Nia sat quietly on the edge of her bed at the inn, staring out the window. Or perhaps she was simply staring straight ahead, and that was where the window happened to be. She wasn't crying – as embarrassing as it was for her to admit, she'd cried herself out hours ago. Idly, her fingers ran across the black core crystal she was holding, feeling the edges of the hole that had been stabbed through it. She sighed. She wasn't stupid, she knew that no amount of clutching the crystal would ever make it active again, all she was doing by holding onto it was making herself look childish... so why didn't she want to let it go? Dromarch probably would have known exactly what to say to support her in this situation, it seemed like he always did. Given the circumstances, that thought failed to make her feel any better.
The walk back to the inn from the Olethro Ruins had all been pretty much a daze. Nia had been practically dragged along, a blow to her pride which she knew she would probably never fully recover from. At some point, Pyra's strength had finally failed and she'd collapsed, having to be carried by Poppi the rest of the way. It was only once they'd gotten to the room that Nia really felt how incredibly exhausted she was – both physically and mentally. Pretty much the second she'd touched the bed, she had fallen into a deep and, thankfully, dreamless sleep. When she had woken up in the morning, for just a few moments, everything had felt fine, until her mind had really gotten back in gear and everything had hit her again. Pyra must have woken up some time earlier, since she and Poppi had vacated the room, leaving Nia there alone. They must have wanted to give her space. That was a couple hours ago, as the angle of the sun shining through the window indicated that it was around noon. Behind her, she heard the sound of the door opening, but she didn't turn to look.
"Oh, hey Nia. Wasn't sure if you'd still be asleep." It was Rex's voice, sounding a bit awkward. Understandable, all things considered. The Gormotti closed her eyes and exhaled quietly through her nose, but didn't say anything. Since she hadn't turned Rex away, he slowly approached until he was standing by the bed. "I brought you some tea. Gramps said it might help." he offered, and Nia heard the sound of something – a teacup, no doubt – being set on the bedside table. She still didn't say anything. Rex may not have always been the best at picking up on subtext, but even he had figured out that Gramps had been not-so-subtly hinting that he should take the chance to talk to Nia. But it would be kind of hard to do that when she wasn't even acknowledging his presence. Besides, he didn't really know what to say. "Well, I guess I'll leave you alone, if you w-"
"It's fine, you can stay." Nia cut him off, opening her eyes again, though she still didn't look at Rex. "Please." she added quietly. Rex winced slightly at her voice, it was a lot more subdued than he was used to hearing from her. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to Nia, glancing at Dromarch's core crystal for a moment. The two of them simply sat there in silence for a couple minutes which seemed to stretch on infinitely, before Nia finally let out a low sigh. "He was my da's Blade, you know."
Rex looked up at Nia in surprise. "Really?" he asked. Nia had never really mentioned... well, much of anything about herself, and certainly not her family life. Nia gave a small nod, though she continued to not meet Rex's gaze.
"Yeah. My da was a noble in Gormott, you know, the wealthy lord type. It was me, and him, and my sister. And Dromarch, of course."
"Wait, you had a sister?" Rex wondered. A melancholy smile crossed the Gormotti's face for a moment.
"I did. She was older, but I was the mature one. Anyway, it's... a long story, but we hit some hard times, and she... wasn't fit for it. She died." Nia explained quietly. Curiously, she held one hand over her chest as she said that. Rex looked at her sympathetically. "Then da went not too long after. Dromarch's core got left behind, and I took it 'cause it was all I had. After that, it was the two of us." Nia paused for a moment, and then groaned. "Architect, I must look bloody pathetic, whinin' about all this..." she muttered.
"Nah, it's not pathetic." Rex denied, shaking his head. "I kinda get it. I lost my family too." Nia finally looked up at him, and he couldn't help but notice how her eyes were red from crying. It was a bit of a startling look for her. "My parents died when I was real little. I was raised by folks in Fonsett, like Aunt Corrine and Gramps. If something happened to them... I reckon I'd feel about how you're feeling." he admitted. Nia blinked and glanced away, she couldn't really argue with that.
"It's just, he was always there, you know? He even made this silly promise that he would be. And now he's not." Nia let out another sigh. "And I have no damn idea what to do."
"I don't think Dromarch'd want you to just give up." the brown-haired boy pointed out. His tone wasn't accusatory, more just concerned.
"Oi, I never said anythin' about that..." Nia grumbled. "It's just..." She trailed off. Just what? She was having a bit of trouble putting it into words.
"Hey, what was the last thing Dromarch said to you?" Rex asked abruptly. He'd had an idea.
The Gormotti frowned. "Rex, don't make me-"
"Nia, please, it's important." Rex insisted. Nia glanced away, knowing that the salvager wouldn't be asking unless he really thought it mattered.
"He said..." she began, pausing to exhale a slow breath. "'I hope you find the world you deserve.'" she repeated, her mind hearing those same words in Dromarch's voice, her hand clenching slightly tighter around the broken core crystal.
"Well there you go, then! That makes it easy." Rex declared, a smile crossing his face. Nia didn't bother to hide her confusion. "What you do is that you keep moving forwards, trying your hardest to find that world, just like Dromarch said." he explained. "And don't forget that you won't have to do it alone." he added, absolutely sincere.
"Of course you'd be able to say it so simply." Nia muttered, but her tone wasn't critical. In fact, she had a small smile. Rex chuckled in response to that.
"Welp, looks like my work here is done, then." he stated matter-of-factly.
"Eh?" Was the Gormotti's incredibly eloquent response.
"Third rule of the Salvager's Code: Make a girl cry, that's not gonna fly. Make a girl smile, you pass the trial." the salvager declared proudly, placing his hands on his hips, as if he had just made some grand proclamation. Nia blinked a couple of times. And then she broke into a fit of snickering laughter.
"Rex, that's so bloody cheesy! Is the 'Salvager's Code' just a bunch of bad pickup lines, or what?" Nia said with a small smirk.
"No, it isn't. Well... not all of it." Rex answered, in what was probably the weakest defense ever. "But hey, it got you sounding a bit more like yourself." he added cheerfully.
"...Yeah, I guess it did." the Gormotti agreed quietly. "Thanks, Rex." Nia paused for just a moment, as if considering what she was about to do, and then leaned sideways against Rex's shoulder. The salvager started slightly at the contact, but after a second, he reached up and wrapped his arm around Nia. The two of them sat there like that in comfortable silence for some time.
"So Rex, did you apply that bandage yourself?" Nia asked casually as she and Rex started to head out of the room to meet up with the others. The salvager glanced down at the bandaged wound on his leg, which thankfully wasn't hurting too badly anymore, and nodded in response to the question. Nia smirked. "I can tell, you did a pretty mediocre job." she commented.
"Wha...? How'd I do it wrong?" Rex wondered, sounding absolutely baffled.
"I'm just messin' with ya." Nia chuckled, punching the brown-haired boy lightly on the shoulder. Rex grumbled to himself while the Gormotti just smiled. She wasn't going to pretend that everything was magically fine, but she found that it was a lot easier to avoid dwelling on it with Rex there. Maybe having a good conversation with him was exactly what she had needed. As she opened the door, she saw to her surprise that Pyra was waiting there in the hall, looking like she was lost in thought. Nia glanced at Rex, who shrugged, before looking back to the Aegis.
"Hey Pyra, everything alright?" the Gormotti asked. The redhead looked up at her, trying to hide her vaguely worried expression.
"Oh... yes." Pyra replied, holding her hands behind her back idly. "I was just coming to see how you're holding up..."
"I'm doin' about as well as I can, I guess." Was Nia's response. And it was actually the truth, too – given what had happened, she was probably feeling about as positive as she could hope to at the moment.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Pyra said with a soft smile. "Azurda said you had gone to talk to her... Thank you, Rex." she added, turning to address the salvager, who modestly rubbed the back of his head in response.
"What're friends for?" Rex said casually.
"So what about you, then?" Nia asked, turning to Pyra expectantly.
"M-me?" Pyra repeated, sounding slightly uncomfortable. "What, uh, do you mean?" She wasn't quite meeting Nia's gaze.
Nia put her hands on her hips. "Come on, you know what I'm talking about. We kinda need to hear an explanation for that whole 'Mythra' thing, it was pretty crazy." she pointed out expectantly. Pyra sighed. She knew that she would have to talk about it sooner or later – it wasn't that she wanted to withhold information, per se, just that it was a rather uncomfortable subject.
"It's... complicated. Like Mythra said, I'm an alternate personality. Think of it like..." Pyra paused, trying to come up with a good analogy. "Two sides of the same coin, I guess. The same person, but... also not the same."
"Huh. Not sure I really get it." Rex commented, rubbing his chin as he tried to imagine what Pyra meant. Nia had a bit of a better idea, having felt the difference between Pyra and Mythra's ether, though even she had to admit that it sounded pretty strange.
"And why's that the case, then? Never heard of something like it before." the Gormotti pressed.
"Well..." the redhead trailed off hesitantly, this was the part of the conversation she really wasn't looking forward to. "It's a long story, but..." she paused again, her eyes widening in surprise. "Hold on, Mythra's..." she started to say, holding one hand up over her core crystal. Suddenly, she began to glow with green light – though not nearly as intense as the transformation the previous night. In a flash, Pyra was gone, and in her place was the golden-haired Aegis instead. Before Nia or Rex could react to that sudden turn of events, Mythra's eyes narrowed into a fierce glower, aimed directly at Nia.
"What is wrong with you!?" she snapped, advancing on the Gormotti. Nia instinctively took a step back, some part of her mind noting that when Mythra was angry, her imposing presence was eerily reminiscent of Malos – despite being of smaller stature. "Why did you have to wake me up!? You just had to get in danger, and I had to break my seal to bail you out! What were you even thinking, just standing there while Malos and Akhos were attacking!? Did you even hear Pyra begging you to run!? Pyra put a lot of faith in you as our driver, but then you go and act like an idiot!" Mythra ranted furiously. Nia simply stood there, her eyes wide, not having any idea how to respond.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Rex broke free of his own stupor and stepped forwards to defend Nia. Mythra rounded on him.
"Look, you stay out of-"
"No, you look!" Rex cut her off. His indignant expression was quickly replaced by a more solemn look, however. "You did save all our lives, so thanks for that, really, but... of course Nia froze up. She'd just lost Dromarch. How was she supposed to react?" Mythra's eyes widened at that question, her anger snuffed out in an instant. Seeing that a downtrodden look had appeared on Nia's face, she realized that she might have gone overboard.
"I-I didn't... Damnit..." the Aegis growled, glancing away. "Good job, Mythra, break some more things, why don't you?" she murmured to herself bitterly. She let out a deep, tired-sounding sigh. "Look, it's just that... I wasn't ever supposed to be woken up. I created Pyra so that she could handle things, and we'd never have to worry about our full power ever again." she explained, her voice firm but a lot calmer than it had been before.
"...It's fine, I get it. I was acting pretty daft. I know Dromarch wouldn'tve wanted me getting hurt either." Nia admitted quietly. She looked up, staring Mythra directly in the eyes. "But what'dya want me to do about it now? It happened."
"I want you to be better, Nia. Something like this can't happen again." Mythra replied pointedly. The Gormotti sighed, she couldn't really argue with that. Mythra let out a huff. "I'm switching back to Pyra now. No way I'm dealing with all this right now." the Aegis announced after a short, awkward silence, a distinct note of haughtiness filling her voice. Before anyone could object, Mythra quickly flashed green, transforming back into Pyra, who took just a moment to steady herself.
"That... actually could have gone worse." the redhead murmured to herself. She looked at Nia with a concerned expression. "Listen, I'm... sorry about that. Mythra's frustrated, but... she really did want to protect you. Please don't forget that."
Nia waved her hand dismissively. "Like I said, I get it." she said, doing a fairly decent job of feigning casualness. But not quite good enough.
"Nia..." Pyra said sympathetically.
"Come on, it wasn't just you. Last night was bad for all of us. But we're gonna show Mythra that we can be better, right?" Rex encouraged. Nia smiled more genuinely at that.
"Heh. Guess so." she agreed. "Still optimistic. Never change, Rex." was what she was thinking. After a moment, however, her expression turned more serious. "But first, you've still gotta tell us what the hell's going on, Pyra." she addressed the Aegis, who nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Let's meet up with the others, everyone should probably hear this."
Everyone else, as it turned out, had pretty much just been killing time in various ways, waiting until Nia and Pyra were ready to move forwards. Tora had been working on Poppi, tweaking and tightening various parts of her systems – not that she really needed it, it just gave him something to do. Corvin and Gramps, meanwhile, had stepped out of the inn to get some fresh air, though fortunately they got back soon after Nia, Pyra, and Rex had entered the guys' room – where everyone had spent the morning, confirming the Gormotti's suspicion that they had wanted to give her space to herself.
"Oh, hey, Nia!" Corvin greeted cheerfully as he and Gramps entered the room. "I guess if you're here then Rex managed to cheer you up?" The Blade didn't wait for a response. "I'm glad, 'cause being down really doesn't suit you." he said matter-of-factly.
Gramps, hovering beside Corvin, smacked him on the back of the head. "Honestly, Corvin! Don't be so insensitive." he scolded, while Corvin rubbed his head.
"Hey now, I really meant it! It's good to keep your chin up, no matter what." the blonde defended himself. Gramps just shook his head.
"You're worse than Rex, I swear." the titan muttered. Nia, for her part, didn't really know how to react. She got the impression that Corvin was sincerely trying to be encouraging, but at the same time, he did come off as rather flippant about it.
"Um, now that we're all here..." Pyra spoke up, looking slightly uncomfortable as the group's attention fell on her, though she powered through it. "I think you all deserve to know what's going on." she said, looking around at all of them. Gramps gave her a small nod of encouragement.
"Don't friends already know that? Tora thought we were taking Pyra up World Tree." Tora interjected curiously, Poppi nodding her head in agreement with her masterpon.
Pyra glanced away. "That's true, but... things are a bit more complicated than just that." she answered, with a hint of... resignation? It was difficult to tell exactly what was going through her head. "The first thing you need to know is that... I'm not the only Aegis. There are two of us." For some reason, some small part of Pyra's mind told her that she should have said three, but surely that couldn't be right. "Two Blades of terrible power, created in Elysium. I'm one... and the other is Malos." she revealed. Everyone looked appropriately shocked at that... except for Gramps and, oddly enough, Poppi.
"That make sense, compared to Poppi's readings last night." the artificial Blade agreed with a nod.
"What'dya mean, readings? Are you saying you knew?" Nia asked the question on everybody's mind.
"Poppi can sense nearby Blades, remember? While fighting Malos, Poppi detect abnormal ether waves." Poppi explained. Tora rubbed one wing on his chin while letting out an "ohhhh" sound. Poppi looked at Nia, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "But, did friend Nia not know? Poppi thought Nia used to be on team with Malos?" she wondered, her tone one of innocent curiosity. Nia sighed, she really should have seen that one coming.
"No, I didn't bloody know. He never told me." the Gormotti answered honestly. She knew the true natures of most of the other members of Torna, but Malos had always been an enigma. She barely understood what an Aegis even was before meeting Pyra, after all. "Given that we never got on, I wouldn't be surprised if he kept it secret just outta spite." she grumbled.
Pyra blinked. "That... does sound like him." she agreed after a moment. "Anyway, there was once a man who reached Elysium. But he didn't find the Architect. Instead, he found us – the two Aegis core crystals. Why he chose to awaken Malos, I can't say... But Malos soon went out of control – he had no concept of restraint. He simply found it natural to use his incredible power to spread destruction. To counter Malos's rampage, my core crystal was given to the hero Addam, who awakened me – or rather, Mythra – and together we fought against Malos." the Aegis recounted.
"This became known as the 'Aegis War'." Gramps interjected. "Mythra was able to use her power to defeat Malos, but victory did not come without cost. Three titans fell in the battle, foremost of which was Addam's home – the Kingdom of Torna."
"Wait, Torna? Seriously?" Nia wondered. Gramps nodded.
"Indeed. Obviously, that isn't a coincidence." the titan confirmed.
"Hold on, Gramps, you're saying you knew about all of this stuff?" Rex asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Well of course I did. I'm over thirteen-hundred years old, and the Aegis War was only five-hundred years ago. Even we titans could not simply ignore something so significant." Gramps pointed out.
"Why didn't you ever mention it, then?" the salvager pressed.
"You didn't ask. Besides, I felt that it was Pyra's story to tell, not mine." Gramps replied honestly.
"And I appreciate that, Azurda." Pyra spoke up, before going to continue her story. "After the battle, Mythra chose to create my personality as a seal to limit our power. The fires that I wield are nothing but a tiny fraction of Mythra's light."
"Think I noticed that..." Nia muttered.
"Then I went into a long slumber and my body was stowed away on an ancient ship, which Addam then sunk to the bottom of the cloud sea... hoping that it would prevent people from awakening me to abuse my power. And I stayed there, dormant, for five-hundred years until Jin and Malos found the ship..." Pyra gave Nia a small smile. "I... don't think it was a coincidence that we met, Nia. I think you were fated to awaken both me and Mythra."
The Gormotti shrugged. "Eh, I dunno about that sorta thing..." she replied noncommittally, though she was actually considering if the Aegis could really be right. "I did feel weirdly drawn to that bloody sword..." she thought, though she quickly shook her head. "But either way, if taking Malos down a peg is what you're getting at, then I'm with you." she decided confidently.
"I'm glad to hear that, Nia... And Mythra is too, even if she doesn't want to say it." Pyra smiled warmly at her driver, ignoring the protests of her golden-haired counterpart inside her mind.
Once Pyra had finished telling her story for the moment – Nia suspected that there were probably more details that the redhead hadn't mentioned, but she decided not to press the issue – the group headed out to go visit Cole at the theatre. Not only had he promised to help them if they came back that day, but Pyra reasoned that it would also be nice to check on him and Iona after the harrying events of the night before. To nobody's surprise, when they reached the theatre the old man was indeed expecting them, as he promptly ushered them all into his office once again. The door to his bedroom was shut – Iona was apparently asleep, or at least she was supposed to be. Nia gave it a fifty-fifty chance that she was awake and eavesdropping. Cole looked over the group with a tired smile on his face.
"I suppose I should start by thanking you, all of you, for going to save Iona." he said sincerely. His gaze focused on Nia for a moment. "...You all put a lot on the line, I know."
The Gormotti glanced away. "Yeah, well, we had to do somethin'... Couldn't let Pyra run off into trouble by herself either."
"Hmm." Cole nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Speaking of which, did you end up using your true power?" he asked, addressing the Aegis. In answer to his question, Pyra glowed green as she once again transformed into her other self.
"You tell me." Mythra replied dryly. Cole closed his eyes for a moment and let out a small sigh.
"When you told me you'd use it if your hand was forced, I wasn't expecting that quite so soon." he commented.
"That makes two of us." the Aegis said with a moody huff. Then, as quick as she'd come, she had swapped back to Pyra again.
"You... didn't need to take over just for that." the redhead mumbled quietly to herself.
"...Anyway, you were lookin' for something last night. You find it?" Nia wondered, getting the conversation back on track.
"As a matter of fact, I did." the old man replied, turning to grab something off the top of his desk. When he turned back, he was holding an odd-looking dagger which split into two prongs. Cole handed the object to Nia, who took it and examined it curiously. Immediately, she noticed that there was a glowing crystal embedded in the hilt, the tell-tale sign of a Blade weapon. But there was something abnormal about it – the crystal, rather than being pure blue, was dotted with splotches of deep red, like blood in a pool of clear water. Nia's eyes went wide and she let out a small gasp.
"That crystal... This is..." she mumbled, looking up at Cole with an unreadable expression. Most of the rest of the group looked at the Gormotti curiously, wondering about her odd reaction. Cole gave a dry chuckle.
"Recognize what that means, do you? I guess there's no point keeping it a secret." he said, reaching up and undoing the top couple buttons on his shirt. There on his chest was a blue and red core crystal matching the one on the dagger. There were a few surprised gasps, though Nia notably remained silent. "I'm a Blade, used to go by the name Minoth. But not just any Blade, a Blade that's been combined with human cells. A Flesh Eater." he explained.
"Is being part human reason why Cole look so old?" Tora wondered curiously. Once again, the old man chuckled.
"Right you are. Flesh Eaters were first created a long time ago, in experiments to enhance what Blades could do. I am one of those experiments. In general, Flesh Eaters lose their ability to regenerate wounds..." he paused for a moment to indicate the scar on his face. "And some also start aging, as I did."
"But why make something like that? That all sound worse than normal Blade." Tora pointed out.
"...Flesh Eaters can survive without drivers." Nia said quietly, a distant look in her eyes for a moment. Most of the group didn't notice it, but Pyra did, looking at her driver with a hint of concern, wondering what was bothering her. Cole nodded his head.
"Indeed. Some also gain incredible abilities far beyond normal Blades, though such cases are very rare. I was one of the many failures, all of the worst drawbacks with no benefits." the old man finished his explanation with a touch of bitterness. After a moment, he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "But anyway, I'm giving you that dagger so that you can return it to my driver. He's the man I mentioned before, the one who may be able to help you reach Elysium."
"Any idea where we might find this guy?" Corvin asked the obvious question.
"You'll almost certainly find him in Indol. I guarantee you'll know him when you meet him." Cole replied. Maybe it was Nia's imagination, but he seemed to be deliberately avoiding saying the man's name outright. Not that the Gormotti was worried about that, she had bigger problems.
"Indol? Damn..." she muttered. Cole raised an eyebrow.
"Is that a problem?" he asked. Nia shifted uncomfortably, realizing that once again everyone's eyes had fallen on her.
"I dunno, it could be." she answered noncommittally. "I... got into some trouble with the Praetorium awhile back."
"What kind of trouble?" Pyra wondered. "...Er, if you don't mind me asking?" she added awkwardly.
"It's a pretty long story." the Gormotti replied evasively, not quite meeting the Aegis's eyes. Pyra looked a bit disappointed, but didn't press further. Nia knew that Pyra, as her Blade, deserved to know the full story at some point, but... not now. She still didn't feel ready. A small part of her wondered if she would ever truly be ready, or if that was just an excuse – she did her best to ignore that particular thought. "But I ended up getting broken out by Jin, so... not likely they're just gonna forgive and forget, yeah?"
"That's a good point, but we don't really have any other leads, do we?" Rex pointed out. "Maybe we've just gotta go there and hope they won't recognize you." he suggested.
"I mean, I guess...?" Nia muttered uncomfortably.
Cole coughed to draw everyone's attention. "Well, before you make a decision, I might be able to suggest another course of action." he said. Seeing the curious looks he was getting, he quickly went to clarify. "Nothing to do with Elysium, consider it a bit of a diversion, but I think it could be worth your time."
"What sort of diversion?" Pyra asked.
"Back in the day, I spent some time working as a mercenary. Had to settle down when age and illness started creeping up on me. Not that I regret it, theatre has always been my real passion. Anyway, I've got an old friend from those days, his name's Vandham. If you met with him, he'd probably help you out." the old man explained.
"You want us to hook up with a mercenary? Really?" Nia replied, raising one eyebrow skeptically.
"Now, I know what you're thinking." Cole said, holding his hands up in a placatory gesture. "Mercenaries have an unsavory reputation, and for good reason a lot of the time. But Vandham and his crew are the exception. He makes a big fuss about helping people, even helps out abandoned kids and such. Just ask Iona, she stayed with him for awhile before I took her in."
"And you really think this guy'd help us?" Nia asked, sounding less suspicious but still not entirely convinced.
"Heh. If I know that old bruiser, he'd jump at the chance. Especially with the Aegis to get his interest. He's an experienced driver, so I reckon it would be real handy to have him on your side." Cole answered. After a moment, however, he frowned. "The only problem is, he doesn't live in Fonsa Myma, and I don't have an easy way to get a message to him. That's where the diversion comes in. You'd have to travel to him yourselves – he runs a little place called Garfont Village up near the titan's head, probably a day's walk."
Nia's brow furrowed in thought. "Well, it'd give me time to think about the Indol business at least..." she muttered. "What'dya think, Dromar-" she froze, her ears flattening to her head. "Damnit!" It just felt so natural to turn to Dromarch for his input. She wasn't even thinking about it. Some of the other members of the group winced in sympathy.
"Nia..." Pyra said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Forget it. I'm done whining for today." the Gormotti tried to brush past it as best she could. There was an awkward silence for several moments. Finally, Nia sighed. "Anyway. What do you lot think about this?" she asked. It took a few seconds, but eventually Corvin spoke up.
"Sounds like a good idea to me. You can never have too many friends!" he declared cheerfully.
"Right, what he said. If this Vandham guy really is like Cole says, it'd be good to meet him." Rex agreed.
"If Vandham is really good driver... maybe teach Tora and Poppi how to fight?" Tora suggested, clearly remembering Malos's diatribe. Poppi looked at her masterpon curiously, but nodded her head in agreement. All eyes turned to Pyra, the only one who hadn't given an opinion yet.
"...I'm not sure. Let me ask Mythra." the redhead said, and closed her eyes to concentrate. To everyone else, it looked like she was just standing there doing nothing, but a conversation was going on in the Aegis's head.
"Well... what do you think?"
"I don't know. We only have Minoth's word about this Vandham guy, and we really need to focus on Elysium, not waste time."
"That's true, but, you know we can trust Minoth. And with how dangerous Malos can be, we need all the help we can get."
"...Alright, you're not wrong. Last night sure proved that."
"Maybe Tora's idea of getting some help training would be worthwhile too. You... did want everyone to be better, right?"
"Tch, twist my arm... fine. Just don't take more than a few days."
Pyra opened her eyes again. "Mythra is alright with it." she announced.
"Huh. Guess we're going to see this Vandham guy, yeah? And after that... I'll figure somethin' out about Indol." Nia decided.
"I think I have a map of Uraya somewhere around here..." Cole gestured around his office. "I can show you how to get to Garfont."
"Thank you, Minoth... for everything." Pyra said, a sincere smile on her face. The events of the previous night had been trying, but at least now things seemed to be looking up again.
Author's Notes: Alright, got this one done a little quicker than I was expecting. It's all talking and exposition this time around, but after the huge fight scene in the previous chapter, that seems appropriate. We're slowly starting to edge away from canon here, doing the Uraya arc basically in reverse. Also, I decided to make Nia uncomfortable with Indol - it always struck me as weird how she scoffs at Rex when he doesn't really trust the Praetorium and Amalthus. Given her backstory, that scene seems a bit out-of-character.