Raven – Veteran Commander

Elesis – Blazing Heart

Raven belonged to the dark. It was obvious in his prowling walk, his taciturn sternness, and his low opinion of human ethics. Where Elesis walked firmly on the side of the light, Raven paced the shadowy lines between bright and dark.

And sometimes, the dark tried to pull him over completely.

Raven chucked three grenades at Ran, slashed his sword through a burning flame, and dove into a combination of blade and arm attacks, attempting to lock the elusive earl down. Merciful El, this guy's armor was good. Way too good. And his skills were on par with Ara's, too, which wasn't exactly pleasant.

Ran brought his own sword up, clashing against Raven's blade and trying to twist it from his hand. Raven had to brace his blade with his Nasod hand, shutting his mind to the insidious whispers of darkness and sorrow that came from Ran's sword.

You're a worthless piece of scum, Raven. You know that. You should just give in. Stupid, slow, even Tarnavash was scared of you. You belong with the darkness. Your kin.

Raven shook his head to clear it, glaring at Ran. The earl was smiling creepily.

"Flame Wall!"

Raven disengaged and leapt back just before a wall of fire blazed up between him and Ran, nearly scorching his coat. Elesis' running footsteps approached from behind.

"Oy, you okay?"

"Yes," Raven panted, glancing over at Elesis. "His sword-"

An ethereal shadow clone appeared between them, forcing both fighters to dodge out of the way of the all-too-real swipe. When they reunited, a good five feet away from the spot, Raven warned Elesis about the sword's whispers.

"Seriously?" Elesis glanced over at her wall, which was dying down. "I haven't heard anything. But I'll avoid a lock anyways. And- oh shit, we'd better move!"

The wall had died down. Ran looked murderous as he stepped towards them and raised his arm. A maze of complex lines drew itself on the floor, and pebbles caught in the matrix started to shake.

Raven couldn't sense magic. But he didn't need to know what the spell was to know it was bad news.

Elesis spun and ran away. Raven followed her, slipping into the shadows to travel faster. (He really liked doing this, for what it was worth. The world darkened and slowed around him, making him feel powerful, useful...) He ended up under a platform which Elesis jumped up on, fumbling in the canisters at his belt for a mana potion while he watched Ran.

The trembling loose pebbles rose up in the air, taking sizable chunks of walkway with them, spiralling from the demon earl's spell. Raven tore the plastic cover from the mana potion and downed it, throwing the glass bottle off the walkway once he was done, not wanting to imagine what would have happened had he and Elesis been caught in Ran's trap.

Ran snarled, pierced his sword into the ground, and dropped to press his hand against the stone in one smooth motion. The pebbles and rock pieces crashed like – well, like stones. Then they were buffeted up again by pillars of black magic rising from the ground, wreaking havoc on anything they touched.

"Pleasant," Elesis remarked. Raven barked a short and sarcastic laugh.

"Oh, shush," she chided him. "Let's attack all of the clones... This battle won't be easy."

"The clones can be dodged," Raven argued. "We need..."

Ran flew out of the smoke with murder written all over his face. Raven backpedaled, throwing grenades directly on the spot where Ran was going to land, but the explosions didn't seem to do anything as he landed in the flames.

Ran walked forward through the fire, motioned with a hand, and Elesis shrieked and fell from her platform. Four bloody gashes were torn through her coat from the shadow claw.

"Elesis!" Raven shouted, trying to move to her, but Ran attacked. His blows were stunningly powerful, lightning fast, and Raven had to forget about helping Elesis in favor of staying alive himself.

Left arm up. Blade forward, get deflected, draw back in time to block the one-two-overhead swing, take the side cut with the Nasod arm, duck the shadow claw behind you, curse when it goes through Ran like it's the insubstantial piece of darkness that it really is...

Ran's sword shrieked with glee every time Raven blocked a strike.. Yes, yes, wear yourself out, weakling! You're worthless in the end, so why bother?

Ran swung. Raven thrust up his blade in a parry. By some sheer stroke of luck, he managed to deflect Ran's sword in such a manner that Ran staggered and fell to one knee.

Now! Elesis was struggling to her feet. Raven stepped forward, slipping into the shadows... and stopped.

He couldn't move.

The whispers were all around him.

The high and mighty Raven.

Caught in the shadows.

Using the powers of darkness for 'good'.

Who are you to say what's good?

Who are you to deal out justice?

You are responsible for the chaos in Altera, in Bethma.

You are responsible for the deaths of thousands.

Shouldn't you just...

die?

Die?

Die...

DIE!

Raven struggled to move, to breathe, to get away from those creeping voices. He could see Elesis trying to get up, could see a shadow clone appear and plant its foot on her neck. No matter how much he struggled against the shadows, once so friendly and now so restraining, he couldn't stop the dark sword from raising.

Ran was chuckling.

"Are the voices too much?" he taunted. "Ahh, Raven. You're such a powerful tool."

High boots clicked on the stone floor as Ran walked around. He shouldn't have been able to see Raven, cloaked in shadow as he was. He definitely shouldn't have been able to slip one cold, revolting finger under Raven's chin and meet burning golden eyes with sadistic black ones.

Time slowed down even more. The shadow clone's sword seemed to be descending through molasses, Elesis' struggles more pitifully slow than a dragonfly wrapped in a spider's web.

"Darkness is so firmly on your side... it's enchanting," Ran whispered, examining Raven's scarred face in fascination. "Not like that pathetic human over there, committed to light. Join us, Raven. You can have all the power you want, all the revenge you need..."

Why not?

You're worthless to the Elgang.

Always have been.

Always will be.

Elsword keeps you around out of pity.

Raven gritted his teeth. "Stop," he growled, both at the voices and at Ran's smug smirk. Neither obeyed. "I won't join you."

"Why not?"

Why...

The little voices shrieked in glee. Raven choked on his own words, suddenly filled with self-doubt, loathing, and insecurity like he hadn't felt since he was a teenager. Did the Elgang really think anything of him? Were they just using him?

"Of course they're using you." Ran's voice was smoother than melted chocolate. Raven hated chocolate. "We would respect you for your power. You could be a leader again, a commander, and you could even have your old comrades back. All you have to do is say the word..."

It's a good deal, one small voice offered, and the whispering chorus took it up.

An amazing deal.

You should be honored.

An earl is paying attention to you.

He respects you.

Nobody else respects you.

No, no, none of that was true, Raven protested weakly. He tried to shake away the voices, but they were playing on his worst fears, his own emotions. Hate and doubt swirled hand in hand, making him second-guess himself as he stared into Ran's eyes. What if he accepted? What if he let the darkness take him? He felt the blackness tugging at him, completely willing to carry him away to a world where he could mete out justice and mercy as he pleased, where he would be in control. His power would know no limits.

Ran smiled. The shadow clone's sword kept descending.

And through all the darkness, through all the loathing and doubt and despair, one small spark of rage burned. Did Ran want him to become a traitor?

Raven seized that spark, willing it to grow. The fire grew, pushing back the negativity and making Ran stop smiling.

Raven liked it when Ran wasn't smiling. It made it easier to resist him.

"I would never betray my comrades," he growled, raising his blade. "Certainly not for you."

You're missing an opportunity! the voices wailed, but Raven's rage had full control now. He was done listening to the shadowy voices. He stabbed forward instead, aiming straight for Ran's heart, watching as his blade pierced through a weak spot in the enameled armor and hit the soft flesh inside.

Ran evaporated into purple smoke. Raven fell forward onto the cold stone floor, time sped up again, and the shadow clone disappeared with the tip of its sword just hovering over Elesis' skin.

Their eyes met. Pained gold crossed confused red.

Something clattered onto the ground behind Raven.

"Where did Ran go? He was there a second ago," Elesis rasped, heaving herself up and searching for her claymore. Raven pressed his lips together. How much should he tell Elesis about the power of the darkness? What would she do if she knew that Raven very nearly betrayed the Elgang?

For now, instead of answering, he looked away. Ran's blade was lying abandoned on the ground. Faint whispers of melancholy and hatred were still wafting up from it.

Raven stood, walked over to the blade, and picked it up clumsily in his Nasod hand. It wailed at his touch, hissing and spitting at him for killing its master.

After a second of thought, Raven pressed Ran's blade against his own. The magical black blade absorbed the properties of Ran's blade into itself, exchanging them for another sword that slowly formed in Raven's claw.

"Raven? Are you going to use Ran's blade?" Elesis asked. She must have drunk a healing potion, because her stride sounded as strong as ever when she walked up behind Raven to see what he was doing. "Didn't you say something about little voices?"

Raven cast the other blade into the abyss below the walkway, watching it spin into the blackness.

"It's more powerful. My blade already has a sharper edge," he explained, swinging it experimentally. Then he sheathed the blade and turned to Elesis.

"You okay?"

Elesis nodded, examining him through narrowed crimson eyes. "Something happened. Did Ran say something to you? Is there another reason you're using his weapon?"

Raven reached over his shoulder, putting a hand on the hilt of his blade. The whispers immediately intensified.

"This is karma, and I will bear it," he murmured, prompting a confused and slightly alarmed look from Elesis. He sighed and shook his head.

"Long story... I'll tell you on the way back."

Elesis nodded, and they turned to make their way back through the Halls of Water, Ran watching them discontentedly from an unnoticeable perch atop one of the hall's tall columns.