False Gods

Book XI: Burning Sword

Chapter LXXXIII

     The month passed by fairly quickly, and Pyra grew with every passing day. She had to fight her own feelings of guilt, and although initially I had to remind her that nothing was her fault almost hourly, now I could hear her telling herself the same thing under her breath as she continued fighting. Her and I sparred all the time, and I felt so proud watching her get stronger, not in physical power, but in character.
 
     We'd also take time helping out Fonsett with Acacia and T-Elos, although I couldn't help but notice that Acacia was spending a lot of time with one of the older women.  When I asked her about it, she explained that the woman was actually Ardainian, and so they've been talking a lot. However, I couldn't help but feel like she was hiding something. I decided not to press, as Acacia wasn't the type to hide things for no reason.
 
     "Are you ready?" Acacia asked, clutching T-Elos' scythe.
 
     "Ready when you are!" Pyra responded excitedly as I nodded, Pyra's sword in my own hand.
 
     "Good," Acacia responded as she charged forward. "Gale Blade!"

     As she slashed, a powerful burst of energy knocked me into the air. Quickly, I passed the blade to Pyra, who was able to meet Acacia while I reoriented myself.
 
     "There's a fire I haven't ever felt from you before," Acacia responded.
 
     "Careful you don't get burned," Pyra warned with a wink as she jumped back. "Prominence Revolt."

     T-Elos instinctively tackled Acacia out of the way as multiple pillars of fire ether erupted from the ground.
 
     I jumped back in as Pyra threw her sword back at me.
 
     "Sword Bash" I called as I charged forward to the barely-recovered targets. The move threw them to the ground.
 
     "Enough, fight's over. Pyra and Silas are the victors," Malos announced. Since he didn't have anything he wanted to do, he often accompanied Acacia in helping to volunteer, or in this case judging spars to ensure they don't get out of hand.
 
     I extended my arm to Acacia and helped her up.
 
     She let out a chuckle. "Even if she can't remember her fourth blade art, she's still quite the powerhouse. I'd love to get a shot with Malos some time."
 
     "What do you think, Pyra?" I asked.
 
     She nodded with a smile, "I don't mind, I'm sorry I can't give you everything I have."
 
     "Don't worry about it," I replied as I shook my head. "When the time comes, I know you'll be able to do it."
 
     "Right!" she responded perking up.
 
     We didn't end up having the power to beat Malos and Acacia, it was clear they were more in sync than they had ever been, and I was proud of them too.
 
     Sooner than I had hoped, everyone began coming back. It was almost time for us to make our journey to the World Tree and confront Galea once and for all.
 
     Mythra and her crew made it back first and let us know how the situation with the BAP was going, but... not before Azami tackle-hugged me and complained about how she was "so alone" for twenty minutes. Apparently, the BAP was still in shambles, as expected. Many blades had been cracked, and the BAP had been unable to help anyone else due to their circumstances, which allowed the BCC to pick up their work and spread their influence. Something along the lines of "The BAP is unable to help because they're incompetent and incapable, but we can do their job better than they ever could. The age of humans needing blades is far behind us." KOS-MOS also added that the BCC should be having issues, due to their main leaders being dead or missing, however due to their highly autonomous chain of command structure, high-ranking BCC affiliates had no issues keeping the BCC stable in Adonis' absence.
 
     Rafi, Gabriel, and their blades all came back shortly after through the airport. They said they had no luck with Juliani, she simply dismissed them and warned that if they tried to reach out to her again, she'd kill them herself. They did note that she had been amassing blades, but she couldn't find Praxis or Theory's core crystals anyway. The blades she had were all common and lacking in power, but she had enough of them that their individual powers meant little, due to the sheer amount she had. Poppi was concerned that the number of blades she was resonating with could take a toll on her health, but because no one had ever resonated with so many blades by themself before, there wasn't really any medical studies on the exact problems that could arise. They spent the rest of their time helping people in Argentum the best they could, in similar ways that Acacia and her blades had been helping here.
 
     "Sorry I couldn't have been more help," I apologized, feeling bad that I had only been hanging out with Pyra instead of helping those who really needed it.
 
     "Yes, I feel like I should've been there to help," Pyra added.
 
     Mythra seemed to lose all focus and fixated on Pyra, tears flooding from her eyes.
 
     "Mythra... are you alright?" Pyra questioned in confusion.
 
     Mythra ran full speed and wrapped Pyra in a hug. "You've recovered so much.... I'm so glad!"
 
     "Mythra!" Pyra said with a giggle. "Yeah... I'm right here."
 
     I was happy to see Mythra happy again, it looked like her time spent in community service over the last month gave her just what she needed to finally release the stress she'd been bottling up.
 
     "Alright guys, Pyra and I'll make dinner. After that, we'll take the next couple of days to rest up before we head out to the World Tree."