Alter egos were supposed to be some peaceful moment between an individual to themselves. It was a process of understanding themselves, a being of what they actually wanted to be. It shouldn't be hectic and troublesome… especially when it was still in the morning.
"Guys, I'm going to strip!" Shakti shouted to everyone in the house from the living room. Unlike Ara who kept her good manners most of the time, her clone was about to commit a lot of sins. She found clothes to be a hindrance, something that she didn't need unless she engaged in a battle. Although she'd go naked in a battle because it gave her more speed from no armor weight.
Normally Ciel wouldn't care much about this, but Ain already despised Lu and him for making an indecent scene. The whole gang even got kicked out of the house because of it. He had to stop whatever Shakti was trying to, convincing her to wear at least a swimwear. She sighed in disappointment, but she cooperated. She was covered in a blinding light, changing her clothes to a bikini.
Mad Paradox laughed maniacally with a wide smile, a laugh that they hadn't heard and a face they hadn't seen for at least a year. "I can understand it. Less clothes are more efficient in everything!"
"Oh, really? Should I remove my armor?" Fatal Phantom asked as he stared at his own armor. It was mostly plates so he could move faster, but if he took off everything, he could move even faster.
"Please no, just don't," Rena said with a smile, holding Fatal Phantom's shoulders from behind. At this point, everyone would be convinced to be naked.
"Stop being ridiculous, don't make trouble in the early morning! I just want to relax for once!" Twilight yelled, glaring at the other clones. "Someone take care of Shakti or something. I don't want to bother."
"Can't touch this, I'm fast!" Shakti smirked and jumped away from the group, running around the house to avoid anything.
"I'm on it!" Fatal Phantom's eyes sparkled, chasing Shakti around the house while trying to not break anything. Both of them ran around the house like it was a free space, from first floor to second floor. They could even hear their footsteps from below.
"I wanna join! I wanna play!" Timoria shouted with excitement, running to the second floor. She behaved like a little girl, an innocent kid that only knew how to have fun. She ignored almost everything that she didn't find interesting.
Labyrinth stood up, making a typical cute girl pose. "Fear not, for I am here to lighten things up, the cutie herself, Nisha Labyrinth!" she shouted with a smile, sending her kiss to the air. She started dancing, singing a song they never heard before.
"My god, shut up—"
Minerva smacked Furious Blade's head so hard, making him fall unconscious. Everyone already got Raven's permission to knock out his clone anyway.
After Labyrinth finished her song and bowed down, everyone clapped their hands for her. And yes, the three people on the second floor were still running around.
"That's so cute! I wanna dance too," Empire Sword said and smiled at Labyrinth. She admired the 'idol' so much, getting inspiration to wear cute clothes and dance around.
Code: Ultimate nodded in agreement. "I love it. I may not be the best fashion designer, but I would love to make a cute dress with sweets as the theme. Perhaps with a song about sweets too!"
"Very cool, very nice, approved by the cutie herself, Nisha Labyrinth!" Nisha nodded, liking the idea. She approached Empire Sword and Code: Ultimate. "Then let's make one right now. Come to the backyard!"
As the three of them went to the backyard, Elesis sighed heavily and covered her own embarrassed face. Her dream self was showing too much in a few minutes. "Oh my god…"
Click!
"Excuse me! I'm getting clothes," Richter said as he casually walked to the girls' bedroom.
But Rena stood up and prevented him from entering. "Wait, what clothes? You can't just enter our bedroom!"
"Then please take Eve's clothes for me! She needed to change," Richter said as he explained about what Elsword and Eve were doing while waiting. It should be concerning, but knowing the couple, it would happen anyway. He went upstairs to take Elsword's clothes, ignoring the 'game' that was happening.
After taking the clothes, Richter left immediately. Rena sighed, looking at the clones chilling in the living room. "Where are the others, though? Like…"
"Elsword and Eve took Immortal with them. Metamorphy and Nyx Pieta… I don't know, I haven't seen them," Elesis said with a confused look. She glanced at Ciel because he was always waking up first. Sadly the servant didn't see them either.
"Jelangkung jelangsat, di sini ada pesta~"
Noah was casually singing the song mantra to bring a spirit to visit them through Jelangkung, a doll that the boys had discussed a few nights before. Nobody understood it anyway and he didn't have the doll in his hands. It should be fine, right?
He was walking in the shopping district, hoping to find a coconut. A random coconut from the store would probably be good enough to make the doll. He needed to find bamboo for the doll's body, but he wasn't sure if anything would work. He still bought them, though.
"Noah, what are you doing—"
Noah was too focused at the making of the doll, he was startled by the familiar voice. He faced Raven and showed the plastic bags in his hands. "I'm trying to make the doll. I learned the song too!"
And there were more plastic bags of snacks than the doll materials. Raven chuckled and took the plastic bags from Noah's hands. "I'm on a patrol, but I can help you."
Noah smiled sadly, taking a bag of chips from one of the plastic bags in Raven's hands. "I'm sorry for troubling you—"
"Don't apologize. Where do we go next?" Raven smiled, following Noah. He knew the kid ate a lot, so it would be better to let him eat while walking.
"I'm not sure—It's Nisha!" Noah shouted with sparkling eyes, approaching a crowd on the street. The crowd was surrounding Aisha and Nisha, who were making a magic performance.
Raven offered help to Noah because the kid wasn't tall enough to look at them, but he refused and chose to see from a small space between people. With Raven's height, he could see them easily.
Nisha noticed Raven, then Noah from the small gap. She moved closer to Aisha, poking her arm and pointing at her friends. "Can you make them all jump?"
Nisha's friends, the creatures that were helping her at the circus, were running in circles. Aisha created a distorted zone in the middle of the creatures, gradually getting bigger and launching them into the air like a trampoline. The crowd clapped their hands. Even Noah could see this now.
"I'll join them," Nisha smiled, jumping to the zone and getting launched with her friends. She created heart shaped dark thorns with pale white flowers in the sky, helping her friends to jump through the hole.
Aisha giggled at the view, creating a pink ball on her staff before shooting it to the sky. It split into two smaller balls when it hit something, so everyone could play around it. This surprised Raven at first for various reasons. One of them was… this was one of her abilities to kill things, but it was harmless this time.
Noah jumped to poke the ball with his finger. It splitted into two smaller balls before it disappeared. "Let's go!" he said as he took chips from the bag and continued walking.
"You don't want to say hi first?" Raven asked with a confused look. He waved his hand at the girls before leaving, especially when they already noticed his presence.
"No need. It's better that way," Noah answered as he looked around to find a coconut. He could eat more coconuts and make more Jelangkung dolls if he wanted too. It was a good idea… for him.
Raven didn't say anything and followed the kid. Nisha can be keen at this stuff. He believed Nisha already spotted Noah. The whole flashy stuff was too much of a coincidence anyway. "I'll take everything home after work. You can enjoy your snacks."
In the afternoon, Elsword and Eve should have worked on a bunch of articles, but they only made one. They believed Richter could spoil some information for them, so screw their work. "Of course, I remember everything! Last night I scouted this village. Demons aren't coming for now," Richter informed with a smile.
They were finding a restaurant for lunch. For some reason, all the restaurants weren't crowded today. They visited the local Sander food restaurant and ordered their meal. Now they could ask Richter anything. This would be either good information or gossip. "Let's continue. You said Noah has moon power?" Eve asked, remembering that Noah refused to tell most of his past. All she knew was his weapon was alive.
Richter nodded his head. "His older brother was Master Ebalon. He died around 300 years ago, so Noah should be around 300 years by now. But he's physically a 16 years old kid."
"Ah, that makes sense of that repeated timeline," Eve also nodded, starting to understand what was happening. She looked at her boyfriend, whose hair had turned black from using Dark El. What would cause the crystallization on Noah's body, then? Her best assumption was Noah shouldn't be using moon power in the first place, just like Elsword shouldn't be using Dark El.
"I wish you didn't use Dark El. I want to kill you so bad," Richter said with a disgusted look, staring at Elsword. Even his clone despised demons.
Elsword laughed and slammed the table. "I knew it! I knew that would cross your mind at least once!"
Eve remembered what happened last night. Maybe she should ask her friends' romance stuff to Ain. He might have noticed something. "What can you tell me about Nisha?"
"She's an obsessive girl. I can relate," Ain answered, closing his eyes to imagine her obsession toward someone. Eve wanted to ask more, but Ain said something interesting. "She suddenly acted differently after she lived in Chung's body for a day. She looked like she had a lot of thoughts, hanging out with Raven and Chung, even picking a fight with Aisha! Hm… maybe she likes Chung? Wait, no, I think she likes Aisha!"
Elsword was startled when he heard that. "Huh? Aisha?"
Eve forced herself to laugh and nodded in agreement. "Chung thinks the same too. Isn't that interesting?"
"Huh… What? Is he actually in love with his books now?" Elsword asked in confusion. He couldn't process what was happening anymore.
Ain narrowed his eyes, feeling disgusted. "I don't think he likes anyone, but that demon girl might like him."
"Lu?" Elsword and Eve asked simultaneously. Eve didn't expect Lu to ever fall in love with someone. Ain's assumption was based on what he saw. He might be wrong, though.
"Maybe Elesis too. I'm not sure about this one," Ain continued and looked at the ceilings, remembering anything else.
Elsword raised his one eyebrow and folded his arms. "Did my buddy suddenly get the charm or what?"
Eve giggled and didn't answer it. The truth was… the girls were considering everything like a collection. One time they were going after Elsword, but after he got taken by her, they started going after Ain. After knowing Ain was too stoic and a couple broke up, now they were somehow trying to find Chung's cool side to love. "Do you even like someone, Ain?" Eve asked in curiosity.
"I love Ara! She's cute and cheerful, the opposite of me. She will be the perfect partner, but I need her to feel the same," Ain said with, surprisingly, a flustered face. He didn't seem to be lying either. And the love seemed… pure. "I'm going to spend time with her more often. You're always with Elsword anyway, so I have free time!"
"Do you have any funny stories before I joined the gang?" Eve asked with a smile. Elsword was panicking, but Ain was willing to tell everything.
The night was rather peaceful. Maybe everyone was tired from everything. "One step forward…" Labyrinth took a step forward with the tip of her toe. "And spin!" she shouted, took a single spin and faced the girls in front of her. "What do you think?"
"It's nice! I love it!" Timoria clapped her hands, feeling happy with the cuteness she was seeing. Code: Ultimate nodded in agreement before taking a spoon of her chocolate cake.
"I think it would be bad with the costume we designed. It might reveal your underwear when you're spinning!" Empire Sword shook her head, looking at the costume designs they made on the paper.
Labyrinth approached Empire Sword to look at the designs. She nodded, understanding what would happen with it. "Then let's fix the costume!"
On the second floor, Minerva was ranting to Raven, Ciel, Fatal Phantom, and Mad Paradox. She had been complaining for hours, but she wasn't tired of it. They found her funny and interesting, so they kept listening.
"I swear, man. You're a f-cking soyboy! Be alpha for once!" Minerva yelled and smacked Fatal Phantom's head with the sub-machine gun in her hand. "Seriously, you're so lame. I'm surprised Aisha fell in love with you!"
"But, but! But I tried my best…! My growth is stuck here!" Fatal Phantom pouted and rubbed his head. Somehow he was the only male that stopped growing up physically. While Elsword and Add got manlier, Chung was stuck with a babyface and questionable body figure.
"Did the cannon stop you from growing? How heavy is it anyway?" Minerva asked, standing up and waiting for Fatal Phantom to summon it.
So he did; he stood up and summoned his weapon, stomping it lightly to the floor and making a light thump sound. "It was heavier," he said as he took a step backward to let Minerva lift it up.
And she did; she barely did it, but it was lifted. "What the f-ck, it's actually heavy. Where's your muscles then?" she asked as she squeezed Chung's arms in curiosity.
"I don't know! Where's yours?" Fatal Phantom asked and squeezed Minerva's arm to feel her muscles.
"Holy sh-t, this can't be happening," she sighed and shook her head in disbelief. She went back to her seat and stared at Raven. "When will you move on and get a wife? You're gonna die as a lonely veteran at this point."
"What if I get a husband instead?" Raven asked jokingly with a smile.
Ciel walked away from them and checked TokTik to see what Lu was doing for the day. It was crowded in the house, but he felt lonely. Timoria was there, but she wasn't the same.
"Welcome back! It's me, Sourcream, to introduce you to this brand new cafe in Sander Village!" Lu winked at the camera. She dragged Ara closer to her and smiled. "Come here, Ara! Here's the maid with big breasts!"
Ara was flustered with it, but she laughed it off and waved her hands at the camera. She looked really confused, but she kept smiling.
Lu narrowed her eyes at someone else. "Is that Chung?"
The video was cut, showing Chung wearing a maid uniform. "Here's another maid! Come on Chung, smile for everyone!"
Chung actually smiled, waving his hands at the camera. He probably didn't know what Lu was going to do with the video. "How do you feel as a crossdresser?"
"Whether I crossdress or not is another thing," Chung answered, tilting his head a bit.
Lu giggled, staring at the camera. "Well… I guess a mystery is always fun to solve! Come here to find out!"
The video was cut again, showing a butler with a serious looking face. "And the stoic butler! Ain, smile or something! Don't just stare at the viewers' souls!" Lu pouted and poked Ain's cheek.
Ain sighed and moved away from the camera, standing behind Lu. "I've shown enough. Come here if you need the real thing."
"Oh? Will you kiss my hand, since I'm a princess here?" Lu asked with a smile, offering the back of her left hand to Ain. Unexpectedly, Ain actually kissed her left hand, and called her "my princess". She squealed at it, looking at the camera. "Meet them here, guys!"
Ciel was watching with a confused look. He remembered very well that Ain despised them this morning. He honestly didn't expect the angel to even cooperate in some short internet videos. It could be cringy depending on how people see it, but he found this very intriguing… and weird.
"Ciel! What are you watching?" Rena asked in curiosity, approaching the servant that had visible confusion all over his face.
"Your favorite, I think," Ciel answered, showing the Chung part of the video. And yes, it successfully made the elf scream in excitement.
Thanks for reading!
Maybe I should make a random boys-playing-with-ghosts chapter one day but
Actually-
PenguinSnowman
Aisha: *reads about Lord Azoth* It is interesting. Where did you get those potions anyway?
Rena: Just accept the fact that it's here
Noah: What counterpart?
Rena: Um... We'll show you in 2024 or something, Noah. Devs are delaying very hard on this