Aisha: *Sitting impatiently* Where is Mei? Didn't she tell us to meet because the chapter was finished early?
Eve: Affirmative. It has been approximately thirty minutes since the agreed meeting time.
Elsword: *Walks towards the door* That's it. I'm leaving. Tell me when she gets he-
Me: *Slams open the door* I'm here! Sorry I'm late. Had some more editing to- oops... *Finally sees Elbrat squeezed between the door and wall*
Elsword: ...Ow...
Me: ...I actually don't feel sorry for him. Well, as I was saying, I completed the chapter a few days early so here it is! I do not own Elsword and I hope you enjoy! Oh right, WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS ALL FIGHTING AND WE KNOW HOW MUCH I STINK AT THAT... Please don't kill me. I don't know why but I did a weird writing style at the end.
The Esper and the Fox
Chapter 4: Sweet Revenge
Ara's POV
The arrow had struck the cat right through its back. I was speechless. A new friend, killed. I've only known Hope for less than ten minutes.
No. No, I echoed in my head. No, this can't be.
I wanted to cry right then and there, letting free my tears but it seemed life wouldn't allow it. More arrows came in my direction. I leaped away. As I hit the ground once more I spun to face my attackers.
Demons, at least twenty of them. What intrigued me the most though, was the demon that seemed to be the boss of the group. The demon was slightly bigger and lightly armored. He wore metal wrist guards over black fingerless gloves along with brown boots, and black pants. He wielded a white and brown bow and hid his eyes behind an eagle beak hood.
Proxy.
I've heard rumors about him, a glitter archer with quick reflexes and a surprising level of agility. His shots were said to be quite accurate, although I doubt he's as skilled as an elven archer. Heck, one was hunting me while I was in fox form and that was definitely not fun!
I was snapped out of the terrible memory when I heard laughter originating from the elite demon.
"Are you lost little girl?" he asked in a mocking tone.
The other demons cackled at me.
"So sorry that I killed your cat. It was precious wasn't it?" he sneered.
I lowered my head to further hide my eyes and clenched my fists, creating indents in my palm. I gritted my teeth to prevent a roar of anger.
How dare he! That cat deserves to live! Hope deserves better!
I was enveloped by light-the warmth was quite comforting. Once it faded into a small glow, I had changed once again.
The bow in my hair was gone and my black locks had turned pure white. White fox ears appeared on my head. The sweater vanished, revealing the clothes I had concealed underneath it. My nails were the same-long and claw-like-and I had sprouted nine ivory tails in place of the ribbons of black and white cloth. My cheeks had cherry facial markings on them, three on each cheek. But what silenced the demons and sent shivers up their spines was the stare I shot them. By now both my eyes should be a shade of vermilion. In the previous crimes committed, my eyes held hesitation and regret but now they gleamed with bloodlust.
Why would I show mercy to those that clearly couldn't care less for the weak and helpless?
I extended my right arm to the right and unclenched my fist. A long, thin shadow, almost my height appeared in front of my outstretched hand. The shadow solidified, revealing a menacing spear in which I grasped.
The demons seemed to rethink their actions as I got into a battle stance. Not even waiting for the vile creatures to ready themselves, I leaped into the air. My current form- I call it the celestial fox form- increased my swiftness and fox-like reflexes even more, which should allow me to dispose of these demons in no time. As I descended, I swept my spear in an upward motion in midair, halting my fall. Then, I dove diagonally downward, feet first, summoning a phantom claw at the tip of my toes once I hit the floor. The claw sent some of the demons, which had foolishly stayed in a group, a foot or two above ground, allowing me to slide underneath the mob and strike them upwards with another phantom claw, this time originating from the swipe of my hand. I continued to injure them with a barrage of attacks. There was no hesitation. No mercy or regret as I stabbed yet another glitter archer in the abdomen. Of course, I didn't stop there, no. I would cut them up-chop off an arm, a leg, even beheading them, their terrified expressions forever frozen on their faces. They'll die slowly of blood loss. If they don't, I'll toy with them a little more. A sadistic grin replaced the angry scowl on my face as I twisted my spear in various ways and thrust it at the back of a few glitter defenders. By now they had found the common sense to split up.
"Spell: Thunder," I shouted as I jumped, landing on the ground and injuring the nearby enemies with pillars of thunder. I repeated the process of violently slashing and clawing at them. Only this time, my attacks were followed by a surge of thunder.
How does it feel?
How does it feel to die?
How does it feel to be helpless?
How does it feel to SUFFER!?
Arrows flew towards me in all directions. I batted them away with a simple slash from a phantom claw. Glitter spearmen pointed their spears at me and charged. Please, you honestly think that is going to work, I mentally scoffed, still maintaining my evil grin. They were wide open. I ran at them then jumped in the air, performing a flip, before landing behind them. Taking advantage of their confusion, I spun once, landing on the ground.
"Mana drain!" I shouted as a wave of spirit energy damaged the glitter spearmen, stealing mana from two of them. I stabbed at the glitters, ducking and jumping to avoid spear and arrowheads, the annoying shields of the glitter defenders were no help whatsoever.
"Tch, I've had enough of this," I whispered in annoyance.
The surviving demons all stood in front of me, some farther away than others, but that didn't matter much.
I start spinning towards the demons with my spear, gaining momentum after the first few twirls. By now I had closed the distance between some of the remaining demons. After one last spin, I did a high kick, unleashing a phantom claw at a demon in front of me and swiftly followed up with another attack.
Exorcism Stance 2: "Specter Restraint!" A ghostly claw pulled the demons closer with a motion of my hand. Without a second to lose I continued.
Stance 3: "Shadoweave!" I altered my stance, bending my knees, and threw my spear in front of my. With the help of shadow spirits, the spear, engulfed in a dark aura, spun rapidly like a frisbee. It whirled forward, catching demons in its path, even the ones that were meters away. Finally, it spun backwards, returning to my hand.
Stance 4: "Darkness Sever!" Once again, I bent my knees and leaned forward before swiftly charging at the demons. I skewered them with my spear, passing them with an incredible speed.
Secret Exorcism Arts: "Night Parade of One Hundred Souls!" In the blink of an eye I teleported. I appeared in midair above the last demon I skewered as a black symbol appeared below me, covering a huge portion of the passage floor. I landed, hitting the ground with as much force as I could muster. As my feet touched the stone, I released an eruption of numerous souls. The eruption sent the demons meters above the ground. When the skill was finished, gravity took over, sending the glitters downwards. They landed with a sickening, yet satisfying crack.
I surveyed the passageway. Dead and severely injured demons littered the stone floor, some with joints twisted at awkward angles. Normally this would have sickened me. I would have felt nausea by now, but not at the moment.
They killed Hope. They killed a cat, a stray one. They took the life of a helpless animal. It only wanted to be happy, to be loved, but they took it away! No hesitation, no regret, no mercy.
I stabbed a demon lying injured on the ground. It screamed. I twisted my spear and pushed it deeper into the demon's body. Another scream, but no one will come. We were way to deep underground for anyone to hear, and far away from the entrance. However, I took precautions and muffled the monster, wanting it to suffer more.
The screaming that would have tortured my mind was now music to my ears. The blood that had once made me vomit now made me smile. The death that lingered in the air now seemed more like heaven than the hell it used to be.
The demon stopped screaming. The creature didn't even twitch.
"Oh how disappointing. It died already," I stated with a frown.
As I was moving on to the next demon, an arrow grazed my shoulder.
"Hm?" I hummed as I faced the direction the arrow came from. It seems that I had missed one. The arrow had come from the elite demon himself, Proxy. Despite his squad killed, he wore a smirk in his face. He hardly had any injuries. There were scratches here and there but nothing severe. I mentally cursed at forgetting to keep track of their leader.
As Proxy prepared another arrow, I lunged at him. He released it, and I easily evaded it.
Ara, you must make this quick. I cannot keep you in this form much longer, Eun spoke.
Tch, I wanted to play with them more. Fine.
I continued to rush at him. Before he could nock another arrow, I jumped, flipping in midair before landing behind him. I prepared to stab him but he flipped backwards. My spear pierced the empty space where he originally stood. Dammit.
I ran at him again as he shot yet another arrow. Does he really think I'm that stupid?
The arrow came sailing towards me but I jumped above it. While I was in mid air, the arrow multiplied, resulting in a total of three, with one coming my way. Fuck.
Acting on a whim, I swiped my spear upward in midair before crashing down with one leg extended outward. The impact sent an upward swipe of a phantom claw, deflecting two of the arrows. The third was coming towards my head as I ducked at the last second. It cut a strand of black hair but missed my skull. I wasn't given any time to rest, for Proxy send more arrows in my direction.
"Tch," I narrowed my eyes as I charged once again.
His shots were quite precise but I managed to evade them. As I was closing in on him, he nocked another arrow. I smirked, thinking I could dodge it easily. I was proven wrong when I discovered too late that that he was preparing more than one arrow. The attack was unavoidable because of my jump earlier to dodge what I previously thought would be one arrow.
With a flourish, he released a string of arrows, vertically in a circular range, similar to that of a machine gun.
"Shoot," I grit my teeth, trying to formulate an escape, but to no avail. Right as I was about to risk deflecting as many arrows as possible with my spear, something within my mind clicked.
Hmm, I may waste more mana than necessary but it'll be worth it, hopefully.
"Spell: Aerial Blades!" I chanted.
I spun multiply times in mid air and, while doing so, created spirit blades which surrounded me. During my last twirl, they flew in all directions as my enemy's arrows came closer. As predicted, the blades deflected the arrows. Some even hit Proxy. I batted away any stray ones that escaped the initial attack and, taking advantage of the distraction, charged.
I'll finish this in one move.
Phantom Fox Stance 2: "Discordance!"
I rush forward, going past the demon, backwards to my original location, and then forward again, slicing him with phantom claws.
The glitter fell with a thud against the hard stone floor. I smiled as he attempted, but failed, to stand. I strode towards him, picking up an arrow he had shot, and examined it. It'll do.
I switched the spear to my left hand and the arrow to my right. I got closer, until I was standing at the side of his fallen figure. He suddenly jerked up. Ejecting a blade from his sleeve, he lunged at me, only to lose his footing and stab at the air. He got down to his hands and knees, refusing to collapse.
With one swift motion, I kicked him in the stomach. Proxy crumbled to the ground. I kicked him again, flipping him onto his back. He struggled to flee but the resistance was futile.
Before the demon could struggle further, I stabbed the arrow through his chest, right where his heart was located. Blood splattered-the delightful black blood of the demon commander who killed Hope. I relished this blood. The blood that smeared my hands and splattered on my face. The blood that stained my clothing. The blood of revenge.
I had lost it.
I chuckled. That chuckle soon became a mirthless laugh. The laugh increased in volume, slowly becoming tainted by insanity.
I had lost it.
The laughing eventually mixed with tears, tears I could no longer hold. I began to sob silently. I can never let it all out.
I wanted to scream, but my fear of being discovered kept me from doing so.
"I did it," I cried in between sobs.
"I did it Hope. I avenged you. Are you happy?"
I stood up, straightening my knees to raise myself up, but then... Zing!
"Huh?" I stopped and unexpectedly fell to the ground. Pain was originating from my lower back. I gently touched it, only to return with scarlet blood on my fingertips. My blood. My hand shook and my eyes widened. I slowly turned my head as far back as possible, peering behind me.
A demon.
One was still conscious. Severely injured and laying sprawled on the ground, but alive. It barely mustered enough strength to keep its hold on the bow. I drew my attention towards my back. Despite my vision being painted with black dots and tears, I could see the cause.
An arrow.
There was an arrow digging into my flesh. Every movement sent pain coursing through my body.
My apologies, Ara.
A flash.
A flash blinded my eyes for a moment. Nothing happened. My head was still turned, facing behind me.
A tail.
A reddish-orange tail tipped with black waved weakly behind me. I turned my head so I faced forward and stared at where my spear should be. It wasn't there.
A voice.
A voice echoed in my head.
I could hold you human form no longer.
I see-well, actually I couldn't. Eun had brought me back to fox form taking my human body and spear with her. The black spots that invaded my vision multiplied rapidly. I struggled to remain conscious.
You need to rest, little one.
...Perhaps I should.
No one would think twice about one injured fox in the midst of-how many demons was it? Oh who cares. I probably won't live anyways. The entrance was well hidden. Even if someone did find me, I would be long dead.
My eyes shut once more, as I succumbed to the darkness. I did it Hope. I did it.
A feeling.
There was a feeling. Before I entirely fell into the depths of unconsciousness, I felt something. I could no longer feel the ground. It was as if it gave way below me. But I wasn't experiencing the sensation of falling. Instead I felt as if I was rising.
A warmth.
There was warmth in place of cold stone.
What was it?
I wanted to open my eyes one last time but it was too late to escape the abyss. The last thing I felt before I went inactive was that warmth. The last thing I thought was…
A soul.
No, wait. Impossible. How?
Me: So...What do you think? Is Ara too OOC? My next chapter will most likely be late due to VERY important tests with the addition of homework and procrastination, of course. I'm most likely doing Add's POV for the next chap, but if you want Ara's POV then give me a reason, a good reason.
Review Time!
Guest: Hiparquia-Thanks! I have no idea what your third sentence meant, but thanks! XD
VeteranNeko-*Pats back* I feel you (lol).
NemesisDrive-Here's your next chappie and thanks! As for when Add will notice Ara... I have no idea. I usually come up with a general plot and go with it. It will probably happen later than sooner(if that makes sense).
rtcarawa-Yay! New chapter! Agreed, there were some great cosplays. Strangely, and sadly, most of the pictures I took were of characters I didn't even know(this goes to show how much more anime I need to watch).
Western-Otaku-Thanks! Don't worry, sometimes, all we can do is give virtual hugs. ;-;
Quinxes-Well, I'll try, but don't expect much from me. Yes, the poor kitty. I was planning to have Ara bury it but then this idea came up, sorry.
Red x Mist-Thanks, don't expect much. I find it hard get the right personalities. Add is especially hard. Ara, I think it's the sad experiences that are the hardest.
KeitaroHigurashi-O.O Holy El. I am surprised you happened to find this story. I'm not an experienced writer (as you can tell) but I think your Elsword story is AMAZING! I hope you update it soon and thanks for your feedback. Now that I think about it I could have gave Hope a second purpose. It was mainly just to show Ara's loneliness. Not making any promises that Add will help anytime soon but we'll see. Once again, thanks!
FriFriFurretbell-I'll try, but this chapter is probably not so good. I have absolutely no idea what you mean by the format but thanks? XD
Me: Well that's a lot of reviews.
Add: So. Ara's a sadist.
Me: Yup! I mean, no. I mean,...Wait wha? Why me?! Ask Ara yourself!
Ara(Eun): Sorry, mortal but Ara is currently...Sulking, as you would say. If you don't mind, I would like to talk to Add.
Me: *Steps aside* Oh, go straight ahead... um, may I call you Eun?
Ara(Eun): You may. *Summons spear* Now pest, let us talk.
Me: Well bye for now!
