The Aegis Awakens//Xenoblade Chronicles 2

VI. Aptitude

The Aegis Awakens

//Chapter Six; Aptitude//

Despite the fact that he knew that Regan was hiding something, Malos talked with her and the other Regan until morning. When he awoke, he noticed that he and Nia were the first ones awake. Regan was still asleep, and he decided against waking her. The Gormotti was currently stretching, and she let out a yawn. She did not seem to be aware that he was also awake.

He honestly had not spoken to her even once, but he was curious as to why she would have been with Mythra to begin with. Nia seemed nice, and it seemed likely that she had not been made fully aware of just what Mythra had planned on doing along with Jin. The Aegis watched her for a moment before he finally let out a sigh and got up.

Initially, he had no plans to tell anyone about his injured shoulder...since it would definitely raise more questions that he would really rather not have to answer. After a moment of consideration, he decided to ask Nia to heal him before the others would wake up. Despite his muscular and tall build, Malos could be surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be.

Nia turned to face him but nearly took a step back in surprise as she saw him walking towards her. She almost looked a bit frightened, not that Malos blamed her for that, as he approached. "Do you want something?" The girl asked as he had stopped walking towards her. Hesitation flickered over his expression for a moment before he finally nodded.

"I need something to be healed...it's starting to annoy me," Malos informed her as he revealed his bruised shoulder, which definitely looked to almost be dislocated. The Gormotti just stared at his shoulder for a moment, and she looked genuinely confused. After a couple more seconds of silence, Nia's eyes suddenly widened.

"But you're a Blade...and that injury is the exact same as Rex's..." Malos nodded in response, and he knew that he would have to explain. She followed him a little farther from the camp, so no one else could see the truth. "Okay, are you goin' to explain what's goin' on...?"

"Sharing half my life force with Rex did not just bring him back to life...it essentially tied our lives together. Basically, if he dies... I die too."

She was still silent before she looked down at Dromarch, who did not say anything but he nodded at her. "So, you share injuries...? That's...incredible. I've never heard of such a thing before. Is this just an Aegis thing?" Malos once again nodded his head.

Nia said nothing more and just started healing his shoulder. It was a bit strange to him, considering that it was actually his first time being healed. As she healed him, he felt something odd, the energy that was not coming from her Blade. His eyes widened in realization, but he did not say anything at first.

"Okay... Does that feel better?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, then... Um, do you plan on tellin' Rex about this?" Nia asked, and she looked surprised as Malos shook his head.

"But...shouldn't he know about this? I mean, he should definitely know that any lethal injury could potentially kill the both of you."

He shrugged before he started walking back towards the camp. Malos knew that she had no reason to keep it a secret and that she would tell Rex unless he could find something to hold above her head. Luckily for him, he had already figured out just what he could use. The Aegis all of a sudden just stopped and tilted his head back in her direction.

"Let's keep this between us, alright? Otherwise...I just may let your little secret slip." Malos stated, and he saw her eyes widen even more than they had earlier.

"What, how do you...?"

He said nothing back and simply continued to walk back to camp.

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