Wow, times are fun right now. it seems like exams and revision and all of that mess really do interfere with your personal life. Oh well, at least I've still managed to get this out! Eventually. Sorry for the wait folks, but it's time for us to get a boat and that can only mean one thing - time for some weird little hijinks because if I didn't include weird little hijinks this would basically be a 'walks here, collect stuff, walks back' chapter. Anyway, let's go!
Super hero time!
Lilith: Wow, you're a real princess with magical powers!? That's so amazing! Where are you now though?
Zelda: To think a world like Alrest exists, built purely upon the back of Titans... it's awe inspiring.
Lilith: Grimm prowl the land, so fight as you've done for centuries!
Zelda: And you shall make your way to the World Tree, approaching paradise itself.
L + Z: Don't forget me! The hero has come!
"What that?"
"It's a cloud sea compass, must have for any salvager. Think of it like a map of the Cloud Sea." Lilith could only watch in silence as Rex went through several different dials, buttons and the likes, even somehow managing to input the date on the golden disk despite the fact that the grey haired girl wasn't entirely sure there was any numbers on there. How the salvagers managed to come up with such a system, let alone actually memorise how it worked and use it on a regular basis, was anyone's guess. In no time flat however, the centre pin was spinning away, various figures and images moving around upon the compass' face until it finally settled. "See? Simple as that."
"So we're closest to the World Tree right now?" Ursula asked, the small child looking down from her high perch upon Beary's shoulder. "That should make things easy, right?"
"Unfortunately, every ship within Torigoth is under the grip of the Ardainian army." Dromarch interrupted. "It seems as if we've reached an impasse."
"If only I had my old body, we would be there in a second!" Gramps cured, his little form coming out from within Rex's helmet. Sure, Lilith had heard the fact that the now tiny titan was once full sized and fully able to battle, but the thought of them all riding upon a giant version of Gramps' current form… that elicited a giggle from her.
"We need ship? Tora have good idea!" the Nopon suddenly cried out, all eyes turning onto his dancing form. "There is ship builder living at Gormott Titan's bum-bum. Old friend of Tora's Grampypon – he called Umon! Maybe he help if we tell him what's what!"
"Seems like a good shot! Guess we've gotten lucky!" Kasandra cheered, a small hop of celebration having her grab Lilith's hands. "Come on then, let's go!"
"You're really energetic today Kasandra. What's so special?" Lilith questioned as the Blade skipped forward, happily walking backwards as she gazed up towards the clear sky.
"I don't know! I just feel like today's going to be super lucky, especially considering what we've dealt with until now!" Kasandra answered, a bright grin appearing upon her lips. The joy continued as they went up past Nocclia Woods, the fresh scent of morning dew filling their noses as the crew walked along. Most of them weren't exactly strangers to the smell of nature, but Rex who was either upon Gramps' back with but a few blades of grass and Argentum, whose trees were rather sparsely placed throughout the area, was more than content to close his eyes and take in the atmosphere.
"You're right. I feel way more relaxed than usual!" the salvager declared, raising his arms to the air as they entered the Greatspine Boundary. "I feel like a kid again, running around the place back home."
"Might want to be careful though." Nia suddenly stated, a held out hand causing them all to immediately pause as the catgirl's eyes narrowed. "Enemy drivers. The moment we get noticed by them, we'll have a huge fight on."
The group of unruly men were raucously laughing at whatever joke their leader made, the early morning apparently not enough to deter them from taking a few happy drinks in their hands. Their Blades however were the greater risks, remaining completely vigilant even while their drivers slowly became more and more intoxicated. Sneaking by them would be rather tricky.
Fortunately for them, there was one option the group hadn't thought about. Lilith was quick to motion to the side, a small slope slowly gaining height until it eventually reached far too high for anyone to be able to reach them in time. Scrambling up as quietly as they could without sending off any signals, they were soon high reaching the levels of the treetops, not a single Blade or drunk Driver looking in their direction.
"Phew, that was fortunate. I'd hate to think what would've happened if we were caught." Kasandra sighed, rubbing a hand across her forehead. A gust of wind managed to disguise the sound of rattling in the air as a branch, probably rotting for a while now, suddenly fell from its position high above them. Luckily, they weren't the intended targets, for the giant hunk of wood managed to fall upon the drunk drivers, their Blades left to try and save their partners from beneath the giant branch before they were crushed for good. "And now we don't have to worry about that distraction either! Today's just as good as I thought it would be!"
Well, getting down from the branch was still going to be an issue though, one that was quickly solved by Poppi. The artificial Blade had no reservations when it came to scooping Tora and leaping from the treetops, jet burners blazing as she gently deposited the Nopon back on the ground. Well, the others were a bit more subtle when it came to returning to ground level; Dromarch held the elegance of any cat leaping down yet for the others, it was simply a case of blind luck. Beary was bulky enough to carry both Lilith and Ursula down with a mighty jump, Kasandra following soon after and managing to land flat on her face without damage. Pyra and Rex had ended up in a rather odd position, the fiery Blade clasping Rex in a bridal hold of all things.
Beyond Melnath's shoulder sat a quaint little dock, vines growing over parts of the rustic metal. By the side, a nice little diving spot sat open and ready for use, but their target was within, Tora leading the charge.
"Hello Umon!? Uuumonnn!" Tora yelled as the Nopon mechanic bounded into the room with fluttering wings. So far, it seemed as if the place was completely empty, not a single soul to be seen save for the titan happily sitting in the Cloud Sea as the beginnings of a boat sat upon its back. "Now where Umon?"
"Who is that? Who is noisy while I do my work?" a voice groaned from the side lines, a small figure of dark green coming out from one of the side rooms. Had he actually been doing any work? It was far too quiet for someone to have been doing any kind of mechanical work, especially considering the ship was in the dock rather than whatever was at the side. "Ah, Tora! This is big surprise!"
"Long time no see Unclepon!"
"Yes, long time true! Er… about one whole year?" Umon muttered, scratching the back of his head with a wing. "You became very big in one year Tora. And Tora have lots and lots of sidekicks!"
"No, no, Rex-Rex and friends aren't sidekicks! They real friends Uncle Umon!" Tora was quick to object, jumping at the thought. "Friends, meet Unclepon Umon! Umon did great research with grampypon! He great builder of ships!"
"I see, Tora's friends! Then Tora has lots of friends, very good! Well Tora, did you need Umon's help with anything?"
"You see, friends need to borrow ship from Uncle Umon!"
"A ship? But Torigoth have lots of ships! Why travel all the way to bum-bum to see Umon?" Well, that was true. But you would never get anywhere if you didn't sprinkle a few little white lies into your words.
"I think Tora's a bit embarrassed, but we can tell your Unclepon, right?" Lilith prompted, the grey haired girl's elbow into the Nopon's side having him nodding before he even fully recognised what was happening. "You see, Tora managed to spend all the gold he had on him and all of the normal ships in Torigoth are way too expensive for a broke Nopon. And to think, all we wanted to do was go on a boat trip…"
"No gold eh? I suppose it make sense for Tora. Spend gold on artificial Blade, right?" Umon muttered, gently approaching Poppi with a calculating eye. "So, this is what grampypon was working on."
"My name is Poppi. Pleased to meet Unclepon." Poppi answered dutifully, bowing at the waist with a robotic stiffness. The sight made Umon's wings flare out in recognition and excitement, a glint entering his eye.
"Yes, yes this it!" he exuberantly exclaimed. "This pretty mighty achievement. Tora's take after grampypon indeed. How can I refuse Tora and friends now? Tora may use Umon's ship, but there is little problem."
"Um, Mr Umon?" Ursula nervously interrupted, glancing between the Nopon and the titan docked upon the shipyard's port. "That ship doesn't have a steering wheel."
"Yes, it true. Not much left to do! But work stop, because no building parts." Umon admitted, rubbing the back of his neck (or at least, wherever you called the place between the head and body. Nopons didn't actually have necks.) "Is big problem, big like sea or mountain. If friends find parts, then I make and you borrow!"
"Well, seems simple enough!" Rex declared, folding his arms with a confident grin. "You tell us what we need to find and we'll get this done in a second."
"Thank you friends! All Umon need is five diamond oak and ten puzzletree wood." Umon instructed, pacing back and forth. "Puzzletree wood very easy to find, find everywhere really. Diamond oak though very rare. Maybe only found in super-secret location!"
"A super-secret location? Where on earth could that be?" Pyra mused, a scoff escaping Nia at the thought.
"Couldn't be a little bit more clear, could you?" the yellow dressed girl muttered, Umon covering his eyes with his wings.
"Umon would, nut only buy from special supplier. Supplier not have any right now though and Gormott too dangerous for Nopon like me. Maybe Torigoth informant know!"
"But we're not allowed to go back to Torigoth…" the cat girl answered, Lilith's fist meeting her palm in confidence.
"Don't worry about it! You lot focus on trying to get the the puzzletree wood and me, Kasandra and Ursula will go for the diamond Oak location! I'll be able to slip in and out before they even notice!" the little thief suggested, all others turning to lo9o at each other in concern.
"There's bound to be more guards than ever though. The risk is truly a major one." Gramps remarked, Rex giving a gentle nod of agreement.
"Still, Lilith's managed to fulfil her promise each and every time though. I have faith in her!" Rex countered, holding out his fist to a grinning Lilith. "Right then, if you really think you can do it, then let's get this done as fast as possible! Are you up for the task?"
"Aye aye sir!" paired with a cute little salute, the girl and her Blades were off, leaving the main group to split off and follow after.
Slipping back into Torigoth was a simple task. When Beary was reduced down to his weaponised form, they didn't even have a single bit of trouble from the guards that were stationed around the place. Strangely enough, it didn't seem at all as if they had increased the guard number at all. Much to the contrary, it was as if there were barely any to meet at all.
"Don't you feel… a little nervous about this?" Ursula questioned, her eyes flashing back and forth as she gently tiptoed after her driver. Why she did, Kasandra didn't know or care – the black haired girl was practically skipping her way through the town regardless of who saw her. Then again, if the guards weren't around then the only people who were had no clue who caused the chaos at the titan warship. Finally, the secrecy of Mor Ardain was finally working in their favour!
"We should be fine for now. Let's just get to Turuni and find out where the diamond Oak could be found." Lilith directed to a strange sound from one of the girls, heading into the little alleyway where the slightly suspicious Nopon could usually be found though, when they were met with an empty area though, Lilith was forced to get a little bit more creative.
After all, there was no better way of getting information than open mouths. Naturally, their first stop was the Saets lumber company, but there had been only one person available amidst all of the bumbling people yelling orders and shifting about all sorts of wood.
"Sorry kids, but you're better off looking later." the worker remarked with a sigh, rolling his shoulder with audible cracks - not a pleasant experience to hear at all. "For some reason, a couple of monsters have completely messed up our stock and now we've got all hands dedicated to sorting the stuff out. You aren't going to find many open ears right now."
"But we just want to know where you can find diamond oak!" Lilith called out, but it was too late for the sudden sound of crashing revealed another especially large krabble launching out of the debris and sending the logs flying even worse than they had been before. The tremendous noise did serve to cover the strange sound that came from their group again though.
"What are we meant to do now? If it's a rare type of wood, then the only people who were likely to know about it are Saets and Turuni!" groaned Lilith, the girl tugging the ends of her hair with a small pout. "Come on there has to be someone you know… a Biologist? There has to be one in a place like Torigoth… Cedwyn! Come on guys, let's go!"
But the man wasn't at the small patch of grass he was often frequenting, the collection of children there informing him of the man's sudden emergency at his home sending him running mere moments before they could catch him. Of course, the children had no clue where the man lived and he worked from his home, so there wasn't an office they could chase down; this was turning out to be an incredibly terrible day.
"Why's this happening now? We were having such good fortune in the morning and all!" Kasandra lamented as they made their way back to the Torigoth Arch, absorbing the general chatter and merriment that filled the area.
"Oi, Lilith! How are you doing!?" Kassa called out from her own stall, the slightly desolate girl's head perking up as she dashed over to the odds and ends vendor. "So, how did the advice fair ya?"
"It was perfect, we managed to get things running super smoothly!" the girl exuberantly declared, only for her cheerfulness to abate slightly as she played with the hem of her skirt. "But now we need some diamond oak and there's no one who can actually tell us where we can find the stuff."
"Let me guess, Turuni and Saets?" the storeowner immediately answered, to the trio's nods. "Yeah, it was kind of weird. Turuni was here an hour ago and I'm pretty sure Saets was completely quiet them too. Makes you almost think the little Nopon had something to do with it. Can't have been though, for all of the suspicious looks he gets, Turuni's never done a bad thing beyond overpricing things. If it's diamond oak you want, then you're going to have to go somewhere pretty special, Dawnview Grotto. You're going to have to go through the Tirkin Turf and there's a tunnel that'll lead you right above Lyta Oasis – you should find some there."
"Oh, you're a lifesaver!" Lilith cried, the grey haired girl clasping kassa tightly before she turned to her Blades. "Alright you two, time to make our way to Dawnview Grotto! Now that we know where it is, this should all be a breeze!"
Her words were met by an ominous sound, though it was drowned out by the two Blades' cheer.
The walk was a fairly simple one if one considered having the various monsters surrounding Torigoth suddenly take a personal interest in them and chase the group all over the area a simple walk. Kasandra was left huffing as Ursula tried her best to keep the link to her Driver connected, Lilith attacking frantically with the claws formed from Beary. They had certainly not attracted that much attention through any of their own action; they had managed to escape Torigoth already after all to little fanfare and that was when they had members of the Ardainian arm looking for them.
Ducking around the charging strike of a field Ardun, Lilith let out a cry as she shot forward with a freezing punch to the ground, shards of freezing ice spiking through the beats and finally ending its mad rampage. Looking around to ensure their safety, Lilith finally groaned as she fell upon her back the cool ground trying its best to counter the sweat worked up by far too much work.
"How did we end up getting swamped by a hundred different monsters!?" the grey haired girl cried out in frustration, the claws upon her hand changing back into the form of Beary as the polar bear picked up its partner. "Argh, the others have already probably managed to produce enough puzzletree wood and here we are stilltrying to find the Dawnview Grotto!"
"But we did manage to get to the Tirkin Turf…" Ursula hesitantly pointed out, pointing from her viewpoint towards the group of avian creatures. Some held basic staffs with which to battle while another held a bow ready to fire upon any unsuspecting passer-by. "We're not going to get past them without a fight though."
"Don't worry about it! Give me a little time and I'll show you what I'm capable of!" Kasandra interrupted, hands proudly upon her hips as she stepped forward, Lilith's gentle warning going unheard as each of the Tirkin turned their gaze upon the black haired Blade.
"Graw! Who strange lady and friends!?" one of the Tirkin called out, a scratchy voice as Kasandra gave a small bow.
"Hello! We were just hoping that maybe you'll let us pass? After all, we just need to get some wood and then we'll be on our way!" the Blade questioned, each and every one of the Tirkin barely needing more than a moment before they were squawking indignantly.
"No let invaders leave! Capture all invaders!" and thus, the lucky Blade immediately raised her shield to block the wood that threatened to pierce her, an arrow falling off the energy projection with a clatter as Lilith rushed forward, Ursula close behind.
"Kasandra! Let's go!" grabbing a hold of said girl's arm, Lilith rushed forward up Twin Trunks hill, latching onto the vines and starting to climb as fast as she possibly could. Well, the hint wasn't at all subtle, the other Blades starting their ascent as the Tirkins called out their battle cries. They couldn't climb however, or fly, meaning their only source of damage was arrows that, while admittedly incredibly dangerous in the right situation, able to reach too high.
That didn't mean the climb was any better though. It seemed as if the vines never ended to the thief and soon, it was becoming far more apparent that she would have to start working on her upper body strength if she wanted to even stand a chance of properly finding her way to Elysium alongside the others. Imagine, fighting so hard in order to get to the world tree, only to be unable to actually climb it!
Fortunately for Lilith's arms though, the vines eventually led to solid ground, merely a tunnel's travel away from their desired position. The view from the Dawnview Grotto was beautiful, all three of them decided. From the Cliffside, you could see a huge amount of the Gormott titan, Torigoth standing proudly in the distance as all of the various monsters that had once seemed so frightening now looked to be little more than ants. Perhaps if they weren't in the situation they were in, Lilith might've remained to admire the pretty scenery a bit more, but they had a job and there were stray pieces of wood sitting around the place.
"All of the trees are so pretty…" Ursula sighed, the little ice Blade resting herself upon the rocky overhang to gaze down upon the Titan. "Sights like this are amazing, don't you think?"
"Super cool. And we managed to get all the wood we needed too, so we can head back and finally get a boat to the world tree!" Lilith declared with a light spin, the joy returned to her face even as she tried her best to stay away from the edge. The wood was far heavier than she expected it to be though, and she very quickly fell back to the floor with an inelegant grunt, Kasandra quick to move in and pick up the slack.
"Well, climbing down is going to be a bit awkward though." The black haired girl reminded, crimson eyes peering down through the tunnel they came through. "I do hope we can get past those Tirkin without getting into a fight. They seemed ever so strong as well."
This time however, the sound of a rattling mask wasn't so discrete. As the two others turned to look at Kasandra with a questioning gaze, they failed to notice the giant cerulean bird that had decided to fly by at that moment. The Messar Taos definitely noticed them however, for without hesitation it shot forth towards the grotto, sending forth a bright gust of wind as it flapped its wings. Ursula and Kasandra were fortunate enough – their natural weights as Blades meant they were deceptively well anchored into the ground. Lilith though was far lighter than any of them and her position far more vulnerable; before she even knew it, the thief went from looking at Kasandra to looking at the steadily approaching ground of Gormott.
Oh, no, the ground wasn't getting higher. She was falling.
OH GOD SHE WAS FALLING!
Her scream echoed through the air, arms flapping uselessly as if they were going to suddenly lift her like a jetpack. It wasn't as if her Blades could do anything – they were both humanoid (oh, and Beary, but she was allowed to forget some things!) and that meant they would be able to do nothing but join her on her flight. Basically, she was screwed.
"Activate boosters Poppi!"
"Roger-roger!"
But then she was held in a metallic grip, the Nopon's cheers drowned out y the sound of rocket fuel being burnt at incredibly high temperatures. Finally taking a moment to see her saviour, she was greeted by the sight of a grinning artificial Blade, carefully being lowered to the ground until the thief was touching solid earth again. Lilith felt no regret as she started to practically kiss the ground she was standing on, almost crying from joy by the time both Kasandra and Lilith managed to hitch a ride from Poppi.
"Are you okay? That looked terrifying!" Pyra immediately asked, looking all over the girl as Lilith shakily got to her feet, deep breaths doing very little to actually calm her. "You seemed as if you were having a bit of a struggle, so we figured we'd try and see where you went. Then we saw you flying off from above and Poppi was able to get to you just in time!"
Said lilac haired robot was finally returned to the ground as she hefted the pile of wood, what had been a horribly heavily pile seemingly nothing in the arms of the robot. Lilith was almost jealous; she was strong, cute and amazing at fighting!
"All diamond oak collected! Can return to Unclepon now." The robot declared, Dromarch plodding gently to the theif's side.
"Lilith, you look rather dishevelled. Would you like to take a ride upon my back?" the tiger wouldn't have made the suggestion normally - he had reserved such a privilege for his driver and her only, but his suggestion was made at Nia's prompt and Lilith legitimately looked as if she was going to collapse the moment she took one more step.
Huh, she did.
"shhhhorre. Ihh hf er ridh." Lilith tried to speak without swallowing a mouthful of soil. What she probably was trying to say was 'sure, I'll have a ride', but the meaning was still there and she carefully scooped up by Nia.
"Don't worry yourself about it, we'll get this ship business over with and we'll be off to the world tree in a jiffy!" the cat girl promised with a smirk.
"What do you mean you let the titan run away!?" Nia hissed, curling into herself ready to pounce at the suddenly much more frightened Umon. The shipyard had been remarkably empty the moment they walked in and the Nopon mechanic himself had been lazing about, surprised that they had managed to get the diamond oak.
"W-well, Umon unfortunately forgot to feed poor titan, so titan swim off with rumbly tummy!" Umon rapidly spat out, wings slightly trembling. Naughty titan was heading for Masrah spring, surely you find there! Once you find titan, feed it the pollen orbs I provide you that form contract between you and titan; as long as you give pollen orbs, it happily serve as your boat."
"I thought there were special techniques you used to tame titans. You really mean we can take a titan just by feeding it?" Lilith asked gently. The fall had not been good to her stomach and it was all the girl could do not to throw up right there and then.
"There are all sorts of ways to tame titans, at least from what I've heard." Rex answered, scratching at his ear. "The Ardainians fit a whole bunch of machinery and use a reward/punishment system in order to get their obedience, but this way's much more natural. Does mean that if you run out of pollen orbs, you can't go anywhere anymore."
"Ah, friends privy to secret trick of titan trade! Nopon method much gentler and nicer than rough mean Ardanian method." Umon agreed. "Now, go to Masrah spring. Titan not show up if Cloud Sea level is high though, so be careful!
Luckily, with their group as big as it was compared to just a trio containing a single driver, there was far less of a catastrophe getting towards the spring, the Cloud Sea had abated, leaving just enough space for the sight of a hungry titan upon the shore, Ursula approaching the creature with a small frown.
"Poor thing, it looks so hungry." The small ice girl muttered, pulling out one of the orbs they had been provided with. "Here you go. Eat up big guy!"
And eat up it did. While pollen orbs did have a deceptively small size, they certainly were filling (or at least, it seemed to be that way according to biologists.) despite that however, the tired titan managed to scoff down four more of the things before it was properly satisfied, a low growl of appreciation leaving it as an incredibly large tongue licked up the whole of Ursula's body to her delight.
"Hey, stop that! It tickles!"
"Well, seems like it really likes you Ursula." Rex remarked, crouching down beside the girl. "So, you're much friendlier than you seem e- OW! What was that for!?"
"Rex, are you okay?" turns out, if you weren't the one feeding it, then you weren't as high on the friendship list, the titan more than happy to chomp down on Rex's hand in search of more food. With Pyra caring for the salvager, they were too busy to see the titan slink away, Ursula leaning forward in surprise so far she nearly fell into the Cloud Sea, a small pout appearing upon her face as Beary returned her to his shoulder.
"Aw, where did the titan go?" the Blade asked, Gramps perking up from the helmet upon Rex's back.
"Well, it most likely sees the shipyard now as its home." The tiny titan explained. "Now that it's been properly fed, the most natural next step is to return home to where it's been cared for and could rest easy. I suppose that's our cue to return."
"Don't know whether I want a boat that bites you though." Rex bitterly added, but the wound was minor if even really there. Trekking back once more to the shipyard was an arduous walk, for it seemed as if they hadn't stopped hiking at all that day. The sun was even starting to fall slightly as they finally returned back to a rather enthusiastic Umon.
"Wonderful, friends come back!" the shipbuilder exclaimed, buzzing with a new energy that hadn't been there before. "Have fed many green pollen orbs now and attachment to ship frame all complete! Can set sail any time!"
"No reason to delay right? We should set off immediately." Dromarch declared and with a burst of energy, the group clambered aboard, the Nopon hopping on to explain the controls. Having been a salvager, the job was automatically deferred to Rex; with Pyra at his side, he would be the best when it came to sending them towards the word tree and no matter how enthusiastically Tora suggested himself, it really was designed for a human to handle rather than a Nopon.
"Thanks Umon, we really do owe you!" Rex called out from the steering wheel, the Nopon waving his wings towards the group as Tora leapt up onto the side.
"No need for thanks Tora and friends! Enjoy your boaty-jaunt!" and thus, did they leave Gormott. Despite being the closest to the World Tree, the journey was still going to take a while, meaning the group were left simply to lounge about. A quick check within the boat's room showed that there was little beyond a map and some chests to store their belongings; not a single thing was there for them to entertain themselves with.
"I mean, compared to running about all day, this is way more relaxing!" Lilith sighed, draping herself over the boat's edge. Ursula was sitting upon the floor beside her, Kasandra leaning back against the wall with a bright smile. "Besides, all of the monsters in the Cloud Sea don't care unless we disturb them. We're not going to be attacked for once!"
"Nice way to jinx us kid." Nia added from her position resting against Dromarch. The big beast didn't seem to care in the slightest, merely licking at his paws as he absorbed the sun's rays. He had been joined by Gramps resting upon his neck, the two gently conversing about things Lilith didn't really know much about; considering how Gramps was a titan and Dromarch had apparently some rather ancient wisdom, the thief was pretty sure she was hundreds of years too young to understand. "You'll be surprised how crazy some of the monsters can get for no reason."
"Well, after all of the bad luck we've had so far, we should be all right now, right?" Kasandra reasoned, not a care in the world. "Besides, we're going towards the World Tree! No monster would want to mess with something as amazing as the World Tree, right?"
"Monsters aren't as likely to respect the nature of the World Tree." Pyra perked up from beside the steering wheel with a small melancholic smile. It must've been incredibly strange for the Aegis – she was returning to the home she came from, mere hours away from returning to what was essentially paradise. When she thought about it that way, even Lilith couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous. "No matter how intelligent they become, they don't seem to understand the importance of the World Tree. I remember, you could sometimes see the birds trying to peck away at parts of it…"
"So, Elysium sits above it all, the place we all came from. Guess you could say it's good to be back, eh?" Nia remarked with a smirk. "Stories all say it's meant to be beautiful and stuff, but what is it really like? Are we talking a forest? A coast? "
"From what I've seen, it's a magnificent plain, stretching on for what seems like forever…" Rex muttered, his hands loosely guiding the steering wheel as he spoke. "There was a giant city, one that could probably hold everyone on every Titan and the greenery shone in the light… it looked unnatural, ethereal, like heaven."
"There it is! That World Tree!" Tora's exclamation had them all turning towards the front, the truly monstrous tree towering high above them. It seemed impossible to describe; it went higher than the human eye could see and was larger than even four Territorial Rotbarts combined. Even just the few leaves that were scattered about the trunk looked to be as large as Lilith.
"It's just as awesome as I hoped." The salvager breathed out, almost forgetting that he was the one in charge of the steering. "I've never been this close to it before. I don't think many people have. It's great that we've made it this far, but how do we get over there?...Pyra?"
"Rex, we need to leave, now! We can't stay here!" the entire boat began to rumble with the redhead's call, the entire cloud Sea trembling as something, something unimaginably dangerous, chose to arise from its depths. They were sent tumbling as a giant metal behemoth of purple shot out through the mist, its unnatural screech filling the air as it lurched forward. "Ophion!"
"Ophi-who!?" Rex managed to ask through all of the noise, shielding his face as the glass began to fracture, splits decorating the screen before him. "Nevermind, no time, hold on!"
A reckless spin of the wheel had the titan turning as fast as it could in the opposite direction, but it's max speed was no match for even a quarter of Ophion's.
"Ophion! Stop this!" Pyra called out defiantly, her face falling when the metal monster continued to rampage, bringing storms to the sky where it went. "What's wrong? Why won't you listen to me? No it can't be!"
A giant tail whipped them into the air, the crew clutching onto the sides and the ground for dear life as they crashed back down onto the Cloud Sea. It was a surprise that the Titan was still moving, swimming as fast as it could as Ophion's eyes turned a malicious blood red.
"We've got trouble ahead as well!" Lilith called out, eyes pulling away from the twisting and turning creature of metal onl to be met by the sight of a titan. Not a titan boat like theirs, or even a warship – swimming directly towards them was an entire continent, the massive landmass gradually opening its mouth as suddenly, the group were being pulled into it. "We need to get away, now!"
"There's nowhere for us to go! We can't move back and the force is too strong!" Rex called back, moving away as the glass finally gave way and the windscreen shattered, the pieces being quickly sucked up into the Titan. "We're heading into Uraya's titan!"
"This isn't good, not at all!" gramps cried out and one glance was all that was needed to tell why – they were heading directly towards a vertical fall and there was nothing they could do about it. Beary took Ursula from his shoulder, clutching the girl tightly to hima s Kasandra did the same with Lilith. There was no stopping their fate, the suction force of Uraya's titan sending the careening off the edge, over the walls of their boat and free falling.
"Meh, Poppi boosters damaged! Unable to activate!" Poppi called out as well, whatever hopes they had vanishing in that moment. As the mouth closed, all light was removed from their vision and the group could only grab ahold of one another, awaiting their incoming death with a scream.
So did the group plunge to their deaths, swallowed by a titan and falling an incredible height, their last words but a scream for help that wasn't coming.
The end. Welcome to Uraya folks, where we become a gang leader and watch the gang leader die to make way for a super saiyan. I've been playing the new challenge mode and it's been pretty fun, but the best part has to be the fact that Shulk and Fiora are Blades for literally no reason. "Right, we need to get Shulk and Fiora in the game!"
"Make them drivers."
"We'd have to make all sorts of lore changes, next!"
"Make them Blades!"
"But how could they be Bla-?"
"THAT'S PERFECT! WE WON'T EVEN NEED TO CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THEM!"
Super hero time! See you next time!