Lost in a Strange World

In the Goetius Port of Indoline Praetorium a group of colorful individuals has gathered. Well, colorful from the perspective of the Indolines.

The gathering was of four people, Drivers, if the Blades around them were anything to go by.

"Well, I guess Mòrag isn't coming with us after all," The boy, Rex, said with a sigh. He really hoped that the woman they had come to call a friend would be joining them. Or at least, Rex has come to call her that.

"Not surprising really," said Zeke with a small sigh, "I mean, with Bana's assassination attempt, I wouldn't be surprised if she would refuse to leave the emperor's side."

"Unfortunate, but true," Dromarch agreed.

"Sucks to be an army bigwig I suppose," Nia shrugged uncaringly, not that she was entirely against the Ardainian going with them.

"That may very well be the case," said the very topic of the conversation who was giving everyone an amused look. Which surprised everyone.

"Mòrag!?" Rex exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

However, it was Brighid who answered, "Would you believe me if I told you that the emperor himself ordered us to assist you?" The Jewel of Mor Ardain had an amused look on her face.

"Wait? Ordered?" Nia questioned with a quirked eyebrow, "Are you sure you're not making excuses?"

The Special Inquisitor gave the beige haired Gormotti an unamused look that made the girl back off a little. "While I don't appreciate my integrity being questioned, this is the direct order from the emperor himself," Mòrag then said, taking small satisfaction at Nia's reaction.

"I suppose she is an adequate ally to have," said a man from beside Nia. This man is tall and quite frankly odd looking. This man has unnaturally white skin, black hair and on his head is a crooked crown that covers most of the left side of his head, including his left eye. The visible eye has black sclera and blue iris. The man wears an intricate blue and white regal outfit with a high collar and fur lining at the top of the said collar. The collar has an opening at the front of his neck, revealing a cravat which was held up by a golden collar with a glowing blue stone inlaid into it, which is actually a Core Crystal that identifies this man as a Blade. On his left arm, the man has ornamental gold and blue armor that covers from his shoulder down to his hand. On his right side there is a cape at the front and back of his right shoulder. His left leg is covered by ornamental golden armor with blue shin guards. This is Dagas, Nia's second Blade.

"No argument there," Nia admitted.

"This is awesome," Rex couldn't help cheering, causing Mythra to huff a little. "I was actually thinking about coming to ask if you could come with us," the young salvager said with a wide smile.

"Saved you the trouble did I," Mòrag replied with a smile of her own.

Brighid also let out a low chuckle before talking, "So, I believe our next destination is Tantal."

"That's right," Zeke said, though he didn't sound too enthusiastic about it.

"Come on prince, you need to face the music sometime," said a woman in purple and black outfit. The woman in question has short green frizzy hair, thick round glasses over her eyes and pointy ears. Oddly enough, on her head is an off-center lightbulb that acts as a small top hat. If that wasn't odd, then her shoulders are also lightbulbs. No, really, there are lightbulbs attached to the sides of her torso with flesh and blood arms growing from beneath somehow. There are also round lightbulbs at the tips of her knee-high boots. She also has a cable-like tail with another lightbulb at the tip. This is Pandoria, Zeke's Blade.

"I know, Pandy, but I'm not looking forward to it," the eccentric prince said with a sigh.

"Why is that, shellhead," Nia asked in suspicion.

"Well…that's-" "Anomaly detected," Poppi interrupted while pointing at seemingly random direction frantically.

"What!?" Mythra cried out as she looked to where Poppi was pointing at, and sure enough another one of those holes opened up.

"Everyone! Get away from here!" Zeke quickly shouted to any people still around. Thankfully they all got the message and ran straight to their homes.

And then the pull started. With everyone anchoring themselves to the ground in any way they could. Rex by stabbing the Aegis Sword into the ground while Mythra held onto her. Mòrag doing the same with her Whipswords and Brighid. Zeke also stabbed his Big Bang Sword into the ground as Pandoria held onto him for dear life. As for Nia, she and Dromarch were anchored by Dagas who struck his ornate Great Axe into the ground to keep himself grounded. But Tora wasn't so lucky.

"Mehmehmehmeeeh!" The Nopon inventor screamed as he was flying straight into the hole.

"Masterpon!" Poppi exclaimed as she used the jets in her feet to grab her Driver and then fly away from the hole. Except the pull was now strong enough to actually match the artificial Blade.

"Why did another hole have to open now," Zeke complained as he was now being dragged towards the hole along with Pandoria. His weapon being the only thing that stopped them from being sucked in.

As if to answer his question, several black smoking arms with white claws burst out of the hole and grabbed Mythra.

"Hey! Get off," Mythra cried out as the arms tried to yank her off of Rex.

"What the heck is this!?" Rex shouted too.

Mòrag glared at the arms before yanking one Whipsword out and lashing at them with blue flames covering the weapon. With that, the arms were cut off, with the severed appendages evaporating. "I've never seen anything like this," the Special Inquisitor said, sounding almost fascinated.

But then more of those arms sprang out of the hole this time they seemed to be going for everyone. Or they would have if something hadn't zipped past them, and cut them again.

"That weapon, Roc!" Rex exclaimed as he looked to the skies to spot the birdlike Blade catching his Dual Scythes.

"Looks like I got here just in time," Roc said almost smugly, but then the pull got even stronger, which started pulling even Roc out of the sky, as well as anything that wasn't nailed to the ground right now.

"Masterpon, there is a person behind the hole!" Poppi suddenly shouted as she was now slowly being dragged towards the hole.

"Mehmeh!?" Tora exclaimed as he dared to look into the hole and sure enough there was a silhouette of someone in the hole. But as soon as Tora saw it, the silhouette vanished.

"Masterpon, Poppi can no longer sustain flight," Poppi then said, right before her engines shut down and then the two were pulled into the hole. Or they would have been if something hadn't grabbed Poppi by her leg and was now keeping her from being sucked in.

"Nice one, Wulfric," Rex called out to the beastly Blade.

Wulfric grunted in acknowledgement as he had also stuck his Megalance into the ground to root himself while pulling Poppi and Tora in front of himself and away from the hole.

But then their fears were realized, the ground that everyone used to anchor themselves failed and they were sucked into the hole. Starting with Wulfric, Tora and Poppi. With the Nopon inventor screaming all the way.

Followed by Zeke and Pandoria who could do nothing but hold onto each other for dear life.

"I will not accept this!" Dagas shouted as he was also sucked in, alongside Nia and Dromarch.

"Lady Mòrag!" Brighid shouted as she and her Driver were also sucked in.

"Rex," Mythra sounded out as she hugged her Driver tighter.

"I'm sorry Mythra, Pyra," Rex said as he closed his eyes and held the Aegis tightly once the ground he used to anchor himself to failed. And so, the Driver of the Aegis was sucked in along with Roc who couldn't find anything to grab onto in time. Then, as the hole started closing in on itself, a bright glow was emanated from it, before the hole exploded in a bright light. Strangely despite the loud sound that probably resonated through all of Indol, there was no real damage done to the surroundings, other than the ground that Rex and company had tried to anchor themselves to. The only question now was, what happened to them?


Inside a dark circular room where the other end of the hole connected to. There was a similar explosion that threw an ashen skinned woman in a black dress against the wall with great force.

The woman soon got up, glaring at the space where she had finally managed to open a breach to. And for the first time, right where she wanted it to.

Then a door to the room was slammed open. "My lady! Are you all right!?" A frantic male voice asked in distress. The man in question was brown haired and was wearing a white sleeveless vest and white pants tucked into knee-high brown leather boots. The man was also wearing brown leather vambraces with bandages wrapped around his upper arms. The man's yellow eyes brimming with concerned were trained towards his mistress.

The said mistress got up with an angry look. "Yes, Tyrian. Now leave," the woman said through gritted teeth. Her red eyes surrounded by black sclera glowing with rage.

"B-but, my lady," the man, now named Tyrian stammered nervously.

"Leave!" the woman commanded with a harsher tone. This time, Tyrian slowly backed away, closing the door as he left.

"I was so close," the woman hissed at her most recent failure, "But now I know for certain. Something interfered, but I will not stop until whatever is on the other side is mine. The power greater than the four relics combined will be mine and no one has a right to stop me!" The woman declared as she then screamed out her frustrations.


"Urgh...," Rex groaned as he woke up groggily. Opening his eyes blearily he saw that he was in a room of some kind.

"Oh, you're awake," said an elderly voice. Turning to the source, Rex got up from the bed he was resting on to see an old woman bringing him a tray of food. "You gave us quite a scare when you appeared the way you did young man," the old woman said in a playfully chastising tone.

"The way I…appeared?" Rex questioned.

"Oh, so you don't remember," the woman said with a sympathetic look, "But that's alright. You should eat this now." The elderly said as she brought the tray she was holding to Rex which had a bowl of soup.

"Thanks," Rex said before he remembered something, "Pyra! Mythra! Where is everyone!?" Rex almost jumped out of the bed if the elderly woman hadn't placed a surprisingly strong hand to keep him down.

"Calm down young man," the woman said sternly as she kept a firm grip on the boy's shoulder. "Those Blades of yours are downstairs. The red haired one actually helped cook this, so you better eat it." At the latter part, the woman pointed at the soup.

That seemed to calm Rex down somewhat to at least hear that Pyra was here, and by extension Mythra. "Thank the Architect for that," Rex sighed in relief.

"Architect? That's an odd name for a deity," the elder woman said with a small chuckle.

"What do you mean?" Rex asked as he took a spoonful of soup. Reveling in the taste that he knew Pyra was more than capable of making.

"Well it's just…I find it odd to use a name of someone that designs buildings for a deity," the old woman said in amusement.

"…Is that so?" Rex said as before taking several more spoonsfuls of soup. "But…The Architect is the only known god in Alrest," the young salvager then said.

"What's Alrest?" The older woman then asked, causing Rex to freeze just as he was about to take another spoonful.

"Excuse me?" Rex asked, putting the spoon down into the bowl.

"I asked what Alrest is," The older woman said with a smile, thinking the young man didn't hear her, "Is that the name of the village you're from."

Rex opened his mouth to answer but the door to the room opened, allowing entry to Roc. "Oh, so I heard right, you ARE awake Rex," Roc said jovially as he walked to the room.

"Your Driver is an interesting fellow," the old woman said with a chuckle, "If he would just hurry up and finish that soup I might take that tray away."

"How about I bring it to you instead, once he's finished," Roc suggested, "After all, it might be a while before he finishes after the hit in the head he took." At the last part, Roc gave his Driver a wink with one of his completely yellow eyes.

"That's kind of you," the older woman said as she moved towards the door. "And once you're done, do remember to thank that Blade of yours. Speaking of which, I didn't know that Atlas knew how to make their crystals come in different colors." With that the woman left.

As soon as the door closed, Rex turned towards Roc, "Roc! What's going on? Why did that old woman not know the name of the world we live in?" Were the frantic questions of the boy.

Roc squawked in surprise, but then again, he probably should've expected this. "Rex, what's the last thing you remember?" Roc asked calmly.

"The last thing I…," Rex muttered as he started thinking, "We were discussing about Mòrag not being able to come with us when…that hole opened and we were all sucked in." And then his eyes widened, "Is Nia alright? What about Dromarch? Mòrag and Brighid? Or Zeke and Pandoria?"

"It seems that we're the only ones who ended up in this part of Anima," Roc said as he took a seat on an empty bed next to Rex's.

"Anima?"

"The continent in the world of Remnant," Roc dropped the bomb on Rex.

"Wait…Are you saying that we…aren't in Alrest anymore?!" the very thought sounded impossible.

"Looks that way, I didn't want to believe it either at first," Roc sighed, "Unfortunately…this theory is supported by a couple things I was able to find out. The amount of ether in the atmosphere is almost non-existent. And the second thing…" Roc rummaged through his feathers before pulling out a piece of paper. "Is the world map. "The birdlike Blade looked hesitant as he showed the map of Remnant to Rex who looked to be on the verge of a breakdown.

"S-so all of those holes we have been hearing about…lead to this... place," It was clear that Rex didn't want to say "world".

"That's what Mythra and I assume," Roc said.

"So…where could the others be?" Rex then asked, hands trembling.

"…We have no idea," Roc admitted with a sigh, "They could be in any one of the other continents or islands. Heck, for all I know we could be the only ones who made it." Unfortunately, at the first tears that dropped out of Rex's eyes, Roc realized that was a wrong thing to say.

With a scream, Rex threw the tray away with the bowl shattering on the floor and spilling its contents. "Why did this happen!?" Rex cried out, before giving Roc a desperate look, "Please tell me there's a way back!"

Roc looked like a deer in the headlights at hearing that. "...I wish I could," Roc said fearing how his Driver might take this.

Just as Rex looked like he would take this the worst way possible, Pyra barged into the room. "Rex! Are you alright!?" The red haired Aegis asked in concern.

"Pyra," Rex sounded out, calming down somewhat. Then Pyra wrapped her arms around her Driver in a comforting hug.

"It's okay Rex. It's alright," Pyra said soothingly.

"But…but what if we can never get back?" Rex sobbed into Pyra's shoulder, "What if we can never reach Elysium now? What if…What if Nia and the others are-" "Don't say that Rex!" Pyra interrupted, "If we got through somehow, then surely the others did too."

"She's right." Came a voice from Rex's helmet which the salvager boy only now realized was on a table. Out of it, peeked a white fuzzy creature with a tiny horn on its head, but it spoke with the voice of an old man, "I'm sure we will meet up with them again someday. And if there was a way to enter this strange world, then surely there is a way back."

"…Gramps," Rex sounded out with a sniffle before wiping his tears and getting off the bed with Pyra releasing the hug. "Yeah, you're right. Nia and the others are strong, they can take care of themselves," Rex said, sounding a lot more confident.

"Good thing you're back on your feet Rex, because that might have attracted Grimm," Roc then said in slight relief.

"The what now?" Rex asked with a raised eyebrow.

But it was Pyra who answered, "From what Roc and I understand, here in Remnant, there are monsters called Creatures of Grimm. These monsters apparently hate humanity and anything they have created."

"So…like monstrous versions of Malos?" Rex summarized.

Pyra giggled at that, "If Malos was mindless and was far less powerful then maybe."

"Well, we're not sure how powerful these monsters are yet, but apparently this world has it's protectors called Huntsmen and Huntresses. This small village actually has a few," Roc then explained as he stood up, "And apparently they're drawn to negative emotions."

"You mean…I just drew some here," Rex asked in worry.

"I don't think so," Roc said immediately, "From what I understand the Grimm are not too sensitive to a single person unless they're close enough. But having a large group panicking might draw them in."

"Which this town doesn't seem to be from what I have seen," Pyra added in with a smile, causing Rex to sigh in relief.

"So…any idea where we are otherwise?" Rex then asked.

"The village of Shion apparently," Roc shrugged.

Then Pyra had a worried look, "There is another thing that worries me Rex."

"What is it Pyra?" Rex asked.

"Well…Mythra said that Siren isn't here," the red-haired Aegis said, earning a surprised look from Rex, "But that's not the biggest worry. Apparently, the villagers are convinced that us Blades are a creation of a Kingdom called Atlas."

"Huh? Why would they think that?" Rex asked in confusion.

"Hmm," the small Titan nestling in Rex's helmet hummed in thought, "If I had to guess, probably to cover up the fact that the Blades are not of this world."

"But why?" Rex asked.

"Think about it, Rex," gramps said as he crossed his paws over the edge of the helmet, "You just had a bit of an…episode at the knowledge of us not being in Alrest, how do you think these people might react to the revelation that we are also not from this world?"

"…Oh, right," Rex sounded out, now understanding what the problem is. But there was another problem to be dealt with, "So what do we do now?"

"…Unless we know where to go I'd say stay here for the time being," Roc suggested, with a fist under his beak in a thinking pose, "Once we figure out what to do we might go to say…Mistral, the Kingdom on this continent."

"The others might be going there too if they ended up on this continent," Pyra added her two gold into the mix.

"Sounds like a plan," Rex said now feeling a lot more optimistic, "But we might want to get some money for the journey, does gold work here, Roc?" That last question was directed to the avian Blade.

"Sorry, no. It appears the people of Remnant use a currency called lien," Roc responded with a shrug.

"Also, Rex," gramps piped up, earning everyone's attention, "You might want to clean that up." the small Titan pointed towards the mess Rex had made earlier.

"…Riiiiight," Rex drawled out in embarrassment.

"I can help if you want," Pyra offered kindly.

"No no Pyra. I made this mess so I should be the one to clean it up," Rex said quickly, earning a small chuckle from the Titan who used to be large enough to carry a house once upon a time.


AN: And there it is, Rex, Pyra, Mythra and Roc are now officially in Remnant. But the question is... did the others make it? We shall see. It took me some time to decide how exactly the Alrest crew gets involved. And then I decided on the time and how. Speaking of which, now we also know who is responsible for the breaches. How does she do it? Wouldn't you all like to know XD.

But I'll see you all next time. Hopefully with a slightly longer chapter.