A/N: Forgive the delays, but here's the chapter, more or less as scheduled
~Kalafinn
Rena woke up in the dead of night to the sound of someone falling down. She jumped on her feet, fastening her cloak over her body as fast as she could before heading out to see if any of the kids needed her help. However, the person who had fallen to his knees, seemingly frozen by the winter chill that filtered in through a half-open window, was the last person she wanted to see. The elven ranger swatted the idea of helping him up, sure that he was still strong enough to move on his own.
She contented herself to walk over and close the window. The dying Celestial, on his end, got back up.
"I suppose all of you can rejoice now," he mumbled, his voice somewhat strained as he struggled to get up. "I'll be gone to the gallows in a day."
The news froze the elf in place, and she glanced back at him, catching a glimpse at how he pushed his growing bangs away from his face. His Celestial form was coming through in patches, though it was hardly as brilliant as before. His snow-white skin had taken a green hue, and the eyes that should have shone with the colours of the El were now a murky green.
"I don't rejoice in anyone's death," Rena corrected him as she turned back towards the window. "I don't believe that I should, even if everything you told me was true."
"It is," he insisted. "I remember everything, even what happened before Ishmael-" Ain paused and his gaze lowered for a moment, "...scrambled everything. As a survivor of that tragedy, you should know the truth. Even if it has to be from me."
Rena took a deep breath. She had to keep her cool, no matter what. Even the second time around, this conversation was still hard.
"What I don't believe," she began, choking a little on her own words, "is that not only did you know, but that you didn't regret it. That you don't regret ruining…"
She shook her head, refusing to let her throat tie up, or tears clouding her gaze. "I don't believe." she repeated, her voice a little more uncertain than she would have liked, "I don't believe you ended up hating Elrios, your homeland, so much that you wouldn't care at all."
"You're right," he replied. "I would've preferred if that calamity didn't befall your hometown. You were as innocent as we were."
She turned towards him, hoping to finally hear the truth instead of his guilt talking for him.
"But that's not true regret," he added, his eyes cold and unfeeling. "Because I would make that choice again if I could turn back the clock. I saw no other way to save my family."
Ain shrugged. "Even with hindsight, I see no other way. Any parent in my position-"
Before she knew what took over her, Rena slapped him hard across the face. Her palm and his cheek were reddened by the force. His head now tilted to the side, the Celestial glowered at her.
"Any parent in your position, you say," she hissed. "Any parent in your position would've done everything to avoid putting their family at risk. And most of all…"
The elven ranger clenched her hand into a fist but refrained from hitting him again.
"You could've presented your family as the proof that both realms needed to put an end to the fighting," she growled. "But instead, your actions intensified the war, Ain. My hometown was destroyed. And yet it is just a footnote compared to what followed. Humans, Celestials, demons, even other elven tribes…you have no idea what the aftermath looked like. You were the spark that ignited all of it."
Rena took a deep breath again, but that did little to calm her down.
"And your son," she continued in the same tone. "Even if he's still alive, he has to bear the sins of his father. No good parent would ever leave that kind of burden on their child."
A frown finally soured his taciturn expression, and he pushed her hand away.
"You speak as if I never even tried to reason with Ishmael," he grumbled as his frown deepened. "I went to her palace, in front of all-"
The door leading to Ciel's room creaked open, making the two of them turn towards the little, white-haired figure that emerged from it. Her eyes looked far more metallic. The tiny, cross-shaped pupil that once filled her eyes with life was now a dead, marine blue mark that cut her irises in quarters. Spending all this time bedridden had taken a toll on her body, making her bones far more visible than they should have been.
Lu approached them very slowly; her movements were mechanical- like a puppet under the hands of a very inexperienced puppeteer.
"Russiela?" Ain gasped, his eyes wide open as they followed the girl's every movement.
Rena stayed glued to the floor. She had a gut feeling that something was wrong with the demoness, besides her malnourishment. The elf could not blame Ain for approaching her as well, still calling her name incredulously; his lips trembled between a smile and shock. Lu seemed to stumble on the carpet, and it did not take more for Ain to unveil more of his corrupted spiritual form and leap to her aid. He caught her by the hand And yet, the tiny demon countess barely seemed to register what had happened.
She still stared ahead of her, her limbs frozen in that mid-position between falling and walking. Lu blinked, seemingly noticing she was being supported by someone and decided to stand. She looked to her right, where Ain was, and remained completely silent.
It only took a few seconds for Ain's expression to turn from cautious relief to utter shock. He let her hand go, and Lu merely let it fall to her side, as if she had no strength to do otherwise.
"The El," Ain choked. "How did so much El energy seep into your soul…"
He turned towards Rena, and his expression said enough.
"We haven't found it yet," she answered, which only made him turn paler. He trembled as he softly grasped Lu's hand again. This time, the demoness turned her eyes towards him the moment his hand covered hers.
"You were the spark," she murmured, parroting Rena's words. "The spark…that ignited all of it." Lu tilted her head at Ain. "Perhaps that is why your hand feels warm," she continued, matter-of-factly, "I think…I think you grabbed it before. You were angry. We were high up in the city. Alone. You said there was no need for us to understand each other. But you are reaching out to me, again. Why?"
"Please tell me you remember more than that awful argument," he quietly begged. "Ru, you remember me, right?"
The demoness seemed to ponder the question for a moment, but before she could answer, the tiny, white-haired girl lost whatever strength she had mustered to stay awake for that brief moment. She swayed before crumbling into Ain's arms. He had once again used his corrupted powers to prevent her from getting a scratch. The Celestial held her tightly, refusing to say anything else. It pained Rena to see him like this, once again on his knees, cradling the body of his beloved as if she was going to wake from a short nap. Lu was not dead, of course, but the elven woman doubted the frail demoness would wake again, at least not without Ciel by her side.
Ain gently combed her white hair, his power slowly vanishing. He was regaining his human appearance, although the elf could already see some holes where flesh should have been. Had the circumstances been different, she would have let the two of them have a moment alone, but she feared what Ain might do when he was like this. Despair had led him to accept the mark of Henir all those years ago. He could take a more drastic and desperate measure this time around.
"I reached out to you again, Ru, because that's what my heart told me to do," the Celestial whispered. "We were two souls that should not have even talked to each other…But neither of us stuck to the rules when they didn't sit right within our hearts, did we?"
Rena swung a roundhouse kick at the stone dummy, caving its monkey face in. The elf sighed and charged a faster, yet less potent kick. She took full advantage of the training room in the basement whenever Aisha and Elsword were not there, which oftentimes was when they were asleep. Sweat was starting to roll down her forehead, but she still could not clear her mind from what happened earlier. Ain had taken Lu back to her bed and remained by her sideHe was ready to tend to her should she wake up again. She was perhaps taking a risky gamble by leaving him alone, but the Henir energy that emanated from the two of them was getting unbearable. Rena had let some spirits keep an eye on him. Should he leave or do anything to Lu, she would know.
'You talk as if I hadn't even tried to speak with Ishmael.'
Those words stuck with her, even now. Rena did not even want to consider the possibility that Ain had indeed been cornered into such a desperate choice. It would make the goddess of prosperity far too callous. And that just could not be right.
The elf took some steps back, ready to dash and jump to deliver a flurry of kicks, but her gaze wandered to the side. Some of the practice weapons still laid there. Among them was a longbow. Rena grabbed it and formed an arrow with her mana directly on the string before slowly tauting the bowstring. She was not even a third way through when she felt thousands of nails dig themselves into her shoulder blades. The familiar pain soon spread across her entire upper back. Without spirits to assist her, she could not wield a bow anymore. There was nothing she could do about that. The elven ranger grimmaced and put back the bow in the box where it should have been.
Just then, the door leading to the training room opened, and the enthusiastic black-haired woman that was in charge of the training facilities waltzed in, humming a tune that reflected her mood.
"Oh!" The woman in the red uniform exclaimed as she turned her attention towards the elf. "You're here way earlier than usual, Rena."
A small, chiming noise softly rang in the elf's head as a small pixie materialised near her. Ain had returned to his sealed room. There was no need to worry, at least not immediately. His existence was coming to an end anyway.
Rena combed some locks of her head back, tilting her head as she forced a smile on her face.
"Am I, Camilla?" She questioned in a tone that tried to be as energetic as the woman's. "I don't think I'm that far ahead of schedule."
"Well, you certainly got here way earlier than me, for starters," the Cobo employee playfully answered. "But that's all well and good. Got some good news for you guys."
The elf tensed just a little at the words 'good news'. All the good news so far had been rather depressing. Rena let the spiky-haired woman flip through the pages of the notebook she always carried around for a few moments before the woman tore a page off and handed it over to the elf. It had an address written on it.
Rena raised an eyebrow, squinting at the writing before she read it out loud.
"The Worldly Treasures. Accessory shop," the elf read aloud. "Fifteen-A-sixty, Boulevard of Flowers."
"Yep! That's the place!" Camilla beamed. "The owner, Luichel, will help you get into the palace."
Rena tilted her head, "The palace? Why?"
"Wait, you don't-? Oh, right. Hoffman hasn't gotten around to tell you," the woman exclaimed as she contained her surprise by putting a hand over her mouth.
Camilla clicked her tongue, briefly looking to the side as she rubbed her chin. Her onyx gaze illuminated again with a new idea.
"Hoffman's been real busy these past days," she explained, "Buut..he has confirmed that Banthus delivered the El to Wally. Luichel knows how to sneak around the palace, and she has agreed to lend you a hand."
Considering the state of the cave that served as Banthus' hideout, Rena doubted the transfer had been done willingly. However, there was no need to make Camilla privy to her suspicions. There was, however, one thing that bothered her.
"Okay," the elf carefully agreed as she folded the paper and put it in her skirt's pocket. "I just got some questions for you, if you don't mind."
Camilla agreed to answer, and so the elven Ranger began with the most important question of all.
When Rena finished getting Aisha and Elsword up to speed, the usual gloom that had permeated their meals became at least ten times worse.
"So, Luichel's a thief who's been smuggling goods out of the Palace and into the merchant's guild," Aisha said. "And, apparently, she's found out a route to access the entire palace. Not just their warehouses or cellars."
"That's about what I could gather from Camilla," the elf confirmed. "It doesn't seem like the whole truth, but we can always ask Luichel herself."
"If Luichel really knows that, it's better for us in the long run," Elsword added. "Lowe will be on his way soon. The least we could do is find out where the weak spots are."
The boy took a deep breath, grabbing his head in his hands. "I hope we don't have to create some ourselves. There's only four of us and too many of them."
"Four?" Aisha questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. "Who else are you counting?"
"Ciel."
"I'd like to be as confident as you are, sometimes," Aisha sighed. "It's been about four days since we last saw him. And he's probably had a hand in, uhm…"
The purple-eyed mage fidgeted a little, her gaze turned briefly to the side as she continued, "... that slaughter."
"I don't think he'd do it. He's a Steel Cross, so what would he gain from doing that?"
"He turned into a demon, and we don't know why, Elsword." Aisha spat out.
"Yeah, and Lu woke up, too, and we don't know why. I get it; demons have done bad things before, but I don't think Ciel did that!"
Aisha clenched her fists, "There was demonic ener-!"
"That energy was mixed in with something far worse, Aisha," Rena interjected before the mage raised her voice to a scream. "I'm sure you noticed. That mana had something different compared to Lu's or Ciel's."
The girl kept quiet but still slammed her fist on the table, passing her other hand over her face. "I know but–rgh! I don't know what to think about anything that's been happening to us. First Ain, now Ciel. And Lu…" Aisha took a deep breath, wiping away the corners of her eyes.
"I guess she's alive, but," she continued, her voice growing quieter all of a sudden, "will she ever truly recover if Ciel doesn't come back?"
"I don't think he'd abandon her," Rena remarked. "But I think that, given his state, they could want him to lay low for a while."
"Right," the purple-haired mage dejectedly agreed. "That'd be the best-case scenario, but not the most likely. I've never read about them sparing a demon for any reason."
"The Water Guardian we saw will protect him, or try to," Elsword suggested. "I don't see why he would save him if it wasn't the case."
"Hmm…Fair point. Your third one in all your life."
The tiny smirk on Aisha's lips made Elsword smirk back as well, shaking his head ever so slightly as he resumed his breakfast. Rena, on her end, had already focused back on her plate. The kids had not seen Ain, and they certainly did not know that he was going to be executed tomorrow. The elven woman worried that Ciel was saved and kept away in preparation for the Celestial's execution. It was not that uncommon for people who could wield demonic or celestial powers to take part in such proceedings. Rena herself had seen it, a long time ago.
The elven woman glanced at the kids; their banter had gone quiet as they tried to look through the window.
"Hey, isn't that…" Elsword began as his eyes grew wider.
"Dear El… How?" Aisha gasped.
With a furrowed brow, Rena decided to look out herself, and just at that moment, Ciel made his entrance through the heavy wooden doors. He looked almost no different from the morning he left them, four days ago. Before his descent into demonhood. His clothes were almost brand new. The half-demon carried a bag that looked filled to the brim, yet he swung it so casually over his shoulder that it would be easy to assume the contents were light as a feather.
How did he manage to return to normal?
Ciel tensed at how they stared at him as he walked in. The silence was thick, full of unsaid questions.
Still, someone had to get the record straight. It was best if it was her.
"Welcome back," the elf said. "Come and sit down for a while. We need you to explain some things."
The half-demon's eyes briefly widened before he furrowed his brow.
"I don't see the point in answering vague questions," he bitterly stated, before sitting a table away from them. He laid his bag on the floor and proceeded to take out a long, almost cannon-like rifle. The half-demon began to analyse it under all its angles, unmounting the charger and other pieces with the speed that could have only come from practice.
"Either you ask precisely what you want to know," the Steel Cross continued, his words almost timed with how he took out the internal components of the portable cannon and set them aside. "Or I'll just wait until you tell me our next move. Got some equipment I need to tend to."
"How did you get back to normal?" Elsword immediately asked. Ciel furrowed his brow at the question, his lips thinning just for a moment.
"I've got no idea what you're talking about," he answered. "I don't remember not being normal."
"Well, you're not the only amnesiac here," Aisha sighed as she rested her head over her hand. "We were hoping you had answers, for Lu's sake."
Ciel stopped tinkering with the weapon immediately, setting the piece in his hands delicately alongside the other neatly organised components.
"What do you mean by that?"
"She woke up, Ciel," Elsword explained. "Rena was already up by the time that happened, so she took care of her until we woke up, but Lu doesn't remember any of us."
Aisha was the last one to go out, following Ciel. The group had decided to split in case there was something fishy. As such, Rena had left with Elsword. Should they encounter hostile guards, the boy would immediately turn back, and Rena would cover for him. She and Ciel were the backup if Elsword needed it. The mage prayed to the goddess it would never come to that. Though Rena was very good at close combat, there was the chance she could be overwhelmed. It was perhaps better for only one of them to get captured, but Aisha prayed that no such thing would happen.
It was only three hours after midday, but the sun was already hiding below the horizon. She found it so gloomy, even though today had been a very good day for them. Lu had, at last, come to her senses after Ciel put his hand over hers. The tiny demoness had recovered mentally, with her typical brashness coming through despite her grogginess. Though the mage voiced her concern over leaving both Ain and Lu alone again, the demoness seemed confused at the mention of the Celestial. However, before the Sanderian mage could ascertain why Lu seemed confused about it, Camilla came along a very shy and new Cobo employee who wore glasses and looked a lot like Ariel. They might have been sisters or maybe cousins. The new girl had introduced herself in such a hurry that Aisha could not catch her name until she read the tag on her shirt. Luriel.
Camilla proposed to take care of Lu while they left. Surprisingly, Ciel accepted her suggestion quite steadfastly. It was unlike him.
The mage sped up her pace to match with Ciel's strides and glanced up at him.
"So, Ciel," she began. "Do you happen to know that glasses girl? Luriel?"
"No. Should I?"
The Steel Cross did not even bother to look back at her as he casually gave his answer. Aisha furrowed her brow, determined to make him at least reveal something, anything.
"Well," she argued, "if you were Elsword, you would trust almost anyone to take care of Lu. But you aren't. You didn't let any of us in, so, it's strange you suddenly changed your mind."
"I agreed because it's the only pragmatic solution, given the situation," the half-demon answered, his voice as neutral as could be. "I don't think any of you are very familiar with what to look for when you're infiltrating a palace. If I stayed, all of you would be more at risk."
Aisha pondered a little about his answer. He cared about their well-being and their mission, even now. Or, at the very least, he did not trust Luichel. Perhaps it would be best to assume the latter and have him explain why. Though she hoped Ciel would not go into detail as to how he knew how to infiltrate palaces; the mere implication that he knew such things sent chills down her spine.
"You don't trust that Luichel knows what she's doing, either?" The mage asked.
"Not at all. I'm sure she knows what she's doing," the Steel Cross answered. "I just don't think she has any reason to act in our best interests. Wally's still the ruler of this place. He has the means to entice any lowly merchant with a reward for our heads or use his men to strong-arm them into complying."
"Entice, huh?" Aisha repeated, a smirk on her lips. "That's a fancy word, coming from you. Did you pick it up from Lu?"
The mage expected him to at least lighten up a bit at her teasing or maybe roll his eyes, but he merely glanced coldly at her and turned back his attention to the front.
He did not even utter a word for the rest of the way, only answering her apology and subsequent attempts at a new conversation with absent-minded 'mhm's and 'hmm's.
It was only a matter of minutes before the two joined Elsword and Rena on the abandoned merchant plaza. It was a round, yet small gathering of boarded up or looted shops. Small campfires glimmered further down the alleyways. Those were probably started by refugees. Out of the desolate place, there was one shop that was relatively well-kept. Rena nodded at them while Elsword waved at her with a confident smile on his face. She waved back before following Ciel, who had merely continued to walk towards the rest of the group.
"Did you see anyone following you on your way here?" Rena asked them.
"No," Aisha answered.
"There was a guard who passed by," Ciel clarified, "but we didn't catch his eye. He was just doing his normal rounds."
Aisha raised an eyebrow, trying to remember if she had seen the guard, but she only had a vague sense that they passed through the usual crowd that dwelled in the slums. It was possible she had missed the guard, considering most of her attention was elsewhere.
"I see," Rena said, seemingly pondering their contradictory answers for a moment before shrugging it off. "Well, Luichel is waiting for us. We'd better go inside."
They pushed the door, and the warmth of a fireplace welcomed them as a bell marked their entrance. Aisha welcomed the heat, ignoring the barren shelves to put her freezing hands near the flame. Even with double gloves, her fingers reddened painfully, and her cheeks seemed to thaw under the comforting heat.
"Oh, Aisha, you're still feeling cold?" a woman's voice emerged from her right. "Poor you. Thank the El winter is gonna end soon, huh?"
The mage turned her head towards the voice and saw a strawberry-blonde woman with brown eyes, about as tall as Rena. She wore a fanciful brown dress and combed her short hair with a coif that matched both her eyes and her dress. The woman looked athletic, and despite the hint of some scars on her arms and hands, she covered most of them with expensive-looking bracelets and rings. Aisha had already seen her before, yet she still wondered why a woman with such physique still remained a merchant in a place like this. Aisha had expected her to flee after Wally's Memorial Bridge was damaged, like most other merchants did. She kept all those thoughts to herself and greeted the woman.
"It's nice to see you again, Luichel," Elsword said. "The bread you gave us last time was delicious."
"Glad you liked it, guys." She slowly turned towards Ciel, and her face became a little more serious. "You're… Ciel, right?"
Luichel's gaze was hung on Ciel for a while, her eyes seemingly set on his chest, or maybe the armband on his right sleeve. The half-demon gestured his hand over the coat of arms on his coat as if he wished to dismiss it.
"Pay no heed to my rank. I'm retired," he assured her before sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "It's just that these are still my only fancy clothes. It wouldn't be right to meet someone so crucial to our mission in rags."
Though Luichel seemed to find it amusing, Aisha could not help but notice how similar his pattern of speech was becoming to Lu's. Perhaps she was overthinking things. Considering Ciel had been trying to heal Lu through their soul pact, it was certainly not that strange for their souls to become more intertwined with one another. And yet, Lu did not really seem to act more like Ciel. Well, maybe it was too early to tell one way or the other.
"Well, since you are all here, please let me lock the door before we go," Luichel announced as she walked towards the front entrance. Her hands shimmered briefly with mana, and the lock clicked thrice. Satisfied with this, the merchant searched the pockets of her dress and took out a scroll.
Luichel gestured at them, inviting them to come closer to the counter. As the El Search Party shuffled in behind her, the owner of the accessory shop slid behind the counter and opened the map. Though it showed alleys and a route highlighted with red ink, Aisha could not recognize any familiar street.
"This is a map of the sewers," Luichel announced, tapping her finger on the small title at the corner of the map that identified what they were looking at. "I already marked the route we should take. We start from the southern point. That's the entrance to the passage I dug here."
The mage's eyes wandered to the edge of the map that was closest to Rena and found a small red start that marked where the shop was. With that in mind, Aisha took note of where the Merchant Guild and suburbs were, recognizing how the route Luichel highlighted was not the shortest one towards the palace. Instead of going northeast and keeping their route until what should be the sewer exit under Wally's Memorial Bridge, the red ink zigzagged through residential alleys and the small market before climbing up a long-winded and seemingly narrow path towards their final destination. There surely had to be some reason why.
"Uhm, Luichel," the mage intervened. "Is there a reason why we don't use the most direct route?"
Aisha pointed towards the point of divergence between the red ink and the rest of the map. "Right here. If we turn left like you suggest, the route here would take us under the heart of the residential districts."
The mage slid her finger over her proposed route as she continued to explain her idea. "Instead, we could go right ahead, more or less glued to the walls of the city until we reach the entrance point of the palace. We'd save more time, I think."
"Well, you know, that's…" the merchant stammered, briefly passing her hand over the back of her head as if to comb her loosened hair.
"There's maybe more guards on that route," Rena advanced. "It's right next to the wall, after all."
"Yes!" Luichel enthusiastically confirmed the elf's assumption. "That's exactly it. Too many guards for all of you to deal with. I never take that route myself because of that."
"Who made this map?" Ciel asked. "Some scholar at the service of the Court?"
"I made it," the merchant quietly admitted. "I wasn't always a merchant… Well, not the kind of merchant who can do business out in the open-"
"And you still mapped this route. Why?"
Ciel's tone was firm, leaving Luichel no room to divert the conversation elsewhere. He was not interested in any explanation of her past, and for once, Aisha could understand and respect his insistence.
Luichel pressed her lips together before taking in a deep breath. She scratched the back of her head as her brown gaze sank completely into the map. It was clear she was not really focused on it at all.
"Alright, no more games," she muttered as she rolled the map. "I knew you were too smart for this, anyway. Who am I to fool a Steel Cross?"
"No more games?" Elsword asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Luichel remained quiet for a minute, her hand clenched around the map in her hands to the point where Aisha feared she might tear the paper with her nails.
"This isn't your problem," the merchant cautiously began. "This entire situation was a long time coming, but at this point, I have no other choice. That route you pointed out is the fastest, but there's this thug that patrols it every now and then. He's strong. Stronger than anyone else."
She exhaled, her breath was shaky with fear. "I'm more than capable of handling myself against people stronger than me but not that man. He let me go on the condition that I never tell anyone about that route or use it myself ever again. That's why I want you to avoid it. He knows where I am, and he has the authority to come here and…"
Luichel fell silent, but the implications of what she was saying were not lost on anyone. Especially not on Elsword. Aisha glanced at him and saw how his grip tightened around the pommel of his sword.
"That's reason enough to take that path and teach him a lesson," the boy bitterly said. "Lead the way."
Strangely, for a moment, Aisha could've sworn Luichel had smirked, but it did not last enough for her to be sure.
"Thank you so much, guys," the merchant beamed. "Follow me to the back; we can't waste time."