Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,958
Summary: It was like looking into a mirror. What happens when one's reflection talks back and throws uncomfortable questions? El Search Party struggles to find entrance into the Demon Realm, but Dominator has a plan.
Alternative Title: Dominator fucked up and now everyone meets their alternative selves
Note: This story took place right before the team meets Rosso, so Laby will not bein this story. Rose will not be in this story due to not knowing her canon class at the time this fic was written.
Class Notes:
Canon Path: Knight Emperor, Aether Sage, Daybreaker, Rage Hearts, Code: Esencia, Comet Crusader, Apsara, Empire Sword, Doom Bringer, Ishtar and Chevalier (Innocent), Bluhen
Alternative Path: Rune Master, Oz Sorcerer, Anemos, Furious Blade, Code: Ultimate, Fatal Phantom, Devi, Flame Lord, Dominator, Timoria and Abysser (Catastrophe), Richter
Doppelgänger
Chapter 11: Echoes
Oz Sorcerer
Dusk bordered at the horizon when Oz returned to camp. Dozens of tents rose in a mass of colors and arranged into smaller circles with a smaller campfire for each group. Oz saw tents of the close-ranged fighters placed closer to the edge of their resting site, the ones ready for combat to the sound of intruders. Those that relied more on magic or needed more time to prepare like Rune and Dominator placed their tents more inward from the edge of the area they resided in.
"Hey, 'cuse me," a male voice grunted. "Sorry, come through."
The smell of blood and dirt filled the air. Knight was hauling a wild boar that was easily twice his size. Blood was dripping down the carcass and onto Knight's armor. His great sword was tucked into a scabbard strapped to his back, grating against the gravel as he dragged the ridiculous sized animal over his shoulder. A quiet gasp escaped from a lower tree branch whipping into his vicinity and swapped the young man.
"Need help?" Oz leaned forward, "I can barely see your face from here."
"Yes," Knight groaned under the weight of the boar. How could someone so short carry a monster of that size? She was impressed.
With the help of Angkor ("I'm not here to do grunt work!" He huffed.), she helped him carry the dead animal across camp. It took all of Oz's effort now to lower the boar over a pile of dried leaves. They placed the boar next to a campfire. She watched its beady eyes staring back at her, dead and fish-eyed in death.
She didn't know the Demon Realm had animals.
Then again, Angkor didn't really tell her much about the realm that demons called home. Oz looked up to see the moons nestled among the clouds. Angkor and Timoria spoke of their old allies and enemies, but their narrative of the Demon Realm varied. She guessed that it was as big and diverse as Elrios was. It took her weeks to journey from Sander all the way to Ruben in search of the Ring of Mimir, so maybe it would take weeks to reach the other end of the Demon Realm?
"What are you doing?" Oz observed Knight taking out a dagger from his belt. Angkor scurried off in bat form when Knight started skinning the animal with precision.
"Prepping for dinner," Knight said. He let out a nervous chuckle. "Do you want to help?"
"Sure," Oz placed her staff on her belt to make her hands free. "What do we do first?"
"Uh, right." Knight looked happy? He moved aside to patted the ground to gesture at her into joining him, nodding his head, "I want you to grab a bucket or any containers you have. We'll be draining its blood to make pig blood curd for soups and congee in the morning. Once we finish, we'll be carving the meat and use half of it to make dried jerky for battle rations. I already cleaned it out before I started skinning it."
"These? Do you make everyone you talk to do this?" Oz asked. Placing the bowls aside, she sat on the floor next to Knight. "What happened to your friends?"
"Most of them are still resting after the fights," Knight chuckled. "And you looked like you weren't busy. What's so funny?"
He stopped to give her a strange look. What? Was Knight already detecting her sad attempt to keep a poker face during his long lecture? He glanced over Oz before making note of Angkor, who was back to his bat form. Angkor settled on her lap as a bat and giggled when Oz tried to move it. Did Angkor gain weight? Oz placed her hand over her chest and pretended to blush.
"See something you like?" She teased.
"I'm surprised you're helping me after some of my friends tried to hurt you," Knight was not fazed.
"This wouldn't be the first time our enemies became our allies," Oz mused. "Rune asked me to do the same when we first met."
"Oh… sorry about that." He was embarrassed.
"What are you apologizing for? It's always good to have a refresher!" Oz exclaimed, "Your hands were full and you looked like you needed help."
Knight looked relieved and nodded to himself. It was subtle, but a distinct smile. The kind Rune had when he learned a new technique to manipulate his runes. He was taller than Rune, towering over her with sleeves rolled back while working. His hair was a short neat cut, matching his eyes and the rest of his armor.
After they extracted blood from the boar, they let it sit in one of the metal bowls to solidify. They would then slide the curd into smaller pieces to be salted and heated in a pot. Knight handed her a dagger and they began dividing the meat into sections. Oz let the man take the lead and insert the sharp edge towards the spine, cleaning the meat off the bone in one swipe. Knight expertly placed the meat into a separate container for later use and hummed as he worked. For a moment, she caught serenity in his silence, taking pride in his hard work.
"Is it always you who does this?" Oz asked.
"Sometimes it's Elesis or Raven," Knight said. "The others have offered to help, but I'm doing it today. Are you okay with that?"
"You're asking me now?" Oz let out a mellow laugh, "It's gross, but you look so sad doing it by yourself."
"I look sad?" Knight chuckled, "I'm used to doing it by myself. I had to do it when 'sis was out of the picture."
Stupid, Aisha! She scolded herself. Now she made him remember a lonely part of his life. Oz took deep breaths and counted backwards from ten. He didn't even look upset about it and laughed.
"But thank you for offering to help," Knight said. "Food will be ready sooner and we can focus on everyone recovering."
"When was the last time you visited Ruben?" Oz asked.
"It's been years," he admitted. "Haven't had much time to return with everything that's been happening."
"Do you miss home?"
"Sometimes," Knight said. "But when I'm with my friends, it's like I have a second home. You know what I mean? Don't laugh, but I hope I can one day show them Ruben when things are peaceful again."
"No, that sounds like a wonderful dream," Oz softened her expression and thought about the people she grew up with. She wondered if her teammates felt the same.
Oz started setting the seasoned meats onto a dry metal tablet to be smoked when she heard Angkor squeak. She looked up to Aether stomping over to her. Dressed in a white skirt accented by purple, Aether wielded a staff and looked short out of breath. Did all of Knight's friends wear white?
"Aisha?" Knight didn't notice the dark aura radiating from the sulking mage.
"Elsword," Aether stopped to catch her breath. The twin cowlicks sprouting from her roots drooped as she rested her hands over her knees before bringing her head up. Her face was flustered, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Helping Ciel prep for dinner. Oz is helping me." Knight said and looked at her with pleading eyes. Did he just give Aether puppy eyes? He and Rune were cut from the same cloth. "Did Bluhen heal your arm?"
"No one else can heal besides him, my arm is fine." Aether huffed. "Did you just kill that boar by yourself? You should be resting. You've gone missing for two days!"
"I'm not hurt!" Knight stood up for Aether to see. "Not a single cut! Ain healed most of my injuries!"
"You can't rely on him all the time for heals," Aether glared. "I just talked to him and he said you should be resting. I bet you didn't tell Ciel that, did you?"
"I… no." He said in a small voice.
If looks could kill, Knight would have died twice fold from the intense looks the mage was sending to him. Oz held back her laughter as Aether scrutinized the red-haired man. Aether threw a side-eyed look to Oz as if debating if it was the dark mage's fault for letting Knight do things by himself.
"I helped him before no one else was," Oz said before Aether could open her mouth. "We were almost done before you came here."
Glancing at the smoked meats and the pork blood curd finished steaming in the heated pot, Aether didn't argue. She turned pink, embarrassed and offered an apology to both of them. Oz overheard Angkor chattering to her and hushed him to be quiet.
"Do I look that awful?" Knight asked.
"You look like a zombie," Aether said.
"Really? I was thinking more like a sad phoru." Oz pointed to the bags under Knight's eyes. Knight tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"Go wash your hands and rest until dinner is ready," Aether groaned before gesturing to Oz. "I'll help her finish up the rest of what you already started."
"All right," Knight walked past Aether. "Sorry for making you worry."
Oz wished he would stop taking blame for things in a feeble attempt to soothe anger from either side. It was grating on her nerves and didn't suit him at all. It made her miss the slight flare of arrogance Rune had when thinking he found the perfect ratio of hot pepper flakes to apply to pork jerky, or when he set the entire demon army on fire.
"Hey, worrying is our job." Aether stopped him, "That's what we're here for."
Knight laughed.
There was silence between the two women when he left. Aether finished slicing the meat into thin pieces. Her slices were sloppier than Knight's but cut close to the bone of the boar and marinated the meat in a metal bowl. Oz rotated the smoked meat for the other side to be cooked and checked on the pork blood curd. Their campsite smelled of smoked and seasoned meats.
"So you do have a demon," Aether looked at Angkor with the same fascination as one would with deadly forest fungi.
"Have?" Oz rolled her eyes, "He's not a pet. More like a contract."
It was hard to believe Angkor was a demon god for the number of times he wouldn't stop chattering demon gossip to her or demanding for more cookies. Oz wondered if looking like a child brought in the childish tendencies in the demon bat. His powers on the other hand were worth discussing and helped her in battles countless times.
"How did that happen?" Aether asked.
"Well, I was practicing dark magic when Angkor approached me." Oz said, "He saw talent in me and offered a deal to me."
"And the clothes?"
"That's what you're worried about the most?" Oz said, "I don't mind. Maybe more ruffles than I wanted, but the gain in power was what mattered."
"You didn't find the Ring of Mimir either?"
"No," Oz shook her head. The blood curd was done. She drained water from the pot and transferred them over to a container for storage. "Are you still looking for it?"
"Yes," Aether closed her eyes. "We were so close to catching the culprit. He ran off before I had the chance to get it back."
"Do you think it will return your powers?"
"I don't know, maybe? I relearned the fundamentals of elemental magic, but there's still more to be learned." Aether said, "Hennon doesn't have rights over that ring grandfather worked hard to uncover."
Oz tried to remember a time when she believed in having the ring restore her powers. After no leads to it, she turned to dark magic because she didn't want to relearn something she had already lost. The Hennon of her world also had the Ring of Mimir, but that was the least of their concerns when there was an urgent matter of restoring the El.
"So what's with you and Elsword?" Aether asked. "I saw you two talking."
"Still obsessing over that boy?" Oz teased.
"What?" Aether paused, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You keep looking at him." Oz teased. "It's like I'm not even here."
Aether sat still, frozen in time, and forgot that she had a knife in her hand. The knife remained suspended in a fist hold grip, losing its use in her hands. Her eyes widened, shocked by the statement and Oz's impatience. Talking to Aether was coming into contact with a reflection of herself when she was eighteen years old, infatuated and hopeful in catching the attention of a red-haired boy.
"It looked like you two were having fun," Aether turned pink. "You two share nothing in common, but you made it look easy to talk to him about anything."
"I just let him talk about things he's interested in," Oz shrugged. "Didn't you travel with him for five years?"
"Yes, but I'm not sure if I know him as well as I thought I did." She confessed, "When he went missing, I mistook Rune for him. It was so obvious. I feel like an idiot."
"They're pretty similar," Oz said. "Both of them act like idiots, won't stop talking about meat, insist they're used to doing things alone..."
"That's the thing!" Aether threw her arms in the air, "He always does all these things by himself, acting like everything is his fault. It's so frustrating! How many times do we need to tell him we don't mind?"
"I think that's why Knight hides things," Oz leaned back. "He probably didn't want to make you all worry, even if it's a stupid idea and you all care about him either way."
Oz collected the remnants of the skinned and deboned animal. The bones were saved to be used as a base for soups and broths. She was impressed by Knight's work ethic that expanded even outside of his training. Left to live by himself at a young age, Knight must have learned to never let food be wasted. He and Rune were masters in hunting and finishing chores, but worked twice as hard in training.
"I wonder if I scared him away, yelling at him like that." Aether thought aloud. "I can't stand seeing him get hurt again."
"You still like him," Oz commented.
"Don't you?" Aether asked.
"Maybe not in the same sense as you do," Oz said. "We tried to connect a few times but decided it wasn't working for us. He's now with Chung."
"What?"
Aether dropped the metal container with the blood curd. Luckily, it was sealed shut. Oz retrieved the container from the mage with a kind expression.
"Elsword and Chung are dating," Oz said. "Or Rune and Phantom if you're keeping track of nicknames."
"No wonder they kept looking at each other," she overheard Aether mutter to herself. "Does that mean our Elsword and Chung are…"
"I don't know," Oz said. "Not everything is set in stone. Your timeline is already different than ours, so I wouldn't give up yet. Knight might like Crusader, you, a random village girl, or even Add."
"Ha!" Aether snorted. "Unlikely."
Oz grinned. She liked her.
"Let's deliver these to Ciel and Abysser." Aether started collecting the containers, one under each arm. "They said they were going to cook something tonight."
Would this be enough to feed all of them? After washing her hands, Oz joined in helping her, taking the containers that were left to bring over to their teammates. She couldn't imagine how Knight could have completed this task on his own. The next time she saw Rune attempting to do the same, she'll have to make sure she or someone else would help him.
"It's always a pleasure talking to myself," Oz tipped her hat and feigned a formal bow.
"You're ridiculous," Aether rolled her eyes but softened his expression. "I think it'll be easier to talk to Elsword now that I understand him a little better."
"I think you already do," Oz said. "You're already thinking like him and helping people."
"Is that a compliment I hear?" Aether's grin mirrored hers, "Don't expect less from the great Aisha!"
"Do you talk like that to everyone?"
"...shut up."
Oz snickered.
Apsara
"And then Elesis set the pole on fire," Anemos said.
"A pole?" Apsara repeated.
"She got her tongue stuck on one and tried to free himself by setting it on fire," the elf explained. "The city wasn't happy and we had to pay for the damage. Luckily, we had enough from the major mission in Hamel."
W-wait, that didn't sound good! Apsara panicked as Anemos let out a noble woman's laugh. It was good that they had enough money to pay for the damage cost, but was it okay to cause a fire in the middle of a city?
"B-but, Flame was okay, right?" Apsara stuttered.
"Oh, she was perfectly fine," Anemos added. "Can't say the same about the rest of the city. That was rough."
"There's more?" Apsara squeaked.
"Trouble always seems to follow your team, it seems." Daybreaker chuckled. "It sounds like your friends ran into a lot of strange adventures and close calls."
Apsara nodded in agreement. She gripped her cup, running her thumbs over the edge and watching the tea steam rise and fall. It was her own personal tea set from what was left over of her ruined home in Fluone's Northern Empire. Bamboo and cranes were painted in dark green onto the cups. The tea kettle was decorated in a similar theme with a giant crane spreading its wings in bamboo bedding. It was a gift from her late mother before she passed away.
Anemos was just as she imagined the other Rena to be. Kind, funny, always ready to share stories of her travels and offering great advice, although Anemos had a more playful side. A smirk grew at the edge of Anemos' lips, sipping from her cup of tea.
"I can say the same to your team," Anemos said. "Unconventionally breaking into the Demon Realm and angering Dark Elves sounds like a rough trip."
"We were lucky that Rena was here to talk it out and help us work together," Apsara beamed. "Without her, we might still be enemies!"
"It's a good thing we understood each other," Daybreaker said. "I didn't think we would meet Dark Elves so soon."
"What are they like?" Anemos asked.
Both of them are correct, Eun yawned. Luck has saved you and your friends many times. How much longer will it carry you until it runs out?
Apsara shivered at the meaning behind Eun's words. The nine-tailed fox was not one for talk and preferred being a spectator from the safety of her mind, but occasionally left a piece of wisdom for her to think on.
Eun was right. They were lucky that she accidentally fell into the labyrinth of ruin that connected Elrios to the Demon Realm. According to Daybreaker, the language the Dark Elves spoke was closer to the Ancient Elven tongue, a skill not many elves possessed. After struggling to rescue Knight from the El, things were beginning to line up for them. However, as lucky as they were, there were just as many misfortunes that fell on them and stalled time for the enemy to get away. It was something Apsara couldn't forgive. They had to do more than fall on lady luck to seek justice for the lives of those impacted by the enemy.
"Apsara?" Anemos broke through the martial artist's train of thought. She had a gentle expression, "Was the medicine too strong? You look out of it."
"I'm fine," Apsara rubbed her forehead. It still hurt where she fell on her face. She was going to let it heal naturally. It was barely a scratch worth using healing magic. "Hey, Anemos? How do you plan to return back to Elrianode?"
"Tired of us already?" Anemos teased, placing her finger over her lips. "With the teleportation device broken, we won't be going home until it gets repaired. Why do you ask? Was your trip a one-way trip?"
"I'm afraid it was," Daybreaker said. "We were planning to find an alternate way to get back once we found the Dark El."
"Your team didn't look good when we fought you," Anemos commented. "Was a demon giving you trouble?"
"Nephilim Lord," Apsara said. "It looked like the one in Velder, but bigger. You saw one before, right? It warned us about a fiery aura."
The one they fought was several times the size, asbestos white and covered in bright rainbow-colored armor-like scales. It had horns protruding from its body and had no need to move to efficiently burn through their defense. The most powerful of all Nephilim, it was sentient and lost control of itself until it was taken down by the El Search Party.
Anemos frowned and bit her lip in deep thought, mumbling to herself in Elven. At the mention of Nephilim Lord, the gears in the elf's mind began to turn. Her eyes were calculating and darted up to where the sky was. Apsara looked up to see where the older woman was looking.
Cloud swirled collectively around the portals appearing and closing, deviating from one another. Apsara became dizzy looking at them and returned her eyes to Anemos, whose complexion remained serious.
"Was Nehphilim Lord the cause of this?" Anemos asked.
"I don't think so," Daybreaker shook her head. "It's been like this since Paradox fought with us. He seems to have control over those portals."
"Maybe we can use those portals to go back to Elrianode!" Apsara exclaimed.
"Assuming we can control them ourselves," Anemos sighed. "Unless you know anything about time and space."
Apsara felt her cheeks turn warm and pouted. Was it unrealistic in trying to secure a way back to Elrios? She already felt guilty leaving behind the world she and her friends worked hard to protect. On the other hand, the Dark Elves were relying on them to sort out the unstable spike of energy coming from the shadows of Varnimyr, a place where even Eun was uncertain about their safety. Ever since they have arrived at the Demon Realm, they have dug their feet into the dark with little guidance of where to go. It was worrying not knowing if there was a way back.
"I'm not even sure if one of those portals even works," Daybreaker said. "We don't know what's on the other side. What if we end up in another world like you and your friends did?"
Apsara stared into the dense forest surrounding the cavern area. She didn't even think about the possibility of coming out on one end of a portal into a world that bore little resemblance to Elrios or the Demon Realm. They would have to start all over again from scratch and adjust to a world with new laws and boundaries like they did when they first arrived in the Demon Realm.
It would be difficult to find a way back to Elrionode, Eun said. There is little else that can be done without taking a risk.
"We haven't had the best luck in making things go according to plan," Anemos added. "We still need to find the Dark El first before returning. Those portals will still be here when we find it."
"Finding the Dark El won't be easy, but I believe we'll find it soon." Apsara finally said. "We have even more people now to make it work. We'll all be coming home soon."
"How touching," a new voice drawled. Devi emerged from the shadows, letting the flame light flicker across her amber eyes. She looked down at Apsara's smaller form. "I never thought of myself as a wide-eyed optimist."
Apsara turned around to see a round face covered by dark black locks. The long ripples from the ends of her dress made Devi appear taller and thinner. Next to Apsara, she was covered in black and orange, resembling a dark butterfly spreading its wings in her dress billowing in the gentle breeze. Devi smiled, but her eyes held an unsteady gaze.
Careful, Ara. Urgency rose in Eun's voice, She's dangerous.
"A-ara! I mean me! Devi, I mean, uh, what do you prefer being called?" Apsara cried and lowered her head in a ninety-degree bow, "I didn't see you there, did you need something? Of course, you did, that's why you're here. Are you mad at us for hurting your friends? I'm so sorry. You must be furious with us, please forgive us. I-"
"You talk too much," Devi silenced Apsara with a single motion of a raised hand. "I barely caught any of that. Are you a mouse? I hear a lot of squeaking."
"A mouse?" Apsara felt dizzy. She lifted her head, moving her hands behind her head in a daze. "You mean the animal?"
"You're scaring her," Anemos chided.
"I'm not scared!" Apsara protested. "She caught me by surprise, that's all! "
"Am I not allowed to join tea with you ladies?" Devi poured a cup for herself and nestled herself between Devi and Anemos. Like Apsara, she drank her tea from a cup carefully held between her delicate fingers. She ignored the milk and sugar provided for Anemos and Daybreaker, who were less accustomed to drinking tea without them.
"Careful, it's still hot." Apsara stopped when Devi chugged the rest of the tea and blew hot air from her mouth. How scary, she thought.
"Your tea is all right," Devi said. "Needs more herbs."
Apsara stopped breathing. Her head was still spinning from processing that they were the same person. The way Devi carried herself was something only Apsara could dream of when she let Eun take over. She couldn't sense Eun's presence being the dominant one from her alternate, so the confidence was all Devi.
Devi and the rest of the alternate El Search Party reminded her of the old folk tales she had read as a child. Doppelgangers from another world that bore resemblance to the people she knew. The doppelgangers in the stories were often demons or evil spirits in disguise, but Devi and the others were neither of them.
"We're running low on tea," Apsara said.
"You were talking about the Dark El," Devi narrowed her eyes. She glanced over her shoulder to scan their surroundings before lowering her voice, "I don't think I need to explain what it is or why it's important. Where is it?"
"We don't know," Daybreaker said. "We're still searching for it like you. We're only a few weeks ahead of you."
Devi cursed.
"But since you're here, we can look for it together!" Apsara said. "Nephilim Lord said it would offer us information about it if we search for the source of aura that's been unstabilizing its home."
"It's our best shot at the moment," Anemos agreed. "With this many people, we'll find the source of the aura in no time."
"You don't think you're being used to take care of someone else's problem?" Devi looked at Apsara with skepticism. "Your girlfriend told me it tried to kill you."
It was true that Nephillim Lord tried to kill the El Search Party, but it wasn't the first time an enemy was restrained under mind control or agitation. How much did Empire tell Devi about their circumstances?
"We're doing this because we want to punish those that tried to take advantage of the people living here," Apsara said. "I won't stand for that."
"Nephillim Lord was influenced by the aura," Daybreaker explained. "We made a promise to help it out. The Dark Elves revere it as a god and protector. We're not leaving until everything is back to normal."
"They have a better lead than we do," Anemos placed her hands over her lap. She kept her voice low. "This may be our only chance."
Devi folded her arms back and grasped the handle of her spear. Still smiling, it was unnerving to see red flash through Devi's eyes before returning back to amber. It took Apsara a moment to remember that Devi must have Eun too. Those two must be close for Devi to maintain the same facial expression even when Eun had its brief moment of existence.
"For the monster's sake, I hope it understands the consequences if it doesn't follow through with its promise." Devi mused.
"Elesis told me you used different martial arts," Aspara ignored the dark comment. "What are they?"
"Is that what's on your mind?" Devi rose a brow. "They're secret arts from a book that specializes in dark energy. I'm curious about you as well. We'll have to find out in a spar."
"Another time," Anemos said. "There might be more fighting if we're going to find the source of the aura."
"We thought the source of the aura was you and your friends," Daybreaker admitted to Anemos. "But that wasn't it. The aura is not from you, but somewhere else. We might be struggling to find it because it's still dormant."
That meant they had more time to prepare for another battle, right? Apsara pulled the kettle to pour herself another cup of tea. Blowing the fumes away, she sipped as she gripped on her spear with her free hand. It was unclear what the source of the aura was, but she could feel its presence hovering over the region, a dull uncomfortable weight over her shoulders. It was going to get worse if it awakened. Their friends were still recovering from the last battle and they needed to regroup with a new plan.
"Elesis mentioned your name when I talked to her," Apsara looked at Devi, who was already on her third cup of tea. "What did you do to her?"
Empire gave her a wide-eyed look when Apsara asked about her alternate. Her complexion was the same color as her hair before Apsara took her girlfriend's hand and offered to change the topic.
"Hm?" Devi giggled when Apsara gave her a questioning look, "Oh, I may have provoked her into fighting me, called her princess, and now she's angry at me."
"You need to go back and apologize to her!" Apsara shook Devi by the shoulders and cried when the other woman cackled. "Devi! That's not funny!"
"They're so lively," Anemos commented.
"With two of them, I'm sure they were going to be." Daybreaker chuckled.
"Are you happy with your progress?"
Huh? Devi's question was one that haunted Apsara, an anxious voice whispering into her ear in the darkest of nights, taunting her with doubt that fed off of her uncertainty. Apsara felt Eun tense, rising from her subconscious and voicing its opinion of her counterpart, none of them were kind or generous. She ignored the fox spirit and had a thoughtful expression.
Devi was terse, asking biting questions and offering brisk answers in return. Despite being squished in between Apsara and the two Renas, she never relaxed. Legs crossed with one hand kept close to her spear, Devi's smile failed to reach the rest of her face.
"You keep following these people, nowhere close to your goal and walking in circles," Devi said. "Are you satisfied?"
"I am," Apsara examined the woman with sadness. She reached for Devi and placed one hand over her alternate's forearm. "Why are you always sad?"
"I'm not sad," Devi forced a laugh.
She was lying.
"It doesn't bother me that we keep getting sidetracked," Apsara said with earnest. "I'm not even sure if we're doing the right thing, but I want to help my friends stabilize the El because I know they would do the same if I needed help. Do you ever feel like that?"
"I do," Devi said. For the first time, she relaxed and looked at Apsara with a pensive expression. "We're lucky to have people like them."
"I think they would be happy if we let them know that," Apsara smiled. "Tell me about your friends."
And Devi did.
Timoria
Smoke filled the campsite as Timoria hopped over to put out the fire with a pan lid. Hot air hissed from the top and she jolted back. Her tail curled up and her eyes grew wide, panicking and rushing to put the lid back on. Puffing air into her palms, Timoria shrieked when she bumped into Abysser from behind.
"Sorry!" Abysser put up her two hands. "Didn't mean to scare you like that. I'm not sure what has gotten into you today, but I can take over now."
"You said you felt light-headed," Timoria accused him.
"I feel better, I promise!" Abysser laughed. "Not sure what the fuss is about."
"You passed out from an explosion," Timoria said.
"But I'm still alive and kicking," he grinned. "You don't need to sacrifice your time to cook for everyone."
An overreaction? Perhaps, especially when her partner in crime was no longer human but now a fully fledged demon, but Abysser wasn't replaceable. He was more than that, a chimera between a butler and a close friend. People have mistaken them to be related and it didn't bother Timoria as much as she would have expected. Their bonds were no longer linked as a single unit, but she could tell when the dummy showed his teeth and cocked his head to the side in an attempt to reassure her that he was fine.
What was Abysser thinking getting up close to shield her from Bluhen? Humans called it heroic, but she called it foolish and impulsive. The man who called himself a priest was suppressing his energy to create an explosion that could have wiped out a demon army. There was nothing heroic about a nearly dying face planted into the dirt.
"You said someone taught you how to bake and cook," Timoria said. "Why don't you teach me too? I'm ready to graduate from, 'Lu, go pick some herbs.', 'Lu, can you set up the table?', and 'Lu, where's the spoon?'."
She made faces and lowered her pitch when she did her Abysser impersonation, pacing around the campsite.
"Do I really talk like that?" Abysser scratched his head but softened his expression. "I didn't know you wanted to learn."
"You make it sound like I never help," Timoria pouted and tucked her arms under her long sleeves, feeling the pain crisscrossing into her bandaged fingers like pin needles. "Did I do a good job of cutting the vegetables?"
Who knew humans consumed so much of them. She didn't realize how picky Abysser was in how he wanted things to be cut and presented. One would think he was about to serve a meal to the king of Velder.
"Never said you didn't." Abysser said, "I think it's great you want to help. You did good for a first-timer."
There he goes again, Timoria placed her hand over her hip. Making that face again, borderlining on smug in catching her showing consideration for others, brimming with the kind of pride she associated with parents to their children. Any outsider would have mistaken them to be related, but she never protested because she saw how happy it made Abysser. People still mistook her as a child, but she was getting taller, she was sure of it!
"Now we wait until it boils, right?" Timoria asked.
Abysser hummed and nodded his head for an affirmation.
Timoria hovered over with her wings out for a better view of the stew. She knew there was a lot of stirring involved, but she would leave that to Abysser. The last time she attempted, the campsite was nearly burned down and she didn't trust herself to know when their meal would be ready.
She went back to the stream flowing at the edge of camp to wash her hands, carefully cleaning the dirt under her claws. The demon lord felt the cold water run between her claws and relished the familiarity of it. It wasn't the dark quarters of her old realm, but she recognized the moons passing by when she returned to see a figure waiting for her.
Sitting at the edge of a fallen log was a demon adorned in white and royal blue. Pale locks cascaded past her thighs and touched the back of her heels. Cyan colored horns similar to Timoria's protruded from the side of Ishtar's head. Bright eyes the color of starlight gazed past the horizon to meet Timoria's.
"Do you always talk to him like that?" Ishtar asked.
"Who?" Timoria tried not to stare. It was blinding to look at her other self, ethereal under the moonlight and projecting the very image Timoria once wished to reclaim. "Ciel?"
"You look like you two were having fun," she looked sad. Was Ishtar envious of them?
"I don't expect him to do everything when he needs time to recover from a fight," Timoria said. "Does he not let you help out?"
"He does, but insists he can do everything." Ishtar rolled her eyes, "I don't think Ciel knows what I can do."
"I find that hard to believe," Timoria said.
Chevalier was a quiet man. Exchanging a polite smile to Timoria, he waited for Ishtar to talk first before replying back with an equally amicable response. He maintained an air of dignity, but Timoria sensed a difference in his dynamic with Ishtar than her's and Abysser's. His hair was a light shade of blue, but it was clear that he was still partially human.
Ishtar and Chevalier's relationship wasn't one of malevolence if she was to believe Richter's account and from her own observations. Timoria recalled how he and Ishtar fought back at the edge of the forest, perfectly synchronized on the same wavelength of El resonance. Bounded together by powerful magic that turned their souls into one, Ishtar relied on Chevalier as much as the butler did to her. It was not unlike the bond Timoria used to share with Abysser before they parted to become equals.
"I suppose you're right," Ishtar mumbled. "I sometimes wonder if it bothers him doing everything for me."
"I think you would be the first to know." Timoria thought about the time Abysser was depressed after being rejected by a phoru. She bit her lips, "but I think he would appreciate it if you showed him your thanks."
Her counterpart rose, parting her lips and rounding them at the realization. Nodding her head, she accepted Timoria's explanation and scrunched up her brows in deep thought. Much to her annoyance, Ishtar towered over her by almost a head. To outsiders, Timoria was a child while Ishtar had the appearance of an older teen or a young adult.
"What would make him happy?" Ishtar wondered out loud. "He likes phorus, but I'm not very good with them. I tried baking cookies for him once, but he choked on it and I guess humans don't like too much red pepper paste-"
"You put what in cookies?" Timoria interrupted. She tried to imagine what those cookies looked like when they were finished and presented to the butler. Poor Chevalier...
"I wanted to make them red because he once said he liked that color," Ishtar protested.
"I'm surprised he didn't try to rescue them and make them edible," Timoria said.
"He did," she said. "I'm not sure how he did it, but it was delicious. Humans are more adaptive than we demons give them credit for."
It suddenly made sense why Chevalier didn't let Ishtar take up on cooking duty.
"Is this why he still treats me like a child?" Ishtar sighed. "I made him do extra work he didn't have to do."
"My Ciel treats me like a kid too," Timoria said. "It's annoying, but he once told me it was because I reminded him of someone he knew. Did yours ever tell you that?"
Ishtar shook her head.
"Aren't you the one bounded to him?" Timoria asked.
"That doesn't mean I make him share everything. He doesn't like talking about the past," Ishtar said. "It isn't fair for me to ask Ciel to tell me everything about himself if I'm not ready to talk about myself. There are many things I regretted doing as Luciela. I'm afraid of what he would think of me if he knew half of it."
A sad smile appeared on Ishtar's features, her eyes wandered over to Chevalier, who was standing at the opposite side of the campsite and talking to his counterpart. Abysser laughed at something Chevalier said, occasionally stopping to skim bubbles from the stew.
"Does yours know what you did?" Ishtar asked, "What we did."
Timoria felt her limbs growing limp, unable to even lift them up to do something with them. Her silence answered Ishtar's question, unsurprised by the revelation. Ishtar sat beside Timoria and kept her legs tightly together, contemplating on how much to ask. Demons were aware of multiple dimensions existing, but to meet oneself was something not many experienced.
"Then both of us are cowards," Ishtar laughed quietly to herself.
"How is that funny?" Timoria asked.
"You're a little small to be a demon ruler," Ishtar smirked. "I was wary about whether or not you and your friends were a trick set up by Henir cultists."
"How rude!" Timoria exclaimed, "I want nothing to do with those boorish deviants! I don't think it's necessary for him to know about my past, but I do want to tell him eventually when we aren't being chased by Henir cultists."
"You have them too?" Ishtar asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Timoria said. "They made a fuss about the Dark El and now we have to go fetch it before they do."
It has been days since Timoria last saw the creeps in black hoods, but that could be a bad sign if the cultists found more allies in demons that may see the El Search Party as a threat. To demon residents, they were foreign invaders from another world and Timoria was a traitor. It wouldn't be the first time the Demon Realm witnessed a powerful leader backstabbing them. She didn't like to think about what that meant if word started spreading around about the former demon ruler returning to the Demon Realm.
"How does it feel to be back home?" Ishtar asked.
"This is hardly home," Timoria laid down on her back. "Haven't had one since the attempted assassination. I don't think Ciel and I can rest until we find a way to take back power over the realm that was stolen from me."
"Your bonds feel different," Ishtar noted. "What made you separate?"
"Ciel and I had an understanding," Timoria said. "I didn't want Ciel to feel like he was forced to follow me. We don't need a contract to stay together and I saw him as my equal. It was his idea to abandon his human side."
"As equals, huh?" Ishtar repeated her words. "I think I get it. When you were gone, Abysser wouldn't stop talking about you. He kept saying your name, which is infuriating because it's my name too!"
Timoria snorted, "That sounds like him."
"But I can see you mean a lot to him," Ishtar said. "You better be grateful you have him!"
"You're one to talk!"
She couldn't believe she was being lectured by herself. Timoria sat up to stretch her arms, going on her tiptoes and reaching for the skies. Dinner should be ready soon. She could smell the inviting aroma from the stew she helped Abysser with earlier. She overheard Abysser talking to Chevalier.
"Oh, so that's how you do it." Abysser rubbed his chin, "Why didn't I think of that?"
The demon lord showed his teeth, slapping one arm over Chevalier's shoulder and twirling about to reach over for the ladle to try the stew. His hand was slapped away by his counterpart and whined. Chevalier tasted the stew, glaring at the bubbling water before tossing in a garnish of green onion and a pinch of salt.
"I didn't even know you existed until yesterday," Chevalier said.
"Ouch, that's cold." Abysser feigned a hurt expression. "You don't even have questions about me or Lu?"
"I do, but isn't it rude to ask these types of questions when we just met?" Chevalier said, "I think it's more appropriate to ask how it's even possible for you to be here."
"Blunt and to the point, I get it." Abysser waved his hands, "I thought your Add would explain all of this to you."
"He would, but ours passed out." Chevalier said.
Fair enough.
It was hard to have an impression of someone they fought once and only stopped long enough to deliver provoking taunts and snarky comments. Staggering over with his back hunched and a crazed look; if it wasn't for the mechanical eye and flying plates ("They're called Dynamo!" Dominator protested.), Timoria would have mistaken Bringer as someone else.
"We jumped over here to find the Dark El by opening a portal with a device Add made," Abysser explained. "You already know the rest."
"You're not an illusion or a manifestation of the El." Chevalier said. There was a sharpness in Chevalier's expression when he examined Abysser with a critical eye.
"From the Hall of El?" Abysser had a sly smile. "Yes, I was wondering the same about you and your friends too, but you are a chattier bunch and more fun to talk to."
"Fun?" One could hear the blood vein threatening to burst from the side of Chevalier's head.
"For one thing, you and your friends weren't threatening to kill us or attempting to absorb us into the El." Abysser didn't seem to notice the irked brows from his counterpart and chuckled, "Isn't that right, Lu?"
Timoria tried not to laugh when Chevalier was taken back when looking ahead, only to lower his gaze to finally notice her. His eyes averted over to Ishtar pulling out a set of silverware and utensils to set up the table, then back to Timoria, who was patiently waiting for the half-demon to talk. She could see the gears turning as Chevalier processed that there were two Lus.
Placing her hands over her hips and puffing out her chest, Timoria wore a grin identical to Abysser. This was going to be fun.
"I'm not sure what I should be more insulted by," Timoria cackled. "Being compared to Henir cultists by Ishtar or being mistaken as a false illusion."
"Our enemies are always a few steps ahead of us. This isn't the first time we had to fight people with the same abilities as us," Chevalier was defensive. "You're the first to join our side."
"Sounds a little like us, don't you think?" Abysser asked.
"They are us," Timoria pointed out.
"Not everything is the same," Chevalier disagreed.
"It's the hair, right?" Abysser asked eagerly as if he had been waiting for Chevalier to ask. He beamed, "Doesn't it make me look cool?"
"No, you're stupider." Chevalier deadpanned.
Abysser dropped his smile and cried crocodile tears, "How could you say something so cruel to yourself? You hear that Ishtar? He doesn't like himself!"
Timoria covered her face. Abysser really said that in front of Ishtar and Chevalier with no irony in his words. Placing the last bowl down, Ishtar turned to giggle when Abysser continued going on about how cold his alternate was. Chevalier ignored the rambling demon as he silently walked over to the side to chop more green onion for garnish.
"I like him," Ishtar said. "He's funny."
Chevalier stared at Abysser and mumbled, "How are we the same person?"
Author Notes: There was a lot I wanted to get in, but cut out in the end because it wasn't relevant to what I wanted to address in this chapter. It was challenging to write certain characters I never wrote before, but rewarding because I discovered them as a person in the process. Everyone's comments were encouraging to read and helped me see that every character will be someone's favorite. We still have a few characters left in terms of having them talk to their counterpart.
Review Responses:
Guest Ch 10 5/30 - MP can very much bring other people with him to different dimensions, but would he do it? Depends on what's in it for him, of course (MP cackles).
Guest Ch 8 5/30 - Glave might look into it. Or he'll sit back and watch because Henir is boring and it's been ages since Elgang visited him.
Iisarainbowpig - Thank you! There are so many pairs and groups that would have interesting interactions ingame.
Guest Ch 8 5/31 - I started writing the Apsara vs Furious Blade fight, but took it out because it wasn't fleshing out the characters or adding content to the story in a meaningful way. I hope this chapter gave you more of that ElsAi you were waiting for!
Guest Ch 10 6/04 - Everyone's interactions are the reason I wanted to write this story. There's so many potential interactions, but the spotlight ingame is usually focused with the canon classes.
Lainus - I have a loose outline if Rosso was to appear, but that may change depending on the pacing of the story.
DKILAM - Yes, I was the most excited (okay, I was excited about the others too, I have a lot of favorites) about handling Apsara meeting Devi. Rune has his third eye opened (nojk) or maybe he's just really good at reading himself.
