Chung was the first to move. He sat up slowly, all while watching for any signs of broken bones from himself or Eve.

"Are you alright? Can you walk?" Chung asked, shaking the dirt and debris off his armor before extending a hand to the Nasod.

"I think so," Eve replied.

"Damage sustained is minor," Remy reported, "However, Chung's vital signs range from moderate to severe."

Eve looked up at the Hamelian quizzically. Despite Remy's report, Chung looked fine. She took his hand. Her entire body ached, but otherwise, she was still able to move. Chung, on the other hand, had shielded her from most of their crash landing. "It should be me asking you that question."

"I'm… good," Chung replied after a quick self-assessment. "Minus a few dozen splinters I could feel digging into my back and probably a concussion, I think that went fairly well. Your stunt, I mean."

"I just…" Eve began, attempting to find the words to explain her reckless action, "When you fell- And I felt- So then I…"

"Don't sweat the details," the Hamelian smiled, "I'm glad you did it. Otherwise, I'd be dead." He patted her on the shoulder and turned to leave.

Eve followed close behind, noting the surrounding ruins of what used to be some kind of building covered in some sort of canvas. Bed rolls lined the walls and in the middle was a still-boiling pot of stew. Outside, she could hear the muffled cries of battle some distance away.

"What is this place?" Eve asked.

"A community longhouse. A place where Caluso families gather," Chung explained. He pushed open the canvas doorway and peeked outside. "As I thought: we're in the lower islands. It's probably in your best interest that you stick with me. At least until we get you back to the main island."

"Back to the main Island?"

"Well, yeah. You have to meet up with the others, don't you? There's a battle going on out there, and Elsword and the others are going to start wondering where you are, aren't they?"

The mention of their former leader brought pause to Eve's reply. Chung wasn't there to see him essentially denounce their friendship and kick her out of the El Search Party in front of Elesis and the vanguard.

Chung stepped closer, eyes hopeful. "Unless…?"

"I'd advise against whatever he's trying to get you to do," Rose cut in, reminding Eve that she was still listening in on their conversation, "The ballistas are still keeping the rest of our troops from making landfall, and the officers are starting to get on my case about where you are."

Eve stared at Chung, who was none the wiser about their eavesdropper.

"Do your job, and move on. The longer we take, the more lives we lose."

Eve sighed, shaking her head at the Hamelian, "I can't, Chung. Take me to the main island. We shall go our separate ways there."

"Alright," Chung replied, dejectedly, "But stick close. The Caluso are nothing like anyone you've fought before."

Nodding, Eve stood behind Chung as he peeked outside once more. After a moment, he stepped outside, signaling Eve to follow.

Stepping out of the shelter, Eve found herself in an empty circle of longhouses surrounding what she assumed was a large moisture farm. Although crude in design when compared to the towering metal structures found in Sander, the presence of filled barrels of water at the farm's base proved it was far from ineffective.

"Where is everyone?" Eve asked, noticing all-too-quickly how deathly quiet it was on the island.

"Fighting, most likely," Chung explained, trudging off ahead to the island's main road before signaling Eve to move up.

"And the women and children?"

"Fighting… most likely," the young man chuckled. He darted off down the street, his steps light despite the heavy weapon he slung over his back.

Eve blinked and chased after him. "Really?"

The dirt path they ran along was littered with transport carts and overturned crates. Some of the few clearings they passed still had food burning over an open fire. It was as if the entire section of the city had simply vanished.

"Well, no. Not really. The Caluso aren't as reckless as to throw their own children into a fight… at least I hope not. I'm sure there's a reasonable age cut-off for children."

They reached the end of the road, and Chung eyed a magical lift platform nearby.

"Are you telling me these people send their children to fight?"

"Alright, the lift doesn't appear to be guarded. If we're lucky, the platform on the other end might not be, either-"

"Chung. Answer my question."

The young man sighed, "I don't know. I've never seen the Caluso engage in proper warfare. All I'm saying is… just don't be surprised if you find yourself in that kind of situation."

Eve crossed her arms, "And if I do find myself in that situation?"

Chung shrugged as he escorted her to the El-powered platform. Standing on the runic symbols, the Hamelian pressed on one of the stones, prompting the small floating platform to move. "Don't let your guard down, I suppose. They're just as dangerous as a grown warrior. Only shorter. And more unpredictable."

"You speak from experience?"

"I've learned a lot of my hand-to-hand from the kids, actually. I used what I learned in the Proving Grounds and in my fight with Ralek. The Caluso style was also used when I fought you on the ship. Raven was a good arms teacher, but he never really taught Elsword and I how to fight without our weapons-"

"But you lost in our fight," Eve pointed out.

"Well… no, that's not completely true. I realized that the longer we fought, the more likely I'd bring more attention to myself. Also, I didn't want to hurt you, so I was essentially stuck in the defensive until… well, I gave up."

Eve leered at him, "You wouldn't have beaten me even if you didn't have those restrictions."

"Oh? You want to bet?"

"No restrictions for either of us."

"Alright. My hand-to-hand versus your entire arsenal. Sounds fair."

"You claim you can do it. So prove it."

"Ok, fine."

"You're not really considering facing me under those conditions, are you?"

"And what are we betting?"

Eve tapped her chin in thought. "Loser must do whatever the winner asks."

There was a noticeable glint in Chung's eye at the suggestion. "It's a bet, then."

He extended a hand to shake on it, and Eve gingerly took the gesture.

"So… does that mean we get to see each other again?" Chung asked as the heavy magical stone slab ground to a halt on the main island's platform.

Eve crossed her arms. "Chung…"

"Yeah, I get it. It's a stretch. Just thought I'd try anyway since we're going our separate ways and all-"

"I… suppose I wouldn't mind," she continued, twirling a silver lock in her fingers.

Now it was Chung's turn to be surprised. "Are you serious?"

She was about to nod when a voice shouted impatiently in her head, "Eve. Ballistas. Now."

She winced at the volume, and Chung looked on, perplexed, as she clutched at one of her earports.

"I have a job to do."

"Right," Chung nodded, "Be safe out there. And… I'll see you later?"

Eve nodded, too busy trying to shake the ringing in her head to catch the small fist pump the Hamelian gave as she left.

"Mistress, I'm confused about our stance in this battle," Remy whirred as she followed closely behind Eve through the ruins of a long tent, "Is Chung our ally?"

"He's… our friend," Eve replied.

"Are we to engage him should we encounter him again?"

"No."

"Then he is our ally?"

"It's difficult to explain, but… I'd like to retain the relationship we have."

Remy trailed behind, the soft hum of her engines slowing as she pondered her queen's words.

"I'm having trouble understanding what this 'relationship' is, mistress. Not too long ago, you intended to incarcerate him. You even stated you wanted nothing to do with him the night prior. But then, you put yourself at risk to save him. And now, you say he's your friend?"

"It's difficult to explain," Eve repeated.

"Your irregular shift in reasoning is difficult to explain. If I may be so bold, mistress, I believe the lack of your emotional stabilization programming has drastically clouded your judgment."

Eve stopped and turned to face the white drone fully, frowning at her servant's words, "So you disapprove of my actions thus far?"

Remy continued, her unvarnished tone defying her queen's authority. "The choices you've made have led us further and further away from our directive. Upon our return to Sander, I recommend a reassessment of our current objectives - preferably without the involvement of other parties."

Before Eve could think of a rebuttal, Moby flew in from a hole in the canvas, chirping as softly as his excitement would allow.

"Mistress! I found our targets!"

"Time is ticking, mistress," Remy whirred, "We must take advantage of it while your corruption is still manageable."

"We'll talk about this later," Eve said, turning to Moby who projected a map of their surroundings.

"Two ballistas line the edge of the big island between us and our friends," Moby reported. The projected map highlighted two points in orange along the city's edge. A pink chevron appeared not too far from one of the orange dots, indicating Eve's current position and a red chevron was further away, indicating Elsword's landing party. The map zoomed in, the details of the turret rendering into high detail.

"There are five baddies per turret. Getting to the first one should be easy. There's a lot of wreckage and debris surrounding this one. But the second one is a bit iffy."

The map zoomed out slightly, and Moby highlighted the winding footpaths and the sporadic layout of the city. Far unlike Velder and Sander's organized districts, Caluso was, for lack of better description, like a plate of spaghetti. Collapsed housing and a whirlwind of debris cluttered any direct path to their second target. All major obstructions and difficult terrain were marked in varying hues of purple.

"The third should be easy to get to since it's closer to where Elsword and the others are. The Vanguard's drawn most of their attention, so we should have the defender's backs towards us from this point onward."

Moby highlighted the aforementioned area in green, marking major landmarks and pathways between their second and third objective. Once all details had been rendered, the black drone gave a series of clicks, indicating the end of his report.

Eve looked over the projection, admiring the level of detail her black drone had provided when she noticed a light blue dot some distance away from their position moving steadily towards the center of the Caluso's capital.

"What's this?"

"Chung's position," Moby replied, "He's been broadcasting his position the entire time, so I thought-!"

"Our focus should be the turrets," Remy interjected, "He is irrelevant. A distraction if nothing more. Remove him from your report."

"It's my report. If you wanted to exclude him, why don't you make a report instead?"

"Because her mistress wanted me at her side. Not you," Remy replied.

"Excuse me?!" Moby shrieked at a borderline dangerous volume.

"Moby. Remy." Eve's voice was soft but commanded an air of authority that silenced both of her drones. Once her two companions were under control, Eve turned to the black drone and thanked him, patting him on the head and receiving a content purr of his engines in return. She returned her attention to the projection and began scanning for all possible angles of infiltration. The map rotated, expanded, and contorted to show more detail at her slightest gesture. She inspected the ballistas at every angle, her focus only broken momentarily at the few times she glanced at the light blue dot slowly making its way across the map. Although she said nothing for several minutes, her drones waited dutifully by her side as she planned their attack route.

Although it wasn't apparent to her drones, a great conflict raged in Eve's head. As it stood, Chung wasn't her enemy, that much was clear. But what did that mean for the Caluso? She was there to assist Sander, wasn't she? That made Caluso her enemy… right? Would attacking the Caluso make an enemy of Chung? Did she want that…?

"Remy."

"Yes, mistress?" the white drone responded.

"You are granted access to our spear arsenal."

"Understood."

"Non-lethal use only."

"... What?"

"Under no circumstance are you to use lethal force on the Caluso."

"Mistress… non-lethal? I don't-!"

"Moby. You're with me."

There was a hint of smugness as the black drone glanced at the white, but Remy ignored it, looking to pursue the more pressing issue.

"Mistress. What about contingency plans?"

"I'm preparing that now. Moby, my whip," Eve said, to which the black drone began tracing a portal to slowly generate his queen's explosive whip.

Remy forced herself in front of Eve, drawing her attention. "Then what of my role? If I cannot eliminate threats, what am I to do with your spear arsenal?"

Eve turned her focus on the map, pointing out key points above the objectives, "Our objectives are these three turrets. I'll need a portal generated at these points… Your targets are here… here… and here." She highlighted each point on the map. "Understood? That is your role."

"But mistress…" Remy protested.

"I'm aware of the difficulty of this scenario. But I've made my choice," Eve stated, "And for this to work, it requires your full cooperation. Any less is a guaranteed failure of our mission and my survival. Do I have your trust?"

"... Yes, mistress."

Satisfied, Eve motioned her drones' attention back to the map. "Moby, Remy, here is our plan of attack…"

Eve watched as Remy flew out of the hole on the canvas roof, her small spheroid form going largely unnoticed against the looming Sanderian ships closing in the distance.

Her plan required both Moby and Remy's coordinated efforts to succeed. Though it initially caused unrest between the two, duty triumphed over petty squabbles, and they agreed to work together. Afterall, refusal would only bring more trouble to their mistress, and neither of them wanted that.

Remy was first to act while the black drone remained at his mistress's side for the duration of the first phase of their attack. The two remained silent as they waited anxiously for Remy to get into position. The moment she commenced the attack, Eve would be racing against the clock. Assuming the enemy was as formidable as Rose claims, she had to work quickly before word reached the other points of the incoming targeted attack.

"We shouldn't be limiting ourselves like this," a voice in her head spoke. At first, Eve thought the female voice to be Rose, but it sounded softer, more refined, yet detached from the conversation it was holding. It was familiar, and yet it was a voice she felt like she shouldn't be hearing in these circumstances.

Eve blinked and looked over her shoulder, half expecting to find someone standing over her, but found no one there.

She shook her head, trying to rationalize where the voice came from.

"What's wrong?" Moby clicked.

He hadn't heard the voice. Was she just imagining things?

"Nothing," Eve replied, still looking for the source.

"Remy is in position."

Refocusing on the task at hand, Eve nodded. "Moby, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be, mistress!"

Eve's eyes flashed blue, the transfer of El allowed Remy to quickly trace a portal in the sky. A single spear shot out of the portal in a downward trajectory. Before any of the five operators knew what hit them, the blade had embedded itself into the weapon. In one precision strike, the blade sliced through the strings and wedged against the winding mechanism and the rotating platform, rendering the entire ballista virtually useless.

"Let's go. Moby, lead the way," Eve ordered. She followed her black drone outside, along her planned route. The roads were far more difficult to navigate now. Having chosen to take the smaller streets to avoid detection, the neglected and uneven back roads proved difficult to navigate.

In the distance, more troop carriers could be seen closing in. She needed to hurry. The sounds of battle only grew louder as she drew closer to her initial intended landing point. A pillar of magical flame could be seen as it erupted just over the lip to the upper levels, undoubtedly Elesis's doing as Eve could feel the scorching blast from her position.

As she moved, she kept tabs on her white drone from the corner of her eye. Remy clicked and whistled loudly, drawing all attention to her as she circled above the first objective in mocking triumph at a generally safe distance from her adversaries.

Or so she thought.

A Caluso spear was flung at her, hitting its mark and drawing a deep scratch against her hull. She whistled in surprise before taking more drastic maneuvers to avoid any more damage.

"Will she be okay?" Moby whistled, his attention on the white drone momentarily and causing him to run headfirst into a low-hanging wooden support beam. The two found themselves squeezing down a narrow segment between a house and the stone ramp leading towards the upper segment of the floating island.

"She'll have to be, for all our sake," Eve answered, "Now eyes forward. How much further until our next objective?" She navigated her way under the beam as Moby pushed further ahead.

"Not much further, mistress. It's just across the upcoming street and-"

There came a loud crash as the canvas next to Moby burst open. A wooden bladed shield slammed against the black drone, smashing him against the stone wall on the opposite side.

"Moby!" Eve cried.

The Caluso warrior, a towering man that easily stood more than a head taller than Eve, kept his shield pinned on the struggling drone as he trained his sights on Eve. He shouted in a language she didn't understand, and in that split second of realizing what was going on, she dove forward just as the walls next to her tore open. Another Caluso warrior barreled through and slammed into the opposite wall.

Surrounded on either side, Eve quickly calculated her next move, tapping the explosive whip at her hip. She called for Moby to summon a spear.

Still pinned against the wall, the drone spun against the rock. A portal was generated above Moby and the warrior wisely stepped away to avoid the spear, allowing Moby to break free and rejoin his mistress. He slammed against the raised shield of the second warrior, buying Eve just enough time to give her next order.

"Here!" Eve pointed at the canvas as she readied her whip.

Moby u-turned away from the warrior, generating another spear and ripping a hole in the wall for his mistress to jump through.

The two Caluso gave chase back into the long tent as Eve sprinted for the exit. She swung her whip onto the large wooden support beam at the center of the tent and activated her explosive charges. The micro explosions along the metal weave shredded the log as she ran past, causing the entire canvas to collapse behind her as she sprinted for the exit. Temporarily blinded by the sunlight, she crashed into an unseen weapons rack, and she rolled on the ground, scattering the swords and shields around her as she scrambled to her feet.

Stealth was no longer an option. The cries of the two warriors struggling under the fallen roof and the loud snap of thick lumber had drawn enough attention to Eve's position that more warriors were fast approaching. She spotted the crew from the first turret further down the road accompanied by a second squad of warriors. Each was armed with a bladed, wooden tower shield and a scimitar while the second party appeared more heavily geared with bow and quiver added to their armaments.

"What do we do?" Moby whistled frantically, "Do we fight?"

"The objective," Eve said, spotting the next turret still in operation. Glancing at the collapsed tent to her left, she only had a few more moments before the trapped warriors would free themselves. In a clearing, a fair distance to her right, was her second target. The crew manning the turret, although aware of Eve's presence, were too preoccupied with shooting down the incoming Sander ships to effectively respond. A single Caluso from the five-man crew took a defensive position, raising his shield in anticipation of this unknown threat. "Follow the plan. I'll avoid engaging them as much as I can."

"But-"

"Go!" Eve ordered, "While I'm still in range to assist!"

Moby looked from his mistress to the incoming threats before flying off as fast as he could to get into position.

"Why not engage them?"

It was the voice again. Her disinterested tone questioned Eve's actions once more.

"These savages' downfall is inevitable. Avoiding conflict only hampers our chances of success. We should remove any room for error and crush any who resist us," the voice reasoned.

Eve couldn't find a good counter for the reasoning. Upon seeing the approaching soldiers, she strongly reconsidered her options.

No! This wasn't her fight to begin with. She had to avoid bloodshed if she could.

"I can't," Eve argued out loud. Suddenly, she recognized it. There was a haunting familiarity in her own voice.

This entity sounded exactly like her.

Just as she was connecting the dots, the voice affirmed this with a single demand:

"Let me out."

By now, the formation down the road had formed a firing line. Shields were raised as arrows were knocked and trained towards the Nasod Queen.

"A single volley of plasma rounds would cut through their shields."

"No."

"Why?

The Caluso fired.

In the split second the arrows were loosed, Eve watched in baffled fascination at their trajectory. The five arrows seemed to fly wide from their mark, away towards Eve's extreme left and right before suddenly curving mid-flight back towards their intended target from an angle that made it almost impossible for a target to dodge.

Almost.

As Eve moved to avoid as many of the arrows as she could, Remy appeared to compensate for the rest. In a perfectly timed maneuver, Remy slammed against the edge of a wooden tower shield laying at her mistress's feet. It launched into the air just in time to catch four of the five arrows, with the fifth grazing dangerously past the queen's torso.

"R-Remy!?" Eve gasped at the drone as it pulled its face from the dirt before flying at Eve.

"Excuse me, mistress!" Remy apologized, shoving her further along as wave after wave of arrows whistled past Eve.

Regaining her footing, Eve sprinted through the clearing towards the single shield guardian.

"Ready!" Moby chirped, reaching his destination just as Eve vaulted over a stack of turret munitions.

Moby's call garnered the guardian's attention, however. As Eve channeled her El, the guardian shifted focus to the black drone high above the turret just as Moby opened a portal.

"I'll distract him!" Remy chirped, firing a diversionary spear at the guardian.

The guardian blocked the attack before turning his attention to Moby once more. In one swift motion, he ripped the spear from his shield before flinging it over the turret, catching Moby's spear before it found its intended target. Before Moby realized he needed to fire again, the black drone was shot out of the air as the guardian nailed him with Remy's initial blade, the nano-sharpened tip penetrating the drone's hull.

"Moby!" The two cried in unison as the black drone spun out of control, disappearing a significant distance away past the sprawl of tents.

Remy loosed another three spears, the first being expertly caught by the guardian before the other two were knocked aground with two precise swings.

The white drone ceased fire as Eve redirected her charge, turning away from the single Caluso warrior with a trail of arrows zeroing in on her position behind her.

"What's going on?" Rose's voice echoed in Eve's head.

"Change of plans. I'm aborting the attack on the second objective," Eve reported as Remy warded away any arrows that strayed too close to their target.

"What? Why?"

"Moby's hurt. Retrieval in prog-"

Eve yelped as a stray arrow struck her thigh, despite Remy's best efforts to protect her. The queen dove into the cover of another tent, veering away from a predictable path as the arrows poked holes through the roof above them. Taking cover behind the massive support column, Eve was able to find a moment to catch her breath.

"I'm… I'm hit," Eve gasped, clutching at the wound as unfiltered pain surged through her body. With a nod to Remy, the white drone flew to the entrance, summoning spear after spear as she created a jagged wall of blades to deter any pursuers from running in after her.

"Where are you?" Rose asked.

"Remy. Coordinates," Eve said between gasps.

Zero could be heard in the background of the call. "Got 'em!"

"I'm calling up the Sandtilus's squad leaders right now. Sit tight."

"Not possible," Eve groaned, breaking the arrow shaft embedded into her thigh and pulling out the other half from her leg, "They know… where I am. I'm going to look for Moby." Remy hastily projected the map, drawing out the area of Moby's predicted landing zone for her mistress. It was a point directly below the third objective, against a tall sheer wall of stone. Eve scanned the layout once more and charted a new course to retrieve her black drone.

"Cut a path, Remy," Eve hissed, pointing at the general direction they needed to move.

She summoned more spears, cutting through the canvas in Eve's path as she limped her way from one long tent to another.

"Will Moby be alright?" Remy asked, helping Eve step through another hole she made.

"Would my thoughts on his survival… change his fate?" Eve asked the white drone, taking notice of the drones first humane question since her reconstruction.

"No. I suppose not," Remy replied.

"What's important is haste," Eve stated, increasing her pace to a trot as she willed herself through the pain, "The sooner we reach him, the better."

"Yes. You're right."

Eve's code interjected. "And the objectives?"

She ignored the voice, paying attention only to the sounds of the Caluso drawing closer along the road outside.

"Elesis and the others are on their way," Rose reported.

"Thank you," Eve could only mutter as she hobbled her way into a sprawling market square. Cluttered from a hasty abandonment, Eve had to painfully navigate over the mess in search of her drone, eventually finding herself at a destroyed kiosk.

There, nestled in the wreckage, was Moby, squirming and crying out as the spear was still wedged right into one of its eye sockets.

Remy flew over, disintegrating the spear immediately for him.

"Moby?! Are you alright?" the white drone asked.

All the black drone could do was wail in pain as its life force leaked out of it.

"Mistress!" Remy called, "He needs repairs!"

Eve approached the two, her eyes on the large wound, Moby's little arms and legs flailing helplessly as he clearly couldn't even see the two hovering over him with his destroyed eye.

"You know I can't do that…" Eve whispered, reaching out to touch the drone but recoiling as the drone wailed even louder in pain.

"Then… then what do we do?" Remy asked, distress rising in her voice.

Eve knelt down, taking the black drone in her arms. Only then did Moby's flailing cease, his motor slowing.

"M-mis…" Moby called. His chirp was nothing more than a rough grinding rasp.

"Mistress… what do we do?" Remy asked again.

With her dying drone in her arms, Eve quickly weighed her options. She was in no shape to run, nor was she able to fight - at least not at a capacity she found anywhere near optimal. She tried to cobble together a plan, scanning her surroundings for anything she could use before-

Her pursuers arrived. Looking over her shoulder, Eve saw ten warriors immediately file into the square, surrounding her with bladed shields raised.

She turned to see all of them. Each and every face looked at her with such tempered intent to kill. They advanced on her cautiously. Evenly spaced and gradually squeezing her into a smaller and smaller operating space.

She needed to escape. But how? Eve's mind raced for a solution as the wall of blades closed in on her but all her options were gone.

Suddenly, a message in bright yellow appeared in front of her: "Hello world! Full Generate Mode initiated!"

Eve gasped in confusion. She didn't activate her Full Generate Mode, but she could feel the El within her building to the point of overflowing. Her bladed wings materialized and only then did the encircling warriors stop in their tracks. They all took a defensive stance, wary of this new development.

No! They needed to run. If Eve used this power against them, now…

She desperately tried to deactivate her battle mode but the program refused to obey her commands.

More communication between the Caluso could be heard and they resumed their advance.

The entity in her head spoke once more:

"These filth seek to bar our path. Together, with our hands, we shall mold reality itself to our will. If you will not use what is within your grasp to stop them, we will."

"I… I won't let you!" Eve screamed in her head, garnering a soft, unsettling laugh from the entity in response.

"Oh, poor little Nasod," it said in a way that Eve could practically hear the twisted grin it was giving her, "We've never needed your permission. We've simply grown tired of waiting."

The last thing Eve saw was the glint of Caluso steel before everything went black.

"Eve? Eve!" a female's voice called.

Eve could feel someone poking her on the cheek.

Slowly, Eve's eyes fluttered open, catching red locks of hair in her peripherals. The blur in her vision faded, but a numb, buzzing sensation lingered in her head as she tried to find her bearings. She tilted her head upwards in confusion and found Elesis kneeling over her. High above her were her drones. Moby hovered close to Remy as they scanned the immediate surroundings. They noticed their queen had returned to consciousness but remained vigilant rather than moving to greet her.

Eve blinked. Moby was alright?

"Ah! She stirs! Had a good nap, Sleeping Beauty?" Elesis sighed in relief, letting the Nasod sit up.

Eve's next instinct was to check her leg. Any sign of the arrow wound, save for the hole on either side of her thigh-high boots, had vanished.

"What… what happened?" Eve asked, trying to wrap her head around the logic of the situation. She turned her attention to her surroundings and gasped.

"I should be asking you that question. I just got here," Elesis replied, squatting down to her level as they both surveyed the destruction around them. What once was a cluttered square of small kiosks was now a barren and shallow crater. The perfectly circular blast zone had carved itself so cleanly around Eve that any wooden or stone structure unlucky enough to be within the crater had simply been deleted.

Elesis's entire section, or at least what was left of the soldiers, hung around the edge of the ring, alert of their surroundings but focused mainly on the silver-haired Nasod.

"The Caluso…" Eve trailed off, "There were… ten of them at least."

"Ten…? Hadn't seen any," Elesis shook her head. She turned to the soldiers, signaling to them to scan the area again.

"And the ballistas? I was supposed to destroy them-"

"The one over there's gone," Elesis pointed back at the direction Eve had come from. A clear path had been carved from Eve's position, cutting straight through several soft and solid structures, alike. It was as if Eve was looking through a picture frame, perfectly formed, and granting a view of the distant desert horizon where a ballista and its crew used to be.

"And so is the one directly above us." Elesis pointed up the sheer cliff. Unlike the first frame, this one was shaped into molten black stone - as if someone had driven a giant heated nail through butter.

Elesis continued, "That massive beam of light was the only reason we found you so quickly, honestly." She chuckled. Nervously. Her face grew serious. "You… don't remember anything that happened, do you?"

It was then that Eve noticed the Blazing Heart's hand subtly gripping her sword, which was planted on the ground next to her.

She could see Elesis's section pick through the debris. Though they were actively searching for their enemy, they never took their eyes off Eve for too long.

Moby and Remy had yet to come down to greet her.

"You are in control now… aren't you?" Elesis asked, the grip on her weapon tightening subtly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Eve asked slowly, equally wary of the Blazing Heart's words.

The redhead peered directly into Eve's golden eyes, searching her for an answer that Eve clearly wasn't giving her before standing with a sigh.

"Right. Well, if you're okay, then I ain't got no reason to worry," Elesis whistled, garnering the rest of the squad's attention, "Let's fall back! Our job's done here!"

"Fall back?" Eve dusted herself off and walked alongside Elesis as they retraced their path back to the upper level of the capital.

"Yep. Our pylons are secured, and the main invasion force should be establishing a foothold at our landing zone. Thanks to your work with the ballistas, transport should be unloading troops without a hitch. Our job's done."

Rose chimed in in Eve's head, "The higher-ups have already organized a dustoff with the Sandtilus. We are done here."

"So, we're not to assist with the next phase of the attack?" Eve asked.

"What? You want to keep fighting?" Elesis scoffed.

Eve quickly shook her head, "No. This isn't my battle to begin with."

"That's what I thought," Elesis agreed, "For a second there, you were starting to sound like Elsword."

As they walked, Eve glanced back over her shoulder at the aftermath of a battle she couldn't remember. Looking back at her drones, it was clear to her that they were keeping their distance. This was an issue she had to address later. At the moment there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Is he alright? I noticed he isn't here with us," Eve commented, looking at the squad of four other Sander soldiers.

"Yeah. He's fine. Well… as alright as he can be. He was hit at some point but didn't seem too hurt. The knucklehead was still eager to fight, too. Wanted to come down with me to help you, but I ordered him to stay put in case a counter attack came."

"Why do I find it hard to believe that he wanted to help me?"

"Hey… I know he said some pretty harsh things to you back on the ship but… he still sees you as a friend and wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Does he? I find his reckless vendetta a more viable reason for wanting to tag along."

Elesis was clearly attempting to give her brother's motives a positive spin but ultimately changed the subject, "What's important is that you're in one piece. We're all going home. That's what matters."

They reached the landing zone, and Eve was greeted by a grim sight. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground. Blood and charred flesh filled the air as the few surviving men of the vanguard cleared the area to make room for more troops.

"We easily outnumbered them ten-to-one," Elesis commented as they walked past the bodies, "But the enemy was brutal. I've never seen a soldier fight like them. I had no choice but to cook 'em…"

Eve recalled the pillar of fire she saw earlier. After what she had experienced facing the Caluso, Eve was not surprised they'd push Elesis to resort to her fire magic. Because of how unwieldy an open flame was, Elesis had always been careful about how and where she used her powers. Judging by the sullen expression on the Blazing Heart's face, there must have been collateral.

Confirming her assumptions, the surrounding structures were nothing but smoldering ruins. A growing blaze and a large pillar of black smoke almost completely blocked out the massive El Crystal at the center of the city.

Elesis gave a long, exhausted sigh. "C'mon. Let's find my brother and get outta here. I need a drink."

The Blazing Heart led Eve through the crowd of incoming troops to the pylon Elesis and her section had cleared. Five bodies of Caluso warriors and what appeared to be a wind priestess lay slain before the rune-carved altar. Double the amount of Sander casualties dotted the area surrounding the pylon.

Of the few guarding the location, Elsword was not one of them.

"Where's my brother?" Elesis asked, looking from face to face as many of the replacement troops simply shrugged at her inquiry.

"Where is he? Red-headed guy. Looks like me-" Elesis asked, stopping each soldier that passed.

"He left," a girl's voice reported, catching her attention.

Elesis and Eve turned to see Vapor finishing a bandage on a wounded soldier. The alchemist wiped a sweaty lock of hair from her forehead, smearing dried blood on her face in the process. Despite her ragged, bloodsoaked appearance, the little alchemist appeared calm and in control of the situation.

"Left? To where?"

Vapor shrugged, "Deeper into enemy territory. After I treated his wounds, the young man suddenly had it in his head to charge back into battle. Convinced two others to follow him, too. Crazy and stupid, they were."

"And you didn't stop him?!" Elesis blurted out, causing the alchemist to jump.

"What did you want me to do? Jab him with a tranquilizer? I'm half his size, might I remind you, and with even less combat experience."

"Honestly, you should have," Elesis said, drawing her blade as she made for the burned ruins.

"Where are you going?" Eve called, chasing after her.

"To follow the bodies," Elesis scowled.

"Alone?"

"Yes, if you're not coming with me. Are you?"

Eve paused, considering her options before following Elesis back into hostile territory.

"Rose? Regarding our dustoff…" Eve radioed.

"I heard… I'll let the officers know but don't count on them waiting for three people when the rest of the vanguard want off the island."

"You're talking with Rose? How?" Elesis asked.

"Yes. Through a communication device she gave me."

"Ah," Elesis trailed off, "Let's go, Eve. I got a little brother to knock some sense into."

"I'm coming, too!" Vapor called, gathering her medic bag and tools, "If your brother's hurt, you're going to need me there."

The redhead snorted, "If he isn't dead when I find him, I'll kill that idiot myself."

A/N: Big thanks to Aevari, Mirai_akina, and Kalafinn54 for providing feedback and suggestions to this chapter.