Chapter 7: Tornan Terrorist

The revision to chapter 1 is out in case you missed it. I meant to start following the schedule I put up on my profile but I didn't like the chapter for Changing the Future so I completely scrapped it at the last minute and got a new basic concept down but that meant that I was working on that so this got delayed. Sorry about that.

…

Brandon grumbled in his sleep as he felt someone bump into his back and drape an arm around his body.

"Wha- huh?" He blinked blearily. He glanced down to see an arm wrapped in a yellow sleeve around his chest. He gently maneuvered his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone to check the time. Five in the morning. Great. He pocketed his phone.

He sighed. He didn't want to disturb her sleep but he also didn't want to deal with how much heat was now being radiated onto his back. Not to mention that little metal band on her outfit was digging into his back. He waited for another minute before he felt the girl stir behind him. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

He felt her jerk away in surprise before leaning over to check if he was asleep or not. When she saw that his eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly, she sighed in relief. He heard her get up and stretch before wandering off.

Brandon was about to panic but forced himself to calm down. There was no reason for her to leave. Yeah. Benefit of the doubt. He grumbled as he sat up, and almost immediately fell over from the blood rushing from his head. He stood up, though making sure to take it slow this time around.

It was still relatively dark as they were camping underneath the dense canopy of the thick Gormotti woods. The sun was just starting to rise, peeking out above the horizon in the distance, making for a spectacular sight over the cliff they were perched on as a soft golden light washed over the city and plains in the distance.

Brandon plodded over to the remains of the fire from the previous night and picked up the collapsable pot and poked around for some leftovers.

"Mornin'." Brandon turned his head around to see Nia returning from the woods with a bunnit in one hand and a few small logs tucked under her other arm. Her normally straight hair was wildly sticking up in a curly mess. He idly noted that the ribbons that were normally in her hair were absent.

"You're up early," Brandon said as a basic conversation starter.

"I've always been an early riser," she shrugged as she tossed the wood into the fire pit and sat down to start skinning the animal. "What about you?"

"Usually not but I did sleep earlier last night."

"Nothing woke you up?" Nia asked carefully. Brandon almost laughed at the expression on her face, something he would have missed if he didn't know that Nia had been snuggling up to him.

"No," he tilted his head, "unless you're referring to my own body. Why? Was there something that woke you up?"

"Yeah actually."

"Hm… wait… wasn't Rex supposed to be keeping watch?" Brandon glanced over to see the young salvager sleeping peacefully with his back on a tree. He interrupted the peace by walking over and kicking Rex's boot.

"Snrk, what?" Rex woke up in shock.

"Didn't you say you were keeping watch?"

"Huh? Oh, that? Yeah, I did but Nia told me these woods were safe so we both just went to sleep."

"When has anywhere in the wild really been safe in Alrest?" Brandon asked.

Nia cleared her throat, grabbing their attention, "I'll thank you to not insult my father by implying that he was irresponsible enough to bring two children into a dangerous area of Gormott."

Brandon had the decency to look embarrassed. "I… that's not what I meant."

"I am aware," she said with crossed arms, "or you'd already have a dagger in your throat for such an insult."

Brandon eyed the knives on her belt nervously, something which Nia noticed and rolled her eyes at. "You can relax, I'm not going to stab you for bein' an idiot."

"Uh… thanks?"

Nia snorted, "and you just thanked me for callin' you an idiot."

"I guess I did," Brandon laughed, the tension leaving his body.

"You know that's as good as admitting you are an idiot," Nia crossed her arms with an eye roll.

"Well I might as well be, given how often I fall into your verbal traps."

"Well I think you're both idiots," Rex chimed in as he stood up, "if that helps you two get rid of the sexual tension that's built up."

"That desperate for a sister in law?" Brandon joked.

Nia shook her head as she reached out a hand to gesture at the pot. "I'll marry you when the World Tree dies." Rex took the pot from Brandon's hands and dumped it out before passing it to Nia.

"How long has the World Tree stood for?" Brandon asked Rex.

"Dunno, a few thousand years at least I think."

"Ouch." Honestly, given how well the Beanstalk was built, he couldn't see it collapsing for tens of thousands of years. Longer, if the maintenance bots were still online. Well, there goes that romance, not that he was actually seeking it. "Anyways, let's hurry it up. I'm assuming you're as eager to go home as I am. Where is your home anyways?"

"It's… I don't know."

"Well, you lived in Gormott before."

"I did. Smaller town called Echell," she shrugged, "can't exactly go back now."

"No, I suppose not." He scratched his neck, closing an eye as he did. "I guess we can cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Hm." Nia passed the pot back to Rex who had already got a fire roaring. "I guess so."

"What the hell was that?" Brandon panted as his hands rested on his knees. The trio stood at the base of a small hill leading up to the arched entrance to the city, all of them panting and covered in sweat from the run.

"I swear I've never seen that thing before," Nia wiped a sleeve along her forehead, though she was clearly the most in shape out of the three of them.

"I didn't know gogols could get that big. Did you?"

"Yeah, there's a docile one the people over at Noccila Timber call Gonzalez but that one's never attacked people. This one's new."

"For fucks sake," Brandon groaned, "safe, huh?"

"To be fair," Nia stretched out, "we were in the lower level woods. That thing went back to a different area."

"Ugh. Sure. I hope you realize that I'm never stepping foot onto those plains again."

"You know you should stretch after that kind of exercise," Nia pointed out, "you're just going to get a cramp doing that."

"Got it coach. Anything else to criticize? My running form perchance?"

"I would, but it's not worth the effort."

"Gee, thanks." Brandon quipped but took the advice and stood up straight, putting his hands up on his head to rest. "Well then," he gestured up the hill, "shall we?"

"I don't wanna," Rex whined.

"Oh come on you big baby," Brandon slapped his shoulder, "let's go down the yellow brick road."

"What? But the path is made of wood." Rex stated quite obviously.

"Never mind. You need to read more. Uncultured kid." Brandon said as he started up the hill with Nia right behind him.

Rex laughed and jogged a few steps to catch up. They walked through the arch and Nia looked around with a nostalgic smile. "It hasn't changed a bit." She glanced over as something caught her eye. "Is that… a wanted poster of me?" She hissed in absolute fury as she stomped over.

"Uh… maybe now's not the time-"

"Are you kidding me? Who the hell put Dromarch's face on mine?"

"I-" Brandon had to immediately cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud. The clothes were right, but the face was so hideously off it might as well have been useless. It really was just a tiger's face drawn on over Nia's.

"What's wrong with it?" Rex looked over it up and down with a serious expression, "I think it captures your likeness pretty well."

Nia turned her head, her eyes flashing dangerously, "want to say that again?"

"No ma'am," he squeaked.

Nia turned back to the poster, her face in a snarl as she tore it off the board and shredded it into tiny pieces before crumpling them into a ball and tossing them into a nearby trash can.

"Uh, not to rain on your parade, but wasn't that incredibly dumb? What if a soldier saw you?"

Nia stared for a second before pointing at her ears. "Follow me and I'll show you."

She started navigating through the city, knowing her way through the labyrinth of houses and stores. It wasn't long before Brandon could hear what Nia was hearing as well: a massive crowd. It wasn't anything in particular but he could hear the growing hubbub of a mix of voices. The three eventually made their way to the source of the noise in a central sort of market plaza. Brandon could see that Ardanian soldiers had set up some kind of booth, though he doubted it was to sell anything. It was more likely to be recruitment.

"Will anyone else step forward? To join the glory of the Ardanian military? To test your mettle against that of the might of a Core Crystal?" An Ardainian soldier cried from the center of the crowd.

Nia sighed, "ugh, Driver recruitment. They've taken it up a notch. They used to just do billboards."

"Is it that bad?" Brandon stretched his head up to try to get a glance over the crowd.

"Yeah, the pool of potentials to draw from keeps on shrinking. I guess the army is just that desperate with the potential of war looming over their heads."

"I guess a war would light a fire under anyone's ass. I just wish it wasn't specifically to spur on the creation of soldiers."

"Not much you can do about it." Nia said as a light shone out, indicating that someone was attempting to resonate with the Crystal. That someone cried out in pain and a deafening burst of energy rang out.

"What the…" Brandon winced as the crowd parted and two Ardanian soldiers came out dragging a corpse charred beyond recognition behind them.

Nia crossed her arms, "yeah, that guy must have had zero aptitude. Honestly, that's even more impressive than being able to resonate. Most people have at least some level of potential."

"I've… never seen that before," Brandon said.

"I did warn you about them," Rex pointed out, "though I never imagined that. Gramps just said that they could be dangerous."

"Yeah okay. I do not want to ever try bonding with a Core Crystal." He put a hand up to his chin, "actually, Nia, what does aptitude even mean?"

Nia shrugged, "I'm not really sure myself. There's a whole spectrum of people who are Drivers. There's everyone from criminals to nobles."

"Then what do you think it is?"

"Hm. Well, when a new Core Crystal is first bonded with, they are heavily influenced by their original Driver in both looks and personality." She started walking around the crowd as she talked. "Maybe it could be the other way around with an old Core Crystal and a new Driver."

"But if you're able to bond with one, you can bond with as many as you want afterwards." Brandon pointed out.

"Hm. That is true. Honestly, a lot about how Core Crystals and Drivers work is a mystery. The Praetorium kind of has it all on lockdown."

Brandon glanced around nervously to see if anyone had heard. "Shouldn't you be more quiet about that?"

"About the Praetorium?" Nia shook her head in negative, "we're considered to be a backwater country and our citizens are second class. Indol looks down on us so most Gormotti don't care about their religion in turn."

"And the Ardanian military?" Brandon raised an eyebrow, subtly gesturing towards the few soldiers that were still pitching their recruitment drive as they walked passed into an alleyway.

"They can't hear us over the crowd." Despite saying that, Nia glanced backwards nervously.

"Mmh." Brandon tilted his head but didn't comment further.

"Where are we going exactly?" Rex asked.

"Taking the long way around to the mall." Nia explained.

"Why this way?"

"Do you want to push your way through a crowd of that size?"

Rex shook his head vehemently. He was probably thinking about before when he would have been knocked around, though now he would be the one knocking people around. Either way, it wouldn't be good since the people would be focused on the theatrics involved with the Core Crystal and shoving through would only bring themselves unwanted attention.

"Anyways," she lowered her voice to a murmur, "I'm also hoping to avoid the Ardanian Guard. If they recognize me, we're done."

"Hey, you there," a voice from behind called, "halt."

Nia froze.

Brandon on the other hand turned around without flinching. "What can I do for you sir?" He put on a pleasant smile. The people who stopped them were three Ardanian soldiers. One was a captain if he recognized the helmet properly.

"Turn your Gormotti friend around for us." The captain said.

Brandon cleared his throat and nudged Nia who turned around stiffly.

"That's her alright. You're all under arrest." The soldiers raised their guns as the captain approached.

Brandon cursed mentally. "Sir, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. We haven't done anything wrong."

The captain snorted, "I'm surprised you're able to say that with a straight face."

"Sir, I can vouch for her innocence," Brandon stepped forward to place himself between Nia and the Ardanians.

"Your word isn't worth much h-" The captain went silent as Brandon pulled out an Argentum Security ID card.

"I am well aware of the resemblance," Brandon said as he put his ID card away, "that was why we wished to avoid any trouble. I did see the poster after all, but this Gormotti is clearly not a Driver. Even if she was, there is no white, beast form Blade present."

"Her description matches that of the Tornan terrorist exactly."

"I know there is a strong resemblance," he heard Nia growl quietly at his side, "but she is from Echell and the fashion there is quite distinct from Torigoth. I would assume that this terrorist you speak of to also have lived in Echell."

"I'm going to have to ask for her ID."

"I-" Nia gasped as a figure in blue dropped down from above and a set of brilliant twin blades erupted out of both the man's chest and stomach.

"Akhos," Nia seemed to be hyperventilating in a panic.

"An odd set of company you keep around you Nia." Akhos said as he easily killed the other two Ardanian guards by flipping his swords around and stabbing them both behind him. He smirked and flicked his blades before raising a hand to push his stark red glasses up his nose. Beside him, an odd fairy-like Blade completely covered in armor hovered around in a whimsical fashion.

"And after everything we've done for you, some random strangers make you turn traitor like that?"

"Traitor traitor traitor!" The Blade taunted.

"I- I'm not."

"Then why do you stand over there? Though I notice you stand without Dromarch or the Aegis."

Brandon stepped forward, putting his left hand in front of Nia protectively while he drew out his pistol, "I'm assuming you're Torna? Too bad for you, the Aegis is currently otherwise occupied."

"Oh, is that so?" Akhos said in a mockingly patronizing tone, "I do hope that her schedule clears up soon. I would very much like to meet her."

"In your dreams," Rex shouted defiantly. He put up his fists into the standard combat position, currently lacking any kind of weapon.

"So this is the fabled Driver of the Aegis. Honestly your friend here looks like he would better fit the role but I suppose everyone has a type."

"Why's he talking so much?" Brandon whispered, "is he stalling?"

"No," Nia hissed, "he's really into plays and theatrics. He's playing with us. He could have killed all of us by now if he really wanted to."

Brandon grimaced and aimed down the iron sights. "I need you two to get out of here." He said to Nia and Rex.

"But-"

"He needs one of us alive to show him where the Aegis is, or he would already have her. Nia, he kills for going rogue, Rex he kills by prying the Core Crystal out of your chest. I'm the only non Driver so I'm the only option he has to safely use if captured since you two can break free of any restraints."

"He's right you know," Akhos twirled his blades idly, "I'll even let you two go to track down later. I'm generous that way."

Nia clasped her hands up to her chest, "I-"

"Go. Find a way to contact your Blades and tell them to meet you to take off and leave Gormott," he moved his head side to side, popping his joints in anticipation of the fight, "I'll make sure this creep doesn't follow you."

"For the record, I don't like this."

"Duly noted."

"How charming," Akhos sniffed, "now if you're quite done with your goodbyes…"

"Yeah yeah," Brandon rolled his eyes, then pulled the trigger.

Akhos flinched but the inhuman reaction speed of his Blade allowed her to set up an Ether shield to block the shot.

"Tch," Brandon flicked his head in annoyance as he fired off a few more shots while running for cover. Nia flung her knives, forcing Akhos to block with his own blades, and grabbed Rex by the wrist and ran, quickly disappearing into the complex alleyways of Torigoth."

Brandon blind fired around the corner with a quick glance to confirm that Akhos was still there. He quickly holstered his gun before activating his wristbands, the familiar feeling of metal gauntlets covering his fists. He waited a moment, listening carefully for the sound of footsteps, before springing out around the corner to ambush the Tornan Driver.

He was immediately countered with a swipe at his midsection which Brandon barely blocked with a quick movement from his left arm, his right connecting with Akhos' other sword with a metallic clang. Brandon was the one who was forced to disengage as even with leverage, he lacked the strength to challenge a Driver.

Honestly engaging a Driver with their Blade in melee combat in the first place was suicide at the best of times. He only managed to hold his own against Sever due to the distance with his Driver and the blitz of a surprise attack Brandon launched. This time, the Ether line connecting and powering the Driver Blade pair glowed a shining gold, meaning he was completely outclassed.

However, the gamble here was that he was needed alive. Though it looked like he was needed alive but not uninjured.

He just needed to buy enough time to find out how Akhos had been tracking them in the first place… then he needed to figure out how to stop him from continuing to do so. Yeah, that's not going to be easy.

He blocked another hit from Akhos and had to dodge an electric strike from his Blade by dodging to the side. He grimaced as he felt his backpack tap against a wall and he quickly rolled to the side to get to a better position even as he felt a blade whistle past his arm.

He quickly drew out his pistol and opened fire to force his opponents to find cover and create some breathing room. Though, the Tornans just put up an Ether shield to deflect his gauss spikes, rendering his move ineffective.

Becoming desperate, he zigzagged forward through the alley, trying to catch his enemies off guard. He feinted left before throwing a right hook, only for Akhos to simply dodge it by taking a step back then landing a knee in Brandon's gut.

Brandon dropped his gun and keeled over clutching at his stomach and nearly vomited from the pain. Akhos gave a slow clap as he squatted down, as if speaking to a child, "that was very impressive for a non-Driver. You almost made me break a sweat. Of course assuming you could succeed versus a Driver and Blade is a fallacy."

"I wasn't planning on winning," Brandon coughed.

"Yes. Your plan was to buy our wayward friends some time."

"Even I could see that," his Blade giggled as she spun around in a circle.

"I think that was enough," Brandon managed to put on a defiant smile, even as he wanted to yell out from the pain. Though it seemed like Akhos hadn't figured out that there was a phase two, which was to get rid of whatever was allowing him to track them through Alrest.

"You see, giving them time does nothing. You may have told them to leave Gormott but unless my assumption is wildly mistaken, they will come back for you with their Blades in tow. Then, they will lose."

"I think you're mistaken."

"Is that so?" Akhos stood up, sheathing his swords and walked around Brandon and kicked him in the side, knocking him to the ground and causing him to wheeze in pain. "If that was the case, then I wouldn't need you. However, I don't believe my intuition is wrong. Nia has always been overly sympathetic to trash that doesn't deserve it. I suppose it was inevitable that her soft heart would cause her to abandon our mission."

"Soft heart?" Brandon started laughing despite the pain, "that's called having a perfectly reasonable heart you half wit. You're the insane ones, looking to kill tens of thousands of people."

Brandon could see anger flicker over Akhos' face for a second but it quickly reverted back to a cocky smile, "is that so? Then what do you have to say about the Praetorium?"

"What do you want me to say? It's not like they have the cleanest of histories, but unlike you, they do have a positive impact on Alrest."

"Ah, and you call me the half wit," he tutted and shook his head, "it seems your history is lacking."

Brandon debated briefly on whether it was worth it or not to give his fake childhood. "History was never my strongest subject. Especially not this world's history."

Akhos narrowed his eyes, "this world?"

"I've got some secrets of my own."

"And I'm sure Malos would just love to hear some of them. It seems you aren't as incompetant as I thought you were. You've given yourself some more time."

Brandon slowly sat up with his backpack against a building, "yeah well, you're going to have to drag me kicking and screaming through Torigoth for that interrogation I'm assuming you have planned." He wasn't looking forward to an interrogation as he had never been trained to withstand pain, but he could put up with it if he could protect people for once.

"I suppose I'll just knock-" A wall of blue fire sprung up around and between the two.

"So that's what that noise was. Such a commotion," an elegantly flowing voice said, almost sounding amused. Brandon's head flicked towards the direction of the voice to see a woman… no a Blade. She was dressed in a flowing violet and blue dress with blue flames accentuating her hair and clothing. She held a sword in each hand, almost a rapier with a spiral design, though he knew it was more than just aesthetics.

That was Brighid, also known as the Jewel of Mor Ardain, Blade to the Flamebringer, the Ardanian Special Inquisitor. What was she doing on Gormott?

"That armor… So, a Tornan Driver and his Blade wanders into my clutches. A shame for you that you assumed you could rampage around this town freely with no consequence."

"Akhos?" His Blade said, uncertainty in her voice.

"Tch. We can't win against the Jewel of Mor Ardain alone. It's time to get out of here."

Brighid lifted a sword and blasted blue flames above the Tornans, "what makes you think I'll allow you to leave?"

"Obrona," Akhos snapped his fingers.

"Got it." Obrona lifted her hands as her Core Crystal started glowing. The blue flames surrounding them died down as red energy filled the air. Brandon took the opportunity to scramble away from Akhos and Brighid.

Brighid looked confused for a second before smiling, "do you think that cutting off Ether flow will change anything?"

"No, but it gives us the chance to escape," Akhos lifted an arm which Obrona grabbed onto and pulled him up, flying above the buildings and away from the city.

Brighid had no choice but to watch, slightly frustrated, as the terrorists she was after made an escape. She sighed, "well then. What about you-" her gaze fell down to see that the man the Tornan was with had disappeared. "Interesting. It appeared that he was not with the Tornan and yet he chose to flee in the face of help. I'll have to tell the guard to keep an eye out for him."

She then knelt down in silent honor for the Ardanian soldiers who fell before she could arrive in time.

Brandon was out of breath as he finally slowed his sprint down and he leaned down to rest his hands on his knees. He had just gotten ridiculously lucky for the Jewel of Mor Ardain to show up when she did. That outcome was about a billion times better than even the best of what he was hoping for.

Now he had to go and get supplies quickly before his face was next to be plastered all over the city on wanted posters. He wondered how he was going to meet up with Rex and Nia… well Nia might just leave with Dromarch actually. She did technically fulfil her end of the deal and guide them through the city. He had no idea how he was supposed to win her a pardon now though.

Well, either way, he could see the open marketplace from where he was resting. He stretched out and made his way into the bustling shopping district. He quickly picked out a few long lasting but nutritious foods as well as some supplies and mechanical parts before leaving as fast as he could. He had hoped for some better quality stuff at the mall but that was too big a risk at this point.

He lowered his head and fidgeted with his gear as he passed by a pair of Ardanian soldiers. He bit his lip as he contemplated his next move. No doubt that Akhos, while having fled, was probably still keeping watch over the city. Normally he could probably just blend in if a crowd of people left together but given that his Blade could fly, that was too risky.

Not to mention that his Blade could control atmospheric Ether flow and each living being had a… a unique Ether signature. Fuck. That was how he was tracking them, his Blade could track their Ether signatures. How was he supposed to kill a Blade? He didn't have anything that could crack their Core Crystals. Realistically, only a Blade weapon could deal any significant damage to a Core Crystal. Anything else would take so much power it would be unrealistic at best.

His mind was spinning in thought and indecision. Even if he had been lucky enough to get away, he had sent Nia and Rex away. He had no way to reach them since Rex would be out of communication range.

He had no idea what they were doing either. Ideally they'd trek back to Gramps and leave. He could then just pay for passage to Leftheria where he could stay for a few days before Rex finds out where he was then comes to pick him up.

Of course that was with ideal circumstances. The problem was there's a good chance that Rex could come back to Torigoth in an attempt to rescue him. Then again, Akhos was almost certainly tracking them through Nia, or he'd have made a beeline for Pyra. He was loathe to say that someone leaving was a good thing, but the best case scenario right now is that Nia would go her own way.

Obviously everything going that way was unlikely. Okay, first thing was to figure out a way to at least disable the Blade. He thought for a second. He could sacrifice his pistol and set it up to fire a gauss spike with more energy than the gun could handle. That would shatter the weapon and probably wreck his hand but if he could aim decently, he could at the minimum deal enough damage to the Blade so that it would take her a while to regenerate.

Or he could hit the Driver. Akhos would be able to react fast enough as a Driver but if the projectile packed enough of a punch, it could shatter his swords and kill him that way.

Alright. That was what he would do. Time to go and find an Ether forge.

…

I know this is a mistake, but several yt channels have been talking about potential for Monolith Soft news at E3 and I'm already hyping myself up. I'm probably going to be hit by disappointment when nothing shows up. On the other hand, I'd lose my mind if anything Xenoblade comes up. I'm tempted to stream a watch party for the E3 Nintendo Direct. I'll link my twitch if I decide to go for it.

Curly hair Nia is the concept art of Nia. If you don't have the Torna DLC just look it up on google, it's very cute.

I'm not sure if I did the Akhos interaction very well. I tried to make him as arrogant and showboating as possible. I could honestly see him letting Nia and Rex go since he, well technically Obrona, can track their whereabouts through Alrest. The difference I'm making from the Game is that Obrona needs to be both familiar with the unique person and be close enough to the relative strength of the Ether signature.

The reasoning here is that Obrona is both familiar with Nia and Nia would give off an absurdly large Ether signature whereas Obrona doesn't know anything about Pyra and Pyra herself is hardly more than a standard Blade. She may know Dromarch but his signal wouldn't be strong enough for Obrona to detect.