All That Remains
A haze of frosted sunlight leaked through the ceiling, piercing the dust-laden air with a shower of golden spindles. A thin layer of dry soil covered the steel floors and blanketed the twisting mess of wires, the product of several centuries spent gathering rust and rainfall while wearing away in the weather. Slowly stepping beneath a bright bolt of sun, Elsword brought up the rear along with Rena who was leaning lightly against his shoulder, pulling herself along on her good leg while everyone else waited just ahead. As they neared the broad double doors that lay at the end of the hall, an unexpected patch of green cropped up underfoot. Along the ground, slender lines of grass sprouted up from the shallow soil, each thin row growing along the path of a narrow sunbeam as it traveled with the passing hours. In this world of wires and riveted steel, even the grass grew in a neat, precise formation years after the life of last gardener flickered and faded away.
As they neared the end of the hallway, Eve approached the double doors and opened her console, scattering her fingers across its keys. The doors began to rattle, creaking and chirping harshly as they slowly swung open. After just a few inches, the heavy steel ground to a halt with a sharp screech, its corners caught on a mangled heap of rust and debris.
"Stand back." Returning his sword to its sheath, Raven walked up to the narrow beam of light that escaped the gap in the doors and slid his fingers and claws deep inside. With a single sharp pull, the doors parted cleanly and a curtain of sunlight flooded the hall. As Elsword stepped out into the open, he found himself surrounded by a sea of surreal green. A thick carpet of moss covered every visible surface; the ground, the walls, the ornate stone benches, even the solitary silhouette of a lifeless nasod in the shadow a crumbling arch. Walking lightly across the lush undergrowth, Elsword found his eyes drawn to every corner of the room, studying each mossy outline in an effort to determine what lay beneath the verdant quilt.
"Where is this place?"
"This was one of the hanging gardens of the imperial palace..." Eve gazed solemnly at the overgrown conservatory, her voice low and sullen as though she was lost in her memories. "...We will reach the exit soon. Please follow me."
Out of the garden and into a grand antechamber, Eve led the way as they descended gradually through the sloping halls of the imperial palace of the nasod. Though he had never seen a palace firsthand, and had never heard anything of the nasod having them, Elsword felt a faint, strangely nostalgic heartache as he walked through the ruins of what must have been a truly impressive stronghold. Paint and lacquer were chipped and worn from every surface and cracks spread through the tiled floor like bolts of lightning frozen in time and laid gently on their side. The air itself commanded a sort of reverent silence as though the shattered glass and collapsing columns should be the site of mourning, the tombstone of a civilization that simply stopped breathing hundreds of years ago.
"It's really... sad, somehow..." Aisha passed by a torn, rotting tapestry, trying to imagine what art the artificial hand of a nasod would have made. Everyone, even Raven, found themselves entranced by the odd, tragic beauty of the palace of the nasod with its crumbling splendors and its luster long since gone. Everyone, except for Eve. While those of flesh and blood stepped cautiously through the decrepit ruins, Eve stood silently before a smooth, unadorned doorway. Pushing off of Elsword's shoulder, Rena turned around and smiled faintly at Eve.
"It must be hard to see your home like this... do you want to stop for a little bit?"
Eve shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes down. "No. It is not necessary. Nasod do not feel sadness... However, it is, perhaps... regrettable that I was not able to save this place..." She maintained her composure and continued staring down the door, although by any human definition, the look on her face was clearly that of someone stricken with grief. Reaching her hand out slowly, she touched the surface of the door and it slid open smoothly.
"What's in there?" A light breeze carried Rena's voice gently throughout the hall as Eve stood on the threshold of the ancient past.
"This... was my room." Eve placed her hand on the door frame, her breath slightly heavier than before. Curious, Elsword walked up behind her and tried to peek in over her shoulder and was immediately forced back by a fierce glare.
"This is a private room. I will not tolerate intrusions." Eve's eyes were stern and harsh, but her voice wavered just a bit as she gave her warning.
Across the hall, Aisha grimaced and glared at Elsword. "I told you, you can't just barge into a lady's room without permission."
Nearby, Rena smiled awkwardly. "...especially when she hasn't cleaned it for a few hundred years..." She turned back to Eve and her smile brightened. "Do you need a few minutes?"
Eve nodded, her voice tinged with a vague longing as she spoke. "...There may be something useful inside." While everyone else waited in the hall, Eve stepped back into her bedroom for the first time in ages. Her extravagant bed, which she complained was far too soft and fluffy to sleep in, had rotted away completely, leaving only a ragged wrought iron frame in its place. Her tools and workbench were similarly distressed, each a mere remnant scrap of their original form, some partial testament that weakly proclaimed their proper shape. In fact, the entirety of her belongings lay in some state of disarray or decay, either broken beyond repair or withered away into ash and sand. In all likelihood, there was nothing that could have survived the merciless onslaught of time, but Eve felt the urge to check regardless. Lifting the lid of a small, copper box beneath her nightstand, she withdrew a pair of tiny drones, their round, smooth bodies intact and relatively unscathed by the years. Despite their remarkable preservation, the small creatures of ivory and jet remained motionless in Eve's arms.
"Moby... Remy..." She held them to her chest and then opened her tool case, placing them delicately atop her supplies before standing and taking a final glance at the skeleton of her childhood home. As she stared out through the empty window frame above her bed, a quick flash of movement caught her eye. Immediately, Eve opened her console and brought up a map of the palace. Within a second, several bright blue dots lit up across the screen, each of them racing toward the hallway just outside of her room. Her feet skimmed over the ground as she hurried back into the hall and nearly barreled into Rena.
"Something is headed this way. Please stand back." Turning on her heels, Eve opened her console again and slid her hands across a small screen, waking a loud, rumbling motor beneath the floor and drawing a heavy steel partition closed behind them. Glancing quickly from side to side, Raven surveyed their surroundings and then looked back to Eve.
"Enemies?"
"Most likely." Eve checked the map on her console again, its shimmering lines awash with bright blue specks. "They are moving in formation to surround us. I have sealed the hall behind us, but the area ahead is open and unsecured."
Raven nodded and moved to the center of the hallway. "I'll take point. Elsword, Aisha, guard our flank."
"Nobody put you in charge." Elsword scowled as he unlatched is sword, eying Raven suspiciously as he moved into position.
"That is the most easily defensible formation though." Eve moved alongside Rena and dismissed her console save for a tiny translucent screen that floated in the air at her side. "The exit is less than three hundred paces ahead. It will be easier to avoid an ambush outside of the palace."
"Do we have that much time?" Aisha looked back toward Elsword and then to Rena as she held her wand out firmly. Closing her eyes for a moment, Rena drew her bow and pushed herself off of the wall.
"No, we probably won't get outside. It would be best if we could get to a big, open space though. It'll be harder to hold them off, but, well... I still can't move too quickly, and it would be harder to maneuvre in a small space like this." She looked aside to Eve, smiling gently. "I know this isn't something a queen would normally do, but could I borrow your shoulder for a bit?"
Eve turned to answer her and hesitated. "T-that will be fine..." She blushed lightly as Rena slid an arm across her back, leaning lightly against her shoulders as they hurried to join the others.
"Alright, let's move." Elsword shifted to his side and kept a close watch on the windows of every room they passed, his every step slow and deliberate as he matched Rena's labored pace. A tenuous calm settled in across the corridor as the dull echo of Rena's heavy footfall spread through the air, the only audible sound in the gallery of artifacts abandoned to time. Silence, and stillness. It was as though the walls around them were part of an elaborate scene captured in watercolor, frozen forever at the end of an artist's brush. A deafening crash shattered the illusion of calm as a storm of glass spilled into the hall from Eve's room. With her fingers dancing across the tiny console window next to her, Eve pulled Rena along as quickly as she could while Elsword and Aisha held their ground and kept their eyes on far end of the corridor. Within a second, a large partition began to close, blocking them off from the source of the commotion just as a flurry of heavy steel feet pounded into the floor. As Eve finished locking the partition down, the doors shook from the force of a massive impact from the other side.
"We must hurry. The partitions are meant to keep people out, not to lock them in. They are much weaker on the other side."
Raven led the way as the brash clattering of steel rang out through the hall, the end of the corridor both painfully near and impossibly far away. Another loud crash flooded the air with dust as the windows in a nearby room split into a thousand tiny splinters. Eve pressed her hand onto her console once more and activated the nearest partition, drawing it down with a slow, agonizing screech. Just before it closed, however, the partition stopped, hanging open wide enough for a horse to charge through.
"It's stuck!?" Aisha's eyes went wide as she stared through the gap at the bulging, battered doors beyond. Gritting her teeth, Rena dragged herself along, defiant of the pain in her foot and legs. Once they were nearly to the end of the hall, a shrill cry shot through the air as a large, bladed metal hand ripped through the furthest partition wall. In nearly the same instant, a swarm of bladed arms burst into the hallway, peeling away the thick steel doors with unsettling ease. Soon, more than a dozen nasod stood mere moments away, their arms covered in vicious blades, their eyes an array of bright red beacons fixed on their retreating prey. Exchanging a quick glance, Elsword and Aisha nodded to one another and rushed over to Rena and Eve.
"Sorry, but we've got no time!" Aisha grabbed Eve's hand as Elsword lifted Rena up off the ground, running a fast as they could toward the end of the hall.
"Oh, I should've thought of this sooner." Rena beamed happily, draped across Elsword's arms as he struggled to keep his balance and hold her upright. Just inches away, Eve hastily slammed her hand against her console, starting up the motor to the final partition just a few yards ahead. Behind them, the sharp cadence of the nasod hurtled across the weathered floors, crashing through pillars and destroying any tile that might have escaped the ravages of age. Yards. Feet. Once they were within inches of the partition wall, everyone dove forward and Eve pressed her hand into her console, drawing the barrier closed just as the pack of nasod leapt through the air to attack. A deep rumble spread through the air as the nasod plowed into the thick steel barricade and, for the moment, silence followed.
Brushing herself off, Rena sat up and pulled herself up to her feet. Realizing that she had fallen onto something a bit softer than the ground, she looked down and immediately gasped.
"Ah, sorry about that. Are you alright?" She smiled awkwardly down at Elsword who had rolled onto his back as he dove for the ground, sending Rena toppling down on top of him and throwing her shoulder right into his face. Shaking his head out and brushing himself off, Elsword rolled over onto his side and climbed up to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Everybody else okay?"
Raven nodded quietly, the only one of them to walk through and stay on his feet. On the ground at his side, Eve slowly raised herself to her feet, her clothes still in immaculate condition as she spread her console out before her and checked the enemy's position.
"They pulled back from the hallway. Most likely, they are headed for the palace gates to block our path."
Beside her Aisha endured a fit of coughing, down on her hands and knees and covered in thick black dust. "So we don't-" She coughed again as she raised herself up. "We don't have a choice. We'll have to fight through no matter what."
"Yes, but if we hurry, we can get there ahead of them." Rena hobbled over to Eve and peered over at the map on her console screen. "If we take too long, they'll be able to set up an ambush. We're a lot closer than they are, so we can at least get into a good position before they arrive."
Elsword nodded. "Then we gotta go, now."
With Raven in the lead again and Rena leaning on Eve, they all rushed around the corner and down a short corridor before emerging into the grand, gaping cavern of the palace gates. All around them, balconies and galleries jutted out from the mountain's core, statues of the elegant nasod of Eve's youth stood watch all along the chamber floor, and colossal pillars stretched from the floor all the way up to the ceiling some hundred feet above, all carved from the mountain's own flesh. With the pattering of their feet against the damp stone floors echoing far into the air above, Aisha, Elsword, Rena, Raven, and Eve made their way to the center of the room, a small, circular clearing bounded by twelve massive columns, the only semblance of cover to be had in the grand antechamber. As they each took their positions and steadied their nerves, the soft clink of steel filled the air, growing with every second until it became a roaring symphony of metallic percussion. Eve closed her console and stepped onto the small dais at the center of the circle.
"I am Eve, Queen of the Nasod! I command you all to stand down at once!"
As the authority of her voice filled the air, a crowd of nasod slowly stepped out into the light at the edge of the room. Each one was identical, coated in a crisp, silvery shell and bearing a pair of fierce blades on each of its arms. At the palace gates, one of the many nasod barring their path stepped forward and spoke in a flat, rasping voice.
"DENIED."
An electric tension shot through the air as dozens of nasod charged forward, racing toward their queen and her entourage. As one group leapt down from the mezzanine, Elsword swung his sword down overhead and slammed it into the ground, splitting the rock and summoning a massive geyser of flame high into the air. All but one of the advancing nasod fell right into the path of the fire, crackling and groaning as they instantly overheated. The single machine that escaped lunged toward Elsword and he ducked low, punching it in the gut with a fist full of fire that sent it tumbling backward and into the blistering geyser beyond. Once the flames died down, another wave dashed out of the shadows, their blades whistling as they cut through the wind. Gritting his teeth, Elsword stoled a glance over his shoulder and steadied his hands.
"Aisha!" As he called out to her, he swept his sword up to the sky, catching a nasod under the chin and hurling it through the air where Aisha blasted it with a burst of dark energy, sending it flying off into the distance. Two. Three. Four. Elsword kept flinging nasod over his shoulder until he finally ran out of targets and moved to guard the rear.
Just as Aisha finished off the last of Elsword's nasod, a pair leapt down from the balconies and dove straight at her, their blades glistening in the fading light of the setting sun. Jumping back quickly, she left a whirling mass of dark magic and fire in her wake that ripped her attackers apart as they hurtled toward the ground. Within seconds, another dozen nasod were closing in on her and she gripped her wand tightly in both hands as a broad grin spread across her face. In an instant, she teleported to each of the approaching nasod, tapping them once in the back with the tip of her finger before returning to center of the room. When all of the nasod turned and swung their arms out behind them, Aisha threw a bright bolt of lightning out toward them, arcing between each of the nasod she had touched and dropping them to the ground.
On the front lines, Raven narrowly dodged the edge of a jagged blade, stepping slightly to his right and drawing his blade swiftly, severing his attacker's arm and head in a single strike. As another opponent leapt toward him, he lunged forward with his left arm and caught the nasod's face in his claw, crushing it into a mess of mangled circuits and frayed wiring. Three more nasod rushed at him from his back, each ready to land a clean blow until a flurry of arrows cut through their chests and legs, dropping them to the ground. Raven looked back briefly, nodding to Rena as she smiled back and waved at him before they both turned back to the threat ahead. With another pack already upon them, Raven blocked quickly with his left arm and spun around his attacker, slicing its back open with a single, precise cut and then spinning his blade in his hand to thrust back into the chest of a nasod behind him. When the next nasod swung at him, he grabbed its bladed arm with his claw and threw it high into the air overhead where Rena riddled it with a volley of arrows. With every move and motion, he cut down another enemy and left himself completely exposed in the process and every time, a keen arrow cut through the air and covered the openings in his defense.
The stream of machines seemed endless and more than three dozen broken nasod had already piled up around the center of the cavern. As the fighting wore on into its third minute, the light injuries of the early battle began to multiply, small scrapes becoming a series of shallow cuts and faint bruises becoming aching sores. In the midst of the unrestrained ferocity all around, Eve stood lost in the chaos of this new, unfamiliar era. Every 'nasod' that she had seen so far was exactly the same: A weapon, a machine, a pale imitation of her people made only as a soulless tool. Certainly, the was not what she programmed the core to do. All the centuries that had passed since she entered her deep slumber should have seen the rebirth of the Nasod, not...this. Staring out at the hoard of mindless weapons, she clenched her fists and closed her eyes. As another dozen of the imitation nasod fell around her, she noticed one solitary attacker creeping in the shadows near Aisha. Without a moment's hesitation, Eve held out her hand and gathered a mass of electricity in her palm and hurled it through the air, smashing into the nasod stalking Aisha and sending a lethal shock through its body. Almost as stunned by Eve's sudden attack, Aisha turned back to her and blinked.
"Thanks." She managed to mutter a fraction of her gratitude before another pair of nasod closed in on her from the side, prompting Aisha to roll forward past them and leave them rushing into a swirling orb of dark energy. Soon, the fighting died down and everyone moved in close together, taking stock of their wounds and surveying the battlefield. In total, some seventy nasod lay crippled or broken on the ground or strewn across the balconies above, each one cut, smashed, shocked, burnt, pierced, or otherwise maimed beyond all help. In exchange, Elsword suffered a series of cuts to his side and back, Aisha a smattering of scrapes and bruises on her hands and elbows, and Raven found himself bleeding lightly from his arms and chest, the result of dodging a few blows at the very last instant. Finally releasing the tension in her bow and her shoulders, Rena sighed and looked around at everyone.
"Is everybody okay?"
"Mostly, I think..." Aisha rubbed her arms and swept the soot from her leggings. "Elsword?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not really bleeding too much anymore."
"Great~" Rena smiled warmly and clapped her hands together. "Good job everyone!"
As Raven wrapped his biggest wounds in a scrap of cloth, he glanced over his comrades and found himself a bit surprised. "You're all in worse shape than some of my men were after a three hour skirmish. You act like this is nothing."
"It's not nothing. It's just not that bad, compared to a lot of other stuff we've already gone through." Elsword shook his head out and scraped a stubborn clump of dirt from the side of his leg. Strapping her wand back onto her belt, Aisha wiped the sweat from her face with a handkerchief and tapped her shoes against the ground.
"Yeah, nothing seems as bad after that time at Wally's castle. We were really torn up after that."
"Nnnn..." Rena stretched her arms out over her head and her shoulder popped quietly. "Yes, although the airship was really rough too. I don't think I've ever been more exhausted than after that... Well, maybe right now."
Ever so slightly, Raven smiled. "Heh... I can't believe I thought I ever stood a chance against you all."
Rena returned his smile fondly. "Don't say that~ it's not like we're-"
"Wait!" Eve poured over her console as a single, flashing blue dot lit up right on top of them. "There is still an enemy nearby."
"What?" Elsword rushed over and peered at the map. "Where at?"
"It looks like it's right on top of us..." Aisha studied Eve's console quizzically. "That can't be right, can it?"
By the time they all realized, it was nearly too late. A single nasod had climbed to the very top of the columns above them and was now plummeting through the air toward them, its blades spread wide and ready to strike. Knocking Rena and Eve to the ground with a wide sweep of his right hand, Raven thrust his claw into the air and discharged a massive blast of flame and heat at the very last second, shattering the nasod into a hail of fragments that flew out in every direction. The very next thing he heard was Aisha's voice.
"Ah! Ow! That- Ow!" She rose to her feet slowly, holding her hands out before her. Elsword joined her soon and Raven saw that they were in a similar condition, their hands burnt and fresh cuts from the flying shrapnel littering their arms and legs. One small shard of metal lodged itself into Elsword's calf and he yanked it out sharply.
"Tch... damn..."
"Here, we need to cauterize it or it might get infected." Aisha reached over, flame gathering in her hand. Elsword pulled back at first, taking a moment to steel himself and clench his fists before nodding and allowing Aisha to reach forward and seal the cut with a quick flash of fire. As Raven watched them casually tend to their wounds, wounds that he had given them just now, a pang of guilt rose in his chest.
"...I'm sorry. I didn't think it would-"
"Please be more careful with your nasod arm." Eve stood before him, her tone admonishing. "Using it like that will injure everyone nearby."
"Eve, it's alright..." Rena pushed off of the ground and brushed off her shoulders. "It's not like he had much of a choice, considering the circumstances."
"...We should at least get out of here before anymore of those things come." Raven glared hard at no one and nothing in particular, scowling at the thoughts that raced through his mind as he approached Rena's side. "I can carry you the rest of the way, if you want."
"Oh, yes please." Rena grinned happily and held her arms out, waiting for Raven to kneel down before falling forward onto his back and locking one arm around his neck and pointing off into the distance with the other. "Raven, Forward!"
Raven hesitated for a moment, taken aback by Rena's casual cheer. Still struggling with a mangled mess of thoughts that clashed inside his head, he hurried out of the imperial palace with Eve, Aisha, and Elsword close behind him. As they trudged finally fled the mountain and made their way into the plains, Raven began to consider his recent actions carefully. Was it alright to continue using the dangerous power locked away in his left arm? More importantly, he started to wonder whether or not he was actually on the same level as the people around him.
Whenever he saw Elsword and Aisha in a fight, they were so direct and determined, as though they knew exactly what they were fighting for. He couldn't quite put it into words, but he felt that it was like they had something they were willing to give their lives for, but at the same time, death was never an option they would consider. Then there was Rena, a woman who seemed just like Seris at first but turned out to be completely different. Rather than quiet and severe as his fiancée had been, Rena was bright and cheerful despite the years she had spent in battle. She never hesitated to smile even though she must have seen just as much pain over the course of her life as he had. In a way, he felt a bit bitter at first; her smiles made him feel like a fool for wallowing in his grief for so long and for clinging to his self-serving vengeance for so many years. Even Eve, whom he could not entirely trust, had kept her composure despite finding out that centuries of her work had all ended in failure. As they walked through the hollow shell of the ancient nasod cities and across the lush windswept plains of the islands edge, Raven felt a sudden lightness in his feet, as though something old inside of him had slipped away into the sea.
"Hey, wait..." Elsword rubbed his eyes, straining them to catch a glimpse of something in the distance. "I think I see food."
"What!? Where?" Aisha grabbed his shoulder and stared out across the plains, searching for any sign of movement other the swaying grass. It had already been two hours since their battle with the nasod and they had spent the entire time searching for anything that even remotely resembled food or water. By now, Aisha was beginning to wonder if they weren't hallucinating.
"There! There it is!" Elsword pointed out to a small ball of fluff scurrying about in the distance.
"Ah!" Rena's eyes went wide and her face lit up. "No! That's not food!" She waved happily at the small creature at the edge of the plains. "It's a Ponggo!"