Passing the Torch Chapter 2
"Bana not wanting feeble excuses of Pupunin! Just get back here!" The corpulent chairman of the Argentum Trade Guild screamed into the communication terminal. "You got a lot of work to do!"
The Nopon on the other side of the terminal, quivering like a leaf in a stiff breeze under the fury of his employer, terminated the call without further comment. That didn't stop Bana from fixing the device with a gaze so harsh that his assistants almost expected it to catch fire.
He sighed, running a wing over his face in annoyance. Was it really so difficult to hire competent lackeys? Sure, he paid his employees less than the Voltis or Larus guilds, but he was competitive with Pyrithium, and they had led the guilds for decades prior to Argentum supplanting them!
You couldn't make a tidy profit if you were sharing it, after all!
It was an issue he could mull over later. He had bigger ones to deal with right now. Like how his little arrangement with Torna had turned out. Not the production contract they had over in Mor Ardain; that was still on track so far as he was aware, but the salvaging deal they had?
The plan was simple. Bana lends out an "elite" crew and a salvaging ship to Torna to recover an undisclosed item, under the full understanding that neither will be returning. Then, he would take out an insurance claim on the ship, a legitimate one considering the site was in dangerous waters during the storm season. Torna would walk away with their prize, whatever it was, and Bana would get the insurance payout, plus the payment from Torna.
Of course, nothing could ever be that simple. The party from Torna started fighting amongst themselves the moment they got on deck with the prize (which turned out to be the Aegis of all things! Bana may not be a Driver, but that Core Crystal is distinct). Then the salvagers, spooked by the infighting, had decided to flee rather than let themselves be killed by their employers like they were supposed to!
And to make matters worse, just when it seemed like one of the clients was actually going to sink the damned ship, Rex had apparently managed to steal their prize from under their collective noses and interrupted him! By that point, the Maelstrom was so far away from the recovered vessel that Pupunin's camera was useless in actually keeping an eye on the mission! He had needed to have the coward report on what happened after!
Which, frustratingly, his eyes had hardly been of any more use. All he had been able to see after that were flashes and explosions until that Titan Rex always rode around on flew past them.
In the end, all he was left with was Torna's payment and a vague heading that Rex and the Aegis may have taken after leaving the derelict vessel. The former would barely pay for the insurance premium on the Maelstrom, and the latter was useless! He couldn't even sell the information back to Torna, since they would already know the heading!
Oh, and a salvage ship full of witnesses that would probably be talking to that nuisance Niranira before the week was out. He could probably play innocent about his role in the incident, but that investigator was already too close for comfort with his little side project in Mor Ardain. If he managed to put the pieces together, not even Bana's fortune would be able to save his position once Niranira presented his evidence to the board of directors.
…Maybe he would get lucky for once, and the Maelstrom would navigate itself into a school of Lexos. That would be ideal.
It would certainly be the only way he would recover his losses on this venture. If he couldn't sell the info to Torna, then what else could he do with it?
Bana blinked as an idea suddenly came to him. Yes, he couldn't sell the info to them, but what if he used it? What if his agents could capture the Aegis first? How much more money could he wring out of Torna then?
It wouldn't even be too hard to find them, in theory. Pupunin had only given him a brief look at the sleeping Aegis, true, but he had provided a decent description of her during his follow-up report. Rex and the Torna girl might still be traveling with her, too. Her distinct appearance and traveling companions together would be difficult to hide.
His lip curled upward at the thought. Yes… that could work nicely.
The Chairman glanced over at the map of Alrest on the wall. Based on the heading Pupunin had given him, southward from the Cyclus Sea, that would bring them towards Gormott during this season…
"You, girl!" He called out to one of his assistants. "Get Consul Dughall on the line immediately!"
How convenient of them to be headed for a Titan administered by a business partner! Now all he had to do was impress upon the buffoonish Consul the importance of not bumbling the assignment for once.
For the second time in as many days, Rex awoke in a lush, unfamiliar place.
Unlike the prior case, however, he did not find himself in the green hills of the dreamworld Elysium. Instead, he was hanging precariously from a gnarled root by the strap of his satchel, surrounded by dense vegetation with the Cloud Sea spreading out into the distance beneath him.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he rather preferred Elysium.
He looked around, ignoring the rather concerning creaking sounds the root was making as he did so, trying to find a way out of his current position. In theory, his prospects weren't bad; while he may be hanging against a cliff with only the sea beneath him, the foliage around him looked stable enough to climb.
Unfortunately, that required him to actually be able to reach the foliage, which dangling from a single strap made difficult. He wasn't even close enough to the cliff face to push off from it.
There were several large branches about a dozen peds above him, though. They were too far up for him to reach with his hands, but he did have other options.
Carefully, he aimed his anchor shot at the largest bough he could see. Missing would be troublesome; the dense vegetation would almost certainly foul the line, and he didn't have a spare on him. However, after years of use for his salvaging work, he was rightfully confident in his skill.
He fired the line, his aim true, as the anchor sailed in a beautiful arc over the branch before catching on the far side. The boy gave the line an experimental tug to ensure it could hold his weight, before he slowly reeled it back in.
With his weight no longer on the satchel, it was simple to dislodge it from the root. He did note with some annoyance that there was a tear in the bag, but there was little he could do about it at the moment.
The boy resumed his ascent, keeping a wary eye out for any creatures as he did. At least on Leftheria, cliffs such as these were common nesting locations for seabirds and predators that hunted them. The last thing he wanted after escaping Malos would be to fall to his death after being startled by a Hiln. His ghost would never live down the humiliation!
Fortunately, he went unbothered by the wildlife, and soon enough he was scrabbling up the branch to solid ground. Never had the boy been so glad for it, either.
Of course, now that he had solved one problem and put another aside, he was presented with several more that weren't so easily ignored. Specifically, where was he, and where were Gramps, Nia, and…. Dromarch, he thought the Blade's name was?
The first question he couldn't answer; he had never been to another Titan besides Argentum and Leftheria, so he had no practical knowledge of where he was. He had heard sailors and other salvagers talk about their home Titans before, but the environment didn't match any of the descriptions he had ever heard.
Based on the heading he last remembered Gramps was on, this was… probably Gormott? Yet, he had always heard of it described as rolling plains and temperate forests. Meanwhile, all he was seeing here were foggy swamps and thick jungle. He supposed it could be a smaller Titan; his charts didn't keep track of most of those…
He glanced over the cliff he had just climbed, just to gauge how high up he was. Considering the height, a smaller Titan was rather unlikely. He supposed it really didn't matter at the moment, though; he would have more than enough time to figure it out later.
The more important question was what had happened to his traveling companions.
Gramps, at the very least, had left a clear indication of what direction he had gone. There was an obvious path of broken trees and damaged foliage leading further into the nearby thicket, which even from this distance looked fresh.
If Rex followed it, he suspected that he would find Nia and Dromarch as well. He just hoped that they hadn't fallen into the sea, as he apparently almost had.
Jogging over to the treeline, he was able to confirm that the damage was indeed caused by the missing Titan. Scattered across the ruined path, mixed in with the felled trees, he could see the broken remains of his belongings.
More concerning, though, was the blood. It wasn't the normal red of a human, but the ether-rich luminous cerulean of a Titan. With the Aegis' Core Crystal, he could feel the concentrated ether in the blood almost before he had physically seen it.
Had Gramps been injured? He supposed that the old Titan must have suffered at least some injuries in the crash, but there was so much blood, and it was practically at the initial point of impact…
…The deck guns on the Malos' ship! Rex had been too focused on trying to hold on to Gramps, but the Titan had shuddered several times during the escape. Had he taken a hit? That would have meant he had been bleeding this much for several hours before they even reached shore!
If so, then it was all the more important that he find Nia and Dromarch. There was no telling where his supply of healing potions had ended up after the crash, and somehow he didn't think the single one he had on him would be sufficient to heal the injured Titan.
Rex took off into the forest with renewed purpose, hoping desperately that he wasn't too late.
He didn't have to wait long for the first sign of his non-Titan companions, either. Only a hundred peds down the trail, where the forest opened up into a seemingly shallow marsh, he spotted a clue.
Lying at the edge of one of the pools, being investigated by a curious Lizard, was a twisted band of white metal with brass accents. He didn't keep anything like it in his cabin; his possessions tended towards minimal decoration, and this seemed to be entirely decorative.
Rex approached the band, causing the Lizard to scuttle away into the underbrush, and kneeled down to get a better look. The item was actually in better shape than he had initially assumed; the twists were apparently part of the design rather than damage.
It was scuffed, however; in several places, the paint was missing in thin lines, directly over matching dents. On the inner band, he could see what were probably mounting points, one of which had a small scrap of familiar yellow cloth caught in it.
This was a piece of armor, and he was reasonably sure he recognized it too; unless he was mistaken, this was one of Nia's armbands.
He stood back up, giving the marsh a closer inspection. This was probably where Nia was thrown from Gramps' back during the crash. Hopefully, she was still nearby.
Rex prepared to call out to them, to see if they were in hearing range, but paused as he heard something behind him. It wasn't quite a splash; but more like the sound of water being slowly pushed out of the way, like something was trying to swim silently. He tensed, his ears focused, as he slowly turned around.
Leering out of the tall grass, wearing what he would go to his grave swearing was a malicious grin, was the biggest Brog Rex had ever seen.
The creature hunched down into an aggressive stance, looking hungrily at the boy. Rex, in turn, pulled his Aegis Sword out and took a stance.
"I don't have time for this!" Rex muttered, gathering ether. If this thing wasn't going to leave him alone, then he would just have to make this quick.
With a sigh, Nia relaxed her stance as the last Arachno from the swarm fell to the ground.
There were very few things on Gormott that she despised as much as those damned bugs. They were generally considered one of the most dangerous predators on the Titan for a reason: While Feris may hunt careless travelers on the Garanti Plains, and even the strongest Drivers knew to avoid the Nocclia Woods when the Gogols were agitated, the Arachnos had an alarming tendency to capture and devour entire caravans that managed to tread into their territory.
Having been… raised, such as it was, on cautionary tales about them, it was perhaps unsurprising that she had somewhat… overreacted when she had woken up surrounded by the nasty creatures. If she had taken longer to wake up, would she have been able to escape?
She shuddered at the thought.
At least they were younger specimens, easily dealt with even without Dromarch's help. If they had been older, or had a Queen with them?
Well, she probably could have managed, but it would have been troublesome. Being alone out here afforded her slightly more flexibility to let loose in such situations.
Nia looked around to get her bearings. She was definitely in Gormott; even if she hadn't recognized the plant life, there hadn't been any other forested Titans along their path.
Unfortunately, she had ended up in the lower reaches of Gormott, which could be a problem. She had no idea what the current cycle of the Cloud Tides was, and considering how few places down here were protected from them, that put her on a timetable that she had no way of knowing how short it was.
If the tide was retreating, she had the better part of two days to find her way up. If it was rising? Well, she certainly hoped it wasn't. She wasn't particularly keen on having to swim her way to safety after being caught in the rising tide.
Like she had the last time she was down here.
She couldn't leave until she found Dromarch, though. Annoyingly, he hadn't been thrown from the crashing Titan alongside her. Tracking him wouldn't be hard, since they still had a passive affinity link for her to follow, but time was very much of the essence.
Although... maybe if the Titan was still in good condition, she could bum a ride off of him to the upper levels? She would be more than happy to heal any wounds he had suffered as payment.
Besides, he was affiliated with Rex, and after how last night had gone, she had some questions for the boy.
The memory of him facing off against Malos, the Aegis' Core Crystal blazing on his chest, came unbidden.
He had died! She had watched Jin run him through! Hell, she had confirmed his death while Malos was securing the Aegis' casket, checking him for any sign of life before the black-haired Driver had literally dragged her away.
The boy had been beyond saving with her conventional abilities, and she wasn't entirely sure that she could have done any better even if she had dropped her Driver form either.
And yet just minutes later, he was not only alive but alight with the Aegis' power, holding off one of the strongest members of Torna.
She had her suspicions about exactly what had happened. Countless long nights of helping her dad research… alternative means of healing her sister had taught her much about the science behind the melding of Man and Blade.
But, the circumstances the boy had been in seemed to fly in the face of all of that! There were certain ailments that even those forbidden procedures could not heal. Her sister had unfortunately been suffering from one, and death was sure as hell another!
It was abundantly clear that something more was going on in the background, but she just didn't have enough information to figure out what. To someone who considered herself knowledgeable on such topics, it was absolutely maddening.
Absently, Nia tugged at her link with Dromarch. She felt it lead off into the tall grass, towards the deeper mires of the Wrecc Marshlands.
The girl let out a defeated sigh. It figures that she would have to start her triumphant return to Gormott by trudging through a swamp. It was going to take forever to dry her jumpsuit after this.
Useful as her outfit may be at breaking up her true form's… distinct outline, the voluminous sleeves in particular had a tendency to absorb large quantities of water at the first opportunity.
She was broken out of her musing by a faint ripple of ether, which immediately caught her attention. It was closely followed by another, slightly more potent this time. While her ability to sense ether was diminished slightly in her Driver form, Nia could still recognize the disturbances for what they were.
It was likely that someone was fighting nearby.
Focusing on the sounds nearby, she wanted to kick herself for getting so lost in her own head. The ambient sounds of the wildlife, which had become active after she had finished exterminating the Arachno swarm, had gone silent again. Had she been paying attention, she would have recognized the potential sign of danger.
Thankfully, this sudden silence also made it easier to actually listen for the sounds of combat. Indeed, just at the edge of her hearing range, there was something. The thump of a heavy creature landing on the ground, the whistle of the air being cut by a blade, and the telltale thud of an object meeting flesh.
It wasn't coming from the direction her link with Dromarch had been pointing, either. So, unless there was another Driver in the area, it was probably…
"Rex." She muttered, taking off in the direction of the fighting.
She cut through the underbrush, dodging roots and vines as she ran. A pulse of ether from the battle, accompanied by a flash of golden light, confirmed to her who one of the combatants was. The other became clear only a moment later, as she leapt out into the open, Twin Rings in hand, only to immediately have to dodge a stream of ether-charged bubbles that were sent her way by Rex's opponent, an oversized green Brog.
Rex, at least, took advantage of the creature's distraction to smack it in the back of the head with the flat of his sword. The Brog croaked in pain, staggering forward slightly.
"Nia!" Rex called, gathering ether for another Art as he leaped back from the angry monster. "You're ok, right?"
"Never better." She snarked, crossing her Rings in front of her. "Who's your friend?"
"'Fella just decided to say hello!" The boy replied, launching a spinning attack at the Brog. His sword hit, but almost seemed to bounce off. "Its skin's crazy tough, though! My sword's not getting through!"
The Brog looked back and forth between the two with a look that almost seemed annoyed. The creature crouched down on all fours, as if preparing to leap forward, but when it jumped, it went upward instead.
"Look out!" Nia called, bracing herself.
Rex, who hadn't understood what the creature was doing, found himself unprepared as the oversized frog slammed back into the ground, the force of the impact knocking him backward. It was luck more than anything else that allowed the boy to keep his footing.
"Use ether attacks!" Nia yelled as she brought her Rings together, water ether flowing between them. "They won't bounce off his hide!"
She spun her Rings in her hands, focusing the water ether into a jet that lanced out at the Brog. Rather than being deflected by the creature's thick, rubbery skin, the water jet cut deeply into its flank.
The Brog roared in pain, whipping around to face the Gormotti Driver. Rex, seeing his opportunity, swung the Aegis Sword like a bat. A bolt of light ether screamed out, searing the side of the creature's face.
"Just go down already!" Rex groused, leaping out of the way of a counterattack by the Brog. He watched as Nia launched another water jet at the creature, doing more damage but still not enough to fell the beast.
It did, however, leave a large patch of the monster's rubbery skin flapping loosely, exposing the vulnerable flesh within. It gave him an idea.
"Spin it around!" He called out to Nia, already gathering ether for his plan. The girl nodded, apparently having understood his intentions.
Nia moved further to the side. The Brog, which had already been turning to face her, followed. As it did, Rex swung around the other side of the monster until the exposed patch of flesh was within reach, ether lines burning brightly across his skin.
Just as the night before, he leapt into the air and launched his attack. "Cross Flash!" He called out as his blade bit deeply into the creature's undefended flank for the first slash.
A howl of pain, even louder than the first, rang out across the marsh. The Brog spasmed, trying desperately to flip around and protect its weak point. It never got the chance, though, as the followup slash cut into it once again. The burst of light ether that accompanied the second blow met no resistance as it scoured the creature from within.
The creature couldn't even muster a final croak as it flopped lifelessly into the shallow water.
Rex deactivated the ether blade on his sword, hissing in pain at the burning sensation along his ether lines. Nia, having come to a stop once the Brog had died, noticed his reaction.
"You alright there?" She asked, jogging over to him.
He nodded, still wincing. "Yeah, channeling that much ether's a bit painful, though.
"Lemme see." Nia said as she grabbed his arm.
"Wait, you don't have to…!" He started before suddenly trailing off, eyes wide as he stared at her.
Ignoring his protests, the Gormotti Driver inspected the arm, where one of the boy's ether lines (something he probably hadn't even had a full day ago!) traced across it.
Even though he was no longer channeling any power through it, the path of the line was clearly visible, inflamed to an angry red by the large quantities of ether that had flowed through it. It looked worse than the ones he sported back on the derelict last night, but it was also entirely possible that the poor lighting back then masked the extent of the burns.
"Can't say I'm surprised." She said, looking up at him. "These are some pretty nasty ether burns. I won't be able to do much for them, so you'll…" she trailed off, noticing that the boy was staring at her.
"Rex?" She asked, narrowing her eyes, "What are you…?"
The boy hesitantly raised a finger, tracing a circle in the air around the crystal on his chest. "Nia… you're…?" He muttered, apparently stunned at what he was looking at.
A cold chill ran down the girl's spine as, almost reluctantly, she lowered her gaze towards her own chest. H-he couldn't possibly be…
In an instant, she could feel the color leave her face as her eyes stared down at her chest. There, clear as day, was her blood-stained Core Crystal, peaking out of a small, clean cut in the fabric of her jumpsuit.
That… what… no.
No.
No no no nonononono…!
When had- how had that happened!? The Brog hadn't landed a hit on her! The Arachno swarm hadn't gotten anywhere near her chest! It couldn't have been the crash, that was a clean cut in the fabric! It was exactly the reason she wore a band of armor that… covered…
She grimaced as the metal bit into the skin above her stomach, the armor band driven in by Jin's boot. She could feel the pressure on her Core Crystal as the tip of his Nodachi pressed against it.
Her hands darted to her chest, clenching the fabric closed. That utter bastard! Not only had he tried to actually kill her, but even in failing he had effectively blown her cover! What the hell was she supposed to do now!?
Rex… the way he was staring at her… did he know what the color of her Core Crystal meant? What was he going to do? Leftheria as a whole was supposed to be on good terms with Indol; was he going to report her?
At the very least, the boy had stopped staring, instead awkwardly averting his eyes. He looked almost… embarrassed at her reaction? She, however, didn't avert her own gaze. Instead, she gave him a challenging glare, almost daring him to say something.
The boy looked off into the woods, before his eyes widened. He turned back to her, this time more in panic than surprise.
"Oh Titans foot! Gramps!"
Nia was taken off-guard by the sudden change in tone. "I… what?"
"Gramps!" The boy repeated, darting off in approximately the direction that Nia's affinity link told her Dromarch was. "He's injured! We need to find him, and fast!"
She blinked, her mind still trying to catch up. "Hold on, but… you… what?" Who was 'Gramps?' She had heard him say the name before, right? That was the guy who he said taught him how to use Arts despite not being a Driver back in Goldmouth, wasn't it?
Wait, he had used that name for the Titan that rescued them too! That didn't make sense; how could a Titan teach him how to fight? Maybe there's someone else he calls that, too?
"Look," Rex turned back to her, his face filled with desperation, "I don't know what all of… this is," he said, gesturing at her, "and honestly, I don't care right now! All I know is Gramps is hurt, and you might be the only one who can heal him! Please, just follow me!"
As the boy dashed off, following the path of destruction left by the Titan's crash, Nia strongly considered walking away. She didn't have an obligation to follow him after all; there was nothing stopping her from just… going her own way. She could hit up the nearest town for supplies, find a ride, and she and Dromarch could be on their way to another Titan within maybe two days.
It would be so easy. She wouldn't have to deal with any awkward questions from Rex about her Core Crystal. She would have the time to process the… everything that had happened with Torna. It wasn't even like she had never done it before.
And yet…
The idea just didn't sit well with her. The boy had saved her life the night prior. As much as she wanted to say that she had no obligations… that had to be worth something, right? And if his Titan truly was injured, she at least owed it to the boy to return the favor and heal his 'Gramps'.
It would probably be enough to get the boy to keep his mouth shut about her Core Crystal, too. The last thing she needed was for Indol to catch her trail again.
Besides… leaving now would feel like she was running from her problems, like she had time and again since her dad and sister died. The exact same behavior that had led her into Torna, a choice she had only narrowly lived to regret. And honestly? She was tired of running.
She took a single hesitant stride, followed by another, before following after the boy.
The pair pushed through the underbrush of the marsh, Rex rushing headlong into the foliage in a desperate attempt to reach the old Titan in time, while the more hesitant Nia carefully kept an eye out for any more danger.
Soon enough, they reached the end of the path of destruction left in Azurda's wake. It was deep in the marshes, right up against the petrified outer skin of Gormott where the trees had almost entirely receded in favor of shallow, fetid pools.
"Over there!" Rex called, sprinting out of the treeline. Nia followed him, taking note of the surroundings. There were no obvious threats, but she did notice a familiar overgrown path on the far side of one of the pools.
Rex reached the Titan first and came to an immediate, horrified stop. Gramps' condition was… far worse than he had expected.
The old Titan had come to rest against a sheer cliff, and not gently by any means. His collision had apparently triggered a small rockslide, covering much of his rear legs and tail.
Large, vicious lances protruded from his body, their polished surfaces gleaming wickedly in the fading sunlight. The Titan's blood, so rich with ether that it glowed blue, seeped from a dozen wounds, each large enough that they could easily be fatal on their own.
It was a miracle the Titan was even alive, so grievous were his injuries, yet the labored rising and falling of his chest made it clear he still clung to life.
"Architect…" Nia whispered in horror. This much damage… there was no way she could heal it. On a normal human? It would have been doable, if difficult, so long as she was relying on her own abilities rather than Dromarch's.
But on a Titan, especially one of this size? Some of those wounds were bigger than her! She would die of ether exhaustion before she was even halfway through!
Rex took a step forward, his arm reaching out as if to grab the Titan. "Gramps…" he whispered, his voice shaking.
The Titan slowly opened an eye, staring down at the boy. "Rex…" he said, his voice weak. "I'm… glad to see that you are unharmed. I was worried when you were thrown from my back."
He coughed, the terrible wet sound making it clear that his injuries were not merely external. Rex's eyes widened at the understanding. He immediately turned to Nia, who herself was still staring wide-eyed at the dying Titan.
"Nia…" He begged. "…You've got to help him!"
"I-I…" The girl stuttered, turning to the boy. The fact that the Gormotti girl, normally so sharp of tongue, was so uncertain left a sinking feeling in his gut.
"Please…" he whispered, his voice so small that even with her Gormotti ears, Nia could barely hear it. "I can't… If he…" The boy trailed off, sniffling back tears.
"…Rex. These injuries… I-I don't think I can heal something this bad." She responded, unable to meet his gaze.
Azurda chuckled ruefully at her confession. "It's all right, young lady." He said, trying to console both of them. "I knew that this was a possible outcome from the moment I saw Rex was in danger. So long as he is safe, I am content with my fate."
"Gramps…" Rex muttered weakly.
"Besides…" he continued, "your friend here has done more than enough to ensure my final moments are comfortable."
Nia's eyes darted to the side of the Titan, as she watched her Blade slowly trotted out from behind his great head. "Dromarch!" She called, "You've been…?"
The tiger Blade nodded lethargically. "My apologies for not coming to you, my Lady." He said, his head drooping. "I had hoped to heal our friend here of his injuries, but I'm afraid all I have managed is to exhaust myself with no result in return."
"You have done more than enough, my friend." The Titan insisted with a slight wheeze.
Rex lowered his head at the words. "Are they right…? Is there really nothing I can do?" He muttered, clenching a hand to the Aegis' Core Crystal. Tears, so laden with remorse that they burned as much as his ether lines had, ran down his face.
It was his fault that this had happened. Gramps had warned him not to take the job for Bana! But he had ignored the wise old Titan, and for what? A payout?
Because he had been so stupid, he had taken the job. That girl, Mythra, was dead because he let Jin get the drop on him. Nia had almost been, too. If he had taken just a moment longer to reach the deck…
And now Gramps was dying because of him. Because he had been greedy. Because he had been stupid. Because he had needed to be rescued from a situation that was the result of his own damned choices!
Because he had been weak.
Azurda, apparently sensing the direction his thoughts were taking, called out to the boy. "Rex," he said, laying his head on the ground. "This… was not your fault."
Rex's head shot up in surprise. "But I…!"
"I… was always destined to fall at their hands, one way or another." He said, his voice filled with regrets of his own. "Jin... he made it clear to me the last time we met, all those centuries ago."
"Wait, you… What!?" Nia sputtered in surprise. This Titan… he had known Jin? And that far back? Academically, she knew that Flesh Eaters had long lifespans, but considering how recent her transformation had been, she had no true metric by which to judge it.
The old Titan chuckled weakly. "Yes… I have had a long time to prepare myself for this moment. So please, Rex, you need not shed tears in my regard; after the centuries of waiting, finally reaching this moment is almost… a relief of sorts."
"You… you can't really mean that!" Rex cried. For all that Azurda had told the boy not to cry, the tears came all the faster.
"Perhaps not." The Titan agreed. "But… there are worse ways to go. That I was able to meet you, to see you grow into the fine young man you are today… is a blessing that cannot be matched."
Nia's breath hitched, for a moment not hearing the old Titan console his charge but hearing another voice, on the brink of death, utter words that were so hauntingly similar.
"Nia…" The faint words echoed in her head. "Although our time together was short… I am glad that in my last days, I was able to have a sister as wonderful as you."
Tears of her own welled at the memory, the pain still so fresh even years later. Watching the same scene play out again from the outside, it turned out, was no less painful that experiencing it firsthand.
Rex lowered his head, sobbing quietly, as Azurda shuddered. The old Titan's form began to glow softly as the outer layer of his skin began to fade into motes of ether.
"Do not think this to be the end, my boy." Azurda said. "I am certain that one day, we will meet again." He shuddered, taking a final breath. "Until then, farewell… Rex."
With those words, his head slumped to the ground for the final time as his body began to unravel into light, not unlike a dying Blade.
Rex watched, wide-eyed, as the motes of ether drifted off into the winds. H-he… Gramps couldn't be...
The boy fell to his knees, wailing in despair. He slammed his fists into the ground, begging desperately for the old Titan.
("Master Azurda, you wouldn't happen to still be there, would you?")
("I'm fine, my friend. There was just a bit more left on my back than I had thought.")
Behind him, Nia watched the crying boy with a sorrowful expression. It was easy to see herself, curled in a ball and weeping at the loss of her own family, in Rex at the moment. She… didn't wish that feeling on anyone, much less someone who had saved her life.
("Dromarch, I'm sorry to impose after the help you've already given me, but it would appear my tail is stuck.")
("Worry not, master Azurda, I will have you freed in a moment.")
She slowly walked up to him, kneeling down as she approached, and placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder. Nobody should be alone at a time like this. When her sister had died, she had her dad. When he had finally passed not long after, it was only thanks to resonating with Dromarch that she had a shoulder to cry on. Had she been alone in that moment, she couldn't imagine how she would have dealt with it.
("Please do not move, I will have this free in just a momen-")
("YEOUCH! Careful with that!")
("Ah! My apologies master Azurda!")
His sobs gradually began to weaken as he curled in on himself. The boy's mind was a storm of emotions, flowing far too fast and violently for him to truly process anything besides overwhelming sorrow.
"Rex," a voice said, though the boy could not register it in his current state. "As touched as I am that you care so much, I believe I told you not to cry for me."
The words did nothing, to either the boy wallowing in despair, or the girl beside him trapped by her own dark memories. Fortunately, the speaker was not alone.
"My Lady," Dromarch added, a note of embarrassment coloring his tone, "if you would be so kind as to help bring master Rex back to us, I believe his tears are somewhat premature."
Nia snapped back to attention as Dromarch called out to her. She looked down at her Blade, her own sympathetic tears wetting her face, and blinked at what she saw.
She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, yet the sight before her refused to change.
Feeling… confused? Befuddled? Shocked? She shook Rex's shoulder vigorously.
The boy reacted to the physical stimulus more readily than the verbal and slowly turned to stare at the girl. His vision was blurry from tears, but he was still able to clearly make out her wide-eyed expression, staring down at something in front of her.
Slowly, Rex panned his head over her line of vision, and froze at the sight. He blinked, before running his forearm over his face to ensure that what he was seeing was real.
"Pretty neat, if I do say so myself!" Azurda boasted, puffing out the chest of his regenerated larval form. "And here you thought I was just going to give up the ghost, like some common variety Titan!"
Nia and Rex looked down at him, flabbergasted. Slowly, they turned to look at one another, as if to ensure they were seeing the same thing, before snapping their vision back to the tiny Titan.
"What!?"
"How!?"
Behind the Titan, Dromarch sighed in resignation. "I believe it would be best if I checked the wreckage for any salvageable supplies." He said as he wandered off, leaving Azurda to explain what had happened to the pair on his own.
"I see, so that's how it is." Azurda nodded, leaning back against Rex's diving helmet.
After he had finally explained exactly how he had survived, the party had elected to set up camp on a small hill a few peds from the clearing where Azurda had landed.
Even though most of them had only regained consciousness relatively recently, between the fading light of day and the physical and emotional exhaustion that all members had endured, nobody was particularly keen to argue against it.
Well, Nia had been, until Dromarch informed her that the Cloud Sea was currently receding. Without the threat of being flooded out in the night, the Gormotti girl was far more willing to set up camp.
Of course, no sooner had they settled down than Azurda insisted that Rex do some explaining of his own. After all, the regenerated Titan had insisted, he had nearly died rescuing three of them, so he wanted some answers. Like, exactly who Nia and Dromarch were, or what Jin and Malos had been doing there, or why he had Mythra's Core Crystal on his chest.
And so, Rex had told the tale of the night before. He spoke of the salvaging operation, of meeting Mythra in the dreamworld Elysium, and finally of the fight against Malos.
While he was doing this, Nia and Dromarch were quietly listening in, offering their own details as necessary. For the most part, Nia was content with Rex's explanation, but particularly his encounter with the Aegis girl had been rather… fantastic.
"I still can't believe she was able to just… give you her Core Crystal." She commented, tugging slightly at the shirt she was wearing. It was an old one of Rex's, recovered from the ruins of his cabin while they were collecting any salvageable supplies from the crash site along with a matching pair of shorts. It wasn't particularly comfortable, the fabric being far more coarse than she was used to, but it meant she could actually allow her jumpsuit to properly dry by the fire after her trek through the marsh.
That was another benefit to having not run off earlier, one she had not considered at the time. It hadn't been until they had started setting up camp that it truly sunk in that, thanks to her hasty defection from Torna, Nia had nothing but the clothes on her back and the scant few items in her satchel.
No traveling gear, no changes of clothes, and no provisions. All of those had been left back on the Marsanes, considered unnecessary for the mission they were undertaking. And while she would admit that had been the correct call, considering the accommodations they had at the time, it could have left her in a very precarious situation had things gone slightly differently.
She certainly could have made it to the next town, mind you, but it certainly wouldn't have been a pleasant trip. She had already filled her quota of 'roughing it out in the wilderness without supplies' for the next decade at least, thank you very much.
"I'll admit that I've never heard of it happening before." Azurda agreed, crossing his arms. "But… the Aegis isn't a normal Blade, either. Both Mythra and Malos were both able to do things that should have been impossible, back during the war."
Rex gave him a surprised look. "You knew her?" He asked.
Azurda gave him a nod of affirmation. "I did… her Driver, Addam, was my companion at the time, much as you are now."
The boy was silent for a moment, pondering his answer for a moment, before asking, "…what was she like, back then?"
"Hmm…" Azurda said, tilting his head back. "Mythra… was a complicated person. Outwardly, she seemed headstrong and confident in her abilities, almost arrogantly so, were she not legitimately as skilled and powerful as she was. Inwardly… well, I always suspected that the confidence was a mask, but if it was, I do not believe anyone else in our group ever saw thorough it. Unfortunately, that included her Driver, which ultimately weakened their partnership.
"When she was first awakened, she was… cold. Or perhaps 'aloof' would be a better way to describe it?" The Titan pondered, before continuing. "Either way, she claimed that she didn't consider herself to be a part of Alrest in the same way we are; that as far as she was concerned, her singular purpose in descending from Elysium was to stop Malos' reign of terror."
Azurda smiled slightly, as he recalled the events. "But… that changed over the course of the war, even if she wouldn't admit it herself. The longer she interacted with her allies, the more she opened up. She took a particular shine to her Driver's squire, a young boy named Milton." He chuckled. "By the time the Tornese campaign had begun, you could easily mistake the two for siblings, based on how they acted."
"The… Tornese campaign?" Nia asked.
"Oh yes." The Titan replied. "It was the final stage of the war. Malos had tired of Addam and Mythra's constant efforts to oppose him, and so retaliated by attacking the former's home, the Kingdom of Torna."
Nia sat up straight. "That… so, Torna was the name of a Titan originally?"
"Yes, it was. Mythra's Driver was a prince of the Kingdom that resided upon it, in fact." Azurda answered, raising an eyebrow. "Is there something else that shares the name now?"
"That's what our…" she began, before correcting herself. "Jin's group is called."
Azurda sighed. "That doesn't surprise me in the slightest." The old Titan sighed. "Jin… he was never able to accept how events transpired at the end of the war."
"How does he fit into this, anyway?" Rex asked, tilting his head. "Like, he was… alive back then? But if he was, how's he still here now? You said you'd known him for centuries earlier, didn't you?"
"Most of that is actually fairly simple." Azurda replied. "Jin and his Driver joined Addam's cause during the final campaign."
"Wait, Driver!?" Rex said surprised. "He's a Blade?"
"He is. One of the strongest, as it happens." The Titan closed his eyes. "He was once known as the 'Paragon of Torna'. For centuries, his Core Crystal was kept in the possession of the Royal Family, and only the Kingdom's greatest warriors were given the honor of resonating with it.
"Eventually, it found its way into the hands of a talented young lady by the name of Lora, who served as his Driver during the Tornese campaign. After some minor… disagreements with the prince, they joined up with Addam and Mythra, and fought at their side for the remainder of the conflict."
Dromarch, who had been quiet while Nia lay against his flank, spoke up. "If that is the case, master Azurda, then how was it that Jin came to work with his former adversary?"
"That… I do not know." Azurda admitted with a sigh. "The last time I spoke with Jin, we all believed that Malos had not survived his calamitous final battle with Mythra. I can only hypothesize why they would be working together."
"It was something to do with the Praetor, wasn't it?" Nia said, quietly. "That… everyone in Torna, the group that is, has a bone to pick with him in some way."
Azurda gave the girl an appraising look, before nodding. "It was. The Praetor, according to Jin, had his Driver murdered not long after they left the company of Prince Addam."
"W-what did…" Nia stuttered, trying to best phrase the question. She had her… issues with the Praetor, admittedly only by virtue of his position as the leader of Indol rather than any personal grudge, but she knew that Jin hated the man personally. But for him to have…
"Again, that is another question to which I do not know the answer." The Titan sighed. "Jin… he was so consumed by rage and grief at his Driver's death, and what he had been forced to do to survive it, that he was unwilling to elaborate by that point."
Rex pondered the Titan's wording, not missing the fact that Nia had suddenly stiffened at the comment. "Gramps…" He asked, "What do you mean by that?"
The regenerated Titan was silent for a moment, looking first at the boy, then Nia, before responding. "I have told you the basics of how a partnership between a Blade and Driver functions, correct?"
"Umm… I think so." Rex thought back. Gramps had told him, yes, but he hadn't really committed it to memory very well. It just wasn't important information for a salvager. "You have a Driver, who resonates with Core Crystal, which summons the Blade. And then the Blade sends ether to the Driver so they can use Arts and stuff, yeah?" The boy scratched his chin, trying to recall anything else. "Oh, and you said something about 'attitude' and not touching a Core Crystal if you don't have it?
"'Aptitude', my boy." The Titan groaned. "And that isn't relevant to what we're talking about. You don't remember what I said about Blade lifespans?"
Rex shook his head. "Sorry, Gramps, that stuff sort of went over my head."
If looks could kill, Rex would be dead for the second time in as many days. "Ungrateful…" Azurda muttered, before continuing. "Blades… cannot normally exist without a Driver. They are born when a Driver resonates with their Core Crystal, and they return to the crystal when their Driver dies.
"However… there are a few exceptions." He pointed at the Core Crystal on Rex's chest. "The Aegis is one. They need to be awakened by a Driver, but once they have come into their power, they are no longer bound to them."
"Which is why Malos was such a problem, then?" Rex asked.
"Indeed. The other exception…" Azurda paused dramatically. "Are called Flesh Eaters."
Nia flinched unconsciously, something that both Rex and Azurda noticed.
"Flesh Eaters are Blades that have been infused with human cells. Contrary to the name, they do not have to physically consume flesh in order to do this, although that was the earliest method used to create them. As with an Aegis, they are not bound to a Driver, the humanity they have been infused with allows them to serve as their own."
"And Jin is... one of these?"
"Yes. Even if he hadn't confirmed it himself, the visual effect on his Core Crystal is unmistakable."
Rex's eyes shifted over to Nia, settling just below the neckline of her shirt. Nia wilted under the boy's gaze, curling slightly into Dromarch as she put her hands over her concealed core.
There was no accusation in his gaze; merely curiosity, but it still made her deeply uncomfortable. Dromarch seemed to detect her discomfort, and wrapped his tail around her protectively.
"My Lady…" He muttered to her comfortingly.
Azurda watched the scene with a sigh, before speaking up. "I can see that Rex already figured it out as well." He said, surprising the girl.
"Y-you knew?" She asked apprehensively.
"I did, likely the same way Rex found out." The Titan shrugged at her drying jumpsuit. "I won't ask about the details of your circumstances, young lady, but I would like to know three things."
She narrowed her eyes, but still answered. "No promises."
"Was it your Driver, was it consensual, and did they survive?"
Nia scowled. "Those are rather specific questions for 'not asking details', old man."
"Perhaps so," Azurda admitted, "But… I do have a certain amount of responsibility to keep Rex safe, and the infamous reputation Flesh Eaters possess is not entirely without basis. I'm sure you can understand."
"Gramps…" Rex muttered, looking between the two with some concern.
"I," the girl hissed, "am nothing like the monsters in those stories."
Azurda maintained his gaze, and rebutted in a calming voice. "I never said you were, Nia."
She stared at the rejuvenated Titan for a moment, her eyes not betraying any emotion, before relenting. "Fine," she said, "If it will get you off my case, then the answer is 'yes' to the first two, and… 'temporarily' for the third. Are you happy?"
The Titan nodded. "I suspected that was the case," he replied, "thank you for your honesty, young lady." He paused for a moment, before his gaze softened. "...And, if it is any consolation, if the process wasn't immediately lethal to the donor, then the answer to my third question is still a 'yes'."
"…" Nia hugged her knees to her chest, but said nothing.
An awkward silence fell over camp as everyone processed the information. Eventually, it was Dromarch who broke the mood.
"This had been a most… enlightening conversation." He tiger stated, trying valiantly to spare his Driver further questions. "But, I believe it would be best if we retired for the night. We will have a long trek to the upper levels of Gormott tomorrow."
Nia yawned in agreement. "I think I can get behind that!" More quietly, she amended, "anything to end this discussion."
Rex stared at the fire for a moment. "Just one more question, Gramps." He asked.
"What is it, my boy?"
"Earlier, you described Mythra, but the girl you talked about didn't seem anything like who I met. Just… what happened to her?"
The Titan looked down, a grim expression on his face. "Mythra, despite her social… difficulties at times, came to care greatly for the people of Torna during the campaign. Yet in the end, Torna was sunk when one of her own attacks went wide, and few of those people made it off in time." He looked back at Rex. "Milton was not one of them. It… broke the poor girl."
He sighed, closing his eyes. "She was never the same after that. Not long after, she sealed herself away, unable to deal with the guilt."
Azurda stood up, walking off towards a pile of loose cloth recovered from the crash site. "Get some rest, Rex. You'll need it for tomorrow."
Author's Notes
Funny how much more willing Azurda is to spill important information when he's not keeping other people's secrets. Also Nia, as it turns out, is surprisingly fun to write internal dialogue for.