After the last week, there was a certain awkwardness in their return to Torigoth.
There hadn't actually been a time during his stay in the city that someone hadn't been chasing them. The whole debacle with the Ardainians needed no further introduction, but even when he and Nia had first arrived in the city, they had already been keeping a low profile because of the bounty hunters.
As such, openly walking through the city gates at the Special Inquisitor's side, escorted by a squad of Drivers from the Ardainian Imperial Marines and a dozen normal soldiers, was something of a change of pace.
He was keenly aware of the eyes upon them as they entered the city. While the early evening crowds had already long dispersed, there were still plenty of citizens out and about, watching the group of soldiers with wary eyes.
Perhaps it was to be expected. The city had been on high alert for the last several days, and descriptions of him and Nia had most definitely been put out, in addition to the wanted poster the girl had. It was perfectly reasonable for them to be leery when they were seen being escorted by a large group of soldiers, especially considering they were obviously not in custody.
He was glad he had already come up with a temporary means of concealing his Core Crystal, by sealing up the top half of his diving suit. It was tighter than he would prefer, not being designed to be worn at surface pressure, but it worked until he could replace his wetsuit.
If he was feeling the attention, he knew for a fact that Nia was feeling it far more acutely. He didn't even need to look at her to know that she was uncomfortable; her ears tilted down in a visible sign of her discomfort that the locals would be unable to miss.
Dromarch, bless him, was well accustomed to helping his Driver in situations like these. He was brushed up against the girl, his tail wrapped around her protectively, as he glared down any of the passersby that were lingering on the girl for too long. Her hand, meanwhile, was idly scratching the top of his head in gratitude.
Fortunately, the soldiers were far more polite, much to the surprise of both of them. While they had been preparing to depart the thieves ruined hideout, the Driver squad had returned injured, apparently a parting gift from the ice Blade, Theory, who it turned out was not one of the Gormotti thief's Blades. Their own healer had been incapacitated in the attack, and his Blade had prioritized healing his driver over the rest of the squad.
Nia, after a moment with a conflicted look on her face, had stepped up and healed the rest of the squad in a sign of good faith. With little more than a single flourish of her Twin Rings, the injured Marines injuries had faded away, even those of the unconscious healer, who had woken up soon after.
It had done wonders to improve the Ardainian's opinion of the girl, and not just the Special Inquisitor and the Driver Squad; When they had returned to the surface, the Marines had spread the word to the dozen normal soldiers that had cordoned off the collapsed entrance to the hideout.
Perhaps it was for the best that they had decided to cooperate, in retrospect. Even if they had managed to escape from the Special Inquisitor, fleeing up to the surface would have resulted in them having to face down the cordon force that they hadn't even realized was present.
They didn't linger in the market square, instead quickly making their way toward the Ardainian district. As they marched, Morag dispatched several of the soldiers ahead, carrying orders that the party were unable to hear. The woman, likely understanding that they were still wary of a potential betrayal, assured them that it had nothing to do with them—rather, she was preparing her forces to round up the thieves accomplices that had been identified.
Of course, arriving at the Consulate to find the grounds swarming with soldiers did nothing to assuage any concerns they may have had. They seemed to be paying the party no mind, instead forming into small groups and coming to attention as they noticed the Special Inquisitor. Without a word, Brighid broke off from their group, along with the Driver squad, while Morag led the party into the building.
Despite the late hour, there was still a surprising amount of activity within the building. While it paled in comparison to what it had been when Rex visited during the day, it was clear that at least some of the staff had remained, most likely to coordinate whatever cleanup operation Brighid was currently spearheading outside.
Morag deftly led the party past them, however, barely even pausing to issue instructions as they proceeded further into the building. Clearly, at least one of the men she had dispatched ahead had brought orders to prepare for their meeting, because beyond a few wary glances from passing clerks, the presence of Rex and his companions was apparently expected.
She made one brief stop on the way to hand Sheba's Core Crystal off to an aide for storage, along with the rest of the evidence collected in the thieve's hideout. The woman had claimed the core shortly before they departed, intent on making sure it eventually found its way back to its original owner, a shopkeeper who had been trying to sell it before being robbed.
Neither he nor Nia had any issue with this outcome. After their experience with the water Blade, neither was particularly keen on trying to resonate with her Core Crystal.
Eventually, they reached a conference room near the back of the building, a small chamber with a large window overlooking the harbor. There was an assortment of light refreshments laid out on the table, the gathering condensation on the pitcher of water making it clear the staff had only just laid it out.
The group settled into the room, Rex and his companions on one side of the table, and Morag alone on the other. Several minutes passed in an awkward silence as they helped themselves to the refreshments, particularly Tora, who hadn't eaten since breakfast on account of having been abducted.
Once it was clear that everyone was ready to begin, Morag cleared her throat and began to speak.
"To begin with, I would like to offer an apology." She started, looking over the entire group. "While I had a legitimate reason to pursue you in the beginning, the subsequent handling of your case was unnecessarily harsh, especially considering information uncovered during the course of the investigation."
She closed her eyes, inclining her head toward Rex and Nia. "For that, I am sorry."
Rex held out his hands in a warding gesture, flustered by the rather direct apology. "No no, it's fine!" He insisted. "You couldn't have known at the time, and, well… it's all in the past now, right?"
He turned to Nia, hoping to get support for his own position. The girl gave him an incredulous look at his willingness to just brush things off. She crossed her arms, turning her head away from the Special Inquisitor with a huff. "Fine, I'll accept the apology." Nia allowed. "But we'll be wanting some compensation, you understand?"
"That's hardly necessary, Nia." Azurda chimed in, lounging atop Rex's shoulder. "After all, it's not every day the illustrious Flamebringer gives such a sincere apology! Seeing it is almost a reward in and of itself." He chuckled.
Morag cleared her throat, drawing their attention back to her. "The Ardainian government will be willing to provide suitable compensation for the trouble." She replied, looking over at Nia. "Within reason, of course."
"Would that include withdrawing the bounty on me?" The Gormotti girl asked pointedly. "Because I have a number of complaints about that, starting with that… caricature of a sketch your artists have the gall to claim is supposed to be me!"
"My Lady…" Dromarch said, giving his Driver a knowing look, "Is this truly the correct time to be taking umbrage with the manner in which they portrayed your visage?"
Morag's cheek twitched subtly at the girl's outrage. "You will be happy to learn that the warrant has already been retracted." The Special Inquisitor stated. "During the course of our investigation, the validity of your alleged association with Torna was brought into question, not to mention it was discovered that the initial warrant was issued without following proper procedure. Under those circumstances, we would have been required to withdraw it regardless of who it was for."
"You mentioned something like that back in the cave." Rex said, crossing his arms as he thought back. "That you did your research and found your reasons for arresting us were wrong." Looking her in the eye, he added, "I'm guessing that's it?"
"It is the primary one." The woman acknowledged. "The second reason for pursuing you was because of your… association with the Aegis." She said, stumbling slightly over exactly how to word it. Rex had yet to actually explain the details of how he had the Aegis' Core Crystal to her. "The common histories regarding the events of the Aegis War are rather vague, unsurprisingly considering how much turmoil the event caused.
"Most sources attribute the destruction of three Continental Titans to the Aegis over the course of the war, but provide sparingly little context as to how and why. As such, certain details have been… overlooked." The woman paused briefly for effect. "Such as the number of Aegises that were active during the conflict."
Rex caught on to what she was saying immediately. "Wait a minute," he said, "Are you saying the reason you were after me… was because you mixed up Mythra and Malos?"
She nodded. "So Malos was an Aegis." The woman muttered, before answering the boy's question. "Yes. This… 'Mythra', the Blade of Addam Origo, the Aegis with the Emerald Core Crystal… she is the only Blade that most sources acknowledge to be an Aegis. As such, all actions explicitly performed by an Aegis were, by default, attributed to her."
"I think I can see where this is going." Nia groaned, leaning her head on the table. "Let me guess; you saw me, an alleged member of Torna, and you saw Rex, who you believed was the Driver of the Blade that sank three Titans, working together, assumed that meant that Torna possessed the Aegis, and freaked out. That about right?"
"That is… not exactly the manner in which I would describe it." Morag replied diplomatically. "However, the core idea is essentially correct." Her face hardened as she continued. "While we possessed no way of confirming that the two of you were associated beyond traveling together at the time, the mere possibility that an organization like Torna could have gotten their hands on such power forced my hand."
Morag let out a weary sigh, the tension leaving her body, as she looked out the window. "There are… so few Titans remaining. So little space for so many people. Even during the Aegis War, when land was far more plentiful, the strain of losing three Continental Titans, along with the devastation of a dozen more, nearly toppled the civilizations that remained." She stared off, watching the dancing lights that flitted around the World Tree's crown. "Were it to happen again, would we be able to survive it a second time?"
Closing her eyes, she shook her head. "I couldn't allow it to happen again. That was my primary reason for pursuing you."
Silence descended upon the room as she finished, the others processing her words. Nia in particular wasn't sure how she was supposed to react to that; she had already largely worked out the Special Inquisitor's motives, but to hear her explain it so passionately? She almost couldn't fault the older woman for her behavior. Almost.
Rex, on the other hand, frowned as she finished, not because he disagreed with the woman—quite the opposite, in fact; he was also particularly concerned about how quickly available land was vanishing as the number of Titans steadily declined. Were he in her position, he could easily imagine himself acting similarly.
No, the problem was… "Malos, he's a member of Torna. You know that, right?" He asked in a serious tone.
"The same Malos that fought Mythra? The other Aegis?" Morag asked, an intense look in her eyes as she questioned him.
"Yeah." Rex confirmed, slightly put off by the look, even if he understood. "Is there another Malos running around I need to know about?"
Morag let out a small chuckle. "You may be surprised to learn that it isn't uncommon for the ambitious to claim historical names and titles in an attempt to gain legitimacy." She answered. "Malos, despite his reputation, has been the choice name for more than a few would-be tyrants and terrorists." The lines on her face tightened. "I had hoped the leader of Torna was just another."
"He isn't." Azurda confirmed, a grave expression on his face. "Even if Mythra hadn't confirmed it to Rex, I recognized him the moment I laid eyes on him. The man hasn't changed a bit in the last five hundred years."
Tora, who by virtue of being largely uninvolved with this particular area of the discussion had been quietly listening, spoke up. "But… if baddiepon Malos have power to kill Titans, why not used it already?"
Rex's expression darkened at the comment. "I guess that's where Nia and I come in." He replied, before looking over at Nia. "Where should we start?" The boy asked.
She sighed, looking between him and the Special Inquisitor for a moment. For a moment, she considered just letting Rex speak and dancing around her connections to Torna. After all, Morag seemed to be uncertain as to whether or not she had even been a member; it would be easy to just… not mention it. Play herself off as another hired hand.
But… that wouldn't work. She wasn't a salvager, and Jin and Malos hadn't hired anyone else—their plan was to kill the witnesses, after all. It would leave a massive hole in the story, and the Special Inquisitor had already been in contact with Argentum, so she had their version of events to compare it with.
Not to mention that some of the information the woman was going to need could only have been obtained by an insider. And it wasn't like she had to go into detail about how she fell in with Torna, that wasn't relevant to the current situation. Just some implications that they had gotten her out of a bad situation should be enough…
"…Maybe it's best if I start us off." The Gormotti girl said, idly scratching one of Dromarch's ears. "I can provide a bit of context, at least."
Rex gave her a surprised look. "Are you sure?" He asked, concern in his voice. "We can leave that… um, 'stuff', out, if you'd prefer."
The girl gave him an appreciative grin. "Don't worry about it." She waved off. "Might as well give her the full background."
Quickly adjusting her position in the chair, she sat up straight and began. "So, it started about six months ago…"
Brighid watched from a comfortable distance as one of the Consul's servants, a comely young woman wearing a uniform dress with a rather daringly high hem, retreated back into Dughall's manor to retrieve the master of the house.
The late hour at which the case had been resolved was proving to be something of a double-edged sword. While it had certainly been much easier to organize both the raid on the thieves hideouts and the apprehension teams for collaborators without having to keep the Consul or his cronies in the dark at the same time, it also meant that when the time had come to arrest the Consul, he wasn't actually at the Consulate.
Fortunately, his manor wasn't too far away, set in an isolated corner of the Ardainian district that afforded him privacy, while still allowing him to be on-hand in the event of an emergency that required his presence. Not that Brighid was of the opinion that there existed such a situation where the man's presence would improve things, of course.
After a few moments of waiting, the door opened again, and the Consul stormed out. It was clear the man had gotten dressed hastily; his jacket was wrinkled, several buttons were unfastened, and even beneath his cap, which itself was askew, his hair was obviously unbrushed.
"What in the Architect's name has you pounding on my door at such an uncivilized hour!?" He screamed at lieutenant Eimhir, paying the other Drivers alongside her no mind. Behind him, the hulking armored form of his Blade shuffled out of the building, unenthusiastically following his Driver.
The moment the Blade cleared the threshold, Brighid stepped forward, leaving the light cover she had been using to keep her distinctive features hidden. Dughall's eyes widened in surprise as he saw her, and he took a step back, only to find that one of Eimhir's subordinates had stepped in behind him, blocking the door to his manor.
"Good evening, Consul." She said, her polite demeanor barely concealing the predatory tone in her voice. "I do hope we did not wake you."
"L-lady Brighid!" The portly man stammered, glancing around at the surrounding soldiers. It seemed to the fire Blade that he had been so focused on the lieutenant that he had missed the other three Drivers with her as well as the support squad assisting them until now. "W-what is the meaning of this!?"
She schooled her expression as she came to a halt next to the lieutenant, looking the man in the eyes. Regardless of her opinion of him, he was still a noble, even if a petty one, and was to be respected as the title deserved.
"Consul Dughall, You are currently being taken into custody under the suspicion of collaborating with enemies of the state." She began. "You will be treated fairly, as is afforded by your station, so long as you cooperate. Failure to do so will result in you being apprehended by force."
His eyes widened in disbelief at her words. "That's absurd!" He challenged, clenching his fists. "I have done no such thing! How dare you and that… that-!"
A burst of flame wreathing the woman was enough to silence the man. "I would suggest you not finish that sentence." She warned, a dangerous note in her voice.
Dughall paled, shrinking in on himself as he realized exactly who he had been about to insult. "B-but, you have no evidence!" He insisted, his tone far more meek than before.
"On the contrary, you will find that we have plenty." She stated as a pair of soldiers carrying affinity suppression shackles began placing them on Dolmes. Looking over at the lieutenant, she ordered, "Bring them to the relay base. Lady Morag wishes to speak with him."
"Yes, Lady Brighid." Lieutenant Eimhir saluted before giving orders to the soldiers.
Brighid didn't linger to watch the proceedings. She already knew exactly what would happen, and had more important matters to attend to. She signaled to the pair of Drivers flanking the entrance to the manor, the healer and gunner of Eimhir's squad, and the pair followed behind her as she entered the building.
Quickly scanning the foyer for anything of note, the fire Blade turned her attention to the trio of domestic servants watching the proceedings from the front windows, an uncertain look on their faces. One of them, the butler, based his uniform, noticed her approaching. His eyes widened at the sight, but he managed to quickly school his expression.
"Lady Brighid." He bowed. "How may we be of assistance to you this evening?" Behind him, the two women who were gawking out the window immediately took notice of her presence and offered hasty curtsies to her.
"My apologies for the unannounced intrusion." She offered politely. "My associates and I are here to collect evidence; might I request that you have the household staff sent home for the evening, so as not to disturb us?"
The butler's jaw clenched ever-so-slightly, but he gave no other sign of disapproval. "Of course, lady Brighid." He replied, before turning to look at one of the girls, the same one that had answered the door earlier. "Please inform Mairi to release the remaining staff for the evening." He ordered the girl. "If she has any issue with the order, tell her to talk to me."
She took off in a hurry, racing out a servant door on the other side of the room. The girl had barely left before the butler turned back to look at her. "If there isn't anything else I can do for you, I will take my leave." He stated, giving her a wary look.
"I believe we should be fine." Brighid responded. "If you would be so kind as to direct us to the Consul's study, we will leave you to attend to your business."
"Of course." The man replied, directing the remaining maid to lead them. "Have a pleasant evening." He bid them farewell before departing toward the back of the manor, not quite storming, but definitely not pleased by the turn of events.
Brighid paid him little heed once he had left, following the maid upstairs. The manor wasn't particularly large, intended not as a permanent residence, but merely to serve as suitable accommodations for the Consul for the duration of his current post. It was rather well known that Dughall was not fond of his posting, and would rather have remained in Mor Ardain.
Still, it was clear the man had made himself at home here. The walls were lined with portraits depicting Dughall's ancestors going back at least a dozen generations, which had obviously been brought from his family estate back in the homeland.
Curiously, it was only in the most recent portraits, those of his father and grandfather, that Dolmes was present. Instead, the older portraits tended to feature an ashen-skinned Blade wearing fine clothes, an ostentatious crown tilted halfway across his face that did nothing to lessen his imperious gaze, despite covering one of his eyes.
What had happened to that Blade, for Dolmes to replace him in importance? It was common for Ardainian noble families to pass Blades along their family lines, a sign of prestige linking them to their martial pasts. Just as Driver Aptitude was considered an essential trait in a noble, those Blades were considered an essential symbol of the family.
To lose such a Core Crystal would have been a major embarrassment for the family. It seemed odd to her that a man such as Dughall would display such an obvious sign of it in his manor. The only reason she could think of that he would was if they still possessed it, but in that case, why not resonate with it?
It was another piece of the puzzle she and Morag were trying to solve, part of the reason she was here. She filed it away in the back of her mind for now, but kept her eyes open for more clues.
The maid came to a stop near the end of the hall, indicating toward a set of double doors across from her. "This is the master's study." She informed them politely. "I'm afraid I will be leaving, per your request." Giving the fire Blade a curtsey, the girl departed, leaving Brighid and her accompaniment to their own devices.
Pushing the doors open, they were met with a lavishly decorated room. It wasn't particularly large, only slightly larger than the Dughall's office in the Consulate, but decorated in traditionally Ardainian fashion rather than Gormotti.
Bookcases covered most of the walls, their dark wooden finish filigreed with delicate brass scrollwork, with occasional insets for large portraits of the Consul and his family. Only the far wall was free of such coverings, instead taken up mostly by a large picture window overlooking Coolley Lake. A large, intricately carved desk dominated the center of the room, covered in half-finished paperwork, with a pair of drawers flanking it. Set into the far wall, nestled between the shelves of books, was a large safe, its dark metal door firmly closed.
As the fire Blade walked in, she began giving orders to the pair of Drivers and their Blades. "Alright, we're looking for evidence of the Consul's alleged crimes." She began, looking at the healer. "Greig, you and your Blade are to search his records. See what you can find in his business dealings."
"Yes Ma'am." The man saluted as his Blade, a brutish male whose face was largely covered by a featureless brassy plate, started walking over to the Consul's desk.
"Douglas," she continued, turning to the other soldier, "The two of you are to search the Consul's personal effects." She stated, before giving his Blade, a perky female with a single, swordlike horn protruding from her forehead, a knowing look. "That includes the safe."
"Understood, Ma'am." The soldier replied, giving his Blade concerned look as her eyes began to sparkle. "We'll be sure to have it open."
Her subordinates dispersed to perform their tasks, leaving Brighid to search the remainder of the room for her own objective—locating where the Consul was actually storing any records of his criminal activities.
While it was certainly important to search through his normal business dealings and belongings, even she didn't think the man was sloppy enough to have hidden anything incriminating in such an obvious place. Even the wall safe probably didn't have what she was looking for; it was far too blatant, probably intended to be as much a distraction as a means to secure his valuables.
There was no shortage of places he could be using for the purpose, either; this many bookshelves invited a lot of possibilities, after all. She carefully cast her eyes across the room, looking for anything amiss.
Selecting hiding places such as these was a complicated affair, as there was a certain balance of factors that needed to be considered. Obviously, it needed to be concealed in a manner that was difficult to find, even someone looking for it suspected it existed; it would, after all, be a terrible means of securing valuables if it were easy to discover.
On the other hand, it couldn't be too well hidden or secured, because that would inhibit the actual use of the hiding place. One of the most overlooked aspects of security was the effect of convenience; if getting through a security system is too cumbersome for approved persons, inevitably they will become lax about employing them in an attempt to make it more convenient, thereby introducing additional vulnerabilities to the system.
As such, the most effective hiding places tended to be both easily accessible and easy to overlook. It was the reason wall safes hidden behind portraits, or caches within hollow books, tended to be popular: they were easily concealed, yet readily accessible when needed.
If Dughall was smart, he would be aware of this, and would have avoided such obvious hiding places. Perhaps a drawer with a false bottom, or a safe hidden beneath a floor panel, would be a more likely option for a man in his position.
As her eyes scanned across the room, she spotted the portrait closest to his desk, a picture of the Consul standing triumphantly atop the body of a slain Griffox. He held Dolmes' Power Hammer as if he had used the weapon to slay the beast, yet the chain attached to its hind leg and the visible gunshot wounds on its chest told a much different tale.
It was also slightly askew, as if it had been incorrectly hung up in haste. Brighid was reminded once again that the Consul was not a smart man.
She walked over to the portrait, flipping it away from the wall, only to find… nothing. The wall was bare, save for the mounting for the portrait's hook.
Brighid blinked in surprise. Nothing? She was certain this was where he would be hiding his documents! Had the tilted portrait just been a distraction, meant to draw her eyes away from the real hiding place?
No… she didn't think it was. The positioning was ideal for a hidden compartment of some sort, close enough to Dughall's desk that he could easily transfer documents between them without having to move, and she didn't think Dughall was smart enough to leave a subtle clue like that as a distraction.
Something about the mounting for the portrait's hook bothered her, too. It was too complex for the task it fulfilled; a portrait of that size should only need a simple wall hook, yet this was a heavy, spring-loaded contraption with a hook that retracted into the mount.
Her eyes traced the edges of the empty wall section, where it met with the bookcases. One of the shelves had a gap between it and the wall, just wide enough for the low profile of the mount to fit behind it.
Gently, she traced a finger around the side of the hook mount, testing just how solidly it was attached to the wall. A moment of prodding showed that it was fixed fairly solidly, yet had a tendency to rotate slightly.
A switch of some sort, perhaps? That would explain the rotation, but if it kept stopping, then there must be an additional component…
She placed a finger on the hook and pulled it out of the mount, before testing the rotation again. It still stopped when she attempted to rotate it counterclockwise, but when she spun it in the other direction…
There was a soft click as the entire wall panel, just large enough to fit the portrait, retracted into the wall and slid aside, revealing a smaller, concealed safe behind it.
Brighid couldn't help but give the Consul her approval in this case. Hiding a safe behind a hidden wall panel was actually a fairly elegant solution, especially considering how well it had been concealed. Had he properly replaced the portrait the last time he used it, she wasn't entirely sure she would have found it.
The safe was the same dark metal as the main safe had been, with simple brass decor that was almost understated compared to the rest of the room. She rapped a knuckle against the door, listening to the vibrations to try and guess the volume of the storage area within.
"Yoiyami," she called as she examined the lock, "Over here, please." It was a shame that she wasn't nearly as deft with a lockpick as her iteration from the Aegis War had been, having long traded that ability for her keen vision and clear insight. Fortunately, she had subordinates that could more that fill the niche.
"What'dya need, boss lady?" The dark Blade asked as she turned to Brighid. "Doug and I are still looking through the safe here."
Brighid offered the other Blade a smile. "I have located a second safe." She explained, stepping back to display the hidden compartment. "If you would be so kind as to get it open for me?"
The dark Blade's eyes glittered with excitement as she laid eyes on the safe. In the blink of an eye, she had all but shoved Brighid out of the way in order to get better access, not even bothering to come to a halt before she began examining it.
"Oh~ho, what have we here~?" She said, running a finger across the side of the door. Brighid stood back and let the woman work, knowing she was more than capable of getting it open.
"Let's see…" She muttered. "This is of Truthail Securites make, like the other one... looks like a custom job." Rapping a knuckle on the side, she nodded to herself. "Three bolts, linear configuration. Should be able to operate them manually if I…"
She adjusted her positioning slightly and pulled out her Ether Cannon. Looking over at Brighid, she warned, "I'd take a step back if I were you." The fire Blade followed her advice, stepping back to the desk, where the dark Blade's Driver was giving her an amused look.
"Are you quite sure this is safe?" She asked the other Blade, who was drawing a fair amount more ether than Brighid was entirely comfortable with for the process. "I would prefer to recover the contents intact, if possible."
"Don't worry about it, Ma'am." The Driver commented. "'Yami's done this plenty of times before. She'll have that safe open before you can say-"
He was interrupted by the sound of displaced air as his Blade fired a concentrated spike of dark ether into the keyhole. A sphere of rolling violet shadows the size of a fist engulfed the lock as the sound of tortured metal rang through the room. No sooner had it appeared than the dark ether dissipated, the metal within its bounds warped and riddled with holes.
Yoiyami experimentally poked the degraded metal, only for the entire section to crumble into flakes of rust. She gave an approving look at the newly formed hole where the lock used to be. "Huh, I was expecting a bit more resistance."
"See? Nothing to worry about." Douglas reiterated, watching as his Blade snaked her hand into the hole she had bored into the door of the safe, fiddling around with something inside.
"That was quite impressive." Brighid stated politely. It really was, though. Considering how much ether she had been using for that technique, the fact that she had been able to contain the effect so cleanly was a clear sign of how much control the Blade had over her element.
With a final click, the door of the safe swung open. Yoiyami withdrew her hand from the hole in the door, before spinning around on her heels and giving Brighid a sloppy salute. "All good, boss lady!" She replied cheerily, eliciting a chuckle from her Driver.
"Good work." Brighid replied, walking up to the safe. The dark Blade stepped away to allow her access, although she herself seemed curious about the contents.
Inside was exactly what Brighid had been expecting. There was a substantial amount of paperwork, all neatly sorted within labeled folders. She looked over the one on top of the pile, clearly labeled 'Aegis Search', and knew for a fact that she had exactly what she needed.
Even that knowledge wasn't enough to distract her, however. While most of the space within was filled with papers and folders, there was a small space to the side where other objects were kept. Most of it was not of interest to her, mostly jewelry and trinkets important only to Dughall and his family. There was, however, one object that drew her attention. A small box, shoved in the very back of the safe.
Pulling it out, she let out a small gasp at the sight. The box was made of wraithwood, intricately carved and polished, and covered with delicate golden filigree. On the lid, a small golden label was pressed into the wood, although whatever had once been written upon it had long since been worn away by touch.
Brighid was familiar with such boxes; they were normally used by noble families to store Core Crystals. However, the lavish decoration of this particular one spoke of how important Dughall's family considered the Blade within.
Almost hesitantly, Brighid popped open the lid. At this point, she already had a fairly good idea of what she was going to find, yet the anticipation still drove her to lift the lid in a gradual, almost theatrical manner.
Douglas and Yoiyami watched the fire Blade as she laid eyes on the contents of the box. She was holding it at an angle that didn't allow for either of them to see inside, the only clue being the soft white light that illuminated her face.
After staring at the contents for a long moment, she closed the box, and looked over at her subordinates. "I need to bring this to Lady Morag at once." She stated. "Proceed with the search. I will dispatch more forces to assist you once I reach the Consulate."
Without waiting for acknowledgement, Brighid strode out of the study, holding the box firmly to her chest.
"…And then the roof collapsed, and you and Brighid slid in." Rex finished. "And, well, you know the rest from there."
Morag made a contemplative noise, tapping a pen against her notebook as the boy concluded his story. It certainly had been quite the tale, and not at all in the way she had expected.
Her eyes briefly traveled down to his chest, where his Core Crystal would be had he not closed the chest piece of his diving suit. A Core Crystal that, according to him, had been bestowed upon him by the Aegis, as a means of carrying out her final wish.
There had been a number of unbelievable things in the boy's tale, but the idea that a Blade, even the Aegis, could just… give their Core Crystal to someone else, allowing them to use the Blade's powers and abilities, was definitely the one that strained her credulity the most.
She had never heard of anything like it before! Yes, she was aware that there were ways to… blur the line between Man and Blade in the form of Flesh Eaters (and potentially others—there had always been rumors that the Indoline continued to carry on the twisted legacy of their Judician forebears, but how much of that, if any, was truth had never been determined), but never in her life had she considered the possibility that the reverse could be done as well.
It also introduced a number of potential… complications going forward. Discounting any of the myriad political headaches that would inevitably result just from the Aegis being active again, the fact that the boy was essentially the human equivalent of a Flesh Eater (the Titan had called him a 'Blade Eater', which she supposed was as accurate a name as any, but was still a little too on the nose for her preferences) was almost certainly going to cause problems with the Indoline Praetorium.
The Praetorium's stance on Flesh Eaters had long been that they were aberrations, a blasphemous mockery of the sacred bond between humans and Blades as ordained by the Architect, and were to be destroyed on sight. To facilitate that, there were a number of treaties in place that allowed the Praetorium free reign to hunt down any they discovered, regardless of local jurisdiction.
Well, mostly free reign. There were several nations that were not signatories of such treaties, but save for a single exception, these were among the smallest nations in Alrest, generally no more than city-states atop small island Titans; If the Praetorium's forces pursued a Flesh Eater to one of them, they would have little ability (or desire, considering the reputation Flesh Eaters held) to stop them.
Morag held no illusions about how well they would react to the boy; him being a human Flesh Eater-equivalent would have been bad enough, but to have effectively 'consumed' the Core Crystal of the Aegis, even if it was voluntary on Mythra's part? If they found out, there wasn't a Titan on Alrest he'd be able to hide—She would put her salary on them even being willing to chase him to the Nothian Isles!
He couldn't even get away with pretending to just be the newest incarnation of the Aegis, either; even if Bana hadn't been spreading Mythra's description to anyone who would pay to hear it, Praetor Amalthus had been around since the Aegis War and had even met the old Aegis. He would be able to see through the deception in an instant.
In that regard, his decision to keep his newfound status hidden was a wise one, at least until he was stronger and more skilled. While she hadn't had the chance to fight him when he wasn't restricting himself to the capabilities of a Driver, based on what she saw and his description of his abilities, he barely possessed the strength of a mid-tier Blade at present, with combat skills that, while admittedly far better than she would have expected from his age and background, were still below what would be demanded of him as the Aegis.
While it was clear that he was steadily improving in the former and seemed to possess at the very least some talent to improve the latter, he had yet to demonstrate the same level of power and capabilities that his predecessor had wielded. Until he did, the boy would stand no chance against an Indoline apprehension team or any of the potential actors that would be tempted to get their hands on him should they discover his status.
Hopefully, his companion would be able to help him stay under the radar.
Morag's eyes traced over the girl for a brief moment, noting the subtle armored band that was innocently placed across her chest. The woman had her suspicions about exactly what Nia was; she had done a good job keeping vague about exactly what sort of trouble she had gotten into that had resulted in Jin rescuing her, but when the girl had explained that all of the members of Torna (save Malos and a single Blade Eater named Mikhail) were Flesh Eaters, she hadn't seemed to realize what that implied about her.
It was possible that Nia could just have been the only human that the group had recruited, she supposed, but unlikely; the girl has claimed that Torna considered mankind itself to be their enemies, and while there were certainly humans that would be willing to assist in such a venture, Nia, from what she could determine, was most certainly not one of them.
A human that hated other humans enough to join a group willing to wipe them out would not have turned on Torna to defend a group of helpless salvagers, even at the risk of her own life. Combined with several other hints, such as how skittish the girl was about Morag looking into her background, there wasn't a lot of ambiguity about what she was.
Not that Morag was particularly interested in following that line of inquiry any further, mind. She had already given her word that she would let them free once their meeting was over, and so long as she didn't confirm her suspicions, the Special Inquisitor could at least claim plausible deniability about the matter should Indol somehow catch wind of her presence.
She watched the Gormotti girl poke her companion in the forehead, letting him know how annoyed she was that he hadn't considered closing the top of his armored diving suit before the fight. He replied by brushing her finger away as he snapped back that it was too tight when not pressurized and would have restricted his movements. There was no heat in either of their voices as they bickered, though; they merely seemed to enjoy prodding each other.
A small smile worked its way onto her face at the sight. Yes, best to just let the matter be.
Clearing her throat, she drew their attention away from the playful argument. "Tell me, where do you plan to go from here?" Morag asked. "You claim that your plan is to reach Elysium, correct? I assume you have some sort of plan to reach it?"
The pair looked between themselves, suddenly a little uncertain. "That's… a bit of a work in progress right now." Rex admitted, scratching the back of his head. "The original plan was to take a ship out to scope it out, but then we actually asked about it, and, well…" He trailed off, his face falling.
Nia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that sailor back in Dornswell did warn us about how the Praetorium's got the area off-limits and that there's some big scary sea serpent lurking around there that attacks anyone who gets too close." She leaned back in her chair, arms behind her head. "No idea how we'll be getting around that one, though."
Rex gave the girl a surprised look, which Morag found curious, but didn't add anything to the girl's statement. "Yes, I see how that could be a problem." She stated. Navigational issues weren't her area of expertise by any stretch of the imagination, so she had no idea just how accurate the claims of a 'sea serpent' were. The fact that the Praetorium kept a close eye out for ships approaching the Great Void, however? That she knew for a fact was true—she could cite the treaties that established the exclusion zone from memory.
"'A problem' is certainly one way of putting it." Azurda said, crossing his arms. "I've been telling these two that their next step should be to research the monster, but I'm sure you can appreciate just how difficult children can be to order around."
The two 'children' both let out nearly simultaneous sounds of indignation at the comment.
"I can't say I do." She replied, carefully keeping herself from chortling at the interaction. "I'm afraid I have little interaction with age groups below recruitment age these days."
Rex mulled over the situation. "Well, I suppose if we're going to be doing some research, we'll need to hit up somewhere with a lot of naval expertise." Looking over at Azurda, he continued, "Which I guess would mean one of the Trade Guilds?"
"That's a good place to start." The Titan agreed. "Argentum will likely be our best bet, all things considered. The crews working there will be more than happy to help you, of all people." He paused for a moment before smiling. "And I'm sure there's a number of people that will be relieved to see you alive after what happened on the derelict."
Morag frowned at the statement. "I would recommend avoiding Argentum right now." The woman said almost apologetically.
"Huh, why?" Rex asked, looking at her in confusion.
"I believe I mentioned earlier that Chairman Bana was involved with the events here?" She said. It probably would have been better if she had explained this earlier.
He nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah… I think I remember you saying that."
Nia narrowed her eyes, apparently having caught on immediately. "Wait a minute… Bana was the one that helped Malos and Jin plan the job on that Derelict! Are you saying he was meddling here as well!?"
"You would be correct." Morag confirmed. "We haven't been able to confirm the details yet, but we do know that Bana was the one responsible for both identifying you as a member of Torna, and that he ordered Consul Dughall to arrange for the capture of the… previous Aegis." She paused for a moment before adding, "I cannot say with complete certainty, but I suspect that he may have been doing so on Torna's orders."
The Gormotti girl shook her head. "I doubt it." She replied. "Malos and Jin would have sent the others out after us if that was the case. Besides, they already know about Rex's whole deal. If they were pulling the strings behind the whole fiasco, they wouldn't have bothered having everyone look for that Mythra girl."
"I suppose that is true." Morag accepted. "In that case, he's most likely trying to sell the Aegis off to the highest bidder, assuming that isn't Torna, anyway." Looking back at Rex, she continued, "Either way, Argentum is likely not a safe place for you at the time being. In fact, it may be wise to avoid the Guilds entirely until the situation has calmed."
Rex frowned at the thought. "That's certainly annoying." He grumbled, crossing his arms. "Where do you recommend, then? Mor Ardain?"
"Not quite." She pursed her lips. "As much as I would like to say otherwise, Mor Ardain may not be the best place for you to travel at the moment. I have been in contact with the capital, and before discovering just how… erroneous our information was, that included the initial reports of our encounters."
"Hat Lady mean Friends wanted in Mor Ardain still?" Tora spoke up, disapproval in his voice. "Why Hat Lady not cancel?"
"I will do that, of course." She reassured. "However, the wanted posters will take some time to be removed, and considering your alleged associations, your faces are likely to be recognizable for some time yet." The woman paused for a moment. "Besides, I don't believe Mor Ardain is likely to possess the information you seek, regardless. We adhere too strictly to the Praetorium's exclusion zone around the World Tree to possess much knowledge about this 'Serpent'."
Dromarch raised his head, frowning. "What destination do you have in mind, if your homeland will not suffice?"
She looked over the entire group before answering. "Tell me, what do you know about Tadbir?" The woman asked, gauging their reactions.
"What, like the Titan, or the ritzy academy on it?" Nia was the first to answer. "My sis… er, someone that I used to know growing up, was intended to go there before the family suffered some financial… setbacks."
"Tora hear of it before!" The Nopon piped up. "Tabir big big school on little little Titan! Spend lots of time collecting knowledge from around Alrest." His wings drooped as he added, "Unfortunately not much interest in engineering, all anthropology and history with Tadbir. Tora forced to stea…ah, 'learn' from Ardainians instead." He corrected.
He shrunk away from Poppi as the mechanical girl gave her creator a skeptical stare. Morag, in her infinite mercy, decided to ignore the Nopon's admission for the time being.
"I just know it exists." Rex replied, scratching the back of his head. "Never had much reason to learn about it beyond that."
Azurda shrugged. "I'm afraid I cannot claim to know much more than that about its current state." The Titan admitted ruefully. "Back in my day, it was still a little Osirian colony. I heard they became independent a few centuries ago and founded the academy, but I've not had the opportunity to pay it a visit in the intervening years."
"That is more than enough." Morag stated. "Tora and Nia have provided most of the important information. Tadbir Academy is the Praetorium's closest rival for the largest repository of information in the world, particularly related to the people and history of Alrest." She looked over at Rex. "I suspect that if there is anywhere that you can learn about this 'Serpent', it would be the academy's archives."
Nia frowned. "That's great and all, but how exactly are we supposed to access them?" She questioned. "From what I hear, non-students need special permission to access the library, and that can take months to process!"
"Under normal circumstances, that would be correct." Morag agreed, jotting down a note as she spoke. "However, much of that is due to the strict background checks they perform on potential applicants. I can provide you with a letter of recommendation that will hasten the process significantly."
Rex blinked at her comment. "You'd do that for us?"
"Of course." The woman replied. "Consider it part of the compensation for the hardship the two of you endured because of our overzealousness."
"That's very-" Azurda began, only to be interrupted by an energetic knock at the door. The occupants of the room barely had a chance to turn before the door opened, revealing a familiar fire Blade in a purple dress.
"My apologies for intruding." Brighid said, striding through the door. "But you asked me to report immediately if I found anything important, Lady Morag."
Her eyes darted to the box her Blade was holding immediately. "Is that…?" She asked, shooting a quick glance around the room before returning her gaze to Brighid.
"I believe so." The fire Blade confirmed.
Standing up, Morag gave the other occupants an apologetic look. "It would appear we will need to adjourn for the time being." She stated, giving a signal to the soldier guarding the door outside. "I'm sure you are tired after the events of the day, so I have accommodations prepared for you." She indicated toward the guard. "He will lead you to your rooms, if you so wish."
Rex gave a sigh of relief. "You won't hear a complaint from me." He said, stretching his arms. "I'm bushed."
"Same here." Nia admitted with a yawn. "I'm not even going to question it right now."
The Nopon looked at them for a moment before shaking his head. "Tora appreciate offer, but will return to house."
"Huh, why's that?" Rex asked, looking down at his fuzzy companion.
"Still have much much work to do!" The Nopon replied. "Need run diagnostics on Poppi to see how first battle go, need clean up house after fight with meanie Blades." His eyes shone with excitement as he continued. "Most important, need pack for big big adventure with Rex-Rex and Nia-Nia!"
"You want to come with us?" Rex asked, surprised. "Not that I'm complaining, but considering how things went earlier…"
Tora puffed out his chest. "Of course Tora want come! Rex-Rex and Nia-Nia save Tora's life!" Looking over at Poppi, he added, "Friends also on big worldwide adventure, and that sound like perfect chance to test Poppi!"
"Masterpon also need get out of house." The artificial Blade noted. "Spend all time building Poppi eating tasty sausages. Not healthy for growing Nopon."
Her creator's cheeks went red. "P-Poppi! That not in database! How Poppi know Tora's diet before wake up!?"
Rex broke out into a laugh at their interplay. "We'd be happy to have you around, Tora, Poppi." He looked over his shoulder at Nia. "Right, guys?"
Azurda nodded. "I see no problem with this."
"More allies are always a welcome addition." Dromarch commented.
Nia looked between the Nopon and his Blade with a sigh. "Yeah, I don't have much of an issue with it, either." She said. "I just want to get to bed."
On the other side of the table, Morag cleared her throat. "If you have that matter settled, then I believe it would be best for you to head for your accommodations." She said, before pausing. "Actually, Azurda… would you be willing to remain behind?"
The little Titan gave her a curious look. "I suppose I can do that." He replied. "Is there a particular reason?"
She nodded. "Yes. I believe your expertise may be helpful for my conversion with Brighid."
Azurda scratched his chin, before nodded in acceptance. "I suppose I can stick around for a spell." He said, turning to Rex. "I trust you can stay out of trouble while I'm gone?"
"Gra~mps!" Rex whined in annoyance. "What do you take me for, anyway?"
"The sort of child who gets pulled into trouble the moment I'm not around to supervise." The Titan replied smugly. "Or perhaps you've already forgotten how we ended up on Gormott?"
Rex frowned at the jab but yawned instead of retorting. "Fine, fine." He replied, waving off Azurda's concern. "I'll keep out of trouble walking down the hall to my room. Happy?"
Azurda crossed his arms. "Much better." He said, waving the others off.
Taking it as a dismissal, the rest of the group departed, leaving Azurda alone with Morag and Brighid.
It was much later, while she was getting ready for bed, that a knock she had been half-expecting came at the door. Dromarch raised his head from the paw he had been in the middle of grooming.
"Who could that be at this hour?" The tiger muttered, casting a glance back over at her.
Nia, who was in the middle of brushing her hair, met his eyes through the mirror of the vanity she was sitting at. "Would you mind getting it?" She asked, running the brush through her bangs.
"Of course, my Lady." He replied, reluctantly getting up from his spot at the end of the mattress.
Laughing softly at his reluctance, the girl continued getting ready for bed. She ran the brush through the tufts of hair that she normally wore in curtain-tails framing her face, drawing the remaining moisture out of them. She was perfectly fine with roughing it out in the wilderness, but the Consulate also had running water; she had not wanted to waste the chance to take an actual bath, damn the time.
She touched a finger to her cheek, where one of her white face stripes would normally be painted on, had they not been washed off in the bath. Her face always felt bare without them. They were meant to mimic the markings her Blade form naturally possessed, which had not carried over to her flesh-and-blood Gormotti body.
Even during her years of running from the Praetorium, she had stubbornly kept them despite being an identifying feature. She considered them an important reminder of her origins, a link to her Blade nature that could still easily be passed off in her Driver form.
They were also far less of a hassle to deal with than her Blade form's long vulpine ears. In all honesty, she thought she rather preferred the shorter feline ears of her Driver form. Despite being smaller, their hearing was just as acute, and they came with the bonus of not being nearly as much of a liability in combat.
In the background, she listened to Dromarch fumble with the door, her mood souring slightly as she stared into the mirror. Thinking about the differences between her forms always made her a little melancholic. Not because she had a problem with either form; she was frankly quite comfortable in both, but because of the circumstances that required her to hide her nature in the first place.
Considering how much he had needed to tread over bad memories concerning those circumstances today, she imagined that her dreams were not going to be particularly pleasant tonight. Unbidden, she clenched her hands over her Core Crystal, concealed well below the neckline of the simple ankle-length nightgown the Ardainians had been hospitable enough to provide.
(She was a little suspicious about it, though. The typical style of Gormotti and Ardainian sleepware tended to be much thinner, and with a far lower neckline, than the garment she had been provided with, due to the warm climates of their Titans. Neither would have covered her Core Crystal, yet the neckline of this one was high enough that it covered the entirely of her chest and shoulders. Was it a coincidence, or did the Special Inquisitor know more than she had let on?)
"Oh, hello, master Rex." She heard Dromarch say from the door. Her ears perked up as she turned in that direction. What did Rex need at this hour? She would have thought he had already been asleep, considering that she had stayed up particularly long taking her bath.
"Sorry to bother you, Dromarch." The boy apologized, "But would it be possible to talk to Nia for a moment?" He asked.
"My Lady is indisposed at the moment," the tiger responded. "I am unsure if-"
Nia cut in. "Tell him I'll be ready in a minute." She called out, turning back to finish up with her hair.
Dromarch paused for a moment before returning to speaking with Rex. "I would recommend just returning to your room." He amended. "My Lady will be with you in a moment."
The door closed as she heard the boy walk away. Nia sighed in annoyance as she finished up, placing the hairbrush down and standing up from the chair. "You could have just invited him in." She muttered as the tiger returned to his chosen seat.
"It would be improper for a boy his age to enter a lady's room at this hour." The Blade replied as he curled back up on the bed.
She raised an eyebrow. "And you think that me going to his room would be any less so? "The girl replied in annoyance. "I mean, it doesn't sound like Azurda's back yet; it seems more 'improper' to join a boy in his room unchaperoned." She continued sarcastically.
Dromarch gave her an unamused expression. "My Lady, I was merely attempting to offer you and master Rex some privacy." He replied, flicking his tail lazily. "I do not believe anything untoward will actually happen between the two of you." He said, looking back down at his paws.
"Unless, of course, you wish him to do something untoward." The tiger added, a mirthful note in his voice. "In which case, I cannot-"
"Dromarch!" Nia hissed, her cheeks coloring. "What the bloody hell are you even-!" She snapped her mouth closed abruptly, averting her gaze as she realized the Blade was trying to get a rise out of her.
"Have fun, my Lady." He replied as he began to groom the other paw.
She didn't dignify his comment with a response, instead turning around and storming out of the room. She swore, one of these days she was going to turn that tiger into an Architect-damned rug!
The guest suites the Ardainians provided were in an isolated wing on the third floor of the Consulate, separated from any lingering activity on the lower floors. As such, the room that had been assigned to Rex and Azurda was just across the hall from hers and Dromarch's.
She stood in front of the boy's door, hand raised to knock, but paused, still a little flustered from the tiger Blade's teasing. Rex had seemed perfectly fine to talk in her room with Dromarch around; he probably just had an additional concern to address before he could sleep. No use getting herself bent out of shape for something so trivial.
Taking a deep breath, she softly knocked on the door, waiting just a brief moment for him to acknowledge her presence. "Come in!" She heard Rex call from the other side of the door.
She slowly opened the door, slipping in without a word. On the other side of the room, near his own suite's vanity, Rex was fiddling with the front of his shirt, back facing her. Like herself, the Ardainians had provided the boy with some simple sleepwear, in his case a knee-length nightshirt and a pair of cotton trousers, both the same white as her nightgown.
At the sound of her entering the room, the boy turned around, his mouth open to say something, only for whatever he was saying to die in his throat as he saw her.
"Rex?" Nia asked, feeling more than a little awkward under his gaze. Was there something weird about how she looked?
The boy averted his gaze as she spoke, his cheeks coloring slightly. "Oh, ah… Hey, Nia." He said in a flustered tone, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
Her own cheeks flushed at his reaction, but she opted to put it aside for the moment. "What did you need to talk about?" She asked.
"Oh, uh, right." He said, taking a seat on the bed. He looked her in the eyes for a moment, seemingly unsure, before speaking up. "So… um… I guess you're, um, staying, then?" He asked uncertainly.
Nia furrowed her brow, awkwardness forgotten for the moment. "What do you mean?" She asked, confused.
He bit his lip. "Well, before we got to Torigoth, you were mentioning that you and Dromarch were planning on leaving." He elaborated. "I know we kind of dropped the topic once everything began, but back when we were talking with Morag, you were talking like you planned on staying.
Oh. Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. She had indeed been planning on leaving once she had helped Rex on his way off of Gormott, back when they first arrived. Rex had spent the better part of two days trying to convince her to reconsider, and she and Dromarch had even gotten into an argument about it.
"I-I guess at some point I reconsidered." She said, almost as surprised as he looked. Really, she hadn't even considered it for a few days, not since the first fight with Praxis and Theory. After everything that had happened in the following days, it had sort of fallen by the wayside. Leaving had sort of come to feel almost… wrong.
"Not that I'm complaining," Rex said, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "But what made you reconsider? You seemed pretty set on leaving before."
"Well…" She muttered, eyes tracking across the ceiling. "I guess it's mostly because after everything that happened, my reasons for leaving were kind of mooted." After all, bailing wouldn't keep him from getting arrested if he was wanted too, and with her bounty being cleared entirely, the only people that would be after her was Indol, and considering that he was a Blade Eater now…
She frowned at the thought. There was something that had been on her mind since their discussion at the end of the pier earlier, a possibility she should probably bring up.
"That being said, are you sure you even want me around?" She asked, more seriously.
Rex frowned at her sudden change of demeanor. "Why wouldn't we want you around?" He asked, genuinely confused. "I'm the one that was trying to convince you not to leave."
"I warned you earlier that the Praetorium would be after you too now," she elaborated. "But there is always the possibility that they'll be more focused on me, or that the chance of grabbing us both at once will make us a bigger target." Looking him straight in the eyes, she asked him. "Even knowing that, are you sure you want me to stick around?"
He met her gaze, his eyes not filled with the intensity hers held, but with a softer, more understanding feeling. "That's always a risk." He admitted. "But if anything, I'm more likely to draw trouble than you."
The boy looked down, softly brushing his fingers over the fabric covering his Core Crystal. "I don't really understand all of this Aegis stuff yet, but after everything that's happened, I get the feeling that they'll be after me just as much as you." He nodded to himself, as if it all made sense to him. "Might as well stick together if they'll be after the both of us anyways, right? It'll be much easier if we're working together."
Nia couldn't help but smile at the sentiment. "'Stick together', huh? She pondered, looking at the ceiling. That was the same sort of thought that had led her into Torna—the opportunity to have a place where she belonged, a family that would stick with her. It hadn't worked out in the end.
But that hadn't been because of an inherent flaw in the idea; it had been because she had thrown in her lot at the first chance she got. If she had been more discerning, more willing to consider the nature of her companions beyond the surface-level notion that they were 'like her', perhaps things would have worked out differently.
She considered Rex for a moment, another person that was 'like her', a Blade Eater who was so new that he was still struggling to consider himself one, that she had already had a chance to gauge his character when he was still a human. She had only known him for a week, yet at the same time, she had already had more than ample time to judge his character.
Rex was not the sort to order her to murder innocents like Malos had. Not the type to shamelessly flirt with her like Mikhail had, or treat her as dismissively as Akhos and Patroka. Or to betray her trust like Jin had. He was the sort she would happily stick together with.
"You sure?" She asked, offering the boy a final chance to back out. Not that she believed he would for a moment.
"Of course I am!" He replied, giving the girl a serious look. "Flesh Eaters, Blade Eaters… as far as tracking goes, what difference does it make in the end? If Poppi, with all her fancy sensors, thought we were the same kind of thing, how's the Praetorium gonna do any better at distinguishing us?"
Nia winced again. "Dammit, we forgot to ask her not to spill the beans about that to Tora!" She cursed.
"I-I'm sure it'll be fine." He said, trying to calm her. "We can ask her in the morning." Giving the Gormotti girl a reassuring smile, he added, "Besides, even if she does tell Tora, he's not going to tell anyone; you helped save his life, after all! At most, he'll dismiss it as 'not helpful to improving Poppi!'"
"I-I guess." The girl muttered uncertainly as she averted her eyes, a slight flush returning to her cheeks. As nervous as she was about the possibility, something about the boy's reassuring smile was… nice. Not wanting to linger on what that implied, she changed the subject. "S-so, I guess that means we're all off to Elysium together, then?"
The boy's face fell slightly, taking on a more introspective look, as she said that. "I guess so."
She turned to him, tilting her head slightly. "Rex?" She asked, concerned. The boy was normally more exuberant than this, especially considering that Elysium was his dream.
"Oh, uh…" He replied, trying to look a bit more upbeat. "It's nothing."
Nia narrowed her eyes. "Oh no you don't." The girl chided, crossing the room. "You're not having second thoughts now, are you?"
His head shot up, immediately meeting her eyes. "What? No!" He denied. "It's just, well…" The boy trailed off, sounding uncertain.
Seeing his change in demeanor, her gaze softened. Sighing, Nia took a seat on the bed beside him. "What is it?" She asked, a little more gently this time. "You're the one who wanted to go to Elysium in the first place, right? You told me that back on the Maelstrom, long before you met Mythra."
"And I still do!" He insisted. But at the same time… I'm just starting to realize how difficult it's actually going to be." Rex sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I always wanted to find Elysium, and seeing a memory of it in Mythra's mind only made me want it more. I promised Mythra that I would…"
The boy clenched his fists. "But the fight with Morag… Even though we ended up being able to talk in the end, it showed me just how little power I have, how far I still have to go. I want to find Elysium, but there's going to be so many people after me… If I'm not strong enough to take them on, what kind of chance do I have, anyway?"
Nia couldn't help but laugh as he spoke, causing the boy to look at her with a scowl. "What's so funny?" He asked defensively. "Here I am, pouring my heart out here, and you're just going to laugh at me?" He huffed.
"I'm sorry!" She chuckled, wiping an eye. "It's just funny to see you get all twisted up about this kind of stuff." Giving the boy a mirthful look, she explained, "You're really not good at following your own advice, are you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rex asked, crossing his arms as he glared at her.
"It means you're overthinking things." She replied. "Seriously, you're going to mope over a problem immediately after reassuring me with the answer?" The girl shook her head, incredulous about how blind he could be. "You don't need to be strong enough to take everything on by yourself! That's why we're here, remember? 'Might as well stick together, yeah'? If you're not strong enough, then Tora and I are there to back you up!"
"Nia…" The boy said, looking at her with an appreciative gaze. He was quiet for a moment, gazing down at his hands in thought, before nodding to himself. "You know what? You're right!" He agreed. "I still need to get stronger, but I can't be thinking of this like I'm on my own."
The girl nodded in agreement. "We could all do with a bit of training." She said, leaning back onto the bed. "But that's something that we can work on together, all three of us." She let out a small yawn, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back.
"Going back to your room, then?" He asked, yawning as well. It had been a long day for the both of them, so she wasn't particularly surprised that the boy was tired as well.
"In a minute." She replied. "It's warm in here."
Rex let his torso flop back onto the mattress. "Well, in that case, do you have any ideas for training?" He asked. "Gramps taught me a lot, but I'm still not entirely used to fighting with Blade abilities or with the amount of ether a Driver has access to."
She nodded slowly, drowsiness creeping into her movements. "I can give a few suggestions." She offered. Best to keep it short, though. She really should get back to her room soon, before she fell asleep.
Azurda slowly glided toward the door the Special Inquisitor had set aside for himself and Rex. It certainly was polite of the young lady to provide them accommodations.
He would have preferred to go to bed earlier, but he could understand why the Ardainian woman had wanted his assistance. Her Blade had discovered something during the search of the Consul's manor, and he was one of the few people alive who could positively identify it for what it was.
A Core Crystal that was ready to become a Titan.
The signs were unmistakable. It had been in the Consul's family for centuries, long before the Aegis War, which was a promising sign. That it failed to react to any attempt to resonate with it was more important, of course; once it had reached that stage, the only thing it could resonate with was an egg within the Titan that would become its mother.
Most tellingly was the visual indication—the fact that the Core Crystal glowed a harsh white instead of a soft blue. There were no other situations in which that would happen to a normal core.
It had been a long time since he had seen one, centuries, in fact. Ever since the conclusion of the Aegis War, the rate at which Core Crystals had been reaching maturity had slowed almost to a complete halt, slowly strangling the growth of new Titans.
Privately, Azurda had harbored concerns that it had been some lingering side effect of the clash between the Aegises. Mythra and Malos had both displayed remarkable instinctual knowledge and command of both Blades and Titans, enough that he suspected they played some role in the cycle. For so long, the thought that the ability for new Titans to develop had died along with the dark Aegis had lingered in the back of his mind, even after the man made his survival known once again.
To see that the process could still occur, regardless of whatever was slowing it… was heartening—more heartening than nearly anything he had felt in the last century. Only his time with Rex could compare to the relief he felt upon laying eyes on that white crystal.
Fortunately, while Morag had never seen one in person, the procedure for how to return it to a Titan's matrix was still kept among the Imperial family; he had only been required to confirm what would need to be done.
He wondered which Titan she would be returning it to. Mor Ardain was the obvious choice, but considering the age of the humanoid Titan, he had recommended Gormott instead. It wouldn't do for the Titan carrying it to die during the process, after all.
Ultimately, he supposed it wasn't up to him, though; from the sound of it, Morag would be talking to the Emperor for his input in the morning.
Landing on the door knob, he opened the door to the suite and flitted inside. He figured that Rex would be asleep by now, but that was perfectly fine. As long as the boy wasn't hogging the bed, he would be more than happy to…
Azurda's train of thought petered off as he looked inside and saw that, while Rex was indeed asleep, he was also not alone.
Rex was lying sideways across the bed, his legs hanging off as if he had been sitting on the side of the bed when he dozed off. Next to him was Nia, positioned similarly, although instead of laying on her back, the Gormott girl had curled up on her side, leaning into the boy's shoulder.
The Titan held back a chortle at the sight. He doubted either had intended this outcome, but they both seemed quite comfortable, considering how soundly they were sleeping. He imagined that their reactions in the morning would be quite the sight, though.
Quietly, doing his best to keep from waking either of them, Azurda slipped back out of the room. It would be best to join Dromarch in the other room and give the children some privacy. Besides, as amusing as seeing his ward flustered when he woke up was, he really would rather not be woken up by it.
Author's Notes
And with that, we're officially done with the Gormott Arc!
Most of this chapter was, admittedly, wrap up, but there turned out to be a fair bit more than I had anticipated. I hadn't exactly expected to hit just shy of 13k words, but between the wrap up and setup, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.
Now if only a certain scene hadn't decided it needed to be completely rewritten a few hours before I posted the chapter, when I really needed to be asleep, instead to the full week I was holding the chapter for review.
Anyway, onward to the next arc: Not Uraya! While certain steps on the stations of canon are unavoidable so long as I'm largely sticking to the canon plot, that doesn't mean I need to adhere to everything!
Until next time!