Book II: Of Friends and Foes
Chapter XIII
"This is... Corinne's' house, isn't it?" Mythra asked as we walked up to an extremely old house on the edge of Fonsett Village.
"Yes, it was. Rex wasn't around when she passed. But the kindness she showed to the children of Fonsett lives on through me, I guess. I never really thought of myself as someone who could take that role though," Granny laughed nervously.
Mythra sympathetically touched Granny's shoulder. "Well you did pretty good with this nerd, so you can't be doing too bad," she said, pointing in my direction as I rolled my eyes and chuckled nervously.
"He is kinda lazy though," Granny pointed out.
"Yeah but I don't think that's on you," Mythra continued.
"I'm right here for crying out loud!" I said defensively, while laughing. "Anyway, Corinne raised Rex, right?"
"Aye, but I'll get to that here in a bit. Let's all sit down and I'll tell you everything I should've told you already," Granny invited.
Corinne used to take care of any children without parents, and Granny had been doing that for Architect knows how long...
As we all sat down, Granny opened a very large book and simply began reading it, not looking up at us at all.
[Where it all Beganhttps/youtu.be/wE-g5pHhhpk]
"Long ago, we as a people lived in harmony atop a utopia known as Elysium. This place rested on the great tree known as the World Tree, which can be seen from anywhere on this continent. There, we all enjoyed life with the Architect, creator of the world. However, we were all cast out for a reason unknown at the time. We all scrambled for life, but mostly died out, as none of us could survive while constantly swimming and lost in the Cloud Sea. The Architect took pity on us and sent down his servants, the titans. These colossal creatures gave us ground beneath our feet and a true place we could call our home. The Architect also sent down core crystals, and any person who had the aptitude for resonation would be able to resonate with these core crystals and be able to partner themselves with these blades."
"I've never seen the Cloud Sea, is that on any map?" I asked.
She ignored me entirely as she kept reading. "One day, there was a man determined to meet the Architect, and he climbed to the top of the World Tree. This man became the first to see Elysium, but he was never permitted to see the Architect. However, he did take two core crystals that he found there. These core crystals were more powerful than any of what appeared on Alrest, and he commanded both of them. This man, Questar Amalthus, resonated with the amethyst core crystal, bringing to life the Aegis, Malos. During this time, there were a few nations. Namely Indol, Spessia, Judicium, Uraya, Torna, Coeia, and Mor Ardain. Mor Ardain had been rapidly gaining power at the time and a few people lived on the pleasant Tantal and Leftherian Archipelago. Judicium was destroyed and the Titan, known as Temperantia, was killed before Malos' awakening, no one truly knows the reason but it is believed that Indol was the reason for its destruction. Malos, under direct orders from the Questar, destroyed Coeia and sank it to the bottom of the Cloud Sea, where it was never seen again."
"He... what?!" Mythra gasped, yet Granny kept reading.
"Amalthus soon realized that there was no way he could control his own blade, and so he found someone to resonate with the other Aegis, the emerald core crystal. This man was Addam Origo, the Prince of Torna, fourth in line to the king. He was a man of the people, and he had their undying support. However, Addam simply wished to be a farmer of all things, and becoming the driver of the Aegis didn't help with that. He became the driver of Mythra, who was less than thrilled. Mythra, like Malos, simply saw no point in life, as humans would eventually die out anyway, she didn't see the point in trying to delay the inevitable. However, through Addam's careful hand and teachings, Mythra did finally begin to understand what life was supposed to mean. With them was the Tornan Knight Lora, wielder of the Paragon of Torna, Jin, one of history's most powerful blades and Haze, a blade that could restrict the powers of other blades and titans, and Emperor Hugo, emperor of Mor Ardain and wielder of Brighid and Aegaeon. Brighid was the Jewel of the Empire and Aegaeon was another of Mor Ardain's most powerful blades. Altogether, these heroes stopped Malos' tyranny and plunged him into the Cloud Sea. However, this did not come without cost."
"What do you mean?" Mythra questioned.
"During the fight, Malos attacked the capital city of Torna direct, causing many deaths, including of one Mythra truly did care about. In a fit of blind rage, her power changed, becoming a force that Addam himself could not control. Mythra gave her absolute all, and in doing so, she destroyed the entire titan, sinking Torna to the bottom of the Cloud Sea. This ended two different leader's reigns. Afterwards, when she regained her senses, she saw the body of the child she failed to protect, and she watched the Tornan titan cry in agony as it fell to its demise. Realizing now what her power meant, and knowing how dangerous she truly was, she fell, broken. With one agonized and tortured scream, she created a form that was unable to use her full power, a blade incapable of calling her artifice and only using Mythra's excess power. This blade was a fire element that Mythra named Pyra. And Addam locked her away and put her to sleep, where she'd remain for the next five hundred years."
"So that beam of light you used to blind Pyra and Adonis, that was your artifice?" I asked Mythra.
She nodded. "His name is Siren, he's a large robot that resides in space and issues attacks when and how I command him," she explained.
Granny continued. "During this time Questar Amalthus murdered almost every Indoline on Indol. He then took his place as Praetor. The Praetorium was a place known for always being in the will of the Architect, and being the Praetor was highly respected by all nations. It is said that the blue-skinned Indoline lived very long lives, but some also say that being a driver of the Aegis gave the driver a long life as well. While no one is entirely sure the true reason for his life, Amalthus would reign in this position for the next five hundred years. He is attributed with experimenting on blades and humans alike. He turned men into huge monsters, and when he wanted to, he'd fail it all on purpose and force these men into grotesque creatures that would cry and scream and laugh as they murdered anything in sight. Often drawing out the kills just to hear their victims scream while it'd play with their blood and guts. He knew that the remains of Addam's team had retreated to Spessia, and so he launched a full-on attack. In doing so, he killed Lora. Normally, when a driver dies, the blades that were resonated with the driver return to their core crystals, however, if a blade under heavy stress eats the driver's flesh or organs, this blade will become a flesh eater, these blades have intense strength, and are free from having to return to their core crystal. In order to preserve her memory, Jin burrowed his hand into Lora's chest and ate her heart. In doing so, he became the world's first and only red core crystal. He could now move at the speed of light could live for as long as he wanted to, provided he didn't overexert himself, which became an increasing problem as he got older. No flesh eater is perfect, and there has never been a truly complete or everlasting flesh eater. Amalthus also took Lora's second blade, Haze, who he renamed Fan la Norme, and he surgically took part of her core crystal and placed it inside himself, making him a blade eater. This allowed him to use her power, and she resided in the Praetorium as his blade, unaware that he was the cause of her last driver's death."
"Why didn't she know?" I questioned.
"Blades cannot keep their memories between resonations. Any blade that returns to a core crystal simply does not remember any of their life with that driver. This is why Jin was so distraught, and why he ate Lora's heart. Amalthus also helped one of Addam's brothers become the new King of the new Kingdom of Tantal, by lying to the people and pretending to be part of Addam's lineage. Amalthus agreed to keep his mouth shut provided that Tantal send a large amount of core crystals to the Praetorium every year. Forcing a titan to create many core crystals caused this titan to die faster than most others, turning Tantal's beautiful sunshine into a dark, barren, snow-covered land. While it was still beautiful, it was unhealthy and Amalthus simply didn't care."
"Core crystals come from titans?" I inquired again, but my question had already been answered.
"Time to wrap this story up. Five hundred years later a young salvager Rex found Pyra and became her driver. The child soon found his destiny as they travelled, and together with some friends he met along the way, he became the one true driver of the Aegis. The only one who could truly handle Mythra's true power and use it for the betterment of the world. Malos was still alive, and this time partnered with Jin. However, Rex put an end to Jin, Amalthus, and Malos, while killing none of them himself."
"So what about Waylon?" I asked.
"Yeah and why did I go back to sleep?" Mythra added.
"Let me finish. Rex and his friends did meet the Architect and they found Elysium, which was a complete barren wasteland. The Architect created a true Elysium, a monumental continent in the middle of a vast ocean. All of the titans plowed themselves into this continent, where they died and became part of this landmass. The Cloud Sea dispersed, and was never to be seen again, and the Architect passed from this world. A strange being, responsible for giving blades their power, called the Conduit, was supposed to have disappeared during this time, but did not, and still exists atop the World Tree to this day."
"What about Waylon?" I asked again.
"All I can say about Waylon is that he accidentally became Mythra's driver and that they loved each other very much. But he had to leave and promised to return again, under the name and body of someone else. He recreated Malos' core crystal and is the only reason that this nation lives in unity and that this book was created. You went to sleep because you simply wished to wait for him, Mythra. But I cannot tell you more, as I want you to find it out on your own," Granny explained.
"Why can't I remember him?" Mythra asked. "I remember Rex, but I can't remember Addam or Waylon!"
"Because neither one of them were your true driver. Now come on, I want to pass Lora's legacy onto you."
Readability Level: 11th-12th Grade
Time Taken: 4 Hours
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