Chapter 17: Lost Soul

Just as a heads up, this is the last chapter I'm going to post for a while on this story. I'll be taking a break from writing since 3 has come out and I want to play that fully. Instead, I've got some new story pilot ideas written out that I'll slowly be uploading so look forward to those. They'll come out every 2 weeks or so. I've got 3 of them for now so that'll take me to about when my fall semester begins. So I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up the weekly uploads. But I'll give it my best shot.

"This way!" Vandham called, leading the way through the streets of Fonsa Myma at a sprint. He was incredibly fast, almost impossibly so in regards to his bulk, but that was a Driver for you. Brandon was barely able to keep up with the rest of the group, being practically dragged along by Nia who had taken his hand when he had started to lag behind.

It was especially bad when they started hitting the stairs. It had been fine the day before when they were traveling at a leisurely pace. But now that they were at a sprint, he was really slowing down compared to everyone else. He spent the entire time cursing that Fonsa Myma was built on a giant hill.

Brandon was about to celebrate, at least in his head, when they finally reached a flat, plaza-like area. But then Vandham moved over to another massive staircase. Brandon's eyes followed the stairs up and he let out a groan.

"Oi, no complainin'," Nia shoved Brandon forward, "Pyra's in trouble. Or have you forgotten you moron?"

"No, I've got it. Christ." He took a deep breath, "let's go." He started the long run up the stairs, leading the way.

Nia loosely kept up pace beside him, making sure to give him a nudge every time he started to slow down.

"Agh!" Rex stumbled. Brandon moved quickly and caught him before he could fall down the stairs.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"I… don't know," Rex looked at his arm in bewilderment, staring at a new cut that had started bleeding on his arm. Nia shoved Brandon out of the way and healed the wound, her hands and Dromarch's Core Crystal glowing blue green.

"I think… Pyra's fighting alone," Rex said.

"Wait… shite I'm such an idiot," Nia smacked her forehead, "she shared her life force with you. That means that you're sharin' damage. How did I not realize before?"

"Okay, that's fascinating. But we have to keep going, now."

Nia nodded, "you're right. C'mon. Let's hurry."

"Right." Rex lifted an arm, "let's keep going."

The sounds of people clashing grew as they neared the top. The sounds of explosions and fire and Ether shields clashing echoed through the hall.

"Give it up! You can't defeat me in that form!" The cocky voice of Malos filled the hall. Rex seemed to be spurred on by the words and sprinted ahead before leaping with inhuman strength at the top.

"But maybe, I can!" Rex shouted.

The rest of the group made it to the top and fanned out to see Malos and his Blade along with Akhos and Obrona.

"Everyone!" Pyra cried in relief at seeing the entire group readying to fight.

"Vandham," Rex said, "get Iona to safety."

Vandham nodded and moved in the direction of the unconscious child.

"Let's take these guys down," Rex said, readying his sword.

"Right!" Brandon slammed his fists together, his gauntlets activated and unfurled from his metal wristbands. He put them up in a fighting position. Nia stood by his side and pulled out her own glowing twin rings weapons.

"Hmph," Akhos stepped forward and pointed a sword at Brandon, "you and I have unfinished business."

Brandon and Nia shared a look. "Then let's finish it. Rex, you've got Malos?"

Rex nodded.

"Let's go then." Brandon tilted his head as he advanced, the two groups splitting up to face off against their chosen opponents.

"I'll make you feel the same pain you inflicted on Obrona!" Akhos snarled.

"Nia? Dromarch? You got my back?" Brandon asked, tacitly ignoring Akhos. He wasn't sure what kind of relationship Nia had with the rest of Torna, but it must sting either way.

Nia nodded.

"Indeed, master Brandon."

"You little…" Akhos' teeth grinded together.

Looks like it was working. Brandon was about to engage but Nia's previous words echoed through his mind. He nudged Nia who then sprang into action, her twin rings clashing against Akhos' twin swords. Brandon moved to the side in sync with Dromarch who moved in the other direction, trying to flank the Tornan warrior but was interrupted by his Blade.

"Shit," Brandon ducked the initial hook then blocked the next one with his gauntlets, crossing his arms to hold out against the force of the Blade's strength. He let loose his own jab, trying to shock and stun this Blade like he had against Malos' Blade but the Blade's fluttering movement in the air made it impossible to hit her.

He cursed as he slid backwards from a kick to the chest. He drew his pistol and opened fire but was forced to duck and roll as a bolt of electricity stuck the spot where he had just been.

"Brandon!" Nia yelled, one of her energy rings sailed through the air, slicing through Obrona's side before boomeranging back to Nia. That gave Brandon the opportunity to finally slam a fist into Obrona's side and knock her to the ground.

"Obrona!" Akhos disengaged from Nia and swung at Brandon who dodged slightly too late and accidentally let one of Akhos' blades graze his arm.

He slid up next to Nia, clutching his arm over his torn and bloodstained shirt. Nia waved one of her rings over Brandon's arm and healed the wound nearly instantly.

"They're strong." Brandon breathed, "I can't beat either of them alone but they're intentionally splitting us up."

He watched as Akhos helped Obrona up.

"I don't really know what to do either," Nia said, "those two have been workin' together for years. We've had two weeks at most. I'm a healer, I can't fight as well as those two."

"Damn. What the hell do we do?"

"I just said I don't know," she snarked.

"For fuck's sake. I guess we hold out for Vandham to bail our asses out."

"As good a plan as any I guess," Nia said, "alright. How do we approach?"

"You wanted me to fight safe, yeah?" He said, "you're the distraction then. Akhos is slower than Obrona so you pull Obrona's attention while I go for Akhos. Try to pull them closer to Rex and Malos but make sure to keep them separate. Dromarch, you loop around and hit them with your sonic roar thingy."

"Understood."

"Got it."

"Ready? Go!"

Nia sprinted off to the right while Brandon waited a second before moving in. He approached them slightly from the left, making sure to throw his weight around in order to ensure that every hit of his actually forced backwards movement from Akhos.

And he actually did manage to slowly force Akhos backwards, though only just barely even with Dromarch's roaring support.

His gauntlets sparked off of Akhos' sword one more time as Akhos and Malos bumped into each other, throwing them off balance.

"Go, hit them!"

"Right!" Rex lifted his sword with Pyra as they leaped into the air. Brandon and Nia clumsily grabbed onto Dromarch as he pulled them out of harm's way.

"Burning sword!" Rex and Pyra cried as they brought their flaming sword down onto the Torna trio.

"Enough of this," Akhos scowled, "Obrona!"

The Blade giggled as she flew into the air and lifted her arms. A wave of red light came off of her body.

Rex swung down just as the Ether link between him and Pyra was shattered and Akhos caught the blade of Rex's sword with his gloved hand.

"Huh?" Rex stared up in confusion.

"Shite," Nia stared down at her weapons as the glow of Ether energy faded, "he's blocking atmospheric Ether flow!"

Akhos kicked Rex in the stomach, making him stumble away coughing.

"Regroup!" Brandon called, "regroup! Pull back!"

They pulled away from the fight, putting distance between themselves and Torna. "Shit shit shit," Brandon cursed as he rolled his shoulders and neck to loosen up.

"Playtime's over kids," Malos taunted, "you can't win."

"We may have to run here," Brandon said in a low voice.

"Oh hell no," Nia hissed, "I'm not leavin' you behind again."

"We don't- Look out!" He shoved her to the side as Malos charged in. Brandon felt a flash of pain as the air was knocked out of him when Malos tackled him, shoulder first. He went flying and skid across the ground, the stone of the playhouse scraping across his back until he was stopped by his head slamming into the stone seats behind him.

Brandon gasped in pain as he tried to stand up and he saw a flash of white. He felt groggy and stumbled before catching himself again. He felt something trickling down his scalp and he reached up to feel his head. His hand pulled away slick with blood.

His thoughts felt sluggish, and it took him a few moments for that to trigger an alarm to sound in his head. It was a few more seconds before it fully registered that he probably had a concussion.

Scratch that, he thought as he puked, he definitely had a concussion. He could make out yelling around him, vague words and sentences that he couldn't really make out. He fell to his hands and knees, unable to keep his balance. The world was spinning as everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

Not much was moving through his head right now, but he knew he had to fight… to… protect… He tried to stand back up but to no avail.

He noticed someone kneel next to him and felt a soothing sensation travel over him. His mind snapped back to normal and he was suddenly acutely aware that it was Nia who was healing him.

"Come on, come on," Nia muttered under her breath, "get up buckethead."

"W-what?" Brandon slurred as Nia helped him to his feet, "what's going on?"

"Come on, we have to get out of here. Vandham's barely holdin' them off, we have to go!"

Brandon glanced around. He saw Pyra passed out with Rex collapsed next to her as he struggled to stand up, cuts and bruises covering his body. His eyes bulged as they locked onto Vandham who had stabbed his scythes through his body and was throwing around wind energy as he nibley moved around the battle in combat with Malos and his Blade. Vandham had somehow defeat Akhos and his Blade, with the two slumped on the ground trying to muster the strength to rise again.

"W-what about… what about Vandham?"

Nia bit her lip, "I'm sure he'll join us once we're out of here. But we actually have to get out of here first."

"Right…" That was a bold faced lie. Unless Vandham received immediate treatment, he'd bleed out and die within a few minutes. He slowly stumbled over to Rex, Nia half carrying him with his arm around her shoulders.

"Nia!" Vandham shouted, "get them outta here! You've gotta make it outta here!"

"I… we can't just leave you here!" Rex yelled.

"Come on!" Nia let Brandon go as she hoisted Pyra up onto Dromarch, "move you moron!"

"But-!" Rex raised an arm as Brandon tried to drag him away.

"Go Rex! You've gotta live! Live for her! You've gotta make it to Elysium!"

"I won't allow it." Malos kicked Vandham in the stomach, causing him to hunch over and stagger backwards.

"Just go Rex! Remember to fight your own war!"

"NOO!" Rex screamed as Vandham brought down his tonfa sword, slashing a massive line through Vandham's chest. His scythes faded into nothing but Ether particles as Roc disappeared back into his Core Crystal.

Rex shoved Brandon to the side with a scream and charged, "you're going to pay for that! For Vandham!"

"Dammit!" Nia yelled, "stop! Rex!"

"N-no," Pyra stammered as she awoke, "we have to get out of here."

"You're starting to get on my nerves, you little shit!" Malos turned and slammed a foot into Rex, knocking him to the ground.

"I can't… do it…" Rex gasped in pain, "can't let you get away with this…"

"Heh, too bad," Malos said, "so long, kid!" He leaped forward and lifted his sword to strike.

"NO!" Brandon raised a hand, helpless to do anything.

"REX!" Pyra screamed at the same time. A blinding light shone out of her, stunning everyone in the area as if a flashbang had gone off. She faded for a second before her appearance shimmered and changed. Her hair grew longer and turned blonde. Her outfit changed in both appearance and design.

"P-Pyra?" Rex stuttered. His sword, once a flaming red, shifted forms as well, now glowing a vibrant white and gold.

"I am not Pyra," she said, "I am Mythra. Pyra… she's a different self that I constructed."

"A different…?" Rex looked back towards Malos and blocked a strike.

"No time for that! Focus! You need to focus or I can't transfer my power to you."

"Huh? Right!"

"Hey you three!" Mythra looked back, "get off of your asses and help!" She yelled, pointing towards the freshly recovered Akhos and Obrona.

"Are you shittin' me?" Nia yelled back, "he needs proper medical attention, more than I can give at the moment." She growled as she let go of Brandon regardless and got ready to fight.

"Rex!"

"On it!" He leapt forward, clashing blades with Malos as Nia moved to engage Akhos again. Brandon shook himself off and tried to step forward, only for one of Nia's rings to fly through the air and cut him off.

"You're stayin' right there!" Nia yelled, glancing back with a glare.

"But I can help!"

"Not like that, you can't."

"Argh!" Akhos staggered as Nia sliced his leg and Rex leaped overhead, slashing his blade across Akhos' arms. "It's too much. I don't think we're going to beat them."

"Rex! With me!" Mythra called. Rex slid over and lifted his sword to her. They grasped it together and lifted it to the air.

"Sacred arrow!" They called out as beams of light and plasma rained down from the sky. The screaming of Artifice fire caused Brandon to curl up into a whimpering ball.

"Akhos," Obrona shrieked as she was hit by a barrage of light that sliced through her Core Crystal, "what's happening?"

"No! Obrona!"

Malos grimaced as his sword also disintegrated as his own Blade faded. "No time for that Akhos!" He slammed a fist into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Everyone covered their faces and turned away. When they looked back, all that was left were three empty Core Crystals and Vandham's body.

Brandon gradually uncurled from his fetal position on the ground. He felt his heart wrench as he took in the scene. Rex fell to the ground, crying his heart out. Mythra shifted back to Pyra and passed out. Nia rushed over to catch Pyra.

Brandon took a step forward but stopped, unsure of what to do.

He was a jumbled up mess of emotions and yet still felt empty. It was hard to believe that someone with as large a presence as Vandham was gone… just like that. Killed because he was too weak to save him.

He ended up turning around and started towards the exit of the playhouse.

"Where the hell do you think you're goin'?" He felt a hand on his shoulder, "are you stupid?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do here?" He rasped and turned to face Nia, a hard look on his face, "I apparently couldn't do anything before, right?"

Nia gave an exasperated sigh, "you were injured. And you still need proper treatment."

"No," he brushed Nia's hand off his shoulder, "I need to think. I'll see you tomorrow." He turned around and stalked off.

"What about Rex?"

Brandon hesitated at the mention of his brother, "he'll be fine. He's always been stronger than me. Good night."


Brandon found himself wandering around Fonsa Myma aimlessly for a little while. It had taken him a while but the deep hitting sadness finally sank in.

He eventually went over to Gramps who awoke but said nothing, immediately noticing that something was wrong. Brandon stared at the metal container his armor was stored in as realization hit him. He finally went into his shack and sat down on his bed. His hands went up to his eyes as angry tears started pouring out.

He screamed his frustration into the air, thankful that he spent the time soundproofing the little shack. He slammed his fist into the wall, over and over again, until his knuckles started bleeding.

He eventually grew tired and his arm went slack from the pain.

He really had been useless there huh. Even curling up into a ball at the end at the sound of Artifice fire. Tears rolled down his face. Would his armor really have made a difference? Nia had been able to cut through it like butter while training with weapons that weren't even super offensively designed. What would happen if he was stabbed or slashed by a larger weapon?

He had a purpose here? His earlier thoughts echoed mockingly through his mind. Was his purpose here to fail at everything? He was just a relic from a bygone era. Maybe that era was gone for a good reason. He didn't even deserve to be alive. He ran from battle like a coward, only surviving because of pure luck.

He'd still be rotting away in his cryostasis pod if it weren't for Rex. He might have even died in it once the pod fully malfunctioned from age.

What was the point in struggling so hard? It was physically impossible for him to ever match the strength and abilities of a Driver and Blade. And he was too afraid to try to resonate with a Core Crystal. He didn't believe in an afterlife, never did, and the thought of death scared him. He had always been able to push past it because he felt like he had a greater purpose, to try to change the world.

But his time was done. What was there left for him to do? Maybe he should just stay with Gramps. It didn't seem like his help was needed… not that it was appreciated in the first place.

Every time they fought, he dragged everyone down. It was his ass that needed to be dragged out of the line of fire every single time. And to think that it was him protecting Rex just a few weeks ago.

He had nearly failed Rex again. He had tried to put it off of his mind, thinking that feeling sorry for himself was better than that. But the guilt hit him like a truck as it reared its ugly head, completely knocking the wind out of his sails.

Rex would have died… again if not for Pyra. Or Mythra as she called herself. He had been unable to do anything, knocked out of commission early as everyone else struggled. He should have been the one to be able to do something as soon as Obrona's ability kicked in, restricting the Blades' Ether flow. But he ended up with a concussion and was rendered useless while Vandham died for their sake.

And Vandham… They'd known each other for just over a week and yet he already felt like a father to them. What had Brandon done for him? Cast doubts and gave him no trust. And despite that, Vandham still did what he thought was right.

It should have been him. Brandon should have been the one to die tonight, not Vandham who had done so much for the world. Him, who had done nothing with the incredible knowledge of science and technology of a lost civilization. He had the power to change the world for the better and he decided to sit on it doing nothing.

Why had he decided that?

He punched the wall again, but this time he heard a loud crack. He cried out in pain, knowing that he had just broken something in his hand, and he cradled it in his other.

He started laughing. A low chuckle that slowly increased in mania, even as tears continued to fall from his eyes. What a cosmic joke his life had been. He-

A metallic clang caused him to fall into silence, both physically and mentally. The door handle rattled and it flew open.

"Here you are, you bloody idiot," Nia stormed in. Fury written across her face. "You had us worried sick…" she glanced down at his hand, a bloody and broken mess. "What did you do?"

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want to talk to you." Brandon ignored the question.

Nia rolled her eyes and lifted her hand to heal his injuries. "Rex and Pyra are fine and are sleeping at the inn, thanks for askin'. You, on the other hand, are not. Your head injury still isn't fully healed. I need more time to treat it properly."

"Treat it or don't treat it." Brandon sighed, "what difference does it make?"

Nia sighed as she moved onto Brandon's head, "and this is why you shouldn't be alone. You're stewin' in your own thoughts."

"And so what if I am? It's not like you want me around anyways."

"I… you…" she let out a frustrated sigh as she sat down on Rex's bed opposite of him, "when did I ever say anythin' that remotely implied that? I wanted you to stay back in that fight because you were injured."

"Wasn't referring to that."

"Ugh, you're such an idiot. I've never even once implied that. You're my friend. Which means for better or for worse, I'm with you and you're with me."

"But why? I haven't done anything for you. I…" he choked up, "I let Vandham die."

Nia flinched, "we all did. There's nothin' you could have done there."

"That's the point," Brandon cried, "I couldn't do anything."

"Yeah. You couldn't," she poked his forehead, "so the question now is: are you goin' to let them get away with that? Are you goin' to sit by and feel so sorry for yourself that you let them do more harm? Or are you goin' to get off your ass and make things right?"

"I…"

"Look. I failed too. I had more of a chance to do somethin' than you did and I messed up." Brandon realized with a start that Nia was also crying. "So yeah, I'm also angry and sad and a bunch of other shitty emotions. But I know I can't give up here. Otherwise Torna will do worse. More so than they already have. Some of which I'm also guilty of."

"Nia…"

"But anyways. The point is, stop feelin' sorry for yourself. It'll get us nowhere. We still have a mission, remember? Get to Elysium?"

"Yeah… I… Nia. Thanks."

"Hey," she grinned, "who else would help your sorry arse?"

"Wow, you really know exactly what to say to encourage me." Brandon said sarcastically.

"It's a gift, I know." She flicked her hair proudly. "Now. Get some sleep. Stay here for the night. I'll head back to the inn and you can meet us there."


Brandon didn't meet them at the inn. Nia had breakfast at the inn with Rex, Pyra, and Dromarch before heading out with them to Gramps. There, they found a disheveled looking Brandon cooking breakfast. His face was puffy and his eyes were bloodshot. But despite that, he had a glimmer of purpose in his eyes.

They waited for him to finish eating.

"So… Pyra," Brandon finally said, "do you mind explaining yourself?"

"Well… um…" She fidgeted with her hands, looking extremely nervous. "I…"

"So this is normally where I'd tell Brandon to knock it off," Nia sighed, "but I'm curious as well. I feel like we're owed an explanation. That kind of power… it isn't normal."

"Well-" she was cut off as her Core Crystal started glowing. She shifted into her other form: Mythra.

"You."

Brandon tilted his head, "me."

"Why? Why didn't you stop Rex? You're supposed to be the older brother right?"

"Yeah I get it. I'm a total and utter failure who can't even protect his younger brother," he scowled, "I've already had this conversation with myself. I'm not here to listen to that. I want answers. Why do you have that kind of control over the Artifice Siren."

"You know what that was?" Rex asked.

"I'll explain later," Brandon shrugged off the question, fully accepting that there was no way to keep his secrets from Rex at this point.

"It was a power granted to me at birth. A power I didn't want to use again. It's why Pyra is here in the first place, so I couldn't use that power even if I wanted to."

"Mythra-" Rex said.

"And you. You really messed up. Didn't you hear that Vandham guy? He told you to run! To get out with your life! And instead what did you do?"

"I get it alright?" Rex said, "I know I was being an idiot alright? But… I couldn't just let them take you."

"Wha…" She coughed, "at any rate. If you have more questions, you can ask her. I'm out of here, bye." She turned with her hands on her hips before transforming back into Pyra.

"T-that's not fair," Pyra whispered. "I'm terribly sorry about her. She's a bit prickly at times."

"At times?" Brandon asked, "that seemed more her default state."

"Well… it's hard to deny that." Pyra admitted, "but she'll warm up to you eventually. She's been asleep for a long time and she only has memories of what I've been through."

"What's that like exactly?" Rex asked.

"Well… my sister and I share memories. My powers are derived from hers, excess light energy leaking through our bond."

"What did she mean by different self that she constructed?"

"Um… I don't feel comfortable talking about that."

Brandon sighed, "fair enough. Can you explain Siren though?"

"I don't know what there is to explain. I've, or rather, Mythra has always had the power to control the Artifices. Don't ask me why. I'd assume our father had something to do with that."

"Your father being… the Architect?"

Pyra nodded. "That was also granted to Malos… until he was injured during the Aegis war."

"So Malos…"

"He's the other Aegis. My… counterpart."

"Your counterpart huh. What is he capable of exactly?"

"Well… his powers are certainly diminished right now. He's not much stronger than an average Blade at the moment, same as me. It's part of the reason why they want me I think. I think there's a way that Malos could restore his powers using me as a kind of conduit."

Brandon flinched, something that Nia barely noticed. Something to note for later. He then hummed in thought as though he hadn't. "Okay. There's not much we can do about that now. What we should do is first find Cole, then head back to Garfont."

"Right."

Some things just don't change. Depression and ptsd really kicking in hard for Brandon and it's Nia who drags him to his feet again. They're very close to just finally admitting that they actually like each other lol.