Fate:Stay - Chapter 9 –
-Elsword POV-
"Oberon, use Space Wrench!"
A silver X-shaped projectile came in and sliced my rotating Storm Blade in half along with my plan. Dodging the pieces, I looked back and saw the culprit.
"Eve?!"
"Hello again, Elsword." There stood Rena's best friend with a strange human-like robot by her side. "Who would've thought this was how we would meet again..."
"Yeah, who would've thought? Wait a minute." Realization sunk in as I stared at her helping Chung stand up. "You can't be..."
Turning to face me with an air of a queen, she sharply said, "Let me reintroduce myself, rebel. I'm one of the Royals. To be specific, I'm Queen Evelyn of Altera."
A Royal?! Rena's best friend was a Royal? Did Rena know about this? Did she know about Elrios already?
I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, I didn't hear Eve whisper two words.
"Heaven's Fist."
"ELSWORD, DODGE!" Elesis shouted. I immediately jumped to the side. Not even a half of a second later, a huge creaky metal fist slammed into the ground where I was once at, creating shockwaves that knocked both Elesis and me down.
"Sis, you okay?" I struggled, trying to get back on my feet.
"I'm fine..."
At her tone of voice, I snapped my head in her direction. Oh, no. Elesis was clutching her ankle tightly, her face pale and twisted into a look of pain.
"Sis!" I yelled in alarm. She couldn't fight in that condition. "Retreat and just take care of Aisha!"
"Don't order me around, Elsword," she snapped. "I'm perfectly fine!"
Before I could argue more, Eve interrupted us with a single word.
"Goodbye." Eve said with a hint of emotion that I couldn't understand. Why would she have regret in her voice? I must be going crazy. Royals like her were the ones who mercilessly killed townsfolk that disobeyed their rules.
But why? Why were her hands shaking? She pushed her trembling hands outward prepared to use a move, but Chung gently pushed her aside.
"Eve." Chung stepped in front of her and reloaded his cannon. "Stand back. You don't need to kill anyone. There is no need to taint your hands even more. I'll take care of this."
With those words, Eve bit her lip and stood back, hanging her head slightly as if she was ashamed.
Chung didn't waste any more time and charged toward Elesis, intending to finish her off first. As if I'll let him.
I finally pushed myself to my feet and ran in front of Elesis, shooting a firey rune at him.
"Splash Explosion!"
He sidestepped my rune and quickly countered, "Shooting Star!"
After firing twelve shots into the air, he panted heavily, almost completely leaning against his cannon. I raised my eyebrow. Horrible aim?
Not stopping to think about it, I took advantage of his fatigue and mindlessly charged toward Chung. He blocked my sword, though his movements were much slower.
"No!" I heard a shout behind me. Elesis? "Behind you, Elsword!"
Behind me? What is she talking about?
"Phoenix Tal-!"
A sudden jolt of pain tore through my left shoulder stopping me from completing my move.
"Ugh!" I clutched my shoulder in pain, trying to stop the blood from flowing out too quickly.
More jolts of pain cut through my legs and numbed my entire arm as all the bullets hit home. Falling to my knees because my legs could no longer support my weight, I tried my best to stem the bleeding.
Crap. I really shouldn't have fallen for that. It seems as if the move called Shooting Star had homing bullets that followed the opponent around.
Wincing as I moved my arm, I glared at Chung. His own face was pale as sheet, yet he stood there, ready to fight if necessary.
How was I going to fight? My legs could barely support me while both of my arms I used to wield my sword and shoot Runes was severely injured. But... I had to protect them. I had to protect Aisha and Elesis...
"I was wondering what your red hair would look like stained with your blood," Chung aimed his silver pistol at me.
"Now that I know, it's time to say your farewells."
My consciousness was slowly ebbing away into darkness. The part of me that was still awake screamed at me to dodge, to fight back. But I couldn't move my body... I was losing so much blood.
Suddenly, a familiar scream filled the clearing.
"DAD!"
Even my dulling senses immediately recognized the voice. That tone... Rena? Is that you?
~ - Rena POV - ~
"DAD!" I screamed.
Jumping out of Crow's arms, I ran to the fallen, red-haired swordsman.
Never mind the branches and twigs that scraped my face and arms. Never mind the times I tripped over. Elsword was in trouble.
That thought propelled me forward in a speed that rivaled light. Forcing myself right in front of Elsword and spreading out my arms, I prevented Chung from getting a clear shot at him.
"STOP! JUST STOP!"
"R-Rena?" I could hear Elsword behind me trying to force himself to get up, panting from the toll it was taking on his body. "G-get out of h-here."
"No, I won't," I said almost in a deadpan.
Looking directly at Chung, I almost flinched at the look he gave me. Annoyance, disgust, and… Confusion? Even was standing directly behind him, looking anything everywhere but me.
"You…" He didn't lower his silver pistol a single inch. Instead he aimed it directly at my forehead. "How did you get free?"
"That would be my doing."
Crow stood behind Chung, the tip of his machine-like hand pointing at Chung's throat.
"Put down your weapon." Crow's voice was like steel, cold and unshakable. "Or I will slit your throat."
"Clever," Chung snorted. He reluctantly lowered his pistol, but continued to talk. "Rebel, both you and the girl should surrender now. If you don't, the consequences of being captured later will be worse."
"Crow…" I whispered. Looking at his face now, I could see that it was a hard choice for him. He gritted his teeth and his free hand curled into a fist. "Crow, I don't care about that. I have to save Elsword." No response.
"Heaven's Fist."
A huge creaky fist slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves that hurtled both Crow and I into the air. Both of us landed behind Elsword, with me on top of Crow. Coughing dust out of my lungs, I immediately pushed myself off of Crow and rushed over to Elsword.
"Elsword!" I knelt in front of him and gently helped him get up with my arm supporting most of his weight. He looked like he was about to black out. Beads of sweat covered his paler than usual face as he struggled to stay awake and moving.
"Rena, take him and get away from here." Crow extended his machine-like arm toward Chung, his eyes not straying from the battle. "I can take care Chung."
"R-Rena." Elsword could barely speak without coughing out blood. "Leave me… T-take Aisha and r-run."
Aisha? Aisha was here too? Was… Was she hurt also?
I looked around, searching for her. A flash of purple and red in the shadows caught my eye. A woman with red hair stood over Aisha, her expression of anger and frustration clearly visible from where I stood.
"Aisha?" I called, trying my best to support Elsword and run at the same time. "Elsword needs help-" My words died out as I reached her. The sight before me was too shocking.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I bent to examine her gaping wound, lying Elsword behind her. Her whole body, including her pigtailed hair, was matted in blood and gashes covered her whole body. Glassy eyes stared at me as she leaned against Elsword, only half-awake.
"I'm alive," she croaked, trying to reassure me.
"Sniff…" Wiping tears that were turning into an accumulating and never ending stream on the back of my hand, I forced myself to smile. Albeit shakily.
"Aisha, come on. We're going to get out of here. No matter what."
The woman with red hair finally spoke. "I suppose you have a plan?"
"….."
She sighed, kneading her forehead, already knowing the answer. "You're just like Elsword. Running into a battlefield with no plan, hoping that luck would be on your side…" With a grim smile, she pushed herself up, wincing as she put weight on her left foot. "I have one, though it requires a bit of a sacrifice."
"No," Elsword cut in. "You can't, Elesis. I'm not going to let you be the bait."
"I'm stronger than you, Elsword. I can take care of myself," Elesis said firmly. "Look, while I go distract Chung, you guys should run for the portal. Aisha, do you have enough energy to teleport?"
"Yes."
Wait. Wait. Portal? Teleport? What are they talking about? I didn't think science has advanced that much…
Seeing my confused face, Elsword shook his head. "Not now, Rena. Later, when I have time." He bit his lip. "Though I wished I would never have to tell you this," he added bitterly.
"The portal will open in 15 seconds." Elesis readied her sword. "Go now!" Elesis wasted no time and immediately charged toward battle to help Crow.
"Rena!" Elsword grabbed my hand and placed it on Aisha's shoulder. "Hold on to Aisha. She's teleporting."
Aisha had her eyes closed in concentration. Beads of sweat dripped down her face, as she tried her best not to faint again. My hands tightened on her shoulder, silently giving her my support.
Slowly, the world around me disappeared. My sense of reality warped and twisted until I could no longer sense the time passing. I closed my eyes, trying not to get woozy.
"Done," I heard Aisha whisper. When I opened my eyes again, everything was normal and Aisha was passed out cold.
"Jump into the portal now!" Elsword picked up Aisha gently and carried her bridal-style. "C'mon, before it's too late!"
Uh… What does a portal look like?
~ - Raven POV- ~
Panting, I flung myself to the left as Eve used Heaven's Fist again.
"Valkyrie's Javelin!" I materialized black javelins in the air and crashed them down, aiming only to slow them down. I knew I couldn't win this fight. Not before I went… Berserk. The javelins exploded, scorching the ground and giving both of them burns.
"Genocide Ripper!"
"Rumble Shot!"
The white Nasod from before dashed toward me at an extreme speed, followed by a huge pulsating cannonball from behind.
Acting at fast as I could, I utilized my arm to surround myself inside a black sphere, sending out sharp metal needles in all directions as an act of defense.
"Charged Bolt!"
"Hey," a voice called out. "Looks like you're having fun."
A red-haired woman stepped out from beside a tree, "Need help?"
Walking past me, she stopped a moment to say, "Go to the portal now. I can take care of this myself." With those words said, she faced both Chung and Eve. Flicking her hair from behind her, she raised her sword, pointing it at them. "Now, let the real fight begin!"
A/N: I updated… After what, a month? T-T Writer's block (the purest form of evil) + homework (school… sigh) = Late chapter. Anyway, Tactical Trooper finally came out! My HM (soon to be EM) is getting killed by them Q.Q I wonder when Ara and Elesis will come to the U.S… Other than that, thanks for following, favoriting, and reviewing~
Raven- Weapon Taker- Thanks for the reminder! It was weird because I was thinking about updating it soon and then BAM! your review came in. Sorry for the wait~
HelloKitty55443- Next chapter is up! XD Hope you like it?
xSorcery- Lol, I'm the same way Lils. I don't remember to review a lot of stories *is trying to break the habit of being a silent reader* Both you and my English III teacher really help me on my grammar and writing ^^ Thanks so much Lils~ Descriptions are kinda hard for me because… Well, I don't pay attention to a lot things… Sigh… I was never good at art anyway. Thanks for the offer, I might take you up on that one day!
xxtimexx- Thanks~ Is Mena another one of your OCs? I wish I could have enough time to create some of my own OCs…
The Cynical Asian- Interesting… Update it soon~ That collaboration thing sounds like a lot of work… Then again, I'm a lazy person by nature ^^;; Lol, I never read Fate/Stay Night before? Is it good? O.O If it's with adult content then nevermind… Wow, you haven't seen any grammar errors yet?
xXHakuraXx- Hey, Mandy~ *looks around* Where's the cookies?
FANG ee- Ooh~! You're a fan of RavenXRena too?! Yay, more Reven lovers~ I like making characters twisted so that nobody can guess what they are about to do… *shrugs* Maybe it's just me. XD The next chapter is here!
Orithia WindBell- Yes, a best friend's betrayal always hurt the worst… This is the first time you reviewed this story, I'm honored. Thanks for the compliment~ Hope you liked this chapter?
KWolf909- I like Chung too~ Especially TT, those ears… Why do you want Raven to tell her his real name? O.O I updated! Hope you didn't wait too long? *shot*