SPECTRUM
By MargaritaDaemonelix
Chapter 3
It's a double-edged sword, being able to sleep in a little more.
Back home in Ruben, you woke up every morning at the crack of dawn to get to work, and then spent the day feeling your every limb crack under the pressure of labour. The past week has been tiring, but mornings in Feita start at seven thirty precisely, which gives you anywhere between one and two and half hours of extra sleep.
You're tempted to open your eyes when light peeps into your room. It would save you the agony later. The temptation isn't enough to overpower the warm cocoon of your bed, though, and you bury your face into your pillow, hoping to escape the wakeup call.
"WAKE UP, WAKE UP ROOSTER! WE'RE ALL READY FOR YOUR COCKLE-DOODLE-DOOO!"
Your sister is still as merciless as she was before the rebellions.
As you curl up shivering, Elesis laughs and tosses aside your blanket. "Morning, Els," she says. Her hair is frizzy and she's still wearing her flame-patterned pajamas, which means she got out of bed just to wake you up. "Seven thirty, time to get up."
"Can't I get a grace period to wake up?" You groan, flipping your pillow over and trying to cover yourself with it.
Elesis chuckles and rips the pillows out of your hands. "Not happening, Els." You open your eyes just in time to see her poke her fingers into your sides.
You sit right up in bed. "I'm fine!" You yelp, trying to blink the dark spots out of your eyes. "Holy fuck, Elsa, don't do that to me."
"Language, young man," she warns, her eyes suddenly darkening. "I know you're cranky when someone forces you to wake up in the mornings, but I'm still your older sister."
"Elsa, I'm turning twenty in a few months," you remind her.
"This is my house and I make the rules," she says, sticking her tongue out at you as she leaves the room. As a final act of goodwill, she turns the light on.
It takes a few minutes of sitting mindlessly on the bed for you to adjust to the light. Most of your clothes are still in your apartment back home in Ruben. You've been told it hasn't been cleared out yet, since technically you're just "visiting Elesis in Feita", but no one is risking venturing into Ruben again to pick up your clothes.
You've bought some new clothes to replace your old ones, though. Feita's clothing shops are a lot more design-oriented than Ruben, but the clothes you bought are still fairly simple. You tug on a black t-shirt with a red runic design and a pair of plain blue jeans before standing up.
At least your sister remembers to sweep the floor. Out of all the things you've forgotten to buy, it had to be socks. Over the past few days though, you've taken up Elesis' habit of walking barefoot in the house. There's no Aisha to be barking around at you, after all.
Speaking of Aisha, you haven't seen her since she dragged Allegro off to the archives on Sunday afternoon. Allegro later confronted you about it, assuring you that he's not interested in her and has a girlfriend already. You don't really know what to make of his words.
You trudge downstairs from your designated bedroom to the first floor, where Rena and Raven are having breakfast. Both of them have protested against Elesis letting all four of you crash at her house, but she's got more than enough rooms(no one knows why, considering she lives by herself) and the kitchen doesn't seem to be too small to hold the guests.
"Good morning, Elsword," greets Rena cheerfully. "Did you have a good night's sleep?"
"Mostly," you grumble, pointedly glaring at your sister. She shrugs innocently and goes right back to spreading chocolate spread on her toast. "Except someone decided it would be a nice idea to taser me."
Raven snorts into his coffee mug. "We heard the screaming."
You ignore him and the smirk on your sister's face. "Has Aisha left already?" You ask, grabbing a random mug from the shelf and opening the fridge. Feita sells milk in bags, so your sister always puts the pitcher on the fridge door. Bags. Somehow the bag does not tip over or spill in the pitcher as it stands. You pour yourself a mug, though. Somehow it tastes sweeter than the milk in the plastic jugs back home in Ruben.
"Yeah. She's helping Lento and Allegro sort out a mess in the market," says Elesis. "Though I did tell them to return her to us by nine. I need to call a meeting."
"Did something happen?" Asks Rena. You don't understand how she could be eating a salad for breakfast, but apparently it's something vegetarians do.
Elesis nods. "I got a message from… A friend. Last night. At two a.m." She groans as she puts her head in her hands. "Didn't get a wink of sleep afterwards."
At least it explains why she was up at seven thirty to wake you up. You pat her on the back and edge the chocolate spread out of her hands. Unhealthy or not, that stuff is heavenly. You spread it across your toast liberally, deliberately ignoring your sister's glare. You're going to enjoy it while you can.
As you fold the toast and take a huge bite out of it, Elesis begins to go over her plans for the day. She does most of the planning in the evenings before she goes to sleep, with Aisha and occasionally Allegro helping her. "Alright. Raven, the folks in the market are done cleaning up," she dictates, reading off her phone as she sips her coffee. "I'm getting requests for some help down in the power generators, though. Think you can handle it?"
"Sure," says Raven, downing the last of his coffee and getting up to wash the mug.
"Rena, after you check on Lento's back, can you speak to Vivace?" Elesis pauses. You remember hearing that Vivace's father got crushed by a falling building when the bomb dropped. "She hasn't spoken to me in days. I really hope she's alright."
"Will do." Rena grabs the stack of dirty plates from breakfast, along with the spatula still covered in chocolate. You snatch it back and stick it in your mouth as she turns to wash them next to Raven. "I'm thinking baked cabbage for dinner?"
Elesis makes a gagging face behind her back. "Please, no cabbage," she pleads. "I can't have too many vegetables in my system, I'm going to die from the vegetables."
You can't help but agree with her. Sure, your mother can make a nice stew out of any type of vegetable, but you need meat. Rena's vegetarian habits have probably rubbed off on Raven, who looks like this is normal. "It's not normal cabbage," assures Rena. "I found a shop that sells Sanderian cabbages. We call them nappa cabbages in Velder. Do you have a casserole dish?"
"Yes, but I've never used it." Elesis thinks for a moment. "I think Lento put it in the cabinet in the corner, but I can't be sure."
"Up or down?" Asks Rena.
"Probably the upper cabinet."
She reaches up and opens the cabinet. "Bingo," she says, zeroing in on the casserole dish. "Raven, dear, can you reach it for me please?"
"Only if you promise to never call me dear again," he mutters, but he moves to the corner and hoists the dish out of the cabinet, along with three packages of super spicy instant noodles hidden in the dish. "Here you go. I'm assuming you want me to put these back."
Before your sister can speak, Rena whirls on them both, looking furious. "Why do you have these horrid things in your house?" She demands, snatching the packages away from Raven. "Do you know how much preservative goes into a serving of instant noodles? For shame, Elesis!"
You hightail it out of the kitchen before Rena can unleash her mother chicken rage on you too. Elesis gives you the evil eye while you abscond up the stairs and she endures Rena's lecture. You return to your room and grab the damp socks you washed and hung up to dry last night. They're a little chilly when you tug them on, but they'll have to do.
Your sister is still trying to defend her love for instant noodles to Rena, who has now moved onto the argument that eating too much spice can cause one to grow pimples. You grab your backpack and your new red hoodie from the closet by the door, step into your shoes, and slip out the door as Raven tries to pull Rena off Elesis.
You blew nearly three hundred on clothes the other day, but the food around these parts isn't really expensive. You wander around the market, which is starting to come to life while you pass by. Shops open as you walk down the street, like a wave of opening doors following you. The telltale clacking of opening shutters crackles through the alley.
A familiar speck of purple in the corner of your eye prompts you to turn around. You find Aisha sitting in a small alcove, sipping coffee as she reads the morning paper on the tablet she bought once she got settled into Feita.
"Morning, Grape," you tell her, walking over and sitting down on the bench beside her. "Weren't you supposed to help Lento and Allegro with something?"
"We're done with that," she says, swirling the paper cup in one hand to cool it down. "Did you hear about what happened in Altera?"
You shake your head no, which she sees in the reflection of her tablet and sighs in reply to. "It was all over the news both last night and today," she says. "Commander Nasod held a soiree on Saturday evening. The hot new thing is that Lady Evangeline Nasod and her bodyguard skipped out of Altera while the thing was happening."
She smirks when your jaw drops. "That's not all," she says nonchalantly. "Rumours are that Lady Nasod's fiance was arrested in the aftermath of the escape for assisting the two of them." She chucks back the last of her coffee. "I heard that they're joining the rebellion force."
"The El Party," you recall, from one of your sister's meetings. "Speaking of which, Elesis is holding a meeting at-"
"At nine, I know," says Aisha. "We still have about forty-five minutes."
"Are you just going to sit here and drink your coffee?" You ask as she swirls around her cup again, shaking up the last crumbly grinds. "Buy a new coffee and then just sit here?"
"No, dumbass," she grumbles, turning off her tablet and shoving it in her bag. "I'm going looking for food."
"Where?" You wince immediately afterwards. Right. Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
Aisha gives you a dumbfounded stare before gesturing outside the alcove. "Um, hello? We're kinda in a market," she says, tossing her cup into a garbage can not far from your seat. "Come with me. I found a place that sells okonomiyaki."
Before you can ask what okonomiyaki is, Aisha has grabbed your wrist and is dragging you through the city market, passing by a group of schoolchildren rushing to buy the first batch of donut holes in the morning. An old woman takes your seat in the alcove as you and Aisha slip between carts and people and streets. The world around you lights up in a warm red glow that you've come to accept as home these past few days.
Finally, she stops at a small shop that's just opening up. "Good morning, Alto," she greets.
"Morning, Aisha!" Replies the shop owner, smiling warmly as they grab a pen from a nearby cup and a notepad. "What can I get you?"
"Two bacon okonomiyaki, please," she says, eyes sparkling.
Alto jots down the order before ripping it out of the notepad and sticking it on a peg behind them. "Forty dollars, please."
Aisha reaches into her purse and retrieves a fifty note. "Do you have change?" She asks.
They don't. While they go into the back of the shop to find a ten dollar bill, Aisha turns to you. "Okonomiyaki is a snack food from Sander," she explains. "It's mainly made of cabbage and egg, but once you put some bacon in it-" She starts jittering up and down. "Eeee! I love okonomiyaki!"
Your mind flashes back to Rena's offer to make baked cabbage tonight, and your stomach lurches. "Sure," you manage.
Alto returns with both servings of okonomiyaki(you have to pronounce each syllable out individually) and a ten dollar bill, which they hand to Aisha. As the two of you walk away with a warm paper plate each, Alto waves enthusiastically. "See you soon!"
You squint at the okonomiyaki. It's just a cabbage pancake, drizzled in some barbeque sauce-like concoction and mayonnaise, topped with what seems like seaweed flakes and… Tree bark? "Do you really expect me to eat this?" You tell her incredulously as the two of you sit down at a bench in a small park. "Is that paper or tree bark?"
"Neither," she says, digging into the okonomiyaki with her fork. "They're bonito flakes. Try it."
As much as you hate to do it, you follow her lead, using your fork to cut a piece of okonomiyaki out and scooping it up. A tiny sliver of seaweed falls to your feet as you taste it.
"Well?" Aisha's smirk of triumph tells you she can see the blatant smile on your face. "How is it?"
"I should have more tree bark in my diet if it tastes this good," you comment, shrugging as you start shovelling the rest of the pancake into your mouth. Maybe it's because you've never lived outside Ruben before, but this is some good food. Between the smoke of the bacon and the crunch of the cabbage, you've honestly never had anything so good before.
"I know," she says, watching you eat while she enjoys her own slowly. "Wait till you have takoyaki."
Both of you continue to eat the okonomiyaki, until Aisha's tablet suddenly beeps. "What could it be?" She wonders, pulling it out of her bag and pulling up the message.
BH(9:16): WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU
BH(9:16) AND BRING BACK MY BROTHER WE KNOW YOU'VE ELOPED
Aisha makes a strangled noise beside you. "The meeting was supposed to start at nine," she squawks, shoving the tablet back into her bag and dusting herself off. "Let's go!"
The two of you tear back through the market, into the residential sector, and back into the street where Elesis lives. Rena is standing at the door, looking like she just won the lottery jackpot. "So you two did elope," she says, sounding amused. "Did you enjoy your honeymoon?"
"We didn't elope!" Shrieks Aisha, pushing her aside and scrambling indoors. "Let's just go in and have the meeting, like we're supposed to!"
You follow her in, ignoring Rena's snickering and Raven's mildly amused chuckle while you take off your shoes at the entrance. "Your sister is not going to be happy with you," warns Raven. "She already took the brute force of Rena's lecture."
Lento and Allegro are already at the dinner table, the former peeling an orange from the fruit platter and the latter hugging a tablet to his chest. Elesis is sitting at the head of the table with her face in her hands. "Did I not say specifically to you that I called a meeting at nine?" She groans as you and Aisha take your seats on opposite ends of the table. Rena hands a stack of papers to her. "Thanks Rena."
She stands up. "Aight, kids," she says, slamming her hands down on the table. The platter of fruits shakes a little. "So as you've probably heard by now, Lady Evangeline Nasod left the Altera Plateau with her bodyguard. A friend of a friend of mine says she was in contact with someone outside the plateau who informed her of the bombing last week." She flips the page over. You realize she's holding an outline in her hands. "She holed herself up in her room for a day, allowing no one but her bodyguard in and out of her room."
"Two nights ago, Commander Adam Nasod held a soiree in commemoration of the launch of the Morpheus Project," continues Lento. "Our two escapees reportedly created a lockdown of the Altera Core to travel down fifty stories. Commander Nasod authorized the use of a force field built around the Core, which held them in temporarily until one of our allies working on the inside were able to get them out."
"That's where the problem lies," frets your sister. "Lady Nasod and her bodyguard were able to escape the Altera Plateau, but they dropped off the edge into Elder. One of our allies was supposed to escort them to us, but…" She winces. "Long story short, if she doesn't focus on her other job first, the entire rebellion falls to pieces."
"So basically we need someone to go to Elder, find Lady Nasod and her bodyguard, and bring them back here," says Raven. "Shouldn't be too bad."
"I'll go," says Rena automatically, standing up. "I've known Eve and Chung for a long time. I'll be able to find them in a crowd immediately."
Chung? Eve?
"You will do nothing of the sort," snaps Elesis, gently pushing her back down into her seat by the shoulder. "Remember, Commander Nasod still has an arrest warrant on your head. If he's out looking for his sister and you bump into him, we instantaneously lose you. You're staying here."
"Wait."
Aisha's eyes are full of fire when she makes eye contact with you. You know she heard what you heard, and she's just as concerned. "Did you say Chung?" she says incredulously.
"Yes," says Rena, narrowing her eyes. "Why?"
"Rena, we need you to answer truthfully," you tell her, pronouncing each word slowly. "Do Chung and Eve go by TacticalTrooper99 and BattleSeraph01 online?"
Her eyes widen in realization. "Yes," she gasps. "And-"
Aisha flashes her a weak grin. "Hey, nice to meet you," she says, sitting back down. "I'm ElementalMaster33, and this here is RuneSlayer12."
The entire table sits in silence for a moment. Raven looks ridiculously confused, like he's never heard of this before in his life. Lento opens his mouth to speak, then closes it. Your sister's jaw is dangling wide open, like she's unable to comprehend what's going on.
Then Allegro does the one thing he can do.
"Uh, hi," he says, standing up and shaking your hand and Aisha's. "I'm DiscoApothecary45."
No one speaks. Aisha makes a gurgling noise as she tries to comprehend his words. Allegro's shy smile melts off his face as he awkwardly sits back down. There are tears streaming down Rena's face.
Your sister has other plans. She explodes like an aerosol can over the table, hooting in laughter as she grabs your shoulder and starts shaking you uncontrollably. "Unbelievable," she gasps, brushing the hair out of her face as she collapses over the table again. "I can't believe you fucking nerds know each other over a video game."
You've only faced DiscoApothecary45-well, Allegro-maybe five times in the arena, and every time he's kicked your ass. Aisha has had a bit more luck with him-half the forum went batshit crazy when she threw a wild combo at him during an elimination tournament and came in first place.
"Not many people in Feita actually play," he explains as you pack a bag in your room. After her laughing fit ended, Elesis decided to send both you and Aisha to rendezvous with Eve and Chung. Allegro has been following the two of you around during your briefing, quietly waiting for his chance to speak to you. "Because the Elrios dollar is… kinda weak right now… I hacked in a few hundred bucks worth of K-ching and spent most of it on gear and amulets for upgrades.
"I will admit that I did spend at least two hundred on costumes, though," he says with a shiteating grin. "Got all the pieces I wanted and sold all the rest at affordable prices on the board. Gave my guildie a Royal Blood crown because it didn't fit the rest of my outfit."
"I've only ever spent twenty dollars on this game," says Aisha, walking in with a bag slung over her shoulder. "You remember when they had the dance costumes? I still have a set."
"She panicked because the dance wouldn't work," you supply. "I put the command in caps and it worked fine."
Aisha pouts. "The costume description didn't say to put it in caps," she mutters, tossing open your bag and rifling through the contents. "God, did you not buy more socks? We might have to trek through a forest to find Eve and Chung, y'know!"
"I don't exactly have the time or the money to buy extra socks!" You protest, snatching your bag away from her. "I already packed everything I need, I don't need you to tell me what to pack!"
Allegro shrinks as he quietly slides towards the door. "I'll leave you two to… Whatever it is you're doing." He coughs softly as he slips out. "I'm sorry if I'm being… Disruptive."
The two of you sit in silence on your bed as the door closes behind him. "That was… Awkward," you mutter as you redo the buckles on your backpack.
Aisha glares at you from the other side of the bed. "Have some tact, Cherry!" She snaps. "Great, you've literally scared off the best player on the EL server. How am I supposed to survive an entire fucking mission with you?"
The door slams open, causing both of you to jump in your seats and turn to Rena. She looks mildly amused as she stands in the doorway, a suspicious paper package in her hands. "Keep your door open, you two," she chides, striding in and sitting on the bed next to you. "We don't want any, ah, unproductive incidents, do we now?"
You can't bring yourself to make eye contact with her or Aisha as you shake your head furiously. "We're heading out now!" Aisha says quickly, standing up and dusting off her skirt. "Is there anything else we're missing?"
"Well, Elesis told me to deliver this," says Rena, shoving the package into your hands. You unwrap it to find three pairs of black socks, still perfectly packaged. "Have fun!"
She skips right out again, giggling and glowing as she disappears around the corner. You get up as you pull apart the bindings on the socks, scattering plastic and paper bits across the floor. "Time to get going," you tell Aisha as you tug on a pair of new socks, marvelling at how soft and warm and dry they are.
"Yeah," she replies absentmindedly, picking at her gloves. Rena gave her a healing balm for her hands a few days ago, but she can't seem to keep the bandages on. "Time to go."
A lot of the Feitan citizens seem to be peering out the window as you and Aisha begin your solemn parade out of the city. Between the spring chill and the shadows of the now lifeless residential sector of the city, your procession feels more like a funeral than it does the beginning of a quest. You pass by an old lady, who does an Ishmael bearing before clasping her hands together in silent prayer, and a small child who bursts into tears when you and Aisha turn around a corner.
Elesis, Rena and Raven join you when you reach the market. "Remember, don't scare them," frets Rena, rifling through both your bag and Aisha's. "And speak nothing of the rebellion to anyone except them, and don't talk about the rebellion unless you're a hundred percent sure that no one's listening!"
"Rena, I'm sure their bags are fine," says Raven, gently pulling her off Aisha's back and putting her taser back into the discreet side pocket. "Just get them and come back as quickly as you can, alright? We have faith in you."
"And don't forget, it's okay to be a little violent," says your sister, smirking as she ruffles your hair. "Worst case scenario, kick 'em in the nuts and bolt the fuck out of there."
Raven smiles wryly. "I'm sure that's not necessary, but it's effective," he concedes, putting his normal hand on Elesis' shoulder and his prosthetic hand on Rena's. "So… Uh… Good luck, is what we're saying."
You and Aisha take turns shaking their hands; Raven, then Rena, then Elesis. "You've got this," says Elesis as Rena pulls the two of you into a tight hug. You can't help but feel a little uncomfortable being buried in her chest. "Keep calm and just ride the hell out of it. Have some fun in Elder while you're at it."
Even the security guards are solemn when you and Aisha stop at the now ruined checkpoint, swiping your IDs in a older but nonetheless functional scanner. "Aisha Landar, Elsword Sieghart. Pass," dictates one of them. "El bless you in your journey."
"Best of luck wherever you go," adds the other, shaking your hand and Aisha's as he lets you out of the city borders.
You can't help but turn back. The two guards are standing, well, on guard, with your sister, Rena, and Raven standing behind them. "GOOD LUCK!" Yells your sister, giving you a grin and a thumbs up.
Aisha clears her throat next to you. "Well, we've got a long way to go," she says, pulling up her tablet. "We can get there by tomorrow, say, around noon."
She's hardly ever this quiet. You put on a smile, the biggest you can muster, and punch her in the arm playfully. "Race you there?"
Her worried expression turns into a daring smirk. "It's on."
You don't look back as the two of you leave the mountain city behind, for better or for worse.
A/N: this week's chapter brought to you by the Mii Channel Theme, koma'n's piano version of Meltdown, shitty exam grades, and stupid mistakes
I don't actually write chapters during exams but I have reserve chapters that I write ahead of time in preparation since sometimes i get periods of massive inspiration and just blurt out everything lol
this chapter was not a reserve chapter and half of it did not actually follow my initial planning but oh well
~MargaritaDaemonelix
