Book XI: Burning Sword

Chapter LXXXI

https/youtu.be/AH1rik5QQxo

I jumped up just as the sun began rising. I… had forgotten that I had fallen asleep on the grass. I shook the distractions out of my mind, went back into Granny's house, and changed clothes as fast as possible. I was determined today, more than ever, to become the driver I needed to be.

No one else had gotten out of bed yet, but I knew Mythra and Pyra were both wide awake. We were linked, after all. Pyra and Mythra both ended up walking out of their rooms the same time I did, further reminding me that they were as linked to me as I was to them.

"Silas, what's going on?" Mythra questioned, confused.

"I need you and Pyra to come with me, we'll be back by breakfast," I stated simply as I walked toward the door.

Mythra and Pyra both looked at each other, confused. They shrugged at each other before following me out the door.

We walked out of Granny's house and went through town, where the townsfolk were starting to wake up. However, we walked through without really interacting with anyone outside of a smile and a wave as we headed up a large hill leading to a cliff that overlooked the entire ocean.

"Oh wow… it's so pretty!" Pyra exclaimed as she looked out into the vast blue-green sea.

I nodded, "It definitely is, are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Mythra asked with a confused look on her face. "You kind of dragged us out here without any clue as to what you actually needed us for."

"Oh, wasn't it obvious?" I questioned while I pulled Pyra's sword from off her back and readied it. "I need to learn how Pyra fights, it's time to spar!"

Mythra couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Alright tough guy, if you really think you can take me."

Pyra looked nervous. "Isn't she much faster and stronger than I am? You don't actually need to really use me as a blade, I don't give you any real advantage."

I let out a chuckle. "Oh, don't be so silly Pyra. Neither Azami nor Sheba are on her level, and they've helped me out of more situations than I can count! I'm going to learn to work with you, not because I'm looking for a quota or trying to gauge how useful you are compared to someone else, but because you're my blade and I genuinely want to get to know you and work with you!"

She turned her face away from me, seemingly irritated. She let out a defeated sigh before turning back around.

"Fine, whatever," she said bluntly as she raised her arms, forming an ether chain between her and I.

I turned to face Mythra, who had already readied her blade.

"Driver arts from her are the same as mine, it's her blade arts that'll differ," Mythra advised. "Take it easy starting out, she has power, but, like she mentioned, it doesn't last as long as mine. Don't overdo it or else you'll both be left wide open."

"Right," I acknowledged before looking back at Pyra. "You ready?"

She nodded. "I'll do my best."

We sparred long past breakfast and into lunchtime. I had overused Pyra's power a few times, but I eventually did start getting a feel for it. Her power was never enough to best Mythra, but it was clear that our fighting was syncing more.

"Double Spinning Edge!" I shouted as I spun around, hitting Mythra twice. At the end of my attack, I let go of the sword entirely, letting it fly at Pyra.

She grabbed it quickly before pointing it at Mythra. "Prominence Revolt!" Pyra yelled as pillars of fire erupted from the ground.

Mythra quickly jumped back, dodging one, but accidentally running into another.

"Pyra, let's try your fourth art!" I suggested as I jumped back towards her, holding the sword with her.

"Right!" she exclaimed as fire ether began swirling around her sword.

However, no attack ever fired, we were simply standing there, as if we just fired a gun only to realize it was empty.

"Wh-What's wrong?" I asked, but it was in vain. Mythra had gotten up and used the flat side of her sword to knock us into the ground.

I let out a cough as I got up off the ground. "Oh come one Mythra, that wasn't necessary!"

Mythra had to stop herself from giggling. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away!"

I sighed, turning to Pyra. I dusted myself off, got off the ground, and then helped her up.

"Are you alright, Pyra?" I questioned.

She immediately got flustered and dropped to her knees. "I'm so, so sorry! You wanted me to use my fourth art and I failed! I'm not fit to be anyone's blade, so ple-"

"I'm not hearing any of that," I interrupted quickly. "Don't compare me to Adonis. The fourth art is a sign of total trust between blade and driver, if we haven't developed that relationship yet, then that's on me!"

Pyra stood up quickly. "That's not fair! I'm the one who doesn't trust you! It's my fault!"

I put my hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Pyra, you've gone through a lot. It's only natural that you have your reservations about blindly trusting your driver, even if you really want to. I shouldn't have rushed it like that. I see you as an equal to myself, so please, if you're ever uncomfortable or you feel like I'm pushing you too far, please talk it out with me. I'm here for you just as much as you're here for me. So please, don't blame yourself for everything."

She let out a sigh before pushing my arms off her shoulders. "Only if you promise not to do the same. If I wasn't ready and didn't tell you and you pushed me farther than you should have, then let's just call it even. It was both of our faults."

"Deal," I said with a nod.

"There you are," a voice called out, interrupting us. It was Acacia, who seemed a bit annoyed.

"Oh, good morning!" Mythra greeted.

Acacia let out an agitated sigh. "'Good morning', my ass! If you're gonna be out and miss breakfast, could you at least give me some warning before I go and make a large amount of food?"

"Wait, what time even is it right now?!" I asked in shock.

"11:30, and I'm trying to plan out lunch, but KOS-MOS doesn't like the three variables in her cooking equation. So you'd better go sort that out before she sends T-Elos after you, because I PROMISE she'll make you regret it."

I sighed, "That's probably for the best."

"Yeah, if she were to go all out sparring with us now, I doubt even I'd be able to stop her," Mythra pointed out.

"I've heard she really enjoys winning… like… too much," Pyra added.

"Well, Gabriel did pester her about sparring one time, and it ended with her boot on his throat for about twenty minutes before KOS-MOS finally got involved," Acacia reminisced.

"Yeah, you know what, lunch sounds amazing," I said with a nervous chuckle. "Alright guys, good workout, let's go back."

We got back, apologized to KOS-MOS, ate food, and then helped with the cleaning process.

After we finished helping, I was able to grab Mythra, as there was definitely something on her mind. We went outside where we could talk.

"What's going on Mythra?" I questioned. "You've been silent ever since we've gotten back."

"Are you ever going to tell her… that Adonis is still alive?" Mythra asked me. "Were you ever going to tell any of us?"

I didn't know how she knew, but immediately I realized that I had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry, I only have a small theory that points to him being alive. If he is, he's stuck in Morytha with no way out, I guess I was just really hoping he wasn't alive," I explained. "I'd rather her just focus on healing for now, we can worry about that later if it even comes up again. How did you find out about it though?"

"Waylon warned me before you pulled your hero move, he sent the data right to my core crystal," she explained. "He seemed pretty confident that Adonis is very much alive."

"That makes sense, what do you think the best course of action is?" I questioned.

She sighed. "It's probably best to let her heal, but we should let the others know."

"Right, I'll make sure to do that," I replied understandingly.

We sat next to each other quietly for about a minute, and I think we both knew what we were avoiding talking about, so, eventually, I decided to start.

"You still don't want to get close to me, right?" I asked. Well… I wasn't really asking, I was just stating the obvious in a suggestive fashion.

She nodded. "I still don't want to keep feeling hurt. In the end, I'll keep living and you'll all be nothing more than memories. I don't want to keep living this way."

"So living in a state of constant dissociation is how you're choosing to respond?" I inquired. "I can't imagine that's healthy."

She sighed. "How can you ever expect to understand my pain? I know you're just trying to help, but-"

I cut her off. "If Rex were here, he'd be agitated, wouldn't you agree?"

She turned away from me, and from the sound of her voice, she was probably flustered and holding back tears. "Don't talk as you knew him! That's part of the problem! He's not here!"

"Oh, you're right," I said sarcastically. "We should probably just forget he ever existed or ever fought for anything. That way we don't ever have to think about how sad it is that he's not here anymore. I bet that's why you and Poppi haven't really talked since Rafi fixed her, maybe you wished she'd stayed dead too."

"ENOUGH!" she shouted at me as she stood up and conjured her sword and drew her sword at me. "I won't let you talk about them like that!"

"Are you mad that I've been disrespectful?" I asked, drawing her sword I already had. "Or are you mad that I'm right?"

She lunged at me, and we clashed. She slammed into me, throwing me back fairly far.

"Is this because of Pyra's state of mind?" I asked as I regained my stance. "You two are connected, is this dissociation part of that?"

She seemed even more irritated, she had convinced herself that the way she was going on was fine, and that there was nothing wrong with it. She had already told herself not to get attached to him, and now that he was pushing through the walls she had put up, it angered her. Her own stubbornness was what she was fighting with, she knew he was right, but she refused to let him win so easily.

"You don't know anything!" Mythra shouted.

"You seem to really want to believe Waylon's alive," I continued. "But no matter how you look at it, he's no less human than I am, eventually he'll die too. I'll believe he's alive with you, but when he does come back, are you going to ignore him too?"

"Ray of Punishment!" she radiated as a beam of light shot from her sword.

I narrowly deflected it and charged in, "Double Spinning Edge!"

Mythra blocked the first one but was thrown off by the second slash. I took the opportunity to sweep her legs and used my shoulder to shove her to the ground. I kicked the sword out of her hand and pinned her to the ground.

"Stop acting like a child, Mythra," I warned. "The thoughts and lives of everyone around you are what made you into what you are today."

She stopped struggling and whimpered. "And so I have to live with the pain of not having them around for the rest of my life? That's not fair!"

"You're right, it's not fair!" I agreed, before Azurda's words echoed in my head. "T-To never feel close to someone or to never feel the pain when they aren't around anymore. To never know the love of another person or to have to feel the pain when they aren't around to love you anymore. In the end… you're right, I can't ever experience these feelings because I won't live that long. However, that doesn't mean for a second I can't at least understand how you feel on some level! I have a brain and emotions just like anyone else! To tell me I can't ever understand is to say that I'm less human than you! And, by the way, I'm your driver, we're linked!"

Mythra let out a sigh, and I rolled off of her and laid down next to her, and she didn't move.

"I've always known you were hurting, and I never said a thing because I didn't think I'd know what to say," I explained. "And I still don't, but I know you and I care about you, so even if I don't know what to say… well… I'm gonna say something anyway! I'm sorry for the lackluster driver that I've been to you, I'm sorry for letting you fight your own battles by yourself, and I'm sorry I'll never be the drivers you once had. From now on, I'm going to change as much of that as you can. If I know something's bothering you, I'm going to help you fight it, and if you want to throw off the people around you like they mean nothing to you, then I'm going to correct you and beat you in whatever fight you want to throw at me. You're not in this alone anymore, not you, not Pyra, not Poppi, not Acacia, no one!"

Mythra stared up at the sky, and then started laughing uncontrollably.

I turned to look at her, wondering if I said something stupid. I mean… the answer was probably yes, but still, I'd rather know more specifically what it was.

She turned to me. "So this is my punishment? How are you going to tell me you're not my previous drivers and then tell me the most Rex-like thing I've ever heard?" she said, chuckling while she talked.

Her sword disappeared as she stood up. "Fine, you win. Throwing off all human emotion is the reason Malos was so screwed up and why Alvis took everything Waylon said so literally, so you're probably right."

She then helped me off the ground and I sheathed my sword as well.

"For better or for worse, we're sticking together," she told me. "So don't forget I'll support you with the same intensity you want to support me with."

"Dammit I missed the fighting!" a female voice interrupted.

We both turned to see T-Elos walking outside, Acacia following close behind her.

"You two having a lover's quarrel or what?" Acacia questioned.

I sighed. "Something like that, anyway we're done, did you need something?"

"Yeah, actually. We need to have a little meeting to decide what we're all going to be doing for the next few months while you and Pyra train," she answered.

We met right afterwards and before we started, I explained that there was a chance that Adonis was possibly still alive in Morytha. While they weren't thrilled, they also weren't too concerned as of right now, but promised they'd keep their heads on swivels. After that was out of the way, Gabriel and Rafi started it off.

"We're going to Argentum," Gabriel said simply.

"Argentum? Why?" I asked, we hadn't heard from Juliani in a while, but I saw no point in strolling through her neighborhood.

"Um… that Rafi's idea," Rafi explained. "Rafi want to see if Rafi can help her be better!"

"And Poppi will support him!" Poppi jumped up next to him excitedly.

Gabriel nodded. "Sonata wanted to help too, and I didn't see any reason why we couldn't support them."

"Sounds good," I said, before turning to Acacia.

"T-Elos and I will remain here and help with the locals. Juliani has been making it really hard for Leftheria to import anything, probably out of spite for you," Acacia pointed out. "So we're gonna hang back."

"KOS-MOS, Sheba, Azami, and I are going to help out the BAP and try to get them set back up," Mythra explained. "They were left in shambles after the Great Blade Massacre, and we've done little to help. So I think our efforts would be better focused there."

"I still don't understand why I have to come along!" Azami groaned. "How do you expect me to sleep at night knowing I can't keep a close eye on my driver when he's doing something that leaves him vulnerable! Like sleeping… or bathing!"

"I'm sorry what?" I asked immediately.

"Putting that aside," Mythra interjected, moving the point right along. "Azami you're blade ability is literally being able to see anything anywhere, quit being dramatic. Also, Rex worked long and hard to establish the BAP, and I don't want that to die too."

"Originally we were going without her, but she requested to accompany us after you two fought earlier," KOS-MOS stated, bluntly as ever.

"Hey Azami, can't you just look into Morytha and find out if Adonis is alive or not?" Sheba asked.

"Unfortunately not," she responded. "It's almost as if Morytha and the World Tree are on an entirely different plane of existence."

"Well that's unnerving…," Sonata pointed out.

After our conversation had ended, I spent the rest of the day hanging out near Pyra. We didn't really say anything to each other or interact in any real way, we just sat on the couch and watched the news together. The BCC seemed to be stressed out, but that would only make sense with Adonis' and Violet's disappearance. The BAP was requesting volunteers, Juliani was increasing taxes of goods that went out of Argentum. It was honestly amazing how much power you could hold simply by controlling a high point of trade and commerce.

Pyra still seemed uncomfortable, so I hoped that if I stayed there for long enough, she'd get used to just having me around without needing to feel defensive. It must have worked, because eventually she laid her head down on the arm of the couch and fell asleep.

"I'll help you feel better," I said quietly to myself. "I promise."

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 6 Hours