JAILBREAK
By MargaritaDaemonelix
Chapter 7
Before the grandeur of the vast sky, I might just forget everything
TW: some descriptions of blood and wounds. Proceed with caution.
The sun is shining when Aisha finally returns to Altera, late in the afternoon.
She apparates on the west-side coast of the island, stumbling out of the void and nearly dropping the baby in her arms for a moment. She hasn't eaten in a day, hasn't slept in two. She has known only salt water and Lilith and crying.
Tears streak her face and her lips are cracked, but her eyes are clear and bright. Her abdomen is covered in scars and more than a few bruises. A huge gash is weeping blood on her left shoulder and another smaller one on her leg stains the draping blankets red. Her steps are slow and sluggish, but she continues to stagger forwards, taking one painful step at a time.
Everything hurts. She wants nothing more than to sleep, to collapse in a pile, but she is holding onto precious, fragile cargo, and cannot afford to stop.
The Nasod that arrive to intercept her stand on attention when she reaches them. "State your name and purpose," one says, scanning her over. As soon as it does, it sends the information to its comrades and tells them to not shoot.
One confused Nasod raises its gun, having gotten the message late. One confused Nasod falls to the ground, broken as streams of burning plasma tear it to pieces. The bullet it shot skims past Aisha, leaving a stream of blood and broken skin across her face, but she ignores it.
The remaining Nasods trail behind her, marching with her in silence as she approaches the iron fortress.
High upon the fortress wall, a pair of blue eyes widen as their owner lowers his binoculars. "MISS EVE!" Chung yells, turning around and leaping for the staircase. "ELSWORD! EVERYONE! AISHA'S BACK!"
"Aisha's back!" Ara yelps from inside, having heard his scream first due to her supernatural animal bond. "Add, Add, wake up! Aisha's back!" She shouts happily, shaking his shoulder. "She's back!"
Under her grasp, Add groans and turns over. His wounds are healing well, and his finger is no longer swollen. "Yeah, I got it, but did you have to scream like that?"
Ara pouts. "You've been napping all afternoon, silly. It's about time you got up anyways."
Somewhere else in the fortress, Eve drops her coding and yanks the plug out of her arm. "Everyone, stop screaming," she orders calmly over the broadcasting system. "This is not a time to be acting like human children. We will go intercept her on the plains now."
Elsword is the only person who is wordless through the entire ordeal. As the rest of his new friends - his new family - babble and bicker at their astonishment, Elsword is just as wordless as Aisha. He walks in stunned silence, keeping up with Eve's long strides but not quite with Ara's excited scamper.
Aisha is back.
And she's alive.
As she comes in view over the ridge, each step slower than the last, Elsword feels a hand on his back, and turns around to Ara. "It's alright," she says, eyes twinkling kindly. "You can breathe now."
"Is this how you felt when Add came back?" He asks. "Like, just overwhelming… Everything?"
Ara laughs. "I think they call that feeling overwhelmed. But yes, that's very typical of reuniting with a loved one after mourning their disappearance." Her gaze comes to rest on Add. "I mean, it happens a lot, but you never really get used to it."
Elsword smiles weakly at her. "I feel ya."
He takes a deep breath and marches forwards, arms open. "Aisha-"
She ignores him entirely and pushes past him. Elsword turns just in time to watch her shove the baby in a very confused Ara's arms. "Aisha, what-"
"You need to take care of her for now," says the other girl, voice cracking with exhaustion. "You're her only living family."
"Hey, wait up," Add says, voice rising defensively, "what's this supposed to mean?"
Aisha opens her mouth, but her eyes close and her arms go limp. Elsword wraps an arm around her waist, holding her up as she falls. "I think we need to get indoors so Aisha can sit down," he says quietly. "Eve, would you mind giving me a hand and help hold her up?"
"Of course," Eve says, rushing forwards to let Aisha drape her uninjured arm over her shoulders. "I will send for a transport platform with a chair, so you can sit."
The platform comes flying through the sky within a minute, and they all load on, with Aisha collapsing into the chair the moment it arrives. "Is there anything we should get you?" Eve asks, smoothing her hair down. Aisha's iconic pigtails are gone, her hair falling in a scraggly wave around her shoulders that Eve struggles to comb her sleek fingers through.
"... Water," Aisha manages. "Maybe some food. And something for my shoulder."
Only then does Elsword really notice the blood that stains her sleeve. "Oh god," he mumbles, trying to think of something that could help but failing to find anything. "Uh... Maybe I could heat up a sword and cauterize the wound?"
Aisha shakes her head. "It's alright," she mouths.
On the other side of the platform, Ara is singing softly as she rocks the baby in her arms. Add watches curiously as she closes her eyes and sways from side to side, her voice haunting and calming all at once. The baby in her arms makes a soft noise in her sleep.
Once they reach the fortress again, Elsword carefully picks Aisha up, steps off the floating platform, and gently puts her down on the wheelchair-looking thing that Ara's three little Nasod friends have brought. "Thank you," she says hoarsely, accepting the glass of water that another Nasod hands to her. "I'll explain everything as best as I can."
As they grab first aid supplies from the cabinet outside Ara and Add's room and start to clean Aisha's wounds, she takes a careful sip of water to ease her parched throat. "The baby's name is Lilith," she says quietly, voice still not fully recovered. "And in a way, she is your niece, Elsword."
He narrows his eyes as he pours a bit of isopropyl alcohol onto a cotton pad. "But not biologically."
"Not biologically," Aisha agrees. "Your sister adopted her after her birth parents both passed on. But you know whose biological niece she is, though?"
She raises her good arm shakily, finger pointing at a single target. Elsword follows it, and his eyes widen as he realizes she's pointing at Ara. "Ara, Lilith's father was your brother," she says, voice trembling. "Upon his death, he entrusted her to his second in command, Elesis."
Ara's jaw drops, but she closes her mouth again quickly and manages a weak smile. "Somehow, I'm not really surprised," she admits. "Aren was always quite popular with the town girls back home in Fahrman. Who's her mother?"
"Sasha Vasilev, former priestess of the Water El," Aisha says.
The room goes silent instantly. Elsword continues to soundlessly clean Aisha's wounds, holding her arm gently so he can press the alcohol-soaked cotton pad to her huge gash. "Yeah." Aisha winces as the alcohol stings her cut. "I don't know the exact details, but Elesis said that Ran had been in a relationship with Sasha for a long time as Aren."
"Wait, you met my sister?" Elsword suddenly gasps. "Wha-"
"She was nice enough to not kill me," Aisha says, smiling. "Anyways, she said that Sasha used her power as the Water El priestess to fortify the Hall of Water when the demons invaded Hamel." She squeezes her eyes shut. "One of the demon generals was able infiltrate the temple, though, and then..." She shakes her head. "That's why we found Sasha dead at the bottom of the pool in the Hall of Water."
"Oh." Elsword tries to swallow down his sudden guilt, finding no relief. "So then she died and left Lilith to the demons."
"And then my brother passed on, and Lilith's custody went to Elesis," Ara finishes, looking down at Lilith's tiny little face. "I'm sorry, little one. Auntie Ara's going to do her best to take care of you."
"Wait, what does that make me?" Add asks, reaching out gingerly to brush a finger across Lilith's tiny hand. "Uncle Add?"
"Not yet," Ara says, smiling at him. "Maybe soon."
Aisha stares blankly at the ground. "I know Lilith is going to have a better childhood here, raised by people who love her and those who can help her with her budding abilities, but…" Her voice falters. "I still feel so bad about taking her away from Elesis. I mean, the whole time while we were talking, she held Lilith, and when I left with Lilith it seemed like she was ready to give her daughter up so she could have a better future."
"Then we'll just have to take care of Lilith, unless Elesis comes to claim her," Eve says quietly.
They're all silent for a while. "So yeah, she's just as much your niece as she is Ara's," Aisha concludes, smiling weakly at Elsword. "I… am exhausted. Would you guys mind if I passed out in the middle of the conference room?"
"I would absolutely mind," Eve says, standing up. "You need to lie down, and there is no place for you to do that here." She turns to Elsword. "Please take Aisha to her new room. I am of the belief that she will want to see it before she inevitably passes out from exhaustion."
Elsword's eyes immediately light up. He'd forgotten about the new room. "On it!"
Aisha raises an eyebrow as he gets up to push her wheelchair forwards. "New room?"
"Yeah! After we found Add, he suggested that we should probably settle down in Altera, or use it as a base of operations like they're doing," he says. "Well, he and Ara are probably going to settle down permanently here anyways, considering… Anyways, Eve emptied out some old storage rooms and moved some stuff in and out, and we spent a day refurbishing it so you can stay there!"
He stops in front of a door. He's really quite proud of the sign he made for the door - it's black and in the shape of a bat, with Aisha written in his best printing across the sign in a kind violet. He pushes open the door with his foot, and pushes Aisha inside.
She looks over the lilac walls, the cabinet of writing supplies, the books that line each of the seven huge bookcases. "Where'd you get all this?" She asks, brushing one hand over the velvety bed. "Did you have to pop into Velder for this?"
"Actually, we just recycled stuff," Elsword admits. "Like with Eve's magic food machine, but it spat out books and stuff instead. We were trying to feed it some of the demon blood dirt, so we could reconstruct it into better soil, but then Eve said she found the blueprint for a book lost to time, so we made that for fun. We'd already made the room and furnished it with nice things, so it was just a matter of shelving things properly."
He averts his gaze and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Other than that, is there anything else you need right now?"
Aisha shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "Do you mind, uh… Helping me out of this wheelchair?"
Elsword purses his lips and tries to pretend his face isn't flaming red as he slips one hand behind her back and one under her knees, and hoists her onto the bed. She's shivering with cold, and honestly, he doesn't blame her. She's been hopping all over Elrios with her abdomen exposed. There's no way she's not cold. "There's a spare blanket over there," he says awkwardly. "Do you want me to bring it over?"
She exhales weakly. "Yes please." Her hands linger on his for a moment before she takes the blanket and wraps it around herself. "Thanks."
They sit on the bed in silence, she with her legs crossed and he touching the floor with his feet for support. "I went so many places," Aisha finally says, gaze dropped into her lap. "The demon base was in Velder, so when I teleported, I went all the way to Ruben again.
"It's terrible. Everything is so dead and bleak. Adams let me stay the night in his bar, but I could barely find enough for Lilith to eat, let alone myself." Her fingers are shaking. Elsword reaches his hand out to hold hers, and she seems to calm down enough to speak again. "I knew I couldn't stay in one place for long, though, so I left Ruben the next day.
"I spent a night in some ruins in Bethma, and then I went to Feita, and then two days stuck in a forest near Elder. I found your sister in that forest," she says. "She was meditating, but I think she heard me approach, because she just- just sprang up and pointed her sword at me."
She weaves her fingers between his, taking deep breaths to quell her restless mind. "We talked for maybe an hour, tops? And she told me everything about Lilith, and then she told me…" She exhales loudly. "Anyways, I left Elder as soon as I could. But then in the next town I visited, they said that the Crimson Avenger had killed her girlfriend, and was out for blood."
Her eyes are wide with fear and curiosity. "She's coming here," she says quietly. "Some of the people said she was coming here to duel her brother. Elesis is coming to fight you, Elsword."
Elsword thinks about it for a moment. Their duel in the dying moments of the siege was… Intense, to say the least. It didn't hurt physically, but it felt like a blow to the heart nonetheless. Even with every pleading question that Elsword threw at her, Elesis was silent and stoic through the whole battle. He needs a lot of those questions answered.
He also noticed that she hadn't tapped into her innate magic during the duel. What kind of new powers is she hiding?
"I think it'd be nice to fight her again," he says, smirking. "I've missed sparring with my sister."
Still, the other bit of news is rather alarming. Elesis killed her own girlfriend? So is Ignia dead? More questions flood his mind and a terrible lump of guilt forms in his throat, but he shakes it aside and forces himself to focus on Aisha. "Are you feeling okay, though?" He asks, squeezing her hand a little tighter.
"Yeah." Aisha tries to give him a smile, but it dies quickly and is replaced by pain. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Elsword blurts. "I should be apologizing to you, for not finding you the moment you left."
"And that's exactly what I've got to apologize for," she says. "I left you guys right when you needed me the most, and I nearly got myself and Lilith killed a million times while doing it." She shakes her head, gently detangling her fingers from his. "I'm super glad that you guys found Add. I mean, Ara's so much happier now, but I should have been there, helping you guys. I don't deserve to be here, sharing your victory."
"No!" Elsword grabs onto her hand quickly as it slips away. "You deserve to be here more than any of us. You were ready to sacrifice yourself to keep all of us safe," he says, a little more quietly. "I don't deserve to know someone that selfless."
His words trail off into silence. They sit on that bed, she with her legs crossed and he with his feet on the ground, their hands linked together. Elsword opens his mouth a few times, scrambling for words, but nothing comes out. Aisha's eyes are twinkling. He doesn't know what to say to them.
"Thank you," Elsword finally manages, "for coming back to me."
Before he can think about it, his pounding heart takes over the reins and he leans forwards and holy shit, he presses a kiss to Aisha's cheek. "I'msorryI'llgonow-" He blurts, tearing himself away before Aisha inevitably slaps him -
But then their fingers catch, and then she's dragging him back to the bed to softly peck him on the cheek. "Thank you for waiting for me to come back," she whispers, pushing him away gently with a smile.
Elsword's mind is racing at a million miles per hour, he can barely breathe, he thought his puppy crush died years ago, but Aisha presses a finger to his lips before he can say anything. "Little steps," she says. "We still need to take little steps before we can take the big leap. This is the first step."
"Yeah." Elsword feels like there's a frog in his throat, but at least he finds the strength to smile back. "Yeah."
"I'm gonna take a nap, because I haven't slept in literal days," she says. "Go talk to the others and tell them thank you for making this place so nice."
Elsword doesn't leave until she falls fast asleep, and even then he lingers behind to gently kiss her forehead and tuck her under the duvet. "Sleep tight," he whispers, smiling as he packs up the wheelchair and leaves Aisha's room behind.
The only people left in the conference room are Lilith, Chung (who has said that he has never handled a human child before) and Eve (who didn't know humans had children to begin with before Lilith arrived on Altera). "Yo, where are Ara and Add?" Elsword asks.
Eve looks up from studying Lilith with mournful eyes. "Bathroom," she says. "Add coughed up another blood clot, and Ara felt sick to her stomach upon seeing the result."
"Please, I am begging you," Chung pleads, holding out his arms away from his rather uncomfortable-looking sitting position. "Please take this child away from me before I drop her."
Elsword laughs as he lets Chung place Lilith - his niece - in his arms. "I'll rescue you, little Princess," he jokes. "Do you two even know anything about kids?"
"No," Chung quips. "We'd probably get her killed if you left her with us for too long."
"Please don't cause any accidents," Eve says as Elsword turns to leave the room. "She doesn't seem to enjoy being bounced up and down, despite Chung's suggestion that it is something small human children enjoy."
"That's because you're made of metal, and it's uncomfortable being bounced up and down on metal!"
Elsword allows himself a laugh as he shifts Lilith in his arms. "Someday, you'll grow up and find out that your Uncle Chung really doesn't know anything about kids," he hums, walking down the hallway. "And that your Aunt Eve is only marginally better, if only because she stays away from you."
Lilith's eyes are startlingly grey and bright, like sparkling steel. She mushes her tiny puffy lips together and blows a messy bubble. "Adel and Agatha? Oh yeah, they're much better than taking care of kids than we are," he says. "Ponggos make really good food, although I haven't had anything more than their pastries yet…" He licks his lips. "They make super good pastries. I hope you get to eat a ton when you grow up."
The door to the bathroom suddenly opens in front of him, causing him to nearly drop Lilith in surprise. Ara and Add step out, the former looking dazed but very sour and the latter more concerned than anything. "Are you guys okay?" Elsword asks. "Especially you, Ara. You look like you've just thrown up."
"I have," she offers grimly. "That was awful and not something I would like to experience again." Her eyes soften as her gaze lands on Lilith. "How's our little niece?"
"She looks pretty great to me," Elsword says, watching as Lilith's pudgy baby hand reaches up to hold Ara's slim finger. "I just liberated her from Chung and Eve."
Add snorts. "Don't you mean you just liberated them from her?"
"That too," Elsword agrees. "They don't know how to… children."
"To be fair, neither do we." Ara smiles at him. "So, did you do what you had to get done?"
Elsword smiles as he tugs Lilith away gently. "I think I did."
Ara dips her head. "Then I hope things will go well for you two."
As she hobbles down the hallway towards the conference room, holding onto Add's arm for support, Elsword looks at the tiny baby in his arms. Lilith is so small, so fragile, that he can hardly believe that she's even living, let alone his niece. He's scared that she might crumble to porcelain shards in his hands at any moment.
But she doesn't, and he sighs in relief.
"C'mon, Lilith," he says. "Uncle Elsword is going to show you around your new home."
The fortress becomes livelier with every day that passes, and Elsword takes it all in without a second glance.
He wakes up to Chung's knocking on the door, and tosses himself out of bed to comb his hair back and say hello, good morning to Lilith. Breakfast is actual wholesome food, now that Eve's emergency shipment of foods and seeds has come in from Velder. A small flock of chickens that came with the shipment supplies eggs. Eve has also slapped Elsword for trying to catch one to make fried chicken.
Aisha's slaps might hurt, but yikes, Eve has the steel hand of the Alteran throne and man does that hand hurt.
The Ponggos start to burrow down into the earth, planning to build their new village around the Core. Aida starts her new shop with jewelry and trinkets made of succubus horns and the chest cores of Waldos. Agatha moves her shop into the Core, where she helps build and sharpen the Nasod to perfection. Amos comes upstairs much too often to borrow books from Aisha, to the point where she decides it might be a better idea to just build a separate library.
Aisha's smaller wounds heal quickly with Amos's herbal knowledge and healing, and the gash on her shoulder closes up into a long scar within days, one that doesn't heal properly and has to be covered up with her sleeve. Elsword kisses the scar one day, after he cleans it after dinner. He doesn't quite see Ara's mysterious but warm smile.
Ara seems so much happier with Add back at her side, and the day he presents her with a sparkling golden ring ("to make it official," he'd said) she actually breaks into laughter and tears. His finger hasn't quite healed yet, and his splint kind of gets in the way of slipping the ring on her finger, but they're so happy that they glow, and Elsword is so happy for them.
Eve works on Nexus, but she also stops to play with Lilith whenever she can. She pops into the new nursery after digging with the Ponggos sometimes, and Aisha freaks out and wipes her down with a cotton washcloth before she can pick up Lilith. She makes a point of taking notes on everything Lilith does, and asking whoever's on baby duty why Lilith blows bubbles with her lips, and why those bubbles go flying, and why her eyes sometimes suddenly flash in dark indigo.
Chung does his best to support her, and recalls all that he can of the Hamelian Freiturnier design for Nexus. He's a surprisingly good artist, and designs a set of Hamelian Nasod armor in white and black and blue and pink. He sews tiny socks and onesies for Lilith, deft hands working alongside Agatha's so they can keep the baby warm.
Good things happen when Elsword gets to hold his niece. He takes her on walks around the fortress, around Altera, and with Eve's permission, around the Core. His dad once said that babies need to see the world and hear it as much as they can, so he talks to Lilith as he walks, explains to her the cliff where her Uncle-to-be Add blew up a gazillion demons, shows the room where Aunt Eve is building Nexus, even lets her sit in Chung's Freiturnier for a cute photo.
He brings her to Aisha's room sometimes, and they find a book (or have one printed if they can't find it) to read out loud to her. Aisha likes to tell fairy tales, while Elsword prefers action stories with lots of pictures. Pretty soon, Aisha's personal shelves are just as stocked with picture books as they are grimoires and manuscripts.
Aisha gives him life, too. She still helps him with his incantations, but instead of sitting across from him, she'll sit squished up beside him, fingers intertwined in his as she scribbles down notes. They haven't moved further than the sudden peck on the cheek, but something has changed about the way they speak to and look at each other, even though it's the same as it was all along.
They don't need to speak to each other as often as they used to. Instead of talking to one another, they express their affection in other ways. She sings sometimes when they're laying in the sun on the fortress ramparts, and he'll take her hand and kiss her fingertips. As they play with Lilith, they talk about a future in which there's peace, enough peace for them to live happily again, for Lilith to have a childhood like they once had.
"I want to see her grow up happily," Elsword muses, letting Lilith's tiny hands pat his face as she lies on his chest. She's gotten bigger since they brought her back to Altera, mainly because they have actual baby food to give her now. She likes everyone, and everyone likes her, except maybe Add because she threw up on his back. "If my sister isn't the one to raise her, then I'll take care of her in her place."
"She's a good baby," Aisha sighs contentedly. "But for the record, I don't think I could actually raise a kid. I mean, babysitting Lilith is fun, and very relaxing, but…" She shudders. "Childbirth does not sound fun."
She looks down to smile at Elsword. "Besides, we're still young. We have all the time in the world, and if we're going to be doing anything now, we should have the future in mind," she says, like she's recalling something. "Let's not do anything that'll ruin that future for us now."
Elsword laughs softly, as so to not shake Lilith off his chest. "Whatever milady wishes."
Chung knocks on the door with considerable alarm one morning, and Elsword immediately shoots out of bed.
"It's Elesis, isn't it," are the first words out of his mouth.
Chung nods gravely. "She's asking to be let into the castle," he reports. "Eve is weighing her options right now. If you want to let her in, you're gonna have to convince her to not blow your sister up."
Elsword launches himself out of bed, only barely brushes his hair back with his fingers, scrambles into his clothes and armor without a second thought. He pushes open the door and nearly runs into Aisha. "Elesis," he blurts.
"What are you waiting for?" She demands, eyes sparkling and alive despite having only woken up a moment before. Her hair is still down, her shoes aren't on quite right, and there's a twitch in her eye that won't go away. "Get going!"
They hurtle down the hallway, rushing to the conference room where Eve, Ara and Add are currently standing over the holographic display of Elesis, and Adel stands just to the side, holding Lilith. "Eve, you gotta let her in!" Elsword pleads, braking himself against a chair.
"As much as I would like to…" Eve winces. "She is still labelled as an enemy of the Alteran empire. I cannot let her in until we are sure she is not here to harm us."
"We could always drop a bomb and wait for her to react," Add mutters.
"NO!" Elsword takes a breath to compose himself. "Aisha, tell them what you heard about what Elesis did."
"When I was travelling through a few towns," Aisha explains quickly, "I heard rumours that Elesis had killed Ignia and deserted the demons, and was out looking for her brother to meet him in a duel."
The conference room goes silent. "She's here for me, guys," Elsword says quietly. "I'll go out to meet her."
"It's my fault." Everyone turns to look at Aisha, who stands alone with a sheepish expression. "When I met her in the forest, I told her… That if she was ever in need of a home, Elsword and I would probably be able to provide one for her."
Eve looks contemplative, but remains silent despite having all eyes on her. "Let her in," she decides, "but have your weapons at the ready. I've seen her fight; it'll take all of us to take her down if she decides to turn on us."
She presses a button on her command console, and the holographic image of Elesis fades. "The door is opening," she announces. "Get ready to intercept her."
When Elesis finally steps into the conference room, backpack hanging limply off her shoulders and sword trailing behind her, Elsword is so shocked that he drops his sword.
Her face is pale and almost lifeless, but tiny streaks of red across her skin are a reminder that she's alive and living. Her hair is tied back loosely with that same bit of red fabric. Her gloves, which had been black the day they last fought, are dyed a bloody crimson.
She looks just as tired as Elsword felt before he came to Altera.
No one says anything. No one dares to move. Elesis stands in the doorframe, eyes flickering back and forth as she laps up all their bright faces. Elsword finds his breath catching in his chest as his sister's gaze locks on him.
Suddenly, she drops to the ground, and he's almost tempted to catch her, but she's just kneeling, almost grovelling. "I am sorry," Elesis whispers. "I am sorry for seeking to destroy your island and its people. On behalf of the demons, and my late partner Ignia, I am sorry. Please forgive me."
The room falls back into silence. Elsword opens his mouth, searches for words, and finds none, only managing to convey his sorrow to her with his eyes.
Then Ara yelps as Adel moves to shift Lilith to her arms. "Come here, my child," he says warmly, moving forwards to wrap Elesis in a warm, fuzzy hug. She goes tense for a moment, but eventually gives in. "I forgive you, on behalf of the Ponggo peoples on Altera. No one is innocent in war, but I believe that you should not be considered guilty of those crimes."
"..." Elesis closes her eyes, but brings one hand up onto Adel's back. "Thank you, sir."
The next person to move, surprisingly, is Aisha. She kneels down next to Elesis, joining her in the hug. "Welcome home," she says softly, glancing back at Elsword. "We've been waiting for you."
And then Lilith has been passed into his arms again, and Chung and Ara have joined the pile with Add standing awkwardly to the side. They're all saying soft, happy things, because instead of coming fight, Elesis is here to join them. Eve asks about something to do with the demons' war plans, and Elesis says yes, she'll tell them everything about them, so that they can stop the invasions on Velder and Sander coming in the next few months.
Elsword stands with his niece in his arms, motionless but unable to stop the smile on his face. It's the first time in ten years that he's spoken properly to his sister, after all. They've got an awful lot to catch up on.
Elesis looks up, a serene smile on her face, and her eyes lock on his.
"Hey, sis," he says. "I took care of your kid while you were gone."
Her smile, however weak and frail it is, makes her look radiant. "Thank you," she says, reaching out of the hug pile. Elsword steps forwards to put Lilith in her arms. "Thank you."
For the first time in nearly a decade, Elesis Sieghart allows herself to cry.
"After the attack, she didn't mentioned her knee wound until it was almost too late, and it got infected," Elesis says quietly. "I knew she wouldn't make the journey here with me, and she'd only get worse from there on out, so I did the best I could to lessen her pain."
They're all sitting crosslegged across the floor of Lilith's nursery, watching as Elesis plays with her daughter. She'd brought an entire bag of toys and clothes from the demon base, all Lilith's favourite things. "Ignia was a good person," she continues. "I think she just… broke. Snapped, really, after Sasha died. She didn't deserve to die in pain."
"That's good," Ara comments offhandedly. Her back still hasn't quite healed yet, so she's sitting with her back against the wall to keep it straight. "I don't think anyone really deserves to die in pain."
Elesis nods. "After that, I took some things from our room and I just left," she says. "I walked from Elder to Bethma, and then to Velder, and then I built myself a boat to get to Altera. The longest part of the journey was really just building the boat."
They all laugh lightly at that. Lilith blows a bubble, which then floats into the air and splatters against the ceiling. "Yeah, more often than not I wished I had Lilith with me," Elesis admits, "but her magic is really volatile, so I'm not sure she'd be very helpful."
"I'm working on documenting that," Aisha pipes in. "Her demonic magic seems to be less scary than her Water El magic, but if my calculations are correct, she'll be powerful enough to sink the island of Altera, or defend it with powerful tsunamis, in her magical prime." She smiles brightly. "Of course, that won't be until she's well in her twenties and thirties, so in theory she won't be sinking any islands yet."
"Thank goodness," Eve says, "it would be rather embarrassing to have my empire taken down by a three-month old human child."
"I'd be alarmed," Elesis admits. "Kids at this age shouldn't have too much magical potential."
The door to the nursery suddenly opens, and Elesis flinches, hands flying out to shield Lilith. "Breakfast is ready," Add announces loudly, gingerly stepping around the plush animals to help Ara to her feet. "We made pancakes. Chung also made ham with the machine."
Elesis raises an eyebrow. "Machine?"
"Oh man, the machine!" Ara's eyes light up. "Eve built a machine that can decompose the chemical structure of anything and turn it into food! We lived off food from the machine during the siege."
"The bacon never quite turns out right," Elsword sighs. "I hope Chung managed to make it at least taste good."
"It's not great, but it's still edible," Add supplies, which Elsword knows really means this is the best bacon I have tasted since the fall of Hamel.
One by one, they all clear out, until it's just Elesis, Elsword and Lilith. Lilith squirms as her mother scoops her up, blankets and all, but doesn't cry out. "She really is a good baby," Elsword murmurs, dangling a pink plush Phoru in front of her. "I took her on walks through Altera, and she hardly ever cried."
"Is that so?" Elesis says, smiling. "Then I must thank you for taking Lilith to see the world she'll grow up in."
It's not much of a statement, but Elsword's heart fills with hope. "Does that mean you're staying in Altera?"
"I can't really go back to the demons, but…" She shrugs, which is kind of hard when your hands are occupied with a tiny child. "You know I can't stay still for long. I'll probably be in and out of Altera hunting down the remaining demon generals, but this will be Lilith's home."
Her voice really has changed. It's no longer filled with the excitement she had when she left Ruben, ten years ago, but instead a quiet, exhausted peacefulness. It's still raggedy like she hasn't spoken much in the past few years, but the way she murmurs to Lilith is more than enough to tell him that she's still his sister.
"Where have you been, all these years?" He asks.
Elesis looks him right in the eye. "Hell," she croaks. "I've seen hell on earth, and it is terrible." She smiles. "One of these days, I'll tell you the whole story. How about you? Where have you and Aisha been wandering off to? What have you learned?"
"I found a patron spirit," he says. Unfortunately, Conwell's not at his side at the moment - holding Lilith while a spirit scabbard rumbles on your hip can be an experience. "And Aisha started tutoring me in magic. And-"
"Here's my idea," Elesis interjects. "Don't tell me anything. Show me how much you've learned. Do you think Eve will let us have a sword fight in the field?"
Elsword shrugs. "Maybe. But after breakfast."
Both their stomachs growl in unison, and they laugh. "After breakfast sounds good."
Conwell gets very serious the moment Elesis steps onto the field they've determined to be their arena.
The girl's abilities do not scare me, he says in that subconscious hum of his. As long as you are not hit directly, you will not suffer major damage. However, she is inherently still your sister. You are emotionally attached to her, and if things go down like they did in the Hall of Water, you may not be standing at the end of this battle.
"We're not fighting to kill, Connie," Elsword mutters. "Besides, the others are watching. If she kills me, they hurt Lilith."
Stop that with giving me ridiculous names. Do you think your friends will really be able to hurt your "niece"?
"Hey, friendly reminder that I'm still her brother," he says. "Just trust me, okay? I actually kind of think I know what I'm doing this time."
What a relief.
He rolls his eyes and raises his own sword, drawing upon power from the primordial scabbard to fuel him. He's not going to break out a second sword just yet, because he knows Elesis has seen that and he needs the strength for other tricks.
Elesis narrows her eyes, gripping the handle of her sword with both hands. "En garde," she says.
Elsword only gets a split second to think before she's charging at him, hurtling towards him at an alarming speed. He exhales, widening his stance and bracing himself for impact.
Except her sword swing lands right in front of him, and then he's sailing through the air on a tower of pain. Someone screams from below, and then he's falling, falling again, but he's able to catch himself right before he hits the ground.
He lands safely and immediately turns around. Elesis is running towards him again, sword extended and pulsing with dark energy. The peaceful look on her face has been replaced with a smug smile, like she'd expected this to happen.
In that moment, Elsword realizes she's expecting him to jump out of the way, or block her attack with a parry.
So instead, he points his sword towards her. "Conwell!" He yells, and immediately feels the scabbard hum with energy. "I summon thee, blade! Infinity Chaser!"
An arcane symbol opens up behind him, shining and bright, and out of its depths come a million blades of Conwell. It stops Elesis right in her tracks, forcing her to put up her sword just to shield herself from the endless barrage of blades.
Hey, they don't call Elsword the Infinity Sword for nothing.
The moment the arcane circle dies, he launches himself at her again, drawing another steel sword out of thin air. She parries both of his swords off with her own, pushing him back a few metres with a grunt. "You're getting good, squirt," she chuckles, her face becoming dangerously pale. "But now it's my turn to shine."
The blood literally drains out of her body and flows out through her fingertips, coating her blade entirely. Elsword barely has time to raise his swords as a shield before she whirls around and throws it as a spinning saw blade. It screeches through the air before making full impact with both his swords, nearly pushing him out of the arena and leaving him dizzy and out of breath.
He looks down to his arm, where a thin trickle of blood seeps out of a cut that the bloody saw blade left. Slowly but surely, it leaves him entirely, joining the mass that Elesis now wields. "Surprise," she says. "What kind of skills did you think I was hiding when I fought you at the end of the siege?"
Elsword drops his materialized sword to shake his arm out, fighting the energy that's being drained out of his body. He's losing strength, losing blood, but not losing hope. "What kind of skills do you think I'm still hiding?" He snarks in reply, raising his own sword in the air. "I summon thee, blade!"
There's no time to think of a new spell, but Conwell resonates in him and gives him the words to make it a whole spell. He makes full eye contact with Elesis for a moment before shouting the second half of the incantation. "BLADE RAIN!"
An arcane buzz hums through the Alteran morning as a shadow descends upon them all in the form of a giant vessel. It drops with a thundering boom, implanting itself into the ground and letting its guards down, signalling that it's ready to release.
Eve gets the message and quickly puts up a electronic shield around the others before the vessel explodes. Swords go flying in every direction, and the world goes white.
When the swords clear, when Elsword's vision clears, when Eve finally deems it safe to drop her shield, Elsword is standing over his sister, tip of his blade at her throat.
The only sound that remains on the Alteran plain is Lilith's soft babbling.
Then Elesis coughs awkwardly, and Elsword moves his sword back so she can breathe. The silence was starting to get weird, and he's thankful that she gets up immediately, with no signs of wounds aside from tiny white scars that aren't even scars - just scratches, really. She pushes herself to her feet, smiling brightly. It's not the same grin from their childhood, but Elsword knows that it fits his sister just fine.
Elesis sticks her hand out to him, clearly intending for him to shake it. "That was a good duel," she says. "You've gotten better."
"And you too, Elsa," Elsword replies, shaking her hand like a fair opponent. Unexpectedly, she tugs him forwards by the hand and pulls him into a hug.
He shook her hand because she was his opponent, but now, he hugs her back, because she's his sister.
It's been ten years.
A/N: i've been typing so much that my fingers hurt
technically if i wanted to end my nanowrimo here i could bc i've reached my word quota but since i have one more day and an epilogue planned i'm gonna keep torturing myself
in other news i survived my seminar reflection and my chem quiz... kinda but basically i'm not screwed for anything anymore
also i'm two hours and fifteen minutes away from officially seeing my precious daughter Lu in her third job! her new design is so nice and it fits so well with my plans for her in Blink! i'm so happy that i dug my sketchbook out of the void and drew her during french today
i'm tired so expect the epilogue tmrw!
~Marg
