It was a night to remember for the citizens of Velder. After almost four months of relentless siege, the first full night without a demon incursion felt unreal. It was like a dream-a euphoric dream that the people were, at first, tentative to wake from.

Yet as the night progressed, peace hadn't quite fully returned to the capital city. It was not the clash of blades that echoed through the still-smouldering streets but the steady beat of instruments. Spared from most of the scars of battle, the square's refugees-numbering in the few hundreds-would be the first of many to raise their voices in song and dance.

Before long, many of the surviving homes had their doors and windows thrown open as laughter and jubilation filled the streets for the first time in what felt like decades.

To the El Search Party, this was just another day. Protecting the El and the citizens of Elrios was part of their job description after all, and though the victory was welcome, it was also expected. Just another victory to tack on to their ever-growing list of accomplishments-at least, that's how Elsword assumed his friends felt about it.

Indeed, Elsword may have been acting under the guise of protecting another city from the bad guys, but in truth, the defense of Velder meant more to him than he had let on.

To him, this was personal.

Velder was the city his father had given his life for nearly a decade ago. It was the same one his sister had fought for during the Velder civil war. Having spent years longing to be part of the family legacy, Elsword was more than willing to answer the call to arms right after the Feita campaign. And after months of battling tooth and nail for every inch of Velder ground, he could confidently claim that he did something his father would be proud of.

By the time night had truly settled in, the whole market square was alive with music and laughter. It was nearly impossible to see where his friends had gone but, after carefully maneuvering through a flock of children playing in the square, Elsword found the first and easiest-to-spot member of his group:

Sharing a seat on his oversized white destroyer with Ara was his best friend, Chung, having a leisurely chat over a cup of red leaf tea. Dressed down in his casual attire consisting of an old, stained linen shirt and faded blue linen shorts, one wouldn't guess that the young man was the prince of Hamel.

Ara was still dressed in her combat outfit: a mostly black get up consisting of a long sleeve jacket and black skirt. As the party had expected, bringing Ara along after their meeting in Feita was… questionable to say the least. Because of the language barrier, communication with Ara had been difficult. Plans and formations were near impossible to explain, and she rarely participated directly with the El Search Party because of it, often disappearing on her own accord. Despite this, the party couldn't deny that she was a fearsome martial artist. Though she had been absent for most of their planned operations during the siege, her involvement was clear when many of Velder's districts were inexplicably saved from demon occupation outside of the planned attack route.

"Ah, Elsword," Ara looked up from her cup of tea she held tightly in both hands, "Con… congra… how you say… consider-"

"Congratulations," Chung corrected with a smile, "You'll get it, don't worry."

"Yes! Congratutations on bigger title! Lord Knight, yes?"

"Yep," Elsword scratched his head and bowed humbly at her, "From this point on, I'm recognized as a knight of Velder. So I guess that means I'll be acting more on Velder's behalf rather than as a mercenary from now on."

Ara stared at Elsword, tilting her head slightly. His words were too big, he figured. Of course they were. Yet Ara did him a favor and pretended to understand it all anyways. "You come for word sharing with Chung?"

Elsword waved her question away, "I'm just here to check in on everyone, and you're the first two I saw."

Raven had voiced concerns about Ara's flighty demeanor on multiple occasions, but Elsword saw the good she was doing for everyone. She was getting better with speaking Lurensian common, thanks to Aisha, so the communication factor wouldn't be a problem in a few months' time. She may be a bit odd and keep everyone at arm's length, but like Eve, Elsword felt it'd only be a matter of time before Ara would open up entirely to the group.

Suddenly Ara stood, bowing before taking her leave, "Okay! Chung checking I let. Off to follow Chung's instructions."

"I… huh?" Elsword stood there with an arm outstretched in a feeble attempt to stop her from running off, but she skipped away with cup in hand, humming along with the music that filled the air.

"Thanks for scaring her off, I guess," Chung sighed, looking up from his seat at his fearless leader, "And I finally had a chance to actually talk to her, too."

Elsword shrugged, taking Ara's seat next to the shooting guardian, "Well, too bad, now you're going to have to talk to me," he said in a non-apologetic tone. He turned to Chung, noting the way the youngest of the group leaned forward and silently sipped on his tea. "Aww, don't be like that, Chung. I didn't mean to interrupt."

No response. Chung either was taking an incredibly long sip, or he was holding the empty cup over his mouth as an excuse not to speak.

"Don't tell me… you got a crush on her, don't you?"

Chung gave Elsword a side eye, still holding the cup to his lips.

"So you're into older women?" Elsword grinned, knowingly.

Finally, Chung lowered the cup. "You're one to talk."

"Who me?" Elsword asked, innocently, "Whatever do you mean, Chung? Are you saying I like Eve?"

Chung stared blankly at his friend as Elsword continued to rub his chin, feigning deep thought.

"Rena? I mean she's beautiful and all, but I feel she's outta my league. I honestly don't know who else…"

"You can't be that stupid."

"I don't know. Aisha would probably argue against that," Elsword shrugged, getting a shake of the head from his friend. Elsword turned the conversation back towards Chung, "So what were you two talking about?"

"New clothes."

"What, for you?"

"Nah. I'm not much of a classy dresser. I'm fine with what I got on."

"So for Ara?"

Chung nodded, "If you hadn't noticed, her clothes are pretty worn out. Said it was all she had when she left her village and the only thing she can wear in a fight without restricting her movement. She was afraid of asking the others, so she came to me asking about a new look for her."

"And…?"

"I said black suits her. Since it goes well with her hair. And maybe some hair pins or something to keep her longer hair out of her face. Gloves, too. Definitely black. It keeps this sophisticated feel about her, I think."

"So you like sophisticated girls?"

Chung shrugged, half-heartedly, "I might."

"Wait… she understands what sophisticated means?"

"Well… no."

"Then how did you-"

"I used other words to describe her."

"Like?"

Chung's eyes narrowed at Elsword, and he refused to answer.

Elsword leaned closer, waggling his brows at his friend, "Like…?"

Chung inched away, softly muttering a single word that he hoped Elsword didn't hear: "Sexy."

"Hah!" Elsword guffawed.

"I didn't know what else to say, okay?!" Chung shouted back, equally as loudly.

Elsword nearly fell off his seat. He was nothing but a fit of laughter for a good half a minute.

"Whatever! As long as she understood what I was saying, that's all that matters, anyways," Chung said, hiding his embarrassment.

"Oh yeah. Definitely. Now she's going to dress all nice and sexy for you!"

Chung tried to protest but couldn't find the words to defend himself and resorted to hiding his reddening face in guilt.

"Elsword!" a female voice shouted, catching both of their attention. Aisha appeared, weaving her way around the children playing in the square, to the two. "Are you bullying Chung, again?"

"You won't believe what he just told me!" Elsword laughed, prompting Chung to cover his friend's mouth as Aisha approached.

"What?" Aisha stood over them, crossing her arms, as she clearly wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever their childish leader was trying to tell her.

"Don't-" Chung begged, slugging his friend in the side hard enough to nearly cause Elsword to fall off his seat.

The redhead clutched at his side, yet his laughter won over any cries of pain. "Okay! Okay! I won't!"

"Boys…" Aisha muttered under her breath before turning to Chung and motioning him to follow her, "Come with me for a sec? I have something to discuss with you."

"Everything alright, Aisha?" Elsword asked, still rubbing his side.

"Yep," the mage replied, pulling Chung by the arm off his seat.

"I'm guessing it's something I shouldn't be hearing?" Elsword cocked a brow.

"Nope."

"Well, now that just makes me curious," the redhead remarked, moving to get up, only to be stopped by Aisha pressing her finger against the tip of Elsword's nose.

"Nuh uh. You stay there."

"Aw, c'mon, Aisha! I wanna know!" Elsword protested.

"Nope. You sit your butt down. This doesn't concern you. Only Chung," she turned away, taking the prince by his arm. Chung glanced over his shoulder back at Elsword who returned the look with a shrug and a smile.

The prince nodded, silently mouthing the words "I'll tell you, after," behind Aisha's back.

"Sounds like you're pretty close to that Chung fellow," Granny Vapor commented as she vigorously shook a purple vial in her hand.

"Ah… yeah," Elsword muttered, "Yeah, we were."

Eve was sitting at the opposite corner of the small hospital room at Elesis's bedside. Even without looking, she could feel the hesitation in Elsword's disposition-a feeling that flew right over the alchemist's head.

"And? So what did they talk about? He told you, right? Was this the beginning of a salacious relationship?! But what about his girlfriend, Ara? Oh, this is getting good!"

"I thought you said you weren't the gossiping type," Elsword laughed uncomfortably.

"I-I'm not!" Vapor defended, leaning in closer to her patient. Her eyes looked on pleadingly, "But tell me anyways. So, did Ara ever find out about him and that mage friend of yours? What was her name again?"

"Eh…? Erm… her name… her name was-"

"Hey, Vapor," Elesis interrupted, "You gonna fix my leg or what?"

The alchemist adjusted her glasses, glaring at Elesis for interrupting. Elsword had fallen silent after her attention was pulled away, and Eve could see that he no longer was in a talking mood.

"Where's your manners, young lady?" Vapor scowled. Her tone definitely didn't match her appearance.

Elesis ignored her grumblings and was happy to just be able to pull Vapor's attention away from her brother. The child-like alchemist proceeded to push herself away from Elsword's bedside, rolling to a stop next to Elesis. She begrudgingly examined the Blazing Heart's leg before carefully undoing the bandage. Elesis winced as the rag, now caked with dried blood, peeled off, revealing the clotted hole on her thigh. Vapor squinted, adjusting her glasses as she assessed the wound from multiple angles. She carefully ran her fingers around the hole in her leg, lifting and turning it as much as Elesis's yelps of pain allowed, before pulling the cork on her purple flask.

"Is it bad, doc?" Elesis asked, putting on her best tough-girl act in an attempt not to show how much pain she was in.

Vapor looked up Eve, "You said she was shot by a laser, correct?"

Eve nodded, "The beam went straight through her leg. Rose bandaged her six minutes and thirty seven seconds later."

"Then no. You shouldn't have made it," Vapor said, "From the angle and the width of the hole, The laser should have cut straight through your leg's main artery. Normally, it would have been a death sentence. You would've died within a minute from blood loss."

"Yeah, I cauterized it," Elesis said.

"You… what?" Vapor asked, astonished.

"Well, when Add's robot thing hit me, I managed to burn the artery in my leg shut. It took a lot of El to get it done since he had that stupid ice machine keeping my magic in check, but he was able to get the upper hand on me because I was so focused on not bleeding out."

Rose, who was standing by the room's doorway chimed in, "So you could've beat him still if Apocalypse hadn't gotten lucky and hit your artery?"

Elesis shook her head, "I actually think that was deliberate. I wouldn't put it past Add's machines to be that precise with their aim."

"Well, if that's the case, why didn't it just shoot you in the head?" Rose asked.

"Because Add is a sadistic asshat," Elesis shrugged, "I know from experience that he gets his rocks off to showing how much better he is than everyone else," she turned to Eve, "Especially towards you."

Eve averted her gaze, neither acknowledging or denying that fact.

Elesis yelped as Granny Vapor began pouring the purple concoction into the wound. "How about warning me when you're going to do that?!"

"I'm pouring my healing elixir now," Vapor warned, half-heartedly, as she held down Elesis's leg, "Regardless of what happened, it was wise on your part to burn off the bleeding. In all my years of treating mages of the Seven Tower, not one was adventurous enough to cauterize themselves."

"How long have you been working for the mages?" Rose asked.

"Seventy-two years."

Rose blinked and quietly rubbed her chin in thought.

"Surprised? I don't blame you. Many of my patients are caught off guard when a cute little girl turns out to be their doctor."

"So all that talk about learning the secret to eternal youth…" Elesis trailed off.

Vapor grinned, "Yup! They're not rumors. Although don't take my word for it. You can ask around yourself and see just how long I've been a part of the Seven Tower's medical team."

There came a knock on the door, and Rose turned to open it.

Thironin, the noble, stood at the doorway. His tall, proud, figure stood in stark contrast to Cleri's feeble presence directly behind him.

The man with greying hair scanned the room and its occupants. If he wasn't in a good mood before, seeing the crowded recovery ward only soured his disposition further.

"I should've known it would come to this," Thironin said to Elesis with a heavy sigh, "You were on thin ice pulling that stunt in front of His Greatness. And now here you are benefiting off of his hospitality."

"Hey! Add was going to do something weird to Eve! I wasn't going to let that happen!" Elesis fired back.

"You very well should have!" Thironin shouted back, his voice loud enough to hush the entire room. He took a long, deep breath and ran a hand through his hair as he recomposed himself. "Mr. Grenore is a prominent figure in our ranks. To stand against a noble, especially one as influential as him is enough to have you locked away or even executed! Self-defense or not!"

"Yeah, but Eve-" Elesis began.

"That thing is a machine," Thironin pointed an accusatory finger at Eve, "And if you think you're winning any favors by defending a piece of scrap, you got another thing coming! I have every right to have you and everyone else in the El Search Party arrested!"

Elesis gritted her teeth. Despite her injury she tried to wrestle herself out of bed with Vapor being the only one trying to keep her down. "You bastard! Don't you dare talk about my friend like that!"

"Elesis!" Cleri rushed in, joining Vapor in keeping the redhead from tearing the nobleman a new asshole, "Elesis! Stop! He's still on our side!"

"Oh yeah? From what I just heard, he's trying to find reasons to get rid of us!"

"We talked!" Cleri shouted into Elesis's chest as she struggled to hold the redhead down, "Thironin and I talked. What you did was really punishable by death. But he talked His Greatness, Dafarr, out of it."

"What the hell did we even do? I ran out to save Eve and was beating the snot out of Add when-"

"You pushed His Greatness. Just after the Proving Grounds tournament, when the group of people came in to congratulate us. You pushed him out of your way. He was about to send his guards to apprehend you when Thironin convinced him otherwise."

"That short fat guy at the skybox was His Greatness?"

Cleri nodded.

Thironin crossed his arms, shaking his head, "I had to think quick on my feet and remembered the reason why he wanted to personally speak with the new champion of the Proving Grounds." He looked to Rose standing at the doorway, and Eve saw the blonde's expression change from confusion to realization.

"Elesis needed to save Nemesis," Thironin continued, "His Greatness wouldn't be able to get what he wanted if Edward destroyed the original model."

Eve tilted her head, "What did His Greatness want?"

"W-Who knows?" Rose said, rather quickly.

"So what's going to happen to us, then? Are you going to kick us out of the palace?" Elesis asked.

"No," Thironin looked down at Elesis like a parent to a rebellious child, "You've proven your usefulness to me with the capture of Garpai Village. As I've said, I managed to convince His Greatness to look the other way. I've already invested much of my favors in keeping you here so it's in my best interest to make sure you're not making yourselves look like absolute fools. That being said, he already views the El Search Party in a negative light. If you want His Greatness's approval, I strongly suggest you keep your head down until he decides to give you the time of day."

"And when would that be?" Elsword said, finally, after his long moment of silence.

"It would have been within a few days but…" Thironin glared at Elesis, "He's changed his mind. You're on hold until further notice."

"What?!" Elesis cried.

"There's nothing more I can do for you other than urge you to keep a low profile while I work things out on my end."

"Elesis, that's enough," Elsword sighed, "Thironin. No offense to Sander, but I don't think this place is a good fit for me or my friends. The weather is brutal, the lifestyle is something none of us can get used to… I think we'd lose our minds the longer we'd stay here. Is there anything we can do to-you know-speed up the process of us going home?"

Thironin rubbed his chin in thought, "The best scenario that I can think of in reversing this situation would be some kind of urgent matter requiring your services. The El Search Party would then need to perform their duty well enough to make you hard to ignore."

"And those urgent matters are?"

Thironin shrugged, "Who knows? Up until recently, Garpai village has been a hotly contested neutral ground. We honestly weren't expecting such an extreme shift in control so quickly. Sander's war council is still scrambling to update our priorities and redistribute troops as we speak."

"So why not send us after the bad guys?"

Thironin raised a brow at the leader, "The… what?"

"The bad guys? The uh… whoever you're fighting for neutral territory with."

"The Caluso? It's not that simple."

"Why not? You saw what we're capable of. If you send us in there to attack their head honcho or whatever-"

"We'd break the armistice and usher in another civil war. Elsword, I'm sure for Lurensians, the idea of removing an unwanted threat is as simple as attacking those you deem an enemy. But things are different here in Sander. We are fighting against our own people. Many want to see Sander prosper and have embraced the rise in the economy, but others see the destruction of our culture and ecosystem in the process. While either side has every right to fight for what they want out of Sander, there are those in the middle that would rather see that both parties work together to achieve their goals. I know it may be hard to believe, but I'm the type who prefers the mutual benefit of everyone involved."

"Oh…" Elsword trailed off but quickly realized something, "But then what about our orders for Garpai? They were neutral ground, right? The people in the middle! And yet you told us that if they didn't cooperate-"

"To kill them? Yes," Thironin agreed, "And did you think twice about that order when you saw the state it was in?"

"Wait… so you knew that the village was… possessed by demons?"

"Possessed? No. But Garpai had fallen out of communication with us for several months, and all messengers and scouting parties sent to the village have never returned. I sent the El Search Party because we've lost many good soldiers just trying to communicate with that village. I wanted answers, and I wanted you to return to me no matter the cost, hence my order to kill. Your report brought to light an even bigger threat lying in wait."

"I see," Elsword mumbled.

"So. Are we all on the same page then?" Thironin asked, looking from face to face, "I'm not trying to sabotage your meeting with His Greatness. Rather, I'm doing my best to ensure it happens. That being said, I need you to stop drawing attention to yourselves and wait for an opportunity to impress Dafarr. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Elsword muttered.

"Good. I'm glad to have your trust back. And Elesis?" Thironin turned to the Blazing Heart who turned her head with a huff.

"She'll get over it," Elsword said, forcing a chuckle.

"I hope so," Thironin sighed, "I can never understand your generation, honestly. Reminds me why I sent my offspring far away from here."

"You have kids?"

"One. Though after their mother passed, we found each other's presence rather disagreeable, so I sent them away to study overseas," Thiron shrugged, "But with that out of the way, I have more important matters to attend to. Elesis? I wish you a swift recovery. Though I doubt you'd need well wishes with Vapor taking care of you."

The door shut behind him, leaving the room to silently digest the information.

"I'd want to be sent away from that pompous prick's house if I was his kid, too," Elesis grumbled.

Eve sat at the top of the stairway of Sander's Capital Bank. Two screens scrolled at a blinding speed infront of her as she simultaneously rewrote lines of code and moved different blocks of data from one place to another.

Cleri sat next to her, cuddling Moby who sat on her lap, as she watched everything on both screens move faster than her eyes could keep up with. "Will doing all that fix your problem?" she asked.

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't have this corruption problem to begin with," Eve answered coldly.

"Oh."

Eve carefully combed through another section of programs and stopped at a rather peculiar one currently running.

"Remy?"

"Yes, mistress?" the white drone flew in from above.

"Are you still decrypting the signal we detected upon arriving in Sander?"

"Yes, mistress."

"Cancel the task. We've already determined that the signal is from Add."

"With all due respect, mistress, your assumptions are incorrect," the white drone said, "It appears the source is not related to Add but from another."

"Who?"

"Source is unable to be traced. Though it is nearby. Do you still wish for me to cancel the task?"

Eve looked on, perplexed at this new discovery. Though her hopes were dashed upon meeting Add, there was no denying her curiosity on the signal.

"No. Continue it and report to me your findings when the decryption is complete."

"Decryption process is at 93%, mistress. Expect a full report by the end of the day."

Eve glanced at Cleri, noting how quiet she was sitting next to her. Looking over, Eve saw that Cleri was still staring at her.

"What?"

"I-er… I'm just curious. Everything you're doing looks so complicated and cool, and I just wanted to know what was going on and-"

The Nasod sighed. "I'm partitioning everything," she said, doing her best to explain her process in understandable terms, "The Exotic Code within me has a clear pattern of what it's taking over. I'm rearranging different parts of myself in such a way that keeps my most important systems safe while sacrificing less important ones. This should prolong my lifespan so I can complete as much of my tasks as possible before the inevitable."

"Ah… so Add… he was the one you were looking for, wasn't he?"

Eve nodded, "Had I known it was him, I wouldn't have made this journey to begin with. I don't trust him, and I never will. Not after what he did to me."

"What did he do, if you don't mind me asking?"

Eve paused, unsure whether it was worth telling Cleri the full story. It was a lot to take in, and Eve didn't want to remember those moments.

Eve could just say she didn't want to talk about it. She very easily could and leave it at that. But there was something about Cleri that made Eve withhold outright telling her no. Maybe it was the puppy dog eyes she was giving her. Or maybe it was this heavy feeling in her chest that she felt would only lighten if someone else was there to carry it with her.

The Nasod relented. But rather, instead of telling her the story, Eve quickly scrolled through her memory file and retrieved a hologram of a box small enough to fit the palm of her hand.

"Moby," Eve called.

"What?" the black drone chirped, not even turning towards his mistress when addressing her.

"Show her, please." With a gentle nudge, the block floated over to the drone. The block of data was absorbed into the black hull, and a video player was projected in front of Cleri.

The first still image was centered on Add's face. Eve quickly averted her eyes and focused solely on her work as the video of her memories began playing.

"None of you understand her," she could hear Add saying in the playback, "Only I am capable of tending to her needs."

"Ugh…" Eve groaned, subconsciously scooting further away from Cleri so she can work in peace.

Eve was in the middle of deciding the importance of mobility in the end stages of the corruption and wasn't in the mood to listen to Add's self-absorbed ramblings. So far she had sorted all of her primary architect coding-everything she needed to create and control other Nasods-to the top of her list next to the bare minimum of her life support systems. From there it was working her way down to what she deemed less important and was willing to give up to the corruption when it finally reached that point.

Despite her progress, however, Eve had reached the grey area of her list and was having a mental dilemma over her choices when she knew she shouldn't be.

The choice rested between her mobility and her life's memories.

The objectively right choice would be to prioritize her mobility over her memories. After all, her purpose in life was to revive the Nasod Race and to compromise her ability to move would directly affect her ability to do her job-

But her memories…

Eve knew hanging on to them was meaningless. She knew that as long as she could do her job, then her personal memories should be far at the bottom of the list. But the thought of losing them-to forget all the people and all the experiences that made her who she was today-felt so… wrong. Why did she feel this way? Why was she so hesitant to just do what was objectively right?

It was the emotional stabilization program. It had to be. It was corrupted not too long ago, and since then, she had been unable to function as efficiently.

"Oh? Is that your lover?" Cleri asked as Eve heard the familiar voice of a young Hamelian arguing with Add in the background.

Eve didn't look and instead quietly nodded. The thought of him brought a sense of longing in her chest. The thought of him-Chung Seiker-gave her a turbulent mix of happiness, sadness, and… anger?

"He looks handsome," Cleri commented, "And he's so considerate. I can see why you'd fall for him."

"Mmm…" Eve mumbled, trying not to lose her focus on her work.

Eve shook her head, fighting off the growing mix of emotions welling in her chest as she made up her mind. If anything, it was that strange addition of anger that helped her make her decision. With temporarily steeled resolve, she placed mobility as her next highest priority and selected her entire memory block and quickly scrolled down to the lower end of the list.

"This is where it belongs," she thought, "I doubt I'll be seeing the others much at the end of my lifespan, anyways…"

"Ah!" Cleri shouted, just as the Nasod was about to drop her memory block into a low priority slot, and almost causing Eve to nearly jump from her seat.

"W-what?!" Eve sputtered.

"Ah!" Cleri repeated. Tears were lightly streaming down her cheeks yet her expression was that of shock. She was pointing at something in the paused video.

It was a still image of Chung. It was an early morning memory. She could see the sun rising in the background just over the damaged Hamel Castle walls. She remembered this. This was the day Add first attacked the Velder army onboard the Black Crow.

But as Eve analyzed the scene, she noted Cleri pointing at something in Chung's hand: a white ribbon… in the likeness of a Hamelian Blossom.

Instinctively, Eve grasped at her chest where it normally would have been pinned… but found nothing.

"Ah!" Eve shouted, standing up from her seat. She immediately searched the surrounding area in a panic. "W-where is it?!"

"I… I don't think you had it with you when we left the Scrap District!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't realize at the time! I just thought something was missing! I'm sorry-"

At that moment, the door to the bank swung open with Rose and Raven leaving the building.

"Alright," Raven said with a sigh, "We've managed to open a temporary account under my name. Thanks for helping us out with the cash, Rose."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I just know how hard life can be in Sander without any money."

"You've been leading us through Sander since we've arrived. I take it you used to live here?"

"You can say that. But you should be thanking Eve for the money. She's the one that won the tournament-" Rose paused, noticing the look of panic on either of the girls' faces, "What'd we miss?"

"This place reeks of smoke and oil," Eve heard Raven comment. He pulled his shirt over his nose as he looked over the piles of scrapped metal that littered the Proving Grounds arena. Traveling from the Capital district to the Scrap district took the rest of the remaining day, and it was well into the evening by the time they entered the colosseum. The only means of illumination they had was through Moby, Remy, and Zero's headlights.

"Told ya you shoulda bought a gas mask," Rose said, her voice muffled behind the filter of her mask. "You got at least a year's worth of savings in the bank. No need to be frugal."

"I didn't know it would be this bad… what are we doing here, anyways?"

"We're looking for Eve's ribbon!" Cleri said, adjusting the mask Rose bought for her, "Moby! Show them!"

The black drone flew in, opening a cropped image of the object in question.

"Oh… Yeah, now that you mention it, Eve always had that ribbon on her," Raven said.

"Yeah… but where do we start?" Rose asked, motioning at the surrounding debris.

"Anywhere!" Cleri responded before rolling up her sleeves and moving to the nearest pile.

Rose and Raven stood there, flabbergasted at Cleri's earnestness.

Even more shocking to the two was Eve, the queen of Nasods, already knee-deep in oil-saturated mud. Eve was searching just as frantically. Even going as far as covering herself in filth just to look under the larger pieces of scrap.

"I was here…" Eve whispered to herself as she retraced her steps through the battlefield, "Then I took cover here… Maybe it's in this pile…"

"Vapor said I shouldn't be lifting heavy objects. But I'll do what I can to help." Raven sighed.

"Thank you," Eve answered quickly without missing a beat on her search.

"All this for a ribbon?" Rose scoffed, "We traveled all the way back to the scrap district for this. Is it really that important?"

"Dunno," Raven shrugged, squatting down to check under a plate of metal, "But this is the first time I've seen Eve get worked up over sentimentality. If she thinks a little accessory is worth the effort, then maybe it is."

Rose tilted her head as she watched Raven get into the thick of things. The Blade Master let out a hacking cough as he took in a deep breath of polluted air. With a sigh, the blonde pulled off her mask and handed it to Raven. She pulled out a cloth rag from her bag and wrapped it over her nose and mouth.

"You know. You're a lot nicer than I thought you'd be."

"And you're more resourceful than I thought," Raven chuckled, putting on the mask and continuing his search.

"I have my moments," Rose remarked sarcastically before moving to Eve standing under the giant central platform. "Any luck?"

"No," Eve reported. The Nasod continued combing through the wreckage with Remy lighting the way. By then, Eve was covered head to toe in dirt and mud.

"You really want that ribbon, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Chung gave it to me."

"Oh. Him…" Rose said softly.

Eve could hear the enthusiasm draining from her voice at the sound of his name.

"Do you really like him that much?"

Eve looked at Rose in an attempt to gauge the reason for the question. Rose looked… annoyed. Eve didn't answer and continued her search. She didn't need to answer. Finding the ribbon was her priority-not engaging in meaningless dialogue.

With renewed vigor, Eve scrounged the area. She searched high and low for all possible places she could have dropped Chung's gift to her. Each time, coming up empty. An hour passed, and then a second. By then, Raven had stopped searching and had sat down on the ramp to rest.

"Hey, wasn't Ralek's scorpion supposed to be in this crater?" Cleri called somewhere in the distance.

"They probably took it in to salvage parts," Rose shouted from another location.

"Weird how out of all the scrap they left behind, they only took Ralek's machine."

Eve began to grow frustrated, not only because she couldn't find her ribbon, but more so because of Rose's question.

"Of course I like Chung that much," she thought as she checked a pile for perhaps the third time, "He'd do the same for me if I gave him a gift. Right?"

Though, now that she thought about it, she hadn't given him any gift to begin with. She couldn't imagine him searching frantically for anything if she hadn't given him something to hold on to.

Oh! But she gave him her letters! Surely if he lost her collection of letters she had been sending him, he'd be just as distraught as she was… right?

But Chung had never even replied to her letters.

Eve's digging slowed to a stop as the sudden revelation crawled into the forefront of her mind.

There was no doubt in her mind that he received her letters. She made sure the mechanical ravens knew where to go and gave instructions to their recipient on how to return the message.

She wondered if he was at least keeping them.

She wondered if he even bothered to read them.

Maybe that's why she never got a reply…

Again, Rose's question echoed in her head: Did she really like him that much?

Did Chung even reciprocate these feelings?

Without a doubt they had something going when they were together… but it's been a year since she's last heard from him.

During that time her condition had worsened, and she hadn't so much as heard a single word from her supposed lover.

Eve stared at her mud covered hands. Dirt caked her fingernails and wounds from sharp metal edges lined her palms.

She felt like a fool. Here she was doing everything she can to cling to a memory, and yet Chung was doing nothing in return.

Eve stood, her memories of Chung bringing the same torrent of happiness, sadness, and anger once more. Though now… she understood what she was so angry about.

"Thank you for your help, everyone," Eve shouted, garnering the rest of the group's attention.

"Did you find it?" Cleri asked, expectantly.

Eve shook her head. "We should stop for today. It's getting late."

"Oh…" Cleri replied, disheartened, "Maybe tomorrow then? We can pick up where we left off and-"

"I think… we should just give up the search entirely."

Rose said nothing. Raven and Cleri glanced at each other in confusion.

"You sure?" Raven asked, "I don't mind helping as long as it gets me out and about-"

"I'm sure," Eve said, already making her way out of the arena floor, "It's not worth our time."

Chung

I hope this letter reaches you as this will be the last one I'll ever send. There's no need to reply, as I've grown to accept that you won't write back. I don't know what you are going through, but I assume your work in rebuilding your kingdom has kept you too occupied to even talk to me… or at least that's what I hope it is.

I'll keep this brief: I don't have long to live. Nothing can be done. The options presented to me have fallen through, and I have no choice but to simply accept my fate. The corruption in my code has taken over most of my systems, and I have a month at most to complete my tasks in Altera. That being said, do not try to visit. I'm not only saying this because my facial recognition programs won't be functioning anymore… but also because seeing you again would break my heart.

Farewell, Chung. I wish you a long, prosperous rule for your kingdom.

Eve

"Are you sure this is what you want, mistress?" Remy asked as Eve closed off the letter.

Eve was alone with Remy. She was leaning against the guardrail of the catwalk that surrounded the massive inner garden of the palace. The others had been called by Thironin for a special meeting when they arrived. Seeing the mud Eve was covered in, Thironin suggested she clean up rather than inviting her to the gathering. This was perhaps the only time she was happy to be a Nasod in Sander. She didn't want anything to do with anyone. Not at the state she was in.

"No…" Eve sniffled, running a still-muddied arm over her eyes. "I don't know what I want. I can't think straight."

"Shall I attempt to boot up your emotional stabilization program?"

"No. No! This feels right. At least, I hope it's right. The program's corrupted, anyways, so I wouldn't gain anything from it," Eve said, uploading her message to a mechanical raven, "He needs to know, anyways. It's right that I at least send us off with a proper farewell."

She took the raven in her hands and gently rested her forehead onto it, doing her best to envision Chung's face one more time.

"Find him. Deliver my message," Eve ordered softly before letting the raven fly. Its black wings glinted in the moonlight as it took to the heavens.

Both Remy and Eve watched as the black bird seemingly disappeared into the night's sky. Eve fought back tears, and the white drone turned to her mistress.

"Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"I want to hear good news for once."

"In that case, I'd be happy to announce that my decryption is 99% complete. A report of the signal's transmission source will be available in a few minutes."

"It took you a few days to get that far. Was it really that complicated?"

"It is the most advanced form of decryption I've seen, mistress. Almost, if not just as, advanced as our own."

Eve wiped her arm over her eyes upon hearing that news. "Interesting. I look forward to it. Until then, I suppose I should clean myself up-"

"Mistress," Remy chirped suddenly, "I believe we're being watched."

"Hm?" Eve followed the white drone's gaze as she scanned the rooftops in the dim moonlight. Save for the few guards that were stationed along the catwalk and in the inner garden, she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "How do you know we're being watched? I don't see anything."

"The signal's source… it's strong. That means it's close. Very close."

"Can you pinpoint where?"

"Roughly 75 degrees east northeast. At least I think-there! Target located on the rooftop!"

Without her visual enhancements to aid her, Eve had to squint to find the silhouette of a cloaked figure standing upon the palace's high walls. It became clear that it was a person as the figure stood, casting a shadow of the rising moon behind them. They extended their arm out towards their side and remained still, like a statue, for some time. It wasn't long before a bird-Eve's raven-took its perch on their extended limb.

She knew who this person was. Judging by their height and build, she recognized this individual to be none other than contestant number 20: the Phantom. The very same that had been stalking Eve and Cleri since they arrived in Sander.

"They're-" Remy was speechless as the figure took the raven in their hand, its form disintegrating into data as it returned to its pocket dimension, "They've intercepted our raven!"

"How?!"

"I don't know, mistress! The signal, maybe? The signal must've-Mistress!"

Eve was already stepping out over the guardrail. With one leap, she bound over to the rooftops above, prompting the figure to flee.

"Mistress! You're in no condition to fight!" Remy chirped, chasing after her, "You know what they're capable of! Without your weapons-"

"That's why I have you. Disable them, Remy. So that we may find out what this person wants. I want to know why they're stealing my raven. And I want to know why they've been chasing us. What do they hope to gain from following us all over Sander."

"I-Yes, mistress!"

Remy took off after the figure. Alone, she might not be a match, but she hoped that it would buy Eve enough time to catch up. The queen gritted her teeth. Moby distancing himself from them is going to cost them dearly at this point. Without him around, their chances of apprehending the Phantom were slim. She couldn't allow the guards to capture them, either. After witnessing the guards' brutality and disregard for the safety of commoners, she wouldn't put it past them to execute the Phantom on the spot if they found them.

They followed the figure as they ran along the walls of the palace. Two guards had been posted along the walls. Hoping they'd at least slow the Phantom down, Eve was astonished to see the figure quickly dispatch the obstacles, getting past the swords with ease and knocking out the first with a hard punch to the face before ducking just as Remy flew by and collided with the other. In her disoriented state, Remy was knocked over the wall, down to the outside with a heavy blow to her side. Eve leapt up to the wall, rushing to the guards' side to find both of them knocked out cold.

"Mistress!" Remy chirped, meeting up with Eve, "I see them! They're making their way towards the inner palace walls!"

Eve followed her direction, bounding from wall to rooftops once more in an attempt to intercept the intruder. She could barely make out their figure in the darkness, and as she pursued, the figure disappeared within the thick brush in one of the palace's innermost gardens.

Eve leapt from the rooftop, slowing her landing with Remy's help as she came to a stop on the ground floor. They were within the main palace's walls, now; a place restricted to only the highest ranking officials. Surrounding her were exotic flowers and trees that sparkled beautifully in the moonlight. The intruder was nowhere in sight.

Voices could be heard in the distance and Eve, noting the large amount of guards that patrolled the garden, had to keep quiet. If they found her, a Nasod, within the palace walls… there was a high chance she wouldn't be able to leave without making a scene.

"Thanks again for all your hospitality," the voice said. She turned to the source to see Raven speaking to Thironin and Vapor as they strolled along the garden's edge. Elsword, Elesis, and Cleri were with him. Eve was surprised to see the leader walking. Even Elesis, who had been injured earlier that day, was up and about, quietly sipping on a purple flask.

Vapor's elixir really worked wonders for them.

"No problem," Thironin smiled, "And I take it you're happy with the plan I've laid out for the next few days?"

"More than happy," Cleri chimed in, "We should be able to gain enough notability to at least fall into Dafarr's good graces if we follow the schedule."

"It'd require you to split up, of course," Thironin nodded, "But seeing as Vapor's elixir has you all up and well, the labor should be nothing you can't handle."

"I call the indoor jobs," Elesis blurted out, "I'm tired of sweating out in the sun, so you can handle those, Els."

The entire group laughed as Elsword tried to argue against the idea.

"Fine, whatever. I've been meaning to stretch my legs anyways. I suppose I'll volunteer for Seven Tower work," Elsword relented.

"I can give you a tour, while we're at it," Thironin said, "Get you familiar with the area you're working in since the Seven Tower is my expertise."

"I'd like that a lot. Thanks, Thironin."

The noble brushed it off with a chuckle, "Although you'd have to refer to me as 'Professor Landaar' within the college. Can't have the others seeing a public servant on a first name basis with me."

"Sure, no problem-wait," Elsword trailed off as the smile on his face faded, "Professor Landaar?"

"Yes. I am the archmage and current head of the Landaar family bloodline. Didn't I tell you?"

"I-no but," Elsword was at a loss for words.

"But…?"

The El Search Party turned to their leader. His eyes were wide with realization as the redhead looked at the lanky noble up and down.

"You said," Elsword's voice trembled as he spoke, "You said you had… a kid overseas, right?"

"Ah yes… my daughter," Thironin feigned a scowl, though a doting smile betrayed his expression, "A fledgling mage that I sent on a journey of personal growth. She was a bit of a cocky individual, and I thought a lesson in humility would be goo-"

"Name?!" Elsword blurted out, seemingly beside himself at the discovery, "What was her name?!"

Thironin, who had nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden outburst found himself struggling to find the words, "N-name? Her name is Aisha why-"

The moment hit harder than the gunshot.

It wasn't until Thironin collapsed on the ground in a lifeless heap that everyone realized something was wrong. The bullet wound that pierced clean through the archmage's temples glistened with blood against the moonlight.

"A-" Vapor stammered, falling to her knees as she clutched at the archmage's body, "A… Assassin!"

Her voice echoed throughout the halls, soon followed by the ringing of the alarm bells that soon filled the entire castle.

"There! On the rooftops!" Raven shouted, pointing towards a cloaked figure as it made its escape. The El Search Party scrambled to pursue, leaving Elsword to fall on his knees at Thironin's side.

"Els! We have to stop him! Let's go!" Elesis yelled, yet the leader refused to move, "Gah! Not this, again! Fine! Stay here and protect Vapor!"

In no time the rest of the party dispersed, leaving Vapor and Elsword to tend to Thironin's body.

Eve stepped out of the brushes, fully aware of Elsword's inability to guard Vapor and stood watch over them.

Vapor already had a vial of her purple liquid uncorked and was carefully pouring it into the open wound. From Eve's experience, damage to a human's brain was always fatal. No amount of health potions could save them. So why was Vapor even trying?

Eve said nothing, leaving the alchemist to do what she could. All the while Elsword wept in front of Aisha's father, repeating again and again how sorry he was for not being able to protect her or her family.

A/N: Big thanks to Aevari and Mirai-Akina for the edits! If you like/dislike the direction this story is taking feel free to let me know in the reviews! I know there wasn't a lot of action in this particular chapter but we're sort of at an events crossroads in the story. Everything I've set up in the previous chapters up to now will most likely be triggered and you all get to watch the cascade!