The irony of the fact that the group had journeyed to Torigoth to get out out of the wilderness, just to end up fleeing back out into the plains, was not lost on Nia as they set up camp. They had ended up deciding to stop near the base of a large tree a good distance away from the city, fittingly known by locals as the traveler's resting tree. Given its reputation as a relatively popular spot for people to stop and camp, it probably wouldn't be too hard for the Ardainian army to find them there, but thankfully they had observed that nobody seemed to be following them. It appeared that Morag Ladair had been honest when she said she would let them go. In fact, they probably would have been safe even staying in the city, but nobody really wanted to push their luck on that front.
"...There, that should help with the burn." Nia commented as she finished applying a poultice she'd made from a few select herbs to the injury on Rex's arm where Morag had struck him. She eyed the shallow cut that accompanied the burns and let out a small hum. "Not big, but we should get a bandage on it anyway. Don't mess around with infection." she said matter-of-factly, unrolling a length of bandage and starting to wrap it around the wound. The salvager let out a yelp as she pulled it tight, instinctively yanking his arm away, which earned him a small scowl in return.
"So, why're you doing this anyway?" Rex asked curiously, rubbing his newly-bandaged arm with his other hand. Nia just looked at him flatly.
"Because I know first-aid and you don't, genius." she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"No, I mean... why not just get Dromarch to heal me up? He did a pretty good job before." Rex elaborated, and the Gormotti's critical expression softened a bit.
"Right, I guess you wouldn't have much experience with it..." she conceded with a small sigh. "Ether healing's great in a pinch 'cause of how fast it is, but if you've got time for conventional methods, it's usually better to use them." she explained.
Rex looked at her curiously. "Yeah? Why's that?"
"Well, ether scars worse, among other things." Nia replied, gesturing to her left leg. There was a gash cut clean through her high boot, and the jumpsuit beneath, revealing a small bit of her skin where Rex could just barely see a long, dark scar running diagonally across her knee. "From Jin, remember?" she said. Rex did remember when the swordsman slashed Nia's leg in their fight, and indeed, Dromarch had healed that wound. Of course, it had been necessary at the time, but still, the salvager understood what Nia was getting at now. If it hadn't been a life-or-death situation, it would've been better to bandage the injury instead.
"Despite this, my lady normally has me patch up her injuries regardless." Dromarch commented from his place on the ground a few feet away. "Though I suspect that is more out of laziness than anything." Nia let out an indignant huff, glaring at the tiger-like Blade, who naturally didn't seem to notice.
"Well, there's no shame in having faith in your Blade's abilities." Corvin said as he and Pyra stacked up branches to make a fire. Nia wasn't entirely sure if his comment was meant to be reassuring or condescending, but she decided to roll with it.
"Anyway... anyone else get banged up?" the Gormotti asked, glancing around at the others. She was met with a bunch of shaking heads, which wasn't surprising, really. The Blades could simply regenerate any damage, after all, so that just left Tora, who seemed to be fine.
"Poppi have a small dent on back, but Nia not really able to fix that." the artificial Blade said, and Tora immediately moved behind her to inspect the damage. Seeing that it was nothing more than a tiny spot, he just decided not to worry about it. Poppi was sturdy enough to last. Since she was done tending wounds, Nia quickly moved over to adopt her preferred sitting arrangement with Dromarch.
With the wood gathered, Pyra held one hand over the pile, a fireball forming which swiftly engulfed the kindling, becoming a comfortable campfire. Corvin gave Pyra a thumbs-up as if to say "mission accomplished" and the two Blades sat down on the dirt.
"So, Rex?" Pyra asked, looking at the salvager with a small smile. "How are you feeling now that you're a driver?"
Rex shrugged. "I dunno. I'm real glad it worked out, but I kinda thought it'd feel different or something." he said, looking over at Corvin as he spoke.
"Hey now, don't underestimate it. I'm sure things'll be great once you get used to having me around." the blonde said, his tone carrying the same confidence he'd had when he was awakened.
"Indeed, Rex. There are many benefits to being a driver." Gramps interjected, resting one of his tiny pink claws on Rex's shoulder. "You can do things that a normal human could never hope to accomplish – greater feats of strength, utilizing special arts, and so on. And forging a strong bond with Corvin will make it easier to utilize your abilities." the titan explained. Rex hummed in thought, placing one hand on his chin.
"A bond, huh?" he pondered curiously.
"That's right." Pyra agreed, nodding. "Blades and drivers share a link called affinity – if they trust in each other, that link is a lot stronger." the Aegis said, elaborating on Gramps's claims.
"Well that shouldn't be a problem, then. Corvin seems alright to me." Rex replied casually. The blonde in question flashed an easygoing grin at that.
"See, you're getting it already! Put your faith in me, and we'll be great friends. You'll see." Corvin declared, pointing one hand up to the sky for emphasis. Nia, watching the whole show, let out a small snicker.
"Wow, Rex. You got a real winner, didn'tcha?" she thought, amused by the Blade's weirdly-plucky attitude. In a way, it seemed like a good fit for a driver as boundlessly-optimistic as Rex. But then, Blades often reflected their drivers to varying degrees, so perhaps that wasn't really a surprise.
Tora leaned over and started none-too-subtly whispering to Poppi. "Meh, is Tora only one who thinks Corvin act full of himself?"
"Poppi agree, masterpon. He is real weirdo." the artificial Blade replied, not even bothering to regulate her volume. The sheer bluntness of the way she said it made Nia burst into laughter, earning disapproving looks from both Pyra and Dromarch. Tora at least had the good grace to seem embarrassed – Poppi did not. Fortunately, Corvin didn't appear to be bothered, simply smiling and giving a small shrug.
"Anyway, if we're gonna be friends, then what can you tell me about yourself, Corvin?" Rex asked, turning back to his Blade curiously. To his surprise, Corvin frowned slightly at the question.
"To be honest, I'm not sure how much I can answer." the blond Blade replied after a moment. "And trust me, being unsure is pretty rare for me." And there was the cockiness back in full force. "Thing is, I don't really know who I am either. I guess we'll find out!"
Rex tilted his head in confusion. "Uh, what'dya mean by that?" he wondered. Nia had to resist the urge to facepalm when she heard that.
"Seriously, Rex? You don't know anything about Blades, do you?" the Gormotti groaned in exasperation. Fortunately, Gramps was feeling a bit more helpful...
"Normally, when a Blade's driver dies, the Blade reverts to its core crystal and loses all its memories, except for basic personality traits and skills. And its name, of course." the miniature titan explained.
"Huh, really? That sounds like a pretty tough break." Rex commented, putting one hand on his chin as he considered the implications of this new information.
"It's not all bad. Sometimes memories can be... unpleasant." Pyra said quietly, drawing curious eyes onto her. "Forgetting lets the Blades start fresh, without the burdens of their past lives weighing them down." she concluded solemnly. Rex and Tora glanced at each other, both seeming a bit uncomfortable with the depressing turn the conversation had taken. Nia, meanwhile, had an unreadable look on her face, her arms crossed.
"Yeah, that sounds nice and all, but... Look, when it's bad stuff that happened, I get not wanting to remember that. But when your unpleasant memories are of losing loved ones... nobody should forget that. Remembering kinda... lets 'em live on, in a way." Nia muttered, sounding more downcast than even she was expecting.
The Aegis looked at Nia closely, trying to figure out exactly where that had come from... and then she remembered what Dromarch had told her about their shared driver: "When my lady awakened me, she had no one. No friends or family, only me." And then some of the pieces fell into place. Pyra wasn't sure exactly what that had to do with Blades returning to their cores, but whatever Nia's story was, it wasn't a pleasant one.
"Nia..." the redhead started to say sympathetically, but the Gormotti waved one hand in a dismissive motion, shaking her head.
"Forget it. I'm just rambling, it is what it is." Nia replied, trying to force herself to sound casual. In truth, her mind was storming with unease, hoping that nobody was thinking too deeply about why the subject had bothered her. "Get yourself together and learn to keep your mouth shut, damn it." she mentally scolded herself.
"Ahem..." Dromarch cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention, and Nia silently thanked him for the save. "I believe we still have an important matter to discuss. Namely: have you formulated a plan for reaching Elysium, my lady?" the bestial Blade asked.
"Uh, well, I've thought about it... Didn't come up with much, though." the Gormotti admitted. In truth, she really hadn't considered it much, too caught up in everything that had happened in Torigoth. "I mean, it can't be as simple as just taking a ship over to the World Tree, can it?" she added, partially to head off any criticisms of her lack of ideas.
"You know, I was actually gonna suggest that... but now that you say it, yeah, if it were that easy everyone would've done it, wouldn't they?" Rex asserted. Pyra blushed slightly in embarrassment, not wanting to admit that she, too, had considered trying to sail straight for the World Tree.
"Indeed. While Master Titan and I were confined, we discussed the issue to some extent. Our conclusion was that, if we wish to reach Elysium, we will need more information. I believe research is in order." Dromarch explained – the reason he'd even brought the topic up was to lead to this point.
"Research, Dromarch? You would suggest that, wouldn't you?" Nia replied, not sounding particularly enthused with the idea. Not that she hated scholarly pursuits, or anything, she just found it to be rather dull, and sitting around reading a bunch of dusty books hardly sounded productive.
"Now, do not scoff at the wisdom of the past. If the stories are true, then Elysium is critical to Alrest's history after all." Gramps said, sounding rather like a disapproving school teacher.
"Does friend Nia think Poppi was built in single day? No. Sometimes things take time." Poppi interjected, her tone surprisingly sage-like. Nia wasn't sure how to feel about getting life lessons from Poppi, of all people, but still, she couldn't exactly say the artificial Blade was wrong...
"Tch, okay, we'll do some bloody research." the Gormotti conceded somewhat grudgingly. "Where're you planning on doing this, eh? Not like we're gonna find anything useful in Torigoth."
Dromarch hummed in response. "I have put some thought into that as well. Although Indol seems the most likely place to find answers, a group of unregistered drivers and Blades such as ours would likely not be welcome." In truth, there was another reason for Dromarch and Nia to want to avoid the Praetorium, but he didn't feel the need to say it. "Instead, I propose we take a trip to the Urayan capital."
"Uraya, huh? How'd you figure that?" Nia wondered curiously.
"Fonsa Myma is a large city with a considerable deal of history behind it. We should find no shortage of resources there." the bestial Blade replied.
"It is also a place where we would not need to be concerned about Ardainian scrutiny, given the history between the two nations." Gramps added.
"Hmm. I guess that makes sense, yeah. Anyone got any problems?" Nia asked, looking around at the rest of the group. She was mostly met with shrugs and shaking heads. "Right, Uraya it is then. But... how're we gonna get there? No way we'd be able to take a ship from Torigoth, the army's gotta be watching anything that comes or goes..."
"...And though they let us go, they might react badly if we tried to book passage to Uraya, their sworn rivals. A fair point, my lady." Dromarch realized, sounding like he was trying to work through a complicated puzzle.
"Tora has an idea, friends!" the Nopon exclaimed proudly. "We not need ship from Torigoth, there is old friend of Tora's family in Gormott: Umon! Umon is shipbuilder, so we can take boat without bully soldiers ever knowing."
"Huh, that's pretty convenient." Rex commented, nonplussed. Nia agreed with the sentiment, though lucky coincidences hardly surprised her at this point, given how frequently they had been occurring. She didn't really want to think about what might happen if and when that luck ran out.
"Well, I'm glad we have a plan." Pyra said. "But it's very late and we've all been through a lot. I don't want anyone running themselves ragged." she concluded in a concerned, almost motherly sort of tone. Still, nobody could really argue, it had been late at night when their rescue had taken place, and that was several hours ago now. It might very well be early in the morning at this point. Even powerful Blades needed sleep. So, with that said, everyone began to settle down for the night. While most of the group had to make do with sleeping on the ground, Nia clambered up onto Dromarch's back as usual. After a moment, the tiger-like Blade looked over at Pyra and waved one paw, beckoning her over. With a small smile, the Aegis sat down in front of Dromarch and laid back, her head resting against his side. The fact that Dromarch invited her to do that was a small gesture... but Pyra couldn't shake off the warm feeling of being included.
When the group finally awakened late into the morning, they set off for Umon's shipyard, which was located on the other side of the Gormott titan's back, past the great ridges that ran along its spine. Fortunately, though Tora hadn't visited Umon in about a year, he still knew the path like the back of his wings, so it only took a couple hours of walking to reach the shipyard. And from there, everything proceeded surprisingly smoothly – Umon was perfectly happy to lend the ship he was working on to Tora without asking too many probing questions, in fact he seemed quite impressed with Tora for having finished the artificial Blade project. All the group had to do was help him gather a few parts to put the finishing touches on the ship – a task which proved to be almost trivial when they had an experienced salvager like Rex available. And so it was that the Aegis's driver and her motley crew set out for the kingdom of Uraya.
Submerged in the depths of the cloud sea was a very well-kept secret, a true marvel of ancient engineering: a massive battleship, so large that it was essentially a mobile fortress. This high-tech vessel was known as the Marsanes, and it happened to serve as the headquarters of a particular group. Not too long ago, the black ship called the Monoceros had docked within the Marsanes, and now some of the members of the notorious terrorist group Torna were gathered in the bay, discussing their next move.
"Honestly, I'm still amazed by how it all played out." commented a lean young man with slightly messy black hair, dressed in an outfit not that different from Malos's, but colored blue. On his waist were two glowing blue katanas, and perched on the bridge of his nose were a pair of rectangular glasses with striking red frames. "My script accounted for the Aegis awakening, of course, but choosing Nia of all people? Truly, there is no accounting for taste!" he proclaimed in a slightly over-dramatic voice, as if he was making a show for an audience only he could see.
"You got that right, Akhos!" chimed in a rather childish voice from above. Floating around over the man's head was his Blade, a rather odd-looking figure resembling a young girl, with an outfit made of some sort of light gray chitinous material, the upper half of her face obscured by a large mask with no eye holes. Wrapped around her were six odd wing-like organs, which curiously didn't seem to actually be attached to her body. "Nia's gone all villain-y now. In hindsight, she never really fit in, though, so really it's easy to see she'd screw it up." the Blade said, placing one finger on her chin in mock-thoughtfulness.
"You know, she's not wrong." Malos drawled lazily from where he was leaning back against one of the cold metal walls, arms crossed. He glanced over at Jin, who had been quiet as usual. "Why did you bring that brat along, anyway?" he asked.
The white-haired swordsman let out a small "hmph" and crossed his own arms. "We had no idea how the Aegis might be defended. And Nia was our most experienced medic. It made tactical sense." Jin replied in a tone which brooked absolutely no argument.
"Tch, whatever." Malos grunted, doing an admirable job at making it seem like he didn't care for the conversation.
"And she really earned that trust, didn't she?" Akhos said, his voice thick with sarcasm. Jin's trademark piercing gaze fixed on him, and he raised his hands defensively. "Ah, not that I'm questioning your judgment, but come now, even you must admit that Nia was the weak link in that chain." The masked man simply stared down Akhos for a few more moments, just long enough to intimidate him slightly – not that he would admit it - before finally speaking.
"Do we know their current location?" Jin inquired bluntly.
Akhos pushed his glasses up with one finger, a smirk playing across his face. "Naturally! Of course I'd never be such an amateur as to lose track of them." he replied haughtily. "Obrona, that's your cue."
"Yeah, whatever." the floating Blade replied, pouting slightly. Still, she floated down next to her driver and held up one hand, which glowed a brilliant yellow. In a flash, a cluster of golden holograms appeared hovering in the air – detailed depictions of every major titan, accurately positioned relative to each other and the World Tree as they were in real life. A cluster of glowing dots lit up in empty space not far out from the holographic Gormott, gradually moving away from the deer-like titan.
"It would appear they've taken a ship, heading away from Gormott... And judging from the direction, it would appear they're heading towards Uraya." Akhos explained, pointing out the cluster, then to a large whale-like titan that was indeed directly in their path. "Oh, and this is interesting... You see, this is Dromarch's wavelength, and this is the Aegis's..." he said, pointing out two particular dots. Then he indicated a third glowing spot. "But this one isn't familiar. So either Nia has awakened another Blade, or else their little band has another driver."
"You think it's Nia's pet salvager?" Malos scoffed derisively.
"I honestly couldn't say." Akhos answered with a shrug before turning back to the display. "And there's one more thing. Look here, a certain shipment has set out." he added, pointing out another glowing cluster which appeared on the map – this one moving towards a titan that resembled a massive bird or dragon.
"Core crystals set for Indol to be 'cleansed'. Fills me with reverence." Malos drawled sarcastically. Nobody disagreed with him on that point.
"I'll handle that. Akhos, deal with the Aegis." Jin commanded. Akhos nodded his assent, and Jin paused as if deep in thought. "...Do whatever you have to about Nia." he added after a moment. There was just the slightest hint of resignation in his voice, though if his companions picked up on it, they didn't comment.
"Right, I'm going with him. And we're taking the Monoceros." Malos declared. Jin hummed in thought.
"Very well." was all the white-haired swordsman said before turning his back and walking away. While Malos watched him go, Akhos turned his attention back to the projection, specifically the cluster of dots which represented the Aegis & co.
"I must admit, I'm looking forward to this. Every good script needs a bit of conflict." Akhos commented theatrically. "Such a shame my dear sister wasn't available for this task. I'm sure she'd be quite jealous."
"Well that's what she gets for being out all the time!" Obrona agreed with a somewhat-malicious giggle.
"Hmph. Let's get going. Come on, Sever!" Malos barked, walking across the gangplank to board the Monoceros, his monstrous Blade soon joining him. Obrona's holographic display vanished into nothingness and soon she and Akhos had fallen in line behind Malos. Within a couple minutes, they'd taken their stations within the black vessel, and it quickly submerged beneath the pocket of clouds within the bay. With the press of a button, a pair of massive steel doors slid open on the side of the Marsanes, granting access to the rest of the cloud sea, and soon the Monoceros had departed for the Urayan titan.
Author's Notes: Right, so, this chapter is short and a bit filler-y, but I kinda had trouble coming up with more. I've been playing the Torna expansion to reignite my creativity, but it's also making me revise my plans a bit, so... yeah. Still, I've got some good ideas for the Uraya arc proper, so that should go a little more smoothly.