*Edited*
I chomped into my warm chocolate muffin, eyes skimming through the latest newspaper. Mellow music played, accompanied by hushed chatter, in the background. The best way to sulk after being yelled at was to eat sweets, well for me anyway. Sweets always found a way to tame my emotions.
"What would you think, Mother, Father?" I wondered to myself out loud. "Would you be proud of me; or would you side with Camilla?"
I'd like to believe Mother and Father would take my side, perhaps they'd find Camilla's expectations of me just as irrational. If Camilla wasn't so concerned about an attack strategy I would already by fighting alongside other knights. She's the sole reason I've been stuck in training for so long; she's the reason I may never accomplish my dream of becoming a Red Knight. I huffed and took another bite out of the muffin.
The glass doors of the bakery flew open, the tiny golden bells attached to it chimed to life. Two very familiar voices flooded into the store. At that moment I wished the ground would swallow me whole.
Maybe if I stay very still they won't notice I'm here.
"Oh look, Elsword, it's Ara."
I cursed under my breath and kept my eyes glued on the article in front of me, pretending to be fully engrossed in the story I had just finished reading.
I can't believe I'd bump into them again, especially after I made a fool of myself. Why do they have to come here of all places? Why not that shady burger place by the arena? Can't a girl enjoy her muffin in peace?
"Hey," Aisha slid herself into the chair across from me—I held back the urge to groan. "Funny seeing you here."
"I always come here," I replied with a shrug," this is usually where you can find me."
"It's very nice in here," Aisha examined the brightly coloured walls. "This place gives off a very homey vibe."
"I guess so." Home is nothing if you're not surrounded by vast amounts of sand, beautiful lakes, and the hot scorching sun. "What are you two doing here?" My voice came out harsher than I had anticipated it to be.
"Our team used to hang out here." Aisha answered, shrugging off my rude tone." That was before we were busy with endless missions." Aisha purposefully lowered my newspaper and added," y'know you aren't half bad."
I frowned and pushed the paper up to my face again," I lost pretty badly and I'm sure Camilla would agree without a doubt." I blinked against the burning tears in my eyes.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ara, you're just not used to fighting strategically yet." Aisha lowered the newspaper once more, but this time she kept a firm grip to keep me from hiding behind it again. "Trust me, you'll be scary good once you get that mastered."
I couldn't help but smile at Aisha's compliment. It was nice to know someone had faith in me, but the sceptical part of me was convinced she was lying. If I had to guess, she was just saying nice things to me in hopes of boosting my confidence.
"Hey, Ara, fancy seeing you here!" Elsword greeted with a steaming drink in one hand. "Aisha, here's your tea." He said, placing the cup in front of Aisha.
"I haven't had this in such a long time." Aisha chimed happily. "You wouldn't believe the stuff we have to eat and drink on the road." She brought the cup up to her lips and slurped.
Elsword snickered," we had to eat bugs once and this big baby was crying."
"Shut up, you dork." She snapped. "Bugs are gross! And may I remind you that you got food poisoning after eating that glowing spider."
I shivered at the thought of eating those disgusting little creatures," could you two just stop talking about bugs? It's starting to gross me out."
"Only for you," Elsword said with a wink. I rolled my eyes and took another bite out of my muffin.
"Hey, let's go do something fun," Aisha suggested with a small bounce. "We might as well take advantage of our break. Ara, you should come too."
"That's actually a good idea," Elsword agreed. "Ara, you must know all the cool events and places to go to."
I shook my head," I don't really know any fun places. I just know where to get daily essentials, my home, and of course the training facility." Elsword and Aisha's jaw dropped almost in sync.
"You're kidding." Aisha gasped. "So you're telling me you've never been to a carnival or a festival?"
"I don't really see the point. If it's not going to help me train then it is utter nonsense."
"Man, we need to get you a dose of fun now." Elsword glanced over at Aisha and grinned. "Let's go exploring."
After much debate I finally agreed to follow Aisha and Elsword—if I didn't they swore to follow me home. We wandered blindly through the busy streets of Elder, occasionally stopping to watch the street performers. It was pretty boring as I didn't find those silly street performers entertaining.
We finally came to a stop when we reached a massive stone fountain, its size closely resembled that of a swimming pool. A tall stone statue of a man stood at its very centre on a short pedestal. The jacket he wore showed off each button and wrinkle with exquisite detail, his closed hands hung by his sides as he gazed his lifeless eyes into the heavens. Water spouted from around the statue's base and arching out to the rest of the pool. Elderly couples sat on the benches arranged around the fountain enjoying the cool mist hovering through the hot afternoon air. Children frolicked in the waters of the fountain.
"I totally forgot this was here." Aisha clapped her hands excitedly. "Let's splash around as well."
"I thought fountains were made for looking only." I pointed out. "Why don't these people get in trouble for playing in it anyways?"
Aisha rolled her eyes at me," they let people play around in it all the time. When there's a special event at night this thing literally lights up in rainbows." She explained while taking her shoes and socks off. "Come on it's fun."
I raised my brow as Aisha sprinted to the stone structure and jumped in, splashing water on a few kids nearby. Elsword leant against my shoulder," you should go too." He gestured to the soaked kids laughing around Aisha. "It's good to relax and unwind once in awhile."
"I'll be fine," I replied, slapping his arm away. "You guys go, I'll sit here and wait for you to finish."
Elsword shrugged," suit yourself." With that he ran off to join Aisha, splashing, even more, water on the kids around them.
While those two were goofing off like children, I decided to use the time wisely and trained. Many people around me, especially children, watched in awe as I swiftly manoeuvred around the fountain. I received a few claps with each combo.
"Wow, she's so cool mommy!" I heard a little girl exclaim to my left.
"I want a spear like that!" A boy added on.
"Her robe is so beautiful."
I smiled contently at the compliments, each word warming my heart like a mother's hug. Once I performed my last combo I ended the show with a bow, claps erupted around me.
"That's my daughter, isn't she great?" I imagined my Father saying with a wide grin. My smile wavered at the compliment I'll never get.
I snapped out from my thoughts as a wave of cold splashed over me, my drenched clothes stuck to me like a second layer of skin. My narrowed eyes immediately averted toward my attackers. The two blockheads laughed at my icy glare. Aisha waved her staff in the air, another wave of water pounced onto me in response.
"Cut it out." I snapped, scratching away the excess hair sticking to my face.
"Did you hear that, Elsword?" Aisha asked, her staff disintegrating into small purple particles.
"Yeah, I think it's a bug." Elsword joined in with a snicker.
I flared my nose at their comments," when I get my hands on you two-"
Aisha and Elsword ran off in opposite directions before I could finish.
That was the last straw. Throwing the shoes off my feet and my spear onto the ground, I jumped into the fountain, my landing sending droplets of water to go flying. I targeted Elsword first as he irked me the most.
Elsword glanced back, his eyes widening at the distance quickly closing between us. Before I could savour my victory someone tackled me down from behind, pinpointing me down on the cold water. The kids around me giggle as water splashed all over them.
"Ambush!" Aisha shouted with triumph; the children cheered along with her.
"And betrayal!" Elsword pushed Aisha off me and pinned her onto her back. I laughed and scrambled onto my feet.
"Step back kids," I ordered loudly. Obediently the children around us separated. Once everyone was away from crushing distance I side-tackled Elsword down.
Aisha used this opportunity to splash water in our faces. I couldn't help but laugh as Elsword tackled her down again. Our water fight continued for a few more minutes before we decided to take a break—I'm surprised no one kicked us out before we decided to leave.
"That was so much fun," Aisha said in between laughter. "It sucks that we're all soaked now." She struggled to untie her pigtails.
"At least the sun is keeping us warm," Elsword said with a sneeze.
I chuckled," my hair is such a mess now." I attempted to comb my tangled hair with my fingers but to no avail. "I haven't laughed so much in so long." I proceeded to put on my shoes.
"See? Isn't having fun great?" Aisha asked while putting on her shoes.
"I guess it isn't bad once in awhile," I admitted with a large grin still painted on my face. "Maybe I can come here again when I have some time to spare."
"We should grab something to eat." Elsword's stomach growled in agreement. "All that laughing made me hungry."
"I'm in a mood for some steak." Aisha licked her lips. "I haven't had a good juicy steak for months now."
"I want some chicken feet." I chimed, my mouth already watering for the dish. Aisha and Elsword sent me all kinds of weird looks in return.
"That sounds...gross," Aisha said uncomfortably.
"You have no good taste in food," I shook my head; if only they knew what they were missing out on. "Fine, since you're too grossed out by one of the best dishes in the world, how about we go for pizza?"
"Now that's something we can agree on." Elsword gave me a thumbs up. "Now where do we go for that?"
We laughed and joked with one another while travelling through the crowded streets. The worry and tension I held earlier melted away with every joke. It was nice to laugh and have fun with the duo, but I knew this moment would come to a quick end. After this, we would not see each other again. They'd continue their lives as Red Knights and I'll forever be stuck training with Camilla.
As we neared the closest pizza parlour something unusual caught our eyes. Suddenly are carefree afternoon had ended as quickly as it started.
"What's happening over there?" Aisha pointed towards the crowd gathered by the flashing police cars.
"It looks like something big happened." I perked my head up to get a better look at the distressed crowd.
"Come on, let's go check it out," Elsword suggested.
We hurried to the scene. Cries of both children and adults alike resonated from somewhere within the crowd. Elsword and Aisha exchanged worried looks.
"Excuse my ma'am," Elsword poked the orange-haired woman in front of us, she jumped slightly at the contact. "Can you tell us what's going on?" He asked once she had calmed down.
The woman shook her head," those poor people." She wiped her swollen eyes. "D-demons came out of nowhere attacked the museum not too long ago. So far five visitors are reported dead—o-one of which was only a child."
Elsword's face drained of blood," t-thanks." The woman nodded before turning her back on us again.
Aisha tugged Elsword's arm, "Els, we need to do something." She whispered. Elsword nodded in return.
"Yeah, we need to stop those demons." I agreed, blood pounded my ears at the thought of demons rampaging freely through Elder.
"Wow, Ara, slow down there. You are not coming. It's too dangerous." Aisha replied almost instantly.
I glared at the mage," I want to help, Aisha. I'm strong enough to handle myself."
"Well, you can help by keeping these people calm. This is serious and seeing how you fought before you are-"
"She can come." Elsword quickly cut her off. Aisha gawked at his reply.
"She'll get killed." She snapped. "Unlike us, Ara doesn't have the skills nor experience to handle hostile demons."
"The only way she'll learn is to experience it head on." Elsword shot back. "I'm allowing her to come with us."
"But-"
"And that's an order, Aisha." Elsword raised his voice to ensure power and authority were by his side.
Aisha crossed her arms together and cursed under her breath," you're unbelievable, Elsword. If Ara gets killed out there you'll be taking all the blame, I hope you know that."
"We can look out for her," Elsword suggested. "With the two of us by her side, there's no way she'll get hurt, not severely anyways."
Aisha still looked unconvinced by Elsword's claim but she made no effort to protest any further," I hope you know what you're doing, Els."
"I always know what I'm doing."
"Right..." Aisha returned her gaze to me, this time her expression was softened, "please don't do anything crazy out there, Ara. I don't know what we'll do if we lose you out there."
"Of course I'll play it safe. T-thanks for letting me join you guys." I bowed to the two Red Knights. "I promise to try my best out there."
"C'mon, team, we should get going," Elsword ordered. I'll admit, I was quite impressed that he could act so professionally when on the job. Maybe Elsword isn't as childish and annoying as I first thought he was.
We were easily let into the crime scene after Elsword revealed his identity to the police. We carefully navigated around the empty streets, bodies of demons and injured police officers scattered throughout—healers and alchemists hurried around to provide medical assistance.
"I see the museum." Aisha pointed to the large white building ahead of us.
Countless demons stood in front of the building like a dark wall, even from a distance we could see the fierce battle between demon and humans. Magic and bodies were thrown left and right. It was gut wrenching to see how little each fatality meant.
"It's a mess over there." Elsword's jaw tightened.
"We need to help as soon as we can," With a flash of light, Aisha summoned her staff into her right hand. "Is there a plan of attack?"
"We fight as many demons as we can." Elsword drew out his dual swords. "Stay close to each other, things will get crazy pretty quick in there."
With that, we began our advancement toward the fight. I built up some quick momentum before jumping into the air and gliding my way to the demons. At the corner of my eye, I could see the familiar magic circle appear under Aisha, her staff emitted a bright pink aura in return. The mage hopped on her staff like it was a skateboard, flying herself toward our destination.
"Aww man, I wanna fly too," Elsword whined behind us.
"Slowpoke." Aisha glanced back with a toothy grin. Aisha and I both increased our charge toward the fighting. Once we were close enough I leapt up.
Once I was directly above the dark wall I pointed my spear downwards and launched my attack," Falling Dragon!" I dropped down into the crowd. The head of my spear burrowed into the skull of an unsuspecting demon. The aftershock of my attack blew the others surrounding me away.
"Don't be so reckless!" Aisha's voice sounded somewhere on the other side of the demons' wall. "Cyclone!" A purple gust of wind pried open the wall, revealing a very angry Aisha on the other side. The gust of wind circled around me, blowing away any demons that might have been too close.
Aisha charged into the demonic crowd and pressed her back against me, "here's a tip, don't go landing in the middle of a crowd alone! It's dangerous and you're left in a vulnerable position afterwards."
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes while slicing through one of the demons on my right. "If you're stronger than the opponents you'll be fine."
"Sword Fall!" Glowing amber swords, evidently infused with magic, rained down on the demons in front of me. "Remember to stay close, Ara." Elsword sliced through several demons to join us.
"We should keep our backs together," Aisha shouted over the cries of the battle. "Whatever you do don't break away."
"Got it," I replied without taking eyes off my enemies.
The battle raged on for a good amount of time before we began growing tired. I could see why Aisha said to stay close, this way we didn't have to worry about fighting all around us and we just have to worry about the demons coming in front of us. The formation we held fell apart as the wall of demons grew less dense. That was good news for our aching limbs.
"This is crazy," Elsword panted. "Why are these guys attacking anyways?"
I lunged my spear deep into a nearby demon's skull," perhaps they want to take over the city?" I hypothesised.
"Maybe, but why only attack the museum?" Aisha asked while summoning a path of fireballs into the crowd of enemies.
Boom!
The ground beneath us trembled from the deafening explosion. I turned my attention to the white building. Black smoke oozed from the roof of the building, tainting the cerulean sky with its dark hues. Within the curtain of the darkness emerged a golden flying creature, tendrils of black smoke clung onto its body as it moved higher into the air. It resembled a young female, with bird talons as feet, and fanned out wings for arms—a rolled up object was gripped tightly in her right talon.
"Such foolish humans." The creature laughed, shivers crawled down my spine at how close its voice resembled a human's. "This demon army will wipe you all out in due time."
"Come down and fight us, you coward!" Elsword challenged, swinging his sword down on a demon trying to sneak up on him.
The creature turned her head toward us," I would love to play with you, humans, but I have a mission to finish. Children of Elder, your time is almost up. Your piece of the El Shard will be ours very soon."
I felt Aisha and Elsword tensing at the sound of the El Shard. A blazing purple aura engulfed Aisha," come down here and fight us already!" Aisha seethed.
Elsword surrounded himself in a similar red aura," you're not getting away!" He boomed.
The demon laughed at their threats as if they had just told her a joke. That only made Elsword and Aisha aura burn more fiercely, I could feel its heat emanating on my back.
"Unfortunately I must be going now, my Master expects me to return." The creature let out a loud eagle-like cry. I covered my ears from the high-pitched scream, even our enemies seemed to freeze at the sound. "Good bye and have fun with my friend, the Shadow Stinger." The creature soared into the sky until it had disappeared into the endless sea of blue above.
"You're not getting away!" Aisha raised her staff high in the air. "Gust-"
Before she could launch her attack an unseen force blew us all back, even our opponents were affected. I scrambled back up to my feet and averted my eyes back on the building. Clouds of dust and gravel rose from the newly formed entrance on the building but it wasn't enough to shield the attacker from us. I could feel my jaw dropping at the sight of a large figure emerging from the smoke. The demon looked like an oversized meatball with unusually bulky arms dragging behind it, glowing orange markings gave the creature its facial features, and its body was covered in countless spikes. The demon let out a loud cry before trampling over its helpless enemies.
I felt my legs melting into useless puddles at the sight of such a massive foe.
No, we can't give up now. A small voice at the back of my head screamed. We're stronger than this, we can take this demon on.
"W-we need to retreat." Elsword sheathed his dual swords, his red aura diminishing into thin air. "W-we're in no condition to fight that meatball."
Did he just say we were going to retreat?
"I agree." Aisha ran her hand through her tangled hair, her aura vanished as Elsword's did.
How could they just let that thing wander? It doesn't matter if they aren't skilled at dealing with it, they're Red Knights and it should be their job to deal with demons. They should be running up to that thing and risking their lives for their city. Do they even care for Elder?
"Let's go. We need to leave this to the higher class knights." Elsword pulled on my arm.
I clenched my teeth together and plunged my spear into the ground, the cement ground cracked under my blade," how can you retreat when this thing can kill everyone here?" I pulled my arm out of his grip "I thought you guys were Red Knights. You should be running out there and protecting the city with your life."
"We're still protecting the city just it's not in the way you think we are; we're still considered rookies." Elsword darted his eyes at the enemy behind me. "L-look we need to leave this to other people-"
"Oh? When will those other people show up?" I challenged. "When that thing has trampled over more of the city? When the casualties increase?"
"Ara, we have to wait for the more experienced knights to show." Aisha's eyes darted between the demon and our escape route. "Stop being so stubborn and retreat with us. Y-you aren't even supposed to be here and yet we let you come! Can you try and listen to someone for once?!"
I opened my mouth to protest but I no longer had words left to defend my actions, my anger refused to let me stand idle while the colossal demon reigned chaos down on Elder" you guys can retreat." I turned myself around and yanked my spear out from the ground. "I'm going to fight. I will not allow anyone else die because of a demon attack."
Before Aisha could reply I went running off toward the white building. I dug my feet into the ground and sprung into the air, landing on the damaged roof—the demon's back was now facing me. I charged at the demon and leapt into the air. I point my spear down and dropped. I held my breath as my spear drew closer to my target, I could hear Elsword and Aisha's voices calling for me but the wind blasting in my ears drowned their words out.
The spikes on its back suddenly stretched out. I cried in pain as one of them impaled me on my left shoulder. I was pushed back and fell onto the rock hard roof. The demon laughed at my failed attack, the ground seemed to tremble at its booming voice.
"Don't give up," I whispered to myself. "I'm no longer a helpless little girl, I can fight and protect people now." I used my spear to help myself up. Aside from a few bruises and the hole embedded on my shoulder, it didn't seem like I had sustained any serious injuries, though my burning left shoulder would say otherwise.
"Shadoweave!" I threw my spear toward the demon, the instant the weapon made contact a ring of dark energy erupted from its blade and bounded the target.
I stretched my arm out, opening my empty palm, to which my spear responded by returning to my hand, the dark energy surging from it dragged my target along with it. By the time my weapon had returned to my outstretched arm the demon had been dragged till it was merely few centimetres away from me. Without a moment of hesitation, I unleashed the final slash just as another spike impaled me.
I clenched my teeth as the spike reentered my opened wound, a surge of energy released from the spike which sent flying back once more. The abrupt impact forced the spear out of my hand.
I cried in pain as I landed head first on the rock hard surface. My senses blurred into one big mesh but I didn't need them to know I was still in trouble. The surface beneath me trembled and even in my disoriented state I could still comprehend the thundering footsteps heading my way.
Hope instantly diminished from my world at my attempt to move my unresponsive body, every fibre of my being had seemed to given up on escape and survival. After a few more struggles I simply gave up on trying to move and braced myself for death to finally accept me.
I am sorry I have failed you, Mother and Father. I squeezed my burning eyes shut as my heart hammered feverishly against my rib cage. In the end, I didn't avenge your deaths and I did not find my brother. I'm sorry to have failed you, Aren.
Relax, Daughter of the Haan Family. I will take care of this.
The familiar voice made images from that fateful day surge through my head, but before I could comprehend who's voice that was my mind went blank.
