Chapter 9

Rena

She would have to leave the group for a few days. Not because she needed a break, or anything similar, but because she had made contact with the Night Savers, a group of elves who run covert operations all over Elrios. To complete her initiation, she would have to go to Eldrasil, which would take her a few days for the round trip.

"Hey, I'm going to be gone for a few days. There's… some people I need to meet up with. It shouldn't be longer than a week or so."

"What? We can't afford to wait around that long. We have to go after Wally!" Surprisingly, Elsword was the first one to speak up.

"I know, and I think you two should carry on without me. How about we meet up in Bethma?"

"Sure, but if he wave to move on, where should we meet up?"

"Hmm… I think if I miss you guys in Bethma, I'll wait for you in Velder?"

"Okay. If we move on from Bethma before a week, We won't move on from Velder."

Aisha spread her arms, and Rena went up and hugged her.

"I'll miss you."

"Geez, you say that like I'm marching off to my death! It's only a week!"

"I know, but still."

"I should get going now."

Eldrasil Wasn't overly far away, and from a distance looked like the tree the Ruben El shard was kept it. The closer she got, the larger the tree became.

Upon her approach, an arrow flew over her shoulder. She instinctively went for cover before looking around the direction the arrow came from. She saw an elf in dark clothing hiding in a tree, and fired an arrow right above their head, and it stuck into the tree.

"I trust that you're Rena, then? I've heard about your aim before. Come, we've been waiting for you."

She came out from her cover, and began following the figure. They'd been waiting for her? She never exactly gave them notice that she was coming, but was it really that obvious, or did they have other methods of finding out?

However, that didn't matter right now. What mattered is that she was going to become one of the Night Savers, and she was going to better herself with it.

Aisha

Rena didn't say where she was going. For all she knew, she was going to march to her death. That's not really the kind of thing she would do, but it was still a possibility

Being stuck in bed sucked. To make it worse, she would have to stay in bed for two more days. What was she going to do for two whole days? It's not like she could move easily. Maybe if they found a wheelchair or something? But that opened another problem. Because she couldn't stand, she couldn't dress herself. Now sure, she was wrapped in bandages, but it would still feel weird. She wouldn't do it.

She had to find some means of entertaining herself that didn't involve getting up and walking around. That pretty much ruled out anything she could think of. Luckily, Elsword walked back in the room.

"Hey, how you doing?"

"Well, I can sit up again without pain, so better, I guess."

He sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Thought you might be board without Rena around to talk about… whatever it is you two talk about, so I thought you might like this." He pulled a book out of a bag and handed it to her.

"A theory on the manipulation of space and time through means of magic?"

"Ah, if you've already read that one, I can go back and get another one."

"No, this is great, thank you! But… why this one?"

"Ah, well… the description of what it would look like looked like the thing you did with the robot."

"Robot? You mean Nasod?"

"Huh? Nasod? What's a Nasod?"

"Didn't you pay attention during history?"

"Um, no, that was really boring, so I never payed it much attention."

She sighed. Typical Elsword. Why did she expect any different? "Nasods were a race of super advanced robots. Long story short, we got into a multi-generational war with them, and wiped them all out."

"So Wally must've been doing research on them…"

"Which is why he sent Banthus to steal the El shard. He needed a power source."

"We should get this to Rena as soon as possible!"

"Oh, she already knows."

"Wait, really? How?"

"Because she payed attention in history, so she knew about the Nasod war, and was able to figure all this out on her own."

"Are you sure?"

"She told me about it."

"Oh, ah, all right then. So, uh, why don't you tell me about some of the magic stuff you've been working on?"

She perked right up. No one had ever taken an interest in what it was she working on with magic. She happily went off about it.

Elsword

Honestly, he didn't understand a word of what she was saying. Maybe it was for the best that he decided not to work on his own magic, because he would be lost beyond belief. But Aisha had a huge smile the whole time she was talking, and that's what mattered. Keeping her spirits up, especially while recovering was something he thought was important.

As the day went on, he found that he understood more and more about what she was talking about, and by the time the sun had set, he was able to completely keep up with what she was saying. He was pretty proud of himself.

He looked out the window. "It's getting pretty late. I should probably let you get some sleep."

She yawned. "Um… Rena stayed with me until I fell asleep. Could you maybe stay until then?"

"Uh, sure, I guess."

Aisha rolled over and closed her eyes, which seemed to him as a good sign of her recovery, as she could roll on her side without being in pain. He waited for what seemed like an hour before checking to see if she was asleep. He put out the candled in the room and left her to sleep.

He yawned. He was pretty tired, too, but he had to clear something with Conwell. He needed to form a contract with him, or something.

He got to his room and placed the sheath on his bed.

"Hey, uh, Conwell?"

Nothing happened.

"I think I'm supposed to form a contract with you or something."

Nothing happened.

"My name's Elsword, by the way."

Still nothing happened. He sighed.

"I feel stupid talking to a sheath."

That's a bad sign for your contract, Elsword.

A voice came from seemingly all around him.

"Huh? Who's there?"

It's me. The sheath on your bed you feel stupid for talking to.

"So… you can talk?"

Talk? No. I can communicate my thoughts to those around me when I so choose to do so.

"And you decided to wait to talk to me… why?"

When you're a sheath without the ability to move on your own, you seek to create entertainment wherever it can be found. Your talk with Aisha earlier? Hilarious.

"Wait, you were listening to that?!"

Elsword, I've been listening to everything you've said since you were first in earshot of that stupid robot prison.

"Really? That early?"

Every single word.

"So, aren't we supposed to form a contract, or something?"

Oh, right. That. The contract. The thing that binds us. The formal agreement. That thing I'm supposed to do.

"So are you gonna give me one, or not?"

Look, I havn't done a contract in several hundred years. They're old, and boring. Look, why don't we just make a casual agreement? You can use my swords, and you carry me around so I can be entertained. Deal?

"Um… there's nothing else? You're not gonna take my soul or anything, right?"

Now why would I do that? That would kill you on the spot. I would much rather be carried around my someone competent enough to use me. You'll do though, I guess.

"Hey!"

Look, take it or leave it. The only parts are the ones I presented.

"Fine. Deal, I guess."

Good. Now get some sleep. It's late and I'm tired.

Eve

Queen Type N: Record label=Entry 4

The spear wasn't hard for her to master. Exploding tendencies and everything. Grant, she was a super computer capable of calculating where it will end up the moment she threw it.

"That was not difficult. I will be leaving now."

"Hold on. Do you even know who you're going after?"

"Nasod Ruler. My target has not changed."

"More specific. Do you even know the individuals?"

Queen Type N: Find Nasodruler:members

No results found.

"Who are they?"

"I'll tell you under one condition. I'm going, too."

"I will not allow it."

"And why not?"

Queen Type N: Chance betrayal

9%

"… I do not trust you."

"Now, you may be a Nasod, but I can still tell when you're lying, Eve."

Queen Type N: Chance betrayal

4%

This was not working in her favor.

"My analysis of the location shows that it would be easier for a single person to access undetected."

"I's hard to do an analysis of a location you don't know about isn't it? Let's face it. You need my help to find the members in the first place. Plus, I have some… personal… things I need work out with them for now. Let's just say that, at the current moment, our interests overlap in that we want to take down Nasod Ruler."

"Fine. But you will be the bait to lure the members out."

"Actually, I have a better idea. You turn on your sight sharing feature and share it with my Dynamos. When you get eyes on the target, I'll swoop in and take him out. Does that work for you?"

Queen Type NList systems topic=sight

"I do not believe I have the feature you are referring to."

Vision sharing

"Well, maybe you've just never had the opportunity to use it. It was a pretty obvious part that I found when I was upgrading you."

"I have found it. I will set it to share to your Dynamos. Now, who is our first target?"

Add

Eve dominated the battlefield, even without the use of her spear. When she did use it, though, it was quite spectacular. It could be expected, as she was a Nasod, but that didn't change the fact that it was amazing how fast she learned. Next time, he might just go to see it in person.

He was watching comfortably from the refinery. He'd checked the coordinates before, so he was sure he could make his appearance work.

Not long after, the target left the cover to confront Eve, as expected. It was then that he made his appearance. His Dynamos formed a circle large enough for him to walk through, then the interior of the circle flashed purple before opening a portal to the location, and he stepped through.

"You know, you really should consider who you're picking fights with before fight them."

"What are you doing? This was not part of the plan!"

"Do you remember me? Do you remember how you looked when you slaughtered my family?"

The man spoke in a cold voice. "I've slaughtered a lot of families, boy. You'll have to be a little more specific."

"Then I'll just have to make you remember!" His Dynamos pinned the man to the ground, and he stepped over him, his last one glowing in his hand.

"Wait! That eye! I remember now! You're his kid! You're that monster's kid! You're-"

"Good, you remember. Now, that 'monster's kid' is going to slaughter you just like you slaughtered my family!" His Dynamo went through the man's chest, and the others opened a portal, making him fall through.

"Good, I didn't get any blood on me. This hoodie is surprisingly hard to clean."

"Why did you not stick to the plan? You endangered us both with your reckless actions!"

"Relax, I had the whole thing under control the whole time."

"Your chances of failure in doing that were 87%!"

"Good thing I hit that 13%, then."

"Forget it. I will move on the next target on my own."

"You mean the one you don't know?"

"I have extrapolated the remaining targets from the resources available at this site. Goodbye, Add. May we never meet again."

A message displayed on one of hid Dynamos. 'Vision sharing disconnected'

"Fine. I've done what I needed. I'm done with this miserable time, anyway."

He went back to the refinery. All he needed to do was find a power source to get back to that time. He thought for a while. An El shard would provide enough power to execute the code. All he had to do was find one.

Raven

He felt incredibly guilty about what he had just done. He had caused the city of Hamel to fall into ruin. He had to turn his back on all those people who needed help. He hoped it would all be worth it.

He returned to his room shortly after the ship had set sail. On the way, he heard some people talk about a reset, and they went quiet when he walked by. He figured what was going to happen on this trip.

"You all here?"

"Yeah, we all made it undetected. With an additional one, too." Elesis seemed to have taken charge.

A tall, slender figure in a guard uniform stood up. "Uh, that would be me."

"Fine. Here's how this is going to work. You need to get off the ship next time it pulls into a port. I won't be leaving with you."

"What? Why not?"

"They're going to reset my memories. If I see you, I won't remember you at all, so if I see you, I might end up attacking you. I likely won't return here, but if I do, make sure I don't see you."

"Will do."

There was a knock on the door, and the others all ducked to avoid being seen. He opened the door.

"Raven, you're needed in the repair bay. Be there as soon as you can."

He waited for the door to close, then spoke softly. "Chances are I'll be kept under until they need me for the next mission, wherever that is. If I'm not, avoid contact with me by any means. Understood?"

They nodded and he left for the repair bay.

"Ah, Raven, so good of you to join me. Now, as I've been made aware, you have plans to betray the General."

He looked surprised. "How much do you know?"

"Oh, I know all of it. Every last part. Including those problems you've brought on board with you. You've told them to sneak off the ship when we get to the next town, correct?"

"If I go along with your plan, memory reset and all, will you let them go?"

"Why… of course. Now, sit in the pod, if you'd please."

Ciel

There was a commotion just on the other side of the door. From the sounds of it, they had been caught. He was going to have to fight his way out.

"Elesis."

"Yeah, I hear it too. Ready your weapons, everyone. We're going to have to fight our way to the escape boats."

The guard looked at them kind of funny. "Escape… boats?"

"Shut up, I'm improvising here! I don't know what they're actually called."

Ciel leaned to the guard. "Just go with it. It's not worth it right now."

He pulled out his guns and aimed them at the door.

Lu

She had no idea if her powers would even work in this world. Ciel had his guns, Elesis had her sword and the guard… She thought the guard had a sword too, but he didn't appear to have it out.

She tried using her powers. It didn't work. She tried again. It still didn't work. There was a pound on the door. Her powers still refused to activate. The door cracked. Still no powers. The door broke down. As if on cue, her powers activated. She accessed her full demon form, lunging forward, her claws cutting through several of them at once. She then found herself surrounded, outnumbered, and by the nature of the numbers, probably outmatched, too.

Fortunately for her, she wasn't alone. The others rushed out the door and the fight began. It wasn't so much as a fight as a push to the top deck to get to the boats. The guard seemed to pick up a sword on the way. Combat wise, he wasn't doing much, but he was able to hold some of them off. She had to admire his desire to not kill others. However, their opponents didn't feel the same way, and she had to save him several times.

Elesis

It had been a rather intense fight. Their push lasted around half an hour, she figured, and they were all tired. The guard was rowing.

"Hey, maybe you should take a break, and get some rest. We can find our way when we're well rested and have the energy."

"Actually, a strong current goes by this area in about an hour or so, and if we get caught in it, we'll be miles out to sea before we have control of the boat again. You rest. I'll take care of the boat problem."

"Are… are you sure? Maybe I could help you."

"You kiddin'? You're practically falling asleep just sitting here just talking! I'll make sure we don't get stuck at sea. You all need to rest."

"What about you? I'm sure you did just as much as us."

"Well, not really. I held a couple off, but I didn't do much in the end. Let me at least do this for you."

"Okay, but only because I get your stubbornness, and I'm like that too."

She lied down and went to sleep. She dreamed about her encounter with Scar. Sure, she managed to beat him, but she couldn't finish the job. The encounter traumatized her. She had encountered an enemy vastly superior to herself, and she was very nearly killed by him. She still wasn't entirely sure how she overcame him.

The dream was a little different than usual. Rather than the place where they'd fought before, they appeared to be in a volcano. He had the El shard, and was placing it in a large orb she assumed was made from El shards. Upon placing the shard in the orb, it turned a dark purple and a giant hand reached out to grab it.

She tried to get up to stop him, but couldn't. The Red Knights were around her, and had all been slaughtered. She was dying. The ground started to shake, and a crack opened up, swallowing her.

She woke up sweating, and in a bed. Sitting up, she looked out a nearby window. She recognized the port. At first she thought it was Hamel, but quickly dismissed it. They were in Velder. Just how long had she been asleep? The others were all asleep as well.

Author's Comments

Me: Wow, Eve. You're actually doing that?

Add: Works for me!

Me: You're so insensible.

Eve: It's a hate-hate relationship.

Me: It was at this moment Lu knew

Elsword: Don't you say it.

Lu: Say what?

Elsword: Don't ask.

Me:…

Me:…

Me:… she f-

Me: *gets punched*