"Read em and weep," Rex folded his arms smugly after laying down his hand of cards making Mythra scoff.
"How are you winning? We're Aegises for crying out loud!"
"Well," Pyra, who took the loss much better, spoke calmly, "You did lose your foresight."
"Ugh," Mythra groaned, "Don't remind me. I would have crushed you if I still had it. I knew I should have counted cards."
"Now, now," Rex was clearly proud of himself, "No need to be a sore loser. I've been playing this game for years."
"I'm probably older than this game!" Mythra huffed.
Rex responded with a yawn, "Well, as fun as this is, I think I'm ready to turn in for the night."
"Yeah," Mythra suddenly realized she was pretty tired as well, "But I want a rematch."
"Sure thing," Rex grinned.
"Er," Pyra vocalized, "Why not do it now? There's still plenty of time!"
"Pyra," Rex was already on his feet, "It's past midnight."
"Is it?" Pyra held her hands over her chest, "I-I guess I lost track of the time."
"No worries," Rex flashed her a cheerful smile, "I can get wrapped up when I'm having fun too."
"R-right," Pyra replied meekly earning a suspicious gaze from her sister. Despite her suspicious gaze, Mythra said nothing. Acting a little strange was no cause for an intervention. So, Mythra filed that bit away before rising from the table.
"I'll be off to bed then," Mythra stretched and yawned.
"Sounds good," Rex made off to his own room while Mythra departed for her and Pyra's shared one leaving Pyra sitting at the kitchen table alone.
"I'll uh, be along in a bit," Pyra slowly started to clean up the cards. Unfortunately, that did not take up anywhere near as long as the younger Aegis would have liked. All too soon, she was forced to climb the stairs up to her and Mythra's room.
Pyra looked over to her sister's bed to see her already fast asleep. Sighing, Pyra climbed into her own bed and forced herself to close her eyes.
Pyra's eyes shot open and she darted up in bed. Looking around, she was greeted by the sight of her room causing her to sigh in relief. Looking to her left, she saw Mythra's bed neatly made. Pyra nearly grimaced at the idea that Mythra not only woke up before her, but that she also made her bed already.
With a sigh, Pyra climbed out of her bed and made it pristinely. Once she was satisfied with her work, Pyra nodded and made her way downstairs. However, on her way down, Pyra heard something strange. Sounds were coming from the kitchen. Her kitchen.
Pyra stormed down the stairs ready to wrest her poor pans from Mythra's foul grasp. However, she was instead greeted by a dark-haired woman humming away at the kitchen.
"W-who are you?" Pyra felt oddly uncomfortably having her in her kitchen.
"Huh?" The woman turned around and looked at her with large, golden eyes, "Oh! You're awake!"
"I am," Pyra looked at her suspiciously, "Who are you?"
"Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. I'm Catherine. I must say, I hardly expected you to finally awake during my lifetime."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Why, you've been asleep for nearly five hundred years."
"What!" Pyra stumbled back, "No…Rex!" Pyra darted out the door without another word to the woman. When she did so, she was startled by how different the village was. It had gone from a small town to a developed city. It forced Pyra's panic to become even more extreme as she simply started running.
Almost automatically, Pyra ran toward a hilltop that she and Rex loved to visit. She was relieved to find it still undeveloped as well as Mythra being there.
"Mythra!" Pyra ran up to her sister, "Please tell me this is all some sort of mistake."
"There you are sleepyhead!" Mythra taunted, "Nope, you really did sleep for five hundred years. Slept through a lot of important things too. I take it you met Catherine after waking up?"
"Y-yes. Who was she?"
"Rex's descendant. You see, he moved on after you went to sleep. Surprisingly easily. Met a nice girl, got married, and had plenty of kids. He lived a happy life before passing away. Without you. I'm not even sure if he remembered you by then. You were kind of just a lump taking up bed space."
Pyra breathed heavily while her mouth moved, but no words came out. Mythra kept moving toward her.
"You missed so much, and they all got along just fine without you. You aren't needed, Pyra. You finally decided to start living, only to miss out on the man who meant the most to you. Only to not be missed or needed. What made you think that you deserved to be happy? What made you think that he needed you to be happy?"
Pyra froze in terror at the voice behind her, "We Aegises are not destined for happiness."
"Malos!" Pyra recoiled in fear.
"Come on, Pyra!" Malos approached her menacingly, "You know I'm right!" He lifted his blade, "No join me in death!"
"Ah!" Pyra shot up in her bed. Struggling to get her breathing under control, Pyra looked around to see her darkened room. A dream. Another nightmare.
"Pyra," The flame blade froze as her sister stared at her from her position propped up on her elbow. Pyra grimaced. Her outburst finally gave her away.
"I'm sorry if I woke you."
"Don't worry about that," Mythra sat up, "Something's clearly wrong."
"It's just," Pyra rubbed her arm anxiously, "I've been…afraid to go to sleep lately."
"Afraid? Why?"
"I-I keep thinking back to when Addam sealed me in that ship, and part me keeps thinking, 'What if I don't wake up for another 500 years?' I know it doesn't make any sense, but ever since we agreed to embrace life…I fear missing out on the lives of those close to me. Especially Rex. I think what might scare me the most is the thought that no one even needs me around to be happy."
Both of them knew that by "no one" she really meant Rex.
"You should tell Rex about this."
"What?" Pyra's eyes went wide, "No, I wouldn't want to worry him."
"Well, that goofball is probably your best chance of getting out of this funk," Rex had an uncanny knack for getting through to them. Besides that, Mythra wanted Pyra to get over this. After all, Mythra felt responsible for Pyra being sealed away in that ship all the while she was locked away inside their shared head.
"I…guess you have a point."
"I know I do," Mythra folded her arms triumphantly. Being right felt good. Though, even Tora probably could have told Pyra she should talk to Rex, but a win was a win.
"In the morning though. I don't want to wake him."
"Alright," Mythra laid back down and looked over at her sister, "Will you be okay?"
"Yeah," Pyra whispered, "I can make it one more night."
Mythra did not look too sure, but she decided to keep her prying to a minimum, "You'd better be. Can't have you interrupting my beauty sleep."
Pyra giggled softly knowing she was actually very concerned, "Good night."
"Yeah," Mythra waved her hand lazily as she rolled over. Despite her show, she was concerned, but she trusted Pyra. Though, if she did not talk to Rex before tomorrow night, then she might have some words to share.
Pyra took a deep breath after she put the last dish away from breakfast. She had asked Rex to meet her at their hilltop, and she should not keep him waiting. That did not keep her from taking an inordinate amount of time to clean up after breakfast though.
She dreaded pouring her heart out to Rex like this. Not because she did not trust him. No, far from it. She just did not want to be a burden. Five hundred years was a long time to loathe oneself, and it could take a while to fully get over it. Especially when born into such loathing.
One of Pyra's greatest fears was that she would be a hinderance to those she cared about. Rex chief among them. He would obviously assure her that she was no burden. That was just how he was, and she would not change that for the world.
Eventually, she could find no more good excuses to delay and forced herself to go out to meet him. She had made him wait long enough as it was. Passing by an impatient Mythra who was irritated by Pyra's stalling, the youngest Aegis made her way through the streets of New Fonsett. It brought back her dream from the previous night, but fortunately, all the streets were as she remembered them.
Then she got to the hill. It was a bit of a reversal to how they first met with Rex up at the top of the hill overlooking the lush lands they called home now. Land as far as the eye could see. A dream come true.
"It really is something, isn't it?" Pyra asked as she stepped in next to Rex.
"It really is," Rex was still in awe no matter how many times he saw this sight, but they were not there to sight see, "You had something you wanted to talk about?"
"Rex," Pyra breathed deep, "I've been…having some trouble sleeping."
"Oh?" Rex raised a brow, "Is that why you wanted to keep going last night?"
"Yeah," The Aegis rubbed her arm, "Without all of the fighting to distract me, my mind lingers on unpleasant thoughts, and I tend to have nightmares."
"What about?" Rex asked in a rare solemn tone.
"It's…usually about me falling asleep for a long time like when I was sealed in that ship. However, this time, I don't want to go away. It was…easier back then. I was afraid of my, or perhaps, Mythra's power, and I really didn't have many bonds myself. Now…now I want to be apart of this world and I'm afraid of not being able to do so. Afraid that none of you really need or want me here."
"Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I know that I want you here," Rex spoke with that easy smile he often wore. The one Pyra had come to love so much. As if that were not enough to get Pyra off kilter, he took her hand in his as well while trying to hid how flustered it made him, "You deserve to be happy like the rest of us, and I'm determined to make you happy. L-like you make me. So none of this wondering if you're wanted. Even if you didn't have plenty of people who liked you, which ya do, I'll always want you by my side."
Pyra could hardly contain the giddy smile as her heart fluttered. It seemed Mythra had been right, "Thank you, Rex. That…means a lot."
"You'll let me know if you keep having nightmares, right? I don't want you to suffer alone. Maybe talking about it would help. I can tell you how silly they are."
Pyra giggled, "Sure, Rex. Maybe it would help."
"Glad to hear it," Rex grinned, and the two remained like that for some time with their hands still entwined as they enjoyed the view.
A/N: Would foresight work on a card game if it didn't have the proper data? I don't know, maybe it would essentially count the cards for her.
Yes, I did end up de-leveling. I also stopped using the hard mode and opted for custom. What's the point in combat if you can't do as many flashy things? As it turns out, custom is also useful for cheesing challenge mode. I can worry about legitimately beating them later. I also like that sending Poppi a on a merc mission was able to satisfy her Tiger!Tiger! score requirement.
Are there any costumes that any of you consistently use? I've taken to using the white and red (Edit: might be more orange) salvager suit for Rex, at least until I get the master driver suit back. I've also been using the dress uniform for Morag. I kind of like the blue Pyra, but I haven't been using it consistently.
As for this, I have some more ideas for one shots, so look out for those.