The Aegis Awakens
//Chapter Eight; Resonate//
"You sure this'll work?" Rex asked as he looked up at Malos. The Aegis' Core Crystal was now covered by an extra piece of armor, much like the piece that Pyra had in addition to her armor. He would bet that the main thing the soldiers were looking for was his Core Crystal. Its unique shape paired with the color showed that he was an Aegis.
It was possible that they would try to identify him by his face, so he had also made a matching helmet. Malos had never done anything to change his appearance five hundred years ago; however, it took little effort for him to do. He knew that Pyra had to have been created in this same manner, but she also appeared to have her own separate personality from Mythra.
"Don't really have a choice..." Malos answered before they all headed out of Tora's house. He definitely still stood out, but he at least could hide the fact that he was an Aegis. Hoping that they would at least get some decent information, Malos walked with the others around Torigoth as they spoke to several people.
The information was not all that helpful at first until the word "execution" was mentioned. Something felt off about that, but he was probably just overthinking it. They said that Nia was a terrorist from Torna, despite the fact that said Titan no longer lived. Since Jin was evidently a part of this Torna group, Malos wondered if it had been named Torna out of nostalgia.
"Executed... We need to be quick about this." Rex said quietly as they headed to the place where they had witnessed the soldiers attempting to recruit Drivers. When they arrived at that very place, Tora suddenly said something to Rex. To be honest, Malos was not that surprised at the Nopon's words. Tora seemed to be very envious of Drivers and Blades in general, so it was of no surprise at what he said he wanted to see Rex do.
"Rex-Rex should try to bond with another Core Crystal!" Tora said simply, excitement clear in his voice. The fifteen-year-old flinched a little at that and looked around at all the people.
"Keep it down, would you? I don't really think that'd be a good idea with all these soldiers around..." Rex said, and he definitely looked worried.
The Nopon sighed in response, "That true..."
Rex felt a little guilt at the sight of disappointment on the Nopon's face. "Besides, I already have Malos."
"That also true... Tora was just excited to see what kind of Blade Rex-Rex would awaken." The Nopon explained, and Azurda said something afterward.
"Oh, Rex, do you think that a Driver could only awaken one Blade?"
"Well, yeah." The boy admitted before he suddenly sighed. "Wait, is that not how it works...?" He questioned, and the Titan shook his head.
"No, my boy. In fact, many Drivers have multiple Blades for various different situations." Azurda explained before Tora spoke again.
"Tora thinks it'd be a great idea for Rex-Rex to awaken another Blade. It'd be great to have another team member." The boy still seemed a little hesitant, even with Tora's reassurance.
"He does raise valid points, Rex... Besides all that, it would definitely help you put less strain on Malos." While these words annoyed the Aegis a bit, he had to admit that it was nice to know that Azurda did care. Since their chat the previous night, he was sure that he definitely caused the Titan to distrust him. He was glad to see that was not the case, as he honestly enjoyed Azurda's presence.
Azurda's words seemed to help Rex somewhat, but he still seemed unsure. Then, to Malos' surprise, Rex looked towards him. The boy could not see Malos' expression, since the helmet completely covered his face except for his eyes. In fact, they were all looking at Malos. Even Eva, who had been silent since they had left Tora's house, was staring at the Aegis patiently.
"What do you think, Malos?" Rex asked, and he looked expectantly up at the Blade. Since Malos' eyes were visible, Rex was just barely able to see them widen. That would likely indicate surprise, but Rex could not be sure. Unable to see the rest of Malos' face, he had no way of being sure of just what the Blade was feeling. Then again... Malos mostly tended to have a neutral expression, so Rex was doubtful that he would be sure if the Blade took off the helmet.
"I don't see any problem with it..." Malos answered, and he sounded a little off.
To his relief, Rex didn't question his strange tone, he instead led the group to a more secluded area of town. Rex let out a sigh, "Okay, now where are we going to get Core Crystal? After all, I'd rather we not draw more attention to ourselves than necessary." He stated, and Azurda spoke up.
"Actually, I have one right here." The Titan informed them, and he moved to grab something that he had hidden at the bottom of Rex's salvager helmet. It was a glowing blue crystal, and Rex only took a couple of seconds to recognize what exactly it was. It was a Core Crystal, and it was clear that it ready to resonate with...if the bright blue glow was any indicator.
"Oh, well that makes things easier." The fifteen-year-old stated before he gave Azurda an odd look. "Wait a minute... Gramps, where were you hiding this?" The boy questioned, genuinely curious as to just where the Titan could have kept the Core Crystal hidden. Azurda smiled gently as he held the Core Crystal over to Rex.
"In the bottom of your helmet. Where else could I have hidden it?" The Titan asked, and Rex cringed in response. Rex would really like to not know the answer to that question. The Titan sounded genuine when he said where he hid it, so Rex decided that it was the truth. He was just going to pretend like those...horrible thoughts had never crossed his mind.
"I see... Where'd you get this?" He asked for he had decided to ask one more question.
The Titan was silent for a moment before he finally spoke. "Regan gave it to me...said to keep it safe and to give it to you when you need it," Azurda explained, and Rex paused at that. The fact that the Core Crystal had been given to Azurda by Regan bothered him a little. She knew how much he had wanted to be a Driver, and he wished she would have given it to him sooner.
Rex finally nodded before he noticed Eva watching him intently. She seemed to somehow be excited and sad at the same time. The boy understood and even related to her excitement, but he could not understand why she would be sad. He decided to just ask her about it later and grabbed the Core Crystal from Azurda.
The fifteen-year-old held his hands around it, and he felt something happen as the Core Crystal started glowing even brighter. He found himself wondering just what kind of Blade he would awaken, as well as what kind of weapon they would have. It was definitely different than with Malos, for the Aegis had clearly already been awakened by someone before him. This...was a different feeling.
The blue light shined bright and swirled around him before something appeared in his hands. It appeared that the weapons were twin boomerangs, objects that he honestly had very little experience with. In front of him, the owner of said boomerangs appeared. To his surprise...the Blade was similar to Dromarch but rather than a tiger, they somewhat reassembled that of a Volff.
The Blade had medium brown fur that had some patches of black in it. Much like Dromarch, the Volff-like Blade had armor covering their chest. The armor was ink black, and their Core Crystal appeared in the shape of a circle. In the center of the circle, a silver, upside-down triangle ran through it. All three corners of the triangle just barely exited the circle.
"Kaevan..." Rex heard Eva say softly, which caused the Blade to look in her direction. Judging by the beast Blade's expression, Kaevan was probably their name.
"Yes?" Kaevan asked, and Eva let out a sigh.
"Oh, yeah... I knew you wouldn't remember." Eva state and while the Blade still did not recognize her, their expression softened.
"Remember what, exactly?" The fifteen-year-old questioned, a bit taken back when Kaevan bowed their head. The respect that Kaevan was giving him, Rex felt was undeserved. He handed the boomerangs to Kaevan, who turned their head and put them in a sheath on their left side.
"I'm Kaevan. You must be my new Driver."
"Uh... What do you mean by "new" Driver...?" Rex questioned; however, Kaevan was not the one who answered.
"I'll explain later, Rex. For now, we should finish collecting info around the town." Eva told him before she headed off back into a less isolated part of town. Rex followed after her, knowing full well that they did indeed have more important things to worry about.
They walked through Torigoth, looking around until they finally came upon a Nopon merchant. Rather than selling typical items, this merchant sold information instead. Unfortunately, they were unable to convince the Nopon to give them the info for free or even for just a reduced price. To be honest, Rex was a little annoyed at having to spend three thousand gold just on the information.
"C'mon, that's everything we need," Eva said as they walked away from the Nopon who had sold them the information.
•°•°•
"This is a drawing...and that's the Titan Battleship," Rex noted that tree roots were shown on the map, and they were awfully close to the Titan Battleship.
Malos, who had taken the helmet off, pointed towards the roots. "Those are the Grand Arbor's roots, right?" The Aegis asked and when he received a nod in return, he then pointed towards an open part of the Titan Battleship that was closest to the roots.
"We can sneak on board here... It's a better idea than just rushing in through the front door." Rex looked away in embarrassment at that, fully aware that Malos was scolding him again. The fifteen-year-old knew that the Blade was right; however, Rex felt a little upset that Malos had once again scolded him.
"You don't have to be so harsh about it..." The Aegis either had not heard the words, or he had just ignored it.
"Sound like a great plan! Malos great planner." Tora's words made Malos pause for a moment, unsure if the Nopon really meant it or not. It was not like it was some amazing plan, for it was honestly just common sense. The Nopon did seem to get easily excited, so Malos could see why he would be happy about something this minor.
"Anyway, Tora have something to show you!" Tora exclaimed just before he got up from the table and walked over to where there was a hung-up sheet blocking their view. The Nopon moved the sheet to the side, which revealed a small workshop. A humanoid figure was hooked up in a machine. The figure, despite the fact that it appeared human, was definitely of mechanical making.
"Whoa, what is it?" Rex asked as looked the mechanical figure over.
"Behold, the most amazing thing in all of Alrest! The world's...first Artificial Blade!" If Malos thought the Nopon's excitement had been over the top before, it was definitely a hundred times worse now. Excitement was not inherently a bad thing, but Malos would appreciate it if the Nopon would at least stop yelling. Rex did not seem to mind the excitement on its own, but he did seem a bit bothered by the loud tone the Nopon was using.
"Artificial Blade? That's...amazing, Tora." Rex responded, and he was honestly unsure of this. He was not going to deny that it looked cool; however, he was a bit hesitant to believe that it would actually work. His hesitance was mainly based on the fact that he had never even heard of such a thing before. "How does it work?" Rex finally asked.
"Just like normal Blade, only it mechanical. Tora worked on it with Dadapon and Grampypon. Neither Dadapon nor Grampypon had potential... Artificial Blade: Blade that even we can use." Tora explained, and Rex could not help but wonder just where Tora's grampypon and dadapon were.
"I see... Where are they by the way?"
The Nopon's expression bothered Rex, "Grampypon die and Tora still not know where Dadapon go to..." That made sense to Rex, but he was sure that there was way more to the story. Then again, the death of his grampypon could have caused some trauma. It was likely that he just did not remember everything, which was understandable.
"Oh... What made you want to finish it?"
"If Tora complete Artificial Blade, he will be famous... Then, Dadapon come back, yes?" Even Malos could not help but feel bad for Tora. The Nopon clearly was way too hopeful that his dadapon would just return the moment he finished making the Artificial Blade.
"Oh, Tora..." Eva said quietly, and she felt bad for the Nopon. She had to admit that she had always enjoyed the presence of most Nopon. Many people found them annoying, but Eva honestly found their strange speech pattern to actually be adorable. That did not mean that all Nopon were good because Eva was fully aware of just how corrupt Chairman Bana was.
"Huh, Tora...from what I can see, it looks mostly complete. What is there left to do?" Azurda asked after he had taken a good look at the Artificial Blade.
"Is mostly finished but Tora missing just two parts."
Rex raised a brow at that, "Just two parts, huh? Where do we get them?" The fifteen-year-old asked.
"The market. Tora knows who sells the parts... There's just one problem..."
The boy gave shot a curious look in Tora's direction, "Really, what would that be?"
Tora looked away from Rex, "The parts cost money, but...Tora has no money at all." The Nopon explained, and he almost appeared to be expectant of something.
"Oh... So you askin' for a loan then?" Rex asked, and Tora still did not look at the fifteen-year-old.
"Not loan, more like... generous donation."
Azurda gave a knowing look towards Tora, "Huh, that's a Nopon for you. Always shrewd when it comes to gold."
"Oh, okay... How much do you need?" The boy asked, and he secretly hoped that the amount was not too much.
"Oh, no more than...sixty thousand gold."
Rex's eyes widened, "Sixty thousand?!! Do you want a kidney as well?" While he had gotten a hundred thousand gold from Bana, or Torna rather, he had sent ninety thousand of it back to family in Leftheria. Even if he still had the money, Rex was not sure if it would even be worth the cost.
"Calm down, kid. We'll figure something out." He was a little surprised that it was Malos who was speaking to him. The words made Rex wonder just what the Blade thought about the whole situation since Malos had yet to voice an opinion on the matter.
"Fine... Tora, is this really worth it? I mean, how do we know this Artificial Blade of yours will even work?"
Tora nodded, "Of course it worth it. Once Artificial Blade complete, Tora can fight like Driver too."
"Well, if it works, you might have a point... Where are going to get that kind of money though?"
The boy looked up at Malos, but the Blade simply shrugged in response. To be honest, Rex was unsure if this would even turn out well. If this Artificial Blade turned out to even work, it would be a great help to them. If the Artificial Blade did not work, sixty thousand would have just been wasted. He didn't have the money, but, since he was a salvager, Rex could easily earn money by selling treasures that he found.
"Alright, I'll pay for it myself."
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
"Here," Mòrag said as she handed the Elf a flask of water. The Elf said thank you before she took a sip from it. Her flask had been empty, so Mòrag had filled it up. Regan looked down the ground, and a little bit of guilt hit her as she thought about just what she had planned with Mòrag.
"You have a way to contact Raymond?" The Ardainian asked, and Regan shook her head. Since the day she had first met Rex, she had made sure to keep in contact with her brother. However, at the moment, she was unable to contact him nor anyone else in Elvuen. She wrote him letters routinely, but she was now unable to locate any of her writing and paper materials.
"Very well... Once I get back to Mor Ardain, I will send him a letter for you."
"That's appreciated... Thank you, Mòrag." Mòrag bowed her head in response.
"Of course... Helping other allied royalty is one of our policies." The Ardainian crossed her arms behind her back.
Regan smiled softly at that, "Oh, I'm just another royalty, now am I?"
The special inquisitor smiled back.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
*Bonus Scene*
"This is really where you grew up?" Regan asked quietly as she walked into the small village with Ethan. She had made sure to pay all the villages frequent visits; however, she had somehow managed to overlook this one. This village appeared to be the smallest of them all, but it actually appeared to be quite homey.
"Yup... Of course, it's nothing compared to growing up in a castle. I bet this is dull in comparison." Regan found his tone to be one with humor laced in, so she knew that he was just joking. Despite growing up in a castle, Regan had spent much of her time in the forest. The castle had been nice, but she often found herself admiring the various villages of Elvuen.
The village that Ethan grew up in, the one they were currently in, of course, was known as Almesta. From what Ethan had told her, it had been named after the founder. The founder had been a mix of both Elven and Tornan blood. The village was by far one of the oldest on Elvuen, so Regan was amazed that she had yet to visit it before now. Due to their Elven heritage, the founder was actually still alive.
The Torna Titan itself was gone. Regan already knew that it had been killed during the Aegis War, which had ended only six years before her birth. Ethan was actually born seven years after the Aegis War's end, so he was actually younger than her. Initially, Regan had presumed him to be older due to the knowledge he had.
"I like it, it's actually quite beautiful..." Regan said quietly as she admired just how beautiful everything was. The houses had very obviously been rebuilt over the years; however, they still were very obviously old. "Hey, Ethan?" Regan started as they walked down the dirt road that led into the village together.
He looked in her direction, "Something wrong, Regan?"
Regan shook her head, "No... I was just wondering where the founder lives...I mean, it would really interesting to meet them." He took note of her expression for a moment and turned towards her. The female Elf then took a glance at his chest, which was no longer covered by armor. He was now simply wearing a light gray shirt, which did not cover the x-shaped, light blue Core Crystal in the center of his chest. Unfortunately, his armor had been sufficiently stained with blood and Ethan had chosen to discard it.
"It's this way... You okay?" He asked.
Regan quickly shook her head, "I'm okay."
"Alright then."
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
*By the way, I now have an editor and they have already edited chapter one for me. I've already uploaded the updated version, so you can check it out if you want. I've left credits to them in the chapter notes to chapter one, and I plan to do the same every time I reupload a chapter they've edited.*
*Next chapter, we finally meet our favorite Artificial Blade. I honestly struggled a little with the bonus scene, so it may feel a little incomplete. Hope you enjoyed.*
*Sincerely, Talleybear.*