Chapter 10: Proper Friends

School's started again. Going to be really busy for me for a while but with the high from Xenoblade 3 being announced still going, I think I can keep getting chapters out for a little while longer.

And also, even if it's a critical review, as long as it's constructive I'd like to receive them. I want to know what to do to make a better story. Is the dialogue believable and entertaining? Are the characters acting in character? Are there any big plot holes? Is the plot decently paced? Are there any jarring or out of place plot points?

For those of you interested in Smash, watched Smash Ultimate Summit, that was cool. Sparg0 finally beat Leo and won a major, whoo. I also watched Collision and Sparg0 took that as well. It may be a bit early to call but I think we're on the cusp of crowning a new king of Ultimate.

…

Brandon awoke with a raging headache. Nia had invited him to go drinking the previous night and he agreed like a moron. Maybe he should have gone drinking with Rex when he asked. He didn't drink before since he witnessed a lot of soldiers go too hard on the drinking and were basically out of commission for the next morning because of hangovers. And now he was feeling it full force.

He honestly wasn't entirely sure how or why Nia asking had managed to convince him. He was in a good mood and felt like they clicked pretty well but he hasn't gone drinking even with Rex or his security team before. He always justified it as wanting to be fully in control over all his actions and remembering everything he did, but for some reason that just went out the window last night.

Ugh. He really felt like he was dying. He remembered that drinking water was supposed to help so he grabbed the bottle that he vaguely remember setting up the previous night and took a long drink. He didn't notice any immediate difference but he supposed it might take a bit. He groggily got up and stumbled his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He was grateful that they had been given such nice accommodations, he was worried that they'd be put in the soldier's barracks but Morag had been more than generous and provided them with rooms reserved for more important guests like politicians.

He was also grateful that showers had been invented in Alrest. He was a little envious of Rex who basically just alternated between two identical salvager suits he had outside of special occasions. Meanwhile Brandon had an entire suitcase of clothes as well as a duffel bag of random items from a coat to spare glasses. Good thing glasses had been invented as well or he'd be in some trouble given he had no idea how to make a pair and how bad his eyes were. He had dropped his old pair off a Titan ship's crow's nest and they shattered when they hit the ground.

Maybe there could be a healing Blade who could heal his eyes, but as far as he was aware, healers who were that powerful were few and far between. The Core Crystals of healers that were that powerful were likely kept within wealthy and influential families and would cost an arm and a leg to obtain, probably a kidney too.

He never really thought about it before but how did Nia come to resonate with Dromarch? He was an extremely powerful unique healing Blade. Any articles about Torna that he read before said that they targeted military vessels to steal Core Crystals from. For the most part they'd be common Blades, any unique Blades would be there because they were powerhouses.

Come to think of it, he really didn't know that much about Nia. He knew she worked for Torna but he ended up giving more information about himself than she did. Hmph, she was clearly better at directing a conversation than he was.

He didn't even really know what she did in Torna. Obviously she was the medic of the group but she was still much better of a fighter than he was. What did she do to join them? She seems to have been a somewhat recent addition. He could kind of remember hearing a story about some Gormotti noble shelling out his entire fortune to obtain healing Blades. Could Nia have robbed him at some point? It did seem like one of Torna's objectives was to obtain Blades, though he had no idea what the purpose of that was since it's not like they had an army of Blades running around.

He supposed it could just be to keep the armies of different nations from expanding their Driver programs. The Praetorium alone had a massive army of warrior monks who wielded Blades and Titan weapons. Of course the Praetorium prefered to call them divine keepers. Propaganda obviously, though it may have backfired slightly as Torna seemed to target them especially hard.

He shook his head as he turned off the tap. He quickly dried off and threw on a random set of clothes and made his way over to the mess hall to get breakfast.

"Morning!" A cheerful Rex greeted from a table, waving Brandon over. He waved in acknowledgement and went to get a plate of food and a massive cup of coffee before sitting down. Pyra gave him a polite nod in greeting.

"How goes training with Morag?" Brandon asked, chugging a cup of coffee in between breaths. Apparently Morag had taken the initiative to get Rex whipped into shape given the next few days were free. She had apparently put him with the rest of the new Driver recruits she had come down to Gormott to help train and was apparently showing them no mercy.

"Rough," Rex groaned, his good mood disappearing instantly, "she's a slave driver. I guess she's not the strongest in Mor ardain for nothing. Please tell me you're almost finished with that armor of yours."

"Not even close." Brandon sighed, "guess things aren't really going either of our ways."

"Heya! What are you two doin' lookin' so depressed for?" Brandon felt Nia rest her arms on his head.

"Ugh. Remind me to not go out with you at night again."

"Pft. Lightweight."

"Whoa whoa whoa, you two went drinking?" Rex asked incredulously, "you? You haven't even gone drinking with me yet."

"Yeah. It wasn't my smartest move I admit. Nia peer pressured me and I caved."

"What? I did nothin' of the sort."

"I seem to recall you pestering master Brandon during all of dinner, my lady," Dromarch said, ever willing to poke fun at his Driver.

"Wha- Who's side are you on anyways?" Nia demanded, turning to point accusingly at Dromarch.

"I am a neutral party, my lady."

"That's a load of shite. You're supposed to be on my side." She said as she sat down at the table.

Brandon snorted, "clearly Dromarch is on the side of reason. I like that."

Nia snorted, "and what happened to hating Blades?"

Brandon opened his mouth to retort but was suddenly faced with the withering stares of the two Blades present.

"You… hate Blades?" Pyra seemed apprehensive asking. She was clearly fidgeting and unable to quite meet his eyes.

"I… no I…" he sighed, "look. I'm not sure what to think right now. This is the first time I've actually really interacted with Drivers and Blades for an extended period of time." He quickly thought of an excuse, "the few I've met on missions weren't exactly the friendliest of people. No offense but I kind of assumed you thought of yourselves above us regular people."

Pyra seemed to let out a sigh of relief, and Brandon definitely did internally.

"Understandable," Dromarch nodded, easing any lingering tensions, "our group presumably didn't do much to assuage your concerns. My lady herself certainly conveyed that idea."

"What? How would I convey that idea?" Nia demanded.

Brandon smiled, thankful that the conversation moved back to its more jovial pace.

"I don't know my lady. I could list a few examples for you if you wish." Dromarch said, his face neutral. Brandon was sure that if Dromarch had a humanoid face he'd be barely holding back a shit eating grin.

"I could add on a few more if what Dromarch provides is insufficient," Brandon said.

"Quite," Dromarch said, "however, I believe you have quite a few points against yourself, master Brandon."

"Urk."

Nia growled, "I say we form a mutual alliance against Dromarch," she proposed.

Brandon pretended to consider before speaking, "I respectfully decline. I like having a steady presence over your chaotic energy."

"Chaotic? What part of me is chaotic? I am a pillar of steadiness."

"Right. You sure you want to make that kind of argument with your hair looking like a bird's nest?" Brandon looked up pointedly at said hair. It was a curly mess as it always seems to be when she wakes up. He wondered why she bothered combing it down and having the little bows tied into her hair if it was so curly it popped back up in her sleep.

Nia grumbled and patted down her hair, "you shouldn't comment on a lady's hair. It's quite rude." Her ears flicked in clear annoyance.

Despite the nonchalant banter, she looked agitated. Maybe that was a touchy subject.

"Besides, you're one to talk. You barely have any hair on your head at all," she gestured to his short, near buzz cut hairstyle. "I mean, what kind of a hairstyle is that?"

"It's convenient," Brandon shot back, "why would you want to spend time on something so unnecessary?"

"I know right?" Rex said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "why would you spend time on something unnecessary." He echoed, running a hand through his hair which was spiked and styled by himself. Pyra looked up sadly at her own hair and tried to tuck a few loose strands back into place.

Brandon winced, instantly feeling horrible, "uh. I-"

"No no, no talking yourself out of that one, you dug yourself into that one," Rex said, "take the L."

"Taking the L." He said and shut up.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Nia asked, confusion replacing the annoyance. "The hell is an L?"

"It just means loss, thought that would be a bit obvious," Rex said while Brandon took the opportunity to scarf down some food, "it's slang."

"Well it's obviously slang," Nia rolled her eyes at being patronized, "I've just never heard it before. Is it salvager slang?"

"No, it's something that Brandon says a lot though."

"Oh is it?" Nia put a hand on Brandon's shoulder, "hm, where could you have learned that from?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, attempting to seem calm but he felt his heart skip a beat, "something I used before I guess."

"Mmh. I'm not sure how much longer you're goin' to play that role, but if I'm goin' to be followin' your lead, you need to trust me a bit more. Not to mention this is just a bit unfair to Rex, don't you think?" Looks like Nia's fully abandoned the subtle route.

"What're you two talking about?" Rex scowled.

Brandon sighed, "I'll… I'll tell you later." He regretted the words he said on the ancient ship. At the time he was certain that he was about to die so he spewed his thoughts without a filter. He didn't even imagine that they could become friends. But now, Nia knew there was something more going on. She wanted to know more but he didn't want to oblige. That civilization was long gone, as were the days of him living in it. To bring it up again would only bring up bad memories of something that no longer existed.

"Later when?" Nia prodded further, "later tomorrow? Or later when you're dead?"

"My lady, I think that's going a little too far," Dromarch interjected.

She looked like she was about to argue but then just sighed, "Look, I really do consider you a friend and it seems like you're bottling up something you shouldn't be. Getting it out might help." Her gaze wavered, "though I don't have much room to talk," she muttered.

"I'm fine," Brandon insisted, "you don't need to worry about me. I'm more concerned about the fact that our enemy can effectively nullify all of your Blade and Driver powers."

"Well that's another reason you're working on that armor of yours right?" Nia pointed out.

"Yeah. I just feel like we have more important issues than trying to dig up my past right?" He shrugged, trying to move the conversation along. Honestly, Nia wasn't entirely wrong. Getting everything out would probably help his mental state, though probably to an actual professional therapist. Not to a fifteen year old kid and an ex-terrorist. He wasn't sure there were professional therapists in Alrest. Alrest seemed to be somewhat behind in things like that, there was still clear segregation and massive wealth and power gaps. Mental illness and health were likely unfamiliar terms to the people of this world. Hell, in his world, mental health was something only taken seriously for a few decades at most. Before that, people were called lazy or were told off for trying to get help.

"I suppose," Nia crossed her arms, "okay, how about this? Promise me that if this causes real problems, you'll come to us."

"Alright, I promise."

Nia was studying the armor Brandon was working on. Now that she was properly looking at it, it wasn't even close to resembling any Tornan technology. From what she knew, Judicium did develop onto a completely different technological path from Torna. But they still shared many design philosophies that just didn't apply to whatever Brandon was working on.

Despite how "genius" Brandon said Tora was, he was also struggling to really grasp how the armor functioned. From what she could make out from the muted conversation from the two engineers is that a lot of the mechanical bits didn't make sense to Tora. They worked on completely different designs to what he was used to. It sounded almost as if the suit didn't use Ether energy which if true was mind boggling. Everything in the world from Blades to factories used Ether energy.

Nia yelped in surprise as Dromarch shifted his position, causing her to fall off. "You bitch!" She yelled instinctively. "Sorry," she covered her mouth and blushed slightly, seeing Brandon and Tora staring at her. "What was that about?" She hissed at Dromarch as she sat up with her back resting on Dromarch's side.

"Apologies, my lady. I merely meant to shift you out of your stupor. Master Brandon was starting to give you looks every minute or so." Dromarch explained, "you were staring at their work without moving for a while."

Nia noticed her eyes stinging and blinked, "oh."

"You suspect something, my lady?" Dromarch asked in a lowered voice.

"No. It's really less suspicion than my own curiosity gettin' the better of me. Nothing really to suspect. Brandon doesn't seem like he's got any ulterior motives, seems like he's just doin' his best to protect Rex and make sure he can achieve his own goals." She sighed, "but I dunno. What I am, my own past… it's a personal issue. But what he's told me without realizing, it just rubs me the wrong way. It feels like what he's hiding could potentially be dangerous, though I don't think he'd ever intentionally harm any of us."

"I concur, my lady. He is clearly more than willing to lay down his life for you already, despite the short time you have been friends. How good of a thing that is, I am not sure."

"Is he?"

"Well clearly he has already been prepared to do so."

Nia shrugged, not entirely sure on how true that was, "he was doing it more to protect Rex. I'm pretty sure he sent me along to help protect him."

Dromarch shook his head, "he sent you with him. Rex is more used to fighting without a Blade weapon. It is actually more likely you'd have slowed him down in combat."

"Yeah well he still needed a guide through the forests of Gormott."

"That may be true. But master Rex seems like a capable young man. He would have likely been fine on his own. What would have ensured his safety was if you were with master Brandon, Akhos would have been solely focused on you two before going to track down lady Pyra."

Nia blinked, seeing the logic in Dromarch's words. Could he really have been trying to protect her as well? She scowled, that honestly kind of made her feel worse. That was all the more reason to try to learn more about his past. That kind of mindset was dangerous, a lesson she could take from her father.

She closed her eyes, letting the memories wash over her. It had been so long, but she could still clearly remember her father's face. Someone she held so much respect for but ended up working himself into the grave. She wanted to blame him for it, to curse his name for all the suffering she's been through. But she couldn't blame him for it since it was to try to save her sister.

"Hey Nia?" She heard Brandon call her name which echoed out of the metal deathtrap that he was working on.

"What?"

"Some help here? I need someone to hold this part up."

Dromarch chuckled as Nia sighed and stood up, there goes her rest time. If previous experiences with mechanic types was any indication, he'd keep asking her to hold stuff for him. She walked over and ducked down and peered through the pieces and Brandon gestured at what he was referring to. She clumsily stuck an arm through the gaps and held up the part while Brandon awkwardly screwed it into place.

"Why would you make this so hard to work on?" Nia cursed as she banged her elbow into something while extracting her arm.

"First, I'm not the one who designed this damn thing," he said, sounding equally as frustrated, "second, this was designed to be worked on in an actual workshop with the machinery specifically built to handle this stuff. I can't weld metal on precisely enough that's pieced on during assembly that the machines can."

He handed her his screwdriver which she reflexively took and then she cursed at herself for taking it. She rolled her eyes and stood back up, waiting impatiently to hand back the screwdriver and watched as he rummaged around in his toolbox.

Nia sighed and tapped a finger on the armor. "Why don't you get someone else to hold your stuff?"

"I might tell you to screw off completely if you keep making that noise," he retaliated. Nia relented and stopped tapping the armor.

"Thank you," he said, "Tora, is the battery ready yet?" He called out to the nopon who was currently standing outside fiddling with some kind of large metal brick… well she assumed it was the battery that Brandon had just mentioned.

"Not yet. Progress bar moving very slowly." The nopon responded.

"Ugh. Figures salvaged solar panels wouldn't be that efficient." Brandon pressed his palms against his eyes in annoyance. "What I would give to be able to access a proper power source."

"What exactly are you tryin' to do right now?" Nia asked, puzzled since she was observant enough to notice that the two mechanics were doing something completely different to the day before.

"The stupid battery wouldn't hold any charge so I've had to build a completely new one to replace it, which I pretty much only managed to do with Tora's help. But in order to replace it I need to open the suit up since obviously the power source would be fully armored. There are a lot of delicate and complex parts there as well that I need to be careful of as well. The battery outside that Tora's charging is to run the computer for diagnostics on this thing. Once I actually finish putting this back together, I need to make sure it's actually calibrated correctly so it doesn't just twist my spine in half when I take a step."

"... Are you sure this is safe?" Nia shifted her head back, suddenly wary of the armor potentially taking her head off.

"Perfectly. As long as I make sure it's all done correctly. Otherwise it'll break my spine."

"You're… surprisingly blase about that." Nia said.

"I'm joking. Hopefully."

"Hopefully?" Nia stared at the mechanic in disbelief.

Brandon laughed nervously, "I'm still joking. Mostly."

"You're actually insane."

"Never argued otherwise." Brandon shrugged, "besides, you're a healer. I'm sure if anything happens you can help me out."

Nia clenched a fist, "don't be so nonchalant about that. I can't stop pain."

She noticed him trace a finger over the thin scar that was left on his hand from Akhos' sword.

"And I can't reverse death either. There are limits to what Dromarch and I can do. We're not miracle workers."

"I know, I know. Just trying to keep the mood light. I doubt we'll have much of that in the upcoming days." Brandon sighed, "we are going to be fighting Torna eventually, no matter what we decide to do."

Nia grimaced. She had been trying to ignore that thought that was resting just beneath her consciousness. "... I'm sorry."

"Huh? What for?"

"I… just had a thought that when I was tryin' to get rid of you from the team… I was doin' it for purely selfish reasons but thinkin' back on it, maybe I could have saved you from this whole mess if I just pushed a bit harder."

Brandon waved a hand, dismissing the notion, "don't apologize for something like that. You wouldn't have been able to change my mind anyhow. Not to mention, Pyra would be in Torna's hands and we wouldn't have rescued you from them. This may be bad but we'd be in a much worse position than now if you had actually managed to convince me to back down."

"Surprisingly optimistic comin' from you."

"Hey, sometimes Rex's personality can rub off on me."

"Hm, is that necessarily a good thing?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes not. Makes sure I don't get too depressed though, gotta take care of my mental health, especially now. You should try it too."

"You're lecturin' me on that shite?" Nia scoffed, "after the entire scene at the mess hall?"

"Uh, do as I say, not as I do?"

Nia snorted, "nice sayin'. You come up with it yourself?"

"Uh, no. I actually don't know who came up with that idiom first. If I had to guess, probably sometime in the sixteen-" he snapped his jaw shut.

"Sixteen?" Nia tilted her head, "I'd hate to be the one to trust you with a secret."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't." Nia rolled her eyes, "but seriously, I really wish you'd just tell me what's really goin' on."

"I'm sure you'd believe me even if I did," Brandon shook his head.

"Like I said before, you'd be surprised at what I would believe."

Brandon grunted, "you sure?" He looked doubtful.

Nia nodded and considered what she could say to convince him, "how about this. For the next minute, I'll believe everything you say as true. You could tell me that eatin' dirt has health benefits and you'll see me eatin' dirt for the next few weeks."

"Even if I said something stupid like I time traveled from the future?"

"Even then."

"Ugh, you realize I haven't told anyone before. Nor have I been so inconsistent about keeping my mouth shut."

"Yeah yeah, save the excuses and get to it huh?"

Brandon growled, "you're relentless about this. You really want something that badly? Fine. I'm a survivor from Morytha."

Nia blinked, "is that it?"

"Is that- what do you mean, 'is that it?' I've been keeping that bottled up for years and that's all the response you give?"

"What? Did you want me to have some kind of grand reaction?"

"Yes! No! I don't know!" He banged his forehead against his armor, "I feel empty now. I… I expected ridicule or hate. Not… indifference."

"Okay, maybe ridicule, but why would I hate you for that?"

"First off, really? Second, I… this whole world. It's my fault. Before Alrest… the world wasn't like this. There was no struggle because the land was dying off from beneath our feet. Though wars over land weren't uncommon. We called our world 'Earth.' I was a soldier on Earth, of the Saviorite Rebellion who fought to overthrow the Coalition Government which ruled the entire world with an iron fist. It was our weapons which glassed the planet, made massive chunks of it uninhabitable. I don't know why the Cloud Sea formed or where the Titans came from but it's probably a result of the war."

"Wait… so Elysium…?"

"It's real, though it's nothing more than a man-made contraption. A massive space station and elevator built as a research station and military base. The paradise Rex is thinking of is the living quarters for the rich or powerful or important personnel. He isn't wrong though, that amount of space would be more than enough to house the entire population of Alrest with room to spare."

"What? Something man-made can fit millions of people?"

"Yeah, you don't seem to understand the scale of the Earth. At our peak, we had a population of ten billion people."

Nia fell into a stunned silence. Ten billion was a number she couldn't even begin to visualize. Even though she understood much about the human body and how they were made of trillions of cells, perks of having the knowledge of a healing blade, it wasn't something she could picture.

"Wait, so how big were your countries?"

"I'm not too sure exactly since there aren't any super accurate maps of any Titan but as far as I can tell, even the largest Titans only measure up to the size of a smaller country. The continents of my world were likely hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times larger than any Titan."

Nia put down the screwdriver she was holding with a clang onto the armor. She staggered back and sat down heavily. Brandon chuckled, though without any humor behind it, "yeah, that's more what I was expecting."

"It's just… that's insane. How did you manage that kind of population?"

"I mean, we really didn't. There were constant wars, famine, drought, pandemics, extreme wealth gaps, and more. We were constantly on the verge of one disaster away from extinction. By the time the war was nearly over, the population had shrunk by almost a billion people from a combination of all those factors."

A billion people… that alone was many times more than the entire population of Alrest. For that number of people to die in such a short timespan. Wait… something clicked.

"Core Crystals," Nia said, "and Blades. Why do you hate them so much?"

"I wasn't lying before when I said that my perspectives have been challenged. Originally, Core Crystals were created to replace human brains. Another byproduct of humanity's egotistical quest for immortality. The first people to use them mutated into mindless monsters within a few weeks. They were immediately decommissioned after that. I don't know what Blades are so I immediately assumed they were mutated humans who used the Cores. Honestly nothing challenged that assumption until recently. I have nothing against individual Blades, just their origin."

"Hmph. So you're sayin' it's nothin' personal?"

Brandon shrugged, "if you want to look at it that way, sure. But like I've said, my perspective has shifted. It's pretty clear they're all the same as us humans. Individuals with unique lives and personalities."

"You got that right." Nia snorted, "was everyone like you and judged others based on preconceived notions?"

Brandon rolled his eyes, "we don't. My world moved past those issues decades before my time. Though to be fair, a lot of the reason for that was because we were to busy focused on other things to be worried about discriminating against others. But still, no discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, you name it."

"No discrimination… huh." Nia clenched a fist over her chest. Maybe… maybe even her?

"Yeah. Not sure how people of my world would think of Gormotti, I doubt most people would really care," Brandon said, completely misinterpreting what Nia was thinking. He let out a loud laugh, "though there are some people who would have been ecstatic if catgirls existed in our world."

Nia raised an eyebrow but decided not to comment on the last part. She really wondered what a world like that would be like for her. Never having to run from persecutors. No one trying to arrest her because of what she was.

Brandon coughed, Nia noticing that he was clearly reading her hopeful expression and immediately tried to reset to her poker face. "I do have to point out that that world is long gone. It's unlikely you'll see that kind of equality in Alrest in our lifetimes. Not to mention even if you did live in that world, there are much bigger problems."

"Like… your war." Nia remembered.

"Like my war." Brandon agreed.

"What was it about, if you don't mind me askin'?"

Brandon closed his eyes, "I think I've said enough for one day."

Nia paused as if to protest but acquiesced with a nod. Honestly, her mind was still reeling from all the information that had been dropped on her and was far more than what she was hoping to get out of Brandon.

A small grin worked its way onto Brandon's face, "now your turn. No weaseling out of this one, I gave you a lot, you should return the favor."

Nia sighed and wanted to refuse but after all that, it was hard to do so. Not to mention the determined look on Brandon's face telling her he wasn't about to give up. "I-"

"Battery done!" An excited Tora announced. Nia heard a light bang and a muffled curse as it seemed Brandon had whacked his head against his armor again.

"Got it," Brandon responded and dragged himself out from under the armor and walked out to where the nopon was waiting.

Nia let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure she was ever going to be able to reveal her big secret. She honestly wasn't ready to talk about her family either but if Brandon remembered and pressed her for it, she was going to have to mentally prepare for that. She looked at her hand.

"Oi moron!" She yelled after her friend, "what the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?"

…

Like I've said before, curly hair Nia is from her concept art. It's been a headcanon of mine since I saw that concept art that her short hair is naturally curly but since her father was a lord, he'd want his daughter to have neat hair so she keeps it that way even long after his death.

Also I completely forgot just how much Brandon had already revealed about himself. I'm going to have to edit Nia's thoughts in the previous chapter to make things more consistent. But some revelations about Brandon? I'm not sure if it's too early or not but I don't really want to write another few chapters of Nia pestering Brandon. I may go back and change it later if I don't like it. But idk, I never feel fully satisfied with any chapters I write in the first place, not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

So I can actually start to put more of an actual guess on 2's location sizes now. It's mostly just guesswork on my part but since we've now seen the Urayan Titan next to the Mechonis' sword we can have a general idea of how big the Titans are. It's been said on record that the Titans combined in 1 are about the size of Japan so the size of Sword Valley is probably around that of a smaller US state. Maybe like Vermont? Maine? Something like that. Taking into account the lost portion of the sword, the Urayan Titan seems about the same size, maybe a bit bigger.

Man, I've watched this stupid trailer way too many times. A few new things I noticed on subsequent views is that it's confirmed that the odd voice line I mentioned before does actually belong to Noah and not Rex. Also for the Vandham character it says voice 1 while Melia and Nia are called voice 3 and voice 4 respectively. I can't seem to see a voice 2 so idk if that's an accident or not. Also I guess they spell it as Ouroboros. They do capitalize the O so we know it's a proper noun and not just a vague symbol. It could be anything but since 3 seems like a retelling of Xenogears and the "final" boss was a misspelled Ouroboros, it's possible that it's the name of the final antagonist. But no way to tell until we get more information. Even stuff I'm certain about, like the masked characters being Melia and Nia, could end up being completely incorrect. Also the area Vandham says is Swordmarch according to the captions so no reference to any old location, all we know is that it's where the Mechonis' sword is buried.