Chapter 3: The Ideal…
A/N: Whoops, my finger slipped and made another chapter for something probably no one remembers instead of the multiple other works I have ongoing.
When at last Jin finished recounting the events of the last months, he was left with Addam staring at the floor, hand on his chin, his brows furrowed, deep in thought.
Silence reigned in the small study, punctuated by the quiet puffs of their breathing. There was a distant muffled crash, followed by the voice of one of Addam's children yelling followed by a scolding that sounded like Evelyn's voice, somewhat muted through the door. Even at that, the man didn't look up.
Is he...alright?
"Addam?"
Breathing out a sigh, Addam shook his head as if clearing his mind, and finally looked up from the floor, a tired smile on his face. "Sorry. I'm just...it's quite a concept to take in."
An edge of desperation entered Jin's voice, though he tried to not let it show in his demeanor, keeping his face impassive. "Have you ever heard of it before?"
Addam's smile sunk into a contemplative frown. "Well, I spent a fair part of my life adventuring, and I traveled the feris' share of Alrest, but I've never come across a situation like yours. I've heard tales of lingering spirits, but only in fiction and storytelling."
Jin's hands clenched in frustration.
"It was never my area of expertise," Addam continued. "I knew distantly of sects of Tornan mysticism, but I never put too much personal stock into them. Perhaps the library in Auresco or even Judicium might have had something, but, well…"
Addam helplessly shrugged his shoulders. He didn't need to say anything for all of them to know that neither of those were an option anymore.
"What should I do?"
Sighing, Addam leaned back in his chair, kneading his forehead with two fingers, thinking. "I'm not sure."
So it was a dead end.
Don't be like that, Jin. At least we got to brighten Addam's day. And his kids were adorable! Tell him that.
Jin did so.
One of Addam's trademark big goofy smiles popped up, though he could see it was tempered. Strained. "Thank you, Lora. I'm honoured to hear you say that. They can be quite a handful at times, but seeing them smile makes every little struggle worth it." The smile faded into a thoughtful expression. "So…Lora is with us right now?"
"She has been the whole time."
"I see." His eyes flicked around as if hoping to catch a glimpse of her. "Is there some way I could see her?"
"I've…" Jin hesitated. "I just hear her voice in my head. I don't know."
"So it's just by proxy through you?" The momentary disappointment that spread on Addam's face was plain to see, even though it was gone a moment later. "There's no way I can speak to her directly?"
I guess I've never really tried to communicate directly to someone else. Hey, Addam! Jin winced at the volume of her voice in his head. Can you hear me?
Jin took a moment to gauge Addam for a reaction, but when none was forthcoming he shook his head. "None that we know of."
He could practically hear Lora pouting.
"I see." Leaning back in his chair, Addam ran a hand through his hair. "This situation is all very peculiar. I'm glad that something remains of her, whatever the form, but…"
A flicker of anger kindled in him. "What do you mean 'whatever the form?' Do you not believe me?"
Addam's eyes widened and he put his hands up placatingly. "Hold on, I never said that. I just…" Addam grimaced. "I want to, Jin. But I'm afraid I don't really know what to say. I'm hardly knowledgeable about this kind of thing."
…Right. The anger retreated, though didn't fully go away. So what now? After months of striving to find Addam, the result was disappointing.
How about you decide what to do next? I wanted to find Addam, but what do you want to do, Jin?
"I want to know more about," he raised his finger and gently touched the blood red crystal on his forehead, "this."
He didn't dare voice it, the real reason.
"As good a goal as any," Addam agreed. "As you can tell, I'm no help." He tapped his finger to his chin in thought. "You might try asking Minoth. I don't know that he's an expert, but he's a friendly face and as good a place as any to start. Better than me at any rate."
"You know where he is?"
"Not exactly. However," Addam grunted as he rose from his seat and maneuvered his way over to the desk. "He sends me letters every once in a while, and by the sounds of it, he's been traveling around quite a lot. Where were they?" He popped open a drawer and rifled through some of the paper, stopping on the last in a stack. " Ah! His last letter he sent mentioned he was going to Uraya for a job of some sort. It was recent too, so he may still be there."
"That's more concrete than some of the leads I chased trying to find you."
"I don't doubt it." The smile faded, and his expression turned serious. Setting the stack of letters down, Addam placed a stable hand on his shoulder. "Jin. Be careful out there. Whatever you discover, be careful not to lose sight of what's real."
The anger rushed back to the surface.
"So," Addam continued, smiling now, "even if I'm not much help, if you ever need a place to stay, know that you're always welcome here. I don't have much to offer these days, but it's the least I can do."
"That's unnecessary. You've built a good life here. There's no reason for us to disturb it any longer." Jin stood, putting his mask back on. "We won't risk ruining what you have with your family by coming here again."
As he pushed past Addam, Jin noticed the surprised expression on his face that shifted to something troubled when he thought he wasn't looking.
The sun had set as he left the tiny Leftherian village. Only the distant, silent glow of the World Tree met him as he quietly boarded the Monoceros and slipped out into the cloud sea.
Jin set the Monoceros' course heading, his fingers keying the coordinates pulled from the onboard database harder than necessary. The mechanisms around him shuddered to life, and the subtle feeling of rocking movement began and the ship's engines gently took them away from the shore.
That was harsh of you.
His hands grasped the steering mechanisms tightly. "He didn't believe us."
Addam didn't say that. But think about it from his point of view. Would you immediately believe it, if you were in his shoes?
Jin grit his teeth. "You heard what he said near the end. 'Be careful not to lose sight of what's real'" He scoffed. "He thought I was in denial."
He said nothing of the sort. Remember that Addam has his own share of grief to deal with.
"He didn't have to say anything. You could see it in his eyes." He looked back to Lora's corpse behind him, still suspended in the ice, before looking away, trying in vain to focus on steering the ship.
He was just worried about you, Jin.
And, by the tone of her voice, she was worried about him as well.
He gripped the steering mechanism tighter. "Have…have I been slipping, Lora?"
What do you mean?
"Ever since the day I burned the Ornelia's cabin…have I been denying the truth? Is my refusal to move on just manifesting into an illusion of the one I continued to live for?"
Please don't say things you don't know are true.
Jin remained silent as the Monoceros continued on its course. Eventually, he anchored at a small, unassuming Titan for the night. Shutting down the engine, he turned around, staring at the ice again.
Please don't ignore me.
"I can't if I wanted to."
Jin, what's wrong?
Jin closed his eyes, blocking out the conflicting imagery of looking at Lora's corpse while listening to her voice. He took a shuddering breath, preparing to ask the question he had never dared say aloud since this had started.
"Are you real?"
...What?
"Are you real?" he repeated.
That's not a fair question to ask me and you know that.
"Just tell me. Are you real, Lora?"
Jin, stop it. I know you're frustrated about this, but don't take it out on me. You're-
"Stop dodging the question. Are. You. Real?"
I…
"Answer me!" A moment later, he added softly, desperately, "Please…"
I'm sorry. I can't.
Her voice went silent, and seemed to withdraw. She didn't say anything, no matter how much more he said, no matter how much he apologized. Eventually, he gave up, slumping to the floor of the bridge, his back leaning against the cool of the ice.
Alone again.
He looked up at the ice, which glittered as it reflected the lights of the Monoceros' bridge.
Or, had he always been alone?
With nary but his swirling thoughts to accompany him, the trip to Uraya was a lonely affair. The voice in his head that might be Lora didn't answer him as he traveled the expanse of the cloud sea.
Real or not, it was a somber journey without her thoughts. Even though she'd gone quiet before, it had been more because after a while, there wasn't much to say. A companionable silence, not this empty moment.
But the journey pressed on and days later, he was pulling into Fonsa Myma Port. If the Nopon dock master had any questions about why a small Tornan warship was pulling into his port, Jin silenced it with a glare and a relatively generous amount of gold.
But where would start his search in a city full of thousands upon thousands of residents?
An exasperated sigh filled his mind, and he froze at the sound of it.
You could try the entertainment district.
Jin's eyes widened. "Lora?"
An Urayan man glanced strangely at Jin as he passed by, then looked away. The sounds of the dock, punctuated by the ambiance of too many people trying to be heard over one another filled in the air.
"Lora," he murmured quietly, "I'm sorry. I was…frustrated. I shouldn't have taken that out on you."
I know. You were being melodramatic, but I got caught up in it too. Just…please don't do that again. It's hard enough as it is.
"Of course."
Thank you.
Had she been there, he would have hugged her. As it was, he temporarily closed his eyes, a small smile gracing his face as he imagined it. For a moment, it was real, and he felt her arms around him.
But when his eyes snapped open at the feeling, he was simply standing stock still in the midst of a flow of traffic in Fonsa Myma's port.
"So, why the entertainment district?" he asked quietly, as he resumed walking.
It's just a guess. In between jobs, mercenaries like us are drawn to that sort of thing, and someone might have seen him. Minoth's core crystal is pretty distinctive, and even if he's hiding it, there's the scar on his face.
"Well, we better get started."
Mhmm.
As it turned out, no one there had seen Minoth, but Jin didn't lose heart and they settled into a modest inn for the evening. As he finished treading up the inn's wooden staircase toward his room, he paused at the sound of a chant, steadily growing louder from one of the doors on the second floor of the inn.
Curious, he wound his way closer, until the chanting grew louder and more distinct.
"WE MEASURE, FIND TREASURE! PONSPECTORS TIL WE DIE!"
What the…?
A moment later, the door the chanting came from burst open, and in single file, twelve Nopon in brown expedition gear - each with a little coloured flag attached to their packs - filed out, rushing past Jin down the stairs.
Aww, they're so cute! Look at their little colour-coordinated flags!
"Hold up, is that you, Jin?"
Turning back towards the door, Jin found the face of an old comrade leaning on the doorframe, a carefully measured look on his face. He looked nearly exactly as he remembered him, only he wore a loose, forest-green coloured poncho over his normal armour.
"Minoth," Jin greeted.
"I see it's still you, then." A fond smile formed, and Minoth came over and good naturedly set a hand on his shoulder. "And still as dour looking as ever. Good to see you, old friend."
Jin nodded, a small, real smile worming its way onto his face. "Who were those Nopon?"
"Interesting little fellahs, aren't they?" Minoth mused, backing up. "They're a prospecting group from one of the smaller Nopon Trade Guilds. Argentum, I think it was."
"Prospecting? So they survey…Titans?"
"Got it in one. Get this, they call it: 'ponspecting.'"
"Is that what you've been doing for the past ten years?"
"Hah!" Minoth almost looked offended at the prospect. "No, this job's recent. With how varied my skill sets are, I can pass muster in a variety of jobs. Ever since…that day, I've been laying low for the past while."
There wasn't any need to elaborate on what day he meant. All three of them knew what he was talking about.
"So...ponspecting?"
It's an adorable name!
Barking out a laugh, Minoth smiled. "Don't blame me for the marketing! The idea of prospecting new and undiscovered Titans has been around forever, but this group takes it to a whole new level of dedication."
Jin heard a crash down the stairs of the inn, followed by hurried apologies, shouting, and...was that the yolwing of a cat he heard?
"I gathered that."
I think Minoth has a soft spot for them.
"Well," Minoth cleared his throat, "their eccentricities aside, I'm acting as a temporary team lead and primary funder for a one-time expedition. It's for the remains of Judicium."
Ah.
Temperantia was one of the Titans devastated by the war against Malos before he came to Torna, right?
Jin crossed his arms. "I see. So, Temperantia didn't sink?"
Minoth nodded. "I was as surprised as you. According to the initial scouting reports, the landscape of the place changed dramatically for the worse after the Aegis war. No amount of Titan weapons or flesh eater technology prepared them for something like that. It's hard to say if it's lucky the Titan didn't sink or not. But that's why we're going. To see what's left."
Jin remained silent, but there was something in Minoth's tone that made this feel like it was more than simply a job. There was something personal here.
Minoth scratched his cheek. "Sorry to bring the mood down with such a heavy topic like that. Not that I don't mind catching up for a bit, but something tells me this meeting isn't just by chance. What has the Paragon of Torna coming to seek me out of all people out?"
"I need to talk to you about something."
"Of course," Minoth agreed easily, glancing around. "And is it just you, or are Lora and Haze close by as well?"
"That's…part of what I need to talk about. Privately."
Minoth raised a questioning eyebrow. "Alright." He gestured back into the sparse, though nicely furnished, inn room. "I've rented this room out for another night, so it'll be our best shot at privacy." Another crash echoed from downstairs. "Best not to head downstairs until things die down a little."
Nodding, Jin entered with Minoth into the room. After clearing away a mess of stools and chairs leftover from the Nopon prospectors-
Ponspectors!
-prospectors, he and Minoth settled in across from each other, door firmly latched, window secure and curtains drawn.
"So," Minoth prompted quietly, "what's this about?"
Just be honest, Jin. It'll be better to tell him everything, no matter how he reacts.
And so he did. It was easier this time, now that he'd told Addam before already, but it didn't make some of it any less painful to recount. Nor did it make him any less apprehensive for how the other Blade would react.
After Jin finished, Minoth sat back in his chair, contemplative. Finally, he let out a low whistle. "That's quite an interesting tale you have. I heard a lot about Indol's attack on Spessia. But this…" He shook his head.
"Do you believe me?"
Cutting straight to the point.
Could she blame him?
Leaning back in his chair, Minoth scrutinized him carefully. "You aren't the type to make up stories, or fairy tales. Maybe wax poetic or philosophic occasionally, but not about something like this. Of course, the easiest way would be to show me your core crystal."
Jin nodded, a spot of hope building in his chest as he slipped off his mask, baring the completely blood-red crystal to the world. He noticed Minoth close his eyes before he let out a big sigh before opening them. He leaned forward to take a closer look.
"Completely red. I've seen a fair number of flesh eaters in my day, but I've never seen a core crystal look like that before. "
"So now that you see this, do you believe everything else I told you?"
Minoth sat back in his chair, tipping it back slightly and crossed his arms. "It's a lot to swallow, but there's a lot about Blades - especially flesh eaters - that's completely unknown territory to me. Something like this wouldn't surprise me one bit."
"So that's what you think this is?" The hope faded a notch and a note of bitterness entered Jin's voice. "Just a side effect of becoming a flesh eater?"
"For all we know, it could be." Jin glared at his statement and Minoth held his hands up placatingly. "But we don't know for sure, and it sounds to me like you don't know enough to jump to conclusions."
Not that you would ever do that.
Jin frowned.
"I'm just thinking it could be an avenue worth exploring," Minoth continued. "Who knows? Maybe I'll find something out about myself while we're at it." He crossed his arms, a wistful expression crossing his face. "It's quite the coincidence that you came around when you did."
"Why's that?"
"The prospecting expedition to Temperantia, the," he shook his head exasperatedly - though there was a hint of smile there - making air quotes, "'ponspecting.'"
He heard a little squee in the back of his mind.
"Once they arrive," Minoth continued, "they'll be splitting into different teams to survey different quadrants. One of them will be heading to the ruins of Temperantia's capital, Judicum. They were the ones responsible for-"
"Flesh Eater Technology." Jin finished for him, now seeing the connection clearly. "I see. You think there might be something there?"
"If there's anything left. There's another layer to this I haven't said yet. Indol is only just now allowing outside contractors in to survey the land."
"Indol?"
Minoth nodded. "Officially, it took so long because they were 'respecting their dead forbearers,' and making sure the Titan had settled from the devastation. That it wouldn't sink while people were there."
That seems suspicious.
Jin agreed with her. "And unofficially?"
Minoth smirked. "Sharp as ever. While there's a kernel of truth there, most of it is hogwash. I've got in on good authority that the new Indoline Praetor just needed an excuse to pick through the rubble before everyone else got a hand in it."
"Your old Driver?"
"Right and Amalthus had ten years to find it. Whatever it was, I'd say he got it, especially if he's letting others in now." Minoth sighed, shaking his head, a note of disdain entering his voice. "But that's really none of our business. It's possible that everything worth anything has already been taken, whether by Indol or by looters and bandits, it's hard to say. But Judicium's still probably our best shot at finding something."
Didn't Addam mention something about Judicium's library?
She was right of course. "What about Judicium's library? Addam said it might have some information. If it survived, perhaps there's something left that will give us a clue."
Minoth sat straighter in his chair, eyebrows rising. "Hold on, the prince? You've talked with him recently?" Jin nodded. "Well that is something. After…well," he shrugged awkwardly, "you know, I thought he'd try to stay out of sight of the world. I even helped him and his family out of a couple of tight spots early on." Suspicion coloured his voice. "How'd you find him?"
"No need to be alarmed. We met Azurda by chance in one of the port towns on Iraem. He pointed us in the right direction. Then Addam to you."
"I see. That Titan…" He trailed off, and after a moment, shook his head. "Well, no matter. Did Addam seem happy to you?"
"He seemed to have settled down nicely, with his wife and three kids."
"Three now?"
"Two daughters and a son."
"He had a son and didn't tell me?" Minoth leaned back in his chair, a wry look in his eyes. "I'll be having words with him in my next letter." Minoth's eyes snapped back to the conversation. "So, it's good to hear he's getting on alright, but you don't sound as happy about it as I'd have thought you might."
Jin hesitated. "He seems well enough, but we…didn't part on the best of terms."
"Ah." There was a pregnant pause that allowed muted noise from below to filter in from the inn and surrounding city. Minoth seemed to consider him carefully a moment, before leaning in closer. "Well, enough reminiscing then. Are you coming with me or not?"
Jin blinked in surprise. "What?"
"On the expedition to Temperate. I could say I hired you as a bodyguard for extra protection." Minoth chuckled, and that fondness in his eyes was back. "Those little guys are tough, but they need all the help they can get."
That'd be an interesting story. We've played bodyguard for a couple of Nopon merchants in the past, but these ponspectors seem like they'd be even more high maintenance. What do you think?
Jin's first instinct was to jump on the opportunity, but he hesitated. "I'm…not sure."
"Scared of what you'll find?" Minoth teased, though he let out a short laugh before Jin could respond. "I know I would be."
He's got you pegged, doesn't he?
Jin averted his eyes, both at Minoth and Lora's comment. "Hmph."
Minoth let out another good-natured chuckle. "I won't force you, but I'll be in town until the expedition sets out in two days in the morning. Just let me know before then."
Jin nodded his assent, and Minoth got up, briefly placing a hand on Jin's shoulder as he passed by him, before he moved toward the door to leave. He paused with his hand resting on the knob of the door.
"Let Lora know that we'll figure this out. Even if you don't come, I'll support you both."
Aww, that's kind of him.
"She heard you. Thank you, Minoth."
Minoth smiled and left without another word.
After mulling it over the next two days with Lora, Jin stepped onto the Titanvessel the day it was set to leave. Minoth welcomed him on board without fuss, even though the prospectors-
Ponspectors!
-prospectors swarmed over him with questions. Eventually after sorting it out, Minoth clapped him on his back.
"Glad to have you both on board."
Jin nodded and settled in for the trip.
It's such a sad sight.
Jin had to agree with Lora's assessment. Grimly, he wondered if it would have been better for the Temperantian Titan to sink, rather than become the toxic landscape it was transforming into. Passing through the barren, gutted, poisonous lands — miasmic ether still leaking and pooling out of craters caused by the Aegis' conflict — made getting to the expedition's base camp a difficult and solemn experience.
The very next day only one of the Nopon prospectors-
Ponspectors!
-prospectors accompanied him and Minoth to the lost capital of Judicium, while the rest had already separated off to survey the rest of the Titan. Out of what he had seen traveling to the base camp, Jin was fairly sure the ruined city would be the most interesting place on the Titan, but then, he wasn't a prospector.
The harsh wind blowing the dust of the dead Titan nearly ceased once their small crew set foot into the place where Judicium had once stood. Though Jin had never been - at least, not in this lifetime - the sight of what must have been a grand civilization reduced to slag by Malos' and Mythra's artifices gave him pause.
"Really is a shame," Minoth commented forlornly as they picked their way through the rubble, following behind the Nopon leading the way. "Even though I wouldn't have called Judicium lively, seeing it like this is just tragic." He pointed to a particularly large charred pile of rubble that towered over them. "Pretty sure that was an amphitheater I attended once."
Jin grunted noncommittally, admittedly not too interested. "Lora and I never saw Judicium. The mercenary groups we were a part of rarely got jobs from Judicians."
"Guess that isn't too surprising. In general, Judicians were always a closed off sort. Uraya and Torna were always far more likely to outsource to mercs."
Jin eyed a massive glassed earth crater as they passed by, one of many around the capital, the hallmark of Malos' artifice. Memories of Mythra and Malos' battle around the Tornan Titan's core flashed into view, but he shut them out.
Eventually, they came to a building that was far more intact than the others around. The head Nopon got disappointed when he realized rubble was blocking entry to the building, but after shifting around some rubble, they were able to slip through what had likely once been a window.
The makeshift entrance spilled them out into what looked to have once been a large atrium that, despite the disaster that had befallen it, retained a sense of grandeur and opulence regardless of the crumbled walls and ceiling.
"According to Wonone's intelligence," the Nopon announced, bouncing ahead of them, making small prints in the dust that had settled in the area, "this used to be Grand Library of Judicium!" He paused, "but it look much emptier than Wonone remember when he came here before."
It's definitely seen better days, but the architecture is kind of...blech.
It didn't seem like the type of building she would frequent. While the sweeping arches, columns, buttresses and designs were elegant and something he could admire the architecture of, it lent itself an almost stifling atmosphere that he knew Lora would find unpleasant.
They meandered around the area, staying in sight of the Nopon as he made notes and fiddled with instruments Jin couldn't guess the use for. Eventually, passing out of the main atrium and through a nearly collapsed hallway into a smaller though no less grand space, they came to something that made Jin pause.
"Judicium's grand ideal in one painting." Minoth mused, coming up behind him, as Wonone went off to the side, seemingly unimpressed with the mural. "Quite a sight isn't it?"
"It is." Natural sunlight filtered through broken masonry onto a mural that covered the entirety of one wall. Empty shelves filled in the walls around it, though some were destroyed, but it all simply served to highlight the intact mural.
Jin felt oddly…drawn to it.
That's certainly interesting.
"Considering how the rest of the place looks," Minoth continued, "I'm surprised this mural is still fully intact. There were others all around the place when I visited before, but this is the only one intact we've come across so far. Surprising, considering the number Malos did on the rest of the capital." Minoth gave a critical eye to the surroundings. "Unfortunately, it looks like if there were any books or records that survived, then they've already been picked clean."
That's unfortunate.
"I see. What is it depicting?"
"Well," Minoth gestured vaguely to the two main figures in the center of the mural - one clearly humanoid and the other Blade - whose fingers were intertwined. "If I'm remembering right, it depicts the merging of facets of Blade and Human to create a higher being. Probably supposed to be represented by that light surrounding their intertwined hand in the center."
"Merging?" Jin asked. "Wasn't part of the point of flesh eaters to get rid of the need for Blade's dependency on the Driver?"
"It's art, Jin," Minoth chided. "It's supposed to be poetic." He cleared his throat as if to recite something. "'By merging the essence of humans into themselves, a Blade can ascend past the dependency of their Driver and attain new, unseen heights of power. So too it is with the Titans. This then is the path to the future unbound by the shackles put in place by the Architect.'"
"Ascend? Is that from the mural?" There weren't any word on it that he could see.
Minoth rolled his eyes. "I don't know how much stock I'd put in the words I'm quoting. A lot of it's littered with the type of nonsense that propaganda has. At the end of the day, they were only people experimenting with the natural order of the world."
"I see. Lora and I only heard rumours that Judicium had developed devastating Titan weapons, that there had been threats of war before this happened."
"Oh sure," Minoth conceded, "Judicium made leaps and bounds in flesh eater technology, and Titans weapons were at the forefront. Made the other nations nervous; reminded them of old Torna's reign of terror, but not enough to do anything about it. Maybe Judicium would have used them, maybe not, and given time perhaps they might have gone beyond weapons. Or, maybe they did and kept it under wraps."
"But, did it really amount to anything in the end?" Jin wondered aloud. "All of it was gone within a week when the Aegis' decimated Temperantia." And while the Titan hadn't sunk, it was dead, adrift in the cloud sea.
"For them, I suppose it didn't. Regardless, this mural was supposed to be a celebration, a testament of their achievement in flesh eater technology, and the potential it had. How it would rise above the rest of Alrest, leading to some glorious future."
"That meant nothing to Malos."
"Probably not," Minoth admitted, shaking his head disdainfully. "And beautifully painted though it might be, the ideal depicted in the mural is just that. An ideal. A cover for their search for greater power that amounted to nothing in the end as their reality burned around them."
"Aha!"
They were both drawn out of their musing-
Thank goodness. It was getting a little depressing.
-as the Nopon piped up excitedly.
"Wonone has picked up on strong signal from 'Ultra-mega Dowsing Operandus,' — or U-DO for short! Is coming from northern direction outside of this ruin, much more interesting than empty library. Ohhhh, maybe it picking up treasure that ponspectors can make profit on and finally come out of obscurity!"
The Nopon excitedly dashed out of sight.
Minoth sighed. "We'd better go after him. No telling if there's something lurking in these ruins that likes the idea of a Nopon snack."
Hey Jin…can we stay for a bit?
Her request sounded hesitant, but there was no reason to refuse it. He trusted Minoth would be able to look after the Nopon for a short while. "I'm going to stay and look around some," he told Minoth. "I won't be long."
Minoth eyed him a moment, then shrugged. "Suit yourself." He turned around to go, but looked back over his shoulder. "I'll make sure our ponspector friend doesn't become monster chow." He waved. "Don't die."
Jin nodded, and watched as Minoth ducked through a passageway towards the cleared rubble they had come through. He turned back.
Lora's heart leapt in his chest. He blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing it correctly.
His breath hitched, eyes widening when the image stayed.
Lora was standing right in front of him, gazing up at the mural, arms laced behind her back. He blinked and suddenly she was younger, at least as young as when she initially awakened him.
She wore a simple white dress.
Light diffused from holes in ceiling, offering little offshoots of radiance diffusing from their cracks that danced over the chipped stone and paint. She turned, tilted her head curiously. Opened her mouth.
Her lips moved, words that he couldn't hear ringing in a grating tone that made him flinch back. Dark spots appeared in his field of view. A sudden pain lanced through his head. Fighting against it, he stepped forward, reaching out a desperate hand.
That pain pulsed again, and he grunted, realizing it was his core crystal, pounding in time with Lora's heart. He put his other hand to his head in a futile attempt to stop the ache building there.
And just as suddenly as the pain appeared, it was gone, and the vision of Lora gone with it.
Jin blinked rapidly, clearing his vision, looking desperately towards the place he saw her. But she was gone. Even rushing over to the spot yielded nothing. No fresh prints in the dust.
"Lora?" he called.
What happened? Are you alright?
"Did you not see that?"
See...what?
"You were just there, in front of me. You said something, just then."
Really? I mean, I was just thinking about the mural. But I don't remember saying anything. Are you...alright?
Was he?
Jin shook his head. "I'll be fine. So the mural…you find it interesting?"
Well, I'm more interested in what Minoth said it represented. I think the ideal behind it is nice.
"But that's all it was, Lora, an ideal."
I guess so. But it reminds me a little of us, don't you think? Blade and Driver merged to form something more?
Her heart thumped in his chest, and another lance of pain shot through his core. He pressed the heel of his hand to it, as though the pressure would help. "Let's keep looking around."
Are you sure you're okay? You can take a break if you need to.
"I'll be fine," he bit out, more loud and forceful than he intended. He regretted it as soon as the words hung in the dusty air.
Okaay then.
Unfortunately, it seemed like whoever had come before really had picked the place clean, just like Minoth had said. Not a single record remained that he could see, and the longer he remained here, the longer something about the place unnerved him.
We should probably get back to Minoth. Just…be careful.
He was glad to leave it behind.
A/N: I'm sure it's fiiiinne. One more chapter to go on this. Was going to end on this one, but it was getting a bit long for my tastes.
