Chapter Text
“Elsword.”
…
“Elsword!”
…
“Elsword, get up, you dumbass!!!”
“Wah!!” He woke to find his sister shaking him. “I’m up, I’m up!”
She folded her arms. “Geez, Elsword. You can’t keep sleeping until noon every day. When the academy starts back up, you’re gonna be late!”
He laughed and scratched the back o his head with his arm. “I know, I know. I’ll… fix that when the time comes.”
She sighed and turned away. “Anyway, Aisha’s here to see you. Said it’s important.”
“Aisha…? Why would she…?”
“Don’t know, but I wouldn’t keep her waiting. She doesn’t look happy.” She walked out of his room.
The weirdest part about this was Aisha. Normally, she wouldn’t go to see him, no matter the situation. Whatever it was must have been really important. But then, she probably would have gotten Elesis if it was that important.
Finished getting ready, he went to the door. “Morning, Aish-“
“Elsword, you dummy!” He was then greeted with a punch to the stomach. It wasn’t strong, but he wasn’t expecting it. She took the opportunity of him having bent over slightly, and grabbed the collar of his shirt, starting to drag him. “It’s no wonder you’re so short! First, you only eat meat, then there’s you sleep schedule! You literally sleep for half the day!”
Still half asleep, he answered tiredly. “You say that, but I’m still taller than you. In fact, you’re so small, you’re like a-“ he felt a kick to his gut, knocking the wind out of him.
“Two things. One, I’m not small! And two, how could you not remember?! It only happened yesterday!”
“Yesterday?” He didn’t remember anything significant happening. He woke up around noon, hung out with Aisha and Rena near the El Tree, then Rena asked him to- oh. “Oh!” He stood up, freeing himself from Aisha’s death grip, causing her to fall over.
“Ah!” She looked up, then spoke in (at least as close as she could get) a dark and grumbly voice. “Elsword… I’m going to KILL YOU!!!” She began to run after Elsword with her eyes full of murderous intent.
Had he not been able to run faster than her, she probably would have actually killed him. Fortunately for him, he made it to the top of the hill with the tree Rena had asked him to meet her by. He found her sitting asleep next to the tree, and brushed a strand of hair off to the side.
She began to open her eyes, and, seeing how close to her he was, she leaned back, her eyes wide. “E-Elsword? W-what are you doing?”
“Ah, well I, uh, saw a strand of hair in your mouth, and I thought it might be uncomfortable so I, uh… moved it…”
Her eyes relaxed, and she leaned back forward. “Oh. Th-thanks, I guess.” She stood up and took a deep breath. “You can do this, Rena!”
“…what?”
She took another deep breath before speaking loudly, “Elsword, I know we might’ve not met on the best of terms, but I actually… I um…” her voice trailed and she began muttering to herself. “Shit, what was the next line? Maybe…”
“Rena, are you trying to-“
“This is your fault, you know. For being late to my confessional.”
“Rena, I think I-“
“You know what? Screw my script. Elsword, will you go out with me?”
He paused for a moment. This had gone exactly as he expected, having figured it out when she told herself that she could do it. “Rena, don’t get me wrong. You’re cute, funny, and a good fighter. But I’m just not looking for that kind of thing right now. I hope you understand.”
She paused, and her eyes dropped. “I see. I get it, though.” Her bright face came back. “If… if you ever change your mind, I’ll still be here.” She smiled softly at him.
The two then parted ways, and from just the other side of the hill, he could hear Aisha say, “So? How’d it go?”
He felt a little guilty after hearing Aisha say that, but what was he supposed to do? Sure, she was a good person and all, but he genuinely didn’t want to be in a relationship like that. At least, not yet. He laid down on the grass, and watched the rich blue sky until he dozed off to sleep.
After what felt to be a few hours, he woke up to a familiarly horrifying sound. “EeeelllsWWWOOOORRRRD!!!” Aisha’s voice could be heard echoing.
I need to move, he thought. I may actually die here.
And yet, he just laid there. Whether or not he was paralyzed in fear, he had no idea. What he did know was that it wouldn’t take Aisha long to find where he was.
“Elsword! Wake up, you big dummy! I’m talking to you!”
He just then realized that he had closed his eyes. Opening them, he looked back at Aisha, who was leaning over him.
“How could you just reject Rena like that?! Do you have any idea how long she’s been planning this?!”
“Um… no?”
“Months! She completely broke down crying after you rejected her!”
“Aisha, don’t make things up!” Rena stood behind her. “I didn’t take it that badly. Besides, had you listened to me instead of just taken off, you would know that I was kind of expecting this. Elsword, just ignore her.”
“What?! Rena, I’m doing this for you! I-“
Her playful face was gone, and replaced with the serious one they had rarely seen. “Aisha, stop. You’re not helping anything.”
Aisha hesitated before answering. “Fine. I’m going home.” She stormed off.
“I should probably see what kind of poison Elesis is preparing for dinner. See you later, Rena!”
He walked back home. “I’m back!”
“Welcome back, Elsword!” Elesis’ voice called from the kitchen.
“So what kind of death is for dinner this time?”
“Hey! My cooking’s not that bad!” She stepped out of the kitchen.
“Elesis, you burned a smoothie.”
“It’s not my fault the blender wouldn’t work!”
“Sure, sure. Blame it on your equipment.”
She stomped her foot. “That’s a perfectly valid reason!”
“Uh huh.” He sniffed the air. “Do I even want to know what that horrific smell is?”
“Hah!” She folded her arms and puffed her chest. “I’ll have you know I’m proud of my curry today!”
He leaned over and glanced in the kitchen. “Is it supposed to be on fire?”
“Y-yes…!” They both paused for a moment. “S-shut up! Let me get back to my cooking!” She ran back into the kitchen. After hearing her cough, he decided go out back and practice for a while. Not long after, she called him back in for dinner.
He took a small plate of food. “Please don’t let this kill me.” He took a small bite, then stood up. “Actually, I just remembered that I’m not really that hungry, so I’m just going to go to bed, okay? Okay.” He started to walk away, but was stopped by Elesis grabbing the collar of his sweater.
“Now hold on, Elsword~ I happen to know for a fact that you haven’t eaten yet today. And because I know how much you love eating meat, I made you EXTRA PORTIONS!!!”
With a yell of true terror, Elsword was sat down, and he forced down several platefuls of her burned curry. “There… I’m… done…”
“Good! And now, for desert, I made…”
“NO! NO, I’m not eating anything else tonight!”
“I’m joking, Elsword. You’re free to do whatever.”
He got up and went to bed for the night. He woke up to the sun barely rising over the horizon. Rather than going back to sleep like he normally would, he decided to go back out and practice. Not long after, Elesis joined him.
“You know, you’d do more damage if you used a claymore, like me.”
“And I’m still going to beat you without one, someday.”
“And I still believe you.”
“Then why don’t we have a match? Here and now.”
“What? Are you kidding? This early? I still have things to do today. You should have asked me after dinner.”
“You know what? Fine. I’m done anyway. Field is yours.”
“Oh, and why don’t you invite your friends over for dinner?”
“Which ones?”
“What do you mean, which ones? Those two girls you always hang out with.”
“Oh, right. Them.”
“I promise I won’t serve them ‘liquid death’ this time.”
“Or any other kind of death?”
“I’ll go out and get something.”
“Alright. In that case, I’ll ask them.”
He headed out and went to the El Tree, where the three of them normally met up, and found Rena sleeping at the base of the tree. “You know, Dad’s offered for you to stay with us several times. You don’t need to sleep out here.”
She yawned and looked over at him. “I know. I just don’t know how the rest of the elves would feel about me being taken care of by some humans.”
“Well, that’s what’ll happen if you stay out here for too long. You’re going to get sick eventually.”
“I’ll take that risk. It’s yet to happen.” She looked at the sky. “I’m surprised you’re up this early, Elsword.”
“Yeah, well, I decided I needed to get serious about my training if I ever want to beat my sister in a match.”
“You know, if you used a claymore like her, you’d easily beat her.”
“I know, but I don’t just want to copy her. Besides, if I do that, people might lose respect for her, seeing her younger sibling far surpass her. She might be taking care of me while dad’s gone, but that doesn’t mean I can’t also take care of her for the long run.”
“That’s… strangely mature of you, Elsword.”
“Yeah, well… I guess I need to grow up sometime.”
“Oh, so now you two hit it off?” Aisha spoke in a joking manner from a tree root not far off.
“Would you shut it, Aisha? He rejected me fair and square. Nothing’s changed between us.”
“Oh, sure, sure~”
“Aisha, seriously. We’re all friends here.” Elsword stood up alongside Rena.
“Oh? Are you asking me to be friends with a stupid brat like you?”
“No, I just- shut up.” He shoved her shoulder.
“Hey, just because I don’t have all of my magic doesn’t mean I couldn’t beat the daylights out of you in a fight!”
“Yeah? You want to try it? I assure you, you’ll lose!”
“Guys, stop. We shouldn’t fight here, with the shard and all.”
“Oh, right. That. Thanks for the reminder. How about your place then, Aisha? That should be far enough.” Elsword commented, putting his sword on his shoulder.
“Oh, really? You’re asking a girl if you can go to her house? Even when Rena is right here?”
“Fine. I guess you’re too afraid of how miserably I’ll beat you!”
“No, I just think you’ll take advantage of the fact that I don’t want to destroy my house.”
Rena sighed. “Get a room, you two.”
They both looked over at her.
“You know, Aisha, We could use some supervision to make sure neither of us goes overboard.”
“Finally, something we can agree on!”
They both smiled at Rena, who started backing up, before her back hit the tree.
“Oh no. No, no. I’m not getting mixed up in your affairs. Not again. Never again!” She then leaped over a nearby root and ran off.
Elsword sighed and shook his head. “Well, I guess that settles the stakes then.”
“Same as always, before Rena intervenes?”
“The winner gets to be Rena’s friend.”
“The loser is killed in battle.”
“Then we’ll start when we get to your place.”
“Wait, why my place?!”
“Because if we do it at mine, Elesis’ll kill us both!”
“So?!”
“Oh, I see. You just wanted an excuse to go to a boy’s house, huh Aisha?” Rena’s voice came from behind them.
“Wh-what?!?!” Aisha whipped around, and glared at her.
“And you two aren’t going to fight with those terms. Because the minute you do, I’ll abandon you both. Is that clear?” She had put on her serious face again.
“But Rena, we just-“ Aisha started.
“Shut it. I don’t have to talk to either of you. And if I hear you guys talk about this one more time, then I won’t let you two near the tree at all. Got it?”
The two of them lowered their heads. “Sorry, Rena. I… I didn’t know this meant that much to you.” Elsword apologized.
“We won’t seriously consider it again.” Aisha added on.
“Good!” Rena’s face returned to its usual bright self. “Now, why don’t we do something fun together? I heard the hot springs here were nice.”
“You haven’t been yet?”
“I’ve been pretty busy.”
“But guys and girls are separated for… obvious reasons.” Elsword pointed out.
“Are you just opposed to it because you won’t get to see Rena and I in a towel?” Aisha teased.
“Well, first, you wouldn’t be much to look at,” Elsword teased back.
“Hey! I’m not that small!” Aisha tried to defend herself.
“and second, she suggested something together, not just the two of you.” He pointed out.
“Hmm…” Rena had a thoughtful look on her face. “Actually, I think I have an idea.”
~0{]|[}0~
“Rena, I can’t believe that you actually rented out the entire spring just so we wouldn’t have to be in split baths.” Elsword stood in disbelief, looking at the spring.
“Let’s just say that this is their way of repaying a favor I did for them once, and leave it at that.” Rena started walking towards the water.
“What kind of favor did you do that warrants renting out the entire spring as repayment?” Aisha questioned.
“Oh, this and that. I’m not really going to tell you~” she teased as she entered the water. “Ah~ this is nice!”
The other two looked at each other and stated towards the water. “So, let me get this strait, you did a favor for the people who run this place, but never actually went into the spring?” Elsword began questioning.
“I told you, I’m not going to tell you anything else~” Her voice was completely relaxed, and it was clear to both of them that they weren’t going to get anything else out of her. “I feel like I could just melt away~”
He shook his head and went into the spring on the opposite side of the girls. “You know, you really are impossible, sometimes.”
“Yeah, I mean, you probably did this just so you could see him shirtless!” Aisha teased.
They both waited for a reply, but none came. After a few seconds, Aisha looked at Rena’s tilted back head. “She’s asleep.”
“Asleep?! What do you mean she fell asleep?!”
“Well, I mean that her eyes are closed, and she’s breathing deeply.”
“Thanks, I got that much. But… what?!”
Aisha sighed. “Sleeping is a state in which a person’s mind falls unconscious in order to-“
“Alright, I think that’s enough of this.” He stood up.
“Enough of what? Hey, where are you going?!” She stood up and began to walk towards the leaving Elsword.
“I’m going home. I don’t feel like I need this kind of sass from you right now.”
“So you’re just going to let Rena’s favor go to waste?”
“…” He thought for a few moments. “…fine.” He walked back over and sat back in the springs. “But to be clear, I’m only doing this because I don’t want Rena to feel bad about using her favor like this, not anything even remotely related to you.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Looks like I win this time!”
“Your towel’s sliding down. You may want to adjust it before I see something you don’t want me to.”
“!” She quickly brought her arms up and readjusted her towel. “Payback?”
“Nah. Payback would be me pointing out that there wouldn’t really be anything to see even if it did fall.”
“Excuse me?! I… I’m not that small!” She started blushing madly.
“When’s the last time you looked in a mirror? You really are.”
“A-am not! Y-you’re just saying that because you’re short!”
“Hey, I’ll at least admit to that. I just haven’t hit my growth spurt yet! You, on the other hand…”
“Hey! I’m the same age as you, dummy!”
“Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it’ll be true one day.”
“IT IS TRUE!!!”
“Whatever you say, old hag.”
“Well I’m not the creep looking at people’s chests!”
“You’re doing it now, Aisha. I’d say you are.”
“Well I… Shut up!”
Just then, he realized that Rena was no longer sitting in the spring. He caught a glimpse of green hair under the water and dove into the shallow spring after her.
“W-what are you doing, you perv?!”
By then, he couldn’t hear her, being completely underwater. She swam up to her and picked her up, raising out of the water. He then walked out of the spring and set her on the ground.
“O-oh. I… I didn’t notice…”
After coughing for a short while, she spoke. “Ah~ That was nice~”
“She’s fine. Aisha, could you look after her? I’m going to train before Elesis kills me for not training for two days.”
“Wait, so you’re really going to just leave her here?”
“Aisha… I, well, let’s be honest. I don’t like you. But even so, I… still trust you to do the right thing.” He left the spring, dressed himself, and headed back.
~0{]|[}0~
“I’m home!” He announced his arrival.
“Welcome back, Elsword!” He was met with a familiar, deep voice.
“Wait… Dad?!”
“Haha! How’s it going, kiddo?”
“But I thought… When did you get back?”
“Not long after you left.” Elesis stepped into the room. “And since I know you’re probably tired from your travel, I’ll cook dinner.”
“Oh, I’m not so tired as to put up with your cooking, Elesis. Really, I’ll cook.”
“Hey! W-what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, no offense, Elesis, but your cooking is terrible!”
“I-it’s not that bad! And how am I supposed to not take offense from that?!”
“Let me put it this way. You inherited your cooking skills from your mother.”
“Hey! That’s not any better!”
“He’s right, Elesis. Your cooking’s almost killed me several times, too!” Elsword joined in the joking.
Elesis sighed in defeat. “Fine. But keep in mind that we’ll have guests tonight.”
“Guests?” Elsword looked confused.
“…you did remember to ask them, right?”
“Ah… well… now that you mention it…”
She sighed again. “That’s fine. I’ll go and ask them. You two can just wait here and… I don’t know. Start dinner or something.” She left the house.
“You know, Elsword? Your sister’s grown up a lot since I’ve been gone. Her cooking may be bad, but she at least takes the initiative to do things.”
“I mean, I guess so. Wasn’t she always like that, though?”
“You’ve grown up a lot too, you know.”
Are you ignoring my question, Elsword thought. “Thanks, I guess.”
“You may not see it now, but you will later. You’ll look back on how you behaved when you were younger and you’ll see how much you’ve changed. Now your sister’s right. I need to get to cooking.”
~0{]|[}0~
I didn’t know it at the time, but that meal would be the last one the five of us had together. My father left the next morning on a mission, and my sister left on a personal quest a few weeks after. I dropped from Ruben’s school system to take up my sisters role of guarding the El Shard, at least during the day. About two years later, everything started to change when Banthus stole the Shard.
~0{]|Part 2: Echoes of the Past begins|[}0~