A/N: Hello, my lovelies! Here is another chapter, edited by Mirai-akina once more (thank you for the help). The previous chapter was pretty, dark, I must admit, but I promise you the rest of the story isn't planned on getting that dark ever again. "planned". I do have a lot of dramatic story arcs planned but compared to the previous chapter, the rest of the story should be more feeling based rather than blood and guts. (Yuck!)
"I remember that incident," Elesis said, taking a sip of her coffee before hailing the waitress to refill her cup, "I was the first on the scene for the attack on another one of the armored trucks. But even though we were on high alert, they worked so efficiently that, by the time we arrived, the terrorists had already left the scene."
Aisha was silent. After recalling the memory, she hadn't said a word and opted to simply stare blankly at Elesis's mug being filled to the brim once more. It may have been three years ago, but the look on her best friend's face, the way her body hung limply upside down in the car wreck, brought a surge of grief she had buried within herself long ago.
Elesis's expression softened.
"I understand how you feel. That feeling that you're losing someone so important to you, yet you can't do anything to stop it? It's terrifying. But, it's all okay now, right? I mean, Eve came out of it just fine. A little worse for wear, but she's back to her old self, isn't she?"
Aisha's eyes traveled up to meet with Elesis's. Aisha wanted to tell her. But it was too soon. She wouldn't understand. The purplette turned her head away, sighing in an attempt to recollect herself.
Elesis picked up on this and immediately pulled the focus back on the matter at hand, "So this 'relic' you found…"
"Ah… yeah. The relic," Aisha muttered, a bit of life drained from her tone.
The lieutenant pressed on, "I remember there was a conference scheduled that night with the president of Altera Inc. But because of the incident, he never disclosed what the meeting was about. If what you're saying is true, and this relic exists, I assume you possessed it for some time?"
"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're trying to get me to say," Aisha insisted, "I didn't want it to begin with, but it just came to me. I couldn't leave it."
"Do you still have it with you?"
Aisha glanced over her shoulder at the surrounding patrons. Most have gathered around the bar and were more interested in the menu than a couple of women sitting at the corner. Aisha then extended her right hand onto the table, displaying a rather polished copper band wrapped around her ring finger.
"This is it. This was the object Altera Inc. wanted to showcase that night… granted it's not in its original form anymore, but rather, the form it chose to be in."
"This relic chose to be a ring?"
Aisha nodded, "That's the simplest way to explain it, yeah."
At first glance, none would take any notice of it other than its luster. But upon closer inspection, Elesis noted the very slight shift in lighting around the ring's curved edges. It was ancient text that was completely lost to her. The text seemed to glow a soft pale white, pulsing on and off in a gentle wave around Aisha's finger.
"What… is this?" Elesis asked, intrigued by how intricately beautiful the strange markings danced on the band.
"I've researched the text. Phonetically it's pronounced 'mimir'. As for its meaning… the only answer I can come up with is that it might be a name."
"How'd you come to that conclusion?"
Aisha shrugged, "Do you know what 'mimir' means? Because I don't. I don't know what else to call it other than that."
"Here… let me see," Elesis replied, taking the ring in her hand and trying to pull it off Aisha's finger. Despite how perfectly it appeared to fit the young woman's finger, the band held fast to the ring bearer, even to the point of Elesis threatening to yank Aisha's entire finger off.
"See?" Aisha winced, shaking her hand by the wrist. She pulled her hand away and showed Elesis that even she couldn't wrench the ring free. "It won't budge. Eve said this thing was magical and, honestly, I was a skeptic until I realized the relic wouldn't come off."
"And that was how you got your powers and became the Witch of Elysion?"
"Well," Aisha paused, her thoughts still lingering on her best friend, "Yes and no. It wasn't like I became the Witch overnight. But… things happened that made me decide that it was in my best interest to adopt that persona."
"And those things are…?"
Aisha frowned, indecisive about where to begin. To say there was any one moment where she decided to become the witch would be impossible.
Elesis tapped her finger on the table out of impatience, "The first one. Start from your very first act as a vigilante."
"Right. I got it," Aisha replied tapping her chin as she pieced the story together in her head, "Then the following day after the incident."
"That early, huh?"
"I wasn't exactly planning on doing anything heroic that day either. It just sorta… happened."
"Thanks for walking me all the way up here," Aisha said, a puff of steam escaping her lips from the cold hallway. At the far end of the hall, the early evening sunset was blotted out by thick hologram clouds. The forecast for Tower 7 was supposed to reach low enough for simulated snowfall. Standing in front of a door labeled 934, she fished out a small keychain and began fumbling with the lock.
"Don't worry about it," Elsword said, leaning against the wall, "Just wanted to make sure you were alright after what happened."
"You heard from the doctor," Aisha replied, rather dismissively, "He said I was lucky I escaped that crash with a minor concussion. I'm fine, Els. I'll probably get back to my usual routine tomorrow. What day is it today?"
"Saturday."
"Right. Saturday. Tomorrow's Sunday… I have cleaning to do. I think… I have an exam this coming week that I need to study for, so I have to get started with that. I'm fine... I'll be fine... I'm okay."
Despite what she was saying, they both watched as Aisha's shaky hands made it impossible for her to find the keyhole. It wasn't until Elsword reached over, helping her steady her hand, that she was able to unlock her door.
"You sure you're okay?" the red-head asked, staring deep into her eyes, concern riddling his face.
Aisha looked up at him, nodding meekly as she unknowingly clutched his hand tightly.
The cadet rolled his eyes. "I'm staying with you tonight."
"Els… I-" Aisha was interrupted as she was suddenly gently pushed into her apartment.
"Don't worry about it. I'll just get up earlier in the morning and drive to the academy from here. I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind."
Elsword kicked off his boots, vaulting over the couch and landing with an audible crunching sound under him as he sat down. He immediately stood up, pulling out a messy bag of chips that had emptied its contents in between the couch cushions.
"Whoops. Sorry."
"I...its okay," Aisha muttered, still standing at the doorway, clinging on to her keys.
Elsword was already in the process of shaking the crumbs out of the cushions and sorting through the small mess the girl had left the day prior. He shifted a large blanket aside and found a small pile of books his girlfriend had binge read over the course of the week. He picked one up, shaking the chip crumbs off the cover and looked over the title, surprised to see it was, in fact, a comic book of some sort. He expected the collection to be more of the boring technical nature rather than the rainbow of colors that stared back at him. The book in his hands was apparently the tenth of a series of forty and featured an overly sparkly looking heroine dressed in a female sailor's uniform. Bright red roses bordered the foreground with a yellow crescent moon in the backdrop.
"Huh. I never knew you were into this kind of stuff," Elsword muttered, quickly flipping through the pages. The pages were old, as if they've been read hundreds of times over. He stopped at a large centerfold of the book, the climax of a story arc where the heroine is reunited with a strange tuxedo-wearing masked man, and a small smile crept along the young man's face. He had unknowingly stumbled across one of the purplette's guilty pleasures.
He looked up from the book, his smile fading as he noted Aisha hadn't moved from the doorway. The purplette stared past the far wall of her apartment, keys held tightly over her chest.
"Aisha?"
"Hm?" Her response was hollow and distant.
"Go on and get changed. I'll clean this up."
"... Okay."
She shuffled down the hallway, feet carrying her to her room where she gathered her pajamas autonomously.
The purplette may have appeared calm on the outside, but within her mind was a whirlwind of emotions and incomplete trains of thought. What happened the night prior was something she couldn't quite piece together. All she could remember was blinding light and an assault of sensations that overwhelmed her body. Half of her mind struggled to comprehend everything that occurred, while the other half was desperately trying to pull her back to the normal routine of her daily life. She needed to get things done tomorrow. She had a schedule to follow. But what exactly happened last night? Why was she suddenly home? Shouldn't she still be working in Altera Inc.?
The only time she realized anything was happening was when Elsword was already in the process of carrying the sobbing mess that she was, out of the bathtub. Her thoughts continued to swim in circles, past the point where she was helped getting dressed, past some muffled words as she was led back to the sofa, and past the blur of an unknown conversation as she stared at the flicker of a fire crackling in front of her. Time only returned to its normal pace when she was suddenly struck by a massive wave of hunger. A blanket had been wrapped tightly around her and she was leaning against Elsword, who, at this time, had dozed off in front of the artificial fireplace.
She glanced at her phone and saw it was just past ten in the evening. Her initial thought was to dig into the bag of chips she had lying around somewhere in the living room, but Aisha quickly remembered that was no longer an option. It was Saturday. She was supposed to go grocery shopping today… But why didn't she?
"No matter," she thought, as she shuffled out of her blanket, "I'll just run to the convenience store down the street for a quick snack."
A quick glimpse through the shades of her window revealed that a light snowfall had begun outside. She opted to let her boyfriend sleep and crept into her bedroom where she slipped into her indigo-colored winter wear. As she got dressed, Aisha noticed a copper band wrapped around her finger. Where it came from, she wasn't sure. She would never go out of her way to buy something as ugly and plain looking as that. She attempted to pull it off. Despite how easily it twisted in her finger and how it clearly wasn't tight enough to cut off circulation, it strangely wouldn't budge. She stared at it, perplexed at what was holding it in place before trying to remove it yet again. After a while, the only thing she achieved was the sensation of her finger joints throbbing from being stretched so much. Her next thought was whether she was hallucinating at all. She knocked the ring against the wood of her dresser and got a crisp, clear tap of metal on wood. She definitely wasn't imagining things.
Her stomach growled once more, and she quickly lost interest in the ring, opting to figure it out later when she had food in her. After throwing on a purple beanie and a blue scarf, she quietly made her way out of the door and was in the elevator by the time she received a text from Elsword.
[whered u go?]
[Hungry. Just running to the convenience store.]
[i can getit 4 u]
[No, it's fine. I can manage. I'm already on my way down. Be back soon.]
[u sure?]
[Yep! Don't worry! ;)]
The elevator doors slid open at the bottom floor, and she was greeted with a minor gust of cold wind from the open apartment entrance. She pulled the scarf over her mouth and nose before stepping out into the lightly layered sidewalk.
Snow wasn't anything new to Aisha. Tower 7 was one of the residential districts in Elysion that had regular simulated snowfall during the winter season. To accommodate businesses and tourism on the more commercialized districts, places such as Tower 9 rarely dropped below freezing. By having a lax weather control system on the residential-focused districts like Tower 7, companies were able to control income from power usage and promote visitation on the other warmer areas of Elysion.
The walk wasn't that far either. Just a few buildings down was a convenience store she often visited when she was pulling an all-nighter studying for one of her classes. As she made her way down the street, she passed a closed electronics store that often had one of its holo-vision sets running overnight. A news broadcast was on display. The projected image of a news reporter was babbling on silently with pre-recorded closed captions being plastered on as talk bubbles for the speaker.
Aisha paused after reading the headline, taking a few steps back to give the display her full attention.
"Attackers still at large. Investigation of known crime syndicates continue," the headlines read.
The purplette stared at the brief recorded images, each of different armored trucks, most of which had their rear doors blasted open. She squinted at the images, a familiar sense of dread building in her gut. Uncertain why, she read through the closed captions, while the reporter went on about a coordinated terrorist assault that left over a dozen Nasod guards destroyed and several civilians injured… one in unknown condition.
The image flicked to a recorded skycam that hovered over a scene that immediately brought a wave of nausea to Aisha's stomach:
A black hover car had been flipped onto some turf, its front engine had been completely torn off and was effectively wedged behind the back of an armored car. A fire had started in the hover car's rear engine, and, by the time firefighters had arrived on the scene, half of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The camera cut back to the newsroom with the anchor continuing with the story.
"...The assailants had been inexplicably killed before law enforcement arrived on scene, leading officials to suspect a third party to be involved in this attack. The condition of Eve Nasod, the daughter of the president of Altera Inc, looked grim as her body was pulled from the wreckage. After a brief visit to the hospital, Eve had been moved to Altera Inc. headquarters where her current state remains unknown. When questioned on the matter, the president has asked that we respect their privacy at this time but he did have this to say."
The hologram flicked to Adrian's face.
"... What has happened is inexcusable. To have this level of organization from a terrorist group directly attack my family and my company is a clear sign of how lax our security has become. I will be taking appropriate steps to ensure that this does not happen again. I only hope that Elysion's superiors do the same."
He looked to be on the verge of tears, and Aisha mirrored that sentiment as her memories came crashing back to her. She understood why he was distraught. She understood why he looked at each camera as if directly addressing the assailants that were sure to be watching. In her mind, she saw more than the flash of light before the impact. She saw how the sky and the ground continually flipped around in front of her. She saw glass tearing through cloth. She saw blood pooling at the roof of the flipped car. She saw the life disappear from Eve's eyes.
Aisha leaned against the glass window, hand over her mouth as she dry-heaved directly on the pavement. Her hunger was gone and was replaced by a shaking weakness in her legs that nearly caused her to fall over.
She couldn't watch anymore. Not all the memories of the incident had come back to her, but it was enough. Her attention fell on the ring once more. Its dull surface emitted a curious pulse of soft white light that, oddly enough, calmed her nerves. Another white pulse, and the nausea faded somewhat. Enough to remind her that she would be hungry again. Once the sickness left her, Aisha willed herself to at least buy something from the store instead of returning to the warmth of her apartment empty-handed. She pulled the blue scarf back over the lower half of her face and continued on.
As she walked the rest of the way to the convenience store, she examined the strange light emanating from the ring. There didn't seem to be any apparent power source fitted within the small piece of jewelry, nor did there appear to be a way for the ring to generate such a curious light show. Aisha made a mental note to bring the issue up with someone who might know what the object actually was when she had the chance.
The convenience store's bell dinged as she entered, and she was greeted with the warmth of a cranked up heater. An old lady with curly, dyed-brown hair styled into an afro sat behind the counter. She greeted Aisha with a smile before turning her attention back to the television hanging above the collection of cheap liquor bottles.
"Pulling another all-nighter, young lady?" the old cashier asked, not taking her eyes off the news station.
"Just coming in for a snack," Aisha mumbled. As she shuffled past the register, she caught bits and pieces of the ongoing news coverage.
"... In response to Mr. Nasod's call for aid, Hamel Bionics' president, Helputt Seiker, had this to say on the matter."
"Once again, the limitations of artificial intelligence rears its ugly head. Adrian is right: steps need to be taken to counteract this terrorist organization, but we are moving in the wrong direction. We need increased security, yes, but to put our faith on faulty threat-identifying algorithms will only lead to further discourse in our city. What we need are manned retinues. Soldiers that can recognize problems that machines cannot. I'll be discussing the implementation of bio-enhanced security with the city's guardians over the next few days. Rest assured, we will apprehend those involved with yesterday's attack. We will bring these criminals to justice."
"We're out of your favorite ice cream, unfortunately."
"That's fine. I was looking for something warm anyways… do you have anything for stomach pains?"
The old lady looked at the girl tightly wrapped in winter clothes.
"You getting sick?"
"A little."
The cashier nodded, not pressing any further. She motioned the general direction with her puffy head, "Aisle three."
"Aisle three…" Aisha repeated, walking towards the back first along the refrigerated section of the store. She quickly grabbed a couple of plastic-wrapped rice balls, one for her and another for Elsword, before looking for the stomach medicine. She stopped at shelves filled with over-the-counter pharmaceutical goods and bath soaps.
As Aisha perused over the selection of pain-killers, cough drops, and band-aids, she heard the distinct ring of the doorbell once more. She read through the back cover of pink-colored stomach capsules and was in the process of deciding between the thick, bubble-gum flavored syrup or the extra-strength pills that looked one size too big for her to comfortably swallow, when a loud bang at the front counter caught her attention.
"I said open the register!" a male voice demanded, "I'm not asking again!"
Aisha froze, holding the bundles of bottles and packages close to her chest as she stared at the end of the aisle towards the front of the store. A thick black jacket could be seen dipping in and out of her line of sight. She could hear the old lady muttering in a frenzied panic followed by the sound of a cashier drawer flying open. Looking up at the convex mirror hanging on the wall, Aisha saw the man was pointing a gun at the cashier. The poor lady had her back pressed on the wall, doing her best to not stare down the barrel of the weapon as her hands gingerly fished out the cash from the shelf.
"Fill it up! Now!" the robber ordered, tightening his grip on the weapon as he tossed an empty bag in front of the lady. Her reaction was to immediately cover her head, prompting the assailant to lose his patience and reach over the counter to strike her on her temple. The lady screamed as she cowered behind the desk, hands over her head.
"Oh… shit," Aisha whispered, her voice trembling as she pressed herself against the shelves along the aisle. She dug in her pockets for her phone to call the police. What happened instead was the phone immediately going to her text log with Elsword. Panic got the better of her as she opted to type a single word on the text bar before sending:
[help]
She shook herself out of her panicked state, realizing this was all a stupid idea. She needed to call the authorities now, before-
The store's bell rang once more and two gunshots quickly followed. Aisha spun her head to the front only to find an unlucky customer falling to the ground clutching at his chest.
The cashier screamed before the robber banged on the counter to silence her.
"Shit! Shut up! I said shut up! You scream one more time and I'll shoot you too! Fill up the bag! Do it!"
The plastic bottle of stomach relief syrup slipped out of Aisha's arms, hitting the tiled floor with a dull, but audible, slapping sound.
"The hell was that?"
Aisha covered her mouth, quickly grabbing the bottle in a fruitless attempt to undo the noise. She held her breath as she tried to slide further away from the front of the store.
"I know someone's back there. I heard you!" Aisha heard the heavy footfalls of boots as they began scanning through the aisles. "Come out, come out!"
Aisha dove behind the endcap of the aisle just as she heard the robber enter aisle three. She slid into a sitting position with her back pressed against a box tower of canned beer.
"I saw that," Aisha could practically hear the grin across the man's face, "Come on out. Don't make me hunt you down!"
The purplette's heart pounded in her chest as she looked for other options. He could very easily look over the other aisles and follow her out if she tried to make a run for it. Her head whipped about for anything she could use. She needed a weapon. She needed some way to defend herself.
The ring around her finger flashed a pale white, drawing her eyes to her hand pressed against the checkered pattern tile. The light quickly coalesced into multiple bright fragments that began to take shape under the palm of her hand. It was weightless, at first, until the shape became a recognizable grip in her hands. Like someone dropping a small rock onto her palm, the fragments manifested itself into a rather hefty rod shape. Its length is a little longer than her arm. At first it appeared to be forming a simple white-colored metal pipe, but all assumptions were thrown out of the window when a large pink and gold star took shape at the end of the rod. Tiny white wings appeared on either side of the star and the entire rod pulsed a bright white before its light faded completely.
Aisha stared dumbly at the object in her hand. What was she supposed to do with this? A suggestion pushed its way into her mind. It was a strange sensation that she recognized. Something was speaking to her, but it wasn't using words. She was to confront the assailant. Like hell she'd do that! The guy had a gun! She may be armed, now, but she had no experience with weapons let alone hand-to-hand combat.
A loud bang echoed through the store, and Aisha yelped, covering her head as the bullet tore through a box of beer right above her head.
"Found you!" the robber cried as the alcohol sprayed over Aisha's beanie. She quickly rolled away from it and stumbled to her feet along aisle two with rod still in hand. She had to make a break for the door!
Two more gunshots and the shelves around her burst, showering her with plastic shrapnel.
Aisha reached the end of the aisle and, to her horror, found the robber waiting for her to her right.
He pointed the weapon at her, and Aisha instinctively raised her hands to shield herself.
In that instant, she felt a strange sensation in her head, like something was being pulled from her mind. The staff in her hand flashed, warping the very space around her, radiating outward. The purplette lost her footing and rolled to the floor. She covered her head and half expected the man to walk up to her and plant a bullet into her back where she laid. But there was nothing. Nothing except a strange, deep, droning rumble that echoed throughout the room.
Aisha looked up, eyes focusing on a pair of brown construction boots standing at the end of aisle three. He hadn't moved. Why? And what was that rumbling sound?
She turned her head further upward and, to her shock, saw the slow expanding flash of light escaping the muzzle of the gun. The bullet had just exited the barrel at this point and was traversing the air at a snail's pace. The rumbling, Aisha deduced, was the "bang". The robber wore the typical ski mask under a hoodie, and his eyes seemed to be locked onto a target that was no longer there. What was going on?
Examining her surroundings, she noticed the old lady cowering behind the counter, her movement almost non-existent as she clutched a bleeding wound on her temple. Even the television hanging above the liquor shelves seemed to be frozen in place.
Time had stopped. Or rather, it had significantly slowed. Why? What was causing this?
As she took a step towards the door, she noticed a thrum of energy pulsing from the staff in hands. She glanced at it, noting the pulsing glow that emanated from the pink and golden star. Did the staff do this? Did she do this? How long was this supposed to last?
She took another step towards the door. It didn't matter. As long as she wasn't rendered helpless like last time, she could escape. She turned fully towards the exit, making for the door when she was suddenly struck with the sight of the second customer lying at the entrance. He was alive-curled into a ball and lying in a pool of his own blood.
A throbbing pain ripped through Aisha's mind, and she clutched at her head, eyes shut as she willed the pain to go away. She opened her eyes. And to her horror, she found herself no longer looking at a man… but at Eve... lying at her friend's feet. Life was fading from Eve's golden eyes as she stared helplessly up at Aisha. An arm was extended towards her. Her friend was reaching out for her, yet all Aisha could do was stand there, wishing she could do something about it.
She blinked. Eve was gone. In her place was the body of a man still clutching at his open wound. Despite this, the memory of her friend was burned into her mind. Aisha wasn't going to let that happen again.
Not if she could help it.
Aisha turned back towards the robber, a surge of adrenaline and vindication coursing through her veins. By then, the bullet had connected through one of the liquor bottles behind the front counter and was in the process of burrowing itself into the brick wall. Despite not knowing how much time she had, a strange, almost-empty sensation pulsed in her head. She felt that she only had a few moments left before time reverted itself back to normal.
No longer hesitating, the purplette strode over to the robber and she struck the weapon out of his hand in a downward swing with her staff. Upon touching the weapon, however, the object seemed to momentarily revert to its regular speed as it fell out of the man's hand. The casing was flicked out of its chamber, and, as the gun left the robber's hand, the casing and the weapon strangely returned to its slowed state.
Ignoring this, she placed both hands on the robber, shoving him down the aisle. In that moment, just like the weapon, time seemed to return to the crook as confusion flashed in his eyes. Aisha released him, slowing his body once more.
The draining feeling in her head ceased as whatever well of power in her mind completely dried up. Time quickly resumed its normal pace, and the gun clattered harmlessly on the floor at Aisha's feet. The crook, however, wasn't so lucky. His body flew the entire length of the aisle, stopping only when he came crashing through the glass door of the milk storage.
Milk from the upper shelves fell on the crook's head as his body lay limp on the floor. Aisha stood in shock at the recent string of events. The staff in her hand had vanished. She hadn't noticed it had disappeared until she went searching for the firearm on the floor. Spotting it, the purplette kicked it towards the door, away from the crook should he get up again, before hurrying to the cashier.
"Are you okay?" Aisha asked, clutching at the woman's wrist to get her to calm down. The woman gasped, turning her head away in fear as Aisha struggled to calm her down.
"Everything's fine now! I think he's unconscious!" she declared, causing the woman's trembling to stop.
"What… what happened?" the cashier muttered, eyes wide as she looked for any sign of movement in the aisles.
"I… I don't know," Aisha replied, honesty ringing strong in her voice as she didn't know how to explain it herself, "But I need you to call the police-and an ambulance, too!"
The purplette rushed around the counter to the man's side. She rolled him to his back, gently grasping him by his hand in an attempt to calm him down. She may not have been able to help Eve that night, but if there was a way she could atone, this had to be it. She was just glad she took first-aid training the semester prior.
"Sir? Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to move your hands. I need to see the damage."
The victim groaned, resisting only momentarily before painfully moving his arms aside. She undid his jacket and pulled aside his shirt, revealing a bloody wound in his belly. Her initial reaction was to look away, but the memory of Eve kept her focused on the task at hand.
"It doesn't look so bad," Aisha reassured him, "The store owner's calling the ambulance, right now. So I just need you to breathe normally and I'll stop the bleeding… alright?"
"O-okay…" the man stammered. He looked down at the wound, and Aisha quickly tapped him in the chin, forcing him to stare at the ceiling.
"I, uh, would prefer it if you didn't watch me work. I get nervous and all," Aisha forced a chuckle and ignored the amount of blood flowing out of the man's gut. Aisha undid her jacket and tore off a large strip of her pajama top before turning to the cashier. "You're calling the ambulance, right?!" she yelled before balling up the strip of cloth and pressing it on the wound.
"Y-yes! Yes, I am!" the old lady replied.
"Aisha? Aisha!" Elsword's voice could be heard closing in, and the young man burst through the door, his eyes wild as he assessed the scene before him.
"What happened… holy… Aisha-"
"There's an unconscious man at the back of the store. His gun's here by my feet. Make sure he doesn't move a muscle!"
"H-how did all of this-"
"Watch him!" Aisha repeated, louder this time, and causing Elsword to come to his senses.
"Got it!" He picked up the firearm and checked the magazine before moving to the rear of the store. "He's still there. I think he's coming to…"
"You make sure he doesn't move. Police are on their way. Thanks, Els."
All the while, Aisha put pressure on the man's wound and inspected him for any other injuries. Satisfied, she placed the man's hand over the cloth and told him to hold it there while she elevated his feet.
"Thank… you…" the man whispered.
"Don't worry about it," Aisha whispered, turning her attention to the distant sound of sirens. She looked down at the man, words stopping at her throat as she suddenly found herself looking at Eve once more. "You're going to be okay… I promise."