The rest of the day came and went with a somber mood in the air. From the moment that Kaito and Miko saw Pyra and Frankie emerge from the alcove they had disappeared into, assuming only the best, they were greeted with nothing short of the worst. Sad, lowly, confused, and guilty expressions on their faces was what they came out with, and all of a sudden this exciting expedition turned to one of regret and concern. They didn't even bother to ask them what had happened and why Mythra had let Pyra take charge again. It wasn't something that needed to be talked about.

As a matter of fact, talking was on the back of everyone's mind as they headed down the mountain and back to the hotel, the only sound accompanying them being the trotting and occasional sneezing of the donkeys. Kaito and Miko knew it had to be deathly serious if Frankie and Pyra, of all people, weren't chewing the fat and shooting the breeze. They couldn't even be excited to see her again because the air was just so tense. All they could think about was what happened to Mythra that made her go back into hiding? They dared not to ask, all of this, even from an outsider's perspective, seemed really sensitive.

Frankie slept on the couch that night. Pyra took a bed for herself while Miko and Kaito bundled up in the other. All of this done without saying a single word to each other. Pyra tried to protest at one point, but Frankie only shook his head and immediately headed off to take a shower. Kaito and Miko's hearts were just as heavy as theirs were and turned to each other for comfort, crying themselves to sleep since the people they cared most about clearly needed help but just… didn't want it.

Frankie and Pyra had far too much difficulty getting to sleep. Pyra could only look back on what she did to him as Mythra and felt just… disgusted about it. She hadn't even done that to her previous Drivers, this was… special in all the wrong ways. More importantly, she was just being reminded about how nonsensical this forgetting stuff for her and Mythra actually was and how mad it drove the both of them. They wanted answers just as much as Frankie did, but it felt like they just weren't allowed to find them.

Maybe she really was a monster… maybe that's why she drove herself further and further away from her last Driver and the kids even now she would still be happy to call her nieces and nephews. It was so odd, though, she remembered what she did to get to where she was at that point, all those fights, the moments she had with both friends and enemies, the valiant efforts that ultimately still boiled down to hurting others for their own sake… but all of it was just plain generic action film statements; all those faces were blank, they had no names, their voices were plain. None of it made any sense… why did her dreams fill in so many gaps when her conscious self couldn't? Why did she forget those filled in gaps so instantly besides the most awful ones? She eventually cried herself to sleep as well as this utter madness ran rampant through her brain, Mythra suffering all the same.

Frankie didn't get any sleep at all. He tossed and turned in his position and cried desperately because he was so frustrated; not only because he couldn't get himself to sleep, but also because of how stupid he felt he was. This whole expedition only hurt Mythra and Pyra more than it helped either of them. It hurt him more than it helped in any way. Now, he too was wracked with thoughts of himself being just… a bad person for letting this all happen. He was still afraid of what happened when Mythra snapped in the alcove, and he tried so very hard not to think about it for her sake, but it always found a way to creep back into his mind. He was taunted and tormented all throughout the night and he couldn't do anything about it.

And Pyra felt every last part of it.

—————————————————————————

The flight back home wasn't much better. For four hours, Frankie just stared out the window solemnly, while Pyra rested her head on the back of her seat in defeat. They weren't even sitting together anymore. Miko had taken Pyra's spot, and Kaito, Miko's. They agreed on this to potentially avoid any rising tension between them and the Aegis, whether out of jealousy or otherwise, but neither were clearly in the mood to talk. Miko laid a reassuring hand on Frankie's arm as she told him that everything would be okay, about as generic an encouragement anyone could get. Frankie didn't know what to do with that information, so he made a concentrated effort to just nod off to sleep on the plane, hopefully to just… not think about it for a bit.

Miko's brow furrowed in concern as she looked over to Kaito, who wasn't doing any better himself. It had only occurred to him now how little he actually interacted with Pyra outside of business things. He had gotten too used to Mythra and her quirks, but Pyra was so mysterious and tucked away in comparison, it made it hard to actually converse with her. To say it was an awkward experience would only be the tip of the iceberg.

Frankie's dreams were plagued with all different sorts of things. There, he saw Mythra as the monster the text labeled her as; laying waste to the land with all her powers, striking down anyone who got in her way… all until she met him; Addam. She softened up considerably and took a fond liking to him, but there was some unexplainable feeling of distance between the two that deeply upset Mythra, eventually turning her back to her violent ways, something Frankie could practically feel himself. He tossed and turned in his sleep angrily as Miko did her very best to calm him down, all she could hear through his teary eyed blubbering him was repeating the words…

"Pyra… Mythra…" Over and over again in hushed fear. The way he spoke was drowned out in pain, fear, confusion, sadness, and fatigue, so it was hard for Miko to really find a way to calm him down, and it pained Kaito to see him hurting yet again and being unable to do anything. Not even be there by his side. Pyra felt all his pain well up in her chest, leaving her just as much an emotional wreck as he was, even if she didn't understand all the emotions he had left her with.

Finally, they had arrived back home in California. Even now, Frankie and Pyra didn't say a single word to each other. Occasionally, he would make glimpses her way, with both of them wearing the exact same sorrowful expression. Sometimes the glances would last more than a second or two. Miko and Kaito knew he was worried about Mythra too, and indeed he was. It was an odd mixture of being afraid FOR her and being afraid OF her. The latter of which was an emotion he did his very best to rebuke because of how disgusting the very thought of it sounded to him, considering all they had been through already.

…That incident with the blade was terribly scary, though…

The quartet recollected their bags and headed out to their cars; Miko and Pyra in Kaito's, and Frankie and Kaito in Frankie's, the smaller couple driving each other's respective cars. Before they took off for the hour drive home, Kaito and Miko took meaningful glances at each other and nodded sharply in confidence as they directed their respective partner into the passenger's seat and at last took off.

Now both parties were alone. Pyra wasn't with Frankie, and Frankie wasn't with Pyra. Just Miko and Kaito, respectively. They had both agreed to give them at least the car ride home to let them be quiet some more- but when they would retreat back to their houses- that would be the time to be a bit more forceful. Kaito took Frankie to his house, and Miko took Pyra hers and Kaito's in the next city over. When both parties were alone with each other, they finally got right to it.

"So…" Kaito began. "Mind telling me what happened between you two…?"

"I'd rather not talk about it…" Frankie said solemnly.

"Yeah, no. Sorry big brobro, but that's not gonna cut it this time. Talk to me." Frankie was already welling up in tears. Partially because he was worried that he upset his brother in any way, partially because he was feeling touched already by his mere presence alone.

"W-well… I-I found some more stuff about the superbly amazing, wonderful, powerful, ungodly sexy and attractive cool as hell hero king Addam a-and… I wanted to show Mythra what I found so I could try and jog her memory but…" Frankie paused and winced in grief, holding his chest tightly as he grit his teeth.

Kaito was trying to figure out where to start with this. He could read from his brother's tone that he wasn't quite satisfied with any discovery that was made, but bringing that up didn't seem like it would improve his mood greatly. Given Frankie's tone, he figured moving the conversation away from this "Addam" was the best move.

"...well, don't worry too much about this Addam guy, I'm assuming Mythra didn't take this very well, did she?" Frankie stayed silent for a bit as he stared out the window, doing his best not to burst into tears and blabber over his own crying.

"What happened back there… I… I deserve it… this wasn't an expedition to get Mythra's memory back like I'm sure Addumb West over here surely would've done with great valiance and honor… all I wanted was to get answers for myself because the more we learn about these Drivers of hers, the more worried I get because I couldn't possibly… not in a million years stack up to whoever they were… All I wanted to do was make sure they weren't… they-they weren't…"

Tears fell down Frankie's face as he shivered uncontrollably.

"Oh big brobro…" Kaito knew what his brother needed. He walked over and gently wrapped his arms around him to help him feel comforted and safe.

To others, Frankie may come across as slightly intimidating. But Kaito knew deep down that his brother was a very tender soul that had a penchant for getting scared and loving a bit too much sometimes.

Frankie slowly hugged back as he sniffed indignantly and rested his chin on his brother's head.

"Just the thought of Mythra and Pyra… e-especially Pyra… you know……… being with someone is just…." Frankie shut his eyes tightly and tightened the grip of his hug as well as he began to cry a bit harder now. Kaito raised an eyebrow at his older brother before he continued speaking. "F-fine… I admit it… I-I'm head over heels for those two… That sounds so stupid for only two weeks, but damn it, this is the most affection I've gotten in going on two years because I'm such a whiny loser baby who can't deal with the fact his mom, dad, and grandma are all just gone and thought hiding away was the best thing ever but… Pyra's so pretty… she's so sweet, she's so nice, she's so silly, she listens to what I have to say, the thought of cooking with her has lived rent free in my head from the moment it was first brought up, and Mythra's just as pretty, but she's so cool, and tough, and dorky and fun to be around and…" Frankie stopped suddenly to swallow but proceeded to stay silent even longer afterwards, waiting for Kaito to go on.

"Heh…you big dork. This is what we call being in love. Where every little thing about that person, even stuff some people wouldn't have considered, just draws you to them even more." He patted his brother on the back as he kept going. "I get how you feel. And now that you're finally shutting up and being honest with yourself, let me give you some food for thought… These emotions of jealousy and anxiety over stuff you don't know about, and then you're beating yourself up for having those emotions in the first place, that's normal, believe it or not."

He placed his hand on top of his brother's head, forcing him to reach up slightly.

"But there's something special about you two that adds a lot of…processing into the mix, yeah…that's a word for it."

Frankie looked down somberly as he took in Kaito's words… he still had yet to tell him the big thing of it all.

"…do you wanna know what happened back there…?"

"If you're willing to tell me, cuz…I get the feeling you're gonna have to in order for this stuff to resolve."

Frankie was silent again just before he started crying some more as he spoke.

"I…I showed Mythra what I found in the alcove… she didn't recognize anything at first, so I started egging her on, stupid, I know, but… you know… So then I guided her to some text I found on this big huge statue that related to her and then she got super upset and huffy as she finished and…"

"…and…?"

"…"

"…?"

"She pushed me up against the wall… blade end of her sword just below me while the blade itself was all up on me… she pushed it up further to get answers out of me for why I brought her here… I must've… triggered some bad memories because she was ready to… to go further, I think…"

Once again, Kaito was unsure of how to proceed. Obviously he wanted to comfort his big brother in regards to his relationship to Mythra, but what he just heard was a rather blatant admission that she both showed she was capable of hurting him and, given the circumstance, potentially willing to do so.

There was nothing Kaito feared more than his older brother being hurt, and Mythra had both done so emotionally and threatened to do so physically, and this concerned him greatly.

But…Kaito took a moment to consider Mythra, how she must have felt in that moment, how painful recounting those memories must have been to cause her to lash out like that. Truthfully…it was highly likely that Mythra was feeling the same way Frankie was, if not worse in many ways.

"...baby brother?" Frankie noticed Kaito hadn't spoken in a moment.

"...well, I won't pry too much on what you two found…yet. I'm sure Mythra or Pyra or whoever will come clean about that soon now that it's in the open." He put both his hands on Frankie's shoulders.

"All I want to know now is…do you still love her? Love them? Both Pyra and Mythra? Do you still want to care for them and be with them?"

"…love is such a strong word-"

"Big bro…"

"Fine… I just… it isn't fair to Mythra to say I only want to get to know Pyra more and leave her behind but… she scared the heck out of me, man… she… she called me a stupid sorry horrible joke of a driver… if that isn't proof that not only is she fed up with me, I can't ever possibly hope to reach the lengths of Addam or… whatever their last Driver was called, then I don't know what is…"

"Well, who ever said you needed to live up to them?"

"Well… I'm their Driver now so… it's only inevitable… I can't fight, I'm no testosterone buff male, I'm just… me…"

"That's not really what I meant, big bro, but even then, from what you said, it doesn't seem like they need help fighting, exactly." Kaito chuckled, a hint of uncertainty in his laugh. Frankie hung his head low before swinging it back in defeat.

"Come on now, do you really think their previous lives were perfect and full of sunshine and rainbows?"

"Well I mean… they had to have been… from what I saw in Pyra's dream everything looked so lush and green and perfect… whoever their last Driver was, I hate already… leaving those poor girls behind cuz he was being a stupid workaholic who can't even keep his mind straight…" Kaito was a bit taken aback by the sudden targeted comment.

"So, from your own admission, things were at the very least not all perfect and peachy for them, yeah?"

Frankie really had to stop for a moment. As much as he wanted to fight back on that comment and proceed to devalue himself even further, he also had to admit that it was indeed true. Even if he didn't know the full story quite yet, he had to agree that their last Driver seemed… decent enough from what Mythra could remember, but certainly not perfect.

"I… I guess not…" He said dejectedly. Kaito could tell his brother was still in his own head with doubts, so he patted him on the shoulder as he stood up to reassure him.

"Well then we've settled it. We can't very well say yay or nay on how their life was back then, but we know that at the very least it wasn't this perfect paradise time for them. Otherwise, all we can know for certain is what we can plainly see in the here and now, and right now, they need support. Only question you really gotta answer at this point is, do you want to give them that support?"

Frankie was silent again. If this were only Pyra he was dealing with, he would've said yes in a heartbeat. But it wasn't just Pyra. It was Pyra AND Mythra, the latter of whom, on any other day, Frankie would've backed up just as well… but after the previous day's incident…

"I… I didn't think I'd put her in that position…" Frankie sobbed lightly, referring back to his time with Mythra in the alcove.

"Oh big bro, really, now's not the time to moping this much. We both know you want to help them deep down, so for the time being just focus on that. You can figure out the rest when you're in a better mental state for it."

"I just… I want to be a good Driver for them…"

"Frankie… did you not hear what I JUST said? You can worry about that stuff later; as a matter of fact, you still haven't answered my question. Are you, or are you not going to support them?"

"I… I can never be like Addam… he was their first, he was such an important person in their lives and they don't remember him and all these unanswered questions are driving me nuts and… even in that dream they didn't seem to hate whoever their last Driver was in the least… I mean… they wouldn't have if they weren't so concerned about him, so it's just… I don't know… I feel bad about all this for some reason… like I'm… holding them back or something…"

"Frankie." Kaito harshened his tone and grip ever so slightly as he furrowed his brow in seriousness. "Please. Stop. You're not helping anyone by acting like this." Frankie sunk into himself as Kaito finished and let out a small sigh. "You know what, big bro? I think for now… what you need to do… is stop focusing on being their Driver so much." Frankie was about to protest, but Kaito stopped him immediately. "I'm sorry if this comes out the wrong way, but, you said it yourself, you can't fight, whatever you think you need to take on for their sake, that doesn't matter. We aren't in their time, they're in our time. I want you to be happy with these girls- yes, even Mythra- and don't worry, we'll make sure she gets a stern talking to about… what she did. But my point is this… if you say that they really, truly weren't the happiest way back when, then maybe what they need now isn't a Driver. What they need is a friend." Kaito smirked slightly as he reached up to Frankie's ear as best he could. "Or maybe…something else to them, perhaps." He whispered.

"W-wha?!" Frankie became his usual flustered self in an instant as Kaito fell back to his original position.

"In due time, big bro! And don't think you can hide behind any of your silly excuses anymore! You just admitted you had the hots for them!"

"I… I really did wanna take Pyra more places than just work or the library before… all of this stuff happened… she looked so excited…"

Kaito couldn't help but chuckle in a bit of disbelief. First Frankie was concerned with Mythra's threatening actions, then flip-flopping between that and self-guilt, and now at the simple mention of a date he was already melting like an ice cube.

"Tender-hearted indeed…" Kaito said under his breath.

"But… then what's gonna happen in regards to their past, and-"

"Big bro, remember what I said. It isn't your duty to be their Driver right now. You need to be their friend. Miko and I will handle all that research junk when we can. I hate seeing you get so uppity about all this, so if anything, for my sake, please, just pay attention to making them happy and comfortable in this new world, okay? It's time to stop saying you're gonna do it, and start actually doing it."

"Yeah… right…" Frankie shifted his eyes away from his brother as he spoke kind of distantly.

"Something still on your mind, big brobro?" Kaito asked, picking up that Frankie's distance came from a different place than it had been during their back and forth with each other, it almost seemed like he had realized something.

"I think… I think I know what the matter is regarding Pyra and Mythra's memories…" He said.

"Yeah?" Kaito waited patiently as Frankie explained himself.

"This is just a theory that came to me right now but… I don't think it's as simple as 'They only remember the bad times in their life' otherwise the stuff about those titans and the people they knew just wouldn't make any sense. It almost feels like… The bad things are what's most prevalent… but the good and the peaceful still exist as a sort of… reminder, almost."

"Reminder of what?"

"I-I don't know yet and while I do know Mythra is justified in wanting to forget… I don't think that's fair, what if she forgets those friends she was talking about? The cat lady especially sounded like someone she was very fond of. If anything, they deserve to forget the worst of the worst because…"

"That's the way the human brain works?"

"No… no… oh… oh, Mythra… Kaito, we have to get to your house, now! I need to see her!"

"Talk to me Pyra, come on." Miko pleaded with the Blade. She wasn't sure about questioning her directly, but at this point this conversation needed to happen sooner rather than later.

Already, Pyra was welling up with tears. The Blade turned away in utter shame as she tried her very best to not completely lose it.

"You would absolutely despise me if I told you what I did…" She said, completely choked up. Miko placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Oh Pyra, please. I won't despise you at all. I know better than most people how being emotional and stressed can make someone act. Just… please tell me what happened."

Pyra stayed silent for a short while before closing her eyes sadly, suddenly shifting to Mythra, who had clearly been crying for a long time; her eyes were completely red, cheeks stained with tears, hair mottled up in a messy bundle, even her body language hanging as low as it did gave the impression that she didn't even get any sleep.

"I… I found some bad mementos when I was alone with him…" She weakly said, throat incredibly scratchy and dry.

"And?" Miko sat down next to her. "...is what you found too much to talk about?"

"No, it's all a bunch of sunshine and rainbows- what the hell do YOU think?" Her sudden snap was accompanied by a few light particles rising around her head.

While she leaned back in response, Miko was fairly unphased, which took Mythra by some surprise. She placed her hand on the much taller girl's head.

"It's alright, just tell me what happened."

"…I had… I…" Mythra was shivering and breaking now as her breathing quickened and deepened. "I was so… so upset from being reminded of… my past that I… I…"

"Broke down? Stop thinking clearly about what you were doing? Let it out on anything…anyone around you could find?"

"…I could've…" Mythra winced in disgust as she tightened herself up, suddenly viciously turning around and gripping Miko as tight as she possibly could for comfort. "I COULD'VE KILLED HIM, MIKO! I WAS SO SO CLOSE TO ACTUALLY HARMING HIM I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING- EVERYTHING HAPPENED SO FAST AND WHEN I SAW MYSELF I JUST- I REALLY AM NOTHING MORE THAN A WEAPON OF WAR TO BE TAMED LIKE SOME KIND OF WILD ANIMAL. JUST SCREW ME FOR THINKING ONCE IN MY LIFE I COULD FIND HAPPINESS WITH THE GUY WE'VE BEEN DREAMING OF FOR LITERAL EONS, RIGHT? WE DON'T DESERVE IT, CLEARLY! AND MY DUMBASS ALMOST FUCKED IT UP ENTIRELY!!!!!!!" Mythra was sobbing uncontrollably now as she screamed bloody murder in her and Miko's private area. She was continuing her self depreciating rant in between sobs, but her crying was so profuse it was unintelligible, but one thing was for sure, Mythra was disgusted with herself. Herself. Not Pyra. Just her. Mythra.

However, even through her distress, Miko simply listened quietly and calmly, placing her hand back on Mythra's shoulder after retracting it earlier.

"W-what is with you, huh…? Aren't you afraid of being so close to a murderer…?" Mythra lifted her head up in a vain attempt to drive Miko away, but the pain that was strewn on her face did nothing but let the smaller lady know that she needed help.

"Please Mythra. I'm not gonna abandon you, neither is Kaito, and of course, Frankie would never even consider that."

She pulled the taller girl back towards her. "Listen, I could go on and on about how many times I've let my emotions control me, leading me to hurt the people I love and myself in turn. But living in the past isn't going to help you right now. Really, what you need to answer for yourself is this: Do you want to make it up to him?"

Mythra gritted her teeth in pain and sadness as she turned away yet again, suddenly shifting to Pyra, who sat up a little higher than she did, albeit just as forlorn as ever.

"I… I like him a lot, Miko… I really… really… really… really like him…" Pyra sheepishly admitted. "Consider the fact I've seen him in my dreams for so many years prior to me actually meeting him before you roll your eyes and rag on me; and seeing him so… friendly, warm, inviting, sweet, silly, caring, considerate, sensitive, kind, dorky, culinarily advanced…"

Miko giggled.

"Oh Pyra, you and Mythra are such big dorks. You've only known him for what, 2 weeks? It took at LEAST 3 for me to realize I had a thing for Kokonut." She patted the red-head on the back.

"He'll forgive you, both of you. If he hasn't already. Because he loves you so truly."

"HE WHAT?!" Pyra jumped up suddenly, recoiling in shock as her whole body turned even redder than her hair.

Of all the things Pyra and Mythra had done just now, that was the reaction that peeved Miko, even if only slightly.

"You…you're kidding right? Have you SEEN the way he acts around you? He couldn't be more obvious if he walked up to you with a bouquet with a card and some chocolates and-you're already imagining that now, aren't you?"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Pyra stamped her feet defiantly on the ground below as she tightly shut her eyes. "B-besides! You and he know just as well as we do that… that two weeks is an impossibly short amount of time! Who forms anything meaningful in the span of two weeks?"

"You crazy sure about that?" Miko raised an eyebrow.

"O-of course I'm sure! I have a whole laundry list of problems with that Snow White movie Frankie showed me the other day, and I do believe each one of them pertains to what it is I'm feeling! …even though he did wake me up with a touch of his person too, didn't he…?"

Miko couldn't help but chuckle in a bit of disbelief. First these Blades were emotional wrecks over whether or not they could be loved, and on the flip of a dime Pyra was acting like an excitable school girl about her crush.

"And you seriously think Frankie wouldn't just absolutely adore everything about you?"

"Miko… it's just… that proves my point, doesn't it…? I don't want to be in a position where I'm just some floozy waiting for someone to rescue me because I made a rash decision… though I suppose being a Blade already takes care of half of that…" Pyra looked away distantly as she spoke.

"A lack of choice?" Miko asked for clarification. Pyra nodded solemnly as Miko thought hard about how to handle this situation.

"You're right, and you wanna know how you can do that?" Miko gently nudged.

"Do what? Let the man of the house get all the glory and disappear into the sidelines?"

"No, silly! You work hard, you grow as a person, and then you take what you want. Live life the way you want to live it! Live it with the people you want to live it with!"

"Live the life I want…" Pyra repeated as she gazed up to the sky thoughtfully before bringing her head back down again somberly. She then switched back to Mythra in that exact position.

"…Does all that stuff you said apply to me as well?" She asked, voice still a bit scratchy from yelling and crying so much.

"You dumb banana… of course it does, you won't ever shut up about you and Pyra being the same so why wouldn't it?" Miko chuckled lightly while Mythra continued to ponder.

"I… I really hate being the Aegis… hell, I hate being a Blade in general…" Mythra started to tear up again.

"Big sis…?" Miko crept closer to Mythra and laid a comforting hand on her arm as the taller woman began to shiver up.

"Th-tha-that's what I told him after I had… blown up… and… I really honestly mean every word of it…" Mythra removed herself from Miko's touch while the smaller lady watched her walk way sadly.

"It's more than just hating the idea of fighting and killing and having to be the absolute best you can be just so you can make a fraction of a difference… but that does play a pretty big part in it…" Mythra touched her core crystal gently as she sighed before continuing. "I…I'm afraid to even speak 'those' feelings to him because I know it's just not going to matter in the end… I'll forget him entirely the next time I get awakened, I won't remember anything meaningful he and I ever did, if anything I'll see him as nothing more than a big ol' shit stain in my records… and I'll feel just awful remembering him as such…"

She switched to Pyra yet again.

"Nothing about these memories make any sense… Blades are supposed to forget and move on, and we had both assumed that would happen after our last Driver had passed, but… it didn't… and I just don't know why… so… who's to say that our time here with him won't go the exact same way…?"

Miko sat silently and contemplated for a moment. She was glad they were finally out of that emotional rut they were in earlier, but it was clear they still needed to talk about this. That said, how to bring about that conversation was something Miko was unsure about, until she remembered that "Aegis" term.

"So…this 'Aegis' thing…is it alright if you tell me what that means?" She asked very softly.

Pyra sniffed through her nose forcefully to collect herself, she knew she needed to tell someone about this, and Miko was the best candidate at the moment, at least as far as she could tell.

"It's…a bit complicated to explain fully, I'll just go from what you know about Blades already." She turned on the bed to sit with her knees hugged against her chest, while Miko turned to sit upright on hers.

"You know the gist of what Blades are, beings who support Drivers and who come from these core crystals, yes?"

Miko nodded intently.

"Well, we -me and Mythra- are a special kind of Blade. Our core crystals were created mainly to record and store the data of other Blades to help them along their paths…"

For a brief moment after saying that, Pyra glanced at the necklace Kaito had given Miko, which she was still wearing around her neck. She smiled softly before continuing.

"...there were 2 other Blades just like us, I don't remember what they were called later in life, but the cores they were based on were named Ontos and Logos. And ours…was named Pneuma."

Miko tilted her head as she processed what Pyra was saying.

"Ah, I think I get it. There were 3 of you essentially given a specific task, which is why you have some unique attributes from other Blades, is that it?"

Pyra nodded slowly.

"And that wouldn't be a bad thing in of itself, of course. But…the issue is…one of those 'unique attributes' was our longer -or I should say multiple- lifespans…"

She shifted around and looked down at her side.

"Normally Blades go back to their core crystal when their Driver passes, and then they awaken again with their memories of their previous life removed. They may as well be a whole new person in many regards. But, as Aegises we were to just…keep existing. On and on. For eternity…"

"But that's…" Miko could barely imagine something so mentally taxing.

"Oh it's just as bad as you think, Miko. Maybe a bit worse…our physical bodies were based on humans in most ways, and that includes our brains and…the human brain just isn't meant to be able to store that much data…that many memories."

Pyra began welling up again.

"E-even if all of those memories were good ones, the strain would be too much to bear, and…and…"

"And not all of them were good in the slightest, I take it?"

"...yeah…most of them were horrible in fact. What few bright spots existed felt so…small in comparison…"

"Oh Pyra…" Miko scooched over and spread her arms to approach a hug, but wasn't sure if Pyra would accept it for a moment.

Pyra immediately grasped onto Miko tightly, tears flowing out.

"I just…wanna forget the bad memories and hold onto the good ones…I don't want to let the bad memories ruin my chances of making better ones. I just… want to stop being the Aegis. I just…I just…"

"There there. It's alright." Miko rested her hand on Pyra's head.

"Th-this is why our memories are spotty, I think…" She calmed down slightly but her voice was still hoarse. "It's just…too much for our minds to process, so over time memories start to…leak away bit by bit…but one wrong move and they all come…flooding back before going away again and repeating over and over and over-"

She buried her face in Miko's embrace, and Miko simply reciprocated.

"Y-you were right…we were trying to forget, and for a while, we thought we just had… then there was the event that brought Mythra out in the first place which was already building things back up again and now this… t-that's why Mythra…why we…lost our temper back there…we were doing so well…we hadn't even thought of those old memories for so long and we just assumed our biggest want in life finally came true, but…when we saw what was written there, it was like… we realized our own mortality- or lack thereof, whichever you wanna call it and all those memories just…"

Miko patted Pyra's head to cut her off.

"It's okay big sis, I understand. I understand completely."

"You…you do? How?"

Miko chuckled.

"Wanting to forget the bad things in your life? Wishing you could just keep your brain from thinking about them, but not being able to stop it? Trying to wrestle with your own life when you least expect it day in and day out? Pyra, those are some of the most human things I've ever heard."

"O…oh…"

"That said, I think we found what we need to prioritize here…" Miko held Pyra by the head. "We need to figure out how to get you to push aside those bad memories, and the best I can think of for that is making new, good ones."

"I… I do feel like we've been spending a little too much time on… being Blades and Driver or… whatever…" Pyra admitted, clutching her chest nervously.

"Then right there is where we start." Miko stated promptly. "You and Frankie should stop seeing each other as Blade and Driver and start seeing each other as…ya know…something else."

Miko gave a smug smile and tone as she said that. Pyra blushed profusely as she turned away again, this time in flustered embarrassment. What she said next left her mouth almost without thinking.

"How did… you and Kaito get started…?"

Miko shifted around a bit, clearly a tad embarrassed to regale Pyra with such a tale.

"W-well…if you must know…"

"O-oh! Did I say something?! Oh, heavens… please, don't feel the need to respond if you aren't comfortable with it…" Pyra begged kindly as she backed away a small bit nervously.

Miko gently grabbed Pyra's arm as reassurance.

"Not at all, Pyra, it's alright. You just shared a ton of stuff about your past, the least I can do is make things even by telling you a bit of my own."

"W-well… if you say so…"

Miko took in a deep breath before explaining.

"So, in order to tell you about how me and Kaito met, we need a bit of backstory first. When I was in high-school, I was part of my school's student council, where we managed school events and cracked down on bad behaviors."

"A student council, you say?" Pyra chuckled a bit before continuing. "I imagine you took over the leadership role your first day on the job- Miss Law Affirm."

'I hope I'm saying that right…' she thought to herself as her barely noticeable nervous smile stretched wider than she really wanted it to. Miko noticed this and playfully shook the Blade's shoulder in response.

"Heh, well you're half-right. I ran for president of the council in my second year, but I only gained the position in my third and final one, but I'm grateful that I did, because it allowed me to learn so much…"

She turned her head and glanced to her lap.

"...Before then I…didn't have many friends-and honestly I didn't have a ton after I joined either- but…the friends I did have were absolutely wonderful and I cherished what they gave me. But…" Her body clenched slightly. "Over time, those friends…left. They didn't pass away or anything, in fact I chat with all of them regularly to this day. But the bulk of them all moved away and pursued their careers somewhere else, and eventually, I was pretty much alone by the time I moved schools."

She wrapped her arms around herself.

"It's so stupid and small to be bothered by…but…it was so painful, being like that. I had been lonely and desperate for attention before, but I think being around so many people for so long and then suddenly…not…took a bigger toll on me than ever."

"Almost like… you couldn't identify yourself without those people and it made you worry more and more as time went on- even more so when you saw leave with your own eyes…?" Pyra offered a guess.

"Oh Pyra…" Miko instead hugged the taller girl snugly. "To some extent…yes. I never lost sight of who I was or the things I had learned, obviously, but…the isolation was just too much…it felt like I had been sent back to square one in a way…"

"Mm Hmm… that's… that's pretty much how it was for Mythra and I…" Pyra held her head in her hand as she winced suddenly, falling back a bit. Miko kept her steady and rubbed her back in an effort to soothe her. "Lord have mercy… I'm getting too old for this…" Pyra turned away silently as she pondered over her words a fair bit before speaking up quietly once more. "If I would've just spoken up even the smallest bit maybe I could've saved myself the pain when the most painful years of my past lifetime finally reared their ugly heads, but as it is now… I'm still the Aegis, even after all this time… and I did next to nothing to fix that…" The Blade tried very carefully to not let any of the sudden rush of memories, brought on by Miko's eerily similar tale, leak out of her mouth as to not further concern Miko, feeling guilty enough already that she was stealing the conversation away from her.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just-"

Miko squeezed her tighter and cut her off. "Don't be, big sis. I'm partially telling you this stuff to help you out." She gently let go again before continuing.

"So, needless to say, I wasn't in the best place. But you know what got me out of that emotional rut?"

"…it wasn't Frankie was it…?" Pyra asked with a very slight edge to her voice.

"Pffffft- Pyra! You dork, of course not! It was Kaito, you silly!"

"Oh-w-well… o-of course it was…" Pyra let out the tiniest of smiles as she finished speaking.

"But yeah…of all the people I've met and gotten to know over my life…I never had someone just…get me right away. I had always wished for a kind, caring person to come by and understand how I felt on so many levels and just…care for me because of that, and not mock or berate me for it…"

Miko smiled as she looked up at the ceiling this time.

"...but after a while, I started to think that was just some fantasy, just me imagining a fictional person that didn't exist." She now turned to Pyra and looked at her directly. "But he did."

She smiled brightly as she said that.

"He did exist, I wasn't just dreaming someone up. I just…needed to find someone who was…similar to me. Who had dealt with life issues that, while not identical to mine, were similar enough that he could understand me on that deeper level, ya know?"

Pyra looked up at the ceiling herself, instinctively placing a hand on her core crystal while she gently shut her eyes. Finally turning back to face Miko with a smile on her face.

"I do know…" She said simply.

"Then go to that dork and make sure he knows it, kay?" Miko pumped her fist in encouragement.

"Well… how can I be so sure if… he even wants to talk right now?"

Just as she said that, the doorbell rang.

"You tell me." Miko replied with a smug grin. Pyra gulped profusely and sweat lightly in nervousness. Miko noticed her actions quickly and held her hand tightly. "I'll be right here, Pyra. And like it or not, you're gonna have to tell him… EVERYTHING you told me. Except for the romance stuff… you can save that for later, that's completely understandable."

"I… okay…" Pyra said as the two girls exited her and Kaito's room, hand in hand.

—————————————————————————

Frankie stared at Pyra, and Pyra stared right back, the both of them with sad and worried looks on their faces. Kaito and Miko pushed their respective person a bit closer towards each other, flustering the both of them a little, only to get washed away with an even more forlorn attitude. They both looked to Kaito and Miko respectively, both of whom made supportive 'go on' gestures to the both of them. Blade and Driver took deep breaths before turning to face each other yet again.

"Pyra…"

"Frankie…"

They both said at once, which was exactly how the next few exchanges with each other went.

"I just wanted to tell you-"

"I thought that you should know-"

"I had some time to think-"

"If you could let me explain-"

"I just wanna say-"

"W-what I'm trying to say is-"

"Kaito and I were talking and-"

"I told some things to Miko, so-"

"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT?!"

The last one both of them exclaimed at the exact same time with equal amounts of flustered frustration on their faces. Kaito and Miko chuckled to each other as they watched the scene play out before Kaito came to his brother's aid.

"Remember the golden rule, big bro?" He asked.

"Ladies first…" Frankie responded distantly as he faced his brother. With a sigh, he turned back around to face Pyra. "Go ahead… you first, Pyra…"

"Thanks…" Pyra sighed herself as she looked down and wrung her hands together shyly. "Frankie… do you know how difficult it is to be a Blade like Mythra and I are?"

"You mean that Aegis stuff…?" Pyra nodded slowly as she darted her eyes up at him. "Ah…"

"Well… if you'll allow me to tell you a little story…"

Pyra told Frankie exactly what being the Aegis meant as well as who she and Mythra represented- how they felt the promise of being given the chance to forget like any other Blade after their last tenure was that of falsehood and deceit; only for the both of them to remember that as the only Aegis- and perhaps even Blade left on this Earth, they remembered that it was never going to be that easy. Frankie hung on every word and felt his heart churn whenever Pyra winced when recalling any recent memories or going into great detail about her plight. He wasn't sure if this had anything to do with the sharing senses thing Kaito had mentioned before, but he felt all of it- he felt it all and he didn't like it… and then she started to cry.

Miko walked over to Kaito as they both nodded to each other knowingly, and walked off to give the other two some more privacy.

"S-so… I-if I can ask one thing from you…" She shot up and looked Frankie dead in the eye. "I- WE don't want you to treat us like Blades anymore… We want a new life you big fat dummy! We want you to treat us like how you do Kaito and Miko! As friends! As people! Nothing more and nothing less, do you hear me, Frank Guosmán?!" Pyra's tone hardened the closer she got to finishing- but not out of frustration with Frankie; just being upset and tired about the whole situation in general.

'Well… maybe something more a bit later…' Mythra thought to herself from inside Pyra.

"Pyra…" Frankie intoned as he welled up in tears himself before rushing over to her and pulling her in for a big, tight hug- his absolute favorite method of comfort. Pyra hugged back with just as much upset vigor. "I-I can't promise you I'll be out of this mentality of mine so easily but… I'll do what I can to… to make you comfortable… nobody deserves that… you don't deserve that… not even Mythra- no, ESPECIALLY not Mythra deserves that."

"It's okay, Frankie… we don't expect you to just flick the switch and be done with it, but for our sake… as selfish as it sounds… please just… let us live… at least for a while… we want… to make… new memories… please… that's all we ask…" Pyra clung to Frankie's clothing tightly as she continued to weep. Frankie felt her tears roll down his shirt and began to cry himself.

"I'm sorry Pyra… I just… I had a feeling that these memory things of yours were… not as they seemed and that… concerned me because… well… I want to be a good Dri-" Frankie winced and took a short breath. "I want to be a good friend to you… I told you that before but I mean it now… I really, really do…"

Pyra lifted herself off Frankie's person and wiped a tear away. She smiled sweetly if a little bit fatigued and upset.

"Do you wanna talk to her now?" She asked.

"…I do…" Frankie took a glance at Pyra's core crystal- as bright and shining green as ever. He had absentmindedly guessed if this 'Pneuma' she had mentioned shared a similar color. "S-see you later, then…?" Pyra smiled sweetly at his question.

"Actually… I have a better idea…"

Pyra placed both her hands on her core crystal and gently shut her eyes. The energy from the crystal flickered brighter and dimmer gently for a few seconds before the whole area flashed a blinding light, forcing everyone to shield themselves. When they had recovered, they still saw Pyra standing before them with her classic sweet smile still plastered on her face… with Mythra right next to her.

The golden haired Blade shook her head rapidly as she gently fluttered her eyes open, looking up to see Frankie staring at her a bit nervously. Her eyes shrunk in fear as she quickly retreated behind Pyra. The younger red headed Blade chuckled and turned behind her.

"Mythra… it's okay… it's only Frankie…" She cooed.

"I know… that's what I'm afraid of…" She responded back.

Frankie simply walked over to her and reached out to touch her. Mythra flinched a little bit as Frankie placed his hand on top of her head, which seemed to be her comfort spot.

"Mythra…" Frankie began.

"Frankie… please stop…" Mythra interrupted him as she backed away from both him and Pyra. "You-you would be better off if you just… let me go and took care of Pyra here… I don't… I don't see how in a million years you could possibly just… let go of what I did to you…"

"Well… I'm not letting it go, Frankie admitted. "Truth be told, I'm still a little bit scared… worried about what I might do next that'll make you fly off the handle like that again…" Pyra and Mythra both looked down guiltily just before Frankie came up to her once again. "…But I understand why… you're tired and just wanna do something about it… because it almost feels like the way everything plays out is designed to make you feel contempt no matter what… even though you deserve to keep the memories you really want to keep."

Pyra was seeing Frankie's serious business mode out in the open for the first time… and she completely understood Mythra's sentiment towards it… Miko and Kaito smiled at each other before looking back up at the scene progressing… they had so many opportunities to tease them in the not too distant future now.

"P-please… 'deserve'? Where'd you get that idea from?" Mythra turned away indignantly. "If we still have these stupid things even after so much time has passed- after all we did to change the world- HOW the world was changed, then it's evident we don't DESERVE anything, don't you think?!"

Frankie sighed and joined her yet again, with Pyra trailing close behind.

"Yeah… I get that too…" Frankie chuckled to himself a little bit. "I'm gonna have to tell you the story of when I got slapped in the face with a sandwich cuz some punk-ass kid called me ugly back in high school."

'How dare they…' Pyra thought to herself as she quickened her pace.

"Point is, Mythra… I have stories to tell you myself… and I'll be more than happy to share them with you whenever you want, cuz… I want you to know I'm not just whistling Dixie or anything… I get it… I really really get it… so… I forgive you."

Mythra had been welling up in tears this entire time, with Frankie's last sentiment finally getting her to turn around, eyes misty and watery to an almost impossible degree. Her sole response was to leap into an embrace with him, holding him so very tightly and crying out loudly. Frankie gently hugged back and patted her head. He then turned toward Pyra, who nodded knowingly, and joined on in. Frankie at Mythra's front, and Pyra at her back. Both of them smiling sweetly as Mythra let eons and eons of emotions spill out right onto the floor through her screams and tears.

"I'm sick of being the Aegis… I'm sick of thinking everything I do is just… shitty… I'm sick of just… just…" Mythra couldn't even find the words she wanted to. She buried herself deeper into Frankie's chest and cried even harder while both he and Pyra tightened their own grips on her.

"Sana sana…" Frankie began, looking up at Pyra expectedly- guessing that she had to have heard Kaito's story alongside Mythra- and in doing so, would recognize the song he had sung him just a few years ago. Pyra nervously smiled and sunk into Mythra some more as she continued irksomely.

"C-coleeta day rahna…" Her accent was entirely off, but the feeling of it all was just perfect.

"Si no sanas hoy… sanaras mañana…" Frankie sang himself. The three of them stayed in that position for a good long while until Mythra finally tapped Frankie on his arm to signal for him to let go; as did Pyra. She erected herself and hung her head low, eyes completely red from crying so much.

"I… I know that we can't leave this Blade mystery alone… I wanna uncover everything that could've led to… what's happening now… eventually but… I'm sick of being a Blade myself so… can we just exist together for the time being, Frankie? You, me, and Pyra…?" Mythra asked as tears still flooded her eyes.

"Kaito and Miko too, right?" Pyra asked sweetly. Mythra sniffed harshly as she turned away.

"Yeah… I wouldn't have it any other way…" She said sadly but earnestly.

"So then… should we head back home…?" Frankie asked. His answer would come in the form of Mythra's growling stomach. She blushed in embarrassment and held onto it tightly as Pyra chuckled.

"I think someone's a little bit hungry…" Then Pyra's own stomach growled, she herself blushed in a flustered mess as she held her own stomach. "Well… two people, I suppose."

"Heh… I could eat…" Frankie admitted "How does air fried chicken sound?"

"W-what is that?" Mythra asked.

"Well… why don't we go on home so I can show you, huh?"

Mythra sniffed sharply once again as she picked herself up and dried her tears away.

"Okay…" She responded. Then she smiled in a similar manner to Pyra, turning towards her brightly.

"Race you back to the car?" She asked.

"After you!" Pyra replied with a polite bow.

"Try to keep up!" Mythra shoved her away lightly as she ran off.

"Hey! Cheater!" Pyra laughed giddily just before chasing after her 'sister'

"Come on, Pyra, I'll introduce you to Jimmy!"

Frankie smiled warmly at his two friends having fun with each other, even if it was a very small amount of fun. He could tell by the way they were acting that they never really had a chance to. Now, he was more determined than ever to just… live with them. It was at this moment when Miko and Kaito finally came back onto the scene fully.

"Chickened out, huh?" Miko asked.

"It's still too soon, Miko… but the thought of it all is just… nice." Frankie admitted.

"In due time, big bro." Kaito repeated his earlier statement as he and Miko came up to him. "Both of us are right here whenever you need us."

"And when you're good and ready, we can do some more research for you chuckleheads… you just better be sure to pay us handsomely." Miko threatened jovially.

"Hah… you got it Miko."

"Alright, big bro. They've got work tomorrow, so you best make them a good dinner to help em out with that, and keep us updated, alright?" Kaito asked with a friendly smile.

"Yup! After all… I think bedtime just a got a looooot more interesting for these guys…" Miko whispered just loud enough for Frankie to hear.

"MIKO!" He hollered in embarrassment as the smaller couple laughed heartily with each other.

And with that- Frankie, Pyra, and Mythra stopped being Blades and Driver. On that day- a romance had begun to blossom.

"...soooooooo, when are we telling them about the you-know-what in the you-know-where?" Kaito asked Miko as the two of them stood stock still, observing their best course of action.

Miko shrugged.

"Well- after tomorrow, we've got work and school… looks like the weekend'll be the best time to do it."

Miko nodded.