The Reason

Ina POV

A bright light forces your eyes open. 'Oh dang, am I dead?' is your immediate thought to the brightness, but it slowly disappears and reappears. Your hand wraps around the cold dog face so you could push it away, "Delta, what the heck do you think you're doing? Do you know what time it is?"

"It is about four AM," the mechanisms in his body click as he moves his body away from the bed, "However, I am waking you up for a different reason, master. I can hear Nathaniel having a nightmare."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

You quickly pull up your leggings and messily put on your shoes and hurry your way to Nate's room. The halls echo with the sound of your footsteps as well as a few others; you didn't care to think who else is up. Delta is following close behind you, his paws hardly making a sound against the hardened rock and soil. Although the hallway has lanterns hung, they could only give so much, so your hand feels the wall and you try to find the entrance that will lead you to where the boys are.

'This is weird,' you think, 'The doorway is supposed to be here. Yeah, I should've reached it by now.' But you still feel uneven stone surface under your hand. Now you use your other hand to see if there really is a doorway here but nothing gives; the door just disappeared overnight.

You scratch your head as Delta says, "Master, the doorway you are looking for is sealed shut. The Ponggos were generous enough to do that for us so that nothing will happen between the boys and girls of this group."

"Right," you say quietly, "Totally forgot about that."

You hurry down the small hallway until the main hall—a large cavern with lanterns that hang above you—finally shows up. You immediately make a right since that's where the boys sleep, however, you don't really remember which room Nate sleeps in. Shoot, now that you think about it, you really don't remember which room it is because they all look the same! All the doors were the same dull brown so you just kept on going until you bump into Raven.

You recoil from the shock, "Oh, oh, Raven! What are you doing up?"

"I'm so glad you're awake right now, Ina," you can see creases on Raven's forehead and his hair getting whiter every minute, "Nate's been screaming for so long and I don't know how long he's been like that. Could you please go check up on him to make sure he's okay?"

"Yeah, of course!"

Raven runs down the hall, most likely to get Rena or somebody, so you continue down the hall. Your body feels like it's shaking from the sick, floating feeling in the pit of your stomach. Is Nate okay? I hope he isn't hurt, or worse… You arrive at to a door that is slightly ajar and the screams made your stomach finally do a flip. Bursting through the door, you find Nate contorting his body into ungodly shapes and it looks like he's trying to break his body. His arm looks like it wants to twist around his chest so it could touch his left waist but it couldn't since his shoulder prevents it from going further. You quickly pull his arm into its normal shape as well as putting his body back into place; however, his body possesses an unnatural strength that's difficult to pin down. Delta joins in keeping his body stable but even he couldn't match the strength with his gorilla hands.

You hear a door opening nearby and Chung runs into the rooming, almost yelling, "What's happening?! What's wrong with Nate and why's he screaming?!"

"I-I don't know," you let out with a grunt to avoid Nate's other arm that's flailing, "But I need some help to keep him from breaking his bones!"

Nate's mouth opens to let out a screech that creates goosebumps along your back. Chung grabs onto his other arm to keep him from doing harm but nothing could keep him from rising from the bed. Raven finally skids back with Rena and Aisha following close behind. Both girls gasp in horror at the fact three strong people had to keep Nate down but they quickly went to work with whatever is making him do this. Aisha whispers under her breath an incantation and with a snap of a finger, a bright flash emits around Nate's ankles, knees, waist, arms, neck, and head. Binding lights are cast all over Nate to prevent him from hurting anyone and allows us to let go. A closer look at the binds shows runes, from a foreign language you couldn't understand, as the foundation of the binds with small dots that connect to each other.

Your muscles are aching from the amount of power you exerted and say, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

Rena places a hand over Nate's face, whispering a chant of her own. A green light appears between Rena's hand and Nate's nose which makes him calm down, but his body is still twitching. She pushes the light toward Nate's skin and it slides right into his pores. You involuntarily turn away from the sight, but you turn back to see Nate's still twitching and his mouth's moving but no sound is coming out. You stare intently at his mouthing but they seem to hold no meaning. Aisha is once again creating another spell—some words are familiar but it hides under all the gibberish that's pouring from her lips. Another snap and a small ball of light manifest on her hand. Aisha carefully places it over Nate's face; his face has all kinds of creases lining his cheeks and forehead. The ball of light slowly melts into soft powder, each flake gently falls onto his skin, and they cover every inch until you could only see his wide eyes. Slowly but surely, Nate's body finally relaxes and his eyes begin to close.

Aisha finally lets out a huge sigh, "It's done. I know binding spells but to make a spell that quells night terrors is difficult, especially when I don't even know one."

"How did you know how to do it then?" you raise an eyebrow while stretching your arms.

"Well," Aisha pauses as if she wasn't sure if her answer will be fine, "I used a simple spell I learned ages ago which makes the person go into a short sleep so that the nightmare will go away. However, the way he was moving makes me think that it was more than just a nightmare. As long as the spell works, I'm sure he'll be okay."

Nate's face is lax but you aren't sure what's going on in his head. You can see his body wanting to move but all the spells put onto him prevent him from moving an inch. Rena is making sure his body is still intact by feeling his limbs and torso.

"Thank goodness nothing's broken," Rena slowly breathes out, "If he kept on going, his arm would have broke and…there would have been no way for me to heal it. Poor Nate, how could this happen?"

"Change." Eve's voice suddenly says which makes our heads turn.

"But what change," Chung gestures to Nate's body, "What is it that could make him do such a thing, especially if his body is the vessel?"

You always know that Eve's eyes will reveal nothing, but you can tell something's bugging her. The way she stands is upright and a little stiff; her shoulders sag just enough to notice and her hands continually come together only to go back to her side.

You say, "Maybe the thing is testing Nate's body to the limit. By putting his body under stress, it could be trying to make sure Nate knows what he's getting into."

'But I wish it never happened.'

The people in the room are quiet, most likely mulling over what has been said. And in the silence, you can hear Nate breathing unevenly. Before you could even react, his yells come back full force. His voice hits against the cave room; crawling over every ridge and under every crack; bouncing in your brain and scratching inside your skull. You quickly cover your ears but the noise is agonizing, no, otherworldly.

'That doesn't sound like a human scream…what the hell is happening?!'

You can tell that some of the members are covering their ears from his yell. It sounds like a banshee that died twice and now it's out for everyone's blood. Aisha immediately swirls her hand over Nate's head, her voice lost under the painful cries, and the same binding lights surround his limbs. You make your way to his bedside to hold onto his hand—maybe give him some sort of comfort, but his hand feels as cold as a corpse. The chill makes you pull your hand away for a second, however, you immediately grab onto it. You hear Aisha whisper, you hear Rena mutter a spell as well, and you lean in close toward his ear,

"Nate, please…come back, I—I'm afraid of what'll happen to you—"

Another scream release from his lips, every muscle in his body tightens, his eyes are wide and fear jumps from every pore in his body. Looking closer at his eye, it's completely black.

"Please, don't hurt him…!"

My grip becomes tighter on Nate's hand.

"I—I really…care so much about you, Nate. Wake up…!"

His head immediately hit the pillow after that. No screams could be heard and no movement can be seen from him. You scramble to his head, carefully placing your hand on his cheek; his eyes closed, his face lax, and his entire body unmoving. You shake him a little, "Nate, are you okay…?"

No movement.

"Please, wake up!"

Nothing.

"Please!"

You felt a heavy hand on your shoulder. Chung? Chung's armored hand never felt heavy before. You glance up, tears threatening to fall, and an empty feeling in your stomach. However, it's Delta and he's still in the form of a gorilla, "He is breathing, master. He will wake up when day breaks and will be completely fine by the time we leave for the Core."

'Oh, thank goodness.'

You rub your eyes a few times, "That's good…that—that's really good."

Aisha and Rena are sitting down on chairs, they both look haggard but relieved that Nate's night terror is resolved. You're pretty relieved as well. Chung's reaches his hand to you and you take his gentle grip. You took another long look at Nate's sleeping form before you finally go back to your room. Delta silently creeps behind us back in his dog form. Once you reach the end of the hall with him, Chung says, "This is as far as I can really go. I shouldn't walk down the girl's hall even with you."

"Aw, come on," you try with a small smile, "You'd fit right in if you act a little more feminine."

Chung lightly punches your shoulder, "Not funny."

But he chuckles anyway as he says good night to you and Delta. You slowly walk down the dimly lit hall, thinking about…everything. Especially how Nate's changing so much right now. You stop to look back but you shake your head; shouldn't go back now, you should let the group sleep.

Delta's text box peeks out with, "Is something the matter, master? Shall I fetch Mr. Chung back for you to talk to?"

"No! I—I don't need to talk."

A few clicks clack out of his head, "Are you sure? You are apprehensive: muscles are tight, heartbeat is faster than average, and you are wringing your fingers a little too tightly. May I ask what is wrong, master?"

"Well, of course you know it's nothing. You can literally see right through me! Well, where do I start? I left behind mom and Jonah in Velder, Hamel fell from a demon invasion, I saw Chung's dad become tainted by those bastards, I got sent to a small village where I have to retrieve a large El for the village if they want to survive, and we're here now—getting stronger, yes—but…! I…I don't know if it's good for all of us. I don't…I don't know if it's good for Nate. There's something strange going on with him but I'm afraid of him pushing me back. I mean, you saw me when we dealt with his night terror tonight! I'm not strong—I'm actually really…really scared."

"Of what, if I may ask, master?"

Yeah, that's the real question. Even you don't have that figured out. Is it because there's nothing to be afraid of? It could be, but you can't be for sure. Sometimes it just feels like there's a hole in your stomach like you're constantly dropping down from a large height.

'Why am I so afraid?'

Your arms wrap around your waist, your fingers feeling the black shirt fabric, and every fold you make creates another jump in your stomach. You look into the yellow eyes of your companion—a Nasod you can easily trust—and say, "I don't know what I'm afraid of."

The clicking coming from his skull sounds like a ticking time bomb; it's just waiting for the right moment to say the right thing. His text box shows up, "Do you believe I can be of any help? There is an old saying: the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. May I ask if you specify what is bothering you, master?"

"Ah…well, like I said, Delta…I have no clue why I feel uneasy. It could be that I'm just not ready to face the world like this."

"Like…what?"

You gesture to your body, "Like this."

Delta's head tilts, "I cannot comprehend, master. Are you talking about your physical condition? If so, I can pull up some excellent exercise routines as well as meals that you can consume to reach peak physical condition."

"Not really what I was looking for," you look down and sigh, "Just forget about it. I'm just going crazy."

"I see the 'sarcasm' unit in me is still not functioning well," Delta perches on his hind legs, "However, I can sense that something is quite wrong, master. Is it about Nathaniel? Or is it about impending doom? Or maybe about inevitability?"

"Wow, you went from your sarcasm to some heavy stuff. But…part of it is Nathaniel, part of it is impending doom, and most of it is inevitability."

"May I ask that you explain your reasoning, master?"

"Nate because…I worry about his condition. And it ties into the impending doom and inevitability thing. Mostly because we both—no, we all know that something's happening to him. And from what we've seen, it's something that's going to haunt him for the rest of his life, or something similar to that fate. I'm afraid of thinking about what he might become in the near future and afraid of what will happen when he finally becomes it. It's like an inevitable impending doom—right, that's the right way to say it! That's what I've been thinking this entire time. And I don't know what to do or how to deal with it."

Delta's eyes click open and close. You wonder if it might be time to change some of his parts since entering Wally's ship. He lifts his front paws, they change into monkey hands, and they gently hold onto yours. Delta's metal parts never felt like anything; you kind of don't think about how they feel or how they're usually cold to the touch. However, when he lifts your hands in his, there's a faint warmth that comes off them. It comforts you a little bit.

Delta's yellow eyes stare and observe your face, "If it makes you feel better, master, I can tell you about his condition and what I can make of it. However, I am not certain if you will be…reassured by my observations."

"What? How? What do you mean?"

Your companion scoots up beside your legs and it seems like he wants to cuddle up to you, "When I see Nathaniel, I can see that he is a normal young man with a normal body. However, I believe something different is going on with his body. There are some different structures in him and one prime example is his heart is placed on the right side of his chest. I do not remember when his body began to change, but it is deliberate, and it is taking a toll on his physical being. I…was not sure if I should tell the others or even tell Nathaniel himself about what is happening to him."

"Y…you should have said…something. I mean it would be good for everyone to know about his condition. I would've liked to know about it…"

"I am sorry, master. If you would have liked to know about Nathaniel's condition, I would have told you a long while ago. However, I do not think that it will go well with the others…"

Of course, it wouldn't, you're sure they would all freak out at the idea of Nate's change. His heart is in the wrong place so who knows what else could be wrong? Maybe he has extra ribs or 48 teeth or maybe a third eye? That's probably going too far, but what else are you supposed to think? Actually, you don't want to think about it. It's a little too much.

You rub your fingers against your forehead, "I agree. I don't think things will go well if we talk about it now, especially since we're gonna go to the Core and retrieve the El. To address the problem right now would only put another weight on our shoulders. I really don't…know."

You look into his yellow lights—a shade that's similar to Eve, now that you notice—and for a split second, you thought that Delta is worried. Anxious even. His normal breathing was becoming shorter, his fingers twitch with any miniscule movement from you, and the hairs on his body stands barely enough for you to notice.

He gently pulls his hands away to lumber to a corner of the room and his text box says, "I do not know either. I am…confused as well."

Delta's movement looks choppy to you. Does he need a touch-up? You scoot to the edge of the bed, "Delta, are you okay? Do you need reconstruction? I can call Eve over to help you out."

"I am well, master," his body clicks and clacks as he scratches his neck, "I just need an El shard to put me back in my prime, master. However, my systems are in need of an update and one just popped up right now."

"An update? Now? But we're gonna go the Core, that's gonna tire your El energy out and we're gonna have to find out what we need…"

"Worry not, master. There will be no need for more El shards once this update is complete."

Huh? No more El shards? He chugs El shards down for energy as long as you can remember but with a simple update, Delta won't need anymore? That sounds too good to be true. You stand up to tap a button on his neck, "Are you sure, Delta? This new update almost sounds like a scam if you're able to stop consuming El energy."

"When have my updates ever been detrimental to me, master? I see no harm in this update for I have scanned the codes and they show no danger to my systems. If you want master, I could pull up the update on my screen and show you what the update consists of."

"Yeah, sure, I'd like to see what this is all about."

A hologram appears in front of you that has words and codes that you couldn't recognize. Each cryptic rune flashes past as if it expected you know what's on there. You place a finger on the hologram but the runes kept flowing up, down, and side to side. Before you could do any more, small pictures appear on the screen. The first is a little baby, you recognize the hair as well as the tiny dimple near the corner of the mouth.

Jonah?

The picture flips over to reveal you, when you were around five years old, holding onto the small baby. You remember how soft his skin was and how he seemed like a little angel wrapped in a small blanket. 'My, my, he was actually so adorable. He was also more tolerable 'cause he didn't know how to speak.' More pictures flip through the monitor; it slowly progresses year by year until nine years later. Jonah's tiny hand was wrapped in flames and his eyes were confused for the most part. They gazed into the hearth of the red wonder which almost reached the ceiling. You remember mom freaking out when she saw the flames on his hand and tried to get him to place his arm in the sink. Then dad came to the rescue, saying that his arm wasn't hurt but it's his magic flowing through his veins. You and Jonah never knew dad is knowledgeable in the magical art so it came as a surprise that he showed his abilities to you. Man, you guess your life is already hectic from the get-go.

Unfortunately, there are sparse pictures of you, Jonah, and your parents until the day Nathaniel appeared near your home. Delta took many shots of him as if he was some sort of wild specimen or…if he was a person of interest. There are pictures of him doing chores around the house as well as walking around the home and reading some books he took off the high rising shelves. Nate even bent down to pick up Delta when he saw him and multiple close up shots were taken of his confused face. You place a hand over your mouth and the corner of your lips curve slightly. The pictures record Delta's descent to the ground and running away from the stranger that found him. Even after that, there are more pictures being thrown at the screen of Nate chasing after it and his frustrated expression made you hold back more laughter. After that, it seems Delta built enough trust with him to stop the barrage of pictures because it jumps a few months forward when you joined the Velder garrison.

You stare at the pictures flying by of your adventures with Elsword and the gang: the meeting, the beginning of the journey, and all the trials that came with becoming stronger and better. All the while there are codes flowing up, down, left, and right; the text records the events in great detail. It began to confuse you since this is supposed to be his update but there's no indication that he'll go under a major change. You try to tap some buttons on the hologram but everything is going too fast for you to read.

You pat Delta's neck gently, "Hey, hey, Delta what's going on? Are you okay? There's a lot of heat coming from your frame."

Delta's inner workings click and clack louder as the pictures and codes whirl faster along the screen. 'Ah, damn, what's happening?' When Delta still didn't respond, you start pulling up more windows to access his files and hard drive. But whatever's controlling his system prevents you from figuring out what the hell is going on. You try once again to stop the codes, the pictures; you try to stop everything but whatever you do won't stop the barrage of images and data throwing itself on the screen. However, as quick as the barrage started, it all stops on a screen that reads:

Would you like to update the program?

Yes No

Your heart beats against your chest; the series of pictures wasn't just odd, it scared you that his system went haywire. Delta's dog frame is unmoving and his eyes are shut off. The lanterns in the room were shut off and the only source of light is from the candle lit next to the cot. Your hand slowly reaches out to the screen then presses the "no" button. Once that happens, the metal eyes flick back on, flips through the other colors of the spectrum, and settles on a light blue. Delta's lids deliberately close and open, the blue light filling the room with a sense of calm yet none of it calming you down. You think about saying something to your companion but you aren't too sure what you should say. Nothing made sense with his little photo journey nor the large number of codes that show his "update."

Delta moves to face you and a screen pops up saying, "What happened, master? I wanted to show you my update but then something in my system shut me down…I am unsure of what took over."

You put your hands on his cold fur, the goosebumps crawling up your arms to spread all over your body. What did happen indeed?

You tap your index finger against his back, "I'm not sure what happened. You just showed me thousands of pictures you took since I activated you and long lines of code that I couldn't necessarily understand. I think the only data I could read from it was… 'heart,' 'soul,' and 'spirit.' Is that what you…originally intended to show me?"

Delta bows his head slightly and lets out a whimper, the first time you've heard other than a bark. An involuntary eyebrow raise makes Delta shift to his paws and scratch at the stone floor. It looks like he's hiding something from you. He doesn't usually do that—well, not since he became a shapeshifter Nasod.

He sits his butt back down and another screen shows up, "It is what I wanted to show you, master. But I can feel something wrong with my system. It is not anything dangerous, however, it is abnormal to have these. I have called a system sweep of my codes but it showed that there was nothing wrong with me. I need help interpreting some of the codes within me but when I unsurfaced them, they seem to take over my entire system. I worry that I may have to do a shutdown and total reset of my hard drive as well as my system."

"Whoa, whoa, Delta, I don't think you should have anything to worry about. I don't want anything to happen to you either but maybe we should just…think about it before we do anything we might regret."

"I have checked every part of my system and I can assume that there is nothing wrong; however, for the sake of security, I must do a hard reset in order to see if there is no malware and/or virus within me."

You stare at his still hunched shoulders, his tucked ears, and his tail hugging close around his hind legs. And although his eyes are basically lightbulbs, you already know about the little black pixels that indicate his iris, and they're darting here and there when he heard you say the few words you made out.

You lean down to his eye level and genuinely ask him, "Are you afraid of those words I said to you? Heart, soul, spirit?"

You can obviously see that his eyes are doing its best to not meet yours as he answers the question with silence. It's understandable that he would be afraid of those words—they're the words most people use to describe the composition of a human. Delta has been just a sphere his entire lifespan and he easily accepted the transition from a globe to a shapeshifter. Well, you don't know if it was easy 'cause you never asked how it went, but he's still confident after what happened.

Your hand slowly brushes through his chilly fur and softly say, "Are you scared of becoming human?"

This time he nods his head.

A Nasod like him cannot necessarily lie about what he thinks. Delta's eyes click close and tap open when his text box shows, "The heart and the soul/spirit are the components of a human, at least that is what humans believe. And when I think about that, it means I will learn about you. I will learn about the best of humans, but also the worst of them. I do not how I…think about the complex emotions you all face daily, especially when I feel nothing at all. Master, what do you think will happen to me?"

His eyes point up to you for the first time. They appear to waver in color the longer he looks at you.

Your hand took its place on his head as you answer, "I don't know. But...I know that you'll be fine. No matter what happens, you'll make it at the end of the day."

Delta rests his head on your right shoulder and his paw on the other. You're surprised at how cold his skin is; when you wrap your arms around him, it sends goosebumps all over your arms and shudders down the rest of your body.

He's never hugged you before.

He takes his paw away and a single text box shows, "Thank you."

The silver wolf-dog lumbers to one corner of the room to lie down, his eyes shut down the moment he gets into a comfortable position. 'Wow, fear and gratitude on the same day. There is something going on with his inner workings.' You blow out the single candle lighting the room, lie down on your cot, and close your eyes in the dark. Those pictures brought back memories - memories from what you thought was from a different world. The days when you would just be with mother and father when Jonah as the only thorn on your side that you love when Delta was only just a nameless sphere. If only you didn't accept the invitation to enter the Velder garrison, you would still have a life.

Your eyes open sharply, 'No. I wouldn't be alive. I would probably be fighting for my life right now to keep my family safe.' Your hands immediately cover your eyes from the image brought up by your imagination - an image of death and destruction of your home. Fire everywhere, people screaming, a looming darkness hanging over your home and city. You could feel hot tears stinging the edge of your eyes until a fluffy pad rests on your shaking shoulder.

Your eyes met with Delta and you whisper, "Did you wake you, Delta...?"

Delta leaps up onto the bed, his form shifting into a smaller dog, and he squeezes between you and the bed. This time his body was emitting warmth as a dog would, and it's bringing the warmth back into your heart. The image is slowly going away the longer Delta lies next to you. You hug the little Nasod dog close to you and whisper into his ear, "Thank you."