Chapter 11: I Wouldn't Call It Trust, Exactly

A/N: The snacks fell down and can't be reached, so you'll have to move on without them.

Lora's legs sang in relief as she finally had a chance to plop down, slouching against the dry, red stone. The rock of the small cave in the wilds of the Ardainian Titan wasn't the most comfortable thing ever, but even just resting helped at this point. She closed her eyes, feeling like she could conk out right there.

Initially, Mikhail had been set on making it to a nearby mining settlement, until Cressidus noticed a dust storm starting to kick up. Which meant they were stuck here in this cave until the storm - which was starting to pick up in earnest outside - blew over.

She heard what was probably Pyra sitting down beside her, sounding much more graceful as she did it. There was some rustling before Lora felt a tap on her shoulder. Cracking her eyes open, she saw Pyra - legs curled up underneath her - offering her a canteen of water.

Smiling a tired, but grateful smile as she accepted it, she gave as heartfelt a "Thanks," as she could muster, before tipping it back. It wasn't cold but it was wet.

Moments later, Lora's own earlier relief was echoed by Nia as she flopped onto her back slightly closer to the entrance to the cave than she was. Her anger from earlier still seemed to simmer beneath the surface, but it looked dulled by fatigue.

She couldn't blame her. Their trek from the not-so-abandoned industrial district had been stressful and exhausting. On top of an already tiring day of travel, the battle with a giant arachno and the escape from Mikhail's "royal vendetta," after the adrenaline wore off, it hadn't taken long before she was knackered.

"Will we be safe here from the encroaching dust storm, Master Mikhail?" she heard Dromarch ask. Looking closer to the entrance, she spotted him sitting on his haunches, looking out to the night, where wind was picking up dust in increasingly larger swirling clouds. "The mouth of this cave doesn't seem like it would offer much protection from the elements."

"It'll be fine," Mikhail answered tersely. He leaned against the wall near the mouth of the cave looking out, his arms crossed. "With Mor Ardain's current orbital position around the World Tree, the winds will be coming from the west. The mouth of this cave faces the east, so we won't get much in here. The tarp," he pointed to the tarp Cressidus was pulling out of his pack, "will keep out the rest."

The beast Blade dipped his head in acknowledgement. "I see. And our errant flesh eater pursuer? Do you believe this will be far enough?"

"There's a lot of ways we could have gone from the industrial district, and once this storm picks up, it'll be nearly impossible to really track us. If he does chase us, I don't think it will be tonight. More than likely, we'll be fine as long as we don't stay long."

"Maybe," Lora piped up, "but I don't want to be caught off guard by something like that again." None of them wanted to take any chances with how determined the Blade had been. "One of us should go on watch, just in case." When no one immediately spoke up she added, tiredly "I can take the first hour or two."

At that, Nia sat up, eyes boring into her. "Oh no you don't. You need to rest after everything that happened. Sure, Dromarch healed up your leg, but your body needs a proper rest after healing from something like that."

"I'd be okay for a bit-"

"Nope. Don't want to hear it." She pointed at Mikhail. "Since you're the one who got us into this mess, Mik, I vote you do it."

Mikhail's eyebrows furrowed, and looked ready to snap back until Cressidus turned from where he was spreading the tarp out across the ground. "Don't you worry, Nia. I'll take it. My ether circuits are still raring and ready to go!"

"O-oh." She lowered her arm, seemingly unprepared for Cressidus' interruption. "Seriously?" Nia tilted her head. "After all that you're still raring to go? What are you, some sort of energy bunnit?"

He pounded his fists together, excitedly. "It starts by having a healthy, balanced diet and lots of-"

"Now is really not the time for your health nut tendencies, big guy," Mikhail cut him off, redirecting him towards the entrance. "Read the mood."

The big Blade seemed to deflate a little, before he turned back towards the entrance to pound pitons into the rock where some strong cord would be tied to hold the tarp in place. With its size, Lora could see it would be enough to keep out the worst of the dust that did blow that way, and there would be enough to have a place to peer out and keep watch.

Cressidus' departure from the conversation re-invited the strained atmosphere from before, leaving the small cave uncomfortably silent.

"So." It was Nia who broke that silence, shifting so she sat cross-legged. "Are you finally going to tell us what that was? The whole," she deepened her voice, "'I'm gonna kill you' thing that flesh eater was doing while melting everything around him?"

"Easy." Mikhail didn't look at them as he said it, but stared at the wall straight ahead. "He wanted revenge."

"Well, yeah." Nia's shoulders slumped in annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "That much was obvious. But what'd you do to deserve that kind of reaction? Did you try and woo away his girlfriend or something?"

"Hilarious." Mikhail deadpanned. He raised his eyebrows, and gave a little shrug with his shoulders. "I killed his Driver."

The cave fell still again after his simple pronouncement.

"I killed his Driver." Mikhail repeated. "That's it. Happy now?"

"What do you mean, 'that's it?'" Nia stood up, hands clenching at her sides as she leaned forward. "Are you for real right now?" Her eyes sharpened into a glare when he made no move to respond. "That's all you're going to say about it after what happened?"

"We're doing this now?" He let out an annoyed snort. "Heh, no. Pass. Besides," he finally turned and looked directly at Nia, "I'm not the only one keeping secrets, am I? Or are you going to spill your guts right here too, Nia?"

Nia's fists unclenched. "That's…"

"Thought so." For a moment, he almost looked disappointed. Grunting, Mikhail kicked off the wall, heading towards where Cressidus was.

"Hey!" Nia shouted. "What are you-"

"Nia, please stop." Lora sighed. "I don't want us to fight right now."

Ears flattening in annoyance, Nia turned her glare at her. "After what we went through with that flesh eater, you want me to leave it?"

"That's not what I…" her voice faltered. Yes, she was shocked. Concerned too, but was now really the time? "Look, everyone's tired. Nothing good can come out of arguing about this right now."

"She's right, Nia." Pyra agreed. "We're all exhausted. Just give it some time and try to get some sleep. We don't know the reason why, but if Mikhail wants to share more, he'll do it when he's ready."

Grimacing, Nia averted her eyes. After a moment, she started grumbling under her breath, before she turned to her pack and tore her bedroll out of it. Dromarch padded over to her and she started viciously picking out the now dried bits of antol guts out of his fur with her fingers, throwing them to the side. Every once in a while she sent a glare over to the entrance where Mikhail was chatting quietly with Cressidus as he helped finish setting up the tarp.

Well, that could have gone better.

Tired as Lora was, her mind still rolled over what Mikhail had said. He'd...killed them? Why? It didn't sound as simple or casual as he was trying to make it. But the thought of that shy boy she remembered from Torna doing that?

He clearly wasn't quite the same person she remembered.

Despite what everyone kept telling her, it still felt like the fall of Torna had only happened less than a month ago, not nearly five hundred years. Glancing at Pyra, it warmed her heart - or whatever she had at the moment - to think at least someone understood how she felt.

The warmth faded, however, as she thought about what Pyra had said earlier. It gnawed at her because she was scared by the memory of what Pyra could do. With that fear there, could she really be her Driver; would there ever really be full trust between them?

Turning away from it, she winced, her healed leg still aching dully. It would probably be another day before it that ache went away. She moved to spread her bedroll out and-

"Hey."

-and was met by Pyra's hand resting on her own.

"Hm?" Lora looked up from the bedroll to see Pyra crouched down beside her, concern showing clearly in her eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" Pyra asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after everything that happened today, I don't know." Pyra's hand tightened over her own, gently squeezing it. There was a small pulse, a tickle of fire in her mind. A sensation near the top of her sternum that she was slowly associating with the x-shaped part of Pyra's core crystal. "You just looked worried."

"Well, I am," she admitted.

Pyra lifted her hand off her own. "How are you feeling about it all?"

Sighing, Lora started spreading out the bed roll. "It's a lot to swallow." Smoothing out the cloth, she started distractedly picking out small rocks that were trapped underneath. "I know everyone around me has been saying that five hundred years had passed, but…"

"It's starting to feel like it?"

Lora nodded. "Yeah."

"I know what you mean."

"As excited as I am to see what everything's like out there now, I'm nervous about what we'll find."

"Like what Malos was saying?"

Frowning, Lora's hand clenched on the fabric of the bedroll, scrunching it up. "I don't really want to trust what he said, but..."

"I get it, but Alrest is a big place. You know that. Even if it looks dark now, things will be better in the morning, don't you think?"

"Oh, um." Where was this coming from? Was she trying to cheer her up? "Was I really being that gloomy?"

"Not really, but...I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, I'm doing better now." She let the fabric go and set her hands on her hips. "I'll be sure to be back to our regularly scheduled daytime tomorrow!"

"That's the spirit!" Pyra beamed in response.

Lora laughed, quietly. After a moment she smiled softly. "Thanks, Pyra. I needed that."

Pyra offered a curious smile in return, warmth bleeding through a burst of an affinity link. It cut off a moment later as she got up and stepped over to Nia and Dromarch, and they started talking in low voices. Tuning it out, she started unbuckling her armour, settling it for the night.

After a moment, it dawned on her that Mythra probably would have never done something like that. She had never been this kind of sociable. Sure, she had opened up quite a lot by the end of the war, but what Pyra was doing…

It still felt unusual to her. It wasn't a bad thing, but it felt like she was a complete stranger acting in place of a person she knew. It was difficult to really wrap her head around it. She didn't mind her being nice, necessarily, but something about it to her just felt...off.

Settling in for the night, all of these thoughts swirled around her head, mixing in with the smell of swirling dust outside the small cave. Before long, however, exhaustion slipped in and drowned out her tumbling thoughts.

From the outside of the interrogation room of the Gladio, Mòrag peered through the one way mirror into a scene that made her pause.

Perched precariously on the top of one of the chairs inside, the Nopon, Tora, was wildly waving his arms and headwings. Though his cheering and whooping were muffled through the glass, it was still audible. Below him, on the floor, stood Poppi, a happy smile and somewhat intense expression on her face, engaged in...

"Brighid," Mòrag muttered quietly, "what am I looking at?"

...a flurry of claps and complex arm movements with one of the guards she had posted outside the room. Said guard was currently crouched down to Poppi's level. She could almost see the intense look of concentration she could see if he didn't have his helmet on.

She noted a faint smirk of amusement curling up at the corner of Brighid's mouth. "It looks like they're playing some sort of clapping game. It isn't one I'm familiar with."

She knew clapping games?

"Yes, I can see that." Mòrag responded, tersely. Did Brighid have to sound so amused by it? "Why?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. Perhaps they were simply bored?"

The guard outside had the presence of mind to look embarrassed for their comrade.

Mòrag adjusted her cap. It was only yesterday that the Invicta had been raided by Torna. These two likely knew nothing of it considering they were confined during the brief encounter, but it still irritated her. The indignation she felt at her fellow countrymen being indiscriminately slaughtered was at odds with the cheerful scene in front of her.

But no. She took a steadying breath. There was no need to bring that baggage into this conversation. She tapped in her authorization code, and the keypad to the lock on the door chimed.

The door slid open, and the guard turned to glance unconcernedly at her, then went back to the game. A moment later his head jerked over again in her direction.

The momentum of his enthusiastic clap petered out into a tiny pat against Poppi's metal palm when he saw her. There was a long moment of silence as they stared, Mòrag standing stoically in the entryway, hands folded behind her back.

"Poppi wins!" Tora shouted, cheering and doing a little hop. If the chair hadn't been bolted to the floor, it would have toppled over from that stunt. "Two thousand gold to Tora! Unless...does guard friend want to go double or nothing?"

Ah. They were gambling as well. Wonderful.

After this declaration, Poppi turned around, and put on an approximation of surprise on her face, before smiling and waving animatedly at her. After a confused moment, Tora finally noticed Mòrag, his body momentarily going stiff. Coughing awkwardly, he folded his head wings against his head and looked away.

Mòrag cleared her throat. "I hope I am not interrupting something, Lieutenant."

The guard seemed to regain his presence of mind, and straightened from his crouch, saluting her quickly. "N-no Special Inquisitor!"

"I will take things from here. You may go."

The guard practically scurried away, looking like he couldn't get out of there fast enough. Mòrag allowed him past and stepped fully inside, Brighid following in behind her. The door slid shut behind them, leaving just her, Brighid, Tora and Poppi.

Tora huffed, crossing his little arms as if to muster up some bravado. "Was rude of Special Inquisitor for interrupting. Poppi was about to break personal record and get gold for some new parts. Even without potential upgrades, test of latest improvements to arm, wrist and finger joints conclude they are operating at optimal efficiency."

Poppi set her hands on her hips. "Only thanks to Masterpon's hard work."

Mòrag raised her eyebrows at the Nopon's assertive tone. "Be that as it may, I would appreciate if you didn't try to swindle my crew out of their wages."

"Was not swindling," Tora insisted. "Was part of fair, traditional Nopon contest of strength and endurance. Guard say that he was champion in junior bracket in Voltis Trade Guild, so Tora had to challenge him out of principle! Though prize money normally part of such things, was actually suggestion of guard that money get involved here. Took much convincing since Tora is flat broke."

"It took less than fifteen seconds to convince Masterpon." Poppi added in a tone that suggested she was trying to be helpful. "Poppi agree to be Masterpon's delegated champion and participate in contest because more funds would mean better upgrades for Poppi."

"Unfortunately," Tora shot a pointed glare at them, "Inquisitor scare guard off before he pay his dues."

"How inconsiderate of us," Brighid stated flatly. "Perhaps we ought to call him back?"

Eyes widening hopefully, Tora leaned forward. "R-really?"

"Masterpon, Poppi have feeling that this is 'sarcasm.'"

"Meh?" Tora straightened back up, crossing his arms indignantly. "Blade Lady is mean, meh…"

Considering she had left them in here for less than an hour, it was almost remarkable that they were able to do so much. Most people in this situation would be scared or irritated, or worried, or some combination of the three. But this? Even for a Nopon it was something else.

"Be that as it may, dare I ask how you were able to delude one of the guards outside into participating in this?"

Tora didn't answer, but Poppi raised her hand, and began hopping up and down excitedly. When she didn't speak up, Mòrag asked, somewhat bemused, "Yes, Poppi?"

Poppi beamed, like an eager honour student being called upon. "Poppi use 'entrancing enticement' protocol to seduce guard to join in game."

Mòrag frowned. Had she heard that correctly? "...Seduce?"

Poppi nodded sagely. "Poppi and Masterpon were participating in game on our own, but Masterpon's arms get tired after few rounds. So Poppi have good idea to use 'entrancing enticement' protocol to seduce guard to join in game! Though confused at first, he did join, and had much more stamina than Masterpon. Was almost a challenge for Poppi."

"Surely you mean 'invite,' not seduce?" Brighid prompted.

Poppi cocked her head to the side, white hat flopping in the same direction as she stared innocently at Brighid. "Poppi heard that seduce mean 'to win over or attract.' Is that not what Poppi did to guard?"

Brighid looked incredulously back and forth between a nervous looking Tora and a still staring Poppi. "Please tell me you're joking."

Poppi shook her head and turned her gaze to Mòrag. "Would result have been better if invitation was used? Please, tell Poppi so Poppi can maximize effectiveness."

Glancing to the side, Mòrag saw Brighid's palm meet her forehead and a muttered "Unbelievable." Most of her agreed with the sentiment, but a small part in Mòrag was nearly tempted to do so, just to see how far this madness would go. Brighid noticed her deliberation and pointedly cleared her throat.

Mòrag shook her head, clearing the thought away. "...I am sorry, but I will refrain from doing so."

Poppi's form slumped in defeat in such a way that made Mòrag almost change her mind. She was strong. She was the Special Inquisitor of the Empire of Mor Ardain. She did not bow to the cute whims of an artificial Blade.

And yet…

"At least for now," she added. "We shall see after we discuss what we came for. Such things require quid pro quo after all."

As Poppi perked up and nodded enthusiastically, Mòrag's heart traitorously skipped a beat in adorable. It was only so she could get on the good side of these two to further the cause of the empire. That was the only reason.

"Poppi eagerly await the day when Mòrag helps Poppi be the best for Masterpon!"

"Now with that out of the way." Mòrag straightened, folding her hands once again behind her back to regain her composure. "On to the matters at hand." She gestured to the two chairs on the opposite side of the interrogation rooms sole metal table. "Please, sit."

The Nopon continued to perch on the back of the chair while Poppi climbed up a chair, plopping down in it with her legs extended out completely straight in a bizarre mockery of sitting. Mòrag sat across from them, crossing her legs while Brighid stood beside, ready in case they tried anything.

The caution likely wouldn't be necessary, as she was beginning to suspect that Dughall had made an undue fuss over capturing these two in an attempt to save face and to prove his competency. Regardless, it would likely work out in her favour.

"First," she began, "I believe a demonstration is in order. You claim that Poppi is an artificial Blade. Can you establish an affinity link with Tora?"

Poppi nodded, and held up her hand towards Tora. There was a slight flare in her strange orange core, followed by what seemed to be her ether lines glowing dimly the same colour.

Mòrag looked to Brighid.

"Yes it's there. Faint, but detectable."

"Bond is very real. Azurda say so, and Poppi knows it. Poppi feel it in here." She tapped the metal of her torso just around her core.

"Rex's Blade? You have met him before yesterday?"

Poppi nodded. "Met while searching for Masterpon in Torigoth Relay Base. Though Poppi is older than Azurda by eighteen hours, Azurda seems very wise."

"I see." She filed the information away for later and turned to Tora. "I take it that you went through all the trouble of making an artificial Blade because you couldn't resonate with a regular core crystal?"

Tora scowled. "Tora doesn't want to talk about it."

"Then, if you are not a Driver, could Poppi establish a link with another non-Driver, one without the aptitude to resonate with a Blade?"

Crossing his arms, Tora let out a contemplative 'meh.' "Tora has not tested it, but in theory is possible."

"Poppi does not want to. Bond is with Masterpon. Poppi wants to be the best Blade for Masterpon, not anyone else."

Tora's mouth slipped agape. "Poppi…" He closed it as a determined expression hardened on his face. "Tora will do everything to live up to that!"

A touching scene. Mòrag straightened in her chair."Next, a clarifying question on your situation. You said that you were escaping debt collectors. Do you know who they are, and if they are associated with anyone?"

"Poppi heard Gormotti man with strong dark Blade yelling about bloody lobsters after escaping them with Masterpon to Ardainian Battleship. Seemed veeery angry."

The Bloody Lobsters? "Are you certain?"

"Poppi heard it loud and clear, even over engines of Titan Battleship. Poppi's auditory sensors very keen."

"Hmm." She put her hand to her chin in thought. Them being involved made this whole situation of potentially offering sanctuary more perilous. "That was quite a risky move getting involved with them, though I suppose you might not have known."

"Really?" Tora asked. "Who are they?"

"They are a powerful cross-Titan gang that have been around for centuries and are a dangerous enemies to make. Fortunately for you, nearly five years ago, they lost their last leader. It was quite sudden, and they have not yet recovered from that blow." To this day, no one knew for sure who had done it, though Mòrag supposed she owed them a favour, whoever they were.

From reports from her informants in the organization, there hadn't been any leader strong enough to unite the factions since then. Too much infighting and internal politics to coordinate anything major.

"Regardless of their current internal state," she continued, "the loan sharks they use to supplement money for their activities are still up and running, and their tricks are as old as Alrest itself."

"Of course, that doesn't stop naive people from falling for the scams," Brighid added. "I wouldn't be surprised if the others you took loans from were not at least loosely connected to them."

"Hmph. No need for Blade lady to rub salt in wound. Tora sees now that it was bad idea."

"I'm glad you see reason, even if it is somewhat late."

"Despite that," Mòrag looked Tora and Poppi both in the eyes, "let me be clear that it is not the end of the world for you. I doubt tracking down a single Nopon for evading debt collection would be the highest priority for the Bloody Lobster. It simply complicates matters somewhat."

Tora cocked his head to the side. "Tora doesn't see how it so complicated. If big man in charge pays Tora's debts, then group chasing Tora would stop chasing Tora, yes? Wasn't that what big man in charge was planning on offering Tora?"

Mòrag felt a jolt of annoyance go through her. If the empire paid the sum of money he owed to them, what sort of precedent would that set? And another thing. "Who is the 'man in charge' you referring to, exactly?"

"Um, Special Inquisitor is in charge of Titan Battleship, yes? Therefore, is big manly man in charge. Even though Tora not fan of Empire, can understand desire to command Titan ship. Tora's uncle Umon wouldn't stop talking about it when he visit Tora."

Mòrag grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she took a steadying breath. Now really wasn't the time to split hairs over this, but she needed to set the record straight.

"I'm a woman, thank you."

Tora's headwings spread wide and he gasped. "R-r-really?"

"Yes, Tora."

He blinked owlishly and leaned forward, staring intensely at her. "Is news to Tora! Did Poppi know?"

"Poppi could tell at a glance."

"Perhaps we should move on, Lady Mòrag?" Brighid urged.

Intentional or not, it wasn't the first time a Nopon had mistaken her for a man, but it still irked her. She sighed. "Yes, well. With that out of the way, I remember you saying you wanted to find your father. I am prepared to help you do so."

Tora's head turned quizzically, predictably caught off guard by her sudden change in subject. "Tora is confused. Isn't Special Inquisitor one who put price out for Tora's capture?"

"I am. Can you guess the reason why?"

"Tora thought it because of how much damage Poppi caused during escape."

"That was the superficial reason, yes. However, there was more to it. You said that you and your father built Poppi, correct?"

Tora nodded proudly. "Crowning achievement of three generationpons of work: Alrest's first artificial Blade! It was Tora's dadapon and grampyon who designed ether furnace in first place."

"And going on the assumption that your father is indeed still alive, do you believe he could still duplicate that design?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Tora proudly set his hands on his hips a distinct note of pride in his voice. "Dadapon have amazing noggin. Tora have no doubt he could replicate necessary blueprints and parts from memory."

"Do you believe that he could be coerced into reproducing this against his will?"

"Yes, Tora supposes so. What is Mòrag saying?"

"I'm saying it's possible someone with ill intentions could force your father to build more artificial Blades."

Poppi abruptly stood up on her seat, metal hands slamming down on the table as she leaned forward to stare at her, excitement bubbling in her voice. "Poppi might have siblings?"

"I…hadn't thought of it that way, but I suppose that is...one way to put it. However, remember that all of this still lies within the realm of possibility. It is simply speculation. I have no evidence backing this notion."

Leaning back, Poppi nodded wisely. "Poppi will be sure to temper excitement."

As Poppi sat down, Mòrag looked again at Tora. "As part of the deal, you would cooperate to help us find your father, whatever his situation. I would pair you with a team to assist you in finding them, if you are willing to take the deal."

"Tora gets a choice?"

"Certainly." Unlike Rex, Tora - and especially Poppi - were currently more a curiosity. Artificial Blades, if they could be mass produced, would have a significant impact on the future of Alrest. Despite that, they still weren't as pressing as the threat of the returning Aegis, so she was less inclined to force the issue.

"However," Brighid interrupted, "You would do well to remember that you cooperated in destroying Ardainian military property. If you don't accept the deal, you would need compensate the empire somehow. The law dictates that guilty juveniles may do community service as part of their sentence for destruction of property."

"Would that work if Tora is not part of Empire?"

"You are a registered citizen of Torigoth, part of the Gormotti Titan, which was annexed to Mor Ardain nearly ten years ago. So even if you do not live on Mor Ardain, you are subject to its laws."

Tora pouted in response.

"So, if you do not wish to take our deal, you would participate in community service for the empire for a period, after which you will be free to go and do what you please with your time. However, the empire will not back you to find your father, nor can we help guarantee your continued safety against your debtors."

"Deal seems awfully..." Tora trailed off and muttered something inaudible. Folding his small Nopon arms, he swayed back and forth on the back of the chair, looking contemplative. "Hmm. Tora needs a minute to decide. Can Tora talk with Poppi privately a moment?"

"Very well." Mòrag stood. "I can spare a few minutes."

Once outside the interrogation room once again, and a different guard on watch inside, she observed as the two huddled close together and whispered furiously.

"Do you think he'll take the deal?" Brighid asked.

"I'm confident he will. Even if he is somewhat naive, if he truly built Poppi as he said, truly created an artificial Blade…" she trailed off. "It's a marvel."

"The implications are as staggering as they are frightening." Brighid remarked. "If everyone, even those without the potential were able to be armed with an artificial Blade, it could shatter the political stability of Alrest."

"Indeed. Think of a military force where every soldier is armed with an artificial Blade. Gone unchecked…" Uraya might easily overtake Mor Ardain, an upstart separatist group like Brionac might actually have a chance. Casualties might skyrocket. Mòrag shook her head. "And that's just the military side of things."

"The Praetorium would probably have a heart attack dealing with it."

Mòrag chuckled. "Perhaps they would. However, as I said, if his father is still out there and able to produce something similar, someone else may already be taking advantage of that. If production is happening behind the scenes I would wish to stop it."

Raising her hand to her chin in thought, Brighid let out a thoughtful hum. "That seems like quite a leap in logic. Are you sure you aren't just overreacting?"

"That may be so, but I wish not to be caught off guard if such a thing were to happen."

"With how your luck on this trip is going, it would be connected to Torna and the Aegis somehow."

Mòrag smiled wanly. "That would be something. But of course, not everything is connected to them, after all."

The corners of Brighid's mouth turned up. "No, I guess not."

Before long, the guard came out of the interrogation room, and let them know that they were ready. The two walked back in.

"Have you made your decision?" Mòrag asked.

"Tora and Poppi will do it. On one condition."

"Oh?"

She raised an eyebrow as she listened to his condition.

"Very well, I believe we can accommodate that."

# Data mining process of quarantined corrupt data at 25% completion.

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#576861742077617320746861743f20497320736f6d656f6e652e2e2e74686572653f2057686572652e2e2e616d20493f205768617427732e2e2e68617070656e696e673f

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The clear sound of a bell tolled.

Lora breathed in sharply. Her hand raised in an almost involuntary reaction to the bright sunlight overhead, the sudden light making her eyes squint. As her vision focused, visuals of vibrant green grass waved as a light breeze washed over a familiar hill. In its centre, a lone tree.

This was...Elysium. Or what Pyra had said was a memory of it. What was she doing here? Turning in a slow circle, she looked for signs of Pyra close by, but only found the empty open field close by and the distant sight of town.

Turning back towards the tree, she startled, eyes fixing in on something there. At the tree's side, lying on the ground was a hazy, indistinct figure that she was sure hadn't been there a moment before. She was only a maybe fifty peds away from it, but even when she squinted her eyes, they didn't seem to get clearer or make out any distinct features. Who was that?

The bell tolled again.

She shivered, and it had nothing to do with the breeze. Something just felt...wrong. Taking a hesitant step forward towards the tree, she called out a tentative, "Hello?"

The figure on the ground at the tree didn't respond. Though centred in her vision, the figure remained out of focus. She took another step forward up the mild slope of the hill, and another, and another.

And almost fell backward at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. She whirled around, fists clenched to see-

Nothing.

There wasn't anyone there. Fear started to build as her eyes darted around. But there wasn't anything there.

Carefully coming out of a combat stance, she turned back to the tree behind her. The figure was still present on the ground. For a moment, the figure...flickered. As she watched it…disappeared.

It made her feel empty for some reason.

The bell tolled.

She tried to move again, only to find she couldn't. Tried to breathe, but that didn't work either. Panic started setting in as in her fixed viewpoint she noticed the waving of the grass had stopped and the light sound of wind she hadn't realized was there fell silent. The sensations she had been having stopped and the world around her started to fizzle, little chucks of it disappearing piece by piece.

What...was…?

At once, there was nothing.

# Interference removed. Response sent.

# waiting…

# No further responses detected. Unable to make further contact with unknown entity. Resume data mining process: Y/N?

# Y

# working...

The morning dawned quietly with Mikhail taking the final watch. The tarp that he and Cressidus had stretched over the entrance of the cave fluttered from the last vestiges of the dying winds of the dust storm. The sun's light flickered as parts of the Ardainian Titan moved in the way to block or filer its light coming over the horizon.

He glanced back at the rest of the party - still sleeping as soundly as people could on the hard rock of the cave - his eyes focusing on Lora. After a moment, he glanced away, eyes roving back to the entrance to watch the rising sun.

Minutes passed in relative silence, until eventually he heard someone stirring, and then the shuffle of cloth mixed with quiet footsteps as they made their way towards him.

"Good-" The greeting was interrupted by a yawn and the sounds of bones popping as Lora stretched. "Good morning. Looks like the storm cleared up."

"Yeah." Mikhail said nothing else, eyes still on the outside. For a while, they just stood there, watching the sun rise around the tarp.

"...How are you holding up?" she asked, softly.

He finally looked back at her, half expecting to see the Aegis there as well. She wasn't. It was just Lora. He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can tell you don't really want to talk about what happened last night, and that's fine. But how are you doing?"

Oh.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine, really."

"I...well…" He could almost feel her deliberating whether or not to push the issue as she twisted her fingers behind her back. "If you're sure."

Silence settled over the two again. From deeper in the cave came a snore turned snort from a still sleeping Nia. Lora kept standing there, and while she didn't say anything, she also didn't move.

Mikhail sighed. "Not gonna let me off the hook easily, are you?"

"Well, I'm don't want to make light of what you did, just that…" she averted her eyes. "Well, everyone does things that they regret, right? Things that come back to haunt them in one way or another. Even if I don't know the details, I can't just judge you because of that one thing. You're more than that, right?"

Flashes of everything he'd done in five hundred years seemed to swirl in front of his eyes. The good and the bad. For Dagas' Driver, if he had felt bad about it at the time, he'd buried the feeling by this point. He...couldn't really remember. Did he care?

"It's been around five years at this point. Him coming back was...unexpected. Explosively so."

"That's one way of putting it."

This wasn't the first time something he'd done had caught up to him in one way or another. After living through so much of it, he thought nothing could faze him.

"Well, compared to you coming back, it's nothing." He put on a suave grin, running a hand through his hair. "At this point, if Malos started baking sweets and giving them out to children in Indol it wouldn't surprise me."

Lora snorted, a short laugh escaping her. "Wow. That's...hard to imagine."

So was you returning from the dead.

She crossed her arms. "So… why is Malos with you all, anyways? And why are you calling yourselves Torna?"

"That's…" Mikhail paused. He could probably answer those questions, but… "That's not really my story to tell. Ask Jin next time you see him."

"Jin... I hope he's doing okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." The lie flew smoothly from his tongue. Jin had been the one hit the hardest by all this, after all. He glanced past the tarp. "Looks like worst of the storms have cleared up. I'll start taking down the tarp if you want to start waking everyone else up."

She seemed to break out of her thoughts, nodding. "Right."

As she went back and started waking the others, Mikhail wondered if it was right of him to say that. While Lora was unconscious after coming out of the ice on the Marsanes, Jin had looked well enough on the outside, but Mikhail had known him long enough to know that something was brewing on the inside.

He'd seen the look in Jin's eyes. The eyes of a man being torn in two.

Mikhail wondered if he was starting to feel something similar.

A/N: In another universe Malos sneezes while counting gold from his bake sale fundraiser. All proceeds go to building an orphanage.

It's been a while. Or perhaps no time at all.

Nothing and everything happened in this chapter.