Chapter Text
A young man was dashing through a forest on the Gormotti Titan. The trees were large and lush, blocking out most of the Sun's rays. He wore a blue twin-tailed overcoat, silver gloves, blue pants, and brown leather boots. He had silver hair and gold eyes and looked to be around twenty years old. In his right hand was a white futuristic longsword with a blue energy blade and a blue crystal in the hilt. His name…was Xander Origo.
Xander looked over his shoulder and saw the pack of Volffs still chasing him.
"You guys sure are persistent," he commented as he kept his momentum.
The beasts were closing in on him. It won't be long before they catch up and kill him. But he wasn't going to let that happen. He refused to let himself die like this, in the middle of nowhere. He's almost there. Just a little further.
Xander soon found himself in a clearing, however, his path was blocked by a cliffside. He could try scaling the cliff to get away, either by climbing or by using his grapple (which was concealed under his left sleeve by his wrist), but he didn't make a move towards it. Instead he turned around to face the horde of Volffs. He gripped his sword with both hands and got into a battle stance.
The first beast closed in and pounced on the swordsman, ready to bite into his neck. Right before the Volff could even come into contact, Xander quickly swung his upward, cleaving the beast in two. Two more Volffs decided to flank him and attack him from the sides, only for the swordsman to spin and strike them both, killing them instantly.
Three of the beasts were slain, but there were still seventeen Volffs left. Even this would be a challenge for him to handle alone as he watched the remaining beasts charged into the clearing and surround him, their eyes full of bloodlust. Two Volffs eagerly ran at Xander from behind while several prepared to come from the other directions.
Right before the Volffs managed to reach their target, a white figure suddenly landed directly behind the swordsman and stopped their advance with a blue hexagonal barrier made out of ether energy produced from her black gloved hand.
"Apologies for the delay, Master," the figure said with a robotic female voice, not evening glancing over her shoulder. "Are you unharmed?"
Xander cracked a light smile as he briefly glanced over at his partner and longtime companion. She was an android with fair skin, large magenta eyes, and pastel blue hair that fell past her waist. She wore sci-fi style white armor plating on her legs, arms, and torso, with black, red, and blue detailing. One of her arms is black, which matches her neck brace. She also wore a large white, black, and red helmet which cover her forehead. There was a blue core crystal on her chest that was shaped like a long downward-pointing triangle, the same crystal that was on Xander's sword. Her name was Kos-Mos, and she was Xander's Blade.
"I'm alright, Kos-Mos," the silver-haired Driver replied, taking advantage of enemies' surprise. "Are the others here too?"
"Yes. They will arrive in approximately eight seconds."
Almost as soon as she said that, a torrent of water and two large bombs suddenly appeared and struck the Volffs, creating a medium-sized explosion. Kos-Mos quickly protected her Driver from it, as well as the shockwave created from it, with her ether barrier. The shockwave did push the duo back a few feet though.
Four new figures emerged from under the trees. The first was a young man, around eighteen, with shoulder-length black hair and silver eyes. He wore a long-sleeved green tunic, a brown vest and belt, navy-blue pants, as well as black leather gloves and boots. He was wielding a strange red saber that had a blue energy blade and mechanical shield. Just like Xander, he was an Ardainian. His name was Ethan.
By Ethan's side was a young woman with long purple hair that flowed down to her waist and orange eyes. She wore a black bodysuit with red accents, long black gloves and armored black boots that went up her arms and thighs respectively, as well as a long red scarf that draped down her chest. She had a circular orange crystal on her upper chests, as well as faint orange lines around some parts of her mechanical body. The artificial Blade, Poppi, who Ethan had built by himself.
The third figure was a short girl who was around seventeen years old with a petite frame. She had neck-length silver hair styled with a bob cut with feline ears of the same color. She also had amber eyes, three white stripe tattoos on her face and elongated canine teeth. Her outfit consisted of a feline-hooded yellow one-piece jumpsuit with gold trimmed white armor plates around her chest and upper arms, a brown utility belt that held three small daggers, and red and white heeled boots which come up at the top into large decorated white and black cones, which extended past her knees around the front and around her calves from the back. She was a Gormotti named Nia and her main weapons were her twin rings.
By her side was her Blade, Dromarch. Unlike the other blades, his form was that of a large, thick-furred white tiger. He wore various pieces of pearl-white armor on his legs and chest. His blue core crystal was in the middle of his chest and resembled a claw.
"We sure cleaned house with our attacks!" Ethan praised. "Those beasts got nothing on us."
"It's too early to celebrate," Nia chided cynically. "There are still a few of them left."
True to the Gormotti's word, while most of the Volffs had been taken out by the new arrivals' surprise attack, there were a few survivors that weren't as injured, allowing them to recover and get back on their feet. There were about five of them left.
"My lady," Dromarch said in a formal tone. "May I suggest we finish this battle and put these creatures out of their misery?"
"Sure," Nia agreed before glancing over her shoulder and looked at a random direction. "But I think he should get some action in this as well."
The remaining Volffs split up in groups to take on the Drivers, with two heading to Xander while three charged at Ethan and Nia. Ethan and Nia readied their weapons and got into a fighting stance, but it was unneeded as a silver blur rushed from under the trees and effortlessly killed the three beasts with one slash.
The figure revealed himself to be a tall, well-built man with shoulder-length white hair, fair skin and blue eyes, who looked to be in his late twenties. He was garbed in white and silver armor, with lower part resembling a twin-tailed overcoat, and silver fingerless gloves. He wore a horned silver facemask that exposed his mouth and wielded a black nodachi that had a diamond-shaped blue crystal embedded in the hilt.
"Showing off as usual, Jin," Ethan said teasingly as he and his group approached the swordsman. "Sometimes I think you like doing it."
Jin flicked the blood off his sword before facing the Ardainian. "I don't try to show off," he said passively. "I just do what I can to protect our group."
"Yes, but you always do it in such a dramatic way," Nia added with a sly grin.
He didn't reply to that. It was quite common for Ethan and Nia to take jabs at the mostly silent man, even on the battlefield. It didn't really bother him as it showed their close bond despite Jin having only joined one year ago. However, it did bring back memories that he buried deep within his heart. Memories of an age where remnants of it remain to this day.
Jin turned towards his leader, who was fighting the last two Volffs with Kos-Mos. He knew he didn't need to interfere, so he simply stood back and watched.
The Volffs tried to attack Xander from the sides, which could have worked had he been alone, however, since Kos-Mos was here, she could easily intercept one. One of the beasts pounced and readied to sink its teeth around the Blade's throat, but Kos-Mos simply shielded herself with her left arm. She did feel some pain from the bite as white ether leaked out from the wound. Despite this, however, the blunette didn't even flinch.
Even if a monster had somehow managed to inflict a grievous wound on her, Kos-Mos will not stop protecting her master. It was her duty as his Blade to put her very life on the line for him, at least that was how she saw it. What made this task easier was that Blades possessed a very potent regeneration ability, allowing them to heal from even the most serious of wounds in just a few minutes. As long as their core crystal and their Driver is alive, the Blade can keep living.
The android glanced over at her shoulder and watched Xander block the other Volff with his sword before quickly knocking it away. He ran at the beast and leapt into the air, holding his sword above his head. As he descended, he swung the blade down, cleaving the Volff in two.
Immediately after his feet touched the ground, he threw his sword at his partner. "Finish this, Kos-Mos!" he ordered firmly.
As if those words were the key she needed, Kos-Mos quickly sprung into action. She struck the Volff in the stomach with her knee hard, causing it to yelp and let go of her arm. She then effortlessly caught the white sword in her right hand. Wanting to fulfill her Driver's order to end this battle, Kos-Mos activated her Gravity Shell, which caused pink energy blades to materialize around her waist, shoulders, forehead, and core crystal.
Gravity Shell was essentially her battle form, something that is unique to her, increasing her power and allowing Kos-Mos to use her strongest attacks, Her Arts. Arts are powerful attacks that both Drivers and Blades can use by harnessing ether energy, albeit in different ways. Blades first absorb the ether energy within the atmosphere and manifest it within their core crystals. They then channel that power into their weapons, which is essentially a part of them, which their Drivers wield.
Unlike Blades, humans are unable to harness ether energy on their own. The only way they can do so is by resonating with a Blade to become a Driver. The human then becomes able to use ether energy to unleash Arts by wielding the Blade's weapon, which the Blade supplies with their own power.
However, while it seems that Blades have such a huge advantage over humans with this ability, it isn't the case. If a Blade uses their powers too carelessly or too much, they will become exhausted and run out of power, leaving them helpless. They will eventually recover by drawing more ether from the air, but it takes time, and every second is critical in a battle. It is much more efficient for a Blade to conserve their energy and unleash their Arts only when needed. This apparently led to Drivers wielding the Blades' weapon, though how that idea even got started was unknown.
The Art Kos-Mos was preparing to use was her weakest one. The three-hit special attack, R-Blade. First, she struck the beast with two horizontal slashes before morphing her sword into a blaster and finished it off with a barrage of energy bullets. The Volff let out one final whimper before succumbing to its wounds and fell limply on the grass.
After deeming that the threat has passed, Kos-Mos disengaged her Gravity Bind and changed her weapon back into a sword before returning it to her Driver.
"Nice work as always, Kos-Mos," Xander said sincerely as he sheathed his sword to his waist.
"It is nothing, Master," the android said in her usual emotionless tone. "I am just doing my duty to protect you."
Xander let out a light sigh as the rest of the group sheathed their weapons and approached the duo.
"I'm honestly surprised that your plan worked, Xander," Nia admitted, her arms folded across her chest. "Using yourself as bait to lure that Volff pack out into the open. While it was somewhat clever, it was very reckless. Had those beasts caught up to you before we arrived, you'd be dead. Even you can't take on a horde of monsters on your own."
"Relax, Nia," Ethan said casually. "Kos-Mos herself determined the best possible route for Xander to take that had the least amount of risk. She wouldn't have let him go alone if she couldn't find one."
"Ethan's right," Poppi agreed. "Plus Kos-Mos is super strong. If the plan went south, she could get Xander to safety."
When it came to the strength of their Blades, Kos-Mos is easily considered to be their strongest Blade. She was of the Light element, an exceedingly rare elemental affinity that hasn't been seen in Alrest in 500 years. Even Xander didn't know why the android Blade was of that element. Kos-Mos was a gift from his late mother, Ceres, though how she had her core crystal was a mystery. It didn't really matter to the silver-haired Driver as he was grateful to have a partner at all.
Ever since Xander had left his home in Mor Ardain due to circumstances at the young age of fourteen, Kos-Mos had been one of his only companions. However, life in the outside world proved to be more difficult than the Ardainian had thought, with him struggling to find a way to make money to survive. Luckily, a man named Klaus took him in and trained him on how to be a proper Driver. He was even like a second father to the teen.
Xander made his living by selling his services as a freelance mercenary. He took almost any job, whether they would be monster extermination or trivial stuff like material gathering. The only exception was jobs that involved joining any armies. Sure, if he accepted such a position, he wouldn't have to worry about finances or his next meal anymore. He didn't dislike the military by any means, he just rather not get involved.
"Anyway," the silver-haired Driver spoke up, getting the rest of his mercenary group's attention. "Now those Volffs won't be attacking any more unsuspecting lumberjacks. We should head back to Torigoth and report to our employer."
"Agreed," Kos-Mos replied with a nod. "We should depart immediately. If we leave now, we should reach Torigoth by sunset."
Nia let out a sigh. "Do you have to say things so matter-of-factly, Kos-Mos?" she asked sarcastically. "We don't need to hear all those details every time."
"That is just how Lady Kos-Mos is, my lady," Dromarch replied. "Besides, there are advantages to knowing our arrival time."
The Gormotti didn't respond. Instead she merely let out a groan before the group set out.
Just as Kos-Mos calculated, the mercenary group arrived at Torigoth at sunset. Unlike most of the other Titans, Gormott is very rural with not many towns or cities. To compensate for this, the lands here were very fertile and produced excellent harvests and lumber. However, that made Gormott very sought after by the other nations and is what led to Mor Ardain to annexing it to support its own population.
There was a military faction stationed here in Torigoth, the largest city on the Titan, mainly to maintain Mor Ardain's power over the land and to recruit new soldiers and Drivers. The consul that managed the land was pretty incompetent too, but Xander didn't complain since it gave him more job opportunities.
He and his group went to the lumber mill, which was located outside the city walls, and met with its manager, the man who had employed them, and delivered their report.
"I am glad to hear that the threat has been taken care of," the manager said in relief. "You Origo Mercenaries sure live up to your reputation."
"It was nothing," Jin replied passively.
"Plus we couldn't just ignore those lumberjacks being attacked by those beasts," Poppi added. "It is our duty to help those in need."
"That, and we needed the gold," Xander said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
"Xander!" Ethan said in shock. "You didn't need to say that."
"Sorry," the silver-haired Driver huffed out, arms folded across his chest, "but our funds are really tight right now thanks to a certain someone blowing most of it on random junk or machine parts." He then delivered a one-eyed disapproving glance at his fellow Ardainian.
Nia simply giggled in response. "He's got you there, Ethan," she added, trying but failing to hide her smirk. "Then there's all those cylinders you bought to try salvaging, but you never managed to make a decent profit to cover the expenses."
"And all the different outfits you got to dress up Poppi," Jin said with a slightly amused smirk.
Ethan simply slouched in defeat. "Oh, right," he said in misery, while his artificial Blade comforted him by patting his shoulder.
"Anyway, our payment if you would be so kind," Xander said politely as he extended his hand towards the manager.
"Oh, of course." The older Gormotti went into his office for a minute before coming back out and handed the mercenary leader a leather bag tied by string. "Here's everything. 10,000 gold, as promised."
Xander handed the bag over to Kos-Mos, who used her analytical mind to confirm that it was the exact payment. He hated distrusting his employers, but he has had incidents were people have tried to scam him out of his payment. If that ever happened, Xander would use some "persuasion" to get his fair dues before cutting ties with them forever. Thankfully, this manager would not require such measures, which was good as Xander preferred having a decent reputation when it came to his mercenary work.
With their payment received, the group decided to head back to their base. The Origo Mercenaries had a handful of bases scattered around Alrest, with most of them hidden to prevent any intruders from getting in. The one in Torigoth was of their main bases and one where they took job requests from.
The small mercenary band proceeded to the Torigoth pavilion, where they saw a crowd of people gathered there. Xander could also spot three Ardainian soldiers behind a booth that had a core crystal. The soldiers kept blabbering about all the benefits citizens would get if they became Drivers and joined the Ardainian military.
"Seriously?" Nia said in annoyance. "Another recruitment campaign? Haven't they got enough Drivers in their bloody army already?"
"The success rate for core crystal resonance has been decreasing as of late," Kos-Mos answered. "There is a high probability that Mor Ardain has run out of potential candidates in their military forces."
"I agree," Jin added, his arm folded across his chest. "I've heard tensions between Mor Ardain and Uraya have been high as of late. It makes sense that Mor Ardain would be preparing for war."
Xander let out an annoyed grunt as he looked away in shame. It was depressing to see his homeland prepping for something that would kill thousands of people on both sides. He heard Poppi comment that a middle-aged Gormotti male had approached the recruitment booth, likely wanting to attempt to resonate with the core crystal. He lifted his gaze to see what would happen.
The Gormotti greedily placed his hand on the core and attempted to resonate with it, however the white light that came out of it was erratic and the man started to shriek in pain as the power within it began overwhelming him.
"He's a goner," Nia commented nonchalantly.
"Yep," Xander said, resting his right hand on his waist.
A few seconds later, fountains of blood spurted out of the male Gormotti and he fell silent before falling limply on the ground. Ethan looked ready to barf from the sight, with Poppi trying to soothe him by rubbing circles on his back, while Xander and the others didn't seem to be affected.
"That was a lot of blood," Poppi said slowly as they watched two of the soldiers carry the corpse away.
"That's what happens when someone unworthy tries to resonate with a core crystal," Dromarch said inquisitively. "It takes a certain aptitude to become a Driver. Ethan was lucky to only get a three-day nosebleed when he attempted one. Most cases of unworthy applicants end in either death or comatose."
"It's a shame that you can't become a Driver in the traditional sense, Ethan," Xander added. "But it led you to creating Poppi. I think you've got potential to be a great Driver."
Ethan managed to recover from his sickness and faintly smiled. "Thanks, Xander. It means a lot to hear that from you. It's thanks to you and Klaus that I was even able to finish Poppi at all. I don't think I can ever fully repay you two for that."
The silver haired Ardainian simply chuckled as he watched a younger Gormotti male, around the age of the mercenaries, approach the core crystal. The Gormotti's resonance attempt went much more smoothly, with the light being stable and him not being overwhelmed by the crystal's power. The crystal then morphed into a great lance and a generic Blade appeared by the man's side. Blades with unique appearances are very rare, but they were also stronger than the generic Blades, making the unique ones highly sought after.
"We don't need to see the rest of this," Jin spoke up. "Let's get going."
The others agreed and continued on their way. Their base was located in the southern residential district, near the docks. It was built into a cliff and kept largely out of sight. Their base was of moderate size, allowing everyone to have their own space and rooms. It also had a good view of the Cloud Sea and a space for a certain someone.
The group arrived with no issue, however, as they entered they saw a certain blonde-haired man wearing a white lab coat sitting at the table. He looked to be either a Leftherian or an Ardainian.
"Klaus?" Xander said in genuine surprise. "I wasn't expecting you back for another three days."
Klaus, like Jin and Ethan, wasn't a Driver, but unlike the other two, he didn't do any actual fighting. Instead he acted as an advisor for the Origo Mercenaries and helped secure any potential jobs. It was thanks to him that the Origo Mercenaries even existed as aside from Ethan, Klaus had recruited everyone into the group. Despite this, Xander was still considered the leader. Klaus also had a habit of running off to do research on Alrest's ancient history. Why he did so wasn't entirely clear, but no one really seemed to care as long as it didn't affect them negatively.
The blonde-haired man simply smiled at his surrogate son. "Sorry for my sudden return, but I've got some news I need to share. Just to check before we start, Xander, you are from Leftheria, correct?"
"Yeah, that's where my mother was from anyway. Why?"
"Oh, nothing," Klaus passed off. "Anyway, I got a message from Chairman Bana of the Argentum Trade Guild. He wants to hire you specifically as a bodyguard for a salvaging job. The others are invited too. The total pay is 200,000 gold, with half of it as the advance."
"What?!" Xander exclaimed in disbelief.
"200,000 gold!" Ethan added eagerly. "That's a lot of money. We'd be set for months with that. Let's do it!"
"Hold on," Jin said firmly. "Something about this offer feels off. Chairman Bana is specifically after our leader and is willing to pay an extraordinary amount of gold for his services. That's very suspicious."
"Jin's right," Nia agreed while brushing her bangs with one hand. "This all sounds fishy. Did Bana go into any detail on what this salvaging job is about or who the employer is?"
Klaus shook his head. "He did not. However, I do have an idea on what it could be and that's why I'm back so soon. A few days ago, I detected some strange shifts in an uncharted area. I did some scans and detected a sunken ship in that area. Bana or his employer must have detected that ship as well. From what I heard from Argentum, Bana's bringing together a team of highly skilled salvagers for this job."
"If the Chairman is going to these lengths, then there must be something on that ship that he wants," Kos-Mos spoke up before facing her partner. "Master, what should we do?"
Xander was silent for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts. "Hmmm… If I know the Chairman, he wouldn't do something unless he can make a profit off of it, no matter how dangerous or shady it is," he said slowly. "I'm getting a bad feeling from this thing. We can't ignore this, but we can't cooperate with Bana either."
"Obviously," Nia replied in her usual tone. "But how are we supposed to retrieve whatever's on that ship? It's deep under the Cloud Sea."
"Actually, my ship has a way to bring that sunken ship to the surface," Klaus replied. "I've been working on it for a few years. Now it's time to see if it'll work."
"You don't even know if it'll work?!" Ethan and Poppi shouted in exasperation.
Jin let out a groan and shook his head. "This just gets better and better."
"Indeed," Dromarch added. "Well, then, Master Xander. What shall we do?"
Xander paused for a moment as all eyes fell on him. He actually felt hesitant on what to say. He had a feeling that this particular mission would be riskier than the others he has done. He didn't even know if he could guarantee the safety of his teammates if he went through with his mission. However, he had a feeling that he couldn't ignore this either. Plus he was curious on what could be on this ship that Bana would want his help this badly.
"We're going to investigate this ship ourselves," Xander declared, maintaining a firm tone. "However, this is strictly a voluntary mission. If anyone doesn't want to go, please say so now. I won't hold it against you if you want to."
"There's no way in hell I'm missing this," Ethan said confidently. "Even if we don't get paid, I still want to see this ship myself."
"Me too!" Poppi added enthusiastically.
"Dromarch and I are going too," Nia said in a casual tone. "Someone will have to patch you boys up if you get hurt."
"I'm coming as well," Jin said. "I'm guessing you're coming too, Kos-Mos."
"Of course, I am," the blunette confirmed in her monotone voice. "If my master wishes to go to this ship, then I will accompany him to protect him. That is my duty after all."
Klaus couldn't help but smile at the sight. He was glad that the group didn't need much convincing for this volunteer mission. He needed their help to retrieve what lied inside that sunken vessel, or more specifically, Xander's help. He couldn't let her fall into the wrong hands. He could only hope that they will make it time.
"If we are all in agreement, then we should leave at once," he said firmly. "It'll take a day or two to reach our destination and I don't know when Bana's team will set out. We must reach that ship before they do. Time is of the essence."
"Understood," Xander replied with a nod. "Everyone, pack only what you need. We leave in half an hour."
"Okay," the others acknowledged.
The Origo Mercenaries split up to quickly pack whatever they needed. Once they were done, they proceeded to the hidden dock, which contained Klaus's ship, the Galahad. Unlike other ships in Alrest, this one didn't require a Titan to function. Apparently, Klaus had found the Galahad years ago on a random island-sized Titan while exploring the Cloud Sea. It was broken when he found it and repaired it over time. The technology in it was very impressive, way more advanced than anything Xander has ever seen on the Titan vessels. Supposedly the Galahad could also submerge itself beneath the Cloud Sea, but the Origo Mercenaries never had a reason to use it before. It also has several advanced weaponry, but only the basic cannons were currently functional at the moment. Finding parts to maintain and repair the Galahad were very hard to come by, not to mention Klaus and Ethan continue to struggle with understanding the ship's technology.
Once everyone boarded on the black vessel, Klaus immediately pulled the Galahad out of the dock and set sail.
"Klaus, have you notified Azurda about this?" Xander questioned as he realized that one of their members had been missing during their discussion. He and Klaus were in the bridge, with Klaus at the helm. Everyone else were settling in their rooms.
"I have. He said that he'll stand by and act if he needs to," the advisor replied.
"That's fine. Submerge the Galahad. We don't want to risk being followed."
"Roger," Klaus said as he obeyed his orders and sent the Titanless ship underneath the surface of the Cloud Sea. He then began setting a course for the uncharted region that contained the mysterious sunken ship. "Xander, I feel I should tell you that if we do this, we may end up changing all of Alrest for good. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
The Ardainian Driver simply chuckled in amusement, resting his hand on his waist. "This isn't like you, Klaus. You don't normally question me this much," Xander said casually. "That gives me the impression that this must be important to you. I owe you a lot for everything you've done for me and Kos-Mos. If I can repay you even just a little bit by going through with this mission, then I'll gladly do it."
Klaus couldn't help but smile warmly at that. "Thank you, Xander. I promise to make sure that this will be worth all your effort. If that ship contains what I think it does, then we can't allow it to fall into Bana or his employer's hands."
Xander simply nodded in agreement, silently wondering what could be awaiting them within that sunken ship.
To be continued
Welcome to my reboot of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Bonds! As mentioned in my earlier author's note, I'm not really proud of that story, but it did help me grow more comfortable with writing original content and I am grateful for that. It was thanks to my experience with writing Bonds that the Demon War arc in Dark Swordsman 2 (originally I was going to skip it entirely and jump straight into its sequel, with there only being flashbacks showing the war; luckily I realized that that was a stupid idea and wrote the arc in its entirety) and all the original content for Black Wolf were able to happen. One thing I should mention is that the crossover arc between Bonds and Dark Swordsman will happen in this story, but it will be changed to fit into the new context on both sides (plus I hate that I had put that dragon form for Marth. I don't know what I was thinking with that. At least with the Yugioh cards that are in Black Wolf, it's not exclusive to him and I can do some interesting stuff with them). This new crossover arc will be the canon version. I'm not gonna update the one in Dark Swordsman 2, mostly cause I don't have the patience and I don't want to get potentially flagged by the site. Anyway, I'll see you guys next time!
Edit (10/20/2020): Okay I'll be putting this note in both this chapter and the next one to clear up some confusion regarding Klaus. Yes, he still did the experiment and created Alrest, that didn't change. If you've read my original story, you may already have an idea on how Klaus is with Xander and his group. To keep spoilers down to a minimum, this Klaus is indeed the Architect, but not entirely. All of that will be revealed MUCH later on in the story. For now, think of this Klaus having a similar to role to Alvis, a character that knows more than he's letting on and does things for a specific reason.