Once more, Minoth finds himself face-to-face with quite possibly the last person he ever expected to see again.

Oh, and there's some Gogols, too, I guess.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

A most unwelcome reunion

Malos. It's actually Malos.

The first things that flitter through Minoth's mind are question like, When? And Why? And most importantly, How? For a moment he wonders if he's hallucinating, maybe some of those mushrooms he had for breakfast weren't entirely safe for eating? But no, no such luck. That's definitely Malos.

But he's also considerably different from how Minoth remembers him being five years ago. Not appearance-wise, he looks exactly the same. But gone is the cocky, arrogant attitude. Gone is the posturing and constant showing-off. And gone is the massive, dangerous ether-blade and the earth-shattering powers he once wielded.

All he can muster now are small, pathetic (even by Minoth's standard!) bursts of ether he managed to pull out as he's attempting to... punch the Gogols to death.

He's also failing.

Badly.

Watching Malos trying to fight the Gogols, Minoth tries to frantically figure out what the heck he should do. After everything he's done, any reasonable person would probably say something like "Let the Gogols get him!" or "Kill him yourself" Ha, as if! If what Mythra did wasn't enough to kill Malos, then what could he possibly do that would work any better?

Before he has time to contemplate the situation any further, one of the Gogols has manages to land a solid hit on Malos, sending him skidding across the grass-covered ground, right against a rock, which he hits with an audible crack. Minoth is not entirely sure if the noise came from the rock or Malos' armour, but it's enough to make him spring into action.

Sometimes, Minoth wonders if he's always been such a soft-hearted fool, or if he got it from spending too much time with Addam. Right now, he's leaning towards the second option, because he can't think of any other reason why he's rushing at the Gogols, gun-knives ready, to save Malos, of all people.

But here he is, slamming his knives into the back of the nearest Gogol that's about to swipe at Malos with its claws. The Gogol roars and thrashes around in pain, and Minoth just barely manages to dodge out of the way of said claws himself. He lands in a crouching position, only to have to immediately move again as another Gogol slams its meaty fists into the ground where he was just a moment ago. He shifts his knives into guns and fires of a few shots in different directions, hoping to keep the Gogols at a bit of a distance.

While avoiding the Gogols, he's subconsciously made his way closer to Malos, who's getting up on his feet with a pained groan, holding his head with one hand.

Somehow, Minoth only now notices Malos is wearing a cloak, apparently at least smart enough to not go parading his Core Crystal around for the whole world to see. The thing is caked in mud and grass-stains, swooshing around him as he moves. On his feet, ready to keep fighting, but not unaffected by the hit he took.

Malos turns his head toward Minoth, and blue eyes meet grey ones for a split second, Malos' eyes widening ever-so-slightly in recognition, but there's no time for anything else, as they have to quickly move away, dodging the Gogols that are moving in to attack them again.

The small pause was just a second too long, and Minoth has to bring up his knives to block an attack from one of the Gogols, as he doesn't quite have enough time to avoid it. He grunts with the effort of trying to push the monster back, but lacking the leverage and the raw physical strength, as he's struggling to keep it at a distance and those claws away from his face.

He's so focused on the Gogol, he startles when he suddenly feels an ether link settling in place, connecting to him. He uses the sudden new energy from the link to push the Gogol away, even managing to get an opportunity to shoot it in the face, finishing it off. One of the monsters down, he takes the moment to look back at where Malos is. There is, as he noticed, an ether link stretched out between them. It's a very pale blue, weak and brittle, but still there. Accompanied by a feeling like someone just poured a bucket of cold water over his head.

Malos looks almost as surprised and caught off guard by this as Minoth feels, staring at him with wide, confused eyes. The sight is so comical, Minoth almost laughs. But right now there's no time to focus on that, as the remaining Gogols are coming at them, so questioning this new and sudden development will have to wait a little bit.

Using this new energy, Minoth quickly leaps to the side and slashes the nearest Gogol's neck as it lunges at him. A well-placed hit puts it down for good. Two down, two to go. The link between him and Malos has grown even weaker than it was just moments ago, but Minoth can't really tell if it's because of the increased distance between them, or because the Aegis is more focused on the two remaining Gogols that are teaming up on him.

Even as Minoth moves closer to Malos, in order to get to the monsters, the link remains weaker than before. He almost wonders why Malos doesn't seem to be able to handle the link at all, before remembering that Malos has been fighting on his own for years, and if Amalthus was the same kind of Driver for Malos as he was for Minoth, they rarely, if ever, fought together, thus not needing to ever put up such a link.

It hits him that this might very well be the first time Malos has ever formed and ether-link to another person.

He's not entirely sure how to feel about this possibility.

But now is not the time to contemplate that. He watches as the two remaining Gogols approach them, a bit more carefully after seeing their two comrades go down, and hesitates only a few moments before making what he hopes won't prove itself to be the worst decision ever made. Before he has time to change his mind, he shoves one of his knives at Malos with the simple instructions of

"Make yourself useful, and handle the one on the left. I'll take the other one."

He doesn't wait to hear if Malos has anything to say about Minoth ordering him around, and charges towards the Gogol he said he'd take care of. Since it's such a large, not particularly fast monster, reading its movements is not difficult, so he immediately notices it's about to strike him with its left arm.

Shifting his grip on his one remaining knife, he ducks and slides right underneath the monster's clawed arm, before quickly getting up and hitting it in the back. Then he has to jump back a few steps to get out of range, as the monster is now thrashing and swinging its limbs wildly.

A quick look at Malos shows he's at least doing better than a just a little bit ago when he was trying to punch the Gogols. It's painfully obvious he has no idea how to handle the knife, as he sipes at the monster with it. At least the gets the basic gist of what to do. That is, sticking the pointy end at the Gogol.

Now it's Minoth's turn to pour some ether into the link between him and Malos, to keep the ether-blade of the knife functioning. The link grows ever-so-slightly stronger with both of them pouring their ether into it.

Minoth has a bad feeling this is going to come back to bite him one day, sooner or later.

But for now, Minoth turns his attention back to the Gogol as it gets ready to pounce at him again. Not wanting to drag this out, he simply shifts his knife into a gun and keeps shooting at the monster, while keeping his distance and avoiding its attacks, until it goes down.

When the monster eventually falls, he notices Malos has also disposed of the other one, and is now staring at Minoth with an unreadable expression. It's a bit of a mixture between thoughtfulness, irritation, annoyance, gratefulness, surprise, and pride all in one. The ether link has faded away, leaving just the two of them, and the dead Gogols.

After a moment of hesitating, Minoth cautiously approaches Malos. He doesn't like getting too close to this particular Aegis, and definitely doesn't trust him to not try something, but his curiosity for answers wins out eventually. There are so many questions flittering through his head, like why Malos is here, what he's up to, how he survived and what happened to his powers that makes him unable to handle a few common monsters by himself. And he'd quite like to get his weapon back, too.

Malos, noticing Minoth's cautious approach, turns to him and lets his hands fall to his sides, as if quietly saying he's not planning on attacking. There's a gleam in his eyes that Minoth isn't sure he likes even one bit.

He was going to simply get his weapon back from Malos, but because dying by his own weapon doesn't sound very appealing, decides the safer thing to do is to simply break down his weapons into the ether and generate new ones from his Core Crystal. It's not something he likes doing, as the whole process has gotten noticeably more difficult since he became a flesh-eater, but at least it's still doable. For now, at least.

Surprisingly enough, the Aegis hasn't said a word to him yet. It's not what Minoth was expecting, considering Malos didn't seem to be able to shut up before. He had been expecting Malos to be all arrogant and obnoxious, saying something about how he didn't really need any help, or maybe call him a soft-hearted fool, or something. Not this... this completely uncharacteristic silence, lack of words.

"All right," Minoth says, now pointing his guns at Malos. Uncharacteristic silence or not, he's not taking any chances. Not that they'd probably do much, considering what Malos has already survived, but it makes him feel better, if nothing else. "Time to start talking. How are you here? What are you planning? And what the hell happened to your powers?" Because there's no way Malos would not be using them if he still had access to them. But he's never heard of a Blade just loosing their powers either, so something must be up.

Malos glares at him in response after the last question, which apparently hit a sore spot, or maybe he isn't a fan of having weapons pointed at him, but soon drops his gaze as he, still without saying a word, pulls opens the front of his cloak, just enough to show his Core Crystal. Despite how much he hates Malos, Minoth can't quite supress a grimace when he sees the state of it.

The purple crystal has a large crack going down the middle of it, with a large chunk missing. The colour seems more dull, too. Less vibrant, less glowing, darker, almost looking more like a dormant Core Crystal. Any normal Blade would be long dead with damage like that. It makes him wonder just how much Aegis' can actually take while still staying alive.

"Well," he says, tearing his eyes away when he suddenly becomes aware he's just standing there and staring at Malos' chest. "That explains why you can't use your powers, I suppose. It doesn't explain at all how you're even a little alive, however," he adds in a more accusatory tone.

"Dunno," Malos shrugs, looking down as he closes the cloak, hiding his Core Crystal once again. "I just woke up one day, broken Core, no powers, no purpose, and, well, here I am." He stands up properly, one hand on his hip, cocking his head to the side just like he did back in Torna, when he was nothing but arrogant and dangerous.

Now he's... not. Maybe it's the knowledge his powers are gone, the lack of weapon or artifices, or the ether around him feeling so weak and diminished, it's barely even there. If he hadn't met Malos before, he would never be able to connect this Blade to the one that was on a destructive rampage all over Alrest just a few years ago.

"You really don't have your powers anymore," Minoth concluded, perhaps unnecessarily, but still almost somewhat surprised. Like he wasn't actually expecting Malos to be powerless, despite all the evidence pointing to it.

"You think I'd be out here, like this, if I did?!" Malos retaliates, gesturing to the dead Gogols. "Do you think I would have had any trouble dealing with those if I still had my powers?!"

"I suppose not," Minoth says, letting his hands fall to his sides, shifting guns to knives. Malos without powers can still be dangerous, but still considerably less so than before. When it comes to raw strength, he could probably take on Minoth if he wanted to, but Minoth still having his powers, less than amazing though they might be, makes him confident enough that he could at least hold his own against Malos, should the Aegis try anything.

Now that Malos has been deemed a non-threat, or as much of one as Malos can possibly be, Minoth turns his attention to other things. Like completing the job he's out here for in the first place. Turning back to the Gogols, he starts collecting claws from them, so he can provide them as evidence when he retrieves his payment.

Of course, Malos being Malos, doesn't seem to be a fan of being ignored in favour of dead Gogols, and starts pestering Minoth, walking right up to him and looming behind him as he's working. Maybe attempting to intimidate him with his physical strength and presence, since he can't use his powers for it anymore.

He's reminded of the first time they met, when Malos ambushed him, and made him tense up in fear just by existing, backing him up against a wall with his sheer presence. None of this is a thing anymore.

"What are you doing here, in the middle of nowhere, all alone, anyway? Shouldn't you be living the life with your precious prince?" Malos says, in a sharp, mocking tone that tells Minoth he's trying to get some kind of reaction from him. This is more familiar territory, more what he was expecting from Malos. What kind of reaction he's trying to get, and for what purpose, he can't tell. But he does know he's not interested in giving Malos whatever reaction he's after.

"Despite whatever impression of me you seem to have," he says, doing his best to stay calm and not give away too much as he keeps his focus on the Gogols, not even looking in Malos' general direction, "my life does not resolve around Addam."

"Huh, could have fooled me," Malos replies, now standing close enough for Minoth to almost feel his breath on the back of his neck. Once again, he's reminded of that first time they met, and this time he does tense up against his will, gripping his knives, ready to defend himself should Malos try anything. More muscle memory than actual fear, but still not the reaction he wants to give Malos. "You guys looked awfully cosy back in Auresco."

Minoth should not be surprised Malos was spying on them back then. For someone who loves stirring up drama and being the centre of the spotlight, he's also surprisingly good at sneaking around and hiding. The teleportation probably came in handy for that, too, letting him come and go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

"Didn't take you for some kind of voyeur," he says instead, getting a grip on himself before getting up and pocketing away the claws before slightly turning his head towards Malos. Just to keep an eye on him. "Spent a lot of time spying on us, did you?"

The question is half to annoy Malos, and half genuine curiosity, because he definitely doesn't like the idea that Malos might potentially have been following their every move, without any of them noticing anything.

He also takes the opportunity to elbow Malos in the chest, trying to make him move even a little, because the proximity is starting to get uncomfortable. Which is, of course, probably exactly what Malos is after.

"Nah, you guys were boring as hell," Malos replies, not moving away even a little bit. At least he's not getting any closer, either. "I don't think I've ever seen a bigger bunch of soft-hearted fools. Running yourselves ragged to fix every little problem for those pathetic humans who couldn't even bother doing anything themselves."

"Of course you'd think that," Minoth mutters, mostly to himself, as he moves out of reach and starts walking away from Malos. No point in staying around him any longer, or bothering with him at all. Especially since, with no powers, Malos isn't a threat to the world anymore, and there's no need to worry about him continuing from where he left off.

"Hey, where are you going?" he hears Malos ask, and it almost sounds like he's half actually curious, and half pissed of that Minoth would just turn his back to him and walk away. Against his better judgment, Minoth decides to humour him.

"Torigoth, to collect my payment," he answers without turning around, holding the bag with the claws for Malos to see, hoping the answer will be enough to just make Malos leave him alone. Unfortunately, it has the exact opposite effect, he realizes Malos has started walking after him.

"Are you following me?" he asks, despite already knowing the answer. Maybe he's just hoping, on some chance, that Malos just happens to be going in this direction and will leave him alone. It's pretty clear Malos sees this as a joke, trying to rile him up as some way of passing time. Since going around destroying titans is no longer an option, and all.

"Yup, not like I have anything better to do, and I might get some entertainment out of it," Malos confirms, crushing those thoughts, and confirming he sees this all as some kind of joke, as he keeps following Minoth, the sound of his heavy steps getting closer and closer "Besides, as weak as you are, for a Blade, you can still be useful to me."

"Of course," Minoth says, letting some annoyance blend into his tone. "You just need the weak Blade to handle any Gogols or Bunnits that might try to kill you." He knows that even without his powers, angering Malos is not the best idea, but the words still slip out before he has a chance to think more about them.

"Don't think I actually need you for anything!" Malos argues, raising his voice, getting heated up. Maybe from anger at Minoth's response, maybe partially because he might be realizing he's actually kind of right. Without help, Malos is more or less unable to defend himself from anything but the smallest and weakest monsters.

"Sure you don't," Minoth responds as he keeps walking, trying to not let Malos get to him, or catch up with him, for that matter. He's not very keen on letting the Aegis get too close to him with that temper, powers or no powers. "Follow me or don't, I don't care."

"Hey, Ponytail!" Minoth almost has to suppress a sigh as Malos yells after him, calling him by some stupid, just made-up nickname. To be fair, it's actually not the worst thing he's been called. Humans do get rather creative, and not always in the best ways. "Never caught your name!"

He turns his head to look at Malos, who's just standing there, actually asking for his name, in his own dumb way, instead of just being a complete ass about it. Maybe, just maybe, there might be just a little something more... human, for lack of better term, in him than he wants to let on. Maybe he can at least see if this whole near-death thing has done anything for Malos.

He can't put his finger on it, but there's something about Malos that reminds him of himself, before he left Amalthus. Which could mean, there might be something in him that's not completely unsalvageable.

"It's Minoth."

And that's chapter two down. Thoughts?

Next chapter contains: A visit to Torigoth, and some very made-up stuff about the bonds between Blades and Drivers.