They've been fighting for a good while now, dancing around each other in a chaotic whirl of swords and ether and energy. With narrowed eyes, Malos is carefully appraising their every move, reacting appropriately to counter with a terrifying efficiency.

Seeing an opening as Malos stumbles under the strength of her blow, Mythra pulls back and tosses her sword into the air. Rex returns Pyra's sword to its owner and leaps to catch Mythra's, bringing it down in an arc at Malos' head.

He knocks Rex away with ease, immediately disengaging and rushing for the now-defenceless Mythra. Her instincts scream at her to dodge, to stop the flow of ether she's been pushing towards Rex since her weapon left her hand, but she holds firm, waiting with a rare patience as Malos rushes closer, until-

Until Pyra is between them, flames swirling around her own sword as she blocks Malos' swing. Mythra breathes, moving to position herself behind Rex as her driver runs at Malos from the side, taking advantage of his distraction.

Malos is able to twist in time, yanking his sword away from Pyra's to lock with Rex's. "You really think I'd fall for that?" he sneers, leaping away from Pyra's next attack.

Mythra tightens her hand around her sword as Rex throws it back to her, darting to join Pyra as a ring of fire flares into existence around Malos. Surprise flashes across his face as he looks down at Pyra's handiwork, and when he returns his gaze to his enemies Mythra is there, light bursting from her outstretched palm. Malos cries out, arm coming up to shield his eyes, as Rex lunges through the receding flames to press Pyra's sword to Malos' neck.

"We win," he grins, waggling the sword slightly as Pyra laughs from behind him.

Malos scowls and bats the sword away. "You caught me off guard."

Letting her own sword dissipate into ether as Rex returns Pyra's to its place affixed to his lower back, Mythra says, "That was kinda the point."

"Was it difficult?" Pyra asks, coming to join them as Malos' weapon fades from his hands. At Malos' confused glance, she elaborates, "Fighting against someone you're in resonance with?"

Malos shrugs, blinking fast as if still a little blinded from Mythra's attack. "I guess? Blocking was fine, but attacking felt weird. It was manageable, though." He rubs at his eyes and says, "Have you ever tried it?"

"Oh no," Pyra says, shaking her head. "And I don't really want to try fighting Rex."

"I don't want to try either," Rex says. "Pretty sure I'd lose."

They launch into an argument, each defending the other's ability, and Mythra turns to Malos. "With Addam, we always sparred with other people," she says, "never me against him. It's not something we ever considered doing; we needed to be able to fight together, after all, so it made sense to practice that."

Malos' response is a nod, and he turns back to their makeshift camp, kicking one of the crates they're using as a stool closer to where their fire will be. He sits heavily, almost as if worn out, resting his arms on his knees.

"Speaking of practising," Rex says as he and Pyra bound over to join Malos. Mythra follows at a slower pace, "we should try the other way around. Me and Malos against Pyra and Mythra."

"That would help me and Mythra with our coordination," Pyra says thoughtfully. "We're improving - that session was great, and we're definitely getting better at switching out from active fighter to supporter - but we're still not used to having separate bodies, let alone fighting side by side."

Mythra misses hearing Pyra in her head. It was a comfort, knowing she was always there. Losing that comfort was the only downside to their separation, as far as Mythra is concerned.

Malos is blinking again, having shifted in his seat to face them. This time, it seems to be out of surprise instead of blindness (and maybe Mythra went a little overboard with that light blast. Just a little). "Wait, you actually want me to do the whole Driver-Blade-Fighting thing?"

"Uh, yeah?" Mythra scoffs, slumping onto a log next to him. "You are Rex's Blade, are you not? What did you expect?"

"To not have to do that?" They stare at him, and Malos scowls. "It's not like I've ever done it before: I never fought alongside Amalthus. I wouldn't know where to start."

Both Pyra and Rex seem stunned by that admission - Pyra's eyes are wide and Rex's mouth has fallen open - and even Mythra has to admit to her surprise. They'd never fought together, as driver and Blade? Never?! In Malos' five hundred years of battle, not once had that been as a Blade strengthening their driver. She knew Minoth had rarely done it for Amalthus, either, but Mythra had expected Amalthus to jump at the chance to wield Malos' power.

Swallowing her surprise, Mythra says, "'Course you do. You've been the driver in the situation. You've just got to do what Sever did for you. You supply the ether instead of having it supplied to you. Besides," she adds as an afterthought, "it's instinctive. You'll know what to do."

"Let's go now!" Pyra exclaims suddenly. "I'm excited to teach you!"

Malos now has one leg on either side of the crate, sitting with his upper half twisted to face them in a manner that really doesn't look comfortable. He glares at Pyra as she makes her suggestion. "But we just got done training," he points out. "We can have a go at this another day. We can just rest for a while now, can't we?"

"If we leave it, you'll have more time to weasel your way out of it," Pyra says, determination bright in her eyes. "So yes, we'll do it now. Right, guys?"

"Sure!" Rex says, Pyra's sword already in his hand, and he returns it to its owner. "I'm up for more."

They turn in unison to Mythra, who shrugs and forms her sword. "Let's go."

Groaning, Malos lumbers to his feet. "Fucking hell you kids are persistent."

"We do it out of love," Pyra sings, her sword fizzling out of existence as she wraps herself around Malos' arm. He swats her away with a small smile. Mythra lets her own sword go, having brought it out mainly for effect, and pushes herself up from her seat.

"Okay, how do I do this?" Malos asks once they'd returned to their previous training ground, arms spread wide.

Rex rubs a hand on the back of his head. "I, uh, need your sword?"

Lowering his arms, Malos mutters, "Right, that makes sense." He holds out a hand and the sword appears there, as ominously black and purple as ever. He reverses his grip and offers the hilt to Rex.

Taking the weapon, Rex immediately winces and tries a few swings. "The balance is weird," he mumbles appraisingly to himself, "and the shape is a bit ineffective."

"Excuse me?" Malos says indignantly. "Are you insulting my sword? When I'm right here?"

Rex jerks his head up, nearly dropping the sword in surprise. Mythra thinks he may actually have forgotten Malos' presence for a moment there - which is weird, really, given the imposing aura that screams off of Malos at all times. Maybe they're accustomed to him by now. "Oh, no, it's- it's a lovely sword! Very… edge. Sharp. Cutty." Malos continues to glare, and Rex falters beneath it. "Um, good sword, let's practice now?"

Malos rolls his eyes and turns away to face Pyra, who is stifling a grin. Behind his back, Rex gestures to the curved edge of the sword and mouths, why?

Mythra resists the urge to laugh and shrugs. She sees Malos shoot another glare over his shoulder, but he doesn't bother following it up, instead shifting his focus fully to Pyra. "So. Ether."

"Ether," Pyra replies. "Just push it through to Rex."

"Right," Malos says. After a long moment, one that seems to stretch out for an inordinate amount of time, he says, "Is it working?"

Rex glances down at the non-glowing weapon. "Um, no."

"Hold out your hands," Pyra says, guiding Malos into the correct position. "Keep them aimed at Rex. It makes the process a little easier."

"How?" Malos asks, holding the stance while twisting his head to give Pyra a dull look. "How the everloving fuck does this help?"

Pyra blinks. "I- I don't know, actually. It just does."

"And you've gotta admit," Mythra chips in, "it looks pretty badass when the ether link is up."

"I'm sure it does," Malos bites out through gritted teeth, "but it might help if we could get to that stage?"

"Oh no!" Rex suddenly exclaims, drawing everyone's attention to him. "A deadly monster!"

He is pointing at a small bunnit that has meandered over while he waited for the Blades to get the ether link working. The bunnit sniffs at his feet, and Rex throws a hand to his forehead in an exaggerated manner.

Malos sighs. "Kid-"

"Deadly monster!" Rex cries again, jabbing a finger in the bunnit's direction. "Oh dear, I am in so much danger! Terrible, terrible danger!"

The bunnit sits and stares up at Rex with a soft gaze. The tip of Malos' sword is dangling right beside its head.

"Wow," Mythra says quietly to herself. "Bunnits really don't have any self-preservation instincts."

"Save me, Malos!"

"I could do a better job rescuing you from that if I came over there and kicked it," Malos deadpans.

Pyra gestures weakly in the direction of Rex and his aggressor. "Just pretend it's a bit more of a threat, and- sorry, Rex, could you step away from the bunnit? I don't want him to get hurt."

"He is quite cute, isn't he?" Rex says. "I wouldn't want him to get hurt, either." He shuffles away from the bunnit. The bunnit moves closer.

"So much for the terrifying threat," Malos grumbles as Rex continues trying to evade the bunnit.

Mythra laughs. "Aw, Rex, you've got a friend!"

"A friend who'll get his head chopped off if he doesn't leave me alone!"

Malos is still dropped into a half-crouch, arms outstretched. "That's only if we can get this damn thing to work."

Taking a big step away from the bunnit, Rex hefted Malos' sword into the air. "There, do it now."

"I still haven't figured out how!"

"Oh for the love of-" Mythra lunges forward, grabbing for Malos' wrist. He startles, eyes jolting to her. "You know how to manipulate ether. Do that at Rex. That is literally it."

Malos stares at her. She growls. "Do it!"

He jerks, returns his gaze to Rex (who is carefully balancing the sword upright), and Mythra feels him push.

A second later Pyra is between them, her shield barely taking the brunt of Malos' destructive blow, the purple ether energy dissolving into nothingness with only the scorched earth beneath to show for it.

"Not like that!" Mythra yells, aghast, as Pyra staggers back to check on a stunned Rex. "Non-physical ether!"

"How do you manipulate ether non-physically?!" Malos yells back, finally dropping his stance. "The whole point of ether is to manifest it! Physically!"

"I'm okay!" Rex calls from a distance. "Just in case you were wondering."

Pyra crouches to the ground. "So is the bunnit!"

That bunnit finally sees sense and bumbles away. It seems even poor, dull woodland creatures know to fear the power of an Aegis.

"I don't know how to do this, okay? I did what you said and we all saw how well that went!" Malos snarls, waving his arms for emphasis. "I could have just killed Rex! It's- it's better if I stick to fighting by myself."

Pyra is suddenly at Malos' side. She places a gentle hand on his arm. "Is that why you hesitated to try? Because you feared hurting Rex?"

"You know, I really am fine! No damage done, we can just try again!"

"No," Malos hisses. "We're done here."

He rips away from Pyra, shoves past Mythra, and then stops. Looks down. Mythra follows his line of sight to see the bunnit staring up at the man that was almost its murderer. The bunnit tiptoes forward until it settles on Malos' foot, rubbing its head against his leg.

"What is it doing," Malos says blankly.

Pyra coos. "Look, he likes you!"

"Seems like he has more faith in you than you do in yourself," Mythra says quietly.

Malos scowls at her, standing deathly still. "Shut up."

"Malos," Rex calls, and they all turn to look. He had let the sword fall to the ground, but now he hefts it back up to his chest. "I trust you," he smiles. "Try again."

"We'll block it," Mythra says, "if it goes wrong."

Pyra places her hand back on his arm. "You've got this. Push the ether, softly."

"I hate you all," Malos informs them. Mythra and Rex nod. Pyra pats him knowingly on the arm. He sighs wearily. "Fine. Fuck it. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He allows Pyra to guide him back into the right stance while Mythra gently removes the bunnit. Once the creature is safely out of the way she moves to join Rex, ready to throw up a shield if necessary.

Malos takes a deep breath, and then Mythra feels the faintest trace of ether curling around her.

"More," Pyra says encouragingly, and a burst of purple explodes against Mythra's shield. "Less than that."

They continue in this manner for a while, going back and forth between too little and too much, until finally, finally, after Mythra has long since switched places with Pyra to avoid wearing herself out entirely, after Rex has dragged the crate over to sit on while he waits, finally the sword flares to life in a rush of purple, and the pale blue ether link blinks into existence.

Rex yelps and topples off the crate. "It worked!"

"You did it!" Pyra squeals, throwing herself at Malos.

The purple and blue instantly fade, and Malos slumps to the ground. "Fuck," he says eloquently. "That was so much harder than it needed to be."

"But you did it," Mythra says.

Rex has scrambled to his feet and is dashing to join them. Mythra tilts her head to the side, attempting to convey her itch to say I told you so without actually speaking the words. Pyra is leaning on Malos' back, head resting on his shoulder.

Malos grins up at them wearily. "I did it."