The Aegis Awakens
//Chapter One: A Suspicious Job//
Her ocean-blue eyes glanced hesitantly into the cloudy sea, as she seemingly waited for something. "Stop worrying, Rega. Rex'll be fine." A light-sounding female voice said into the woman's ear. The woman flinched in response before looking over her shoulder at the flying form of her companion.
"I know. Patience just.. isn't my best attribute... You would know, Eva."
"Of course. But I can tell you're worried."
"Just a little... After all, Rex is still a child."
Eva nodded, her light blue wings flapping noisily until she perched herself on the woman's shoulder. "You're lucky you're so light, or you'd probably break my shoulder. Even though I'm wearing armor."
Eva let a snort in response, "I'm smaller than a six-year-old child, yet you're surprised that I weigh so little?"
The woman shook her head, "Of course not. We've been together for many years, but you are certainly a unique-looking Blade."
Eva was indeed unique, mainly in her face she resembled a fairy, yet she was of the ice factor. Her outfit gave hints to her element, but blades that resembled fairies were normally of the earth or wind element. Eva had snow-white hair that was cut below her chin, which allowed for her pointed ears to be visible. She wore a light blue dress with a dark blue ribbon laced around her neck.
The dress was a tad revealing, but Eva either did not seem to care or she was just completely oblivious to it. Her Driver, a small elven woman, was wearing light green armor. The armor was nowhere close to being heavy, for it was a very light set of armor. Clearly, she would be inadequately protected against someone attacking her head-on.
Her hair also looked like it would be unsuitable for fighting, as its length was down to the small of her back. This being, the pearly mass would get in the way more times than not.
"Rex is back!" Eva suddenly cheered out excitedly, and she flew off her Driver's shoulder only to perch herself on someone else's shoulder.
"Hey, Eva. I'm in the middle of something here." He stated before he took off his helmet and it hung down on his back.
"Oh, what did Rexy find this time?!!"
Rex flinched as the Blade practically screeched the question into his right ear. "Jeez, back off a bit Eva. You're gonna deafen poor Rex if you keep talking into his ear like that." The woman reprimanded, and she placed her hands on her hips and gave a playful glare towards her Blade.
"Sorry..." Eva apologized before she flew back to give Rex some space.
"How much you get this time?"
"I think it'll be worth a good amount, Regan. Now, to get this thing open."
He grabbed something to pry the container open while Regan spoke to him, "You were gone for a while, Rex. Did anything happen?" Regan questioned, while she tucked a stray piece of her reddish-brown hair behind her ear.
The boy glanced back at her, "Nothing... much. Except for the fact that the location was too far off."
"How so?"
"The ping was off by 150 peds to the east. That's not gonna fly. Means that we really do need to buy ourselves a new depth probe."
Another voice spoke up this time, "And what about the treasure, Rex? Was it in line with your expectations?"
"It seemed pretty solid. Didn't even have to reinforce it too much," Rex responded as he gripped the crowbar he was holding and approached the container again. "Even with the labor costs, we should be able to turn a decent profit."
The other voice, very much sounding old, spoke again. "Honestly, it takes you two days to run the structural analysis... Yet somehow you can gauge the profits in an instant?" The Titan lifted his head and moved his neck to look at Rex.
"Don't go rainin' on my parade, Gramps. You know, I'm in the salvaging trade for the cash! A little business sense goes a long way, all.. right?" He managed to pry the container but was startled back as a creature came out of the container. "Whoa!"
Rex backed up before he spoke again, "I didn't expect THAT! You've been living in this thing, big guy?" The thing lunged at him, but he managed to dodge in time.
"Rex!" The Titan called out, worry evident in his tone.
"No worries, Gramps!" Rex responded before running into the small hut and grabbing his junk sword.
"Need any help?" Regan asked, but the boy shook his head.
"Nah, I got this. I guess we know what's for lunch!" He said, and Regan nodded. Despite her seemingly easy acceptance of it, she still clutched her bow tightly just in case. Luckily, she did not end up needing to fire off a single shot.
"Ahh, the brazier does my wary old bones such good..." The Titan said as Rex started cooking part of the King Crustip.
"You want me to move it, Gramps?"
"No, no... Leave right there.. ahh..." Rex smiled at that before looking over as Regan sat down next to the brazier.
"You want any?" He asked, and he looked behind Regan as Eva once again perched herself on her driver's shoulder.
"Not really." She responded, a look of disgust passing over her expression.
"Oh, right... Elves don't eat this kind of stuff, do they?"
The elf nodded, "We do eat meat but not stuff like the King Crustip."
Rex seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Man, you are certainly missin' out. This kind of stuff is delicious. Say, Reg, what are you are gonna eat then?" The question made her pause in her movement of running a hand through her hair.
"Well, I stocked up on some food last time we went to Argentum."
"I see." He said before he got up and started putting away some of the salvage that he had gathered. After he was done, he came back to check on the meat. "Alright, yum!" He said as he realized that it was done cooking. Grabbing it off the brazier, he took a bite of it and another. Rex was about to take another bite, but a strange and loud sound interrupted him.
He set the meat down before he stood up and looked in the direction that the noise came from. A titan, a good-sized one, became visible to them for only a moment before it suddenly fell down and did not come back from the cloud sea. "Whoa..." Regan muttered quietly to herself, as she came to the realization of what had just happened. She stumbled slightly as the impact caused a harsh wind to blow clouds from the cloud sea at them.
"That's another. Happening a lot more now." Rex said.
"Hmm... More so than before." The titan said in response, his eyes moving away from where the other titan had fallen and to Rex.
"Hey, Gramps.. do you think Fonsett Village will be gone too one day?" The titan let out a sigh before responding.
"It will not be today, nor will it be tomorrow... But yes, one day it will fall."
"One day, there'll be nowhere left to live."
"Sadly... That's how it goes with us Titans."
"Hey Gramps.. you Titans were born up there, right?" Rex pointed towards the World Tree, "So they say, for what it's worth. Mind you, I was born here on Alrest." Rex stared at the World Tree for a moment, before the Titanspoke again. "As for my ancestors, who could say where they were born?"
"Do you think it's real... this... this Elysium?" Rex questioned, unaware of the sad look that Regan was giving him.
"A land of plenty, atop the world tree. If such a place did exist, perhaps then we could all live in peace." The titan looked directly at Rex while speaking.
"Let's go to this Elysium, together."
•°•°•
"Just 200 g for that... Man, I really thought I'd brought in the big load this time. But now I've been requested directly by the chairman. What could he possibly want with me?" Rex muttered before he nearly got startled out of his skin as Regan placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, Rex. It'll definitely be better tomorrow." She told him, but her tone indicated that it was very likely an empty promise. It was not impossible, but it was also unlikely.
"Hopefully... Anyway, did you hear that the chairman wants to see me?" Regan nodded in response, "You wanna come with..?"
The Elf smiled at that, "Sure, but this honestly seems a bit strange to me."
Rex cocked his head at her. "Really? How so?"
She looked down for a moment, but Eva spoke before Regan could lift her head. "Rexy is a good salvager, yes? The only thing the chairman could want would be for you to salvage something for him... But it would make more sense for him to hire a more experienced one, correct?" Rex nodded and wondered where Eva was going with this.
"What Eva's saying, is that there is really no reason for the chairman to want to hire you specifically." Regan finished what Eva was saying, and Rex quickly shook his head.
"That's not true. What if he just wants to help give me more experience?" The elf thought about it for a split second, but she quickly shook her head.
"The thing is, I've met the chairman in person, and let's just say.. he's not one to hire inexperienced people."
"What do you mean inexperienced? I'm pretty good at what I do, I'd say." The look in her eyes indicated that she was not in the mood for arguing with him. Rex sighed after a moment. "Okay, okay... Now, if it bothers you so much... why don't you just come with me?" Regan looked to be okay with that, so he started walking up the stairs.
Regan followed after a moment along with Eva, who was still perched on her shoulder.
•°•°•
"100,000?!!" Rex exclaimed, and his eyes widened as he stared at the very large nopon in front of him.
"Yes; however, that is just the advanced payment. 100,000 more will be given upon completion of the job." Chairman Bana informed them, but Regan still had a gut feeling that something just was not right.
"200,000 in total?!! I'll do it." Rex answered, which caused Regan's head to snap in his direction.
"Rex..!" She scolded as he muttered happy things to himself.
"You accept before you even know details of the job?" Bana questioned, almost looking to be intrigued.
"Oh, yeah... So, what am I supposed to do exactly?"
Bana looked at one of his half-clothed female workers, "Bring them in."
The servant did as asked and walked down to a room, "Rega, I have a funny feeling..." Eva whispered into her driver's ear, and Regan could not help but nod in agreement. She did not trust this one bit, but she knew that Rex was persistent. When the people walked in, it took her only a second to realize that they were Drivers with Blades.
The first person who walked in looked to be a young Gormotti girl, along with a Blade that resembled that of a tiger. The Core Crystal glowed strongly on the tiger's chest. The Gormotti girl had short silver hair and amber eyes. She was pretty short and looked to be a teenager. Regan had a weird feeling about her, but she was not sure of what it was. The blade had white fur and judging by his appearance, he was likely of the water element and he was also a healer.
The next pair to walk in was a red-haired woman wearing a cloak draped over her shoulders, and it also covered her chest. Something hit Regan at that moment.. a feeling of dread and melancholy. However, she had no clue who this woman was. Even still, she was eerily familiar. Her Blade resembled that of a lizard, but it was bipedal and something about it frightened her. All the Elf knew was that the redhead and her Blade freaked Regan out. Maybe it was due to the girl's fiery red eyes.
Then, a lone man walked in last. He had silver, almost white hair and blue eyes. The man wore a mask that covered part of his face, and horn-like structures stuck out of the top of the mask. Shock hit her as she had no doubt in her mind about who he was, and she unknowingly took a step back. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, and she felt something she never expected to come from him.. hatred.
"Jin..." She muttered quietly before she flinched as his eyes met hers. His eyes widened a bit, for it was likely that he had not expected her to be there. There was a slight change in his expression, and she would swear that it seemed to be that of remorse and regret. It was only there for split second, and she could not even be sure that it had actually happened or if she had simply imagined it.
Rex was saying something, but she had managed to not hear any of what he was saying. She wrapped her arms around herself, almost protectively. She had once trusted Jin, but something was very wrong about him now. It was like he was a whole new person altogether. His voice made her heart race in fear, and she felt unsafe just being in the same room as him.
"So there's something that we want to haul up. There were some current shifts. It showed up in an uncharted area. But it's a long way down." Jin informed as he turned his attention to Rex.
"Nice, I like a good challenge!"
"Bana offered to assemble a team of veterans for this job. But this crew very picky. They want a small elite team, and only from Leftheria." Something clicked in Regan's mind at that, but she held her tongue.
"That when Bana has a stroke of genius! Should hire Rex!" Bana exclaimed, and he definitely looked way too proud of himself for that.
"Hah-ah! You made the right choice!"
She found herself wanting to scold him again but stopped as she heard the Gormotti girl start laughing. "A child salvager? Jin, don't tell me we're gonna have to hire some babysitters for this outing too."
Rex was obviously offended at the girl's words, "What the hell? You look as much as a kid as I do, lady!" He retorted.
"At least I wouldn't wet myself at the promise of a measly hundred grand!"
Rex attempted to walk towards her, "What're you tryin' to say?" Her Blade stopped Rex from coming any closer to her, and the beast Blade cleared his throat.
"Rex, was it? I implore you to excuse my lady's discourtesy." The Blade bowed his head at Rex. "Dromarch! What have I told you about speaking for me? Shut your-" The red-haired woman quickly intervened.
"Cut it out, Nia. Fighting with him is going to get you nowhere." Her voice, while gentle, was very familiar sounding to Regan. "But.. I do see your point... However, it should be simple enough to find out." Due to her years of training, Regan easily caught the quick movement of the redhead reaching for her sword.
"What?!!" Rex yelled out as she lunged at him with her sword drawn.
Regan quickly attempted to intervene but to her surprise, Jin gave her a look that told her to not do it. She had no idea why, but she did so, flinching as Rex barely managed to dodge out of the way of the woman's swift and quick blows. He pulled out his sword and attempted to take a swipe at her, but she easily dodged it. Then he attempted to strike her again, but she quickly blocked it with her sword before she pushed him back.
"Ugh! What're you playing at?!!"
The redhead smiled at that and sheathed her sword. "Hmm, looks like you are capable." Nia quickly interjected, "Pyra! How's beating up the kid gonna help anything?!!" The Gormotti questioned, but Pyra simply shook her head. "I just wanted to see if he was capable of handling it. Seems that he is... Although, you don't look like a Driver. Where'd you learn those arts?"
Rex was silent, his hands still gripping his sword tightly. The redhead looked him over before she suddenly turned her attention to Regan. "Perhaps, was this Elf your teacher?" Rex finally put away his sword, although he honestly still looked upset at what Pyra had done. "Not exactly... Gramps actually taught me.. that was his idea of playtime, even when I was little. Regan helped to refine my arts, though."
"Hmm... How well does she do in a fight?"
He looked confused at that, "Fine, but why-" Pyra did not allow him to say anything else before she all of a sudden drew her sword and lunged at Regan. Honestly, Regan was not too surprised at this and simply blocked the attack with her bow. "I'm not amused. Attacking Rex and then me... Is that really your idea of how to be nice to the people you hire?"
Pyra stared into the shorter woman's eyes for a moment, before she moved back and once again sheathed her sword. The Elf watched the redhead for a second, and she put her bow away after a moment. "Interesting... You know, you seem awfully familiar to me. Almost like.. we've met before." Regan could have taken it as a joke, but the look in Pyra's eyes indicated that she was not joking.
"Never seen you before," Regan said, and it was the truth.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
*As much as I love both Pyra and Mythra, I found myself interested in the concept of the Aegis Swap AU. I also wanted to included an OC of mine and probably several more that will pop in the story later. I'm not sure if anyone will like this, as it's not a unique idea and I've definitely read better ones. Only thing is, the stories have not been updated in a couple months. That's when I decided to make my one fanfiction since Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is now one of my favorite games on the switch. Hope you enjoyed, and I'd appreciate some feedback.*
*Sincerely, Talleybear.*