A Frail Immortality
Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I claiming to own any part of the Xeno- franchise.
Intro from the Author: Hi there, this idea has been buzzing out in my mind since I played Torna. I love the romance and tragedy that Jin alludes to in Temperantia, when he explains what it feels like to be immortal but to have no control over his own condition and feelings. I thought it would be a fun challenge to make a story that expounds upon that and make it central to my absolute favorite Blade, Aegaeon. I'm always a bit rocky with first chapters, but here it is regardless. As it goes with most of my writing, this story is going to focus on a ton of characters and expand a bit on individual scenarios where that "Blade fate" applies and makes an impact. There's nothing I love quite like a good bout of suffering. Here we go!
"Azami was certain?"
From atop the highest outcropping of the Eight-Skip Ditch, two figures eyed their prey.
"She promised me such. From another titan away, she said she saw it happen." The taller of the two, a woman dressed in tight black and brown garb, knelt closer and watched as the duo passing below them took the time to skip from one rock to the next. Her face scrunched in confusion for just a moment, but her hood obscured this flicker of doubt from her Blade. Or so she thought.
"You're hesitant, Luci…" the young man taunted, placing his hands on his hips.
"That's just a young boy. He couldn't have… I mean, perhaps he could…"
"That's not any ordinary boy. There's something off about that blonde woman. The amount of ether she gives off is making my heart race."
"That's just from anticipation. You'll get used to it the more we battle. Are you ready, Floren?" She got to her feet and readied her ether rifle, eyes scanning the northern walls of the Urayan titan's stomach for Azami, her other partner. The fluttering petals of the Saffronia blizzard obscured her view, but she could feel a powerful shot loaded in the weapon. She raised it carefully, trying to adjust her eyes back to the pair moving through the shallow pools.
Her Blade's large, lavender eyes narrowed as he gave a singular nod and placed his palms out towards his Driver, channeling ether through the very earth beneath his feet to steady her aim. He had to focus with all of his might to concentrate the raw energy that poured out from the Urayan titan. Compared to the dying Ardainian titan, this one was like a faucet of energy blasting from below that he had to try to tame before he could harness it. As a matter of fact, it was so rife with ether that it felt as if the titan itself were trembling…
'No, wait…' Floren gave pause as he realized that the earth was, indeed, trembling. The nearby pools, so still only seconds ago, rippled as vestiges of bright light began to sparkle around the two of them. "Something's wrong. Lucille!"
Just as her finger pulled the trigger, a bolt of white pounded their perch, missing them by mere inches. The ether bullet shot upwards, nowhere near its target, but close enough that the boy that was meant to take the bullet whipped around. It seemed his companion had already sensed the threat long before he did. With a flick of her wrist, the blonde dropped down yet another nuclear blast, this time splitting the earth into bits. A great rumble erupted from the smashing rocks as the ground gave way and the pair found themselves slowly tumbling against gravity towards the rocky skip below.
With the ground slipping away, the woman dropped her rifle and reached for Floren, snatching him close to her chest as they tumbled backwards.
"Idiot! If you die we-…!" His protest was interrupted as the two of them were pelted with falling pebbles that felt like boulders. The impact into the slippery pools hurt far less than the small rockslide that followed. Floren immediately found his footing and helped his Driver out of the shallow water.
"What the hell is goin' on!?" Their target squawked. The blonde who had noticed them long before ignored his outburst, instead placing her hands on her wide hips.
"Before I exterminate you, you should know that you made a big mistake!" She barked to the recovering duo.
Floren turned to face the woman, trying to ignore the fact that his entire body was trembling. Was it fear? No. It was awe. She was no ordinary creature, that was for sure. Even so he gave a confident smirk as he felt Azami's gloomy presence move closer, obscured by the chaos. 'At least her creepy ass-self is good for something…' he thought.
"You're a fool if you think you have the advantage here, lady," he taunted, feeling his Driver's presence ebb and flow as she tried to pull herself upright.
"Excuse me?!" Her golden eyes narrowed in anger. "You know what? I was going to give you a moment to explain yourself, but that's it. You're done!" She reached her palm out in anticipation for her partner to toss the massive sword that he carried. Instead of a weapon, he offered her a scream of terror.
"Mythraaa!" The lad let out a panicked shout as black tendrils crept up his legs and bound his feet to the ground. He tried to toss the weapon but snakelike fingers paralyzed him in place, threatening to creep up to his neck.
"Rex…?" She whipped to face him but hesitated. Feeling her own shadow shift below her, the blond leapt high upwards just as two more shadow limbs crawled up from the earth right where she had been standing. With the flick of her hand, they were bathed in light and shriveled away into nothingness. She retained her footing quickly and launched another pillar into the darkness. Though it seemed like a misfire, Azami's sudden shrieks of pain proved that it was very much an intentional and well-aimed shot. The Blade lurking in the shadows collapsed before she could even reveal herself.
"this is bad…" Floren took a singular step back, letting out a squeak as he bumped into his Driver. He hadn't even realized that she was up and on her feet. The rifle was trained on Mythra. "Lucille, wait!"
"This is for the Emperor! You can kill me, but know that one thousand more soldiers will honor his name and rise ag-…"
"Shut up!" Mythra cut Lucille's battle cry short. She gave a singular wave of her hand and the flood of ether erupting from her form jammed the rifle, shattering it into shrapnel. Lucille stumbled backwards, covering her face as flying bits pelted her.
Floren looked back at her in a panic and then back to Mythra, who sauntered towards him with her sword in tow. Thinking as quickly as he could, he brought forth a barrier and began to focus on converting the energy from below into healing energy in the hopes that defense could at least sustain his Driver's life through the next attack.
"Wait! Mythra! What was she going to say?!" Rex called, halting Mythra in her place.
"Like I care. These fools just tried to assassinate us, Rex!"
"I think they know full and well that we have the advantage," Rex responded, and for once, Mythra didn't have a quick and valid argument. "I saw stars on her lapel. She's certainly of the Ardanian army, correct?"
Mythra couldn't believe what she was hearing. Rex certainly had a knack for seeing what he wanted to see and ignoring the obvious. "Well, how observant of you. Perhaps you could pay a little more attention during battle to the things that really matter!"
Rex ignored her comment and turned his gaze to the Driver and Blade. In the lull where he and Mythra had been bickering, Floren had taken to his master's side to heal the jagged cuts that now laced her face. Blood dripped from shallow nicks on her forehead, and Rex found himself staring at hate-filled blue eyes from amidst the mask of maroon blood that she wore.
"Why don't you explain to me what you want!?" Rex demanded. He took a step closer but didn't dare lower his guard.
"I intend to strike you down just as you did to the Emperor!" The woman failed to rise up onto her feet and ended up tumbling back onto her rear. She pulled a short sword from the sheath at her hip and held it towards Rex. There was the slightest twinge of doubt; she was raising her weapon to a bright-eyed boy who couldn't even yet be a man. But at the same time, Emperor Niall, too, had the face of a child with the responsibilities of an adult.
"Stop moving right now!" Floren protested.
"Strike me down like I did to the Emperor? You mean, like, Niall? Emperor Niall?" Rex exchanged a look with Mythra, who only shrugged and folded her arms. "You heard from somewhere that we killed Niall? That's not the case at all!"
"That's a lie…" Azami stumbled out from the shadows, her breathing ragged. Her porcelain-like chest plate was badly cracked and the pulsing orb at her center seemed to flicker from within its cage. Even still, she had quickly recovered despite being hit with sheer light energy.
"Who are you?" Rex asked, looking from the assassin and her little floral blade to Azami and back again. He readied his sword this time as she laughed.
"I saw the whole thing, you sweet boy. Yourself and the emperor on that ship in Indol! Brave little Niall falling to the ground and the sapphire of the Empire returning to his core. I could smell his cologne aaaaaallll the way from Temperantia. That's how I followed you, after all!"
Rex could only shake his head in confusion, feeling the hair on the back of his neck raise as Azami seemed to stare into him. "What the bloody hell are you on about? Niall is just fine, and we certainly aren't the ones who tried to hurt him!"
Floren finally stood up, hands clenched at his sides as he glared hatefully at Azami. "You were wrong. I knew you couldn't be trusted! Look what you've put our Driver through all because you-…you-!"
"I have never been wrong, little sprout. Mind your tongue unless you'd like me to pluck it out of your skull like a weed," the doll cooed back.
The assassin had finally righted herself, though she seemed worse for wear. Both of her Blades had begun to spitefully bicker back and forth. She locked eyes with Mythra, who only smirked.
"Some Blades you have there, huh? Leading you on a chase like that. And now they're leaving you totally defenseless."
Rex quickly spoke up. "The Emperor is just fine, and we can prove it to you. Why don't you come back to Garfront with us? It's not far from here and you can talk to his sister yourself! I think there's been some big misunderstanding here."
Before she could speak, Floren quickly chimed in. "Morag? Why would the Special Inquisitor be with the likes of you in some grubby merc village?"
Mythra let out a scoff. "I don't know if you're just stupid or haven't been paying attention to the world around you. My bet is on stupid."
"You wouldn't say that if you knew who you were talking to!" Floren snapped.
Mythra raised an eyebrow, coughing to keep from laughing out loud. "Gee, isn't that ironic. I could say the same. What is it that you're doing for the greater good, exactly?"
Floren sounded delighted to haughtily introduce himself. "Lucille and I are the head of the Research and Development branch of the Ardanian Empire! You're talking to someone who has worked shoulder to shoulder with the Emperor himself to preserve the longevity of the Titan, and-…"
"Floren." Lucille quietly warned, shaking her head. He fell silent and stared up at her with worry lacing his cherubic features. "…It doesn't matter what we used to do. Six months of research in Temperantia were lost during that nonsense that went down with Indol at its center. I received word via letter that the Emperor had fallen, and I felt that Aegaeon was… or rather, I knew…" her words faltered on her lips as she rose a hand to her head, her bloodied face losing what color had remained.
Azami giggled as Lucille stumbled onto Floren, who struggled to hold her upright. "Pain makes a woman more beautiful. Don't you agree, Aegis?" Her melodious tone seemed to be dripping with glee.
"Let's just get that idiot to Morag so she can straighten all of this out."
"Really? You're suggesting we help?" Rex seemed genuinely surprised. Mythra dodged his look of shock and shifted her hand back to her hip.
"I think we're obligated to. The Ardanian military and their pride would be wounded if we didn't. Right?"
"Er… right…" He wanted to comment that he felt Mythra was showing a moment of compassion and that had only been an excuse. He knew better than to vocalize this. "To Garfront, then."