Today was a rather... Gloomy day. Kind of like the setting of some horrific story where the main characters find out that everybody might die. And then, they themselves put their lives on the line to save the world, and then a giant plot twist happens where a character finds out they're really a—
... Oh, my apologies. That's all a different story.
"Uh..." She honestly didn't want to mention something when a good aura was hanging around them, but Aisha felt pointing it out was rather important, "Isn't that a crack in the wing?"
A crack? And so close to the end of the journey too! "Darn!" Elsword slapped the wheel of the plane. "I thought we wouldn't need to do repairs anymore! We need to stop." With a flick of his wrist, Elsword veered the plane down toward the ground.
The city was worn down at every street with shattered windows and wrecked buildings, burnt-out lampposts and broken signs, and dark and scary colors everywhere. The town was a true picture of a backstreet alleyway where people get murdered.
Elsword slid his hands against the wing of the plane with a distressed look. "This is real bad. We've gotta repair it, but I didn't bring enough spare metal." What a great situation to be in! Another thought occurred to him, and he slapped his forehead. "Or a blowtorch! Dangit! Why didn't I remember to bring that?!"
"Perhaps we could ask around?" Aisha's arms were tightly folded across her chest. Obviously that was their only option here; but then again, what normal person owned a blowtorch besides a mechanic?
Her companion shrugged his shoulders and scratched the back of his head, half defeated already. "Guess so." There was no way around this. What a predicament for them.
Just from where he was standing, he couldn't see any store that was open. In fact, it was deserted around here. Their feet echoed as they took every step across dark and damp pavement. A mouse scuttled across there path, darting towards a pile of trash that one could probably smell miles from where they were.
"This sure could be the setting of a cursed town." Aisha remarked as she watched the mouse nibble on a rotten apple core. "Hence the nickname Cursed Town, I suppose."
Elsword shifted from one foot to another. Something unsettling was about him that made him want to... Well, he wasn't exactly sure. Maybe throw up? Kill himself? Or even worse than that—cut off his hand so he couldn't make stuff anymore?! But then again, he could always make new hands.
Oh gosh, that would be such an epic idea!
To his left, amazingly through his dazing off, he noticed Aisha suddenly tense up. "What's wrong Aish'?"
"Quiet..." She halted, looking away.
... Was she mad again? After all they'd gone through, she was still upset with him?! "You know what?! No, I'm not going to be quiet—"
"Idiot! No seriously!" Her hand flew up and covered Elsword's mouth, practically slapping him. They were standing extremely close— Elsword was getting uncomfortable— as Aisha directed her attention quickly past him where an aluminum can rolled out from the shadows.
... Followed by a man with a butcher knife.
"Well, well," His face was scruffy and wrinkly of age and povery, and his black clothes contained noticeable specks of dirt all over, "Look what we have here." He said as he hit the dull side of the knife into his palm.
A couple more clops of footsteps resonated from behind the duo. Many more men with long, big, and scary knives appeared. Now, with no escape, they were surrounded.
"What do you want?" Elsword asked as he pressed the button for his blade. All the men's eyes watched as the sword formed itself from the bracelet, and they grew hungrier for something morbid.
"We've been paid to rid of you two." The lead man said with an ugly laugh. "Especially you, bloody-haired boy. And the sooner it's done, the more we get. So let's get it over with, shall we?" All of the men crowded in, taking slow and unnecessary steps—dramatic effect.
Our redheaded hero grasped his beloved purple-haired girl's hand. "Hey Aisha... you probably don't want to hear this, but..." He smiled weakly. "I really don't think I can take them. There are way too many."
Aisha squeezed back tighter, clutching to him for dear life. "It's... It's alright."
"I apologize for not giving you the attention you had wanted." Elsword couldn't see her. He could, however, imagine the tears already falling from her face. He wouldn't be able to save them now. One last time though, he thought, he would look at her to imprint her in his mind.
So he made a full one-eighty.
And when he did, Aisha was reaching under the skirt of her dress; admittingly, that was the last thing Elsword expected to see. She quickly whipped out a staff with a green circle at the end, bordered by white and bronze metal with red markings. When she lifted it up, two balls the size of a marble shot out of the green circle and a bright flash of light followed. The screams of the men, as well as the clattering of knives, and the smell of something burning, soon come after. Completely lost, confused, and straight out baffled, Elsword was suddenly tugged away, the light blinding him.
After five minutes of running, or tripping over his feet really, and constant blinking, Aisha who had been pulling him stopped inside some abandoned building.
"... What the heck was that Aisha?!" He questioned. Everything happened so quick... Was he really still alive?!
She twirled the staff in her hand proudly like it was a baton. "Something Chung helped me make. He infused elements and attributes such as water, fire, and light into glass marbles for me. Then, I filled this thing," Aisha opened the stick part of the staff to reveal a tube with tiny glass orbs, "with them. When you shoot them, they break and release whatever element is in them."
... She invented that? It was as clever as his bracelet sword. "Wow..." Elsword scratched his head. "That's impressive. I guess I've underestimated you." He may also have been underestimating the depth of her skirt— how did she hide the staff under there?
Before anything else could happen, Aisha broke out into extreme laughter, clutching her stomach tightly. "And you thought we would die! That's priceless! You got all gushy and romantic too!"
His face heated up. "Geez, I pour my heart out and it gets wasted." In his defense, nobody could or would have expected that very thing to happen. Especially not from Aisha. He punched her arm lightly and scowled.
... Hold on a second.
"Wait, fire is an element, right?" He grasped Aisha's shoulders. When she nodded, a smile lit up on his face. Right after, he hugged her tightly in his arms. "That's it! We might be able to fix the plane!"
"That's... Great...!" The purple-haired girl replied between breaths because he was choking her. "Now... Let go...!" Whoops. Elsword backed off of her quickly before she passed.
Just as he did so, out of nowhere, an arrow skimmed right in front of Elsword's eyes and landed right in the wood wall next to him. The sound of its wobble completely snapped both of the two out of the moment.
"Crap... Missed."
Elsword looked in the direction of the voice, wide-eyes in realization. Rena was at the open door of the abandoned building, her bow loaded with an arrow. Not the harmless tranquilizer darts from before, but pointy, sharp, deadly, flying arrows that could kill. "R-Rena?!"
"Hello there, little brat." The same Rena that Elsword and Aisha had known? She definitely wasn't here. "I can't believe you two actually survived the ambush. Pathetic men."
"... Y-You wanted to kill us?!" Aisha asked in sudden horror.
"Originally, not you, sweetie. Just Elsword." Rena's hands noticeably trembled, and she snapped the arrow in her hand. "But you surprised everyone moments ago with your secret weapon. Your willingness to protect him isn't helping me, so you need to be gone too."
Fear raced through Elsword. He could try combatting her, but her arrows would be too quick. "Why do you want us dead?"
In a few seconds, Rena had her bow loaded and lifted it up, aiming at his head. "Because I need that title!" Her arms trembled unlike when she shot the darts, but they pulled back the string of the bow. Her eyes were not the same, no longer showing a calm soothing nature, but instead an insane and unrestrained desperation, In a second, she released the arrow. "Now die!"
A tiny click noise sounded. The arrow slowed down in the air, ice slowly forming around it. Elsword could see it moving and stop right between his eyes. It dropped to the ground before his feet, the noise of cracking ice following. Rena's jaw dropped slightly at the sight— it was a miracle of great accuracy— and got caught off guard by the obstacle in her plan.
"Elsword, get her!" Aisha called at him with her staff in hand. Thanks to her nearly impossible luck, Aisha had managed to shoot it down.
Elsword pressed the red button, the sword unsheathing itself. Swiftly, he dashed up to his rival and slashed at the bow. It flew from her fingers and onto the ground, clattering. With that done, he held the blade to her throat. "Got any last words?"
Rena hadn't seen this coming. A tear dripped from Rena's green eyes, followed by another and another. What was wrong with her? "... J-Just kill me... Kill me now. I don't have any reason... To live anymore...!"
"... Elsword, don't." The purple haired girl came up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Something isn't right here." Rena's words didn't seem like her own. In the last town, when Aisha had sat with her and Raven, Rena was too kind and too loving to have such a tainted motive.
With confusion, Elsword slowly lowered the sword from her neck— Aisha had to be right. Even though they had a tense relationship because of the rivalry, he knew Rena couldn't act like this.
Rena's cries turned into sobbing. "No! Just end my life now!" She tried to reach for Elsword's sword, but he moved it away from her reach.
"Rena, what's wrong?" Elsword asked, retracting the blade cautiously.
A little more than half her current age— she was twenty-five now— years ago, Rena had been a single child taking care of her old family business, The Titanium Welder. Her parents had passed on some time when she was little, so she didn't really have a solid memory of who they were. She spent her days inside the workshop, drawing blueprints for ideas.
One day, a guy three years older had wandered into town. His hair was messy, his clothes were dirty, and a large scar was across his face, and he was missing a whole arm. Nobody wanted to welcome him because of this, even though they were normally such a welcoming town; the man was just far too foreign.
Little Rena approached him, though. "Hi there. Are you looking for a place to stay?"
With a nod, he replied. "For now. I don't plan on staying long."
With an open and kind heart, she let him stay at her place. It was kind of a mess, but he didn't seem all that bothered by it. She couldn't help wondering why he was missing his arm though. Didn't normal people have two arms?
"I was thrown into jail in my old town for something I didn't do." The guy, Raven, told her reluctantly. "My punishment was that I had to have my arm cut off." It was a scary story, and he himself was scary too, but Rena was quite curious about him. Despite his past, he was so level-headed about it.
Soon enough, she found out that he was familiar with the tools in the workshop. He was sorta amusing in her eyes, the way he differed from others. However, he had not one bit of work experience and insisted on leaving. If it weren't for her constant worrying about his well being, she feared he might be off again.
One day, on her rival, and friend's, birthday, she got invited over to Gearworks. Elesis had officially become an adult. The two of them would now be going head to head for the title of Town Engineer.
"I'm taking a trip somewhere. I won't be around for awhile, but when I do come back, it's on!" Elesis exclaimed with gusto. "So on behalf of that, I want to do something for you."
"Do something for me?" Rena curiously asked. "'Anything?'"
"Yeah! You're at at a disadvantage compared to me, since I have my family to help with the business and you have nobody." The redheaded girl grabbed Rena's hands. "So I figured we should even out the playing field!"
There were so many things she could want— a new blowtorch, a pound each of various metals, or maybe even a new hat! But how would she ever choose— wait.
And that was the perfect moment for Rena. She brought Raven over to Elesis, and the red haired girl made a robotic arm for him as a gift. Waterproof, of course. He was in shock with the whole experience, and so was Rena. They got over it quickly, though, because things began getting better for her business and him.
While Elesis was out of town, Rena taught him the basics in the shop. Soon enough, she found out how much better he was at welding and crafting than she was. She employed him to work for her, and this time he didn't say he wanted to leave.
Elesis didn't return to the town. Because the competition required at least two businesses with adults to be present, Rena could not compete for the title of Town Engineer. She would have to wait for Elsword, the younger brother, to turn twelve before she could compete for the title.
As the years went by, she gleefully worked alongside Raven. The two had gotten closer over time, much to the latter's chagrin, and a sort of bond had formed between them. She was happy to have him present. If only they could be so much more than just... Friends.
But a certain thought resided in her mind. What if he was only staying in town for the money she paid him? If she lost the title of Town Engineer to Elsword once he was able to compete, she'd lose all kinds of business. Then they'd go bankrupt, and Raven would leave town. Elsword was growing into a fine mechanic too, just like his sister, so this wouldn't be an easy and pleasant stroll through the town square either!
No! She couldn't live with that! That was a pain she would not be able to take! The thought itself already swelled inside her heart. She would have to crush Elsword if she wanted to keep Raven. Because, even though Elsword was the little brother of her lost friend and rival, and had done nothing wrong to her, she... she...
She needed Raven around. And she was not going to lose him.
"When Raven found out I wanted to hire someone to kill you two," Rena had stopped crying, and was hugging her knees, "he told me he would abandon me in the next town if I carried out the plan." A weird silence sat in between them after Rena had told them her life story.
"Rena, we don't want you to be like this." Aisha touched the green-haired lady's hand. "If you told us, I'm sure we could have worked it out. In fact, we would have been happy to collaborate with the Titanium Welder. Right Elsword?"
"Huh?" That was out of the blue. But, he supposed he... might have. "Uh, yeah! You didn't have to try and kill us for the title. Literally." He patted her shoulder a little bit forced.
Rena sniffled and wiped one last tear away. "Thank you. It means a lot. But that doesn't change the fact that he's not here because of what I horribly decided to do. I know, he hates me down to my very core."
"Oh, I'm sure that can't be true!" Aisha jumped up onto her feet and stretched from all the sitting. A thought crossed Aisha's mind, though. What position was she in to really say he couldn't hate her? Aisha would want to hat Rena. It'd be bad to lie, even if it was to comfort her. Sheepishly, Aisha scratched her cheek. "M-maybe, he's looking for you right now!"
Elsword looked at his best friend, not quite accepting that suggestion but playing along for the sake of it. "Y-Yeah, he could be!" The two of them exchanged silent words between each other, almost arguing about this bad way to cheer Rena up.
"Just maybe," Aisha was going to regret doing this because it would probably sting Rena, but she was going to do it anyways, "Raven, the one you think hates you to the core, will appear in that doorway!" And she pointed to the empty—
"Rena?!"
Another visitor, Raven, was in the doorway. Instead of his calm, cool, and collected manner Elsword and Aisha always remembered, Raven appeared distressed and exhausted, like he'd been running for hours. The look in his eyes, normally very chilling, flashed of anxiety.
"Raven...?" Rena stood to her feet and brushed herself off from the dirty floor. "I thought you...?" Elsword and Aisha both took two steps back— this definitely was not going to involve them. They were, however, shocked by Aisha's ability to make amazing events occur; she must have been a magician of some sort.
With some self-restraint, Raven made his way to Rena and wrapped his arms around her, tightly holding her.
"R-Raven?!" Rena couldn't seem to comprehend what was going on. It was happening too fast!
"I... Was worried." He said. "I honestly couldn't believe I left you. You were very much wrong to have done what you did, but I wasn't entirely right either." Pulling away, Raven looked into her emerald eyes. "I should have tried to convince you more. Instead, I didn't. I do believe, though, that you could've been changed because you were still pure somewhere inside."
Even though she'd stopped crying long ago, the tears flowed again. He still cared, even though she was cruel, and he still saw good in her. "I'm glad your back...!" She squeaked. Rena clutched the back of his coat with her thin fingers, not wanting to let go of him ever again.
Even though the embrace seemed like it should've lasted longer, Raven released her and reached into one of his pockets. "Actually... I have something for you. I planned on using the money I earned from working with you these past years to get it, but certain circumstances happened," he glanced at Aisha, "and somebody gave me one for free."
"What is it?" Rena looked at him cluelessly, wiping the last of her tears. Aisha smiled, a warmth growing inside her, and grasped Elsword's hand excitedly. Elsword wasn't quite as sharp with the implication— his mind was far, far behind— but openly took her hand anyways.
Raven took out a tiny green velvet box that held an entire future inside. He bent down on one knee and looked at Rena's shocked face. "Will you..." He flipped the box open, revealing the beautiful engagement ring. "Marry... Me?"
... What was happening?! With a happy squeal, Rena covered her mouth. "I-I...!" He was asking...?! "I-I... Of course...!" She pounced on Raven, gleefully embracing him.
Elsword and Aisha both exchanged looks then turned away with blushes; being around the happy and engaged couple was embarrassing in some kind of contagious way. The four of them all stood around with that strange feeling inside of them for awhile, nobody wanting to talk about it but instead just wallow in it.
Right now was a good moment.
As quickly as the moment had come, however, it fleeted away. The group of men Rena had hired, all slightly beat and worn with burn marks from whatever the heck Aisha had done earlier, now stood in the frame of the only entrance and exit of the room. Their expressions were quite frightening, like the ones belonging to people who would kill puppies for entertainment.
Seeing them, Rena composed herself. "Ah, I don't need your men to kill them anymore. I apologize, but I won't be paying you either."
"Is that so?" The lead man with the gruff face and dirty clothes scowled at the the four of them. "We don't like it when we're not paid what we're promised, and there's a punishment for those that don't keep promises." With a waving of his hand, the men behind him took out their knives. "Lucky for us, you're all young and healthy-looking. We can probably make some money off your parts."
Even with the terror before them, a grin grew over Elsword's face. He pressed the button of his sword-bracelet, the metal glinting as it unsheathed. The lead man hurled his knife at Elsword, leaping off his feet when he saw the sword. Elsword dodged agilely and hit him in the man in the back of his skull with the dull side of the blade. "Sorry, but my wonderful body is priceless."
"Conceited idiot! Watch out!" Aisha yelled in slight fury at her irrational friend rushing in half-blind. She aimed her staff at a surprise attacker behind Elsword, shooting a marble that exploded and released a dark cloud around the man. Elsword then swung his blade behind him in defense. A little pool of blood spread on the floor, appearing from the darkness of the cloud.
"Whoops..." Mumbled the redhead. That didn't happen often. Now he felt bad.
Rena picked her bow off the ground and reached under her hat for a tranquilizer dart, elbowing Raven while doing so. "No reason to let them have all the fun!"
"Gotcha." He replied while retrieving his curved sword from his coat. Raven jumped in and began combat with two men, ultimately slicing at them in the back with his mechanical arm. Another assaulter rushed by, and he took them down with a slice of the blade, breaking the person's knife— the knife had been dull and made of such a poor metal that it snapped like a twig.
Once the entrance was clear, the four of them began in a sprint out. "Our top priority is to get out of town!" Rena called to them, her hair whipping back and forth.
"But our plane is...!" Elsword glanced over his shoulder behind him. More men were already on their tail. "Nope! Nevermind! I'm all in for leaving!" The number of people after them was endless!
Taking out more darts while running, the older green-haired lady began running backwards. She lifted her bow and shot at the mob, taking down at least seven men in the front. That would be enough to slow them down.
The city limit was progressively coming into view! The green grass sprouted at the end of the pavement, and The Titanium Welder's green plane shone brightly in the light. When Elsword looked behind him, there was nobody. "Hey, we're out."
"Good thing too! I'm exhausted!" Aisha huffed and puffed in her heavy and frilly dress. Her hair was kind of messy now, Elsword also noted.
From the corner of his eye, Elsword could see Raven opening up the plane to check on the engine. Rena stood with him, arms crossed. "No good?"
"No." Raven closed the cover to the engine. "Just out of fuel."
"Something the matter?" With his hands in his pockets, Elsword paced over to the two.
"As well as the whole murder thing..." Rena looked at her reflection in the plane, running her hand down the side to feel the cool metal under her palm, "we were also planning to fix up for the trip back home. We need fuel, though, and there's absolutely no access to any right now."
Perhaps he could do something about it? Elsword climbed up to the plane and opened up the engine, then the fuel tank. The flying contraption was practically running on dry! "Wow, that's actual kind of impressive. When was the last time you filled up?"
"In the last town, actually. Before that, we'd been running on this crystal we'd gotten during the trip."
The Titanium Welder's owner peered up at him. "Raven and I gave it away to a little girl who thought it was pretty. We figured we'd have enough fuel to last us until we could make it till the next town."
Elsword raised an eyebrow at her. "Crystal?"
"A blue and green one that's slightly translucent. It uses concepts of alchemy to create energy." Raven explained to him.
Hadn't the two main protagonists seen something like that before? "Aisha," The redhead called. She lifted her head. "Do you still remember the Town of Beginnings?"
"Yeah." Aisha began to reach into the kitty-shaped pouch on her waist. "We got a crystal while we were there."
The beautiful light glimmering from the crystal could attract flies and moths. And also the human attention. The moment it came out into the open, Rena jumped. "That's the crystal we used to fuel our plane!"
"You can have it. It's taking up space in my purse." The purple-haired girl said as she dug around some more.
And things started moving in a bustle. Raven inserted the crystal into the fuel tank of the plane and then turned the engine on. And one might say it was beautiful to hear the sounds of an engine working properly! The group wore smiles on their faces.
"And for helping us with that..." Rena climbed near the back of the plane. She slid back a large rectangular metal panel on top, and two seats became visible. "You two can ride back with us."
"... Eh?!" Elsword exclaimed. "Why would you have extra seats?"
"Don't ask." Raven, sitting in the front seat of the plane, slid aviator goggles over his eyes while he answered. "It's not worth knowing."
Elsword helped hoist his girl up into her seat, then climbed right in. The green plane gently lifted from the ground, picking itself up like a free bird. In a second, the plane began its journey back to their hometown.