Iwa flinched, thinking this was the end for her and her driver.
"Anchor shot!"
Iwa looked up, seeing that the armu was now toppled itself, and there was a group of kids attacking it, alongside blades… and a robot. Oh, and one of said kids was a nopon! How cute, she thought.
Brushing off her dress before getting up, Iwa looked over to the kids as she helped her driver up too.
"Thank you so much, for saving us," Iwa said gratefully to the human boy, before looking over at his fiery blade. She didn't recognize her at all, but the stare that Iwa got in return was one showing remembrance. Helena was quick to catch onto this, and was now distracted from her depression.
"Do… do you two know each other," Helena asked Iwa, looking at the same blade she was.
"N-No, my lady, I do not know her…" Iwa said with a small chuckle, before introducing themselves.
"My name is Iwa, and this is my driver, Helena, it is a pleasure to meet you six."
Rex looked over at Helena, staring at her. The gormotti who traveled with him laughed a bit at his inattentiveness, and said, "call me Nia, that's Rex over there, and his blade Pyra."
The nopon jumped up, eyes wide as he, too, introduced himself.
"Tora is Tora!"
"And you can call Poppi, Poppi," his robot said in return. Iwa looked at Poppi in awe. She seemed to have a core crystal just like any other blade, but it was orange.
"Is your robot a blade?" She asked, not realizing that calling Poppi a robot would offend the nopon a bit.
"Meh meh meh!? Poppi no mere robot, Tora ashamed! Poppi is artificial blade!" Tora said in an angry panic, causing much embarrassment to his friends, except Rex, who was still in daze.
"Rex, are you alright?" Pyra asked, waving her hand in his face. The reaction Rex gave was cute; startled, stepping back a bit, with a 'huh?' Rex shook his head, and to Nia, Tora, and then back to Pyra.
"Sorry about that," he turned back to Helena with a cheeky grin.
"I'm Rex," he held out his hand for her to shake, which she gladly did.
"I'm Helena, it's nice to meet you, and thank you for saving me and Iwa. We would probably not be here if it weren't for you two," she told him, before letting go of his hand- a feeling Rex didn't particularly want.
"Anyways, I think we best be off, yes, Iwa?"
Iwa's eyes widened slightly, but nodded.
"Thank you again, Rex, maybe we shall cross paths again," Iwa said as she followed her driver home. Rex was dumbfounded- why were they simply leaving? With a sigh, he shrugged it off, and headed to Alba Cavinich with his friends.
"Lady Helena, why did we need to leave? You could have made some friends there, you know…" Iwa asked in a somewhat cold tone, but was ignored. Helena had other thoughts right now… at least they weren't of him. Iwa noticed this, and decided to just keep quiet for the remainder of the day.
-
"So. Rex, you were looking at that girl for quite a long time," Nia said with a teasing tone, catching the ears of every member of the group.
"What? No way, Nia, you must've been seein' things," Rex tried to say in defense, but Tora seemed to back Nia up.
"Meh meh, Tora notice it too, Rex-Rex…"
"Yeah, me too, Rex… It's okay though, she was very nice," Pyra added, smiling at how polite the duo had been to them as they searched for the information they seeked. Rex was silent, until the gang kept focus on their objective, and once their task completed, they went to the inn for the night.
A few hours had passed, and Nia had just gotten out of the hotsprings, Poppi soon to follow, leaving now Mythra alone in the warm water with a few nopon on the other end. Mythra, unlike Pyra, was more interested in Iwa, than Helena.
"Why doesn't she remember," the blonde aegis thought to herself.
"Who is she, even?" Pyra spoke from within Mythra's mind, as the two could converse through thought.
"Iwa, she was a very strong blade from the Aegis war. I guess she wasn't passed down with a journal like Brighid," Mythra told Pyra.
"I see… well, what was she like?"
"Well, you see…" Mythra began to tell Pyra about Iwa and her friendship- why they looked so similar in their clothing choice due to being really close friends, and how Iwa was a brave and fearless blade- not some "don't forget your bento" mommy. Pyra sighed, but laughed at the story. It seemed that Mythra really had been close to Iwa, and that was why her presence felt familiar to her. Mythra got out of the springs after her conversation with Pyra was over, and returned to Nia and Poppi for the evening, before the heroes would have to embark on their next journey to go after that artificial blade.
-
That evening, Helena simply could not sleep. Her blades were asleep, but Helena not so much. She watched out her window, a typical task she would do when she had nothing else to do. Her thoughts had returned to him, and she couldn't bear the pain anymore- she was so close to just giving up now, assuming that he had actually left with the intent of hurting her. Dramatic, yes, since she considered taking her life for it- however, that thought was quick to vanish, when she saw Rex and his friends running after something in the dark. Helena's eyes widened, and quickly grabbed her silk robe, and ran out the door.
Nearly catching up, Helena saw Mor Ardain's Special Inquisitor, Morag Ladair, confronting the group. It would be so unprofessional if she had seen her in her night attire, so she hid behind a building that was relatively close by, peaking out at the fight every once in a while. Helena was curious about who this blonde woman was, since she didn't see Pyra anywhere, but Mythra was there in her place. She was unable to make the connection that Mythra was from those stories her father used to tell her about the Aegis war, as Helena had chosen to block those memories out of her head at a young age, after her father's death.
The fight ended, and soon Morag and her blade left Rex and the others, which was when Helena chose to reveal herself to them.
"That was pretty intense- I can't believe you guys got to fight against the strongest driver in Mor Ardain!"
Rex looked over to Helena, before looking away quickly- he wasn't very mature, and seeing a girl in a nightgown and robe was not something he could handle quite yet. The titan in his helmet chuckled a little bit, and said, "now now, Rex, she's just a girl."
Helena missed seeing Mythra transform into Pyra, and so she still did not know where Pyra went.
Nia smiled, and said, "Hey Helena," as her blade bowed.
"I don't think you ever introduced me to your feline friend, what is her name?" Helena asked with a smile. Nia's eyes widened, before she laughed at the misgender of her blade. Dromarch sighed, and approached Helena calmly.
"My name is Dromarch, and I am a boy…" He said as he bowed his head.
"Oh, my bad, I was unaware…" Helena laughed at her own mistake, before looking back to Rex.
"So, what was all of that about? If you need some help getting somewhere in Mor Ardain, I would be happy to help!"
Mythra rose a brow, remembering the first encounter through Pyra's eyes. First, Helena didn't seem to want to be around them, but was polite- and now, she was willingly offering them help? Man was she indecisive, she thought.
"Of course! We'd love any help we can get," Rex said with a smile- a normal smile rather than his cheeky grin from earlier.
"Okay, how about in the morning, then," Helena asked, adding, "since it's pretty late now, and it can be kind of dangerous around here at night."
"Sounds like a plan," Rex said, doing the cheeky grin now, and the two shook on it. They agreed to meet in this exact spot tomorrow, before going their separate ways for the night.