Note: Hey thanks for the reviews, I enjoy seeing them. Tora is a bit of a hard character to write, just because I think he doesn't translate as well to writing as much as visual mediums. He might feel tacked on because I do feel like I'm rushing through the earlier chapters a bit. I don't want to just re-tell the same scenes from the game itself, because that would be boring, but the story I have planned doesn't REALLY begin to diverge until a bit later on (after the game equivalent of chapter 3, and much more after chapter 4).

As for Nia and Malos, I don't want to give away too much, but my thought was that while they have the dichotomy in terms of goals and powers, they actually have some similarities when it comes to personality. I noticed that while playing the game itself, although it's never really explored to any extent there for obvious reasons, I thought it would be an interesting thing to play with in a Malos/Pyra swap scenario. Basically, while they may be opposed to each other in a lot of ways, they also 'get' each other in a lot of ways, too.

1.

Malos got up, stretching, shielding his eyes against the daylight, wincing as it stabbed into his eyes. He looked over across the camp. The ashes of the campfire had long since lost all their fire, they were dead, black, empty. The nopon and his robot still slumbered peacefully on one side of the fire. On the other side, Nia and Rex lay side by side with their backs against Dromarch, Nia's head laying against Rex's shoulder as they slept. Malos raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Cute," he said to himself.

He made his way over to a small ledge, overlooking the hill they had so hastily climbed last night, looking down on Torigoth. Narrowing his eyes, he could just make out the destruction from last night's battle. The twisted wreckage of two Urayan ships lay smashed, blackened, in the middle of the Ardainian base. He couldn't be sure, but it looked like a third one may have been floating out in the Cloud sea. It hadn't been a large attack. Most likely a gambit to eliminate the Ardainian leadership in Torigoth, rather than any real attempt to take the town. And well, it had been a good gambit. Malos found himself wondering if Brighid, her driver, or the military governor were still alive.

He found himself thinking of what Brighid's driver had said. Hugo, dead. Killed by his hand. He cast his mind back, back to the day he had defeated Mythra. The battle had been so...he could just remember the fury, the complete, overbearing urge to destroy her that he had felt, to stop her from destroying anything else, to eliminate her, annihilate her, erase her, the mounting sense of power he felt as the battle turned in his favor, the sense of bloodthirsty triumph, the ease with which power had flowed from his fingertips…

He shook his head. Hugo...he had been so young, so young. But it's not like he had been the one who recruited him. Brighid and her driver had it wrong. Hugo had insisted on coming along, had insisted that as the Emperor it was his duty to protect the world, as young as he might be. Malos had not insisted on it at all. In fact, he had protested against it, at first, though he had warmed up to the boy when Hugo had proved his worth. And Hugo was a soldier. He knew that a battle between the Aegis would likely catch him in the crossfire. He knew the risks, and accepted them, and Malos respected that. Fundamentally, Mythra was still the one at fault.

Still. He had died. And at Malos' hand. It seemed a bit odd to grasp. After all, it was all centuries ago. Either way, the boy would have been dead by now. It just seemed...odd, to think of brave young Hugo, robbed of life. He had been so damn young. He…

Malos shook his head again, clearing away the fog of his thoughts, dispelling the creeping feeling gripping his chest. It did no good to dwell on it. Life was full of suffering and tragedy. Hugo had paid the price to help make the world a better place for others. One tragedy in a long, long list. And like all humans were destined to, he had already faded into the shadows of history. "Good soldier, Hugo," he murmured to himself.

"Hey, Malos. Mornin'."

Rex's voice bought him out of his reverie. He turned around to see the kid rubbing his eyes, staggering toward him, yawning. Behind him, he could see Nia stretching as she slowly awoke, as well.

This kid. He was young, too. Not as young as Hugo, but still young. He….had the same fire, the same spirit Addam had had. But Addam had been a grown man, well into his life. To be honest, Malos would have preferred if his driver had been someone older, this time, as well. His power...was demanding. And he couldn't afford to hesitate to use it, couldn't afford to regret. No one could stop Mythra except him. Malos put his hand to his core crystal, frowning. He could feel the subtle fractures within it, remnants of his last battle with Mythra. Until those healed, he couldn't access his full power anyway, so he had time. But when he was able to...would Rex be able to handle it? He could still remember Addam's howls of agony, remember him begging Malos to stop-

"Morning," Malos said. "Well, it's more like noon now, you know."

Rex gave an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, sorry...your power uh, really took it out of me. Heh."

"No. It's fine. You did really good, I'm impressed."

Rex's eyes shone with admiration and pride for a moment. "Yeah? You really think so?"

"Sure." Malos tried to fight back an uneasy feeling that he couldn't quite place his finger on. "We're going to need to practice a bit, though. Hopefully in a more controlled environment. Help you build up your tolerance to it. The more practice we do, the less it will hurt to use when you really need it."

Rex beamed up at him, giving him a thumbs up. Malos fought back the disquiet, and pointed out at the Cloud Sea. "Looks like Gormott is pretty close to the World Tree right now. Why don't we try heading out that way?"

"Really?" Rex scratched his chin. "I mean, you know, sailors have all sorts of stories about not being able to get close to the World Tree. I'm not sure what's true and what's just rumor, but I don't think you can just sail right up to it."

"Oh, I've got no doubt there's some weird defenses or something or other going on over there. But...well, I'm the Aegis. I may be able to do something about it. Think of it more as a scouting mission than necessarily getting there right away."

Rex nodded. "Right. If Gramps is feeling any better, he can bring us there. Let me just go get packed up, and then we can figure out how..." his voice trailed off, as he ran back to the campfire and began stuffing items into his pack.

As Malos turned around to watch him, he jumped back in surprise as he noticed Nia standing only a few feet away. "Jeez," he muttered. "You really can sneak up on people."

The Gormotti girl remained quiet, then stepped up until she was only a foot away from him. She barely came up to his chest, but she didn't show any signs of trepidation. She glared up at him as Malos looked down, bemused. "Your power is awful," she said suddenly.

"Yeah. Think you mentioned that before," Malos said, irritated.

She kept glaring at him with those large, angry eyes. "What's with that ether connection of yours? It's all twisted. It's not right."

Malos winked at her. "You have to let a man keep some of his secrets."

She folded her arms and scowled at him, and Malos felt himself growing more irritated by the moment. "Rex is your driver. I don't think y'should be keeping secrets from him."

"You mean like your secret?" Malos asked idly.

Nia paled, and her hands dropped to her sides, trembling. "W-what are you talking about?"

Malos' grey eyes bored into her, his cruel smile never reaching them. "Come on now, Nia. I know no normal driver and blade could have bought Rex back from the edge of death like that. He was a dim flame, barely holding on. Most people would have said he was dead already. Even I would have had to go to….extreme measures, to save him. And yet you expect me to believe some normal girl and her normal healing blade rescued him from that?"

Nia merely stared at him, wide-eyed. "I….I-"

"Do you think I hadn't seen your kind before? Flesh-eater?" Malos' smile grew knowing, yet more cruel. "So, who did you have to kill?" His stare grew more intense, and he flicked his gaze over to Rex. "Would you like to tell him?"

Nia put one hand to her chest, the other to her mouth, trembling. "No, no please," she whispered. "No, don't tell him, just...just let me..."

She was afraid of what he might think of her. The girl had probably been hiding it for so long that the idea of telling anyone at all was unthinkable. Malos hadn't actually meant to scare her this much. Maybe things had become worse for flesh-eaters over the past few centuries. He sighed. "Look, my point is we both have secrets. Don't go bugging me about mine, I won't bug you about yours."

She really hated him for that one, he could tell. She was still shaking, and giving him a look of complete scorn. "Fine," she muttered under her breath, turning away. Ah well, Malos thought. Maybe she'd warm up to him eventually. Malos actually liked her. As much as she might bug him, it felt nice to have someone around who was protective of Rex, to a certain extent. He...wasn't actually sure why he felt like that.

2.

Nia was busily stuffing things into the saddle-bags on Dromarch's sides, readying to leave camp, when the small robot girl – Poppi, she remembered – approached her, blinking up at her with large, orange eyes. Nia wasn't sure what to make of her, but she had helped rescue her, too, so…

"Oh well...uh, hello there." Nia gave the small robot girl an awkward smile. "I don't think I got the chance to properly thank you for the rescue last night." She felt sort of stupid. Was this thing even...alive? Was it just some tool created by Tora? Was she basically talking to a doll right now?She laughed, awkwardly, as the robot merely continued staring up at her, expressionless. Finally it reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, holding it out wordlessly. "Oh, uh, what's this?" Nia asked.

"Bill for services rendered!" Poppi chirped. "Masterpon say, 'No free lunch.'"

"A bill?" Nia asked incredulously. She looked at the paper, which contained a long list of expenses, among which were 'Double Triple Fast Work', 'Quintuple overtime', 'Skipped Dinner', 'Maintenance fees', 'Stubbed toe medical treatment', among many, many others. "I...what…what is this? What's this one, 'emotional damages'?"

"Cat-lady snap at masterpon, even after masterpon risk his life to save her! Made masterpon very sad. Gave masterpon much discomfort to hear such language!"

Nia's eyes slowly wandered down to the bottom of the page, where the expenses were tallied up. "THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND BLOODY GOLD?" she shouted, causing Rex and Malos to whip their heads around and stare at her.

"What's all this, Nia?" Rex asked, ambling over.

Nia shoved the bill in his face. "Your...hired help is trying to pin me with the bill."

"Huh? What?" Rex grabbed the paper. His eyes widened as he scanned it. He looked down at Poppi in shock, then glanced around. Tora was gleefully roasting a sausage over the remains of the campfire. "Oi, Tora! What...what is this?"

Tora bounced over, chewing on a sausage. "Oh. Yes. Bill for services rendered, yes? Tora likes helping friends, but help not come for free! Tora has his personal expenses to consider."

Malos tried to look stern, to hide a smirk. In reality, he sort of liked the audacity of the little nopon. "We never discussed this beforehand, you know."

Tora shrugged. "Tora assume it common sense that work not come for free." He took another healthy bite of the sausage and blinked up at the Aegis with those large, dark eyes of his. If Malos didn't know better, he'd swear the nopon had a mischievous little smile of his own. It was so hard to tell with them.

"Look," Nia said quietly. "I….I really appreciate the help. I don't want to give the impression that I don't. But..."

Rex finished for her. "There's...we have no gold, Tora. And three hundred thousand….?"

Tora scratched his head with one of his wings. "Well. Tora think three hundred thousand is reasonable. Tora...cannot exactly go back to his home, yes? Ardainian soldiers surely on the lookout for him now. Lose big investment, yes?"

Rex had to admit he had a point. The little nopon had seemed so eager to help them, and Rex had been so desperate to save Nia, that he had never stopped to think what he was asking of Tora. "Ah...Titan's foot, I'm such an idiot. I'm so sorry, Tora. I never thought..."

"Friend not be sorry! Let's see what we can do about this." Tora snatched the bill from Rex's hands and looked at it, pondering thoughtfully. "First let us apply Tora's friend's discount. Will knock 1% off the bill."

"Ohhhhh, so generous." Nia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

Tora ignored her. "Next, let us discuss...payment plan!" He looked up at Rex mischievously. "Tora could not help but overhear last night. Rex-Rex...is planning to go to Elysium?"

Nia's eyes widened. "Wait. You heard that?"

"Poppi hear it!" the little robot chirped up suddenly. She pointed to the antennae on the side of her head. "Poppi have hearing greater than any human, nopon, or blade. Not mean to spy, but could not help hearing what Nia say to Rex last night." Suddenly she put her head to the side, and in what Nia could have swore was a mocking manner, cooed, "Oh Rex, take me to Elysium...you bloody idiot." She managed to sound much more affectionate than Nia had been when she said it.

Nia felt her face turning red. "Stop it. Stop it, you little sneak. And YOU, shut up, don't you laugh, don't you dare laugh!" she snapped, as Malos burst out laughing at Poppi's impression.

Tora ignored all this, and rolled up the bill. "Regardless! Journey to Elysium sound like grand adventure. Sound like perfect opportunity to test Poppi's battle capabilities. Tora would gladly pay to go on an adventure like that! So let's reduce bill to, say, 150,000 gold! Now. All treasure we find will be split up, yes? Let us say, an additional 20% of treasure, from total overall treasure, becomes Tora's. We use that additional portion to pay off your bill!" Here, the nopon reached into his overalls, pulling out several charts and graphs. "Tora has already done wealth acquisition analysis for different probabilities of treasure hunting rates. He project you be paid off very quick, yes? Not even a year! Within confidence interval of ninety percent."

Rex crossed his arms, smiling a little. "You know, Tora, if you wanted to come along, all you had to do is ask."

"You're going to agree to this?" Nia asked.

Rex shrugged. "Well, sure. I mean, he's not lying, he did basically just lose his home, yeah? We do owe him for helping us out." He turned to Malos. "What do you think?"

Malos scratched his chin, then laughed. "I think he's a damn good negotiator. I can respect that. Sure, why not?" He shook his head. "We have to watch out or we're going to end up being in debt to nopons for our whole lives."

Tora raised his wings in triumph. "Good good! Deal is settled then. Friends getting quite the bargain! Money Tora gets will go into buying new parts and improving on Poppi, so she is even more helpful to friends! At least 50% earmarked. Other half go to Tora's food budget." Tora turned to Poppi. "Is Poppi excited? Will learn great battle capabilities that dadapon and grampypon built in that Tora has no idea about!"

"Poppi is excited to help masterpon in whatever task he chooses to pursue." Poppi cocked her head to the side, considering for a moment. "As long as masterpon does not skimp on maintenance budget."

3.

Shortly, the party was packed up, and ready to leave the campsite. Malos didn't like how obvious their presence here had been – the remains of ashes a clear clue that someone had camped here the night before. Who knew if the Ardainians might be trying to track them? But there wasn't much to be done about it at this point, and it was best if they began moving as quickly as possible.

The first order of business was to make their way back to where they had left Gramps, while avoiding Ardainian patrols and sticking away from the town. This was easier said than done. They were somewhat up the side of the mountain that made up the neck of the Gormott Titan right now. But to get back to where they had left Gramps, they'd have to come down from the mountain and make their way back to the belly. The problem was that Torigoth was surrounded by low ground – swamps, and a long, low, rolling plain. If they traveled through this, they'd would be easy to spot from the town.

Nia and Tora, the two of them being the most familiar with Gormott, came up with a plan, to take a somewhat circuitous route. There was a large, gargantuan tree growing on the far side of the plain, far away from Torigoth. If they came down from the mountain as close to that as possible, and kept the tree between themselves and the town, it would minimize their chances of being seen. And on the far side of the plain, there was another entrance into Gormott's stomach area. They'd end up trudging through the swampy forests of the stomach for much longer, but it would keep them away from the areas that Ardainian soldiers were likely to be patrolling. It was the safest route they could come up with. They could have gambled that the Ardainians would still be in disarray after the attack and that patrols would be lighter, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The path took them dangerously close to what Nia remembered as Tirkin territory, but the small, pudgy bird-creatures were easier to deal with than Ardainian soldiers, and besides, according to Tora, the Ardainians had been much harsher about cracking down on them since the war began, probably not willing to risk dealing with them as a security risk when the Urayans might attack as well.

They set off, Rex and Malos in the lead, Tora and Poppi behind them, the small nopon examining Poppi's movements closely and scribbling furious notes, with Nia trailing a bit in the rear, riding on Dromarch's back.

She found herself wondering just what she had gotten herself into. This was it, wasn't it? It was really it. She was following Rex now, and that meant...she was no longer going to try to make her way back to Jin and Pyra. They had rescued her, but now she had completely abandoned them. She forced back memories of Jin's kind eyes, of the soothing words he had given her when he had rescued her. She knew he could be cold, and a bastard sometimes, but she would always remember the times his stoic face cracked into a smile. She still thought, deep down, that he was a good person.

No more running, either, living on the lam, hiding at night, hoping Indol's soldiers didn't track her down, hoping people didn't discover her secret…all to chase some fool boy's dreams of Elysium. Or, maybe it wasn't such a fool dream. After all, Malos said it existed, and the Ardainians, at least, certainly seemed to believe that he was an Aegis. Maybe it did exist.

She watched Rex as he walked next to Malos, looking up at the blade, laughing and smiling. He might be a bit of a dunce, but he was a good person. And she could tell, watching him, how he had already begun looking up to the Aegis. Well, of course he was. He was still young, had grown up without a father, and along came this damn bloody blade who was confident, powerful, a warrior. Nia knew enough about boys to know they gravitated towards warriors and soldiers. Rex was no different. And...without Malos, he probably wouldn't have been able to rescue her. Nia smiled and squeezed Dromarch's fur. She was still angry, but deep down, it felt...nice, to know he had cared enough to come break her out. But…

He cares for you, the voice in her head said. He cares for you, because he's a good person and he cares for everyone he meets. And his care for you just made him admire Malos more. It's your fault, now, that he's so attached to the man-

Nia shook her head, pushing the voice away, which was easier than it usually was, for some reason. She was still highly suspicious of Malos, and it gave her an uneasy feeling in her gut to see Rex looking up to him. But that's part of why she agreed to come along, to make sure…

Her mind flashed back to the tormented scream Rex had given as Malos' power coursed through him-

To make sure that things didn't get taken too far.

It was afternoon by the time they made their way down the side of the mountain and crossed behind the large tree in the Gormott plains, crossing over into Tirkin territory. Tora was right, they really weren't as active as they had been when Nia had last been here. They would spy small bands of them, three or four, watching them from a distance in the tall grass of the plains, furtively squawking at each other, holding their primitive spears and bows, but they always scampered away any time the party came closer. Torigoth itself, far in the distance, was obscured the tree and some rolling hills and cliffs.

Pushing forward, they were able to make their way into a small cave that led down into the forests and swamps of Gormott's stomach. By the time they made it there, though, night was falling, the twilight purple of the sky barely visible through the leaves as it was. They decided to make camp again, and to push on to where Gramps had been in the morning. They chose a dry patch of grass, far away from any of the bug-infested stagnant waters, to make their camp.

Nia jumped down from Dromarch and unhooked her saddle bags from him as the others started the fire. Her blade looked at her with questioning eyes. "You've been flicking your tail all day," Nia said. "I know you want to go out and hunt." Dromarch yawned, displaying his impressive fangs. Nia remembered when she had first realized what a dangerous animal her blade was, shortly after awakening him. She had been intimidated at first, of this beast that had been bonded to her. But he had always been gentle, even doting, with her. While she found it annoying sometimes – she didn't like to feel like she needed watching after – she had come to appreciate him as a protector. "Why don't you go catch something? Just don't leave it at my feet."

Dromarch stretched, lazily, arching his back, then glanced over at the others, Rex, Malos, Tora and Poppi. "Hmmmmm. I suppose you will be safe enough in their company." He got up, padding with a liquid, gliding silence, tail flicking, into the underbrush. Dromarch had to fulfill his hunting instincts sometimes. Nia knew he'd be back while she was sleeping.

She yelped as Rex suddenly plopped down next to her, groaning as he stretched out. "Oooh, what a week it's been," he yawned.

Nia glared at him, then looked around the campfire. Tora was on the other side, using some delicate tools to operate on Poppi's arm, and Malos was leaning back against a log, absorbed in a book. "Yeah, well. I suppose."

"Hey, check it out." Rex reached into his pocket, and produced a pair of shining, rainbow crystals. The colors inside of them danced as the light from the fire flickered through them. "I found these while we were coming down the mountain. Aren't they cool? They're so shiny."

Nia looked at him, then burst out laughing. "Collecting shiny pebbles? You really are a child, sometimes."

Rex frowned at her. "Oh. Alright then. I was gonna give you one, but, hey, I guess they're boring..."

"Well. Hey now. They do look pretty neat. I'll take one."

Rex smiled mischievously. "Oh no. You said they were childish, you don't have to go on pretending to want one just to make me feel better."

"Hey, come on." Nia grabbed at the rocks in his hand, only to have him hold them away from her, clenched tight in his fist, with a grin. "Hey! I said I wanted one."

"But I thought they were childish!"

"Will you – oh, come on!" Nia grabbed Rex's arm, and he laughed as she struggled to pry his hand open. "Ooooh, you – fine! They aren't childish, is that what you want to hear?" She huffed as Rex grinned and then handed her one of the crystals. She held it up to the light, watching the colors dance within it. "Wow, it really is very pretty," she murmured. She looked over at Rex grinning innocently at her. "Um. Thanks."

"Do you know what they're called? You grew up in Gormott, right?"

"Yeah...I guess you could say that." Nia shook her head. "I don't know much about rocks though. And I haven't ever seen these before, either. I don't think they're common in Gormott. Guess you just got a lucky find."

Rex scratched his chin. "Maybe I'm the first to discover them. I think I'll call them, 'Rainbow Rocks.'"

Nia snorted. "Oh yeah. Real creative there. Come on, something this pretty deserves a name a little poetic. How about...um...lessee, 'Crystal Radiance.' Something like that."

"Hmm, no. I think Rainbow Rocks is better."

"They aren't even rocks! These are crystals, Rex!"

Malos looked over the top of his book at Rex and Nia bickering with each other and grinned. He nudged Tora with a foot, and jerked his head towards them. "Hey, Tora. What do you think of those two?"

Tora looked up from operating on Poppi's arm, wiping the sweat from his brow, and glanced across the fire, crossing his arms. "Tora think Rex-Rex much nicer to Nia than Nia is to Rex-Rex. Rex-Rex like her more than she like him." He shook his head sadly.

"Hah! Shows what you know," Malos said, smiling.

Dromarch returned later that night while everyone was sleeping. Hunting had been poor. Little other than lizards as prey in these woods, and lizards were...bitter. Too crunchy. Perhaps he would get the chance to hunt some Volff in the future. They tasted the best.

He padded over to Nia, who was sleeping peacefully, curled up in a patch of grass, a small smile on her face. In her hand she held a sparkling crystal.

The large cat sniffed at this. Nia rarely smiled in her sleep. He curled around her, purring loudly, and closed his eyes himself.

The party rose early the next day, and, giving the aggressive Brogs infesting the swamps a wide berth, were able to make their way back to their original crash site without trouble by noon. Malos grew more watchful the closer they got to the original site – they had run into Ardainian patrols not far from there, after all – but spotted nothing.

Eventually they came to the small shoreline where they had pushed Gramps into the Cloud Sea a few days earlier. The Titan was nowhere in sight, at first. But as Rex stood on the shoreline, calling out his name, the Titan's head rose from beneath the clouds, yawning.

"Hey, Gramps. I'm sorry, we couldn't find you anything...we uh...ran into quite a bit of trouble, I'm afraid." Rex rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, this is Tora and Poppi, they were a big help."

"Oh, that's quite all right Rex. Some time in the cloud sea has really done wonders for me." The Titan peered down at Tora and Poppi. "A helpful nopon. Now that's something you don't hear of every day."

"GRAMPS! You can't just say that," Rex said, aghast.

"And...my word, what is this girl?" Gramps swiveled his head so that he was staring at Poppi.

"Poppi is artificial blade invented by masterpon."

The Titan's eyes widened in surprise. "An artificial blade, you say? With an ether bond and everything?"

"Poppi's ether bond is currently configured with a maximum capacity of 2,048 ether bytes per second!" Poppi chirped happily. "Connection interference minimal. Lost ether packets: 0."

"Well. I'm...not sure what all that means. But it certainly sounds impressive." Gramps looked over at Nia. "And Nia. Have you decided to stick with Rex after all?"

"Well. Yeah. I mean, someone has to make sure he doesn't bungle things up and get himself killed, right?"

"Hey," Rex said.

The Titan smiled at her. "My sentiments exactly, dear girl. I'm glad to have you and Dromarch along."

"Hey," Rex said.

Malos stepped forward. "Hey, old man. We were thinking of taking a little jaunt out to the world tree. Gormott's pretty close to it right now, should only be a few hours of travel. Just a little scouting mission, you know. Try to get our bearings."

The Titan cocked his head to the side, considering this. "Hmmm. Well, you know, you keep hearing horror stories about people sailing too close to the world tree nowadays..."

Malos raised his hand, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I don't expect we'll get to it right away. We'll turn back at the first sign of trouble. Just a scouting mission to figure out what's going on."

"Hmm. Sounds reasonable." With a groan, the Titan pushed himself up out of the cloud sea, revealing his grassy, island-like back. "I'm afraid there's no more equipment or shelter on my back though. It's going to be a bit of a windy voyage."

4.

Morag stared grimly at the aftermath of the Urayan attack.

The wreckage of crashed Urayan titan ships still lay strewn about the base, although at the very least they had managed to put out the still-smoldering fires. The pavement of the Ardainian military base was pitted with large, jagged craters from the rocket fire. Several of the barracks buildings remained collapsed, smoldering rubble, along with several guard towers. The anti-aircraft guns, thank the Architect, were still standing.

Across the court, in a relatively unscathed part of the base, Padraigh was pacing back and forth in front of the most terrible toll of all. Scores of dead Ardainian soldiers, lined up in sad, neat rows, faces staring lifelessly at the sky. Padraigh himself had his head and his arm wrapped in bloody bandages. They had been operating with a skeleton crew at the base before the attack, with most of the Ardainian forces high up in the mountains fighting the Urayan incursion. Now, he had barely twenty men here with him. Morag knew he had lined up a lot of these dead men himself.

She approached him, Brighid at her side, and was surprised to find tears streaking down his cheeks. Well, not surprised. Padraigh had always been good to the men beneath his command, truly caring for them. But she had never seen him so shaken before.

He turned around to see her approach, his eyes widening. "Ah. Morag. Ahem." He hastily scrubbed his face. "I...apologize, I..."

She gently touched his arm. "Padraigh. It's okay," she said, softly.

Padraigh gave a bitter laugh. "I was holding it in the entire time my men were here. The minute I sent them out on patrol, I just couldn't stop it anymore. I can't let them see me like this. I shouldn't let you see me like this." He looked out across the rows of dead men with despair, pointing one out. "Did you know? Young man, right there, name Kristoff. He...had just married. Took leave a month or so ago, visited home...he had just gotten a letter from his wife that she was pregnant. He was….so happy." He pointed out another man, this one slightly older. "That one. Rael. Was always saving up money to pay for his daughter's medical treatments. She was very sick. Just found out that the doctors had said she would never recover. He wanted to take leave in a month or so...wanted to take her swimming one last time, like she had loved to do when she was a little girl." And he pointed out another one, a large, grizzled, evil-looking man. "And that one. Vulfharsk. Ask any man on base, and they'd say he was the meanest, most unpleasant man they ever met. Loved no one and nothing. And yet...during battle, he saved countless lives. Shot down one of the attack ships, then pushed two men out of the way of a rocket."

"The quality of these men reflect the quality of their leader," Brighid said. "You...are a credit to the Empire, Padraigh."

He smiled ruefully. "Thank you for the kind words. But right now, I...just wish I could be a credit to them." He scrubbed the last evidence of tears from his face. "Right. Well. I do have news for you. The Aegis and his party were spotted by my scouts in Gormott's belly."

Morag wanted to say something more to him, but she knew she had her duty to worry about right now. She nodded. "Excellent. Don't worry about risking more of your men going after him. Brighid and I will take care of him ourselves." She shook her head, remembering the battle. "That poor boy. Whatever the Aegis is doing to him...it can't be good."

"Hold on." Padraigh shook his head. "Unfortunately, shortly after observing him, the scouts witnessed the party disembarking on an unknown Titan out into the Cloud Sea. Sailing in the direction of the World Tree."

"The World Tree?" Brighid put a hand to her face thoughtfully. "What could they be doing heading there?"

Morag didn't know the answer. And they didn't have the time to waste trying to puzzle it out right now. "Padraigh. Do you have any extra ships? I don't want to pursue him in mine, they'd see it from miles off."

"Only my personal skipper." Padraigh grinned at her. "I'll trade you."

"Done."

"What, really?" Padraigh stepped back in shock. "You're going to hand over your capital ship?"

"Absolutely. Not permanently, of course. But I need to pursue them in something small, fast and stealthy. Your skipper is much more well-suited." She stiffened, and looked Padraigh up and down. "You...have my permission, and thus the permission of the Emperor, to use the capital ship as you see fit while I am gone. In battle or otherwise."

Padraigh looked at the hulking, massive shape of Morag's capital ship, undamaged from the attack, eyes widening. "I...well. I can think of a few ways to put her to good use."

Morag gave him the warmest smile she could muster, which on any other woman would look like something barely a step above 'prim politeness.' But he knew her well enough to read the sentiment. "Give them hell, Padraigh."

Padraigh grinned and threw up a the best salute he could muster in his condition. "You too, Morag."

Morag nodded, and motioned to Brighid. "Come. We must leave as soon as possible. I don't want them getting any more of a head start than they already have."

5.

The trip on Gramps' back had been quiet, uneventful, for the first couple of hours that they drew closer to the World Tree. Everyone had remained quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Malos merely stared over the side, arms crossed, looking at the World Tree, staring up into its heights, as if looking for something. Rex himself felt nervous – he had heard the horror stories of ships being destroyed by giant sea serpents as they drew close to the World Tree. But if Malos was here, and he said they'd turn back at the first sign of trouble, he was sure things would be alright. And it was actually pretty exciting, to be this close. Nia sat cross-legged, leaning back against Dromarch, toying with the stone Rex had given her. And Tora and Poppi were going over graphs that detailed a projection analysis of net profit versus maintenance estimates for her repairs. As they traveled, the skies darkened, turning an ugly, dark grey, threatening rain at any moment.

As they drew closer, the Cloud Sea began to roil, rising and swelling. Rex had salvaged in the Cloud Sea all his life, and he knew it could have unpredictable currents, but these...seemed strange. Not like any patterns of movements he had seen before. They weren't so violent yet, but...they were only growing rougher as time grew on. "Hey, Malos," he called. "Things getting pretty choppy, yeah?"

Malos glanced at him. "You're the experienced sailor, kid. You want to turn back? It's your call."

Rex was taken aback for a moment. He hadn't really felt like he was in charge of this little outing. He looked at the impassive face of the Aegis, then shook his head. "Nah. We're good to keep going for now. Just gotta be careful. Never seen currents like this before."

Malos nodded silently, then returned to staring at the World Tree.

"A ship!" Poppi said, suddenly, pointing out behind Gramps.

Rex leapt up, shading his eyes, looking towards where she was pointing. "What? I don't see anything."

"Look...harder," Poppi said, in what Rex could have sworn was a slightly condescending tone. He pulled a telescope out of his back and put it to his eye.

Sure enough, there was a ship following them. A small one, black, with gold trim, Ardainian for sure, carried by a small balloon-shaped Titan. It was hard to make out who was piloting it...at first, but then he caught a glimpse of a bright blue flame on the deck. "Ah, it's that blade and her driver, what did you say her name was?"

"Brighid, really?" Malos squinted off into the distance. "Man. Looks like she found a driver that's as much of a pain in the ass as she is."

"Damn," Rex muttered. "If we turn back now, they're definitely going to intercept and board us. It looks like they're alone, though. I think we could take them..." he shook his head. "Let's keep going for now. Maybe we won't have to, maybe we can lose them in some rough sea patch. I don't think they're gonna gain on us quick enough to reach us before we get close to the tree."

The journey continued, tensely, towards the World Tree, everyone peering behind them from time to time to look for the ship. It might not have been gaining on them quickly, but it was definitely gaining on them – it wasn't long before everyone could see it without the aid of the telescope.

The seas only became rougher and rougher. Soon, the skies erupting with lightning and rain. Swell the size of small hills rocked them up and down with a sickening, lurching motion. Nia grew pale, clinging onto Gramps' back, reaching into her bag to chew on some of that mint-tasting herb Rex had given her. Brighid and her driver weren't giving up. Worse, their small ship skipped over the swells much easier than Gramps could manage to. They were gaining fast now.

"We might have to turn around and fight soon," Rex growled when the ship grew within three hundred feet. "We aren't gonna lose them." He looked around at the World Tree, so very close. It was odd, nothing had seemed to stop them so far. Some storms, sure, and some rough currents, but could that really be all that it was stopping people from getting there…?

Suddenly, Malos stepped back from the side of the Titan. "Oh, crap," he said, pointing down into the Cloud Ocean. Rex rushed over to the side and looked down to where Malos was pointing. There, in the depths, visible beneath the clouds, was a massive, coiling shadow, glowing lights running along the side of it, larger than most Titans, twirling around and around, like...some sort of weird, massive ring...or…a serpent.

"Ophion. The hell is he doing here?" Malos hissed, and then his eyes widened as the shape beneath the clouds began uncoiling itself, rushing towards the surface. "We have to go. We have to get out of here, now. We got our explanation for what's stopping people coming here, kid."

"This really could not have happened at a worse possible time," Rex replied, running his hands through rain-slicked hair. He looked around. The ship pursuing them was… "Whoa!" he cried. It was much closer than he expected it to be. It had somehow gained massive ground while he was looking away. It was maybe a mere fifty feet away now, and he could see Brighid on the deck clearly, along with her driver, readying themselves. "Gramps!" he cried. "Turn around, we gotta-"

With a massive, rushing roar, a giant, purple snake, segmented with coiling ether lines, with what looked like an oddly-shaped, four pronged head, came roaring out of the depths of the Cloud Sea, barely fifty feet from them. Each of the odd prongs on its head was easily, easily bigger than Gramps. And seated between them was a large, glowing green eye, and above that...Rex could barely glimpse it, but...it looked like some sort of oddly humanoid shape…?

"What the hell is that thing?" Nia cried fearfully.

"Artifice Ophion." Malos stared grimly at the beast as it rose, lightning tearing through the sky behind it.

"Ohhhh!" Tora cried, bouncing happily. "Artifice is clearly mechanical in nature! Such advanced technology. Truly fascinating. Poppi, take notes."

"AEGIS!" The ship pursuing them had managed to draw up beside them, and Brighid's driver was poised on the railing, ready to leap.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Malos shouted at her, incredulously. "Don't you see the giant serpent? Does this really seem like the best time to be doing this?"

The driver didn't have time to answer. A low, whining hum was building up from within Ophion, some sort of hollow, metal whirring, until with an intense, hissing, whining roar, light gathered in its eye and boiled forward in a beam of awful, intense light, unlike any weapon Rex had ever seen before. It carved a hole in the Cloud Sea, quickly moving toward them, Gramps only just managing to swerve out of the way in time.

"We gotta get away," yelled Malos, as the rain pelted down and thunder boomed. "I think it's in some sort of guard mode. If we get away, it may stop attacking."

A huge swell roared up from the depths of the cloud sea suddenly, a gigantic, violent wave, like a humongous cliff. Rex gasped as they rose up the gargantuan wave. "Get down and hold on!" he shouted, pushing Poppi and Tora to Gramps' back as they rose almost vertically. He grabbed onto Nia as she rolled past him, wet grass slipping from her fingers, and for an insane moment she was dangling almost straight down, until they reached the top of the wave and gravity corrected itself.

"LADY MORAG!" he heard from the other ship. He looked over. Brighid was reaching out over the deck with one flame-blue glove, reaching out into the Cloud Sea. He could see a dark shape there. Morag, her name apparently, had probably fell off the railing when the wave caught them. But he couldn't worry about that now. There was only one thing he knew of that could cause waves this humongous, and that was the movement of one of the continent-Titans. He stared in shock as an impossibly mammoth shape rose from the Cloud Sea. It was Uraya, the gargantuan, whale-shaped Titan, huge, simply too huge for the eye to take in all at once. It was impossible to even judge the distance to it, so humongous it was.

"Gramps!" he yelled, as sizzling white light went roaring over their heads as Ophion took another shot at them. This was insane. "Gramps, we gotta-"

Suddenly, with an eerie, low, massive groan, like two massive rocks grinding against each other, an enormous orifice opened in the Urayan Titan, and Rex realized they were staring at its gaping maw. With a wordless shout, he collapsed to Gramps' back again, holding down Nia and Tora. Malos collapsed on top of him, helping to hold him down as well, as the Cloud Sea was swallowed into the Urayan Titan's gargantuan maw, sucking them in, the wind howling past them with incredible speed, and the last thing Rex saw, before they went tumbling into the darkness of the Titan's mouth, was its massive rows of teeth, each one the size of a small mountain, as the Cloud Sea, and them with it, poured between them like smoky waterfalls, and then they were tumbling down, deep into the darkness, and Rex lost consciousness.