AN: Hi. I know it's been a REALLY long time since I've done anything with this story, but it was mostly because I kinda lost motivation for it after I finished my second Xenoblade 2 playthrough. I started another one, which was what renewed my interest in this again, but don't expect frequent updates to this. Like at all. Aqua's Mission is still my priority. There's also the fact that I lost the notebook where I planned out the story to this, and will have to start from scratch, which I'm not looking forward to. So, this will be incredibly sporadic. The ending of this very chapter is already completely different from what I orginally planned.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who waited patiently, and I'm so sorry it took so long.

Chapter 1: A Jewel without a Crown

The smell of cooking fish gently woke Russel from his slumber for the first time in what felt like years. He felt cloth covering his small body, telling him that he was wearing a blanket, and his head was resting on something soft. He couldn't remember the last time he had been allowed to sleep with a blanket and pillow, and he expected that any time now someone would yank them away from him and beat him for stealing them.

But wait. When had he stolen them? He couldn't remember even planning to steal them. There'd be no way to hide the evidence that he'd done it and he'd be beaten for sure. That's when he noticed a hand gently rubbing his head. His eyes opened in a panic, revealing that he was lying down next to a campfire, and not in his cage. Over the fire on wooden sticks were two fish, slowly roasting. He slowly turned his head, and saw the familiar face of a beautiful purple-haired woman looking down at him.

"I see you're finally awake," she said. "I hope you don't mind my lap. I couldn't find you a pillow." He turned his head in the other direction, and realized that what he thought was a pillow earlier was actually the woman's lap, as her legs were folded underneath her to allow him to rest his head.

He promptly screamed in terror, quickly shuffling his tiny body away from the woman, and curling up into a ball defensively.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he started muttering. He had no idea what he had done wrong, but hopefully just apologizing would cause the woman to have mercy on him.

"What are you apologizing for?" the woman asked, reaching out a hand towards him. Seeing her approaching hand, he flinched and curled himself up further. The woman's facial expression changed from one of confusion to one of sympathetic understanding. "I'm not going to hurt you, Russel."

"H-how do you know my name?" Russel asked.

"You told me when you awakened me."

Last night? Awakened? He began to remember. The box of Core Crystals. Grabbing one of them. The bright light. This woman standing before him. And the words she spoke.

"My name is Brighid, and I am your Blade."

"My Blade," he said, starting to uncurl himself and looking at the woman. "You're my Blade."

"Yes, I am," she said, giving him the warmest smile he had seen since the bandits took him, despite her eyes still not opening. "And like I said last night, since you are my Driver, as long as you live, I will keep you safe. Why would I ever think of hurting you?" There was something about the way she smiled at him. It was so warm, so gentle, so full of…

Love.

He couldn't help it. With tears in his eyes, he practically tackled the Blade woman, throwing his arms around her and burying his face in her shoulder. Without a second's hesitation, she gently wrapped her arms around his small form, bringing the boy in for his first hug in a very long time. The tears started flowing freely, and he did nothing to stop them, letting himself get lost in the warmth of the embrace.

Russel and his Blade, Brighid, were sitting next to each other next to the warm campfire, each of them with a fish skewer in their hands. Brighid was taking small, dainty bites of her fish. Russel, meanwhile was greedily devouring it, having not eaten for at least the last four days. Within minutes, he had finished his meal, and looked at the stick in disappointment.

"Here," Brighid said, holding the remaining half of her fish in front of his face.

"No, I can't take your food," he said.

"Go ahead," she said, bringing it closer to his face. "Even though I do like the taste, Blades like me don't technically need to eat to stay alive. Besides, you could use it far more than I could."

"If you're sure…" he said uncertainly. She nodded, and he gratefully took her skewer, taking a bite of the delicious fish attached to it. After a few minutes, he stopped eating and looked pensively at Brighid.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked when she noticed that the boy was staring.

"No," he said, shaking his head in embarrassment at being caught staring. "It's just, I've never talked to a Blade before."

"Well, is there anything in particular you want to talk about?"

"Um, I want to talk about you." Brighid chuckled.

"I'm not sure exactly what there is to tell. I was born yesterday, after all."

"What do you mean?" the boy asked, titling his head in confusion.

"You awakened me last night, so I'm not sure exactly who I am yet." Russel still looked at her in confusion. "When a Blade is awakened by a Driver, they lose all their memories of their past lives. My earliest memory is of waking up in that camp last night. Nothing else."

"So you don't know if you had any family or friends?"

"I don't know. I'm sure I had people I would call friends, but I don't remember. I have you, though, and that's enough for me."

"But doesn't it make you sad? Not being able to remember?" he asked, sadness painting his own voice.

"That's sweet of you to ask, but for now, I care more about making sure you're safe than chasing a past I can never have back."

"Then, we'll make new memories," he said, smiling at her.

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! You and me can make new memories! We're gonna see the world! Explore Alrest!"

"That sounds wonderful," she said, smiling brightly back at her Driver. "What about you? Do you have any family?" He looked down at the ground sadly.

"No," he said quietly. "Not anymore. Those bandits killed them all."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Brighid said, her smile fading. "When was that?"

"I don't remember how long ago it was. I've been their slave ever since."

"You poor child," Brighid said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close.

"Thank you," he said quietly, closing his eyes and leaning his head against her shoulder.

The next time Russel awoke, he was met with yet another oddity.

A girl was looking down at him, staring intensely at his face.

"Ah!" he shouted, backing up in fear.

"Ah!" the girl also shouted, jumping backwards. She had long grey hair done into twin tails, with thick red rope holding them together. She had long ears sticking straight up from her head, and was earing a white leotard with gold trim, accented with red ropes. She had puffy detached sleeves on her arms, and white thigh-high boots that turned red at the base. In the center of her chest was a blue diamond-shaped crystal.

Before he could even ask her who she was, Brighid had already sprung into action, swinging her whips at the girl. The unknown girl raised her arms, and a yellow barrier appeared around her, blocking Brighid's attack.

"A Blade?" the girl asked. "You mean this pipsqueak's a Driver?"

"Who are you?" Brighid asked. "You're clearly a Blade as well. Where's your Diver? Why are you here?"

"Oi, you just attacked me!" the girl shouted, clearly more than a little annoyed. "Where do you get off, asking questions?"

"I won't ask again," Brighid said, stepping to the side so she was directly between Russel and this mysterious Blade girl. "Who are you?" The girl just growled in annoyance. "You won't answer? Fine. Then I'll just beat it out of you!" She separated the blade segments of her whips, igniting them with blue flames. This made the girl just smirk.

"Hydro Blast!" a new voice shouted, and a thin blade of water shot towards Brighid, igniting some of her flames.

"She's a water Blade?" Brighid asked nervously.

"Nia, what did I tell you about causing trouble?" the voice said, revealing a man carrying a sword that looked like it was made of pure blue Ether energy. The feline ears on top of his head indicated that he was Gormotti, like Russel. He had brown hair and a beard, and wore plain cloth, unlike the armor that the bandits from the camp typically wore

"Oi, It's not like I wanted to start a fight!" the Blade girl, Nia apparently, protested. "She started it!" The man looked over at Brighid, narrowing his eyes.

"Something about her seems familiar," the man said. "Who are you two?"

"I believe I asked first," Brighid said, backing up to stand more defensively in front of Russel.

"You can call me Sam," the man said. "And this completely tactless young lady is my Blade, Nia."

"Oi!" Nia said indignantly.

"Now, your turn, beautiful," Sam said, addressing Brighid, who bristled a little bit at being called "beautiful" by a strange man she had never met.

"I am Brighid," she said. Sam's eyes widened.

"The Crown Jewel?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Russel asked from behind his Blade.

"You don't know?" Sam asked. "You her Driver, kid?" Russel nodded. "That explains it then. What's your name?"

"R-Russel." Sam nodded to Nia, then the blade of his sword disappeared and he sheathed it behind his lower back.

"I think you need a little help, kid."

AN: You know how I said that this chapter's ending was different than I had originally planned? Yeah, I had not originally intended to have Nia show up in this story, but then remembered that since this takes place 50 years before the game, it makes sense that she's still just an ordinary Blade. Then I figured, "why not?"

This also gives Russel a mentor to teach him how to be a Driver, since I had also originally planned on him and Brighid just figuring this out on their own.

So, I can't say when I'll come back to this, but I hope you enjoyed this. Until next time!