Chapter XIII
I woke up in a daze, as I slowly began to clear my head, I realized that the curtain that separated Mythra and I had been knocked over. My first thought was that one of us sleep-walked through the curtain. I looked around quickly. Mythra wasn't in my bed, but some of her belongings were on the side I was on, I then noticed that she was lying in bed on the other side of the room.
"Mythra?" I called, waking her up.
"What?" she said drowsily, as she sat up, she looked around and saw my belongings on her side.
"Wait what... happened?" she said in confusion.
I could barely hold back my laughter. "Mythra we sleepwalked into each other's beds!"
She thought about it for a second before we both erupted with laughter.
"Oh wow we really are the worst sleepers...," she said.
"Agreed, lets go get some breakfast," I said before closing the curtains and getting ready for the day.
I opened the door to find a Urayan guard waiting outside.
"Are you Waylon?" he asked.
"Yes...," I responded hesitantly before instinctively and carefully placing my hand on the Aegis sword.
"Ah good! Queen Raqura wanted me to bring you to the dining hall for a breakfast before you leave!" he explained.
"Oh, ok! Let me grab Mythra and we'll get going," I said, taking my hand off the sword.
"Ah! No, she only wants you to come," he said.
I thought for a moment.
I laughed. "Listen buddy, you're not a good liar. Walk away, right now," I threatened.
"Wh-What are you talking about! I'm just carrying out the queen's orders!" he defended.
"Mhm, take off your helmet."
"What? Why?!"
"I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me you're not lying," I explained.
He hesitated, but then he finally took off his helmet. His face had one scar, but otherwise he was bald. His skin had a blue hue to it.
"I ain't lying I swear!" he said.
Looking into his eyes, I could see the fear. He was terrified. Not just nervous, but he was either lying or there was serious consequences on the line. Either way, he was definitely being dishonest.
I decided to play along. "Oh! Well ok! What are we having for breakfast!"
He calmed down a bit, but he was still really tense. "A whole Urayan spread!"
"You mean you didn't even come up with a good answer to a simple question before you planned to murder me in the hallway?" I asked, laughing. "You're quite the amateur for an assassin. So you have about five seconds to drop your knife and explain everything before I make sweet love to your chest with a business end of the Aegis sword." I pulled out my sword.
He dropped the knife he had hidden and got on his knees. "I'm sorry! She made me do it! Please don't—" he started before his head came clean off his body.
"Such a shame. Oh well, maybe my new slave will do better," I heard Cereza say. She laughed. "Best of luck dumbass! And thanks for the show!"
I put away my sword and retrieved more guards to dispose of the body, before explaining what had happened so that I didn't get pinned for the murder.
Mythra pulled my aside afterwards. "Hey are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I've become uncomfortably numb to this," I responded.
She shook her head, "I'm sorry..."
"Don't worry about it," I responded. "I have to balance my emotions. I have to keep my desire to help people high while keeping my anger low. If I let this death get to me, my anger will override my will to save. If I become to numb to everything, then I will no longer care to save. I just need your support in keeping me centered."
She put both of her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "I don't think you'll ever not care. Even if the bitch keeps this up."
I had to stop myself from crying, so instead, I smiled. She had just given me the only reason I needed to continue to care. "Thanks Mythra...."
Well the guard wasn't entirely lying, they really did have a full spread. From numerous fruits to breads to pancakes. They had armu milk, water, and juice from the peach and cherry trees. I knew they weren't actually called peaches or cherries here but I couldn't remember the name.
After Mythra and I pigged out, I went out and bought some food. Pretty soon I had an idea of what I wanted to do.
"Mythra, keep your crystal hidden and go buy food, I have one thing I need to take care of," I instructed.
"Yeah whatever Dad!" she said mockingly.
"Ok, thanks potato chip!" I said before running off.
She seemed confused and tried calling out to me as I ran off. "What's a potato chip?!" But I was already gone.
I went up the titan to the theatre. I was looking for someone who could shed some light on a subject. I went into the back and found who I was looking for.
"Hello Cole," I said, he looked up at me.
"Hello! And you are?" he asked.
"I am Waylon," I said. I then gestured towards the Aegis sword. "Mythra's driver."
"Oh so Rex... didn't make it then...," he said, sadly.
"Oh no! He did. I am Mythra's driver. He is still Pyra's driver," I shallowly explained.
"I'm not even going to try to figure this one out," he laughed. "Well any driver of the Aegis is a friend of mine. Well... unless you happen to be my driver as well." An obvious nod toward Amalthus.
"I have a question I feel can only be answered by someone who was there five hundred years ago," I explained.
"Yes, that would make sense. So what's troubling you?"
"Mythra, well she hasn't truly accepted me yet. I became her driver under circumstances that I can't even explain. She's trying, but there's something holding her back from truly trusting me. So I was hoping you could tell me in detail what actually happened to Mythra."
"Oh well the play will begin in merely an hour's time. That should—"
I cut him off. "You and I both know that the fear she carries is stronger than anything that play will be able to explain. I personally think you omitted some of it out of respect."
"I... er... yes, you are correct," Cole responded. "Can you fathom the destruction of an entire titan?" he asked.
"No, I cannot," I replied. "All I know is three continents were sank by the Aegis. But it doesn't even tell me who sank each one. All I know is Mythra sank Torna. But what about the other two? Was that Malos?" I asked.
"I apologize but it's not my place to say. All I can say is you'd better make sure you don't burn the world. She's scared of her own power, so just don't abuse it, and you should be fine," he said.
I understood, but I was still irritated that I couldn't truly understand.
"Just know that Pyra wasn't created for no reason."
"Thanks, Minoth," I said.
"She told you eh?" he laughed.
I laughed as well. "Nope, you did. See you around!"
I didn't get much from him verbally, but I did get a little information from his emotions. He was worried too. But I also felt calmness. It seemed he was confident that I'd figure it out. So I guess I was too.
I met back up with Mythra and we loaded up all of the materials into the inventory. We soon met up with Queen Raqura and Brighid before we left.
"And you're sure you won't require my assistance?" Brighid asked worriedly.
"We may get a bit messed up but I think between the two of us we'll be alright," I replied. Mythra nodded in agreement.
Brighid nodded. "You're very brave. Just be sure that your bravery does not resort to arrogance."
Queen Raqura spoke up as well. "It will be a two-day journey if you leave now. Be careful not to get lost, the terrain in front of you will be a dry forest. The trees are much taller than puzzletrees and seem to store a lot of water. My scouts have told me that the sap is toxic as well, so please do not sleep underneath any of the trees as any sap on your skin will burn extensively. The scouts have named them firewood.
"Any clearing in the woods?" Mythra asked.
The queen nodded. "There is a break where a stream parts the forest. That's the best stopping point."
"Thank you, Your Highness," I said sincerely.
"My only regret is not being able to do more."
"Don't worry about it! You have a lot to deal with already. We'll manage," Mythra consoled.
"Thank you, Aegis. And to her driver," the queen said, turning to me. "I know you may yet be confused on your goals and where fate will take you. But in the one short day and night you've been here, I think you've got way more than it takes to be one hell of a driver! You just keep your eye on that one," she gestured towards Mythra. "She's a wild one and it'll take everything you got to keep her at bay."
Mythra looked slightly irritated, but understood that she was only teasing. She also didn't want to look childish in front of royalty.
I winked at her before responding. "She can take care of herself. And besides, we look after each other. Like blades and drivers are supposed to!"
The queen laughed. "Already got it figured out do ya?"
"I've... had some inspiration," I responded, looking a Mythra. Who seemed to hide a blush, but I wasn't sure.
"I can't wait to see what you accomplish. Well off with ya! You have a continent to unite," she advised.
After one last goodbye to Brighid, we exited back into the desert and on through the woods. It wasn't nearly as bad as the first forest we crossed. This one, just as the Urayan scouts reported, was extremely dry. The trees seemed to store water in similar ways cacti did on my Earth. Of course instead of spines, these had burning sap. I laughed at the thought, although I was definitely a bit hesitant to get near any of the trees.
There were a lot of thorns growing, but luckily Mythra's sword could burn them up pretty easily. The only enemies we ran into were some kapiba and a buloofo. Mythra hated it, but I made her change clothes into jeans and a white t-shirt with a hole cut out for her core crystal to show. At first she hated it, but as she realized her legs weren't getting cut up by plants and sap, she seemed to be much more content.
Eventually we made it to the river in the clearing of the trees and set up a military tent the queen snuck into our inventory through a means I can't quite explain.
Mythra had gotten some branches from the trees. As a blade, even if the sap did get on her, it would heal as soon as it came off. I just hoped the sap wasn't combustible. But there was definitely only one way to find out. By the time she had gotten back, the tent was already set up.
"How on Alrest did we not get one of these tents sooner?!" Mythra exclaimed. "It has two rooms and we didn't have to build it out of wood! We'll have to thank Raqura when we get back!"
"Yeah!" I agreed.
After we sat down by the fire, that didn't explode thank the Architect, Mythra slugged me in the arm and then got up.
"Alright, ass off the ground nerd. We're working on your blade art skills," she commanded.
I laughed. "Alright, give me the info."
"Ok, so as far as your driver arts go, you're fine. In fact you're the most advanced driver, as far as arts go, I've ever met. The only other being that can manage an entire driver combo on his own was Jin, and he wasn't even human. I don't know how on earth you got so good with a grappling hook but it's one of your greatest assets," she explained.
"Thanks...," I began.
But she cut me off immediately. "But as a driver doing blade arts you're sloppy. You understand the concept, but your constant, weird attachment to everyone's emotions drives away your focus. This causes you to use too much or too little power, and when your blade is the Aegis, that's life or death. There's a distinct reason Pyra and I both have the ability focus, it's because the moment you lose it is when you lose control."
I thought for a moment. "So... five hundred years ago...."
"I lost focus," she concluded. "And in doing so I watched an entire civilization burn. People that I forced myself to learn to love were killed by my loss of...," she choked on her tears.
I caught a lot of emotion I hadn't been able to find previously. Before all I felt was fear, but there was so much more right now, I felt tears in my own eyes. The image wasn't clear yet, but I finally had some more understanding to her fears.
I put my hands on her shoulders, just as she'd done earlier to me. "So we help each other out. Just like I said before. We don't let each other lose focus again."
She nodded before ushering towards one of the firewood trees. "I drenched this tree in water. I've already calculated how much power it's going to take to evaporate the water without burning the tree, it's your job as the driving force to focus and let the information be processed into a physical attack."
"Don't you normally do that with Siren?"
"Yes, I send statistics to Siren and he sends back an attack based on the parameters I send. I'm doing the same thing, but I send it to the sword through our affinity line. The yellow line means I can send ample information at the highest speeds."
"Oh that explains the affinity line. It's hard to know that from simple observation," I said. "So what is it that I'm supposed to do?"
"Simple, swing your sword and focus your aim on the enemy. Swing too hard or fast and you exhaust my energy on top of probably destroying the world. Swing too slow, sloppy, or wimpy and you won't do enough damage or will miss and hit something you didn't intend to, you could potentially create an excess in power in me or the sword and cause some... bursts in power you don't want to happen."
"Wait has that actually happened before?!"
"No, it's more theoretical than anything. Jin couldn't keep up with his power output, so I imagine the opposite could be true.... Nonetheless, the other stuff are very real scenarios."
"When did you become so nerdy?" I teased, laughing.
"Nerdy?!" she said defensively. "You've got some nerve! I have to make calculations all the time! I guess I get carried away sometimes. Anyway, hit this tree, don't burn it."
"Got it!" I said. I steadied my aim and focused hard on what I wanted to do. I swung the sword about as hard as I could imagine it needing to be in order to simply evaporate the water, which wasn't that hard at all.
"First try!" Mythra exclaimed. "I... didn't expect that actually."
"Yeah... I just imagined what you would do if you were simply evaporating water without setting it on fire...." I realized something and began to laugh extremely hard.
"What?! What's so funny?!" she questioned.
"I taught you power output in cooking and you taught me it in fighting. It's just so ironic!" She laughed a bit too upon realizing this.
"I hate to break up your little date here," said a voice that made both of us stand up and get into fighting position.
Cereza smiled as she drew her sword and gave it to the human standing next to her. I realized it was the same man I had seen in the last dream, the one whose family was killed by her without him knowing. His hair and eyes were now black. It no longer had any emotion in them, just like her.
"Who's your new friend?" Mythra asked.
"I thought that it would be so fun to have a double date with you two! This is my new appointed driver, Zaccharias. Say hello Zaccharias," she commanded as he took the sword.
He seemed to want to cry, but no tears came. Instead he spoke in a voice so empty and dead, it terrified me. It even sounded familiar. His mouth cracked into a horrific smile and his eyes begged for death. "You're both going to die. I'll kill you and then the Aegis will go back into her core crystal, then, I can have my family back and we can all live together happily." His laughter made both of us wince.
"He's insane!" Mythra shouted in disgust.
"She's tortured him into nothing but an empty terrified shell grasping for one thing she won't give him.... he's completely broken."
He was still laughing while screaming and crying.
"Now let's play!"
Readability Level: 9th-10th Grade
Time Taken: 4 Hours
Please do not use without permission. All artwork is not mine and credit goes to the artist.