The Land Of The Dead: Morytha

Ruby groaned as she was returning to the waking world. Getting up on sitting position, the red reaper rubbed the sleep out of her silver eyes before making a couple stretches.

"Morning, Ruby." Ruby heard Roze saying before turning to see her Blade standing next to her without his cloak.

"Morning, Roze." Ruby smiled before taking a good look at her surroundings. "Where are we? And how did we get here?"

"We're under the Cloud Sea." Rex said from slightly behind Roze, "A powerful updraft from below saved us."

"…Okay," Ruby said as she got up before noticing her cloak being a makeshift blanket and putting it back on her. Meanwhile Roze picked up his folded cloak he had given as a makeshift pillow and put it back on himself in turn. "Where is everyone else?" Ruby then asked, noting that she, Rex, Mythra and Roze were the only ones here.

"They probably landed somewhere else." Roze said as he looked to the ruined city, "I just hope their Blades landed with them."

"Why is that?" Ruby asked with a look of concern.

"Because when I looked around, I couldn't tell your location only that, you were nearby." Roze said, earning a confused look from Ruby. "…My Resonance is messed up here." The reaper Blade clarified.

Rex's eyes widened at this, "So…if your Resonance is messed up, then what about the others?"

Mythra frowned a little, "It's probably the same for all the other Blades."

Now Ruby looked down in worry.

"Hey." Rex said with a smile, earning Ruby's attention, "It's gonna be fine. Everyone's tough. All we have to do is go to the World Tree."

It took a moment before Ruby realized why, "Of course! That's where we were supposed to go to anyway."

"And the tree is right over there." Mythra said before pointing to the distance. Sure enough, the roots of the World Tree were out there, but they were quite a ways away.

"There was a path that led out to the streets, but I didn't want to go too far." Roze said before pointing.

"Okay, then let's go." Ruby said with a determined look, "I hope we can find everyone else."

Mythra shook her head a little, "Well I'm good to go, so what do you say Rex?"

"Let's go." Rex said, and with that, the two Drivers and Blades moved out. As the four walked for a while Ruby was looking at the ruined city with a slight frown.

"Something up Ruby?" Roze asked.

"Hmm? Oh no. It's just…this city kind of reminds me of Vale." Ruby said simply before pointing to one of the many skyscrapers, "Except the buildings are a lot taller."

"Huh. Now that you mention it, this does seem a little like Vale." Roze said as he could now see a little of the Kingdom's capital city. But it was still different.

"Vale, that was the Kingdom you went to Beacon in, right?" Rex asked from the huntress Driver.

"Yeah, this city kind of reminds me of it, but…It's still different." Ruby muttered in thought. Then her eyes turned on Mythra, "Hey Mythra." Ruby said to earn the blonde Aegis' attention, "What was that form you took?"

"Hm? Oh that. That was our true nature." Mythra replied easily before turning to Rex, "Rex, you had a different sword right?". The salvager nodded in affirmation, "It's not just physically stronger. It also allows us to control Artifices at will. So be careful with it."

"Be careful?" Rex tilted his head.

"I mean don't get carried away." Mythra said more sternly, getting into Rex's face.

Rex was startled by this. "I-I see." but meekly complied. Then when Mythra retreated a bit, another question popped into Rex's head, "Which one of you is it in that form?"

"Which one?" Mythra questioned.

"Deep down." Rex clarified.

"It's not one or the other." Mythra said, "It's both of us at the same time."

"Like... coffee with milk?" Rex asked.

"What kind of-" Mythra just couldn't comprehend that comparison. But she just sighed a little.

"Then…like chocolate chip cookies?" Ruby tried, earning a blanched look from Mythra and a confused one from Rex. All the while Roze was covering his mouth with his hand to hide his snickering behind Ruby's back.

"…Something like that." Mythra said, deciding not to deal with this.

But with that came a new question from Rex, "So what should I call you? Pythra or Myra?"

"It doesn't matter." Mythra replied, "Pyra and Mythra are both me, so call me whichever you like."

"What about Pneuma?" Roze said, earning surprised looks from everyone.

"What?" Mythra was the first to voice the question.

"It said so on your chest." Roze clarified while pointing at the top of Mythra's breasts, "Right beneath your Core Crystal, when you took that form."

"Now that you mention it..." Rex muttered, recalling there being some weird writing on Pyra's and Mythra's new form's chest. Partially hidden in her cleavage. Rex shook his head to rid his head of that last detail. "There was some weird writing. You can read it?"

"More like I know how to spell it." Roze clarified, "It means 'breath' or 'spirit', in case you're interested."

"Umm... Roze, how do you know that?" Ruby asked with a questioning look.

Roze opened his mouth to answer before looking thoughtful. Then confused, "I…don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Ruby asked, now looking suspicious.

"Just what I said, I don't know." Roze said, now looking mildly distressed.

"Whatever." Mythra said before turning to Rex, "What do you think Rex?"

"Me?" Rex pointed at himself.

"Who else." Mythra said with a light scowl, "You can decide what to call us in that form."

This made Rex cross his arms in a thinking pose for a moment. "…I think I'll call that form Pneuma." Rex then decided.

"Why?" Mythra asked, sounding more curious than anything else.

"Well, because I'm not sure if it's fair that one of your names gets called more than the other's. Besides, I think Pneuma sounds kinda cool." Rex said with a smile.

Mythra shook her head in amusement, "Whatever."

Then the four heard weapons clashing. Some ways away.

"Is there a fight?" Roze questioned.

"Maybe it's the others." Rex said right before feeling a gust of wind pass him that left a trail of rose petals.

"Ruby, don't go alone!" Roze shouted before running after the trail. Soon followed by Rex and Mythra.

When Ruby exited the flurry of petals onto an empty street, she was hoping to see one of her friends fending off against whatever they were fighting against. But she was disappointed to see it was just Jin cutting down a dark gray humanoid shape with blue growth around parts of their bodies. Their left arm had four tentacles that curled over what almost looked like a mouth.

The thing aimed its arm at Jin before firing a what looked like a light blue blast at the Flesh Eater. Surprisingly to Ruby, Jin fell down to a knee from the hit. More importantly, the silver haired Blade wasn't in that black armor he had but in his white combat clothing.

"Urgh…I can't." Jin managed to say, clearly in pain. "I can't lose to these fools." Jin struggled to get back up as four of these creatures were staring at him with the one he just cut down getting back up.

At this moment, Rex, Mythra and Roze caught up with Ruby.

"Jin?!" Mythra exclaimed at the sight of their enemy.

"Of course he ended up here too." Roze complained at the sight of the bastard that hurt Ruby back in Tantal. If it were up to him, he would have ignored Salem and gone after him. But Ruby picked Salem so he had to follow.

One of the creatures fighting Jin then curled its tentacles into a makeshift blunt weapon before bashing Jin with it, downing the weakened Blade. Red particles were coming out of him as he panted heavily.

Roze squinted his eyes at Jin's forehead where the red Core Crystal was at, "There's a crack on his Core Crystal."

"He's still wounded from before." Rex concluded before running to the silver haired Blade.

"Rex?!" Mythra called out, but the salvager wouldn't stop.

"Let's go Roze." Ruby said as she took out Crescent Rose since Roze had yet to give his weapon again.

Roze shrugged before taking out his scythe, "If you say so."

Another gray monster was about to bash Jin again before being downed by a shot in the head. This surprised Jin, but not as much as Rex getting in front of him with Mythra's sword. "You?" Jin said in disbelief.

"You can't move right?" Rex said as he deflected a swipe from one of the creatures, "I can't just let you die here. Even if you are my enemy. Mythra!"

The blonde in question walked next to Rex with an annoyed look. "Fine, but don't think this means I think this a good idea, Rex." Mythra said as she gave a brief glare to Jin before taking a combat stance.

Rex immediately opened with Rolling Smash, cutting down the first one in front of him while unleashing a shockwave of light on the ones around him. Ruby immediately followed it up by using Crescent Spinner with Crescent Rose to another one. Roze followed it up by slicing at the same one Ruby did before firing the rose tipped gun at another one. The two enemies fell down, while another one pointed it's tentacled arm towards Roze.

"Gah!" Roze exclaimed as it looked like several ether particles came out of him and straight into the thing's arm.

"Roze!" Ruby cried out in concern.

"I'm okay." Roze said as the weird feeling that came to him passed. As Roze said that, the thing aimed it's tentacled arm to Rex and fired a green blast at the salvager.

Rex fortunately dodged the blast just in time before it impacted the street in a gust of wind.

Roze stared at the impact point, "Did that thing just copy my element?"

"Okay, we are not dragging this out." Mythra said before giving Rex a pointed look.

"If you're sure." Rex said before throwing the Aegis Sword to the blonde Aegis.

"Ray of Punishment!" And Mythra unleashed a wave of light that took out all of the creatures, partially disintegrating some of them, including their heads. Only one of them seemed relatively intact.

"...Roze, why don't you have abilities that destructive." Ruby said, almost complained actually.

"You saw Crimson Reaper," Roze retorted, sounding a little offended.

"That's your level 4. Mythra can disintegrate enemies with a level 1." Ruby retorted.

"Well excuse me for not being an Aegis that can bring death and destruction for all." Now the white eyed reaper was offended.

"Roze!" Rex exclaimed, surprising everyone, "That's not nice."

Roze looked momentarily confused before turning to look at a scowling Aegis. "Mythra, you do realize that I meant Malos with that. Right?" was the weak defense.

Mythra crossed her arms, totally unmoved. But then she changed her attention to Ruby, "You."

"Me?" Ruby pointed at herself.

"You don't know what it's like to wield a destructive power, and I seriously hope you never will. Trust me, it's not pleasant when you mess up with it." Mythra said with a slightly deeper scowl.

"…Got it." Ruby said meekly, Mythra having accidentally put the fear of the divine into her.

Jin shook his head at this whole situation before standing back up with some difficulty, "Why did you help me? I'm…"

"Our enemy." Rex said, now giving his attention to the silver haired man, "Yeah, we know. I just thought…I couldn't let it end like that. And…No never mind."

During this, the monster that wasn't disintegrated got back up. Jin saw this and prepared to draw his Blade on it.

"Jin." Mythra said in a warning tone.

Only Roze looked behind, seeing that the silver haired Blade wasn't looking at them. "That thing is back up!"

"What?!" Rex and Ruby let out in unison, just in time to see the creature being consumed by blue flames.

"Those flames." Rex said in surprise as he looked around.

"You have much to learn." A woman's voice came from above. On the roof of the building across the street they were standing on was Brighid. "You've got to burn these monsters up. That or smash their Core Crystal. Otherwise they'll keep coming."

And it wasn't just the Jewel of Mor Ardain.

"Brighid! Gramps, Poppi, Penny, Kos-Mos!" Rex exclaimed at the sight of the friends in question.

"Poppi find friends." Poppi said happily.

"Salutations, friends!" Penny replied, equally happy.

"Penny!" Ruby almost screamed.

"Rex! Are you alright?" Azurda asked, fluttering beside Poppi. Then his eyes fell on Jin, "What? Jin?" As soon as Azurda finished, Jin collapsed.

It didn't take long for Brighid and the others to get back down. After that, they had a moment to compare notes.

"So you don't know where the others are." Ruby said as Penny confirmed that she had no idea where anyone else could be.

"Like I said, there is a lot of interference here from an unknown source." Penny replied.

"That explains the lack of signal." Ruby said with a slightly sad look.

Rex meanwhile gave Poppi a look of concern. "So you have no idea where Tora and the others might be, either."

"It's fine." Poppi said with a smile, "Masterpon is not as soft as he look."

"It's faint, but I can also feel the energy signature of Mòrag's weapons. She must be near." Brighid also added in.

"Can you tell which way she is?" Roze asked.

"Approximately that direction." Brighid said before pointing down the street, opposite of where Rex and the others came from. "But I can't tell the exact direction."

Rex smiled a little, because if Mòrag was dead, Brighid wouldn't be standing here right now. "Ok. Let's rest up a little and then go."

Although Brighid had a question, "Hey, Rex. What about that scumbag there?" Brighid inclined her head towards Jin.

"Ah. I think I beat him up pretty badly in that fight." Rex said as he looked to now unconcious Jin. "I couldn't just leave him to die."

"I thought it'd be something like that." Azurda said with a small sigh.

"Ah… Your sweet bleeding heart." Brighid said. Although it was unclear if she was being sincere or sarcastic. "So, what are we going to do with him?"

"Logically speaking, he is an obstacle that will no doubt hamper our progress later." Kos-Mos spoke out.

"So, what are you suggesting, Kos-Mos?" Penny then asked the android Blade.

"I suggest we don't allow him to hamper our progress." Kos-Mos said simply. Earning a small smile from Brighid.

Rex looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to Mythra. "Hey, Mythra, could you…take that form you took in that fight?"

"If I need to, why?" Mythra asked with a frown, already thinking what her Driver was planning.

"Could you…" Rex trailed off.

"Fine. Whatever. Give me a sec…" Mythra sighed, before glowing for a moment with green light before taking on the form they had dubbed "Pneuma". Pneuma then walked towards Jin and lowered herself to his level. Then the green haired Aegis placed a hand over the red Core Crystal on Jin's forehead. There was a faint glow on the Crystal before it faded, revealing that the crack on it had been fixed.

"Incredible." Brighid said in slight awe, "What an awesome new power you've acquired."

"This is the power of the Master Blade." Pneuma explained, still continuing doing whatever she was doing to restore Jin, "The Master Blade possesses the data of all Blade Cores." Then Pneuma looked surprised about something, "This is…"

"What's wrong?" Rex asked in slight concern.

Pneuma didn't respond and got up on her feet, before reverting to Mythra. "His heart, it's a human heart." Mythra said, earning surprised looks from others, "He's indeed a Flesh Eater."

"So he took someone's heart… like Talos did with Pyrrha?" Ruby said, looking a little queasy. Of course, Jaune and the others told her that Pyrrha's chest was pierced right through the heart. And after Talos' reveal, none of them had it in them to question about it further. Especially when the metallic champion was so adamant on not telling how the process works. And now, the only one they can ask is Pyrrha, but Ruby wasn't sure if she should.

"Yes…and if my hunch is correct, then I might know who's heart it was." Mythra said as she frowned at the unconscious Flesh Eater.

Some time later, Jin regained consciousness. Much to his surprise. "Wh-What?" The silver haired Flesh Eater questioned before feeling his Crystal which he knew was cracked before. "What did you do to me?"

"Easy. You'll be fine." Rex said reassuringly.

"It's not perfect, so be careful with it." Mythra said, still not looking happy about having to restore Jin.

"Mythra…" Jin said, looking to the blonde Aegis.

"My name… you actually remember it." Mythra said, "Then again, you also remembered Dragunov, so I guess you never returned to your Core Crystal." Jin didn't answer to that.

"You're a lucky man, Jin." Brighid said with a scowl, "You've been given the second chance you have denied from so many brave Ardainians. I doubt your luck would hold up so well if Mòrag was here."

Then Ruby remembered something, "Hey, Mythra… Didn't Jin once help you?"

"Yeah, we fought against Malos once." Mythra confirmed. Then she turned an almost demanding gaze to Jin, "That's why I need to know. Why? Why did you take Malos' side?"

"You really want to know?" Jin said almost coldly, "You only think you do. If you knew it'd destroy you too."

"Huh?" Ruby and Penny tilted their heads a little.

"I can guess." Mythra shot back. "And let me tell you, it didn't land me in the same conclusion as you." Jin still didn't look willing to talk. "Lora…She's in there, isn't she?" Mythra then pointed to Jin's chest.

"Now that you say it." Roze piped up, "There was a scar on his chest when he took that form. Right where a heart would be."

Jin scowled at Roze before glaring at Ruby.

"What?" Ruby said, looking a little nervous.

"…Nothing." Jin said before turning his face away from the red caped reaper.

"Jin." Rex said, earning the man's attention again, "We can't forgive you. Not with everything you've done. And if you're going to keep standing in our way in the future, keep trying to destroy the world, then we will stop you. But now…"

"Naive kid." Jin said as he crossed his arms, "This is the Land of Morytha. And it's a place of more wickedness than you can imagine."

"You know of this place?" Penny asked, eager to learn more.

"This land was destroyed long before Alrest existed." Jin explained. "The birthplace of the Architect."

"What?!" Ruby cried out first at this revelation.

"The Architect was born here?" Rex asked with a surprised look.

"That's what Malos said." Jin replied.

However, Roze seemed to frown deeply at something… "…No… that's not right."

"Roze?" Ruby heard her Blade's mumbling.

"…Not this city." Roze said, looking a little…absent.

"Roze, what're you babbling about?" Mythra then asked, looking at the reaper Blade like he was insane.

Roze visibly jolted like he just woke up from a daydream, "Huh? Did I…say something strange?"

"…Did friend Roze hit his head or something?" Poppi then asked with a concerned look.

"…I don't think I did." Roze said while trying his head for any lumps or gashes, despite knowing he wouldn't have any.

"Even if he had, there is no reason for him to have neurological effects from it." Kos-Mos said.

Mythra shook her head at this, "Let's just forget him for now." And then she returned her attention to Jin. "Jin, I know there is no easy way to change your mind, but hear me out. Let's regroup and climb up the World Tree. Call it a ceasefire until then, okay?"

Jin pondered the proposal for a moment. "…A united front?" Then he uncrossed his arms, "As you wish. It's not like I could take you on in this state anyway."

Roze then stepped forward, "Just so you know, I'm keeping my eye on you. I still remember how you hurt Ruby."

Jin met the empty white void that Roze calls his eyes before scoffing, "Do as you wish."

"So, what do we do now?" Penny then asked the important question.

"We go to the World Tree." Rex said, "We know it's roughly in that direction, judging by the roots." Rex then pointed to the same direction Brighid pointed to moments ago.

"The others might be going that way too." Ruby added in cheerfully, "If we go that way, we will find them there. Or better yet, we might stumble on them before we even get there."

"…Do you ever shut up." Jin asked with a highly annoyed look on his face.

"What?"

"Jin, behave." Mythra said in a warning tone.

"…As long as she doesn't say another word." Jin said before turning away.

"…What is his problem with friend Ruby?" Penny asked no one in particular.

"Beats me." Mythra shrugged, "Let's just go." And they went.

The walk down the streets of the ruined city was… tense. Ruby kept glancing at Jin who seemed to have made it his mission to ignore her to the best of his ability. Every time Ruby tried to break the tension, it felt like she was just making it worse. It was like Jin was offended by Ruby's very existence.

"Hey, you okay." Ruby heard Rex from next to her.

"Huh…? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Ruby said with an obviously fake smile.

"No you're not." Rex said with an unconvinced look. A look that was shared by Azurda who had taken his place in Rex's new helmet. Apparently it felt slightly more comfy than the old one.

"Okay, fine." Ruby visibly slumped in defeat, "I just don't get it. What did I do to Jin to make him hate me?"

"It sounds like he doesn't like you talking." Azurda piped up from Rex's helmet.

"But why?" Roze chimed in, "Ruby never did anything personal to him."

"You would probably have to ask that from Jin himself." Azurda said before looking at Jin who was taking point. None of them trusted him behind their backs, especially Rex.

Ruby looked to Jin's back for an instant before replying, "Nah." And the walk continued in relative silence.

In another part of the ruined city, Blake was stirring… When did she fall asleep? That thought caused her to jolt upright on what looked like a bed. Looking around herself, Blake noticed they were in some kind of apartment. Most likely a multi-story one.

"You're awake." Perceval said from his sitting position against the wall opposite of the bed.

"Yeah." Blake said now remembering that Perceval broke them in here through the balcony of this apartment. Seeing as nothing was here and the front door was still locked, Perceval deemed this place good enough to rest. "Did anything happen while I was out?"

Perceval lifted his head to look at his Driver in the eye, "No."

"…That's good." Blake said, now looking more intently at assassin.

"…Why are you staring at me?" Perceval asked.

"Sorry, it's just… I can't see Adam in you anymore." Blake admitted, part of her feeling relief.

"…Who is Adam?" Perceval asked, surprising Blake.

And then Blake remembered a Blade's life-cycle. "…Right, you wouldn't know anymore." Perceval kept staring at Blake intently as if searching for something, "Okay, fine. He was your previous Driver."

"…I see." Perceval said before lowering his head.

"That's it?" Blake asked with a frown, "You hear about your previous Driver and you're not interested?"

"My previous Driver is gone, you're not." Perceval said simply before standing up, "Do you feel rested?"

"Huh? Oh yes. I'm fine now." Blake said as she made a couple stretches to see if there were any kinks. Luckily there weren't. "We can now try and find the others."

"Others?" Perceval said simply.

"Right…I wasn't alone. My friends and I got separated when we fought a powerful enemy." Blake said, hoping to not get into a long explanation.

"…I see." Perceval said, causing Blake to frown a little. Then a noise came from beyond the small bedroom the two were at. "Stay here." Perceval said before moving outside the room slowly. Then turned to the short hallway that led into the living room. "Who are you?" Perceval demanded from the dark figure that came in from the balcony.

Next thing Blake hears, weapons started clashing. Not wanting Perceval to do all the fighting, Blake took Gambol from the bedside and dashed to the living room to help Perceval with whatever he was fighting.

Except… "Perceval, Nox, stop!" Blake commanded the two Blades who were in the middle of clashing their weapons. Chroma Katana against Dual Scythes, with the two very close to each other's faces.

"You know this one?" Perceval said, not taking his eyes off his opponent. While the said opponent pushed him back and dashed to kneel before Blake. Opening a lot of his scroll as he did.

Blake red the scroll for a while which was just a long tangent of apologies before deciding to just forget it. "Nox, calm down." Blake said as the dark Blade kept rolling out more of his scroll. "Nox!" That made the ninja freeze in his tracks. "Good. Now tell me what took you so long."

Nox rerolled his scroll so he could give his reply. "When I came to in this ruined city, I did not find you immediately. So, I moved to search for you, but this place seems to mess with my Resonance. So, I decided to move towards the World Tree, believing that you might be going to that direction. Then I finally sensed your presence. And he just attacked me when I tried to answer his question."

Blake turned a small scowl at Perceval, "Why did you attack Nox when he tried to take out his scroll to answer?"

"…I thought he was going to pull out a weapon." Perceval said simply, without an ounce of shame.

Blake shook her head before turning towards her first Blade. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Your words honor me, my lady." Nox showed on his scroll.

Blake rolled her eyes in amusement before turning her attention back to Perceval, "Perceval, this is Nox. My first Blade. Please try to get along with him."

"…If he bears no grudge for my mistake then there's no problem." Perceval said simply.

For some reason, that didn't inspire confidence in Blake… Still Nox didn't look like he held a grudge. Especially when he showed on his scroll, "You acted believing that our Driver was in danger. I can respect that." to Perceval.

The assassin nodded in acknowledgement.

With Rex, Ruby and Penny. They had found a place to rest. While they did have three Drivers, it wouldn't do if they got dead tired. So, they had made camp on the ruined end of the street they had been walking. As Ruby was resting against Roze, Brighid had moved towards, Jin who was sitting some ways away from the others.

"…My name is Brighid." Brighid introduced herself to Jin, seeing as they never officially conversed, "But I hardly needed to introduce myself to you, did I? You must know practically all there is to know about me by now." Then Brighid took out her diary, "This stuff in here…The old me that you knew…Is this journal the truth?" Jin looked at the book before looking away, not wanting to answer. This prompted Brighid to continue, "I need to know if I can trust what I wrote in here."

Jin seemed to frown about something, "…If you knew…You think it would change anything?"

"Explain."

"The Brighid I knew…Well you aren't her. It's like, talking to a whole new Blade." Jin explained as one of his hands clenched.

"Makes sense." Brighid acknowledged, "There's no going back to who I was." Then she turned away from Jin, "But I still want to know. I want to know what I did, what I really thought. And…it seems wrong to forget about the people who were important to me before…I need to remember them."

That last part did get a small reaction out of Jin, but he still didn't feel like talking. "Jin, please tell." said Poppi who had gotten next to the silver haired Blade, "Really, Poppi is only just born. Doesn't know much. But even Poppi knows stories of old Drivers very important. Very precious indeed. Memories of Masterpon very important. Poppi always thinks, must make many more Masterpon memories."

"Okay…Let's make some memories!" Jin sighed at the memory. Then he looked towards Ruby leaning against Roze. For a moment, Jin was reminded of the little girl that awakened him on their first night since he saved her. Little Lora leaning against his side, fast asleep while Jin kept watch. Then his eyes fell on Roze who wrapped an arm around her, along with his rose patterned cloak. "He reminds me of myself when Lora was still alive." Jin thought with a deep frown about the reaper Blade.

Some time later, the gang was asleep. All except Poppi who was taking watch. The Artificial Blade looked around herself. Seeing all the friends sleeping. Then Poppi walked to Jin who's eyes were also closed in a sitting position against some of the larger rubble. Poppi waved her hand in front of Jin's face. No reaction.

With that, Poppi was able to slip away. Although the artificial Blade didn't notice Mythra waking up.

"Where is friend Poppi going?" And the blonde Aegis wasn't the only one.

Mythra visibly jumped at Penny managing to sneak up on her, but somehow didn't scream. Mythra glared at Penny for a moment before deciding to focus on the more important thing, "Let's find out."

The two followed Poppi up a fallen walkway to what looks like a tunnel that had a broken brigde. Poppi was standing near the edge of it, looking out to the city.

"…It's quiet." Poppi said as Penny and Mythra reached her.

"Yeah…It is." Mythra agreed.

"Poppi think, that the people of this city achieve great technological progress. Lots of people." Poppi explained, "They probably happy here."

"It doesn't matter how many fancy tricks they learn." Mythra piped up, "Deep down, they're all the same." The Aegis looked a little sad, "They thought they were making their lives better with all this stuff. But in the end, it destroyed them. Now it's just a ruin."

"Poppi was created by technology too." Poppi said as she looked to her hands with an apprehensive look, "Will Poppi destroy the world as well?"

"That's my problem too." Mythra then said, earning Poppi's attention. "If this is really Father's world, then he must have made me as dangerous as any technology."

"…Will this happen to Atlas too?" Penny then asked no one in particular, "Atlas is technologically most advanced kingdom on Remnant. What if…one day something happens that could destroy them too." Then the artificial Driver looked down on her trembling hands, "What if…What if I'm the one to destroy humanity on Remnant?" At the last part, Penny looked like she wanted to cry. "But if I did that…then I might destroy friend Ruby, and father." If Penny was flesh and blood, she might have sobbed. But she did look terrified.

"And if Poppi destroys the world, then Masterpon might get destroyed too." Poppi said, equally terrified, "Maybe it's better if Mythra destroys Poppi now to prevent it."

"Poppi." Mythra said, grabbing the child-like robot's shoulders, "Tora created you. You could never do something like that. I know it." Then Mythra looked to Penny, "And you, Penny…Did your father care about you?"

Penny tilted her head a little, "Why are you using past-tense? Father loves me very much. And he is…pretty protective of me."

Mythra smiled, "Then it sounds like you would never try to destroy the world either."

"But…" Poppi then said, still looking unconvinced.

Mythra returned her attention to the artificial Blade, "Tell you what, let's make a promise."

"A promise?"

"Tha's right, Poppi." Mythra said with a smile, "If it ever looks like you're about to destroy the world, I will do what you asked. But in return…Can you promise me something?"

"What would you like of Poppi?" Poppi asked.

"It's… No never mind." Mythra said, shaking her head, "I don't have a request right now. Can I think it over?"

"Of course." Poppi said happily.

"Umm… friends." Penny then piped up, earning the two's attention, "Can you promise me too? That if I ever look like I would try to destroy either of the worlds, then you would destroy me too."

Mythra and Poppi shared a look before both smiled at the artificial Driver, "Yes." Mythra said, "I promise."

"Then let's promise." Poppi said before raising both hands towards Mythra and Penny.

"What's this?" Mythra was curious.

"Masterpon taught it to Poppi. He said it sacred Nopon promise ritual." Poppi explained while bouncing in place. "Lift hand up in air... And then 'boop' together."

Penny gasped in wonder at learning something so precious.

"I see." Mythra said in amusement before raising her left hand. Penny did the same on the other side of Poppi. The three then "booped" their hands together.

"Penny should also boop with Mythra." Poppi said happily.

"Really?!" Penny said with stars in her eyes.

Mythra chuckled, "Sure." And lifted her hand to Penny next.

Then Penny "booped" her hand with Mythra's... with all her artificial might in the excitement. Something that made Mythra's face twist a little in pain. Something that is no small feat to a Blade.

"Friend Penny applied too much force." Poppi said almost scoldingly.

"Oh! Sorry." Penny apologized profusely.

"…It's…okay…Penny." Mythra said, trying to mask how much pain her hand was in.

"Ow!" was the sound of Rex waking up in pain. "What the heck? Why is my hand throbbing?!"

"…I'm sorry." Penny looked down in shame.

"Let's just get back." Mythra said, slowly recovering from the hurt in her hand... although a little faster than she thought.

Fortunately, none of them had to explain to anyone what they were doing, And Rex's hand was healing quickly thanks to his Aura. Maybe that was why Mythra's own hand was recovering fast too.

Anyway, once the humans of the gang were awake and ready to go, they were discussing where to go next.

"There is a tunnel up there that I think leads further in." Penny then said as she pointed up the walkway that she, Mythra and Poppi had used.

"Awesome." Ruby said with a smile. "Let's go and hope we run into everyone else on our way."

"Even if we don't run into them, we could wait around the World Tree's base for them." Roze added.

"Sounds like we have a plan." Brighid said with a small smile.

"Then let's go." Rex said before turning to Jin, "Jin, you take point again."

"…As you wish." Jin took to the front and everyone moved on. The gang didn't make it far in the tunnel before they came across a collapsed area that blocked the way further. Fortunately, there was a secondary path right on the left that allowed them to move further in. Except...

"So many many." Poppi commented on the sight of a small pack of those creatures at the end of the tunnel.

"Mythra." Rex said questioningly.

The blonde Aegis shook her head, "There's no way around."

"So…I guess the only way is through then." Ruby said before noticing Jin walking ahead of them. "Hey!"

If the creatures didn't notice Jin approaching them, then they certainly noticed Ruby's shouting.

Jin drew out his katana from his back. "There's no time to fool around." Jin said to no one in particular.

"…He is not wrong." Penny supplied helpfully as she took out Kos-Mos' cannon.

"No arguments here." Rex agreed as he took out Mythra's Aegis Sword.

Ruby also pulled out Crescent Rose.

But Roze had other ideas, "Actually, Ruby, could you use my weapon for this?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to take chances." Roze said as he offered his scythe for his Driver.

The said Driver scoffed childishly, "Okay, fine." But put Crescent Rose away anyway and took out Roze's scythe instead.

Brighid may not have her swords right now, but she would not just stand and let others do the fighting for her. Evidenced by the blue flames dancing on her palms.

Even in his weakened state, Jin was able to fend off the creatures. And while their attention was on him, Rex and Ruby took advantage of it. Following Brighid's advice earlier, they went after the Core Crystals on their bodies. Brighid also disintegrated any creature that she could, although it was a little hard without her swords. But if she summons them back, then Mòrag might end up defenseless. Penny was blasting a well-aimed Mach Breaker on one monster's head, which caused it to collapse.

"Stop healing already!" Ruby complained at a gash she managed to make which instantly closed. "That's it! Roze!" Ruby threw the scythe to her Blade.

"On it." Roze caught the scythe before unleashing Crescent Bloom. Making sure to hit Crystals on several of them.

But there were still some that the reaper Blade missed. And while they were bisected, their cut halves were pulled to each other before reattaching.

"Sword Bash!" Except Rex stabbed directly into the Core on one of them and stopped it from healing.

"Thorn Hammer!" Ruby followed that example.

"Super Laser!" And Penny shot a gaping hole into one of them.

This battle would've been much harder if they didn't know where to strike. But since they did, this battle was less troublesome than it could've been.

Jin had pulled his sword out of the last monster before sheathing it. The others also lowered their weapons.

"I didn't know that monsters like these existed." Rex commented on these things.

"Nothing like these exist anywhere else on Alrest for sure." Azurda confirmed.

"I think I've heard about Grimm that look this creepy, but I don't think any Grimm can heal themselves like that." Ruby added in.

"The way they heal is almost like…Blades." Brighid then said.

"I don't know, but… Maybe they're leftovers from the culture that created us." Jin theorized, "This is the Architect's world. I guess nothing should come as a surprise."

"I wonder what kind of person he is." Rex then mused.

"I don't know." Mythra replied, despite the question not being directed at her, "I never got to meet him. I mean, I have fragments of memories, blurred images… That's why I want to meet him."

"He must be something awesome to have created an awesome city like this. I can only imagine what it was like before whatever happened." Ruby said with a slightly dreamy look. With just a hint of melancholy at the fact that this place was now a ruin.

"Awesome? This?" Jin said with an incredulous tone. "It's just smashed up crap. Look at it." Jin said before turning to a section of the tunnel wall that seemed to have melted. "This looks like it was melted by a warhead or something. All that's buried here is the hubris of mankind. If the Architect was born here, then he must be as flawed as any other being. No different from the people of Alrest."

As Jin said the last part, Roze looked startled before he started looking around.

"Roze?" Ruby said as she looked around to see what her Blade could be looking for.

"…Did any of you…say anything?" Roze asked carefully.

"…Unless you count what Jin said, then no." Brighid said with a quirked eyebrow. "Are you sure you are alright?"

"…Yeah…I guess I was hearing things." Roze said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Rex looked a little worried about Roze, though not as much as Ruby, but he still decided to focus on what Jin said, "Why do you hate us so much? What is it that you think we've done?"

Jin turned to face Rex before looking startled himself.

"Jin." Rex said, wondering what made the silver haired Blade look like that.

"That… That's…" Jin stammered a little in disbelief, "Torna."

Now everyone turned to the direction Jin was looking to. It was hard to make out from this distance, but it looked like a rotting Titan resting atop World Tree's roots.


AN:Ruby and Rex have made progress on their travel, and now Jin has seen Torna. Blake got a moment to rest and reunited with her most devoted servant.

But what about everyone else?