Chapter 1: Changed History
Welp, university is currently kicking my ass with its workload at the moment. Unfortunately that means that chapters are going to have to slow down… a lot. I've got a few more new story pilots floating around in different stages of completion but I'm going to go back to my main stories to make sure those get updated before I finish posting the rest of these pilots.
For some background: the premise is that Amalthus never climbed the World Tree and returned with the Aegis cores. Since there's plenty of land with none of the massive Titans dying off, Rex never became a salvager since he has no reason to want to go to Elysium. Plus since Alrest generally isn't as poor as it is in the events of 2, he doesn't need to work to send money back home.
So the other option would be the same as the other kids at Corinne's which is to study to go to school. I am making Rex just a bit older in this story, making school for him basically an equivalent to college. I doubt it'll make any kind of big difference since I'm not intending on changing his base personality but just note that he's a few years older than his canonical 15 years old. Plus since he's studied like a student and not just work from a young age, he knows a lot more about the world.
Also no Aegises means no Aegis war. Addam never wielded Mythra's sword to fight Malos. Torna, as well as the other Titans that fell in the Aegis war never fell. And there are a few other differences that you'll learn about through the story.
Of course, there's still war and politics, plenty of reasons for Rex to fight to change the world.
…
Rex scratched at the side of his head in frustration. He was only a month into attending school at Indol but he was already struggling with his course load. Still though, he knew he had to try his best with how much money it cost Auntie Corinne and the orphanage to send him here. Though he wondered sometimes if it was the best decision to come here. While Indol technically did have the best school in Alrest, it also didn't have the greatest relationship with the most powerful and prosperous nation in Alrest: Torna.
He sighed. He didn't even like engineering. Plus with the cold war going on between Uraya and Mor Ardain right now, every engineering student was gobbled up by the military. And he did not want to work for the military. But outside of being born as nobility, that was where the money was at the moment, and making enough money to both support himself and the orphanage was his top priority right now.
He yawned, and his stomach growled. He blushed and quickly glanced behind him and sighed as he remembered that his roommate was currently out for classes. Speaking of which, he still had like two hours before his next class. Screw it, this physics assignment wasn't due for a few more days. He could leave it for now and go to eat lunch before going to his next class, which was calculus. He needed a break.
Rex stood up and stretched, quickly changing out of his pajamas and into the clothes he had left out hanging from yesterday. He grabbed his keys and tossed them into his pocket before grabbing his backpack and heading out, making sure to lock his room behind him.
The food here was surprisingly good, not as good as Auntie Corinne's cooking of course, but still good. He had expected uneatable and disgusting food that the minimum amount of budget was spent on, but Indol put a lot of effort into everything.
Honestly, he probably should have had more faith. But he had never been the most faithful to the Praetorium since he had spent so much time worrying about money and studying.
Of course they'd do everything well. The Praetorium even offered shelter to those displaced by war. Of course that meant that there were a lot of Gormotti here right now since the war between Gormott and Mor Ardain had only just ended about ten years ago.
He made it to the dining hall and plonked his bag on the ground on an empty chair. He went into the serving area and grabbed two plates of what was being served, which happened to be gromrice, chicken, and peas today.
He ate slowly, pulling out a book to read while eating. He ate alone as usual, having made no friends yet. It wasn't like he didn't want to make friends, he just found himself being socially awkward.
He polished off the rest of his meal and took his plates over to the drop off place and left to his class. But it really hadn't taken him that long to eat and he still had plenty of time left. The previous period of classes were still ongoing so he couldn't sit and wait in the classroom like he normally would.
Maybe he should take the time to explore a bit. He had really only gone to his classes, the dining halls, and his dorm. This was a good opportunity to acquaint himself with campus a little better, and maybe even explore some of the rest of Indol.
He hadn't actually been off of campus grounds since he had arrived at Indol. That was mostly because he had been nearly blinded when he first stepped off of the Titan transport and saw the white and gold of the city.
But he had slowly gotten used to it over the past month. He briefly debated on dropping off his backpack at his dorm first but decided against it as he stepped foot off of what was technically campus grounds.
Though there wasn't really a difference aesthetically between what was on campus and off since it was all obviously designed with the same kind of architecture and color scheme in mind. He made his way over to the shops first. He didn't really need anything at the moment but he wanted to window shop since he never had the opportunity to do so before.
The first thing that hit him as he walked into the shopping district was the scent of food. Just a few months ago, that smell would have had him salivating like there was no tomorrow. But now, having both gotten used to that kind of smell and being full of good food, it didn't really do it for him anymore.
Instead, he moved over to the section for Drivers and Blades. Since Indol was the center of distribution and management of Blades to Drivers, it had a fairly high concentration of new Drivers and Blades coming in to get registered as well as veterans getting their licenses renewed. And since there were so many Drivers and Blades constantly moving in and out of Indol, there were a ton here conducting their business.
He had always found Drivers to be so cool. He had even briefly debated on ignoring his morals for a second to try out in the Driver recruitment programs the militaries of each nation had. But ultimately, his morals won out, though admittedly with the added fear of death if he failed to resonate.
He'd much rather stay alive to be able to watch the Drivers and Blades roam around than die trying. Speaking of which, there were just as many as he remembered from when he first arrived. He even spotted a famous Blade in the crowd: Ursula, the Shining Star. Distinctive even from many other Blades by the fact that she rode on top of a giant white bear made of snow and ice. She was also famous around all of Alrest for her musical talents and was popular amongst even other Blades and Drivers.
He really wanted to go up and ask for an autograph but she was already swamped by fans and it would take more time than he had to reach her. So instead he walked around, looking at all the different Blades, before he took a seat down on a relatively small set of stairs that didn't seem like many people were walking by and took out his notebook for the class to review a little bit before heading back.
Ugh, whoever designed this math class was a sadist. It was so hard. It was not okay that nearly the entire class was struggling. Every time the professor said he was free, his office would be absolutely swamped by students. He never got the chance to get help from the professor and was basically relying on the tutoring sessions for his grade at this point.
Of course there were like two students who actually just got the material first try which apparently justified it. Why did there always have to be someone who made it more difficult for everyone else? He was never the one to ruin the grading curve.
He grimaced, though this time not from his schoolwork. There were a few Gormotti refugees walking past, begging for food. He desperately wanted to help them but he didn't have the money to donate. Everything he was using was either donated to the orphanage or was borrowed from the school. He knew that they wouldn't come up to him since he was obviously a student, and students weren't exactly known to be rolling in Gold.
But it still bugged him that he couldn't do anything about it.
He sighed as he stood up. It was about time he made his way to class anyways. He turned around and immediately bumped into someone.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Rex said as he looked up to see one of his professors, "o-oh. Professor Hunter, sir."
It was weird how different he looked outside of class. His normal attire was currently replaced with sweats as it looks like he was jogging. His normally thin framed glasses were gone and he was wearing ones with a thick frame and a strap that went around his head to hold them in place. His hair was plastered to his forehead which was glistening with sweat.
"It's no problem," the professor said, "Rex, was it? I have to apologize myself. I was distracted and didn't notice you there."
"I-it's fine, sir," Rex said. The professor was easily a head taller than he was so it wasn't too surprising that he was missed.
"That's a relief," he smiled, "I hope you didn't find last night's assignment too challenging."
"Actually… about that sir, I'm stuck on a problem and I can't figure it out."
"And what problem would that be?" The professor asked.
"Problem four, sir."
"Ah yes. I admit, that one may have been a bit challenging. I've been getting an endless slew of questions about that one. What exactly are you stuck on?"
"Um… I can't really remember at the moment if I'm being honest."
The professor chuckled, "fair enough. I don't recall you coming to my office before though."
"I can never really get through the crowd."
"Hm. Tell you what, I normally reserve a few hours between working out and class to unwind. I'm usually in my office during that time. I tell my students that I'm busy during that time to avoid getting a crowd but I'm really just taking a nap or something. I'm actually free those two hours before class, just knock on my door and I'll let you in," he winked, "just don't tell anybody."
"Y-yes sir!" Rex said.
The professor nodded, "my class times are posted in front of my classroom. Just check that if you ever need confirmation. I'll see you later." He nodded as he continued off on his jog.
"Ooh!" Rex exclaimed, "that makes so much more sense!"
"I guess that's how I'll have to explain the concepts in class from now on," the professor said, "this has honestly taught me a lot as well. Do you have any other questions?"
"Yeah actually, can you help me with calculus?"
"Well, I can help with certain exercises if you have problems, but I can't just sit down and tutor you."
"Oh uh, sorry."
"No need to apologize. I'd have done the same in your position," he sighed, "I've talked to your calculus professor about the way he teaches. He hasn't changed the way he teaches though. Honestly, even I have a hard time following him. I wouldn't worry about doing poorly in that class. As long as you pass, most of the other professors here teach well enough to cover for not understanding that course."
"I-is that something a professor should be saying?"
"Probably not," he chuckled, "but again, I wouldn't worry about it. Most places only care that you graduated from here. Though don't take that to mean that you shouldn't try your best."
"I won't," Rex promised.
"Right then. I won't hold you here any longer. You probably want to get dinner before the dining hall closes. Otherwise you'd have to head into the city for dinner, and you definitely don't want to miss curfew."
"Is that an issue? I heard the older students usually just ignore it."
"The older students also know how to get away with it," the professor rolled his eyes, "don't do as they do. The punishment if you're caught is community service, which ranges from janitorial work to having to work in the prison. Depends on how forgiving of a mood whoever is in charge of handing out assignments is."
"I'll keep that in mind," Rex said as he packed his bags, "thank you sir."
"It's no problem. Stop by again if you ever need more help."
"I will sir," Rex said as he left. That had been a tremendous help. He'd better try to not seem like he was abusing that though. He didn't want to lose his sudden lifeline in class. He hurried over to the dining hall to grab dinner right before it closed.
He quickly scarfed down his meal and headed back to his room to finish up his work. He gave his roommate a nod as he came in and they both worked in silence for the next few hours.
By the time Rex finished up his work, his roommate had already gone to bed. Rex sighed, trying to move around quietly as he went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, quickly brushing his teeth and taking a shower. He frowned as laid down, a bit annoyed that he was probably going to have horrible bed hair tomorrow. Whatever.
He fell asleep pretty quickly after that.
Rex woke up the next day in a panic. His brain was on the fritz, telling him that he was late, and it took looking at his clock to realize that he was fine. Though knowing that in his head didn't stop his heart from pounding for a few minutes.
His roommate was already out for the day so he had the room to himself for a few hours before class started for him. Though… what the professor had said the other day had piqued his interest. Now he had a morbid curiosity as to what the prison here was like. He genuinely didn't even know that Indol had a prison, though that made sense now that he thought about it since Indol was basically its own sovereign nation.
Now the question was, was his curiosity strong enough to drive him to look for it? Would he even be allowed in if he did find it? Would he be considered suspicious if he did?
Wait. He had never been in any substantial trouble before but… what if he stayed out past curfew on purpose? Would that even be worth it? He could easily get the more quote forgiving punishment and just do some sweeping of the city grounds or something.
Why was he even thinking about this? This was such a dumb idea. But… what if? The thought wouldn't leave his mind now that it was there. No, no, he wouldn't do this.
He shook his head. He had to focus on his schoolwork, not on doing something stupid to satisfy his morbid curiosity.
Okay, you know what. To satisfy his own mind, if he ever did do this, he had to make it worth it. He had to be doing something worth staying out for where doing community service was just the benefit. Wait. Actually… it was just community service, couldn't he volunteer for that?
He facepalmed.
Well that was kind of embarrassing that he didn't think of that sooner. He was just glad that no one was around to listen to his thought process.
He knocked his head on his desk. Well then, he might as well use the time he had right now to look into it. Plus, volunteer work was a good thing. He could actually help out without having to use money. He packed his bags and left his dorm. Where should he start with this? Probably an office somewhere?
There was a general office. That was probably the place to start. Right then. First, his regular morning routine. Brush his teeth, wash his face, change, pack his bag, then head out and eat breakfast.
He ate quickly, eager to get on with his day. It was a shame too, today was pan fried tartari day. He walked across campus to the general office building. He went up to the front desk to ask where to go to do volunteer work.
The receptionist pointed him towards a specific room where he went.
"You actually want to volunteer?" The person behind the desk asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Rex said, "is that a problem?"
"No, not at all. It's just rare for students to willingly help out. Well, we've got a rotation of work. You're free to stop by whenever and leave whenever according to your schedule. If you need a record for something in the future, you can fill out time slots on some paper and have one of us here sign it."
"Okay. What would I need that for?"
"Some other schools require it for transfer. It looks good when applying for a job. And obviously you need proof that you've done the work if it's assigned."
"Wait, if I do the work first, couldn't I just show them the signed thing to get out of punishment then?"
"Yes, yes you can."
"Huh. Okay, I'll be back later."
"Alright. There's a rotation of jobs every week. You can look at the list and pick something to do later."
"Sounds good."
Class could not have gone more slowly for Rex. He had no idea why he was so anxious for this. It was literally more work that he had signed up for. It would look good on an application to be fair, but more work nonetheless.
As if class needed help slowing down. It already felt like time was slowing down in class.
But at last, he was finally free. He rushed back to his dorm to drop off his stuff and quickly went back over to the offices and looked over the job list and signed up for prison duty. That was a really weird thing to think about. He still couldn't really believe he was doing this.
It sounded so stupid every time he sat down to think about it. But he was doing it regardless. He was guided out of the school grounds and through the Indoline city by an Indoline warrior monk of all people. Though thinking about it for a second, it did make sense that the warrior monks worked at the prison.
They were the soldiers of Indol after all. And Indol didn't exactly have the most peaceful history, having taken sides in multiple wars across Alrest's past. Though the treaty from the great war five hundred years ago forbade Indol from interfering in any wars now, so they were mostly just ceremonial with some policing duties.
He didn't really know what he was expecting from a prison, but when they finally got there, he was greeted by what looked like any other mundane prison. He couldn't help but feel disappointed for some reason.
When he pointed this out to the warrior monk, she laughed. "A prison is a prison. Doesn't need to be like the Ardanian's with their reinforced armored walls. Plus we have Ether dampeners everywhere, so you don't need to worry about any criminal breaking out with arts."
Rex decided not to correct her assumption that he was worried about a prison break and not that he was vaguely let down by the design.
He was escorted over to the kitchen where he was assigned to help with meal prep.
"Here," the lead chef said as he dropped off a load of vegetables, "do you have any experience?"
Rex nodded. He was used to helping out with Auntie Corinne in the kitchen when prepping meals for the orphanage.
"Alright. Get those chopped up. There's a whole basket of them over there. Once you're done bring them over to me. You'll be bringing the prisoners their meals after."
Rex nodded and got to work. Honestly… was this considered an arduous punishment? The way professor Hunter had put it made this sound like the worst. This wasn't so bad. Maybe he was just used to work and everyone else was spoiled. That actually wasn't impossible given how many people complained about the workload.
Then again, he also complained about the workload as well.
Though despite his experience, it still took him a while to get through everything. It did let his mind wander though. What kind of prisoners would have been locked in here? Surely if they were committing crimes against the Praetorium, they'd have to be the worst people in Alrest.
He shuddered, maybe that was the difficult part, delivering food to those people. Okay, again, why the heck did he think this was a good idea?
Okay, calm down. They didn't have access to Ether and he was on the other side of the bars. He'd be fine. This was community service, he was doing a good deed. There was no need to be so worried. What's the worst that could happen?
He sighed. Who was he kidding? This was utterly terrifying. Yeah… he didn't think he was going to take jobs here anymore. Well, maybe… it depends on how well this goes.
He eventually finished up with the veggies and did as he was instructed. He loaded up a cart with a bunch of plates of awaiting food, as well as a stack of trays and a bucket of silverware. Though to his mild surprise again, it wasn't just unappetizing mush. He probably should have realized since he had literally just been cutting fresh vegetables for ingredients, but he was still taken off guard to see actually decent looking food.
His breathing quickened with his heart rate as he was shown through the halls to the area where the prisoners were actually held. He was instructed to put everything onto a tray then push it through the small slot at the bottom of the bars and in what order to serve the cells in.
Then he was let into the hall with all the prisoners.
Though his panic soon proved to be unwarranted. Most of the people there… were just people. Mostly Indoline, which made sense, but there was a fair spread of people from all over. It seemed like a lot of them were refugees, which didn't quite sit right with him. Sure, it was likely that they stole, which was the reason why they were here. But why couldn't the Praetorium have given them enough so they wouldn't have to steal?
Then again, he didn't know the actual reason as to why they were all in there so he couldn't really say much.
He slowly worked his way through the cells, exchanging some small talk with the prisoners as he went. He ended up finding himself making small talk with a lot of the prisoners, much to his surprise. He exchanged stories, and brought news of the outside world, what was going on in Alrest.
Most didn't talk about why they were in there though. There were a few claiming that they had been framed, but Rex wasn't sure what to believe. At long last he reached the final cell. He paused for a second to take a break and took the moment to take a glance in.
In it, sat a Gormotti girl. Oddly enough, she was sitting on the floor of the cell and not on her bed like most of the other inmates. She was sitting in a fetal position, her face tucked between her knees with her arms holding everything together. She wore an odd yellow jumpsuit with a belt that had obvious sheaths for daggers but those had obviously been confiscated. Her silvery hair was kind of long, reaching down to her shoulders and looked like it had been unkempt for a while with how much of a mess it was.
He knelt down to get the last plate, only to find that he was out of food.
"Oh shoot, uh, sorry. They must've miscounted. Sorry about that, I'll go and-"
"Don't bother," the Gormotti girl said without moving from her position, "they counted right."
"Huh? I can just go and check."
She didn't respond.
"O-okay then," Rex said. He wheeled the cart away back to the kitchen.
"Hey, uh, sir?" Rex asked the head chef, "I think I was short a plate. I was missing one for the last cell?"
"Oh that? You don't need to worry about that. Your work for today is done. Now, is there something you need me to sign?"
"H-huh? But what about the girl there?"
"You don't need to concern yourself with that thing."
"Thing?"
"Oh, you don't know? That's a Flesh Eater. Apparently, that one ate the daughter of its Driver. We've been given orders not to feed her."
A Flesh Eater… He had only ever heard stories. How they would consume their Drivers and gain immense powers. How they would destroy everything they came into contact with.
"I thought there weren't any Flesh Eaters left."
The chef shook his head, "I tell this to every kid who works here. I'd keep this on the down low. The Praetorium doesn't expressly require it to be secret but there's a reason they work fast with Flesh Eater cases. Keeps the people from panicking. This one here has been here for nearly a decade. It happened in a major city on Gormott called Eschell. They worked quickly to bring it to justice before things could spiral out of control."
"Oh. But why shouldn't she be fed? Don't Flesh Eaters have human organs that they need food for?"
"Technically yes, but this one's a special case. It's been misbehaving so we were told to cut off food as punishment. Instead, they let enough Ether in so any damage done is healed."
Rex cringed, "isn't that inhumane?"
The chef laughed, "inhumane? That thing isn't human. It's a cannibal that used the people who trusted it as fuel for personal power. Plus, it's out of my paygrade to question anyways. Now, you need something signed right? Give it here and get outta here."
…
Hm. With how long it took me to get through this chapter, I'm left feeling unsure of how good it is. Both in terms of writing quality and in terms of how interesting a story premise it is.
Starting out with Rex right away. Brandon's still here, different origin this time though. He's just a professor, born and raised in Alrest. So he's a bit older here as well. This time though, the perspective will stay on Rex. Brandon will have some importance, not quite to the same extent as my other stories though where he's either the protagonist or a fairly important secondary character. In here, he'll help out a bit, then he'll be a background character for most of the story.
