soup but it tastes bad

[bloodyashes]

The forest is quiet, and almost trackless - who needs a trail, after all, when the only person who ever passes this way is a single flesh eater, coming and going from the tower in the distance?

(But this story does not begin with Kratos Aurion was a blade.)

It begins, instead, with two blades in a remote forest, the same way another one ended, in the distant past. A blade of justice, and a flesh eater driver, seeking audience with the Aegis who is rumored to reside in the tower. And the story starts, just as the other ended, before they ever reach the tower.

Ether flows through the air - light-aspected, with hints of water and wind - and converges on a point. The crystalline structure doesn't look so different from the trees and underbrush that surround it, save for the fact that it glows white with a brilliance that's visible even in the direct light of the sun.

(The last story began, Van Grants was a blade.)

(It was not a happy story.)

Near the 'roots' of the tree, there is another core crystal to be found. Although it seems broken, it pulses with a dull red glow, indicative of the blade inside being ready (perhaps more than ready) to manifest again. Equally clearly, it has not been disturbed in a very long time - only the glow separates it visually from the natural stones around it, moss and dirt breaking up the too-square outline.

To those who can sense ether, however, it is practically a beacon. And to those who can see the threads of fate...

(This isn't the story of the Aegis. But there's a thread tied here, nonetheless, that hasn't disappeared.)

Comments

soup! soup! soup! soup!

[photonedge]

It starts like this: they're on the path, such as it is. Someone's kept the forest from encroaching on it to the point of impassability, but that's about all Mythra can say for it.

(But still: someone must be maintaining it, so they're still on the right track. That's a good sign, right?)

Foresight's been quiet, since they got into the forest - a ping here and there for a fallen branch big enough to be annoying, nothing more. And then--

"Hey, hold on," she says to Jade, stopping, head tilted like it'll help her hold onto the image better. "There's something--"

She can't pin it down, whatever it is. Foresight whispers an answer, but won't tell her to what. Typical. Mythra shakes her head hard, pushing her way into the brush at the side of the narrow 'path'. She doesn't bother to look back; Jade will follow.

Without the maintenance that had been done on the path, the forest gets hard to navigate quick. A little light ether takes care of that. The glow is the first thing that catches her eye, bright and impossible to miss even through the trees, and Mythra scowls, blasting her way through the last few bushes. That must be it, right? It's pretty (it's breathtaking - she's never seen solid ether chunks this big outside of Valak Mountain, and the ambient ether levels aren't high enough to maintain anything like those even if the air almost feels like it wants to sing about the Aegis), but she can't imagine why Foresight would lead her here.

And then her eyes are drawn to its roots, and what lies cradled in them.

So, a core crystal out in the middle of nowhere? Not that uncommon, all things considered. Things happen, out in the wilderness - drivers die, and their blades' crystals can't exactly be retrieved if no one knows where it happened. Jade and Mythra haven't stumbled on any personally, but it's worth keeping an ear out for the tug of ether reaching out, travelling like this.

But they're typically almost forgotten, half buried in the dirt, not -- this. (What's more, they probably don't also make Foresight fire with so many impossible-to-track possibilities Mythra can feel a headache threatening to come on.)

What the fuck?

"Jade?" she calls, like he could possibly have fucking missed this. Scoots to the side, just to be sure he can see that core crystal, though this close its ether is audible under the hum of the tree. "What do you think? Foresight's..." She trails off, not sure how to finish the thought, but the emotional bleed conveys some uncertainty.

They can't just leave a blade here, right? Mythra can't say she's excited to add someone else to their resonance, but...

backstory discussions round 2 go

[crimsonsnow]

All the fuss and introductions out of the way, once things have settled down Jade finds himself alone in his room with his two blades. He sits idly down on his bed, which is one of two (of course he shares a room with Mythra, the tavern isn't quite big enough for them to each have their own, even with the expansions and having bought out the building next door to stash Anna and Galea and the rest). He has every intention of filling out the journal he's been somewhat neglecting for the past few weeks, perfectly capable of multitasking if either of his blades wishes to talk. But instead he finds himself watching Asch more than he doesn't. The Aegisite's words still ring in his mind. About another Jade, helping him out of a situation an Aegis would be incapable of experiencing.

Well, there are very few things an Aegis is incapable of experiencing. Fewer still with regards to drivers. Which brings Jade to the one major difference between Aegises and regular blades: their memories.

Asch had some sort of memory patch, of course, the same as Mythra. But there was also a point where he didn't. Which would mean...

It's not Jade's place to know. It eats at him, anyway.

"Asch..." Jade begins, then holds his tongue. It's not an easy question to ask outright. It probably is better if he doesn't at all. There will be time for Asch to bring it up as he wishes, with or without Jade's prying. So, instead: "I suppose we never did get to finish our earlier conversation," he remarks. "Was there anything else worth telling, about the Jade you knew? I find myself still curious."