Archive of Our Own

Pyra hummed softly to herself as she gently sifted the blend of spices through a strainer. Grinding the peppers by hand left larger chunks that couldn’t go into this recipe. Zeke’s favorite, the ineptly named Addam’s Embercakes. Tightly packed griddle cakes filled with a spicy pepper blend and a semi-sweet jam that gave the dish a red cast to it.

Nearby Mythra was busy finely chopping vegetables for a mirepoix that Pyra would use to make Quoteletta, a dish she had learned of thanks to Mòrag. Though Pyra would never admit it, Mythra was much better at precision-based tasks than she was. You could tell her to cut vegetables to a third of a millimeter and she’d do it with minimal effort. On the other hand, if you put her unsupervised in front of any dish served hot, she’d eventually grow bored and wander off, typically causing it to overcook or burn. Thankfully she had mostly grown beyond her more “experimental” habits for cooking.

They had been planning this picnic for a while and she wanted to make sure everything was just right. It would be good to see Zeke and Pandoria. It had been a while since they had gotten together. Tora and Poppi were, of course, more readily available. Brighid had sent a letter offering them greetings and well wishes, but she was part of the Ardainian Aeacus Expedition. Thanks to Pyra and Mythra’s connection to the Aiodos systems during their time in Rhadamanthus they had been able to ascertain information on the location of the other two Beanstalks.

It had taken time for the nations of Alrest to rebuild and Mor Ardain, having long been a technological powerhouse, had deemed it necessary to the advancement of Alrest to research the Beanstalks. Of course, the data Pyra and Mythra had acquired used latitude and longitude from the old world, but Mythra had been able to recalculate and provide relatively precise coordinates for Aeacus and Minōs.

Pyra wasn’t especially interested. There was always time for adventures later. The little moments were more important.

By the time early afternoon came they had everything prepared. She and Mythra trekked up the hill to just below where Tora and Rex sat. They looked out at the vast ocean of water. Sometimes that still caught her off guard. Actual water spilling out vast distances instead of the clouds there used to be.

Mythra offered a wave to Rex and Tora then began to lay out the blanket they had brought with them. A simple striped pattern that Mythra had woven together over the course of a week. Once that was in place Pyra began putting out the food and drink for everyone. The hot foods she set aside in a self-heating pot that used heating filaments that Tora had designed. The kind that was powered solely by ambient ether and thus required no electricity.

“So, who do you think will be first?,” Mythra asked.

Pyra put her thumb to her chin as she considered the options. “Nia’s a later sleeper than Zeke, but I think Dromarch will drag her out of bed. I told him I was going to be making Armu Steak Strips and he was quite excited.”

“Dromarch can try, but I bet it’ll be Thunderdweeb. Pandoria called me two days ago and she said Zeke was hyped to see everyone. That guy has got practically limitless energy and hardly takes any vacations.” Mythra grinned and plucked a slim yellow bill from a pocket she kept strapped to her upper thigh, just under her dress.

“Five G says it’s Zeke.”

Now that sort of confidence, even over such a paltry sum, gave Pyra pause. Mythra wasn’t typically the gambling sort, though on two occasions she had been banned from casinos. Advantage Play they called it. Mythra just called her ability to calculate probability on the fly a natural skill. The owners had seen it differently, though Mythra had walked with nearly a million G the first time.

“You already detected Pandy’s ether signature, didn’t you?”, Pyra said accusingly.

“Psh, what? No way! I mean, how would I even, that’s...come on Pyra! Have some faith!” Pyra noticed that Mythra’s words were sped up and mildly panicked. Yep, Pyra had guessed right. Mythra had a much larger range than Pyra did for sensing ether. Or almost any other Blade on Alrest.

“Well, let’s go say hi to them, shall we?” Pyra set the last closed tray of food down and motioned for Mythra to lead the way. Her sister grumbled, but tucked the five G note away and walked down the hill and around the bend. Sure enough they caught sight of Zeke and Pandoria coming out of the edge of town.

A minute later the Tantalese duo joined them. Pandoria hugged each of them in turn, smiling and greeting them happily. Zeke, being who he was, swept both of them up into a two armed hug and lifted them off the ground. He set them down a moment later and ruffled their hair like they were children. “Ladies! So good to see you! Looking as lively as ever I see.”

Pyra peered up at him, only just now noticing an unusual change. Zeke’s red eyes met her own, peering out through a set of dark blue rimmed glasses. “Glasses?,” she asked.

Zeke grinned broadly and lifted his right hand up, adjusting the lenses so that they caught the light with a gleam. To his left Pandoria mimicked the action with her own glasses. “Waddya think? Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Fashion! Snazzy, right? They make me look smarter, don’t they?”

“Nope,” replied Mythra, her voice monotone.

“Err...they’re very...something…,” Pyra fumbled her way towards an answer. Even after all this time it was hard to give Zeke a proper response when he was in proper ‘Zeke Mode’.

Pandoria patted her sad faced Driver on the shoulder as he mimed being overwhelmed by depression. “You can ignore him. His prescription ran out and when we went to pick up some new contacts the whole shipment turned out to have mysteriously vanished.”

Mythra planted palms on her hips and eyed him up and down. “Wow, so your luck applies to stuff like this too?”

“I’m back for two minutes and you’re all already ganging up on me. Still such bullies.”

Pyra stifled a giggle behind her hand and then led their friends back to the picnic blanket. She pointed out what each item was so they’d know and then offered to pour them a drink. Pandoria laughed and insisted that she be in charge of drinks.

Once they were situated Zeke glanced up at the hill and then looked around at the surrounding area. “Say, where’s Poppi? I’m not shocked furry ears hasn’t made it, but I thought Poppi was already here.”

Now that was a question with an interesting answer. Pyra cast her gaze to the sky, a bright blue day with as few clouds in the sky as there were in the sea. Slowly she pointed. “Up there.”

Zeke blinked and craned his neck back. “As in...the sky? She flying around for fun or something?”

Mythra mumbled out a reply around a crab stick she was gleefully munching on. “Space.”

Pandoria joined Zeke in gawking up at the air. Not that either of them would be able to see Poppi. Truthfully if Pyra hadn’t known about the mission she wouldn’t have believed it either. “Hang on,” said Pandy. “What’s she doing in space?”

Hastily Mythra swallowed so she could give a proper answer. “Nah, some Nopon scientists designed a program to help predict weather patterns, but they haven’t got the infrastructure to put a proper satellite into space to make use of it.”

“Satellite?,” asked Zeke.

Mythra waved his question away and kept talking. It was always nice for Pyra to see her sister so animated. “With extra equipment Tora’s family helped design, Poppi can make a flight into low orbit. She launched from the Seventh Perimeter Skyport. Once she gets out there she’ll attach a device containing the program and some of my ether into one of the disabled Siren Units. With my ether installed I can mentally direct the Siren into a geosynchronous orbit so it can function as a satellite. We’ve been working on it for a bit. She’ll be back soon. Should have already started her return trip.”

Unsurprisingly Zeke and Pandy had more questions, which Mythra gleefully answered. Pyra just sat back and took it all in. The world was making so many changes it was hard to keep up, but having her friends together like this made Pyra feel like all was in its proper place.

Eventually their friends got around to asking the standard and expected questions, which Pyra dutifully answered. Thankfully that line of talk was interrupted when Mythra perked up, signaling someone else’s arrival.

Everyone stood to greet the newcomers as Nia rode up the hill on Dromarch’s back, Roc walking a little further back. Roc was the polite type who didn’t like flying ahead of people, but his gait was awkward so it made him a little slower than the rest. Especially compared to the fleet-footed Dromarch.

Nia carefully slid off of Dromarch’s back, ruffling his ears as she did so. “Ladies, Shellhead. Howsit?”

Pyra took in Nia’s countenance. She had changed her hair again, putting it into a slim ponytail that came down just past the nape of her neck. It was almost impossible to guess whether she would be in her Gormotti form or her Blade form at any given time, though today she had chosen Gormotti. Pyra gently hugged her friend, welcoming her.

The Flesh Eater flashed her a fanged smile. “Missed those warm hugs o’ yours.”

Each of the others said their hellos in turn, though Nia threatened to bite Zeke if he messed with her ears. Which had a tendency to do when making his greetings. Meanwhile Mythra was chatting with Dromarch, scratching just behind his ears. Roc swept into a graceful bow, though the twinkle in his eye said he was half teasing them.

Nia’s ears twitched as she looked around, eyes resting first on the spread of food and then on the hill. “Poppi still up there?”

Pyra nodded. “Mythra says she should be back soon.”

“Right...well save me some food. Gonna go have a chat with the boys for a bit, yeah?”

Zeke raised his arm as if to ask a question. “Mind if I join you, furry ears?”

“If you like.”

As Zeke and Nia trudged up the hill to the boys, Dromarch padded over to the blanket, sniffing the air. “It was mentioned to me that there might perhaps be Armu Steak?”

Pyra smiled warmly and showed him where everything was. She even offered to set out a plate of some of his favorites. He politely accepted, so Pyra began preparing a selection of whatever he wanted.

“Miss Pyra, it might be a while before we can come to a gathering such as this. The new Saets Chief agreed to Milady’s proposal to provide funding for a Guild of Healers. The Nopon Conglomerate was also amenable to the proposal, which should mean we will be busy for quite some time.” He seemed to be salivating somewhat, but he managed to sound as poised as ever.

“That’s wonderful Dromarch! I know you and Nia will be able to do wonderful things all over Alrest. I know Nia was adamant that they shouldn’t be beholden to a single nation.” The need to be able to cross borders undisturbed and with great efficiency had been paramount. And Nia had found the idea of her proposed guild having to go where one specific nation pointed downright offensive. Her language on the matter had been...colorful.

“Quite so.”

Pandoria looked up from her plate of food so that she could interject. “Zeke still has more than a little sway back home. We may have pushed and prodded.”

Dromarch inclined his head to her. “Much thanks to you and Shellhead. Errr...Zeke.”

If cats could blush Dromarch most certainly would be. Instead he lowered his head to begin eating from the plate Pyra had prepared. Pyra set about getting some food together for everyone else. Little sampler plates with all the things she knew her friends liked. It wasn’t often they got together like this.

Roc quickly scarfed down a plate of food and then excused himself to go join the others at the edge of the hill. The avian Blade never had been one for savoring food, though he was always polite and complimentary.

After a few long minutes of silence while they ate, Dromarch looked to Mythra, who was sipping a glass of some of her favorite wine. “I had been meaning to inquire about your plan regarding the Red Planet. How goes it?”

Mythra set down her glass, her eyes suddenly gleaming with excitement. Pyra loved to see her sister so full of joy. “I’ve got the Slave Generator reconfigured to draw from my ether instead of the Conduit. Once Poppi has my ether into another Siren I can use the one down here to transmit those new programs to it. If it all goes well...I’ll take a trip to inspect the facility there before the end of the year.”

Pandoria blinked, looking thoroughly confused. “Huh? What are you talking about? You’re going to the Red Planet? Is that even possible?”

“Mars,” Pyra offered up. “That was its name before Father’s experiment.”

“Right,” said Mythra. “Siren can fly me out there pretty easily. Turns out there’s several structures on the planet that Aiodos had recorded. They started transmitting ether signals shortly after the Conduit vanished. Pyra and I think the Conduit activated something that was buried there.”

Pandoria whistled, sounded awed by that information. “Woah, that’s way beyond me. I would never have expected to hear about someone traveling to another planet. So wait, do you think this has something to do with that other one? Ontsis or whatever?”

“Ontos,” Pyra once again proffered to her friend. “The other part of the Trinity Processor. We aren’t sure, but Mythra and I have felt...echoes.”

Like whispers on the wind.

Grinning broadly, Mythra flicked her hand up and pointed to the sky. “Speaking of space…”

Poppi soared down from above, having long since abandoned the single use booster rockets that she had attached to her back for space flight. She flew down and landed by the ground on the hill, greeting everyone in her usual cheerful manner. She hugged each of them in turn, careful to moderate her strength. Pyra happened to know that Poppi had once cracked one of Tora’s ribs with a fierce hug.

There was a flash of light as Poppi switched from her oldest form to her ɑ mode. The larger version was more efficient for attaching additional equipment, like the rocket boosters, but she always seemed most at ease in her original state. Pyra had never quite gotten an understanding of why Poppi swapped when she did. Her mood maybe?

Mythra leaned over and nudged Pyra with her elbow. “Come on, let’s go.”

Pyra hesitated momentarily, but the others on the quilt smiled and waved her on. So she rose and followed Mythra up the hill to where everyone else awaited.

Poppi greeted Mythra with their customary high five. Those two had been growing closer and closer. Even more so with their joint projects. Pyra hugged Poppi even though she had seen the Artificial Blade early in the morning. “How was space?”

“Cold. Or so Poppi’s temperature gauges told her. Cold, but...very pretty. Poppi wants to go to the stars again. Did Pyra save some tasty sausages for Masterpon?”

“Of course. They’re in the green self-heating dish on the blanket.” The sausages had never been Tora’s absolute favorite meal, but they were...his comfort food. She supposed. Pyra had one of those herself.

Nia rose from where she had been sitting next to Rex and jabbed Zeke in the side with her foot. Roc stood poised to follow her. “Come on Shellhead. Let’s get some grub. They’ll join us when they’re good and ready.”

Poppi hopped up and down in place. “Poppi will come too. Poppi will get tasty sausages and tell Nia and Zeke about space. Poppi flew even higher than Roc. Space was two point nine degrees kelvin. Please applaud.”

As the four of them made their way back down the hill Pyra heard Zeke mutter, “what’s a kelvin?”.

Pyra and Mythra settled down at the top of the hill with its wonderful view of the vast ocean.

“Hello, Rex,” they said in perfect unison.

Together they each pulled out a single stone. Mythra’s glittering with light ether she had implanted inside of it and Pyra’s smoothed to the touch by her flames. As was their tradition they placed the stones in the center between the markers.

Mythra gushed to Rex about her upcoming adventure to Mars and what she hoped to do from there. About how Tora’s daughter’s rocket design had successfully gotten Poppi out of the atmosphere. Nia’s soon to be Guild of Healers. The most recent Brighid’s journey to the second Beanstalk. Zeke and Pandoria’s cleanup efforts in New Morytha.

Pyra sat there, listening to her sister and how happy she was as she related all the news Rex had missed since the last time they had come to visit. It had been nearly a year.

The world that Mythra described was one of constant motion. Always forward, never backwards. On and on and on. Outwards, upwards, but never backwards. Never still or stagnant or stale. It shifted and swirled, its wild eddies threatening to sweep the unprepared away and under.

Gone were the days of her past. New nations had sprouted up from the ashes of old Alrest. International laws establishing independent rights and citizenship for Blades. A brief conflict with the burgeoning nation founded by Artificial Blades, kept mostly political. The Blade Eater Union, the Conjunction, and so many more changes.

Her friends jumped from one instance in history to the next, never seeming to break stride. Mythra, who flourished in the new world. Nia and Poppi coming to grips with their roles as representatives of their respective peoples. Zeke who, even years after having stepped down from the throne, kept active in the political and social climate of Alrest.

As for her…

She could feel it. That voice, that echo in space and time, it called out to Mythra and her by extension, but it felt foreign. For Mythra it was a comforting thing, but to Pyra it was alien and strange. Yet it was the voice of what could be their sibling, Ontos. Pyra could feel the moment coming. It would be soon in the grand scale of time. Decades, perhaps a century. Pyra knew Mythra was staying on Alrest for her sake even though Mythra ached to set out into the cosmos in search of their sibling. In search of something new.

Poppi visited the most frequently of everyone, but that was because she and Mythra shared interests. It had been almost two years since Pyra had last seen Nia and even longer since Zeke and Pandoria had visited. The gaps were growing larger. The gulf more distant.

Mythra finally stopped talking, pressed fingers to her lips, and then touched those fingers to the top of Rex’s marker. It wasn’t where he had been buried. He had wanted to be set out at sea. This was simply where they came to visit him in spirit. Mythra patted Tora’s marker, stood, gently touched Pyra’s shoulder, and then left Pyra alone with Rex.

Suddenly Pyra was a century and a half back in time, standing with trepidation in a cemetery as Rex knelt before the graves of the parents he had never known. She was six and a half centuries back, looking through Mythra’s eyes at rows of crudely designed wooden grave markers, the site of a massacre. It had become a flower field in Torigoth. Pyra hadn’t been to what had once been Leftheria in nearly a decade.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been visiting as much lately.”

“You apologize a lot, you know that?” His voice from the past. Now far distant.

She pressed her hands to the ground in front of the marker, her muscles tight, her stomach knotted. “They’re all leaving. One by one. And I...I haven’t changed one bit.”

“It...doesn’t hurt as much as I was expecting. Practical experience maybe? I’m okay with everyone going away. With remaining who I am. Is that strange?”

Rex had always been at ease with her. Taken her for who she was, not for what she could be. She had loved him for that. Dearly.

Kind words, a steady smile, a genuine warmth, and eyes that saw her for who she truly was. The boy he had been and the man he had grown into. She loved all of it. And yet…

“I still miss you, but...year by year the gaps in which I don’t think about you...they get longer. Is that wrong? Is that cruel? The world left me standing still and I haven’t taken any steps forward since that day. Not really.”

His laughter, his willingness to help her in simple day to day things, the way he embraced what she cared about even when their interests didn’t perfectly align. A true resonance of hearts, not just of their bond as Driver and Blade. Each moment stretched out like an eternity. Each moment filled with an endless amount of life. It wasn’t lesser because it had ended. She would never let it be. And yet…

“Rex...even though you’re not in it...I still love this world.”

The joy he had felt for life and for people had suffused her. Become part of her. He had become a portion of who she was. That would always be true. And yet…

Her body trembled from the tips of her fingers to the depths of her core.

“I need to know. Is...is it okay? If I...if I start to move again. Even if it means letting go. Even if it means...really saying goodbye. Is that okay? Please, Rex…”

Silence.

An empty moment.

And then…

For the briefest sliver of time, the tiniest fraction of a moment, she felt it. A gentle touch on her shoulder. A presence that she knew. The warmth of golden eyes on her back. The softness of his smile.

Pyra steadied herself, that sensation of his touch fading as she stood.

Then she took her first new step.

Forward.