Dark Taker
Her eyes faintly gained their old life, her stance slowly loosening. "Ra...ven..." She muttered before she twitched violently, dropping her claymore and gripping her head tightly. "No...no no no...No you died...I saw you...They had your body! Ripped apart, your arm broken-YOU AREN'T REAL!" She shouted in denial, her body growing tense again as she began struggling internally.
"Elesis...I am real. I'm standing right here. Please...come back to me." Raven's voice was calm, placating and patient.
She shook her head violently, her bright red hair falling loosely in front of her face, partially obscuring it. "No you aren't! Why did you follow me Raven?! Why didn't you stay in Feita?! You would still be alive, I would still have you!" She was losing it once more, her voice slowly giving away back into the madness that claimed her previously.
Raven slowly took several steps towards her, his blade down, held limply at his side. "Elesis, you do still have me. I left Feita shortly after you did to come help Velder with the others. I was never with the Knights Elesis."
She scrambled back awkwardly, grabbing her fallen blade with her eyes wide and feral. "No, stay away from me! You are an illusion!" She declared in fear, backing away from his slowly advancing form until her back hit a wall that was still standing.
The white garbed swordsmaster continued his steady footsteps. "I am not an illusion Elesis. That single night we shared...I remember it vividly. The way you felt in my arms, how you felt against me as we lay together-"
"SHUT UP!" She yelled angrily, swinging her sword blindly, her eyes closed tightly as memories bombarded her possessed mind. She was enraptured by her inner struggle that she failed to notice something warm on her cheek until a dark mass fell towards her. Snapping from her haze, she dropped the claymore once she realizes that it was Raven falling. The still sane part of her mind registering what was happening, she wrapped her arms around him, the small sanity left concerned that he had tripped before registering the warmth on her cheek, as well as the same feeling spreading across her torso and legs.
Looking down, her pale yellow eyes widened in horror as she realized it was blood. She whimpered, her mind near breaking permanently as she struggled to comprehend what had just occurred, temporarily coming back to reality. "R-Raven...p-please...wake up...please wake up..." She muttered as she cradled the man, having sank to her knees. "Don't go to sleep...I want you to wake up...please wake up..." She continued to mutter the same phrase over and over again, even if in the back of her mind she knew he wouldn't live. The blood that she had spilled was far to much, she could do little if anything to stem the flow.
Her mental state was separated even more now. The part of her that was driven into insanity by her Dark El was raging, demanding that demon blood be spilled for them making her see him die again, while the very small part of her that was still stable was struggling to break through, to make her see that she was the cause of his current state, the cause of his blood currently coating her front and arms.
The famed knight was so enthralled in her own slowly depleting sanity and breaking mind that she failed to notice a lone white haired figure approaching, her every motion displayed an elegance that no living being could ever achieve, an elegance that was reserved only for the immortals that remained unseen. Beside her floated her faithful allies, never once having left her side, ever alert for danger.
The woman stopped in front of the knight, drawing her attention from the one she loved to black leggings. She slowly drew her gaze up, taking in the newcomer's immortal elegance and the five small blades floating behind her. The white haired woman was the first to speak, her voice cold and devoid of feeling. "Elesis, human, kin to Elsword. Verify." A Nasod, Elesis' sane part of her mind, what little remained, filed this fact away as she weakly nodded. "You have put the life of my ally in jeopardy. Release him."
Elesis tightened her grip on the slowly dying man, crouching over him as a feral look overcame her features. "No! I won't let him die alone!"
"And if you release him, he will not die at all. Please, cooperate. I do not wish to use force with my ally in danger." Elesis jerked as if shocked and quickly, yet with great care, set Raven to the ground, his serene face echoing in her mind; she had seen him like this in her tent. She loved him...why had she done this? "Moby, Remy, gather our allies and bring them here immediately." The drones beeped in acknowledgment before flying quickly into the sky towards the infested city. The woman slowly sat on her knees beside the man and reached into her top's collar, taking out a small bottle of red liquid. She opened it and swiftly poured the solution into Raven's mouth, her expression not changing once.
Elesis lifted the man's head before she started pouring the healing liquid, and even when she was done she was cradling him, the red haired woman's words were pleading, quiet and pitiful, words that were never before used to describe the strong-willed woman. The Nasod removed a roll of bandages and began to wrap the wound as best she could, though it was clear that for all of her elegance and air of superiority, she was inexperienced in tying bandages, and while Elesis wanted to help, she herself was in no shape to do so, her hands and very frame shaking violently with restrained tears and emotion.
The Nasod finished, albeit clumsily, and pulled her hands back from the previously white fabric, acknowledging that there was nearly nothing more she could do for her ally, someone who she would dare to call 'friend'. She had trust in Raven's ability to pull through, he had survived the loss of an entire limb and the emotional distress of seeing loved ones die in front of him, surely he could pull through this comparatively minor wound? The Nasod woman turned her head when the noise of running reached her receptors, giving her a much desired reprieve from her 'mind' running up various outcomes of the wound, which she very much didn't wish to visit.
Running caught her attention, causing her to turn around, ready to take out her array of weapons if the need to defend arose, but stayed still when she realized it was her friends. Elsword stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Elesis, his eyes widening as the other three hurried past him to their fallen comrade.
"Raven!" Rena cried in distress, crouching next to the swordsman, placing a hand on his neck, her panic rising when she noticed his faint heartbeat. She closed her eyes and prayed, urgent for the help of the wind spirits to try and heal the man who worked his way into her heart.
Aisha was frantic, pulling out scrolls she had found that could hopefully heal the man who took up a fatherly role in her life, but in her hasty scanning of each scroll, she realized that for all of the power held within these scrolls, the Dark El that seeped from the cause of his wound was simply too much. The El, combined with how severe the wound itself was...she refused to entertain that notion any further.
Chung gritted his teeth, upset that yet another man he looked up to was at risk of being taken, his grip on his Silver Shooters tightening to the point where all blood in his hands were nearly entirely white inside of his armor. Tearing his eyes from Raven's prone form, he took to surveying their surroundings, ensuring that they weren't going to be attacked, the prince mentally daring a demon to come out and attack simply out of the desire to inflict pain on their kind.
Elesis looked up at the group, her eyes empty, echoing a soul aching pain she felt inside. "I-I didn't-it wasn't..." She looked down back at the man, slowly caressing his serene face. "I...had no wish...to hurt him..."
"We are aware." The Nasod stood as she spoke, looking down at Raven. "Recommended course of action is securing that structure for rest." She pointed to a farm house that wasn't as destroyed as most of the others.
"I'll go look through it and bring blankets to help carry Raven." Chung spoke, flat and emotionless as he stormed towards the building, eager to put his bullets into something deserving of a painful death. Elsword snapped out of his stupor and immediately his new 'take charge' mentality took over.
"Agreed. Aisha, stabilize his condition with your scrolls, prep him for moving. Rena, do what you can with the spirits, otherwise look for something sturdy we can use to move Raven safely, I'll help. Eve, get Moby and Remy to be on the look out for threats and be ready to eliminate anything that isn't friendly that approaches." Elsword ordered firmly, earning confirmation from his team before he darted off into a nearby structure, hoping to distract himself from his current situation. His mentor laying near death, his sister covered in his blood and with a deranged aura to her when he looked to her...it was too much right now, but he needed to push that aside and remain strong, focused.
Eve sent her two drones into the air, keeping them on alert as she summoned one of her large guns, holding it with an ease that surpassed even the strongest of humans. Surveying the horizons, she remained focused as Rena started channeling the energy of the spirits that answered into Raven's body, cooperating with the magic from Aisha's scrolls.
Elesis didn't know what to do, but she slowly grew calmer, unbeknownst to her the wind spirits Rena was channeling were transferring parts of their energy into her to combat the dark influence that was threatening to tear her mind apart once more. Elesis jumped violently when several gunshots rang out from the house the blonde haired boy had entered, followed by demonic screams. One tried to jump out of the window, only to be caught in the air by a bullet slamming into it's back, it's body dissipating with it's death before it hit the ground.
Elesis watched warily as the white armored boy walked out, his face stone set as he approached Elsword, who was still scouring for something secure. "Secured. We can move him in whenever they are done."
Elsword nodded. "Alright, then...help me. Blankets, wood, something to make a stretcher." Chung nodded in response and set about helping his leader, Elesis could only helplessly notice internally that her younger, arrogant, hotheaded brat of a brother had grown into a man worthy of being a knight.
Meanwhile, Rena pulled her hands away from Raven's chest, looking visibly drained as her eyes seemed much duller than she normally did. "The spirits did all they could..." She informed the other two, before lowering her voice and head to avoid the others hearing. "Which isn't saying much..." She muttered quietly, hating that she wasn't able to do anything more.
Aisha finally finished chanting endlessly from her pile of scrolls, looking at the bandages to see the progress they made. It wasn't much but...did it look better? The purple haired girl could only hope that was the case and not her mind playing tricks on her. She took a shaky breath and looked at Elesis. "He...is better. But I agree with Elsword, we should take him somewhere safe, hold down for the night...see if his progress gets better."
"Y-Yes...t-thank you...for helping him." Elesis choked out, her voice cracking and unsteady as her mind continued it's struggle, albeit it was now more subdued than before. She could still hear the whispers of the El inside of her, demanding her to take revenge on the demons, but she managed to quell it with what little willpower she had at her disposal at that moment.
Rena looked up at the redhead, her eyes semi-wet. "We won't let him die; he means too much to all of us." She wanted to say more, but was cut off by Chung and Elsword picking up Raven, placing him onto the makeshift stretcher with great care. Aisha and Rena stood to help, but Elsword shook his head.
"We have him. Get into the house; we are camping there tonight." With that, the two men trekked to their chosen hideout. Aisha looked at Elesis and held out a hand to her while Rena jogged after them. Elesis looked up at the young witch uncertainly, but took her hand slowly and was helped up.
Elesis stood unsteadily, and almost fell when she bent over to pick up her fallen sword, even though she almost didn't want to see it ever again because of his blood on it. Aisha stopped her and picked it up herself, staggering slightly under it's deceptive weight, and handed the handle to Elesis. "I can't...hold it like you and Els..." Aisha explained clumsily. The older woman nodded slightly and held it at her side with practiced ease, and made her way after the trio, Aisha close behind after she caught sight of Eve still on look out, her gun out at the ready.
The group went inside, Eve following behind at a distance while Moby and Remy assisted Elsword and Chung in moving Raven from the stretcher onto a bed on the upper floor. The white and black drones then dutifully took up positions in the room as Elsword took up command again, ordering the group to rest and rotate watch duty, Chung volunteering to take over once Eve came back. The Elsearch group disbanded, Aisha going into a separate room with Elsword, her eyes betraying her internal distress, while Rena stayed with Raven and Elesis. Chung left with only a final, sad look at Raven before his face steeled and he left the room.
Silence descended upon the house once more, Elesis holding Raven's metal hand tightly, as if by sheer strength she could keep his spirit in this world. Looking out at the window, Rena saw night was falling and stood up. "We should leave him in peace..." She started to say, only to be cut off by the wild eyed human girl.
"No! I am staying here with him until I know he's alive!" Elesis growled, her eyes daring Rena to pull her away. The elf had seen the look on many wild animals before, a look that conveyed the will to destroy anyone who dared put their mate in jeopardy, and Rena had a feeling that her destruction would only be more devastating given her mental state. Rena bowed her head and left the room, closing the door behind her gently and going into the living room to see Eve sitting straight in a chair, Chung perched on a tree outside swinging one of his Silver Shooter's around his finger as he maintained watch.
Eve moved her head towards Rena. "Status?"
Rena looked over at the Nasod for a moment, registering what she had asked before realizing. "Oh...Raven seems to be stable...for right now at least." She looked away before Eve could analyze her eyes any further; the Queen had gotten adept at learning what her friends were thinking through eye contact.
It proved all for naught however. "You are worried of Elesis."
Rena looked up angrily. "Of course I am! You can see the Dark El in her, it's in her eyes, even her clothes! And she...she's involved with Raven!" She spat, although one would be forgiven for not knowing if she meant it in jealousy.
"You cannot control matters of the heart. Is that not what you yourself said to Aisha when she came to you about Elsword?" Eve retorted calmly, mollifying Rena's anger to a certain extent.
"It's not the same! She is tainted by Dark El! You could see how insane she's become!" Rena protested, slamming a fist into a wall as her voice started to be raised.
"It is the same thing. Your judgment is clouded by jealousy, and focusing on one thing." If it had been a year prior, Eve would not be trying to even argue with Rena about this, but the time the Queen spent with her friends, she learned much about emotions and how they translated into their voice and expressions.
"Eve, she can't make Raven happy even if he does survive! Even normal El can make someone sterile, Dark El will ensure she will never carry a child for him!" Rena would have continued, but she was cut off by Aisha whispering from behind her.
"You don't know if humans and elves can conceive either, so why are you fighting so hard against this?" The mage sank herself onto a nearby couch, seemingly frail and drained as opposed to her normal lively and outspoken persona. Rena went red faced from embarrassment, stuttering and trying to form coherent words.
"She is correct. My databanks make no mention of any successful procreation between an elf and human throughout the course of history." Eve chimed in. How long and where this conversation would have gone would be left to the imagination, as Elsword came down, his tunic slightly wet from apparent tears.
"That's enough. Rena, that's my sister and I won't allow any sort of talk like that; she may be affected by Dark El, but we know there is a way to remove it. We just need to find another moonstone." Elsword growled, even though he knew that obtaining a moonstone would be no easy task, even getting one for Aisha proved extremely challenging. "This has been a stressful day, we all need to rest. The guard duty will continue to shift every few hours." There was a tiny murmur of consent from the group, Rena feeling slightly guilty that she had said such an accusatory thing. They settled down for the night as best they could, reality making sleep very difficult to come by for them all.
Morning came slowly for the famed Elgroup and the only surviving member of the Red Knights. Sunlight slid through the window on the upper floor, gliding into the room and reflecting across a metal arm and hitting the owner's eyes. Wincing slightly, Raven slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the light as it hit his retinas before moving his head. He felt the surface of the bed he was on, but it didn't make any sense to him.
'Elesis struck me...how am I here?' Raven's mind was fuzzy, he recalled events happening after, but did not have the coherency to make sense of it all. Hearing slight whimpering, he lifted his head, noting how it slightly hurt his neck to do so, he saw a familiar mop of light red hair, a gloved hand gripping his metal talons. She was asleep, but it was obviously restless, if the second sound she made was any indication. Raven lifted his arm, gingerly pulling his talons loose and placed them upon her head, once again lamenting the lack of feeling in his metal appendage.
The cold metal shook Elesis from her nightmares, her eyes flying open as she stiffened, but almost instantly relaxed when she remembered the cold. She lifted her head slowly, almost not daring to believe what she thought, what she dared to hope was the truth. Her sickly yellow eye widened as she shot straight up upon meeting his beautifully haunting gold ones, a tender smile on his face.
"Hello again Elesis." In a single instant, she forgot about her dead troops, she forgot about the El driving her to kill demons perpetually, she forgot about her brother's allies downstairs. All that mattered was that her single anchor left in the world was alive, and she was vividly reminded of it when she practically jumped into the bed, wrapping her arms around his neck as he put his around her waist. Raven wordlessly held the young woman, relishing this moment even if it wasn't exactly for the best of circumstances.
She lifted her head from the crook of his neck and captured his lips in a fiery embrace, closing her eyes and relishing the moment as Raven returned the attention. Raven cupped the back of her head and kept her lips against his, even though she didn't seem all that eager to get off of him. He felt pain all over his chest and stomach, but paid it no mind as he held her tightly against himself before pulling away from the kiss to breath. "Raven I-" He placed a metal talon over Elesis' lips, silencing her.
"Don't speak." There was no anger in his voice, no hate. "Everything is alright." She shook her head and looked down.
"No, it's not! I almost killed you! I can barely keep myself in control as it is..." Raven sat up slowly, which brought Elesis back to him with a look of panic which was swiftly calmed after he only showed a small wince of pain.
"We will put you back in control. I will help you get back in control." He said this quietly yet with such authority, she couldn't help but believe him. She smiled and buried her face into his neck, her eyes watering as she once again was reminded why she loved him.
They remained like that until Aisha came to check on Raven, who was only met with the sight of Elesis straddling him and the two of them embracing as if today was their last. Her surprise drew the attention of the others downstairs, who came running up as fast as they could. Despite the fear that had coursed through all of them, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw Raven was alive and awake, even if Rena and Aisha blushed fiercely at their position.
They checked Raven's wound, but was surprised to see it healing so quickly, it was already mostly closed up. Even so, the group agreed to not move out until Raven was ready, and Elsword ordered Chung and Rena to run back to the camp to get supplies as Eve left to maintain watch over the house, holding one of her gatling guns at the ready in case any demons took it upon themselves to come closer.
Once Aisha wrapped up Raven's wound with fresh bandages, she left quickly and went downstairs to Elsword, who was sorting their supplies and evaluating what they had, leaving only Elesis and Raven in the room together, the red clad warrior cuddling into the swordsman's side as he rested.
"Raven...I know I haven't said it much before but...I love you." She said quietly, placing a hand on his chest. Raven smiled and turned his head, tilting hers up towards him.
"I love you too Elesis. Never forget that." He kissed her softly as she smiled before lightly smacking his chest to not hurt him.
"I doubt I will. We both need our rest though. We should take advantage of it now..." Elesis felt, rather then saw, Raven nod as she nestled into his side, the man putting one arm around her protectively to hold her, as he would the rest of their time together.
Okay so...yeah, I kinda dropped the ball on this one. More than a year later, Christ all-mighty. Yeah, things happened in my life but I also had practically zero motivation to write absolutely anything and only recently got it back. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, yes I know I said I was going to make this a dual ending sort of thing, and I'm going to work on that another time, but for now, this is done. Now I can move on to a request fic that's been sitting on the backburner for so long now.
I AM ALIVE!