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Chapter Text

"Hey, brat! Don't even think about touching that!"

Rex's gloved finger, which was hovering dangerously close to the glowing emerald crystal centered in above the handle of what looked kind of like a Blade weapon in front him, snapped back.

"Oh, uh, sorry." He quickly put that same hand behind his head, backed away, before turning around. Rubbing his short brown hair, a sheepish smile crept onto his face and he let out a short laugh, both to cover his embarrassment and fear. That Malos guy had sounded absolutely furious. "Didn't mean that."

"Just get away before you break something, kid." Malos stormed into the room past him, scowling. His Blade, Sever, lurked close behind and let out a sinister hissing chuckle as he stalked past.

Rex complied and moved away, feeling awkward. His boot schlepped into a bit of cloud sea sludge built up on the metal floor as Malos started circling the capsule in the center of the room. His eyes flicked back to the red sword's emerald crystal. He was sure it had been pulsing when he nearly touched the thing, but it was just glowing dully now.

He hadn't imagined it. Right?

The sound of two sets of boots and a set of paws on the metal floor signaled the entrance of the other members of their boarding party into the open chamber. He turned to see Jin, Dromarch and a wide-eyed Nia slowly entering into the room.

"Wow!" Nia was peering closely at the sword and the red-haired young woman in the capsule behind it. "Never seen anything like it before."

"It is extraordinary," Dromarch agreed. The white, tiger-like beast Blade flicked a white-furred paw over one of his ears.

Rex stepped to the side as Jin walked over to Malos and began discussing something in voices too low for him to hear. He turned to the gormotti girl, raising one eyebrow, confused. "Wait, so you didn't know what you were coming to get?"

Nia flicked her nose in annoyance and set a hand on her hip. "'Course I knew! But just because I knew what it was supposed to look like doesn't make it any less impressive."

"So it's kinda like when you're salvaging, then. You know, 'Open a chest, it might be great. Until then it's just a crate.'"

"What's that supposed to be?"

Rex grinned. "Rule four of the Salvager's Code. So, even if you know what you're going to pull up out of the cloud sea, it can still surprise you in a good way, right?"

He saw Nia's cat-like ears flatten, and her eyes rolled. Was she annoyed? Unimpressed? He didn't know her well enough to tell. "You know I've only heard about this code of yours twice, but I think I'm already sick of it. Do all salvagers have a one track mind like you?"

"W-well," Rex stammered. "I mean, not all of us, no. But I mean, come on. I do it for a living, lady. What did you expect?"

"Honestly, I don't know." She turned to the two men by the capsule and called out, "Jin, do we need him for anything else?"

The masked man turned to her. "No. He's done everything we needed him for. It's best that he doesn't concern himself with anything that happens after this."

An ear-grating screech of metal vibrated his teeth, and Rex, Nia and Dromarch tensed, hands going to their respective weapons, readying for another monster attack.

But it was just Malos tearing the entire capsule with the red-haired woman inside out of its socket. His eyes widened as the black-haired man swung the whole thing back – which had to be taller than his already impressively tall frame – and balanced it on to his shoulder. Pipes that had been attached to the capsule spat out unknown fluids and steam, spilling onto the floor like blood.

His eyes widened. That was…

…Awesome! Just how strong was this Malos guy? Did all Drivers have strength like that? Would he be able to do stuff like that if he became one?

"Oi!" Nia shouted, snapping him out of his reverie. "At least give us a little warning if you're planning on doing something like that! Nearly gave us a heart attack."

Malos scoffed. "Yeah, whatever. Nia, go up ahead and call the Monoceros. We've got what we came for."

Rex saw her ears flatten a little. She looked like she might make a retort, before she let out a huff, turned on the spot and stomped out. Dromarch inclined his head toward them in a small bow before padding out after her.

"So, what exactly is she, anyways? Rex asked. "The girl in the capsule, I mean. And that sword; is it some sort of Blade weapon?"

Malos eyed him coolly. "None of your damn business, brat. Just follow us back to the deck and you and the others will get the rest of your pay."

Rex narrowed his eyes. "If you don't want me to know, you could've just told me. You don't have to be so rude about it."

Malos simply let out a 'hmph,' and started walking. As he passed by it, he kicked the red sword so hard that it flew out of its pedestal and slammed into the wall, shattering. The expression, the smirk on his face was so vindictive. Sever let out another hissing chuckle and followed after Malos.

What was that all about, anyways?

Rex laced his hands behind his head and started following, noting that Jin fell into step behind him. Rex was just a salvager. Just 'hired help.' A door opener. Maybe it wasn't his place to think about it.

Oh well. 'Least he had the prospect of another hundred grand to think about once this job was over. Everyone in Fonsett was going to be so surprised.

The first thing she became aware of was the cold.

It wasn't the type of cold that came from the wind chilling bare skin, or the freezing cold of harsh winters. This was a cold so numbing, that if she didn't know better, felt almost warm.

She opened her eyes, and was met with harsh light, and instinctively she shut them. But in that brief moment, she had caught sight of lush green grass, and the blinding bright sunlight.

It made no sense to her given how cold she was. Shouldn't there at least be snow to be this cold? Even the sun didn't seem to have any effect on the chill.

It was…difficult to make her limbs move the way she wanted them to. Or move at all. They were so stiff, like she hadn't moved them for a very long time. She slowly, painstakingly, curled into a ball, huddled in on herself in an attempt for warmth that didn't come.

Then, she became aware of the incessant tolling of a bell.

Over and over and over.

She didn't know how long she lay there, shivering uncontrollably, listening to the ringing of the bell. Her mind felt so sluggish, struggling to form coherent thoughts, much less retrieve the memories that could tell her how she'd gotten into this situation. A part of her just wanted to rest.

So…c-cold.

The bell kept on tolling.

Never stopping.

There were footsteps rustling through the grass, slowly getting louder, closer.

Haze would probably be scared silly right now.

She didn't know why that thought went through her mind. Nor could she distinctly remember who 'Haze' was. Instead of being scared at the approaching stranger, she was just cold.

A warm hand cupped her cheek and she instinctively leaned into it, seeking the heat. True warmth, not the numbing kind from the cold she had been feeling.

"Lora."

The memory of her name cinched into place. Her name was Lora. Something prickled on the edges of her memory. Running. Explosions. A man with silvery-white hair. A horrible wrenching where her heart should be.

Lora opened her eyes, slowly this time, squinting at the bright sunlight.

Her view resolved into a young woman kneeling beside her. Short red hair – wasn't her own hair a slightly duller shade of red? – fluttered in a sudden soft breeze. She was smiling. Below her face, affixed to her sternum, a glowing emerald crystal pulsed. A name attached to that image bubbled to the surface of her mind.

"M-Mythra?" Lora's mouth quivered, making her jaw ache as she spoke, teeth chattering. Even as she spoke it, something about that name didn't seem right. Didn't fit.

"No." The smile on the young woman who wasn't Mythra turned sad, and she shook her head slowly. Forlornly. "No, she's still sleeping. Please, call me Pyra."

Another involuntary shiver ran up her spine. "Why am I s-so cold?"

She felt Pyra pick her up, and draw her closer, cradling her head over her shoulder, hugging her. "I'm not entirely sure. We aren't directly in contact, but I can tell that your real body is currently frozen. But…it shouldn't have an effect on how your mind perceives itself here."

Her eyes scrunched in confusion. Her skin prickled painfully while it got used to the idea of being warm again. "My real body? I don't…what do you mean?"

She heard Pyra sigh. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but clinically, you're dead. Or at least you should be. But, you're here, which means even if it's been significantly slowed, your mind is somehow still active enough to participate in this dreamscape. Somehow, your soul is still here after all these years."

Lora didn't know what to make of that response, but it felt right somehow, even though she didn't know why. For a long while she was in Pyra's arms, soaking up the heat. So, she was dead? Surprisingly, she didn't feel mad about that.

Though the cold never went away entirely – there was a spot in her chest around her heart that remained freezing, no matter what she did – it receded enough that she could feel her limbs again. She stopped shivering uncontrollably.

Carefully, she looked around at the landscape, noting that the grass she'd been lying on was part of a large hill. Atop it, a lone tree. Slowly, carefully, she slid out of the embrace. Steadying herself by leaning on Pyra, she stood.

Pyra looked at her worryingly, and placed her hand bracingly on her back. "Are you sure you should be standing yet?"

Lora nodded, giving a small reassuring smile. "Thanks, but I'll manage. It can't be worse than being dead, right?" A small shiver went through her body, and she tucked her hands under her armpits. Not the most dignified thing ever, but she found herself not caring. Despite being warmer now, she was still cold.

The hole in her chest still refused to get warm.

She looked around more, and saw that the field around her seemed to stretch on forever into the horizon. There were buildings, dotting the landscape. None of it looked familiar. "Where are we, anyways, Pyra? The afterlife?"

Pyra shook her head. "No. This is Elysium. Or rather, what I remember it to be like. It's where Mythra and I were born."

"Elysium? What's – ugh!" She clutched her head as a shot of pain lanced through it.

"Are you alright?"

Lora winced, but gave Pyra a bracing smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's just…"

She trailed off. Like so many other things right now, she couldn't place how or why they were familiar. She shook her head. "Sorry. I'm having trouble remembering much. My mind still feels like it's trying to move through ice, you know?"

A complicated set of emotions ran over Pyra's face. Her hand hovered over the emerald crystal on her sternum. It pulsed slightly. "If you want, I can help you. Give you another chance. I can give you half of my life force, half of my core. It can act as your missing heart, even eventually repair it."

"My…missing heart?" The cold in her chest seemed to sharpen. Lora's hand carefully went to her neck and pressed two fingers against the side. She waited. And felt nothing.

No pulse.

The ice in her head cracked.

Fragments of memories rushed through. Spessia, Addam's militia camp, the overwhelming attack by Indoline forces. Being separated from Haze and Mikhail.

Jin.

Oh, Jin.

She had no heart, because she allowed Jin to take it. To become a flesh eater Blade so he wouldn't revert back to his core after she'd been fatally wounded.

So he could keep his memories of her.

She took a shuddering breath. The grass scratching against her cheek told her she was on the ground again. Pyra stood worriedly near her.

"Jin is still alive, isn't he?" She could feel it. That deep seated connection between Driver and Blade, thrumming. Alive.

Cold. Colder than it ever was.

"If I accept your offer, I could see him again?"

Pyra nodded, helping her to her feet again. "Yes." She hesitated a moment. "But…in return, I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Take me to Elysium, the real one at the top of the World Tree."

"Why there?"

Pyra hesitated, as if looking for the right words. "I want to see it, at least once. With my own eyes. And to meet with Father. With the Architect."

The bell tolled again. Mournful.

If she could even just see Jin again, it would be worth it. Lora nodded. "Alright. I'll do it."

Mikhail blinked as something splashed onto his cheek. He brought his gloved hand up, dabbed at it and found the liquid clear. Water?

He glanced around, trying to see the source, but didn't immediately spot anything above him that would be leaking water. Plenty of systems that could leak coolants, ether fuel, and plenty of other oils, but not water.

Another drop landed on his face, this time on his forehead.

Crap. Was there a slow leak somewhere in the Marsanes? He checked his mental map of the warship. Above was the docking area for the Monoceros. Maybe the seal on the airlock wasn't as tight as it should be? Nah, he'd just checked that last month.

Of course, even if that was the problem, he wasn't sure if he would have the time to fix it anyways. Once he made a couple more minor adjustments to the Marsanes, he was scheduled to head over to Mor Ardain's factory to inspect and pick up the Blade Bots. And of course, rendezvous with the lovely Patroka after she was done core crystal hunting.

He knew Jin, Malos and Nia just recently docked, hopefully with the Aegis. Had they messed up something while docking? No, that shouldn't be possible. The Monoceros' autopilot took over for that procedure. Even Nia couldn't mess that up. Not that anyone in their right mind would let her drive.

So what was it then?

Another drop of water, larger this time, landed. Mikhail wiped it off his face irritably and called up to the deck above. "Yo, Cressidus!"

The sound of something heavy clunked onto the metal of the bridge of the Marsanes above him, and the hulking figure of his barely humanoid Blade poked his head over the side of the walkway overhead. "Yeah, what is it, pal?"

"You didn't accidentally break something and not tell me, right, buddy?"

His Blade shook his head vehemently. "No, I wouldn't do that to you! Why are you asking, anyways?"

"You see anything leaking up there?"

His Blade ducked back to check. A long, agonizing moment passed, followed by another drop of water.

The big Blade poked his head over the walkway again. "Uh, you might want to see this for yourself, Mik."

Well, if that wasn't ominous, he didn't know what was. Mikhail quickly shut the panel to the mechanism he had been working on, and rushed over to the lift to the floor above. Cressidus raised his arm, pointing out the...leak.

Mikhail's eyes widened.

Behind the central console that operated the Marsanes, the tall cone of ice where Lora's body was kept suspended upright was still resting in its usual place, frozen to absolute zero temperatures by Jin. The makeshift coffin had stood there for ages, but now, it was melting. A small trail of water led from the bottom, dripping over the edge of the upper deck of the bridge, down to where he had been.

He looked back to the ice and his heart nearly burst out of his chest. Lora's eyes were open, staring right at him.

What the?!

He had just enough time to properly freak out before a massive pillar of flame burst through the ceiling, obscuring the whole thing in a raging inferno. It would probably have melted him too, if Cressidus hadn't body tackled him away from it, raising his ether barrier to cover them both.

An alarm sounded, followed by the hissing of fire retardant chemicals hissing out of their compartments. The air on the bridge became thick with hot steam from sublimated ice, making it difficult to make much of anything out.

"You alright, Mik?" Cressidus asked, moving off of him and carefully hauling him to his feet with far more care than his huge stature would indicate.

"Yeah, I'll live, big guy. Any idea what that was?"

"Nope. You think that icicle lady is alright after that?"

The answer to his answer came in the form of the sound of shaky footsteps coming closer. Through the steam came an impossibility.

The silhouette resolved into her. The woman who had been dead for nearly five hundred years. The woman who may as well have become his family, even in the short time he'd known her. For a moment, he was a kid again, standing alone in the smoldering ruins of a village he couldn't even remember the name of anymore.

There were so many different things he wanted to say. He opened his mouth. Closed it. He thought he might cry one moment, and at the same time he nearly wanted to shout at her for leaving him, even if it wasn't her fault. Baggage he'd spent decades sifting through, before laying them to rest was involuntarily hauled to the forefront of his mind.

No matter how much you tried, a dead woman wouldn't talk back.

And yet…

"Lora?" he called hesitantly. Did his voice seriously just crack? If this was a dream, it was a cruel one.

She reached out to him, eyes unfocused, taking another shaky step forward. She faltered, and he saw her legs buckle out from underneath her. He rushed forward, catching her in his arms before she could collapse onto the hard metal floor. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp.

But she was breathing. By the Architect, she was breathing.

How?

The bridge shook, and his head jerked up to the massive hole now in the ceiling of the bridge. He could hear what sounded like fighting up above. What was going on up there?

Chapter Text

"No parting is forever, Rex. If the flow of the ether wills it, we will surely meet again."

"No…" Rex could only watch as horror as Gramps closed his eyes and started dissolving into base ether in front of him. His hand went through the old Titan's slowly dissipating form, leaving a slight smudge of ether on his glove. After a moment, even that faded. "No, Gramps!"

He wasn't crying.

His blurring vision and the wetness on his cheek disagreed.

He wasn't crying!

The involuntary sob that escaped out of him said otherwise.

No, you know what? Screw it! He worked for a living, same as any adult worth their salt. Adults could cry if they wanted to. So he let himself fall to his knees, uncaring of the swamp water mixed with some cloud sea fluff that splashed up onto his face, mixing in with the stupid tears.

He closed his eyes, remembering.

The capsule with the young woman had been loaded up onto the ship, the same one he'd seen in Argentum's port, the same one he'd spotted following them. The ship that Malos had called the Monoceros.

Job done, he'd headed back to the C.S.E.V. Maelstrom, under the direction of their employers.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Malos had attacked. Under the Driver and Blade's barrage, the Maelstrom hadn't stood a chance, especially once something critical exploded.

Though he hadn't really questioned how at the time, Gramps had flown in, blasting the deck of the ancient ship with balls of flame, distracting Malos long enough to allow time for him to get on and escape.

Of course he'd jumped on. Who wouldn't? But when he'd reached for another one of the salvagers Gramps had started flying away.

"Wait what are you doing? We have to go back, have to rescue them! Turn around, Gramps!"

"And risk being killed yourself, my boy? I'm already struggling as it is to escape their turrets, and you want me to face them and fall in the process?"

"But…!"

"Enough!"

Rex had winced as another blast from the turret of the Monoceros hit its mark, holding on for dear life as Gramps had bucked at a sharp angle to one side to avoid another shot.

"What's done is done."

As if to drive it home, the Maelstrom had let off one final explosion, before sinking beneath the clouds.

It wasn't fair.

He wasn't sure how long he knelt there in that ankle deep water. A bit of cloud sea fluff built up around him, tickling exposed bare skin.

Why did they do it? What reason could they possibly have had to justify killing all those innocent people? Even Nia, the most likable of the lot, had looked on from the Monoceros and let it happen. Horrified, maybe, but as far he'd seen she hadn't done anything to try and stop it. She'd just let it happen.

There were people on the Maelstrom, just salvagers like him, trying to live their lives. Spaine, Monell and even Pupunin, who had stowed away onboard. They were people he had known, worked with even. Some had families waiting for them back in Argentum, back on other Titans.

He should have never taken that job.

He shut his eyes, turning away as the last light of dissipating ether that once was the Titan he called 'Gramps' finally faded entirely.

"Gramps…"

It just wasn't fair.

A small sploosh of water sent his heart rate spiking and he stood, spinning about, looking for the source of the sound. He took a moment to try and clear his vision, wiping his face with his wet arm. It was only slightly effective at clearing his vision.

He started backing up towards where…where Gramps had been, hand hovering over the hilt of his broadsword. Was the wildlife here to try and take advantage of his lowered guard? He glanced about and saw nothing. He strained his ears, listening closer.

Oddly, not even the buzz of insects greeted him.

He took another hesitant step back. He let out a cry of surprise as his ankle twisted when his boot slipped onto something uneven in the water. He flailed wildly for a moment in a futile attempt to regain his balance, before he ungracefully flopped backwards into the muck, butt landing hard, digging painfully into something.

He quickly rolled off of it, digging the offending object out of the water intent on chucking the thing. He stopped.

Rocks didn't typically look like that, right? All black and fancily designed and stuff? He peered at it closer, squinting his eyes. Wait, no. He'd seen something like this before. The design and distinct shape clicked into place with a memory.

Was this a…core crystal?

Had Gramps left him this somehow? He'd only seen pictures of them in books Auntie Corrine had lent him, but at the time he was generally more interested in the Blades themselves. He tilted his head. Weren't core crystals supposed to be glowing blue or something?

He almost reflexively went to ask Gramps if he knew what it meant.

Stopped himself with his mouth partway open.

His hand tightened around the black core crystal, making the leather of his glove creak. His other hand lashed out at a nearby tree. The sudden pain in his wrist made him wish that he hadn't.

Why couldn't he do anything right?

No. He shook his head, dispelling the thought. Enough.

He took a shuddering breath, did his best to wipe away the remains of the tears, wipe away the snot from his stinkin' nose.

He needed to get ahold of himself. Another deep breath.

Malos would pay. He'd punch him in his stupid face if he could. Then have a drink with him when he was old enough. That was what salvagers were supposed to do, right? 'First have a punch-out, then drink to forget. Once you've forgotten, the friendship's all set.'

Right.

First things first. Though he desperately hoped it wasn't true, if he was the only survivor, people needed to know what happened. Otherwise it might just go into the books as another failed expedition into the uncharted regions of the cloud sea. Getting word back to Argentum and Chairman Bana would be as good a place to start as any.

That meant he needed to figure out where on Alrest he was. Slipping the core crystal into his pouch, he fumbled around a bit before bringing out his cloud sea compass. He fiddled with the dials, put in the date and…

He should be on Gormott. That made sense, given the huge root-like structures around him. And the tide was…

Oh no.

He was below the high tide line. And according to this, it would be rising soon.

He glanced up, and saw the tide already rushing towards him, very quickly.

"Oh, titan's foot!"

He took off running, glanced back and caught enough of a glimpse to know he was so screwed if he didn't get to higher ground quick. Rex took the first path that looked like it might go up or just away from the wave.

Of course, as he ran, his mind helpfully supplied that the reason he hadn't seen any wildlife or insects was because they had all gone into hiding or to higher ground from the encroaching tidal shift. He'd just been too busy mourning Gramps to see the signs.

Naturally, he didn't stand a chance.

He took a big gulp of air just before the force of the initial tide knocked him off of his feet, flipping end over end in the current a couple of times. After a moment, years of diving through the stuff – both recreationally and for a living – kicked in.

Find the fluff of the cloud sea. That will always be up. If you get caught in a wave, roll with it, don't fight it. Fighting it will be the quickest way to drown.

Of course, that was easier said than done. He snapped open his eyes, desperately searching for that fluff mixed with what would hopefully be a source of light.

There!

He oriented himself and started swimming in that direction. He was pushed off balance when the current surged forward and rammed his shoulder painfully into a rock. In fact, the force of the current was making it nearly impossible to swim straight at all, knocking him into things. The bruises started to pile up.

His lungs started to burn.

The current surged again. His eyes widened and with only a split second to do so, he contorted his body to slide through a narrow pass in the rocks ahead. He'd nearly made it through, but was yanked back. Looking behind him, he saw his broadsword snagged in-between two close fitting branches in the pass. He reached and desperately tried to untangle it, but couldn't make any headway.

He looked up at the cloud sea fluff getting further away, then back down. Nothing for it. He couldn't do anything much less fight if he drowned. He fumbled a moment, then forced the release latch on the weapon. He shot forward in the current, made a desperate grab for the sword.

Missed.

Well, maybe if he was lucky, someday he or someone else could salvage it. For now, he shot his grapple up. It dug into the rock above the surface and he toggled the reel.

Just when the edges of his vision started going dark, he surfaced, gulping in much needed air coughing and spitting out cloud sea fluff. The rock on either side of him creaked, shifting under the tide. That was a part of the Gormotti Titan moving.

It shifted just enough to loosen the anchor before he could find a better handhold in the rock, and he splashed back under.

He had to find somewhere high enough on the Titan that he wouldn't be left out to drift in the cloud sea. It would be a horrible way to go, unable to do anything but watch as the Titan continued on its orbit around the World Tree without the slightest care that it'd left something behind.

At this rate, if he didn't find some outcropping or at least something stable to latch onto, that's exactly what would happen. His energy surged. Surfacing again, his head whipped around, and in a glorious moment he spotted a nearby ledge above the tide.

Against the direction of the current.

He shot out his grapple again, and when it attached, the current yanked him back, wrenching his arm painfully and slamming him bodily against the rock. The grapple loosened, falling out of its anchor again, but this time he had the presence of mind to get a good grip on the rock.

Bracing his body against the Titan's rocky wall, he sidled for what felt like hours – even if it couldn't have been more than a few minutes at most – until at last he hauled himself up onto the ledge.

He flopped out and lay flat on his back on the rock, just breathing heavily. His muscles were sore enough to remind him of that day he'd spent running priority business errands around Argentum.

"Well," he coughed up a little bit of the cloud sea stuck in his lungs and wiped his eyes clear, "at least it can't get any worse from here, right?"

His heart leapt and he stiffened as something nearby growled. He slowly shifted his eyes and spotted a lone volff on the other end of the outcropping, looking just as bedraggled as he was.

Him and his big mouth. Looks like he wasn't the only one caught unaware by the tidal shift.

Titan's foot.

Nia stormed past Jin down the boarding ramp of the Monoceres as soon as it hit the dock, purposefully not looking at him and Malos. She stopped at the end, teeth clenching and feeling her ears flatten against her head. They still felt like they were ringing from all the screaming.

She needed to ask Jin why.

Malos' footsteps, heavy with the Aegis' capsule, came to rest behind her. "Got something to say, Nia?"

Her hands balled into fists, and she stalked away without a word, Dromarch padding after her.

"Slinking off to sulk?" She heard Malos let out a scoff. "How original."

The door to the interior of the Marsanes shut automatically behind her and Dromarch, cutting them off from the other three.

They had already retrieved the Aegis. So why'd Jin let Malos do it? What was the point?

Her quick pace slowed to a crawl, before she stopped entirely, leaning onto and then collapsing in a heap against the wall.

"My lady, are you going to be alright?"

Great, now Dromarch was bloody worrying about her. She turned to face her approaching Blade. "I'll be okay, Dromarch." The smile she gave felt forced, even to her, and likely didn't look the least bit reassuring.

He padded up beside her, sat on his haunches and waited. A solid minute passed. A solid minute of her decidedly trying to avoid looking at those dilating tiger eyes of his.

She sighed. It would be easier to tell him now, rather than have him passive-aggressively pester her until she gave in. She always told him in the end anyways, and he knew that. "It's just, I never figured I'd be doing something like this."

"Are you perhaps thinking of leaving? You know I will follow wherever you go."

She scrunched up her knees, hugging them to her chest. Took a breath. "I-I don't know. I was…happy when Jin brought me into Torna. He rescued me, us, from a life of misery." She shook her head. She didn't really want to think about what Indol was going to do to her before Jin broke her out. "And here, there are people like me, you know? They understand how I feel, what it's like, because they're like me."

She brought her hand up, hovering over but not touching her hidden core. She didn't say the word. Still couldn't bring herself to even think it yet. Wasn't that so pathetic? But the scars emotional and physical were still too fresh in her mind.

That was what she kept telling herself, at least.

'Cannibal!'

Dromarch nuzzled into her. "I think you should do what you think is best."

She let out a snort. "Only you would say something that sounds so profound, but does so little to help me." Sighing again, she leaned into him, scratching his fur. "I don't know. When I came here, for the first time I felt like I might have a place where I could belong. I think that's…still the case. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future, I dunno. But I don't really have anywhere else to go. For now, I'm here, so this is my home for better or worse."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

She jolted and jumped up to her feet at the sound.

Ahkos stepped into sight around the corner and his Blade, Obrona, floated lazily around him. "Well said Nia. I'll have you know that the rest of us feel much the same way." He adjusted those red rimmed prop glasses of his, because of course he did.

She narrowed her eyes. "Haven't you heard that eavesdropping is rude?"

He smirked, raising an eyebrow. "I was about to say hello, but well…" He shrugged. "How could I resist a good bit of melodrama?"

"Oi! Do you think my life is some kind of sideshow?"

Obrona floated in front of him. "Ooh, feisty!"

Ahkos batted her away. "Riveting commentary from the audience as usual, Obrona. But I have to wonder, Nia, why so introspectively glum in the first place?" He crossed his arms. "Did Malos give you a hard time while you were out collecting the Aegis?"

She averted her eyes. "Go ask him yourself if you're so curious."

"I was about to, before I nearly ran into someone brooding in the middle of the main hallway."

"Yeah, being a sourpuss!"

"Ugh, you know what? Never mind!" She cut off any further discussion and started walking away. "Come on Dromarch, we don't have to take this from-"

She stumbled as a rumble shook the hallway, and an alarm started blaring a moment later. She spun back to Ahkos. "What was that?"

"The fire alarm," he deadpanned. "Mikhail may have broken something. Jin could be playing a prank. The World Tree could be collapsing. Or, perhaps the Architect himself is messing with us."

Nia gave him a sour look. "Are you seriously doing this right now?"

"It's an alarm. We only have one. Having more than one just made things confusing for some of us. Rules say we go to the dock when it sounds and, considering the timing, I'd say it's important enough to not ignore."

"Then stop standing around and let's go already!"

Ahkos made a mock bow gesturing in front of him, and Obrona gave a little applause. "Lead the way."

Those little…

She groaned and started running back the way she came.

Back to Jin.

Jin could only watch. Lora would have gone after Nia, rushed after her even, to at least try to comfort her right here, right now. But then, he wasn't Lora, and she wouldn't have approved of what he allowed to happen at all, would she?

So instead, he simply sent a look at Malos as he watched Nia retreat past the door leading further into the Marsanes.

Malos raised an eyebrow at his stare. "What?"

"Don't antagonize her. She's been through just as much hardship as the rest of us. Give her time."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Nia knew what Torna stood for, but she didn't understand the need for what they were doing. Not fully.

Her anger at covering their tracks by killing the salvaging crew was…understandable. But if any of them actually had the expertise and Leftherian blood, this wouldn't have been necessary.

Well, no, he reminded himself. Most of the salvaging crew had perished. Perhaps it was some trick of fate that had Azurda show up to rescue the Leftherian boy from the sinking, exploding Maelstrom. Even with the damage done to the old Titan by the Monoceres' turrets, there was always a chance the pair could make landfall, and from there spread word of the massacre.

But even if that happened, it would only slow Torna down, not stop them. He would make sure of it.

Malos shrugged the shoulder holding the Aegis' capsule. "So, are we doing this or what, Jin?"

Jin blinked, and moved across the boarding ramp of the Monoceros, and out of the way of Malos, who adjusted his grip on the capsule as he crossed the ramp. "Of course."

"Well," he slammed the capsule down, harder than necessary, onto the metal floor of the Marsanes' docking area, "may as well do it right here and now. The sooner I get my full power back, the sooner we get our revenge on my bastard of a Driver and the Architect."

He popped the lid on the capsule, carelessly tossing it to the side where it cracked, but didn't shatter. The sleeping form of the Aegis lay open to the world after nearly five-hundred years.

Jin's hand twitched, clenched slightly.

Malos glanced towards him. "What is it?"

"It's nothing."

He cocked a disbelieving eyebrow. "You know, something tells me it's not."

He was right of course. "Just," he shot a meaningful look at the Aegis, "let me have a moment."

Malos shook his head, a small smirk on his face. "You're so sentimental." He backed away, gesturing to the open capsule. "Well, go ahead. I can wait a little longer. Say your farewells, since after all, there's no guarantee she won't be much more than a husk once I'm finished."

"…Right."

Malos turned away to give Jin privacy as he stepped up to the capsule; the sight reminded him of an open funeral casket. Fitting, he supposed.

Despite the atrocities she'd let happen by letting herself be sealed away, the Aegis had once been his comrade. He may have never particularly liked her, but she hadn't deserved what had happened to her.

He knew the pain of losing someone he loved all too well himself. All five-hundred years of living with it.

Laying his hand near the Aegis' shoulder, he bowed his head a little and closed his eyes in a moment of remembrance.

For what little it's worth, I'm sorry.

He felt his thumb brush over the Aegis' core. Lora's heart thumped in his chest and his eyes shot open, vision blurry.

He caught a momentary flare of light from the emerald core, so short he could have imagined it. He took one careful yet quick step back.

"Something wrong?"

Jin's hand went to the spot where Lora's heart rest in his chest. "I'm…not sure." A warmth, a thrum he hadn't felt in forever. The connection between a Driver and Blade, a slight tug in the ether, so small. It lasted for only an instant.

But of course, he was just imagining it. Wishing for something that would never happen again.

He had to be.

Malos crossed his arms, giving him a careful stare. "You know, I can delay this for a while if you need me to. It'll make any fights we encounter more difficult, but I don't need my full power until we're ready to ascend the World Tree."

"Patience? From you?"

Malos spread his arms in a gross approximation of a shrug. "What can I say? Nearly dissolving into base ether gives a man a lot of time to reflect on their life choices. It took a lot of patience to put myself together after that. I can wait a little longer."

Jin mulled it over a moment before shaking his head. "No, that's unnecessary. No point in taking any chances."

"Well, if you're sur-"

He cut off as emerald green light shot up from the open capsule.

Instinct kicked in as the world seemed to slow to a crawl around Jin as he sped up, putting a sizable amount of distance between him and the pillar of flame that burst from the Aegis' resting place. His hand came to rest on the hilt of his nodachi, but he didn't draw it just yet.

Sever had dashed in front of Malos, ether shield up and taking most of the blaze. Malos drew his tonfa, a smirk growing on his face.

An alarm started blaring as steam billowed up from a hole the pillar of flame had melted into the docking area. Through the steam, the glowing emerald core of the Aegis became visible.

An x-shaped part of it was now missing, where not thirty seconds ago it had been whole.

He grimaced as Lora's heart pulsed again, painfully hot this time. Another thrum of an affinity link briefly flickering to life before cutting out again.

Malos glanced at him. "Jin?"

He pushed the sensation away with a shake of his head. Just his mind playing cruel tricks. "I'm fine."

"Hey." Jin jerked back when a hand landed on his shoulder. Malos gave him a concerned look. "Take it easy for once. I'll take this."

Jin hesitated, then nodded.

"Malos."

The red Blade weapon Malos had shattered on the Ancient Ship took shape and flared alive with fire ether. A pale imitation of the light it once was. The Aegis stepped through the steam into view, her eyes narrowed. "I should have known you weren't dead."

"And I thought you were blond." Malos stalked casually forward, Sever behind him, establishing an affinity link, igniting the blade of the tonfa. He was putting himself in-between Jin and the Aegis. A nice, if unnecessary gesture. "Cut and dyed your hair recently?"

Her lips pursed into a thin line, and she slashed in a wide horizontal arc with her sword, sending a blaze of fire ether ahead of her, before darting forward with the torrent of flame.

Malos batted the fire away into the wall where the metal sizzled and dripped. He laughed. "Ooh, did I hit a nerve? My bad." The affinity link between him and Sever surged as Malos slashed his tonfa in an uppercut, and a blade of wind ether lashed out from it towards her.

The Aegis easily sidestepped the attack – which cut a small line into the metal wall behind her, making something in the machinery spark – and rushed forward, closing the remaining distance. They traded a quick trio of blows, ending with their blades locked, ether sparking.

"So do you have a Driver this time, or did you wise up like me and forget nonsense like that?"

She didn't answer, but her eyes darted past Malos, over to him, widening momentarily when they met. Jin stared back unflinchingly.

Malos took advantage of the momentary distraction, shifting his tonfa into a shield before thrusting it forward. Backed with a surge of wind ether, it ended the deadlock by sending the Aegis airborne. She quickly twisted midair flipping upright, landing crouched.

"Well, not bad. Not bad at all. I was wondering if you were just going to let me restore my core without some kind of fight. Thanks for making it interesting for me, partner."

When the automatic door blasted open, Mikhail had to stop to take a double take. Saying the Marsanes docking area was in bad shape was an understatement. Beyond the opening, chaos reigned in the form of Malos fighting...was that the Aegis?

It was just one blast from the past after another today, wasn't it?

A blade of sharp wind ether rippled by him, cutting the wall nearby and slicing open the paneling. He danced to the side before an arc of lightning sparked from the busted machinery, nearly hitting him. Startled out of his thoughts, he stepped forward.

"Are you all insane?!" Neither of the Aegises stopped fighting to listen. He turned to the others gathered near the entrance. "Ahkos, Nia, why aren't you trying to stop them?"

Nia put a hand on her hip. "Do you really expect us to try and get involved in that?"

They all split, moving out of the way of a redirected fireball.

"That's not the issue!" Mikhail retorted. "If you hadn't noticed, we're submerged under the cloud sea right now. If they punch a hole in the hull, we all become salvager food!"

"A prudent point. Ah well. It was a nice show while it lasted." Ahkos adjusted his glasses as he turned to his Blade. "Obrona, if you would?"

"Yeah, yeah." His Blade floated higher into the air, her wing-like appendages spreading as a massive wave of red ether exploded outward.

The combatants lurched, stopping in the middle of their attacks when the wave hit them, choking the ether out of their weapons.

Malos jumped back from a strike from the Aegis, even though it was far less deadly without the ether in her weapon amplifying the strike. He turned toward the group gathered at the entrance scowling. "Ahkos, what are you doing?"

"Do you want to punch a hole that sends us to the bottom of the cloud sea?" Mikhail gestured around the damage that he'd and the Aegis had done. This would take forever to fix and even more to diagnose what was still fully operable.

The Aegis' eyes widened and she stepped back, her hand hovering over her core crystal as she looked around. Was she really just now noticing the destruction she was causing? Was the alarm blaring really not clue enough?

Malos looked like he was going to retort before Jin flickered forward in front of him, cutting off the response. "Malos, enough. Mikhail is right."

Malos shrugged, stepping back, keeping a close eye on the Aegis. She did so in turn, but Mikhail could tell she was also keeping a close eye on everyone else in the room.

The alarm still blared, filling in an awkward pause.

Jin turned to him. "What's the situation?"

"It's her, Jin. She's awake. Lora's awake."

Her heart thumped in his chest. Not possible.

But Jin's mouth still asked, "Where?"

Mikhail pointed down, through the hole in the dock. "She's down with Cressidus on the bridge – whoa!"

The world slowed as he sped up again, feet moving with a mind of their own. He jumped through the still smoldering hole to save time.

Mikhail's Blade startled when he landed, returning to normal speed. He was shielding something away from him. "Jin! Man, you scared me dropping in through the ceiling like that. Did you come to check on the icicle lady?"

Jin's eyes flicked to where Lora should be. The hole to the dock was directly above where she should be and the ice was completely gone. "Where is she?"

Mikhail's Blade flinched at his dangerous tone, but shifted around, and in his arms was holding…

…her. Her chest rose, fell. Breathing.

Not possible.

She was right in front of him.

No. He took a half step back. This wasn't real.

But she was right in front of him.

The next moment he'd pushed Cressidus away, cradling her in his arms. On instinct, he sent out an desperate affinity link. Like it had never left, it connected to her instantly, the air in-between them shimmering as it thrummed to life. Hot, almost burning.

He felt her shiver as her eyes fluttered open, darting around a moment before they locked on to his.

"…Lora."

She blinked again, her arm reached up to cup his cheek with one hand. She opened her mouth. Spoke.

"It's really you, Jin."

He covered her hand with his. Felt the warmth of her skin when it came in contact with his. This…this was real. He felt her thumb brush against his mask, the one she had made for him so many years ago.

"You kept it?" she asked.

"Of course."

She smiled, then averted her eyes. "I'm sorry."

He pressed her closer into a hug. "It's not your fault." After a moment, her arms wrapped around him.

Lora was here, alive.

But…her death was the impetus for his campaign against Alrest with Malos. He knew she wouldn't approve, would try to talk him out of it. Maybe even hate him for it.

…What did he do now?

No. He hugged her tighter. She pressed her head against his chest.

For now, this moment with her was enough.

Chapter Text

Out of everything that could, in the end, after everything he'd been through, it was his leg that gave out first.

Rex cried out as it buckled out from under him, sending him pitching forward face-first on to the wooden walkway. He stayed there, sprawled out as the fierce rain from the ongoing thunderstorm pelted his already soaked form. It wasn't just his leg, though. His well…everything hurt.

A bright flash of lightning and the sharp peal of thunder afterwards brought his wits back to him. He braced his hand on a nearby building, painstakingly pulling himself back to standing.

He tried to ignore the pain of his hastily bandaged arm and his sharp headache – whether from dehydration or something else – that pounded in his skull. The pain felt like it might be being lessened by the rain lashing down in a torrent of…wetness? That was the word for it, right?

Whatever. He was soaked.

He started off again, slower now, limping slightly, but he must not have been paying enough attention. By the time he saw a figure in a dark rain cloak rush by, he couldn't react fast enough to move out of the way. He staggered as they bumped into him and made him hiss in pain. At least he caught himself this time before he fell.

"Whoops, sorry!"

He turned to where they were, catching a glimpse underneath the drawn hood. A girl with bluish hair and a wicked looking blue – glowing? – eyepatch.

"No, it's-"

But they had already rushed off.

"…fine," he finished lamely.

Probably focused on getting out of the rain. He glanced about. While there were certainly still lights on inside buildings, there wasn't anyone else in sight outside that he could see. Torigoth would normally be bustling, even at this time of night. Or at least, that's how it had been the last – and only – time he'd briefly been here.

The thunderstorm raged on and he forced himself to start walking again, trying to ignore the extent of his injuries: bruises and small cuts that still ached from his tumble in the cloud sea tide and driving off a volff, then pushing himself too hard to try and get here before dark.

He glanced up at the stormy night sky. That part had failed, but at least his destination finally came into sight.

He sent a silent prayer to the Architect. Come on, come on, please still be open.

Gormott Public Communications Terminals

His eyes moved down the sign hung in the window.

[Closed]

"Oh, come on!" He pressed his face to the window to peer inside, but it was completely dark within. No signs of anyone lingering for cleaning or anything. Ugh, he should have known better. Of course, they were already closed; it was nearing the middle of the stinkin' night. That didn't stop him from gritting his teeth in frustration, fists clenching, making the gloves squelch with the still falling rain.

Wasn't there something he could do?

Another flash of lightning illuminated a tall structure nearby to the north. If he was remembering right, that was the Mor Ardain Consulate building. They'd have something he could use to get in contact with the guild, right?

…Would they even take him seriously?

Maybe he could sneak in? His vision swam and he shook away the thought, hearing Gramps' chiding voice.

Don't be getting any funny ideas, Rex. You can stand to wait until morning.

Gah. He hated it when Gramps was right, even if he wasn't actually…

He took a deep breath. Let it out. He couldn't keep doing that.

He blinked rapidly as another flash of lightning crashed into a lightning rod built on top of a building in view in the lower residential district, lighting up its interior. The near instantaneous rumble of thunder shook his bones and made him flinch as his ears rung.

The sounds of maniacal noponic laughter that followed were clearly his part of his overacting imagination.

Whatever. There was no point hanging around in the rain anymore, especially if the lightning was striking that close. Alrest waited for no one, least of all him it seemed.

After a brief, yet seemingly endless hard walk, he stumbled up the steps to Torigoth's inn, thankfully still open at this unwieldy time of night. He pushed open the door, and called out a simple, slightly hoarse, "Hey."

The gormotti innkeeper, who was reading a book, marked her page. "Welcome to the Coedwig Inn. What can I-"

She cut off as their eyes focused in on him and widened, hand going to her mouth. He really couldn't blame her reaction, since he probably looked like a washed up Titanship. He felt like some of the slimy gunk that came up in some of the dingier crates he'd salvaged.

Jumping off her stool, she hurried around the front counter. "Are you alright there? Ah, what am I saying, 'course you aren't alright. You looked like you've picked a fight with a gogol after falling into the cloud sea or something."

"Um, yeah, something like that." A volff, actually. He tried not to think of the blood and bits of the volff he'd had to clean out of the retractable spikes on his boots after the brutal struggle.

"Here, just a moment." She disappeared further inside.

He stood awkwardly in the entryway, dripping profusely onto the carpet. Actually, come to think of it, he had run from a pack of gogols while coming to Torigoth. But that was just one of the many things he'd had to run from after making his way up the Gormotti Titan to areas not flooded by the cloud sea. One thing after another. It sort of blended together.

Thinking back on it, it was ridiculous that he was still standing at all. His head and injuries pounded in agreement.

The innkeeper reappeared around the corner and made a tsk, tossing a towel his way, which he gratefully accepted, drying off his hair and face. "Frankly, you look like you could use a healer, not just a good place to sleep. And don't try to deny it." He caught her muttering, "Honestly. Boys your age."

He stepped forward, stumbling as he protested weakly. "Hey, I work for a living, you know."

"Mmhmm." She sounded like she didn't believe him or maybe didn't care. His stumbling probably hadn't helped his case.

"Ah, whatever." Rex shook his head, and the motion made his headache pulse. He tried to blink it away. "So do you have a room? Actually, no, wait. Maybe a communication console I can use? I need to get in contact with the Argentum Trade-"

He stopped. His hand had been reaching for his pouch to get money. He patted the area again, and came up empty. It wasn't there.

"Something wrong?"

His pouch wasn't there. Along with his gold, the core crystal, and a good chunk of what he owned.

"Oh, no, no, no." He double checked, triple checked but it was definitely gone. He turned towards the door but his vision swam, more furious this time. Staggering, he clutched his throbbing head. His other hand went out to try and catch something, but the soaked glove slipped off the wall and he fell once more face-first onto wood.

…Ow.

The sounds of muffled rain and the shouting gormotti woman started to fade. Rex closed his eyes. The wooden flooring was hard, but it was comfortable enough for now. He'd just close his eyes for a moment, then he could…

Could…

He woke lying on a pillow. Blinking, Rex tried to remember how he got into a bed.

Oh.

He slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, even though his body protested. Right. He'd collapsed after pushing himself too hard.

Stupid of him.

Glancing around the simply decorated wooden interior of the room, he spotted a pair of other beds illuminated by sunlight pushing lazily through a window through shut drapes. This must be one of the inn's rooms. And the innkeeper must have put him here.

He twisted around at the creak of a door opening, admitting a gormotti woman. The innkeeper from the night before.

"Ah, finally up are you?" She smiled and hefted a tray laden with food and drink. "Thought you might be hungry."

His stomach growled in concert with her statement, and he eagerly accepted the tray of food and started digging in. He noticed the innkeeper's eyes shoot up.

"Seems like I was spot on. I'll leave you to it, then. Be back in a bit." And she left the room.

Couldn't really blame him, could she? He hadn't really had a proper meal since the events at the ancient ship. The memories stemmed his appetite, enough that he couldn't finish the whole thing. He set the tray aside, thinking.

When had he lost the pouch with Gramp's core crystal? He was pretty sure he'd still had it when he'd entered Torigoth last night, so when…?

The innkeeper came back in carrying a sack. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"It's past midday at this point."

"Midday?!"

"Seemed like you probably needed it. Once you finish there, I've half a mind to send you over to the local healer. They'll be able to fix you up proper with their healing Blade. Vess has been a standard around here for a while after house Eschell went under and looney. Here." She hefted the bag, setting it down at the side of his bed nearest her. "I've taken the liberty of cleaning up your clothes while you were out as well."

The tips of his ears lit up as he realized he wasn't wearing anything except his underwear, and he pulled the blanket a further up. "Thanks." He averted his eyes. "But, well…how am I supposed to pay you back? I don't have any money right now."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone gets one." She locked her eyes onto his and set her hands on her hips. "But no taking advantage of this, you hear? You want to stay another night, you're paying."

He nodded furiously. "Y-yes ma'am."

She straightened, smiling. "Good. Now get going."

"What do you mean he's not available?"

The nopon on the screen of the communications terminal shook his head. "Perhaps Rex misunderstand what Niranira say. Cannot let you speak to Chairman Bana because he not here. Left soon after departure of Maelstrom on 'private business venture.'"

"I saw the Maelstrom sink beneath the cloud sea. I only escaped because someone I cared about died to bring me here."

"An attack?" His voice – deep for a nopon's – was incredulous. "Surely even salvage raiders would not dare attack Chairman's vessel?"

"No. It was the people who arranged the job in the first place."

"Truly?"

"Yeah. They…" his voice faltered he took a deep, stabilizing breath. He wasn't going to cry right now. "They killed everyone. I'm the only one left."

"Hmmm." There was a pause as Niranira crossed his stubby nopon arms, thinking. The pause was filled in by the lull of other conversations happening at other terminals in the building. "Normally would tell Rex to get in contact with Chairman's assistants, but they unavailable as well. Niranira has a feeling potentially connected."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The yellow furred nopon frowned. "It possible that current Chairman collaborating with these people. Niranira believe organization is called 'Torna.'"

"Seriously?" That name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before. "But that's horrible!"

"Do not go spreading around. Only speculation for now. Not enough solid evidence to support theory yet. For now, Niranira part of Argentum intelligence and auditing division, so tell Niranira everything that happen. Will get information to right people."

He did. Every detail he could remember of the event of the huge salvaged ship and the members of the group he now knew as 'Torna.' Jin, Malos, Nia and the two Blades with the latter. He stopped, leaving out Gramps' death and his ordeal across Gormott to get to Torigoth.

"Hmm." The nopon closed his eyes in contemplation. "Is most troubling, especially girl with emerald core crystal. Will let families know of incident, as well as alert authorities."

Rex started tapping his foot impatiently. "Is there something I could do to help? I'm in Torigoth right now."

Niranira shook his head. "Unlikely. Truthfully, may be better for Rex to lay low in Torigoth rather than return to Argentum. Niranira will do what he can here."

"So you want me to do nothing?"

"Do not misunderstand. Rex is salvager, not fighter. Or perhaps Rex think he can take on Drivers single-handed? Or even find location when there no indication where they are?"

"Well, no, that's not what I meant, but-"

"Niranira needs time to process how best to use information Rex has given. For now, wait. Contact Niranira later."

"Hey, wait a second-"

The communication cut off.

Rex leaned back in the chair in front of the now dormant terminal with a huff. So he should just do nothing? That wouldn't fly with him. He sighed, and stood. A gormotti man took his place as he left. He closed the door to the building harder than necessary.

Sighing again, he leaned against the building letting the afternoon sun wash over him as he closed his eyes.

His wounds - freshly healed not an hour before by the healer Blade, Vess - itched slightly. A side effect she had said since her handiwork was more of a well applied patch job than a full comprehensive healing.

According to her, Blades with more experience could do way better. Unfortunately, the last one that had that kind of finesse had disappeared from Torigoth a while ago.

What did he do now? Much as he didn't like it, Niranira was right about one thing. If he wanted to fight Torna, he needed more information and some way to fight them.

But it wasn't like he had a spare sword lying around, and if he did, it would've been on Gramps. All the savings he stored had been there too, save for the spending money in his pouch. Maybe if he asked around, he could pick up a quick local salvaging job?

Someone tapped him on his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Found you!"

It was the girl – Blade, he quickly realized from how she looked – from last night, smiling. Something clicked in his mind.

Had she…pickpocketed him? He opened his mouth to ask a question, but stopped when she thrust out the very item he was looking for.

"You dropped this when I accidentally bumped into you last night."

"Oh. Uh thanks, I guess." He accepted the pouch, hesitantly. So, wait. She hadn't tried to pickpocket him? Something about this didn't feel right.

"Praxis, you coming?"

His attention was directed to another Blade. While not exactly the same shade, the ice-blue hair of the other one was close enough that they almost could almost be sisters. Had they coordinated their eyepatches or something? Was that a thing Blades could do? Honestly, he was distracted by just how cool both of them looked.

The Blade in front of him, Praxis apparently, rolled her visible eye. "On my way, Theory!"

He shook off the coolness factor and watched them go carefully for a moment, before shrugging. Not everything had to be against him. Not everything had to be laced with bad intentions, right? This was just a lucky break if there ever was one.

Opening the pouch up, he took a quick inventory of everything. Emergency tools and supplies, his money stash, a trinket he'd found on the ancient ship that he might be able to sell for some pocket change. He frowned, searched again still coming up short.

Gramps' core crystal was missing.

"Hey wait a minute," He ran up to the two Blades, stopping short of them. "You sure there wasn't anything else in here, right?"

They stopped and though it was subtle, Rex caught the glance shared between them, the way their stances shifted, tensed. Praxis looked over her shoulder and shrugged. Her smile felt far less innocent all of a sudden. "Sorry, this was how I found it. Wasn't any core crystal in there."

Rex's eyes narrowed. "Hang on. I didn't say anything about a core crystal." His hand reached back for his broadsword, before he remembered its fate, down at the bottom of the cloud sea at this point. He took a careful half-step back. Titan's foot, he'd rushed in without thinking again.

The other Blade's hand met her forehead, sighing. Rex's eyes widened as a katana formed in her hand. "This is what you get for feeling sorry for him, Praxis. So much for subtlety."

"Wait, what do you-"

His adrenaline surged and he rolled aside of a column of ice that spiked upwards where he had been standing.

"Hey, are you trying to kill me?!"

But the two were already running. He growled in frustration, and after a moment of indecision, started chasing after them.

"Are you certain now is a wise time for this, majesty?"

Emperor Niall nodded to her, a small unprofessional smile gracing his face. "Yes. Officially, you'll be on obligatory leave. No one will be able to object, since as far as I am aware, you've never taken a day off anyways."

Mòrag felt her lips tug into a small frown. "Perhaps. I suppose I did mention traveling to Gormott to check a potential lead on Torna, but are you certain that this is a wise time for this? The senate will raise questions, objections at how sudden this is. Not only that, I'm especially worried about-"

She cut off as he held up a hand for silence. "You've been working yourself to the bone maintaining order around the capital in these troubling times."

"Which is exactly why Brighid and I should remain here. I cannot protect you from these internal threats if I am not present, your majesty. Torna has never made a direct move on the capital, but Brionac may become emboldened when they discover my absence."

"I am aware of the possibility. But I cannot shake the feeling that the potential threat Torna poses extends beyond our borders. Indol agrees with my concerns, and were they on more cordial terms, I'm sure Uraya would as well."

Her hands tightened in unprofessional annoyance at their parade rest behind her back. She quickly stopped when Brighid gave her a subtle nudge through their affinity link, letting out a calming breath, remembering her duty. Architect, Niall looked so small on that throne.

"I understand your worries, sister, but rest assured that Aegaeon and I can hold on our own against whatever the senate brings to bear as well as anything else that comes our way." A small smile graced Niall's lips. "And perhaps you could find time to use this as officially intended?"

Obligatory leave.

Mòrag let out a soft laugh. Was Niall gaining a sense of humor? Shifting in her seat, she adjusted her hat and turned her attention back to the report on her desk.

The missive which Dughall had sent her shortly after her arrival yesterday morning would not normally be her first choice of how to spend her time. It was exaggerative propaganda on how well he was directing Torigoth's economic prosperity. Unfortunately for him, she already knew for a fact it was the current gormotti chieftain who was primarily responsible for that. Dughall was taking undue credit.

Despite that and his pompous attitude, he was a trained Ardainian consul, with all the experience and discipline that came with that. Unfortunately, given that her time here would be relatively short, there was little she could do directly interfere.

A passing cloud momentarily blocked out the mid-afternoon sun shining in through the small window of her office, a remnant of the storm from last night. Though she itched to get outside, as Special Inquisitor, the sight of her walking around town would hinder, not help her current efforts. So, for now, she laid low, waiting.

She glanced up as a knock came on the small office she'd been given in the Ardainian Consulate building.

"Enter."

The door creaked open admitting a soldier in full armor. Her eyes flicked to the name on the plate attached to his uniform. Captain Padraig swiftly stood at attention after shutting the door behind him. "Lady Mòrag, pardon the interruption, but there's been an incident regarding the matter we discussed."

"So soon?" she muttered. Mòrag brushed aside Dughall's missive. Potentially course-correcting Dughall's pompousness could come later. "The core crystal hunters took our bait?"

"No, ma'am, not exactly."

Her eyes narrowed as she folded her hands under her chin. "Is that so? Explain."

"I received word that the two Blades in question were spotted in the area after a brief altercation with a boy exiting the public communications building. After a brief struggle in their favor they ran, with the boy giving chase."

"Possible destinations?"

"Out of town, possibly in the direction of Lascham Island."

"I see. Any information on the boy, or what his connections to them could be?"

"Nothing concrete yet, but it's likely he's from out of town, possibly Ardainian."

Interesting. Could it be infighting between thieves? Either way, this situation wasn't in their favor, and she needed to act quickly. "And Brighid?"

"The Jewel of Mor Ardain was already informed and is on route to intercept. You'll be joining in the pursuit?"

Mòrag adjusted her hat as she stood. "Yes. I will temporarily join with your regiment, captain, following the basic plan I outlined earlier. Remember, we need to capture the Blades and question them, not scare them off. The ether nets are ready, I presume?

"Of course, ma'am!"

"Then dismissed."

"Ma'am!" Padraig let off a smart salute, which she returned before both of them left.

# Initiating automatic data retrieval sequence

# working…

# Errors detected.

# Connection to Trinity Processor Core 'Ontos' failed

# Connection to Trinity Processor Core 'Logos' successful.

# Warning: Severe damage detected. Data corruption detected. Attempting recovery:

# working...

# Attempt partially successful: parsing available data for review.

# Connection to Trinity Processor Core 'Pneuma' successful. Data retrieval successful.

# Caution: Split detected in Trinity Processor Core 'Pneuma'.

# All other data collection processes: normal.

A beat too steady to be her heart thrummed around her sternum. Consciousness returned in a sudden whoomph and Lora's eyes shot open. She quickly sat up-

"Ugh!"

And promptly smacked her nose into the unyielding glass above her. She recoiled back, knees curling up as she clutched her nose. There was a muffled cry of pain from someone else nearby, followed by the muted sound of something shattering. Voices started arguing.

Pulling her hand away from her face, she gingerly prodded what felt like a nasty bruise in the making. Thankfully, her hand didn't come away with any blood, and her nose didn't feel broken, but wow that was tender. Still not the worst way she had ever woken up, but it was certainly up there.

She blinked away the pain and looked around, noting the green ether particles floating about in the enclosed space. She couldn't move much, but wasn't restrained, just confined in what was starting to remind her of a coffin.

Fortunately, before any claustrophobia could set in, the glass above her swung upwards and the green-tinged ether dispersed into the air.

Sitting up, the sounds of humming machinery mixed with the dulcet tones of people arguing filled her ears. She looked over to the source to see Pyra was talking with someone she had never seen before – a black-haired man in bright blue and black armor that looked Tornan made.

In between them, a broken plate with still steaming food spilled out over the metal floor. Was that man a remnant of Addam's militia, or maybe part of his brother's?

She frowned. What was his name?

Ah, whatever. She really couldn't be bothered to remember. Jin could probably tell her. He was always better at remembering stuff like that anyways. Oddly, she didn't spot him around.

"We can save this argument for later, Pyra. It seems the leading lady has awoken." The man in Tornan armor walked over to her, giving her an appraising look. His eyes stopping at her aching nose, before they flicked back and forth between her and Pyra, before adjusting a pair of red-rimmed glasses. "Well now, this is quite a twist now, isn't it?"

"Sorry?"

"Here, let me test a theory. Obrona, mind helping with a little bit of healing?"

A girl – a Blade, she quickly realized – flitted over near her, hovering slightly off the ground, going in lazy circles around the device she was situated in. "Only if you promise to make me the star of your next epic."

The man rolled his eyes. "As I've told you before, my muse doesn't simply bend to your whims. Now, Pyra, stop fretting over the spill and come here. I need you in sight to confirm this."

Pyra seemed to hesitate a moment before letting out a sigh and nodded. "Alright." She was tenderly rubbing her nose which looked like it was bruising. Odd for a Blade.

Doubly strange that it was in the same spot as her own injury. "Pyra, where did you get that?"

Pyra gently shook her head as she approached. "I don't know. One moment I was walking and the next, my nose felt like it had been punched." Her eyes widened when she came close enough to spot Lora's injury, and she rushed the rest the way over, fretting.

That felt weird, coming from her.

"And we get to the crux of the matter. Watch each other closely for a moment. Obrona, if you would?"

The man's Blade lifted her hand which emitted a soft greenish-yellow glow. The throbbing ache in her nose lessened, before it stopped completely, tingling with the hum of electricity. As it happened to her, the bruise on Pyra's nose disappeared as well.

She caught him muttering, "Aegises truly are a world apart."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems your fate is now inexplicably tied to hers, even more so than that of any normal Driver and Blade. If I had to guess, it works both ways. When one of you becomes injured, the other will experience a mirror image of that pain."

She turned to Pyra. "Wait, so you felt it when I banged my nose against the glass?

"That's what it was? No wonder it hurt so much. But, it's okay. I should have realized what sharing my core crystal with you would mean."

A spot near her sternum under her clothes thrummed. Lora turned to the man. "So, who are you? I don't think I caught your name."

"Ah, my mistake." The man swept into a theatrical bow. "I am the legendary Ahkos, and the Blade flitting about you is my understudy, Obrona. To answer what will undoubtedly be your next question, this," he threw his arms out in a sweeping, grand gesture to the open space about them, "is the secondary bridge of the modified Tornan warship, the Marsanes."

It certainly looked impressive, even if she couldn't even begin to guess what anything did. Her gaze stopped above her. "…Why is there a hole in the ceiling?"

She heard Pyra clear her throat, an embarrassed looking smile on her face. "Actually, that was my doing. There was some, ah…fighting when we woke up."

"Yes, blasting a hole in the ceiling, damaging intricate machinery. Our resident mechanic and his assistants want a word with you when you get a moment."

"I said I was sorry…"

"You told that to me, but don't think I've not noticed you steadfastly avoiding them. But I suppose that may be none of my business." Ahkos turned his attention back to her. "Well, no matter. By the way, Lora, indulge my medical curiosity for a moment. How are you feeling?"

"Uh, fine, I suppose." Her nose was certainly better. Lora tilted her head. "Why do you ask?"

"A few reasons. First, you've been out for nearly a week since you awakened."

"That long?" She'd taken long snoozes before after staying up too long before, but a week?

"Quite. Secondly, the device you're sitting on was designed primarily for Blades. flesh eaters to be exact, so I wondered if it had done its work correctly." He glanced at Pyra, specifically at her core crystal. "Though, perhaps in your case, it was close enough."

"I guess?" Was this device being used for Jin? That was...worrying if that was the case.

"Finally, and well," Ahkos sighed. "There's no real good way to break this to you easily, so I'll deliver it straight. You've been essentially frozen in suspended animation, situated in many places, but most recently here, for the past four hundred and ninety-four years."

An involuntary squeak escaped out her mouth. "But that's…you've...but I…" She glanced over to Pyra. "Is that really true?"

Pyra nodded, not quite meeting her eyes.

She took a breath. Well, that was certainly something. Something she could deal with later. Letting the breath out, she swung her legs and placed her boots firmly on the metal floor, stretching out her arms in front of her, earning satisfying popping noises.

"Well, whatever the case, I feel pretty good for someone who's past five hundred. I don't feel a day under five-hundred twenty-one."

Ahkos crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You seem to be taking this in stride."

"However it happened, I'm here now, right?" She glanced down forlornly at the mess of delicious looking, meaty smelling nosh gone to waste on the floor, and her empty stomach squashed in protest. She hadn't felt this hungry since…

She frowned. Since something. The memory wouldn't fully come. Odd.

Shaking her head, she gestured to the food on the floor. "Hopefully this isn't rude, but you don't happen to have more of that, do you? I'm absolutely starving."

"But of course. That was yours before your timely awakening. Let's retire to someplace a little more suited for talking. There's more back in the kitchen if you feel you can stand."

Lora inhaled deeply, drinking in the heavenly scent. "Did Jin make this?"

"Jin?" Ahkos cocked an eyebrow, spoon hovering close to his mouth as he gave her an odd look. "What gave you that impression?"

Pyra spoke up before Lora could respond as she dished out a portion for herself. "No, that was me. I remembered that you like ruby-stew buloofo. It's not an exact replica but the ingredient substitutions turned out just fine."

"O-oh, really?" She put on a strained smile, unease forming in her empty gut as she gazed at the plate full of deliciousness in front of her, suddenly skeptical. It didn't look horrible. In fact, it looked absolutely amazing. But some of Mythra's concoctions looked well enough, but had still put Addam out of commission for the night.

Though, she supposed, Pyra wasn't exactly Mythra.

In the end, her stomach won over. She stuck the spoon in her mouth.

And positively melted in her seat at the meaty explosion of flavor. She honestly couldn't eat the rest of it fast enough. It, and seconds were gone within minutes. Finishing off the last bite, she leaned back satisfied into her chair. She glanced at Pyra, who was busy finishing off her own smaller portion.

"Where did you learn how to cook like this, Pyra?"

"U-uh. Well, you know…I just, followed a recipe."

"Really? Well I'm happy for you." Her stomach was happy too, of course. She turned to Ahkos who had turned to jotting something down in a small notebook. "So, is there some way I could get a crash course on what's been happening in the past five-hundred years or so?"

"That would take quite a while. Luckily, Jin asked me to prepare something for you."

"Oh, no need to go too deep. Just the important bits are fine."

A new voice entered the conversation. "How about I help fill you in?"

Lora felt chills go down her spine at the sound of that voice.

Her adrenaline spiked and she jumped out of the chair, knocking it up into the air with her knee before kicking it towards the source. She spun into a combat stance, Pyra already behind her, her warm, almost burning affinity link established. An unfamiliar red sword blazed to life in her hand. Lora's hand went automatically to unwind her braided whip from her wrist.

It wasn't there.

Seeming to melt out of the shadows, Malos walked into view, smirking, an unfamiliar Blade coming in behind him. The chair she'd launched at him was caught in his hand. He set it down, and didn't attack, but instead leaned against the wall near the fridge, crossing his arms.

She heard Ahkos let out an annoyed sounding groan as his palm hit his forehead.

"I'm flattered you remember me so fondly. Good to see you too, Lora."

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 - Pressure

Lora chanced a quick glance over her shoulder past Pyra, confirming what she already knew. No other exit besides the open archway that led into the kitchen area. She'd seen Malos' flaming artifice sink beneath the cloud sea, heard his agonized scream as he died from Mythra's last attack.

So how was he standing there now?

Her hands clenched, and her eyes searched for another makeshift weapon. Maybe her soup bowl? No, that was stupid. Malos' growing smirk on his face told her he knew exactly how much he was making her panic, and the effect he had on the small room.

She gritted her teeth. "What are you doing here?"

She tensed as Malos lightly pushed off of the wall. She turned her body, careful to keep him fully in view, eyes closely following him as he…grabbed a bowl, walked over to the stove where the pot of still slightly steaming stew in its pot on the stove and ladled himself a helping into his bowl.

"What does it look like?"

It was such an innocent action, but the way he did it, like he was…taunting her, set her instincts aflame. The spot near her sternum thrummed and she felt something…funny. A tickling of fire in her head, connecting to a whisper of darkness.

Was that coming from Pyra's affinity link? Or…

From atop the fridge where Obrona was perched, a wave of red ether spread outwards through the kitchen, and Lora stumbled as the affinity link between her and Pyra abruptly cut. It felt like Haze's power, but the sensation of the ether manipulation, it felt a little like she was choking.

"Much obliged, Obrona." Obrona cut off the field and Ahkos turned to her. "Now I know you're still new, Lora, but please, no fighting in my kitchen. We've lost enough seats in the past as it is." He sighed, turning in his seat to glare at Malos. "I thought I specifically told you to stay away until I had a chance to fully explain the situation."

"Wait," Lora took an angry step forward towards Ahkos, eyes narrowed, "you knew Malos was here?"

Ahkos raised an eyebrow. "Of course. This is his home as well after all."

"He…lives here?"

"Same as the rest of Torna."

"Torna?" she muttered. Torna's people were still alive? Even after Spessia? Something about that didn't add up, but she also really needed to focus because Malos was still in the room right now. She lightly shook her head, dispelling the thought. "But you know what he is, what he's done, right?"

Ahkos adjusted his lenses, and gave an unconcerned shrug. "Malos, one of the Aegises, colloquially known as 'the endbringer.' Responsible for sinking at least three Titans during the Aegis war and causing havoc and mayhem throughout the whole of Alrest."

He said it like he was commenting on the weather.

"Don't forget Noodler's Delight's new favorite customer!" Obrona had gone back nonchalantly dangling her legs over the edge of the fridge, swinging them back and forth in an uneven pattern. "Malos wouldn't shut up about their argentum noodle soup after we first went. Too bad we won't be able to go back to Argentum there after they figure out what you did, hmm?"

"Shut up, you cocky little brat."

"Yes, yes, we're all aware of how disappointed you are they don't do take-out. Thank you, Malos." Ahkos turned back to her. "As you can see, I am quite aware of his resume of past…misdeeds."

"Don't worry." Malos aggressively slurped down a bite of the stew, not bothering with a spoon. "I have no intention of harming Jin's precious Driver. Should've seen the look he gave me when I even joked about it." He took another slurp, making a satisfied sound. "Yeah, no point messing with that, especially in my condition. All I'm doing is taking a lunch break." He gave a nod to Ahkos. "It's good, better than usual, even."

"Actually, it was Pyra who made it, not me."

Malos' eyebrows shot up. "Really now? Well, compliments to the chef. I didn't know you had it in you."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pyra's hand clench, the material of her fingerless gloves creaking as her hand clutched her dormant sword tighter.

Lora flinched as Malos turned his attention back to her. "So, the new Driver of the Aegis, fully awake at last. Honestly, I never thought it'd be you of all people, but maybe I shouldn't be surprised with eyes like that. Intentional or not, I can admire someone who cheats death."

Lora simply glared at him. This was more the Malos she was used to seeing. "I don't need your compliments."

Malos shrugged, taking another sip of stew. It felt ridiculously rude. "So, do you really understand the consequences of what you've done, making yourself her Driver?"

"No, but I don't really care what you think."

"Hmph. Fair enough. So what are you planning on doing? Follow Jin around while we prepare to go to Elysium?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You're going to Elysium?" Why did he want to go there, too?

"Why so interested? Planning on going there yourself?" He knew. She didn't know how, but he knew. "Well, since we're headed that way too, maybe we could give you a lift?"

Pyra stepped forward, moving past Lora, as if protecting her. "And why would we ever accept that, after everything you've done? Why would Jin even think about associating with you after that?"

The humor drained from Malos' face. "And you couldn't be bothered to ask him yourself? Coward. You actually think you still know Jin?"

"And you think you do?"

"Yes."

Lora hadn't felt the familiar icy tug of his affinity link since she'd passed out, which was strange. He'd always send a cold nudge if he was near her, his way of reassuring her when she'd been little, fresh out of that horror. She'd never asked him to stop and over the years it had become his own little way of reassuring her that he was always there for her.

Lora cut in. "Where is he?"

"Out." Ahkos answered. "After two days of brooding and generally getting in the way while I was caring for you during your recovery, we sent him to raid an Ardainian Battleship for core crystals."

Lora's eyes widened. "What?! But Jin would never do something like that." She knew he didn't particularly like fighting, so then why…

"Is that what you really think?" Malos crossed one arm finishing off the last of the stew in his bowl. "You think a man wouldn't change in five-hundred years? You should be ashamed, especially since you're the one who broke him."

"What are you talking about? I would never do anything to harm-"

She cut off as Malos slammed his bowl to the floor, shattering it. Ahkos' hand pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're so selfish, both of you!" Malos glared at her. "You just couldn't bear the thought of being forgotten, not even thinking about what it would do to him, the agony that he would go through. And now you have the gall to think that you think you can just pick back up where you left off when you last saw him and have nothing be different?"

She…didn't know how to respond to that. The silence, heavy in the air, was telling.

After another moment, he turned to Pyra. "And you. You left the world to rot after you couldn't handle the consequences of your own power!"

Lora shook off the guilt enough to focus and cut in, jumping to defend her. "That was only after you provoked her."

"Yes."

She was slightly taken aback, not expecting for him to actually agree with her so readily.

"I had a part in that. But that doesn't excuse her letting that bastard Tornan prince seal her away so she could hide from her problems. You still are, aren't you, Mythra?"

Ahkos rose from his seat. "As much as I'd like to see how this drama develops, we're getting off top-"

"Shut up, and sit down, Ahkos. I'm not finished."

After a moment, Ahkos wisely complied. Obrona giggled from atop the fridge.

Malos took a deep breath and got quieter. "After our battle and after I reconstructed myself, do you want to know how Jin was when I found him? Broken. A husk of a man. I barely recognized him. He kept his promise to never let you go, but in the end all it did was break him. I gave him new direction, purpose, a reason to live. But now that you're alive, I…" He broke off with an exasperated grunt, slamming his fist into the side of the wall.

He almost sounded… jealous? But that couldn't be right. This was Malos.

"Maybe so, but that still doesn't explain why Jin would do something like raid a battleship. Why he would even listen to you in the first place."

Malos let out a long breath, rubbing a hand over a piece of armor covering his core crystal. "These things were so much easier to explain when I had access to up-to-date information."

"Huh?"

"Let's start with something easy. You ever heard of core crystal cleansing?"

"I doubt she'll agree, Jin. You can't have both. Sooner or later, you're going to have to choose."

An ardainian soldier slumped to the ground, not even given enough time to cry out before their life ended.

Live for her.

Fulfill Malos' ambition.

The two contradicting promises raged in a blizzard, swirling around in a storm in his head.

Jin flicked his nodachi to the side and continued to walk steadily forward, even as other soldiers noticed him, raised the alarm, shouting orders, shooting. The ship's alarm began blaring, the sounds warped because of his speed. The incoming soldiers movements were slow, almost comically so, or so it seemed to him.

Of course, nothing about this raid was humorous. He blocked out the noise, the screams, all while moving out of the way and blocking their bullets more on instinct rather than truly paying any real attention to it.

The actions moment by moment were empty.

His body was moving, slicing through the guards on the core crystal shipment ship faster than they could see him move his weapon. But his mind is already back on the Marsanes.

Live for her.

Fulfill Malos' ambition.

His weapon carved through the thick metal bulkhead in front of him, slicing through with ridiculous ease. The ardainian soldiers behind it stood shocked to stillness for a moment until one of them barked an order over the still blaring alarm. The soldiers shot.

It made no difference. He kept walking, moving around and his weapon through.

A hatch opened and out poured Drivers and their Blades. The added challenge took only a little more effort to overcome, and within moments the Blades clattered to the floor, returned to core crystals after their Drivers slumped to the floor, dead.

Live for her.

Fulfill Malos' ambition.

He knows he can't do both. He's seen the world for what it is. But seeing Lora again. That smile.

He touched his horned white mask.

After so long living with the grief, the want, he thought he'd moved on, or at least with Malos, found a new sense of purpose. He thought he'd found a reason for his existence.

Jin blinked, coming to his senses. The sight of the shipments of core crystals from Mor Ardain to Indol made Lora's heart thump angrily in his chest.

Or at least at one point, that's what he'd convinced himself it was. Her anger at seeing the cores treated like bottles on a shelf, tools of war, not beings. A sign she agreed with his actions, if only slightly.

He wasn't so sure anymore.

At one point, centuries ago he'd thought words might reach the people of Alrest, convince them logically of what the core crystal cleansing process was really doing, how unnatural it was. How it was both driven by lust for power, for extra tools to wage warfare while ignoring the treatment of Blades along with the broader ramifications.

If you reset Blades, they couldn't grow into Titans. And without Titans, you'd have no place to live.

The book he'd once written explaining its importance was buried, forgotten like so many of old Torna's teachings. The people he'd once convinced of its importance were long dead by the Praetorium.

After centuries of trying, he'd shrunk into himself and from the sidelines, he'd watched Alrest's steady decline.

Yet now that by some blessing – or maybe it was a curse? – of the Architect, he doesn't know what to think. Lora is only alive because of the Aegis. But he despises her for what she left to rot.

But she also brought Lora back.

An impossibility.

A contradiction.

Live for her.

He'd tried for centuries, until he couldn't do it anymore. Until Malos had come along, he hadn't cared enough to do anything.

Fulfill Malos' ambition.

He promised to get revenge on the ones who were at the root of it. Amalthus and the Architect. He, Malos and the rest of Torna, his new family, would make that a reality. He'd convinced himself that Lora would agree. Maybe she would still.

He glanced behind him at the carnage he'd caused.

Or, maybe she wouldn't.

The blizzard in his mind raged on.

"Malos sure is taking his bloody sweet time. Slacking off when he's part of the reason we have to do this in the first place."

"Patience is a virtue, my lady."

"Yeah, and so is being punctual." Another minute passed. Nia handed Mikhail another tool for the section of wiring he was fixing when he asked for it. She let out an irritated sigh. "You mind going down and seeing what's going on, Dromarch?"

Dromarch, bless 'im, just bobbed his head, and with an 'Of course, my lady,' padded off further into the Marsanes towards the kitchen. Beast-type Blade as he was, he unfortunately wasn't too useful for things that required fingers.

As the newest member of Torna, she was often stuck being the one who just helped out everyone with whatever needed doing. Even things she basically knew nothing about.

She looked back to Mikhail, who was now leaning casually against the wall with what he probably thought was a suave smile stuck on his face. "So, now that we're alone, Nia, how about you and me go find a little place to-"

"Shut your mouth Mik, or I'll shove it so far up your arse that you'll never find it."

A loud clanging noise across the deck made her jump and Cressidus looked over from where he'd dropped a stack of paneling near where she and Mikhail were working.

"My bad." The Blade rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Try to be a little more careful with those, buddy. They're delicate." Mikhail called as Cressidus went to back deeper into the Marsanes.

"Mik, it's just wall panels. It's not like they're gonna snap if you just look at them funny."

"Show's what you know. You bend or dent these guys and the whole wall will look wrong."

"Ah, whatever. Why can't that Pyra girl help out too, eh? She's one of the ones who did this and Aegis or not, she's a fire Blade. So why can't she help us weld or something?"

His demeanor shifted. "Yeah, uh…no thanks."

A cheeky grin lit her face. "What, did you try to ask her out and she rejected you or something? Embarrassed, much?"

He sighed, running a hand through his blond hair. "No it's…complicated."

"Well, it's not like we've got much else to talk about. Go on."

"Pass."

Her grin faded. And she huffed in annoyance. Another long minute or two passed in miserable silence. "Ugh. They're taking a while. How have you put up with Malos for so long?"

Mikhail paused, the tool she'd handed him poised to connect a couple of electrical wires.

"Eh, why'd you stop?"

"You know, there was a time when I couldn't stand Malos."

"You mean every day then?"

"I'm being serious, Nia." He started twisting the new wires together, and though she wasn't an electrician or whatever they were called, it felt like to her that he kept going for longer than was necessary.

He capped off the wire and moved along to the next damaged panel while she heaved a fresh one from the pile Cressidus had brought in into place, and started screwing it in. Malos and Sever would weld them in place whenever they got back.

"Long before you were awakened, I had something like a family. We weren't related by blood, and honestly we traveled more than I liked, but I came to love them like I hadn't anyone before. My childhood before they took me in was hell, but so were a lot of kids. You know why?"

It wasn't hard to guess. "Malos?"

"Yeah, Malos. One of the Titans he helped sink was my home. Mythra, or Pyra as she's calling herself, took major part in that. Then after Indol mopped up the surviving Tornans, I was left alone."

"You're talking about the Aegis War from five-hundred years ago." Nia looked away, crossing her arms. "But that doesn't explain how you can tolerate him. If anything, by the sound of it, you should hate his guts."

"It really doesn't, does it? To be honest, I'm not even sure I know anymore." He let out another big sigh. "There's another thing too. What do you do when suddenly someone you thought was dead comes back into your life?"

They both went silent.

He was talking about the woman in the icicle. The one everyone had refused to talk about until now. Ahkos had asked for her opinion on her health while she was recovering in one of Jin's medical tube things, clearly breathing. Her name was Laura, maybe?

"That's…not something I can really answer for you, Mik."

"Yeah, I guess. Sorry I asked."

Lora fiddled with one of her gloves, still refusing to sit, not quite making eye contact with Malos, but keeping him in sight. "If what you're saying is true, then yes. I agree that it absolutely needs to be stopped."

"You see what I mean?"

"If. I need proof."

"Why not wait for Jin to get back and confirm it? Or better yet, why not go to Indol and see for yourself? I bet the Praetor would just love to see you."

The tension in the small kitchen was still so thick it was almost choking. If she could, Lora would have left ages ago, but the Blade following Malos was still blocking the way out. Atop the fridge Obrona had started humming, ready in case someone tried something, but otherwise tuned out into her own little world.

Right now, Lora envied her.

A hand landed on her shoulder and Lora turned to see Pyra, eyes closed, face scrunched in concentration.

Another pulse from her sternum, another tickle of fire in her mind, followed by a distant jumble of so many things that her head started hurting. She clutched the side of her head with one hand, wincing.

"Pyra, what are you…?"

Pyra opened her eyes, and the uncomfortable sensation stopped. "Malos may be telling the truth. The data, the experiences that funnel back to me from core crystals over Alrest it's...there are so many blank slates. Far more than there should be. And some of the data I'm getting from the Blades." She shook her head sadly, taking her hand off of Lora's shoulder and putting it over her heart. "There are so few ready to become Titans. Compared to back then, it's…"

Lora didn't really understand how Pyra knew that, but she trusted her enough to know she probably knew what she was talking about.

Malos crossed his arms. "So, what are you going to do?"

She was silent. Did she really have to be the one who chose this?

"Lora?" Pyra asked.

Lora bit her lip, thinking. "It sounds like this ritual needs to stop, but I need to see the world for myself. Five-hundred years is a long time, but it can't be as bad as you're saying."

"You've been out of the loop for a while. So, go, and see for yourself all the awful things that humanity has done to the world. I think you'll come to the same conclusions I did."

A white beast-type Blade poked in past Malos' Blade. "Pardon the interruption, but my lady and Mikhail request your presence, master Malos."

Mikhail?

Her heart lurched at the name before she reminded herself of how he was separated from them in their speedy flight from the Tornan Refugee camp. He was human, like her, so it couldn't be the same Mikhail, could it? Her head hurt, trying to remember something that wouldn't come.

"Oh do they now?" The beast Blade stayed silent in the face of Malos' comment, simply sitting on his haunches and staring. "Well, if they insist." He turned back to Lora before he left. "See you around."

She let out a huge whoomph of air once the sound of his and the Blades' footsteps faded. She felt tired, even though she'd just woken up not too long ago. One of Pyra's hands, warm, clutching her hand supportively. "Are you alright, Lora?"

"I'll be fine. I just..." She shook her head. "I really need to get out of this room now." Out of this ship, and into fresh air if possible.

Ahkos stood. "Malos does have a flair for the dramatic when he wants too. Mixed in with the presence he brings into a room, it's quite something isn't it?" He adjusted his lenses, putting on a smug looking smirk. "Of course, it's nowhere near as refined as my own work."

Obrona flitted down from the fridge and began hovering around him. "I know a jealous tone when I hear one."

Ahkos rolled his eyes, ignoring her. "Well, I suppose we can call this a scene for now. I'll show you to the room Jin prepared for you, if you'd like."

"I don't suppose there's a balcony or deck on this ship I could go to? I need some air."

"Sadly we're submerged beneath the cloud sea right now, but once repairs are finished, we're heading near Mor Ardain to check out one of our ventures. That will likely be the soonest we'll breach."

"And Jin?"

"He'll be back soon."

"Alright." It wasn't fine, but she'd live. As she followed Ahkos out of the kitchen, she wished Jin was here.

Chapter Text

"What if I get lost and can't find you?" Lora asked, tugging on the patterned silvery white tails of Jin's armoured coat. She looked up worriedly at Jin as he stopped walking, and clung to him tight.

She didn't ever want to lose him. He protected her after all.

He crouched down, putting his head slightly under her height. Being ten, she still had a ways to grow and looking down to see his eyes was strange to her. "There is a way you can always tell if I'm around. Here."

"Whoa!" She shivered as a chill ran through her, but it felt all...fuzzy. Like her furs. "It feels all tingly."

In the small space between her and Jin, there was a tiny bit of air that went all wavy. She tried to grab at it, but her hand just went right through.

She pouted as Jin chuckled lightly. "You're perceptive for noticing that, but you won't be able to touch it."

"What is it?"

"It's a physical manifestation of our affinity link."

She didn't understand those words, so she just stayed quiet like she normally did when things went over her head.

"Our bond." Jin touched the pretty blue crystal in his forehead, and then touched the same spot on her head. She flinched initially at the contact, expecting something else, but Jin didn't do that. The contradicting feeling of chilliness and fuzziness increased. "It represents how well we know and work with each other."

"Oh!" Lora smiled wide, enjoying the fuzzy feeling. "I like it! Can we keep it going all the time?"

"I can't."

She flinched. "Why not?"

"That would make me very tired very quickly. But I can do it for a while."

"Didn't you say it was some way I could always tell?"

"Heh. Nothing gets past you does it? If I'm further away it would feel more like a nudge than this full link." 

"Can it be our little thing?

He smiled, a small smile. "If you want, sure."

"Mmm, okay."

He stood, and the chilly fuzzy feeling stayed. He held out his hand to her. "Let's go. We have a long walk to the next village. Don't stray too far."

She grabbed his big hand, and for a brief moment, she imagined the little waviness in the air turned gold.

The clap of Lora's armoured boots echoed lightly in the hallway, disappearing into the hum of machinery around her. The air was brisk but not the fresh air she wanted, and the tenuous affinity link from earlier between her and Pyra was warm, but not the comforting chill she was looking for. The lighter pad of Pyra's trod paced behind her, and though Lora couldn't see her, she could feel her concerned stare.

In the face of everything that had just been said, everything she'd just seen and heard in the hours since she'd awoken from a nearly five-hundred year sleep - or whatever you'd call what happened - she couldn't blame Pyra for it. Lora had put on such a brave face in the face of all that was going on, but…

It was just so much.

How had Addam been able to even think when faced with the weight of taking care of the remnants of his people, all while being the Driver of the one who had unintentionally sunk his home beneath the clouds? How did he deal with that weight?

Malos' words to Pyra came back.

Maybe he hadn't.

Addam had sealed her away. Out of sight, out of mind.

Now that she was the Driver of the Aegis, what did that mean for her? Did she have to carry that weight now? A small part of her hoped that since five-hundred years had passed, maybe people wouldn't remember what the Aegis was.

Her hand went to knead her forehead. That was wishful thinking and she knew it. Urgh, so much was happening.

Dragging herself out of her thoughts, she glanced ahead again to the man in blue Tornan armour ahead of her, walking with a confident stride towards an unknown room. Her room, apparently. His Blade still flitted about without a care in the world.

As they passed over a grate that exposed some of the guts of the ship, something started to bug her. There were a lot of parts to it, but… "How large is this ship anyways?" she asked.

"Quite large." Ahkos didn't turn around to answer.

"I...suppose." That was kind vague answer. "But if it really is that large, shouldn't there be more people on it?" It had taken a lot of people to keep Hugo's battleship running, and this seemed like it was just as large, if not larger.

Ahkos chuckled. "So you'd think, but our resident engineer has automated most of it. There are eight of us on board currently, not including Pyra and yourself, and eleven when all of us are here."

Exactly the number that had travelled around in her group in the Aegis War. Not many at all, then. "No wonder the halls feel so empty. It's almost... spooky."

Obrona popped up in front of her and Lora had to stop short as Obrona let out a "woooo~!" while creepily wiggling her fingers in front of Lora. She darted away, cackling to herself before Lora could do anything.

They continued on, and even though it couldn't have been much more than a minute or two, the path from the kitchen to her room through the hall seemed to go on forever. Eventually, Ahkos stopped at a lift, whose doors opened up automatically at his approach.

Turning to her and Pyra he stepped out of the way and gestured forward. "The lead goes first."

She and Pyra glanced at each other, and Pyra shrugged. "Lead?" Lora asked.

Obrona slipped past them into the area and perched on the railing of the circular lift, legs swinging. "Just ignore the fluff. He's trying to get on your good side."

Ahkos narrowed his eyes at Obrona. "I don't spout fluff, much less write it. As usual, my understudy still has a lot to learn."

Lora and Pyra stepped into the enclosure and Ahkos slipped in and pushed a button as the door closed.

A slight flip of her stomach signaled the rise of the lift. Or maybe that was her repressed nerves, or the tightness of the enclosure, or a dozen other things that were whirling about like one of Haze's…

One of Haze's...

She scrunched her eyebrows. One of Haze's what? Why was that name coming to mind so often, so readily? It had happened earlier as well, back in the kitchen, back in…it had been a field, right?

Where Pyra had talked about Elysium. She shivered at the memory.

"So."

She realized that she had been looking down. Ahkos was staring right at her, a finger adjusting his red-rimmed lenses. "You've been rather quiet since our encounter with Malos, Pyra." Ah, not right at her, behind her and to the side where Pyra was. "Though, perhaps as I said then, his stage presence is really quite something else. It's understandable to be intimidated."

Lora glanced back, and to her surprise, saw Pyra's stoned faced glare. "No, that's not it. I'm not intimidated by him at all."

"Really now?" Ahkos crossed his arms. "Then what is it? A leftover grudge, perhaps? Though I'm not privy to the details, Malos has shared some about what happened. My own research into the historical accounts about it are rather...lacking in results. The dramatizations, while often excellently done, don't offer much in the way of clarifying true history."

Wait, there were plays about what had happened?

The bond between her and Pyra flared with a burning indignation. "Why would I forgive him after what he did to Alrest and to me?"

"Ah, so it is personal." His eyes flashed excitedly. "Please, do tell."

Lora stepped in front of Pyra. "Isn't it a bit rude to pry into something like that?"

"It's not often I get another perspective on the Aegis War."

"Aegis war?" Is that what they were calling it?

"Yes, the period nearly 500 years prior when the Aegises ran rampant. Perhaps you'd care to share something Lora? You were in the thick of it, were you not?"

She could feel his eyes bore into her, eager for an answer. She met his stare with silence and a hard glare.

"You're almost as bad as Jin," he muttered, breaking off the stare down. The lift stopped and the doors hissed open a moment later. Ahkos stepped out and gestured down the hall. "No matter. Your room is last on the left."

"Do you want me to stay there?" Lora asked, slipping past him, Pyra following close behind. She definitely wouldn't stay there.

He shrugged. "You can do whatever you like. You aren't a prisoner, and as Pyra can attest to, you're free to roam, so long as you don't get in anyone's way and don't make a mess of the ship. Just be careful where you go, as there's no telling what opposition you might face."

"But we can't leave?"

Ahkos raised an eyebrow. "As I said, the Marsanes is beneath the cloud sea." A slight smirk rose on his face. "Unless you think you can swim up in time, all while dealing with pressure like that?"

"You're dodging the question."

"Perhaps. A thought for you both. We'll be docking soon, as early as tomorrow in Mor Ardain. Entertaining as it could be, I believe it would be unwise for either of you to leave without some form of resolution to this drama floating about. Left to stew on their own, people make their own assumptions, true or not."

Malos could think what he wanted, but she understood what he was saying. "Thanks for the advice."

Ahkos let off a little bow. "You're quite welcome. One last thing, Lora. You and Pyra are in quite a unique position right now, and a number of paths are laid out in front of you. What do you plan to do with this opportunity?"

Thinking for a moment, she looked him dead in the eyes. "Well, that's up to us, isn't it?"

Ahkos smirked. "Well spoken. I wait with bated breath to see what you will do, Driver of the Aegis." The lift doors hissed closed on him, and Lora could hear Obrona giggling through them until the lift moved away.

Lora let out a little sigh, and her shoulders slumped, the tension draining now that she wasn't under pressure. She steered herself towards the door Ahkos had indicated and she heard Pyra follow behind.

She didn't make it far before she felt a hand land on her shoulder. The contact was warm, and there was a slight thrum as she triggered a tenuous affinity link.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." Her hand went to the too-steady beat near her sternum, something she'd noticed when she woke up, but hadn't had time to examine closer. "There's just so much. I'm… confused; overwhelmed, really. It still feels like my memory is slogging through ice right now, and it's making it hard to focus or think straight. I wish that feeling would just go away for a moment."

The hand tightened on her shoulder. "Is...there something I can do to help?"

Lora glanced back to see Pyra's concerned look. "I'm not sure. Unless you can just make that feeling go away for a while somehow?" She smiled and laughed. "No, it's alright. I'll be fine. Maybe you can help answer some questions?"

She saw Pyra bite her lip. "Are you sure you don't want to wait a little bit? You've only been out of the ice for less than a week. And you've only been walking around for less than a couple of hours. Maybe you should take a break, get a little bit of sleep, slow things down."

Lora shook her head. "Tempting, but no. I feel like I've already spent too much time sleeping as it is. Besides, I'm not tired." A lie. She felt exhausted, but it felt like it was just mental exhaustion, something she could push through.

Pyra's hand slipped off her shoulder and the link dissipated. "Well, if you're sure. Let's at least talk in private, not in a hallway."

"Yes, please."

"Sorry!"

"What in the-"

Rex shoved aside a couple of Gormotti gaping ahead at the chaos and destruction left in the wake of the Blade thieves. He couldn't blame them for gawking like this with the mess the thieves were making trying to ditch him.

Not more than a dozen peds ahead, another torrent of water from Praxis blasted aside some more of the crowd, though not without some screams. The already wet street became soaked.

As he ran past the rather confused, scared and somewhat angry populace, he caught sight of them - the thieves, Praxis and Theory - nearly to the arch that marked the entrance to Torigoth. A couple of Ardainian soldiers in a canvas tent nearby the market were shouting something, but he ignored them. His boots splashed into the puddle of the now sopping wet street.

One of the Blades, Theory - the one who had tried to impale him on a spike of ice earlier - twirled around to a stop to face him and stabbed her katana into the wet cobblestone streets of the marketplace.

The soaking cobblestone flash froze, spreading in a wave outward from where she started, and Rex only had a split second to think to jump over the sheet of ice that formed on the street. He landed, skidded a little, waving his arms for balance, before toggling a switch on his belt to deploy the spikes in his boots, one gloved hand going down to the ice to catch himself. Behind him, the fountain stopped bubbling, frozen as well.

Theory's face curled up in an annoyed expression, before darting back to follow Praxis down the long curved wooden ramp that led out of the city.

The rest of those around weren't so lucky, feet trapped in the thin sheet of ice that had spread up to their ankles, locking some of them in place. For the Gormotti, with their bare, but furred feet, that must be painful.

Glancing to the crowd of innocent bystanders - some of them shouting, others screaming, some looking on in mixes of confusion, curiosity or horror - he looked at the escaping thieves. Then back again.

Everything about this stunk, and his heart wrenched to help.

He pushed off of the ice, cool against even his gloved hands and darted after the Blade thieves. He made a mental promise to come back later and help however he could.

I won't lose what Gramps left for me. It was practically all he had left of him now.

Rex kept running, out into the plains of Gormott.

"What is commotion about?" Tora hopped up and down, attempting to see above the crowd in Torigoth's marketplace, but even his relatively tall nopon frame couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on. "Can Poppi tell?"

Out of the corner of Tora's vision, he saw his masterpiece of a creation - the first ever fully complete artificial Blade, culmination of three generationpons of work - tilt her head, servos whirring, an undetectable noise to all those who didn't know what to listen for.

It was worth every bit of debt he'd racked up. Even the last bit for the perfect range sensor.

"Unknown, masterpon. But seems to be very big deal."

Her hat flopped to the side in a very uncute manner. The fasteners holding it in place didn't work properly.

"Maybe there is big-big sale going on? Ooo, Tora hope there one on bion connectors!" It would solve the hat issue quite nicely.

"Poppi somehow doubts that. Masterpon in big debt anyways and should be careful not to get in more. Besides, masterpon is still worried about hat?" Poppi planted her hands proudly on her hips. "Worry not! Poppi is combat ready. Is masterpon who should worry about himself."

Her hat flopped to the other side.

Tora hefted up his mechashifting shield from it's magnetic holster. "Masterpon can take care of himself." With help of Poppi of course. "Have nothing to do with efficiency or readiness. More to do with ahh… image."

"Image?"

"Ahmm...hmm." He put the shield back on it's holster on his back. "How to explain importance..."

"Masterpon, watch out!"

"Wha-meh!"

The metal of her hands pulled him back as a number of Ardainian soldiers carrying heavy armaments nearly smacked into him. Led by a Blade in a blue dress with the tips of their hair on fire, they rushed by, nearly trampling where he'd just been. The crowd parted for the group and Tora briefly spotted what looked like ice on the streets of the marketplace, a path melting in the Blade lady's wake as she passed.

Where on Alrest had that ice come from?

Poppi set him back on the street. "Masterpon needs to be more aware of surroundings."

Tora let out a sigh with a, "Thanks, Poppi," as he smoothed down his rumpled fur. He spent a minute calming his hammering heart.

"Poppi starting to think that disturbance is likely not for a sale."

"And Tora agrees with that." Disappointing as that was. He started walking toward the gap between the crowd, which had already closed up, making it again, nearly impossible to see what was going on. "But why big bully Ardainians in such big hurr-?"

He was cut off as Poppi pulled on his overalls, yanking him back again. And another group of Ardainians - this one headed by someone in dark fancy looking clothes mixed with armour, topped with an interesting looking hat - rushed through. Whispers of "Special Inquisitor Mòrag," rushed through the crowd.

So they were just another self-important bigwig then. Maybe it had something to do with the huge Ardainian Titan Battleship that moved in a couple days ago into the port.

Frustratingly, the crowd closed the gap the Ardainians made after Poppi let him go again, and Tora still couldn't see what was going on.

Poppi let go of the straps of his overalls just in time for him to see even more Ardainian soldiers pass by, but these ones stuck around the main market plaza, and he heard them ordering people around and telling others to stay calm. Tough as it was to admit it, it looked like some of them were helping.

"Whatever is going on must be very big deal if everyone in such a hurry."

Tora crossed his arms, huffing. "Or maybe just making big show. Motion not mean progress. Big bully Ardainians just throwing weight around again." He stamped his feet a little. "Ooo. Makes Tora so mad!"

"Who's the big bully, eh?"

"Ardainians making big show of course-"

Snapping his mouth shut Tora froze as a shadow washed over him, blocking out the light. Nervous heat built under his fur, he slowly turned around and found a bulbous-looking man, decked out in a mix of browns and reds, a poufy looking brown adorning his head. Human fashion never quite made complete sense to Tora, but it seemed this one had rolled in mud with all the brown clothes.

Or maybe that was just Ardainians?

The man's hand fiddled with a thin brown moustache. A hulking, towering Blade was right behind him, a massive hammer slung over his shoulder.

"U-u-ummm… T-tora was talking about… um..."

Poppi stepped up between them and set her hands on her hips. "Ardainians making big deal because special visitor is in town. Big bully man making huge fuss for show, not because he care."

"Yes! Wait, no!" Tora turned behind him to Poppi, whispering near her vocal receptors. "Why did Poppi rat out masterpon's innermost thoughts like that?"

"Masterpon always says to say truth." She didn't change the volume of her voice.

Tora gritted his teeth, hissing out the words. "Not when it about people who right behind them."

She tilted her head and her hat flopped to the side again, eyes looking very confused.

The pompous looking man crossed his arms. "I'm still here, thank you. I know you can't see past your own greedy little nose, but the empire is helping Gormott take care of some core crystal thieves, and Special Inquisitor Mòrag has assigned me, Consul Dughall, to keep the peace while she takes care of them."

"Biggipon sound so proud of it." Tora muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

The man, Dughall, looked over Poppi, eyes stopping at the orange glow of her ether furnace, a facsimile of a Blade core minus the normal blue. He looked back at Tora, eyes narrowing. "Not often you see a nopon Driver. What's your registration number?"

"Ah… registration number?" What on Alrest was that? "O-oh! Is-"

Tora was about to rattle off a random number before Poppi cut him off, stepping forward and proudly setting her hands on her hips. "No registration number needed because Poppi is world's first artificial Blade!"

"Poppi!"

"Artificial Blade, you say?"

Tora was speechless. He was proud of that, and the whole of Alrest should know. But sadly, it seemed he had some explaining to do to Poppi about timing too.

To his surprise, Dughall threw back his head, laughing. "Ridiculous! Artificial Blade? That's the worst excuse I've heard an unregistered Driver make yet."

Tora almost fell over from shock. He didn't believe him. Generationpons worth of work and the death of grampypon, and this roly poly big bully biggipon bigshot didn't believe him, even though the evidence was right in front of him! Tora didn't know what was worse.

"Dolmes, if you will, take these two in for questioning."

"Wait-wait-wait! You have to believe Tora! Was about to go take ride to get registration - code VCH!"

"Code what now? What are you blathering on about, nop-agh!"

The bigwig dum-dum didn't know what hit him as Poppi vented the extra heat from her core furnace in a powerful blast of steam right into his face. Tora ducked around the blast and started dashing away. Good thinking on his part to program that verbal command for Poppi to vent her core heat.

"Run, Poppi!"

"Resisting arrest?" Dughall yelled after them, "That's grounds for imprisonment!"

Tora didn't really care; he had better things to do anyways. Finding dadapon Tatazo, and bringing his grampypon's murder to justice. No sense wasting time dealing with stupid elected officials.

Taking a long route around the inn for his bolt-hole, he could hear the servos of Poppi behind him. He glanced behind him and doubled his efforts. Meh, they were close!

He started fiddling with one of his pouches trying to reach one of the boomer-biters there, which would provide an adequate smoky distraction after he turned this corner.

He heard the sound of something firing and he turned to look.

There was an overwhelming sense of yellow.

The next thing Tora knew he was rolling along the ground as said solid bright glowing yellow something surrounded him. He had a glimpse of a wall of a house, before pain blossomed in his nose. He yowled in agony.

What was that? He wrenched his head in the confines to look near where Poppi should have been beside him to see her surrounded by the same thing. From this angle it looked like a net.

"Masterpon, Poppi feels all tingly." Poppi seemed unaffected by it, still standing upright.

She might have been fine, but Tora felt powerless, especially once his nose started bleeding, and he couldn't reach or activate anything on his shield either. So instead, he shouted. "This just drop in bucket of why Ardainian Empire is biggest bully!"

He saw the boots of the Ardainian bully, Dughall, and looked up. He wished he hadn't with the eyeful of ridiculous nose hair he got.

"Stop making a fuss, Nopon. If I had more time I'd question you right now, but I have more important matters to deal with than unruly Nopon, especially with the Special Inquisitor here. Take them away."

One of the Ardainian soldiers nearby picked him up and Dughall's hulking Blade picked up Poppi and slung her over his shoulder after a different soldier tried and failed to lift her.

Served them right. Stupid empire. Stupid net. Stupid Dughall ruining first day of Poppi being fully activated.

This is last time Tora goes out of house.

Rex skidded through the tall grass next to a fallen log as a swarm of huge, thick bubbles slammed into the rotting wood, sending chunks of it flying, nearly shredding through the whole thing.

If anyone had told him that bubbles could do damage like that before this he'd have laughed, but he'd already seen those same bubbles knock down market stalls and people, so he wasn't taking any chances.

"Ugh, just give up already!"

He peeked over the top of the remains of the log, and saw one of the thieves, Theory, dashing away, while the other stood with megalance in her hand blocking the way.

"Not until you give back Gramp's core crystal!" he yelled back.

Of course, it would have been so much easier if he had his broadsword, or any weapon honestly, but at this point, there was no going back. He started looking for places that he could sneak by and get closer and spotted a nearby boulder that would hopefully hold up as cover better than the nearly non-existent log he was still behind.

The Blade scoffed and Rex could practically see her roll her eyes. "A core crystal's a core crystal. Besides, we don't even have it on us."

"Huh?" He had been about to dash out but stopped short at what she said. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. We don't have your stupid core crystal on us."

"Praxis, they're coming, come on!"

"Who's - agh!"

The other Blade, Theory, waved her partner over and after manipulating the ether with her lance sending another torrent of water his way, Praxis slid down a root system connecting the main part of the Gormotti Titan to a small island. One that would be underneath cloud sea during a high tide. Sputtering out water, Rex dashed over to the boulder he'd spotted earlier.

His mind spun in a whirlwind of ideas of something he could do. Most of them he tossed away immediately because it required a weapon. He only had some salvager tools and his wits, which seemed to be failing him.

He'd rushed in without thinking.

Again.

He froze as he heard a bellowing noise from a titan, mixed with the sounds of machinery. Having spent the most recent part of his life around various titanships, Rex picked up pretty quickly that the sound was from an Ardainian-style Titan airship. His heart rose at the thought of help, even if it did come from the military.

Skimming on the cloud sea fluff, the titanship came out of the cove formed by the rocky body of the Gormott Titan mixed with a nearby hanging root system, coming from the direction of Torigoth's lower port. However, as they quickly got close enough for Rex to see them, from the way they were dressed, the people on it didn't look like Ardainian soldiers. Not one bit.

Now what?

The titanship bobbed to a stop next to the island below.

"Theory, Praxis! How'd it go?" One of the people on board, a largely built Urayan man by the look of it, called down.

"Hook line and sinker!" Praxis sounded so proud of herself. Who in their right mind got proud over causing that kind of chaos for stealing? "But we're coming out a little hot. You?"

They hefted a bag with a sickening smirk on their face. "Same, but we got a massive haul, almost good enough to retire from. The empire's just started doing some Driver recruiting."

Rex wasn't dumb. He could connect the dots. Theory and Praxis were the distractions while the others had nicked the core crystals. They were thieves. There's no reason why they would've caused that big of a ruckus over him if they hadn't wanted something else.

The Urayan tossed up a black core crystal in his hand, catching it easily. "The one you nicked last night is an added bonus, especially since it ain't ever been to Indol. It'll fetch a nice price"

The one from last night. His eyes zeroed in on it. That had to be it. All he had left of Gramps.

"No time for bragging," Theory interrupted. "We've got the empire on our tail."

"We'll be long gone before then. Come on, then."

Rex's heart skipped a beat. Could he really stop this?

But they had Gramp's core crystal.

The Blades were almost on the titanship. No time for thinking. His heart leapt as he leapt to his feet, vaulted over the boulder he hid behind and with all the bravery he could muster, shouted:

"Hey, all of you! What you're doing is sick. It's just wrong, putting all those innocent people at risk for just profit! You're a bunch of lowlifes, the lot of you!"

Praxis turned around one foot on the ramp of the ship. "Oh, you're still here. Quit your high and mighty talk, pipsqueak, no one died."

"Who's the little runt?" It was the Urayan who'd spoken before.

"An unwanted tag-along in our distraction." Theory answered. "He's annoyingly persistent, but he's no one special."

"Gotcha. So no one will miss him. The less witnesses the better. Brio?"

Another man on board nodded. "Got it."

Rex's eyes widened and his heart dropped as he heard the mechanical groan and saw the turret on the deck of the titanship shifting into place towards him.

"Wait, wait, hold up," he yelled, backing up a step, bumping into the rock. "You can't seriously be thinking about-"

"Just shut up already, boy. You're a nobody."

The bark of the turret came as a punctuation to the bandit leader's answer, and Rex barely had enough time to cross his arms over his face, for all the good it would do to protect him.

There was an intense heat, followed by...no pain. He...hadn't just died, had he? He removed his arms from over his face, surprised at the amount of blue he was seeing.

The sky?

Wait, no. That was hair and cloth, not sky. And slight heat from the flaming blue hair.

He took a step back and realized that in front of him, a lady, no a Blade he quickly realized - people didn't just have hair lit with blue fire on the tips normally, after all - was standing in front of him. Something semi-transparent in front of her dissipated, and two thin swords materialized in her hands.

"Who-?"

She didn't turn as she cut off his question. "You're safe, so stop gawking and get out of the way so we can do our job." Her tone was calm, but offered no room for disobedience.

The Blade flicked her swords in a quick up and down motion, and segments he hadn't initially realized were in the swords separated, extending into fiery whips. She sent the whips lancing onto the ground, sending blue flames billowing towards Praxis and Theory, who raised their hands and formed a semi-transparent hexagonal shield that diverted the flames. They left scorch marks in their wake.

More blue flames leapt up around the island creating a tall flaming arena all on the little island, blocking the Blades from the ship.

That was ridiculously cool.

He heard a curse from the direction of the ship. "That's the Jewel!"

"Get us out of here already!"

The titan of the titanship groaned and the engine quickly whirred to a higher gear.

Rex was snapped out of his reverie as he was dragged back away from the Blade lady. He twisted out of the hold of the person dragging him back to see an Ardainian soldier, ridiculous looking helmet and all. "What are you- let go of me!"

"Out of the way, lad. We don't want you getting hurt."

"But they have something I need!" Rex protested.

"Lady Brighid already has it covered."

The soldier wasn't listening.

"But-"

"Look."

Rex complied, and his jaw dropped. He'd expected to see a struggle, and he certainly wasn't disappointed. In the fiery arena she'd created, the Blade - Brighid, apparently - was warring against the two Blade thieves in a fight that easily outstripped anything he'd ever participated in. The Blades whirled about in a cacophony of fire, ice and water mixed with katana, lance and swords that he couldn't keep up with.

Yet it looked like Brighid was not only keeping them back from jumping onto the ship, but winning.

At the sound of loudly rustling grass mixed with the pounding of boots, Rex wrenched his head back towards the soldier just in time to see other Ardainian soldiers anchor what looked like some sort of cannon into the ground. They angled it and shot off a big chain that launched up and punched into the flesh of the thieves titan ship, hooking into it and pulling it down and back towards the little isle. Another cannon and chain followed, holding the ship in place, despite the whine of the engine and the groan of the Titan itself.

The soldier who had pulled him away from Brighid dragged him behind a different rock than he had stood behind before, right as it started being pelted with fire from guns in the thieves in the ship. To both his right and left, the rest of the Ardainian Soldiers started to shoot off suppressing fire towards the ship and the Blade thieves. The others in the ship were fighting back with shots of their own.

Rex heard the mechanical whine of the big turret on the titanship signal it moving again. He peeked out from the rock and caught sight of the Blade thieves busy shielding themselves from the gunfire of the Ardainians. Taking advantage of that, Brighid manoeuvred her flaming whipswords around the shields to rip both of the Blade thieves from the ground and slam them together into the air.

Right into the path of the turret. Just as the turret fired.

He heard the two Blade girls scream as they were blasted away from the grip of the whips and rolled end over end onto the ground of the mainland past where he was.

One didn't get up, and the other struggled. How could either of them try to be standing, much less be alive, after something like that?

The one struggling to get up, Praxis, didn't get far. More Ardainian soldiers rushed out from the trees and quickly fired what looked to be glowing yellow nets at the Blade thieves, knocking her off her feet, entangling both of them. The nets seemed to put both of them out of commission.

He turned back to the titanship, which bucked from renewed fire from the Ardainians, scarring the hull of the ship more. Thankfully, it seemed like the Urayan who'd been tossing around Gramp's core crystal was still there, but a couple of the thieves had fallen. As he looked, one of the chains holding the ship in place was detached and the titanship dipped down into the cloud sea, almost submerging the deck. The other chain was still there holding it in place.

If the other got loose, he might lose...

As if sensing his intentions, the Ardainian put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't get any funny ideas, lad. There's backup on the way."

"That's not what I'm worried about. If they get loose, they have Gramps' core crystal, and I can't just sit around waiting."

The hand on his shoulder got heavier. "You can and you will. Go into a mess like that and you won't make it out alive. I don't want to have to explain what happened to you to your loved ones if you die."

Rex clenched his teeth, but complied. He wouldn't want to see the look on Auntie Corrine's face, or the kids in Fonsett if that happened.

He had to be able do something, but what?

His eyes glanced down at his grapple.

As Mòrag dashed to the scene at Lascham Island, the plan looked as though it was being executed nearly perfectly. However, as she cleared the trees - passing by the Blade thieves trapped in ether nets - she spotted a potential problem.

A boy, possibly the one Captain Padraig had mentioned, dashed out from the cover of a rock towards the thieves' titanship. The turret - an old design dating back to the Coecian-Ardainian war - turned towards the boy. An old one that fired metal slugs.

She increased her pace and shouted; "Brighid, manoeuvre RTS!"

Brighid, by instinct and training, turned and tossed her weapons to Mòrag, and started covering her with her ether barrier from the weapons fire from the thieves. Catching the weapons by the hilts easily, she whipped them out as she continued running. A familiar rush of energy and burning seeped through the core of her being, and she could feel her senses and reflexes sharpen as Brighid established their affinity link.

She would need it for this manoeuvre - one she would have never imagined she would use out of training.

As if trying to escape the turret, or perhaps not noticing it at all, the boy fired a salvager's grapple up to the poorly modified titanship. But it wouldn't be enough time.

Just as the turret fired at the boy, she got into position and twirled the whip around where the slug would be. At the sensation of weight, she spun with the momentum of the slug and slung it back into the turret. The resulting explosion made the titanship buck and knocked down the thieves on the deck.

The boy turned back, his grapple starting to reel up towards the ship, gave a sheepish looking grin and a thumbs up before he turned back. A poor form of thanking her.

"Wasn't that a bit reckless, Lady Mòrag?"

Mòrag readjusted her hat, which had become slightly ajar. "Perhaps, but it was the quickest way to save the civilian and neutralize the threat of the turret."

She could practically see a small upturn of Brighid's lip. "Always the pragmatist."

"Indeed." She retracted the whips into two shortswords and launched herself down to the island, feeling through their link that Brighid was close behind her.

Seeing that the boy was already nearly on the deck of the ship, she increased her pace. Hopping up onto the remaining chain holding the thieves' titanship in place, she started running up it. The increased strength and reflexes from Brighid allowed her to keep her balance as she ascended to the end of the chain and leapt up the last bit to the deck, Brighid with her.

The thieves that had survived the blast had mostly recovered, but she had seen a number of them had retreated below the deck of the ship. Clearly, they had noticed her ascent.

She scanned the deck, noting four thieves still standing. To the side, sitting on the wood, she saw her bait. The core crystals were collected in a simple sack, slightly open which she could see one peeking out the top. It appeared the thieves thought themselves clever, using the Blades as a distraction to steal them.

A large Urayan man levelled a broadsword at her at her approach. She coolly met his eyes as he bellowed and swung down in an overhead swing. Sidestepping the blade, the sword buried itself in the wood and she turned and with a surge of power sent from Brighid's affinity link, kicked him away across the deck of the ship. A single dormant core crystal skittered away from his person.

Strange, there were no dormant crystals among her bait.

Putting that to the side as the other thieves on deck rushed forward, Mòrag quickly passed one of her swords to Brighid when she noticed that two thieves were trying to flank them. Trusting Brighid to deal with one, she sidestepped the stab of the lance of one. She quickly grabbed the shaft and yanked the thief close, kneeing him in the midsection, knocking the wind out of him. Knocking him on the head with the hilt of her sword, she let him fall to the deck.

She was aiming to disable, not kill. They needed some of them alive to question them, to find the connection, if any, to Torna.

She didn't even have to glance over to know that Brighid had handily taken care of the other one. These thieves had no formal training, and she was beginning to suspect that the Drivers of the Blades Brighid's squad had captured were either below deck, or not here at all.

As she calmly walked across the deck to him past two Urayan bodies that had fallen with the explosion of the turret, the large Urayan with the broadsword who she had originally knocked across the deck tried to scramble to his feet. He failed, collapsing on an injured leg that gave out. She pressed the advantage and stepped on his back, pinning him to the ground as she pointed her sword at his throat.

The Urayan twisted his head to the side to look her in the eye. "What does the Flamebringer get out of spending so much on a little group like us, huh? Don't you have more important things to deal with?"

"Spare me the prattle. I've heard it all before." It seemed like every thieving group either played the victim card or did what this man was doing. "Give yourselves up peaceably and no one else will get hurt."

He seemed to consider her offer for a moment, before he spat to the side. "Never. I'd rather die than believe a word that comes from the Ardainian Empire." He chuckled darkly. "All of you are just pawns in a bigger game; even your emperor is nothing but a little-"

Mòrag knocked him out with a kick before he could say something stupid. "So be it."

Her grip on her sword tightened. Looked like it was the hard way. She turned to the hatch leading below deck, accepting the other sword in the pair from Brighid, intent on heading down below, but stopped near the ruined turret as she heard the high-pitched whine of another engine starting.

"Look out!"

Training kicked in at the sound of the warning and she sidestepped an attack and spun towards the aggressor. The aggressor's axe had been blocked by the boy - who had picked up the large Urayan's broadsword. He duelled with one of the Urayans she had assumed was dead on the deck.

She growled in frustration. Him getting involved was a liability, as she would have easily dodged the blow, or had Brighid block it. "Get out of the way before you get hurt, boy!"

"I can handle myself, thank you!"

Tch. Even with good intentions, it was bad when civilians got involved in operations like this. Yet he was doing surprisingly well.

She deliberated how to act without killing either when the other supposedly dead person - an Urayan woman - leapt up and dashed past the duel, knocking the boy out of the way. Mòrag stepped in and blocked the swing of the axe that would have taken the boy's head off, and quickly incapacitated the Urayan man.

The woman dashed past them, the bag of core crystals and the dormant core from earlier clutched tightly to her chest.

But before the thief got to the railing, a grapple - the boy's, she quickly realized - reached out and latched onto the jacket the woman wore. It hitched, but she simply slipped out of it, nimbly keeping hold of the crystals.

At the last second she tripped on the dormant core crystal from earlier, sending it and her tumbling over the edge of the ship.

"No!" the boy yelled, dropping the greatsword as he dived over the railing after her.

Dashing over to the railing of the deck, Mòrag got there just in time to see a smaller titanvessel shoot out from a hatch in the side on the side facing the cloud sea, catching the woman. The boy dived headfirst into the cloud sea afterward.

An escape craft.

Her free gloved hand gripped the metal railing tightly.

"Lady Mòrag, calm yourself."

"I am perfectly calm, Brighid." She glued the image of the retreating titanvessel in her mind and the individuals on its small open deck. As she let go of the railing, she sighed, annoyed. "Indol won't be pleased at the wasted core crystals."

"We can still retrieve them."

"I know." She had already made a mental note to put out a warrant for them. "It isn't a complete loss. We have the Blades, and some of the members of this band of thieves. It should be enough to determine their connection to Torna."

"But you wanted a complete victory. Especially after that man started to insult Emperor Niall."

She started walking away, giving a signal to the squadrons below. "It would have been the preferred outcome, yes. But such is the way these things go."

"What of the civilian boy? Are you going to let him go after how much trouble you went through to save his life?"

"I will ask the captain to keep a lookout for him."

Brighid made a noncommittal 'hmm,' and seemed to let the matter drop as the capture squad fired the other chain again, solidly hooking the ship. Once it stuck into the ship, this time it began reeling the titanship in toward Lascham Island with no more resistance.

Empty your head, Rex.

The memory echoed through his head as the pressure of the cloud sea was built rapidly. But Rex had only one focus. His portable light clipped to his belt shone on and glinted off Gramps' core crystal. Was it just the surroundings or did the core look a little bluer than it had earlier?

Empty your head of thoughts and the pressure won't matter.

His lungs burned as he tried to catch up to the fall of crystal and he kicked faster. And the pressure built even more.

He reached out his hand and swung and missed it.

Reached out again.

Got you.

And he brought the core crystal close to his chest.

There was a glint of light from the core. What was…?

Something in his mind flared to life, a burning, a connection, like something was combing, crawling through the inside of his head.

But Rex pushed on.

The sensation retreated, and the light from the core flared to blinding.

Mòrag let the boarding ramp down onto Lascham island once it was close enough, admitted the waiting squad close to her.

"Capture any remaining crew, and disable the ship," she ordered. "Be on the lookout for traps or any remaining crew. If possible I want to salvage this ship for the empire."

"Inquisitor!" They smartly saluted.

She and Brighid walked past as the soldiers filed onto the ship and she got onto solid ground. Ahead on the island, Captain Padraig stopped and saluted.

"At ease, captain."

"Inquisitor." The captain dropped his salute. "A soldier from Lady Brighid's squad reported to me. He said the civilian boy that was under their watch escaped and-"

He cut off as she held a hand up for silence. "I am aware of the situation, captain. The civilian boy in question jumped off the deck of the titanship into the cloud sea after we subdued those on the deck."

"Should we send a party to keep watch for him?"

Mòrag was about to affirm, but Brighid stepped forward. "I don't believe that that will be necessary, captain. Look past the ship."

Brighid turned and Mòrag followed her pointing finger to see a burst of light from beneath the cloud sea, past where the titanship was now anchored.

"Orders?" the captain asked.

"Stand by but be ready."

"Aye, Inquisitor."

The light died down, and a few long moments passed.

"Contact!" one of the soldiers shouted.

A figure burst from the fluff of the cloud sea, a trail of flames following behind them. Though it was difficult to tell, as they went into the path of the sun, it seemed like the figure was carrying someone.

The trail of flames stopped and the trajectory of the figure was coming right towards them.

Mòrag drew her swords and felt Brighid re-establish their affinity link. She had time to call, "Scatter!" and those on the island dived out of the way as the figure landed hard, sending dirt and dust flying.

At her signal, the soldiers with her surrounded them. The figure tenderly set the boy on the ground. The boy started coughing, and the figure stood to an impressive height, looking to all of them.

The glowing blue core - shaped like the Crest of Leftheria near it's sternum told her it was a Blade.

"Oh, dear." The voice of the Blade was deep and gravelly, though it seemed like there was no ill intent from him. His yellow eyes looked around at the weapons pointed at him. "Seems as though I interrupted something."

The Blade looked at Mòrag as if he could tell she was in charge and inclined his head to her.

"My name is Azurda. It is good to meet you."

Chapter Text

# Beginning troubleshoot on split in Trinity Processor Core 'Pneuma'

# working…

# Information: Trinity Processor Core 'Pneuma' has been networked with 'external memory bank.'

# Warning: 'External memory bank' contains data inconsistent with current database. Data is corrupt. Errors detected.

# Quarantine corrupt data for review, Y/N?

# Y

# working…

# Corrupt data quarantined. Data mining process initiated.

# Attempting full data sync with Trinity Processor Core 'Pneuma,' 'external memory bank' and current database to remove data inconsistencies.

# working…

# Error: some items were unable to sync. Store error data for review: Y/N?

# Y

# Error data storage successful. 'External memory bank' has been updated.

Clink, clink, clink.

The x-shaped emerald crystal near her sternum didn't respond to the tapping of Lora's fingernail, but continued its too-steady rhythmic pulse. She looked up to where Pyra sat demurely in a comfortable looking padded chair facing towards her, and her eyes zeroed in on Pyra's core crystal, missing an x-shaped piece.

The room itself was a simple but homey affair, and its furniture was nice, if nothing special. Even so, Lora could tell it had been prepared with the meticulous kind of care that sometimes felt like only Jin was capable of. There had been a small note from him which she had tucked away to read later.

"Does it...bother you? The core crystal?" Pyra asked, eyes flicking away, looking uneasy.

Shifting on the edge of the surprisingly comfortable bed she sat on, Lora tapped the core crystal with her fingernail again, then tilted her head. "Not really, no. It's just," she hesitated, looking for the right word and settled on, "...different."

"Not what you were expecting?"

Lora gave a wan smile. "That's a good way to put it, I suppose." She looked down and felt the transition between skin and the Core with her finger. Her mind said it should feel like crystal - and to her finger it did - but her body reacted it was almost like sensitive skin. Almost like a burn. "Is this what Blades feel like?"

Pyra chuckled a little.

Lora looked up, confused. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry. I guess I just never thought about it before." Pyra's hand hovered over her part of the emerald core. "My core has just always been a part of me, always there. I never really questioned it."

"That makes sense, but…" A jolt went through Lora's mind and she straightened up on the edge of the bed she sat on. "Wait a second, if I have part of a core crystal, does that make me a Blade?"

Pyra laughed good-naturedly, and then gave a reassuring smile when Lora pouted. "No, you're still just you."

"Oh, okay, that's good." She paused, realizing what she just said. "Not that it would have been a bad thing, but, urm…" she trailed off awkwardly.

"Don't worry. I think I understand what you mean. Despite it all, you're still you, right?"

Nodding, Lora closed her eyes and curled her hand over the crystal, feeling the pulse that continued steadily onward. "I think it's nice, like a physical reminder of the bond we have now."

Opening her eyes, she looked up to Pyra, expecting to see a smile, or something. Instead, Pyra averted her eyes, squeezing her hands together as her fingers fidgeted.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, it's fine." The smile that Pyra put on was strained. Fake.

"...If you say so." Clearly, something was bothering her, but Lora couldn't really put her finger on what it was, and decided to let it go for the moment. "There's something I don't really understand, though." She glanced at the door to the room provided for her. "Back there, in the kitchen, what happened?"

"Which part?"

"After Malos finished talking about the core crystal cleansing, you put your hand on my shoulder. For me, there were just a bunch of images and feelings, things that I couldn't make heads or tails of. It kind of hurt my head, to be honest."

"Sorry, I should've asked before I did that. I won't do it again if you don't want me to."

Lora waved her hands in front of her placatingly. "No, no, it's okay. Maybe just give a warning next time. So...what was that?"

"Well, when I was..." she hesitated. "After Milton passed, Mythra subconsciously put a block on accessing the data of the Blades. I can feel that the information is still flowing up to somewhere, maybe to Father, but I couldn't see it."

Lora tapped the crystal again. "Until this?"

Pyra nodded. "Until this. Through you, I was able to bypass the block that Mythra put up." She chuckled. "It's funny to think that I learned that I could get that information in the first place from Malos, of all people."

"So, does that mean Malos can access it on his own as well?"

"Not anymore. He's hurt, damaged from Mythra's last attack. But before that, he used the Blade data advantage to its fullest when we fought against him in Torna. Imagine, knowing exactly how others fight even though you've never met them."

"That makes a lot of sense. He did seem to know an awful lot about us for having never met before our first fight. It was frustrating. Almost like he knew exactly how to counter us, not just like your foresight, but like he'd fought against us for years before."

"Mm. He had the information, the data...but, even with all of it, I don't think either Malos or I really know anything about who we are, why Father created us different from other Blades."

"Hmm…" Lora tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I can't say I really know either, but at least you're you, right?"

"Am I?"

The wavering statement threw Lora off, and she tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"I'm...not even sure who I am. They say I'm an Aegis, but that's just a title. You and I keep talking about Mythra and I like we're different people, but are we? I have her memories; I can feel what she felt when I remember things. But even then, I feel different."

"Um…"

"How much do I really understand?" Pyra shook her head. "Nothing. I really don't know anything about myself. About who I am."

"But we can figure it out, right?" She tried to give a reassuring smile. "I trust you."

"Maybe...maybe you shouldn't."

Lora was taken aback by that. "...Pyra?"

"I destroyed your home. That," she took a breath, "that killed me inside. All those innocent people who died because of what I did. How you and Jin ended up in this situation because of me. If I was there, if I hadn't let Addam seal me away, I could've…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

Oh.

The feelings that she'd put aside after the Tornan Titan sunk rushed to the surface of her mind. She had had moments where she'd wondered before Spessia, wondered if it would have been better off never meeting Addam and Mythra in the first place. But they had been fleeting moments. After a moment, just like back then, she shoved those doubts and fears aside, even if she was lying to herself.

"That was then, and this is now." Lora looked her way, but it seemed that Pyra was intent on avoiding her gaze. "I have to trust you. We're Driver and Blade, and that means we're one in body and soul." She saw Pyra flinch at Mythra's words being used back at her. Even if they hadn't been Driver and Blade for long, the connection was there. "But more importantly, we're friends, right?"

Pyra fidgeted with her hands, and Lora could practically feel the hesitation in her answer. "I guess."

"I trust you." It was hard, and she didn't fully. She was…scared of what Pyra could do, but Lora shoved aside the niggling doubts and the weight of it's meaning for a moment. She could tell that Pyra needed this right now.

Pyra averted her eyes. "Even...after what I did to your home?"

There was something, a falter in her voice that made Lora stop and think closely about what she said next. Standing up, she walked over to Pyra and crouched down to look at her directly.

"Pyra, look at me," she said softly. Slowly, very slowly, Pyra lifted her head and Lora looked her straight in her red eyes. "I won't pretend that I understand everything that happened then, but it wasn't your fault."

"It is." She shook her head vigorously, "I caused so much grief, hurt so many people."

"You were hurting; Malos was going to destroy everything you came to love."

"But he's still alive!" There were tears starting to form in her eyes. "What I did didn't do anything. Even if I thought it was alright that people died, that it was an acceptable sacrifice, nothing changed! It's worse, Lora."

"Worse? What do you mean?"

"Alrest. When I connected with you, those images you saw, I understood them. I don't get how, but I did. It's...bad. If I hadn't…If I hadn't lost control then-

Lora cut her off by putting her arms around her.

"I don't know what you feel, and I don't think I can fully understand what you're going through. What you went through. But we're here now. Both of us, and we can try and do something about it."

"But what can we do?"

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out together. One step at a time, okay?"

Jin ruffled her hair and she almost reflexively shied away from the gesture, until she remembered Jin wasn't like that. "One moment at a time, Lora."

They stayed there for a time. Though she could tell it wasn't hers, Lora felt relief. Relief mixed with a horrible guilt that wasn't her own.

"...Okay. One step at a time."

She pulled away, leaving her hands on Pyra's shoulders. "Now we just have to figure out the next step, what's right in front of us, right?"

Pyra smiled weakly, nodding. "Yeah."

It was still a smile that didn't reach her eyes, but it was a step. "I'm going to see if I can find some material to make a weapon. I have a sneaking suspicion that we're going to need it."

"I think I know a good place; just...let me compose myself and we'll go."

"Of course." Lora hopped up and clapped her hands together. "We're going to face it all with gusto!"

Pyra wiped her eyes. "Gusto?"

"Yup! We'll start by opening the door, but we'll do it with energy, with enthusiasm." Lora extended her hand. "We'll do it together."

Hesitantly, Pyra took her hand, and Lora lifted her up.

"If you want to talk to her, then just go and do it already."

"Gah!" Heart lurching, Mikhail whipped his head to the side at the sound of Nia's voice, backing up quickly from the door, before his mind registered who it was. Cheeky smile and all.

"Nia." He ran a hand through his hair. "Why'd you have to go and sneak up on me like that?"

She set a hand on her hip, puffing her cheeks out in clear frustration. "I've been standing here at least a minute already. Honestly, I don't think I could've been louder if I tried. You weren't going to try anything sidewise, were you?"

"Of course not." He looked at her unbelieving expression, and promptly changed topics, even if he really hadn't been. "You can't really have been here that long can you?"

"You've been away here longer then I have. We finished welding everything and the walls look just dandy now. No bent panels or anything, I'll have you know."

"Wait, seriously?" Just how long had he been standing in front of this door now? Hours?

"Yeah, I 'volunteered' to go look for you."

To get away from Malos, went the unspoken words. He looked over expecting to see her faithful Blade with her like he always was, but didn't spot him anywhere. "Where's Dromarch?"

She winced, looking slightly guilty. "Holding them off."

"What are you looking at, cat?"

Dromarch's mind ran through an endless array of possibilities of what to say as Malos - arms crossed and annoyance clear on his face - stared straight down at him. Sever lurked behind, adding to the intensity. If his lady wished for him to stall, he would stall.

He cleared his throat.

"Pardon my curiosity, Master Malos, but I can't help but wonder. Do you perchance like…" he scrambled through a number of things before he settled on, "...sweets?"

"...Sweets?"

Malos raised an eyebrow at him, and for an uncomfortably long moment there was silence. His tail twitched. If he needed to, he could probably buy himself time by diving down the hole in the floor. Dromarch felt his fur bristle as the silence ticked onward.

"Yeah, they're not bad. Why do you ask?"

He let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He hadn't planned on Malos actually taking the first thing that came to mind. Now what?

"Ah, well…"

"Talk about throwing the poor guy under a trampling armu," Mikhail muttered, even if he couldn't help but chuckle.

Nia jabbed at his arm with her finger. "Hey, I'm covering your backside too, you know! You're supposed to be directing us on what we can do to fix the big old hole in the floor and you were gone long enough that Malos was getting antsy."

"Oh, right. The hole."

"Yeah, that. Big thing, hard to miss, easy to fall through if you try hard enough. What do we need to do to fix it?"

Mikhail spread his arms in a shrug. "Right now, there's nothing we can do. The Aegis went right through a control core when she sent down that giant pillar of flame. Not only that, but she burned through the spare parts I set down nearby. So we'll have to try and locate them while we're in Mor Ardain. Some of the parts they'll probably have, but some aren't normally just lying around."

"When are we landing?"

"In less than a day." He kneaded his forehead. "Gah, it's going to be such a pain! Getting the parts for the first one was already a hassle and a half."

"Something tells me I'm going to be helping with that," she murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. So...we're done for now?"

"Yeah. You can tell Malos that too before something else gets wrecked."

She rolled her eyes. "You can tell him yourself, after you talk to her."

"Easier said than done, Nia," he muttered. "Besides, what am I supposed to say to her anyways? 'It's good to see you Lora. How've you been?' Nah, that's too cheesy. Maybe, 'remember that quiet kid you used to lug around? Well, he's not dead. Hey wait, you're not dead either? Wow, we have so much in common-'"

"Aaand nope; just going to shoot that down now. Didn't you say she was kind of like your mother? You're not trying to flirt, Mik, just talk."

"You don't think I know that?" He started pacing in front of the door. What did you say when the last thing he remembered of her alive was her telling Haze to take him and run. He could still practically feel the heat of the explosions, Haze wrapping herself around him to protect him, until she returned to her core after Lora...had died.

Except now she wasn't dead. Or maybe she never fully had been?

That wasn't even taking into account that the Aegis was probably in there too, and that was a whole different dance party.

Ugh!

He reached out to the door to knock-

And got a face full of metal as the door swung open, with gusto, slamming into his skull and knocking him away. He let himself melt onto the floor hand clutching his throbbing face. That almost hurt worse than Patroka knocking his face in, but somehow way less satisfying.

"...Ow."

"Hey, are you alright?"

He didn't look at her, but the voice was clearly hers; Lora's. He waved his free hand in dismissal without looking up from the floor. "Just dandy. Just about to do some routine maintenance in the area, don't mind me."

Wow, that hurt.

"Oh, well if you say so. I...don't think I've seen you around yet. What's your name?"

There was a long, awkward silence that he didn't fill. He felt a lot of things he could say rush through his mind, but his throat choked up and he couldn't speak. He seriously wanted to die right now.

"Urm, do you need any help?"

After a moment, Nia came to his rescue. "Nah, he just needs a bit. You can go on ahead if you need to."

"...Alright, if you're sure. Well, it was good to meet you both. You're…?"

"Nia. It was Lora, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Heh, your name's famous around here. Everyone's had nicknames for you while you were in ice. Patroka's called you 'Jin's icicle lady' more than once. Besides, it's hard to miss someone you've only seen frozen in ice talking and walking around all of a sudden."

He heard her chuckle. "I guess I didn't really think about it like that." There was another pause and he could practically feel her looking at him again. "Are you sure you're alright?"

He gave a thumbs up. Please go away.

"Well, if you're sure. See you both later."

The sound of two sets of footsteps echoing in the hall retreating away was eventually sealed by the slight sound of the lift closing.

"Ppft." Nia snorted and then busted out laughing.

Mikhail picked himself up off the floor, sitting up, indignant. He rubbed his face where a bruise was starting to form. Not that it would last long, but it still hurt in the meantime. "What's so funny?"

"You just stayed there on the floor the whole time. Usually you act so suave, but you didn't even try." She let out another snort mixed with a laugh. "You have no idea how much I needed a good laugh, Mik."

"Yeah, yeah; glad you find humour in my misery." Heaving himself off the floor, he started going towards where Lora had gone, ignoring the pain in his face.

"Misery?" He heard her start after him. "Oh c'mon, she was right there and you did nothing. All you had to do was say hi to-"

He whirled around at her. "Shut up!"

Her ears flattened and she narrowed her eyes, shying away a little. "What's got you all worked up? It's not like you can't try and talk to her again."

He hissed out a frustrated breath. What did she know? And even if she was right, it didn't make it any easier. "Yeah. Maybe I'll try again in another five-hundred years."

"Oi, you can't just walk away!"

"Really? Why not?" He threw his hand up in the air dismissively. "And why do you even care, Nia? It's not like you know her. Honestly, I barely even know you."

"So what?" He saw her clench her fist, open, closed, a couple of times. "If I'm going to stay here with Torna, I can't very well just stick with Dromarch all the time, can I? If I'm going to be useful, it'd be good to know who I'm working with, yeah? You included."

He blinked, slightly taken aback. Was she really trying to open up to him, to help him, because she wanted to be useful? No, there was something else to it.

"We can come with you, Master Addam! Mik and I can be useful: we won't get in the way, promise!"

Nia wasn't Milton. Never would be. But...that didn't really matter right? She wasn't a child; she was a Driver, and a flesh eater besides.

Maybe...just maybe, she could be his temporary partner in crime.

"Why are you so silent all of a sudden? You open up to me, but I can't open up to-"

He cut her off. "You know what, why not?"

"Eh?"

"If you want to help out, why not?" He grabbed her hand and despite a hiss of protest, started dragging her into the lift. "You want to be useful? Well how about starting by helping me convince Ahkos to let me take you and Lora out when I go into Mor Ardain to find those parts."

She slammed one of her dormant twin rings into his stomach, and he folded over as the air rushed out of him. "Should've known you were going to drag me out into it." She brushed her arm off where he'd grabbed her. "Just don't do it literally."

Mikhail coughed, sucking in air and then let out a chuckle as he straightened up, smoothing his hair over. "And here I thought you'd be forever aloof. Welcome to Torna, Nia; the greatest bunch of miserable misfits you'll ever find in Alrest."

"Special Inquisitor Mòrag!"

A headache came as Mòrag looked over her shoulder, and suppressed a sigh. "Consul Dughall." Outwardly, she showed no expression, but she was anxious to get to the bottom of this situation and quickly send out a warrant to catch the rest of the thieves' crew. "It seems you were able to keep the peace while I was away."

Even though it wasn't much more than a couple hours.

He perked up. Oddly, his face looked rather red, almost sunburned. "Absolutely, Inquisitor. Order was restored after those Blades," he sneered in the direction of the two Core Crystal thieves in the ether nets, and the conscious one stuck their tongue out at him, "caused a mayhem in the market district."

"That is good to hear." She glanced past him at one of the soldiers struggling with a Nopon writhing around in an ether net. "There were no complications?"

"None, Inquisitor!"

"Big bully man lying! Tora is being arrested for no reason! Tora law abiding citizen!" Behind Dughall, a soldier bopped the Nopon on the nose and the Nopon started yelling what sounded like gibberish profanities.

He whipped his head around. "Quiet, Nopon."

"Who is he, Consul?"

"No one important. Just an unruly Nopon who caused a ruckus. An unregistered Driver." He chuckled. "And what an excuse he had for it too. His Blade claimed that she was an artificial Blade and therefore had no need for a registration number!"

"Really now?" She buried her reaction, keeping a neutral expression, but inwardly it perked her interest. "An artificial Blade?"

"Ridiculous, I know. Can you believe it; artificial Blade. Perish the thought."

Looking around, Mòrag didn't spot anyone else with Dughall's little crew. "Where is the Blade in question?"

He stiffened. "They ah, escaped. From an ether net. A faulty one, no doubt!"

The Nopon blew a raspberry.

"Clearly," she remarked dryly. "If I were you, I would do all in my power to find them. As we are well aware," she sent a meaningful look at the Blade thieves, "Blades are still quite capable on their own."

"Y-yes, Inquisitor!"

She walked away towards the Ardainian consulate office. Another piece to add to the puzzle, but for now, she would focus on the task at hand. Lots and lots of questioning.

She didn't have the title of Special Inquisitor for nothing.

Rex shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to look anywhere but the tired looking dark-haired lady in fancy-looking imperial armour sitting in front of him. Standing behind her and to her right, her Blade - Brighid - watched him. He didn't know how someone could do that with their eyes closed. Come to think of it, he'd never actually seen her open them. Maybe it was a Blade thing?

The room itself had relatively little to look at. There was the desk he sat across, a few storage shelves - mostly barren - and in the corner, a dormant communication terminal sat hooked up on a table.

The lady in front of him cleared her throat. "Are you finding anything interesting?"

He leaned back as casually as he could in the chair, hands lacing behind his head. "If I'm being honest, considering how important you looked, I kind of expected you to have more stuff."

"Ah. This is a temporary abode. I don't suspect I will be here very long before I return to the empire."

"So you're a guest, then? You picked quite a time to get here. Bet you haven't had a break at all."

Amusement peaked through her voice, tinted with tiredness. "You could say that."

What was that about? He shook his head, clearing the thought. "So who are you, anyways?"

"I am Special Inquisitor Mòrag." Rex's eyebrows shot up. That sounds important. "But that is neither here nor there. Do you know why you are here, Rex?"

At the question his eyes widened a moment before he leaned in suspiciously at the lady - Mòrag - looking directly at her brown eyes. "How'd you know my name?"

At his question, he noticed a quiet smirk play out on her lips. "So you do not? Tell me then, what is your association with the Blades, Praxis and Theory?"

"Them? They stole Gramp's core crystal, and I got it back from them." He paused. "With your help, I guess."

There was an amused snort from Brighid, but Mòrag seemed to ignore it. "And where did your grandfather obtain it in the first place?"

"Uh, well, he's not actually my grandpa, but he was definitely old enough to be and then some. Gramps was a Titan, but when he...when he died, the core crystal was all that was left of him."

"Until you awakened the Blade within. He and I have already had a brief visit. He is safe." That explained how she knew his name. "Considering how recently he was awakened, there wasn't much to discuss. Tell me, do you have any idea the danger that you put yourself in when you awakened that Blade?"

"Danger?" He thumped a hand on his chest. "I'm a salvager, diving into the cloud sea since I could walk. It went pretty deep, but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Quite." He saw her close her eyes and she folded her gloved hands under her chin. "When you came in contact with the core crystal in the cloud sea, did you feel anything?"

"Maybe? I don't exactly remember. It's hard to think straight that deep down there, especially without a full salvager suit."

"I see. Allow me to enlighten you. When someone attempts to awaken a Blade, there is a sort of test that happens."

"Test?"

"Not a test as you would take in a classroom, but rather a check of your aptitude, your inherent abilities and nature." Her eyes caught him. "Why do you think that not everyone has a Blade? Wouldn't it be useful?"

Scratching the back of his head, Rex shrugged. "I dunno. I just sort of thought that they were rare."

"Not exactly, but there is more to it. The test that I spoke of, if one fails it, the consequences are quite severe. Typically, there's blood involved, and in rare cases, death."

"So wait, you're saying that if I hadn't passed this aptitude test thing, I would've…?"

"Most likely perished, yes. That you are alive speaks something about you, especially considering that by your description, the core had never been to Indol."

"The Praetorium? What's that got to do with it?"

"Core crystals that have been to Indol have been cleansed. In short, because of it, there's a higher chance of someone awakening a Blade if it has been. But even then, the danger still remains."

Rex didn't really know how to feel about that. On the one hand, it sort of made him feel sort of special, but on the other, it made him feel stupid for not knowing. "Oh."

Brighid crossed her arms, speaking up for the first time. "Just be glad you are alive to speak with us."

Mòrag nodded in agreement. "Indeed. There is no need to look back at what could have been anymore. Which brings us back to my original question. The two core crystal thieves; had you ever met them or the crew they were a part of before yesterday?"

"Not that I can think of. That was the first day that I'd seen those Blade girls. Wait, no the night before last!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Really. Which is it?"

"Sorry, I'd almost forgotten about the first one. One of them, Praxis I think was her name, pick-pocketed me when I got here two nights ago."

"The night of the big storm?" Brighid asked. "Why were you out and about in something like that?"

He shuffled in his seat. "Nothing bad. I just got into town late."

"If you believe we are trying to accuse you of something, put that fear to rest. We simply are trying to sort out the truth."

Yeah, and accusations could come later.

Rex, let out a big sigh. Did he really want to tell that to the Empire? Sure, maybe they could help, but Niranira had already promised to do something with the information. But at the same time, he had a Blade now. He could do more; maybe even fight Malos, and Torna.

But he was bad at lying, and the longer he sat around here, the longer he'd be away from the search. Gramps' advice niggled at the back of his brain.

"Truth has a way of always surfacing eventually, m'boy. Often painfully. Best that you just stick to it."

He sighed, dredging up the memories again. They were still painful to think about. "I was part of an expedition run by the chairman of the Argentum Trade Guild to recover a sunken ship in uncharted territory in the cloud sea."

"I take by your expression that it did not go well?" Mòrag asked.

"You could say that." His fist clenched for a moment thinking about what Malos had done before he let out a breath. Salvagers weren't supposed to be about revenge. "I'm...the only one left."

Mòrag bowed her head and closed her eyes a moment before looking back up at him. "My condolences; I am sorry to hear that."

He waved it off. "It's fine." It wasn't, but he didn't want her to know that. "The fact that I'm alive is good enough for me, so I can repay Torna with a good old fashioned scrap before-"

"Torna?"

The air in the room seemed to shift with the intensity that she interrupted him. He let out a hesitant, "...Um yes? They were the ones who chartered the expedition."

Her eyes flicked to Brighid, then back, and he noticed her sitting up a lot straighter. "I need you to tell me everything you know about them."

Rex's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so interested in them?"

"They are a threat, a menace, far greater than just to you and your little worldview."

"And if I don't tell you?" he ventured.

Brighid spoke up again with a 'hmph.' "Then you will rot in a cell until you do."

He waved his arms in front of him in a placating gesture. "Whoa, whoa! I was just trying to understand what was going on, lady. No need to throw stuff like that around. I'll tell you."

He saw Mòrag relax as she let out a sigh. "I would apologize for our being so direct, but this is important." She gestured to him. "Please."

He thought about it for a moment. "Fine. I took a job from the Argentum trade Guild…"

The metal holding cell door slammed closed and Azurda heard the lock twist closed. A low hum echoed throughout the room.

"Well, this is certainly an eventful first day to be alive," he muttered. Turning about, he viewed the small enclosure of the people calling themselves part of the 'Ardainian Empire,' had put him in. A very basic and no nonsense layout. The only splashes of color were little pillars with green lights on them situated in the room's corners. Something about them put him on edge.

Aside from those and a bed bolted to the opposite wall, there was nothing of note in the room. Well, at least he'd have an interesting story to tell. He'd wager that most couldn't say they'd been imprisoned on the day they were born.

With nothing else to occupy his time, he sat cross-legged in front of the bed on the floor, fearing it may not take his weight. Closing his eyes, he pondered.

From their small talk, the Special Inquisitor of the Ardainian Empire seemed to possess a goodly character. The empire likely wouldn't force him or Rex into anything they didn't want to, but there were certain things that Rex had done that, according to her, were very much illegal and reckless.

And he was the evidence of one of them. So unless Rex wanted to go rogue, they were very much at their mercy. He would follow him regardless of what choice he made.

Breathing in, then out, Azurda sought for the connection he had. The bond was there, and he could feel his Driver, in the relative vicinity of the Ardainian base. Even if he couldn't feel exactly where, he knew Rex was in the Inquisitor's office in the consulate building. Certainly far enough that a link couldn't be established.

But he didn't have much else going on, so why not try? It could be good practice.

However, as he tried, his attempt was met with flat resistance, and a headache. Not even a speck of ether was drawn into him.

Perhaps if he tried harder?

The fire within him flared, but it still wasn't enough. Nothing was coming in.

Breath in.

Out.

But it didn't seem to make a difference. Mostly it made his headache worse.

A nearly imperceptible sparking noise to his left interrupted his meditation. Opening his eyes, he glanced over to the sound to see tiny little sparks of fire arcing out from the metal wall, cutting through it. As he watched, it slowly made a circle.

Quickly standing, he backed away from it. Turning to look at the locked door, then back to the potential intruder, he wondered if he should alert the guards. Not being able to draw in ether from the air had him on edge.

Before he could decide, the sparking from the welding in the wall ceased, and by instinct, Azurda tried to call to his hand his weapon. He was frustrated when it didn't work, and his headache pulsed.

The circle finished and sparks stopped. A long pause followed.

A muted bang followed and instinctively, Azurda caught the thick piece of metal that shot out from the wall with his free hand before it could crash into something. Wincing only slightly at the hot edges of the metal piece, he carefully set it down so as to not make as much more noise.

Looking again to the hole he called softly, "Who's there?"

A small metal fist retreated into the hole and Azurda carefully backed away into a more defensible position. Never hurt to be prepared.

"Poppi comes in peace." The voice that came through was childlike; the voice of a young girl. His mind registered that it was interesting that he knew that distinction, despite having never seen or heard one before.

"Really now?" He glanced back at the still cooling circular piece of metal. Thinking it over, Azurda eventually called. "You might as well come in after going through all the trouble of making your little entryway."

"Affirmative."

On hands and knees, a person - no, a Blade, he quickly realized - scooted through the opening. First, an oversized white floppy cap, covering lilac metallic-looking hair, a bright red tattered looking cape with a white flower pinning it to her. The figure stood to her full height, blinking up at him with orange eyes. She barely came up to Azurda's waist. The rest of her looked metal, but his eyes fixed near her sternum, and at the deep seated feeling of something not right.

Her core crystal was orange.

"Do you know where Masterpon is?" she asked.

"Hmmm," Azurda rumbled, shaking off the discomfort. "I can't say I've met someone with that name yet. Though, perhaps that's not saying much."

The shoulders of the young Blade girl slumped, and she began marching stiffly over to the opposite wall where she had entered. A welding arc popped out of one of her fingers as she approached the wall.

"Now hold on a moment, young lady, it would be rude not to at least tell me your name before you go."

She stopped and abruptly pivoted. "Poppi is Poppi."

"Poppi, eh?" So it was her name. "My name is Azurda. Although I'm afraid I can't tell you too much more than that."

"Poppi pleased to meeting you." She tilted her head. "Why Azurda not tell Poppi more than name? Is horrible dirty secret?"

Azurda chuckled deeply. "Hardly. I don't know too much more than that. This happens to be my first day awakened."

Poppi's eyes widened and she leaned up close. "Is Azurda's first day active as well?" He nodded and her arms started moving in stiff, possibly excited motions, up and down, the fire of the welding arc moving with her. "How long has it been for Azurda?"

"Well, I suppose it can't be too much more than a few hours at this point."

She abruptly stopped moving her arms. The welding arc closed as she set her hands on her hips. "Poppi will impart all of wisdom to Azurda. Poppi has been activated for eighteen more hours."

"Truly? Well, I could use all the wisdom you're willing to give. What can you tell me?"

There was a long moment where Poppi simply stood there.

She blinked twice. "Poppi is unsure. Was so excited to meet someone in similar situation that the information to give was not thought through. Will think deeply about it and let Azurda know."

"I look forward to when you do. So, who is this 'masterpon' you're looking for?"

"Masterpon is masterpon." She stated it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He glanced again at her orange core crystal, mind reeling instinctively at the colour again. "Are they your Driver?"

There was a pause. "Poppi is unsure. Masterpon is one who built Poppi, and cares for Poppi a lot." She looked down as if ashamed. "But Poppi is artificial Blade. Does Azurda know if that makes Masterpon artificial Driver?"

"Hmm." He scratched his chin. "That certainly is a good question." That could be the reason that the orange core crystal looked wrong. "I'm not sure I could say anything for sure from experience, but you came here searching for Masterpon, correct?"

A bobbing nod. "Poppi is on the search."

"A Driver and Blade have a bond that transcends normal friendship, something that connects them from the moment of their awakening." He was surprised when it fell out of his mouth, but it felt right. "Do you feel as though you and they have something like this?"

Poppi was silent. "Poppi does not know."

"While I cannot speak for him, the fact that you are searching for him says something. I believe you have a bond, or at least the start of one. And while it may be different from a normal Driver and Blade, it is there." He tapped her core crystal, or whatever it was.

Poppi's hand hovered over it. "Poppi has a bond." She looked up to him. "Poppi has a bond with Masterpon." He nodded, encouragingly. "Poppi has a bond with Masterpon!"

He hoped desperately that he wasn't lying to her. "You'd better go find him, then."

With a salute and an, "Affirmative!" she crouched and crashed shoulder first through the wall, making an extremely loud noise, and shaking the room.

"Oh dear."

Turning back to the entrance of the cell, he was just in time to see two very concerned guards level their guns at him. They probably thought he had done that.

He pointed at the holes in the walls. "You may have a little problem."

She hadn't expected the boy to have the answers. Out of all that had been detained, he had seemed the least likely to know anything.

One of the thieves, the last one she had interrogated before Rex, had broken under the interrogation and told her everything. Someone had given them a tip and promised to split the profits of the stolen cores. The name they had given was unfamiliar and likely an alias, but she took it down and would look into it.

But this, if this was true, was far worse than simple core crystal piracy.

Mòrag heard her gloves creak as she curled her hand into a fist. After a brooding, uncomfortable silence, she looked up, eyes not quite meeting Rex's. "So that is their aim."

"Huh?"

There were so many implications, each of them worse than the last. She focused and looked him dead in the eyes. "Are you aware of the war which took place nearly five hundred years ago?"

"Uh, maybe?" He seemed uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny. "It does sound familiar, like something Auntie Corrine mentioned at some point. Didn't it have to do something with a really powerful Blade or something?"

Eyes flicking over to Brighid, then back, Mòrag sighed as his naiveté. He was a civilian, and a Leftherian besides. They typically didn't involve themselves too much in world affairs outside of trade and their salvagers.

She nodded. "Indeed, it was a war unlike any Alrest has seen or had since. Three Titans, nations, were sunk beneath the cloud sea, and many others never recovered. The once great nation of Coeia is one such example. Of the Blade you spoke of, history is unclear on them. Most conclude that after the war, the Aegis was either destroyed or lost. Until now, it seems."

"Hold on a second, you're telling me that that girl in the capsule was the Blade that wreaked havoc on Alrest?"

"Correct. History has a tendency to repeat itself and in the hands of Torna, left unchecked, we will see more Titans perish."

"That's horrible! Things are hard enough with everyone already fighting over what little land we have. Why would they do that?"

She let out a breath reminding herself of how young he was. "Sadly, some people just want to see the world burn."

"But there has to be another reason that they're doing this. It can't really be that simple."

"Perhaps. And by the time we figure that out, what if it is too late?"

"But…"

"If they are not stopped, who's to say they won't destroy more Titans, kill more than just soldiers? Tensions will escalate, and wars will inevitably follow." She shook her head. "I cannot afford to take risks with innocent people's lives at stake."

His gritted teeth mixed with his silence was telling of the effect of her words.

"I thank you for sharing this with me, Rex. However, there is one other thing which we need to address. You awakened a Blade without the sanction of any party, which under Indol's law would make you a wanted fugitive."

A slight lie, but close enough to the truth. Given he was Leftherian…

Standing suddenly, the boy's eyes widened. "What?! But that's ridiculous. How was I supposed to know that?"

The bait was taken, and she could practically feel Brighid judging her for it.

"Calm down, boy. Allow me to finish. I have a proposal for you. If you say that you awakened your Blade as part of the Empire's Driver recruitment initiative, you would be fine."

"But that would be lying."

"The alternative is...unpleasant to discuss. Once Driver recruitment ends later this week, I will be returning with the new Driver recruits assigned to Mor Ardain once I conclude my business here. It wouldn't look amiss at all for you to be among them."

She saw him clench his fist. "No. Absolutely not. I won't be a soldier fighting in someone else's war."

Brighid made a 'hmph,' and Mòrag could practically feel her derision through their bond. "You would rather become a wanted fugitive?"

"Yes."

Mòrag raised her eyebrows. "Interesting." He certainly is stubborn. But so was she.

Standing from her seat, the boy backed up, as if he hadn't expected her to do so. She stared him down a moment before she walked away from him the short distance to the window, facing the sun nearly set, trusting Brighid would watch him for any unexpected moves.

"What do you mean, interesting?" he asked.

Setting her hands at parade rest behind her back, she watched the evening crowds go by. "What is your goal, Rex?"

"My...goal?" He sounded taken aback by her sudden change of tactics. Good. "To find Torna and give them a piece of my mind. Maybe have a drink with them afterwards. Whatever happens, I just don't want them to kill any more innocent people."

Ah. Revenge. Perhaps well intentioned, but revenge nonetheless.

"And you expect to do this alone?" Mòrag asked. "From your description, there were at least three members of Torna. Two were Drivers with Blades, and dare I say with far more experience than you at their craft. It's very likely there are more than just them."

"Well…maybe, but-"

"And, suppose they awaken the Aegis and convince her to bond with one of them, fight for their cause. How would you stand against that alone?"

"But I'm a Driver now. I'll find a way. I always have."

She heard Brighid speak. "Your naive optimism is touching, if unwarranted, especially considering that you are still in custody."

Brighid was unyielding as usual, though it was true. He really doesn't comprehend what he's planning on going up against.

"Brighid is right. Custody aside, consider this. Your likelihood of succeeding in your quest is far higher if you join with the empire; the instructors could teach you far more about being a Driver than you would learn on your own. Our goal is the same, to stop the Aegis and Torna from accomplishing their aim."

Turning, Mòrag watched a complicated set of emotions wrest their way over Rex's face. "I get it. I get what you're saying, but how could I fight with a cause that I don't even believe in? The empire is just so...militaristic."

And there it was. The prejudice against the Empire come to rear its ugly head once again. "You say this as though you're an expert on the Ardainian Empire and its people. Why not come and see for yourself?"

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly as I said. Join the recruited Drivers, see for yourself what the Empire is like. Do this and I will help you fight against Torna."

"And if I don't like what I see?"

"There's more to the Ardainian Empire than its soldiers and military. We are an industrious people, Rex. It would help those you want to protect."

A long moment of silence passed, and she saw his fist clench and unclench as he thought. A minute passed until he looked her dead in the eyes.

"Fine."

She expected him to ask for time to think about it, but she wasn't complaining.

"Excellent choice." She stopped herself from smirking. It wasn't appropriate of her station to gloat.

"I'll come with you, but I make no promises about staying with the military." He held out his hand to shake.

She took it. "I believe this has been most productive for both of us." The most productive of all the interrogations from today. Letting go of his hand, she drew out paper from her desk, and wrote a note to the Driver recruiters explaining the situation. Handing the explanation over, she gestured to the door. "Give the recruiters this. They will know what to do. You may go; the guards will lead you and your Blade to them."

He snatched the paper and left without a word. The door closed with a strange sense of finality.

Brighid turned to her and raised her eyebrows. "Another win for you, Lady Mòrag?" Her tone wasn't scathing, but there was some disappointment there.

She allowed a smile to take shape on her face now. "I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about."

"You look far too smug and satisfied for me to believe you. Aside from keeping an eyewitness close, was there any other reason for how much you wanted to recruit the boy, especially with your lie about Driver registration?"

"You know me too well. I don't enjoy wasting life. Even if he turns out to be a horrible Driver, there are other ways to utilize his skills. He is a Salvager, and though reckless, is good at adapting quickly in chaotic situations. Either way, he will be an asset to the Empire, and a life won't be wasted."

"So he's a useful resource."

"Hopefully more. Time will tell."

"At least his information makes your trip here more worthwhile, assuming it's true." An amused smile made its way onto Brighid's face. "If this is the kind of work that gets done, perhaps Emperor Niall should send you on obligatory leave more often."

Mòrag snorted. "If this is how it really always worked, I would take it myself. But no matter."

There was a banging on her door, followed by a soldier barging in without asking. Another part of not being in the empire proper. At least he saluted smartly.

Glancing at his rank, she nodded. "At ease, private. What is it?"

"Ma'am! Consul Dughall sent me to inform you that there's been a breakout on the base!"

Narrowing her eyes, a sinking feeling came into her heart. "Where?"

"From one of the Blade holding cells. A small girl - a Blade - she cut through both the Blade containment cells, crashed through the prison yards and escaped with the Nopon the consul had put in custody."

Never a dull moment.

"Fetch the captain and I will organize a search party," she ordered.

"Ma'am!"

Chapter Text

"Sister, I don't want to fight."

"What can we do to change that, Niall? Mor Ardain is dying, and our people need to eat, just like anyone else. What else can we do but fight for it?"

"...I'll find another way. When I'm emperor, I'll find another way. There's been enough war in Alrest."

"Thankfully, Brionac hasn't made any discernible move, even in your absence. What of the situation in Gormott?"

Emperor Niall's image flickered on the communications console in front of Mòrag. To the side of him, she could just barely see Aegaeon, his Blade, though his image was cut off. Legs crossed, hands folded in her lap, she let out a sigh as she thought of the mess that it was. "Most of it went to plan, but there were some complications. It's something of a developing mess, one I need to get back to as quickly as I can."

"The core crystal thieves?" She nodded at his question. "You've captured and interrogated them already?"

"Yes."

He let out a soft laugh. "That was quicker than I would have expected, even of you. Was there any connection to Torna as you suspected?"

"Nothing conclusive from them at the present moment. The initial round of questioning against the thieves only yielded the name 'Patroka.' It's not one I'm familiar with, unfortunately." She quirked a brow. "You wouldn't happen to know anything of it, your majesty?"

"Sadly, no. If you'd like, I can have some of the intelligence division here begin looking into it, if you would like?"

"That would be agreeable. However, there is a more urgent matter."

"What is it, Inquisitor?"

"During the operation to capture the thieves, a civilian boy, a Leftherian, interfered."

"Was he killed?"

She shook her head. "No, but he did awaken a Blade. He's to be part of the Driver recruitment program."

"That is excellent news. The empire needs all the help it can get nowadays. But, why tell me this? Does he seem promising in some way?"

"Perhaps. He knows Torna."

Though it was harder to tell over the screen, she saw the tell-tale sign of Niall's expression souring a moment before it vanished, a smile plastered itself over his face. "I suppose that's good news. But as much threat as they pose, what else is there that has you so rattled?"

She steeled herself. "If the boy is telling the truth, and I believe he is, Torna was after the Aegis. According to him, Torna already found and retrieved her. The Aegis has returned."

She gave him the shortened version of the story Rex had told her.

It was telling that the only change from Niall was a slight hardening in the eyes, looking somewhat out of place on his young face. Once again, she was reminded of just how quickly he'd had to grow to take his position.

"That is unfortunate: It is also not the first I've heard of it. Not but a scant few hours ago, I received an anonymous tip from someone within the Argentum Trade Guild detailing just this. I was loathe to believe it, but if you have a first-hand witness to it, then…"

As he trailed off, she saw his brow knit, and he seemed to age ten years in a moment. Given how much Niall worked for there to be peace not only in the empire, but as much of Alrest as Mor Ardain had influence over, the prospect of another time like the Aegis war five-hundred years prior seemed to terrify him.

She would never show it to him, but it terrified her as well.

"What do you propose we do, your majesty?"

His eyes snapped back into full focus. "We won't be able to keep something like this quiet, especially since the information is already out there. Rumours are going to spread like wildfire across Alrest. But I don't want to mobilize for a threat just yet."

"I believe that will be wise," Mòrag agreed. "From the descriptions that history gives, if she comes to Mor Ardain with the intent to sink it, there will be little we can do."

Niall nodded. "I will raise the Alba Cavanich military to a quiet state of alert and begin using the aid of the populace to locate her. If we can negotiate with her to prevent her from unleashing destruction, that could work."

"And if the opportunity presents itself, I will attempt to capture her, or failing that, neutralize the threat she poses."

"Very well. Is there any other business to discuss?"

"The remaining situations here in Gormott are developing, and I will update you as I can."

"Very well." He smiled. "Stay safe, Mòrag."

"You do the same, your majesty."

The terminal winked off, and Mòrag closed her eyes as thousands of different thoughts swirled around in her head. She rubbed her eyes. Best to get back to the matters close at hand.

Night had fallen by the time Mòrag made her way out of the consulate office over to the Ardainian base.

The few Gormotti civilians she passed shirked away from her, and the rest gave her cold stares. It was hard to miss the distinct uniform of the special inquisitor after all. Considering how much chaos had happened earlier, she couldn't blame them, even if it wasn't entirely the empire's fault.

By this point, the search party - now headed by Brighid so she could update Niall - was unlikely to come up with anything. She was beginning to suspect they wouldn't find the errant Nopon and his supposedly artificial Blade, at least not by actively searching. A pity, but a less pressing deal than the larger looming matter of Torna and the Aegis.

Entering the base, she found it in a veritable uproar of activity, people running to and fro, some stopping to smartly salute her before passing on, others forgetting. As she passed by the hole running through the Blade detention centre - which was already being cleared and prepared to be patched up diligently by Ardainian engineers and workers - Mòrag couldn't help but wonder if something else would pop up today.

Nearing the centre of the base, she heard before she saw the 'dulcet' tones of Consul Dughall, frantically ordering men and women around. Approaching, Dughall caught sight of her, and finished ordering a harrowed looking worker who saluted and dashed off in a hurry. She turned to where they went and was reminded of why.

The holding cell for non-Blades was completely demolished. She'd seen it before when she initially came to the scene, but it was still impressive in a morbid sort of way.

"Inquisitor, pardon my lack of propriety, but where in the blazes have you been?"

Turning back, she found Dughall attempting to glare a hole through her - his face still red as she now understood from the escaped nopon's Blade blasting him with enough steam to give him what looked to be a bad sunburn. She raised an eyebrow, meeting his gaze, coolly. "Taking care of something pressing, but also confidential."

"And it couldn't have waited until tomorrow?"

"Destroyed property can be rebuilt, but Titans cannot."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I cannot say, but you will know soon enough." Even though the whole of Alrest would know before too long, she knew it would be wise not to spread undue panic, as things like this tended to get out of hand quickly with rumours. She set her hands behind her back. "Even so, I am here now to help. Report, consul."

He muttered something, before clearing his throat, and regaining a sense of composure. "As you likely know, Inquisitor, there was a mass breakout."

"Yes, I had heard." She glanced over again at the demolished building and the cleanup crew clearing out the debris. Unsurprisingly, she spotted the boy Rex and his Blade among those helping out with the couple other Gormotti Driver recruits.

Azurda had seemed innocent of whatever the Nopon's Blade had done, so he and the other recruits were delegated to the hard labour jobs. Rex and the other recruit's training wouldn't officially begin until they went back to the empire. Driver or not, work needed to be done.

"As I said before, even Blades without their Drivers can be dangerous."

Though the amount of destruction was worrying. Just what were they trying to accomplish?

"The stinking Nopon's Blade snuck in and cut through the Blade detention centre first, and after causing a ruckus, literally crashed through the regular detention centre, grabbed the nopon and ran."

"Truly? The Blade in question wasn't affected by the ether dampening field inside the Blade holding cells?"

"Not in the least." She saw him wrinkle his nose in disgust. "Indol must've pulled a fast one on us selling us those things. Faulty pieces of junk."

"I doubt that. The Indoline Pratorium has a good reputation for anything Blade-related it sells. Those cells have worked on other Blades in the past. Their ether nets work like a charm, as you well know."

"Yes, but it doesn't excuse or explain this." He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty brow. "Pah."

"Hmm." From the reports from other officers, she knew that Dughall had a habit of shifting the blame away from himself, often to make himself look better or to save his or, as he supposed, the empire's hide. She started probing. "Perhaps, consul, the Blade's claim of it being artificial had more merit than you first thought?"

He grit his teeth. "It may be, but I still feel it's ridiculous. On another subject, the other detainees from the core crystal thieves that were captured before and still alive were taken from the ensuing debris and moved temporarily to the holding cells on your ship. I hope you don't mind me intruding on that?"

"Not at all. I believe that was wise, so long as there is a place for them here before I depart." And he was also dodging the subject of the supposedly artificial Blade. "Was there anything else?"

"Ah…" He tugged on his collar. "Well, there was also the small matter of the uh… the Blade thieves escaping in the chaos. After Lady Brighid departed to head the search, they knocked out the guards at their cell and slipped out in the chaos."

She shut her eyes a moment, maintaining her composure, before opening them again. "An unfortunate but acceptable loss."

The consul blinked owlishly at her, disbelieving. "We just spent a blasted amount of resources capturing them, and you say it's an acceptable loss? They're the whole reason you came here in the first place, aren't they?"

"I'm officially here on leave and just so happened to be here when they were."

He snorted in a sarcastic laugh. "And I'll believe that story when the second Aegis war starts." He laughed heartily at his own joke.

She forced a faint smirk of amusement onto her face, but behind her back, her hands clenched. He had no idea how close a war like that could be. "My reasons are my own. Be that as it may, the information they and others provided before their escape will be vital in the coming days. Send a missive for their capture and add it to the group they're a part of."

"Of course, but...what should we do about all the damage the thieves caused to the town in their distraction? The Gormotti are already in an uproar about it, but surely you don't expect us to repair that damage from our own funds?"

"Yes, actually. I need you to find some way to repay the Gormotti for the damages that we have brought on them by what happened today."

"What? We're already stretched thin on resources-" She stopped him with a raise of an eyebrow at the lie, he coughed, clearing his throat. "Well, perhaps we're not too stretched thin, but we can't start the precedent of giving handouts every time something bad happens."

"I didn't necessarily mean repay financially, consul. Provide labour, Ardainians to help fix the damage, a show of goodwill, something to build trust." She gestured around to the base and the work being done. "You've done a commendable job in helping solidify the Ardainian presence here in Torigoth, which is a good start, but that is not our ultimate goal."

"The might of the Empire must be known-"

"And in a generation or two when we are throwing ourselves at the feet of the Gormotti for refuge if Mor Ardain becomes unliveable, they will be slow to hear our pleas because of the past. They will care little for our might."

There's been enough war in Alrest.

"That's…" He trailed off in a grunt, which turned into a sigh. "Your counsel is wise, Inquisitor, but no offense meant, compared to Mor Ardain, the soldiers here are nothing but slackers. Once you leave they'll go right back to their old ways. They're not as disciplined as they are in the empire itself."

"Then let me give you a charge, consul. In six months' time, I will visit Torigoth again, and when I do, I will expect the relationship between the Gormotti and Ardainian peoples to be in excellent standing. You will be completely responsible for this. If you do not do this, you will be stripped of your position and replaced with someone else."

His eyes balked. "What? Forgive me for saying this, but that's ridiculous, Inquisitor! What if the Gormotti refuse to change their minds? I have no control over that."

Mòrag met his eyes. "You are completely responsible for this, and if you do not accomplish it, you will be stripped of your position."

"B-but the soldiers; they barely know what basic primary colours are, much less how to be diplomats. You can't seriously expect them to change their attitude, even with a deadline!" Dughall laughed nervously. "You must be kidding."

"They are valued members of the Empire. I will not repeat myself again, Dughall. You are completely responsible for this, and if you do not accomplish it, you will be stripped of your position, no excuses. Are we clear?"

"...Quite clear."

"Good. Now would be a very good time to start. Dismissed." He saluted but afterwards stormed off - making it too easy for anyone to tell how much he was still fuming.

As he passed the clean-up crew, he stopped, whipping to face the workers who had stopped to watch the scene. "Get back to work, slackers!" And then stomped in the direction of the officer's hall, hopefully to begin fulfilling her request. The workers slowly went to comply, muttering amongst themselves.

Bowing her head, Mòrag sighed as she watched him go. It was a start, she supposed, but it would take much more than driving them to work to get things moving in the way she had meant to Dughall. She'd have to talk to him again before she left. The Blade thieves escaping was a loss, but she would take it.

A warm tug of ether in their bond and through it, Mòrag felt Brighid approach. She smiled wanly. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough." Mòrag heard the soft clap of Brighid's journal being closed as Brighid approached. "I felt it interesting to see how you dealt with Dughall's ways."

"Mm." Mòrag nodded, noticing the rest of the workers still watching them out of the corner of their eyes as they worked. "Take away someone's excuses, and often they will step up to the plate. If he does not, well... We shall see."

"Would you care to follow me, lady Mòrag? There's something I need to show you."

"Of course." She fell into one step beside her, noting they were heading towards the Battleship Gladio.

Mòrag allowed silence to reign for a while as they made their way to her battleship, noting that to the side in the port, the thieves' titanship docked on the cloud sea, a few surveyors scoping out what could be done with it.

"I suppose I can assume by your expression earlier that the search party came up short?"

Brighid nodded. "So far. Do you feel we should call off the active search?"

"Mmm. Yes, I feel you should stop for now, but have the guard keep watch, and have Dughall assign someone to post a bounty for the Nopon and the Blade."

The hatch for the ship lowered, ramp extending for them. "Is that what you want? There's no guarantee that bounty hunters or gangs won't be as exact as the empire. After all, I seem to remember you being interested in the mention of the Blade being artificial. We risk them not coming back alive if we aren't careful."

"I am interested, yes, but I can only do so much at once." Around them, the hanger was quiet, yet their footsteps were absorbed by the armaments and weapons stored there. The night guard saluted as they passed. "As you well know, it is difficult to mask our presence, so it will be more effective to have others bring them to us. Lure them into a false sense of security by thinking we have given up the search."

"I'll trust your judgement, lady Mòrag. Were you able to get in contact with Emperor Niall?"

She nodded. "It went about as expected. In order to avoid panic, we'll keep quiet about Torna, but only briefly. I doubt we'll be able to keep the Aegis' return under wraps for long as it seems we weren't the only one looking out for Torna or the Aegis. Niall mentioned that an anonymous source from Argentum contacted him through a secure channel to warn him of the Aegis' impending return."

"How was he able to get through?"

Adjusting her cap, she let out a sigh. "I don't know, but I could tell Aegeon was fretting in the background the whole time. It does seem to add credit to the boy Rex's story." She glanced down at the journal now hanging at Brighid's hip. "Does your journal have any insight on Torna or the Aegis?"

Brighid shook her head, as she tapped the journal she held. "Not this one. The journal from the Aegis War would normally be stored back in Hardhaigh Palace."

"Did you take it with us?"

"That's where we're going. It's in the storage safe in your cabin."

Mòrag let out a small snort of amusement. "Without even asking me?"

Brighid simply smiled in response. "I thought it prudent to do so. I looked through some of the beginning and it was...strange to read, like it was, yet wasn't me; another lifetime. I've done it many times before, but…" She trailed off. "Did you know back then I was handy at picking locks?"

Mòrag chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "It does sound strange, knowing you as I do."

"I can't imagine myself doing that either. With each Driver, I start a new journal. It makes it easy to see how similar yet different I am…"

The conversation trailed off into a moment of contemplative silence, the familiar sounds of the ships' machinery filling it in as they continued trekking up metal stairs and through hallways towards the cabin of her ship.

Brighid eventually broke it. "Did Emperor Niall mention anything about Brionac making a move?"

"No," Mòrag answered. "Despite our absence, they've made no discernible advances. Our informants have also been disturbingly silent."

"Hmm. That's worrying."

"Indeed." She nodded to the guard posted outside her cabin door, who stepped aside, allowing them entrance. Stepping through, the door slid shut behind them.

The room was small, but familiar, given the amount of time she spent travelling. The cabin had a section built like an office, a desk front and centre. To the side, a closed door led to her personal quarters. She bypassed it and headed instead headed for a storage safe sitting at eye-level, built into the wall. "We'll have to focus on Brionac as soon as we get back. I'd like to eventually root them out once and for all preferably before Torna makes a big move. One less looming problem to worry about."

"You never do rest, do you?" When she gave no response as she dialled in the combination, Brighid continued. "You know that working this hard is only going to get you wrinkles."

"Rest can wait for a time." The safe clicked and she popped it open, revealing the contents inside. "Ah, here it is."

She brought out the journal, which she knew couldn't have been the original. Five hundred years wouldn't have left a book as pristine as this one. However, it was a copy, carefully transcribed by diligent scribes in the empire, preserved for the Jewel of Mor Ardain, Brighid. She almost cracked it open right there before she paused, and handed it over to Brighid.

Brighid raised an eyebrow. "You won't pour over it yourself?"

"History or not, it is yours, whether or not you remember it. I shall let you take the responsibility."

"I see that in your own way, you're taking my advice. Ever the pragmatist."

She smiled, and Brighid smiled back, as she took it. "Let us hope it helps."

Nia watched as Mikhail tapped his foot to some inane and imaginary beat. Right now she could tell he was trying to look cool, as the explanation he'd just given to Ahkos hung heavy in the air.

Ahkos crossed his arms, displeasure clear on his face. Obrona giggled behind him. "You truly think this is a good idea, letting both the leading ladies exit the stage so simply and without letting anyone else know?"

"Well," he tried, somehow, to look more casual as he leaned his shoulder on the archway of the control room. The hole in the ceiling still loomed above, likely the next thing she'd be helping out with. "They wouldn't be gone forever, just long enough to get the parts for the control core, and then come back."

Ahkos leaned back from where he'd been fiddling with some data on the side of the medical tube thing she'd seen Lora in.

"Your draft needs work. What if it takes longer than you expect? What happens when Jin comes back and finds his precious Driver gone? What happens when he and Malos discover you let the way for us accessing the World Tree and the Architect go away without even telling them?"

"I…" She watched him trail off, his finger that had been raised in objection lowering slowly. "Those are really good points, actually," he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

Oh boy, here we go.

Nia rolled her eyes and sauntered up. Looks like it was up to her to save face. "If you don't mind me butting in, even with everything you brought up Ahkos, you have to feel it as much as I can. There's tension on the ship, so thick you can practically cut it."

"Well yes, that much is obvious. You don't need the wisdom of the Architect to see that."

"She's right." Mikhail smoothly jumped off of her point. "And if we don't relieve that pressure, something else is liable to burst or break, especially with both Malos and Pyra just a hair away from tearing each other's throats out. There's no telling how much more something like that'll take away our stride."

There he goes.

Nia set a hand on her hip. "And what if Indol catches up to us before we have a chance to do anything?" It was a very real possibility, one she didn't want to think about too much if she didn't have to. "Wouldn't be good if we got stuck doing repair jobs every time someone blows a lid, yeah?"

Ahkos pinched the bridge of his nose. "As interesting as that could be, can we really afford to take that risk?"

"We can't afford not to take that risk, for everyone's sanity, not just mine." Nia insisted. "I for one have had enough experience replacing wall panels for a lifetime."

Mikhail crossed his arms. "She's got a good point. It took me long enough to get this ship in working order anyways, so let's not spoil it because we're being careless. Patroka and Perdido can hold their own while I get what we need. Once we're done, we swing by, grab them, the bots, then boom, we're outta there."

There was so much that could go wrong with what he was saying and they all knew it. A long tense moment of silence was broken only by Obrona humming tunelessly in the background while she perched on the railing nearby, striking different poses.

At last, Ahkos let out an over-dramatic sigh. "I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to put an intermission into this drama, but how will you guarantee that act two will commence in our favour?"

Mik gave a mock salute. "Trust me: we've got it covered, right, Nia?"

"Yeah, sure."

She saw him wince, and she just shrugged slightly in response. It wasn't like she knew if this was going to go well or not.

Seeming to notice their silent conversation, Ahkos let out another sigh. "Dare I ask if the leading ladies are aware of this?"

"That leads into my next question. Do you know where they are?"

Ahkos gave them an unimpressed look. "As it turns out, I saw them heading to your workshop."

She saw him freeze, and she could practically see his heart drop. His voice came out halting, and maybe a little angry. "You saw them where, again?"

"Are you sure it's alright to just use it? It looks locked tight."

Pyra answered Lora's question by typing in on a keypad next to the metal door with a small viewport, and a little light lit up green. The door slid seamlessly open a moment later, and Pyra stepped partway through the opening gesturing through.

"Come right in."

"Uh…" Lora looked at her funny, and after a moment, Pyra stepped inside. Hesitantly, Lora followed her in. "How did you know what the code was?"

"I may or may not have been snooping around before you woke up. Does it look like you could make what you want here?"

Glancing around, her eyes widened. "Whoa, that's...yeah, I think so."

Though the room wasn't the largest she'd seen in the ship so far, it was roomy. Or, at least it would be if it wasn't filled to the brim with stuff. Stepping forward, her fingers brushed over what looked like a half-finished machine, the use of which she had no idea what it would be.

All around there were other machines in various stages of completion. Machines parts of every kind she could think of and more - in various states of repair, rust and use - littered the space. There was probably some form of organization to it, but she couldn't tell what it was.

Hugo would've been in paradise.

As she sifted through the shelves, she started picking out materials she could use. Strong, flexible looking thread and weave, and a couple elemental ether gems. After a few moments of feeling slightly bad about using the expensive looking materials, she remembered how possible it was she'd need this to help fight them.

It wouldn't have been her first time stealing.

Hopefully it won't come to fighting. Driver of the Aegis or not, facing Malos the first time was hard enough, and that had been eight against one.

A bright light automatically flicked on in the back of the room, catching her attention, illuminating Pyra poring over some machine-looking thing laid on a sturdy - and well used looking - bench.

Putting the materials she'd gathered up into a stray container, she carried it over to the bench. Balancing the load in one arm, Lora brushed aside some stray parts on the bench and set the container down. "This should be good enough, though it might take pulling an all-nighter if we want to finish it before we dock in Mor Ardain."

"Do you think they'll willingly let us off the ship?"

"I don't know, but I hope it doesn't come to a fight. Most of the people here on the ship we've met don't seem horrible," Malos being the exception, but even then… "Jin always did have a good judge of character."

"It's been a while since then," Pyra reminded her.

Lora hummed, though she couldn't help but wonder - had Jin really changed as much as Malos said? She'd passed out soon after seeing him, and maybe he'd seemed more sad, but not that different. At least not that she could tell immediately.

She shivered, as an unexplainable cold seeped into her heart, or, where her heart should be. Not comforting at all.

"Something wrong?" Pyra asked.

Lora shook her head. "It's nothing, just a chill. We should probably get out of here as soon as we can. I feel like we're stepping on eggshells here."

"Yeah." Pyra seemed absentminded, fiddling with part of the mechanical creation on the bench until she turned to her, leaning in closer to the materials she'd gathered. "So how do you make it?"

"Honestly, a rope would do just fine so long as I can put this," she hefted one of the elemental gems, tossing it up lightly in the air "on the end of it."

"Really? I thought that you had a whip."

"Nope. I did make the rope myself, but that's all it was."

"Huh. So where did the term 'braided whip' come from?"

Lora flushed. "I...um, named it. People wouldn't trust you to kill monsters as much if you told them your weapon was a rope would they? I'd just as much use punches and kicks as Jin's sword anyways."

"I guess."

Clearing her throat, she picked up some of the weave. "Anyway. Well, it's pretty simple, really. All I have to do is closely weave together the threads fibres of the cord and the weave in a way that'll work how I want it. I'm not exactly sure if this material will work great, but I was going to give it a shot, start it and see if it'll work before I make the whole thing."

"Maybe if you strip it down some, it would work better?"

Lora nodded, looking around, trying to spot a specific tool. "Yeah it would, but that would take time that I don't know if we have, but I'd need something to do it with."

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she looked back to Pyra who now gripped a knife in her hand. "Would this work?"

"It might, but…"

The knife lowered. "It would take too much time." Lora nodded, and Pyra set the blade down on the bench and started sifting through the pile near the machine. "He probably keeps his tools nearby so if he has one we'll probably find...it..."

Lora looked away from her search as Pyra cut off abruptly. "What is it?"

Quietly, tenderly, Pyra's right hand retrieved a small wooden photo frame. Lora leaned over and tilted her head to get a better look. Inside the frame, lay an old faded picture, frayed near the edges.

"I remember taking that photograph," and how it was originally just supposed to be her and Jin, "but what's a copy of it doing here?" Lora asked.

Her eyes brushed over all the people and Blades in there. Addam, Minoth, Mythra, Hugo, Brighid, Aegeon, Mikhail, Milton, Jin and herself. But who was the other woman to the right of her? Lora didn't recognize her.

Pyra's hand clenched on the glass of the frame, her thumb covering up the part on the right that showed Mythra. "Because it's Mikhail's."

Tearing her eyes away from the photo, Lora's forehead scrunched in confusion. "Mikhail? Are you sure? He's just a kid."

"Five-hundred years later, remember?"

Oh, right. "But how would he be alive?"

Pyra set the picture face down on the bench, cutting off her view of the unknown woman. "We're here."

The steady beat of the shared core crystal seemed to pulse for a moment. "My situation isn't exactly normal, and Mikhail isn't a Blade like you. As much as I'd love to see him again, he'd have to be...well."

Even though saying that made her heart wrench. Memory of her heart?

"I'm not so sure. You remember the ship's engineer, what he looked like?"

Lora crossed her arms in thought. "He didn't show his face, but he sort of looked like him, if he was older. But," she looked pointedly at Pyra, "like everyone keeps saying, almost five-hundred years have gone by."

"It's not just that. He's specifically avoiding me, and every time I catch a glimpse of his face there's a lot of anger there. I think I know why. Do you remember what happened after Torna sunk, on the ship?"

Lora shuddered, remembering Mythra's anguished scream. "How could I forget?"

"I think he still blames me for it." Pyra's left hand hovered over her part of the core. "There's something else too, a feeling I have," and her right hand went to hover over Lora's shoulder, but she stopped short. "Do you mind if I…?"

"Is it going to hurt like it did last time?"

"Probably, but it'd be the easiest way to check."

"Go ahead, then." Lora smiled encouragingly, despite the trepidation she felt. "I think I'll be ready for it this time."

Pyra averted her eyes, smiling a brief moment before it faded as her hand landed on Lora's shoulder. The core thrummed, and the link burned hot.

The images and feelings returned, but this time Lora tried focusing on them. It still hurt her head, maybe even more when she concentrated on them. The images swirled to a stop and a feeling of darkness pervaded. The clear image of a pair of war fans - Blade weapons - dancing in hands that weren't hers, paired with a feeling of lightness, quickness of feet.

An image of an unfamiliar Blade holding those weapons came to view. Lora didn't recognize her.

She felt the hand left her shoulder jerk back and the images sharply, painfully, cut out as Pyra abruptly pulled back in a gasp.

Blinking back pain in her head, Lora asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's...I don't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"This," she breathed in a steadying breath, shaking her head as if to clear something, "this isn't right. I'd need to see him in person to make sure, but-"

Lora breathed in sharply as the door slid open, and both she and Pyra abruptly turned to face a large hulking Blade, carrying a bunch of metal panels in one arm. She felt like a kid again, caught stealing sweets before Jin corrected her.

"You!" The Blade looked intently at her, his glowing blue eyes peering out of a golden face mask framed by long thick red hair flowing from the sides of his head. His massive hand jabbed a finger to point directly at her. "You're Jin's icicle lady."

It was a statement more than a question. It was the second time she'd heard that nickname and Lora wasn't sure how she felt about it. She supposed it was weirdly charming, in a way.

"Kind of you to notice."

He laughed bombastically, surprising Lora. "I, the amazing Cressidus, have something for you."

"Huh?" The panels were carefully laid to one side and he walked right up to her and extended a massive open hand. "You do?"

Looking down, in the centre of his massive hand, was a golden pin attached to a red bar. The pin she'd been given to commemorate being knighted in Torna. "When you first woke up, it dropped on the floor. No one else noticed it but me. I meant to give it back for a while, but you were recovering. It is yours, right?"

Carefully picking it out of his massive open palm, she examined it. Glancing down to where it should be, sure enough, it wasn't pinned above her breast. "Thank you." Even though she wasn't sure how much it meant now that the Tornan Titan was no more. It only felt like yesterday that the knighting ceremony had taken place. Her hand clenched over it.

The Blade turned his attention to Pyra, making the same kind of dramatic pointing motion to her that he'd done to Lora. "Ahkos said that you made the food that's in the kitchen. Is that right?"

Pyra tilted her head quizzically. "Yes."

He let that hang in the air before he busted out laughing again. "That's the best stuff I've tasted in a long time! I don't even know what it was, but it had tons of protein. Filled me right up, and healthy to boot." There was an awkward pause. "Since you're not really supposed to be in here, can you make it again sometime? Ahkos doesn't use a lot of meat in his cooking."

Clapping her hands together, Pyra smiled brightly. "Of course! I would be happy to." She glanced at him, then her, then the materials Lora had gathered. "By the way, Cressidus, do you know your way around this workshop?"

He pounded his chest proudly. "Amazingly well. Mik lets me help out a lot, but I'm not the best with little detailed stuff like he likes to work on."

Pyra glanced at her, and her smile turned conniving before she turned back to Cressidus. "Maybe, if you help us out, I can cook you a big juicy armu steak once we get to Mor Ardain."

Lora's mouth watered at the sound of that, even though she'd eaten not but a few hours ago. "Save some for me too."

Pyra nodded. "Chef Pyra is on the job!"

He punched his massive fists together. "Sounds like a fantastic deal to me! What are you looking for?"

Mikhail turned away from the small glass viewport of the closed metal door of his workshop, resisting the urge to hit something in frustration.

"What's going on?"

He turned to Nia. "They're in my workshop."

"Well, that's where Ahkos said they'd be, wasn't it?"

"They're working at my bench, Nia," he whispered.

"...Yeah, and?"

"I don't think you understand. They're working at my bench."

"Uh…"

She wouldn't understand.

A loud bout of laughter leaked through the door.

He ran a hand through his hair after he glanced through the viewport again. "Aaannd Cressidus is helping them, because of course he's helping them, because the Aegis can actually cook now, and cook well - as if that isn't confusing enough - and I'm freaking out a little right now."

"Geez, Mik, calm down a second and breathe already. It's not like they're going to wreck anything in there."

"You don't know Cressidus like I do. The big guy knows his stuff, but he's not good at fine details, or being careful."

"Well stop worrying about it and just go on and talk to them. Where's all the confidence you had when talking to Ahkos gone to?"

"This is different. The Aegis is in there."

She crossed her arms. "Pyra? How does that make it different? Sure she's 'the Aegis' or whatever, but big deal. Lora is Pyra's Driver, so you're bound to find both of them together, especially from what I've figured about them is true."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"Well, think about it. They came from the same time, and both don't really know what's going on. It's like they're out of their element. With all that, it's only natural that they're sticking together."

Mikhail let out a long stabilizing breath. This was going to be rough. "The Aegis killed my friend, Nia." He paced around, letting that sink in. "Yeah, Malos may have goaded her into it, yeah, maybe it was an 'accident' but it was her. She was the one who sunk old Torna."

"...Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' Do you see why I don't trust her now?"

Her ears flattened, and she looked away. "I think I do. But you don't have to trust someone to be in the same room with them."

"You think I don't know that?"

"Besides," she lightly punched his arm, "I'll be here to back you up."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"'Course it is. I backed you up with Ahkos, didn't I? I wouldn't back down at this point. So, are you going to punch in the code or what?"

Steeling his nerves, he punched in the code as an answer. However, the pep talk still didn't prepare him to see her again.

At the sound of the door opening, the group inside turned. Cressidus was hefting the prototype Blade bot; Lora had what looked like the start of some sort of charm in her hand, a cut elemental ether gem weaved into it. The Aegis was holding a knife.

Why is she holding a knife?

All the attention was on him.

So he did what he did best.

Faked it.

Putting on a suave smile, he spread his arms wide as he walked in. "Cressidus! You started a party with these two lovely ladies without me?" He shook his head disapprovingly. "Way to let a man down. At least invite me to be your wingman next time."

The sound of Nia's hand hitting her forehead was encouraging. So much for backup.

He saw Cressidus step up in front of the other two, his massive from nearly blocking Mikhail's view of them. He held out his hands placatingly. "It's not what it looks like."

He pointed a finger accusingly. "Yeah, you totally didn't let them in here on a food bribe."

"I was just dropping off the extra panels. They were already in here when I got here."

The finger lowered. "Wait, what?" If that was the case, they'd snuck in.

Lora poked her head out from around Cressidus. "Sorry, we should have asked."

Nia shoved her way past him. "What Mik is trying to say is that he wanted to talk to you all."

"Way to take the wind out of my step," he muttered to her. He stumbled as she just shoved him forward in response. She really needed to work on playing off each other if this little partnership thing was going to work. He awkwardly turned and let out a suave wave. "Hey, Lora. Long time no see."

"Mikhail." There was disbelief clear in her eyes as she saw, really saw him, not the hazy, unclear stare in her eyes when she first awakened. "Is it really you?"

"...Yeah."

He wasn't sure how to react as she ran out and his breath was knocked out as she practically tackled him, and wrapped her arms around him. She was a lot shorter than he remembered.

"Thank you. For being here."

What was he supposed to do? He just felt awkward, and maybe a little warm. In the end he decided it was sort of okay and awkwardly patted Lora's back.

She released the hug, and backed up, sizing him up. "Wow, you really have grown." She set her hands on her hips, a teasing smile forming on her face. "What happened to the quiet boy back in Torna?"

Alrest happened. Amalthus happened.

He didn't say that, and instead, letting out an uncomfortable chuckle, his hand went to scratch the back of his head. "It's…" he sighed, unsure of how much he wanted to lay on her right now. "Let's just say it's a long story."

He saw her glance at the Aegis, and some sort of silent conversation went on for a second before Lora lightly shook her head before turning back. "Well, if you don't want to talk about it, that's alright. You don't have to." She smiled, and he pointedly ignored the Aegis close by, scrutinizing him. "I'm just so happy you're here."

Feeling a light punch on his arm, he glanced beside him to see Nia give him an encouragingly cheeky grin and a victory sign as she walked up. He gave a grin of his own, a smile. Maybe the first real one in a while.

For now, maybe it was enough, even if he knew it wouldn't last.

"Yeah. Me too, Lora."

Chapter Text

"So, we meet at last, Nopon."

The growing light of the sun reflected off the poof of the cloud sea as dawn got ready to break, though it was muted by the overcast sky. The noises of the city of Torigoth waking up greeted Tora's ears, and the scent of a sweet pastry baking wafted out of a nearby window, running up his still tender nose.

Even though a week had passed since his capture and quick escape from the Ardainians - done with the help of Poppi - his sense of smell still didn't quite work right.

Not that having that would really help right now

The shadow of a lean, but muscular Gormotti man towered over him. Bare chested, tattooed with viscous looking patterns, a dark cloth mask wrapped around the lower part of his face, he oozed intimidation, fear and just about every other bad thing he could think of.

"No where else to run, no more excuses you can make. Are you ready to pay up?"

Gulping, Tora looked behind him. Nothing but a cliff leading down to the cloud sea at low tide to where the Gormotti man had chased and cornered him and Poppi. Only a few steps towards an untimely fall. Further out, the gigantic Ardainian battleship loomed, and he could just barely make out workers and soldiers finishing preparations for launch.

He turned back, waving his head wings charmingly. "Uh, no worry, no worry! Tora is very close to getting funds to pay for this month's payments-"

The Gormotti crossed his arms. "And the last six months as well. Interest included."

"O-oh, really? Tora thought it was only one month behind."

"Masterpon, that was amount last set of debt collectors say you were behind in paying." Poppi shook her head. "Should keep record straight."

"Really now?" Cracking his knuckles, the Gormotti man took a menacing step towards him, leaning forward to look closer at Poppi. "I see your new Blade is keeping a Nopon such as yourself and your delightful character in check. Now normally, I might send my men to simply rough you up a little and find some compensation, but I've found out something very interesting."

Tora dared venture, "A-a way for Tora to pay off debts?"

The Gormotti man's eyes squinted, and Tora imagined that a sickening looking grin formed underneath the mask. "Good guess. Take a look at this."

From a pouch hooked at his side, the Gormotti man unfurled a paper. At the top, in large bold print read 'WANTED.'

Tora's eyes skipped down the page to a drawing of a Nopon he didn't recognize, but bugged out when he saw the reward. He almost started drooling. That was more than enough to cover his debts, maybe even enough to buy more parts for Poppi!

"Who is Nopon in bad drawing?" Tora asked, eagerly. "Tora has Poppi now, could easily take them and make bestest man here happy by giving him cut of reward!"

The Gormotti man whipped the page back, stuffing it into his pouch. "No, you idiot Nopon, that's your wanted poster."

Indignation washed over him and on reflex he took an indignant little hop. "Meh-meh?! Looks nothing like Tora! Big man just making things up; doesn't want Tora to know about this. Tora take back what he said about giving him part of reward!"

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he wrenched his head to look at Poppi. "Masterpon, poster has your name on it." She turned to face the big Gormotti man and pointed accusingly. "Big man also clearly insert 'dead or alive' on poster with own handwriting. Original was by Ardainian consul for information for capture of Masterpon."

"Alright, I've had enough of this." The man let out a sharp piercing whistle that made Tora cover his ears.

Faster than he could complain about the noise, he felt Poppi grab his shield off his back a moment before there was a loud thunk of impact on the reinforced wood of the shield.

"There someone attempting to hurt Masterpon."

"Indeed. Well met." Tora's eyes bugged out at the sound of the deep, menacing yet almost gentleponly voice. "You failed to pay your debts, Nopon. For this you will face judgement."

Where did thing come from? He caught a glimpse of a nightmare holding a katana that seemed to radiate darkness from around the shield Poppi held. Dark almost black looking skin with armour to boot. Yellow pinpricks of eyes peered at him from a red skinned head topped with a towering flame, and with a mouth hidden behind a thick armoured mask, making so he couldn't see it.

The creature - no, the core crystal told him that was a Blade - struggled another moment in a blade lock with Poppi, before the flame on his head went out and he leapt back seeming to melt into the darkness of the morning,.

"Meh!" Tora yelped. "What was biggipon thinking? Could have killed Tora!"

The Gormotti man laughed. "That's the point. Clearly you didn't know what you were getting into, getting this behind on paying a loan from the Bloody Lobsters. I'll leave you and the heartless judge alone together to make amends. Take it away, Perceval."

The Gormotti stepped back into the shadows of a building - maybe to watch them - leaving them in horrifying silence.

"Poppi," Tora whispered, shaking slightly, fur on end. "Now would be good time to find way to escape."

"Poppi agrees." She held out the shield for him to take, and he felt her begin her artificial affinity link with him. "Beginning search."

Just the shield passed into his hand, there was a whisper of noise in the darkness, and Tora had just enough time to raise his shield before the Blade whipped out of the dimness again. The impact sent him rolling back almost over the edge of the cliff until he was stopped by Poppi.

When he got his bearings again, the Blade was nowhere to be found again when he looked around. He nearly jumped as the voice of the Blade came out of the darkness again. "If you seek mercy, you will get none here. You cannot rob justice."

"Can Tora not have one more extension?" Tora whipped around, trying to see where the voice was coming from.

"You have already made your intention clear. Your Blade searches for escape, and you intend to flee before ever paying your debt. Thus, you will be judged."

As the voice stopped, the relative silence of the morning filled its place, making his fur prickle. Every little noise made him jump, turning his shield this way and that.

There was a tiny noise, almost a whisper, and out of the darkness, a bright glow of orangish red surged, illuminating the Blade, just before it leaped at him in a flurry of slashes, each leaving him with the feeling that each moment he was a step away from death.

No, Tora is better than that. Have Poppi on side now. Can't cower like this for forever.

Toggling the release on the blades on the edges of his shield, he spun around, hoping to catch the Blade in its path. But the Blade darted out of reach, and again slipped back into the darkness of the dim morning light.

Retracting the blades on the shield he backed up towards Poppi. "Um, Tora could use help of Poppi to fend off big bully. Perhaps could take over while Tora catches breath?"

To his surprise, while she kept up the affinity link, Poppi didn't even stop her scan. "Masterpon can do it because Poppi trusts Masterpon. We have bond. Just like real Driver and Blade. Azurda say so."

Tora had no idea who 'Azurda' was, but that word, bond. As much as he wanted to have that – the innate resonance that a Driver and Blade had from awakening - he couldn't. Poppi was an artificial Blade, and by the awesomeness that was three generationpons worth of work, could channel ether - an "affinity link" - into anyone, not just Drivers.

But it still wasn't that innate bond that would come from a real core crystal, a real Blade. For a moment, it made him feel a little better at least, even if it didn't change the situation.

"Is good thing to say, but Tora not so sure-"

He was interrupted by the shrill piercing sound of a whistle and the heightened sound of an engine going into high gear. The Blade once again leapt out at him, using the distraction to try and get at him.

"Masterpon, there!" She stopped her scan and pointed upwards "Poppi will carry!"

Following her point, he saw on the side of the Ardainian battleship a few hatches open along the length of the ship and begin belching out cloud sea fluff. Ballast chutes. That meant they were readying to shove off.

Well, maybe Tora can face things head on another day.

Feeling more courageous with the prospect of an escape, he toggled the drill on his shield, thrusting it out at the Blade, who leapt back to avoid the blow. Throwing down a smoky boomer biter to cover their tracks, not bothering with a delay timer, Tora hopped into Poppi's waiting arms. She jumped down to a small grassy ledge extending out from the Titan Gormott. Looking above as he fell, the boomer biter exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Landing, she bent her legs down hard and he heard the jets in her feet start up. Bracing himself closer against her, she launched up to the ballast chute in the ship just as the last flow of the cloud sea spilled out. Heart racing, she set him down and he chanced a glance down far below.

Through the early morning glow, he spotted the Gormotti man emerging from the smoke, his eyes glaring right at him. Beside him, the Blade with no mouth looked steadfastly up to him. Tora shivered as a chill went up his spine.

"You can run, Nopon, but justice is inevitable." Even from here, the voice of the Blade was calm. Chilling.

The Gormotti shook his fist at him, yelling. "No one cheats the Bloody Lobsters and gets away with it you piece of-!"

Even though his heart pounded, definitely, Tora blew a raspberry at them as the hatch slammed closed, cutting off the rest of the sentence and plunging them into darkness.

Heart still hammering, Tora blinked owlishly at the sudden lack of light. He turned to where Poppi should be. "Uh, Poppi? Light would be much appreciated."

Lights flared on, originating from Poppi's eyes, illuminating the metal ballast shaft, coated in cloud sea sludge. "Masterpon should not have provoked bad debt collector man like that. Raspberry blowing protocol seemed to have adverse effect."

"Is fine, Poppi, Tora has escaped! Will be long while before having to worry again." Never, if he could help it.

"Poppi not so sure. This is Ardainian Titanship with course heading towards Mor Ardain. Seem likely that bad Gormotti man and Blade will follow if they know destination."

Meandering through the shaft, Tora moved slow, hoping not to make too much noise. His short legs made it difficult to trudge through the leftover cloud sea that hadn't made its way out of the ballast shaft. "No worries! Now we free to find dadapon Tatazo. Is start of new life; no more being stuck with debts in Gormott."

He heard her start following him, her metal feet clanging in the tube, though it was dampened slightly by the thin layer of squelshy cloud sea sludge. "Poppi doesn't think that how debt works. Ardainians still looking for us as well."

"No worries, no worries!." He could think about that pile of debt later. Much later. "Simply need to worry about getting to Mor Ardain undetected for now. Will be no problem for master infiltrationist Tora."

A guttural hissing sound made him freeze. Poppi's light beams shifted over to the sound, revealing a creature he'd never seen before. Those teeth were…very large. Seemed like something else infiltrated on before with them.

Lots of monstrous somethings.

Leaning on the starboard side metal railing of the Ardainian Titanship Gladio overlooking the cloud sea, Rex gazed forlornly at the little metal tag hanging from his fingers on a little chain.

It whipped in the wind - bobbing slightly with the ebb and flow of the ship as it sailed its way towards its home - making it hard to see the writing inscribed in it. That didn't matter, seeing as he already had it memorized.

Rex

Ardainian Empire Driver

Recruit

Driver Registration Number: 74539-ML

Clenching the dog tag in a fist, a large part of his mind really wanted to chuck the thing out into the churning cloud sea, but he couldn't do that. Instead, he shoved it around his neck, where it continued to flutter with the wind.

Thankfully, they hadn't made him and the other recruits change into an Ardainian uniform yet, but he dreaded that it would come later, pointy hat and all. At least he'd been able to fulfil his promise about coming back and helping the Gormotti people in Torigoth after the mess he'd unwittingly caused. He was wasn't sure how much he liked that the Empire, specifically the consul guy Dughall took credit.

Sighing, he rested his chin on his arms. Had more than a week really already passed since he'd had the encounter with Torna? It'd gone by in flurry of helping rebuild the base, a few basic drills, learning basic military procedures and conditioning. Most of what the combat instructors taught focused on stuff like basic stances and conditioning for basic fighting.

He already knew all that anyways. Besides, Gramps had taught him better and wasn't so pompous about it. The instructors hadn't even touched Driver stuff, which they assured would happen once they transferred to Mor Ardain.

It felt like forever ago that he'd stepped onto the deck on the ancient ship, just a salvager.

"This doesn't seem like you, Rex."

Rex let out another sigh. "Sorry, Gramps. It just all still seems like some kind of weird dream. I keep expecting to wake up on my way back to the guild with another load of salvage."

A deep, rumbling chuckle came from his left where his Blade - his Blade! - stood. "You must still be dreaming if you're still calling me your grandfather."

Lifting his head off of his arms, he turned and looked up to see the Blade that looked so similar to Gramps - if he'd been human - tower a few heads worth of height over him. "Oh, right. Sorry. I still can't believe that you look like that."

Azurda let out a 'hmph' shaking long green, grasslike hair that came down to between his shoulder blades. Bereft of clothing above his waist, his grey rocky skin and large muscular frame was literally hard as stone. Rex had tapped it at one point to make sure, and to his surprise, it had sounded like rock too.

Around his waist was a long dark purple cape that trailed to his ankles fluttered lightly in the wind. Held by a belt, the cloth was embroidered with an almost fiery orange pattern. Rex had been tempted to call it a skirt when they'd first talked, but that had been quickly put to rest. His feet were bare.

All throughout where his skin shown, little growths, almost like grass or vines wrapped around him like veins, concentrating on the spot where his core crystal rested near his sternum. The same symbol from the ancient ship, the one Torna had called Addam's crest.

But it was his head that really was the most dead ringer for him. Practically the same draconic face, just a smaller to fit the frame of body he was on. Uncannily, the same piercing yellow eyes that looked like Gramps bore into his. "And I still have trouble believing I came from a doddering old Titan grandpa. You were serious when you said you lived on his back, correct?"

Rex grinned. "Yeah, it was pretty great, honestly. Just the two of us, off salvaging. We could go wherever we fancied. No rent, no restrictions. Just the open cloud sea and piles of salvage."

"Time you grew up, I'd say."

Straightening up, Rex pounded his chest in protest. "Hey, fifteen is plenty old! Besides, I'm taking on Torna."

"With the help of the Ardainian military."

He kneaded his forehead. "Gah, that still sounds so wrong!"

Azurda crossed his massive arms. "It will help you to do what you want, correct?"

"I mean, yeah, I do really want to give Malos and Torna a piece of my mind for what they did to the people on the Maelstrom, but…I dunno." He folded his arms back on the railing and leaned forward, setting his chin on them again. "What'll it solve in the end? We'll all still be living in a world that's running out of room."

"If we don't, won't they just destroy more Titans, kill more innocents, causing even more war?"

Rex snorted. "You're sounding kind of like Mòrag."

"Must I remind you that she is your senior commanding officer at the moment? Even beside that, she has a point."

Rex groaned. "I know, I know. I get it." Even if he didn't have to like the source, Mòrag's reasoning and logic made sense. Didn't make it any less frustrating.

"Mmm. Perhaps you do. I am curious, however. What would you do if you hadn't joined?"

Rex paused, considering the question. "I...well, I guess I would be a salvager still. But I'd have you, so I could probably be a Driver mercenary. I've seen some of the mercenary writs they take, and they're pretty good for gold." He rubbed under his nose. "Heh, maybe if I got enough of a reputation I could even start a group myself."

"And you'd gather a ragtag bunch of misfits and defeat the terrorist organization who recently acquired a Blade that can destroy Titans overnight, I'm sure."

"Heh. That's sounding pretty good right now, actually."

Azurda shook his head. "It'd take too long."

"Hey, you brought it up."

"So I did." A warm smile graced his face, or what passed for a warm smile on a face that looked like Azurda's. "Keep your dreams, but for now, this," he sent a meaningful look at the dog tag, "will have to suffice."

"Well, what would you want to do?"

Azurda's bushy green eyebrow rose. "Me? I suppose I'd likely stick around you. But I have to say, I'd like to explore the world someday." He crossed one arm and started stroking that piece of stone that hung down from his chin almost like a beard. "For instance, have you ever thought about searching for more Titans, going beyond the borders of the charted cloud sea, and perhaps finding something else? Another place to live, somewhere humans haven't found yet?"

Rex's eyebrows scrunched. "New Titans? Sounds like it could be fun. We haven't charted everything in the cloud sea, though honestly, it's rough getting the resources to try. Most that do don't come back, and those that do say they don't find anything but open clouds."

"Pity. And I suppose even if we found another one, assuming it was uninhabited, that it would just cause more fighting."

"Yeah. Kinda like the Empire coming into Gormott did. But you know," an excitement entered Rex's voice, "supposedly, there's a place big enough for everyone. Lots of people say it's a legend, or just a piece out of the Praetorium's teachings, but I believe it's real."

"Where's that?"

Rex grinned. "Elysium."

"Oh? And where is this Elysium?"

Glancing up towards the morning sun, Rex spotted the World Tree towering up far past the clouds in the sky in the distance and pointed to it. "There."

"The World Tree?"

"Yeah." Rex cocked his head to the side, "Wait. How do you know its name? I thought you didn't remember anything that Gramps did?"

"Oh, I don't." A grimace made him look more intimidating as he turned and faced him. "There's something I would appreciate that you get into your head. The Titan you knew as Gramps is gone. My first memory is of waking up nearly drowning in the cloud sea with you."

"But nothing from before at all?"

Azurda shook his head, sending his grass-like hair moving back and forth with the motion. "Not one thing, because I am not him, and he is not me."

Something welled up inside Rex. "You have his name, though! You even talk like him, and sort of look like him too."

"So you say. But it would be well with you to separate the two of us. I am not his replacement. I am me."

"I..." He let the emotion go and sheepishly looked at him, not quite meeting his eyes. "Sorry."

"You miss him."

"…Yeah." Gramps had been the of the constants in his life, especially after he started salvaging. A small part of him had hoped that the Blade who shared his name would remember something, but it didn't seem to be the case. "But that's not really fair of me to you is it?"

"You would do well to remember that. To answer your other question, I've noticed that there are things that I just know, things I understand innately." He pointed to the World Tree. "I know with a surety to which I can't trace the source, that that is the World Tree. I know that you are my Driver. I understand that this," he formed his Blade weapon - a greatsword with the same shaped crystal as his core in its guard - out of the ether, "is mine, and I understand how to use it."

"But you don't remember anything you told me about the legend of Elysium?"

He shook his head, and the greatsword disappeared. "No. Because I am not him."

Ugh. I did it again, didn't I?

Silence mixed with the wind, and the hum of the Titanship's engine filled the gap.

"So," Azurda rumbled, "with that out of the way, tell me more about Elysium. Is it in the World Tree? Somewhere in all those shining branches?"

Rex perked up, a smile forming on his face. "No, it's all the way at the top, and there's room for titan peds all over. Trees, grass, flowers, birdsong. Or, so you, or uh...Gramps, told me."

"It certainly sounds fascinating, but if I'm being honest, it sounds too good to be true. Like an old wives' tale, or a children's story."

"But if it is true…"

He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm not saying it couldn't be. But to me it sounds like the dream of people who don't want to work to change the world and circumstances around them. 'The grass is greener on the other Titan,' not realizing that what they need to change most is themselves."

Rex sighed in annoyance. He really did sound like Gramps: all wisdom. This was going to be rough. "That's what most people say. Someday though, I'd like to go there to the World Tree and find out for myself if Elysium is real."

"Perhaps when this fight with Torna is over, we can go there?"

Rex perked up and nodded. "I'll hold you to it." He stuck his hand out to shake.

"Of course." Gramps...no, Azurda, wrapped a grey stony hand around his own, practically swallowing Rex's own hand. To his surprise, what seemed like a fire swelled up within himself, and he could practically feel a connection forming in-between them. "Where you go, I go."

A clanging bang followed by a loud 'meh!' from below interrupted the moment. Turning towards the noise, Rex saw a flash of striped sandy brown, and then red, rocketing across the wing of the ship below.

"What in the…?"

There was a loud roar followed by the pounding feet of a small monster, a wounded and angry looking green aligo chasing after a Nopon and a young girl.

"Well, well," Azurda mused, "looks as though my first little friend found who she was looking for."

"You know them?" Rex asked.

"One of them." Azurda called again to life the greatsword from before, and, to his surprise, handed it hilt first to Rex. "Best help them before they run out of room to run."

"Uh, gotcha." Rex didn't quite understand what Gramps...no, Azurda, was talking about, but he hefted the sword anyways. As he did, something flared to life inside him, and his mind suddenly felt clearer. He aimed the sword - and even though he'd never would have thought to do it before - almost instinctively.

"Whoa!"

The end of the blade of the sword separated into two segments, revealing what looked like a rifle inside in-between them, building up a fiery charge. A moment later, a bolt of fire shot out, crossing the distance nearly instantaneously, impacting the monster dead on, searing it. Shrieking, it stopped its advance on the Nopon and whipped around to roar at him.

That was so cool!

Azurda chuckled as the ends of the greatsword retracted back into the sharp point of point the blade. "Certainly interesting, isn't it? Now that we've its attention, allow me to demonstrate my capability. To me, if you don't mind?"

"Huh?"

"The weapon."

"Oh!" The memory of Nia and Malos tossing their weapons to their Blades and the talk from the Ardainian instructors clicked in his head. He hefted the weapon towards Azurda. "Go for it!"

Snatching the weapon out of the air as he hopped up onto the railing, Azurda launched himself from it down to the aligo. Dodging around its snapping jaw, he slashed once, twice, then leapt into the air. Fiery lines glowed on his body as the sword separated again and the glow of the barrel of the weapon became blinding as it spat out a large ball of fire.

The shrieking of the monster cut off abruptly as Azurda landed on the wing of the ship, and Rex saw the remains of the monster disappear into motes of fiery ether.

Blinking at the afterimage, Rex vaulted over the railing and landed on the metal wing below. Azurda tossed the greatsword back to him, and Rex caught it, confused.

"Isn't this yours?"

"Hold on to it. You'll need it."

Rex nodded, and the weapon seemed to go inert. The energy and focus from before that he'd had trouble describing was gone. "Alright, if you're sure." He stowed it, attaching it to the magnetic holster where his broadsword had once rested. He was going to have to adjust that.

"Wow-wow!" The Nopon exclaimed. Both the Nopon and the girl – or with all the metal that was probably a Blade now that he got a closer look - meandered up to them. "That was amazing! Tora was almost exhausted after fourth monster appeared. Would have never made it if new friend hadn't come along."

Scratching the back of his head, Rex's cheeks heated up in embarrassment at the praise. "Nah, it was nothing; feels like Azurda did all the work anyways." He stuck his hand down in range where the Nopon could reach. "My name's Rex. What's yours?"

The Nopon slapped one of his head wing appendages into his. "Tora! Is amazing to meet new Driver friend Rex-rex."

"Uh, just Rex is fine."

"Is what Tora said, Rex-rex."

Rex narrowed his eyes, and a long, awkward moment of unflinching eye contact followed. "But you just said-"

"Tora has no clue what Rex-rex talking about."

Tora's Blade stepped forward, pointing excitedly to Azurda, her whole arm waving quickly up and down. "Masterpon, is friend Poppi was talking about! Rex's Blade, Azurda, is one who helped Poppi find Masterpon."

"Meh?" He got uncomfortably close, blinking with wide eyes at him. "That mean Tora owe you double tasty sausages for rescue!"

"Uh, it's fine. You don't have to pay us anything."

He stumbled and felt the ship lean slightly and the metal wing of the Titanship they were on dipped into the clouds as the ship adjusted its course. The move washed a ripple of cloud fluff over his boots, coating them. With his shorter stature, Tora would have been swept away if Azurda hadn't grabbed him by the straps of his overalls.

"Perhaps," Azurda rumbled, "instead of standing about, we should get off the wing of this ship before the captain accidentally runs us off."

From Azurda's hand, Tora nodded. "Tora absolutely agree! But would big nice Blade put Tora down? Is undignified."

In answer, Azurda started walking, setting Tora down in one smooth motion as Rex followed. "So what are both of you doing here, of all places?" Azurda asked. "This is the last place I would assume to see you all, considering what was going on in Torigoth."

Poppi started answering. "Masterpon was running from more than-"

"Tora is fine, here on official business, not uh, running at all."

"Masterpon, tag around Rex's neck clearly indicate he a recruit for Ardainian Empire Driver training program. Lying not helping."

Rex saw Tora freeze and his entire demeanour seemed to change, as if he were getting ready to bolt.

The girl's arm abruptly pointed past him to Azurda. "They not bad people. Azurda help Poppi find you when Ardainians capture you."

"But they part of empire."

"Hey," Rex protested, "I'll have you know I'm from Leftheria! I'm just with them...temporarily." Probably. Rex turned to the group. "I should be able to explain this no problem, as long as you don't have any bad intentions."

"None. Tora have none at all!"

Grinning, Rex smacked the shield on the Nopon's back, guiding the Nopon forward. "Should be smooth sailing then, right?"

"I can't believe this malarkey!"

"Calm down, my prince, you're causing a scene."

"Scene?" Zeke threw his arms out wide before slamming his fists down on the table in front of him in frustration. The other patrons in the open air marketplace just outside the Praetorium were giving him strange and concerned looks. He ignored them. "How could I not after hearing something like that, Pandy? Amalthus kept it under wraps and only now wants to tell me that there's-"

Pandoria cut him off by covering his mouth and shushing him in a low tone. "My prince, you know he said to keep it confidential for now." He tried to speak, and her hand pressed harder. "Not gonna uncover it until you promise not to yell."

Snorting through her hand, Zeke gave a slow deliberate nod. She gave it back, and uncovered his mouth after a moment.

"You wound me with your mistrust of my confidential prowess. Of course I wasn't about to spill the beans like that to everyone." He very much almost had.

"Of course not." She knew him too well to believe otherwise.

"Right you are. But," he shuddered with a suppressed anger that wasn't completely playacted, tone turning dangerous, "the eye of shining justice throbs with the desire to make it right. If those charlatans want to maim the name of our ancestor's heritage, then they've got another thing coming."

He swiped the odifa in front of him and chugged the rest of it down. Slamming the glass onto the table he abruptly stood, knocking his chair to the floor in the process. "In fact, I don't know why we're not already going. The sooner we sort this out the better, eh, Pandy?"

"Yup!" She jumped up as well, chair falling in tandem, and followed his lead out of the market, heading towards the ship the Praetor was letting them use. "But there's a problem."

"What?" Zeke stopped suddenly, twitched, looking around for what Pandoria was talking about. "Already? That's gotta be a new record." Then again, his luck really was that bad, sometimes.

"Well, do we even know where they are?"

He already had his mouth open to protest, but stopped and closed it, his hand going to his chin in thought instead. "You know, that's actually a great point. We don't even know who these blighters are, much less what they look like or where they are."

"Well, wasn't Amalthus saying that the info came from someone in the Empire?"

He widened his eyes - though everyone would only see one because of his amazing eyepatch - and pounded a fist into his hand. "Brilliant! I'd expect nothing less from the one and only Blade of the mighty Zeke!"

She beamed at the praise. "Of course. Someone has to listen."

Ignoring the barb, he let out a low menacing chuckle. "I've been meaning to grace the Empire with my presence for a while now anyways." Closing his eyes, he started twitching his hand, grasping at the air near his eyepatch. "Someone owes me a rematch."

He charged down the stairs, eager to begin-

The only thing he felt was his boot snagging on something someone had left on the stairs leading up to the market in Poldis Circle. The offending item slipped and blasted into the air, revealing itselft to be…!

A discarded half-eaten frosted cookie.

The bitten through image of the Goddess of the Praetorium greeted his view for one moment.

The next thing he knew, he was airborne, with a beautiful view of the stark white walls of the Praetorium upside down and the Indoline Titan. He caught a brief angelic whisper of the Praetorium's choir coming from within as the sun sparkled off the shimmering white walls.

Gravity took its course and the next moment he'd crashed through the awning of a market stall. A very concerned and possibly angry looking Indoline woman hovered over him.

Zeke grinned and gave her a mock two finger salute, spilling accessories, trinkets and price gouging souvenirs off of him as he sat up. "It's not every day you have the Zekenator drop into your shop like this, is it?"

His head whipped to the side as she smacked him. Yeah, he probably deserved that. "I hope you know you're paying for this, young man."

Quickly launching himself upright, he dusted the remaining trinkets - picking up Turters, their mascot turtle, who had fallen out in the fall and putting him back into his overcoat pocket - and gave his best smoulder. "Put it on the Praetor's tab, lady. I've got a nation's reputation to uphold!"

He dashed off without giving her another word in edgewise, and he ignored her yelling after him.

Meeting Pandoria at the bottom of the grand stairway, he grinned as she broke into a run to keep up with him heading to their vessel. "Never a dull moment, my prince?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Boss, take a look at this."

Vandham looked up from his dinner to see Yew walking up, holding a small stack of paper. He set down the spoon into the hearty stew and leaned back, crossing his massive arms.

"I know that look." Vandham sighed. "Out with it: who are they and what do they want?"

Yew paused, looking at the other mercenaries sitting beside him at the table underneath the canopied pavilion. "Maybe this would be better said in private."

Vandham snorted. "Have you not been with me so long Yew that you forgot that secrecy isn't the way the Garfont Mercenaries operate?" He gestured wide to the others at the table, which included Remmiq who wasn't more than nine and was studiously reading a book beside her own bowl of soup. "What's for me is for everyone here."

Yew closed his eyes and Vandham saw a wan smile creep on to his face. "How could I forget, after you told everyone Eslan and I were engaged?"

"You think I'd let a thing like that stay quiet?!" He let out a belly laugh, which everyone at the table joined in. Yew rolled his eyes at the antics and tossed the small stack beside his bowl. Picking the first one up, Vandham scanned it noting it was a widespread communication form.

"There's two major things." Yew pulled up an empty wooden crate from the side, upturned it and sat beside them. "The one you're holding is a bounty on a group of core crystal hunters. Their last known location was Gormott, escaping from on a small modified titanvessel with a course headed this way to Uraya about a week ago. Looks like there were a couple of Blades involved as well."

Letting out a low whistle, Vandham's eyebrows shot up when he got to the reward price. "That's a pretty piece they're giving, and double if you get back the cores they stole." He passed the paper around the table for the others to see. "Who's the one who issued the reward?"

"It says some guy named 'Meleph,' but after doing some digging, turns out it's an alias that's been used before by someone high up in the Ardainian Empire. Think we should take it?"

Vandham closed his eyes in contemplation. It could be good, but did he really want to get involved in something that involved the empire? With the core crystals involved, it was more than likely Indol had a hand in it as well.

Opening his eyes, he looked over to Remmiq, who was now holding the paper as it had been passed around the table. "Remmiq, what do you think? Should we take the job?"

She looked up, surprised at his attention, but after an encouraging smile from him, she seemed to gain a little bit of courage. "Um...the money would be nice. I could get a nice book too!"

"So long as it help you in your schooling first." Vandham stroked his chin, "However, there are other less politically risky jobs out there that would eventually add up to the same pay."

Remmiq shuffled on her crate, boldness creeping into her voice. "I think those people shouldn't have stolen the cores. Dad always says that sort of stuff is wrong! Blades are nice people, too."

His heart melted. If only everyone thought that way. "You're right kid. It is wrong." Even young as they were, they could tell it, and Vandham thought so as well. He smiled. "Looks like we're decided on that one, Yew. What's the other one?"

The Ardainian hesitated, looking again at the others at the table. "Perhaps you should at least read it first."

"Alright, fine. Have it your way." He skimmed the relatively short communication.

Vandham,

Normally, would reach out in less trackable means, but big secret I was investigating seems like it will enter public eye before long.

Unfortunately, cannot fully confirm, but seems that hostile party found the Aegis: powerful Blade from war five-hundred years ago. Will be known by emerald core crystal, and, if source is accurate, Aegis is woman with shoulder length red hair. Be watchful.

More info will be given at Fonsa Myma Playhouse. Meet there soon as possible.

Friend,

Niranira

"The Aegis, eh?" Vandham muttered as his eyebrows shot up. "That'd be quite a sight especially if it's true. A real legend come to life." Standing suddenly, dinner temporarily forgotten, he called, "Roc!"

His faithful Blade looked up from the ground nearby where a gaggle of the kids of some of the mercs had pounced them to the ground, play wrestling. "Yes?"

"We're going to take a trip to visit an old friend in Fonsa Myma."

A hand clapped on his shoulder and he looked over to Yew. "You know them enough to trust something like this?"

"Niranira's an old friend of mine, a little Nopon that's gone far in the guilds since I last saw him. If there's anyone I'd trust about it, it's him."

"But Vandham, if this is true, then this could be devastating, not just to us, but all of Alrest. The Aegis-"

"I know what they say about her. But I have a gut feeling I can't ignore." He slapped his belly, all rock hard muscle. "And I always trust my gut. There's more to this than what's in the history books. I need to be sure what this will mean for all of us here in Garfont."

And if there was anyone he knew who seemed to know more then he should, it was Cole.

Time to visit an old friend.

"Look out below!"

Walking the extended boarding ramp of the Marsanes to the dry Ardainian ground, Nia's ears flattened as she flinched, ducking out of instinct. A shadow passed over her head. Launching from the deck of the ship, The woman in the icicle, Lora, landed crouched ahead of her, before she sprinted off running and laughing.

She practically had a bounce in her step.

Turning to Mikhail - who was in the middle of trying to explain to Pyra why she should wear the cloth poncho held in his hand to keep her identity secret once they got into the city - Nia asked, "Should we stop her?"

The black poncho dropped in his hand for a moment. He waved it off. "Nah. I'd be restless if I hadn't moved in five-hundred years too; just go keep an eye on her and don't lose her."

"Careful ordering me about like that."

"Nia."

"Alright, fine. Whatever. Where's Cressidus?"

"Giving the others a stern talk and making sure they don't kill each other or mess the ship up more while we're gone. He'll join us when he's done."

She winced in sympathy, imagining Cressidus telling Malos of all people something like that. "Wish him luck. He'll need it." Nia turned and started going after Lora, who had already made it pretty far away.

"She certainly has energy to spare." Dromarch rumbled, padding up beside Nia as they walked. Ahead of them, Lora jumped and climbed up to a cliff overlooking the cloud sea, currently at low tide. "I must admit, I'm somewhat jealous. I'm not sure where she's getting it all."

"You're just sluggish 'cause you were keeping Malos occupied all yesterday." She paused. "What did you do to hold him off anyways? I never really asked."

Dromarch froze. "Uh...I would rather not discuss it, milady."

Narrowing her eyes, a cheeky grin formed its way onto her face. "Oh really, now. What, did you do, let him pet you or something?"

His fur bristled indignantly. "I never! Only you have that privilege, milady."

"So what was it?"

"I've been sworn never to reveal it."

She was taken aback by his solemnity. "...Alright, I won't pry, I guess." For now.

He dipped his head, and she could practically see the relief spread over his frame. "Most appreciated." He gestured with his muzzle to Lora, and crouched down to allow her onto his back. "Shall we?"

Hopping on, she grasped his fur to steady herself on his back as he raised up off his haunches. "Always keeping me on track."

With breakneck speed, Dromarch sprinted over to the tall rock Lora had climbed. With his running start, he leapt upwards, scrambling up the last bit of the tick, kicking away loose dust. Cresting the cliff to a small plateau of rock, they found Lora, standing with her eyes closed. The little braided rope Mikhail had helped her finish looped around her wrist, the elemental gem fluttering in the wind.

She was breathing deeply, seeming to drink in the warmth of the sunlight. After a long moment of silence, Nia sat up on Dromarch and cleared her throat. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a Gormotti the way you're soaking up the sun. Even Dromarch doesn't do it like that."

Opening her eyes, she saw Lora whip around to see them. "Oh, Nia." She tilted her head, looking down at Dromarch. "And I think I've seen you before, but didn't get the chance to ask who you were."

He dipped his head. "I hope we're not interrupting something. As was mentioned, I am Dromarch. Your reputation proceeds you, Lady Lora."

There was an expression almost like a wince that passed over Lora's face that was gone before Nia could tell what it was. A smile replaced it. "It's good to meet you, Dromarch."

Crouching down, she reached out and scratched Dromarch's head. Nia was about to warn her as he tensed up for a moment, before the big lunk relaxed and leaned into her touch and started purring.

Lora let out a laugh. "Someone's friendly."

Yeah, a little too friendly, if his tail twitching behind him said anything about it. "What happened to the privilege you were talking about earlier, Dromarch?"

The old codger cleared his throat as he shifted up to his front paws. "I have no idea what you're referring to, my lady."

"My lady?" Lora straightened up, curiosity sneaking into her eyes. "Are you…?"

Crossing her arms, Nia snorted, ears flattening. "If you're about to ask if I'm a noble, then no." It was more complicated than that, and not something she really wanted to talk about. "It's just something Dromarch's done for as long as I remember. At this point it's almost an inside joke."

Dromarch scoffed. "You wound me, my lady."

"See what I mean?"

Lora smiled. "Well, I think it's charming, almost like he's a butler out of a story or something."

"Careful. Praise like that will go to his head. It's already fuzzy enough as it is."

In front of them, beyond the little plateau they stood on, the cloud sea parted and a relatively small Titan burst through the clouds, letting out a horrible wailing noise before diving back in. Seconds later, the waves from the impact spread outwards towards them, but were swallowed as the Mor Ardain Titan moved. That little Titan must have been at least as large as the Monoceres.

"Whoa, that was interesting." Lora chuckled, before looking to her. "Definitely wouldn't see anything like that in a stuffy ship, right Nia?"

Wincing, she rubbed her nose as the wind from the Titan's splash kicked up dust into her face. "I guess. The air's too dry and hot for my taste, and I can already tell it's going to be a hassle to clean the dust out of Dromarch's fur later."

"I already look forward to that event."

She glanced down at him. "'Course you do, you big fur ball."

"Well, I think it's great to be out in the open air at least." Nia couldn't help but silently agree. "So, do you know where we're going? I know Ahkos said we were docking at Mor Ardain, but I've never made my way over here before. Jin and I had only done a couple of fringe merc jobs hosted by them on other Titans."

"Wait. You and Jin were…mercenaries?"

"Yeah. I loved it since we could move around and help where we wanted. Is that really that surprising?"

"Huh." She blinked and tried to imagine Jin taking mercenary writs. It didn't really fit. "Well anyways. We're going to the Ardainian capital, but the verdict's out on what that's like. I've never been there either."

"Hey!"

They all turned to down below where she saw Cressidus, Mik and Pyra - now wearing the black poncho - though there was a good six feet in between the last two. He waved at them to come down.

Nia shrugged. "Break time's over I guess. Shall we?"

"Yup." Lora, nodded and started acrobatically picking her way down from the height.

"Well come on, Dromarch. You're not going to let her show us up like that, are you?"

A sighing rumble echoed from underneath her where she sat on him. She grasped his fur tighter as she felt him tense, and then jumped as only a cat could. Whooping for the brief moment they were airborne, she ignored the dusty air before they landed, skidding slightly in front of Mikhail.

"Spectacular entrance," he deadpanned.

"You're just jealous that you don't have as cool a Blade as Dromarch. No offense."

Cressidus laughed. "Careful, Nia. We'll show you up before too long."

Mik cleared his throat, and waited for Lora to finish making her way down. "If you're done chatting, we've got a good hike ahead of us. There's a couple of shops that should have what we need in Alba Cavanich, that-a-way." He pointed to a tall metal structure built into the nearby cliffs.

Nia squinted her eyes, staring at the rickety looking metal building, and the eroded stone. "That's Mor Ardain's capital?

He rolled his eyes. "No, past that. You can't really see it from here, but trust me, we've got a ways to go."

"Hold on." Setting a hand on her hip, Nia glared at him. "Why'd we dock out all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, then?"

"Well, the Marsanes," he jutted his thumb out behind him to the massive ship now retreating under the clouds, "is an absolute beauty, but would stick out like a gogol on a Nopon dance floor, seeing as it's one of the only ships in Alrest not integrated with a Titan. We're trying not to draw attention to ourselves yet."

"Well, I think a walk is a fantastic idea." Lora clapped her hands together, and Nia did an internal double take when she saw Pyra standing next to Lora. When had she gotten there? "I've never been to Mor Ardain's capital before, but after I met Hugo, I've always wanted to see it for myself."

"Perfect!" Mik snapped is fingers. "This'll be great. Just a quick hop, skip and jump through an abandoned industrial district and we'll be on our way in no time."

Chapter Text

The mess hall of the Gladio buzzed with a fervour that reminded Rex more than he cared to admit of salvagers on a big job. He wasn't sure why, but he'd half expected the soldiers to be wearing their helmets, even in here. But besides a pair of guards - chatting animatedly near the door furthest from him - it was just...people.

The biggest difference between the salvagers was the reason they were there. And how much alcohol was present. Being a military organization, it wasn't surprising that there wasn't any out. Even though been at the Torigoth Relay Base in Torigoth for a week, it still hadn't really hit him. It was more orderly than he was used to, but the general feeling was...well not the same, but surprisingly similar.

Looking around, he noted that with their darker hair and eyes, the majority were Ardainian, though he spotted the occasional Gormotti and Nopon dotting the tables. They must have been part of the crew of the ship, too. Part of the Ardainian military.

But it was just people. He…wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that yet.

Originally he'd intended to take Tora directly to one of the people in charge to get him passage, but had gotten sidewinded into taking a short detour to the mess hall first. Tora had practically begged him for a meal, and though Azurda hadn't thought it to be the best idea, Rex had taken the Nopon and Poppi there. He hadn't had breakfast yet either, so it worked out.

Across from him at the table, Tora was busy stuffing himself silly, plate piled full of some of the dullest looking food he could imagine. Ardainians weren't really known for their exquisite cuisine, although a few things looked to be bought from Torigoth.

There was just so much of it on his plate. It almost made him sick looking at it all.

"Here I thought you were saying you owed us tasty sausages in return for helping you out," Azurda jibed good-naturedly. He sounded very amused by the whole situation, though there was a tenseness underlying it. "I must say it seems like it's quite the other way around at the moment."

Tora looked down at his plate, then up at Azurda and then shoved the plate across the table, almost like a peace offering.

"Nice try, my young friend." Tora shrugged and the plate retreated. "Are you really going to eat all of that?" Azurda's question voiced Rex's own thoughts. His own plate was filled with significantly less food.

Tora swallowed the latest sausage. "Not mean to be rude. Tora hasn't eaten for nearly three days. So hardly care what he eat right now. Was hard when running from-" He stopped, seeming to realize where he was. "W-when, ah. Playing hide and seek went too long. Yes! Hide and seek. With Poppi." He bit down into another bleak looking sausage, seemingly satisfied with his explanation.

"Poppi was?"

"Poppi is supposed to go along with Masterpon's story," Tora hissed out. It was probably meant to just for Poppi, but Rex heard it anyways.

Poppi stretched her metal looking arms out to the sides, perfectly parallel to the floor, then bent her elbows in sharp angles pointing at head. She started tilting back and forth, a puzzled look on her face.

Azurda laughed a deep gravelly laugh, drawing a few looks from the surrounding tables. "You're rather a bold Nopon, aren't you?" Azurda gestured around. "But not particularly wise. Considering your situation, especially among our present company, perhaps honesty is the best policy." He leaned in closer to Tora, intimidating considering how massive he was. "Especially since you have nothing to hide, correct?"

The Nopon twitched in fear, his eyes darting around with furtive glances. He spoke in a hushed voice. "Tora doesn't really like empire that much."

"Really," Azurda deadpanned. "I couldn't tell."

Rex couldn't help but chuckle at Azurda's sarcasm, even as he couldn't help but silently agree with Tora. At least somewhat.

"But!" Tora continued. "Tora like them much better than others, especially if they more like Rex-rex. Saving of life and sharing of food is most welcome in Tora's book. Big cheer for new Driver friend Rex-rex!"

Beside Tora, Poppi - who he was surprised hadn't taken a plate - let out a big, "Hooray for Rex!" and started...dancing? Or at least he was pretty sure it was supposed to be dancing. The moves were stiff and awkward as she hopped and spun around, stiffly waving her arms. At least she seemed to be enjoying it.

Then she posed and winked at him.

Rex mostly ended up feeling more confused than anything. He shook his head, dispelling the weird image. "So, who else were you running from?"

"Ack!" Tora choked on his food, and nearly fell out of his chair. Poppi rushed to pat his back and followed up with rubbing smooth circles on his back as he regained his composure.

She turned to them, answering on his behalf. "Friend Rex very strong for not falling for 'cheering cuteness' and 'dancing distraction' protocols."

"'Distraction' protocol?"

Tora cleared his throat. "Even Tora have trouble with that one. Proof of Rex-rex's hard heart, or maybe need for upgrade for Poppi."

"And, now I'm just lost."

"Perhaps you might be able to explain what Tora was talking about, Poppi?" Azurda coaxed.

"Affirmative. Masterpon bad at managing funds." She revealed it so plainly and readily that Rex was taken aback, but she pressed on. "Lots of big recent expenses and big bully Ardainians made paying off debt from debt collectors low priority, but debt collectors catch up to Masterpon."

"Tora was desperate! Last one of six tried to kill Tora! Only reason Tora still alive is from timely intervention from Poppi."

"Masterpon is too kind. Poppi spent most of time in last engagement searching for escape route while Masterpon held off attacker."

"Big scary demon Blade!" Tora threw his furry headwings out wide, imitating... something. "Tora feels like he would have been rogul food if had to fend off too much longer."

Rex shook his head. "Hold up, hold up. What kind of money were you borrowing that they'd go and try to do that?" Unless the loaners were really desperate, they didn't usually go that far. Maybe send a few thugs to rough someone up or threaten them, but kill them?

Unless he'd borrowed from a gang...

"Well…" Tora leaned in and whispered the amount to Rex.

Rex's jaw dropped. "That's insane! What in Alrest were you thinking?"

"Tora knows it wasn't best idea now. But was so focused, so close to finishing..." He glanced over to Poppi

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Behind Rex, he heard the automatic door to the mess hall open, followed by a lull in the chatter in the mess hall.

"Heads up, everyone," Azurda muttered. He tilted his head up, as if pointing behind Rex. Carefully turning his head, he saw a small complement of Ardainian soldiers talking to the guards at the door. After a few moments, the guards pointed over to their table and the soldiers began winding their way over to Rex's table. "I believe we've attracted some attention."

Tora froze with another sausage near his mouth.

The one at the head of the group called out, "Secure the fugitive!"

Rex stood and put a hand on the hilt of Azurda's greatsword, spinning around to look behind him just as the Ardainian soldiers began surrounding the table. Now that he had a closer look, he noticed three Blades among them. Four soldiers levelled guns and three had Blade weapons. A megalance up front, a bitball user to the side, poised to throw and an ether cannon further back.

Drivers.

He saw Tora drop the sausage in fear and Poppi try and glare at all of them at once, though it ended up looking more childish than anything. But none of the soldiers' ire or weapons seemed directed at him: everything was focused on Tora and Poppi.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Recruit." One of the Drivers in armour - the one with the megalance - nodded to him. "Step away from the Nopon menace and their Blade. It's been a long road to their capture and we thank you for your aid in trapping them. We'll take them from here."

"Hold on. Trapping? Fugitive?" Rex asked.

"You are aware of the damage he's caused? You can't have missed the broken cell block in the Torigoth Relay Base. We had wanted posters practically everywhere!"

"Wait," he turned to Tora and Poppi, "you were the ones who did that?" He'd spent enough time cleaning it up, and though he hadn't joined in on the hate directed at the mysterious Nopon perpetrator, he had wondered.

"They are," the Driver confirmed. "Now step away."

"Was accident! Tora promise on grampypon's honour!"

"We'll see what the inquisitor has to say about that, won't we?"

"Lady Mòrag, I've found something."

Mòrag's pen paused in the midst of writing her report on her time spent in Gormott. Rolling her shoulders, she sat up in the chair. A far cry more comfortable and familiar than the one allotted to her in Torigoth's consulate office

The business of the last week rolled through her mind. The last days, she'd been swamped by helping and directing clean-up and relief efforts, attempting to find more out from the core crystal thieves and generally covering for Dughall's incompetency.

Because of all that, until they'd set off, neither her nor Brighid had had much time to try and dig through her journal. From what she had read so far, it talked more about her Driver at the time, Hugo Ardanach, and the conspiracies that arose to attempt to stop his ascension to the throne. It had been a good review of history, but not what they were looking for.

Hopefully that was about to change. "What have you found?"

Brighid stood from her comfortable reading chair and crossed the short distance in the office space to her desk. Placing the book down on her desk where they both could see, she tapped on the page to the date at the top of an entry about three-quarters the way through the journal. "This one is dated 'October third, 3564."

"That would be Amalthatober by our current calendar, correct?"

Brighid nodded. "Yes. It starts: 'My first encounter with the Aegis was on a mission to Gormott, officially to sort out diplomatic tension between the empire and the remains of the Coeian on the Titan. On his majesty's order I went ahead with a small troop to the budding village of Torigoth to stop for resupply.

However, when we arrived, to our dismay, the entire village had been burned and ransacked, though exactly how recent, we couldn't tell. After scouting around, I encountered the Aegis and her party.

On my order, we attacked, believing them to be looters or perhaps the brigands responsible for desecrating the village. In hindsight, this was a rash judgement. However, it did reveal something dangerous about the Aegis, whom I personally engaged.

The battle was both exhilarating and disappointing.

She was clumsy, her attacks heavy, lacking refinement. In the heat of the moment, not knowing who she was initially, I baited her in the encounter. She responded poorly. Though I know not what its source, she directed a devastating ray of light to come out of the sky which I fear would have ended my life had it hit me. Fortunately, I was quick enough on my feet to dodge out of the way, but the devastation it left behind…

All this after her Driver, whom I learned was Prince Addam, commanded her to disengage in fear of hurting the children with them. She ignored him, intent on proving she could best me - even after her Driver commanded her to disengage - seemingly with little remorse.

If it weren't for the unique ability of another Blade traveling with them possessed - ether manipulation - stopping her, then she likely would have killed me and others in her own party.

Once his majesty arrived on the scene, the situation calmed, but I remain wary. While I will support his decision to accompany his old friend and those in their group, I worry where this decision might lead.

She is a simpleton, and I am loathe to trust her.

"Fitting of your past self to worry, considering where it ended." Mòrag noted.

"Emperor Hugo's death in the war, correct?" Brighid asked.

"Yes. Struck down by the Aegis, so history says. His involvement in and impact on the Aegis war was crucial, even past the point of his death." A fascinating topic, but not what they were there for. "Was there anything else on the Aegis in this entry?"

She saw Brighid scan ahead some on the page. "Nothing that I can see. It simply talks about the Aegis' Driver - Addam Origo - and little about how he was Emperor Hugo's close friend, something of their history. Nothing else on the Aegis herself."

Mòrag laced her fingers together, resting her chin on them, pondering. This was a worrying first impression, and it seemed to line up with what history thought of the Aegis. "Continue looking." She pressed her lips into a thing line. "I want every possible piece of information we can get on her."

"Of course Lady Mòrag." Brighid paused a moment. "Is something the matter?"

Mòrag hissed out a breath. "Do you believe we'll have to face her, Brighid? And if we did, could we succeed?"

"I'm sure you would do everything in your power to stop her if it comes to it. However, I hope not. If this entry is anything to go by, she's as simple and heartless as history portrays her. If Torna found her, and one of theirs succeeds in becoming her Driver and winning her over to their cause, Alrest may not survive another Aegis war."

"It wouldn't survive it." It couldn't. Mòrag leaned back in the chair, a familiar weight of her duty settling on her mind. "I hope all of this research ends up being unnecessary, that we can broker some sort of peace."

"Of course." Brighid picked up the journal. "Emperor Niall would like that. At this point, I feel we should explore every option. It should prove to be-"

She was cut off by an urgent sounding knock at her door.

Brighid raised an eyebrow. "Are you expecting someone?"

Mòrag shook her head. "No. Come in," she called.

The door swung open, revealing a lone soldier - an ensign by the bar of his rank - who entered and saluted smartly. "Ensign Clyde reporting, ma'am."

He sounded almost out of breath underneath his helmet. "At ease, ensign. What is it?"

He dropped the salute. "Special Inquisitor, forgive me for the interruption, but you're needed on the bridge."

She nodded, absently, wondering in the back of her mind what needed her attention. "Very well, I will be there shortly."

Hesitating, the ensign looked between her and Brighid. "Forgive me, Inquisitor, but they said it was urgent."

Looking closer, she recognized the tell-tale sign of uneasiness beneath the helmet. The ensign was spooked, though whether it was because he wasn't used to seeing authority, or because of the urgency of the matter, she didn't know. "Let them know I am on my way."

"Ma'am!" He saluted smartly, and very rigidly, before darting back out, the door staying open behind him.

"What do you think it is?" Brighid asked.

Standing up, she rolled her neck to loosen it, mentally preparing for whatever it was. "Nothing good, by the sound of it."

"Business as usual, then?"

"Mm."

She exited her cabin and started walking briskly to the bridge in response. When she arrived, the tension there was practically palpable. The typical amount of officers were manned at their stations, but there was a rush of activity of people coming and going with reports. A large group gathered worriedly around the communications station.

"Inquisitor!" They waved her and Brighid over as soon as they saw she entered.

Quickly approaching, Morag took charge of the situation. "Report, Lieutenant Renkin."

"Ma'am! We received a distress call from one of our ships, a modified Ardainian transport titanship with a shipment of core crystals scheduled for cleansing en route to Indol."

"Are we close enough to intercept?"

The lieutenant glanced at the others gathered, as if unsure of what to say. "Well, yes, but I don't…" He swallowed. "I don't know if it'll make a difference."

Her brow furrowed in worry, hoping it wasn't what she thought he meant. "What do you mean?"

"We started recording as soon as we could, but it cut out. It's…grim."

She extended a hand. "Allow me."

He handed over the headset, clearly glad to be rid of it. Putting one of the speakers to her ear she signalled to the officer. "Play it."

She winced slightly at the first noise, the loud blaring of an alarm, one used in the Ardanian military to signal an unfriendly boarding. It continued as the voice of a frantic, scared-sounding man began shouting.

"-repeat, this is Ardainian titanvessel Invicta requesting immediate assistance from any vessel nearby! We are under attack by a single unknown assailant wearing a horned white mask. He's systematically killed everyone he's come in contact with. Any party in the sound of this channel please respond and-

With a curse, another voice interrupted him, fainter and further away but frantic.

"Nothing is slowing him down, sir! Not even the Driver-Blade squadron made a difference. What is he?!"

The first voice stuttered after that at the sound of gunfire, which moments later abruptly stopped. "R-repeat this is Ardainian titanvessel Invicta, requesting immediate assistance from any-"

The man's voice cut out with a scream, and unless she was mistaken, the sound of a weapon tearing through flesh, followed by the sound of a body hitting the deck. The alarm filled the silence that followed. The sound of footsteps came closer and then in an instant, the recording cut out.

Gripping the headset tightly as she lowered it, Mòrag asked tersely, "When was the original transmission sent?"

"About five minutes ago, ma'am."

"How close are we?"

"The distress signal put them forty titanpeds off of our current course. It's less than an hour out."

She looked at the captain. "Chart a course for their last known position; use all available speed." The captain nodded and started barking orders to the rest of the crew.

Cold anger simmering just below the surface vented in a small puff of air from her mouth. A man with a white horned mask. That was the description that Rex had given of one of Torna's members that had chartered the ill-gotten expedition for the Aegis.

Jin.

Swallowing her anger for a time, she turned back to the communications specialists. "What do we know about the Invicta?"

One of the other communications specialists, an Ardainian woman named Isla, spoke up. "We looked in the on-board fleet records, and Invicta is heavily defensible, not just with men but heavy armaments as well. Because of the recent upturn in core crystal piracy, it was retrofitted with extra battlements and two squads of Drivers and Blades. It shouldn't have been able to be raided that quickly or easily, especially by just one man. Even if he was a Blade, that would be ridiculous."

"You feel as though there is something that we are missing? The distress call seemed fairly clear that it was just the one man attacking."

Isla hummed thoughtfully. "It could have easily been hysteria. There could be more people, but this man was simply the focus. A dangerous distraction while others did more behind the scenes work."

She made a good point. "Perhaps. Let us hope we get there in time to see. While you're at it, see if there are any other on board records of other titanvessels that transported core crystals, Ardainian or otherwise, who were assaulted under similar circumstances or described their assailants."

Isla nodded. "Of course."

Turning in a grimly satisfied way, Mòrag began walking out of the bridge. They had only made it out of the bridge proper when Brighid stopped her, hand on her shoulder, talking in a low voice.

"I know you've been obsessed with Torna since the Praetor made us aware of them, Lady Mòrag, but do you believe that it's wise heading into what might be a feris den, especially from what we heard on the recording?"

"Your concern is valid, but I trust my crew to be wise. From what little we know about Torna, they operate slyly. This could be a way to bring more knowledge of them to light." She sighed. "And though the way was horrible, the information we just received will help us be more prepared to face them in the future. Rex didn't say much about this Jin's fighting capabilities, but by the sound of this, we need to be much more wary."

Brighid went thoughtful. "Perhaps he might know something more?"

"Uh, I didn't expect to see you again so soon, Mòrag." Rex awkwardly scratched the back of his head, shuffling his feet somewhat from where he stood behind her.

"Special Inquisitor Mòrag," Brighid corrected.

"Right, sorry. That."

Brighid crossed her arms. "I can forgive a slip in protocol once, but don't do it again, recruit." It was still unnerving not seeing her eyes even as she very clearly glared at him. How did she even see?

"Thank you, Brighid." Mòrag didn't turn from where she intently watched the rolling waves of the cloud sea from their perch on the side of the ship. A balcony, just off the bridge. "However, there are more pressing things than protocol at the moment. Coincidentally Rex, I was getting ready to call you to me." She glanced over at the side where a pair of guards pointed their guns at a glowering Tora. "I am curious how you managed to capture someone where the entire military stationed in Torigoth failed to do so."

"Well," Rex began, "it's nothing special. I didn't even 'capture' him like everyone keeps saying. He just happened to be where I was. I didn't even know he was wanted."

Azurda let out a deep gravelly chuckle. "It was a big surprise to us at how dangerous the Driver squad leaders were treating him. You'd almost think he was Alrest's most wanted criminal."

There was a 'hmph' from his left where Tora stood, eyes barely cresting above the guard's thighs, tiny Nopon arms crossed defiantly, though Rex could see him shaking. His Blade, Poppi, was stoically standing stock still, eying the guards beside her out of the corner of her eyes. "Tora has nothing to say."

Mòrag finally turned her head, giving him a cool stare. "Not even about your artificial Blade?"

Artificial?

Tora stood defiantly still, whether too afraid, or too prideful, Rex couldn't tell. However, he was surprised when Mòrag moved over and crouched down on one knee to look not at Tora, but Poppi, at eye level.

"Do you speak?" There was a kind of tenderness in her voice he hadn't heard her use before.

Nodding, Poppi proudly put her hands on her hips, her floppy white hat going askew. "Poppi is fully capable and functioning, though Masterpon says image and timing need improvement."

"Remarkable," he heard her whisper. She raised her voice. "Poppi, what do you and your Driver want to do?"

"Masterpon wants to find his dadapon, Tatazo. Poppi does as well."

"His father?"

"Is practically Poppi's dadapon too. Helped grampypon work on plans for Poppi looong nights before dadapon disappear. Poppi hopes to be able to repay debt of gratitude for helping make her."

Mòrag's lips turned up in a smile. "That sounds very noble of you." Poppi perked up at the praise. "So tell me, Poppi, why are you both here on the battleship Gladio?"

"We here escaping mean debt collectors. Masterpon racked up looots of debt getting parts for Poppi. Ardainian Titan battleship first place we could go." She tilted her head, hat flopping to the other side, eyeing Mòrag. "Will Mòrag put us in jail?"

"That remains to be seen. What was your intention in destroying the detention centre in the Torigoth Relay Base?"

Poppi bowed slightly in apology. "Poppi very sorry; only wanted to help Masterpon free from big bully Ardainian man. Didn't mean to cause so much destruction." She raised her head, eyes looking up. "Can Mòrag forgive?"

"Though I would very much like that, there are many people who need assurances that you won't hurt them first. Perhaps, if you and your Driver consent to it, we could arrange something to help you pay your debts, both monetary and societal?"

She practically lit up at that. "Poppi does!" She looked over to Tora.

Tora huffed. "Tora won't make any promises beside thinking about it."

"I will allow you to think on it and talk more with you both later. I believe we can come to an agreeable arrangement." She stood, and the guards left, taking Tora and Poppi with them. After they left, she and Brighid started talking too low for him to hear.

"I didn't realize," Rex muttered

"Realize what?" Azurda asked quietly back.

"That Mòr-er, Special Inquisitor Mòrag, could be so nice."

Azurda let out another deep chuckle. "Did you really expect someone so high up in the empire to be so one-dimensional?"

"That's not what I meant. Just that…" He trailed off letting out a breath. "I don't know. I guess I just never really thought about it that way."

"At least now you understand something more about the nation you're currently representing."

"Really? What's that?"

"That the empire can be much more caring than you make them out to be."

"Well, I wouldn't say all of them." His thoughts turned to the consul back in Torigoth. "Mòrag's alright, at least."

"Your Blade is right, Rex." He jolted back in surprise when he looked up to see her looming over him. "Don't worry, I mean no harm in overhearing."

He straightened up. "I didn't think you did."

She laughed softly, the corner of her mouth curling upward for a moment, before her face went sombre. "Our nation is fraught with those whose sense of duty and patriotism sometimes outweighs their common sense. Do not mistake their example: we desire peace for Alrest as much as the next person."

"I don't think anyone really wants violence. Everyone wants peace. They just don't really get how to do it, and it's different for everyone. It's hard to talk for everyone when you can't see from someone else's boots."

He saw Brighid raise her eyebrows. "Wise words for one so young."

"You learn a lot growing up working with world weary salvagers, the good and the bad. Gramps and Auntie Corrine helped a lot too."

"So I see," Mòrag commented. "Regardless of whether it was an accident or happenstance, bringing in the Nopon and Poppi did us a great favour. Another piece in the puzzle."

"Puzzle? What do you mean?"

They all turned as a call from inside the ship, and a soft alarm - not blaring, but still urgent - started sounding. "That will have to wait for another time."

He couldn't remember what the alarm was supposed to mean even though the Driver recruiter had told them. He was ingrained with what salvager's ship sounds and symbols meant. The ship crested on a wave of the cloud sea and Rex spotted another ship in the distance on the horizon, maybe a couple titanpeds away. In the background, he heard more orders being barked.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Look." Rex followed Brighid's point out into the cloud sea, out to the titanship. "That ship, less than an hour ago, was raided by a member of Torna."

His heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed, nervously. He was about to encounter them again already? "Seriously?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, inquisitor," Azurda asked, "but hasn't it been barely more than a week since their expedition with Rex?"

"Yes." Mòrag nodded. "They're acting more quickly. Or perhaps they always did so and we simply hadn't noticed before. Whether there were others involved or not, we couldn't tell, but the distress call said that the raid was done by a single man in a white-horned mask."

Several different feelings rushed to the surface. Fear, anger, sadness, confusion. Like Nia, Jin had watched as Malos wreaked havoc. His felt his knuckles turn white as his hand clenched into a fist. "Jin."

"It matches your description of him. Is there something more you can tell me about him?"

"Honestly, not much." Taking a stabilizing breath, he folded his arms thinking. If she'd asked about Malos he could've talked her ear off, but Jin? "I guess he seemed overall pretty quiet and reserved. Focused, definitely. The other members of Torna all seemed to follow his lead."

"Anything specific about his combat abilities?"

He tapped his foot, trying to remember. "He had a long one-edged sword - a nodachi, I think - but he really only helped out occasionally in battle if something came close to him. It didn't seem like he enjoyed fighting that much."

"Are you certain?"

"I think so. I don't really know anything else. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. You've already helped out much more than you know. It could easily be that until they disposed of the crew of the Invicta, all of Torna were hiding their true abilities. Follow me to the bridge. I would like you to be present for this."

The order was laced with authority, and seeing as he probably would have done it anyways he just simply nodded, following her in with Azurda. The balcony they'd been on was only a short walk away, and when they arrived, the bridge of the ship was abuzz with a flurry of activity. The memory of the night on the Maelstrom buzzed into view, but he shook it away.

It wouldn't end like that. He wouldn't let it. Besides, even if he still wasn't sure about the Empire, he knew they were decent soldiers. When all noticed Mòrag there, it seemed like everyone sat or stood a little straighter. The captain greeted her with a salute, his eyes flicking to Rex and Azurda for a moment.

"At ease, Captain Keithen. Report."

The captain's hands folded at what Rex had learned was 'parade rest' behind his back. "Inquisitor, we're in spotting distance of the Invicta. Cursory observations of its hull and the Titan seem to indicate no attack or damage from the outside."

"None at all?"

"Nothing from this range. The Titan integrated with the ship seems to be alive and by all reports, the vessel looks anchored. Or, if the distress call was accurate, derelict."

Peering out of the bridge's viewport, Rex saw the large Ardainian titanvessel. Now that they were closer, it seemed it was similar in structure to this battleship, just on a smaller scale. The cloud sea rolled on a wave and for a moment, he thought he saw something on the port side of the ship. It was gone before he could be sure.

"Do you believe we're walking into a trap, captain?" Mòrag asked.

Captain Keithen shook his head. "It's unclear ma'am. Even though it's hard not to see our ship coming, I don't believe the perpetrators knew we would come. The probes and scanners haven't detected any other vessels, and there have been no reports of other ship sightings from the spotters."

"Then continue onward. Ready the ether cannons and be watchful."

A tense atmosphere filled the air of the bridge as the orders were carried out, and Rex watched anxiously as they continued the approach.

"Contact!" A call from elsewhere on the bridge at one of the stations, Rex wasn't entirely sure what they were called. "There's a small vessel docked near the auxiliary hanger. Unknown make; no friend or foe signal detected!"

It was the little shape he'd seen earlier. He squinted his eyes, trying to look closer at the ship. It looked familiar for some reason. Had he seen that before?

"Move into position, aim to disable, not destroy," Mòrag ordered. "We need answers, not wreckage. Ready a firing solution. Two low power ether charges."

He heard a subtle whine of something powering up, probably the cannons. The Gladio moved closer, close enough that he could just barely recognize the ship.

Hold up. Is that the Monoceres out there?

"Is the firing solution ready?"

"Aye, Inquisitor."

"Fire."

Leave no evidence behind.

Malos had been the one to suggest the mandate originally. Mikhail had run with it, saying it would help them stay under the radar until they were ready. Ahkos had initially complained, seeing as the world couldn't see his 'script' come to fruition, but had complied eventually. Patroka said she didn't care, though Jin had seen the glint of battle lust in her eyes.

Nia hadn't known about it. Not until they'd retrieved the Aegis.

Jin finished securing the core crystals in the hold of the Monoceres, their light glinting out of the containers that held them. They almost seemed to thrum as he stepped away. Though he knew the Blades within couldn't hear him, he imagined their voices singing, humming with their newly found freedom.

He was their liberator, even though her heart seemed to squeeze him painfully with guilt. He mentally dragged himself away from that storm as he made his way to the deck of the Monoceres, looking up to the massive Ardainian Titan Battleship.

It was empty.

Only one thing left to do.

When they'd first started gathering cores, Mikhail had designed ways to quickly subjugate the ships, often causing chain reactions in the mechanisms fitted inside the titanvessels. The ships would be disabled, then sunk. It was brutally efficient, and Jin had only become more efficient at it as time went on.

But he hadn't moved to do it yet this time. He stood stock still, locked in place.

His hands shook, and her heart started beating more rapidly in his chest.

Even though he'd done so many times to other vessels, he couldn't move. Paralyzed with indecision, he wasn't sure how long he stood there, looking up at the monument of what he'd become.

A noise broke him out of his almost trancelike state. The hum of another engine. Behind him, another Ardainian battleship approached. Jin's eyes narrowed.

Normally, the communications systems were the first thing he targeted, but he'd been...distracted. Something could have slipped through. Whether because of that, or by chance, this other ship was here. But what would they do? Had they spotted the Monoceres yet?

He glanced back towards the derelict ship, then back towards the advancing one. He could still make it to the ship's systems and set off the chain reaction that would send it beneath the clouds. He was fast enough.

Her heart clenched in his chest.

He toggled the mechanism that began to retract the metal docking ramp, moving him away from the Ardainian battleship. He had the core crystals. That was all that was necessary. Glancing back to the approaching ship, he noted it was headed straight for him. They knew he was here.

Ether gathered around two of the front facing cannons on the opposing ship, preparing to fire. Calculating it, Jin knew he wouldn't make it in time to the Monoceres' bridge to use its weaponry or submerse the craft before the other one fired, especially with only him here.

"If we fight her at full strength, she's going to use Siren. Mine's gone, and the gargoyles are toast. Not that I could control any of them right now, anyways. Got any ideas on how to counter that, Jin?"

"...I have an idea."

Jin drew his sword.

There were two almost imperceptible thuds as two red ether charges quickly crossed the span between the ships. He waited until the charges - which were larger than he was - were nearly upon him.

The world around him slowed as he sped up. The two ether charges still moved relatively quickly in his perception towards the deck of the Monoceres, one slightly ahead of the other. He flickered towards the closer one, slicing the energy in two. One part of it started making its way to towards the battleship he'd raided and the other split off towards the cloud sea.

Flickering towards the other ether charge, he let it slam into his sword. His core surged and with pure intent and will, he gathered the huge charge around his sword. Amplifying it with his own ether, he intended on throwing it back towards the ship, towards where he knew where the bridge would be. He could cripple the ship. Maybe even destroy it.

Her heart beat in his chest.

At the last moment before the ether leapt off his nodachi, he flicked his sword a miniscule degree to his right.

The world resumed its normal pace, and the charge surged back through the expanse between them, not hitting the bridge, but the ship's port side instead. Fire poured out the side of the ship as something exploded, and the Ardainian battleship bucked to the side from the force.

"What the-?"

"Brace!"

The ship bucked underneath him and Rex stumbled as the reflected ether charges skimmed the port side. An alarm started blaring, and some of the bridge crew started calling damage reports.

The Monoceres began sinking below the clouds. Before they could try or do anything else, it was out of sight.

They circled around the Invicta for nearly half an hour, using depth probes to try and find the submersible, but to no avail. The other ship was gone, and with it, Jin. Rex was almost…disappointed.

The tiny skirmish over, the Gladio began making its approach to the Invicta, pulling up beside it, the captain turned to Mòrag. "Inquisitor. Have you ever seen something reflect ether charges like that before?"

Mòrag shook her head. "No, I have not seen the likes of it before. Have you or your crew figured out any idea of behind what it could be?"

"Well, from what the damage reports say, when the ether charge hit the Gladio, it had far more power behind the blast than just a single ether charge should," the captain mused. "Already there are several theories, ranging from unknown technologies, Blade abilities and a few absurd ideas." The captain shook his head. "In truth, we were too far away to see what exactly happened."

"I see." He saw Mòrag put her hand to her chin in thought, and Rex could practically see the gears turning in her head. "On another note, the ship in question didn't seem like it had any Urayan modifications. Do we know how could it go beneath the clouds like that without suffocating the Titan?"

"Well," Rex spoke up, "I don't know about the ether charge stuff, but it probably can go beneath the cloud sea because it's not a Titan based ship."

The crew close by, including Mòrag, turned to him. Some looked surprised he'd spoken up, clearly puzzled. Mòrag seemed to scrutinize his backbone for an uncomfortable moment. "What do you mean?"

Shaking off the uncomfortable stares, he moved to explain. "I saw that ship up close docked in Argentum before. There's no Titan integrated with the ship; it's just a machine. I looked at it myself up close and even asked the dock master about it. If I remember right, Malos called it the Monoceres."

"Note that down." Mòrag told one of the people at one of the stations and then turned back to him. "Let this be a lesson to you and Azurda. If you have vital information like this, do not keep it to yourself. Everything we have that helps us face this will help."

He nodded tersely and beside him, Azurda spoke. "Of course we will, Inquisitor."

She stared at him a moment later before turning back to the captain. "Captain. Ready a boarding crew; I will personally lead them. Hopefully we will find someone left alive to tell the tale."

An alarm blared continuously on the Invicta. Even if at this point it was pointless. None of her crew was left to answer it.

Mòrag's eyes tightened as she led the boarding party and secured the ghost of a ship. White-hot anger simmered below the surface of her skin. There was no one left alive.

This would be the last time. The last time Torna did something like this.

She stepped past another body. And another. And another.

She would make sure of it.

Chapter Text

The harsh cold of the hard, unforgiving metal floor seeped into Nia.

All around her, the opulent, gilded decorations of the room of her cell tried its best to hide the fact that she was a prisoner. Who wasted this much on a jail cell, and on a ship of all things? She pointedly ignored the comfortable looking cot in the corner of the room since it didn't match her mood.

Arms wrapped around her knees, drawn up to her chest, she tried to make herself as small as possible. The hum of the Indoline ship and the gentle sway of the Titan that powered it drilled her thoughts in a terrible circle. She'd already tried calling on the ether here - hers not through Dromarch's affinity link - but something was stopping it.

Time passed slowly.

What had she been thinking? Had she really thought that she could be on the run forever?

Really?

No. She'd known it was always been a possibility, no matter how careful she was. She'd even succeeded for a little bit, and gained a sense of normality acting like a freelance Driver taking on mercenary jobs. But eventually all it took was the wrong person recognizing Dromarch, and in came the Indoline monks ambushing them in the dead of night. At least he was somewhere on this ship too.

She remembered hearing stories while she'd been on the run of how the Praetorium disposed of flesh eaters.

Sighing, she hugged her knees closer to her chest, burying her face and cutting off sight of the stupid room. What was the point of it all? Even if she had gained that power, in the end, she still couldn't save her 'sister,' and her 'father'...

She shuddered.

Her ears perked up at the sudden sound of a warning siren and she looked warily up at the door. Leaning forward, she could hear the sounds of the Indoline monks who'd captured her fighting - or maybe by the sound of it, failing to fight - something. Her hidden core pounded.

She winced as the alarm cut off and soon there weren't any sounds. Then, a single set of footsteps getting closer. Was this it? Not even a death at the hands of those who'd hunted her, but by some raider? Pirates? Pathetic.

The sounds came closer, and the screams of someone close pierced the solid door. Was that close? She was almost glad when the solid metal of the cell door swung open. Better to get it over with quick than all this suspense.

A man with silvery white hair stared at her, ice blue eyes boring into hers behind a horned white mask that left the lower part of his face uncovered. A long thin sword sheathed on his back, a pure red crystal on its hilt. The eyes of the stranger glanced over to something fixed in the wall behind her, then back. There was a long moment of silence.

"Well," she snapped, "are you going to kill me or what?"

The stranger said nothing, but walked forward and, to her surprise, extended one of his hands down to her. She looked up at it, confused.

"Will you come with me?" It wasn't an order or a command. An invitation.

"Huh?" Her ears twitched hesitantly, not sure if she'd heard right. "You aren't going to demand I come with you, or drag me along?"

"I will not make you, but do you really want to stay here, of all places?"

Averting her eyes, she scoffed. "Of course not." Her eyes caught the sight of two guards outside the door, slumped and bleeding. The healer in her itched go and fix it, but she tore her eyes away. "What are you doing on an Indoline ship anyways? You know they won't forgive someone killing their own like that."

"They won't know."

"What, because you'll run away really fast? I'm proof enough that won't work."

"We're not running." A part of her didn't like the implications of that, and the other part wanted to make the bastards suffer. "Will you come with me?"

She was still hesitant. How could she not be, after those years of running and fighting? "Why?"

"Because." There was something sad in his eyes, and at the same time she knew that pain. Her hidden core thrummed and her eyes widened at the chilly feeling of ether brushing up against her, there one moment and gone the next.

"You're just like me."

Extending her hand upward, she grasped her hand in his, and he lifted her up.

"Look out!"

Lora ducked underneath the swing of the arachno queen's barbed leg, and retaliated, slashing Pyra's red flaming sword - still unfamiliar in her hand - and it cut straight through the armoured chitin.

The massive arachno screeched in protest, and a moment later hissed out saliva in retaliation that was far too yellow not to be poisonous. Pyra stepped in front of her, raising her ether barrier to block the substance. It splattered off the shield onto the metal floor, sizzling as it landed, the substance steaming as it bubbled, melting the floor slightly. A coppery tang went up her nose, almost like blood.

The queen spat out a little more and it splashed on the ground behind the shield, splattering up and hitting Pyra on the leg. She winced, and a moment later, Lora hissed through her teeth as she felt an echo of that pain.

"It seems your fate is now inexplicably tied to hers, even more so than that of any normal Driver and Blade. When one of you becomes injured, the other will experience a mirror image of that pain."

Ahkos' words ringing in her ears, she passed the sword back to Pyra, both of them backing off and allowing Mikhail to step in to take the heat.

"You know," Nia shouted over the skittering of what had to be hundreds of little antols, desperately slashing at them with Dromarch's twin ring weapons, "when you said we were going through an abandoned industrial district, I thought it would be more, I dunno, abandoned!"

Mikhail danced around a ferocious bite from the queen, and put up Cressidus' massive metal gauntlets to block it stamping down with its uninjured front leg, putting them in a strength standoff. "So it's got a few bugs that moved in since I was last here."

"A few?!"

"Well, like it or not, It's blocking both ways out of here," he grunted, and shoved forward with Cressidus' huge metal gauntlets, pushing back the arachno, which staggered back from the blow. "A little help here?"

Knocking a few antols that attempted to jump her away with a quick jab and a kick, Lora freed up the moment for Pyra to stab her sword into the ground, a wave of fire spreading forward to burn a small path through the antols to the queen arachno.

Nearby her, Dromarch's twin rings - guided by tiny waves of water - surged around him and Nia, cutting through the antols, sending their guts around them. Where the water ether from Dromarch met Pyra's flames, it sent up billowing steam, knocking away more antols. The smell that followed made her stomach turn.

Catching the twin rings, Nia dashed through the new path and dug it into the recovering queen's other intact front leg, water lancing about it, making it waver. Mikhail bashed its head in with a punch and it careened into the wall, toppling over as it collapsed.

Seizing the moment, Lora and Pyra's link surged. In a feat of adrenaline, ignoring the growing mirrored pain in her leg from the bile, Lora skidded forward underneath the monstrosity. Just as she reached the middle of its belly she shouted, uppercutting into its belly with her fist, launching it into the air.

"Swap with me, Pyra!"

"On it!"

Back hand-springing away, Lora felt the affinity link between them surge. Heat rushed into the enclosed room, and fire swirled in an instant underneath the giant arachno. An instant later, it leapt into a towering pillar of flame that kept it suspended in the air. It screeched in painful protest.

"Cressidus!"

Mikhail tossed his massive gauntlets to Cressidus, who scrambled up the pipes on the wall, launching himself into the queen arachno as the pillar of flame dispersed. The arachno flailed, screeching again as he grappled it mid-air and used his momentum to slam it into the ground with an earthy rumble that made Lora's teeth rattle.

In a spectacular moment, the gathered ether from their attacks exploded outward in a steam explosion, blowing a huge chunk of the arachno with it. Thankfully, the guts sprayed away from them, splattering instead on the far wall.

All the tiny antols left alive in the room froze as the queen twitched a couple more times before curling inward on itself as it finally died, slowly dissipating into earthy motes of ether. The antols scattered, skittering away into holes and out of the room, as if sensing they were outmatched.

The room grew eerily silent, filled with only the sound of all of them breathing. She was the one breathing the hardest.

Breathing out a shaky sigh of relief, Lora came out of her combat stance, wincing as she put weight on her leg. It was going to hurt once the adrenaline faded, but she ignored it for the moment. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah," Nia lowered her weapons, "just peachy."

"Well, it's not exactly the open air adventure I had in mind, but it could be worse, right?"

"It's true, Lady Lora." Dromarch shook himself, splattering Nia with antol guts, with a shout of protest from her. "At least we had only started making camp. I fear what it would have been like if we were fully asleep."

"Please don't say that, Dromarch," Nia whined. "That's the last thing I want to think about." She watched as Nia tried wiping off the splattered guts on her on to the wall with little success, eventually giving up to instead glare at Mikhail. "So. Abandoned?"

He shrugged. "It was, but I haven't been here in decades."

"And you couldn't have mentioned it'd been so long before?"

"We handled ourselves, didn't we?"

"And what if Ardainian soldiers come around to check and see what the noise was?"

"They won't." His answer was confident. "The Ardainian Titan's ether line here went dead and the empire found another better geothermal vent closer to the capital. That was almost fifty years ago. Recently, I was considering using the space for a temporary staging area before I found something better, but that's beside it all. Point is, we're all fine."

Nia snorted, giving up. "I'm going to be cleaning antol bits out of Dromarch's fur for weeks." She started carefully picking up her belongings which had been scattered about in the skirmish. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm not tired anymore. We should get out of here before something else crawls out of the metalworks."

Lora nodded. "Agreed." She and Pyra started carefully gathering their meagre belongings which had been set down for the evening camp. "It might be rough, but we ought to press on, at least until we're out of the nest."

Pyra turned to Cressidus, a smile on her face. "Well, at least we know we can all work well together. That slam was awesome, Cressidus!"

Cressidus puffed out his chest, pride seeping into his voice. "I call it the leonine pile driver. Mik and I have been in the Marsanes updating its systems for a while so we haven't had a chance to put it to good use. It's great to know that I haven't lost my style!"

Mikhail sighed. "Don't encourage the big guy. He's got a big enough head already. You get him going about style, he won't stop. For days. Trust me."

Pyra smiled. "I thought it was wonderful."

She could almost imagine Cressidus cracking a grin as he put out his fist. The golden mask hid anything that could be a mouth. "Couldn't have done it without your set up." He and Pyra bumped knuckles, the comparison in size of their hands almost comically different.

"At least she didn't burn the whole place down this time," Mikhail muttered just loud enough for them to hear. She saw Pyra's smile drop as he went off and grabbed his stuff, bundling it and viciously slung it over his shoulder. "C'mon, Cressidus; let's keep going."

As he stormed away up the metal stairs the arachno had been blocking, Cressidus hesitated, before following at a slower pace. She heard Pyra let out a soft sigh.

Ignoring the building pain in her leg, Lora quickly slung her own pack over her back and wrapped an arm around a distraught looking Pyra's shoulder. "It's alright. A hurt like the one he's carrying will take time to heal."

They paused as Nia and Dromarch passed by, the Gormotti's ears flat in annoyance against her head as she muttered irritably under her breath.

Pyra sighed. "I don't blame him. Because I hid myself away, that wound has only had time to fester. Me bringing you back only ripped it wide open. Me being here just made it worse, didn't it?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Just give it time. Besides that, remember that I'm glad that you're here, that I got to see Jin again."

"Even if he's not here right now?"

"I won't deny that I'm worried about him."

"What about what Malos said?"

"I'm... not sure," she trailed off.

"You think a man wouldn't change in five-hundred years? You should be ashamed, especially since you're the one who broke him."

Had it really been that selfish, wanting to be remembered by those she loved?

She shook Malos' voice out of her head. "Even so, we're in this together, Pyra. I'm not sure how or what yet, but I know there's something we can do." There had to be, for both Mikhail and Jin too, if Malos was right. "Even if, in the end, it'll be up to them to forgive you." Or not. Though she left that part out.

Pyra looked thoughtful, before turning to look her dead in the eyes. "So tell me. Do you really forgive me for what I did to your home?"

"I…" She sighed. "I don't know. I don't think that's who you are."

A sad, almost knowing smile formed on her face. "But you're still scared of what I can do."

The hesitation in her answer must have given her away. Lora averted her eyes. "I am," she admitted.

"That's okay. I'm sure it'll just take time, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Oi!" They both looked up the metal staircase towards what would hopefully lead out of this place. Nia was waving at them a metal catwalk above, having already ascended up one flight of the stairs. "Are you two coming, or do you want to be eaten by antols?"

Pyra waved back and cheerfully called out, "coming!" and started picking her way around the dead antols toward the stairs. With what had just happened now and the other day, Lora couldn't help but feel that cheerfulness was just a mask.

She was right though. Lora still needed time to sort out her feelings on everything. Knowing that she was the Driver of the Aegis...scared her. Even though she was telling the truth when she said she was grateful to be able to see Jin again after it all, the kind of power Pyra had…

The memory of Addam collapsing, Mythra screaming, Hugo dying, Torna burning. It all came unbidden to her mind. Did she really want to be responsible for that kind of power?

She took a step up the stairs. Or, tried to.

The wound flared, and she and Pyra cried out as her leg gave out underneath her.

The darkness of the empty decrepit hall echoed in Mikhail's footsteps, tracing into his thoughts which rolled in a frustrating cycle.

He'd claimed he went off to scout the area; a lame excuse, even if it made sense. But they all had to know. While Nia tended to Lora, he went to cool his head, alone, uncaring of direction as he continued picking his way around the rusting industry.

It just pissed him off.

On one hand, the Aegis was Lora's Blade, and because of the situation, she'd tied her life to hers. Lora had gotten hurt because of her.

On the other hand, Lora was here. Really here. She wasn't just some vain memory entombed in ice anymore; an unsettling reminder of the past that Jin refused to fully let go. She was alive.

But, it had been easier to cope, to live as normal a life as he could when she had just been a pleasant memory, when he could put her out of his mind easily enough. He didn't have to face the music when the music was on ice.

Now he had to sift through the memories, the guilt and anger of all the things he'd long since thought he'd buried. All the things he'd experienced and done over nearly five centuries - the good, the bad, the horrible.

And the Aegis. He grimaced as the hate festered. Now that Lora was awake, the Aegis almost never left her sight. While he was helping Lora finish her elemental braided rope using the tools in his workshop, the Aegis hovered by her, almost incessantly, and he'd never once had a chance to talk to Lora on her own.

Slamming his fist against the wall in frustration, he continued to storm down the hallway. Why did this have to be so complicated? Patroka wasn't complicated.

A distant voice broke him out of his thoughts and he stopped to listen more carefully. He'd been picking his way through the area carelessly, and wasn't sure exactly how he'd gotten here. The voice sounded again, and this time he was sure that it didn't sound like someone from his group.

Looks like someone else moved in too, not just the antols and arachno.

Slowing his walk to be purposefully stealthy for another minute, he headed towards the sound, and started picking up other voices mixed in it, arguing. He eventually tracked it down to the end of the hall, the voices coming from to the path to the right of a t-shaped intersection ahead of him. Reaching the end, he pressed his body against the wall and carefully peered around the corner.

"- and my men are getting restless. All the pieces are in place. We are ready to strike on all fronts. The Inquisitor is absent. So I will ask it again: why do you wait?"

He immediately spotted two men - mercenaries, thugs or some such - standing guard in front of a metal door, near a large broken glass window, clouded by age and dust. His eyes narrowed in confusion at the sight as he looked through to a remnant of a room that had long ago lost its purpose. Who would go through the trouble of dragging a pristine, ornate throne like that out here? Unless…

"The timing must be perfect. There are no exceptions."

Oh. This guy.

The voice was regal sounding, almost like a character out of one of Ahkos' plays, overdramatically royal to the point of being obnoxious. "Otherwise the replacement for the Ardainian throne won't be able to handle the switch."

Mikhail's eyebrows rose at the interesting tidbit. Well, that escalated quickly.

The first voice, a deep baritone, scoffed. "Your insistence on timing has already forced us to move our operations once already. Any more of this waiting is going to get us caught by the Empire before anything happens. If it happens again, the Bloody Lobsters will withdraw their support from your coup."

Another familiar name. He hadn't heard that gang's name in a while. At least a few years…or maybe a decade or two? It was hard to keep track sometimes. But really what was more interesting was that they'd somehow gotten roped into a coup. They didn’t usually deal with governments.

Of course, for Mikhail, it was obnoxious. Those guys were the worst.

"Worry not, loyal subjects. The time will present itself soon."

"Don't mock me," the other voice growled. "We refuse to bow to your timing, Blade. We won't just sit here idly twiddling our thumbs waiting for a perfect moment that will never make itself known. You have a week, or we will withdraw our support."

"Then you are a fool, for being unable to be patient. You will get what you desire."

The attitude of the Bloody Lobster representative was about on par for what he expected, but the fact that a Blade, specifically this one, was leading this? That was unusual, especially in this day and age. He must have gotten a new Driver too, one involved in stuff like this.

"Intruder!"

Mikhail whipped around behind him to see a guard, likely from a patrol, pointing a gun his way. Quickly reacting to his alert, the other guards came around the corner into the intersection. Certainly wasn't the first time he'd had guns pointed at him.

He smiled a fake disarming smoulder and opened his mouth to fake an explanation. "Hello there-"

Without asking, the guard pulled the trigger and shot. Using the instinct that had eventually became his own, power flared in him and dark ether curved the bullets just out of his way to instead hit the wall behind him. In that same motion, he called from the ether his two war fans. With a mental command, dark element ether coalesced into feathery shapes at the tips of the weapons.

And the dance of death began.

One of the guards cursed. "He's a Blade!"

Not quite, but close enough.

Raising his ether barrier behind him to block the bullets from the two guards there, he weaved around the frontal assault. With a flick of his fans, the dark ether shot out like feathers, homing in on the targets behind him. Their screams cutting off confirmed their death as the dark ether tore them apart.

Closing in on the one in front, he traded a few blows with the patrol guard, who desperately blocked his fans with their gun, until the ether tore through the metal and stabbed into the person. He kicked him off his weapons and they fell, dead, a moment later.

"You know, it's rude to shoot first and ask questions later," he muttered, annoyed. His frustration from earlier bled out somewhat from the short skirmish. Amusing as it could be, there wasn't time to get swept up in some conspiracy. He started running away from the scene, back towards the others.

Glass shattered behind him and a heated shout echoed through the hall. "Crow!"

He stopped short as flames leapt up in front of him. He whipped around behind him and found a familiar Blade turning the corner with a flaming greataxe. Kingly, was the best way to describe him, red cloak flapping behind him over gilded armour as he stalked forward.

That was familiar enough, but the most notable feature to Mikhail was his core crystal. Shaped like a gaudy crown, the crystal was no longer a pure blue, but was tinged in with red. A flesh eater. That explained how he'd remembered the alias he'd given in his last encounter with him.

Death was promised in that glare from his piercing blue eye as he continued advancing.

Oh yeah, he definitely remembers.

Mikhail returned the death glare with a cocky grin, baiting him. The flesh eater roared at the challenge, fire flaring up around him as he charged forward. For a moment, Mikhail's confidence wavered at the unexpected move. Last time he'd been all boasting and hardly any action, but now…

Mikhail braced, and ducked under the first swing of the greataxe, the heat following the attack nearly choking him. He twisted inside the guard of the axe, swinging one war fan up to slice at his face. To his surprise, the flesh eater leaned back to avoid the strike and brought his knee up to hit Mikhail's gut.

Mikhail brought up his ether barrier to block it, but realized the knee was a feint. A flaming fist slammed into it where his face was. The barrier blocked what would have been pain, and the flesh eater released his fist, revealing a miniature sun in his palm, which exploded. The force of it cracked the barrier, sending him flying back, rolling end over end before he was able to right himself.

Looking up, Mikhail cricked his neck. That wasn't something he'd been able to do before. "Seems like you've gotten an upgrade."

"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this to repay you." The flesh eater's visible eye flashed dangerously, and he roared again. The flames blazed alight around him and the metal started melting where he stepped, another miniature sun forming in the palm not holding his greataxe. He really wanted to kill him, did he?

Though considering what Mikhail had done to him, maybe it wasn't that surprising.

A pit of anxiety started forming, and though he wouldn't admit it, something akin to fear slunk to the surface. He might be able to win this still, but the Bloody Lobsters were still around, and he had no clue of their capability. If he'd had Cressidus with him, he might have stuck around to see, but right now…

He let go of his war fans, absorbing the ether back into himself, and backing away. "No more time to play, Dagas, I've got more important things right now."

In response, Dagas slammed the greataxe into the metal. Knowing what was coming, Mikhail's legs bunched and he jumped, doing a flashy spin mid-air, diving over and through the flames that leapt up to try and stop him. He twisted dark ether around him, the tiny gravity wells warping the flames to push the worst of them away from him.

Landing, he rolled to his feet, turned and winked before he dashed around the corner, out of sight.

Nia glared at Lora. "Honestly, Lora. Tell me about these things before they get out of hand."

"Sorry." Lora laughed uncomfortably as she averted her eyes. "I didn't think it was this bad."

Making a little 'tch,' she watched carefully as Dromarch continued manipulating the water ether to rebuild the flesh in her leg that had been melted through. Hopefully, the hallway they'd had to drag Lora and Pyra into was far enough away from the arachno nest that they wouldn't be ambushed again.

Nearby, Pyra sat watching the three of them. Down the hall, Cressidus stood guard, looking in the direction Mik had gone off to 'scout the surrounding area.'

As if she couldn't tell he'd gone to blow off steam.

She continued to feed Dromarch a gentle amount of ether through their link to amplify his healing. She would be able to do it far quicker on her own, but there was no point for something like this.

Besides that, she couldn't bring herself to do that anyways.

Lora's black armoured boot lay leaning beside Pyra against the metal wall. Looking at the piece of armour, she noticed there wasn't any sign of it melting through at all. That was strange, considering the wound. Oddly, Pyra had the same wound, and it showed through the hole in her boot, but insisted she take care of Lora first. Nia obliged, since Pyra would be able to heal quicker, being a Blade.

Her full attention was brought back when Lora hissed in pain, wincing. "Careful there. So how did you get this anyways? I didn't see you get hit at all."

Pyra spoke up. "Sorry, it's my fault."

"Don't go on about 'not doing your duty as Blade' or all that nonsense. If I had a gold piece every time Dromarch's slipped up with his ether barrier to protect me, I'd be rich as a greedy Nopon guildsman."

Pyra shook her head. "It wasn't that. I was the one who got hit, but because of the connection Lora and I share," she tapped the missing x-shaped part of her emerald core, "any pain I feel, she feels. Any wound I get, she gets."

Nia's eyebrows raised. "Wait, so when the arachno queen spat that toxin or whatever that hit you, it injured Lora too?"

Pyra nodded. "But we heal together too."

"Weird. Overall, that seems like it would be a pain. I wasn't going to worry about you being hit as much since you're a Blade, but if that's the case, you two ought to be more careful." She turned to Lora. "So does it have something to do with you being the Driver of the Aegis?"

"Well, more of how I became her Driver."

"What do you mean?"

"Lora doesn't have her heart," Pyra answered.

"What?!" Nia's eyes practically bugged out, and she bumped into Dromarch, and nearly broke her affinity link with him. Thankfully, he kept a steady hold manipulating the ether while her fingers went to feel for the pulse at Lora's neck.

After a moment Lora asked, "Is there something there?"

"The fact that you sound genuinely curious worries me." Eventually she found the steady thump of a heartbeat and calmed down. Glaring at Pyra, Nia removed her fingers from Lora's neck. "'Course there's something there. Humans don't just walk around with no heartbeat; you don't need to know anything big about anatomy to know that. You really shouldn't joke about something like that, Pyra."

There was an awkward silence as what felt like a whole silent conversation passed by her as Pyra and Lora glanced at each other.

They aren't joking, are they?

"It's true. Look." Lora pulled down her thick padded tunic revealing, to her surprise, an x-shaped emerald core crystal. It was right on her sternum where a Blade's core would be.

It pulsed rhythmically, the same rhythm she'd felt in the pulse of Lora's heartbeat. Curiosity got the better of her and she leaned forward to get a better look. It looked all emerald and stuff like Pyra's and all, blending in with the flesh just like a regular Blade's would.

"How?"

"I don't really understand it to be honest, but it's because of this, because of Pyra, that I can be here, that I can do anything. I owe her my life."

Out of the corner of her eye, different coloured skin tissue caught her eye. Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward a little more, spotting what looked like the tip of an ugly scar leading down to where Lora's heart was. As if noticing Nia looking, she pulled her tunic back up.

Clearing her throat, Nia leaned back. "Well, at least we only have to heal one of you if you get yourselves into trouble." Dromarch stepped back, dissipating the ether, revealing smooth skin, no longer marred or exposing muscle and sinew. "There, that should do it."

"Thank you, Nia, Dromarch." Lora ran a hand over the fresh skin. "No matter how many times I see it, I'm always amazed at how wholly skilled Blades can heal wounds. You're both amazing at it."

Her ears flattened, and she tried to hide her pleased grin at the praise. "Nah, it's nothing. Dromarch did all the work." And really, compared to what she could do if she really tried, it was hardly anything.

Dromarch chuckled. "It is our pleasure, Lady Lora. With luck, we won't have to do this again soon."

Lora smiled at Dromarch as she accepted her armoured boot from Pyra. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Nia watched wryly as Lora gave Dromarch a pat on the head, which he leaned into.

Cheeky little sod. At least he seemed to like Lora. That was normally a good sign with people. Just like he'd liked Jin.

As Lora was nearly finished refitting her armoured boot around her red stocking, the echoing sound of quick footsteps came rushing down the corridor. Everyone quickly got to their feet, hands on their weapons or ready to establish affinity links.

They relaxed when they saw it was just Mik. "That didn't take long," Nia quipped. "You weren't even gone twenty minutes."

"It was a productive twenty minutes." His face was serious. "We should get out of here."

Nia winced. "Did the antols find us again?"

Mik shook his head. "Worse. I nearly walked into a powwow practically straight out of one of Ahkos' plays. One of the groups I didn't recognize, but the others have been a thorn in my side for years. The Bloody Lobsters."

"Bloody Lobsters?" Nia snorted. "Sounds intimidating."

Rolling his eyes, Mik waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, you can tell they tried real hard with that name. Name aside, they're a cross Titan gang that's been around as long as I can remember. They're worse than they sound, but nothing we couldn't handle if we needed to. "

"Wait a second." Lora perked up from where she'd been finishing adjusting her straps on her boot. "I remember them too." She turned to Pyra. "Didn't we help squash an illegal drug trade run by them in Auresco before Torna sank?"

Pyra nodded. "Yeah. I guess they stuck around for a long time."

It still felt odd to Nia for them to refer to ancient history like it was yesterday. But then, for Lora and Pyra, it must have felt like it was.

"Big whoop. So how are we going to get out of here?" Nia asked. "This place just keeps getting less and less abandoned the longer we're here."

"Hold on," Lora interrupted. "If they're already here, we should see if there's something we could do to stop whatever they're planning. Knowing them, it can't be anything good."

Nia raised an eyebrow. Was Lora seriously thinking of trying that? They were on some sort of schedule. And there were probably still antols waiting to come out of the metalworks to avenge their dead queen. Probably. Even if she hoped there weren't.

Everyone looked at Mik.

He sighed, agitation showing on his face. "Look, Lora, I know you mean well, but we aren't here to attract attention. We just need to grab a couple parts, pick up a couple other things, then go."

"Much as I am curious as well," Dromarch rumbled, "Lady Lora, Master Mikhail is right. It would be in our best interest to not draw any more undue attention to ourselves."

"Besides," Mik continued, "I attracted the attention of something worse; a royal vendetta, and it's only a matter of time before 'his highness' catches up with us."

"Royal vendetta?" Nia asked.

"CROW!"

The hair on the back of her neck practically stood straight up at the bellow that echoed through the metal halls. The room - already warm - turned to sweltering as flames leapt up towards them from the hall Mik had come in through, lighting up the relatively dim area. Ether barriers were quickly raised to block the flames.

But the flames seemed to have a mind of their own, and they quickly leapt back together into what seemed like a little sun, before exploding outwards again. Dromarch's ether barrier cracked under the pressure of the elemental difference.

"Speaking of," Mikhail shouted, "that's our cue to leave!"

Nia was already moving, and shouted behind her, "Don't have to tell me twice!"

The rest of them followed quickly and Mik dashed to the front, leading them through the abandoned - but not definitely not empty - industrial district. She was thankful that Mik seemed to know where he was going since the flames didn't stop coming.

She chanced a glance behind her, finally spotting their pursuer. Wreathed in fire, royal red cloak flapping behind him, the image screamed 'dangerous mad man.' Through it all, she spotted the crown-shaped core on his greataxe mottled with red.

No wonder he could bring this much power in with no Driver. The flesh eater Blade seemed to pay no attention to how much damage he caused as he continued to stalk forward, eye focused on Mik. At this rate, he was going to melt the whole area around him to slag, not just the floor.

"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE, CROW!"

The shout sent shivers down her spine. "What did you do to this guy, Mik?"

"Not important! Talk less, run more!"

"YOUR HEAD ON A PLATTER, CROW!"

Unfortunately, they eventually ran out of room to run. Ahead of them a thick metal bulkhead blocked their progress forward. "Dead end ahead, Mik!" she yelled.

"Yes, I can see that, thank you. Cressidus!"

"Already on it!" Cressidus ran forward, shoulder used in an attempt at a battering ram. He clanged off it uselessly with only a small dent to show for it. He started hammering away at it, while Mik joined in with his gauntlets but they barely seemed to be doing anything.

"Out of my way, peasants. My quarrel isn't with you."

Glancing behind again she saw that Pyra had broken off from the group to engage the flesh eater Blade, with Lora providing careful rear-guard support. Better Pyra than her any day. Fire Blade against fire Blade was a way better matchup than her with how dry it was on Mor Ardain. With this heat, it'd be hard for Dromarch to face off against that.

"Now what?" Nia yelled at Mik.

"There should be a terminal connected to this bulkhead nearby."

"Do I look like an electric Blade to y-?"

"Shut up for a second and just do it!" Mik yelled back. "Cressidus and I will keep trying to make headway."

"My lady, here!"

She bit back a reply and got onto Dromarch - ignoring the bits of leftover antol guts on him - who put up his ether barrier as he jumped, crashing through a nearby half-broken window. The room they landed in was small, with a few console stations scattered around with broken chairs.

Thankfully, she quickly spotted a big red button labelled 'PANIC,'- which is what she was trying not to do right now - and she dived off Dromarch to slam both her hands onto it. She looked up, expecting to see the bulkhead opening or something happening. Nothing happened and it still hadn't budged.

She hit it a couple more times in frustration for good measure. "Seriously?!"

"My lady, behind you." She whipped back around and saw a busted pipe leading from the control panel over in the general direction of the bulkhead. Part of it was exposed with some loose wiring. "It started sparking when you pushed the button. Do you think you could...?"

"There's not enough water ether in the air with this maniac burning the place to the ground for you to form a solid connection!"

"I might not be able to, my lady, but…" Dromarch trailed off, looking pointedly at her.

"What?" She snapped, when she realized what he was suggesting. "No! Absolutely not."

Because she was pathetic. Even when she was needed, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Crouch down to hide yourself behind me if you must, but we haven't time for anything else!"

She knew there wasn't. She could see the smoke building in the other room where everything not metal had caught on fire. She knew that no one else would see, knew at least Mik probably wouldn't care even if he did. She wasn't sure about Lora and Pyra yet. Eventually she gritted her teeth, ears flattened.

"Fine." She was also too desperate to care right now. She didn't want to die. Didn't want anyone else in their little group to die either.

She sucked in a breath, drawing on it.

Breathed out.

Her core seemed to purr in triumph as she released the hold on herself. Yellow cloth disappeared into flowing white sleeves trimmed with red and gold. Longer hair fell down, ears definitely more Blade than Gormotti. She ignored it in favour of finally being able to grasp the ether in the air.

It was so ridiculously easy, despite the raging firestorm outside the room, and moments later she manipulated it into a small horizontal column of water connecting the wires. She hit the 'PANIC' button again, and the light beside the button flashed red. With a protesting groan the bulkhead started separating in the middle, opening up to the blessedly cool night air outside.

It was two thick layers, which explained why Mik had been having trouble with it, especially while dealing with anything that got through Pyra and Lora. He let out a whooping cheer.

She closed back in on herself, the white returned to yellow, covering the red-mottled core crystal once again. Her hold on the water broke and it splashed pathetically to the floor, evaporating almost instantly. She stood and saw Mik and Cressidus pushing the partially opened bulkhead, a double metal door to the side.

Dromarch nuzzled her and she could sense how proud he was of her, even for that. She quickly got his other message and complied, getting on him. He jumped back through the window, darting past Mik and Cressidus through the tight opening they'd made.

"Lora!" Mik called, worriedly.

Nia glanced back through, and holy armu everything metal in the vicinity around the flesh eater Blade was melting, dripping almost like lava. Everything not metal was on fire. Pyra had engaged in a blade lock with him, holding him off, but she glanced back, and saw the opening. Knocking his weapon away she kicked the other Blade back, backing away herself.

Lora cast her newly made braided rope around a pipe far enough out of the melting zone and pulled. The little elemental gem - threaded by Lora into the end around a cutesy bow - sparked and ice sprung up around the pipe. She tugged again and the pipe shattered, spilling out liquid, which with another flick of the whip flash froze as it spilled down, creating a thick icy wall separating them from the pyromaniac.

The flesh eater's hands was stuck in the icy wall, his greataxe sticking out. Nia knew there was no way it would last.

"C'mon, you two!" Nia called. They started closing the distance, but the ice had started melting, then cracking. She could hear the Blade's enraged cries on the other side.

"Run some avalanche control, big guy!" Mik called.

"Never thought you'd ask!" Grabbing his gauntlets from Mik, Cressidus launched himself up at the nearest cliffside and before she could ask what he was doing, cleaved the gauntlet into the rock, like he was digging or something.

With finality of glass shattering, the ice holding him back was obliterated, and Lora and Pyra slipped through the opening in the bulkhead in time for her to see the Blade bellow again.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR-!"

"Sorry, not interested," Mik yelled over what he was saying. He snapped his finger into a point and winked at him. "Catch."

With a roar, Cressidus struck the cliff above, which rumbled. A rockslide started as the hulking Blade chucked a huge boulder towards the makeshift entrance. The boulder crashed with a tremendous clang, blocking the view of the bulkhead completely. Smaller, but still sizable rocks finished tumbling, filling in the gaps and sealed the mad flesh eater behind them.

Nia could still hear the groaning of melting metal collapsing and the raging roars of the flesh eater ringing in her ears. Cressidus landed beside Mik, and they fist bumped.

She dismounted Dromarch as a dry, almost chilly breeze picked up, filling in the sounds of panicked panting breaths. She stood there, tensed, not quite trusting that it was over. Eventually when nothing happened for a couple moments, she let out a sigh of relief. Out of all of them, Lora seemed the worst for wear, coughing from smoke inhalation.

Mik flicked a stray strand of blond hair back. "That went-"

Fury building, she rounded on Mik, and socked him in the face, wishing his armour had something easier to grab him and shake him. "What the bloody hell was that?!" she screamed.

"My lady!"

Mik backed out of her reach and moved his jaw, working out the kink she'd just put in it. "Like I said. Royal vendetta." He smoothed over his hair, stained slightly black with soot. "Long story, which we can talk about later."

"Later? Are you kidding me right now? You can't just expect us to brush something like that off!"

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she whipped around to see Lora, face pained. "Calm down, Nia."

She threw Lora's hand off her shoulder, turning on her. "No, don't tell me to calm down!" Lora backed off, an annoyed expression working its way on to her face. Nia ignored it and rounded on Mik again. "We were almost killed! You're telling us what that was about. Now."

"No, he's right," Pyra pointed out, coming up calmly beside her. "There's more than one exit to this place, and that rockslide won't hold him off forever. If he wants to pursue, it wouldn't take long to blast through."

"I can't believe I'm saying this to you," Mik muttered loud enough for them to hear, "but thank you."

Pyra didn't respond, and Nia bit her tongue, settling on glaring a hole through at Mik. "There better be a bloody good reason for this."

He held his hands up in mock surrender as he started jogging away. "Fine, fine. But it's probably not as good a story as you think it is. Let's go."

She grumbled as Dromarch started following him, Lora and Pyra right behind, moving quickly through the blessedly cool yet dry night air of the Mor Ardain wastes. She glanced back, but the rockslide blocking the entrance stood still.

Chapter Text

Lora's legs sang in relief as she finally had a chance to plop down, slouching against the dry, red stone. The rock of the small cave in the wilds of the Ardainian Titan wasn't the most comfortable thing ever, but even just resting helped at this point. She closed her eyes, feeling like she could conk out right there.

Initially, Mikhail had been set on making it to a nearby mining settlement, until Cressidus noticed a dust storm starting to kick up. Which meant they were stuck here in this cave until the storm - which was starting to pick up in earnest outside - blew over.

She heard what was probably Pyra sitting down beside her, sounding much more graceful as she did it. There was some rustling before Lora felt a tap on her shoulder. Cracking her eyes open, she saw Pyra - legs curled up underneath her - offering her a canteen of water.

Smiling a tired, but grateful smile as she accepted it, she gave as heartfelt a "Thanks," as she could muster, before tipping it back. It wasn't cold but it was wet.

Moments later, Lora's own earlier relief was echoed by Nia as she flopped onto her back slightly closer to the entrance to the cave than she was. Her anger from earlier still seemed to simmer beneath the surface, but it looked dulled by fatigue.

She couldn't blame her. Their trek from the not-so-abandoned industrial district had been stressful and exhausting. On top of an already tiring day of travel, the battle with a giant arachno and the escape from Mikhail's "royal vendetta," after the adrenaline wore off, it hadn't taken long before she was knackered.

"Will we be safe here from the encroaching dust storm, Master Mikhail?" she heard Dromarch ask. Looking closer to the entrance, she spotted him sitting on his haunches, looking out to the night, where wind was picking up dust in increasingly larger swirling clouds. "The mouth of this cave doesn't seem like it would offer much protection from the elements."

"It'll be fine," Mikhail answered tersely. He leaned against the wall near the mouth of the cave looking out, his arms crossed. "With Mor Ardain's current orbital position around the World Tree, the winds will be coming from the west. The mouth of this cave faces the east, so we won't get much in here. The tarp," he pointed to the tarp Cressidus was pulling out of his pack, "will keep out the rest."

The beast Blade dipped his head in acknowledgement. "I see. And our errant flesh eater pursuer? Do you believe this will be far enough?"

"There's a lot of ways we could have gone from the industrial district, and once this storm picks up, it'll be nearly impossible to really track us. If he does chase us, I don't think it will be tonight. More than likely, we'll be fine as long as we don't stay long."

"Maybe," Lora piped up, "but I don't want to be caught off guard by something like that again." None of them wanted to take any chances with how determined the Blade had been. "One of us should go on watch, just in case." When no one immediately spoke up she added, tiredly "I can take the first hour or two."

At that, Nia sat up, eyes boring into her. "Oh no you don't. You need to rest after everything that happened. Sure, Dromarch healed up your leg, but your body needs a proper rest after healing from something like that."

"I'd be okay for a bit-"

"Nope. Don't want to hear it." She pointed at Mikhail. "Since you're the one who got us into this mess, Mik, I vote you do it."

Mikhail's eyebrows furrowed, and looked ready to snap back until Cressidus turned from where he was spreading the tarp out across the ground. "Don't you worry, Nia. I'll take it. My ether circuits are still raring and ready to go!"

"O-oh." She lowered her arm, seemingly unprepared for Cressidus' interruption. "Seriously?" Nia tilted her head. "After all that you're still raring to go? What are you, some sort of energy bunnit?"

He pounded his fists together, excitedly. "It starts by having a healthy, balanced diet and lots of-"

"Now is really not the time for your health nut tendencies, big guy," Mikhail cut him off, redirecting him towards the entrance. "Read the mood."

The big Blade seemed to deflate a little, before he turned back towards the entrance to pound pitons into the rock where some strong cord would be tied to hold the tarp in place. With its size, Lora could see it would be enough to keep out the worst of the dust that did blow that way, and there would be enough to have a place to peer out and keep watch.

Cressidus' departure from the conversation re-invited the strained atmosphere from before, leaving the small cave uncomfortably silent.

"So." It was Nia who broke that silence, shifting so she sat cross-legged. "Are you finally going to tell us what that was? The whole," she deepened her voice, "'I'm gonna kill you' thing that flesh eater was doing while melting everything around him?"

"Easy." Mikhail didn't look at them as he said it, but stared at the wall straight ahead. "He wanted revenge."

"Well, yeah." Nia's shoulders slumped in annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "That much was obvious. But what'd you do to deserve that kind of reaction? Did you try and woo away his girlfriend or something?"

"Hilarious." Mikhail deadpanned. He raised his eyebrows, and gave a little shrug with his shoulders. "I killed his Driver."

The cave fell still again after his simple pronouncement.

"I killed his Driver." Mikhail repeated. "That's it. Happy now?"

"What do you mean, 'that's it?'" Nia stood up, hands clenching at her sides as she leaned forward. "Are you for real right now?" Her eyes sharpened into a glare when he made no move to respond. "That's all you're going to say about it after what happened?"

"We're doing this now?" He let out an annoyed snort. "Heh, no. Pass. Besides," he finally turned and looked directly at Nia, "I'm not the only one keeping secrets, am I? Or are you going to spill your guts right here too, Nia?"

Nia's fists unclenched. "That's…"

"Thought so." For a moment, he almost looked disappointed. Grunting, Mikhail kicked off the wall, heading towards where Cressidus was.

"Hey!" Nia shouted. "What are you-"

"Nia, please stop." Lora sighed. "I don't want us to fight right now."

Ears flattening in annoyance, Nia turned her glare at her. "After what we went through with that flesh eater, you want me to leave it?"

"That's not what I…" her voice faltered. Yes, she was shocked. Concerned too, but was now really the time? "Look, everyone's tired. Nothing good can come out of arguing about this right now."

"She's right, Nia." Pyra agreed. "We're all exhausted. Just give it some time and try to get some sleep. We don't know the reason why, but if Mikhail wants to share more, he'll do it when he's ready."

Grimacing, Nia averted her eyes. After a moment, she started grumbling under her breath, before she turned to her pack and tore her bedroll out of it. Dromarch padded over to her and she started viciously picking out the now dried bits of antol guts out of his fur with her fingers, throwing them to the side. Every once in a while she sent a glare over to the entrance where Mikhail was chatting quietly with Cressidus as he helped finish setting up the tarp.

Well, that could have gone better.

Tired as Lora was, her mind still rolled over what Mikhail had said. He'd...killed them? Why? It didn't sound as simple or casual as he was trying to make it. But the thought of that shy boy she remembered from Torna doing that?

He clearly wasn't quite the same person she remembered.

Despite what everyone kept telling her, it still felt like the fall of Torna had only happened less than a month ago, not nearly five hundred years. Glancing at Pyra, it warmed her heart - or whatever she had at the moment - to think at least someone understood how she felt.

The warmth faded, however, as she thought about what Pyra had said earlier. It gnawed at her because she was scared by the memory of what Pyra could do. With that fear there, could she really be her Driver; would there ever really be full trust between them?

Turning away from it, she winced, her healed leg still aching dully. It would probably be another day before it that ache went away. She moved to spread her bedroll out and-

"Hey."

-and was met by Pyra's hand resting on her own.

"Hm?" Lora looked up from the bedroll to see Pyra crouched down beside her, concern showing clearly in her eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" Pyra asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after everything that happened today, I don't know." Pyra's hand tightened over her own, gently squeezing it. There was a small pulse, a tickle of fire in her mind. A sensation near the top of her sternum that she was slowly associating with the x-shaped part of Pyra's core crystal. "You just looked worried."

"Well, I am," she admitted.

Pyra lifted her hand off her own. "How are you feeling about it all?"

Sighing, Lora started spreading out the bed roll. "It's a lot to swallow." Smoothing out the cloth, she started distractedly picking out small rocks that were trapped underneath. "I know everyone around me has been saying that five hundred years had passed, but…"

"It's starting to feel like it?"

Lora nodded. "Yeah."

"I know what you mean."

"As excited as I am to see what everything's like out there now, I'm nervous about what we'll find."

"Like what Malos was saying?"

Frowning, Lora's hand clenched on the fabric of the bedroll, scrunching it up. "I don't really want to trust what he said, but..."

"I get it, but Alrest is a big place. You know that. Even if it looks dark now, things will be better in the morning, don't you think?"

"Oh, um." Where was this coming from? Was she trying to cheer her up? "Was I really being that gloomy?"

"Not really, but...I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, I'm doing better now." She let the fabric go and set her hands on her hips. "I'll be sure to be back to our regularly scheduled daytime tomorrow!"

"That's the spirit!" Pyra beamed in response.

Lora laughed, quietly. After a moment she smiled softly. "Thanks, Pyra. I needed that."

Pyra offered a curious smile in return, warmth bleeding through a burst of an affinity link. It cut off a moment later as she got up and stepped over to Nia and Dromarch, and they started talking in low voices. Tuning it out, she started unbuckling her armour, settling it for the night.

After a moment, it dawned on her that Mythra probably would have never done something like that. She had never been this kind of sociable. Sure, she had opened up quite a lot by the end of the war, but what Pyra was doing…

It still felt unusual to her. It wasn't a bad thing, but it felt like she was a complete stranger acting in place of a person she knew. It was difficult to really wrap her head around it. She didn't mind her being nice, necessarily, but something about it to her just felt...off.

Settling in for the night, all of these thoughts swirled around her head, mixing in with the smell of swirling dust outside the small cave. Before long, however, exhaustion slipped in and drowned out her tumbling thoughts.

From the outside of the interrogation room of the Gladio, Mòrag peered through the one way mirror into a scene that made her pause.

Perched precariously on the top of one of the chairs inside, the Nopon, Tora, was wildly waving his arms and headwings. Though his cheering and whooping were muffled through the glass, it was still audible. Below him, on the floor, stood Poppi, a happy smile and somewhat intense expression on her face, engaged in...

"Brighid," Mòrag muttered quietly, "what am I looking at?"

...a flurry of claps and complex arm movements with one of the guards she had posted outside the room. Said guard was currently crouched down to Poppi's level. She could easily imagine the look of intense concentration underneath his helmet.

She noted a faint smirk of amusement curling up at the corner of Brighid's mouth. "It looks like they're playing some sort of clapping game. It isn't one I'm familiar with."

She knew clapping games?

"Yes, I can see that." Mòrag responded, tersely. Did Brighid have to sound so amused by it? "Why?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. Perhaps they were simply bored?"

The guard outside had the presence of mind to look embarrassed for their comrade.

Mòrag adjusted her cap. It was only yesterday that the Invicta had been raided by Torna. These two likely knew nothing of it considering they were confined during the brief encounter, but it still irritated her. The indignation she felt at her fellow countrymen being indiscriminately slaughtered was at odds with the cheerful scene in front of her.

But no. She took a steadying breath. There was no need to bring that baggage into this conversation. She tapped in her authorization code, and the keypad to the lock on the door chimed.

The door slid open, and the guard turned to glance unconcernedly at her, then went back to the game. A moment later his head jerked over again in her direction.

The momentum of his enthusiastic clap petered out into a tiny pat against Poppi's metal palm when he saw her. There was a long moment of silence as they stared, Mòrag standing stoically in the entryway, hands folded behind her back.

"Poppi wins!" Tora shouted, cheering and doing a little hop. If the chair hadn't been bolted to the floor, it would have toppled over from that stunt. "Two thousand gold to Tora! Unless...does guard friend want to go double or nothing?"

Ah. They were gambling as well. Wonderful.

After this declaration, Poppi turned around, and put on an approximation of surprise on her face, before smiling and waving animatedly at her. After a confused moment, Tora finally noticed Mòrag, his body momentarily going stiff. Coughing awkwardly, he folded his head wings against his head and looked away.

Mòrag cleared her throat. "I hope I am not interrupting something, Lieutenant."

The guard seemed to regain his presence of mind, and straightened from his crouch, saluting her quickly. "N-no Special Inquisitor!"

"I will take things from here. You may go."

The guard practically scurried away, looking like he couldn't get out of there fast enough. Mòrag allowed him past and stepped fully inside, Brighid following in behind her. The door slid shut behind them, leaving just her, Brighid, Tora and Poppi.

Tora huffed, crossing his little arms as if to muster up some bravado. "Was rude of Special Inquisitor for interrupting. Poppi was about to break personal record and get gold for some new parts. Even without potential upgrades, test of latest improvements to arm, wrist and finger joints conclude they are operating at optimal efficiency."

Poppi set her hands on her hips. "Only thanks to Masterpon's hard work."

Mòrag raised her eyebrows at the Nopon's assertive tone. "Be that as it may, I would appreciate if you didn't try to swindle my crew out of their wages."

"Was not swindling," Tora insisted. "Was part of fair, traditional Nopon contest of strength and endurance. Guard say that he was champion in junior bracket in Voltis Trade Guild, so Tora had to challenge him out of principle! Though prize money normally part of such things, was actually suggestion of guard that money get involved here. Took much convincing since Tora is flat broke."

"It took less than fifteen seconds to convince Masterpon." Poppi added in a tone that suggested she was trying to be helpful. "Poppi agree to be Masterpon's delegated champion and participate in contest because more funds would mean better upgrades for Poppi."

"Unfortunately," Tora shot a pointed glare at them, "Inquisitor scare guard off before he pay his dues."

"How inconsiderate of us," Brighid stated flatly. "Perhaps we ought to call him back?"

Eyes widening hopefully, Tora leaned forward. "R-really?"

"Masterpon, Poppi have feeling that this is 'sarcasm.'"

"Meh?" Tora straightened back up, crossing his arms indignantly. "Blade Lady is mean, meh…"

Considering she had left them in here for less than an hour, it was almost remarkable that they were able to do so much. Most people in this situation would be scared or irritated, or worried, or some combination of the three. But this? Even for a Nopon it was something else.

"Be that as it may, dare I ask how you were able to delude one of the guards outside into participating in this?"

Tora didn't answer, but Poppi raised her hand, and began hopping up and down excitedly. When she didn't speak up, Mòrag asked, somewhat bemused, "Yes, Poppi?"

Poppi beamed, like an eager honour student being called upon. "Poppi use 'entrancing enticement' protocol to seduce guard to join in game."

Mòrag frowned. Had she heard that correctly? "...Seduce?"

Poppi nodded sagely. "Poppi and Masterpon were participating in game on our own, but Masterpon's arms get tired after few rounds. So Poppi have good idea to use 'entrancing enticement' protocol to seduce guard to join in game! Though confused at first, he did join, and had much more stamina than Masterpon. Was almost a challenge for Poppi."

"Surely you mean 'invite,' not seduce?" Brighid prompted.

Poppi cocked her head to the side, white hat flopping in the same direction as she stared innocently at Brighid. "Poppi heard that seduce mean 'to win over or attract.' Is that not what Poppi did to guard?"

Brighid looked incredulously back and forth between a nervous looking Tora and a still staring Poppi. "Please tell me you're joking."

Poppi shook her head and turned her gaze to Mòrag. "Would result have been better if invitation was used? Please, tell Poppi so Poppi can maximize effectiveness."

Glancing to the side, Mòrag saw Brighid's palm meet her forehead and a muttered "Unbelievable." Most of her agreed with the sentiment, but a small part in Mòrag was nearly tempted to do so, just to see how far this madness would go. Brighid noticed her deliberation and pointedly cleared her throat.

Mòrag shook her head, clearing the thought away. "...I am sorry, but I will refrain from doing so."

Poppi's form slumped in defeat in such a way that made Mòrag almost change her mind. She was strong. She was the Special Inquisitor of the Empire of Mor Ardain. She did not bow to the cute whims of an artificial Blade.

And yet…

"At least for now," she added. "We shall see after we discuss what we came for. Such things require quid pro quo after all."

As Poppi perked up and nodded enthusiastically, Mòrag's heart traitorously skipped a beat in adorable. It was only so she could get on the good side of these two to further the cause of the empire. That was the only reason.

"Poppi eagerly await the day when Mòrag helps Poppi be the best for Masterpon!"

"Now with that out of the way." Mòrag straightened, folding her hands once again behind her back to regain her composure. "On to the matters at hand." She gestured to the two chairs on the opposite side of the interrogation rooms sole metal table. "Please, sit."

The Nopon continued to perch on the back of the chair while Poppi climbed up a chair, plopping down in it with her legs extended out completely straight in a bizarre mockery of sitting. Mòrag sat across from them, crossing her legs while Brighid stood beside, ready in case they tried anything.

The caution likely wouldn't be necessary, as she was beginning to suspect that Dughall had made an undue fuss over capturing these two in an attempt to save face and to prove his competency. Regardless, it would likely work out in her favour.

"First," she began, "I believe a demonstration is in order. You claim that Poppi is an artificial Blade. Can you establish an affinity link with Tora?"

Poppi nodded, and held up her hand towards Tora. There was a slight flare in her strange orange core, followed by what seemed to be her ether lines glowing dimly the same colour.

Mòrag looked to Brighid.

"Yes it's there. Faint, but detectable."

"Bond is very real. Azurda say so, and Poppi knows it. Poppi feel it in here." She tapped the metal of her torso just around her core.

"Rex's Blade? You have met him before yesterday?"

Poppi nodded. "Met while searching for Masterpon in Torigoth Relay Base. Though Poppi is older than Azurda by eighteen hours, Azurda seems very wise."

"I see." She filed the information away for later and turned to Tora. "I take it that you went through all the trouble of making an artificial Blade because you couldn't resonate with a regular core crystal?"

Tora scowled. "Tora doesn't want to talk about it."

"Then, if you are not a Driver, could Poppi establish a link with another non-Driver, one without the aptitude to resonate with a Blade?"

Crossing his arms, Tora let out a contemplative 'meh.' "Tora has not tested it, but in theory is possible."

"Poppi does not want to. Bond is with Masterpon. Poppi wants to be the best Blade for Masterpon, not anyone else."

Tora's mouth slipped agape. "Poppi…" He closed it as a determined expression hardened on his face. "Tora will do everything to live up to that!"

A touching scene. Mòrag straightened in her chair. "Next, a clarifying question on your situation. You said that you were escaping debt collectors. Do you know who they are, and if they are associated with anyone?"

"Poppi heard Gormotti man with strong dark Blade yelling about bloody lobsters after escaping them with Masterpon to Ardainian Battleship. Seemed veeery angry."

The Bloody Lobsters? "Are you certain?"

"Poppi heard it loud and clear, even over engines of Titan Battleship. Poppi's auditory sensors very keen."

"Hmm." She put her hand to her chin in thought. Them being involved made this whole situation of potentially offering sanctuary more perilous. "That was quite a risky move getting involved with them, though I suppose you might not have known."

"Really?" Tora asked. "Who are they?"

"They are a powerful cross-Titan gang that have been around for centuries and are dangerous enemies to make. Fortunately for you, some time ago, they lost their last great leader. It was quite sudden, and they have not yet recovered from that blow." To this day, no one knew for sure who had done it, though Mòrag supposed she owed them a favour, whoever they were.

From reports from her informants in the organization, there hadn't been any leader strong enough to unite the factions since then. Too much infighting and internal politics to coordinate anything major.

"Regardless of their current internal state," she continued, "the loan sharks they use to supplement money for their activities are still up and running, and their tricks are as old as Alrest itself."

"Of course, that doesn't stop naïve people from falling for the scams," Brighid added. "I wouldn't be surprised if the others you took loans from were not at least loosely connected to them."

"Hmph. No need for Blade lady to rub salt in wound. Tora sees now that it was bad idea."

"I'm glad you see reason, even if it is somewhat late."

"Despite that," Mòrag looked Tora and Poppi both in the eyes, "let me be clear that it is not the end of the world for you. I doubt tracking down a single Nopon for evading debt collection would be the highest priority for the Bloody Lobsters. It simply complicates matters somewhat."

Tora cocked his head to the side. "Tora doesn't see how it so complicated. If big man in charge pays Tora's debts, then group chasing Tora would stop chasing Tora, yes? Wasn't that what big man in charge was planning on offering Tora?"

Mòrag felt a jolt of annoyance go through her. If the empire paid the sum of money he owed to them, what sort of precedent would that set? And another thing. "Who is the 'man in charge' you are referring to, exactly?"

"Um, Special Inquisitor is in charge of Titan Battleship, yes? Therefore, is big manly man in charge. Even though Tora not fan of Empire, can understand desire to command Titan ship. Tora's uncle Umon wouldn't stop talking about it when he visit Tora."

Mòrag grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she took a steadying breath. Now really wasn't the time to split hairs over this, but she needed to set the record straight.

"I'm a woman, thank you."

Tora's headwings spread wide and he gasped. "R-r-really?"

"Yes, Tora."

He blinked owlishly and leaned forward, staring intensely at her. "Is news to Tora! Did Poppi know?"

"Poppi could tell at a glance."

"Perhaps we should move on, Lady Mòrag?" Brighid urged.

Intentional or not, it wasn't the first time a Nopon had mistaken her for a man, but it still irked her. She sighed. "Yes, well. With that out of the way, I remember you saying you wanted to find your father. I am prepared to help you do so."

Tora's head turned quizzically, predictably caught off guard by her sudden change in subject. "Tora is confused. Isn't Special Inquisitor one who put price out for Tora's capture?"

"I am. Can you guess the reason why?"

"Tora thought it because of how much damage Poppi caused during escape."

"That was the superficial reason, yes. However, there was more to it. You said that you and your father built Poppi, correct?"

Tora nodded proudly. "Crowning achievement of three generationpons of work: Alrest's first artificial Blade! It was Tora's dadapon and grampypon who designed ether furnace in first place."

"And going on the assumption that your father is indeed still alive, do you believe he could still duplicate that design?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Tora proudly set his hands on his hips a distinct note of pride in his voice. "Dadapon have amazing noggin. Tora have no doubt he could replicate necessary blueprints and parts from memory."

"Do you believe that he could be coerced into reproducing this against his will?"

"Yes, Tora supposes so. What is Mòrag saying?"

"I'm saying it's possible someone with ill intentions could force your father to build more artificial Blades."

Poppi abruptly stood up on her seat, metal hands slamming down on the table as she leaned forward to stare at her, excitement bubbling in her voice. "Poppi might have siblings?"

"I…hadn't thought of it that way, but I suppose that is...one way to put it. However, remember that all of this still lies within the realm of possibility. It is simply speculation. I have no evidence backing this notion."

Leaning back, Poppi nodded wisely. "Poppi will be sure to temper excitement."

As Poppi sat down, Mòrag looked again at Tora. "As part of the deal, you would cooperate to help us find your father, whatever his situation. I would pair you with a team to assist you in finding them, if you are willing to take the deal."

"Tora gets a choice?"

"Certainly." Unlike Rex, Tora - and especially Poppi - were currently more a curiosity. Artificial Blades, if they could be mass produced, would have a significant impact on the future of Alrest. Despite that, they still weren't as pressing as the threat of the returning Aegis, so she was less inclined to force the issue.

"However," Brighid interrupted, "You would do well to remember that you cooperated in destroying Ardainian military property. If you don't accept the deal, you would need compensate the empire somehow. The law dictates that guilty juveniles may do community service as part of their sentence for destruction of property."

"Would that work if Tora is not part of Empire?"

"You are a registered citizen of Torigoth, part of the Gormotti Titan, which is annexed to Mor Ardain. So even if you do not live on Mor Ardain, you are subject to its laws."

Tora pouted in response.

"So, if you do not wish to take our deal, you would participate in community service for the empire for a period, after which you will be free to go and do what you please with your time. However, the empire will not back you to find your father, nor can we help guarantee your continued safety against your debtors."

"Deal seems awfully..." Tora trailed off and muttered something inaudible. Folding his small Nopon arms, he swayed back and forth on the back of the chair, looking contemplative. "Hmm. Tora needs a minute to decide. Can Tora talk with Poppi privately a moment?"

"Very well." Mòrag stood. "I can spare a few minutes."

Once outside the interrogation room once again, and a different guard on watch inside, she observed as the two huddled close together and whispered furiously.

"Do you think he'll take the deal?" Brighid asked.

"I'm confident he will. Even if he is somewhat naive, if he truly built Poppi as he said, truly created an artificial Blade…" she trailed off. "It's a marvel."

"The implications are as staggering as they are frightening." Brighid remarked. "If everyone, even those without the potential were able to be armed with an artificial Blade, it could shatter the political stability of Alrest."

"Indeed. Think of a military force where every soldier is armed with an artificial Blade. Gone unchecked…" Uraya might easily overtake Mor Ardain, an upstart separatist group like Brionac might actually have a chance. Casualties might skyrocket. Mòrag shook her head. "And that's just the military side of things."

"The Praetorium would probably have a heart attack dealing with it."

Mòrag chuckled. "Perhaps they would. However, as I said, if his father is still out there and able to produce something similar, someone else may already be taking advantage of that. If production is happening behind the scenes I would wish to stop it."

Raising her hand to her chin in thought, Brighid let out a thoughtful hum. "That seems like quite a leap in logic. Are you sure you aren't just overreacting?"

"That may be so, but I wish not to be caught off guard if such a thing were to happen."

"With how your luck on this trip is going, it would be connected to Torna and the Aegis somehow."

Mòrag smiled wanly. "That would be something. But of course, not everything is connected to them, after all."

The corners of Brighid's mouth turned up. "No, I guess not."

Before long, the guard came out of the interrogation room, and let them know that they were ready. The two walked back in.

"Have you made your decision?" Mòrag asked.

"Tora and Poppi will do it. On one condition."

"Oh?"

She raised an eyebrow as she listened to his condition.

"Very well, I believe we can accommodate that."

# Data mining process of quarantined corrupt data at 25% completion.

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# "Handshake Protocol" complete. Response detected:

#576861742077617320746861743f20497320736f6d656f6e652e2e2e74686572653f2057686572652e2e2e616d20493f205768617427732e2e2e68617070656e696e673f

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#49276d206e6f7420737572652c2062757420492764206c696b6520746f2068656c702e2057686f2061726520796f753f

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# Error: Response unable to be sent. Interference detected.

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The clear sound of a bell tolled.

Lora breathed in sharply. Her hand raised in an almost involuntary reaction to the bright sunlight overhead, the sudden light making her eyes squint. As her vision focused, visuals of vibrant green grass waved as a light breeze washed over a familiar hill. In its centre, a lone tree.

This was...Elysium. Or what Pyra had said was a memory of it. What was she doing here? Turning in a slow circle, she looked for signs of Pyra close by, but only found the empty open field close by and the distant sight of town.

Turning back towards the tree, she startled, eyes fixing in on something there. At the tree's side, lying on the ground was a hazy, indistinct figure that she was sure hadn't been there a moment before. She was maybe fifty peds away from it, but even when she squinted her eyes, they didn't seem to get clearer or make out any distinct features. Who was that?

The bell tolled again.

She shivered, and it had nothing to do with the breeze. Something just felt...wrong. Taking a hesitant step forward towards the tree, she called out a tentative, "Hello?"

The figure on the ground at the tree didn't respond. Though centred in her vision, the figure remained out of focus. She took another step forward up the mild slope of the hill, and another, and another.

And almost fell backward at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. She whirled around, fists clenched to see-

Nothing.

There wasn't anyone there. Fear started to build as her eyes darted around. But there wasn't anything there.

Carefully coming out of a combat stance, she turned back to the tree behind her. The figure was still present on the ground. For a moment, the figure...flickered. As she watched, it…disappeared.

It made her feel empty for some reason.

The bell tolled.

She tried to move again, only to find she couldn't. Tried to breathe, but that didn't work either. Panic started setting in as in her fixed viewpoint she noticed the waving of the grass had stopped and the light sound of wind she hadn't realized was there fell silent. The sensations she had been having stopped and the world around her started to fizzle, little chunks of it disappearing piece by piece.

What...was…?

At once, there was nothing.

# Interference removed. Response sent.

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The morning dawned quietly with Mikhail taking the final watch. The tarp that he and Cressidus had stretched over the entrance of the cave fluttered from the last vestiges of the dying winds of the dust storm. The sun's light flickered as parts of the Ardainian Titan moved in the way to block or filter its light coming over the horizon.

He glanced back at the rest of the party - still sleeping as soundly as people could on the hard rock of the cave - his eyes focusing on Lora. After a moment, he glanced away, eyes roving back to the entrance to watch the rising sun.

Minutes passed in relative silence, until eventually he heard someone stirring, and then the shuffle of cloth mixed with quiet footsteps as they made their way towards him.

"Good-" The greeting was interrupted by a yawn and the sounds of bones popping as Lora stretched. "Good morning. Looks like the storm cleared up."

"Yeah." Mikhail said nothing else, eyes still on the outside. For a while, they just stood there, watching the sun rise around the tarp.

"...How are you holding up?" she asked, softly.

He finally looked back at her, half expecting to see the Aegis there as well. She wasn't. It was just Lora. He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can tell you don't really want to talk about what happened last night, and that's fine. But how are you doing?"

Oh.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine, really."

"I...well…" He could almost feel her deliberating whether or not to push the issue as she twisted her fingers behind her back. "If you're sure."

Silence settled over the two again. From deeper in the cave came a snore turned snort from a still sleeping Nia. Lora kept standing there, and while she didn't say anything, she also didn't move.

Mikhail sighed. "Not gonna let me off the hook easily, are you?"

"Well, I'm don't want to make light of what you did, just that…" she averted her eyes. "Well, everyone does things that they regret, right? Things that come back to haunt them in one way or another. Even if I don't know the details, I can't just judge you because of that one thing. You're more than that, don't you think?"

Flashes of everything he'd done in five hundred years seemed to swirl in front of his eyes. The good and the bad. For Dagas' Driver, if he had felt bad about it at the time, he'd buried the feeling by this point. He...couldn't really remember. Did he care?

"It's been around five years at this point. Him coming back was...unexpected. Explosively so."

"That's one way of putting it."

This wasn't the first time something he'd done had caught up to him in one way or another. After living through so much of it, he thought nothing could faze him.

"Well, compared to you coming back, it's nothing." He put on a suave grin, running a hand through his hair. "At this point, if Malos started baking sweets and giving them out to children in Indol it wouldn't surprise me."

Lora snorted, a short laugh escaping her. "Wow. That's...hard to imagine."

So was you returning from the dead.

She crossed her arms. "So… why is Malos with you all, anyways? And why are you calling yourselves Torna?"

"That's…" Mikhail paused. He could probably answer those questions, but… "That's not really my story to tell. Ask Jin next time you see him."

"Jin... I hope he's doing okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." The lie flew smoothly from his tongue. Jin had been the one hit the hardest by all this, after all. He glanced past the tarp. "Looks like worst of the storms have cleared up. I'll start taking down the tarp if you want to start waking everyone else up."

She seemed to break out of her thoughts, nodding. "Right."

As she went back and started waking the others, Mikhail wondered if it was right of him to say that. While Lora was unconscious after coming out of the ice on the Marsanes, Jin had looked well enough on the outside, but Mikhail had known him long enough to know that something was brewing on the inside.

He'd seen the look in Jin's eyes. The eyes of a man being torn in two.

Mikhail wondered if he was starting to feel something similar.

Chapter Text

Lora raised her hand to shield her eyes as the light of the setting sun's rays began to slip beneath the horizon of the cloud sea. The light glinted off the cables that spanned the Ardainian wasteland, carrying cargo back and forth suspended above them.

Near her, Nia yawned loudly from Dromarch's back and Lora looked over just in time to see her ears twitching back and forth violently as she stretched. Lora was tired too and had to fight back a yawn after seeing that. She didn't envy Dromarch, who had valiantly endured carrying Nia on his back for most of the day.

"How much further do we have?" Nia called.

It was encouraging that she didn't sound as angry as she had the other night in the cave. Lora hadn't asked, but had a feeling Pyra had something to do with it.

At the head leading their little walking entourage, Mikhail glanced back. "Not much further." He raised a finger to point to hanging cable lines. "Those cables run with supplies to and from the city out to their main industrial centres and factories. You'll be able to see the city proper around this cliffside; after that the bridge to the main entrance will be in sight."

Just as they made their way past the cliffside, there it lay, nestled above the crook of the Ardainian Titan's left shoulder. Lora made a 'whoa' of appreciation as light from the setting sun glinted off the buildings of the large metal metropolis. The light filtered through steam rising from nearly all parts of the city.

"Pretty good, right?" Mikhail asked. Lora couldn't help but agree. "The Ardainian Empire has come a long way in five-hundred years."

"What's that big building?" Pyra asked, pointing ahead.

Lora followed her gaze to a commanding sight. Reaching out over the high tide of the cloud sea, the twin towers of a magnificent structure loomed like a fortress importantly over the city. It was suspended by metal sub towers support structures of some kind – connected by walls with ramparts – that lead back into the rock of the Titan.

It was an intimidating site, and didn't look particularly welcoming to her.

"That's Hardhaigh Palace." She heard the disdain in Mikhail's voice, and wondered where it came from. "Seat of the high and mighty Senate and the emperor of Mor Ardain."

"Sheesh, there's a lot of guns attached to that thing," Nia remarked snidely. "Compensating, much?"

"It is quite an imposing sight," Dromarch rumbled in agreement. "A veritable fortress in and of itself. I don't envy anyone that tries to lay siege to it."

"Lucky for us, with our present company," Mikhail's eyes looked Pyra's way, which Pyra seemed to ignore, "we won't be gracing the emperor with our presence. Somehow I don't think she'd be welcome there."

Lora let out a quiet, and somewhat guilty sigh of relief. She doubted Hugo would blame Pyra for his death, but there was no way of knowing how the empire in that five-hundred year gap in between his sacrifice had interpreted it. Even if the current emperor was anything like Hugo, she doubted she'd find them as kind as he had been.

"That's good." Nia chuckled, completely missing the subtext of the conversation. "Wouldn't want to go there anyways. Besides, from this angle, it looks like it's ready to fall into the cloud sea. Is there even something holding it up?"

Mikhail smirked. "Afraid you'll fall in, Nia?"

She huffed in annoyance, ears flattening on her head. "No. I can swim, dimwit."

"Don't worry, it's secure!" Cressidus piped in. "You can't quite see it from here, but below the city there are struts holding up the city and the palace. And those," he pointed to the semicircle of sub towers, extending out of sight in either direction, "even if they look kind of like walls, they're just there to help anchor the structure really deep into the Titan itself. Even when the Titan's left arm broke off, the city and palace stayed right where it was."

"Wait, the Titan's arm fell off?" Lora asked, worry creeping into her voice.

Mikhail set one hand on his hip. "Yeah, that was a day and a half. Mor Ardain is an old Titan, and the empire stripped that arm of its resources. It happened a long time ago, but I happened to be here for it. Cressidus is right, though; the whole city shook when the arm detached, but the palace stayed secure. Didn't stop them from making extra reinforcements just in case."

"So you see, Nia," Cressidus eyes practically glowed with excitement, "it's not coming out even if the Titan dies!"

"Oh." Nia blinked. "Er...thanks, big guy. I think."

"Even if we don't go there, it's impressive." Pyra chimed in, a modest smile on her face. "It's very representative of the Ardainians, don't you think?"

One of Nia's eyebrows rose. "Paranoid and covered in armoured metal and guns?"

"Well, um, maybe," Pyra's smile became strained, "but it must have taken a lot of hard work and industry to build and maintain that."

"Sure, sure," Nia waved dismissively. "By the way, it's not just me, right, but does the cloud sea look rather high to anyone else?"

"The tide's unusually high right now." Mikhail pulled out a small instrument, checking it. "Every Titan has orbits and goes through different phases as it revolves around the World Tree. Since it's near the end of October, this should be about as high as the tide gets here in Mor Ardain this year. Great time for easy salvage if you can get the Empire to sanction it."

Lora saw Nia's brow rose again in an almost grudging respect. "Wow. I'm actually somewhat impressed. Where did you learn all that?"

"I've salvaged before here, but that was a long time ago. Besides," he cocked one hand on his hip, cracking a grin as pride seeped into his voice, "I had to get all the parts to get the Marsanes fully operational somewhere. Most of the bits were salvaged from all around. I just wasn't always the one doing the salvaging."

"Most impressive, master Mikhail," Dromarch agreed.

"Yeah, yeah." Nia leaned forward, squashing Dromarch a little and unintentionally squeezing a little whoomph of air out of the beast Blade. "So, not to put a damper on the mood or anything, but why are we trying to go in the front door if we don't want to attract attention?"

"Oh! That's easy." Lora set a confidant hand on her hip. "As far as anyone knows, we're probably just mercenaries, right? If we tried to sneak in and failed, it would attract unnecessary attention. No one would expect a wanted person to walk in a way that's heavily guarded. Of course, that only works assuming we have a legal way in already."

There followed a pause long enough that it leaned towards awkward. Lora tilted her head in confusion as she received odd looks from the others. "Um...what is it?"

Nia raised her eyebrows. "I guess I just didn't take you for someone who would think about that sort of thing."

Her cheeks flushed. "O-oh, right." She scratched her cheek embarrassed. The solution had come without her really thinking about it. "Well, let's just say Jin and I had a...rough start." She cleared her throat. "But we do have something, if we're going in the front way, right?"

Thankfully Mikhail took the hint before Nia's obvious next question, which she was grateful for. "You've got it spot on, Lora." He reached into a pouch, unfurling a very official looking document. "It just so happens that we have a very good excuse for stopping in from our lovely sponsor, Blueball. Even though this many Drivers and Blades doesn't raise as much attention as it used to, it never hurts to be careful."

"...Blueball? Do I even want to know?" Nia asked.

Mikhail rolled his eyes. "Patroka started it, but he deserves it. His name is Bana. He's a piece of work, even for a Nopon. But he's done what we needed quicker than anything else without raising a fuss. So, if anyone asks, we're a mercenary group on an errand for the chairman of the Argentum Trade Guild. It's true enough. Just not quite the errand Bana thinks we're on."

Nia's ears flicked impatiently. "Just the kind of thing I'd expect from you."

He gave all of them a long look over. "Just follow my lead, and don't say anything stupid. We're just a friendly mercenary band who had a long trip, and just want to a place to sleep before we take care of our errand."

Nia sat up on Dromarch as he began to pad forward. "Sure. As long as I get to sleep in a real bed, I'll play along. Just no funny business, yeah?"

Mikhail smirked and waggled his eyebrows. "Follow me then."

The thirty or so minutes it took to walk to the entrance bridge to the city made Lora's heart flutter. Or, at least, it brought up the memory of her heart doing that, as the feeling in the shared core was different, but similar enough. The last time she'd had to do something like it was when it was just her and Jin on the run.

The city in front of them began to light up from the glow of ether lamps as dusk fell on the dreary wasteland. Even though Lora had said it would be fine, she was still surprised when no one really gave their group so much as a glance as they approached the checkpoint line. Maybe a double take at Cressidus' size until they realized he was a Blade.

The entry line - full of other travellers, traders, merchants and a surprising amount of salvagers - simply moved steadily forward past a few guards standing watch until they were up.

"Next."

She hung back as she watched Mikhail take vanguard as they approached the guard. She noted that the armour the guards were wearing, while different from what she'd seen on the soldiers on Hugo's flagship, was still of a similar make.

The guard looked them all over. "State the size and type of your party and your business here."

"There's six of us," Mikhail responded casually. "Three humans, one Gormotti, two Blades."

She and Pyra traded glances. It must be part of Mikhail's insistence on hiding Pyra's identity as a Blade, or specifically the Aegis. He pulled out the document he'd flashed to them earlier, handing it to the guard. "We're a mercenary band on an errand for the chairman of the Argentum Trade Guild, getting some parts in the city for him."

He looked them over - and Lora saw Nia give a yawn, striving in vain to cover it with her hand - then looked back to the document. "Big group for just a few parts."

Mikhail smiled easily. "Yeah, but you know Nopon. They like to protect their investments, and the chairman has a lot of moolah lying around to do it."

The guard snorted. "I'll bet. You picked a good time to come around for them. With how high the cloud sea tide is combined with the salvage bulge, it's salvager heaven right now."

"Really, a salvage bulge?" Mikhail sounded intrigued, and maybe a little excited.

"Yeah," the guard shook his head in wonderment. "Didn't think I'd ever see one. It just started a few days ago. All the salvagers from Chilsain over on Mor Ardain's right shoulder jumped at the chance. So, things are a little crowded with them and all the Nopon merchants. How long are you planning to stay?"

"Not more than a week. Probably less if we can find the parts quick."

The guard seemed satisfied as he handed back the document, after making a stamp on it. "Looks all good. You can go on through."

They started moving through and Mikhail gave the guard a mock two finger salute. "Thanks."

"Hold a moment." They all stopped and looked back. "One thing before you go. I'm mandated by Emperor Niall to tell you all this, but if you ever spot a Blade with an emerald core crystal, or have any information that leads to their whereabouts, let the officers in the city know. There's a handy reward on it too, which I'm sure you mercenary types would appreciate. Welcome to Alba Cavanich."

As Lora and Pyra walked right by him, Pyra smiled brightly at him. "Of course. We'll keep an eye out. Have a good day, sir!" He waved them on paying them no more mind, simply saying 'Next,' to the ones behind them.

As they walked across the bridge, beside her, Pyra nervously adjusted her black poncho even though her emerald core was already covered. Looks like the Aegis wasn't as forgotten as she hoped. Leaning over to Pyra she whispered, "This isn't good."

"It'll be fine. Let's just take it one step at a time, right?"

"Right." Lora nodded and smiled despite the weight once again seeming to settle on her shoulders. "One step at a time."

"Who seeks to stand before the Emperor?"

"Special Inquisitor Mòrag Ladair, and the Jewel of Mor Ardain, reporting from leave in Gormott."

The palace guards knew Mòrag, and one could hardly mistake Brighid, but as per formality, they had asked her to identify herself.

"You may approach." They stepped aside and she stepped firmly forwards, the sliding doors on the lift opened by the command of the guards.

Mòrag's thoughts swam long and hard as she rode the lift up to the throne room of the imperial palace. Through the glass of the lift, below, she spotted the rest of her crew unfurling from the Gladio. In the midst of them, Rex and Azurda mixed in the small crowd of Driver recruits being led to their new quarters on base in the city proper. Though she couldn't see them, she imagined Tora and Poppi were among the crowd as well.

With a sigh, she bowed her head, eyes closed. Beside her, Brighid laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, the warmth of their bond flaring in a brief moment of silent understanding. Calm, the feeling seemed to say.

The lift came to a stop and opened to the smell of the throne room, and she breathed in the familiar, comforting scent.

Inside the throne room proper, the light of the sun shone in through the domed glass pane ceiling overhead. Plush red carpet traced the path up to the throne - the walls and ceiling adorned with banners the crest of the Ardanach family mixed in with the empire's own crest.

The emperor however, wasn't alone. Mòrag immediately spotted two other figures already present.

Emperor Niall, sitting up straight on the edge of the throne feet skimming the floor; Aegaeon, to the right of the throne, ready and waiting to defend him. In front, someone who had become an increasingly familiar and prominent figure of late.

"-as such, your majesty, I feel that our resources would be better spent dealing with threats abroad. The more clout we give these hoodlums, the more influence they will gain." Senator Roderich turned and raised a pointed eyebrow, noticing her approach. "I'm sure you would agree with me on this matter, Inquisitor?"

"Senator. How...unsurprising to see you here."

"Quite. I am glad you returned safely from your journey, Lady Mòrag. Any thoughts on the matter?"

He knew she knew exactly what he was talking about. "While I agree that Brionac is spread far too thin to cause any lasting damage on their own, we cannot let them gain enough momentum that other underworld organizations are willing to tie themselves to them. Nor can we ignore the underlying panic it is causing in the populace."

"Even more panic than the supposed return of the Aegis?" he countered. She narrowed her eyes. "You know as well as I do how history speaks of the destruction she can cause, especially if this rapscallion entity known as 'Torna' has won her to their cause. Why, in more global terms, if this Torna were to target us here, Mor Ardain would be open to attack from everyone, not just internal rebels. Do you not agree that Uraya would jump at an opportunity like that?"

Niall finally spoke. "We are aware of the potential dangers that both parties pose, and I will consider the points you bring, Senator. As you know, we have already begun taking precautionary measures, but we cannot fully muster our forces for a potential threat of unknown proportions. No final decision will be made just yet, but I thank you for your continued concern."

He seemed to take the rejection in stride and grace. "That is all I could ask of you, and would urge you to remember what I have said in the coming days, your eminence." He bowed. "By your leave."

Niall waved him away and she allowed the senator to pass by her as she crossed the long distance on the gold trimmed red carpet to the exit at the lift. The lift doors slid shut with a sense of finality as he went.

As was customary, she knelt one knee before him, head bowed, Brighid right beside her copying her motion.

"Guards, you may leave. I wish to take counsel with the Inquisitor privately." She heard the guards salute, and file out, the doors sliding closing behind them. "Sister, it is good to see you."

Mòrag raised her head and was met with her younger cousin's genuine smile. Standing, she returned the smile, placing her hands behind her back. "You as well."

"It seems the good senator is still at it," Brighid commented wryly.

Niall sighed, slouching slightly on the throne, which seemed to swallow his small frame even more. "I know he means well, but I wish he didn't come so frequently."

Aegaeon folded his arms. "As you know, your majesty, it is simply another tactic to attempt to make you fold from perceived pressure. 'A leader may bend, but-'"

"'But they do not break,' yes." Niall finished the saying. "It's good that I have you to keep me on my toes, Aegaeon." He turned to Mòrag. "I heard that you two had an eventful time on leave in Torigoth."

She smiled wanly. "You could say that."

He tutted. "Did you at least get to see some of the sights of Gormott in between all the chaos?"

She glanced away. "I'm afraid that there was no time for leisure. Everything piled up rather quickly, but as you know, it was fruitful."

Niall shook his head, letting out an exasperated sigh. "What am I to do with you if you don't even take leave on your leave?"

She caught the humour in his voice, which she appreciated. From their talk nearly a week prior, they both knew how productive - but worrying - all of this was. "On the way back to the empire, we had an encounter with Torna."

Niall sat up to his fully again on the throne, and she could practically see the mantle of leadership descend on him again as his expression turned neutral. "I was notified of this, and informed that details would be forthcoming. What happened?"

"There was a raid on one of our own ships transporting core crystals to Indol. The Invicta. We received the distress call, but it was too late."

"Were there survivors?" Aegaeon asked, concern leaking past his neutral façade.

Mòrag shook her head, sadly. "Not a single one. In the hour between the original distress call and our arrival, not one member of the Invicta's crew was left alive."

Niall bowed his head, and though it was subtle, she saw his jaw clench. "...My condolences. Have you arranged to notify their families and loved ones?" She nodded. "Good. How was Torna involved in this?"

"From the distress call's recording, it sounded as though there was only one man from Torna participating in the raid," Mòrag answered. "We may have had a brief encounter with them, a man Rex called Jin. While the way he accomplished it is unknown, he redirected our ether cannon fire back towards us, damaging the Gladio. Before we could react, the ship - which we now know as the Monoceres - escaped beneath the cloud sea."

"Was the reflection some new weapon? Or perhaps a Blade's ability?"

"It's unclear what reflected it; the distance was far enough that it could have been a number of things. Unfortunately, we couldn't give chase, as Torna's ship was a submersible."

"Like some of Uraya's Titan ships?"

"Yes. However, this ship didn't have a Titan integrated into it. Some of my crew theorized that it could go further underneath the clouds because of that. It may also be why the Invicta didn't detect their approach, and potentially why Torna have remained undetected for so long."

"...I see." Mòrag could practically see his mind racing at the possibilities. After a moment he looked up. "Was the Invicta intact?"

"Yes, but its cargo of core crystals gone." The rest of what had been carried was untouched. Even though there were many signs of damage and fighting in the ship's interior. She shook off thoughts of the ruthless waste of life. "The ship itself was still functional, and some of my crew manned it. It should be docking behind the Gladio before long. We already informed Indol of the situation with the shipment of core crystals."

Niall grimaced. "I can imagine how...happy they were about that."

"Yes, quite," she replied, dryly.

"With how many core crystals were on board, you would think Torna was trying to raise a small army by stealing them," Aegaeon mused. "Not that they would need it if they have the Aegis."

"Unfortunately, there is no clear motive behind their core crystal raids as of yet," Mòrag replied, "and I don't believe it's the usual reason raiders go after them." Most raiders, like the one she had been attempting to capture in Gormott, went after it for the money they could get on the black market. "It is... admittedly frustrating how little we know. I will continue trying to ascertain what it is, but it will take time."

Niall smiled in spite of it all. "Take courage, sister. Despite it all, this is a big breakthrough. Just be careful that you don't try to split yourself too many ways."

Mòrag let out a breath. "I know." He was talking about Brionac, and a host of everything else she kept trying to do. Brionac, Torna, the Aegis. All of it. "Thank you, emperor."

His smile grew. "You are most welcome." He paused. "I have been thinking. Regardless of his intentions, Senator Roderich makes a good point. With all of these potential threats floating around, the people are rather wound up. What if we sanctioned something to cheer the hearts of the masses?"

"That sounds good in theory, but what would we do?" Brighid asked.

Niall turned to his Blade. "When is the salvage bulge predicted to end, Aegaeon?"

"The phenomenon is nearly impossible to predict, but past recorded instances have generally lasted a week at most. This one has already gone on for three days."

Niall nodded in understanding. "I see. Why not throw a parade after its closure? That way we don't step on too many salvagers' toes and lose potential business. I would love to be involved in any way I can."

More than likely he would just ride on a parade float. But just his presence outside the palace would be enough. Despite his young age, the people loved Niall. If anything happened to him...

Her fingers clenched behind her back and she dispelled the grim thought with a thoughtful hum. "It would take pulling some strings with the Senate, but it would be possible to make it happen before week's end." Especially with the salvage bulge happening right now, it would be a nightmare to organize everything. "I for one believe it is a fine idea. A show of military strength, and a way to stir national pride."

"So long as there is fun involved. We need not instil in the youth of Mor Ardain just pride in their heritage. We are attempting to calm the people, not instil more fear in them." Niall looked to her, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "I have seen your persuasiveness in action in the Senate before, so I will leave that task to you. I will put my support behind it as well."

She bowed. "Understood."

Hopefully, nothing got in the way. The empire deserved a little levity.

The chatter and clatter of the afternoon industry of Alba Cavanich thronged around Lora as she munched on a skewer of armu steak strips. As the juices and the flavour seeped into the recesses of her mouth, she made a happy sounding squee.

Of course, it wasn't home-grown Ardainian food. From what she had seen, it hadn't really evolved in the past five hundred years. If she was desperate, she could probably stomach it, but growing up with Jin's cooking hadn't helped. At least this restaurant had good stuff.

After a mostly lazy day yesterday resting from their trip, Lora felt loads better, good enough now to really enjoy herself out in the open. The table where they sat was outside the restaurant proper with a little awning to protect from the sun overhead.

Across the table from her, Nia was busy tearing into her plate, laden with seafood, while to the side of the table, Dromarch munched more delicately on his own food. She glanced to the side where Pyra quietly sipped imported Gormotti Honeytea.

Pyra's red eyes met hers as she serenely put the steaming cup down. "Something up?"

She swallowed her most recent bite of the succulent steak. "Are you going to get anything else?"

"I'm not really hungry, but thank you."

"...if you're sure." There was quite a change in appetite from what she'd seen back before Torna fell. "Don't hesitate to say if you want anything; we definitely have enough."

She had felt weird when Mikhail had casually given them their large spending allotment. It had always been Jin or later, Addam, that had managed the funds before when she was traveling.

"Don't worry, I will." Pyra looked around. "So, what do you think of Alba Cavanich so far, Lora?"

Glancing around again at the bustling main market and thoroughfare, Lora let out a thoughtful hum. "It's different from what I'm used to. Hardly anyone here seems to want take a moment to sit still. So, the atmosphere's very lively, but I think overall I'd prefer it if it was more green and a little quieter. The people seem nice enough, at least. Oh, and their hot springs look divine!"

"Yeah," Pyra agreed. "From how they look it's no wonder Brighid was always bragging about them. Maybe later, we can all try them tonight! Would you want to join us, Nia?"

Nia looked up from her plate, swallowing her latest bite, waving it off. "Wasn't it open to all the inn's residents? If you aren't careful, people will spot…you know." She tapped a spot on her sternum and looked meaningfully at her and Pyra, lowering her voice. "It'd only take one mistake before the entire Ardainian army's on your tail."

"Oh." Disappoint creased Pyra's face. "I guess that's true, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, I'm still getting used to what it means too." Lora laughed awkwardly in a poor attempt to cover her own embarrassment for forgetting that herself. Pyra smiled briefly, and went back to sipping her tea.

Nia just mumbled something and went back to eating.

A crew of salvagers still in their full-dive suits walked past near their table, balancing a wrapped, heavy-looking load of metal between the four of them. Even in just the short amount of time they'd been sitting here, oodles of them had already passed by. Even since yesterday, it felt like more had arrived, all of them hopeful to take part in this "salvage bulge."

"Do you think Mikhail is going to get back anytime soon?" Lora asked.

Rolling her eyes, Nia snorted derisively. "You saw his workshop too, right? If that's any indication, I'd say we won't see him and Cressidus back until tonight at the inn at the earliest with all the stuff being sold here. It's a good thing the big lunk is with him, otherwise he'd get hung up flirting. You're not worried about him, are you?"

"No, I don't think so." Even after seeing him in action, Lora was still having trouble separating this Mikhail from the quiet boy who sometimes clung to her leg. "I'm sure he'll be fine. But what about you? After the other night, you weren't exactly…" she trailed off.

Nia rolled her eyes. "I still want to punch his stupid face again. But, well," her face scrunched up like she was swallowing something sour, "he had a point, didn't he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Secrets. Everyone's got 'em. His just came back to bite him, well us, more than most do. Well, probably." She glanced back and forth between her and Pyra. "You two aren't hiding anything like that, right?"

Lora was taken aback by the statement. "Um…no?"

"My lady, perhaps a modicum of tact would be useful in this situation?"

Nia gave Dromarch a flat look. "What? It's not like I'm asking them to spill their guts or anything, but just look at 'em. They have this whole 'air of mystery' thing going on about them."

"Really?" Lora asked, surprised. "I don't think anyone's ever described me as 'mysterious' before."

"Well for one, until a week and a half ago, you were just big awkward popsicle that was hard to get a straight answer about. The closest I got was from Patroka, calling you 'Jin's icicle lady,' or 'Jin's frozen girlfriend,' which didn't tell me anything."

"What?!" Her cheeks flushed at the last name. "That's... Jin's my closest friend. My first Blade." But girlfriend? "He practically raised me."

"I know that now. No need to get so worked up about it. Careful reacting like that, people might tease you more about it."

Lora crossed her arms and let out an annoyed huff.

"Sheesh. I kid, I kid." She turned her attention to Pyra. "Course we can't forget you."

"Oh!" Pyra flushed as the attention shifted to her. "I'm nothing special, really."

"Says the girl who's literally the- ow!" Nia hissed, glaring down again at Dromarch, who had nipped her. "What was that for?"

"It would be wise to refrain bringing that up in the open."

"Well whatever. Enough about that. I've got a question for you, Lora. Remember the other day, when you were talking about you and Jin having a rough start?"

"Oh, that?" Lora glanced away, embarrassed. "It's nothing special."

Pyra clapped enthusiastically. "No, you should tell it, Lora! It's such a beautiful story. You and Jin were always so close and in sync. I was always jealous."

"C'mon," Nia urged further, "Jin was so worked up about you while you were out cold after you stopped being a popsicle. What's the story?"

She looked back and forth between the two, and finally to Dromarch. She was unprepared for the assault from those big pleading eyes of his.

"Alright, fine." She took a deep breath. "It started when I was ten," she smiled, even as she blocked out the bad parts of the memory. She and Jin had already taken care of Gort, after all, "when Jin rescued me from a life of misery."

"Rex-rex look ridiculous."

Tugging at the collar of the plain brown shirt and cargo pants, Rex couldn't help but agree. The fatigues he'd been given were dull compared to his normal fare of blue, but at least it wasn't the full armour they were going to have to wear during drills and training. He looked to the left at Tora, who retained his overalls and vertically striped collared shirt.

"Well," Azurda mused, "the empire isn't a mercenary band. The easiest way to tell if someone is friend or foe is the uniform."

Tora wrinkled his nose unappreciatively at Rex's clothes again. "At least Rex-rex doesn't have to wear pointy helmet." The Nopon shuddered. "Clearly, they not take into account aesthetics." He glanced at the uniform hanging in the wardrobe. "Driver uniform have pockets, so it somewhat salvageable."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Rex agreed. Finishing buckling his tool belt and pouch around his waist, he fitted his grapple around his left arm. It pretty much ended up being the only splotch of colour on his person.

He turned to the Nopon. "By the way, Tora, I don't mind, but I'm a little lost. Why are you here? You didn't seem like the type to be interested in joining up. Weren't you wanted or something?"

"Is all water under bridge now. Bigwig in charge offer very, ah...persuasive deal."

"Mòrag?" Tora nodded. "She's not too bad, I guess. But I still don't understand what made you join up with the Driver recruits."

"Oh! Rex-rex misunderstand. Tora is not a Driver recruit."

"Really?" Rex tilted his head inquisitively. "So what are you doing in the recruit barracks?"

"To see Rex-rex, of course!"

"Thanks, I think." Tora made it sound like that was obvious. "But, I'm still kind of lost."

"Masterpon needed protection from bad men chasing him, and help paying debts." Rex looked over to the side of the small room that had Rex's bed to where Poppi sat. Facing away from them for purposes of privacy while he changed, her small metal legs dangled over the edge, bouncing up and down. "Mòrag promise sanction from empire and protection from bad men if we help her search for dadapon."

"She's going to help look for your dad? Sounds like a way better deal than I got."

"Well," Azurda mused, stroking his beard-like stone appendage, "I believe there's more to this deal than we see on the surface. However, I would wager that Poppi had a large part in it."

Rex crossed his arms, still unused to the feel of the unfamiliar cloth. "Does it have to do with the fact that she's an 'artificial' Blade?"

Poppi nodded "Rex correct. That why Mòrag seem to take lots of interest in Masterpon and Poppi." Still facing away from them, Poppi plopped down onto the floor with a soft but audible clunk. "Mòrag seem very worried about Poppi's potential siblings. Is only natural. Could be very dangerous in wrong hands."

"I see," Azurda mused. "I suppose that the nature of even artificial Blades depends on their Driver. Or, maker, perhaps? Regardless, you two have quite a lot of potential, so I have no doubt you will find what you're looking for."

Tora sighed. "Is easy for big Bladeypon to say that. But Tora couldn't even handle cloud sea monsters without help from Rex-rex."

"Everyone has different skills, my young Nopon friend."

"Besides," Rex interjected, "Didn't you say you'd fought some other monsters before finding us?"

"Poppi and Masterpon fight three monsters before running."

"So it ended up being a team effort!" Rex set his hands on his hips. "It's all well and good to be strong, but it's better when you have a good crew you can trust to help you out with the bigger jobs. You've got Poppi, and now if you need it, Azurda and I will have your back!"

"Hmm. Tora never think about it like that. Until recently, Tora just have himself. Friend Rex-rex make very good point! Tora feels same way about Rex-rex and Azurda! Together, we will become bestest Driver and Blade teams on Alrest!"

"I like your attitude!"

"All of us have quite a lot to learn before that happens." Azurda sounded cautious in a very Gramps like way. "Remember, pride comes before a fall."

Rex smiled. "Yeah, I know. Anyways, I'm going to go check out the city. I saw a bunch of salvagers on the way here from the docks, and one of the officers was talking about a salvage bulge."

"Salvage bulge?" Tora gasped, headwings spreading wide as his big Nopon eyes practically started shining. "Rex-rex not lying?"

"Well, yeah." Rex rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. How could he not tell? "Even if they hadn't pointed it out, couldn't you see everything going on? Salvagers were practically lining the streets, the cloud sea was up really high, and it was low tide." He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "This kind of thing only happens around major titans once in a lifetime, so I plan on taking advantage of it."

Tora patted his new pockets down as if looking for something. He looked up, somewhat sheepishly. "Does Rex-rex happen to have spare change Tora could use?"

"Hold on." Rex's forehead creased. "Weren't you just trying to escape debt collectors or something getting here? Why would you want to be in more debt?"

"Masterpon did promise Mòrag to not accumulate more debts," Poppi helpfully added.

"Meh, is fine." Tora practically deflated for a moment. "Is fine," he repeated, before perking back up again. "Tora used to window shopping anyway." He started shuffling out of the barracks room. "Come on, Poppi. Even if new friend is being stiffypon, is still great time for looking for future upgrades and ideas!"

"Aye, aye, Masterpon!"

They both burst out of the room, leaving him and Azurda alone in confused silence. Eventually Azurda broke it. "They don't let anything stop them for long. He's a very opinionated fellow, isn't he?"

"Tell me about it," Rex agreed.

"It reminds me of someone I know."

"Really?" Rex was about to ask who he was talking about before he noticed that Azurda was looking pointedly at him. "Wha-me?"

He tapped the side of his head. "Just saying what I've noticed." What did he mean by that? "Well, there's no sense wasting any more time here. After all, you wanted to look around, correct?"

"Yeah, let's go." And if he was lucky, he might be able to scrounge together enough to do some salvaging.

Thankfully he didn't have anything else to do today. They already had a brief orientation, and they'd been given the rest of the day as shore leave before their 'real training' was supposed to begin early the next day. After exiting the sectioned off area of the barracks that differentiated between Driver and regular recruits, he and Azurda wound their way through the base to its edge.

Showing the little pass he'd gotten in the orientation to the guards at the edge of the base, he busted out into the lively streets. He grinned as he spotted all the salvagers mixed in with everyone, a sense of belonging welling up in him.

He was glad that even here, he could feel a bit like he was home.

"So Jin basically raised you?"

"He did," Lora affirmed. "We both started out with nothing but each other. Maybe it sounds strange, but just like he rescued me from Gort, I wanted to help others like that in any way I could. He inspired me."

"I get it." Across from her, a soft knowing smile grew on Nia's face. "That sounds about like him."

Lora nodded, heat rising in her cheeks. "He's amazing. Of course what I didn't know at the time was that Jin was famous."

"Famous?"

"He'd been passed down as a Blade in the royal family's guard for a long time. Until me I guess, but that's another story. Jin was known as the 'Paragon of Torna.' I didn't really get it at the time, but he said it would be a bad idea to walk into a city without a disguise. I wanted to help, so I made him a cloth bandana. It...wasn't the best, but it covered his core. The ones I made later were much better until I made his mask."

"You made his mask?" Lora nodded at Nia's question. "That's impressive! I thought that was part of the package."

The praise made her beam. "Yup. The first time we entered a major city, word was quickly going around about how 'the Paragon was gone' and that it was such a bad omen for the future of the Tornan Titan. Jin said they would think I had stolen his core crystal. Even though I was only ten!"

Nia crossed her arms. "I don't know. I've known some pretty conniving ten-year-olds."

"My lady…"

She turned to Dromarch. "What? We have."

Lora waved it off. "It's okay. It just made being really careful a part of our daily lives." Otherwise the Kingdom of Torna would have caught wind of him and put her in prison. Or worse. "We drifted around and Jin took up doing mercenary writs for a while to scrap by, but that was it. As soon as I was big enough, I chipped in too. Eventually, after some close calls, we found a good routine in different mercenary groups for a long while. The freedom was nice, being able to help out wherever we felt we should. I absolutely loved it." Her eyes darted over to Pyra. "Until we bumped into Addam."

"My first Driver." Pyra answered Nia's unspoken question. "He was the prince, fourth in line to the throne of Torna." She looked down, sadly. "He would have passed away hundreds of years ago."

"Oh. Sorry."

Lora saw a smile make its way onto Pyra's face. "No, it's alright, really. I still have fond memories of him."

"I know I saw you in that old ship, but I still don't get why you didn't…" Nia glanced around, leaning in, whispering, "return to your core after he died?"

Pyra shook her head. "No. I was just sealed away where you found me. Even if I wasn't, I would have stuck around. Something to do with this." She tapped her core hidden underneath the black poncho.

"Figures." Nia's ears flattened. "So...what are you two planning on doing after this?"

"After we eat?" Lora asked. "I was thinking of looking around the city some more. It's been a while since I've had a chance to just mosey around, and I wanted to see if anyone sells talismans; they're always useful."

"Er, well, that does sound kind of nice, I guess, but I meant what are you and Pyra planning on doing after," she gestured wide to the city, "all this?"

Pyra set her teacup down, sending a look to Lora, asking with her eyes. Lora gave a shrug. Leaning forward, Pyra looked into Nia's eyes. "What do you know about the World Tree?"

Nia's eyes narrowed in confusion. "The World Tree?" She clasped her hands together on the table in front of her, and leaned back in her chair. "Honestly, not that much. I mean, I know it's there." She waved in the general direction of the ever-present massive tree, "And sure, tons of people make up reasons for why it's there, or what's on it, but at the end of the day, it's just a big glowing tree. I don't have a great reason to learn more."

Pyra tilted her head in confusion. "You don't? Aren't you going there?"

"Eh?"

Dromarch nudged her. "That is what master Malos was saying, milady. They're going to the World Tree to see the Architect. To do what, exactly, I didn't quite catch."

"You found that out somehow while you were distracting Malos the other day, did you?" Dromarch bobbed his head affirmatively. "Well that's fine and dandy, but I still don't think that changes how I feel."

"Well," Pyra gestured between them, "we're going to go too, you know."

Her eyebrows raised. "Really? Why, though?"

"Pyra wants to talk to the Architect. I'm going to help her get there."

"You're serious?" They nodded and she let out a big breath. "Seems like everyone's talking about that tree these days," she muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. "Well alright then. I guess we wouldn't mind them coming along too much if we're already headed there, right, Dromarch?"

Dromarch chuckled. "Of course not, my lady. I think Lora and Pyra's presence would be a most welcome addition."

Nia scoffed. "You're only saying that 'cause Lora gives you good scratches."

Dromarch stiffened. "Her capabilities and knowledge are far more important than that."

Her eyes lowered, unimpressed. "Sure. That's all it is."

Lora chuckled at their antics. "I'd be happy to provide them, any time."

"Hey! Don't encourage him."

Pyra giggled behind her hand. "Well, should we go look around some?" she offered.

"We should," Nia agreed, "before Dromarch makes any more of a fool of himself."

"Excuse me, ladies."

They all looked over to the new voice up to see a Blade with striking red hair braided behind him, wearing a dark, flour stained apron and striking pink boots. Thinking about it, Lora had spotted him cooking in the back of the restaurant where they were eating at. "Are you perchance mercenaries?"

"Maybe." Nia crossed her arms. "Who's asking?"

"Me. Everyone else I've already asked has said no, and this salvage bulge isn't helping. If you can spare some time, I need your help. I'd pay you, of course."

Lora glanced at Pyra, who nodded in a 'might as well' sort of way. "We might. What is it you would like us to do?"

"Well, a while ago, an old friend of mine, a woman named Smaia, asked if I could make some deliveries to her. I keep meaning to get around to it, but…" He gestured to the huge crowd of salvagers which still hadn't really dispersed, and the line peeking out the door of the restaurant.

Lora winced in sympathy. "I get it. Your food is absolutely divine, by the way."

The Blade let out a hearty laugh. "I saw you scarf it down, so I know your compliment means something. It means the world to a chef." He glanced around. "Not that there's much competition in the Ardainian Empire for good cuisine."

"So what is it you need us to do?"

"Take a look at this."

He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of a pocket on his apron, smoothed it out and handed it to her. As she glanced down, she noticed a mercenary writ attached to it. Underneath the writ, she glanced at the list he was talking about and her eyes shot up. Even though she wouldn't be able to guess what half of the stuff was for, there was a lot of it.

"That's quite a list." Lora glanced back up to him. "When does she need it?"

"A week ago." When she gave him a questioning look, he rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed way. "Sadly, aspiring to be a world class patissier drains my time, and my Driver and I can only do so much to keep up with the salvagers from the bulge going on right now. I put this off for too long, and with the bulge now, not as many people are paying attention to the jobs on the mercenary board. Smaia's a sciency type who needs them for a project she's working on, pronto."

"I guess..."

"She also happens to be one of my biggest financial backers, and secret ingredient supplier. No one else is able to get the kind of exotic ingredients I need for my best dessert dishes. She threatened to cut off my supply if I don't get it to her soon."

"That's rough. I wouldn't want you to go out of business. Even though I've already said it, your food is amazing."

"Don't butter me up too much." He chuckled before his expression turned serious, "Can you check up on her and see if she's doing alright, as well? Something's been off lately with her. It worries me more than the whole Aegis debacle the city has been in an uproar about recently."

Though she was still somewhat hesitant, her heart - er, core? - melted at the worry in his voice. "Of course we can. I know how hard it can be to be away from those you love."

A portion of the stress she'd seen as he approached seemed to drip off his shoulders. "Thank you...um. Pardon my manners. I never asked your name."

"Lora."

"Gorg," he returned. "Thank you, Lora. I need to get back to cooking before the lines gets too long. I'll see you and your party tonight, hopefully. I'll treat you to dessert too when you get back." He quickly went back inside the restaurant, bypassing the line of people, which had increased almost by ten in the short time he'd been talking to them.

"Well, that was something," Nia quipped, "but is it really a good idea to do this now? I mean, I get that he's in a rough spot and all, but we're…you know." She glanced meaningfully at Pyra.

"Maybe," Pyra admitted. "But there shouldn't be any harm in helping. It wouldn't be the first time someone has laid their problems on almost complete strangers, right, Lora?"

Lora knew exactly what she was talking about. "It's happened a lot to us." She looked down at the paper he'd given to them, trying to figure out where the 'Admar Storage Zone' was. "It can't do much harm, right? Besides, if I ever get to come back here, it'd be a shame not to be able to have his cooking again."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I get it." Nia stood, sighing. "What's the worst that could happen, eh?"

"Sorry, son. We don't have any."

'Son.' If only this guy knew how much older I am than him.

"You're sure?" Mikhail shifted impatiently. Unless his information was out of date - which happened more often than he liked to admit over the centuries - they'd just passed the season for Gold Condensers on Mor Ardain. But there still should be some left.

"Positive. What do you need them for, anyways?"

"I'm part of a mercenary group getting it for a high-profile client."

The salvager didn't look impressed. "Who's the client?"

"The chairman of the Argentum trade guild." He flashed the little missive the sleaze chairman Bana had given them to 'persuade' less willing parties in getting materials for the bots. This wasn't for them, but it was for a good cause, so he didn't feel the least bit guilty using it for this.

"Ah." That seemed to quiet him and his hand went up to his chin, thinking. "Well, I hate to sink your Titan, but it doesn't change the fact that I still don't have any. Someone bought my entire stock. I was actually talking to a couple buddies of mine and they say some fellows bought out the market in Alba Cavanich for that part a couple days ago. Paid good money for them too."

Mikhail narrowed his eyes at the information. This was new. "Did they say what they needed them for?"

The man shrugged. "Said they might build something with it, but I didn't pry too hard. Why? Think they might be a competitor or something?"

"It's nothing." The timing was obnoxious, but things like this happened in the market. If it happened two days ago, then it was likely they were already gone.

The older man shrugged. "Alright then. It's not my business to know how customers use what I bring up. I just sell it."

"Sure."

"Anyways," the man continued, "no salvagers have brought any Gold Condensers in recently. Titan's moved past where they usually salvage them up. Might be some over in Chilsain or one of the Trade Guilds, but not here in Alba Cavanich. Not for a while, at least." He shrugged. "But who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky with the salvage bulge."

"Right, thanks," he deadpanned.

Mikhail walked away, shifting through the throngs of people shopping, both salvagers and more local citizens before he eventually spotted Cressidus' massive form waiting at a street corner.

"Any luck on your end, big guy?" Mikhail asked.

"Nothing. I had to tap out on this one."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Those were the last dealers." Every one. Every single last shop and dealer they'd checked out from the last two days didn't have the Gold Condensers. Even the rarer parts that had been a pain last time were available to buy. "What a waste of time. I probably could've found the parts easier if I salvaged for them myself by now."

So many delays. He wasn't sure who would kill him first. Patroka, for being late picking up the bots or Jin for taking Lora out and putting her in 'danger,' without telling him.

"Excuse me."

He felt someone tap him mid back and quickly twisted around to see who it was. To his surprise he saw a short, brown-haired kid in Ardainian military fatigues. His eyes travelled behind him and up to see a Blade, head like a white dragon with a grassy mane looking down at him with intense yellow eyes. The difference in size between the two was almost comical.

The kid spoke up again. "I might be able to help you out."

Even if it was just a kid, the fact that he was from the military sent up a red flag. He threw up a fake smile. "Really? And how does the ardainian military plan on doing that?"

The kid put up his hands in a placating way. "No, no, don't worry about that. I'm honestly more of a salvager than I am anything else. I just overheard you talking about not being able to find a part, and thought I might be able to help you out. What are you looking for?"

Mikhail glanced at Cressidus sceptically, who shrugged. "Unless you know how to whip up some Gold Condensers out of thin air, then I don't think we need to keep talking." He expected the kid to stumble out some excuse.

"Actually, a while back I heard from old Monell that you could find them in Mor Ardain off Jarlin Wing Area around this time of year. And with the bulge, there's bound to be something."

"You mean that salvage point off the palace?"

"Well, yeah. You need permission from the empire to salvage from there."

He raised his eyebrows. "And you do?"

The kid put his hand on his chin, thinking. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard. Right, Azurda?"

Azurda?

The name sounded familiar, though he couldn't place why. Then again, he'd met a lot of people in nearly five hundred years, and after a while they started blending. Maybe he'd met the Blade before when he had a different Driver? It wouldn't be the first time.

The massive Blade crossed his muscular stony arms over his chest. "Would it be wise testing the limits like that? We only did just arrive after all."

The kid put on a confidant grin. "It'll be fine. Besides, it'd kill me if I passed up the opportunity to salvage during a bulge." He turned back to Mikhail. "What are you planning on using the parts for?"

Mikhail thought about feeding the lie about getting parts for the chairman, but paused. The kid was a salvager, and they always went for good personal sob stories right?

"Well, my ship went through an unexpected 'remodelling.' Basically, there's a big hole where there was some delicate machinery. I was able to find most of the parts to fix it except one. Normally it's not a huge hassle to get, but someone beat me to the punch and they've all been bought out."

"Sounds like a pain."

"You don't know the half of it."

The kid cracked a grin. "Probably not, but I've heard enough salvagers complain about maintaining cloud sea worthy vessels. 'It's just a big ol' money pit.' they'd say."

"Pretty much." Mikhail could sympathize. The Monoceres alone was hard enough to maintain, and the Marsanes was on a whole other level. Not that Torna was low on funds, but when there was really only one real mechanic to go around, things piled up quick.

Even so, this could be interesting. "Well, if you think you can do it, go for it. I can give you two thousand in advance, and three thousand if you can haul it up before the end of the week?"

That would be as long as they could afford to wait.

The kid stuck out his hand. "I won't even need a day."

Mikhail barked out a laugh. "Cocky, aren't you? I like that. We'll see if you can live up to it. How about you get to keep all the extra parts that you haul up? Sell them; use them, whatever keeps your Titan floating."

If there was hesitation before, it disappeared when he said that. "Shake on it and we have a deal."

He did. Salvagers. So predictable. He should know, given how much time he'd spent being one a lifetime ago. He counted out the gold for the advance and handed it over.

What he'd just offered was chump change compared to what Jin had dropped on hauling up the Aegis. Not that this kid needed to know that. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm not a kid, but my name's Rex."

"Alright, Rex. Show me what you've got."

Chapter Text

The air seemed to press on Nia, blisteringly hot from the heat bleeding out through the large metal pipes criss-crossing all over the streets of Alba Cavanich.

A single bead of sweat trickled from her forehead, barely missing her eye as it trailed down her face, eventually dripping off her chin. She followed it with her eyes, and though she couldn't hear it over the busy sounds of Alba Cavanich's industry, she imagined the little drop sizzled before it evaporated a moment after hitting the stone of the street.

Looking ahead to where Lora led the way, Nia called out past the stack of sealed crates she was carrying. "So, not to be rude or anything, but remind me why we're carrying these things ourselves?"

Balancing her own stack of small sealed crates, Lora glanced back at Nia. She knew Pyra and Dromarch weren't too far behind; each with their own loads, with Dromarch's strapped to his back. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Nia shifted her crates, balancing the stack temporarily on her leg to get a better grip on it, "couldn't we at least have gotten a cart or something?"

As if to emphasize her point, a quadrupedal Titan - easily two or three times Cressidus' size - passed by with huge crates strapped to its back, a small salvager crew guiding it.

"Tully said all the spares were being used by the salvagers to haul things during the bulge, but there still weren't enough to go around," Lora reminded her.

"Who was Tully, again?"

"If I remember correctly," Dromarch interjected, "he was the individual at one of the warehouses complaining about how the number of salvagers during the salvage bulge was making it difficult to keep everything moving at 'maximum efficiency'."

"Yeah, that's the one." Lora tilted her head, looking concerned. "Nia, do you need a break?"

Nia puffed out some air as another bead of sweat got hung up on her eyebrow, before rolling down her face. "Let's just keep going. By the way, these are actually the supplies, right?"

Lora chuckled. "Yep, this should be our last stop, and then it'll be job done!"

Nia made a grunt of acknowledgement. At least there was that.

It had started innocently enough.

First, they couldn't find the person in charge of the supplies, and the warehouse refused to let them take it without his permission. Finding him had been hard enough since he was outside the city, but then there had been monsters. After that, things started blurring together in her memory.

As the day dragged on, it got harder to remember the chain of requests that seemed only vaguely related to what they'd been asked to do by…the Blade cook's name she couldn't remember. Korg, maybe?

How did Lora keep so chipper while doing all this busywork that had kept getting in the way of taking crates from one place to another?

She hissed as her load almost slipped from under her arm, but was saved by Dromarch putting his muzzle underneath just in time before it dropped and crashed onto the street. She looked back, seeing him carrying his own crate strapped around his body on his back. He tipped hers back up, allowing her to get better hold of the crate stamped with 'fragile' on its side.

"Careful, my lady."

"You're a lifesaver, Dromarch."

"Think nothing of it."

She called ahead to Lora. "So where did...whoever it was, want this stuff?"

"We're dropping it at Smaia's house. It's just down the end of this street, up a flight or two of stairs and the third door on the left."

"Ugh. Stairs. Great…" Even so, she trudged on. Eventually, she slowed her pace to where Pyra was trailing at the back of their little group. "Are you tired too? You're lagging behind."

Pyra blinked, seeming to come out of her own thoughts. "Huh? Oh, no. I'm just thinking."

"If you're sure. So," Nia spoke softly - though still loud enough to be heard over the bustle going on all around them from the 'salvage bulge' going on- leaning over to Pyra, "has Lora always been like this?"

"What do you mean?"

Nia glanced ahead to Lora, who was out of earshot. "Well, no offense, but she's kind of a sap. I get that she was a mercenary and getting the job done is important, but I lost track of it after the third or fourth errand we had to do before the supplier let us take the goods. Do you really think we needed to do all those extra bits?"

"Do you think we shouldn't have helped them?"

"I just can't help but feel they were taking advantage of her kindness. Thing is, If she doesn't say no, it'll be a chain of requests that'll never end."

To her surprise, that made Pyra laugh.

Nia's ear flicked in annoyance. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing. You just...reminded me of something."

They turned onto a street where a large housing complex lay nestled in-between other more industrial buildings, and she spotted steep metal stairs. Her legs burned at the thought of going up them.

Pyra's expression twisted to something Nia didn't understand as they started the torturous ascent. "Since I've know her, she's always been very spirited. But while she was always eager to help, when I first met her, it's like there was a careful wall built around her."

"Really?" Seeing how she behaved today made that difficult to believe. "What do you mean?"

"Lora was...I wouldn't call her 'reserved,' just very conscious about who she talked to."

"Well, she was always spending time looking over her shoulder so she and Jin wouldn't be caught, right?" Nia knew the feeling.

"Yeah. But after we met, Addam started breaking through that. I don't even know how intentional it was, but it was just the kind of man he was. After hearing her story, he didn't even think twice about not turning her in; a complete pardon. For Lora, it was like a burden had been lifted from her. Addam...always had that effect on people. He was incredible." She smiled. "Crying at even the slightest sob story."

Nia let out a snort, and almost tripped up the last step. She barely caught her footing again. "He sounds like a riot."

"He was also the most genuine, courageous man I ever knew." Her eyes turned downcast as they crossed the landing and started up the second set of stairs. "I wish I had the chance to get to know him better."

"Huh?" What did that mean? Wasn't he her Driver?

Pyra seemed to snap out of her memories. "Oh, it's…nothing."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No, it's fine. It has nothing to do with him. I just…" She paused as they crested the last step. "No. Never mind. It's alright. Thanks for trying to be considerate."

"Well...if you're sure."

Lora knocked on one of the doors, and Nia gladly, finally, set down the crates she carried, while Pyra helped Dromarch untie the crate on his back. Nia didn't fully care that something inside tinkled like glass as she set it down. The big, bold, red 'fragile' stamped on the sides in bold letters seemed to glare at her.

They stood there, sweating in the evening sun for a good while, but no one answered the door. She watched Lora give it another knock.

"Do you think they're just out?" Nia asked, still a little out of breath.

Lora turned to her, frowning in thought. "Gorg said Smaia has been expecting it for a week, and I checked the apartment number the supplier gave, so this should be the right place." She turned back to the door and called out, "Hellooo, Smaia? Gorg sent us here with some packages for you. Are you home?"

They waited around for a moment before - to Nia's surprise - Pyra moved up and tried the door handle, which clicked right open, unlocked. A little bit of light peaked out as she cracked open the door.

They all stiffened as a loud crash echoed outward, followed by a very manly sounding curse and the sound of fleeing footsteps. Glancing at the others, Nia opened her mouth to make a snarky remark, but before she could say anything, Lora kicked the door open the rest of the way and dashed inside, Pyra following close behind, her red sword with the Aegis' emerald core forming out of the ether.

They don't waste any time, do they?

Nia and Dromarch followed only seconds behind in their wake. She turned the corner into a cramped living space full of lab equipment just in time to see Lora cast her braided whip at a retreating cloaked figure, wrapping around and snagging their arm. They crashed to the floor in a struggling, cursing heap.

She saw another figure slip out one of the apartment's windows, dropping down out of sight. Trusting Lora and Pyra enough to be able to take care of themselves, she dashed over to the open window and caught a brief glimpse of the other figure clutching a bundle of something to their chest before they went out of sight of where she could see. Heading where, she had no clue.

Turning back, as she suspected, Lora and Pyra had easily handled the man, Lora's knee on the man's back with another part of her braided whip now wrapped around his other arm too, holding them and his legs behind his back. He whipped his head back behind him as he struggled, but the fire of Pyra's Blade weapon springing to life near his head made him still.

His cloak had slipped down on his arm, revealing a blood red tattoo in the shape of a...cloud sea creature of some sort? Nia hadn't ever seen that one before.

"That tattoo. You're part of the Bloody Lobsters," Lora accused. "Why are you here?"

The man's eyes flicked up to Lora, then over to Pyra where his eyes fixed on to the hilt of her weapon, where the crystal of the weapon mimicked her own emerald core. Nia was caught off guard when a laugh of all things escaped him.

"So the rumours are true. You really are awake again. Come to do our job for us?"

"Huh?" Confusion leaked out of Pyra's voice, and her sword lowered slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Aegis." He shifted his mouth in a way, almost like he was picking food out of his teeth.

She felt Dromarch's affinity link flare to life. "My lady, stop him! He's about to-"

Before she could react, the man bit down hard on something, making a disgusting sounding crack, before he swallowed. She rushed to him, trying to pry his mouth open, but he kept it firmly shut. The man laughed through his nose, before he started choking, and purple foam seeped past his lips and before long, his eyes rolled into his head and he started to spasm.

As Dromarch started the flow of healing ether, Nia didn't need Dromarch's knowledge of flora to recognize fast acting poison. The man whipped about, jerking against the bonds of Lora's braided whip. "Stay still already, I'm trying to help you."

In a death rattle, his body shuddered, then relaxed. In frustration Nia almost reached for that power, but stopped when she felt alarm from Dromarch through their affinity link. She stopped, clenched her hand into a fist as Dromarch gave her a questioning look.

She stopped herself. Was it really worth exposing herself for this? Just some crazy goon, not someone innocent or someone she cared about. Thinking about it that way helped her feel better.

After another moment, she stepped back and shook her head. "He's gone."

There was a feeling of relief mixed with a surprising twinge of disappointment that whispered through her and Dromarch's bond before he cut the link.

"Shoot." Lora started to unwind the whip, as Pyra stepped back, her weapon's flames dying as it went inert. Lora looked at her and Dromarch. "It's alright, you two. You did what you could. It was all so...sudden."

Dromarch mumbled an apology for them both while Nia's ears flattened. She could bring him back, purge the poison from his system and revitalize him, maybe make it easier to get information for them. Her own capabilities seemed to tingle just beneath the surface of her own skin.

But no. He was just a nobody, not someone she cared about.

Pyra's sword fizzled back into the ether. "I'm…" her hand hovered over where her core was hidden by the poncho, "I'm going to look around and check the house for Smaia. She might still be around."

Lora nodded encouragingly. "That's a good idea, Pyra. Maybe she'll be able to help us figure out what that was all about."

"Hopefully she isn't anything like the company she had over," Nia muttered. If she's even still alive.

"Yeah." Lora shuddered. "I don't need to see something like that again."

Silently agreeing, Nia and the others spread out through the small flat. The whole place, like the living room they started out in, was chock full of sciency-looking things, and generally was a cluttered mess. Now that she had time to pay attention, a faint, burnt metal smell permeated the air.

Parts of the place looked like they had been looted. Probably the two goons from the Bloody Lobsters ransacking it. The flat was small enough that before long Pyra called out for them to come to her.

In a small bedroom, an older woman with straight, greying brown hair and thick lenses lay sprawled on the floor, stock still.

"Smaia, I'm guessing?" Nia asked.

"She matches the description of what others told us about her," Pyra confirmed.

Nia went and checked for her pulse, but could already tell by how cold her skin was that she wouldn't find anything. She looked up at Lora and sadly shook her head. "Gone for a long while, I'm afraid. I'm not sure there's anything we could have done."

Lora closed her eyes a moment and Nia could see the pain on her face. After a moment it shifted into grim resolve. "We should tell Gorg about what happened. He'll probably be devastated, but he was worried about her."

"Forgive me for holding you up, lady Lora, but..." Dromarch nosed up the sleeve on the woman's jacket. "Look."

Nia peered in with the rest of the group to look. Inked on the underside of her forearm he revealed a blood red tattoo. Though the tattoo was somewhat faded, it was the same blood red image of the cloud sea creature on the dead man's forearm in the other room.

Another one?

"Her too?" Lora echoed her thoughts.

Nia sighed, exasperated. "And now I'm just confused. Did they kill her?"

"There's no blood, so..."

"Plenty of other ways it could have happened."

Dromarch nudged her. "My lady, there's a strange smell in here."

"Whatd'ya mean?"

He padded over to a small glass cup on a small end table filled with purplish liquid. Sniffing it gently, he gagged before backing away, wiping his snout with the back of his paw.

"This is-" he coughed. "This scent is clearly that of doomsday poppy. If I remember correctly, it originates from-"

"Uraya." The words started rolling out of Nia's mouth without her thinking. "Ingest the flower's ground up seeds and it'll dull pain."

Dromarch looked over to her with surprise in his eyes. Not surprise that she knew that, but surprise that she'd said it. Lora and Pyra seemed oblivious to the context.

"Well, yes," Dromarch picked up without too much of a pause. "While the flower is often admired for its vibrant purple petals, it's grown more for its seeds. The smell is pungent when ground up, but it's often used to help manage chronic pain in small doses."

Lora let out a thoughtful hum. "I've heard about this before. Aren't there some nasty potential side effects from it?"

"Indeed," Dromarch agreed. "It is difficult to say what exactly drove her to it. Considering her age, perhaps chronic back or joint pain are possibilities. However, generally, it's the desperate who turn to it."

"I don't want to drink it, Nia. It tastes terrible."

"I know, but da' will worry if you don't."

Nia's mouth pressed into a thin line.

Dromarch's tail swished. "Regardless of the poppies, there's another faint scent that has me more worried: it's reminiscent of shadeblossom. When processed, it's colourless, and to most noses is nearly odourless. It is usually used on Titan wounds, but it is extremely deadly to humans when ingested."

"Good thing you're here, Dromarch. I doubt we would have noticed that without you around." Dromarch beamed at Lora's praise. "With all the equipment we've seen around, and how Gorg was describing her like a chemist, I doubt she accidentally mixed it in herself."

Nia snorted. "Yeah, pretty big mix up for something this deadly. Feels like something else fishy is going on."

"Unless...she wanted to die?" Pyra's voice came out quiet, careful.

"I...suppose suicide is a possibility." Dromarch's tone turned sombre at its mention. "However, I don't believe it is a coincidence that this woman's tattoo is the same as our 'friend' in the other room."

"Sure." Nia thought the tattoo being connected would have been obvious. "But why?"

"Well," Pyra ventured, "even though her tattoo is faded, she had to have been part of the Bloody Lobsters at some point. Maybe she left the gang?"

"Oh!" Lora eyes widened, as if remembering something. "Just like Gio! He went into hiding after he left. They didn't like it very much when they found out where he went. So this could have been some form of revenge."

Pyra nodded. "Right. Maybe our assailants knew she uses the doomsday poppies, planted a mix with shadesblossom and waited for that," she motioned to the liquid in the cup, "to finish her off, and then snuck in."

Nia's brow furrowed. "I dunno. Seems like a really elaborate way to kill an old lady."

Dromarch sat back on his haunches. "Perhaps they would rather it look like an accident than potentially lead back to them."

"But even if that's true, what did they want from her in the first place?" Lora asked.

"Perhaps they needed something in the packages we were delivering?" Dromarch suggested. "Gorg mentioned he was late delivering it to her, so they may have expected the delivery to have already arrived?"

"Or maybe she was going to make something for them? Or already made something?"

"Or she still could have been part of the gang for all we know." Nia huffed in annoyance, starting to get frustrated with all the guesswork. "It's just a mess of a guessing game at this point."

"Yeah, it feels like we're missing something or someone that would tie this together. We don't really know enough to be sure." Lora crossed her arms, thinking for a moment. "Even if it's risky for us, for Gorg's sake, maybe we should get the authorities involved."

"Considering the bounty on Pyra, is that wise, lady Lora?" Dromarch asked.

"Hmm. That's a good point. Maybe you and Nia should do that instead?"

Dromarch turned to her. "My lady?"

"I guess we could do it." It's not like the empire had anything against her, so it would probably be fine. "Just give us the mercenary writ so they don't give us any hassle.

Lora nodded, handing a folded sheet of paper to her. "Pyra and I will go and tell Gorg the news. Once the authorities get what they need, meet us back at the inn tonight. Maybe Mikhail will know more."

"It's still not here, kid."

Azurda saw Rex snap his fingers. "Shoot. I had a good feeling about that one, too."

Their client - Mikhail as he'd named himself - glanced over from the salvage crate he was sorting through. "Don't sell yourself short. You've gotten a pretty impressive haul so far for your first time at a bulge like this."

"Thanks." Rex glanced to the evening sky and back to the gauge on his full dive suit. "I've probably got one more dive on this cylinder. It'll be the next one for sure!"

And just like that, his Driver resealed his helmet and dove off of into the cloud sea, an attached lifeline following him down into the cloud sea. Despite the setbacks, Rex was maintaining a cheery attitude through the whole thing. It didn't even feel like forced optimism.

Azurda sighed. Even so, this whole situation worried him.

It had been easier than he thought to get sanction to salvage here, especially once Rex had shown off his tag and salvager's license. He could tell Rex had eagerly accepted the salvaging job in part because it was familiar and comforting. The draw of salvaging during a salvage bulge would have been irresistible.

Of course, Azurda felt some draw to salvaging as well. Whether that was because of his Driver or something else, he wasn't sure yet.

With the way Rex's life had been going recently, he was out of his element. Though it would help them have strong allies in the fight against Torna, being coerced into joining the Ardainian Driver program obviously didn't sit well with Rex.

He looked over when Mikhail let out a laugh. "He's got spirit, that's for sure, and he's faster than I would've thought. But the quality of stuff he's bringing up varies a lot. Typical salvage bulge newbie." He shook his head and tossed away a rusted spring coil. "Almost makes me not want to go through the trouble of opening 'em."

Then there was the other part of this situation. Their client.

"You make it sound like you've experienced many of these. From what I'd gathered, weren't they rare?"

"Heh. Maybe I'm just lucky?"

"Perhaps," Azurda mused, "though I must say, most salvaging clients don't stick so close to their charges, much less work this closely with them. Are you much of a salvager yourself?"

"I've had my fair number of dives." The blond haired man gave an easy-going smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "And what can I say? I've got a...vested interest in getting these parts."

"I suppose if Rex had a ship, he would be much the same way." There was a lull in the conversation as all three of them worked at sorting through the parts in the latest crate. No Gold Condensers yet. "You and your Blade...Cressidus, was it?"

"Yeah!" Though Azurda couldn't see the big Blade's face through the golden helm, he could practically feel his excitement. "And don't you forget it, grass man!"

Azurda raised his eyebrows, glancing back at his grassy mane. He supposed there were worse nicknames. "Yes, well, you both seem awfully well versed in the workings of salvaging."

"Heh." Mikhail ran a ran through his wavy blonde hair. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Been at it a while?"

"Longer than you've been alive I'd wager." He seemed to consider something. "By the way, Azurda, how long have you been Rex's Blade?"

"Hmm? Not long, all things considered. Why do you ask?"

The corner of one of Mikhail's mouth turned upward, a half smirk. "My guess says it can't be more than a couple weeks, maybe a month at most. Bet that knowledge that you have about salvaging is an innate skill."

Azurda hummed in thought. He hadn't thought about it too much, but Mikhail was right. He did know an awful lot about salvaging. Not that Rex seemed to notice. Perhaps it was another matter where he was similar enough to the Titan 'Gramps' that Rex hadn't noticed.

That bothered Azurda more than he cared to admit.

"Yes, that's right. It hasn't even been two weeks, and Rex and I haven't had the chance to salvage in that time. Though I must ask what gave away our recent resonance; is it truly so obvious?"

"Yeah. You and overeager salvager kid down there," he jerked a thumb down to the lifeline that trailed under the cloud sea where Rex still was, "don't feel fully in sync to me. My guess is if any other Driver worth their salt tried messing with you, you'd be krabble food."

"Really now?" Azurda bristled somewhat. "I hardly think that's fair, considering how short a time we've been resonated."

"Hey, I'm just giving you a heads up. Alrest will eat you up and spit you out if you don't learn quick enough."

Azurda raised his eyebrows. "My Driver has already seen his fair share of that, even just since the time I was awakened. He has no living relatives, and was recently involved in a terrible salvaging incident where all the crew save him perished."

"You don't say," Mikhail deadpanned.

Azurda frowned.

"Sorry if I don't sound too sympathetic. Stories like that are a gold piece a dozen nowadays, and I've been around long enough to hear a lot of them. Still, the kid's what, twelve? Thirteen?"

"Fifteen and proud of it."

There was a short pause as Mikhail let Cressidus scoop out cloud sea sludge that had built up in the crate, clearing out the rest of the parts mixed in there with it. At last he asked, not turning to Azurda, "How'd he get away?"

"He says was rescued by a Titan he called 'gramps.' The Titan died after crashing in Gormott. However, the Titan left behind a core crystal."

"You?"

Azurda nodded. "Good guess. Coincidentally enough, he and I share the same name, though Rex said that the similarities don't stop there. General appearance and voice were chief among them, but I'm told I share some personality traits with the dead Titan as well."

Something about that seemed to perk Mikhail's interest, enough that he looked at Azurda directly, scrutinizing him closely. In his eyes, something passed through so quickly he could have imagined it. Anger, sadness? Azurda couldn't tell, as a moment later it was gone, and the smile that didn't reach his eyes was back.

"So you were resonated with fresh from a Titan. That's rarer nowadays with how Indol runs things."

"Is that so? I've only heard a few things about the Praetorium so far. Everyone's opinions about them seem to be on a very wide spectrum."

Mikhail scoffed. "Understatement of the century. I'll bet the empire was glad to make a catch like you with how rare you are."

"I suppose that's true. The Inquisitor made me plainly aware of the rarity of the situation before she recruited Rex and I into the Ardainian Driver program."

He let out a low whistle. "Recruited by the Inquisitor herself? That's dangerous."

"So far it's worked out well enough. Rex had crucial information she was in need of. Much of it's confidential, I'm afraid."

"Is she hot?"

Azurda blinked at the sudden question. Maybe he could have a little fun. "Well, I suppose she does burn brightly with her Blade. Lady Brighid is a fire element Blade, after all."

"Wow. Clever," Mikhail deadpanned. Azurda gave him a cheeky smile and Mikhail pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.

Cressidus came up and slapped him on the back. "You set yourself up for that one, Mik."

There was a long pause before Mikhail made a noncommittal grunt and went to the next unopened crate of salvage. Azurda took the silence as an end to their conversation and went back to opening a different crate.

The metal of this particular crate was rusting and crushed at odd angles near the seal, as if someone had already tried their hand at opening it but simply got frustrated and threw it back into the cloud sea. Or a cloud sea monster, perhaps.

After considering how to tackle it, Azurda felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw Cressidus, eyes shining behind that golden helm of his.

"Allow me."

Azurda nodded. The big Blade grabbed the crate and with his metal gauntlets, and with an almost theatrical sounding roar, wrenched the metal top off. While it wasn't the way he would have tackled it, Azurda was impressed that nothing inside spilled out from that stunt.

"Well, well my friend, that was certainly…impressive."

Cressidus proudly pounded his chest. "It's all in the meats."

"Meat, you say?"

He flexed his arms. "Protein."

"To my understanding, food intake does not affect the structure of a Blade, correct?" Azurda blinked after he said it, unsure of how he was so sure of that knowledge.

Cressidus wagged a finger. "Not how you look, but depending on how and what you eat, you can draw ether from the air easier for different uses. Protein is best for toughening you up physically and elementally, depending on the type." He pounded his fists together to emphasize the point.

Azurda leaned forward, interested. "Really now? That's fascinating."

"And even though meat's the best, it's not just meat." The Blade started sounding excited. "Veggies will help your regeneration factor; grains toughen up your ether barrier. And that's just the basics – really, it's all about balance."

He noticed Mikhail roll his eyes. "Don't let meathead draw you into that or he'll never stop. If you let him, he'll go on for hours. Trust me, I'd know."

"You might have heard it before, but I think it's fascinating to learn more about this. I want to be able to protect my Driver to the best of my ability."

Mikhail snorted.

Azurda's brow furrowed. "What?"

"It doesn't really matter, and I doubt in the two weeks you've been awakened that you've had a chance to wonder about it. Still…" He trailed off before looking him directly in the eyes. "Do you ever wonder why things are the way they are?"

There was something serious in his eyes that made Azurda hesitate to answer. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Think about it. The kid is your first Driver, but he'll be far from your last. Assuming the Driver program doesn't do him in first, in sixty or so more years, Rex will die, and you'll be passed on to someone else and awakened again. But you won't remember a thing about him."

"An interesting question." Azurda stroked his stony chin. "While I suppose I cannot speak for all Blades, I believe that the time that I do have with Rex will be of benefit to him, and if I can be of service or help to even one person, this lifetime will be worth it to me."

"That's so typical for a Blade to say something like that." He waved his hand to the side dismissively. "And then you'll awaken to a new Driver with no guarantee of who they are or what they want. You might be fighting against the ideals your current Driver believes in, and you would have no idea. And it will happen again and again and again."

Azurda narrowed his eyes. "What are you implying?"

Mikhail let out a sigh and shrugged. "Not sure, to be honest. Something about the system just feels wrong. Some days, I just want to ask the Architect why, you know?"

The crane, fixed to the edge of the platform - which Mikhail had graciously bought off of another salvager for them to use - pinged from the remote on Rex's end. Azurda quickly went over and pulled the lever to lower the weighted, metal platform, not letting up until the pinging stopped.

It seemed like Rex had dived deeper than the last dives. In short order the cable went taut and he waited for another ping to start reeling it back up.

Not too much later, he watched as a grapple hooked up to the platform. A few moments later, Rex - in full salvager gear - nimbly popped up and released the latch on his helmet, taking in big lungfuls of air.

Azurda quickly went over to him, supporting his Driver. "Are you alright, Rex?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Rex responded from between panting breaths.

"Something go wrong?" Mikhail asked, curious.

"Nah, nothin' too bad." Azurda stepped back, still watching carefully as Rex wiped the sweat off his brow, and took a moment to catch his breath. "The cloud sea's a lot warmer around the Ardainian Titan than what I'm used to, so I've been going through the air cylinder a lot faster than I thought I would. But this looked like it would be worth it, though."

The clouds bulged and the crane brought up a pristine looking crate, cloud sea sloughing off of it.

Azurda let go of the lever. "It certainly looks promising, but then again, so did some of the last ones."

Rex crossed his arms. "Well, you know what they say, 'open a chest, it might be great. Until then it's just a crate.'"

Mikhail barked out a laugh. "I haven't heard that one in ages."

Azurda could practically feel Rex light up as he rubbed his nose to try and hide a grin. "It's true, though. Anyways, I'll have to go sell some of the parts we've hauled up so far and get another air cylinder. Azurda, you stay with them and make sure they don't try anything funny."

Azurda nodded his assent and Rex quickly dashed off with some parts gathered in a sack. He turned to Mikhail, who arced a casual eyebrow at him. "I hope I won't have to make good on that promise."

The easy-going smile that didn't reach his eyes was back. "Trust me, you wouldn't be able to even if you tried."

The Ayvill Shopping District bustled with activity.

Rex weaved through the crowds of salvagers and buyers making their way through brightly-coloured tents and palanquins set up through the centre of the main market street. Nopon bounced on tall stools - which tried and often failed to put them above average height in the crowds - showing off trinkets, bolts of cloth, old looking books and most prominently, numerous salvaged goods of about everything you could think of.

The noise and bustle of all the salvaging trade going on around him made him beam. He still couldn't believe that despite his current situation, he'd gotten a chance to salvage during a bulge.

He'd always heard old, weather beaten salvagers boasting about them in almost worshipful tones. Describing them almost like some kind of fever dream.

It'd almost been too easy to get the sack of parts he'd slung over his shoulder. Until now, Rex had figured he'd be lucky to even experience a salvage bulge before he was old and crooked.

He couldn't wait to tell the kids back in Fonsett Village. Maybe even brag about it in a tavern someday just like those salvagers he'd listened to.

Eventually, he found a buyer, and was quickly reminded of the one part of salvaging that was always rough. He frowned at the teal-furred Nopon hopping up and down on the stool in front of him.

"Look, all I'm saying is that these should be worth way more than what you're offering." Rex lifted up a three parts. "I got these for at least three hundred gold for the set back in Argentum, and that's the lowest it's ever been."

"Is business, meh! Supply and demand. If littlepon salvager take look around him, he see all other salvagers doing the same thing. Has been going on for three days now. Need big and rare haul to bring big money. One hundred gold for set is fair for current market."

Rex groaned in frustration. This would barely get him to break even for another silver grade cylinder. But it wasn't as though he'd have much time to haggle right now, anyways. If the last haul he'd brought up didn't have the parts Mikhail was looking for, he'd have to salvage in the dark. Not impossible, just more difficult, especially without his usual setup.

"Fine. I'll take it."

The Nopon slapped the bag of gold he'd weighed out into Rex's hand, disappointingly light. "Pleasure doing business. Next!"

Taking the pitiful amount of gold for the large pile of salvage he'd forked over, he pocketed it and threw a retort over his retreating shoulder. "Don't expect me to bring my business back here!"

The Nopon didn't grace him with a response. Hopefully they were just here for the salvage bulge. If every salvage trader in Alba Cavanich was like that, he'd be in trouble.

That was the risk with taking business to new places. It'd already taken forever to find who was the best to do business with when he'd originally settled in salvaging with Argentum. At the rate he was going, he would be in Mor Ardain for a while yet, so he'd need to figure it out at some point.

Assuming he'd have any time.

From how they were putting it in the orientation, it was hard to say. Not to mention the whole bit about finding Torna. Well, whatever. At least with this he'd have the chance to do this contract before it got too crazy.

After rushing over to another shop to pick up a very price-gouged silver-grade cylinder, he started weaving through the crowd back to Hardhaigh Palace. If he got back soon enough he would have enough time before it hit curfew-

He ran smack into someone.

"Whoa!"

"Oh, sorry!" He backed away, apologizing, looking up to them.

The woman with soft, almost fluffy red hair he'd bumped into brushed off a bit of cloud sea gunk off her bright red skirt where he'd run into her.

She gave an apologetic smile. "No, it's alright." Her eyes - almost the same shade of gold as his - glanced down to his dog tag and the smile slipped for a moment before it returned. "I guess we were both in a bit of a hurry."

He chuckled awkwardly, pretending he hadn't noticed, as a sheepish grin accompanied his hand scratching the back of his head. "I guess so."

His eyes flicked to another woman wearing a black poncho who stood slightly behind her. Bright red hair peeked out of the hood, and he caught sight of deep red eyes blinking at him curiously as she tilted her head.

Wow, she was really...pretty.

Hold on. Do I...know her from somewhere?

She smiled brightly at him and his cheeks flushed as he averted his eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, I, um, wasn't watching where I was going, either." He started walking past them, and turned around to wave. "I've gotta get going, but have a good day!"

The woman with the poncho waved at him cheerfully while the other waved less enthusiastically, seeming somewhat bemused. After a moment, they turned and continued on their way and before long they disappeared into the throng.

He kept walking backwards for a moment before he hit a Gormotti man who wasn't so nice about being bumped into.

He apologized again, and heard something like "stinkin' Ardainian brat,'' as they stalked away. But he was too lost in his own thoughts to really pay attention, much less correct him like he normally would.

His feet kept carrying him back to the salvaging point, but eventually he stopped when the tide of people thinned by the local message board in the central plaza. He folded his arms, thinking. It kept eating away at him for some reason. Where had he seen her before? The guild? Gormott? Leftheria? Maybe one of the smaller outlying Titans?

"You'd better be careful not to take too much on at once."

"Huh?" He looked over to see a young Gormotti man step up beside him. He had similar military fatigues on like his. Slung over his back was a Blade weapon - a megalance if he remembered right - and beside him a rather plain looking Blade.

"Rex-rex wallet empty too?" Beside the Gormotti, Tora and Poppi meandered up with him. "Should have told Tora; wouldn't have asked fellow brokepon for money. Is against code of honour."

"Oh, Tora! And you're, uh…" Rex trailed off awkwardly.

The Gormotti smiled easily. "Jac." He gestured to the Blade beside him. "And this is Yachik. Don't feel bad about not remembering me. I was recruited on the last day before the special Inquisitor came back to the empire, but I think I saw you cleaning up the destroyed cell block in Torigoth."

The memory flashed into his mind. "Oh, yeah! That was a rough clean-up. It was amazing no one died from that."

"Tora already said sorry for that. Should be water under bridge."

Rex snorted. "You also didn't have to clean it up."

Poppi bowed in a very prim, if somewhat stiff, way. "Poppi not sorry for rescuing Masterpon, but very sorry about damage."

"Nah, it's fine, Tora, Poppi." Rex put his hands on his hips. "Just try not to do it again like that, especially since you're working with the empire right now."

Poppi bobbed her head. "Poppi will do her best to keep her promise!"

Rex smiled. "That's good." He turned back to Jac. "So how'd you meet these two, anyways?"

Jac shrugged. "I met them briefly on the ride from Torigoth. Then they found me again in the city and sort...of latched on to me while Yachik and I were looking around. They're, uh…interesting."

"Tora chooses to take that as compliment."

He gave Rex a look that said 'see what I mean?' "Anyways, it was Rex, right?"

"Yeah. You're one of the Driver recruits too?"

"Yup." Jac nodded. "There are a lot of rumours flying around about you. I gotta ask though, is it true that you were recruited by the Special Inquisitor herself? I heard you impressed her after you fended off scores of monsters, bandits and Blades all before you even resonated. That she was so impressed that she gave you a treasured Blade of the empire."

"Er, most of that isn't true." Were there really rumours like that about him? "I mean, I did fight some core crystal hunters, but the rest of it's not true. It was a coincidence that Mòrag, uh, I mean, the Special Inquisitor, and I were even in the same place."

Jac's Blade shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I told you it wouldn't be that impressive, Jac."

"Why do you ask?"

"Yachik insisted that I should hear it from the source. But it's still pretty cool to me." Jac turned over to glancing at the board, his eyes stopped on something and he frowned. "So were you looking for a little extra gold, too? I was hoping I might be able to send a little extra home."

"You've got family back home?"

Jac's eyes lit up. "My mam and little siblings. You?"

Rex pounded his chest proudly. "The whole of Fonsett's relying on me. I'm trying to help the kids there get the tuition for school in Indol, so I'm in the middle of a salvaging job."

"Wow, that's some dedication. I've always shied away from salvagers, but good on you, I guess."

Rex laughed easily. "We're a rowdy lot, but we're not too bad."

"Sure..." Jac tilted his head. "So, Fonsett? Where's that? Uraya?"

Rex's shoulders slumped. "No, no, it's in the Leftherian Archipelago."

"Oh, uh. I've never heard of it, sorry. Before this, I'd never been off Gormott, you know." His eyes flicked back to the board and shook his head. "It's crazy what they're saying."

"What is it?"

He gestured to a large public announcement from Emperor Niall smack in the middle of the board. "They're saying the Aegis is back." He shuddered. "I hope I never end up having to fight them. Even though I'm a Driver now, that's a whole different level."

"Tora heard Aegis powerful enough to slay Titans! Even with teamwork of Tora and dadapon Tatazo, would be hard pressed to give Poppi power to match that."

"Masterpon, Poppi wouldn't want to do that."

"No, no. Not that Poppi would, just that Tora wonders if it possible to replicate it. Scientific curiosity."

"The Aegis…" Rex muttered.

Wait.

His heart dropped in his chest. Torna, the ship, the sword, the girl in the capsule.

The girl with red hair. She was wearing a black poncho over it, but he was dead sure if she wasn't, there would be an emerald core crystal on her sternum.

That was her, but she was awake.

Titan's foot!

He spun around, but there was almost no way he was going to be able to find those two again in this crowd.

"Is Rex-rex alright?" Tora asked, sounding worried at his sudden change. "Maybe lost wallet?"

He spun back to face Jac and Tora. "You two need to go back to base, quick. I'll catch up with you. There's something bad."

"What is it?" Jac asked, glancing around nervously.

"I saw her earlier, just a few minutes ago. The Aegis. She's here, right now, in the city."

Tora hopped back in surprise, headwings spreading wide. "Is Rex-rex sure?"

"Positive. I've seen her before."

Jac paled, ears flattening, while Poppi started flapping her arms up and down. He wasn't sure what that part was about, but chose to ignore it for now. "Then we need to tell someone."

"Poppi is ready to go, Masterpon! Can use jet boosters to get there faster."

"No, don't cause a panic," Rex insisted. "Just quickly go back to the base and I'll meet you there."

Rex dashed off. If the Aegis was here now…

His mind flashed back to the woman with soft red hair traveling with her. That meant Torna was here, too.

Chapter Text

"Hey, Mik, how much longer do you think he'll be?"

Drumming his fingers on his thigh in an impatient rhythm, Mikhail glanced at the sky, now turning dark as twilight set in. "We'll wait until it gets dark," he answered Cressidus back. "If Rex doesn't show by then, Azurda can finish waiting for him."

"Hmm," Azurda rumbled, his eyes betraying how cautious he was being around them. Mikhail didn't blame him. "Very well. So long as payment makes its way to me, that would be an agreeable arrangement."

Glancing over to Cressidus, the big lug had shut down the crane. Mikhail had no need for the thing now - the stuff back on the Marsanes was better anyways - so he'd probably leave it and 'sell' the spot to someone else. With how premium space was during a salvage bulge on a Titan as large as Mor Ardain, he'd have no issue.

The lights of the city began dotting his view, gleaming through the steam off the metal fortress that was Hardhaigh Palace. Around them on the platform, spotlights blared to life, directed at the cloud sea below where other salvagers - those lucky to get a spot here - were in the midst of dives.

Taking another hard look at the Blade calling himself Azurda - who stood, stony arms crossed, rippling with muscle, grassy mane kicking up at a passing gust of wind - brought through the haze of five hundred years of memory something he'd never thought he'd see again.

Of course, no matter how much he resembled him, that wasn't the Titan named Azurda he remembered.

The rhythm of his fingers stopped, and curled into a fist. He'd meant what he said to Azurda about the Blade system. Most humans didn't think twice about it, but Mikhail had centuries to experience both sides of it. Of people's perceptions of Blades. Most didn't realize it, but if he wasn't hiding his ill-gotten core, they treated him differently. When he was hiding it, unless it was someone like Dagas, no one knew any better.

Did…he consider himself human at this point?

Maybe.

At this point, it didn't matter.

At least he was more human than some people he'd met. Maybe less than others.

"Hey!"

Looking up, he spotted the kid dashing to them. He straightened up and gave a little wave as the kid came to a stop, panting slightly. "Did the Nopon Merchants almost eat you alive or something?" Mikhail asked with a smirk. "We almost left you for dead, but Azurda was still here."

"…What?"

Mikhail rolled his eyes. "The last crate you brought up had the Gold Condensers we needed. We've even finished packing up."

The kid's forehead scrunched up, before his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh! Right. That's a relief."

"Here's the rest of your pay." He tossed over a small sack with the remainder of the gold they'd agreed on, and the kid almost fumbled it but caught the sack. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at a crate with the rest of the parts that had been pulled up. "You and Azurda can sort out the rest of the parts."

"Ah, uh, right. Thanks. Um..."

Mikhail raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The kid crossed his arms, and tapped his foot, as if he was deliberating something really hard, before eventually he came to a decision. "You should probably get out of here. Even if you've got a ship repair or a contract to fulfil, I'd still get out of the city, quickly. Tonight."

"It's cute that you think I can't take care of myself, but whatever it is, I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you're capable, but this is bad." He looked around like he was about to tell him some big military secret. Glancing at the other salvagers nearby, he leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. "The Aegis is here. In the city."

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.

"Really?" Inwardly, Mikhail cursed. Had she really not kept the poncho on? On the outside, he didn't let his expression be anything but look mildly interested as he raised his eyebrows. "The Aegis is here?"

"Yes." Wow, he sounded so solemn. "I bumped into another woman traveling with her, too."

Because why wouldn't they be together? "What, was she out doing some shopping with a friend or something?"

"Uh, maybe? But, I think she might be her Driver. I don't know, but whatever they're doing, it can't be good."

Mikhail took a breath. "So why are you telling me first?" Not that I'm complaining about an advanced warning. "Shouldn't you be telling your boss and protecting the populace like a good little soldier?"

"I know, I know. I just felt like I should finish my contract, you know? It wouldn't do any good for my reputation as a salvager if I left off a job half finished, or at least didn't let them know why I had to suspend it. Besides, you're really good this. You do some of the necessary calculations for the dive like it's nothing! When I've got time, I'd love to help out again if you need it. I feel like I could learn something from you."

He wanted to…?

Mikhail busted out laughing, which understandably confused Rex. This was just too good. "I'm flattered. Your kind is a kind apart."

"Thanks...I think? So, what do you say?"

He slapped the kid on the back good naturedly. "I'll think about it." He almost meant it. "Get out of here, kid."

"That's Rex!"

He waved it off. "Rex. Whatever." The kid gave him a grin, before hard, sheer determination set in on his face and he and Azurda rushed off.

"Head back to the inn?" Cressidus murmured asked once he was out of earshot.

"Quick as we can." And hope the rest of them were there. "Leave the crane. Some lucky bastard can have it. We need to get out of the city before they lock it down." He hefted the pouch with the parts in it. "At least we got what we came for."

"She's truly dead?"

Gorg's little restaurant still had quite a few customers, even close to its closing time once Lora and Pyra returned. When there was a decent gap, they explained what had happened. Understandably, Gorg was distraught.

Lora nodded sombrely. "Yeah. Maybe if we had gotten there sooner we could have done something, but it's almost impossible to say. I'm sorry."

"No." Gorg shook his head, gritting his teeth. Lora averted her eyes from the guilt that she caught a glimpse of in his eyes. "It has nothing to do with you. I was too caught up in this," he gestured to the restaurant behind him, "to visit a friend."

Frowning in worry, she stepped up and comfortingly set her hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't beat yourself up about it. How could you have known what was going on?"

"Yes, how could I have known, since I wasn't there?" He let out a chuckle that had nothing to do with mirth. "I had my suspicions, sure, and I could tell Smaia had a checkered past, but…"

"I don't think she would have told anyone she was part of the Bloody Lobsters," Pyra ventured carefully, "friend or otherwise. We only found out by accident."

"Maybe you're right. I…" he looked her and Pyra in the eyes. "Regardless of the outcome, thank you both, for doing this." He handed over a small sack of gold and a fancily wrapped parcel. "Here's your pay."

"No!" Lora pushed the sack and parcel back. "We couldn't take these. It wouldn't be fair to you."

He pushed them forward forcefully. "You did what you said you would, regardless of the result. I would feel more guilty if you didn't take it."

She deliberated a moment before reluctantly accepting them "If you're sure."

"Again, thank you both. I need to get back to finish up the night, and then I...need some time for myself."

With that, he meandered slowly back into the kitchen. The feeling Lora was left with was...unsatisfying to say the least. The parcel likely held the desserts he'd promised, but she was sure they'd taste like ash if she tried to eat them right now.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Pyra asked wistfully. "He looked so sad."

"I hope so." She hoped he wouldn't do anything rash. "Losing people we know and love is always hard, but they're still alive in our memories, you know?"

"...Yeah." A small frown grew on Pyra's face before she shook her head, turning back to face Lora. "Maybe we should do something else. Get our mind off of this."

"Yeah, that would be good." Hopefully Nia talking to the local authorities wouldn't take too long. "I could use a good distraction after that."

"I remember seeing some interesting looking shops selling materials that you might be able to make charms out of while we were out."

Lora perked up. "Oh yeah, I think I remember those. Lead the way."

Pyra smiled. "Follow me."

"Really now? You're quite sure about this?"

"Yes!" Rex replied impatiently. The officer looked over his lenses, not seeming intimidated at all by the six of them gathered, practically oozing condescension. "I saw her in the city less than an hour ago."

His eyebrows rose. "In the city? You saw the emerald core crystal and everything?"

"Well, no," Rex admitted, "I didn't see her core crystal, but I know it's her. I've seen the Aegis before. Right now she's wearing a black poncho to hide her core and she's traveling with another woman with red hair. I bumped into them near Ayvill Shopping District."

"I'll excuse your impatience, recruit, but we really have to be sure about this. We've already had false alarms from both well-meaning citizens and others with agendas tied to their purses. We cannot muster our forces or cause a panic in the city if we mobilize for a 'maybe.' I won't cry volff and be the laughing stock of the army."

"I get that, but I was the one who told Special Inquisitor Mòrag that the Aegis was back in the first place."

At the sound of Mòrag's name, the man's eyebrows shot up. "Then it's good for you that I have to approve any action related to the Aegis with the Inquisitor. I hope for your sake that you aren't lying."

"Trust me. I was the only survivor of the salvaging expedition aside from Torna that pulled up the ship she was sealed up in. I know what I saw. Salvager's honour, swear."

He scoffed. "Look, I'm not going to ignore what you say. I just have to put it through the correct high priority channels. If your story checks out, then of course we will take action." He shook his head. "I hope for all our sakes that what you're saying isn't true."

"It is," Rex insisted.

"Don't go anywhere." He gave the six of them hard looks before he stood and walked to a communication console in a little nook behind him.

Sighing, Rex stepped back from the little desk the bases' on duty officer had been sitting at.

"Tora thinks bully man really wants to chew Rex-rex out for raising false alarm." Rex wasn't sure if it was curiosity or something else that drove the Nopon to stick with them, but he definitely agreed.

"Seems like it." Jac scratched lightly at his fluffy ears. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. I…I don't really want to be deployed so soon to fight against the legendary Blade. Uh, no offense, Yachik."

"None taken."

Azurda patted the Gormotti on the back, encouragingly, which had the added effect of making Jac stumble forward from the force of it. "It will be fine, my young friend. I suspect the army won't involve us past this point. It would seem strange to me to field inexperienced Drivers against a threat such as the Aegis."

"Tora hopes you're right. Tora already have hard enough time against Torigoth bullies. Rex-rex is strong, but Tora can't imagine what big, legendary bladeypon would do."

"Don't worry, masterpon; Poppi will protect against any threat!"

Rubbing his nose, Rex let out a laugh. "I like your attitude Poppi."

"So long as they don't rush headlong into danger, I'm sure they will be fine." Azurda gave a sidelong glance at Rex.

Rex gave a nervous chuckle. He did go rushing into things a lot, but he could take care of himself. The rest of them were relatively new to these things.

The conversation petered off, leaving the office in relative silence. Before long, Rex found himself pacing. Glancing back at the officer on duty occasionally, he caught muffled snatches of conversation, and it sounded like the officer was talking to different people. How long was it going to take?

"Rex."

Rex stopped where he was and looked up to Azurda. The others were a decent enough distance away they likely wouldn't hear what was being said. "What?"

"You're going to wear a track into the floor at the rate you're going."

"Oh. Sorry. I can't help it. I want to help out, but I don't know what else to do. I feel useless just waiting here."

"You aren't useless, Rex," Azurda assured. "If you hadn't run into the Aegis, there's no telling what she may have accomplished unseen."

"I know, but…that's just it. We have no idea what their end game really is, both Torna and the Aegis."

And the Aegis has really pretty eyes, his mind unhelpfully supplied.

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, trying to get over that. "I mean, that other lady with her, she didn't seem bad. Polite, even. What...what if I've got it all wrong? What if-"

"Focus, Rex." Azurda's voice was calm and commanding, but different from how Mòrag did it. More Gramps-like, but still subtly different. "No, we don't know the reason why both of them are here now, and perhaps we won't know." A connection, a surge of power and calm rushed into him. The link from Azurda. "But focus on what is right in front of you. It is no different from being jittery before a big salvaging job."

"Sorry." Rex took a deep calming breath. He was right. They didn't know, couldn't know what they were doing here. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Azurda."

With how savage Malos had ended up being, he was worried it would end up the same way. Even though the woman with the Aegis had seemed polite, she might be just as bad. He just had no way of knowing.

But the Aegis was still pretty.

Argh, stop it!

The officer in the booth stood from the communication terminal suddenly, giving him the distraction he needed. Adjusting his lenses, the officer called the group over to him. He looked a little annoyed, and seemed to be standing a little straighter. "I have the Inquisitor on the line. She wishes to speak to you directly."

Relief flooded into Rex. He cracked a grin. "Told you so."

His eyes narrowed on Rex. "Don't waste her time, recruit."

He stepped up to the terminal and sat down in front of it. On the screen, an image of the increasingly familiar face of Mòrag scrutinized him carefully.

"Rex."

"Special Inquisitor."

He might have imagined it, but it seemed her lips twitched into a smile for a moment. It was harder to tell on the screen. "I've heard the report. Are you certain of what you saw?"

Rex nodded solemnly. "Yes. It's hard to mistake something like that. She's awake, here in the city, and she's got company. A woman with red hair who could be her Driver."

"A Driver already?" She turned away and there was some muffled conversation he couldn't hear. "I see. If the Aegis truly is here, we will change our approach."

"What do you mean? Did you already know she was here?"

"Not so. I just received a report from the city guards. One of the members of Torna you described - the Gormotti girl and her Blade - just finished reporting something to the authorities."

"Nia and Dromarch are their names."

"Yes. There was a potential murder involved, but it seems she had nothing to do with it; the guard believed she sounded genuine. Even so, from what the officers reported, and what you just described, it sounds as though the Aegis and her Driver were with them. We are in contact the officers in question now as they tail her."

"Are they going to try and capture her?"

"No. We will wait and see if the she regroups with the Aegis. As soon as we pin down a good location, we will lock it down and attempt to subdue and capture them. I would like you to assist in the effort as you are the most familiar with her and the other woman in question."

"Of course."

"Thank you. Put Officer Ferguson back on the line while I relay more orders to him. Once we're done, follow him to rendezvous with me. I will be attending to this personally."

Standing up, he grinned cheekily at the officer who returned a cool look at him. The officer pressed a hand on his shoulder stopping Rex as he passed by.

"What?"

He scowled. "Don't think this makes you any more important than anyone else, recruit."

"I know. We're all in this together."

The man sniffed impassively before returning to the console.

"We're being followed, Mik. Up above."

Mikhail sighed at Cressidus' heads up. "Got it."

Keeping his pace brisk and with purpose, without turning, Mikhail glanced with just his eyes at the cloaked figure pitifully attempting to discreetly follow them from the metal rooftops. The neutral grey-coloured cloak blended in well with the metal and steam around them. It might fool amateurs, but he had the added advantage of his ill-gotten element.

Night never quite looked dark to him anymore. Hadn't in almost five hundred years.

Still walking - quick, but not worried looking quick - he weighed his options.

The road split up ahead. Mentally mapping it out, both would lead to the inn where he would tell everyone the 'good' news. If he took the main road, it would be faster, but he ran the risk of them interfering later. If he went the longer, more empty route...

He and Cressidus turned down the long winding backstreet. Would they take the bait?

His answer came nearly a minute later in a still narrow, but more open area with no one else in sight. He heard the slight whine of the charging of an ether cannon, and sure enough, moments later, a charged electric-element ether laser pinged off his quickly raised ether barrier.

If anyone else had been watching they would assume that was Cressidus', not his. Not that it mattered since it had the same effect. He heard a curse from somewhere above - clearly he was dealing with 'professionals' - and moments later not one, but twelve people in grey cloaks seemed to melt out of the shadows of nearby buildings.

"Crow." The deep masculine voice came from the cloaked figure in front who had stepped forward slightly. Not a voice he recognized. "Give yourself up quietly and things won't get messy."

It was almost cute how he tried to sound threatening. "So, Dagas couldn't be bothered to descend into the city to deal with me himself." Which was a relief. He smiled, spreading his arms disarmingly wide. "I'm flattered, but you've just caught me at the worst possible time."

The leader tensed and peeled back his cloak to flash Ardainian steel weapons and guns. "Even a Driver has limits, Crow. Last chance. Surrender peacefully and no one gets hurt."

No one would get hurt until his head rolled at the blade of Dagas' axe. No thanks. He rolled his eyes. "Pass. I've got other things going on."

"It's twelve against one."

Plus the Driver and Blade on the rooftops, and any potential hidden reinforcements. Mikhail smirked menacingly in spite of himself. "Oh, I like those odds."

Weapons were drawn in answer. As one, their affinity link surged and Mikhail and Cressidus moved.

Grabbing Cressidus' gauntlets off his back, in a move that completely startled them, he chucked both gauntlets into two of the cloaked figures in front of them. The gauntlets crashed into them, pummelling them into the building behind them, quickly putting them out of commission. Whether unconscious or dead, it didn't really matter to him.

Working through the surprise, the other goons surged forward to take advantage of his weaponless state. He drew on his own power and weaved around the strikes from their melee weapons - which were fairly competent - until, drawn by an ether tether from Cressidus, the gauntlets flew back to their owner, knocking down a couple more not expecting the back attack.

Mikhail intercepted the gauntlets before they returned to Cressidus and they smoothly equipped themselves to his arms and hands. He struck the goon in front with one, then two earth ether infused haymakers, sending him careening into the building, denting the metal.

The remaining seven hesitated.

Mikhail raised the gauntlets, wiggling the fingers tauntingly. "That all? Or are we done here?"

The Driver on the roof shot his ether cannon in response, pinging off Cressidus' ether barrier this time. The elemental difference cracked it slightly. The attack rallied the remaining who began shooting their guns, which Mikhail blocked easily by raising the gauntlets and pressing them together in front of him. A transparent golden shield spread out from their sides in half circles, forming a nigh impenetrable shield in front of him.

Behind him, he felt Cressidus slam his hands into the stone street. Though it was hard to make out through the shield his gauntlets projected, a large slab of the cobbled stone as wide as the street surged up behind their attackers, casting a shadow on them.

A moment later, the stone slab fell, and all but one of their attackers tried and failed to move out of the way, and they yelled before the slab crushed some and trapped others.

The one who escaped the slab wisely started retreating. He heard the whine of another shot charging from the ether cannon up top.

Mikhail turned back to Cressidus. "Boost me up to the rooftop, but don't overshoot it."

"Gotcha." His Blade waited for Mikhail to step onto his massive cupped hands. "Ally oop!"

Punctuated by the second word, Cressidus launched him up sailing into the air. The apex of it was just high enough for the metal gauntlets to grab onto one of the many crisscrossing pipes and swing himself up to the flat rooftop.

Though flat, the rooftop was crowded with pipes and other machinery spitting out steam. He carefully advanced. The Driver peeked out from behind one of the machines, and let off another electric laser art from the ether cannon. Mikhail dodged, and smirked, seeing as the attacker had just given away his position.

He stalked toward it. "You're really not a bright bunch, are you?" Another peek attack. Another dodge. "I couldn't care less what you and Dagas think of emperor goodie two shoes." Another attack. The same dodge. "But you really picked the wrong time to mess with me."

"And you're a fool of a Driver for separating yourself from your Blade."

The Driver had heaved the weapon to his Blade, a common Blade, who jumped in the air ether cannon charged with a clearly powerful blast.

"Who said I did?"

Mikhail stood there and watched as a familiar Cressidus sized shadow launched himself off the side of the building, into the Blade mid-air, diverting the attack.

Right back at their Driver. Mikhail winced in fake sympathy.

Cressidus landed with a decisive thud, and a moment later, a dormant core crystal dropped to the ground. Too bad Patroka wasn't watching. She would've enjoyed the show.

"Should we go after the one we missed?" Cressidus asked.

"Let him go." Picking up the dormant core crystal, Mikhail pocketed it. Another one for his project. "People probably heard something. We've wasted enough time as it is. Let's go."

Mythra proudly held up a tangled lump of thread, nearly shoving it into Lora's face. "How's it look? Pretty great charm, right?"

"It's…" Lora choked on her words, seeing a stag beetle had somehow gotten tangled within the knots. It was still alive, desperately struggling to get out. She cleared her throat. "I-It's not bad for a first go. Your knots are very well done. Creative."

And they were, but...

Nearby her, tending to the evening meal over the fire, Jin looked up, appraising the mess with a cool gaze. "It's as good as your cooking."

"Hah!" Mythra grinned, setting one hand on her hip. "So it's awesome, then."

"No." And Jin looked down and went back to cooking without another word. Lora winced in sympathy. Ouch.

Mythra flushed and crossed her arms. "Hmph. You don't even make these things. Who asked you?" She turned back to Lora. "So, now that I've mastered this one. What's next?"

Lora forced a smile and chuckled, nervously. "Um, maybe we should stop for tonight." She glanced over at the pot Jin was attending. "Besides, the food's almost ready."

Mythra pouted for a moment, before she stood, a cocky grin taking over he face. "I guess I'm too good at this anyways. Wouldn't want to crowd your style."

"Y-yeah."

Lora's fingers twirled deftly, weaving some of the exotic looking dark red thread they'd purchased around expertly into fun little knots. The small, challenging task was relaxing after everything that had happened.

Sitting beside her on the edge of the bed in their room in the Jakalo Inn, Pyra was busy trying her hand at it as well, looping a simple braided bracelet from some of the other thread she'd purchased.

Lora was surprised when she'd asked to try after watching her for a little bit, especially with how miserably a similar experience in Gormott had ended before. After giving small corrections at the beginning, Pyra had just kept on it no problem.

"You're doing really well."

Pyra glanced up. "You think so?"

She smiled encouragingly. "Of course. I was a little worried that you wouldn't have the patience for it." She left unsaid that she - or was it Mythra? She was still trying to wrap her head around that one - hadn't before. "That's why I gave you something simple to start with. It looks like it's turning out great so far."

Pyra beamed. "Thanks! Yours looks good as well. Is it finished?"

"Yup. Tah-dah!" She showcased the finished charm. The maroons and blacks of the braided bow were interwoven with tiny little blue stones stuck in without anything like beads to thread them. Tricky, but not impossible if you knew what to do. All wrapped into a fun little fan shape. "Don't the colours of the thread remind you a little of Mikhail's armour?"

Pyra set the charm she was making in her lap and leaned over to investigate closely. "They do." She let out a hmm. "Wasn't it Hugo that suggested doing weaving in stones like that?"

"Yeah. I never thought to do it before with Jin because, well, gemstones are normally really expensive." According to the Nopon merchant, these gemstones were on sale because of the salvage bulge, with a ton of them being brought up in the past few days. She flushed. "And we were, well you know..."

"Broke," Pyra finished.

She cleared her throat. "But he was right about it. I never really had time to try it after he suggested it, since by that point, Malos had already attacked the capital." And it had just kept getting busier and busier until Torna was sunk beneath the clouds. "I was thinking about making one for each of us eventually, once I can find the right colours."

Excitement flaring in her eyes, Pyra clapped her hands together. "Oh, that sounds lovely! Maybe we'll be able to look around more tomorrow. I'll help in any way I can."

"That'd be a big help. Hopefully we can find some imported stuff." She hefted the finished charm. "There weren't a whole lot of other colours of thread other than the ones here besides white, gold, muted green and brown. I looked for emerald thread, but the merchant said they were sold out. I guess the other colours are a staple of the empire?"

"Maybe." Pyra picked up her own charm-in-the-making, then looked over to Lora, scrutinizing her clothes.

"Is something wrong?"

Pyra gave a mischievous little smile. "It's nothing."

Lora tucked the finished charm away. It wouldn't do to show them off to the others until they were all finished. "Are you sure?"

"Nothing big enough to worry about. One step at a time, right?"

Lora smiled. "One step at a time." She was somewhat charmed by how much Pyra had taken up what Jin had instilled in her when she was little. "But you don't have to take those steps alone." She tapped the hidden core pulsing on her sternum. "We're in this together all the way."

"Even if you're scared of what I can do?"

Lora pursed her lips. This again. "I've been thinking about that. Maybe I am scared of what you can do." How could she not be? Even before the Tornan Titan had sunk, she had always been a little on edge around Mythra. But it was different now. Had to be different. "But, should I be scared of you?"

"You know what I can do. What I've done."

"Do you want to sink more Titans?"

Pyra looked abashed that she even suggested it. "Of course not! What happened…it was horrible. I don't ever want to go through something like that again."

"Well, it was Malos who goaded you into it. Much as I don't like it, he's still alive. Are you going to let him do that again?"

Her hands tightened into fists. "No."

"Then that should be enough, right?"

"What if…" She paused, searching for her words. "What if it's not enough?"

Lora carefully lifted Pyra's hand and clasped it in both of hers. "Then we'll make sure it is. You aren't doing this alone, Pyra."

Pyra averted her eyes. "It doesn't make it any easier."

"It doesn't," Lora agreed, and she squeezed her hand, "but it does make it less lonely."

She didn't look her in the eyes, but did murmur a quiet, "...Thank you."

The door to the room slammed open revealing-

"Nia!" Lora hopped to her feet, Pyra following after. "There you are. We were getting worried. What took you so long?"

The Gormotti girl made no comment as she stomped into and across the room, dived and face-planting into her bed, scrunching up the blankets.

"Are you…doing alright?" Pyra ventured.

An unintelligible, angryish grumble rose from beyond the blanket in response. Dromarch padded in and sat on his haunches, clearing his throat. "It has been a tiring day for her."

"What happened?" Pyra asked.

His tail swished on the floor. "After you and Lady Lora departed, my lady and I retrieved the local authorities. They were most accommodating, especially after we showed them the mercenary writ. However, when we brought them back to Smaia's apartment, the man who we thought was dead was in the middle of climbing out the window. Thankfully, we arrived when we did. I shudder to think what would have happened if we had to explain a missing body. "

"Climbing out the...really?" Lora asked, perplexed. "Didn't he poison himself?"

An annoyed groan rose from Nia's bed.

Sighing, Dromarch shook his head tiredly. "No, just a very convincing act."

"So then the foam that came out of his nose and the shaking and the fact that his heart wasn't beating…?"

"All for show it would seem. Though I had heard that such medicines existed, I admit, I was wholly unprepared for it all." He dipped his head. "I apologize for not being able to recognize it."

"All of us were fooled, by the sound of it." That sounded really complicated and way more work put into it than she would've thought to. Then again, she had never tried to fake her death before. "Gorg wouldn't be happy to hear about that."

"Hmm. Perhaps. Or perhaps not," Dromarch mused.

"What do you mean?"

"It is a difficult, often touchy subject to breach for most," Dromarch rumbled. "For Blades, though we mourn the loss of our friends and comrades, our existence offers a far different view of life and death than most humans. In each lifetime we may meet thousands of individuals, form bonds, close connections, even enemies. But no matter how close or combative that relationship is, as soon as our Driver dies, we forget it all."

Pyra closed her eyes in thought. "Maybe it's a mercy. If Blades remembered every lifetime…" She let it hang in the air for a moment. "Living that long, some things would be best forgotten."

"I'm not so sure." Lora's hand clenched. "It's so sad, knowing that they won't remember. I wouldn't know how I'd feel if I knew I wasn't going to remember someone I loved. Even just the thought of someone else going through it hurts. Being forgotten would be...horrible."

It was the same reason she had allowed Jin, so desperate to remember - and her so desperate to be remembered - to do what he had done. Being forgotten by those you loved would be worse than death.

"It is sad," Dromarch agreed. "However, each new lifetime brings a new opportunity. An entirely fresh perspective. No matter who we were before, what kind of Blade we may have been, we may rise and do something different, or fall to horrible depths. The possibilities are both exciting and terrifying. But it is who we are."

His statement hung heavy in the room.

A pillow flew over from the bed Nia occupied and bonked him on the head, dispelling the gloomy discussion. "Enough philosophical mumbo jumbo, Dromarch." Nia had turned her head, but her cheek was still squished against the bed covers, voice slightly muffled. "You're making everyone overthink things again."

"Apologies, my lady."

"Maybe we should turn in?" Pyra ventured. "It has been a long day."

Lora was about to agree when a knock came on the frame of the open door. They all turned to see a short, middle aged Ardainian woman - who Lora recognized as the Jakalo Inn's innkeeper, Yulie - stepped into the doorway. "Excuse me. But there are some nice people down in the commons area asking for you all."

"Oh?" Lora tilted her head, trying to think of who it would be. Considering how relatively few people she knew, no one really came to mind. "Did they say who they were?"

"They didn't say, but were very insistent that they wished to meet you. It sounded urgent." Yulie smiled. "I wouldn't keep them waiting if I were you. They seemed like such good people."

"Alright, we'll be there soon."

Winking, the innkeeper nodded in satisfaction and quickly scurried off.

Nia flopped over onto her back and stretched, sitting up. "Are we expecting anyone besides Mik? He'd just barge in."

"No, I don't think so. Unless Gorg thought of something else."

Nia rolled her eyes. "Or one of the several or whatever other people you helped out along the way today. 'Long as one of them isn't starting a fan club, we'll be good." She vaulted nimbly off the bed to her feet, and stretched. "May as well see if we can't get involved with another bloody murder mystery or something."

"I doubt it would be as drastic as something like that, my lady…"

"Let's just get it out of the way so we can get some proper shuteye."

Leading the way, Lora wound around the halls and down the stairs of the large inn. She made it to the landing of the stairs and started heading into the commons. It was empty, except for-

"That's them, Inquisitor!"

Tensing up at the shout, she saw the boy from earlier, the one who'd bumped into her in the streets, pointing at their group. An Ardainian woman in the black, red and gold trimmed uniform of the special inquisitor sat cross legged at one of the common's tables, facing them. Her hands were folded neatly under her chin, eyes intent on her and Pyra.

"Thank you, Rex. Your assistance has continued to prove most valuable."

The woman snapped her white gloved fingers and the front doors of the inn busted open. Not just the front doors, but the kitchen and room doors upstairs. Lora fell quickly into a combat stance, looking for a way out, but very quickly realized they were surrounded by Ardainian soldiers on all sides. Firearms, Drivers and Blades with weapons all trained at them.

A trap.

"This kid again?" Nia hissed, Dromarch's twin rings already drawn, but Pyra hadn't formed her sword yet. "Seriously?"

"Aegis."

The voice came from above them, and Lora's eyes flicked up to the top of the stairs before they widened in surprise. "Brighid? Is that…" she whispered, hopeful.

The Jewel of Mor Ardain raised her eyebrows coolly, as if not expecting her to know who she was. Why did she not-

Oh.

There was no recognition in her expression. Lora's memory of a heart sunk, remembering Hugo's death. The two dormant core crystals in the hands of a different man wearing the same station as the woman at the table.

"Now then." The Special Inquisitor's eyes were calm and calculating. A constant in the chaos. Her brown eyes bore into hers. "You and this building are surrounded. Surrender quietly, Aegis, members of Torna, and submit yourself to the custody of the Ardainian Empire for questioning against the crimes against Alrest you have committed."

Chapter Text

"You want me to what?"

"Watch over her while I'm gone," Jin repeated.

Malos arced a disbelieving eyebrow. "You really think that's a good idea? You know how she'll react when sees me, right?" He smirked. "Not that I'd blame her. Hell, it might even be an even fight with how I am now."

Jin glared at Malos' comment. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her."

"Relax," Malos drawled. "It was just a joke. But she's not some delicate Urayan noblewoman who'll keel over at the sight of me."

Jin's glare sharpened.

Malos rolled his eyes. "If you're really that worried, fine. I'll do it. She won't need it, or appreciate it."

"I know, but…thank you."

"Yeah, whatever. Just remember, this isn't going to last. Our goal - I doubt she'll agree, Jin. You can't have both. Sooner or later, you're going to have to choose."

Speaking not a word, Jin walked across the docking ramp to the Monoceros. He trusted Malos to keep his word.

She wasn't here.

Gone.

Even before Jin finished docking, something in him just knew.

The docking ramp finally lowered and - her heart thumping in his chest - he intended to immediately check the regeneration chamber where Lora had been recovering, even if he already knew the answer.

Especially with a theatrically wide smile in his way.

"Welcome back, Jin." Stepping off the docking ramp, Jin frowned as Ahkos threw his arms up wide in greeting, but also clearly there to bar the way and stall. "I'm glad to see you're still in one piece. I was afraid that you'd be distracted and get careless, but it seems you fared-"

"Where is she?" He cut off the potential beginnings of a monologue. Other times he might suffer Ahkos' grandstanding, even enjoy it to a degree, but not now.

Ahkos' arms lowered, and the playacted smile dropped. "I don't even warrant a 'hello?'"

"Where is she?" he repeated, his eyes narrowed, tone offering no nonsense. The air chilled, twinkling with ice ether around him.

"Straight to the point, I see." He muttered, "So much for keeping it quiet." Sighing, he straightened his lenses. "I suppose there wasn't much point in keeping it a secret. They're gone."

"Why?"

"Why do you care?" Jin's eyes rounded on Ahkos' infernal Blade, who stood perched precariously on the edge of the hole the Aegis had created in the docking area, yet to be fixed. "Worried?"

Jin glared.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

Ahkos stepped up closer, shaking his head as he started circling around Jin. "You're fulfilling quite the cliché right now. The hero's loved one, once thought dead, is now back alive. However he's not the same man she left. In fact, he might even be the villain. But oh," he threw back his arm and head, dramatically swooning, "how she doesn't want to think that."

"Stop," he whispered.

The Blade copied Ahkos' swooning motion in the background, giggling to herself. Ahkos pressed on. "And oh how much he doesn't want her to know what he's become." Ahkos stopped circling in front of him, starting directly into his eyes. "But you see, lies never hold up, Jin."

"Liar, liar!" his Blade parroted.

"Enough!"

Ahkos stepped back at the sudden chill in the air, raising an eyebrow. "My script aside, your precious Driver is back now. All your twisted hopes and dreams are fulfilled, right? Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

"It…" He averted his eyes. The words cut through, and the blizzard in his head began building. Her heart thumped louder in his ears. He had wanted this. Yearned for it; every day looking back, hoping. Knowing it would never happen. And yet…

Live for her.

Ahkos put his arms up in a wide, somehow smug-looking shrug. "And so you're all done, now. This is the end of your precious Torna all because one person might not agree with your actions."

"That's not-"

"Are you going to pretend that the past five-hundred years never happened?" Ahkos pressed.

His hand clenched. "No."

He could never.

Fulfil Malos' ambition.

"But you're no longer certain, anymore. Malos said it best already, Jin. As things stand, you can't have both. Sooner or later, you're going to have to choose. With that pale imitation of the Aegis' light with her, there's no telling how much longer you have before the decision is made for you."

Had Ahkos been eavesdropping on that conversation?

"She watches her like an ansel!" Obrona called, spreading her wing-like appendages in emphasis.

"I need to talk to her." There was more than that. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to see her smile, wanted to feel with her. To make new memories. Five centuries of staring at something he thought he knew would never happen was killing him inside now that it had.

"Why not find her then?" Ahkos waved his hand dismissively in the air. "Even if we both know the outcome already."

"Will you locate her?" he asked in spite of it.

Ahkos shook his head, disappointedly. "The things I put up with. Obrona, if you will."

Motes of light appeared in the air near the Blade, overlaying together as she used her ability. The lights consolidated into a golden representation of Mor Ardain, with blue lights popping up all over it, most densely concentrated on the left shoulder of the Titan. After a moment, all the lights disappeared, save five. Three, an emerald, red and blue light were huddled together, while the other two blue ones were going towards the others.

Ahkos pointed to the red light in the cluster of three. "As you can see, she's currently with Nia in the Ardainian capital. Mikhail," he gestured to the other two, "is close by, likely getting repair parts for," he gestured pointedly to the big hole his Blade was still perching over, "that."

He could trust Mikhail to keep her safe with Nia. Even so, Lora's heart hammered in his chest with worry. "Is Lora really fit to be up and about?" His mind flashed back to the state she'd been in when she'd first awoken.

"The leading lady is fine." Ahkos chuckled. "I dare say that if she's well enough to kick a chair at Malos when she hears the sound of his dulcet tones, she's well enough to walk around." He raised an eyebrow. "Can't be two minutes without her?"

"That's not it." If she was hurt, if she...if she died again and he wasn't there to stop it even with his newfound abilities…

Nothing would matter anymore. He would never be able to forgive himself if that happened.

"Well, if it reassures you, Malos is watching from the shadows as you asked, and the flame of his illustrious partner is with her. She will be fine. Even if you don't go after her."

So Ahkos had heard that conversation. Even so, it made him feel a little better knowing that Malos was doing as he asked, but it didn't change what he had to do.

"So, you're in quite a position right now, Jin," Ahkos mused, "and the paths laid out in front of you are many. What do you plan to do?"

He stormed back towards the Monoceres in answer.

"Do be careful," Ahkos called from behind him, tone serious, yet with a hint of real warmth. "I mean it when I say I don't want to be the one scraping your dead body off the floor. Torna wouldn't be the same without you."

He, stopped, turned and gave a subtle nod, acknowledging Ahkos' roundabout way of caring. As the docking ramp slammed closed, the blizzard in his head continued to rage on.

The inn was surrounded.

Curious late going onlookers - along with Mikhail and Cressidus - gathered near the military blockade that cut off access to the entrances and most of the street nearby. The majority of the onlookers looked to be foreign salvagers somewhere between being buzzed and sloshed, trying to see a good show.

He saw a few local Ardainians lingering, but most steered clear of the blockade, going in a different direction as though such things were either normal or not to be messed with.

It was bad news for Mikhail. With how determined Rex had looked, he highly doubted this wasn't related to little miss "I'm sorry I burned your home down." People like that kid had integrity to a fault, and did what they said they would. Still, it was a quick turnaround and Mikhail needed to know for sure that's why the army were there before he did something stupid.

Mikhail grabbed the first person he approached out of the gathered crowd in front of the blockade. "Hey, what's going on?"

The person turned out to be an Ardainian woman in salvager gear. Not too bad looking of a face either. She seemed shocked for a moment, then huffed, sloppily shaking his hand off her wrist.

"Heard tell that the Inquisitor passed by earlier." Her accent was definitely Ardainian, but her words were slurred. "Army made a big fuss 'bout it too. Not like I care, I'm jus' in the capitol 'cause of the bulge." She rubbed her head, then burped, netting him the smell of cheap Ardainian liquor.

Ah, she was drunk. Lovely.

"The Inquisitor?" If she was here, then he was likely in the right place. He doubted she'd come out personally this short of notice for much else. "You don't say?"

"I do say! I heard they've locked down the place because some high and mighty terrorists," she spat out that word, "were spotted." Her eyes turned confused as if she just figured out that was a weird thing to say to a stranger. "What's it to you asking a gal like me 'bout it?"

He humoured her. "I was staying there with some friends. We were going to meet up tonight." Which was true. Of course, they also happened to be said terrorists. Small details.

"Good luck even getting in there tonight. Hah!" Her eyes narrowed and she looked around, warily. "I heard the Aegis might be there too." She shouted that word, drawing a few confused and concerned looks. "I mean, why else would the high and mighty Inquisitor come herself?"

"Yup. Appreciate it, beautiful. You probably don't want to stick around. It might get messy if the Aegis is here."

She scoffed, and it turned into a hiccup. "I know that. I can take care of myself, thank you." She flipped her hair and staggered away. Another woman peeled herself out of the crowd and caught the drunk salvager before she stumbled. The sober woman shot him an apologetic look before steering her off.

He sighed. Salvager women were always so feisty. Drunk salvager women on the other hand were too unpredictable and definitely not his type. Not after last time.

"So what are we going to do, Mik?" Cressidus asked.

Bringing himself out of the memory of that fiasco, Mikhail chuckled, rolling his shoulder. "Oh, that's easy. There's something of a back way out on the top floor past a lovely set of hot springs. So we break through and escape with the damsels in distress in tow."

Tilting his head Cressidus put a big hand to his chin. "Dromarch's a girl?"

"What? No. That's...just. No."

"So the damsels in distress and Dromarch."

"Yeah, sure. We'll go with that, big guy. The damsels in distress and Dromarch."

"There…has to be some mistake here." Lora's mind flitted about, trying to figure out if there was any way out of this. Eyes flicking about, she caught a confusing sight lurking behind the boy - Rex. His face looked almost exactly like the Titan she remembered, but that core crystal… a Blade?

Those same piercing yellow eyes narrowed at the attention.

"A mistake, you say?"

She shook off the feeling of familiarity to focus on the task at hand. After a moment, she grasped on to Mikhail's cover story. "We're just a mercenary group on contract for some parts and we don't have the Aegis."

"Really now?" The dark-haired woman's voice was laced with sarcasm as she raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I have a personal eyewitness to the voyage that uncovered the Aegis, correct, Rex?"

"Yeah." He nodded at Nia and Dromarch. "They're part of Torna that came on the expedition."

"He could be lying for all you know," Nia snapped.

"But you already confirmed it for us. You know Rex, he knows you. You're quite wanted."

Nia growled.

The woman smirked, turning back to Lora. "And if the woman with bright red hair were to take the poncho off, would we not find an emerald core crystal underneath?"

Lora pressed her lips in a thin line. So much for that. "And? So what if she is?"

"Thank you for confirming it for me." Flinching, Lora grit her teeth as the Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain - since with that outfit, it had to be - bore her eyes into hers. "Are you her Driver?"

It was a simple question and yet with it came an unexpected weight. There would be no hiding it if she answered, and she suspected lying at this stage wouldn't help. Lora swallowed. The whole room seemed to hold its breath before she answered with conviction:

"I am."

"What is your name?"

Pointing rudely with one of her twin rings, Nia countered, "You first, lady! It's rude to ask without giving yours."

"It seems you do not understand the position you're in. As the Special Inquisitor of the Empire of Mor Ardain, under the jurisdiction the Emperor, I am here to capture and then find out the intentions of the organization of Torna and the Aegis in the capital."

Nia huffed, gesturing to the soldiers around them. "You've got a bloody fine way of showing it."

"Given both of your histories and current circumstances, such precautions are necessary. I'm simply showing a courtesy by allowing you to explain yourself first."

Nia growled in frustration, muttering, "I hate people like her."

"If none of you are forthcoming, I will start." Her brown eyes flicked to Nia. "You are Nia, a Gormotti Driver and part of the organization of Torna." Her eyes flicked to Dromarch "Your Blade, Dromarch was last registered to the Gormotti noble house of Echell in Torigoth nearly ten years ago, before the head and his daughter died under 'extenuating circumstances.'"

Ears flattening, Nia practically growled out, "What's that got to do with anything? And why'd you ask if you already knew, eh?"

"She's trying to put us into a disadvantageous position, and make us think she knows more than she does," Dromarch muttered quietly. "Though it is most unsettling how accurate that information is."

The Inquisitor's eyes flicked to Pyra. "The Aegis, I dare say, needs no introduction. Her reputation precedes her." Finally, they flicked back to Lora. "But you are an enigma."

"My name is Lora."

"Lora." It almost sounded like she was testing the name out. "I am glad you are more cooperative than your companions, even if it does not excuse your actions."

"What have I done to the empire?"

"You resonated with the most powerful Blade on Alrest. And if this wasn't worrying enough, you are associating with members of a dangerous organization wanted for the deaths of hundreds of innocents. Even considering the Aegis' past actions, I have to wonder, why?"

Innocents? No, surely not…

"What do you mean, lady?" Nia asked.

Lora saw the Inquisitor raise a dangerous eyebrow. "Are you telling me you don't know what the Aegis is, what she has done?"

"Her name is Pyra," Lora interjected before an irritated Nia could escalate things in a bad way. "Stop talking about her like she isn't here." Lora crossed her arms. "And I do know what she's done. Do you?"

The Inquisitor scowled. "Very well." She turned to address Pyra directly who looked solemn. "History has mixed feelings about you, Aegis, speaking kindly about you in one breath and in the next condemning you. But this I do know. Three great Titan nations, banished forever beneath the cloud sea, countless other smaller ones sunk, others like the poisonous wastelands of the Judician Titan, ravished beyond stable living conditions."

"Hold on." Narrowing her eyes, Lora almost took a step forward, but thought better of it when the soldiers in front of her threateningly pointed weapons towards her head. "That wasn't all her. Most of that was because of Malos."

"Malos?" The Inquisitor's eyes darted briefly over to Rex. "Is the organization of Torna so divided that you pin the casualties of the Aegis war on your fellow terrorist?"

Lora blinked in confusion. "Fellow terrorist…?"

"I suppose next you'll be putting the blame of the death of the then Emperor Hugo Ardanach on him?"

Lora sputtered in confusion. "How could you not know who Malos is? All the destruction you were talking about? Besides the Tornan Titan, that was him, not Pyra! She worked hard to stop him!"

"The Aegis told you this?"

"No, it should be common knowledge!"

"Interesting." Her eyes were calculating. "Part of me wishes to say you're lying, and yet you say this with such conviction, and I can't help but wonder…how."

Spreading her hands wide in frustration, Lora shouted, "Because I was there!"

There was silence. Or as much silence as there could be with this many people in the room. On those faces she could see, confusion was the most prevalent expression and others like she was crazy.

For a moment she thought she heard something of a ruckus from outside, a distant scream mixed with laughter from outside. What was that?

"Hmph. Preposterous."

"What?" She turned to Brighid, who had spoken. "No." Lora's hand hovered over her shared core. "It's true-"

"No human can live that long," Brighid pointed accusingly with one of her whipswords, eyebrows narrowing, "and you certainly don't look Indoline. If I had to guess from your eyes, you would be a Leftherian. Unless…are you a flesh eater Blade?"

Why would her eyes indicate that she was Leftherian? She shook her head. "No, I'm human. I was born in the outskirts of the Tornan Titan."

"Which nation sank beneath the clouds five hundred years ago," the Inquisitor calmly pointed out.

"I know. I watched it sink. It was...horrible." She looked to the jewel of Mor Ardain. "You were there with me in the Aegis war, Brighid. I fought alongside you with Hugo and Addam against Malos."

"The Hero Addam?" Brighid scoffed. "Lady Mòrag, she is clearly lying. I would have written about her in my journal if she had fought alongside him. There is no trace of a 'Lora' there."

"...What?" She hadn't written a thing about her?

...Really?

That hurt more than the accusations being flung around.

"Whether her claims to her origins are true or not, Brighid, one pressing question rises above all others." The Inquisitor - Mòrag - hadn't lost a bit of her composure. She turned once again to Pyra. "What do you seek, Aegis?"

Pyra spoke for the first time, voice firm. "Elysium."

There was a small gasp from Rex. "Elysium? You're going to-"

"The fairy tale?" Mòrag cut him off, raising her hand to silence him. Rex looked miffed, gritting his teeth, and the Blade whose face was a dead ringer for Azurda laid a careful hand on his shoulder. "The supposedly great land atop the World Tree where religious dogma and legend state the Architect cast our ancient ancestors out?"

Pyra nodded. "It's real. I've been there. I was...born there."

"I suppose if there were any who knew, it would be the Architect's Blade," she mused. "To what aim do you seek it?"

Pyra didn't answer, and after a moment, Lora looked over to see her averting her eyes.

"I see. You do not wish to tell me. No matter. That will come in time." She turned back to Nia. "And what of Torna?"

Nia hissed, drawing the ire of the surrounding soldiers. "That's none of your business, is it? Besides, you'll just chuck us in the slammer no matter what we say."

"Hold." The Inquisitor held a hand as the soldiers surrounding them hefted their weapons at the Gormotti girl. "I only seek answers for your actions that have cost lives. I will have those answers, whether here or later. If you won't be forthcoming then-"

Mòrag cut off as the ground shook violently for a moment, making Lora and everyone else stumble. After it stopped, the Inquisitor quickly ordered one of the soldiers to break off, and see what was happening. The ground shook again, even more violently this time, knocking over a few drinks on the tables.

The inquisitor stood this time after the shaking subsided, glaring coolly at them. "Is this your doing?"

Nia crossed her arms, still holding onto her twin rings. "Haven't got a clue. Didn't you know everything? Or can you not take it when you don't know what's going on, hmm?"

The ground shook again, and this time Lora clearly heard the screams of people outside.

"We will continue this at another time," Mòrag gestured at the Drivers surrounding her. "Take them into custody while I-"

"OH YEAH!"

With a deafening crash, the wall nearest the stairs exploded inwards.

Lora raised her arms to shield her eyes from the blast. Large stone chunks pinged off what must have been Pyra's ether barrier. There were meaty sounding thunks, followed by cries of pain and surprise. She couldn't see for the dust, but gunfire sounded, mixed with the clashing of weapons.

"Lora!"

That was the sound of Mikhail's voice in front of her. She felt a large hand grab her arm, and almost punched them until she realized it was just Cressidus steering her out of the way. She felt Pyra's affinity link flare to life, and suddenly everything seemed clearer as she lent her strength.

Knocked from the stairs by Mikhail's entrance, Brighid's thin whipswords whirled about in a vicious duel with Pyra, who'd finally formed her sword. Mikhail was laughing, busy being the centre of attention, the majority of the gunfire drawn towards a massive circular shield spread from his connected gauntlets. To the side, Nia tossed her twin rings at others, carefully picking them off.

This...this wasn't what she wanted to happen at all.

"Secure the exits!" Mòrag threw an arm commandingly forward. "Don't let the Aegis escape!"

The call to order from Mòrag made more than just Lora refocus. The boy, Rex, had drawn his own Blade's weapon - a greatsword with a startlingly familiar design as its core - his gaze confused and angry at Mikhail as the dust settled enough to see clearer. He looked hesitant to attack.

A different Ardainian Driver wielding a megalance moved to attack her. On instinct, she weaved around the lance's jabs that were punctuated with wind ether and grabbed the shaft below the weapon's blade. With a heated surge from Pyra's link, she wrenched it from the Driver's grip and threw the weapon at his Blade.

Even though the Blade didn't seem to expect it, they did duck at the last moment. The weapon sailed past them through the hole Mikhail had burst through.

The soldier took the relief of his weapon well. Redirecting her follow up roundhouse kick aimed at his neck downward with his gauntlet, the Driver drew an Ardainian steel knife with his other hand. She hopped back, raising her left bracer and winced at the sound of metal scraping across it as it took the brunt of the knife swing.

Grabbing his wrist with the other hand, they struggled briefly until she elbowed him in the helmet, allowing her to wrench the knife from him. Side-kicking, she pushed the Driver back into their Blade, knocking them over into a pile. She backed up and threw the knife away.

Even if they wouldn't hold back, this didn't feel right hurting what had once been Hugo's soldiers.

"Lora!" Mikhail called again, still holding off the other Drivers coming his way, unable to get around Mikhail's gauntlet shield. "Help the Aegis drive back the crazy blue hair-fire so we can get to the stairs!

"But-"

He weaved around another strike and knocked another Driver out. "I don't think they're interested in talking!" Behind him, Cressidus had formed a small boulder out of the ether and tossed it into the chaos, forcing a temporary retreat. "Retreat to the stairs before they bring in more and we're stuck!"

"What he said!" Nia called, already running in that direction with Dromarch, driving off other soldiers.

She could see that was true, but the thought of fighting against a former comrade still hurt. Gritting her teeth, Lora twirled and snapped her braided whip over towards Pyra's continuing duel with Brighid. It snagged the left whipsword and with a twist, ice exploded out, freezing the raised whipsword to the ceiling.

Brighid looked momentarily surprised, but quickly regained her composure and let go of the sword frozen to the ceiling, jumping back to avoid Pyra's next strike.

"Pyra, let's go!" Lora called.

"Got it!"

Lora rushed forward, taking Pyra's sword, their affinity link flaring as Lora slammed the sword down, fire flying out in multiple waves. Brighid dispersed one, and blocked the others with her ether shield. The attacks did their job, driving Brighid back enough to allow time for Lora and Pyra to retreat, ducking behind Mikhail and Cressidus' shield near the bottom of the stairs.

Past Mikhail, she saw Brighid had given Mòrag her free whipsword for her own, and watched as the Inquisitor slashed it across the ice holding the other to the ceiling, dropping it into her hand.

"Do you have a plan now, Mik?" Nia snapped.

"Up the stairs."

"Are you kidding? The only thing out up there is the hot springs. What are-"

"Not in the mood right now; just trust me and go!" Mikhail finally dispersed the shield and slammed the gauntlets in an uppercut into the ceiling, collapsing a part of it in front of them, scattering more dust and debris. "Now!"

As they went, Lora glanced back. Through the dust she caught a glimpse of Mòrag, eyes cool and calm despite the chaos, Brighid right behind her. And the boy, Rex, with a fire in his eyes that were the same colour as hers.

Mikhail was part of Torna. Rex had literally just accepted another job from Torna to help them out.

Again.

The dust from Mikhail collapsing part of the ceiling hadn't even settled. Adjusting his grip on Azurda's greatsword, he started running after them.

"Don't, Rex."

He stopped, angrily rounding on Mòrag. "They're escaping, Mòrag!" He forgot to use her stinkin' title but didn't care. "If we don't go after them now then-"

Then would he ever be able to find out more about Elysium? About why Torna did what they did?

"There will be other opportunities. This engagement was already informative enough, especially with such short notice." Dust fell as another rumble shook the inn. Were they collapsing more of the stairs to cover their escape? "I do not wish to force the Aegis Pyra into a corner and risk more casualties."

"But we have a chance right now to stop them. What if-"

"We have more to think of than just ourselves."

"Rex…" Azurda's voice was tinged with warning. His fingers tightened on the hilt of the greatsword. Why did he have to sound so much like Gramps?

Gritting his teeth, he dashed toward the stairs.

"Come back here, Rex; that's an order!"

He felt Azurda follow behind him, and drawing on his Blade's power, Rex leapt the gap in the stairs and started running, ignoring Brighid's shout of warning as well.

"Was that wise, Rex?" Azurda asked.

He already knew the answer to that. "I just have to know why. And if that girl Pyra really does know about Elysium…" He let that hang. "Are you with me?"

He heard Azurda rumble out a sigh. "Of course."

The last flight of stairs was completely destroyed, and he felt Azurda brace him with another surge of power to leap up the next floor. The door to the outside laying broken off its hinges, and they rushed past it.

Gunfire died out as he paused in the men's changing room situated before the open air hot springs. He carefully peeked out, taking in the scene. The area was relatively small. Stone both natural and laid by human hands surrounded the steaming pool of water, enough that one could comfortably walk around it. To left side, another building, to the right it led to a drop that went back into the city.

The few guards stationed up here only had one Driver and Blade in their group. He watched the Driver of the Aegis, Lora, kick the Driver hard enough that he collapsed just as Mikhail grabbed the Blade with his massive gauntlets and tossed them off the cliff down into the city.

Azurda's massive stony hand landed on his shoulder, murmuring quietly. "I know you want answers, Rex, but I still don't believe this is a good idea. We're outclassed in both experience and numbers."

"I get it, but I have to know. Back me up."

He let out a long suffering sigh. "Very well."

Hefting Azurda's greatsword, he channelled the funnelled ether from Azurda into the sword and felt heat and flame build up until the end separated, a raging fireball ready. He ducked out of cover and pointed the blazing fireball at them.

Nia's Blade, Dromarch, shouted a warning as it spat out the end of it, hurtling above them in their general direction. He meant it only as a warning shot. Hopefully just a warning shot.

To his surprise, Lora quickly dashed in front of the flame, and with the Aegis' sword, cleaved the fireball in two, the flames splattering harmlessly on the rock behind them, leaving scorch marks.

"Well, well," he saw Mikhail smirk as he turned to face him. "You caught up quick."

"No thanks to you." He glared at him. "I thought I could trust you and yet...you're part of Torna as well?"

"Is it really not obvious at this point?" Mikhail gestured to Lora and Nia on either side of him. "Read the signs, kiddo."

"Then what were you playing at, impersonating a salvager?" Rex demanded.

"Who said I was impersonating anything?" There was something almost…mocking in his tone that just irked Rex. He meant to ask Lora and Pyra about Elysium, but…

Something in him snapped.

Eyes flashing, Rex yelled as he charged forward, feinted slashing down, expecting Mikhail to raise the gauntlets into a shield like he had downstairs earlier and then he would roll around it. Instead, Mikhail caught Rex's blade in one of those huge gauntlets into an iron grip.

Eyes widening, Rex tried and failed to wrench the sword away to no avail, even when he drew in more power from Azurda. "What the-!"

"You're so predictable."

Before Rex could react, Azurda's sword, and him attached to it were thrown, tossed aside into the building. He yelled in pain as his back slammed into the stone, knocking the wind out of him. Wheezing, his hand reflexively let go of the weapon. It clattered to the ground as he desperately tried to suck in air.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Azurda dash by and grab the greatsword, followed by the sound of metal clashing against metal. Protecting him. Distantly past the pounding of his heart in his ears, he heard the Aegis - no Pyra - gasp out, "Azurda, is that really...?"

"I came from that Titan, but I am not him!"

"Sounds like a touchy subject." That was Mikhail. The sound of another brief struggle, as he wheezed in tiny bits of air. He looked up just in time to see Cressidus leap over Mikhail. As one, Mikhail stepped back, tossing those gauntlets to Cressidus in time for him to slam both into Azurda's raised ether shield, which shattered, pounding Azurda into the ground.

"Too bad I don't care."

He wanted to scream, but he couldn't breathe. Black tinged the edges of his vision. He pounded his ribs. C'mon!

With a struggle, he violently coughed and heaved the air back in.

Just then, an even greater heat than the hot springs leaped into the area, followed by angry blue flames leaping up in a wall, sealing them all off in an arena. He looked up to see the inquisitor stalk forward, Brighid's whipswords blazing in her hands.

Despite having only met the Inquisitor today, Nia had already had more than enough of her.

But Mik, fresh off of pounding Rex's Blade to the ground, still let out a low appreciative sounding whistle. "I guess Azurda was right. She really does burn bright, doesn't she?"

"Really? Now?"

"Probably won't get a chance to admire it later." She elbowed him, but he just laughed. "Nia, Lora; buy Cressidus and me some time. I'll secure our escape route."

Without bothering to wait for an answer, just like that, Cressidus picked him up and heaved him over the walls of the raging inferno of an arena, Cressidus following as a pillar of earth launched himself towards his Driver. Just her, Lora, Pyra, Dromarch and the strongest Driver in Mor Ardain.

Great.

Sure, Pyra was the Aegis, but just leaving like that? Ugh. "Easy for you to say," Nia mumbled, shifting her grip on the twin rings. "What's the plan, Lora?"

"Stall if we can. I don't want to fight anymore if we don't have to, but at this point..."

The chances of that happening were about as short as Rex.

"So." That high and mighty inquisi-whatever called across the hot spring. "I see you have no intention of surrendering peacefully."

Nia growled. "It's not like you gave us much choice. How else do you expect someone to react when you surround them with soldiers and fling all those accusations around?"

"I simply seek the truth."

"I already told you the truth," Lora called, "but you weren't listening."

"History-" Mòrag began.

"Is written by the winners," Pyra cut in. "I did sink old Torna, Lora's home. But it seems like the details were lost while I was sealed away."

Nia got twitchy as Mòrag's eyes narrowed, and she could practically feel the temperature rise with the flames. "Even if that is true, it does not excuse the deaths you and Torna have caused. For the sake of my people, for the sake of Alrest, I must do all I can to ensure no one else dies. This is your last chance. Surrender peacefully."

Lora took up Pyra's sword in a stance almost exactly mirroring Jin's. Nia took that as an answer and huffed. "Do you really expect us to just give up after all that?"

She had the gall to look disappointed. "Very well." She dashed forward around the spring on the side closest to Lora.

Rushing to meet her, Lora began with a wide upward slash, echoed with a wave of fire. The inquisitor calmly broke through the fire with her left sword, met Lora's strike with the right, deflecting the blow while the other moved to strike.

Lora seemed to anticipate it and jumped over the low swing in time to block the swing of the other. Blow after blow was traded - Mòrag all precision and discipline while Lora flowed through her strikes as though she'd sparred with her for years. Even when Mòrag's swords separated into longer whips, neither of the combatants gained an inch.

Lora whirled back, grinned, and in a feat that had Nia's eyebrow's raising, flipped back, landed on Pyra's raised ether barrier and sprung off, curling in her legs as she sailed over the inquisi-whatever. Mid-air, she blocked a strike from Mòrag's collapsed whipsword as she sailed towards the crazy hair fire of a Blade.

Said crazy hair fire seemed mildly surprised and raised her ether barrier to block a follow up kick from Lora. Lora landed in a brief crouch on the shield before launching herself off away from Brighid, tossing Pyra's blade back to her before she rolled back to her feet.

Pyra whirled forward, fire raging, putting the inquisitor on the backstep, allowing an opening for Lora's totally-not-just-a-rope braid to snag around one of the whipswords. Mòrag quickly let go of the sword to counter the follow up from Pyra. Pyra leapt back to avoid and tossed the sword back to Lora, now on solid ground, who started attacking from the back.

"Impressive," Dromarch remarked.

"No kidding." Lora was good, in a way that spoke of years of fighting. She'd seen something of it when they fought the Queen Arachno, but seeing her up against a Driver and Blade was something else. Only thing was that the inquisitor lady was keeping up.

Nia held back, unsure of exactly how to help in the situation. With how small the area not covered by water was, it was difficult to try and step into the fray without being worried about being knocked into the water.

Wait…

Despite the seriousness of the situation, a cheeky grin snuck its way onto her face. She called out, "Dromarch, the water, let's-"

"My lady, look out!"

Eyes widening, she flattened her ears and ducked the broad swing of the boy, Rex, and just barely angled Dromarch's twin rings enough that the next skimmed off the ether of the weapons.

When had he gotten up? Even if she didn't necessarily like it, she'd thought Mik clobbering him and Azurda would have had them down for the count.

"I just don't get it!" he yelled. Flames bathed the greatsword and he slashed it up in a wide arc, nearly making her trip in her haste to avoid it.

"What?"

"You saw what happened to the Maelstrom!" Another swing, another dodge back. "You watched those salvagers die and did nothing!" She jumped back again, now out of room to manoeuvre. "Why would you want to stay with a bunch of psychopaths?"

Psychos?

"As soon as you stop hiding, you'll understand what I mean."

"Heh. You're stronger then you're letting on, aren't you? I like that."

"Well said, Nia. I'll have you know that the rest of us feel much the same way."

"And here I thought you'd be forever aloof. Welcome to Torna, Nia; the greatest bunch of miserable misfits you'll ever find in Alrest."

"Because. You're just like me."

Psychos?

Something welled up in her.

Nia growled. "Those 'psychopaths' happen to be the closest thing to a real family I have!" She blocked his next strike with both her twin rings, and held it in a lock. "So what if they've done horrible things? You don't know what they, what I've been through. At least I can be who I am with them!"

"That doesn't make any sense! What are you talking about?"

"So what if it doesn't? What would you and your stupid idealistic nonsense know about pain?" Beside them, there was a bubbling in the spring. Dromarch roared, and a small geyser blasted into Rex, dousing the flames on his sword. She pressed the advantage, weaving in water ether into her strikes.

He started desperately blocking. "I know plenty. But that doesn't mean I go around killing people because I'm hurting."

"But you left those salvagers behind on that ancient ship." She could tell he was drawing too much from his Blade. For all that he was a good fighter, he wasn't a good Driver. He relied too much on his own strength, not bothering to fight in sync with his Blade. "You ran to save your own skin and you're endangering others by chasing after us."

"That's different! I'm here because I have to know the truth about Elysium."

"Who cares about that? It won't fix anything!" Her own affinity link with Dromarch surged and guided by his waves of water, she chucked the twin rings, once, twice, making Rex and Azurda teeter on the edge of the hot spring. "Humans would be just as horrible with it as without it!"

His Blade blocked the next strike with his ether barrier, but it didn't matter. The force of the strike knocked Rex and Azurda backwards into the hot spring. With a look to Dromarch, she tossed him his twin rings, which hovered on an ether tether in front of him. With a powerful roar, the gathered water ether blew up in a geyser, launching Rex and his Blade out of the spring.

They rolled to a stop, just outside the changing rooms, Rex's form splayed out and didn't move.

Sliding under a multitude of fireballs from Brighid, Lora launched into a feinting snap kick at Mòrag, attempting to drive her back into the hot spring. Mòrag didn't even flinch as Brighid's ether barrier rose, blocking the strike.

Brighid came forward, and Lora backhandspringed away from the retaliating strike, Pyra moving in to cover for her, blocking Brighid's follow up strike. A small contest of strength ensued, before Pyra disengaged, twirling around another swing from Brighid and handing Lora the sword. She drove Brighid back while Pyra supplied greater power.

Leaping back - still carefully avoiding the hot spring - Brighid tossed her swords back which Mòrag caught with ease. The Inquisitor eyed her and Pyra. "Impressive. Though your fighting style is somewhat unusual, your skill is just what I'd expect from the Aegis and her Driver."

It had been a surprise to see how Mòrag fought. The style of tossing Brighid's weapons back and forth - had her and Jin's style made that much of an impact as to be passed down like that?

Lora took a little bit of satisfaction that Mòrag's breathing was coming out harder. Then again, Lora was worked up as well. "You and Brighid are pretty good too."

"Hmph. And yet I can't help but feel you're holding back somehow."

They eyed each other another moment, the flaming arena crackling around them. There was a yell from where earlier Lora had noticed Rex rise up and start fighting Nia. She glanced over and caught sight of Rex and the Azurda look-alike being blasted out of the hot spring, tumbling to a stop just outside the changing rooms.

"Make way!"

She whipped her head towards the sound of Cressidus' voice, and her eyes widened as part of the cliff above the hot spring cracked, then busted outward. Cressidus came quickly after, surfing down on the rockslide. Lora and Mòrag jumped away from each other, the rockslide forcing both to back away or be crushed by the tumbling boulders. Dust and debris flew up and she reflexively covered her eyes.

When she peeked out after a moment, Mikhail had appeared, holding the inquisitor by the neck. After a moment, he chucked her with her Blade's weapons into the hot spring. Brighid roared in indignation, flames flaring, moments before Dromarch body-slammed her into the cliff, dazing her.

"That was way more satisfying than it should be." Nia grinned from Dromarch's back and the tiger Blade groaned and shook his head.

"They won't stay down long." Mikhail jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the makeshift way up the rockslide. "Ladies and Dromarch first."

That was their way out, she supposed. Lora turned back to look at Rex's Blade, seeing his piercing yellow eyes glare at her, hovering protectively over his unconscious Driver.

She saw Nia's grin dip for a second as she looked back to Rex. Lora heard her whisper, "Maybe if things were different, it wouldn't have come to this."

They scrambled up the rocks.

Mòrag surfaced, hands gripping Brighid's whipswords. Wiping the water from her eyes, she watched as Torna and the Aegis fled quickly up the rockslide.

"Lady Mòrag, are you alright?" Beside the spring - though very definitely not in it - Brighid extended a hand.

"I will be fine, Brighid." She carefully got her footing, head and shoulders above the hot water, and took the offered hand from Brighid. "Thankfully, naught but my pride was hurt."

Water sloshed off of her drenched uniform and hair as she was lifted from the spring, her clothes clinging in an uncomfortably warm and wet way. After fussing a moment, Brighid gazed towards the escaping members of Torna. "They're heading towards a nearby cargo line. Should we give chase?"

"No. I do not believe that would be wise at this point." She looked to her left where Rex lay unconscious just outside the changing rooms, his Blade hovering concernedly beside him. The fact his Blade was still there was proof he was alive. "Relay an order to the operators to shut down the cargo line to the main factory. We may not be able to stop their escape, but we will do what we can to hinder them and stop them from damaging the main factory."

"Of course." Brigid nodded, moving to comply.

With a nod of satisfaction, Mòrag turned back to the cargo line and distantly, she caught a last glimpse of the six escaping members of Torna, growing smaller by the moment on a metal cargo box. She could almost make out the Driver of the Aegis, Lora, holding the Aegis' sword.

The battle had been thrilling, but also strange. Lora had seemed to anticipate her forms and battle style, things that were only taught to the emperor, or in her case, Brighid's Driver. So how would she have known that?

Unless…

But that claim was ridiculous. Brighid was right. No human could live that long.

"Inquisitor?"

The voice of Azurda brought her out of her reverie back to the matter of Rex. She looked him square in the eyes. "Azurda. You did well to support your Driver, even in his insubordination. Loyalty in a Blade to their Driver is essential for a quality resonance. However, the matter remains that Rex disobeyed a direct order."

The stony Blade bowed his head.

A long moment passed.

She sighed. "Take him to healers on standby outside of the inn, and if needed, to the base's medical facility. Once he is conscious, he and I will talk."

Wind whipped past Lora, making her hair flutter as she as the cargo container kept on towards its destination. It was a tight fit with all six of them crouched on top of it.

Glancing back at the increasingly smaller form of the hot springs and the new Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain, a pang went through the memory of her heart. Had she done the right thing? Even if she didn't want to be caught, would running really help?

Her mind whirled like the wind rustling past her, and the answer didn't come.

Chapter Text

"Where is this thing going, Mik?"

Lora had to strain to hear Nia's voice over the wind whistling past them as the massive cargo container Mikhail had commandeered continued on its tram line. Lora glanced behind her, seeing down, and wished she hadn't, stomach flopping from the drop she faced below. She wasn't afraid of heights, per se, but it didn't make the idea of dropping from this high any less intimidating.

All of them were crouched low, trying to present as little as they could for the wind and the wobbling cargo crate to knock them off their precarious perch. On their makeshift platform, Nia and Dromach were closest to the front, with Dromarch shielding Nia from the wind. In the middle, Mikhail and Cressidus were situated, while her and Pyra took up the rear.

The container swayed despite it being secured to the cargo line by a quartet of lines leading to a contraption that fed through the metal cargo cable, likely controlling its pace. Because of that swaying, and the smoothness of the container, Lora had trouble finding stable purchase to hold onto it. Then again, cargo containers weren't usually made to have passengers riding on top.

"This cargo line should go to Mor Ardain's main geothermal mining plant!" Mikhail yelled in answer.

"Considering what just transpired," Dromarch roared over the rushing air, "I doubt the empire will be rolling out a welcome mat for us there."

"Unless the welcome mat is made out of bullets and blades," Nia sniped, "no probably not."

"We're not going to be staying there," Mikhail shot back. "If we can time it right we won't even have to set foot inside the plant, just the outskirts."

"Time it right? What do you…" She saw Nia's eyes widen in understanding. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. That was your escape plan? Jumping off a speeding cargo container?"

Mikhail smirked. "Not bad, right?"

"And if we misjudge it, we could die!"

"Good thing I trust you all enough not to fall." He shifted his head to look towards the container's destination. Lora followed his gaze, seeing the massive metal structure built into the stone of the Titan drawing closer. Steam continuously puffed out of the geothermal plant's cooling towers on the top far above them. "It won't even be a long jump, but we still have some time before we get to the plant. When I give you all the signal, get ready to jump."

The wind continued to whip by, and they began to pass by spindly, metal towers - were those used to do maintenance? For what? - closer to other cargo lines that lead to other destinations. Dotting the landscape were small, jutting plateaus with not much more room than on top of their ride, almost like stalactites in some of the caves Lora had seen on Coeia.

All of these things were far too far away to jump to, so definitely not what Mikhail was talking about. Up ahead, further along their 'commandeered' cargo line, Lora could see some of those towers that seemed to line up with their current route.

Those weren't what Mikhail was talking about. The plant was still rather far from them, but if she squinted, she thought she could make out what could be metal catwalks ringing around the plant. Certainly not what she had expected to be doing tonight, but Mikhail's plan was better than anything she could think of at the moment.

Mikhail…

Despite the potentially perilous situation looming ahead, her mind wandered back to the fights in the inn and around the hot spring. She thought of Mikhail's rescue, and the way he had batted around Rex and the Blade who resembled Azurda. Not for the first time, she wondered what had happened to him in the nearly five hundred years she'd been frozen.

A gentle hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing it. Their affinity link flared to life, telling her whose hand it was, and the feeling of worry from the link was shared on Pyra's face as Lora looked over to her.

"Are you alright?" Pyra still had to yell to be heard over the wind, but since they were right next to each other, she didn't have to shout as loud.

"I should be asking you that question," Lora responded.

"I'm fine," she assured her, though the smile she gave afterwards was strained.

Considering the accusations that Mòrag had thrown their way, Lora wasn't surprised. For now, she supposed the assurance would have to do, as their precarious swaying perch on the crate was hardly a good place to have a heart to heart.

"We'll figure things out," Lora assured her. "There has to be a reason for everything."

Pyra nodded, and opened her mouth to respond.

A sudden ear-splitting metallic screech tore their attention over to the contraption connecting the cargo container to the line it traveled on. Sparks flew as the box like contraption grated sharply against the cable from which it was suspended.

Lora only had time to say, "What was-" before the crate lurched to an abrupt halt. A cable snapped. And suddenly, her world was shooting upward in a dangerous angle.

Her head smacked into the hard metal of the crate at the ascent, momentarily dazing her enough that her fingers reflexively let go of the tenuous hold she had on the container. She slipped off the end of the tilting world, and in desperation grasped the edge of the crate with one hand, struggling for an instant to hold on.

But it was in vain. Her fingers slipped off the metal of the container as it reached the apex of its swing.

"Lora!"

A surge of power from Pyra's already active affinity link and her eyes snapped over to her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. She saw Pyra's right hand - noted distantly that her left was holding on to her sword, now embedded into the metal crate - was reaching desperately for her.

Lora reached for her extended hand with her free hand. The container groaned as it began swinging back out the other way.

Their fingers missed.

And she began to fall.

# Caution: manual override of 'external memory bank' is unadvised while data mining of corrupt data is in progress. Do you still wish to proceed: Y/N?

# Y

# working…

# Manual override activated.

At once, there was nothing.

Her world was dark. A complete darkness that was at once familiar, and entirely alien. Her mind mush, plodding through a haze impossible to penetrate.

She couldn't see, could barely think.

She tried to call out, only to find she had no voice. Couldn't move.

She felt nothing.

She…had been falling.

…Right?

Or, had she been running?

Sensations she had only subconsciously feeling just weren't there anymore. No smell, no feel of wind on her skin. But there was…

…Cold.

Cold began to seep into her. Or…had it been there this whole time?

All of this in a moment. All of this in an eternity.

So…cold.

As if in a blink, everything snapped back into place.

She breathed.

Lora's arm was wrenched upward as her fall was abruptly accosted, sending her swinging wildly. If Pyra's affinity link hadn't been established, her arm would have been wrenched out of socket.

She was hanging by one arm by her battle braid, just past the crate. Looking up, at the other end, she saw Pyra desperately grasping onto it with one hand as the crate swung back.

She didn't remember casting the braid up, but she must have, or else she would still be falling.

But there was no sense dwelling on that right now. Her other arm reached out to grasp her makeshift rope to even out the burden of holding on for dear life. Above, Pyra was straining to hold on with one hand while her other hand still held her sword to keep her from falling as well.

But the thin rope was slowly slipping out of Pyra's grasp, and the container's continued swinging back and forth as it bled off inertia wasn't helping either of them. No matter how much strength Pyra might have as a Blade, if her grip slipped, that would be it.

Trying to haul herself up the length of the rope would only make things worse right now. She clutched her weapon harder as the container swung back the other way again, her lifeline taking her with it.

Looking desperately around for a way out, her head whipped about. To her left lay an empty wasteland; to her right, a metal tower way too far away to leapt onto even with the way her makeshift rope was swinging. Down was death by falling, especially since she knew a Blade's affinity link couldn't go that far. And even if it could, there was no guarantee she - and by extension, Pyra - wouldn't be hurt from the fall.

Now what?

"I've got you!"

The tension on her lifeline increased as she and it was hauled slightly up. She looked up and saw Mikhail tightly gripping her rope further down, helping steady Pyra's grip. A moment later, Nia appeared and joined him in his efforts.

"Just hold on tight 'til this thing steadies, Lora," Nia called, "and we'll pull you up!"

"Okay!" She shouted back, relief ringing her smile at the three holding her up. Her shared core seemed to pulse less rapidly.

That was way too close.

Though she felt like the pendulum in an antique clock she'd seen Addam tinkering with once, eventually, the container steadied enough that the three began working in tandem to pull her up. At last, with Mikhail and Pyra grasping her arms, they hauled her up past the edge onto the not-really-safe confines of the top of the crate.

Lora rolled over and sprawled out as much as she dared on her back, arms aching, noting that Cressidus and Dromarch were on the other side. She wondered for a moment why that was, until Mikhail backed up, which tilted the crate into a flatter position. If the two Blades had helped out, it might have tipped them all off.

Lora breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you all."

"Don't mention it." Nia waved it off as she checked her and Pyra over for injuries, and she scoffed as Lora - and a split second later, Pyra - winced as Nia's finger brushed over the tender spot on her head where it had bashed against the metal. "Does it hurt?"

"I'll manage."

"Even so, I'll have Dromarch look at that once we're off this stupid thing."

She nodded her thanks, and simply lay there a moment, breathing still erratic from the experience. The night sky was tinged with lights from Alba Cavanich, blocking out her full view of the stars. She closed her eyes, moving her arm over them.

"So, what happened?" she heard Nia ask. "Why did it stop so suddenly?"

Shifting her arm to peek, she saw Mikhail jerk his thumb back towards the capital city. "Someone back there must have hit the emergency stop on all the cargo lines. Normally, these will just come to a slow stop when they're close to the factory, not do something like that."

"Bet it was that snooty Inquisitor," Nia griped. "Aren't we lucky?"

"We're lucky Lora's a quick thinker, using her weapon like that!" Cressidus chimed in.

Nia palmed her forehead "That's…not really what I meant. But yeah, I think we're all just glad you're okay, Lora."

"Same," Lora agreed easily. "I'm not really sure how I managed." She slowly sat up now that her breathing had steadied, propping herself up a still sore arm. "I'm glad we all made it through."

"So…what now?" Nia asked. "Are we just stranded up here or what?"

"It looks as though Master Mikhail has an idea," Dromarch rumbled.

Mikhail had moved to the center where he was reaching up to the mechanism that held the cargo in place on the line. He fiddled with a panel a moment, and it popped open, exposing mechanisms and wiring.

"Oi, what are you doing, messing around with that?" Nia shouted. "If you detach us from this line…"

"Relax," Mikhail drawled, as he continued digging around. "I know what I'm doing." After a few moments his arms retreated from the guts of the small mechanism, followed by a muttered curse. "Besides, it looks like there's nothing I can do while we're hanging here to start us going again anyways. At least not quickly."

"Do you think they would attempt to reverse us, pull us back towards the city?" Dromarch asked uneasily.

"No need to worry about that," Mikhail rapped his knuckles against the innards of the mechanism. "Whoever designed these was probably cutting costs. They're made to only go one way, which is shortsighted for them, but good for us."

"Quite a relief."

"But it does mean that we're stuck up here unless they decide to start up the cargo line again." Mikhail started looking around. "Anyone have any ideas?"

Silence pervaded the top cargo crate. Lora glanced at her battle braid, then thought better of it. It wasn't anywhere near long enough to swing over to any nearby structures. Not that she really felt like doing that again after what she's just gone through.

"All I can see close by," Dromarch rumbled, "is that support tower."

Nia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and it's what, like forty peds from us?"

"It's thirty-eight point four two peds," Pyra listed off, "in a north-north eastern direction, angled eighteen degrees down from where you're standing, Nia."

Nia blinked at Pyra's hyper specific measurement, mouth hanging open a little and Lora joined in on her surprise, looking toward Pyra with amazement. Mikhail quirked a brow, seeming to regard Pyra with interest.

She averted her eyes at the attention, mumbling, "It's pretty easy to calculate."

"Maybe for you," Nia mumbled.

"Exact distances aside," Lora cleared her throat, bringing their attention away from Pyra, "how would we get over there? We can't exactly jump a distance like that. And even with how strong Cressidus is, I doubt he could throw us over there."

"Actually…" Mikhail glanced at Cressidus, with a roguish gleam in his eye.

"Wait, hold up." Nia's ears flattened on her head. "Are you seriously considering that right now?"

"C'mon, Nia," Mikhail teased. "You heard Lora. Cressidus is a strong Blade. I bet he could chuck even Dromarch back to Alba Cavanich if he tried hard enough. Several dozen peds would be nothing for him."

"You aren't throwing Dromarch!" Nia protested. "Besides, if Cressidus missed, he'd end up as Rhogul food. They…do have Rhoguls here, right?"

One of Dromarch's ears flicked, the only sign of acknowledgement of the barb. "That's rather gruesome imagery, my lady. Though I am confident I would still be able to land on my feet."

"So you're volunteering are you?" She sniped back, crossing her arms.

"Er…"

"Hey!" Cressidus flexed as if to prove Mikhail right. "Don't worry, everyone; I've got this!"

"Yeah," Mikhail egged him on, eying Nia, "and just like Dromarch said, all you have to do is land on your feet."

"Well if you're so sure of it," Nia sputtered defiantly, "you go first!"

Mikhail smirked. "Don't mind if I do. You're up, big guy." He paused, eying Pyra, and a somewhat grudging tone entered his voice. "And…Pyra, would you be able to help make sure he gets the correct angle? Precision isn't his best feature."

"Oh, um, alright."

She seemed just as surprised as Lora was that he'd asked. Was it too much to hope that it was a sign of progress?

Regardless, both Pyra and Mikhail trodd carefully on the unstable crate over to Cressidus. The massive Blade stood and took Mikhail - who crouched on his massive hand - in one arm. Pyra coached him a moment, correcting his aim before stepping back as Cressidus drew Mikhail back like a ball.

Mikhail looked at Lora and Nia and winked.

Nia groaned, muttering to Lora, "I hope he does fall."

With a shout, Cressidus hurled Mikhail in a small arc that drove him towards the support tower. Lora held her breath as she watched him sail a few moments, before unfurling himself as his arc descended. He tucked and rolled to bleed off the momentum of his fall onto the platform on top of the tower.

She let out a relieved breath as Mikhail popped up from his roll and let out a whoop that echoed over to them. Punching his massive fists together, Cressisdus let out a holler, echoing his Driver.

Raising her eyebrows, Nia looked between the Driver and Blade pair. "Well what do you know? It actually worked."

"Hey!" Mikhail yelled over to them. "There's a maintenance ladder over here. We can get down from there!"

Pyra smiled. "That's good, but…" She looked at Cressidus. "How are you going to get over there?"

"Don't worry," the big Blade thumped his chest, "I've already got a good idea. Who's next?"

Everyone carefully avoided eye contact with him, suddenly interested in the surrounding scenery. Lora was the slowest.

Cressidus pointed his finger bombastically her way. "Looks like you're up to fly with Cressidus! Come on down!"

Lora chuckled nervously.

Mòrag watched as Rex was carried away on a stretcher, his Blade following as close as he could without interfering with the medical team's work.

Thankfully, despite it all, it seemed he would be fine.

Her eyes strayed past other soldiers and personnel milling about over to the small line of dead, lined up in an undamaged portion of the Jakelo Inn's common room.

Others had not been so fortunate. The blonde-haired Driver and his massive Blade had made short work of some of her men. Whether on purpose or happenstance, they had targeted the ones with ether net launchers first, depriving her of what might have been an easier capture.

Then again, she hadn't taken into account that there would be another Torna operative in the city. In her haste to apprehend them, she hadn't factored it into the plan. Careless of her.

Kneeling beside the soldier's bodies, she gently took their tags, burning the four names into her memory before stowing them away. They had known the risk, but she would do what she could to make their sacrifice worth it.

"Inquisitor!"

After a moment, she stood, facing a soldier who was dutifully ignoring how sodden her clothing still was. Changing out of it would come once things settled here.

"Report."

"Ma'am! The emergency stop order on the cargo lines has been issued, and received, though not without some complaint on the operator's end."

"I see. While their complaints are not unwarranted, relay back to them that it will only be a temporary delay."

The soldier saluted again and left. The cargo line operator's complaint was understandable, considering the still ongoing salvage bulge. Storage space was at a premium and a section in the main Geothermal plant's warehouse had been commissioned temporarily to hold excess salvage.

Though she suspected stopping the cargo line wouldn't stop Torna for long, at least they wouldn't disrupt anything at the Geothermal plant. Even if that hadn't been their goal, it brought her a modicum of comfort to know they would be safe.

She began heading out of the damaged inn, thinking of the compensation that would come out of the empire's coffers to help with repairs. Another soldier approached her as she came out the front, matching her pace as she walked.

"Inquisitor. We searched the rooms Torna were housed in as you ordered."

"Was there anything of note?" Mòrag asked.

"Just some packs with basic traveling supplies, bedrolls, rations and the like. However, we did find these."

Mòrag raised a questioning eyebrow as the soldier brought out a parcel that looked to have been tied with decorative ribbon before being opened. Inside were…

"Sweets?"

"Yes ma'am. I..." he hesitated as if embarrassed, "I recognize where they're from: an up and coming chef and patissier. A Blade named Gorg. My squad mates and I have been to his restaurant before. Perhaps he met the Aegis and her Driver."

"I see." While Mòrag wondered how valuable a testimony from the pastry chef would be, but any information was better than nothing. It might offer a fuller picture of the Driver of the Aegis' character. "Any information you can glean from them would be welcome. Choose a member of your squad and see what you can find."

"Of course!"

She was headed off by another officer, giving her an extensive damage report while she headed to the base.

It was going to be a long night.

"Just because you're a Blade, didn't mean it wasn't gonna hurt." Nia shook her head, exasperatedly. "Honestly, it's like you have no sense of self preservation. What if you'd damaged your core somehow?"

She watched as Cressidus rolled his shoulder, which had just been freshly healed by an obliging Dromarch after she looked him over. "Tucking and rolling of course! The rest of me would've healed before long, then I'd be good to go and protect all of you again!"

"Oh sure," Nia rolled her eyes. "And what if the empire, or Mik's crazy royal 'friend' had a surprise waiting for us before that happened, or I had a chance to heal you? How could you help protect us then?"

The massive Blade shrugged. "It didn't happen, so there's no reason to worry about it."

"Hey are you almost done, Nia?" she heard Mikhail call. "I could use his help over here."

"Yeah, yeah, just a sec," she called back. She poked Cressidus hard in the chest. "Don't go doing something stupid like that again, you hear?"

She could have sworn she saw a grin beneath the darkness of his golden helm, but the gleam in the big Blades' eyes told her the whole story as he loped off toward Mik. Any sense of self preservation she had tried to instill in him had just gone right over his head. Impressive for how tall he was.

Nia scoffed, and stepped away, her boots echoing with little clinks on the metal of the old maintenance tunnel they'd holed up in. It was a small alcove clear of any arachnos - they'd all double checked to make sure - and other uninvited guests. Not exactly cozy, but far enough out of the way of the cargo line that it was less likely to be immediately searched.

She watched the massive Blade plod over to Mik. After tossing them all over - and she really didn't want to think about that experience more than she needed to - Cressidus had essentially thrown himself at the tower. It'd been a big jump, but he'd barely grasped on to one of the tower's support struts to break his fall, tearing the muscles in his shoulders and dislocating one in the process. He'd fallen straight to the ground after that.

Even once they'd rushed down and knew he was fine, it still worried her. Even with a Blade's natural regeneration factor, if not for Dromarch, he'd have been out for the count for at least a day if not more. Not something they could afford at the moment.

Dromarch stretched, and rubbed gently against her leg in an invitation to join him as he padded over to a slightly more comfortable piece of metal, plopping to the ground. After a moment, she joined him, flopping down, leaning back onto him.

Their swift exit hadn't given all of them much time to process everything, but she was currently too tired to care. None of them had any food, but it wasn't the first time she'd gone to sleep without it.

"Reminds me of back then," she murmured to Dromarch. "You know, when it was just us, don't you think? No food, no pack, running away from angry people."

"It is similar," he agreed. He shifted slightly underneath her, though she suspected he wouldn't find a truly comfortable spot here. At least the metal wasn't bitterly cold. "Although the forests of Gormott were generally more comfortable, and there was much less metal."

She snorted. "The forests had more insects, but at least the trees didn't smell like rotting ether lines."

"Indeed. But it's nice to have companions with us now. It's almost like a family."

Family?

She turned her head, hair rubbing against his fur, and raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. He stared back, eyes unblinking. He won the little staring contest as he always did.

She looked over to where Lora was passed out on the floor without a care in the world that it was solid metal. Pyra was close by, watching over her, wearing that sad smile she always had when she thought no one was looking.

She heard loud whispers on the other side where Cressidus and Mikhail were working on something. How they still had energy to do anything at this point was beyond her.

She thought of the others. Malos and Sever, always sniping at her, yet pushing her to stop hiding. She thought of Ahkos and his horrible theatrics, encouraged or berated by Obrona depending on how she was feeling. Occasionally, he had something good, too, not that she'd ever say it to his face since it would only encourage him.

She thought of Patroka and Perdido who always did more talking with their weapons. The spars and one short mission she'd been pulled into by her told her more about the other woman of Torna than anything else. Even though she acted aloof, she had a short temper, and respected strength. Respected Nia's strength when she'd landed a few good hits on her in a spar.

She thought of Jin, and his quiet thoughtfulness and strength. His kindness to the crew of Torna and leadership holding everyone together. At least until Lora woke up.

"They're annoying enough to be one, that's for sure," she concluded.

"They are quite the handful to look after," he agreed. "Remember, no matter what you choose, I will follow you to the end."

She sighed, leaning back more into his fur. "...Right."

She felt him shift slightly under her as he lay his head down. "Sleep well, my lady."

"'Night, you big furball."

But despite how tired she felt, sleep didn't come quite so easy.

Mòrag pulled her dark, wet hair into a tight bun, thankful that this time it was because of a furiously quick shower, rather than a forceful dip in the hot springs. Smoothing out wrinkles that weren't there in her new, dry uniform, she made to grab her visored cap from its hook, but found it missing.

"Looking for something?"

Looking over to the door in her suite, she found it spinning around the finger of a visibly annoyed Brighid.

"I didn't hear you come in," Mòrag noted. They shared the suite, so it wasn't unusual to see Brighid here, but…

Her cap stopped spinning as Brighid pinched its metal visor tightly between her fingers. "I stepped in just a few minutes ago."

"I assume you didn't come to try and replace a hat hanger. Has something happened?"

They were due to officially report to the emperor and the Senate shortly. She of course had informed Niall late the night before of the result of the conflict with Torna, and had confided her initial thoughts on the confrontation before he had dismissed her to get some rest. This morning's report would be a far more official affair.

"There haven't been any further developments with Torna or the Aegis and her Driver, no. No sign of them near the main geothermal plant from the scouts reporting from there."

"I see" Mòrag stepped closer, enough to see the lines of tensioning the face of her Blade, the crinkle of worry around her eyes. "Something's bothering you. You seemed perturbed all last night. Was it something that Torna said?"

The night had passed in a flurry of activity, and both of them had barely been able to catch a few hours of sleep, much less have much time to truly process or discuss the event.

"The Driver of the Aegis, Lora." The finger's of Brighid's fist clenched through the slats of the camp's metal visor. "Do you believe what she said was true?"

"Which part are you referring to?" She had a good idea but needed to be sure.

Brighid's brow furrowed as she scoffed. "You know what I'm referring to. Her ridiculous claim to have fought as a human in the Aegis war. And not only that, but she claimed to have fought beside the hero Addam and Emperor Hugo."

Alongside Brighid, went unsaid, only because it didn't need to be.

So, exactly the reason she'd thought. Mòrag mulled over her words carefully before saying, "I believe Lora thought every word she was saying was true. She was thoroughly convinced of it."

Brighid's gaze seemed to bore into her own. "Do you believe her? You saw the way that she was able to react and adapt to our fighting style when we fought."

It had been almost…uncanny. Like she had spared against someone with Mòrag's unique weapons and skill set before. It can't have been more than a week since Lora had resonated with the Aegis, so to have such skill already? She must have prior experience as a Driver.

"Whether I believe her or not remains to be seen. As you pointed out, there shouldn't be any way for a mere human to live that long. She denied being a flesh eater Blade as well."

"And you don't think she was lying about that?"

"Doubtful." Mòrag's hand snaked up to her chin, thoughtfully. "I may still ask someone to comb through the records of registered Drivers and Blades to see if she matches the description of any, just as a precaution."

"But," Brighid interjected, "if she truly remembers five hundred years ago, she would be older than Indol's current worldwide registry system."

"I suppose that's true." Mor Ardain kept records of notable Blades and Drivers in that time, so it would stand to reason that other nations would do the same in that time. "If Lora truly was born on the Tornan Titan as she said, any official records of that and the Drivers and Blades there would likely have sunk with the Titan."

Not to mention the five hundred years in between then and now. The likelihood of records being kept that long were slim to none.

Brighid scoffed. "Convenient for her."

"Quite," Mòrag agreed. "But that's not what is really eating away at you, is it?"

A wan smile stretched across Brighid's face, though it disappeared just as quickly as it arrived. "Astute as always, Lady Mòrag." She sighed. "My journal. The one from back then. Do…" she hesitated. "Do you think it could have been tampered with?

A slight frown curled Mòrag's lips down. She had considered the possibility, but… "Considering how tightly protected your journals are, I doubt it. It would be grave offense to even attempt to alter a record of such an important Blade to the royal family."

"But could it be done? If one of the emperors of Mor Ardain ordered it done in secret while my core crystal lay dormant, I would have no way of knowing."

"It's…possible," she ventured, carefully. "But what reason would they have to alter such events?"

Brighid's lips pressed into a thin line. "You've seen how the Senate plays their games, seen the depths they will go, treating humans and Blades alike as nothing more than tools. We helped stop an insurrection led by someone who thought like that shortly after I was awakened, or have you forgotten?"

Mòrag kept her tone even. "I haven't forgotten, no."

"So can I really trust what's written here? That's the only remnant of who I was back then. What if it's untrue, a part of who I am now comes from that. What if it's wrong?"

"Brighid…"

"I know it's unlikely," Brighid threw her arms up, the blue flames on her side buns flaring briefly, "it's just frustrating."

"Tell me. Do you remember the promise we made after we put down the insurrection you spoke of?"

"Of course I do. I wrote it in my current journal. One of my first entries. 'To look towards a brighter future for the empire together, no matter what came before.'"

Mòrag nodded firmly. "Exactly. So, forgive me if I sound callous, but even if your journal from the Aegis war has been edited, it doesn't change what the organization of Torna is doing right now. They are slaughtering innocents - our countrymen - hunting down core crystals, and have awakened and seemingly turned the Aegis to their side."

"But-"

"Brighid." Mòrag gently laid her hand on her cheek, smiling. She could feel the gentle heat radiating off of her, could feel the worry through their resonance. "You are you. You are beautiful, talented; the best partner I could ask for. Regardless of what was written in a journal centuries ago, we've made contact with the Aegis in our time. We can use that to make judgments right now. We would be remiss not to do so."

"Lady Mòrag, I…"

"Even though what happened during the Aegis War is important, don't let that cloud your thoughts on what's happening in front of us right now. Our duty is to the future of the empire, and the safety of its people who are living right now. Not to the shoulders of the departed on which our world is built."

Brighid crossed her arms, looking at her, face to face, a long moment passing. "Hmph. You always did have a way with words."

"I was trained to be emperor before Niall was born, if you remember."

"I haven't forgotten." She turned away briefly, as if considering something. "Even so, I still worry. All of this has me thinking more about this than I normally do."

"Naturally. I can have someone investigate the matter for you, if you'd like?"

"You needn't waste the resources. I'll do some digging on my own time. Besides, if there is something going on, there's no reason to alert anyone about it."

"That would be wise."

She nodded, though her expression told Mòrag that this wasn't the end of the matter, but it was the best they could do right now. After a moment, Brighid, gently affixed her cap onto Mòrag's head, fussing with it until it met her standards.

Mòrag gestured to the door. "Shall we? It wouldn't be prudent to keep the Senate waiting any longer, would it? I imagine they won't be pleased about the Aegis' escape."

"The Senate is full of people who wouldn't know what happiness is if a gogol charged in and slammed them over the head with it. Personally, I think they could use a little time to squirm."

Mòrag let out a soft laugh, and they walked out the door to their suite together, as it had been for a long time.

Azurda perched on the edge of the chair the staff of the main military base in the capital had given him. He was wary of fully trusting his weight to it, so he leaned forward, elbows perched on his knees, and hands supporting his chin past the stony protuberance Rex had taken to calling his 'beard.'

His eyes fixed on his charge, his Driver. He looked even younger than he was, laid out on the medical bed like that.

It had been a small miracle that his Driver survived facing both of those members of Torna with nothing but bruises and a few broken ribs. The healer Blades had already mended the worst of the injuries over the course of a few treatments over the night. Now he simply needed rest and allow for time to heal the remainder.

Azurda might have dozed once or twice during the night, but he kept his vigil over Rex. It had given him plenty of time to ponder the day's events. And what an eventful day it had been.

Arriving in Alba Cavanich, the salvage bulge, taking on a job - without knowing it - from Torna, the Aegis and her Driver, the fights. He shook his head. Rex never seemed to stop, did he?

But thinking back on the members of Torna brought up a disturbing thought.

When he'd first seen it, he hadn't known what it was when the expression had crossed Mikhail's face But when the same happened with Lora, and then finally the Aegis, Pyra, he understood.

Each of them recognized him.

Or rather, they recognized the Titan from which he came, whose name Azurda shared. Each, like Rex, expecting someone else in his place.

He had insisted to Rex that he was his own person, made sure that he understood that he was not 'Gramps.' But it did make him wonder. What sort of being was the Titan, Azurda? What sort of impact had the Titan had on the members of Torna that they reacted like that?

It wasn't as though he had memories he could go searching through for answers. And he suspected that with how the conflict at the hot springs had gone that he might never get those answers. Not from them at least.

Perhaps he should ask Rex more about him, when he woke.

Azurda's eyes bolted open when the door to the room burst open, and he stood, his hand poised to summon his greatsword and defend his Driver.

But he relaxed when it admitted a small familiar figure, white cap flopping back and forth as she carefully closed the door. It was simply Poppi coming to visit in her usual rambunctious - and at the moment, welcome - manner. At least this time she wasn't slicing through the wall.

A smile graced his face as he greeted his first friend.

She made a slight bow in response. "Good morning." She tilted her head to the side, cap flopping with the motion. "Did Poppi wake Azurda? Azurda look very tired."

He let out a soft chuckle, carefully sitting back down. "I'm afraid I haven't gotten much sleep, watching over this one. But I admit, I'm glad to see you."

She beamed, planting her hands on her hips proudly. "Poppi does what Poppi can to be of service." She then reached behind her red cape, pulling out a small wrapped parcel, and presented it up to him, cradling it in two hands. "This is for Poppi's friend, Azurda!"

He carefully plucked the parcel out of her hands and unwrapped it. Steam wafted out, revealing a handful of buns of some sort.

"Poppi cannot eat, but they smell good to Poppi. Shop owner say they were called 'Sweet Lentil Buns,' and masterpon always say sweets can be good for waking up in morning. Even if scientifically inaccurate, Masterpon is happier after he eats, so Poppi bring them for Azurda and Rex."

For a moment, Azurda was lost for words, unsure of what to say. Even so, warmth spread out from his core. He plucked one of the buns with his fingers and placed it into his mouth.

It…really wasn't that good.

As he had been discovering over his short time being awakened, he wasn't the biggest fan of sweets. But he chewed and swallowed, giving Poppi a big smile in spite of the lackluster taste. "Thank you, my friend."

"Poppi is glad to be of service!"

He carefully rewrapped the parcel, setting it aside on the bedside table. "I would have thought you'd be with Tora. Where is the little rascal anyways?"

She drug another chair from across the room, climbed on top of it and sat proudly on it, legs straight out in front of her, but hands set primly in her lap. "Masterpon will likely not wake for a while. Stay up very late worrying about Rex after hearing he was here. Would not allow to visit during night."

"I see, so you came on your own this morning."

She bobbed her head. "Poppi was worried about Rex, but Poppi also worried about Azurda. Poppi knows how hard it can be to protect masterpon, and since Poppi's activation, Poppi has been consistently saving masterpon from himself. Does Azurda feel the same way?"

Azurda stroked his stony 'beard' in thought. "Although it's not exactly the same way, as you know Rex is quite a handful. Always jumping before he thinks." He sighed, looking over the still unconscious form of his Driver. "It can be admirable, and with what little I've seen of Alrest, I feel like more people could stand to be like him."

"Poppi knows what Azurda means. Rex has biiiig heart." She spread her arms wide to emphasize the point.

"Exactly."

He sighed, eyes drifting back over to Rex. It was that same big heart that he worried would get his Driver killed before his time.

"Initiating hug protocol."

He looked up in time to see Poppi take a small leap from her chair to his, landing on him and wrapping her arms stiffly around his neck. Azurda was shocked for a second, but after a moment, wrapped his arms around her.

The chair creaked and groaned, a dying wail as it was pushed well past its limit. It collapsed, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Poppi quickly got up, checking him over to make sure he was alright, but he simply stayed on the ground, pushing away the wrecked chair and pulling himself up to sit cross legged.

He chuckled. "I guess these weren't really made with us in mind."

"Does Azurda feel better?"

"Hmm?"

"Poppi noticed Azurda looked sad, so Poppi began patented 'hug protocol' to bring smile to Azurda's face. "

She was more observant than she let on.

"I suppose I am."

She stared long and hard at him, squinting, finger stroking her chin, almost like he did. After an awkward silence, she nodded decisively.

"Poppi has made a decision. Since Azurda is Poppi's friend, Poppi will watch over him like she does masterpon." She wagged a finger at him, and he wondered where she picked up the gesture. "After all, Poppi is older than Azurda, so it Poppi's duty to look after Azurda while Azurda look after Rex."

"I suppose I'll never live down those hours apart from our awakening, will I?" He shook his head, but found himself smiling. "I accept, but I'll be sure to look after you as well. It wouldn't do for this to only be one way after all."

Her face lit up with joy, and she stood on her tiptoes, holding out her hand in front of her. It came above Azuda's head. "Does Azurda promise?"

He eyed her hand.

"Is Nopon promise ritual," she explained cheerfully. "Hold hands out and 'boop' together!"

He held up his massive stony hand, which dwarfed her own. After a moment, he slapped it against hers.

"Promise ritual complete! Azurda cannot forget now."

"I surely won't."

Before long, she left, citing she would be back later with Tora. Azurda awkwardly explained the demise of a visitor's chair to the staff, and eventually he settled back into another one with a stern promise not to break it.

In the short weeks he'd been awakened, he'd only observed it, but maybe this was something of how being part of a family felt like. And if this was what it was like having Poppi be part of the 'family,' he'd take it.

He continued his vigil over his Driver, but this time, there was a smile lingering on his face.

# Warning: an attempt from unknown entity to breach data quarantine during manual override was detected. Running diagnostic on data quarantine.

# working…

# Data quarantine of corrupt data is intact. Run diagnostic on 'external memory bank': Y/N?

# Y

# working…

# Caution: several abnormal parameters detected in 'external memory bank.' Storing data for review.

# Alert: Communication file extracted from corrupt data. File patterns closely match the previous communication with unknown entity. Decode file: Y/N?

# Y

# working…

# Decoded. Review: Y/N?

# Y

#5768792069732065766572797468696e6720736fe280a6636f6c643f

# Respond: Y/N?

# Y

# What is your response?

#4920646f6e2774206b6e6f772c206275742049276d20747279696e6720746f206669677572652074686174206f75742e20446f20796f752072656d656d62657220796f7572206e616d653f

# Response sent.

# waiting…

# No further responses detected.

# Recommendation: discontinue data mining of corrupt data and purge data quarantine to preserve integrity of 'external memory bank' and prevent further abnormalities.

# Discontinue data mining and proceed with data purge: Y/N?

# N

# Are you sure you wish to continue data mining process of corrupt data: Y/N?

# Y

# Data mining process of corrupt data at 40% completion.

# working…

Chapter Text

"Wake up, Zeke!"

Hands grasped his shoulders, wrestling him back and forth, making his thudding headache increase. Groaning, he breathed in muggy, humid air and turned his head, feeling wet mud slid onto his cheek in the process.

"Ugh," he groaned articulately.

The first thing he realized as his mind stirred from the recesses of its drowsiness was that the ship Indol had let him use to track down Torna shouldn't have mud on it.

"Pandy, where in the blazes are we?" He pushed himself up, blinking in the darkness, gloves squelching in the muck underneath him. Behind him, Pandoria let out a happy sigh of relief.

"You're alright!" Electric ether phased to a bright point on the bulbs that made up her shoulders, hat and tail temporarily illuminating the wet, slimy stone walls of what looked to be a cave. "I mean, I would've known if you'd died, since I'd be donzo too, probably, but…"

"Of course I'm alright! I wouldn't let something so trivial off the mighty Zeke von Genbu." Though his headache blurred the memory of what it was, it was sure to come back to him. Standing, he tried and failed to wipe the muck off his overcoat, and quickly abandoned the effort. He moved to patting himself down in a quick inventory.

Pouch, Pandy, Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher.

Perfect.

Whipping to face his Blade - and in turn making the tails of his overcoat trail in tandem- he grinned in spite of the situation. "So, what did happen, anyways? I'm okay with dark and dank caves, or pit stops in dark and dark caves, but this is way too dark and dank to be Mor Ardain."

"Heh, turn around."

Hand on his hip, he whirled about again- noting with satisfaction that Pandoria timed it exactly to his with her hand on her opposite hip - and saw a veritable mess of wood, metal and Titan in a pulpy, chewed up mess.

The tiny Indoline titan ship, one of the smallest and most battered pieces of junk in their fleet, lay half submerged in a large standing pool of water. Half of it was still intact, but no way it was flying again, not with the small Titan dead as it was.

Zeke winced. "Oof. That's a rough way to go."

"Yeah, crunched straight in two by Uraya's maw."

A pensive eyebrow raised. "Uraya? They really need to get a handle on their Titan if it's going around munching on innocent passersby."

"Yeah, but everyone knows you don't approach Uraya from the front."

He'd heard that as well, and most of the time you could predict the orbit of the Titan generally enough to know where to stay away from. But the blasted thing often submerged itself under the cloud sea. So if that had happened…well, no wonder accidents like this happened. Must have been a nightmare to deal with.

"It must have raised out of the cloud sea and caught us completely off guard; there's no other explanation."

"Or something else happened." And from the way she said it, it seemed like she knew something. "You know how terrible your luck is."

"Oi! Careful where you go bandying about that sort of thing. Lady Luck is a fickle thing."

She rolled her eyes. "Luck or not, I don't think the Praetor's gonna give us another ship anytime soon."

"You've got that right." Hopefully the zealots in the Praetorium didn't take offense to Uraya's Titan doing this. He threw a thumb behind him at the half Titan. "So, when did that happen anyways?"

"We were sailing to Mor Ardain, remember?"

He tapped his finger midair. "Right, to get a start on finding those imposters and their shiny new world-ending weapon."

"Right." She tapped her finger midair in response. "You promised you'd take on the steering wheel. After setting our course, I figured it'd be simple enough to just go straight that even you couldn't mess it up."

"Hey!"

She sighed wistfully. "It was almost peaceful for a while, just me and the fish. Almost suspiciously peaceful. Then a huge shadow blocked out the sun, and when I looked back, I saw you standing asleep at the wheel, heading straight for Uraya's mouth!"

He twitched guiltily in response, memory flooding back, but waved his hand back and forth, dismissing the charge in a very convincingly innocent manner, thank you very much. "No, no, no, that's hogwash, my dear Pandy. I wasn't the one steering, so I had every right to take a snooze."

"Uh-huh. And how could anyone else steer if you're passed out on top of the thing?"

"Now, now." A sly smirk turned the corner of Zeke's mouth up as he shook a raised finger chidingly back and forth. "I think you're forgetting our secret weapon. Our third compatriot."

Hand sneaking into his overcoat, he grasped onto the tiny shell, the struggling little legs and whipped out the culprit for Pandoria to see. She gasped appropriately, hands going to her mouth. He appreciated the effort - four and a half stars out of five - even if he could tell it was staged.

"Behold, the culprit!" He gestured boldly with his free hand to the culprit in question. "The one who steered us into the deadly path of the Greatmaw of the Urayan Titan!"

"Uh…"

"You see, Turters here figured he needed a chance to shine. I figured he needed the practice, so I let him have it. He clearly had it handled, right Turters?"

Turters, being a turtle, didn't respond.

"Nice try."

Zeke moved in close to the little reptile and muttered, "Way to rat me out like that, Turters, old chum! I thought we had something going there for a moment." He shoved the traitorous mascot back into his overcoat. "So now, the question becomes why you didn't wake me up. Any theories there, hmm?"

"Weeell, I was in the middle of playing with some of the fish-"

"Wait, I thought you said you were fishing for dinner?"

"I can multitask! But I'd been at it for a while, and my mind drifted, and…you know…"

"Oh, so she admits it now." A smouldering smirk played out on Zeke's face. "You fell asleep too, didn't you? Uraya surprised you just as much as me."

A delicate flush played out on Pandoria's cheeks, and the bulb at the end of her tail flashed indignantly. Bingo. "How was I supposed to know that it was Uraya's dinnertime?"

"By staying awake, that's what." His hand curled finger by finger to his chin, "Although, at the end of the day, the Zekenator is a pretty good snack."

Pandoria made a very undignified snrk.

"What?" Zeke raised an auspicious eyebrow.

"Nothing. We should go find a port."

"Well, the only port I know of is in Fonsa Myma." There were probably other ports around the Titan, but he didn't have a map of the thing. They had originally planned on heading to Mor Ardain after all. So, Fonsa Myma it was.

"It's on the other side of Uraya," she pointedly reminded him.

"Then let's not waste any more time by hanging around here anymore then shall we? I for one want to leave this mess behind and give those Torna goons what's what."

"Onward!"

Bolstered by Pandoria's resolve, he took his first step away from the Greatmaw…and slipped, falling face first into the muck.

The whole of the pass was too quiet.

Vandham kept a watchful eye on the ground while his Blade, Roc, flew overhead to forewarn them of any potential hazards. It might give any ne'er-do-wells a heads up of where he and the caravan the Garfont Mercenaries had been hired to protect were, but it helped prevent ambushes from sneaking up on them.

Everyone was riled up with all the rumours of the Aegis goin' around. A floodgate of 'em opened up near after Vandham had gotten that message from Niranira, each more wild then the next. One of the farming villages near Garfont had hired them to protect their goods on the way to Uraya's capital in fear of the legendary Blade.

Fun as it might be to take a whack at the legendary Aegis, if the legends were true, there weren't much merc could do against them if she went all out. Far as Vandham could tell, hardly anyone had even seen her. But a job was a job, and there were threats closer to home that he and his mercs could handle.

This pass had always been dangerous - its most recent threat was an increase in Igna activity - but it was the quickest, albeit most dangerous, way to Uraya's capital of Fonsa Myma outside of taking the tunnels. Schlepping through caves might be faster, but that had its own share of dangers.

If it were just him, he'd do it; if you knew where you were going, it took a sizeable chunk of time off the route from the head of the Urayan Titan - where villages like Garfont were - to Uraya's capital near its back end.

'Long as you didn't mind the inevitable monster fights along the way, the caves were good trekking. However, with the small caravan he'd been hired to protect on the way to the capital, he didn't want to risk the caves. Pack armus spooked too easy in tight spaces anyways.

As he eyed Roc making another circle up above, he couldn't help but think that the usual types of dangers this pass provoked - even outside of the reported increase in Igna activity - were…lacking today. No humans or monsters had bothered them yet, and the terrain wasn't too bad either.

One of his mercs, Smaghi, caught up and matched Vandham's pace. "Hey Vandham, you think we'll actually make it through the pass today without any monsters threatening us? "

"Wouldn't be the first time, though it hasn't happened in a while."

They nodded, sagely. "Tell me about it. Monsters of all kinds typically swarm this place, but today, it's…quiet. Something feels different."

"Could be that someone else passed through ahead of us recently and got rid of them for us. Or scared them away," Vandham mused. "Might be a lucky break."

"You think so?"

"Could be, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. Nah, best keep on keeping an eye out, will ya?"

"Of course." Smaghi smiled. "Pragmatic as always. It's why I joined up with you in the first place."

Vandham slapped him on the back. "C'mon, we both know that's not the only reason!" Smaghi and his sister, Eslan, had joined when he rescued them from the mess of a mission that'd gone down in the Dragon's Throat 'couple years back. Rest of their original merc group that'd gone on that mission were dead. "Course I know you stayed 'cause of that pretty lady you've got your eye on."

He flushed, but smiled good-naturedly . "You know about that?"

"You serious? Pretty sure everyone in Garfont knows 'cept the both of you!"

Smaghi scratched his cheek, abashed. "So…do you think I have a shot?"

"You might if you act soon. Better give it a go before some other bloke snatches her up."

"Er…right."

"Just keep your guard up now and you'll get your chance when we get back."

Nodding, Smaghi broke off and kept going. Eventually, someone in the caravan called for a stop. One of the pack armu's crates had slipped loose, a frayed strap came up as the culprit. Vandham easily stepped in, hauling loose and fallen crates, and helped gather up loose cargo. He was in the midst of helping lash the cargo on when a small breeze picked up.

A faint, but foul scent caught his nose. Smelled like rot.

The breeze picked up again, amplifying the putrid stench. Muttering to the mercs that he'd be right back, Vandham circled the perimeter around the caravan, eventually meandering his way towards the mouth of a nearby cave. The stench seemed stronger over here.

As he neared the cave's mouth, he turned at the sound of the beat of wings, and saw Roc alight on a boulder nearby him. "Did something catch your interest?" they asked. "Everything still looks clear from the air."

"Something about this cave reeks." Peering a little further into the mouth of the cave, Vandham spotted the culprit, mumbling, "And this here looks like the perp."

A gentle wind whistled through the cave towards the mouth, bringing with it the stench of decaying flesh. It wasn't hard to figure that out based on the igna bodies near just past the cave's entrance, small insects were already tearing into the flesh.

Vandham grunted, rubbing his nose at the putrid smell. "This is different, ain't it? Last I heard, these ignas had just taken root here. Yew was saying to look out for them as we went along, right?"

Roc clicked their beak. "Yes that's right; your memory isn't that far gone, is it?"

"Sayin' I'm gettin' old are ya?" Letting out a belly laugh, Vandham pounded his Blade good-naturedly on the back. "I know I'm gettin' up there."

"We're not finished yet." Roc tilted their head towards the cave entrance. "Looks like something else cleared out the populace and moved in. No bonus for the mercs, I suppose."

"If the Ignas just moved in, then it'd be a while before a bounty on it forms anyways." Not that he'd have left them long enough for someone to be worried enough to make a bounty out of it. Peering around a little more at the bodies, Vandham's eyes narrowed. "But what if it wasn't something that done it, but someone?"

The Blade's feathery moustache twitched, intrigued. "Oh?"

Vandham gestured to the way the igna's lay. "Wild beasts and monsters wouldn't just waste good meat leaving 'em there like that. Humans wouldn't eat that stuff unless they're desperate." He prodded one of the bodies with his boot. "And look at these wounds. This weren't no monster claw that made them. That's sword and lance work. Some bullet wounds too."

"So someone's inside?"

"Looks like it. Whoever's in there don't want visitors. They want to send a message to wary passersby not to come in here and try their luck against a 'ferocious monster.'" Not that the pass was used as casually as slower, safer roads.

"Then it's too bad for them that we came by. You can't let things like this lie, can you."

"You know me too well! This could explain our 'lucky break' here. After I let the mercs know I'm taking a quick detour, let's give a little knock and see who answers."

"All I'm saying, Pandy," Zeke gesticulated articulately as he walked, "is that adding something sweet to something spicy completely ruins the experience of savouring the spice."

A drip from a stalactite pattered painlessly on a pond, punctuating his sentence. Ripples in the water glided over an insidious looking plant. Had he seen that before? Possibly, but best to avoid it, even if it hadn't turned out to be a huge monster the last time he'd seen one. He skirted around the pond, Pandoria following closely behind him.

"Yeah, no," she insisted. "I'd rather skip the part where my nose clears itself out faster than a raging Gogol."

"That's the best part!" he insisted back. "My sinuses are never clearer save right after the spiciest of dishes. And that's only a small piece of the quintessential experience that you're always missing out on."

"So the fact that it destroys your insides is part of the experience?"

"Absolutely! If you're going to enjoy the hottest of foods - like the great Hero Addam always did - you have to have the full package. All the bells and whistles. You can't wuss out by diluting it by sweetening it up."

"Riiight," she drawled.

Zeke paused at an intersection of the cavern, hand slipping to his chin. Two equally dark maws of a cave lit only by dim, glowing flora yawned ahead of them. Two equally dank and dismal directions that could get them out of these caves and towards the capital.

Or deeper into the cavernous depths of Uraya.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Pandoria's sigh echoed in the small area.

"What? No! Don't change the subject," Zeke protested. "Besides, even if that plant back in the water over there looks familiar, it's only because it's a common variety of local flora. I read it in a guidebook once."

"The same guidebook that told you it was a good idea to take shortcuts through caves?"

"No, different guidebook. We've only been traveling for maybe two or three days. The path through these caves supposedly spit us out soon at some dangerous pass. That dangerous pass joins back into another cave that leads almost directly to the capital. We've got to be getting close to that first exit at this point."

His stomach chose that moment to protest at its lack of sustenance.

"It'd better be soon. Cave routes don't have villages to resupply."

"Come now, we've faced worse, so no need to worry, Pandy. I won't let something as trivial as hunger get the better of the Bringer of Chaos and his…illustrious partner."

"You really must be hungry if you can't think of a title for me."

"Pah! We only need the sustenance of the chaos of the cosmos to fuel our cavernous escape. So!" He wetted the end of his finger, holding it aloft in the air a few moments. "From the way the air is flowing, this tunnel on the right has to wind out into the main path the guidebook was talking about. And if a go-getter, adventurer type Nopon says it's faster to go through the tunnels to get to Fonsa Myma, then who are we not to believe them?"

"He probably knew where he was going." Out of the corner of his eye, Pandoria crossed her arms. "Actually, haven't we seen that stalagmite before in that cave you're thinking of going through?"

Narrowing his eyes, Zeke walked slightly into the path on the right and squatted down, examining the curly piece of rock. He leaned in close enough that his nose almost touched. He sniffed it, circling about it with an extremely critical eye.

It did look somewhat familiar. He cursed inwardly. She had him there.

He straightened up, raising his hand to his chin. "Possibly. B-b-b-but, that doesn't mean we're lost just yet. That just means we know for sure what path to take this time."

She sighed in a long-suffering manner, which he appreciated. "Just remember that the longer we miss the mark here, the more Torna's gonna have the chance to wreak havoc. I say once we get out of Uraya's nooks and crannies, we take the obvious way. Should be easier to navigate."

"Alright, I'll concede, but…" He paused, noticing movement from the pool of water nearby. He stepped closer, eye narrowing. He lowered his voice. "Hey, hold up a second. Flowers don't usually…wiggle like that, right?"

"Wiggle?"

It was at that moment that the 'flower' sprung up out of the water, sending water spaying across the walls of the cavern as it stood. Far more fauna than flora, this one.

His hand whipped back to the hilt of the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher and batted away a projectile seed spat their way that almost hit Pandoria. "They don't look excited to see us!"

She yelped and reflexively established their affinity link. Good thing too, since he had to start stepping up his game to slice through more incoming projectiles. An inert Blade weapon only went so far.

"Look out!" she yelled.

He dived away from a spikey looking vine like tendril slammed down with enough force to make the cave rumble. "Looks like we stirred a really strong one, too."

"There's hardly any room here for us to move around. We should lead them to an area better suited to our style."

"Just what I was thinking, Pandy! It's almost like we've been working together for years. In fact," a sly grin slipped back onto his face, "I have an idea that might just work to get us out of our current predicament."

"What is it?"

Standing straight, he slung the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher onto his back, flashing a smouldering smile. "You'll see."

He ran in the opposite direction, Pandoria right behind him.

Like all of Uraya, there was illumination inside the cave. Unlike the bigger outer stretches where the patches of the Titan's translucent carapace and skin allowed light to filter in when the continental Titan wasn't submerged, the caves usually had glowing flora you could see well enough by.

After a decent amount of time winding through the tunnel Roc called a stop, whispering, "There's life up ahead."

Vandham nodded, knowing Roc could read the air better than he could. Taking a slower stride, though it was rougher to make his massive frame not make too much noise, he snuck forward. Up ahead it was brighter, signalling the cave opened up more where more glowing plants would be congregated.

Sure enough, he found a lookout posted. Or, more accurately, he found them snoozing on the job, arms crossed, chin resting on their chest as they leaned against the wall of the cave. He knocked the guy out silent like without a peep from him and continued onward.

Murmuring voices were starting to peek around the corner, and he stopped, not daring to try and lean outward and take a peek. Stealth wasn't his style and didn't work with how big his frame was. Maybe when he was younger and dumber he would've charged in, but he had too many years and scars to try that nowadays. He tapped his eyes and pointed to Roc, who nodded. He'd keep watch.

Closing his eyes, their affinity link burst to life, and Vandham waited while Roc worked his ether manipulation. A little 'trick,' he'd cooked up not too long ago. Wind rustled faintly around his ears and suddenly he heard.

Wincing at the onrush of heightened sound, he tuned out the gentle ambiance, and sounds of people moving, focusing purely on their voices.

"-much longer do you think it'll be till Waldemar comes back?" Their accent was Urayan, a woman.

"Dunno." Another Urayan accent, a bloke this time. "I'm starting to get worried. You don't think the empire or the kingdom found him out and offed him do ya?"

"I'm still here, thank you." A terse, annoyed and young sounding girl, her accent sounded like a Blade's.

"Oh, right, sorry."

He heard the Blade scoff. "This whole deal's been shady from the start. We shouldn't have taken it in the first place."

"Shady?" The Urayan bloke again. "Nothing about what we do isn't shady, Theory. Besides, you know how much this many cores are worth, right? Once they're sold, we'll be home free. Won't ever have to deal with it for years when it goes through."

Vandham's hand had curled into a fist as he listened. He'd met Waldamar before. Nasty piece of work he'd been. But sounded like he was heading a core crystal hunter group now. That kind of work was always something of a grey area, but it tended to attract the wrong sort of people.

He heard the Blade, Theory, snort. "They're useless if our buyer's gone missing completely. With everything that's going on, it feels too convenient that we can't get into the capital to rendezvous with the seller in the first place."

"I know what Praxis said about security in Fonsa Myma going bonkers, but there's other ways in, other avenues of trade. And if needs be, other buyers."

"Not with that kind of sale price there isn't." the Urayan woman again. "That's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Well," another girl, another Blade accent, lots of pep to their voice, annoyance clear, "then we just have to find another way, another strategy, that's all. Waldemer's pretty good about that, right, Theory?"

"Sure," Theory responded, before sighing. "You'd think the world would be more distracted by the awakening of the 'Aegis' or whatever's happening. But if anything, everyone's on high alert. And it doesn't sound like it'll die down any time soon."

Considering what happened last time Alrest had an Aegis - or maybe two - running around, Vandham had a feeling the world would keep getting crazier. Things weren't likely to calm down anytime soon.

"We'll adapt. We always have."

The conversation wound its way to less dire topics and Vandham opened his eyes. Roc cut off the ether manipulation and twerked their moustache questioningly. Vandham put a hand out flat and wobbled it back and forth. Could be tricky. Sounded like there were just the two Blades in there without their Driver, mixed with a handful of other bandits.

Vandham mulled it over. From the names of the Blades mentioned, he recognized this as the errant core crystal hunting group from mercenary writ he'd taken. Blasted piece of luck if it is, finding them while it's just Roc and me. With the way they were talking about pricing, and with rumours flying around about the Aegis, it was no wonder two major nations were making them a priority target.

Uraya and Mor Ardain had been tip-toeing around their ceasefire for a while, racking up cores for more Drivers. With the Aegis back, it could be the tipping point for another war. Part of him wondered if it'd been Uraya who had hired the group to nick the cores for the kind of money they were talking about. Could be, but he doubted it.

But what to do about the core hunters here? Should he try and take them on his own? Especially with a couple of Blades - even if their Driver was gone - it could get ugly on his own. Best if he got more backup from the mercs.

Vandham started to walk away, thinking it'd been too bad that he'd knocked the lookout out as that'd probably spook 'em once they found out. Better make it a quick trip to the caravan for some backup, then bash some heads-

A tremendous boom shook the cavern and Vandham braced his hand against the wall of the cave. He didn't need Roc's little trick to hear the bandits anymore, even if it was just confused shouts and yells. The shaking increased before there was another loud crack, followed by what sounded like rocks falling.

He couldn't help himself and moved over to peek into the entrance of the cavern. Like he expected, the cavern was quite a spot larger than the rest of the cave, and was lit with loads of glowing plants. The area was circular, relatively flat - though the middle was piled high with rocks - and he could just make out another tunnel on the other end leading further in.

Glancing up, he quickly saw the reason for the ruckus and the rocks: the roof had caved in, exposing the remains of another tunnel above. The rocks had all fallen down near the center of the cavern, crushing a couple of unlucky bandits while others had managed to get away. Just like he'd heard, there were just the two Blades, weapons out towards the source of the rockfall.

Vandham expected a monster to appear once the dust settled a bit. And there certainly was; a Blant - one of those nasty plants monsters, a big one too - curling up on itself as it slowly dissipated into motes of electric ether. A shadowy figure backflipped off the dissipating corpse, landing and emitted a bombastically ecstatic laugh.

"IT WORKED! HAHA!"

Through the settling dust, a glow emanated from within the cloud. The glow of a large Blade weapon - a massive sword - still sparking.

"Wow, that actually worked."

One of the Blade girls - that was Praxis, if he remembered right- stalked forward, megalance in hand. "Who do you think you are, dropping in here like that?"

The shadow of the figure whirled towards them. "Oh? Who am I? Well," The same voice chuckled again, echoing almost menacingly. "That depends, doesn't it?"

The dust settled on a smirking tall, well-built younger man with grey hair, eyepatch covering one eye. A large overcoat, open to his bare chest and far too many belts to be practical. The man swung the Blade weapon to the side and then casually balanced it on his shoulder.

Nearby, a Blade girl with nearly teal green hair and large round glasses smirked in a mirror of her Driver. Said Driver flashed a smile that somehow caught light from the phosphorescent flora, glinting merrily off his teeth.

What was up with this guy?

Just when the silence had gone on long enough to be awkward, he threw out his arms wide. "Behold! I am the wings of justice fallen from the heavens, the-"

The bandits didn't seem impressed with his posturing either and the Blades didn't waste time with words, rushing forward to engage him. The others wisely stayed further back.

Reacting quickly for the size of the weapon – quicker than most Drivers with weapons that size even - the man flamboyantly weaved in and out of the attacks, before striking back, driving them away.

"Hey, that's just rude!" Zeke yelled.

The Blades recovered quickly and the young man sidestepped the stab of the lance from one and back flipped away from the ice spire springing up from the other, landing crunched, but in a good position to move.

He straightened and pointed accusingly at the Blades with his free hand. "You should at least let a man introduce himself before swinging weapons like those around." He shook his head disapprovingly. "Inconceivable, am I right, Pandy?"

His Blade nonchalantly shrugged, tail flicking back and forth, a lightbulb glinting on the end. "Wouldn't expect anything different. Bandits, probably."

"Hiding in caves, attacking completely innocent strangers, interrupting introductions." Vandham saw his eye flick over to a container in which he could see a core crystal ready to resonate poking out. That eye narrowed dangerously, and something real seemed to enter into his voice. "Stealing innocent Blades. You really do tick all the wrong boxes."

Praxis grit her teeth. "You can't just throw accusations like that around when you literally just crushed a couple of us by pulling that stunt! We're just mercenaries on a dangerous monster extermination mission. Those cores were resonated with monsters and we picked them up after defeating them."

"You aren't innocent in this," Theory intoned.

A blatant lie, Vandham knew, but they were just stalling, and the other bandits were moving around to flank the young man.

"Oh, jolly sorry about that. But that doesn't change attacking me unprovoked like that, and striking to kill, too! That gave you away." He eyed the cores again. "If I had to guess, you lot are core crystal hunters, and some friends of mine have gotten right ticked off at your lot. I might even have an idea of exactly who you are, too."

"So what?" The Blade girl with the megalance snapped. "Why do you care?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you." He leaned forward, examining the lot. "But you're obviously not anywhere near fearsome enough to be Torna, so I'll bet you must be the core crystal hunters that got too big for their britches." He shook his head. "Honestly, stealing core crystals allocated to Driver recruitment for the Ardainian Empire? What were you thinking? Bet your point of contact for selling them is somewhere in Fonsa Myma."

There was silence.

"I'm right on the nose, aren't I?" His tone turned gloating as he shook a disapproving finger at them and his Blade copied the movement. "Bold, but stupid of you to think you'd get away with that."

The core crystal hunters moving around the man to flank him got closer but the young man continued as if he didn't notice them, his free hand went over his eyepatch. "You cannot hide from true justice, for that is that power that I, Zeke von Genbu possess. The eye of shining justice sees through all shadows you try to weave."

The Blade stepped forward. "Eh, we got lost, and he got frustrated, then that monster attacked."

The pall of menace that the Driver had been building broke in an instant. It was difficult to tell if it was intentional or not.

"Oi! You can't just out me like that right now, Pandy."

"You can handle them. They don't have their Drivers here."

"Praxis, Theory!" one of the other bandits yelled. "Let's just kill the clown, already. His Blade'll be a nice bonus for us."

That seemed to be all the reasoning they needed, and the fight broke out again.

Vandham turned to Roc, and Roc raised a questioning eyebrow. "You're getting involved, aren't you."

Unhooking his dual scythes, Vandham grinned. "Absolutely. He's got some skill and he's not on their side. That's good enough for me right now."

Their affinity link flared, and Vandham rushed into the cavern, quickly taking out one, then two of the core crystal hunters. His interference didn't go unnoticed for very long. One of the bandits cursed, and called out, "Ambush from behind! Push through and fall back to the escape craft!"

The flamboyant young Driver seemed to realize that would be a bad thing and quickly zipped in front of the way Vandham had come in. "Now hold on a moment, chaps. I can't in good conscience let you do that - wait, why are they going deeper into the caves."

Definitely not a local if he didn't know where they were planning on going. Vandham hurled the dual scythes to Roc who quickly kicked up a windstorm to block the way, much to the bandits' chagrin. "They're headed to a small hole that'll lead to an exit of the Titan."

"A hole in your Titan, huh? Bet that's a hassle for you all to deal with."

Vandham shrugged. "And more of those holes keep poppin' up; one of Uraya's worst kept secrets. Wouldn't be good if everyone started hearin' that we've got a few holes popping up in our boat last few decades, would it? So naturally everyone in the underworld exploits them. The kingdom knows about most of 'em, but only so much they can do."

"No kidding. Well, old man, what say we pair up and smash these ruffians? It's not everyday you get to fight along Thunderbolt Zeke."

"Old man?" Vandham snorted. "Long as you don't trip me up or let them get away, we'll do alright."

"Heh. Buy me some time and you'll see something awesome. You remember the thing, Pandy?"

The Blade, 'Pandy,' blinked. "Which one?"

"You know, the," he made a motion like unsheathing a regular sword, followed by a quick zig-zagging motion with one of his fingers, making exaggerated swooshing noises with his mouth, "thing."

"Oh! Riiight. That thing. Of course. How could I forget."

Zeke rolled his eyes and tossed the sword to his Blade. She caught the massive sword, shoving the blade in the dirt and to Vandham's surprise, pulling out the hilt and part of the blade as a staff. "Keep 'em occupied a second for me."

Letting them do their thing, Vandham rushed over to the exit, charging through a couple of the bandits that thought to try and catch him unawares. Bracing himself — and trusting Roc's ability to manipulate wind ether carefully — he stepped into the windstorm, a rock in the cyclone, until he was its eye, staring the thieves in their eyes.

The wind dissipated, and Vandham caught the scythes as Roc tossed them back to him, landing purposely hard, spreading their wings out to be more intimidating. Vandham went into a careful defensive stance. The bandits glared at him.

He grinned and gave them his best 'I'd like to see you try,' look.

Praxis' visible eye widened. "You!"

"Sorry, can't let you all past."

Grimacing, the Blade in front, Theory, the one with the katana and ice lookin' gaze, slashed forward. He let Roc's ether barrier tank it as he rushed to cut her off. She braced, gettin' ready to dodge probably, and at the last moment, he whirled his duel scythes to intercept Praxis' lunge with her megalance.

Catching the shaft on the blades of his scythes, he tugged hard, drawing power from Roc for an extra push to hurl her up and back. Blade as she was, she took in stride, letting go of her lance and ducking under Vandham's follow up.

She didn't take into account the blast of wind ether from Roc that followed, propelling her back. Theory was there a second later, covering for her recovery. Seemed they hadn't lost their synergy. It was hard to say how much they were hampered by their Driver not being there aside from the additional punch of ether that came from it.

Unfortunately, engaging the Blade like he was allowed some of the core hunters past. What was Zeke doing back there?

Little balls of sparks started dancing on the ground around them, with little lines of electricity connecting them, growing larger by the second. Theory was momentarily distracted by it enough that Vandham landed a solid kick to her stomach, barrelling her into the wall of the cavern. The water megalance user filled in the gap while she recovered.

"Finally, thought you were sleepin' on the job back there!"

"Get ready! Chain of Chaos - Transcendent Discharge!"

Not a moment later, Zeke - with Pandy gripping her arms around him tightly - whipped by him, standing on the flat of the blade of the sword like a plank of wood, holding the electrically charged staff. Flashing between points of electricity Pandoria had laid down, he battered the thieves that hadn't gotten through, then shifted to attacking Praxis' ether barrier. Their strikes kept getting faster and faster as they zipped back and forth, staggering her and not giving her time to retaliate.

The pair jumped off their makeshift ride, sending the blade of the sword towards Praxis' barrier, cracking it. The blade zipped back, reconnecting it to the staff, sword once more, before Zeke slammed it into Praxis' barrier, shattering it, and throwing her back.

"Praxis!"

Theory disengaged him and rushed over, forcing Zeke back with minuscule spikes of ice that danced at his boots. She picked up Praxis, slinging her over her shoulder, and rushed towards the exit. She only stopped momentarily to put up small barrier of ice to keep them at bay.

Vandham let out a curse, ardun-rushing the ice blockade with help from Roc, and followed the thieves down the tunnel. Zeke was close behind him. The whine of an engine starting echoed through the tunnel.

The way opened up again to what he'd almost describe as a shore, with a bunch of glowing moss lighting the area. An underground lake, except with the hole in the Urayan Titan, the cloud sea had spilled into the water. The thieves were piling into a small Titanvessel, already launching off the shore.

"Praxis, Theory, get on!"

The katana wielder turned, grunting in annoyance, jumping the distance onto the vessel. Vandham might be able to make the jump with Roc, but decided against it.

Instead, making one last move, Vandham tossed the scythes crossways, aiming more as a desperation shot than anything. Theory knocked the scythes away, and Roc drew them back to him on an ether line. The vessel disappeared into the fluff of the cloud sea at the back of the cavern, and into one of Uraya's cysts.

But Vandham had a feeling he'd see them again.

"Well, that was something."

"You can say that again, Pandy." Zeke grinned. "The 'Chain of Chaos - Transcendent Discharge" worked just like we planned!"

"Yup! But uh…" She turned to Vandham. "Too bad they got away, huh? Sorry about that."

Vandham eyed Zeke and Pandy coolly, sheathing Roc's scythes. "With the way you entered, it's about as good as I could have hoped for."

"Were you hunting them down?"

"I've got a writ out for their capture and retrieval of the cores they stole, but it was just luck stumbling on them like this." He'd have to send some feelers out to find them again. The reward would still be worth the manpower, expended at least. "Even if it took you a second, that trick of yours was powerful."

Zeke beamed at the praise. "As it should be. Pandy and I have been coordinating that one for ages."

"It also could easily have gotten you and anyone you're working with killed if you miss."

"Good thing I don't miss." Zeke eyed him again. "Say, do you happen to know the way to Fonsa Myma?"

"We're totally lost, and out of food," his Blade piped up.

"No need to come right out of the gate saying that!"

Vandham broke out into a big laugh, partly real, partly to throw them off. "Shoulda just said you were hungry! Come on. I'm travelling with a caravan towards the capital. Should be able to spare some grub if you pull your weight! You can start by rounding up the ones we knocked out."

Vandham eyed the duo as they rounded up the unconscious thieves. The two were clearly powerful and had a lot of skill to work together like that. But what did they really want, past food and directions? As much as they postured, he'd seen a hint of something more past all of that.

He wasn't cruel, so he'd throw them a bone, but keep a watchful eye on them. If nothing else, they'd liven up the rest of the trip.

The whole of Alrest stirs as a legend comes to life once more.

The people wait with bated breath, fear and anticipation hanging over their daily lives, remembering in hushed whispers what happened the last time Mythra 'graced' the land with her presence. The pieces of the world that were forever lost beneath the clouds. The Titans forever changed by her and Malos' battles.

Some of them have forgotten Malos. No matter how much my old Driver tries to preserve that truth, humans will be humans. And humans only remember things when it suits them.

All seem to have forgotten the woman behind the myth, muddled by time. Even I, who knew her personally, sometimes struggle to separate fact from fiction nowadays. Five hundred years of hearsay is a lot to compare to the brief time I travelled with her.

But in my memories, she struggled and grew, laughed like any other person. Brash, certainly, but by the end, I could tell how she cared deeply for her comrades, even if she struggled to show it, even if she kept herself apart from us. I often wonder if things might have been different if there was just a little more time to breathe. A little more time to think. A little more time to talk.

But time is never kind, and it ran out too quickly for that merry little band trapezing through the Golden Country. Now, I simply wonder if she'll ever make it to my little corner of the world. It would be nice to catch up with an old comrade.

And yet, the recent description of her Driver coming out of the empire has me puzzled. The logical side of myself wants to believe it's just a coincidence, but with everything I've seen, I can't help but wonder.

Is that really you, Lora?

Chapter Text

Mòrag waited dutifully on the right hand of the Ardainian throne where Emperor Niall sat. Her hands remained locked in a parade rest behind her back as the Senators filed out for a short recess. The emergency session had been called in a hurry, so though a few Ardainian senators absent from the capital were not yet present, she had no doubt they would be in the coming days.

Aegaeon stood -  as constant as the tides - on the left of the throne of the emperor, a calming presence from the flurry of debate that had been the proceeds of the meeting. Outrage at her failed attempt to capture the Aegis, the ramifications of how this would affect their tenuous ceasefire with Uraya, Brionac's recent silence and a multitude of other topics.

Brighid currently was absent, officially to handle a matter that had cropped up near the beginning of the meeting. Mòrag would not be surprised if she used part of the time to begin her own investigation into her journal. She momentarily closed her eyes as the last of the senators finally left. Exhaustion pricked at her mind, but she steeled herself against it.

"Sister," Niall began gently, and she opened her eyes, "you know that you need not stay any longer that you have relayed your report about Torna, the Aegis and her Driver."

"I am aware that my duty in this is done, your majesty," Mòrag responded carefully. The report given to the Ardainian Senate was more or less the same briefing given to Niall before the meeting began.

"Do you have more to add? If you have any additional insights outside of your report, I would be more than happy to hear them."

She hesitated, considering. "Circumstantial evidence seems plain to suggest that the Aegis and her Driver are colluding with Torna, and that Lora was a member of their ranks before resonating."

"You said as much to the senate."

She nodded. "Yes, but the more I think on it, the more it sticks in my mind. The evidence is just that: circumstantial."

Aegaeon's hand drew to his chin. "What are you suggesting? That there may be dissension in their ranks?"

"True unity is rare in any terrorist group," Mòrag mused. "I would be more surprised if there was not any infighting between their members. Assuming it wasn't a lie or misdirection, it appears clear that the Aegis and her Driver are aiming for Elysium."

Aegaeon nodded. "Considering it was their organization that awakened her, it would logically follow that the rest of Torna is united in that goal at least."

"Yes," Mòrag agreed. "For the time being, I believe that to be the case. However…" She paused, deliberating her words carefully. "When I fought against Lora, her strikes weren't aiming to kill, merely buying time to escape. She was…holding back in that way. The same holds true with the others of my unit that she fought in the skirmish on the main floor. Injured, but alive."

Niall let out a thoughtful hum. "So you believe she might be able to be reasoned with?"

Mòrag considered it. "Given the right circumstances, possibly. With the impression I believe I left with her, it may be difficult to approach her and the Aegis without conflict. More so if the other members of Torna are present. "

"For the safety of the empire," Aegaeon advised, "it is imperative that we discover why the Aegis and her Driver seek Elysium. For once, the senate is in agreement: we cannot allow Torna to act unhindered on our soil, especially with the Aegis and her Driver present."

A thoughtful expression seemed to sneak onto Niall's face. "Not officially, no."

Mòrag's eyes narrowed. "What are you implying, your majesty? That we allow them to run rampant without action on our part?"

"You are aware of the legends of the Aegis war." It was not a question. Of course she did. "If we are not careful, there's no telling what destruction we might unleash upon our nation. So, perhaps instead of throwing our forces at capturing the Aegis and her Driver, why not negotiate with them?"

"Negotiate?" Aegaeon crossed his arms disapprovingly, skepticism lacing his voice. "With terrorists? That sets a dangerous precedent."

"Not with terrorists, no," Niall clarified with a sly twinkle in his eye. The same kind of look that he got as he was growing up that told her mischief was afoot. "With the Aegis and her Driver. Officially, we would still aim to capture them of course, and if a negotiation fails, we can resume that course of action."

"As I said," Mòrag briskly reminded him, "I do not know how she would react to coming into contact with me again."

"Perhaps if she was approached by someone without your…commanding presence, she would be more amenable to discussion. Whether you go in disguise, or send another, I will leave the particulars to you." He smiled, and Mòrag knew the matter was settled.

She dipped her head. "Very well, your majesty."

"Excellent. Would you have time to join me for lunch before the senatorial session resumes?"

"Ah, looks like he's coming 'round."

Rex groaned, blinking rapidly, blurry vision slowly clearing. He rubbed his eyes, netting him little eyeball crusties, which he flicked away. When he moved his hand away, Azurda came into view, leaning over him, grassy mane framing his face as his piercing yellow eyes shone with worry.

"Azurda," Rex tried to say as he sat up, though it came out more as a cough. His Blade handed him a glass of water, which he drank, eagerly.

"Thank goodness Rex-Rex is alive!"

Swallowing, Rex looked past the foot of the bed he was on - noting briefly that he seemed to be in some sort of medical facility - to see the familiar shining eyes of Tora and Poppi. Tora was holding a half-eaten bun filled with what looked like some sort of lentil paste. His stomach growled at the thought of food, but he ignored it for now.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked.

"Rex-Rex kidding, right?" Tora began hopping up and down, a mixture of excitement and worry covering his face. "After hearing about confrontation from last night, Tora so worried that Tora could barely sleep!"

"Though all-nighters often in line with masterpon's typical sleep schedule, nearly all of time was spent worrying before collapsing of exhaustion." Poppi shook her head in a sort of exaggeratedly exasperated way. "Masterpon even skipped free breakfast to come see Rex first. This clear sign of approval and favoritism. Poppi believes Rex-rex have no family to visit him in Mor Ardain, so masterpon have idea to come visit in their stead."

"So as soon as Tora woke up," the Nopon continued, "Tora and Poppi come to see if Rex-rex was alright. And Tora get here just in time too to see friend wake up!"

Rex grinned sheepishly, "Aw, thank you guys. And sorry. I didn't mean to worry you all that much."

Walking closer, Tora peered expectantly at him, a glint of excitement in his eyes. "So…" the Nopon cleared his throat in a deliberate, awkward sort of way, "what was Rex-rex's fight with Aegis and Driver like? What was power of Bladiest Blade like?

Blinking in confusion, Rex tilted his head. "Bladiest Blade? What do you mean?"

"That what word around street is saying, that Rex-rex and Mòrag fight with Aegis and her friends! People in street saw flames leap up from rooftop near Jakalo Inn! Heard and felt landslide too!"

Rex shifted on the bed uneasily. "That's…not what happened. Or, I guess there were flames, and a landslide, but it was Mòrag who fought them. Pyra and Lora, the Aegis and her Driver, I mean, but I…" he trailed off.

His mind turned back to memories of the last night. The conviction in Lora and Pyra's voices, Mòrag shouting at him to not go after Torna, being batted aside like a toy by Mikhail, the pain in Nia's eyes as she drove him and Azurda back into the hot spring.

"Rex-Rex?"

"She…Nia," Rex started, uncertain for a moment. But no, when he stopped and really thought about it, it was true. "No, they all had…pain. I could see it. In their eyes."

Poppi tilted her head at his statement. "Torna member's eyes were hurting?"

"Er, not physical pain, but pain that comes from here." He tapped his heart. "Different types for each of them, sure, but it was there."

There was a part of him that was…angry about it. Even though in the back of his mind he knew that nothing was simple, there was a small, angry part of himself had hoped that maybe Torna were just simple terrorists.

"Those 'psychopaths' happen to be the closest thing to a real family I have!"

But having talked to each of them - Nia on the ill fated voyage to recover the Ancient Ship, Mikhail over the course of that salvage run, and hearing Lora and Pyra's conviction in the Jakolo Inn - he knew, even though he didn't understand why, that all of them were hurting.

"What would you and your stupid idealistic nonsense know about pain?"

That, in the end, they were people. People whose choices, influenced by the state of Alrest, lead them to where they were. He quashed the anger as best he could.

As if reading his thoughts, Azurda hummed lightly, considering. "Though I suppose I may not be the best source of information, I imagine none of them decided to become terrorists on a whim."

Nia's words echoed in his head and he shook it lightly. "No. People aren't that simple."

"Rex-rex feel sorry for them?"

"Don't get me wrong, I still want to punch their stupid faces." Especially Malos. How could he not, after witnessing his wanton slaughter of the Maelstrom's crew, after seeing Jin and Nia's complacency in the act? "It's just…sad, I guess. I don't understand them, Torna."

As the conversation dwindled into other topics and a nurse brought in a meal for Rex and Azurda - part of which ended up going to Tora - throughout the rest of Tora and Poppi's stay, a question lingered in the back of his mind.

Why did Torna want to go to Elysium?

"This really is a shame."

The sound of the voice stirred Mikhail. He wished it hadn't, as he was immediately greeted with pain so horrible that he couldn't bring himself to move, let alone cry out. It didn't take long for him to remember why he was in so much pain.

A core crystal.

The idea of shoving a core crystal into someone had never occurred to Mikhail before that man did it to him, him and dozens of others. The pain still pulsed out of sync with his heart, sending a fire underneath his skin; a second beat. Ever present.

He wanted to whimper in pain, wanted to cry out for Lora, for Jin or Haze. But Haze was gone, returned to her core like other Blades do. And the only time he knew that happened was when the Driver died.

'Starting today, we'll be your new family,' Lora had told him.

But his family was gone.

How long had it been? Everything had been a haze since that day.

"A shame? How do you mean?"

It was another voice, and he recognized the accent, though he wished he didn't. Both of those voices were Indoline. Or, maybe they were Blades? But that seems unlikely.

There was a sigh from the first voice, and a mechanism whispered as it started running. Light filtered in from beyond his clenched eyelids. The whine is the noise of a hatch opening. He…didn't know how he knew that so instinctively.

The core pulsed and his skin burned.

"They could have been something special. Now, they're nothing but refuse to be dumped out like trash. So it goes, I guess."

The other voice grunted in a noncommittal way, but it was tinged with regret.

Through the haze of pain, Mikhail finally remembered why he was here. They were going to dump him, him and every other Tornan refugee they'd taken in. The thought of it made Mikhail's empty stomach churn.

Only a handful of others had been 'successes,' with implanted core crystals of their own. They clung to each other in any way that they could, but it didn't matter. One by one they died.

Cellular rejection, mutation, loss of motor function. There had been other phrases he heard, but none of them really meant much to Mikhail.

To him, someone already closed in on himself, he shut down a little more with each death. Shut down so much that the guards reported him as brain-dead. A part of him knew he wasn't, but in some ways he might as well be. He just wanted the pain to stop.

Before long, all of the "successes" were gathered and taken to a ship. This ship.

"Are we really doing this?" It was the second voice again, they still sounded conflicted.

"They're dead."

"I know that, but…"

"It's better send off than they would have gotten. Besides, when you can't afford a burial plot, you return them to the sea of clouds from which all life is born."

"Well, yeah. But it's still…"

"So the last three trips were fine? Look, if you can't stomach it any more, get out of the way so we can do our job."

The second voice retreated, muttering under their breath. He felt someone pick him up, and Mikhail let out a groan as the light grew brighter end behind his clenched eyes. Everything had felt too bright since that day.

"Hold up," the second voice calls, "I think that boy is still alive."

"Our orders were to dump them all, same as the last ones. Besides, he's as good as dead as the rest of them."

"But he's still alive. Surely you can't just- wait, no!"

Mikhail heard a struggle, getting closer. The sound of a gun. He felt a shock go through him as he was abruptly dropped back onto the hard, unforgiving metal.

He pried his eyes open in time to see the eyes of the Indoline that had been carrying him unfocus and go still on the floor beside him. Eyes like glass. It's not the first time he's seen a dead body. Lora had found him as the only survivor in a burnt out village after all. But he still didn't like it.

Even though everything hurt, he rolled away from it, unwilling to face that right now. But he kept rolling end over end as gravity overtook him, taking him down a ramp. He caught sight of alternating glimpses of the too-bright light of the moon and three people caught in a struggle.

"No!" It was the voice that had protested.

Suddenly, there wasn't anything left to roll on, and he began to fall. He caught a glimpse of a horrified looking Indoline man standing on the edge of the ramp. A moment later, the image is replaced by the unforgivingly bright sight of the moon as he rolled over in the air.

But the image of the man - the horror, the shame stuck on a gaping face stuck in his mind, and a spark of something ignited within him, burning past the pain of the core crystal in his chest.

Anger. He clung to that.

Without any fanfare, the Cloud Sea swallowed him.

"So. You're terrorists."

Mikhail's hands momentarily froze in the midst of assembling what he could for the Marsanes from the parts he obtained from the capital. He could practically feel Lora boring a hole into his back with her eyes. "Good evening to you too."

"Please don't stall."

"You know, most of the time, people at least say hello before starting a conversation."

"Mikhail."

Mikhail set down the parts and sighed. He'd been dreading this conversation ever since they'd escaped the "brightly burning" inquisitor. He turned his head to see Lora giving him a look with equal parts anger, confusion and disappointment, all tied up with an earnest bow. Internally, some buried part of him cowered, but he shrugged it off and simply turned to fully face her, leaning back against the makeshift table and raising an eyebrow.

Past her and out of earshot in their makeshift shelter of a dusty old mining camp, Pyra was busy cooking up their scanty scavenged ingredients. Nia, Dromarch and Cressidus were out, possibly looking for more. At least this shelter didn't stink of rotting ether lines like the last one.

He met her earnest, worried golden eyes. "You really didn't know?"

She crossed her arms, a frown worming its way on her face. "Pyra and I suspected, but…I guess I just didn't want to believe it."

"I'm surprised Malos being there didn't tip you off more. You didn't seriously think Jin was raiding an Ardainian Battleship for fun, did you?"

Her lips pressed in a thin line at the mention of Jin, and Mikhail regretted bringing it up. "No, but I just don't understand why."

"Oh?"

"I heard what Mòrag said about the innocents that have died because of…Torna. I saw how she came after us to protect that boy, Rex. Saw how far she was willing to go to capture me and Pyra. And I don't think it was because she was just afraid of Pyra's power, but because she was afraid of Torna having her power."

Mikhail remained silent.

"What happened? Why would you resort to terrorism, to taking innocent lives?"

"Look, Lora." He let out a sigh. "You know I've been around a while now," and boy was that the understatement of the year, "but you can't seriously think I haven't tried anything else?" His eyes narrowed. "You think I just woke up one day and thought 'You know, I should really join a terrorist group,' for fun?"

But didn't some small part of him enjoy it? Yes, but he kept that to himself.

"Of course not," she insisted, "nothing is ever that simple."

Almost on a whim, he stretched out his hands, and called from the ether his twin war fans in such a way that the cores of the weapons were clearly visible to her. Cores that were a mirror of the core crystal that pulsed, hidden beneath his armour.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, glanced over to Pyra, then back.

Absorbing the war fans back into his being, he coolly met her gaze. "I've lived enough normal lives. I joined Jin's Torna to get back at the one who did that to me. The World Tree? Elysium? The Architect?" The rest of the world? "I couldn't care less what happens to them so long as the Praetor's head rolls before the end of it."

"I…see."

Internally, he cursed. Why did she have to sound so disappointed? And why did he have to care so much about that?

"Will that make you happy?" she ventured carefully.

Who could say at this point? "I think the Alrest would be a lot happier if the Praetor wasn't in it."

"So, you don't care if the world burns around you to make that happen?"

Did he? A few weeks ago, he would have shrugged. Sure, whatever. But not now. Now he wasn't sure, and his silence was telling.

She averted her eyes a moment before firmly staring back. "Is it worth it?"

He clenched his teeth. "The world will have one less monster in it."

"Maybe that's the truth, maybe it isn't, but then what?"

He splayed his hands in a wide shrug. "How should I know? Jin and Malos are the ones with the grand plan. I'm just the mechanic with a grudge to settle."

But wasn't the reason for the grudge now standing alive in front of him?

"Mikhail-"

"Look," he stopped, breathed in a sharp, irritated breath. "Lora, I understand what you're doing here. But this is something I can't let go just like," he snapped his fingers, "that. This is personal."

"And then what?" she pressed. "When you're done, then what? People aren't just going to suddenly forget that you're terrorists if you go through with it."

"They'll hardly forget if we stop now, either. And since when are you one to think about the future?" he bit back. "Wasn't it always, 'one step at a time?'"

She glanced back over to their camp, where Pyra was solemnly roasting skewers over the fire, pointedly not looking at them. "I've had a lot of reason to think about it recently. No matter how it happened, I'm Pyra's Driver now. And however and whenever it happens, while I help her get to Elysium, I want to do good in the world. To prove to them that they don't have to be scared of her."

"So what are you gonna do? Where would you even go? You saw what it was like in Mor Ardain. You're wanted literally everywhere. And now that your face and identity are known…"

"Pyra and I could manage. I need to see the world for myself."

"And the world is only going to try and use you! Think, Lora, think! Like it or not, you're in resonance with the most powerful Blade on Alrest. People will always try to hunt you down and kill you to take her for themselves. Nations are going to do anything to sway you to their side, use you in their political games, or neutralize you if they can't."

"I wouldn't let anyone use me or Pyra for that. But that's not the point, Mikhail." Her eyes looked directly into his, but her words became softer. "I'm just…worried about you, about Jin. I'm worried that what you're doing isn't going to help you be happy. That's…all I want. For my family to be happy."

"Starting today, we're going to be your new family."

Mikhail's fists clenched and he looked away, saying nothing, though his mind raced angrily.

After a short while, he heard Lora mutter something about getting some air, and he heard the sound of her boots leaving. His hands unclenched and he started messing with the parts scattered on the table again, not to accomplish anything, but just so his hands would have something to do.

"So your core crystal. It's not yours."

He scoffed at Pyra's question. "Gee, how'd you figure that one out?" He didn't look at her, but he could feel her gaze on him even from over at the fire. "I'm not really interested in talking to you right now."

A part of him expected her to bite back, or be affronted as his tone and back off entirely. That's how she would have acted back then.

"Does it still hurt?" Pyra asked. Her tone was somehow tentative and strong at the same time, yet it was the sincerity in her question that caught him off guard.

Mikhail drew in a breath, let it out. "No," he answered curtly.

"That's…good. I'm glad."

He heard her coming closer, and turned, opened his mouth to ask her to just leave him alone, only to stop. She stood there, arm outstretched, holding a skewer of the meat and veggies Cressidus had scavenged along the way. They still sizzled, dripping fat and water from being so recently removed from cooking over the fire.

He looked at the proffered skewer, back to her, then to the skewer again. She wiggled it a little. "For you."

He took it, if only to stop feeling awkward. Hundreds of cheesy lines passed through his head, only some of which he'd used on other women to varying success in the past. Mentally slapping the thought away since this was Pyra he was dealing with, he muttered a "thanks," and took the proffered skewer. A week ago he wouldn't have even considered eating something she had made, but now, after seeing even Lora happily eat her cooking knowing the horrors she'd concocted before...

He took a bite, and it was surprisingly...good, even if the meat was a little stringy and gamey. There was only so much they could do out in the wastes, after all.

"Is it good?"

He swallowed. "...'s fine."

She smiled at his half-hearted compliment. "I'm glad you like it. There's more warming by the fire if you're still hungry, but save some for Nia, Dromarch and Cressidus when they get back."

And with that, she jogged off in the direction Lora had gone. He'd finished the skewer before a thought stopped him in his tracks.

Hold up. When did I start calling her 'Pyra?'

Lora's feet seemed to carry her on their own, and she let the light of the setting sun wash over her as she plodded out aimlessly away. A drifting soul in the midst of the Ardainian wastes.

Thoughts tumbled around in her head in a tizzy, tinged mostly with worry for the future in a way that made her uneasy. That uneasiness extended to Mikhail and Jin too, and anxiety that seemed to crush her a little more every time she thought about being Pyra's Driver.

Lora might have accepted that she was her Driver, overcome the fear that initially clogged their relationship. But it did little for the larger world. Mikhail was right. She knew people would try to use her and Pyra in their little games. And even if she had said she wouldn't let them, how could she be so sure she wouldn't be tricked, or locked up?

She stopped walking and looked around to where she had ended up. The sun had set, the traces of its light disappearing beneath the horizon, and for a time, she simply stood there.

Breathed in.

Out.

It calmed her racing thoughts as she let them drip out of her mind, watching the stars blip into existence, bit by bit as night fell. Watching the World Tree's luminous glow pierce the darkening sky even from this distance, she closed her eyes.

It was nice, if even for a moment, to just be. She just was.

"There you are."

She came back to herself, and a familiar hand brushed over her shoulder. Warmth flared to life in her, the increasingly familiar tickling of flame in her mind, in her being, as Pyra's gentle affinity link briefly burned to life.

"Was I gone long?" Lora asked.

Pyra slightly nodded. "It's been a while. It can be dangerous going out alone."

"Sorry if I made you worry."

"It's fine. I'm just glad you're okay." Her hand squeezed and a moment later, her hand fell from Lora's shoulder, the affinity link snuffing out as her hand dropped. "How are you after everything that happened in the capital the other day?"

Lora laced her hands behind her back "It hurts, not being remembered. And not just Brighid, but the things you did being misinterpreted like that. I suppose I can understand why. After all, after seeing the Tornan Titan sink, people were bound to be afraid." She had been afraid, though she didn't say it out loud. There wasn't any need. "And even if it doesn't feel like it to us, a lot of time has passed."

"Yeah…"

"It's just…sad. Frustrating, too."

Pyra nodded. "No matter the familiar faces, Alrest has changed a lot since we were there. Being accused like that…"

"But most of it wasn't true, you know that."

"It still stings, but…thank you for sticking up for me, even though you didn't have to."

"I'm your Driver; Of course I would!" Confirming that she was the Driver of the Aegis in front of that crowd had taken more courage than she thought it would. "And more than that, you're part of my family, Pyra. I won't just let people walk over my family like that."

Pyra's mouth slipped into a surprised 'o' shape. "Family?"

Lora nodded earnestly. "Of course."

Pyra's hand hovered over her own piece of their shared core. "Thank you. That means a lot, you know."

The wind ruffled past them, sending Lora's hair listing to the side, fluffing it in the breeze. They both simply stood there, just a part of the world. The World Tree looming brightly in the distance as Mor Ardain ambled slowly in its perpetual orbit around it.

"Hey, Pyra."

"Hmm?"

"Why do you want to meet the Architect?"

"Well…who wouldn't want a chance to meet with their Father?"

A pang went through her shared core. After all, before meeting Addam and Mythra, Lora and Jin had tried for years to reunite with her own mother. Even though the resolution of the years-long search had been heartbreaking, at least there had been closure.

"I can understand that, wanting to see your family again."

"...Yeah."

Lora glanced to the side and saw the fingers on Pyra's hands - which were clasped in front of her - fidget. "Well, I already promised to help you do it. Are you nervous?" She grinned, a teasing tone entering her voice. "Afraid that he'll be a mean, stuffy old man?"

A slight laugh escaped, forming into a brief smile. "I don't think that Father is like that, but…I suppose I am nervous."

"I think it'd only be natural, even if we weren't talking about the Architect." She'd never even considered the thought of going to the World Tree, much less meeting the Architect. "But whatever happens, even if he is a stuffy old man, family can be more than just who you came from, if you let it."

"I…" Pyra trailed off. Then she abruptly stiffened, her eyes widening abruptly.

Pyra raised her ether barrier just as the bark of a weapon went off, and the barrier flashed as something pinged off of it. Lora's adrenaline spiked as she looked in the direction the shot had come from - cliffs towards the direction of the World Tree - and Pyra grabbed her wrist, dragging her away towards cover.

Another shot pinged off of her ether barrier from the same direction as they ran, but moments later, they both slid behind a boulder that shielded them from the gunfire.

"Who was that? You don't think the Empire caught up to us already, do you?" Their pace away from the capital had been felt furiously fast.

Pyra shook her head. "I'm not sure. It's too dark to see who shot, but..."

"What is it?"

"Just before that first shot, I thought I felt-"

A scream echoed through the night, coming in the direction of the sniper. It abruptly cut off, and a few moments later, there came a muted thump. Two more followed moments later.

"You can stop cowering behind that rock now."

Lora's blood ran chill at the sound of that arrogant voice. She peeked out from behind the boulder, then quickly stood, glaring through the moonlit night. Sure enough, Malos and the same Blade as last time stalked casually towards them, the glowing blue blade of a tonfa in his hand. The body of what she assumed was the gunman that had shot at them lay still on the ground behind them.

"Malos." She bit out his name like a curse. Even though she didn't know why or how, Malos was using a Blade now. Would that mean he was weaker? Even so, she didn't relish the thought of fighting him, especially not just with her and Pyra. "Why are you here?"

He smirked, meandering closer. "You've got a funny way of saying thank you." She glared harder in response. "But hey, I must be growing on you if you didn't even try to kick something at me at first sight."

Pyra stepped up beside her, summoning her sword, its fire blazing to life nearly the same moment as her affinity link. "So that was you?"

He thankfully stopped advancing and tapped the armour plate disguising where his amethyst core normally shone, before pointing at Pyra's. "We're connected, you and I. It'd be a shame if you died to something as pathetic as that just because you tied yourself to her." He glanced back to the dead sniper behind him, then back to them. "Besides, watching was just getting dull, you know?"

"Ugh, you've been watching us?" Just thinking about that made her skin crawl.

"Just a little favour."

"Favour? What do you mean?"

"You're a smart girl - you figure it out." He cocked one hand on his hip and with his other, twirled the tonfa. "Gotta say, you've been putting on quite a show, but I'm done playing hands off." His grip on his tonfa tightened to stop the spinning, wind ether gathering along the edge of its blade.

Lora's eyes widened at the action and she shifted her stance to ready to dodge at a moment's notice.

He smirked, and slashed the air three times in quick succession, sending blades of wind ether in her direction. Pyra raised her ether barrier and Lora tensed, getting ready to close the gap between them after the shield was down.

But the blades of wind ether whipped right past her, sailing into the air before crashing into the cliffside. A distant crack followed, and she could just make out the shadow of dislodged rocks falling. She heard the screams that followed, and turned back to glare at Malos.

"What? Why did you-?" she sputtered indignantly.

"You're too passive for your own good. Reactionary, I'd say." He shrugged, as if he hadn't just casually murdered them. "I'm just saving you the trouble of dealing with them. It's their own fault for trying to ambush you under an old blasting zone."

"That's not what I meant. You don't even know who they were!"

"And I don't really care, but I think you've met their boss. Now there's a piece of work. And I know Jin."

The Blade behind him let out a hiss of a chuckle.

"What-"

"And what do you know," he laughed, pointing above them, "there he is now."

On the cliff near where the first sharpshooter had fallen stood a familiar figure, outlined by the glow of the World Tree, a red, black and white cape trimmed with gold fluttering in the breeze. The figure seemed to wait for her to look at them before leaping off the cliff towards them. She backed up as he landed in a crouch, before gracefully rising.

The mottled red and blue crown-shaped core crystal shone in the night.

Lora gasped at the familiar sight. "It's you! You're…erm…" She trailed off, realizing she hadn't ever asked Mikhail what the Blade's name was, only knowing him just as the 'royal vendetta,' or 'that scary Blade they ran away as fast as they could from.'

Irritation flashed in his visible sharp blue eye, though only for a moment. "I should not be surprised that Crow never told you my name."

"Crow? You mean Mikhail?" Pyra ventured.

"Is that the name that scoundrel gave you?" The flesh eater scoffed. "No matter. My name is Dagas. Sear that into your memory, for it is no falsehood." He glanced over to Malos and his face scrunched up with distaste, like he'd just eaten an unripe sour avocado. "Your bodyguard is quite the irritant, Driver of the Aegis. I would ask that you call him off before I escalate this."

Lora blinked in surprise, mouth hanging open. He thought Malos was their…bodyguard?

"Oh, I'm her bodyguard, now am I? Then don't mind me," Malos advanced, an eager grin on his face, "I'm just spectating." He punctuated that by dashing in with a flurry of strikes towards Dagas. Even without his own weapon, Malos moved with a grace that made it seem like he'd worked with his Blade for years, yet Dagas kept up, not even bothering to draw his greataxe as he dodged and blocked the attacks.

The exchange barely lasted five seconds before Malos jumped back as Dagas threw down a condensed ball of flame from his hand. It shone like a miniature sun piercing the darkness of the night one moment before it exploded as it hit the ground. Lora reflexively threw up her arm to shield her eyes from the dust and debris that followed, seeing spots like she'd just looked into the sun. Thankfully Pyra's raised ether barrier took care of shielding them from the worst of it.

"Enough," Dagas called calmly as the dust settled, another condensed ball of flame shining brilliantly in his palm. "Call off your dog or I will reduce him to slag."

Malos laughed, amusement curling on his face as he glanced back toward her and Pyra. "Look at this trash, trying to order us around. You realize we're the ones who can sink Titans, right? One little insignificant Blade like you could be atomized in seconds."

"Malos, that's enough!" Lora called.

Malos turned to regard her with a raised eyebrow. "Am I wrong?"

She ignored him - an admittedly very difficult thing to do - and faced Dagas. "Why are you here?"

"To talk," Dagas responded simply.

"Then why did your men shoot at us?" Pyra asked defiantly.

Dagas regarded her coolly. "I only had my men shoot at you and not your Driver."

She shared a quick glance with Pyra. So he didn't know about her and Pyra's shared core and what they meant. That could've been bad. "That really doesn't make it better," Lora bit out through gritted teeth.

Dagas remained unfazed. "The pain would have been temporary while my men captured you both, and we could talk after. Considering our first interaction, I did not believe you would come willingly. I would not have harmed you," he glanced at Malos, "though the same courtesy does not extend to your associate."

"You almost melted an entire factory on top of us the first time we met," Lora reminded him. "This really isn't doing anything to improve our view of you."

He nodded slightly at her and Pyra, almost like he meant it like a bow. "Forgive the indiscretion of our first meeting. I had no idea of your status at the time, and I was…blinded by my anger at Crow. Rest assured that if you stand down, and come with me, no harm shall come to you both now."

"And if we don't?"

"I have three of your other traveling companions in my custody already. The gormotti and her beast form Blade as well as the large, loud Blade."

"What?" her mind raced. He had already captured Nia, Dromarch and Cressidus? Did that mean Mikhail was still free? "When?"

"My men have been keeping an eye on you since you encountered them in the capital. It was simple to have you tailed and wait for the perfect opportunity to capture them. Ambushing them with ether nets was sufficient as they weren't as astute as your hidden attack dog," she heard Malos let out a bark of a laugh at that, "and were caught mostly unawares roaming the wastes."

Her mind flitted back to the man who faked his death in Smaia's apartment. "Then you're leading the Bloody Lobsters?"

He lifted an almost offended looking brow. "Lead them? No, I am above their petty organization. I command their services for the time being, nothing more. Though I would have liked nothing more than to kill the Blade you call Mikhail, he slipped through our ambush. No doubt he will try to interfere. As for your other friends, I haven't yet decided what to do with them yet."

Lora glared at him. "How magnanimous of you."

"Quite." He almost sounded like he took it as a compliment. The Blade eyed Malos. "Choose to come with me willingly or not. I will grant you one minute of my time to deliberate so long as your guard dog remains leashed for the duration. " The miniature sun in his palm collapsed, significantly darkening the area. "Beginning now."

Pyra leaned in close to her ear. "Do you think he's telling the truth about the others?" she whispered urgently.

"I'm not sure," she whispered back. "But can we really take that chance? Besides, I don't like the look of that fire he had in his hand." She eyed the chunk missing out of the rock in the ground, still smoldering. "We saw something of what he's capable of back in that abandoned industrial district as well."

"I know, it's dangerous." Pyra eyed that same chunk of ground. "With how close we are here, I don't know if we could avoid it and I'm not sure how many I could block. We just don't know the full extent of what he can do." She glanced at Malos, who was tapping his foot impatiently. "Do you think he saw anything?"

"Do you really think he'd give us a straight answer?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think I'd rather hurl than trust him, even if he did save us. I say we follow Dagas to this 'talk' for now, but if he tries anything, we take the fight to him. And if he was telling the truth, we rescue the others."

She hoped Mikhail followed them too. Regardless of how she felt about his actions, he was a capable fighter and he'd be more welcome backup than Malos any day.

Pyra nodded. "Alright."

Lora looked back to Dagas calling out, "We'll agree to have this talk of yours. But if you hurt my friends," assuming he wasn't bluffing, "there will be consequences."

Dagas didn't smile, but there was a hint of satisfaction in his stance. A look in his visible eye that seemed to say that he never expected them to refuse in the first place "Excellent. Come with me. We have much to discuss."

And with that he whirled around, his cape trailing with him as he began walking into the wastes with the clear expectation that they would follow.

She heard Malos let out a sigh as he sheathed his Blade's tonfa at his belt. "Well that was disappointing, if not predictable. But I'm almost impressed. No bastard prince to speak for you and you handled it well."

Lora gave Malos another glare, hiding her discomfort of the other Aegis behind it. "I suppose you're coming along as well."

"Of course." He shrugged. "Don't look at me. You were the ones who wandered off on your own, not me. I'm just here to make sure you don't die."

Lora huffed, not believing him for a moment, and followed after Dagas, Pyra trailing along beside her.

Chapter Text

Mikhail's hands moved absentmindedly, as if with a mind of their own, fingers fiddling with pieces of scrap and parts.

He let them. Stopping only made his head hurt and that horrible itch in his chest burn. Ignoring them, he instead stared blankly at the unsorted pile of salvage in front of him.

Knees curled up to his chest, hands just out of sight, he sat on hard, old wood, surrounded by crates. The cargo hold of a salvaging Titanvessel.

Some of the crates were closed up, but he instinctively knew they were sorted into grades of sellable salvage - things that could be worked into machines and tools of everyday life, others that would be melted down into component metals and eventually be used in something else.

Gold condensers, retro diodes, helix tubes, locust springs, modern resistors, winding gears, strong screws, hollow lanterns, siren nuts, fancy bolts, snow transistors, leaf coils-

With a twinge, his head thumped angrily, grinding the list in his mind to a halt.

"Ah, so this is where you got yourself to, eh?"

He flinched and spun his head at the approach of an Ardainian, diving suit still on, though his helmet rested underneath the crook of his arm. The man smiled, holding up his free hand like he was trying to appease a startled anlood. Mikhail was more annoyed at himself for flinching than for the man intruding on him.

Saying nothing, Mikhail just turned back to the pile in front of him, and heard the man slowly approach behind him after a few moments.

His hands ever continued on their quest.

"It's rather dark here in the hold, you know. Shouldn't be too hard to convince Alasdair to spare an ether lamp for-"

"It's not dark."

Dim, but hardly enough to need a light to see. The light filtering through the hold's now open door made seeing even easier.

"Heh, maybe for you, lad, but I can hardly see a thing! Salvager helmets have lamps for a reason, yeah?"

The man let off a big hearty laugh, as if he'd said something really funny. The laughter trailed off and for a while, it was silent, save for the sound of Mikhail's hands continuing to work with the scrap. He wasn't looking at it, just letting his hands do what they wanted.

The man behind him cleared his throat, the sound of heavy boots thumping across the wood. "So, what are you making, lad?"

"I don't know," he simply stated.

"Don't want to spoil the surprise?" He chuckled. "I guess I can understand."

"No. I don't…know what I'm making."

And it was the truth. But it felt…right, in a way. Wrong too, like someone else was using his hands. He'd never been that interested in Hugo's tinkering. Or machine parts. Or salvage in general.

"Er, I see. Is that one of your innate skills as a Blade-"

"I'm not a Blade." His hands froze, clenching whatever they'd been working on. Burning anger flickered to the surface. And the glow seeping through the fan-shaped lump underneath the loose, ill-fitting tunic the crew had given him seemed to him to shine in the dark-that-wasn't-dark of the cargo hold in spite of his statement. "I'm just…Mikhail."

"Mikhail…" the man breathed out, with a relieved sigh and Mikhail heard him mutter, "Finally, a name," before he spoke up louder. "That's good, lad."

Mikhail's hands went back to tinkering. His eyes still never left the scrap pile in front of him.

"Knew someone else with that name once," the man pressed on. He was doing that 'reminiscing' thing adults usually did when they didn't know what to say. "Good man from Coeia. Bit too much of a philanderer for his own good. Though I guess it didn't matter much after Indol and Mor Ardain sank it."

"Malos sank it."

"...Sorry?"

"Malos. The other Aegis."

"Don't think I've heard that name. Wasn't the term 'Aegis' getting bandied about a lot when Torna sunk, and the last Emperor - Architect rest his soul – died? Think I heard about it in canteens whenever we stopped by the Trade Guilds."

Mikhail's forehead scrunched in confusion. How did he not know there were two?

"Yeah," he snapped his fingers, "I remember hearing something about the Driver - he was some sort of royalty I think - being charged with uh…some crime or other by Indol near when Torna sunk. Big sum for info leading to his capture too. Had most of the crew drooling at the reward money."

Addam was wanted as…a criminal?

He chuckled wistfully. "Not that they'd be fool enough to take on a Driver and Blade partnership, especially if they're really that powerful. Haven't heard anything about that for a few years now, though. I wonder if anything came of it?"

A few years? Had it really been that long…?

"So, anyways" the man cleared his throat, "you said it was this Malos character that sank Coeia? Where'd you hear that?"

"...Lora told me."

"S'pose that's how info goes 'round, I guess. Well, the whole situation's a big shame no matter who done it. Coeia was one of my favourites of the main Titans. Never did a bad trade for salvage when I was there either, far as I can remember. Torna sinking's a big shame too. Lotta industry trade when they weren't being stuck up…er…"

He trailed off of whatever he'd been about to say. There was a creak of wood and out of the corner of his eye, Mikhail saw the salvager lean with his back resting on a stack of crates to the side of him. "So…who's Lora?"

"...She's…family."

"She your Driver by any chance, or…?"

"I'm not a Blade," Mikhail repeated, more forcefully this time. The core crystal embedded in his chest throbbed painfully out of sync with the beating of his heart again. "She's dead."

"Ah, didn't mean to dredge up bad memories like that."

"People die all the time."

Over and over and over…

"Look, lad, burying whatever grief you're carrying away's only gonna make it come out stronger later." He paused a moment, before adding with a sigh, "I'm not really the best at this sort of thing, but if you ever want to talk about it, I'll lend an ear so long as you're on board."

Mikhail slipped back into silence, simply staring at the pile in front of him.

The man sighed. "Anyways, we just finished our last salvage run of the trip, and we're making for the Voltis Trade Guild once we weigh anchor again. Chairman's good far as Nopon fellows tend to go, and there's honest work there for Blades and Humans alike if you don't wanna stick around us salvagers."

Mikhail said nothing.

Eventually he left Mikhail to his own devices. Time pressed on. He heard laughter from the other salvagers up above the hold somewhere. Eventually that died down too, leaving the lapping of the cloud sea against the bottom of the wood of the vessel hitched to the balloon-like Titan outside.

His hands kept going. His eyes never left that scrap pile.

Until at last, they stopped. That unnatural drive within him satisfied, his eyes drooped.

When they opened again, he lay on his side, a weight draped around him. A blanket. Beside him, a bowl of simple curry.

Sitting up, he looked down in his palm. A device sat clutched in there.

A cloud sea compass.

He knew how it worked, what the dial meant where it pointed, how to use it to tell the tides, how to calibrate it to whatever Titan he was on, how to use it in the open cloud sea, how to orient yourself toward the World Tree, how to-

The core crystal pulsed. His head ached.

His small hand clenched around the compass, enough to make indents in the skin of his palm and fingers. The pain in his head increased, his heart started pounding, and without warning, something dark and faintly glowing burst out of the compass.

They looked almost like gloomy, pulsing feathers, puncturing the now ruined device.

The itch on his chest burned.

He snarled and threw it across the hold, where it crashed against the wall, shattering.

Clicking the cover to the cloud sea compass closed, Mikhail stood from a crouch where he had been peering down into the small crater of cooling, melted rock. Nearby, a dead body rested next to a cliff, and not too far away from that, a small canyon had been partially blocked with a rockslide. He let off a low whistle.

"He sure moves quick," he muttered to himself.

At least it seemed Lora hadn't been taken down without a fight. Whether it was her doing or collateral damage, it made it easy to tell he was on the right track.

There was no doubt in his mind that this had been a coordinated attack. He'd gotten suspicious when Nia, Dromarch and Cressidus hadn't come back from gathering more food from the wastes, and sure enough when he'd stepped outside of the abandoned mining camp they'd set up in, he'd quickly been ambushed.

He shook his head blithely at the memory of their shock once he'd sliced through their ether net. The looks on their faces were priceless. It never got old when normal Blade suppression tricks didn't work on him like they 'should'.

He cricked his neck, working out a kink that had been building for the past hour.

Well, okay, he'd still been caught in the net, and that was just embarrassing. If any other members of Torna had been around, he'd have never lived it down. Ahkos and Patroka probably would've lorded it over him for weeks.

The blood-red tattoo on the arms of his ambushers and the one on the dead man by the cliff made it pretty obvious who was behind this. But what did the Bloody Lobsters - or more likely, Dagas - want with Lora?

Come to think about it, Dagas hadn't paid her and the Aegis any mind back in the really-should-have-checked-if-it-was-still-abandoned industrial district. The flesh eater had been focused on trying to get through them to him.

Somewhere between then and now he'd probably figured out that Lora was the Aegis' Driver, but how would that fit into the royal coup he'd overheard them plotting? Were they planning on trying to use her?

His foot tapped a restless rhythm. He and Lora didn't see eye to eye - how could they, after how much she missed out on? - but he couldn't just leave her. Not to mention how Jin might react if he had to tell him he'd lost her. The man was usually calm, but with the storm Lora had brought by coming back…

Mikhail shuddered.

He glanced down at the cloud sea compass in his palm - one he had made on the fly since their escape from the capital with some extra parts he'd pinched from when that boy, Rex, had salvaged them. Checking the direction, he pressed onwards into the wastes.

Uncomfortable, tense silence was Lora's unfortunate friend as Dagas led their procession through the wastes. He walked alone at the head of the group, leading them in the opposite direction Mikhail had been taking them.

The remnants of the Bloody Lobsters - which was still a sizable group - that Malos hadn't taken out were hardly what she'd consider good conversation partners, eying her and Pyra as they travelled like they were an explosion waiting to happen.

This tension seemed to amuse the actual explosion waiting to happen to no end as he silently goaded the gang members into trying to start a fight. Thankfully, they were wise enough to not rise to the bait, so Malos and his Blade instead ended up trailing her and Pyra - just slightly too close for comfort - a smirk on his face whenever they looked their way.

The distance that Dagas kept from them held true as well when they made camp later that night near a natural steam vent, and then the next day at an abandoned mining camp. It reminded her of some of the stuck up nobles she and Jin had worked for. 'Above their petty organization' indeed.

Always apart from them.

Unlike the abandoned camp Mikhail had led them to, this camp – though it looked just as desolate - had hidden supplies stocked by Dagas' men beforehand that the Bloody Lobster gang members helped themselves to. Dagas 'graciously' - his word not hers - gave her and Pyra the rations as well, as it "suited ones of their station."

She accepted it, not because of his "piety" but because food was food. Being picky when her stomach was involved was never something she and Jin had been able to afford. Dagas sequestered himself away after that out of sight of the rest of them.

At least it seemed he would hold to his word of him and the gang members here not attacking them for now, though Lora wasn't holding her breath. Fear or not, Malos had killed a number of the group here after all. The fact that Dagas seemed so callous about the death of those people was…telling.

"Have you seen any sign of anyone following us?" she asked Pyra in a hushed whisper as the stars set in again, eating the strips of dried armu meat, fruits, and nuts provided.

"Nothing yet." The small shake of her head sent her bright red hair rustling back and forth, and she shifted herself on the shelf of rock they'd ended up perched on slightly away from the main body of people. "It's just been the occasional monster sizing the group up. No sign of the empire or Mikhail."

Lora hummed and took another thoughtful bite of the jerky. Definitely a bit stringy, but not bad overall, especially with whatever the spice was that had been interwoven into the meat. Made it peppery, and a bit spicy. Addam probably would have hated it.

She was about to make another comment when a shadow fell over the two of them.

Internally tensing, she looked up at Malos, whose arms were crossed, an eyebrow raised as he considered the two of them. "Mik's surprisingly good at not making a scene when he wants to be. I'd worry more about mister pomp and circumstance flipping a lid."

"Like you're one to talk," Lora muttered, though plenty loud enough for him to hear. Consistently having Malos lurking around in the open had turned the initial gnawing anxiety and anger of him into a biting irritation.

He spread his arms askance. "Since when have I hurt you since you awakened?"

She clenched her teeth in answer since he was technically telling the truth, but… "You know what I mean."

He smirked and sauntered closer and she abruptly stood, taking a half step back, her hands drawing up into fists as he… sat down near the edge of the rock she and Pyra were on. He took a slow, purposeful bite of the same batch of jerky Dagas had "bequeathed" to him, tearing into it while he stared ahead.

His Blade wasn't nearby - he seemed like a bit of a loner - but that didn't incite much confidence considering what she knew first-hand what Malos was capable of without him. Chancing a glance at Pyra, she noticed she hadn't stood like she had, but she saw her hands clenched in her lap. Their eyes met and Pyra gave a little shake of her head.

Gradually, Lora unclenched her fists, and slowly, deliberately, sat back down and scooted closer to Pyra. The stringy, peppered - but definitely meaty and therefore at least somewhat delicious - meat strip in her palm went uneaten as she kept a close eye on him.

He sighed loudly as he finished off the strip he was working on, rolling his eyes at her strained reaction. "Didn't I already tell you that I'm here to make sure you don't die right now?"

Pyra took a small bite of her own jerky. "Even if we believe you, that doesn't mean Lora and I have any reason to trust you."

"Good thing you don't need to. You just need to not let Lora die, same as me."

"I'm right here, thank you," Lora interjected, annoyed. "And why would I even want your protection anyways?"

"You weren't complaining when I saved you the trouble of dealing with that sniper, were you?" Malos shrugged. "Besides, don't ask me. Ask him."

Lora's eyes narrowed. "Him?"

"You're talking about Jin, aren't you." Pyra didn't phrase it like a question. In fact, her answer was so certain that it made Lora wonder if she knew something she didn't. Had she talked to Jin before?

Chuckling, Malos tore off another bit of his jerky. "You really have no idea how much he cares about you, his precious Driver, do you? If you asked, I bet he would destroy the world for you."

"What? Jin wouldn't do that even if I-"

"Stop pretending like everything's the same. You haven't even talked to him since she," he tweaked his head at Pyra, "brought you back."

"Jin's a good person," Lora insisted. "Stop dragging his name through the muck."

He scoffed in irritation. "You and him are both so frustrating, you know that? Clinging to the ideal of the other, clinging desperately to old memories. How long is it going to take to sink into your thick headed skulls?" He turned glaring right at her. "He broke, and your words were the reason why."

"The thought of you forgetting me…It's like one heart is being ripped in two."

"I won't forget you! I refuse to forget you! How could…I ever…

Lora's hand went to hover over her shared core, over her missing heart.

"After I found him rotting in an alley," Malos continued, "he would still talk to your frozen corpse. Like you were still there. No matter how much I tried, I could never convince him to really let the memory of you rest. He never fully allowed himself to move on; even with a new purpose, he always looked back."

But it was also the only reason she was sitting here right now, wasn't it?

She let out a steady breath. Hearing a lecture like this from Malos was…frustrating, to say the least. "Maybe it was wrong of me to put that burden on him alone. Maybe it was selfish, thoughtless of the years he would go on without me, but is what you gave him really any better?"

"Heh." He turned back away from her looking over the camp, though she could still feel a glare coming from out of the side of his eye. She glared resolutely back. "There's that fire in your eyes again. I'd almost say it's a pleasure to see it after your little stunt of cheating death."

Lora didn't dignify him with a response.

"I'd say the whole things's been a riot, but honestly, it's just obnoxious to see you alive."

"Hmph." So much for any semblance of civilized conversation. Her part of the shared core thrummed under her tunic. "I could say the same to you. I bet you were just too stubborn to die."

"Good comeback." Smirking, he tapped the piece of armour that covered his core crystal. "Thanks to Father's gift, you and I are above petty things like death, aren't we?"

"Our situations are completely different."

Malos laughed, but though it was brief, Lora caught an…emptiness to its tone. "You humans are such fragile things. There one moment, gone the next. Your pathetic marks on the world forgotten as the next generation of idiots tramples on your graves, even as they make the same mistakes, over and over. And all the while their world dies around them and they don't even notice. A true cycle of idiocy."

Lora shot back. "You're underestimating us, and the impact we can make because you've never seen the good in the world."

"Oh really?" He eyed her coolly. "How much did seeing the good in the world do for you when the Empire's inquisitor tried to capture you just for being the Driver of the Aegis? Just for her power, for what you both might do?

"They don't know Pyra like I do."

"You really think you know that face she's put on?"

"I trust her." She had to. "That's enough for me right now."

"Lora," Pyra began, "you don't have to…"

"The empire got history mixed up," Lora asserted, cutting Pyra off. "They're scared. Scared of what they remember you doing, Malos. What you brought on the world."

"Oh, do tell me my own history, Driver of the Aegis." Malos rolled his eyes. "Don't pretend like she wasn't a part of this."

"She didn't want the destruction that came from your clashes."

"Heh. Up until that last one, I got the feeling like she didn't care one way or another." He shook his head nostalgically. "Oh the ruins we left in our wake."

"But she was learning to care."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Is that so? So you swooped in and cleared centuries worth of garbage and rumours? The Inquisitor listened to your every word and believed it? Had a good chat as she was ready to lead you off in chains? That fight with her on the rooftop was just a spar? There were no misunderstandings at all?"

He'd seen that too? How long had he been tailing them?

"That's not…"

He shook his head disdainfully. "You're being torn this way and that by the whims of everyone around you. Do you even know what you want, or are you just following her, hoping by chance you'll end up on the World Tree? You think things will work out by themselves?"

"I…"

"I just want my family to be happy."

But she couldn't say it.

"Malos, that's enough." Pyra cut in sharply.

"Suit yourself. I know who and what I am, what my purpose is. You both only thawed out less than a month ago, but you've been nothing but drifters; salvaging vessels caught in storm after storm."

"Why do you care?" Pyra retorted, her voice firm, a simmering anger underlying it. Something tingled in the back of her mind.

"Because it's pathetic seeing my dear partner reduced to this." He shook his head. "So stuck in running from what you are, running from the past to see the world for what it's become. For what it always was."

"Shut up," Lora growled out. But her tone wavered. Why did he have to be so…

"Oh? Gonna cry?"

"Just stop it," she hissed out through clenched teeth. "Can't you be busy being our 'guard dog' or something somewhere else?"

"So you're making it official now?" Malos smirked, before he abruptly stood and made a mocking bow, being sure to meet her eye. "I'm so honoured, Lady Lora. As your 'warden,' I'll be sure that no harm befalls you. Jin's honour."

He left, but the tension he always seemed to bring lingered.

"I really don't like him," Lora murmured. How in the world did anyone put up with someone like that? She tried to picture the Jin she remembered working with him and failed.

"You can say that again." She felt Pyra's arm wrap around her, her hand squeezing her shoulder. "Are you going to be alright?"

Lora leaned into her partial hug, setting her head onto Pyra's shoulder. "I'll…be okay."

They sat there like that for just for a time. Their conversation had attracted the attention of some nearby gang members, but they still stayed far enough away that they probably hadn't overheard. Lora closed her eyes to them for a moment and just breathed,

"I'm sorry if it felt like I was speaking on your behalf too much," Lora murmured. "He just…gets right under my skin."

Pyra's hand squeezed gently. "It's okay. I remember what I did, Lora, and it wasn't all great. But, thank you for sticking up for me like that."

"Of course. But, I just…need some time to think. Sort out my thoughts, you know?"

"Alright. Do you want me to get you some tea? I think I saw some that I can get Dagas to 'bestow' on us if you want."

She chuckled at the small attempt at humour. "Yeah, that'd be nice." She raised her head and gave Pyra a small smile. "You're a star, Pyra."

Pyra smiled back squeezing her shoulder briefly - their affinity link bursting to life in a tingle of fire in her mind for a fleeting instant - before she stood and made her way over to where the rations were stored.

Yet even after the herbal tea was fixed, even though it seemed to help calm her as she and Pyra drank it together, even after both of them silently worked on her charms until their eyes drooped, Malos' words didn't go away, burrowing into her mind.

"Cressidus." Nia hissed quietly. Her ears leaned forward, listening intently for a response, but only got a loud snore for her trouble. "Oi, Cressidus!"

"Is everything alright, my lady?"

"Not you, Dromarch."

She could almost see him drooping in disappointment in another separate cell they'd chucked him in. "I would be happy to chat if it would make you feel better."

"You can't break us out of these cells, can you? No offense."

A rumbling sigh, accompanied by rustling as he probably settled into loaf position or something if he wasn't already. "I suppose not."

"Don't worry about it. I'll make it up to you later or something, okay?"

Walking to the bars of her cell, she glanced about to the small area she could see, which wasn't much, but it didn't sound like anyone was currently super close. Guards occasionally went by on patrol, but no one was here at the moment.

Cressidus' cell, from what she remembered as she'd been brought in - which was less than she would have liked after being drained from being in an ether net for so long - was adjacent to her own.

Still, she pitched her voice as loud as she dared back towards where they'd put the other Blade. "Hey, you big lug, how long are you planning on sleeping anyways? You've been sluggish like that since we were caught. Aren't you always going on about sleep schedules being an important part of your health?"

"Buh?" There was a snort as Nia heard the other Blade stopped snoring.

"Sheesh, of course that's what gets you to stir," Nia muttered.

A loud almost echoing yawn sounded, followed by loud, audible pops. Was that him stretching? "Did you say something, Nia?"

"Nothing, big guy, but I've got a question for you, now you're up."

"Yeah, what's up?"

She toned her voice down this time since he was awake now. "What do you fancy our chances are of getting out of here?"

He let out a hearty laugh that made her ears flick, wincing at the volume and making her reflexively peer through the bars to see if anyone was coming to check the noise. "Give me enough time to rest and recharge my ether reserves and I could probably break through these bars, no sweat! Your's and Dromarch's too."

"Well that's a relief." These cells were probably built to hold regular old humans. No ether suppression that she could feel at any rate.

"Pardon my scrutiny, but is that wise, my lady?" Dromarch rumbled from his cell. "Cressidus is without Master Mikhail, and you saw as well as I did how well guarded the encampment was as we were led in. Not to mention the size of the forces on guard."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And surely," he pressed on in spite of her, "you must have seen how steep the natural walls were as our captors led us through the rocky chokepoint here. A quarry turned into an ether mining or extraction area by the looks of it."

"I mean, I saw those big machines too." A couple of the big machines had been running too. "But-"

"Not to mention the impressive Titans mounted with weapons and other machines of war I spotted throughout the camp, as well as the many towers and guards at the top of the cliffs and walls that would prevent us from-"

"Ugh, no need to natter on, Dromarch." Her back pressed against the bars and she slid down. "We get it. We're trapped."

Again.

Not to mention she was stiff, sore and drained after being caught in an ether net and dragged across the wastes in less than ideal accommodations with less than ideal companions. Present company excluded.

She slid down the rest the way, flopped on to her back, arms and legs sprawled out on the stone. There was a cot on the other end of the small space, but she didn't feel like it at the moment.

She groaned loudly. Dromarch was right, unfortunately.

"Stupid Mik," she muttered. "Stupid 'royal vendetta.' Stupid hot springs." Oh, that sounded so nice right now. Why had she insisted on not going? "Stupid inquisi-whatever, stupid Rex, stupid running, stupid, stupid, stupid! Guh!"

"Are you quite all right, my lady?"

"Oh, I'm right peachy, can't you tell?"

"It'll be alright, Nia, you'll see!" Cressidus sounded practically chipper. "Mikhail's still out there, and Lora and Pyra are super strong. I'm sure they're coming to help us out!"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Thanks for the optimism."

She used an arm to cover her eyes. Cressidus might be right, but it still didn't make her feel any better about it all. Why did she have to suddenly suffer the consequences of Mik's past like this?

Actually, come to think of it, was there anyone in Torna that didn't have a stupidly complicated past that came with enough baggage to weigh down a gogol or three?

Not that she was exempt from baggage either. Her arm slid down off her eyes stopping over the slight bump at her sternum, the yellow of her jumpsuit hiding the truth from everyone, including her sometimes.

But drawing on that wouldn't solve anything right now, would it? If anything, it would just cause more problems if their captors knew.

Aaannnd great, now I'm brooding again. Way to make yourself feel included in the group, Nia.

Letting her hand fall back down, she shifted on the floor to make herself more comfortable. Before long, Cressidus was snoring again and eventually, she tried to follow his example.

The rocky road sloped down, not enough to make tripping a huge hazard for Lora, but enough that it was noticeable. The path snaked through a valley that made it free of Mor Ardain's more prevalent winds, especially this close to the Titan's edge.

She started seeing piles of stones that seemed deliberately arranged to slow down progress-barricades she supposed. Eventually, at the end of the path, two prominent towers stationed like sentinels greeted their group before the path opened up into a large area.

"Hail, Lord Dagas!"

"Lord Dagas returns!"

"Lord of the Wastes!"

As cheers started coming from past those two towers - which looked more like they'd been commandeered as watchtowers rather than built for that purpose - she noted large red banners draped down their length, embroidered with gold and with a large white skull pictured at the top.

Well, that's promising…

The first thing she noticed were large machines that she had no idea of the use for towering in the centre of the encampment, large lever-looking things on them bobbing up and down into the ground. It brought the smell of raw ether, pricking a memory of her and Jin taking a job that had led them into the mines of Coeia. The smell wasn't as potent as that experience, but the odour lingered in the air.

Maybe they were used to harvest ether or something? She really didn't know, but whatever their use, it looked like Dagas' men had set up around them rather than assembled them themselves. A veritable tent city nestled and protected by the body of Mor Ardain, high rocky walls and metal barriers surrounding the parts that weren't nestled against the Titan.

An army. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them.

"Heh, I'm almost impressed," Malos commented dryly, sounding just about anything but impressed as he sauntered in like he owned the place. "Last I heard these maggots hardly had a few troops to their name, and now look at them."

As calls made their way around the camp, the size of the crowd that had come to greet them wasn't anything to scoff at, cheers abounding around, echoing up through the encircled area. Most of them were dressed in what looked like Ardainian military uniforms of some variety. Dagas soaked in the cheers all in with royal-like grace.

When the flow of people coming out to meet them stopped, he held up a hand, and silence made its way through the assembled soldiers. Someone brought a small stand for him which he stepped up on.

"Brothers and Sisters! My friends!" His voiced echoed loudly through the encampment. "You have done well to gather our forces and settle so quickly here as we move towards our final victory. To the future of the Glory of Mor Ardain!"

"Glory to the Empire!" The shout went around with cheers and clapping, whooping and hollering until Dagas held his hand for silence again.

"But today is more than just a step forward. It is a glorious day indeed, for I come laden with more than I could ever have hoped. A legend walks among us." He swept his cape back gesturing boldly at her and Pyra.

Oh please no, don't tell me he's going to-

"The rumours abounding in Alrest are true. She has returned!"

Whispers, and conversations erupted through the assembled crowds around them, blending together in a cacophony of noise, but she still caught bits and pieces.

"He brought the Aegis-"

"That's her Driver?"

"-shorter than I thought she'd be-"

"-reports from capital-"

"-won against the Inquisitor-"

"-went toe to toe with Lord Dagas as well-"

They were getting the completely wrong idea, but like with Mòrag, Lora doubted there was anything she could say that would correct it. She tried her best to look unfazed at the attention, but felt like she was failing miserably.

Dagas pressed on. "Fresh off of a victory against the Jewel of the Empire and the Inquisitor herself, I have brought the Aegis and her Driver! Our victory is-

She tuned out the rest of it, leaning in to Pyra. "Remind me to punch him when I get the chance," she whispered. Pyra nodded absently, a stern yet complicated expression on her face.

Eventually his definitely-not-impromptu speech ended amid deafening cheers. A song burst out among the people, and though it was difficult to make out the lyrics, it sounded extremely patriotic.

The attention was just…ugh. Lora tried her best to ignore it, following Dagas, as he swept through the pressing crowd. Their growing awe, cheers and song made her stomach squirm. Malos and his Blade seemed to find it all extremely amusing.

Eventually, Dagas stopped outside of a small erected building, probably the sturdiest and most well-guarded looking tent-adjacent structure there.

"So is this finally where we're going to talk, or are you going to posture with us more?" Lora asked dryly.

He folded his arms as he looked down at them. "No. This is not the appointed place. I have urgent matters I need to attend to before then. Roam the camp at your leisure, but do not attempt to leave."

"You think you could stop us?" Malos goaded. "One little slip and your camp would be a smear on the map."

He gave Malos a hard glare. "As usual, your honour guard speaks his mind." Focusing back on her, he dipped his head minutely. "I merely ask for a token of your patience, Driver of the Aegis."

"And my friends?"

"Safe as can be reasonably expected. My compatriots will lead you to them if you wish. I will send for you when we talk on the morrow."

And he swept into the tent without a second glance back.

Morning dawned dully for Nia with a passable breakfast - accompanied by Cressidus' running commentary on the nutritional value or lack thereof of each part of it. However as she finished picking at it, Nia's ears perked up as a cheer went through the encampment. It was loud enough that that it made her ears pull back on instinct.

"Hey, what's happening out there?" she asked the guard when he eventually came to collect their trays.

"Lord Dagas has returned to the camp." His Ardainian accent was especially thick.

"Dagas? Is that the name of the nutter who almost melted us alive?"

The guard shook his head. "He's certainly has power for sure, but he's far from mad."

Were they talking about the same Blade? Even though they'd long since healed, she still felt echoes of the intense searing heat just thinking about the experience. Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess, but...

"You realize he's a flesh eater, yeah?" The irony of a flesh eater warning him about a flesh eater wasn't lost on her.

She'd basically been minding her own business and the Praetorium had cracked down on her. Made her wonder how Dagas had gone undetected if they were treating him all kingly here.

"It is a badge of honour that we respect."

She blinked in surprise. "Badge of…honour?"

A flesh eater's core crystal being something to be celebrated? The thought sat oddly in her mind.

"Lord Dagas is the head of the spear of Brionac. Born from the ashes of his Driver, he is the weapon that will bring the Empire back into the glory it deserves."

"Patriotic much?" she muttered. Actually. "Wait, hold up. You mean the empire. Like Ardainian Empire empire? The compensating-with-too-many-guns-on-their-palace empire?"

"Not the shadow it's become since the child emperor took the throne." He started pointing emphatically at her after every word. "The real, true might of the Empire and its glory. And don't you forget it, lass!"

"Wow, I'm so scared." She quickly jumped up, ramming into the bars of her cell, smiling widely, teeth bared like fangs. The guy winced, and backed up, fumbling and almost dropping the trays he'd come to collect. Too bad the stupid-looking helmet didn't let her see the full extent of his reaction.

"Pfft!" She bust out laughing as she backed away. "Might and glory of the empire? Honestly, even without Dromarch, I could take you down. One look at you and you're done."

"You think you can take me?"

She shrugged. "Don't need to. Bet you and all your friends will be burnt to a crisp before the month's out. Or whatever the Praetorium does to co-conspirators to blasphemers against the 'natural order.' Do you really think they're just gonna let an affront to their delicate, pious sensibilities like that slide?"

He huffed, indignantly. "They'll have no choice but to recognize us. Just you watch, lass."

"Riiiight." He turned and started walking away, and she glared at his retreating back. "Keep telling yourself that, you patriotic, stuck up little-"

With a pointed clearing of his throat, Dromarch cut her off. "Should we really be antagonizing the hand that feeds us, my lady?"

"What? It got us some info, didn't it?"

He sighed. "I suppose I cannot deny that. Though it raises the question why a militarized Ardainian dissenter group is allied with a cross-titan gang in the first place."

"Numbers, maybe? Info? I dunno."

Having the same people who'd killed that old scientist woman back in Alba Cavanich working with this group - Brionac, right? - wasn't something that really clicked in her head yet. Not that she was sure she wanted it to, or really cared that much about it.

The cheers and a song finally died down - thank goodness, her ears couldn't take much more of it - and she settled on to her cot, ready to hunker down for a boring day. Probably would be murderously dry and hot even without the sun shining in her cell. She didn't want to think about being here long enough that the sun might do that when the Titan was positioned on its orbit around the World Tree at the right angle. Eventually she'd almost started dozing off when-

"Well look what we have here. Kitty-cat's caught in a cage. And Dromarch's here too."

"Wha-" Her eyes snapped open at that condescending tone, and her head jolted over to look. "Malos?"

"Master Malos is here?" Dromarch asked. He sounded just as shocked as she was.

"Hey, Sever's there too!" Cressidus shouted excitedly. "I'd give you a fist bump, but well, you know."

Sever let out a hissing chuckle, going out of sight to where Cressidus was. "You really must be bored if you're welcoming a loner like me."

"Hold up, how come you're both not locked up like we are?" Nia asked angrily.

He tapped the piece of armour near his sternum. "Comes with the territory."

Helpful as always. "And since when were you here anyways? Weren't you back on the Marsanes with Ahkos?"

"You could say I'm here on assignment from Jin."

"Huh?" From Jin? Had he gotten back from raiding those cores already? "Wait, are we working with these guys?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "That's up to her. I'm just along for the ride for now." And he started walking away. "C'mon, Sever."

She clasped the bars. "Wait! You're just gonna leave us in here?"

"Not my call." He didn't even look back as he slowly sauntered off. "Besides, I've got stuff to do."

Still as obnoxious as ever.

But he was barely gone a couple minutes before a more welcome voice called out, "Nia, Dromarch, Cressidus! Thank goodness you're all alright."

"Icicle Lady!" Cressidus shouted.

"Still going with that name, are we?" Lora's voice chided teasingly.

"I'm sure I'll think of something better, especially now that I've seen you fight a couple times."

"Er, no need to rush."

"Lora? You're here too?" Nia asked. And sure enough, the red haired woman stopped in front of her cell. She spotted Pyra out of the corner of her eye talking to Dromarch. Nia frowned. "Is it really just us that got chucked in here?"

"Sorry I wasn't there to help you out."

Nia sighed. "Don't worry about it. Probably wouldn't have made a difference anyways. At least someone sane out there has my best interests in mind. I haven't been in here much more than a day and I'm already sick of it."

"We're waiting on Dagas right now. He's…" Lora trailed off.

"A complete nutter?" Nia supplied.

"A bit much, yeah. I promise I'll get you out soon, alright?"

"And you can't do that right now? Actually, wait." Nia cursed under her breath. "Lemme guess. We're bargaining chips of some sort for 'Lord' Dagas?"

"It's a rotten thing to do, but yeah. And you've seen what Dagas can do, so I don't fancy our chances of getting out without some damage." Lora kneaded her forehead with her hand. "I'd hoped he was bluffing about capturing you all."

She leaned in closer, whispering. "Was Mik with you as well? I didn't see him while they were draggin' us here."

She shook her head, whispering back. "He's still out there, somewhere."

"Do you know what Dagas wants from us? Besides glorious revenge on Mik?"

"I don't know yet. We're going to talk tomorrow, but I insisted that I get to see you all first."

"You actually believe he'll be sane about it?"

"Maybe. He was…sort of calmer than we first saw him, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. I underestimated how big of an encampment he'd be leading us to." She reached through the bars and gently squeezed Nia's hand. "Don't worry, we'll all get out of this."

Nia's ears drooped. "Thanks. If you can, at least get us able to roam around, that'd be nice."

She smiled. "I'll try."

She and Pyra left shortly after that - though not before giving Dromarch a head scratch by the sound of it. Dumb fur ball.

Naturally, she felt a little better, even if she was still stuck here. It was…nice to have someone who openly cared, instead of having to sort through veiled sarcasm and banter like the rest of Torna.

Well, Jin was kind of like that when he opened up, but Lora was different. Frustratingly optimistic, nice, a half decent listener and she was more than decent in a fight. Stubborn though, got flustered easy and definitely out of place. But she was as good a friend as she could hope for in the situation she was in. More than Mik at any rate.

At least Lora's didn't seem to have personal vendettas against her, just all the rubbish that seemed to come along with being Pyra's Driver.

Not for the first time, she wondered what life would have been like as a simple Blade, returning to her core to awaken to a fresh start without all the baggage she carried now. But it was too late for that now. She'd thrown her lot in with Torna and all their eccentricities. She didn't like it all, but it had to be better than roughing it with Dromarch.

Well, she'd see where it went for now, if nothing else.

Another round of another patriotic sounding song started up close by, and her ears winced at the wailing.

…As soon as she got out of this stupid cell.

Chapter Text

Rex extended his hand down to Jac and the Gormotti took it, grunting as Rex helped pull him up.

"Ready to go again, or…?" Rex asked as Jac wiped sweat off his brow with his forearm, panting as he leaned heavily on his Blade, Yachik's, megalance.

"Just a sec, I'm gonna…need a bit. Air's a lot…drier than I'm used to back in Gormott."

Rex grinned. "You got that right! Even with all this steam, it's drier than ol' Willas' school lectures back home." The abundance of industry in Alba Cavanich using geothermal power led to a lot of steam output. But even with that, the air behind the steam was still dry. A far cry from Fonsett. "At least your sweat'll dry quickly."

The sharp tweet of the instructor's whistle sounded, and Rex glanced over as they called for a short break to their drills. Most of the other recruits stumbled off to the shaded canopies around the edge of the training yard, a respite from the hot morning sun.

"Oh thank the Architect," he heard Jac mutter and stumble off to one of the benches conveniently underneath a canopy side with Yachik's help.

They'd been running through drills for the past hour or so, mixing it in with some practice sparing. It was both with and without their Blade's affinity links, getting used to the feel of it, and what Blades could do to support their Drivers in the vanguard.

Looking over to another end of the training yard that acted as a shooting range, Rex saw recruits that had more long range weapons like ether canons with another instructor. He glanced down at Azurda's greatsword, toward the mechanism at the end that opened into a rifle. That was one type of fighting Gramps never trained him on, given that Fonsett didn't really use guns. Too expensive to keep up with ammunition. And he was too busy learning salvaging to even think about using a bow.

"Perhaps we were a bit rough on him?" Azurda asked with a languid stretch.

Rex sheathed Azurda's greatsword over his back, clipping to the magnetic holster he'd adjusted from the small of his back on his belt to there. Since Azurda's sword didn't fold up like his lost mechanical broadsword, it'd been awkward having to shift it out of the way to get through doors. He’d changed the location soon after he recovered from his fight with Nia.

"'You will never grow if I go easy on you,'" Rex said, trying to— and not doing a great job of — pitch his voice down to a vague approximation of Gramps'. "Gramps was relentless and I'm not doing too bad 'cause of it, don't you think?." He watched Jac flop down onto the bench. "Though…we probably could've gone a bit easier on him, yeah." He let out a sort of awkward, stilted chuckle.

Azurda crossed his arms at the sight. "Not everyone has your penchant for diving headfirst into everything." He sighed. "Where did you pick that up anyways?"

A grin spread across Rex's face as he planted his hands proudly on his hips. "It's how I grew up, naturally. How else do you think I became a salvager at ten? Not by slacking off, that's for sure! Besides, that's just how Fonsett rolls; cliff jumping into the cloud sea's practically a national pastime!"

"I suppose it's useful for salvaging, but is it really a national pastime?"

"Might as well be! Fonsett's not the biggest, but really there's really mostly just villages and some small port towns in Leftheria. The other places I've been to do it too."

"So then Leftheria is quite scattered?"

"Pretty much. It's a lot of little Titans that stick together around a cloudwall. People are often traveling through it 'cause their titanships can't get over the cloudwall, and going around ends up taking longer." Rex shook his head. "Whenever we get a chance, we need to go back there. Everyone in Fonsett's gonna be excited to meet you!"

He raised a grassy eyebrow. "You think so?"

"Well, there's not any Drivers from Fonsett. A few pass through the village with their Blades to and from Ysheva Harbor, but I'd never actually seen a core crystal in person outside of books until Gramps dropped yours. But I know you'll fit right in, I just know it!"

"I…look forward to it." Though Rex noticed he looked a bit…worried? Azurda cleared his throat. "So, my forebearer was the one who trained you?"

"Yeah." He looked around at the other recruits in the training yard, most were in a similar state to Jac, though a few were standing, or leaning on walls in the training yard under the shade. "It…almost feels a little unfair, you know?"

"Oh?"

Rex lightly tapped his foot as he considered it. "I didn't know it, but I'll bet the other recruits knew exactly just how much risk they were taking just to awaken a Blade. Even if they'd been motivated by the pay, most of them don't have a background in combat training. Even the well-off ones who might have never been a Driver before, even if they've worked with a Blade."

Azurda stroked the stone of his beard-like appendage thoughtfully. "I believe I see what you're saying. People like our friend Jac," he gestured over to the Gormotti, who was now gulping down water, "come from backgrounds in hard manual labour. It might build up strength and endurance, but it's hardly a substitute for proper training with a weapon."

"Exactly. Even that uh…" his hand fumbled around in the air a little for the word the instructor had used, "'support art' stuff or whatever you do with the 'affinity link' thing only goes so far. Working with a partner in battle is way different than just fighting on your own. Not to mention just because Drivers and Blades are stronger together hardly means we're invincible."

The smugness that radiated from Azurda's singularly raised eyebrow was palpable. "Learned that the hard way didn't you?"

He glared at Azurda. "Hey, come off it. No need to rub salt in the wound. I get it." He sighed as he walked over and sat down on the bench near Jac, who was now sprawled on the ground next to the bench. "Even though Gramps basically gave me Driver training 101, it doesn't mean much against Drivers and Blades who're really in sync."

"Ah, give yourself some credit, Rex," Jac said from the ground, arm over his eyes. "Holdin' your own against a Driver from a terrorist group like Torna when you got no formal training is beyond impressive."

Rex shook his head. "Nah, if the Special Inquisitor hadn't bailed me out, I wouldn't have been so lucky. I rushed in without thinking because I was mad and got tossed around like a ragdoll for my trouble."

Jac moved his arm just enough that one eye was peeking at him. "But c'mon, you lived to tell the tale! That's way more than Yachik and I could've ever done. Once you get some more experience, I'm sure they won't stand a chance."

"Experience is one part of it, I suppose," Azurda mused as he gingerly sat down beside Rex, testing the bench before fully committing his weight to it. "Trust is clearly another. For instance, despite the contrasting nature between Mikhail's pessimistic outlook on the world and Cressidus' upbeat personality, they both work in tandem in and out of battle."

"Yeah." Rex laced his hands behind his head as he leaned back over the edge of the bench on the cool stone wall of the training yard, staring up at the canopy. "Kinda like Nia and Dromarch. Despite their differences, they seemed totally in sync with each other and they handed our butts to us in battle too."

Azurda hummed. "But what about the Aegis and her Driver, hmm?"

"Pyra and Lora?" Rex's brow furrowed in thought. "They went toe to toe against Mòrag, and she's supposed to be the strongest Driver in the Empire, right?"

"Yes, but the Special Inquisitor has been in resonance with Lady Brighid for over a decade, but given what you've told me, Lora and Pyra can't have been in resonance any longer than we have, barely three weeks. So then, how would they have gained that kind of prowess together so quickly? To have such an implicit bond of trust that would allow them to be as effortlessly in sync as they were?"

"Huh." Rex paused, thinking back to that night at the Jakolo inn again. "Lora said she fought alongside Pyra back during the Aegis war. Maybe that's it?"

"But it was the hero Addam that was the Aegis' Driver five-hundred years ago, not her, correct? Even assuming that her time of origin isn't a falsehood, as you said, Rex, seeing a Blade fight and being their Driver are quite different indeed."

"Yeah." Rex grinned and thumped Azurda good naturedly on the back. "Been hittin' the history books have you?"

Azurda smiled back. "Simply asking around. Not much else to do while you were knocked out."

"Heh, guess so." He tapped his chin in thought. "So then maybe it's an Aegis thing? Like when you resonate with her, you just…become ultra powerful?"

"That…could be." Azurda's brows furrowed. "If the legends agree on anything about the Aegis, it's about her devastating power. Yet what little I witnessed of their fight with the Inquisitor was less raw power and more…control."

"Control?" Rex asked. "How do you mean?"

"It was as if their bodies shared the same will, knowing what one would do before the other did it as the Aegis' sword passed back and forth between them. One in body and soul."

"You're almost making me wish I could've been along to see it." Jac murmured with an almost awestruck tone. That changed with a glare from Yachik and he chuckled nervously. "Kidding, kidding…"

"Still though, 'one in body and soul…'" Rex thought about that for a bit. "Think we could be like that too someday, Jac?"

"I dunno." Jac's arm slid back over his eyes. "I'd be alright if they kept Yachik and I in the patrol rotation. Don't know if I'd need to be that good for that.

"Yes, even you can learn how to call for backup." Yachik quipped dryly.

Rex lightly kicked Jac's boot. "Hey you two, you're supposed to be optimistic, like 'I know we can do it if we try,' right?"

"Nah, leave us out of it, please." Jac sighed. "I'd literally be dead in seconds if I tried going up against what you have, Rex. None of this high octane life or death stuff with powerful ancient Blades or dangerous terrorist groups for me."

"It's still early in our resonance for both of us." Azurda mused. "We shouldn't unfairly compare ourselves. However, as to how the Aegis and her Driver would have accomplished such a close resonance in so short a time, I cannot say. Despite her apparent sincerity, we still don't know how much Lora was telling the truth. Lady Brighid was right after all, humans like her don't live that long. And yet..."

Rex looked over to see Azurda's troubled frown. "What is it?"

He shook his head. "No, it is nothing."

"Oh come on, don't be like that."

Unfortunately, their attention was drawn away as the whistle of the instructor blew. Jac groaned and Yachik helped him get back up, and they gathered up and around the instructor, reviewing what they'd covered on affinity links when another recruit didn't seem to get it.

"It's a push and pull," the instructor elaborated. "Take too much and your Blade won't be able to keep up and you'll run out of power at just the wrong moment. They can't protect you with an ether barrier if their power is all dried up after all. Now, before we move on, I want to review elemental affinities and weaknesses…"

Rex listened and participated. Useful as it was to know these things, he preferred to learn stuff on the fly. Honestly, his encounter with Torna and fight with Nia had taught him a lot of this without having it spelled out to him.

Unfortunately, not having his preferred learning style present was only one of his worries. Besides Jac, most of the other recruits seemed to hate his guts.

Subtle and unsubtle glares, giving him the cold shoulder when he'd never even met any of them, outright hazing and bullying.

It was a little like when he'd first started salvaging and some of the older crotchety salvagers had hazed him but good when they saw a ten year encroaching on their business. Here there were mumbled slurs, bumping and tripping in the barracks, pranks and so on. Petty, really, but it got on his nerves.

"It's because of the rumors, you know?" Jac told him after he found a scathing note — one Azurda quickly burned — in his uniform locker. "There's all kinds of stories about how and why you were recruited by the Special Inquisitor. And now with what happened at the Jakolo Inn people think that she's giving you 'special treatment,' and you aren't even from the empire or one of its annexed Titans."

Rex groaned in annoyance. "I'm not doing it because of that. Do they really not get that I was just taken along to identify the Aegis and Torna?"

"Even so, who wouldn't be jealous of the attention you're getting?"

"It's just annoying. Even salvagers that don't like each other put aside their differences on a big job." They had to, otherwise the cloud sea would swallow them up. "It's not gonna matter who's got the attention of the Inquisitor when a real fight comes around."

"It did when she saved you, didn't it?"

"But that doesn't mean I…" Rex trailed off into angry grumbling, because he couldn't think of a good response. Jac shrugged and walked away after that.

"Bet each time you've told that story it's gotten more extravagant," said Bhaltair across the table from Rex as he finished the story. Bhaltair was one of the recruits besides Jac that didn't actively participate in the hazing. "Sounds too pure dead brilliant to me."

Rex sighed. At least he'd listened.

He'd finally got someone other than Jac and Yachik to listen to the story of his recruitment back in Gormott and what happened in what people were starting to call "The Jakolo Incident." He was sat 'round a table in the rec room with a game of Dueling Kingdoms — which he was losing fantastically at — on another day after training.

"You should try going to a tavern on one of the Nopon Trade Guild's ships and listen to the salvager's stories then," Rex eventually countered. "The kinds of things they tell you they get up to on their salvaging runs are way harder to believe than this."

"That's because those are just stories." Bhaltair rolled his eyes. "They aren't actually true. I've seen salvagers at work and it's not that interesting."

"Really?" Rex scrutinized the other young man carefully. "Hold up, have you ever even been off of Mor Ardain?"

"Well, no," he admitted, "but I've been to Mor Ardain's biggest salvaging center, Chilsain, on the Titan's right shoulder. Besides, we were all here during the salvage bulge. I know how salvaging works. It's…" his hand circled about lazily, "dull."

"Ah, I get it now." Rex nodded sagely. He'd just have to teach Bhaltair a thing or three then he'd see. "While there are exceptions, the kind of salvaging you see in the cities and ports and stuff is usually pretty tame. Chaotic at times, sure, and occasionally someone'll pull up a monster with their haul, but pretty tame."

"You're just proving my point. Dull."

"Here? Maybe. But it's when you get out in the fluff where there's nothing but clouds around for titanpeds: that's when it gets really interesting. When it's just you and the open clouds, you see all kinds of weird things out there."

"You've done that?" Bhaltair asked with an air of disbelief. "You're younger than I am!"

Rex thumped his chest proudly. "'Course I have! Got my salvaging license at ten."

"Ten?" He looked even more skeptical now. "Is that even legal?"

"They wouldn't have given it to me if it wasn't."

Well, okay, Rex didn't know the official rules or regulations on that, but at this point, five years in over a hundred jobs and a couple salvager rankings up, he figured it didn't matter what people said. He'd more than proved himself.

"So if you were out there alone, then how do I know you wouldn't just be making that stuff up?"

"Gramps could tell you," he answered on reflex. He winced and subtly glanced at Azurda who's jaw tightened, though otherwise he seemed to pretend not to notice. "Well, could've told you."

"Whatever." Bhaltair, stifled a yawn from behind his hand of cards. "Still sounds boring."

"What," Rex quickly stood up, knee bumping the table, "hey, you take that back!"

"Whoa, Rex, you knocked the pieces!" Jac complained.

"My bad. But come on, back me up, Azurda, salvaging out in the cloud sea is way better, right?"

Azurda cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, I've only salvaged with you here in Alba Cavanich. I believe you, but I have no experience in it myself as of yet."

"Oh, right." He cursed internally. He did it again. "Sorry. Feels like we've already been together for ages."

"Ah, whatever. Putting that salvaging junk-" Bhaltair steadfastly ignored Rex's protested 'watch it!' "-aside," Bhaltair looked over to Jac — who sat by Azurda — and raised an eyebrow. "You're a recruit from Torigoth too, right? Is it true what Rex said about the core crystal hunters?"

Jac looked a little nervous at the attention and shrugged. "Far as I can tell. I mean, I wasn't there for it. I had just awakened Yachik earlier that day before the core crystals were stolen. There was a bunch of ruckus going on outside the relay base where I was signing my contract, but I didn't see most of it." He fidgeted a bit. "Couldn't you just ask the Special Inquisitor? She was in the thick of it."

Bhaltair rolled his eyes again, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Aye, I'll just casually walk up to the Flamebringer and ask." He shook his head, muttering. "Country bumpkins, both of you." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't get what it is about you that caught her eye, but the other recruits would kill for a chance to be in her good graces."

Rex honestly didn't think it was all they were cracking it up to be.

Jac laughed nervously, ears drooping. A moment later they perked up as the door to the barrack's common room opened, admitting the Alba Cavanich Branch's head Driver recruit officer. Someone shouted "Room, attention!" and Jac quickly stood, facing over to the door, saluting.

As the rest of the room joined him in the salute — a practice Rex only participated in halfheartedly if only because the officer didn't have his respect the salute supposedly signified.

"At ease recruits." The room stopped their salute, but Rex would hardly call it 'at ease,' with how stiff everyone was. The officer's eyes drilled around the room before falling on their table.

"Rex, Azurda, with me."

Ah, great.

No one said a word, but he could feel the whole of the room's eyes on him as he nodded. "Yes sir."

"You too, Jac, Yachik."

The Gormotti nearly jumped at being called out in front of the room, though a moment later he stammered out a "Y-yes sir!"

Ah well, so much for the rumours stopping anytime soon. Rex could practically feel the ire of everyone else on them as they left, following the officer out the room and down to the entrance of the barracks.

When they arrived, they found Mòrag waiting for them, though this time it was without Brighid. Poor Jac went nearly ramrod straight on seeing her, and quickly snapped a salute in time with the officer as soon as he could.

Azurda had warned him that Mòrag would come for a debriefing once the things settled after the scuffle with Torna and the Aegis, but he hadn't been looking forward to it.

I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

Mòrag nodded at the head officer's own salute. "At ease. I will take Rex from here."

"How long will you need him for, ma'am?"

"That remains unclear at present."

"I'd prefer him back unharmed this time, if you could, Special Inquisitor. He's one of my most promising recruits." There was an edge to his voice now, one Rex hadn't expected. Wasn't Mòrag way higher on the chain than this guy?

A single eyebrow raised. "Is he now? Then I'm certain he will be fine. Dismissed."

He saluted again, though there was underlying tension in his gaze, as he turned to Jac and said, "Stop staring, recruit, you're coming with me."

Jac glanced back as he and Yachik went with him. Jac gave Rex what was probably supposed to be a reassuring smile, though it ended up looking more like a constipated krabble.

After they left, there was a long moment of silence as Mòrag looked Rex and Azurda over, a serious, calculating look in her eyes. Considering the last time he'd seen her she was saving him from Torna, he was surprised it wasn't anger. The expression looked more like she'd eaten something gone bad.

…which wouldn't be too hard given some of the local "traditional" Ardainian cuisine he'd tried, but still.

After a moment Mòrag closed her eyes, and with a drawn out sigh, she turned on her heel and began walking out the barracks. "With me."

Rex glanced at Azurda, who shrugged before both of them fell in line behind Mòrag.

"What was that about?" Rex asked.

"The good officer," and there was a hard note to her voice, displeasure practically leaking through, "over the Driver recruits doesn't like when someone outside the program 'interferes' with one of his men, and he makes his displeasure well known every time it occurs."

"Sounds petty."

She glanced back as they exited the barracks, a slight smirk of amusement curled up on one side of her mouth before quickly returning to stoicism. "Quite. You could sum up much of on-base politics with such pettiness."

As she went across the base to its entry checkpoints, Rex noticed eyes lock on to her as she walked past, before sliding down onto Rex, then up to Azurda. Yeah, this definitely wasn't going to go unnoticed.

Out in the streets of Alba Cavanich, most of the salvagers were gone since the salvage bulge had ended a few days ago, but the traffic on the streets was still pretty heavy in its aftermath as people and Nopon hawked spoils from the hauls. Titan-loads of goods were still being moved around as they were stored or being made ready for shipping or export elsewhere.

Despite the traffic, people generally gave Mòrag a wide berth as they headed towards the city's center, and it became increasingly clear where they were going. Hardhaigh Palace loomed large and imposing as they crossed the bridge from the city proper to it.

As they passed the reception desk with merely nods and salutes from the soldiers stationed there as they passed — that was way easier than getting a spot for salvaging on the palace's parapets — and went up a small elevator to the second floor docks, he couldn't help but wonder, why here?

If this was just a debriefing, why hadn't Mòrag just used one of the conference rooms on the base?

Weaving her way through the familiar hallways of the Hardhaigh Palace, Mòrag brought the two through it to an official conference room. Her feelings on what was about to transpire were…complicated, especially with what had recently come to light. Rex was a boy. Skilled and resourceful for his age, certainly, but…

Well, she would see.

The boy in question looked around as they entered the conference room. While it had many of the decorations and styling as much the rest of the palace — what with the crest of the Ardanach family, red, painted metal walls, and imported wood for the table, chairs and floors — it was devoid of the more extraneous and gaudy decorations so present elsewhere in the palace. Designed with focus in mind.

The only out of place was Aegaeon, his arms crossed and stone faced, looking for all the while that he was brooding in the corner of the room. He might have been, knowing him.

"Who's he?" Rex asked.

The Blade dipped his head lightly, but didn't move from his spot. "My name is Aegaeon and I am here as a witness in place of Lady Brighid. I wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances."

The boy didn't react to his name, which meant he didn't know whose Blade he was, but there was a flash of recognition in Azurda's eyes. Curious.

"Witness?" Rex glanced at the water Blade, oblivious to his Blade's realization, then back to her. "Is this some sort of trial for me going after Torna when you told me not to?"

"No," Mòrag clarified, "you would have been duly informed if it was a trial. Your infraction notwithstanding, this is a debriefing. Sit."

She gestured to the two of the chairs on one side of the table — the side where Aegaeon would be able to see their faces — and the two sat, varying levels of wariness in both of their eyes. It was understandable, as a normal debriefing could have easily taken place on base. But this was also an assessment, though she wouldn't let him know that.

She sat in the chair across from them, crossed her legs and eyed them each in turn.

"First," she began cooly, "I need you to understand that much of what we will review here must remain confidential. While the public knows about the presence of the Aegis and her Driver, as well as Torna to some degree, in order for us to stay ahead of potential spies, what we discuss here must remain between us and relevant personnel."

"Torna has spies?" Rex asked.

"Perhaps, but information can make its way to them through many other channels. Best that we give them as little a chance as possible."

"Gotcha."

"Second, I must impress on you how foolish what you did that night was. One of my most unpleasant duties is to give news of my men's deaths to their loved ones. Had I not intervened, you likely would have joined them. Your actions spit upon the sacrifice of those who died from the ambush."

Rex remained silent, but he did look somewhat chastised. So he did have some humility after all. Good.

"The power of Drivers and Blades," Mòrag continued, "outclasses normal humans. Torna did not get as far as they have without abuse of that power. The Aegis is a step far above all of them and her current Driver is skilled at wielding it. The men and women who joined us in that operation knew what they signed up for, going up against those odds."

"You," she continued, "were present to verify the identity of the Aegis and her Driver, and were specifically ordered to not engage them, save in self defense should they resist and target you. With those odds in mind, why did you go after Torna?"

He barely even paused to think when he looked her in the eyes. "I had to know."

Mòrag raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I was being stubborn, and I was mad, I get that. But Pyra, the Aegis…she said she wanted to go to Elysium. Talked about it like it was real, and not just some sort of fairytale."

She had seen how interested he was when the Aegis had brought it up in her interrogation of Torna. So he was a believer in it?

"She did," Mòrag admitted. "Did you find out anything before I arrived to intervene against your demise?"

"No…I let Mikhail, that's the blond one with red armour, goad me into fighting them."

"I see."

It was unfortunate that Rex hadn't learned anything else of the Aegis' intentions, but ultimately not surprising. But the other Torna operative's name was Mikhail? Mòrag resisted the urge to rub her neck where the man grabbed her after slipping through her guard. It was still something of a wound on her pride.

Mòrag shifted topics. "Have you met this Mikhail before?"

He seemed to shrink in his seat some "I, uh…" he swallowed, "might have accepted a salvaging job from him."

"Truly?" She raised her eyebrows in astonishment. The boy's penchant for attracting dangerous persons of interest was astounding.

"Well," Rex moved to defend himself quickly, "it wasn't as if anything about him initially screamed 'terrorist,' he just needed some parts salvaged up, and I was…" his cheeks flushed with colour.

"Rex was looking for any excuse he could to salvage during the recent bulge," Azurda chimed in.

"It's super rare!" He shouted indignantly, though his eyes still shone with leftover excitement. "I'd have kicked myself if I hadn't even tried to salvage during it."

Mòrag couldn't help the sniff of laughter and smile that momentarily came to her face. But there was something she might be able to use. "Your predilection for inadvertently working for terrorists notwithstanding, what was the part this Mikhail was looking for?"

"Gold condensers, and a good amount of them too. He said the whole market was bought out of them and he couldn't find any."

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. Gold condensers were a mildly rare part, usually sought out by those seeking to use them in advanced circuitry. But to be bought out completely? It wasn't good that Torna was looking to buy them out, but who else would have bought them up en masse?

She filed the information away for another time. "Did he say what he was using them for?"

"For repairs on his vessel," Azurda interjected. "Though in hindsight, that could have easily been a lie."

"Quite." Mòrag let out a slow breath through her nose. According to Rex, Torna's one known submersible was without a Titan, so it might be true, but as Azurda said, it just as easily might be a cover. "I assume this was the salvaging job you mentioned you were taking when you ran into the Driver of the Aegis?"

"Yeah, it was," Rex replied.

Mòrag let out a hum of contentment, feeling that she had a fuller picture of the situation. But now to a larger question. "Putting aside your dereliction of duty for now. I am curious to know what you think. With the Aegis' current company, regardless of whether Elysium is real or not, do you think it is worrying that she seeks it?"

"Worrying?" He asked. "I…don't know what to think, if I'm honest. But...if someone who's from there says that it's real, shouldn't we be doing everything we can to get there? You of all people can't be blind to see that Titans are dying off without new ones popping up. Wouldn't Elysium help solve that?"

He made it sound so easy, said it with such conviction. Titans were dying off without so many new ones in sight, and the Ardainian Titan was poised to join the dead amongst the cloud sea within a few generations.

"Even if Elysium truly is the paradise that Indoline doctrine espouses it to be, it wouldn't be that simple."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get it, politics and junk, but we've gotta start by getting there and seeing for ourselves, right?"

It was touching to see his optimism, even if it was fueled by naiveté. It seemed he was unaware of the great void and its guardian currently surrounding the base of the World Tree.

"Perhaps," she allowed, "but that makes it all the more worrying why a terrorist organization would want access to Elysium bad enough to uncover the Aegis to do so. Considering that the Aegis War followed soon after the last known individual scaled the World Tree, I believe we all have need to worry."

Rex nodded. "Yeah, whatever Torna is up to can't be good, but…"

"Why the hesitation?"

He crossed his arms. "'If all you see is trash, that's all you'll ever find.' It's…something Auntie Corrine taught me. I've met and talked with four of Torna's members now, and their Blades. When I thought about it, they've all got this look in their eyes, a sort of deep sadness in them. But Lora is…different somehow. I can't really put my finger on it."

So he'd picked up on the difference as well. Surprisingly perceptive for one so stubborn and headstrong. But then, hadn't she been like that at his age?

"Fascinating," she murmured quietly, hand coming to rest on her chin in thought.

"Sorry?"

She leaned forward slightly in her seat. "If you could ask the Driver of the Aegis anything, Rex, what would you ask?"

He blinked at the question, then took a moment to seriously consider it before looking back up at her. "I'd ask her what she wants."

Mòrag was almost taken aback by the simplicity. "What she wants?"

"When you were interrogating everyone, you asked a lot about what Torna and the Aegis' goals were, but I don't think you ever asked Lora directly what she wanted to do. Seems like the simplest way to see if she's got bad intentions, right?"

"If we could just walk up and ask her, it might even be that simple, but-"

"Couldn't hurt to try at some point," he interrupted. "Just 'cause you fought, doesn't mean you can't make up after, right?"

She smiled. "I suppose so."

She looked over to Aegaeon and briefly met his eyes, nodding. He subtly dipped his head in response and stepped away from the wall.

"I have seen all that I need, Special Inquisitor." And with that, the Blade slipped through the door of the room, closing it softly behind him. Though Mòrag knew he'd be back soon. The one he was poised to get had been listening in secret after all.

"What was that about?" Rex muttered. She turned back to find that Rex had crossed his arms in his seat, his expression akin to a confused brog who'd missed pouncing on its prey.

Mòrag stood as she heard the door open again, admitting Aegaeon and…

"I believe I've heard all I need," Niall said. "We can take this to the next stage now."

She saw Rex look over the emperor, taking in his imperial raiment and small stature. "Uh…who's this kid?"

Niall's head tipped slightly to the side, glancing at Mòrag. She smiled lightly, hands coming to rest behind her back.

Aegaeon stepped up boldly beside his liege. "Do not be so flippant in the presence of-"

Niall held up a hand, and Aegaeon stopped, stepping back as that authority seemed to settle on his shoulders again. "I am Niall Ardanach, Emperor of Mor Ardain."

Rex blinked a couple of times, before his jaw fell open. "Wait, really? You're the emperor?! But you're so short you can't be that much older than me!"

"Rex…" Azurda elbowed him none too subtly in a quiet tone. "Remember your manners."

"Whoops, sorry." Rex cleared his throat and stood, dipping his head in a way that would probably make bigwigs who liked ceremony too much cry. Then he walked over to the emperor with his most confident grin and stuck out his hand. "Sorry about that, your majesty. Name's Rex! Good to meet you!"

He noticed that water-looking Blade, Aegaeon, flinch as he did so, hand straying to his hip as if to draw a weapon. Probably made the guy antsy. Rex kept holding out his hand though. In for a gold, in for the lot, right?

Thankfully, after a moment, Niall smiled brightly and disarmingly at Aegaeon — who backed off — and grasped his hand firmly. More firmly than Rex would've thought for an emperor. Impressive. You could tell something about people from the way they shook hands, and Rex was pretty confident that this guy wasn't out to get him.

Probably.

They let the handshake go. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Rex," Niall began cordially. Ah good. Probably meant he hadn't caused some national incident by insulting the emperor with a handshake. "Most of my countrymen are either too patriotic or conspiring to talk in such a straightforward manner. Your candor is something of a breath of fresh air."

"You're welcome...I think?"

"You may not wish to thank me just yet, but it is appreciated." Niall nodded and gestured to the chairs in the room. "Please, sit. There is no reason to continue to stand on ceremony."

As they did, Rex started to wonder if this was the reason why they'd been brought here instead of staying on base. Well it was no wonder his palms had felt a little sweaty. He was being tested the whole time! And considering the presence of the Emperor of Mor Ardain here, he must have passed whatever it was.

The Emperor sat straight-backed in his chair after he settled, his feet touching the floor though only because he sat in the more forward part of it. "After listening in on your conversation with the Special Inquisitor, I am here to extend to you and Azurda an assignment. You are free to refuse, of course."

"An assignment?" Rex glanced at Azurda whose eyes shone with the same wariness he felt. After all, last time he'd taken a job from a notable figure — Chairman Bana — it hadn't ended very well. "Alright, we'll listen."

"Thank you." He looked Rex directly in his eyes. "Time is short, so I will be blunt with you. I want you to act as a sort of ambassador to the Driver of the Aegis."

Rex blinked. "Ambassador? So you want me to…talk to her? Negotiate something?"

Niall smiled. He really looked like the kid he was when he did that. "Just so. Ascertain her intentions, and report back word of it. If possible, we would like to open a long term channel of communication with her."

That felt like a big responsibility to shove onto a Driver recruit. He felt a little bit of pride at it, but…

"Sorry if this is a bit rude, your majesty, but why choose us?"

"Given what the Special Inquisitor has told me about you," Niall answered, "I suspect you were thinking of going after them on your own at some point anyways, correct?"

"W-well," Rex sputtered, "I mean, I might have been considering it." he chuckled nervously, turning his eyes down in vain to hide the flush going to his face.

"Then this," Niall continued, thankfully not pointing it out, "will save you the trouble."

"But why me and not someone like Mòrag? There have to be tons of people more qualified than I am."

"Indeed. I know of at least a dozen people I could list off the top of my head that are vastly more qualified for this than you." Wow, he really didn't hold back, did he? "However, each one of those people would bring their own agenda. Your intentions, such as I've been informed of, are simpler. Purer. From what I've heard of the Driver of the Aegis, I think she would respond better to that than any formal diplomat."

"You think so?"

Niall looked over to Mòrag, who nodded. "Following the failure of her capture," Mòrag started, "I began receiving reports from my men who followed her trail while the Driver of the Aegis was in the capital. It felt like following the trail of an overzealous do-gooder of a mercenary rather than a terrorist, though naturally, we can't rule out hidden agendas just yet. Ultimately, I believe a more congenial approach would be effective, one that I may not be able to engender given my hostility at our last encounter."

So they needed someone straightforward to just talk to her? He guessed he could do that.

"If I may," Azurda put in cautiously, "there is something else, your majesty."

Niall's attention turned slightly upward to the Blade and he nodded. "Please."

"At Jakolo Inn, after Torna fled and after we gave chase…the Aegis Pyra seemed to recognize me."

"Truly?"

"I am certain of it."

"It wasn't just Pyra that recognized me," Azurda continued. "Before we gave chase to the hot springs, back when the Special Inquisitor first sprung her trap, I'm certain that Lora recognized me as well. Considering I have no memory of her…"

"You think she must've met Gramps at some point," Rex concluded. Was that what he'd been stewing on the last couple of days?

Azurda nodded slowly. "She must have. Though naturally, I cannot say when it occurred."

"I see." Niall's interest looked peaked. "One of your past awakenings, I presume?"

"That would be impossible, as this is my first." Azurda stroked his stone, beard-like appendage. "No, according to Rex, I strongly resemble the Titan from which I was born. While I don't know the depth of that relationship, we could use this as one way to approach them."

Niall seemed to consider it a moment. "It certainly has merit, and gives even more reason for this job to fall to the two of you."

"Thank you."

"So, not that I think we can't give it a shot, but will it really just be me and Azurda doing this?" Rex asked. It seemed a little...odd to leave it to just them.

"Of course not," Mòrag scoffed, sounding offended at the idea of leaving this completely to them. "Brighid and I will be accompanying you on this assignment."

Ah, well that made a lot more sense.

Niall nodded in agreement. "After all, I cannot in good conscience send an untrained Driver to do this, even one that went head to head with one of Torna's Driver's."

Was he talking about Nia? "We lost that battle, your majesty."

"I am aware, but I believe it speaks to your potential that even without formal training you did not perish. Mòrag has also spoken well of your perceptiveness and ability to think on your feet." She had? Huh. "Tempered by her, I believe we will be able to establish amenable contact with the Aegis and her Driver, one untainted by the myriad of political agendas associated with the return of the Aegis."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. But…where would we even begin to look? It's been half a week now. They might not even be on the Titan anymore."

"Ah, that is one reason why you were called so quickly: we know where the Driver of the Aegis has gone."

Rex's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Indeed." Niall gave a short gesture to Aegaeon, who brought out a map of Mor Ardain's left shoulder, and placed it on the table between them. Niall traced his finger from the edge of the shoulder — marking where Alba Cavanich was — towards the Titan's neck to what looked like a quarry. "She is currently residing here in an old ether mining camp, but she is not alone."

"One of our undercover agents took great risk to transmit this to us." Aegaeon said.

He placed a grainy photograph on the table, which Niall turned towards him. Despite the poor quality, Rex could easily see Lora in the center, leaning towards Pyra like she was whispering something to her. And beside them, arms crossed with an amused look on his face was…

"Wait, Malos?" Rex's eyes widened as he looked at the grainy image of the one who had…

The one who had…

His fist tightened under the table.

Niall nodded, sympathy in his eyes. "Yes. He must have joined them after their escape from the capital. But as worrying as that is, it is not the worst part. The agent who sent this has been under deep cover in Brionac, and they have gathered their forces under a flesh eater Blade calling himself the 'Lord of the Wastes.'"

Rex let out a breath. "Sounds pretty pretentious. Who are they?"

"Brionac are a group of dissenters who oppose some of the anti-imperialist decisions I made once I was put on the throne."

Aegaeon scoffed. "Your majesty is too kind to them. They are political insurgents who have never made their ire of your choice of governance unclear, and refused to compromise even when offered a peaceful solution."

He said the word with such under bitten vitriol that Rex almost felt bad not knowing the least bit who in the world they were. He glanced at Azurda, who in glancing back, simply raised his grassy eyebrow.

Right, he wouldn't know either, would he? "Sounds like a pain."

"Quite the understatement," Aegaeon mumbled. "As for this 'Lord of the Wastes,' from his description, he appears to be a Blade named Dagas that was stolen from the imperial family's store nearly ten years ago."

Another unfamiliar name, but it clearly held some sort of story for them.

"Do you believe that your attempted capture of Lora led her to go off with Brionac?" Azurda asked.

"No." Mòrag crossed her arms. "Considering my own interactions and the testimonies collected by everyone I could find that interacted with the Driver of the Aegis, we don't believe she has any personal stake in this conflict. We aren't aware of any interactions Torna has had with them before either."

"Then did Brionac capture her?" Azurda inquired.

"Possibly," Niall admitted, "though I feel it more likely that they are coercing her in some way. Regardless, with the large force they are gathering under the 'Lord of the Wastes,' it forces our hand, and like as not, we cannot leave it be. The presence of the Aegis and her Driver makes it impossible to ignore."

"Indeed," Mòrag continued. "Initial estimates of their forces are nearing two thousand. Our own forces are already preparing to counteract them, and will move out shortly after we do."

"Wait, so there's going to be a battle?!" That wasn't what he signed up for.

Niall shook his head. "If it can be avoided, no. There are many possibilities and contingencies in place, but our hope is that our spies will be able to assist you in convincing and extracting the Driver of the Aegis in secret. Naturally, the dangers of this are high. There are many ways this could go wrong, and though I would prefer for it to not come to a battle, it may end up that way."

"Alright." Rex paused, letting out a breath. This was a lot to process. "Fine." He looked over to Azurda, who nodded in support. "We'll do it."

The relief that briefly shone on Niall's was palpable, and made him seem like the kid he actually was for a second. It was gone a moment later, replaced by that formal imperial bearing. "I thank you, Rex. Though I wish it wasn't so sudden, we must ask you to prepare to leave tonight. Mòrag will fill you in on the rest once you are en route. With that, I must take my leave."

He left, and Aegaeon left with him, dipping his head slightly lower this time. Probably his way of showing respect.

Rex let out breath once they were gone and it was just him, Azurda and Mòrag again. "I figured you weren't gonna let me off easy, but this?"

Mòrag raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer I set you on a month's worth of deep cleaning detail?"

Rex shook his head. "Nah, I'll pass."

"Besides," Azurda chimed in, "as we'll be traveling with the Special Inquisitor, I doubt we will be slacking off."

"Quite."

"Well then," Rex grinned, "bring it on."

Though Jin hadn't been here for some time, the seedy understreets of Alba Cavanich had changed less than he would have figured.

The smell of rotten eggs that permeated the air because of the geothermal systems was still nearly unbearable — especially without any recent rain. Over a hundred years ago, it might have been cooler than it was topside at night, but even in the alleyways cut directly into the rocky Titan's flesh, the Titan was still warm throughout it all. Had Jin not been ice element attuned, he would have been sweating profusely under his hooded poncho.

The humans weren't so lucky, and smelled wretched accordingly. He passed establishments — if you could really call them that — that sold every vice you could think of. The people, and some of the Blades chained to them, were still horrible, some of the worst of humanity on explicit display. And while there were new developments and buildings where there were none before, much the same as he remembered.

He almost pitied them.

The horrible haze of memories from that time he'd languished here weren't pleasant ones, even after Malos found him.

But there was something markedly different this time. Aside from the noticeable increase in heat, there was an undercurrent of energy to them that hadn't been present before. A feverous charge going through the air that went beyond the economic boom of the recent salvage bulge.

It was almost comically obvious who the culprit was.

Lora's wanted posters were pasted all over. They'd made her look far more imposing and serious with the slight frown on her face, giving her an almost grizzled look. Jin couldn't help but chuckle when he'd seen her face on that first wanted poster, covering up his own masked wanted poster…though the hundreds of copies he spotted after as he wound his way through the Ardainian capital's underbelly were less amusing.

The price tag attached to her capture was frankly enormous. More than his was had even been back they'd been hunted by the Kingdom of Torna. And unlike then however, he doubted this would die down.

He knew Mikhail, Lora and even Nia could be discreet, but combine that with the Aegis? Even with that different persona, she wasn't subtle.

But despite how obvious it was that Lora had been in the city, the veritable flood of wildly varying rumours of her activity while she was there made it impossible to make out the truth of what happened, and more importantly to him, if she was still in the city with Mikhail and Nia.

And so he found himself inside one of those seedy establishments in a booth, sitting across from a fluffy, pink Nopon. Her gaudy, fur lined purple vest, gold chains, sunglasses and hat were a ridiculous imitation of some human fashion fad he'd never paid attention to.

"Well, well," the Nopon crossed her arms, one headwing carelessly gripping a smoking pipe. "Look who come crawling back to Informama for information once more."

…Did she know him?

"Meh, did friend forget?" The Nopon took a thoughtful, deep drag on the pipe, coughed, and puffed out a circle of smoke directly into his face. "Friend might have skeeter for brains, but Informama never forgets."

Jin cut the Nopon off. "I need good information on the Driver of the Aegis quickly, and I'm willing to pay the price."

"Ohohoho, every friend looking for that, but information friend asking for is not coming cheap." Her eyes narrowed in an approximation of dangerous. "Especially not when last friend meet, friend's tall, dark and dangerous friend nearly strangle Informama to death, even when Informama offer steep, unliveable discount."

"You'd have to narrow it down more."

Malos didn't always have the patience to deal with information brokers, and it seems he'd found one who'd gotten the worse end of his…eagerness and lived.

Informama gasped. "Meh! Informama is offended! Informama's very life flash before her eyes, dribbled like ball, like some rowdy littlepon at friend's friend expense!"

Jin's eyes squinted as he looked closer at the Nopon. The sunglasses and terrible outfit made it difficult to tell, but he might have seen her before. Jin sighed. "That…doesn't narrow it down."

Informama started angrily puffing on her pipe. "Such rudeness! Informama should leave right here."

Jin stood, seeming to surprise the Nopon. "Then I'll take my custom and gold elsewhere."

"Harumph. Guards." and two men in imposing suits that had been sitting at a table nearby stood and came closer, cracking their knuckles.

Jin glared at her. "If you're hoping to extract money for damages to your person, you should have done so closer to the incident." Not that they would've been likely to pay it. Until Ahkos and Patroka hit the metaphorical jackpot, Torna hadn't always been so well off. "I was told you have information that no one else had. If you can't provide that, I'm leaving."

Informama took a smug puff of her pipe, and carelessly waved her headwing to the guards. "Meh, give friend a wallop for his-"

The human guards who came over were knocked flat faster than they could raise their fists, or draw any weapons. One of them was out cold, and the other lay groaning on the floor. Pathetic. Jin hadn't even manifested his sword. He glared back at the Nopon, who had smoke leaking out of her gaping mouth.

She cleared her throat. "Informama thanks friend for his charitable act of letting Informama live."

"I came for information, not power plays. I don't have time for your petty games."

"I-Informama sees that friend is discerning customer. Despite that Informama might have had brains rattled around in skull by friend's friend, Informama is not stupid. Sit friend, Informama will give slight discount."

He eyed the place for any other guards that might be in the pub, but everyone was steadfastly ignoring their corner. The Nopon must have paid the owner off to do business here. He sat back down to the much less confident Nopon, now chewing nervously on the end of her pipe.

"So what do you have on the Driver of the Aegis?"

"Is hot commodity item and Informama come across juicy bits friend cannot find elsewhere-"

"Get to the point."

"Ahem. Has friend heard of 'The Jakolo Incident?'"

Jin nodded. It was difficult not to notice the disrepair of the building when he'd been scouting the city topside earlier last night. Some cursory asking around had gotten him the basic details of Lora's fight with the Ardainian Inquisitor.

"Informama thought so. But is old rotting rhogul corpse in information trade already." She raised an eyebrow, rubbing her free headwing's appendages together.

Jin rolled his eyes and set gold on the table.

"Good to know that despite friend's terrible manners, friend knows that Informama not run information charity." She took another drag on her pipe, seemingly less nervous now. "Listen to Informama: Driver of Aegis is working with group. Terrible terrorist organization named 'Torna.'"

He crossed his arms neutrally. "Really."

"Ohohoho! Friend doesn't look surprised. Well, luckily for friend, it go deeper." She gave him meaningful look.

He sighed and set more gold on the table with a clink.

"See, Driver of Aegis have fingers in many pies. Informama have reliable sources that say Driver of Aegis in cahoots not just with Torna, but with ruthless cross-titan gang Bloody Lobsters."

That one Jin was almost certain wasn't true. With Mikhail traveling with Lora, unless leadership had changed drastically in the last decade, they still had a long standing hit out on Mikhail. Not that Jin enjoyed their company in their brief alliance.

"Is that it?" Jin asked sharply. "Or are you wasting my time?"

"Ohohoho. I-informama understands now that friend is an extremely astute customer. Informama willing to part with one more juicy morsel, one Informama has not told another soul."

Jin glared at her, unimpressed at the bold-faced lie. She waggled her eyebrows, puffing languidly on her pipe as her sense of control over the deal crept back. It was obviously a selling tactic, but he needed the information, so he set more gold on the counter.

She smiled self-satisfyingly. "Friend should be careful with this information. In addition to working with terrorists and gangs, Driver of Aegis has allied with Brionac."

"The imperialist separatists?" Weren't they the ones where Mikhail and Patroka had offed their leaders five years ago? Why would Mikhail go to them, much less work with them, especially with Lora and the Aegis in tow? "They have new central leadership?"

"Friend is well informed. Yes, Brionac now under control of 'Lord of the Wastes.'"

"Who?"

"Unfortunately, information is scarce. 'Lord of the Wastes' might be Blade, might be human, but truth for sure is that he quietly been amassing power for last year until now. Newest skuttlebutt say Driver of Aegis is mad from Special Inquisitor trying to capture her, and team up with 'Lord of the Wastes' to start new imperial dynasty in retribution."

The likelihood of Lora doing that was next to zero, but the other information was useful. It gave him a target at the very least. "Anything else?"

"Meh, that all information Informama have for friend. Please to be paying in full and leaving Informama in peace now."

He did, leaving the seedy little pub, and moved past the still recovering guards back into the dry, hot air. Seemed he had more information gathering to do now. If he could confirm where Brionac was stationed, he was likely to find the "Lord of the Wastes," and with him, Lora.

He wandered through ether lamp lit streets of the undercity and eventually stopped at a message board. Like every message board in the city it was plastered with a poster of Lora's face, but this one was overlapping Malos' wanted poster.

Live for her.

Fulfill Malos' ambition.

He sighed. Even though he knew Lora wouldn't have been content to sit still in the Marsanes, especially with Malos there, he wished this could have been simpler.

"Is friend sad about something?"

Jin looked beside him, and seeing no one he looked down to his left. Innocent orange eyes gazed up at him, curious, but intelligent. A white floppy hat dropped to the side as a Blade tilted her head to the side.

His eyes flicked down to the glowing orange approximation of a core crystal, one he recognized as an ether furnace window. So she was an artificial Blade? But she didn't look like the mass produced ones, or the prototype that Chairman Bana's chief engineer always had lingering close. Had he built another one?

"Can friend not speak or hear?" Those bright orange eyes blinked and she lifted her hands and started mechanically working through hand signs. "With recent upgrade, Poppi has become proficient in Alrestian Sign Language if friend is deaf."

It really wasn't his problem what Torna's artificial Blade producer did, but something in those eyes…

"Who are you?" Jin asked carefully.

"Poppi's name is Poppi." Her eyes flicked to the message board, past Malos' covered wanted poster to his own. "Friend's name is Jin, isn't it?"

Even with the hooded poncho, and even though he'd stored Lora's horned mask away and simply tied a headband around his core crystal, she recognized him? "Do you want something?"

"Poppi will take Jin's lack of disagreement as confirmation." Her eyes narrowed in a way that was probably meant to look serious as she crossed her arms. "Poppi has a proposition for Jin."

Chapter Text

Rex ignored the clamor of people as he and Azurda arrived back at the barracks, trying to figure out where and why Mòrag had taken him from off the base. He deflected them with a half-truth that it was just a debriefing on the "Jakolo Incident."

Unfortunately, only some of them seemed to accept it at face value, leaving a large curious crowd. It wasn't until Azurda parted the way for him, using his large frame to force their way through to the Driver recruits bunk room, which was mercifully empty.

Rex heaved a sigh of relief once they got in and closed the door. "Honestly, it's like they've got nothing else better to do than bother us."

He was thankful that the weekend started tomorrow, or him packing up to meet up with Mòrag tonight would be met with even more questions he didn't feel like answering at the moment.

"You have been making quite a name for yourself in a short amount of time," Azurda reminded him none too gently. "And what the Special Inquisitor is up to has always been a subject of great interest to them. Especially so with the return of the Aegis."

"Yeah, I get it," Rex admitted, "I wish they were more like the salvagers did. Once I proved myself there they let me get on with it and do my own thing."

"They are completely different organizations. And the matter of the Aegis has far more far reaching implications than someone who is simply an unusually young salvager."

"Doesn't make it any less stupid," Rex grumbled.

Azurda chuckled, and Rex huffed, before moving over to his bunk to the trunk at its base and unlocked it. "Come on, let's just pack."

The trunk itself didn't have a ton of stuff in it, since most of it was just stuff the Driver program had given him. The rest of what he had was lost in Gramps' flight from that ancient ship where they'd found Pyra. Honestly, he'd had more when he'd set off with Gramps at ten than what he had now.

It didn't matter much in the end, he supposed. Stuff was replaceable after all, and it had never been his goal anyways. But…it was the loss of Gramps that was the hard part. Still was.

Regardless of his thoughts, he started dutifully packing up the part of the small, yet comprehensive list that Aegaeon had given them that he could get from his trunk. The rest would come when he met up with Mòrag, or so the emperor's Blade had said.

It didn't take long for him to finish up, especially with Azurda's help. He glanced at Azurda as his massive hands zipped up their packs. The resemblance was still uncanny.

His Blade eyed him carefully. "You've been unusually quiet."

Rex sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for? I for one don't mind the peace and quiet, but it's unlike you."

"It's not that. It's just, well, I've been thinking."

Azurda's bushy green eyebrows shot up. "Architect helps us; I'll have to check to make sure the cloud sea hasn't frozen over at this new development."

"Hey!" Rex lightly punched Azurda's arm, which had all the effectiveness of punching a brick wall. "I'm trying to be serious here." Rex took a deep breath. "It's just, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been dragged into this mess. And I feel so bad about it."

"Rex…" Azurda sighed, eyes closing momentarily. "Don't ever feel bad about the gift of life that you gave me. I understand that it came at the cost of a dear friend, but I am right here. His living legacy, if you will."

"Yeah, I know. I still slip up here and there, but I understand that you're your own person. But it's kind of just been one thing after another since I awakened you, and you haven't really gotten a chance to just experience life without me dragging you along, have you?"

Azurda looked over him carefully. "I am content with protecting you, Rex. After all, my life is tied to yours. Besides, after our fight with Torna is over, we promised to go find Elysium."

"Huh?"

"Surely you haven't forgotten the promise we made already, have you?"

"No, I remember," Rex assured him, thinking back to that morning on the Ardainian battleship when they'd left Gormott. It hadn't been that long ago, but it sure felt like it now. "But that was just me convincing you about it, wasn't it?"

"I don't feel like I needed much convincing." He gained an almost wistful look in his eyes. "The thought of going up somewhere no one has set foot in centuries still intrigues me."

"But is it really fair if you have to do it just 'cause I'm going?" Rex asked. "I think you're amazing, Azurda, but…life should be about more than just duty." Rex paused, gathering his thoughts. "Back with Mòrag and the emperor, when you said you would use your connection to Gramps to try and talk with Lora and Pyra, it made me think. As much as I've been trying to treat you like your own person, I really haven't been."

"I am aware." He said without hesitation, and it almost made Rex feel worse, since Azurda was apparently getting used to it. "With my appearance as it is, connections are inevitable."

"But you're different!" Rex insisted, casting his thoughts around for something. "Like, Gramps never really got into salvaging like you did! Yeah, he was a Titan, so he couldn't really do that, but it always felt more like he was humoring me more than anything."

"I suppose I did enjoy our salvaging run, but what are you getting at, Rex?"

"I dunno. It's just…what do you like to do, Azurda?"

Azurda seemed almost caught off guard by the question. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Like we just established that you like salvaging, which is awesome in my book! Same with exploring new lands, like you were telling me before. But it can't just be that, right? What kinds of foods do you like or don't like? Do you like cooking? If we went out to the market, what would catch your eye? What really gets under your skin, or, what's your favourite colour, and what would you do if you had free time? You know, that kind of stuff."

Azurda closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "I…suppose I don't really know. I haven't really given it much thought. Keeping a watch on you is practically a full time job."

Rex let out an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, that's what Gramps would always say. But… I want…no I need to be a better Driver. But how can I be, when I don't even really know my own Blade?"

"Rex…I appreciate this, but now isn't-"

"Nah, no getting out of this one," Rex insisted. "When we get back from this assignment, we're going to go and figure as much of this out as we can." Rex stuck out his hand. "Deal?"

Azurda looked over him for longer than Rex would have thought he would. For a moment Rex thought he might have done something wrong, but shortly after, Azurda nodded carefully. "Very well. I can see there's no changing your mind. I suppose it can't hurt to broaden my horizons."

His rocky hand dwarfed his own, clasping it in a handshake. Rex grinned. "It's a promise."

The moment was broken as the bunk area's door opened. Rex quickly let go of Azurda's hand, glad he and Azurda were leaving shortly, since he didn't want to have to deal with some of his pettier bunk mates.

But it was just Jac and Yachik, the latter of which closed the door softly behind him.

"Hey, good to see you two!" Rex called over, hitching his pack over his shoulder.

Jac looked up, as if not expecting anyone else to be in there. "Oh, hey." He glanced at the packs slung over both their shoulders. "Heading out for the weekend?"

Rex nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"Something to do with the Special Inquisitor again, I'll bet," Yachik commented sourly.

"Well, yeah," Rex replied lamely, "but I'm not really allowed to say. Confidential or something. Sorry."

"Ah." Jac responded, but it felt…halfhearted almost? "Right."

Rex set a hand on his hip. "Something happen? The head officer didn't chew you out for something, did he?"

"No, it was nothing like that." Jac's ears drooped lightly. "It's about my family." He glanced at their packs again, and swallowed. "Do you…have a moment?" He asked carefully, "I don't want to keep you from your assignment from the Inquisitor."

"Nah, it's no big deal." Rex replied good naturedly. Whatever it was seemed like it was weighing on his friend, so it was only fair he took a second to listen. "It's only evening and I don't have to meet up until about sunset, so I've got time."

Jac meandered over to his bunk and sat down, with Yachik sitting down beside him. Rex sat down perched on the bunk's frame at the end, while Azurda stood close by.

"Did I ever tell you about why I signed up for the Driver program?" Jac began after wringing his hands together nervously for a few moments. "Why I took the risk to resonate with Yachik?"

Rex tapped his chin in thought. "You said you had your family back in Torigoth you're helping, right?"

"Yeah," Jac smiled, which made Rex proud to have remembered. "My ma, Zelen, Morca and Neel — those are my little siblings — I wanted to give them more than we could do on our own in Torigoth. Things were hard with just me and ma doing all the heavy lifting. I knew that being a Driver was way more stable than the odd jobs we were all doing to scrape by."

"Sounds pretty rough, so I get it."

"It's just how we lived, it was normal for me." Jac took a deep breath and let it out. "When I was younger, da joined the Ardainian Driver recruitment program. It was rough not seeing him at first, but he sent money and letters, and even got to visit a couple of times. But after a couple of years, the letters stopped coming and the money dried up. Before long, we got a notice that da was missing, presumed killed in action against a rogue terrorist force."

"Ma got sick a year after that," Jac continued. "It's been rough ever since, and the military's gratuity money dried up trying to diagnose her sickness. Even old Mabon's Blade Vess can't do much these days besides ease her suffering. So then it was just me, working odd jobs to help my little brother and sisters. It was Zelen — she's the next oldest one after me — who suggested I try the Driver program."

Jac looked him in the eyes, and Rex could practically see the pain there. "Morca and Neel were against it, but I was getting desperate, Rex. I've seen greater people than me die from trying to resonate. Success rates are supposedly a lot better than they were centuries ago, but it still happens."

Jac looked over to Yachik, smiling. "And it worked. It was probably the happiest I'd been in a while. Even if I wouldn't be able to see them a lot, at least they'd have a chance at a better life than we had. Maybe I could even save enough that if they wanted to, they could go to one of the schools in Indol."

Rex smiled back. "I get it. It's the same with me. When I became a salvager, I was hoping to send back enough for the village to not have to worry so much. Maybe like you, have some of the kids there like Kazuna go to the school in Indol, or even build one right there in Fonsett! Uh, not that I know who would teach, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah. You always do seem to dream big." Jac's smile slipped again. "But there was another reason I wanted to become an Ardainian Driver. I wanted to find out what happened to my da. I…needed closure. Even if he really had just died I felt like I would have been satisfied."

"It sounds like a noble goal to have," Azurda said cautiously.

But it sounded like it hadn't been that simple.

"That's what I thought, but…" Jac murmured, but then a look of anger crossed his face, and he suddenly pounded the bunk with his fist, and he let out a curse.

Yachik took over for him. "Jac's father was found."

Rex knew he could be a bit dense sometimes, but even he could tell that this wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"A few days ago," Yachik continued, "while they were cleaning up the aftermath of your battle in the Jakolo Inn's hot springs, they found the body of the Ardainian Senator, Saundra floating in the water. Dead."

Rex's brow furrowed. "But Mòrag had the whole inn cleared out before we sprung the trap. And there wasn't anyone up at the hot springs." Well, besides one of Mòrag's guards that had been swiftly dispatched before he and Azurda had gone in.

"I'm guessing the senator's body was dumped there after the fact?" Azurda deduced.

Oh, that would make sense.

Yachik nodded. "That's what they figured as well, and the empire didn't take it lying down. Probably couldn't stand the embarrassment of failing to capture the Aegis and Torna, so Lady Brighid was dispatched. Within the day she was able to quickly track down the culprit. A cell of the Brionac terrorist group, right here in the capital." Yachik glanced at Jac. "Jac's father was among them."

"As…a prisoner?" Rex ventured, though he was just trying to be optimistic.

"No, he was one of them." Jac suddenly rose and kicked his own trunk, yelling, "He left his family to join them! My ma, his wife, is dying while he's off playing terrorist! All these years I clung to a slim hope of him being alive, of returning to help, but…"

Jac's anger fizzled out, and his expression darkened. He went back over to his bunk and sat down, face planted in his hands, while Yachik stroked his back.

After a couple minutes, Rex dared to ask, "So, are you going to be able to talk to him?"

"I don't know," Jac bit out, hands falling into his lap. "The head officer just said this whole thing wouldn't affect my own position in the Driver program, so my family back home should be fine." Jac shook his head with a little laugh. "I just wanted to find out what happened to my da, Rex. I wanted to hope that he hadn't abandoned my family by choice, but I just…I don't know."

"Jac, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Rex. It's not your fault." Jac took a deep breath. "I'd…like to be alone for now, if that's alright. I need to do some thinking."

"Of course." Rex hefted his pack, looked at Azurda and started to leave. He'd almost reached the door, when he turned back. "Hey Jac."

"Yeah?"

"Don't give up hope just yet. Besides, your mom and siblings are counting on you."

"I know."

Rex hesitated a moment longer. He couldn't just leave his friend here like this, but he had to meet up with Mòrag.

"Hey."

The Gormotti looked up.

"When Azurda and I get back, we can go out for something together, yeah? Games, food, whatever you like."

Jac smiled a little. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Heh, there's a smile! It'll all work out, you'll see."

"Rex-rex!"

Rex stopped and turned away from the entrance of the upper city capital at the sound of a familiar voice. It took a second to spot him — since even though Tora was pretty big for a Nopon, he was still…a Nopon. Eventually he popped out of the evening crowd, his fur highlighted by the setting sun, though oddly, Rex didn't see Poppi with him.

"Oh hey, Tora! How've you been?"

"Tora fine, but," Tora took a moment to catch his breath, before asking, "Where, Rex-rex and Azurda going?"

Rex glanced at Azurda, who shook his head. They were still on their way to meet up with Mòrag and Brighid, but well, the whole 'confidential' bit was still in force.

"Sorry," Rex apologized, "can't really say. I'm not sure exactly when we'll be back, either."

"Oh, Tora sees. It probably has to do with Driver of Aegis again, yes?"

"Uh, well," Rex let out lamely, stumbling over his words, "what…makes you think that?"

"Tora have feeling Rex-rex deliberately trying to dodge question."

Rex crossed his arm defiantly. "Am not!" He lied. "I'm just not allowed to answer." He scrutinized the Nopon. He didn't look any different. "When did you get so observant?"

"Tora always observant to things interesting to Tora!" The Nopon replied simply. "And Bladiest of Blades and Driver very interesting."

"Really?" Rex asked. "Well, I mean they are, but I got the feeling that you were afraid of them before, especially Pyra."

"Yes, yes, Tora was afraid of Aegis and Driver before, but Rex-rex survive encounter, so can't be that dangerous."

"Hold up," Rex's eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at?"

"That…Rex-rex and Azurda strong Driver and Blade to have survived encounter with Bladiest of Blades?" Tora replied nervously.

Nice save, Tora.

Thankfully, Azurda stepped in. "Unfortunately for you, our mission is classified either way. It's not something we could confirm or deny, if you catch my drift my young Nopon friend." Azurda glanced around. "On another note, where's Poppi gone to? I've barely seen the two of you separate."

"Oh!" Tora perked up some when Azurda asked that. "Poppi went looking for snack funds. Tora was too, but then see Rex-rex and have to dash over and say hello!"

Azurda leaned in close. "Dare I ask what these 'snack funds' will be purchasing?"

"Tora have no idea why Azurda sound so skeptical," Tora responded with a completely straight face. "Is for perfectly legitimate reason and have nothing to do with crippling debt Tora still owe."

"I'm sure it doesn't," Azurda replied with an equally straight face. "How is that completely separate conundrum coming along for you anyways?"

"Meh," Tora shrugged his little arms. "Tora sure it will work itself out soon." The Nopon did a little hop. "Hold on, Tora just have stroke of genius!"

Rex glanced at Azurda as Tora started digging through his bag. Azurda gave him a look that seemed to say just go on with it, as Tora thrust out something from his bag on his headwing up to Rex.

"Tah-dah! Gift for Rex-rex!"

"What's this?" Rex asked, taking the black little device. It had a lens of some sort on both sides, one of which had a light of some sort. He peered through the side with the light on it at Tora, making the Nopon look ever so slightly larger. "Doesn't seem like it would make a very good telescope."

"Is old camera! Though Rex-rex holding it backwards."

"Really?" He flipped it around and looked through the lens again, and this time Tora looked smaller, and he could see more of the surroundings, which Rex supposed would be more useful for taking pictures of more people. "Don't think I've ever had one of these before. I'm not putting you out a ton of money, am I?"

"Oh no," Tora seemed quick to reassure him, "is something Tora picked up nearly for free during end of salvage bulge sale. It type that print out picture very quick after you take it. But Rex-rex must know it only have three pictures left. Extra picture roll not included with bargain price."

"Gotcha." He waved the camera around a bit for emphasis. "Thanks!"

"But um, actually, Tora have request for Rex-rex in regards to camera." The Nopon fidgeted for a moment. "Can… Rex-rex take picture of Aegis and her Driver?"

Rex blinked at the request. "Uh, sure. Well, I mean, if I see them I guess. N-not that that's where we're headed, but if I happen to meet them and they aren't trying to kill me I guess I could ask?"

He saw Azurda's hand meet his forehead.

"Rex-rex the best!" Tora cheered.

Rex quickly stowed the camera in his pack and cleared his throat. "So why do you want a picture of them anyways?"

"Oh, Tora need it for inspiration."

"And what exactly are you using it to be inspiration for?" Azurda asked with a clear note of suspicion.

"For Poppi, of course! Tora been thinking about it ever since friends valiantly fight off Driver of Aegis-"

"Which we didn't do," Azurda quietly interjected.

"-and if Tora can get visual reference, Tora thinks Tora could make impressive upgrade for Poppi! After all, if Tora bases design off strongest Blade in Alrest, Poppi sure to be just as strong, yes?"

Rex and Azurda shared a glace. How would just a picture of a Blade and Driver pair — even a powerful one — help Tora upgrade Poppi?

"Would that even really help?" Rex asked.

"Sure it will!" Tora exclaimed. "Now go forth and get Tora inspiration! Friends take care on journey!"

And with that, he dashed off, quickly lost within the crowd once more.

"Always in his own world, that one." Azurda said, able to watch the Nopon go, for far longer than Rex could. "I almost envy it." He turned back to face Rex. "Should we really follow that request?"

"I mean, it couldn't hurt to ask, right? What harm could one picture do?"

They were eventually directed to a military outpost just outside the city, which was bustling with activity despite it being early into the night. Considering the amount of munitions and military equipment being hauled around, Rex could put it together that this was going to be used for the potential assault on Brionac.

The sight of all of it made Rex's stomach curdle. Even if he knew the reason behind all of it, he still didn't like it.

After confirming their identity, the base personnel quickly directed them to where Mòrag and Brighid awaited, and it wasn't much longer that they boarded a small titanship headed towards the Brionac occupied zone.

"This will cut down our travel time significantly," Mòrag shouted to be heard over the loud engine attached to the titan once they'd taken off. The machine helped propel them far faster than the titan's normal cruising over the wastes.

"Would they not notice a titanship like this approaching, Inquisitor?" Azurda asked.

"Of course," Mòrag replied easily, "Which is why we will be stopping outside of the known range of their scouts and walking the rest of the way."

"Wait, so we're just going to walk up and hope they let us in?" Rex shook his head. "And I thought I was the one who charged in headfirst without a plan."

"If you allowed Lady Mòrag to finish, "Brighid insisted, "then you would know."

Rex frowned at her. She was a ball of joy as usual.

"It is fine, Brighid." Mòrag waved it off. "Self-deprecating humour in small doses can be good for the soul."

"Self-what now?" Rex murmured quietly.

"In any case," Mòrag continued without elaborating on the fancy word, "you are correct that we will be walking up the front gates and hoping they will let us in."

"Seriously?"

"Quite. However, we will be doing so under disguise."

"Makes sense, but, uh, no offense intended." Rex glanced between the two women, eyes lingering on Mòrag's uniform and the flames that lit Brighid's hair. "Aren't you two pretty distinctive? Like world famous Driver and Blade or something? Especially in the empire?"

"Of course." He could almost hear pride oozing from Brighid's voice. "However Lady Mòrag and I have had to undertake undercover operations before. While my distinctive appearance makes it more difficult, there are ways around it."

"Brighid is right." Mòrag agreed. "We have exterminated other terrorist organizations before with such espionage, though that naturally isn't our primary goal. Diplomacy and extraction of the Aegis and her Driver if possible. And whether we succeed or fail, I will take command of our oncoming force to take care of the rest."

"If I may, Inquisitor," Azurda said, "There feels like there's a lot that could go wrong with this operation."

"There is," Mòrag nodded.

Well, at least she knew.

"However," Mòrag continued, "much like our last operation involving the Aegis and her Driver, time is of the essence. We will do what we can before the Ardainian army arrives, but our time will be limited."

Azurda nodded gravely. "I understand."

"It will have to be enough for now." Mòrag said. "I suggest that you get some rest while you can. We will likely be walking through a good portion of the night to reach our rendezvous with our infield agent. He'll update us on the current situation as best he can, and I will fill in with my own intelligence once we arrive."

"Gotcha."

"Not interested."

Jin turned away from the artificial Blade, and started down the undercity's main road. He had a lead to follow on another informant who was more knowledgeable about Brionac, and he didn't have time for the errands of a rogue artificial Blade.

He barely made it three steps before the artificial Blade grabbed his wrist, and with surprising strength — far more than the mass-produced ones Bana was producing would have — held him back.

He glanced around at the humans walking around them and then glared at her. "What?"

She looked sternly back at him. "Poppi knows that Jin is terrorist with Torna, but Poppi also knows that Jin has a heart."

Lora's heart chose that moment to quicken its beating in his chest. His brow furrowed. There were a select few that knew that he was a flesh eater Blade, and even less knew about the reminder of the process he carried around in his chest.

"And what would an artificial Blade know about a heart?" he asked.

"Poppi has no heart of her own to compare to, but Poppi's close friend say that all Torna members have pain they carry. Say it comes from here." She tapped her metal chest near the white flower pinned to her red cape where a human's heart would reside.

Ah. So that's what it was. He wasn't sure who this friend was, but he relaxed, minutely, and tried to free himself from her grasp. Her grip tightened on his wrist instead.

"Poppi cannot let Jin go until Jin hears what Poppi has to say."

"You believe I would listen? Considering you know who I am, what reason would I have to accept?"

Her bright orange eyes glanced back at the message board, to the wanted poster of Lora. "Jin is looking for Driver of the Aegis, yes?"

"Everyone on Alrest is looking for her," he reminded her.

She shook her head, sending the white cap on her head flopping back and forth. "But is different for Jin. When Poppi see Jin staring at poster, Jin is not looking at reward. Jin looks at picture of Driver of Aegis, like looking at long lost friend."

She was more perceptive than he thought.

"Is that so?" He asked.

"Yes." She bobbed her head in an affirmative. "And if Poppi had close friend she thought was in danger, Poppi would do whatever Poppi could to help." Her hand tightened even more around his wrist. "Is what Masterpon says friends do for each other."

"Maybe so," he acquiesced. The logic of the artificial Blade was simple, but there was truth to it. "However, I don't need your help or your information."

He turned his gaze away from the artificial Blade, tearing his wrist out of her grasp with surprising difficulty and moved to head on to the next informant. He didn't make it very far before, hearing the metallic clomp of the artificial Blade's metal feet on the street behind him as he went.

"Poppi knows who Lord of the Wastes is."

Jin stopped again, carefully turning and looking down at his little follower. "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously. The timing of this was too perfect.

"Exactly what Poppi said. Poppi can repeat information for Jin if necessary, but Poppi knows that Jin is looking for Aegis Driver Lora. Aegis Driver Lora is with Lord of the Wastes and Poppi has valuable information for Jin; therefore Jin cannot resist pull of Poppi's information. Very simple logic."

Was she…calling him stupid to say no?

He let out a grunt that could have been a laugh. "And I suppose you won't be giving this information away for free."

"Jin is correct. Masterpon say it customary to share information over tasty snacks in cute cafe."

"…You want me to buy you snacks for information other people would kill for the chance to have?"

Poppi nodded solemnly. "Jin is correct."

She seemed serious.

He mulled it over a few moments. On the one hand, this reeked of a trap. And yet, putting aside that he didn't think the Artificial Blade could even eat food, it had to be better than dealing with a chain of Nopon informants that was very likely scamming him out of every bit of gold they thought they could get out of him. He would at least humor her for now.

And if it was a trap, he had no doubt in his ability to run or cut his way out of it.

He sighed. "Very well."

Her serious expression changed almost immediately into a bright smile. "Poppi is pleased to be doing business! Come, take Poppi's hand and Poppi will lead the way." She extended her hand up to him, wiggling her metal fingers in an expectant way.

If Malos could see him now…

Well, the less he knew about this, the better.

He took the artificial Blade's hand and she started jauntily walking towards their destination, dragging him along by her iron grip as her arm swung back and forth in time with her steps.

They made for an odd duo as Poppi led them through the winding undercity of Alba Cavanich, and she drew more than a few second glances, mostly to her ether furnace window. After all, bringing a child to the undercity, especially this late at night would be frowned upon, but a Blade that looked like a child was something else.

Something about the situation stirred his memory. It was indistinct, but it was reminiscent of him walking with a much younger Lora through similarly shady places on the Tornan Titan. How she clung to his hand in those first years of their resonance.

Of course, this was an artificial Blade, and Poppi didn't look in the least bit shy as Lora did originally; she beamed at passersby, much to their confusion.

Eventually, Poppi led them to a back alley into a small tavern — definitely not a cafe, nor a "cute" one — blazon with the sign "Open Late!" that looked like it had seen better days. The owner, a plump, Ardainian woman with a mole on her cheek glanced up as the tavern's bell tingled as the duo entered. She looked first to him, frowning, — sizing him up for threats no doubt, a prudent action here in the capital's underbelly — before going down to Poppi.

She smiled warmly at the artificial Blade. "Well, well, look who's back."

"Poppi has returned!"

"Aye, you found the 'friend' you were lookin' for, lass?"

Was that what she had told the owner?

Poppi raised Jin's hand up high, enough to put it at chest height for him. "Poppi's mission was successful!"

"Good on you, then. Your Driver's hogging the whole corner booth as usual." She smiled. "Go on, I'll be with you shortly."

Poppi beamed as she dragged him further into the rowdy tavern. The occasional patron looked down at Poppi, then up at him as he passed, but a glare from Jin was enough to make them decide it wasn't worth their time to comment.

Before long, they found a rather large brown and cream coloured Nopon with brown stripes and overalls, squashed in the corner of the booth. A pencil grasped in his small hands as he leaned over the booth's table, scribbling intently on a piece of paper. Several more papers were scattered around filling up the whole of the table as well, showing the wear and tear of being folded and unfolded several times.

They looked to be blueprints of some kind, but the design was…humanoid?

Poppi knocked on the wood of the table with loud clunks. "Masterpon, Poppi has returned triumphant!"

"Poppi has acquired snack funds?" the Nopon asked without looking up, still adding a note to the side of one of the drawings.

This was her Driver? His resemblance to Bana's lead engineer was close enough that he could be a relative, though it could be a coincidence.

"No, Poppi has found snack provider! Poppi was even able to test hand-holding protocol for maximum effectiveness."

"Really? Protocol was successful?" The Nopon paused in his work, quickly looking up towards Jin's hand, clasped firmly in the death grip of the artificial Blade. He nodded approvingly, before looking up at Jin's hooded face, studying him.

The Nopon blinked owlishly. Jin glared back impassively.

The Nopon turned back to Poppi. "Poppi is sure he up for task? Aesthetic of dark green poncho over white and lilac armour combined with dour look is not very…hmmm… how Tora put? It not draw outfit together. It also make friend look homeless."

Jin couldn't think of anything else to say except, "Excuse me?"

"Mercenary friend is excused. Headband around forehead also clash with outfit. Tora thinks a white mask draw ensemble together and make friend feel more mysterious." The Nopon shook his head with a sigh. "Fashion crime is punishable by three laps around lower deck of Torigoth." The Nopon chuckled. "Friend is lucky rule not apply in Alba Cavanich!"

"Masterpon, rule was made by Tatazo to get Masterpon to exercise. To Poppi's databanks, rule has been broken fourteen times by Masterpon without due consequence."

"Tora did say would complete consequence at later date!"

"Poppi is aware, but will keep running tally." The artificial Blade looked up at Jin. "However, friend Jin is in very good shape, so breaking of fashion rule seem to have reaped much benefits. Masterpon should take Jin's example, even if poncho and headband combo is crime against fashion."

Jin let out a breath. The night's excess exposure to Nopon culture was starting to grate on him. "Are you finished?"

"Well, Tora suppose he can forgive fashion crime this once, especially since Tora desperately want, er…in desperate need of…cafe snackiness. Yes." The Nopon — Tora, he supposed — gestured with one of his headwings at the free part of the booth. "Come, come. Sit."

Jin did so, dragged to the seat by Poppi's crushing grip, sandwiching herself in between him and Tora. A moment later, the owner came out to them with a little notepad. Tora seemed to be practically vibrating in his seat as he ordered a 'super-ultra-deluxe flamii-egg omelet' and Poppi ordered rainbow dumplings with a side of fizz juice.

"And make sure it have-" Tora started.

"Don't worry little guy," the owner said with a smile. "I've seen you eying it for the past week. I'll bring it out after you're done eating."

"Friend Catriona the best!"

The owner — Catriona — winked and with a smile turned toward Jin, and with a loud, conspiratorial whisper said, "You're going to be his best friend at this rate."

"I'm sure," Jin replied dryly. "Nothing for me."

"Ooo, so surly!" She clapped her heads together, smiling brightly. "You've gotta tell me where you picked him up, Poppi."

"Poppi found him in front of notice board, looking at wanted poster of Driver of Aegis."

"I seee," she drawled out in a sing-sing tone, before once again leaning conspiratorially towards Jin. "Well maybe I should have awakened the Aegis if strong, mysterious men like you would come looking for me." She patted his shoulder and waggled her eyebrows, leaving with a giggle at the roll of his eyes.

Jin groaned. Truly an example of humans at their worst. He turned to look at Poppi who looked at him like she was trying to sort out a puzzle.

He looked away, though he saw her continue to stare out of the corner of his eye past the hood of the poncho. He ignored her in favour of keeping watch for anyone that might be on the lookout for Torna members.

After all, after the "Jakolo Incident," Torna was second behind the Aegis on Alrest's most wanted list. Ironically, not because they were a "terrorist" organization, but simply because Torna was who Lora and the Aegis had last been seen with.

But either his hasty disguise was good enough, or more likely, everyone was ironically too focused on looking for Lora to notice a member of Torna right in their midst. Throughout his time in the capital no one had even attempted to cash in on the bounty on his head.

It made him wonder, was the mask Lora had made for him really his most defining feature?

The drinks and snacks arrived — Catriona slipped what was obviously an alcoholic drink to him 'on the house' with another wink — and Tora hastily stuffed his sketches into his bag as she set down a massive steaming omelet in front of him, and rainbow colored dumplings and bubbling fizz juice in front of Poppi.

"Thanks for the food!" The Nopon said loudly to Catriona, clapping his hands together, and Poppi copied his actions. It vaguely reminded Jin of a tradition from the Tornan Titan, of giving thanks for food or a gift given.

"It's my pleasure, you two."

Jin cautiously took a sip of the drink — trusting that his healing factor would counteract any potential poison. Fruity, sweet, and thick with a mild bitter burn of alcohol as it went down his throat. Decent, but far too sweet for his own tastes. Malos might enjoy it though. He pushed the drink to the side.

Tora was tearing through the carefully crafted monster of an omelet, but as he thought, the artificial Blade wasn't eating the rainbow colored dumplings. She merely held them up to her nose and inhaled the scent of each one deeply, squishing them lightly between her fingers before setting them down and doing the same with the next one.

After finishing the bizarre ritual, she then observed the bubbles rising in the fizz juice with studious intensity, head resting on her hands on the table as she did so.

Some might have called it cute, but through it all, Jin didn't forget that this was an artificial Blade. This was a machine made to serve its master. So why go through the trouble of mimicking life like this?

At some point, after finishing the omelet and Poppi's dumplings, Tora excused himself to wash up, leaving just Jin and Poppi again. The tavern had filled with more people as the night wore on, filling the air with noise and the stench of humans and cheap booze.

He looked back over to Poppi, to find her staring intently at him again. He met her gaze evenly.

"Jin looks like he has question for Poppi."

He supposed it must be showing pretty clearly on his face if an artificial Blade could tell that. He nodded slightly, "I do."

"Poppi will do her best to answer."

"Can you resonate like a normal Blade?" He waited for an answer and got a nod from Poppi, and then dove into his next question. "Can you choose who you resonate with?"

"Poppi can."

"And if your master died, would you perish as well?"

"Poppi is not regular Blade, so Poppi would outlive Masterpon."

Though it was a declaration, there was a hint of somberness at the end. Jin could empathize with that feeling, that pain of having outlived Lora for centuries. But another question remained. "So even though you have full autonomy, why do you choose to shackle yourself to him?"

"Shackle?" Poppi seemed to taste the feel of the word for a moment, before shaking her head. "Is not a prison to be with people Poppi loves."

"Is that so?"

Jin knew that though it was rare, that there were Drivers who genuinely treated their Blades right. But people like Lora were the exception, not the rule. If this was a normal Blade and Driver relationship, Jin might be tempted to believe the conviction that was in her voice, but...

He glanced down at Poppi's ether furnace window glowing a steady orange. "How do you know your master didn't program you to feel that love? That your attachment to him is artificial?"

Poppi tilted her head lightly to the side, her hat flopping with the movement. "What does Jin mean?"

"Unlike a regular Blade, your core functions were directly put into you directly by your creator, designed to mimic human emotion. It would be simple to put in an underlying function that commands absolute loyalty."

After all, unlike machines like the Blade Bots, Poppi had shown facets of a budding emotional framework. It was complex, but when push came to shove, could she choose on her own?

"Poppi has no such function."

"And how could you possibly know that?"

"Because Poppi can examine all code that makes up Poppi's processes. But Poppi does not want to leave Masterpon, not because Masterpon is Masterpon, but because Masterpon is Poppi's friend." Her eyes flicked down. "Poppi knows Poppi will outlive Masterpon, so Poppi wants to spend as much time as possible to make treasured memories with Masterpon and friends."

"I…see." He conceded.

It seemed his words wouldn't make a difference here. She really believed it. If only every Blade could make that choice.

Part of it made Jin sick. Even if it was consensual on Poppi's part, it was a shadow of the shackle the Architect had placed on Blades. Something that would never change while Indol and the Architect's edict on their species remained.

"Does Jin have people he loves?" Poppi asked suddenly.

Jin was silent at that. Because he did. Does. He nodded after a moment.

"Then Jin knows what Poppi means. Is feeling it," she stood up on the bench of the booth, bracing one hand on the table and reached across to him, tapping where Lora's heart beat in his chest, "here."

"You're talking about connection."

She stood straight on the booth's bench. "Then Jin does understand. Good." She nodded decisively, hands on her hips. "Wisdom has been successfully dispensed!"

He supposed he did. But even though she talked about losing her Driver, she didn't really understand the pain that came from when that connection broke. He might have argued the point further, but with Lora's recent return, he let her have her moment.

Catriona dropped by, picking up the dirty dishes, and dropping off a wrapped package. "Masterpon's prize." Poppi explained simply to Jin, right before Tora came back.

The Nopon's eyes shone as he carefully, almost reverently peeled off the outer layer of paper, revealing a…figurine.

"Tora can hardly believe eyes! Tora hardly expecting small venue to ever have treasure like this. Is three-of-a-kind statuette one to six size scale of Kirumi, ultimate maidiest of maids-"

Jin tuned out the rest as the Nopon continued to list off aspects of the toy's rarity, glancing around the tavern. There were still no a sign of anyone looking like they were laying down a trap, but his patience with the Nopon was running thin.

He looked back, Tora still admiring the toy, carefully turning it about, this way and that, when something caught his eye. He leaned in closer to look at the design of the charm hanging off the strap of the figurine's black apron.

"Hold on, that design…" Something stirred in Jin's memories. A campfire, Lora proudly displaying her newest creation. What had she called it again…?

"Oh?" Tora looked over to Jin with genuine curiosity now. "Friend Jin is figurine appreciator? Tora somewhat surprised, but Tora supposes it takes all types."

"No, not the toy," he pointed to the charm on the displayed proudly on the figurine's waist, "that charm's design."

"Oh, that Kirumi's Galaxy Charm! Is charm of protection passed down line of maids and into her hands when previous head maid die in horrible accident. It what seal upon her the essence of maidiness."

Jin pointedly ignored the backstory, latching on to the name. "Lora was the one who designed that charm."

The Nopon blinked slowly, confusion plain on his face.

"Meh? Driver of Aegis designed Galaxy Charm?" Tora regarded him skeptically. "Tora knows it not really Kirumi's, but Tora's grampypon was friends of author of Kirumi the Combat Maid, story where Kirumi from. Grampypon say author get design of charm from Nopon merchant in Pyrithium Trade Guild. Author see it there and know within heart of hearts that it shine with essence of maidiness."

"I'm sure they did," Jin replied flatly, "but Lora was the original designer."

"Is friend sure she not simply copy obscure design and not tell? Grampypon's friend say design is hundreds of years old, and Tora's friend say Driver of Aegis somewhere in young to mid-twenties, not centuries. Friend sure he not hear incorrectly? Tora knows there lots of rumours about Driver of Aegis."

"I was there when Lora made it," he growled out insistently.

Tora held his headwings up in surrender. "Fine, fine. Tora will allow it since friend let Tora acquire snacky goodness and figurine." He leaned in closer. "But between Tora and friend, Tora thinks friend needs to find different information hill to die on."

Jin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. There really wasn't much point in arguing this, was there? Especially to a Nopon.

Had he really just gotten heated about a toy using one of Lora's charm designs? If anything, she would be delighted that it was being used, though he wasn't sure how she would feel about the source material. She might think it was…cute?

This was making his head hurt.

He sat back in his seat. "I'll let her know that her design is being used and let her decide what to do about it."

"Wait," Tora tilted his head, "friend on talking terms with Driver of Aegis?"

"I'm a…close friend of hers. That's why I'm looking for her. I don't care about the bounty."

No point revealing the true nature of their relationship to this Nopon, not to mention the complication of Lora having died and been brought back by the Aegis.

"Oh, Tora sees! Friend must have had awkward conversation with Aegis Driver and want to clear up confusion with her, yes?" The Nopon chuckled. "This kind of thing happen to Tora all the time, so Tora understand."

Jin didn't care about the reason that the Nopon accepted it so easily, but Jin simply said, "Close enough."

"Well, Tora have bad news for friend. Aegis Driver last seen with terrorist group. Friend look strong, but will still be very difficult to get in contact unless friend think he can take on Torna without a Blade."

"That won't be an issue."

"Meh, really?"

Poppi jumped up in her seat again and raised her hand excitedly "Poppi knows this one! Friend Jin is member of Torna! Poppi saw wanted poster; drawing is ninety-two percent match for friend Jin. Other eight percent due to lack of mask."

Jin glanced around the tavern again at Poppi's outburst. Luckily, with the drunken din of the tavern no one had seemed to hear it.

"Oh, uh…Tora…not aware of that."

"Are you frightened?"

"Tora is…a little scared, but friend Jin not seem like bad person from what Tora sees." The Nopon cleared his throat. "Besides, Tora really only vaguely aware of what Torna do. Mostly Tora is not fan that Torna's activity that close down city's premiere hot springs."

"I had no part in that."

"Oh, that big relief. Friend like hot springs then?"

Jin vaguely remembered enjoying them, but he didn't let Tora know. He also hadn't been to one for a while, decades at least. He knew Lora and Haze had loved them and tried to stop at any they could when given the chance on jobs. Jin opened his mouth to ask why Tora was asking when Tora held up a headwing appendage to quiet him.

"Friend have no need to say anything." One of his headwing's finger-like appendages was held up like a teacher. "Tora can see it in friend Jin's eyes. Jin is hot-spring aficionado! A friend after Tora's own heart."

Jin closed his mouth and remained silent.

Eventually Poppi cleared her throat. "Please ignore masterpon; he has habit of putting foot in mouth when nervous." She turned to Tora. "Masterpon has information for Jin about Lord of the Wastes."

"Meh? Tora does?"

Poppi hastily leaned in, cupping Tora's ear with her hands, whispering. Tora then responded with his own whisper, and it went back and forth for over a minute. Jin got the feeling that there had been a communication breakdown somewhere along the way.

Tora did a little hop in his seat. "Ahem! Yes, Tora does." Had he really just forgotten or had only Poppi known? "But Tora cannot give it right away."

"Really now?" He let a bit of danger slip into his voice. "And why is that?"

"Tora has, um…slight problem that friend Jin might be able to solve."

"You want to hire me?" Jin scoffed. "Why?"

"Does friend Jin know about Bloody Lobsters?"

Memories, both centuries old and more recent, flashed to the surface of Jin's mind. "I've had dealings with them before."

"Tora wouldn't want to step on toes but-"

"They're scum. Speak freely."

"Tora agrees one-hundred percent!" Tora cleared his throat. "They trap Tora in debt spiral with ridiculous interest inflation."

"So you want me to deal with a loan shark because you fell into a debt you couldn't repay?"

"Tora admits it wasn't Tora's best idea, but Tora was desperate!"

Poppi leaned in. "Poppi would not be in operation nearly so soon if Masterpon had not taken out debts."

He could deal with that, but…"What promises do you have that your information on the Lord of the Wastes location is even accurate or up to date? How do I know I'm not being led on to solve your problems on false pretenses?"

"Oh, that one easy. As Poppi so helpfully remind Tora, Tora's information is primary source. Hear from friend that going on a diplomatic infiltration mission to talk to Driver of Aegis on behalf of Empire. Since Aegis Driver is with Lord of Wastes right now, is guarantee to be same place!"

Jin nearly pulled out his nodachi right there to threaten the information out of the Nopon just to get a move on, but…

Her heart beat loudly in his chest.

Lora should be fine. Malos and Mikhail were with her after all. He…he could wait a little longer. But as soon as he was done with this, he would be off.

Jin nodded. "Very well. I accept."

"Hooray! Three cheers for new bestest friend!"

Poppi echoed her Driver, standing and doing a short, stiff dance on the bench of the booth. It was impressive motor coordination for an artificial Blade, but Jin was ready to get down business.

Jin leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "So where are they?"

"Oh, Tora have no idea."

Jin's eye involuntarily twitched.

Just like the night before any big salvaging job, sleep didn't come easy to Rex, but he eventually got a couple hours before being woken up by Azurda. The crew of four disembarked from the titanship, and began their trek across the wastes.

Mòrag set a grueling pace, and not for the first time, Rex wished he'd have had another growth spurt already. He kept pace well enough, but he envied Azurda's longer strides. At least it wasn't the middle of the heat of the day, and the wind was only a mild breeze instead of a windstorm, or this would've been brutal.

He was thankful he had gotten a nap in, at least.

They stopped after a few hours to eat food that Mòrag said were prepared by Aegaeon; a mix of gromrice, some kind of seafood and root tubers he wasn't familiar with, all seasoned in a different way than he was used to. It was good, and filled him up, but he imagined if he asked, that the spices were probably way out of his own budget.

Very quickly, however, it was back to continuing the trek across the wastes, another few hours of that grueling pace before an old, abandoned mining camp came into view. According to Mòrag, many other mining camps like this one had been abandoned when more plentiful ether deposits were discovered, like the same area now occupied by Brionac.

"So, who is it that we're meeting up with anyways?" Rex asked as they neared the camp.

"He's a middle-aged Gormotti man named Rhodri," Brighid replied curtly. "Until recently, he was part of a Brionac cell inside the capital."

Didn't sound like she really liked him, but then Rex wasn't sure Brighid liked anyone, except maybe Mòrag.

"So we're really gonna put our trust in someone like that to get us inside?" Rex asked skeptically.

"Not all Brionac operatives are fanatics," Mòrag answered smoothly, though not particularly kindly. There seemed to be a history there, but Rex held his questions for now. "Some can be persuaded to switch sides given the right incentive."

"Bribing them, I'm guessing?" Rex said, unimpressed.

Mòrag nodded, seemingly unconcerned about the tactic. "Often, but Rhodri was persuaded to work for us if he got a lesser sentence, and got to return to Gormott to his family after serving it. It was far more simple than it sounds, as he has been looking for a way out ever since Brionac's most recent leadership change."

"Sounds a bit too convenient if you ask me."

"Unfortunately, we do not have any better options in our short timeframe," Mòrag continued with a sigh, "and our operatives already inside Brionac's camp are best suited to stay there continuing to gather vital intelligence for the potential upcoming assault. I suspect they will be helpful keeping our incursion under wraps."

Rex gave a grunt of acknowledgement, but he didn't like it. Trusting terrorists — even though he hadn't known Torna were — hadn't really led him well so far.

They finished approaching the camp, which didn't seem particularly large as far as mining camps went in Rex's estimation. Seemed pretty old too, what with the torn and old tents, and broken, rusty equipment lying around. His own salvager sensibilities got peeved with the wasted tools.

However they soon found that the camp was empty, with no middle-aged Gormotti man in sight.

"You don't think he made a break for it, did you?" Rex asked.

"Unlikely," Brighid responded bluntly. "He had two of our best men on him, Drivers of the Carraig special guard unit — the elite of the elite in the empire."

"But not impossible," Azurda said, "especially if he had help."

"Indeed," Mòrag agreed.

Her head twisted slightly, listening to one side. Rex was about to ask something, but Mòrag held up a fist, and he quickly closed it. Her free hand went to one of Brighid's whipswords at her belt, and Rex's hand settled on Azurda's Greatsword on his back, ready to draw it. He glanced around, trying to see what had her cautious, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Until finally, the wind died down a moment, and he heard unconcerned footsteps. Two pairs of them, getting closer. Something came around the corner of one of the broken down machines, and though it was hard to see in the moonlight, the outline of the man had ears on top of his head. Was this that Rhodri guy they were meeting up with?

But a moment later, a low blue glow near the man's neck shone, mildly illuminating his face. Darker skinned, tired eyes.

And then the source of the illumination became clear.

Mòrag quickly drew her whipswords, and Rex quickly followed by drawing Azurda's Greatsword.

"You!" Rex called, with no shortness of anger.

"Ah, ah, ah." That infuriatingly familiar voice chided. "No sudden moves from any of you, or your ticket into Dagas' camp is toast."

The clouds uncovered the moon, shining just bright enough to see the source of that voice, an unfamiliar weapon at the Gormotti man's throat.

"Good to see you all again." The man smiled brightly, looking them over as casually as he held that weapon "You especially, Inquisitor. Really, you're lovely as always."

Mikhail.

Chapter Text

Mòrag didn't curse aloud, but it was a very near thing.

The Torna member, Mikhail, already had a weapon to Rhodri's neck. And the man had the poise — if you could call something like this poise — of someone who had taken hostages before and knew how to leverage that position.

Scanning the abandoned mining camp around them again, the two Carraig Drivers sent as protection detail for Rhodri were still nowhere to be found.

"Don't make any rash moves," Brighid whispered furiously to Rex. "We need Rhodri alive,"

Not entirely true, as they might be able to make do without him, but they needed every advantage they could to make this mission go smoothly and in a timely manner.

She heard Rex practically growl out an annoyed, "I know." Considering his history with Torna, that was likely the best she would get.

Irritatingly, Mikhail smirked at their reactions and he focused his attention on Rex. "Hey kid, you're looking at me like I've gone and chucked your favourite toy into the Cloud Sea. All I did was knock you and your Blade around some."

"You used me! I trusted you and you used me!"

Mikhail raised his eyebrow. "And whose fault is that? Besides, it was just salvager business at the end of the day. And look! You're already back up, and it's not even been a week." He shook his head as if in wonder. "You kids grow up so fast."

"You're not going to get a rise out of me," Rex bit out. "Not this time."

Thank the Architect that Rex could learn from his mistakes. She gave a quick, discreet hand signal to Brighid while Mikhail's focus wasn't on her and felt an affirmative through their affinity link as Brighid discreetly took one of the whipswords. Just in time for Mikhail to put his attention back on her again.

Mòrag glared in response as he eyed her up and down. "Surely tossing you for a dip in the hot springs isn't enough to deserve a glare that harsh, is it? I figured you would've relaxed after that. That's what hot springs are for."

Her eyes narrowed, and her grip tightened on her whipsword. "Hundreds of my countrymen are dead because of Torna's actions."

He shrugged while keeping a tight grip on Rhodri, the glowing blade of that war fan never leaving his neck. That war fan wasn't the weapon he had used when he extracted the Aegis. Did he have another Blade, and were they and his original one nearby?

"Wasn't me, your special inquisitorialness," the man chided teasingly. "I'm just the mechanic of this whole operation. You're pointing fingers at the wrong guy."

"I'm sure those who died at the Jakolo Inn would disagree."

He raised an eyebrow in response. "Wouldn't have happened if you'd just left us alone."

"I think you know why I could not." Mòrag glanced around again. "My men stationed here. Where are they?"

"They've just been knocked out and tied up with their Blades. Still alive." He hefted Rhodri, which was an impressive feat of strength given the Gormotti man's size. "Your friend can even confirm it for you."

Rhodri sighed, a very weary sounding sigh. "He speaks the truth, Inquisitor."

"See?" The smile and smug tone was cavalier, but there was something put upon about it. Like an act. "Nothing to worry about."

Of course with the blade of the war fan at his neck, there was no evidence that Rhodri wasn't being forced to agree with him.

Mòrag scoffed. "That you don't dare face us without holding him hostage doesn't add validity to your claim. You have no moral high ground to stand upon."

"Heh. Can you blame me? You wouldn't have even given me the time of day without a little collateral, am I right?"

He was likely right, of course.

"Possibly," she conceded, "and yet this has done nothing to change my opinion of you."

"Like I've got to impress you." His ever present smirk turned to a scowl. "Besides, you talk about morals, but it's all talk. You've done some seriously messed up stuff as Inquisitor, haven't you? All for the 'greater good' of your empire."

"I am no sycophant, but what I do, I do for Niall's dream of a better world. Now enough of this prattle," Mòrag spat. "What is it that you want?"

"Oh I want plenty." Mikhail waggled his eyebrows, that obnoxious smirk back on his face. Mòrag resisted the urge to gag. "But this is simple. You all are here for Lora. For the 'Driver of the Aegis.'"

"We're here because of Brionac," Mòrag deflected, still looking for an opportunity to free Rhodri. Despite his outwardly flippant and disgustingly provocative attitude, Mikhail hadn't slipped up at all. Curse him.

He laughed aloud. "You actually think I'd believe that? Even the illustrious Flamebringer wouldn't take on the thousands of troops in Dagas' camp with just you and the kid over there." He shook his head. "Besides, your turncoat here already spilled. You're here for a chat, and maybe even an extraction."

"And?' Rex challenged. "So what if we are?"

"As it turns out, so am I."

And to her utter surprise, he let go of Rhodri, pushing the man stumbling away.

With a surge of their affinity link, Mòrag signaled Brighid, who had surreptitiously been creeping around to get closer to Mikhail. In tandem with each other, her whipsword and Brighid's carved two furrows into the dry ground, two walls of blue flame leaping up in their wake, separating Mikhail and Rhodri further, and narrowing Mikhail's area of escape. Brighid clenched her hand into a fist and the flames curled around the Torna operative, trapping him within.

Or so she thought.

Within a moment, his form — highlighted by the light of the blue flame — back flipped gracefully out of the fiery enclosure, far higher than any Driver without their Blade should have been able to.

There was the bark of Rex's hidden rifle on his greatsword, and a piercing bullet of flame ether soared towards Mikhail's chest, the man still midair. It should have hit him dead center of mass and knocked him out of the air, but at the last second, the ether projectile seemed to curve around the man as he twisted around it.

He landed smoothly, rolling to the side to bleed off momentum and jumped to his feet, almost like a dance in a performance. But Mòrag was on him almost as soon as he landed. Bending Brighid's flames around her, she charged through the blazing circle to give herself cover as Brighid tossed her the other whipsword through the flames. But Mikhail was ready for her attack, deftly dodging her jabs even as he weaved in strikes with those war fans.

She disengaged, hopping backwards after her latest strike, whipswords at the ready as she carefully eyed the man.

"See what I mean?" He said as they began circling each other, eying for breaks in their defense. "Man, and here I was hoping that you'd at least try to be civil after I released the hostage."

Mòrag didn't grace him with a response. He must have known that his actions would have led to this, especially without giving them any demands for the release of Rhodri. Her eyes flicked over to the large Gormotti man, thankful to see Rex and Azurda helping him, before focusing back to Mikhail.

"No response?" He tilted his head, seeming to relax his guard as he used one of the war fans to beckon her forward. "If you want to dance, let's just get back to it, Inquisitor. Work that anger out of you. The ladies always say I'm a good partner for that."

Even with the obvious bait, Mòrag's hand twitched on the hilts of her whipswords, but she held back. Without his Blade here, why would he risk fighting them? And with his hostage gone, he should be outmatched. Why did he seem so confident in a drawn out engagement?

"Enough of your game," Brighid taunted. "You're outmatched. You may have caught Lady Mòrag off guard back at the capital, but there are no such tricks here. Without your Blade, you're powerless against the strongest Driver and Blade in the Empire."

Ah, good. It seemed Brighid was following her line of thinking as she tried to bait him out.

Both she and Brighid knew that Blade weapons — as those war fans must be, now that she had seen them close up — could store ether energy. Energy he would have used deflecting Brighid's flames and Rex's attack. If they could bait him into an attack, that stored energy would run out, so long as the Blade whose weapons those were wasn't around.

"Not gonna happen, Torch-head," Mikhail taunted, and she felt Brighid bristle at the derogatory nickname. "We could run in circles all night, but I know you won't. Your mission's too time sensitive for that. So let's all calm down and chat like good little boys and girls."

She was tempted to rush him again right there, because surely she could overwhelm him and drain his weapons of their remaining energy. Burn out the contagion and danger to her country that this Torna operative represented right then and there.

"Lady Mòrag?" Brighid whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. An unsubtle prompt to follow through with her thought, her affinity link trembling with the desire to do just that. She clenched her fists, but subtly shook her head.

"So are we gonna talk now," Mikhail called, "or do we need to go another round on the dance floor?"

"And what exactly," she bit out, "is there for us to discuss?"

"Well, before you interrupted me," he began twirling one of his war fans around in his hand, "I was going to suggest that our reasons for being here really weren't so different. 'Enemy of my enemy is my friend' kind of deal."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Neither of us like Dagas. I don't really care what happens to your empire, but he's crossed some lines." In a smooth motion, he clipped the twirling war fan to his side, and extended his right hand towards them. "So, what say we put our differences aside for the noble goal of rescuing the world's most wanted women?"

Mòrag's eyes narrowed. She had seen the photo of the Driver of the Aegis and Malos inside Dagas' camp. Had Mikhail not been a part of that? She was missing something.

"And what assurance," she voiced carefully, "would we have that you and your fellow operatives already in Dagas' camp wouldn't turn on us? That you would not simply expose us to the enemy to be rid of a thorn in your side?"

His hand dropped a little, and she barely caught him muttering, "Seriously? Not even after a cool line like that?"

She raised one of her whipswords, pointing it directly at him. "Speak clearly, or I will incinerate you where you stand."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you can," he explained like he was speaking to a petulant child. "But what good would that do you? What kind of impression would killing a friend of the Driver of the Aegis do for your precious chance at diplomacy with her?"

So he and Lora were more than just allies of convenience? Or was he bluffing? This was getting cumbersome very quickly.

"If you truly wish for a partnership, what are you offering? Or are all your alliances built on such weak foundations?"

"Alright, I'll throw you a bone or two." He tapped his finger to his chin in a way that seemed to show he was thinking, but it still felt like showmanship. "For one, the place is heavily guarded. I've already done my own scouting and it doesn't look great. It won't be easy getting in without your Gormotti ticket."

"I am aware of that. What else?"

"Fine, how about this? Dagas would probably just as soon kill me, even if I handed you to him on a silver platter. Guy's got a grudge with me the size of the World Tree. I don't think we could work together if we tried. And his ego? I mean, come on, 'Lord of the Wastes?' Who comes up with stuff like that?"

Interesting. If this was true, it would be mutual destruction for both if either revealed their identities while infiltrating the camp. However...

"And your comrades?" she pressed.

"They're not going to be happy to see you, but I'm sure getting them out of prison would put you in their good graces. For now."

So some of them had been captured? If Dagas was using them to push the Driver of the Aegis to work with them, then it would be easier to get her to cooperate if Mòrag at least promised to free them.

But that didn't explain one thing. "Perhaps, but what of Malos?"

She saw his face momentarily scrunch up in confusion, though he recovered quite quickly. "What about him?"

"My latest intelligence has him, the Aegis and her Driver roaming with some freedom throughout the camp."

He muttered something incomprehensible, and ran his free hand through his hair. "I'll handle him, so long as our 'mutual benefactor,'" he threw a thumb over to Rhodri, who was rubbing his neck where the war fan had grazed it, "can get me in too. I'll even throw in a good word to Lora. Maybe she'll even be willing to talk to you after that stunt you pulled if I smooth things over."

It was a tempting offer, and could ease Rex's own mission of diplomacy, but her own mission to protect him — and perhaps sabotage operation of the camp while she was there — would be harder if she was stuck rescuing other members of Torna.

Brighid leaned up close to her, the warmth of her hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "Lady Mòrag, you're not seriously considering this, are you?"

"Despite his initial approach," Mòrag whispered back, "this could prove a useful way to gain more intel on the Torna operatives. The situation with Brionac and the Aegis and her Driver will still be our main priority, but…"

Brighid sighed deeply. "Just be careful. I don't trust him, and the empire cannot stand to lose you, especially not right now."

"I know."

She eyed the man across from him, arms crossed, and beginning to look impatient, despite the carefree outer attitude. There was much that could go wrong in the interim with this entire operation if she allowed him to come along. Not to mention the nightmare she would face in the Imperial Senate if it got out that she had worked with terrorists, Torna especially.

But as much a threat as Torna was, they paled to the immediacy of the threat that Brionac posed to the empire, especially with the Aegis and her Driver under their thumb. If the empire could instead get in her good graces, then perhaps the tragedy that befell Alrest during the Aegis War wouldn't repeat itself on the Ardainian Titan.

She slowly sheathed her whipswords at her side, watching Mikhail closely for any untoward moves. When he made none, she took her hands off the hilts.

"Very well, I will accept your terms. I will free your comrades if you can get us to the Driver of the Aegis. I will also aid you in her escape, provided you cooperate and do not sell us out to the enemy." Her eyes narrowed. "But know that if you go back on your word, the empire will hunt you for the remainder of your days."

He made a two fingered salute. "Wouldn't dream of it, your inquisitorialness. Pleasure to be working with you."

Jin brushed his fingers through one of two large piles of blackened ash on the floor of an undercity apartment, the smell of dark element ether tinging the air with an acrid, almost acidic stench. Wiping the ash on his cloak, he stood, eying the dark stain of dried blood on the wall.

"Is friend Jin sure this what we looking for?"

He glanced over to the Nopon, about as far away as he could be and still be in the same room. His small arm rested over his nose, deliberately not directly looking at what remained of a human.

Jin took in the Nopon's squeamishness, unimpressed. "This is Perceval's handiwork alright. Black ash is a trademark of the 'Eater of Men.'"

So assuming the intel was correct, at least for now, the Bloody Lobsters were in the Alba Cavanich.

"Wait, he eat them?!" Tora practically squeaked, hopping back even further away as his arm went off his nose, acrid smell forgotten at the thought of being 'devoured.'

Jin sighed. "Not In a literal sense. It's just one of his monikers. He cuts his targets in two with a single blow, and then allows the body to be broken down by dark-element ether, until nothing but black ash remains. All in the name of meting out 'justice.'"

It was an impressive show of ether control, as most bodies, both of humans and monsters would leave nothing behind when killed with such a powerful ether attack. It hadn't stopped Malos from calling it stupid when he'd seen it.

Malos scoffed. "They should have been caught years ago, leaving behind evidence like this"

"And your own 'hallmark' of leaving glassed craters behind?"

”I don’t die when a puny human bites the dust.”

Of course, it was more about sending a message. Sure, it was obvious who did it, but then, when everyone had access to the services of the Bloody Lobsters, it became a political guessing game of who had enough reason and money to order the hit.

Human nonsense, all of it.

"Jin sure it not just remains of a burned body?" Poppi asked, bringing him back to the present. She seemed to take the scene of death in stride, though Jin didn't know if it was due to a lack of programming on how to handle it or something else.

"Yes." He gestured to the living area around them. "Look around the place. What do you see?"

Poppi carefully scanned the small flat, turning her head one way, before cupping her hand around her eyes, squinting as her 'pupils' contracted unnaturally. "Poppi sees nothing out of the ordinary besides black ash on floor and blood on wall. Décor is inferior to Masterpon's." Her 'pupils' dilated again, and she focused back on Jin. "Otherwise, it seem like ordinary room."

"Exactly," Jin responded. "Besides a few disturbed items and the blood, it's intact. If the body was burned, the smell of scorched flesh would permeate the area. Bones also take a much higher temperature to incinerate; at those temperatures, this room would be in shambles."

"Friend Jin seem oftly familiar with burned bodies," Tora muttered quietly.

Jin looked impassively down at the Nopon. "I've seen the worst of what humanity has to offer. Looting and pillaging as the world burns." He glanced over at the black ash remaining, and with something approaching pity in his voice, said, "You're lucky this wasn't you."

The Nopon audibly gulped. "Friend thinks it will happen to Tora?"

"It would have already happened, had your Blade not stopped Perceval's first blow in Torigoth."

"Poppi could not allow it," she assured them both. "Would have been terrible for Poppi to have less than week of memories with Masterpon."

Jin made a low grunt that could have passed for an affirmation.

After having the Nopon tag along with his investigation into the Bloody Lobsters and hearing more of Tora's story, it was plainly obvious to Jin that the young Nopon should have died years ago. Nothing short of sheer dumb luck had helped him survive long enough to build Poppi.

"So, um," the Nopon nervously shifted back and forth on his stubby feet, "putting aside very gruesome death, Tora wonders, what exactly do Bloody Lobsters do?"

"You don't even know what the group that's trying to kill you does?"

"Should Tora know?" Tora asked. "Tora knows they some cross-Titan gang that have loan sharks, but otherwise Tora have no idea."

At this point, even having spent less than a day with the Nopon, Jin was beginning to be less and less surprised.

"The Bloody Lobsters," Jin began, "started life over five-hundred years ago as a mercenary group from Coeia that specialized in assassinations." He noticed Poppi's hand shot up, and Jin waited a moment for her to speak, but she didn't. "Did you have something to say?"

"Poppi does not know that Titan: Coeia." She tilted her head, sending the cap flopping to the side. "Is one of the small ones?"

"No. It was one of the great nations of Alrest, famed for its mining and gemstones. But it was sunk beneath the cloud sea during the Aegis War. Of course, even after that, the influence of the Bloody Lobsters remained strong throughout Alrest because of the draw for their 'unique custom.'"

"Their assassinations?" Poppi asked.

Jin nodded. "Exactly. Sometime after the fall of Coeia, they picked up a powerful Blade. Ruthless in his craft, the Blade became known as 'The Heartless Judge,' and became feared throughout the criminal underworld of Alrest."

"And no one try to stop them?" Tora asked. "No hero swooshy-swoop in and save the day?"

"Plenty tried, and some even succeeded in killing his Drivers, but none ever managed to wrest the Blade out of the hands of the group. It's the sad tale of many Blades."

Blades forced to kill for their masters for generations, never able to truly make a life outside of what was decided for them. In that sense, he pitied Perceval.

"That is very sad story for Perceval," Poppi agreed, "but Poppi still doesn't understand. Why did Bloody Lobsters target Masterpon?"

"Why indeed?" Jin wondered aloud. They wouldn't have dispatched Perceval personally unless they wanted the Nopon dead.

Having temporarily dealt with the Bloody Lobsters in Torna's bid for core crystals, Jin knew something of their modus operandi. So why would their loan sharks based in Torigoth continue to give Tora extreme sums of money despite there being no promise of collateral?

He eyed Poppi.

The answer seemed obvious, with said answer currently soothing Tora by stroking his fur as he cowered behind his creation.

So, who in the organization had heard about Tora building a functioning artificial Blade and wanted to fund it to eventually steal her for themselves?

Or, had it even been the Bloody Lobsters who ordered the hit, or was it another person or organization that had hired them to do so? Jin could think of several organizations — including governments — that would benefit from gaining an artificial Blade, utilizing the Bloody Lobsters to protect their anonymity.

Regardless, staying here any longer was pointless.

Moving past the ashen remains, Jin stepped out into the dimly lit morning of the alleyway of the undercity and began walking to his next destination. Moments later, Tora and Poppi skittered out behind him.

"Wait!" Tora called.

Jin didn't stop walking but turned back and down to face the Nopon as he caught up to his stride. "What?"

"Isn't friend Jin going to report this to authorities?"

"That would be counterproductive." Even with his 'disguise' he wasn't dumb enough to think that someone in the Ardainian guard wouldn't be able to put together who he was. And his bounty, though not as high as Lora's, was significant enough that people would try, both in and out of the military.

"If we did, it could drive who we're looking for into hiding. No, we'll bait them out and trace them to their hideout in the city."

"Hmm. Tora sees." Then his eyes lit up with glee, and he started hopping in place. "It like when Kirumi use tasty treats to lure out arch nemesis, completely immobilizing them with deadly paralytic baked into treats! Then bish-bash with mighty robot!"

"…Sure."

"Jin doesn't sound sure," Poppi said. "Sometimes Masterpon's thought processes are very unclear, so Poppi can explain connection if-"

"That won't be necessary," Jin quickly assured her.

It was quicker to agree with the Nopon than be dragged into arguing semantics of a story he didn't care for.

"So, what is friend Jin going to use as bait?" Tora asked.

He eyed the Nopon with skepticism. Did he really not understand? "I should think it would be obvious."

"Meh?" The Nopon blinked owlishly. "Maybe Bloody Lobsters are hungry? Jin going to become snack-fund provider for them and then strike right when they eating?"

How would that even…?

Poppi leaned up over to him, tugging on his cloak. He got the message and leaned down as she whispered, "Masterpon is unfortunately as smart as he is dense. Sometimes does not understand simplest of inferences."

So he gathered.

Tora leaned in close to the two of them, "Hey, what is Poppi telling friend Jin?"

Poppi turned back to Tora. "Masterpon, Jin is implying that masterpon is the bait."

"Meh-meh?!" Tora hopped back, headwings unfolding in tandem with his genuine bewilderment. "But Tora barely survived last encounter with Perceval!"

"Is fine, Masterpon," she soothed, stiff, outstretched arm patting Tora's head. "Poppi will be there too."

"It shouldn't be dangerous," Jin assured, somewhat irked that he had to assuage the Nopon's fears. "You and Poppi need only be there to lure them out. I can take care of the rest."

"B-but," the Nopon stuttered, "What if Perceval show up?"

"He won't be an issue."

He stood up from his crouch, and began walking away from them. After all, if Mikhail and Patroka could defeat him, what chance did Perceval stand against him?

A hush seemed to fall over the landscape as the prevalent winds that had picked up over the wastes that morning were silenced by the imposing peaks of an artificially created valley. Azurda was thankful for that, as the dust stirred up by it had been irritating his rock-like skin all morning.

The carved out valley made for easier access and transfer of equipment into the rich ether mining fields near the edge of the Ardainian Titan — or so Mòrag told them before — but it also made it defensible. Great for Brionac, not so much for them, as the landscape left them exposed and funneled all traffic into one bottleneck.

Azurda could feel the tension in the group as they made their way down that valley near the edge of the Ardainian Titan. Infiltrating a terrorist base was hardly a stress free activity after all.

But the other source of tension walked near to their group, hands laced behind his head. His distinctive dark red armour covered behind one of the standard issue Ardainian military uniforms and face concealed behind the helmets provided to them by Rhodri.

Azurda of course, wore neither, as his frame and shape of his face would fit none of it, and instead opted to just wear a red band around his arm. The red band was trimmed with gold and embroidered by a large, prominent white skull with an ornate spear underneath: the banner under which Brionac rallied.

In the end, Lady Brighid had opted to stay behind, to tend the two Carraig Drivers that Mikhail had knocked out and to wait and act as a field commander for when the army's main force arrived. While Mòrag had assured him that she was more than proficient with the saber and rifle combo she now carried instead, it still worried Azurda being the only Blade in the group.

"What?" Mikhail asked him, seeming to notice his attention on him, voice muffled by the helmet.

"It is nothing."

Azurda sighed quietly. He wasn't sure if he was thankful or worried that the man had mostly kept silent after striking their uneasy deal with Mòrag. And with the helmet blocking view of his face now, it was even harder to get a good read on him. At the least, Mikhail walked close to Mòrag at her behest.

Rex, of course, was conflicted. Azurda could see it in his Driver's body language, even through the military uniform and helmet. After all, Mikhail was part of the same organization that had killed the expedition that had brought up the Aegis Pyra, as well as fatally wounded his forbearer.

Mikhail was not Malos of course, but Mikhail was the only Torna operative that Azurda could truly say that he had any history with. Azurda knew only what Rex had told him of Jin and Malos, and had the experience fighting Nia at the hot spring. They seemed easy enough to grasp, at least from what Rex had told him. But Mikhail?

"You might be fighting against the ideals your current Driver believes in, and you would have no idea. And it will happen again and again and again."

"What are you implying?"

"Not sure, to be honest. Something about the system just feels wrong. Some days, I just want to ask the Architect why, you know?"

Mikhail was a confusing man. And he was clearly still not telling them everything.

"Only a little further," Rhodri called from the front of the group, breaking Azurda out of his reverie.

And there was another thing. Azurda still couldn't quite place it, but there was something familiar about Rhodri's features. He was sure he'd never met the Gormotti man before, and checking with Rex hadn't yielded any further insights either. And yet…

"We should be coming up on the encampment soon-"

A shot echoed through the canyon, pinging off the ground near their group.

"You are entering territory claimed by the Lord of the Wastes," a voice called out from somewhere up above them, likely on the wall of the valley. "Do not take another step or you will be fired upon!"

"-right about now," Azurda heard Rhodri mutter. He slowly took off his helmet — revealing his dark brown hair, Gormotti ears, and dark skin — and raised his left arm. The armband with Brionac's sigil high. "Peace, brothers! We seek no harm, only refuge! I am Rhodri of the Caledfwlch cell, from the capital."

"Put your hands behind your heads, and make no sudden moves! An escort will be there shortly, and we will confirm your identity at the gate."

Rhodri did so, and the rest of their little group followed suit. "Just let them lead us," he murmured to them, "and we'll be fine. As far as they know, we're their brothers and sisters in arms. Let me do the talking and we'll be fine."

Right. Azurda supposed he should be getting in character.

…how did imperialist terrorists think, exactly?

Brionac troops, distinguished by that same red armband with the white skull and spear, quickly surrounded them and they made their way towards the gate past erected metal barricades.

There was no chatter as they were led down the valley past more barricades and traps, but the Brionac soldiers seemed to focus most of their troops near him and Rex, which made sense. They kept looking up at him worriedly, as if he was a bomb about to go off.

Azurda tried to be stoic in this, but it felt silly. After all, to him, besides Rhodri, he and Rex were the least dangerous of their group here. Granted, neither Mikhail nor Morag had their Blades currently, but it still felt strange to be treated as the most formidable opponent, even if it made sense.

Before long, however, they arrived at the bottom of the sloping valley where two towers stood, nearly as tall as the valley walls, with large banners of the white skull and spear hanging proudly off of them.

The threshold to the gate of Brionac's camp.

The one at the head of their armed escort moved forward to the small group of armed guards at the front. "We've got a small group of four and a Blade claiming to be from the Caledfwlch cell."

"Have they given any identification?" The forward most gate guard responded.

"The head of the group is a Gormotti says his name is Rhodri, who-"

"Hold on," the gate guard looked up with greater interest now. "Did you say Rhodri?"

"Yes sir." The soldier sounded hesitant.

"I'll deal with this."

"Uh…sir?"

The guard stood up, and removed his helmet, revealing another Gormotti man with lighter skin and curly blonde hair.

Azurda saw Rhodri tense as well, seeming to recognize him. The other Gormotti stepped right up to Rhodri, sizing him up. Despite being slightly shorter than him, Rhodri seemed to shrink in his presence, though he kept his eyes firmly on the other man.

The tense stare down between the two kept going, long enough that Azurda wondered if they were going to have to make an escape already.

Until the man grinned, and grabbed the Gormotti man in a bear hug.

"Aw, come here, you!"

Azurda saw Rhodri tense, but then he visibly relaxed after a moment, before returning the gesture, albeit more awkwardly. They separated and Rhodri lightly punched the other Gormotti's shoulder.

"You'll give a man a heart attack doing that, Ceolwulf," Rhodri complained.

"Nah, couldn't help it, old man" Ceolwulf poked the other Gormotti in the chest. "Had to get you back for that time in Chilsain."

"You still remember that?"

"'Course I do! Got the scar to prove it and all."

"Bloody fine time to do it," Rhodri muttered.

Ceolwulf clapped Rhodri on the shoulder. "Good to see you, though, honest. But, uh, last I heard, your cell had been stationed in the capital. What're you doing out here?"

Rhodri sighed. "Running, unfortunately. But my crew finished up what we set out to do."

"So Senator Saundra's bit the dust?" Rhodri nodded. "Knew it was going to be risky, but I figured if anyone could lead a crew to do that, it'd be you." Ceolwulf glanced at their group, eyes sliding over each of them, lingering on Azurda.

"Say, where's Merfyn gone?" Ceolwulf asked. "Little beast Blade would never leave your side last I saw."

"Merfyn was captured in our escape: caught in an ether net. With the Jewel of the Empire on our tail, we were lucky we didn't lose more."

Ceolwulf raised his eyebrows. "The Jewel? You're lucky you're alive." He shook his head. "Still, shame. I like Merfyn. You're way uptight without him. Though if everything here goes well, we'll get him back."

Rhodri cleared his throat. "As much as I don't mind reminiscing," he gestured to the guard escort still around him. "Are you going to keep us out here all day, or what?"

"Oh!" Ceolwulf laughed, "Of course not." He gestured to the Brionac armed escort. "You can let your guard down brothers; I know Rhodri. The man's saved my life more than once, and he's loyal to the cause. I'll see him and his crew in."

And, to Azurda's relief, the soldiers relented, allowing Ceolwulf to let them into the camp. The other guards on duty slid a heavy reinforced gate out of the way. He noted a weathered sign with the words "KEEP OUT - RAW ETHER MININ-" on it, though the rest had been painted over with Brionac's skull emblem.

The valley opened up into a roughly circular area, a quarry of some sort that Azurda barely got a glimpse of before Ceolwulf led them to a large tent only a little ways in the entrance. Yet that glimpse didn't bode well for their eventual escape.

Probably a couple thousand soldiers, dozens of Titan armaments, plenty of other machines of war, and Azurda spotted several Driver and Blade pairs sparring. Rex tensed beside him, seeing it all, and Azurda carefully opened an affinity link to him, sending calm as much as he could.

Azurda had to duck into the tent, and it didn't appear to be anything special, seeming to be used as a thoroughfare for camp entrants as well as storage, though he couldn't tell what was being stored here.

"Camp's gotten a bit cramped with all of us here," Ceolwulf explained as he checked them in with a very tired looking woman, who gave the humans pre-made packs full of changes of clothes, food and hygiene kits, though Azurda's lacked the change of clothes. "It's been wild, honestly, seeing all this come together."

"I hardly believed it myself when I first heard," Rhodri agreed as he checked over the contents of his pack.

"Still, big risk coming out here for you all, wasn't it?" Ceolwulf asked.

Rhodri laughed good-naturedly. "I don't know which one's a bigger risk, old friend. Being stationed in the heart of the empire or gathering the whole organization out in the boonies of an old ether mine with a big target on our backs."

"I get what you mean, but I've put my faith in Lord Dagas and his vision for the empire. Got to when that kid on the throne won't do anything, you know?"

They left the staging tent, and were led out into the ether mining quarry proper, and Ceolwulf led them through the camp to an even larger tent, this one marked 'Barracks 7.' The Gormotti stopped just outside it, gesturing to the whole of the operation. "Impressive, eh?"

"It is." Rhodri replied. "Walraig wouldn't have been able to amass something like this."

"Walraig? Who's that?" Rex asked aloud.

Rhodri turned a seemingly lazy gaze back on the group, but Azurda saw warning in his eyes. "You're a bit young to remember him I'll bet, but he was Brionac's head honcho up until an op went wrong about five years ago."

"That's putting it lightly," Ceolwulf responded blithely. "Despite Lord Dagas outing the culprits years ago, rumours are still all over the place. People blame Lindwurm, mercenaries, core crystal hunters, bandits, even Uraya if you can believe it."

"That one almost makes sense, considering Walraig was originally from one of Uraya's noble houses, after all."

"Aw, don't you start down the conspiracy bandwagon too." Ceolwulf shook his head, smiling, then clapped his hands together, "But don't keep me in suspense anymore, Rhodri, who's the kid, the crew and," he looked up to Azurda, "the Blade? And no need to keep your helmets on here. We're safe for now, so take a load off."

Slowly, their group did so, and Azurda gauged Ceolwulf's reaction, in case he seemed to recognize any of them, but the Gormotti man seemed none the wiser.

Rhodri set his hand on Rex's shoulder. "The young one's name is Regis. He's the Driver with his Blade, Seiryū. Since he's a new Driver I've been something of a mentor to him."

"Hey," Rex waved, thankfully taking the declaration of mentorship in stride. "Good to meet ya!"

"The quiet woman in the middle is Meleph," Rhodri continued, indicating Mòrag. "Fantastic marksman and sniper. Don't let the eyepatch and scars on her face draw you in. Just let her do her job and she'll thrive."

Mòrag didn't say anything, and simply nodded at the introduction. While it was still odd for Azurda to see her without her trademark hat, she kept her hair in a practical bun lower than she normally kept it. The raw looking scars crisscrossing her face and over her left eye weren't real of course, simply makeup expertly applied by Brighid before they left. The eyepatch just left less of her face visible to identify. Unless you knew her personally, it would be difficult to tell it was her.

"And the last one-" Rhodri began.

"Satahiko!" Mikhail announced, cutting him off. "Mechanic, arms specialist and," he leaned one arm on Mòrag's shoulder with a grin, "resident lady killer. Right, Mels?"

Mòrag's retribution was swift and painful, fist shooting up into Mikhail's jaw faster than he could react, making him stumble away, rubbing his jaw. She crossed her arms, visible eye twitching.

Azurda could swear he heard Mikhail mumble "worth it" as he rubbed a noticeable bruise forming on his chin.

Ceolwulf, for his part, took it in stride, laughing. "Quite the charmer, eh?"

Rhodri cleared his throat. "At any rate, they're what's left of the Caledfwlch cell after the Jewel cracked down on Brionac's activity in the capital."

Ceolwulf's smile waned. "Wouldn't surprise me if the Special Inquisitor wanted to save face after that mess in the upper city with the Driver of the Aegis."

Azurda subtly glanced at Mòrag at the mention of the 'Jakolo Incident,' but she made no noticeable moves.

Rhodri chuckled. "Probably. After we got out, we didn't know if operational security had been breached. So instead of staying there, we heeded Lord Dagas' call to arms. I won't bore you with the travel details."

"Dry and dusty where the Architect's light don't shine." Ceolwulf chuckled at his poor attempt at a joke before perking up. "Oh, yeah, did you hear? Lord Dagas intercepted the Driver of the Aegis once she fled the city. She's working with us now, or so I hear." Ceolwulf grinned. "With her here there'll be no way we can lose."

"So it's true then?" Rhodri asked. "The Aegis is really back? She's real?"

"Yeah," Rhodri nodded eagerly. "Seen her and her Driver with my own eyes when Lord Dagas brought them in, emerald core crystal and all. Haven't had a chance to talk with or really see her or her Driver since they got here. Been stuck on gate duty after all." He sighed. "Speaking of, I'd better get back there, or I'll get a good chewing out. Fina is on duty roster; she'll have you working before you know it."

"Thank you, Ceolwulf," Rhodri said, sticking out his hand. "Truly."

Ceolwulf clasped the other Gormotti man's wrist, smile brightening. "Of course. I'll see you at the canteen later tonight, eh? See if we can't get some decent swill and reminiscence a bit."

"Naturally."

He let go. "Drop your stuff off here and head over to the duty roster tent. Head straight towards that first ether pump jack near the middle of the camp. Can't miss it."

Azurda and the rest of the group eyed Ceolwulf as he parted, before looking back to Rhodri.

"He and I joined Brionac at the same time," Rhodri offered as explanation. "He…convinced me to defect, initially." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter for now." He looked at Mòrag. "Meleph, is Fina…?"

"I know her, yes." Mòrag confirmed. Or in words, it was one of her operatives on the inside. "We shouldn't dawdle."

As they moved to set their stuff down in the barracks, he heard Rex let out a sigh of relief. Azurda set his hand on his Driver's shoulder, and Rex looked up quizzically, and Azurda just smiled.

"Don't worry Az-er, Seiryū," Rex whispered. "We've got this. You'll see."

Azurda nodded back. He just hoped their hand of fellowship to the Aegis and her Driver wouldn't be too little too late.

After dropping off their belongings into rooms in the barracks cordoned off by gender, Mòrag took the lead as the group headed over to the center of the camp where the pumpjack Ceolwulf had mentioned levered slowly up and down.

Though she had to turn her head more to account for her eyepatch, as they crossed the camp, Mòrag mentally took note of the camp's layout as they walked.

As a quarry, it was a defensible position, so long as they kept the plateaus above well defended against Titanships. That was made easier, with the high natural rock walls only being on two sides of a rough rectangle. One other side extended up the Ardainian Titan's body towards its neck, while the last had a thick metal wall separating them from the edge of the Titan and falling off into the cloud sea.

Add in the pipes snaking about meant for liquid ether transport, as well as the several pump jacks closer to the middle, it made for a decent defensive position with cover, and Brionac seemed to utilize it well.

It was also infrastructure that she knew Niall was hesitant to destroy, with the large crystallized and liquid ether reserves still here. They were invaluable — though dwindling — resources. Losing them would be devastating, another potential weakness that Uraya might try to exploit.

Despite their ceasefire with Uraya, Niall didn't want to give the other nation any reason to expedite breaking that, and Mòrag agreed.

Arriving at the duty roster tent proper, they found a woman Mòrag recognized. One of her most trusted undercover operatives that she had personally assigned to go deep undercover in Brionac years ago. She was the one that had taken the picture of the Aegis and her Driver on their arrival in the camp.

Fina, a short, dark haired, plain and overall unassuming Ardainian woman showed no sign of recognizing her as she looked over their group. Aside from her gaze lingering on her longer than the others. Mòrag's chest swelled with pride.

"Are you all new as well?" Fina asked, yawning, and with a put upon sigh, her hand came to rest on her chin, propping her head up.

"Yes," Rhodri took the lead now, stepping up to the desk Fina sat behind. "We've just arrived in the camp about an hour ago. I'm sure you've been busy, but we were told to see Fina for duty assignments?"

"Yup, that's me."

"Good." Rhodri gestured to Mòrag. "Meleph, you first."

Mòrag nodded, stepping up to Fina's desk as her operative put away what she was working on. "Is it difficult to find things for everyone to do?"

"Yes and no." Fina answered, pulling out and opening up notebook. "Our numbers are closing in on three-thousand, so there's no shortage of things that need doing with that."

"That many?" Mòrag skewed her voice to sound impressed.

"Impressive right?" Fina sounded proud. "It's honestly been mind boggling to know that Brionac was really this big. I knew there were a lot of us, but we were spread out in different cells." She grimaced. "But it does make logistics a bit of a pain with everyone here.

"I imagine so." Mòrag agreed. "Brionac felt so de-centralized before, but seeing this…"

Fina nodded. "In just the last day, nearly a hundred more arrived. It's putting a strain on resources."

"Is there no time frame on a march order?"

"Nothing yet. But I guess it makes sense that it's not widely known yet. With how many people are coming in, I guess the higher ups don't want to take a chance at information leaking."

Unfortunate, but not surprising. "I suppose…Lord Dagas knows the full details of the plan to protect operational security."

"Probably," Fina agreed, "but I doubt we'll be staying here much longer."

"Oh?"

"While it's great for morale bringing in the Driver of the Aegis — I mean, who wouldn't want a living legend on their side? — Lord Dagas has to know there's no way it won't bring the empire down on us quicker if it gets out she's here."

"Quite." And Mòrag squashed the spark of amusement at the statement. "Speaking of the Driver of the Aegis, have you seen her at all?"

"You a fan?"

"Simply curious."

"You and everyone else." Fina shook her head. "Sorry, I've just gotten just glimpses. But honestly, it's been hard to get close enough to talk to her, especially after her bodyguard nearly killed someone who wouldn't leave her alone."

"Bodyguard?"

Fina tapped her chin as if she was thinking. "Tall, shorter dark hair and armour. Driver. Intimidating. Hard guy to miss, though I don't know his name."

Malos, Mòrag surmised. Her brow furrowed. "Is the Aegis or her Driver still in the camp?"

Fina shook her head. "I haven't seen them today, though rumour is that Lord Dagas took them somewhere. Couldn't say what for."

Then she was being kept under close watch. Not unsurprising, but it would make Rex's job harder. She eyed Mikhail, and he gave her a thumbs up and a wink. Mòrag let out a scoff.

"Anyways, enough about our new local celebrity," Fina continued. "Any preferences or skills I should know about?"

"Marksman and sniper, but guard rotation wouldn't go amiss." Mòrag made a show of rolling her shoulder. "I knocked my shoulder in the escape from the capital, so something that'll give it an opportunity to heal would be good."

Obviously, it hadn't been injured, but it was a good excuse to get her on guard rotation.

Fina glanced through her notebook. "Let's see…I've got a spot open on prison guard duty I can put you on, if that works?"

"Anything I should know about the prisoners?"

Fina glanced back down at the notes. "Most of them are pretty tame, but there's some newer arrivals that have given some of the guards some trouble. A Gormotti Driver and a couple of Blades. They're in Blade suppression cells, but the Gormotti is a bit of a handful so I've heard. Think you can handle that?"

That must be the Torna operative Nia, Dromarch and…Cressidus she believed Mikhail had called his Blade.

Mòrag nodded curtly. "That will be fine."

"Good." She yawned as she noted something down, and handed her some paper. "I'll get your companions settled too."

Mòrag nodded and stepped back, tucking the assignment sheet — and another paper that had been given in secret underneath — away. She waited while Fina assigned Rex on a squad training with other Drivers and Blades, and Rhodri "convinced" her to have him go with the boy since he'd been "training the kid in the capital."

Mikhail's horrible attempt at flirting with Fina was met with a stone wall of professionalism and she put him to work on machine maintenance.

They gathered outside the tent, where Mòrag quietly announced "We'll meet in the canteen during meals and at the end of the day to discuss our progress." She glanced around, finding them mostly alone, and in a quieter voice, to Rex said. "Be as patient as you can, and my operatives will help you get to them."

"Hey," Mikhail interjected, "I want her out of here as much as you do, so I'll be helping the kid meet his crush too."

"My what?!" Rex balked.

Mikhail elbowed him with a grin. "C'mon, kid, the Aegis is a beautiful woman. Don't tell me you haven't wondered if you'd have a shot?"

"N-no!" Rex protested a bit too quickly. She saw Azurda's hand meet his forehead as Rex's cheeks flushed, hurriedly crossing his arms. "She... uh, she just said she's going to Elysium, and since she was born there, I just want to know what it's like. That's all."

She should have foreseen this. Despite his abilities, Rex was only fifteen after all.

"Riiight." Mikhail drawled out. "Don't worry, kid. Your old pal Satahiko will help give you a shot at it."

"Enough." She bit out, looking to Azurda. "Seiryū, keep your Driver focused. Everyone, get to your posts. And Satahiko," she gave him a glare, "don't do anything stupid."

"Roger that Mels," Mikhail gave her a wink and casual salute and sauntered away.

"Don't worry about it, Mòr-er Meleph," Rex said, "He was just saying things to get under our skin."

"I am aware," Mòrag responded coolly. She knew the Aegis was conventionally attractive, and that Rex was a young man. "So long as you are able to focus on your assignment, we will be fine. Remember what we are here for."

"Right," Rex nodded. "Pyra's pretty, but I won't let that get in the way of talking to Lora. See you later!" He gave her a grin with a double thumbs up and left, Azurda trailing behind him.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. Architect help her. Please don't let Mikhail's comment push him to actually try to woo the Aegis.

The dry, musty, stagnant heat of the maintenance tunnel weighed on Lora as she and Pyra warily followed Dagas. It hadn't been as noticeable near the tunnel's entrance where the short bursts of wind from the outside helped keep the heat reasonable.

Unfortunately, this wouldn't be an escape. If it were just her and Pyra, they might be able to, but she wasn't about to leave Nia, Dromarch and Cressidus behind to whatever fate awaited her back in the ether mine where this 'Brionac' was stationed.

It didn't surprise her that instead of merely talking to them inside that camp, that the following morning Dagas was instead leading them to the "appointed place" to talk.

He'd rebuffed her and Pyra's attempts to talk on the way as well. Which left her with just the noise of unrefined liquid ether flowing through the pipes around them, and the clunk of their boots on the grimy metal floor. It felt like they'd been walking for nearly an hour now.

The light of the sun didn't reach them anymore, and the electrical lighting overhead cast looming shadows as they passed. Yet despite the darkness, it was uncomfortably hot in here, and the heat seemed to cling to Lora. She felt sweat drip down her face, plinking on to the metal.

Pyra was supportive, offering her water, which she gratefully accepted, but though that and Pyra's affinity link likely kept her from truly overheating, not for the first time, she wished Jin were here. He'd probably be a little grumpy about it, but he'd be able to keep things way cooler for her.

As she wiped her forehead, Lora spotted small lizards clinging to the ceiling, basking in the warmth, so at least something enjoyed the heat. As Dagas passed a small group, one of the larger ones, hardly larger than her wrist, hissed at him. With a flick of his finger, a small flame incinerated the creature, and the little ones surrounding it scattered.

Pyra let out a small gasp as the embers of fire ether scattered, though Dagas made no comment on either the creature or Pyra's reaction.

Well he was just a bundle of joy, wasn't he?

Eventually, she heard the noise of some form of machinery coming from up ahead, and spotted workers who were using a machine of some sort to drill through rock and rubble. The dust in the air was thick from the drilling that Lora covered her mouth with her sleeve.

One of the workers overseeing the operation saw them approaching and signaled the machine operator to stop.

"Lord Dagas!" The worker called as the drill was winding down. "We were informed of your arrival today, but who's" and his eyes flicked over to Lora, then Pyra, eyes widening at the sight of Pyra's core crystal. He looked closer at her. "You're…!"

"She is the Driver of the Aegis, yes," Dagas remarked, though his tone wasn't dismissive, as much as it was impatient.

"I have a name, you know." Lora muttered into her sleeve. She lowered her arm now that the drilling had stopped as the dust settled, putting on her best impression of Jin's 'aloof' face and hoping it got the point across that she really didn't want to be here.

"Lora, yes," Dagas glanced back at her, something like — but not quite — respect in his piercing blue eye. He turned back to the worker. "What is the progress of the excavation?"

The worker wrenched his gaze away from her, and focused back on Dagas. "Our instruments put us at over eighty percent. Structural integrity is holding, and we may be able to blast through soon, but it'll be risky with the ether still running through the pipes."

"Good. And the Ardainian contingent on the other side?"

"Latest update from your spies has them none the wiser, though they've increased the guard in the facility."

Dagas nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent work. Go ahead and have you and your team take your leave. I will take it from here."

The worker glanced at him in confusion, looking back at the excavation site, then back to Dagas, then over to her and Pyra. An expression passed over his face that screamed 'this is way above what I get paid to ask questions for' and nodded.

"Of course." He turned to the other workers. "Men, pack up: we're out!"

Lora shifted closer to the side of the tunnel, leaning against its side as she watched them pack up the machinery. Dagas went to the side with the head worker and talked quietly enough that she couldn't hear what was being said. The other workers kept glancing at her and Pyra as they worked.

Lora had already experienced some of this in the camp, but all the attention really was…frustrating. The wonder in those gazes — like she was a legend come to life — as their eyes flicked back and forth between her and Pyra, then back to their work as they realized she'd caught them staring.

It continued as the workers finally cleared out. As they passed, they openly stared, and Pyra gave them strained smiles and a wave. But before long, only Dagas remained, his piercing blue eye seeming to assess her.

"Heavy is the head that bears the crown." He finally broke the silence after an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Huh?"

He looked at her a moment more. "I suppose time will tell how well you wear it."

So he was talking now? Lora gave a look around the maintenance tunnel and mostly drilled through rubble. "This is your 'appointed place'?" She remarked drily. "It's a bit…anticlimactic."

Dagas shook his head lightly. "Patience. This is but a step along the way." He stepped closer to the hole, drilled through the rubble. "I advise you to step back."

A part of her didn't want to, just to spite him, but after a small stare down, she relented. She'd seen him melt through copious amounts of metal like it was nothing after all and that gave her a healthy respect for his abilities, if not him.

Dagas set his hand against the hole, and fire-element ether began gathering in his palm. Lora's eyes widened, and she took a couple of steps back, remembering how much damage that attack had done out in the wastes.

Pyra hurriedly stepped forward. "Wait, that'll bring down the tunnel on us!" she shouted, moving ahead of Lora, hand ready to bring up an ether shield.

Dagas eyed their panic with calm composure. "If I desired to kill your Driver, there are far better ways than sending by sending myself to a rocky grave with her."

"Well, we saw you melt through metal before like it was nothing," Lora countered. "Couldn't you do that here instead?"

"This will be quicker. And worry not. I have had time enough to master control over this power than you realize. Watch."

Lora saw Pyra bite her lip as Dagas gathered more power, until it seemed a miniature sun glowed and Lora had to shield her eyes. After a moment more, he simply flicked the ball of fire into the hole. Lora flinched, but instead of impacting the rock and exploding like she expected, it stayed, floating in the middle.

Alright. He was clearly showing off at this point. Though she had to grudgingly admit that she was impressed as the amount of ether control needed to do something like that.

And then he snapped his fingers.

The ball of fire exploded out away from them, and though Pyra raised her ether barrier, nothing pinged off it. Light suffused through the dust of the new hole, and to her relief a small breeze brushed against her as the stagnant air finally had a place to go.

Dagas raised an eyebrow at them. "Come, the appointed place awaits."

He stepped through the cleared opening into the sunlight, and after a moment's hesitation, Lora and Pyra followed.

While it was mercifully cooler than the tunnel, a wave of heat washed over her from below as she stepped out of the tunnel, and it was easy to see why. Hundreds of peds below, through the gridiron of a catwalk, glimmering green liquid ether pooled in a massive circular reservoir. The walls of the reservoir went up and up several stories, all with crisscrossing catwalks leading to several other machines, pipes and small buildings.

But that was all she had time to see as her attention was torn away by the sound of a blaring alarm starting.

"E-explosion in sector one of ether reservoir three," a panicked voice over loudspeaker called out. "All personnel evacuate to your designated routes!"

She saw Pyra quickly raise her ether barrier, something pinging off its edge. Lora quickly spotted a contingent of soldiers above them on a higher catwalk, taking aim at them.

"Unidentified intruders: you are trespassing on the property of the Empire of Mor Ardain. In the name of the emperor, stand down and surrender yourselves for questioning!"

"Amusing," Dagas mused with no small amount of contempt. His greataxe appeared lazily in one hand, while fire element ether gathered in the palm of the other. "The peasants of the child emperor don't recognize us."

Pyra stepped forward. "Don't do this, Dagas. There's no need for this."

He raised an eyebrow. "No need, you say?"

"Repeat: in the name of the emperor, stand down and surrender yourselves for questioning!"

"Dagas, please," Pyra insisted.

"It is far too late for that."

"No!"

Pyra tried to cross the distance, to block the deadly ether projectile, but she was too late.

In moments, the flame crossed the distance to the catwalk. The soldiers near the epicenter dove out of the way, but it didn't matter. A moment later, the miniature sun exploded, and the screams of the soldiers were cut off.

Lora had to shield her eyes from the light of the blast, and when it cleared, a whole section of the catwalk had gone molten, slag dripping along the edges of the blast radius. A Driver and Blade pair remained behind, and raised an ether cannon towards them to fire.

Lora dove out of the way of the shot, and Pyra joined in ducking behind the cover of some machine she had no idea the use for. She poked her head out in time to see Dagas wind his arm with his greataxe back, the blade alighting with flames, before he chucked it towards the Driver.

The Driver's Blade raised their ether barrier, but the greataxe didn't hit it. Instead, it tore through the catwalk between the Driver and Blade. The Driver screamed, and the Blade dived for them, missing by a hair. And with horror, Lora saw the Driver drop screaming into the ether reservoir below.

Moments later, the Blade dissipated into etheric motes, their core crystal dropping with a clink onto the edge of the shorn catwalk.

Dagas re-summoned his greataxe to his side and turned towards her.

"Come, Driver of the Aegis. Witness with me, the throes of a dying empire."