Even when facing down a sea of pitch-black bodies spewing smoky mist from their mouth, destruction reflected in their crimson eyes, Ainchase Ishmael only stares blankly at the ocean waiting to drown him. From afar, he's an insignificant dot wrapped in the vast emptiness of space. A single blade, illuminating the darkness with blinding intent, rests against Ain's chest. He cradles his sword with his right hand and offers a silent prayer to the goddess.
When he next opens his eyes, his aura flares, matching the overwhelming presence of his weapon. His light consumes all as he slashes once at the encroaching abyss. As if that swipe was a signal, the world is then pierced by an otherworldly comet.
At least that's what historians believed.
"...sword, what di...ou just...do?!"
"W...at do y...mean? You...lso...ouched it!"
Ain opens his eyes to the sound of two bickering voices, but he doesn't understand what they're saying. When his vision finally focuses, he hones in on the two humans in front of him. A young man with crimson hair tied back into a small ponytail is covering his ears as the female next to him, a lilac-haired woman with red-framed glasses, is clutching his shoulders and shaking him.
Her simple gesture is already enough to confuse Ain. Women are passive creatures, not capable of touching men without falling to the floor and swooning. But here she is, staring into his eyes as he also grabs her shoulders and makes a sharp, breathy sound.
In fact, now that he notices, everything about this scene is foreign to him. The lady is wearing a white coat that he had seen alchemists wear, but underneath is a slim dress that barely reaches her thighs. She compensates by wearing a pair of very high boots, something that Ain almost questions if he isn't so hung up on whether or not she has a reason to bend down at all. The guy with her is dressed just as perplexing. He, too, has a white coat, but it's hanging over his shoulders like a makeshift cape. His upper body is laid bare for anyone and everyone to see, and once Ain registers this, he quickly averts his gaze, a displeased frown peeking from the corner of his face.
The young woman doesn't seem bothered by his lack of dress, which only confuses him even more. A lady wouldn't be able to hold eye contact if a man so much as exposes his shoulders. Just how poor are they? How shameless is this man? How shameless is this woman?
Judging from how they're now staring in awe at him, Ain can only assume that his presence has finally ceased their arguing. The redhead looks down, and he follows suit, noticing that he's hovering instead of standing on solid ground.
The young man says something, possibly a question from his hand gestures, but once again, Ain doesn't recognize any familiar words. On the other hand, the purple-haired lady, now with some sort of thin book, is scribbling something down with a white stick. When she finishes writing, she flips the book, and he widens his eyes at her words.
Or rather, the words of his language.
"You're Ainchase Ishmael, aren't you?"
Summoning the savior of humanity from his 500-year slumber was definitely not on Elsword's to-do list today.
Frankly, it's all Aisha's fault. Ever since her team discovered the pendulum that Ainchase Ishmael used to wield in an excavation site at Shyflowne Pond, she has holed herself at her lab, investigating every inch of the relic at the cost of her health. He rarely sees her, and when he does get a lucky glance, she is chugging a large cup of coffee and burying her face into one of her notebooks.
He doesn't care if he's petty at this point. It's been three months since he has a decent conversation with her, and he's not going to end his last semester at Velder University without taking her on another date.
He's going to lose her to her job once they graduate, after all.
So when he strolls into her dorm room, which is really just another research lab, fully prepared for yet another argument, he instead finds Aisha reaching out towards the pendulum on her messy desk.
Everything slows down as he stretches his hand out, intending to grab Aisha's wrist and wrestle her away from the relic. His body, his mind, his soul warns him to drag her away, to not let her touch it at all costs.
Their fingers brush as they tap against the cracked pendulum. Light blinds them both, and Elsword brings his arm up to protect his eyes. When the glow from the artifact dissipates, Aisha immediately goes off on him. Too caught up in the moment, Elsword retorts back until she starts jabbing his pecs with her pointer finger and realizes how much he really misses her touch. With a flimsy attempt to hide how affected he was, the redhead relents and apologizes to his girlfriend.
He is the first to notice that they have an audience.
A deathly pale figure is floating in front of them, staring back with scalding blue eyes. His skin is whiter than paper, matching his long, vest-like robes and wispy thin azure hair. The only things that aren't threatening to blind Elsword are the gold buttons clasping his clothes together and the gold emblem on his chest.
Elsword tries asking for the ghost's name, but he doesn't seem to register Elsword's voice. Aisha pales as she quickly grabs one of her notebooks and furiously begins to write something down. Once she shows the ghost what she has written, his stoic expression breaks, and he hovers towards her, hands poised to grab her.
Aisha lets out a small shriek when she is faced with a scary sneer, and Elsword instinctively stands between them. If they have accidentally released a vengeful spirit, then it's going to have to get through him first-!
The ghost halts and says something intangible. Behind him, Aisha scribbles in her notebook once again, and Elsword realizes that she can communicate with the spirit.
"Aisha, what exactly are we dealing with?" he hisses.
"T-That's," she shakily responds, "Ainchase Ishmael, the savior of humanity. The one who wiped out the demon race 500 years ago."
Elsword's face also begins to pale. He may be no history geek like his girlfriend, but even he knows how important this person is to human history.
"D-Do you know what he wants?"
"I-I'm getting there, Elsword. He can't understand us because he doesn't know English, and I can't speak ancient Elrian. Just be patient, and leave this to me."
The redhead steps aside and watches Aisha exchange messages with Ainchase from the sidelines. As she explains herself, and maybe him, to the ghost of humanity's savior, he smiles when he catches how her eyes widen with excitement, a sign that she has learned something new. At that moment, Elsword is reminded of why he has fallen in love with her.
Incident 1: Ain Tries to Greet.
When Aisha walks into her lab later that day, she immediately learns that she's the only one who can see Ain. Well, other than Elsword.
No stunned stares. No pointing behind her. No bowing. All of her co-workers are busy analyzing data on their laptops or pouring coffee for themselves. She curtly greets them, the words lethargically slipping out of her lips.
"Morning, everyone."
"Good morning."
"Mornin'." Most don't bother to turn around and spare a second of eye contact. Ain's faraway gaze seems to suggest that he's observing the lab, but he's really latching onto what Aisha and the other humans had said.
"They've echoed that combination of sounds to each other several times as if to initiate something. Perhaps this is some sort of greeting. Let me test this out."
"Mur...ing, Ai..shua," Ain slowly says. She jolts on the spot, back straightening and shoulders tensing. Lowering her head, the purple-haired historian rushes to the back of the room towards her desk and pulls out the notebook from her backpack.
"Ain, I can't respond to you in public! We've established that only Elsword and I can see you," Aisha communicates, making sure to point her notebook at the window. When Ain hovers over to read her words, he is met with what seems like a stern frown, but with her cheeks puffed out, she looks more like a pouting child.
He is about to share his apt description with her when she flips her notebook, scribbles something down, and turns it back to him again.
"Good morning," she writes in English and in ancient Elrian. Ain raises his eyebrow for an instance, but then a small smile graces his face.
Aisha pulls out his pendulum from the case she is holding. When she reaches for the broken core, her touch catalyzes a reaction that drowns her lab in blue light.
Incident 2: Elsword and the Pendulum.
"Ughhhh, why do I have to babysit this guy?" Elsword whines, making sure the spirit behind him can hear. Ain, unperturbed by the obvious bait, gestures for the redhead to turn to the next page of the book on Elsword's desk.
"At least I'm getting some coffee in exchange." The college student takes a glance at the pendulum. "I wonder why we were able to summon him. Didn't he return to the goddess's side after the war with the demons?"
The savior of humanity loses his focus the moment Elsword asks his question.
"I don't remember what happened after I defeated the demons," Ain admits. The college student turns around and faces the spirit with a raised eyebrow.
"Amnesia? Guess I should've expected that. You did sleep for 500 years."
"I also must ask why you and Lady Aisha possess the key to awakening me. Were your ancestors responsible for sealing me away?"
A shiver ripples through Elsword's body. Ain's voice is still even and indifferent, accusing him with the practiced detachment of a high court judge. And Ain has always been looking down on him, but at this moment, Elsword finds it akin to staring at a storm of arrows heading his way, his body ready to be smited if he doesn't bring up a shield strong enough to withstand the assault.
If only Aisha hadn't granted Ain the ability to understand them. Actually, if only her research team haven't discovered that damned pendulum!
"If they did," Elsword chooses his next words meticulously, "then I don't know anything about it."
Ain frowns, clearly unsatisfied. "I will have my answers, and you will help me. Now, flip to the next page."
The redhead almost falls out of his seat. "He was reading the whole time?!"
"Do it yourself!"
"So, this is what a brat is? I understand why Lady Aisha calls you that now."
"That's rich, coming from the biggest brat I've ever met!" Elsword slams his hand down onto his desk, right next to the broken pendulum. His fingers brush against the core. It glows. Elsword internally curses. Ain reaches out. The spirit's hand grazes the book.
Incident 3: The Fridge and Microwave.
Aisha has been typing away at her laptop for at least four hours now. Without looking away at the rectangular screen, she grabs her grande-sized coffee and takes a sip, only to huff when she realizes that her cup is empty.
"Aisha, lunchtime. Take a break, will you?"
"I will. I will," the purple-haired researcher grumbles. Taking out her lunchbox from her backpack, she gets up from her seat and drags herself to the undergraduate advising office. Five rooms branch out from the simple waiting area, which consists of one low coffee table, two cream-colored sofas, and a short stand displaying various brochures about different programs the department will be hosting. Aisha takes a hard right towards the kitchen and opens the microwave.
"How does this contraption work?" Ain abruptly questions as he materializes from his pendulum, which Aisha has fastened to her waist, stealthily hidden from view by her shirt.
"What, you mean the microwave?"
"How does it work?" he reiterated. Aisha sets the timer to two minutes and observes her food spinning on the rotating dish with him.
"Long story short, it sends electromagnetic waves to warm up the food. Something about dielectric heating and microwave waves."
"It doesn't use fire magic?"
She crosses her arms. "No, but the concept is still the same. Heat from the fire, or in this case the microwave waves, warms up the food. Back then, this was called aura, but now we call it radiation or heat. Hmm...Add can probably give a better explanation than me."
"Add? Addition?"
Aisha snorts. "No, I know a person named Add. I keep forgetting that you got words, not names."
"I've heard worse names."
"Like what?"
"There was a woman who sheltered my party when we were returning from a mission. We never got her first name, but everyone in the village called her Mrs. Rotten."
"No," Aisha gasps. Ain's lips twitch.
"My companions tried everything to make sure we didn't address her by her surname. We almost left with good relations if only Lady Noah didn't let it slip from her mouth."
"Noah, as in one of the most accomplished mages in human history? The one who supposedly could manipulate every element at the age of eight?"
"The very same."
Aisha begins to rant. "Records indicate that she was given a revelation from the goddess when she was only a toddler, and that led to her realizing her true potential before she even debuted into society. Every institution wanted her to study within their walls, but she instead served as the royal alchemist for King Adam III. During the war against the demons, she was known for decimating waves of enemies with ice that seemed to burn anything it touched. But...her lover betrayed her and sold her to the demons. They executed her as an example of what they'll do if the humans continued the war."
"Kill the witch! She disguised herself as a saint of the goddess, but she's really just a servant of the demons!"
Noah didn't bother to lift her head. No matter how many times she tried to persuade them that the goddess did bless her, they chose to close their ears to her words. The executioner finished tying her to a thick pole. It's highly likely that it will outlive the flames to come. No, it will. It was created to house her sinful body until she was purged from this world.
"Down with the ice witch!"
"Die!"
"Melt in the name of justice!"
Goddess, where did she go wrong?!
"Noah Landar."
That voice. It was Ainchase. As the fire crawled up the flimsy pile of hay at her feet, blue light consumed her vision. The goddess's emissary stretched his hand out to her forehead.
"The goddess's blessing has burdened you for far too long. Sleep in peace, my friend. I will make sure to finish what you started."
"Ain…"
"Do not worry. I will make sure your name is celebrated for all of time. Farewell, Ice Princess."
Ain closes his eyes, willing away the memory. It is enough to know that he has succeeded in fulfilling his promise. "I could do nothing to save her. It all happened too fast."
The purple-haired student hangs her head down. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It was a long time ago. No need to apologize."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Finally. They really need a new microwave," Aisha groans as she grabs her lunch. Ain follows her back into her lab, but not before he spots an article stapled to a bulletin board titled "300 Years Since the Advent of Technology: How Magic Was Returned to the Goddess."
Incident 4: Idiots Being Idiots.
"Elsword, this excavation is very important. I can't miss it."
"But you told me you had nothing to do this weekend. I had you check! What am I going to do with these tickets?"
"Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't think I would get accepted. I was so sure I botched one part of the application."
"Aisha, how can you not see how much you've accomplished? Even Professor Sherman thinks very highly of you, and this is the person who always fails two-thirds of his class and won't hesitate to tell people to change their major because they suck!"
"You're exaggerating. But now that I've been accepted, I can't let this opportunity pass."
"B-But I was really looking forward to going to this festival with you. You said you've always wanted to go. Plus, these tickets were expensive. I can't refund them, either."
"Take one of your friends then. We can go somewhere together next time."
"...You've been saying that for the past month, Aisha. Every time I invite you, you seem to find an excuse. If you don't want to hang out with me, then say so."
"It's not like I don't want to. I'm just really busy. Once I graduate, I have to get ready for grad school. I have very little free time."
"...Okay, I get it. Good luck on your excavation. I hope you find something."
"Thanks, Elsword. By the way, how much were those tickets?"
"...17 million ED each."
"W-What? Excuse me? I don't care if you have an inheritance that rivals what the CEO of Altera makes in a year. That's irresponsible of you. If I had known how much it would cost to go, I would have refused from the start."
"That's why I didn't tell you. I thought we were past arguing about money. It's my inheritance, and I'll do what I want with it."
"How do you still not see how careless that kind of thinking is? People would kill to gain that kind of money, and you're choosing to spend it on stuff that's not important at all."
"...Is that how you see it? You think spending money on the girl I love is not important?"
"Haven't I told you so many times that you don't have to buy anything for me? I did not agree to date you just to leech off of you. Crap, class is about to start. We can talk about this later."
Aisha rushes past Elsword and exits the building. He, on the other hand, stares at the tickets in his hands before pocketing them and hiding his face in his hands. Ain, the unfortunate spectator of it all, draws in a deep breath and exhales the same way he inhales.
"It would be wise if I didn't add this to the tally I've been keeping. What utter fools…"
Incident 5: The Essence of Magic.
Ain is at a loss.
Elsword barely responds to anything nowadays. One of his friends, a Velder University alumni named Raven, has been hanging out with him the past few days, attempting to get him to open up about his problems, but he hasn't had much luck so far. The redhead actively avoids the central campus, where Aisha's department is, and instead chooses to hole himself up in his room.
Aisha, on the other hand, has thoroughly ingrained herself into her research. She's sleeping at unreasonable hours for short periods of time. Just this week alone, she has probably only slept a total of eight hours. When she's not pulling up a million articles and skimming through her notes, she's looking out the window, always searching the streets below for someone.
One morning, when the sun peeks from behind the dorm building across the street to gaze into her lab, a group of her classmates finds her almost pressing her face against her laptop.
"Aisha, you have to take a break," Allegro desperately urges. The purple-haired researcher spins her chair to face them, and they collectively wince at her blackened eyes and exhausted frown.
"I'm fine," she feebly responds.
"No, you're not. We get how dedicated you are to your research, but what you're doing is not healthy. Did something happen between you and your boyfr-?!"
"No, nothing happened."
Her fellow researchers don't seem convinced, but before they can prod further, Amelia, a woman with verdant hair, asks, "Did you do the museum assignment yet? It's due tomorrow."
Aisha curses under her breath as she consults her planner. "Damn...I was supposed to go two days ago. How did I not…?"
She quickly gathers her belongings, shoving them all into her backpack. Hastily giving her thanks to Amelia, Aisha rushes out of the lab and pulls up the directions for the Velder Museum of History and Fine Arts.
"What kind of artifacts does this museum have on display?" Ain, ever the silent observer, brings up. If Aisha was spooked, she doesn't show it. She takes out a pair of headphones and slips them into her ears.
"Mostly relics from the Demon War, but there are some that are dated after that time period."
"Was my pendulum supposed to be submitted there?"
"Yes, that's what the university does typically. But...somehow Elsword convinced the department to grant me special permission to hold onto your pendulum."
"You are conflicted on this matter."
"Of course I am! I want to build connections based on my merit and passion for the subject, but then in comes Elsword, pulling the strings behind the scenes. It...doesn't sit right with me."
"And yet, you are grateful to him because you know there is a low possibility that you would be able to convince them on your own."
Aisha turns away and stubbornly refuses to say anything else. When she reaches the museum, pristine white and surrounded by the trimmed grass of the city park, she grabs a pamphlet from the entrance and immediately heads to the third floor. Stepping into a hallway dimly lit and lined with cabinets of jewelry and broken furniture, the researcher looks up at the thin letters hanging above the entranceway.
The Magical Age.
Ain glances at the first artifact, a book torn in half with pages as tan as the walls of the museum. A little plaque is placed in front of it that reads "Transmutation Practices and Principles. 1393. Excavated near Pilgrim's Site, formerly known as Pilgrim's Gateway."
"This book…" he mutters. Aisha turns to see what he's looking at.
"Have you seen this book before?" she questions.
"In the Holy Kingdom of Elysion, it was in every noble's library. You could say that it was the foundation for transmutation magic."
"Do you remember its contents? This is the only copy that we have ever found, and it's damaged beyond repair."
"It contains the proper incantations to perform transmutation magic."
"Incantations…?"
"What do you know about magic, Aisha?"
She lowers her head. "Not much. I've been trying to understand how magic worked, but even with all of the resources that I have access to, it's as if I'm digging up something that I'm not supposed to. I get contradictory information, baseless theories, dead ends. To be honest, there was one incident in my life that I've never told anyone before, not even Elsword."
"And what might that be?"
Aisha tries to scan the hall as inconspicuous as she can. Once she is sure no one is in the vicinity, she says, "When I was in middle school, I studied many different languages. Even the dead ones. I was practicing ancient Elrian one day when my dog suddenly turned into a cat. I thought I was hallucinating, but no matter what I did, I couldn't change my dog back. I stopped speaking ancient Elrian after that."
Ain's eyes widen, not expecting her to accidentally use magic in her past. That shock is quickly masked, however, when Aisha expectedly stares at him, almost to the point of pleading.
He lowers his head. "The goddess blessed humans with magic through the spoken languages that she passed down. Each nation was given a different language in order to drive humans to cooperate with each other. It was her way of nurturing them."
Ain glances at the book again, "The goddess's languages were never meant to be written down. That is why magic cannot be performed with written language. Everything that you've read within these old books is just the human's interpretation of their spoken language."
Aisha opens her mouth as the information sinks into her mind. The savior of humanity catches her gaping at him and wonders how long she will remain a statue.
"So then," she eventually says, "I-I really did use…"
"From what you've told me, yes."
Another short instance of silence. As Aisha stays rooted to her spot, Ain scans the rest of the artifacts and then urges her to follow him. She covers her mouth, as if she's tasted something bitter, and heads towards the next room.
Incident 6: The Art of Gift Giving.
Contrary to the concert hall-like hallway of the beginning of the Magical Age, the room of everyday life within the Magical Age is almost blinding with its sheer white wallpaper and light reflecting off the polished displays. Two sets of mannequins are placed on opposite ends of the room, with replicas of colorful, floor-length dresses and tailcoats on the left-hand side, and basic shirts and bulky pants on the right-hand side. In the center is a massive statue of the goddess, her arms raised up high. In her hands are two orbs, one made of obsidian and the other made of moonstone. Her blank gaze looks forward, not paying favors to one palm or the other.
Aisha sighs when her eyes rest on the statue. As she writes something down for her assignment, she asks the spirit, "How accurate is this statue compared to the real thing?"
At first, Ain doesn't understand what she's asking about, but after noticing the crowd slowly cruising its way through the area, he catches on quickly.
"The artist has most certainly taken some liberties. She dresses more lavishly. Her nails too are much longer. And her face...the goddess has never shown her face."
Ain admits the last part with as much venom as a hero betrayed by his comrades. Aisha wonders why he's trembling, a hand over his mouth.
"Maybe he doesn't like the idea of humans assuming the goddess's face. If she is meant to be faceless, then giving her one could be considered an act of blasphemy."
"At least they didn't convey her with a scandalous expression," she jokes. The spirit shifts his gaze from her to the statue and then back to the researcher before his face crinkles.
"You did not just suggest that humans would defile the goddess to that degree!"
"Haha! With the internet, anything's possible. Not that I would personally look for that kind of stuff, but it exists."
Her words only make Ain burrow his head into his hands. Another laugh escapes Aisha's lips as she walks past the statue. The researcher eventually stops in front of a brooch in the shape of a butterfly landing on a flower. Its floral podium is gone, but underneath the crust of time and dirt, the wings' emerald gleam dully pulses, as if it's been clinging to a small flicker of life all this time. Aisha fills out another question on her sheet.
Ain reads the plaque to himself. "Butterfly brooch. 1440. Excavated at the bottom of Hope Bridge. Noblemen often gifted presents such as this brooch to the women they were courting."
He chortles. Aisha turns to him, her eyebrows raised.
"What's so funny?"
"This brooch," Ain explains after he settles back to his resting face, "was a gift from Duke Valek Rowen Cronwell to his beloved, Lady Amelia Aella. Even though he was a duke of a prominent household, he was willing to cast that aside in order to be with his lover."
"Amelia was a commoner? But she was regarded as a key figure in reforming Elysion's trading policies."
"That's because she had lived most of her life as a commoner that she was able to understand what the people wanted. At first, Duke Valek denied his feelings. Relationships between the nobility and the common folk were greatly discouraged."
"Because the nobility didn't want their bloodline to be tainted, right?"
"Not quite. It's because they believed the distance between the nobility and the commoners was too great, and closing the gap was not worth just marrying within their social standings."
Ain's gaze lands on the mannequins, and Aisha follows suit. "For example, Lord Valek once snuck out to Lady Amelia's village in order to meet her, but the clothes he was wearing in order to disguise himself were too gaudy. Commoners wore subtle colors so as to not draw attention, but nobility flaunted their wealth through their clothing. Lady Amelia was furious that day, as their relationship was exposed, but she could never stay mad at him for long."
"They must have gone through a lot to be together. Were they happy?"
He doesn't miss the tint of sadness in her voice. "Immensely. They died without any regrets."
"I see." Aisha is drawn once again to the brooch, her frown deepening with each passing second. Ain can tell that his story has struck a chord with the researcher.
"Gift-giving is an important human practice," Ain starts all of the sudden. From the way that she jerks in place, he has her attention. "Nobility use gift-giving as the main method of courting a noblewoman. Do you know why?"
Aisha scrunches her eyebrows. "It would gain favors from the person they were courting."
"That is one part of it. However, the main purpose is to determine who would make the best husband for that woman. Not only were gifts a display of a nobility's wealth, they were also a test."
"A test…?"
"This brooch that Lord Valek gave to Lady Amelia was his first gift to her. He said that the emeralds reminded him of the lush grasslands that Lady Amelia's village was situated on and of the butterflies that she loved to raise."
"So she liked the gift?"
"Not at all."
"What? But why?"
"Because she found no purpose for such a brooch. She could not attend balls where she could show it off, and it would only get in the way of her housework. It was just something that looked pretty. She even said it was too pretty for her. But Lord Valek, instead of being dissuaded, told her to keep it as a reminder of him."
"And did she keep it?"
"Yes, though her parents wanted her to sell it for money. She considered it at first, but her feelings, small as they were back then, must have stopped her from parting with it."
Aisha tilts her head, still unsure of what Ain is saying. "Then the test…"
Ain sighs. "Sending a noblewoman, much less any woman, a gift she does not like means that the man courting her had failed to understand her. In the nobility especially, what house a noblewoman hails from made her an important negotiating piece in increasing their political and social standings. But they also took pride in their ability to please a woman. An unhappy wife meant disgrace, regardless of their titles. And most, if not all, noblewomen were well aware of this and used it to their advantage. But that doesn't mean that they didn't appreciate the gifts they were given. Far from it. If the nobleman took the time to get to know her, then she felt as if she could trust him. It was as much a bonding practice as it was a test of patience and dedication."
The researcher takes a moment to absorb the information she was given. Her hand tightly clutches her notebook. Then, as if the tension is drawn out of her, she relaxes and even cracks an exasperated grin.
"Is this your way of giving me advice about me and Elsword?"
Ain looks away. "I merely gave you context on this artifact. This has nothing to do with your relationship woes."
She giggles again before smiling wryly. "I've actually never accepted any of Elsword's gifts. I remember hearing him talk to a couple of his classmates a year ago about all of the girls who approached him because of his wealth and connections. He was always so carefree, to the point of being flippant. So when I saw how...angry he was, it scared me. I don't want to ever be the reason why he makes that face."
"Have you ever told him about this?"
She scoffs, but it's mostly to herself. "He gets pretty upset whenever I talk about money, so I just thought bringing that up would also get on his nerves. But…if what you've said applies here, then…"
Incident 7: A Pining Idiot Being a Pining Idiot.
Elsword bumps into Aisha the Monday after her impromptu excavation. Or rather she bumps into him.
"Hey, Aisha. Umm…" he scratches the back of his head, "How did your excavation go?"
Her eyes do not light up the way they usually do whenever she starts to talk about anything history-related. "It went alright."
"Did you find anything?"
"A few things. We haven't analyzed them yet, so we don't exactly know what we've excavated."
"I see."
They stand there awkwardly, and Elsword can't resist the urge to toy with his phone. Anything to escape her gaze.
"Did you go to that festival?" she questions. Elsword keeps his head down.
"Yeah. I went with my sister."
"With Elesis, huh? Did you have fun?"
Against his better judgement, he looks up and sees Aisha with a neutral face. The sight of her so calm, talking about something that had caused them to bicker just a few days ago, only makes him bitterly smile.
"...Yeah, I did," he lies through his teeth.
"Let's go somewhere together next time. I promise I'll completely clear my schedule for that day," she says.
Well, he should take all the opportunities he can, right? It's not like he'll even be in her mind once they graduate. No, when he graduates.
"Yeah, that sounds great."
"Okay. Oh, I gotta go. How about we have lunch today at the student center? They're serving salmon and unlimited pizza."
He nods. "I'll meet you there."
Aisha flashes another grin and heads towards her department building. Elsword watches her run into the distance and once again despises the feeling simmering in his heart.
"Why did you lie to her?" Ain interrogates. The redhead curses to himself; he forgot he has the pendulum today.
"What good would it do if I told her that I wished she was there with me? Nothing I've done has made her smile the way she does whenever she's working. The least I can do is not make her feel any more guilty than she already is."
"I'm sure if Lady Aisha were to hear that, she would not be happy."
"What do you know? I bet she would be overjoyed that I'm not bugging her anymore."
Ain crosses his arms, resisting the urge to use Elsword's gift to smack him. Instead, he places a hand on Elsword's shoulder, willing the both of them to calm down.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you," the college student says after taking several deep breaths, "She's told me so many times that I don't have to get anything for her, but that's the reason why I want to spoil her. She's already working so hard that I want to ease her burden."
With one hand gripping his messy hair, Elsword turns the other way and drags himself to class. "At least she still wants to eat lunch with me."
Incident 8: Ain Gains a Title.
The savior of humanity, in all of his years fighting against demons and indirectly dealing with humanity's business, has never encountered a problem quite as outrageous as the one he's in now.
No, it's not about Elsword and Aisha being completely oblivious idiots. In fact, that issue was resolved quickly with one well-timed gift and a heart-to-heart that ended up with them falling asleep on Elsword's bed, huddled together under the covers.
Okay. Maybe it does involve them being idiots. Very loving idiots.
When Ain brings it up to Elsword one day after nearly losing his sanity watching them get more intimate than he can handle, the college student looks ready to ask the goddess to smite him on the spot.
"Y-You said you wouldn't-!"
"I did not. That does not mean I can turn off my ears."
Elsword is pacing now, clutching his head and mumbling to himself. "What am I going to do? Fuck, everything's going to be so awkward now."
"I share the same sentiment, Elsword. We must find a compromise. I did not watch over the two of you so intently for your courtship to linger on the edge of ruin once again."
"You do know that you're the problem this time, right?"
"I...am aware. Of course, I can pretend that I did not hear or see or sense anything, but I would rather not."
Elsword's hand brushes against the pendulum. "Can't you retreat back into this? You were going in and out of it ever since you woke up, but you haven't been doing that recently."
Ain can, he supposes, but a part of him is now searching for the reason why he had been sealed away. His life essence should have been burned away during his final stand. Not a trace of him should be left behind. That was the price for wielding the goddess's full power. What then is this pendulum? How was it able to house his spirit for so long? What is it about Elsword and Aisha that makes them the ones capable of awakening him?
Until he has those answers, he cannot trust that pendulum. If it had sealed him away once, it can certainly do it again.
Elsword sees Ain grimace as the spirit withdraws to his inner thoughts. He throws his hands behind his head and sighs. "Alright, I get it. If you're not comfortable with the idea, then we'll just come up with something else."
"How considerate," Ain says with his deadpan tone.
"Only because you're stuck with us. Speaking of, have you ever tested how far away you can be from us before you...uhh start flickering in and out of existence?"
"That's most likely the first smart question he's asked since my awakening." Ain crosses his arms and hovers away from Elsword until he reaches the other side of the queen-sized bed that the student is currently sitting on. The spirit's form instantly starts to pulse, dimming with each inch he places between him and the redhead. He can barely touch Elsword's drawer before his hand is nothing more than a thin silver lining.
"That's...not far at all," Elsword sums up. Ain lowers his hand and returns to the human's side.
"It is not. And as we have established the other day, I cannot pass through concrete."
"Yeah, that's not something I want to go through again."
"I believe that is my line."
The spirit scans the room once again. Hiding in the closet or under the bed will not solve the noise issue, and passing through the walls is not an option. That leaves the door and the window.
"If we rearrange the room..." Ain slowly suggests, "The bed can be placed next to the door or the window."
Elsword abruptly stands up and clasps the spirit's hands. He stares at Ain with the fervent passion of a devout believer. "Ain, you're a fucking genius."
This is the plight that the savior of humanity is facing at this very moment. How does he strip himself of this humiliating title?
Incident 9: The Era of Illusions.
Elsword's lungs burn as he sprints to the College of History and Fine Arts at two in the morning. He was scrolling through social media for one last laugh before heading to bed, but a text from his girlfriend demanding his presence had sent him into a frenzy. It isn't every day that she texts him with formal grammar and punctuation.
A whirlwind of questions plagues both him and Ain. Judging from her words, she must have discovered something massive, perhaps even history-changing.
He flings the door to her lab open and hurries to the back of the room. Aisha's there with her hair pulled back into a ponytail and eyes darting around like a hummingbird. Once she spots him, she immediately grabs his arm and pulls him into her workspace.
"What's wrong, Aisha?" Elsword asks with a panicked voice, "Did something get stolen?"
She shakes her head but doesn't say anything else. Her grip was flimsy, clinging onto Elsword's long coat with trembling fingers. Elsword rests his unoccupied arm around Aisha and holds her close.
While they share a moment to themselves, Ain peers at Aisha's desk. In addition to her laptop, there are a few strands of jewelry, strange shards of pristine plaster, and a brittle collection of papers. To his astonishment, he cannot read the words before him.
"The paper on top is from Lord Sigmund Solace's personal diary. Dated to be almost 300 years old," Aisha explains, having pulled herself together enough to provide context, "It detailed his plans to kidnap the El Lady on the day of the Harvest Festival."
It's an unsettling feeling having a discussion about people Ain hadn't met and will never meet. He cannot influence their decisions nor can he judge them while they're alive. All he can do is reflect...and mourn their pitiful lives.
"Isn't the El Lady the vessel that the goddess used when she descended to our world?" Elsword wonders, "Why would he kidnap her?"
"Hernia Solace, Sigmund's adopted sister, was the first El Lady. After the Demon War, the goddess came down from the heavens and possessed a woman with the magical affinity to house her consciousness. Sigmund planned to use that power to take control of the Holy Kingdom of Elysion."
"Oh...that sounds vaguely familiar," Elsword looks away when Aisha gives him a pointed glare, "Sorry."
The purple-haired researcher rolls her eyes, though a small smile slips through the cracks of her exasperated demeanor. "Anyway, it's unclear what exactly went on during this time period. Historians call it the Era of Illusions for how little we understand. There's only one thing we can be certain of: the shift from magic to technology occurred during this time."
Anticipation courses through Ain, a giddiness that used to fuel his search for the missing pieces of his history. Now, it terrifies him. He finds himself unwilling to hear about the events that led the humans to reject the goddess's blessing.
"What else did you find?" Elsword questions, oblivious to Ain's internal plight.
"Sigmund had a step-brother, Fenriart Solace, who was supposedly smitten with Hernia. According to this diary entry, Fenriart and Hernia shared the same ancestors, being the Rubenians, and might have been engaging in some sort of incestuous relationship. Sigmund hated the both of them ever since they were adopted into the Solace family, Hernia for simply existing and Fenriart for being more gifted at magic than he was, but it reached a boiling point when Hernia became the El Lady. See, it was more than simple hatred that led him to hold the El Lady hostage. He realized before anyone else what actually happened to Hernia. And if these records are historically accurate, we might have found the missing link that connects everything about the Era of Illusions together. But..."
Aisha looks close to hyperventilating. Her boyfriend urges her to calm down and take even more deep breaths. The savior of humanity can only hover over them as his essence pleads for him to stop listening. He shoves that heinous voice, akin to a demon's temptation, down.
"What happened to her?" Ain asks.
The researcher glances at her desk as if it holds a cursed pile of gold. "She was replaced by the goddess. Hernia's identity as a human was erased."
Ain finally understands why Aisha has been shaking the entire time. Elsword is now just as pale as her, his eyes widening with the first signs of dread.
"You're wrong," the spirit adamantly denies, "This Sigmund must be wrong! The goddess is not capable of possessing humans! I refuse to believe that she had the same ability as those vile demons!"
"Ain, I get how you're feeling," Elsword steps between the savior and his girlfriend, "but there's a chance that he's just spewing bullshit. He was crazy."
"Yes, he was…" Aisha's voice is far away, "The craziest human being to ever exist."
"What do you mean by that?" Ain pushes, still grappling with the idea of the goddess taking a human's life. Aisha shakes her head and leans onto Elsword, closing her eyes as she struggles to stay awake.
"We should let her sleep," the redhead suggests, "I bet she's just as unsettled as you are, Ain."
He moves to scoop her into his arms, and Aisha is too overwhelmed to protest. Elsword looks out the window and bites his lip, as if calculating how long it will take him to get her to her dorm room. With a small shake of his head, he carries her to the couch situated in the waiting area of her lab. Elsword covers his girlfriend with his jacket, and before he can pull away, she tugs on his sleeve again.
"Aren't...you gonna...be cold?" she mumbles.
"I'll be fine. You need it more than I do."
"Guard...the papers...don't let...anyone...get...them…"
He grasps her hand and vows to stay until morning. As her eyes slam shut, Ain and Elsword share one meaningful glance.
"Rest, Elsword," Ain eventually commands, "I'll wake the both of you up if anyone comes."
The college student lifts the corner of his lips, a half-hearted attempt at defying the spirit's orders. It lasts for a second, though, as he leans against the sofa, his head near Aisha's stomach, and falls asleep sitting on the floor.
Incident 10: The Decline of Magic.
With each second trapped inside the vehicle that Elsword is driving, Ain feels as though he's in a coffin, being carried off to his grave. Forest borders the freeway ever since they left the city, but once in a while, they would drive through a tunnel, and Ain almost suffocates the two humans with his aura.
"I swear, that's the last tunnel for a long while," Aisha reassures the spirit. Elsword mumbles under his breath, a curse most likely, and turns the car into the carpool lane again. Between them, in the cup holder, Ain's pendulum pulses with otherworldly blue light.
"I have a bad feeling about this," the driver admits, "Ever since you showed me those artifacts you unearthed, something's been calling out to me in my dreams."
Aisha frowns with him. "You're not the only one. And then, when I finally translated Sigmund Solace's last diary entry, the pendulum…"
"You have activated the spell lurking within the pendulum," Ain says, "Lord Sigmund's hubris was far greater than any human I've ever encountered, and that proved to be his downfall. His step-brother, Fenriart Solace, must have placed this spell as a signal for help. Unfortunately, before he could find someone who could correct his brother's mistake, the world was swept up by revolution."
"That still doesn't explain how Fenriart got your pendulum," Aisha muses, "You said you left it at the entrance to the demon realm."
Ain breathes in. "I used my pendulum to seal away the demon realm before I engaged in battle with the demons. While I may have sacrificed myself to wipe out the demon race, there is no guarantee that putrid land would not be able to produce more vile creatures."
"If that's the case, then sometime later, Fenriart undid the seal and used your pendulum. But how did you end up in it yourself?"
The savior of humanity wishes that he has the answers. There are too many things that do not add up, despite their collective pool of knowledge. That's why they're following the pendulum's spell. To elucidate the past and obtain the answers that they seek.
A few hours later, they exit the freeway and enter Lanox. They spare no side glance at the antique brick apartments, the honey-combed stone walkways, and the low glint of red that hangs over the city. Instead, they set their sights on the nearby inactive volcano, Mt. Ifritan, named for the mythical beast that was said to be sent by the goddess to fight with the humans during the Demon War.
The light from Ain's pendulum gasps and cries out, seeking attention like a newborn baby. Elsword steps on the gas as he drives past the city limits and up the mountain. Up they ascend, past the still-recovering hillsides, past the pockets of houses clinging to the slopes, to the peak.
After parking the car in the unusually empty parking lot, Elsword and Aisha hike to the crater of the volcano. The gaping pit beckons its visitors, daring them to accept the call of the pendulum and traverse its unknown depths. Elsword grabs Aisha's hand and leads her to the stairs that descend into the volcano, Ain floating close by.
A tunnel of vibrant vegetation surrounds them as they trek into the mountain, reflecting the same color as the light emanating from the pendulum. Aisha moves to collect some samples for her personal collection but thinks better of it. Something in the air, the atmosphere, warns her to not touch anything.
"Keep moving," Ain verbalizes the hidden threat, "We are close."
"Close…?" Elsword echoes, "Close to what?"
Ain doesn't seem to hear him, seeing as he hovers past the two humans, not mindful of the fact that the distance between them is growing. After one meaningful glance, Elsword and Aisha hurry to Ain's side before his form starts wavering. The savior of humanity stops at the end of the trail and observes the door that used to serve as the portal to the demon realm. Or at least what's left of it. Time has worn the once-spotless entrance to a pile of crumpled boulders. The rock in the center, with angels and the goddess etched into its surface, has a distinct line running through the middle. No signs of a seal are left behind.
"The Gate of Varnimyr…" Ain names the broken door. The pendulum's light grows, absorbing energy from the vegetation. The spirit feels his body overflowing with warmth, warmth he has not felt for more than 500 years. His feet touch the ground as he solidifies.
"Elsword, Aisha. My pendulum."
The two humans hand the artifact over to Ain. Once he quietly thanks them, he mutters an incantation in ancient Elrian. The volcano violently resists Ain's spell, threatening to release stalactites to crush the garden that has watched over this sacred resting place. The savior of humanity pays no mind to his surroundings and continues to weave his magic into the earth.
From the ground, a coffin made of the same material as the Gate of Varnimyr bursts forth, springing to life. Elsword and Aisha stare with open mouths as the volcano finally surrenders its treasure and falls back to sleep.
They walk forward. Ain turns to them. And together, they glance into the coffin at the petrified, ethereal body of the El Lady.
A.N: Uhh, so this was super late. Like a month late. My Halloween prompt was sloth, but somewhere down the line, that got lost in all of the worldbuilding. So this is going to serve as my holiday oneshot for this year. Stay safe, and let's pray that 2021 is a better year.