Book XI: Burning Sword

Chapter LXXXIII

https/youtu.be/24piEvK8DVI

The month passed by fairly quickly, and Pyra grew with every passing day. She had to fight her own feelings of guilt, and although initially I had to remind her that nothing was her fault almost hourly, now I could hear her telling herself the same thing under her breath as she continued fighting. Her and I sparred all the time, and I felt so proud watching her get stronger, not in physical power, but in character.

We'd also take time helping out Fonsett with Acacia and T-Elos, although I couldn't help but notice that Acacia was spending a lot of time with one of the older women. When I asked her about it, she explained that the woman was actually Ardainian, and so they've been talking a lot. However, I couldn't help but feel like she was hiding something. I decided not to press, as Acacia wasn't the type to hide things for no reason.

"Are you ready?" Acacia asked, clutching T-Elos' scythe.

"Ready when you are!" Pyra responded excitedly as I nodded, Pyra's sword in my own hand.

"Good," Acacia responded as she charged forward. "Gale Blade!"

As she slashed, a powerful burst of energy knocked me into the air. Quickly, I passed the blade to Pyra, who was able to meet Acacia while I reoriented myself.

"There's a fire I haven't ever felt from you before," Acacia responded.

"Careful you don't get burned," Pyra warned with a wink as she jumped back. "Prominence Revolt."

T-Elos instinctively tackled Acacia out of the way as multiple pillars of fire ether erupted from the ground.

I jumped back in as Pyra threw her sword back at me.

"Sword Bash" I called as I charged forward to the barely-recovered targets. The move threw them to the ground.

"Enough, fight's over. Pyra and Silas are the victors," Malos announced. Since he didn't have anything he wanted to do, he often accompanied Acacia in helping to volunteer, or in this case judging spars to ensure they don't get out of hand.

I extended my arm to Acacia and helped her up.

She let out a chuckle. "Even if she can't remember her fourth blade art, she's still quite the powerhouse. I'd love to get a shot with Malos some time."

"What do you think, Pyra?" I asked.

She nodded with a smile, "I don't mind, I'm sorry I can't give you everything I have."

"Don't worry about it," I replied as I shook my head. "When the time comes, I know you'll be able to do it."

"Right!" she responded perking up.

We didn't end up having the power to beat Malos and Acacia, it was clear they were more in sync than they had ever been, and I was proud of them too.

Sooner than I had hoped, everyone began coming back. It was almost time for us to make our journey to the World Tree and confront Galea once and for all.

Mythra and her crew made it back first and let us know how the situation with the BAP was going, but… not before Azami tackle-hugged me and complained about how she was "so alone" for twenty minutes. Apparently, the BAP was still in shambles, as expected. Many blades had been cracked, and the BAP had been unable to help anyone else due to their circumstances, which allowed the BCC to pick up their work and spread their influence. Something along the lines of "The BAP is unable to help because they're incompetent and incapable, but we can do their job better than they ever could. The age of humans needing blades is far behind us." KOS-MOS also added that the BCC should be having issues, due to their main leaders being dead or missing, however due to their highly autonomous chain of command structure, high-ranking BCC affiliates had no issues keeping the BCC stable in Adonis' absence.

Rafi, Gabriel, and their blades all came back shortly after through the airport. They said they had no luck with Juliani, she simply dismissed them and warned that if they tried to reach out to her again, she'd kill them herself. They did note that she had been amassing blades, but she couldn't find Praxis or Theory's core crystals anyway. The blades she had were all common and lacking in power, but she had enough of them that their individual powers meant little, due to the sheer amount she had. Poppi was concerned that the number of blades she was resonating with could take a toll on her health, but because no one had ever resonated with so many blades by themself before, there wasn't really any medical studies on the exact problems that could arise. They spent the rest of their time helping people in Argentum the best they could, in similar ways that Acacia and her blades had been helping here.

"Sorry I couldn't have been more help," I apologized, feeling bad that I had only been hanging out with Pyra instead of helping those who really needed it.

"Yes, I feel like I should've been there to help," Pyra added.

Mythra seemed to lose all focus and fixated on Pyra, tears flooding from her eyes.

"Mythra… are you alright?" Pyra questioned in confusion.

Mythra ran full speed and wrapped Pyra in a hug. "You've recovered so much…. I'm so glad!"

"Mythra!" Pyra said with a giggle. "Yeah… I'm right here."

I was happy to see Mythra happy again, it looked like her time spent in community service over the last month gave her just what she needed to finally release the stress she'd been bottling up.

"Alright guys, Pyra and I'll make dinner. After that, we'll take the next couple of days to rest up before we head out to the World Tree."

...

https/youtu.be/dO8dFrW0bMg

That night, Malos and Acacia went out onto one of the nearby hills overlooking the ocean. It seemed something had been on Malos' mind for a while, and he wanted to get it off his chest.

They sat in silence for a while, but eventually Malos decided to break it.

"I used to think life on this wretched planet was pointless," he said. "That kid eventually proved to me that it was nothing more than Amalthus' teachings rubbing off on me, but even so, I didn't care."

"You mean Rex?" Acacia asked in clarification.

He nodded. "I wanted to know for so long, why were humans the masters, and blades the slaves? Why were we subject to be dragged along with whatever silly farces the humans conjured up? Jin asked this too, and him and I tried to bring about the end of the world. A world where mankind would no longer exist, the world they seemed to dream of."

He stopped to let out a sigh. "...Even that was stupid. The idea that humans only exist to selfishly claim what they want and ignore others who they could've helped, that idea enraged me. There are always outliers, but collectively they all seemed the same. I especially thought that of you."

Acacia seemed taken aback, but not quite surprised, she had been selfish.

"This whiny bitch, someone who was only tagging along to satiate her own curiosity, never caring once for the people she hurt in the process," Malos said with a chuckle. "You were the exact kind of person I despised with every ounce of my being. And when I heard about how you abandoned your sister and left her to fend for herself when she was counting on you... I thought you were pointless. I couldn't even imagine having a worse driver, Amalthus included."

Acacia nodded solemnly; she knew he was right.

He chuckled. "Oh chin up, because you showed me something else."

Acacia lifted her head in curiosity. "When I stood to fight you, and I saw T-Elos, it reminded me why I hated humanity. You had killed the person you let down, and then you took her blade. Adamas may have given me time to think when he intervened, but I want you to know that it was your blades that changed my mind."

"KOS-MOS… and T-Elos?" Acacia questioned.

He nodded. "They interacted with the Conduit to bring power from a different universe entirely just to protect you. I wasn't surprised KOS-MOS was willing to do that, but T-Elos too? She hadn't even lost her memory, she knew you killed her last driver, she knew you abandoned her last driver. Yet she fought for you like you meant everything to her. I realized something about my logic was flawed…," he stopped to laugh, and he laughed hard. "Can you even see the irony? Logos, the Aegis of logic, flawed in the one area he's supposed to be a master of."

Acacia let out a weak, forced chuckle. "I could see that, yes."

Malos finally stopped to take a breath, admiring the beautiful star-lit sky.

"That Ardainian lady is your mother, isn't she?" he asked.

Acacia nodded. "I… didn't think I'd ever see her again, but she was right here the whole time, and I didn't even know it!"

"That's another thing I can't comprehend," Malos pointed out. "She was sold off while you were still young, right? That means the only real connection you have to her is that she carried you and your sister for a few months. I was watching you two talk, she was crying with tears of joy, just like you were. You had no idea you knew each other; you had no idea that you two had even met before, yet you guys bonded like she had been there your whole life. The bond you two share makes no sense, you've done nothing with each other, you two are practically strangers to each other, but that small, measly, insignificant fact that she gave birth to you was more than enough to forge a bond stronger than steel. What I saw between you and T-Elos, I saw again with you and that woman. It allowed me to realize one thing about humanity that I never once bothered to understand."

"What's that?" Acacia asked, now completely drawn into his train of thought.

He let out a sigh as he lay down completely on the grass. "Even garbage human beings without a lick of care for anyone but themselves can learn to show affection given the appropriate circumstances. That's what that little runt, Mythra, and Ontos was trying to show me. So, I've made my decision. I want to supply the circumstances necessary for everyone on this planet to finally get them to start giving a damn about each other."

Acacia nodded. "I agree, let's get this world-ending bs out of the way, and then…," she said, grabbing his hand in hers. "...I'd like to help you fulfill that goal."

"You know that's not going to be easy," Malos asked, turning to look at her. "It may take more than a few of your lifetimes to accomplish this goal."

"I understand that, but I think that's why blades exist," Acacia reasoned. "If I can't be around to get it done, then you can always reawaken and continue where we left off. Blades may always lose their memory… but I think as long as we can pass on our goals to the next generation, blades will always be able to keep fulfilling that goal with drivers that understand what the past generations learned."

"Heh, you sound as stupid as the runt did back in the World Tree five hundred years ago," Malos chuckled as he stared blankly at the World Tree. It was shimmering with faint green lights over its entire massive structure. "It's amazing we can see it from here. It looks that far away no matter how close you get to it, it's like a reminder to what we lost. Like Jin…."

Acacia let out a giggle. "I didn't know him, but I think he'd be proud of you."

"Yeah, I think so too," Malos said with a smirk, but he was immediately distracted by something.

"Malos?" Acacia questioned out of concern.

"Look at that, I suppose it really is time," Malos pointed out.

Acacia, confused, sat up and looked at the World Tree. The green lights had all gone out, and instead the tree was now glowing a deep red.

"I'll fight with you, I promise," Malos swore.

Acacia nodded, "Thanks, now let's go warn the others. We have a big day tomorrow."

Readability Level: 11-12th Grade

Time Taken: 3 Hours