BGM Akagami no Shirayukihime OST - The Meeting: Prologue

checkmate
by iReii

"A Mage that wants to escape and a Knight that has escaped, are now checkmated.
Now, the two underlords are willing to fight for what they desire― freedom."

chapter one.

》

Four major elements exist in this world― fire, water, earth, and air. Skilled mages are able to control one of these elements as if it's their own blood.
Yet, there is a mage that can control all of the four elements expertly. They are called Elemental Masters.

"I'm literally his dog! I'm sick of it!"

And here, is one of the Elemental Masters. By the name of Aisha, she complains about how she's exhausted from being a restricted underlord of King Aldist. Her violet locks swayed in the air, scent of lavender fusing with the air as it tickled the Chaser next to her,

"But it's the King's orders… Lady Aisha,"

By the name of Chung, the skilled Deadly Chaser replied with a nervous tone. He's assigned to be the guard of the Elemental Master, Aisha under King Aldist's orders. The two venture out into the Land of Rosleau to perform executing missions assigned by the king.

Aisha came to a halt in front of one of the windows placed within the halls of the Carlyn Kingdom. The wind breezed through, stroking each strand of her hair gracefully. She gently closed her eyes and whispered to the air, "If only I can be free,"

In the Land of Rosleau, two major kingdom rules each territory: Selodian Kingdom and the Carlyn Kingdom. Each king is required to have an underlord, one that is graced in their fighting skills in order to carry the missions they are given. As for the Carlyn Kingdom which is ruled by King Aldist, Aisha is his underlord. From the age of seven, the Elemental Master has taken on various kinds of mission― even ones that could finish her life. Indeed it's a dangerous job, yet their skills has to be controlled under the name of the king. From a such young age, she figured out that the king is only taking an advantage of her skills in order to execute guilty citizens and lords, and to gain power for King Aldist himself. Even though she is granted a luxurious living provided by the castle, killing is not what she wanted.

After eight years of taking on a task that can even risk her life, the violet haired girl is exhausted. Restricted from the freedom she constantly wishes for, she stared out the window as she became mesmerized by the bird's freedom― flying high across the vast sky. A depressing sigh escaped from her lips.

"Lady Aisha, our mission has to be completed by the crack of dawn," The Chaser that was leaning against the grand walls of the hall said underneath his breath, which startled Aisha.

"Right. Let us leave," She said as she lifted her body from the windowsill, trailing down the castle with heavy footsteps.

〃

BGM Ends Here

The stars were painted upon the vast sky, no signs of dark clouds to be found. Underneath the ominous yet inferior castle, the Elemental Master and the Deadly Chaser came to a halt. A gate was surrounding the humble castle along with two guards, their armor painted black as they held out a spear in front of them.

"Address yourself," After hearing the serious tone of one of the guard's, Aisha let out a silent laughter.

"You don't want to know," And within a blink of an eye, fire was burning down to their bone as they let out a silent scream, and fell lifelessly to the floor. With an impressed smirk across his face, Chung trailed behind Aisha― and into the castle they entered.

However, the two did not catch a glimpse of the crimson knight that was up on the rooftop. With his legs hanging in the air as he sat on the very edge of the roof, a playful smile played within his lips.

"Intruder alert," He whispered underneath his breath as he watched the two enter the castle.

"This is an unnamed kingdom, according to King Aldist. Therefore, they're one of the minor kingdoms that's spread in the Land of Rosleau. Apparently, the ruler of this kingdom is responsible for unfair trades along with lies, that resulted in multiple deaths from the nearby kingdoms," The Chaser informed the mage as the two silently walked up the corridors that led to another hall filled with sleepy guards.

"Hush, there's more here," She blocked the Chaser as she pulled her arm out. The two glanced around, the hall was quite small due to the castle being inferior. There was only couple candles lit around each corner, and windows were nonexistent within the halls. The guards were slumped down, their backs leaning against the wall as they tried their best to keep their eyes open.

"I got this. Lady Aisha, you should go up and execute the king," Chung said as he tugged onto Aisha's robe, and she nodded her head and walked up the stairs with silent steps.

She heard gunshots and the sound of blood spurting, smashing upon the walls as she climbed upstairs. After realizing there was no more stairs to climb up, she came to a halt. A giant wooden door was in front of her, as she let out a silent chuckle. Without hesitation, the mage kicked the door open, only to find a startled, powerless king.

"Who― who are you?! Guards! Guards!" He screamed with plea as he fell clumsily to the floor. He grabbed for a pocket knife that was placed on top of his nightstand, and placed it in front of him for protection. Yet it was no use. Without a word, the coldhearted mage froze his heart within a second.

She glanced about, and it was silent. She figured Chung would be waiting for her in front of the gate and quickly teleported outside, slowly escalating down and gently stepped onto the cobblestone. She glanced towards the direction of East, where the sun rises, and sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she realized the time was nowhere close to the crack of dawn. It was fairly an easy mission and she was glad her work is over for today. With a smile across her petite lips, the mage skipped along without being aware of her situation.

She whipped her head back towards the empty castle after hearing gentle footsteps, only to be surprised by the fact that there was a knight standing. With no sunlight shining upon his face, it was hard to distinguish the physical features that was hiding underneath the black hood. The only thing she could figure out was the playful smirk across his lips.

"An Elemental Master, how honored to meet you," She figured the knight was a male, in his late teens possibly. His voice was young, yet a bit husky. He was gripping onto his sword that was dragging along the cobblestone as it reflected off the moonlight.

"A guard that was hiding from fear, how honored to meet you," Aisha replied with an arrogant tone, yet the mysterious knight was not amused.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm no guard of this useless castle nor am I feared by you," He said as he lifted up his sword, which startled Aisha. However, he was lifting it up, only to rest it on top of his shoulder.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no one has ever made it out alive after seeing my mission," She played along, and within a spark, the Elemental Master casted a spell that soon created a ring of fire around her foot, Blaze Step.

He's a knight, I have to use close-combat attacks against melees, she thought to herself as she teleported in front of the knight, who raised his sword from his shoulder as he was ready to fight.

She casted couple fireballs towards the knight, yet surprisingly, he was too swift to be caught by her fire. When he was ready to strike his sword upon her, she casted another ring of fire around her body as it fused with the Blaze Step she casted earlier. The knight was surprised by the sudden burst of fire, and quickly backed off. And within that moment, she caught the color of his crimson eyes as it reflected from the moonlight. Blood red.

"Lady Aisha!" She heard Chung's scream as he entered the garden of the castle. His cerulean eyes widened with surprised after catching a glimpse of the mysterious knight.

"Tsk, two against one, you're quite cheap, Miss Elemental Master," The knight said underneath his breath, and within a blink he was gone.

Chung walked closer, glancing around the visible body parts as he examined for any wounds found on her body.

"Must have been his cloak that made him teleport. Anyway, I'm fine. Our mission have been accomplished, let's just return for now," She said as she secured her wand to her belt. Chung nodded along and accompanied the mage out of the garden. Before Aisha took her last step from the garden, she took another glimpse towards the castle.

The mysterious knight vanished into the air, his crimson eyes being the only physical appearances she will remember.

After being recognized by the King Aldist for successfully completing their mission, the two were dismissed. They walked along the halls of the Carlyn Kingdom with silence as they were granted a freedom― a restricted freedom. As they continued walking, the walls soon were carved down as the corridor opened up, and the fresh air welcomed them. Aisha glanced down, only to take a glimpse of the beautiful garden. Along the white cobblestones trailing towards the gate, lavish bushes were placed with roses peeking out from the leaves. A fountain stood in the middle of the garden, as water sprouted up to the air and trickled down gracefully.

"It's not as beautiful as it may seem," Her inner thoughts were said unwillingly as her gaze was lost in the freedom before her.

"What was that, Lady Aisha?" Chung, who was behind her, fastened his pace to walk next to Aisha as he asked.

"It… was nothing," Quite startled by the fact that her inner thoughts were expressed out loud, Aisha shrugged the negativity away.

Chung tilted his head to the side as he stared at Aisha with a confused look in his cerulean eyes, but he shrugged away the confusement as well. He let out a silent sigh, then continued―

"Oh, Lady Aisha. There will be a party tonight in the Selodian Kingdom, hosted by King Rowan,"

"Do I have to attend?" With an emphasize within 'have', Aisha complained to her guard; she highly disliked parties. She is forced to wear uncomfortable dresses that tugs her back, due to the long silky garments falling beneath her ankles. Not forgetting to mention, high heels that constantly aches her foot, which results in blisters around her toes. The extremely large accessories that always knocks on her collarbone was another story. But worst of all, the fake, plastic smiles she is forced to play on her face as she greets royalties with identities she isn't even familiar with.

"Under King Rowan's orders, yes, my lady," Chung said with a slightly nervous tone; he knew Aisha would rage once again and lock herself in her room until the time of the party. However, it was quite unexpected to the guard when Aisha let out a sigh, and quickly gave in.

"Very well, I'll see you later in the night. I just want to take a nap for now," She replied as she brushed her long strands of her violet hair with her slender fingers. Chung nodded as Aisha passed by him, her heavy footsteps leading towards another restricted freedom she has― her room.

"What a beautiful hair you have, Lady Aisha," one of the maids that was responsible for her hair for the night exclaimed as she brushed through her violet locks. Indeed it was a compliment, an empty compliment. After years of experiencing this, Aisha figured out these maids were merely saying only to flatter her. Aisha nodded as she let out a silent sigh escape from her lips.

After her hair was curled into the way that pleased everyone else's eyes― except Aisha's―, heavy makeup was applied on top of her skin, along with heavy jewels that dangled along her body. Her dress consisted of a simple white silk with a elegant cutout on the sides, that was wrapped in another beautiful lavender colored silk. Her entire look complimented the color of her eyes, as it created more of an lively complexion. However, Aisha preferred the white magician robe she always wore during her missions, along with the purple pleated skirt that was extremely comfortable to move around in. But this was a party. An event she extremely loathed.

Soon the stars were spread upon the vast sky of the night. Aisha stepped outside of her carriage, and grasped onto the hand that was placed in front of her for escort; Chung's. Although Aisha's heart doesn't feel a romantic thoughts towards her guard, she must admit, suit attires fit him very well.

The Selodian Kingdom is ruled by the King Rowan. For decades, the Selodian Kingdom and the Carlyn Kingdom have been allies, even up to this date. They assist one another in wars in between other Kingdoms in nearby land as well as engage in small wars with inferior rulers. Just like the Carlyn Kingdom, there is an underlord that has been assigned. Aisha doesn't have much information regarding King Rowan's underlord, except for the fact that he or she, is a knight.

Her thoughts reflected back to the crimson eyed knight she fought earlier, right before the crack of dawn. He was indeed, very mysterious; his physical features being hidden underneath a hood as a shadow was casted upon. Moreover, his fighting skills as a knight was extremely talented. Swift movements, accurate aim― even when he was clenching onto a pretty heavy looking sword. Aisha even had a thought― that maybe, the crimson eyed knight could been an underlord as well. However, that thought quickly faded away; an underlord cannot have freedom like him. Underlords have no freedom, they are restricted.

Although no king in the history within the Land Roselau have officially announced that underlords are not granted a freedom, with highly skilled guard escorting them each second and with continuous missions pressuring down upon their back, it's safe to say that underlords are not granted a freedom in the end. Moreover, Aisha was actually afraid of where the freedom will take her, if she is ever granted one. With the skills of four elements grasped onto her hand, she knows for fact that many people will try to seize her, and take advantage of her powers― just like King Aldist.

Soon enough, the guests have arrived in the party as Chung escorted Aisha inside the castle. It was indeed, a grand castle. If the Carlyn Kingdom is graceful, with an angelic theme polished in every corner, the Selodian Kingdom is absolutely luxurious. With rich colors of ruby and gold painted, with a brown pattern that resembles a diamond shape, the halls are grand. As soon as the door opened, a chill yet a welcoming sensation breezed out. Right in the middle of the grand hall, a golden sculpture of the first king, King Selodian was placed, looking mighty and courageous as ever.

"This way, my lady," One of the servants working in the Selodian Kingdom escorted Aisha and Chung, their arms were crossed with one another as they walked along the beautiful halls of the Selodian Castle. Soon enough, they reached a grand ballroom.

There was multiple luxurious golden chandeliers hanging on the top above, lighting up the entire room. There was about fifty round tables, all topped with a elegant white tablecloths, which complimented the chairs placed around. And there, in front of the ballroom was a stage where the Kings and the queens can enjoy their dinner as well as announce any important news. Guests were already filling up the tables, and quickly, Chung escorted Aisha to their assigned table.

After an hour of mundane news being shared by King Rowan, dishes of various food were served. Even though Aisha wanted to devour each dish like a hungry bear, the thought of being an elegant royalty blocked her actions. This was one of the ideas Aisha deeply loathed. No one must illustrate their true self, they must all act royal. Everyone here is fake. As Aisha was blotting her lips after drinking a sip of wine, King Rowan stood up from his chair. He rang his glass cup, and the sound echoed throughout the entire ballroom as everyone gazed towards the courageous male.

"I apologize for interrupting, however, an important news have been shared, with myself and King Aldist,"

"Here comes another one," Chung leaned over and whispered into Aisha's ear as he let out a silent chuckle. Aisha rolled her eyes as her reaction; another useless news that she will be forced to listen to.

Aisha reached for the cup of wine once again, and brought it closer to her lips as the liquid escalated down her throat. After King Rowan obtained everyone's attention, he continued,

"King Aldist and I decided to come up with an agreement. That the two underlords,"

After hearing the world 'underlord', Aisha's ear perked up as she placed the wine back onto the table. Now he has her undivided attention.

"Lord Knight Elsword of Selodian Kingdom and Elemental Master Aisha of Carlyn Kingdom are now."

There was a slight moment of silence, but he continued,

"Checkmated,"

》

end chapter one.

note:

I wasn't planning to post this story until RAID was completed, but I just couldn't wait! I've been working on this story for a little less than a month, and so far there is total of 7 chapters. This is the first story where I'm not writing just 1k words each chapter. every chapter will be around 1.5k-3k words, so this will be a fairly long story― with at least ten chapters. Although it's labeled Elsword x Aisha, I'd say it's more of a love triangle between Elsword x Aisha x Chung.
If you guys are confused about who is where, I have extra information underneath. If you have any more questions regarding this story,
please write them in the review section and I will reply in the next chapter. Anyway, thank you guys for reading and please follow/favorite/review!

information:

Classes are Elemental Master, Lord Knight, and Deadly Chaser.
Land of Rosleau has many kingdoms, yet the two major, superior ones are Carlyn Kingdom and Selodian Kingdom.

Carlyn Kingdom: Aisha (underlord) & Chung (Aisha's guard)
Selodian Kingdom: Elsword (underlord) & ? (Elsword's guard)

Carlyn Kingdom and Selodian Kingdom are allies, and often have parties with each other.

Underlords have restricted freedom, with missions pounding on their shoulder, and that is what Aisha wants to escape from.
She does not want to kill anyone, she simply wants to communicate with the four elements in a peaceful way.