Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword

The young woman looked around her surroundings. Redwood planks surrounded her in all four sides as well as the floor and he ceiling. She would be an idiot if she didn't know why she was in a cabin. And if she could describe the feeling that the little shelter gave her, it would be ancient.

There was the smell of rotten wood and dampness from from the rain that was pounding against the roof at this very moment. The floorboard creaked as she took a step forward and she thought that if she used just a bit more force, then there could be a hole in the floor.

"Where am I...?" She asked no one in particular.

"This place... looks familar."

"Ack!' She did not notice the person besides her until now, so when the little girl spoke up, she jumped in start.

"Who -" She took a pause because she recognized the purple haired child as the one she found crying. When their eyes met, the older female scrunched up her brows. She reminds me of... "Who are you?"

"..." The child remained silent, tilting her head down with an air of solemnity. She muttered something, but the elder didn't quite catch that.

"Hm?"

"What's your name?"

"Oh... um... Aisha Cerise." The purplette answered uncertainly. She waited for her to speak again and probably give her a name, but with the prolong quietude, she got the the feeling that she wasn't going to introduce herself anytime soon.

It was rude, that she knew. But Aisha could sense that the kid wasn't being rude on purpose. It was as if... she should know.

"Uh... do I know you from somewhere?"

"... No." The smaller girl shook her head and looked around. "Nor should you."

Aisha scrunched her brows again at the unfathomable response. "What?"

Not answering yet again, which frustrated Aisha, the younger girl walked over to the cabin door and swung in open as if it wasn't hanging on the last of its hinges.

"H-hey, where are you going?"

The smaller purplette glanced back. Briefly, Aisha could see the wisdom in those violet orbs that seemed to be in pain before it turned back again.

The little girl plastered on a mysterious smile and gestured for Aisha to follow her out, then she stepped out without waiting.

"Wait!" Aisha quickly followed the tiny figure. She thought that she would be faced with the pouring rain, but what she found instead was a busy street. "W-what..."

She looked back to the cabin she came from, only to find an alleyway that replaced it. Aisha frowned. Was that an illusion? Was someone trying to play a trick on her?

She shook her head of these racing thoughts. "Whatever, maybe that girl can explain what's going on when I find her."

She looked around the cobblestoned street. The bustling avenue gave her a familiar air of home, but at the same time, she felt the feeling of being on strange land. She has no idea why.

When Elsword returned, everyone was giving him a weird look.

"What?"

The Veteran Commander merely pointed at the weight that Elsword have on his shoulder.

The redhead gave them a look. "I can't just leave when he's unconscious. He might get eaten by starving wolves."

"You missed the point." The Tactical Trooper pointed out. "Why is he knocked out in the first place?"

"I punched him." Well, that was short and simple.

"Oh ... Why?"

"'Cause he had this weird look on his face." Elsword paused in a moment of thought before adding, "Like that look Add makes when he goes over the top."

The Diabolic Esper had a frown marring his face. "I'm going to look over that comment. You should just be glad that you stopped him before he kills you."

"That so..." He looked as though he wanted to say something but he didn't. Instead, he made a suggestion. "We should bring him."

"And why should we bring him?" The Diabolic Esper asked in loathing. He was definitely against such idea. Why would they need to bring some luggage that would end up wasting their time later when when it starts moving?

"It might be a tad dangerous." Raven was somewhat on his side since he also knew of the Infinity Sword's personality.

"I'm bring him." Elsword said admantly. "I want to ask him some questions."

"Why didn't you do that before you knocked him out?" Chung, the assassin, queried.

"There wasn't a chance." The redhead simply put it. He did asked but the Infinity Sword's answer just raised more questions. He could asked one of the people in the other group but... his questions could only be answered by the one who did the acts.

"I'll take charge of him." He insisted. "So let's go. We're wasting time."

Even though the Diabolic Esper felt unease about this, Elsword was right. They would just be wasting more time if they were to try to argue with the blockhead. Maybe I should have someone look after the twins...

That was the sole reason why he was absolutely against the unconscious Elsword going with them. If the guy were to ever make the connection between the kids and Ara... he didn't even want to think about it.

"Yin, Yang, let's bring you two to Noah."

"Eeehh?" Yin whined when her father implied that they were being excluded. "But I don't want Auntie Noah! I wanna see Auntie!"

"You can see her later." Add was definitely not going to let these two go with them if the probability of danger is higher than 0.0001 percent. And this was definitely over and beyond that.

Yang, being sensible, persuaded his sister. "C'mon Yin. Aunt Noah would be disappoint if you she heard you say that."

"Ah!" It seemed that she had not realized that her words could have hurt someone if that person heard it. "... Fine."

Add ruffled both twins head before telling the others that they were going to make a quick stop in Velder.

And it was quick. He had an audience with Noah, and gave a briefing of why she needs to watch over Yin and Yang - he took out the traveling business and that they were going to find Aisha - and she agreed readily. Though that might be because she has somewhat distracted by the documents she was reading.

"Oh, and Add." The Velder Queen called when he was about to leave. She finally looked up in the entirety of time when Add had greeted her and gave the explanation. "If you see Aisha, tell her to come back. She's been too neglectful of her work."

"... As you wish." Add said politely - he was in front of the queen after all. He took this opportunity to scrutinize the expression she wore. Even though it was impassive and a bit cold, he saw the faint lines on her forehead that were folded in worry. After all, her only sister hasn't been contacting her for weeks and there wasn't any forms of communication that could reach the Dimension Witch.

She also looked like she hasn't slept enough lately, what with the dark circles under her eyes and all. She didn't look her age. Well... she was nearing the end of her prime - nearing thirty years of age yet not even married. She probably develop a distrust towards any outsiders after that nightmare.

Add remember that there was a rumor going around the palace that she was still searching for traces of Edan's whereabouts, but whether it was to get an explanation or for revenge, no one knows but the person in question.

Noah nodded to his respond, and turned quickly to her right when she saw Yin doing something careless. "Yin, please do not write in those parchments."

Add noted that even in urgency, Noah still managed to make her voice sound calm and stern. And he left it at that.

Chung never thought that he would come back. Well, he did thought about it once but immediately threw that thought out the window when it crossed his mind. The Deadly Chaser made sure to never think about coming back by going in and out of his line of work constantly.

It was the only that that kept his mind busy and his body in shape.

"This..." His counterpart took a sharp intake of breath at the state of the city they arrived in. The buildings were poorly maintained, there were people sitting around in rags, hoping that someone who take pity in them, the atmosphere was utterly depressing. It was like watching a horror film for both blondes.

"Interesting." Said the person Chung did not want to be anywhere near of, but ended up having to. He picked his poison and he now he has to drink it. "There has not been any change in country."

"Of course not." He retorted. "Hamel's current government system is under Oligarchy. With different administrations, there's always boundary disputes between the wealthy that rose in power since the invasion of demons. Speaking of which, they also dwell in this land, making it even worst."

Chung said he never thought of coming back, but he didn't say anything about being updating ever so often about the current state that his native country was in. And every time he read something that he didn't like, he would take on an assignation job and shoot his target until he was satisfied.

And that happens too often.

Eve nodded to the information. "You are well informed."

"Better than someone who doesn't even care of the land she's ruling under." The assassin criticized.

"In my opinion, it is to better to let the people govern themselves. I have read a theory that a human wrote about, its titled The Wealth of Nations. The free market economic theory is a fascinating subject."

"... That only applies to a stable economy and has nothing to do with the government. The economy has its rise and falls you know and government needs to violate the theory when the country's economy is on the decline. Places like this needs government intervention."

"As much as we love to listen to you two discussing about Adam Smith's economic proposition, this isn't the place and time to do so." The Mastermind interrupted when the assassin and the Queen of Destruction didn't look like they were going to stop anytime soon.

The Code Nemesis simply stared at the albino that just spoke before turning away. "Very well. Chung, we are to discuss the matter when we're 'in the place and time to do so.'"

"Don't want to." The blonde assassin declined, showing his disparage of Eve once more.

"It was not a request."

"I only take orders relevant to my purpose of being here." Chung folded his arms, indicating that he wasn't about to back down without a fight. He's not a pushover and will never be.

"Alright, enough." The Night Watcher stopped the two from going around in circles. "Why can't you two be more like your counterparts?"

She gestured to the other Chung and Eve who were in a conversation with the Elsword and the other Rena. The people of the other party seem to get along quite well compared to them.

"Why do we have to?" Chung countered back. "We have our lives and they have theirs."

"But don't you... don't you wish they our lives were as simple as theirs?" Rena's voice became quite and somber the further she spoke. She then sighed and turned around. "Forget it. Add, do you know where we have to do?"

She and the others immediately went into a discussion on the matter.

Chung didn't want to participate. This had nothing to do with him. Sure, he knew Aisha when they were little, but that was so long ago that he now considered her as a mere stranger.

And so, he stood at the out edge of the group, observing the state his country was in. He remembered the vow he made to himself and it was part of the reason why he didn't want to come back. Because the day he comes back to Hamel is the day that he's strong enough to put the Fallen White Colossal to rest once and for all.

His hand tightened into a fist. He knew that as he is right now, he couldn't face his father yet. He knew that he's father was dead and what was left was a mere it was his father, in the flesh nonetheless.

Not enough resolution yet. He thought to himself.

"A penny for your thought?"

The Deadly Chaser didn't move, but his eyes moved swiftly to the corner. It was his lookalike.

"None of your business." He growled.

The other sighed. "Can't blame me for trying to get along with you."

Chung let out a hollow chuckle. "Really now. But just so you know, not everyone is all fine and dandy like you lot."

The Tactical Trooper frowned. "That's why I want to try to understand your situation."

"You can't understand it when you never gone through the experience." The assassin riposted. How could this guy possibly understand the nightmare he had gone through as a kid? He, who lives in a conflict-free world with his country intact and running.

They were the exact opposite.

How are oil and water supposed to mix when the oil is hydrophobic? They would never. Even if a hydrophilic solution were to mediate between them, they wouldn't mix completely.

She did not regret her decision. The Code Nemesis watched the surrounding people speaking, some more serious than others. She had never been in a more refreshing environment than this one, where the group of people did not see her as a queen to be feared but as a companion of a sort.

This group was much more intriguing than what she had expected.

Eve had noted before that her system was lacking something. And upon meeting Chung and the others, her core seemed to be resonating with these humans and elves. What would humans term this?

A "gut feeling" was it?

Whatever it was, it was compelling her to interact with them - even if Add was included. And a hollow part of her seemed to have been filled because of the presence of these people.

It was as though Eve had finally discovered what her system was missing, yet why does she still think that there was something else that she has not perceive?

She did dislike the fact that her Core was imperfect because of this. There was an unknown variable that, no matter how hard she ruminated on it, she could not derive the exact formula to find it.

It was an insect that kept plaguing the back of her mind.

If it was supposed to be sign that told her to wait until that something present itself to her, then she would have none of it. Who does it think she was? A Queen will not be toyed by the likes of an unknown variable. Even if she need to flip the entire continent of Elrios just to find that one tiny insect, she will.

This was how much the Queen loathed of obscurity. Uncertainty was always factored in and was considered a wild card. Its probability oscillated too much for her liking. As a Nasod, she preferred events that she could predict with numbers. Even when calculating percent error, she would make sure that it's as low as possible.

"Your Majesty Queen Eve -"

"How tedious." She cut off the Night Watcher's speech. "Is it not enough to address me by my name? Why bother with the appellation?"

"Um..."

"They do not address her as such." The Code Nemesis indirectly gestured to the other Eve, who in turned look back at her. She wasn't comparing, of course not. She just felt that these people do not need to be so formal with her. Of course, if it were any other person, they would get a Nasod Spear to the face.

"Would that not cause confusion?" The Battle Seraph shot back insipidly.

Truly, Eve was somewhat interested in the way her system was encoded. Just from the look of her version of Moby and Remy, The Code Nemesis could already intuit that she was suited for combat - like her. She wondered which of their codes were superior if they were to clash...

"True," Eve answered back. "But is that not an issue of the entire party?"

"Eve has a point." The Grand Archer piped. The Code Nemesis greatly approved of how adaptable this elf was compared to the other. "Maybe we should call each other by something else, so not to get confused."

It only took her 0.01 seconds - Eve timed - to come up with something. "I got something!"

"... Don't tell me we're going to go by hair color." The Blade Master said as if he had just read the Grand Archer's mind.

"Eh?" The elf looked at him with a mystified look, though she didn't ask how he knew. "You don't like being Blackie?"

"... I'm not a dog."

"Then how about the other Raven?" Eve noted that the elf is still with vitality despite everything.

"..."

"That's just... r-ridcu..." The Night Watcher tried to finish her sentence, but just thinking about Raven being labelled as such was something she could not take seriously to.

"See? Even the other me likes it!" The Grand Archer piped in satisfaction.

"..."

Seeing how the two blade users of the group looked rather put off, Rena pouted. "Fine. How about we go by food? Elsword can be Cherry since Aisha calls him that a lot!"

"Oi! If I'm Cherry then Chung's Squash!"

Eve observed that the people from the other group were rather informal towards each other. Was it because they are close enough to associate each other as friends despite their social standings?

She compared it to the ones that lived in this world. Her side was far from developing that kind of relaxed relationship like their counterparts.

Pity. It would have been an interesting show.

"I refuse." Chung, the Deadly Chaser, entered the conversation that he didn't partake earlier on. "Even if it's not directly addressed to me, it's an indirect insult. Plus, we don't need nicknames when you'll be leaving after Aisha is found."

"Speaking of which," The Mastermind changed the flow of the conversation, not wanting to see what kind of fruit Rena saw him as. "we have accurately computed the exact location of the last teleport. We need to go to the Halls of Water."

Eve have learned that humans exhibit emotion by the movement of facial muscles. Even if one did not voice out their thoughts, they would indirectly leak out their dislikes and whatnot through their face. And not everyone can easily hide the involuntary twitch of a muscle.

Being a Nasod, she have no such function nor did she deemed it to be remotely useful to have it. Thus, she did not bother to express what she felt on the surface. And that's why she always wore a impassive mask. But it is amusing to see how how many expressions humans can display and change in a matter of seconds.

At that very moment, Eve's detection senors had picked up on the assassin's minuscule twitch of the brow - just short of notice to the human eye. She secretly praised the blonde for being skilled at controlling his facial muscles to that extent.

"Is there something the matter?" She spoke out, clearly addressing the fact about Chung's rancor. She received a blunt glare from said person, but she did not apprehend why. Should the issue not be raised so that it could be resolved before it becomes a hindrance?

"Actually..." The Tactical Trooper explained in the Deadly Chaser's place. "That Hall is held as a sacred place for the Seiker Family."

The assassin directed a glare towards his lookalike, as if silently telling him to shut his trap. But he didn't heed ot the warning and started talking as well. "Meaning only one that belongs to the Seiker lineage can enter."

"... What?" Elsword frowned immediately after that. "How did Aisha get in there?"

The Tactical Trooper shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. There's a place within the Hall that only permits Seikers. Well... those who has been recognized by the Guardian Stone anyways."

Chung sighed in annoyance. "Since Aisha's a Dimension Witch, she can violate that principle. Damn witch..." He seemed to want to say more but stop short when he received several glares.

"What is that place?" The Code Nemesis inquired out of curiosity.

"If we don't go that far in, you don't have to know." Chung answered back. "And don't even think about going there."

"Well," Add started. "As long as Aisha wasn't that far in..."

...

When they were at the foot of the Hall, Eve had already activated her senors to the maximum range. What she found was rather alarming.

"There is a high concentration of demons in this area." She kindly informed the others as they entered, and also prepared herself for combat if necessary.

"Go figure." Chung commented as if he already knew the cause.

She wanted to pry (To satisfy her curiosity, she reasoned) but already knew what he would respond with. It's better not to waste breath if she doesn't have to.

"I will take care of the nuisances." Out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed her lookalike erecting screens around her and shuffling through them. Was she still collecting information of was this her method of readying to fight?

"Eve..." The other Chung looked as though he was trekking on thin ice. "Please don't wreak the place more than what it already looks like."

"..." The Battle Seraph merely nodded to his request.

Now she was extremely curious as to the Nasod's combat abilities.

"El Crystal: Spectrum."

The screens lit up dark blue.

"Thousand Star: Mega Charge."

A drone came out from Moby's mouth.

"Energy Needles: Advance."

Several triangular force fields appeared midair and concentrated energy in their center. Not long after, electricity condensed in sharp needle-like forms shout of relentlessly.

It seemed as though the front that she summoned reacted to the formation of the needles and released energy particles continuously.

The Code Nemesis observed in fascination as not only was the other able to produce so much energy in an instance, she also seemed to have pre-programmed them to seek out enemies.

This Code is indeed modeled for mass combat. Eve then compared her Code to the other. She was also designed for combat but the differences were obvious. The Code Nemesis was built for speed and single combat. That and coupled with the fact that she can utilize any artillery to her liking, she was enough to go against an army. But the Code the other Nasod have allowed her kill her opponents without even lifting a finger.

That would be boring. Eve concluded. Even now, they were merely walking along the Hall as if it was a stroll in the park. Honestly, that kind of encrypted code was simply too dull. Where's the thrill when the enemy die before you touch them?

She stared at a corpse of a recently eliminated demon with lethargy.

"You look dissatisfied."

What? Eve immediately whirled her head around and was met with paw-printed irises.

"Obviously because she can't even get into action herself."

Eve looked at the person to the right of her, completely baffled. She looked dissatisfied? Because she cannot fight the battle herself? A frown actually marred her indifferent face. How could that be? This is the emotion of "dissatisfaction"?

"Explain." She demanded of both Chungs.

The Tactical Trooper laughed awkwardly. "You just don't look happy staring at the corpse."

Not happy? The Code Nemesis could not comprehend. She turned towards the Deadly Chaser for his explanation.

He rolled his eyes but explained himself as well. "You're a queen who pretty much enjoys fighting on your own. Why would you be pleased if someone else does your fighting for you?"

Ah. That seems to make sense. "So this is dissatisfaction? Intriguing."

She thought for a few seconds. "Then does it connote that in order to erase this emotion, I must kill the demons on my own?" She has detected too many appearances of abnormalities in her system that relates to these human emotions. If she doesn't solve it now, it might hinder her performance later on.

And she does not tolerate hindrance.

"Wouldn't that be a bit..."

The Tactical Trooper didn't even finish when the Queen nodded to herself in confirmation.

"Seiker, we're going ahead."

"Wha -" The assassin did not see it coming when Moby and Remy suddenly took a hold of his scarf, pulling him along while Eve disappeared with a single lithe step.

If one was able to see her movement, then they would see that she didn't even touch the surface of the ground. It was as if she was gliding gracefully through the air in large strides; a single step equivalent to that of a hundred.

She stopped when she deemed it was a good distance away that it would take some times before the others catch up - even if they ran.

"Silvia, you don't just do that on a whim." Chung seethed when he finally tugged his scarf back from the two drones.

"A decision must be reached quickly and efficiently." Eve argued nonchalantly. "If not, then it will only become a hindrance during combat."

Chung heaved a heavy sigh. "Hindrance, hindrance, hindrance! Is that your favorite word or something? Is everything a hindrance in your eyes? If so, why are you even bothering with this?!"

"..."

"You could just be back in Altera, sitting on your stupid throne!"

"The inactivity... lacks flavor - if that's how you humans say it." She then suddenly summoned a Nasod Spear without any warning and short straight towards Chung.

The blonde became alert and was about to counter when he detected an unpleasant aura before him. The spear grazed the air a centimeter away from his cheek and landed squarely on the Shadow Charger that was behind him.

"Good, you have not let your guard down even once through this little outing." Eve appraised. "Otherwise, you would be more of a hindrance."

The Deadly Chaser's brow twitched visibly in annoyance. He was willing to bet that the Nasod Queen was just toying with him now. "You..." He raised his silver pistol and pulled the trigger towards her.

Eve stood calmly in her place, and just as expected, the bullet past her face and assaulted the monster behind her.

Confidence. That was what she was exuding right at the moment Chung fired. She had this... unwavering confidence that the assassin would not harm her without justification. In a way, she trusted him. It was reckless of her to feel trust towards someone who wanted to kill her the first time they met. She needed to understand why.

"You're annoying as ever."

"Is that so." Eve responded insipidly as demons started to appear one by one due to the commotion they caused. Now this was more like it. Perhaps she was a little unhappy that she couldn't lift a finger. It felt all too long since her last fight with the Deadly Chaser.

That reminds me..."Seiker."

"What?" Th blonde answered irately as he thrust his cannon towards a Shadow Stinger. Eve noted that there was a slight gratifying look on his face even if he was in a foul mood. Was this the act of taking out anger on something?

"We have not been able to reschedule our fight." She summoned several more spear and send then flying to the enemies in the assassin's general direction.

"Seriously?" Chung took a second to look at the Nasod incredulously before firing out consecutive shots at the enemy behind and to her side. "Now? Are you actually all brawn and no brains?"

If she was correct, then Chung just insulted her intelligence. Her intelligence has been provoked. How aggravating.

She had a temporary ceasefire when that though crossed her mind. Why in the world did that come to mind first? Was emotion that easy to evoke in her? Impossible. I am not installed with such application.

Then what was this sensation as though there was an insect crawling on her?

An utter hindrance. She thought. It was distracting her thought process.

Bang bang bang!

"Oi, what the hell are you thinking now?" Chung snarled as he shot down two demons that were about to pounce on the motionless Nasod.

"..." A frown laced her face, and she immediately drew forth several weapons from her arsenal. She send them flying in all directions, impaling the rest of the demons that appeared.

Now that, was gratifying indeed.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Chung looked rather put off.

Eve didn't bother to give him a glance and walked ahead.

"Irritation, dissatisfaction, anger, and the likes. These emotions are nothing but unpleasant inconveniences." She spat, a hint of annoyance in her monotonic voice. "I cannot comprehend why humans allowed such hindrance to be with them since birth." Perhaps it's because they're a lower being?

"What..." Chung was rather taken aback by the sudden outburst Eve just had. It was only after her back getting smaller and smaller in the distance before he action snapped out of it. "Hey! Wait a minute!"

There. Aisha just made an appearance.

Oh another note, Eve is learning a lot of things in one day.