8 Chapter 7: Serious Archer
"Elves"
Elves are one of the 4 main races of Fantasia. They have a memorable look of having pointed ears and an elegant appearance. They mostly reside in the Mana Forest and rarely leave their homeland
Their bodies are rich with mana and constantly needs a lot of it to stay alive. They mostly get mana from a large pool of mana where most elven civilization resides. They are well versed in magic arts and one the most skillful blacksmiths to creating magical devices. Their senses are so fined tuned that they're considered as the most skillful in archery and hunting in the whole Fantasia
Elves have a common trait of being incredibly prideful to their race and tend to look down to other races as "lowly" and "unworthy". Due to this, the whole country is full of social inequality and racism. And also because of their fair complex, most poor elves are either slaves to rich nobles or prostitutes to other races
Currently, they are 4 elder elves governing the whole country and are extremely secretive to their future plans for their kingdom
-o-o-o-
"Allow me to introduce myself" the person removed their cloak. Serena was shocked at the identity of the killer
It was a short blonde female elf with a scar on her cheek "My name is Tee Tanya and I'm the strongest archer of the Elfiem kingdom"
"And I came to kill the elves you've been protecting" her eyes glowed purple like Serena
Serena looked at her eyes with fear "Those eyes, those are the eyes of someone who can kill" Serena thought
"I'm going to ask again. Why are you trying to kill Sera?" Serena said in a stern voice. The elf giggled in response
"Oh? You really don't who she really is?" Tanya said
"What are you talking about?" Serena is still confused
The elf sighed "In here I thought you were smart. It seems I expected too much from a human like you"
The elf drew closer at the injured girl as she whispered something inside her ear
"Those elves you have been desperately protecting are TRAITORS" Tanya said in disgust. Serena's eyes widen in shock
"Huh? I don't understand" Serena said in disbelief "T-traitors?"
Tanya smiled a sickening grin "Would you like to hear a story?"
-o-o-o-
Long ago, exactly 200 years from now, there were once 5 elf cities. The kingdom was ruled by 5 elder elves. They were extremely prosperous and everyone is happy. Peace and happiness reign over the kingdom of elves. They made wondrous magical discoveries that helped the whole world, they were in the brink of a perfect utopia
But one day, a pair of elves appeared. A brother and a sister with incredible GIFTS. The older brother has <Modeling>, the power to shape any object regardless of its hardness or malleability, making him the most skillful blacksmith of all of Fantasia. The younger sister has <Inspect>, the power to scan any magical energy, enabling her to copy any kind of magical spell or device, making her the most skillful artificer of all of Fantasia
But instead of using their GIFTS for good, they instead created the most dangerous device in the whole elven kingdom. The Iconoclast, a short sword capable of destroying a Mana Core, the very energy source that we elves depend on. It is a weapon of mass destruction with unimaginable strength
They destroyed the Mana Core of the city without mercy. Without the core, our magic we're drastically weakened. We stood no chance to the traitorous elves, whether its men, women and even children, they didn't hesitate to slaughter the entire population. A whole elven city was gone in just one day. The roads were covered by the blood of the innocent, the once prosperous city fell into ruin
-o-o-o-
"What makes the story worst is the fact the traitors were the very leaders they trusted. They both betrayed their own race just for their sick desires" Tanya continued to tell the story
"Are you suggesting my one of my friends are warmongers? That's baseless acquisitions" Serena replied
"Oh, really? Why do you put so much faith in those traitors?" Tanya said
"Because I trust them. They're not that kind of people that hurts other people for their selfish desires" Serena defended her friends
Tanya giggled quietly, "You really trust them so much? Then why are they staying with you? Why not go back in one of the elven cities like the innocent civilians they describe themselves?" Tanya said
"W-Well... that's...." Serena tried to think of a way that proves Sera and Sora as innocent elves
"Surely, you noticed some odd details from them. Like they were running away from a destroyed village" Tanya suggested
"Our village was destroyed" Sora said
"We were trying to run away as far as possible" Sera continued
Memories from her first meeting with the elves resurfaced inside of Serena's mind. Serena is starting to believe Tanya's story
"And may I mention the Iconoclast is shaped like a short sword with a tree sigil in its sheath" Tanya said
Serena remembered that Sora always carries a short sword in his belt with the same tree sigil in its sheath
"No... That's not true... they can't be them!" Serena tried to deny Tanya's pieces of evidence against Sera and Sora
Tanya smirked at the confused girl
"Now tell me, what are the names of those traitorous elves?" Tanya quizzed Serena
Serena remained silent and she wished that she won't hear the names of friends
"Can't answer? Too bad, its Serafall Sylph and Sorafell Sylph AKA Sera and Sora, the fallen heirs of the 5th Kingdom of Elfiem" Tanya said
Serena was speechless. She couldn't deny it, the facts, the pieces of evidence, all of it pointed at Sera and Sora as a terrorist of their own race
"How does it feel to be betrayed by your own friends?" Tanya taunted at the injured girl
"Serena, you're a bit of a cold person but I'm glad that we're friends. Even if you don't believe it" Sora said. Serena remembered Sora saying that to her when she felt that she was a bit too cold to her friends
"You should be proud of yourself Serena. Without you, I couldn't have learned the feeling of having friends with my own gender" Sera smiled at her. Serena remembered Sera saying that they're the only serious girls around their idiotic group of friends
Serena clenched her fist as she tried to stand up and started to pull out arrows from her body. Tanya watched the purple haired girl rise up to a standing position
"No, I'm not going believe a random person saying things that my friends are murderous genociders" Serena said
"You may speak the truth, but that doesn't mean they're evil as you described them. I knew them well enough to know that they're not that kind of people" Serena said
"And why are you so sure that you can trust them?" Tanya asked
"Because they're my friends" Serena said with pride
"And that's the reason why I must defeat you before you hurt them" Serena removed the last arrow sticking her body
"You're a fool but I'm you have a great sense of pride in your friends" Tanya shrugged with a smile
"And absolutely hate it" Tanya's eyes glowed purple in anger
Serena chuckled a bit "Ok, you asked for it. I'm going to use all of my power to stop you from hunting my friends" Serena started to emit a purple aura, her face showing a serious expression
"What is this? Why do I feel like running away from this human as fast as possible?" Tanya thought as she gripped her bow tighter as she readies for the attack from the purple haired girl
The purple aura starting glow brighter, Serena's eyes glowing purple with intention. She slowly raises both of her hands, preparing some kind of attack
"Here it comes!" Tanya thought as she prepared to dodge a massive attack
"Please stop trying to kill my friends" Serena suddenly said in the most neutral voice ever as her threatening aura immediately disappeared
...
...
...
...
...
"Huh? Can you say that again?" Tanya was completely dumbfounded at the Serena's actions
"Please stop trying to kill my friends" Serena repeated politely in a calming manner
"What? No!" Tanya replied
"Pretty please?" Serena said in a cutesy voice
"No" Tanya was starting to get annoyed at this ridiculous scene
"Pleeeaaasse?" Serena said childishly with a small smile on her face
"Are you seriously pleading like a child to a mother?" Tanya's eye is twitching in irritation. Never in her career as a cold-blooded mercenary has encountered a more idiotic situation like this
"No good? I thought that would work" Serena said
"ENOUGH! If you don't intend to treat this seriously, then I'll just kill you" Tanya snapped as she stretched her bowstring and released a dozen of arrows flying towards her
"Well, it was worth of a try before I really act serious" Serena said as her eyes glowed purple and easily dodged the incoming arrows. She ran towards to Tanya in full speed while dodging arrows
"She dodged it?!" Tanya thought as she fired more arrows towards the purple haired girl
Serena continued to dodge with her overpowered archer eyes as she drew closer to the elf. Her eyes full of determination as she readied her fist
"Take this!" Serena punched the Tanya in the face causing elf to stagger backward
"It's a good thing that she told me a long story. That gave me time to recover my overexerted body. But, even if my drawback effect is gone, I'm still weak from the wounds" Serena thought
Serena looked her at Tanya, as she held her punched cheek, "I better be careful, I have a feeling that this elf isn't going to hesitate killing me to achieve her mission" Serena noted herself
"You do know that while archers have high damage and long-range attacks, they typically have a weak defense" Serena explained to Tanya as she dodged again to avoid the arrows of the angered elf. As Serena punched her again, this time right in the chest
"That means, you're not well versed in close combat!" Serena dodged another arrow again following another punch from her. Tanya tried to dodge Serena's punch but her quick movements overwhelmed Tanya as she got another punch in the gut
"How she this skilled? Did she trained in a special kind of fighting style?" Tanya thought as she quickly recovered from the punch and fired another arrow at her
"I guess punching Travis on a regular basis has really trained me to hit anything that moves fast" Serena remembered all of Travis' perverted schemes that she stopped
The fight continued with Serena dodging every arrow with her overpowered eyes and punching Tanya directly. Amongst the fight, Tanya finally noticed
"You can predict my arrow's movement, can you?" Tanya realized Serena's ability
"Pretty much" Serena replied
"I also noticed something strange. You have been carrying that bow through all out the fight yet you still didn't use once" Tanya said as she saw her bow still on her shoulder. Serena flinched in response
"I won't use it" Serena briefly replied
"Why? Are you too prideful to use it? Now that I think about it, the way you talk, the way you move, your very personality is way too proper for a normal adventurer" Tanya said as Serena starting to get nervous
"You're from a rich family, aren't you? A daughter of a noble perhaps?" Tanya pointed a finger at her
Serena's mind flashed a memory of the boy. She couldn't move, she too traumatized to that horrible memory
"TRAITOR!"
Serena blinked out of her daze as she saw Tanya's arrows closing in. Serena quickly jumped to the side, scraping her the side of her cheek with one of the arrows
"So, it seems my assumptions are right. Let me ask you. How many people did you take advantage of?" Tanya said seriously
Serena's mind immediately flashed a memory of the boy again. Her movements became sluggish as she dodged another arrow
"Those eyes tell me everything. You definitely did something horrible" Tanya's started to get angrier
"I-I didn't do anything" Serena replied meekly, her expression turned guilty
"You know, I really hate rich people, especially the lying ones!" Tanya shot more arrows towards Serena
Serena saw the line of arrows coming toward her she dodged them again, but...
TSK!
Serena felt a stabbing pain. An arrow landed on her shoulder, Serena was surprised, as blood seeped out of her wound
"How? I didn't even see it!" Serena stared at the arrow on her shoulder. There's no way she wouldn't have seen that arrow, her eyes tracks all the arrow coming at her. Where did that extra arrow come from?
"How do you like them? They're enchanted arrows that are impossible to see with a naked eye" Tanya said
"Not even your special eyes of yours can see it" Tanya continued
<Cloaking Arrows>
DUR: 12
ATK: 45
AGI: 160
MAG: 15
Special: Invisibility
"Now with 101% chance of invisibility, 1% margin of error"
"Damn it! I need to focus on the sound of the arrows" Serena thought as Tanya fired more of those special arrows
<Sense>
[Uses all senses to track any object. Slight improvement in accuracy]
She can hear her surroundings in a more clear way. From rising heartbeat of Tanya's heart to the footsteps of the villagers nearby but more importantly the sound of arrows whizzing through the air
Serena heard 3 arrows coming towards her and quickly dodged them surprising Tanya. Serena cringed as she felt another arrow hit her leg
"It's not accurate as my eyes but it will do" Serena said to herself
Tanya glared at her as she fired more arrows. The purple haired girl tried her best to track them and evade them but there will be some occasional arrows she missed. Serena is starting to get overwhelmed
"You don't look good there, human. Why don't you use your bow instead?" Tanya suggested
"I-I won't use my bow" Serena replied
"You know, that pride..." Tanya fired more arrows as Serena dodged them again but she didn't notice Tanya running toward her
TSK!
"...is going to kill you" Tanya said grimly as she stabbed an arrow right in Serena's chest. Serena coughed blood as she felt a suffocating feeling
"What the? Why can't I... Why can't I breathe?! I can't feel my heart beating" Serena panicked as the arrow was lodged at her chest
"How do you like it? It's my special technique called Reaper's Arrow. That arrow is now pressing against your heart, preventing it from pumping blood around your body. Slowly but surely, you'll die from suffocation as your heart is unable to deliver blood to your brain" Tanya explained as Serena fell down her knees. She can't regenerate her wounds without blood circulating her body
She tried to pull out the arrow but her strength is too weak from her injuries earlier. Her vision starts to fade as she saw Tanya staring at her with pitiful eyes
"After I'm done with you, I'm going to continue finding those elves and killing them in the most horrible way as possible" Tanya walked away, leaving Serena alone in the alleyway slowly dying from suffocation
Serena's strength wanes as her consciousness fade
"I'm so sorry everyone. Looks like I can't protect my friends even in another world" Serena's last thought before she collapsed to the ground
Serena's eyes lost its glow and her body laid dead against the ground. Her eyes now displaying emptiness, her body stopped working
Tanya looked at the body of Serena "Too bad, I wasn't able to fight you like a real archer would" as the elf started to leave
Suddenly, Tanya heard something whizzing through the air. Tanya looked around as she heard the sound getting louder
All of a sudden, a green blur passed through the alleyway and quickly left. Tanya looked again and Serena's body was gone
"Looks like I spoke too soon. I'm definitely going to fight you the next time I see you" Tanya smiled as she left the alleyway and started to track the elves again
-o-o-o-
Plain Mansion, 9:32 am...
A group of people is waiting in front of their mansion, starting at the horizon hoping they would see the green idiot
"Do you think Travis would've found her by now?" Lilian asked
"I'm sure of it. He's the only one fast enough to reaching Lartnec in time" Brian said. They decide to send Travis with his speed instead of just all of them running towards the village
"Even with his speed, the assassin needs to search the whole human village just to find archer" Steve replied
"From what Sera said she was getting attacked by someone. Do you think Serena would have defeated them by her overpowered skills?" Mira said
"No, Serena wouldn't fire her arrows in somewhere there's a lot of people. She hurt them with her homing arrows" Sera said still sobbing from earlier. She still regretting from leaving Serena alone to deal with the mysterious attacker
"That means Serena is definitely in a pinch right now! We better-" before Mira could even finish her sentence, a blur of green zipped through the Plains
Travis suddenly appeared in front of them, carrying Serena to his back.
"Serena! /Rena! /Archer!" they all exclaimed at the same time
"GUYS! We need to heal Serena right now!" Travis yelled as he dragged Serena's body towards the mansion
The group quickly went inside the mansion and laid Serena's body across the table. Sera put her fingers to her wrist. Her face went pale
"No pulse" Sera said grimly
"S-She's dead?" Mira asked nervously
Brian was shocked but he maintained his composure as lead his friends on what to do
"Everyone, may I have everyone's attention" Brian said as the group looked at him
"I know you're a bit shaken up to what happened to Serena but we need to focus on reviving her right now" Brian announced
"Lilian, prepare the spell for Serena" Brian commanded. Lilian nodded in response
"Mira, get rid of anything dead inside the mansion, that includes meat from animals and even chopped vegetables" Brian said as Mira quickly did was she told to
"Travis, Steve, check for any monsters nearby and put them far away from the mansion as fast as possible" Travis went outside, using his Dash and Steve went into his wolf form to complete his task as fast as possible
"And Sera and Sora, you stay with Serena and check her body from more injuries" The elven siblings agreed and started to pull arrows sticking in Serena's body, including the arrow lodged into her heart
Brian typically takes charge when things like this happen to the group. His friends automatically chose him as the leader when they're still surviving in this harsh world. To be honest, he didn't expect to take the leader role and he's ok for the most part. But being a leader to a party like this isn't easy. As their leader, he's willing to take any risk to help any of his teammates
"Sorry, Serena. If I had been a better leader then this would not have happened to you" Brian looked at Serena's lifeless body as clenched his fist tighter in frustration
"Brian, it's done" Lilian's hands glowed yellow
"It's all okay here too" Mira came back after finishing her task
"No monsters in a 150-meter radius around the mansion" Steve said with Travis on his back
"Brian, we pulled out all of the arrows" Sera and Sora reported
"Okay, everyone. Let's revive Serena" Brian smiled
They nodded as they went to Serena's side again
"Good, everything is in place. Lilian, you can revive her now" Brian looked at Serena's body
"<Revive>!" Lilian chanted as Serena's body glowed yellow, as the group waited anxiously for the spell to work
Serena stopped glowing and as she coughed violently to remove the blood that is clogging her throat
"Serena!" everyone shouted as the girls hugged Serena tightly while the boys just watched in relief
"Huh? What happened?" Serena is still confused at why her friend hugging her suddenly
A surge of memories flowed into Serena's mind. Sera and her running, saving Sera and getting killed by Tanya
"I-I see... I died, right?" Serena to shake in fear
"Serena..." Travis uttered
Serena groaned, "That was quite embarrassing. Getting killed by an arrow to the heart like that" Serena chuckled tried to remove the tense atmosphere
"Serena, I'm sorry. I'm really am sorry!" Sera suddenly cried surprising Serena and the others
"If I hadn't left you behind, you wouldn't have been killed!" Sera sobbed
Serena hugged Sera, "I'm sorry if I made you worried. But I'm here now, so you can rest easy" Serena comforted the crying elf
Serena looked at her friends. All of them have a sign of worry and relief
"Don't scare us like that again, Serena?" Mira said in a solemn tone as the others nodded in agreement
"Come on everyone, we already died and got revived by Lilian so many times. I thought this already common" Serena tried to ease the heavy mood
"Yes, but we only got revived because Travis still can't control his power" Sora said as he remembered the times where most of them got killed accidentally because of Travis' <Killing Spree>
"But..." Serena tried to retort
"No buts. Lilian can revive if one of us dies but that doesn't mean we can do suicide missions as this" Brian said sternly
"Understood" Serena said as she hanged her head low
"I really made them worry like that, huh?" Serena thought
"And Serena..." Brian turned his face away from her
"Try to be careful next time. It'll be troublesome if we lost you" Brian said. Serena knew Brian was hiding his sad face from her
"Yes, leader" Serena simply responded
"So, can you tell us what happened in Lartnec?" Mira asked. Serena flinched as she gazed at the elven sibling
"Can I really tell them what Tanya told me about them?" Serena thought about telling her friends about Sera and Sora's secret identities but she decided to keep quiet until all of this blows over
Serena told them her encounter with Tanya without exposing the elven sibling's secrets. They were a bit shocked that the assassinator was an elf
"So Sera and Sora are getting targeted, huh?" Brian said
Brian sighed "For now, both of you are going to lay low in the mansion for a while. We can't risk you getting caught by Tanya" Brian instructed. The elven siblings agreed
"As for us, we're going to investigate in Lartnec to find Tanya and hopefully stop this ordeal" Brian said
Steve turned into his wolf form as the party went to the giant wolf's back. But Serena was stopped Brian before she could ride the wolf
"What's wrong?" Serena was confused
"Serena, you need to stay here with Sera and Sora" Brian replied
"What? But I can help!" Serena tried to retort
"No can do Serena. Tanya already targeted you as well. The last thing we want to do is to get you killed again" Brian responded with a serious tone
"But..."
"Don't worry Rena! We'll be back soon, we just need to check Lartnec out a bit then we would be back in no time!" Travis said with a smile
"I guess so" Serena was a bit sad to see her friends go without her
"Serena, you already protected Sera from getting assassinated. For now rest and try to relax, okay?" Lilian said
"Okay, stay safe everyone" Serena waved before the party they rode the giant wolf towards Lartnec
-o-o-o-
Serena went inside the mansion with the elves. The mood was still tense. Serena sat in one of the chairs as the 2 also followed Serena
"Do you think they would find Tanya in Lartnec?" Sora asked
"Probably. Tanya is still searching the whole village for you" Serena said
A minute of silence passed inside the mansion, only the wind of the Plains was heard
"Serafall Sylph and Sorafell Sylph AKA Sera and Sora, the fallen heirs of the 5th Kingdom of Elfiem" A memory flashed inside Serena's mind
Serena gulped as she was getting uneasy on what Tanya told her
"So, mind telling me what really happened to your village. Princess?" Serena nervously asked
Sera and Sora were shocked at what Serena said. They looked like a mouse caught in a trap
"W-What are you talking about Serena?" Sera tried to hide their identity. Sora lips quivered in nervousness
"You know what I'm talking about, Serafall, Sorafall" Serena replied, which they froze as soon as they heard their full names
"Don't worry. I won't tell the others, just tell me what happened before you met us" Serena said
Sera and Sora sighed, "Can we at least ask how you found out?" Sora asked
"Tanya told me" Serena replied. I began to tell the information that Tanya told me. The look on their eyes are mixed with regret and sadness
"It would be natural for elves to call us traitors after that whole ordeal happened" Sora said
"I still don't understand. I need more information about them. To prove their innocence" Serena thought
"She also told me told me a lot of interesting things about you two" Serena casually said
"Like w-what?" Sera nervously questioned
"Is it true? Is that's the Iconoclast?" Serena pointed on the small sword on Sora's belt. Sora perked up upon the mention of his weapon
"Yes, this is the legendary Iconoclast. It's a weapon Sera and I created to control the mana cores of our former city" Sora unsheathes the sword, it glinted a green hue with a yellow aura and complete with a tree sigil in the blade
<Iconoclast>
DUR: 1230
ATK: 220
AGI: 110
MAG: 770
Special: Mana Manipulation
"An ultimate weapon for mana-rich sources. It's also good at trimming plants"
"Wait, you said control, not destroy." Serena found the difference between the explanation between the elven sibling and Tanya
"Of course it wasn't meant for combat! It was supposed to control our mana cores to prevent them from overloading" Sera explained
"Wait, what do you mean it wasn't meant for combat?" Serena asked
"Well, it all started long ago" Sera began the story of their past
-o-o-o-
~200 years ago, Elfiem 5th City...
We were a happy family. Even if we're a royal family. Our parents still had time to spend time with us
"Brother!!!" the voice echoed the hallways as an elf with long blonde hair ran as she called out with her loud voice
"Princess Serafall, please use inside voices" a maid reminded her
"But Sora can't hear me until I shouted this loud" Sera replied. Her appearance truly fit for a princess. She had a long green dress with a tiara on top of her blonde hair
"Sora!!!" Sera called out again. The maid shushed the loud elf
"Sera? Are those shrill calls came from you?" A regal looking man appeared in the hallway. The man had a long blonde hair with a small beard on his face wearing a crown on his head
"Oh, it's you, Father, I was just calling Sora for our daily magic training" Sera said
The man chuckled, "I know you're always excited to train magic with your brother but you are a princess. There will be a time where you will become the Queen of Elves and the Queen must be elegant and dauntless so people would trust you, okay?" the man said dearly to his daughter. A legacy to another legacy, a wonderful moment between a king and an heir
"That was pretty cliché, father" Sera pouted. The king gasped
"Is t-that so? I tried to be cool like the kids would say" The man nervously said
"You're way too old to do that, father" Sera blankly said. The king gasped in shock again
The king sat depressingly in the corner, "I see, I guess I'm just an old man" the king said blankly to a wall
"Your majesty?!" the maid panicked as they saw their leader cowering in the corner
"Sera, don't tell me your playing father again" Sora suddenly appeared in one of the doors. He's wearing green robes with a golden chest plate and a crown on his blonde head. A handsome prince indeed
"I wasn't that hard!" Sera complained at her brother
"Ok, then tell me why Father looks soulless there" Sora pointed at the depressed king
The king perked up and grabbed Sora by his shoulder, "You think I'm not old too, right? Right?" The king desperately pleaded at his son
"Um... I guess you're not considered as... elderly yet?" Sora nervously said
The king became even more depressed as he chanted "Even my own son thinks I'm an old coot" king blankly said
"Sora! Father is turning white!" the siblings tried to comfort their own father
"Ara ara. Looks like my children are at it again" A woman said as she entered the hallway. She was a beautiful woman with short green hair. Her appearance screams "Queen" at everyone and her breasts are enormously big
"Mother! I didn't mean to do it again!" Sera cried
"Sera did it first!" Sora pointed at his sister
"Now, now. I know your father is a bit old but you must respect his pride as a king and a father" the queen said
King was quickly rejuvenated at the words of his wife, "You really are an angel Terami" the king said
"Oh! I almost forgot! We need to start training Sora!" Sera said
"Ok, let's go!" Sora ran to the training ground with his sister as their parents watched them proudly
"Those 2 are really bursting with energy" the queen said
"You're right, they're going to be wonderful rulers in the future" the king agreed
As the heir of the elven kingdom, we had exceptional GIFTS and talents. We quickly became the most skilled blacksmith and artificer in all of Fantasia. Making us the best magical device creations, literal artifact makers. We would create a lot of magical devices that would help the kingdom. Our parents were delighted at our talents and continue to peruse of dreams
Until one day...
"Sora!!!" The blonde elf called out happily
"I swear Sera, if you scream like that again, I'm going sew your mouth shut" Sora groaned
"Sora, look!" Sera presented him with a piece of paper. Sora read the contents of the letter, as eyes widen in surprise
"Are you serious? The elders are requesting us to create something. Is this real?!" Sora bounced excitingly
"That is true my son" the king said as he went to pat both of the elf siblings their heads
"Your super cool father convinced the other old elves to request an artifact that could fix one of their mana cores one of their cities. Who's the old man now! Ha!" the king said proudly as he smiled at his children
Both of them stared blankly at their father, "We're truly grateful for this honor but please don't speak like that again. That was super lame, father" Sera bluntly said. The king gasped as he paled into white
"Sera!" her brother shouted
"I guess an old man like me will never be cool as you kids" the king said in despair filled voice as stared outside
"Father! I didn't really mean that! I think you're slightly cooler right now!" Sera immediately apologized she saw her father fading into white
Suddenly, they heard their mother giggling, "Looks like bad habits die hard" the queen said
"Nonetheless, we're proud for you to receive this high honor" the queen congratulated them
The king regained his composure, "This is going to be a great chance for you two be recognized in the public. Are you ready for it?" The king asked
Both of the sibling's eyes glimmer with joy, "Of course! We'll definitely do our best!" they said in unison
That was the start of us forging the request of the highest ruler of Elfiem. It wasn't easy but with all of our talents and skills, we were able to this impossible accomplishment. After 5 excruciating months, we finally did it.
By Sora forging Manasteel, the most magical metal in Fantasia and me creating the circuitry and custom magic circles that could be only made by me. We finally created an artifact capable of controlling the unbreakable mana cores of our kingdoms
The Iconoclast, a legendary artifact capable of reconfiguring and editing mana itself. And most importantly, the only object that could affect a Mana Core
The elf siblings stared at the artifact they just made. They spent countless hours in the workshop just to create this
"Wow, we really did it... we created an artifact" Sera said in amazement as she touched the object
"Yup, all those months are worth it. With this, we'll definitely impress our parents" Sora said in pride
"Let's present it to the elders now!" Sera said with excitement
"Yeah!" Sora responded
Of course, they were impressed. Our parents were really proud of our achievement. The elder took a liking to us, we became instantly famous for our talents. But we were so naïve, getting lured easily with honeyed words
Sora is strolling around the castle, completely on a break after finishing his duties. Until he noticed the Core Room open and without any guards in place
"Huh? Why is the Core Room unguarded?" Sora wondered as he entered the room
To his shock, he found a ton of guards dead in front of a destroyed Mana Core
"What happened here?" Sora said as he walks past the dead guards and inspects the Mana Core
"Sora!!! Let's do our daily training" Sera entered the room with her gauntlets in her hands
Sera noticed the massacre in the room, "S-Sora? What happened? Why are there so many dead guards here?" She shook in fear
"I don't know but the Mana Core is destroyed! We need to inform father before the magic circuits of the city collapse!" Sora exclaimed
Both of the siblings ran towards the throne room. The deeper they went to the castle, the more dead guards they encountered. At last, they found their father fighting against a group of black knights
"Those elders, they set me up!" the king yelled as he swung his sword to a group of the enemies, killing them
Their mother cast spells to the group of the attackers, blasting them off their feet, "How did they go past our defenses?" the queen asked her husband as cast another spell
Sera and Sora stayed hidden, as they watched their parents fight the unknown enemies. They knew they would be a burden if they jumped to the fight
Their mother prepared another spell to fend off another group of attackers but a cloaked person took out a blade and activated it causing the Queen's spell to fail
The attacker took this chance to stab the queen in the chest with their blades. Her eyes widen as she collapsed to the ground
"TERAMI!!!" the king yelled in anguish as his wife fell down to the ground. The siblings quickly went out of their hiding and also fought the attackers
Sera used her gauntlets to punch the attackers with her increased strength and Sora took a sword from a dead soldier attacked the enemies with his might
"Father! We're here!" Sera shouted as the king noticed their presence
"Sera?! Sora?!" the king turned his head to his children only to be stabbed by the cloaked person with a green blade
"FATHER!!!" the sibling cried as their father fell down like their mother. The 2 became enraged as they attacked the remaining attackers. They became erratic as they effortlessly slaughtered all of the black knights
The cloaked person tried to escape but they were caught by both siblings, pinning them to the ground
Sora grabbed the person's blade and immediately recognized it
"Wait! This is Iconoclast! How did you get this?!" Sora asked the person
POOF!
The person turned into white clouds as it left an empty cloak and the Iconoclast
"A shadow spell?!" Sera exclaimed. They were extremely confused
They went over to their dead parents as they cried to loss of their parents
"Father... mother..." Sera silently cried as Sora sobbed beside her
Before they continue their grieving, they heard cries of murders outside the castle. After they said their final goodbyes to parents, they immediately went to the village. And what they saw shook them to the bone
They saw countless elves killed in the streets. Men, women and even children, no one was spared in this calamity
"Who would do this? Everyone's dead" Sera said as they walked to the street of killed elves
"Over there!" Sora pointed at the cloaked person slashed an innocent elf
They immediately attacked the person by Sera punching with her gauntlets so hard that it broke in impact and Sora thrusting the Iconoclast in the gut of the person
They removed the cloak of the person revealing a familiar person
"Meredith?!" they both exclaimed as they saw their maid in an assassin cloak. The maid sneer at them in disgust
"Why would you do this?" Sera asked simply
"Looks like my job is done" As the maid spoke her last words before dying from the stab wound
"I don't understand. What's happening Sora?" Sera asked her brother
"I don't know" Sora was truly confused. Nothing made sense.
The few surviving elves of the city saw them with the Iconoclast in their hands and a trail of bodies in the roads
All of them looked at the elven siblings in disgust, hatred, and frustration
"Wait! We can explain!" Sora pleaded
"Traitors!" one of the elves shouted as they threw a rock to them
More and more of the survivors threw things at them, accusing them murder they didn't do. As the remaining guards of the city charged to them
"Kill the traitorous heirs!" the guards ran towards them. Sora grabbed Sera's arm and immediately ran away. Their crown and tiara fell to the ground as it tumbled into the pavement. They saw an abandoned wagon which ran for it
"Sera! Get on!" Sora whipped the horses as Sera went into the wagon leaving the angry guards as fast as possible
They got out of the city in just time before they saw the city lose its lights. With the Mana Core gone, the elven city started to collapse and die. Both can't do anything but run away as far as possible
"Where are we going to go now?" Sera asked her brother
"I don't know but far. As far as we could go" Sora replied as travel the vast Plains
"I still can't believe father and mother are gone" Sera slumped inside the carriage displaying despair on his face
"I know. But we have to get stronger in order to find out what really happened back there, okay?" Sora said
"Okay, just promise me, whatever happens, we'll stick together no matter what. Not as a princess but as a sister" Sera replied in a serious tone
Sora chuckled, "You're starting sound like him, Sera" Sora said, as Sera blushed in embarrassment
And we continued to ride across the Plains
-o-o-o-
Back in present time...
"...until we met you guys in the Plains" Sera finished their story
Serena was a bit off guard as she received new information, "So, let me get this straight. That sword is actually..."
"A key" Sora finished Serena's sentence. Sora opened the handle of the sword, revealing complicated circuits glowing inside the sword
"We really didn't mean to create a weapon of mass destruction" Sera continued
"So, they were really innocent after all. I'm trusting them was the right choice after all" Serena thought filled with happiness
"So that what really happened. That would make sense" Serena nodded in agreement
"Wait, you really going believe us just like that? What about what Tanya said about you?" Sora said
"You may be powerful heirs capable of doing such things but from what I saw..." Serena stood up a looked at the siblings with a smile on her face
"Those aren't the eyes of a traitor" Serena pointed at their eyes, glimmering with tears of loss instead of fake tears. The elven siblings we're flabbergasted at Serena's words
"How do you know that?" Sera asked curiously
"Because..." Serena started to say
"...I had eyes as a traitor" Serena thought
"...those aren't tears of killer" Serena said instead
"So, don't worry. I'm sure if Tanya comes back, I'll do my best to convince her that you're both innocent" Serena said with a promise
"Serena... Thank you for accepting us" Sora said with a smile
"Geez, Serena. You're starting to sound just like him" Sera laughed. Sora chuckled also
Serena was a bit surprised at Sera's comment before laughing with her as well
"So, when are you going to tell the others?" Serena asked
"Maybe not now. We're still a bit nervous on how the other will react to us being former royalty. For now, we're just Sera and Sora! The owners of S-Mart and your personal equipment maintenance service!" Sera said in a grandiose voice as Sora thumbs up by her side
"Okay, okay" Serena calmed down the overly excited elf
Sora suddenly remember something important regarding Tanya
"Serena, I think Tanya is-" Sora was interrupted by a loud noise from outside
Without warning, Serena felt a presence approaching the mansion at the east side. She quickly used her eyes to look at the incoming intruder
"What wrong, Serena?" Sera looked at the distressed archer
"Huh? Why is there a lot of monsters converging in the east?" Serena saw a wave of monsters going straight towards the mansion
"What should we do?" Sora asked
"Stay here, I'm going to deal with the wave" Serena went outside and headed to the wave before it reaches the mansion
The elf siblings looked at each other after the purple archer left
"Serena is really a good person, isn't brother?" Sera said with a smile
"She's headstrong but at the same time she's put others before herself" Sora complimented the archer
"Yes, but I have a feeling that she's hiding something from us" Sera noticed earlier while they were talking. Serena seems fine at first glance but she saw her trembling a bit. She was scared of something. And that thing is gnawing her soul as she hides it in a serious persona
"I just wish Serena would tell us what's troubling her" Sera said with concern
"Serena, huh? Acknowledged" a voice suddenly was heard behind the elf siblings as they quickly turned their head around to look. They instantly froze as Tanya pointed a bow right in Sera's head, ready to kill her. Sora was unable to move, in fear of agitating the elf assassin
"T-Tanya" Sera said with fear as she stayed still, scared of getting shot by an arrow pointed at her
"That's my name!" Tanya said cheerfully as she pushes the arrow closer to her head. Sora glared with scorn at Tanya
"How did you find this place?" Sora asked. Sora remembered the mansion is almost impossible to find due to the vastness of the Plains. The Plains are just too big to notice a house in the middle of the fields of grass
"You're friend really bled a lot of blood while bringing her here. It was so easy to follow the trail of her blood leading to this place" Tanya explained as Sera saw drops of blood lined up towards the mansion
Sera became angry as she was reminded that this was the person that killed her friend. Even if Serena did come back to life but that doesn't mean she's not a murderer
"Ah, it's a shame that your purple friend isn't here. I would enjoy looking at her corpse again. Oh, the empty look on her eyes when I stabbed that the arrow right in her heart" Tanya said with glee
"<Slash!>"
The arrow instantly broke to pieces as Sora swiped the Iconoclast. Sera jumped away from the crazed mercenary as soon as the arrow broke
"That's enough talk from you!" Sora said with a sneer, as he pointed the green blade at the elf
"So, that's the Iconoclast. Did you enjoy slaughtering your own city with that?!" Tanya fired three of her cloaking arrows towards Sora
"For the last time, we didn't do it!" Sora exclaimed as the Iconoclast glowed a yellow aura
He saw the arrows disappeared in his vision, "Tch!" Sora concentrated his mana towards the Iconoclast
"<Disperse>!" The Iconoclast glowed as the arrows became visible again which Sora easily deflected
"You're really making me angrier!" Tanya exclaimed as her eyes glowed purple
"<Arrow of Storm>!" Tanya yelled as hundreds of arrows spiraled towards Sora. The arrows pierce the insides of the room, shredding any kind of furniture in the way. The male elf jumped out of the storm of arrows as he deflected the remaining arrows. But, Sora felt a stray arrow hit his left leg. He gritted his teeth as the stabbing pain coursed to his body
"You really are an idiot. You can hit me without getting closer" Tanya taunted as she fired more arrows to the blade-wielding elf
"Closer? Huh?" Sera suddenly appeared behind Tanya. Before the mercenary could react, Sera grabbed Tanya's arm with her gloved hands
"Shock Gloves, Level 3" Sera said as her gloves activated, releasing an electric shock. Tanya screamed in pain as she convulsed violently. Electricity coursed through her entire body. Tanya managed to push off the Sera, stopping her shock treatment
"Damn it! You're a lightning user?!" Tanya said in anger
"Nope, that was just electricity" Sera said casually
"Elec-what?" Tanya was confused
"We weren't just hiding like scared little sheep while we're gone. Living with overpowered idiotic adventurers thought us a lot of things. They taught us how things work without magic, they called it science. That led me to create the Shock Gloves" Sera explained as her gloves sparked again as formed a fist
<Shock Gloves>
DUR: 30
ATK: 995
AGI: 35
MAG: 0
"Can I shake your hand?"
"We found out that electricity is 3 times more powerful than traditional lightning magic from a mage" Sera continued
Tanya glared in anger, "Like you have the gut to hurt me!" Tanya yelled
"You have no right to say that! After all!" Sora started to run towards Tanya
Sora thrusts the green blade towards her, which Tanya barely dodged
"You killed Serena!" Sora exclaimed as the Iconoclast glowed again as he steps forward closer to Tanya
"<Leaf Blade Fury>!" Sora yelled as he moved his blade at extremely fast speed. A flurry of slashes injured the mercenary elf, forcing her to move backward while blocking the attack with her arms
Before Tanya could recover, Sera grabbed Tanya arms, preventing her to escape. Her gloves sparked again
"Shock Gloves, LEVEL 7!!!" Sera exclaimed as her gloves delivered an even more painful shock that before. Tanya screamed with pain, sparks of electricity arc around her body. Tanya struggled, however giving her a chance to slip from Sera's grip
All the elves in the destroyed room huffed in adrenaline as their battle reached a stand still
"This 2 elves, they're definitely the most skilled in magic device creation. They're able to keep up with an experienced mercenary, despite having low strength capabilities" Tanya thought
The elf mercenary grinned a sadistic smile
"But, they still have a weakness. Even if you build amazing things..." Tanya shot an arrow towards Sera, which Sora quickly deflected. But, the mercenary quickly moved to the side and shot 2 arrows towards the elf siblings. One arrow knocked the Iconoclast out of Sora's hand and another hit a wire connecting to the gloves around Sera's arm, causing her gloves to deactivate after losing its energy source
"...things still breaks!" Tanya stretched her bowstring again with a menacing purple glow
"<Quick Shot>" Tanya fired 2 arrows at once as the arrows flew towards the elves without their weapons to defend against. An arrow landed in Sera's right leg and another landed on Sora's left shoulder. They both gave a little whimper of pain before falling down the floor
Both of the elves we're severely wounded with just one arrow. Tanya looked at them with disgust
"You'll pay what you did. You killed my home, my friends, and my family!" Tanya yelled in rage
"We already told you, we didn't do it! We were framed by somebody else!" Sora tried to reason with the mercenary
"You're lying! I saw you that day holding that dreaded green blade!" Tanya pointed her bow at Sera
"I going to kill you as you did to them" Tanya said full of bloodlust. Sora protected her sister with a hug, as they embraced for one last time
Before Tanya could fire an arrow, something crashed into the mansion through the window. All of them looked at the flying figure
CRASH!
"Hello" Serena greeted as she flew inside with an arrow on her hand and crashed into a wall. Her hand stuck to an arrow, like what happened to Sera
"Serena!" the siblings shout out with joy
Serena quickly stood up and aimed shot an arrow towards Tanya, which completely misses her
"Ha! You missed!" Tanya laughed
"Did I?" Serena smirked. The arrow glowed purple, as it curved towards Tanya. The arrow hit Tanya in the back causing her to drop her bow aimed at Sera
"You wanted me to use my bow, right? Here you go!" Serena fired another arrow which Tanya tried to dodge. But the arrows followed the mercenary, like a homing missile and landed to Tanya's legs, causing her to drop her knee
"Damn you. So, you survived getting your heart stopped?" Tanya said with anger
"Nope" Serena simply replied as she fired another arrow. Tanya fired her own arrow only to be swatted by Serena's arrow and landing on Tanya's shoulder. She gritted her teeth as the blood seeped out of her wound
"This human is getting annoying. I need to think something fast" Tanya thought
Serena readied another arrow but Tanya grabbed Sera placed her in front as a shield. Serena immediately stopped her bowstring as she saw her friend in a range of her aim
"Go ahead. Hit me, but as soon as you release that arrow, you're going to kill your friend too" Tanya said with a serious face
Serena started to shake, "I can't fire an arrow. They're too close to each other, I'll definitely hit both of them if try to shoot an arrow" Serena thought. This homing ability is really a burden to Serena
"This is just like what happened in Lartnec" Serena gritted her teeth in anger. Why? Why does this happen every time she tried to help?
Tanya grabbed one of her arrows and pointed dangerously close to Sera's neck
"Ok, that's enough time wasted" Tanya raised her arrow for the stab. Sera full of fear
"WAIT!" Serena yelled, Tanya stopped her arrow from stabbing Sera
"You want me to use my bow, right? You wanted to know who the better archer is. If so, then fight me on one on one challenge. Just you and me" Serena challenged the mercenary elf
Tanya looked at her threateningly, "Really, are you really sure of taking that risk? You're still uncertainty in your voice" Tanya said as she saw Serena trembling
"If it means saving them, then I'll take that risk" Serena said
Tanya stared at her for a minute before bursting to laughter, "You're really an interesting human. Fine, I'll take your challenge and if you win, I'll do anything you want. Basically, I'll become your own personal slave. You can tell me to leave my targets alone or even kill myself" Tanya said
"But, if I win. You have to do whatever I ask you to do, no questions asked. Is that a deal?" Tanya offered
Sora and Sera heard all the conditions of the deal. On paper, it's a fair challenge, but something irks Sora. A mercenary hired to kill a royalty like them isn't just easily persuaded. Then it hits Sora, he saw Tanya chuckled
"SERENA! WAIT! DON'T-" Sora tried to warn her
"Fine! It's a deal!" Serena immediately accepted. Tanya suddenly grinned
"Gotcha" Tanya uttered before her hand started to glow dark purple as chains started to appear. The chains slithered towards Serena. The purple archer tried to avoid the chains but one slipped through her defenses and bonded to Serena's arm
"What? What is this?" Serena looked at the chain attached to her. She tried pulling it out but to no avail. Tanya smiled as a chain also bonded to her arm
"I forgot to mention, this my GIFT. <Contract>!" Tanya revealed her hidden power
<Contract> GIFT
- Binds both of the dealers in a life or death contract. After the dealers established the rules and accepted the deal, the deal becomes absolute. If you break the rules of the deal, you will automatically lose and the other person will win. This effect will not disappear until conditions are met and any attempts of removing the effect will automatically penalty to the rule breaker
"I've been waiting for you to say that. With that pride of yours, I predicted that you going to challenge one way or another" Tanya said
"What? S-She tricked me to accept a deal?" Serena was dumbfounded. She let her pride get in the way of her logic
"And I could just kill the siblings whenever I want, but I met you. You're so hell-bent on protecting your elf friends and your pride as a friend to them that you typically forget to protect yourself" Tanya said
"Too bad this time, you end up dragging your friends into this mess" Tanya said with a smug smile
Serena was speechless. She thought she doing this to protect her friends but instead, she was just protecting her own pride
"And don't even try breaking the deal. If you break one of our rules, I automatically win. Our duel will take place in Lartnec of course" Tanya said
Serena froze as soon as she heard the place of their battle. A place with a lot of people. A lot of targets to hit with just one homing arrow. She can't fire an arrow there without hurting someone
"Can we just do this here? There's no need to fight in a village full of people" Serena tried to persuade Tanya
"No, you said you'll take any risk. That includes people watching our battle and risking them of getting hit" Tanya denied her request, fully aware of Serena's homing ability
"And if I win, I'm not the one who's killing them. YOU ARE. My first command to you will be to kill Serafall Sylph and Sorafall Sylph" Tanya grinned sadistically. Serena started to tremble in fear. She was going to be someone she wanted to avoid in the first place...
A TRAITOR
Sera and Sora stared with fear. They knew Serena is fully on the disadvantage here. And with Serena's overpowered abilities, it would be easy for her to kill them instantly
Serena can't escape this deal. With odds stacked against her, does she even stand a chance against Tanya?
"What I've done?" Serena asked herself in disbelief
"As for now, I'll be taking my leave. Farewell, see you tomorrow at Lartnec. Serena" Tanya said her goodbye
"<Shadow Step>" And with that, Tanya disappeared with the blink of an eye. Leaving the mansion with a lot of damage both in their home and their spirits
Brian and the others came back to see the part of the mansion in shambles. The elf siblings severely wounded and Serena completely has broken at the situation she caused
"What happened here?!" Mira exclaimed as she quickly got off Steve
"I smell an unidentified elf was here" Steve sniffed the air
"Elf?! You mean Tanya was here?!" Brian exclaimed
Lilian began to heal the Sera and Sora's arrow wounds. Serena hasn't moved an inch after Tanya left. They all looked at Serena
"Serena? Are you okay?" Brian asked at the purple-haired girl
"I'm sorry everyone, but can I be alone for a while?" Serena said in a monotone voice and started to walk away without even facing them
The elf siblings look at Serena with shock. The girl who did her earnest to protect them was completely devastated at what she accidentally caused
"Serena, wait!" Travis tried to call out before the purple archer left the mansion. Serena kept walking until she's out of their view
The remaining group we're in distress after Serena left. They were in complete chaos at the damage Tanya caused
-o-o-o-
Plain Mansion, 8:56 pm
The whole mansion was in a heavy mood. The elves explained what happened earlier and the challenge that Serena and Tanya made, they also came clean to their origins. Brian was pretty surprised that they're royalty
"Serena hasn't come back yet," Lilian said as she stared at outside. It was already nighttime and their purple-haired friend was nowhere to be found
"So, what do we do now? Serena can't win that impossible challenge and we have a mercenary that is persistent on killing Sera and Sora" Mira said while discussing with a group
"We could just deal with mercenary directly" Steve suggested
"No, that would be breaking the rule of their deal. That would mean losing not only Sera and Sora but also Serena as well" Brian replied
"We're really sorry everyone" Sera suddenly spoke up
"We caused all this to happen. If we didn't meet you then Serena would just be fine" Sera said in a low voice
"Now, she has to kill us against her will. Forcing her to become a murderer" Sera said as she would be accepting her fate. Sora looks to agree with her sister
Brain patted Sera head, "Serena felt terrible on what she facing now but I'm pretty sure that she doesn't regret meeting you two" Brian said in brotherly fashion
"You became close friends to her and Serena will never betray her friends" Brian said as he remembered the first time he met Serena
She was cold and can a bit cruel to others but beneath that serious face is a shy girl who wanted to have friends that she could depend on
Brian looked at the elf siblings, their expression lighten up a little after hearing Brian words
Sora expression turned into a sad one, "It still doesn't change that we cause this to Serena"
"Haaaaaa..." Travis suddenly sighed loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room
"It's a bit hot in here. I'm going outside for fresh air" Travis started to leave
Sera eyes widen, "Wait! Travis! Are you going to bring back Serena?" Sera asked
The green haired boy paused for a bit, "Maybe? Who knows? She always hits me in the head" Travis smiled as he used Dash and sped off the dark plains
"We should follow him" Steve said as he turned into his wolf form
"No" Brian said unexpectedly
"What? What do mean no?" Sora said in shock. Brian smiled and stared outside
"If there's someone who's bringing back Serena. That would be our perverted assassin" Brian replied
The others were confused at their leader's decision
"Good luck Travis. Bring back our serious archer" Brian said quietly to the night sky
-o-o-o-
Somewhere in the Plains, 8:59 pm...
Serena sat alone with her back against a tree she found in the middle of the Plains. She still felt terrible, her headstrong personality caused this to happen
Serena started to remember her life before she went to another world
-o-o-o-
She was born into a wealthy family. In fact, their family is in one of the top 3 most influential family in the whole world. The Drevis family
Her family was extremely talented and important people. As a Drevis, it's her duty to live up to their expectations. And she did. She became elegant with an extremely daunting personality
The Drevis family we're obsessed with their image. They won't let a single imperfection in their family. They educated me with "extreme education"
"Listen up Serena, there are two kinds of people in the world. People with power and people who do not"
"We are above normal people. It's pointless to be like them, they're nothing but tools to use. But never be too attached to them. If they get to close, leave them. If necessary, dispose of them. There no such thing as true friends or true love. Do not rely on others, they use people and control them. And remember, you are a Drevis"
For a long time, I believed them. I obeyed all of the things they asked me but I still can't feel anything
Until I met Kevin...
At first, I thought he was just like others. A tool meant to use and disposed of. But, I didn't realize at that time. Kevin became my first real friend
I kept manipulating people in order to satisfy my parent's expectations. I hurt people for my own benefit, I'm selfish and I'm cruel. I was nice on the outside but in reality, I was nothing more of than a traitor
And of course, Kevin found out my true side. I quickly thought of disposing of him as well, but I was surprised that he accepted me. He really is my true best friend and for the first time I felt like a normal person
For a girl who spent the rest of her life devoid of love and companionship, this was a strange and wonderful feeling. So for the first time ever in her life, she ignored her parent's rules and kept being friends with Kevin
I thought it could be like this forever, but one day
"Serena, about the boy who is always in your side" Serena's father spoke out
"Yes, father?" Serena replied
"Dispose of him. His family is getting too popular to the business world and it's starting to affect the business" her father ordered her daughter
I didn't even hesitate...
"Understood" Serena replied
So I did, I framed him to being a thief to my families fortune and acted like a victim for being blackmailed by a crime he didn't commit. The public believed me, I was too good at back-stabbing people
I thought this would just like the hundreds of people I betrayed and used. A simple wash in the hands and deed would be done without any troubles
I was completely wrong
Kevin was being dragged by the police for attempting theft and harassing an innocent school girl
"I TELL YOU I DIDN'T DO IT!" Kevin pleaded as the crowd looked at him in disgust
Kevin saw me in the crowd. His expression turned into rage, "YOU!"
"You're just going to leave me like that? After all, we've been through?!" the Kevin shouted at Serena. The girl just turned her face away and started to walk away
"After all I did, you're still going to leave me?!" the Kevin exclaimed
Serena didn't even stop to look at the boy, "You have outlived your purpose. You're just garbage right now" Serena replied with a monotone voice
"You traitor..." the boy said in disbelief causing Serena to stop
Those words made me realized that...
"I never should've met you. You dirty traitor!" the Kevin continued to yell at her
I'm not human
I looked back to see Kevin looking at me with the darkest look on his face. He's looking at me, not as a person but a tool used by my parents. That was the first time I cried true tears
My first best friend, he was a true friend indeed. He accepted me as a person, not as a girl with a lot of influential bonds. And I just threw him away like that. He will never forgive me for what I had done. I was nothing but a
TRAITOR
-o-o-o-
"I guess old habits die hard, huh?" Serena cried under the tree. After a lot of chances to change, she still a traitor on the core. She still prideful like her own family
Suddenly, something hit the other side of the tree. The tree shook as a familiar voice cried out in pain
"Oww!!" Travis said as he rubbed his head
"T-Travis?" Serena spoke out. The green haired boy peeked at the other side of the tree with a smile
"Yo!" Travis greeted with a goofy smile
"G-Go away, idiot. I don't need any your perverted schemes right now" Serena tried to push Travis away
"Eeeh? But I came this far away just to find you" Travis said
"Just leave me alone!" Serena yelled
Travis' tone became serious, "So you could cry without anyone seeing it?" Travis said
Serena stopped and looked at Travis. Travis looked at her with concern in his eyes
"Why? Why are you looking at me like that? Stop!" Serena said sternly
Travis kept his look on his face. Observing Serena with his emerald green eyes
"Serena, if there something troubling you, I could at least try to listen to it" Travis said in a comforting tone
Serena went into deep thought, "I just feel like I'm a horrible friend to you guys" Serena said
"I'm cold and cruel. I don't like getting close with people and I treat you like scum. I'm selfish and prideful" Serena started to cry again. Travis kept quiet and listened
"I tried my best to change but my stupid pride put my friends in danger. I was nothing but a traitor" Serena poured out her emotions. She doesn't even know why she telling this to the most perverted boy in her party
"I see, then let me ask you a question" Travis said as he stood up and faced Serena
"Which do you prefer? Briefs or Boxers?" Travis asks with an idiotic smile
Serena stared at him with wide eyes as Travis smiled
BOOONKKK!!!
"HOW DARE YOU ASK SUCH VULGAR QUESTION IN A TIME LIKE THIS?! RETURN THEM! RETURN MY FEELINGS!!!" Serena exclaimed as she continued to punch Travis in the head. She always hated Travis's perversion, but perverseness has its limits
Travis covered his head as Serena continued to punch him, "You really don't remember, Serena?" Travis said, still smiling to his earnest
Serena stopped punching him, "What are you talking about?" she replied, still mad at him
"Come on, Serena. Boxers? Or Briefs?" Travis said again. This time Serena finally remembered it. A memory flashed inside her mind
-o-o-o-
Serena is sitting alone in her desk. She can see other students talking to each other with their friends
After betraying Kevin, she was completely isolated. People started to avoid her. She deserved this isolation, this is her retribution
No one will approach her now. No one wants to associate themselves to a rich prideful girl like her. Only an idiot will be foolish enough to be friends with her
"Yo!" a boy greeted in front of Serena's desk. His goofy smile and a carefree aura is kind of annoys her
"Who is this? I haven't seen this boy?" Serena thought
"Can I ask you a question?" the boy said
"Which do you prefer? Briefs or Boxers?" the boy asked with a smile
BOOONKKK!!!
Serena delivered the strongest punch to her entire life. Knocking the boy to the floor
"HOW DARE YOU ASK ME SUCH A LEWD QUESTION?!!" Serena said in anger
"Wait! Wait! Wait! It was a joke!" the boy tried to calm the angry girl
"What kind of sick joke are you trying to say?" Serena darkly said, still angry at the boy
The boy comically stood up "It was a test! To see what kind of person are you" the boy replied
"Huh? How do undergarments involve with a personality test?" Serena said
"You see, if chose briefs then you're a person who would remain to their own ideals no matter what. The tightness of the briefs symbolizes that you go through lengths to prove you're ideals and you try your best to solve any problem in your way. And if you chose boxers, then you're more of an outgoing person that spreads out to find a solution to every situation. The free feeling of boxers symbolize that you're more vulnerable on getting hurt but you'll see more ways for a solution" the boy explained
Serena was a bit impressed at the boy's explanation. But...
"Then why do ask it in a most perverted way as possible?!" Serena yelled at the boy
"Ehhh... But that more fun that way" the boy said
"My name is Travis by the way" the boy introduced himself
"Then Travis, you the lowest of the low" Serena said in disgust. She really hated perverted things like this
"So harsh!" Travis laughed. He infuriated Serena
"Just leave me alone already!" Serena said angrily
Travis gasped, "Wait... aren't you one of those tsundere?" Travis said
"Get out of here!" Serena shouted like a child
Travis laughed as Serena was completely annoyed at his shenanigans
"I won't leave you. You way too cute to tease" Travis said
"C-Cute?" Serena lightly blushed
"Woah, you're really cute if you blush like that" Travis said with a smile
Serena's face turned red in anger and embarrassment
"HOW INDECENT!" Serena yelled before punching Travis again
-o-o-o-
"Do you remember it, Serena? Our first meeting?" Travis smiled. Serena blushed at the memory
"We weren't on the best terms when we first met but we still ended being friends" Travis continued
"Even after you became a cold-blooded traitor, you still became friends with us" Travis said with the nicest smile Serena has ever seen
"Back then, you thought it's hopeless having friends with you. But look at you, you're friends with Brian, Lilian, Mira, Sera, Sora and me" Travis continued
"I know you're not the nicest person but you're determination and courage to protect those you care, makes you the best friend I ever had!" Travis said with passion
"Travis..." Serena said with amazement
"So don't say that you're a traitor because to me, you're a hero" Travis said as he holds Serena's hand
"Travis, the perverted idiot that I deeply hate. The same Travis that sneaks glances to my panties on a daily basis and eavesdrop on a woman's boobs, is really my true friend" Serena started to smile
"So, what's your answer? Briefs or Boxers?" Travis smiled a perverted smile
Serena stopped, "I take it back, he definitely the scummiest person alive" Serena thought
"I'm going to answer that indecent question!" Serena said in an angry tone
"Come on! Just say it! I'll even let you show you what am I wearing right now" Travis said with a slight blush
BOOOONNKKK!!!
"I DON'T NEED TO SEE THAT GARBAGE!" Serena started to punch Travis again
But Travis started to laugh happily
"Why are you laughing in the time like this?!" Serena exclaimed
"No, it's nothing! I'm just relieved that you're still the Serena I knew. Tsundere girls are the cutest!" Travis made a thumbs up
Serena blushed intensely after being called cute, "Fine! If you wanted me to answer that stupid question so badly, then I'll answer it after dealing with Tanya" Serena said
"Then it's a promise! I'll be waiting" Travis said with a smile
And that's how the perverted assassin cheered up the serious archer
-o-o-o-
The next day, Lartnec Village...
But I soon learned that promises...
"SERENA!" Travis yelled in despair as Serena's dead body fell in front of Tanya. Bleeding out from the fist-sized hole in her chest
"<Revive>! <Revive>! <Revive>! <Revive>!" Lilian continuously cast her spell but to no effect
...promises are meant to be broken
Serena was unresponsive as she stayed dead in the ground, unmoving
"SERENA! SERENA! PLEASE WAKE UP!" Travis cried as her friends were at a shock to the death of their friend
Damn it... I failed again
