Chapter VII
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I yelled at Cereza, in reference to the events that had transpired earlier.
"Oh look who finally grew a set and said something to me!" she giggled at me.
"What did Poppi ever do to you?!"
She giggled again. "Listen hun, you'd better sleep every night so I can torment you or things will get worse for you personally. Understood?"
"I'm going to beat you," I threatened.
Her expression went serious. "Oh? And how do you intend on making good on that threat?"
"I don't know yet, but it's going to happen. You will lose," I said.
She walked up to me and began poking me in the chest, hard. "Who do you think you're talking to big boy?" She poked again and I kept stepping backwards until I was against a wall. "You're not even close to on my level. Or have you forgotten? Maybe I should remind you....." She grabbed her whip and lashed me about twenty times as I screamed before I woke up in pain.
...................................
"Chap! Are you ok?!" Zeke was shouting at me. It seems Cereza didn't let him wake me up this time.
"I-I'm fine," I breathed heavily. I attempted to get up, but upon getting on my feet I fell over and passed out.
"He should be all patched up now," I heard Nia say as I got up drowsily. Everyone was standing by me.
"Ugh, I feel like I got beat with a two by four. What the hell happened?" I said.
"Looked like it too," Mythra added.
"You were covered in lash marks and a bruise on your chest. What happened?!" Rex asked.
I almost threw up, but held it in. I regained my balance and stood up, the healing finally finished. "Cereza happened. Apparently she can do damage to me in my sleep."
"How is that possible?" Brighid asked.
"Her core crystal is unlike anything I've ever seen, it looks like it even absorbs light. I imagine her dark element isn't just dark," I said.
"Enough theories, we need you to be skilled first. You still good to train?" Mythra asked.
"Mythra...." Pyra started.
"Yeah, I'm good. Rex, who am I sparring with today?" I asked, I was ready to kick some butt finally.
"Oh um... I was thinking Poppi and Tora! Fighting a defender might be a good ide—" Rex said.
I cut him off. "It is, I'll take on Mòrag and Brighid instead though." Tora and Poppi seemed to understand why, but Rex wasn't taking the hint.
"Oh? Why? I don't see how that—" Rex started.
This time Mòrag cut him off. "Oh? Think you can take me, can you?"
"Absolutely. I wanna feel what it means to take on the Special Inquisitor of Mor Ardain," I challenged.
"And what makes you think you can handle a duel of this capacity?" Brighid asked.
"How about we cross swords and maybe I'll get it through your head then?" I was ready for a fight.
"You talk a good game boy," Mòrag drew her swords. "Now time to back up those words."
"I don't mean to interrupt, but we are still inside the shelter. May I suggest taking this outside?" Dromarch helpfully suggested before we burned the place down.
"Oh right.... To be continued, outside!" I said laughing. Mòrag and Brighid both laughed as we walked outside and readied our weapons.
I took a deep breath and concentrated on my target. As I exhaled I immediately converted to a one-handed stance. Though Rex never showed me how to fight the Aegis Sword one-handed, I felt like I already knew how. I studied Mòrag's stance. She was agile. Low health, but incredibly fast on her feet and had a parrying skill unrivaled by anyone else here. Although Zeke was a close second. Remaining on the defense would be wise, but futile if I chose to do so for too long. So my plan was set, let her rush me and then counterattack as I saw fit.
She moved, but I was ready, I blocked a few and then jumped back and went in for a sword bash, she dodged immediately and before I knew it she was behind me. I used double spinning edge to block her attacks and then spun around quickly. I used the anchor shot and yanked her down by her foot, but instead of just toppling her, I pulled her towards me and combined it with a sword bash, flooring her backwards. She got up quickly.
"I'm impressed. You already have quite the skill, but let's see how ready you really are." I heard clicks and her swords extended into her famous whips and she had at me. She whipped me a couple times before I realized I couldn't block them with just my sword so I had to resort to dodging. Not good for a heavy sword-user. Before I could think of a new tactic she grabbed my sword with the whip and flung me into that damned tree that I just love to get knocked into before she ended the fight.
She helped me up. "I must admit, that was more intense than expected. The switch to one-handed was certainly unexpected. It seems you do learn as fast as Rex did."
"Even faster if I do say so myself. Rex took three weeks to learn to even swing a sword. Granted, he was much younger, but still. It's quite impressive," Azurda said.
"Nia!" I called. "Heal us up! Mòrag!" I turned towards her. "Ready for round two?"
"Oh? And how long do you intend on letting this continue?" Mòrag asked.
"Until I win," I said.
"Very well, let us battle again."
And we did, we battled all day, exchanging wins back and forth. Eventually Nia wanted to battle me in her blade form and we fought. I won again, and then soon I was able to take on Mòrag and win almost every time, it was almost impressive. I say almost because Mythra wanted her turn after awhile.
I lost.
A few more days of Cereza nightmares and fighting both Zeke and Rex and winning every now and then. Rex was fun, but Zeke was always a treat because with each hit our swords would blast out a wave of energy. I seemed to be equally matching them. But not quite surpassing them.
...................................
"Last day of your dumb bet," Mythra said.
"I think he's gonna win today," Pyra defended.
"He hasn't even come close yet Pyra. There's no way he's going to beat me. He can't even dodge my Ray of Punishment yet. Much less Photon Edge, or Architect-forbid Lightning Buster. He's hopeless!" Mythra argued.
"We'll see."
"I guess we will."
...................................
Pyra talked to me before Mythra's and my actual fight. "One last tip!" she started.
"Oh?" I said in curiosity.
"Read her like a book Waylon. Focus and concentrate on her eyes, don't make any dumb moves. Calculate and execute. I know you can do it!" she said enthusiastically.
"You really think so?" I asked
"I know so."
And with that, I went to challenge her once again.
"Let's make it quick," Mythra said.
"Oh please, I think I'll put you down this time!" I challenged.
Mythra laughed, before giving me a serious expression. "Cute," she said mockingly.
This time I followed Pyra's advice. Before I was too scared to look at her, she'd call me out on staring at her, but now, I didn't care. I was going to read her. I stared her in the eyes, reading her thoughts. She was uncomfortable, uncertain of when I was going to start, her agitation was growing, she was about to attack. I waited last second until I saw her get ready for an attack, that's when I moved. Before she could take a step forward I drove the sword into her chest with a sword bash and followed it up with a double spinning edge. I immediately aimed the second circle upwards and it launched her in the air, then I jumped and used a rolling smash to plow her into the ground. I didn't realize I had just done a driver combo, but I paid no attention and kept going. Before I could pin her she jumped up suddenly and I realized she was using her Ray of Punishment and I dodged it this time. I ran full force and clashed into her before she got back up and threw me back. She was breathing heavily, I looked into her eyes again and saw her building a strategy, so I took a chance and rushed her. Our swords clashed before I realized she was using Photon Edge, I tried to dodge, but I didn't give myself enough reaction time, she moved at the speed of light and hit me on my back. I jumped up and she slammed the hilt of her sword in my face, knocking me back down. She went to finish the battle but I used my arms to lift myself up and lunge kicked her in the gut and got back up.
"Not this time!" I yelled. She got up and I read her again. She was using Lightning Buster. This was an attack I used regularly when I played this game, so I made sure I remembered the pattern and went to parry. It was too fast to dodge, but I knew where she'd strike. I parried the hits quickly and used a sword bash to plant her in the same tree she used to throw me into every day. I put my sword to her neck and ended the fight there.
"It's over," I said, breathing heavily. "I've won."
Mythra looked surprised, and kinda pissed. I offered to help her up, she refused and got up herself.
"Honor in defeat Mythra," Pyra scolded.
"G-Good fight Waylon," she corrected herself.
"Thanks! We'll have to spar again!" I said. She seemed surprised that I'd ever want to do it again.
"That was awesome!" Rex exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it! You put up one hell of a fight!"
Pyra gave me a warm smile. Poppi came up to me and gave me a hug too. It surprised me a bit, but she calmed me immediately.
"Poppi does forgive friend. Poppi was never mad. But Poppi wanted to wait until you were strong like Mythra before Poppi told you...," she said.
"Thanks Poppi, it means a lot. Although that flower looks really nice with you're outfit!" I said.
Her eyes lit up. "Poppi thinks it amazing!! What flower is it?!" she asked.
"Back on my world, we called it a Poppy!" And we laughed for a bit. We celebrated, ate some good food we rustled up, Pyra cooked. Mythra still couldn't believe I had won. I threw Tora a sausage at some point, which he greatly enjoyed.
"Ok, fine! Tora forgive friend for hurting Poppi!" Tora said.
"Does Masterpon really only need Tasty Sausages to forgive?" Poppi asked.
"Meh meh! Poppi stay quiet!" Tora scolded.
"Oh speaking of! Hey Mythra!" I said, barely containing my laughter. "I believe you had something you wanted to ask Tora!"
Mythra's anger was apparent.
"Oh that's right!" Pyra chided. "You were very interested in a certain subject, weren't you?"
"Tora confused! What Pyra and Waylon mean?" Tora asked.
Mythra sighed. "I'm interested in certain parts of Poppi's schematics."
Tora seemed surprised. "Tora never expected Mythra to hold interest in such analytical functions!"
"Oh yes, I'm extremely interested in her AI and motor functions," Mythra threw out while Pyra and I failed to contain our laughter.
Tora's eyes sparkled as he started showing Mythra every hatch on Poppi and explaining them with great detail. This went on for several hours as the rest of us went to go hang out by the hill overlooking the ocean.
"Ok what's going on? Why are you laughing?" Mòrag questioned.
"Mythra lost a bet we made. If she lost to Waylon by today she had to ask Tora about all of his achievements and mechanical whats-its," Pyra laughed out.
Mòrag stopped, she let out a laugh before asking, "Ay and what would you have done if you lost?"
"Don't ask, won't tell!" Pyra said.
"Bet it had something to do with Rex!" Nia threw out.
"Keep talking and you'll have to try healing yourself," Pyra said.
Nia backed down. "Hey, I kid! Sheesh!" She then thought back to Mythra. "Oh that poor girl! Eh I'm sure she'll get over it."
Just then, Mythra walked back up, clearly mentally strained. "Speak of the Aegis," Zeke teased.
"Never. Again," Mythra said before sitting down and began drinking some water. Pyra teased her a bit before Rex decided to speak up.
"So what now?" he asked.
We all looked at him, unsure of what he meant.
"We've finally made him into a worthy driver, but we have the most powerful blade any of us have ever met and we're still not ready," he clarified.
I answered first. "Well we have a lot of nations in need of answers, and we don't need to add 'crazed blade attacks' to that confusion. I say we supply each titan with the knowledge they deserve and get them ready for a fight with Cereza. She's manipulative, we can't have her starting wars between nations if we want to take her down."
"Well said," Azurda said. "But how do we get to each nation fast enough. If we head to a specific point first, Cereza may attack others while our backs our turned."
"Well we lucked out!" I said.
The waited for a explanation.
"Both Leftheria and the Argentum Trade Guild ended up as islands in the ocean! Azurda should be able to get there no problem, and since everyone in those two places know him, there should be no problem. To the west of Elysium are Mor Ardain and Gormott. It'd be wise for Mòrag to head to Mor Ardain immediately, but you should take Nia or Tora with you as extra protection and help. We don't know what type of beings lurk in Elysium yet. Rex, you and either Nia or Tora should head to Gormott! Although Mòrag may need to give you a letter of pardoning from the Emperor while you're in Mor Ardain, that way you don't get arrested. Zeke and I could head east toward Indol and Tantal. Obviously Zeke needs to be in Tantal and I think Mythra would be a good face to see in Indol."
"I see, and what about Uraya?" Dromarch asked.
"Mòrag, if you don't mind. I think Brighid'll need to serve as a special envoy to Uraya. With her position as the Jewel of the Empire, the queen may listen to her if Mythra and Brighid work together," I explained.
Mòrag thought for second before responding. She looked me dead in the eye. "I'm perfectly fine with that. However I know you have something much bigger planned."
The others looked at me questioningly.
I laughed. "Saw through me did you?"
"Indeed. You and Rex share a similar look when you have a plan. And judging by the intensity of the hope I see, you have something big planned. So out with it!"
"Yeah! No use leaving us in the dark!" Rex said.
"Alright! Alright!" I laughed. "But keep an open mind, you may be skeptical," I said. I waited for everyone to nod in agreement before I began. "The way I see it, there's no longer a struggle for land. We have all the land we could ever need at our fingertips, we just need to take it. Arguments could be started simply over what land each person gets. So we need to get every nation's leader to sit down and have one talk. But I don't want the nations of Mor Ardain, Uraya, Gormott, Tantal, etcetera to continue. They'll just find another way to get into war. So, I'm going to propose a way for all nations to unite under a new nation, the Nation of Alrest in the land of Elysium."
"That could be amazing!" Rex exclaimed.
"Quite right, but how the devil are we going to convince the leaders to do something like that?!" Zeke asked.
"And how would that government even work?" Brighid added.
"Relax, I have it planned in detail. But it's a long explanation. So I'd like it better if we could bring the world's leaders onto Azurda's back and have a conversation with them. I will choose to go into detail then," I said.
"I think this is something we'd have to agree on before I'm willing to just hear it then," Mòrag said.
"Yes, which is why I'll be explaining it to Zeke, Pandoria, Mythra, and Brighid on the way there. They will help me fine tune anything that seems off. And while I'd love to go on and on here, we can't! We have to get going now!" I knew they wanted an explanation, but every second we waste could be our last.
"Alright, we set off in the morning, let's go to bed everyone! We have work that needs to be done!" Rex said. Everyone immediately started getting ready for bed.
"Mythra!" I called, she looked up at me from the other side of the camp, she had been quiet the entire time. "Come with me!" And with that, we walked into an area outside of where they could hear us.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I want your explicit permission," I said.
"What?"
"We're about to go through on foot in a land neither of us have seen. And...," I hesitated.
"And?" she asked.
"And I know you're scared.... You're unsure about all of this. You don't know what to trust and you don't know what's going to happen or if you're even safe. But I promise as long as I breathe I'll do anything I can to protect you. I won't... I won't...."
She stopped me. "I guess I was wrong. I can't read you in the way you can read me. But I don't need your protection, I can protect myself. But you have my permission. I'm going with you on this trip," she said.
"Thanks Mythra, I—"
"You'd better not screw up though," she cut me off. "You're on a good start. Goodnight." And with that she left.
"I'll do my best," I told myself before going to bed.
...................................
"You're dead set on fighting me, huh?" Cereza pouted at me.
"Why are you doing this? I figured after I woke you up you'd have no memory. So why does it seem like you have such a clear goal?" I asked her in response.
"Tell you what. I'll let you ask me any question you want, with two exceptions. One, it has to be a yes or no question. And two, for every question you ask, I'm going to stab you in a non-vital area," she taunted, but I was unfazed.
"Yes or no huh? So you won't answer my question?" I asked, thinking out loud.
She wasted no time in stabbing me in the arm. "What a waste of a question, no, I'm not answering that question."
I yelled out. "That wasn't—! Ugh fine! Are you going to let us go to each nation?"
"No!" She stabbed me in the waist.
"Ahhh!" I yelled out in pain. "So you're going to attack us?"
"No!" she giggled. "Not yet." She stabbed me in thigh, sending me sprawling to ground, blood gushing everywhere.
"DO YOU EVEN HAVE A GOAL?!" I screamed through grunts.
She began to cackle and it chilled me to the bone. "No, I just want to watch the world burn!" She stabbed me through the ankle once more before I began to wake up.
"Have fun traveling without your healer!"
...................................
I woke up, Nia was already healing me. I groaned.
"I guess you're used to it now," I laughed.
"Don't make light of this! You're seriously injured!" Nia said worriedly.
"I'm fine," I said as I got up. "She's not going to kill me. Not yet. But I was able to get some answers from her."
"Answers? You mean like maybe a goal?" Rex asked.
"She doesn't have one."
"Doesn't have one? That's crazy talk!" Nia said.
"It is, because she's crazy. She wants to watch the world burn. Blades, humans, everyone. But she wants to enjoy it. It's a game to her. So she's not just going to end it." I explained.
"So?" Tora said.
"So it means there's still time. Get your belongings in order. We move immediately!" Mòrag demanded. We grabbed our stuff and we got ready to move.
"Are you sure I shouldn't go with Waylon?" Nia asked. "He may need to heal!"
"So will you. And besides, you'll need to me in Mor Ardained to get pardoned by the Emperor. I'll be fine. Plus I believe Zeke has Boreas. So worst case scenario we'll have something," I said.
"Ok... as long as your sure!" Nia said.
"After I am done in Leftheria and Argentum, I will immediately come to pick up the leaders and you all. Be ready and outside the titans when I come," Azurda said.
"You got it gramps!" Rex said.
"And Waylon," he said as I looked up at his large head. "You have great power now, be careful with it."
"Absolutely Azurda. Off we go!" I said. After some final goodbyes, Pyra hugged Mythra and everyone was all set. We headed off. There was no telling what was going to happen next.
Readability Level: 9-10th Grade
Time Taken: 6 Hours
Please do not use without permission. All artwork is not mine and credit goes to the artist.