Book X Finale
Chapter LXXVIII
"Monado Cyclone!" Malos shouted as a large wave of dark ether blew Mira to the ground.
"Malos, I'm ready!" Acacia called out.
Malos met her with a smirk as he threw his blade up into the air.
Acacia sprinted towards him as he went low, locking his hands together. She stepped into his palms as he boosted her into the air.
She grabbed Malos' Monado out of the air and pointed it at Mira.
"May the darkness consume you," she uttered as a massive wave of dark ether poured out, leaving Mira lost in a cloud of pitch black.
She then tossed the sword downwards. Malos took hold of it as his purple core crystal and the purple crystal on the sword began radiating darkness. He then, moving faster than the eye could see, slashed Mira repeated, moving in a pattern similar to someone drawing a five-pointed star.
He then came to a stop as Acacia landed next to him. They took hold of the sword together, pointing it towards the center of the cloud of darkness, and announced the art, "Void's End".
The dark ether forced itself inward, creating an extreme amount of pressure around Mira. Before she could even react, the focal point of the pressure moved underneath her and then exploded violently, slamming her into one of the firewood trees that surrounded the dead area.
Malos chuckled, "I've never used an art like that before."
"The fourth blade art is only possible when both the blade and the driver feel they're bond as one. It's no different from Mythra's Sacred Arrow or T-Elos' U-TENERITAS," Acacia explained.
"Emotionless Abyss," a voice uttered.
Before they could react, a mass of dark ether energy tore into Malos, sending him into the ground.
"I will not be underestimated," Mira said as she readied her weapon once again, more pissed off than hurt.
Mira then gunned for me, although I was still unconscious and working with Mythra.
As she approached she was shot directly in the shoulder by KOS-MOS, Azami, and Sheba simultaneously.
One shot ordinarily wouldn't have been enough to phase Mira much, but three simultaneous shots were more than enough to knock her on her ass.
"Oh good, I was wondering how having three ether cannons on our party would ever be advantageous," T-Elos noted aloud.
"Ugh this is getting boring," Sonata complained. "Allow me to buff this just a bit."
https/youtu.be/0w7ybCqRSFk
Sonata whipped out her microphone and began causing rock music to echo around the area, and the party noted feeling stronger.
"So that's what that microphone for!" Rafi exclaimed. "Rafi thought it was just decorative."
"Rafi, permission to release final lock?" Poppi requested.
"Granted!" Rafi said excitedly. "Poppi Q-TCE Finale initialize!"
Poppi changed from her child-like state into her grown up look, and armed herself with her gloves, shield, and sword.
"Kass, you ready?" Gabriel asked as Kasandra passed him her weapon.
"May my luck be on your side!" she cheered.
Acacia helped Malos up and then took command.
"Listen up, our goal is to restrain her, not hurt her too much. Don't underestimate her, she can take one hell of beating and dish it out just the same," she readied Malos' blade once again. "And nobody die!"
Gabriel jumped in first, slamming down into Mira with the club. Mira easily stepped out of its vicinity and planted the hilt of her sword into his side.
She pushed him away as Rafi spun in with Poppi's sword. Mira quickly slashed upwards, disarming him completely. She then thrusted her sword into him, but he used Poppi's shield to block the blow.
Poppi engaged her rocket boosters as she sped over the ground, grabbing the sword off the ground and quickly slashing at Mira.
Mira, however, was much faster than Poppi could keep up with, and she grabbed her arm, right before spinning her around like a rag doll and tossing her into Rafi. After this onslaught, they were both out of the way,
T-Elos and Acacia, with Malos by her side, rushed in together while KOS-MOS, Sheba, and Azami provided shots from the outside.
T-Elos swung her scythe brutally as it plunged itself into the side of Mira's sword, and Mira was forced to dissolve it and pull another one from her core crystal. While she did this, Acacia leapt in and knocked her back, and before Mira could recover, she was pelted with quick bursts from the ether cannons.
Mira, enraged, held her sword with both hands as it began pulsating and burning with a deep purple flame.
"Thorns of Abuse," Mira uttered as black, ethereal vines covered her skin, and even seemed to be growing inside of her.
Immediately everyone could feel a change in her fighting ability, as the amount of ether she was giving off suddenly felt different.
"Wh-What is this?!" Acacia exclaimed in shock.
Malos shook his head. "Mira is a representation of how Pyra feels, the names of her arts will tell you that much. The power she's drawing from is nothing more than the pain she's felt. Unfortunately for us, it seems she's felt a lot more than we have to fight against."
"Not necessarily…," Acacia said in realization. "KOS-MOS, will Silas wake up soon?!"
"Negative, he will most likely be unconscious for at least another fifteen minutes," KOS-MOS stated.
"How do you know that?!" Azami questioned.
"The ether waves he gives off while communicating with Mythra give off specific signals, he has yet to give off signals indicating he's trying to awaken," KOS-MOS explained in her typical robotic fashion.
Acacia sighed. "Gabriel, that sword… what did you do with it?"
Gabriel shook his head. "You told me to never tell you where it was."
"I'm not risking more lives on my weakness," Acacia argued, not looking away from Mira, who hadn't started attacking yet. She seemed to be trying to control her new strength before she attacked.
"I left it in Leftheria, deep in the the Spirit Crucible Elpys, but I don't see how that's gonna help us no-."
"Found it," Acacia said, cutting him off entirely.
She held out her hand, and they could only stare in awe as a crimson-colored slammed its way through the trees with a loud boom, shaking the very ground with a sound like thunder. The hilt slammed into her hand with a satisfying thump and Acacia became covered in a blood red aura as she readied her weapon.
"Mira, you and I are very similar when it comes from where we draw our power. I hate using this blade, because it reminds me of everything I've done, and everything I failed to be. Your blade must remind you of a similar pain, because when I look in your eyes, I see myself. Do you feel the same?" Acacia questioned.
Mira seemed aggravated, but she also seemed to be listening. "I don't understand what you're trying to prove, but yes, I do see what you mean. So let me tell you that I wish you a better outcome when this world is reborn, if you get reborn with it, that is."
Mira seemed much more composed now.
Acacia shook her head. "You don't believe in that at all, do you?"
"I don't see why it matters!" Mira yelled as she charged at Acacia full-force.
Their blades met swiftly. Acacia had seen Pyra fight multiple times while she worked for Adonis, and she was never anywhere near this powerful. Ordinarily, any decently strong blade was usually enough to take her down, but this was so much different. It honestly didn't even feel like Acacia was fighting the same person anymore. Acacia didn't know for sure, but she estimated her own attack speed was multiple times the speed of sound, still slower than that of a complete Aegis. However, Pyra was always weaker than the other Aegises. Historically, since she split from Mythra, she was only comparable to normal Aegises while under Rex's direction and Mythra herself had a driver she trusted as well. So what exactly was 'Mira'?
Simply put, it may have been just as Malos had explained. The anger, sadness, and resentment she had acquired for the world, possibly mixed with the frustration of not being able to remember her life before Adonis due to core crystal modification, had formed its own power within her. Just like a blade's trust and love for their driver created a strength, it seemed that negative feelings in an Aegis could create a strength of a different kind. There was also the possibility that the Conduit got involved as well, just like it did when T-Elos and KOS-MOS fought Malos.
Whatever the case, it was clear that Mira couldn't be saved by any one of them. She would have to be saved by someone who knew her better than she knew herself, and so this is why Acacia was willing to use the Crimson Butterfly once again. Acacia couldn't grant her sister freedom from her burdens, so maybe instead she'd ensure that this blade could be freed from very similar burdens.
Acacia had told Mira that when Acacia looked into her eyes, she saw herself. While this was true, what she really saw was Violet. This is why Acacia wouldn't give up, and would hold her off until the end of time if need be. She would win at ANY cost.
"Scarlet Swarm!" Acacia stated as she fluttered upwards, allowing flaming ether butterflies to rain down on her opponent.
"Imprisoned Rage!" Mira shrieked as large, ethereal tentacles emerged, neutralizing Acacia's attack.
They had already been fighting for about twenty minutes, and Acacia knew she couldn't hold up much longer. She was running out of options.
"Emotionless Abyss!" Mira uttered as she charged a massive amount of dark energy towards Acacia.
Acacia took a deep breath.
"METAMORPHOSIS, WROUGHT IN BLOOD."
She felt the ether well up in her as her body began convulsing, getting ready to release the inner Titan that would give her the power she needed. This would be her final battle.
However, as she was sure she felt the power growing, she was also sure that the power wasn't there at all.
Her sword disappeared from her hand and she fell to the ground, still conscious, but weak.
"Hello Acacia," Mythra greeted, but something didn't seem right.
Her core crystal… was golden, and no longer green.
"M-Mythra?" Acacia questioned.
Mythra nodded. "I'm here now and I don't want you to sacrifice yourself, so I separated your power from you."
"You… what?"
I walked up to her knelt by her, and let Adamas speak through me.
"Ordinarily the ability to recreate data, matter, and energy is the awesome power of Mythra and Pyra combined, this was the power required to separate you from your core crystal. Since Pyra is currently not able to grant Mythra their full power, I used mine to complement her's instead. It's not perfect, but it seems to have worked."
I held out my hands and a deep crimson-red butterfly with a core crystal flew out of my hands.
"I-I'm happy to be free," Acacia stated. "But won't we need that power?"
Mythra shook her head. "Power that ends in your own destruction hardly seems worth it, doesn't it? Besides, Malos packs a lot more punch than you've tapped into, I think you'll be just fine."
I helped Acacia to her feet and Malos quickly ran to her side.
"Are you crazy?! You almost got yourself killed!" Malos shouted, he even sounded concerned.
Mythra, astounded, shook her head for a moment before composing herself.
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met, I'm Mythra," she said sarcastically to Malos.
He ignored her entirely as he helped Acacia get back out of danger.
"Good morning Mythra," Mira said with a growl, reminding them of the situation at hand.
Mythra, with an emotionless face, looked Mira directly in the eye, as if she were looking for something.
"Hello Pyra," Mythra greeted back.
"I am not Pyr-" she started, but had to stop immediately as Mythra now held her gaze inches away from Mira's face.
Mira looked down quickly, noting that she had parried Mythra's attack. A bright, golden sword was currently slammed into the side of her own black sword.
"Really? You sure look like Pyra, although that is a really convincing make-up job," Mythra continued, antagonizing her further.
"Leave me alone!" she shouted as she released a large wave of ether energy, throwing Mythra back quite a bit, but not breaking her stance.
"It's no use," Mythra said to me. "She can't remember anything. And anything she does remember is all jumbled up."
I sighed. "Then let's do what we just did with Acacia. We'll combine your power with Adamas', with the ability of recreation you should be able to fill in the memories she doesn't remember."
"We do share most of our memories," Mythra pointed out. "Alright then, let's do that. But, just so you know, we'll need to throw her off emotionally so that she'll be more susceptible to her core crystal being updated."
"The way she has Mira created right now," Adamas explained through me. "Prevents us from directly affecting Pyra. Mira, unfortunately for us, works as a form of dissociation, so if we were to give her back her memories right now, she'd only associate them with Mira."
"Can I wield both Mythra's true sword and the Monado at the same time?" I questioned, realizing that combining their powers may be easier if they're working in sync.
"Normally that'd be crazy," Mythra pointed out. "But Rex was the first driver to wield two blades at once."
"But that was Pyra and Nia, neither one of them had power anywhere near that of an Aegis," Adamas, more specifically Waylon, argued.
"But since he's tamed my blade, and you've tamed Mythra's blade, then there's no reason you can't work in sync," Alvis explained.
"So you mean it'd be just like the way Rex and I fought you?" Waylon questioned.
"Precisely."
"She's ready to attack, I'm giving it a go!" I interjected as I took Mythra's sword in my left hand and summoned Adamas' Monado in my right.
"Finally," Mira said as she readied her blade. "Let's finish this."
"Pyra we're gonna help you, whether you like it or not!" Mythra swore as we charged forward.
I swung the Monado into her sword, then quickly slashed at her with Mythra's golden sword.
Mira had to jump back immediately after the first parry in order to dodge the second strike.
"Pyra's gone!" she shouted in argument.
"No, that's just what you want to believe!" Mythra argued. "I understand you've been in pain, but this won't fix it!"
"You understand NOTHING!" Mira shrieked as she let out a fully charged blast of ether at Mythra.
I quickly launched Mythra's sword back at her as she took it and blocked the blow.
"You couldn't even stand to face me when we first met! You got a driver who cared for you, while I was left to rot! You looked down on me… you ALL looked down on me!" she continued as she charged full force at me.
I parried her quickly before using an overwhelming amount of power to toss her into the air.
Mythra saw the opportunity and shot light ether down into Mira, pinning her to the ground without necessarily doing much damage.
https/youtu.be/-knYdOywsEE
"You're wrong, Pyra," Mythra challenged, not looking away from her. "One thousand years I created you, you are a part of me. I couldn't look at you because of how much it hurt me. I didn't know how to save you, and THAT's why I ran. I was scared to let anyone else know how much it hurt me. I spent the next month trying to hide the fact that I was vomiting up everything I ate trying to understand how to help you!"
"You created me?!" Mira questioned. "So then… Mira really is no different than me."
"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE THIS TO WHAT YOU ARE!" Mythra shouted, completely offended. "You created this because you couldn't bear the thought of all the terrible things you endured happening to yourself. 'Mira' is nothing more than your attempt to hide from reality!"
This sparked a massive amount of dark ether radiating from Mira. She stood up and slammed herself into Mythra and they slashed at each other with speeds no one except Acacia, Malos, and myself could even fathom.
"THEN 'PYRA' WAS NOTHING MORE THAN DISSOCIATION?!" Mira argued back. "I… you created me because you couldn't handle the fact that you had singlehandedly murdered an entire race's future and homeland! So HOW CAN I BE ANY DIFFERENT?! THERE'S NO WAY I MEAN ANYTHING MORE THAN AN ESCAPE TO YOU!"
Mythra was practically in tears hearing this, but she held her own all the same. Pyra's memories WERE there, but she could only remember the worst parts, and she couldn't remember the good that came with them or after them.
Mira wasn't holding up any better, her eyes were welling up with the pain and frustration of being unable to understand her own existence.
"You purposely made me weak! You're the reason Adonis couldn't love me like he made me love him!" Mira shouted. "I was always whatever power you didn't need! How dare you tell me that I, Mira, am any better than what you made me?"
Mythra was ready to break, at the point where I prepared myself to get involved. The only reason I didn't was because Adamas told me to wait.
Mythra slammed her blade into Mira's so hard that the entirety of the ground beneath us shook violently, and Mira's blade was shattered into splinters. Mythra then flung her sword at me and wrapped Mira in a bear hug.
"Shut up," Mythra said in a voice so quiet even I almost didn't hear it.
"What are you doing?!" Mira shouted, but she didn't fight away.
"There are many things I thought of you, but never… and I mean NEVER did I once think you were weak," Mythra said as she started crying into Mira's shoulder. "When I created you, you're right, I was broken. I wanted nothing more than to die, but I didn't make you so I could run away. I made you to be everything I wasn't."
"Wha-?" Mira started.
"Pyra you are so much stronger than me," Mythra explained as she clutched Mira's clothes. "I've never met someone as strong as you. You knew my pain, felt my pain, and shared my pain, but when Rex resonated with you, you met him with a smile. You were smart, pretty, you could cook! You were kind, compassionate, understood how people felt and knew how to show love when no one else knew how to. You were EVERYTHING that I couldn't be for Addam. And you were EVERYTHING to me. So please," Mythra began pleading. "PLEASE don't tell me you aren't worth it, because I promise I could never forgive myself if I let you think you were so worthless."
"Where were you this past five hundred years," Pyra, not Mira, said as she began crying too. "Why couldn't you save your sister?"
"It was a mistake I should've never made. But I promise for as long as I live I'll never leave your side ever again, just please come back with me!"
Pyra let go of her and backed far away from her.
"Thank you… Mythra," she said as her core crystal began glowing bright green and her now red hair began flaring up in a bright fashion.
"Pyra what are you doing?! STOP!" Mythra shouted, but she couldn't move, and instead fell to the ground. "SHE'S CONTROLLING SIREN, I CAN'T STOP HER!"
A bright red laser shot down from the sky and began focusing on her.
"Enough power to completely destroy one blade, right?" Pyra questioned before her core crystal flashed.
Everything around me stopped moving, and the only thing I could hear was my heart beat one time. I didn't stop to think of the consequences, I didn't even hear Adamas tell me not to move. I moved faster than he could send that thought to my brain. Before anyone blinked, before anyone even knew what happened, I grabbed Pyra, touched her core crystal to repair her memory, and shoved her out of the way as Siren's targeted beam hit me directly.
...
https/youtu.be/-OGmA3Nk-gU
"Silas get up!" Mythra shouted at me, trying to shake me awake.
"He doesn't have a pulse," Acacia pointed out as she started doing chest compressions.
"How is his body still intact?" Gabriel questioned.
Pyra got up off the ground, still trying to adjust to all the data now mixing in her core crystal. She looked up as she noticed Silas, covered in dirt and lying motionless with his eyes wide open.
"N-No… I didn't… I couldn't have…," Pyra began to tell herself.
The screams for Silas to wake up and the sounds of their voices seemed so far away, but echoing in her mind with distinct vibrations. She could then only hear ringing as her vision went blurry, her knees went weak, and she fell to the ground.
"Silas come on, get up!" Poppi cried as tears began streaming down her face.
"You're what I created you to be," Pyra could hear Adonis in her mind. "You're a tool, a weapon, made to destroy and nothing else. I don't care about anything else you can offer me, but don't think for a second I won't take advantage of the fact that you CAN offer me more."
"This isn't real, this isn't real, THIS ISN'T REAL!" Pyra kept shouting to herself in her head, but suddenly it stopped as she heard Acacia shout.
"He's breathing!"
"I don't believe it!" Gabriel said in pure shock.
"Adamas, are you there?" I asked inside my head. "Waylon? Alvis? Where are you? Serena?"
"They're not here anymore," I could hear her say. "I can't find them anywhere."
I sat up and looked around, to be greeted by Poppi, Kasandra, Azami, and Mythra trying to hug me all at once.
"Hey! Give Silas space!" Rafi shouted.
They listened and all backed up, giving Rafi enough time to jump in and hug me. "You can't all hog him!"
I didn't react at all, I was still coming to terms with… what was I going to tell Mythra?
"Silas, is everything alright?" Mythra questioned me.
I held out my left hand towards her.
"His sword is gone," was all I could say.
She began trembling as it dawned on her what that really meant.
"He… no… that can't be," Mythra started as she started crying all over again.
"Silas, does that mean… what I think it means?" Gabriel asked me.
I nodded. "Adamas took my place. I should've died, but instead he let himself take that blow."
"YOU PROMISED ME!" Mythra shouted at no one as she pounded her fists into the ground. "YOU BASTARD! YOU PROMISED ME! You… promised me you'd come back…. That we could start back from where we left off…. Damn it… you told me this might happen."
I dragged myself to my knees and put my hands on her shoulders.
"I know it hurts, and it'll probably sting for as… long as you live… but I'll be right here," I tried to promise, even going so far as to quote Granny's dying words.
"It won't end…," Mythra whimpered. "It doesn't matter who I get close to, in the end… they die, and I live on. How long do I have to do this? Why can't I just forget everything like a normal blade? Damn it, Rex spent everything he had just to get us to understand why we exist and why we should live on… and the reason is fantastic, amazing! But… even so… why do I have to bear the pain of loss to no end? DOES ANYTHING I DO MATTER?!"
I hugged her briefly. "I think it does, after all, one good thing came out of this."
She looked up to see Pyra approaching us very meekly. As she got close, she dropped her sword and fell to her knees.
"I'm sorry," she cried out. "I don't deserve to live. I… took something important away from you again, didn't I? I… I really don't deserve to live, but I don't want your sacrifice to be in vain. So please just leave me here, and I won't cause any more trouble."
Mythra looked at Pyra and the tears kept flowing. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" she exclaimed while wrapping Pyra in a hug. "DON'T YOU EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN, and I'm not leaving you, got it?!"
"What? That's crazy talk," Pyra said while laughing to stop herself from crying. "Just leave me be."
"Nuh-uh," Mythra said defiantly. "You remember who you are now, right? Then all we have to do is help you become the person you really want to be!"
Pyra blushed and then tears started flowing from her eyes as well. "I don't know if I deserve that."
"Oh come now!" Gabriel cheered. "She's offering you a pretty fair deal, it'd be a shame to let it go to waste."
"Rafi promise to help Pyra feel welcome!" Rafi said excitedly.
Poppi chimed in behind him. "And Poppi miss Pyra very much!"
"And for what it's worth," Acacia added, looking directly at her. "I really am sorry for the way you were treated, I promise to fight my past wrongs and help you like I should've been doing this whole time."
I then decided it was my turn. "My offer still stands. Pyra, although I'm not perfect, and I still work on myself every day, will you permit me to be your driver?"
Pyra tried to look away, but she only ended up staring into Mythra's puppy dog eyes.
"Well if you're going to make faces like that and everyone is really begging this hard," Pyra said as she rolled her eyes. "Then I guess I could be persuaded to stay with you all."
Lives lost, and a life gained, however the story was far from over. Now it was time to help Pyra gain what she had lost during the past five hundred years. With the threat of the Conduit and Galea looming over their head, and the possibility that Adonis was still alive somewhere, coupled with one Aegis no longer existing, the stakes had never been higher. Can Pyra truly learn to trust people again and compliment Mythra as the Aegis of Recreation?
Enter Book XI: Burning Sword
Readability Level: 11-12th Grade
Time Taken: 6 Hours