This job was funded and led by three mysterious Drivers. Rex always had a mild interest in Drivers and Blades. He was slightly envious of their power, skill and bonds, believing that being what they are gave them a sincere sense of purpose. They were a strange bunch, his employers. Rex found Malos' rather arrogant personality somewhat annoying. Nia was obnoxious and slightly aggressive, but he was intrigued as to why she was with these other two. And then Jin. Rex was intrigued by him. Despite barely speaking a word around him, he just seemed to radiate power and strength.
Rex was not the only salvager hired for this mission, some of them he had worked with on prior weapon salvaging missions. They were the ones who had taught him the Salvager's Code. While he was grateful of their advice, Rex felt that the Salvager's Code was more like guidelines than a set of rules. He decided to keep to himself as they began to work.
Some time had passed and the salvage team had brought up the sunken ship and began to investigate it. Rex went with the three Drivers, and when they encountered a large door.
"Jin check this out," Malos began. "There it is. Addam's crest."
Rex looked confused. "'Addam's… crest'? What does that mean?"
"You," Jin stated, surprising Rex for a moment. "Open this door."
The salvager looked at the masked man with suspicion. "Why me?"
"This door will only open to one of you people."
"One of me? What do you mean?"
"Hurry up and do it!" Malos barked. "We're not paying you to ask dumb questions!"
"What the hell…?" Rex growled angrily before he began to approach the door.
He began to examine to door.
Of course there's no door handle… or button, or- Hey…
He cut himself off as he noticed the large seal on the door. Rex slowly reached out his hand and took a step back when it began to glow. The door then opened up with a surge of power rushing out. Rex stepped to the side and motioned his hand for the others to go.
"There you are…" he said with a sarcastic tone.
"Open that door too," Jin said.
Rex blinked and looked back down the hallway that had just opened up, now seeing another door at the end. He sighed and made his way to go open up the second door. With another glowing seal to open the door, Rex began to continue on through the next hallway. The Drivers cautiously began to follow him. After a while, he entered a large room and saw something rather strange.
"What… the hell…?" he quietly asked himself as he began to walk closer to the center of the room.
There in the ground was a sword, red with parts that were glowing green. But the really strange thing was what was behind the sword.
A… A girl?
Sealed in a glass capsule of sorts, was a girl. Her clothes and her hair were as red as the sword before her. She appeared to be sleeping, and Rex was surprised to see that she had abnormally large breasts for someone of her stature, to say the least. But what really intrigued him was the green, glowing crystal on her chest. Rex jumped in surprise as the sword's own green crystal began to glow very brightly. He couldn't explain why, but he could have sworn that he heard a heartbeat coming from the crystal.
Meanwhile, the Drivers quietly entered the room without Rex knowing.
"Look," Malos whispered, indicating the scene before them.
"Yes. No mistaking it," Jin whispered. "That's the Aegis."
Nia looked confused and surprised. "The… Aegis…?"
Without thinking, Rex reached out his hand to touch the sword.
Noticing this, Malos yelled, "Hey, brat! Don't even think about touching that!"
Snapping out of his trance, Rex took a step back after he had made contact with the sword, causing it to shine even brighter. Jin quickly rushed forward and drew his katana, stabbing him in the back and piercing his heart. Rex froze while he slowly looked down at the tip of the blood-stained katana sticking out of his chest.
"Don't take it personally," the masked man stated. "It's an act of mercy. At least you won't be alive to see what's coming."
Jin removed his weapon from his body just before Rex fell to the ground. In one swift motion, he slashed with his katana once more, shattering the red sword.
"Jin!" Nia exclaimed. "Why did you kill him?! What did Rex ever do to you?!"
No response. The masked man sheathed his blade after flicking the blood off of it and strode out of the room.
"Let's ship out the Aegis," Malos ordered. "Nia, call the Monoceros!"
Nia just stood there, clenching her fists as she watched Jin slowly walk away. Rex's world began to fade to black.
It was black no more. He slowly opened his eyes from hearing the sound of a bell in the distance. Rex slowly sat up and found himself in a lush field, a gentle breeze rustling the grass. He then stood up and looked around him. There were trees and grass as far as the eye could see, more than he had ever seen in ten years. There was also a hill nearby with a single tree at the top. There was a lone figure there with a hand on the tree.
Rex cautiously began to approach the figure. Once he was closer, he noticed that it was the girl with red hair and clothes from before. She was facing away from him so he slowly began to walk around her.
"Um… Hello…?" he called out cautiously as he slowly approached her.
"… It's such a mournful sound…" she said, still facing away from him.
The bell was still going off. It did sound rather eerie and empty.
"It hasn't stopped," the girl continued. "Not… Not in all these years."
"You mean the bell, right?" Rex asked.
He then began to approach her again.
"Where are we?"
"This is… Elysium. The land where, long ago, mankind lived in harmony with their creator."
Yeah, like that could ever happen…
"It's where… 'We' were born," she said.
Rex walked up next to her and saw what she was able to see. There was a massive lake of water not too far from them with even more vegetation dominating the land. He then turned to look at her. A moment after, she looked at him and smiled. She was slightly taller than him. Rex began to focus on the large, green, glowing crystal on her chest.
"… Is that a Core Crystal?" he began. "… You're a Blade, right?"
The girl nodded and said, "My name is Pyra."
Rex blinked for a moment before saying, "Oh! I'm-"
"I know you. You're Rex, right?" she interrupted him.
He froze and slightly took a step back.
"How did you know my name?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I don't trust her. That smile… She's up to something. I'm sure of it.
"Just now, when we came into contact…" Pyra answered.
"Wait, what? Just now?"
Rex began to realize the situation he was in, turning away to see his surroundings again.
"Listen, I don't even know how I got here…" he said.
Pyra's smile began to fade. She turned away from him, a pained look in her eye.
"You were… killed," she said quietly. "Stabbed through the heart by Jin."
Rex turned to face her again.
"Jin? … Through the…?"
A memory of the masked man rushing behind him, piercing his body with his weapon, flashed into his mind. He covered his mouth with his hands.
Pyra looked sad. "I know this must sound-"
Rex began to laugh, raising his fist in the air with a huge grin. Pyra jumped in surprise when she saw his reaction. He fell down and began to roll down the hill a bit, cackling madly.
"FINALLY!" he yelled. "IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME!"
The Blade looked down at him in horror to see that he was actually happy to be dead. She gulped before she slowly began to approach him. Rex had stopped rolling and was now on his back, wiping away his tears as his shoulders bobbed with laughter. His laughter began to subside as he began to breathe more heavily. He then sat up and looked at the approaching Blade.
"So, why are you here? You dead, too?" Rex asked smiling.
Pyra stopped where she was. She had never thought, let alone seen, anyone could want death this much.
"Uh… no…" she started quietly. "B-… But I do… have a request…"
"Oh? What?" he inquired, composing himself.
Pyra began to think to herself. Is this all an act? Does he really envy death that much? … I guess I should…
"Can you… take me to… Elysium?" she asked him.
Rex's smile faded. "Elysium? But… didn't you just say that we're IN Elysium?"
"This world is merely a memory. An ancient, half-forgotten memory of what once was. The real Elysium lies in your world… atop the World Tree that rises from the heart of Alrest."
"… So this is just an illusion? A-And anyway, I'm dead. Finally," Rex said, muttering the last part. "How would I even be able to help you?"
"I will give you… half of my life force. That way… you can be revived…"
"I'm good."
Pyra blinked and looked up at him. "W-What?"
"I'm good. I'll just stay dead, thanks. You'll have to get someone else to take you," Rex stated as the laid back down in the grass.
The Blade was speechless. "B-But why wouldn't you want to live again? You're pretty young so you would have a long life ahead of you!"
"Oh believe me, I'm good…" he muttered.
"… What about your friends? Y-Your family?!"
"Yeah, like I have those..."
Rex sat up again.
"… You would get to be my Driver, Rex! You, Driver of the Aegis!"
He raised an eyebrow and stood up. "I would get to be a Driver…?"
Pyra smiled, hoping that she may have convinced him. "Yes! Together we would be able to-"
"Tempting, but I'll pass," he interrupted, shaking his head.
Her smile disappeared. There was an air of silence between the two of them for a moment before Pyra broke it.
"What… What happened to you?" she asked nervously. "Why do you not want to live…?"
Rex shook his head and giggled slightly. She could visibly tell that he was angry.
"You want to know, huh?" he began. "You really want to know that I have left absolutely nothing behind in Alrest? How I've never had anyone live long enough to truly care for me?! My life in Alrest was miserable! I barely have a place to stay, besides a few crates on one of the lower decks of the Trade Guild. I have nothing to live for! No one to live for either! I purposely wear the most rusty and old salvaging equipment, hoping that one day it'll fail and I'll drown! I just want to go out in some way that I don't expect it…"
Pyra looked at the boy in horror. She placed her hands on her chest as he screamed at her about his problems.
"I once had this dream, that a Titan let me live on his back as I went out salvaging. That would be nice. Then, SOMEONE would actually care for me…"
Rex looked down and breathed heavily, tears forming in his eyes. Pyra was incredibly concerned for him. She then made a decision.
"Rex," she began. "I want you to take me to Elysium."
He looked up at her incredulously. "Are you serious? I said no!"
"… Rex, I want to help you. I'll be your friend, if you want."
"No offense, but I just don't care. Just leave me here. At least now I'm not a burden to anyone…"
Pyra frowned. She then marched up to him and grabbed his wrist.
"I'm sorry, but please try," she said before she placed his hand on her Core Crystal.
"W-WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Rex screamed, mildly blushing as he tried to resist her grasp before green light enveloped them both.
Rex's body was lying limp in the room before it suddenly rose so that he was standing. It glowed with green light as a red sword, exactly the same as the one from before, formed in his hand. He opened his eyes and looked down at his chest. There was part of the Core Crystal, shaped like an 'X', right where he had been stabbed. He looked around and realized where exactly he was.
Rex then gritted his teeth as the sword ignited.
"Oh, that bitch…" he growled, the sword's flames growing in size and intensity. "I'll take her to Elysium alright… Then I'll kill her!"
