Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country
"Sena, look out!"
"Whoa!"
Sena, a young woman whose hair was awash with azure flames, narrowly avoided becoming the lunch of the Dragguia Ropl that lunged from the sands. What they had taken as scattered rocks peeking out of the sands of the Dannagh Wastes turned out to be a large reptilian monster. Before the ropl could press its attack, it was driven back by a swarm of paper talismans.
Taion adjusted his glasses, controlling his Mondo as he circled the party with them. They wouldn't deter the ropl for long, but…
"Mio-" he began.
"On it!"
A girl with white hair and cat ears summoned two chakrams in her hands and launched herself at the ropl. Taion held out an arm before their fourth party member could join her.
"Meh?" said Ino. Unlike the others, who were children of blades and humans, Ino was a robot. The only part of her that didn't look mechanical was her face. "What's wrong?"
"Stand back, in case anything else tries to ambush us," he said. "Mio and Sena should be more than enough-"
Mio, who'd driven the ropl back with a quick and relentless flurry of strikes, leapt back. Jaws snapped empty air, and seconds later a colossal hammer smashed into the ropl's skull, sending it flying backwards. The ropl gave a pained hiss, before diving back into the sand.
"-to handle it," Taion adjusted his glasses, calling the Mondo back to him.
"Guess we were too much trouble for lunch, huh?" Sena grinned, putting away her hammer.
"Big scary ropl was no match for friends of Ino!" Ino agreed.
Mio said nothing. Now that the fight was over, her aversion to the heat had come back in full swing, and she was busy chugging water from a flask. At this rate, even the extra supplies Taion had made sure to bring wouldn't be enough.
"You kids sure are something else. I didn't even have time to react!"
They turned towards the one who had brought them to the wastes in the first place.
Professor Renko was an interesting woman, to put it bluntly. Taion didn't know much about her. She was from Leftheria. She was a close friend of Mio and Sena's parents. She used to be a Cloud Sea navigator, back when the Cloud Sea existed, due to her uncanny ability with the stars. She was the most blithe woman Taion had ever met.
And she was searching for someone. Someone she couldn't remember but missed with an aching longing.
'Not that she's the only one,' he thought, thinking about clovers and tea, and an irritating laugh.
"Professor?" Mio asked, wiping away sweat from her brow. "How much further?"
"Hmm…It's still light out, so…"
Renko smiled at Taion. He sighed and pulled out the map.
"We're still a ways away," Mio's ears drooped, and Sena gingerly patted her on the back. "If we continue at our current pace, we'll make it as the sun sets."
"Perfect!" Renko beamed, even as the searing sun of the Dannagh wastes beat down on them. She adjusted her black hat, determination blazing in her eyes.
"Onwards, kids!"
They trudged forwards. In the distance, one could make out just past the heat haze the remnants of the land of Morytha, and the stump that was all that remained of the World Tree.
"Mam's gonna be really mad when she finds out we came here…" Sena fretted.
That she had energy for fretting was only proof that of the five of them she came from the arid lands of Mor Ardain. Neither Ino nor Renko counted in his mind. Ino, as a robot, was mostly unaffected by heat unless it truly became unbearable. As for Professor Renko, well, she could've been hit by a charging Ardun and gone along her merry way. Taion was from Tantal, a temperate land that had been a frozen wasteland not too long ago. Mio, though she called both the sunny islands of Leftheria and the verdant plains of Gormott home, was downright miserable.
"How much longer?" she whined, pitifully. Looking at her, it was hard to see the youngest child of the Hero of Alrest and the Chief of Gormott.
"Not much further!" Renko chirped.
"I still don't quite understand why we're here," Taion said, giving Mio a worried glance. He'd attempted to stop her from coming along, knowing this would happen. That hadn't gone well, which he had expected.
"It's simple! This place is a remnant of the Tornan Titan, right? That means it's the only place in the world we'll find that."
Renko refused to explain what that was. Only that it would help them bridge the gap between their world…
…and the world on the other side of the Intersection.
It had occurred to Taion that they were taking Renko at her word a lot. She was the one who had told them about that day eight years ago. How Project Origin, something that had been meant to prevent their world from colliding with another, had… hiccupped ever so slightly. The only reason Taion believed her, even if she had worked on Origin, was because Mio had vouched for her. She'd overheard her mother talking to her father about it.
And because something deep in Taion's heart had said 'of course. That explains it'. He'd never voice the later sentiment. He had no explanation for it.
They found Renko's mysterious that as the sun began to set, and the temperature became bearable. The question was-
"What is that? " Sena asked.
It was a dilapidated gate of sorts, with a design almost resembling neo-Tornan architecture. It was a muted and weathered red, and old.
"It's made of wood!" Mio exclaimed in surprise after she'd put a hand on it.
"What surprise friend about that?" Ino asked, tilting her head.
"If this is truly from the Tornan Titan," Taion began, "there's no way it could've survived several centuries under the Cloud Sea."
"Fufufu!" Renko said, pleased. "Excellent work, Taion! But, you're wrong in thinking this is from the Tornan Titan. No, this is older!"
Taion furrowed his brow.
"You mean it's from Morytha?" Sena asked slowly, glancing at the ruins of the old world. They weren't so distant anymore, and the stump of the World Tree dominated the horizon.
"Not quite!" Renko held up a finger. "It's from a contemporary of Morytha, from the old world! As for why it's here, well it's simple! When Klaus – that is to say, the Architect ," as always Renko said the name with biting sarcasm, "created the titans, he recycled much of them from the remnants of the old world. This gate belonged to a special shrine from the old world."
Renko ran a hand down the ancient wooden pillar.
"Supposedly it was an abandoned shrine, rumored to lead to another world…" she muttered, before shaking her head. "In any case, it's the best idea I've got. Mio!"
Mio snapped to attention, ears standing up.
"You're up!" Renko said, snapping her fingers.
Mio nodded, and reached into a pouch on her hip. From which she pulled out a flute, and began to play.
