False Gods

Book II: Of Friends and Foes

Chapter XIII

     "This is... Corinne's' house, isn't it?" Mythra asked as we walked up to an extremely old house on the edge of Fonsett Village.

     "Yes, it was. Rex wasn't around when she passed. But the kindness she showed to the children of Fonsett lives on through me, I guess. I never really thought of myself as someone who could take that role though," Granny laughed nervously.

     Mythra sympathetically touched Granny's shoulder. "Well you did pretty good with this nerd, so you can't be doing too bad," she said, pointing in my direction as I rolled my eyes and chuckled nervously.

     "He is kinda lazy though," Granny pointed out.

     "Yeah but I don't think that's on you," Mythra continued.

     "I'm right here for crying out loud!" I said defensively, while laughing. "Anyway, Corinne raised Rex, right?"

     "Aye, but I'll get to that here in a bit. Let's all sit down and I'll tell you everything I should've told you already," Granny invited.

     Corinne used to take care of any children without parents, and Granny had been doing that for Architect knows how long....

     As we all sat down, Granny opened a very large book and simply began reading it, not looking up at us at all.

     "Long ago, we as a people lived in harmony atop a utopia known as Elysium. This place rested on the great tree known as the World Tree, which can be seen from anywhere on this continent. There, we all enjoyed life with the Architect, creator of the world. However, we were all cast out for a reason unknown at the time. We all scrambled for life, but mostly died out, as none of us could survive while constantly swimming and lost in the Cloud Sea. The Architect took pity on us and sent down his servants, the titans. These colossal creatures gave us ground beneath our feet and a true place we could call our home. The Architect also sent down core crystals, and any person who had the aptitude for resonation would be able to resonate with these core crystals and be able to partner themselves with these blades."

     "I've never seen the Cloud Sea, is that on any map?" I asked.

     She ignored me entirely as she kept reading. "One day, there was a man determined to meet the Architect, and he climbed to the top of the World Tree. This man became the first to see Elysium, but he was never permitted to see the Architect. However, he did take two core crystals that he found there. These core crystals were more powerful than any of what appeared on Alrest, and he commanded both of them. This man, Questar Amalthus, resonated with the amethyst core crystal, bringing to life the Aegis, Malos. During this time, there were a few nations. Namely Indol, Spessia, Judicium, Uraya, Torna, Coeia, and Mor Ardain. Mor Ardain had been rapidly gaining power at the time and a few people lived on the pleasant Tantal and Leftherian Archipelago. Judicium was destroyed and the Titan, known as Temperantia, was killed before Malos' awakening, no one truly knows the reason but it is believed that Indol was the reason for its destruction. Malos, under direct orders from the Questar, destroyed Coeia and sank it to the bottom of the Cloud Sea, where it was never seen again."

     "He... what?!" Mythra gasped, yet Granny kept reading.

     "Amalthus soon realized that there was no way he could control his own blade, and so he found someone to resonate with the other Aegis, the emerald core crystal. This man was Addam Origo, the Prince of Torna, fourth in line to the king. He was a man of the people, and he had their undying support. However, Addam simply wished to be a farmer of all things, and becoming the driver of the Aegis didn't help with that. He became the driver of Mythra, who was less than thrilled. Mythra, like Malos, simply saw no point in life, as humans would eventually die out anyway, she didn't see the point in trying to delay the inevitable. However, through Addam's careful hand and teachings, Mythra did finally begin to understand what life was supposed to mean. With them was the Tornan Knight Lora, wielder of the Paragon of Torna, Jin, one of history's most powerful blades and Haze, a blade that could restrict the powers of other blades and titans, and Emperor Hugo, emperor of Mor Ardain and wielder of Brighid and Aegaeon. Brighid was the Jewel of the Empire and Aegaeon was another of Mor Ardain's most powerful blades. Altogether, these heroes stopped Malos' tyranny and plunged him into the Cloud Sea. However, this did not come without cost."