14.

Morag awoke early, as she always did, accustomed as she was to the life of a soldier. She stretched out, listening to her joints pop and crack. She was still in the prime of her life, but, sad to say, she was beginning to feel the effects of age. Humans had so little time given to them. From long practice in battle, she already knew that she was slower than she had been a few years ago, and she'd awake with pains and aches that she never experienced before. Youth, she thought ruefully, was wasted on the young. All too soon, things that they had taken for granted, the indestructibility of their bodies, the abuse they could heap upon themselves and recover from quickly, would slip through their fingers. Still, comparably, she felt fantastic. It was hard to believe that little more than a week ago, she had been battered to within an inch of her life. Nia's skills as a healer really were exceptional. She ought to thank the girl. Perhaps Nia would like a gift of some sort.

She glanced over at the bed next to her, where Brighid still lounged, sleeping. Her blade was different from her in many ways. Brighid had a fondness for style and elegance that Morag never really saw the point in, herself. Her blade was always pointing out dresses and accessories that she thought would be flattering on Morag. Still, Brighid never failed to impress her with the discipline she could maintain while looking good, too. Morag envied her that, in a way. It was as if competence and discipline came so naturally to Brighid that she had time for frivolities like fashion.

She walked out of the inn, still stretching, perking up at the sound of clashing steel. She glanced towards the edge of the village. There was a small fenced-off area of beaten dirt, with some training dummies. Some mercenaries were already training there, dueling each other, or taking blows at the training dummies. Vandham was there too, leaning up against a cave wall, arms crossed, watching his men train. Nia was there, too, sitting on top of a crate, kicking her legs, watching the dueling mercenaries with idle interest.

Morag made her way over to the training grounds. Vandham nodded at her as she approached, leaning back against the cave wall next to him. "Surprised to see you and your men up this early," she remarked. "You were up drinking pretty late."

"Work hard, play hard, that's our motto." Vandham betrayed no hint of exhaustion, despite having drank more than any man Morag had ever seen drink in her life the night before. "You ask the best of these guys, ask for their lives, you gotta give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves."

Morag laughed softly. "That's certainly not the philosophy of the Ardainian officer corps. There's curfews. Even leave is strictly regulated."

Vandham grimaced, then scratched his chin. "Well. You Ardainians do tend to fight with big bloody machines. I can see why you might want to make sure your men are as clear-headed as possible doing that."

"Don't get me wrong. I do think...it can be a bit overbearing." Morag looked down at her boots for a moment. "We ask so much of them, and barely give them time for their own lives. Our soldiers, I mean." She sighed, pushing it out of her mind. "I do have to say, I was...thinking your mercenary group was an undisciplined bunch of rabble-rousers. With the way your man talked back to you yesterday."

Vandham glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, his face inscrutable. "I encourage my men to speak up when they think I'm wrong," he said after a moment. "Anytime, anywhere. They know I'm not infallible. Ain't going to pretend to be. But everyone knows, everyone here would put their lives on the line for everyone else. My men love each other." He yelled at the dueling mercenaries. "Ain't that right, Richter! Don't you and Carrack there love each other!"

Richter, a tall, lithe Gormotti man with hair in a long, flowing brown ponytail, fighting with a spear, paused and made a kiss face at his opponent. "Love ya, Carrack. So much."

Carrack, a shorter, squat Urayan man, with a build more like Vandham's, if quite a bit shorter, fighting with a greataxe, clutched his chest. "Oh, Richter. Right in the heart, you got me. You're so sweet. Marry me, Richter."

"How many kids do you want, Carrack? If….if they're yours, I want...a lot."

"Oh Richter. Take me now, you gorgeous hunk of-"

"Alright, alright, we get the point," Vandham said laughing. "Get back to your duel. No...pick up...don't actually kiss. Titan's foot, you took it too far."

Morag raised an eyebrow as the two mercenaries laughed, breaking up their embrace, and went back to dueling each other. "Definitely different from how Mor Ardain does it," she said simply. "I take advice from my men, but letting them talk back to a commander in front of others is considered a major breach of discipline."

Vandham tapped one of his massive boots on the ground, quiet for a moment. "Yeah, maybe that's the problem."

"How do you mean?"

Vandham turned his head to gaze at her, his eyes steely beneath the scars criss-crossing his face. "You said you didn't want the war, right? I know how Ardainian military standards work. How many of your men, former soldiers, citizens, do you think might think it's a bad idea too? And how many do you think just keep their heads down and mouths shut, because that's how they learned to think of their leaders?"

Morag was silent, saying nothing.

"Look, I don't want to get political here." Vandham scratched his head. "But if my Queen said she wanted to start some mutton-headed war, I wouldn't be shy about marching right up to her castle and calling her an idiot for it. Not just me, any Urayan wouldn't be shy about it. I've talked with Yew, and...I know you just don't do that in Mor Ardain."

"That's the way it's always been," Morag replied, quietly. She wanted to speak up for her country, to defend it, but...with a twisting in her gut, she knew Vandham was giving voice to doubts that she herself had. "But you have a point."

"And it's been getting worse and worse. War, after war, after war, and you guys get more brutal, more ambitious with each one. I know you need territory because your Titan is sinking...but don't you think you have enough by now? You could have colonized Gormott ages ago. A lot of people think..." Vandham sighed, throwing up his hands. "Sorry. I went and got political. Look, don't think just because you're my guest you have to sit there and take it. If you think I'm being an idiot, let me know."

"No." Morag shook her head. "It's...interesting to hear firsthand what other countries think of the Empire. Informative. What do people think about us?"

Vandham gave her a steady, searching look. The only noise was the sound of clashing blades from the nearby duel. "They think you want to conquer the world. Do you...know what people call Mor Ardain, in other countries?"

Morag's mouth became a thin, angry line. "They call us...the Clockwork Demon." She had seen the propaganda posters. It was a common motif for other countries. Mor Ardain, portrayed as a towering construct of gears and pipes, Ardainian soldiers with skulls for faces pouring out of it, guns, bombs, steel, fire, death.

Vandham looked down at his hands, rubbing a thumb and forefinger together. "They call you that," he said quietly, "Because they're so damn afraid of you. Everyone is." A moment of long silence passed between them. "Do you want to know why I stayed neutral in the war so far? Even though Mor Ardain started it?"

The memory of the day the war started was a painful one for Morag. The Brionac party had been gaining influence for generations, and after recent elections, finally had come to dominate the Senate, to the point where they could override an Emperor's veto. They had set forth a proposal for the initiation of conflict. Her brother had been firmly against the war, but, for the first time in Mor Ardain's history, the Senate had initiated a major conflict without the approval of the Emperor. Morag had been in Mor Ardain at the time, and she could remember her brother, pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion, hollow-eyed and torn apart by the impending war, arguing with his Generals, only just barely managing to convince them to stall an invasion of Uraya itself. And she remembered the night he had broken down, weeping in her arms, in the privacy of the imperial suite, feeling as if he had failed as an Emperor, failed the Empire, failed to prevent it from walking down the wrong path that would see its men butchered. Morag had been shocked, at first. Her brother normally handled the duties of Emperor so well, for someone his age. But that night had reminded her that her brother was still just a child, a sweet child, caught up in the horrors of a system breaking down beyond his control, and he needed his big sister. He had been embarrassed after, of course, told her to never speak to anyone of it. But ever since, Morag had felt her heart twist when she thought of her little brother, the Emperor, and how vulnerable he was. And she would never, ever tell anyone, but after that night, after she had gone home, in the privacy of her room, she had wept for him, herself.

"It's because," Vandham continued, when she didn't say anything, "Every Ardainian I ever met told me they didn't want the war. And it hit me. Ardainians are scared of Mor Ardain, too. When I saw you, I thought maybe I'd get to know someone who actually did see the merit in the war, being the right hand of the Emperor. And then I find out...even you, even the Emperor himself, didn't want the war." He looked away, lost in thought. "And I think...maybe all the Ardainians caught up in this, deserve the chance to stop the Clockwork Demon's gears from the inside."

"Mor Ardain isn't all bad, you know," Morag replied, her head still lost in thoughts of her brother. "We've helped. During the Aegis war."

"I know. But...maybe you just don't know how the rest of the world sees you. This war...it's really gone too far this time. People are scared." Vandham looked down at his boots. "Hell, I'm scared, and I don't scare easily."

Morag knew what she wanted Mor Ardain to be. She wanted it to be the strong helping hand, the disciplined leader in crisis, the steady rock the world could depend upon. But…maybe Vandham was right. This war was going too far. No one could see the beauty of Mor Ardain if they were terrified of it. Her brother had done a superb job at delaying the invasion of Uraya, so far. He had split off some of the more moderate elements of the Brionac party that were willing to settle for a tribute of food and agreed that a full-scale invasion of Uraya would make negotiations more difficult. Hopefully that would be enough. But she found herself longing to talk to him. This war...had to be stopped. Mor Ardain couldn't be remembered by history as the Clockwork Demon. The world….Mor Ardain deserved the chance to show the world how beautiful it could be.

"Sorry," Vandham said, and Morag was surprised to see the big man looking somewhat bashful. "I went and talked your ear off. It isn't every day you get the chance to talk to the right hand of the Emperor."

"No, not at all," Morag replied. "I...appreciate it. Really. It's a perspective you don't get in Mor Ardain. I...can't say I disagree. If anyone is going to stop this war now, it has to be Ardainians who do it."

"Well, if everything really goes to hell, and we end up facing each other on the battlefield, at least we'll have had this little talk." Vandham grinned at her. "I still think it will will turn out alright. Ardainians like you, you give me hope." Turning to the dueling mercenaries, he shouted. "Hey! Carrack! I saw that, Richter tapped you there. It's my turn now. You take a few laps around the village."

Morag was quiet, lost in thought, as Vandham got up to walk forward into the duel.

15.

Slowly, the party woke up and trickled towards the training ground, as the light rose. Dromarch strolled over merely to lie down in a sunny patch and immediately fall asleep again. Tora was the last to rise, his fur ruffled and messy, Poppi fretting over it and attempting to comb it as the nopon bounced over.

Vandham cast an eye around once everyone had joined them, taking a step back from instructing his men. He pulled up a crate to sit down on while the party gathered in a circle around him, sitting on stacked crates themselves, or leaning up against the cave wall. "Right," he said, scratching his chin. Then his eyes darted up to Rex. "So why don't you tell me what the Aegis and his driver are planning to do?"

Rex glanced around, looking at the assorted faces of his companions, and finally at Malos, who simply nodded at him. "We're planning on going to Elysium," he said, finally.

Vandham crossed his arms, fixing him with a penetrating gaze that made Rex feel like he was being nailed to the wall. "Elysium, huh? And why do you want to go there?"

Rex scratched the back of his head, measuring his words carefully. "I...even before I met Malos, I wanted to find Elysium. The Titans...they've been vanishing. The amount of land people have to live on is trickling away. People are afraid. And it's causing war, and pain, and misery, because there's just not enough to go around. But if we found Elysium...a land with so much bounty, there'd be no more need for war. Everyone could be secure, and live in peace. I think...I really think it's the only chance we've got."

"You really believe in this?"

Rex looked up, meeting Vandham's gaze with his own, his eyes flashing with fire and determination. "Yes. It's my dream. I don't give a damn how foolish it sounds."

Vandham looked around at the rest of the party, his arms still crossed. "And the rest of you, you believe in this dream?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Tora really just here for the adventure," Tora piped up, completely unashamed. "Not sure about Elysium and all that. But Tora is all about the journey, not the destination!"

"Poppi follow masterpon's orders," chirped the robot. "Poppi not sure what necessity of Elysium is. Poppi is fine with three cubic meters of space and one liter of ether oil a week. Really need Elysium for this? Poppi not think so. But Poppi appreciate Rex's enthusiasm!"

Morag shifted her feet, crossing her arms. "I...only recently joined up with Rex, really. And my duty is to keep track of the Aegis on behalf of the Ardainian Empire. Elysium..." she glanced at Rex, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "It sounds like a very noble dream. I'm not sure of the feasibility of it."

Rex blushed, embarrassed, feeling like a bit of a fool, that nobody he was traveling with really thought his goal was worthwhile.

"I believe in it," Nia said quietly. She couldn't help but smile to herself at the appreciative grin Rex gave her.

Vandham's gaze turned towards her, and she became more anxious. To be honest, the big man intimidated her. Not for any real reason, it was just...he was so damn huge. Nia doubted she weighed even one third what the man did. And so thick with muscle, and grizzled...something about him just spoke of immediate violence, all the time, and it made Nia nervous. His gruff manner of speech didn't help. "You do, now? And why's that?"

Nia averted her gaze, looking down at the ground. "World is...going to hell, really. Only solutions most people seem to have are...more wars, more pain, more violence. Always getting something at the expense of someone else. Rex is..." she looked over to Rex, considering. "He's the first person I met who wanted to help everyone. Even if Elysium seems like some sort of fantastic dream right now...I want to believe in the beautiful things he does." Nia stopped, surprised at herself for saying that.

Vandham was quiet for a moment, studying them all. "Sounds good to me," he said, finally.

"What, really?" Rex said, surprised. "This is usually the part where people give me a sorry look, or tell me I'm stupid."

"Nah. Sounds like a great goal to me. I mean I won't lie, kid, I think it's a long shot. But what the hell, why not?" Vandham grinned at them, his eyes flashing. "So have you tried getting near the World Tree, then?"

"Uh yeah, that's sort of how we ended up here…." Rex began. Vandham listened attentively as Rex recounted their attempt to get to the World Tree, foiled by Ophion.

"So, you're a bit stuck," Vandham said, scratching his chin.

Malos laughed. "Well. I wasn't expecting to get there right away, you know. But yeah, for now, we're just trying to figure out what to do."

"Well," Vandham said, throwing his arms wide, "I'm not exactly sure how to help you get to Elysium just yet. But I know any venture like that takes a lot of capital. Why don't you lot stay with us for now? We could always use more hands on these missions, and the pay is good."

Rex slammed a fist into his palm. "That's right, pay. I almost forgot. We need to make some money to pay back Turuni."

"Turuni? Who?" Malos asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rex turned to him. "You know. The nopon back in Gormott." He folded his arms. "The one you threatened, yeah?"

"What?" Malos rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you were actually planning on paying him back."

"Uh, yes, of course," Rex replied. "Don't be ridiculous."

Malos groaned, then shrugged. "Well. Sounds like as good a plan as any for now."

Vandham rose from his seat. "Look. I got a mission to investigate some blockage up near the blowhole tomorrow. Why don't you all come with me? It's a nice relaxed first mission. Sightseeing trip, really. You should be paying me for it, honestly." He waved one of his massive arms over the village. "We'll meet here tomorrow morning. Till then, feel free to enjoy yourselves."

Vandham turned around and headed back to train his men.

Before she could walk away, Morag approached Nia. The Gormotti girl looked up at her curiously, eyebrows raised. "Aye? What is it?"

"Nia. I realized this morning...I never properly thanked you for the healing."

Nia waved her hand dissmissively. "Feh. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"It's not nothing," Morag said seriously. "It's not everyone who would go out of their way to heal up a former enemy. You have a lot of compassion."

Nia laughed, grinning with sharp teeth up at the older woman. "Oh yeah. Compassion. I'm just oozing it."

"I was wondering if there was something I could do to repay you."

"No, no, it's fine….wait, actually." Nia put her hands on her hips and squinted curiously up at Morag. "You're Ardainian."

Morag gave a small laugh. "So they say."

"You don't happen to have, ah….these little bear carvings, do you? I know they're popular in Mor Ardain..."

Morag raised an eyebrow, then reached into a pocket. She knew what Nia was talking about. A lot of soldiers carried them as good luck charms. Morag wasn't the superstitious sort herself, but she had gotten plenty as gifts from citizens, even men under her command. Little trinkets, really. Ardainian soldiers would pass them around and gift them as jokes.

Nia's eyes widened as she pulled out a few of the small bear carvings. "Oh. My gosh. These things are so damn cute. Lookit this one, he's wearing a little helmet!" She laughed delightedly, poking at the carvings. "Can...I have one?"

"Take them all," Morag shrugged. "I've got dozens."

Nia's eyes widened, and it was honestly charming to see the sheer joy on her face. She laughed as she took the bear carvings. One was of a soldier on its hind legs, dressed up as an Ardainian soldier, wearing a tall, conical helmet and carrying a rifle. Another was a bear looking suspicious as it dipped a paw into a pot of honey. The last one was a bear dressed up as a scavenger, one of Mor Ardain's major businesses. "Oh, thank you!" Nia exclaimed. "I always wanted to learn to carve these myself, but I never had the time. I..." suddenly, she seemed to become aware of how giddy she was acting. "Uh. Yeah. Thanks."

Morag made a mental note to herself to keep an eye out for more of the bear carvings for Nia, as the girl walked away with her prizes. They came in a variety of shapes and levels of skill, and it was always nice to find one that really suited somebody. She'd probably have to get to know the girl a bit better before she could figure out what kind of bear carving Nia would really like.

16.

"Hey, Vandham!" Rex called, lingering behind after everyone left. Well, not quite everyone. Malos was still leaning up against the cave wall, talking to what looked to be quite the awestruck mercenary. And Nia...she had taken up position near the training grounds. Rex looked curiously as she stacked what looked like little figurines on the top of a crate, then pulled out a hunk of wood and a dagger, and set to work carving it.

"Yeah?" The big man said, turning around from a couple of dueling mercenaries. "What is it, kid?"

"I was wondering...would you train me to use the sword?"

Vandham's eyes lit up. If there was one thing he liked, it was polishing an amateur into a disciplined warrior. "Absolutely," he said, cheerfully. "First things first, let me take a look at that sword you got there."

"Here you go!" Rex said cheerfully. "I made it myself!"

Vandham waved the junk sword Rex gave him around dubiously. The blade rattled in its hilt.

"Ah yeah, it gets loose sometimes. I just gotta tighten-"

"Look, Rex." Vandham stuck the sword in the ground. "Why don't you just use your blade's weapon? That's how it normally works." He looked up at Malos. "Hey, Malos, why are you making this poor kid use this piece of crap? Why doesn't he use your weapon?"

"H-hey," Rex said, abashed.

Malos glanced up from his conversation with the mercenary. "Hey, he uses it sometimes. But if you think I'm just going to let him use my sword all the time, you're nuts."

"Aegis rules, huh?" Vandham replied, sighing.

"Aegis rules." Malos gave him an apologetic shrug, then went back to talking to the mercenary.

"Right." Vandham cast his eyes around, finally settling on a nearby weapon rack. "First things first. Let's get you a proper weapon. You like the sword?"

"Uh...yeah. But hey, I don't want to take anything from you-"

"Don't worry about it, kid. If there's anything this camp has a surplus of, it's weapons. Better you have it than for it to just lay on the rack collecting dust." Vandham walked over to the rack, scratching his chin thoughtfully, before removing a simple, practical claymore from it. He offered it to Rex. "Here. Take a few swings of this."

Rex took the weapon with a bit of reverence. He had never really had a weapon crafted for actual war, all his own, before. Just his...well, crappy junk sword. He took some swings with the weapon, his eyes widening. "Wow. This is way easier to swing than my sword. Even though it seems heavier overall."

Vandham rolled his eyes. "Yeah. That's called weighting." He looked around. "Hey Roc! Why don't you get over here and duel Rex. Wanna get an idea of what we're working with."

The bird-blade leapt down from a nearby ledge where he had been lounging, landing with a burst of wind that nearly toppled Rex in itself. "Duel the shrimp? If you say so, Vandham." His scythes appeared in his talon-like hands.

"Whoa! You can talk?" Rex exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it's just a party trick," Vandham growled.

"Party trick! Party trick!" Roc said.

"Oh. Uh...really?" Rex scratched his head.

Roc shook his feathers merrily as Vandham laughed. "Nah kid. I'm messing with you. I can talk. Let's duel."

Vandham watched carefully as Rex engaged the blade, observing his form as Roc nimbly dodged all his attacks, or casually parried those he didn't dodge. He held up a hand to stop them after a few moments. "Your footwork isn't bad. But you commit too much to every swing. Big weapon like that, you don't want to take a big swing unless you really know it's gonna land. It leaves you exposed. Most of the time, you want to just prod and let the weapon do most of the work. It's heavy, it'll cut deep even if you don't put all your strength behind it. Here, let me show you..."

Vandham and Rex ended up training most of the day. The boy was a quick learner, humble, willing to admit when he didn't know anything, which was good – really, that was half the battle of training right there, in Vandham's experience. And he had an inexhaustible store of energy. Even when he was soaking in sweat so much that he pulled his shirt off, he wanted to keep going even when Vandham paused to catch his breath. By the time the sun had begun to set, Vandham had made more progress in teaching him some of the basics than he made with most men in a week.

"Alright, alright, kid," Vandham said, wiping sweat from his brow, as another duel ended. "That's enough from me for today. Don't wanna kill yourself."

"Really?" Rex looked somewhat disappointed. "Alright. But we can keep doing this, right?"

Vandham barked a laugh. "Sure. Wish all my recruits were as enthusiastic as you after their first day."

"Hey, Rex." Malos' voice rang out across the training ground. The other mercenary men had left a while ago. It was now just Vandham, Rex, Roc and Malos on the training grounds. And, Rex noted, Nia, sitting cross-legged on top of one of the nearby crates, watching them with an inscrutable expression on her face, eyes gleaming. "If you still want to train, I think it's about time we practiced."

"Sure!"

Vandham gave the two of them a concerned look. "Don't go killing yourself," he said. "You got a mission tomorrow."

"Don't worry," Nia piped up, softly. Vandham glanced over at her. "I'll make sure he doesn't take it too far." Her tone was soft, but carried an undercurrent of threat.

Vandham stared at her for a moment, then nodded, walking off with Roc to dinner at the inn.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Rex said, picking up his sword, staring at Malos, the light dying around them. "Duel?"

"No." Malos sat cross-legged in the dirt, summoning his sword to his hand in a burst of dark flame. "Come here. Sit."

Rex sat across from Malos, crossing his legs as well, and stared up at the Aegis expectantly. When Malos offered him his sword, he took it, laying it across his legs.

"Close your eyes," Malos intoned. "And envision, a hole."

"A hole in what?" Rex said, furrowing his eyebrows, his eyes closed.

"Nothing but a hole. The very concept of a hole itself."

Rex shrugged, and did his best. In his mind's eye, he held a flat, black circle. As he concentrated, time seemed to slow down. The hole grew larger, larger, frighteningly large, consuming. Rex tried to open his eyes, but found his eyelids weighed down.

Malos' voice floated to him, as if from far away. "Don't panic. The best way to understand my power...is to realize this hole is everything. Everything you know, everything you love, everyone you love, all of reality has this fundamental hole of nothing in it. When you drill down...to the very bones, the very basics of reality...you realize it all spawns from nothing." And now, the hole in Rex's mind, humongous, all-encompassing, erupted with pitch black flames at its edges. "And that is what my power is. I just remind reality that it is fundamentally nothing."

"This...is awful," Rex whispered.

"This is truth. Open your eyes."

Rex opened his eyes. Malos, in front of him, was...changed. Malos was black flame. A pillar of it, drifting lazily upwards. And reality around them...seemed dimmed, different. It was grey, monotone...except wherever life was. The fungus growing on the walls glowed with gold light. Rex looked around, to where Nia was sitting. She was a barely distinguishable ball of golden glowing light in the shape of a girl. He looked down at himself. He was glowing with golden light, as well.

"As my driver," said the flame, and it barely sounded like Malos anymore, it sounded like a howling hunger, it sounded like emptiness, it sounded like the end of the world, "You need to realize that I am already there, in everything. Use me."

Rex raised his hand, and the dark flame appeared on it, running along the golden glow of his arm. Where it met the golden glow, the dark flame drained it, dimmed it. Rex watched, with mounting alarm, as the flame spread across his entire body. He could feel the pain beginning to pour in now. But it was a very tolerable level of pain, so far.

"That rock," said the flame, and a tendril reached out from it, pointing to a small boulder at the edge of the training grounds, maybe about as big as Rex's head. "Remind it that it does not exist."

Rex raised his hand, and he felt the dark flame pulse within him, felt it eating away at the golden glow. He saw himself dim slightly, felt a sudden shock of pain. The rock...suddenly wasn't. All that was left in its place was a small, dark flame.

"Inanimate objects are easy to remind. Life...is more difficult. Life fights back. Even simple life." The black flame pointed to a patch of grass. "The grass. Undo it."

Rex lifted his hand again, and this time he felt a much deeper stab of pain as he called upon the dark flame. And he could...feel, in its own, extremely primitive way, the grass, struggling against its unmaking, wanting to live, not just live, wanting to be…

And then it was gone.

"Using me," said the flame, "is an exercise in control. Reminding others, while forgetting yourself. And to use me effectively, you must know very, very well what the slightest drop of me feels like."

Rex looked watched himself as the dark flame on him grew, and the golden light of his...being, dimmed. The pain grew, slowly at first, and then ramping up quickly as his light dimmed, stabbing him, deep down in his core, until the pain was throbbing behind his eyes, and-

And then it was over. Rex sat gasping, pouring sweat. The training ground looked normal again, except that now it was much closer to night, the light taking on a rosy purple hue. Malos sat in front of him again, Malos the man, not Malos the pillar of dark flame. Rex looked around. The fungus was just normal fungus again. Nia was Nia, not the ball of golden light. She was on her feet, her hands clenched into fists. Malos reached out and put a hand on Rex's shoulder as he caught his breath. "Not a bad first time," Malos said.

"That really," Rex gasped, "Wasn't what I was expecting."

Malos laughed. "Addam said the exact same thing his first time, too. It won't always be like that. Sometimes we'll just duel. But sometimes we'll do our little...meditations. Sound good? You feel okay?"

Rex looked up at the blade, the pain fading away into a deep ache. It had exhausted him more than a day of training with Vandham had. Malos certainly seemed happy with him, though. "Sure thing," he grinned. "It wasn't so bad."

"Good man." Malos got to his feet, stretching. "I could use some dinner. You?"

As Rex followed the Aegis off the training ground, he was stopped by an insistent tug on his arm. He spun around to see Nia staring at him. She looked angry at first, like she wanted to yell at him, but her expression softened. "Are you alright?" she asked, softly.

"Yeah. He didn't push me too far. I mean, that's the point of this, right? To get me used to using his power."

"Hmm. I am glad to see you keeping your promise." Nia sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped." She reached out, putting her hands on his arm.

"You don't have to heal me. I can get used to going without it."

"Shhh," Nia said, closing her eyes, and Rex felt the ache in his muscles soothing, washing away. She stepped back, putting her hands on her hips. "I have to say, it was some weird training. You just sat there, and then all of a sudden you had that black fire all over you."

"Huh?" Rex crossed his arms. "You didn't hear what he said?"

"He didn't say anything. You just sat across from each other, and then that black flame was on you. Then you burnt up a rock and some grass, and then it burned on you for a while, and then it was over."

"But, he said-" Rex stopped, thinking back to what Malos had told him about his power. Maybe it was better if Nia didn't hear about that. "Ah, forget it."

"Hey. Check this out," Nia said, as they both began walking back to the inn. She handed him a small rough carving.

Rex stopped by a torch to examine it in the light. "Oh. Uh, what's this supposed to be? A fat snowman? With feathers?"

"What?" Nia snapped at him. "That's a bear. Obviously." She crossed her arms, looking away. "I thought I did a good job. Whatever."

Rex tilted the carving again. "Wait. From this angle, it looks more like a garbage can with saucers for ears."

"Oi! Give that back!"

"Or maybe...huh, now it looks like a Tirkin if he was throwing up."

"Shut up. I'll get better. Should have known you wouldn't appreciate art." She grabbed the carving away from him with a huff.

Rex laughed. "How about a bet? Looks like there's a big market here. I bet I can tag Vandham in a duel before you can carve a bear someone will buy."

"You cocky bastard. Fine. If I win, you owe me another seafood dinner. At a restaurant this time, not something you dredge up from the ocean."

"Right, sounds good. Loser buys the winner dinner." He stuck out his hand. "Let's shake on it."

They shook. "You are going down so bad," Rex laughed.

"I am gonna absolutely destroy you. Via the medium of bear carvings," Nia replied.

17.

The party gathered early the next morning by the training grounds, Vandham having set an early schedule for them. Tora was, again, the last to arrive, looking a bit bleary eyed, practically dragged there, in fact, by Poppi. "Ugh," the nopon said, standing next to everyone. "Tora not realize adventure mean getting up so early. Why we can't sleep in and leave around noonish?"

"The blowhole's a bit of a hike," Roc said, shaking out his wings. "We want to get out there and be back before nightfall, we have to leave early."

"Oh. Birdiepon can talk?" Tora asked in surprise.

"Why is it that everyone thinks I don't talk?" Roc said irritably.

"It's because you're a real bird-brain," Vandham said, as everyone groaned. "Eh?" He nudged his blade with one massive arm.

"Wow, Vandham. And here I was thinking, there's no way that joke would be funny the five hundredth time he's said it. But you've gone and proved me wrong." Roc shook his head.

Vandham glanced around at the party, and suddenly his eyes settled on Brighid. "Ah, damn," he muttered to himself. "We're going to need to get you in a disguise if we're gonna leave camp. Can't risk someone seeing the Jewel of Mor Ardain, even in the backwaters of Uraya."

Brighid sighed, resignedly. "Well. As long as it's not another maid outfit," she said, glaring at Tora.

"Nah, nothing like that. Come with me, I got just the thing."

A short time later, Vandham returned. At his side was Brighid, though she was barely recognizable. In place of her dress, she wore a bulky military vest, camo pants, and thick leather boots. Her hair was concealed beneath a mud-green helmet, and even her face was painted up in green and brown camoflage.

Morag raised an eyebrow at the sight of her blade. "I must say, Brighid. It suits you."

Brighid's face was stone. "At least it's not the maid outfit," she muttered. "I don't think the camo paint on my face was strictly necessary, though."

They took off from the village, led by Vandham into the extensive cave system that made up Uraya's interior. Their path was a somewhat strenuous one, having to do a lot of climbing to make their way up to Uraya's blow-hole. Many of the tunnels and caverns Vandham led them through had a steep incline. Nia, riding on Dromarch's back, had an easy time of it, but even she was astounded by the pace Vandham could set. The man hardly seemed to tire at all. Only Rex really seemed to have the boundless energy to keep up with him.

Along the way, Vandham pointed out various features of Uraya's wildlife to them. The caverns might be idyllic, but Uraya's fauna was as dangerous as ever. There were the gigantic, walking flowers, which Vandham said were called 'Walker traps', giant packs – herds really – of Volffs, and gigantic, horned, wild Arduns, covered in scales as thick as armor, the smallest of them easily twice the size of Vandham. On a few occasions, he herded them into bushes while the giant creatures passed by, their footsteps shaking the ground as they walked.

Brighid walked by Roc as they traveled up another long, winding tunnel. "I have to say, those are really some unusual weapons you have there."

Roc glanced upwards, towards Vandham, who was carrying the unwieldy looking scythes that the bird-blade controlled. "Hah. You're telling me. Vandham's the only guy I know who can use anything like them. Anyone else tends to cut themselves to ribbons."

"I can appreciate that," Brighid replied. She summoned one of her swords to her hand. "I also have an unusual pair of weapons. I am so fortunate to be bonded to Lady Morag, who can wield them with grace."

Roc eyed the weapon. "Looks like a normal sword, to me," he said.

"Ah. But watch." With a flick of the wrist, the sword broke apart, so that it became a long, bladed whip.

Roc's eyes lit up. "Now that is a weapon!" he whistled appreciatively. "I have to ask, how long did it take your driver to get used to that?"

"Well, it was difficult at first. But..."

As Brighid and Roc bonded over their appreciation for exotic weaponry, Vandham, at the head of the group, nudged Rex, who was trudging along beside him. "So, kid. What's it like, being the driver of the Aegis?"

Rex shook his head, ruefully. "To be honest with you, it's still all new to me, in a lot of ways. I just hope to be able to be a good driver someday."

Vandham scratched his chin. "Yeah. Doesn't help that the Aegis isn't at all like other blades." He looked back at Malos, who was bringing up the rear, lazily swinging his sword at the long grass they were walking through, keeping an eye out behind them for trouble.

"Yeah, Nia told me something like that. I mean, it's not like I have a point of reference, though. I never had a normal blade."

"A normal blade….it's a partnership, yeah? Me and Roc, we share weapons, and Roc can empower me through the ether bond we share – make me stronger, faster, tougher." Vandham glanced down at Rex. "And we both have each other's backs, yeah? The ether bond we share – I can get a sense of what Roc's feeling, through it. Makes us….in-tune."

Rex shook his head. "Man. I don't get that at all. I...don't feel anything like that through Malos' bond. I can't ever tell what he's thinking. Unless he tells me, of course."

"What do you feel? Through the bond?" Vandham asked curiously.

Rex was quiet for a moment. "Power," he said simply. "A...whole lot of it. Power that...gets magnified when it flows to me. Power that..." Rex shook his head.

"Power that what?"

"Power that burns him up," Nia said, riding up next to them on Dromarch. She gave Rex a frown.

Vandham nodded, glancing down at her. "D'you feel….like what you have with Malos is a partnership?"

"Sometimes," Rex said. He glanced behind him, as if to make sure Malos wasn't listening. "Sometimes, though….I just feel like I'm sort of along for the ride." He laughed, lightheartedly. "I guess that's probably to be expected when it's the Aegis though, yeah?" He glanced up in surprise as Vandham put giant hand on his shoulder.

"Rex. I know you're your own man. But you ever feel like things are getting...out of your control, with Malos, you let me know. Ain't no shame in it." Vandham's steely eyes were softened, somewhat, with concern. "S'all I'm gonna say."

Nia looked up at the big man in new light, appreciatively. Maybe the big oaf saw what she saw. And...well, he was another big, tough warrior for Rex to look up to. One that wasn't Malos. Maybe it was good having him around.

It was a little past noon when they finally arrived at the blowhole. Or, at least, as close to the blowhole they could get. The hole itself was still a good few hundred meters up. But they exited from a tunnel onto a large ledge, overlooking a gargantuan cavern. Looking down from the edge, Rex could see that it must have been miles long, and they were probably a couple thousand feet above the cavern proper. Humongous forests of trees with waving, purple leaves, beautiful, multicolored rock formations, and a lake of sky-blue water. Rex whistled. "Man, now that is a view. Hey, Nia, come check it out!"

"No thank you!"

Rex glanced back at her. The rest of the party was stopping to eat a quick lunch. "C'mon, it's a great view."

"I can see it just fine over here!" She laughed nervously from Dromarch's back. "Oh, yep, what a view."

"My lady is afraid of heights," Dromarch explained to Rex.

"Will you shut it," Nia snapped. "I'm not afraid." She hopped down from his back, and forced herself to march towards the edge. "See? I'm..." as the view over the edge became visible, and she realized just how high up they were, she began experiencing vertigo, her head spinning. She cursed inwardly at herself as she began shaking involuntarily. She didn't like heights, but she wasn't usually that bad around them, even very high places, but this drop was really something else. "Fine, I'm afraid," she admitted, backing away from the ledge.

"C'mere," Rex said, holding out his hand. "Gimme your hand."

"What?"

"I had the same thing when I first began salvaging," Rex said. "You go underneath the Cloud ocean, and all you see beneath you is a huge drop of nothing leading down into the dark. Used to scare me silly. Makes a lot of new divers panic, really. That's why they pair off new divers with someone experienced. Having someone to hold on to really calms the nerves."

Nia approached cautiously, taking Rex's hand. He led her gently towards the edge, stopping to let her adjust whenever he felt her tugging back. But soon enough, she was standing on the ledge, overlooking the cavern, and while she was still shaking slightly, she didn't feel overwhelmed by panic.

"Cor, it really is beautiful," she said.

"Told you so." Rex beamed at her.

Nia looked over at him, a small smile on her lips. That smile of his was infectious. In fact, it was a very pretty smile. And in fact, Rex himself was pretty cute. It wasn't the first time she had thought that, so it didn't surprise her, until she realized just how long she had been appreciating that fact, just staring at his face. "Ah," she said, suddenly looking away, her eyes widening. "Why don't we go have some lunch, yeah?"

It wasn't long after lunch, a march of perhaps an hour across the wide ledge, until they came across the source of the problem. Morag's eyes widened at the sight of a Titan's corpse. She was skeptical at first, but seeing the bits of metal still bolted into its hide confirmed her suspicion. "That's the Titan from my ship," she said with wonder. "The one I crashed coming into Uraya. I...have to say, I'm surprised it made it all the way up here, poor beast."

Rex crossed his arms. "Huh. If this thing made it all the way up here, maybe there's a way for Gramps to make it out of that cave too. Although Gramps is quite a bit bigger than this guy."

Suddenly, Poppi's head cocked to the side. She looked off into the distance, slightly adjusting her head, for her antennae to pick up vibrations. "Masterpon!" she said. "Poppis is picking up geo-vibrations in a semi-morphic octoganal recurring pattern. Geo-vibrations are of sufficient strength to indicate an estimated mass of-"

"Eh? What Poppi saying?" Tora shook his head with annoyance. "Remember what your masterpon tell you. Keep it simple."

Poppi considered for a few moments. "Something really big with eight legs is headed this way," she declared.

Suddenly, from around the corner of the ledge came a hissing, chittering, skittering sound. Dashing around the corner, with frightening speed, came a nightmare on eight legs. It wasn't fair to call it a spider. Spiders weren't so jagged, didn't have legs covered in thick, chitinous armor, didn't have red streaks down their back that positively glowed with poison. Spiders also didn't tower twice as tall as Vandham. The party drew their weapons as it came into view.

"Ah, damn, an Arachno," muttered Vandham. "Biggest I ever saw, too. And would you look at that..."

Coming into view, marching next to the spider, was a blade. A monstrous one, huge and muscular, with a mouth full of sharp teeth and two horns that trailed back from its head like antennae, completely coated in sleek black chitin, looking very buglike itself.

"Right!" shouted Vandham, crouching into a battle stance. "Name of the game is, don't let it bite you!"

The Arachno gave a hissing roar as it charged them, moving like a blur. Vandham and Roc dodged around it's stomping legs to tackle its blade. Malos, along with Morag and Brighid, ducked among its legs, slashing swords that trailed black and blue flames respectively. Rex rolled beneath it and plunged his claymore into its abdomen, rolling out of the way of the smoking ichor that leaked from the wound. Nia, still on Dromarch's back, was taken for the ride as he leaped out of the way of the charge.

But the Arachno was ignoring all them, charging straight for Tora, apparently deciding he looked like the tastiest morsel of the group. As it descended upon him, opening its massive maw, Poppi leaped in the way, and was taken up in its jaws instead.

"NOOOO!" Yelled Vandham, breaking off from his duel with the spider's blade. "It's deadly poison, I told it not to let it bite you – oh wait, right, she's a robot."

The Arachno hissed in pain and frustration as its poisonous jaws clamped down on Poppi's chassis, only to snap and break on the hard metal. "This is the price for trying to eat Masterpon!" Poppi cried, reeling back and delivering a massive punch to the beast's eight blinking eyes. The Arachno shrieked and dropped its thoroughly disagreeable prey as two of its eyes burst from the impact.

"Poppi!" Tora cried, bouncing over to her. "Is Poppi….alright?"

"No, Masterpon." Poppi coughed weakly. "Poppi is….dying."

"What?! Poppi, no!" Tora cried. "Surely, Tora can fix whatever is wrong...Poppi!"

"Ha ha!" Poppi poked Tora where the nopon's nose would be, if nopon had noses. "Poppi is fine. This is funny trick. This how jokes work, yes?"

Tora growled under his breath, and looked across the battlefield at where Malos was dancing among the Arachno's legs, slashing left and right. "Tora blame Aegis for this," he muttered.

Meanwhile, the Arachno was apparently coming to the conclusion that its newfound blade was actually not enough for it to take out this group. It spun around, splattering smoking ichor from a dozen wounds everywhere, looking for an easy escape. Its blade, stuck in a duel with Vandham and Roc, roared in frustration, seeing the pain its driver was in, and charged past them towards its master, only to be viciously mauled by Dromarch. As her blade sank its fangs into the Arachno's blade, Nia grabbed the spear it was carrying and gave it a heave, tossing it over the edge of the cliff.

The Arachno itself found its path cut off, driven back further and further towards the edge of the cliff by the slashing, prodding blades of Rex, Malos, Morag and Vandham. As it neared the edge of the cliff, Vandham gave a clever grin, and aimed his wrist winch at its legs. With a whirring hiss, his cable wrapped around its legs, whipping two of them out from underneath it, and the Arachno, with a startled chatter, slipped, and stumbled, and…

The Arachno's blade roared with despair as the giant Arachno went tumbling over the edge of the cliff, disappearing with a thin squeal off the dizzying edge. It looked up at the group with hatred in its eyes, but then seemed to think better of it, and sat back, resigned to its fate, waiting for the inevitable end. A few moments later, the distant sound of the Arachno splattering on the rocks below echoed through the cave, and the blade closed its eyes as, with a flash of light, it disappeared back into its core crystal.

Rex grinned, wiping sweat from his brow. He felt accomplished – like he had just gotten through his first major battle without needing to rely on Malos' power. "Man, I didn't even know monsters could resonate with blades," he said.

"It's rare, but it does happen." Vandham bent down to pick up the monstrous core crystal, holding it up to the light. "It must have come across this Titan shortly after it died. Core crystals spawn from dead Titans, see."

"You're gonna have to show me how to do that thing with your anchor shot." Rex held up his wrist, pointing to his. "I only know how to use this thing to salvage. And fish, I guess."

"Oh yeah, because it was so good for that," Nia said sarcastically.

"Should take this one a while to recharge," Vandham said to himself quietly, looking at the grey, lifeless color of the core crystal. He turned around, tossing it to Rex, but Malos appeared suddenly, intercepting the crystal.

He stared at it with an inscrutable, unreadable expression, nothing but his typical smirk playing across his features. After a few moments, he shrugged, tossing it to Rex. He looked around at the party, everyone spattered with at least some of the Arachno's ichor. Except for him. He had managed to avoid it entirely, somehow. "Man, you guys look gross," he said. "Think it's time to head back and hit the showers."

18.

The march back to the village was significantly easier than the march up to the blowhole had been, being mostly downhill. Still, after stopping for dinner along the way, it was nearing nightfall as they made their way back.

They were fairly close to Garfont village when they entered a large cave, where most of it was concealed by the shadows of nightfall. Roc was the first to notice that something was wrong. "Boss," he called out in alarm. "Something's up. I can't feel our ether bond-"

Nia was riding on Dromarch's back next to Rex, teasing him about the meal he was going to owe her once she won their bet. "Oh, I'm gonna order enough to feed me for a week, definitely," she was musing, when suddenly, there came a muted ssssssssthunk sound, and suddenly Rex was staring down at a black-plumed arrow protruding from his stomach. Nia stared at this in shock, and then with a strangled cry tackled Rex to the ground as more arrows went whizzing through the air where he had stood only moments ago.

"Hmmph," came a hateful voice, echoing from the shadows of the cave, that Nia recognized. If there had been anyone in Torna that she had hated, it was him. Akhos. "My aim's a little rusty. That was meant for his head."

Nia tried to reach through the ether to use her healing, only to find her connection blocked. "No, no no no," she whispered, as Rex gasped for breath, blood pooling beneath him.

"Don't worry," Rex managed to force out. "At least it isn't a sword through my chest this time, huh? It's not too bad."

"You are such a bad liar," Nia replied. But at least he was keeping some semblance of good cheer. That did mean he had some time.

The rest of the party had exploded into action, taking up defensive stances in a circle around Rex. But they quickly discovered that they were cut off from the abilities of their blades.

"That'll be Obrona," Akhos called out to them from the darkness, as his blade tittered to them from some hidden location as well, her laugh grating on Nia's ears. "My blade's got the power to cut you off from the ether. So sorry, Nia," he called out, mockingly, "You won't be healing the boy this time." And then his voice turned flat, deadly. "Or yourself." And another arrow hissed out of the darkness, this time just barely missing Nia's head, carving a small furrow in her cheek, drawing blood.

She slapped a hand to the stinging wound on her cheek in shock. Her hand shook as she pulled it away, seeing the blood on her glove. "What….what are you doing?" she said, her voice unsteady.

"What, did you think Jin was willing to forgive?" Akhos called out, his voice seemingly coming from a different position in the cave now. "He told me to kill you if necessary. And, I have to say, boy oh boy, Nia, I think it's really, really necessary." Dromarch roared as he leaped in front of Nia, shielding her from three more arrows that would have struck her in the stomach, head and heart.

Nia felt her heart freeze at that. Jin...wanted her dead? Really? Just completely...dead?

Of course he would, the voice inside her said. You betrayed him, after all he had done for you. You ran out on the only group of broken people that could accept you for what you really are. The awful thing you are.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Vandham snarled, peering into the darkness. "What kind of sicko goes straight for the two kids in a group?"

"Not...a kid," Rex struggled to get out.

"Not the time, Rex," Vandham snapped.

"He's….Akhos," said Nia quietly. "A member of Torna."

Vandham became completely still. "Torna?" he asked, his voice thick with rage. "I've tussled with Torna before. They've killed way too many of my men. Good men."

Malos, in the meantime, whispered quietly to Poppi. She nodded, scanning the cave, and then pointed discretely in one direction towards the darkness. With one smooth, quick motion, Malos held out a clawed gauntlet, and snakes of black flame shot from them, twisting, hissing through the air, seeking out into the darkness. He was rewarded with a shrill scream of pain. "Dumbass," he called out, laughing. "Not everyone here has to rely entirely upon ether."

"That right. Poppi equipped with state of the art night-vision and heat-vision powered entirely by internal ether furnace. No need for ether bond with masterpon or atmospheric connection to ether field required!" Poppi piped up, happily.

Malos looked down at her. "Okay. Poppi. You probably shouldn't be telling the enemy what your advantage is. Oh, screw it, not like he can do much about it anyway. Point him out, girl." Poppi happily held an arm out, moving slowly, tracking some point in the darkness, and Malos held forth a claw, spewing black flame into the cave into the darkness where he was pointing.

"Okay, spooky blade, please stop now. Target is hiding behind rocks," Poppi said, lowering her arm.

"It doesn't matter," came Akhos' voice, sounding somewhat ragged. "All I have to do is keep you trapped here and watch him die. Without ether, none of you can heal him in time."

Nia, still somewhat in shock from learning Jin wanted her dead, looked down at Rex. He was holding up, but still losing blood quickly, and becoming paler by the moment. Akhos was right. "You have to find his blade," she called out. "She's blocking the ether flow."

Malos lowered his arm, tsking. Then he paused, considering. "Wait. Poppi. Can't you also use your eyes like lanterns?"

"Oh. Yes. Is this what spooky blade wants?" Poppi's eyes, with a loud click, flashed on, immediately illuminating the portion of the cave she was looking at. They got a momentary glimpse of Akhos' pale face before it darted behind a rock. It also revealed the red particles drifting in the air, product of Obrona's field.

Vandham saw the particles, and snapped his fingers. "Right. Roc, let's have a blast of wind here."

"You got it." The bird blade flapped his powerful wings, and everyone braced themselves as a windstorm surrounded them. But most importantly, it pushed back the red particles in the air, at least enough to make an ether connection.

"NIA!" Vandham roared, against the howling wind. "CAN YOU HEAL HIM NOW?"

Nia shielded her eyes against the debris being kicked up from the wind, and reached out into the ether. Her connection wasn't as strong as it usually was, but it was more than enough to help Rex. She leaned forward, her mouth next to Rex's ear. "Sorry, this is gonna hurt," she cried. And then with a swift yank, she plucked the arrow from his stomach, and immediately put her hands over the gushing wound, pouring her healing into it. Flesh knitted beneath her hands, and it wasn't long before Rex was able to stagger to his feet.

Morag whispered in Brighid's ear, while they were still able to draw upon the ether, and the blade nodded. And suddenly, the cave was blazing with blue flame, lit up entirely with eerie, dancing blue light, the flame spreading through quickly through the grass that filled the cave, setting a tree ablaze. The light of the flame revealed an odd-looking blade, a woman wearing sleek gold and silver metallic armor, with six metallic wings extending from her back, concentrating, red light pulsing from her.

"I guess you want to do this the hard way," came Akhos' voice suddenly, and he leaped out from the shadows like a flash, a sword in each hand. He was quick, flicking in among them to stab, then dancing back into the flickering shadows of the cave. Nia caught only a couple of glimpses of his cold blue eyes. He seemed most intent on trying to sneak past the group's defenses to stab at Rex.

But fast as he might be, he wasn't fast enough to evade the entire group's counter-attacks forever. Eventually, he dashed in for an attack, only for Vandham to anticipate his move and catch his wrist in an iron, vice-like grip. Akhos turned around, raising his sword to stab at the man, only to catch a punch from him that felt like taking a sack of bricks to the face.

Vandham lifted him bodily off the ground, smiling. "Oh, you little shit. Torna's killed way too many of my men. I've been wanting to get my hands on one of you bastards for years. I'm going to enjoy this." With a mighty heave, Vandham dashed him against the nearby cave wall. Akhos gasped as the air was driven from his lungs and he slid down the cold stone.

"AKHOS!" Obrona cried, finally dropping her ether suppression field. She dashed forward, as quick as he was, if not quicker, and grabbed her driver, dragging him away from the group.

"Hmmph," Akhos said, struggling to his feet. "Perhaps it is time for a...tactical retreat." He glanced up at the group, his eyes settling on Nia. "You know you don't belong with them, Nia," he called. "And now that you're a traitor, you don't belong anywhere. Bad things happen to little kittens who make enemies of everybody."

"I...don't believe you, you know," Nia snapped back at him. "I don't think Jin wants me dead."

Akhos rolled his eyes. "Why wouldn't he? Do you think he'd still care for you, after you stabbed him in the back?"

"Ah, technically, I am pretty sure it was him stabbing me in the back," Rex interjected.

Akhos ignored him. He snicked quietly, as he melted into the shadows alongside his blade. "What a completely delusional world you must live in, Nia," he laughed. "To think Jin wants anything less than your head on a platter."

19.

Nia had left the group the moment they arrived back in the village, quietly fading into the darkness with Dromarch by her side.

Her head was spinning, her heart pounding in her chest, as she wandered away from the lights of the village.

Akhos was...completely right. What a delusional idiot she had been. In her secret heart, she had harbored hopes, however foolish they might be, that she might get to talk to Jin and Pyra again...explain to them why she had done what she did. That...they might understand. In her secret, most foolish heart, there had lived a fantasy of Jin, Pyra and Rex all coming to an understanding with each other...all of them somehow being her friend.

She had always known this was a foolish, forlorn hope. But she had hoped for at least some manner of compromise, something. But...for Jin to actually want her dead…? The kind-hearted man who had rescued her...who had whispered comforts to her as he whisked her away from Indol...given her a place to belong, after so long running…

She couldn't help it. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to laugh, and say she didn't give a damn. But her heart was breaking.

Dromarch was saying something by her side, but she couldn't hear him. All she could hear was the nagging voice inside her telling her she was hopeless. All she could see were Jin's eyes, that had once looked at her with such kindness, kindness she hadn't seen in such a long time, that would never look at her with such kindness again. Her head in a fog, only dimly aware of the world around her.

As if from a great distance, she heard someone calling her name, foggily became aware of someone tugging at her arm. She slowly snapped back to the real world, out of her head, to see, to her surprise, Morag, grabbing her arm, staring at her in the darkness. Brighid was nearby, lighting her path with a blue flame, changed out of her camoflage and military disguise and back into her blue dress. In the distance, the lights of the village twinkled.

"Morag?" Nia said, her thoughts still confused.

"Nia," Morag said, very softly, gently. "Are you all right?"

"I...what're you doing out here?"

"You snuck off from the group as soon as we came back. We….thought you might want some time alone, with what Akhos had said to you. But you never came back to the room, so...Brighid and I went looking for you."

Nia barely heard her. Her thoughts were still muddled. She rubbed her eyes, glancing around. "What am I doing out here?" she muttered. "What...have I been doing?"

"The poor girl," Brighid whispered. "We shouldn't have left her alone."

"Hey," Nia snapped suddenly. "I can take care of myself."

"Well! That seemed to bring her back a bit," Morag said, laughing. She tugged at Nia's arm, gently, but insistently. "Come on, Nia. I think what you need most right now is some sleep."

The older woman led her back to the village. Whatever hour it was, it was late enough so that not even the sounds of partying mercenaries could be heard. Nia's eyes widened as they drew close to the inn, and they saw Rex pacing the streets, holding a torch. His eyes lit up when he saw her. "Oh, you found her," he said to Morag and Brighid. "Nia, are you...was she alright?"

Morag paused, and Nia leaped in. "I'm fine, of course I was fine! You lot worry too much. I was just taking a stroll. I'm a bit of a night owl. It's fine, it's fine."

Morag looked down at the girl, as if deciding. Then she looked up at Rex. "It's true. She was fine when we found her. Seems we were worrying over nothing."

"Oh, that's good." Rex laughed, scratching the back of his head. "I feel like a bit of an idiot. Alright. Goodnight, you three."

Morag and Brighid led Nia back to the girl's room, gently sitting her down in her bed. "Nia," Morag said, quietly, as the girl laid back on her bed and placed a pillow over her face to drown out the outside world, "I know….I may not seem like the most approachable. But if you ever feel like you have something you need to get off your chest, something you don't want to discuss with other people...well, I'm very good at keeping secrets."

Nia removed the pillow from her face, and was about to tell her off, when she was struck by the sudden, overwhelming urge to tell the older woman everything. Everything. But she couldn't. As much as she wanted to pour her heart out, her time spent running had taught her too much caution, taught her that betrayal could lurk behind a friendly face. So instead, she laughed away the concern. "There's nothing to tell," she assured them. "Don't worry, I'm fine, really."

And then she threw the pillow over her face again, and finally fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next day when she woke, her head had cleared quite a bit. She was, at least, able to push her sorrow and sadness down, able to think with a clear head. As she exited the inn, she looked over to the training grounds. Vandham was there, watching over a group of training mercenaries. Rex, too. Good. Having him there...would help. Would make this easier.

Vandham glanced at her as she approached, raising an eyebrow. Hell, he was intimidating, Nia thought. His ferocious gaze, the scars, his sheer size. "Oh. Morning, Nia. You doing alright?"

Nia glared up at him. "I have something to tell you," she said quietly. She caught Rex's eye as she did so, and as she hoped, he walked over to be by her side.

Vandham crossed his arms. "Okay. What is it?" In her mind, his gaze was steel, fire, it was rage and fury, it was the promise of swift and sudden violence.

Nia found herself shaking slightly beneath that gaze. She tried breathing slower. She felt Rex's hand brush against hers, summoned her courage, and said, "Thing is, I used to be in Torna. With Akhos."

Vandham stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. "Well uh, yeah, I figured that," he said. "With the way he was talking to you and all."

Nia stared up at him. "You...don't care?"

Vandham stared down at his hands, rubbing thumb and forefinger together. "Well. You aren't with them now, right? Everyone has a reason for the groups they travel with, yeah? Sometimes...you fall in with a bad lot. Because not everyone is all bad, through and through, right? So maybe, sometimes, you like bad people, for the right reasons. Because you see the goodness in them." Vandham glanced up, that heavy gaze falling upon her again. Only now, the gaze seemed less harsh, less unforgiving, less dangerous. More….understanding. "You're with these guys now. And I can tell they're a good lot. And...I can tell you fit right in."

"But..."

"Past don't matter. What you do with the present does." Vandham turned away from her, back to the training mercenaries. "Oi! Richter! Don't pretend you already did fifty pushups!" He stalked off to yell at his men.

Nia stood still, not sure how to take this. She had half thought Vandham would want to kill her. "Maybe I really am an idiot," she said to herself, wonderingly. Why had she been so convinced he would care?

"Hey...Nia?" Rex said by her side. "You doing alright?"

"Hm?"

"Well. You know." Rex rubbed the back of his head. "With that Akhos guy...saying Jin wanted to kill you and all...I was worried you might be..."

Nia summoned her strength, and let out a carefree laugh. "Oh, Rex. I don't give a damn about that," she lied.

Note

Hey, managed to put out a double update this week, chapter 3 is turning out to be pretty damn long, and we're still not really close to the end. If you read this, I enjoy comments, they really motivate me, and this is a really ambitious undertaking, the longest thing I've written already, so hearing from people really helps