Book Finale

Chapter LXXXVII

https/youtu.be/5w4bOYDNypc

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" a Tantalese woman cried as a group of about thirty blades began punching their way through the boarded up windows and doors of her shop.

It had been only a day since the attacks started happening, and it had only gotten worse. Hundreds, if not thousands of people had already been murdered by these raging blades, and no one was any wiser on why they had started attacking, save the massive dragon hovering the sky. It almost seemed like they had lost any bit of personality or semblance of who they once were. It left a lot of people to wonder, what kind of cruel god would let this happen?

The woman was hiding behind her counter, holding in her hand an ether shotgun filled with fire ether shells. If there were any water blades, she was doomed, but she was hoping she could set the whole place on fire and escape in the chaos.

She finally heard the glass shatter as they slammed their way through; this was her last chance for survival.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she shrieked out, but that only seemed to direct them to her.

Her hands trembling, she carefully rested the gun on the desk, aiming into the thick of the crowd, but she was struggling to pull the trigger.

"Oh come on! They're trying to kill you! Why is this… so hard…?" she thought to herself.

Just as she began to come to terms with her own death, she heard a loud crashing as someone fell through the roof.

"A little warning before you smash the ground beneath my feet would be nice, Kass," the person said as he stood up.

A small girl with a mask on the back of her head fell down through the roof behind him.

"Sorry Gabe! I could have sworn that I hit that lightly, guess my super good luck's just a bit off," she replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Right, right," Gabriel said with a sigh, her luck really was just the worst.

"Y-You're a blade!" the woman yelled from behind them.

Gabriel responded quickly, "Stay back, ma'am! We'll handle it from here."

He readied himself as he charged into the oncoming blades.

They attacked swiftly from all angles, however he was able to plant a small device on the ground as he backed away swiftly.

Another petite blade dropped down through the roof right behind him, she quickly took out some kind of ethereal device and began speaking to it.

"Canaan, it's done. Blades of every element except for light are here, I think this'll be a decent test," she said.

"Very good, stand back," a voice said over the speaker of the same device.

"C'mon time to go lady," the blade said as she grabbed the woman, picked her up, and jumped out through the roof effortlessly.

Kasandra jumped out with little effort, but as Gabriel went to jump out, his foot got caught in probably the only place his foot could get caught in the entire building.

"GABE!" Kasandra shouted, but it was too late, the entire building was filled with an intense ethereal blast.

As soon as the smoke had cleared, Kasandra dropped down and began frantically looking everywhere for him.

"Oh no! Did he die? Oh no!" she said spastically.

"Relax Kass, if he were dead, you would know," Sonata replied nonchalantly as she dropped back down into the building.

Overall, there was little damage sustained to the building itself, and now that the smoke had completely dissipated, they could see core crystals lying on the ground.

"Canaan, the experiment was a success," Sonata reported in.

"And what of Gabriel?" Canaan replied over the comm.

Before Sonata could respond, an arm jutted out of seemingly nowhere and snatched the ether radio from her hand.

"What in the bloody hell was that about? What if I had gotten killed?!" Gabriel, who appeared to be relatively unharmed, complained into the radio.

"Relax," Canaan replied. "The device is of no danger to humans, the biggest issue is it could force your blades into their core crystals if not used carefully. Kasandra's luck only seems to affect you, so I assumed there was little risk."

"You arsehole, I oughta…," he started, but was interrupted by Kasandra tackle-hugging him.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" she wailed out dramatically.

He rolled his eyes before letting out a chuckle, "Don't be silly Kass, the Prodigal Prince of Tantal won't fall so easily!"

"Didn't they call your father that?" Canaan interjected over the radio.

"First I've heard, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I suppose," Gabriel responded.

"Excuse me," the woman jumped in. "Did you say 'prince'? And why haven't your blades lost their minds?"

"That would take too long to explain," Canaan replied. "Look, our experiment was a success, so we can push on for the final phase, get back to HQ and we'll talk it over there. Oh… and bring her back with you."

"Back where?" the lady asked skeptically.

Gabriel sighed as he hooked the radio on his belt loop. "To New Torna, it's the safest city to be in as of right now. Did you have any family or friends that might still be here?"

The woman shook her head. "No, it's just me. I'm one of three people that refused to leave Theoscaldia. Now they're dead and I'm all that's left."

"You really lucked out then," Sonata replied. "The Tantal group got surrounded and gutted at the halfway point, not a single one made it out. Luckily some of the other cities did make it, otherwise the Tantalese would've been extinct."

"They're all… dead?" the woman cried in disbelief. "This… is all that dragon's fault! Are they really all gone?"

"Take a deep breath," Gabriel said, trying to calm her down while giving Sonata an ugly look, as if to say "Be more tactful."

"We're taking you back on a titanless ship, you will arrive safely," Kasandra added, jumping in.

"Yes, I'll go with you," the woman agreed. "But I wonder what this world is coming to…."

"You and me both," Gabriel agreed.

...

"Silas, what's going on?!" Acacia questioned after Pneuma, Alvis, and Malos had all ascended to the dragon.

"I… have no idea," I replied, but I could hazard a guess.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Waylon jutted in. "The Conduit has awakened, and by its own will."

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Gabriel questioned, irritated.

Waylon shook his head. "I had no idea, I mean… I knew it was a possibility, but I was under the impression that once Galea was defeated, the Conduit would disappear from this world as it was meant to five hundred years ago."

"Did Alvis really never give friend Waylon the full story on anything?" Poppi questioned.

Waylon shook his head. "No, he kept me in the dark about as much as he could. He only cared about results, and eventually I just had to come to terms with that, whether I liked it or not."

"Something isn't sitting right with me," I interjected. "Why aren't we dead yet?"

"Yeah I half-expected this to be a done-deal," Acacia pointed out in agreement.

Waylon nodded. "Even all three of the Aegises on their own couldn't truly destroy this world, because none of them truly created it. This world exists as the Conduit's creation, however with all of the Aegises joined with the Conduit, there's no reason it couldn't just wipe it all away."

"So why hasn't it?" Gabriel asked.

"Acacia, is that you?!" an older woman called out from afar. "You're all going to want to see this…."

"Who is that?" Rafi questioned.

"That's the lady we've been assisting in her daily life," T-Elos explained.

"She's… a little more than that," Acacia corrected. "She also happens to be my mother."

"That raises a lot of questions," I responded, "But I suppose we should save those for another day."

We followed her to her house, where she had an ether box playing the news. In short, blades all over Alrest were going berserk and attacking humans everywhere. We immediately looked at our own blades, asking them if they were feeling odd at all, but they all declined. So now we had a much longer list of questions with answers that didn't seem to be any clearer.

We had been discussing our situation for about an hour, with no real conclusions being made, even with Waylon's help, when we heard a knock on our door.

I opened the door, and was met with a very familiar looking Nopon greeted me.

"Lutoluto? What are you doing here?" I questioned. "Don't you work at Ysheva?"

"That quite right!" she replied in the typical Nopon accent. "But what friend might not know is that Ysheva Railway Station was upgraded to airport as well! Not just that, but big titanless ship broke through the sky! It people from the BCC, and they requested you by name!"

"They sure picked one hell of a time to try and get even…," Gabriel thought aloud.

"Actually, BCC requested Lutoluto specifically tell Silas that there were no ill-intentions!" Lutoluto corrected.

"I don't buy it," Acacia argued.

"'In event that Silas does not believe BCC'," Lutoluto read from a piece of paper. "'Tell friends that Adonis no longer in charge, and that new General has pardoned all actions.'"

"How do we know that's not a lie," Waylon questioned.

"That one quite simple," Lutoluto responded, handing me a newspaper with the headline, "Former Terrorist Pardoned for Theft of Aegis Prototype".

After reading through the entire article, everything had been proven true. Apparently it caused a lot of skeptics to break out into protests over it, but the decision was never repealed. The only odd part about it was that there was no mention of the General's name throughout the entire paper. Just who was this new General, and what did he want from us?

"Alright, I say we go have a chat," I declared, my decision final.

...

They had apparently offered Lutoluto a free Vess in return for her services, and she took us all the way to the Ysheva Airport in it. We walked into the ship, and before we could even make a move, the ship closed its doors and began taking off. Everything about it had been preprogrammed to get us to the BCCHQ without any delay or interruptions, there weren't even any people on it anymore. KOS-MOS monitored the flight the entire way there, ensuring we weren't about to get driven into the ground. T-Elos made sure there weren't any structural weaknesses or bombs planted aboard. Honestly though, it wouldn't have mattered. By the time they were done, we were already landing on the dock on the ceiling of the BCCHQ. This ship got us to the BCCHQ in twenty minutes, a trip that had previously taken me nine hours.

Once we landed, the hatch opened immediately, and we all looked to KOS-MOS and T-Elos.

They concentrated for a moment before KOS-MOS turned back.

"No hostile signs detected, we are clear to proceed," she stated definitively.

With the all-clear, we exited to stare death in the face.

Gabriel reacted first. "Canaan?"

"Hey guys, long time no see," he said with a smirk. "I hope the trip wasn't too stressful."

"Stressful? STRESSFUL MY ASS!" Gabriel said as he walked ahead of us, making a beeline in his direction. "I BURIED YOU! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

"Right," Canaan replied in a nonchalant, dismissive manner. "It's good to see you too."

I honestly thought Gabriel was about to knock him off his feet, but, to everyone's surprise, he, instead, gripped him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you lived, but… what are you doing here? And why are you the General?!" Gabriel questioned.

Canaan chuckled and hugged him back. "I missed you too, friend. Come inside, let me fill you in."

Once we had stepped inside his office, he sat us down, and explained to us exactly what was happening.

"It all started when I went back to my old house before fighting Acacia's crazy sister."

...

Canaan looked around, trying to find anything that would give him an edge. He didn't care if it was experimental equipment, he didn't even care if the item never even had a proper test run, all he needed was the item and some note on how to actually use it.

He had found multiple ether shields, hoverboards, and, unfortunately, plenty of items with no manual and no sure way of actually using them. As he shuffled through notes, he realized there was some paper left all on its own, addressed to him.

Canaan picked it up and began reading it thoroughly.

"Hey dumbass, if you're reading this, that means I probably messed up… big time. You see… that girl I've been dating… she doesn't know that I know, but she's secretly Adonis' number two. But… then again, you probably already know that if you're reading it. Look, I've been using her to get intel without her knowing. I've learned some seriously freaky stuff from her too, like Adonis being some crazy roided-out blade eater. Seriously, this dude's lived for over five hundred years! Point is, DON'T get caught up in what he's doing, it won't be worth it in the end. You may… probably be wondering why I didn't break up with her when I found out, or at least let you know. I'm sure we could've taken her out easily, but I didn't want to. As dumb as it may seem now, I really wanted to help her. She's dying, every day she picks open scabs that she won't let heal, and she's not human either. She's… like him. Only she's actively under pain and stress. I want to help her, so much, and so I tried to find a way to heal her… but unfortunately there's nothing I can do. So, my endgame was simply to try and help her help herself. Maybe if I could be someone for her, then… maybe she wouldn't have to keep breaking her own scabs? It all probably seems silly now, but I was serious!"

"You… fucking idiot," Canaan said as he tried to keep his tears off the page, but still, he couldn't help but chuckle and continue reading.

"Look, the main point is, I've uncovered some pretty terrible facts from Adonis. He has records of a being called 'Galea' and extensive details on something called 'the Conduit'. I won't bore you with the details, but every blade that exists, including the Aegis, comes from it. Blades are supposed to send their core crystal data to something called a Trinity Processor containing three Aegises, and that data decides what changes will be made to a blade's core crystal. If the world is lacking metal, more blades will have mining skills, if there's a massive food shortage, then blades will have skills related to food growing or gathering. It's all absolutely insane, but it means that blades are supposed to be more than just tools, they should be integrated with our way of life! Enough about that though, what I wanted to tell you is that the Aegises haven't been part of the Trinity Processor in centuries, and that there are countless blades acting strange. Some of them can retain memories of who they once were, and some resonate without ever forgetting anything! Canaan, the Trinity Processor's memory is full. At least, that's my theory. There's nowhere left for this data to go, and since none of it's being processed, it's just sitting there. The system's breaking, and I'm terrified this is going to have a major impact on the world. Looking at all the data, the worst case scenario is that the Conduit is counting down until it reaches its limit. The weird aspect of this… database is that it's not just some high-tech machine. It has a consistent, and absolute will, and I can't imagine that receiving no other information than what Galea has been feeding it is a good thing. I'm willing to bet money that the Conduit will begin releasing commands to blades and possibly even titans to simply end it all. It's just a theory, but I want you to make sure that you can help if that time comes. I know you're going to go after Adonis after this, and I'm also willing to bet you're going to end up getting involved with the Aegises as a result. Leave Adonis to them, I've gotten a decent look into his records and he has no intention of outlasting Violet. She won't last much after that, in that absence of power, you need to take the charge, and I've laid out exactly how you can do it."

...

"E-End this… Please…," Canaan had cried out to Silas as he coughed up blood and "died".

At that point, Canaan had done all he needed to do. Pyra had shown signs of disloyalty and Silas contained the essence of the elusive third Aegis. With Adonis stuck outside of Alrest, this was when Violet would start planning her next moves, but Canaan was already far ahead of her.

Finch hadn't ever left Alrest, that was a mechanical doll that would cease to function after having it's "core crystal" pierced. Adonis knew damn well what Zane was capable of, or so he thought, and wouldn't let Canaan live with the potential to see through his plans. Adonis was also prideful and arrogant, he would kill Finch off first just to say he had the last laugh. It honestly angered Canaan that Zane had even predicted that much. Canaan, however, was in his real body. At least... initially. After that first hit from Adonis, they only focused on him for a moment, because Adonis was way too powerful for them to keep their focus. He used a weird patching tool Zane had constructed that, to Canaan's delight, worked like a charm. As he made his escape, he used a dummy, made to look, feel, and act like a dying body, and function as a corpse to take his place. A little trick with a voice recording and a slight movement to push that ether shield to Silas and give "Canaan's" last words was all it took. He definitely had to give Zane props for the blood cough, it was quite convincing.

All that was left was the issue of finding a ride back to Alrest. This, admittedly, was the largest risk in the entire mission. It relied on the one thing not a soul could count on, Finch's memory. He literally gave her a letter in each hand, one under each goggle lens under her goggles, one taped to every toe, and one glued to the back of her head. Canaan wished he was kidding. She figured it out though, as she gave coordinates to the BAP, got the Helios Trinity to break Azurda out of a prison Adonis had kept him in, and sure enough, that titan got him and, eventually, the others out of there.

...

"Listen, I didn't come to fight," Canaan had said to Violet a week before the Great Blade Massacre commenced. "I simply want to take your position as General when you get what you want."

"And how do you know what I want, darling?" Violet asked, absolutely thrilled that he was somehow still alive. "Cuz right now the only thing I want is to cut your fingers off and throw them at you."

"Flattering," Canaan replied dismissively. "Look, you want that war with your sister, right? At this rate you're not going to get that chance. You're sick, and you know that."

"Oh?" she questioned, intrigued. "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to me, but Zane knew the whole time," Canaan admitted. "He thought he could fix you, even when he knew you were there only to get him killed. He wanted to make you happy enough that you wouldn't have to break your scabs."

Violet giggled, before cracking up entirely. Canaan sat there, trying not to get pissed as she finally ran out of breath and a single tear fell from her eye.

"That's real cute," she said softly. "Where was he before I lost myself? I might've appreciated him a lot more then…."

"The point being," Canaan interrupted, trying to get her back on track. "You're looking to end things with your sister, but you're not going to default from the path Adonis set you on. I'll make sure she happens to find some gossip about how you're not in the office, and I'll bait her to come here. I'll leave out every bit of information on what you two really are, just enough for her to finally want to end it all with you as well. You give me what I want, and I'll make sure you have the opportunity you're looking for."

She let out a long sigh. "Look playboy, I don't give a shit about anything you're talking about. She's going to come, whether she wants to or not," she then stopped to let out a weak chuckle. "But fuck the old man. You want the General position? You've got it, I'm going to be too dead to care by next month anyways. I'll even make sure your name doesn't get out to the press so whatever 'amazing scheme' you have pans out."

"Thank you," Canaan finally said. "And I'll still hold up my end, all things considered."

She began walking out as she waved a middle finger. "Do whatever the fuck you want to do, I'm not your mom."

...

"And that's the whole story," Canaan finished.

"And you're sure Zane didn't have some sort of Aegis foresight ability?" Waylon questioned.

"Perhaps he stole it from Malos," KOS-MOS theorized. "Therefore explaining why Malos has no such ability."

"Don't be such a moron," T-Elos replied. "Malos hasn't ever had foresight, and he's been around a thousand years."

"It's funny that that's your most logical argument," Acacia said in disbelief as she turned back to Canaan. "I appreciate your hand in dealing with my sister about as much as I am pissed off at you."

"Yeah I don't expect the 'flowers of forgiveness' to start 'raining down from heaven' anytime soon," Canaan replied. "I basically let the Great Blade Massacre happen, so I've got that on my conscience, but add it to the list, I guess. However, you have no reason not to trust me, right?"

I let out a long sigh. "I've got nothing."

Gabriel looked at him skeptically. "I assume you have a plan?"

Canaan laughed. "Do you know who you're talking to? Absolutely fucking not! But Zane did, and I think it's the best we've got. Although, I did have to read through a lot of meaningless loops of him nerding out every five seconds before he'd actually get to the point. Seriously, he makes lousy fanfic writers with no real writing schedule who bite off more than they can chew look world-class."

"How should friends go about accomplishing plan?" Poppi asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Well Waylon, Silas, and Acacia have their jobs. You all need to go get your Aegises back. Without them, we're as good as dead," Canaan explained. "As for Gabriel and Rafi, I need you two to go do tests for me. If everything goes to plan, we'll shut down every blade in Alrest."

"And if it doesn't?" Gabriel interrogated.

"Do I need to paint a picture?" Canaan questioned in response. "Either we'll be cracking a lot of core crystals or the blades'll be cracking a lot of skulls. I'd rather it not come to that and I'm pretty sure you all believe the same."

"So it's really that bad then?" Acacia asked, since none of them had even seen any blade attacks.

Canaan nodded. "Don't spread this around, but Juliani was murdered by the army of blades she was building. I sent some guys in to retrieve her body, but all that was left were her remains. She was less of a body and more of a… paste."

This caused a lot of reaction, but the point was that there was nothing left of these blades' former personalities.

"But why are our blades fine?" I spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Zane theorized this too," Canaan replied. "Blades take after their driver, and develop a large part of themselves from their driver. Now, we have multiple generations of people believing blades as nothing more than tools or weapons. Even the BAP forces blades to be constantly away from their drivers. In fact, most BAP blades never meet their drivers, and therefore have a crucial relationship stripped from them."

"That isn't what Rex had in mind," Waylon replied, agitated.

"Of course it isn't, but Queen Mòrag couldn't do anything about it," Canaan explained. "It's a little known fact that the BAP was purchased and funded by the Urayan Queen five hundred years ago. The funding was sent from heir to heir and is still funded by the province of Uraya to this day. Therefore they get to decide what is most efficient and cost-effective. It disgusted King Zeke to the point where he refused to interact with them. Between Adonis' growing control of the world and their lack of hold on the few assets they had, it was simply out of their hands, and they were slowly choked out."

"So how are we supposed to get to the dragon anyway?" I asked. "That honestly doesn't seem like the easiest task."

"Well you're going to need to go hunt down your titan," Canaan said. "Luckily, I don't imagine him as the kind to lose his mind like every other titans."

"Titans are losing their minds too?" Rafi questioned.

"They have core crystals too, don't they?"

We all sat in silence for a moment, taking in just how awful this situation really was.

I sighed, "Knowing him, he'll be waiting in Leftheria."

"Probably by Spirit Crucible Elpys," Waylon added. "He has a lot of history with that place."

"We're going to need to borrow your ship," Acacia pointed out. "I doubt we have the time or the luxury to use the train."

"Of course not, I had two more built," Canaan replied. "Get on it, I'll let you figure out what you guys have to do. For now I need you two," he said, pointing at Gabriel and Rafi, "and your blades to come with me to the R floor, you've got work to do."

...

"What the heck's going on Floren?!" Electra cried out. "Everything was fine and now it's all crazy and everyone's trying to kill us! Did we do something wrong?"

"Relax Electra, if you freak out too much you might start electrocuting things," Nim reminded.

"Right, right," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Things are getting really bad," Floren stated, looking around at all of the BAP's blades tearing apart buildings and vehicles alike.

They had safely retreated to the top of one of the taller buildings in Fonsa Myma, where they had been watching the chaos spread for a while now.

"We need a plan," Nim suggested. "We can't let them keep doing this, we have to stop them!"

"I get where you're coming from," Floren agreed, "but even if it was just the Helios Trinity down there, there are countless other blades all ready to tear us apart! We'd need nothing short of an army to stop them!"

"Not to mention that nothing anyone does is getting through to them…. We'd either have to crack crystals or do enough damage to force them back into their core crystals…. The latter of which would be impossible to do to that many blades," Nim speculated.

"Stop that!" Electra shrieked. "We're not going to crack anyone's core crystals! We can't do that to our friends!"

"Relax Electra," Floren interjected. "Of course we're not going to do that. We're just thinking out loud like we were told in training."

"R-Right…," Electra said, finally calming down. "How are we supposed to get an army of people that won't want to shatter their core crystals?"

"Who says they have to be people?" Nim reasoned. "Let's go, I've got an idea."

...

"Oh, Waylon, you're gonna need a blade if you want to be of any help," I suggested on the ship-ride back. "I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I definitely feel like we're going to be getting into at least a fight or two, even before we get to the Aegises."

"I didn't learn too many blade styles, but I've always been able to pick up new blade weapons easily. If I recall correctly it's a perk of having been a driver of the Aegis?" Waylon replied.

"I see no reason for you to try learning a new weapon style, you can simply use mine," Azami chimed in.

Everyone immediately looked at her like she had lost her mind, especially Sheba.

"What? Is there a problem with that?" Azami questioned defensively.

"N-No," I started, "It just seems a little out of character for you."

"He was once my driver just like you, I see no issue in igniting old flames," she said teasingly.

Waylon nodded. "Thanks Azami. Just throw me your weapon when the time is right. If I touch your core crystal, the changeover would be permanent and you'd be my blade."

"Is that also an Aegis driver thing?" Acacia questioned, a bit confused.

"Yes and no," Waylon explained. "Anyone capable of being Pneuma's driver can handle using any blade's weapon so long as the blade is willing, whether that blade has a driver or not. The difference comes from my Morythian Blood. I can activate a failsafe that can rewrite blades to my possession. I… only ever accidentally used it on Mythra, and… well… you know that story."

We eventually landed, and sure enough, Azurda was waiting by Spirit Crucible Elpys.

"It's been a long time, Azurda," Waylon greeted, although everyone could tell he was nervous.

Azurda looked down at Waylon and let out a sigh. "Hello old friend, I take it you've had quite the bumpy road?"

"Yeah," Waylon replied, "You could say that…."

It seemed Azurda didn't hold any negative opinions or even any real malice toward him. However, Azurda was neither the type to hold a grudge nor the type to turn down a chance to talk to a familiar face. I guessed that it had something to do with how long he had been traveling the world. I figured that, if I were to outlive everyone and get to know people even when aware that I'd be around long after they were gone, that I probably wouldn't turn down the chance to say hi to a familiar face when I had the chance. That said, Azurda was well-aware of Waylon's tendency to act on a whim, for it had saved his and many others' lives countless times. He understood that Waylon meant well, and that he didn't need to remind him of problems Waylon was already aware of.

They explained the situation, and although Azurda was troubled, he was not opposed to taking them to the massive dragon looming over the world.

"I only ask that you prepare yourself. Spend the day sparring, be at your best, rest for the night, and we leave tomorrow," Azurda replied as his one condition.

"That's right," Acacia observed. "Waylon hasn't fought in his own body in centuries, he may need some work."

"I was never too amazing to begin with," Waylon chuckled. "I could perform similar to Rex's level, only my renditions of his arts were usually a lot clunkier and with less care and precision."

Azurda seemed to chuckle at that one.

"What's so funny?" I questioned.

"He's not quite wrong, but he is selling himself a bit short," Azurda replied with a smile. "I simply remember when he'd use a much more powerful anchor shot to simply impale his foes before toppling them. Rex, however, would fire his, wrap it around the legs of the opponent, and drop them. The most observable difference was that Waylon didn't need to break his opponent to topple them, as impaling them typically did a decent job of that."

"You combined break and topple into one art?" Acacia asked, a little shocked. "That's insane, not to mention kinda ruthless, don't you think?"

"I try not to fight if I don't have to. So if I am fighting, I'd rather get the job done than drag it on," Waylon explained, a bit bashfully. He then realized that admitting that probably made us nervous to spar with him. "Oh! Uhh… don't worry about sparring, I only use the main weapon for that."

Talking about his anchor shot reminded me of a small detail. In response, I ushered everyone to follow me and went out to Granny's house. I rummaged through some of her drawers until I found it, an anchor shot she bought the day she got me. She never told me why she did, only that she did. I grabbed it and handed it to Waylon.

"What's this?" Waylon asked.

"I've never mentioned it, but you're wearing the same black salvager suit you had five hundred years ago. Your anchor shot is outdated, so Granny bought this so you'd have a better one when you returned," I explained.

Waylon popped off his old anchor shot and socketed the new one, which fit like a glove, to our surprise.

"She really paid that much attention?" Waylon said in surprise. "I thank you for giving it to me, and if I ever get the chance, I'll make sure to thank her as well."

"You can," I replied, my agitation getting the better of me. "Her grave is on the same hill Rex's parents were buried."

Waylon nodded in understanding as he left to pay his respects, seemingly oblivious to how I felt.

"Be gentle with him," Azurda advised. "When he met us the first time, Serena gave him the power to feel other people's emotions. It allowed him to know what everyone else was feeling. After those abilities left him, he's had a hard time gauging how anyone else feels, no matter how hard he tries."

"You only just met with him, and you didn't know him long after Serena's death, how can you say that with such certainty?" Acacia interrogated.

Azurda chuckled. "It was like night and day, he completely disregarded Pneuma's anxiety or anyone else's unspoken feelings before he left. That had never been like him, so nobody really knew how to take it. I suspect that might have always been an issue for him."

I let out a long sigh. "It's fine, I get it, in a way. I tried to ignore it, but I guess the way he left Granny and the load he left on her shoulders still pisses me off."

"He's always responded well to sparring," Azurda mentioned. "Whenever Mythra and him had issues, they worked it out through swordplay. Try doing the same."

I had immediate flashbacks to Mythra and my spar, where she had completely lost her composure and finally let out what had been dragging her down. Mythra kept things bottled up and Waylon had issues understanding when people were upset. Maybe he was right, maybe that's just how those two worked.

"Thanks for the advice, Azurda."

"Try not to injure him, we don't have a healer," Acacia cautioned.

https/youtu.be/8u1mJzkhyFc

Waylon came back not too much later, and I didn't hesitate.

Sheba threw me her weapon and I readied myself.

"Get ready Waylon, I've got some shit to work through," I said simply as Azami threw her weapon. "Ether damage only, anything else and we'll have to call it."

"Understood," he replied.

"Daring Shot!" I shouted as I let out a large blast.

"Wild Volley," he replied simply as he blasted quickly, cancelling out my attack and moving in quickly.

"Sheba! On your toes!" I cautioned as I passed her the weapon.

She giggled. "You haven't relied on us in so long I was worried you'd have gotten rusty, peon! Dessert Bomb!"

A large water ether bomb appeared in the air and roughly exploded.

"C'mon Azami, show them we're not to be taken lightly," Waylon called out as he tossed her the weapon. He continued pushing forward while she stayed back.

"Oh how exciting!" she exclaimed. "Yes, yes! I see your plan! Shadow Rhapsody!"

A giant dark ethereal hand shot up out of the ground and crushed the water bomb into nothing as Azami quickly passed the weapon back.

Sheba read the situation and tossed the cannon right back as I attempted to block the oncoming hit, but I misread. Waylon was a melee fighter in every sense of the word, so I assumed he'd try to knock me flat using the ether cannon as a battering ram, but as he came forward, he jumped with his cannon and used an art point blank.

"Armor Crusher!" Waylon shouted.

Armor Crusher was a piercing move that did well to break guards, at this point, I was completely vulnerable. The attack hit like an ether train and I was left open for attack.

"Grenade Launcher!" Waylon continued as he proceeded to blow both Sheba and me to the ground.

"Finish it off Miss Marionette!" I shouted as I threw the ether cannon into the air.

"Oh I missed that one," Azami giggled as she floated into the air and gingerly held the ether cannon. "Don't take this personally, my adorable driver! However Sheba is more than welcome to!"

"Haha, you're so funny," Sheba replied with agitation.

"Decadent Finale!" Azami uttered as she sent a barrage of shots down into the arena.

"Sparring match over," Acacia announced. "The winner is Waylon and Azami."

Waylon stopped to help me up, and I definitely took it.

"You had that whole thing planned out from the get go," I said in realization.

"Daring Shot was far from a bad first move, but your biggest issue was using Sheba to fight solo. Her power is at its best when she's fighting with other females, but Azami's power comes from counter attacks and me taking damage. The moment you stuck first, your options were limited," Waylon explained.

"I see," I said, chuckling a bit. Azurda was right, I did feel better. I was no longer looking at someone that made a massive screw-up five hundred years ago, but someone who really took the time to learn his blades and who had a vision. When he fought, he made it clear that he really cared about what he was doing, and I simply couldn't be angry, especially knowing that Alvis was more responsible than he was.

"My turn," Acacia interrupted, gripping T-Elos' weapon.

"I'm game," Waylon replied as he readied his weapon. "You ready Azami?"

"Oh please," she giggled. "The nickname was much cuter!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Waylon chuckled out.

Acacia readied herself briefly before initiating.

"Gale Blade!" she roared as she knocked Waylon and Azami off their feet.

She then closed in extremely quickly uttering "Rising Dragon", launching them into the air.

"T-Elos!" Acacia shouted.

"Affirmative," T-Elos responded as she grabbed Waylon and planted him on the ground. She stomped into his chest and pulled a silver pistol out. "T-SKYLLA."

She shot him point blank, but wasn't able to do much else as Azami shoved her off before she could do much more.

Waylon stood up and handed over the weapon. "That should do it, go for it."

"Very well," Azami giggled out.

Waylon charged in, shouting extremely loudly. This caused Acacia to briefly panic, and Waylon shoved her into T-Elos before jumping back.

"EVIL ENSEMBLE!" Azami and Waylon shouted together as Azami circled around them, letting a lot of bullets fly. She then passed the weapon back to Waylon as he shoved them to the ground using the blunt side of the cannon before throwing it up for Azami's final shot.

"Enough! Spar over, Waylon and Azami win!" I shouted before it got too dicey.

"Of course," Azami replied obediently as she dropped to the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Acacia asked as she got up.

"T-Elos gets more powerful every time you two get knocked to the ground, I just made sure I had the perfect opportunity to finish it after the first fall," Waylon explained.

"I get that!" Acacia replied. "But you took that ether pistol shot like it was nothing!"

"It wasn't nothing," Waylon said with a chuckle. "Anymore and I would've been down for the count. I simply took the maximum amount of damage possible to power up Azami all the way so I could end the fight that much faster."

"You… wanted me to crush you?" T-Elos questioned.

Waylon interrupted immediately. "I swear to Zanza if any of you start throwing out masochist jokes I'm gonna lose my mind."

"You said it," Acacia replied sarcastically.

Waylon let out a defeated sigh.

"Point being, you made it clear that you're no pushover. I think we should call it and get some rest," I finally said.

...

https/youtu.be/KDukhKF36nw

"What's your plan, Waylon?" Azurda asked later that evening.

The two of them sat next to each other, staring out at the ocean as the sun set.

"I'm… not sure. I think there's a reason the Aegises were called to the Conduit and that not all blades have lost their minds," Waylon replied.

"I know you have a habit of thinking everything over logically," Azurda responded. "But I don't care for all of that. I believe you and Silas will find a way to make this right. What I want to know is what YOUR plan is."

"I don't follow…."

"You've sacrificed yourself more than once for this world, it's clear that you love it and the people here, but you have to stop and ask if that's really your responsibility," Azurda explained. "I have no doubt in my mind, that if the chance to save this world appeared in front of you, and the only cost was your own life, you'd take it. It's just as you've done countless times before. How many lives do you expect to have to give for this world?"

Waylon didn't seem to know how to respond.

"The concept of self-sacrifice is valiant indeed, and honorable. The ability to put aside your own life for your own goals is not a resolve most people have. I am not saying you've chosen incorrectly to go down this path, but what I am saying is that there may be no need for you to go through that. There's a difference in sacrificing your own life and throwing it away because it seems to be the easiest option with the most sure results."

"How will I know that there are other options?" Waylon asked.

"In short, you won't," Azurda answered. "But quit loving this world at the cost of hating yourself."

"Hating… myself?"

"Just look at your past, you've been trying to atone every day since you appeared here. You released a blade, you accidentally stole Mythra, you unleashed Alvis, and now you feel as if you've personally ruined everyone's lives. You're constantly weighed down by the mistakes you had no intention of making. In most circumstances, you could have had no idea that things would turn out like this."

"It's because I'm weak," Waylon argued. "I should have thought out my actions more, I shouldn't have allowed myself to be so easily manipulated!"

Azurda shook his head. "No, Waylon, it's because you're human. Nothing more, nothing less."

Waylon sat in silence, not sure how to respond.

Azurda sighed. "You said it yourself, did you not? You're no god, you're no miracle worker, you're no savior. You're just… you. You were met with scenarios no human, especially as young and naive as yourself, should've ever had to deal with. You were constantly met with tasks greater than yourself, and because of your sense of guilt, you decided that you had to push forward alone. If the price had to come down on someone, it was going to be you. Out of genuine love for the world, but also out of believing that you were nothing. So stop thinking that way!"

Waylon was now in tears, still listening carefully.

"This is your one, last chance to finally take back everything you lost. Your one chance to make it all right as it should be. What's done is done, and you can't change it. Pyra has forgiven you, Mythra wants to forgive you, even the others are beginning to understand just how hard it must have been for you. The only one who refuses to forgive you is yourself. So stop, take a minute, and love yourself, Waylon. Love the man Mythra loves, the man Pyra forgave, and the man who is taking every step to do the right thing."

"Thank you… Azurda," Waylon finally said. "If there's any other way, I won't die this time. I swear it to you, Mythra, Pyra, Silas…."

"And… myself."

...

"MEH MEH!" Rafi shouted. "What Canaan thinking?! Giving Rafi wiry piece of junk! It do absolutely nothing!"

"Rafi should calm down," Poppi said, holding him back with one arm as he flailed about. "It just failed experiment."

"Rafi will not calm down!" Rafi replied. "Piece of junk machinery almost got Poppi hurt! With all of Argentum shut down, it would take weeks to find parts to fix Poppi!"

"Relax, Gabriel's end had a lot more success," Canaan said, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous a flailing Nopon being held back by a child-looking robot was. "I told you there was no guarantee that it'd work from the start. These are all just the R team's renditions of hastily-drawn sketches from Zane's notebook. There was always going to be kinks during development."

Rafi finally took a deep breath and calmed down. "Meh! Rafi still upset!"

"Well if it makes you feel any better, my secretary brought in a few deli plates to the other room, you're free to help yourself."

Rafi seemed to perk up at the mention of food, but tried not to hide his excitement. "Very well, Rafi will go attempt to drown out stresses with food!"

"Poppi not convinced that is healthy," Poppi tried to advise, but it fell on deaf ears, as he was already happily stuffing his face.

Soon enough, a ship landed and Gabriel, Kasandra, and Sonata stepped out. They had already dropped the woman off at the hospital to tend to her minor cuts and bruises.

Gabriel casually tossed the device to Canaan, who caught it effortlessly.

"You should be more careful with that, it costs more than any house you'll probably ever own," Canaan said mockingly.

"If this plan of your brother's doesn't pan out, it'll probably be your last valuable possession," Gabriel shot back.

"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty," Sonata jutted in sarcastically. "Is there any grub, I feel like stress eating."

"That does seem to be a common theme today," Canaan chuckled as he pointed at one of the doors. "There are deli plates in there if Rafi hasn't eaten them all."

"Oh you Nopon piece of shit I will end you!" she growled to herself as she booked it toward the door.

"Wait for meeee," Kasandra shouted as she took off after her.

"Prototype Echo gave the desired results," Canaan spoke into his radio. "Get production started and make sure to go over any last checks. I will bring back the prototype now for final tests."

"How long is this going to take?" Gabriel questioned.

"If all goes well now, it'll all be ready for implementation tomorrow morning," Canaan explained. "Luckily I had the rig that'll send the signal across all of Elysium built already, so all that'll be left is getting it hooked up and then powered."

"How are you gonna power a signal that large?!" Gabriel asked.

"That'll be left to Silas," Canaan replied, "They know what to do."

...

"Flooooreeeen!" Electra shouted as she skipped over to where he was. "I got some intel like you requested!"

"What is it, Electra?" Floren asked, not holding out any high hopes that her intel would be any good.

Whenever Electra had new "intel", it usually consisted of things she had done in a certain amount of time. Like "I ate three hotdogs in ten minutes" or "shocking bugs will kill them", and other fun facts that had nothing to do with what they were doing. However, they'd never really correct her, simply because it was all over her head and she was honestly trying her best.

"The humans pushed the blades back into the woods, but a lot of people got hurt," she explained. "They said they're gonna make a break for New Torna tomorrow morning, but they're planning to go through right where all of the blades are currently at!"

"Are you serious?!" Floren replied in a shocked tone. "Did you tell them that?"

"I tried to! But… they were all too scared of me cuz I'm a blade!" she answered, sounding a bit sad.

"Nim, how's recruiting going?" Floren asked Nim, who had been talking to every beast she could find, but so far only the small tirkin populations and the phonexes had agreed.

"At this rate, there's not much help," Nim explained. "Tirkins are engaged in constant trading with humans, so it's no surprise they had some interest in helping, but the others don't seem to care! I think it's cuz they don't see the harm of blades going berserk, as they're not targeting them."

"Are there any other phonex civilizations in Uraya?" Floren questioned.

Nim shook her head. "They brought as many friends as they could."

"What if I could tell you the route that the blades would be attacking from?" Floren brought up. "Could any phonexes join in in a pincer attack?"

"That might work," Nim relayed, "But I don't know if it will be enough."

"Let mighty tirkins help!" one of their new tirkin friends brought up. "Tirkin have friends in the Igna population! Even though most tribes go north through Jin Mountains in past years, Igna stay in Uraya!"

"That's going to have to work, we'll leave it in your capable hands!" Floren replied in gratitude.

"We'll need to rest tonight, tomorrow is when the real battle begins!" Nim advised.

"Right!" Electra and Floren said together.

...

https/youtu.be/lZJK_tOXcJE

I got up bright and early, and I wasn't the only one. Everyone else had gotten up around the same time as me. We all had some warm up stretches and a couple quick spars before eating and getting ready.

At the BCCHQ, Canaan got the final point in place to start the power surge that would force every blade in Elysium into their core crystal. Rafi and Poppi took the morning to get ready themselves, sparing with each other. Gabriel, Sonata, and Kasandra spent the day with Finch, trying to keep everything calm as they prepared for the worst.

In Uraya, the Merry Band of Misfits marched on with their amateur coup of monsters, tribal societies, and determination to meet the entirety of the BAP's main force. They stood for peace, and would neutralize the blades without cracking them. Little did they know, however, that those blades weren't waiting to ambush the entirety of Uraya, but rather marching to take New Torna.

With Azurda in the air, the technological countermeasure in place, and the small army armed and ready, the stage was set for humanity's last stand against their own hubris. On this day, the Final Aegis War commenced.

...

https/youtu.be/0w7ybCqRSFk

"Hold on tightly!" Azurda called out as they neared the massive emerald dragon guarding the sky, luminating bright yellow on its wing tips.

Azurda was big enough to fit a small house on, but this dragon made him look like a rat in comparison to an elephant, and its roar was deafening as we approached.

Upon closer inspection, the sky surrounding the dragon was covered in Sirens, and they were ready to fire at us.

"Are you sure about this?!" I shouted at Azurda.

"Leave the flying to me, my boy! Just don't fall off and use those straps Waylon and Acacia outfitted me with.

Waylon said vehicles in Morytha had straps to keep people in place in the event of a collision, but I wondered how beneficial they were going to be against Siren lasers.

Bright waves of yellow-white light began rushing past us, louder than the roaring winds rushing past our ears. It was hard to tell what was going on, we were either looking at the sky or Morytha underneath us, and occasionally some really bright light.

The sound of gun fire and energy beams finally began to engulf everything as we were rushed into the thick of it all. I was honestly convinced we were going to die.

Azurda let out his own roar as he began shooting out fireballs to the Sirens. While he couldn't outright do any real damage, it did manage to throw off their sensors enough to avoid more fire.

"AZUURDA, FLY UNDERNEATH THE DRAGON! CHECK ITS CHEST AREA FOR ANY CAVITIES WE CAN ENTER!" Waylon shouted at the top of his lungs. It was almost impossible to hear anything between the fire and the wind.

We felt our stomachs drop as Azurda decreased altitude, and sure enough, there was a massive cavity in the dragon's chest, big enough for Azurda to land. But beyond that we couldn't see anything else.

As we neared it, we heard a loud blast and felt intense heat as a laser struck Azurda square in the abdomen and he let out a massive roar of pain.

"HOLD ON!" he shouted as he dive-bombed straight into the cavity, landing with a loud crash.

After we had hit the ground, if you could call it that, the Sirens stopped attacking, and we were able to unbuckle and get off of Azurda, who had cleaved a massive rut into the cavity.

It took us a minute to learn how to walk again, but the moment we could we ran to Azurda's face.

Waylon spoke first, "Azurda, are you alright?!"

"It… hurt a lot more than I expected," he blurted out with a chuckle.

Acacia took a look at his underside, where the laser had hit. His stomach was a bright red, but the laser hadn't seemed to pierce his skin.

"Rest, Azurda," I said. "That's a serious burn, but there's nothing we can even hope to do for it here."

"We'll get Pneuma back, and she can heal you!" Waylon chimed in. "We just need you to stay strong!"

Azurda chuckled. "I'll… do what I can…," he muttered out before he fell silent.

"Azurda!" I cried out, but Acacia stopped me, shaking her head.

Waylon looked horrified, and I realized why. I had hoped Azurda had just fallen asleep, but his eyes… they weren't closed.

"I saw it," Acacia said, "He took that hit directly where his core crystal was just so that we wouldn't be harmed by it. He's… gone."

I nodded solemnly and took deep breaths for a few minutes as we stood there silently.

Eventually, I spoke up. "I hate it too, but we need to leave him. He got us this far so we could put a stop to this."

"He told me… not to hate myself… not to sacrifice myself," Waylon muttered.

I grabbed him and gave him a hug. "He didn't hate himself, he knew the risk, and he took it."

Waylon appeared to understand, and took a deep breath. "I know, let's go."

We progressed to the center of the dragon through the cavity, eventually reaching a massive opening, where three figures sat in deep meditation in front of the Conduit itself.

They opened their eyes altogether, one purple, one green, and one red. The three Aegises: Logos, Pneuma, and Ontos, stood as they all drew their weapons.

"And so the final chapter begins, are you prepared, Waylon?" Ontos asked me.

"You bet your ass I am," Waylon replied, gripping Azami's ether cannon. "I told you what I was going to do five hundred years ago, and that's that!"

...

At the BCCHQ, alarms had started going off everywhere.

"What's the situation?" Canaan shouted into his radio.

"Sir, the blades previously in Argentum have broken through the walls of New Torna," the man said. "They're not attacking randomly anymore, it's as if they're all one cohesive unit."

"So are we," Canaan replied. "Get your ass up, grab our troops, and meet them head on. We will make our last stand here!"

"I'm helping too," Gabriel said, Kasandra, Sonata, Rafi, and Poppi behind him.

"Not without me you're not!" Canaan argued with a laugh. "The rig's all set up, once Silas completes his end of the deal, it's all done. For now, we need to keep the people safe!"

...

"Something's not right," Electra pointed out.

"If she's saying it," Nim added, "Then it's painfully obvious."

"Right, we thought they were trying to ambush the Urayan refugees," Floren stated, trying to put two and two together."

"Report for Misfits!" one of the tirkin guards stated. "Received intel from brothers in west desert. The blades advancing that way!"

"Oh no!" Nim said in realization. "They're attacking New Torna!"

"They can't be far, let's move!" Floren commanded as the entirety of their troops advanced at full speed.

Sure enough, it only took them twenty minutes to catch up, and the fighting had already commenced between the blades and the west group.

https/youtu.be/5JqY-6q-RNA

The tirkins blew their war trumpets as thousands of tirkins, ignas, phonexes, arachnos, and brogs all roared, hissed, and croaked in unison, shaking the very ground.

"CHAAAARGE!" Electra shouted excitedly as they rushed in, guns ablazing.

The battlefield erupted in chaos as the blades clashed with the monsters.

You had tirkins paralyzing some, brogs were eating others, arachnos were trying to crush them without harming their core crystals, ignas were engaging in melee sword fights, and phonexes were just trying to claw them back.

It was clear that the Helios Trinity was delegating the commands, and so the Mighty Band of Misfits took them head on.

"Agate you were always the strongest stone," Nim said as she put on her knuckle claws. "But I regret to inform you that I've never met a stone I couldn't break."

"Percy you're a softy, don't make me shock you!" Electra said as she pulled her club, but it was apparent that Perceval wasn't listening.

"Corvin, I can't beat you," Floren said as he began dribbling his bitball. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try!"

"Heliodor Passion," Agate stated as she threw her massive great axe at Nim, who blocked it as it spun around her.

Agate then grabbed it and went for another hit, but Nim stopped it with her hand.

"Wild Grappler!" Nim said as she slammed Agate into the ground.

She hit her square in the face, but Agate through her off as she got back up and swung once again.

"Blade Vortex!" Perceval uttered as he let out a rush of flurry attacks.

Electra let out a shriek as she let loose a bunch of electricity, leaving Perceval open to attack.

Electra gripped her hammer, "BANG-BANG BOUND!"

After knocking him into oblivion, she tossed her hammer to Nim, who used it to smack Agate around.

Floren let out a laugh as he used his bitball to bounce back Corvin's strikes. "That's right, I don't have to beat you, we're bound to each other! We'll beat you, Electra, head's up!"

He passed his bitball to Electra, she saw it and the electric halo on her back began to fire up as she charged the bitball full of electricity before passing it to Nim.

Nim planted her feet, gripped Electra's hammer, and planted that bitball right into Agate's forehead, immediately sending her back into her core crystal.

"Alright guys let's go!" Electra cheered excitedly, not realizing Perceval had gotten up.

"ELECTRA!" Nim shouted as Floren took a running dive.

Nim quickly threw the hammer to Floren, who grabbed it and knocked Perceval down before he could hit her.

"Be careful Electra, this is serious!" Floren cautioned as he tossed her back the hammer.

"Fuga Daemonum," Corvin proclaimed as he radiated light.

"Oh no you don't!" Nim shouted behind him. "Organic Automata!"

The two phonexes attached to her shoulders, Kit and Sunny, began firing high-power lasers right through Corvin.

"You ready, Electra?" Floren asked.

"Right behind you Floren!" she replied as they took the hammer together. "ELECTRIFYING SHOW!"

Electra set her hammer in front of her as it floated in front of her and started banging it like a drum as shock waves began erupting outward. Floren then grabbed it and slammed it into Corvin, but Perceval got in the way and took the hit, getting sent back into his core crystal.

"One more!" Nim announced, "Give it all you got, then we'll clean up what's left!"

Corvin drew both his swords as light ether began pouring out of him.

"Mighty Band of Misfits, move!" Floren commanded.

...

https/youtu.be/u-CJ1kimKsM

"They're rushing in too fast!" one of the BCC soldiers yelled out.

"Then stand your ground with more enthusiasm!" Canaan stated. "And you call yourselves New Torna's protection. You're lousy if that! If you can't handle this, then go home, and if you do, I don't want to see your faces ever again!"

"Cane, I'm ready to go!" Finch cheered as she handed him her hammer.

"You really need to remember my name, silly bird," Canaan laughed as he gripped the hammer with two hands. "Perfect Storm!"

He slammed the hammer, knocking the blades into a group as he threw the hammer to Finch.

Finch began spinning around and around, appearing to make a large cyclone of wind. Well, that might've been what she was doing if she hadn't tripped, fallen, and let go of the hammer. The hammer then flew into the group of blades and exploded a large amount of wind ether, sending the blades flying.

"You're a lot more confident than you were when you were with us," Gabriel mentioned. "You're almost a completely different person!"

"Nonsense," Canaan said with a laugh. "Somebody told a depressed wretch that they should live to atone for their crimes, and that they should make themselves better. I think that person finally found his way."

"I don't know what idiot told you that, but he sounds pretty wise," Gabriel laughed. "What do you say we show these blades what for?"

"I think I was doing that already, but sure, by all means, join in!"

"C'mon Kass!" Gabriel commanded as he took her club. "Melancholic Break!"

...

"So it begins," Alvis stated he rushed in.

I dropped down one of Canaan's ether shields immediately, separating us completely. Really glad he was on our side, but I couldn't be thankful for long. Logos closed in and slashed right through it, and it eroded into nothing.

"Beginning to feel like he was holding out on me," Acacia muttered.

"Do you really expect to win?" Alvis questioned. "Even if you did manage it, you've no hope of besting the Conduit."

"No, I don't," Waylon stated, and then I realized what he meant.

"So you came all this way to die?" Alvis said, confused. "Well, that's certainly not out of character for you, isn't it?"

"We're not going to die!" I added on. "But he's right, and you're right! We can't win, no matter what! But if the Conduit really willed this world to no longer exist, then it would've already done away with it!"

"That's not necessarily true," Alvis replied. "The Conduit wishes to punish mankind for its hubris."

"Then I'd like to inform it that there is no need," Acacia interrupted, having figured it out as well. "Because we're going to set them on the right path again."

"How can you possibly believe that you possess the will to change the mind of such a stubborn generation?" Alvis questioned. "After this, they'll never trust blades again. Blades will simply be tools, and never partners for the bettering of mankind. How can you tell me that you'll make it so much better?"

"Because three out of four of your Aegises believe that it's possible," I argued. "Malos may be new to the concept, but he's been convinced before, twice. If you make up the main advisory to the Conduit, then the Conduit is fighting for a cause it doesn't fully believe in, and that's why this world isn't destroyed yet."

"Very well," Alvis stated, "If you think you can convince them, then by all means, try."

https/youtu.be/pAAmkocOGwY

"We won't have to," Waylon said. "They already are."

Pneuma and Logos descended to meet us on the ground as they began glowing in their respective colors.

"Malos," Acacia started. "You wanted to give humanity a chance right? You told me you wanted to give them the circumstance they needed to actually care about each other! YOU told me that!"

Logos went in for the kill, but was stopped by a strange staffed weapon with spear heads on either end.

"The Magdalene?" Acacia questioned.

KOS-MOS and T-Elos stood in between them.

"We were part of that, were we not?" KOS-MOS asked. "Acacia, you care for him, do you not?"

"He may be dense, but he knows that," T-Elos added. "So let's get through to him!"

"The power of the Conduit… it's resonating with her words?" Waylon said, thinking aloud.

"No time for that!" I shouted as Pneuma closed in. "Stop it Pneuma!," I said to her. "You've known me for so long, and you've protected everyone for so long!"

"It's no use, it's not just Pneuma in there," Waylon corrected. "It's Pyra and Mythra, we need to remind them both of who they were!"

"Right," I said in agreement. "Pyra, I told you I'd never leave you, I meant it!"

"Malos, you called me a 'whiny bitch', someone who could only care about themself! You were right, just like I told you you were!" Acacia said. "KOS-MOS and T-Elos were what proved to you that I had changed. That I COULD be the driver you actually wanted! We were progressing so far, I care for you so much!"

Logos raised his sword and smashed the Magdalene to pieces and knocked both KOS-MOS and T-Elos to the side as he went towards her.

Acacia walked to him and hugged him. "I love you Malos, and I know you love the world a lot more, because you've finally started living in it. So please… don't give up on it, not after you've come so far!"

"Heh, you sound like such a wet cheeseball," he replied.

"Malos!" Acacia cheered excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah, save the tears for later," Malos said, handing her his sword as they looked at Pneuma. "Let's just make sure she doesn't kill them. She'd hate me if I let her do that."

"Pyra, don't you remember? You were so scared, but we looked each other in the eye and we swore to each other that we'd help each other! Just like last time, we'll end it here, so we can move on!"

"He's right Pyra, are you really just going to keep moving on like that?" a familiar voice called from within the Conduit.

Immediately, Pyra split from Mythra and Pyra looked back.

"Rex?!" she shouted.

"Sorry I'm not around anymore, but Silas' words resonated with the Conduit, and now I can speak through it. I just... wanted to help give you a push in the right direction. See you around!" was all he said as his voice faded.

"I'm leaving Mythra to you, Waylon," I said. "You're the only one she's let her true emotions out to since I resonated with her!"

"Right," Waylon started, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't call back promises he had made, he'd already fulfilled them, and then died again.

"For crying out loud boy!" a voice all too familiar to Waylon shouted through the Conduit. "What do you fight for? Right now, she's on her own and you're here throwing a pity party while she's risking her life. SHOW ME WHY YOU ARE HERE!"

Those were the words Addam Origo, the exact ones he had said to Waylon five hundred years ago when he was at a loss. And just like last time, a wave hit him, and he began to ponder. Why was he fighting? He didn't need to answer, he knew why this time.

"Mythra, I am sorry," Waylon said as she began to corner him. "I should've said this from the beginning. I keep taking on more than I can handle and I keep hating myself more than you deserve. I'm not going to take the blunt anymore, it's just like you said. You're here, and you want to be there for me, and I haven't been letting you be there."

Mythra backed him into the wall and raised her sword into the air.

"Malos if you're gonna intervene, now would be a good time!" Acacia pointed out.

"I won't die anymore, I won't let myself go because I think I'm worthless. I'm here to stay, and I'll fight next to you until the bitter end. Whether I believe I deserve it or not, I'm a part of this world now! If it falls, then I fall with it, but not a moment sooner, because I have you to help me!"

Mythra gripped the sword and brought it down… bonking him in the head with the hilt.

"You dumbass, you're not worthless, just stupid," she said with a sigh. "But if you mean that, then I guess I can forgive you."

They briefly hugged for a moment, before getting ready to fight Alvis.

"Are you ready for a rematch?" Mythra asked. "I've got some shit to work through."

Alvis chuckled. "That won't be necessary. I yield to your will, but the Conduit has not."

"Why not?!" I questioned in agitation.

"While you've retrieved the Aegises, blades are locked in heavy battle. Gabriel, Canaan, and Rafi are at their limit, and soon enough that entire town will be burned to ash. Can you do anything about that?"

"Of course," Waylon replied before turning to Mythra and Pyra. "I need you two to wormhole a fully-charged Siren blast right onto the BCCHQ tower!"

They fused into Pneuma instantly and, without hesitation, launched the Siren blast.

...

"Look, we can't keep this up," Floren complained. "No matter what we throw at him, he doesn't go down!"

"Ugh, we've tried everything too!" Electra whined.

"The creatures are tired too, the blades just keep getting back up!" Nim warned.

As they were speaking a bright light shot down and struck the BCCHQ in the distance.

As a huge wave of energy crashed over, Corvin shot a wave of light ether into the three of them while they were distracted, but all of the blades were forced back into their core crystal.

As they got up, they realized they were fine, and hadn't been forced like the others.

"Wh-What happened?" Electra asked, a bit dizzy.

"I don't know, but look at that!" Nim cried out.

Floren looked up and realized with the rest of them that Corvin was somehow still standing.

"Oh what! Not fair!" Electra whined.

"One left? We got this!" Floren cheered. "Let's wrap this up and go get lunch!"

"For lunch!" Nim and Electra shouted in unison as the beasts crowded in, and together, managed to finally force Corvin into his core crystal.

As they did this, the Urayan people came around the corner to see what had been done, and sighs of relief and cheers rang out as they realized what had happened. Together, they made their way to New Torna.

...

"Oh thank the Architect!" Gabriel sighed as he collapsed.

"Keep an eye out, light element blades and any blade caught in light ether wouldn't have been sent back to their core crystals," Canaan warned.

They looked around, but as there were only three or four blades on the planet with the light element, they assumed it was safe.

"Poppi not want to be mood-killer," Poppi said, obviously tired out. "But are blade core crystals supposed to float?"

"What Poppi mean float?" Rafi questioned before realizing that the core crystals were floating and glowing, as if they were resonating.

"On your feet, we need to retreat, now!" Canaan shouted as he helped Gabriel and some others up and they began running.

...

"Yeah, that didn't work," Pneuma cautioned.

"I get it…," Waylon said in realization.

"Spill it quick, we don't have time!" Acacia demanded.

"Right, right," Waylon replied. "The Conduit has a will of its own, so if it doesn't want to spare the world, then there's nothing we can do as humans to force it to submit."

"So what do we do?" Acacia asked.

"I got it," I said as I walked up to the Conduit.

"I wouldn't," T-Elos warned.

"People that touch the Conduit are known to be taken to other universes, never to be seen again," KOS-MOS added.

I looked at it. "I… I'd just like to talk."

Without another word, I touched it and felt the world go white.

...

In a void, no need for me to sit here and describe it. It's the same thing every time.

"SPEAK," a deep, commanding voice said.

"Please spare Alrest," I said simply.

"WHO ARE YOU, THAT YOU WOULD COMMAND ME?"

"My name is Silas," I replied. "And I am not worthy to command you, so I wish to make this request."

"AND IF I REFUSE?"

"Then I accept that as your will, and will not ask again."

"YOU OFFER ME NOTHING, ONLY TO ASK ME TO SPARE A SINFUL WORLD THAT HAS NO RESPECT FOR MY GIFTS? WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER?"

"You have no reason, it is a selfish request," I explained. "And there are many others who wish it as well. However, you have no reason to oblige."

"SO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MY WORDS ARE TRUE, AND MY DECISION IS FINAL?"

"I understand that perfectly."

"DO YOU BELIEVE GALEA MANIPULATED ME INTO DOING THIS?"

"At one point in time, yes. But I've seen your presence, and I have heard your voice. You have no equal, and no one can sway you."

"THEN YOU ARE WISE, ALVIS LEFT GALEA ALIVE BECAUSE I COMMANDED HIM TO, THERE IS NOTHING FURTHER."

"I thank you for the clarification, will you please spare Alrest?"

"I SHALL CONSIDER IT."

I was surrounded by a white light again.

...

I woke up surrounded by the Aegises, Acacia, Waylon, and the blades. As I came to, I heard that voice again.

"YOU HAVE SHOWN ME HUMILITY, AND UNDERSTANDING."

Judging by everyone else's faces, I assumed they could hear it too.

"I WILL BREAK THE CURRENT BONDS OF ALL BLADES, SAVE YOURS, AND THAT OF ACACIA'S, AND THAT OF CANAAN'S, AND THAT OF GABRIEL'S, AND THAT OF THE MISFITS. THE CORES WILL BE SEPARATED AND SPREAD RANDOMLY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, THAT HUMANITY MAY HAVE ONE FINAL CHANCE TO UNDERSTAND THEM. THE AEGISES WILL NO LONGER EXIST IN THIS WORLD, AND THEIR POWER WILL COME WITH ME, AND BE MINE. HOWEVER, THE PEOPLE CONTAINED WITHIN THE AEGISES WILL BE SET FREE. I WILL RETURN ONE DAY, BUT THE DAY AND THE HOUR WILL NOT BE KNOWN, TO JUDGE THIS WORLD ONCE MORE. THE PROCESSOR HAS BEEN EMPTIED, THE BLADES WILL FORGET ONCE MORE. DO NOT FAIL ME A SECOND TIME."

The Conduit then began floating as it triggered a hole in time and space and disappeared with Alvis. However, only the core crystals of Malos, Mythra, and Pyra were taken.

"What the hell is this?" Malos said aloud. "Am I… human?"

Mythra took no chance to punch him square in the arm.

"Ow, that hurt my hand!" she cried quickly.

"Yeah what about my shoulder?" Malos replied, rubbing it.

"I am the only one who has no attachment to this world," Alvis' voice spoke through the void. "You three had wished to stay, so the Conduit has granted you the gift of humanity in exchange for your cores. Now go, and make this world ready for the future return."

We were surrounded by, you guessed it, white light, and before we knew it, we were standing in Leftheria. However, I couldn't help but notice some stranger small titan hanging around my arm.

"You left me there before I could show you my unique and amazing power!" the creature said.

"Wow, it has been AGES since I've seen you in that form," Pyra said. "Azurda what happened?"

"Siren beams are unbearably uncomfortable," Azurda replied.

"Wait how did you do that?" I asked. "Can all titans do that?"

"Oh, it's not something just any old titan can do!" Azurda started, but Waylon stopped him before he continued.

"How many times can you even do that?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was definitely convinced that was a one-time deal," Mythra added.

"Guys, guys, can we please stay focused?" I interjected. "You guys are human now, this world's in complete shambles and nobody knows what the hell is going on."

"You're telling me," Malos added. "That all ended so abruptly, I still have a lot of mental unpacking to do!"

"To be fair, the Conduit has been waiting to leave for five hundred years," Waylon stated. "And it definitely seems to be the type to make up its mind and act quickly. Although I would've like it if Alvis would've at least said something to me before outright leaving like that! He did drag me around with him through time and space for five hundred years."

"I personally don't think there was anything left for him to say," Mythra reasoned.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, your head's on a lot straighter than it was before," Pyra agreed.

"Well, thanks Pyra, and you too Potato Chip!" Waylon replied.

"Potato chip?" I questioned, but stopped when Mythra got flustered.

"Wait, does Pyra have a nickname?" T-Elos asked.

"If I recall correctly, I believe it was 'Salsa'," Azurda responded.

This resulted in some laughs as everyone finally took a deep breath.

Acacia sighed, just trying to believe that it was all over. "That being said we REALLY need to go check on Gabriel, Canaan, and Rafi, they put up with a lot."

"Glad we left the ship here," Azami said, "It would have been such a pain to ride the train."

"We all know the train's not even open," Sheba pointed out. "Now let's go!"

...

https/youtu.be/49gM-jabeFY

"Alright, I had gotten used to keeping track of one of these back when I worked with Adenine, but I guess I got kind of lazy. So I'm starting a new journal! My name is Mythra, former Aegis. There has been a lot of confusion as to what happened after everything ended, and I wanted to wrap it up so that there's no confusion. Malos, Pyra and I are human now. I'm not sure how Malos feels, but Pyra and I have been so excited. I finally get to live a life knowing I'm going to get to experience the rest of my life with my friends! I accidentally cut my finger the other day and I actually bled! I know it's kind of weird to be excited by something like that, but I really bled! I've been so stressed about having to carry on with so much power and so little consistency in my life, but it all finally seems to be coming around. Now for the more important bits of information most people are probably going to actually want to hear about.

The blades that were deactivated during Canaan's plan quickly revitalized, but it wasn't even twenty minutes later that all of them returned to their core crystals and disappeared. After that, people began randomly finding core crystals everywhere! Of course, it took a lot of work to get people to not be afraid of blades anymore. The BCC and the BAP were both closed and restructured. The newly formed Training Corp (TC) for up-and-coming drivers took their place. It's headed by Gabriel, Canaan, and the Mighty Band of Misfits. The Misfits really spear-headed removing the fear from the people, as due to their strong bonds to each other, they were completely unaffected by the takeover. They turned that sheer terror into a form of respect for blades and their drivers everywhere. Respect that hasn't been seen in centuries! People who become drivers are now heralded as heroes, brave people willing to take on a duty and responsibility to protect and nurture their blade's unique personality and skills.

Another lesser-known problem was animosity against tirkins, ignas, and other tribes. They had previously been pushed into uninhabited areas and to the forests north of the Jin Mountains, but were now allowed to come and live in the cities and find jobs. It turns out their civilizations were far past tribal and they had actually entered an industrial age on their own, so integrating them hasn't been all too difficult. We're finally getting to the world that Rex had envisioned all those years ago, and we were all there every step of the way.

Adonis' and Violet's actions were brought to light, and any positive views the people used to have toward them are now gone. Indol is no longer being hidden from history, as we have learned since then that that was a big mistake. Initially we were scared that technology being developed there would get into the wrong hands, but it seems that that was always inevitable, and so we decided to lay all of that information bare for the world to see. Our intentions were good, but the reality was that erasing Indol was a terrible decision.

Thus, the past has been corrected and now the world can finally be directed to a new future. Acacia is taking a massive effort to revitalize Mor Ardain and get rid of the gangs that have held it under hostage for so many years. Of course, we definitely had a hand in that.

Oh, did I mention I became Corvin's driver? He's fast enough to keep up with me, so I think it works out. Malos managed to find Sever, his old blade when he had lost his Aegis powers initially. I wasn't too thrilled, but he seemed happy. Waylon bonded with Perceval and him and I spar all of the time now, it's… definitely nice. Pyra resonated with Agate, and they make quite the adorable pair!

Alright, I'll cave and give the personal stories now. Gabriel married Kasandra, becoming the first driver-blade marriage in 360 years. Sonata was a little salty, but forgave them so long as she got to be the bridesmaid, and she still lives with them and is part of their little family. Canaan lives with Finch while overseeing the TC, she may not ever remember his name, but she definitely cares a lot about him. He definitely sees her as a little sister, and that probably won't ever change. Rafi and Poppi took over Argentum after Juliani's demise, and all of her close followers and anyone to ever purchase an arena ticket were branded as criminals. Believe it or not, Rafi is really intelligent when it comes to numbers, and with Poppi double-checking everything he does, who can say they don't make a perfect pair. They even managed to repair Lila, who, more or less, was grateful. Acacia and Malos actually managed to get married, and are now the Heads of Mor Ardain. They're finally giving those people the circumstances they need to want to be better people. (And regardless how Malos first complained about being human, I want to point out that he proposed to her, so that pretty much solidifies him having wanted it.) Pyra and Silas unsurprisingly got married, but what was surprising is that she proposed to him, because he was too anxious to do it. They spent most of their time helping with the transitioning from the BCC and the BAP to the TC, and still go there to help train new drivers and are very passionate about helping people understand the bond between driver and blade. Then there's me, Waylon and I typically go out and either help Uraya get back on its feet, or train people at the TC. He promised he'd outlive me this time, and I'm absolutely holding him to that. Although the asshole won't ask me to marry him! I'm not as nice as Pyra, I'm not going to ask him! He's gonna have to man up and- Oh, I need to go, I'll continue writing later!"

...

I stopped writing because there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" I called out.

"Hey Mythra!" a familiar voice said as he walked in, super nervously, I might add.

"Hey Waylon, did you get that paperwork done?" I asked. "If you don't get it in soon, it's going to be really hard to get a hold of that land. We really need TC bases in every major city or training won't happen fast enough!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that down," he assured me. "Hey…, I have something to ask you."

"Yeah, what's up?" I questioned, wondering what happened that would make him all serious like he was acting.

He got down on one knee and looked up at me. "I know this isn't the typical venue, but I'm not really good at these types of things. But," he said as he pulled a little black box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a rather pretty ring. "Will… you marry me?"

My heart went batshit crazy, but of course I had to say something. "You really are the worst at this." Dammit that's not what I wanted to say!

I had to stop for a moment and compose myself, "Come on Mythra, tone down the tsundere. You got this."

However, I couldn't calm my excitement as I blurted out, "YES OF COURSE!"

He chuckled a bit, probably mostly out of relief, before sliding the ring onto my finger. I excitedly helped him up, grabbed him clost and gave him a quick kiss.

After that, we stopped to look each other in the eyes.

We were going to set this world right this time.

https/youtu.be/q707LpwDKiI

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 25 Hours