Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword
Clarifications since I probably won't add these into the story: People got magic when the zombies appeared. Why? Because I wanted there to be magic. And magic isn't equally divided, lots of people don't have it, and it's only elemental. Elsword only has fire, but Aisha has fire, water, and a little bit of earth and wind. I counted lightning as a form of fire magic. And magic energy itself, no matter the element, has power. In the previous chapter, Aisha covered her hand with magic to try and stop Elsword's sword. It's not super strong though, so a zombie could still bite through it. Zombies are pretty strong. Could punch and/or bite through a brick wall. And the classes are Aether Sage and Immortal. The story was originally supposed to be with Rune Master, but then Immortal came out and, well. His hair is just the best. And he looks cooler. Also, in the story, the clothes are different. Aisha's just wearing a white lab coat and a long sleeved shirt and long pants and tall, sturdy boots, and gloves that go up to her shoulders, but you can't see them bc it's under the coat sleeves. Elsword looks basically the same, just without all the metal petal things on his legs and he just has regular black gloves. I think that's it. Thanks!
ELSWORD
Aisha rarely dreams anymore.
Just living in itself is exhausting, both physically and mentally, so she figures whatever part of herself she'd had to spin false dreamscapes is dead on its feet as well.
She rarely dreams anymore, and if she does, it's usually a playback of her cheery childhood, starring her dead parents, her also dead little brother, and her missing grandfather.
"Happy times" is what she has those memories filed under, though now she's not so sure. Was she happy then? Aisha would say she was. She'd certainly felt the joy of just being young and uncaring.
Aisha might also say that she wasn't. If she was truly happy then, wouldn't she want to go back to that time? She doesn't though. What she has now is more real. Even if there is no happiness here, at least the world is honest. Brutal, yes, but honest.
Fair, even.
Back then, even before the truth came and quite literally nailed her in the gut, she must've already known it to some degree. She had always been smart. But maybe that was why she'd never acknowledged the truth. Because she was smart and she knew her entire family was made of liars, herself included, except for her brother. (He was the only honest one, so of course he was the first to die.)
Her grandfather and parents were the ones to tell the lies, but Aisha was the one who knew and pretended not to. They were all liars, and she'd played along, and when they died, they left her to carry the weight alone. She ran from it instead of taking her rightful responsibility, and she'd never forgive herself for that. (How could she, after all this?)
So Aisha rarely dreams anymore, but she's dreaming now.
It's the kitchen of their old house. She's sitting in her usual chair, the one on the left that faces the windows and the sink. The clock resting on the mantle to her right ticks softly in the background, and even her little cacti are there, next to the windows, accurate down to the number of leaves. The clock begins to chime.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
She stares out the window sluggishly, orange light and shadows resting on the planes of her face. It's warm in a suffocating way. Aisha feels like she's breathing and not at the same time.
Ten.
Eleven.
At the twelfth chime, her family appears like a procession. Her mother at the head. Then her father and grandfather, and her brother last. They greet Aisha and Aisha asks them how work at the lab was, if they're hungry. And they say it was good with a cheery smile, and yes, very hungry, and her brother's eyes look sicker than ever, but Aisha nods along and smiles back and forces herself to believe it. Then they eat and talk about mundane things. How was school, how are your friends, did you do anything fun today? And she says, good, good, not really. Then they ask the question that ended it and ends it all.
Do you want to come work in the lab with us next week? And so ends the dream.
But not this time.
This time, she only hears one pair of footsteps. They're steady and light, unlike any of her family members. Whoever it is stops directly behind her. She wants to turn but she can't. Cold hands slide down either side of her head and cup her face gently. Long, red hair flutters in the corner of her eye. All she wants to do is get up and run, but she's had enough running for a lifetime, so even when feeling returns to her body, she sits.
"Who-" she starts, breaking off when she realizes that the hair is the same vibrant red as that man's. Aisha whips her head around.
"Look." The hands tightening around her jaw prevent her from seeing the person's face, and slide dangerously close to her neck. It's a woman's voice. She has a sharp smile made of blindingly white teeth.
"Look," the woman repeats, directing Aisha's attention to the window. The light streaming inside the house blinds her, but then the clock is chiming again, and it's dark.
"Look."
Then they're outside.
"Look." She moves Aisha's gaze to the ground this time. "I will show you the future."
Aisha doesn't see the future. She sees two hands reaching out of the dirt, feels the woman's hands disappear. Almost trancelike, she reaches down to pull them out.
It's her parents. Dead, white teeth, but still them. They haven't changed a bit since she last saw them ten years ago.
"This is your future," the woman whispers again. "Isn't it wonderful?"
When she doesn't reply, her parents step away to her sides so that she can see the small, rapidly approaching, fire burning in the distance. The man she'd met earlier today sits in front of the fire, leaning against Aisha's car. He doesn't look up when they approach. The woman pushes Aisha forward, and her parents take her hands and lead her to the car's open door, revealing Aisha's prone body.
Her parents let go of her hands to touch the other Aisha. Other Aisha opens her eyes, but there are no eyes, only blank sockets. Her lips stretch into a smile and in the flickering light of the fire, her teeth shine like pearls.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Other Aisha and the woman ask her in unison, and Aisha would most definitely scream no if something disturbing hadn't just occurred to her.
"Grandfather-" she whirls around, catches a glimpse of a blindingly crazed smile, but then she blinks and there is nothing at all.
The first thing Aisha registers is light. The second thing she notices is the uncomfortable position she's in. She's stretched across the passenger and driver's seat, something heavy is on top of her stomach, and something sharp digs into her neck.
"You up?" Someone asks. Judging from the voice, it's the man from yesterday.
She groans, covering her face with a lazy forearm. "It's too bright."
"Stop. Fucking. Complaining," he grunts. A loud thud and subsequent jolt shake the car and shakes her arm off.
She decides she's still far too tired to deal with life right now, but life must be dealt with whether she wants to or not.. "...What are you doing to my car?"
A shadow falls over her face, letting her open her eyes more comfortably. It is indeed the man from yesterday. His face is stony. "Who are you?" She asks, and it's probably not the best thing to say, because he looks murderous all of a sudden.
"Who am I?" He closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Who am I, you ask? I'm sincerely regretting my decision of not throwing you out of the car right now. I didn't fight for two days straight and get into some mentally impaired stranger's car that was ALMOST OUT OF GAS BY THE WAY and save that stranger's life at least three times and then drive one hundred miles in the opposite direction of Lansing to get some fucking gas and then drive for NINE hours while avoiding at least twenty swarms of bees to get to a creepy as fuck forest only for said stranger to FORGET ALL ABOUT IT."
"Do you see my face here?" Aisha pokes at her cheek. "I'm positively crying with sympathy and remorse right now. Actually, you know what? I really don't give a shit about your suffering. I drove for five days straight, ok? And no I didn't forget, sadly." She sits up, sending the swords on her clattering to the floor. "Let's do a get to know you thing. Like in elementary school and stuff."
He stares at her blankly, jaw still tight with frustration.
Aisha rolls her eyes. "You know. My name is, your name is, favorite color, age, goals, reasons, things you hate, favorite food, etc, etc."
"...Pass me my swords."
She picks up both swords, which are surprisingly heavy, and shoves them even farther away. "I'm not giving weapons to someone who tried to kill me twice and threatened to kill me at least three times," she announces snippily.
Glaring balefully, he crosses his arms.
"I'll start, because you seem like a sad, socially awkward person with no friends," Aisha gives him her best patronizing smile. "Hi! I'm Aisha Landar! What's your name?"
"...Elsword."
"Last name."
"Sieghart."
"Nice to meet you, Elsword Sieghart!" She pulls her legs over to face him and holds out her hand. "Let's shake hands!"
Elsword doesn't do anything. Aisha is suddenly reminded of yesterday, when he one handedly ripped off an arm, and how he swings two five pound swords around easier than pencils, and thinks maybe asking for a handshake is a bad idea. But if Aisha has a lot of one anything, it's pride, so she doesn't back down. "Just shake the hand," she growls.
"You should be more friendly, Elsword, just shake her hand." She says cheerily, slinging an arm around Elsword's neck from behind.
Elsword grits his teeth, ignoring Aisha's outstretched hand to fling off the offending arm. "Stop doing that. And I'm already being friendly."
She tosses back her long green hair, examining her nails. "If you say so. But if you always act all tsun-tsun like that, Aisha might not like you anymore," she trills.
"I don't care."
"When have I ever liked him!?"
Elsword freezes all of a sudden, inching slowly towards the car. "Wait. Wait. Wait a second. Uh. Who the fuck are you? And where the actual fuck did you come from?" He stares at the green-haired woman like he's never met her before, which Aisha thinks is ridiculous.
"What do you mean? She's- huh." Aisha frowns, realizing she doesn't actually have any idea who the woman is, though there's an irritating voice in her head telling her that she does. She reaches back discreetly for her staff. "Actually yeah. Who….?"
"I'm Rena!" Rena smiles at them.
"Hey," Elsword whispers.
"What?" She whispers back.
"Why are we following her."
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Aisha stops walking to glare at him accusingly. "I'm only following her because you are."
Elsword stops as well to pick two fruits off a random tree, to eat, she thinks, but he defies her expectations as usual and throws one with the force of a bullet at her unprotected forehead. He eats the second one with obnoxiously loud crunches. "Oh. It's pretty good." he says, surprised.
"You ass…..!" Aisha's fist trembles. "What is your problem? Why do you have to solve everything with violence?"
He blinks at her. "I don't have to. I just want to. Also, watching you get mad is funny. Did you know your face turns purple when you're pissed?" He reaches for another fruit, but he never gets it when Rena appears out of nowhere once again and kicks him in the shin like a professional soccer player. Elsword topples to the ground next to Aisha, and Aisha thinks that those might even be tears at the corner of his eyes. (If she laughs, it's definitely justified.)
"Alright you two, listen up!" Rena plants her hands on her hips. "There are a few rules in this forest that you have to follow. I'll let you off this time, because I forgot to tell you."
"Let me off?! You broke my leg, how is that 'letting me off'!"
"Unless you want me to break it for real, I suggest you shut up." Rena holds up her fist with a spine-chilling grin. It's possibly the single most frightening thing Aisha has ever seen in her life, and Elsword seems to agree, as he swallows his retort, snapping his mouth shut audibly.
"Continuing on, if you guys don't follow the rules, I'll have to make you leave!"
Aisha speaks up for the two of them. "Then can we just leave? There's somewhere we're trying to go, and we're kind of rushing?" Beside her, Elsword nods emphatically.
"No," she replies.
"...Why?"
"Because I said so." Rena clears her throat. " Anyways, rule number one: No taking things without permission. Things meaning fruits, plants, dirt, water. Anything in this forest." She looks pointedly at Elsword. He looks away. "Let me demonstrate."
She pats the tree that Elsword had stolen fruit from, lovingly. "May I PLEASE-emphasis on please-have one of your children?"
"Children?"
There's a sound of rustling, as the tree lowers one of its branches to Rena's outstretched hand. A fruit, correction, a child, drops into her palm. Aisha considers the fact that she might still be dreaming, or Elsword drugged her while she was asleep, because to the extent of her knowledge, trees and children don't move on command.
"Children?" Elsword mutters again. "Is she high?"
A feeling of deja vu washes over her when a child ricochets off of his head and back into Rena's palm. She hands the child over to Aisha, who isn't sure about eating it for two reasons. One, it touched Elsword. Two, it's a child, Rena is scary, Elsword's leg is turning black and blue, and Aisha really doesn't want to risk that.
Her apprehension must show on her face, because Rena says, "It's ok to eat. I already asked the tree for you. Don't worry, it's tasty! And you," she says to Elsword. "You should be more careful of your actions and what you say in this forest. It already doesn't like you, 'Creepy as fuck forest', remember?"
"Ha. ha."
"Come on, we're moving too slow." She brushes her hands off briskly on her fluttery green dress and motions for them both to stand up.
They make eye contact with each other, silently coming to an agreement to not piss off Rena.
"Stop making bedroom eyes at each other and hurry up! AND BEFORE you two start another yelling match," she cuts off whatever protests the two might've yelled, "the second rule is to not yell. Never ever. The spirits don't like loud arguments. It makes them sad." As she talks, Rena runs a hand through the air, almost like she's touching a lover's face. Next to Rena, if Aisha squints, she can vaguely see the outline of someone else. Feathery black hair, a dark coat, a prosthetic arm, but then a gust of wind sends Rena's long hair flying, and the image dissolves.
Rena sends Aisha a secretive smile.
"...Did you see that?" Elsword asks her.
"The man?"
"What man?" He side-eyes her. "Are you high too?"
"...Possibly."
"Great. Now I have to deal with two cra-"
Aisha slaps a hand over his mouth. "Didn't you hear her? Watch what you say," she hisses
"You actually believe that?"
She points to his leg.
"...Point taken. But look."
The word brings up unpleasant memories of her dream from last night, but she brushes off the cold feeling around her neck.
"Look at the plants," Elsword continues.
Aisha looks, and if she was doubting her sanity before, she doubts it even more now. Previously, they stood close to Rena, so it was harder to see, but now from farther away, it's clear how the surrounding plants all stretch towards her. The grass leans in her direction, the trees stretch out their leaves, vines curl around her ankles. Even the sunlight seems to be directed on her.
And for the first time, Aisha notices that she's barefoot, and more importantly, her ears are pointed.
"Hey Elsword. Do you happen to believe in magical creatures?"
"We're not creatures!" Rena shouts back at them. "The correct term is 'being'! Make sure you use the right term, some of us get offended easily. And walk faster!"
"...I was going to say no, but I might've changed my mind."
"What a coincidence. Me too."
Ahead of them, the magical being walks around a bend, disappearing from their line of sight. They run to catch up.
In front of them is a still lake. In the middle of the lake is an island, and on the island, a house peeks out at them from behind a large tree. Rena is somehow already on the island, waving her arms at them.
Elsword squints. "What is she saying?"
A breeze brushes past them, carrying a whisper on it. "Walk across the water."
So Aisha goes to the water, only to be stopped by Elsword's hand on her shoulder.
"Can you even swim?"
"No," she admits.
"Then why the hell are you even trying?"
Aisha frowns at him fiercely. "You know why I'm so good at magic?"
"Are you?"
She ignores him. "It's because we're friends. I like it, it likes me, it helps me out and I have faith in it."
"Do you even realize how little sense you're making right now?"
"It's just like you and your swords, ok? Now come on!" Aisha shoves him onto the water. Ripples spread from under his feet but he doesn't sink. "See?"
Elsword looks too queasy to reply.
About halfway to the island, he stops walking.
"What now?" she asks, exasperated.
"...How did you know that I was in a hurry?"
"In a hurry for what."
"To get to Lansing."
"I just figured, you know?" Aisha runs a hand through her hair. "It's Lansing. No one goes there. But I needed to hurry, so I thought you might too."
"Huh."
"Why do you want to go there anyways?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me your reason."
"Fine," she agrees, because she's curious enough.
"There's…..someone that I need to kill," he says, looking at the sky.
Elsword looks back at her. "What about you?"
"What a coincidence." Aisha examines him. "Me too."
They don't ask any more than that.
A/N: I just realized, but absolutely nothing happens in this chapter. Originally, I wasn't planning on writing a real actual story for this, but as I was planning it out, a plot just kind of developed naturally, so hopefully I'll stay motivated and finish before April. Otherwise it'll be bad, because AP tests and SAT's and finals and stuff. Another really big reason for why I decided to write more was because of reviewers! I didn't understand the power of reviews that much before. I just read stuff and was happy, but now that I've started writing also, getting reviews and favorites and follows and just feedback makes people really happy. It's hard to describe in words, but it's a nice feeling. When I saw I got a review, which I honestly wasn't expecting, I literally screamed for ten minutes and rolled around on the floor and ended up stubbing my toe, but it was great anyway. For the second one, it was a similar reaction, just with less rolling and more running.
Thank you so much to the both of you, flonnechan love freak, and Guest. I'll glad you liked it! Yes, it's Aether Sage and Immortal, but mainly just for looks. I'm not sure how much the personalities will match up, but I tried to make it similar to what I think they'd be like. I also really like the apocalypse concept, which is why I wrote one too. And Guest! I'm glad you like my style, since I don't like it that much. It just feels choppy and overly formal and dramatic to me. I hope if I write more it'll get better. At least I can't get any worse? And as for the ending of the story. Well. You know how for some movies and books they have an ending that's really bittersweet? I highly dislike those. Some people say that if there was a happy end, or a sequel that wraps things up, the story wouldn't be as good, which I DISAGREE. I just want them to be happy. So I like happy ends. I'll probably never write a sad end. Ever. Why do people end ElsAi stories like that? I honestly don't know. I just don't know how to write fluffy things. I like fluffy things. They're soft. Can't write them. Nope. I'll try someday though.
And thanks also to everyone else who read my story. I'm grateful. I also count how many people read. It's kind of fun.