This is a complete story for Nia fans by a Nia fan. By proceeding, it is assumed that you've finished Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and are aware of Nia's history. It is told from the first-person perspective of an original character, a young mercenary named Remi, whose gender and overall appearance aren't specified, like an avatar. Romance is a theme here, so that would make the OC either hetero-male or homo-female. Hopefully you can put yourself in this character's shoes. Or you can pretend it's an alternate Rex. Go with whatever helps you enjoy it the most!
Most characters are original to this story, but I've included some of the rare Blades as well, like Perun and Brighid. The main setting is also original, the Titan of Prudentia, which I can best describe as being like Gormott but without the giant trees.
As a fair warning, the aforementioned romance will bear two drops of lemon. The first two chapters lay the grounds for Nia's arrival to this time period set between Torna and the main game. If you want to cut straight to Nia's presence, you can skip ahead to chapter 3. We'll begin in the year 3962, roughly 100 years before the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The OC's thoughts will be written in (parentheses). Thank you so much for reading!
Chapter 1 "Family Treasure"
~ SOLLERTA, major town on the Titan Prudentia and home of the Solly Mercs ~ [in the year 3962]
"Roll call! Everybody up an' listen for your partner Blades for today's mission to Gormott!" I stood to attention with the rest of the Solly Mercs.
"I hope I get lucky!" one man next to me remarked to which I shook my head and sighed. I knew that meant he wanted to be paired up with a female Blade with all the right curves.
"Darien!" our chief called out. "You'll be with Rio!" I watched a young man accept a flame-powered greataxe from a tall, masculine common Blade.
"Palo!" our chief called out next. "You'll be with Zeno!" The man next to me walked up in a huff and reluctantly accepted a couple of wind-powered ring-swords from a beast Blade. (I feel sorry for the Blade.)
"Remi!" the captain finally called on me. "You'll be with Hatsuyuki!" I didn't mind. In fact, I was a little relieved. I'd worked with this female Blade of dark knuckle claws many times before.
"Nice! Looks like we'll be toiling together." I held out my hand for a good-spirited high-five.
These Blades were all originally bonded with our mercenary chief Reynold, but he let us non-drivers, also known as proxies, pair up with them for missions such as this. Since I was hardly the warrior type, I preferred to work with Blades with healing powers. It helped a soft person like me to never have any scrapes to whine about or broken bones to put me out of commission. I needed these merc missions to keep me from living on the streets. Within the mercenary network, I made a name for myself as a top treasure-hunter as well. But alas, clients with such treasure-hunting requests were few and far between.
Once Reynold finished handing out assignments, we headed to the port and took a ship to Gormott.
~ KLOOM FARM, of Torigoth, major city on the Titan Gormott ~
"Alright team, it's just like last time when we cleared out a Buloofo mess, only it sounds like there are more of 'em now!" Chief Reynold led us to the Kloom farmlands out back where a horde of Gorian Buloofo creatures had ravaged the fields. With the use of Hatsuyuki's knuckle claws, I began clearing away debris. Other mercs with greataxes and megalances were down on the lower areas fighting the remaining Buloofo. (Better that they're the ones fighting and not I.)
"Friends be careful with garden! Buloofo already make mess! Friends not make mess bigger!" The local odd-spoken Nopon farmers were fussy, but such bother was nothing new to us.
"Check it out! They're really puttin' on a thrashin' down there!" somebody shouted. I couldn't help my curiosity and took a gander at the battles below. (A mess indeed. Horns are bucking, weapons are swinging... Glad I'm not part of that.)
And so, there we were. Another day on Alrest. Man and beast were at each other's throats again. My teammates were probably enjoying the fight down there, getting a chance to let out pent up frustrations and showing off while they're at it. Hardly had I blinked when something in the nearby lake caught my attention. (What're those Piranhax doing? Oh no…)
"Hatty! Come with me! There's a Gormotti kid in trouble!" I shouted at my partner Blade. She dropped a pile of stones and we headed downstairs to the water, blindly hoping none of the Bufoolo would notice. (I should be able to take on a few fish, can't I?)
~ COOLLEY LAKE, biggest lake on Gormott ~
We arrived at the lake to find a school of hungry Piranhax swimming toward a Gormotti boy in peril. Hatsuyuki tossed me her knuckle claws and fed me her power. The flow of ether messed with my equilibrium at first. (Can't say I'm used to the energy flowing through me.)
"Hang on, kid!" I shouted as I jumped waist-deep in the water. The fanged fish noticed the disturbance and turned around. (Can't back out of this now.)
I took the first punch and knocked away the closest fish just as another one lunged at my face. I blocked with my claws, but the force of the tackle caused an instant jolt of pain in my wrists. Another punch and another lunge, and an assist from Hatsuyuki... and soon we had a clear line to the kid who was shivering in fear, and probably a little bit from the cold as well.
"Grab my hand!" I said to the Gormotti as I handed the claws back to Hatsuyuki. The boy seemed to hesitate despite my saving him but eventually took my hand and together we trudged out of the lake. By the time we made it back to dry land, some of my teammates had turned around and applauded the rescue.
"That's some catch you got there!" one of them hollered with a chuckle. I wanted to rebuke him for his ill-timed humor, but I was more concerned about the boy. When he turned around, I got a better look at him. Although soaked to a pitiful state, his clothes looked expensive, exquisite, and definitely too posh for my tastes. This was no place for a rich kid to be playing around.
"What's your name?" I asked him but got no answer. "Come on anyway. Let's get you back home. Can you show us the way?" This time the boy looked past me and his eyes lit up. I turned around and saw a young Gormotti man running towards us.
"Tommy! Ye little scamp!" he scolded the boy before kneeling down for a hug.
"You know him?" By now the rest of the group had gathered around us.
"Yes, he's my little brother," he told me. "Thank you so much for finding him! And my name is Ow-!"
"Stop calling me little!" Tommy elbowed him in the stomach. I shook my head and looked back at his older sibling.
"As I was saying, my name is Owen... Owen Echell," he resumed. "Our father is a lord in Torigoth." (A lord? Well that explains the expensive clothes.)
"I'm Remi of the Solly Mercs," I replied with a marginal smile. My wrists were tender from the repercussion. Owen raised his eyebrows and appeared to repeat my name to himself.
"Pardon but are you the treasure-hunter from Prudentia?" I hadn't expected to be asked this.
"Yes… yes I am," I nearly stuttered. (I didn't think the channels had carried my renown this far.)
I looked back at my teammates and noticed they had brought with them a couple more Gormotti boys in distress. No doubt this trio of troublemakers wanted a closer look at the action but got a little too close. Rich kids or not, we needed to get them back to their parents.
"Let's all head back to Torigoth." I turned to Owen with Tommy now at his side. "My chief will want to hear about this."
"My father will as well," Owen added, "and I'm sure he'll reward you handsomely. I'll see to it that he does." I was sure that little Tommy felt insulted hearing us talk like he was a runaway pet. He averted any eye contact on our way back into town. I couldn't help but wonder what sort of payment I'd receive from a man of high status, in addition to my regular mercenary remunerations.
~ TORIGOTH CHIEF'S RESIDENCE ~
We all reconvened back in the city whilst Reynold met with the Torigoth chief to expound the events of the day, including the rescue of the Gormotti boys. I looked past them and saw Owen carrying a large envelope and standing next to a well-dressed Gormotti man whose face was about as stern as one could have. (Lord Echell, perhaps?)
"You don't think Chief Reynold's going to dock us anything for leaving our post, do you?" Hatsuyuki asked me in worry.
"Probably not." I didn't take my eyes off the chiefs and lord. "It was for an emergency, and besides, Chief Reynold's rather reasonable." Indeed, I wouldn't bother sticking with a mercenary group that treated its people like disposable pawns. I'd often heard of such groups that prided themselves on getting the job done no matter what the cost. Worse yet, there were groups that went as far to compete for glory, reputation, and presentation of best Blades. The Solly Mercs had a few rare, pretty Blades on hand, and they were the ones all the guys wanted to be paired with the most.
Finally, the chiefs parted ways and Owen motioned for me to come over.
"Here, my father sends his regards," Owen said as he handed me the envelope. "There're a few rare, collectible coins inside. Probably worth a fancy bundle to the right numismatist." I pressed around to feel three coins. "It's no offense," he continued. "Father just doesn't feel comfortable giving spendable money away. Doesn't want to give the wrong impression to his associates." I noticed Lord Echell didn't stick around to meet me. (Snob society, I guess. Lord Echell must see me as too bourgeois to be seen with…)
"Sure, I understand," I said trying to hide my dismay, "and thanks for these. I certainly didn't wake up this morning expecting to be tipped." I turned the envelope around and found a business address written on the back.
"Ah yes, an' hold onto that. Father indicated that he may want you back for something else," he added with a nod. "I told him about your treasure-seeking skills, you see." I felt better hearing him say that.
"And what about you, Owen?" I asked which seemed to catch him off guard. "Will we meet again?"
"Probably," he answered quickly and straightened the collar of his shirt. "I am an emissary for my father, you see. If he requests your services, I'll handle all the details."
"Then you should talk to my chief of the Solly Mercs," I advised as I pointed back to my group, now waiting for me to wrap this up.
"Indeed, but my father doesn't want a whole troop…" Owen stopped short, looked at my group, and then back to me. "Ahem… he doesn't want a lot of people to, uh…" He stopped short again. "He only wants one person at a time." I nodded my head. (Probably doesn't want a bunch of dirty hands on his prized collection.)
"Whatever he wants, just remember the Solly Mercs of Prudentia," I reasserted. I shook his hand and returned to my group.
Awkward and sudden though the situation might've been, it could turn out to be a boon. Serving a rich family? Who wouldn't want a chance to earn some serious gold? I'd often heard of treasure-hunters risking their lives searching for artifacts and core crystals, especially in Dosilla, a ruined city in Prudentia. Other than that, there weren't many other opportunities for us Solly mercs to earn the big stuff as most of our clients called on us for odd labor instead. And here I was, possibly with a private, affluent client on my side. I tried not to think too much about it on the trip back home.
~ HAGAN, cozy little hamlet on the Titan Prudentia ~ [One year later, 3963]
How quickly fortunes change… As a poor mercenary, I would never have dreamt that I'd come home from a mission with rare loot that could afford me a better life. Indeed, those rare coins were worth a humbling house on a hill. It's a far cry from sharing tents with teammates and hoping every night that it wouldn't rain. Now I looked forward to the gentle pitter-patter on the roof.
I looked out the living room window to the lowlands this side of Prudentia where the rolling green hills met the cloud sea. I couldn't ask for a better view from this house in the hamlet of Hagan. The town of Sollerta, now my neighbor, wasn't far away. Friendly farmers offered rides in their armu-driven carriages, for a small fee of course. This became my main mode of transport, especially for coming home tired from a long mission abroad.
And the missions with the Solly Mercs continued, but I hadn't heard from the Echells for a year. That changed upon my next arrival to camp.
~ SOLLERTA ~
"Ah, Remi! C'mere! You've got a visitor!" I hurried over to Chief Reynold and his secretary who handled the books. "We've got a special request from Gormott." He opened the flap of the admin canopy, and sure enough, Owen was seated inside.
"Why hello there," I greeted with a handshake. "I thought I'd seen the last of you." Owen chuckled and shook his head.
"I suppose it has been awhile, hasn't it? I take it all is well with you," he asked me before straightening his tie. (Still dressed like he's going to a ball. I guess the family's still well-to-do.)
"Yes, I'd say I'm doing a lot better now, thanks to your family… well, mostly your father," I said with an awkward smile. (Should I ask about Tommy? Probably not.)
"Aye, my father wants you back, you see," Owen informed. "In the last few years, he's become rather interested in Blades, particularly the ones owned by our family." I was taken aback by this sentiment of one "owning" a Blade, but I let him continue. "He found some old journals from generations ago. They each mention a beautiful healer Blade with Gormotti features who was said to have brought the family status in the community. One of them describes her as having tall cat-like ears and wearing an exquisite outfit." He reached in his satchel for the journals and handed them to me. I couldn't believe they were still holding pages together being a hundred-or-more years old.
"My great-great grandfather wrote in this one. He claimed to have found her in a city called Dosilla," Owen said as he opened to a bookmarked page. "He and his father were there for an event, and he saw her at a procession, some sort of pageant I presume. He couldn't bring her back because, well… she was bonded with one of the club members."
"Did he at least get a name?" I was curious to hear more.
"No, but he wrote that she won that year… and most years for that matter, as if she were a seasoned champion," Owen answered, not taking his eyes off the page. "Seemed as though she brought status to that family, too." (This is beginning to smell like a cold case of kidnapping, or Bladenapping as it were.)
"Sadly, we have not seen her with our own eyes," Owen sighed as he sat back down. "She's been missing for generations, and Father wants her back. You are good at finding things, aren't you?"
"Of course, but if she's been gone for years, then what makes you guys think that we can bring her back now?" I didn't want to sound like a pessimist, but a reality check was needed.
"Ah, well, since last year when he found these journals, Father has been working closely with Professor McAvas, an associate of his," Owen explained. "He's had the professor burning the midnight oil in research." He paused to take out a notebook. "The professor thinks she was lost during the Aegis War when Torigoth was destroyed by rogue soldiers of Coeia. Father says our family was nearly wiped out." I started to feel a little hot under the collar. A lot of Prudentia's inhabitants are descended from Coeian soldiers, including me.
Owen flipped through the pages of his notebook and continued. "The professor posited that a soldier took her core crystal with him 'ere, to Prudentia, I mean. This is where a lot of Coeian soldiers ended up, after all." I felt ill at the idea that her core was probably handled and sold at some swap meet, or worse, the black market.
I took a seat next to Owen and started perusing one of the journals. "You make her sound like a family treasure."
"I suppose… I suppose. To be honest, we've only been aware of her existence for a year," Owen admitted. "But all the same, Father has made her his top priority." He turned to a page full of financial figures. "We'll sponsor and grubstake you for an expedition to this Dosilla… and its surrounding areas. Will you help us?"
"Absolutely!" This was the opportunity that I'd been hoping for and I was not about to let it go. "We'll get a team together and…"
"Oh no, no! No crowds please," Owen interrupted. We got quiet while he looked around, almost untrustingly. "Ahem… as much as it would help to have a whole group on the search, he doesn't want to risk one of your lot taking the core crystal for themselves." Another pause… (Should I be insulted? Probably not. I'm not sure I'd trust everybody here either.)
"What about you, or this professor?" I asked, covering the bases. "How come your father tasked me when surely he trusts you guys more?"
"He hasn't admitted it, but I suspect it's out of gratitude for saving Tommy. Besides, Professor McAvas isn't able to travel much these days. Usually his son makes the trip and gathers evidence for him." Owen sighed and dimmed his eyes. "As for me, well, I don't have the aptitude to bond with Blades… so I can't really protect myself if I get into any tumbles, you know? In fact, my father lacks the aptitude as well. Last year he tried…" he stopped short again before taking another deep breath. "He tried to bond with our other family Blade, supposedly a magnificent white tiger, but the strain nearly killed him. Bound him up in stitches for months, it did." (Come to think of it, I haven't exactly bonded directly with any Blade myself. I've only been a proxy driver with common Blades feeding their power to me.)
With impeccable timing, Chief Reynold entered the admin canopy with Akebono, a common male Blade with an electric greataxe. "I've got you a partner. Take as long as you need an' keep me updated." With that said, he was back outside before I could even respond.
While Owen and Akebono exchanged greetings, I sat back and began to process all which had been presented to me. Having accepted this mission, I was about to make my first ever solo trip, and to Dosilla no less. It was once an aristocratic city that was popular among the wealthy and influential who were attracted to its nearby gold deposits in the river. Unfortunately, it also attracted bands of bandits and crusaders as well, and over time it deteriorated into ruin. How exactly that happened, no one was quite sure. All I knew was that it was still a popular place to dig around, mostly for whatever may be left behind from its glory days. I took out a map and plotted a path.
"Shall we be off now? It's going to be a long trip. I announced, getting their attention.
"I figured it would be," Owen straightened his tie and turned to Akebono. "I wasn't planning on tagging along." Gingerly, he returned his stationeries to his satchel. "I suppose if you find any core crystals out there, you may as well bring them back. Hopefully one of them is hers. It's supposed to be shaped like a diamond." (Like a diamond? Highly unusual.)
"And if they're not, then the Solly Mercs will have new partners," I joked before realizing that it might have to be so. Akebono smiled awkwardly while Owen laughed unapologetically.
"Just report back to me when you return from the trek," he said. "I've booked a room at the inn for a few nights."
"I fear that that's probably how long this search will take," I estimated, "and that's not guaranteeing that we'll find anything. Given the time gone by, her core could be anywhere by now." Owen still smiled anyway.
We all knew that this search was a long shot even with the clues provided. But I was up for the challenge and was eager to check out the other, unfamiliar side of Prudentia. After Owen headed for the inn, I stocked up on provisions from town and prepared for the long journey ahead. The prospect of finding this rare Blade with great healing powers was more than enough to drive me forward.