Abandoned & Forgotten

Pre-note:

There are definitely some cliched things in this chapter. Just try to work with me for now. Please.

C.3

"Ughh…why…"

Where was he? It was dark and damp and slightly hot. Oh man, it irritated his leg like crazy. He only just recently got it, will it malfunction already? Seriously, where wa-?

Oh yeah, remembered.

"Damn…Glave. Making me go through all this even though I just recently woke up."

Rose, not far behind him, scanned the cave.

"It doesn't seem like there are any dangerous beasts or monsters in here, though."

"That bothers me. That Glave said 'An invincible blade that'll never break' with 'mastering it may come with a few side effects'. Since there isn't anything guarding the sword, it makes me worry how terrifyingly powerful it is. But at the same time, it gets me excited; wielding such a powerful weapon!"

"You sound just like a kid right now." She joked.

"Hey, I'm not a kid anymo-!" Without watching, the redhead knight fell over an edge.

"Elsword!" Rose screamed out. The Mech she rode sped to the edge where the boy just fell. When she looked down, she saw him moaning. Thankfully, the drop wasn't that big of a fall.

"…oww."

"Just like a kid. What'd I say?"

"Yeah…yeah." The boy grunted as he forced himself back up. He still seemed to be in tip top shape.

Rose's Mech glided down.

"Do you want a ride?"

"No thanks. I'm good."

"…"

He fell again.

…

…

The cave became increasingly hotter as the large Mech carried both Rose, in its hands, and Elsword, on its back, closer to their destination. The red headed boy decided to comment.

"We must be getting closer. The sword must be the source of all this intense heat."

"It's possible. It's also possible that all this heat could be a trap to divert us from the real thing."

"…Possibly." He didn't want to think about it, but there was indeed a possibility that this was all a trap. Even though Glave wasn't one to give false information. But even so…it was Glave. You could never fully trust that guy even if he threw you the most impressive birthday party. "But we've come this far. If it's a trap, we'll do our best to deal with it."

"Oi, Rose." A new voice spoke.

"What is it zero?" She answered.

Zero was a spherical, yellow robot that accompanied the female gunner on her trek in Elrios. He tended to show himself as arrogant and loved to look on the pessimistic side of things. But, Rose knew he cared about her wellbeing enough to bear with her. Otherwise, he probably would've found some way to ditch her already. On the other hand, he couldn't understand why the blonde girl was insistent on helping that boy. After all, his actions weren't her responsibility.

"Why are we still hanging around this kid? We should've let him go and continued our own journey."

"It wouldn't be right to just leave an amnesic kid on his own right after I took care of him. Besides, he might lead us to what we're looking for."

"…ghh. Fine. But you have to remember the mission. And time is limited, Rose. LIMITED!"

"Yeah, I know Zero. I kno-."

"H-Hey, Rose…" Elsword interrupted.

"What is it, Elsword? Is something wr-?"

Wait, she felt different. As if something changed while she wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah. You noticed it too."

"Yeah."

"The heat is completely gone."

"The heat is completely gone."

"I guess it really wasn't a trap." The boy jumped from the Mech's back. Zero decided to speak up.

"I'm picking something up on my radar, Rose!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it sure is generating a large amount of energy."

"That might be it." Elsword exclaimed. "That might be the sword! Which way is it?"

"It's coming from the Northwest!"

With a quick nod, and a hint of excitement, the boy rushed in the direction given by the yellow guide. Zero and Rose quickly followed behind.

It didn't take long for the boy to find what he was looking for. And it sure did stand out.

Centered in the room with its own grand pedestal. It glowed ominously, as if it was drawing him to it. What looked to be the scabbard looked forced into the ground. Just from the way it looked, the red head could tell, it has definitely been there for a few hundred years. It was all the more tempting.

He slowly and carefully walked toward the lodged scabbard.

"T-This is the sword? It's ominous, but I can feel its intense power." 'Heh…it's actually pretty frightening.'

Rose and Zero arrived at the site.

"Is that it?" She questioned.

"It must be. The energy readings are through the roof." Despite the voices behind him, Elsword continued forward toward the ominous blade.

"Hey Elsword, be careful!" Rose called out to him.

His walk didn't stop. Not even a bit.

It seemed as though he wasn't going to listen. So she simply watched as he continued forward.

"…"

The boy stayed silent; almost as if he were in a trance.

Steadily, he inched closer and closer to the weapon. Until…

He finally came face-to-face with it.

Now that he got a closer look at it, he could indeed tell that it was ancient. But that was just judging from the handle. He couldn't understand why he couldn't see the sword itself. Even by looking from the top, he couldn't see the blade. The handle only sunk into an endless darkness.

"What the…?"

"Hey, Elsword!" Rose called. "Is everything okay!?"

"…" He didn't answer. Whether he heard her and just didn't answer or just didn't hear her at all, all he did was stare. 'The sword…how? Where? …No, I'm thinking too much about it. It's there, it's definitely there.' The boy took a breath and calmed down. 'And, there's only one way to find out…'

At that moment, he reached for it. That same determination it took to get him here, he used it once again. At that same moment he grabbed it…everything went black.

…

'Where…am I?'

Only a dangerously distant echo rung back. Elsword tried to move forward.

'Hello!?' He called only to hear the same echo.

An endless darkness.

Once again he tried to move forward.

Was he falling?

Was he floating?

Was he flying?

Was he standing?

Whatever it was, it was just that.

He could understand something, though; he was surrounded by an endless darkness.

It felt Lonely. This feeling. Why does he feel this same feeling?

It's not like he had friends or anything.

A warm wind blew onto the boy from nowhere.

'Is this…inside the sword?'

"WHY…?"

The sudden voice startled him.

"THIS PLACE SHOULD BE NOTHING BUT DARKNESS…WHY IS THERE SOMETHING HERE…?"

Where was that coming from?

'I…I need a sword! That's why I'm here!'

"…" It didn't answer

'…please.'

"…I ASK ONLY ONE QUESTION…"

'…?'

"THIS BLADE IS COATED IN NOTHING BUT DARKNESS. IF YOU BARE THIS WEAPON, YOU WILL HAVE TO BURDEN THAT DARKNESS. THROUGH TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE SAME FATE HAS TAKEN ITS USERS. I ASK YOU, CAN YOU BARE THE FATE OF THIS BLADE'S DARKNESS…?"

This blade's darkness? The fate of its users? Elsword needed a weapon…but, this could be a risk.

'This was probably what Glave was talking about.'

"…!?"

The boy thought it over, more times than he'd like to admit.

…

But the main issue stayed the same. He needed, a weapon. And to top it off, he needed to get stronger. There was absolutely no way he'd get stronger if he never took a risk. So he made up his mind.

'I'll do it. I'll bare this blade's darkness!'

"…OH REALLY…?"

'But…I will not fall. I will NOT succumb to the weapon's darkness. I'll fight past it with all my might, then use that which made others fall to propel my own strength forward!'

"…HEH…" It said with interest. "…FINE THEN…"

A great wind rustled up from every direction possible.

From above and below, to every area on his side.

The boy closed his eyes and attempted to block the vicious onslaught of wind.

Then…

It stopped.

And as soon as the red headed boy opened his eyes, he was struck by an absolutely beautiful sight.

Fields, mountains and trees, as far as the eye could see. They were all beautifully decorated by, what seemed like, an Infinite amount of swords.

And from behind him, was the most impressively built Imperial Citadel he'd ever seen. It was red. Red and hot shades of color everywhere. All this was complimented by a, seemingly, never ending sunset.

Yeah, this was definitely better than the darkness.

"What is this place? It's amazing!"

"…YEAH, I KN- *ahem*, sorry."

It was that same voice from before, except, a lot more normal. Elsword looked up to the very top of the citadel to see someone sitting on the roof.

It was a man. A young looking man to be exact. With obsidian hair.

"Hey'a!"

"H-Huh!?"

The man slid from his sitting position to the citadel's third floor balcony. After, he flipped from the top and landed directly in front of the red head.

"W-Whoa!" Elsword said startled. "Who are you and how did you do that!?"

"Weeeell…" He began. "I've sort have been here for such a long time, so I kinda what I do exactly."

"…L-like amnesia?"

"Amnesia…meh. I don't really want to call it that. Besides, that's waaayyy too much of a cliché for me. There's enough of that for this story with you already."

"T-This story!? What are y-?"

"Let's just say it didn't matter, so I just deleted it."

"…?" What was this guy talking about!? Is he crazy or something!?

"But importantly, my name's Sieghart and I'm a Gladiator."

"You're a…Gladiator? WAIT, SIEGHART!? You have th-!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it there kid, don't get any funny ideas. I'm pretty sure I'm not related to you. There's no way I could be anyway."

"But-!"

"Here…" The man picked up a random sword from the ground and passed it to Elsword. But, with the boy's mind still off on the subject of sharing the same name, he struggled to catch the weapon. After, he began pushing him off.

"W-Wait a minute…"

"Nope, no time. You've overstayed your welcome and the author's getting pretty tired at this point."

"Author? You even mentioned something about a story! What the hell are you say-!?"

"Like I said, no time."

Suddenly, something akin to a doorway appeared out of nowhere.

"But if you ever want to learn how to use that thing properly, stop by anytime!" Sieghart then pushed the red headed boy through the doorway.

"W-Whaaa!"

"Oh, and one more thing. The name of that blade is-!"

…

And everything went black.

Elsword opened his eyes to find a blinding light. He stood unmoved from his previous spot. One difference, though, was the disappearance of the scabbard embedded in the rock.

"Ughh…" He groaned as he held his head. "My head hurts."

"Elsword!" A familiar voice called to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Rose."

The blonde mechanic breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, how was it? Were you able to get the sword?"

"I-I think so."

"Then where is it?" The robot guide asked.

"I-I don't know. But it wasn't still in the rock, so I guess I…"

Elsword clutched his head in pain. Something was flooding back into him. Something like…memories?

"Oh, and one more thing. The name of that blade is-!"

It finally came to him.

He whispered.

…

"…Conwell."

A magnificent light shined brightly from his right hand. He could feel something painting on his skin. It wasn't painful, but the sensation was irritating.

After the light died down, the boy took a look at his right hand.

An emblem of some sort.

"An emblem?" Zero questioned.

In response to the guide, Elsword raised his right hand up high. Instantly, the scabbard from the rocks appeared. He swiftly grabbed the handle and unsheathed the blade.

Long and sleek. It was the perfect weight in his hand. And with its brilliant silver and red design, it gleamed elegantly in his hand.

"So this…is the legendary sword!" With his tone, one could say, Elsword was pleased.

Sieghart sat back up on his rooftop spot.

"…"

A brief memory of the boy ran through his mind.

"This was probably what Glave was talking about."

"…Glave." The name ran through his lips with excitement. "Heheh, still up to his old tricks. Hmm, I wonder if Luto is still alive too. Things are looking a bit more fun again."

Post-note:

Also, I'm really done with schedules and stuff.

Also, once again, if there are any major questions, which I highly doubt, feel free to just leave a PM or review or however you want to do it.

But yeah, that's about it.

`As always, this is Tempest, signing out!

-Laters

Theme for this story: Reason Living -SCREEN mode