Five years after the Aegis war, and the fall of Torna, Minoth runs into someone familiar. Someone he never thought he'd see again.

Writing this I'm really excited, but I'm also really nervous. Because my last attempt at writing a big, multi-chapter fic... Well, let's just say it didn't go very well. I'm hoping this will be better!

Enjoy, and please do let me know what you think!

Way of the Wanderer

It's been five years since Torna. Five years since that final battle with Malos, when the dark Aegis was defeated, with the great Titan following right after. Five years since the so-called Aegis-War ended. Five years since Mythra sealed herself away, leaving behind a new Aegis, one calling herself Pyra. Five years since Pyra and Addam both disappeared from the public eye, her sealed away somewhere and Addam simply missing, presumed dead by most.

Minoth, of course, knows better. He also knows Addam prefers it this way, so he can live a peaceful life of solitude, along with his wife, who miraculously enough survived the war, and their young son, who was born not long after. They have settled down in the Leftherian Archipelago, where they dedicate their time to caring for the child, working the land, and in general living quietly and without getting involved with more worldly things.

When they move there, they of course invite Minoth to join them as well, as he doesn't have anywhere else to go, really. Not anywhere to call home, anyway. And Minoth accepts, because he doesn't have anything else left. Just Addam, his wonderful wife, and their little one. They even make him some kind of honorary uncle for the kid, who at this point is calling him "Min", too young to pronounce his name properly.

Life in Leftheria is very different from what he's used to. Days consist of writing, farming, playing with the child, and handling the occasional monster that gets too close to the little house they live in. Life in Leftheria is normal, peaceful, calm and... boring.

Maybe it's because of something in his nature, maybe because being coped up in one place with nothing to do is just a bit too much like his life in Indol, even if it's not really anything like Indol, or maybe because he's just too used to being on the move and travelling from place to place, but after a just some months, Minoth is starting to go a bit restless and twitchy.

Not long after that, he starts to realize he simply can't just stay in Leftheria for the rest of his life, however long that might be, or even the rest of Addam's life, which is most likely considerably shorter. He'd want to think the decision to leave is hard, but it's actually a lot easier than he'd ever admit. Telling Addam about his decision is the hard part, but luckily, he takes it pretty good, all things considered.

"Well," Addam says with a small, sad smile on his face. "Not like I can make you stay if you don't want to."

Minoth has to smile at that, because Addam is quite possibly the only person who could make him stay. It's a bit of a weakness of his, he knows, because if Addam asked him to stay, he would. Maybe Addam is even aware of this, which is why he doesn't ask.

Addam pats Minoth on the shoulder and pulls him into a hug. "Promise you'll visit, at least, okay?" And Minoth promises.

So, Minoth is out travelling Alrest again, just like when he first left Amalthus and Indol. He gets back into the mercenary business, travelling from titan to titan, meeting people, gathering new, potentially valuable contacts, getting in touch with his pervious contacts, finding out what's been going on in the world while he's been oblivious to it all, living in Leftheria.

But unlike when he first left Indol, he now has a home to return to. Like he promised Addam, he does visit. Not too often, but from time to time, usually staying a few weeks at the time. And every time he's warmly welcomed by the little family, like he's one of them, like he belongs there with them.

He doesn't bring them news about what's going on out there, because he knows Addam doesn't want to know about it, but he does bring other things with him. He brings treats and toys for the young boy, he brings spices and ingredients and dishes one can't get in Leftheria, and he brings trinkets, plants, souvenirs, and all kinds of interesting things he finds.

While travelling, he quickly finds out there has been some major changes and happenings going on in just a few months, the first and most glaring one being the mysterious deaths of the Praetor and some Magister of Indol, and the appointment of a new Praetor, Amalthus. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened there. Amalthus had been aiming for the post as long as Minoth can remember.

The second thing is tied to the first, as one of the first things Amalthus did as Praetor was the decision to take out Spessia, where most of the Tornan refuges ended up after the war. Where Addam had sent Lora, Jin, Haze and Mikhail to keep an eye on things.

As soon as he learns about this, Minoth makes way to Spessia, as fast as he can, but there's nothing he can do there. The titan is devastated, nearly in the same condition as Temperantia, and there are no survivors to be found. Regardless, he combs through the whole place, not even sure himself what he's looking for. Confirmation, hints, or hope?

There is something he notices, though. There are bodies of the refuges all over, especially where the camp used to be, but no matter how long he searches, he can't find Lora's body. Or Mikhail's. Nor the core crystals of the Blades. There are also several refugees, who he knows came here after the war, who are now nowhere to be found, most of them children.

Minoth is not sure what's happened to them, but he can only hope this means they got away, that Lora and her Blades and Mikhail managed to escape, taking some people with them. That they're all just laying low somewhere, hiding from Indol. But he doesn't know for sure, and all he can do is hope.

Asides from his mercenary life, and investigations, Minoth also writes. He writes about Addam and about Mythra. He writes about Torna and their little group, about the adventures they had, about the humans and Blades alike. He writes them all down, because he wants to remember these things, doesn't want them to be forgotten.

Being a mercenary, spending time amongst and travelling with humans is rather easy, all things considered. All he has to do is hide his core crystal (a coat doing a good job at that), do some patchwork on his clothing, and exercise some self-control to conceal his ether-lines, and he can easily be mistaken for a human, if they don't look too closely. He even got a plain short-sword strapped at his waist, so he can also hide his gun-knives. And if someone does figure out he's a Blade, usually another Blade noticing his ether signature, making up a Driver who's just off somewhere else is an easy task.

"They're shopping elsewhere in town," he tells them. "They don't like crowds," he says. "They wanted to pick some flowers outside of town," he lies. And they believe him. Because why wouldn't they. They have no idea what a flesh-eater is. They have no reason to believe a Blade could be wandering about with no Driver at all.

Right now, he's in Gormott. A nice, peaceful place, at least for now. There's very little outside presence, especially at the smaller settlements, which are of exceptionally little interest to other nations. And with the rebuilding of Torigoth ongoing, there's also plenty of work to be found all over the titan. The rebuilding is coming along nicely, and the place is already larger than when it was burned down, even though it's only been five years.

His current job involves hunting down five Gogols that apparently have been attacking people out getting lumber for the buildings. Five Gogols is no small number, especially since he's alone and they're no weak monsters, but if he can manage to only fight one or two at a time, he should be fine. Besides, the pay is good.

He remembers how it took him a while to get used to fighting alone again after the war, having gotten so used to having other people there to help, not to mention Haze's healing, which had saved them more than a few times.

He's already been lucky enough to find one of the Gogols by itself and taken it out, pocketing some claws as evidence he's taken it down. Just four to go. It's only noon, and he's hoping to finish the job by evening. He's making his way across the titan, when he hears the unmistakable sound of fighting and Gogols roaring in anger. He can only hope it's not some unlucky villager who's gotten caught off guard by the monsters. Having to protect some helpless person while fighting Gogols would not be an easy task, especially is all four remaining ones are there.

He finds himself reaching mentally for his bond with Addam. A bit different from the usual resonance-bond between Blade and Driver, it's nonetheless warm and bright, just like Addam himself, and has been a source of comfort and support for him over the years. A good, solid reminder that he's not alone, and that Addam isn't dead, no matter what the rest of the world believes.

He starts picking up the pace when he also feels, somewhere in the middle of the fight, an ether-signature flare up.

A Blade?

... half a Blade?

The signature seems un-naturally weak, and keeps flickering, occasionally disappearing completely for a few moments before reappearing again. It's also somewhat familiar, as if he's encountered it before, but can't quite place when or where.

Either way, Minoth keeps following the sounds of battle and the familiar-yet-not ether signature, which leads him to the site of a battle between the four remaining Gogol and a single person. The sight is enough to make Minoth stop in his tracks, mainly from shock, as well as disbelief.

It's Malos.

Would this be what's considered somewhat of a cliffhanger chapter ending?

This first chapter is a bit of an exposition explosion, sorry about that, but I really wanted to lay out what's been going on the past five years since Torna. More things happen in the next chapter, I promise!