"ugh my head..." i said as we washed up somewhere else. once my head stopped aching i put back together of how we got here. let's see...we helped tora's uncle finish his boat by collecting material. we headed for the world tree only to be stopped and shipwrecked by...ophion. "mythra! i thought you were in control of that thing. what's going on?" i asked.
"i don't know! ophion was destroyed remember? somebody rebuilt it and gave it new orders." mythra replied. i looked around to see the others were a bit banged up but okay.
"where are we?" i asked.
"the belly of the beast. the urayan titan to be precise." azurda said.
"we should find a way out." lora said.
"agreed. before we end up like...that." i said as i pointed towards the wrecked and digested rubble.
"don't jinx us kaku!" nia yelled.
"if i recall urayans live towards the beasts back. there must be a way up there." dromarch said.
"over there. poppi see something over there. someone coming this way." poppi said.
"for real? maybe you're just seeing things." nia said.
"even if she is. it's better than sticking around here. move it kitty!" i yelled. i noticed nia pouting at me which got me a chuckle. we went towards where poppi was pointing. pyra and mythra providing light. both of them certainly earning their keep. we left stomach of the titan. and found ourselves with some sort of dim light in the on the walls.
"there's some kind of dim light..." nia said.
"if i remember correctly. the urayan titan has a translucent hide. i bet that'll be the light filtering though." azurda said.
"so the titan must be above the clouds now?" rex asked.
"i dare say." azurda said.
"if we can make it to the source of the light, maybe we'll find a way out of here." pyra said.
"hold it!" someone yelled we looked up to see a urayan with white hair and merc gear. and judging from the duel scythes on his back and that bird anthro thing next to him. he's a driver. he jumped down in front of us "looks like a bunch of mushes i ain't seen yet...you've gotta have pretty bad luck to end up in a titans guts like this." the urayan said. he look towards pyra and mythra. "huh? those blades...an emerald core crystal! and that blue hair and red eyes that lad has" the urayan said. he then laughed "so the rumors were true!" the urayan yelled.
"what rumors?" rex asked.
"the tale that every driver worth his salt knows. the legendary aegis and the berserker of torna. one of the if not the greatest warrior in alrest history. folks have been saying that they both woke up from a 500 year nap. but to think there's two of them. seems like the blonde one got lucky as she's the blade of the berserker. while the red one ended up with a pencil-neck shrimp like you." the urayan said.
"i don't appreciate you insulting my student! what the hell do you want merc!?" i yelled.
"do you really think a greenhorn like him should be the driver of the aegis? give me a break." the urayan said. he looked towards rex "come on boy. hand her over to a grown up." the urayan said.
"don't underestimate greenhorns old man. they have the potential to become legends. and rex certainly has that potential. why else would i train him?" i asked as i drew my swords.
"hmm. zuo. you take care of everyone else. the berserker is mine." the urayan said as he and his cronies drew their weapons. "not every day a man gets to squash a legendary warrior." the urayan said.
"don't bite off more than you can chew buddy." i said with a grin. it didn't take long for his cronies to go down. not just because of lora and jin. but rex utterly destroyed the other crony. nice to see all that training i did with him pay off. their boss was certainly a seasoned veteran of battle. but it was nothing i couldn't handle. i knocked him to the ground and aimed my aegis sword to his neck. he grinned.
"your a legendary warrior alright. didn't even have to use any arts to knock me to the ground." the urayan said.
"you weren't actually going for the aegis. you wanted to test their drivers." i said as i offered him a hand up. he took and i pulled him up.
"yep and you and that kid passed. your as good a teacher as you are as a warrior. the name's vandham. i run a little firm out of the nearby village." vandham said.
"let me guess. a mercenary company?" i asked. vandham laughed.
"yep! you got some brain with your brawn berserker!" vandham said with a laugh. "come on! i'll treat you to some grub as thanks for letting me take a whack a legendary warrior such as yourself." vandham said. my stomach growled.
"yeah...some food sounds good right about now." i said as i followed.
"strange old goat that one." rex said in confusion. we followed vandham. rex told him the whole story. i noticed that jin and lora were holding hands. they stopped. pulled away from each other and blushed when they saw me and mythra's smug faces.
"helluva story. so you headed to the world tree to reach elysium but got swallowed up instead? you got some crazy luck." vandham said.
"tell me about it...so what brought you down there?" i asked.
"this titan ain't too fussy about what it eats. i went down there to see if anything we need may have washed up. but i only found your sorry mushes...and here we are. welcome to garfront. ain't much but it's home." vandham said.
"you guys have your own personal training ground?...i'll be using that for a bit." i said as i looked at rex.
"the village has a lot of children." pyra said.
"lots of drivers and blades too!" tora said in awe.
"we're in the business of dispatching drivers and blades all across the world. most of the kids are war orphans. took em in while on the job." vandham said. i'll admit for a merc group. these guys are pretty good. taking in war orphans and raising them until their ready to create their own future is rather angelic for a merc group. considering what mercs do for a living. as we all sat down for a meal. rex and vandham were talking. and i learn about vandham's philosophy. that everything is a war. even the most mundane thing is a war for survival.
"what about you berserker? what war are you fighting?" vandham asked.
"my war...it's the same war i fought 500 years to put down that bastard malos...but i'm guessing i'm fighting a second war...you heard about how i betrayed addam and the others...let me make this clear...that was a lie. i didn't betray them...i lost control of myself due to the power that awakened. the power i used to stop the first aegis war. i struck at mythra...i killed emperor hugo. something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. i have a lot of bloods on my hands. but that doesn't bother me. it was the blood of monsters and dirtbags. but having the blood of a friend...someone i respected and held dearly...that will haunt me for the rest of my days. but i'm back now...alongside the two people that were my first ever friends." i said as i look towards jin and lora. "i'm going to face malos again. and i'm going to do it right this time...that is my war...my war for redemption." i said. everyone was silent for a bit. "well. it looks we're all done eating. rex! meet me on the training grounds!" i yelled. i went to the training grounds and rex followed me.
"kaku..." lora said.
i sparred with rex for a bit. using only the aegis sword. rex was getting the hang of what i was teaching him fairly quickly. he was getting stronger with his blows if i was a standard iron or steel sword. rex could have broken it fairly easily between the strength of his blows plus the red hot blade of pyra's sword . better at knowing the limits of arts. and unpredictable with his swings. he really surprised me with how much progress he's made so quickly. and he surprised me even more when he managed to disarm me and hold his sword to my neck. i laughed.
"am i a great teacher or what?" i asked with a laugh.
"another talent we didn't know you had kaku...i have to say. your a quick learner. you managed to pick up what kaku was teaching you quickly. keep this up. and you will be better than addam in no time." jin said. rex smiled. afterwards we did a job to get some ardun hide on the way we got an example of an ability of vandham's blade. roc. as he used his power to get rid of an wind miasma. when we found one. vandham taught a rex a little trick he can do with his anchor shot. aiming for the leg and tripping the target. after going all monster hunter on the ardun. we found a small titan. most likely killed before it could grow. and it didn't long for us to find what killed it. an elder arachno. but to our surprise. this one's got an blade. despite this. we still squashed it like the bug it was. and the blade returned to it's crystal. i had to admit i feel bad for tora. he can't resonate. but a frigging monster can. that really must suck for him. well he's got poppi at least. i picked up the core crystal.
"is it...dead?" rex asked.
"nope. eventually the crystal will eventually glow again. and one of us can resonate with it." i said.
"but won't he be angry that we killed his former driver?" rex asked.
"no...when a driver dies. and their blade returns to their crystal. when a new driver resonates with it. the blade loses all of their memories of their previous driver." i said.
"yeah? that's pretty rough." rex said.
"yeah. really sucks if they had a close bond with their driver. but i'm sure theirs a few blades in the world that are glad to have their memories of their driver wiped." i said.
"what do you mean?" rex asked.
"not every driver is like you me or lora. i'm pretty sure there's been drivers who have been outright abusive. used them to do evil things like steal or kill someone they had a beef with. even if it was petty. or used for sexual pleasure." i said. everyone looked at me with wide eyes.
"would some people really go that far?" rex asked.
"look at pyra, mythra, kos-mos, haze, there's a lot of beautiful women that are blades. and things can get ugly for them if their driver turns out to be a perverted deviant who can't keep it in his pants. i've killed a lot of people. hugo's blood i regret. but everyone else i killed...no. anyone who's low enough to murder a child to get back the crystal they stole. is someone like that really gonna be missed?" i asked. i looked towards lora who was looking at the ground...she knew who i was talking about. after returning to the village. rex and pyra were patching each other up. which includes putting alcohol in scratches. i'm so glad that my armageddon knight heritage comes with a healing factor. that way i don't have to deal with that awful burning. vandham went up to them and examined the wounds. i understand his confusion. after all. blades are supposed to regenerate after some time. but pyra isn't. her wounds were the same and on the same place as rex's. i sighed as i got ready to explain.
"you noticed the green gem in rex's chest...that's a part of her core crystal. the bastard i'm hunting. malos he hired him to salvage the ship that me and her were in. but rex accidently resonated the aegis. to prevent her awakening he stabbed him through the back. killing him. to save him. pyra gave him half of her light force. which means their now linked. one gets hurt. the other will feel it. one dies. the other one drops dead too. that's why rex has to protect her. he can't just hide behind her like a certain cowardly bureaucrat did." kaku said.
"what about you. are you and mythra linked the same way?" vandham asked.
"i was cryogenically frozen. not dead. mythra is my blade. because she wanted to be. nothing more. nothing less." i said.
"and pray tell. why would that be? indol has seemed to have rewritten what happened during the aegis war quite a bit. so what's the true story?" vandham asked.
"well one things true. addam was mythra's driver. but here's the thing. in my opinion he was a poor driver for mythra. a good man. but a terrible driver. and also the history books made him considerably less of a spaz." i said. vandham laughed.
"we all have our quirks. nice to see even the great addam had his quirk. makes him seem more human...but what about him made him a poor driver?" vandham asked.
"a driver and blade's strength depends on their bond...and for addam. fear was blocking that bond...he saw the kind of destruction that an aegis was capable off. and knowing mythra was capable of that same kind of destruction made him afraid of her...and that made her come with a..not too good personality...the kind of personality that leads to being a butt monkey. everyone was an asshole to her. even lora was getting in on some mythra kicks to the rear." i said as i look at lora with a disappointed look.
"right...sorry mythra." lora said.
"it's fine...i wasn't the best either...i was arrogant. i was reckless. i had a short temper and i was rude. i also had little consideration for others...but despite that kaku was able to see my better qualities...and even helped to bring them out...and that i'm really grateful for." mythra said as she looked at me with a smile.
"yeah. as those kisses on the cheek you gave him prove." jin said with a grin. me and mythra blushed. "i saw both those times. i've been keeping myself until now." jin said.
"you jerk! was that payback for all the teasing!?" mythra yelled.
"look at his face...it clearly was." i said. everyone got a laugh from mine and mythra's expense.
"so i take it your not afraid of the aegis power?" vandham asked. i shake my head.
"i said it once. i'll say it again. any form of power...is just another sword in your hand. it can only be used for destruction if the user wills it...you just have to remember to be brave. know what it's capable of. but don't be afraid. for that kind of calamity can only happen if you will it. or you let fear take over...i speak from experience." i said. looking to the ground.
"your talking about when you lost control. aren't ya?" vandham asked. i nodded.
"i was...afraid. i had no clue what was happening to me at the time...that power felt like it was about to cause me to burst into flames...i was scared...i was really scared. and well...you know the result." i said.
"kaku..." lora said with sadness in her voice.
"can we cut this soap opera act..it's time to move to the next screen." someone behind us said. i turn around to see a guy with short brown hair with glasses wearing blue armor. on his side were two short swords. and next to him. was a six winged girl covered in armor...defiantly a blade.
"i don't remember being a part of some shitty script by the next uwin boil. who are you?" i asked. clearly comparing him to that joke of a director really got under his skin.
"h-how dare you!? i ahkos will not be compared to that director of garbage! and nothing but garbage!" ahkos yelled as he drew his blade.
"wow. you managed to piss him off with the very first thing you say. you always seem to know how to get under peoples skin kaku." mythra said.
"i know! i need to take notes! name's obrona by the way." obrona said as she readied to fight. i sighed.
"look. you ain't getting pyra or mythra. you most likely know how this is going to end. so why not get lost before you get stomped...again." i said as i drew my sword. ahkos smiled.
"i'm not here for either of them. you see malos is already regaining his aegis powers. a much slower process. but it will be worth it. considering he'll be even more powerful than before." akhos said with a grin.
"malos becoming powerful than before?...how!?" lora asked.
"we've got a helping hand from kaku's old friends...isn't that right ghost!?" akhos yelled. i turn around to see someone with my same hair and eye colors. but skin as pale as a dead man.
"long time no see...boss." ghost said. i remember him and everyone else. the frei clan territory was a wasteland. the knights were no different then bandits. having the sword of the wasteland mean i was the leader of the most dangerous gang of criminals. ghost. wasted. scorcher. shrouded. gearhead. and jackal. the members of my gang. i was the one who kept that from doing stuff that would make the other clans want us dead. the stuff we did in frei turf was expected but doing it in other clans territory would result in a god damn manhunt. and the fact their here in alrest now. goes to show that the heat got so bad that their only hope for survival was to leave the armageddon sanctuary and head to another world. but knowing these psychotic morons i used to lead. another worldwide manhunt is just a few more crimes away.
"hello...ghost. i highly doubt you knew that i was alive again. and came to say hello." i said.
"your right about that...the heat got too heated in the sanctuary. to the point that we had to leave the world so that we could avoid the gallows." ghost said. i sighed.
"oh. there's a big surprise." i said with sarcasm as i rolled my eyes.
"hard to believe that our boss has become a goody wittle knight...though i admit it's worked out pretty well for you. considering you have two legendary swords. and one of them comes with a smoking hot babe." ghost said as mentally undressed mythra. she looked at him in disgust.
"quit it you perv! why are you working with malos!?" mythra yelled.
"simple sugartits...me the boys and malos...we all just want one thing...and that IS TO CAUSE SOME FUCKING CHAOS!" ghost yelled with glee. as i facepalmed.
"and once again that desires overlaps your judgement and leads to you attracting the bad kind of attention..." i said as i drew my swords. "like mine...you see my mission is to kill malos and every bastard or bitch that sides with him. so as your former boss. i'll give you a warning...if you continue to side with the destroyers...i will show you no mercy." i said with bloodlust in my voice. ghost sighed.
"you always were a buzzkill boss...but not this time." ghost said. i found myself getting hit with a grappling hook and sent flying towards an area clear of monsters. i got the hook me and saw another member of my gang. shrouded. his style never changed being covered head to toe in armor. i put the aegis sword away. mythra was pretty far away. so her sword wasn't gonna be much help for this one. "hello shrouded." i said with a sigh.
"hello boss...and goodbye." shrouded said. i stabbed my sword through ghosts eye as he went for my throat with his sickle. ghost was the gangs master of stealth. is something needed be done discretely like stealing or assassination. he was the one we called. he was truly like a ghost. but it didn't do him good this time. as he too the fell ground and soon combusted into purple flames.
"seriously? did you really think one of my one plans was going to be the death of me?" i asked.
"nope...but this might be." shrouded said as he pushed a button and a bunch hidden sentry guns appeared. i quickly took cover behind some rocks. but it was a only matter of time before the heavy firepower tore though it.
"why did i not see that coming?" i asked myself. shrouded is just as chaos crazy to the point of overriding self preservation like the others. but he's defiantly one of the gangs smartest members. it takes brains to turn piles of scrap into working sentries. he was one of the members i would go to plan our next move. i need to find a way to destroy those sentries. but i'm pinned down. neither my sword nor kos-mos cannons i can use without getting turned to swiss cheese. luckily i had another weapon i haven't had a reason to use until now. the ion detonator grenade launcher. i aimed it at a rock wall. causing the grenade to bounce to where i needed it to. and with a pull of the second trigger. several sentries went down. and with those ones down. i could move to a different position. once again lobbed another grenade destroying more. i fired a final one right at the sentries shoruded was near. he jumped when he saw the grenade coming. most of him got away. his legs didn't. the stubs bled as his legs were ash. i stabbed him through the head. and pulled out. his legs stopped regenerating. and his body self-immolated. i took a breath before heading back to garfront. when i got back. i saw that ahkos and obrona were gone. and that rex and pyra were unconcious. but there was a hooded figure holding two swords. one emanating darkness. while the other emanated light.
"who are you!?" mythra asked. he lowered his hood. looking at us with a smile. he maybe older. but i could never mistake those ears and freckles anywhere else...
"milton!?" me and mythra yelled at the same time.