Read the AN at the bottom for more clarity!
Chapter Two
Night fell upon the little village of Fonsett, and the group recuperated, relaxing before their slumber.
Zeke was still out cold, but Corrine was more than happy to give him and Pandoria a bed in a guest room. Nia was already asleep, so Dromarch put her on his back and went up the stairs.
"It seems that my lady is asleep, Master Rex," He called. "I bid you goodnight." He pulled his nightcap from his little pouch as he disappeared from view.
Rex, Pyra, and Mythra were all sitting next to each other on the sofa in the new living room.
"What a day…" Mythra yawned, stretching back, inadvertently exposing much more of herself than usual to Rex, causing him to turn away, only to come face to face with his fiery-haired blade. With a small shout of surprise, Rex lost his balance and fell backwards, landing in Mythra's lap.
"R-Rex?" She exclaimed, not moving. "W-what're you doing?"
"Oh, uh… S-sorry, Mythra," he apologized, a bashful smile on his face. He began to get up before the Aegis placed her hand on his chest.
"I-I didn't say you had to get up," she said, turning her head so the others wouldn't see the red glow ebbing into her cheeks. "I was just surprised, that's all." She ran her fingers through his hair absent-mindedly, sneaking glances at him every once in a while.
Rex made a few futile efforts to get up, but he soon gave in. At first, he was feeling embarrassed, but the feeling of her hands in his hair soothed him. 'This is… comfy…' He thought, his head sinking a little more into Mythra's thighs. Pyra looked at the scene and got up quietly, wanting to give the two their space. She had spent most of the journey to the World Tree with him, after all, so this was only fair. She silently walked out of the room.
"So, Mythra," he said, looking up at her. "I was thinking about some things earlier. Ya know, about… us." He clasped his hands together and tried to focus on her. Meanwhile, Mythra's eyes widened as the blush on her face only grew. She looked down.
"W-what do you mean?" She asked warily, still playing with her Driver's hair.
"Well…" He began. "For most of my life I've always told people, friends and family alike, that I love them. And it's true. I think I really care for each and every one of my friends." He turned a little, so that he was looking at Mythra's dress rather than her face. "But today, after the… uh… incident between Mòrag and Zeke… I began to realize that there's a difference in what I'm feeling. Ya know, towards you, Pyra, and… I think even Nia."
Mythra stayed silent. Looking down at the boy, her partner, she couldn't help but see how he had changed since Pyra first met him. He was still painfully dense, at times, but he was picking up on somethings easier now…
"Eh… Mythra?" He asked, shaking her out of her reverie.
"Yeah? What is it Rex?"
"It's n-nothin'," he replied, turning his head away.
"You can tell me, Rex."
"Well… You were sorta… staring at me, ya know? Pretty intensely, at that." He smiled sheepishly.
Before Mythra could respond, a loud bellow shook the house.
"TURTERS‼‼‼ WHERE ARE YOU, BOY?!"
Mythra jumped in her seat, sending Rex tumbling to the ground as the sound of pans falling echoed from the kitchen.
"What the –" Rex began as a disgruntled Bringer of Chaos tumbled down the staircase landing in a heap at the bottom. A loud hiss reverberated from upstairs, followed by wood splintering and a light thud.
Quickly, Pyra rushed out of the kitchen and kneeled by Rex who was still lying on the ground, confused.
"Rex," she cried. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, Pyra," he replied groggily. "Though I don't think it's me you should be worrying about." He pointed at Zeke.
Pyra gasped as she ran to the Prince. However, before she reached him, he popped back to his feet with impressive speed, before placing his hands on his hips and laughing.
"Ha-HA! Nothing, NOTHING can stop the Bringer of Chaos, wielder of the Eye of Justice, Zeke! Von! Genbu!" He wiped a fake tear from his uncovered eye. "But the theatrics must wait. TURTERS! WHERE ARE YOU?"
Mythra got up and stormed towards Zeke, who was still distracted by his search. Before she could reach him, though, another loud hiss echoed as a small yellow figure flew through the air and landed on the Drama King. The momentum of the flying object hit Zeke so hard that he flew into the air and rolled twice before landing on his back, winded, with the figure on top of him.
"You! Lousy! ONE! EYED! MONSTER!" Nia yelled as she hit his chest again and again. "Why is it that I'm always bein' disturbed by some idiot," she glared at Rex for a second. "When I'm trying to sleep?!"
Before Zeke could respond, Pandoria jumped down, from the top of the stairs, executing a flawless landing before bowing her head repeatedly.
"Sorrysorrysorry!" She said extending her hand. In it was a small, green thing. "My prince… Turters was on the bed. He rolled off when you jumped up." She looked around sheepishly at the stunned onlookers.
Zeke gulped. "Oh…" In a swift movement, he picked up the livid Gormotti girl and moved her off of him before standing up and slipping into his acting pose. "Well, it seems that the mystery has been solved. Thanks to the help of the Bringer of Chaos and his wonderful blade, the world is peaEEEEEEEEEE‼‼‼"
He didn't finish his sentence because Nia slammed her fist where it would hurt the most for a man like Zeke. His voice got a few octaves higher as he stiffened and fell down, howling in pain.
"Right in the KNOCKERS!" He yelled before passing out again.
Pandoria rushed forwards and picked him up with little effort. "Please excuse my prince, everyone." She draped him over her shoulder before racing to the stairs. "Good night, everyone!"
Rex watched the entire spectacle with glazed eyes. The tiredness had finally overwhelmed him as he mumbled a goodnight to everyone as he lumbered up to his room where he flopped on his bed, and let sleep overcome him.
The next morning, Rex woke up feeling refreshed. He realized that he hadn't finished his conversation with Mythra, but maybe it was for the better. After brushing his teeth, he went down to see a very lively house. Nia was apologizing to Zeke, who was walking with a limp. Pyra had made enough food for them all to eat, while Mythra was at the far end of the room talking with Pandoria and Dromarch. He also spotted Aunt Corrine helping his blade with the food.
"Good mornin', everyone!" He exclaimed, drawing the attention to him. "Did everyone sleep well?"
All room went silent as everyone stared awkwardly at each other. Finally, Zeke broke the ice.
"Well, chum," he said loudly. "Thanks to my pal Nia, here, I slept like an Ardun. No hard feelings, right?" He patted the cat girl on her back, who smiled warmly at him. "Not at all," she replied.
Rex stared at the pair. "Did I, uh, miss anything?" He asked.
"We just talked it over earlier," Pyra began. "Then those two just forgave each other."
The Salvager smiled. "Alright! You guys followed the Salvager's Code!" He exclaimed.
Nia stared at him blankly. "We did?"
"Yeah! You know, the Sixth rule: First have a punch-out, then drink to forget. Once you've –"
"We get it, Rex," Nia interrupted, as the young Salvager's speech was cut short. "Now, come on. Eat quickly! We've got to meet Mòrag in Indol soon."
"Okay!" Rex quickly pulled up a chair and sat down, digging into his breakfast without any more warning.
After a quick flight via Azurda, the group reached the Indoline transportation Hub.
"Are you all sure that you don't need me to come along?" He asked. "I could help you."
"It is fine, O Mighty Titan! As long as the Zekenator is here, there is no reason for anyone to fear!" He pulled his sword from his back and held in an action stance.
"Oh, brother," Nia replied, grabbing Zeke's collar and pulling him. "C'mon, Shellhead. Mòrag is waiting." She raised her hand in a sign of farewell. "See ya later, Gramps!"
Rex turned to the Titan as the others were walking away. "Hey Gramps… Thank you."
"For what, Rex?" He asks innocently.
"I understood what you were telling me yesterday. I just… don't know what to do now." He rubbed the back of his neck again.
"Just follow your instincts, Rex. I'm sure they feel the same about you, too, you know." The Titan winked before flapping his wings. "Take care, Rex!" He called as he flew away.
"You too, old man!" He turned and ran to his friends, who had just reached the strict Mor Ardainian woman who was waiting for them, her blade waiting silently by her side. A small smirk was on her face.
"Good morning, everyone," she said, straightening herself. "It's nice to see everybody on time, for once." She looked at Zeke. "Also, Thunderbolt. Sorry about yesterday." She tipped her hat down so no one could see her face. "You caught me off guard."
"It's alright, my fair lady!" Zeke replied with gusto, draping an arm around her shoulder. "I must say, you did the same to me!"
She glared at him menacingly. "Get your hand off of me, Zeke." She said through clenched teeth. The burly man moved away quickly and nodded meekly.
"Anyway, as I was saying," she continued. "We're going to be traveling back to Torigoth. I had received an invitation from a certain Nopon about a special revelation, so Brighid and I thought it might be nice to meet up with him to see what's got him all excited."
Mythra snickered. "Knowing Tora, it's probably just a new maid dress for Poppi." Nia joined in on the laughter, leaning on Rex's shoulder for support.
"You know I did come here to take them to Tantal first…" Zeke said softly, his blade patting him on the back.
"You mentioned something about that, didn't ya, Shellhead?" Nia snarked at the man whose ego was already in shambles.
"Come on!" He cried, all bravado gone from his voice. "Can't you give a guy a break?"
Before anyone could answer the hurt prince, a loud explosion shook the platform they were standing on.
"What the hell was that?" Mòrag yelled over the commotion, drawing her weapons. The others also armed themselves, scanning the area for any threats.
"You should always know your surroundings, people!" A gravelly voice echoed from above them. Instinctively, they dived out of the way as a giant, turquoise ball of fluff fell from above them, along with an absolutely massive Blade. Rex was the first to recover. He turned and looked at the attacker.
"Wha-wha-wh-wh-what? Is that… Chairman Bana?"
Hey guys! Sorry if this seems a little rushed. i'm still trying to figure out how to accurately express each character. Maybe I'll split the chapters into parts so we can have better depth into the characters. Anyways, please review if you'd like, and let me know what i can fix. I'll probably come back and rewrite this, someday!
BTW, idotpart1 brought this up, but well... It was sort of unclear, but you know the place on the Leftherian Archipelago that acted as the road to Indol? I was implying that the transportation station was still under the name of Indol, but functioned as a transit from Leftheria to anywhere else, seeing as the Titans are closer now.
Edit: Man, so many of these. Anyways, TemporalKing suggested that I add maybe a few other Blades or people to Rex's growing harem, along with maybe some other tips. I really appreciate this, and I might just do it! Check out his review, it's great! :)
Thank you all so much!
