[Elsword] - Masked Renegade

09 - Tying Bonds

...

After turning off the lights, Aren had slid in a movie called 'Accidental Affection' into the DVD player, as the film began to unravel. Cans of pop were distributed through the five friends happily, as well as a gigantic bag of buttered-caramel popcorn to be shared.

While it was loading, Aisha used to the opportunity to read the synopsis aloud. "Hmm, looks interesting. Let's see what this is about..."

"The Velder Kingdom was once a prosperous area to reside in, however, ever since Queen Seris took the throne, it had been corrupted by greed. Normal civilians were suffering greatly, but nothing could be done. The royal family had far too much power and authority, and for those who objected, they were immediately executed for treason, without a moment's hesitation. One day, the undercover assassin, Rena, received a peculiar yet challenging mission: overthrow the kingdom by eliminating its source. Given the fact that Seris' personal bodyguard was a young knight named Raven, would the professional bravo succeed?"

"No way... it's the Accidental Affection?!" Elesis spat out in surprise. "I loved that book! Ah, despite being so short, it was a good read. I'm glad that it was turned into a movie..."

"Oh! Aren! You managed to grab the clip? I'm so happy..! And Elesis, I loved the book, too!" Ara beamed.

"Did you know that the Mysterious Mage and Velder's Berserker were based off Aisha and I? Hence, the matching names. Ahaha... The author actually visited our hometown once, looking for ideas for her new book. That's one of the reasons why I adore the literature so much." Elesis explained, with a rather large grin splattered across her face for once.

"Eh?! Really?! I actually haven't thought of that possibility before! But now that I think about it, the names sound familiar and fit together! Wait, but Velder's Mechanic was named Add..." Ara pointed out.

"Probably just a coincidence. Stuff like this happens all the time, but let's face it, our Add is completely different from the one in the novel." Elesis responded.

"Stop being such geeks, both of you! You're going to spoil it for the rest of us! Hush, the movie's starting now!" Aisha scolded.

~

When the end of the motion picture was nearing, bits of popcorn were scattered on the couch and on the floor, but fortunately, all the soda had remained in-tact, either in their cans or in the gang's stomachs, where it belonged.

Add had gradually fallen asleep, his head leaning flat into Ara's shoulder, as she was conveniently located next to him. Her face flushed; it was difficult to watch a movie with that type of uncomfortable handicap. She lightly shook her head, telling herself that it was going to be okay. But really, it wasn't. Even imagining the sight of romantic actions between the two made her blush even more. It had only been about a day, so her actual thoughts and feelings for him were uncertain, of course.

As the ending credits rolled in, Elesis was practically prepared to flip a table, opposite of her usual serene and stern personality.

"The ending in the book was different!" the redhead ranted. "Though I'm not complaining too much because of the cliffhanger conclusion in the novel, I felt like this could have been adapted better..."

"Mm..." Ara pondered, wiping a tear from her eye. "I guess so. But I'm not that disappointed, because here, Rena actually saves Velder, and Seris is taken down! But, Raven still sacrificed himself for Seris, after protecting her from Rena's blade... Uwaah! But it's still a better ending, rather than Rena giving up all in all because she had fallen in love with Raven... And Raven actually shares those mutual feelings! (Even though he still likes Seris in the end... sniffle!)"