Tales From Alrest
"And you are sure that you have no information on what happened to them?" Asked Emperor Niall to one of the Ardainian researchers.
"I'm afraid not your majesty," The head researcher said with a look of regret, "The truth is, we have no idea what these 'breaches' do to anything that touches them. For all we know…The Aegis' Driver along with everyone else who was sucked in were destroyed."
Niall gripped the armrests tighter, "Keep investigating. Until we know for certain, we cannot assume the worst." Yet he was still able to stay calm.
The researcher sighed, "We will do our best, but the Praetor is unable to give us any more insight on this so perhaps…we should consider the possibility of the worst-case scenario."
"…I will consider it, but until I have made my decision, keep investigating," Niall said diplomatically even though he was practically sick with worry. "You may leave," Niall then said, letting himself sound tired for an instant.
"Yes, your majesty," the head researcher said before leaving the throne room. Although the researcher turned around one last time to add, "We will do our best." And then he entered the elevator.
Shortly after the elevator left, it returned with one of the elite guards entering. "Your majesty," the guard said upon entry and with a salute, "Two people from Garfront mercenaries has arrived."
Niall raised an eyebrow at hearing this. Mòrag had told him about them, a mercenary group formerly led by an Urayan who called himself Vandham before passing it onto Rex for some reason. "Why are they here?" Niall asked daring to hope even a little.
"One of them, a Blade, claims to know about Special Inquisitor's condition," the guard explained.
"…This Blade wouldn't be named Agate by any chance?" Niall then asked, remembering how Mòrag mentioned awakening a Blade with that kind of name. The mercenaries of Garfront recently had a need of a Blade that has knowledge of mineralogy and Agate was a Blade with greater knowledge of it than most others with similar skills. So Mòrag allowed them to borrow her.
"Yes, your majesty," the guard said, "What should I tell them?"
"Send them in," Niall said with a small smile, "But do so with an armed escort." As much as Niall wanted to believe them to be here with a clue as to what happened, he couldn't disclose the possibility of Agate being awakened by someone else and this to be a trap of some kind.
"Yes, your majesty!" the guard saluted and went out again.
Soon enough a Urayan and a Rare Blade entered. This Rare Blade was humanlike female wearing a white and partially brown outfit. The legs were covered in white armor plating with pink deposits of ore sticking out of her knees. Startlingly, this Blade lacked feet, although there were pink ore at the back of her calves acting as a sort of heel. She wears a black skirt with four pink gems at either side of the opening at the front. The top has several brown markings at the front which gives a slight illusion of it being a corset. On her chest is a golden diamond shaped base with the diamond shaped Core Crystal laid into it. On her neck was a high collar of what looked like a black bodysuit which was accompanied by the high widely open collar of the top. She also had white shoulder pads with pink ores sticking out of them. Finally, she had blue eyes, beige colored hair and a blue circle on her forehead with golden rim and lines that trace the under shape of the circle. She also had two glowing blue lines that went from just beneath each of the outer corners of her eyes beneath her hair. She also wore a white bonnet with a pointed back which had two large pink gemstones hanging from it.
"Thank you for receiving us your majesty," the Urayan spoke up while kneeling. Agate followed suit while having a small smile at seeing the child emperor.
"You claim to have information regarding my Special Inquisitor's whereabouts. Could you go into more detail?" Niall asked curtly, hoping that this was a real deal.
"My apologies," The Blade named Agate apologized, "We don't know where my Driver is currently."
"You dare waste his majesty's time?!" One of the guards escorting the two shouted in anger. This caused the Urayan to tense, while Agate looked startled.
"That's enough," Niall said sternly but without raising his voice while waving the overzealous guard off. The said guard backed off with a quick apology. " Please, explain yourself," the emperor then said politely.
Agate took a deep breath before speaking, "While we don't know where my Driver is as of now, I can tell you that she's alive. It was just few weeks ago, when during my trip back to Garfront with my team when my Driver's presence…disappeared from this world."
Niall raised an eyebrow at this, "Disappeared?" Although he also noted that the timing matches with the time the breach had opened.
"How to describe it," Agate said with a thoughtful look, "For a moment I could sense her somewhere far away, and the next…her presence just…disappeared into thin air."
"And you have been unable to locate her through your Resonance with her ever since?" Niall asked with a frown.
"Unfortunately, yes," Agate admitted with a sigh, "The truth is... I'm a little scared of what happened to her. I know Mòrag is still alive, but…what if she's in trouble and I'm not there to help her?" At the latter part, Agate looked scared. "What if she can't find her way back? What if…what if one day she just dies all of a sudden and I will revert without even realizing it?!" At the last part Agate looked to be on the verge of tears.
"Miss Agate, breath," the Urayan then said, stepping up and putting her hands on the hyperventilating Blade's shoulder. "Please excuse her, your majesty. It's…well a case where a Blade can't locate their Driver is practically unheard of and it scares her."
"I understand," Niall said with a sympathetic tone. He had a pretty good idea how Aegaeon would have acted if something similar ever happened. More importantly, Brighid would most likely be in worse state if she was still here. "But the fact that you are still here means that our Special Inquisitor is still alive and may be searching for a way back as we speak."
"That's true," Agate said, "My Driver would probably climb the World Tree itself if it meant that she could return."
One of the guards let out a small chuckle earning a look from the others, which made the said guard stiffen at being caught red handed of unprofessional conduct.
But the emperor himself was smiling, "Thank you for telling us this. With this, my hope for the return of our strongest Driver and the Jewel of Mor Ardain has been reignited."
"That was why I came here to begin with," Agate said, before having a look of resolve on her face, "Please don't give up on her your majesty. So long as I'm here neither will I lose my hope for my Driver's return. But…until she returns, I would like to return to Garfront and wait for her."
"Would you not rather wait here?" Niall offered curtly, "We can provide you with a room until your Driver's return."
"Thank you, your highness," Agate said with a curtsy, "But I would rather make myself useful and work at Garfront until her return. It's what Mòrag would want, since she hates lollygagging."
Niall resisted a chuckle. That certainly sounded like something Mòrag would say. "As you wish, please escort them out courteously," Niall then told the guards who all saluted.
"This way, ladies," one of them said and the two guests gave their farewells before exiting.
This left the young emperor to his thoughts. "Please be safe, sis." Niall wished in his thoughts. As the emperor of Mor Ardain, he had to stay strong for the sake of his people. Any sign of weakness and his enemies both in and out of the empire will jump at his throat. He also needs to stay strong for Mòrag's sake. And make sure she has a home to come back to. This on top of the tension between the Kingdom of Uraya was not a welcome situation.
Mòrag was tired. She thought Rex, Tora and to some extent, Nia were children. Now, she was proven wrong once she got to know team JNPRR. "JNPRR" meaning Nora and Ruby. One is hyperactive and more childlike than even her own Blade, the other... Mòrag wasn't even able to put her finger on it, but it reminded her a little of Rex.
But that wasn't an issue right now. The issue was now that they held a small break from training, Nora was in her face and asking questions about Niall. This rang alarm bells in the Special Inquisitor's head. But the alarm bells grew silent as the questions were along the lines of, "What does he look like? Is he cute? Does everyone at the castle bow to his every whim?"
That was when Mòrag realized that these were questions of a typical girl who had a fantasized view about royalty. "Classified." But this didn't mean that the Special Inquisitor would indulge the girl.
"Oh, come on, don't be stingy," Nora whined a little.
"Why are you even asking these," Brighid questioned with a suspicious look, "Are you planning to marry into the imperial family?"
This caused Otohime to perk up with a scowl on her face, "So…my little Ren isn't good enough for you anymore?" It sounded like she was planning bloody murder if she didn't like the answer.
"Whuh?! NO!" Nora cried out in embarrassed horror, "I didn't mean that! I just... wanted to know what kind of cute boy would be put on a throne. Not that I care about that, but I'm just curious. And I mean-" "Nora," Ren spoke up as he walked to his childhood friend with an amused smile.
"Y-yes, Ren," Nora asked, fearing the worst.
"It's fine, you don't have to explain," Ren said before giving the orangette a peck on the cheek. This made Nora stiffen with a blank look.
"Nora," Electra asked in slight concern, "Hello?" The childlike Blade even poked her Driver's side only to receive no reaction.
"Please forgive Nora," Ren then apologized to Mòrag who had a raised eyebrow at the condition this black-haired youth placed the hyperactive orangette in. "She is... very energetic."
"That is an understatement," Otohime sounded out, now looking amused at how easily Nora was stopped, "If I had known it would be this easy for you to make her still, I would have approved of this a long time ago."
As if by magic, Nora got her bearings back before latching herself onto Ren with a goofy grin. Which caused Mòrag and Brighid to stare in bewilderment as the orangette nuzzled against her very recent boyfriend.
"Ahh, young love," said Zeke with a dramatic wave of his hand.
Mòrag let out a weary sigh, "Zeke…I know I'm going to regret this, but you will be in charge of their Driver training for a while." With those words, Mòrag walked off, intending to return to Haven dorm she was admitted to, to have her rest. Brighid followed suit.
"Wow, even the mighty Flamebringer can't seem to handle being around kids," Zeke said, having long realized what her problem was.
"Not everyone can handle rambunctious kids," Pandoria replied easily.
"Yeah, there's nothing the Zekenator can't handle," Zeke said proudly.
"I was referring to me handling you," Pandoria said with a snicker.
"Pandy!"
All the while, Ruby, Jaune and Penny watched this exchange. "…So…Nora and Ren are a couple?" Ruby decided to ask a little idly.
"…Yeah, right after we got to Mistral," Jaune said with a small pang of jealousy. This could've been him and Pyrrha if he wasn't such a moron.
"Oh!" Penny then sounded out in realization," I get it! Ren and Nora are a couple, Electra is their child and Otohime is Ren's mother!"
This earned blanched looks out of the two who looked at each other in concern before returning their attention to the mechanical girl.
"Umm…Penny? You do know that's not physically possible, right?" Ruby muttered in concern that Zeke's attack might have damaged some of her friend's more important mental circuits.
"Of course," Penny said happily, "But that's the family dynamic between these four isn't it?"
"…You might be right actually," Jaune muttered in disbelief. Now that he thought about it, it did seem like Nora and Ren were a married couple with a kid, while Otohime was the in-law with a slight dislike for her son's choise in women. It sounded like a family sitcom to be honest.
In Uraya, Queen Raqura was also concerned about the Aegis' disappearance. She had not actually met the boy, but has some rumors about him. One of them being a leader of a mercenary group situated right here in her Kingdom. She knew that the former leader was an upstanding man if a bit crude and boneheaded, as some of his rivals claimed.
Still while she had proof of the emperor's intentions when he risked his life to protect her, she still couldn't discount the possibility of this ceasefire to last. The current treaty about the incident was pretty much in her favor and the emperor conceded to it. The empire would stop excavating the ruins of Judicium while her own troops were allowed to investigate the area. The tensions are high and she had received reports of more hotheaded soldiers trying to instigate a fight with Ardainians. Thankfully the commanding officers acted fast and took disciplinary actions. There were similar incidents from the Ardainian's side, but it appeared that their commanding officers held similar mindset to hers, judging by reports. No one wanted another war, and the preparations that had been made have taken their toll on her people. The benevolent ruler part of her wished that this war preparations would be unnecessary so that the food would no longer need to be rationed, among other necessities.
"So much trouble from the disappearance of one boy," Raqura muttered in thought in her chambers as she dropped another report from her generals.
Meanwhile in Indol, Praetor Amalthus had similar concerns. Although his focus point was Rex. For the past five centuries he had tried to study these breaches, but they appeared randomly and without any consistent pattern. More importantly, they only stay open for a very short time. And now one of them has gone and taken the boy and Mythra, along with Zeke and Pandoria. Without the boy, Malos may not be stopped. And without Pandoria, no one can enter the Tantalese Titan.
Though the reports of few witnesses of the incident make him suspect that something foul is afoot. Apparently, several black arms came out of the breach that took the Aegis and her Driver away. That was the first time that something came out of a breach instead of it simply sucking in whatever was nearby.
"Wherever these breaches lead to…Who or whatever is on the otherside must have targeted the Aegis." Amalthus thought with a finger on his chin inside his study. The last two times a breach opened was when the Aegis was nearby, so perhaps whoever was causing them decided to go after it.
"But if that is the case, then why now? Why wait for 500 years before actually going after the Aegis? Is this another of your tests, father?" Amalthus thought as he walked towards a window in his study that allowed him a view of the World Tree. "No! I have already passed all the tests. Why else would he have let me take the Aegises?" He could wait for a while longer, but at this rate it might seem like he would have to reach the World Tree again without Rex's help. It will be much more troublesome, but not entirely impossible.
In the room that was shared by the boys, Rex was doing some inventory. He still had the Core Chips and Aux Cores that didn't suit Pyra, Roc or Wulfric. Though he wasn't sure about the Remnantians. But his thoughts then drifted to his remaining friends. Nia, Dromarch, Poppi and Tora. He was lucky that Zeke was on his way here with Oscar and Mòrag was already here. But where are the others? Especially Wulfric, even if they had moved, the beastly earth Blade should have been able to keep moving to his direction. Although now that he thought of it, how was he going to get to Mistral itself? The people might mistake him for a monster of some kind, like so many others have.
With that thought in mind, Rex chose to find Roc. It didn't take him long to find the avian Blade in the living room, munching on some kind of snack.
"Hey, Roc," Rex greeted the Blade.
"Ahh, Rex. What's up?" Roc greeted back.
"I was wondering…could you go to the check in station and warn about Wulfric?" Rex asked the avian Blade.
"Why would you need me to do that?" Roc asked as he stood up from the couch.
"Well, Wulfric is still out there somewhere and if he does find his way to Mistral, then I don't want anyone to think he's a monster or something," Rex replied easily.
"Good point," Roc commented, although if his beak was capable of it, he would be smirking. Poor Wulfric, so monstrous looking and yet a big softie on the inside. "I'll get right on it," Roc said as he moved to go outside and fly to the station. Hopefully the officers there won't give him any trouble this time. Last time it took a testimony from Rex until they believed he was a Blade and not some kind of freaky creature. But they did look relieved when Rex was able to convince them otherwise, so maybe they've learned.
But now that Roc was gone, Rex felt worried about Alrest. During these weeks, Malos would be able to have a head-start on Elysium. Then again, if reaching it would be so easy for him, the evil Aegis probably would have done so already. What with Ophion still guarding the area around the tree and attacking anything that tries to approach it. Still…Who knows what he's up to at this time.
"So, we have no idea what's going on?" Asked Malos who was on the command bridge of Monoceros, in a meeting with his fellow members.
"Unfortunately, it would seem so," Akhos said in worry. Their plans relied on the Aegis and now it has disappeared to who knows where.
"Dammit!" Malos shouted as he punched a wall. "I did NOT wait 500 years just to be thwarted like this!"
"Malos, calm down," Jin said calmly.
"Calm down?" Malos asked in disbelief before grabbing the silver haired man by his lapel, "How can you expect me to calm down when everything I have worked for has been devoured by a phenomenon that we know NOTHING ABOUT?!"
"Malos, I understand," Jin said, still calmly, "The Aegis was the central piece and we lost it, but isn't this the first time a group of people have gone through?"
Malos calmed down a little bit before letting go of Jin's lapel, "What are you getting at?"
"Perhaps whatever this phenomenon is took them somewhere else, which could possibly mean that they might find a way back from there," Jin explained himself.
At that moment one of the monitors lit up and Mikhail went to check it.
"That's a pretty big if," Malos said with a melancholic look, "What if that thing simply destroys anything that gets into it."
"Also, we saw that the thing exploded so we might have lost the Aegis forever," Patroka said in annoyance.
"So, everything is lost now," Akhos said with his fists clenched in anger.
"Hey!" Mikhail suddenly exclaimed, "Maybe Jin is right!"
This earned the blonde man everyone's attention. "What do you mean, Mikhail?" Malos was the first to ask.
"We sent our toys to scour any place the Aegis might be at, and guess what one of them found out," Mikhail said as he played back a recording one of the "toys" had.
"The truth is…I'm a little scared of what happened to her. I know Mòrag is still alive, but…what if she's in trouble and I'm not there to help her?" Was the playback from one of the toys that managed to infiltrate Hardhaigh Palace.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Patroka asked impatiently.
"This was said by a Blade that is bonded to the Special Inquisitor, judging by the context," Mikhail explained, and that caused cogs to turn.
"So, if the Blade is still awakened, then that would mean that the Special Inquisitor is still alive," Akhos said with a thoughtful look.
"Which could mean that the boy and the Aegis are also alive," Jin finished the thought.
"There's still no guarantee that they can find a way back from where ever they are," Malos said with a sigh, "But now we have a sliver of hope." That earned the evil Aegis a round of agreements. "For now, we should keep our surveillance up. The moment they find their way back, I want to know."
With those instructions, the rest of the Torna members went to do different things on the currently submerged ship.
"Hey, Jin," Malos called out before the silver haired man could move out.
"Yes?"
"Sorry for losing my temper," Malos said with a somber look.
"…It's alright," Jin replied simply before turning to leave the command bridge, "We will get the Aegis, count on it."
Malos let out a small chuckle, "I sure hope so." The male Aegis placed his hand over his chest plate which covered his Core Crystal. "Without my full power I can't end this wretched world," Malos thought bitterly before pushing those thoughts at the back of his head, "You better find your way back, partner."
A woman was walking through a metal hallway towards the office of her co-worker. She had some data to review with him that he might find interesting. Once she reached the door to the office in question, she moved her hand to knock until she heard voices from inside it.
"I thought you of all people would understand this!" a male voice shouted from the inside.
"Look, I know we've only scratched the surface with what the Conduit can do, but do you even realize what you're saying?" Another male voice sounded out.
"You said that these calculations were sound," the first male voice argued back.
"In theory!" there was a strong emphasis on "theory", "Look, I would be more than happy to work on refining this, but…is humanity ready for this kind of power?"
"You're the one who says that humanity has unlimited potential," the first male said in a frustrated tone.
"I do, but this would be like…giving a loaded pistol to a four-year-old," the second man said, now causing the woman to worry. What were these two arguing about this time that sounded so dangerous?
The woman then decided to knock on the door which then proceeded to slide open to reveal two men in lab coats. One had medium length brownish-blonde hair, while the other had unkempt black hair with a small stubble. "Am I interrupting?" the woman asked curtly, not allowing herself to look worried.
"Ahh, ****! Not at all," the blonde man said, part of the speech blurrying for some reason, "He was just leaving. **** we will discuss this another day."
"Indeed," the black-haired man said with a sigh, "I'll get back to you once I've finished that software adjustment on Aion."
"Yeah, you get to work on that," the blonde man said with a small sigh, "See you later ****." The man was clearly smug despite not having a face.
"Stop calling me that!" the black-haired man shouted angrily, which was evident despite him too lacking a face.
That was when Salem woke up in her bed with a start. "…What was that?" Salem muttered in confusion and anger. First it was flashes, now dreams? No wait... was that really a dream. Salem got out of her bed and onto a full body mirror where she began touching the left side of her face. Salem tried to think back on the dream. She focused and focused on one particular moment. A moment where she could see the appearance she had in the dream for an instant on a reflective surface. She was also in a lab coat and had a gray hair. Just like that half-corpse. "Could this mean…?" Salem couldn't bring herself to finish that thought before a sick grin plastered her face. "That wasn't a dream. It was a memory." Although it did raise a question: Why were the names and faces blurred out?
AN: Here we have a filler-esque episode where we catch glimpses of what's going on in Alrest now that its heroes have disappeared.
Niall is naturally worried about Mòrag who is practically a sister to him. Raqura fears that war may be inevitable. Amalthus is worried about his plans. And Malos is not happy.
But you might be wondering... what's up with Salem? Well the fact is... I'm not telling! XD