The Aegis Awakens
/Chapter Seven; Unexpected Skill/
As much as Rex hated abandoning Regan, Nia, and Dromarch, he knew that they had no other choice. They ran from the soldiers pursuing them, having no idea of a safe location to hide. They ran quite far before a voice suddenly called out to them. Malos and Rex stopped and quickly looked in the direction of the voice. At first, they saw nothing but a wall until a hidden door opened.
A Nopon waved to them from the hidden entrance, "Friends, over here!" The male Nopon called out and when they did not immediately come over, he called out something else. "Hurry, hurry! Before soldiers catch up!" That got both Rex and Malos' attention, so they swiftly followed the Nopon into the building. The Nopon shut the door behind them before he followed them down the wooden ramp.
The place they were now in what definitely seemed to be a house. Malos had to admit that the house was actually quite nice, even though it definitely was not the time to be admiring the decor. Then again, it was not as though they could simply go back for the others. Even if Rex was more skilled, it would still be too risky. Attacking the soldiers head-on, especially since they had the ether nets, would most certainly just result in Malos and Rex getting captured as well.
He was definitely a little worried but if Regan's calm tone when she spoke to Rex was any indicator, she was actually not that worried about the situation. Malos figured that she likely just had appeared calm for Rex's sake, but it almost seemed way too genuine to be fake. "Malos, are you okay...?" Rex's voice disrupted his thoughts, and Malos just nodded in response. The Aegis was trying not to make his emotions obvious, but the boy evidently knew something was upsetting him.
"Friends, this way!" The Nopon called out to them as he realized that they had stopped following him. They walked over to where the Nopon was standing next to a table. This stranger seemed friendly enough, but Malos knew that trusting someone took time. He had only just met this Nopon, so he was still tense.
"Whoa, we're so high up!" Rex exclaimed as he looked out a window. He took a look down at the Cloud Sea before the Nopon spoke.
"Yes. Tora just likes to sit and watch Cloud Sea sometimes." The Nopon stated, and he said something else once Rex looked back in his direction. "Anyway, my name Tora."
The fifteen-year-old nodded, "Tora, I'm Rex. This is my Blade: Malos." The words made the Aegis feel a little guilty, but he quickly brushed it away. The boy obviously felt comfortable with Malos being his Blade, but the Aegis was not sure if Rex was his true Driver. Rex definitely had the potential; however, there was still the possibility that he was not Malos' true Driver.
"Tora see."
Rex shot a curious look at Tora "So...just why did you help us, exactly?" He asked, genuinely wondering just why the Nopon had taken the risk to help them.
"Oh, Tora not like big bully soldiers. Was watching them when Tora saw friends. Tora was intending to hit soldiers with a boom biter but missed... Results not so bad though, eh?"
"You were the one that hit the water pipe? Man, that was a good shot." Rex stated, "Thanks for the help." The boy said before Tora laughing caught Rex off guard.
"Tora...?"
The Nopon shook his head before he looked at Rex. "Actually, Tora has other reason for saving you." The fifteen-year-old had curiosity in his expression as Tora spoke. "You see, Tora always wanted to make Driver friends. Then, Tora saw Rex-Rex and others."
Rex nodded before he shot a look of confusion at the Nopon. "Rex-Rex...?" He questioned, and Tora just parroted it as a statement.
"You do realize it's just Rex, right?"
The Nopon turned to face Rex, "What is the point?" Rex sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Well...nothing I guess. It's just a bit odd."
"Double name just means respect. Rex-Rex should be proud of skills as Driver."
"That's nice but...I'm not sure I've earned all that yet." The fifteen-year-old stated, looking embarrassed at the compliment.
"Rex-Rex need to have more faith in himself. Tora is a bit envious of Drivers, so is very happy to meet Rex-Rex." The Nopon was very cheery with every word but his expression suddenly changed into one of slight sadness.
"Meh meh... Tora has always wanted to be Driver... but Tora has no potential to be one." Tora explained, and Malos sighed at that. The only way someone could be sure if they had the aptitude to be a Driver or not would be to actually try to resonate with a Core Crystal. The risk of death was there but not all who failed to resonate met this fate. Some people became injured when they failed to resonate; however, the severity of such injuries varied.
"Hold on a minute, Tora, how could you possibly know if you've never-" Rex cut himself off as the realization hit him."
"You tried to resonate with one, didn't you?" Eva asked, concern present in her tone. Her voice somewhat startled Malos, as he had almost forgotten that she was there. He had not gotten the chance to talk to her, nor did he have any clue what to say to her. From what little he had seen of her so far, she definitely reminded him of someone. Malos was not sure of just who she reminded him of, but he knew that she had a very close bond with Regan.
"It was bad... Tora had a nosebleed for three days!" The Nopon exclaimed.
"Just...a nosebleed?" Rex asked, wondering what the big deal was about.
"What you mean "just"?!! People die from loss of blood you know...?" Tora that Rex had basically just dismissed his symptoms as being nothing serious.
"Yeah...but from a nosebleed?"
"Whatever," Tora said before Malos suddenly spoke.
"While it was not as severe as it could've been, blood loss from the nose is a common injury that could be deadly if the loss of blood is too great." The Aegis informed, and Rex looked away at that. The fifteen-year-old was clearly embarrassed that Malos had, in some way, essentially scolded him.
"Yeah..." Rex could not bring himself to say anything else, worried that his Blade would scold him again.
•••
"As fun as it's been talking to you, Tora, we need to save our friends," Rex stated as the Nopon tried to question him about just about everything to do with him being a Driver.
Tora paused at Rex's words, "Of course. Tora has not forgotten... First, we should eat. Trying to rescue friends on an empty belly would be a bad idea."
The young Driver shook his head, "We've got no time for that. After we save them, then we can-" The sound of Rex's stomach growling interrupted his statement.
Letting out an amused laugh, Tora lifted one of his prehensile wings and pointed towards Rex's belly. "Seems that stomach of Rex-Rex disagrees."
Sheepishly, Rex rubbed the back of his head as he looked down at the floor. "I...I can't help it, can I?" He questioned, although the question definitely seemed to be one of a rhetorical nature.
As much as he wished to go ahead and rescue the others, he knew that Tora had a point. Trying to figure out a plan on an empty stomach was a poor choice, and he knew that eating would allow for clearer and more focused thinking. Then, to Rex's surprise, Malos said something that was definitely unexpected.
"If you wish, I can cook a decent meal for us to eat. Tora, where do you keep your ingredients?" The Aegis questioned, while simultaneously ignoring the strange look Rex was currently giving him.
Tora, while he looked a little surprised, pointed towards a wooden container. The Aegis nodded and walked over to the container. His eyes scanned all the ingredients before he tilted his head back in Tora's direction "While there aren't that many ingredients here...I have something in mind." He informed and started grabbing the ingredients that he would need. Rex decided to ask him about it later and sat down at the table.
The boy had to admit that he was a bit surprised that Malos could cook; however, he definitely was not complaining. If anything, Rex was grateful and relieved. Technically Rex could cook, but he just had the basics down at that was it. Regan, despite the fact that she did indeed eat meat, seemed to prefer fruits and veggies: both cooked and uncooked. The fifteen-year-old leaned forward with his elbows on the table as he waited for Malos to finish making whatever he was currently cooking.
"Patience, Rexy... I'm sure it'll taste delicious." He looked across the table at Eva, who honestly seemed quite happy despite the situation. Rex knew she had a tendency to be happy all the time but even then, he thought that she would be more worried about Regan than he was. To be honest, Eva seemed to be very unworried about the situation. Perhaps she knew something that he did not, but it seemed strange that she refrained from informing him of it if that was really the case.
"You say that with way more confidence than I could've expected." Rex finally replied, and Eva simply smiled in response.
•••
"Here," Malos said as he set a plate of food in front of each of them. The Aegis then set one last plate down for himself, as even though Blades technically did not need food in the same way that humans did, most still ate food because it was enjoyable. To be honest, he had not been intending to sit next to Eva but something compelled him to. He still was not sure about just who exactly she reminded him of; however, he decided to worry about it once they rescued the others.
"Wow, this is delicious!" Rex exclaimed, almost startling Malos as a result. He was no stranger to being told that his cooking was good, but he had honestly thought that everyone exaggerated when they complimented his cooking skills. Even Regan had been a big fan of his cooking, as while she had been able to cook too, she never seemed to enjoy it as much as he did. Both his Driver, as well as Regan's Driver had enjoyed it as well.
"Ooh, yummy, oh super very tasty!" Tora also seemed to very much enjoy it, and Malos believed the Nopon's reaction to being genuine. From his experience, most Nopon tended to love food. Of course, not all Nopon would be exactly the same but most of them seemed to at least love both food and gold.
"This is amazing. I haven't eaten this well in a hundred fifty years." Azurda said as he happily ate the food he had been given. The Titan definitely seemed content with the food, and Malos made the decision that he would take them for their word.
"This is very good. Man, cooking has definitely never been my forte...guess I just don't have the talent for it." Eva stated, and Malos paused at the words. The words were very familiar, for they had been said by someone that had grown to consider family. It was then that Malos knew just who Eva reminded him of; however, the realization made him upset.
Even though Regan had not explicitly said it, he knew that Ant had to be dead. He knew for certain that his previous Driver was dead as well, for he had felt their connection sever during the time he had been asleep for all those years. Now, Regan was the only one left from that time that he fully trusted. He could no longer trust Jin, that was for sure.
"Malos?" Too caught up in his thoughts, the Aegis did not hear Rex calling out to him. "Malos, are you alright...?" The boy tried again, and Malos finally snapped out of it.
"Yeah." The male Blade stated, unable to find anything else to say. Rex looked worried but did not question Malos further. The boy clearly was reluctant to push Malos any further, seemingly aware that the Aegis' mood had dampened. He already had not been too cheery, to begin with, but Malos had worn a neutral expression since that morning while his expression was now one of agitation. Malos was kind of scary, Rex had to admit.
•••••••
"Special Inquisitor Mòrag, to what do we owe this amazing pleasure?" The dark-haired woman gave an unamused look to the consul. She crossed her arms behind her back as she quickly interrupted him.
"I don't stand on ceremony, Consul. I'd rather you just did your job."
"But your arrival is of utmost importance. You are His Majesty's representative-" The consul started but Brighid walking up to them caught the man off guard.
"You made impressive timing. I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow." Brighid said as she stopped in front of Mòrag.
"Ahh, Lady Brighid...!" The consul exclaimed, but both Mòrag and Brighid ignored him.
"I got here as quick as possible; however, I'm afraid the passage has taken a toll on our engines," Mòrag explained before she looked over at the consul.
"Consul Dughall, I hear that you failed to capture the Aegis and his Driver... As disappointed as I am because of that, I also heard that you instead managed to capture a Driver of Torna along with another unrelated Driver." The consul stepped back in surprise.
"How do you-" The woman swiftly cut him off.
"Is there a problem, Dughall?"
He quickly shook his head, "Ah...not at all, Your Grace." Mòrag was clearly a little annoyed.
"I wish to speak to both of the prisoners...the Torna Driver first."
The consul looked around, almost appearing to be shocked. "Why would you-"
"Dughall, I don't remember asking for your opinion." The man sighed as he realized that she was not going to change her mind.
•••
"So, you're the Torna ruffian... I must say, you do look a little different from your poster." Mòrag stated, and Nia scoffed in response.
"That's puttin' it lightly. Whoever drew that should be the one in jail." The woman nodded at that, an amused-sounding sigh leaving her.
"Ah, yes. I would be angry too."
"You can drop the friendly act." The Gormotti stated, a knowing look on her face.
"You won't name your friends?"
Nia spoke after she let out an agitated sigh, "I'm not so sure I'd call those trigger-happy Torna goons 'friends'." It was somewhat a lie, as part of her still wanted to go back to them. She knew that she was no longer welcome there, but she was upset. Nia had considered them family, yet they tried to kill her when she had protected Rex.
"Hmm, I'm afraid we have our wires crossed here... I am not talking about Torna."
A look of surprise fell over Nia's face, "Huh. You're not?"
"No. I'm more interested in your more recent companions...the Driver boy and his Blade." Mòrag informed her, and the Gormotti then spoke without thinking.
"You mean Rex and Malos?" She asked, and Mòrag's smile quickly let her know the mistake she had made.
"Well, that was easy." Nia cursed mentally, realizing that she had fallen right into the Ardainian's trap. She wished she had kept her mouth shut, but she had noticed the trap too late and had just spoken without thinking about the potential consequences.
•••
Regan sighed at the look Mòrag was currently giving her, and she knew that she had a lot of explaining to do. She was not sure what all Brighid had informed Mòrag of, but she was definitely aware of her association with Nia. "You mind telling me why you're hanging out with a terrorist, Regan?"
The Elf looked down at the floor, "Mòrag, I know how bad this looks-"
"Really now... I can only imagine what Raymond will think of this." She knew that Mòrag was not one to mess around, and she knew that the woman did not appreciate liars. Regan had no plans of lying, already knowing that it would just cause more unnecessary trouble.
"Listen, Chairman Bana made a request to Rex...Torna was the one offering the job. I don't believe Nia was aware of everything they were doing, and she saved Rex when they attempted to kill him." Regan knew that she was leaving out quite a bit of information, but it would take too much time to tell the entire story.
The look on Mòrag's face indicated that she knew that Regan had left out information. Despite this, the Ardainian's expression softened as she took note that Regan was not lying about the information. "I see... How long have you known Rex?"
"Just a couple of years now. He's a good person, and I think he thinks Nia is too even though she's with Torna."
The Ardainian nodded at that, "Even still, that does not exempt her from the crimes she has committed. Being a good person, she should take responsibility for her actions."
"I know that...and she will. I just think that just locking her up is not fair, and I believe that she should earn her freedom another way." Mòrag crossed her arms behind her back.
"I'm listening."
The Elf looked up from the floor, "It's fairly obvious that Torna is planning something very serious, and I think that Nia is capable of helping to stop them. Even if she was not aware of everything they were doing, she still dealt with the people there on a daily basis..."
"Okay. Just how serious?"
Regan shook her head, "I'm not a hundred percent sure how they are going to do it outside of getting Malos... There's no way he'd go with them willingly, so I wonder just how they plan on convincing him."
"Hmm... And this is the same Aegis from five hundred years ago, correct?"
"Yes, he is. Look I know how the story has been twisted through the years, but Malos is not planning of destroying the world...he is actually planning to protect it."
"If that really is the case...it is reasonable to assume that the Aegis is not the monster that the story now says he is. How could the story have become this warped...?" Mòrag questioned.
Regan shrugged, "It happens... I mean, it has been five hundred years since then..."
"True..."
There was silence in the room for a moment, until Regan suddenly spoke. "Hey, Mòrag...can you do me a favor?"
"Depends... What is it?"