Within the Core
The alternating rhythm of spinning gears echoed through the elevator shaft as narrow bands of light swept across Eve's face. At her side, Aisha and Elsword stared anxiously as the jagged rock walls faded away beneath a smooth, silvery veneer of cobalt and steel. Behind them, Raven and Rena waited cautiously, their skin tightening as the temperature plummeted and the elevator's even cadence slowed. As they reached the end of their descent, a wave of frosted light flooded the air and a vast expanse of silvery blue steel spread out before them. With her breath a faint mist, Eve stepped out into the unearthly realm of gleaming lights and cold reflections.
"This is it. We have arrived at Altera's Core. Please proceed with caution."
Eve led the way as everyone else abandoned the elevator and followed her through a wide, empty corridor. The further they traveled into the Core, the more advanced and alien its design and construction became. Doors and platforms were crafted from some material far lighter than metal and yet stronger than stone, the walls and floor resisted frost even though the air was so frigid it felt as if it could snap, and an array of wandering lights coursed through the hallway. So far, despite the heavy resistance they had encountered in the foundry, there was no sign of even a single nasod in the Core and a stunning silence held the air, breaking only at the sound of soft footfalls and chattering teeth. As they neared a fork in the path, Eve approached the nearest wall and opened her console.
"These branching pathways shift frequently. I will need to check the layout of the Core before we proceed. Please wait one moment." She scanned over the screens hovering before her as Oberon stood guard at her side.
"I thought there would be a lot more fighting down here..." Aisha held a small flame in her hands, siphoning as much warmth from it as she could to stave off the pervasive cold. "Do you think they've set a trap somewhere?"
"That is not likely." Eve typed furiously as she burrowed deeper into the Core's primary systems. "The Core is a delicate place. Security has always been higher here than anywhere else on the island but the risk of damage to the Core's systems makes it impractical to maintain a constant patrol. Most likely, we will be safe so long as we do not activate any of the Core's security sensors."
With his arms folded impatiently, Elsword began marching down the western hallway. "If this is gonna take a while I'm gonna go scout ahead."
"Elsword, wait." Rena reached out toward him, but he was already out of reach. "This place is too dangerous to risk getting separated. I know you want to hurry, but we won't make it through if we don't take our time."
Scowling, Elsword acquiesced and turned around reluctantly, trudging back toward the fork in the hallway. As he returned, his boots caught on a small ledge and he tripped, falling forward just as a bright, iridescent red beam materialized before him.
"Elsword!" Aisha rushed forward to catch him and he fell against her clumsily, only after he had passed through the security sensor and a shrill siren rang out through the air.
"Everyone, stay close together!" Eve shouted over the shrieking alarms, but her warning came far too late. The very instant Elsword had fallen through the security beam, two massive partitions fell from the ceiling to seal off each branch of the corridor, trapping Elsword and Aisha behind two feet of titanium and blocking the path back toward the elevator. As the sirens died down, Eve rushed toward the fallen gate and pressed her hand against it.
"Aisha, can you hear me?"
Aisha strained her ears and held her face close to the door. "Yes, just barely. Can you get us out of here?"
Eve shook her head lightly. "No. Or rather, I will not have time. In the next twenty seconds, a large group of nasod will be deployed to your position. The paths should join again on the second level. Please try to hold on until we are able to reach you."
"Your timing's way off!" Elsword dodged to the side as a pair of gargantuan nasod stormed down the hall and charged toward him. "They're already here."
As Elsword squared off against the guardians in the sealed corridor, the sharp clash of steel rang out behind Eve and she turned to see Rena and Raven fending off a pack of nasod soldiers. Frantic, she turned back toward the heavy door and shouted.
"Aisha, there is an elevator at the end of the path ahead of you. Take it to the second level and we should be able to join you again there..." Stepping aside, Eve narrowly avoided a heavy bladed arm, sending Oberon out to maim its owner with a swift wave. "...Please be careful."
"Nn..." Aisha scowled and hopped away from the door, turning to face the oncoming swarm with a swirling sphere of fire and darkness melting together in her hands. The moment she rushed forward to join the fray, however, a loud crash split the icy air as a giant nasod shield slammed into the side of Elsword's head, throwing him to the ground and knocking his sword across the floor and into the crowd of nasod. After throwing out a quick burst of dark flame to distract their attackers, Aisha rushed over to Elsword's side just as his limbs went limp and his eyes fell shut.
"Elsword! Elsword, get up! Elsword!" She knelt at his side and shook him to no avail. Standing to face the frenzied mob of nasod now nearly two dozen strong, Aisha scowled fiercely with fire in her eyes as she gazed out at the sea of lifeless eyes trained upon her.
"Alright, you want to take us on?" She broadened her stance and placed herself between Elsword and the ruthless horde. "I swear, it'll be the last thing you ever do!"
Heedless of her warning, a wall of screaming steel rushed toward her as Aisha hurled a powerful blast of flame through the air, exploding violently and bathing the room in a stark, blinding white.
When Elsword was finally able to pry his eyes open, all he could see was a swirl of smoke and the charred entrails of a monstrous nasod. As the air cleared, a grisly scene emerged from the fog of ash and fire; mounds of broken machine parts and nasod limbs littered the corners of the hall, surrounding Elsword with a heap of mangled mechanical corpses. Just ahead of him, standing before a mass of moving steel and glowing eyes, Aisha panted heavily as her legs quivered and her shoulders sank.
Damn it... how long was I out? She's not gonna last long like this...Elsword tried to raise his head but his neck wouldn't move and his arms felt as heavy as lead. A faint red gleam caught his eye and he glanced down to see the edge of his sword, buried in a heap of tattered gears and broken nasod. When he tried to reach out and pull himself across the ground, his fingers shook violently and his arms refused to obey him. As he gathered his strength to call out to Aisha, he found that even his voice failed him and the most he could manage was a quiet gasp that suffocated amid the torrent of whirling gears and scraping steel at the edge of the room.
Facing down a now cautious company of nasod soldiers, Aisha forced the sharp pain in her arms and legs to the back of her mind. After nearly fifteen minutes of constant fighting against an endless stream of nasod, her body was about to give out on her. Scowling bitterly as she gasped for breath, she let her wand slip out of her trembling fingers and lowered her head. The harsh cadence of a troop of nasod riflemen cut through the dense crowd as another two dozen soldiers filled the hall, pointing their heavy cannons at Aisha and shouting a single, disembodied command.
"SURRENDER. SURRENDER. SURRENDER. SURRENDER."
"Tch..." Aisha scoffed and bit her bottom lip, her voice rasping and weak as she spoke. "Do you know how much we went through to get here? Do you know how many times we've been hurt on our way here? And you think... we'll just give up..."
"YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO COMPLY. SURRENDER. TWENTY-NINE. TWENTY-EIGHT..."
Aisha coughed as she raised her hands at her side and straightened her spine, struggling for a single, deep breath. "...I can't believe I have to go this far just because you had to get yourself knocked out. Seriously Elsword, you can be really rude sometimes..." A wry smile spread across her face as the air around her filled with the ferocious crackling of raw magic. As her hair fluttered wildly and she gathered all the strength she had left, the nasod continued their count as they prepared to open fire with nearly a hundred guns. Just before they reached zero, Aisha's eyes sprang open and she glared fiercely as she reached forward and snapped her fingers. In that instant, the air filled with a ghostly red glow as more than a dozen brilliant beams of fiery plasma shot through the nasod's ranks, spinning and slicing through steel as though it were a thin sheet of ice. In the space of a single second, Aisha had cleared the field ahead of her and left only the molten shells of the nasod and a thin layer of grey smoke. As soon as the gleam of magic faded from around her, Aisha fell to the floor, unconscious.
With his voice still frail and faint, Elsword whispered Aisha's name frantically as he wheezed and gasped. Still unable to move the majority of his body, he tried to claw his way across the floor as he stared anxiously at Aisha.
Get up! You can't- A sharp pain shot through his side and halted his progress, causing him to wince and bury his forehead in the ground. You can't be finished already. Damn it... Aisha, get up!
As the sound of pounding feet spilled through the air, Elsword's heart sank. Even after Aisha had destroyed so many dozens of nasod, there were still more on their way. As Aisha lay motionless on the floor, another six nasod soldiers rushed into the room and circled around her. After hesitating for a moment, they approached her slowly and began talking to some unseen authority.
"INTRUDER IS DISABLED AND IN ADEQUATE PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITION. AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS."
"...Hmm..." A thunderous roar fell from the sky as if the sky itself had collapsed onto the mountain above. "...Her capabilities intrigue me. Retrieve that one and bring it to the secondary lab. Dispose of the other as you see fit."
"UNDERSTOOD."
The nasod on point returned its rifle to a slender sheath on its back and knelt to the ground, sliding its arms delicately beneath Aisha's back and lifting her from the floor. As the nasod turned to ferry Aisha away, a sharp, swift clattering rang out through the corridor and rushed toward them. When the nasod holding Aisha turned around, Elsword was already gripping its arm and glaring defiantly into its single, glowing eye.
"Get away from her, now." He punched the nasod just above the stomach, blasting through its body with a searing flame. As the nasod's arms buckled and broke away, Elsword dove forward and caught Aisha, rolling to the ground and shielding her as they fell. As his bones burned with a crippling pain, Elsword gently lowered Aisha's head to the ground and then stumbled up to his feet. The five remaining nasod turned and leveled their rifles at Elsword, soon joined by another dozen soldiers who lined up a few yards behind him. Despite being surrounded and scarcely able to stand, Elsword's eyes were filled with a bitter rage that he was just beginning to understand.
"...What the hell... do you think you're doing?" His eyes narrowed as he glared menacingly at the nasod, his voice barely a whisper over their blaring warnings and inevitable countdown.
"TWENTY-SIX. TWENTY-FIVE..."
Elsword coughed and nearly faltered as he struggled to regain his balance. "Just shut up. Don't you dare try to touch her. You don't have any right... Do you even know how strong Aisha is? She just ripped apart a hundred of you all like you were nothing. Do you know how many times she's had to save me now?"
"SEVENTEEN. SIXTEEN. FIFTEEN..."
"...way too many. Damn it... she's always like that. What the hell is wrong with her... she'd be fine if she didn't have to waste her time keeping me alive..."
"NINE. EIGHT. SEVEN."
Hearing the countdown drawing to a close, Elsword clenched his fists tightly and his voice dripped with contempt. "Shut the hell up! You wanna take her away? Come try it! I'll rip your face off before you get inside of ten feet!"
"THREE. TWO. ONE. OPEN FIRE." As every nasod fired on Elsword in unison, he finally finished a desperate incantation. The moment cannon blasts reached him, a radiant glow filled the air around him as a blazing phoenix enveloped him with its wings. As the nasod continued their relentless barrage, every shot melted softly into the phoenix's feathers, feeding its flames and wrapping Elsword in a flickering scarlet veil. Drawing in energy from the nasod's attack, Elsword felt his legs lighten and he was finally able to breath deeply.
Realizing that their weapons were failing them, the nasod discarded their cannons and drew a pair of slender blades from their backs as rushed toward Elsword. Leaping forward immediately, Elsword reached up and grabbed the nearest nasod's face as he flew past, burning through the nasod's eyes as he forced its head back and threw it to the ground. Sliding across the floor, he grabbed the handle of his sword, pulling it from a smoldering heap and swinging out sharply to knock back the charging nasod. At Aisha's side, an unarmed nasod reached down to scoop her up only to have a shining ethereal blade tear through its chest and sever its arms. Taking the time to guard her had forced Elsword to drop his guard, leaving him exposed as the nasod surrounded him. Gritting his teeth, he jumped up and kicked off of a charging nasod's blade, rising high into the air and bathing his blade in a shroud of flame. As he fell, he thrust his blade into the ground and an overpowering explosion ripped through the air and hurled the nasod into the walls, twisting their bodies and smashing their limbs into a ruined heap.
Breathing heavily as sweat poured across his bow, Elsword latched his blade onto his back and hurried over to Aisha's side.
"Aisha! Aisha!" He knelt down and shook her shoulders, drawing out only the slightest sigh from Aisha's lips.
"Aisha, come on, get up!" An anxious pain twisted Elsword's face, his heart racing and sinking all at once as Aisha's face rolled to the side, her consciousness still far away from her. Scowling as tension spread through his chest, Elsword slid his arms beneath Aisha's back and legs, lifting her off the ground and holding her tightly.
Damn it... Elsword stared down at disheveled tufts of hair that fell across Aisha's face and forced his feet forward, holding Aisha against him as he stumbled over the corpses of a hundred shattered nasod. As he ran, a deafening screech shook the ceiling and the cold shadow of a partition wall descended upon them. Without preparation or thought, Elsword rolled to the ground, wrapping his arms around Aisha and sliding on his shoulder across the floor and beneath the gate just before it slammed into the ground. While Elsword hefted Aisha up into his arms, the ever present clattering of the nasod approached once again. Straining to cradle Aisha in one arm, he held his ground and stomped on the floor, raising a forest of fiery blades to tear through the relentless guards. With the field clear, even if only for a moment, Elsword breathed deeply and rushed toward the end of the hall, searching aimlessly for the elevator that would lead back to where Rena, Raven, and Eve awaited them.
After nearly ten minutes of scouring the Core and finding little more than an endless, vacant hall, Elsword propped Aisha up against the wall and sat down beside her. As the quiet whisper of her breath spilled across his ears, he began to wonder just he was trying to accomplish. Elsword had spent the last ten minutes smashing through nasod, letting himself be hit needlessly when his attacker would have surely missed if he had only stepped aside or jumped back. His nerves were shot; each time a nasod closed in on him, he panicked, guarding Aisha fiercely and accepting certain injury to his back and arms just to avoid the possibility that she would be hurt. His thoughts were a mess that he couldn't begin to untangle and he stared down at his trembling hands as cold sweat dripped from his face.
What the hell's wrong with me? I can't focus... He held his hands together and tried to draw out a small flame to warm the frigid air but the most he could manage was a flickering spark that faded into the icy mist of his breath. Damn it... Damn it! At this rate... are we really gonna make it out? If I'm gonna be this useless and stupid in a fight, we're just about finished... A soft weight fell against him as Aisha slumped over and her head rolled onto his shoulder, shocking Elsword and making him blush and scowl. Tch... this was the worst time to start thinking like that... Ah, damn it! I keep freezing up when she's about to get hurt... I'm so useless right now.
Averting his eyes as Aisha fell further onto him, Elsword stared anxiously down the empty hall. "Aisha, hurry and wake up. If you stay like that much longer, I'm not gonna make it. If you just wake up, I'll stop complaining about all the stupid stuff you make me read, and I'll stop arguing when you do stuff I don't understand... I'll even stop..." His voice dropped and he began mumbling beneath his breath. "...pretending I don't like you... cause... if you don't wake up soon-"
A loud hum flooded the air and drowned out Elsword's feeble whispers as a large panel in the ceiling drew back and released a swarm of nasod drones just as a dense mob of armed soldiers emerged from the end of the hall and charged forward. Scooping Aisha up into his arms, Elsword darted to the center of the hall and froze in the face of the overwhelming horde.
While the nasod rushed toward them as a solid mass of blades and steel, Aisha's eyes twitched and shuddered, opening slowly as she regained her strength and hopped down from Elsword's grasp.
"What... what's..." She stumbled to her feet, dizzy and disoriented. Seeing her faltering and unsteady, Elsword's hesitation melted away and he reached forward, grabbing Aisha's hand and pulling her toward him. As the shadow of the nasod enveloped them, Elsword chanted desperately as he held Aisha against him and squeezed her hand tightly. As soon as Aisha recognized the incantation, her eyes went wide and she pressed herself as close to Elsword as she could.
In the next instant, the air crackled and sparked, saturated with magic and a faint golden glow. As the nasod approached, a storm of jagged, shining blades blossomed around Elsword and Aisha, spinning swiftly and rending the nasod into a fine mist of wire and scrap metal. With each turn, another dozen blades erupted from the deadly spiral, leaving Aisha and Elsword in the narrow eye of a violent storm that scraped the walls and pierced the ceiling. As the spinning blades finally slowed, each shining sword shot out through the air in every direction and tearing through the remaining nasod. With his energy spent, Elsword sighed heavily and his legs quivered, leaving him off balance and leaning on Aisha and on the verge of collapse.
Before either of them could relax and regain their footing, a few straggling soldiers climbed up to their feet and charged forward, thrusting their blades straight at Elsword's back. In an instant, they were all swept away with a single stroke of pulsing dark energy that flew out from Aisha's hands. From overhead, a pair of drones whirled through the air toward Aisha's side, blades whistling in the wind as they sped toward her legs. With a single great crash, Elsword crushed both drones beneath his blade and scoffed as he shifted to the side and stood under his own power. Even now, without realizing it, they were still clutching each other's hand as they stared warily out at the rumbling piles of rubble in the corners of the room. As a few large, tattered nasod emerged from the broken masses, Elsword glowered and thrust his blade into the ground as Aisha placed her hand on its hilt, sending a massive wave of flame out in every direction and engulfing every visible nasod in a sea of smoldering ash and molten steel. With their lives finally safe and their survival secure, even if only for the moment, Aisha and Elsword dropped to the floor panted heavily, their backs pressed together as they wiped the sweat from their eyes.
As soon as the tide of his adrenaline receded, Elsword nearly choked on his own breath as he realized what he had just done. In fact, it was only in this moment that he finally let go of Aisha's hand and quickly pulled his own away.
"H-Hey... you okay?" He glanced aside, holding onto the unreasonable hope that Aisha had somehow failed to notice that he had been clutching her hand up until just a moment ago. Hearing no immediate answer, he began to panic and frantically searched for some sort of excuse for himself. "I just- I didn't wanna do that, okay? I just had to because of all the nasod, and cause-"
Aisha broke into his timid mumbling, giggling lightly and leaning her head back onto his shoulder so that the corners of their eyes could just barely meet. As his voice caught in his throat, a devious, satisfied grin spread across Aisha's face. "I thought you said you'd stop pretending you didn't like me if I woke up."
Elsword nearly toppled over from shock, his face a brighter red than the scarlet steel in his sword. "How'd you hear-" He stopped almost immediately. He suddenly remembered what had happened the last time he had fainted from magical exhaustion; a few moments of unconsciousness, followed by a few hours of being awake and aware, but entirely unable to move. Realizing that Aisha had heard everything, from the very beginning, he quickly turned away and blushed fiercely
"Nnngh... That's... It's none of your business! I can like whoever I want to!" He scowled sternly as he stared off into the corner, desperate to avoid Aisha's eyes.
"Oh?" Aisha smiled and pulled her head forward, tapping the ground near Elsword's hand. "So, then, if I can't complain about who you like... you won't get mad if I like whoever I want either, right?"
Elsword stammered out an incoherent mess of words before steadying himself and clearing his throat. "O-Of course not, why would I care?"
"Good." Aisha nodded and breathed in sharply. Somewhere in her mind, she was still struggling with the situation and still stunned at her own thoughts, but she concluded her negotiations quickly. This is... really, really embarrassing, and... Ah! I don't care anymore! I know he's just a kid and kind of a brat sometimes, and really reckless and stupid and completely oblivious, but... She breathed in deeply and braced herself. "Y-you've lost all right to complain about this then." Before Elsword could object, Aisha reached over and took his hand, holding it tightly as she leaned back against him. In that instant, Elsword's jaw dropped open and a stream of startled gibberish escaped his lips as his eyes went wide and a pleasant panic overtook him. After almost a minute, he was finally able to form intelligible words again.
"W-W-What are you doing!?"
"I-it's fine, right?" Aisha's cheeks flushed brightly as she shifted about anxiously and her voice faded into a soft murmur. "W-Why can't we hold hands, if we both like each other..."
Hearing those words, Elsword's thoughts ground to a halt, his heart racing as his whole body tensed up and he squeezed Aisha's hand in return. Caught in a deluge of rushing blood and unchecked affections, Elsword swallowed hard and tried to stay as still as possible in spite of his quivering hands and trembling breath.
"H-hey, Elsword...?"
At Aisha's call, Elsword turned aside suddenly, not realizing that by doing so he placed his face only an inch away from hers. For a moment, they remained frozen in time, too stunned to move or speak.
Just then, a low groan echoed through the hall as a large partition opened up just behind them, revealing Eve with Oberon at her side. She took only a single step out into the hall before she spotted Aisha and Elsword, stopping in place and immediately turning around.
"... I apologize. I shall return when you two have finished."
Elsword and Aisha fell back and nearly rolled into the wall as they frantically scrambled up to their feet, pulling their hands apart and hiding them behind their backs or in their pockets.
"E-Eve! That was just-"
"It is alright. I am aware that humans are sensitive about such topics." She turned back toward Aisha and nodded. "I cannot say that I understand why you would do such a thing in this situation, but I am no longer surprised by eccentric human behaviors. Please take your time. I understand that courtship is very important to your species."
Elsword shook his head violently. "No, that's not what happened, we were just all sweaty and exhausted and needed a break so-"
Eve raised her hand to silence him. "There is no need to go into explicit detail. I will wait in the elevator. When you two are finished, Rena and Raven are waiting for us up ahead."
"E-Eve! It's not- We weren't doing anything like that!" Aisha chased after Eve, with Elsword hurrying along behind them. As they boarded the elevator, Elsword quickly realized that Eve's misunderstanding would soon be the least of their worries, even with an army of nasod bearing down on them.
"Whatever you do, don't tell Rena, okay?" Elsword glared firmly and Eve closed her eyes, nodding slowly.
"...Very well. I suppose humans prefer to keep these matters private. Oberon, be sure not to relay this information to Rena. Understood?"
Oberon shifted uncomfortably, nodding dubiously as he glanced aside at Elsword.
"Not one word." Elsword glowered at Oberon, locking eyes with him as the partition wall closed behind them and the elevator began its descent toward the lowest level of Altera's Core.