Me: One month and I finally updated this story. Sorry if my writing seems rusty here than the previous chapters, guess 50 days of not writing about one story can get to you like this XD!
Mario: Tch, bout damn time too.
Crystal: What happens here?
Me: Basically the party forms, that's really it. I just needed to fill something in before you two finally reach Elder in Chapter 8.
Mario: Whatever. Anyway Chapter 7, START!
Chapter 7: Party Formation
Mario's POV
A flash of light disturbed my otherwise peaceful slumber. I stretched and surveyed my surroundings to remind myself of where I am. Damn, so this isn't a dream after all. I tossed aside the red bed sheets and swiftly gazed at myself at the mirror by the table.
I'm still wearing my Red Knights uniform and my hair looked as if someone shocked me with a lightning bolt (though knowing the tsundere magician's secret desires for revenge after the tree incident, its no stretch of the imagination). For some reason I didn't smell at all.
"I guess being trapped in this virtual world comes with its advantages." I mumbled to myself, smiling a bit and exited the bedroom. A delicious aroma filled the air as my stomach growled in response. Looks like someone's cooking breakfast. I utilized my gut feeling (literally) to make out where the smell is coming from.
As the scent grows stronger I can hear the sizzling of pans, utensils clattering plates, and idle chatter straight ahead. Sheesh it looks like everyone woke up earlier than I did (not my fault I'm not a morning person). The grand dining table became packed with carnivorous wolves disguised as people, the food all spread out across the middle. I found a seat near some familiar faces.
I sat down between Crystal and Elsword, with Aisha and Rena seated in front of us. "Good...morning." I greeted softly, yawning after just waking up.
"Good morning!" Rena greeted as the two knuckleheads devoured their food and Crystal too busy poking her food. Man it seems you're the only one in a good mood today Rena? I noticed that the cheery elf was the only one putting a smile on her face, everyone else's bummed out that training got canceled and instead ate their troubles away.
My stomach grumbled and reminded me of my hunger. Curse these pancakes, bacon, and eggs piled onto my plate! I gave in and quickly dug into my food. As I tore off my delicious maple pancakes, I felt a poke on my shoulder and turned to Crystal. "W-Whap?" I asked with my mouth full.
"So where do you think you're going next Mario?" She asked in the usual monotone, her brown hair down. "Ruben's El is safe in the Tree of El thanks to our efforts."
I flinched at her words, gulping down the food in my mouth. "W-What!? Ruben's El is safe?"
"Ever pay attention to the news dummy?" Elsword eavesdropped. "If that stupid bandit didn't go anyway from inside the Tree of El, then the El didn't go anywhere!" He resumed stabbing his sausages.
Aisha glinted her eyes. "Who knew the little brat actually pays attention to the news? I always thought you couldn't handle big words."
The swordsman dropped his utensils. "Just so you know, I aced the written exam getting into the Red Knights, and they're way harder than whatever mumbo jumbo you mutter to yourself about."
Goddammit they're at it again... I sighed as I returned to my attention to Crystal. "Anyway it's really safe?"
"Yes, why Mario?"
I stared at my food deep in thought. W-Wait...if Ruben's El was never stolen, then those three... I stared at Rena trying to "calm down" Elsword and Aisha by going into rage mode. ...Never would've gone through the entire trouble of retrieving it at Altera Core. I wonder...would it be better to just travel with Crystal and fight Berthe that way? Speaking of the blue demon, I couldn't help but wonder about the Altar of Dedication. It should be in that next town over at the game, Velder. If that's the case, then it takes place after... my head clicked and I unexpectedly jumped from my seat (getting stares mainly from the El-trio and Crystal).
Raven's rampage and Eve's awakening! I finally remembered, being one who actually read through the story dialogue as I did the quests. Without Rena to snap Raven back to reality and Elsword to accept Eve, maybe the game could change for real once I get back! I clenched my fist in determination (which the others saw as some stupid fantasy I must be dreaming of). Who freaking cares that I'm acting like a total cliché shonen hero, it might be all my fault if I don't bring those two to light during this quest! Man I can hear the Elsword dev team now, "Mysterious Characters missing! Cause unknown!" I finally snapped out of my train of thought by a bonk on the head by Crystal.
"Idiot." She gave an excuse. "Don't just stand up like that."
Rubbing my head, I sat back down. "S-Sorry." Being the idiot I am, I finally remembered what I was going to ask her from the night before. "Oh Crystal!"
"What is it?" She crossed her arms seated and patiently tapped her finger.
"W-Well..." I started to form my words together, finally coming up with the right ones a few seconds later. "Do you...want to travel with me...so I can get back to my own dimension?" She raised an eyebrow (and so did the three Elgang).
She sighed and nodded. "Very well, I see you would need a guide in order to traverse through this world safely." I brightened up and bowed my thanks.
"But wait!" I just remembered. "You said you stayed here in Ruben your whole life."
"Did I?" She tilted her head.
"I believe so." Hopefully my memory served correctly. "Having a guide who's as clueless as the tourist isn't the smartest idea is it?" I smirked as she (only in my eyes) pouted.
"Oh I know!" Suddenly Rena butted in, still grabbing Elsword and Aisha at their collars from yelling at them. "Why don't we show you around!" She glanced at the two, who both sweatdropped at the idea. "There's so much to see and maybe we could help you two train!"
"WHAT!?" The two kids yelled, prompting everyone to look right at us (oh god all the staring). With a quick mind, Crystal immediately pushed the rest of us outside so we can talk in peace. Once outside, I realized the Sun had barely risen from the hills beyond what would be Elder (those early morning knuckleheads).
"WHY SHOULD WE HELP THEM, LET ALONE TRAVEL TOGETHER?!" Elsword and Aisha yelled outside at Rena, Crystal and I standing side by side with me only sweatdropping at the comment. I sensed something amiss however and noticed Rena acting...twitchy. Oh god not again! I quickly shielded Crystal's eyes to avoid the look of "Devil" Rena as I liked to call it.
"Why?" Despite not raising her voice, Devil Rena sounded creepier than plain shouting. "Because helping people...is a nice thing to do!" After her little statement she went back to normal. Once again she sobbed herself in the emo corner while the two kids stood petrified, then dashed up to us two (Elsword to me and Aisha to Crystal).
"S-Sure w-we'll help you t-two!" The two quickly spouted.
"Great that settles it!" Rena recovered surprisingly quickly and hugged the four of us. "Looks like we're all traveling together."
"...Yay!" We all fake cheered, Crystal performing a slow clap.
"I see you managed to recruit them after all Mario?" I jumped as the sudden loud voice from behind randomly questioned me. Recognizing the voice, I turned around and shook hands with the voicebox's owner.
"Oh Lowe!" I greeted, then glanced back at my current five-man party. "I guess I did!" I scratched the back of my head while Elsword scoffed.
"So while we're gone Captain," Elsword asked Lowe, "What's going to happen to the Red Knights?"
"Heh, I'm called the Captain for a reason though!" Lowe brought his fist to his chest. "I'm sure I'll do as good of a job as Elsa- oh." He stopped when he noticed Elsword facing the ground in nostalgia. I almost forgot, Elsa was his older sister and the original Captain of the Red Knights before she...disappeared. What surprised all of us is Elsword's eyes brightening up when he faced Lowe again.
"I'll find her eventually!" Elsword did the same with his chest. "And when I do, I'll show her how strong I've really become!"
I took this once in a blue moon opportunity of his happiness to agree with Elsword and become his friend. "Hell yeah you will!" I nodded. "We'll all help you along the way and vice versa."
"Yes yes enough with the stupid cheering routine you two idiots." Crystal coldly ruined our moment. "We need to get going to the next town, Elder." She started walking towards the destination. The rest of us followed her, bidding bye to Lowe.
"Good luck on getting back home Mario!" Lowe wished me luck. "And Elsword, don't you or Mario try anything funny with any of those three girls!" Thanks to his comment, Aisha, Rena, AND Crystal start dashing away from us as we blushed and chased the girls to assure them otherwise.
"Y-YOU BAKA YOU BETTER NOT DO ANYTHING TO ME!" Aisha, like us guys, blushed really heavily when she noticed that Elsword chased her specifically.
"LOOKS LIKE WE'LL KNOW EACH OTHER IN MORE THAN ONE WAY LITTLE SWORDSMAN!" Rena ran alongside Aisha and laughed after teasing the poor kid.
"S-SHUT UP HE DIDN'T MEAN THAT!" Elsword retorted at the two El-girls and kept on running (didn't help that his gargantuan sword is slowing him down). I on the other hand actually managed to catch up to Crystal thanks to my natural litheness (thank you Mile runs in Gym class).
"Y-You...know he didn't mean that...right?" I stuttered a bit as I reassured Crystal (who, by the way, looks like she's taking her sweet time cruising while I'm sprinting for my life) that we're just friends.
"Understood, now hurry up if you want to get to Elder Mario." Unfortunately for me, I can only watch in comical horror to find Crystal speeding up (as well as the other three) as we raced to Elder in the morning sun.
I reached my hand out to them while running even faster myself. "WAIT FOR ME DAMMIT!" I called out to them. Oh man I'd love to see anyone's reactions to find five teenagers (Well...Rena's an elf so...) sprinting for their lives to head to the next town so early in the morning. You'd think we were finishing up a morning job with a race to the finish if you were there right?
Geez first day of a new journey and we're already rushing. I kept to myself and smirked, catching up with the rest of my party and ran to Elder together.
Berthe's POV
"So that scaredy cat actually brought along some friends with him after all." I, the omnipotent wolf demon Berthe, gazed upon Wise Dutor's crystal ball in the Altar of Dedication to inform the rest of us about their current condition. Why gaze at the supposed heroes of their quest and why inform the others here at my place? As I've told Dutor I was 1. bored with nothing else to do and 2. felt like I should bring friends to a festival.
"Yes I see." Wise Dutor slowly made the vision within the crystal ball on his staff fade away. "Why didn't you just kill those kids right there? Especially those two guys, you said that they-" He started to question me, but I interrupted instead.
"Yes they can use the El to their advantages so what?" I fired an Ice Beam across the corridor, freezing a free roaming Gargoyle in the process. "All of us beings literally can." I reminded my friend, who always boasts at himself for being the smartest one of the group (think again buster) about the El. "It's the driving force of life here in Elrios, so anyone can do it. What's so special about them if everyone is super?"
"He's got a good point knucklehead." Assaulter Crash practiced his hammer swings for when the "heroes" come knocking in. "All of us can do anything with the El anyway, it's just how we use it."
"But sir what about Wa-"
"No buts Dutor!" I put him in his place (for the 3rd time this week). "Only I can address situations from here. Anything that lunatic scientist who goes on and on about Nasods is rubbish anyway, there's none even around today!"
"What about the El sir?" Proxy overheard us with his sharp demon ears and asked, shooting down Gargoyle targets in mid-air as well. "If what you said is true, can't he use it as well?"
I sighed again and reminded everyone. "Look, what he does isn't any of our business. In fact if those kids can't handle him they sure as hell can't handle us." I reasoned fiercely. "Now come on!" I changed the subject and forced Dutor to conjure up a pin tail. "Let's play 'Pin the Tail on the Gargoyle!'"
"YAY!" Thanks to my quick wits Dutor, Crash, and Proxy all lined up behind me as I put on a blind fold.
"I hate this game..." I heard some poor Gargoyle utter so I decided to get to him first.
*POINK!* "YEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!" I removed the aforementioned blindfold and noticed a smoke trail leading up...and up...
...and away out the ceiling of the castle as the poor creature skyrocketed out of here. I shrugged while the others clapped, there's more Gargoyles to pin anyway.
And so, we spent the whole night playing the game. If those kids defected to us we could just spend our time like this. Now what was I supposed to be doing again?
...Eh I'll figure it out later. I thought to myself, watching Crash attempting (for the fifth time) to pin the tail on one of the airborne creatures with failed results.
Mario: ...REALLY?! YOU'RE MAKING THE DEMONS COMIC RELIEF?!
Me: XD nope, just put those guys up so you'll wonder what they do on their spare time.
Crystal: So Ruben's El is safe, how will the party venture through Elder and beyond without the urgency to retrieve it?
Me: ...I'll think of something. *writes note down so remembers* Anyway I got an announcement coming up soon. Look out for it in the next story I'm updating, Red Stained (good grief 35 reviews O_O). Oh yeah one more thing, I got a poll up asking which OC class I should use for this story for both Mario and Crystal so vote on that if you wish.