Rex begins to wake up from a dreamless slumber. He feels tired and groggy as he shifts his eyes and blearily looks in front of him. It takes Rex a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden light hitting his eyes but once he does he sees Jin across the room with his eyes shut. "Wha?" Rex feels something at his side as he slowly shifts his head to see Nia sitting in a chair next to his bed with one of her hands resting on the side of his bed.
"So, you're finally awake." Rex looks over to Jin who now has his eyes open.
"Jin. How long have I been out for?" Rex still feels the tiredness in his eyes and brings his hands up to rub his eyes as he sits up in bed. Rex stifles a yawn as he thought now would not be a good time for that.
"If I were to make a guess... I'd say about four hours."
Rex looks shocked at this. "Wh-what?! Four hours?! Rex looks at the night stand near his bed and the clock reads 12:38 a.m. Rex just sighs in exasperation as he falls back into bed. "This is defiantly going to ruin my sleeping schedule."
"Is that what you're worried about right now?" Jin looks at Rex with a questioning gaze.
"Well, if my sleep schedules off then I'm gonna have one helluva time tomorrow when we train."
"Why not train right now then?" Jin asks.
"Because I have no one to train with." Rex replies.
"You know I'm right here."
"You mean you would train with me?" Rex asks in surprise.
"You are my driver after all. You need to learn how to fight with me. In addition my training should tire you out quickly enough to realign your sleep schedule."
Rex thinks about it for a moment before looking over too Nia then back over to Jin. "Let's do it." Rex gets up from the bed and slowly picks Nia up bridal style.
Jin tilts his head slightly. "Rex, what are you doing?"
Rex quietly whispers to Jin. "I'm putting Nia off to bed. Give me a moment." Rex then leaves the room with Jin towing behind him. As Rex carries Nia he realizes just how much he has grown in comparison too Nia. Nia feels so much smaller in his arms that he remembers. He remembers back to when they first met and back then Nia was taller than him just by a smidge. Now he was taller than her by nearly half a foot. Before the battle against Exodus Rex had been more on the thin side due to not really fighting over that time they spend together. However, over the past three or so months he now noticed that his muscles were now well toned and now had the look of a true man. Of course Rex knew he would never be as beefy as Zeke is, but he was fine with that. He just saw it as all the more reason to protect Nia. As they continued to walk towards their room Rex felt Nia curl into him in his arms. Rex thought that Nia looked very cute in that moment as he shifted his arms to help keep her from falling. Once they got to their room Rex made sure to tuck Nia into bed before softly whispering to her. "I'll be back in a little bit sweetie." Before he left Rex gave Nia a light kiss on the forehead and left the room.
After the door closed Nia slowly turned around in the bed groggily and looked at the door with a pink blush that tinted her cheeks. Nia whispered in the dark as she looked towards the door. "You better be." In truth Nia was awake during the whole ordeal. She simply stayed quiet so she could enjoy this to the fullest extent. She felt warm and safe in Rex's loving embrace and she absolutely enjoyed every second of it. She always liked it when he held her that way. It always made her heart feel like it would skip a beat. With these happy thoughts in mind Nia drifted back to sleep after the brief but sweet moment the two of them shared.
Once Rex and Jin made it outside Rex began to pull Jin's Nodachi off his back and got the large blade into ready position.
"Your stance is sloppy." Jin points out.
"Wait, really?" Rex looks over to Jin.
"You must hold my blade in a stance more like this." Jin grabs the Nodachi and shows Rex the correct way to hold it.
"What about when I'm dual wielding? I can only hold onto it with one arm while dual wielding."
Jin ponders this for a moment. "Hold it with your robotic arm. It should be easier to swing with that arm than with your human arm." Rex holds the Nodachi with his right arm in a similar stance to how he held it with both arms. Rex gives it a few swings and finds it quite difficult to swing properly.
"Damn, this is a lot harder than I thought." Rex comments.
"We'll continue more once you are able to swing my Nodachi with ease."
Rex looks shocked at this. "But that'll take all night!"
Jin gives Rex a slightly stern look. "Don't complain, just do it."
With that Rex would spend the next two hours learning to swing Jin's Nodachi until he finally became tired enough and called it a night.
"Alright, I think that's enough. I've gotten plenty tired up now." Rex gasps for air and puts the Nodachi back on his back. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."
"Your form still needs work, but overall you have definitely made improvements from when you started." Jin offers with content.
As the two walked back towards Hardhaigh Palace Rex decided to learn a bit more about Jin.
"Hey Jin, what was your old driver like?"
Jin momentarily freezes at the question before quickly recomposing himself. "Why do you want to know?"
"Well you say that I remind you of her a lot is all. Plus considering how you're a pure flesh eater that must mean the two of you were pretty close."
Upon being reminded of how he became a flesh eater Jin's facial expression warps to one of sadness. Rex looks over to Jin and sees the look on his face.
"Jin? Are you ok? You seem a little-"
"She was an incredible driver. The best I have ever known." Jin's face changes to one of somber as he recollects. "No, not just a driver. She was a great friend. Someone who always helped those in need. Despite growing up in poverty and not even having the money to buy a weapon of her own, she always tried to help as many people as she could." Jin's eyes soften as he continues to look forward as they walk back. "She's essentially the one who raised Mikhail back then as his village was burned to the ground by raiders during the First Aegis War." A pause. "Their were times when their was barely enough food for even one person, and she'd always choose to feed Mikhail over herself. She was truly the most selfless person I had ever met." Jin's eyes turn dark. "And to think that she was nearly killed as a child."
Rex looks surprised at this. "Wait, really?! What for?"
"Her step-father was a real bastard. He originally stole my core crystal to be pawned off, but instead she resonated with me. Her step-father then tried to kill her to send me back to my core so he could sell me to the highest bidder. Of course I didn't want to see this child get murdered before my very eyes so I defended her." A sigh. "It still remains a complete mystery to me how someone who grew up in such an environment became one of the most virtuous people I knew."
Hearing of how generous this person was Rex became curious of what her name was. "What was her name?"
Jin is quiet for a moment before responding. "Her name was Lora."
"Lora..." Rex lets the name sink into his head.
The two walk on in silence for a few minutes before Jin continues on. "Eventually we came into contact with Addam on our journey and we teamed up in the battle against Malos. Those days were the most memorable." Jin softly laughs to himself. "You should've seen Mythra back then, she used to act like a moody teenager. If Mythra were here she would probably scold me for saying that." Jin's face suddenly contorts into sadness. "I'm the only one left. Sure Brighid and Aegeon are still around, but they don't remember what it was like back then. Mikhail is still around but he was too young at the time. I'm just a relic from a bygone era now." Jin sighs. "Anyways during the First Aegis War Lora managed to become a knight of Torna thanks to her contributions during the war. I still remember how happy she looked on that day." Jin smiles at the memory. "It all went downhill from their."
"Is this when Mythra destroyed the Tornan titan?" Rex asks with some hesitation.
Jin begins to frown. "During our final battle with Malos, Mythra lost control of her power. During Mythra's rampage she sank three titans; one of them being Torna." Jin begins to have a face of pure anger. "You already know what happened next."
"Do you hate Mythra for what she did?"
Jin responds without hesitation. "Absolutely." Jin calms down. "She's the one who ultimately destroyed our home. To top it all off both her and Addam bailed the second they were needed most. I view their actions as cowardly and irresponsible. If Lora was in their shoes she would've protected her people until her dying breath."
"But in a way Addam and Mythra did protect Torna." Rex counters.
Jin looks puzzled. "How so?"
"Addam sealed away Mythra so Amalthus couldn't get his hands on her and throw the world into even more chaos. And I'm living proof that the Tornan's still live on. Addam is essentially the father to all Leftharians which means he did protect the Tornans, he just did it in his own way."
"Your words do hold some truth to them." Jin admits. "However, I don't think I'll ever be able to truly forgive either of them."
"And that's fine. I understand that what you went through is not something so easily forgotten." The two walk in silence for a few more minutes before Rex comes up with another question. "Did you love her?"
Jin seems taken aback by this question. "Where is this coming from?"
"Well, you talk very highly of Lora. You two seemed rather close. I'm just curious if you felt that way for her is all."
Jin closes his eyes in thought. "I'm... not sure. The thought of love isn't exactly an emotion I ever really experienced. I wouldn't be able to tell you if I 'loved' her or not. I simply don't know for sure. I don't know if this feeling is love or admiration or something else entirely. I don't think I'll ever know really. All I know for certain was that she was a great friend whom I cherished dearly."
After that point the conversation lulls as the two make their way inside the Palace and back to Rex and Nia's room. Upon reaching it Rex realizes that theirs nowhere for Jin to sleep. "Hey Jin? Where are you going to sleep?"
"I'll just stay right here." Jin then leans against the wall right next to the door to Rex and Nia's room.
Rex's eyebrows furrow in concern for his ally. "Are you sure about that? Seems kind of uncomfortable."
Jin waves Rex off. "I'll be fine. Get some rest. You're going to have a long day tomorrow."
"Alright then. See you in the morning."
"Likewise."
With that Rex gives Jin a quick wave before heading off to bed to get some well deserved rest.
The following day comes and of course Nia is the first to wake of the two. As she yawns she slightly opens her eyes to see Rex gently sleeping next to her. Nia's lips curl into a smile at seeing him so sound asleep. Nia props herself on her elbow to look over Rex at the clock sitting on his side of the bed. A little past nine. As Nia gets back under the covers she takes notice of Rex's new arm. She really didn't have much time to see the arm yesterday as she was more focused on the surgery than his arm but now that she had a better look at the new appendage it made her feel both happy and sad at the same time. On the one hand Nia could tell that judging by the arm's design that Rex was clearly thinking of her when he designed it. That thought made Nia feel warm inside. On the other hand Nia viewed the arm as a reminder of her failure to heal Rex. 'Damnit. I'm supposed to be the best healing blade in the world. How could I not heal his arm back.' Nia suddenly got an idea. 'Maybe my new healing amp can heal him now.' With this hope in mind Nia begins to softly shake Rex. "Oi Rex, wake up." Nia softly whispers. Nia does this a few more times before Rex starts to stir.
"Five more minutes..." Rex tiredly slurs out.
"Rex, I might be able to heal your arm back." Nia excitedly whispers.
This makes Rex open his eyes and look up towards Nia. "Really? How?"
"Think about it Rex. My healing is even stronger now. I might be able to heal your arm back." Nia gives a toothy grin which shows off her fangs.
Rex suddenly goes quiet. "Oh."
Hearing the shift in tone Nia looks at Rex with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Its just that..." Rex jumps up and wraps Nia in a loving hug. "Your smile is so cute!"
Nia feels a slight blush creeping onto her face as she tangles herself with Rex in the hug. "Oh you. You really had me worried there for a second." Nia's voice suddenly becomes softer. "Hey Rex..."
Rex looks down to see Nia looking down. "What is it?"
Nia's head quickly goes up and she catches Rex off guard with a deep and passionate kiss. It lasts for a few seconds before she releases and rests her forehead against Rex's. "I've been needing one of those for a while."
Rex wiggles his eyebrows. "How about another one?" Rex pulls Nia this time in for another kiss. This one lasts a lot longer as the two embrace each other desperately. As the two continue Rex pulls Nia closer which causes her to land on top of him in a rather compromising position. Once the two break up the kiss they realize the position they're in and both of them blush deeply.
Nia is the first to respond in a quiet whisper. "Rex..."
Rex reaches up and softly cups Nia's face with his left hand. "Nia..."
The two of them are about to get into another kiss when suddenly they hear a voice outside of their door. "I'd rather you two not do 'that' while I'm still out here. We still have plenty of training after all."
Both of them realize who that is. "Oh crap, I forgot that Jin was still out there!" Rex shout whispers too Nia. Rex and Nia quickly separate with huge dark red blushes on both of their faces.
"I-I don't know what y-you're talking about!" Nia speaks up loud enough for Jin to hear. Nia tries to act cool which ends up failing.
"Right. Sure. Whatever you say. Just hurry up and get ready already. We still need to find out how your new abilities work along with still needing to unlock blade shift for Rex to use." I'll be waiting out here for you two to get ready." After that Jin goes quiet again.
It only takes the two a few minutes to get ready before heading out to join up with Jin. After a quick breakfast the trio go out to the desert to train as to not disturb the residents of Alba Cavanich. Once they arrive Nia steps ahead of the two and stands in front of them. "Its time."
"I guess it shouldn't be any surprise that you already know how to transform." Jin comments.
"Of course, it can't be all that different from my other transformation." Nia replies. "I'll now begin." Nia closes her eyes and slowly outstretches her arms. As she begins to concentrate both Jin and Rex can feel her ether growing. Nia's core crystal begin to shine a magnificent red as she slowly levitates off the ground about a foot. Nia's ether begins to spike even further as water begins to flow out of her core crystal and begin to encapsulate her entire body. Rex notices something truly strange begin to happen. As Nia continues to transform he notices that grass is growing out of the ground beneath her. What makes it even stranger is the fact that they're in the middle of a desert yet this is still happening. As he looks up Rex notices that now the water ether has formed into a sphere around Nia. The water is so dense that neither Rex nor Jin can see inside the sphere. Right as Nia's ether skyrockets the sphere begins to glow brightly as it begins to rupture. As water sprays out of the ruptured holes all the water that touches the ground immediately sprouts forth grass and a colorful assortment of flowers begin to bloom. Suddenly the entire sphere bursts simultaneously which covers the entire surrounding area in water. The entire area around them immediately begins to sprout grass and flowers everywhere the water touches. Their are even some small trees that begin to grow out of the ground. Rex suddenly feels Nia's sword begin to change. As he looks down to Nia's sword he notices that the sword's usual bright blue is being consumed by an even brighter green. The vines begin to glow golden and the flowers bloom even larger and become a magnificent shade of red. Suddenly Rex hears Nia's voice. "So? What do you think?"
Upon hearing Nia's voice Rex looks up from his sword to look at her. What he sees leaves him speechless. Upon a first glance Nia's new form isn't all that different from her previous one. Nia now has a long opened kimono that fits on her shoulders with the kimono sleeves draping behind her. This new kimono is completely dark green with a single stripe of bright green going through the center. On the back of the kimono there is the design of a giant red spider lily that adorns it. She still retains her old clothing style as before but the white of her old outfit has been changed to a moderate green. All of the old golden design now shine much more brilliantly than before. All of the old red designs become a dark green in color similar to her new kimono. Oddly enough her hair ties stayed as red as ever. Nia's gloves also changed from white to golden with the old cuffs going from black to red. However despite all of that their is one thing that had Rex have to do a double take: Nia has gotten bigger. Before their was nearly a half a foot height difference between the two of them. Now their is only about a two inch height difference. That isn't what caught his eye however. Upon looking just a little bit down Rex could see that Nia's chest has gotten fuller. Not to anything extreme, but it was still a reasonable size. Just looking a bit lower and he realizes that Nia's hips have gotten wider and her thighs have also gotten a little thicker. He assumes something similar has happened in the back as well. Rex has to look back for a moment to try to calm down his blush as he turns around to face her again. 'It's as if her whole body has matured with this transformation. But I thought flesh eaters couldn't age? This is all so confusing.' Rex fights with himself inwardly.
Nia notices where Rex was staring. "Oi Rex, my eyes are up here yeah?" Nia puts on a toothy grin.
"S-sorry!" Rex puts his hands up in embarrassment. "I'm just taking it all in. You look absolutely gorgeous. I mean you've always been beautiful but... wow." Rex lets out a breath. "I didn't mean to get all embarrassed like that, its just... It's a lot for me to take in."
Nia lets out a sigh. "Jeez, my body finally reflects my age and now you get all flustered? Although it does make teasing you a hell of a lot easier." Nia snickers to herself. She then folds her arms to push her chest up a little bit which causes another blush from her love.
"I hope you two love birds know I'm still here right?" Jin comments with a face of neutrality.
"Oi Jin, why aren't you flustered at all?" Nia asks the blank flesh eater.
"I've lived for over five hundred years. I've seen it all. Things like 'sex appeal' simply don't phase me anymore." Jin answers honestly.
"You're a spoil sport." Nia pouts.
"Can we test out how good your healing is?" Rex asks.
"Sure, we can give it a try." Nia responds.
"How are you going to test it?" Jin ponders. "Should I stab myself?"
Nia looks at Jin like he just lost his mind. "What? No you bloody idiot!" Nia shouts at Jin. "I'm going to try to heal back Rex's arm." Nia turns to Rex. "Come here you, make sure to take your arm off."
Rex rubs the back of his head. "Weeeeeeeeeeeell, that might be a problem. You see in order for this arm to work properly Tora had to kind of graft the arm into my body sooooo."
Nia sighs. "Alright, let me try any ways. It might not work now though." Nia walks up to Rex and with each step she leaves grass and flowers behind to grow forth from each foot step. Once she reaches Rex, Nia places her hands up to begin pouring ether out of her hands. What they all soon realize is that Nia's ether is now green as well. They all admire the uniqueness of this as Nia begins to attempt to heal Rex. The affect is almost immediate as Rex's mechanical arm begins to get rejected from his body as it falls right off the shoulder joint. After that happens bone springs forth from the socket as flesh forms after it. As the bone continues to grow downwards the bone splits off to form fingers as the flesh begins coating the forearm. Skin also begins forming from the top as it makes its way downward in a cascading motion between the skin, flesh, and bone. In only about ten seconds Rex gets his old arm completely healed back to form a brand new arm. Rex looks on in amazement at his arm as he tries to turn his new arm a few times then tries gripping then finally tries throwing a few jabs in the air.
"Wow... it feels as if I never lost my arm in the first place!" Rex looks up and grabs both of Nia's shoulders. "Thank you Nia, I really do mean it." Rex then pulls Nia in for a hug which Nia reciprocates.
"Enjoying the new warmth?" Nia teases Rex which Rex immediately pulls away and coughs awkwardly.
"A little." Rex says under his breath in slight embarrassment. Nia hears it regardless and a light blush paints her cheeks as well as she wiggles her eyebrows at Rex.
"Any ways, I would say this new healing of yours is unrivaled." Jin comments. "However we still have yet to see what your new special ability is. What is it?"
"Look around you. My ability has been active even while I was transforming." She was right. Their was so much plant life growing around them despite being in the middle of a desert. It made the whole area look like a mirage from far away.
"So you can grow plants?" Jin questions.
"I can do more than just that." Nia brings her hands up and a tree sprouts out of the ground. The tree grows a branch out to just above Nia's outstretched hand as a fruit begins growing and in no time the fruit is fully ripened and Nia picks it. Nia takes a bite, chews, and swallows before tossing the fruit to Rex to which he catches it. After Rex catches it Nia waves her hand which causes the fruit to de-age rapidly turning the fruit into a simple seed which rests gently in Rex's hand. "Jin. Your ability allows you to control all elementary particles correct?"
"That is correct." Jin responds.
"Well my new power allows me to control something as well." Nia steps back as she raises her hands for dramatic affect as flowers bloom all over the ground. "I can control all life itself."
Rex's jaw hits the floor at hearing this. "WHAT?! Thats amazing! Does it have any downsides?"
"From what I can sense of this new ability their are definitely several weaknesses. For starters I can't kill or weaken things with this ability. I can only birth and age things to their point of absolute. In other words when a living thing is at its most powerful. I can de-age from that point if need be. From sensing I don't really know how or if I even can create animals with this new ability. I only used plants as they are far easier to not only grow, but manipulate as well. And lastly, as of right now I can't seem to control or manipulate anything that is already living. So I wouldn't be able to say control you or Jin. However I can still heal and decelerate the healing of others as before since those were my original abilities as an extension of my healing."
"Sounds rather balanced, for now." Jin comments. "You will definitely figure out how to do all of those other things, I am certain of it."
"So how do you feel Nia?" Rex asks in curiosity.
"I feel incredible. Like my whole body is pulsating with life itself." Nia has a much softer smile and slightly lidded eyes as she looks towards Rex. "And it's all thanks to you. If it weren't for your heart I would've never reached this stage of evolution. Thank you for that."
"Oh you know I'd do anything for you Nia. We're partners after all. In life and in love." Rex flashes Nia a warm smile as well. "Plus I got a little something of my own when I got your heart."
Nia seems surprised at hearing this. "Really? What changed with you?"
"Here let me demonstrate." Rex takes Nia's sword up and stabs himself in the kneecap. Nia looks on in shock at what Rex did and before she can yell at him she notices that the flesh around his kneecap is healing back on its own. After about twenty seconds Rex's kneecap is fully healed. "It seems your heart has allowed me to gain some new regeneration of my own. Although I don't think I can really heal others like you can."
"You still shouldn't be so reckless you know. You could've cut your arm or something instead." Nia chastises.
"I know, I know. I just wanted to show you when it's really at work." Rex tries to defend himself.
"I would like to test out your new abilities as well." Jin gestures for Rex to hand him his sword. To which Rex complies.
"What do you want to test Jin?" Nia questions as she also gestures for Rex to hand her her sword. Yet again Rex complies. Suddenly Jin's ether spikes as he turns into his second form and in about five seconds Jin is dawned in his black armor.
"I want to test your healing in absolute zero." The temperature around them quickly begins dropping which gives both Rex and Nia a chill that goes through them. "Rex, if I may?" Jin asks.
"Man why am I always the testing dummy?" Rex then outstretches his arms with a bored look on his face. "Go ahead."
In one quick motion Jin slashes across Rex chest as blood begins to drip. Nia immediately begins to try to pour her ether into Rex and at first it looks as if she still can't heal in temperatures this cold. However after a few moments the wound slowly but surely begins to close back up despite the frigid temperatures. To an outsider this would be the strangest sight to behold seeing a snow storm in the middle of a meadow that is in the middle of a desert but that was just the reality for them. After a few moments Nia fully healed Rex and Jin begins to turn off his ability as well. "Your healing truly cannot be stopped anymore. You have reached a point where I am confident that you will surpass me in time." Jin then goes back to his first form and hands Rex the Nodachi back to which Rex puts it back on his back.
"I'm not so sure. Your still leagues faster than me, I don't know if I'll ever be able to catch you." Nia also turns back to her normal flesh eater form as she also hands her blade back to Rex who places it on his left hip.
"You'll find a way... eventually." Jin then turns back towards Rex. "So when are we going to go through with blade shift?" Jin asks.
"We can do it right now if you'd like." Rex offers. "Although I'd rather unlock Nia's blade shift first if you don't mind."
Jin nods his head. "That is fine. As long as we get that out of the way as well."
Rex turns his head towards Nia. "Are you ready?"
"Jeez, I just went through one transformation today already. You're reeeeeally pushing it Rex." Nia mocks exhaustion before perking up. "Lets do it." Rex hands Nia her sword and Nia positions the weapon right for Rex's heart. Nia lunges forward and stabs Rex right in the chest. The blade sinks in a few inches and right as the blade makes contact with Rex's heart the area explodes with ether as the blade begins to dissolve into blue ether. Rex holds out his hands expecting to grab hold of a new sword to hold but is suprised to see something else entirely. Rex looks behind him to see two rather large mirrors with very intricate designs similar to Nia's current clothing floating behind him. The mirrors are both circular and seem to have about a two foot radius on each. The mirrors seem to respond to Rex's movements.
"This seems rather odd." Rex comments. "I can't pick up on what they're supposed to do." Rex looks perplexed at this.
"Perhaps if we train we can figure out what they do." Their is a brief pause. "What happens to the mirrors if you transform?" Jin directs towards Nia.
"I can try." Nia transforms into her pure flesh eater form and the mirrors shift from a white design to a more green design. Other than that it doesn't look like anything else changed between forms.
"It doesn't look like much has changed." Rex points out.
"Maybe an amplification in whatever it does?" Jin hypothesized.
"Why does my blade shift have to be so lame?" Nia pouts.
Rex pats Nia on the back. "Don't feel too bad Nia. At least your other new form is cool."
"Yeah, I guess." Nia comments.
"Any ways, let's try out my blade shift next." Jin requests.
"Alright." Rex switches the mirrors back to the base mode while Nia reverts to her regular flesh eater mode. Rex puts Nia's sword on his hip and takes Jin's Nodachi from his back and hands it to said flesh eater. Without a word Jin lunges his Nodachi right at Rex's heart. Upon piercing Rex's heart the Nodachi fades to white ether as a new sword forms in Rex's hand. The sword that forms looks almost identical to Jin's normal sword. Only two things stand out about the Nodachi. One was the fact that the tip of the sword was now coated red to look like a blood splatter while on the hilt there was now a small circular brace that had two dials on each side. One dial is a thermometer that only seems to be able to measure in negative degrees. On the other side is a small clock that can read the time. "This feels incredibly underwhelming if I'm going to be honest." Rex looks down in defeat.
"What can it do?" Nia asks.
"I'm not sure. But considering how it barely changed appearances makes me think that not much really changed."
"Maybe Jin is just so boring that his blade shift reflects that." Nia shrugs and shakes her head.
"I'm standing right here you know." Jin calmly states.
"Did I stutter?" Nia responds.
This makes a very slight tick of anger register on Jin before it just as quickly fades. "Let me try going into my second form." Jin requests.
"All right, but I think it's just gonna be another color swap like last time." Rex responds.
Jin transforms and it turned out that Rex was right on. The only thing that changed was that the white blade became black instead. "It was still worth a shot." Jin states before turning back causing the blade to revert back to white.
Rex has a look of defeat plastered on his face. "Guess I'll have to ask Zeke how to use these new abilities." Rex proposes.
Nia shrugs. "Looks that way."
Jin nods his head in agreement. "That would be the best choice of action."
Rex deactivates Jin's blade shift and puts the Nodachi back on his back as the three head back to the palace for more information.
"Status report."
At the sudden words the other blades in the group turn around to looks at their ally.
"Lord Exodus, is that you?" One of the blades inquires.
"Yes it is. How far along are you?"
"We just left Tantal about an hour ago. The security was pretty difficult to get through and we lost a few comrades along the way but we made it out with the core still with us. We should be arriving in another day or so."
"Excellent. I will see you then."
All the blades in the group bow. "Yes, my lord."
With that Exodus cuts the connection and looks out over his throne at all the busy blades setting up for the next attack. Exodus' hearing suddenly becomes fuzzy as he hears something.
"D**t for**t, y***e j*st a me** pu***t. A sh**l to *o*se me in. I **ave mor* po*e*. You mus* p**vide me wit* it."
Exodus' eyebrows furrow in anger as he grits his teeth. 'You can go to hell. I won't ever let you out. Your existence brings nothing but suffering. I'm only doing what is right.'
"Wh**ev*r yo* s*y, fri**d."
The voice disappears and Exodus' hearing goes back to normal. 'It's getting stronger. I can't let it have too much influence on me or I risk losing myself.'
"Sir, we should be ready to deploy any day now. Are army is exceeding nearly one hundred thousand blades." BG-01 gives a status report.
"Good. We shall strike with our army on Gormott. The new recruits should be arriving in a few days. They will be vital to the next steps of our plan."
"Alright so according to Zeke the best way to learn of my new abilities is to fight in combat." Rex slams his fist into his palm as the trio find themselves back in the desert.
"I could've figured that out genius." Nia remarks.
"Yeah sorry." Rex apologizes.
"Alright I'll fight you Rex while you use your new blade shift with Nia, then vice versa." Jin instructs.
"Sounds good to me." Rex hands Jin his Nodachi as Rex pulls Nia's Scimitar out and holds the blade in his left arm facing downwards Rex then uses his right arm and brings it down to the tip of the blade and draws up to the hilt in a half circle motion which causes the blade to transform into the two large mirrors.
"Ready?" Jin asks as he gets into a fighting stance.
"Ready." Before Rex has time to get into a fighting stance Jin is already charging right at him preparing for a strike. Rex brings the mirrors forward and uses them to protect himself from the oncoming attacks. Nia then tries focussing her ether into the new weapons which causes water to spray out of the mirrors which slightly wounds Jin but he doesn't seem to even notice. As Rex looks into the right mirror he sees something odd. He sees Jin shooting a blast of ice ether at him even though he's done no such thing. A few seconds later Jin shoots a blast of ice right towards Rex which forces Rex to bring his left mirror to protect him. When Rex tries pouring his own ether into the shield another Jin pops out of the mirror which mirrors the fierce jabs from a moment ago. This mirrored Jin uses the exact same motions and displaces the ice before disappearing from existence. Jin is caught slightly off guard at this and is dazed for a moment. Rex looks back into his right mirror to see that Jin will prepare with a swift strike across Rex's chest. Seeing this Rex has the idea to try to pour his ether into the right mirror and sure enough these future events are played out immediately as a mirror Jin pops out of the mirror and delivers a swift strike towards Jin. Jin blocks this attack and the mirror version of himself disappears again as Jin now goes for some more quick jabs which Rex has no where to block. Without thinking Rex jumps into the right mirror and appears out of the left. Rex follows up by using the left mirror to send the same quick jabs towards Jin while watching the right mirror for the future events to unfold. In the right mirror he sees Jin put his Nodachi away. A few moments later Jin brings his hand up.
"I think that is enough." Jin then puts his Nodachi away. "I think we have a general grasp on how this blade shift works."
Rex thinks upon what he just did. "My left mirror can use attacks that have already happened while my right mirror can use attacks that haven't happened yet. It seems that I was also able to see what you were going to do next Jin. It's as if the right mirror can see a quick glimpse into the future." Rex turns to Nia. "You saw it too right?"
Nia nods her head. "I did. It seems we can now see what will happen in the future, at least while fighting one opponent. You were also able to travel between the two mirrors from the looks of things and I'd imagine I can too." Nia points out. "And to think you called my blade shift boring earlier." Nia grumbles.
"Oh you know I didn't mean it like that." Rex responds. "Plus you said it was 'lame' too, remember?"
Nia looks slightly embarrassed. "Heh, you're right. Guess we were both wrong eh?"
"I guess so." The two share a quick laugh before Rex aims his attention towards Jin. "Were you able to see into the mirrors Jin?"
"I couldn't. The mirrors looked more like regular glass to me. That is until I saw the mirror versions of myself." Jin explains. "I won't lie, it caught me by surprise." Jin admits.
Rex's eyebrows raise at this. "Now that's quite the achievement I'd say." Rex puffs out his chest in mock pride.
"Don't let it go to your head Rex or it'll burst." Nia snickers.
"Like you'll need to worry about that with me." Rex responds.
"So what is the name of this new blade shift?" Jin suddenly asks.
"I'm... not sure..." Rex goes into a thinking position for a few moments before it seems to come to him. "The name of the blade shift is 'Kako to Mirai no Kagami'."
"And what the bloody hell does that mean?" Nia looks confused at the name of her blade shift.
Rex shrugs. "I'm not really sure... it just came to me, like this is supposed to be its name."
"It means 'Mirrors of the Past and Future'." Rex and Nia both turn their heads to face Jin who has his eyes closed and a hand to his chin in a thinking position. "Quite poetic actually."
"Hold on, Jin you know what language that is?" Nia questions.
"Yeah I do. That language has been extinct for nearly two hundred years now. I'm not sure how you even came to such a name but a good name nonetheless."
Rex looks over towards Nia. "I think that's good enough for now with your new blade shift." The mirrors fade away as Nia's regular sword returns to Rex's side. "Now it's your turn Jin." Rex hands Nia her sword as Jin gives Rex his Nodachi. Rex holds the sword in his left hand as he brings his right hand to the blade and knocks on the blade three times with his fist with each knock going down the length of the blade. The tip of the blade turns red and the thermometer and clock return to the end of the hilt.
"Ready?" Nia asks as she brings her sword behind her back.
"Rea-" Before Rex can even finish his word Nia is already unloading a strike on Rex which he hastily blocks. Nia begins to swipe furiously at Rex with a playful look on her face to which Rex returns. As their blades clash more and more in an almost dance like movement between the two the temperature begins to go down as the thermometer continues to decrease into the negatives. Once the thermometer reaches negative one hundred the dial begins to fidget the icy winds and chill continuously pour out of the blade.
"Damn it sure is getting cold around here." Nia comments with a shiver.
"I know right. This must be how this blade shift works." Rex suggests.
"I guess s-" Out of nowhere a massive surge of icy wind bursts from the blade in a dome shape which seems to infinitely expand. Suddenly Nia stops talking and she becomes completely still.
"Nia? Nia are you ok?" Rex looks a little freaked out as Nia stands their unmoving. Rex looks around him as some of the local wildlife also seems still.
"Jin, what's happening?" Rex looks over to Jin clearly beginning to panic.
"I'm not sure. Check my blade, maybe it can give us a clue." Jin walks up to Rex to observe as well.
Rex looks at the hilt of the blade and sees the thermometer slowly going back down to zero. Rex turns the hilt around and sees something that truly shocks him. The watch on the other side is not moving. Ever since Rex unlocked this blade shift the clock never stopped, but here it was now unmoving.
"Rex, do you know what this means?" Jin looks at Rex in surprise.
"I froze time." Rex replies with shock written all over his face. "I froze time." This time Rex grows a sneaky smile on his face. "I know exactly what to do." Rex walks over to Nia, grabs a nearby rock and places it right in front of Nia's foot as he chuckles to himself.
Jin just deadpans at this. "You have the ability to stop time and this is what you choose to do with it?"
"We're not trying kill her Jin. This is just practice remember?" Rex reminds his blade.
"I see your point." Looking down at the blade Rex notices that the thermometer is nearly back to zero. Once it hits zero Rex sees the icy wind dome from before come all back at once as it gets sucked back into the blade. Nia continues to runs toward Rex for a strike when she suddenly trips over a rock and falls straight on her face.
Rex not expecting it to look as funny as he thought tries his best to hold in his sudden laughter. "N-Nia, are you *pffft* ok?"
Nia lifts her face from the sand and gives Rex a sour look. "What just happened?"
"We figured out how Jin's blade shift works." Rex pulls the hilt closer for Nia to see as he points to the watch on the hilt. "It can stop time."
Nia springs up and dusts herself off as she looks dumbfounded at Rex. "Seriously?! You have bloody toime stope now? Is that why I face planted just now?"
"More or less." Rex responds trying, and failing, to hide the creeping smile on his face.
"You've got to be kidding me." Nia just leans her head back in exasperation.
"From the looks of things it seems me and Jin are the only two that can move around in time stop." Rex analyzes.
"Alright so we know how both of the blade shifts work. Can we take a break now and go grab a bite to eat?" Nia asks.
"Hold on a minute Nia, we have to first name Jin's blade shift as well." Rex shoves his hands forward in a stopping manner.
"Correction, you are going to name it." Jin points out.
"Right, sorry." Rex thinks long and hard about it and yet again a name comes to him. "The name of this blade shift is 'Jikantoketsu'."
"Translator a little help." Nia looks towards Jin.
"It's literally just 'Time Freeze'."
"I guess it reflects pretty well on you Jin. You're a lot more straight forward than Nia." Rex points out.
"I suppose so." Jin accepts.
"Now we're off." Nia begins walking away to which Rex hastily follows while Jin simply walks behind the two.
After a quick lunch Rex and co go over to visit Morag to begin learning how to properly dual wield. The trio find Morag in her office going over various reports.
"Is now a bad time?" Rex asks.
Morag sighs. "No, it's alright. Just some minor reports. What do you three need?" Morag asks more towards Rex and Nia as she still didn't fully trust Jin.
"Can you teach me how to dual wield? You said it would make me even stronger if I did so."
"Alright." Morag begins to point in the air recalling everything required to dual wield. "The first thing you must do is have complete control over all of your ether points throughout your body. Once you are able to master opening and closing all of your ether points at will you can move on to the next step." Morag explains.
"Alright, thanks Morag." Rex waves to Morag but as he's half out of the room he suddenly remembers something else he wanted to ask the Empress. "Hey Morag? I just remembered. Nia was able to fully heal my arm back thanks to her new form. Do you want Nia to heal your limbs back?"
Morag is surprised at the offer and thinks about it long and hard. "I will have to decline your offer."
"What? Why?" Rex looks taken aback by this.
"I got these scars protecting my people. Tora and his family created these limbs specifically for me. My ether control has never been better and I can fly now as well. To remove these limbs would be to regret what I did that day. So I will keep these limbs as I will never regret protecting my people." Morag clenches her black metallic hands to cement her conviction.
"Well if that's how you feel then alright." Rex comments as he turns to leave. Jin and Nia follow closely behind him.
For the rest of that day Rex trained trying to control all of his ether points. By the time Rex went to sleep he had made some progress on this first phase. Turns out that over the years he could control about half of his ether points already. After today he was able to control a few more. It turns out that having control over all your ether points is a lot more difficult than Rex initially thought.
The next day came and early in the morning a small group of blades retuned to Exodus' temple. The leader of the group bows before Exodus.
"This is what you sought after my liege." The leader of ICE offers the Tantal core crystal wrapped in a cloth towards Exodus.
Exodus extends his arm and grabs the package. When he unwraps the cloth the Tantal core shines brilliantly in the early morning light of the sun. "You did an excellent job. You all may take your leave now." Exodus swipes his hand and all the members of ICE leave Exodus' presence immediately. Exodus holds the core up as he begins to condense the core into a small gem. Once done, Exodus slots the gem into a ring on his other hand. Exodus feels another surge of ether course through his veins as he smiles with a sadistic glee. "Let's see how you like fighting these opponents." Exodus brings up his third ring and creates a regular blue core crystal. He then activates his sixth ring which begins to removes the life from the core crystal turning its color into a sickly grey which hums softly. Exodus then resonates with this sickly core crystal which causes the core to crack slightly before a blade begins to emerge from the core. The blade that emerges from the core has long brown hair and wears elaborate robes. The blade in question also wields a staff. Her eyes were yellow but the sclera was grey. She also only had half a core crystal with two cracks in the half. One caused by her death and the other caused by the revival. "I am sorry my child that I woke you up from your slumber. I just require your assistance with a little plan of mine. Would you mind helping your dear old dad out? Oh, how rude of me, I didn't even ask. What is your name?"
The young lady before him looks confused. She has no idea who this person in front of her is. She tries to remember her own name, but when she does she gets a conflict in her mind when two names jump out at her mind simultaneously. "I... don't know who I am. I feel so lost... Could you give me a name?"
Exodus looks saddened at seeing one of his children look so lost like a lamb that strayed too far away from the flock. "Don't worry my child, I have a solution to your dilemma. I can unlock your old memories for you and then you would be able to remember who you are. Well? Would you like to learn about your past?" Exodus offers a friendly hand towards the girl and at first the girl hesitates before she nods her head in agreement. "Alright then, just come over here and I will unlock your memories." The girl walks up to Exodus to which he gently lifts his hand and places it on her head. Exodus' fifth ring glows with a light hum as the girl begins to remember. At first she seems fine, but then she starts to freak out and shake violently from the sudden jolt of so many memories from past lives. She collapses from the shock, but Exodus catches her and gently places her on his thrown to let her recuperate. It took several minutes before the girl could regain her composure as she began to slowly lift her eyes towards Exodus.
"My... name... is..."
Over the next week Rex trained day and night without any rest as he figured out how to use all of his ether points in his body. Rex simply had Nia heal him every time he got tired to rejuvenate him as he trained to open and close his ether points. Midway through the week Rex had the genius idea to have Jin and Nia fight each other with their blade shifts while he trained on his ether points as a way for his blade shifts to not only get stronger but also because Rex could train inside the bursts of time stop which effectively doubled up his training time. So the past three days have been closer to six due to the constant time stopping. After seven days of nonstop training (or ten including time stop) Rex mastered the art of controlling all of his ether points. Due to the constant controlling of his ether points Rex also got just a little bit more muscle. Not much but a nice bonus nonetheless. Once Rex mastered control over his ether network he went back to Morag with Jin and Nia in tow to ask how to progress his training.
"Morag, I'm back." Rex enters the Empress' office. "I've learned how to control my ether network. What do I have to do now?"
Morag looks up from her work. "Before we move on to the next step I want to try one test on you to make sure that you truly have completed the first step."
"Sounds good to me. What do you need me to do?"
"I want you to release as much of your ether as you can."
Rex begins to shake his hands in anticipation. "Alright, seems simple enough." Rex begins to exude a super heavy ether that would normally choke any normal person. However, the Empress was no normal person.
"You did a good job. You passed." Morag begins recollecting over the past. "When I first did this I realized that my ether had grown stronger from having more control. This shows me that you did it correctly." Morag then has a questioning look on her face. "How did you learn this so fast?"
"Well you see I did nothing but train over the past week. Whenever I got tired I had Nia heal me to revitalize me. Whenever we got hungry Nia would just grow us food to eat. And Jin kept using time stop to lengthen the time of day."
Morag doesn't know how to respond to those last two comments but decides to ask about them after Rex is done training.
"So what do I do now?" Rex questions.
"Steps two and three go hand in hand so I will tell you about both. Step two requires you to figure out exactly how both Jin and Nia's ethers flow throughout your body. You will want to figure out how to make both flow through your body without either touching each other as that will disrupt the ether flow. Step three requires that you learn to additionally keep track of your fatigue. If you get too tired then your blades may accidentally conflict which would also disrupt the ether flow. Due to Nia and Jin both being flesh eaters I would assume that they will be a bit easier to control sense they can help prevent their ether flows from conflicting. Do you understand?"
Rex takes a minute to take it all in before shaking his head. "Yeah I think I got it. Thanks Morag. You've been a real help." Rex leaves Morag be as Nia and Jin follow behind.
"I believe it is time for us to train as well." Morag gets up. "Brighid, Aegeon. Let us go train 'that' technique."
"As you wish your Majesty." Aegeon replies.
"Very well." Brighid responds.
Over the course of the week Exodus had awakened four more blades to fight beside him. Three were flesh eaters to Exodus' dismay and another was a blade eater which pissed him off even more. However due to having control over them and the fact that they were all quite powerful Exodus decided to put them to use any ways. The blade eater specifically was a pain in the ass for him to control due to its apparent hatred for his kind. Suffice to say that the feeling was mutual. One of the flesh eaters he summoned looked super old and pretty useless to Exodus so he just returned the old man back to his youth using the fifth ring. What Exodus found incredibly strange was that all of these blades seemed to know each other. As if they all either fought together at some point or against each other. Even the first one he resummoned seemed to recognize some of them. However even with all of these powerful allies summoned their were still two left that Exodus knew were going to completely drain him trying to summon. He recognized that neither of them were still around so Exodus knew he could summon them.
"Come retainers, watch me awaken a blade that is truly power incarnate. He was known for his unrivaled destructive power and is my dear younger brother."
All of them gathered to watch. Most of them in disgust as none of them liked Exodus very much but were forced to due to being summoned by him.
Exodus does what he normally would and activates his third ring to summon a core crystal. Exodus then closes his eyes and dawns a very concentrated look on his face. All six of Exodus' rings glow brightly and are all brought up to max power to help him recreate such a unique core crystal. Exodus' hands begin to shake and a nosebleed begins to trickle down his nose as the core crystal begins to shape into a peculiar shape. The core starts to look like Exodus' own core crystal as it finally finishes changing. Exodus lets out a gasp of air as he buckles on his knees and quickly slumps into his thrown. Exodus then activates his sixth ring alone and begins turning the unique core crystal a sickly grey as it also forms a crack on it just like the others. Exodus resonates with the core as the others present look on in awe at the power being exuded by him. Out of the core crystal pops a tall man in dark armor holding an odd shaped sword. He has silver eyes but grey sclera just like the others.
"How the hell am I back?" The man says clearly pissed.
"Dear brother, that is no way to address me. What would our wretched father think of you." Exodus has a slight smile barely disguising his disgust towards their father.
"I don't remember having a brother let alone one as pitiful looking as you." The man sneers seeing Exodus slumped over in his throne.
"Then perhaps, THIS will jog your memory." Without warning Exodus grabs the mans head and activates his fifth ring which forces the man to remember something he didn't even know he forgot.
The man begins to pant heavily. "But how?!"
"If you keep digging in those old memories then you will find out for yourself, and besides..." Exodus brings his ringed hands up. "...I still have to bring back our dear sister as well."
The next day Morag calls Tora into her office for a special request. The nopon arrives on time with his artificial blade following close behind.
Tora gets straight to the point. "What Morag want Tora for?"
Morag calmly explains why she summoned Tora. "I would like for you to do me a favor as I can't help but feel that Exodus is preparing something big." Morag gives a serious gaze. "I would like you to mass produce artificial blades."
Tora looks taken aback by these words. "Meh meh meh?! Does Morag not remember what happened five years ago?!"
"I am aware of the role the mass produced artificial blades played in the previous war. However we are fighting an enemy with an endless army at his disposal. Our men are limited in numbers. I'm going to need as many mass produced artificial blades as you can make. Please Tora, we need to save as many people as we can."
Tora begins to think about it as the cogs start turning in his head. "Meh meh. Very well. Tora call up Dadapon and use Grampypon's help to design new mass produced artificial blades. Tora going to need a looooot of resources though."
"I will give you permission as Empress to use any materials necessary to build. Do what you must." Morag hands Tora official decrees to use towards obtaining resources.
"Tora get to work ASAP!" Tora runs off with Poppi following closely behind.
"Will Poppi be getting even more new sisters soon?" Poppi asks with glee in her robotic eyes.
"Yes Poppi will!" Tora exclaims excitedly as he bounces off back towards the lab.
After that another week passes in relative calmness. Rex continued to train relentlessly without rest as he learned how to use Nia and Jin at the same time, but didn't fully understand step three very well. Rex nearly had it down but their was just something missing that he couldn't pin point. Tora had also began production of the Mass Produced Artificial Blades as he and his family worked tirelessly producing them by the hundreds. On that day Morag called everyone to her office to discuss something she had received recently. Everyone gathered up in Morag's office to see what had happened.
"Well Morag we're here. What did you want to discuss?" Rex questions.
Morag reaches into her desk and places a letter in front of all of them. "This is another letter from Exodus. If you all remember correctly he sent a letter out just like this one nearly six weeks ago informing us of his attack on Temperantia. He has sent another one. However, this one is a bit different from his previous letter. It seems for this one he wants to meet face to face to declare his next plan of action."
"But why would he give us time to prepare?" Rex questions. "Wouldn't that only make us stronger?"
"My guess is the blighter thinks he's won already." Zeke points out as he cups his chin in thought.
Morag nods her head. "I agree with Zeke, my guess is he wants to show off that he earned the sixth ring to spite us and to show his power on display."
"So then what will we do Morag?" Mikhail questions. "Will we stick it to him and not show up at all?"
"I've thought about it and I've decided that I'll go to it."
Everyone in the room is visibly confused by this statement. "But why? It could be a trap." Rex points out.
"Unlikely. Exodus may be a deplorable waste of oxygen, but he won't go to kill. He seems honorable with these declarations. With that being said, I would prefer if you all joined me in meeting up with him. Especially since he seemed to call for you Rex specifically."
Rex looks taken aback by these words. "What does he want with me?"
"Don't you see Rex?" Nia begins. "He's felt how strong we've become. You, me, and Jin. We've gained so much strength in such a short amount of time that he's felt it for himself."
"Speaking of which, we still don't know what all you three can do yet." Zeke points out.
"I'll be sure to show all of you in sparring soon. First we have to know when will this meeting be and where." Rex looks back towards Morag.
"We will be meeting in three days at the border between Mor Ardain and the inner jungle. Everybody be prepared."
Everyone agrees to this.
"Now that that is taken care of..." Morag gets up from her chair. "...I too am curious of your abilities."
Rex revs his arm up ready for a fight. "Well then, let's go out. I'll show you all what we're capable of."
Back in the temple in the middle of the jungle Exodus calls out to his 'allies' once more to gather around. "Come my retainers. We will be setting out to meet 'her majesty' and her associates to give them an ultimatum. You all will be vital in progressing to the next phase of action. But first, we have one last person to bring with us. As my dear younger brother is aware..." Said man scoffs at Exodus. "...Their is still one more of my dear family members we're missing. My dear and only little sister. Well actually I have another little brother, but I can sense he's still alive... somewhere so he'll be of no help. That however is irrelevant. Now gaze upon your final ally to be summoned."
Exodus did what he did before and creates another regular core crystal. He then channels all of his energy into stretching and contorting the shape of the core as it begins to elongate and shape yet again into the same shape as Exodus' own core. The whole ordeal leaves Exodus absolutely exhausted and forces him to fall back into his throne as the core is complete. Exodus reaches up and activates his sixth ring which drains the color out of the core crystal turning it sickly grey and a crack forms on it. Exodus resonates with the strange core crystal as the room gets bathed in ether as a girl emerges from the core. She has a rather mature figure and giant metallic wings lightly floating behind her. She has stunning long green hair and matching green eyes that have grey sclera. She looks confused at first. "W-what? How am I..." She stops when she sees the man in front of her. "Who are you? What have you done to me?" Before she can continue Exodus simply reaches forward and unlocks memories that were buried deep down. The girl looks so shocked at the sudden surge of memories that her body begins to glow brightly as her body begins to split in half. After a few seconds their are now two of them but neither looks how the girl originally looked. Their is now a red one and a blonde one. "I wasn't expecting to have two sisters." Exodus laughs at this development. "Either way, you two are my last retainers. With them we will set off to the meeting tomorrow afternoon. The meeting is in three days and I am doubtful that some of you will be able to keep up. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Lord Exodus." All of them respond with reluctance.
Three days passed as both parties made their way towards the meeting point. During that time, the rest of Rex's team learned of his various new and powerful abilities that the three had developed over this time. Morag tried to give Rex more advice on the third step to which Rex feels he is now so close to figuring it out that he can almost taste it. Once the group arrived at the destination they see Exodus simply sitting in a throne that he had constructed from weapons used from his ring. "Greetings worms. Glad to see you all still wiggling around."
"Exodus. Why have you called for a meeting?" Rex asks with clear anger in his eyes and a frown dawning his face. Everyone else is in a fighting stance ready to strike if Exodus decides to try anything funny.
Exodus simply smiles and slowly stands up causing him to tower over Rex threateningly as he unsummons his throne. "I just wanted to show you all something." Exodus pulls up his right arm and shows the group his rings. "The sixth ring is mine." Exodus then begins to pace back and forth slowly. "I just thought I'd try killing two birds with one stone this time around. So I'm going to give you all an ultimatum."
"What would that be." Nia responds this time clearly feeling something very wrong with the ether around them. As if it permeated this feeling of death. Everyone else felt it as well.
"You see, I really need to get my rings back, but I've realized I haven't been slaughtering your kind in the cartloads like I used to." Exodus shrugs. "So I decided why not do both?"
"What are you getting at Exodus?" Morag speaks up already having both of her weapons drawn on the verge of activating dual wielding at the implications Exodus is making.
"Well you see. The past few titans I've attacked I haven't really killed that many civilians. You know like Leftharia, or Tantal, or Uraya... I just haven't really slaughtered those lowly slugs yet, so I've decided that I'll exterminate my next target while simultaneously handling clean up in those areas. Their is only one other titan I haven't attack besides the capital. I think you all can figure it out where I'm referring to."
"Gormott..." Tora remembering that his father, wife, and unborn child all live their causes Tora to immediately try to attack Exodus to which Poppi restrains him in desperation. Nia is also visibly shaking and seeing red as her own home nation is in Exodus' scopes. Rex tries to calm Nia down but it's pretty apparent that Nia's taking it just as bad as Tora. "Exodus! You better leave Tora's family alone or Tora get very angry!" Tora shouts at the top of his lungs.
"Masterpon calm down!" Poppi yells at Tora which causes little success.
"Oh can it rat, you can't even scratch me. You let that tin can do all the fighting for you." Exodus then begins to smile in a sinister manner. "But I bet you're wondering how I can take over Gormott and slaughter all those people at the same time? Well, I'm going to need a little help from a few friends I was able to make using this beauty right here." Exodus gestures at his sixth ring.
"What do you mean by, 'help from a few friends'?" Zeke questions with his blade out ready to strike as well.
"What I mean is this... meet my dear retainers curtesy of the power of the sixth ring." The sixth ring glows brightly as their is a brief rumble and from the bushes a large man begins to appear from out of the bushes. His tentacles begin to lash out as he steps into the sunlight for all to see as the man towers over even Exodus. Their are several other people coming out of the bushes all with their own various looks from neutrality to sadness. In total their is eight of these people as they all line up besides Exodus as he looks on with a grin plastered on his face as the group begins to go into full shock at everyone who is standing in front of them. One thing that everyone in front of them shares in common is that the sclera of their eyes is grey and their core crystals are also grey with a crack going through them.
Rex hears a voice that is all too familiar. "Rex... it's good to see you again. Even if it's like this."
"P-P-Pyra?" Rex's mouth just hangs agape as he can feel soft tears begin too slowly roll down his face. This was his first blade, the one that started their journey all those years ago. She died protecting them and now their she stood, on the opposing side. Rex's eyes slowly turn to Pyra's right to see a blonde looking at him with a somber look on her face. "M-Mythra?!"
"I'm here too." Mythra responds not wanting to look her old driver in the eye.
"I can't believe you're still alive." A tall man in black armor to the right of Pyra directs towards Jin.
"Malos?! You've been revived?!" Jin looks at Malos in surprise seeing his old friend back from the grave.
"Yeah, I am. Even this asshole got revived." Malos gestures behind him.
Nia and Jin immediately feel the hairs on the back of their necks stiffen when they see the gargantuan man behind Malos. "Amalthus?! What the bloody hell is that monster doing back?!" Nia looks about ready to strike.
"This is a terrible turn of events. It would seem I've been revived by that scoundrel over their." Amalthus points at Exodus. "Unfortunately that the failure is here as well." Amalthus points to a man with a scar on his face with a set of guns at his hip.
"Minoth?!" Jin is surprised to see his even older comrade look so young. "How are you so young? You look the same as you did back then."
"That guy over there didn't think I'd be too useful as an old man so he brought me back to my prime." Minoth spins the guns out of their holsters. "I'm still the best shot around." Minoth spins the guns back.
A girl with long brown hair looks slightly skeptical at his words. "I wouldn't be so sure Minoth. Akhos seems to be a pretty good shot as well."
Jin looks over to the sound of that voice and his eyes go wide. "Haze? Is that you?"
"Yes it is. Exodus unlocked my memories as well. I remember both my time as Haze and Fan la Norne. I'm glad to see my dear friend again." Haze smiles at Jin. That smile reminds Jin far too much of Lora. Fortunately for Jin, Mikhail comments on this before he has the chance to.
"I know you used to look a lot like Lora but the similarities are almost unsettling." Mikhail comments looking at Haze.
"It is good to see you as well Mikhail. You've grown so much." Haze closes her eyes and gives Mikhail a sweet smile like that of a doting older sister.
"Why thank you." Mikhail winks before giving Haze a genuine smile. "It is good to see you as well, even if it is on opposing sides."
Mikhail suddenly hears the voice of a moody woman who sounds disgusted. "Ugh seriously? How does Mikhail of all people survive?"
Mikhail looks over to the side and sees Patroka and Akhos both standing at the far side. "Patroka my love. It seems that not even death can separate us for long." Mikhail smiles then winks at Patroka causing her to gag.
"Ugh. Still your same old self I see." Patroka then quietly says to herself. "I'm glad to see you again."
"What was that?" Mikhail jests.
"I SAID NOTHING!" Patroka yells at Mikhail.
"Just thought I'd throw out that us non-Aegis blades have gotten an amp in our power thanks to Exodus' influence." Akhos points out to the group as he pushes his glasses up. "This power is quite amazing I must admit. I can't help but feel that we will all perform in the greatest play of them all! The actors lined up really has me excited." Akhos seems to be enjoying being alive a bit too much given their circumstances.
"As dramatic as ever Akhos." Mikhail points out.
Akhos pushes up his glasses. "You don't look forward to this duel of the ages? The kind that only comes around every millennia?! I for one am absolutely ecstatic!"
Exodus looks pretty upset at all of his retainers talking out of line. "ENOUGH!" Exodus brings his sixth ring up and all of them become rigid. "The reason I came here was to show that I have revived some of the most powerful blades from history to clean up all those filthy hives you call nations while I go destroy Gormott and take its core. The choice is up to you on how to handle this. Will you try to stop me and suffer more lives being lost, or will you stop them and allow me to grow ever stronger? I look forward to seeing your decision. We strike in seventy two hours. You better be prepared." Exodus warns the group. "Now then, we will take our leave. Until then." Exodus begins to walk back into the forest while the rest of the blades follow behind him.
"See you later... Rex." Pyra sadly states as she follows the rest of the blades.
The group was left shocked and speechless at what they just witnessed. At first none of them really know how to react that is until Exodus' words register. "Shit! We need to get back to the capital immediately! Three days is not a lot of time." Morag actives the boosters in her arms and legs and immediately begins flying at top speeds back to the capital.
"We're right behind you!" Rex shouts at Morag as everyone sprints behind Morag. Jin suddenly forms an idea.
"Rex, Nia; hold on tight." Jin transforms into his second form and grabs Nia around the waist in one arm and slings Rex over his back with his other arm as he travels back to the capital at the speed of light. The three are back at the capital in under a minute as Jin puts both of them down. Both look like their about to vomit as Jin turns back around. "I'm gonna go get the rest. I'll be back." In about five minutes Jin brought everyone back to the capital with very little issue except for Morag who didn't appreciate being carried by him. Jin turns back into his normal form as Morag begins to talk hastily.
"Everyone, to the throne room now. We need to start planning as quickly as possible." Morag begins to march off towards the throne room as everyone follows close behind.
The battle to save Elysium's people was now fast approaching.
to be continued...
Omake: Amalthus Gets Dunked On
"I can't believe you're still alive." A tall man in black armor directs towards Jin.
"Malos?! You've been revived?!" Jin looks at Malos in surprise seeing his old friend back from the grave.
"Yeah, I am. Even this asshole got revived." Malos gestures behind him.
Nia and Jin immediately feel the hairs on the back of their necks stiffen when they see the gargantuan man behind Malos. "Amalthus?! What the bloody hell is that monster doing back?!" Nia looks about ready to strike.
"This is a terrible turn of events. It would seem I've been revived by that scoundrel over their." Amalthus points at Exodus. "It would seem that the failure is here as well." Amalthus points to a man with a scar on his face with a set of guns at his hip.
"Minoth?!" Jin is surprised to see his even older comrade look so young. "How are you so young? You look the same as you did back then."
"That guy over there didn't think I'd be too useful as an old man so he brought me back to my prime." Minoth looks over to Amalthus in disgust. "I hate having to be in this bastards presence as well. Something you and I can agree on eh Malos?"
"Your damn right about that." Malos raises his monado to rest on his shoulder as the two share a hearty laugh.
"You know I'm in the same boat as you two now right?" A woman with long brown hair states.
Jin looks over to the sound of that voice and his eyes go wide. "Haze? Is that you?"
"Yes it is. Exodus unlocked my memories as well. I remember both my time as Haze and Fan la Norne. I'm glad to see my dear friend again." Haze smiles at Jin. That smile reminds Jin far too much of Lora. "And like I said earlier I too would have to agree with you two that it was quite displeasurable being revived alongside the ex-praetor."
"Do all of my old blades hate me that much?" Amalthus can feel his anger rising.
"Yes." They all respond simultaneously without hesitation in monotone voices.
"I know you used to look a lot like Lora but the similarities are unsettling." Mikhail comments looking at Haze.
"Ugh seriously? How does Mikhail of all people survive?"
Mikhail looks over to the side and sees Patroka and Akhos both standing at the far side. "Patroka my love. It seems that not even death can separate us for long." Mikhail smiles then winks at Patroka causing her to gag.
"Ugh. Still your same old self I see. Also while we're at it I might as well join in on crapping on Amalthus seeing as he killed me." Patroka turns towards Amalthus. "Hey! Dickhead!" Amalthus turns towards the angry flesh eater. "Fuck you!" Patroka flips Amalthus off just making the ex-praetor even more pissed as he can barely hold his anger in.
"I too have a strong distaste for the ex-praetor, although my word choice wouldn't be as... colorful as my sisters. Plus that prick did kill me as well." Akhos comments. "By the way Mik, how are you still alive?"
Mikhail puts on his signature shit eating grin as he simply states. "I am a tank after all." Mikhail pounds his chest as proof. Akhos looks unsatisfied with that answer but decides not to press any further.
"Well at least Pyra and Mythra didn't insult me." Amalthus breathes heavily.
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me." Mythra turns towards Amalthus. Mythra has the most bored look on her face as she crosses her arms before killing Amalthus with only four words. "Eat shit and die."
"Yeah I would have to agree with Mythra." Pyra admits. "Although I would've said something more along the lines of 'quit being a waste of oxygen', but that's just me."
At this Amalthus finally explodes. "DAMN IT! WHY THE HELL DO ALL OF YOU INSIST ON INSULTING ME! YOU DAMN WORTHLESS TOOLS!" Amalthus finally snaps. "AND WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'STOP BEING A WASTE OF OXYGEN'?! WE'RE ALREADY DEAD! WE DON'T EVEN NEED OXYGEN!"
"Even I think you're a total waste of my energy." Exodus states with clear disgust in his voice looking at the blade eater. "Why I revived you is a complete mystery considering how much of a shithead I think you are." Exodus shrugs.
"DAMN IT, NOT YOU TO! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO REVIVED US ALL IN THE FIRST PLACE! IF YOU REALLY HATE ME BEING AROUND THAT MUCH WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET RID OF ME!"
Exodus only looks at Amalthus with a look of tiredness. "Ok."
Realizing how screwed he was Amalthus tried to take it back. "Wait! NO NO N-"
The ether around Exodus contorts as a large sword of pure ether is summoned as he raises it up and aims it towards Amalthus. "Himmelsbruch." With a single swipe of his sword Exodus completely annihilates Amalthus from existence. Exodus just looks at the ground where Amalthus once stood and sneers. Exodus then looks up at his other retainers and then back at Rex and co. "Let's all pretend that never happened."
"Agreed." All of Exodus' retainers deadpan.
"Agreed." Rex and co deadpan.
Authors Notes: The chapters just keep getting longer and longer I swear. Any ways a lot happened this chapter. I revealed Nia's new form and both Nia and Jin's blade shifts, I hope you all enjoyed that. Rex is starting to learn to dual wield which is exciting but it seems he's still missing something. I also finally got to reveal the sixth ring and its power and I must admit, I've been looking forward to revealing it since I started writing part two. What will our hero's do when confronted with friends and foes from their past? Will they be able to trump them or will they fall in battle? Also I wrote an Omake for this chapter. Don't really expect these to be a new thing. The only reason this Omake even exists is because during my first draft of this chapter near the end I started to have way too much fun writing everyone dunking on Amalthus even though it didn't really fit the tone of the scene at all. Finding it too funny to simply delete I decided to just turn it into a bonus Omake at the end for you all to enjoy. Any ways I'm very excited to write the next few chapters as the upcoming battles are battles I've been wanting to write for a very long time now so look forward to the next few chapter releases. With that I always look forward to seeing your thoughts on this chapter as always and all that's left to say is that this is Exile Mansion signing off.