Firefly

/Oneshot/

Steely-grey eyes opening to an unfamiliar room, Malos instinctively pressed a hand against his Core Crystal. Looking down, he could see the glow of his amethyst, crucifix-shaped core. He was somewhat glad to see his core intact, recalling when a beam from Winter's Siren had ripped through both his own Siren and then himself.

Spotting movement to the left of the bed in his peripheral, Malos glanced over and spotted the small form of his Driver sitting in a chair. Her eyes were shut tightly, yet Malos could see some tear streaks down her face. Attempting to get up, Malos flinched a little as the floorboards creaked as he set his feet down.

His Driver's eyes snapped open, and she looked around. Eyes falling onto Malos, the woman relaxed. She looked over him before she offered him a small smile. Despite the smile she was giving him, the Blade could see the hint of sadness in her expression. He was unsure of what had occurred after Winter had struck him and his Siren down. However, he could sense that it was bad.

"How are you feeling?" Antea asked with concern.

Considering her question for a moment, Malos let out a sigh. "I'm alright. Where's everyone else? What happened?" The Aegis somewhat hesitantly inquired as he considered all the possible scenarios of what could have happened. Ant's face fell at the question, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Hugo and… Milton are-" The Elf cut herself off, and Malos' eyes widened as she started to sob. He felt a twinge in his core as his Driver's emotions almost overwhelmed him. The dark Blade watched as Ant wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. "A-and… there is one other t-thing…. Mythra is d-different," Antea explained.

Malos watched her for a moment before asking, "What do you mean she's different?"

With her shoulders shaking, Ant answered, "Just g-go outside. You'll see w-what I mean."

Part of him wanted to stay; however, he could not help but wonder just what Ant meant by Mythra being different. Malos took one last look at his Driver before he got up and headed out of the room he had been in. He looked around before he spotted a door that he figured led outside of the cabin he was in.

Walking outside, Malos quickly spotted Lora, Jin, and Haze speaking to one another. They looked up as he approached, and Lora immediately greeted him. Despite none of the three people actively saying it, Malos could practically feel the dread in the air.

"Where's Mythra?"

Haze answered, "She's with Addam, over there." The wind Blade pointed towards a hill where two people stood at the top of it talking with each other. Malos squinted because even with not really being able to see them fully, he could tell that the second figure had short red hair instead of the long blonde locks Mythra had.

"They'll explain when you get up there," Jin said to him, and Malos simply nodded his head before he made his way up the hill.

Walking up the hill, he could see the woman's outfit more clearly. She wore red armor that covered her chest and shoulders yet exposed both her hips and back. The woman even wore shorts that were so short, that he wondered why she even bothered. He could also see the glowing green Ether lines along her outfit, indicating that it really might be Mythra.

Addam noticed the dark Aegis first as he made it to the top of the hill. "Hey, Malos," Mythra's Driver called out, which caused the red haired woman to turn to face Malos. He had no doubt that this was Mythra now once he could clearly see the Emerald, crucifix-shaped Core Crystal in the center of her chest.

"Hi, Malos! I'm glad I was able to fix your Core Crystal for you. It looks as good as new," The woman told him, with much more cheer and friendliness than he had ever seen from Mythra. Noticing the confused look the dark Blade was giving her, she sighed. "You're probably wondering about me, right?" At Malos's nod, she suddenly offered a hand out to him. "I'm Pyra."

Malos stared at her hand for a moment, internally debating how to respond. The man immediately questioned, "Where's Mythra?" Both Pyra and Addam paused at that before her Core Crystal glowed even brighter. "What is-" The woman cut him off gently with a shushing sound before he was suddenly not there anymore. It was Elysium, the memory space that he was in every night. It was not his own since he had been just merely standing there.

"Hey…."

Turning around to face the owner of the familiar voice, Malos was met with Mythra in her white, gold, and green attire. She looked the same as when he had last seen her, except for the somber expression she had on her face. She did not say anything else at first, simply observing him. "Hugo and Milton are dead," She informed him, and he could tell it was taking everything she had to not cry.

"That… can't be true…. Can it?" Malos questioned, not wanting to believe what she told him. When Mythra's expression remained the same, he realized that she was telling the truth. Both Hugo and Milton really were gone, and he knew that had been a cause of Ant's breakdown. "What… happened?"

Mythra let out a shaky breath before responding, "After Winter directed her Siren to attack Auresco, Milton was… killed…." The golden-blonde looked down at the grass, this time with a more guilty expression. "Then, after Winter destroyed your Siren and broke your core I… lost myself…. I used so much energy in defeating Winter that Hugo died while protecting Addam from me…."

"That-" Mythra held up a gloved hand to indicate that she was not done. The other Aegis shut his mouth and let her continue her explanation.

"That same power… fatally wounded the Tornan Titan…. It's gone, Malos," She informed him, and Malos realized then why the others were so upset. With two of their friends dead, along with the Tornan Titan's demise, everyone was grieving. Part of him felt guilty that he had just been laying there, useless, with no idea of just how bad things had turned out. Malos was quiet, unable to bring himself to respond to everything he had just learned.

Mythra narrowed her eyes at him as she seemed to realize what he was thinking. "You aren't useless, Malos. Look, I know I haven't always been the nicest to you. I suppose our similar personalities are to blame for that," Mythra told him reassuringly before she placed a hand on her core. "The reason I wanted to be the one to tell you is so I could ask you something," The golden-blonde admitted.

Eyes watching her expression for a moment, Malos crossed his arms over his chest. "What is it? It must be important if you wanted to ask me yourself," Malos asked before saying his last sentence in a softer tone. The light Blade stared up at him for a moment, wondering if she should just ask him without any further delay.

"Do you want to go with Pyra and Addam?" Asked Mythra. "We've decided that my power should be sealed away, so we are going to go to sleep on a ship and Addam plans to sink it to the bottom of the Cloud Sea afterward. Or, you can stay, probably with Ant I'm assuming."

"I have a choice?"

The light Aegis nodded her head before she responded, "Of course. If you want to stay with Ant, I understand. Or you can go somewhere else if you want. You can also come with us if you wish," Mythra informed him before saying, "There is one more thing I want you to know before you make a decision."

Taking a deep breath, Mythra explained, "I had a vision, and it was much more involved than my foresight ability normally is. I saw two people in particular that stood out. There was this kid, a teenager maybe, with brown hair and the same color eyes as Addam. He was holding my sword." The light Blade crossed her arms over her chest before continuing, "Then there was a woman who looked a lot like Ant with the same reddish-brown hair, but her eyes were blue."

Noticing his confused look, the golden-blonde explained, "Remember Ant's husband? Julian was his name I think. He had the same blue eyes as the woman I saw." Malos nodded his head at that, recalling when they had encountered Julian along with Raymond in Auresco. "They're definitely related in some way. I can't tell you for sure. All I know for sure is that she was holding your Monado."

"I see…. What do you think I should do?" Malos asked, and the golden-blonde's eyes widened a little.

"You really want to know what I think?" The light Blade questioned.

After Malos nodded his head, Mythra spoke, "I can't make the decision for you, so you should do whatever you think will make you happy." She paused, trying to find the right way to phrase her thoughts. "If you want to come with us, that's fine. I understand if you don't want to, so you should think about what you actually want to do."

The dark Aegis was quiet for a moment before he responded, "I don't know."

Nodding her head at that, Mythra spoke, "I get it. We aren't leaving for a couple more days so just take some time to think it over…. In the meantime, you should probably go check on Ant. She was pretty upset about everything that happened." Malos nodded, feeling a little bit guilty that he had just left Ant alone when she had been crying.

"I'll do that."