The Fallen arc

Republic Warship

Command Center

"Well now that the matter is settled, I think I can speak for everyone in saying that was indeed a satisfying trial, yes?" Merlin asked.

"Agreed." Tenjin replied.

"As do I." Cory said.

"Well actually I think we-." Odysseus tried to say.

"Good! Then we are all in agreement. I love democracy hahaha." Merlin laughed. Odysseus was staring daggers at him. "Now Jayden, I shouldn't have to tell you this but you may have Ragnarok but you are still far too weak to face Zenal or his forces. If you really want to become a great hero like the Guardians, then you must start training with your powers immediately. Right now you only have the abilities of the Machine Goddess, Zenith. Since you and Ziera have the same abilities, I will leave her in charge of training you. Is that understood, Ziera?" Merlin asked .

"Sure thing. You can leave it to me." Ziera said.

"Wait seriously!? We get to train together? That's awesome!" Jayden said excitedly.

"Don't get so excited Cortez. I won't go easy on you just because you saved my life. So you better be ready." Ziera said with a menacing grin.

"Oh. Copy that." Jayden said terrified.

But Jayden snapped out of it when he realized something. "Hey hold on. I have a question. I get that I need to defeat the relic spirits so that Ragnarok can absorb their mana and so that I'll be able to use their powers and such. But what about Zenith? Isn't the temple with her relic still out there? How come Ragnarok has her powers already?" Jayden asked. When he thought about it, it didn't make sense.

"Hm smart boy." Cory said with a smile. "Yes normally that would be the case but that's because Zenith was desperate. As you're aware from reading your comics, she was the last deity to be slain by Perseus, the leader of the guardians. However, before she died she tried one last ditch effort to take control of Ragnarok by using her relic. The Nexus." Cory explained.

"Yes. Ragnarok is magi-tech after all and Zenith had control over all of it back then by using Nexus. However, even with Nexus she was unsuccessful and so she was slain by Perseus. However, Ragnarok still has left over mana residue from Nexus. That's why you can use a fraction of her power. Once you defeat the spirit of Nexus, you'll gain her full power." Odyseuss said.

"Oh. Man this Zenith lady was petty as hell back then huh?" Jayden said.

"Very". Said all present members the members of the Order.

"Now if there are no more questions I think this court is adjourned. Jayden, you and your friends may go. We still have some business left to discuss." Merlin said.

"Right! Thank you guys for taking me in and accepting me. I promise I won't let you guys down." Jayden said. He and the group walked out of the command center and into the hall.

Henro yawned. "Alright if court is adjourned I'm going to catch some shut eye." Henro said as he rested his arms behind his head.

"Dude it's only the afternoon." Jayden said.

"Exactly. Way past my bedtime. Later losers." Henro began walking away from the group but Emilia caught up to him.

"Hey Henro, wait! You can't leave yet! We have to show Jayden around the ship! It's his first time here! What if he gets lost?" Emilia said, waving her finger around.

"Don't care. If he needs directions, tell him to get a map or something." Henro said. He tried walking away but Emilia wouldn't budge.

"Come on, don't be like that. Look, Jayden is a part of our team now so like it or not we're all in this together now." Emilia lectured.

"Are you sure about that? You seemed pretty eager to throw your life away back there." Henro retorted with a frustrated look. Emilia was taken back. Henro's words stung. She looked down at the floor with a sad expression.

"That's not...what I tried to do." Emilia said, clasping her hands together tightly.

Jayden was getting frustrated with Henro's remarks towards Emilia. It was one thing for Henro to pick on him but to see him belittle one of his friends rubbed Jayden the wrong way.

"Hey! Lay off her already! She saved our lives and you give her shit for it!? The hell is your problem!?" Jayden shouted.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll mind your own business Cortez." Henro said threateningly.

Jayden was about to respond but Ziera stepped. "Henro. Emilia didn't go off to throw her life away. The empire was right in our tail so she was just trying to give you and Jayden enough time to escape. Besides, Emilia didn't go off on her own. I was there with her the whole time. So don't go casting blame on her when you know it wasn't her fault. She just wanted to help us stay alive. Are you really going to shame her for that?" Ziera asked. Henro stared her down but Ziera wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest. Soon after he backed off.

"Tch. Whatever. I'm out of here." Henro said. He moved past Emilia and walked down the hall. They couldn't see his face but Henro had a look of both anger and guilt on his face. Then without warning to him a memory of a girl holding her hand out towards him flashed through his mind. Henro snapped out of it with a scared expression on his face and put a hand over his forehead.

["Are you really going to shame her for that?"]

"Tsk. Idiot. I never asked her to." Henro said bitterly.

***

"That asshole." Jayden said. Ziera didn't bother with Henro anymore. She instead went to Emilia.

"Emilia. Are you okay?" Ziera asked in concern. Emilia looked up at Ziera. She then swiftly shook her head from side to side and then clapped her cheekbones. She followed that along with a thumbs up towards Jay and Ziera and gave a big smile.

"Yes I am! Don't you worry!" Emilia said in a cheery tone.

"Oh well that's good." Ziera said. Jayden and Ziera were unconvinced. But Ziera didn't want to press it further as she was going to let it be for now. Jayden in that moment however couldn't let it go,

"Still he shouldn't have talked to you like that. You were just trying to help him and he snapped at you for it." Jayden argued.

"Oh no please don't hate him for that! Henro can be challenging to deal with at times but he was just worried about me is all. He doesn't really mean it honestly!" Emilia pleaded.

"Yeah but-."

"Jayden, that's enough. Just let it go." Ziera said. Jayden wanted to continue but looked at Ziera. Realizing what she was trying to do he took a breath and calmed down.

"Right. Sorry." Jayden said.

"Oh no please it's okay you don't have to apologize!" Emilia said.

Ziera sighed. "Look, it's been a long day for all of us so how about we change the subject alright?" Ziera asked. A lightbulb then lit up in Emilia's head.

"Oh I know! How about a tour of the ship!? This is your first time on a Republic Warship right Jayden?" Emilia asked.

"Well yea-." He didn't get to finish.

"PERFECT! Then come on, let's give you the grand tour!" Emilia ran up and grabbed Jayden by his wrist and tugged him along as she and him ran down the halls.

"Wa-wait! Slow down Emilia! Waaaaaait!" Jayden shouted.

Ziera looked as the two descended down the hall. She chuckled to herself and smiled. "Never a dull moment with that girl huh?" Ziera said.

"Come on Ziera we're waiting for you!" Emilia shouted from down the hall.

"Coming! Just slow down!" Ziera shouted back.

Training Room:

"Here we have the training room!" Emilia said.

The training room was pretty big and state of the art. It has a training platform and a counsel in front of it.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Whoa, cool!" Jayden said.

"Yep. Take a good look. This is where I'll be grinding you into the ground tomorrow so you better be ready" Ziera said.

"Aren't you supposed to motivate me to train?" Jayden asked with a gloomy look.

"Uh? What do you mean? Wasn't that motivation to work harder?" Ziera asked with a confused expression.

"Dear Ziera, you should be mindful of what you say. Or you'll give people the wrong impression" Emilia said, feeling awkward.

"Hm?" Ziera still didn't understand.

Mess Hall:

"Moving on! This is the cafeteria! Emilia said in a cheerful glee.

The Mess Hall or Cafeteria was even bigger. Tons of soldiers and other staff members were sitting down at their tables eating their food.

"Huh. How's the food here?" Jayden asked.

"Oh it's pretty good. But just wait and until you see what I can cook up!" Emilia said with enthusiasm.

"You can cook!?" Jayden asked.

"Yep! Yep! Just wait until you try my signature "EM Surprise!". Emilia said with excitement.

"Em surprise?" What's that? Jayden asked with curiosity.

"Teehee. It's a surprise silly!" Emilia said winking at him.

"PFFT!" Ziera tried holding in her laughter with her hand over her mouth.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Jayden asked with caution.

"Oh nothing. You'll see later." Ziera said giggling.

Jayden didn't know what they were talking about but for some reason he felt a dark omen arriving in his future.

The Hanger

"This here is the hanger! You were brought here when we arrived but this is where we keep all our transport ships and Midgard fighters." Emilia announced.

"Damn. These ships look a lot different from the empire's." Jayden said.

"Of course! The republic uses more magic than magitech but we still use what we can for battle and transport. We do have android scientists in our nation as well so it's part of why we are able to have all this technology. Though of course we design our ships differently. Wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression ya know?" Emilia explained.

"And what about the Omni-Fighter you stole Ziera?" Jayden asked.

"It's banged up but I'll work on it later. The ships in the reoublic aren't bad but the empire's Omni-Fighters objectively have better performance. So once I'm done fixing it, it'll be a great asset for us. Plus I want my own ship, I'm gonna paint it green and black hehe." Ziera said with a smirk.

"Can't you fly though?" Jayden asked.

"Ziera just wants an excuse to fly a ship. Isn't that adorable?" Emilia teased.

"Shut up! So what? It's cool!" Ziera shouted while blushing.

Tenjin's Room

"Next up! Tenjin's room!" Emilia shouted.

"Wait seriously!? You're taking us to his room!?" Won't we get in trouble!?" Jayden questioned.

"I don't know, I'm curious to see." Ziera said.

"Oh it'll be fine! I come here all the time when he's not here." Emilia said.

"What!? Why!?" Jayden asked in desperation.

"Because believe it or not, Tenjin is a huge slob. He never cleans his room because he's always working! His bed is never made, he leaves his beer bottles and milk cartons on the floor, yucky roaches and other insects crawling on the floor and one time I caught him sleeping in the hallway half naked because he was too tired to get to his bed! Honestly it was a miracle to even get him back in his room. Shower, eat some bread and leave to work again! I told him:".

"Tenjin, you must keep yourself in better shape and clean up after yourself. Work is important but staying clean is just as important. That goes for both himself and his room. But since he's overworked as is I stepped in and tidied his room for him!" Emilia explained."

"Oh...wow." Ziera looked both baffled and disgusted. Jayden barely had any words. The fact that one of the members of The Order was a slob and the fact that Emilia was that kind hearted to clean up after one of them while asking for nothing in return really was something. Though Jayden started thinking on it and Tenjin sounded a lot like himself in that aspect. Not that he would admit it when Ziera is right next to him.

"So I'm guessing the room is at least breathable now?" Ziera asked.

"Yep! Come see for yourself! Tada!" Emilia pressed the button and the door automatically opened. Emilia was correct. Inside Tenjin's room it looked clean. Spotless even. The king size mattress was made, the rug on the floor didn't have a crumb in it, the walls looked like they were redone recently, and not even a speck of dust was in the room. Jayden had never been in the room before but with his Emilia described it he thought it wouldn't look that good even after it was cleaned up but no. Emilia really outdid herself. If she ever found someone, she'd be the best girlfriend ever.

"Damn! Look at this! You really are amazing Emilia!" Jayden said, praising her.

"Oh stop Jayden you'll make me blush again!" Emilia said, rubbing the back of her head.

"But he's right. This is really impressive. I actually can't even detect any dust or insects in here. Not bad. Though if I were Tenjin I would have at least given you a tip." Ziera said.

"Oh it's fine. I did this because I wanted to, that's all." Emilia responded.

Jayden looked around and something caught his eye. It was a picture frame showing a really young Emilia hugging Tenjin as he held her up in his arms. He had an awkward smile on his face. She looked about four years old in that picture. "Hey Emilia, when was this?" Jayden asked.

Emilia looked in his direction and perked up. "Oh! That was a long time ago. Way before me and Tenjin joined the Republic. This is us back at Tempest. The floating capital city of the Kingdom of Ventus.

"For real? Man I wish I could-." Jayden realized what he was about to say and stopped himself immediately. "Wait, the Capital, it...".

"Fell? Yeah." Emilia was still smiling but it was more of a sad smile. She picked up the picture frame of her and Tenjin and sat down on his mattress looking at the frame. "I don't remember much of what happened but Tenjin told me it was a civil war that broke out. That's the official story anyway. And with that war the entire city fell and thousands lost their lives." Emilia said sadly.

That's right, Jayden thought. He didn't know the specifics but apparently there were citizens who were not happy with King Sylphion's rule and decided if rebel. The kingdom had succumbed to civil war which led to the capital falling from the sky and into the territory of Titus, the realm of giants. The kingdom of Ventus took a major blow that day and lost their standing amongst the other kingdoms. Right now they are trying to recover but with no leader to guide them and people forming their own factions, it doesn't look well for them at all.Jayden felt terrible for bringing it up. He was about to apologize but Emilia beat him to it.

"Hey Jayden. Do you remember the royal family of Ventus?" Emilia asked not to look up from the frame.

"The Sylphion Royal family? Of course. I mean I never saw King Sylphion up close but I remember hearing great things about him. That he was a great ruler that cared for his people, and not only that but he was even one of the original Guardians that helped overthrow the gods and freed Esos of their tyranny. He was a really great guy! One of my heroes growing up." Jayden said.

Emilia giggled. "I'm glad to hear that I'm the same. Though he wasn't just my hero. Do you also remember that he had a daughter?" Emilia asked.

"Oh well yeah but I've only seen a couple...pictures...of...her." As Jayden looked at Emilia and then the picture frame of her younger self, the realization hit Jayden again like a truck. "No way." Jayden said. Emilia looked up and smiled at him.

"Yep again! That's me. I'm his daughter. Emilia Sylphion, former princess of the Kingdom of Ventus!" Emilia announced.

"The hell!? For real!?" Jayden asked in disbelief. He looked at Ziera and she just nodded with her arms crossed like it was obvious. "Man Emilia. For the last day I've gotten nothing but big reveals can't ya give a guy a break to process the rest first?" Jayden asked. Jayden was almost exhausted. To find out that the girl who saved him, Anna and his mother was not only royalty but the daughter of a former Guardian, he felt like nothing else could surprise him at that point.

"Tehehe sorry. Thought you should know since we'reteammates now. Also Tenjin was one of the royal guard members that served my father and protected me. After our kingdom fell he took us to the republic where he trained me to fight and we have been serving Midgard ever since. That's how I was able to meet Henro and later Ziera." Emilia explained.

"Wow. And Ziera you knew this whole time?" Jayden asked.

"Yep. Though only a select few in the republic know. Political reasons and such. Wouldn't be wise to announce to the world that a former princess of a fallen nation was working for the Republic." Ziera stated.

"Oh well that makes sense. And Emilia, I hope you don't mind me asking but, your nation, what was it like? Jayden asked.

"Hmmm." Emilia put her finger to her chin as she looked up at the ceiling. Well, the truth is I don't remember much about my nation. I was only a little girl so my memories of it are kinda foggy. But I remember it being so pretty, so fun and...just so free." Emilia said as she smiled.

"Being up there, flying above the clouds, is just so much fun. I love the feeling of the air hitting my face as I fly. I love being up there in the beautiful blue or night sky, seeing all the lands and people in the distance below. When I'm up there I feel truly free. Free from all my worries and sorrows, I just feel alive. For me, there's just no beating that feeling. And in Ventus you can see everyone, Garuda and Avian alike flying and being free.” Emilia stated.

“They say our races rule the skies but personally I don't think that's true. Before he died, my father taught me that the sky belongs to everyone. That it's our job to not rule it but to help the people of this world reach that sky and see the world above the clouds like we do. To hate that feeling of being free. And I agree. That's why I fight the Machina Empire and for the people of this world. Because I also think that everyone deserves to be free! Don't ya think?" Emilia asked with a big smile.

Her smile was innocent and pure. Jayden and Ziera smiled back, feeling the full extent of Emilia's cheerfulness. "Yeah. Definitely!" Jayden said.

Suddenly, the door to Tenjin's room opened. It was Tenjin himself staring at the trio. "What are you kids doing in my room?"

The three were stunned as their skin grew pale white. The trio then bolted from the room and down the hall in a hurry. "Quick! Let's get out of here before he catches us!" Jayden shouted.

"But Tenjin can catch up to us easily!" Emilia said.

"You're not helping Emilia!" Jayden shouted back.

Tenjin just stood there confused on what just transpired. "Sheesh. What's with them? Am I that unappealing?" Tenjin asked himself.

***

"Phew! We actually lost him." Jayden trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah only because he didn't chase after us." Ziera said.

"Oh and that's another thing. Why am I the only one out of breath here?" Jayden asked, breathing in and out. Ziera and Emilia were completely fine as they looked at Jayden.

"Android, Garuda and human. I think you can figure out the rest."Ziera said.

"Gee way to rub it in my face how sucky humans are in comparison." Jayden said.

"Oh I don't think you're sucky Jayden. Just below mediocre in stats." Emilia said with a smile.

"Henro is right Em you are more mean than you think you are." Ziera said blatantly.

"Hm?" Emilia was confused.

"You're both mean, how about that?" Jayden retorted.

"Well that was rude. I was going to go easy on you in training tomorrow but after that insult maybe I won't be so kind." Ziera said, crossing her arms.

"Oh yeah well.....uh don't think I'll go easy on you either just because you're a girl." Jayden retorted.

"My what a gentleman. I'll make myself feel only a little bad when I have you kissing my boot tomorrow." Ziera snapped back.

"Ha! You're on! I'm not going down without a fight." Jayden said.

"Right as if you can even put up one against me." Ziera snickered.

"What did you say!?" Jayden exclaimed. Jayden and Ziera were face to face arguing but Emilia began to laugh, catching their attention.

"Uh Em, what's so funny?" Ziera asked.

"Yeah I thought you hated when we all argued?" Jayden asked.

"Tehehe. Yeah but this isn't a real argument. It's just a competition between friends! It just makes me happy that we're all starting to get closer with each other!" Emilia said giggling.

Jayden and Ziera looked back at each other and then laughed to themselves. Then all three shared a joyful laugh with each other.

Emilia eventually stopped laughing. "Jayden. Ziera. Honestly, I did all of this in hopes of getting to know you both better. Jayden you're new and Ziera and I have only met twice. Once when she left the empire and only now on this mission. We never had the chance to really talk and I hate that. I hate it because I wanted fk be there for you Ziera." Emilia said. Ziera was taken back from hearing this.

"I may not know all the specifics of your past but I could tell you were hurting when you were forced to flee from your nation. I was the same. Jayden had to leave his town to keep his family safe. And Henro...well I can't say but he went through something similar. We all had to run just to survive. But I don't want to run anymore. I want to fight. I want to fight alongside you guys. That's why I want us all to get along, because I don't want to just be your teammates, I want to be your friends. If that's okay I mean." Emilia said looking down.

Jayden and Ziera stood there in silence for a bit not ouncing a word. They looked at each other and back at Emilia. Ziera walked up to Emilia and flicked her in the head. "Ouch". Emilia squealed.

"Wow you sure talk a lot you know that Em? I haven't known you for that long but now I feel like I've known you for too long with the amount of information you dropped on us today." Ziera said with a grin.

"Oh I didn't mean to annoy you I was just trying to-." Ziera covered her mouth with her hand.

"That being said, it's one of the things I like about you. You just know how to brighten the mood around here. The truth is when I came to the republic, I didn't plan on making any friends. I know I'm just a tool to be used by the Republic against Zenal so even when we met again I just wanted to do my job and ignore you. In fact I thought you were really annoying when we met again. Always so happy all the time and trying to bother me. I got so annoyed I almost felt like duck tape your mouth shut. I didn't want you or anyone else in my business. Even now I still can't tell you everything." Ziera said flat out.

"Ziera". Jayden said sadly. Emilia looked down with a sad expression.

"But, even after I treated you that way you were still worried about me. You came to save me even when you barely knew me. This idiot over here did the same thing." Ziera said.

"Hey!" Jayden shouted.

"Yeah idiots. The both of you. Saving a girl you barely know when she's nothing but a magnet for trouble I mean seriously what's wrong with you two? Sigh. But that being said, I'm glad you both did. You both showed me that maybe I don't have to distance myself so much around here. Like you said we're all friends now yeah?" Ziera asked with a bright smile.

Jayden blushed at her smile while Emilia began tearing up. "She's right, Em. It's like you said earlier we're all in this together. And while I may not like that jerk now, I'll try to get along with him for your sake I guess." Jayden said.

"Also, I may not be good at this sort of thing like you two are but.....well." Ziera blushed and started twisting her hair with her fingers. Jayden and Emilia caught it. Ziera's eyes closed and her face began to scrunch up and then:

"IF YOU GUYS EVER NEED TO TALK I'M HERE OKAY!?" Ziera shouted with a completely red face.

Ziera had kept her eyes closed for a few seconds and then she opened them to see both Jayden and Emilia smugley grinning at her. "Huh?" Ziera asked with a flushed face. Both Jayden and Emilia immediately grabbed onto her arms.

"ZIERA IS OPENING UP TO US! HUZZAH!" Jayden and Emilia shouted in unison. Crying their eyes out in joy.

"Uhhhh". Ziera had a blank face of embarrassment plastered all over her. Emilia hugged her arm tighter.

"Don't you worry Zeze! We'll be there to support you as well I promise!" Emilia said, wailing.

"Zeze!? Who the fuck is that!?" Ziera exclaimed.

"You're nickname? You don't like it?" Emilia asked

"I hate it! What kind of ridiculous nickname is that?" Ziera asked in embarrassment.

"Oh I got one!" Jayden called out.

"Don't you dare Cortez!" Ziera threatened.

"How about, Zuzu!?" Jayden asked happily.

"How about Zuzu shoves her foot up your as-."

"Oh I like it! It's super cute!" Emilia said excitedly.

"Isn't it!?" Jayden agreed.

"It's not! And both of you get off me already!" Ziera shouted trying to escape their grip.

"Come on Zuzu don't be like that!" Jayden said teasingly.

"He's right Zeze, we're all in this together!" Emilia said teasingly as well.

"I’m going to kick both your asses if you two don't get off me! This was a mistake! I'm going back tk being a hermit!" Ziera demanded.

"Oh don't do that bestie!" Emilia cried.

"I'm not your bestie!" Ziera shouted.

"Yeah don't do that to your bestie!" Jayden cried out.

"This is not real!" Ziera cried out.