#velder high

[irlplaguerat]

recently rewatched the strain, a favourite tv show of mine from high school that i never actually finished watching for some reason. i now understand the unexplainable obsession i had with dutch velders as a teenager. (she is canonically bisexual) (and so am i)

[ainchase]

Elsword

“What do you want?  If you have something to say, then spit it out.”

1st Year

155 cm

Specialty: Kendo, household chores

The only 1st year student at the Velder High kendo club. He started learning kendo since he was a kid, having admired his older sister, a promising kendo champion. He joined Velder High as it was the only school in the area with a kendo club.

He’s never discouraged or intimidated in any situation, which comes off as arrogance at times. However, he trains relentlessly every day, saying that he’s got a long way to go if he wants to catch up to his sister, and he’s never been free of scars for this reason. He spends most of his time at the kendo club when he’s not in class.

He’s gotten several warnings for carrying around his practice wooden sword around everywhere which did little to deter him. He’s become more cautious about it though, and tries to not get caught. Despite his clumsy and reckless tendencies, he’s surprisingly good at household chores. He can be brutally honest at times, but he is just inexperienced at expressing his feelings and means no harm.

Aisha

“I told you not to run in the classroom!  Ugh, these idiots!”

1st Year

157 cm

Specialty: Nagging, magic (?)

A class president who’s never missed 1st place in the school ranking.

She’s managed to maintain her image as a bookworm since entering the Velder High, but according to the rumors, she levitates brooms with magic to clean when no one is watching. Other rumors say that she left some problem students midair 100m off the ground overnight to “correct” their behaviors. It’s been widely speculated that might be the reason why there is not a single student who doesn’t grow quiet in front of Aisha, even the most problematic students.

She appears as a Perfect Model Student who lectures others all the time and doesn’t lack a single thing in her life, but even she has a naive, pure side to her; her after school hobbies include reading shoujo manga or romance novels, believing in fairy tales of destined love.

Rena

“Call me if you need any help. I’ll run to you like the wind!”

3rd Year

170 cm

Specialty: Archery, tending plants

Velder High Student Council President, who’s always kind to everyone. She is trusted by all with her innocent smile and heartfelt sincerity.

She doesn’t hesitate to help anyone in need. As kind she is, she is also known to be merciless to wrongdoers. According to the school legend continued to this day, a student messing around at the flowerbed was soon found kneeling before her and begging for forgiveness.

She’s incredibly athletic, and many sports team have tried to recruit her but to no avail. She shows up every once in a while at the archery club, but otherwise she spends most of her time for the student council. She claims she suits looking after plants instead, but not many students believe that as she is the first one to run over to land a flying kick to those who cause problems at the school.

Raven

“...If that’s what you really want, then I’ll take you on.”

3rd Year

184 cm

Specialty: Leading people

In the past, he was the ace player at the kendo club, but had to leave all that behind due to unknown circumstances. At one point, he was the leader of an infamous student gang which was involved in several incidents.

He had spent a lot of his earlier days in the dark, but he was able to turn his life around somehow. He’s left the gang completely and cleaned off his dark past. He would love nothing better than to just spend his days in peace now, but he often ends up getting involved in unwanted fights with other students. It’s usually because people mistake his scars and his bluntness as hostility, not to mention those who wish to challenge him because of his infamous reputation in the past.

Recently, he’s been visiting the kendo club from time to time to spar with younger students.

For reasons unknown, he has bandages on his left arm at all times. Apparently, he never takes it out of his pocket. As the rumor goes, he only takes it out during a fight, but since no one has lived to tell the tale, its actual appearance remains a mystery.

Eve

“...How rude. Please be respectful at school.”

1st Year

167 cm

Specialty: Designing and inventing robotics

A mysterious transfer student. Cynical and refined, she is nicknamed “Her Majesty the Queen” by her fellow classmates ever since she slapped Elsword on her first day of school when he destroyed her precious inventions.

She has strange devices on her forehead and ears, but it’s absolutely forbidden to ask her about them. She shows extraordinary talent in robotic engineering; she’s even borrowed an entire facility of the science club to develop robotics in her spare time. Perhaps due to her past trauma of Elsword wrecking her creations, the security system is known to be a bit over the top.

She displays affection to her creations, more than she does to humans, but seeing how she can be beyond cold to other creations that does not meet her standards, maybe not all of her creations equally deserve her affection.

Chung

“Hello, everyone! Nice to meet you!”

1st Year

155 cm

Specialty: Cello, academics

Thanks to his excellent grades and polite manners, he was referred to the vice president position of the student council, despite being only a 1st year student. Both the teachers and students alike love this model student because of his positive personality, never hesitating to help anyone in trouble.

He doesn’t quite know what to do with the fact that he’s getting confessed frequently by male students because they mistake his pretty looks. He is especially good at playing the cello, and carries it around despite his small stature.

He attends Velder High as a part of his lesson to be the successor of his family’s business while his father is abroad.

Ara

“KYAAAA! I’m late!”

2nd Year

168 cm

Specialty: Calligraphy

She grew up in a strict household, where she learned to be respectful and courteous to others. Unfortunately, all the grace and refinement she’s learned goes out the window, because she makes frequent mistakes thanks to her innate clumsiness.

Being exceptionally talented in all things athletic, she tried join several sports clubs. However, she either got the rules confused or destroyed the facility due to her immense strength. She gave up eventually, but she accepted other’s suggestion to be a cheerleader instead and has been cheering everyone since. Her pure and innocent smile is her trade mark, making her fairly popular at the school, even though she herself is not aware of it.

The stray cat(?) she found one day doesn’t want to leave her side, and tries to get inside her bag every morning she gets ready to go to school. There’s a rumor going around saying that her older brother has made friends with the wrong crowd and became a core member of a gang. She’s worried because she had tried to contact him many times, but cannot reach him.

Elesis

“It’s important for students to continue to train themselves.”

2nd Year

163 cm

Specialty: Kendo

The captain of the kendo club, head of the student disciplinary committee.

When she catches anyone trying to climb over the fence to ditch school, she chases after them in a flash. It’s almost impossible to run away from her.

She didn’t get to spend much time at home, because she was always busy with kendo competitions since she was a child. She’s won numerous awards from world championships, but for some reason she’s left all that behind and currently attends Velder High as a normal student. Judging from how much she cherishes her younger brother, who is in the same kendo club as her, a rumor says that she quit being a champion just for him.

Add

“Hmph, what are you going to do with the fact that my name is ‘Add’?”

2nd Year

168 cm

Specialty: Disassembling and modifying machines

A problem student who has trouble getting along with his classmates because of his personality, but he is a genius; he’s often the top of his class. He is targeting a core blueprint that Eve supposedly has for his own personal agenda. 

According to the rumors,he is a son of a world-renowned family of scientists who have invented many incredible things in the past, but apparently due to unknown circumstances he's left the family and is currently living by himself. 

He's able to pay the tuition with the vice principal’s support, but it seems like he’s always on a tight budget. Sometimes you can catch him at the grocery shop during timed sale. Despite his cold exterior, he seems interested in animals as he can be seen spending his time observing cats near the school.

Ciel

“I’ve baked some cookies. Want to try them?”

3rd Year

188 cm

Specialty: Gunnery, butler activity(?), baking

An ex-core member of an infamous gang. He was forced to transfer to a different school with Lu after an incident.

He secretly looks after Lu so she wouldn't get caught up in trouble. He's known as her personal butler because of this, but he doesn't seem to mind his new nickname.

Although he looks distant and serious, he loves cute things; he carries around little trinkets of plushies on his bag or his phone. You can see him near a toy shop, playing the claw machine with expertise.

He loves to bake and often hands them out to students in the class.

Lu

“I am the Luciela R. Sourcream!”

3rd Year

141 cm

Specialty: Eating desserts

She was one of the leader of an infamous gang from the Demon School.  Betrayed by those she trusted, she was falsely accused of something and was forced to transfer to Velder High. Apparently she’s looking for a chance to get her old position back.

Nowadays she tries to get around quietly without catching any attention, but she ends up catching attention anyways, in a different way, thanks to her cute appearance and bold attitude. She is asked to play a role in the theater club many times because of this, but she rarely gets on the stage because she only wants the good roles.

She hangs out with Ciel who transferred with her, and seems to leave all the annoying tasks to him. She loves sweet desserts, and joined the baking club with Ciel, where she has taken the role of taster, as she is not gifted with baking in any way.

Rose

“I’ve successfully arrived at the school. For the chairman, transferring school is not a problem.”

2nd Year

182 cm

Specialty: Gunnery, repairing and modifying guns

Elite member of a foreign army school. She transferred to Velder High of Elrios to investigate the source of a great disaster that threatens her home country.

Perhaps due to her upbringing in a military family, she is extremely athletic and boasts an outstanding marksmanship. She is especially attached to guns and can be seen secretly taking care of a model gun she carries with her.

Having been trained with a strict military education, she can be harsh with herself when it comes to training and self-disciplining. She carries around bag with the weight of a full gear that soldiers normally carry. She also eats battle-ready rations like jerky or energy bars for meals, and is always ready for battle. Her soldier-like tendencies surprise people but it doesn’t look like she is aware of it.

Ain

“I’m a bit busy right now. Can you come to the student council room if you have a business with me?”

3rd Year

182 cm

Specialty: Can do whatever he puts his mind to

The scribe of the student council, who deals everything with composure and a soft smile.

Separate from his student council duties, he’d volunteered to be the manager of the kendo club. He visits 1st year classes quite often, under the pretext of supporting the young 1st class club member. He appears to be closer with the 1st year students than students of his own class.

He frequently calls in sick due to an accident he was involved in before he started attending the school. He can be seen taking classes at the 1st year class the next day. It’s very unusual, but strangely he doesn’t draw enough attention so he gets called out on it very rarely.

He’s always smiling and no one has seen him making any other expression. He can be brutally honest without any regard for other’s feelings, but it doesn’t seem like he himself thinks it’s particularly big problem.

Perhaps he is religious seeing how he performs certain actions before lunch.

https://imgur.com/a/c6C8H

[vyrulent]

starter call || @ringsicario

Dutch Velders holds a talent at screwing over top level businessmen for a shit ton of money -- all of which she can’t truly claim on her taxes. She seems like someone who doesn’t have it all together -- which, in truth, Dutch has immaturity down pat -- but moneywise, she has it locked down. 

She could slow the internet down to worse than dial up if she desired it, but the highest bidder had yet to enter her life. 

“It’s much harder to hide evil shit these days,” Dutch commented as she looked up from her laptop to the television screen where a high profile businessman was being thrown in jail for certain acts that had been paid for on the government’s dime. 

“Someone paid a pretty penny for that information to leak.”

[rainsonata]

Doppelgänger 6/15

Chapter 06: Mindfulness  

Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none Rating: M Word Count: 7,205

Summary: It was like looking into a mirror. What happens when one’s reflection talks back and throws uncomfortable questions? El Search Party struggles to find entrance into the Demon Realm, but Dominator has a plan.   

Alternative Title: Dominator fucked up and now everyone meets their alternative selves   

AO3 Link / FF.NET Link

— [Chapter 01] [Chapter 02] [Chapter 03] [Chapter 04] [Chapter 05] [Chapter 06] [Chapter 07] [Chapter 08] [Chapter 09] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] —  

----------------------------

Class Notes: 

Canon Path: Knight Emperor, Aether Sage, Daybreaker, Rage Hearts, Code: Esencia, Comet Crusader, Apsara, Empire Sword, Doom Bringer, Ishtar and Chevalier (Innocent), Bluhen   

Alternative Path: Rune Slayer, Oz Sorcerer, Anemos, Furious Blade, Code: Ultimate, Fatal Phantom, Devi, Flame Lord, Dominator, Timoria and Abysser (Catastrophe), Richter

-----------------------------

Code: Esencia

Fighting has temporarily ceased. In what appeared as a sign of victory was cut short by the appearance of an additional enemy. He shared Rage’s appearance in facial structure and body, but his disposition and body language spoke volumes of his intentions. Esencia understood when Blade extended his sword, lowering his body with the poise of a veteran fighter. His narrow eyes revealed a common emotion the Nasod queen recognized in all living beings she had fought. Blade was wary, defensive.  

Her scans displayed readings Esencia saw when she looked at Richter. Same levels of El as Rage, yet there were differences that perplexed Esencia. Nasods and humans’ levels of El fluctuated depending on the situation and their condition, but always had an average reading. Rage and Blade had similar levels, but they were distributed in different areas. It was as if Blade had neglected his Nasod arm in favor of another form of fighting to have developed higher stamina than his counterpart.   

Grabbing Richter by the arm, the swordsman aided the blue-haired man in a quick but clumsy exit. Rage had once performed an act of kindness when Esencia was damaged from a fight against the demons invasion in Velder. He and Bluhen were not enemies, but they were not what humans considered to be close friends, only lifting their heads slightly in acknowledgment if they happened to be next to each other. Seeing their alternates come to each other’s aid wasn’t something Esencia could have predicted.    

How many were injured? Empire asked through their communicators, her intonation rose at the end in concern. Is everyone all right? 

“How did you know?” Apsara asked, “Are you hurt too?” 

The red knight gave a quiet chuckle, You left your speaker on again. 

“How- how much did you hear?” The martial artist stuttered, waving her arms in alarm. Empire didn’t need to see Apsara’s face to recognize the panic in the martial artist’s expression, exaggerated even by human standards. Hair strands perked from her hairline, falling over Apsara’s pink face.    

Enough to catch that argument you had with Ain, Empire said. That was him, right? He didn’t sound very friendly. 

“Hmph, that is a subpar description of what he is.” Ishtar puffed her cheeks, crossing her arms closer to her body with a deep scowl. “An ungrateful brat who won’t call us by our names.” 

“Doesn’t ours do the same?” Chevalier was confused, “He only recently started calling us nicer names.” 

“Is Rune safe?” Esencia asked. “Has he spoken?”

Out of the rune user’s insistence, the party had dubbed him as Rune to avoid confusion between the two Elswords. He was their leader, yet at the same time, he wasn’t Knight. Members of the El Search Party commented on his clothes (“Are you sure you don’t need another jacket?” Crusader asked). 

With a gentle smile, because humans became eased when given little gestures, Rune failed to conjure a proper answer when Esencia offered him tea. A melancholic expression flashed in his eyes before the magic knight agreed to help them. The same eyes Esencia had when she opened her eyes to discover that her faithful servants were no more. Guilt. Pain. Things she once felt shame to possess. Did both Elswords experience them too?   

It was difficult to determine the cause of the appearance of their counterparts due to insufficient data, but the Nasod queen was prepared to utilize what they did know. Rune was another Elsword who claimed he had contact with their leader. That was why she accepted the El Search Party’s decision to keep Rune. His resonance with the El could be helpful in addition to Bluhen’s in finding Knight in the shroud of dark El and demon inhabitants.  

Empire lowered her voice into one of sadness. Lights flickered from their communicators, no longer flashing a message to all team members. She didn’t want to be heard by the others. Her voice reached their smaller group of four. 

Rune’s still here, Empire said. I told him not to push himself, but he kept apologizing, saying it’s his fault.

“They located us,” Esencia looked to the distance on her left side, allowing her lens to zoom into the moving shadows in the distance. “There are four of them.” 

“We’ll talk to you later,” Apsara spoke into her communicator. “Keep everyone safe.” 

Her speaker went off before Empire could give a response.     

The sky glowed, iridescent light shining in all directions. Gold thread swung over Richter’s head, steel-blue eyes gazed ahead with long hair extending down his back. The colors in his eyes inverted - pupils and sclera turned blue and white irises. El radiated from the man’s pores as he drew out pointed blades for each hand; they lacked physical shape but were held together by an immeasurable amount of sheer will. 

Several blades formed around Richter, merging into a longsword as he dashed forward and propelled himself. His blade clashed with Ishtar’s, barbed weapons sharpened at their ends with each side waiting for a moment of hesitation from their opponent. Richter backed away at the sound of bullets coming from his right. 

Smoke emitted from Chevalier’s gun blades. Bullets pierced across the battlefield the second time, bringing the priest’s attention over to the butler. Fighting a human opponent made Chevalier cautious, pulling his trigger away from Richter’s vital organs. It was apparent that the blue-haired man’s intention was to keep the priest alive. He had no interest in killing his own kind when they could make use of Richter’s knowledge. Richter’s intention in attacking them wasn’t something Esencia could extract from a database if one existed.  

Chevalier adjusted his feet, spread apart to fire a giant cannonball. Intensive levels of energy spiked from his gunblade and imploded. The aftershock threw Richter against the tree trunks with an audible thud. The teal haired man wiped his forehead, furrowed brows and stared at the crisp cut indented into exposed alabaster skin.     

Clutching her left arm, Ishtar smirked. “Your timing is impeccable as always.”

“My apologies,” Chevalier landed on his feet. The cross-shaped firearm on his back shifted as he repositioned himself. “I’ll have to be faster next time.” 

A shimmer of light shone in Ishtar’s hand, materializing into a blue spear. Light shimmered at her feet, leaping midair and blue flames flared from her body. Fire crackled and engulfed Richter in a sea of blue. The forest’s temperature rose in unison to the duo crossing their weapons. 

Moby and Remy alerted Esencia to look over her shoulder. Her lens shuttered. Oberon summoned by her side, her servant raised a blade in each hand for a wide slash. Each pose was precise with a purpose, reading his opponents’ moves to formulate the next attack. The chain attached to Oberon’s shoulder blade clanged when he pressed his blades together to block an attack. A pair of heeled shoes with spiky cleats came into her peripheral vision. 

The wind carried Anemos’ weight in a complex dance of jumps and sprints. The markings on her thighs made her similar to Ventus’ not only in appearance but in the way she held herself. She was confident, but the smile tugging at the edge of her lower lip gave way for a very human expression in which her brows were lifted ever slightly, gleaming with a spark of playfulness.

Anemos twirled, performing somersaults and landing high jump kicks into Oberon’s chest. The Nasod assistant flew across, slamming his foot back in resistance with blades dampening the elf woman’s attack. 

“Sorry! My bad~” The elf spread her fingers in a lazy wave, “I heard you were here. Didn’t know you had extra friends with you!”

Esencia winced when Anemos left an indentation between Oberon’s ribs. Pulling her servant back, blue screens projected from Remy and Moby. She had a sentry drone take over and ordered it to charge. Its small size took Anemos by surprise and made the elf lose her footing in the sudden attack. Anemos took the fall in grace and landed on her palms, bringing her legs back and into a backflip to avoid further damage. 

“Friends…” Esencia pursed her lips. Extending this fight would be beneficial because it would buy time for the rest of the El Search Party to get away from the chaos, but she recognized the flaws, as well as a Nasod should. Longer fights meant a reduction in supplies and high risk in losing valuable team members if any of them were injured. She had her servants, but they didn’t perform well in extraneous fights. Identifying and targeting Anemos’ weakness must be a priority. The Nasod queen trusted her friends’ ability to take on the other three.

“Airelinna,” Anemos brought her palms together. A gentle breeze summoned a small creature, leaving a blessing and restoring her stamina. Her footsteps became lighter as she drew out her bow. Arrows formed at Anemos’ fingertips and shone, raining down upon the Nasod queen.          

“Oberon,” Esencia drew back a hand to summon back the Nasod servant. “Protect.” 

Oberon held his arms out and summoned a blue dome-shaped barrier between Anemos and them. The electric field sparked as he raised his blades at the elf, pushing her back and blocking her attacks.   

“You’re not chatty,” Anemos tucked her body into a low crouch. She hugged her left arm and winced in pain, sweat trailing down the side of her neck with a tired smile.  “You and Eve would get along well.”   

Esencia blinked. The other Eve? Something in her circuits clicked at the mention of another Nasod queen. They would likely hold the same code if the other Eve followed the same path as she did, but it was not the first time the thought had occurred in Esencia. The loneliness persisted even after she reclaimed her servants. Would the other Eve experience the same emotions as she did?

“Unless you know where Elsword is, there is nothing to add to this conversation,” Esencia said. 

She ordered Oberon to retrieve and raised her hands to summon her other servant. Humanoid in appearance, Ophelia was shorter than Oberon and donned a knee-length dress.  

“I thought you would say that,” Anemos sighed. 

Propping herself back on her feet, Anemos leaped from across, taking long strides and using her magic to increase her speed. The elf strung her bow back, firing three arrows at Ophelia. Ophelia emitted electric currents from her core, catching the arrows midair and reducing them to ashes.      

A kick to the side, a powerful wind churned from within Anemos. Powerful wind picked lifted Esencia into the air as the elf struck Ophelia between the ribs, sending the servant flying across the forest. The tornado dropped Esencia to the floor, but not before she dropped into Oberon’s arms. She thanked the Nasod and patted Oberon by the shoulder to be lowered. 

Oberon sliced through the air with his blades, forming a circular motion as he danced a macabre dance. Moby and Remy burst into awakening mode as Esencia activated the Queen Core. The core configuration reversed into a ring with the core at the center and blared a violent red. Lasers shot from the core’s essence in unison to Oberon striking into their target. 

Blood gushed from Anemos’ forearm. The woman wrapped the injured arm with a spare piece of cloth and applied pressure to it. She kept her weight in the back of her feet and kept moving, her eyes danced between Esencia and the Nasod servants. 

“The way you fight reminds me of someone,” Anemos breathed. “He’s not one to underestimate the enemy either.”

“You acknowledge being the enemy?” Esencia asked. 

She giggled, “I’m not blind in your distrust of me.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,”  Esencia denied. Until there was enough information about the El Search Party’s counterparts, she would withhold trust until there was evidence saying otherwise. The Nasod queen was uncertain about having an amicable opponent, too friendly to make her comfortable.   

“Do you now?” Anemos drawled.      

“Oberon,” she called for her servant. “Sonic Wave!”

Appearing in front of the queen, Oberon took charge. His helmet shone as he raised his legs and kicked the ground to propel himself at Anemos. Oberon performed a backflip for a wide slash with the side of his blades when Esencia detected foreign Nasod technology. Before her program could detect the source, an unknown object flew past her field of vision. It followed Oberon. Moby and Remy detected its movement guided by a tracking device. There was insufficient time to identify it. A flat disc the size of her palm fired into Oberon’s body, increasing the number of dents in the Nasod before returning to its owner. 

Four drones appeared together as a cluster. She picked up high readings in energy as pink lasers fired from them in unison. Oberon fought to resist the tension, waving his blades to inflict damage, but they persisted. Temperatures rose the closer the drones approached Oberon, melting through his plated exterior and forcing the Nasod to shut down.     

“What kind of drone is this?” A male voice rose from the dust. Sparks flew from a pair of magenta eyes, “Is that all the Queen has to offer?” 

Esencia narrowed her eyes. Oberon was a servant, not a drone. She did not need a facial recognition program to inform her who the man was.  

Dressed in white, Dominator had six drones and a pair of circular ones following him the way Moby and Remy did for her. Using his drones as a makeshift seat, the man crossed his legs and ground his heels against what was left of Oberon’s faceplate. The black portion was scraped to expose melted circuits and snapped wires. 

“Didn’t I tell you I would take on the Queen?” Dominator pulled Anemos up from the floor, “The fox is all yours.” 

“Leaving her to me and Raven?” Anemos was not as impressed. 

“It takes time to set up the perfect experiment,” the scientist waved his hand. “Wouldn’t you agree, Eve?” 

Her circuits ran hot in response to his intonation. Dominator talked more than Bringer by a wide margin. Regardless, she held the same emotion as she did with the brawler who proclaimed himself to be a Nasod engineer. Irritation flared from Esencia’s emotion control circuit before she had the time to rein back control on irrational thoughts. 

Dominator mentioned a fox. Apsara was a target to the opposite El Search Party because of Eun. They viewed her as an obstruction from confronting the martial artist and sent Dominator to fight her. Leaving the Nasod specialist to fight the Nasod queen was a logical decision on their part. Oberon was no longer in service, but Esencia still had her servants and her friends. That would be enough to sustain herself.       

“No response?” Dominator chuckled darkly, “That’s fine. The priest told me about your new drones. Let’s see how they fare in an experiment.”  

---------------------------------------

Rune Master

“How many were injured?” Empire spoke into her mic in a hushed tone, whispering words not meant for anyone to hear. “Is everyone all right?” 

Rune leaned inward, yearning to listen to the conversation the red-haired knight had with their - her teammates. They looked like his friends, something he was still scrambling to piece together with as much grace as one could in his situation. He wasn’t going to pretend that he understood why there were two El Search Parties, but he knew that Empire was concerned for the well-being of her friends. Empire wouldn’t be his big sister if she wasn’t as caring and took responsibility for the pain of others. 

A cold chill ran over Rune’s pores, a cool breeze rustled the leaves from the tree trunk where he laid his head to rest. If he gazed at the sky, he could have identified all of the constellations overhead. The stars’ alignments shifted from their positions in Elrios, but they were recognizable once he adjusted his perspective of them. 

“I’m here if you need to talk.” Empire’s voice rang in his head.  

Ever since he confronted Solace and gave himself to the El, he gained newfound sensitivity to everyone’s wavelengths. He saw colored lines connecting the users to the source. Although he wasn’t as adept in detecting and differentiating El resonance as Richter, Rune knew as soon as he met Knight. They ran on the same wavelength, a red spark formed between the two before violently torn apart by the demon encounter. 

“Why do you talk to me like I’m him?” he asked.   

Rune reached for his communicator, toying with the white device clipped between his jacket sleeve. The thin purple highlights shone innocently under the moonlight. His sister’s counterpart was occupied with her own conversation and the rest of the group were tending to their wounds from the previous fight. This was his chance to contact his friends and make a run for it. He needed to let them know where he was. 

“But you are him.” 

Was he? Rune was no longer sure. He may have shared the same El resonance as Knight, but did he use it to its full potential? His father and sister trained him the way of the sword, only for Rune to pursue magic in their absence. Knight stayed true to his ways and became a Velder knight, never losing sight of the dreams Rune abandoned in Elder.    

“Knowing that I’m not him, you still hold me captive?” Rune lowered his head, “That’s selfish of you.” 

Rune knew he hit a sore spot because Empire flinched from the disdain in his tone. Captive was a strong word, but being tossed over Rage’s shoulder like a rag doll without his say in the matter wasn’t exactly something he was gung-ho about either. Who would have thought Blade’s counterpart could make impulsive decisions on the fly without making a lecture out of it? 

“You’re the last person Elsword talked to.” Empire whispered, “Any clues about his whereabouts would help.” 

So they were going to keep him here until he spilled the beans or when they found the poster boy for heroism? Rune didn’t like it. Weapons were drawn and emotions ran high. As long as Knight was absent, any words of reason would fall into deaf ears.  

Slipping away now was a possibility, but it was a fool’s plan if Rune wanted to be outnumbered and outpowered. In unknown territory infested with demons, the odds were against him if he wanted a successful escape. Although the group was four members short, seven people remained. It was best to stay low and wait until his friends could find him. Ultimate and Dominator had the technology to track him and Richter, Abysser, and Timoria had their keen senses.         

“I know you’re not happy but…” Empire choked, “Please. He’s my brother.” 

Rune bit his lips. He was awful at saying no to his sister. She just wanted to see her brother again. How could Rune deny her that when he went through the same pain? Knight gave it his all and pushed him away in exchange for his livelihood, an act of selflessness he had clearly learned from his sister. It was a weakness that was going to be exploited against him one day, Rune looked up in exasperation. 

How hard could it be to find a redhead in a dimension where everything came in shades of blue and purple? If Knight was anything like him, he wouldn’t stay quiet for long and cause havoc to whoever was unfortunate enough to kidnap him. Rune had doubts Knight was one to stay put without fighting back. The rune user wasn’t even aware of Knight’s existence until hours ago, yet it had become easy to accept his other self after the initial shock.   

Rune did what he could to be discreet in turning on his communicator without making it obvious. No need to alert the El Search Party that he was making a call. He saw Knight’s friends using similar devices as his, identical in everything but the color schemes.   

“Come on, work!” Rune mumbled to his communicator. 

It worked fine when they were in Elrianode. Why did it lose connection now? Was it the high concentration of Dark El or demonic energy? He allowed the device to flicker to life and stayed still. Static filled his eardrums as he struggled to find a connection. No luck.  

Was there no other way to contact his friends? Rune looked at the device in defeat, pondering if smacking it by the side would fix it. Dominator would probably yell at him for that, but at least he’ll get a good laugh out of it.    

“Elsword?” 

“Ack!” Rune tossed his communicator in the air, juggling it between his two hands before stuffing it in his jacket pocket. His shoulders relaxed when he saw a pair of eyes the color of the Hamel sea. “Hi, uh… Chung. What’s up?” 

“Do you mind if I join?” Crusader pointed at the patch of grass beside Rune, “We won’t be moving until everyone is well-rested.” 

Rune shook his head, biting the side of his cheek. What was he going to do? Say no and tell Crusader to go elsewhere? Discomfort edged in the back of his mind at the thought of shooing the other male away. He scooted to the side and made room for the guardian, pulling his legs into a criss-cross with his arms on his lap. Next to the full armored Crusader, Rune felt naked and exposed to the elements in his unbuttoned white jacket. 

Phantom once explained to Rune about the material used for the armor Hamel soldiers donned in combat. There was a science in making the white armor durable enough to absorb damage in battles, but light enough for the wearer to stay on their toes and avoid detection by the enemy. The armor and destroyer made Crusader reminiscent to Helputt, who Rune had met briefly before he left to fend off the demon army. Would Phantom still have a father if their party found the elder Seiker earlier?   

“I’m sorry about how I’ve been treating you.” Crusader rested his cannon against the tree trunk. “I should have listened to you and now we’re in this mess.”

“I’m not sure if that would make a difference,” Rune closed his eyes. “Carrying me off without an explanation isn’t a well-thought plan.” 

Crusader stared at the rune user but agreed, “I guess not…” 

“Never thought Raven was the impulsive type.” 

“What is he?” 

Rune grinned, “a bird.”

“I’m being serious,” the guardian deadpanned.  

“How can you say I wasn’t?” Rune covered his chest with one gloved hand, “that really hurt. I thought we had something together.” 

Crusader turned his head away and let out a quiet huff, sweeping his bangs to the side. He wasn’t going to ignore Rune, was he? Not even an acknowledgment of his ridiculous statement? Phantom would have thought it was funny, Rune looked at the guardian in disbelief. 

A pointed hair ornament held his ponytail together and gave the guardian a regal look like the princes that lived inside Rune’s storybooks. His facial features were Phantom’s, yet they were different. Was it because Rune was aware that this was not the Chung he traveled with? Or was it because Crusader held caution in approaching him as if he was an abnormality? Someone to be wary of?  

“Why are you in Demon Realm?” Crusader asked. 

“Can’t a guy take a scenic stroll?” Rune dropped his smile when he realized he wasn’t going to get a response from Crusader until he dropped the facade. “It’s the same reason as your Elsword. We’re looking for information about the Dark El and the El is unstabilized again because of me.”

“The El,” he echoed. Recognition flashed in Crusader’s face, horror and guilt pained in his eyes. “Unstable because of you? Elsword, that isn’t your fault-”

 “Call me Rune,” he interrupted. Rune was not going to deal with the confusion of two Elswords if they were going to talk about him. It hurt to see Phantom’s look-alike show undeserved solemnity for a carbon-copy of their leader.  

“You’re just as foolish as him,” Crusader said without venom. “Don’t take the blame for everything when it’s our fault too.”

Ah, this conversation again. He could feel Crusader’s fixed stare into the back of his neck. It wasn’t fair feeling complacent in talking to a man who looked so much like Phantom. So serious, yet had his emotions out on display like a playbook. Rune almost felt guilty for toying with him.   

“That’s what he said, too.” Rune let out a genuine laugh, “Did Elsword succeed?” Rune was hopeful. Did Knight find a way to stabilize the El without a human vessel?  

“No, the El is unstable.” 

His heart dropped. Nothing was different from his timeline? Rune glanced over to where the rest of the El Search Party were. Moonlight shone across to where he and Crusader sat, just enough for Rune to make out the figures dressed in green, red, purple, and black huddled together. That must be Daybreaker talking to Empire and Rage. Their shadows leaned against the base of an overhauling tree lined by fluorescent moss. Rune could barely make out Doom Bringer’s silhouette with his weapons floating beside the brawler. Flowers bigger than them curled at the end of their sharp-edge petals, roots scrawled over the damp floor.  

Crusader turned his attention to where Rune’s was. Sitting at the base of the tree was Aether talking to Bluhen. The two had their heads close together, moving their lips in inaudible exchanges. Their quiet murmurs filled the emptiness between the deep parts of the forest. Crusader’s his eyes crinkling when he saw Aether explain something to Bluhen. 

Don’t be stupid, Rune scowled. That’s not Phantom. He and Oz have done collaborations in the past, but he didn’t see her like that. Phantom wasn’t interested in… No matter how similar they were, Crusader didn’t choose to become an assassin. They couldn’t be any more different. No need to get frustrated. 

“Is something wrong?” Crusader turned to face Rune.  

Rune held an unsteady gaze at the blond man, searching for signs of Phantom in the guardian. Same complexion and body structure, although it was hard to tell with the heavy armor plates. 

“Your crown thing,” Rune pointed at the hair ornament sitting at the back of Crusader’s head where the ponytail started. “It’s falling off.”  

“Oh, you mean this?” Crusader tugged and pulled it out. He ran the comb teeth through his hair, tucking it back and pulling his hair to make sure it stayed there. “Wow, you have an eye for this. Thanks!”            

“Sure,” Rune hated how hollow he sounded. The redhead sighed, “Doesn’t it bother you that both of us failed to stabilize the El?”

“It was our decision to rescue Elsword.” Crusader’s expression remained kind and patient. “Even if it meant risking the world, he meant more to us than the El.” 

“Placing your trust into one guy,” Rune tilted his head. “Is that a wise decision?”    

“Are we talking about you or Elsword?” Crusader asked. 

“Both.”  

Forget about holding accountability for a party of twelve. Rune never asked to be placed with the responsibility to keep the world in balance. He was no longer the awkward teenager searching for an adventure and place in the world, but doubt in himself remained. Why him? There were knights and soldiers more capable than him!  

“You’re not the only one searching for ways to keep the El alive.” Crusader got on his feet and offered a hand to Rune, “You have friends to help.” 

Rune accepted the male’s hand and was pulled up to his toes, shaking his legs from a bad case of pins and needles. “How do you know they don’t hate me for pulling them into all this?” 

“I don’t,” Crusader admitted. “But if they followed you into Demon Realm, I doubt they do.” He stole a glance at Aether again to see the mage leaving, “Let’s head back. Everyone’s waiting for us.”

“Thanks for the talk,” Rune looked at his scarless hands. How did Bluhen do it? He should ask if Richter could do the same. “I needed it.” 

The guardian smiled, “That’s what friends are for.” 

But we just met, was caught in the back of Rune’s throat when Crusader smiled. The rune user ducked his head and ran to catch up to the El Search Party crowding beside a giant flowering plant for shelter. He was surrounded by familiar faces, yet they were all new to him. Rune took a deep breath. The sooner he helped them find Knight, the closer he was to return to his friends. What a mess. 

---------------------------------------

Dominator 

Collecting battle data from their opponents was panning out to be better than Dominator ever could have hoped for. The butler and his demon brat were occupied by a disgruntled priest with no tack. Thanks to Anemos, the queen was worn down and allowed Dominator to come in and take down one of her main Nasods. Blade’s plan was to pull away three of the opposing team’s long-ranged fighters to reveal Apsara’s blind spots.  

“Don’t tell me this Nasod is all you have.” 

Dominator grabbed a broken Nasod arm and tossed it to the rest of the white armored Nasod beneath his feet. Disappointing. Has Esencia gone weak from the security of relying on her servants? Richter said she had more Nasods under her disposal. Where were they? 

“Oberon is a servant,” Esencia glared.   

“My apologies,” Dominator said with amusement. 

How interesting. The queen saw her subjects as sentient beings despite being their creator and programmer. Had Esencia been an organic lifeform, Dominator suspected she would have broken into angry tears over the damage he had done to the Nasod.    

“Ophelia!” Esencia ordered her servant, “Assault Spear!” 

Another Nasod rose from the ground with a spear almost twice her height. Ophelia, was it? Weapon pointing downward, Ophelia descended. Dynamo blocked most of the impact, shielding him from the attack. Pressured strained against Dominator, placing his weight to the back of his feet and gritting his teeth. 

Dominator gagged as dust and debris settled around him. It was going to take hours for him to wash out the dirt after this, he scowled. No matter, this battle should be easy. His eyes landed over to Ophelia, who had sparks flying from her forearms and one leg pulled back into a fighting stance. Just a little further and he should have enough information on the Nasod servant. 

“Drone Activator!” The tracking device shot in the form of missiles, aiming for Esencia. 

Ophelia dashed to take the hit for her queen. The device latched onto the Nasod’s stomach and flashed purple to signal the target’s location. Dominator reached for his panel as Dynamo alerted him on his opponent’s presence. Blood trickled down his leg as Dominator caught Esencia firing electric shocks alongside her Nasods. His vision went red as Dominator experienced high voltage of electricity traveling through his body. 

Dominator snarled and bared his teeth. He wasn’t going to let Dynamo and his armor reach their limits before passing out. Not when he was close to acquiring data on another model of Eve. Sparks flew from Dynamo as Dominator installed a set of drones at his feet. Lasers fired and rained down on his opponents, casting harsh lighting against the dense forest.     

Launching herself up into the air, Esencia fired electron balls as she glided away from the explosion. Electric currents shot from Ophelia’s forearms before her exterior was decimated by the heat from Dominator’s Starfall. The Nasod’s outer shell cracked before she was recalled by Esencia. 

“Impressive,” Dominator stopped to catch his breath. His face stung from the bleeding, how troublesome. “You have separate Nasod units to address your limitations in battles and your powers are still functional. I wouldn’t expect less from the Nasod queen.”

Esencia had a core hidden behind her bangs. It shone a brilliant light despite the accumulating scratches from the current and previous battles. Most Nasods would have lasted in half the time Esencia did in their fight, but it helped when she had an array of servants to fight for her.  

“Surely you have something to say,” Dominator rubbed his chin. “Don’t you have questions to why you are no longer the only Nasod queen? Do you realize that means there are multiple timelines existing in different dimensions?” 

“Be quiet,” Esencia said. “Unless you know where Elsword is, discussing this is pointless.” 

“The red menace?” Dominator snorted, “Don’t make me laugh! You have him. I am-”

“Annoying,” Esencia looked down at the scientist. “You talk a lot.” 

Ouch. 

“Blunt as ever, I see.” Dominator wiped the blood trickling his mouth with his sleeve and grinned. “Why are you fighting me then? Certainly not because you want to listen to my lovely voice.” 

“Elsword is missing and was last seen with yours.” 

“An idiot attracting another idiot,” Dominator commented.

Learning that Rune cooperated with the other Elsword was valuable information the El Search Party would find helpful. The scientist froze when he saw a shadow from above, a giant mechanical arm summoned over Dominator’s head. It slammed into the ground, sending seismic waves vibrating through the ground. 

Heaven’s Fist missed Dominator by mere inches as he phase shifted to a higher place. Rocks shot from the ground up and tossed him around, applying pressure and shoving him to the side. His body protested in the rough treatment and to the metallic taste in his mouth as Dominator crawled on his fours.  

“Don’t be rude,” Esencia glared.  

Looks like he hit a sore spot when it concerned the opposing team’s Elbrat.       

“Apocalypse!”

Screens surrounded Dominator before he summoned Nasod cubes to unionize into one several times their size. They moved together as a unit and followed their master in search of a target. Individual cubes rearranged themselves to resemble a flower. Apocalypse shot lasers from the end of its petals and fired missiles. They exploded as they came into contact with an invisible dome protecting Esencia.  

A shadowed figure formed from the dust. Esencia’s third Nasod assistant wore a white trench coat over a pair of black boots with a gold visor hiding his eyes. He landed feet first with his head lowered, bowing to Esencia and wielding a blade. Nasods obey their creators, but the ones under Esencia’s command treated her like their ruler. Were their codes based on human behavior or was it simply them recognizing Esencia as the Nasod queen? 

“Ferdinand, battle mode!” Esencia cried. 

The Nasod dashed forward, electric currents traveled through his blade and struck. Sparks clashed between Ferdinand’s blade and Dynamo, absorbing the impact and reflecting electric shocks to the Nasod. Apocalypse fired a particle beam at the Nasod, forcing Ferdinand to recede from Dominator.    

Dominator summoned a drone and activated it midair. A black hole formed around the drones and caused an air suction, pulling the Nasod servant and his queen away from the ground. He launched a drone and attached it to his target. Numbers appeared on Dominator’s screen in a countdown only visible to the scientist. The smell of burning metal filled his nostrils as the explosives set off on Esencia’s body and stunned the ruler. Charged Impulser released its hold and Esencia collapsed to the floor.  

Apocalypse hovered over the scientist and pointed the particle cannon to Ferdinand. Good, cube. Esencia’s Nasod servant zipped through the air with acrobatic grace, evading lasers and missiles from the destructive cube. Apocalypse trailed behind Ferdinand, nipping at his heels for lack of better wording.      

“What’s wrong, Eve?” Dominator taunted, “Did you run out of servants to fight for you?” 

It was interesting to note the destructive code’s absence in Esencia. Was the queen aware of the ancient code? Or did this timeline fail to raise the factors that could have pushed Esencia into becoming a destructive Nasod as Ultimate did? Not only did her appearance contrast Ultimate’s, but her stamina and how she fought suggested that her codes were a variation from her counterpart.    

Wait. Dominator turned his heels at a realization and checked his scans. His eyes widened. Esencia was still active. A lone figure blurred, too fast for his eyes to have time to come into focus. Electric currents crackled from the edge of Ferdinand’s blade. Hot pain erupted from Dominator’s body, red spots dotted and bled into his vision. Lightning struck his body and traveled down his chest. Dominator hissed in pain, closing his eyes shut and hugging his shoulder blade where Ferdinand had struck. His body shook, gloved hands drenched in blood and sweat. Dominator ignored Dynamo’s alerts flooding his screens.

Damn you, Eve.

Dynamo huddled together in defense when Dominator turned to face Esencia’s Nasod. Ferdinand raised his blade and swung past where Dominator’s head once was, turning to strike again before the Nasod’s body shone in bright light. Ferdinand’s body shuddered, his movements churned into a sluggish response before the Nasod vanished from sight. 

Dominator checked for Apocalypse’s status. Datalog said it wasn’t Apocalypse that forced Ferdinand to shutdown. Unless… The scientist pushed his screens aside and looked at where the queen was supposed to be.      

Esencia remained laid down with her porcelain face to the side and visible cracks on her body. She was in sleep mode and was conserving energy from a forced shut down. Her long figure was hidden by layers of a white gown smeared by red demonic dirt. A bulk of metal stuck out from her ribs at an odd angle, coming close to jabbing into someone’s leg. The elf had her foot over Esencia’s chest and rested her chin over one knee.     

Blood gushed from his shoulder and Dominator’s face turned red, moving his arms so he could use his jacket to stop it from further bleeding. The blood was going to seep through his clothes and he would have to wash it again. How troublesome. His stomach churned when she placed a hand over his arm.  

“How much does it hurt?” Anemos asked. “Are you okay with sitting?”

Dominator nodded, forcing himself to speak. “Ha, the queen is no pushover.” 

The elf supported his back with her hand and ushered him to rest against a tree trunk, lowering his body and making sure Dominator kept his balance. He closed his eyes shut and breathed through his mouth. It stung when he stretched his shoulders for Anemos to inspect. 

Anemos produced a thermos in her hand, twisting the top and opening to reveal crystalline liquid filled to the brim. A strange flower laid at the bottom of the thermos - white petals blooming out of its blue center. Steeped in boiling water for hours at a time, it had a bitter herbal taste that refused to leave Dominator’s mouth after taking a gulp with a pinched nose. It was a disgusting concoction (“Everything’s edible once you heat them up!” Ignia said with a wink.), but it somewhat lessened the pain by numbing his nerves.  

Dominator looked ahead, refusing to look as Anemos opened his bag. No matter how many battles he fought, he couldn’t stand the sight of blood on his own body. It reminded him too much of old memories he wanted to forget.   

He smelled the ointment she used for all occasions and applied pressure to the wound with a cotton ball. Mental images of a woman with white hair and gentle eyes flashed in his mind. The scientist fluttered his eyes open, careful not to move too much unless he wanted to feel his tendons sting. 

“I found valuable information that may help us,” Dominator blurted. “Elbrat was seen with theirs.” 

“The other Elsword?” Anemos added another cottonball to soak up the blood. She pulled out a bandage to wrap around his shoulder blade. “I did hear something about that, but I didn’t see anyone else with Elsword.” 

“Theirs have gone missing too,” he added. “Taking the brat as a replacement, huh? Ow!”

“I don’t think so,” Anemos tightened the bandage and sighed. “Their Eve mentioned looking for their Elsword even though ours is with them. They might have thought Elsword could help find him.” 

Hey, that was painful! She could have cut his blood circulation! Dominator directed his glares to the older woman, hoping she would recognize his annoyance and feel guilty. Anemos threw him a deadpan expression and might as well have shrugged, Nice try, Add. 

“Elsword this, Elsword that.” Dominator grumbled, “It’s always about that kid. We might as well find him ourselves so we can trade, I guess. Use him as a bargaining chip. Brat for a brat.”     

“We can do that,” Anemos had a thoughtful expression. “Are you telling the others?” 

The scientist covered a part of his face with one hand. “I didn’t think we were going to search for two. Are we spreading ourselves too thin?”   

“Let’s focus on finding their Elsword since we already know ours is with them.” 

Dominator snorted, “we’re going to need nicknames if we’re going to keep talking about them.” 

“Isn’t this something you enjoy talking about?” She asked. Anemos tucked in the ends of the bandage and washed her hands with water from a water bottle.  

“Yes,” Dominator chuckled with a smile. “Inconvenient, but fascinating nonetheless.”  

He saw Anemos shaking her head with no foul intent, a look of wonder she held when she didn’t quite understand what he was talking about. It didn’t bother him. No one in the El Search Party besides Ultimate had a true grasp of what he did. Ultimate wasn’t much of a conversationalist and Rune was more likely to ask him questions about his research than the Nasod queen herself. Hm, it was quiet without the red punk to fill the silence with his pointless chatter.

“Eat up,” Anemos offered him a tart, topped with vanilla buttercream frosting and jam made from Elysion’s star fruit. “You need to heal.”  

“They won’t be happy once they find her,” Dominator stole a glance to where Esencia laid. 

Restoring Esencia wasn’t his responsibility, but Dominator had a feeling the other El Search Party will try to make him do it anyway. Ugh. Nothing a few hours of repair couldn’t fix once she regained power, but he was worried. To his knowledge, Blade and Richter were still fighting if they hadn't returned or contacted them. 

“Let’s focus on getting back to Ain and Raven,” Anemos said. “They need our help.” 

The Star Fruit Tart kept its shape when Dominator broke it at the center to take a bite, a sweet but citrusy taste. He stuffed another tart into his mouth, snickering when Anemos shook her head again but smiled. Collecting battle data for the fox and the demons were worth the investigation. Fighting their teammates’ alternates was going to be interesting, Dominator mused. He left Esencia sitting upright against a flowering plant with her eyes closed before joining Anemos with Dynamo behind his heels.   

-----------------------------

Author Notes: Thank you for being so patient with me. Life has been busy for the past few months and I realized that the year is almost done. I will try my best to continue writing the later chapters in between busy hours. I miss writing these characters and I’m thankful for those who still stick around to read my works.

[lexiseigneur]

Chapter nine: He sees you

The Strigoi roamed the camp and the couple spied. Her binoculars were barely good enough to distinguish blurry silhouettes. At this distance, even Quinlan had to squint to make them out. Finally, the moment of truth. Within moments they would know whether the devices could disturb the mental link between the Master and his creatures. Dr. Goodweather and Dutch Velders had worked relentlessly to create the original device and their brilliant idea would not die with them. It had worked on the Master as well, making him weaker which had enabled Quinlan to shove him in the coffin. Just before that nuclear explosion had ruined everything.

Quinlan had placed the devices to include an isolated corner of the farm in the triangle they formed. If Lexi had done her job correctly, once the machines were activated, that area would become a trap for Strigoi. The Dhampir held the remote designed to activate them. Between two barracks, a blob of color was dragging another. It was headed straight for the triangle.

“Between buildings three and four.” Lexi whispered.

“Yes.”

They exchanged a look and he pressed the button. As she watched, the pale silhouette of the Strigoi stopped walking. The human it had been dragging did not attempt to run away though it could still move. As the seconds passed, it became obvious that this was not a mere coincidence. Quinlan deactivated the devices and the Strigoi walked on. Their efforts had just rewarded them with a first success.

“It works." She whispered.

The Dhampir nodded. No joy, satisfaction or pleasure on his face, just pure determination. Lexi rubbed her eyes as relief soothed some of the tension in her back. Quinlan retrieved the three transmitters. Without another word, they walked to the truck hidden downwind. The end of their mission was near. And it was good. In fact, it was the best news possible under those circumstances. But that final blow stood like a wall.

That wall was too massive for her to glance to the other side. She fought for her future and that of her species but she could not imagine it. When would she be able to look ahead? As the Master was locked in a coffin? Or as that coffin sunk in the frigid ocean water? Probably never. Lexi was quite convinced that she would die that day. That day, Quinlan would shove the monster into that box alone. The task seemed too huge to be achieved without a sacrifice. Lexi had always been a pessimist but even she surprised herself with those thoughts. The woman very much desired to live. He secured the machines in the trunk and distributed drops of blood to their biological components.

“Just another test, to see how far we can stretch the trap area. Then we can start looking for the Master.” She said as he took a seat.

A tentative grin and his eyes closed.

“Victory is within reach…I can sense it.”

Lexi smiled without meaning it. This place was weighing heavily on her mind and she wanted them to leave and never return. It would take an entire day to go back to the bunker since they could not drive at night. The Strigoi tolerated the orange light but they thrived at night. Better leave it to them. Quinlan started the car and they drove away. The sun had almost disappeared at the horizon when he spoke again.

“You are not usually so taciturn.” He remarked.

It lifted her spirit a little that he thought of her as chatty. She really enjoyed silence but he acted like words cost him their weight in silver. A matter of relativity.

“I’m worried about the size of it all. It’s so much to bear. How have you been doing this for so long?”

Quinlan bit his glove off before tucking it away. The warm fingers found her hand and she kissed them. They smelled of leather.

“I focus on what I can do right now. One small achievable task at a time.”

He glanced at her face.

“At this very moment, I search for a secure location…we need to wait for dawn to continue.”

They stopped a few minutes later in a small, deserted town. Anything so close to a camp would have been cleared almost immediately after the fall. Lexi detested those nights in the homes of strangers she knew were long dead. The only redeemable aspect was the instant Quinlan would hug her tight under the cover of a blanket. Only then could she ignore the unfamiliar surroundings and be at peace.

“Lexi?” He said just after closing his arms around her shoulders.

“Yes?”

“You never told me what you did…your work…before the Fall.”

The woman grinned then the longer she thought about it the more amusing it became.

“I studied the reproductive behavior of lizards.”

She peered at his face. A corner of his mouth had lifted and he was frowning.

“What?” He finally said.

Lexi burst out laughing and tried to calm herself but this only resulted in her eyes filling with tears.

“But…the stitches?..All the...”

“I stitched a lot of rats, mice, and even hamsters during my studies.”

Quinlan shook his head. Lexi was ashamed of that fact. Their innocent lives had been wasted away for her to finish a degree she would never use again.

“Why not divulge his information before?”

Lexi grunted as she was sure that her answer would displease him.

“You only asked at the beginning…and I was certain that if you judged me incompetent you would ditch me or even drink me.”

It was his turn to laugh.

“You were mistaken. I had been convinced of your competence and usefulness within hours.”

He kissed her forehead then pulled her chin so their gaze would meet. Mischievous delight transformed his traits.

“I was tempted to drink you regardless… Because of how irritating I found you.”

“Oh!”

Before she could retort some insult he kissed her. Then when she attempted to reply, he kissed her again. Then she gave up and melted into his hug. His caresses were pressing and his desire so commanding. She also wanted him desperately but she felt so very exposed.

“Wait…maybe we should not here…it’s not safe.”

 “You are always safe with me.”

The woman relaxed for at that very moment, she did not doubt those words. She unzipped his vest and they enjoyed each other’s embrace.

During the night, Quinlan shook her awake. The reptilian part of her psyche kicked into hyperdrive. Quinlan would never wake her that way unless…

“Cars are coming!” He yelled.

But she was already in her boots and pulling her pants up. She cringed when he scooped her up and ran to the truck. Last time, he had held her so strongly that her skin had bruised. When she finally managed to lock her seatbelt, he started the truck and barreled down the road. Much, much too fast. Their vehicle was practical and not meant for high speeds. It struggled as the engine roared abnormally.

“Deodamnatus!” Snarled the Dhampir.

The cars appeared behind them at the end of a curve. On the now straight country road, they were gaining on them every second. Panic crept inside Lexi. No car lights. Just like Quinlan, they did not need them. Pondering their identities or motives was futile. They were Strigoi and their goal was to kill them. Elegantly simple.

“Lexi! Stay down!”

She made herself as small as possible in her seat. He peered into the review mirror.

“Brace yourself!”

The truck jolted forward violently as the first car rammed them. Quinlan maintained control of the truck and grunted. There was little he could do and his helplessness was driving her insane. He had lied. She was not safe.

“Do not let them see you! Where is your hood?”

It was in her backpack, in the trunk. To reach it she would have to become visible to the Strigoi. She was struggling for breath.

“If they see you, HE will see you.”

Time slowed and their eyes met. She nodded. His face hardened and he twisted the wheel. The truck flew out of the road and into a dry open field. Before it even stopped completely, Quinlan was gone. She jumped violently when the fire of automatic weapons sliced through the night. The Dhampir was shooting at the pursuing cars. Sudden brightness stabbed her eyes. They had switched on their brights at the incoming Dhampir. They were blinding him. She used the mirrors to observe. He managed to destroy three of the lights but then was swarmed by Strigoi. Lexi trusted him with all her heart but she was not stupid. She prepared her own gun, checking the magazine and removing the safety.

Quinlan had run out of bullets and was fighting with his sword alone. Limbs were flying in his wake. Another vehicle arrived as the Dhampir faced the last two creatures. It was a truck, larger than theirs and resembling a delivery vehicle. A silhouette jumped from the driver’s seat and rushed to the back. The double doors burst open. Then all went so very fast. One of the two Strigoi still standing was fleeing away from Quinlan. Toward the truck. Toward Lexi. She was ready to aim. Quinlan looked at the runner a second too long and was rewarded by a stinger bite. With a growl, he sliced at the offender. The warrior went into a desperate pursuit of the straggler. Because of that, he did not face or prepare for the passenger of the delivery vehicle. This one ran on all fours like a dog. It made noises which were disturbing even by Strigoi standard. As Quinlan killed the deserter, the monster pounced and drove long claws across his midsection.

 NO.

The Dhampir crumbled to the ground.

 He could not die. He could not leave her alone on this wretched planet.

Lexi put everything into the dark room. Nothing was left but her gun and that single target. It was on top of the Dhampir. The creature held the sword between them, preventing Quinlan from swinging it. Lexi opened the car door. It was pushing the blade down and down. She fell to a knee on the cold dirt. The metal was inching closer to the delicate swirls. With both hands on her weapon, she aimed and pulled the trigger. Its head exploded and white pearls shone momentarily in the beam light. Lexi scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as the uneven terrain allowed. Quinlan was trying to get up but fell back down to his knees. One hand held the sword and the other his torn side. She was close enough to see blood pouring from his mouth. He looked at the approaching Strigoi, the driver, then at her. His expression switched from pain to utter horror.

“BORN!” Yelled the creature.

Lexi felt sick. The voice, the burning red eyes and the eerie confidence of the thing. All was so disgustingly wrong. She shot but it kept moving in and out of the light. Her hands were shaking from the adrenaline. “If they see you, HE will see you.” As the glowing red eyes danced, fixated on her, she was certain that this was the Master and that he would one day kill her.

“I can smell that one all over you.” The red-eyed parasite screeched.

Quinlan roared and stood.

“Will you ever learn, my so…”

The blade ran through the Strigoi’s skull and the eyes turned dark again. Quinlan, driven by his momentum, crashed into the rocky earth. The weapon left his hands. That door in her mind was still locked. Instead of running to him, she went to the truck and drove it as close to his struggling figure as she could. Lexi used a sweater from the back seat to pack his wound then secured it with his belt and hers. There was no point looking at it now. They had to leave. His body was heavy but he was still conscious and helping somewhat. She almost drove away but then went back for the sword that she tossed unceremoniously on the back seat.

The truck rejoined the road with the skittering of rocks hitting its metal underside. Darkness was no longer a luxury they could afford. She flipped the high beams on. At that speed, they could be back at the compound in a few hours. But that was a pipe dream. Their only hope to avoid pursuit was the noon light. The real light,  not that cursed ochre glow. Then they would be able to find safety. Those Strigoi could only have come from the human farm. Fly-over country was deserted and she did not know of any other such Strigoi holds around. With all this in mind, she picked a direction and accelerated well beyond her comfort speed. One task at a time.

Throughout the rest of the night and the orange morning, Quinlan came in and out of consciousness. Injuries such as these had seldom occurred in his two thousand years of combat. The wool coat, his denim pants, and the car seat were all soaked in blood. Without medical care, without feeding, he would die. But that could not happen. Because that vermin had seen Lexi. He now had her scent and her likeness. The Master knew she had been with Quinlan that night. Driven by that thought, he willed himself to blurt out a single word.

“Blood.”

Her jaw was so tense. The small body was a ball of tightly wound muscles. Lexi glanced at him extremely briefly. Then he almost lost consciousness again when his body shifted due to a sharp turn. They parked in a dark place. It was a wooden carport. The pine beams ran above the windshield. Lexi opened a cooler and took out several bags of blood. With a small blade, she pierced the first one and forced the liquid down his throat. It helped but it was not enough. She repeated the process two more times. The wound was too deep. It still gaped and Quinlan felt how his entrails were only held in place by fabric and belts. He wished he did not know…That she was not a medical doctor. Her lips pressed against his brow for the shortest of moments and their flight resumed.

Painful light was reaching him even through closed eyelids. He moaned but could not turn away to escape it.

“Quinlan!”

Her hands were on his cheeks. Slap! He opened his eyes at the shock of her assault. The frail arms were prying him off the seat. The Dhampir pushed the fuzziness away and forced his legs to walk. They were in a parking lot and the sunlight was only casting short shadows. It was intense and burning him. But then darkness again, another car seat. This one stank of plastic and…nothing. Just plastic. He could only smell and feel his inside move as the car sped away. He drifted again.

The angry light had faded then completely disappeared. She was grabbing him again and he leaned onto her, ashamed of his own weakness. The thin legs were buckling, but still carrying him. When the elevator reached the bottom, he passed out.

Lexi was quite certain that Quinlan had died when the elevator stopped and his weight crushed her completely. Her right knee hit the metal floor. She screamed with the effort it took to lift him off of her. Then she pulled him onto the concrete. He still breathed.

She ran to sickbay and took only three items. Saline, gauze and a medical staple gun. The woman hesitated before unfastening the belt. Nothing you can do can make it worse. He is dying. Inaction or mistake: he died. The result would be the same. It was a relief that his blood was white. The darker organs appeared clearer than they would have with red blood. She doused them with saline, clearing away the silvery liquid.

Was that his liver? It did not matter. There was a cut there and it was the worse bleeder. She forced the outer edges together. The organs were tough, much tougher than the fragile mammals and reptiles she was accustomed to. She stapled it shut until it stopped bleeding, dousing more saline often to get a clearer view.

There were other organs cut but to a much lesser extent. Those would heal on their own. She hoped at least. Lexi started on the internal bag housing his entrails. That tissue was familiar. For years she had sliced through smaller versions of it and sutured them back up. It closed easily. At least the cut had had clean edges. Only little tissue would be lost. Then the muscles were also familiar. There she would have preferred working with two additional hands.

How long was this taking? Lexi poured more saline on the muscles and peered anxiously. It was a mess but it held and did not bleed. She sighed and allowed herself a moment to press an ear against his chest. The beat was weak but steady. Halfway through the skin stapling, the gun ran out. She screamed in frustration and stormed back to the sick bay where she prepared needle and silk thread. Her fingers were crippled by fatigue as she worked.

The skin could not stretch further. There was an open gap the size of her palm. No matter, that had been a very possible conclusion from the start. The tissues had swollen from the abuse. All she could do was pour saline on gauze and pack the wound with it.

Considering his healing speed it would not take long for the swelling to go down.  Lexi lied on the concrete, took his hand between hers and waited. His Dhampir metabolism was insanely fast. She wondered if his cells contained mutated mitochondria to fuel that wonderful healing ability.

A thought struck her. She chuckled. At that very moment, Lexi was certain that she knew how Quinlan had been born Dhampir. She looked at his face and smiled. Maybe they could confirm it once he was better.

It hurt when the small woman peeled the wet compress off. As she stitched the wound, instinctive snarls tore his throat. Fortunately, per her usual, she was efficient and quick. The pain was subsiding and some strength was returning to his damaged shell. Quinlan opened his eyes and stared into the familiar pattern of concrete and steel. The control room had never seemed so inviting, so home-like.

“Lexi…” He whispered.

There she was, ignoring him while she finished her mending. Her main weapon had always been her mind and that calm within. Quinlan knew that without it, he would be dead, rotting in that field. His heart rate picked up. He was so very proud that this was his woman, his Lexi. She was so very precious and had to be safe. The Dhampir whimpered, not from the pain of his flesh but because of what he needed to do. He reached for her knee and she startled in surprise.

“Don’t move too much just yet.” She scolded him but smiled. “I’m going to bring you some food.”

Quinlan smirked at the word. When had blood turned into food in her mind? The tip tap of her footsteps resonated and he counted the seconds. It took her fifteen to reach the kitchen. Forty to warm the frozen bag just enough for its contents to liquefy. Another fifteen seconds to come back. He gulped the cold blood with desperation. The effect was immediate; he was healing. Still useless in a potential fight but strong enough to do what needed to be done.

“How do you feel?” She asked, leaning above him.

It took him a moment to answer as he was committing her face to memory. The jaw had relaxed and the corners of her full lips lifted.

“More blood, please, but first…”

It was much to ask, his tongue was still coated in coppery taste. He expected her to shy away from him because of this.

“A kiss?”

Her expression was so very tender at that moment. Now this, was the image he wanted seared into his brain until his death. The woman caressed his weary face and pressed her lips against his. When their skin separated, he wanted to scream for more but let her go. As the woman turned her back and headed away, he sprang to his feet. Sickbay was bright and ordered. The speed he usually enjoyed was not back yet. But he was still inhumanely fast as he opened the fridge and read the different labels. The general anesthetic was right there on the top shelf. Clearly labeled as such and with instructions in Lexi’s handwriting. He filled a syringe and double checked the concentration to make sure it would not harm her. Footsteps were coming out of the kitchen. In a few seconds, she would have a full view of the floor leading to the elevator. He was standing a few steps behind her when she stopped and stared at the wet spot. Saline and white blood but no body.

“Quinlan?” She called.

That voice. So smooth. Like velvet around his tired soul. Now all he needed to do...

She swirled around as he reached her. No! He did not want to see her face as he did this. The hazel eyes widened when the needle sank into her neck. That surprise turned to anger. Instantly, she was fighting him. Each punch was desperate, just like that regretted day in the gym. No. Please, don't look at me like this. The small woman screamed in anguish.

“No! YOU PROMISED!”

The drug was working but not quickly enough because he wanted to spare her the burn of a brutal injection. The betrayal on her face vanished but her eyes remained fixated on his. The calmness rose from within. Not because of me. Please. Her hand clawed cruelly at this wound. He deserved that. The pain was intense, almost blinding. It emptied the air from his lungs and forced him to push the plunger completely down. She yelped at the burn. Lexi managed a single word before her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

“Liar.”

Yes, he was a liar. He had lied when he had sworn to never touch her like this again. He had lied when whispering that she was safe with him before taking her. And he had lied to himself when he had accepted that imprisonment was sufficient for the Master. Quinlan had wanted so badly for this to be the solution because it meant that he could live on, with her. When she had presented an alternative, without even meaning to, he had said nothing because its significance had not yet struck him.

The memories of the most powerful explosion he had ever heard had been brought forward by his guilt. That summer of 1883, the Krakatoa had almost deafened him. Modern atomic weapons paled in comparison to what nature had already created. Soon, just like the Ancients, the Master would burn.

He could not stay alive while he knew of her. The Master had lapdogs who would remain thinking and plotting even after his control was cut off. They would search for their master and that risk was unacceptable.

The small body was limp in his shaking arms. He sat on the floor, cradling her. So fragile and so precious. For the first time in nearly two centuries, Quinlan wept. He kissed her and her skin soon glistened with his tears. Desperate, he caressed her face, her dark hair, her thin hands. It did not alleviate his torment. His sobs turned to roars as he rocked, holding her against his heart.

“I love you so very much.” He whispered into her ear.

But time was limited. So he made himself get up and tuck her in his bed. Then as quickly as allowed by his weakened state, he gathered all that he needed. The clothes that smelled of her strongest, he sealed into airtight bags. The small coffin, the hard drive and the schematics he shoved into the metal trunk. Another cooler of blood was also packed. His sword was missing but that would be a problem for his future self. Before leaving, he wiped away his blood. The reminder that she had just healed him.

All three devices were secured in the large trunk where he deposited his meager possessions. Of course, she had had her priorities in order. As he drove away a metallic clang caught his attention. The bone-hilted sword had dropped from the back seat to the carpeted floor. Despite the pressure of that night, she had saved something dear to him. Guilt was suffocating.

He drove until he could find more fuel then until the farthest town he could reach. There he stashed the car in an underground parking lot. A shirt she had slept in went inside his pocket. The Dhampir walked the streets to find Strigoi to kill. He would see. He would smell her on him again. Because Quinlan would allow it and that would lead the beast away from her. He would make the Master chase him to hell. At the gates of death, Quinlan would drag that cursed creature through with him.

[elsword-x-aisha-oneshots]

Confession (A Valentine Special)

Characters:

Elsword (Lord Knight)

Aisha (Elemental Master)

Rena (Grand Archer)

Elesis (Grand Master)

Story:

To be honest, Elsword would rather face an army of Demons, gods or even a freaking monster; rather than waiting for her to be disappointed for his attempt to make this the best day ever.

You’re probably wondering what’s going on. I’ll tell you what happened.

[Earlier]

Aisha was reading a book about Elemental Magic, hoping to enhance her powers when suddenly, Elsword knocked on her door. She open the door with an annoyed look.

“What do you want?”

Elsword on the other hand, was nervous. He want to ask this question for a long time now, but he couldn’t get the opportunity. Because either A: The world was in danger; or B: Afraid of rejection... it’s mostly B. But today, he has to try.

“W-will...will...”

“Will what?” Aisha said.

“...W-will you be free tomorrow?” Elsword asked.

Aisha sighed and replied, “I was planning to go to the library and grab a book about some new magic.”

“Oh...” Elsword said with a sad look. Aisha however saw it and just replied.

“But, I can be open for tomorrow. Depends on what you want though?”

Elsword eyes sparkled with joy and said, “I just wanna spend time with you.”

“Huh?!” Aisha said with a blushing face. Elsword realized what he said and try to recover himself.

“I-I mean that since the world is at peace, I was hoping we could head out and just relax, you know?”

“Oh... I guess I could go,” She answered.

“Really?!”

“Sure,” She said with a smile. The very same smile that made Elsword fall head over heels in love with her. There’s nothing he want more but to make her the happiest girl in the world. He wants to hold her hands, hug her, kiss her, etc. But he fear that Aisha doesn’t feel the same. However, these weeks could be the last week before everyone goes their separate ways and Elsword must confess his love to her before that happens.

“O-okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then, near that Sakura tree.”

“Yeah.”

[Present]

Elsword waited near the Sakura tree that was on top of a hill. He dressed in casual clothes rather then his armor and left his sword back at the inn. He was wearing a red and white hoodie with a black shirt, casual pants and red and white sneakers. He arrived about an hour early, preparing everything for the day. 

“Elsword!” He heard his name from the person he longs for. She was wearing a white blouse with a purple vest and skirt, purple dress shoes with high white socks and a bow tie on her neck. To Elsword, she looks like an angel.

“Aisha, you came!”

“Of course, you idiot! Unlike you, I arrive on time,” She said with a smirk.

“Hey! I was here an hour earlier then you!”

“I bet you overslept and rapidly put everything together,”

As the two argues, we see two figures hiding behind a bush near the hill with the perfect view of the two.

“Rena, are you sure we should be doing this?”

“We have to Elesis. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to finally see the two together.”

“But, shouldn’t we let them have their privacy. I mean... what if-“

“What if Aisha rejects his feelings?” Rena finished. “That’ll never happen, you and I both know that she deeply cares for him. She tries to hide it, but she’s definitely in love with him. This date could actually-”

BOOM

The two looked back only to see a big mushroom of smoke.

“-be a disaster,” Elesis said.

As the smoke cleared out, we see Elsword and Aisha both covered in smoke. Then Elsword laughed.

“What?” Aisha said.

“Nothing... it just that... you never changed. You’re still that crazy exploding magic girl.”

“Are you making fun of me?!”

Elsword shook his head, “No, I’m just happy that you’ll never change.”

Elsword smiled, which made Aisha blushed. The two headed back to the Sakura tree and just relax there with some lunch made from Rena. Elsword and Aisha talked about some old memories they had together. From their first meeting back at Ruben, to saving the El in Elrios.

“You know... been through a lot, together.”

Aisha replied, “Yeah... and you made me worried non-stop. I swear, I’m surprised you lived this long with that brain of yours.”

Elsword pouted, “That’s because there wasn’t an enemy that was strong enough to beat us.”

Aisha sighed, “Well, at least you’re alive and well. Despite your boyish acts and dense mind, this adventure wouldn’t been this fun.”

The two then sat down in silence as the see look out at the sky, underneath the Sakura tree. Elsword knew he must do it now, or else he’ll never have another chance like this.

“Hey Aisha?”

“Yeah?

“Well... have you heard of the tale about the teddy bear confession?”

“No?”

“Well... they said that if you give the person you love a teddy bear made from yourself, and that person name the bear after the the giver, their love will forever grow.”

“R-really?” Aisha said. The truth is, she made a bear for Elsword a long time ago, but she never gave it to him. She feared he would reject her feelings. Since then, its been in her room this entire time.

“Yeah... Back then... I never thought about love. All I care about was being strong and seeing Sis again. But when you and Rena came by... I felt no longer alone. I felt like I was needed in this world, and it made me happy. You guys brought me warmth and love. That’s why I was reckless, I want to protect you all. Lu, Ciel, Add, Ara, Chung, Sis, Eve, Raven, Rena and...”

“...Elsword?”

Elsword went to grab something in the basket that was with the food.

“I also wanted to protect you as well. I know that you’re the strongest mage, but I don’t want see you get hurt. You’re important to me... in more then a friend.”

Aisha was breathless, she was also blushing. She didn’t want to believe what he said, but she hopes for this to happen. 

“The thought of a world without you... it me. It hurts so much, and I don’t want to ever happen. That’s why...”

Elsword took out a bear that was red and handed it to Aisha.

“Aisha... I love you... I’ve been in love with you for some time now. I want to say this, before we part ways. I want you know how I feel, even if you don’t feel the same.”

Aisha was quiet, and her hair was covering her expression. This silence made Elsword nervous. Suddenly, Aisha stood up and gave the bear back to Elsword.

“Wait here!”

And ran off somewhere. The longer she was gone, the more determine Elsword is to believe that she doesn’t feel the same. It’s been about 30 minutes before he decided to get up and head back, when suddenly,

“ELSWORD!”

Aisha came back, with something on her arms. She ran as fast as she could, for she was determined to tell him how SHE feels.

“Aisha?”

“Elsword... When I thought you were gonna die in Velder, I imagined a world without you; and I realized that it wouldn’t be the same without you... Without you being there for me. Elsword...”

She brought out the bear that she once made for Elsword; it was purple with wings.

“I love you...”

The wind came and blew many leaves from the tree as she confessed her feelings to him and handing the bear to him.

“...Can I name it after you?” 

Aisha looked up only to see a smiling Elsword. Blushing, she nodded and ask,

“Can I name your’s after you?”

“Yeah...”

Elsword hugged Aisha.

“Aisha... I love you...”

“I love you too... Elsword...”

“I promise... I’ll never leave you again like I did after we fought Solace... never again...”

“Promise?” Aisha said, looking up at Elsword with many love.

“I promise...”

Elsword leaned toward Aisha. Both of them closed their eyes... and connected their lips to each other. While the two kiss, Elesis and Rena are watching from afar. Rena was silently squealing while Elesis was smiling.

‘Good for you, Elsword. I’m happy for you.’

Elsword and Aisha held each other closely, never letting each other go. They want this moment to stay forever. Cuddling with the one they love, their bears sitting together, all of this happening... under a Sakura Tree...

[Play Music Video]

I kinda based this story to Cardcaptor Sakura. I recommend this anime if you want some sweetness in your life. Trust me... everyone want’s that one person to give that ‘bear’ to. And I believe that someday you will...

Until next update. ^~^

[strainingfororiginality]

Chapter 11.6 - Sacrifice

Note from Author:  I have been neck deep in Jet research this week as well as recovering from a vicious cold.  I’ve learned that air dogfights are quite a lot to describe and as such, the contents of this part do not fully cover the end of Chapter 11.  There will be a part 7 before the next interlude.  I hope you enjoy.  This chapter section is twice as long as most.

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Sound of the drums

Beating in my heart

The thunder of guns

Tore me apart

You've been

Thunderstruck

Her trajectory put her directly in their path, but just ahead of them, as she slowed, waiting as her wings took large, fluid gulps of air, allowing her to hover in place. She prepared herself, physically and mentally. This would likely be easier than taking on a Seraphim, but there were none like the Hayyoth and Elohim, who were able to reach speeds that caused them to thunder.

Man, not created with the natural ability to achieve such a feat, had imagined his way into this precious ability and Ozryel smiled as she felt the first rumble of them approaching. She pulled her blade and squinted, her eyes becoming avian in nature. Hmmm. Only two? Pity.

"Tally one bandit. Twelve O’clock high. 2 miles to Echo Tango Prime."

But there would be two more to follow, as the radio warned after she cocked her head to the left and then the right, opening her celestial channels up to all the signals that bounced through the open air. In front, behind, below, and most importantly above, she allowed all of the signals to flow into her receptive mind as she began to pulse commands out while she waited for them to get closer.

"We are ready to play."

Oh yes. Let us.

Their speeds slowed as both of 6-barrel rotary M61 vulcan cannons mounted on each of their right wings began to fire 20 mm rounds of metal towards her at six thousand rounds per minute. She could dart out of the way, but she wanted to charge the weapon. So, she deflected what she could with it, absorbing their energy and allowing the other rounds to ricochet off her armour violently.

The experience was unpleasant, to say the least. They continued to unload as they approached and passed her on either side. Each banking away from their other, they were turning to come back around and she picked her first target and tailed the right one. She was clearly far more maneuverable than they were. What a pity. As she began to overtake her prey, she could hear the chitter-chat on their radios continue.

"Are you seeing this thing?!?"

Smirking at their dismay, she landed on the right wing, grabbing onto the edge of it with her talons. She stared across into the cockpit, locking eyes with the pilot as she winked at him. "Oh … shit. It’s on me!" The jet began to roll and she barely had enough time to flick the blade, severing just the canon, before she lost her grip and the plane succeeded in shaking her off.

"Tally one, Fox two."

A missile was away from its wingman and she stood her ground, hovering while she waited for it to find her. Sidewinder. Heat seeker. Oh yes … very good, because she did run very hot. In fact, she cranked her internal heat up and her skin began to smoke as she waited for it to approach, just in case the projectile required additional breadcrumbs. When it was a decent distance from her, she sheathed her blade and began to move, banking right hard and heading back towards her targets.

"It’s on your tail!!! Half mile in trail!!!"

One of the many voices, which rattled endlessly in her head, cautioned that she should just dispatch them quickly. Stop playing around. She needed to get back to Michael and the children, but … she dismissed it. Each day it was easier to ignore each of those seven devils. Their tones were becoming a distance and hollow memory. Soon, they would be gone completely, with not even a fragment of them echoing and she would be left to her madness in peace. However, until then …

Hush you all.

"I’ve got you at my left."

They saw her coming straight for them and they each banked away, baiting her to follow one so that the other could tail her. Clever, clever.

"Copy. Break right! Break right!"

She cut right, after the fully armed jet. As she began to overtake it, the pilot reacted quickly and his flares were released, igniting the weapon in her tow. "Dammit, man! I was going to use that!" She protested to herself. “Oh well …” To take him down with his own missile would have been quite fulfilling.

"Firewalling this bandit. Full blower."

She was gaining on him, already well past his engines when he began to push his plane to its physical limits, hoping to outrun her. Ozryel sparked and kept pace, even as the mechanical angel passed Mach one. The pilot flicked on his afterburner and they thundered along in parallel. When the plane stopping accelerating, Ozryel didn’t and she shot ahead of him, her speed surpassing Mach two.

"Are you seeing the vape on this thing, Mom?!"

Uh oh. Too much, too quickly. She spun, flickering with red when she reached her own limit and her speed decelerated as she sputtered, allowing the plane to thunder by her. On its passing, she reached out, hooking her greedy talons into the edge of the glass cockpit, latching herself on. Her body rattled violently against the glass and her fingers began to curl into the metal, bending it back. As the integrity of the vehicle failed, the pilot decelerated to eject.

"Punching out! PUNCHING OUT!"

Well, he did attempt to eject, but she flung the glass casing away and grabbed onto the handle for him before he could even pull it.

"Bye bye, Jonathan." She chortled with a snort as she glanced into his wide eyes and then yanked the lever hard.

"Reaperman is splash. I repeat Reaperman is splash!" Indeed. Their slang was so silly and she smiled at it. “Fox two. Fox two!”

Another sidewinder was away and she was far too knackered to play with it again. Simply opting to pull her sword, she sliced the projectile in two. The resulting blast knocked her back, but she recovered and pursued her target with waxing tiredness.

Good lord these things were fast. She really didn’t want to chase down another one, so instead she headed straight for him.

"Fox two."

Another missile. What a pity. Those things were damn expensive. This missile met the same fate as the first, against her blade. She held her position much better during its decomposition and the plane attempted to bank right, but she cut a line directly to it as he arched up and away from her and she swung the sword upwards, in a graceful movement that severed the plane’s wing from its fuselage.

"Widowmaker punching out!"

Quite proud of herself, she wiped her hands as the disabled vehicle spun and plummeted. But sadly, her attention was fully on its descent as Raptor Three and Raptor Four thundered passed her.

Oh. Bloody hell.

"Sir …" The man pulled away from the satellite phone and looked at the ranking agent, who was sitting on the table as the medic examined the agent’s arm, unsure of what to do with the cauterized stump. “Raptor One is down, sir. Three and Four are almost within intercept range.”

"NO!" The agent barked furiously, waving his stump around, clearly forgetting nothing was there and the man stared at it in pure horror. “Do not engage Echo Tango Prime!” He grabbed the phone from the man. “DO NOT ENGAGE! The target is that plane. TAKE DOWN THAT PLANE.” He shoved the device back at his underling and waved off the pointless medic as he jumped down from the table.

"Sir …" A small voice spoke from behind. “Sir?”

"What is it now?!?" Agent Smith/Johnson/Richards swung around and was met with the meek face of one of his information officers. The man shuffled, clutching the tablet against his chest, unsure of how to proceed with the Agent’s uncharacteristic anger. “What is it?” He lowered his voice. “Adams … SPEAK. Use your words.”

"Sir … I don’t know what … we don’t really know what ..." The young man’s voice cracked slightly as he handed the tablet to the agent rather than stutter further. It was a map, clearly a screen capture of Velder’s Algorithm.

"What is this? When was this taken?" He stared down at the world map. Jesus Christ. “Johnson, WHEN?”

"The alarms started coming in a minute ago, sir." The boy scratched his head.

"Did you check the feeds? This can’t be right ..." The agent protested what he was being shown. “This isn’t possible … These numbers are … They’re … Where are they?”

"It’s correct. We have triple confirmation, sir."

"Oh Jesus … Not again ..." Mr. Smith/Johnson/Richards had no idea how to rationally respond to what he was seeing, so he swiped the satellite phone from the other man as he held it up to his ear to scream into it again as more worrisome information poured through it.

Raptor Two is down. I repeat Raptor Two is down.

"How many Martins do we have on the USS Stennis, corporal? How quickly can we--"

Negative. Nothing is flying out of the Atlantic right now. Stennis is in lockdown.

"What the hell do you mean nothing is flying out of the Atlantic--"

"Sir? Sir? Sir?!"

He might have snapped at his information officer again, but as he turned, he met the younger man’s gaze as the screens flickered with meteorological data.

"What is that?" He tilted his head as he looked at the mass that was growing over the ocean and spreading across the western part of Europe.

"It’s …" The man gulped. “A storm.”

The next two weren’t even bothering to engage her. She turned, and was in mad pursuit within seconds. But the beasts were in full afterburner and she had to push herself again, digging deep and her divinity crackled across her skin. As the jets began to create room between themselves, she realized they were making her choose one target and she went for the right.

She pulled her blade and began to gain when the pilot broke and pulled his nose sharply up. She chuckled. Ah, so it would be an attempt at Pugachev's Cobra. Quite fitting it was named for a snake, but sadly, the technique relied on being far more maneuverable than your opponent, which they were not. She took his bait though as she over shot him from beneath and his nose came back down, putting the jet directly behind her.

Sucker.

Now, she would show him how a true cobra did it. She cut up at a ninety degree angle and he attempted to follow, but she didn’t stop there and she bent in a tight and powerful loop coming back around behind him. Never slowing in her speed, she connected her shoulder with the back of the jet with a powerful ram and the plane spun out of control. Even if he could regain it, she caused considerable damage to its structure to begin her pursuit of the final plane, chastising herself as she knew it was already in full afterburner and quite a ways ahead of her.

Bullocks.

Uh ... My Golden Wingman ... you’re about to have some rather nasty company.

"Signore!" The pilot called out and Quinlan was up and moving immediately. He leaned over the chair and stared out the cockpit window as the man pointed to the seemingly brand new thunderstorm quickly forming several miles before them. “Dobbiamo andare in giro.”

Go around? How much time would that take? Quinlan stared at the ominous black clouds and the lightning flickering violently across them … all of them.

No. Go through it.

Quinlan relayed the message from their guardian angel to the pilot. "No. Procedere in esso."

"Signore." The pilot protested greatly, pointing at his equipment. “I have never seen a thunderstorm of this magnitude. I will at least have to fly above it.”

No. Go through it. It’s not what you think it is.

Quinlan moved back to the seats to look out at the angel with his physical eyes and found the ex-governor still hunched over on the wing. The dhampir spoke out loud to him, rather than through their minds, so that everyone could hear his annoyance and reluctance.

"And what exactly is it then? Flying through that will get us killed."

Psh. We both know you’d live.

"What is it?" Quinlan posed the question slowly and forcefully, through gritted teeth and the angel on the wing moved finally as the dhampir caught a glimpse of his face. The angel glared at him through the window.

It’s cover. It means he’s finally nutting up …

"He? Who is he?"

Michael’s body moved and his head tilted back slightly.

"Who is he?" Quinlan demanded again, but some part of him already knew that answer and he didn’t really wish to hear it out loud.

Quiet! Listen. Do you hear that?

Quinlan focused and he did in fact hear something rumbling in the distance.

Ah hell, Oz.

"What is it?" Whatever was approaching did not sound like the Hayyoth. It was mechanical and Quinlan squinted in the distance but could see nothing.

Lake Baikal. You will be there …

The angel met his eyes with absolute vitriol.

If you really care for her, that is.

Michael released his grip on the wing and the angel was gone. Quinlan returned to the cockpit to find the pilot angling the plane up, away from the massive and ominous thunderstorm.

"Into the storm, I said. Do not make me remove you again."

"Signore. It is death." The pilot hope to drive his point home in English, but the dhampir shook his head.

"No. It is not." Quinlan felt goosebumps run across his skin as he already regretted what he was about to say. In all honestly, it was obvious. What Michael said made sense and what they knew of the Bible was clear. He rarely did nothing, and it was canon that when he did, it was always substantial. “It is … God.”

The moment he said it, the wind picked up and vicious turbulence hit the plane.

Michael detached and he fell back, spreading his wings and pulling his sword as he waited for the manned weapon that approached.

Uh ... My Golden Wingman ... you’re about to have some rather nasty company.

No shit. Metal glinted in the distance and Michael took a deep breath, drawing upon what little borrowed strength he had left. He turned back one final time to verify that the plane headed directly into the growing storm as instructed. Good.

"Tally one bandit. 1 mile to Echo Tango Beta."

Wait … Beta?!? Ah, hell no …

Michael shot straight for it and as the distance between them closed in seconds, he closed his helmet and prepared for the impact. The jet banked right and in perfect unison, the angel banked left. This wasn’t the most graceful of choices, but Michael doubted his ability to tail the jet in his current condition. This would get the job done.

"Fox Three. Fox Three. Vulture … signing off."

The collision was imminent and the pilot unloaded his full armament rather than punch out. The two missiles rocketed past the explosion and barrelled towards the storm as both the angel and wreckage plummeted to Earth.

Fuck.

"Move!" Quinlan barked at the strigoi, shoving him to the side as he tried desperately to look out the window at the very back of the plane, attempting to get a visual of what he heard approaching. When he spied them, his eyes grew wide. Damnation. “Evasive maneuvers!” He shouted to the pilot, though he didn’t think it would do any good and the plane began to climb and turn to the right. “Brace for impact!” He commanded the others.

"Impact?!?" Dutch screamed back at him. “What bloody kind of impact?!”

"Ah shit." Fet was already pulling his seatbelt tighter as he closed his eyes. “Dis isn’t how I wanted to die!!!”

Quinlan fought the urge to close his eyes as well, and found himself grateful he didn’t, as the silver clad angel glinted in the horizon. Before he lost visual of the missiles and her entirely, he watched her fly close to one. Reaching out and taking hold of the missile, she straddled it fully as she locked her arms and legs around it and then she pulled hard in the direction of the second missile. Dark clouds enveloped the plane and turbulence hit hard as the shockwaves of the explosion rippled into them.

Michael fell and he didn’t even try to stop himself. He saw his brother fly by above and he felt himself relaxing fully as he plummeted, or at least, until the moment of impact. Even after the shock of the collision with the ground passed, he remained still, breathing into the dirt, facedown. He didn’t stir for several minutes, until he heard her land beside his crater. When he finally looked up, he began to actually chuckle. His growing amusement fueled him enough to roll over and come to his knees as he watched the spectacle that was his older brother.

"Good Lord … Uhhhhhh!" Ozryel was standing, but she was bent over at almost a ninety degree angle and her face was contorted with agony as she clutched her right side with both hands. “Fuck my life …” She panted loudly. “Bloody hell …” Her words were raspy and her heart was thundering. “That was the fastest jet alive … Uhhhhhhhh!” She stood up, took two steps and then doubled over again, gritting her teeth in pain as she tried to slow her breathing. “I’m fine. I’m fine … Nope. I’m definitely going to vomit.”

Michael’s chuckle turned into a full laugh as Ozryel took a deep breath and tried to walk off her side stitch, shooting him the dirtiest look she could possibly muster. "Shush you! Don’t laugh at me!" She pointed at him accusingly before she cringed and doubled forward again. “Don’t judge me! I haven’t flown in thousands of years … Good Lord … Blasted muscles have atrophied ...” She forced her breath to normalize as she began to take several deep gasps, pacing around like a chicken. “You good? You ready? Ok. Let’s go.”

"I think I might need a minute actually." Michael confessed.

"Oh good ... oh thank God." Ozryel exhaled dramatically before she collapsed to the ground.

Finder - Moderat

"Can you stop doing that please?" Uriel felt his very bone structure cringe as she pulsed time slower and slower still. It was progressive and it seemed to be getting worse. “It’s really uncomfortable.”

"Oh. I know." She gritted her teeth, agreeing with him fully. “Trust me, it's far worse for me than you. But … I’m afraid I can’t stop. It’s why I am here. It’s why I had to be here.”

"You had to be here … to slow down Heaven?" Uriel shook his head.

"In a way ... Time spins like the gears of a clock. She’s speeding up Hell, and in turn Earth and in turn Heaven ... and I’m trying to mitigate that effect … or we’ll spin out of control I’m afraid."

"She?" Uriel cocked his head to the right. “Who are you talking about? What’s going on?” He decided to go the direct approach. “Where has Father gone? What is happening with the Hayyoth? Why are--”

"Father …" She looked on him with utter seriousness. “... has not gone anywhere. In fact, quite the opposite, I’m afraid ... He has actually gone everywhere.”

"Everywhere?"

"He has dispersed ... so that he could see and experience everywhere … all the time. He needed to be everywhere … for any of this to work."

"Dispersed?" Uriel refused the overly simple explanation. “I don’t follow.”

"I know. But you will …" She assured him. “Father is all around us. Even now, he is here. Trust me. He never left.”

"How do you know this? Is it because you’ve already seen all of this? You already know what I’ll ask and how you’ll answer. You already know … everything."

She smiled and took a very deep breath as the next pulse emanated from her very soul. "Yes and no, brother. Yes and no. This … conversation ..." She waved a hand between them. “I have always known how it starts, but … and I must admit I am quite excited, that … I have no idea know how it will end. And you can’t comprehend what that means … to something like me, Uriel. For the first time in my life … I am excited and I am grateful that I will get to spend my first moments as a free soul … with you, my brother.”

"I don’t follow." Uriel shook his head. “And I grow weary of your riddles, Andy. Just--”

"These aren’t riddles. Not anymore, at least. I will be honest with you. You will ask questions and I will answer them. Fully and truthfully. And we will sit here, together, as I keep the wheels of time from spinning hopelessly out of control … and we will allow what needs to happen without us to happen."

"So, you’re distracting me then?" Uriel laughed.

"Distracting? No, no. I am simply …" She winked at him. “Keeping you out of trouble until it ends.”

"So, what keeps me from just leaving then?" He threatened, but he knew it was pointless. The Wheel already knew what he would do.

"Answers. You wish to hear a story. You wish to know what is happening. And as long as you sit there, I will tell you. I will tell you everything."

"You said until it ends ..." Uriel’s brows pinched furiously and his voice cracked, rich in uncertainty. “What’s going to end, Andy?”

She smiled now and her face was full of absolute relief. "My sight."

Issues - Kina Grannis

I'm jealous, I'm overzealous

When I'm down, I get real down

When I'm high, I don't come down

I get angry, baby, believe me

I could love you just like that

And I could leave you just this fast

They were through the worst part of the storm and everyone had settled down for the long flight. Quinlan sat alone, staring at the tattered and worn photograph in his hands. He couldn’t help but obsess over it, as it gave him a reminder of both her face as well as his absence. He noticed Dutch immediately, but not before she saw the item he quickly folded and attempted to hide in his palm.

"Yes ... Mrs. Fet?" He asked as she sat down in the seat next to him without invitation.

"You like saying that, don’t you?" She smirked.

"Saying what?"

"Mrs. Fet." She repeated his intonation perfectly, nudging his arm playfully with her elbow.

"What do you mean?" He feigned ignorance, but she was quite observant. Each time he said it, he actually had to bite back the grin that begged him for release.

"Your inflection on it. You put a little rise on it. Each and every time you say it."

"I am happy for you …" He glanced through the small opening between the seats, back several rows at the snoring Ukrainian giant “For both of you.”

"It’s too bad you missed it. The wedding, that is. It was a hell of a party." He actually hadn’t missed it, had he? He had been there that day. He had broken the rules set before him to see her again, at any cost. Dutch sighed, fondly remembering her day as she pointed to the hidden object in his palm. Quinlan reluctantly opened his hand, allowing her to take it and unfold it, staring at it while she spoke. “You know … This was actually the last time we saw her. Everything seemed like it was getting back to some kind of normalcy and then she was just ... poof … gone … ”

He tilted his head to the side, worried of what the implication of that statement might be, but something deep down urged him that that was very much his fault. "I … I did not miss it." He confessed to her. “I was there that day. It was a lovely celebration.”

"What?" She coughed. “You were there that day? What the bloody hell does that mean?”

"I was … there … that day. The great hall next to the beach. I watched you and Fet dance. And I saw her there." Quinlan held his eyes closed as he spoke. “That was not normalcy. She was unwell, Dutch. I saw her.”

"You …" She swallowed hard. “Wait … you were watching us … like, this whole time?” The implication of that seemed to embarrass her a bit and she began to squirm in her seat, glowering at him. “What did you see? How often did you creep on us? When we were in private--”

"Dutch." He tried to put her to ease. “I visited Earth only the once, and it was for a few brief minutes.”

"Oh. Ok." Her shoulders relaxed and then he could see the gears in her head spinning and he knew more questions would follow. “Visit, huh? Only the once though? Why wouldn’t you visit more?”

"I was not permitted to visit." He shrugged. “In doing so, I went against Michael’s order. I broke his rules was punished for it.”

"Punished? How in the bloody hell do you get punished in Heaven?" Her face scrunched in confusion. “Isn’t it paradise?”

"I was put in a cell. They punish you with boredom." She snickered at his revelation, but she didn’t seem surprised by it at all. “Paradise ... it is not. Perhaps to some, but … there is no happiness without ... “ He peered down toward the photo before bringing his eyes back to hers. “Love.” She was smiling wildy now and he felt flushed suddenly at her amusement. “What?” Did she not believe him? “It’s the truth. I swear.”

"Oh, love. Trust me. I don’t doubt it one bit. You gettin’ nicked for breakin’ rules in Heaven is one of the only things I’ve heard today that makes total sense." She shook her head as she laughed out loud. If that was supposed to be an insult, he was far from insulted by it and he beamed with pride. “What’s prison like in Paradise then? Do you have HBO at least?”

"It is very … clean."

"Huh. Alright then." She accepted his words and mulled them over as she chewed on her lower lip for a quiet moment. “It’s really kinda romantic … in like … a creepy and weird kind of way.”

"Creepy?" He asked for clarification, his voice rich with concern.

"Well, I mean …" She shifted in her seat, half smiling yet half frowning as she shrugged. “Stalking your ex from beyond the grave is a bit creepy, Quinlan.”

"Ex? No. No." His brow furrowed furiously at the word ex. He could care less of seeming creepy or not, but that word was … not true. It was not true. But even as he refused it, looking down at the image, he knew it really was true. “It wasn’t …” He so very rarely found himself at a loss for words, and he stared down at his fingers, nervously picking at a fingernail for distraction from her accusatory eyes. “It was not over for me … It … is not over.”

"I mean …" Dutch shifted again. “If you think about it, it was a hell of a way to break up with someone, yeah?”

"What’s that?" Quinlan was genuinely confused by the brash statement. “What do you mean--”

"Nuking your own arse." She said frankly. “And I won’t even bring up the domestic violence before--”

Quinlan swiftly interrupted her. He did not want to be reminded of the sleeper hold he had put Dawn in during their final moments together. "It was never my intention to …" Oh gods. “End things with her.”

"Intention or not, love." She explained it brutally for him and her words cut deep. “That was the outcome, right?” Quinlan rolled his head with annoyance as he plucked the photograph back out of her hands. “You wanted revenge, yeah? You wanted payback and you got it. You--”

"I did not do it for revenge." He snapped sharply. “There was no choice in the matter. Michael gave me no choice, Dutch.” He looked up at her. “Either I did what was needed of me … or she would pay the price for all of it.”

"So, you knew all of this … back then?" She caught his words quickly and her tone was overly accusatory. “Michael, Lucifer, Angels, Heaven, He--”

"No. No. Not all of it. No." He shook his head. “Not what I know now. Not ... “ Quinlan shifted his gaze out the window and stared into the clouds around them as he took a deep breath and confessed to Dutch what he was unwilling to tell Dawn. “I didn't do it for revenge … I died so that she could live … “ His eyes met hers again. “He framed it as a choice, but … there wasn’t really a choice in those options.”

"Well, you didn’t tell her that." She said plainly. “She thought you died for your vengeance. She thought you died for your wife …”

"But how could I tell her that?" He asked with budding desperation. Did he even need her understanding? No, he really didn’t, but her eyes made him torturously … shamed. “She would have hated herself. She would have …” He glanced at the photo yet again. “I did not want to leave. It was not my choice to leave … any of you.”

"Well, you should have been honest with her." She was savage in her judgement of him and Quinlan felt it was well deserved. “Even if it hurt more … you should have been honest.”

"I know." He nodded, biting into his lower lip. “Wife?” He asked, suddenly realizing what Dutch had said. He never mentioned it to any of them. He had shared it with only Dawn. “She told you?” Was he hurt? Did he even have the right to feel hurt?

"Well … uh …" Dutch smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Truth be told, we weren’t exactly sober though. That was the ONLY time she had ever talked about herself. It was my bachelorette party and there was … uh ...” Then there was another uncomfortable laugh as some memory seemed to embarrass her and Quinlan sat straight up in his seat. “Lots of tequila. Tequila is a terrible thing. TERRIBLE THING.” Her eyes glazed over as she looked off in the distance, seeming to stare at the back of the seat in front of them, but clearly lost in her own trail of memories.

His nervousness increased suddenly. "Wait … what else did she disclose to you?"

"Huh?" She turned back to him, waking up from the fugue state her memories had put her in and then she read the overly concerned look on his face and laughed heartily. “No. No. No. Nothing about you. No. No. That was just a crazy night.” She began to enthusiastically fish her phone from her pocket. “I have pictures of it! You want to see?!”

Quinlan waved his hand at the phone as she unlocked it and shook his head. "No. That is not necessary." She could read the scrutiny on his face clearly as he didn’t believe her. “She didn’t tell me anything else, alright? We just talked about our exes.” He did not like that word. “She talked more about her asshole ex-husband, than you. It hurt her to talk about you. I think it hurt her to even think about you.”

Though he would have never wished pain upon her, but this confession eased the ache that burned in his chest. It gave him hope that their time together was not as fleeting as he was assuming since learning the knowledge of Mr. … Elizalde. The seriousness of the situation was almost stifling and he smirked slightly. "I suppose I should believe you."

"Good. Good." Dutch smiled. “Wait … why?”

Quinlan’s smile only widened further as he raised a single brow at her in preparation for the upcoming embarrassment. "For if she had told you anything, you might not have made such a fool of yourself earlier today …"

"Fool?" She hadn’t quite caught on to his statement yet and she asked for clarification. “What the hell are you on about now? I helped save our arses, love.”

"I am referring to your statements concerning my ... anatomy ..."

"Oh … …. … That." Her face fell. Her eyes shifted from his down to her lap and a rosy color flushed across her cheeks as she cleared her throat. She clearly wished to crawl into a hole and Quinlan shook his head at her immaturity. “You … uh …. So you heard that, did ya?” Now it was her turn to nervously play with her fingers. “That didn’t make me a fool, love. No, that made me an asshole. I’m sorry.”

"Hmmm." As his smirk faded away, he stared at her and the disappointment in his face was painfully obvious to her. “If it was that important to you, you could have just asked.”

"Ewww." Her face contorted at even the thought of such a thing. She glanced down towards his crotch and then blushed considerably as she tore her eyes away, her hand coming to her forehead as she struggled with the discomfort of the situation. “No. That would have been terribly rude.”

"And spreading falsehoods isn’t?" He waited for her next retort, but she simply stared at him blankly and he sighed. “I kept hoping you would mention it to Abraham. I have no doubts that he would have set you straight. Rather profoundly.”

"Wait …" Her mouth frowned at the statement and her eyes darted down and then up again. It was an almost uncontrollable response to the situation. If Quinlan had been younger, it might have caused him embarrassment, but he was far too old to care any further. “The Professor knew?! When did you flash him!? Wait, did he ask you?! I know Eph saw because--”

"I did not flash Abraham." Quinlan interrupted immediately. He didn’t wish to revisit the thought of Ephraim stripping him again. A younger version of Quinlan would have gutted him for such an indiscretion. “You are aware of my past, are you not?”

"Uhhh … not, not really." While Dutch Velders was insanely smart in many ways, her ignorance on this subject was absolute. “You’re half vamp--Angel?” She smiled innocently.

"I was born in Italy. I was a gladiator." He explained. “I know the Professor was fond of mentioning my background to … well … everyone.”

"Oh yeah. That. Yup. Knew that." She was nodding enthusiastically. “Knew loads about that. Abe was your biggest fanboy.”

"I was in the military." She continued to nod, remembering the professor’s admiration of him. “I was a General.”

"Yup. Yup."

"I was married. I adopted a child."

"Okay?" She began to squint at him and he could see her mouth opening to question why this was important. “I don’t think I’m followi--”

"If I was … lacking … what you have assumed me to be lacking since first we met, Mrs. Fet, regardless of your own current ideologies, I would not have been a man to the Roman Empire." Overall, he felt particularly good to get this off his chest.

"Okay?" Good gods. Was she really this dense? The continuing confusion of her face affirmed the statement.

"I would not have been permitted any of the things I have just stated. Roman Law would have prevented me from leading the life I assure you I did." Her eyes flickered toward his crotch a third time and Quinlan rolled his head in frustration.

"You doubt still?!" He played with her shame further. As he spoke, he began to fiddle with his belt buckle, never actually intending to carry through with the action he threatened. “I would be happy to show you if it is required for you to drop this subject-- ”

"No. NO!" Her eyes grew impressively wide and her hand flew to his arm to halt his feigned motion. “I don’t. I REALLY BLOODY DON’T. I believe you. I BELIEVE YOU. I’m sorry. Case closed, alright?”

"Case closed." He accepted her defeat on the matter. “Thank you.”

"Oh." She looked forward and pursed her lips, then she nodded and accepted it before guilt fell across her face and she turned to him, confessing something rapidly. “I might have told Dawn you didn’t have ...”

"On the roof." He nodded. “I am well aware you did.”

"Whoops. Heh. Yeah, well, heh. Sorry about that." She said again and cleared her throat before she chuckled uncomfortably. “I guess you cleared that confusion right up, yeah?” Her eyebrow raised and she waited eagerly for him to say something. “So, uh, when did she find out? I mean … apparently, after all of this bloody time, I have no idea what actually happened between you two.” It was clear Dutch hated finding out she had been in the dark over things. “How long were you two--”

Wait … did she think he was going to tell her anything? She was prying for details it seemed and Quinlan sighed dramatically, cocking his head to the right as he grew tired of the subject. "Was there something else I can help you with … Mrs. Fet?"

"No. Not really. No." She was lying and he waited. “I just wanted to see how you were doing after …” Her voice trailed off as she tried to read his lack of expression.

"After the battle?" He felt fine. “I feel fine. All of my wounds are healed. You needn’t worry about--”

"Not after the battle." She explained. “After your little fit.”

"Hmmm." He glanced out the window and refused to turn back as he spoke. He didn’t wish to speak about it. “How is he?”

"Physically? Yeah. He’ll live."

"Hmmm." He would have continued to stare out the window, hoping she would leave, had she not reached out and gripped his hand. She would never have done such a thing before, and he would not have allowed her to continue to hold it before, but as their friendship had grown considerably, he begrudgingly allowed it. Turning to face her judgemental eyes again, but he didn’t find her eyes accusatory. Instead, he found them sad. “What do you want from me, Dutch? Do you wish for me to apologize to him?” Quinlan squinted. “Because I will not. I do not regret what I did. And I will not apologize for it.”

"No. I wouldn’t ask you to." She said plainly. “And I’m not actually worried about him.”

"I am fine." He assured her with confidence.

"Honestly, I could care less how you are right now either."

Quinlan blinked at her words. "Then what is prompting this visit?" He pushed, annoyed enough now to attempt to pull his hand from her grip but she held strong.

"I wanna make sure your head is in the right place, mate." She sucked her cheeks in and eyed him suspiciously. “I wanna make sure that when we find her … you keep your hands to yourself and your foot … out of your fucking mouth.”

Her brashness hit him hard, cutting deep and insulting ruthlessly. He sneered his response, his teeth gritting through the words. "I would never hurt her." Regarding her quietly for a moment, he could read the intent of her face clearly. He had hurt Dawn before. Both when they first met and when they parted. “Dutch … I … died for her.”

"Exactly. You died. You were gone, love. Boom … into a fucking mushroom cloud. We saw the blast and she felt it." Dutch acknowledged it. “Just because you died for her, doesn’t mean you own her. It doesn’t mean you just get to show up out of the blue and everything goes back to how it was.”

"You think me unworthy of her." Quinlan finally pulled his hand free of the Hacker’s grip and he stared at her, unsure if he was disappointed in her or himself. “You are not different than he.”

"That’s not what I am saying." She sighed. “And no different than who?”

"Michael …" Quinlan turned away, to look out into the clouds as he wondered where the archangels were at the moment. “He dislikes me also. In his eyes … I am unworthy of her …”

Dutch chuckled at the statement and he turned to regard her amused face with shock. He was admitting something he had hoped she would be understanding about and he was actually expressing his feelings openly and she was … laughing at him?

"Oh, all you boys …" Her eyes flicked down towards his crotch and back up. This time, it was very much on purpose. This new information about his anatomy seemed to give her some kind of ammunition that she could now use against him. “You’re all the bloody same, aren’t you?”

"Pardon?" His head cocked left.

"Who’s worthy of her … isn’t up to him."

"He is her father." Quinlan countered. Did she not already realize this fact?

"He is her Grandfather … kind of. But whatever." Dutch corrected, shaking her head at him as if she was chastising him. “But it doesn’t matter. It isn’t up to him. It isn’t up to Gus. Hell, it ain’t even up to you.” Dutch explained as she began to stand from her seat, seemingly done with the conversation. “It’s only up to her. And when we find her and if she forgives you ...” She leaned forward in her stance and poked him violently in the chest with her index finger. “She’ll decide who is worthy of her. She decides. No one else. Are we clear here?”

"Yes." Quinlan nodded slowly, annoyed, but ultimately appreciative the woman’s words.

"And …" She wasn’t quite done with the lecture and Quinlan hoped she wouldn’t poke him again. “You are not a cuck. You haven’t earned the right to even call yourself a cuck yet.” Quinlan blinked innocently at the statement and he felt like he wanted to argue with her. There were legal documents in place that … “Regardless of what you had me forge, she isn’t your wife unless you ask her to be … and she says yes.”

Fair enough.

Fix You - Canyon City

When the tears come streaming down your face

When you lose something you can't replace

When you love someone but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

She was about to leave him and he unfolded the photo again. "Is it selfish that I wished … that I hoped … she would not have … “ What was the right word? He cringed as several moved across his mind and he settled on a vague one. “Moved on?"

"Is it selfish?" She repeated and took a deep breath. “Hell yeah, it’s selfish.” Quinlan’s shoulders fell as he accepted defeat in the conversation, but she spoke again and this time when he met her eyes, he found them understanding. “But it’s also very human.”

"Did she … love him?" He wasn’t sure he wanted to even hear the answer. “I mean … does she love him?”

"That’s not a question I can answer, Quinlan."

"Hmmm." He nodded and turned back to the window. There were still several hours left of the flight and he hoped to spend them in peaceful solace.

"But … “ She lingered. “For what it’s worth … she didn’t stay with him. That day …" She pointed to the photo. “You said you were there? I think she felt you.”

"I know. I know … I needed to see her." He had the same impression and the guilt overwhelmed him. His brows furrowed. The timing was far too perfect. “It wasn’t over for me.”

"But that’s exactly what I mean, love. It was that day …" Dutch smiled at him. “She ran off and sold her bloody soul to the actual fucking devil … for promises of you, mate. Not for Gus.” Her words were beautifully reassuring. “So now, we just gotta show her it worked.”

She turned to leave again as he shoved the photo roughly into his front pocket so he could forget it for now. It was very same pocket that he had kept his last momento. "Dutch." He called to her before she could escape and he smiled. “Congratulations. I am happy for you.”

"Thanks, love." She returned the smirk, nodding with pride.

"All three of you." His smirk turned almost sinister as it was his turn to glance down at her body now.

"What the hell …" Her smile vanished. Her mouth fell agape and she slid back into the chair, leaning over to him as she poked him violently again, whispering as loud as possible while glancing back through the seats to verify her husband was still snoring happily. “Not a bloody word! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?”

"Vasily does not know?" He questioned immediately, though her reaction was quite clear.

"No. Of course not. You think I would be here if he bloody knew?!? Uuuuh." She slouched considerably and brought her hand to her forehead, pinching her brow between her fingers.

"This is not … good news?" He tilted his head at her reaction.

"Honestly … I don’t know. We didn’t even know if we wanted kids. We said we’d talk about it in a couple of years. We …" Dutch shook her head, the disappointment was clear. “I forgot a couple of pills and … bam. This was so not planned.”

"Oh. But … why have you not told him?" Quinlan wasn’t sure what the implication of her reaction was. “Do you plan to not keep it?”

"What?" She shot him another look of shock as her mouth fell agape for the second time. “What?! Why would you say that? I … I …” Hesitating, she clearly found herself incapable of actually answering the question. “I … I don’t know. I … But I don’t think now’s the right time. With everything that’s happening ... What if we fail?”

"Dutch, Either the world will end or it will not. I do not think this situation will give way to anything in between those options. And in either case, I suggest preparing for the best outcome."

"I don’t think … I’d make a good mum either." Her face contorted with the confession. “I’m a little bratty, if you haven’t noticed. Responsibility isn’t really my thing.”

"Trust me when I say … We are rarely the ones who choose responsibility. It is the force that chooses us." He shrugged. “You have been absolutely vital in saving the world, twice now. And after having just experienced the lecture you inflicted upon me …” He grinned at her. “I have no doubts, should you choose it, you will excel.”

"Hmmm." She poked at her belly with her index finger and pouted slightly. “I guess two people know now. The Nazi knew too. Creeper. You guys got some, like, Baby Radar in those strigoi noggins?”

"No." He chuckled. “Just very good hearing.”

"Hearing?"

"It has a heartbeat, Mrs. Fet."

"A heartbeat?" She doubted his statement and looked back at her stomach with horror, poking it again. “Ugh. Already?”

"Yes." Quinlan leaned over slowly, closed his eyes and listened carefully. “A very strong one.”

"Hmmm." She sighed. “I guess that’s good.”

"Also, I doubt the lapdog and I are the only ones. It is quite likely that the Bear and the Wolf know as well. I am unsure how acute their hearing is, but…"

"Damn. Dammit."

"Since you afforded me unoffered advice, allow me to give you the same." He glanced back at his sleeping friend. “You should tell him. He should not be the very last to know.”

"I know. But … No." She shook her head. “Not right now. He’s got enough to worry about and we need to stay focused… there’s so much more at stake than just me and …” She poked herself. “It.”

"Perhaps …" Quinlan sighed. He didn’t want to make the offer, but he knew he should. “You two should stay in Rome. When we land, I will have my people take care of you both. You can flourish.”

"No." Dutch shook her head. Her word was firm and brave. Quinlan could tell that her mind was made up. “If I wasn’t here, this plane would be in tiny pieces all over the ocean bottom.” This statement was likely fact. She had kept them hidden from digital eyes. “And Dawn’s family. Besides … there needs to be a world left for us to be able to flourish in.”

"Indeed." He had made the offer and he would not push for her to accept it, because he knew he would need her. He knew he needed them all.

"Don’t tell him, ok?" She poked him in the arm once and he nodded to her request. “I didn’t mean to bother you. You can get back to your …” She waved a hand at him. “Your moping.”

"Dutch." His hand was on her arm, halting her retreat for the third time. “You said … you had pictures?” His eyes were a strange mix of sadness and hope and he smiled at her. Perhaps he didn’t wish to spend the rest of the flight alone after all. “Of your … Women’s Party?”

"You really wanna see ‘em?" She asked for confirmation as she fished her phone from her pocket. “It was a crazy night …”

"Yes …" Nodding, he smiled, displaying an eagerness that was unlike the old him. “I would. Very much so.”

Sweet Little Lies (Epic Trailer Version) - J2, Midian

Tell me lies

Tell me sweet little lies

(Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)

Oh, no, no you can't disguise

(You can't disguise, no you can't disguise)

The man approached and waited nervously in the doorway for her acknowledgement and subsequent permission to enter. The woman peered at her worker though the very narrow slit in her niqāb, which revealed only her black eyes and dark skin to the rest of the world.

"نعم فعلا؟"

Yes?

"لقد وصلنا إلى الغرفة الخارجية" He stammered.

We have reached the outer chamber.

"جيد." She nodded her approval to the underling.

Good.

"هل نمضي قدما؟"

Do we proceed?

"لا تلمس أي شيء ... حتى الآن. هكذا. قريبا جدا." Her words were firm and forceful.

No. Do not touch anything … yet. Soon. Very soon.

She spoke as she pulled a necklace out from its hidden place under her Arab garb.

"إعداد المعدات. سوف اقول لكم متى خرق. سنعمل بسرعة. سيكون لدينا دقائق فقط."

Prepare the equipment. I will tell you when to breach. We will work fast. We will only have minutes.

The man bowed and retreated as she turned to her companion. Unhooking the chain, she handed the small, glass globe that hung on the end of it to her blonde male companion. "Are you prepared for the fun part ... Sun King?"

The blonde man swallowed hard as he gingerly accepted it from her offering hand, staring at the tiny glass globe and the single drop of liquid that rolled around within it.

[imagineelrios]

Sibling complex. (Now this is a plus for SOME OF YOU, but in modern society, it’s usually looked down on, so I’ll treat it as a minus.)

You know what, let’s have an actual conversation about this, because I’m tired of reading uninformed posts claiming she has a complex.

Let’s quickly go over what we know about Ara and the Haan family.

The Haans were entrusted with safeguarding the sealed Silver Fox over 700 years ago, and their family has acquired quite a bit of status as a result of that tireless duty. Aren Haan, Ara’s older brother, became the Defense Captain of the Capital of Fahrmann at a young age. Ara is considered clumsy*, is constantly apologizing for things that aren’t really her fault, and doesn’t know what Eun is despite it being her family’s job to guard that seal. So on the one hand, we have an older brother that is doing really, really good for himself with a high profile job that surely brings a lot of honor to the family, and on the other we have a little sister who doesn’t know any of the family secrets and acts like everything is her fault.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in explaining psychology, so bear with me through this next part. The fact that Ara constantly apologizes for things is probably related to her thinking that she is supposed to apologize for everything. The reason she would think that she is supposed to is probably related to some sort of inferiority complex; if she is constantly failing, she would thus feel the need to apologize. There are a bunch of other possible reasons (she could just be Canadian), but just go with it for now. We have one perfect sibling who landed a great job at a young age and then we have another sibling who messes up a lot and isn’t regarded highly in the family. And then people on the forums pretend like Ara is in love with Aren.

That’s laughable. There is no way Ara loves her brother. It’s far more likely that she resents him.

Imagine Ara practicing with some combat instructors on her family estate, her father and mother watching nearby. Ara struggles to complete her training, so she’s probably getting smacked every now and again by her instructor’s training spear as he tells her for the tenth time that she has to adjust her center of balance or move faster or something. Her father lets out a disappointed sigh while her mother struggles to hide the concern on her face. A servant approaches the head of the family carrying news of Aren’s successes in the capital and how much honor he has brought them all. Ara can only watch as her father stands up to leave with the courier instead of continuing to view her performance and gets bonked on the head by her instructor for not paying attention.

I don’t know how many of you reading this have siblings, so I’ll try to explain as best I can. When one sibling is everything your parents ever asked for and it’s impossible for you to meet the standard he or she has set, you don’t fall in love with them. You tend to resent them because you know you’ll never make your parents smile the same way that they can.

So, if Ara doesn’t like Aren, why is she so obsessed with finding him? Quite simply, if she can’t save Aren, then her family line will die.

Let’s fast forward in our example to the day that Aren is consumed by the demon Ran and he attacks his family. Everyone is dead. Ara’s father is dead, Ara’s mother is dead, all her instructors are dead, all the servants are dead, any other siblings she might have are dead. The only people alive are Ara and Aren, each possessed by Eun and Ran respectively. Normally, one would assume that revenge would be the first thing on Ara’s mind, because gee, all her family is dead. But she doesn’t have time to focus on revenge because of a key fact that was pointed out earlier: She doesn’t know any of the family secrets. She didn’t know about Eun, and she doesn’t start the game with any of the techniques or knowledge one would expect from the daughter of a family that has been specialized in sealing spirits for over 700 years. All of that knowledge of exorcism and mysticism and so on is now only contained in Aren.

If Ara can’t save Aren, then every family secret and technique involving fighting demons will die with him.

She doesn’t hunt Ran because she loves her brother, she does it because that’s her only chance to save her family. If Aren is purified, he would be able to one day raise a child in the ways of the Haan family, teaching it how to seal spirits and all that other stuff Ara never learned because she never got the opportunity to. And considering the alarming increase in the number of demon invasions following the destruction of her family estate (I bet Hamel and Velder would have appreciated some Haan Exorcists showing up and closing those demon portals over their cities before they were burned/sunk into the ocean), the world needs that expertise. If Ara can’t save her brother, then how many other cities and families will be destroyed?

And in case that doesn’t convince you, I’ll let Ara defend herself.

http://i.imgur.com/RxB2wDU.png

Oh, and yeah, I’ve seen her victory pose where she cheerfully looks at a picture of her brother. http://i.imgur.com/dIV7irG.png The thing about that picture is that she’s not looking at a picture of Aren, she’s looking at a picture of Ran. If she was in love with her brother, you’d think she’d have a picture of him without the demon horns. Instead, she’s smiling at a picture of the creature that destroyed her family and inadvertently set her free on a path in which she became much stronger. Perhaps her smile is reserved for thoughts of what she’ll do to Ran once Aren is saved, perhaps it’s a reaffirmation of the goal she is fighting towards, I think that’s partly up to the player to interpret. It’s definitely not because she wants to date him, very few girls equate “victory in battle” with “alright let’s go get coffee with this guy who murdered my mom and dad”.

*Most of her defeat poses involve her either falling over or hitting herself with her own spear on accident. You can view those here if you’ve never seen them before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HzpSrAWgyw (Disclaimer. This isn’t mine!! I just thought it was interesting and wanted to show everyone else. The user @/suffernot posted it under a thread on elsword forums) This is pretty interesting for me and I think this makes more sense and it actually fits in

[arcanecaster]

Elsword Marching AU Headcanons!

For the pure nerdery of it, Im gonna place some headcanons here... if its as popular as my last post, i might consider making a side blog for it~ 

- Code: Nemesis and Royal Guard are the drum majors

-Nemesis is the super serious drum major that scares everyone.

-RG is the nice drum major thats friends with everyone and likes to help

- Ariel is a typically nice director to the public, but during the practices, she’s rough. The members know true terror when they march past her while she’s hitting the gock block.

- The Velder Academy Marching Band has a rival band, the Aernas High School Marching Band

- Grand Master, Saber Knight, and Elesis transferred from Aernas.

- All the 2nd Job Adds have done a summer of DCI

- Mastermind did a summer of DCI (The Bluecoats) as a guard member, but decided he wanted to play flute in his local band instead.

-Lunatic Psyker was a Mellophone soloist for The Cavaliers. He even bought a souvenir hat that he wears to practice sometimes, feathers and all.

-Diabolic Esper was in the pit for Phantom Regiment, but he played synth. He plays marimba in Velder’s band. 

- Code: Architecture is second chair clarinet despite being a sophomore. Arc Tracer is third, also a sophomore. Their scores are always within .5 of each other for pass offs and chair tests, and their competition is extremely heated.

- Mostly everyone in the pit is scared of Diabolic Esper. However, those who aren’t often bum snacks off him.

- Void Princess constantly talks about how she’s section leader of the Alto Saxes and is constantly talking about music theory no one else gets. 

- There is a jazz band comprised of: Erbluhen Emotion, Code: Exotic, and Infinity Sword on trumpet, Void Princess, Grand Master, Ain, and Weapon Taker on Alto Sax, Pyro Knight on Tenor Sax, Blade Master, Trapping Ranger, and Little Specter on Trombone, and Diabla on Bari Sax. It is directed by Glave. 

- Raven has so much trouble getting his hair in the beret and holding his tuba with his nasod arm why is he even on tuba-

-Time Tracer has to play Bass 2 because he’s too noodely to hold a bigger drum. Lunatic Psyker often teases him for this

- Grand Archer is the Guard Leader. She’s very nice and mothers over the guard a lot, but gets pissed when someone drops a flag or rifle during a contest performance. 

- Reckless Fist (Mellophone) is dating Grand Archer, and often sits as far back in the bus as he can without the other guard members yelling at him. They are the band’s Romeo and Juliet and everyone is constantly talking about their “forbidden love”. 

- Lunatic Psyker is extreme about horn posture. He will purposely “bump” other mellophone players with his horn bell if he sees them with bad posture. 

- Litttle Hsien is actually a fantastic flute player. However, she botches her pass offs and chair tests so she can get away from the high expectations. Only Mastermind knows about her true talent, and is extremely paranoid she might come up and usurp him as Section Leader. This leads to him making some rather rude comments about her and random glaring at her for every missed note during scale pass offs.

@queenieboo22 @diabolicegghead

[longingfreesia]

okok so heres a (hopefully) comprehensive post about the “modern” au i think about sometimes. because i 1. have nowhere else to put it 2. should probably post it all here so stuff i write in it makes some kind of sense

last edited: june 11th 2022

cw for illness and child neglect

kind of.... loosely really really really loosely velder academy au based since like..........3rd jobs are in the same school or whateverrrrrrr yeahhhhhhhhhhh. they’re in.. college by third jobs.

ok so. first of all. they all... live(d) under ishmael in some way or another. maybe she is the one in charge of an orphanage and they all lived there or something like that. it doesnt really matter how, just that she raised them.

1line is her favorite. and it shows. a Lot. hes always done exceptionally in academics, and... everything, ever. except making friends or being social/friendly in any way whatsoever. he has no real identity of his own though because of this, and has a very cold and aloof demeanor, so hes difficult to get along with anyway. hes always been alone, save for an Exception which i will elaborate on in a bit

3line was for the most part left behind. not manipulated at first, but as time went on, he started to realize he was being neglected. hes always been in bad health, both mentally and physically, and this caused him to feel too anxious to say anything about it as wanderer, and then as apostasia started feeling instead like he was hated for the way he was, and this was why he was being ignored. hated by everyone, so there was no one for him. herrscher harbors disdain for ishmael and everyone else she took care of because of this (same exception as with 1line), how he blames everyone there for his healths deterioration - maybe if anyone had cared to notice him he wouldn't be this way. but nothing to be done about it, now.

2line is in... an odd spot, comparatively. ishmael has very high expectations for all of the children under her care. and he did fine, performing well in a way that satisfied ishmael, but he wasnt able to do it in the same way richter did - the perfect, idealized way she wanted that would please her. he eventually realizes he doesnt want to pursue the path that ishmael has put in place for them - and this makes ishmael very displeased. he studies his own passions in secret, but when he “becomes” bluhen he announces that he wants to pursue what makes him happy instead of her, she ends up neglecting him as well, and now the two of them are almost no-contact. their relationship is extremely strained, and its clear to any onlookers she doesnt care for him anymore, but he remains firm in the belief that “she simply wants whats best for me, thats all.”

the exception for both of them is 2line. as 2line has always wanted to help as much as he can. hes made happy by making others happy, so he wants to do so as much as possible. that being said, he can only do so much. hes the only one who could get close to 1 or 3, simply out of being too stubborn to give in when told that they would never talk to him. both of them stick around him out of appreciation for someone who actually cares about/for them. hes friendly and kind to them, something they dont have often, so they treasure him even if they dont realize/admit it.

herrscher and richter hate each other. richter is under the impression that ishmael hates herrscher (whether this is actually true or not is unclear to everyone) and thus hates him by extension. he also hates how herrscher blames ishmael and everyone else she raised for his condition when richter cannot fathom a reason that could ever possibly be true or reasonable. herrscher hates richter because he holds disdain for everyone ishmael raised since he was neglected but especially richter, since he seemed to be lavished in her love and affection constantly. he thinks of it as unfair that one of her children would be so lovingly cared for while another was left to rot. its also more complicated than this and they dont just hate each other, obviously, but, yknow.

so. this means that bluhen being their common “youre the only person who can stand me so youre my only friend” causes Problems often. any time they meet up (through bluhen begging them to put aside their differences for a moment so that they can both spend time with him) is with bluhen and the other comes to see him and sees that hes with one of them, its usually all bluhen can do to keep a fight (verbal or physical) from breaking out

that being said, richter is calmer about it than herrscher is. richter is willing to put up with herrschers presence enough to get things done that must be, and it usually helps if bluhen works as a medium between the two. herrscher, however, makes it very very clear whenever richter comes up that he would rather choke to death on his own blood than ever have to speak to richter. richter is endlessly annoyed by this since herrscher also has no qualms about saying this in front of his face

it wasnt always like this, though. when they were still at the equivalent of first jobs, executor came to see wanderer quite a bit, as did anpassen. wanderer was the last of them to “progress” to “2nd job,” and sometime after executor became arme he simply stopped coming by. erbluhen never could get it out of him why he did so, and still feels guilty at times; feeling like if he had just done something more, herrschers condition wouldnt have gotten as bad as it was now

in any case, this means “bluhen drags his two incredibly emo in their own unique ways best friends around and tries to make them do things like ‘be happy’ and ‘make friends’ and neither of them like it one bit but they put up with it because they dont want to lose bluhen”

it also means sometimes bluhen brings herrscher lunch on top of the roof at school and herrscher goes “sometimes i think about if i just fell off of this roof and what would happen” and bluhen nearly cries and goes “thats ABSOLUTELY terrifying PLEASE never say that again. i brought you your favorite cookies. please eat them this time.” it means sometimes bluhen has to physically restrain richter from stabbing someone on the school grounds. its just like that sometimes

misc notes:

herrscher takes absolutely shit care of himself but rights it a little when bluhen is around because he feels immensely guilty for how very worried bluhen gets about him. needless to say hes still practically a skeleton. he wears the same tight black turtleneck every day around the house and you can see his hipbones jutting through it

in contrast to this richter takes meticulous care of himself. his hair is very very soft. once bluhen stayed over and had to ask him which of the 50 bottles in the bathroom was for washing hair with

richter once tried to show up to campus in a full two piece white suit

all of them are autistic and trans

more on that here but its worded super casually

1line calls ishmael “mother”, almost exclusively

in order of oldest to youngest, 1line > 2line > 3line

approximate age ranges for their jobs that may or may not change sporadically: 1st: children to teenagers, 2nd: young adult, 3rd: adult. ive decided i no longer care about numbers.

[bad-end]

professionalism | elsword: reinarnation AU | ath>ee | 771 words

@dezimaton brought up an au where ATh is a doctor and EE is his patient and tells ATh about his dreams of his past life. I love pain so I wrote it.

"Erblu, when we spoke on the phone the other day you said you were having strange dreams?" Arme settles into his chair and taps his pen against the checkboard. Though there is nothing to check off, it feels better to have something to do when he talks to this particular patient.

"Yeah," Erblu nods, folding his hands on his lap and speaks with a soft tone as always, "They're always dreams of this beautiful place that I know isn't our world and the scenery changes but they're always part of the same world."

"I see. How long ago did these dreams start?"

"Around the time I started seeing you. I didn't think they were a big deal since they used to be one-off, but they're becoming frequent enough that I wanted to talk to you about it."

Arme stops tapping his pen. Instead, he knits his hands together and leans forward. "What kind of dreams are they?

"Well, they're usually dreams about an adventuring party, and I'm with a group of people, right? There's a few kids, and some adults, but... there's only two that I remember very well." He brushes a stray strand out of his face, "One of them, at least... I'd like to remember the one better, but for some reason I just can't."

Erblu describes places Arme knows as Ruben, Elder, Hamel, and all the other towns in between with vivid detail that he can see the way the sun lights the red rocks of Bethma, and the fires burning in the Velder night sky. He speaks in a clear tone that's like telling story, and Arme supposes that their past was very much like a tale they tell in video games or books and movies. Normal people didn't have dreams like that, and when they did, they weren't recurring dreams.

"One of the partner members had red hair, he's always really positive and he keeps everyone motivated even during really hard times. He was... important to me. He was really important to me." He looks into the distance, like recalling a very fond memory. "And the other... the other always had some sort of light to him. In these dreams, I'm in love with him."

Arme stops breathing. "How do you know you're in love with him?"

"Our dreams feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up we realize it was all a dream..." Erblu sighs, "I'm not sure if I should be revealing the intimate details of my relationship with someone in my dreams out loud."

"I'm your doctor, I'll keep it confidential."

"Yes, I guess so. I trust you." Erblu shifts in his seat, "Well, he makes me feel wonderful just by being around him. The way he radiates light and the way he calls my name fills me up with joy, and... I know I share some sort of connection with him that's hard to put into words. I know he serves a goddess named Ishmael, and he speaks of her with such high regard that I wonder if he loves me back."

"I'm sure he does." Arme replies in a voice that comes out unintentionally kind.

Erblu's face softens into a smile, and a luminescent pink blush spreads across his cheeks. "When I talk to you, I always feel better."

"I'd hope so, I'm your doctor, after all."

"No, I mean.. Nevermind." Erblu waves his hands to try and dismiss the conversation at hand. "Anyway, I'm ready for my check up, doctor."

When Erblu leaves, Arme stares at his information on the medical file. Of course he wears the soft expression that matches the memory in all of Arme's memory, and of course, his eyes are full of warmth and his even his goddamn name is the same. Arme brings his fist against the wall with no real intent. Erblu said he was in love with him in those dreams, then back when they were still serving Ishmael, did Erblu love him then? Or was he just imposing those wishes and desires on someone who may not have felt the same?

If Erbluhen loved him in that life, would he love him in this one?

Even if Erbluhen loved him back, this relationship couldn't be. His professionalism was at risk, and he wasn't going to let his personal feelings get in the way, no matter how ancient and deep these feelings were. All the same, these human feelings and this human vessel are so painful and it hurts to think that Erbluhen loved him once and he dismissed his actions like he dismissed gossip and small talk.

[dustingrayves]

all strings attached

Pairing: addelsain [MM/RS/EE] Rating: T+/M WC: 2612 Category: hurt/comfort Notes: what could go wrong when youre trying to surprise your bf by tying up your other bf? everything, thats what

It seemed like a good idea, interesting and unusual. He agreed, if only to get to see the stunned look on Rune's face.

Erblu's hands are a little too skilled as they wrap rope around his thin wrists, a little too good for full comfort when he moves to Masi's ankles and secures them to the bed posts as well.

"Alright?" he asks when he's done, pulling away to look at the scientist. His chest rises and falls in tandem with his breathing; his muscles tense under pale skin when he tugs his arms a bit, unable to move them more than a few centimeters at most. The sound of the angel's voice pulls his out of his thoughts and he looks to the side, at his bound hand.

"Yeah," he replies quietly.

"Okay, I'm gonna wait for Rune, he should be back soon. Can you wait here alone?"

Mastermind's mismatched eyes narrow and his lips curl into a sneer. "I'm not a kid," he hisses out lowly, eyes flashing dangerously as if to remind Erblu that he's still a grown man.

The angel laughs and stands up. "Alright, we'll be here in a moment."

And with that, he leaves the bedroom, flicking the lights off as he goes. It's probably for later, so Rune doesn't see him immediately, and yet it sends a chill through the inventor. With the curtains drawn, it's dark enough that he can't really see much.

He says against the bed in anticipation, settling himself on the covers. His kind wonders what the others will do when they come back in.

He glances at the door, for the fifth time in just as many minutes. It stays dark and closed and he swallows heavily.

He's not sure how long it had been since Ain left; he's probably exaggerating in his mind. He shuffles, toes already a little numb as he wiggles them.

What's taking so long? Elsword should've been home by now. He'd only gone to Ariel to get a new part for Apocalypse for him. It was a great plan, since the part only arrived yesterday and he didn't have the time to go pick it up himself yet.

Rune had been all too willing to go get it for him. So where is he and Erblu?

Panic grates at the edges of his mind. Suddenly the ropes biting into his skin feel tighter, along with his chest. The all-too-familiar pain stabs at his insides.

"Erblu!" he calls out, voice going higher than he'd anticipated. "Erblu!" he repeats when there's no answer for a minute, and there's a definite touch of hysteria creeping into his voice.

His breath hitches and he tugs at the bindings on instinct. They don't give way -  of course they don't give way, they've been tied properly. Masi's chest stutters.

It feels like he's being dragged underwater as his ears start ringing.

Oh El.

Erblu left him here.

Tears pick his eyes, gathering on his lashes while he desperately blinks to clear them away. It's too quiet in the bedroom -  he can hear each of his stuttering, pathetically hitching breaths louder than ever, and the sound of the rope stretching to its limit-

It makes him want to vomit, makes his stomach do a sick flip. The inventor gulps heavily, throat barely cooperating with him.

"Er... blu..." he forces out, but it's barely a sigh, not audible even if the angel had been standing by the door.

Which he isn't. Ain had left him here, sure he couldn't get himself free, and then probably went off somewhere with Rune, knowing Masi couldn't interrupt them. His Dynamo is shut down inside his lab, Apocalypse is in its charging station, equally shut down, and he simply doesn't have enough strength to break out of the ropes.

He tries anyway, tugging at them with all the power he can muster up. He pulls so hard he arches off the covers, shoulders straining as he yanks. His breathing is shallow, too shallow by now, quick and ragged.

Panicked.

Of course Ain would, he never was too fond of him from the start and only warmed up to him because of Elsword. It shouldn't surprise him...

And yet, it does.

Masi's tears are fat and stinging as they roll down his flushed cheeks. He's far beyond the point of being able to blink them away and everything in the darkness is blurry.

He doesn't want to be left alone. The reality of his own uselessness hits him hard, like running full speed at a brick wall.

"Erblu! Rune...!" he calls out, choking at the names along with the tears.

If Erblu wanted to be alone with Rune, he should've just said so, not tie him up like this…

A sob rips from his throat and he pulls again, succeeding in little more than making the bed posts creak.

His chest hurts with every inhale and it feels like the rope is wound around his neck as well now. The biting warmth of the ropes morphs into ice cold, unpliable metal and it chokes him. The rustle of rope is replaced by the clanking of chains.

Masi's head lulls to the side and his teeth bite down at his shoulder in an attempt to regulate his breathing. It doesn't work.

Erblu left him here, he isn't coming back, and neither is Rune. He's all alone, wrapped up in cold chains again, and it hurts.

His sobs are muffled as he cries into his own shoulder, body trembling and making the chains clink mercilessly with each miniscule movement.

He'd been abandoned.

Elsword is right on time, but he isn't alone. Ariel and Luriel are right behind him, each with a stack of boxes in their arms, so high they almost obstruct their faces.

"Mochi!" Rune whines, "Ariel needs help carrying these to the market."

Erblu blinks at the three of them and Ariel takes it as an opportunity to pipe up.

"Elsword offered your help," she says in that chipper voice of hers, yet Rune's soft groan as he readjusts his hold on the boxes lets him know that it had been Ariel who actually volunteered them.

Luriel hands him her stack with nothing short of a grateful huff, shoulders flexing to relieve the tension.

No wonder, the boxes aren't exactly what you'd call 'light'. With a sigh, he follows the way-too-enthusiastic Ariel down the road, Rune in tow. They carry the boxes of El-knows-what (since Ariel decides not to let them in on the secret) all the way to the Velder market. Mayu awaits them; the boxes are for her then, by the looks of it.

"Thank you for your willingness!" Ariel chatters, smiling a bit too sweetly to be genuine. Then again, she's always like that.

Rune rolls his shoulders a bit with a heavy exhale, but Erblu is startled by the clock tower chiming away in the distance. His eyes go wide.

"Masi," he utters under his breath, the following 'oh no,' nothing more than a breath. It must've taken more than he'd thought to get here with the boxes and Ariel's not-quite-fast lead.

He grabs Rune's hand and yanks him, already hurrying back. Rune falls into step with him, frowning at the back of Erblu's head.

"Mochi? What's the rush?" he asks, confusion evident in his voice.

"I left Masi alone," Erblu explains, biting the inside of his cheek.

"And? He likes his alone time, you know that," Rune points out and it makes Erblu bite down harder, until the whole left side of his face aches faintly.

"I-" he falters, squeezing Rune's hand. "I left him tied up. We weren't supposed to go out."

Rune's only answer is a soft 'oh,' at first. He picks up the pace. "Masi's gonna be pissed. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I know... It was supposed to be a surprise."

If only he'd been angry. If only he’d huffed and chewed them out for being slow pokes.

No, it's much, much worse. The sounds of the inventor's sobs reach far down the hallway, letting the two of them hear it before anything else.

They don't bother with undressing, not even taking their shoes off by the door as they rush to the bedroom. It's bathed in darkness, and when Erblu switches the light on, his heart sinks so deep it feels like it hits the ground.

It couldn't have been more than an hour, but it's much longer than the ten minutes he'd promised Masi. And it shows.

Masi's whole body is shuddering and not just from his hiccupping cries. The part of his face not pressed deep into the crook of his own shoulder is red and stained with tears that are falling down like waterfalls.

Erblu is by the bed in a heartbeat, shadowed by Rune, both their faces the perfect masks of guilt.

"Masi," Erblu calls out, reaching a hand out to brush Masi's sweat and tear slicked fringe out of his eyes and announce his presence. "Masi, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Masi's head snaps up and he looks at Erblu with a mixture of disbelief, betrayal and pain.

"Er-blu..." he mutters, voice breaking midway due to hoarseness, "Let me go... Please please please...! You can be alone with Rune all you w-ant just- plea-se let me go," he begs, fat, shimmering tears rolling down the rivulets lodged in his puffy cheeks.

Ain's heart shatters, fingers freezing completely in the locks of Masi's hair. "Masi, Masi, I'm sorry. That's not how it is... Let me get you out of this..."

The angel looks at Rune with a helpless expression, having to gulp a couple of times before he can choke out, "Help me?"

Rune doesn't hesitate a single moment, a tiny flame singing the rope on Masi's wrist until it falls off, nothing more than a pile of ash.

He does hesitate, however, when Masi hisses, voice cracking in a pained cry. He's much more careful with the other limbs, and soon the inventor is curling up on himself, appearing so much smaller than he really is.

"Masi," Erblu coos, forcing his trembling voice to be as level as he can get it to be. "May I hold you?"

He catches sight of Masi's wrists, red and leaking with blood where the rope had dug into skin so much that it created a full line of chafed off, bloody skin. Ain winces in sympathy, grimaced in guilt.

Masi's magenta eyes, swimming in a pool of tears, look up at him, though how clear the image is is dubious. Clear enough to know who he is, at least, as he shakes his head sharply, as much as he can with it still being halfway mushed into the mattress.

From behind him, Rune tries, "Can I touch you, Masi?"

This time, after a brief moment where Masi presumably places Rune's voice in his terrified state, he nods, so soft and slow that were they not paying full attention to him, they'd easily miss it. Rune gently scoops Masi up, maneuvering him so his head is placed on the redhead's lap, hair splaying in all directions and body curled up on itself even still.

"I'm so sorry, Masi," Erblu murmurs, kneeling by the bed so he's eye level with the white haired boy. "I'm so, so sorry."

Masi sobs, crying his eyes out into Rune's stomach while his boyfriends run their hands through his hair feather lightly, waiting with patience for him to calm down.

It takes long and painful minutes, but with the soft warmth of being pressed against Rune, he slowly stops crying, sobs receding into nothing but wheezy breaths.

"Rune..." he whispers, sniffling and pressing further into the knight's stomach.

Mochi moves the white fringe out of Masi's face, soft as he can. "Masi..."

The boy shudders, eyes snapping up at the angel, stricken with something akin to fear. "Erblu..."

"Masi, I'm so, so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you for so long. I'm so sorry. So so sorry."

Masi's whole body shivers and he looks away, curling even further in on himself. Ain's chest constricts painfully; he bites down on his lip.

"Masi, can I hold you?" he asks softly.

The inventor obviously hesitates, but he nods gently, minisculely. Erblu sits onto the bed and pulls Masi so he's sprawled on both their laps.

"Masi, I really apologize, this shouldn't have happened," Erblu says, patting Masi's matted hair.

Probably unconsciously, Masi leans into the touch and sniffles.

"Just… tell me," he whimpers, "if you want to be alone... with Rune. You don't... have to tie me up..."

The words feel like continuous stabs, and Erblu keeps patting his hair, even though his hand feels numb. "Masi, that's not what happened... I'm so, so sorry, we had to follow help Ariel. I never wanted to leave you, I promise, I'm so so sorry."

Masi sniffles, rubbing his cheek against Ain's shirt to wipe off his tear streaks. Erblu holds him closer.

"I am so sorry. I'll never tie you up again. Never leave you alone again. I’ll be here."

"And I'm here, too," Rune whispers, holding tightly onto Masi's hand, mindful of the line of blood on his wrist. "We're not going anywhere. We're right here with you."

As those words get repeated softly and genuinely, Masi's erratic heartbeat calms down and he relaxes somewhat in the others' holds.

"Want to lay down?" Erblu asks, and at Masi's nod, Rune and him kick off their shoes and lay down on the king sized bed, sandwiching Masi in between them, conscious not to be too up on him.

"We'll be here, okay?" Mochi murmurs, pressing the softest butterfly kiss to the junction on Masi's neck. "We won't leave. As long as you need, alright?"

Rune hums in agreement. "You should rest, okay? We'll be here when you wake up, I swear. We'll make it up to you, love."

Masi hums, sniffling softly again. His body feels so heavy, the result of his panic attack combined with the adrenaline washing away.

He shuffles between his lovers, soaking in the warmth of their bodies as his consciousness fades into darkness.

They keep their word; they're still curled up around him when he wakes up. They're already up and greet him with soft 'good morning's.

He feels lethargic, but much, much better than when he'd gone to sleep.

"I'll go make breakfast, okay?" Rune says and waits patiently until Masi hums in understandment. Erblu stays right where he is as Rune slips out of the room. His arms are wrapped around Masi's midriff, a gentle and comforting touch.

"I'm so sorry for yesterday, Mochi says softly, with more genuineness than Masi thought possible. "Ariel asked us for help. I didn't mean to be gone for so long, Masi."

Masi hums quietly.

"Let me make it up to you. How about staying in bed today?"

Masi hums again, presses back against Mochi. "Can I wear your coat?" the scientist asks.

With a soft chuckle, Mochi tell him that 'yes, he can'.

"And no ropes anymore?"

"Absolutely no ropes. Just soft cuddles, how about it?"

"That sounds good..."

Rune is back by then, with a tray carrying breakfast and coffee and tea for them. He helps wrap Masi up into Erblu's coat, and then they sit against the headboard to enjoy their food.

The coffee is made just the way Masi likes it, and warms his fingers as he holds the mug.

They do keep the word, and don't leave the bed all day, not until Masi himself doesn't choose to.

They decide not to try such surprises again.

[ainchase]

Velder Academy Commercial

Elsword: Next up, it's the commercial we made. Can you believe we were cast to be models for academy commercials? Amazing, right?

Aisha: But there's a slight hitch. The first generation El Stars - Masters Team was supposed to plan the commercials for us, but the leader of that team - Denif senpai was unavailable, so the concept for the commercial couldn't be decided in time.

Rena: And by Masters Team, you mean Denif senpai, Ventus senpai, Rosso senpai, and Solace senpai? Whoa, does that mean the commercials we filmed that day was all planned by our senpai?

Raven: It is a rather awkward situation we're in. How about we ask our fans here to vote on it?

Elsword: Oh, that's a good idea! Watch them carefully and cast your vote for us!

Aisha: The first one's Ventus senpai was idea apparently. Ready, action!

-----------------------------------------

A time that everyone dreams of - school days of passion and love

-----------------------------------------

Aisha: Aw darn it, I'm going to be late again. What do I do?

Elsword: What's with you? Look where you're going!

Aisha: Wh-what's with YOU?

-----------------------------------------

A time when the pieces of fate come together

-----------------------------------------

Rose: I'm Rose, I transferred here today. I'll do my best to get used to the new environment!

Rose: But... Have I seen you somewhere before?

-----------------------------------------

You're the main character of this place!

-----------------------------------------

Ain: I've thoroughly read the letter you wrote.

Ain: Unfortunately, I'm a sponge.

=====================================

T/N: Insert joke about Ain's VA singing that one spongebob squarepants song that one time here

=====================================

Ain: Due to personal circumstances, I stayed here until now, but I have to return to the ocean soon.

Add: Why do you always sleep in a place like this?

Add: You sure are high-maintenance...

Add: I-I'm not here because I was worried about you or anything, so don't get the wrong idea...!

-----------------------------------------

Come to Velder Academy, where romance blooms!

-----------------------------------------

Aisha: It was soooo romantic!

Ain: It was soooo... beyond words.

Add: Don't you think they added too many filters?!

Rose: Do we really need those flowery texts for every scene?

Elsword: Uh... Let's take a look at the next one, shall we? Who's next?

Rose: It's Rosso senpai's idea. Ready, action!

-----------------------------------------

Only the strongest may survive here

-----------------------------------------

Lu: So this is it, eh? The ultimate school where the strongest gather.

Raven: Hmph, a new challenger, is it?

Raven: Looks like things are finally going to get interesting... for once.

Lu: Interesting. Are you the one who took over the school? I'll be sure to take that position from you.

Raven: Ha, the Black Flame Dragon is about to go rampant.

=====================================

T/N: See MAZE fan meeting video for reference...

=====================================

Raven: I'll gladly accept your challenge.

-----------------------------------------

Powerful minds can only be found in powerful bodies!

-----------------------------------------

Laby: I'm bored...

Laby: You! Become my ally!

-----------------------------------------

Who will be the one to claim

the title of being the strongest?

-----------------------------------------

Ciel: Ranked no. 1 in the country? It's been a while since I last heard of that title.

Ciel: Are you ready?

-----------------------------------------

This is the Ultimate Velder Academy!

-----------------------------------------

Raven: So does... anyone know what this Black Flame Dragon is...? Can someone explain to m--

Lu: It was fun! It reminded me of my old days!

Laby: I look sorta cool back there! It was so fun!

Ciel: Next is... Gaia senpai's idea. Ready, action!

=====================================

T/N: So Gaia's idea is full of puns using hanja (chinese characters, same as kanji for japanese) and make up weird pseudo Four Character Chinese Proverb bullshit and they spell out some-what similar keywords pertaining to each character.

This is absolutely terrible to translate and I'll be adding a ton of translator's notes for each character. This is also reason why I didn't want to translate this video HAHA okay back to business

=====================================

-----------------------------------------

Velder Academy is a distinguished school where diligent students gather

-----------------------------------------

Ara: I'm Ara, training to achieve an enlightenment. Come train together with me here in Velder Academy.

=====================================

T/N: Ara's is "奧義阿羅" which spells out "Oi Ara"?? 奧義 is the different arts that Ara classes use (you know the 2 different versions each class has), and 阿羅 is just a gibberish trying to phonetically spell out Ara's name. 奧義 is "Ougi" in Japanese, usually written out before some cool sounding skill name [like Samurai Shodown Haohmaru's skill Ougi Senpuu Retsu Zan (Secret Skill Whirlwind Rending Slash)] and they're usually translated as Secret Technique/Skill or Ultimate Technique/Skill. The character (hanja/kanji) themselves mean "deep understanding" - so these martial artists lingo use it as a way to describe a skill/technique that you only get to learn when you've fully mastered the arts.

=====================================

Rena: I'm Rena. I guide people to the right way by being generous. Siege mode is my specialty. As Student President, I will help out to make sure you become a diligent student of Velder Academy.

=====================================

T/N: the four characters spell out "shizumodo" = siege mode

=====================================

Chung: I'm Seiker Chung, named so because I [...]. Would you care to join me in doing good deeds?

=====================================

T/N: I'm not translating that crap - the four characters vaguely spell out "seiger" = seiker

=====================================

Eve: I'm Nasod Queen Eve, who is a necessary leader, shining brightly regardless... so, basically a queen. As a queen, I'm training to bring about a bright future.

=====================================

T/N: The four characters spell out - "nasodugin" = nasod queen... fuck you gaia I hate you

=====================================

Elesis: I'm Elesis, who tries to guide you to the right path with love. If you would join us in the Velder Academy, I'll guide you to the right path, strictly yet kindly!

=====================================

T/N: "eresisu" = elesis

=====================================

-----------------------------------------

This is prestigious and historical Velder Academy!

-----------------------------------------

Ara: I saw so many hanja I've never seen before... It was a good learning experience!

Rena: Uh, yeah... Apparently Gaia senpai himself had some trouble searching through the hanja dictionary...

Elesis: Thanks to that, I got to learn the meaning behind my name!

Eve: Next is Solace senpai's idea. Hmm? It has a note on it.

Chung: "Cuteness warning? Your heart may stop?" He recommends that you watch it in a wide and open space, in case your ceiling or wall may be destroyed.

-----------------------------------------

*Cuteness Warning

There is a lethal dosage of cuteness int he following video. Nearby wall may collapse or street lamps might be dismantled without reason or warning during viewing of the video. Please try not to watch it near a wall.

-----------------------------------------

Happy Velder Academy is full of hope, love and softness!

-----------------------------------------

What do you need when you're tired of school work?

-----------------------------------------

Extreme cuteness!

-----------------------------------------

Even when you are having difficulty with your friends?

-----------------------------------------

Extreme cuteness!

-----------------------------------------

Come to Velder Academy, a place full of cuteness!

-----------------------------------------

Elsword: What WAS that? Why did they hire us for that...?

Aisha: Besides, the suit was really hot inside...

Rena: But it's the only one that has all of us in it.

Raven: Yeah, although it's hard to tell who's who...

Aisha: By the way, I had no idea Solace senpai was into cute things like this.

Elsword: You're right. It's different from his usual image.

Raven: From what I heard, it seems he has wholeheartedly taken a certain someone's suggestions.

Rena: I see, that's how it is.

-----------------------------------------

The voting will now begin

Shout out to let us know your favorite commercial!

-----------------------------------------

Ain: If you think the video where I showed up with a sponge is the best, everyone shout out please!

Lu: If you think the video where I take over the entire school is the best, shout out now!

Ara: If you think the video where you saw in-depth explanation of each of our names, then please shout out!

Elesis: Lastly, if you like the video where we all came out in a hedgehog suit, shout out!

Elesis: Wow! They're all close! The voting is also on the El Stars website, so remember to vote after the concert!

[ethicalcocreationteamcasa]

CC-C1-1

We have been looking at the first research question: “Is Team CASA as sustainable as it can be?”. We specifically looked at the material choices for the façade and insulation, when doing this research.  

Before we could answer this question, we had to define sustainability. Team CASA’s view on sustainability is mainly focussed on the building process. The aim is to set higher standards for all homes regarding sustainability, health, and costs. This is done by creating a sustainable building process which includes reduction of waste, CO2 emissions, weight, volume and building time.   But why is it so important that Team CASA has high standards for sustainability?

Sustainability addresses the ever-growing problem of human-based disruptions to the environment such as the impending climate crisis, the reduction of planetary resilience and the transition from our current Holocene era to the Anthropocene. In a business as normal situation, the continued exploitation of the earth for the reasoning of economic development is and will continue to affect humanities ability to thrive environmentally, economically, and socially. By actively implementing sustainability into the building process, CASA tries to mitigate the environmental load of house building both for the benefit of current and future societies.

But there is also a more general definition of sustainability which is defined as the implementation of sustainable development defined by Brundtland as: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

From this definition, sustainability can be seen as the implementation of sustainable development and thus must be considered as cradle-to-cradle scope of materials, i.e. transportation, cultivation and manufacturing, rather than the focus on just the building process and the end of life stage.

Therefore, the moral conflict is: Is CASA as sustainable as it can be, as according to the façade and insulation material choices? This is evaluated by applying the general definition to the material choices.

In terms of the façade material, we want to recommend Team CASA to grow bamboo locally for construction use. In this way, transport emission is reduced. For this we propose two possible manners of implementation; firstly, bamboo can be grown in the Netherlands. But because bamboo is a running plant, we have to make sure that there is strict crop management to avoid adverse effects on the local environment. Of course, the transition will be taken in steps. So, in the beginning, a part of the bamboo will be produced locally, and a part will be transported from Asia. Over time, it will move to full sourcing of local bamboo once enough bamboo can be produced. This option will still be more sustainable than the current strategy of CASA. Secondly, bamboo is currently being grown in Portugal by Bamboo Logic which will reduce but not eliminate the transportation emissions.

Considering all the options of actions for the insulation materials by comparing the advantages and disadvantages, we want to recommend Team CASA to switch from glass wool to Isovlas. Isovlas has various advantages. It is made from naturally grown flax and is short cycle renewable (rapidly, naturally replaced and short natural recycling time). It also absorbs CO2 to make its lifetime CO2 neutral (the amount of absorbed CO2 over its lifetime is equal or more than that produced through production) and it does not contain harmful particles compared to glass wool. Another advantage is that it can be locally produced.  It meets the requirements of Team CASA’s view of sustainability, while also reaching further to meet the general definition of sustainability and thus is our recommended material.

The end products presented to Team CASA are two-fold; firstly, a set of posters and secondly, an in-depth report are given. The posters are meant to be used by team CASA towards the public and residents to inform about the true sustainability of the project, focusing on the material choices. After that, the recommended option for action is briefly elaborated, by mentioning benefits and giving an overview of how this option can be realized. The poster gives an overview of the sustainability aspects of materials with an ease of understanding without technical knowledge and is supposed to be engaging to the readers via the integration of graphics and colours. We believe it is important to be transparent about how the CASA home is sustainable both to potential residents but also to the public so that it becomes clear how CASA meets its goals. The report is used to give a more elaborate explanation for Team CASA to be informed about choices, materials recommended, reasoning and how to in detail realize our recommendations. This is focused on the more technical aspects of the materials that are important for team CASA to be informed about in order to implement the recommendations.  

Team CC-C1-1: Jasper Hoedemakers, Mirabelle Scholten, Fleur Schoormans, Noëlle Schuijtvlot, Thomas Velders

This is the link to acces the posters:

https://tuenl-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/f_h_c_m_schoormans_student_tue_nl/ERY4H1I01cdAtPs51o-nPaMBLWoLeziY7wHeY_XnOTZejA?e=FiMtpG

This is the link to acces the report:

https://tuenl-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/f_h_c_m_schoormans_student_tue_nl/EY5jG70TTvdMl_fZfkzVksQBnRgSqJSAdBuofp9tfr9jJw?e=ynAAIP

[rainsonata]

Unstable

Fandom/Pairing: Elsword; none Rating: K Word Count: 2,044

Summary: With no signs of Diabolic Esper returning, Dominator begins to wonder when the time traveler will show up. One day, Dominator hears a crack and finds a new face waiting for him.

Doom Bringer’s job change fic: [LINK] Dominator’s job change fic: [LINK]

Dominator turn to the sound of the familiar crack, expecting to see eyes the color of the night. It was painful to see no signs of the time traveler after the years he had grown to associate it with him. The frequency of the cracks was as sporadic as his appearances, but it was a welcomed one because it meant Esper was home and a full dinner table to look forward to. Even now, he had a tough time admitting that he missed it after weeks of the man’s absence.

Expecting Esper to crawl out of his portal to surprise him, Dominator backed away in what he thought was the time traveler when he saw someone in his peripheral vision. Adorned in deep shades of violet and magenta was a child wearing a pair of boots two sizes too big. Their clothes were baggy around the arms and legs, jacket unbuttoned to reveal a black turtleneck underneath.

“Time?” He saw the child’s eyes and gasped, the left one with a black sclera and the right remaining clear. Refraining himself from pulling down the child’s hoodie he wore to cover his face, Dominator asked, “What happened to Esper? Have you seen him?”

Something was wrong.

He was too small to be the Time Tracer, who was getting closer to his height as of late with how much he ate because of his and Bringer’s encouragement. It was hard to tell how old this child was because of the baggy clothes. The heavy bags under his eyes gave him a forlorn expression, he didn’t smile when he gave Dominator his attention, having to stand on his tiptoes to look at the scientist.

Could the child be another alternative version of them? It wouldn’t be the first time Esper brought home another, with the tracers and all. Having placed his hand on the child’s shoulder in what was meant to be a gesture of kindness, Dominator dropped his hand when he saw it.

Their left shoulder lost its tangibility, no longer holding form with the lines where it should have been reduced to broken particles, bits of it chipped off and glowing in a color unseen by the human eye. With alarmed eyes, Dominator threw off his coat and wrapped it around the child, in a desperate attempt to hold him together. The rest of their body wasn’t any more stable, sometimes other parts of him losing form. Was he looking at a ghost?

“I’m not Time,” the child’s eyes were closed.

His voice was rich and deep, sounding like it belonged to a man than someone his age with his baby face. It was an aural dissonance that had Dominator turn his head around to look at the child with alarm. There was care in the words he chose, slow pauses before he talked. The lack of intonation in his voice or how still he was when he spoke was unsuited for a child.

Shrugging Dominator’s jacket off, he handed it back to the scientist, “That won’t be necessary. The effect is already in place.”  

Many questions ran through his head on what the child meant, but he knew it was poor timing to ask when they had just met. It was better to get more acquainted with them first before pressing on the questions.   

Dominator felt stupid for pointing out the obvious, but the child showed no concern for it when he gestured to his shoulder again. “We should still look at it at least.”

Staring with wide eyes, he opened his mouth to object, but the gentleness in Dominator’s tone and the insistence of joining him for a drink left the child to agree with a weak smile. Left on the living room couch, he sat with his legs dangling and his hoodie off to reveal bed hair not unlike that of a certain time traveler. He looked up when Dominator returned with two cups of hot chocolate and a jar of sugar to place on the coffee table. A bag of mini marshmallows, a can of whipped cream, and a cinnamon shaker was spotted alongside the hot drinks for toppings.    

It was hard not to stare when the child dumped at least a spoonful worth of sugar and chucked several marshmallows into his hot chocolate to splash some of it onto the coffee table. Dominator sighed at the thought of having to clean that up later, but if it would make it easier for the kid to talk, so be it.

“You’re going to get high on sugar if you’re not careful,” Dominator chuckled and pulled it away from the child when they were going for the third spoon.

Taking a sip from his own drink, he hummed when its sweet taste of chocolate and cinnamon hit the tip of his tongue with sweet delight. It wasn’t as good as when Esper made it, his counterpart had perfected the art of making hot chocolate, but it was enough to satisfy the scientist.    

“What’s your name?” Dominator decided to go for an easy question. “Was your shoulder always like this?”

“If you mean being dislocated, I’ve always been close to losing my head.” A grin popped out from his pale features to reveal sharp teeth, “So are my arms.”

It affected other places too? Dominator took note that they ignored his first question and even joked about himself! He huffed at how they weren’t taking their condition with concern and wondered if it was a way for them to cope with it.    

“Well,” the child rubbed his chin. After the time spent as a slave, Dominator felt sick when he saw the collar around his neck. “It affects my feet, legs, body... everything really. Even my hair.”

It was a rare moment for Dominator to be unsure of what was wrong with the child. Even after years of researching Nasods and the like, even time travel, it was the first time he saw anything like this. If they were struggling to maintain their form, or what looked to be their own existence, that would be something Esper would know about, not him. Could this child be involved in time and space like Time and Esper?

“Is there pain?” Dominator asked, “Do you feel anything when it happens?”

“It doesn’t hurt, so don’t worry. In fact, it kind of tickles!” The child gave a dark chuckle, “All these questions you’re throwing at me... To the point as always, Add. I suppose things remained the same since I left.”

A smirk curled at his lips, pink seashells against paper-like skin, his eyes glowing magenta to match Dominator’s. The Cheshire grin and how his nimble fingers picked a stray marshmallow from the bag to pop into his mouth as he hummed, as if he read what was on the scientist’s mind and relished that moment in time. The child took a sip and remained smiling, giggling when Dominator lost his grip on his own cup and had to place it down to hold his head.

“Esper,” Dominator breathed his name. “Is that you?”

He clapped his hands and beamed, “You figured it out~ It was cute how worried you were. Did you really think I was a lost child?”

Looking at the child’s face and comparing it to Esper’s in his mind, Dominator saw the similarities. The resemblance was uncanny, but he looked more like Time. The sad dispositions, the small body frame, how could Esper reverse to this state? The prerequisites to reach to that would hold heavy consequences he couldn’t imagine.

“You act like one,” Dominator used the cup to hide his red face with no avail. “Look any younger and someone will ask you where your mother is.”

Dominator covered his mouth, but it was too late. Esper frowned, biting his lips with a hazy look in his eyes that spoke little but an emotion he couldn’t name. Regret? Pain? When he looked at the time traveler again, Esper replaced it with a neutral expression, his lips lying into a hard line. There was a pang of regret when Dominator saw the damage his words had caused.

Gritting his teeth in the pain of his own words, some of it from guilt, Dominator looked up when to Esper when the other disappeared. It happened again. Esper’s form distorted, his body growing transparent and disappearing, filling the air with thick static that made one’s arm hair stand up being in the same room.

His tiny body regained palpability, becoming solid when Dominator tried touching him, but it shocked the scientist when he didn’t pull out his arm back in time. Growing dimmer, Esper faded away with his face regressed in anger and let out a high pitch screech that made Dominator cover his ears.

When he opened his eyes, a tall man dressed in a black high collared suit solidified in where Esper once was. The jewel in his chest shone bright like the long hair falling pas his ankles, wearing a coat falling over his loose shoulders to show the unstructured left shoulder Esper had. Familiar black scleras stared back at Dominator with displeasure.

“Esper… I’m sorry,” Dominator flinched when he saw Esper’s face.

Esper didn’t speak, looking down at his gloves with wet eyes. His face was contorted with raw emotions, fat tears rolled out when Dominator awkwardly wrapped his arms around Esper to pull his counterpart into a tight embrace. The time traveler didn’t reject his touch, so at least a part of him was forgiven, or at least that’s what Dominator hoped for. He wanted Esper to know he didn’t mean what he said with bad intentions, but words be damned. Any form of apology seemed pathetic when what Esper needed was his touch, his presence.

There was more than one form for Esper. From what he had witnessed, those forms were malleable, almost fluid with how quick he was to change between them. It was something unnatural he couldn’t understand because of the likelihood of its relationship to Esper’s unstable existence, but it was enough for Dominator to know that he was in pain.    

“Do you want me to stay?” Dominator asked, squeezing Esper’s free hand that wasn’t clinging to his waist. “I’m sure we can figure out what to do about your unstable forms.”   

Esper had a sad smile.

Omake

Doom Bringer cheered when Dominator gave in to letting him take them to a new cafe in Velder and Esper wanting to join them for the… special benefits.  

Sitting at a benched table outside, the scientist looked at the seats in disgust, not wanting to imagine when was the last time the restaurant employees bothered wiping them clean. He had his drones clean it before he and his counterparts sat of course, but waiting for the food to be brought over to them made the minutes they sat there long and strenuous. At the back of his mind, the scientist wondered if it was too late to take it back and return to his lab.

In his child form, Esper sat with his legs too short to reach the ground, swinging them back and forth as he ate his sandwich, only stopping to steal a sip of coffee from Dominator. Having control over two different age ranges, Bringer saw no problem in ordering a kid’s meal for the discount. Not eating much to begin with, Esper was more than happy to oblige.

“So,” Bring said in between bites with his mouth full of fries. “You can switch between the two forms.”

“Uh huh,” Esper nodded. “Well, it’s harder than I make it sound, but that’s how it works.”

“You’re like a Mad Paradox or something,” the brawler cackled.

“You’re just slapping words together now,” Dominator sighed. The brute probably thought it sounded cool in his head or something like that. There was no way Esper was going to agree to that name-

“You can call me that then,” Esper shrugged and dipped a fry into his milkshake before dropping it in his mouth.  

Unbelievable.    

Bringer grinned. “We should do this more often.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Dominator hissed.

“Why not?” The brawler laughed, “You get a free toy with it.”

Dominator groaned, but Esper found humor in it and giggled.

[lexiseigneur]

Chapter six: Trust

Ao3

Sleeping was a blessing. Her brain ran smoothly and the daily sparring had become enjoyable once more. Energy could be allocated to other matters such as gardening and the occasional drawing. Sometimes, looking over her shoulder to make sure she was alone, she edited Goodweather’s notes further. Adding educated guesses as to the reasons behind Quinlan’s birth.

The price of that rest was that she now owed him. It was on her mind every night as she attempted to fall asleep by herself and quickly gave up. After the tenth night, she had stopped knocking and just quietly slipped to his side. The Dhampir had always been awake and Lexi was convinced that he could hear everything that occurred within the confines of the bunker. Habit stemming from repetition decreased the awkwardness of their shared nights.

His room remained quite empty. Just a chair on which he deposited his clothes and sword. In a corner, the metal trunk. It felt as if he could just grab all his belongings and disappear in an instant. That was probably the thought behind the minimalistic decor.

Lexi and Quinlan leaned above a sturdy table cluttered with various tools.

“It feels wrong to do that.”

The Dhampir paused to look at her then put on his leather gloves.

“May I remind you that this was your idea?”

“I’m not saying we should ditch the plan and kick the Master into a volcano or send him to outer space but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Look at it, it’s beautiful! It’s a work of art.”

Quinlan did not reply. He stared at her for an unnecessarily long moment, scowling. Lexi cleared her throat and he looked away. Without hesitation, he tore the silver cover off the Occido Lumen. Lexi grimaced. She collected the pages and tied them together. With reverence, she deposited them in a wooden box. The Dhampir was already hammering at the thick silver panel. His lips lifted in concentration, revealing the sharpness of his front teeth. After putting the mangled book in Quinlan’s metal trunk, she went back to observe.

Each powerful blow echoed in her chest. He shaped the soft metal into an oval container. At times he stopped to verify that the edges were straight and in the end, he measured its dimensions carefully. Then he repeated the process with the back cover of the book. The two pieces fit snugly into each other. The box was the length and width of his hand. Flattened and deformed engravings ran on its surface.

On the stove, using a cast iron pan, they melted lead wire. The liquefied metal shimmered beautifully. Quinlan poured it on the closed box. Once the first side had cooled, he poured more lead on the other. The result was a misshapen lump that Quinlan filed and cut until smooth. After separating the two pieces, he continued filing until they once again fit together snugly. Both stared at the final result but Lexi left after a while. This was an important moment for him that she did not wish to disturb.

Besides, she had her own work to worry about. And oh boy, did she worry. Lexi sat at her desk. The computer displayed calculations and code developed by the late Dutch Velder. The numbers had finally started making sense and Lexi understood that she had bitten more than she could chew. Quinlan had just finished the box and she could not let him down. She entered other parameters, such as the addition of five normal Strigoi brains. Every single time, the analysis revealed that the jamming device would be useless. She held her face into her hands and whimpered. How she wished for written notes from the hacker herself. She needed to clear her mind. To think fresh about the paradigm presented on the laptop screen. Mortified by her own incompetence in this crucial moment, she swore and ran.

Lexi rushed to the gym, swearing under her breath in French. Quinlan stood another moment with his arms folded over his chest then when the pounding started in the other room, he followed. With a stick, she was striking madly at the sandbag. The heavy object barely moved despite the savagery of her assault. Quinlan grinned at the total inadequacy of her stance and the weakness of each blow.

“That is not how I taught you.” He said.

Lexi glared above her shoulder, dropped the stick and used her bare fists to unleash her frustrations.

“This is…not…a…training session!” She spat back. “LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!”

His years as a teacher made him incapable of ignoring her mistakes. A few more punches and she would probably end up hurting herself. It would delay their progress further. Had she used another tone, he might have tried a more gentle approach.

“Cease this instant.” He ordered and closed the distance between them.

The woman ignored him and he felt a pang of annoyance. Lexi was becoming too comfortable with the idea of disrespecting him. Quinlan caught her arm and pulled her away from the bag. Her knuckles were an angry red and her cheeks and ears flushed.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She hissed.

“Preventing you from hurting yourself.”

It was not entirely true. The small body tensed and her gaze turned cold.

“Let go of me. I don’t need you to patronize me.”

Quinlan hesitated. On one hand, there was no rational reason for him to continue holding on but on the other hand, he simply did not want to humor her. His grip tightened. She would calm down and act reasonably. They had crucial work to finish.

Her fist flew to his face, surprising him. Not the punch which had been sloppy and slow but the intention to strike him. His own, much larger hand closed on hers. The corners of her mouth fell but not in disappointment. She was bracing herself as her knee flew up to his crotch. Quinlan avoided it with ease and sneered. Her struggle was pointless but she still fought dirty. Both her arms were clamped firmly in his hands and she attempted to wriggle free.

“Calm yourself.” He chuckled.

Her eyes grew wide and for an instant, he saw how he had just bruised her pride. She scrutinized every part of his body, searching for a non-existent weakness. The hazel eyes zeroed in on his throat. What had she found there? Muscles contracted intensely in her jaw and she grimaced in pain.

The coppery scent of her blood hit him with each of her breaths. Quinlan winced. I am sated, this is nothing. Just this morning he had consumed a bag of blood. But it had been cold, thin and almost tasteless. With the lingering of misery and vitamin deficiency. The sad result of repeated forced bleeding on deprived people. He knew hers was so much more satisfying. Vibrant, warm and healthy.

The tip of her tongue deposited a fat drop of blood at the corner of her mouth. Quinlan froze and his grip faltered. Sensing the opening, she pulled herself free and scrambled out of his reach. Her heart pounded viciously against her ribs and she frowned at him, her chin high in defiance. The drop had made its way down her face and jaw.

Lexi’s anger melted when she saw his third eyelid close briefly. It was now replaced by confusion and apprehension. She glanced at the door then at the Dhampir in her way. Quinlan fully intended on letting her leave but his body reacted instinctively as she ran past him. His arm encircled her shoulders and he sprang to the wall where he pinned her with a thud. Tears were filling her eyes and she had stopped fighting. He calmed himself and forced his stinger to stay within the confines of his mouth. The Dhampir was disgusted at his reaction but most of all, angry at her.

“That was incredibly stupid.” He whispered.

His hand let go of her shoulder and his gaze wandered down to her lips and the pink trail left behind by the drop. It was there, a rich crimson, glistening on her neck like a jewel. With his thumb, he collected it and carried it to his tongue. It was everything he remembered but with the sting of adrenaline. Her heart rate was decreasing and she stood expressionless, staring at his mouth.

“Go clean up. You have work to do.”

Lexi did not rush out as he expected. She took her time to exit the room, enter her own and get the water running in her bathroom. Quinlan felt like yelling or punishing her somehow. The Dhampir shook his head at the memory of her knee swinging at him and his anger diminished. So pointless.

By the time he came back from the kitchen, she was at her desk. His throat radiated heat more than usual after he had filled himself with blood. The woman’s face was controlled and impassive again.

“Quinlan…”

She started, sighed and turned to him.

“I’m sorry.”

He nodded in acceptance and felt deeply satisfied by this turn of event. Quinlan stifled the purr that wanted to creep up. Her eyes narrowed and she stood.

“But…I know you’re stronger than me. You don’t need to demonstrate it.”

His satisfaction turned sour. The desire to purr vanished.

“No. I don’t.” He replied.

He had simply wanted to. Quinlan folded his arms on his large chest and masked his growing irritation. She was not done speaking.

“Once again, I cannot make you do anything but…” She said.

A rattle vibrated in his neck.

“…don’t touch me like that again.”

She turned away from him and sat back down.

“Please.” She added.

Lexi put her headset on and music built a wall around her as she continued working. Quinlan stood still for a long time. He did not need to sit to focus on his thoughts. The scene replayed in his mind over and over again. Was that really just anger in her struggling and her hits? The more he focused on her face in those memories the clearer it appeared. It was rage directed at her helplessness. It was desperation in the ineffective blows that he had found so amusing. Quinlan had toyed with her like a cat with its prey. His reason had been because he could.

Should he then fault her for using the only thing which could have distracted him? Vulnerability was a feeling he had not had to experience in several lifetimes. But guilt was an all too familiar friend. He cringed at the memory of his laughter. It had been mocking of her distress. “You don’t have to be kind…but you don’t need to be cruel.”

Quinlan had been cruel because he did not tolerate disobedience. Because of his ego. As if others, victims of their frailty, were not entitled to their own pride. How puerile. It had been unfair to use his superior strength for his own amusement. It had been a violation. His head fell in shame. Lexi stood and removed her headset. Music still pounded out of the small speakers.

“It works.” She announced without a look in his direction.

Because of the flatness of her voice, the meaning escaped him for a moment.

“Excuse me?” He asked.

“I scraped everything and started from scratch. It means using three devices instead of one but it works. We don’t even need to get more materials, we just divide what we have between the three.”

She closed the laptop and the processor inside shut down with a murmur. The music stopped. Lexi turned to him but avoided his eyes.

“I had the idea while punching the bag.”

Light footsteps headed away and her bedroom door closed shut. What a fool.

For the next week, Lexi had tossed and turned in her bed at night. The sluggishness of sleep deprivation was back and she was making mistakes while drawing the updated schematics and building the devices. Errors were met with a blank stare because caring required too much of an effort. There were no outbursts of frustration or creativity. Quinlan worried that he had taken the only thing which permitted her some peaceful sleep: her trust in him.

On the seventh night, he laid on his bed and listened. She had been stirring for two hours with increasing unrest. The Dhampir scowled when she whimpered. Her footstep smacked the concrete to her door and echoed in the large control room. The woman stood at his door.

He felt a wave of relief until her heartbeat accelerated and the door remained closed. Quietly, she walked back to her own bed. Quinlan growled and jumped to his feet, making himself as loud as possible. He had no intention to startle her but this was becoming too much for him to bear. She sat up when he entered her room. Her expressions were always less controlled in the dark. Did she not realize that he could see her just as clearly as in plain daylight? Lexi’s eyes were wide open and her mouth slightly agape.

“I can help you sleep.” He said.

She chewed her tongue. Quinlan expected a negative retort but she remained quiet. Finally, the woman scooted toward the wall to give him space. He laid with slow and measured movements.

Usually, she would crawl to him in the dark while he did not move a muscle. Quinlan was not quite sure why this time he guided her to his chest. Instead of crossing his fingers on his nape, he put a hand on her shoulder and the other on his core. The fluttering of her heart entered a slow and enthralling rhythm.

Hair tickled the swirls of his neck and he flattened the strands while enjoying their softness. The smell of her skin under the soap and shampoo became very strong and he breathed deeply. He had missed it. Immediately, he felt guilty at the discovery. Was he doing this for his own satisfaction or to help her? She still resented him for that preposterous display of force the week before. His heart accelerated slightly. Quinlan had not apologized for his actions. Pride had not prevented him from making amends. The fear of her rejection had kept him from breaching the subject. Perhaps she would be open to it now.

“That day in the gym…” He whispered.

Lexi tensed which displeased him greatly.

“I apologize. I was cruel to you…. It will not happen again. I promise.”

Her cheek was pressed against his chest and he felt her smile forming. The torment of his own mind lifted instantly. Lexi’s small fist closed tighter on the fabric of his shirt and to his amazement, she nuzzled him before settling down. His sudden satisfaction triggered a low purr from within his throat. She inhaled sharply and put her hand flat above his heart. Then higher toward the pit between his collarbones. Curiosity was pushing her to the source of this rumbling. She pressed lightly against the delicate indentations on his throat. The purr intensified and he found himself enjoying her touch.

The inquisitive digits traced the swirls slowly. Quinlan’ eyes shut and his lips parted. His mind slipped out of his control. For a fraction of a second, he imagined the sensation of her lips on the very skin she was caressing.

Quinlan’s heart went into a frantic rush and the purr subsided. He reached for the offending hand, enclosed it kindly but firmly in his own and deposited it on his chest. He did not let go so she would not be tempted to try that again. The small fist closed on his thumb and his purring started again. It took a minute for him to calm down fully.

When she fell asleep he allowed himself to think about his precarious situation. Letting this happen had been a mistake. Not just her hand on his skin but the very first time she had crawled to him with exhausted and begging eyes.

The end was so very close. He could imagine it so easily in his mind’s eye. All the pieces falling into place. This would just complicate things unnecessarily. He needed to get up, return to his room and refuse her if she ever came again.

Quinlan did not go. Instead, he rested his hand on the smooth skin of her nape. Blood rushed a mere very close but he ignored its appeal and plunged his fingers into the brown strands. It felt rich and warm against his palm. Her scent hit him and he craned his neck toward it. Then he stopped and put his hand back on her shirt. What a fool he was.

The next day, two completed devices laid on the floor of the infirmary and she was working on the third with renewed efficiency. As she had explained, this one would be crucial and would ultimately collect data they might need to improve the system. Quinlan assisted her in holding tools or pieces. The Dhampir stared at the woman and the nature of that gaze filled him with shame. It was the shame of doing something he knew to be wrong but not wrong enough to compel him to stop. She bent above the device while facing him.

“Here and here.” She pointed. “I don’t have the right bit so I have to use a screwdriver. Can you hold it please?”

Quinlan crouched and held a mess of wires and circuitry still while she secured it. The shirt she wore was too large and gaped at the neck. The Dhampir’s eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of her naked skin through the loose collar. He looked down but the view turned more obvious when she shifted to the next screw. Temptation took over and he glanced up again. Her breasts enclosed in a tight bra swayed with every twisting movement. He would detach his eyes in a second… She was busy and would not notice… It was at eye level so he really had little choice… She shifted to the next screw and her arms pressed on each side of her chest. His heart jumped against his ribs. The plastic handle of a screwdriver bumped the top of his head. He looked up into large hazel eyes.

“Focus!” She said while waving the tool in front of his nose.

Then she giggled and continued her work. Quinlan was mortified. The Dhampir had been caught red-handed and the embarrassment stunned him into silence. Lexi looked at his face and whatever she saw there made her laugh out loud.

“Relax, it’s fine!” She said and her smile turned compassionate.

“I…I’m sorry…I…”

He stopped there because he had no justification to offer.

“Well, you’re human too after all.”

Lexi shrugged and placed the next bit of electronics in place. Quinlan smiled at her statement because it gave him hope. He caught himself. Hope for what? That she would ignore his monstrous nature? A mere week ago he had tasted her blood in front of her tearing eyes. That thought twisted his stomach painfully. He regretted that day so very much.

“We can start collecting…heads…soon.” She said taking breaths with each twisting motion.

This was more comfortable territory for him and he relaxed.

“We shall travel far enough to avoid attracting undue attention on this facility.”

She nodded in agreement.

“Maybe we should pick up on the training a little more. So I don’t get myself killed…like a moron.”

Quinlan shifted his weight uncomfortably. Fighting, combat training, tactical planning were all within the range of his comfort zone. Right in the middle, as a matter of fact. However, since that day in the gym and the previous night, the idea appeared more…complicated. Still, she was right.

“Very well.” He said as soon as she had finished with the last screw.

“Very well, what?”

“We can start a training session right now.”

Her brow was shiny with sweat and she was breathing quickly from all this manual labor.

“Now but…?”

“You are tired?” He asked.

“Yes…”

“Good. One rarely starts a fight while feeling completely refreshed.”

Lexi considered his statement and nodded reluctantly. The lesson lasted one hour during which she pushed her body harder than usual. She had made clear progress from that first time three months prior. Still, Quinlan found himself frustrated at her physical weakness. She ate enough to be healthy but not enough to build stronger muscles. He could feel it with each of her blows. For the first time, Quinlan worried not for the sake of the mission, but for her.