Note: Hey, if you happen to read this, I appreciate reviews or comments, they're motivating

7.

Rex awoke to a cold morning light, stiff from sleeping on the hard ground. He rolled over, noting the still-smoldering embers of the fire. A bit away, he could make out Nia in the early morning light, sprawled out on top of Dromarch, snoring. He got up and stretched, yawning, his back cracking. The ground was covered with a patchy fog. Further away, Gramps still lay, sleeping, his profile like a small hill in the forest. And further along, over by the treeline, stood the solitary figure of Malos, fog roiling around his ankles. His sword was stuck in the ground, his hands clasped over the pommel, as he looked out into the woods. Rex rubbed his eyes and approached him.

"Grab your sword, boy," Malos said as Rex got closer, without bothering to turn around.

"Wh-"

"Go."

Rex threw his hands up with frustration, then trudged back to the campfire to pluck up his junk sword and returned to Malos. When he did, the blade had removed his sword from the ground, tilting it back against his shoulder. He pointed to a large stump on the ground, one that looked like it must have come from some ancient tree, nearly as tall and as wide as Rex was. "Swing at that."

"Hey, Malos, you know, this isn't exactly the highest quality sword," Rex said, waggling the junk sword at him. "I don't think I should be dulling it attacking dead lumber."

Malos rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to teach you something about how blades work here, kid. Just swing at it, as hard as you can."

"Watch this. I bet it does nothing." Rex hefted his junk sword, and with a shout, put as much force behind a swing as he could, aiming at the stump. The sword didn't even pierce the ancient, calcified trunk, instead just bouncing off harmlessly.

Malos was smirking when Rex looked back at him. "Okay. Hmm. Ahmmm." The black knight cleared his throat, as if he was holding in laughter. "Alright, let me clue you in. As blade and driver, we share a bond."

"A...bond?"

"Yeah but don't get dramatic or anything about it. It's an ether bond. It's why you were able to summon my blade to your hand, back on the ship." Malos held up one clawed gauntlet, palm spread outward, and closed his eyes. "It allows me to augment you in battle." And dark, purple flames erupted from Malos' hand. He opened his eyes again. "I will warn you, though. My power is that of destruction. It comes with a price. My previous driver said it was painful to wield, and...I honestly don't know what sort of long term effects it would have on a human."

Rex eyed the dark flame suspiciously. "Is that so?"

"He also knew his duty, and was willing to make the sacrifice." Malos' intense gray eyes drilled into Rex. "I won't force you to use this power. Only if you ask for it."

Rex looked at those flickering dark flames for a few long moments, considering. Then he shrugged. "I'm a pretty hardy guy. Might as well try it out, yeah?"

"Good soldier." Malos smiled, and Rex gasped as the dark flames suddenly appeared on his hands and arms, spreading to cover his junk sword. He could feel the flames as a tingling, low ache in his blood, in his bones. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but...not insurmountable either.

"Not...so bad," Rex said, after he adjusted to the feeling. "You want me to take another swing, I'm guessing?"

Malos nodded. "Go ahead. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Rex gathered his strength, hefting the flame-covered junk sword above his head, and bought it down with a mighty crash upon the stump in a two-handed, overhead swing. This time, the junk sword sliced through it like butter, sending splinters firing, as it cleaved effortlessly down to the roots. The wood rotted and withered where the dark flame touched it. "Whoa!" Rex cried in simple delight. "Damn, that's good."

"That's not all." Malos plucked up his sword, and held it, hilt outward, toward Rex. "In times of truly desperate need," he intoned, with a sarcastic flourish, "You can use my sword, and channel incredible power through it."

Rex reached out to grab the knight's sword, then pulled back. "Wait. Couldn't YOU just channel the incredible power, or whatever?"

"Nope." Malos shrugged. "It is as my father made me. As he made a lot of blades, actually. Some power can only be accessed when channeled through our drivers. Don't ask me why." He held out the blade again, and Rex grasped the hilt.

The moment he did so, a sharp, piercing pain shot through him, and he gasped. "This is my power, Rex," Malos intoned, as the boy struggled for breath. "This is why it's only for desperate measures. Can you handle it?"

Rex fought back the urge to cry out. It felt like his skeleton was made of lava, like his blood was boiling, like something deep inside him, something vital, was withering. But he gritted his teeth, and beared it, and eventually he adjusted to the feeling. It didn't go away, far from it. But he became less sensitive to it, at least, enough to wield the sword. He turned around and, with a quick gasp, swung the sword towards the stump.

The sword never even connected. A wave of dark, roiling flame rocketed away from him in a cone, with a hollow roar, a squealing scream, as if the land itself was horrified by what was happening. The stump was immediately obliterated, covered in the waves of flame, which just seemed to eat it out of existence. The flames blasted outward, about thirty feet, and in their wake left deep, black furrows in the ground, biting down into the stone beneath. All plant life, all everything in the cone was obliterated, and even dirt seemed to evaporate before it, leaving nothing but a stony scar in the land. Rex gasped, and dropped the sword.

"Pretty cool, eh?" Malos grinned. He plucked up his sword as Rex fell to his knees, breathing raggedly. "I know it hurts, kid. But my former driver seemed to build up a tolerance for it. But, you know, we should probably save this for emergencies, right?"

"Yeah," Rex gasped. But then he raised his head and smiled. "That was incredible, though! With power like that, nothing's gonna stand in our way."

Malos laughed, loud, crude. "You don't know the half of it, kid. Once I….repair myself..." and here, he touched the cross-shaped purple gem built into the chest of his armor - "We'll be able to pull off even fancier tricks." He grinned. "You know, I was worried back on the ship, wondered if you'd even want to try out my power, but I knew I liked the looks of you, kid. Just keep working hard, we'll go far."

Rex laughed and got to his feet, as Malos clapped him on the back. He felt a sort of deep sense of pride at the words of his blade. Malos may look cruel, but...it felt nice to be approved of. He rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly, then noticed Nia standing out across the fog, maybe thirty feet away, her arms crossed, her face bearing an odd expression. "Oh, morning, Nia," he called. "How long you been there?"

"Long enough," Nia said quietly, as she approached. She gave a suspicious glance up at Malos, then turned to Rex. "Hey, Rex, d'you mind, ummm...helping me with something?" She tried to make her look meaningful enough that he'd get her drift.

"Help with what?"

Nia shook her head. The boy was dense. Malos, thank the architect, was mostly ignoring them, taking practice swings with his sword, tossing it lazily in the air. "Just...come help me with something, please."

"Oh, well sure. Should we bring Malos-"

Nia growled and grabbed his hand, stomping away with him before he could turn around and grab the dark blade.

Once they were a good distance away, she stopped, then turned around and glared at him. She looked...rather angry. Rex had no idea what was going on. "So...uh….what do you need help with?"

"You dense idiot. I don't need help with anything, I wanted to talk." She stepped closer to him, staring at him intently. Her gleaming yellow eyes filled up his entire vision.

"Uh, Nia," Rex said, suddenly embarrassed at her closeness. "What-"

"Hush." She reached out with a gloved hand, placing it on the side of his face. Belying her harsh words, her touch was gentle. She closed her eyes,and her face furrowed with concern. "What did he do to you?" she murmured. And then Rex felt gentle healing flowing forth from her hand, pouring through him like a tide, washing over all the places inside him that Malos' dark flame had touched. After a while, she opened her eyes and stepped back. Rex felt much better, the ache in his muscles, the ache in the core of his being gone. "That should be better."

"Huh. Yeah, it does feel better. Thanks Nia." She still seemed upset, though.

"Listen, Rex." Nia pointed to Malos, still swinging his sword off in the distance. "I don't know...what he is, exactly, but..." and then she sighed, and looked at him hopelessly. "Ach, you don't know anything about blades, right. Look. Blades and drivers share an ether bond, yeah?"

"Yeah, Malos said something about it."

Nia glanced around, then motioned to Dromarch. The big cat came padding over and sat in front of her, obediently. Nia put her hand on his head. "Put your hand on mine," she snapped at Rex. He followed her instruction, her small hand swallowed entirely by his, sinking into Dromarch's fur together. "Now close your eyes, and concentrate. Do you feel that? The ether bond between me and Dromarch?"

"Oh. Yeah, neat." Rex could see it, dimly, in his mind's eye, a golden rope running between Nia and the big cat. When he opened his eye, it was almost as if he could still see it, like an after-image on his eyes.

"Thas' what a normal ether bond feels like." Nia was looking at him intently, her hands on her hips. "The one Malos has with you….it's not like any I ever felt a blade have with another human before. And I've seen quite a few blades."

"Well, you know, he is an Aegis. Apparently." Rex shrugged. "Maybe they're just different?"

Nia shook her head. "It's not just that. His...the ether bond...it's about more than just the power shared between you, yeah? But his...it's all twisted. I can't describe it. It's more like a plug than a bond. And he was just pouring his power into you through it."

Rex looked at her for a long moment, then shrugged again."It's all new to me, so..."

Nia stamped her foot. "Rex, he was hurting you. I'm a healer, I can tell. It's...it's not supposed to be like that."

Rex crossed his arms, considering. "Yeah. I mean, I could tell it was hurting me. But he told me ahead of time that it would. It's not like he was doing it without warning or anything. He said that's the way to channel his power. And he also said to only use it during emergencies." Nia gritted her teeth as he laughed that stupid carefree laugh of his. "I mean, I think it will be fine, yeah?"

Nia shook her head. Whatever Malos' power had done to him...when she healed him, she could tell it was touching some core part of him, some part of the boy that even she didn't fully have the power to heal. This damn idiot kept running from one suicide to another. It was so frustrating. She bit her lip as she looked at him. Maybe...she really ought to travel with him, make sure he stayed safe...then she shook her head. No, she'd be more trouble than she was worth. It was so damn frustrating, though, to heal this idiot only for him to throw himself recklessly at more pain. "Fine," she snapped. "Fine. It's your life. You do whatever you want." She threw her hands up. "Just...be careful with him, yeah?"

8.

It was midmorning when they had packed up their campsite, dousing the embers completely. Malos had spent a few hours hacking apart the forest between Gramps and the Cloud Sea, so the Titan had a clear path to make an attempt to crawl into it.

Rex winced as he watched Gramps try to make his way to the Cloud sea, scraping his stony hide along the ground, tearing up the grass in his wake. It seemed like he couldn't move his arms or legs very well, and was just inching his way forward, struggling with every foot. That's because of me, Rex thought. Poor Gramps is in this condition because of me.

Finally, he let out a cry of frustration and rushed forward, pushing against one of Gramps' hind legs. "C'mon, Gramps, we can do it together."

Gramps craned his neck back around to look at him, bemused. "Come now. Do you actually think you're helping at all?"

"Seriously, Rex?" Nia raised her eyebrows at him, giving him a skeptical look, standing back and watching the pathetic scene. But Malos just strode past her and put his shoulder in behind Rex.

"C'mon, old man, I'm getting bored sitting around here," he snapped, as he strained against the Titan's hide.

"Woo! Well, at least I can actually feel Malos pushing," Gramps yelped.

It was still a long struggle, but after an hour of pushing and sweating, they finally got Gramps to the edge of the Cloud sea. The old titan slipped into it with surprising grace. "Oh, now that feels good on these old bones," he purred, raising his head above the cloud. "Yes, I believe, just give me some time in here and I'll be much better."

"You sure now, Gramps?" Rex asked, gasping, drenched with sweat.

Nia laughed at him. "Why the hell did you keep pushing? You know you weren't actually helping at all, right? You stupid or something?"

Rex glared at her. "Hey. I wanted to help, even if it was just a little."

"It wasn't a little, it was completely pointless." She crossed her arms and smiled at him. "You're so dumb, it's almost cute."

Rex blushed and looked away. "Whatever." He looked out at the small coast. "Look, Gramps, you just take your time here. We're gonna go visit a town and see if we can't find something to speed up the healing process, yeah?"

Gramps seemed to barely hear him, rolling around luxuriously in the roiling fog of the Cloud sea. "Hmmm? Oh. Yes, yes, that sounds good." He cast a sharp yellow eye at the Aegis. "I expect you to take care of him, now, Malos."

"Gramps! I can take care of myself, you know that."

"Oh yes, Rex. I didn't mean to insult you. But you know you have a knack for getting yourself into trouble." Gramps ducked his head beneath the clouds for a moment and resurfaced, fog rolling off him like thick, slowly drifting snow. "Ahhhh, but that feels good."

Rex turned around and crossed his arms, then glanced at Nia. "You said you knew your way around here?"

"Well, vaguely. The nearest town would be Torigoth." Nia shielded her hands against the sun. "It shouldn't be too far. Let's head this way."

Nia, Dromarch, Malos and Rex began picking their way through the forest. The trail was haphazard, broken. In some places it looked as if it was well used, in others the trail was completely lost in foul-smelling bogs and marshes. Rex glanced nervously out across the waters as they trudged their way through them. He could see giant brogs and smaller, sharp-toothed lizards in the water, watching them with intent, predatory interest, but they seemed too cautious to approached an armed group.

"Hey, Nia," Malos said suddenly, as they were walking, hacking at some thick brush in their path with his sword. "So, I never really asked you. But what were you doing with Pyra and Jin?"

"Hey, Malos," Rex said, disapprovingly. "She doesn't have to tell us. She saved my life, I think we know she's not...I mean...I assume..."

"No, it's alright," Nia said. "I mean, if Pyra really IS some sort of world-killer you're meant to stop, I'd be curious in your place too, yeah? I mean. IF she is."

"She is."

"Right." Nia sighed, swatting flies away from her face. "I mean, I wasn't with them for long, yeah?"

"Oh, so you were the rookie of the team." Rex smirked at her. "I knew it."

"Shove it up your arse," Nia replied idly. "While I was there, we mostly just pulled off core heists. I mean, if Pyra is the Aegis you're talking about, she didn't even really seem like she was in charge. That was mostly Jin. And while I was in TORNA, I-"

Malos froze, causing Rex and Nia to bump into him. "Did you say Torna?"

Nia looked up in surprise. "Yeah. That's what they called themselves."

"Like the country Torna?"

Nia and Rex looked at each other again. "I never heard of any country called Torna," Rex said.

Malos threw his hands up. "Come on. I know they didn't teach you brats any history, but this is getting ridiculous. I mean...maybe they changed their name...after...no country called Torna?" Malos shook his head, then continued on silently, lost in thought. "Why would Jin…" he muttered to himself.

"So how did you get mixed up with TORNA anyway?" Rex asked Nia.

"Jin re-" Nia put her hand to her chest, blushing, looking away forlornly. "He...recruited me." She looked at him, and Rex was taken aback by the deep sadness in her eyes. "I know...you didn't exactly get the best impression of him. But he can be such a kind person."

"Oh yeah, so kind. I really felt his kindness with his sword going through my back," Rex said sarcastically. Nia simply looked away, quiet.

Malos walked on, lost in his memories. Something didn't quite make sense. Why would Jin, or whoever had awakened Jin again, name his organization Torna? What the hell had happened to Mythra that had changed her into Pyra? He cast his mind back to memories of war, of the day he had defeated her, centuries ago. Was there...truly no trace of Torna left? Not even an echo?

Had that truly been the price of victory?

He shook his head. These kids were useless. He was going to have to buy a history book as soon as they hit town.

9.

They had been hiking for a few hours when they came across the battlefield.

Rex had been in the lead, trudging through a particularly overgrown portion of the path, when, pushing aside a frond, the ground gave way beneath him, and he slipped down with a shout, down a steep slope, perhaps ten feet, into a clearing.

He groaned, stumbling to his feet – and then gasped when he looked up.

The clearing in front of him wasn't natural. It had clearly once been forest. The shattered, blackened remains of trees were scattered all around, their skeletal figures twisting upward towards the sky. The ground had been chewed up by artillery fire of some sort, leaving the clearing pitted with craters. The blackened, half-melted remains of war machines were scattered across the clearing, tanks with barrels pointed haphazardly in all directions.

And the bodies. The field was littered with the motionless, contorted bodies of Urayan and Ardainian soldiers. There was no noise, not even the sound of birds that had followed them throughout the forest. Only a howling wind, blowing nothing but ash.

Rex gasped, and scrambled backwards, bumping into Nia and Malos, who had come up behind him. Malos looked grim, face stone. Nia was pale, eyes wide. "Architect, it's awful," she gasped.

"It's war," Malos replied, his voice betraying no emotion.

Rex got to his feet, and looked over the field of dead bodies and twisted metal. "This…" he shook his head, looking down at his feet. He couldn't bear it. All these people, all gone, all this awful waste. "This is why we need Elysium," he said finally. "To stop..." he cast an arm over the field, sweeping in the scene, his heart heavy. "To stop this. It can't go on."

"As long as there's humans, there will be war, kid," Malos said. Rex ignored him, trudging through the field. There were Ardainian soldiers, with their intimidating, insect-like gas masks and spiked helmets, and Ardainian soldiers, with their humongous, bulky armor. Something caught his eye, fluttering out of the pack of one of the Urayan soldiers. It was a pamphlet. He picked it up. It had an artistic rendering of an Ardainian soldier on the front, their helmet morphing halfway into a skull.

MOR ARDAIN IS THE CLOCKWORK DEMON SWALLOWING THE WORLD, the pamphlet read. People of Gormott: Urayan soldiers are your friends. We are here to liberate you. We fight for your freedom. On the inside, it had an illustration of an Urayan soldier and a Gormotti shaking hands, smiling at each other.

"Mor Ardain started this war," Nia said, looking over his shoulder. "I mean, they occupied Gormott long ago, long before this. But they started the war with Uraya this time too."

"They do all this because their Titan is half-collapsed already," Rex replied. Malos glanced up, as if he was about to say something, but kept his silence. "I'm not saying it's right. But...if they don't get land, their whole country will die."

"They didn't have to invade."

"If they didn't, would other countries actually help them out?" Rex shook his head. "Or would they just hold on to what they had, and watch Mor Ardain go under? I don't know. Maybe they would help. Look, I've had my fair share of run ins with Ardainians."

"Oh, I'm well aware."

"But...they aren't bad people. They're just struggling to survive in the only way they know how." Rex let the pamphlet fall from his hands, shaking his head as he surveyed the carnage once more. "This is all such an awful, awful waste."

"You know," Nia said quietly, after a moment of listening to the howling wind, "If the Urayans are launching strikes at Torigoth, it's probably locked down pretty tight. Maybe it's not such a good idea to go-"

And then she froze, hearing the distinct sound of rifles loading.

Rex, Nia, Malos and Dromarch slowly turned around. There, behind them, was a patrol of five Ardainian soldiers, leveling their rifles at them. At their head was a woman whose hair was blue flame, wearing a brilliant blue dress, holding twin swords at her sides.

"So," she said, frowning sternly. "The reports were correct. The Aegis has been awoken." She looked over at Nia with hooded eyes. "And traveling with a member of TORNA. How interesting."

"Brighid!" called Malos, his voice half mockery, and half honest affection. "After all this time. Good to see you again. I see you haven't updated your fashion sense."

"Malos." Brighid sniffed airily. "I see you haven't updated your poor sense of humor."

"Wait, do you remember me?"

"Of course not. But I have entries in my journal written about you." She gave him a condescending glare. "They are not flattering."

"Yeah, you never did warm up to me." Malos leaned his sword back against his shoulder and grinned.

Rex stood by his side with his junk sword drawn, as Nia crouched and grabbed her twin rings from Dromarch. "Listen lady, I don't know what you're doing here, but we don't want any trouble, alright?"

"No trouble?" Brighid said severely. "Then you'd better come with me peacefully. You are all to be placed under the authority of the military governor of Torigoth."

"What the hell! What gives you the right?" Rex shouted.

"You and the Aegis are a special case. He simply can't be left to wander the world. And your friend here is known member of a terrorist organization." Brighid took a step forward, and suddenly her twin swords were wreathed in blue flame. "If you won't come in peacefully, I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to subdue you."

Malos smirked at her. "That journal of yours say anything about who usually won in our little training sessions? I think you know how this will go."

"It says something about you being an overconfident fool." Suddenly, Brighid stepped aside and motioned to the soldiers beside her. "FIRE!"

Rex braced himself for the sharp crack of rifle shots, but that never came. Instead, one of the soldiers leveled an odd, large, tube-shaped gun, and with a FWOOMP, a glowing blue net came flying out of it. Malos dodged out of the way, but Nia, with a shout, found herself suddenly weighed down by the net.

"Agh, what IS this – my ether bond, I can't feel it!" she cried.

"My lady!" Dromarch roared, rushing to her side, before a net slammed into him, tangling him and sending him flying.

"That's an ether net," Brighid said dismissively. "Designed specifically to disrupt the bonds between drivers and blades. You may be an Aegis, but you still play by the same rules we do."

"I'm sick of this," Malos snapped, and suddenly the ground beneath Brighid erupted in a dark flame. She dodged, nimbly, and rushed towards him with swords drawn. They clashed in an explosion of blue and black flame. Rex leapt forward and, with a shout, tackled a soldier who was aiming another ether net gun at Malos.

He marveled with the speed at which he was able to move, and the strength of his blows. It was only a few days ago that a few Ardainian soldiers had been able to completely overwhelm him. Now, he was holding his own against five. The ether bond of a blade really did invigorate him. He could almost see it, now, like he could see Nia's before, as he danced among the soldiers, slamming them with a shoulder here, kicking their legs out from underneath them there. But she had been right – it was different. Whereas Nia's bond with Dromarch looked like a glowing golden cord, this...looked like an oddly woven black rope, bending at odd angles, writhing. But he could feel the power flowing between him and Malos.

"You're holding back on me," Brighid said to Malos as her blades clashed against his. They were surrounded by a wildly dancing circle of their flames. Malos was fighting with a lazy confidence that annoyed her, but she wasn't going to make that lose her discipline. "Either that, or the Aegis isn't as impressive as I wrote in my journal."

"Darling, I'd never," Malos grinned at her, and Brighid wrinkled her nose in disgust. "But let's just say I'm not feeling completely up to speed just yet. But it shouldn't matter." And Brighid doubled over in pain as Malos, still blocking her swords with one hand, delivered a punch to her gut with the other.

"Underhanded. But clever. That's more like it," Brighid said. If Malos didn't know better, he'd even think she was smiling a bit.

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment…?" Malos shrugged, then aimed a heavy swing at her head. Then he glanced over her shoulder. Rex was busy tackling the soldiers that came with her, but up the path was coming a whole damn platoon of them. "Shit," he muttered. "REX! We got more company. We have to get out of here."

"But where?" cried Rex. Malos had to admit he had a point. He had no idea where any escapes were. "And we can't leave Nia-"

Malos only just managed to catch, out of the corner of his eye, the quick movement of a projectile painted with a ridiculous, spiky-toothed face before the world exploded around them.

"What the hell," he groaned, getting to his feet, ears ringing. Brighid was stunned, as well. Before he knew it, another projectile slammed into the ground at the feet of the approaching Ardainian soldiers, exploding and sending them flying. He and Rex both looked in the direction the projectiles were coming from, only to see a small nopon dancing nervously at the edge of a forest, dressed in jean overalls and goggles.

"This way! This way, this way!" it shouted at them, pulling another bomb out of its pack and throwing it. The little guy had pretty good aim, and it landed right at Brighid's feet just as she had recovered, sending her sprawling again with its explosion.

"Rex, that's our cue. We gotta go," Malos shouted.

"Hold on," Rex yelled over the chaos. He rushed over to Nia, and desperately began trying to untangle the net from her.

"Rex, we don't have time!"

"I can't just leave her!"

"Rex, just go," Nia shouted at him from inside the net. The sadness in her eyes cut through him like a knife. "It's better this way. Just go, alright? Forget about me and save yourself."

"REX!" Malos shouted. Rex glanced over his shoulder. Brighid was getting to her feet again, blue flame roaring about her in a whirlwind.

"I'll come back for you Nia, I swear," Rex said. He grimaced, then leapt to his feet, sprinting after Malos as they raced towards the nopon dancing at the edge of the forest.

"Don't bother," Nia murmured, watching him go. "It's better this way."

She couldn't help but smile to herself. Of course it would have ended like this.