The Aegis Awakens//Xenoblade Chronicles 2

XX. Trust

The Aegis Awakens
 
//Chapter Twenty: Trust//
 
After leaving Soulcrown Summit, Rex and the others made their way back to Garfont. This time, they managed to avoid most of the monsters in their path. Eventually, they entered the village and Rex immediately began looking around. He spotted Eva relatively quickly. However, he was unsuccessful in finding Regan.
 
"I hoped she would be awake by now,” Rex said quietly before the dark Aegis tapped his shoulder. The Leftherian boy looked up at the tall Blade, who nodded toward the training area. Upon a second glance, there she was, sitting on a crate. She was bereft of her usual armor.
 
"No wonder I didn't spot her," The fifteen-year-old said, realizing that her lack of armor had caused him to overlook her. "Thanks," Rex told him appreciatively as he looked up at Malos, to which the Blade merely nodded.
 
Walking towards her, he could see her head move a little in his direction. He knew she had likely heard him approach, so he moved to sit next to her on the sturdy boxes. She looked to be okay. However, Rex could still tell that something was bothering her.
 
"How are you feeling?" 
 
The Elf finally looked at him, and she offered a smile that did not reach her eyes. "I'm okay..."
 
She honestly sounded more like she was trying to convince herself rather than him. Rex sighed a little at that, as he realized that he was not going to get the truth out of her. She seemed reluctant to open up to him sometimes, and he honestly was not sure if he could trust her now. Especially after what had happened in Gormott, he was now aware that she was likely hiding other things from him.
 
The Leftherian could relate with some things being difficult to talk about; however, he felt like Regan did not trust him at all. If she did not trust him, how could he bring himself to trust her. After two years, he had hoped she would have   told him more about herself. Instead of being honest, she had hidden her royal status from him. Regan had then fooled him into believing that she and Nia were in danger in Gormott.
 
"I'm sorry, Rex." The apology was unexpected. Rex looked into her eyes. Regan met his gaze before she placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment. "I should have told you about me being royalty... To be honest, I thought you might have treated me differently if you knew the truth," She admitted.
 
The fifteen-year-old's eyes widened slightly, "You really think that?" He questioned as he looked a bit hurt at her admission. Despite what he thought, Regan shook her head.
 
"Not anymore. After everything that happened in Gormott, I realized just how unfair I've been to you." Regan gave him an apologetic smile. "Seeing the way you treat Malos has helped me see that." He tilted his head in confusion at her words, so she quickly explained what she meant. "He's a Blade, Rex. Many people see Blades as nothing more than tools."
 
"What does that have to do with you?"
 
Regan removed her hand from his shoulder and looked down at her lap, "Let's just say that there are many who don't think too highly of both noble and royal families. They think of such people as heartless." The Elvunian went quiet for a moment as she mentally collected the right words. "I don't completely blame them for that, since there are countless examples of rulers and nobles taking advantage of their people."
 
"Your family isn't like that, right?"
 
The Elf shook her head, "Not anymore... My great grandfather was a horrible person and saw people of a lower social status as nothing more than slaves. My grandfather tried his best to improve conditions after his father's death. However, many people despised him for not doing something about it sooner."
 
"That's horrible..." Rex imagined, with a grimace, what her grandfather was forced to endure. It sounded as if his life had been hard.
 
"Yeah. People's trust gradually began to come back and not that long after, my father took over." She sounded a bit sad when she mentioned her father, Rex noticed.
 
"I'm guessing he was a good ruler."
 
Regan nodded her head to confirm Rex's statement, "Definitely! Along with my mother, the two of them tried their hardest to keep everyone safe and happy." Her expression grew sad for a moment, "Raymond does his best now, and he does a better job than I ever could have done."
 
"He sounds really nice,” Remarked Rex. “I'd love to meet him someday." 
 
Eyes widening a little at his words, Regan suddenly smiled. "I'm sure he wants to meet you too, Rex. I told him all about you in my letters." The Leftherian looked a little embarrassed at that.
 
"R-really?"
 
Sensing his embarrassment, Regan wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Oh, there's nothing to be shy about. I told him all good things, I promise." Despite her reassurance, Rex's face flushed red and he refused to meet her eyes. "Ray's a total sweetheart. He totally has his protective older brother moments though."
 
"It's just... He's the king of Elvuen, isn't he? Why would he have any interest in meeting me?"
 
Regan shook her head at him, "He may be a king Rex, but he's still human at the end of the day. Ray has always been a sociable person, so he loves meeting new people." She smiled softly, "Out of the two of us, he's always been the better one with people. Despite his issues with speaking, he always managed to communicate with people fairly easily."
 
The Leftherian tilted his head a little at the new piece of information, "He has issues with talking? Why?" The Elf sighed a little at that, as the realization hit her of how curious Rex could be at times. She was not sure if she should answer him at first, due to the nature of Raymond’s condition. 
 
"Oh, I guess it's better if you know. Ray is deaf, so he's essentially mute most of the time, unless he absolutely has to speak." 
 
"That makes sense, I s’pose." Rex said before he suddenly felt the urge to ask her a question. Since she was being more open about herself, he wondered if she would be more willing to answer a question that had been on his mind ever since he had resonated with Kaevan. "Reg, who was Kaevan's previous Driver?"
 
The Elf froze at his question, and he felt worried that she would shut down and refuse to answer. To Rex's surprise, she instead inhaled deeply before she started to speak. "My uncle Welsh was Kaevan's Driver before you. He passed away two years ago, so I took Kaevan's Core Crystal with me. I actually planned to resonate with them myself."
 
The Leftherian's eyes widened a little, "Really?" At her nod, Rex spoke again. "Why didn't you? Did you-" He cut himself off as the realization of what probably happened hit Rex. "Was that around the time we met on Argentum?"
 
Regan laughed at that, "Yes actually." She went quiet for a moment before she added something else. "You know, on the day we met I was actually supposed to go back to Elvuen the next day." The fifteen-year-old's eyes widened even more at that.
 
"You're serious? Why didn't you leave?"
 
"Let's just say I saw something in you, Rex." She said, and Rex could feel that the conversation was ending. As much as he wanted for her to elaborate on that, he could tell that she was not willing to do so at the moment. "Hey, Rex, how about you hold onto this for me?" She pulled her locket over her head before she handed it to him.
 
Looking down at it, he realized just how important it must be to her. Rex had seen her wear the locket all the time, so he had figured that it meant something to her. She had never actually let him look in it, for he had saw her opening it and staring at whatever was inside of it before. Seeming to sense what he was thinking, Regan spoke up. "Just keep ahold of it for now, and you can give it back later."
 
"But...I always see you wearing it. Why are you giving it to me to hold onto?" 
 
Regan looked down at her lap, "I trust you, Rex. Even if you don't trust me anymore, I just want you to know that I trust you." She winced a little all of sudden, and she looked around and quickly spotted Malos leaning against a wall. Zenobia appeared to be leaving him alone at the moment, and the Elf could tell that he was scowling.
 
The dark Aegis clearly was not in the best mood at the moment, so Regan hesitated in actually approaching him. 'He might be in a bad mood, yet it's still important for you to talk to him.' The tone Winter used made the Elf sigh in response. After reassuring Rex that she was okay, Regan finally got up and headed in Malos' direction.
•°•°•
 
Something about seeing the dead Titan as well as the conversation that occurred afterward had soured Malos' mood. It seems that even after five hundred years, he could not get away from the reminders of what he had done to the Tornan Titan as well as Milton and Hugo.
 
Despite how much Zenobia had been bugging him earlier, she had seemed to realize that it was not a good idea to bother him right now. Everyone else had decided against bothering him, except for Regan. Malos honestly had not even noticed that she had even left Rex's side at first, considering that he had been lost in his thoughts.
 
The Aegis looked down at her for a moment, and he immediately took note of her slightly pained expression. As soon as Malos noticed it, the pained expression went away. Her expression indicated that she was uncomfortable, so he did not know why she would be approaching him.
 
"Hey, Malos, can I talk to you for a moment?" The Elvuenian asked with her eyes looking down at the ground. He assumed it probably had to do with Snow, so he nodded his head. Regan finally looked up and met his steely gray eyes with her own. "Can we go somewhere more private?" That caught his attention, so he raised an eyebrow at her.
 
Her face turned a little red, "It's just... It has to do with Winter's Core Crystal." She informed him quietly, and he felt a bit worried at that. Snow's core was of course covered, so Malos could obviously not see what was wrong at the moment. What could possibly be going on that they had not informed him about?
 
"Okay," Malos responded before he followed her to where they would be hidden from view from anyone else in the village. Unbeknownst to most, there was a small cave hidden near the inn. "So, what's going on?" The dark Aegis asked as Regan did not turn around to look at him at first. He heard the sound of her messing with the buttons on her shirt before she finally turned to face him.
 
Her shirt was unbuttoned just enough to let him see Winter's Core Crystal, and he immediately saw the problem. Her skin around the core was red and appeared to be irritated. Lines of ice Ether were spreading out from Snow's core, and it was no wonder she needed to talk to him. Ether lines were a thing, occurring in both Blades and Titans but they should not appear on humans.
 
He thought back to when he had seen her wince, and he realized that this must be the cause. The Ether lines did not even look like typical ones did anyway, since it looked more like an infection. "How long has this been going on?" Malos asked as he looked closely at the area where Winter's Core Crystal sat in Regan's chest.
 
Her face turned a little redder before she responded, "Ever since my mom died...so a little over twenty years now." She explained with a sad look in her eyes. Malos nodded at that, unsure of what she wanted him to do about it. If Winter had been unable to stop it, why would he be able to do anything? "I'm fully aware you can't fix it. Winter said that you might be able to do something though."
 
"What would that be?" He asked curiously, and she spaced out for a moment. Malos watched as her eyes once again focused on his face. 
 
"She said that Ether has been building up in her core, and I'm not able to release it myself." She explained which caused Malos to realize what Winter wanted him to do. "She can't do it herself right now and taking control of my body isn't an option. It'll just...make it worse." Judging by her tone, Malos knew that probably meant that Winter had tried to do so.
 
"I see…” Mused Malos. “Just relax for a moment, alright?" Regan nodded at his request.
Yet the dark Aegis could see her face was still flushed red. He was unsure of what that meant, yet he decided that he should just focus on what he was being asked to do. 
Regan winced slightly as Malos started to mess with the build up of ether in Winter's Core Crystal. "I said relax." The Elf registered what he was saying and tried to relax. It was difficult, considering just how much it hurt. She was aware that her being tense would just make it worse, so she did her best to try to clear her mind as he worked.
 
The feeling of him messing with the Ether in Winter's core still stung a little; however, it was much more tolerable now. She could feel him untangling the strands of Ether, and Regan felt a little better at each one he fixed. After a couple minutes of this, Malos finally got the built up Ether in the Core Crystal to release into the environment around them.
 
Regan sighed in relief at that, yet she knew it would only be a matter of time before it would build up again. Outside of that, she knew it did nothing to actually fix the problem she was experiencing. It seemed to relieve some of the pain she had been feeling, so she was grateful anyway.
 
"You feel better now?" 
 
The Aegis's question surprised her a little; however, she quickly regained her composure and nodded. "Yeah... Thank you, Malos." She buttoned her shirt to cover Winter's core before she started to walk away from him. He spoke before she could actually walk away, and she turned back around to face him.
 
"You gave your locket to Rex."
 
Regan nodded at his statement, "I did. What about it?" Of course, her locket was very sentimental to her. It was one of the few things she had brought to Argentum with her after she had left Elvuen.  It did not take up much space, so she was able to store it easily if she was not wearing it.
 
"Nothing. I just thought you liked to keep it on you."
 
The Elf sighed softly at that, "I usually do... I just realized I haven't been exactly fair to Rex these past two years. He's told me a lot about himself, yet I didn't even bother to tell him I'm royalty as well as how old I actually am..." Regan explained while wrapping her arms around herself and looking down at the ground.
 
"How did you meet him?" The question surprised her a little, and she looked back up at him. Regan examined his facial expression for a moment, trying to understand his motive. He seemed genuinely curious, which was something Regan was not expecting. 
 
"After Uncle Welsh died, I needed a break from everything. I stayed in Argentum for a week, then I was planning on going back to Elvuen afterward." Regan explained as she let her arms fall by her sides. "I met Rex at Honeycomb Sweets in Argentum, and it was the day before I planned on going back home."
 
Malos nodded at her response; however, he did not actually say anything. The Elf watched him for a moment before she put a hand on one of her hips and tilted her head at him. "So, is there anything else you wish to ask about?" The Aegis shook his head, and Regan smiled a little at that.
 
"Just ask if there's anything you're curious about. If not me, you can ask Winter about it when you talk to her."
 
The Aegis nodded and watched as she walked away. He was surprised to see her stop in place as someone walked in front of her. It was Ethan, and he looked to Regan before looking towards Malos. Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, "How long were you planning on keeping it from me?"
 
Looking up at him, Regan let out a sigh. "What do you mean?" She wondered if he had simply listened to their conversation and how much he had heard if that was the case. Ethan watched her expression for a moment before he finally answered.
 
"When Lucy changed you out of your armor and into that outfit, she told me saw what looked to be ice all around Winter's Core Crystal." Regan's eyes widened a little, and she looked down at the ground.
 
"I didn't even think about that..." Regan almost felt embarrassed that she had not even thought it would be a possibility. She knew Lucy had likely been the one to take her armor and underarmor off, so she should have realized that the Blade had likely seen what she had hid from the two of them for over twenty years now.
 
"I just didn't want you to worry about me... It started before I met you, a couple months beforehand shortly after my mother died." Ethan's eyes softened at her explanation, and he uncrossed his arms.
 
"You didn't want me to worry about you? Haven't we known each other long enough for that not to bother you anymore?" The shorter Elf looked down at the ground, almost looking to be ashamed of herself.
 
Ethan sighed, "I understand why you didn't tell me. Just try to take care of yourself, alright?" She nodded at that and looked back up at him.
 
"I will."
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
*Bonus Scene*
 
Far away from the others, Regan found herself staring into the night sky. She sat cross-legged on the ground with one hand on her Core Crystal as she admired the stars. The sound of footsteps approached her from behind, and she turned her head to see who it was. Her eyes widened a little as she saw the familiar form of Jin walking towards her.
 
Without saying anything, the other ice Blade simply sat down next to her. Regan turned her head towards him, "Something wrong, Jin?" She finally asked after a moment of silence. The Aegis watched as he slipped his mask off of his face, exposing his core to the cold air of the night.
 
"I wanted to thank you for protecting Lora," Jin stated as he gently clutched the mask in one of his hands.
 
Regan looked away from him, her face flushing red in embarrassment. "There's  no need... I just gave her my daggers to fight with." The man watched her expression for a moment before he shook his head.
 
"You still helped. Lora thanked you herself, didn't she?"
 
Regan nodded, "Even Haze thanked me." She looked down at the ground. "It wasn't that big of a deal though."
 
The male Blade continued to sit next to Regan until he finally got up and headed back to camp without even giving a goodbye to her. The ice Aegis watched as he left before she returned her attention back to the night sky. She was unsure of how she felt about Jin coming to thank her. After all, he had a tendency to not show much emotion unless it was to Lora.
 
The fact that Jin had come to her just to thank her made her realize just how much he cared for his Driver. Regan did not think her actions were that big of a deal, yet Jin clearly disagreed since he went out of his way to share his appreciation. The strength of his bond with Lora was something that had surprised both Regan and Malos.
 
The Blade and Driver had been bonded for seventeen years, while Malos and Regan had been bonded to Addam and Ant for a mere fraction of that time. As such, the two Aegises were very much unfamiliar with the world as well as with humans. Jin, Haze, Aegaeon, Brighid, and Maddie were all very close to their Drivers. Even if Maddie's case was a bit different, she had chosen to willingly bond with Ant.
 
Regan finally headed back to camp and lied down on her bedroll next to Ant. Staring at the Elf's back, Regan silently wondered if she could ever be as close to Ant as Jin was with Lora. Looking around, she spotted Malos sleeping next to Milton and Addam. She was curious if the dark Aegis ever wondered about these things too. Unless he told her though, she knew she would never know.
 
By now, the night was getting to her. Fatigue had begun to set in. Her thoughts slowed to a gradual stop, gradually dwindling to only one. And so, she laid down, staring up at the endless stars beyond. With only sleep on her mind, she shut her eyes and allowed it to finally overtake her.