Night descended over Kaiyumi as Iris rested in bed, her excitement for the morning keeping her up. She still had burning questions that could not be satisfied, but she did not dare trouble Arylos who was still sitting in his corner meditating like he did the previous night. What was his past like? Why did he forsake where he came from? Does he have parents? A family? He sounds lonely each time he talks about it.

But he’s a powerful Titan. Surely with that kind of power, how could you be lonely? Able to rip wings off of a valkyrie with your bare hands cannot be simple. Yet he did it with ease, like ripping up paper.

She quietly reached for Helion, leaning against the wall next to her, and pulled it under her sheets. No glowing red eyes from Arylos; that’s promising.

She pulled Helion out of its sheath a little, enough so she may speak to it.

“Are you there, Helion?” Iris mentally asked, trying to reach out.

For you, always. Helion responded.

“What can you tell me about Arylos?” Iris asked.

I am afraid little is known of Arylos. Helion answered. He is known as the Titan of Fire to man and an Elder Titan amongst his own kind. His history, however, is fragmented and incomplete so I cannot provide a complete answer.

“Well, how old is he?” Iris asked.

Titans have no age. Helion answered. They exist outside of the world we exist in and not subject to time. They are described as eternal spiritual beings with no defined birth or death.

Iris groaned. “What about family? Does he have any parents or the like?”

Arylos has no known progenitors nor known next of kin.

“No parents?” Iris couldn’t believe it, “how is that possible?”

According to ancient mythology, Titans are not born, but instead ‘arise’ as they say. Ancient lore mentions that Titans are born from a giant and endless sea from whence they rise from, fully aware of who and what they are. The mechanism for this process has never been understood as it requires access to the Titans’ homeworld; something no race has achieved as of yet.

“So the Titans do come from somewhere.” Iris realised, “what can you tell me about it? And about Titans in general.”

Little is known of the Titans save for few references, mainly made by the Templarians, Helion explained, however, such accounts borderline on the religious as the Templarians believed the Titans to be their gods. However Titans rarely interact with any races and when they do, their motives are completely unknown.

“Okay, tell me what the Templarians know,” Iris requested.

Titans, better known by their native name ‘Vlajhilsen’ or ‘Vlajhilsenyr’, are a race of spiritual beings who exist in a world beyond that of Reality; many would call them ‘transdimensional beings’ as they exist in a world beyond common understanding. The Titan’s homeworld is reportedly named ‘Mortehksun’ and is described as a dark expanse of mountains and oceans. The life cycle of a Titan is not known however it is known that the Titans have no progenitors nor children of their own, yet call each member of their race ‘Brother’.

“That is A LOT of information,” Iris exclaimed, not quite following, “then why is Arylos called an ‘Elder Titan’?”

The term ‘Elder Titan’ has no exact definition that is known outside of the Vlajhilsen race. The origin of such a term is varied and inconclusive; it is believed that it may be used to mark some kind of generational difference or a title based on the strength of a Titan. However, no exact definition for the term has been found.

So in summary, the Titans are a race of spiritual beings that come from a world outside all known worlds. Each Titan is said to have ‘risen’ from the ocean that resides in their homeworld, but little is known of their actual life or their life cycle.

“What about their culture?” Iris asked, “do they have legends of their own? Their own religion? Their own language?”

No information was found on the subject; the Vlajhilsen culture is unknown.

“That can’t be right,” Iris complained, “how can there be nothing known of their culture?”

Titans rarely interact with this world as they require a vessel, a body given to their spiritual selves to possess, in order to do so. Few Titans have interacted with any races in recent memory and only two of which have interacted with the Templarians; Arylos being one. The Titans have never interacted with Kaiyumi or similar worlds.

“And why don’t they?” Iris asked.

Unknown. The motives for the Titans interacting with this world and lack of interaction thereof is unknown. Their interactions are sparse, irregular, and inconsistent in action.

So basically, no one knows anything about the Titans save for the bare minimum. No one even knows why they interact with this world or why they don’t; only that they rarely do and no one knows why.

“Thank you,” Iris expressed before sheathing the sword and returning it to where it was. Effectively, that round of investigation told her little more than what Arylos shared himself, or at least seemed willing to share.

Hopefully, he will tell her one day. She may not understand what he’s saying or what a Titan really is, but she wants to at least try to understand, just like he is trying to understand her.