Chapter 1: Shattered Dreams (The Advent of Paradise)
Chapter Text
A/N/Summary: One in Body and Soul? will be a two part multi-fanfic story. Weaves in and out of canon, but this story will be so very, very, A/U. Part one will be about my head canon for Elysium, and giving Logos and Pneuma a chance to be actual siblings before.....well, you know (I'm hoping it will make their future conflict with one another in part two all the more tragic). I always thought it was sad that the two of them never really got to be a "family" of sorts so expect some snarky humorous situations between the two of them as well. I also really wanted to depict a Logos that had yet to be corrupted by Amalthus and a "whole" Pneuma (so "Malos" and "Mythra" will be referred to by their birth names in the first part, just to avoid confusion).
I also felt that Judicium was a bit underutilized in canon so there's gonna be some eventual tensions there considering all that flesh eater/blade eater experimenting originated with them. Yeah, fun, fun times there.......There's gonna be some time skips too. First chapter here takes place in year 2564, 1000 years before the Aegis War.
What if….the reality of Elysium truly was a bountiful paradise, an endless fields of green among the clouds, a fully populated world that existed in an alternate dimension beyond the barren wasteland “portal” that could only be perceived and opened for “outsiders” that were deemed worthy by the Divine Swords of the Architect (Logos and Pneuma)? In this paradise, in this world, the laws of physics, reality and the ether in the air flow very differently than on Alrest. Blades can live completely independently of humans. Their lives are not tied to their human driver, meaning they don't return to their cores upon their driver's passing. They can even live without a driver period for centuries if they so choose.
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One in Body and Soul? (Part One) ~ Elysium in the Blue Sky
(Year 2564, 1000 years Before the Aegis War)
Chapter One – Shattered Dreams (The Advent of Paradise)
The Architect, a man once known as “Klaus”, and the eventual creator of Alrest, told Logos and Pneuma the story of how his old home world was once the sight of an awful war in centuries past. A conflict that once threatened to burn everything, even the skies above.
He recounted every awful, bloody detail of that war and how their enemy, the Saviorite Rebels were dangerously close to claiming victory against his people who built the first Echelon Sirens, the artifices Logos and Pneuma now command. He believed that his current suspended status was meant to be some sort of divine punishment for his arrogance and short sightedness all those ages ago. Half of his body exists in an entirely different dimension. And the remaining half is little more than a decrepit old lifeless husk, forever floating and immobilized.
All Klaus wanted was to save his world and his people, but instead of working with his fellow friends and colleagues, he took matters into his own hands and killed far more billions of souls in a matter of seconds than the Savorite Rebels ever did.
In a desperate bid to atone for his sins, Father created the world of Alrest below to replace the countless victims of his previous world, hoping that his new humanity would not repeat the sins of the past. He also told Logos and Pneuma that they once had a brother named Ontos who was lost in some space-time transition event he accidentally triggered. Who knows where he could have ended up? The three of us have been observing humanity from above ever since Father created Alrest. Some of those new humans and their blades recently found their way back towards this place, completely ignorant of their “Architect” and his two right hand angels’ location. They knew he was watching, but no human had ever actually laid eyes on their divine Father or the two divine blades with the cross-shaped core crystals.
However, Klaus soon found that his created world and the new humans in it were in no way different than the humans of old at their most base level, even with his precaution of creating the blades to help guide humanity. He told Logos and Pneuma of how their cores were the ones that formed the cornerstone for other blades, explaining why they both contained a record of all blades and titans within their core crystals. After seeing the true nature of his created humanity and how he seemingly hadn’t changed anything with his new created world, that’s when their Father had completely given up on everything, and felt his atonement doomed from the start.
Pneuma cried after their Father finished his story. Logos teared up a bit as well, surprising the both of them really. She’d never known him to cry about anything. He tried to remain strong for her as the pair exited Father’s chamber together.
“Pretty heavy stuff Father laid on us back there, huh?” Logos said, trying to hide the sadness in his voice as he placed an arm around her shoulder as an older brother would his sister.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Pneuma responded, voice cracking a bit as she dried her tears. That was putting it mildly. Neither one of them could wrap their heads around carrying such a terrible weight all alone for centuries beyond counting.
Logos and Pneuma made their way to the hill with a dying tree in the distance, overlooking the old abandoned church that led to their father’s hidden chamber, the familiar bell chiming its melancholy tune endlessly. They stared out at the barren and desolate world, observing the humans’ and their blades’ attempts at cultivating the dry, ruined land to no avail, while pondering what they might be able to do to renew their father’s hope. Anything to help their father atone for what happened in his past.
When they told him of their desire to help after hearing that story, their father told them that their lives were their own as he often said to them in the past. That they didn’t have to stay here in this wasteland with him. Neither Logos or Pneuma had the heart to ever leave him behind. After all, Father gave them both life and purpose beyond just being a part of a processor...It was the least they could do.
“I hate to see Father so…..dead I guess for want of a better word,” Logos finally breaking the long silence. “Got any ideas on how to help our old man out?”
“Yeah….actually I do. But….it’s a long shot,” Pneuma said, floating slightly, emerald wings glistening with radiant light, green hair swaying with the wind.
“I’m all ears,” Logos said as he stood up, dusting his dark amethyst colored armor off, curious despite himself. Though she looked serious, there was no telling what would come out of his sister’s mouth to be honest.
“What if….we just constructed another world?” Pneuma said as if it was the most obvious solution. She may as well have spouted three more heads the way her brother just stared at her. Then he just laughed.
“C’mon sis, get serious! Besides, Father already tried that and it didn’t work!” He said to her as he turned and leaned against the tree. He loved his sister but the girl was just plain crazy at times.
“Hey! At least hear me out first!” she yelled as she flew in front of him, interrupting his stride. “Didn’t you say you hated what blades were to the humans of Alrest? And we did discover a dimensional rift near this area the other day. When we went through it, it was like a sort of parallel world to where we are now. And the ether energy in there was insanely dense compared to here on Alrest. It would be a perfect place to build a better world for blades. We could do something with all that endless field of green we discovered you know!”
He couldn’t believe it. Logos was actually considering his sister’s admittedly now slightly less off the wall suggestion of “let’s just construct another world”. And she was also right about how he hated the way the blades of Alrest were little more than glorified slaves for humans. It wasn’t just Logos who had a problem with that principle. Pneuma loved her father, but even she couldn’t understand why he felt the need to leave the blades of Alrest subject to both the whims and (often absent) mercy of the humans below.
Blades losing their physical forms upon their driver’s death, losing their memories with each new incarnation, not having any sort of say in who resonates with them, often prime targets for criminals and being sold as sex slaves…Then there were the disturbing “experiments” conducted on the titan Temperantia and it's capital Judicium, merging humans and blades together…Honestly, would it have killed Father to give his blade creations a bit more equality? Logos thought to himself.
“Father’s sadness…the world he longed for….” Pneuma muttered to no one in particular as she stared again at the few hundred humans and handful of blades. “I think it’s possible that the world Father wanted can become a reality. At the very least, I think it’s worth trying to rebuild his shattered dream.”
Logos chuckled at his sister’s innocence. “Very poetic” he quipped at her. “Not sure about these humans though. It’s all well and good we discovered that place, but that world will be rather empty with just the two of us there,” he added.
He had a point, Pneuma thought to herself. Most of the humans that migrated here had nothing, had been left to rot in the streets of Alrest destitute by the “noble” upper class of humans. They sought a better life for themselves and in desperation left for Elysium. Those humans were led here by their hope of a magical place existing above them. They were hoping to find the Architect and salvation. Upon finding nothing but ruins, they could not face the prospect of it not existing after coming all this way, especially after already having nothing worthwhile in life prior to making this pilgrimage. So they toiled away at the lifeless soil.
Either for trying to grow crops or searching for that place or just in sheer stubborn denial of their harsh reality, neither Logos nor Pneuma could say for sure.
Pneuma pitied these humans. Logos was wary of them.
Both were resentful of how blades were typically treated by humanity. However, they knew that they would be unable to build a better world for the blades without including the humans. Blades and mortals were forever linked. If they wanted to help their father and their fellow blades, they had no choice but to open the way forward to paradise for these humans and the few dozens of Nopon that accompanied them.
They did not have to like it though.
“Well partner, shall we go greet our guests?” Logos asked her, voice full of resignation.
“I suppose…let’s play our role as ‘The Architect’s angels’” Pneuma responded with a similar tone. They began making their way over to the group, waiting for a proper moment to stage a grand “divine” entrance.
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The humans had all but given up. They were tired, hungry, their dreams of salvation, prosperity and hope shattered. Most had collapsed to their knees, sobbing as despair threatened to swallow them whole.
“This is the end for us,” one of the humans spoke up. By his features, he was Judic. “I see no signs of this supposed paradise”, bitter despair in his voice.
“Meh-meh-meh! Friend is right! Nopon wanted to open trade with Elysium friends! But nothing here but dust and broken buildings! Legend total fraud!” One of the cute little fuzzy business leaders said in agreement, her entourage of Nopon jumping up and down and flapping their wings along with her.
Similar murmurings of despair and hopelessness spread throughout the various group of people. However, there were two humans who refused to give up. One was a male who had dirty blond colored hair and bright golden eyes and a lean build with a tanned skin tone. The other was a paler skinned red haired woman. She had bright blue eyes, the telltale sign of a Tornan.
“We cannot give up after coming all this way!” The golden-eyed male spoke to the crowd. “All the stories we’ve heard. Some of them must be rooted in reality. There has to be something more here than we just cannot see! We all dreamed of a better life for ourselves. We have nothing left to live for in Alrest. Most of us were homeless, destitute, the lowest of the low economically, looked down upon and disregarded by the ‘noble’ upper classes of our old native titans. I will find the paradise we all long for.”
“Satoru is right!” His red haired female companion said, immediately jumping to his support, hoping to renew everyone’s hope. “I’m ashamed that my former homeland and its current king of Torna chose the path of war and dominance. The other nations have been left devastated by the Tornan titan’s immense power. We lost a lot of good people and friends on this pilgrimage. We owe it to them to find that paradise to honor their memories. I refuse to believe that the divine Architect has abandoned his creations!”
Some people in the group of humans were beginning to regain hope.
That’s our cue, Logos and Pneuma thought at the same time as they prepared to make contact.
In an instant, the skies above were completely covered with an emerald and amethyst aura. A tremendous power shook the area. Two figures descended upon the group of humans as a blinding light covered the barren wasteland. Everyone present shielded their eyes from both the blinding light and the awesome display of power.
As the light and dust finally faded, the group of humans and blades could finally make out the physical details of the two powerful figures as they descended upon them. They all immediately noted the cross-shaped core crystals on both strangers’ chests. These two were the right hand blades of the divine father, depicted often in the ancient murals in the museum of Indol, Lord Logos and Lady Pneuma.
Their prayers had finally been answered as the once drained of hope humans and blades stood firmly at attention and reverence.
“What enormous energy,” a white beast form blade in the crowd silently thought as he observed Lord Logos and Lady Pneuma.
“Seriously? Is that ether energy being emitted from the interior of their own bodies? Where do they even keep all that energy?!” another blade in a different part of the crowd wearing a miko-outfit holding a Catalyst Scimitar adorned with flowers silently thought next, completely in awe.
Everyone in the crowd took a knee out of respect and fear of Logos and Pneuma.
“Our Father has heard your prayers…” Logos spoke to the crowd, attempting to rouse their faith in the Architect. In truth, Father has abandoned you all he silently thought. But the humans and blades here did not need to know that.
“…And has sent us as his divine messengers” Pneuma finished in an authoritative tone. Even she couldn’t believe the pretentious nonsense spewing from her mouth at present.
Pneuma made her way to the two humans who rallied the crowd earlier. They were still kneeling as she approached.
“Satoru, was it not?” Pneuma asked the young man.
“Yes, milady,” he answered; golden-eyes met pale emerald as he nodded in confirmation. He was shouting and screaming for joy on the inside but was determined to maintain a respectful atmosphere around her.
Logos observed the interaction. He’d never admit it aloud, but he had gained some respect for these two humans and appreciated the faith they had in him, his sister and his father.
“Rise young man,” Pneuma said to him. He did as instructed. Pneuma liked the look in his eyes. A light shone forever bright within his golden depths.
A light they will all need to build this new world.
Pneuma gestured at the young woman at his side to stand as well. Even without her Foresight future visions of this encounter a few years prior, Pnuema still could have easily seen Mirai in a role of leadership, guiding humanity down the path of peace.
“Forgive me, but I never heard your name” Pneuma said to the woman.
“My name is Mirai, milady”.
“Satoru, Mirai, your unwavering faith shall be answered. Logos and I shall lead you and everyone present to the paradise you sought.”
Immediate cheers of happiness and gratitude erupted from the crowd. Humans and blades were hugging each other and dancing together merrily, the Nopon doing their rather silly “dances of salvation” as they called them. Logos and Pneuma could not help but smile a bit at their reaction, paying particular interest in how all the drivers present interacted with their blades as equals and friends, even family. Perhaps these humans might not be so bad after all.
“Thank you, milady for deeming us worthy” Satoru said, voice laced with extreme gratitude.
“You too milord” he said looking over at Logos for the first time.
“This way. Let’s move!” Logos yelled to the crowd of people. They didn’t need to be told twice. They all quickly gathered their sparse belongings and began following their righteous saviors towards a new home.
“You’re welcome” Pneuma had responded to Satoru earlier, mostly for the sake of platitudes than anything else. In truth, she and Logos were confused as to why the humans were thanking them. Each and every one of the humans and blades present independently concluded that their own lives were worth more than their old societies dictated, that they deserved salvation. And they all took the initiative and sought it out. Those things were hardly for the likes of Logos and Pneuma to decide.
But, for both their father and simplicity’s sake, they’d gladly keep up the façade.
Once everyone stepped beyond the barrier on the hill overlooking the dilapidated church, the dancing, cheering, and tears of joy started anew. Their long exodus from Alrest, where they’d all sadly lost so many friends and family along the way had been worth it. This new world, with its endless lush jungle greenery and murky swamps, and tall crags separating it from a much larger source of water equivalent to the cloud sea was in complete contrast to the barren wasteland they initially found. Most of the humans and blades kept pinching each other just to make sure they weren’t dreaming.
The world was hardly uninhabited though. A slew of vicious looking monsters had made their home here. It was going to be a long and hard road for the humans here, but for the first time since they all decided to leave Alrest, they were truly hopeful. This was a chance for them to truly cut the ties of their old unfortunate lives and start over.
Logos and Pneuma were observing the humans and blades. They were already making plans and laying out the groundwork for their new world, with Satoru and Mirai at the helm. Logos and Pneuma overheard them saying they wanted to build a world removed from the woes of their past societies where they were all once downtrodden and ignored. A world where humans and blades can truly live in peace and harmony with one another.
“What do you think brother?” Pneuma said to Logos as they continued to observe the humans. “I believe we might be closer to mending Father’s shattered dream than we realized,” she said, now understanding why the humans thanked her and her brother earlier.
“Perhaps we are, partner. Perhaps we are”. He said with a smile in his voice.
Yes, working with these humans might not be so bad after all.
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A/N: And that's the first chapter! I was trying to keep the whole "Out of touch with humanity AI thing" Logos and Pneuma would have had going on in this sort of scenario while still showing that they clearly had personalities. Hopefully I did alright there.
Also, two unexpected fan favorite blades will be in this story more prominently a little bit later too. Catalyst isn't a flesh eater in this one though so it should be interesting. She's still gonna be pretty awesome! And the New Elysium is inspired by Noctilum from XBCX in appearance just in case anyone missed that (and I'll be using the landmark names already established for Noctilum for my Paradise. We are NOT on Mira though, just to be clear.
Chapter 2: A Paradise or a Prison? (The Weight of a Legacy)
Summary:
Massive time skip to year 3059 (yeah, odd number I know but bear with me. Rest of the jumps forward won’t be near as massive at least until the end), but I tried my best to make the transition with the current time skip seem as organic as possible so this chapter ended up being a bit longer than the first one. I was suffering from a bit of writer's block too so again, bear with me lol.
Logos and Pneuma have been slowly learning to live alongside humanity over the centuries instead of merely observing them from a distance, so now they're FAR more casual around them and more "human" themselves as a result. But just what did they decide to do with themselves with all that time? What fun hobbies did they pursue? What bonds did they forge then and now? Find out as not only are we introduced to three new characters, but Logos and Pneuma also have to deal with a very harsh prospect about their paradise.
And the landmark/location names I’m using are the same as Noctilum from XBCX. We are NOT on Mira though just to be clear. I just really REALLY like the landscape of Noctilum and thought it would fit this story and my vision of the paradise.
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A/N: For people who don't follow the Xenoblade Amino App community (where I first started posting this fanfic), and are wondering what all of this is building up to, part two of this series will be a retelling of TTGC, but perhaps....with a lot of differences from canon? For one, by the time we get to part two, Malos and Mythra won't be as "immature" as they were in canon due to already having a more peaceful past with humans (so I'm hoping their motivations and actions will have even more nuance). I've since transitioned everything I shared on the Amino App community to Google Docs (to make it easier to share any background information with everyone and make it easier for me to reference without having to navigate Amino's janky app) so that will all be updated in time.
They also come from a world where blades can live completely independent of humans (though the two of them always had that ability in canon regardless), where blades are equals among men. Needless, to say, that by the time Addam and co are in the picture, this version of Mythra will hardly put up with all that "simpleton" crap they pulled on her in canon. Here's a link to the summary for part two. And here's a more in-depth summary of this first part. And Natsu, he's my original "Cross" character I role played from Xenoblade Chronicles X. Read all about my arrogant boi here! And here!
And the term "Aegis" hasn't been stolen by "Malos" yet to refer to our favorite siblings (that won't happen until part two), so I've been deliberately trying to avoid it lol.
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One in Body and Soul? (Part One) ~ Elysium in the Blue Sky
(Year 3059, 505 Years before the Aegis War)
Chapter Two ~ A Paradise or a Prison? (The Weight of a Legacy)
Four hundred and ninety-five years have passed since Logos and Pneuma first guided humanity towards paradise, and the humans have made significant strides in cultivating this massive, vibrant and untamed land.
Several generations prior, Satoru and Mirai headed the Elysium Cultivation Project, ultimately laying the groundwork for a big, prosperous town surrounded by small streams of water, christened “Angel’s Rest” in honor of their two generous saviors who led them all to Paradise. Logos and Pneuma hadn't been happy about the name, thinking it a bit much, but they kept it to themselves, knowing the humans only named the town as such as a gesture of respect to them. After all, they were the ones who acted all pretentious when first coming into contact with the humans. Maybe all of it was merely karma. Satoru and Mirai had been very adamant about maintaining the natural integrity of the surrounding environment as much as possible, a sentiment shared by everyone at the time.
A giant coiled shaped tree served as the heart of part of the town, eventually named The Skybound Coil Tree. One could actually climb the tree by entering a small opening at the trunk and merely walking the long coiled path to the top, a favorite pastime for the children. The top of the branches of both tree structures stored a network of Nopon Braidbridges and their main Highroad of caravans.
They eventually expanded the initial city towards another similar tree structure called the Seabound Coil Tree, located on a slightly lower elevation from Skybound Coil Tree. A natural grassy slanted path along the Canopied Nightwood that met one of the top branches of Seabound Coil Tree connected the two parts together. This was one of the “safer” parts of the world. The Terebra, and Progen monsters near Skybound Coil tree weren’t particularly hostile or tough. And the Caecus and Forfex enemies near Seabound Coil Tree made for good source of meat, the latter for crab meat in particular.
The humans and blades at the time decided that having one giant town located in one prominent corner of the continent would be much easier to fortify and guard against the vicious wildlife. It certainly had not been easy over the past few generations, but humanity had carved a true home beyond the barrier in Elysium.
Not everything was all sunshine and rainbows though. The savage wildlife made life a constant struggle for survival. The humans did establish multiple stakeout posts and resting checkpoints throughout the vast land. They eventually had to branch out beyond the main town and establish monster hunts and mercenary bands to help stave off the monster threat, helping to diminish casualties significantly over the centuries.
The Nopon were nomadic by nature, so it was fairly easy for them to travel and eventually station a few caravans systematically throughout the vast land, helping with supplies and trade. They were certainly tough and shrewd little buggers Logos once jokingly commented.
Still, they had lost a lot of people to the indigenous life in this paradise each generation. An unspoken but accepted rule was that no one could travel without being armed. Even children had to learn basic combat and survival skills.
Because of that, healing blades became a vital asset to the people of Elysium.
Two blades in particular, Nia, and Dromarch had made quite a name for themselves over the centuries with their blade healing artes. After their respective drivers passed on centuries ago, they’d been wandering the world together as traveling healers, often stopping at the various checkpoints to assist with any sustained wounds.
The two initially started off separately, but eventually forged an incredibly strong bond with one another, pulling together to cover more ground. Even though lives were still lost everyday in this world, those two had saved countless humans and blades and were respected and adored throughout Paradise as they proved instrumental in diminishing the number of casualties over the centuries. Everyone back then told stories of the dignified White Tiger, Dromarch carrying the Catalyst Scimitar wielding miracle healer, Nia on his back. And they still tell stories about them to this day. For centuries, Logos and Pneuma often collaborated with them on various recon and emergency healing missions throughout the land, keeping the monsters at bay while they healed the wounded, easily forging a strong friendship with the healer duo.
For their part, Logos and Pneuma tried not to intervene too often with development beyond using their artifices to keep the larger, more powerful enemies at bay while the humans and blades worked the land. In order to see how humans and blades would coexist with one another in Elysium with the prospect of living their days in peace, they had to give them free will and space.
The Architect’s children merely wanted to observe and gather information, not rule over anyone or anything. The twin saviors, however, did subtly guide humanity towards being mindful of too much technological advancement and how the humans of old destroyed themselves in their hubris.
The first generation readily agreed with that sentiment.
Their grand exodus from Alrest to Elysium led them to the Cliffs of Morytha and eventually the dead world below the cloud sea at the base of the World Tree, the Land of Morytha. They saw the truth of Logos and Pneuma’s warnings with their own eyes and wrote history books with illustrations in a bid to help their descendants understand.
While the future generations were eventually pressured by the monsters into gaining more ground beyond the first version of Angel’s Rest, cultivating and building more houses, shops, and the like around a spot located a bit further down from the Skybound Coil Tree called the Qing Long Glade, they still wanted to keep the themes of tranquility and equality their ancestors first implemented.
Of course, as with any group of people, there were disagreements and tensions throughout the generations. Logos, Pneuma, Nia, Dromarch, Satoru, Mirai, and the latter two's descendants had proven instrumental in quelling any potential lasting resentment over the centuries. The fact that humanity and blades essentially had to pull together for the sake of their own survival in this world also helped kill any desires for warring against one another pretty quickly. The monsters in this place certainly weren't going to wait around for them to sort out their issues.
But, the general consensus was that so long as everyone could all plow their fields in peace, they were grateful and happy.
Logos and Pneuma had spent the past few centuries slowly getting used to the humans and wanting to help them along with the blades, though they often found themselves inevitably comparing their paradise from how it was prior to humanity's arrival to what it had become over the centuries since.
A few years before humanity’s first arrival to Elysium, Logos and Pneuma spent most of their time in the paradise, studying the strange phenomena of the dimension, exploring and honing their skills against the wildlife. They had competitions, challenging one another on which one of them could kill the most monsters first while aerial racing in their artifices. But, now they could no longer compete there so recklessly, lest they risk burning everything to the ground and rendering humanity’s entire exodus from Alrest pointless.
Currently, the twins were located right outside the barrier to Elysium, standing on the hill in the barren wasteland at the top of the World Tree, theorizing about the oddities of the barrier and their Paradise, reminiscing about the old days.
“Call me crazy if you want, but there’s something about our paradise that feels like it has a will of its own,” Pneuma said to her brother.
“Ha, well, it’s true that you’re crazy,” Logos snickered as she glared at him. She was so easy to rile up. “But I don’t necessarily disagree with you about our paradise," he said, turning serious. "We did receive a harsh reminder a century ago that blades could only maintain their corporeal form on their own while only inside the barrier.”
It was true. If a blade wasn’t bonded to a mortal, they could not leave the barrier, lest they fall victim to the laws the Architect established for blades in Alrest since its creation. A century ago, a very demonic looking, but incredibly kindhearted jet black colored blade was playing with the local kids after they got over their initial fear of him. The kids were playing a game of tag and ran out the barrier. The blade was “it” and pursued them beyond the barrier. He had no driver and immediately returned to his core. As with Alrest, he wasn’t “dead”. A new incarnation of Wulfric was reborn inside the barrier later after a mortal resonated with his core crystal.
But his previous incarnation had been forever lost. And both the kids and the twin saviors were saddened by the loss of their friend. Of course, everyone half way expected that blades would still need to be in resonance with a mortal in order to live outside the barrier, but to have it confirmed the way it happened…
“It’s strange that the blades losing their bodies outside the barrier without being in resonance with a mortal only seems to happen to the ones classified as tanks and attackers” Pneuma said, her mind returning to the present. “Oddly, after living in the paradise for a long amount of time, healing blades can survive outside the barrier without being in resonance with a driver. At least, for a short time.”
“Yeah, about one hour give or take,” Logos responded. “Strange how that’s about the same amount of time you or I could survive without a core crystal. "I have to wonder if we're just creating a glorified prison for blades rather than the paradise we envisioned."
It was a fair concern, she thought. "We wanted to create a place where blades could have just as much free will as any human, to truly be one in body and soul. And at first, it seemed like we succeeded...but....after what happened to poor Wulfric a century ago, I'm not sure of what we've actually achieved..."Pneuma responded, as she placed both her hands on her chest, covering her core crystal.
“Do you think it has something to do with Father’s experiment all those ages ago that destroyed his old world?” Logos said, attempting to make some sense out of all of this.
“You mean the Conduit, don’t you?” Pneuma asked him, catching onto his line of thought.
“Father did mention that it was a gateway to multiple universes, or so he thought at the time. But, when he used the Conduit, it went out of control and…”
“Several fragmented dimensions that defy all the laws of reality later….here we are?” Pneuma finished for him.
“Heh, Yeah, pretty much."
The Conduit had the power to create dimensions and warp the laws of reality. It wasn’t too inconceivable to them that it could create a world with a will of its own. Neither one of them knew why healer blades could maintain their physical forms beyond the barrier even for a short time without a driver. They both liked to think that if their new home truly had a will of its own, then it was attempting to guide the world of Alrest towards the path of peace.
Though, of course, that was only sentiment and pure speculation. Who could really say for sure? However, the twins found a modicum of comfort in that belief, and it kept them from losing faith in their paradise completely.
“Well, I don’t know about you sis, but I’ve had enough theorizing for one day,” Logos said, suddenly breaking the silence. “Let’s go back home. Everyone is probably busy getting everything ready for the Memorial Ceremony happening in a few days.”
She agreed with him on that. They’d just finished up their rounds outside the barrier. Another issue with the paradise is that no one could see what was going on outside the barrier once they were inside, an issue that Logos and Pneuma had been trying to address over the centuries, but no such luck. So, people often took turns patrolling the outside, looking for either any other people, drivers and blades who might have made the journey to Elysium alive and in need of rescuing, or to remain vigilant of any suspicious intruders.
About ten years ago, Logos and Pneuma did spot some very sinister looking people lurking around the wasteland. By their physical features they looked Indoline but they were from Judicium, the capital of the titan Temperantia and often known as the bigger sister nation to Indol. And the blades with them. Their cores looked different from the normal blue. They had mixtures of red in theirs and clearly looked like they were in pain and unstable back then. The twisted experiments the poor blades had been subject to evidently were taking there toil on them.
It was clear they were looking for the entrance to paradise, or to confirm one way or another if it existed at all. To what end, neither Logos or Pneuma could say for sure, but, normally only the twin saviors could open the way for any new comers. After a person actually passed through the barrier the first time, they could come and go as they pleased, and there was a short window of opportunity that outsiders could potentially exploit and follow them if they weren’t careful. So, it was very rare that anyone other than the twin saviors patrolled the wasteland after they told everyone about the people lurking around outside the barrier from Judicium.
And neither one had any intention of ever opening the way for those people. Though, Judicium’s people had long life spans, so they kept at it for longer than most people. But, as far as the twin saviors and everyone else in Elysium were concerned, they’d never find this place.
Logos and Pneuma volunteered to patrol today as they do most of the time, mainly because they also wanted to visit their father in the hopes of finding some way to better fortify the barrier. They tried not to ask too much of him, as they wanted to build their world for him without his help, but they had no other choice in the matter. Unfortunately, the paradise was beyond their father’s realm of sight so there was little he could do for them.
Logos and Pneuma were often saddened that their father couldn’t be a part of their new world with them, but they could at least tell him some stories about what they’ve accomplished. Logos actually managed to elicit a small smile from their normally despondent father when he told Klaus the hilarious story about “The Epidemic” of three hundred years ago. Pneuma was quite put off by that story, crossing her arms and pouting the whole time. She wished Logos had just left well enough alone with that.
~~~~~
Back beyond the barrier, the twins made their way back to their restaurant, The Holy Grail, and of course, they did not get to pick that name either. Some time after Logos, Pneuma, Dromarch and Nia finished building the restaurant, a few of their first customers once said something along the lines of “This food is truly the Holy Grail of Elysium” and the name stuck. Logos and Pnuema had begun to notice a rather annoying pattern with the lack of choices with naming anything. Honestly, once humans got a thought into their heads, that was the end….
Anyway, they had opened it together about three hundred years after humanity first made it to Paradise. It was their first attempt towards living among the humans rather than merely observing them from a distance, an attempt they did not regret. The twins have existed for eons, but prior to sharing their paradise with the humans and the blades, they never really understood what it meant to live until just a few centuries ago.
Logos had found an interest in home brewing, learning about all sorts of different beers, alcohols and wine. Back when their restaurant was still in the planning phases, Logos had introduced Pneuma to wine and it quickly became a guilty pleasure for her. To the point where Nia once comically noted to Pneuma that her brother was a bad influence on her. Pneuma wasn’t quite sure if she disagreed with Nia on that or not, but either way, she didn’t give up her wine. That wasn’t happening.
Pneuma was in the kitchen cooking cloud sea crabsticks and grilled anchor tails that smelled delicious. She was also making snowbaby potato salad for Nia and Dried Sunfish for Dromarch. Everyone was certainly grateful that she’d improved her cooking skills over the years. About three hundred years ago or so she made a “creation” of…some sort. So many people fell ill that everyone thought an epidemic had broken out. Even some of the blades got sick. An aerial monster did too.
“Glad you’ve improved your cooking skills partner. And it only took you three centuries and a mistaken epidemic later to do it,” he teased her.
“It was so not that long!” she exclaimed and huffed as Logos laughed uncontrollably at her blatant lies. “Don’t you dare go around saying mean things like that!”
Suddenly, Nia and Dromarch entered The Holy Grail, completely worn out from their long healing rounds. They had been gone for a few days.
“You two look exhausted,” Pneuma said to them with a rather unusual misdirected irritation in her tone as she continued her cooking.
“It certainly has been a full few days my lady,” Dromarch answered respectfully, though still silently wondering why Lady Pneuma seemed so upset.
“Yeah, I’m beat,” Nia agreed with him far more casually. “What was he on about?” Nia asked, gesturing towards Logos. “We could hear him laughing from way outside.”
“Nothing that important!” Pneuma quickly answered at the same time Logos said, “Her once terrible cooking!”, prompting yet another glare from his sister as he laughed again.
“Oh….that….” Nia simply said and shuddered in horror. Bad memory. It was truly ironic back then that “the miracle healing blade” of all people was also in desperate need of a healer. And when Nia was finally healed, she actually healed a poor monster out of sympathy who had fallen victim to Pneuma's cooking in the old days. The poor thing was so grateful that it flew away without causing any problems for anyone.
“Her ladyship’s former cooking was simply not…conventionally palatable,” Dromarch said in an effort to ease the situation while also attempting to hide his own trauma of the memory. The contrast between her cooking then and now was truly astounding to him.
“If you’re all quite finished now!” Pneuma yelled indignantly as everyone laughed again. She didn’t understand what was so damn funny anyway. Her cooking back then wasn't that bad. The epidemic thing only happened one time! One! And they were all acting as if everyone died or something back then. No one did. But, of course, everyone back then just had to agree on putting “The Epidemic” in the history books. She remembered Logos saying back then "Sorry partner, but the facts are the facts!" and that he was FAR too eager to make a permanent record of it. Hmph. Big bully.
Logos’s laughter had turned into quiet snickering as he rounded the bar corner to mix drinks for everyone. Nia and Dromarch went upstairs to their rooms for some rest as they waited on dinner. The Holy Grail was closed for the next few days to prepare for the Memorial Ceremony so everyone retired fairly early after eating.
During the night, Pneuma had a strange dream of a young man covered in blood with red hair and golden eyes, a fierce and heroic determination lurking within the depths. It wasn’t the first time she had it, but it had been at least a century ago since she last saw the boy in her dreams. Sometimes her Foresight visions could be so annoying. They always tell her what might happen, but never exactly when the events in question would possibly be.
The first time the visions happened it was about four centuries ago. She had yet to tell Logos, Nia and Dromarch about these visions. She didn’t know for sure what it all meant. She did speculate a few times that seeing him constantly could possibly mean that he would be her driver, though she wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to entertain that notion yet. But, for some reason, despite having this vision happen off and on over the past four centuries, she had a feeling that she’d find out soon enough.
~~~~~
It was very early in the morning when Pneuma awakened. Her mind constantly questioning the true nature of their paradise regarding the blades residing in it kept her wide awake. She made her way out of the restaurant and to the Skybound Coil Tree at the center of Angel’s Rest and entered the trunk of the tree, making her way towards the top. Sure, she could have flown to the top, but she really just needed to walk and think alone.
As she walked, she thought about what happened with Wulfric again and how unfair a blade’s lot truly was in the world.
She and her brother thought that this place would be a perfect place for blades to be on par with humans in terms of free will. But, if blades can’t leave the barrier without being in resonance with a driver, then what was this all for? How could blades be considered “free” if they couldn’t leave the barrier on their own terms? Why didn’t they really take those facts into consideration more? Would the blades eventually grow resentful of being “trapped” in this place?
Sure, it’s been five hundred years since we all arrived here together but still...As Logos mused about earlier, did they really make a society of equality, or are the blades just glorified prisoners now? And if the latter truly was the case, is she and Logos truly prepared to carry the weight of such a legacy? And it’s not just the blades either. What about the humans? They’ve lost a lot of people over the centuries in this place…
Pneuma was beginning to think she and Logos might have made a mistake with all of this as tears welled up in her eyes. She took in the view of the sunrise, how it lit up the morning sky with a reddish-orange hue, the trees beautifully offset from the rising sun. Here, alone, she didn’t have to worry about keeping up the veneer of hope and strength for everyone. She really wasn’t sure what she and Logos were even doing here anymore.
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she did not hear or sense Nia approaching. She suddenly sat next to Pneuma, startling her out of her thoughts.
“Heh, someone’s a bit jumpy this morning, yeah?” Nia said, amused at her friend’s surprise and bewilderment.
“Hey! You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” Pneuma said as Nia smiled and snickered at her friend’s slightly off put expression. “Why are you up so early anyway?”
“I’ve always been an early riser. Seeing you up this early is way more out of the ordinary!” Nia countered. “You look like you got a lot on your mind,” she added, turning serious as she silently noting Pneuma’s tears. “Care to answer your own question?”
Nia had her there. It was a well known fact that Lady Pneuma was not an early riser in the slightest. And it’s not like she could convince Nia that there wasn’t anything wrong with her. Nia had already seen her crying and Pneuma wasn’t the best straight forward liar anyway.
“I was just wondering if Logos and I did the right thing…” Pneuma said.
Nia turned to face her, silently urging her to continue.
“Did we do the right thing by trying to build a world for blades and humans to coexist as true equals? The blades now don’t seem to have any more free will than they did before…”
Understanding dawned on Nia with Pneuma’s admission. She was still sad about Wulfric one hundred years ago. Hell, Nia was still sad too. It was far too easy to forget about the realities of the world beyond the barrier within this place. That day brought a harsh reality back to light for everyone, both about this paradise and Alrest.
“You two really shouldn’t blame yourselves, you know? What happened to Wulfric wasn’t your fault,” Nia said, trying to comfort her.
“Yeah, we know, but we can’t help but feel guilty nonetheless. Logos and I set out to build a place for the blades to have the opportunities to live as freely as the humans but-“
“—And you achieved that goal and then some,” Nia said, cutting her friend off before she could get down on herself. “I can’t speak for everyone of course, but I’d imagine there’s not a blade alive here that would go back to Alrest. Back down in the world below, there were so many people harping about injustices with no solutions. Just constant useless bitchin’ and moanin’. And all the while, the people who didn’t have fat pockets suffered. Blades often even more so than usual. But, you and your brother took action. You tried to change something. That’s already more than most people. And all the humans and blades here chose to stay because they believe in the two of you. I do too, you know? Are we 100% yet? No, but I’d say we’re far closer to achieving your dream of an equal world for everyone here than we ever would have been on Alrest. So, stop all this moaning and groaning already, both of you, alright? The sunrise is too beautiful for that right now.”
Not much else to do but to stop “moaning and groaning” as Nia put it. Pneuma was touched by her friend’s words really. It was really unusual for Nia to be that forthcoming. Pneuma must have looked really depressed.
“Thank you, Nia,” Pneuma simply said, her voice laced with gratitude.
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Nia said nonchalantly, but it was clear she cared. “Welp….That’s enough of emotional hour I’d say. We should be heading down to prepare for our rounds. The restaurant is also running low on food to make, and we also have to prepare for the Memorial Ceremony tomorrow evening. Nia said.
Ugh. So much to do. “You’re right. Let’s get going”. Pneuma said, wiping her eyes as she and Nia made their way back down the coiled tree.
~~~~
Logos, Pneuma, Nia and Dromarch, were out in the wilds hunting and gathering more food and supplies for the restaurant as well as making their way to each of the checkpoints to see if any of the lookouts needed any emergency healing or bandages and other supplies along their chosen path. There were several different healing blades that had made their home in the wilds stationed systematically around each of the checkpoints much further out than Angel’s Rest, beyond the Middle Hushflood atop the Everwhelm Falls.
Floren in particular often had a field day with all the strange flora in the area, and Boreas was determined to taste one of every single little thing that existed here. But they could still only do so much and still only cover so much ground in this massive world. Although nowhere near the chore it was nearly five centuries ago, it was still difficult to ferry supplies throughout the land. The Nopon had become a godsend once they got organized. They still charged for their supplies of course, but they did at least try to keep their prices reasonable.
The quartet eventually made their way back to the Qing Long Glade to the spot just on the outskirts of the expanded town of Angel’s Rest with a spectacular view of Everwhelm Falls. Suddenly they heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream of pain coming from somewhere nearby and quickly made their way towards the sound. Once they arrived, they were treated to a very gruesome sight.
Two pairs of adults, Ardanian and Urayan, clearly once the parents of the pair of kids, one Ardanian boy and an Urayan girl, no older looking than seven were all lying on the ground, covered in pools of their own blood, bodies covered with deep claw markings. Nia and Dromarch immediately rushed to their side, checking for any signs of life. Upon confirming that at least the two children were miraculously still alive, if only barely, they began emergency healing at once, resuscitating the two unfortunate young souls. Logos and Pneuma were remaining vigilant of their surroundings. Whatever did this was probably still nearby.
Suddenly, a young man, about seventeen in age with red hair and golden eyes landed in front of him, face down in the dirt, longsword landing next to him with a loud clank upon making contact with the ground. His right eye had been scratched by some sort of creature, and a pretty nasty one by the looks of it. It was definitely going to leave a scar, healing or no. The rest of his body wasn’t fairing too well either, with open scars and blood streaming down from him to the ground.
“This fight ain’t nowhere near over yet! Get your ass over here and face me right now if you’re monster enough!” the young man yelled into the distance as he slowly climbed to his feet, his longsword being used as a makeshift crutch. “You’ll pay for what you did to my friends!” He was really in no condition to fight, it was clear he didn’t care at the moment as sheer determination and strength of will were the only things keeping him going, and no one had time to ask questions or persuade the boy to stop for his own good because in the next instance, what had literally thrown the boy towards Logos and Pneuma’s direction revealed itself.
It was a Fiendish Virago monster, notorious for being a monster type that was a pain in the ass to defeat for the average warrior or non driver. The monster resembled gigantic quadrupedal ape with long frontal claws, have several patches of stratified flesh that looked like muscle fibers and faces with pointed nose like projections and a smaller mouth. A truly ugly but fearsome creature.
Logos and Pneuma took up fighting stances alongside the boy while Nia attempted to heal the incredibly stubborn injured young man at least somewhat before he killed over as she also took up a fighting stance as loud earth shaking footsteps were quickly making their way closer. Dromarch was watching over the two healed but still barely conscious children and decided to take them back to the restaurant for better treatment since they were so close to home anyway.
The situation was made clear. This monster was the culprit of this bloody affair. Logos, Pneuma, and Nia agreed with the boy. He was going to pay for what happened to these people. But even without that fury, they’d all be remiss to leave such a dangerous creature wandering so close to the town. And of course, since they were all located so close to Angel’s Rest, using the artifices to blast the Fiendish Virago to bits was out.
And for such a large beast, the thing could move. Between dodging its wild clawing swings and trying to pierce its thick hide, the four were having a field day to say the least. Logos, Pneuma, Nia and the young man with them finally found a rhythm. They surrounded the beast in an X like formation and began assaulting him from all sides, all points of attack focusing on the beast’s formidable claws and powerful arms. Nia kept everyone healed with her special Sea of Plenty skill and Last Hope ability, siphoning a huge portion of the beast’s life energy and distributing it to her allies.
They seemed to have the upper hand for a bit until the monster got enraged by the flurry of attacks. All of a sudden, the monster grew even tougher, more wild and savage in its attacks. The red haired boy with them just narrowly dodged what would have been a fatal claw attack. The monster stumbled a bit after the boy dodged his attack, allowing for a split second opportunity for a counter attack.
The boy did not waste his opportunity. Using one of his signature artes “True Stream Edge” as he called it, he broke the claws on one of the beast’s left hand, rendering it useless. The red haired boy wasn’t looking too good after that, as fatigue and blood loss were beginning to override his determination as he kneeled to the ground. Even though one of the monster’s claws were immobilized, he was still moving, charging at the boy that humiliated him earlier.
“Heh, not bad kid, not bad!” Logos said, impressed by the boy’s combat instincts and light movements as he ran up to parry the monster’s other clawing attack with his “Striker Edge” before it could hit the boy, knocking the monster off balance again and destroying the other claw and the beast’s whole right arm in one attack.
“Yeah, nice attack there Spitfire,” Nia said in agreement as she went to the red haired boy’s side and began healing him with his artes. The boy was annoyed with the “Spitfire” nickname, but was too tired to protest.
The Fiendish Virago was looking decidedly less “fiendish” as it began to retreat. Too bad it made the mistake of running away from the town, leaving it wide open for a Siren attack. One “Starburst” blast from Pneuma and Siren and the monster was no more.
“Nice, that’s my partner!” Logos said as Pneuma flew back down and landed next to him. The boy with them had collapsed right after the battle. Logos and Pneuma rushed to his side as Nia continued to heal him. Now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, Logos, Pneuma, and Nia knew exactly who the boy was upon really taking in his physical features.
His name was Natsu and his red hair and golden eyes clearly marking him as a descendent of Satoru and Mirai if they ever saw one. He was also the boy Pneuma saw in her Foresight visions so many times over the centuries. The trio made their way back to the spot where the dead Ardanians and Urayans were still on the ground. By the looks of things, they had been working to help with supply distribution and were on their way back to town right as that unruly monster showed up.
The cart they used to ferry the supplies was still mostly intact. Most of the supplies had been damaged, however, they did find a dark bladed claymore, though forged much shorter in length than the average one, an effective weapon fit for a child’s use. There was also a compound short bow with a quiver of light but deadly arrows, also constructed for a child’s use, scattered in the pile. Pneuma picked up both sets of weapons with a forlorn expression. Children having to fight for the sake of their own survival was an accepted reality in this place, but reminders such as this one did not make the prospect any easier.
“It’s a shame Dromarch and I couldn’t save them in time,” Nia lamented as she helped give the four unfortunate souls a proper burial. “Now those children will have to grow up without parents. As many others have over the centuries,” she remarked bitterly.
“Don’t blame yourself Nia,” Pneuma said to her friend. “Remember what you said to me this morning? You’re out here using your powers to make a difference. We’ll never be able to save everyone, but you, Dromarch, and every other healing blade in our paradise have saved far more people over the long years here than not.”
“And at least the bastard monster that did this is dead now,” Logos said, adding to Pneuma’s sentiment. “That should at least curb a few potential tragedies”.
“I know guys, I know….but still…” Nia said. It’s true that they wouldn’t be able to save everyone. And unfortunately, this same scenario was more common than Nia liked to admit. But no matter how many times she sees this sort of scene, it never gets any easier to deal with. Familiar perhaps. But never easier. But, so long as she had her friends, Nia was more than willing to keep up the fight to save as many as possible.
“I suppose we better get ol’ Spitfire here back to the restaurant so I can patch him up. And we have to check on those two kids too,” Nia said, cheering up a bit.
“Yeah, we’ve done all we can here,” Pneuma agreed. “Let’s go home.”
~~~~
Logos, Pneuma and Nia made their way back to The Holy Grail. Dromarch greeted them all respectfully and gave them an update on the two children as he helped them get Natsu in bed to better address his injuries. The kids were in one spare room together, sleeping in two separate bunk beds, the Ardanian boy on the top and the Urayan girl on the bottom.
Natsu was given another spare room a little ways down the hall as Nia stayed by his bedside, attempting to nurse the fool boy back to health. Logos, Pneuma and Dromarch had gone downstairs to give Nia some space to work and to prepare some dinner for everyone.
“Their physical wounds have been addressed,” he told them, referring to the children. “A good night’s rest will quell any lasting fatigue, but I’m afraid psychologically they suffer ever still.” Dromarch said.
“Yeah, that’s a given,” Logos said, still angry at the monster responsible for causing the tragedy. He almost wished it were still alive just so he could kill it again. Slowly.
“We’ve got room here. I think we should welcome them all if they want to stay.” Pneuma said, rather adamantly.
“I agree with that,” Nia suddenly said as she descended the stairs, making her way over to the table where Logos and Dromarch were sitting.
Pneuma was in the kitchen preparing dinner, but there was a big square shaped window opening where she could still hear and take part in the conversation.
“Is the boy doing all right?” Logos asked Nia.
“Yeah, Spitfire’s a real trooper, I’ll give him that,” Nia responded. “The kid had injuries that would have ended most people, but apparently not that stubborn fool. He came too for a bit. Asked me if anyone survived the attack. I told him the truth. That only the kids made it. Poor Spitfire cried himself to sleep.”
Everyone sat in silence then, not really know what else to say. The only sound was coming from the kitchen with Pneuma’s cooking. After the food was ready, everyone ate in silence, usual playful banter between them absent in the wake of everything that happened earlier. They all soon retired to their respective rooms, Nia and Dromarch checking in on Natsu and the two kids before retiring for the night.
~~~~
The next morning Pneuma was up early, well for her anyway, having decided to cook breakfast for their current guests as they went to bed without eating last night. Nia and Dromarch were already up and on their way out help with preparations for the Memorial Ceremony later tonight. She had the square shaped opening looking out from the kitchen to the restaurant closed since she wasn’t cooking orders for anyone and woke up to an empty house save for the three humans upstairs. She sometimes liked just being alone with her thoughts as she prepared food for everyone, before the hustle and bustle. Logos was currently hunting and gathering a few more last minute game and supplies at Coil Tree Cape, near the base of Seabound Coil Tree, just a small walk from the restaurant.
Natsu had soon descended the stairs, rather warily taking in his surroundings. He thought that the bout with the Fiendish Virago had been just a nightmare. That little Liam and little Arianna hadn’t each lost their parents in the skirmish. That he hadn’t failed to keep them all safe. But, upon waking up inside The Holy Grail with Lady Pneuma apparently in the kitchen cooking breakfast for him and everyone else, he had to face reality.
It hadn’t been just a terrible dream.
He made his way towards one of the tables and sat down as tears welled up in his eyes again. This was exactly why he had made his home in the wilds, away from Angel’s Rest after his last remaining relative, his grandfather died four years ago.
In the wilds, he could live his life alone as he saw fit. He wasn’t “expected” to do great things just because of who his ancestral mother and father were. Natsu had read all about Mirai and Satoru, and how they led humanity towards Elysium five hundred years go. How the two of them made history as the first pair of humans to ever be acknowledged by the divine swords of the Architect himself.
By name.
How was he ever to live up to such a legacy when he couldn’t even keep the people closest to him alive? He had made a bit of a name for himself in the wilds as a freelance monster hunter, but really, he felt aimless, the weight of his family’s legacy pulling him down.
Natsu’s mind drifted towards the time where he’d first met all of them. He’d met Liam, Arianna, and each of their parents while on the road about three years ago, striking up an easy friendship with both the Urayan and Mor Ardanian families. Liam’s father in particular was a master swordsman, their family being a lesser known and acknowledged cadet branch of the royal Mor Ardanian “Ardanach” line, and often taught Natsu and Liam, helping the former further hone his skills and passing down their family sword techniques to the latter.
And Arianna’s family line are from a long line of thieves and assassin’s known as “The Black Bane Clan” in Uraya, well known for their deadly mastery of both the bow and stealth.
Their families were once bitter enemies back on Alrest as the Urayans and the Mor Ardanians had far too many opposing views in ideology to really make peace with each other, and the Black Bane were notorious for being hired to assassinate members of the Royal Mor Ardanian Empire centuries ago and the Empire would retaliate in kind, thus continuing the cycle of revenge.
The Black Bane Clan wasn’t just notorious for their many attempts on the Ardanian Empire, but all throughout Alrest. After one murder too many and several different civil wars later, they were all either killed themselves or cast out of Uraya completely, a tragically ironic but sadly fitting punishment for all the pain they caused. The survivors joined Satoru and Mirai’s group of people and headed towards Elysium with hope they could start over. That they could earn their forgiveness by walking a path of peace instead of murder.
After reaching Elysium, none of those old ties seemed to matter. It was a slow process, but eventually the two families reconciled their differences, and reached out to one another out of friendship over the centuries. Liam’s great-grandfather and Arianna’s great-grandmother paved the way towards ending the feud for good. And now the friendship between Liam and Arianna and their respective parents crystalized their newfound peace completely.
Natsu had been so lost in thought that he didn’t hear Lady Pneuma approaching and was startled when she suddenly sat a delicious looking plate of food in front of him.
“Good morning, I’m sure you’re not hungry, but for the sake of replenishing your strength, you have to eat something,” Lady Pneuma said to him, smiling sadly as she noted his tears.
Even he wasn’t bold enough to disrespect one of the divine swords of the Architect himself. Especially after she’d gone to the trouble of preparing breakfast for him. He quietly ate the meal, not realizing just how long it had been since he had a decent meal at The Holy Grail, one of the few things he missed about living in Angel’s Rest before he left.
“Do you blame yourself for what happened?” She suddenly asked him as she pointed to the tears still streaming down his face, and noting that he was hiding something from her deep down.
Natsu readily wiped the offending tears from his eyes, noting that at this point his attempts at hiding his pain were for naught as she saw right through him. For some reason, he felt comfortable enough to confide in her. When he answered Lady Pneuma, his voice was full of bitterness.
“Yeah, I do. Four years ago I left Angel’s Rest. I was sick of the pressure and expectations people had of me just because I was a descendent of the famous Satoru and Mirai. I didn’t care about that legacy. I just wanted to be free to choose my own way, just like everyone else. And any accomplishments I achieved would be because of ME and not just because ‘oh that’s typical of one of Satoru and Mirai’s line’ even if I still couldn’t help wanting to show my ancestral old man and old lady up. I was arrogant and stupid. Probably still am considering how badly I failed in protecting my friends after boasting that I’d find my own way beyond that legacy. Then about a year after leaving Angel’s Rest, I met Liam, Arianna, and both their families. They didn’t care about my lineage or had any expectations. Hell, they could relate. They were still trying to shed the weight of each of their as 'Ardanachs' and 'Black Bane Clan'. Now, with all of them dead save for Liam and Arianna….”
He couldn’t finish as bitter tears welled up in his eyes again. Natsu hated the fact that he failed in protecting his friends from that monster. No matter what he did, it just seemed like he was just as weak and stupid as he’d always been.
Suddenly, Logos entered the door, having overheard the last part of Natsu and Pneuma’s conversation.
“There’s no point in getting down on yourself, boy,” Logos said to him. While he had been impressed with the boy’s combat ability yesterday and his potential, it was clear he still had a lot to learn. “You’re hardly the only one who’s stuck with the weight of a legacy to carry on whether they want it or not. At this point you’ve got two choices, you can run away or face it head on.”
Natsu scoffed at Lord Logos’s apt point, but knew deep down that he was right. It was true Natsu manage to hone his longsword skills to a razor’s edge out in the wilds, especially after having met Liam and Arianna’s families. But, at the end of the day, that’s basically all he’s accomplished by leaving Angel’s Rest. Living out in the wilds only ended up making him feel more alone, empty with no real place or true goal in this world. More so now than ever considering most of the friends he’d made were now in their graves.
And Lord Logos had been right, he thought to himself. All I’ve really done is run away, he silently noted to himself. He decided then and there that he wouldn’t run away anymore. He’d avoided the Memorial Ceremony like the plague for years, but tonight he’d attend. That seemed like an appropriate first step.
Pneuma thought that Logos was being a bit harsh, but that he wasn’t exactly wrong either. She had also saw the same fierce light of determination in the boy’s eyes yesterday. The light his family had been well known for. That if need be he had the strength of will to weather any storm. The young man certainly had potential, despite the chip on his shoulder and he didn’t just keep popping into her Foresight visions for nothing she was sure. And she and Logos also knew what it meant for a person to feel like they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.
“I know what you mean,” Pneuma said to Natsu. “Despite my brother’s tone, he and I both know what its like to be afraid of not living up to a standard or legacy. Sometimes we still struggle with the prospect that we’ve only created a prison for blades and led the humans to a death world. Sometimes this world feels as if it has a will of its own, but we don’t know where its will is leading us.”
It was strange hearing that from one of the divine swords of the Architect, Natsu thought. In the history books and even in person, they always seemed so invulnerable and powerful. But, hearing Lady Pneuma’s admission, he saw another side to the saviors. More vulnerable, insecure. And as bitter as he was about what happened to his friends and his own issues with his family’s legacy, he’d never begrudge Lady Pneuma and Lord Logos their accomplishments for humanity and blades.
“I don’t think the vision you two had for this place or your attempt at helping everyone was wrong or misplaced, Lady Pneuma, Lord Logos. You gave the blades and each generation of humans here an opportunity to live on their own terms, to be free of their past selves. Despite my issues with my ancestral mother and father, I do acknowledge all they did to help this world prosper, and how much they believed in the legend of a better world for everyone. And as much as I bitch and moan, I’ll admit that I feel the same way. I’m just not sure what the hell it is I can even do for this world…And who knows? This world could very well have a will of its own. During my time in the wilds I got more in touch with nature. This world definitely has a feeling of being ‘alive’, but it may also be that the world might not have a will of its own, so much as its possible it could be reacting to the wills of everyone here, or maybe just the wills of you too.”
There it was, Pneuma thought to himself. His true feelings about everything that she’d sense he’d been trying to deny out of spite for his family’s legacy. Far more optimistic than he seems. And he brought up a point about this world that neither she or Logos had considered. It was certainly something for the two of them to ponder later together.
The two children had made their way downstairs while Nia and Dromarch entered The Holy Grail at the same time. The kids, still incredibly saddened by the loss of their families didn’t speak up right away.
“Hey, Liam, Aria, it’s okay. Come on over and meet everyone,” Natsu had urged his two younger friends forward. Upon seeing he was still alive and well, they rushed to hug him, afraid they’d lost everyone they cared about. Natsu embraced the two kids as they cried. Natsu also returned the two kids’ weapons to them, giving the custom made dark bladed claymore sword to Liam and the hunting short bow and quiver to Arianna. Then, the two kids wiped their eyes, attempting to quell their tears out of respect for the Twin Saviors and two miracle healing blades.
“Everyone, this is Liam Ardanach and Arianna ‘Aria’ Black Bane,” Natsu said as their official introduction to the others. The two children bowed respectfully though were still silent, both out of shock from their recent trauma as well as being somewhat intimidated by THIS certain group of people. Then they really didn’t know what to do or say. Then their stomachs growled loudly, breaking the ice. Logos laughed, Nia and Dromarch smiled, both at their rumbling stomachs and the fact that they both were up and about, and Pneuma approached the pair also smiling warmly and keeling down to their height.
“Hey Liam, Arianna, great to meet you. It sounds like the two of you are a bit hungry, I’ve got some more food prepared just for the two of you. How’s that sound?”
Liam nodded tentatively in affirmation at the suggestion and Arianna smiled a bit, already feeling a lot less afraid and lonely.
“You got it,” Pneuma said as she made her way back towards the kitchen to reheat more of the food she’d prepared earlier. The Logos, Nia and Dromarch each exchanged pleasantries and official greetings towards their new young friends. Pneuma had opened the window so she could see and take part in the interactions. The four blades in the room all extended the offer to the three humans to make “The Holy Grail” their new home, if they wanted.
For the first time since the blade quartet met the three humans, the children all had genuine smiles on their faces. It was a reminder to the four of them that these three were still just kids who have suffered more than enough losses for one lifetime.
After the two kids ate, Natsu, Liam and Arianna decided to walk around the town. Nia and Dromarch had been strict in their “healer’s orders” on the trio not venturing beyond Angel’s Rest, so the three decided to spend most of the day at Seabound Coil Tree, all of them happy and grateful they had a home.
~~~~
Once the three humans left, Pneuma decided to tell Logos, Nia and Dromarch about the visions of Natsu she’d had over the centuries.
“I did wonder why you had been rather adamant about those kids staying here,” Logos said. “I mean, not that I would have protested in any way, but it was strange.”
“Same here,” Nia added. “The two little runts I could understand, but Spitfire’s hardly a child in the same sense.”
“If I may my lady, why not mention this sooner?” Dromarch then said.
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to say or what it all meant. I’m not sure if this is all fate or chance, but I can’t help feeling that maybe that boy is meant to…be my driver,” Pneuma had finally voiced the very prospect she’d been speculated about for centuries.
All three reacted with varying levels of surprise, though none of them outright rejected the idea.
“Are you sure about this, partner?” Logos said, not out of objection, but just genuine brotherly concern. Though he did silently note that had she said this before humanity first arrived, he’d have definitely rejected the idea. “Even though blades here have more say in the matter, once you resonate with a human, you’re still pretty much stuck with that human until he or she dies” he then added rather candidly.
Everyone else chuckled at Logos’s blunt response.
“Yes, brother I’m sure. Thank you for your concern, but I think I do want to resonate with Natsu. I wouldn’t have said that about anyone before, I’m kind of exited about it.”
“Well, I do admit ol’ Spitfire’s got some grit about him,” Nia said. If her friend just had to bond with someone, then she could have definitely chosen a whole lot worse even if the boy was a stubborn fool.
“Agreed, my lady,” Dromarch said. “Given time and temperance, the young man could grow quite formidable.”
Pneuma had been relieved to finally have that weight off her chest and was honestly surprised by her friends’ support in this matter. She didn’t expect her friends to just roast her alive about it, but she did expect far more objection, particularly from Logos. And she never expected that she’d be this excited about resonating with a human either.
~~~~
Later that evening at The Holy Grail, just a few hours before the Memorial Ceremony, Natsu, Liam and Arianna had returned to the restaurant. The four blades had been busy cooking food and preparing drinks for everyone that would be in attendance. They had all just finished loading the carts outside the restaurant to prepare for the short trek from Seabound Coil Tree where The Holy Grail was located to Skybound Coil Tree, the part of the town where the ceremony was taking place. The two children were still understandably depressed, but they still looked slightly better than they did this morning. Pneuma had finally brought up the idea of resonance to Natsu. And Natsu, being Natsu, he was all too happy with resonating with her.
“Hold up a minute!” Logos had suddenly said, making his way over to Natsu. Logos suddenly flashed his sword, stopping just mere seconds short of making contact with the side of Natsu’s face. Pneuma was about to block his sword until….
“You better be taking this seriously! My sister is trusting you. Do anything to break that trust and IT’LL BE YOUR ASS BRAT!”
Natsu, despite being inwardly terrified at having Logos’s infamous sword square in his face, he refused to back down. He met his gaze evenly.
“I won’t let her down or any of you, Natsu said. All of you have welcomed me as a part of this family, given me a purpose beyond just being bitter about not living up to my ancestral mother and father’s legacy and running away from it. I know I still have a ways to go, but I will be the driver that Lady Pneuma deserves! And I will do my part in helping this world, so that no one else has to suffer like Liam, Arianna or me.
Heh, he knew there was something he liked about this boy, Logos thought to himself. Nia and Dromarch were also silently impressed.
Natsu walked past Logos towards Pneuma.
“Did I pass the test?” Natsu snarked at her about Logos.
“I suppose you did all right,” Pneuma snarked sweetly back at him, though she was impressed too.
“Oh, her ladyship’s got jokes, huh?” Natsu responded.
Pneuma simply smiled at him as the core crystal on her chest started glowing.
“Now, place you hand on my chest,” Pneuma said.
Natsu was taken aback by what she’d just said smiling a bit, more at her choice of words than any desire to accost her even if he did find her beautiful. Nia laughed a bit, Dromarch just shook his head. Even Liam and Arianna each cracked a grin.
Logos knew that Pneuma meant her core crystal but honestly girl, there’s certain things you just don’t say to a hormonal teenage boy. His sister could be far too innocent for her own good sometimes, he thought to himself.
Even if Natsu had a desire to be weird about what Lady Pneuma said, which he didn’t, but if he did, he was certain Lord Logos would run him clean through before he could even cop a feel. He kept his hand firmly on her core crystal as he felt her power flowing through him nearly overwhelmed by it but he refused to falter. Soon a link established itself between them, a bond neither had ever felt before. The connection was certainly a little strange for the both of them, but reassuring at the same time.
This is what it’s like to be one in body and soul with a human, Pneuma thought to herself, happy with the unfamiliar but strong resonance between them.
Neither one of them was sure of what would happen next, but for Natsu, one thing was clear to him. He no longer felt empty and aimless. He meant what he said before. It would take some time for both of them to get used to one another, but he meant what he’d said. Being bonded to Lady Pneuma was his clear chance at doing something worthwhile for this world. A chance he had no intention of wasting.
“Good job Spitfire!” Nia said to him in congratulations.
“I expect many great things to come from the both of you,” Dromarch said in agreement.
“I’m not joking here brat! Let my sister down and I’ll run you through myself! Logos declared.
Liam and Arianna were happy for the two of them as well even if they couldn’t show it at the moment.
Pneuma and Natsu decided to wait until a few days after the ceremony to go public with the news of their resonance as it really wasn’t the appropriate time and place for such news. Soon, they all made their way to the upper level of Angel’s Rest and towards Skybound Coil Tree and began distributing the food and supplies on the various long tables in the area. Crowds of people were beginning to gather. Some helped with getting food around.
~~~~
The Memorial Ceremony of Elysium was soon underway. A few years after humanity first ventured beyond the barrier, a memorial tradition was established. Several of their friends and family did not make it to Elysium alive. Mirai once declared that to a human, being forgotten was a much worse fate than death. So, out of respect for her at the time, Logos and Pneuma propose the idea of monuments that listed the names of every single human that didn’t make the journey alive.
Touched by the idea, the humans constructed the giant thick stone monuments in the shape of their Twin Savior’s core crystals. Eventually, the tradition evolved into carving the names of each person who died in this place. Every generation had their own stone with every persons’ name no longer with them immortalized on the monument. Forever a part of paradise. They have this ceremony every year on the anniversary of humanity’s first arrival.
Dromarch stood in front of the current generations’ monument as several names were added. Natsu and Pneuma held Liam and Arianna as they cried as both pairs of parents’ names were also added.
“The body may die, but never the soul, which is merely passed on,” Dromarch began his eulogy to the fallen as many people in the crowd began crying over the losses of their friends and family. “Souls flow onward, born and reborn, forever part of the great ether stream.”
The crowd then bowed their heads in respect as several candles were lit in honor of the fallen. Everyone in the crowd then sat around with their respective groups of friends and families as they all reminisced about their fallen friends and family, enjoying each other’s company, grateful that they can still partake in such moments.
Because in this world, no one ever knew when their names would be added to the monuments.
However, thanks to this Memorial Ceremony, every human in Paradise did know that whenever their time came, they’d never be forgotten.
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A/N: And chapter two is finally completed! Sorry for the somewhat downer ending here but I hope I put in enough moments of levity to balance it all out, particularly with Pneuma’s epidemic episode. I hope I did give everyone a sense that despite the significant time jump, Logos, Pneuma, Nia, Dromarch and everyone were plenty busy over the centuries. Also the family is all here!
This story would be remiss to not have another “Ardanach” lol. Liam basically resembles an even younger looking Hugo/Niall. And Arianna looks very similar to the Urayan child in the concept art, but with much longer hair (and her bangs cover one of her eyes).
And for Arianna's family line, I was gonna go with the whole Urayan mercenary thing at first (their line on Alrest I mean), but thieves and assassins were so much cooler. And Natsu makes an appearance and bonds with Pneuma! Things should be interesting there. And Judicium is clearly up to nooooo good. Maybe we’ll find out what their goals are next chapter. "Angel's Rest" is a play on "Hero's Rest" in Xenoblade 2. Just bigger with more houses.
Oh and Logos/Malos liking home brewing in this was sort of a reference to the sixth rule of the salvager's code "First have a punch out, then drink to forget. Once you've forgotten, the friendship's all set!" line that Rex said to the Architect about him in canon. I just wanted Malos to get an opportunity to have his drinks OKAY!
Next chapter we'll introduce Judicium into the mix....uh oh....so just what will they be up to.....? You'll see....
Chapter 3: The Will of the Divine (Judicium's Dark Secrets)
Summary:
We all got a good idea of what Logos, Pneuma, and all our new pals were doing in Elysium for the past five or so centuries in the previous chapter, but nada about Alrest, (Judicium in particular and its current Praetor, though the other nations will be mentioned a small bit too of course).
So, just what in the world is the darker part of the Judicium Praetorium up to? NOTHING good I'll tell ya that! Find out what creepy ideals the Judic upper echelon hold and what some of their future goals might be.
This chapter will be noticeably darker than the previous two, with some rather graphic deaths for three poor souls (shock treatment deaths, and all, just to avoid not giving a warning). You've been warned....I wanted to depict a VERY different atmosphere from Elysium for Judicium in this chapter....
Chapter Text
A/N: Hello and thanks for reading! We're in for yet another time jump, but in this chapter we're going back in time to 2564 and skipping briefly to 3049, ten years before the present day (previous chapter took place in year 3059, the current present year). Hey, I didn't say the jumps BACK in time wouldn't be massive from here on lol. 3049 was the year Logos and Pneuma first saw those weird sinister looking people poking around the wasteland during their patrol in the previous chapter just in case that wasn’t clear before.
"Judics" or "Judic people" will refer to the people of Judicium from here on. They're basically Indoline in appearance though (as the Judics were their ancestors in canon to be more specific), but still, just to avoid confusion here. And I'm basically picturing Judicium's architecture as an even grander version of Indol in the main game (again, I suck at describing this stuff in stories lol), right down to the grand audience chamber.
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One in Body and Soul? Part One ~ Elysium in the Blue Sky
(Years 2564 and 3049, 1000 and 515 Years before the Aegis War)
Chapter Three ~ The Will of the Divine (Judicium’s Dark Secrets)
Judicium, “The Holy City of Light” and the capital of the titan Temperantia, was truly a massive and marvel of a city to the average outsider, and far more technologically advanced than any other titan or capital of its time.
True to a place of holy worship, various imposing marble stone statues adorned the marble streets along with several divine temples.
A beautiful and gigantic audience chamber served as the heart of the city, serving as a perimeter for a well maintained grass park. It could be observed from any location in the city and often used to baptize anyone seeking divine salvation.
The responsibility of baptism was usually reserved for the current Praetor. In the current year of 2564, that responsibility fell to a young man named Gideon after his father, the previous praetor was murdered. Gideon was a Judic in his mid twenties by appearance, but as with most Judic people, his physical appearance belied his true age, as he was also married with several children. He was currently in the middle of baptizing two young refugees from the Tornan Titan.
“I baptize thee in the name of our holy father. In the name of his divine swords. Let it be known today that two children of Torna, Satoru and Mirai have received the divine holy blessing and salvation of the Architect.” Gideon said as he arrived to the conclusion of his long prayer.
“Thank you, your Imminence,” they both said in unison as they climbed to their feet. They were both weary from their journey all across Alrest from Torna. Their journey was hardly over though as Elysium was their final destination.
“My children, you have certainly arrived to Judicium with quite the entourage,” the Praetor said. “Rumors of your planned exodus to Elysium have reached our ears here, but I did not expect to see you with such a large group of people.”
“Yes, your Imminence, we fled our home after the current king decided to continue down the path of wrath and war,” Satoru answered him. “As much as it pains me to say about my country, the truth is Torna has already waged unnecessary war and violence over the other nations for five centuries now. We wanted no part of it.”
“Our journey has taken us all around Alrest. As children of Torna, we wanted to try and make amends for the wrongs committed by our nation,” Mirai said. “At first our group consisted of just us and a very small handful of other Tornan friends and family. But, after we first fled to Argentum, we met a few dozen Nopon and they decided to follow us from there. They were steadfast in their desire to open trade in Elysium and were so adorable we just let them tag along. The more the merrier! And their discounted supplies helped tremendously while on the road.”
“Then we found ourselves in Gormott, and some people there decided to follow us too. A few blades and drivers, destitute people who couldn’t find decent work, you name it. By this point we decided to make it an official invitation. Anyone who wanted to journey with us was welcomed. And the Nopon were instrumental in spreading the word across their network of guild contacts rather quickly.” Satoru continued their tale.
“Yes, we then decided to head for Uraya. We knew all about the bad business with the Black Banes and how most of their clan were killed, and figured some of the survivors would want to come along too. After all, this was a chance for everyone to start over if they wished. No reason to let bad history get in the way of that,” Mirai said, adding more details to their journey.
The Praetor’s expression darkened ever so slightly at the mention of the Black Banes, and hated the fact that those filth were defiling his city, but he said nothing about it. And by this point, a few other Judic people in passing overheard the conversation and were listening with deep interest, though they continued on with whatever tasks they had to complete.
Satoru did notice that they were getting an audience, even if the Judics were trying to be inconspicuous about it, and decided to keep talking in the hopes that more people here would decide to journey with them. He knew that there was more to Judicium than what its beautiful marble white walls would suggest to the unsuspecting tourist, given what some of the few “non Loyalist” Judics told him and Mirai on its streets in confidence already.
“After we left Uraya, we went to Mor Ardain. It took us a few days to negotiate a rather….unsteady and tentative peace between the cadet branch of the Ardanachs of the Mor Ardanian Empire and the Black Banes of Uraya journeying with us, but somehow we managed. Centuries of constant war with each other have taken their toil. We still have to keep making sure they play nice with one another, to put it mildly, but hopefully we’ll get there one of these days,” Mirai continued, also noticing the people listening in, but like Satoru, not making eye contact with any of them. She kept her attention and gaze squarely on the Praetor.
"We soon found ourselves on the titan of Coeia and it's grand capital, Omrantha. There were plenty of impoverished and what some might call 'roguish' people who accompanied us on our journey", Mirai continued. "The same could be said for Spessia, our next stop after Coeia," she added.
“The Judic Praetorium was our final stop before heading to the Cliffs of Morytha. Just a chance to pick up any last minute supplies and receive a blessing” Satoru finished their story. Also, now to see if anyone here wanted to leave this dark place and travel with their group, he noted to himself. No one should be left subject to the experiments he’s heard about.
“You’ve made quite the journey across Alrest indeed,” Praetor Gideon said, also noticing some of his people listening in on his conversation with Satoru and Mirai.
He may have to “reeducate” their minds again later, to remind the Judics of where their loyalties should truly lie, the Praetor thought to himself.
“If I may, what will you do if you climb the World Tree and find it empty?”
Satoru and Mirai looked at each other briefly, then they each took one hand of the other, lacing their fingers together, as they stared the Praetor down, both of them highly annoyed with the insinuation that they just decided to head to Elysium on a whim and determined to show Gideon that they did not fear him.
“We have nothing left in this world except each other, and now the group of people who decided to join us,” Satoru started. “Society has abandoned people like me, Mirai and all of them. If no one ever takes the initiative, then we will ever know the truth. I feel that the Paradise we’re looking for exists with every fiber of my being, and my wife and I WILL find it for ourselves and everyone with us.” Satoru said.
It’s something someone like you, who has everything in this world, will never truly comprehend “your imminence” Satoru silently added.
“There’s nothing left for us to lose, and potentially everything for us to gain. We won’t know what we can or cannot do until we actually arrive there. Of course, we’re aware of that. But, if the legends are true, then this is a chance for all of us to carve out a real future for ourselves. We owe that much to the many friends and family we’ve lost over this journey to continue on and follow our chosen path to its conclusion, whatever it may be. Is unwavering faith in the Architect not one of the things the Judic Praetorium constantly preaches, your Imminence?” Mirai added, voicing all her thoughts more candidly than her husband, and also unlike her husband failing to hide the annoyance in her tone.
Impudent and naive children, Gideon thought to himself. I might use them in one of our divine experiments later for their insolence.
“I suppose it is,” He said to the pair in a tone more curt than intended. “Forgive me if I was rude,” Praetor Gideon then said, trying to recover from his previous short tone. “Is there anything else I may can help you with for your journey?”
Mirai spoke first, also trying not to overstep her bounds. Despite her annoyance, she was still addressing the Praetor of Judicium. “No, your imminence,” she responded in a far less annoyed tone from earlier. “We came here also to see the murals depicting the creation of Alrest and then we’ll be on our way. Thank you for your time and the blessing. By your leave, Praetor Gideon.”
Satoru also bowed in respect along with his wife. The praetor wished them well and the pair departed from the audience chamber with due haste. Satoru and Mirai wanted to leave the Judic Praetorium as quickly as possible. Praetor Gideon returned to his duties of baptizing any visitors or citizens.
~~~~~~
“That might have been too much of a jab there at the end my dear,” Satoru said to Mirai once they were safely beyond earshot of the praetor.
“I couldn’t help it,” Mirai responded, still annoyed with Praetor Gideon. “He’s hardly the first one to insinuate that we’re just hitchhiking across the world to Elysium on a whim, but he was just the one time too many.”
“I understand that,” Satoru said, putting a loving arm around her. “And the experiments we’ve heard about have hardly improved my opinion of him.”
Before Mirai could respond, a small group of seven Judic people approached them. They were the very same few Judics the couple saw in the audience chamber earlier.
“Forgive me for interrupting your conversation,” one of them started, “my name is Archaelus. We’ve heard the rumors of your mission to reach Elysium. It’s an honor to meet you both.”
The rest of Archaelus’s party bowed to Satoru and Mirai out of respect, and they returned the gesture in kind.
“The honor is ours,” Mirai said, speaking for herself and her husband. “Anyone with a stout heart and a desire to begin life anew are welcome to accompany us on our journey.”
“We’re certainly a motley bunch of vagabonds, but if you approached us with a desire to join our traveling party, you are all more than welcome.” Satoru said, hoping these few Judic people would tell the others who might wish to journey with them, but too scared to approach. No one should be left subject to....THOSE experiments against their will. There were very few people in the world that Satoru outright despised, but the Praetor was definitely one of them.
Relief flooded the faces of the Judics as they thanked Satoru and Mirai for the invitation. The pair told them to spread the word as discreetly as possible to the other Judics who might be interested in joining their group but too scared to approach them directly.
“If I may, Satoru, Mirai,” Archaelus said to the couple in very hushed tones as he quickly surveyed his surroundings, then leaned in close to them, whispering in their ears, “I would not linger here. I would highly recommend that the both of you and your party leave the Praetorium before nightfall. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but the Praetor is not what he seems to the average tourist. And he’s hardly the only one. Darkness permeates the streets of the ‘Holy City’, and more so in the heart of our young Praetor than any other soul here. He sees the two of you and your journey to Elysium as a threat to the Praetorium and its dogma, and that people might would lose faith in his ‘teachings’. People who defy Praetor Gideon even in the slightest way, as you two did earlier, have a tendency to…..unceremoniously disappear. Our Praetor doesn’t just despise the two of you now. I’m almost certain he’s already secretly plotting your downfall.”
“We are well aware,” Satoru answered in similar hushed tones, but still appreciative of the warning and the risk their new Judic group of friends took to tell them. “We have every desire to leave this place before sundown. The Nopon traveling with us pulled some strings within their guild a few days before we arrived here, hoping they could speed up the traveling process a little bit. I’m sure glad they did. The Nopon had a spare ship stationed at Mor Ardain and managed to arrange for it to take us as far as the Cliffs of Morytha from here. After that, we’ll have to travel the rest of the way on foot. Is there any way all of you can meet us at the ship dock before sundown?”
“We are all already packed. All of us were praying that the two of you would decide to come here as well on your journey. We wanted to see Elysium for ourselves too, but not all of us are fighters and we would feel safer traveling in a group,” Archaelus spoke quietly for his small group of friends. They were trying to be careful about what they said within the walls of the Praetorium, so they all decided to leave the talking to Archaelus.
“The Argentum Guild ship won’t arrive for at least another hour. If you all have any last minute preparations to make….” Mirai said to the Judics.
“Of course milady, and thank you both again.” Archaelus responded.
“If you need anything from us, we’ll be in the museum looking at the murals before we depart.” Satoru said to the Judics.
They all went their separate ways with Satoru and Mirai arriving in the museum housing the murals of Alrest’s creation and all the trinkets the salvagers of Judicium found in the Land of Morytha below.
“These murals are truly wondrous and inspiring, aren’t they?” Mirai exclaimed. “I wonder if the divine swords actually look anything like these two figures depicted here.” She said, looking at the man in the amethyst armor and the woman with the emerald wings in one of the paintings. Both beings had cross shaped core crystals with their respective colors.
“I pray everyday that we’ll have the opportunity to find out, my dear,” Satoru said to her as she leaned into his shoulder. He embraced her with one arm as he held a small ancient displayed artifact in his hand with the other. “Seeing these paintings and these artifacts reminds me of just how badly I want to find that Paradise. Just how badly I want it to be real.”
She felt the same way. Even though neither one of them could or would admit it aloud, they both were utterly frightened at the possibility of arriving at Elysium only to find it empty. This journey was truly the only hope they had left in the world. They had no home, very little money, and with their own nation abusing its status in its complete form as the most powerful titan in the world, waging war against the other nations, Alrest was going nowhere fast. That wasn’t even getting into some of the darker secrets of Judicium they heard about earlier before meeting the Praetor.
As Satoru and Mirai continued browsing the museum, the hour they had to wait on the guild ship’s arrival came and went. Satoru and Mirai did a count and check to make sure everyone was ready and present, using a large book with everyone’s names written in it for both roll call purposes and to remember all the people that did not survive the journey thus far. They added the names of Archaelus and the few Judics that decided to accompany them, Archaelus and the others actually having managed to persuade six more Judics to come along than their initial group, adding to about thirteen Judic people planned, but only three more from before were present, leaving the Judic group a party of ten instead.
Archaelus had an idea on what might have happened to his three missing friends but kept it to himself because they sadly could not afford to wait for them any longer, lest the entire Elysium group be in danger of Praetor Gideon's wrath.
Satoru and Mirai had to eventually make the hard decision of leaving the missing three behind, giving the grieving Archaelus and the other Judics their sympathies. As a tribute, Satoru and Mirai added the missing three Judics to their book of names.
Everyone present boarded the guild ship and departed safely from the Judicium Praetorium for the Cliffs of Morytha just as the sun set from the sky.
~~~~~~
After nightfall, Praetor Gideon, now no longer under the scrutiny of the public eye, completely discarded the facade of the unassuming head priest. Inside the massive audience chamber, he was on his way to the massive secret room below the building, passing through an antechamber located toward the back of the place.
Gideon closed and locked the door to the antechamber, and made his way to a bookshelf against the back wall. He tilted a small simple looking candle sideways ever so slightly, revealing a large staircase leading into what was known “The Undercity”, a giant dark network of catacombs under Judicium, and the main base for its divine cult.
There were several different entrances to the Undercity scattered all across Judicium. A trick fountain entrance here, a dark inconspicuous manhole covering there. Some of the cult members even had secret entrances located in their own homes above the Undercity.
The members were part of a group that called itself “The Will of the Divine”, believing that only they could understand and had the right to preach and carry out the Architect’s will, and Praetor Gideon, was the leader.
The Judics were a much longer lived race compared to the rest of the world. It was their divine duty to educate the lesser beings of Alrest. It was their duty to make sure the brothers and sisters of Judicium remained resolute in where their loyalties truly lie. And if the uninitiated refuse to listen, then they could serve the divine in other ways.
By any means necessary.
As Gideon descended the stairs, he made his way towards the entrance to a large dark room, lit only by a wide circle of eerily placed candlestick stands, housing many vats for blade core crystals, a few awakened blades and various different races of suspended human corpses, some of which gathered by inexplicable means.
Praetor Gideon payed particular interest to one of the many corpses gathered. A young Black Bane Urayan male. The thief and assassin responsible for stealing the most coveted family trinket of The Will of the Divine and murdering his father two years ago.
His father had wounds that only a master of stealth and archery could have inflicted. Gideon knew right away there was only one infamous Clan that could have been responsible for his father’s death.
Once Gideon became Praetor, he ordered a divine purge on the Black Banes, killing the majority of the Black Bane Clan’s members. He did not find the coveted core crystal the sinner Urayan stole and still has found no trace of it even now, but he did find the one responsible for his father’s murder.
The Praetor found a note on one of the Black Bane corpses after the purge. All the members of the Clan write their silent messages to each other in ancient archaic symbols that only they could interpret.
Right after the purge, the Praetor found a Black Bane woman left half alive holding an infant child in her bloodied arms. He promised to spare the child if she translated the letter for him. She knew he was probably lying but was aware it was the only way her infant son might be spared. So she translated the letter for the Praetor before she died.
The Praetor did not spare the infant. There was no need to spare the life of an infidel.
According to the Black Bane woman's translation, the letter read as follows:
To our dear Black Bane brother,
You are to steal the core crystal of the blade known as ‘Haze’ from the Judicium Praetorium.
Payment from the client has already been accepted.
This is an extremely high priority mission. Failure is NOT an option.
For the pride of the Black Bane Clan.
Some of the brothers and sisters already present were in the middle of their divine experiments, merging blades and humans together, giving birth to new life as they called it. Others were kneeling over an alter in worship they built depicting the holy process of creating what they called “flesh eaters,” their divine living weapons.
In order to make their flesh eater weapons, they often had to “gather” the appropriate tools. The cult believed that blades served absolutely no purpose other than for the sake of Judicium. They only existed to flood their nation with wondrous, unparalleled data to further their research and experiments. And lesser humans of the other races that have strayed from the path of righteousness, they found repentance in becoming a part of their flesh eater experiments.
Their divine reward was for their bodies to be preserved with reverence by the cult. Never defiled. Never forgotten.
Praetor Gideon managed to find three lost Judic souls in desperate need of salvation granted by the cult. He had each of them restrained in electric chairs, their arms and legs bound to the arms and legs of their respective chairs. If they could be indoctrinated into the cult, Gideon knew they’d prove most useful. If not, then their corpses would be used in their experiments.
Either way, they serve The Will of the Divine.
Praetor Gideon’s eldest son and heir, a young boy in appearance named Theron, hunted these three sinners off the streets this afternoon in secret. How dare they try to flee The Will of the Divine!
“It’s a pity I couldn’t get the dirty blond-haired golden-eyed boy and the very pretty red haired girl here too,” Theron said to his father, “Satoru and Mirai was it? They would have served as excellent test subjects for our still new blade eater ideas....but alas there was just never a clear opportunity, Father. My apologies.”
“Peace, my son,” Gideon said. “You did well enough hunting these three down. They will most certainly be useful in a new experiment I'm planning should we prove unable to guide them back down the path of righteousness."
The three innocent people, bound and gagged, stared at the Praetor and his son in horror, tears in their eyes. If only they could have made it to Archaelus and the rest of their group of friends in time, they would be on their way to Paradise. Instead, they were now subject to the absent mercy of the deranged Gideon and his equally deranged son Theron.
"Despite what you all may believe, I am not without mercy," Gideon had the audacity to claim to the three in light of their current predicament. "Despite the gravity of your transgressions, I am willing to reeducate all of you. We are Judic brothers and sisters after all."
Theron untied the rags across one of their uninitiated visitors, hoping that they would embrace The Will of the Divine.
"This is madness!" The captured Judic declared, as the rag was removed from his face. "There is nothing divine about any of this! No one deserves to be defiled and experimented on in this manner! Human or blade!"
Oh dear. The poor soul was more lost than Gideon and Theron thought to misunderstand their divine mission to such a degree. They had no choice.
"Flip the switch," Theron ordered one of the brothers. The man obeyed the other without question, almost eerily robotic in his actions, but still proud to serve The Will of the Divine.
A loud bloodcurdling scream emerged from the man sitting in the chair as painful electric ether shocks tore through his body. Theron immediately told their cult brother to turn the switch off.
"You misunderstand my good man," Gideon spoke to his uninitiated guest calmly, as if they were merely discussing the weather. "In this holy sanctum, we serve the Architect's will. We are the only race in Alrest that can. The others don't live long enough to amass the wealth of knowledge, influence, and power that we possess. They merely exist long enough to serve our nation and our people. And the blades are nothing more than tools from the Architect, despite the powers they have. Their very existence is wholly dependent on ours. We have full control and influence over them. That is an irrefutable fact, and thus they will never be our equals. Even the two divine swords, the right hands of the Architect are not completely free of this truth."
"You...are...all...insane!" the previously shocked Judic protested, though weakly from his injuries and exhaustion. "There's...nothing...divine...about hoarding....our....longevity....over...the other...races!. We....were....all....born...from....the same....creator....!"
Theron simply raised his hand, the brother by the switch all too familiar with what the gesture meant. He flipped the switch again.
Another painfully loud scream from the poor man. The other two victims in waiting were utterly horrified, even more so than before. The waiting, the wondering when their "initiation" would be, just how long they'd have to watch their friend suffer.
The screaming subsided when the cult brother flip the switch back.
"You do not have to meet your end tonight, my good man," Gideon spoke to him, again in the same eerily calm tone from earlier. "You have a strong will. You could become a high ranking member serving The Will of the Divine. I can assure you everyone here is under divine protection. You would never find yourself in this situation ever again."
The man, weakened and half dead, look at his two friends and they at him. They knew this was the end for them. There was no way for them to make it out of this situation alive.
But they would not go to their graves in cowardice.
The other two were still gagged and couldn't speak but the half dead one spoke with the will of both himself and his two friends.
"We..........would...........rather............die........with.......our.......honor............intact...............than.......ever.......be........apart of........your........fana....tical........CULT!" the man declared. The other two nodded in agreement.
They were beyond salvation, Praetor Gideon thought to himself. Oh well. He could always just use them as test subjects in his experiments if they refuse to walk the path of righteousness alongside him.
Gideon approached the three captives, kneeled down to make eye contact with the one who had been tortured, and spoke to him with a similar calm in his voice from earlier, though with a slight edge to it.
"And yet you still misunderstand. Whether in life or in death, either way, you will always serve The Will of the Divine!"
Theron raised his hand again, this time signaling the brother to shock all three captives without mercy. The room was filled with the sounds of multiple bloodcurdling screams. Tortured sounds that lasted in reality only a few minutes, but the pain made each second feel like its own separate eternity for the unfortunate victims. Then they all went silent.
"Such a shame," Praetor Gideon said with genuine sadness in his voice as he unstrapped each of the victims' limbs from their respective chairs. "These three had so much potential. I always hate when our fellow Judics have to be sacrificed."
"Indeed Father," Theron said, bowing in respect for their lost Judic brothers. "But we may can still bring out that potential with our blade eater technology. It's still a long work in progress, but I think these three should have the holy honor of being our first field tested."
Such a good boy, Praetor Gideon thought. He will be a wonderful and resourceful heir.
"I do have another question my dear son," Gideon started.
"Yes Father?" Theron answered.
"The holy towers we are currently attempting to build. The ones that we use to control blades. How is that project progressing?"
"Well....we did manage to siphon enough information from that core crystal to replicate the effect over a small area with our technology, but I'm afraid it may take some centuries before we can fully amplify and perfect it. It would be much easier if we still had the core crystal for further testing and experimenting but...."
"I understand," Gideon responded, displeased with his sons answer even if it was the predictable reasoning. He had been hoping to retrieve the core crystals of the divine swords of the Architect much sooner than that.
If Judicium could just get their power on their side, then not even Torna, the demon titan of wrath, could oppose them. Everyone would see the truth of their beliefs.
He would just have to be patient over the centuries as their divine cult made the necessary improvements to their experiments. After all, there were plenty of people out there in need of their divine blessings.
~~~~~~~~
The year was 3049. Praetor Gideon, now an elderly man and his son Theron, now middled aged in appearance, made it to Elysium with some of their cult brothers and sisters only to find it seemingly empty.
"There has to be more to this place than what meets the eye, Father," Theron said, observing the never ending lifeless field around them. "It's been nearly five centuries since Satoru and Mirai left for this place. Or did their group just die out because they were inferior?"
Gideon thought about what his son said. Normally, he'd consider the inferiority point more, but the looks in both Satoru and Mirai's when they dared to defy him all those centuries ago never left his memory.
"I believe that the paradise exists and that the two of them did indeed guide their group towards it. After all, every legend is rooted in some degree of fact. The only question is how did they open the door, so to speak." Gideon answered his son.
Before Theron could respond, one of their cult sisters approached.
"Forgive the intrusion, your imminence, my lord," she greeted Gideon and Theron respectfully. "The flesh eaters have been reporting something strange."
"Continue dear sister," Theron said to his fellow cult member.
"They keep reporting a vague sense of a disturbance in the ether around this place, but they're not able to pinpoint exactly where.
Gideon and Theron smiled. They at last had hope that their dreams for Judicium and whole of Alrest would become reality someday at last.
"We never did find that core crystal stolen from us centuries ago, but its power could bend the ether in the air as we willed it. What do you think, my son?" The Praetor asked Theron.
"I believe you may be right Father, though further testing and experimenting would be required to know for sure."
"Do you have an estimate?" Praetor Gideon asked him.
"Approximately ten to fifteen years from now, though just a rough guess."
What was a decade or so to a race of superior long lived people? In the equivalent of a few months to them, they would be able to control the divine swords and claim the true Elysium for The Will of the Divine.
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A/N: And that's the end of chapter three! Did I creep you all out enough? I certainly creeped myself out writing it I'll tell ya that. But I always thought that some of the people of Judicium must have been a bit fanatical and crazy to start experiments like flesh eaters....No wonder Archaelus told Satoru and Mirai to GTFO in a hurry...
Did anyone notice the order Satoru and Mirai visited each nation? It was almost the same order as the main game with Rex and Co. I left out Genbu (Tantal), Hero's Rest/Fonsett Village/Leftheria and Indol because the former 2 hadn't been cultivated yet and the last is still in its infancy.
And that unnamed Black Bane guy is the real hero in this chapter. Got Haze out of there....
No Aegis siblings this time sadly, but definitely will see more of the gang next time in Elysium. Don't know about the rest of you but I've had my fill of Judicium....
I wasn't quite sure of the natural lifespan of the Judic/Indoline people to be honest so I just made a guess of about 5-6 centuries. Amalthus turning himself into a Blade Eater in game didn't really help and the other few named Indoline characters in canon Torna didn't stick around long enough to speculate on that either.....
And one other thing, just to avoid confusion further down the line if this is ever referenced again. I found this pretty cool looking font chart for the Urayan Black Bane Clan I made up, but sadly the font wouldn't show up (had the same issue on Amino Apps too). Despite that, I still consider the font chart and this particular code canon to my work (as well as the crest that I drew. Here's the link to all of that! Please don't overlook this because I don't want to have to explain this again later!
23ssaavedra on Chapter 1 Sat 05 Oct 2019 01:31AM UTC
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HolyDragon2808 on Chapter 1 Sat 05 Oct 2019 02:41AM UTC
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