Chapter Text
The Leftherian Archipelago was a place unlike any other in Alrest. While other nations tended to be based out of one enormous titan or another, Leftheria was mostly scattered across a chain of smaller titan islands. While there was one massive, central titan among them, it was buried beneath the cloud sea, creating an imposing "mountain" of clouds which the smaller titans were clustered around – this was the ridge that Fan la Norne had spoken of. And that wasn't all that stood out, most of the islands themselves were rather odd even by the widely-varied standards of titans. They were roughly circular shapes with uniformly purple outer shells. They had flattened tops, creating the effect of round platforms, which happened to be covered in white sandy ground. Some of the islands were mostly submerged, but others simply... floated above the cloud sea, revealing long tendrils dangling from their undersides, making them look oddly reminiscent of jellyfish. Despite being individual titans, they seemed to have deliberately connected with each other, as large flat tendrils ran from one titan to another, creating a series of bridges crisscrossing from island to island.
The Indoline ship, which had traveled all through the night to arrive early in the morning, pulled in to Rigitte Harbor - a tiny, empty port situated on one of the lower islands. Not only were there no other ships there, but there were hardly any other people either. But then, since it wasn't built near a major settlement, that wasn't much of a surprise. In fact, the rather ostentatious Indoline vessel looked a bit out of place there. The group gradually filed out of the ship, not quite all at once – a few of them needed to be woken up, since they were still sleeping when they arrived. Eventually, however, they were all gathered up on the quiet docks. Rex stretched his arms over his head for a moment with a satisfied groan, then glanced around at the Archipelago before them.
"It's real good to be back." he commented with a cheerful smile. "Been a few years, but I remember like it was yesterday."
"I can't believe you actually grew up here, Rex. Alrest has so many incredible places..." Pyra responded, gazing up at the towering mountain of clouds in the distance, a sense of awe visible on her face. The moment of admiring the scenery was soon broken, however, by a disgruntled groan coming from beside the Aegis.
"How are you two so bloody cheery? It's too early..." Nia grumbled, a haze of sleep still hanging heavily in her eyes. As if to punctuate her statement, she let out a loud a yawn almost immediately after she spoke.
"Come now Nia, don't be like that." Pyra chided her gently, though she sounded more amused than genuinely scolding. In response, she was given nothing but a bit of halfhearted mumbling which nobody could really make out.
"Meh... Tora agrees with Nia..." the Nopon interjected tiredly, rubbing one eye with his wing while the other blinked at the morning light.
"That masterpon's fault though." Poppi pointed out bluntly, shaking her head. "Stay up even after Poppi suggest otherwise." Tora hung his head, and at that moment, he looked less like a driver with his Blade, and more like a kid being scolded by their mom, which Pyra couldn't help but giggle at the sight of.
Vandham's signature barking laugh cut through the air. "You lot wouldn't like bein' mercenaries, I'll tell ya that. Have to be up bright and early for a lotta jobs." he noted jovially as he strode up next to them, seeming just as boisterous as ever despite the early hour.
"No problems here. I bet it's the same for salvaging, right Rex?" Corvin asked, mirroring the cheerfulness that both Rex and Vandham had on display.
"Right!" the salvager agreed enthusiastically. "Gramps used to get real annoyed if I was up and about before dawn. Said he was too old for it." he added, and a muffled "hmph" emanated from his helmet in reply.
"Well aren't you three just rays of sunshine?" Nia muttered, clearly too tired to even bother trying to hide her irritation with her companions' more energetic attitudes. Fan la Norne looked at the scene unfolding before her with eyebrows knit in concern.
"Oh my. I'm sorry for having to wake you, lady Nia. I felt it would be best to start early if we want to reach Fonsett Village by nightfall." the Indoline Blade spoke up after a moment of hesitation. Nia's expression softened considerably upon hearing the apology – Fan's sincere concern made it extremely difficult to be grouchy with her.
"...It's fine. I know it's a long walk and all." the Gormotti sighed, shaking her head to try and clear some of the fuzziness out of it.
"...Very well." Fan agreed, though she still seemed just a tiny bit hesitant. Still, with the matter of the day's early start more-or-less dealt with, the Indoline decided to go ahead and get down to business. "Anyway, master Rex?" she began, turning to address the salvager. "I admit that I don't know my way around the Archipelago especially well. Would you mind leading our way, if it's not too much trouble?"
"Ha! No problem. I could get back to Fonsett in my sleep!" Rex boasted proudly in response. Corvin gave him a cheery thumbs-up, seemingly in appreciation of his confident attitude. "But seriously though, it's not too complicated. We're mostly just gonna follow the paths." he said, pointing upwards towards a couple of the bridges snaking from island to island in the distance. "The only thing you really have to worry about are the monsters, some of the ones around here are a lot tougher than in Gormott or Uraya."
"Tough monsters? Tora not like sound of that..." Tora spoke up, doing an admirable job of hiding the nervousness in his voice, though the twitching of his wings gave it away regardless.
"Eh, I bet we could take 'em. A few monsters aren't going to scare me." Corvin commented assuredly.
"All right, big head." Nia muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'd still rather steer clear, save us the trouble."
"Nia's right. Ain't no use blundering into a buncha monsters, whether we can fight them off or not." Vandham agreed, crossing his arms. Corvin shrugged nonchalantly, not seeming particularly bothered, but he didn't contest the point.
"No worries, I reckon I know what parts to avoid so we won't run into too much. All you have to do is follow me!" Rex mentioned, sounding a little proud again.
Fan broke her dignified image a bit by letting out a small giggle. "Well then, I'm glad to know we're in good hands." she said.
Just as Rex had claimed, he undoubtedly knew his way around Leftheria extremely well, enough to give the impression that he must have been rather adventurous as a child. He led them from island to island without hardly having to pause and consider their route. In fact, he even pointed out the names of the various locations they went through – apparently each island had its own title, though Nia knew that there was no way she'd be able to remember them. The isles closest to the harbor were fairly serene, all things considered, their surfaces looking like rather picturesque little oases with their white sand and pools of clear water. The lack of particularly large or aggressive wildlife certainly added to the atmosphere, though Rex warned that more dangerous creatures would become increasingly common as they neared the cloud ridge. And indeed, at one point they ended up taking cover behind some large rocks as one of the winged serpentine monsters known as Lexos flew overhead. Not that they couldn't fight it, necessarily – if nothing else, Mythra would be able to blast it down easily – but it simply wasn't worth expending the effort and drawing attention to themselves.
Other than their brief brush with the Lexos, the most trying part of the journey was probably crossing the bridges between islands. While it wasn't especially difficult or dangerous per se, the pathways were essentially nothing but sandy tendrils, meaning that they were fairly thin and certainly didn't have any guardrails. The end result was that the large party couldn't all walk along them side-by-side, instead they had to file along in groups of one or two. And the process was only made even slower by the fact that the bridges sometimes took odd turns and curved up and down at odd angles. It eventually got tedious enough that even Rex's enthusiasm waned. After a few hours, they came to a point where their path split, though it could be seen in the distance that both would ultimately lead to tunnels in the cloud ridge. Rex suggested that they take the left path since both were roughly the same stretch, and it was generally known to be safer.
The tunnels through the ridge were known as the Cloudways, passages in the side of the massive submerged titan that created the mountain, running all the way through its body from one side to the other in nearly straight lines. They weren't just dark rocky holes though. No, the pair of tunnels were actually formed by the forces of converging titans causing the cloud sea itself to part in an arched shape. Situated right on top of the massive titan below the ridge, the tunnels were basically enormous windows showing the depths of the cloud sea all around. As the group entered the tunnel proper, several of them stopped, gazing around in awe at the sight of the deep blue liquid clouds surrounding them.
Vandham let out a low whistle. "Now ain't that a hell of a thing?" he asked rhetorically, putting his hands on his hips. "Been all over Alrest, but beneath the clouds is a new one for me."
"Is this what salvagers like Rex see every day?" Tora spoke up, a note of child-like wonder in his voice. He looked up with wide eyes as a shark-like Aligo swam over the top of the tunnel.
"Hehe, I guess it is." Rex agreed, rubbing the back of his head. "'Course, when you're salvaging, you can't really stop and look around too much, you know? Too dangerous. You just gotta grab your salvage and get back up as quick as you can." he explained more seriously. Nia was reminded of the fact that, despite his easygoing personality, Rex actually was quite focused and competent when it came to salvaging.
"The only time I went below the cloud sea was... on the ship, so... no chance for sightseeing." Pyra mused.
Still, while the tunnel through the clouds was definitely an intriguing novelty, they couldn't exactly stand around gawking all day, so they soon got moving once again. For the most part, traveling through the Cloudway was fairly uneventful. Small creatures skittered about on the sandy ground here and there, and every so often a monster or two would swim past outside, but it was largely peaceful. Until they reached the end of the passageway, that is.
"Well now, isn't this a surprise!?" called out a voice that was probably louder and more bombastic than it reasonably should have been. Standing there near the exit of the tunnel were a tall, muscular gray-haired man with an eyepatch and a Blade girl with green hair and large glasses. "Looks like I'll get my chance with the Aegis after all!" Naturally, most of the group took that as a bad sign and tensed up, several of them even drawing weapons. Nia was grumbling something about getting confronted everywhere they went. Rex, Corvin, and Fan la Norne, however, were simply staring at the two figures with near-identical looks of confusion.
"Oh hey, it's..." Corvin began nonchalantly, only to pause as his eyebrows furrowed slightly in thought. "...uh, that guy." he finished lamely, having forgotten the man's name. The eyepatch-wearing man slapped a hand over his face in exasperation.
"You make me sad, blondie!" he declared melodramatically. "So what about you, eh chum? Surely you must remember me?" he turned to Rex, only have the salvager shake his head with an apologetic smile on his face. "Ugh! It's Zeke! Zeke Von Genbu! How could you forget the mighty Zekenator!?"
"Rex, you know this spanner?" Nia wondered, lowering her sword slightly with a look of confusion.
"Not really, me and Corvin just ran into him in Fonsa Myma. It wasn't a big deal, honestly." the salvager replied. Zeke looked slightly offended at being described as "not a big deal".
"Excuse me, master Zeke, but... what exactly are you doing?" Fan spoke up curiously. Zeke turned towards and did a double-take as if he had only just noticed she was standing there.
"Fancy meeting you here, Fan!" Zeke exclaimed with his usual exuberance. It really wasn't clear if he genuinely hadn't registered her being there until now, or if he was just playing up an act.
"Alright, seriously, who the hell is this guy? Fan?" Nia asked once again, sounding increasingly annoyed with the mysterious man making a spectacle and blocking their way.
"Oh, he's-" Fan tried to begin explaining, only to quickly be cut off.
"Uh-uh! Don't go giving everything away, Fan! Just let me have this!" Zeke protested, sounding slightly pleading for a moment. Fan's mouth turned into a small frown, but she apparently decided to relent since she didn't say anything more. Seemingly satisfied, Zeke turned to address Nia instead. "The only thing you need to know, fuzzy ears, is that I'm the legendary Bringer of Chaos! And I'm here to fight you for the Aegis!" he announced dramatically. Nia scowled and held Pyra's sword up threateningly, the Aegis taking up a fighting stance at her side.
Corvin let out a scoff. "Come on, man, me and Rex could take you by ourselves." he bragged, but Zeke simply barked out a confident laugh in response.
"You may have gotten lucky last time, chum, but that won't happen again. Especially since this time, we've got an extra edge! Pandy, that's your cue!" Zeke declared. His Blade, Pandoria, reached into a small pocket on her frilly outfit and pulled something out, handing it over to Zeke. Nia tensed slightly, and the man held out the object flat on the palm of his hand. "Behold! Our incredible mascot, Turters!" There in his hand was none other than a tiny green turtle. It poked its head out of its shell and looked around, and Pyra made a soft cooing noise.
"He's adorable!" the Aegis said, seemingly forgetting that the turtle's owner was trying to threaten them.
"...Oi, I think this guy's been out in the sun too long." Nia stage-whispered to the others, quite obviously unimpressed with Zeke's many oddities.
"Ha! With the added morale from Turters, there's no way we can lose!" Zeke bragged, handing the turtle back to Pandoria, who once again stowed it away in her pocket. "Now how about we quit wasting time, and get to the point!?" he bellowed, brandishing the huge sword from his back. Nia, Rex, and Tora were about to spring into action, when...
"Hold it!" Vandham yelled, stepping between Zeke and Nia and stretching his arm out in front of the Gormotti protectively. Zeke raised an eyebrow at the huge Urayan who was staring him down seriously. "Look around, ya mush! This tunnel's too small for all of us to be fightin' in." Vandham pointed out. Zeke glanced around, noticing that it indeed was a bit of a narrow battlefield for such a large group. "How's about we settle this one-on-one, eh?" the mercenary suggested, a small smirk forming on his lips.
Zeke put his hand on his chin in thought, making a slightly exaggerated "hmm" sound. "You know what? You're on, old man!" he decided. Vandham drew the twin scythes from his belt as Zeke glanced past him at Nia. "Don't get too comfortable, fuzzy ears!" he warned.
Then, all of a sudden, he leapt towards Vandham, pivoting his enormous sword around in an impressive sideways smash. The mercenary, rather than trying to dodge, braced himself and swung one of his scythes upwards at a diagonal angle. The inner curve of the scythe caught around the incoming blade slightly, pulling it upwards and away, completely throwing off Zeke's swing. Then Vandham swiped his other scythe quickly towards Zeke's chest before he had a chance to recover. In a move which made Vandham raise an eyebrow, however, Zeke simply sucked in a deep breath, pulling in his stomach enough that the edge of the scythe narrowly sailed past. All it did was add another gash onto the man's tattered coat. Zeke swung his sword downwards heavily, yet once again Vandham was ready, crossing his scythes over his head to guard the strike. Back in Fonsa Myma, Rex had found that the weight of the greatsword made it hard to block, but the far larger and more muscular Urayan handled it much better. He let out a grunt from the force of the impact, but his stance held firm. With both hands occupied holding back Zeke's Dreamsmasher, Vandham retaliated by swinging one of his bulky legs up for a strong kick. And yet Zeke was far more agile than one might give him credit for, as he swiftly jumped back to avoid the blow. Despite all the struggling, neither had managed to land a single hit – they seemed evenly matched.
"Mehmehmeh..." Tora muttered nervously as the rest of the party stood back, watching as the two of them continued to duel. "Should we help biggipon?" he asked quietly.
"...I'm not sure. He said he wanted to do it himself, but..." Pyra answered uncertainly, still gazing at the fight, her hands crossed over her core crystal.
"We'll give him a hand if he really gets in trouble, yeah?" Nia suggested, and after a moment's thought Pyra and Tora both nodded in agreement.
"Heh, you guys worry too much. I bet Vandham's got this." Corvin remarked, and unlike the others, he didn't seem even remotely tense about the situation. In fact, he was his normal cocky self.
Zeke stood back for a moment, breathing deeply. "You're not too bad, old chum." he complimented. Vandham nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"Could say the same about you." the mercenary agreed with a small smirk. Zeke made a small gesture with his hand and Pandoria ran up to his side, grabbing the handle of the sword along with her driver. Purple electricity coursed along the weapon as they held it upwards.
"Take this! Thunder Doom!" Pandoria shouted, as she and Zeke smashed the sword down into the ground. A huge wave of lightning exploded outwards, nearly filling the whole width of the tunnel and surging towards Vandham. The moment they had held the sword up, however, Vandham's own Blade had swooped over to him, and the mercenary smoothly passed his dual scythes to him as he approached. When the brilliant purple energy faded, Roc was standing there in front of Vandham, scythes held in his crossed arms as an ether barrier faded away. Still, it was a respectably powerful art, and the bird-like Blade was looking a bit winded from the effort of blocking it. In fact, judging from the shiny patches on the ground between the combatants, the lightning had actually turned some of the sandy flooring into glass. Roc was there to do more than just block, though – almost as soon as the attack was over, he swung the two scythes in his hands around, colliding their handles together, the end result being the two scythes combining at the ends. Then he hurtled the weapon with as much force as he could, sending it spinning through the air like a disc, glowing with wind ether which kicked up some of the sand below.
Zeke and Pandoria, seemingly a bit tired out from their attack, didn't manage to get out of the way quite fast enough, and at last the first proper blow was landed. The conjoined scythes whirled right into both Zeke and his Blade, wide enough to hit both of them. Not only that, but the windy force of the art blew them both backwards off their feet, sending them out of the mouth of the tunnel and onto the connecting tendril bridge. The twin scythes, meanwhile, spiraled back through the air like a boomerang, and Vandham stepped forwards to catch them, separating them back into individual weapons. As Zeke and Pandoria were getting back on their feet, the mercenary bolted towards them quicker than one might expect from his huge frame. Pandoria hastily disconnected the greatsword's handle to form her staff and blasted a quick bolt of lightning to deter the Urayan, but Vandham smoothly ducked past it and continued his charge. Once he was near enough, he used his running momentum to leap towards Zeke, bringing his scythes down in a jumping smash. Zeke held his sword horizontally over his head, blocking the heavy smash, though Vandham's huge bulk behind the attack nearly made his knees buckle, and he struggled to stay standing.
From there, the two once again began to duel back and forth, Zeke quickly finding his stride again, and soon they were back to their stalemate. Apparently realizing that it wasn't going anywhere, Zeke took the first chance he could to pull back and put a bit of space between him and Vandham. By this point the eyepatched man was standing right near the edge of the slightly-curvy bridge, leaving him no more room to back up. The Urayan watched him cautiously, wondering what he was about to do.
"Alright, let's finish this! Prepare yourself!" Zeke declared, and Pandoria took the cue to send a huge amount of lightning ether into his sword so that the whole thing was engulfed in a shroud of it. Rex and Corvin leaned forwards slightly in tandem, recognizing the attack. "Bringer of Chaos!" Zeke yelled, jumping up into the air – and slightly backwards. "Ultimate Lightning-" he began to shout... only to realize too late that he'd jumped back a bit, when he had been right at the edge of the bridge. "Why me!?" he wailed as he missed the ground entirely, swiftly dropping out of sight. For a moment, everything went so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Vandham's eyebrows had both risen high on his forehead, and Pandoria seemed to be momentarily frozen. Soon, however, the green-haired Blade jolted into action, running to the edge where Zeke had fallen.
"Prince Zeke! Are you okay!?" she yelled, peering down at the cloud sea below where a humanoid figure could be seen floating. After a brief pause, one of the figure's arms rose in what was unmistakably a thumbs-up, and Pandoria breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, he's fine." she said to herself, suddenly sounding amazingly calm.
"That happen to ya often?" Vandham asked, sounding incredibly nonplussed. As he should, really.
"You have no idea." Pandoria answered flatly, turning back to face him. "So..." she began awkwardly as the rest of the group gathered up beside Vandham. "I guess I should go ahead and tell you. We, uh, weren't really planning to take the Aegis, you know?"
"Heh. I figured. That fella wasn't really takin' it seriously." Vandham commented with a nod.
"Of course. I knew that wouldn't be like him." Fan agreed.
"Right. We actually just wanted to see what you guys could do. So... no hard feelings?" Pandoria asked, grinning at them. She was mostly met with shrugs, either uncaring or confused, though Fan la Norne was smiling warmly at her.
"Hold on, does this mean that... you two will want to fight me, some day?" Pyra asked curiously.
"Eh, yeah, probably." Pandoria answered nonchalantly. "But don't worry about it. We're not bad guys or anything." she added. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should probably... catch up with him." Without waiting for a response, Pandoria turned and dived off the edge of the bridge, landing safely in the cloud sea below and beginning to swim after her driver towards the nearest island. Nia shuddered slightly at the thought of willingly leaping down like that.
With the odd diversion that was Zeke Von Genbu out of the way, the party were able to continue their trek. Once they had emerged from the Cloudway properly, Rex pointed out a fairly large island sticking out of the cloud sea in the distance. Unlike the others, this one was made up of gray, rocky terrain with green grass and trees growing on it. It looked more like something out of Gormott than a part of Leftheria. Apparently, the reason that particular island was so different was because it actually wasn't a separate titan, unlike the others. Rather, it was the only part of the massive central titan which wasn't buried under the cloud ridge. It also happened to be the place where Fonsett Village was built, and indeed a few buildings could be seen dotted about. With their goal for the day now in sight, everyone was feeling ready to proceed.
"So Fan..." Nia began, falling in beside the Indoline as they walked. "D'ya mind telling me who that shellhead was?" she asked curiously.
"Hmm? Shellhead?" Fan repeated curiously, then her eyes widened slightly in realization and she smiled slightly at the nickname. "Oh! Yes, of course. He prefers to call himself Zeke Von Genbu, but his real name is Ozychlyrus Brounev Tantal." she explained.
"You think that's enough of a mouthful?" Nia commented sarcastically.
"Well, it is to be expected. He is royalty, after all, as a prince of the nation of Tantal." Fan replied matter-of-factly. Now that really got the Gormotti's attention, since she stopped dead for a moment, her eyes wide.
"Are you messin' with me? That guy was a bloody prince!? Seriously!?" Nia's outburst got the attention of the others, and Rex let out a low whistle.
"A real prince, huh?" the salvager wondered. "To be honest, I thought royalty would be a bit... more regal." he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
Vandham chuckled in amusement. "Let that be a lesson for ya. Havin' a higher status don't mean you always make good decisions."
"Yes, it's true that he is a prince, but... he was exiled years ago, though I am afraid I could not say why. At some point after that, he came into the service of the Praetorium, not too different from my role." Fan spoke up to finish her explanation.
"Did you... know anything about him looking for us?" Pyra asked curiously, but Fan gave a small shake of her head.
"Not at all, lady Pyra. I imagine he must have heard rumors of the Aegis's return." the brown-haired Blade answered honestly. "I suppose I ought to ask him. We will likely meet again once we reach the Praetorium."
They finally arrived at Fonsett Village fairly early in the evening, as the sun was just starting to set. The village itself was a humble little place, not much more than wooden houses and small plots of farmland. It was built atop the ruins of what looked to be an old brick fort which appeared to be at least several years old, the mass of brickwork raising the terrain in a sort of artificial plateau which the rest of the village was settled upon. A few of the fort's turrets and towers were still mostly intact, but from how overgrown they were with moss and vines, they obviously hadn't been used in quite some time. A pair of stairways led up to the village proper from the ground level below, and the group passed through a wide brick archway to get to what could be called the town square. Though, given how small the place was, almost all of the buildings were clustered around said central area, with only a few farther out. With the sundown coming, the village was fairly sleepy, only a couple farmers and merchants were out and about.
"Hey, Rex! Good to see you!" a man called out as he passed by carrying a basket of vegetables. The salvager gave a hearty wave in return.
"You too!" Rex answered happily, and the man continued on his way. With that done, Rex led the group a little ways down the road from the village entrance, where a modestly sized house stood to their left. The homey-looking nature of the place, along with its bright blue, white, and yellow paintjob reminded Nia a bit of the buildings in Torigoth. "Alright, here we are. Auntie Corinne's house." he said as he strolled up to the front door. The salvager gave a couple knocks on the door. "Hello, Auntie Corinne? You in?" he called out. Moments later, the sound of hurrying footsteps could be heard, and then the door swung open. Standing there with a warm smile on her face was an older woman with fairly dark skin and pale bluish-gray hair.
"Well now, if it isn't Rex, finally paying a visit." she teased lightly, stepping forwards and offering the boy a quick hug, which he gladly returned. "It really has been awhile, hasn't it? Must be at least five years now." Corinne added as she stepped back. Rex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I know, I know. Gramps has been telling me I need to come back more often too." he mumbled, sounding slightly abashed, but Corinne simply smiled all the more.
"Oh, Rex, don't worry so much. You've been working hard to support us here, and it really has been a big help." she spoke soothingly, and Rex's embarrassment turned into a look of pride at the praise. Corinne's eyes swept over the rest of the group who were standing a little behind Rex watching the scene unfold, but not wanting to interrupt. "My, this is a lot of company you've got here. And where's old Azurda, did he ferry you all here?"
Taking the cue, Gramps stuck his head up out of the salvager's helmet. "Actually, that would be a bit difficult. Suffice to say that we have had quite a few misadventures in recent days." he commented as Corinne stared at him in surprise. "Though I assure you, this old titan reverting in size is only the tip of it."
"...I suppose you'll have to tell me all about it. Now, Rex, would you mind introducing me to your friends?" Corinne said, doing an impressive job of taking the news that Rex had been on wild adventures in stride. She walked past Rex to face the rest of the group.
"Right!" Rex agreed. "There's Tora and Poppi..." he pointed out the two, and Tora gave a small wave with one of his wings. "Vandham and Roc... Nia and Pyra..." The Gormotti smirked in a friendly way. "That's miss Fan, she's takin' us to Indol..." Fan la Norne bowed politely. "And can you believe it? I'm a driver now! That's my Blade, Corvin!" the salvager concluded excitedly. Corvin took the cue to stroll up beside Rex.
"Well well, a driver..." Corinne echoed, looking Corvin over carefully. "Somehow I'm not surprised you'd find yourself a core crystal some day." she commented. "I do hope Rex hasn't been giving you too much trouble, young man. He's always known how to get in over his head." she addressed Corvin now.
"Auntie Corinne..." Rex protested, embarrassed. Corvin simply shook his head, an amused grin on his lips.
"Nah, he and I get on great! Besides, if he got in trouble, he could count on me to pull him out." the blonde Blade said, clapping one hand on Rex's shoulder as he did so.
"As you can see, I have my claws full dealing with these two." Gramps commented dryly, earning a small chuckle from Corinne.
As Rex and Corvin were continuing to chat with Corinne a bit, Pyra spoke up softly next to Nia. "Rex and his aunt seem... pretty close, don't you think?" she asked.
"Eh, I guess. Makes me wonder why he doesn't visit. I mean, what'd she say, five years?" the Gormotti replied, looking at Rex and Corinne critically.
"Well, like she said, he must've been working hard being a salvager. But now, he looks happy to be back home." the redhead noted, and Nia let out a small sigh.
"Must be nice, havin' a home to go back to." she muttered, and Pyra looked at her with eyes wide in concern. Suddenly, Nia froze. "Damnit! Did I say that out loud?" she growled to herself.
"Nia, I... know you probably don't want to talk about it. But if you ever do..." Pyra murmured sympathetically.
Nia shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and looked up. "Yeah, I don't like whining about this stuff, but... thanks, Pyra." she said after a moment. Then she glanced around. "Nobody else heard that, yeah?"
The Aegis smiled slightly at that. "Don't worry, I won't say anything." Pyra decided to humor her driver.
"Anyway, Auntie Corinne..." Rex began, deciding it was time to get down to business. "Sorry to say I won't be staying long, we're heading to the Praetorium tomorrow. You don't mind if we stay here tonight, do you?"
"Oh Rex, as if you even need to ask. Of course you're always welcome here." Corinne answered immediately, with such sincerity that Rex looked slightly abashed. She glanced over the whole group once again, placing her hand on her chin. "Sleeping arrangements might be a bit tricky, but we'll make it work." she decided. The she stepped aside and gestured towards the open door. "Come on in and make yourselves at home. Any friend of Rex's is a friend of mine." she invited, and soon everyone began to file inside.
"Thank you so much, Auntie." Rex said with a wide grin on his face, which Corinne answered with her own smile.
Just as the outside of the house had seemed to suggest, it was a charmingly cozy sort of place within, mostly made of simple wood décor and furniture that seemed well-used, lit by small orange lanterns. Directly through the front door was the dining room/kitchen, a humble wooden table in the center, with a stove, cabinets, and other basic kitchen features lined up along the back wall. Corinne ushered everyone through a side door which led to an equally-modest sitting room, pretty much just a couch and a few chairs arranged around a coffee table, all sitting atop a slightly-faded blue rug. There unfortunately wasn't enough seating for everyone, so Pyra, Corvin, and Fan ended up on the couch, while Rex and Tora occupied the armchairs. Nia simply plopped down on the rug with her legs crossed. Poppi assured everyone that, as an artificial Blade, her legs wouldn't get tired, Vandham joked that he was too big for the furniture anyway, and Roc remained stoically silent in following his driver's lead, so all three of them stayed standing. Corinne hovered in the doorway for a moment as they all got situated.
"You all must be hungry, I suppose I ought to go get something started." she spoke up, almost sounding slightly regretful about not already having a meal ready, even though there was no way she could've known they were coming.
"Oh!" Pyra stood up from the couch suddenly, earning a raised eyebrow from Nia. "I could fix dinner for us all, if you like." the Aegis suggested.
"No, no, dear. What kind of host would I be if I made you cook for us?" Corinne denied her gently, but apparently Pyra didn't feel like giving up quite so easily.
"But... there's so many of us. I can't impose on you that much." she pointed out.
"It's fine, I often cook for the village's children. This shouldn't be much different. And besides, you ought to have a chance to relax." Corinne countered, and at this point everyone else's eyes were moving back and forth between the two.
"I enjoy fixing meals though, it... is relaxing, for me. And it would give you a chance to catch up with Rex." the redhead answered immediately, seeming to lose a bit of ground but not willing to give up.
"Oi. Are they seriously arguing over who's more polite?" Nia hissed to Rex, who simply shrugged with a look on his face like he was torn between being baffled and amused. Hearing the Gormotti's comment, Pyra flushed in embarrassment, while Corinne simply laughed.
"Oh, go on, dear. I can tell you're eager to prove yourself." Corinne conceded, sounding like she found Pyra's behavior to be endearing. The Aegis started to head back towards the dining room, but stopped and bit her lip as if suddenly thinking of something.
"I may need a bit of help... Corvin, would you mind joining me?" she asked after a moment's hesitation. The blonde raised an eyebrow at being singled out, but stood from the couch anyway.
"Sure. Can't say I know how to cook, though." he replied.
"That's alright, I just need an extra pair of hands." Pyra clarified, and Corvin shrugged nonchalantly. As the two of them left the sitting room, Corinne took one of the now-empty seats on the couch.
"So, Rex, what's got you running off to Indol in such a large group?" she asked curiously.
"Believe it or not, we've got a meeting with the Praetor." Rex replied with a bit of pride. Now that got Corinne's attention, her eyebrows raising in surprise.
"The Praetor himself..." she repeated, sounding almost disbelieving. "You must be wrapped up in something big to get attention from such a high place."
"Hehe, I guess we are. See, Pyra's actually a legendary super-powerful Blade. So the Praetor's real interested in talking to her and Nia." the salvager explained honestly. "And Fan said the rest of us were invited too since we're Pyra's friends."
"And we've got some stuff we need to ask the Praetor anyway." Nia added, and Rex nodded his head at the reminder that they'd set their sights on Indol even before Fan's arrival.
"I see. And how did you get involved in all this, then?" Corinne wondered.
"Well, it's a really long story, but... You know how I sent a lot of gold recently? That was from the advance for a big job Chairman Bana gave me." Rex began to tell the tale.
"Hold it, that's what you did with your hundred thousand?" Nia interrupted.
"Well, most of it." the salvager replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"...Doesn't even surprise me anymore." Nia muttered, her eyebrows forming a flat line.
"Anyway, Nia was one of the clients, working with a couple other guys named Jin and Malos. Turns out the thing we were salvaging was actually Pyra. And Jin and Malos were actually terrorists!" Rex recounted.
"I didn't know they were plannin' on murdering anyone, I wouldn't have gone along with them." the Gormotti defended herself. To her surprise, however, Corinne wasn't looking at her judgmentally. Apparently, just being Rex's friend was enough to earn the benefit of the doubt.
"Things got pretty crazy, Nia woke up Pyra to help me, and Gramps ended up swooping in to bail us out." Rex concluded his cliff-notes version of the events of the Aegis's awakening.
"And things have been quite hectic ever since. Trouble certainly seems to have a way of finding us." Gramps commented, floating up to rest on the back of Rex's chair.
"That's our Rex. Always getting right in the middle of things, ever since he was little." Corinne spoke, sounding fondly reminiscent.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Pyra and Corvin had busied themselves, with Corvin fetching any dishes or ingredients that Pyra asked for so that she could focus on actually preparing her recipe of choice. At the moment, however, Pyra was busily chopping up a bunch of vegetables, leaving Corvin simply hanging around without much to do. Quickly starting to feel a bit bored, Corvin decided it was time to strike up conversation.
"You wanted to talk to me about something, right Pyra?" he asked suddenly, and the Aegis paused in her cutting for a moment.
"What? I, er... That is..." Pyra stammered awkwardly, clearly caught off guard.
"Take your time. I just figured, you know, since you called me specifically and all." Corvin said lightly, trying to make it clear that he wasn't trying to press her too hard.
"Well... Yes, you're right." the redhead admitted. "I wanted to ask you... about your power."
"My power?" Corvin echoed, raising one eyebrow questioningly. "I mean, I think I'm pretty good, but what about it?" he asked.
"Blades that wield the Light element are... fairly rare. I'm not sure if common Blades are even capable of it at all. I'm curious what you think of having power like that." Pyra's explanation seemed to make sense, though Corvin got the impression that there was some additional meaning behind the question.
"Well, there's not a whole lot to it. Ether is ether, and sure, light is pretty strong, but that just means I can do more." the blonde answered casually.
"I see..." Pyra murmured thoughtfully. "But, aren't you ever worried about controlling your powers?" Corvin raised an eyebrow once again. That must've been the issue.
"Me? Nah. I'm confident I know what I'm doing, and besides, my powers aren't as crazy as Mythra's." he answered, then he leaned forward slightly and looked a bit more intent. "And that's what you were really asking, right? You wanted to know if I had anything in common with her." he theorized. Pyra slowly set down the knife in her hand and finally turned to face him, not quite managing to keep the worry out of her eyes.
"...Was it that obvious?" she asked quietly.
"Eh, I'm just pretty good at paying attention." Corvin replied with a shrug. "Anyway, look, I don't know about Aegises and stuff from five-hundred years ago." he admitted with uncharacteristic seriousness. "But if you want to know what I do, then there's one super important thing. Trust your driver."
"Corvin..."
"I mean it. Thing is, your bond with Nia is a bond of friendship, so if you've got problems, talk to her about it. 'Cause friends help." the blonde insisted, sounding absolutely convinced of what he was saying.
"I do trust her, but I... don't know if it's that simple." Pyra murmured quietly, holding her hands over her core crystal nervously.
"Why not? You and Nia look like a pretty good team to me." Corvin encouraged with the same absolute confidence he often showed, though now it seemed distinctly less egotistical. Seeing Pyra still looking uncertain, he just shrugged. "Hey, think about it, at least. Now let's get back to work, huh? I'm starting to get hungry."
At last, Pyra smiled, even if it was small. "...Of course. And, thank you for talking with me." she said. Corvin flashed a friendly grin, and the Aegis turned back to her preparations. "I'm going to need a bowl for these, would you...?" she asked, gesturing towards the pile of diced vegetables. As Corvin went to dig through Corinne's cabinets looking for a suitable bowl, Mythra spoke up in Pyra's mind.
"Huh. So there's more to that guy than just a giant ego."
"Mythra, don't be mean. I think he's... kind of nice, in his own way."
"Tch, yeah, that's one way to put it... But I feel like that friendship stuff was a bit childish."
"...He was trying, at least."
"Okay, fine. I'll admit he's smarter than he looks. Not sure that really helped us, though."
"I'm not sure either, but... let's try not to worry for now, alright?"
The others had mostly been waiting around, chatting with Corinne and retelling snippets of their various misadventures – she'd taken the news of Rex being arrested by the Ardainian army surprisingly well, all things considered. In fact, she was doing a rather remarkable job of taking their somewhat outlandish-sounding stories in stride. Apparently she simply trusted Rex that much. After a little while, though, Rex abruptly stood up as if he'd suddenly thought of something.
"Oh yeah, I just remembered. Auntie Corinne, d'ya mind if I go pay a visit? It's been awhile and all..." the salvager asked. Most of the others looked at him in confusion, but Corinne seemed to immediately understand what he meant.
"Of course, dear. You go ahead, I'll send someone to fetch you once it's time to eat." she replied with a solemn nod, and Rex soon left the room. The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard.
"What was that about? Who's he visiting?" Nia wondered what was on pretty much everyone's minds. Corinne let out a melancholy sigh.
"His parents." she said simply.
Nia's eyes widened slightly. "His parents? Hold on, he said..."
"Ah, so he's told you then. Yes, they passed away years ago." Corinne confirmed. Nia may have known about that, but the others didn't, which was evident from the surprise on their faces.
"Rex... Not have parents?" Tora spoke up sadly.
"Indeed. Rex was only about... two years old, or so. I never did learn exactly what had happened to them, but... he and his mother had lost their home on another titan." Corinne began to tell the tale, a far-off look in her eyes. "They washed up here, and she stumbled into the village, carrying him in her arms. I remember thinking he was in surprisingly good shape... but his poor mother wasn't. She must've done her very best to keep him safe. The very last thing she did was ask me to take good care of him." Corinne's voice grew increasingly heavy as she spoke, and she paused for a moment. "And his father... he turned up a few titanpeds away. He was already gone by the time we found him."
"Oh my..." Fan murmured sympathetically. "To know that things like that can happen... even in such peaceful places."
Corinne sniffed a few times, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry, none of you wanted to see an old lady cry." she apologized. Vandham, who had been leaning against the wall with his eyes closed pensively, looked at Corinne and strode over to her.
"Nah, it's fine. Better to get that kinda thing out rather than holdin' it in." the mercenary reassured. As he spoke, he reached into one of the many pouches he was wearing and produced a small cloth, which he handed to Corinne to dry her eyes.
"Thank you..." she said, handing the rag back to Vandham. "Rex is such a strong boy, you know. Even though he suffered so much loss so early, he's never let it drag him down." She sounded sincerely proud of the way Rex had turned out.
Nia looked down at the rug she was sitting on, biting her lip in thought. "Yeah, bloody idiot keeps smiling no matter what happens... Not like me." the Gormotti thought, her ears unconsciously flattening to her head. "Damnit! He's not even here and he's gettin' to me."
"That such a sad story..." Tora said quietly. "It make Tora think of Tora's dadapon. Since he go missing, if dadapon were to die, Tora might never know." he lamented, sounding worried just at the thought.
"Masterpon. Poppi is sure dadapon still alive. If Tatazo anything like masterpon, he not die easily." Poppi pointed out earnestly. Apparently, that small bit of hope was all it took to rekindle the Nopon's spirits a bit, since he looked significantly less downtrodden.
At that moment, the door into the dining room opened once again as Pyra stepped back into the room. Behind her, Corvin could be seen setting out silverware on the table. A wave of hearty aromas entered the room, filling the air with the unmistakable scents of home cooking.
"Oh, I'm not... interrupting something, am I?" Pyra asked, seeming to notice the atmosphere she had walked in on.
"This old lady was just getting caught up in the past, no need to worry." Corinne replied. "So, I assume you're about ready?" she asked.
"Yes, that's right... we saw Rex leaving a few minutes ago, should someone tell him as well?" the Aegis wondered curiously.
"Ah yes. Miss Nia...?" Corinne turned to address the Gormotti. "Would you be a dear and go fetch Rex for us? You should find him up on a little hill near the edge of the island that way." she said, pointing off in a specific direction.
"Right, I'll go tell him to get back here." Nia confirmed as she stood to her feet with a small groan, and Pyra politely stepped out of the doorway as she passed through.
The Oratory Knoll Cemetery was, like the rest of Fonsett Village, a very small and humble sort of place. It was little more than a few rows of gravestones lined up near a cliffside overlooking the cloud sea. A single tree stood behind the graves, the last vestiges of evening light filtering through the dark leaves. Nia couldn't help but get a bit of a solemn feeling from the place – as was to expected from a cemetery, really. As she approached, she saw Rex kneeling in front of a particular pair of graves, holding one hand over his chest. Curiously, he seemed to be talking, despite nobody else being around.
"...but anyway, a lot's happened, you know? I always dreamed of Elysium, but I guess I never thought I'd be going on an adventure to get there. Guess I oughta thank Nia for letting me come along some time, huh? Being a driver is real amazing too, sorry I didn't bring Corvin to meet you..." Rex paused for a moment, seeming to take on a more serious attitude. "...I dunno what's going to happen from here, but I know you guys are watching over me, so it'll all turn out okay... I guess I better get back." With that said, he stood up, giving one last nod to the pair of graves. When he turned around, he started slightly at suddenly realizing Nia was standing there. "Oh, hey Nia. Did you hear all that?" the salvager greeted awkwardly.
Nia blinked a couple times, then shook her head. "Nah, just the last bit." she replied. "But I wouldn't mind if you thanked me more, you know." she added, flashing a smirk at the brown-haired boy.
"Wha-! Come on, Nia, don't be like that." Rex protested, but Nia simply raised an eyebrow. Rex let out a sigh, seeming to realize he wasn't going to win this one. "...Anyway, I reckon Auntie Corinne sent you?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, let's go." Nia replied briskly, and together they set off out of the graveyard and back towards Corinne's house. After they walked in silence for a moment, however, she spoke up again. "So what was all that anyway?"
"Huh? Oh, that, it's not something big, I just... like to take the chance to talk to them every now and then." Rex replied. "I know it sounds a bit strange, but it makes it feel more real, you know?"
"More real?" Nia repeated, sounding a bit confused as her brow furrowed in thought.
"Yeah, it's like... I don't really remember my parents much at all. My family growing up were the people around here. Talking to my parents like that, I dunno, makes it feel like there's more of a connection there. Just feels like something I should do, you know?" Rex tried to explain, sounding surprisingly unsure of himself for a moment.
"Right... whatever helps you deal with it, I guess..." Nia muttered, glancing away uncomfortable.
Rex paused for a moment, looking at Nia thoughtfully. "You know, maybe you oughta try it sometime. If you're still thinking about your dad or your sister-"
"Rex. I don't want to talk about that." the Gormotti abruptly interrupted forcefully, leaving Rex looking a bit taken aback. Realizing that it had come out more harshly than she had intended, Nia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I appreciate the thought, but... I remember them fine. It's not something to fuss about, yeah?"
"Nia..." Rex trailed off uncertainly. "Well, you know, you've still got friends, and friends listen even if it seems dumb. Just in case you ever change your mind, right?"
"You know, you're not the first person to offer that today. If you and Pyra keep it up, I'm gonna get smothered." Nia commented wryly, and Rex let out an amused chuckle.
"Ha! Gramps and Auntie Corinne were the same way when I looked upset. Guess I learned from the best." the salvager joked, earning a small smile from Nia. "Now let's go ahead, huh? They're all waiting on us." With the promise of a comfortable meal awaiting, he and Nia soon made their way back to the house.
Chairman Bana of the Argentum Trade Guild was a very powerful and important Nopon, well-known in the business world to the point that pretty much any notable merchant would have heard of him. What was less well-known were the other dealings he engaged in outside of his guild business. Dealings which most would consider to be highly shady, but which he only considered to be profitable. At the moment, he was overseeing one such matter, gazing down from the large window of a control room at the factory floor below. His birdlike Tirkin workers scurried about attending to their various tasks, while rows of metallic roughly-humanoid figures slid along assembly lines above. Everything seemed to be operating smoothly without delay, which was good, because his time was extremely valuable. But the factory operations weren't his primary concern at the moment, not really. What was more pressing were the clients he was currently meeting with. The large green Nopon turned around, stroking his mustache as he looked back at his guests.
"Bana was surprised to hear that Torna wished to meet." he commented, looking at the three figures before him. Mikhail and Patroka, the two who usually picked up the shipments, were there, but it seemed they had also brought Jin, their rather intimidating boss. "Everything is proceeding on schedule, and next shipment of artificial Blades is ready to go."
"We're not here about that this time." Patroka spoke up coolly. "This is about the Aegis."
"The Aegis? What about it, hmm?" Bana replied, raising an eyebrow.
"You didn't keep your deal. You were supposed to help us get her, and in case you haven't noticed, we don't have her!" the black-haired woman accused, glaring aggressively at him.
"You say Bana broke deal? Bah!" the Nopon denied, sounding quite offended at the notion. "Bana gave exactly what was promised. Torna's own member stealing the Aegis is none of Bana's concern!"
Patroka let out a growl, but before she could snap back, Jin stepped forwards. "It is your concern. We paid you a good deal." he said with a sense of absolute finality, the room seeming to grow a bit colder.
"Mehmehmeh..." Bana stuttered, instinctively taking a step backwards. Chairman Bana normally prided himself on not being easily cowed, but something about the masked man's presence radiated danger. "B-but Torna does not need to demand money back, surely we can work something out!" he offered, trying to salvage the situation.
"Heh. Actually, that's what we were thinking too. We've already got something in mind." Mikhail said, leaning back against a nearby console casually. "See, here's the thing. We need to get Mythra working on our schedule, so we've got a plan to distract her."
"And if it gives us a chance to take out Nia and get the Aegis back, even better." Patroka added darkly.
"And what would you need Bana to do?" the chairman asked shrewdly, rubbing his chin with one wing.
"Go on, Mik, this is your bright idea." Patroka commented sarcastically.
"You flatter me, Patroka. Anyway, it's like this..." Mikhail began to explain. Once again he laid out the scheme he had in mind. Patroka and Jin, who had already heard it, naturally didn't have anything to add. Instead, the black-haired woman just stood there looking bored, while Jin crossed his arms, impassive as ever. Once Mikhail was finished, Bana let out a thoughtful hum.
"That sound... doable. Bana would need to be careful not to jeopardize operations, but..." he mulled over.
"But that's your problem, not ours." Patroka pointed out bluntly.
"Very well. Bana agrees." the Nopon conceded, slightly conscious of Jin staring intently at him.
"Now, there's one little sticking point." Mikhail noted. "How to get Nia and Mythra's attention in the first place?"
"Hmm... You say young Nopon with artificial Blade was traveling with them, yes?" Bana asked.
"I haven't seen them myself, but that's what Malos said." Mikhail replied flippantly.
"Then Bana knows the perfect thing..." Bana smirked with more than a bit of malice.