BGM [Piano Music] Transparent Cohabit OST - (Yang Su Hyeok) / Flaming Heart
checkmate
by iReii
"A Mage that wants to escape and a Knight that has escaped, are now checkmated.
Now, the two underlords are willing to fight for what they desire― freedom."
chapter twelve.
》
With a pouty lip, shoulders slumped, Aisha sat on top of grass as she leaned her back against a giant tree. She glanced up to see the leaves branched off as they swayed back and forth. Was this the freedom she wished for? One cannot escape the checkmate and to escape that results in punishment. Trailing behind her is a lock that chains her up to the kingdom, a lock without a key. If freedom was actually free, perhaps she wished she never tasted this, it felt like a wish that will only be granted for a short period of time, only to be taken away.
"Aisha?"
As she was lost in her own thoughts, her name was called upon. Elsword was squatting before her as he handed her the wooden bottle filled with river water. She gaped her mouth but quickly closed it as she silently smiled as an acknowledgement.
"Thanks,"
She replied as she took a sip.
To be chased around, unable to find a resting place for a long period of time, to travel around every forests, this wasn't freedom. Perhaps the little moments she shared with Elsword was, but overall, it was not. She was still cursed by the name of King Aldist and Land of Rosleau… Land of Rosleau? What's beyond this land? Is there a place beyond the boundaries where her freedom can be granted?
"Elsword…"
She said silently as she fixed her gaze onto the trees before her. Her mind was filled with thoughts and her lips were spurting those thoughts out loud.
"Yeah?"
He replied as he took a sip of the water as well.
"What's beyond this land?
Her question came out rather carefully. That's when Elsword whipped his head toward Aisha with a confused glance.
"What…?"
He asked with a shocked tone. Then she glanced back toward the knight as she grasped onto his fingers. With a confined voice, she continued,
"You traveled around for a longer period of time than me… Did you only travel the Land of Rosleau? Did you… not go beyond the boundaries?"
Her eyes were glistening with curiosity and her question came out reluctantly. However, that was not the case for Elsword. He knew, of course he knew what was beyond the boundaries. He hasn't been there, but he knew about secret of the boundaries considering the fact that he had traveled around the entire land, exploring the land by himself. Yet that was the limit of his exploration. Land of Rosleau is his limit.
"I― don't know…"
He replied back, avoiding Aisha's gaze as he glanced down at the grass before him. Aisha seemed as if she hadn't noticed his hesitance and leaned herself against the trees once again. Then with the last spark within her violet eyes, she asked,
"Do you want to… try to go beyond?"
With frowned eyebrows, Elsword jolted his head back to face Aisha once again.
"What?"
He asked with an extremely shocked tone, as if he couldn't believe what came out of the mage's lips.
"This isn't… freedom, we're being chased all the time, I wasn't expecting this kind of freedom, Elsword. But if we move to another land, out of Land of Rosleau, then maybe we ca―"
"No Aisha. No, you don't understand, and you won't understand,"
He interrupted Aisha as he could tell the excitement within her voice growing bigger and bigger and that was something that needed to be stopped immediately. Without glancing over at her hurtful stare, he stood up and stepped away as he stated,
"I'm going to go take a walk,"
And with those words, the knight disappeared into the woods, leaving the vulnerable mage by herself as droplets of tears were forming within her violet eyes.
Minutes have passed and the knight hasn't returned yet, it seemed as if he was extremely furious about her excitement yet she couldn't figure out the reason why the anger was build upon him. She was just curious about what's beyond the Land of Rosleau. Isn't freedom what he wished for as well? And couldn't the land beyond the Rosleau provide even more freedom, a freedom without chain, without a lock? This idea wasn't something that she could easily give up on. Being collared up inside the castle and being collared up outside of the castle― that isn't freedom, and freedom is what she wants. She was willing to go beyond the boundaries to fulfill that wish, even if her partner did not agree with her. She stood up rather courageously, her fingers were clenched up to a fist as she was determined to fulfill her goal.
Couple minutes have passed by and the knight has returned after calming his aroused emotions down. He stood next to the mage, both of the underlords were fidgeting as they were hesitant about how to start the conversation.
"Elsword I-"
"Aisha,-"
Ironically, the two decided to start the conversation at the same time. The mage and the knight stood there as they stared at each other with a gaped mouth, unable to continue the conversation and to figure out which conversation should be spoken first. The mage was the first one to say,
"Go ahead,"
And with those quiet words, Elsword nodded his head in acknowledgement and continued,
"I… I still can't completely agree with you,"
"...,"
"But I decided that… I should go with you. I don't want you to leave me, and the thoughts of not having you by myself really made me figure out that…"
"...?"
"I really love you,"
With those words, Aisha couldn't help herself except to flush her cheeks as an automatic response. Her heart fluttered with his words along with the fact that Elsword is willing to go beyond the boundaries with her.
"I love you too…"
She said quietly, almost like a whisper as her cheeks flushed a rose hue.
Elsword let out a quiet chuckle as he ruffled up the top of her head, his fingers caressing her violet locks.
》
The sun was setting beyond the horizon, warming up the blue skies into a beautiful hue of orange red. The clouds were scattered across, slowly camouflaging into the crimson sky as it slowly turned gray. Wind was slowly breezing, it carried a slight hint of autumn chill as it swayed Aisha's violet locks away from her face.
"Let's hurry before the sun sets,"
Elsword replied with rather a calm voice, which contrasted the journey that they have started. At first, Aisha realized that only the two underlords were the ones being checkmated, yet as she experienced the encaged freedom, it's wasn't freedom at all. Being chased by the kingdom's guards up to their tail, having to move places every single night, that wasn't freedom.
"Elsword… have you tried to break the boundary?"
Aisha asked the knight carefully as they brushed through the tall grasses that came up to her waist, which was slowing down their movement.
"Yeah,"
He replied back reluctantly, to her surprise. She continued,
"Could you… tell me about this boundary?"
She asked cautiously, her voice slightly shaking as she fidgeted her fingers behind her back. Elsword let out a quiet sigh, as if he was thinking about how to even start the conversation.
"I was just like you, when I escaped,"
Then he suddenly raised his voice and continued onto his story,
"I realized the freedom I wanted wasn't freedom. I heard about the boundary when I was young, so I decided learn more about it, and it's way more complicated than anyone would think,"
"What… about it?"
"Centuries ago, the first Lord Knight and the first Elemental Master were constantly at war with each other. Then they decided to come up with a peaceful resolution, to create a boundary separating Land of Rosleau from surrounding lands, and to create a boundary between the Selodian Kingdom and the Carlyn Kingdom,"
Aisha's ears were perked up as she listened carefully. The only source of sound surrounding her was their gentle footsteps, the low husky voice of the knight, and the sound of cicadas crying from faraway.
"Then the citizens between two lands disobeyed the laws and communicated with one another. Eventually, the boundary separating the two kingdoms were disappeared, but the boundary of Land of Rosleau remains, up to this day,"
"Was no one able to break it?"
"Anyone that tries to even touch it will die immediately. However, there are only ones that can break the boundary,"
"..."
"They're Elemental Master and Lord Knight that has stronger powers than the first two,"
Aisha remained silent as she could feel a droplet of sweat strolling down her back. The only ones that can destroy the boundary are the ones that are stronger than the ones who created it. The first Elemental Master and the first Lord Knight basically created the Land of Rosleau, and in order for that to happen, one has to be extremely powerful. And to overpower their strength… Aisha was indeed, nervous, but she was reluctant.
Elemental Master and Lord Knight, they are a combination of underlords that aren't so common, due to the ability of their growing their power being rare. The last combination of Elemental Master and Lord Knight that existed before Aisha and Elsword was around seventy years ago, which proves that they're power is indeed, surreal. However, no one was able to figure out the actual true powers of the first Elemental Master and Lord Knight, nothing was recorded. Some even believe they weren't even real, and the boundary itself was created by sacrifices of multiple mages and knights from centuries ago. Some believe that they were gods, and they worship as their religious groups grow. No one, not a single person, knows about the power of the first Elemental Master and Lord Knight. And for the two underlords to grow a power overwhelming that, one could say it was impossible. It is very likely that they will die in middle of the process and the boundary itself won't even break, yet Aisha had hopes. She's known for her swift, yet extreme power of her magic skills and Aisha can tell that Elsword is one of the top Lord Knights that existed.
She glimpsed over to Elsword, and realized that he was hesitantly playing with his fingers in order to keep his concern down. She could tell that Elsword wasn't too sure about her decision, and her mistake can even end his life as well; she was extremely grateful at his sacrificial actions.
"Elsword… thank you,"
"Say that after we break the boundary,"
His joke actually brushed Aisha's hesitance away and made her chuckle. Both of the two underlords were extremely afraid of the action they will perform soon, yet the two were willing to do it. Even a possible death wasn't strong enough to break their bond away, as the two walked toward the horizon.
》
end chapter twelve.
information:
The cloak has its limits of traveling and the boundary itself is very far away, and the cloak does not have enough powers to even teleport to near the boundary. Aisha and Elsword have teleported to a mountain that's closest to the boundary and have traveled by foot toward the horizon.
Underlords consists of variously skilled, graced fighters. Just think of the jobs in Elsword, like Grand Archer, Sakra Devanam, etc.
Within all these jobs, Lord Knight and Elemental Master is considered rare, and not many has the ability to conjure its powers. So Elsword and Aisha are one of the rarest underlords, and one of the powerful ones, yet no one knows the actual powers the first Lord Knight and Elemental Master had.
note:
I feel like I rushed this chapter so suddenly, but I didn't know what else to add and didn't wanted to drag on :c
The part regarding the boundary was added the last minute, the original ending was suppose to be like Chung having to shoot Aisha and Elsword with a special bullet, which takes their power away due to King Aldist and King Rowan's orders... but it felt like that ending was too weak LOL. Thus I decided to change the entire ending, and most likely... Chapter 13 will be the last chapter, which will be followed up with an epilogue. It could be happy ending, or a sad ending... that's something I can't tell XD
replies:
Ailee: LOL always the goddamn guards :u Thank you for your kind reply! The end is coming near, hope you'll enjoy it!
Minerva Venus: Thank you! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well :D
Preneli: Haha, the dancing part was a last minute add XD Glad you enjoyed it!
TheTrueMasterofTempest: Wait until the ending, and perhaps Chung may get a happy ending! I apologize, but I won't be adding any more characters at this point. Adding Rena in middle of the forest sounds interesting, kind of regretting not adding her in there LOL. I was trying to make Chapter 11 like a busy street in a small town, so it is kind of like a festival! Thank you for your replies!