The Aegis Awakens

/Chapter Six; Aptitude/

Despite the fact that he knew that Regan was hiding something, Malos talked with her and the other Regan until morning. When he awoke, he noticed that he and Nia were the first ones awake. Regan was still asleep, and he decided against waking her. The Gormotti was currently stretching, and she let out a yawn. She did not seem to be aware that he was also awake.

He honestly had not spoken to her even once, but he was curious as to why she would have been with Mythra to begin with. Nia seemed nice, and it seemed likely that she had not been made fully aware of just what Mythra had planned on doing along with Jin. The Aegis watched her for a moment before he finally let out a sigh and got up.

Initially, he had no plans to tell anyone about his injured shoulder...since it would definitely raise more questions that he would really rather not have to answer. After a moment of consideration, he decided to ask Nia to heal him before the others would wake up. Despite his muscular and tall build, Malos could be surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be.

Nia turned to face him but nearly took a step back in surprise as she saw him walking towards her. She almost looked a bit frightened, not that Malos blamed her for that, as he approached. "Do you want something?" The girl asked as he had stopped walking towards her. Hesitation flickered over his expression for a moment before he finally nodded.

"I need something to be healed...it's starting to annoy me," Malos informed her as he revealed his bruised shoulder, which definitely looked to almost be dislocated. The Gormotti just stared at his shoulder for a moment, and she looked genuinely confused. After a couple more seconds of silence, Nia's eyes suddenly widened.

"But you're a Blade...and that injury is the exact same as Rex's..." Malos nodded in response, and he knew that he would have to explain. She followed him a little farther from the camp, so no one else could see the truth. "Okay, are you goin' to explain what's goin' on...?"

"Sharing half my life force with Rex did not just bring him back to life...it essentially tied our lives together. Basically, if he dies... I die too."

She was still silent before she looked down at Dromarch, who did not say anything but he nodded at her. "So, you share injuries...? That's...incredible. I've never heard of such a thing before. Is this just an Aegis thing?" Malos once again nodded his head.

Nia said nothing more and just started healing his shoulder. It was a bit strange to him, considering that it was actually his first time being healed. As she healed him, he felt something odd, the energy that was not coming from her Blade. His eyes widened in realization, but he did not say anything at first.

"Okay... Does that feel better?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, then... Um, do you plan on tellin' Rex about this?" Nia asked, and she looked surprised as Malos shook his head.

"But...shouldn't he know about this? I mean, he should definitely know that any lethal injury could potentially kill the both of you."

He shrugged before he started walking back towards the camp. Malos knew that she had no reason to keep it a secret and that she would tell Rex unless he could find something to hold above her head. Luckily for him, he had already figured out just what he could use. The Aegis all of a sudden just stopped and tilted his head back in her direction.

"Let's keep this between us, alright? Otherwise...I just may let your little secret slip." Malos stated, and he saw her eyes widen even more than they had earlier.

"What, how do you...?"

He said nothing back and simply continued to walk back to camp.

•°•°•

It took barely any time to get back to camp considering they had not gone very far away from it. When he returned, he found Regan putting on her armor. Malos paused for a moment and took note that her hair was now tucked into a braid. He honestly could not really blame her for that, since the length of her hair could definitely cause some trouble for her.

"You have fun with Nia?" She asked after she had finished putting on her armor, and he almost stepped back in response to the sudden question. Malos had not even realized that she had noticed his presence. The Elf turned to face him, and he honestly could not decipher her current expression. It was completely unknown to him just what exactly that expression meant.

"What do you mean...how long have you been awake...?" He questioned, and he realized that she had likely been awake since he had woken up.

"Long enough to hear about your injured shoulder... You ever planning on telling Rex about this?" She questioned; however, Regan's expression indicated that she already knew his answer.

"No...it's better if he isn't aware of this."

The scoff she let out told him that she was not happy with his response. Regan seemed very upset about something, and he almost felt a bit wary at the harsh look in her eyes. "Really now? Tell me, what's he supposed to think when he inevitably finds out? How the hell is he supposed to trust you, if you won't even tell him the truth?"

"He won't find out."

She glared at him in response, "Sure he won't..."

"He won't... Anyway, I could say the same about you." Malos stated, and he crossed his arms.

"That's different..."

He shook his head, "Is it really that different? At the end of the day, you're lying to him just as much as I am."

Her face turned red as she spoke, "So? I have my reasons for not telling him." She said, and she did not notice that Nia and Dromarch had witnessed the argument.

"Yeah...and I have my reasons for not telling him the truth. It's no different... outside of the fact that you've apparently known Rex for two years, yet you still hide it from him." He stated, but she said nothing now. Malos had no idea what had caused this argument to occur, and he found himself wondering if he had said something wrong.

"Is something wrong, Regan...? I know I can be blunt sometimes, but you know I don't mean any harm by it." It was his best attempt at an apology; however, he got the feeling that it was not enough.

"You...you really think that's what I'm upset about? Malos...you have no clue what I'm mad about, do you...?" Regan asked him as she looked down at the ground.

"What?"

She looked back up at him and let out a sigh. "I thought she was joking about how oblivious you can be sometimes..." Regan muttered quietly before she spoke again. "It doesn't matter... I'm sorry for getting all worked up over that." She stated before she suddenly flinched in apparent pain. Malos looked her over and quickly spotted the cut on the right side of her face.

Much like the previous time, the cut looked like it had just appeared. He knew the truth now, but it did not make it any less weird to say injuries just appearing when she had not even been touched by anything. It would be less strange, if the man she called Ethan was here with them, as at least then they would know what caused him to get injured.

"Shit..." Regan said softly before she raised her hand and touched the cut gently. She winced a bit but let out a relieved sigh as she realized that the wound was not that serious. She would still need to get Nia to check it out, but she knew it was just a minor injury. Malos just gave her a concerned look, but she shook her head at him.

"I'm fine, Malos...it's nothing."

She looked around for a moment before she noticed that Azurda was awake and presumably stretching his wings. Her eyes darted down to Rex, who was surprisingly still asleep. She let out a sigh before she grabbed something out of the pouch that hung from her belt.

The way she was standing now, Malos could not see just what she was holding in her hand. He saw her ask Azurda something quietly and after a moment of talking with each other, Regan finally gave Azurda the object she was holding. All he could see was the soft blue glow coming from it, and he could only guess what it was. Regan then walked over to Rex's currently sleeping form.

"Rex, time to wake up."

•°•°•

"I think it's about time that we out. We should probably try to find a town first." Rex stated before he looked around the area that they had made their camp in. "But before that.. Anyone have any idea where we are?" He asked and looked at Nia as she spoke.

"This is Gormott, a province of the Ardainian Empire," Nia told them. "You must've seen the Gormott Titan before?"

"Yeah. Only from a distance, though."

"We're somewhere around its belly," Nia stated.

"So this is Gormott, huh?" Rex asked, and he looked at Nia for a moment. He examined her features for a couple of seconds before his eyes focused on her cat-like ears. His eyes widened, "Wait, hang on a minute... Nia, your ears, are you Gormotti?"

Nia crossed her arms, "Well done, genius. Took ya long enough." She stated, and Dromarch took to explain it a little more.

"Gormott is the land of my lady's birth."

"Wow, that's reassuring."

"If we want to find a town, the first step is to get out of this forest. Then, we keep heading up and we'll hit the plains soon. The town's that way."

"Alright then," Rex said before he started walking ahead of everyone.

The Elf sighed and started following him. With everything that had everything, part of her felt that she was just being paranoid. She had a bad feeling, but she had no idea what was to happen nor if she could do anything to prevent it. Regan hoped that her gut feeling was wrong and that nothing would happen.

"You okay?" Eva asked softly as she perched herself on her Driver's shoulder. Her Driver said nothing and simply nodded her head in response. She knew that Eva would not believe that, but she refused to tell Blade the truth. It would only serve to upset Eva, and that was not something that Regan wanted.

"You think we can make it up there?" Rex asked as he looked up and at the large mass of vines that could act as something to help them reach the top of the ledge. He was surprised when Regan walked past him and easily managed to climb her way up the vines and pulled herself up and over the ledge.

"Regan...?"

"I'm okay. It's not that hard of a climb." She stated, and Rex did note that she had climbed it with minimal effort. It was likely that she had done this often enough to where it barely affected her.

"I mean, it's not that far..." Rex responded before he started climbing up the vines to catch up with her. The climb, much like she had said, was not that difficult. Despite the ease of the climb, Regan still held her hand out to him once he was right at the top. He accepted it and looked down as Eva simply flew up fluttered next to Regan.

"Hey, that's not fair..." Rex said to himself quietly before he watched as Malos started climbing the vines. It could be just his imagination, but Malos seemed to have a bit of trouble while climbing the vines. It was likely due to the weight of his armor, but Rex could not be too sure.

"Okay... How are we gonna get Dromarch up here?" Regan asked after all of them except for Dromarch were now at the top.

"It's alright. I can climb it." The Blade stated before he somehow managed to climb up the vines. He took a little more time than the rest of them did, but that definitely was to be expected. Once Dromarch made it to the top, all of them headed further up and through a tunnel.

They had to take out some hostile Arachno in the tunnel, but they successfully managed to get out of the tunnel. Once they exited the tunnel, they were greeted by a gorgeous landscape. In the distance, they were able to see the town that Nia was referring to.

"That's quite a nice view, I have to admit," Malos muttered quietly as his eyes scanned th visible landscape. It had been about five hundred years since he had been to Gormott, so it had obviously changed quite a bit since he had last seen it.

"It is." The Elf responded, and he now realized that she was standing next to him. Despite their earlier argument, she no longer seemed to be upset. Something was still off about her, but he was relieved that she at least was not mad at him anymore.

"That's Torigoth. The largest city in Gormott." Nia explained as she motioned in the direction of it.

"I'll take you into the town and show you to the inn. After that...I'm afraid you're all on your own." She almost looked a bit sad as she said this; however, it seemed that she was determined that it would be this way.

"On our own... You're not coming with us?" Rex questioned as he turned to face Nia.

"Of course. I thought even you'd know why I can't be seen with you." The Gormotti stated, and Rex looked confused at this.

"Because you're supposed to be one of them...?"

"To be honest, I haven't known them very long... Even so, they're still my crew." Her words seemed strained, so it was a wonder as to why she would force herself to say them. Rex was baffled at this, wondering how the hell she could still consider them her crew considering how quickly they had turned on her.

"Your crew? Even after they tried to kill you...?" He questioned, and she looked down at the ground in response to this.

Her demeanor indicated that she had been closely attached to them and found it difficult to simply discard them. Despite this hesitation, she had still protected them...so Regan found herself unable to be mad at Nia. The Elf knew what it was like to trust someone so deeply and how hard it was to simply let go.

"That as may be...but they're the closest thing I have to a family."

"Nia..." Rex said softly, but she cleared her throat and changed the subject.

"Anyway, we should go ahead and get to the city." The Gormotti told them before she started walking down the path they were on. Everyone else followed while looking around at the scenery. The wide-open plains were filled with various different animals, along with lots of plant life. It was beautiful, yet it was also deadly. While some of the creatures were passive, many were hostile and attacked on sight.

They made a lot of progress and were nearing the city before a cry for help caught everyone's attention. "Come on, we should try to help them," Rex stated as he made his way to the source of the noise. After they found the source, they discovered a Nopon being attacked by a few Volffs. They quickly took out the Volffs and started to talk to the Nopon.

"Hey, there... Are you hurt?" Regan asked as the Nopon got up and looked at all of them.

"No. Tunini is unhurt, thanks to all of you. Volffs attacked Tunini while on way to Torigoth." The Nopon stated, and Rex raised a brow at that.

"Huh... By the way, why were you heading to Torigoth? Are you a merchant?" He asked.

"Tunini was heading to Torigoth with an Armu laden with Gormotti makeup that is sure to be a big hit in the shops!" The Nopon explained, and she suddenly grabbed something and gave it to them.

"Here's fine samples of products as thanks for helping Tunini." The Nopon said, and Rex nodded in thanks before tucking the items into his bag.

"It's no problem. Just try to keep out of danger from now on." Rex advised and then offered the Nopon a smile before turning around. He paused as he noticed Malos standing there. The Blade was watching him, a strange look in his eyes. Rex could not be sure, but Malos almost looked to be recalling something. The Aegis said nothing and after a moment of watching Rex, he suddenly let out a huff and looked away.

"What did I do...?"

Rex questioned as Malos walked past him and in the direction of Torigoth. The boy glanced over at Regan, who simply shook her head at him. "Just leave him be, Rex." She said simply before she patted Rex's shoulder and quickly followed after Malos with Eva hovering by her side the whole time. The fifteen-year-old sighed before Nia and he followed them.

•°•°•

"The Cloud Sea has risen...so the area we started off in is off limits now... Right, Nia?" Rex asked as they had now arrived just outside of Torigoth. The Gormotti nodded in response and nodded towards the Cloud Sea. The tide had indeed risen to the point to where their starting point was inaccessible at the moment.

"That's right. The Gormott Titan is very sensitive to the changing tides of the Cloud Sea, much like Mor Ardain and Elvuen." Nia answered, and Rex nodded.

"I see." The fifteen-year-old said before he turned to Regan. "Hey, Reg... What is Elvuen like?" He asked, and Regan raised a brow at him.

"Well, Elvuen's climate is much like Gormott's. The forest there was pretty much where I spent all my time as a child...but over the years, the Elvuen Titan has become much hotter and there are fewer trees than before. It's not nearly as hot as Mor Ardain, but it's hotter than Gormott for sure."

"Oh... Maybe we can go there one day."

The Elf smiled at that, "Yes, one day. For now, though, we have more important priorities." The boy nodded in agreement to that and looked at Malos to see if the Blade had anything to say. He swore that he could see a smile on Malos' lips, but it did not last long enough for Rex to be sure. Rex wondered why Malos did not speak that often, especially since they had escaped from the ancient ship.

"This is Torigoth, huh? It's pretty awesome." Rex said as they paused at the entrance to Torigoth.

"Agreed." The Elf stated, and she looked at Nia as the Gormotti spoke.

"It hasn't changed a bit..." Nia looked down at the ground with a sad look in her eyes.

"Nia?" Regan asked, and Nia quickly looked up from the ground. The Gormotti quickly shook her head.

"It's nothing."

The Elf looked like she did not believe it, but she decided to just leave it alone. Nia cleared her throat, "C'mon. I'll show you to the nearest inn, then I'm outta here." The Gormotti stated before she started walking into the city. The rest of them followed her and made their way into Torigoth.

On their way in, Nia paused as she passed three wanted posters that were pinned to the notice board. The poster on the left was of Jin, the one in the middle was of Pyra, and the one on the right was...Nia herself. She was not surprised to see their wanted posters at all; rather, she was shocked to see that her face was portrayed much more like Dromarch's than it was in reality.

"What the bloody hell is this?! Don't tell me this is supposed to be me!" She exclaimed, which caused the others to stop and look to see just what exactly had upset her.

"A remarkable likeness to say the least," Dromarch stated but quickly regretted it as Nia glared at him.

"Oi, did you say something?"

Her Blade flinched and shook his head, "Ah, no... I'm afraid they must've inflated our countenances, my lady. How very awful..." Nia made a sound that very much resembled that of a hiss and tore up the poster with her nails until it practically shredded.

"What was that about...?" Rex questioned as Nia walked past him. The Gormotti did not get far before she suddenly stopped as spotted a large group of people. Some Ardainian soldiers were in the center of them and standing behind a table. On the table, sat a Core Crystal.

"What's going on?" Rex asked as he saw all the gathered people.

Nia sighed, "Driver recruitment."

He turned to her, "Driver recruitment?"

"Recently, they've been recruiting from all over." She explained before Dromarch spoke after her.

"The pool of potentials is ever waning. They must've run out of candidates in the military." The beast Blade informed them.

"What do mean potential...?" The fifteen-year-old questioned.

"Just see for yourself," Nia said and led them closer to the crowd. The Ardainian soldiers, just like Nia said, we're currently trying to recruit Drivers. They watched an older man shoved a younger one to the ground and stomped forward and touched the Core Crystal. Regan cringed as she watched and suddenly looked away as a horrible feeling hit her. His screams of pain let her know that he did not successfully resonate with the Core Crystal.

"Yeah... he's done for," Nia said sadly.

"Indeed," Azurda stated.

Regan opened her eyes as she heard a thud and saw the man's blood-stained face. Two of the Ardainian soldiers hauled the man's arms of their shoulders and hauled him away.

"All bark and no bite. What a shame." One of the soldiers said as they dragged the man's lifeless body away.

Rex looked visibly alarmed at this, "Wh-what just happened...? All that blood..."

"That is what happens when someone unqualified touches a Core Crystal," Dromarch explained, and Rex's expression became a mix of confusion and surprise.

"You need qualification to be a Driver?"

Azurda looked at the fifteen-year-old, "Perhaps 'aptitude' would be a better word for it."

The young man from earlier was suddenly called out by the Ardainian soldiers. As he went to go up to them, the children that were behind him tugged on his arms. "Listen to me. Your big bro is goin' to be a Driver...then we'll be set for life." They heard him say, but one of the kids yelled out no. He ignored it and raised his hand to the Core Crystal. Much like the previous man, he started screaming. This time; however, the scream sounded different.

"There's your aptitude," Nia stated before the young man stopped yelling and his body glowed. With a shining light, the Core Crystal transformed into a lance. He grabbed it before turning around as a common male blade materialized in front of him.

"I-I did it!" The young man called out and the children that had been trying to stop him at first, presumably his siblings, cheered at his success.

"The Core Crystal turned into a weapon?" Rex asked as the young Gormotti man was led off by the soldiers.

"That is how Blades are born, Rex," Azurda explained, and the fifteen-year-old glanced at Malos in confusion.

"But when I touched Malos Core-"

Nia shook her head at him and cut him off, "He's a special case. Malos is the Aegis, remember?" Rex nodded to her words so she continued, "So the usual rules don't apply. All that stuff about sharing his life force...it's not exactly normal."

"Wait... What does the 'Aegis' even mean? Jin and Mythra, they called Malos that too."

The Gormotti girl shook her head, "I dunno. All I know is that it's some kind of legendary Blade... Why don't you just ask him yourself?" Rex looks over at the Aegis, who was still watching the crowd of people.

"Come on. No point in sticking around for the enrollment ceremony and all that boring stuff." Nia stated before she walked away and started heading to a fewer people filled part of town.

"Uh, Malos...?" The fifteen-year-old tried as he realized that the Blade was not following. Malos turned to face him mad simply walked past without saying anything. The boy let out a sigh before he quickly followed his Blade and the others.

They walked for a little while before they paused as they found themselves in a quiet area without anyone to bother them. Rex decided that it was time to ask more questions as he could not help but be curious. "Core Crystals turning into Blades. Drivers resonating with the Core Crystals to create those Blades...it's all pretty amazing when you think about it."

"We Blades start out formless, anchored to the world only by our Core Crystal. Only the touch of potential allows for us to have form and being. And it is by those forms, we come to be known." Rex was a little surprised that the explanation came from Malos, but he was glad that Blade was not just ignoring him.

"Blades come in all shapes and sizes. Some human-shaped, some not." Dromarch told them, and Nia spoke after him.

"Some people say that the shape of the Blade depends on the kind of person that the Driver is."

"So you see, Rex, it is perhaps the fated touch of a Driver that allows the Blades to exist at all." The Titan explained, and Rex raised a brow at that.

"Huh... Why does it happen it that way though?"

Azurda shook his head, "Now, that is something that no one knows. It's just the way that it's always been." He explained, and Rex nodded.

Up until now, he had not really thought about just how odd his resonance with Malos really was. From what little he knew before becoming a Driver, he was aware that Blades were not supposed to already have a body when you resonate with them. It was still amazing to see it in person, but it was also horrible to think that it could lead to death if the person does not have the proper aptitude.

He knew that it likely meant that Malos already had a Driver but the actual location of said Driver was unknown to him. If that was the case, though...why would Malos allow Rex to become his Driver. Not only that but he also gave half of his life force up. It also made little sense to him as to what Malos being the Aegis actually meant. All he knew was that Jin and Mythra clearly wanted what Malos had...his power.

"Halt, don't move!" The group was stopped in their tracks as soldiers from both in front and behind them showed. "You have an enemy in your midst. That's an enemy of the state, a member of Torna." The captain stated as he looked pointedly at Nia.

"Nia...a member of Torna?" Rex questioned, but they started talking again without answering the boy's question.

"It's her, no doubt about it. Gormotti Driver, white beast-form Blade. She looks exactly like the wanted poster."

"What wanted poster?" Rex asked, and the captain answered his question.

"Take a look for yourself." The captain said and showed all of them the wanted poster.

"Yeah, it really does." The fifteen-year-old said but flinched as Nia threw a glare in his direction.

"Oi, watch it!"

"Actually, it doesn't look anything like-" Rex quickly cut himself and realized that apologizing to Nia was not his biggest priority at the moment.

"Wait, this doesn't matter right now. Who cares if it looks just like her?" Nia let out a noise reassembling a hiss, and he honestly felt a little bad for basically insulting her.

"You must be a Driver too. What's your registration number?"

Rex felt confused, honestly having no clue just what the man was asking for. "Uh...3246..." He tried, already knowing that it was most likely completely wrong.

"Knock it off, you fool. No number must mean that you must be an illegal Driver."

•°•°•

After successfully managing to knock out all of the soldiers except for the captain, they took the opportunity to try to run away. They made it to an exit that had been previously blocked off by some of the guards; however, just as they were about to leave blue flames blocked their path.

"What, blue flames?" Rex questioned before a voice quickly interrupted him.

"Such a commotion and here I was thinking that I could finally get some peace and quiet." A blue-haired woman stated, and she held two long sword-like weapons in her hands. Her Core Crystal, in the shape of a flame, shone in the center of her chest. Her hair honestly looked to be on fire, with the two buns glowing with the same blue flames that lit up the end of her hair. Her dress, while revealing, looked to very much suit her.

"A Core Crystal... Is she a Blade? Where's her Driver...?" Rex questioned as he realized that it did not appear that her Driver was anywhere near at the moment.

"My Driver is otherwise engaged at present... I am here alone." The Blade stated, which confirmed Rex's suspicions.

"No Driver...?"

The captain chuckled at them, "Lady Brighid is the jewel of Mor Ardain, the strongest Blade in the empire. Even alone, she's more than a match for you."

He then turned towards Brighid, "Lady Brighid, these Drivers are terrorists from Torna. Please lend me your power so we can bring them to justice."

Brighid did not respond to him at first and simply looked at Malos, although her eyes still appeared to be closed so it was hard to believe that she could even see him. "That amethyst Core Crystal... Could it really be true?" She questioned before she turned her head in Regan's direction. Her expression changed for a second, but she quickly changed it and looked towards the captain.

"Captain Padraig, you do not kill them. Take these ones in alive." She ordered before raising her weapons and putting herself in a fighting stance.

Regan winced a bit, already fully aware of just how Brighid fought and just how powerful she really was. The Blade was definitely no pushover and dodged most of the attacks they threw at her. Even the attacks that did hit her; however, were quickly healed up. No matter how much they managed to do, any damage she took did not matter since she was a Blade.

"She repelled our attack...she's so strong..." Rex said after a few moments of attempting to fight her, and Malos nodded in agreement. Recognition was present in his expression, and he looked over at Regan instinctively. She was uninjured, but that did not change the fact she was evidently upset at something.

"And this is without a Driver," Azurda commented before Nia a Dromarch suddenly lunged at Brighid.

"Who cares how strong she is?! Quit your yammering and just get her." She yelled, but she looked in horror as a glowing net shot into the air and hit Dromarch. Nia had no time to do anything besides saying Dromarch's name before she herself was captured in another net.

"Nia, Dromarch!" Rex called out but another net being shot into the air caught his attention. The net was heading straight towards Eva, who had not taken notice of it as she was busy attempting to find a way to help Nia and Dromarch out of the nets that confined them. Her Driver took quick note that Eva would be captured and quickly shoved her to the ground.

"Regan!" The fifteen-year-old yelled in unison with Eva as Regan was too caught in a net.

"Dromarch..." Nia muttered quietly as she struggled against the net. The Elf did the same before she realized that it was pointless. Her bond with Eva was practically non-existent at this point, and she knew that any struggle was futile.

"That there is an ether net. Let's see you use your precious arts when you can't take in ether from the atmosphere." Captain Padraig informed them and watched as they helplessly shrugged in the nets.

"Just go Rex, save yourself," Nia told him as he attempted to move closer in order to help them.

"I'm not just going to abandon you!"

Nia shook her head, "You've got your own problems, now take Malos and Eva and get out of here." She said and when Rex went to object she spoke again, "No buts, now go." He still looked hesitant, so Regan said something to him.

"We'll be fine, Rex, trust me... Now, get out of here." She told him, and Rex finally relented. The fifteen-year-old and Malos were unable to move before Brighid caused a circle of flames to appear around them.

"You won't escape." She told them, and Malos scoffed at that.

"You so sure about that, Brighid? This isn't the first time we've fought, but you were a lot stronger last time I have to say." Brighid looked confused at this, and Malos took the opportunity to grab his sword from Rex and sent a dark slash at her. Despite the fact that it had temporarily distracted her, she still managed to repel his attack.

"C'mon, kid, we need to find a way out of this. You got any ideas?" The Aegis asked, and Rex shook his head. Malos let out an annoyed sigh, but he honestly was not sure how they could get out of this. He just watched as Brighid approached them, while carefully watching for an opening to escape. Brighid took a couple more steps towards them before something shot out from behind them and hit the pipe between them and her.

"W-water...!" Brighid exclaimed as the burst pipe doused her in water, which caused the blue flames surrounding Malos and Rex to dissipate.

"Malos, now!" The Aegis said nothing before moving so Rex could grab the hilt of the sword as well.

"Shadow buster!"

The sword glowed with dark ether, and they brought the sword down and Brighid barely managed to block it. This gave them the opportunity to escape, and Malos gave the sword back to Rex as they ran away from the scene.

"That's right, Rex... run and never look back," Nia said softly as Malos and he ran out of sight. The soldiers quickly ran after the two; however, Brighid stayed behind.

"You mind telling me what you're doing here with a wanted terrorist?" Brighid questioned as she walked over to where Regan was confined in the net.

"Just give me a chance to explain, please...? I need to talk to Mòrag." Brighid let out a sigh.

"I suppose that's fair...but you'll have to wait until lady Mòrag gets here. She should be here by tomorrow."

Regan nodded, ignoring the look that Nia was giving her. "Thank you... Anyway...despite the circumstances, it's nice to see you again, Brighid."

"Good to see you too."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•

*Bonus Scene*

"You sure this is the place?" Ethan asked, his dark brown eyes looking back at Regan in question. The shorter Elf nodded in response and took another look around the area. They were currently standing in front of a fairly large cabin, which was located in the deep forest.

"You really think he's in there?" The male Elf then asked, while he carefully opened the front door to the cabin after he had looked through the windows. Regan nodded and bit down on her lip as she felt a sense of dread. Every part of her was screaming danger, but she could not simply allow this opportunity to slip away. The scent of blood was strong in the house, and she could help but feel sick to her stomach.

"Can you check the rooms in the right? I'll check the ones on the left." He seemed a bit hesitant but nodded as he realized that it was a rhetorical question.

They checked each room, there were four in total. The first room she checked was empty, but the second room was far from vacant. The wooden floor of the room was stained with blood, and it looked very recent. The blood-stained floor had one person currently lying on it. Their chest and stomach were coated with blood, while their light armor had been significantly damaged. The worst part of it all...Regan knew this person, who was very clearly deceased.

"A-Addy..." She muttered at first, unable to say anything else to the limp body of her once very close friend. The person's strawberry blonde hair was coated and matted with blood and there was a wound on the back of their head. Regan had no idea what to do...one of her closest friends was now lying dead in front of her, and she could do nothing to change that. Tears slipped down her cheeks before she gently closed her friend's lifeless, hazel eyes.

She had no doubt about who had done this; however, she had hoped that he would at least have shown mercy to his own sister. Clearly, even Addy could not stop her brother, despite how hard she had tried. This was not his first murder, but Regan was determined that it would be the last. First, she had to find him. Considering how recent Addy's death was, it was likely that he was not far.

Regan got up from the floor and went to call out to Ethan. She stopped as she heard a strange sound in the room across from the one she that she was in. Only seconds after, a thud was heard as something or someone fell to the floor. She was regretting her decision to have their Blades keep a lookout on the outside of the cabin and wished that they were in here too. She could try to go get them, but that would give him time to escape.

She carefully approached the room and placed her ear close to the door to listen. Regan heard nothing except for pained moans on the other side. Despite her best judgment, she opened the door. The Elf let out a gasp of shock as she spotted Ethan lying on the floor with blood staining his very light armored chest. "Ethan, w-what-"

He tried to speak but coughed instead, and she noticed that he was looking at something...or someone. Regan had instinctively stepped further into the room and had essentially set herself up to be grabbed. Unfortunately, the person grabbed her before she could react and held a dagger to her throat. The dagger was wet, and Regan had no doubt that Ethan's blood was what was drenching the dagger.

"Been a while huh, Regan?" She closed her eyes in response, unable to bring herself to respond. Regan knew that it was all her fault for dragging Ethan into his...and because of her, Ethan was going to die. A couple of weeks was not a long time to know someone, but she had developed a bond with him...one that made her feel horrible since she could have just left after he had saved her.

"Ethan, I..." The words caught in her throat.