Punishment and Crime
Disclaimer: I would never own Elsword.
Piece III – Letter
The thunder roared repeatedly and the wind whistled through the once lively Ruben. It was now in shambles; roofs were destroyed, trees were cut and people were dead. However, it was with the exception of the purple haired mage who stood all alone on the blood drenched ground. It was as if the supposedly past of hers repeated itself, but instead of her parents being killed, it was now her friends. Her dearest friends – Elsword, Rena, Raven, Eve, Chung, Ara, Elesis and Add.
How'd they die?
It was simple, really. She killed them all. She was, after all, a great magician. She didn't even need to dirty her hands with their blood.
"Wha –!" Aisha shook her head. "I…I…it wasn't my fault! I didn't do anything!" She fell down to her knees, terrified.
She screamed as she crawled to her friends' corpses. Their eyes were now blank and their skin were so, so pale. She shook every single one of them, desperately trying to find someone alive. She even slapped and punched some.
But it was all for naught.
She screamed as she slapped the white haired teen that she had come to consider as someone whom she cared for a lot.
All of their hearts had already stopped beating, and yet hers was still beating. It was beating so fast just to mock her that she was still alive.
As her tears started to pour down her eyes, she let out a small laugh. It soon became louder and more crazed than it should be.
"Of course!" Aisha laughed maniacally for the first time. "This is just all a dream! I mean, we didn't even schedule any meet up! They were so busy this afternoon too! I am such an idiot!"
One could definitely say that something inside the magician's head snapped. At the same time, the ache in her chest came back. It hurt. Even as she laughed, the pain continued to hurt more and more. But soon, the pain turned into a feeling of numbness.
Was there anyone who laughed and cried at the same time?
It was her.
She was suffocating in this dark and ruined place. The darkness was too much that it seemed to seep into her very own being. Slowly, but surely, black spots danced in her vision that was already a blur from the tears that continued to well up.
Her laughter soon came to a stop as she collapsed onto the ground.
The mage glared at the mirror reflecting her face. She woke up from a nightmare so scary that she cried herself to sleep. She couldn't help herself and now, she seriously had to fix her swollen eyes somehow.
"Ugh. What an ugly face I have." Aisha washed her face with water repeatedly. She wished that it would just do the trick.
"Anyways, I really need to unwind – no! I simply must busy myself so that I can forget." She slapped both of her hands on her cheeks as she let out a big breath. "I'll train and hone my new powers!"
Ara smiled and wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was quite a hot day and she had travelled from afar to where she was now – Hamel. She took ahold of her spear and bag and proceeded to get down from the boat. People, here and there, were passing by her as they carried their luggage. One particular woman caught her eye. She had the most vibrant scarlet hair and sparkling ruby eyes that she saw as she carried her large bag in one hand.
"Elesis!" The raven haired girl called out to the scarlet haired woman while waving her hand.
The said woman looked at Ara and smiled. "Well, if it isn't Ara! It's been a long time. How's life been treating you?" The both put their luggage down as they greeted each other.
"Mhmm! It really has been a long time. As you can see, I'm still in good condition and am quite happy."
Elesis let out a small laugh. "It seems so. Where are you headed for?"
Ara smiled again and said, "Ruben, actually. If I'm not mistaken, you're going there too, right?"
"Well, how about we go there together then."
Both girls grabbed their bags and headed south. Well, not before stopping at a cake shop. They were quite hungry from their travel, after all.
On the other hand, at the outskirts of Velder, a dark skinned man with black hair along with a man with startling crimson hair stood in front of the soldiers who were sparring with each other. The Velder Knights and the Red Knights had a joint training camp to enhance their strengths more and widen their perception in fighting. It was quite amazing since both of the captains thought of the camp at the same time. Without further discussion, they agreed that they'd have a joint training camp at a nice clearing at Velder.
"Hey, Raven." The crimson haired man called out to the person next to him.
Raven cocked a brow in question. "Hmm?"
"We'll end this training camp tomorrow right?" Raven nodded, and Elsword continued. "Well, did you receive the letter about meeting up at Ruben on Friday?"
Raven put a hand on his chin as he dug into his memory lane. "Oh. Yes, if I remember correctly, it says that the whole party would meet up at Ruben for some gathering. I think it was from Ann."
"Yeah." Elsword cracked a smile. "It's been a long time since we've seen everyone. I can't wait."
Raven smiled as he looked up at the clear skies. "So do I. I hope everyone will come."
"Trust me, they will." Both men smiled and then returned to watching over the soldiers.
Rena smiled as she looked at the letter on her hand.
She was excited.
Tucking her bangs behind her ear, she decided that she'd help Ann with the preparations. Even though it was still two days early to prepare for the event, she wanted it to be grand. She stuffed a lot of cooking utensils and an apron inside her bag. She also brought some things that might serve some purpose. With one last item tucked inside the bag, she tied her hair into its signature side ponytail.
The elf skipped as she grabbed the bag and went outside her cozy house.
The same letter was also given to Eve and Chung which was delivered on their castles' mailbox. As the Empress received the letter, she got up and went back to her lab just to design a new suit for Oberon and Ophelia. If she had more time, she'd even have Ferdinand wear something new as well.
She wasn't one to express her emotions but it really seemed that she was just as excited as the others. She just had a unique way of expressing it, it seemed.
Chung also made preparations as to have him tailored a new casual suit. He also had his slightly long hair cut into its old spiky one. He even bought gifts for everyone. It was just something small and simple, but it was quite expensive. His father laughed at him, saying that Chung was overreacting the whole gathering he'd go to.
"I am not." Chung pouted. "I simply can't help but be excited to meet them again. They helped me countless times and I…just got quite attached to them."
He laughed at his son and patted his head even though he was old and was almost his height. 'I know, son. No need to be shy."
"Dad!" Helputt only laughed more at his son.
Add sighed and played with the letter that was just delivered to him about an hour ago. He threw it in front of him where a black crack appeared and opened to swallow the letter. However, it appeared again on his hand after a second. This had been repeating for minutes because he was bored.
He would sometimes miss the small conversations that Aisha would start. She was annoying, yes, but she was also the reason why he wasn't alone. Before, he had been stalking their group to gather information about the Nasod Queen's codes and steal it. He never really minded anything else before since he had so much to do. But now, he was just so lost because the goal that he wanted to achieve – to change the past – was just so far away from his reach.
"The past, huh?" He whispered quietly to himself.
Add put on a thinking pose – the one with a hand on the chin – and if it was even possible, a light bulb seemed to light up atop of his head.
Instead of going to the past where he knew he wouldn't accomplish anything certain, why not go to the future and see if his life was worth living? It was quite something, going to the future, that is. He'd just randomly go to anytime in the far future of his current timeline. He was sure enough that going to the future wouldn't hurt him in any way. He didn't even care if he was sent to a different timeline.
"Tch. It's worth a try. Maybe I'll be the strongest of all Elrios by that time!" He laughed his signature maniacal laugh. At least, he was back to his old self, and not the one who sulked for days.
He opened a portal in front of him. The portal was like a big black crack which had purple electric-like lines appearing at the sides. Add entered it, and in a blink of an eye, he was at his house. It was the same old house he was currently living in. The same white tiled floor, dark purple walls and white chairs. The stairs was the same violet it was, the only difference was that he had a vase full of lilies sitting on top of his glass table.
"Why I'd put flowers is sure a mystery." Add mumbled to himself as he continued to scan the house more.
He went upstairs and checked every corner of his room. His working desk was still there, and he could still see his same old bed. The only thing he noted was the unusual amount of thick books lying on the floor. They were stacked up neatly into five towers near the wall. Why he needed such an amount of books, he never knew. He was one to just record the books in the library in his Dynamos and then read them using his holographic screens.
Oh well.
He then decided to check his wardrobe. Who knows, he might've changed his style.
He opened his closet only to stumble down on the floor.
"What the heck?" He covered his mouth as he looked at his supposedly taste in clothes. His closet was full of purple long-sleeved collared shirts along with a complementing black vest that had two big hexagonal silver buttons on it. Instead of the white pants that he usually wore, they were now black. He swore that if wore the outfit, he'd look a little 'punky'.
Add recovered from the shock when he heard some noise downstairs. He immediately stood up and was about to run off. However, he stopped when he heard a voice so alike with his. Add immediately assumed that it was his older self. It also made him curious since he could hear his other self talking animatedly with someone.
He hovered on his Dynamos as he neared the living room. Being as cautious and silent as he could, he could see another Add. However, the other one had a spiked hair. The garments that he saw on the closet were worn by the other him. The weirdest thing was the one he was talking to, though.
It was a friggin' bat.
The bat was violet and white in color. It had a fat body that Add seriously questioned because it only had two small wings to fly. It did fly normally though which made him furrow his brows in confusion. It was defying the law of physics!
Add merely sighed. Elrios was full of nonsensical things that a big fat bat shouldn't surprise him. As the other Add talked to the bat like some old friend that he liked to tease, another voice came from the kitchen.
"Hey, Add! Don't go bullying Angkor again. He always asks for a lot of treats afterwards. He'd get more obese than he is."
"Heh~" The second Add smiled devilishly. "Then, if Angkor bullies me, I assume that I must ask you for a lot of treats."
Add seriously needed to get out. Heat immediately rushed up to his face in which he looked like a tomato. He knew that this wasn't his future-self at all but a different Add on a different timeline. But, damn, he never knew he was such a flirt!
"What was that…?" He calmed himself and at the same time, the red color of his face seemed to die down.
He definitely wanted to just go back to the Elrios he knew but he still didn't know the girl's identity. It was definitely a girl's voice he heard.
Activating his stalker personality, he crept down the stairs slowly while no one was looking. He was good at this. He was a pro stalker!
True to his self-proclaimed title, Add successfully arrived on the ground floor without being seen by the current occupants of the house. He sneaked a peak and saw a flash of purple before hiding behind a wall. The bat almost caught him!
This was definitely the hardest stalking he ever engaged to. The only problem was the bat who was now flying in circles as if patrolling the area. As the bat was nearing him, he immediately activated a camouflage made by having his Dynamos project something alike to the wall. He was now a covered in a dark purple hologram to match the dark wall.
Thankfully, the bat simply passed by him, but that was not before seriously looking at where he was. Maybe it was his bat's instincts, Add mused a little nervously.
"Angkor! What are you doing, my obese friend? Are you trying to do some exercise now?" The second Add laughed and pointed at the now angry bat.
"You evil brat!" The bat screamed and bit his index finger which resulted to a yelp of pain.
"Waaah! Aisha! Help me!" Add curiously raised a brow. "Angkor's bullying me!"
Seriously? Add couldn't imagine himself acting like that at all. But what sparked his curiosity was when Aisha's name was called on. Was she still reading a lot of books in his library even until the future?
Soon, Aisha appeared with a very scandalous outfit that made Add blush furiously. He never knew that she could bear to wear such an outfit. It consisted of tube-like top that was big enough to just cover her small breasts. She had a dark violet vest and skirt. Instead of the low pigtails that he was familiar with, the Aisha he saw had her hair into two high pigtails bound by a dark ribbon.
Damn.
"Oh, c'mon. Angkor, stop biting Add. And Add, he's biting you 'cause you're always bullying him." She had her hands on her hips as she lectured both of the boys.
As soon as Angkor stopped biting the finger, the second Add immediately sneaked a kiss on the mage's cheek.
"Thank you for the treat!" He announced happily.
"Waah!" The new Aisha was blushing a lot and pushed her palm towards the second Add's face in attempt to make some distance between them. The said man only smiled devilishly as he looked at the mage's red face.
Add finally made his exit.
As he was back to his current timeline, he immediately went to cover his blushing face. He looked like a boy who just confessed to a girl since he was so, so red. He swore that could hear his own heart beating so fast.
"But…uh…"
His mind was so blank with the exception of what he saw a moment ago. That was what you call daring. The kiss was imprinted on his mind and wouldn't erase itself at all. He put a hand on his chest in attempt to calm the loud and fast hammering of his heart.
"I…need to sleep."
Yes, he needed to sleep it off or else he'd be permanently red.
A/N: Oh dear. Oh dear. Forgive the author for she has no wifi connection. This will be posted for who knows when. Anyways, here we have a little light chapter. The second Add is, as you've already guessed, a Lunatic Psyker. The evil bat would be Angkor dearest whom is contracted to the Void Princess Aisha. Add simply saw himself in another timeline where he chose the path of an LP not an MM/DE. Same with Aisha. Anyways, Read and Review. Fin: 01/13/15
-PauleenAnne
