2 Days Later

“Chaos Armor— Chaos Impact!!”

A set of translucent purple armor manifested over Phoenix’s body as she thrust her palm out and launched a nigh-invisible plane of blunt force across the sandy grounds. Kestrel easily lunged out of the way of the attack, using her control of air and wind to augment her speed and agility; she then whirled around and sent a horizontal column of air flying toward Phoenix. Sand and dust whipped up into the air in the wake of the winds as Phoenix staggered back, her eyes reflexively squinting — despite her Chaos Armor and personal energy shielding that blocked the sand from getting into her eyes.

“Chaos…!” Phoenix muttered, preparing to call an attack as soon as she could spot Kestrel through the dust storm. She soon spotted a glint of light to her right; without sparing a moment, she snapped her right hand toward the glint of light and shouted, “Cannon!” Immediately, a small purple projectile shot out of her hand at the speed of sound and slammed into Kestrel’s approaching form, flaring up her protective energy shielding and sending her reeling backwards. “Chaos Strike, Chaos Strike!” Phoenix rapidly called out, shooting out streaks of purple lightning from her fingertips as she dashed away from the dwindling dust storm to run a circle around Kestrel. The latter was unable to dodge the lightning strikes, instead choosing to brace herself on the ground against the blows. Before Phoenix could follow up any further, however, a certain spear — with a glowing dark green orb just below the blade, and a green ribbon fluttering in the wind — zoomed in out of no where and struck Phoenix in the back, piercing through her Chaos Armor but still blocked by her energy shields.

Stunned and surprised from the blow, Phoenix was little able to respond as Kestrel continued to manipulate her spear from afar using wind itself. The Aerotechnic’s control of her weapon was slow, as though she were still getting the hang of moving it from afar, but her movements were still purposeful and effective as she managed to thrust the spear into Phoenix’s side twice more before she could recover. “Chaos Deflection,” Phoenix shouted, creating a rapidly-rotating spherical shield of Chaos Energy around her that flung Kestrel’s spear into the distance. Kestrel immediately summoned her weapon back to her hand and launched herself into the air just in time to evade several Chaos Cannon attacks from Phoenix, where she then began flying in evasive curves to evade even more Cannon projectiles.

“Ngh…! Chaos…!” Phoenix eyed her aerial friend in mild frustration, her hand held out as she attempted to track Kestrel’s movements so as to hit her with an attack. However, Kestrel quickly took advantage of the lull to whip up a dust storm around Phoenix, obscuring the air around her with sand and lifting her into the air. “—Armor!” Phoenix quickly called out, spawning another set of translucent armor over her body as she attempted to spot Kestrel through the disorientation of being hoisted into the air. “Chaos…” she muttered again, waiting for an opportunity to strike. A second passed, then two, then five — and then Kestrel herself burst through the sandy wall of the dust storm, her spear held forward as she lunged straight at Phoenix. “—Deflection!!” Phoenix quickly finished, manifesting a spinning shield just in time to deflect Kestrel off to the side. “Chaos Cannon, Chaos Cannon!” Phoenix followed, firing off two high-speed projectiles into Kestrel’s back to knock her out of the air — as well as break her concentration on the dust storm, causing it to falter and dissipate, and Phoenix to fall to the ground. Phoenix caught herself in a roll and then leaped to her feet, ready to continue attacking as Kestrel jumped up herself, her spear held in front of her defensively.

“Time!”

“…Oof.” Phoenix released a weary exhale, allowing her body to relax as she and Kestrel each turned toward Ralak, who had just called the match from the side of WCU’s practice field. Standing next to her was Kaoné, and a little farther down, the rest of the Earthian students. “Well?” Phoenix questioned to Ralak as she disengaged her energy shielding and wiped her brow of sweat. “How’d we do?”

“Overall, not bad,” Ralak declared. She waited for Phoenix and Kestrel to approach more closely before continuing, “y’all both showed good focus, and there wasn’t much wasteful moves. Even your bigger attacks, Kestrel, were just to make a smokescreen to surprise your opponent. You didn’t seem to lose track of Phoenix even when you couldn’t see her, so that’s good, too.”

“…Mm.” Kestrel nodded curtly. “Thanks.”

“And Phoenix, I see you’ve gotten the hang of Deflection,” Ralak stated as she shifted her gaze to the short Chaostechnic. “You were also quick to follow up on any openin’s you created. It’s good that you know to press the attack, rookie Chaotics usually play it too safe. Now, all of that said…” Ralak glanced between the two women. “Y’all weren’t perfect, far from it. Kestrel! I get that y’all have those fancy weapons of yours, and it looks like you’ve got the basics down, but your skill with that weapon doesn’t match your skill at controllin’ air. Usin’ that thing only held you back. And Phoenix… you’re a Directed-type Chaostechnic. That means you have Arrow. Use it. Arrow homes, after all — it’s the perfect attack to use when you can’t see your opponent, but still know they’re there.”

“Right… sorry,” Phoenix responded sheepishly. “I guess I focus too much on Cannon’s speed advantage…”

“Cannon’s speed is useful, as is Strike’s,” Kaoné said, “but it’s as Ralak said — don’t focus on them too much. To be a fully effective Chaostechnic, you need to use all of the abilities at your disposal.”

“Yeah, got it.”

“As for the Ayas Weapons…” Kaoné passed a doubtful glance toward Kestrel. “Why are you training with Tsern so much, all of a sudden?” She then looked back at Twy, standing with the rest of the Earthian students. “You as well, Twy — I’ve seen you practicing with Mystryth a lot this week. Did something happen?”

“Uh, well…” Twy responded uneasily, and then trailed off as she glanced toward Phoenix and Kestrel.

“Mystryth…” Spike echoed, “…that’s your bow, right?”

“I don’t see what’s so weird about training with our weapons,” Austin interjected. “I’ve been tryin’ to get the hang of my sword for a while, too.”

“A focus that you shouldn’t have, for now,” Ralak declared as she looked over each of the students. “I’ll admit that y’all are doin’ way better than any other Chaotic who’s only had their powers for a few months, but I think it’s too early to add those weapons into the mix. Especially given how dangerous those things are, and how reckless some of y’all are.”

“…What are you looking at me for?” Pierce questioned incredulously as Phoenix and Kestrel each looked his way. “I haven’t used my weapon at all, recently.”

“The point is, those things can cut through anythin’. Right?” Ralak said. “Seems like energy shields are the only thing that stops ‘em.”

“And sometimes, not even that…” Twy muttered.

Ralak passed her a confused look. “What?”

“Ah… I think I see what’s going on, here,” Kaoné remarked, realization dawning on her features. She then stepped forward as she gestured toward Ralak. “Let me take over for now, Ralak. We’ve covered all of today’s practice matches, anyways, right?”

“That was the last one…” Ralak mused as she began flipping through the papers attached to a clipboard in her hands. She then offered Kaoné a resolute nod before looking over the Earthians again. “Alright, that’ll be it for today’s physical lessons, then. Y’all better take my advice to heart for next time.”

Conrad watched Ralak walk off before sighing in relief. “Man, finally. Those practice matches really leave you feeling dead…”

“You barely did anything at all during yours!” Sky remarked.

“’Barely anything’ still isn’t nothing. Besides, what can I even do to any of you guys in a straight-up fight?”

“You have that glaive, right?” Austin suggested. “It’s better than nothing, at least.”

“Yeah, but it sounds like Ralak wants us to focus on our actual powers, for now,” Spike pointed out, and then looked toward Kaoné. “Or, uh, were you gonna say somethin’ else about that?”

“Something like that,” Kaoné replied. “After all, if Pallan were here, then I’m sure he’d say something like ‘you all have your weapons for a reason’.”

“Yeah, well, he isn’t here,” Phoenix declared with a slight hint of irritation.

“Why bring him up, now, anyways?” Sky questioned.

“…Does this have something to do with his ‘prophecies’?” Austin asked.

“Ultimately… yes, it does,” Kaoné stated, and then looked to Twy, Phoenix, and Kestrel. “I know that the three of you went to speak with Rebehka last week, and that you asked her about the Nanocreature War… just how much did she tell you?”

Twy and Phoenix exchanged a wary glance. “…Just about everything, it sounded like,” Twy eventually replied.

“Everything? What?” Austin responded in confusion, “but… we already know what happened in the Nanocreature War, right? Hero Machina fought and killed Morcii twice, once over Neticen, and then at the Nanocreature Homeworld, wherever that is. What else is there to say?”

“Let me guess: the official story cuts a bunch of shit out, doesn’t it?” Pierce said.

Kaoné took a deep breath before turning toward the campus buildings. “…Let’s go back to the classroom. Once there, we can talk about the, uh… ‘deficiencies’ of the official story, and what that probably means for all of you…”

---

*

“…That’s, uh… a lot weirder of a story than I expected…”

“That is what many people say,” Kaoné responded with a sigh from her position behind the teacher’s podium. It hadn’t been long since she and the Earthians returned to their classroom, and once there, Kaoné had divulged the entire true story of Hero Machina’s involvement in the Nanocreature War — much as Rebehka had done with Twy, Phoenix, and Kestrel a week prior.

“Priors, huh…” Spike mused, his arms crossed as he sat back in his seat in thought. “That’s, uh… somethin’.”

“I still don’t really understand what a ‘Prior’ is supposed to be, or this ‘Prior State’ thing,” Sky remarked.

“I’ve only met two Priors, myself,” Kaoné said. “As I understand it, they’re basically conscious, sapient entities that don’t actually need a physical form to continue living. And they can temporarily merge with a Chaotic in the Prior State, which acts very similarly to the Chaos State.”

“Yeah, yeah, the Priors are really weird and all, sure. But that’s not the main issue, here!” Austin looked at everyone else incredulously before turning back to Kaoné. “You’re tellin’ me that there’s an evil reality-warper out there that we might have to fight one day?! That’s insane! How the hell can we possibly fight that?!”

“You’re the one with the Simulator powers,” Conrad pointed out.

“What?! I can’t fight that! Even if I copied the reality-bending, that’s, like— what?!”

“I understand how you feel, Austin — really, I do,” Kaoné insisted. “But it’s as I said: Ikirom is currently sealed away. We only have to worry about his return if the metallic infection — if the Nanocreatures get out of hand. And for that, all of your Ayas Weapons can be very useful.”

“So that’s how you’re bringing this around…” Twy muttered.

“Look, I’m more than happy to be the guy who saves the galaxy and all,” Pierce started, “but even I think this story is hella whack. Just how the hell are a couple of super-sharp blades supposed to help out, here?”

“Wow, a rare moment of clarity from Pierce,” Phoenix deadpanned. “But he does have a point — Kaoné, are we really expected to go up against the Nanocreatures, Morcii, and maybe even Ikirom? Was that the plan from the start?”

“I…” Kaoné started, but trailed off as she organized her thoughts and words in her head. “…I’m sure it’s Archoné Culana’s plan. As for me… I don’t know if we’ll ever actually see Morcii again. I’d like to think that he’s gone forever, but if he isn’t…”

“…If he isn’t, then you think that we’re the key to stopping him?” Twy finished.

“Yes. Quite literally, too — Culana’s prophecies call all of you ‘Keys’. And I think the weapons you can all summon are a big part of that.”

“So these’re magic, anti-big-bad weapons, huh?” Sky questioned as she summoned her staff into hand and began twirling it around. “Interesting…”

“The blades are definitely pretty damn sharp,” Spike commented, “but is that enough to handle the Nanocreatures?”

“It isn’t just that,” Kaoné refuted. “Remember the ‘Link Drive’ I mentioned? The special ability of the Prior State? As I understand it, Link Drives bring together the power of the Prior, the Ayas, and the Weapon of the same name to deal its effects. That means that, in order to use a Link Drive effectively, you need to be at least passingly familiar with the Weapon. And even if you don’t think about the Link Drive at all, there is, ah…” The Dean trailed off again, side-eying Twy, Phoenix, and Kestrel for a moment before shaking her head. “There’s another ability of the Ayas Weapons that you can use at will, but it’s very powerful if used intelligently, and very dangerous if used carelessly. I don’t want to introduce that ability to you all until you have a better grasp on handling your weapons. It would be too easy for you to injure yourselves, otherwise…”

“Really?” Pierce snorted in derision. “You’re going to hold out on us, too?”

“Well, we just gotta get better at usin’ these weapons first, yeah?” Spike replied as he summoned his red and gold spiked gauntlets onto his arms. “I can imagine a few ways these things would be useful. Especially since we can summon an’ dismiss ‘em at will.”

“Pretty much the only thing I can do in a fight, too,” Conrad pointed out.

“What about what Ralak said, earlier?” Twy questioned, “she told us to focus on our powers, first. Should we ignore that…?”

“You shouldn’t ignore her advice, per se…” Kaoné responded. “She makes a good point — you all do need to focus primarily on honing your Chaotic abilities. But I’m going to override Ralak’s suggestion to ignore your weapons entirely; I think it will be in your own best interests to start training with them in earnest. In fact, I can set aside some of our class time twice a week to help with that.”

“Huh…” Austin summoned his claymore into his hands and stared down at it thoughtfully. “…Are these things really that important? I thought it’d just be a useful tool in a fight, but…”

“You’ll get your ass burned if you think like that.”

“Davídrius?” Kaoné questioned as the Tresédian Dean stepped through the door to the classroom. “Is there another problem…?”

“Nah, nothin’ like what happened on Sundia… thank the dirt for that,” Davídrius responded, and then looked over at Austin’s claymore. “So y’all are talkin’ about those weapons, huh?”

“We were discussing how important it may be for them to begin training with their Ayas Weapons,” Kaoné stated. “And part of that involved me telling them about the full details of our involvement in the Nanocreature War…”

“Really.” Davídrius looked over each of the Earthians. “Y’all actually believe the story?”

“It does sound pretty out there,” Conrad admitted.

“And if it’s true, there’s a lot to worry about!” Austin exclaimed.

“You don’t say,” Davídrius drawled. “…Well, if Kaoné thinks y’all are ready to start seriously trainin’ with those weapons, then… I won’t say no. But be careful with those things. They can be a lot more trouble than they’re worth.”

“I don’t think we have to worry about what happened with you and Hastryth,” Kaoné said. “The Keys, here — they don’t seem to be influenced the same way.”

“What happened between you and the whatsit?” Sky questioned in confusion.

“Back when we were in Riverana,” Twy said, “and I was running some tests on my bow with Kievkenalis… he told me that the Ayas can have weird influences on someone holding them.” She then passed Davídrius a glance. “Is that what you’re talking about…?”

“It is, and I prefer not to think about it,” Davídrius insisted. “That ain’t what I’m here for, anyways.”

“Yeah, what are you here for?” Pierce challenged.

“It’s about y’all’s next trip,” the Dean stated. He passed a quick glance toward Kaoné before continuing, “convenient timin’, too, since y’all are gonna get to learn more about the Nanocreature War. In a few days, Kaoné and you Earthians are gonna meet with Rebehka up in Nimaliaka Central. From there, y’all will travel to Oriciid’kas, the capital world of the Core Space Alliance — and while you’re there, you’ll be gettin’ a thorough lesson on the dangers of the ‘metallic infection’.”