Welcome to Uraya folks. I don't really have that much to say here, so yeah. Anyway, let's go.
Super hero time!
Lilith: Fight, fight! White sister and White sister are... two different people?
Bauen: Into Uraya, where a bold man awaits. Who is this strange person?
Lilith: He's kind of terrifying! Hopefully he doesn't hurt us too much.
Bauen: You are strong, this battle should mean nothing! Leap confidently into the belly of the beast!
L + B: Don't forget me! Rider once more!
Lilith's first thought: it was incredibly dark in here. Of course, 'in here' was referring to the jaw cavity of a titan that had completely swallowed them whole with no chance of escaping and an actually quite fair chance of dying if it hadn't been for the bountiful amount of luck their group had. Oh yeah, second thought: was everyone still okay!?
A sharp beam of light was her answer, momentarily blinding her before it was gently angled away to reveal an apologetic Rex, the salvager having attached a torch of some sort of this waistline. Now that the small girl thought about it, it made sense; when someone spent their career in the Cloud Sea, having some way to pierce the darkness was a given.
"Sorry 'bout that. Is everyone still okay?" the salvager called out, the subtle glows of Blade ether lines coming forth as people regained their bearings and converged on their position. "Looks like we're all here safe and sound."
"Except for the fact that we now find ourselves in the belly of the beast." Gramps was quick to point out however, the little titan barely visible from his place in Rex's helmet. Indeed, the rocky cavern they found themselves in certainly wasn't the most inviting of areas to be drawn into and Lilith didn't really want to know whether the liquid they were standing in was just water or not. "Welcome to the inside of the Urayan titan. If we don't take precaution then maybe… we just might end up like our boat…"
Indeed, the shattered remains of the titan boat were sunk into the waters beside them, the still titan being a clear indicator of its fate. It was a shame to; not only had they lied in order to receive it from Umon in the first place, they had lured it to their side only to ride the titan to its grave.
"I guess that means our priority should be getting out of here then!" Kasandra chimed in, the lucky Blade already scanning over the nearby walls and grass. "After all, if the titan was under the Cloud Sea, then the people here have to live inside, right? That means they have to have a way to get out!"
"If I recall correctly, then the Urayan people reside closer to the back of the titan. Should we aim for the rear, then there is a likely chance we'll at least see some form of building." Dromarch chimed in, a scoff escaping Nia as she folded her arms.
"Well, anything's got to be better than hanging around here, for sure."
"Poppi detect movement from that direction. Someone coming this way." The artificial Blade pointed out, her unnatural vision sensors allowing for a far greater point of view than the others. The way she said however, her mechanical monotone, brought a chill down their spines.
"Um, maybe you just imagined it…" Ursula barely whispered, burrowing her face into Beary's fur as the polar bear took on a stronger stance. Considering that the likelihood of it also being a dangerous monster in a location they were unfamiliar with was fairly high, Lilith also let her hand fall on the hammer resting in the small of her back, just in case.
"Poppi certain. Something is flickering over there." The robot insisted, flapping her arms and kicking her legs in the odd manner Poppi did when she was adding emphasis to her words.
"Something flickering? You don't think it's a ghost, do ya?" Rex remarked, a sly grin appearing on his face as Nia suddenly leapt into a fighting stance, the irritation clear on her face as she tried to play it off. "Really? Scared of ghosts Nia?"
"Sh-shut it Rex, don't be an idiot. I'm not a kid!"
"You're scared! At last, something Nia is scared of!"
"Just watch your back Rex… hey, where's Pyra?" indeed, the fire Blade had mysteriously disappeared into thin air, the whole group set to red alert. She hadn't been trying to figure out a way forward such as Kasandra and Dromarch, she hadn't returned to her position beside Rex and gramps and Ursula and Nia had no other partners by them. The smallest of lights flickering by her side was the only warning Lilith had before the gentle whisper in her ears sent her tumbling forward.
"Boo!"
"Argh!" the grey haired girl found herself flying into Rex's grip, the salvager also letting a scream out as the pair of them tumbled to the ground in a mass of limbs. Neither Pyra or Nia sought to hide their giggles as Lilith picked herself up, pouting as she dusted her clothes off. Not as if she had many other garments to change into.
Once she calmed herself, a small flick of Pyra's hand meant that a far bigger ball of flame than usual burst to life before them, lighting up the cavern. Poppi joined the light as well, though the sight of the artificial Blade suddenly releasing straight beams of light out of her eyes was slightly disturbing.
"Now much brighter!" Tora cheered, the Nopon preening at the sight of his Blade showing off her skills.
"Well, look at you two earning your keep. Wish we could say the same for old Dromarch over here." Nia snarked out, the tiger Blade not even choosing to respond as he rolled his eyes and dropped his head. Okay then, so maybe it did hurt more than Dromarch was willing to let on. "Come on then, let's get a move on. Not so scary with the light's turned on, isn't it?"
If you hadn't been told that you were inside a titan, perhaps you could pretend that the Greatmaw Rapids were just a normal cave formation on the back of a titan, Lilith mused as they started to walk. Of course, then there were the odd gill like protrusions at the Windpipe Deeps that came from the cold stone wall, pulsating with every breath because it truly was the way that the Urayan titan was breathing and that image was destroyed.
The only issue was that the light the group used to traverse the terrain was more than enough to attract the local wildlife, Kasandra and Dromarch set to work as the Nefto Lizards tried to swarm their position. They weren't too difficult by any means, but the annoying little menaces were just that – little – and in a dark area where they could easily hide in the crooks and breaks, they were much more difficult to deal with than they had any right being. The Flanck Lysaats were a slight bit better thanks to being larger, if not for their dark shells that acted as wonderful camouflage.
It was as they approached Jebba's Cavern however when they could finally see like normal people, the flames going out with the torch while Poppi finally didn't seem as if she was shooting lasers everywhere from her eyes.
"If I remember correctly, then the Urayan Titan has a translucent hide, thus allowing light in." Gramps helpfully explained. It was better than having to live their entire lives with only street lamps, that was for sure. Lilith had no clue what she would do if she never got to see the sun at all.
"So if we make it to the source of the light, then maybe we can find a way out of here." Deduced Pyra, a firm determination appearing on her face before a deep chuckle drew their attention to the skies above, a trio and their Blades standing triumphantly before them as their leader leapt down to their level without hesitation.
He was a beast of a man, every part of him covered in muscle beneath dark skin that might as well have been stone. A plethora of pouches covered his front holding who knows what and Lilith was actually kind of glad for it; save for the green boots and gloves, the thief wasn't too sure he was wearing anything else! Oh no, the dark brown of his trousers merely made it blend with his skin, thank goodness.
His Blade was just as impressive, an avian humanoid of orange feathers with a strange bag of air surrounding his neck like a pillow. A pair of blue bladed scythes were held in his hands as he flared out his wings, sending the Blade to his Driver's side as eyes of white seemed glued to the group.
"What's this? A bunch of mushes I ain't seen around here." The bulky man remarked, his voice deathly serious in a manner than had Lilith retreating behind Kasandra. They had only just met people again and it looked like they were going to be killed. Great. "You gotta have pretty damn bad luck to end up in a titan's guts like this."
Kasandra's mask rattled, but the situation was far too serious for anyone to bring particular attention to it.
"Hey boss, that girl's the one wanted by Indol. Got a good bounty on her head." One of the men by the leader's side announced, Lilith flinching as the beast's eyes turned onto her form. Luckily for her, Vandham's look meant he also got a clear view of Pyra, or more importantly, the glowing emerald core upon her chest.
"That Blade… so the rumours are true!" Vandham remarked with a hearty laugh, folding his arms as Rex placed a hand upon his sword. "The tale everyone knows is actually right, the legendary Aegis does exist. Folks have been saying she just woke up from a five hundred year strong nap. Didn't expect her to be with a pencil neck shrimp of a driver like you though."
"Oi, you think I don't have what it takes!?" the salvager growled out, stepping forward with a scowl. Not that it did much to affect the far larger and more intimidating man, Vandham waving him off.
"Nah, I mean, you could probably handle a normal Blade maybe. But a greenhorn like you? With a Beaut like her? Don't kid yourself." Vandham answered. "C'mon boy. Hand her over to a grown up."
"This kind of stuff is getting real old at this point. Leave us alone!" Lilith turned her head to see the others ready to fight, a yelp of fear escaping her. They didn't actually have to fight the huge guy that looked like he could crush her underneath his boot, right? She was lucky that she managed to survive against Dughall!
No, no, she just had to play this out as she did then, against Morag and Brighid. Surely a tactic that could bring down the legendary Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain and the strongest Blade would work again? Not that there was any sort of weakness she could exploit at the moment… and the environment didn't help… and there were more than one pair of Blades and drivers… okay, this was going to be way more difficult than Lilith was ready for. Vandham cracked his neck, a grin appearing on his lips as he barked back to his friends.
"Yew, Zuo, focus on getting the half-pint. I wanna squash the kid."
"Leave it to us boss!"
"Yeah, we'll take real good care of them."
"Come on then you lot!" Vandham yelled out, the brightest of smiles appearing as he drew the two scythes held by his Blade. "Make this a good show!"
Zuo wielded a greataxe while Yew held a megalance, common Blades stood ready behind them to defend them from harm. Tora was the first to charge towards them, Rex and Pyra splitting off when the hulking man suddenly leapt before them, Vandham's scythes swinging at incredible speeds in an attempt to take off the salvager's head. With their attention focused on the Nopon, it was simple enough for Lilith to roll around the back, Kasandra's hammer folding out as she nailed Yew in the back.
"Hey!" perhaps it wasn't the best of choices, for the megalance had far better reach than her own weapon, Lilith forced onto the defensive as numerous stabs tried to skewer her. Switching to Ursula wouldn't help in this situation and right now, with Rex diverted as he was, she was the main damage dealer; switching to a healing blade wouldn't really be useful. "Not so cocky now, are ya?"
"Wild roar!" fortunately for Lilith, a sudden wave of water overcoming his body, forced the man into a defensive position, meaning that there was a split second when the weapon wasn't aimed at the little thief – perfect. Dashing forward, Lilith tossed her weapon skyward, the golden beam connecting Kasandra to her suddenly being replaced by that of Ursula's as Beary dissolved into knuckles, Nia moving over to fend off Zuo as the extra pair of hands (or in this case, bear paws) disappeared from Tora's side. The thing with long range weapons was that they usually sucked at mid to close range, meaning that it was far too unwieldy to handle when there was a tiny girl right up in your face.
"Super ultra-knuckle sandwich!" Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best name for a driver art, but it certainly described it well; what seemed to be one hundred punches a second wailed down on the man, his Blade's shield slowly wearing down under the relentless assault, but it managed to stay, if just barely.
"Come on, you're going to have to do better than that!" Yew scoffed, but then again, he didn't see the boom biter launching forth from behind him, the bomb being the last strike needed to completely break the shield and send his Blade flying backwards. It also meant he was in the perfect position for Kasandra's attack, the black haired girl far too cheery as an orb of darkness formed before her, a single swing of the hammer sending it careening into him.
"Meh-meh!" unfortunately, the small distraction that was firing the boom biter meant that Tora was sent flying with a strong swing of Zuo's axe, Poppi taking to the skies to catch the Nopon before it was too late. Her boosters were put to good use for tossing the Greataxe to his Blade meant beams of energy were sent in their direction, one clipping Poppi's leg to send her crashing down to the ground, Tora bouncing back. "Need some help!"
"You got it!" spinning the rings in her hand, a green aura overcame Tora as Nia rushed forward, Kasandra's hammer trying its best to smash into the man's legs as Zuo backed away. At first, he wasn't too sure how to react as Lilith planted the weapon into the ground, but when Nia suddenly flipped over her, leaping to the sky with Lilith swinging upwards for a boost, he was too shocked to react in time. Beary had an iron grip upon his body. Leaving him open to the fury of a Gormotti.
"I'm not a paycheck!" Lilith cried out as the hammer dug deep into Zuo's stomach, saliva coming from him as the weapon squeezed out every bit of air from his lungs. Under heavy assault, he finally succumbed when Tora let Poppi loose with the shield, boosters providing a tremendous power behind the drill that not even a Blade's shield could withstand.
All that was left was Yew and from his laboured breathing, he wasn't in the best of conditions. Then again, neither was Lilith or Tora until the cooling light of Nia's came over them. Dromarch was the first to move forward, the man weaving around the furious strikes of the Beast Blade, but it was only his Blade's shields that stopped Nia's surprise attack from behind doing as much damage as it should have.
Of course, being the healer meant she was never going to be the main assault, as seen from her small snicker as she leapt away to reveal a darkness shrouded Kasandra, the mask upon her face practically oozing malice as she moved forth. The following beatdown was far too brutal to describe with words, but needless to say, there was silence as the mask slid back around Kasandra's face and they were left with a blissfully unaware girl again.
"What's the matter? Are you the Aegis or ain't ya!?" the same couldn't be said for Rex however, steadily losing ground under the vicious swipes of Vandham. It was only Pyra raising her shield that kept Rex's head on his shoulders, sparks flying between different forms of hard light before both were blasted back. "That all ya got mate? Pathetic."
"We'll show you! We'll show you what me and Pyra are made of!" the man dodged the incoming fireball with ease, merely tilting his body as if he was dodging a passer-by rather than a deadly attack sent by a legendary Blade. Vandham even punctuated it with a gentle yawn, but Rex was too surprised to comment.
"Come on, don't look at me like that. Any slower and you'd be firing backwards!" the big man taunted jovially. It worked all too well, several more fireballs being flung in his direction that were dodged with similar ease, barely a sweat coming from Vandham as he did so. It didn't take a genius to see the bond connecting Pyra and Rex grow weaker by the second, the redhead almost physically faltering as she tried her hardest to sustain the connection.
"Rex, I can't supply power that fast!" she called out in vain, Rex already rising his sword skyward to seemingly finish off the larger man against the wall. Just as he reached the apex of his attack however, the bond finally broke with an audible sound, the flames wreathed around Pyra's Blade disappearing as it folded back to its standby form, the aura surround Rex dissipating soon after. In his shock, he wasn't able to dodge the incoming scythe edge, Rex closing his eyes as the metal drew ever closer.
"Ha! If you're a driver, then you're a new one for sure." The curve of the scythe fit perfectly around Rex's neck, the boy cautiously opening his eyes to see the energy just miss his skin as Vandham spoke. "We borrow our Blades' energy and channel it into our weapons so we can let rip with our arts! Doesn't mean there isn't a limit to it though; go in all bull-headed like that kid and even with that Aegis of yours is gonna run dry."
"W…what?"
"Get up you two, you've been sleeping for too long!" Vandham called out with a chuckle, a far cry from the serious threat that he had appeared before as he pulled both Yew and Zuo to their feet. "Looks like some people are in for a little bit more training; beaten by a newbie and a Nopon!"
"Cut us some slack boss, they're better than they first look…" Yew moaned, the pat on the back from Vandham almost sending the beaten man back to the ground again.
"Haven't properly introduced myself, have I? Name's Vandham; I run a little firm back in the nearby village." Vandham declared, rolling his neck as he threw the scythes to his Blade, though thankfully not intended as an attack. "Come on then you lot, let me treat you to some grub – call it thanks for letting me have a whack at the Aegis and showing me my men need a bit more polish!"
"You could tell it from the way he was fighting…" Pyra breathed out, getting to her feet with only a slight wobble as the group came together. "He never really meant any of us harm."
"Didn't look like that to me… looked like they were trying pretty hard to harm us." Lilith pointed out, pulling her beret back into place. Even if he was suddenly being a lot friendlier than at first, that didn't make Vandham any less scary to her yet. "Besides, are we sure he isn't actually lying? He isn't trying to lure us into a trap so catching us will be easier?"
"Come on, I'm sure he's not a bad guy! He's treating us to food!" Kasandra answered, the black haired Blade running forward after them. "Let's give him a chance, okay? Maybe he'll turn out to be a new best friend!"
"So you lot headed to the World Tree, but ended up getting swallowed whole instead? Helluva story if you ask me." Vandham scoffed as they reached the two gates, the dull light of a pair of lamps doing little to illuminate the doorway. The rickety wood of that and the fences didn't really inspire that much confidence in their ability to stay upright, let alone withstand a monster attack, but then again, they clearly had the might to deal with those sorts of things. "You really do have some crazy luck."
"But what were you doing back there then?" Rex enquired, the man pausing in his walk to give a mighty shrug.
"Y'know this titan, ain't too fussy about what it eats. Great for bringing in random junk we can use around the village, but you get those times where a bunch of washed up mushes like you lot turn up. Anyway, welcome to Garfont: ain't much, but it's home."
Despite the rather dingy area they lived in, there was a clear attempt to try and make it as hospitable as possible. Tents replaced buildings and small lamps replaced any proper sort of lighting, but the entire area was clean, there were several pools full of children playing and people simply relaxing and a majestic tree stood proudly at the back. Not the greatest place to live in, but they were trying their best to merge the natural scenery into their lives and the smiles on people's faces showed how well it had succeeded.
"Lots of drivers and Blades around." Some were milling around casually chatting, while others had taken to the training field by the side in a spar that drew more than a few spectators. Even with the size of the population however, it was a considerably high amount as aside from the children and Nopon, there were few who didn't have a Blade by their side.
"Well of course there is! After all, we're in the business of dispatching drivers and Blades all around the world." Vandham declared proudly, looking over the collected people before his smile died down just a touch. "All the kids you see around here? They're war orphans. We take them in while on the job."
"We only take them under our wing until they learn to fly by themselves; some might turn out to be drivers like us, some might become tailors, or bakers, or whatever they want." Zuo added in, absently pointing to one little girl who was happily conversing with a passing couple. "I heard Erica wants to be a baker, follow after her father's footsteps."
"It doesn't matter what they want to do with their lives. We leave it up to them to decide when they want to."
"So you're all just a bunch of good eggs in the end, aren't ya?" Nia remarked, an elbow into Lilith's side. "Looks like you were scared of him for nothing."
"Don't tell him that!" but the only response was the same boisterous laughter, the man approaching the frightened Lilith and crouching down to her level, which was a remarkable difference thanks to his tremendous bulk.
"I've been called worse. Suppose we didn't really give you a reason to like me, did we?" the man mused, rustling up Lilith's hair to draw out a pout from the girl. He was treating her like a child! "Lucky for you, we don't need any Indol bounty to feed our men! Besides, if they're going after a runt like you, then it would be better to get to know why first. Let's get some grub down ya and we can have a proper chat. Guldon, give me something good and a ton of it!"
The service from said chef was impeccable, a veritable feast sat before them before they even knew it. Lilith didn't really have a choice of where she sat; Vandham had quite literally the strength to pick her up and plonk her down next to his own seat, with Pyra and Rex taking up the other spots on the table as the others filled in the rest of the seats. Despite her discomfort, the food was magnificent and Lilith almost forgot who she was sitting next to as she happily dug in.
"So, I can understand why there are a couple of eyes on the Aegis, but what've you done in order to get Indol on your tail?" Vandham began, Lilith somewhat sinking in her seat as she gently began to poke her meal about. "Sure, we get news, but seeing as we're sitting in a titan's stomach, it can get a little bit difficult at times to get the current gossip."
"It's… hard to explain." Lilith began, looking other to where Kasandra was happily chatting away about whatever came to her mind, Ursula quietly nodding and nibbling away at the food before her. "Well, drivers and Blades build affinity while they share power, right? I can… sort of… apparently I can take it a bit further than that."
"A bit further than that?"
"I was able to channel Kasandra's darker powers myself beyond just driver arts and I could heal myself naturally when connected to Ursula." Lilith continued, the man's face stoic in his silence. "Why I can do it when other can't, I don't know, but apparently it's enough to gain the attention of Indol."
"I suppose when you're dealing with the Aegis and that sort of power in the same group, you get a bit more antsy than usual, eh?" Vandham mused, taking a huge bite out of the meat on his plate as he thought. "Makes you wonder what you could do with couple other Blades if it works how I think it works. Mind if we do a little testing after this?"
"Um, I guess that's okay…"
"Vandham?" Rex suddenly piped up from where he had been unusually quiet, his plate completely untouched as the larger man turned to him, still halfway to putting something in his mouth. "Is this just a way of trying to get us to join up with your group?"
"Ha! We'll have to reach a new level of desperate before shrimps like you become our target." The man chuckled through his mouthful, only vaguely understandable as he wiped off his lips. "If we're feeding ya, might as well earn about ya while we're here. Why? Thinking about joining up? Salvagers like you must've fished up a ton of military supplies."
"Nah. I don't want to be involved with that sort of stuff." Came the nonchalant reply, a low hum escaping Vandham as he finished what must've been his fifteenth mug of beer by that point.
"What you've got to realise is that it's all the same. Compasses, valves for ether stoves… you could bring up some rusty mug and they'll turn the metal into something useful. That bread you're eating? Made with ruska flour supplied by the Ardainian government. This world's full of war. Don't matter if you're a soldier or not, as long as you're alive, you're in it one way or another."
"…It makes sense." Lilith spoke in a quiet voice. "After all, there are tons of people in Gormott that wish to become drivers. You get a better pay and a generally better lifestyle, but sometimes that makes you forget that sometimes you're not going to be fighting just monsters…"
"Life can be cruel. Crueller than you can ever imagine. That's why I set up this little band, so I could at least protect the people I care about." Vandham explained, looking over the town. "The driver of the Aegis, someone who can access a greater power in Blades… the whole world's gonna be looking to scalp you lot, you realise that? How you gonna live when you got everyone gunning for you?"
His next words came as barely more than a whisper, not that it stopped Lilith from overhearing them. Fortunately, Pyra was away grabbing drink for them all, so she didn't get to hear the dangerous suggestion.
"You know, you could run away from it all. All you have to do is ditch everyone here." He didn't let Rex give his thoughts, merely rising from his seat with the same boisterous smile he had started with as he called out to the bar. "Hey Pyra! Don't worry about my drink. Me and Lilith are gonna go for a bit of a test run at the training ground! Kasandra, Ursula, we're gonna need you."
"Um, okay!"
"Right!"
"So you've got the ability to take on your Blades' abilities beyond driver arts then?" Vandham muttered as they approached the training field, a silent gesture having the people there immediately give way to their quartet. "Sounds dangerous, but in the right hands, be a right pain to face off against. Let's have a look then."
"Um… I've never done it on purpose though…" Lilith admitted, kicking the floor as Kasandra gave a small hum. The lucky Blade formed the affinity bond between them with a smile.
"I mean, if it's just drawing on our power, then all you have to do is focus on bringing it into yourself, right?" Kasandra reasoned, Lilith giving a hesitant nod as she closed her eyes. The man watched silently as what began as a blue stream took on a familiar golden hue, the natural sign of someone reaching what would normally be considered the maximum affinity a Blade and driver could achieve. The only thing that seemed odd at first was the speed at which it came about; usually it would require a fair chunk of time to achieve max affinity through the use of driver arts and even trying to forcibly pull power usually did little to affect that time limit.
But then Vandham's eyebrow rose as he saw the beam connecting the two actually grow larger, something that he had yet to see – ever . The gold gradually began to be tainted with a dark residue, Lilith's calm composure slowly devolving as she began to twitch. Her fingers seemed to unconsciously go towards her back, brushing the handle of the hammer that was resting there as a gentle rattling noise slowly began to build up from the back of Kasandra's mask.
"Hold it!" but his call was too late, for a fist that was far too strong for what it should've been impacted his own palm, a few people passing by actually pausing when they saw someone who was able to actually push the bulky man back; it wasn't far, but any who were able to force the mercenary leader to move back with a single hit was someone exceptional. None of the reservation Lilith showed before was present, the girl relentlessly trying to beat down Vandham as he did his best to keep the rampage contained – if she started to wreck the rest of Garfont, then he might have to do something he really didn't want to at the moment. "She's tougher than she looks… guess that's what happens when you pull on the power of a tank Blade."
It took the efforts of both Kasandra and Ursula physically restraining Lilith before the energy even started to ebb away, what was a rampaging girl fading away to reveal a much more tired Lilith with a hand to her forehead.
"Ain't seen anything like that before, especially not from someone as small as ya." Vandham declared, a stern glare to the people who had gathered causing them to fly away immediately. Wouldn't do to get any of the children hurt and the Architect knew that they were curious little blighters when they wanted to be. "Guessing the same doesn't happen when you draw on the polar bear's power then? Think you could handle giving that one a try as well?"
"Yeah. It lets me automatically heal myself." Lilith breathed out, focusing on the new connecting to Ursula as Beary deposited the small ice Blade on the ground. At first, it was like a rush of cold air flooding her veins, a slight shiver coming over Lilith before it reached a normal temperature, the fatigue from before giving way. It was an incredibly odd sensation, a tingle running through the entirety of her body.
"So they also cancel each other out…" Vandham mused as he let his hand reach out to the affinity connecting the girls, what had once been tainted with a dark miasma now replaced by a frosty blue that had him pulling back ice covered fingers from even getting close to it. "It's a good thing that you got these two by your side. Hate to see what you would've done if you got someone even more aggressive or bloodthirsty."
"I would hate that… Not having you two around would be horrible…" Lilith near whispered, poking her fingers together at the thought. What happened to all of the confidence she had built up before? This case was just getting weirder by the minute, not that Vandham wasn't interested as all hell.
"So, takes on the power and some of the personality of the Blade when you do it? Can be called upon at will as well… Makes sense now that Indol's after ya guts." The mercenary leader snorted as the connection faded, leaving Lilith awkwardly standing before the giant of a man as he scratched his chin. "They've got that real good reputation alright, but knowing them, they'll probably set you up with as many Blades as they could and see what they could force out of ya."
"I don't want to become a science experiment though… But that's why I'm with my friends. I want to go on an adventure with them." Lilith answered, slightly shivering at the thought. While making more friends was never really going to be a bad thing, simply used as an experiment, forced to draw out tremendous amounts of power for who knows what was not something the grey haired girl wanted to deal with. "That reminds me, why did you tell Rex to ditch Pyra and the others!? They're Blade and driver, he won't do that!"
"It's got him thinking, hasn't it?" Vandham answered with a chuckle, looking to where Pyra and Rex were causally chatting over empty plates. The boy had an apprehensive look on his face, but every time Pyra focused a concerned look upon him, it faded into a genuinely happy smile. "That boy… right now, he isn't built for war. None of you mushes are and if it weren't for the fact you have a crap ton of luck, I can betcha none of you would even be dreaming about ever going to the World tree with the Aegis. Throw him into the fire and you can see whether he's going to be forged into something stronger… or break."
"You know, I've seen your eyes before. Sort of eyes that you get when you live hard and seem like luck's the only thing getting ya through." The man continued, looking across to where the children played. "Seen too many of them to not notice them in ya. "But there's a strength to you now and thanks to this weird stuff, you're gonna need that strength more than ever, you and everyone around you. Think you can handle that kind of pressure?"
Vandham's words brought nothing to Lilith's lips at first, but then she met both Kasandra and Ursula's glances. They had carried her this far, everyone had and she wouldn't be a nice person if she didn't pay them back for their kindness, right? A small giggle escaped Lilith as she put her hands behind her back, swaying with joy as she gave her answer.
"Well they were kind enough to bring me on this amazing adventure with them, so I suppose I can do that."
"Nice answer! Now, let's get moving before your friends think the big bad Vandham's tried to kidnap ya!"
And let's pause it there. Unfortunately, I don't really have any major changes until we reach Mor Ardain, so please look forward to that. thank you for the support I've been getting up to this point.
Super hero time! See you next time!