The trip back to the camp was a long and arduous journey. The devastation caused by Exodus' ultimate technique left the land of Temperantia in ruins beyond repair. As the group journey's back to the camp they set up Jin decides to speak up to try and learn more about what had happened since he had been asleep. Jin looks over to Rex who has Jin's sword across his back still looking to find a comfortable position to place the new weapon.
"I know it is not my place to be asking this as you all still view me as your enemy, but I would like to know what all has happened since I've been asleep. Seeing as the world isn't destroyed at the moment I'd assume you all defeated Malos already?" Jin calmly asks.
Rex looks at Jin with hesitation at first but decides that Jin can't be that bad if he just saved them from Exodus. Thinking this Rex decides to explain. "Yeah we did beat Malos, that was five years ago. He ended up using Aion in an attempt to destroy the world, but with our combined power we were able to take him down. Unfortunately the world tree could not handle the extent of our fight and immediately after the fight the tree began to collapse. While this happened Pyra and Mythra still fused as Pneuma decided to stay behind and use the remaining power of Aion to destroy the world tree." Rex's hands fidget for a moment at the memory. "As you can imagine they didn't make it." Rex's face dims at the memory and Jin is saddened to hear that his old friend didn't make it. Rex looks up with a small smile. "It was them who truly saved Alrest that day, and I will never forget them. After that we all used an escape pod to leave the world tree and midway down the pod broke. Luckily gramps grew back to his old size and saved us from falling. After that we searched for the titans but couldn't find anything. We thought at the time that we were too late. That is, until we saw all the titans fusing together with a giant land mass that just appeared out of nowhere. My guess is the architect had something to do with that."
Jin looks over to Rex with surprise. "You met the architect? What did he look like? How did he act?"
Rex's eyebrows furrow as he recalls back to the architect. "He was kind of scrawny and old if I had to describe him. He had long blonde hair, but his most striking feature was that half of his body was a weird... I don't know how to describe it. It's as if the other half of his body was just pure void, like a black swirling pit of nothingness. As for his personality I would say that he was an ambitious man who although regretted what he did also tried his best to make this world good. Sure he made mistakes along the way, but he really wasn't all that different from you and me." Rex then pulls the conversation back to where it was originally going. "Any ways after we found this new super continent we decided to name it Elysium as we had finally found the land we were looking for, no longer did people have to fight over resources, we can all live in perfect harmony."
Jin looks skeptical at this. "I don't buy it. There is no way that all of the world leaders would agree to such a think. They are all too head strong and wouldn't give up their reigns so easily."
Morag decides to be the one to interject this time. She felt obligated as the ruler of Elysium to clarify the politics of this new nation. "You would be right as much as I hate to admit it." Morag has a sour look on her face before putting on a more professional one. "The reason we are at the point that we are is because soon after we saved everyone from Malos the people saw Rex as a hero who not only saved them but also brought them this great land. Under these collective thoughts the people wanted to come together and form one large super nation. As you can imagine the rulers didn't take to kindly to this but regardless summoned Rex to a meeting to discuss a way to deal with this situation. Some wanted to form the new nation while others did not. When asked by Rex what he thinks of the situation he decided to create his own governmental plan. Instead of having just one ruler rule the entire super continent he suggested having both an Emperor and a council who both had equal say in matters. This council would let the old rulers retain some of their power and give new seats open to other nations such as Gormott which was liberated and Leftharia which prior to this point had very little political backing. After that it was up to the people of each region to pick their new leaders. As for the title of Emperor, the one chosen was Rex." Morag hesitates for a moment. "Unfortunately Rex didn't want to be leader."
Jin looks over to Rex with a perplexed look. "Why would you turn down such a position? You were their hero and no one would've argued if you had become their leader."
Rex sighs in dejectedness. "Ruling over that many people is just not my thing. I don't have the training to rule a nation and especially not of that size." Rex looks over to Morag. "That's why I chose someone in my place who I knew could run such a nation."
"Rex, you give me far too much credit." Morag sighs in exhaustion. "Running a nation of this size and in my position as an Ardainian has lead to a great amount of backlash from both Uraya and Gormott. The past five years have been a struggle to get the people of the nation's united."
"That is unfortunate to hear. My condolences." Jin bows his head slightly at Morag.
"I don't need pity from a monster who indiscriminately slaughtered my men when I was still Special Inquisitor. If I had my limbs functioning right now I would've executed you myself for all the families you've destroyed of not only my own nation but of anyone you deemed less. It doesn't help that you nearly started a war with Uraya when the tension between Mor Ardain and Uraya were at their worst at the time." Morag spits out at Jin coldly which makes the entire group go awkwardly silent for a few minutes.
'I can't blame her for thinking that way. I am a monster. In my quest for equality I killed all who opposed me. How hypocritical can I be? I deserve her hatred. Quite frankly I do deserve to be punished for my crimes.' With these depressing thoughts swamping Jin's mind he chooses to ask more questions before he dives too deep into these thoughts. "What about you Rex? Surely you haven't been doing nothing over the past five years."
Rex looks over to Jin and then looks down and smiles to himself. "You're right I haven't not been doing anything. After Morag's coronation as Empress, the people of Leftharia wanted me to represent them in the senate. I initially didn't want to, but with a little push from my fiancee I caved and became the representative for Leftharia."
Jin looks at Rex surprised. "Rex, you're engaged? Who are you engaged to if you don't mind me asking." Jin asks with curiosity.
"I'll give you a hint. She is apart of my group." Rex smirks.
Jin puts his hand to his chin in thought. He looks around at all the people present then looks back to Rex. "Is it Morag?"
This causes Rex to completely stop and look at Jin in utter confusion. Morag also looks at Jin with a little disgust at the implication.
Jin turns around and looks at Rex in confusion as well. "Am I wrong?"
Rex frantically waves his hands in Jin's face. "Of course you're wrong! Did you completely forget that there is another member of our team?"
Jin looks around and then back at Rex. "My first guess would have been Nia, but she's not here so I wasn't sure."
Rex sighs and continues walking. "You're right it is Nia. The reason she is not here is because she was badly injured and has been in the ER this whole time."
Jin looks baffled by this. "How? Nia is the most powerful healing blade in the world, how can she be hospitalized?"
"It's because of that sneaky bastard Exodus. One of his clones blind sided her and knocked her out before she could heal." Rex visibly gets tense about the situation.
Sensing the rising anger in his new driver Jin tries to defuse the situation. Jin gives the faintest of smiles. "Congratulations on your engagement. How long ago was that?"
Rex begins to brighten up. "A few months before this whole war started. We had been quietly living together ever since the end of the Second Aegis War in our little home in Leftharia. Those times were so happy." Rex's smile diminishes. "Now I almost feel like I've taken that time for granted."
Jin closes his eyes. "It sounds like you truly adore her."
"With all my heart. And I know she feels the same way." Rex smiles gently to himself thinking back on all the happy times the two of them shared.
"This does however bring up a sour spot that I wish to learn more about: tell me about Exodus. Who is he and what are his abilities?"
"From what we have gathered so far, Exodus is an ancient blade that was awakened a few months ago. His power is unfathomable and he has been on a rampage ever since with the goal of killing the titans and stealing their cores to fuel his rings which seem to be the source of his power. He seems to be able to rip titan cores out and condense them into gems for his rings."
"So he attacks with his rings huh?" Jin takes a moment to think this over. "Which titans has he targeted so far?"
"Exodus has already killed five titans. Those titans being: Indol, Cliffs of Morytha, Uraya, Leftharia, and now Temperantia. The only titans left are Gormott, Mor Ardain, and Tantal."
'Only three left. Damn I wish I was reawakened sooner, I might've been able to stop this catastrophe.' Jin curses himself.
"As for the abilities that Exodus posses, it seems he gains a new ability with each ring he gains while also strengthening every previous ring as well. His abilities as of right now include being able to summon every version of the simple blade weapons along with change their elements at will. He can also fuse his weapons together or turn them into unique weapons as well. His current limit from what I saw at the end was about twenty five weapons at once. His second ring give Exodus the ability to teleport wherever he pleases although he seems to be limited by distance and time between teleports." Rex pauses for a moment to see if Jin is still listening.
Jin looks deep in thought. "Keep going, I'm still listening."
With a shake of his head Rex continues to speak. "His third ring has the ability to create blades to do his bidding. It is currently unknown how many he can produce or how powerful he can make them at the moment although from the looks of things he can make a lot. The fourth ring has the ability to control blades and even blade eaters. It can be assumed that he can control flesh eaters as well but you weren't so I'm not so sure." Rex takes a moment to think. "From what I just saw that weird sword that he created just now might be his fifth rings ability but that is only a theory for now. As for the other five rings abilities it is currently unknown."
"I see." Jin contemplates this to himself based off of what is known of this enemy. "I will do all I can to help in stopping Exodus on his rampage through Elysium. Although it does make me wonder why he his doing this."
Morag finally speaks up again after a while. "His goal is to destroy humanity and create a world where only blades exist. I can't help but feel that he also has some sort of grudge against the Architect although that is simply a theory. He seems to be aware of what the Aegis' are and he was found in a temple at the center of this land mass which only the Architect knew about."
"He doesn't sound that far off from my own ideals." Jin sighs. "But there is no way someone of his strength would feel satisfied from such a goal. He doesn't know what camaraderie is, he views himself as some sort of God seeing as he called me his 'child'. Their has to be something much more sinister going on here."
"You really think so?" Rex questions.
"I'm sure of it." Jin responds.
Rex turns towards Jin and asks him again. "Will you finally tell us how you're back?"
Jin turns around and looks at the group for a few moments then turns back around. "I'll tell you all when we get back to your home base. Zeke is still passed out and Nia isn't here and I would find it best to tell everyone at the same time rather than tell everyone individually." Jin turns his head slightly to look at Rex. "Plus there's something I have to tell Nia. I think it's about time I told her of a secret technique that only a true flesh eater can perform."
"A special technique?"
"I'll tell you all later, for now let us continue forward."
After walking for another half hour the group makes it to the camp where the soldiers look on in awe at the devastation that was caused by Exodus. Morag calls out to one of the general's standing nearby. "General how are our troops looking?"
The general turns around shocked to see Morag being carried as a stump by Brighid and Aegeon carrying her limbs slightly off to the side. "Your Highness! Are you alright?"
"I am fine general, tell me our casualties from this battle."
"The strangest thing happened while you were gone your Majesty, we were all fighting but suddenly the entire opposing army retreated midway through the battle and then the land got cut in half. We were only able to take out about a fourth of the enemy before they retreated. That cut attack took out about ten percent of our army and before that another ten percent was lost during the initial fight. I would say this battle was indecisive."
"Thank you for the status report. Is the teleporter ready to be used?"
"Yes Ma'am it is."
"We'll be taking our leave then. Good work General."
"Your praise is very much appreciated your Majesty." The general salutes Morag before going back to work.
Morag signals Brighid to turn around so Morag can be facing the group. "Ok everyone, let us head back to the palace. I need to be rebuilt any ways."
"P-poppi se se second tha a a at." Poppi glitches.
"Don't worry Poppi, Tora fix up real fast." Tora adds in enthusiastically.
"So how does this teleporter work exactly?" Jin asks.
"Tora explain. Teleporter use Nia's ether to rip person apart to atomic level then atoms go through network to other teleporter that linked to current teleporter, then using Nia's healing ether is reconstructed on other end of teleporter." Tora explains in a simplified way.
"I see."
"Any ways let's get back." Rex walks forward and gets on the teleporter followed by everyone else.
Once everyone gets back Zeke is taken to a hospital room to be healed while Morag and Poppi are taken off to the lab to be rebuilt. Mikhail and Jin go off to catch up and Rex and Dromarch go to check on Nia while Dromarch heals Rex's wounds the best he can. Dromarch can heal most of the wounds besides some of the deep stab wounds which he can only stop the bleeding for. Upon arriving at Nia's hospital room Rex has to do a double take as he sees Nia laying up in bed looking down at her hands with a saddened look on her face as her hands are folded together.
"NIA! Nia you're awake!" Rex runs over too Nia whose head perks up at the sound of his voice and gives Rex a warm smile as Rex wraps his arms around her in a deep hug. "I'm so glad you're awake. I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you to Rex, it's good to see you." Nia brushes her forehead against Rex's as they enjoy being in each other's embrace. Nia looks down to see that Rex has a few injuries that are pretty deep. Nia starts healing up Rex's remaining wounds. Within a few seconds Rex is fully healed. "Judging by your wounds I'm guessing you all just fought HIM again didn't you?"
"That can wait a minute. How are you feeling? How long have you been up? Is there anything I can do to make you feel more comfortable?" Rex starts asking in concern.
"I'm feeling fine for the most part. I feel a bit sore but I'll manage. As for how long I've been up I'd say about an hour. As for how you can make me feel more comfortable, I am feeling I wee bit peckish at the moment. If you could get me something to eat that would be appreciated."
"Got it I'll go get you something to eat. I'll be right back." Rex runs out of Nia's room and goes to find something for Nia.
As Rex was leaving Nia saw Jin's sword on Rex's back as he was running out of the room. 'What?! I knew I felt Jin's ether earlier but seeing his sword and that sword being with Rex leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered. I'll have to ask Rex about that when he gets back.'
"You, BG-01 tell me the status report on group ICE." Exodus commands one of the blades that is currently holding some papers with some information written on it.
"ICE is currently at the core of Tantal and is extracting its core, the team should be heading back right now. They should be here in about two days." The blade informs Exodus.
"I got to give it to ya boss having a second party go to Tantal while the main army was in Temperantia was a pretty smart move on your part." Another Blade says.
"Of course, the fifth and sixth rings are both going to open up a whole new world of possibilities. Having both Himmelsbruch back and the power of the sixth ring will leave me unstoppable against those pesky humans."
"We still need to hope that the group makes it back otherwise this whole operation will be compromised." BG-01 comments.
"I have confidence in them to lay low and not be detected. Plus what is Tantal going to do? They don't even have proper weapons. That core is as good as mine."
"Hey boss, your core is shining bright again." BG-02 comments.
"Shit." Exodus calms down and the light from his core crystal fades away. "Thank you for that. I can't lose myself, especially not now." Exodus gets up and looks out of his temple towards the jungles and looks at all the blades that are walking around the premises. "I think it's about time we put our plan into phase two."
BG-01 visibly sweats at this. "Sir, are you sure about that? If we do that then we'll be leading endless guerrilla warfare on the last two nations. Are you sure that's a good idea? Many of our brethren will die."
"I'm sure of it. The next ring will change the entire course of this war. You all are going to get some very powerful allies very soon. These new allies will be so powerful that their power alone will be able to take on the rest of Elysium." Exodus turns around to face both of them. "BG-01 and BG-02 go round up the rest of the general's."
"Yes sir."
"Got it chief."
As Exodus turns around his fifth ring glows and he is now looking through the eyes of one of the agents of ICE. "Status report on the Tantal core."
The other members of ICE turn around to see that one of their companions eyes are glowing brightly and the voice coming out sounds just like Exodus.
"Lord Exodus is that you?" One of the blades asks.
"It is. I'm using my fifth ring to communicate with all of you. Is the core safe?"
"Yes sir, it is safe." Another blade replies.
"Good. Return to HQ immediately. Understood?"
"Yes sir." One salutes.
"Alright see you all then."
Exodus turns off his fifth ring and begins to walk back inside. "Your days are outnumbered."
"Your Majesty! We have the most dreadful news!" A guard comes charging into the lab where Morag is getting her robot limbs reattached and the guard walks in on Morag getting one of her arms reattached.
Morag looks at the guard and commands with a single word. "Speak."
"We just got confirmation that Tantal has had its core ripped out."
"What?!" Morag grips her hand in anger. "Was it Exodus again? We just fought earlier."
"Actually it isn't. We have confirmed that the culprit was in fact a group of blades that are currently making their way out of Tantal."
"Do we know where they're heading?"
"Currently unknown. We only managed to spot a small glimpse of them before our feed died so we can't gauge how strong they are."
Morag comes to a quick decision. "Don't let those blades get away. Tell the Tantalese military to stop that group of blades at all costs. We cannot let Exodus gain another ring this quickly after his last. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Then you are dismissed." Morag gestures for the guard to leave.
"Understood." The guard leaves immediately.
Back at the ER Nia silently eats her meal that Rex brought her while Rex sits in a chair beside her bed watching her. Rex notices that Nia is looking a bit down. He remembers that Nia was looking a bit down when he first entered her room as well. "Nia, are you really feeling ok? You seem sad."
Nia looks up from her meal and looks a Rex with saddened eyes. "You lost your arm Rex and I could do nothing to heal it. Not only that but you could've died while I was asleep which would've made me feel even worse. I should've been their to protect you instead of getting knocked out by a damn faker."
"You did all you could. That is enough. Plus I got a pretty sweet new arm out of it." Rex does a few gestures with his new robot arm. "Plus it's my job to protect you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you Nia. As it is I'm already upset that I couldn't protect you from that attack from last month." Rex looks down in sorrow.
"But I'm fine now so their is no reason to get all sad over it ok?" Nia reaches over and rubs Rex's shoulder.
Rex reaches up and gently squeezes Nia's hand. "Alright, but don't go getting sad about my situation either alright?"
Nia softly smiles at Rex. "Alright." Nia then lifts her head to look slightly over Rex's head at the handle of Jin's sword. "So when are you going to tell me about that?" Nia points at the blade.
"Oh? You mean this?" Rex stands up and pulls the sword off of his back and holds it in his left hand. "It's actually kind of crazy. I was about to get killed by Exodus when suddenly out of nowhere Jin pops out of me and begins fighting Exodus. He then said that I was his new driver and that he would explain to everyone how he was revived."
"I also said that I needed to talk with Nia once she was awake." Rex and Nia both turn their heads to see Jin walk through the doors to Nia's room.
"Jin! When will you explain how are you still alive?" Nia exclaims upon seeing Jin.
"I'll explain later when everyone else is gathered up. I just wanted to see if you truly were awake or not. Seeing as that is the case I will be taking my leave until everyone else recovers." Jin begins making his way back towards the exit when Nia stops him.
"Wait. Before you go, are you truly Rex's blade now?"
Their is a long pause as the entire room goes tense. Finally Jin responds. "I am. I finally found a new driver." Jin then exits the room.
"I never would've expect Jin to change his ways. You must've truly had an impact on him." Nia sighs in content.
"Looks that way." Rex replies.
From that point on Rex and Nia exchange small talk between each other for a few hours before The two head out to heal Zeke up from his injuries. After that They check to see that Morag is finished being repaired and Poppi is as well. As they're leaving Nia comments.
"I didn't know Morag became a robot."
"Yeah it happened around the same time that our battle was going on against the fake Exodus. Morag fought the real Exodus and lost over half of her body. It was nothing short of a miracle that Morag survived the fight using an ether technique to keep her heart going. That and Zeke turned her into a blade eater."
"Morag's a blade eater now? So which one did Zeke use? Brighid or Aegeon?"
"Both."
Nia just looks at Rex as if he just grew a second head. "What d'ya mean both?!"
"I mean that Zeke took half of each of their core crystals and used both to revive Morag."
"I'm guessing that Tora built the limbs then?"
"Actually we found out that Tora's grandad was still alive and he came to help build Morag's limbs. Didn't you see him? He was the one who was in the lab with the giant samurai."
Nia thinks back and remembers seeing the two. "Oh so that who that was. What are their names?"
"Tora's grandad is named Professor Soosoo. As for his blade, her name is Tuplia."
"Wait 'her'? That blade was a girl?" Nia chuckles to herself. "Glad to see that Soosoo isn't a pervert like his son and grandson."
Rex quickly says under his breath. "You clearly haven't seen her out of her armor then."
Nia looks over to Rex in confusion. "What was that?"
"Nothing. I said nothing." Rex quickly replies while look off to the side.
Nia narrows her eyes at Rex before brushing it off. "Any ways now that everyone is awake lets round them up so Jin can tell us all about how he's back."
"I agree. We've waited long enough."
With that Rex and Nia begin to gather all their friends together and Rex finds Jin looking out of a window on the top floor of Hardhaigh Palace. "Jin it's time."
Jin turns around to see everyone else standing their looking at him expectingly. "Alright, is their any place that we can talk more privately? This will take a while to explain."
"We can use the throne room to talk." Morag offers.
"Sounds good."
"Then let's go."
It only takes the group a few minutes until they arrive at the throne room. Once their Jin walks in front of the group and faces them. "I can probably guess what the first thought in all of your minds is. How am I alive?" Jin looks around and everyone collectively shakes their heads.
"The reason I am alive is thanks to a special technique that only pure flesh eaters can learn. That technique being Core Crystal Rebirth."
Rex is the first to ask. "How does this ability work?"
"Normally a flesh eater has a limited lifespan albeit much longer than a human's lifespan but still a limited lifespan. What this ability does is it allows a pure flesh eater to shoot some of their ether into a host where that ether works as a sort of egg to house the core crystal in. This 'egg' stores the memories and abilities of the flesh eater inside of it. The 'egg' feeds off of the hosts ether to slowly grow the 'egg' until it becomes a fully mature core crystal. This core crystal will then lay dormant inside the host until the host either experiences a life or death situation or if the host dies of old age. Once one of these requirements is met the core crystal will then resonate and become whole once more and be resummoned back into the world. Any questions?"
"Why didn't you use this ability sooner?" Morag questions. "If I am not mistaken you have been alive for five hundred years and were at the end of your lifetime by the time we fought you. Surely you could've activated this ability long ago so why didn't you do it?"
"That is because the pure flesh eater has to give their ether to a host that they trust. I have not trusted a single person since my last driver. The only person I could only think of trusting with this was Malos, but he was an Aegis. Do to his innate immortality he wasn't a good host to use as I would only activate then in a life or death situation. I was confident he wouldn't be caught in one of those which is why I never bothered. I'll be completely honest I was expecting to just age and die without ever using the technique but that all changed in my last few moments."
Rex looks down at his hands. "What made me different?"
Jin walks up to Rex and pats clasps his shoulder. "You truly cared for blades. You treated us as people and not as tools. You defended other flesh eaters even though we were your enemies. Hell you're even engaged to one. To me you were the only person who treated blades the same way that 'she' treated blades." Jin looks off to the side as he remembers his old times with Lora.
"I'm guessin the 'she' you're referring to was your old driver. She must've been pretty incredible eh?"
"More than you'll ever know." Jin looks back. Jin then steps away from Rex and returns to his old position facing the group.
Nia realizes something odd in how Jin was referring to flesh eaters. "Jin what didjya mean earlier when you were referring to yourself as a 'pure' flesh eater? What exactly does that mean?"
"I'm glad you asked. This is what I wanted to talk with you about Nia. I realized that their is still a whole well of power within you that has yet to be unlocked." Jin then becomes completely serious as he gazes at Nia. "I believe you have the potential to be even stronger than me."
This leaves everyone in shock upon hearing this. Nia looks at Jin in bewilderment. Nia takes a few moments to process this. 'Stronger than Jin?! Me?!' "What do you mean by that? From what i've seen you're the strongest non-Aegis blade to ever exist. Hell you even mopped the floor with Mythra at one point. And you say that I can be even stronger?"
"I mean that despite how strong you are now you are still just an 'impure' flesh eater. Their is one defining trait that differentiates a pure from an impure flesh eater, and that is the color of their core crystal. Look at my core crystal then look at yours. Tell me if you can see the difference."
Nia looks at Jin's core then at her own. "Your's is pure red while mine only has splotches of red."
"Correct. You are still an impure flesh eater which means you still have one more potential evolution you can undergo to become even more powerful."
"How do I obtain this new form and what are its benefits?"
"I'll go over the positives first. You will unlock a new transformation similar to how I have my second form that has the black armor. In addition this new transformation will amplify your previous abilities which would make your healing even more unrivaled than it already is. Your ether will also spike. This new form will also bring out a hidden ability to further solidify you as a pure flesh eater. As you saw with my second form I gained control over all elementary particles. With your hidden ability their is no telling what you could unlock. Lastly, being a pure flesh eater allows you to use the Core Crystal Rebirth ability."
"I would gain all of that? Surely there has to be some sort of drawback to this evolution right?"
Jin grimaces at the next part. "And there is one very unfortunate downside. The only way to become a pure flesh eater is to have a very strong bond with your driver and then rip your drivers heart out and place it within your own body."
Nia gasps. "I could never do that to Rex! I love him... and I'd never forgive myself for doing something like that."
"Plus she already has her own heart as it is." Rex adds.
Jin then gains a face of calm confidence. "That is where I believe Nia can pull off becoming a pure flesh eater. Nia is a healing blade correct? Also due to Nia already possessing a heart from being an impure flesh eater that means all Nia would have to do is take her heart and Rex's heart out at the same time, swap hearts, then heal up the wounds before Rex dies. You're also capable of doing this due to how good your healing is. It's a win win scenario." Jin looks disgusted with himself. "I was not as fortunate as you two are."
Nia stays silent for a few moments clearly conflicted about this when suddenly Rex puts his hand on Nia's shoulder. Nia turns her head to look at Rex who has a determined look on his face.
"Do it."
"What?"
"I said do it."
"But Rex... you could die." Nia looks at Rex in worry.
"I'll be fine." Rex then gets a smirk on his face. "Plus I've already died twice. Plus you revived me the last time I died." Rex then looks over to Jin. "Actually now that I think about it it was actually you who killed me both times if I remember correctly." Rex laughs at the thought that the guy who killed him twice is now his ally.
Jin suddenly has a grimace on his face. "I now regret ever doing that. I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry."
"Nah it's fine. You're going to help us save the world so I'd say you're making up for it."
Nia looks conflicted for a few moments but then takes a deep sigh before looking Rex in the eyes. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Tora have question for Jin."
Jin looks over at the nopon in surprise that he of all people has a question for him. However Jin did not mind nonetheless. "Go for it."
"How does Jin know all this information?"
"Back during the time of Torna when the kingdom was still around one of my past lives found out about how to become a pure flesh eater. I found out in a book that my past self had written for me. It just so happened that I stumbled across the book one day and learned of that knowledge. How I found out about that in my past life remains a complete mystery."
"Interesting."
Their is a lull in the conversation for a few moments before Rex speaks up remembering something else on his mind.
"So Zeke I see that you learned how to blade shift. How do you do it and what are your new abilities?"
Zeke looks over to Rex and pulls out his sword. "In order to blade shift you need to have a strong connection with your blade. Then you need to have your blade stab you right in the chest."
Everyone is silent for a moment before they all simultaneously respond with "EEEHHHH?!"
"That's right. I know it sounds crazy, but thats exactly what you have to do. You can only blade shift if you let your own blade stab you right through the chest. Although I'm not sure if it will work for normal drivers since me and Pandoria hypothesized that it only worked thanks to having a piece of Pandoria's core crystal inside of me already. I'm not too sure if it will work for you Rex, but I know it will definitely work for Morag." Zeke then pulls out his blade and brings his hand to the base of the hilt and scratches in a jagged pattern forward like a lightning bolt down the blade and the blade transforms into a giant glowing thunderbolt. "This is what my blade shift looks like."
"Does it have a name?"
Zeke strike a dramatic pose. "SUPER MEGA ULTIMATE BLINDING ELEXECUTION!" A small thunderbolt strikes behind Zeke for dramatic affect.
"Still come up with the craziest names for abilities as always." Nia comments.
Ignoring that Zeke continues. "This form allows me to move electrons around in the air for a few different techinques. Such as being able to concentrate electrons in one area to deliver a nasty shock to anyone who tries to touch something. The other is too slightly redirect some attacks so that I can avoid being hit."
"Sounds interesting." Morag comments. Morag then looks over to Brighid and Aegeon. "After this meeting let us go through the process of unlocking Blade Shift."
Brighid slightly bows her head. "Yes, your Majesty."
Aegeon does the same. "As you wish."
Jin then looks over to Rex. "I believe you should be able to unlock Blade Shift as well."
Rex looks over to Jin with a questioning gaze. "How? I don't have a core crystal in me anymore."
"There are a few ways that I think you can unlock Blade Shift despite not possessing a core crystal inside of you." Jin then begins to list them off. "First of all you used to have a core crystal in your chest before so perhaps their is still some residue from that time. Second, my core crystal was inside your chest for five years. Some of the residue from my core crystal should still be inside of you. And third, you are going to have a surgery where you and Nia switch hearts. Since you will have a blade eaters heart inside of your body that will maybe be an equivalent exchange instead of a core crystal. Of course this is all speculation on my part as I just found out that 'Blade Shifting' was a thing blades could even do."
"He does make some good points." Morag points out. "Which reminds me." Morag pulls out both of her weapons and aims them at Jin. "I'm going to have to put you under arrest Jin."
Rex looks baffled at this development. "Wait, why?! He's on our side now."
"That may be true but that doesn't excuse all of his previous crimes that he has committed."
Jin simply stares at Morag. "What will my sentence be?"
Morag responds without hesitation. "Execution by my hand."
This development shocks everyone except Jin. 'Looks like it's time to atone for my past mistakes.' "Very well."
Morag is taken aback by that response. She was expecting Jin to at least resist arrest. "What?"
"I said very well. I must atone for my crimes eventually. If this is my atonement then I shall take it without complaints. I only make one request."
Morag ponders it for a moment. "I will allow you one request."
"Allow me to stay until this Exodus is taken care of. He seems to be a powerful foe and I can't allow Rex to be killed again. After Exodus is taken care of you can punish me any way you see fit and I shall accept it."
The expression on Morag's face softens up before putting her weapons away. "I shall allow this. We are going to need all the help we can get and although I can't agree with teaming up with a former enemy I am also aware that you would be an extremely valuable asset in the fight against Exodus."
Jin bows his head to Morag. "I thank you for this generosity your Majesty."
Morag then looks over to Rex. "Now that you have two blades I shall begin teaching you in the ways of dual wielding as well."
"Wait, really? Isn't that technique incredibly difficult?"
"It is, and you'll have to work extremely hard in order to learn how to dual wield as to make you stronger. With Exodus possessing five rings you are going to need to get as strong as possible. You may be our only hope once more."
"Way to put pressure on him eh Morag?" Nia bumps Rex's shoulder.
"I speak only the truth. Speaking of which, Exodus has another ring."
"What Morag mean Exodus have another ring?! We just fought him not long ago." Tora pouts.
"Earlier today we had reports that the Tantal titan had died. Apparently this one wasn't caused by Exodus but rather by a group of blades that took the core and are currently trying to leave Tantal."
Zeke develops a grave expression on his face. "What is my father doing about this?"
"King Eulogimenos has already ordered a hunt for the blades to retrieve the core. I have also sent my troops as well to recover the core. My guess is that Exodus sent them out during our fight in Temperantia as a distraction for this group of blades to take the core out from beneath everyone else's nose. If this is true then Exodus is currently getting his sixth ring delivered to him right now as we speak. I know I'm asking a lot of you Rex but you're going to have to learn dual wielding as soon as possible."
"And don't forget about Blade Shifting after your surgery you hear? That is also going to be vital to strengthening you." Zeke adds on.
"Seems I've got a lot on my plate." Rex sweats slightly at all the training he's going to have to do. "But if it means saving Elysium then I'm up to it." Rex looks over at Nia and Jin. "After my surgery I'm going to need both of you to stab me with your swords so I can unlock blade shift as quickly as possible."
Nia gives Rex a thumbs up while Jin looks uncomfortable at having to stab Rex again. Rex senses this.
"Don't worry Jin, you won't kill me this time, I'm sure of it."
"That isn't very reassuring." Jin blankly responds.
"Any ways I think we should be heading off. I don't want to delay this surgery any longer. Nia, Jin; let's go." With that Rex, Nia, and Jin begin to leave.
"Why do you want me to come along?" Jin asks.
"Because I need someone to be a spectator to Nia getting stronger since I'll probably be knocked out."
"Oh wait chum I just remembered something!" Zeke shouts at Rex which gets the three to stop.
"What is it?"
"When you blade shift for the first time be sure to do it outside. I did mine inside and the ether released nearly caused my room to collapse on itself."
"Thanks for the tip." Rex waves before continuing forward.
"That is nice to know." Morag comments as well.
"Is Morag going to use blade shift?" Tora inquires.
"I don't see why not." Morag begins making her way to the elevator to head outside. "You are all welcomed to join me if that is what you want to do."
"Might as well go, I got nothing better to do." Zeke responds following Morag.
"Tora is very curious to learn about process." Tora follows as well.
About half an hour later Morag, Zeke, Tora, and their respective blades are all out in the deserts of Mor Ardain waiting in anticipation to see what will happen to Morag's blades.
"If I recall correctly you said I had to let my blades stab me?" Morag gestures too Zeke.
"That is correct. Although they will have to stab the section of your chest that the core crystal is stored in. Otherwise I'm pretty sure you'll die." Zeke explains.
"Alright then." Morag looks over to Brighid. "Brighid, if you could do the honors." Morag hands the whip blades over to Brighid and Morag exposes Brighid's section of core crystal in her chest.
Brighid hesitates for a moment with her hands lightly shaking from holding the blades before her grip tightens on the handles. "As you wish, your Majesty." Brighid reels back the rapier in her right hand before lunging the blade right into the core crystal in Morag's chest. As the blade makes contact with the core crystal a bright light envelops Morag as the blade disintegrates into light blue ether and the other blade in Brighid's hand also disintegrates. The surge in ether is palpable afterwords as everyone looks on in amazement at Morag's new weapon. As Morag opens her eyes she sees a small white orb that is floating just above her head and off to the right. Morag notices that the orb is floating on the same side where she would normally keep Brighid's blades. Upon closer inspection the orb is actually a small ball of pure white flames.
"White flames?" Morag Ponders.
"White flame is hottest of all fire." Tora points out.
"I am aware, it's just... mesmerizing to look at." Morag trails off.
Morag slowly lifts her hand towards the orb to which the orbs floats away from her hand. Morag moves her right hand around to find that the orb follows the movements of her hand Morag tries gripping her hand which causes the orb to brighten up along with making the heat of the flames be felt by everyone as the orb make the area around them about ten times hotter after only gripping for about ten seconds. Morag releases her grip to which the orb begins to cool and dim. Morag points her finger at an area and a stream of flames are released from the orb in the direction she pointed which completely melts the rocks and singes the ground. Morag discovers that the more fingers she points the more intense the stream of flames become. Morag then closes her hand while letting all of the tips of her fingers touch each other at the end which causes the orb to begin to shrink even further in size. From there Morag opens that closed position up which causes the orb to explode which forces everyone except Morag and Brighid to jump back. A few moments later the orb returns back to Morag's side.
"I have to say Morag, that new weapon sure is powerful. It's almost as if you have a miniature sun at your fingertips." Zeke compliments.
"Too bad I can't use it as a melee weapon." Morag sighs. Suddenly the orb gets closer to Morag's hand. Morag opens her hand and the orb elongates into a spear of white flames for her to hold. "I stand corrected. The spear may not be my preferred weapon of choice but I can make do." Morag then drops the spear which turns it back into its orb form.
"What Morag's new weapon called?" Tora questions.
Morag thinks long and hard about it. Suddenly a flash of realization dawns on her face. "The name of this weapon is 'Sun of Judgement'."
As if it were second nature Morag lifts her hand to the orb and slowly twists her wrist to the side which turns the miniature sun back into the whip rapiers. 'I can feel it. There's something else that sun is hiding. I'll just have to figure it out later.' Morag thinks to herself. Morag then puts the swords back on her waist and pulls Aegeon's katana out. "You're next Aegeon." Morag hands Aegeon his katana.
"As you wish, your Highness." Aegeon readies his sword and in one swift move slices over his section of core crystal. When the blade makes contact with the core crystal the area is bathed in bright blue ether as another spike in ether is felt by everyone present. Aegeon's katana begins to disintegrate into pure ether as something begins to form in Mora's left hand. Everyone looks over to Morag's left hand to see that I giant shield has formed. This shield fans out to the sides and stretches from about Morag's ankles to her neck. The shield is white with many accents of gold and blue decorating the shield. The blue portions seem to be surging with water ether.
"Huh. Despite its look it's actually quite light." Morag moves the shield around with relative ease. Morag realizes that there is a small handle on the inside of the shield that looks to be able to be pulled out of the shield. Morag pulls with her right hand only for the entire shield to begin to fold up on itself the more she pulls. The shield turns into a massive white broadsword with gold and blue trim similar to the shield. Morag two hands the sword and finds that it is quite easy to swing. Without much thought Morag releases some water ether out of the sword which causes the water to splash on the ground. A moment later the water on the ground shoots up to create a wall. Seeing this Morag releases more water ether and that creates more walls. Morag then without thinking about it brings the swords tip to rest on the ground as she pushes down on the handle which puts the sword back into shield mode. Morag tries releasing water in shield mode which creates a lot more water than sword mode. The water then becomes more walls of water. After a short time the walls dissipate. Morag then looks over to Zeke. "Zeke I want you to hit me with a strong attack. I want to see how durable this shield is."
"Alright chum I'll do it." Zeke pulls his own sword off his back and starts channeling lightning in the blade, he then runs towards Morag and jumps in the air. "Ultimate Lighting Fury Slash MAX!" Morag lifts up her shield to block the incoming attack and as the sword meets the shield there is a very loud sound almost like a thunder crack when the two connect. Afterwards everyone looks on as the shield and Morag are completely fine. "That sure is one tough shield I'll give you that." Zeke puts his sword back on his back. "What's the name of that weapon huh?"
Morag thinks about this one as well before responding. "This one will be called 'Sea of Protection'." Morag then subconsciously twists her wrist in a similar way to using Sun of Judgement and the shield turns back into Aegeon's katana.
"Can Morag dual wield blade shifts?" Tora asks in curiosity.
"I can try." Morag takes out both weapons and holds them in the same position that she would with dual wielding and activates it. She then tries to activate both blade shifts simultaneously. The ether around them booms with an incredible amount which begins to slowly vaporize the ground below Morag as her power grows to levels that are impossible for any human to obtain. Morag then has Sun of Judgement floating beside her and Sea of Protection in her left hand. The power felt from this transformation far surpasses anything any of them have felt before and this power is greater than even Exodus save for Himmelsbruch. Morag is producing so much ether out of her body in this state that the ether is physically visible. Which has white ether radiating off of her body with traces of blue ether on the edges. As a test Morag points towards the ground and Sun of Judgement sends a beam that completely vaporizes the area. "This power... is incredible." Just as soon as she activated the stance the two weapons forcefully turn back to their old forms and deactivate from ether exhaustion.
"Looks to have a pretty short duration." Zeke points out.
"That may be true, but I could feel my ether network expanding in that form to allow for my body to maintain the form. If I keep training this way, I'll be able to gain a larger ether reserve." Morag then begins to walk back towards the palace. "I've unlocked blade shift for both of my blades. I am satisfied with this outcome. Let us return back to the palace."
The rest follow behind her as Zeke asks out loud to everyone else: "I wonder how Rex and Nia's surgery is going?"
Suddenly they all feel a massive surge of ether coming from the palace as they continue to make their way back.
"I believe the surgery was a success." Morag humorously replies.
About an hour ago as Rex, Nia, and Jin all make their way around the castle they eventually find a room to have the surgery in. Nia got all the necessary tools she'd need for the surgery and went through with it. After a rigorous hour of surgery Nia was able to swap both hers and Rex's hearts. The feeling was apparent almost immediately as Nia's splotched red core crystal became a pure red core crystal which caused an immense spike in her ether. Due to Rex now possessing the heart of a flesh eater in his chest his own ether also spiked albeit a lot less.
"Nia are you ok?" Jin asks with slight concern showing on his face.
Nia breathes heavily for a few moments as her body tries to readjust itself to the new levels of ether inside her body. Nia shakes for a moment and puts her hands on the operating table to balance herself. After another minute of this Nia finally calms down and is able to stand up properly. She weakly looks behind her at Jin. "I... I think... I'm fine now... just... needed a... breather."
"How do you feel?" Jin asks.
"Hold on, give me a second." Nia looks over to Rex who still isn't properly closed and decides to try out the new amp to her healing ether. Nia tries pouring out the same amount of ether she normally would but upon trying she ends up releasing a whole wave of her new ether on accident. This immediately fully heals Rex and closes up his body without even leaving a scar. "It looks like my healing has improved at least." Nia looks back over to Jin. "And to answer your question from before I feel a bit tired, but overall I think I'm fine."
Jin presses to learn more. "Can you feel the new form lurking below?"
"Yes I can. I'm not sure what will happen when I transform, but I'm gonna first wait for Rex to wake up." Nia lightly puts her right hand over her new core crystal while looking down at it. "After all, it was thanks to him that I got this new power."
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to wait until then." Jin walks over to a wall and leans against it.
"Looks that way." Nia signals for Jin to come over. "I'm gonna need your help bringing Rex to an actual hospital bed. Come ere you."
"Alright." Jin walks up to the operating table and picks Rex up and slings him over his shoulder.
"Hey! You can't just sling im over ure shoulder like he's a sack of potato's." Nia looks aggravated at Jin with her ears flattening out.
"It should be alright. You just completely healed him. It's not like he'll die at any moment." Jin continues to walk out of the room with a rather annoyed Nia following behind.
A few minutes later the group makes their way to a room with a hospital bed and Jin lays Rex down on it. Nia then tucks Rex in while Jin leans on the wall opposite of the bed and closes his eyes. Once Nia is done tucking Rex in she sits down in the chair next to the bed and looks at Rex with a soft smile. "Thank you Jin."
Jin opens his eyes and slightly turns his head to stare at Nia in mild confusion. "What are you thanking me for? I've brought nothing but pain upon you all."
"Don't get me wrong, I'll never forgive you for killing my dear Rex twice now. However you did save him today. If it weren't for you coming back, Rex would be..." Nia sheds a few tears before quickly wiping them away and looking up at Jin. "That is what I am thanking you for. Plus I got to thank you personally for saving me that day."
"Where is this coming from?"
"I don't know, I just thought that I never properly thanked you for saving me that day. If it weren't for you I'd probably have died a long time ago at the hands of Amalthus. Plus thanks to you I was able to eventually meet Rex. Now I have all of these loving and caring friends and a future husband who I will hopefully have children with to start a family of our own. None of this would've been possible if it weren't for you saving me that day." Nia's voice begins to shake lightly. "So thank you. Thank you for not only saving Rex's life earlier, but also saving mine all those years ago." More tears falls, but these tears are not out of sadness, these were tears of joy.
Jin puts on a smile and closes his eyes for a moment. "I only did what I thought was right. No need to thank me. I saved you because you were just like me. A flesh eater that was rejected by humanity as an abomination. I couldn't stand to see someone like me get executed. Not when I knew what it felt like. Plus it all worked out. Who knew that saving you would one day lead to me seeing another human just like 'her'. So in a sense we've come full circle."
Nia then tries to lighten the mood. "Hey, you better not go off telling Rex that I cried over this when he wakes up, you hear?"
"Trust me, I'm the last person you have to worry about when it comes to revealing secrets." Jin then goes back to closing his eyes.
"I know Jin. I know." Nia turns her head back towards Rex as the two of them wait in silence for him to wake from his slumber.
to be continued...
Authors Notes: Hey readers look who's back from another Hiatus? Sorry this chapter took so long, turns out I got burnout so I didn't write this chapter to now. I've now passed my first semester of college so that's pretty cool. I began writing this chapter ever since the Nintendo Direct where Pyra and Mythra were announced for smash. Not gonna lie, I thought we were getting a new DLC for Xenoblade 2 at first and I nearly had a heart attack until it was a smash reveal. Regardless of that when I saw that reveal it finally fueled me to give this story another long awaited update. This chapter has been in production hell the past two weeks of writing it on and off and overall I am happy with how it turned out. Considering this is my first chapter to be over 10k words just shows how long it took. Hopefully I'll be back to write some more chapters before I go into another Hiatus especially since spring break should be coming up soon so I'll have plenty of time to write more chapters. Get ready readers because another one of my next big reveals should be coming within the next chapter or two and I can't wait to show all of you what's going to happen. One last thing before I go, I just recently found out that apparently Nia is going to get an officially made figure for her in the near future. I can't wait for it to come out, I'm defiantly going to buy it. Not really a figure collector myself but, I'm gonna make an exception just this once. Any ways thank you for reading this chapter and reading this lengthy Authors Notes, I hope you are all having a good day today and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this new chapter release. With all of that being said, this is Exile Mansion signing off.