…Worms…defeat…!

"Hah!" Rex sat up in a cold sweat. What…what was that voice? Whatever it was, it sent a cold chill down his spine. Such malice. Such crazed hatred. It reminded him of Amalthus. Amalthus. He was going to need to take care of him at some point too.

That made him think…could he turn Jin? He had gotten through to him at the very end, but…could he make him listen before then? Before he had to die? Better yet, could he get the flash eater to join him? Rex did not know, but he would try. He knew it was possible to at least get through to him somewhat, so he would not give up.

But for now he had more immediate concerns. Like what to do when he got to town. As things stood, they were on track so that he could probably have things play out normally enough until they were caught. Though, part of that had depended on him losing that fight. Even with him and Pyra not up to their old form, he was fairly confident he could take them so it may call for some…play acting.

Rex's planning was cut short by the sound of Nia yawning and stretching the sleep away.

"Are you already up?"

"Yeah, but I haven't been awake for long. I was thinking about what to do next."

"Oh? Any ideas."

"Some," Was all he responded with, and Nia shrugged upon realizing that he was not going to share for the time being before going to speak with Dromarch who had also awoken early. Rex watched the interaction with a smile; it was good to see them again. He still remembered the thud of Dromarch's core crystal falling against the metallic floor of the hangar.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, Rex started cleaning up what little they had left for camp. He was careful not to wake Pyra who was sleeping peacefully. He wondered if his nightmare had somehow disturbed her, but she seemed peaceful enough. Rex slowed a bit as he took her in. She looked so content like this, but he knew that when she woke up, she would not be smiling the way he was used to.

It hurt. It took him so long to realize something very important, and by the time he had, it had been too late. He was afraid that he had hurt her. He had not intended to, but he was afraid that he had done so anyway. Worse yet, he had already hurt the present Pyra too. Make a girl cry, that's not gonna fly. Rex let out a chuckle. Looks like he was not the best salvager either. Well, there was still time to fix that now. At least…he hoped so.

"You going to stand there staring all day, or are you going to wake her?"

Rex blushed realizing that he had started staring. That was not creepy at all, he thought sarcastically to himself. Trying to ignore his own flushed face, Rex bent down and gently shook Pyra's shoulder. Nothing. Well, she was a more stable sleeper than Mythra at least. He wondered if since she was awake if she would be doing any sleepwalking any time soon. That could complicate matters.

"Pyra," Rex tried again a bit harder this time. He was rewarded by her stirring. Rex smiled as she slowly opened her eyes, "Hey there, sleepy head. You ready to head out soon?"

"Hmm?" Her eyes suddenly opened wide, "How long was I asleep?"

Rex chuckled, "Not that long, but it's about time to get going though."

"Oh, s-sorry."

Rex's expression tightened up at the apology, "You don't have to do that, you know."

"Huh?" Pyra looked confused after she got on her feet, "Do what?" Had she done something else to disappoint him?

"Apologizing so much. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't even sleep late! Relax a little, and…I hope you come to trust me. If you have anything you want to just…chat about, then you can let me know."

"I, uh," Pyra was taken aback by that. He knew what she was, and yet he seemed to almost long to simply talk to her. Part of her wondered if he just thought they were one and the same, but then why had it been her future hologram he had been so transfixed by looking like he was about to cry, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good to hear," Rex beamed at her, and despite everything, she found that his smile was contagious. However, her sudden bout of smiling was interrupted by a yawn from where Rex's helmet sat on the ground.

"Morning already?" Azurda scratched his stomach before Rex picked up the helmet and reattached it to his salvager suit.

"Not used to sleeping on solid ground?"

"It has been quite a while," The small titan looked around Rex's head, "And your helmet isn't exactly a comfortable fit."

"You can always sleep on the ground you know," Rex narrowed his eyes at the titan who retreated back inside the helmet.

"I'm good. I think a little turnabout will be nice. Don't you agree?"

Try as he might, Rex could not bring himself to be frustrated with the titan. He was just glad to have him back, so he took the ribbing in stride and prepared for the day's journey. Leftovers would suffice for their meal, not that Pyra's cooking did not taste good the next day as well.

The first hour or so was occupied with finding a way out of the lower level of Gormott. Fortunately, it was a pretty straightforward path that did not really require Rex to remember which way they had gone before to make good time.

Before long, the tree cover gave way to a sunny day and a wide plain. Rex had become familiar with this sight, but it was still quite the view. And there was their destination off in the distance: Torigoth. Another place he had become very familiar with for better or worse.

"That there's Torigoth," Nia explained what he already knew, "I'll stick with you as far as there."

"You sure you won't come along?" Rex was not surprised in the least, but he had a series of events to more or less maintain. At this point, Pyra and Azurda were simply trusting him to make the right decisions.

"I'm still a member of Torna, remember?"

"Those guys? Didn't they try to kill ya?"

"Yeah," Nia admitted quietly, "But…they're still my crew, ya know?"

Rex did in a way he supposed. Better than before. He had his fellow salvagers and Gramps before, but now he knew what a close-knit group could be like. Despite their flaws and misguided methods, Torna did seem to take care of their own. Add to that the fact that he knew Nia's secret, and, well, he could understand her wanting to go back to a degree. She felt she had no where to go. He wanted to show her that Torna was not the only option without the collateral this time if possible.

"I guess," Was all Rex said in reply uncertain as to how to properly respond.

"Well, come on, we're wasting daylight here!"

"Right!"

The walk to Torigoth was not particularly hazardous. They were attacked by a few local fauna, but Rex dialed things back a bit and did not single handedly tear them apart. It was a development that gave both Azurda and Pyra some peace of mind.

Rex did keep a watchful eye out though. While Nia was busy with some small fries he did shoo away some of those pesky birds that gave them a hard time before. He also kept his eye out for that ape, but there was fortunately no sign of it. Before they knew it, they had arrived at Torigoth's main gate.

Rex also remembered something that he had forgotten about with everything that had happened.

"Is this supposed to be me?" Nia snarled at the wanted poster.

"What? You don't see the likeness?" Rex grinned with folded arms causing Nia to glare at the grinning salvager.

"It would seem that they conflated our likenesses," Dromarch offered in an attempt to appease his driver.

"Gah!" Nia tore into the poster while an amused Rex and Azurda, embarrassed Dromarch, and a startled Pyra watched on. However, they were cut short by the announcement from an Ardainian soldier trying to recruit drivers. Rex honestly did not really care to hear an explanation of something he already knew, but timing was still somewhat important. It might be nice to see Jac again at least.

"What's going on here?" Rex asked as if he did not know.

"Looks like driver recruitment," Azurda responded after pausing a moment to see if someone else was supposed to answer. This was all a bit strange not knowing if he should act as he thought he should or not.

"I would surmise that they've run out of potential candidates within the military," Dromarch added.

"Candidates?" Rex continued playing along trying not to think about how it had been a genuine question a few months ago.

"You have to have a certain potential to awaken a blade, or…maybe aptitude is a more apt term," Azurda responded.

As Rex remembered, they soon got their example of what happened when you failed. Rex could not help but wince at the sight. He was glad Tora's reaction had been so mild in comparison. Well, unless one asked the nopon himself his take on the matter.

"Not a pretty sight," Nia commented at Rex's flinching before noticing Jac approaching the core crystal. She watched intently at the scene unfolding failing to notice the small smile that had graced Rex's face. As Jac began to successfully awaken the blade, Nia smirked, "There's your aptitude."

"Well," Rex turned to the others, his mood significantly improved, "Let's not stick around here too long." They had probably spent enough time here.

"Right, we should go around this mess," Nia led the way, "Follow me. I know where a halfway decent inn should be."

"Sounds good," Rex nodded as he followed his "guide." It was getting dark as they made it to the fateful back alley. Rex worried for a brief moment that they had made it past without incident, but to his relief, they were soon stopped by Ardainian troops who noticed Nia.

"And you, you look like a driver. What's your registration number?"

"Uh, 12117?" Rex offered.

"Very funny. You must be an unlicensed driver then. In that case you're gonna have to come with us! Take the drivers and their blades!"

"I'm not letting you lay a hand on Pyra," Rex responded dangerously as he drew Pyra's Aegis Sword. Nia quickly drew her weapons as well, but she had an idea not to get in Rex's way. Rex, meanwhile, had to remind himself to calm down, but after what Malos had done and losing her again…if there was a surefire way to shake him to his core, it was to threaten Pyra in any way.

Fortunately, he was able to remind himself that this bunch of jokers were no threat to either of them. Nia was managing to hold her own fairly well herself, so Rex stayed back like he had with the monsters making sure not to demonstrate how much of a threat he actually was.

Then their escape was blocked by blue flames. Right on time. Rex turned back to see Brighid approach and despite the fact she was their enemy, he felt a wave of relief wash over him upon seeing her safe and sound. They were never super close, but seeing her irreparably wounded like that…

But there was no time for that now. If he got too distracted, she could definitely do some damage. Rex jumped away from the whip sword that cracked down on where he had been standing moments prior. There was a fine line before overdoing it and getting careless. Unfortunately, he was still working on that balance.

At the vary least he did not have to awkwardly fluctuate between barely competent and easily winning for long as Nia and Dromarch were soon secured by the ether net, and Tora's distraction came right on time. Rex hated having to leave Nia behind, but it was important to keep things on track until his moment came. Whenever he decided that would be.

As he ran down the streets of Torigoth and later into Tora's secret entrance, Rex was forced to push those thoughts aside as he came face to face with another friend. Though, this time, Rex's face went a little pale. At least the others had not had a graphic end, but…Tora's had been surprisingly gruesome for a ball of fluff. It would not happen again. Not if Rex had anything to say about it.

"Um, Rex-Rex feeling okay?" Tora looked at him curiously.

Briefly wondering how he knew his name until realizing Pyra and/or Azurda must have introduced them, Rex put on a brave face despite the worried looks from the younger Aegis and his Gramps. "Sorry, got a little distracted."

"No problem! Tora get distracted at times too. Oh! But no more talking in hallway, come inside!"

Rex nodded and followed after the nopon with renewed determination to set things right.

A/N: Alright, so I'm probably not going to go play by play with everything, but sooner or later things will probably diverge fairly heavily.

Anyway, is it still enjoyable? What do you think?