Author's Note: Well, here I am again. And you know what that means, right? Yup, Chapter 2 is fully completed. 11 parts over and done with. ... I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing... Again, apologies if it seems slow in some parts, I just don't want these parts to be too long...
Either way, we're set to begin the next chapter. So without further ado, let's begin...
Chapter 2: Aptitude
Alrest: Population, Dwindling
Part 7: Crash & Separation
"... And so, Pupunin wisely ran away for dear life," Pupunin informed Bana via a telecall. He has been observing all that went on at the vessel's exterior before fleeing with the rest of the salvagers on the Maelstrom. Bana, however, was not amused.
"Wise!? Who wise now!?" he retorted, "You useless idiot! Why can Pupunin not even die properly!? What if they ask Bana to repay money, hm?"
Pupunin had a look of confusion. "Huh? Die? Repay who?"
Bana merely sighed at that. "Meh! None of your business," he replied, vaguely, "Anyway, tell me where Rex and Blade went."
"Rex, Titan, and friends ran away!" Pupunin answered, telling what he saw from the Titan's departure, "Went to south of Cyclus Sea. After that, Bana know as much as Pupunin! Storm was very thick, so Pupunin-"
"Pupunin lose them, yes?" Bana interrupted, losing more of his temper, "And then run away like coward, yes?"
The meager Nopon was growing nervous. "W-well, y-yes, but-"
"Meh-meh-meh-meh-MEH! Bana not wanting feeble excuse of Pupunin!" Ban shouted, slamming his ears on the desk, "Just get back here! You got lot of work to do!"
With that, Bana turned off the telecall with an agitated sigh. "Meh-meh-meh... Even pricey insurance Bana take out on Maelstrom got to waste!
"Still, how interesting..." he quickly calmed down, staring at a paper map of Alrest on a wall, "Heading southward from Cyclus Sea... In current season, that likely take them to Gormott."
He then turned to one of the dancers. "You, girl. Get Consul Dughall on the line."
The dancer tinkered with the telecall until it reactivated, revealing... well, quite a face.
"Why, if it isn't Chairman Bana! What an unexpected pleasure!" the man who could only be this 'Dughall' welcomed, "May I just say I admire how you rebranded those broken Core Crystals, and sold them to the dunderheads in Mor Ardain! Absolutely subline!"
"Bana did not call to hear pointless flattery," Bana retorted, temper rising as he shouted the next bit, "And blabbering about Core Crystals on unsecured line!? Is Dughall some kind of idiot!? What if Indol tap our communication!?"
Dughall faltered upon hearing he made such a screw-up. "O-oh, of course? I'm very sorry!" he apologized, though Bana did not care.
"Meh, forget it. We got bigger fishies to fry," he informed, "Listen up..."
This must be a new record for how many times Ash and Kari could lose conscious. Twice already, and they've just got to Alrest! They, as well as Pikachu and Gatomon, had just gotten away from Jin and Malos on Azurda alongside Rex, Nia, and their Blades, one of which, a girl named Pyra, turned out to be the reason why they came to the vessel in the first place! Unfortunately, their escape wasn't so smooth, courtesy of a few harpoons from a certain black ship, and they apparently crash landed in parts unknown.
Kari has soon regain consciousness, and the first thing she saw was a blanket of trees covering the skies. For a minute there, she thought she was back at the DigiWorld. She sat up and gazed around the area until her eyes fell on an unconscious Ash.
"Ash!" she called out as she rushed toward the fallen Trainer. Hearing his name, Ash slowly opened his eyes, in time to see a relieved Kari. "Thank goodness you're alright."
"Kari...?" he spoke, sitting up as he regained consciousness, "What happened...?"
Kari gave Ash a worried look. "We seemed to have crash landed somewhere after Azurda-" she explained before cutting herself off after mentioning the Titan, remembering the wounds he got, "Oh, no! Azurda!"
"I'm right here, kids..." spoke an elderly voice that could only be Azurda. Ash and Kari turned to where the voice came from, relieved smiles on their faces... until they actually saw where it came from, their joyous faces replaced by that of horror.
"Azurda... No...!"
Ahead of them was a limped figure of Azurda. His wings were crumbled by the landing, his body bended in ways they shouldn't, and sticking out of his back and neck were numerous harpoons from the black ship's attack. The offworld duo couldn't believe their eyes.
"I am glad to see you two unharmed..." the Titan spoke in a calm tone, even though he's struggling to remain conscious.
"Hold on, Azurda! I'm sure there must be some way to help you!" Ash tried to reassure, only for Azurda to slightly shake his head.
"You are kind... to want to help someone you've just met..." he replied weakly, "However... It is already too late for me... I doubt you, who came from offworld, would've done anything to prevent it..."
Both Ash and Kari had tears in their eyes. Though they haven't been with the Titan as long as they had with Rex, they still considered him a good friend... so to lose him like that...?
"If you all could find Rex, please tell him... the days with him were the best I ever had..." Azurda requested, only for Ash to faced him again.
"You can tell him yourself, Azurda! We're not giving up on you!" he yelled, trying to contain his sorrows even as Kari lay a hand on the Trainer's shoulder, though it's clear even she believed there wasn't anything they could do...
'Oh, Azurda... Rex is gonna be so heartbroken...' she thought, remembering the salvager saying that Azurda practically raised him like, well, a gramps, 'How are we gonna tell Rex about this...?'
"GRAMPS!"
Too late. The duo turned back and saw Rex rushing toward the dying Titan, Pyra hot on his tail. Upon reaching Azurda, Rex had a horrified look that surpassed those of Ash's and Kari's, and even Pyra looked like she was about to cry.
"It is good to see you uninjured, Rex..." Azurda assured the crying salvager.
"No...! Hold on, I should have some herbs!" Rex attempted to reassure, reaching into a bag to pull something out, only to be stopped when Kari held his arm. He looked at the Digidestined, who merely shook her head in depression.
"There's... nothing we can do about it..." was her only response. Ash was trying his hardest to contain his tears and anger at being unable to do anything, while Pyra gazed at the Titan with such sadness. Rex could only closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears in.
"Do not cry, my boy..." Azurda comforted the depressed salvager, "This is my fate... Though it shall end, my happiest times were spent with you..."
He then turned to the offworld duo. "Ash... Kari... While I'm gone, please take care of Rex..."
Ash wiped the tears out of his eyes and faced the dying Titan. "We will, Azurda... We will..."
"Rex will... be in good hands..." Kari added, also trying her hardest not to be anymore sad.
Relieved by the answers, Azurda turned back to Rex. "No parting is forever... We will surely meet again... when the ether flow wills it..." he conforted as blue light began to cover his body, "Until we meet again... Rex..." Once the light fully engulfed him, he disappeared into blue particles... Just like that... Azurda was gone...
"Gramps!" Rex yelled, attempting to reach for the particles in vein. When it was clear that Azurda wasn't coming back, he dropped to his knees in tears. Pyra turned away in sadness while Ash and Kari each lay a hand on Rex's shoulders in hopes of consoling him, having given up on containing their own tears. The quartet remained like this for a while, until...
"I told you not to cry, didn't I, Rex?" a more youthful voice called out, though it fell on deaf ears, "Rex... Rex..."
"GRAAAAAMPS!" Rex yelled one last time, letting out all of his sadness and frustration, only to stop when the voice called out one last time.
"Reeex!"
At that point, everyone turned toward the source of the voice... and couldn't believe their tear-stained eyes. Standing where Azurda laid was a small, fluffy creature with purple wings, a set of purple frills on his head, a tiny horn, and a gem on the chest. In short, it resembles some sort of chibified Azurda!
The quartet stared at the creature for a few seconds before reacting. "WHAAAAAAT!?" they all yelled out.
"G-G-Gramps...!?" Rex spoke in disbelief, "Is that really you...!?"
"Use your eyes! Don't you recognized me?" the creature, who is apparently a reborn Azurda, questioned. The others' response, on the other hand, were utter confusion.
"Um, well... Not really, no," Pyra confirmed, baffled at the turn of events. Kari, however, gripped where her heart is and sighed in relief.
"Don't scare us like that, Azurda!" she scolded, "You nearly gave me a heart-attack!"
"Yea, you can't just tell us to take care of Rex only to not be dead in the first place!" Ash added, a mixture of relief and anger, "How did you even do that!?"
"Well, what I did was maximizing my cellular regeneration to preserve all of my vital bodily functions," Azurda explained, "Of course, that seemed to only revert me into a larval stage..."
"Hmph, must be quite handy, being a Titan and all..." Rex commented, folding his arms and turning away with a huff.
"This isn't something just any Titan can do. Only one so advanced as myse-" Azurda boasted only to realize Rex's attitude, "Erm, Rex, are you angry?"
"I'm not mad," Rex defied, "More that I didn't want you seeing me blubbering like a baby..."
"To be fair, Rex had every rights to be mad," Kari commented, "We thought you were dead, then you turn up like this!?"
"Well, in my defense, I wasn't exactly expecting the regeneration to actually work," Azurda informed. By that point, Rex turned back to the now larval Titan, no longer huffing.
"So, how long until you're back to normal?" he asked, mildly curious.
Azurda gave the question some thought. "Good question... I'd say no more than 300 years," he answered.
"300 years!? I'll be long dead by then!" Rex reacted with shock. Pyra, Ash, and Kari were also surprised to hear that. "Where am I supposed to live!? Would I have to live on the streets!?"
"Perhaps this is an opportunity to fly the nest," the larval Titan suggested, though Rex was unamused by it.
"You mean pay rent? It's a massive expense, Gramps!" he informed before soon developing a smile, "Still... I am glad you're alright."
"That was quite a shock to us, though," Ash commented, "It was bad enough when Rex died only to turn up alive. What is it with you two and coming back from the dead!?"
That particular comment took Azurda by surprise as he flew up to their face level. "What's this about Rex dying?" he questioned, gazing at the X-shaped gem on Rex's chest, "Just what happened to you all?"
Yea... Ash ended up speaking too much as he covered his mouth while Kari facepalmed. "I'll explain everything later," Rex promised, "Right as soon as we find the others."
"Right, there's no signs of Gatomon, Pikachu, Nia, or Dromarch," Kari added, "I hope they're alright."
"Nia and Dromarch?" Azurda questioned, not familiar with the cat-eared girl and tiger Blade, "Do you mean that Driver and Blade from before?"
"Yea. They really helped us out there. If it wasn't for them, we'd probably be dead," Ash informed, "Any idea where they all are, Azurda?"
The larval Titan gave it some thought, though after a while, he merely shook his head. "Can't say I know. I remember crashing through many trees before landing here..." he said, pointing at the clearing of broken trees, "I'm guessing they fell off then. That's all I know, however."
"We'd probably have better luck following the trail Azurda left behind," Pyra recommended, "Perhaps we'll find them on our way."
"It's our best bet... Let's go, everyone," Rex called out, grabbing Azurda and placing him in his helmet strapped on the back of his neck.
"Ohoh! Now this makes for a nice change," Azurda commented as the quartet headed through the trail.
"REX! ASH! KARI!" Nia yelled out in hopes of finding her new friends. Unfortunately, no such luck... "They can't have gone far."
"My lady, we may be better off going deeper into the woods," Dromarch recommended, pointing at a trail of broken trees, "It's possible they may have landed farther ahead."
"Yea, good point, Dromarch," Nia agreed before heading through the path with her Blade. Along the way, however, their path was blocked by what appears to be a giant frog!
"A Brog... Just what we needed," she said sarcastically, pulling out her Twin Rings. Aided by the ethereal lines connecting her to Dromarch, he landed a Butterfly Blade on the frog, but other than staggering it, it hasn't halted its movement. "Never thought how hard it'd be without Malos and his Hammer Bash..."
The Brog leaped into the air and attempted to belly flop on Nia, but the cat-eared girl proved to nimble as she dodged to the side, prime position to land a strong Gemini Loop. It knocked the Brog back, but it also made it a bit more angry as it spat out a lob of spit in retaliation. Nia was, understandably disgusted.
"Ewugh! Disgusting!" she yelled, attempting to wipe off the spit on her jumpsuit, "You're gonna pay for that! Dromarch!" She tossed her rings over to Dromarch, where they proceed to twirl around him.
"Right with you, my lady!" the tiger Blade responded, focusing ether into the rings, "AQUA WAVE!" A wave of water erupted from the rings and collided with the Brog. It also seemed to rejuvenated Nia, wiping off all the spit in the process.
"Thanks for that," she thanked her Blade before turning back toward the battle, just in time to see the Brog rushing straight toward her. Before she could counter, however...
"Lightning Paw!" A white blur appeared and collided with the giant frog, interrupting its rush. Upon closer inspections, Nia could see that the blur was Gatomon! She leaped off the Brog and to Nia's side. "Now, Pikachu!"
"Pikaaaa CHUUUUUU!" Just then, a stream of electricity flowed into the Brog, who took massive damage due to be covered in water from Dromarch's Aqua Wave. Once the electricity died down, the Brog fell forward before perishing. Nia turned to where the electricity came from and saw Pikachu. Needless to say, seeing the two brought relief to Nia.
"Well then, thanks for that," she thanked the Poké/Digi duo, "And are we glad to see you."
"Same to you, Nia," Gatomon responded. It still weirded Nia out that the white cat could talk, but there are more important things to worry about.
"Now all we need to do is find Rex, Ash, and Kari, as well as the Titan that saved us," Dromarch recommended, "They should be just ahead."
"Good idea. I really need to make sure Kari's alright," Gatomon spoke, a worried look on her face. Pikachu's the same way, hoping he could find Ash soon. Nia kneeled toward them.
"Hey, don't look so glum," she comforted them with a smile, "I'm sure those two will be alright. Rex as well." Just like that, Gatomon and Pikachu cheered up slightly. Happy with the result, Nia hopped onto Dromarch along with the two creatures as the Blade marched onward toward the path. 'Hopefully they are alright... I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to them...' she thought.
And that's the end of that. Again, slow going, but I don't think that can be helped, at least on my end.
As I said, I'm not going to be posting additional parts until I'm done with the entire in-game chapter. So the fact that I'm posting should give you a good idea that I'm done with Chapter 2. Despite that and the fact that I still have a bit of steam to move on to Chapter 3, I'm going to be taking a break. For two reasons, actually. First off is the fact that I've admittedly been working on this story practically non-stop, with the only thing preventing progress was a bit of Writer's Block here and there. I think a break is needed, especially with my Birthday coming up. Secondly, however, is something I'll be talking about in a later part, when it's relevant.
Before I end of, however, I do have one question concerning what Bana was using to contact Pupunin. What even is that? I know that I called it a 'telecall' in this part, but I can already tell it's the wrong term. I can't call it a telephone since it also has that visual screen. So mind telling me what that's called?
Anyway, see you next time...
