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Chapter Text

Every Story has a Beginning.

Every Hero has his first Battle.

My Story just happens to be a little different than that of the others.

But where to start?

Hmmm...

I guess, perhaps it would be best to start at the beginning, as the best stories do.

The Day of my Rebirth.

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20 Years Ago...

Unknown Location...

As I came to, I didn't really feel much. Apart from the grass on my back (Itchy), the sun's warmth on my face (Too bright), and a soft breeze blowing against my body (Too cold). But slowly, more feeling entered my body. I felt more. The clothes on my body, my own heartbeat, and the unbearable, indescribable, need to pee.

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"Aahhhhhhhhhh. Yeah. That's nice." I sighed in relief as I relieved myself. As I finished up, I zipped my pants back up, and stretched with a yawn. Scratching my belly I looked around for a moment, taking in all I could see. The large landmass that I stood on, the green tree's, and the fluffy white sea.

Wait...

"WHY IS THE SEA MADE OF CLOUDS?!"

"AROO"

"WHY ARE THERE GIANT MONKE'S!?!?!"

"BWOOOOOOO"

"WHAT THE FUCK!? DID THE ISLAND JUST TALK!??!"

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After calming down a little, I just sat down and tried to make sense of my current situation.

From what little I could gather, I was now on a giant living... thing, surrounded by clouds, where everything was larger and more deadly than back home...

'Okay. Maybe not more deadly. But they are definitely larger on average than back home in Australia.'

Oddly, this all seemed rather familiar...

Sea of clouds...

Giant living landmass...

Everything is a monster...

"Oh fucking hell. I'm in Xenoblade 2 aren't I?!" I shouted in realisation, throwing my hands up into the sky in a mixture between exasperation, excitement and panic. "It doesn't really matter if the average animal danger rating is the same. At least there's an antidote to most venoms! Getting squished like a bug doesn't have an antidote!"

In case it wasn't obvious, I was panicking.

"BWOOOOOGGGGAAAHHHHH!!!!"

The Roar of Gormott, for that was the titan that I stood upon, shook me back to reality. And as I blinked I felt a strange sense of calm wash over me. I'd practically been training for this after all, with how many Isekai stories I wrote but never published, and how many Isekai stories I'd read or watched.

More importantly, out of all the realm's I could get Reincarnated into, Xenoblade was without doubt top 3. Dxd was number one, primarily because I knew exactly how to manipulate its universe and power system, and I could become insanely strong. The Waifu's were an added bonus. Xenoblade was probably no.2, it had amazing Waifu's, incredible powers, and some easily exploitable methods of immortality. Plus, if you knew what to do, you could easily breeze through the entire storyline.

'Probably shouldn't do that tho. It wouldn't solve anything.'

Logically, I knew that the best thing to do would be to become a bystander. A side character. Someone who never interfered with anyone from the main plot. And especially not the Aegis Team.

It was imperative that the main storyline remained intact. Obviously The easiest way to ensure this was to do nothing at all. Problem with that was that it was the opposite of what I wanted to do.

I wanted to meet them. All of them. I wanted to meet Pyra, Mythra, Rex, I wanted to meet Vandham.

More than that, I wanted to save Vandham. I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to live. The biggest problem with that, was that by saving him, I could delay the awakening of Mythra. Something that was imperative to the survival of this world, and those within it.

And now, I was one of those guy's within it.

'What do I do?'

Looking up at the world tree in the distance, and where the Architect lived, I came to a decision.

"That will be a problem for future me. Who will curse present and past me for leaving it up to him." With a satisfied nod, I stood up, checked the position of the sun, and looked in the direction of Torigoth.

"Should only take me a couple of minutes, or an hour at most, to get to civilization. Time to march. And with luck I'll be there by lunch"

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12 Hours later...

"Fuck this shit." I cursed as I huddled up under a tree log.

'Should've paid closer attention to the Hunger Games. Maybe I'd have a fire right now if I did.'

As it turned out, the video game incarnations of the titans were stupidly underestimated. Gormott, in person, was hundreds of times larger, so large that it would've dwarfed any city of my old world. Canonically speaking, maybe it wasn't larger than it was in the lore. But it was definitely larger than it was during gameplay.

Currently, the moon was on its way up into the sky, and the sun was dipping lower and lower. I'd set up camp under a giant tree stump, which was near a freshwater lake. From which I had drunk. Sadly I hadn't gotten anything to eat, but this was primarily because I didn't know what was safe to eat, and I didn't know if I could take on anything nearby. That Bunnit I walked by earlier could've been a level 60 that probably would've served me my ass on a silver platter. At the same time it could've been a level 1 that I could have easily beaten. Or it could've been neither and level's didn't exist here.

I was leaning towards the third option, most likely it was ether capacity or something similar to that which determined how powerful something was. That and experience, and physical strength, the usual. I wasn't going to risk it however, not until I knew for certain that I could kill something here.

As for presumed abilities/powers. I had so far come up completely blank. I did not appear to have any kind of gamer ability, or system, nor did I have other abilities. I did not have regeneration of any sort either, (I had already cut myself to test.)

My distinct lack of abilities was certainly problematic, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a world where people could get fast enough to outpace most other shonen protagonists, including Goku. Some of the powers here were even more bullshit than the ones in Bleach, One Piece, or Naruto combined.

Actually, maybe not Bleach. The Almighty was probably the most bullshit ability of all time.

Digressing...

My first goal, for now, would be discerning where I am in the timeline. If I was years before the event's of Xc2, then I would need to find a Blade and become a Blade Eater. If Canon had already started then I needed to find strong blades, and the Aegis team, fast. If I was slightly before Canon, then I could take this time to train, get stronger, and be relevant for the entire storyline.

Worst-case scenario, the battle between Jin and the Aegis Team in the world tree had just begun, and I was going to be completely useless for everything except for Xc3. And even then, it basically got an ending equal to 'It was all a dream'.

"AWWWWOOOOO!!"

Flinching, I looked around in mild fear as I heard a sound eerily familiar to a wolf's howl, except it sounded like a Kaiju variation.

Here and now wasn't the time for panicking, it wasn't the time for thinking, it was the time for survival and extreme caution. I refused to die before I found my way to power and fame, I refused to die before I found happiness, Infact, I refused to die at all.

Although... right now... sleep sounded really good...

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Arrival at Gormott...

3 days later...

'Food...'

Stumbling through the gates of Gormott, my stomach was rebelling against life, the universe and everything.

'I need food...'

Slowly making my way to the nearest food store, I barely registered the shocked expressions of the people around me. And I didn't understand the whispers either. All my focus was on the food in front of me. "Do you take IOU's?" I asked, mouth dry. The store clerk blinked several times, looked at me, and said, "You look like you're about to starve. Here, take this. On the house."

The benevolent store clerk handed me a large cooked steak, and I didn't even bother to nod before I began to tear into it with the vigour only a starving man would understand. Each bite tasted like heaven.

As I continued to scarf my food, I caught the eye's of numerous other people, each one of them looking at me in varying degrees of interest, disgust, and amusement.

Huh...

As I finished my meal, I took a moment to really look at the surrounding people and how... different they really were.

The majority of the populace were Gormotti, which is to say, humans with cat features, primarily their hair, canine's, and heightened senses. Aside from that, and a Welsh accent, there was absolutely no difference between them, and every other individual of my old world.

I... wasn't sure if it was a good thing that I was already thinking about earth as my 'old world' maybe that was just my ADHD talking, but...

"Meh-Meh? Tora did not mean to insult biggie-pon! Tora just said that Biggy-Pon should let up on the food!"

No fucking way!

Turning around at top speed, I saw a large part's shop, which I was rather certain was a local Odd's and Ends shop. The same one that the Aegis Team bought the pieces to finish Poppi.

If Tora was here, then that meant that the canon story hadn't begun yet, which, by extension, meant that I could get strength, and power, and be relevant!

First though, Maybe I should save Tora's life.

Quickly making my way over to Tora, and the Gormotti man who was currently holding the poor Nopon up and getting ready to punch him, I shouted, "OI! Mate!" My voice made the Gormotti man flinch, turn around and look at me with a shocked expression. "Who the bloody hell are you?" He asked, the Welsh accent strong and present. As I walked up to the Gormotti, I began to look... down at him.

'This guy barely reaches my chin. How short are these guys?'

Still, despite my height advantage, the difference in weight class was obvious, the Gormotti man I was looking down at, would've easily been twice my weight, and not just in fatness. Eating nothing except for a single small fish for nearly 4 day's was extremely taxing on someone like me, with a metabolism that made it impossible for me to even gain any weight, or muscular definition at all.

"I'm the guy who's gonna introduce my foot to your ass if you don't let the Nopon go." I said, the Gormotti man raised an eyebrow, "Really. You? The starving bag of bones and rags? Come off it, you're mad if you think I'm scared of you." The Gormotti went to keep punching Tora, but seeing the way that Tora flinched away from the man, sent a deep resentment and anger off within me, adding that to how hungry and tired I was, I didn't have a fuse, I had a countdown, and with it reaching zero I decided to be a bit more... violent.

Lashing out, I punched the Gormotti right in the side of the jaw, kicked him right between his fat cheek's and up his ass, and before he could recover, I reached out grabbing his cat ears, and pulled him to the ground.

I would like to say this was all fluidly done in less than 4 seconds, but it wasn't, it was rather sloppy, and certainly not done in less than 10 seconds. Still the result was the same, one fat Gormotti on the ground, and me sitting on top of him. "I warned you. Foot up your ass. And now your face has met the ground."

It just occurred to me, I should get a catchphrase. But what? 'Your ass is grass and I'm the lawnmower'? Nah, they don't have lawnmowers. Infact, I didn't even know if they still had lawns.

"Meh-Meh? Hero saved Tora?" Hearing Tora's voice come from beside me shook me back to reality, and I looked over at him. Much to my surprise, he almost looked identical to his canon equivalent. With a few differences. He was lacking the large goggles on top of his head, and he didn't have the bag on his right side, aside from that, little changes made up his attire.

Like all Nopon he was rather short, less than half my height. Meaning less than 3'0 tall. He had the general shape of a large egg, mostly oval shaped, short stubby legs, and arms just as small, although he also had two large wing-like limbs that could also work as arms. He was also covered in light brown fur, and had a very large mohawk. His clothes consisted of a pair of overalls, a light brown shirt, with a black undershirt, and dark brown shoes.

He didn't look that much younger than he did in the game, but then again, he wasn't animated anymore. I could distantly see each strand of hair in his mohawk, every single piece of fur, all of it. He looked much like a realistic version of himself. And above all, there was just something... different in seeing him as a living being before me. Far different than what it felt like to see him in a video game, or in fanart. Something indescribable.

'His eyes are also giant. And I wonder what pair of arms he uses to... actually maybe not everything needs an answer...'

"Hello. I'm guessing your name is Tora?" I greeted with a smile on my face, as I lightly whacked the back of the head of the Gormotti I had just absolutely owned, keeping him down and silent. Tora meanwhile, looked absolutely shocked, and was staring at me like the second coming of the architect himself. "How did Hero-Pon know Tora's name?" Tora asked. I raised an eyebrow, "I've found that Nopons often refer to themselves in the third-person." I answered. Tora meanwhile, was still clueless. "You told me." I said flatly after a moment of silence. Tora's mouth widened, but before he could say anything, the sound of heavy footsteps quickly began to approach.

A firm gloved hand landed on my shoulder, and I was roughly pulled off of the Gormotti and spun around to face a trio of Ardanian Soldiers. Unlike in the game, each one was a differing height, however, none of them were taller than me. "What is going on here?" The First Ardanian Soldier asked, with a distinctly male voice. "Now See Here, it's obvious this ruffian was attacking the poor Gormotti." The Second Ardanian added, the third scoffed, "I have a hard time believing that. Look at him, he's a bag of bones. Scrawny, underfed, and he looks to be a stray." The second scoffed, "Then what? The Gormotti just layed down and let the kid sit on him?" The Third shook their head, "No, clearly this Nopon attacked the Gormotti, and threatened this poor boy to sit on him and take the blame." The first and second Soldiers groaned at this, "We've had enough of your racism Jeff, if you aren't going to add anything meaningful to this conversation, don't talk at all." The Now Named Jeff growled, "Nopon are no good scum. If you can't see that you're the idiot" Soldier One looked at Tora, "Apologises good sir. But could you tell me what happened here?" Tora blinked, "Meh-Meh? Well, Biggie-Pon was attacking Tora. Then Hero-Pon came over and told Biggie-Pon off. Then Hero-Pon saved Tora from Biggie-Pon! Then soldier's appeared."

Hearing Nopon's talk in person was weird. I don't think I've quite registered the fact that Tora is another species yet. Actually, I haven't had a mental breakdown either. How strange...

Soldier One looked at me, and seemed to be re-evaluating his opinion of me. "Is this true?" He asked. Nodding, I properly recounted the story, "I had just arrived in town, and-" Taking a short break, I put my thought's in order, and apologised, "Sorry, I stutter sometimes." The soldier's looked understanding, and Jeff even had a suggestion. "Saying a word whenever you stutter can help." I nodded absentmindedly, but continued my recounting regardless. "As I was saying, I had just arrived in town. I'd been lost in the wilds beforehand, so I was really hungry. A local meat shop gave me some food, a steak, and as I ate it, I heard a commotion. This-" I gestured at the Fat Gormotti, "-Gormotti man had been yelling at this Nopon, Tora, for a miscommunication on Tora's part. Admittedly, Tora had insulted the Gormotti, but he did so accidentally. Regardless of this, the Gormotti was threatening Tora and was even preparing to assault him, when I intervened. I began by warning the Gormotti man to back off, when he did not and went to resume his assault, I defended Tora, knocking out the Gormotti. Then you guys showed up."

Soldier one nodded, "That checks out. That's Rhys' on the floor. He's a grumpy old bastard." Relieved that the Soldiers were convinced of my story, I took a step back as two of them, Soldier Two and Jeff, picked up Rhys' and dragged him off to... somewhere. Soldier one, after watching them go, turned around and looked at me, "Say. Do you have anywhere to stay?" The question in his voice was obvious, and I shook my head. "Sorry, I'm new in town. And I don't have any coin to pay for a night in the inn with." The Soldier looked between Tora and me for a moment, before saying, "I guess I could give-" "Hero-Pon can stay with Tora!"

"Excuse me?"

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30 Minutes later...

"And this is Tora's home!" Tora proclaimed happily as I stared, dumbfounded, at his house. I did NOT plan for this.

'Living with a Main Character might not be the best idea. It could change the future-

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Colony 9

Achoo!

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-Although the only thing I really need to worry about is making sure we save Rex when he shows up, and going with Rex when he leaves. Not much else really matters... This might actually be to my advantage.'

"Thanks for this Tora. But, again, why are you letting me live with you? I'm a stranger, sure I saved you from getting your face punched in, and that makes me a good samaritan, but surely there's another reason for this?" I asked.

I had already gotten my answer to why Tora was letting me live with him, as thanks for helping him, until I could stand on my own two feet. But I had a hard time believing that saving him alone was a good enough reason for this, after all, Poppi was meant to be a secret. He must have an ulterior motive.

Tora's smile turned sheepish... I think... "Meh-Meh. Hero-Pon correct. Tora did have ulterior motive for bringing Hero-Pon here." 'I knew it!' "So. If me saving you wasn't enough, why am I here Tora?" I asked. Tora looked at me, took a deep breath, and spoke, "Tora isn't good in fight. And Tora have big dream! To build something never before seen in world! But Tora is too poor to buy many of the parts, so Tora must scavenge for them. Tora was hoping that Hero-Pon could help protect Tora! So Tora could build Tora's Dream!"

I blinked... That... actually made sense. Tora wasn't a good fighter, he didn't have any kind of training (That I was aware of), and he certainly didn't appear to have a builder's physique. Since Blacksmithing and Engineering were two vastly different things, requiring two different fields of work, Tora wouldn't have built up a Blacksmith's physical strength either. I had displayed a physical prowess and skill far above his (Probably) when I had saved him, and I had done it with good intentions.

"So... in exchange for staying at your place, you want me to act as a bodyguard?" I asked, just to confirm. Tora nodded, "Meh-Meh! Hero-Pon right on money!" I shrugged, and grinned, "Okay, Sure Mate. I'll act as your bodyguard. But before that, do you have any more food? I'm starving!"

And with that, I had a place to live, and my first friend in this new world.

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A Week Later...

"TORA I SWEAR TO GOD!" I roared as I swept up yet another one of his messes. Let me tell you, the little Nopon was messier than a Monkey, or was it a Gonzalez? Anyway, he was messy as all hell. He never cleaned up after himself, left his clothes all over the floor (I swear the ones in the corner had been fermenting), the stains on his kitchen top were probably older than me, and when he ate he left at least a whole other serving on the FLOOR. I had lived in this filth for around two days before my mother's training kicked in and I began to clean the place like a man possessed. It had taken me a whole day of cleaning to do the job, and after putting the fear of God in the little Nopon I had managed to get him to stop making such a mess.

I guess the old saying was true, Never meet your Idols, otherwise you'll end up cleaning their 2 year old Pizza Crusts off the ground with a hammer and chisel. Suffice to say, I had lost any and all idolization of Tora, not that there was much to begin with.

As I ripped the curtain to its side, I got ready to sweep the crumbs away, but instead I was met with a... strange yet familiar sight. The room in front of me was... clean! Well actually, not really, but there was no food, no clothes, no trash, nothing! What there was, was tons of metal, strange devices, and other things all around. It looked like a small hurricane had come in, and absolutely ripped through what was Tora's Workshop.

But what drew my eye the most, was the figure in front of me.

Poppi Alpha.

The Artificial Blade looked almost complete, with the exception of the framing on her right forearm, those spikes that come out of her head, and the sheet metal on her left leg. Poppi was complete. As I walked closer to her, I noted that she would've stood barely above my waist. She was the height of a child, which I guessed made sense, since each of her forms represented the three primary stages of a human's life. Childhood, Teenager, and Adulthood. If I had to guess, I would put Poppi Alpha's age at around 10.

Now, I stood right in front of the Artificial Blade. And as I looked at her face, a thought occurred to me. That soon, this very blade, who, for now was a lifeless statue, would battle against demigod's, and be instrumental in the fate of this world. It was so hard to imagine that this little, unassuming girl, and the small Nopon Tora, would one day team up to save the world. It was even harder to picture Tora as the genius that built Origin in Xenoblade 3.

I was living with a legend, a hero beyond anything that my world had ever seen, or would ever see, with one exception, and he didn't even reach my waist. In fact, if everything went to plan, I would journey with over ten heroes, each of similar stature. How could I measure up to them? Could I even measure up to them?

I had told Tora that I wished to become a Driver, so that I could help others, Save others. But was that all? I wanted Power, Fame, Strength, and so much more. I wanted the earth to crumble beneath my power, I wanted the might that the mythological gods were said to have. Did that make me a terrible person? A Thirst to stand at the top? To prove myself as the Alpha Predator, the One Above All? To fight every Monster in my way, like a savage, until I stood at the pinnacle of all races?

Perhaps it didn't matter, maybe my desire to save others, to make people happy was enough. But, I wasn't like Rex, I wasn't the Main Protagonist, I couldn't be belittled by the people and still fight for them. If Rex was called a Monster, he would still fight for everyone, but if I was called a Monster, If the world called me a villain, then I would stop fighting.

"Meh-Meh?! What is Hero-Pon doing?!"

Jumping, I turned around and saw a shocked Tora staring at me, his little wing's flapping around erratically. "Uh... Shit... Hi Tora. How you doing?" I asked awkwardly, as Tora just stared at me. "Why did Hero-Pon move curtain? Tora asked Hero-Pon not to do that!" Tora said. Inhaling through an awkward smile, I moved forward, and out of Tora's workshop. "Sorry Tora, I just... Forgot. I was cleaning and I didn't realise until it was too late." Tora sighed, moving forwards he entered his workshop and looked at Poppi. "Might I ask. What is it?" I asked. As, while I already knew precisely what Poppi was, Tora didn't know that I knew. He didn't know who, and what I was.

Tora sighed, "It is dream of Tora." He answered. "Your... Dream?" I asked slowly. Tora nodded, before speaking in a slow, almost wishful tone "Meh-Meh. It is Tora's Dream to create world's first artificial blade. Artifical Blade is Tora's dream. Something Tora, Tora's daddy-pon, and grampy-pon all share. But... Tora is not always sure it is possible." My eyes widened at Tora's words. I already knew a good chunk of what Tora had said, but his doubt was something new, or at least, his doubt at Poppi working.

"Tora. I know I might not know a lot about engineering. But I can tell you this." I said, as I walked forwards, crouching down and putting my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "I have absolute faith that this Artifical Blade will work. Your dream is possible. And if it isn't? Just make it possible. What's impossible today, is tomorrow's preschool lesson. That is the truth of the world." Tora looked at me, and smiled, "Hero-Pon might not show it. But Hero-Pon is smart."

I pulled back in mock hurt, holding my hand over my heart, "You doubt my intelligence Tora? You wound me!" Tora chuckled, and as I stood up, I made to move to the kitchen and fix up some dinner (Pro-Tip, Do NOT eat Nopon Pasta.) when a blue glow stopped me. Slowly, I turned around and my eyes widened immensely when I saw what was in Tora's outstretched paws.

A Core Crystal.

Just like in the game, the Core Crystal was glowing a bright blue, it had a unique shape, unlike any traditional object, eight major sides each shaped like a triangle, and four smaller sides, each shaped like a square. It had ridges, lines in some places, breaking up the otherwise smooth surface. It had an ethereal presence, one that was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

I almost felt like... I could sense its presence. Almost like a dull ringing at the base of my skull, I couldn't quite process what I was seeing.

"Tora... did you...?" I asked, slowly approaching Tora and the core Crystal. Tora nodded, a bright smile across his face. "Tora saved up for friend Hero-Pon." I blinked, and carefully took the Core Crystal from Tora's paws. "Do you know..." I trailed off, enraptured by the Core Crystal's beauty. Tora shook his head, "Tora bought Rare Crystal. 2,500 Gold. Friend Hero-Pon said he wanted to be Driver. So Tora saved up. Tora does not know who friend Hero-Pon will summon. But Tora knows that Friend Hero-Pon can summon a blade."

As I slowly lifted up the core crystal, a thought occurred to me. "Tora. How exactly do I... awaken a blade?" Sue me if the game never taught me anything about the actual awakening other than touching the core crystal and bringing it to your chest. Clearly, just touching it wasn't enough. Tora frowned, "Tora admits that Tora does not know how to awaken Blade. Tora guess, go with gut?" I nodded, and brought my other hand up to the Core Crystal. Closing my eyes, I focused, imagining myself bonding with the core crystal. After a moment, I imagined a bond forming between us, a link, of Ether, of Emotion. A connection of life.

Nothing Happened.

Opening an eye, I looked at Tora, "Is this supposed to happen... or...?" Tora blinked, frowned, and said. "Maybe friend do it wrong?" Slowly a dread began to creep into my blood, a horrible feeling. I tried many stances, everything from the Kamehameha to Link getting a new item, I tried pouring my heart into it, I tried holding it to my literal chest, but nothing worked. I even licked the damn thing to see if that did anything, but nothing worked.

"Tora... why can't I summon a blade?" I asked hollowly, staring blankly at the core crystal that I couldn't awaken.

I knew it. I wasn't cut out for being a hero. I couldn't fight alongside Rex and the Aegis Team. I couldn't be some legend. I was only human. I wasn't meant to be here, never was. I was lucky to be here at all, who was I kidding by thinking that I could be someone important? Someone worth Rex's time. Someone worth anyone's time? I wasn't supposed to be here, I didn't belong here. I didn't belong anywhere. I was destined to be alone.

"Tora doesn't understand. Friend Hero-Pon should be able to summon Blade! Hero-Pon checked all boxes!" Even Tora was concerned now, his voice hinting at a hidden fear and horror. "Tora, why can't I summon a Blade? Do I have no aptitude? Am I not Good enough?" I asked fearfully, I didn't move, all I did was stare at the Core Crystal in my hand, as my future, my dreams all came crashing down around me. Tora shook his head violently, "Tora's Friend definitely have aptitude! And even if not. Hero-Pon should show reaction!"

As Tora continued to talk, to mutter and theorise, all I could do was stare, as tears slowly began to form in my eyes, and my throat began to ache, my Chest constrict, and my arms shake.

Because I wasn't good enough. I couldn't summon a blade.

I had failed.

I was powerless. As I always was.

Chapter Text

So... Now you know how the first chapter happened. But the real beginning of any interesting story is when the hero's team gets together.

I know what you all want, you want to see me meet Rex. Well, that's easily done. The next chapter of my life began like any other, waking up, cleaning up, making breakfast, yelling at Tora.

But it wouldn't be long before I realised just how my story would soon go.

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I grumbled to myself as I tightened some of Poppi's bolts. Sometimes, Tora just didn't have the strength to get things done. Honestly, I wondered how he got anything done before the story, probably dumb luck.

After checking to ensure that Poppi was all good and done, I took a step back to appreciate her beauty.

Ever since the 'Core Crystal Incident' a year and a half ago, I'd taken to helping Tora collect parts for Poppi, I even helped build her, using my intelligence for something other than Anime and random facts for the first time in a long while. I'd done this partially so that I could actually feel useful, but also so that I could hopefully, one day, build my own weapons. Since I couldn't become a Driver for... whatever reason, I figured getting an Iron-Man suit, or maybe building a Mecha-Godzilla one day was the best I could ever get. Way better than anything I could've had in my old life, but nothing close to what I was hoping for in this one.

Poppi was almost complete now, in fact, for day-to-day chores she'd practically be finished. Problem was that Tora was building Poppi for combat, not for house chores. Meaning that she needed heightened senses, faster reflexes, stronger limbs. We could've made a maid Poppi ten times over with the parts that were put into this one battle Poppi.

She, and Tora, had gained their canonical appearances by now. Tora wore the same clothes as in canon, and Poppi was visibly complete. With a Burette on her head and scarf/cape around her neck, it brought a strange feeling of pride to see her as she was now. Even if I had barely done anything to contribute, I felt that I had the experience to appreciate a good work of machinery by now.

"You live down here?" A British sounding voice suddenly asked. It sounded eerily familiar, a young males... "This just back door. Front entrance over there." Tora's voice said.

Freezing, I slowly turned around, dropping the wrench that had been in my hand. "What was that?" A feminine voice asked, "Probably just Tora's Friend." Tora said dismissively.

Shakily, I parted the curtain, and was met with the image of two people, two very familiar people.

Rex and Pyra.

Pyra was the first one that I looked at, and the first thing that entered my mind was 'Beautiful'. While she was quite a bit shorter than me, at least a full head, and she probably stood at around 5'2 as a rough estimate, that did absolutely nothing to subtract from her beauty. Luxurious, lush Red hair, styled into a bob-cut. With two large strands coming down and framing her face, she had a tiara of sorts atop her head. Next she wore a large torso piece, covering her entire front. As for her waist, she had a red pair of shorts, of sorts. They did absolutely nothing to hide any of her legs, in fact, they were more in line with swimming clothes than anything else. Then there was a gap between her waist and her red stockings, which went half-way up her thighs. Red Boots, and red and black gloves. Her lower back would be exposed, as was a majority of her arms, and she also had two cape-like strands of fabric that dropped down from her shoulders. All of her clothes had highlights of black, green and gold. And it was all skin-tight, perfectly framing a body that anyone would kill for, perky and full breasts, wide hips, juicy thighs, and an ass that could kill.

Her face was more beautiful than any other face I had ever seen, not a single flaw was found, it was otherworldly, divine in fact. Soft and warm in every form of the word, full and shimmering lips, finally, she had beautiful light-amber eyes that shimmered with a caring and love that I had never seen before.

My eyes drifted to the shining crystal that laid just above her breasts, at the centre of her chest.

The Aegis Core Crystal. It was this core crystal that gave birth to Pyra. It was this core crystal that made her one of the most powerful beings in the whole world. Although, it was missing around half of it, that being the inner half, an x shape was missing from her core crystal.

"Oh! Hello. I didn't see you there." Pyra said happily, a kind smile entering her face as she looked up at me. I in the meanwhile, was just staring dumbly at her, disbelief clearly across my face. "Whoa! Is that the cloud sea down there?! We're so high up!" The male voice from earlier spoke again, clearly not having noticed my existence. Turning my attention away from the beauty that is Pyra, I forced myself to look at Rex.

He was quite the short kid, almost certainly standing at quite a bit below 5'0. Around 4'9 if I had to guess. He had short, spiky light brown hair, and fierce golden eyes. In my limited experience, I guess one could call him handsome? Although to my eyes, he only looked childish and young, what with that ever present grin on his face.

He wore a blue salvager suit, which looked rather similar to a scuba suit. Only difference being that his upper shoulders, lower thighs, entire right arm, and a good portion of his upper chest were uncovered. The fabric of his outfit was a deep brown, it had pieces of leather in several places, and the metal seemed to be some kind of bronze, although it was almost certainly iron. Furthermore, his boots were massive, bigger than his head, same goes to his pants, they must've weighed a ton. On his left arm he also had his anchor, which was basically a wrist mounted grappling hook.

And just like with Pyra, Rex had an emerald core crystal in his chest, the x shape that was missing from Pyra's. It glowed and shimmered as well, almost like a heartbeat. In a way, it was Rex's Arc Reactor. Keeping him alive.

"Nice View eh? Tora likes to just sit and watch cloud sea sometimes." Tora said, which made Rex look away from the cloud sea, and towards me. "Eh? Who's this guy?" Rex said in surprise as he quickly made his way forwards, stopping right beside Pyra.

'Sweet Summer Child, you who believe you could protect her from me... I mean, not that you need to. But still.'

"This is Tora's Friend Hero-Pon! He saved Tora from meanie Gormotti while back, and helps protect Tora from mean monsters!" Tora praised, I shrugged, and with a small grin on my face I held out a hand for Rex to shake. "I'm Hunter, and you are?" Rex grinned, took my hand, and gave it a firm shake. "Name's Rex. Nice to meet ya." My grin grew wider as I let go of Rex's hand. And then turned my attention to Pyra, "And who might you be?" I asked, Pyra smiled, "I'm Pyra." she said simply. I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Now introductions are done. Tora want talk to Rex-Rex." Tora said suddenly, making Rex look at the little Nopon with a rather surprised look. "Rex-Rex?" he questioned. "Just go with it." I whispered. "Rex-Rex" Tora said in confirmation. "Tora explain other reason I help you." I titled my head, slightly curious about the first reason, although, given who Tora was, and what I remembered about the story, chances were he was doing some 'weapons testing' on the Ardanian Army. "You see... Tora always wanted to make Driver friends." Tora admitted, Rex let loose an understanding 'Ah' "Interested in Drivers, are you?" Rex asked. "But of Course." Tora responded. "Mate's had a fascination with driver's and blades for as long as he can remember." I added, and Tora nodded excitedly, "Tora think it amazing how Driver and Blade join spirits together to make big power!" Now Tora was jumping and flapping his wings. "Tora really want to be sidekick of Rex-Rex!" I chuckled at the little Nopon's enthusiasm. Living with him for the past year and a half had really loosened me up, now I wasn't absentmindedly thinking about how people could be plotting to sell my liver. Rex grinned sheepishly, but scratched the back of his neck in confusion, "Uh... you know my name's Rex right? Just one. Not Two."

Tora tilted his head in obvious confusion, "What is point?" he asked, and I shrugged with a hum. Rex also shrugged, "Well. Nothing, I guess. It just sounds a little difference from what I'm used to" Once again, I shrugged, "Come off it Mate. That's just Tora's way of showing how much respect he has for ya." Tora once again flapped his wings, "Doublename just show Tora's respect! Respect for great driver! Rex-Rex should be proud!" At Tora's praise, Rex looked away with a rueful smile, "I'm not sure I've earned all that yet..." After a moment though, Tora's cheerful nature just seemed to break through Rex's reluctance. "Oh, All Right. You can call me Rex-Rex if it makes you happy. But instead of all this sidekick stuff, can't we just be friends?" Rex offered with his grin returning in full force. Tora's eyes widened at the offer, and he jumped for joy.

Nopons did a lot of that, jumping up and down. And waving their wings around. They had more energy than a 6 year old, I wonder where they got it all?

"Tora will be friend of Rex-Rex? Hooray!" Tora cheered, making Rex, Pyra and I all laugh. "What a funny little guy." Rex commented. Then he turned to me, "That offer goes to you as well. If you want." I blinked, my eyebrows raising slightly, before I hummed, "Well. Usually I wouldn't let just anyone be my friend so quickly. But I get the feeling that you're a pretty great guy. So sure, why not?" Rex's grin widened, clearly happy at having two new friends. Just like every other extroverted protagonist. "Hey, by the way. You wouldn't happen to know much about this place?" He asked suddenly, curiosity obvious in his voice, yet I knew curiosity wasn't the real reason why he asked. As Tora stopped his bouncing, I tilted my head. "I don't really spend much time socialising, but yeah, I like to think that I know a thing or two (Or Three) about how thing's work here. What do ya wanna know?" Rex looked at me, "You wouldn't happen to know where the army takes prisoners, would you?" Pyra's eyes widened, "Rex, you're not planning to..." Rex turned to look at Pyra, "We have to save Nia and Dromarch." Rex confirmed, a determined expression set on his face. "I thought you'd say that." A third voice said in dread.

"The walls are talking Tora!" I said in fear as I looked around, paranoia creeping into my mind once again as memories of a certain... incident... came to mind. But How? How were the walls talking? HOW WERE THEY TALKING HOW-"They are most certainly not talking young man." The voice said again, and, luckily, this time I was able to locate it behind Rex's head. "Rex. Please tell me you don't have a parasitic evil wizard growing out of the back of your head." I said with a blank expression. Rex blinked several times, "That was... oddly specific." Pyra remarked. I shrugged "The Devil's in the details, and I give that bastard enough room as is.", "No, Rex does not have something growing out of the back of his head." The voice said again, and this time the source actually made himself known.

'Ohhh... it was gramps.'

That was a relief.

Gramps was a really small guy, less than a foot in size I'd say. He had small wings, a body around the size of a football, and a tail. He was covered in grey fur, had a core crystal at the centre of his chest, and a little horn. Really, he looked very marketable, like a plushie.

"And... you are?" I asked. "This? Oh right, haven't introduced you. This is gramps." I raised an eyebrow at Rex's words, "Gramps? Mate looks like a baby. All tiny and snuggable as he is." Pyra nodded sagely, "He is rather snuggly." she agreed, "I used to be much larger!" Gramps protested. I grinned, "'Used to' being the key words. Face it old man, you're a snuggly." Gramps let loose a "Harumph" but went back to Rex's helmet without any further argument.

'Argument Won'

"Ohhh! Rex-Rex talking about Driver and Blade who were with Rex-Rex during Tora's daring rescue?!" Tora suddenly shouted, leading to me staring at him in disbelief. "You're still on that?" I said. Rex shrugged, and looked at Tora. "Yeah." Tora tilted his head, "Meh-Meh... Tora would have to ask around town for info like that. Before we do anything, time for food!" Tora suddenly added the last part, and jumped excitedly. I stared at Tora, mild disbelief mixing with a sneaking suspicion that food was the Nopon secret to endless energy, "Dude. They want to find their friend. And you're asking about food?" Tora looked at me. "All of today's running around made Tora hungry. Need food to help Rex-Rex!" Gramps leaned over into Rex's field of view. "I'm a little peckish too." Rex frowned, clearly not happy with the duo's words. "Can't we eat later? I want to find Nia and Dromarch as soon as possible!" Internally, I was in agreement, saving Nia was the top priority, eating could happen later. Sadly Rex's word's would have been far more convincing, if his stomach didn't immediately rumble like a titan's yawn. "HA!" I barked out a laugh, and Tora giggled as well. "Mehahaha! Stomach of Rex-Rex tell different story." Rex looked away, blushing with embarrassment "I... I can't help it can I?!" I grinned, "Growing boy's like you need to eat Rex. Or else you'll be a midget forever!"

I was definitely going to lord my superior age, and height, over Rex for as long as possible. In fact, if I had my way, I'd lord my superior height over everyone I could.

Besides, now that everyone was talking about food, I was getting hungry myself, but I wasn't telling anyone that. Bringing a hand to her chest, Pyra made an offer I would never refuse, "Um, if it's alright with everyone, I could cook something?" Rex turned around in surprise, "Pyra? I didn't know you could cook" his voice was rather clueless and surprised, so he must've not eaten any of Pyra's food before. His loss I suppose. Pyra, in return, giggled. "Well, as long as fire is involved, I can do almost anything! Fry, Steam, grill, you name it!" Almost as if to prove her point, Pyra summoned a short burst of flame, and put it out with a flick of her wrist, earning a 'Woah' from all three of us.

Sue me if I think superpowers are awesome! I am but a simple man.

Then Pyra brought her left hand to her chest, and grew a sheepish expression, "If you want Ice-Cream though? You might have to find someone else." She admitted. All of the men present all gained a deadpanned expression, "Well, you can't have everything." Rex said. "Disappointing, but I guess life is filled with it." I added.

As I said, I am a simple man. And so are Rex and Tora. And we men love Ice-Cream.

"Kitchen's over there." I said, pointing to the kitchen, "There should be some ingredients in the cupboards, enough for some Glitterbake at the very least." I said, earning a nod from Pyra as she made her way over to the kitchen, and started cooking.

Speaking of... I would need to see if she could make Burgers... maybe teach her how to cook a Brazilian Barbeque...

As Tora walked past me, to go work on Poppi, I stopped Rex, who looked at me with small confusion. "About what you said earlier. How you aren't sure if you've earned it yet. I think you have." Rex's eyebrows rose, "What makes you think that? You've only known me for a few minutes." I smiled softly, and gestured at Pyra. "You're the Aegis Driver. I think that speaks for itself" At the reveal of my knowledge of Pyra's 'secret' identity Rex's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "How-How'd you know?" He asked, palling quickly. I chuckled, "When Pyra was introducing herself, I noticed her Core-Crystal. Emerald Green, the only blade that has an Emerald Core Crystal is the Aegis. Though it was just a theory until you confirmed it just then." With a face-palm Rex groaned in exasperation, "Can you please just... not tell anyone? I don't want people going after her." I shook my head in sympathy, "Sorry Rex, but while I can promise not to tell anyone, I can't say the same of other people. Pyra has a tremendous amount of power, and people will want that power. You'll need to grow strong in order to protect her, or else someone will take her from you." Rex's eyes narrowed in determination, "Got it. Then I'll just become the strongest. So I can protect her."

'Oh God I've infected him with Main Character Syndrome.'

"You think you could tell me about how you met Pyra? And who Nia and Dromarch are? I'm interested in your story." I asked.

20 minutes later...

"Holy Mother of God. Pyra, it's official. You're the best chef in Alrest." I declared, pointing at her after I took the first bite. It was undoubtedly the best food I had ever eaten. And I'd eaten a lot.

"Whose 'God'?" Rex asked me inbetween bites. Pyra had also gained an interested expression, I in the meanwhile, cursed my slip-up, but moved past it. "Unlike the majority of Alrest, I believe in a higher being. One who created the Architect, and all of reality itself." Rex shrugged, obviously satisfied with my answer, but now Gramps was interested, and had a question to ask of his own "And who might this 'higher being' be?" He asked with intrigue. As I finished my meal, being the first to do so, I looked at Gramps. "Well. Simply put, he's an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent being who created all of reality, time and space itself. He has around 24 names, even if I only know a few, but mostly goes by 'God'." "That's a lot of 'Omni'" Rex remarked, and I shrugged, "What about it? It's my belief, and the one I believe is the truth." Pyra tilted her head, "Then... where does the Architect fit in? If you believe in him at all?" Turning my head to look at her, I thought for a moment, before saying, "I believe that God created the Architect, and that the Architect created Alrest. To put it simply, God created the world, the stars, the sun, space, everything else, and the Architect just filled in Alrest, finishing the job so to say, kind of like decorating a room. God was the builder, and the Architect was the decorator"

Everyone nodded at my analogy. And as I stood up, Rex blinked, "Bloody Hell, you eat fast." I shrugged, "Or you all just eat slow. Thanks Pyra, it was really great." Pyra smiled, "Glad you liked it." As I put my plate in the sink, I heard Pyra continue, "It seems like I did OK... I was worried I'd have gotten a little rusty over the years." Rex immediately responded with "It didn't taste rusty at all!" I snickered, very loudly, and this seemed to have Rex realise his mistake as he quickly went to correct himself, "Um. I Mean-" "You got a Crush on her Rex, we get it." I interrupted with all the gentleness of a train, my words causing both Rex and Pyra to blush up a storm. Seeing this I mentally smirked in victory. It was just too easy with these two. Perhaps I could tease them some more down the line, "But Tora is curious. Pyra is fire using blade, yes?" Tora asked, "But when Tora broke that water pipe, Pyra could still make fire!" Gramp's frowned, "Come to think of it, you're right. That Brighid, the Imperial Blade, she used fire abilities just like Pyra, but the water seemed to douse much of her strength." Rex was now thoroughly confused, and no longer blushing up a mess, although the hint of it was still present on his cheeks, and on Pyra's as well. "So... what are you saying?" His question wasn't answered directly, but rather I chose to speak up. "The world is full of elemental energy. Which we know as Ether. As you no doubt know, Ether comes in many forms, Wind, Ice, Earth and Fire being some examples of it. And when a Driver fights, they, alongside their Blade, draw upon that Ether from the air. It augments their attacks, their strength, making them supernatural. However, just like in nature, Elemental Ether has weaknesses and strengths. One such example, is water against fire. Since fire will be put out by water. The same is true for blades, when Brighid was covered in water, her powers were weakened. That's what happens to all fire blades. Or rather, what should happen." Rex's eyes widened as understanding dawned on him. "But not Pyra. We were able to use our powers with no problem" Gramps nodded, "Indeed. They were unaffected." "Why?" Tora asked, with his question, we all turned to look at Pyra, who was clearly uncomfortable with the attention.

I, of course, already knew the answer, but I was curious as to what Pyra would say.

"Um, well, my power's don't come from fire..." Pyra said slowly. "Meh-Meh? If Power's not fire, then why look like flames?" Tora asked, frustrated with my friend's denseness, I reached over and smacked the Nopon in the back of the head. I then explained Pyra's vague words, "That's not what she said Tora. She said her power's don't come from fire. Don't you guys know what that means?" Looking around, I realised that neither Rex, nor Gramps had understood Pyra's words. "No, we don't know. But if you know, please explain it to us." Gramps insisted, so with a groan, I relented. "It means that she draws upon a source other than pure Elemental Ether. Hence why the water didn't affect her powers." Silence reigned around the table for a while, as everyone just stared at me for a few moments. "Hero-Pon is smart." Tora said simply, while Rex and Gramps just nodded in agreement. Even Pyra looked impressed, and I just looked around in utter confusion, "You guys do know it isn't that difficult to figure out?" I said, they all raised an eyebrow, "Hunter. I'm not sure about you, but it would have taken us all quite a while to reach the conclusion that you did." Gramps said.

I just sighed in defeat. Gramps was thousands of years old, how did he not figure that out?

"Well, enough about that. Right now, we need to think about how to rescue Nia." Rex said, I nodded, happy that the conversation was onto something productive now. "First, we go around town and get all information we can." Tora suggested, everyone nodded, but Gramps clearly had something to say about that plan, "Yes. Problem is, I'm rather confident we are all wanted criminals at this point." He looked at Pyra. "And Pyra sticks out like a sore thumb." Pyra winced, "I'm so sorry." I however stuck out a thumbs up and proclaimed, "Never apologise for being who you are!"

Everyone ignored me.

"Don't worry friends! Tora has an Idea!"

------------------------------------

A short time later...

"This looks like it could actually work!" Pyra exclaimed, now donned in a Tanuki cloak.

It covered the entirety of her upper body, her arms, and had a hood with ears that Pyra was currently wearing. It also covered her hips, but didn't cover her legs. Still, that didn't really mean much, considering this outfit would keep people from looking too closely. That, and her appearance wasn't that well known, apart from the Emerald Core Crystal. Although it didn't do much to hide her curves, I don't think anyone would be able to identify Pyra through the size of her hips alone. Or at least, I hope not.

"Good Idea Tora!" Rex praised, making Tora smile in accomplishment, "Right! Let's look for friends of Rex-Rex." As Rex went to lead the others out, however I had a better idea. "Uh Guy's. Might I make a suggestion?" The Trio turned around and looked at me, "Yeah?" Rex asked. Walking forwards, I moved to the front of the pack, "Wouldn't it be easier, and safer, if I went out and asked around? Not only does that mean there's no chance of anyone recognizing you guys, but I'm not a wanted criminal. At least not yet. I mean, Pyra's the only one with a disguise, and even then there's a risk of her being recognized. So, shouldn't I go alone?" Rex blinked, as Did Pyra. "Huh. You're right. Alrighty then, Tora, Pyra, Gramps and I will all stay here. You go out and see what you can find on Nia!"

'That was a lot easier than I expected.'

I nodded, and as everyone went back into Tora's place, I walked off in the direction of the upper districts of Torigoth. I knew exactly where I was going. And who I was going to.

The Information Broker. I needed an alibi to explain what I knew after all.

------------------------------------

"Yo, Turuni." I greeted as I walked up to the small Nopon, and I do mean small, she was probably only a quarter of my height. Smaller than a 5 year old child. Turuni looked up at me, "Meh-Meh? What does Hunter-Pon want now? Turuni very busy-busy you know." I looked down at Turuni with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing on the matter. "I'm looking for a girl called Nia. She was captured by the Ardanian Army recently." Turuni nodded, "Turuni know this of course. But as Hunter-Pon know, Turuni is informant by trade. Can not provide information without proper compensation." I hummed and looked at Turuni. Sadly, Tora was not very good at managing our gold, so we were flat broke at the moment. But, not everything of value was gold. "If I give you some info, might you be willing to tell me where Nia is?" I asked. Turuni gained a sceptical look, "If information good enough." Turuni relented, in response I smiled. "Okay. So you know that Terrorist group, Torna?" Turuni nodded, "I have it on good authority that not only are they seeking the Aegis, but they actually managed to awaken it." Turuni's eyebrows shot up, "Aegis is real? And Awake?" Turuni's voice was in disbelief, and I nodded in confirmation, "If my source is correct, then yes. That's all I can say though, Information is valuable after all." Turuni smiled ruefully, "Meh-Meh, very well. Inside Titan Battleship, Gormotti Girl being held prisoner. Sadly, Turuni not yet have confirmation of identity of girl. But, Rumor say big ship arrive for sole purpose of holding one measly girl, people of Gormott getting along quite well with Empire nowadays, so trouble like this not very welcome! That seem to be opinion of most of Torigoth resident. That about extent of information Turuni know. Enough to satisfy friend?" Turuni asked, I titled my head. This wasn't good.

I knew rumour's of Nia's supposed 'Execution' were meant to be circulating, but Turuni hadn't mentioned them at all. Although, now that I had all the information that I needed, I could always lie about the source of Nia's execution. It might be safer, and smarter to go around and ask for the rumour's, but honestly, I didn't have the patience to go around and ask people about something that I already knew.

"Yes Turuni, thanks for the Info."

------------------------------------

"-And that's all I know." I finished, looking at each member of the Aegis team as I finished relaying the information I knew. It left all of them in a stunned silence, but not so much a still one. I could see Rex's shoulders shaking with barely contained rage, Gramps' face had hardened, and Pyra? She looked sad, and guilty. Tora was Tora. Finally, Pyra broke the silence. "Nia and Dromarch... Executed?" She shivered in horror, "It doesn't bear thinking about!"

'Actually, I can imagine it pretty well. But it just makes me more and more pissed.'

Gramps crossed his arms, and stared at the ground. Since we were sitting at a round table, Gramps was actually staring at the table's centre. "Getting aboard that warship will be no small feat. We're going to need an iron-clad plan." He said slowly, deep in thought. His voice was tinged with worry for Dromarch and his Driver. "Army Port is under heavy guard..." I nodded, "We won't get through undetected." Rex seemed to agree with me, as he crossed his arms, and spoke. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to mount a full-on attack!" I grinned at Rex's idea, sadly Pyra shot it down. "No, Rex. We can't put everyone in danger" She scolded with a hard expression, leading to him quickly backing down and scratching the back of his head, "Right, Sorry" I patted his back in support, "I thought it was a good idea."

"There!" Pyra suddenly exclaimed, when I turned my attention to her, I could see her pointing at one of the Grandarbor's roots. "This is one of the Grandarbor's roots, Right?" Pyra asked, I nodded "Aye." Pyra nodded, "If this map is correct, it goes all the way from the quay to the hull of the ship. And here, It looks like some kind of Cargo entrance. Could we sneak on that way?" "What's a quay?" I asked Gramps in a whisper, leaning over to him so that I didn't interrupt Rex and Pyra's panning. "It's a Pier, or a dock." Gramps answered, "Thanks mate."

"Security light around this entrance. At night, not even workers" Tora explained, and I nodded, "Seems like a major weakness and flaw, but it's one that we're going to be thankful for, huh, I rhymed. Imma poet don't you know it." Gramps rolled his eyes, and ignored me, "Looks like this is our only option." I shrugged, "We could still go with Rex's plan? All out attack? Is no-one else excited by an all-out brawl? No? Just me?" Pyra shook her head and muttered "Boys"

'Why Yes Pyra, Rex and I are boys. We're idiots who will be entertained by digging a hole at the beach. For no other reason, than digging a hole at the beach.'

"It's a plan then." Rex declared with crossed arms, Tora grinned evilly, "Mehehe" I raised an eyebrow at his, frankly, terrible evil laugh. "Tora?" Rex asked, Tora looked up at Rex, evil grin still in place. "Tora have something to show you."

------------------------------------

Sharing a look with Tora, who nodded, I sighed, and reached out with my right hand. Gripping the red curtain tight, I pulled it to the side, revealing the Artificial Blade who lay within. Rex and Pyra looked at her with curiosity. "What's this then?" Rex said with his clear British accent.

'I should get him to say 'A boh-oh o' wa'er' sometime'

"Nobody ever see this before. Secret of Tora and friend Hero-Pon! An Artificial Blade!" Tora declared with a smile of accomplishment. Pyra brought a hand to her chest, "An artificial blade?" She said, with clear disbelief. "I can't believe it." Gramps added. Tora nodded, "Tora has always wanted to build something never seen before in world, an Artificial Blade! And Tora has always wanted to be Driver! But, Tora has no potential to awaken Core Crystal..." Rex blinked, and a confused frown grew across his face. "How could you know that? Surely, you just have to try, and-oh" Rex's eyes widened for a moment, "You did, didn't you?" Tora was completely deflated now, and I could barely hold back my laughter. "Yes, one year ago, Tora applied to Driver recruitment man." Tora's tone was solemn, disappointed, and I daresay a hint of embarrassed. "Oh deary me..." Gramps muttered, Pyra meanwhile, had brought her hands up to her mouth with horror, "Oh Tora, you mean you..." She trailed off, seemingly unsure about how to continue. Tora nodded, "It was bad... Tora had nosebleed for three days!" I winced, half in part of sympathy, and of what Rex was no-doubt about to say. "Just a... nosebleed?" Rex asked, a patronising tone very clear in his voice, which also showed just how surprised and disbelieving he was. Tora whirled around and flapped at him angrily, I meanwhile, was once again trying to hold in my laughter at the duo's antics. Pyra had gained a deadpan expression, so she wasn't really helping.

"What you mean, 'Just'?! People die from loss of blood, you know?!" Tora shouted. Rex scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but from a nosebleed?" Tora just sighed. And turned around, "Anyway, moving on". Rex however, clearly wasn't satisfied, as he leaned back, put his hands on his hips, and dug himself a bigger grave. "For a near death experience, you're awfully casual about this..." Tora didn't even bother to look at Rex. "ANYWAY! Back to Artificial Blade! When complete, even no-potential can be a Driver!" Gramps, having seemed to decide and speak once more, remarked on Poppi, "This is simply incredible. You built this blade from scratch, Tora?" He asked. Tora shook his head, "Hero-Pon help get parts, and help test weapons! It was started by Grampypon and Dadapon though. But... Grampypon die, and Tora still not know where Dadapon go to..." Gramps went back to Rex's helmet with a "Oh", Tora looked up, not deterred in the slightest. "So... Tora will finish Blade myself and make something never seen before! Like always wanted! Then Dadapon hear about Tora's success and come back home, yes?" Pyra grimaced with sympathy, while I meanwhile, was wondering about Tora's choice of words.

'Sounds a little different than what I remember. But then again, maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.'

"By the way, Tora, Hunter, as far as I can see, the Artificial Blade is complete. What is there left to do?" Gramps asked. Tora chuckled, but I spoke. "She's missing two parts, both of which are crucial for her battle functions and reaction time. A Perfect Range Sensor, and A Bion Connecter. Sadly, we don't have the parts, or the Gold to get them." Rex looked at me, "I'm not too bad for gold, how much are we talking?" I blinked, and looked at Rex with a slightly new appreciation. "You're... offering to pay? Really?" Rex nodded, "If it'll help save Nia, I'll even sell my kidney!" "60,00 gold" Tora supplied, leading to Rex taking a shocked step back. I began laughing, "Wanna sell that kidney now mate?" my stomach even started hurting from how hard I was laughing, luckily I managed to quickly suppress them, at least into chuckles, and Rex was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Calm Down. Rex, I think we owe them our help. If it's just money he needs, then I may be able to assist." Pyra offered, I managed to calm myself down fully, and look at the conversation, "Assist, How exactly?" Rex wondered, Gramps floated down in front of Rex, "Nothing Illegal, I ho-ahk" Rex karate-chopped Gramps in the head and said with a very clear discontent, "Don't even joke Gramps," "Nice hit. 8 Points" I said, Rex looked at me in confusion, "Only eight> I would've at least thought it would be a 9." I shrugged, "9 if he went to the ground, 10 if you knocked him out." Seeing as how Pyra had begun to move, Rex and I quickly refocused on her. Reaching up to her ear, Pyra took one of her crystals and held it out in both hands, "This is a natural crystal. It should fetch around 60,000." She offered. My eyebrow's rose, and I took another look at Pyra.

'If someone awoke a blade, whose power let them form these crystals, like Agate, would they cripple the economy?'

Rex shook his head, "Nope. Can't let you sell that." He said, earning a surprised look from Pyra, "But-" I shook my head now, "Nah, it wouldn't be right." I agreed, and Rex nodded, "Hunter's Right. You know what? That's it! I'll pay for the parts myself!" Gramps nodded, "Very Admirable," I tilted my head, "With a Kidney?" I asked with a straight face, causing him to spit as Gramps and I laughed, while we did so, Rex turned to Tora, "But this Blade of yours better be seriously useful though, Tora."

Tora nodded, "It is indeed. As is Driver!" Rex grinned, "Well then, let's go!" Then, Rex and Tora ran off. And I shared a glance with Pyra. Handing her the cloak again, I watched as she put it on. "You know, we could just steal the parts? Pay for them later, like an IOU?"

Funniest thing is, Pyra actually seemed to give it some thought.

Chapter Text

When I first met Rex and Pyra, they were both... young in a sense. Rex in the literal sense, and Pyra as to how little she had actually experienced the modern world.

Both were much shorter than me, but I liked them. Took me a while to actually warm up to them, but there isn't much that can bring people together more than life-changing experiences, and threats to your continued existence.

Fighting one of the world's strongest does that to you.

------------------------------------

As I watched Pyra and Gramps race after Tora and Rex, through Tora's front door, I idly wondered what I would do when Tora left.

'When Tora leaves, chances are he'll leave the plans for Poppi behind, so I should be able to use them to create an Iron-Man suit. Or heck, maybe I'll go to the world tree and get my hands on an Artifice. Maybe I can ask Rex and Tora to send money back so that I can do that shit.'

Having something like a Gundam would be my only real chance at being of any assistance to the Aegis team. My only real way of being important to the world that I now lived in. Ideally, I would get my hands on a Siren, and I could use that to fight.

Sighing, I turned around and made my way to Tora's backdoor, went through it, and made my way over to Margia's Odds and Ends, where I waited for the rest of the Aegis team to arrive. Rex was first, and he looked at me with a surprised expression, "How-When did you..." I raised an eyebrow, "Smarter, not harder, Rex." Was all I said. If he couldn't figure out that I went through the back door, then he needed a good hit on the head, or maybe a helmet.

Tora and the other's showed up shortly after, and I felt some level of satisfaction knowing that I had beaten them all in an undeclared race. Would've felt better if it was an actual race, but I wasn't going to voice that. "Well, Hello there!" Kassa, the owner of Margia's Odds and Ends (Margia was his grandmother), greeted. Tora walked up with a smile, "Tora here to buy Perfect Range Sensor and Bion Connectors!" Kassa gained a smirk, and crossed his arms, "Ahh, right. You're the young Nopon who was gazing longingly at those the other day." Tora's jaw dropped in shock, "Meh-Meh?! You noticed?!" Kassa laughed now, and I was gaining a twitch, could these people just move along? "Well, considering you were staring for three hours straight..." "Tora what did I say about window stalking?" I immediately said, making Tora deflate. Once again, Kassa laughed, "Well, I'm dreadfully sorry... but we're all out of Perfect Range Sensors right now." We've got plenty of Bion Connectors still though. They're 4000 G apiece." Rex crossed his arms, "Twelve thousand for three of them, huh... that really is pretty pricey." It sounded like he was regretting his promise to pay the whole amount. Tora and I turned on Rex, "Rex-Rex promised to pay whole amount! No Backsies!" Rex held up his hands in an effort to calm Tora, "I mean, sure, I'm not about to go back on my word, but... Hmmm..." I raised an eyebrow as Rex sighed, "Oh, All right. Here. Twelve Thousand Gold." My eyebrows rose as I saw Rex hold over the sum. With Kassa quickly handing over the Bion Connectors afterwards.

'I almost want to ask if this is a New Game+ because if it is, I can just rest easy. Although, it could be a DLC playthrough... or I'm being delusional and Rex actually has money.'

As we walked away from the store, Gramps sighed, "The real problem is the Perfect Range Sensor." Pyra tilted her head, "Could we not salvage that, as well?" Rex shook his head, "Don't think I've heard of any likely spots for those lately. They're almost impossible to find, except when the Titans and the cloud sea align in exactly the right way. And even if we did find a spot where they might show up, we'd need a lot of luck to actually bag one." Gramps frowned, and I cursed at my lack of foresight. Had I just bought (Read: Stole) a Perfect Range Sensor a few days ago, we could have skipped all of this nonsense.

"We don't exactly have time to waste, so perhaps salvaging isn't the answer..." Gramps murmured, however before any of us could say anything more, a Gormotti man walked up to us. "Hey, can I ask you something?" We all turned to face him, and he nodded at Pyra and Rex, "From the looks of it, this young lady here's a Blade and you're her Driver, am I right?" At his word's, everyone's eyes widened with fear, fear of discovery. "Huh?" Pyra gasped, and Rex spat, "I-Is that what it looks like?" Meanwhile, Tora sensing an opportunity for mischief, grinned sinisterly, "Wait a moment please. Rex-Rex and Tora also Blade." He informed the Gormotti, making Pyra tilt her head innocently unable to realise what Tora was doing and actually curious about what he said, "Does that make me the Driver?" She asked wondering if that would be the case, Gramps shook his head, unlike Pyra he seemed to be aware of Tora's schemes, but rather than dissuading them he did the polar opposite "Surely the Driver would have to be me." I also grinned, fully intending to jump onto the Tora express of nonsense, speaking of "Nonsense. You are all my blades, and I, your great Driver." I said it with a grandiose voice, taking an All-Might pose and a wide shit-eating grin on my face as well, making Pyra giggle at my antics, Tora laugh, and Gramps roll his eyes, although a small smirk was clear on his face. Rex just sighed in exasperation, "Can we try to be a LITTLE believable here?! We need to sort out our stories..." The Gormotti shook his head, and spoke to calm down Rex, "Hey now, no need to get your knickers in a twist. I'm just a regular botanist." Tora's eyes went wide and his wings followed suit, "Botanist?! Tora would never guessed!" I nodded in agreement, mate was nearly as tall as me, but looked to be built for the Royal Rumble. He scratched the back oh his head with a shy grin, "I get that a lot. Thing is, I was heading to Lascham island for a spot of fieldwork, but I ran into a bit of... monster trouble. I tried asking the imperial army to help me out, but it looks like they're pretty busy right now. So I figure if you lot are decent at fighting, maybe you could take care of the issue for me. If you help me out, I might just be able to spare a Perfect Range Sensor I've got lying around in storage"

A Savage grin made its way onto my face, "Say no more my friend. I'll have that monster's head within the hour. So you better get that Sensor up and ready." The others, with the exception of Tora, looked at me in surprise. "That's... new." Was all Rex said. I turned to him and grinned, "You're about to see how I fight. Little Buddy."

------------------------------------

Lachsam Island...

Stretching, I eyed my opponent. A Krabble. They were simple enough creatures, literally appearing as oversized hermit crabs with a giant left claw. Their strength varied pretty widely, but if my guess was correct, I was facing a Juppen variation. One of, if not the, weakest species of Krabble. Although this one looked to be a rather tough customer I'd killed bigger.

Reaching over my shoulder, I unsheathed the Katana I had on my back. It was forged of the same metal used to create Poppi, and for reasons unknown to Tora, or myself, was just as strong. Tora theorised it was because the metal was a good conductor of Ether, and we'd used an Ether Furnace to forge it. Something that Tora hadn't considered before. I, however, was just glad that I had a cool Katana.

Narrowing my eyes at the Krabble, I realised that the first opponent I would be fighting in Rex's and Pyra's presence would be a small crab, which did make me feel slightly downhearted, but I recovered quickly, It would be an easy fight, so perhaps I could show off a little.

Still, that did nothing to wipe the adrenaline filled smile off my face.

It looks like I would be proving my existence once again.

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P.O.V Change. Rex, Pyra, Gramps and Tora.

As the group watched Hunter walk up to the Krabble, with a savage grin unlike any other they had ever previously seen on his face, Rex turned to Tora. "Do you know anything about this?" He asked, his question prompting Tora to look at him with confusion, "Know what?" Tora asked in reply. Rex briefly glanced back at Hunter, who was not only easily fending off the Krabble's attacks, but doing so with extreme precision, "I know I haven't known you guy's long... but... usually, He's one of two things. Silent and emotionless, or verbal and outgoing. But this..." Rex trailed off, seeing Hunter now grab the Krabble by its shell, and kick it around like a toy. "It's... different." Pyra finished, feeling slightly off-put by how much Hunter was clearly enjoying the combat... sorry... I meant utter devastation of the creature. "This just how Hero-Pon act when in fight." Tora explained, looking at Hunter with a smile, "Tora happy to see Hero-Pon has recovered from last kill."

This caught the other's attention instantly, "I'm sorry... but did you say recovered?" Gramps asked, Pyra meanwhile was focused on something else, "Last Kill? What do you mean?" Tora winced, and squirmed under the other's gaze, "Not Tora's story to tell. If Friends want to know story, must ask Hero-Pon." This did nothing to kill the other's curiosity, but Rex nodded, "If you don't want to tell us, you don't need to. It wouldn't be right to pry. Right guy's?" Pyra and Gramps nodded, even if Gramps did so a little reluctantly.

Turning their attention back to Hunter's brawl with the Krabble, they saw that he had sheathed his sword and was now using his bare hands against the monster, swiping its attacks to the sides, and kicking it repeatedly. Eventually, he grabbed its claw, and with a sickening rip, he tore it right off, before thrusting the limb straight into the monster's skull, killing it instantly. "Seems Friend Hero-Pon is satisfied. Friends okay to approach now." Tora said as he bounced over to Hunter.

"Oookay..." Rex said. Each of them had a new perspective of Hunter now, but each was different.

'If he loves fighting so much, I wonder why he doesn't just awaken a blade' Was Rex's thoughts.

'He's really skilled, but those techniques look like they're self-taught. Even so, he's even better than some drivers' Was Pyra's.

'If he can be trusted... perhaps I can give him that core-crystal.' Was Gramps'

'Tora Hungry. Want Tasty Sausage.' This needed no explanation as to whose it belonged to.

------------------------------------

P.O.V Return.

With a wide grin across my face, one made of pride and accomplishment, I turned to face the Aegis team, who were all walking towards me with varying expressions. "What'd you guy's think?" and while I was addressing the entire team, my question was aimed at two in particular. Gramps and Pyra.

Gramps, being an ancient Titan, and Rex's teacher, would no-doubt be one of the best advisors to help improve my technique, and Pyra, because Blades seemed to have an inborn skill with the blade, one bordering on the divine. Pyra especially.

"I think you didn't need to be so brutal." Was Rex's response, Pyra nodded in agreement, as did Gramps. Tora was Tora.

I blinked in surprise at Rex's response. "I... meant my sword style and skills..." the thrill of battle had long since faded from me now, and I was worried that I had damaged my reputation and standing with the Aegis team. Had I scared them?

And what did they mean 'too brutal'? There was barely any blood. It was a clean kill.

"You toyed around with the thing, that's what Rex was talking about." Gramps explained, seeing my slight fear, panic, and rising confusion. The last of which only continued to grow, "Rex. Do you... not like fighting?" I asked the question genuinely, as, while I knew Rex probably didn't like thing's like war, or needlessly fighting to the death, sparring with others, fighting monsters for others, always seemed like something he had enjoyed.

Rex shook his head, "Nah, I like fighting plenty. What I don't like is when you toy with someone so far below you, it's only a game. I prefer a challenge, or at least a fair fight."

Understanding dawned on me, and I felt a piece of shame. "Sorry. Usually, I don't do things like this... it's just..."

Everyone seemed to notice my longing glance at Pyra. And understanding dawned on all of their faces, however only one of them was even close to the truth as to what I was longing for in the first place.

"You... did this because of me?" Pyra asked after a moment, and I shrugged slightly, "Not really... or, entirely really. I was showing off. Because of who you are. Or rather, what." Rex frowned, but as he moved to step forwards, I continued. "I know you and Rex won't stay here forever. Eventually you guys, and Tora, will go and leave me here. And don't say you won't." I added the last part quickly, stopping Rex and Gramps from saying anything. Tora was silent, surprisingly, and he wasn't moving, instead he just stared at me. "I'm not a Driver like you. And I'm not making myself an Artificial Blade like Tora. So, I'm just not strong enough. I'll be a liability. You'll want me to stay here, so I don't get hurt. Which, I understand. So... while I'm envious of what you guys will no-doubt do, who you will meet, and all the adventures you have. I want to at least leave a lasting impression, so you guys don't forget me when it's all over."

As I finished, I did so with a solemn smile, one that showed a little part of me that I hid from everyone. The part that longed for adventure, but never got it. Even in this world, I would never have it.

It wasn't just this that made me envious of Rex though, it wasn't just his destiny to save Alrest, become the strongest, have one of the greatest adventures this world had ever seen, if not the greatest. It was the fact that he could awaken a blade. That he had awoken THE blade. The Aegis. And I had nothing. I wasn't lucky like him, I seemed to have used up all of my luck just by getting to Xenoblade, and meeting Tora. Whom I knew, wouldn't forget me.

But still, a part of me, while I knew that I could help the Aegis Team just fine from the sidelines, I still wanted to be there with them, grow with them.

"Why don't you become a Driver then? Come with us?" Rex asked, his tone cheery, like he was Luffy offering someone to join his crew. But his words had the opposite effect, instead I just lost all emotion from my face, looked down, and just wordlessly moved past Rex, and started making my way back home.

------------------------------------

P.O.V Rex, Pyra, Gramps and Tora.

Tora watched sadly as his friend walked back to Torigoth in silence. While Rex, Gramps and Pyra were all confused. However, it was Pyra who put the pieces together first, and she brought her hands over her mouth in a mixture of horror, pity, and guilt. "Oh-no. Don't tell me... Tora." Gramps got it a second later, and an equally guilty expression overcame him, and he looked at the disappearing form of Hunter with sympathy, "How sad." He remarked.

"What? What is it? Guys?" Rex asked, not having realised what the other two had yet. "Is it something I said?" Pyra nodded, "Rex... I don't think Hunter can become a Driver." Rex was confused for a grand total of one second, before realisation dawned on him, and silenced him just as quickly. "Oh..." he frowned, much like the other's guilt plagued his expression, however a good amount of confusion was present as well.

"I... won't ask what happened when he failed. But... how did he fail? I don't really know much about aptitude, but he looks like a good person to me." Neither Pyra, nor Gramps had an answer to that. "It is quite the conundrum indeed. Usually, someone like Hunter should be able to summon a blade." The trio glanced at Tora, who was uncharacteristically silent, staring off into the distance with a solemn expression.

"Tora know what stops Hero-Pon from becoming driver. But not why." was the Nopon's silent answer. He turned and looked at Rex, staring at his friend deep in the eyes. "While back, Tora get friend Hero-Pon Core Crystal as gift. When see it, Hero-Pon overjoyed. But sadly, Hero-Pon unable to awaken core-crystal. No-Reaction whatsoever." Rex's expression darkened, as he looked down at the ground, Gramps shared a similar reaction. Whereas Pyra, frowned, worried for her new friend's wellbeing. "Was he okay?" Tora shook his head. "Meh-Meh. Physically, friend Hero-Pon not hurt. But being unable to awaken blade, shake friend Hero-Pon's confidence. Make him feel unworthy." With a sigh, Tora once again turned to gaze into the distance, however this time his eyes lingered on the world tree. The home of the Architect.

"When friend Hero-Pon sleep. Tora run tests. Until Tora find out why Friend cannot awaken blade. Eventually, Tora find answer. But... Answer not make sense." Gramps, leaving Rex's helm, flew up next to Tora, a curious light shining in his eyes. "Not make sense? How so?" At Gramps' words, Tora sighed yet again, but did not take his eyes off the World Tree. "Friend Hero-Pon have Positive Ether." Both Gramps' and Pyra's eyes widened immediately at the reveal, both showed signs of disbelief. "He has... Positive Ether? How?" Gramps echoed. Pyra, in a similar state, could not say, "I... don't know. Isn't that impossible?"

Looking around in utter confusion, Rex felt a twinge of annoyance, particularly at his lack of information. "Uhh. Positive Ether? What's that?" Turning to Rex, Gramps glanced at Pyra, who motioned for the small titan to explain, rather than herself.

"Have you ever wondered, why people can bond to blades, but a blade can't bond to another?" Gramps asked, looking into Rex's eyes, Rex, after a moment shook his head, scratching the back of it with a slightly embarrassed expression, "Not really no... I just... accepted it as fact. Why? Does positive ether have something to do with it?" Gramps nodded, "It has everything to do with it. Now listen, it's a long explanation, and I'm only going to say this once." Rex nodded, and prepared himself for the coming information.

"In this world, as you know, there is Ether and Elemental Ether. Like Hunter explained. However, what he didn't say, is that there is a further division of Ether. Positive Ether, and Negative Ether. It is these two Ether's that allow people, and even monsters to bond with Blades. People, like Nopons, Urayan's, Gormotti, even Monsters, all have Negative Ether. At the same time, Blades like Pyra, and Titans like me, have Positive Ether." Rex nodded, but a question made itself known, "But, what is Positive and Negative Ether?" Gramps held up a hand, "I'm getting to that." Then taking a long breath, the ancient titan continued.

"What you must understand, is that Negative Ether means the absence of Elemental Ether. Or rather, Elemental Ether cannot exist within Negative Ether. As far as I know, Negative Ether only occurs within people and monsters, even in Tora, since having Positive or Negative Ether doesn't affect someone's aptitude. On the other hand, there is Positive Ether. Which only Blades and us Titans have. Unlike Negative Ether, Elemental Ether flourishes in it's Positive counterpart, simply put, if Elemental Ether was a plant, Negative Ether would be a barren desert, and Positive Ether a lush fertile field, and it's what allows us to do things that most others cannot, it's also the reason why blades can use elemental attacks."

"When a Negative Ether, comes into contact with a Positive Ether, they form a bond, which results in a blade's awakening. The contrast between Negative and Positive Ether, and how they interact, allows a blade to channel their Positive Ether into their Driver, augmenting their Driver's abilities and allowing them to call upon Elemental powers. However, while Negative and Positive Ether can interact and bond, Ether of the same typing cannot. Negative cannot bond with Negative, and Positive cannot bond with Positive."

Rex frowned, crossing his arms, "But if that's the case. And your saying Hunter has Positive Ether, shouldn't he have the same powers of a Blade and Driver anyway?" Gramps nodded, "Technically, you're right. He would have all the same powers and abilities as a Blade. If, he had more Ether Capacity."

Rex blinked, "I thought Blades drew in Ether from the air." Pyra nodded, "We do. But Ether Capacity is how much Ether we can store, and while we can expand our Ether Capacity, and Titans just naturally have tremendous amounts of Ether, Non-Blades have so little Ether Capacity that it's practically zero." "Think of it like this Rex. Ether Capacity is like a battery, the more Ether Capacity you have, the stronger the attacks one can use. Now, if Hunter's Ether Capacity was as large as Pyra's, or even a Normal Blades, he would be able to use Elemental attacks as well. At the same time, if he was a Blade he would be able to increase his Ether Capacity through training. Sadly, normal people have such a small Ether Capacity, that no-matter how much Ether was in the air, he would be unable to match the power of even the weakest blade. At the same time, he cannot increase his Ether Capacity. So he's essentially stuck with the smallest fragment of Positive Ether, and the only thing that it does is stop him from bonding with a Blade."

"So... he's like a... Blade without any Ether? A flat battery?" Rex summarised. Gramps nodded solemnly, "I have never seen anyone who wasn't a Blade or Titan with Positive Ether, nor have I ever heard of it. So, sadly, I have no clue as to how to help our friend."

"Tora does..."

------------------------------------

P.O.V Return.

"Oh hey, you're back!" Cedwyn exclaimed with surprise. I shakily grinned in response, "Yup. I'm back. Can I have that Perfect Range Sensor?" Cedwyn blinked, before glancing around. "Where are the others?" He asked, "Taking care of some stuff." I quickly lied, before holding out my hand expectantly, "So..." Cedwyn clearly wanted to push the issue, but he fulfilled his side of the bargain, "Alright. Here, the Perfect Range Sensor. As promised." Taking the part in my hands, I noticed a little dust on it, "Looks dusty. But it looks to be in good condition. Thanks."

Without another word, I turned around, and marched off, back in the direction of Tora's home.

All the while, storm clouds gathered in the air.

------------------------------------

Mindlessly, I felt my hands move on autopilot as I tightened the last bolt, secured the last piece. The installation of the Bion Connectors, and the Perfect Range Sensor had been long but simple, like the finishing touches on a lego build.

'I miss building Lego.'

Stepping back, I dusted off my hands, brushing the oil from my fingers, and gazed at Poppi's complete form.

At some point, Tora and the other's had returned, I wasn't entirely sure when, but none of them had said anything to me, nor had they tried to disturb my work.

A small part of me felt guilty, finishing off Tora's masterpiece without him, doing it for him, without asking for his permission. This was his blade, not mine.

But, at the same time, I needed the escape. I needed to focus on something that wasn't the biggest disappointment in my life. Poppi was that distraction.

"She's Done." I announced, not that I really needed to, Rex and the other's probably figured that out the moment I stood back.

In the distance, I heard a crack of thunder, and the pitter-patter of rain.

"Is it... really complete?" Rex asked slowly, "Very Complete. Only thing left is energy charge to activate!" Tora responded. "Our friend's execution draws near. Please, make haste." Gramps urged, and I nodded, "Do as he says Tora. Activate her." Despite how I was feeling, I did put a little energy into my voice. There was little that could ruin my excitement at having Poppi finally active.

"No."

I spun around fast enough to make my neck hurt, and stared at Tora like he had grown a second head. "Huh? What? Why the fuck not? Tora, you gotta activate her." Confusion was the only thing that I knew right now. And Panic was fast approaching. Why wasn't Tora activating Poppi? Why did he say no?

"Hunter, will activate Artificial Blade."

Tora's tone shut down all thoughts in my head. My breath hitched, and I lost sight of anything else that existed in this world.

"I... what?"

I spoke slowly, carefully.

'I... must've heard wrong...'

Tora looked at me, his eyes harder than steel, and more certain than gravity. "Hunter, will activate Artificial Blade. Not Tora." His voice was even, calm like a midnight breeze. But he made no sense.

"I... I will activate her..."

Saying those words brought me back to reality in an instant, and immediately, I began to protest.

"Tora. I can't activate her. You know I can't. She's your dream. Your blade, not mine! I was only helping you." I said, urgency and denial in my voice. "Yes, Tora's dream to create world's first artificial blade. But never to use it." I took a step back, looking at Rex, Pyra, Gramps, "You- Guy's. You gotta tell him, he's crazy. Po-This is his dream. Not mine."

Pyra merely smiled, "Tora told us about your dream. To become a driver, to explore the world and become strong. You helped him, and now, this is his way of paying back the favour."

I shook my head, "No, No you don't understand. I'm not supposed to be the one going with you guys, it's Tora. It's his-" "Shut up and activate her already. We got a friend to save." Rex suddenly interrupted.

My jaw dropped, and my eyes blinked, unsure if I had just heard that right.

And something inside me broke, and something else replaced it, as a massive grin grew on my face, tears welling in my eyes but never falling. "You don't get to tell me what to do. But... fine." I turned my eyes to Tora, a grateful smile across my face "Thanks for this. Tora." I said, to which my friend nodded, "Just wake artificial blade up already, Tora want to see her!"

My smile turned into a wide grin, and I nodded, making my way over to Poppi, "Well. Since I'm her driver, I suppose I'll need to name her. Won't I?" I announced, Pyra's agreeing voice came shortly after, "Yes you will. But, what will you name her?"

Placing my right hand on the handle, I grinned, "Why don't we go around the world together. Poppi!"

And I pushed.

KRAK-A-THOOM!

Lightning flashed, the light's flickered, and the scent of ozone filled the air, the other's stumbled, but I stood strong, my grin never fading, my heart beating faster and faster as anticipation filled me like a drug.

Then, as the shaking died down, and the smoke began to clear, I stared dead ahead at the slowly glowing form of Poppi. "Poppi? You awake?" I asked slowly.

"How may I be of service master?" Poppi asked in a cute voice, doing an equally cute pose, bringing a peace sign up next to her face, and standing on one leg.

...

...

...

Slowly, carefully, I picked my jaw up off the ground, and turned to look at Tora. A malicious aura surrounding me. "Tora. What. Did. You. Do?" I snarled. Tora gulped, sweating bullets as he leapt forwards and quickly turned off Poppi. "W-w-wait a minute! Forget you see that! Tora must... change the settings!" My right eye twitched as I glared at Tora, "The Settings?" Rex said sceptically, a raised eyebrow accompanying his inquirement.

'I'm going to kill this perverted midget, I swear to God.'

My jaw didn't unclench, nor did my eye stop twitching, as I stared at Tora tap away at the settings on MY Blade.

Turning around, Tora looked at me, a pleading expression on his face, one that said 'please don't throw me into the cloud sea'. And I was giving him an expression that said 'say your prayers little man.' "Th-this time should be okay." Stepping away from the power switch, as I approached, I grabbed the handle once again. "I guess the second time's the charm." I muttered, as I pushed forward once again.

KRAK-A-THOOM!

Lightning, shaking, dust, whatever you get the deal.

Luckily (for Tora) this time Poppi didn't immediately burst into a pose with a cutesy voice, rather, she slowly looked up, opened her eyes and stared into mine. And I felt something... shift.

I felt a connection with Poppi, like I had known her all my life. I felt the presence of something, something that I had been missing all my life, breathe, for the first time. Breathe, and I could feel something connecting myself and Poppi. Almost like a string, one connected to my heart.

And as I stared into her amber eyes, I could see a curiosity, an intelligence, a personality and a warmth be born in them. Recognition shining most of all.

"Greetings, Masterpon." She said finally, and while she showed little to no expression on her face, I simply grinned in response. "Morning...Poppi."

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Chapter 3 is complete, And finally, Hunter has his blade!

POPPI!

Now, I'm sure that a few of you are either going to be mad, shocked, or confused about certain things in this chapter. So I'll take a moment here to explain them.

Negative and Positive Ether:

I created Negative and Positive Ether to explain why people (The sentient mortals of Alrest) and monsters can bond with Blades, but blades cannot bond with each other.

And while, yes, I know that Aegis' can bond with other blades, they are an exception, not the rule. Which I will explain at a later date.

The reason why I gave Hunter Positive Ether, is actually because of the DLC of XC2, where Shulk, and Fiora, can become your blades. As we know, Shulk and Fiora are Homs, making them the descendants of the ancient mankind of earth. Additionally, they can also channel Ether in the DLC, using Arts, attacks and everything. And, since Hunter is basically the same as them, biologically wise, this means that he would logically be able to do the same.

At the same time, Homs aren't the exact same thing as Humans, they would have evolved to have larger Ether capacities than we would, which is why Hunter's Ether Capacity is basically zero.

This won't be the only time Positive and Negative Ether will be mentioned though, but it won't be mentioned that often. Aside from one specific enemy that we will see in the future.

Tora giving Poppi to Hunter:

As for you guy's wondering, why I gave Poppi to Hunter, and didn't just have Hunter be some megaskilled OC or something like that, is because I'm certain other people will have written those kinds of things. So I wanted to be unique. That, and I think there are some interesting ideas, and possibilities, waiting for Hunter in the future.

I also gave Poppi to Hunter, because she was one of the few blades who could actually bond to him, if you can figure out who the other's are, then good for you. Otherwise, no spoilers.

As for the answer as to why Tora gave Poppi to Hunter, Lore Wise? This Tora is slightly different from the canonical Tora, just slightly.

In simple terms, this Tora, lacks the warrior's spirit that the canonical Tora has. Yes, he wants to go on adventures, yes he wants to be a driver, and yes he wanted to make the world's artificial blade. But no part of his dream said that he wanted to be the one to use the world's first artificial blade. Now, if Hunter wasn't here, Tora would have still became a member of the Aegis team, but rather out of having no other option, and his desire to help his friends. Much like the canonical Tora. Here, Tora had the option of giving his masterpiece, not only to his friend, but to someone close to him, and who has the warrior spirit that he lacks.

Don't worry though, this isn't the end for Tora, he WILL reappear later on.

But, until the next chapter. I say farewell! ADIOS!

Chapter Text

A/N

WARNING, Numerous Spoilers will take place during this story, for all Three Xenoblade Chronicles Games. This does not just include the main storylines, but lore and many sidequests. As well as the DLC's. If you want to play the games, but not have any spoilers, then just play them now. Otherwise, go ahead and read.

I do not own anything except for my OCs. The Characters and Storyline of Xenoblade Chronicles *Sadly* Belongs to Nintendo.

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Bonding with Poppi... was an experience for me, to say the least.

It felt like a hole I never knew I had, was filled up. An injury I never realised was there, was finally healed. Like I could finally use 100% of my body.

It took her a little while to show facial expressions, but she made an effort at the least.

Seeing her move around, it filled my heart with a combination of joy, and of trepidation.

I had just replaced Tora on the Aegis Team. So, all former premises of safety in the Plot, were now thoroughly shaken.

I was worried, could I hold myself to the same standards of Tora? Could I achieve all that he did?

Or would I fail?

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"It... she's working!" Tora exclaimed in delight. His wings flapping erratically, I raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him a dissapointed expression across my face, "Was that not obvious before Tora? You know. When she started dancing?" my tone held a dangerous edge, and Tora instantly stopped his dancing, gulping in fear. "Th-That not Tora's fault. That was... ummm... Grampypon! Grampypon Soosoo made settings. Yes, definitely Grampypons fault!" Tora exclaimed. I stared at Tora with a deadpanned expression, one devoid of emotion to such a level that rocks would be more expressional, and Pyra leaned forwards with a look that showed absolutely no belief in the short Nopon. "Are you sure Tora?" She asked. Tora nodded frantically, "Y-yes! Grampypon... yes..." Tora trailed off as he noticed that Pyra was looking somewhere else, and slowly turned his gaze over to me, who was standing next to an open cabinet, filled with maid outfits, open disdain shining like a beacon on my face.

'They don't even fit Poppi.'

"Mehmeh!" Tora exclaimed in panic, as I rubbed the bridge of my nose with a long sigh, "Tora. You ruined my moment. Absolutely destroyed it. All because of the perverted antics of your 'Grampypon'" while I said the start with a slight tremble of sorrow, I said the last moment with absolute sarcasm. Causing Tora to start sweating bullets.

"Well... let's not dwell on that. Rex, Hunter, let's go rescue Nia and Dromarch!" Pyra said, bringing up her hands in determination. Saving the perverted Nopon from my wrath as she did so. Shrugging I grinned and nodded, "No time to lose!" Rex agreed.

'By no mean's are you safe Tora. Mark my words you shall pay.'

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"So, Poppi. How do you feel?" I asked curiously.

Currently, Rex, Pyra, Gramps, Poppi and I were heading towards the Ardanian Ship that held Nia. Since there was still a thunderstorm overhead, and it was still raining, I had my hood up, protecting me from the rain. Rex couldn't afford the same luxury, but Pyra had her Tanuki cloak still on, for now at least.

"Poppi moving at 100% capacity, Masterpon. All systems go!" she exclaimed, childish voice and enthusiasm going strong. As she spoke, she flapped her arms lightly, like a baby duckling. And while she wasn't smiling, yet, I knew that she was happy.

I grinned in response, "Great. Just make sure to tell me if anything feels wrong, okay?" Poppi nodded, "Affirmative, Masterpon!"

Seeing the Titan Warship get closer, I turned my attention forwards and away from my Blade. Rolling my right shoulder, I felt the weight of the Drill Shield on my back.

It wasn't the first time I had used the Drill Shield, I had actually been responsible for testing it in place of Tora for the past year and a bit. So I already knew how to use it really well. Not as much as my Katana, or a sword, but I knew it pretty well.

Walking up, Poppi and I stopped as we came next to Rex and Pyra. Looking up towards the massive figure of the Ardanian Titan Warship. "There it is." I said grimly. "Quite the impressive Titan." Gramps observed thoughtfully. "Yet another sign that Mor Ardain is readying once more for war with Uraya." His grim words made me narrow my eyes. "A show of strength like this wouldn't be pulled out for anyone." Poppi nodded slowly, it seemed even her enthusiasm was suppressed by the daunting figure. "Look, down there. That Root goes right to the ship. Just like Pyra said" Rex observed, pointing towards the root in question. I raised an eyebrow as I looked down at it, it was indeed the root mentioned before, and it was certainly strong enough to support our weight, "Indeed. And it doesn't seem to be rotting, which is good. Otherwise we'd need to activate Plan A. Attack." "Masterpon have unhealthy obsession with combat." Poppi said blankly, leading to me turning on her with a shocked expression, "No-no I do not! Who told you that?" She tilted her head, "Makerpon."

Since I was her 'Masterpon' Poppi had taken to calling Tora her 'Makerpon'. So I knew exactly who she was talking about as I turned back to face the Titan warship, a twitching eye accompanying me. "Of course he did." I mumbled angrily. "Enough messing around. We need to get moving." Rex urged, "Right, sorry mate. We should be able to climb down to the root by crossing these rooftops" I gestured to some nearby buildings, which created a half decent path down the titan's edge. "Yeah. Let's go!" Rex exclaimed.

Nodding, Poppi and I watched as Rex and Pyra began the long climb down, I meanwhile simply turned to Poppi and said, "Think you can take me down there?" Poppi nodded, "Poppi will use Poppi Thrusters and fly!" "Alright, then catch me!" I then ran and jumped off the edge, and began plummeting down.

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"Do you have no sense of self-preservation my boy?" Gramps asked with an incredulous expression. Dusting myself off, I merely shrugged, "Meh. Not sure myself half the time." Poppi was getting a scolding from Pyra, likely about the dangers of letting her driver jump off random cliff's, and Rex just looked like he was jealous.

"Look, are we going to save Nia or not?" I suddenly interrupted, making Rex nod. Turning around we made our way up the large root, and towards the underbelly of the Titan. As we reached the edge however, we all came to a stop. "Looks pretty high..." Rex said, I looked at him with a slightly raised eyebrow, I seemed to be doing that quite often lately, before I could speak however, he continued, raising his left arm and pointing it at the titan, "Gimme a moment" and with that, he shot his hook into the titan and used it to pull himself up.

Landing with a rather masterful backflip, he quickly turned around and lowered the cable, "Right. Pyra, you first. I'll pull you up, so hold tight." Before Pyra could step onto the cable however, I leaned over to Poppi and whispered, "Might want to go up and help Rex." Poppi nodded, and after a moment, went shooting off and joined Rex.

Pyra blinked, "Huh?" And turned back to look at me with a confused expression. I shrugged with a small smile, "I don't think Rex is quite strong enough to lift my ass up, so I figured I would send Poppi up to help." Luckily enough, (For Rex), Pyra bought the lie, and nodded, "That makes sense."

'You're Welcome Rex.'

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Once we were all on the Titan, I looked ahead, "Hmm. I'd say we're in a disposal chute of some sort." Gramps nodded, "Indeed. I believe moving forwards would be the best course of action." And, as one we went deeper into the titan.

As we did move however, I noticed that the walls of the chute were damp, and it didn't take long for us to end up in a pit.

Looking around, I frowned slightly, I didn't quite recognise the build of the chamber, but I presumed it was a garbage pit. Although it didn't really matter, as I also spotted a group of monsters nearby.

"Heads up, we got two Lysaat's and a Medooz" I warned, putting my right side slightly back and narrowing my eyes at the monsters.

Lysaat's were small monsters, aquatic insects with hard shells, powerful pincers, and a small size.

On the other hand, Medooz's looked almost like floating jellyfish, mixed with sting-rays. Add in the fact that they always floated, be it close to the ground or high in the sky, and they were a common monster for sure. And a little harder to kill than a Lysaat.

"You wanna handle this?" Rex asked, narrowing my eyes, I thought on it for a second, before ultimately shaking my head. "No, It'd be best if we preserved our strength. And caused as little noise as possible. Since I left my Katana with Tora, we'll need you to use Pyra's sword and take them out." Turning to Pyra, I added, "And don't supply him with Ether either, he should be able to take these Monsters without your powers, and if he can't then he needs to improve."

Rex simply nodded, although he did look faintly offended that I had doubt in the abilities I had yet to see in person, and jumped out of the chute, the small splash from his landing immediately alerting the Lysaat's and Medooz. All three of which instantly closed in on Rex.

"Why can't I supply him with Ether?" Pyra asked, looking at Rex with worry. Stepping forwards, so that I stood next to her, I explained. "Driver's with powerful blades tend to rely on them. This becomes a weakness. The moment they don't have their blade anymore, Ether or not, they don't know what to do. While more experienced drivers will no doubt have undergone training to avoid this, it is a trap rookie drivers will often fall into. It's actually one of the main reasons why there's such a gap between rookie driver's and the experienced ones, and another reason as to why there are so few driver's." As I spoke, I narrowed my eyes, images flashing back to 5 months ago...

"Did... something happen?" Pyra asked after a moment, I sighed, and as Rex killed the first Lysaat, I spoke, "Yeah. 5 Months ago. I... don't really think now is the time to talk about it. Maybe some other time." Biting her lip, Pyra was silent, before nodding, "Alright. When you're ready." Smiling in gratitude, I looked back into the pit, where Rex had just finished off the final monster. "Let's keep moving." I said with finality.

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Racing down the empty hallway, I felt a sense of suspicion tickling the back of my head.

'I know this is all a trap. But this still feels too easy...'

If things went according to canon, then this was an ambush which would be tripped as we made our escape. On the other hand however, the absolute lack of guards just seemed unrealistic. And after I realised that, I couldn't help but feel suspicious and on guard, even if it was likely nothing.

On the plus side, I didn't need to fake trepidation or caution. Not that there was much too fake in the first place.

Abruptly, Poppi stopped. The suddenness of her actions caused us to stop as well, Rex and Pyra looking at her in confusion. Turning to me, Poppi spoke, "Masterpon, Poppi can feel there is a Blade in the vicinity." I raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I don't remember myself, or Tora, installing something like that. Any idea how you can tell this?" Poppi shook her head, the smallest traces of disappointment and shame shining on her face. "Unclear... Poppi feel other Blade like wave in air" she responded. "Ah-Ha" I exclaimed immediately after, putting my right fist in my left hand, "You must be sensing the Blade's Positive Ether. Much like other Blades can." Turning to Pyra I inquired, "Tell me, Pyra, can you sense a Positive Ether presence in the area?" Pyra frowned but after a moment nodded, "Yes... I can. Actually... I think it's Dromarch!"

On the outside I merely grinned in happiness, happiness at my theory being proven correct. On the interior however, my mind was racing with questions.

'Okay, Now this is interesting. How can she tell it's Dromarch? Is it the Ether Levels? Which would explain her uncertainty. Or do all Blades have a unique signature, and her hesitance comes from her unfamiliarity with Dromarch. In the famous words of Sheldon, I don't need sleep I need Answers!'

"How can you tell?" I asked, barely able to keep the curiosity and excitement out of my voice. Pyra tilted her head the slightest bit, "Well... the Ether Signature feels familiar. But... I'm not sure if it is him"

'Haha! Option B it is!'

"So... Dromarch could be nearby?" Rex asked after a moment. Leading to me staring at him with half-lidded eyes. Seriously, how could one boy be so slow?

...Maybe that was my arrogance creeping through. Hard to tell right now.

"Well then, Poppi." I turned to look at my Blade, "Mind telling us where the Ether Signature is strongest?" Poppi nodded and pointed at the furthest door, "There Masterpon! That is where Ether Signature coming from!"

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P.O.V Dromarch

Had anyone entered the room at that moment, they would have seen a Large White Tiger Blade laying on the ground, almost as if asleep.

In truth, Dromarch was deep in thought. Contemplating, Dreading, the execution of his Driver, Nia.

As the sound of footsteps tickled his ears, he opened his black and blue eyes. And when the handle to his cell shook, he stood up a light growl echoing in his throat.

Walking forwards, he observed the metal door. Curiously, a small orange dot had formed. And, even now, it grew larger.

A faint whistling noise soon made itself known, heightening his curiosity. What was happening here?

So distracted was he, that he did not realise what the orange circle was until it was almost too late.

Panic and realisation came in a flash, he gasped and dropped to the ground as fast as he could, and not a moment too soon as immediately after a pillar of heat and light burst through the Iron door and over his head.

"Umm... I didn't hurt anyone... did I?" A familiar voice sounded.

'It can't be... can it?'

"Everyone check your eyebrows." Another familiar voice said. Which was quickly followed by a less familiar voice stating "Eyebrows safe and accounted for!" Curiously it held a Urayan accent.

"I'm sorry! It's hard to judge the power sometimes..." the first voice apologised.

Looking up Dromarch's eyes widened as he saw too familiar figures standing before him. "Pyra! Rex!" Yet another familiar figure appeared, "Dromarch. It is very good to see you alive." The titan Azurda stated, relief evident in his voice. Suddenly a large arm entered the hole that Pyra had melted through the door and ripped the handle clean off, causing him to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Perhaps we can have the reunion after we get the nice Blade out of his cell?" The unfamiliar voice said. Before the man had finished speaking, the door was already moving and he was met with the sight of two unfamiliar faces.

The first one was a short, young metal girl. Judging from her Ether signature it appeared that she was a Blade. She had a red scarf and white hat as well. Certainly a rare sight but not an unheard one. Blades having the appearance of inorganic materials was hardly unheard of.

The other figure however, was certainly more interesting.

A boy, or more accurately a young man, stood before him with crossed arms. While he had lightly tanned skin, suggesting that he had stayed indoors for most of his life, He had a rather handsome face, with short brown hair, his eyes were also brown, suggesting a Letherian heritage. However the figure stood at a daunting height, much taller than any Letherian he had ever heard of. In fact, Dromarch would dare to say that this man was as tall as Jin, and certainly one of the tallest people that he had ever laid eyes on. While he didn't appear to have an overly muscular frame, Dromarch's keen eyes could make out firm corded muscle, the young man appeared to have a body built for strength, agility, and combat.

He wore a long black trench coat with its collars up, one that acted more as a jacket with a cape at the bottom, said cape at the bottom was split down the middle and was open at the front, exposing the white shirt that he wore. The shirt wasn't tight enough to hug his figure, it was more loose, not overly so, but it certainly wasn't the skin-tight attire that Rex wore. The figure also wore black combat pants, dark leather boots with metal tips and also black fingerless gloves. Interestingly, the Right Glove had a strange pattern on it's back, a red and white x with another t shape in front of it, framed on a blue background, it also had some white star shapes on it as well.

It was obvious that this figure had quite the liking to darker colours, and simplicity.

What was the most eye-catching however was the large shield that rested on his back. It was of similar design to the small Blade girl, suggesting that he was a Driver and she his Blade.

More interesting still perhaps, was the male's origins. While he had the Brown hair and eyes of a Letherian, he spoke like an Urayan. At the same time, he lacked the darker skins that most Letherian's had and they most certainly did not grow that tall, he didn't have the white hair and scales of a Urayan either. Ardainian's had Black hair, Tantalese had cross-shaped marks on their face and mostly Red or Orange Hair, and he was not a Gormotti either, lacking the ear's or marks of one. This man was unlike any race that he had known of before, an enigma.

"Excuse me but... who are you?" He asked as he tilted his head.

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P.O.V Return

Dromarch had been done dirty by Nintendo.

In the game, Dromarch was depicted as a large Tiger yes, but only as a white Tiger who wore battle armour and was slightly buffer than usual. Here however, Dromarch was very different. Or to be more precise, Taller. Dromach was taller than Rex, and even Pyra. His head easily came up to my chest.

Despite what I had undergone during my stay in Alrest, I found myself intimidated by him. And, truthfully, who wouldn't? Tiger's were one of the most powerful creatures in my home world, and while that may not be the case here, given that Tiger's didn't even exist anymore, a Tiger was still a Tiger. And Dromarch was undoubtedly the largest Tiger I had ever seen. An absolute BEAST of muscle and power.

"The name's Hunter. This is my Blade, Poppi. It's nice to finally meet you, Dromarch." I greeted with a small yet respectful bow. The action evidently surprised Dromarch as his eyes widened the smallest amounts and he quickly returned the bow himself, "It is an honour to meet you, Master Hunter."

Seeing Dromarch's mouth move to speak was a strange sight, seeing a Tiger speak even more so.

Surprising that something as benign as a tiger talking was what actually came as strange to me, especially since the ground was a giant living creature, the sea was made of clouds, and somehow there was a difference between the cloud's that made up the sea and the cloud's in the sky. Heck, I was a transdimensional visitor, bonded with a super powered AI that could control earth like an Earthbender from Avatar, and I was currently journeying with what amounted to a Zombie who was resurrected by an ancient AI Waifu with a split personality. Not to mention that all Blades just had the ability to manifest weapon's out of no-where, just 'poof' fire sword!

Maybe I should stop thinking about that actually...

"Dromarch, we don't have much time. Do you know where Nia is?" Rex asked, shaking me from yet another internal monologue. The white tiger nodded in response and confirmation, "But of course. We are in resonance after all. I feel her presence." I also nodded, as I felt the same thing with Poppi, even now. Curious that Rex asked that, as he should feel the same. Perhaps he needed confirmation?

"Then let's go! We can't let her get executed!" Rex declared, "Indeed, this way" Dromarch agreed before racing ahead. Slightly surprised by the Blade's speed, I quickly made my way after him, "Come on Poppi!" I called. "Roger Masterpon!"

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I believed in Fate.

At the same time, I believed that our Fate was not every moment of our lives, only a single action or purpose to accomplish. Curing a sickness, saving a life, publishing a book, stopping a war. Those were all purposes in our lives, and I believed that no matter what someone did they would always accomplish that purpose. Everything else, before or after was entirely up to them.

So, I wasn't sure if it was Fate, or random chance, that led to our current situation.

"Don't Forget me!"

"You're Done!"

"Think you can take me?!"

"Take this!"

"Don't Forget!"

Quickly blocking a shot from an Ardanian soldier with my Shield, I shouted to Rex, "I think we need to reconsider plan A!" "Shut up and fight!" Rex responded. Feeling only slightly annoyed, I looked back at my opponent, an adrenaline filled grin plastered across my face. "Don't think we could talk about this. Huh?" "Hell no! Take this!" The Soldier responded by shooting directly at my face once again, yelping I blocked the shot.

Fighting with, and without a Blade was like night and day. And right now, I was very glad that I had one. Poppi's Ether Shield lighting up as it blocked a bullet from my right only further supported my opinion.

Dashing towards my opponent, who gasped in surprise, I quickly uppercutted them, swiftly knocking them a good twelve feet away and sending them right into sleepy time. Glancing around, I noted the locations of our opponents, then an idea came to me. "Everyone Duck!" I shouted, not wanting to waste time to see if the other's had done as I said, I called upon the Link between Poppi and I, drawing forth a larger quantity of Ether than I had before.

"Spinning Slash!"

Twirling like a beyblade, I spun around unleashing the Ether I had built up as I did so in one large explosion.

The sounds of flying bodies and breaking tables filled my ears before I could even stop, once I did however, albeit with a slightly dizzy stance, I looked around to see the aftermath of the attack.

All of the Soldiers that we had been fighting had been ruthlessly tossed through the air and were now lining the walls in unconscious heaps. "Damn. Remind me not to get on your bad side." Rex praised. Turning my gaze to him I was happy to see that he, and Pyra, had done as I said and ducked. Dromarch had as well. "You're welcome." "That was quite the brutal attack. Are you certain you didn't kill anyone?" Gramps asked with concern, eyeing the unmoving soldiers. I nodded immediately, putting my Shield back on my... well back, as I explained. "Spinning Slash is an AOE move. It's actually intended for situations precisely like this one, enclosed spaces with opponents too weak to survive our full strength, but also people we don't want to kill. They'll live, but they will be feeling that for a long time." Gramps nodded, satisfied with my answer.

'I knew we should've avoided the cafeteria.'

"Now, since we have the keycard we need to get to Nia, how about we keep moving? Yeah?"

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I narrowed my eyes as I inspected the blueprint's of the Ardanian ship.

'There's an Escape route right there. But it leads right into the Ardanian Outpost. That's where Morag is waiting.'

An image of the Flamebringer flashed in my mind, alongside her blade Brighid. And my frown deepened.

'To my knowledge, Morag will make a genuine, or at the very least mostly genuine, attempt to capture the Aegis. Avoiding her and Brighid would be ideal. However that may have unintended consequences...'

Humming to myself, I went over the possibilities in my mind. Before a realisation came to me.

'If one of us gets hurt in this fight. Or if we lose, everything will be lost. Plus, this fight didn't really have that much importance in the first place. Morag is an unnecessary danger, one that I need to nullify. Or at least reduce...'

Holy shit it was so simple I wanted to slap myself.

'We can just go back the way we came. The vents, and exit through the root. And if we really needed to, we could just swim away and hide from the Soldiers.'

Decision, and Plan, made I clapped once to myself and turned around to go and see Rex. "Rex, I got a plan. Our Escape route has been found." As I said that, I noticed the figure that stood between Rex and Dromarch.

Nia.

'She's even shorter than Rex.'

Nia was a Gormotti, meaning that she had cat features. Primarily the fluffy silver-grey cat ears that sat atop her head.

She had neck length hair, similar to Pyra's own bob-cut but it lacked the poofy nature of Pyra's hair, as it was much straighter. Her face was rather cute, as opposed to Pyra's beauty it seemed that Nia had a more cat-like charm. With three white stripes on her face, one on each cheek and the third one on her forehead, her amber eyes had a spirit of curiosity and caution. But they held a hidden hostility, and as I knew, fear. Still she seemed very confident.

Her attire matched what I remembered from the game exactly, a baggy yellow jumpsuit with some metal braces around her chest and upper arms and a white and red hood with two long pieces of fabric. She had a belt as well, which was carrying a trio of knives, or perhaps Kunai?

'Strange that they let her keep those.'

Finally, she had two very large boots. Or were they heels? Anyway, they had a white and red pattern, with point's faintly reminiscent of an elf. They went up past her knees and seemed to act as shin guards. The upper half of the boots had black and white stripes as well.

Despite how loose her jumpsuit was however, it didn't exactly do a great job of hiding the bottom half of Nia's curves. So the size and width of her lower half was still easy to make out, particularly her hips and thighs.

In a sense, Nia was a particularly gifted lower half girl, while lacking in the upper half in comparison to people like Pyra, she was certainly not losing in the ass, waist, hips or thigh's departments.

"What the what...? Who's the Giant?" Nia said in a mixture of surprise and confusion, blinking as she looked up at me with a bewildered expression. "I'm Hunter. It's nice to meet ya, Nia." As I spoke I offered the girl what I hoped was a welcoming smile. "Is he Urayan?!" Nia shouted in shock, before mumbling "Sure as hell doesn't look like one." I deadpanned as I stared at Nia "Oi! I heard that." Nia shrugged "Sorry"

'Sure as hell doesn't sound sorry.'

Turning to Rex I pointed over my shoulder, "Alright Rex. We've got the girl, now we really should be leaving." Rex nodded, putting his arms on his hips he asked, "Alright. You mentioned a plan, what is it?"

"There's two ways out of this titan. The front entrance, and the back entrance." I explained, "Usually we'd be expected to enter, or exit, through the front one. But luckily, we happen to know a Back Entrance. So, in other words, we're going to go out the way we went in." Rex nodded vigorously, "Got ya. Let's go then!" "Tally ho my comrades!" I called as I raised my right arm and rushed off.

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P.O.V Nia

As she followed Rex and the others, Nia found her eyes lingering on the stranger, Hunter.

He spoke with a Urayan accent, but didn't look Urayan at all. Was he raised in Uraya perhaps? She shook off the thought, Urayan's wouldn't be caught dead in Gormott. Not with tensions between Mor Ardain and Uraya being as high as they were.

So what was he?

He was definitely strange. People didn't just get as tall as Hunter was. Annoying as that was. She could've sworn that he had smirked for a moment when he saw how much taller he was than her.

Damn Tall People! Damn them to Morytha!

"This is it. Alright everyone, jump up and soon we'll be home free." Hunter said as they came to a stop at a large vent.

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P.O.V Return

"Freedom!" I cheered in glee as I raised my arms in victory. "Freedom!" Poppi echoed mimicking my posture cutely. Grinning I looked at her, but said nothing, only patting her on the head briefly.

Surprisingly that got a very strong reaction from Poppi, who squeaked and batted my hand away, a clearly embarrassed expression on her face. Alongside a prominent blush?

"Masterpon! Don't pat Poppi! Poppi not pet!" Poppi protested shying away and covering her head with her arms. My grin only widened in response, "Aww. Does Poppi not like pats?" She pouted and shook her head, and I shrugged standing up and looking away, "Alright then. No more pats." I could practically hear Poppi sigh with relief, but as I walked past her I immediately patted her again, "Oops." I said as she squeaked and darted away.

"Who knew Poppi would have such a childish side?" Gramps mused as he hovered next to me. I shrugged again, "Poppi is designed to look like a child. So I guess it only makes sense." "Poppi no pat!" "Maybe later Poppi." I waved her off, which made her pout even harder, Gramps meanwhile was looking at me with a twinkle in his eye. "I think you and I are going to get along quite fine." I smirked deviously, "What made you think that we weren't?"

"Alright, enough teasing the child. What now?" Nia interrupted, hands on hips and an expectant expression on her face. I tilted my head and mused, "Well I think putting distance between ourselves and the camp would be best. We don't know when the alarm will be raised about your escape after all." Rex nodded and stepped forwards, "Then we go west." Stepping forwards, Pyra put her hands over her core-crystal and nodded as well, "I think that would be best." came her affirmation.

'Looks like we escaped the Flamebringer after all. And that annoying consul guy.'

Gramps flew back to Rex's helmet, "Indeed. Let's get a move on then." Moving to turn west we began our journey away from the Ardanian Army.

"Where do you think you're going?"

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Chapter 4 is done! Nia and Dromach have been introduced!

Honestly, I'm unsure about this chapter. I don't know if it's good or not. I feel like it could be better, but I'm not sure how.

Writing Poppi's reaction to Headpats was a spur of the moment choice, but I think it was a nice one. Seeing Poppi act all cute like that was really fun for me, so definitely expect more of Cute Poppi in the future.

Writing the conversations between the Aegis team wasn't the easiest thing though, nor was writing that really short fight scene.

I just suck at writing social interaction, violent or no.

I should be better at writing one on one, or more even fights though.

I'm trying to stay consistent on Hunter's personality, same goes with his accent and abilities. So if something felt off just tell me.

Another thing, yet another deviation from canon? Instead of going right into a trap, Hunter has guided everyone out of the enemies clutches!

Or has he?

I think it'll be easy for most of us to guess who that person at the end is. And I hope you all are excited for next month's chapter! And the end of Chapter 2, Aptitude!

And finally, for any of you who are worried.

The Ship of Hunter x Poppi is NOT Hunter X Poppi Alpha. As those of us who played the Game know, Poppi has three forms. As time passes we will get to see Love blossom between Hunter and Poppi, but only when Poppi has achieved her older forms. Hunter is many thing's, but he is definitely NOT a Pedo.

Peace!

Chapter Text

"Where do you think you're going?"

Freezing, as a sensation not unlike ice filled my veins, I slowly turned around, in unison with Poppi, we rotated like rusty robots from the 1800's, and dread filled me to the bottom of my stomach when I saw the four figures who stood there.

The first figure that caught my eyes, was the imposing form of the Flamebringer herself, Morag Ladair.

She stood at around 179 cm, or 5'8. Making her much shorter than me, but still taller than Rex, Nia, or even Pyra. Despite her smaller height, there was no mistaking the power that she held, it was in every aspect of her, in the way she stood, the way she walked, the way she spoke. It was encrusted into her very being.

She wore a dark marine military uniform, with puffy trousers, a high collar, and a cloak/cape thing that went from her hips to the middle of her calf. The middle of her chest was white and had several buttons on either side. She had white gloves, and armor around her waist and her left shoulder. And on her head, was an armored hat that bore the symbol of Mor Ardain, symbolizing her stats as head inquisitor. Just like as described in the game, her hair was black and short, likely styled into a bun that was hidden within her hat. At each hip, was a silver styled sword, similar to a saber from french fencing, except they doubled as both broadswords, and as whips. And as expected of royalty, she possessed a cold beauty, sharp as the swords she wielded.

And the blade that owned those two whipswords as right beside her, standing at 5'10, was a vision of beauty that few could ever hope to contend with. She also possessed the Royal beauty style, but unlike Morag, it also had a hint of Japanese or Chinese within it. Her hair was waist length and blue, turning lighter as it reached the tips. On each side of her head was also the same kind of bun that Leia had in Episode 3 of Star Wars. Except these ones were on fire, illuminated by blue flame. On her forehead was also a strange marking of blue, one that I didn't recognize but certainly added an otherworldly feel to her.

Then, moving down, she wore a long purple dress that had a large mesh window going from the bottom of her neck, all the way down to just past her waist. With absolutely no visible underwear, yet somehow it darkened just enough to hide anything at her waistline. The dress had black frilled lacing after it past her waist, and it split to allow full sight of her legs. Everything was on display, from her large breasts, to her thick thighs. 

Even her belly button, which did confirm my theory that all Blades had belly buttons, not just the Aegis.

There was also a belt around her waist, with a dagger on her left side. Finally, both her arms and legs were largely coated with blue material highly reminiscent of flame, or perhaps it was actual fire as the ends flickered and moved in the wind. The arms started at her upper biceps, nearly reaching her shoulders yet leaving them entirely bare, and her stockings started halfway up her thighs.

This was the jewel of Mor Ardain and Blade of Azure Flame, Brighid. The strongest fire blade in existence, with only a few possible exceptions.

My attention focused almost entirely on the two, for despite their beauty, which would easily put supermodels back on earth to shame, they were also the strongest blade and driver pair in an entire empire, the equivalent of being the nuclear bombs of Russia or America. To have them sent after someone, was a death sentence. Overkill in many situations. 

I had heard tales of their power, their skill. And while I doubted that Morag had once spit fire to kill a water blade, that didn't mean I wasn't going to look out for smoke. 

Glancing at the others, I noticed that they, like me, were completely lost as to what to do. Poppi looked like she was awaiting my commands, while Nia looked ready to bolt. Rex meanwhile looked torn between fighting, and trying to talk himself out of it.

I, meanwhile, had a plan of action already ready.

"What'd you say?!?!" I called out like an old guy. Tilting my left ear to face the Flamebringer and her Blade. Morag blinked, clearly confused, or at least surprised at these turned events, she then repeated herself, even louder than before.

"I said: Where do you think you are going?!" Instead of a malicious question, it now had the undertones of someone trying to tell their grandpa that they had put their underwear over their pants/trousers.

"HUH?!?!" I responded intelligently.

"Where Do You Think You Are Going?!?!?!" Morag repeated.

"HUUHHH?!!?!"

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!?!?!"

"HHUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH?!?!??! WHAT'D YOU SAY?!??!"

"WHERE DO YOU-"

"HHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH?!?!??!"

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!?!??!" 

Morag erupted, momentarily losing her composure and absolutely roaring her question. With such force that Poppi stumbled as well. Impressive.

'Okay, step 1, complete. Aggravate the opponent. May be good, may be bad. I'm leaning on the side of 'Good''

Shaking her head, Morag took a deep breath and visibly calmed herself. "My apologies, I seemed to have lost control for a moment." Morag then looked at me with inquisitive eyes, almost like she was evaluating my very being. "Hmm, you're smarter than I gave you credit for. I doubt someone with hearing problems would be a driver alongside the wielder of the Aegis. You must have heard of me."

I nodded, "Yup."

Morag's eyes narrowed. Brighid seemed to be reevaluating her opinion of me meanwhile. "Well then, it seems that you're far more... cunning than I originally anticipated. I had originally planned to combat you all at the same time, however, your actions have forced me to reevaluate my decision."

I blinked. And slowly, I noticed the other guy walking forwards.

"Wait, Mr Fatface is gonna fight? Bro looks like his nemesis is morning cardio."

A/N:

I ain't even gonna look for a fanart of this guy. I had to research his name just to remember it. You get a photo, because nor I, nor the MC, would even care enough 'bout this guy to describe him.

That, and there is no Fanart of this guy.

Nia snorted, quickly covering her mouth. Although, I could still hear muffled chuckling coming from her. Rex had a similar reaction, except he made no effort to hide his laughter. Pyra meanwhile, covered her mouth and somehow managed to not laugh at all.

I suspected that she was biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing, that or she was genuinely shocked at how I referred to the fat guy.

Fat Guy, meanwhile, was fuming. A large part of me simply wanted to ignore him, however, the figure behind him was a bit more attention grabbing. And unlike Fat Guy, I actually remembered this entity's name.

Dolmes.

Easily standing over 10 feet tall, Dolmes was a colossus of metal. Looking almost like a Metal Kirby, he had no visible neck, instead his head and torso being a singular almost circular shape. His leg's were much shorter than anything else, being only slightly larger than Rex's own, his arm's however were each easily bigger than Rex, and possibly myself as well. A Red Ponytail thing came out of Dolmes head, and he wore a red lioncloth to protect his modesty. Presuming he had one.

He also had a very large hammer, with numerous spiked ends on either side of the face.

"Dughall, take care of the boy. I will deal with the Aegis and the Terrorist." Morag ordered, drawing her blades and pointing them at both Rex and Nia. Dughall, meanwhile, pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. 

"As you order! Special Inquisitor!" Average American responded. Behind him Dolmes entered a fighting stance. 

Sharing a glance with Rex, I said, "Wish you Luck. Maybe once I'm done with three chin's over here I can help you take out the other's." 

Fat Guy was enraged, "Why do I get nicknames but the Special Inquisitor doesn't?" He complained. I turned to stare at him, "Because, She's a threat. You aren't. You're an annoyance at best. Like a splinter in one's foot that hasn't been removed yet. Your very existence irritates me. You, and the scum like you that infest this world must be purged. And I shall do so with prejudice."

Fatso blinked several times, and as I drew Poppi's shield, and my Katana with said prejudice, he looked at Morag with an almost pleading look. "Could I perhaps battle the Terrorist instead?"

Morag shook her head, "Pull yourself together Dughall, He is but a single boy. If you cannot defeat him, then you have no right to stand as a Consul for Mor Ardain's army."

Caseoh Jr gulped, and turned his attention back to me. Taking a deep breath, I then shouted, "ALRIGHT LET'S DANCE CHUNKY TOMATO!" And bringing my words to life, his face turned bright red with anger, he once again pointed his gun at me and screamed. "You're going to regret ever insulting the great Consul Dughall!"

While Rex and Nia went off to combat Morag, I charged at Big Chungus, shield and sword at the ready.

Blocking several bullets, I charged directly into the poster child for Fat Shaming, I could practically hear the third chin flap as he was sent flying back. 

"Huh... That Was-HOLY SHIT!!" Mid sentence, I barely managed to avoid the massive swing of Dolmes hammer. Even still, the sheer force of the attack ripped up the ground and caused a massive gust of wind. 

Jumping back and next to Poppi, who had activated the Affinity Link by now. And by God was it a Rush. Everything was enhanced, every blade of grass that I could see was in 4K, I could feel every single beat of the heart in my chest. 

It was like I had been asleep all my life, and I was finally awake.

Taking a deep breath, I pointed my Katana at Dolmes, "Dolmes!" the shouting of his name caused Dolmes to pause, which was exactly what I wanted. "I give to you one chance, lower your weapon, or suffer defeat." Dolmes grip tightened, and he almost seemed to glance between himself and his fallen Driver. 

"Happy Meal Senior over there has already fallen, do you wish to follow him? Or do you want to fight a meaningless battle?"

While I sounded confident on the outside, I knew that facing Dolmes as he was now, was possibly a death sentence.

As a Blade, Dolmes would not tire. Any wounds I gave him would be healed, and he was undoubtedly stronger than I was, currently at least. The only way to kill a Blade would be to destroy it's core crystal. But, knowing this, all Blades would protect their core crystals with such devotion and will, that it was like trying to restrain a rabid dog with a piece of string.

If I fought Dolmes right now, I might become too tired out to help Rex and Nia combat Morag and Brighid, if that happened, we could potentially lose right here and now. I was the only tank in the group, if I wasn't there to defend them, they wouldn't last even half as long. Ideally, Dolmes would step to the side and surr-

"Nay." Dolmes said, his voice sounded exactly like Blu Mankuma's. And, as he readied his weapon, I saw a fire burn within his eyes. "My Driver Want's you Captured. And, in aiding a Terrorist, you are now an accessory to crime. As is my Duty, I must bring you in. I will now return your offer, Surrender. And I will do my best to ensure your continued survival."

I gulped, hearing Flutterguy insult you was unnerving, on the other hand though, now I had a determined path. I tightened the grip on my own weapons, "No, No I don't think I will." 

With that, Poppi and I charged at Dolmes, "Poppi!" I called, "Yes!" She responded.

Swinging his Hammer, Dolmes attempted to break my ribs. Thinking quickly, I responded by sliding underneath his Hammer, and stabbing upwards with my Katana, right inbetween his hand and wrist. A place with a gap of armor. 

Unleashing a gasp of pain and surprise, Dolmes recoiled. In the moment that he did, I released my Katana, and swapped my Shield to my Right Hand. "Cutting Tornado!" I shouted. Doing a spinning attack as I did so. The blades on the Drill Shield cutting through Dolmes wrist as I did so.

While he was left growling from the attack, Dolmes didn't budge an inch, and instead went to punch me with his other hand, instinctively I blocked the attack with my Shield, this had the unintended consequence of pushing me away from my target.

Rolling to my feet, I felt Poppi's support from behind me. And a small part of me was grateful for this, knowing I wasn't battling Dolmes alone.

Dolmes meanwhile, inspected the injury on his wrist, looking at my katana, he ripped it out of his arm and snapped it in half. I flinched as I saw the metal bend and break. "Oi! That was mine!" I protested, sadly it was too late, and my Katana was gone. Inwardly however, I felt a pulse of fear. If he could do that to my Katana, chances were he could do the same to Poppi in a singular blow.

Dolmes let the wound bleed for a moment and after it healed he glanced at me, then at what he had held in that hand. "You are attempting to disarm me. Aren't you?" Dolmes asked. I narrowed my eyes, but nodded, to which Dolmes tilted his head. 

"Why? As a Driver, you should be well aware that Blades can manifest their blades at all times, unless of course our Ether supply is cut off or severely weakened. Mine is neither. So, what purpose would disarming me have other than a minor inconvenience?" Something told me Dolmes was genuinely curious. I however, wasn't about to share my knowledge with the enemy.

"It worked once before with a Common Blade. So I figured it could work on a Rare One." I revealed. Making Dolmes pause. He seemed even more curious now, but he shrugged instead. "Fine, Keep your Secrets. We will learn all that you know after you are brought to your knees before the Emperor."

Dolmes readied himself into an attacking stance once again, "I had hoped not to use this. But I would be remiss to allow any kind of underhanded tactic catch me off guard." before calling out "Volcanic Fracture!" Fire Ether gathered rapidly around his Shield-Hammer, before he brought it crashing down into the ground.

The effect's were immediate, stumbling from the force of the impact, I watched with shock as cracks formed in the titan's very flesh, and the smell of sulfur emerged from it. I barely had time to shout "ABSOLUTE GUARD!" And hug Poppi to my body before the effects of 'Volcanic Fracture' made themselves known. 

Molten Lava erupted all around me and Poppi, encasing us completely, only our Ether Shield formed by 'Absolute Guard' kept the Lava from killing us there and then. And outside my vision, numerous geyser's of Lava erupted from the Titan, literally bathing the ground itself in Lava.

When the lava had hardened around Poppi and I, waited only a fraction of a second before calling out my blades name. "Poppi!" On my command, she launched herself through the rock prison that had formed around us. Revealing a quickly advancing Dolmes.

"UNRELENTING FORCE!!"

"CRAP!" I yelped, leaping to the side with reckless abandon, while Dolmes charged past me like a mad bull. Tearing the ground up with every footfall. 

"Masterpon, Poppi is worried we might not beat scary-pon." Poppi whispered. Glancing back, I saw her shiver, and I flinched. 

It was easy to forget. But Poppi was more than nut's and bolts. She wasn't the Hero who had faced Demigods and Paragon's. She was just a child, experiencing her first true battle. And it was against a beast like Dolmes. It was no wonder that she was afraid. And as I watched her hide behind me, staring at the approaching Dolmes with fear, I felt something harden within myself.

Conviction.

Turning my eyes towards Dolmes, I swapped the Drill Shield to my right hand, speaking as I did so. "Poppi. Neither of us would be able to beat Dolmes alone. But together we WILL win. Together nothing can beat us, not the Architect. Not the Aegis. And certainly not this TOO BIT BLADE!"

As I stood strong, the aura around me transformed into Gold. And a rush of Ether coursed through every bone in my body. 

"Poppi, I may not be the perfect Driver. I may make mistakes. I may have secrets. But I swear this on my God, on my Family, on my WORLD! I WILL NEVER LET ANYONE TAKE THAT WHICH I HOLD DEAR TO ME!"

The Aura around me intensified, and I felt a connection bloom into life. Not with Poppi, but instead, with the Titan I stood upon, with Gormott.

I could feel every single vein of Ether, every single heart beat. I could feel it's breath, and it's power.

And as I glared at Dolmes, I felt that power rise to my aid. I was not alone. I would never be alone, never again. 

Charging towards Dolmes, I leapt into the sky, my eyes locked onto his own. "FIXED BLOW!" I howled. The Drill of the shield popped into existence, and I brought it down in-between Dolmes eyes, drilling right into his skull. 

"GRAAAHH!"

"CUTTING TORNADO!" I quickly followed up with, dragging the bladed edge of the Drill Shield through Dolmes head, cutting it in half.

Landing on the ground, I leapt away from Dolmes' crazed swings, and inspected him coldly. As his head regenerated, I knew I would only have a few more seconds before he regained his hearing, and his sight. 

An idea came to me, and I leapt forwards. "Absolute Guard!" I called as I grabbed Dolmes' hammer, and held it in place. Poppi, understanding my idea, lept forwards, and with all her strength, and the force of two rocket boots, she uppercutted the newly regenerated head of Dolmes, lifting him up off his feet and crashing back. 

Stunned, and stumbling, Dolmes shook his head, attempting to rid himself of the vertigo. But he was too slow.

"NOW FOR THE FINALE!" I called, throwing the shield back to Poppi. "Yes Masterpon!"

Feeling my connection to Poppi, I held onto it, and pushed as much energy into it as I could. Poppi, meanwhile, lept into the air and aimed the shield at Dolmes. 

"JET BITER!!" Poppi and I roared in unison, as dozens of shark shaped rockets cascaded out of Poppi's shield, crashing into Dolmes with tremendous explosive might.

The pure kinetic force of the attack shook the ground we stood upon, yet I held strong.

Caught completely off guard, Dolmes was sent flying back and away, tumbling into the cloud sea as he did so.

(End Theme)

Panting, I felt nearly dropped to my knees, and glancing at Poppi, I could tell that she felt the same way. Exhausted. 

Putting aside how a Robot could feel exhaustion, I glanced over at where I could see Rex and the others battling Morag and Brighid. 

And they were losing. 

Gritting my teeth, I tightened my grip on my shield, and throwing a glance at the broken shards of my Katana, stood up. "Let's go help the others."

Poppi nodded, and once again, the golden aura surrounded us both. And we charged to the others.

------------------------------------

P.O.V Rex

Things... Were not going well.

When Hunter had wished them luck to go off and battle Dughall and his blade, Rex had originally thought that they were in for a reasonably difficult fight. After all, he had Pyra, the legendary Aegis on his side.

He wasn't entirely sure what the Aegis meant. But he had been told that she was the ultimate blade by Hunter, so he was confident that they could defeat anything, and anyone. 

Until they had met Morag Ladair. During the entire fight with her, Rex, Pyra, Nia and Dromarch had been scrambling for even a single foothold. Yet every time that Rex thought they might finally make some progress in the fight, Morag would simply block their attacks and send them tumbling away. 

And it was getting on his nerves.

Every time Morag blocked an attack, she would hurl insult after insult at him, at Pyra, and Dromarch, and at Nia. She would insult his technique, she would insult Nia's life choices. Anything and everything was on the table with her. And Rex found himself intensely disliking her.

At one point however, it went too far.

After blocking yet another one of his attacks, Morag scoffed before saying. "We must be after the wrong Aegis. This is no more than a Boy with his blade Whore, I've dealt with drunkards with more power."

Rex clenched his jaw so tight he though he might crack a tooth. "NEVER CALL PYRA A WHORE!!" He screamed with raw might, calling upon as much Ether from Pyra as he could he shouted "BLAZING END!!"

------------------------------------

P.O.V Morag Ladair

Morag simply raised her blade and perfectly split the boy's attack straight down the middle. "This is getting Tiresome." She said with boredom. Her eyes went from the boy to the Aegis, muttering as they did. "The Aegis' power is formidable. But the Driver's skill betray's her. As does his attitude."

Calling upon Ether from her Blade, she created a wall of blue flames, blocking the rest of the boy's foolish attack. She nearly shook her head.

The boy was greener than a baby. Easily allowing emotions to dictate his movements, and how he fought. A comment here, an insult there, and the boy was practically a wailing baby of a fighter now. 

And all she had to do was take away the knife he had found.

"Stay vigilant, Morag. An unknown power lurks within this foe." Her blade, Brighid warned. Walking up behind her. Glancing at her blade, Morag nodded. "But of course." Her eyes drifted back to the now exhausted pair, "This blade he calls Pyra... Your flames burn far stronger than hers." Her eyes narrowed, "But... her flames hide something deeper."

Morag watched as her four opponents stumbled to their feet. As they did, Morag spared a glance in the direction of Dughall, Dolmes and their opponents. However, all she saw was absolutely decimated ground, and a complete absence of anyone.

"Brighid. Where are the other's?"

Brighid blinked, and turned around to survey the surrounding area. "I... don't know..."

"TAKE THIS YOU SCOT'ISH RIP OFFS!"

------------------------------------

P.O.V Return

Leaping into the air, I, and Poppi, tossed the contents of the entire water tank straight towards Morag and Brighid. Luckily enough for us, Rex's temper tantrum had distracted Morag just enough for us to get away.

And as the water descended towards them, I shouted, "TAKE THIS YOU SCOT'ISH RIP OFFS!" in my best Scottish accent.

Morag tried to dodge the flash flood, but she wasn't fast enough. And the water quickly cascaded down unto both her and Brighid, soaking them both.

Landing next to Rex and the others, I looked at all of them, all exhausted. I was the same way, but luckily I had Adrenaline to help me. "Alright guy's, Let's Run."

Rex blinked, before frowning and leveling his sword towards Morag. "She insulted Pyra! I can't just forget that!" I rolled my eyes, before picking up Rex and putting him over my shoulder. "Rex, she was trying to get under your skin. It worked. You need a better way to control your emotions." I then looked at Nia and Dromarch. "Unless you two want to fight a pissed off flamebringer, I suggest you come with us."

Nia nodded, and together we took off past the still wet Inquisitor and her Blade.

"NOW RUN! RUN LIKE THE WIND!"

------------------------------------

After a while, I put Rex down, and he joined us as we bolted away from the Flamebringer and out of town.

Before long, midnight had arrived, and we all were exhausted even further. 

I, personally, felt like my feet were going to fall off. Carelessly, I commented, "Haven't felt like this since the time I went to disney land."

I then happily fell to the ground, intent to just allow events to happen as they were supposed to and rest. I wouldn't have cared if Morag returned right that second, for all I care I could become a prisoner. I just didn't want to ever run ever again.

"I don't think they're following us." Pyra commented a little warily, likely worried she was wrong. Gramps however, agreed with her assessment, "Perhaps we're safe for now?"

Rex, who had managed to catch his breath nodded, "You're right. We should get some rest. I can't go any further."

I hummed in agreement, "Don't mind me. I'm just going to sleep for the rest of eternity."

Hopefully now I could find the time to tell everyone my secret.

...

...

...

"See you later."

'Of Fucking 'Course.'

I heard shuffling, and I turned my head so that I could view the interaction. To my infinite amusement, Poppi had followed suite and was lying beside me, doing the exact same thing.

Rex stood up, blinking. "Huh?" Dromarch nodded, "We are grateful for all you and Hunter have done. We wish you well on your travels. Farewell." Together, Dromarch and Nia began to walk away. I glanced at Rex, praying that he would stop them.

Of course, if they got too far, I would stop them, but I'd rather save my strength. That and I'm lazy.

Rushing forwards, Rex shouted, "I want to reach Elysium!" Nia actually turned around in confusion. "What?" I could tell that she and Dromarch were curious about Rex's reasons. If I remembered correctly, they should already be aware of his dream. But not why he just shouted it out. 

"I made a promise. I'm taking Pyra to Elysium. It's just... she gave half of her life to save mine. I owe her."

Pyra smiled warmly from Rex's words, and as my eyes flickered back to Nia, I noticed a bug crawling on my nose. So I blew it off. And continued to listen. 

"But half the world seems to be after her. With the titan's dying off, living space is running out... that's gonna start wars. And people needs weapons to fight wars." Rex gestured back at Pyra. "That's why they want her." 

Nia looked almost ashamed, her eyes turning towards the ground in contemplation.

"If I can prove Elysium exists, maybe I can stop the war that's coming. But... Fighting Morag taught me something. I'm not strong enough, I can't do this alone. Nia, you're a driver. We could really use a companion like you... if you wanted?" Rex finished off hopefully. 

My eyes turned back to Nia, who looked at Rex with an expression half between regret, and half between disappointment. "Elysium? Do you really still believe in that Myth, Kid?" Rex nodded "Well, Pyra told me she was born there. And here she is. So it must exist, Right?" Nia scoffed, "Your logic could use some work, that's for sure." She shook her head. "Listen Rex, I don't know if you're stupid or just too nice for your own good.  But what if Pyra's just lying?" She looked at Pyra, "What if this is all an act, and one day she turns round and stabs you in the back?" 

Rex almost looked outraged at the mere insinuation, "Pyra wouldn't do that!" He shouted. Pyra nodded, and held her hands down as she looked sheepish. "Of course I wouldn't." Then a cheeky expression crossed her face. "I don't have a knife."

I barked out a laugh. When Poppi looked at me, I simply shrugged, she was funny. Why deny it? Nia quickly followed suite, and we were both laughing at Pyra's joke. Nia recovered first. And somehow managed to continue. 

"An Emerald Core Crystal is the Sign of the Aegis..." She then threw her hands up into the air, seemingly giving up. "Sure why not. This could be interesting!" A grin broke out across Rex's face. "Really?" Dromarch looked at Nia with surprise, "My Lady?"

Nia smirked, "I kinda wanna see this Elysium for myself now. Maybe it really does exist?" Rex stood proudly. "It does!" Nia looked down at the grass at her feet. "An endless field of green among the clouds, huh?" Her eyes turned skywards, and she seemed to continue her train of thought in her head. 

Sitting up, I glanced at Rex, then at the others. 

I would need to prepare a way to reveal my knowledge to them all. But how to go about that?

------------------------------------

As we all sat around the fire, I noticed Pyra had begun to bandage Rex. My eyes slightly widened as I remembered the scene that was about to play, and I coughed loudly to gain everyone's attention.

"By the way, Rex, Pyra. If you haven't noticed yet, your injuries are the same." I revealed. Pyra blinked, and after a quick inspection of both her wounds, and Rex's, she looked at me curiously. "How did you know that?"

I nodded at her, "Same way I knew that Addam hatted spicy food." Then I turned my attention to Rex, "Same way I know that you're an Orphan, who send's most of his money back home to your aunt in the Leftherian Archipelago." Rex sat up with a frown, I then nodded at Gramps, "Same way I know that you were alive and present for the Aegis War 500 years past. And met Addam himself." Gramps blinked, and tilted his head.

Sitting up, I put my hands together and assumed the Gendo Pose. "Same way that I know Nia comes from a Noble Bloodline. And the Same way that I know Elysium was real." 

My last words caught Rex's attention, and he sat up, "'Was Real' What'cha mean by that?" Looking Rex in the eyes I answered his question. "Elysium, The Fields of Green. With the Church with the tolling bell over the hill. The tree that you found Pyra standing beside, that Elysium died long ago."

Nia blinked, and Rex frowned, "Died? How could Elysium die?" I pointed skywards, towards the world tree. "Because, Rex. An artificial Paradise cannot exist without maintenance. And that's what Elysium is, Artificial."

Rex collapsed back down, and looked at his hands blankly. Pyra tried to get a response from him, but failed. "Oi, What the hell? You seemed all for Rex's bloody stupid dream before, why not now?! What changed!" Nia shouted, glaring angrily at me as she stood up.

I looked into her eyes as well. "It's because I needed to be sure that you would stay Nia. I couldn't risk changing thing's any further. Otherwise we might all die." Nia growled, "And why the ever loving hell should I believe you?"

Seeing her anger, I decided to hint towards what I already knew, I tapped my chest. Right where her core crystal would be. "I kept my secrets close to my heart. Don't you?" Nia's eyes widened, and she stumbled back.

Dromarch narrowed his eyes, and stepped in front of Nia, "I don't know how you know all of this. But if you are threatening my Lady-" I quickly stood up and shook my head, "What?! Of course not! Where the fuck did you get that idea?" Dromarch blinked, "Well, I just assumed-" "Assumed what? That I was some mastermind that controlled everything from the shadows?! That ain't me, I can't play hide and seek without giggling my ass off!"

Nia still looked wary of me, so I sighed and made my way over to Rex, when Pyra looked at me, I gestured towards Rex. "May I?" She looked hesitant, but nodded. Crouching down in front of Rex, I put a hand on his shoulder. "The Elysium you saw may not exist anymore Rex. But a new Elysium has been born, is being born. Right now as we speak. The Architect is making it, I've seen it myself."

Light returned to Rex's eyes and he looked at me. "Hunter. How... How do you know all of this."

I sighed, and sat down, looking deep into the Fire that Pyra had created.

Rex was, or would be, right. It truly was Beautiful. Unlike normal fire from my old world. Then again, all fire was Beautiful, for it possessed a life unlike that of anything else.

"I... don't come from Uraya." I said slowly. Nia scoffed, "Of bloody course you don't, you got no scales. That and you look more like Rex than any Bloody Urayan I've ever seen!" I deadpanned and looked at Nia, "Want to hear my story or not?" She quieted down and sat down, but not without grumbling.

Returning my gaze to the Fire, I continued. "I was born on a continent called Australia-" "What's a Continent?" Rex asked. My right eye twitched, but I answered him. "Basically gigantic pieces of land. That aren't titans. And they don't move that much. I don't know the numbers, but my home Continent was probably at least twice the size of Gormott. Now, back on track."

"I was born on a continent, Called Australia. My People, My Civilization, Called ourselves 'Aussie's' Because we were born in Australia. Our day's were hot, and our winter's rather cold, but we made do. I was born on the coast, near the ocean. But my family eventually moved inland. We became farmers."

I chuckled, remembering my day's as a Farmhand. Repairing fences, leading around animals. I didn't miss it. 

What I did miss, was my family. I would give nearly anything just to say goodbye to them. To say I loved them one last time.

"But, even though I was a farmer. That didn't mean I wasn't going to entertain myself, and I came across a video game, called 'Xenoblade Chronicles 2'. It's story being about a young Salvager Boy, who found an ancient power and went on to try and save the world." I looked up at Rex, and his eyes had widened "Along the way, he found friends. A Gormotti Girl with an attitude, and her loyal white Tiger." I looked at Nia and Dromarch, before returning my attention to Poppi, "And a little Perverted Nopon with big dreams. And his blade, the world's first artificial blade."

Pyra held up her hands, "Wait a second. Are you trying to tell us. We were in a video game?" Rex nodded, and pointed at himself, "And I was the Protagonist?!" He honestly looked a little excited at that idea. Nia meanwhile, was vehemently shaking her head. "No. He's gotta be lying, I mean, there's no way. I'm not some fictional being. I'm flesh and blood! Not just some character in a video game!"

I nodded, "And I agree with you. Even back then I always suspected that was the case. I just never had the evidence to prove it. But it's the truth. I've seen your adventure Rex. I saw your struggles, the hardships you overcame. And at the end, I saw your triumph." Rex grinned, "So I did find Elysium?" I nodded, "Yep, just not the one you were expecting."

Gramps frowned, "If you're telling the truth. Then would you mind indulging a question of mine?" I nodded, "What kind of Blades did you have in your world?" I sighed, and returned my gaze to the fire of pondering. "There weren't any. My world didn't have Nopon's, Urayans, Titans, Or Gormotti. Hell, our ecosystems are completely different, I haven't seen a single creature from my old world here in this one."

Nia frowned, "But if you don't have any Urayans, why do you have a Urayan's accent?" I scoffed and shook my head pridefully, "Nah, Those Urayan's have an Australian Accent. Here's a fun fact." I pointed down to the Cloud Sea. "Deep Below the Cloud Sea, there exist's the land called Morytha. The land of the dead, I'm sure you're all familiar?"

They all nodded, while Gramps had a twinkle in his eye that made me think he was quickly figuring it out. "My people, who were called 'Humans' are mostly like Rex over here. Except much different. All of your accents, and more, were apart of our world. You, Nia, have a Welsh accent. Rex has a British one. Morag had a Scottish one, and Urayan's have Australian Accents. Oh, and Tantalese have Southern English accents too, can't forget those."

Gramps hummed, "So, that would mean you're the last of your kind. If I'm right?" I nodded, "While Rex and I may look similar, Biologically, we couldn't be more different. Although, I'm not actually the last of my kind, in this world anyway, there is one other person who shares the blood of Adam."

"Do you mean Addam?" Pyra asked, I shook my head quickly, "No, One D, A D A M. Adam. The forefather of all Humanity. I can explain him later." Nia leaned forwards, "Whose this other bloke who's also 'Human' he must be pretty old to have been around all these years." I nodded in confirmation, and pointed at the world tree, "You're correct Nia. There's only one other Human in this world, and his name is Klaus. Although you would all know him as 'The Architect'" Pyra's eyes widened, and she looked up at the world tree. "Do you mean... Father and you... are the same?"

I shook my head with a laugh, "Oh hell no. Klaus up there is half the man he once was, literally. That, and he's connected to a super powerful artifact called 'The Conduit' which is actually the source of your power Pyra, and is responsible for the world you see around you. And the Cloud Sea itself."

Nia fell onto her butt, and shook her head, "Please Stop. My brain can't take much more of this. Too much information."

Rex laughed at her suffering, and I did as well. Pyra though had a question. "If you've seen the whole story. How does it end?"

I looked at Pyra. "That... would be spoilers. You see, during the year and a half I spent with Tora, I came up with a few rules, rules that I intend to enforce." Rex frowned, and Gramps titled his head, "Whatever could those rules be?" I nodded, and held up a finger.

"Rule Number 1: I will never reveal your Secrets Unless you are willing to share them. And when I say Secrets, I mean your Deepest, Darkest Secrets. Things you would kill to protect."

They all nodded, "Seems Reasonable." Rex commented. Pyra and Nia in particular looked rather relieved.

"Rule Number 2: I will not warn you about danger's in advance, nor will I solve your problems for you. With very rare exceptions."

Nia frowned, "Oh come on! What's even the point in having future knowledge if you aren't going to use it?"

I looked at Nia, "If I solved all your problems for you, thing's might change. And even if they didn't, I literally can't solve all of your problems. If I don't let you lot develop and become stronger, we will all die. I don't like it, but it needs to happen."

Nia huffed, but settled down.

"Rule Number 3: Only I have the right to tell people about where I come from, and what I know. No exceptions."

Pyra smiled, "Since you're respecting our privacy by keeping our secrets, the least we could do is keep yours."

The others all nodded. 

"Rule Number 4: If something happens that I didn't see coming. If Something changes. I will tell you all what happened, and what changed. This is so you all know what changes I am making, and know that I am genuinely trying to help you lot."

I took a deep breath, before revealing rule five. "And finally, Rule 5: If Something Major Changes, Or My knowledge of the future becomes otherwise irrelevant. I will tell you all immediately."

Rex frowned, "So... you think thing's might change outside of what you can see?" I nodded, Pyra frowned, "How? I mean. What's changed already?" I shrugged "I mean, Tora was originally the Driver of Poppi, not just her Builder. Aside from that, we were originally meant to fight Dughall, then Morag. But I wanted to avoid Morag entirely." Nia scoffed, "That didn't work out well." I scratched the back of my head with a chuckle. "Yeah. And I'm pretty sure Dolmes wasn't supposed to be that tough. In the game, you beat Dughall and Dolmes by just defeating Dughall."

Dromarch hummed, "Indeed, but remember. This isn't a game anymore. This is reality. As real as you or me."

I smiled, "Yeah. True. So, I have plans. But first of all" I pointed at Nia, then at Pyra. "You two have some Trauma that I need to deal with."

"What/Huh?"

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Chapter five is done, and it is by far my longest yet!

HELLO MY DEAR READERS! I AM BACK FROM THE ABYSS!!

Yes, I know I have been strangely absent for a while. On this story at least. And I apologize to you all, I had end of year tests to complete. That and my house nearly burned down in a bushfire, so I didn't have a lot of time to write. 

But, I am now officially back! 

I know you all probably wanted to see Hunter battle Morag, and you'll see that later. But instead, I kinda got carried away with writing the fight against Dolmes. Who you will be seeing more of later down the line at some point, don't worry.

Onto more important matters, no doubt some of you will recognize some of the rules Hunter has created. Four of his rules were inspired by the Six rules from Urbanator93's 'Absolute Trust'

An absolutely amazing story, I highly recommend it to EVERYONE. Especially Avatar The last Airbender Fan's.

I've also decided to actively include art for important character appearances, so if you know of a fanart, or have a fanart that you really want to be included, just comment the link and I'll see what I can do.

As alway's, I hope you have a great day, and I hope you all loved the chapter!

AUTHOR OUT!