart beat.
Aisha tossed and turned uncomfortably, her bed was probably the most comfortable of the group, but right now it felt the worst. She kept seeing visions. Visions of everything being stolen from her. Visions of a life she once had which was now destroyed. Although the winds bellowed heavily outside and her room was cold, she had awoken in a sweat. Whispering to herself she detested "Why?….I just want everything to be okay again…." She raised herself off her bed with a great anxiety holding her down. A pressure she hated, but at the same time couldn't resist against, for it was too great. Slowly with the heaviness residing over her shoulders, over her whole body, she made her way to the small kitchen, used by the chef for cooking. There, she drank from a sand-compacted cup which held refreshing water that she had poured. She felt her stomach lighten up a bit. "Hehe, that's just what I needed." then made her way to her own room, before being overcome with curiosity at the noise she heard. I can barely make out the voice, but I know for a fact that one of them is Rose, and the is…that other voice, so low but sharp….Ain! She could barely recall his voice, he had stayed out of their last few expeditions for his own necessities, but why was he speaking with Rose, not that it was uncommon for him to not speak. It was just that Aisha never really noticed them acquainting with each other that much. How odd, and especially at this time of the night. Her curiosity bound her there, now on the second floor, how she so gracefully journeyed up the stairs without making noise was beyond El. Never doubt the powers of a true magician, a Battle Magician at that, hehe she told herself. The talking stopped before she knew it and she scurried down the stairs and into her room as fast as a coyote who had snatched its meal.
In a huff she laid down and readied herself for sleep. She was curious about the two upstairs meeting, but the sleep and heaviness of the night was slowly creeping at her. Making sure she had ignored her worried thoughts of all that could have been and was, she looked up at the ceiling, the faded and dirtied, but still standing ceiling and slowly faded away like a tide to the blue.
-Hope you guys enjoy and thanks for all the feedback and pm's, they really make writing this story even more worthwhile, than it already is. Really, I do appreciate it and I hope you guys also provide more feedback and messages, feel free to ask questions too.