Chapter 2: Resonantia Cordis

Minoth wasn't sure what to think of Na'el.

For one, if not for the core crystal framed prominently on her sternum by the cutout on her top, he would have thought her a Gormotti. And while the people of Norilsk Village were too rural and isolated to understand the nuances of Blades — he doubted most had heard of Judicium or their Flesh Eater Blade technology — the red mixed in with the normal blue coloring of her core crystal couldn't be ignored.

Minoth stroked his chin, regarding Na'el after her brief description of 'Matthew.' "Doesn't ring a bell, I'm afraid." And the ears on her head dropped minutely. "But," he insisted, "if this Matthew's as much of a hot-head as you say, guys like that don't stay quiet. No doubt, you'll hear something about him if you keep asking around long enough."

Assuming he wasn't already dead of course, but he didn't want to dash her hopes, especially so soon after being separated.

"Probably. He's an idiot and an idealist, and it gets him into all kinds of trouble," she groused, but then he noticed a very small fond-looking smile appear. "But he's still my brother."

And there was another thing; Blades by their nature didn't have siblings. Oh there were different customs aplenty about it all over Alrest: some called Blades of the same Driver 'siblings'; others went as far as legally adopting a Blade into a family if the governing nation allowed it.

So did Matthew fall into one of those categories? Or was he her Driver — or former Driver considering the Flesh Eater core?

Well, he supposed it didn't matter; Matthew was clearly important to her. But Minoth was nothing if not a curious fool.

So he asked. "How'd you get separated?"

She averted her eyes. "It's…complicated."

"Everything in life is." Minoth tried to sound reassuring, though he was probably failing.

"I…" He saw her right hand slide into a pocket of her jacket, possibly fiddling with something, while her left hand tensed around the mug of the drink set out for her earlier by Natalya.

"Try talking it out," he encouraged. "Maybe there's a detail that could help."

She was obviously hesitant to share whatever the whole truth was, whether because it was painful or because she was mistrustful of him being a stranger. And he hadn't missed the initial jolt of panic that ran over face on seeing his own core crystal. Maybe she had been on the end of one Judicium's more dubious experiments?

Eventually though, she let out a deep breath. "The city was…attacked. We…I gathered up everyone I could to escape, fought to protect them against the invaders. My brother showed up after, but then there was…an explosion of light." She seemed about to elaborate, but shook her head. "After that, all I know for sure is that I woke up alone in a forest, about a day's travel outside this colony, er, I mean, village."

"I see…"

He didn't, really. She was clearly withholding information, and was being deliberately vague in others. But an explosion of light? That sounded suspiciously similar to rumors of Indol's newest Quaestor and his Blade, the "Aegis," and his 'divine judgment' that left behind ruin in its wake.

Minoth's gut shifted uncomfortably at another reminder of the direction his former Driver was taking, hoping this wasn't going where he was thinking it was, but…

"Who invaded your city?" he asked.

"Moebius," Na'el spat out the name with the kind of vitriol reserved only for bitter enemies. There was clearly a horrible history there. "They just couldn't leave us alone."

"Moebius, huh?" So not Indol or the Aegis at least. Relief washed over him. At least there was one less person's misery he might have been able to prevent. "Can't say I've heard of them."

"Good."

Sensing he'd pried into that enough, Minoth took a moment to think, stalling by taking a sip out of his own drink. He waited, and eventually, Na'el's death grip on her mug loosened, and her other hand came out of her pocket.

Best change the subject again off of whatever tragedy this 'Moebius' group had inflicted on her, no matter how curious he was.

"So," he began again, "I heard from the villagers that you came here with that Nopon merchant who's in the village, is that right?"

Na'el took a sip of her drink before responding. "Teemu hired me as a bodyguard after I saved him from some volffs on the road."

"Pretty handily or so I hear." He let out a grin. "I was delivering a letter to old Ivan, and he wouldn't shut up about how amazing you are. Something about felling the 'Demon Mamongath' in a single blow?"

Na'el rolled her eyes. "He's exaggerating. It was several, but it's still just…killing monsters."

So she wasn't falling into the trap of hero worship then. That was something at least.

"Most can't put down a five meter jagron like it's nothing," he pointed out. "And those who can don't tend to care like you do. Power like that messes people up in all sorts of ways."

"I know. I've seen it happen." She turned towards him, "but what are you getting at?"

He let out a small laugh, which caused her ears to twitch and her mouth to dip into an annoyed frown. She was certainly straight to the point.

"If the kids here in the village have anything to say about it, you're their 'fluffy-eared hero,' not just some monster slayer. Kids have a sort of intuition like that, especially the young ones. To them, and to the rest of the villagers, it's more than just killing for the sake of it."

She was silent at that, ears drooping minutely as she stared down into the depths of the liquid of the drink. Well, seemed he'd misspoke again in some way. He never was great at giving comfort.

Minoth knocked back the rest of his drink, shuddering as he felt the kick of the traditional Coeian honey sweetened medovukha, and grabbed his still open notebook. Its current story seeming to pale in comparison to the walking tale still sitting on her stool.

"Are you leaving already?" she asked.

"Not until tomorrow once everyone's had a chance to draft replies for their letter." He eyed her carefully. "Why?"

"Where are you heading?"

"It depends on where the letters send me," he replied with a shrug. "But one of the villagers has a sweetheart studying in Omrantha, so I'll be heading there. But I'll have a few stops in some of the mining towns along the way."

"You mentioned that place before. 'Omrantha'," she said the name slowly, and carefully. "What is it?"

He regarded her carefully. "You don't know about Coeia's capital?"

She shook her head. "No. Haven't heard of it."

Minoth's eyebrows rose up. "Well color me surprised, considering you're on Coeia." He frowned. "Are you sure you're not just pulling my leg? Omrantha is one of the biggest trade hubs in Alrest outside of the Nopon Trade Guilds. Largest center for gem and accessory crafting? Home of the Chernaya Bashnya. The Midnight Spire?"

At each word, she seemed more and more confused.

Minoth's brow furrowed, even more curious than before. He sat back down. "Where are you from, exactly?"

"Aionios. But it's gone. I left it behind."

Minoth could feel in his gut that there was more to that last phrase than first seemed. But considering her response to telling him just about the destruction of her city, now likely wasn't the best time to pry.

"And I thought I was well traveled," he muttered instead of prying, loud enough for her to hear. Then looked up to her with a smile "But here you go proving to me there's still more places in this world to see."

"You won't find Aionios." Na'el insisted. "And even if you could, you wouldn't want to go. It only knew constant war and suffering. Full of those who would steal life just to live a few more measly days without a second thought."

That vitriol from before when she talked about 'Moebius' was back in force again. Clearly whatever Aionios was — nation or Titan — was a sore spot for her.

He raised his hands in surrender. "My apologies. I didn't mean it like that. It's simply not often I hear of a place I've never heard of."

"It's…" she sighed. "It's fine. It's all in the past now. No one has to worry about it ever again."

So it was a tragedy then. Curse him and his prying nature. He still wanted to know, but she likely wasn't to tell him if it was this fresh just yet. But maybe…

Minoth put his hand to his chin. "I know Teemu and the villagers say you're pretty handy in a fight, but what would you say about adding another traveler to your group? I've got a good eye for potential trouble, and I'm no slouch if a fight comes our way."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, the initial hesitancy from when she'd first seen his core seeming to come back to the surface. "Why?"

He hefted his journal. "I'm something of a writer, you see. And over the decades I've been around, I've picked up a knack for spotting interesting tales. And yours…well. If you don't mind, I'd like to see it unfold in person. Besides that, I'm well traveled, and I can help you look for Matthew and other people from your city."

Her suspicion turned to puzzled scrutiny for an uncomfortable amount of time, and he wondered what exactly he'd said that made it happen. She sighed, turning away from him and waving him off. "I'm fine with it, but you should probably ask Teemu."

Minoth smirked. "That won't be an issue. I've dealt with plenty of Nopon merchants in my day. I speak their language."

"Oh?"

"Help them turn a profit, and they'll let you do just about anything." He noticed her frown. "Within reason," he added. "I'm not going to do anything illicit. Nopon like paying legal fines as much as anyone."

"Fine. Go on then, you Nopon sweet talker."

He chuckled, slipping off of the stool of the bar, paying for his drink with a little extra tip for the proprietress before he left the tavern.

"Na'el!"

Na'el turned back from where she was helping Teemu lash cargo traded from the villagers to his pack armu and let out a grunt as she was promptly tackled by a small human projectile, arms wrapping around her legs.

"Whoa, Alyona!"

"You can't go, Na'el!" The little girl with bright green eyes looked up, squeezing Na'el's legs tighter. "You just can't!"

"I'm sorry," Na'el said, carefully leaning down, and rubbing the girl's head, "but I need to look for Matthew and the others."

Alyona pouted. "But you said he was a big dummy."

Na'el let out a small laugh. Kids never forgot when they were trying to get their way. "I did, and he is."

"Always in fantasy land, Matthew."

"So you should stay!" Alyona insisted. "I'm not a meanie like he is!" She sounded so proud of her logic that Na'el couldn't help but smile. Nor did she correct her, having seen how bossy Alyona was with the other kids younger than her.

Na'el carefully pried the little girl's arms from around her legs and crouched down, putting her hands on her shoulders as she looked into those innocent eyes. "As much as I'd love to, he's my brother. No matter how annoying he is, I wouldn't leave him behind."

"But…" There was a bit of a whine to her voice now and she stamped her foot, crossing her arms. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "But you're the fluffy-eared hero! You're so strong, and if you stayed, nothing would ever harm the village!"

Na'el's heart nearly broke at that.

"Oh, Alyona," she held out her arms, and the girl buried herself on her shoulder and began sobbing. Na'el let her, and the shoulder of her jacket became wet with a little puddle of tears and snot as she rubbed the girl's back, murmuring soothing nonsense.

"Remember how I said that I would come back after I found them?" Na'el whispered.

Alyona sniffed, wiping her nose on Na'el's shoulder. "I-I 'member."

"Well, when I bring Matthew back, the first thing you can tell him is how big of a dummy he is. He's got a really hard head, so he can take it. Sound good?"

"Yeah…"

After letting her have a few minutes to cry, Na'el shifted slowly eased Alyona away. "Your friends are probably missing you. I need to help Teemu finish packing up, so go on and play with them, alright?"

"kay…"

"Miss Na'el!"

Na'el looked up, to see a group of the rest of Norilsk's children come up, surrounding her. The slightly taller twelve-year-old, Vlad, held back, his hands behind his back, clearly trying to be sneaky about hiding something.

She greeted the ones surrounding her, and gently pushed Alyona into their midst and stood, deliberately ignoring the way that a couple other of the girls were teasing Alyona about crying. "What is it?"

Vlad sighed, the kind of sigh that came from someone trying to act older and more mature than he was. He pulled his hands from behind his back, and held out a small wooden box to her, mumbling something about "a gift."

"It's from all of us!" one of the younger girls chimed in. "So you can 'member us while you find your stupid brother. Natalya helped us make it."

Na'el smiled as she took the box. "Thank you all. Really. I'm just sad that I don't have anything to give back to you."

"By the sound of it, you've already done plenty."

Na'el looked up, seeing Minoth approaching, that knowing look she'd seen in the tavern yesterday back in his eyes, a slight smile on his face.

She set a hand on her hip. "Just in time to not have to help Teemu pack I see. I'm sure you'll be a great help."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Guilty as charged." He patted a large over the shoulder satchel hanging at his side. "I had to make the rounds to finish up collecting any last minute letters and packages." He indicated the wooden box. "Well, don't keep the kids waiting."

"Yeah, open it Miss Na'el!" they chimed.

She slid back the lid and pushed away dried needle leaves from the local trees to see a little rectangle of wood with carvings all on it nestled inside. She carefully took it out.

The wood had three distinct patterns carved around each of the four edges of the carving, with the bottom being blank. But in the center, was a crude carving of her face, lines representing her closed eyes, a smiling mouth and her Agnian ears. Surrounding her face were simpler carved faces that were probably Norilsk's children.

"Heh, figured as much."

She turned to Minoth. "Huh?"

"It's a traditional Coeian gift," Minoth explained, "though the tradition has changed some depending on where you go. You give it to friends and loved ones, to celebrate special birthdays, marriages, funerals, you name it. The type of carvings around the edges indicate the occasion and the reason for the giving."

"Really? What do these ones mean?" she asked.

He traced along the patterns around the edges. "They're a bit rough, but these ones on the sides are for a true friend and for parting, with the intention of meeting again one day. I'm not familiar with the pattern at the top though."

"It's for protection!" Alyona shouted. "So you stay safe on your journey!"

One of the other older boys snickered. "Alyona insisted on it. But you're way stronger than old Ivan ever was, so I know you won't need it."

Na'el's hand clutched around the carving. "You guys…" and the other went to Chyra's bracelet still around her wrist. Her eyes stung with the start of tears. But she blinked them away as a smile burst onto her face, and she threw open her arms. "Aw, come here!"

One of the smaller kids jumped into her arms, and the others soon joined in, until one of the older boys tackled the group hug and it devolved into a big, sloppy, laughing pile on the ground. She basked in the feeling of connection to these children, even after only knowing them for a few days.

This. This was the feeling she was hoping for. This was her hope for Alpha's new world.

But now she had to find Matthew and the others so they could be a part of it as well.

"Friend Na'el, Teemu is still needing help to head out soon! Please to help Teemu!"

"Alright, coming!"

Extracting herself from the pile and once again promising them all that yes, she would be back, Na'el dragged Minoth over to help Teemu finish packing.

And before long, with the adults now sending her off as well, she left behind Norilsk Village, waving goodbye until the path turned and the trees blocked her view.

They traveled for another day — through mostly wooded territory — heading around the mountain that Norilsk Village was built next to. But on the afternoon of the second day the trees thinned out, opening up into a view Na'el had seen before, yet still took her breath away.

"Pretty amazing sight, isn't it?" Minoth commented.

And it was. That sea of clouds she'd seen on her first night in this world stretched out on both sides of her, its fluffy expanse expanding out so far that she couldn't see anything else but white. But far, far, ahead of her, she saw massive fins sprouting from the sides, slicing through the fluff of the cloud sea.

"Still impressive every time I've seen it," Minoth mused. "Sights like these always put things into perspective. How insignificant our lives must seem to the Titans."

"The what?"

He looked at her with a furrowed brow. "The Titans."

She blinked and tilted her head. "...Who?"

His brow furrowed deeper for a moment, before gesturing to the ground beneath her. "Not who, but what. While they come in many shapes and sizes, the larger ones are the land beneath our feet."

"Huh, so that's what it is?" She crossed her arms, looking dozens of kilometri further ahead towards the massive fins still slowly slicing through the clouds. "It kind of just looks like a really big fish to me."

She frowned when Minoth laughed at that.

"Heh. I'm sure the Midnight Spire would get a kick out of hearing you call their home a 'big fish.'"

She felt her ears flatten a little as she stubbornly stuck to her earlier remark. "Well it is."

He grinned. "Certainly. And I suppose it helps to think of it as such when you're trying to navigate Coeian geography."

"Then I'm right," she said, smugly. "But…how does it help, exactly?"

"Well," he turned around and gestured to the forested area they had just exited, "we've just come around a mountain on the Titan's 'tail.' If we were to go back that way and follow the path, it would eventually split to go to Port Vera and Sochi at either side of the 'fins' of the Titan's tail."

"So we're on a ridge just after a fish's tail." Something dawned on her after a moment. "Hold on. The Titan won't just…dive beneath the surface, will it?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Can't swim?"

She huffed in annoyance. "No, I have no trouble swimming. The City was next to the Erythia Sea; pretty much everyone learned to swim. But wouldn't colonies or villages like Norilsk be destroyed if they get submerged? Their crops wouldn't last either."

"You catch on quick, but no. It's only on parts of the Titan affected by high tides that get completely submerged. But there are other large Titans that submerge completely, like Tantal's Genbu. But this Titan stays above the clouds."

She let out a sigh of relief. "That's…good."

It was nearing evening before Teemu called for them to veer off the main path. There was still a good amount of light so Na'el asked what was up.

"Friend Na'el not know?" Teemu ask, askance. "This the Fields of Fluffy Death!"

"Uh…"

She looked to Minoth for an explanation.

He sighed. "It's one of those parts of the Coeian Titan that becomes submerged at high that I was talking about before," he expounded. "Though the Coeians call them the Illyuziya Fields, because of how fast the tide of the Cloud Sea can come in on seemingly safe territory, the Nopon merchants nicknamed it 'Fields of Fluffy Death. Though you won't find it on any official map."

"Huh." She crossed her arms, looking at the sea of clouds, still far from the rolling fields. "Is it really that dangerous?"

He gestured ahead of them on the path. "I know it might look just like rolling fields at the moment, but when the high tide rolls in, you won't see any trace of the fields. Though the speed at which it happens varies. Either within hours or minutes. The unpredictable nature of the tide here, paired with it being the lowest point of the Titan is what makes it so dangerous."

"And Teemu not want friend Na'el to be buried in fluffy death if tide rise quick!"

Minoth nodded. "It'd be an undignified end to our story. And has been for many ill-prepared and reckless travelers."

"Come," Teemu called, "there popular travelers rest up at overlook of fields nearby!"

She began following Teemu off the main path which sloped up on to a smaller, but no less traveled path. She sidled up next to Minoth as they trekked upwards.

"So," she began, "if going this way is really this dangerous, why are we going through it? Is there not another way?"

"Well," Minoth admitted, "the traditional way to head towards Omrantha would be to go to one of the ports off its tail fins."

"That was…Port Vera and Sochi, right?"

He nodded. "Right. However, going by titanship directly to Omrantha completely skips over all the towns in between here and the capital, and both our Nopon friend and I have business through some of those places. That and going all the way around would take us more time, and money."

"So we wait?"

"So we wait," he agreed. "I always enjoy watching the tide rise myself. Something oddly calming about it. You're free to join me if you'd like once we get set up."

"Alright."

Before long, they arrived at a well-established traveler's rest spot which Teemu deemed Bogdan's Rest. It was currently empty save for them, but seemed to have places for several travelers, with pre-built fire pits and wooden canopies to shelter from the elements. Teemu settled his pack armu, and she and Minoth got a fire and food roasting.

Eventually, Minoth headed further up the slope which ended at a low rock wall, with a sturdy wooden bench firmly planted into the ground overlooking the grassy plains below. Minoth simply sat on it and pulled out his journal, but when she went to join him, she noticed that the bench had carvings in it.

Pulling out the wood carving Norilsk's children had given her, she compared it to the ones on the bench, but didn't find similar symbols.

"It's probably because this one's a memorial," Minoth said when she asked, tracing the carvings around the edges of the back of the bench. "If I remember right, these symbols on the left represent peace in death or something like that, and this one on the right is for the wish for the safety of the departed's family."

"But why here?"

"If I had to guess, this 'Bogdan' was likely a well known traveler, or maybe a human merchant. Nopon don't usually get involved in that kind of custom."

"Unless they're selling it to you, I'd assume?"

He grinned. "Exactly."

Minoth went back to writing in his journal and Na'el leaned back into the carvings of the bench, and started tracing the symbols on the wood carving from the children, fiddling with it as she watched the Cloud Sea roll up and down the edges of the fields. Slowly it rose, metri by metri.

After nearly an hour, the last bit of ground for at least several kilometri was covered by the clouds. Curiosity got the better of her, and she stood walking the sloping path from the rest spot back to the main road, now obscured by the fluff.

Crouching down by its edge, she poked at the fluff lapping at the path. Her finger went right through the top of it, like dense fog. And just like it, her finger felt misty and came away feeling a little damp.

Curious, she stuck her finger through the cloudy top and it plunged into something wet, almost like water. She pulled it out, seeing it drip with clear liquid. She sniffed the liquid, not getting any particular scent from it.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she let the liquid pool at the tip of her finger and drip onto her tongue.

"Ugh!"

Her mouth screwed up in disgust and she immediately spat it out once the foul taste of something like a mix of metal, salt and something unrecognizable reached her brain.

She heard Minoth laugh behind her, and turned to see him with his one arm on his hip. "Don't think I've ever seen anyone try to taste it before that wasn't a kid."

"You could have warned me!" she hissed.

"I didn't think I'd have to." He shook his head. "That's the first thing kids learn is to not drink the Cloud Sea, no matter how much like water it looks and feels."

"I know that now!"

He chuckled again, but didn't say much else, just standing nearby.

With a sigh, she lowered herself from her crouch the rest of the way to the ground, crossing one leg while drawing the other up. She draped her arm over her propped knee and nestled her chin atop it, just watching the fluffy white drifting by. Time passed watching the endless expanse of white, long enough that the sun began to set, coloring the expanse an impressive orange.

"I still can't believe the land beneath our feet moves like this. Even seeing it for myself, it's still hard to believe how alive it all is."

The scratching sounds from Minoth writing stopped. "Is that right?"

Na'el shook her head. "Aionios wasn't like this. Just land and water as far as I know. It never moved or anything."

"And I find it hard to imagine land like that on anything but a dead Titan."

She looked back at him, frowning "They…die?"

"Of course," he nodded. "Though it takes millennia for that to happen to ones as big as Coeia."

"That's…sad." She turned back, resting her chin back on her arm. "Knowing that one day this view will be gone."

"But such is life. Eventually, other Titans will come around, and life will spring up or be settled on those as well, and humanity will live on. Humans are a tenacious lot like that. They never give up."

"The only true end is the moment you give up."

The memory of grandad's words seemed to echo in tandem with Minoth's words. She stayed there, watching the sun set over the horizon. The light of the stars shining as that gigantic tree that pierced the heavens began to glow.

"That tree." She looked back to Minoth, who was back to writing. "Does it glow like that every night?"

"'That tree,' she says." He shook his head in almost exaggerated exasperation. "Only the World Tree. And of course it does it every night. You might even call it the focal point of Alrest, the point at which all Titans circle around."

"Really? Why?"

To her frustration, he shrugged. "Hard to say. Plenty of people will give you reasons as to why: some religious, some pseudo-scientific. They might even be right, but really, their guess is as good as anyone's."

She let out a huff. "Well that's unhelpful."

"I'm sure the scholars who devote their lives to finding those answers appreciate your cheek."

"Well, have they ever been up there to see?"

"Plenty have tried, but Titanships won't go up that far. And you can imagine how dangerous trying to climb all that way yourself would be."

"But did anyone make it?"

"...One man did, supposedly."

"Really? What did he find?"

"Don't know," and he sounded rather dismissive about it. "You'd have to ask him about it."

And then he was silent. Na'el felt like it might be a sore subject, and left it there, going back to staring at the ethereal glow of the 'World Tree.' As she continued to stare, enraptured by the glowing sight, as if by instinct, her right hand slipped into her pocket and found Alpha's crystal.

Time seemed to tick by.

The sounds of the coming night — the lapping of the Cloud Sea against the shore and the buzzing of insects and nocturnal animals awakening — seemed to fall away, until the only sound she could hear was the beating of her own heart.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

But there was something else. A pulse in her hand wrapped around the crystal.

It seemed to resonate with the beat of her heart.

Her vision slowly seemed to tunnel focused entirely on the Tree, the rest of her surroundings seeming to dim in color, almost turning black. Distantly, she recognized that she had stood up, and in front of her, her left hand reached out to something above those distant glowing branches.

"-'el-"

Something was shaking her shoulder.

"Na'el!"

"...Huh?"

She blinked rapidly, the sounds and sights of the night rushing back all at once. Her outstretched hand fell to her side and she looked down to her shoulder, where Minoth's hand rested.

"I said I'm going to head back to the campsite to get some food and rest. You should too. We'll be setting off in the morning as soon as the tide lowers."

"Oh…okay."

His hand slipped off her shoulder, and he looked at her with something approaching worry in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

Her hand slipped out her pocket, and she passed Minoth, heading back to Teemu's campsite.

Everything was fine.

A/N: Everything was in fact, not fine.

Worldbuilding is quite fun, and for the relatively few seconds we actually see the Coeian Titan in cutscenes, there's a surprising amount to glean from it. Though naturally, most of this will be made up.

Translation of the chapter title is "Resonance of the Heart."