Chapter 23: Stifling

Melia opened her eyes, but may as well not have bothered, with the world just as pitch-black as when they were closed. She immediately thought back to the last time she had a near-death experience - the first assassination attempt - and noted how there was at least an infinite sky of stars to see then. The unbroken blackness this time around was far spookier.

Still, there was a glimmer of hope. She could feel that she still had a body, which implied she was still connected to the world of the living at least for now, though she was far too drained to do much more than wiggle her fingers and toes.

She tried to avoid thinking about the current situation, but it started the instant she became aware she didn't want to - thinking about how she was now alone in the forest, probably with severe ether deficiency, with no one likely to even consider the possibility she may need rescuing. It was likely the creatures of the forest would leave her limp and etherless body alone, but she would need to eat eventually, and the Nopon village was somewhere between one and four hours of walking away.

It was impossible to keep track of time, but it felt like only a few minutes had passed before something happened: gravity turned slantways, as if someone had pulled on the back of the universe's chair. Still unable to physically do anything, Melia helplessly tumbled down the featureless ground for several seconds until the world re-righted itself - at which point she became aware that she could now see.

Lying face-up, there seemed to be a fire behind her, illuminating the forest around - except it wasn't the same forest. All of the trees were a ghostly grey with no leaves, and the ground was bare dirt covered with dead branches. The sky was a sickly chartreuse with thin, eerie, magenta clouds circling, the sun a black hole in the sky.

Melia was legitimately scared now. The new appearance of the world perfectly matched a lesser theory of the afterlife - that of a parallel land of the dead, where souls persist as skeletal figures while hoping to be reborn after working off their sins. She desperately clung to the hope that it was simply her overactive imagination envisioning all this.

Focusing all her energy, she managed to roll over onto her front, letting her see the fire - which turned out not to be a fire at all, but a large man made of fire. His hair and wings were the most energetic flames, burning white-hot while the rest of him covered the spectrum of warm colours.

A man of fire is not part of this specific mythology, Melia considered. This is a good sign for my...er, well-being.

Looking around further, she spotted five other figures. Standing beside the man of fire was a slightly smaller man composed of wind, his form nothing but an infinite cluster of leaves and petals swirling around. Next in line was a man of earth, clad in rocky armour shaped like the Bionis, wielding a blade composed of a bright-glowing venom. On the other side stood a figure of nothing but electricity, its gender indeterminate, with no physical form but a triangular metal plate in its chest. The fifth being was a woman of water, her wings foamy but her body calm. Last in line appeared to be an older man composed of ice with snowy wings, a weak blizzard surrounding him. All of the figures were facing away from her.

These seem to be...representations of my elementals? "Hhhh...helh..." Speaking was quite a challenge; her mouth was as slack and unresponsive as the rest of her. "...helwloh? Hello?"

Melia could somehow sense that she knew the figures had heard her, but they made no effort to respond. She wanted to try again but couldn't get any more words out. The world started turning dark again.

"...ehl! Eheehhlph!"

The last thing she saw was the earthy figure turn his head and give her a slight, sideways glance.

It felt like the real world was coming back into focus; Melia could again feel sunlight and hear the forest rustling. She also thought she heard someone speaking, but that was clearly an illusion; no Nopon would dare venture to where a Telethia just was.

"...where am I?" The words escaped her mouth basically unconsciously. She seemed much less tired than she expected. She cast her eyes across the living forest, relieved to be still part of it.

A second voice seemed to be speaking now. Melia ignored it, assuming it was yet another figment of her imagination.

I seem to have recovered reasonably well. I must return to the Nopon village immediately and determine how long I have been unconscious for, before seeking out the Telethia once again, hopefully before it has recovered from its injuries. A creature of its nature cannot hide-

What is this on my arm?!

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" The Telethia's paws still fresh in her mind, Melia located the face of the person touching her and slapped it as hard as she could manage.

"Hey, watch it!" The voice came from what was apparently a group of three Homs, the fourth being the one she had lashed out at.

The remorse was instant. "F-Forgive me. I-I did not mean to..." Something was twiddling the back of her mind, and it did not take long to recall why: the man she had slapped was "a boy of pale skin and golden hair", just like Alvis had said. And there sure was a black void just a moment ago.

"Sorry if we surprised you." The victim looked unfazed by the rude reception.

At least my thoughtless action has not instantly turned him against me. I must determine whether I awoke on my own, or these strangers provided assistance. "Are you the ones who helped me?"

The blond made a half-shrug motion. "Well, something like that."

Drat. That means being knocked out indefinitely is a risk that will continue to loom upon re-engaging the Telethia. I shall have to be exceptionally careful.

As she stood up, Melia took stock of the rest of the Homs group: a strongly-muscled man with a huge weapon on his back, an older man with a sword and what looked like an injured right arm, and a young woman with an ether rifle. It was unclear who exactly performed the healing that revitalised her, though it would have to have been quite strong to directly wake her from what was pretty much a coma.

I suppose I shall have to introduce myself. "Excuse me. My name is Melia." Drat, it slipped my mind to use Mel as I usually do when anonymous. And I guess an explanation of my behaviour is in order. "Forgive my indiscretion. I have not had the pleasure of coming into contact with a male Homs." Wait no, that came out wrong, I mean-

"Coming into contact?" The older man chuckled.

"Hey Shulk. You're creeping this lady out." The big redhead was taking it in fun, but the blond did not approve.

"Shut up, Reyn!"

Hmph. Quite untrue. "This large one is far worse." Oh for...how did that thought escape? Clearly I remain under some residual effects; my mind is not where it needs to be.

"Me?" The other Homs laughed at the big guy for being the butt of the put-down. Melia did not share their sentiment; she wanted the group to continue on their way so she could regroup on her own.

But the seer's vision...there can be no doubt it refers to this blond Homs, and not a half-blood as I originally suspected. Are we to meet again in the future? Or should I join this group for a short while? They may indeed deserve some sort of reward for helping me.

"Melia, is it? How did you get here, then? What, is there no one with you?" The woman was the first to ask the unpleasant questions.

Having saved my life or not, they are still Homs, and there is no reason to reveal anything of my nature or mission to them. "I must apologise, but my situation does not concern you. And I shall not be divulging anything to common passers-by."

"Duly noted, your ladyship." The older man had a smooth voice, and it was becoming clear that his right arm was disabled rather than simply injured. "But if I were to be so bold, I'm guessing that you didn't come here alone, and you weren't just taking an afternoon nap."

Melia could feel her lips tightening in irritation. "And what, may I ask, are you doing here? It is rare to see Homs venture this deep into Makna Forest."

"We're travelling to the head of the Bionis. We've got a long journey ahead of us."

As the blond turned towards the distant head, Melia got her first good look at the weapon on his back - a curious sword-like object with no edge and a large hole near the hilt. Could that be the "sword of light" from the vision? It certainly has a unique shape. But wait...they're going to the Bionis' head? "The head of the Bionis?"

The redhead nodded. "We were just figuring out how to get there when we found you."

"I see." That is strange indeed. What could a Homs have to do at the Bionis' head? There have been no Homs colonies there for decades. I am intrigued. "Then permit me to return the favour by aiding you in your quest."

"Really?"

"There is only one path to the head of the Bionis. It is the path that leads to Eryth Sea." It was not technically true, but she'd need a map to locate the Trapezius Passage, and there was no way she was entering the Spinal Spiral in her current state. The seabridge at Apex Lake was the only reasonable option.

"So this Eryth Sea is at the head of the Bionis?" the redhead asked.

The fire on his head must burn from the air that fills it. "If you would be kind enough to escort me out of the forest, I will show you the way." That should be a simple way to both help these travellers and get me back to my mission quickly.

"You'd do that?!" The blond seemed legitimately surprised. "Thank you, Melia! I'm Shulk. Pleased to meet you."

"Shulk, ah yes, likewise." It would have been nice for Alvis to give her the name of who he had seen, but she supposed visions didn't work that way. "And your companions are?"

"Oh, well, Reyn is the big guy and Sharla is our medic. And Dunban is the old hand, maybe you've heard of him."

The name was indeed familiar to her, though she couldn't place why. "Perhaps. I am not current with the popular Homs."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Dunban gave off a distinctly unflappable aura, very much like Kallian. Perhaps he is also an older brother, or maybe a father.

Anyway, we should get going. "We shall travel to the Nopon village."

"Nopon village? That's where we've been heading. We reckon it's our best chance of making it to the top."

...really? Interesting. Correct, but for likely the wrong reasons. "Since inhabiting the region, the Nopon have been a great help. You can travel to Eryth Sea from their village."

"It's settled. We'll make our way to the Nopon village."

"Very well. The Nopon inhabit a giant tree. If we follow this trail, we will be safe." Well, safer than crossing through the forest proper would be.

The group of five started moving towards the village. It wasn't ten minutes before reaching an obstacle in the path: a pair of Inferno Deinos, still a decent ways away, but clearly quite happy with where they were standing.

Dunban drew his weapon. "Melia, let's learn each others' fighting styles. We'll need to be prepared in case we find big trouble."

I suppose that is true. "Very well." Melia readied her staff. "I am a practitioner of ether arts. Observe." She put one of the two Deinos to sleep with Hypnotise and attracted the other one's attention by striking it with a summoned bolt. The enraged creature started dashing towards the group.

Melia next put effort into an earth summon. But it was immediately apparent that she was still suffering from her bout with ether deficiency, as after five seconds the defensive elemental had yet to appear. Upset with her new handicaps, she switched to summoning an aqua, which also took a sizeable three seconds to produce.

"Bring it on!" Reyn grabbed the Deinos' attention before it reached Melia, and from there the rest of the party started attacking it.

My performance bodes very poorly for continuing my mission. Melia started iterating across all the non-burst arts she knew and attempting each one of them. Frustratingly, everything she had learned later than summoning aquas was too unfocused or too slow to utilise in battle, and even aquas were dangerously sluggish. It looks like I'll be stuck with a limited palette for a while. So do I go after the weakened Telethia immediately with few arts, or allow both it and myself to recover?

She turned her attention back to the battle at hand; the first Deinos was very weak, while the second had finally woken up and joined in. She summoned her three currently-usable elementals and let their auras boost the rest of the group as she observed how they fought. Reyn and Dunban held the monsters' attention, while Shulk attacked from behind and Sharla supplied boosts from afar. Like a well-oiled machine, they had little trouble dispatching the two creatures.

"That wasn't so bad." Shulk replaced his weapon on his back and turned to Melia. "Are you feeling okay? You looked like you had some trouble there."

Melia sighed regrettably. "I am still under the lingering effects of ether deficiency. My more advanced ether arts are not functioning sufficiently enough to be usable in battle." I should be practicing them every chance I get, including during this walk to the Nopon village, to speed up my recovery. I might as well begin with aquas and proceed in the same order in which I learned them. How long will it take to re-train them to usable levels? Depending on the severity of the deficiency, it could very well be days or even weeks. How many arts do I truly need to defeat a Telethia?

"That's no big deal," Sharla said. "We all have a few techniques we're just not ready to bring to the table yet. I've been practicing Aura Bullet recently; it's close to being battle-ready."

It may be "no big deal" to you, but it is very much not so for me. Without all my elementals, I am unbalanced towards offence, which is not supposed to be my primary strategy.

The group continued their journey towards the village. The four Homs made irrelevant small talk between themselves. They didn't seem fully prepared to include Melia in their normal conversations, which suited her just fine; she made no effort to listen to them, and instead focused on repeatedly summoning aquas. She did first attempt to read their personal ether signatures to try and get a better idea of who they were, but the sheer amount of life in the forest made it difficult enough to single out any one being's ether that it was probably not worth the hassle. She could however note that Shulk's weapon was emitting a very peculiar signature, a pattern she'd never seen before, which at the very least would help if she somehow ended up separated from the group.

"Say, Melia?" Shulk was the first one to try and include their new travelling companion. "Um, what's the story with your hair? You look a little young to be going grey already." He let out a nervous half-chuckle.

Melia instinctively got huffy at the formulation of the question. "I assure you this colouration is normal at my age."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He paused for a bit. "So grey hair is normal for...for wherever you're from?"

What is he trying to... It took a moment for Melia to realise that her moisture headdress concealed her wings to the point where she could be mistaken for a silver-haired Homs. She originally assumed that the group's lack of surprise at her appearance was that they were aware of the High Entia, given that they were in Makna Forest, the lowest part of the Bionis where her people were considered to have a presence. Yet in fact they simply thought her to be Homs, and likely had no idea her people existed.

"...Indeed it is." I'll need to be careful then. Even if the seer did somewhat tell me to follow these strangers, I can't simply reveal my true nature. It would raise too many unanswerable questions.

Shulk nodded. "So it must be a little weird to see people like us, then? With all our different-coloured hair?"

"I was aware that Homs of the lower colonies have...different physical characteristics." I really shouldn't be this dismissive. I do need to be secretive, but it does me no good to simply stomp out their conversations. "Though...I have not personally seen an array this diverse." Not entirely true I suppose, as I have been to Colony 7, but that mission is top-secret anyway.

"What, have you eaten a thesaurus recently?" Reyn chuckled at his own joke.

That's quite a big word for you to know. "I am educated in many things. Vocabulary is indeed one of them."

Dunban laughed. "Don't you worry about Reyn's unique brand of intellect, madam."

Shulk and Sharla joined Dunban's laughing.

"Hey now, what's that supposed to mean?" Reyn tried to snarl in disgust, but couldn't do so without revealing that he too was slightly amused.

The conversation went off on some other tangent, which Melia once again ignored after confirming she was not part of it. Still, she was starting to understand the current group dynamic: Shulk and Reyn were close friends, Dunban was both friend and role model, and Sharla was a more recent addition that was not yet completely assimilated.

It didn't take long for her to become quite uncomfortable with the current situation. The jungle heat was slowly rendering her ever sweatier. The occasional fight against aggressive wildlife repeatedly reminded her how stunted her arts were, and the one time a chain attack was launched she was so unprepared that she didn't even get to participate. Her legs were starting to get sore from the ceaseless walking over the uneven terrain, her high-heeled footwear proving to be a hindrance when not on perfectly level ground. Every now and then, she would be roped into the Homs' conversation, where she had to satisfactorily answer their queries while providing as little actual information as possible. And all the while, she had to hope that the Telethia wouldn't decide to reappear out of nowhere, surely eradicating the Homs within seconds and probably her shortly afterwards. To call her stress elevated would be an understatement.

This has been a most unpleasant day.

Melia was lying in the sixth bunk up of the Homhom Hotel, a building in Frontier Village built to house up to ten visiting Homs. It was tolerable, but nothing like what she was used to. Unable to sleep, she kept recounting the day's events over and over again.

She had subconsciously divided the day into four parts. The first part was the nervous preparation, the arrival in the forest to speak to the Nopon and search for the Telethia. The second part was the massacre, where her lifelong companions were all killed within seconds, and she ended up doing not much more than wounding the creature for the cost of most of her arts and almost her own life. The third part was meeting the group of four Homs and traipsing through the forest alongside them. And the fourth part was getting back to the village, being forced to spill the nature of her mission, and now stuck in these subpar accommodations.

The Nopon of Frontier Village acted in good faith, but ultimately did not know much about other races' needs other than "bigger". They had no facilities available aside from basically an outhouse - it took Melia over five minutes to work up the courage to use it, and felt terribly unclean afterwards. Dinner was a hodgepodge of fruit, plants, and fungi alongside a fish or two, which was not all that bad, but carried a very strong aftertaste that she had to use a lot of water to wash away. She ate alone of course; she couldn't bear to show her disgusted face to anyone, and it was only after dinner that Shulk and the others insisted on joining her cause.

Of course, she never expected to spend the night away from Alcamoth; she probably could have squeezed her nightgown and toothbrush into her travel pouch, but had no reason to do so. As a result, she had to now try and sleep while wearing her sweat-soaked clothes, which had been too drenched during the day for the advanced meta-materials to thin it out. It wouldn't be as bad if she had the chance to take a short swim somewhere, but without the sun to dry off with, that would have to wait until the morning. And while she knew that going one day without brushing her teeth wouldn't be the end of the world, it still left her feeling as anxious as losing a shoe.

Nervously fidgeting away under the large leaves sown together to form a blanket, Melia constantly dipped her hand into her travel pouch to check that everything was still there. The temptation was strong to use the remote to summon the Illustrious Alighting, use the return function to get back to Alcamoth, report on what happened, have a proper rest, collect several more warriors, and return in the morning to avenge her comrades and finish the mission. But it would be extremely rude to simply abandon the Homs, one of which held her attention for almost certainly being the subject of Alvis' vision, and it didn't matter how many protectors she could side with if the strongest she knew were utterly obliterated.

By the same token, she didn't really know what kind of help any number of Homs could provide, much less a ragtag group of four. They seemed quite committed to helping her out instead of leaving her be, and while she recognised that they filled roles she could never fit into, there was a distinct lack of offensive ether skills present. There was apparently going to be a Nopon too, but they'd meet him tomorrow, and she had even more trouble believing that a Nopon would do any good against a Telethia. After all, for all their big talk, most Nopon were utter pushovers.

After what seemed like forever, she finally felt like she might be going to sleep, repeating the same words in her head over and over again.

I haven't failed yet. I have been granted a reprieve by the powers that be, to get me on my feet quicker and fight the monster earlier than otherwise possible. I don't have my protectors, but I have a point of retreat and a point to prove.

I won't fail again.

Melia didn't get much sleep. While her dreamcatcher back home was outgunned by her strong mind, it at least helped somewhat; here in the wilderness, she faced the full force of a variety of nightmares, mostly centering around what had happened the previous day. Given that, she was somewhat surprised she didn't feel all that tired - being unconscious for a time in the middle of the day probably helped.

Sick of laying in bed stewing, she slowly and carefully clambered down to the floor. The four Homs were all either still asleep or doing a good job of faking it, and took no notice of her. With the Nopon at the front desk also still asleep, she left the Homhom Hotel without issue.

This is the perfect chance to give these clothes a wash. Melia knew the closest source of water was a reservoir at the base of the village. Only a few early-rising Nopon were about, and they mostly ignored her as she stepped down the tree to reach the lake.

Leaving her staff, shoes, and travel pouch on the shore, she rushed into the water and submerged herself quickly. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't all that warm either. Struggling to stay afloat with her cape and sleeves impeding her motion, she only spent half a minute in the water before getting out and laying down to dry in the early-morning sun.

With nothing else to do while she waited to dry, she began practicing summoning aquas. Progress was quick; she felt confident that it would once again be at full power before the day was out, and she could then move to re-training Healing Gift.

Can I really expect the Homs to provide any effective assistance with the Telethia? Shulk claims that he defeated some of its spawn, and while his friends seem to believe him, there is no evidence of it. I was not even aware that larger Telethia were capable of spawning smaller ones, though it does make a degree of sense given that they are primarily ether-based creatures, like nebulae. The question is, what is the underlying mechanism? Can it simply spawn at any time, or does it need an impetus? I would hope it is the latter, as otherwise it would just continue producing more and more enemies and become undefeatable.

What kind of impetus could it be? The only option that comes to mind is to cast off an excess of ether. If so, its physical form must have a limited capacity for ether energy, and forcing it to absorb more than it can handle may be an effective way to terminate it. But if that's not the case, I could simply be making it stronger in the attempt. It did seem to be displeased as opposed to rejuvenated when I utilised Burst End.

Or perhaps the impetus was its...its absorbing of...of my companions. Delayed, but turning its defeated foes into allies. That is a terrible prospect. If that is the case, it is more critical than ever for everyone to survive future encounters with it - but is this an argument for sending more or fewer fighters into the battle?

Melia's thoughts were interrupted by a series of blurs dropping from the sky and impacting the water hard, making huge splashes.

What the... She sat up to see that the four Homs had dove into the reservoir, probably from the highest point in the village.

"Oh hi Melia!" Shulk waved. "So you took an early bath too then?" The others also acknowledged her.

"Er...yes, indeed." Melia quickly closed her eyes and laid back down. She was not okay with how much skin she had just seen, and strongly suspected that at least one of the Homs was completely naked.

She listened to them chatter as they swam around for a bit. Apparently, some Nopon had offered to make them locale-appropriate clothing, and they wanted to wash off before going to pick it up and then meeting the so-called "Heropon".

After a bit, she heard them getting out of the water and walking by.

"Have you eaten, Melia?" Dunban asked.

"No." I suppose it is time for breakfast.

"Well, you'd better come with us, then," Reyn cut in. "We've got some new threads to pick up, then it's grub time."

"Mmm." Melia was still scared of opening her eyes, with the image of the four travellers with no regard for personal modesty still disturbingly fresh in her mind. They probably weren't actually naked, but it sure seemed so to her quick glance.

Waiting for several minutes to ensure their departure, she finally got up and started making her way back into the giant tree. Aiming for where dinner had been served yesterday, she was interrupted by a middle-aged purple Nopon.

"Bird Lady wait!" she called. "Bird Lady has not gone to tailorpon with Hom Homs?"

Melia was confused. "Why? I know of no reason to do so."

"Bird Lady not know?" The Nopon shook her head as best as a Nopon could do. "Tailorpons offer forest clothes to Hom Homs. Hom Homs ask to include Bird Lady, so tailorpons make five outfits. Tailorpons always wanted to try skill at big Hom Hom clothes, so you no disappoint them! Go see tailorpons now! Then eat!"

Oh what is this now, whose idea was this, I'm not-

"Ah, Bird Lady here." A blue Nopon with thick glasses, a bag full of spools, and depth perception issues had arrived. He started bumping into Melia's legs repeatedly, unaware of how close he was. "Come, Rifirif show you his night's work."

Oh fine then. Melia reluctantly started moving in the indicated direction. I'm not putting it on though, whatever it is. And could you please cease with the "bird lady" designation? Eventually one of the Homs might catch on.

Rifirif led her to what was presumably a tailorshop. Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban were already there and dressed in their new outfits, with Sharla just exiting the one Homs-sized changing hut - a tribal-looking hodgepodge of animal skins, patchy fabric, flowers, feathers, and body paint. About eight Nopon tailors were gathered around, reveling in their work.

I can see the theme they're going for here - jungle materials with a focus on breathability. But they clearly have yet to completely understand the non-Nopon form. Look at poor Sharla, she would be better off-

"Very nice," Sharla commented, sending the tailors into a titter. "It's a bit risqué, but once in a while you just gotta show it off, you know? And all these fluffy bits sticking out will be like heat sinks for my rifle. For a first try at something for a Homs woman, it's superb. What do you think, Melia?"

Somewhat stunned by both Sharla's reaction and the invitation to comment, Melia remained silent for a bit. "...I...er...I appreciate the consistent style across your four costumes, but it is...it is not to my personal tastes." She realised that she was staring at Shulk's exposed chest and immediately refocused on the changing hut.

Reyn ruffled the feathers of his impressive-looking headdress. "C'mon, don't be like that, you haven't even tried yours yet."

One of the tailorpons passed a bag to Rifirif, who pushed it into Melia's hands. "Rifirif much proud of his Bird Lady clothes. Rifirif cannot wait to see in use."

The worst part is, I can still imagine this day becoming even worse. Somehow. Thoroughly dejected and unwilling to simply take the rude way out, Melia took the bag and dragged her feet as she walked into the changing hut and closed the door.

Spilling the contents of the bag out on the small table, she took stock of the various costume parts. One top-like thing, one bottom-like thing, two objects that resembled gloves, two tubes that probably went on the legs somehow, two groups of flowers tied together, and a pair of sandals. Also on the table was a couple of jars of body paint.

What a mess. She held up the patterned fabric to the light. That's a nice brooch I suppose, but the rest of it...It looks like a combination of rejects from other outfits. It's not even remotely symmetrical. My twenty-year-old self could design better clothes than this.

Immensely disgusted but seeing no alternative, she resignedly changed into the Nopon-made garments. Eventually, all that was left were the two groups of flowers. She supposed they were to be stuck in her hair somehow, but as this would require removing her moisture headdress and revealing her wings to the Homs, she refused to do so. She had to keep some shred of dignity intact.

Carefully rolling her actual clothes up and packing them into the bag, she looked in the mirror. I've seen homeless people dressed better than this, and now I have to show myself to complete strangers in it. Crossing arms to hide her exposed belly, she gingerly stepped outside.

Dunban was first to comment. "You sure don't seem comfortable with it. It's written all over your face."

"It looks good though," added Shulk. "What do you think?"

"...I remain of the opinion that, while stylistically successful, it is not to my preference."

The Nopon tailors looked a bit down about the response, but seemed to understand it was a personal issue, and not something they did wrong.

"Don't fret it," Sharla said. "Everyone's dealt with that one outfit once in their lives. If it really bugs you that much, you can just change back after breakfast, all right?"

Why should I wait- no, don't be that forceful. Don't upset them into retracting their offer to help. "I believe I will. To breakfast, then."

The journey through the forest to find the Telethia was proceeding. Whether it was proceeding well or poorly couldn't really be distinguished. But at the very least, Heropon Riki thought he had a lead, and was guiding the rest of the party towards it.

Melia wasn't really feeling all that much different from yesterday. She still felt massively out of place among the group of Homs, and it was tricky to practice Healing Gift when on the move. Riki was an entertaining person to be around, but she could just tell that he would eventually do something or other to blow her cover, and Riki was having more fun talking with the Homs than with her. Mercifully, the weather was a bit cooler, just enough so that her re-donned clothes could deal with the sweat without issue.

The trek itself was much more of a pain. There was no path towards where Riki was leading them, meaning they had to walk through the wild jungle and avoid a wide selection of massive beasts. Crossing a river with no bridge would have been the worst part, but Melia got a reprieve - before she could figure out how to navigate the chest-deep waters without being taken by the current or ruining her shoes, Reyn picked her up and carried her to the other side. It was both relieving and jarring, to be carted around so easily without difficulty nor permission by a complete stranger.

Aside from that one segment, there wasn't much for Melia to do during the walk aside from think. Riki had shown himself to be quite a good fighter in dispatching the few creatures they couldn't avoid, showing equal ability in both physical and ether combat, as well as an exceptional amount of endurance for a Nopon. He seemed to have a bit of trouble attracting enemy attention - he just couldn't present himself as a threat compared to a Homs - but otherwise seemed like a good candidate for helping defeat a Telethia.

Perhaps Riki was not chosen as Heropon solely for his debt after all. It is a very small sample size, but he is the most capable Nopon fighter I have ever seen.

There were other things to think about, of course. Melia still had no effective access to half her elementals nor Reflection, which left her with no way to protect against incoming damage. If the battle were to turn sour, it felt like there was a very good chance it would end badly much faster than the previous day's. After all, none of the four Homs had more than one ether attack. Shulk didn't even have any at all, to her knowledge. It was difficult to have confidence in such a group having a chance against a Telethia, even one that might not have fully recovered from the previous day's fight. The only hope they had, as she could see it, was a successful Mind Blast - which she couldn't practice on a whim, and still had to survive long enough to build up.

Then again, Shulk was adamant about the claim that he had killed three smaller Telethia, and from his description of them they weren't infants like the one she had dispatched by herself. Yet he had shown no evidence in the battles they had fought that he even knew any ether attacks. It was a boggling mismatch.

Of course, the strangest thing about Shulk wasn't even related to any of that at all: he claimed that he was having visions of the future, some of which involved her. She initially dismissed these claims as flatly impossible - only Alvis and his bloodline were capable of foresight, and there was no way some random Homs from a lower colony could be related. But every now and then he would call out a specific incoming enemy attack in a battle, and he was correct every time without fail, with his friends using the information to divert the attack or halt it altogether. The more it happened, the less likely it could simply be luck. Having foresight would certainly be a massive asset against a Telethia - but two precognitive opponents seemed to cause a paradox, where both would enter an infinite loop of reading the foe's action and changing their next action to suit. It felt like neither would have a true advantage over the other.

"What is this?" Riki's voice roused her from her thoughts. "Riki never see before!"

The group was approaching an enormous fire ether crystal deposit, the biggest one in the forest by far. But something was very wrong with the surrounding landscape: all the plants nearby were the same lifeless shade of grey.

"This not Riki's Makna! Riki never see before!" The view was clearly quite upsetting; he was jottering around like mad.

"To think it has caused this much damage." Melia spoke mostly to herself, but said it out loud simply to inform the others that the relative expert among them was equally disturbed. She had known it was possible for a large Telethia to do this, but it was more of a theoretical conclusion than a known certainty. Seeing it firsthand was something else.

Sharla looked quizzical. "What do you mean?"

Dunban seemed equally incredulous. "Are you telling me the Telethia did this?" He glanced down towards his right arm, as if he was confused as to why it hadn't suffered a similar colourless fate.

Yes, what else would it be? "Telethia absorb and drain the surrounding area of all its ether." Which means it must be close by; it wouldn't simply leave a crystal deposit this large.

Shulk raised a finger of conclusion. "That's it! The Telethia is sucking up all the ether, which is causing the natural environment to change." His hand naturally landed on his chin as he considered what this could mean.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Melia mentally slapped the automatic insult out of her head. Homs science was eons behind her people's, so of course this would be a revelation as opposed to a decently-widely-known fact. To be honest, she didn't know if Homs knew of Telethia in general. Still, Shulk was beginning to wander off a bit, clearly distracted by whatever he was thinking about. He needed to be given a reminder.

"Shulk, the Telethia can read your mind. Expect it to know what you will do before you do it."

Shulk snapped back to attention and turned to face her. "I know. I'll aim for its antenna and stop its ability to read my thoughts. With the Monado at our side, it doesn't stand a chance."

Melia knew that Shulk was confident, but didn't expect such a foregone battle plan. Shulk has only met Telethia once, and they were merely the spawn. So why is he so sure of himself? Is it confidence or a trust in something? "It is much more powerful than its offspring. Do not expect it to fall so easily."

"I won't." He glanced towards the weapon on his back. "But we have to trust in the Monado."

Yes. It is trust. He trusts in the power of that sword. What did he say it was called? The Monado? I see...that name seems familiar for some reason. Wait, what's that sound?

A dissonant roar was coming out of the sky and increasing in volume. Just a few seconds later, the Telethia could be seen approaching from the direction they had came from.

Reyn was the first to say something as everyone prepared their weapons. "Stick together everyone."

"Dinobeast! Big as Riki imagined!" Riki hopped around as he fumbled with his biter. Perhaps "fumbled" was not the right word, as he had no problem taking hold of it, but everything he did had a strong appearance of uncontrollable randomness to it.

"The Telethia!" Melia looked up as it circled around the drained landscape. Further words flowed without thought. "I take this chance to bring vengeance for my brethren and fulfill my duty! Shulk! I will trap it and cease its movement. Strike when the time is right!"

"Melia!" Shulk called towards her as she dashed towards the beast.

She stopped at a convenient location to cut off the enemy. It was still circling quite fast, as if it was observing the group more than wishing to fight.

Seeing the Telethia up close brought back the memories of the previous day's battle even stronger than before. It again felt like her companions had been killed just seconds ago. She could feel the emotions building up, and the instinct was to direct them through her staff again, but that would not be the right answer this time.

Melia closed her eyes in concentration as she siphoned the feelings out of her chest and into her hand. There was quite a bit more ammunition available than the previous day's attempt at using a burst art without a burst aura: in addition to just the rage and shock of her friends' deaths, there was the fear of failure in front of the Homs and the indignation of being forced to spend a night in the wilderness. Combined, it was no longer a last-ditch attempt to survive, but a directed charge of pure revenge.

"Be still!"

She unloaded the golden energy in the Telethia's direction. Unable to avoid the cone of ether, it lost momentum and tumbled to the ground.

I'm not sure how you didn't see that one coming. I didn't exactly make it hard to guess. She could feel the vitriol drip from her mental words just like the ether was dripping from her hand. She wondered if Telethia were capable of reading inner monologues in the same way they could read minds.

But that didn't matter. Yesterday gave her an inkling, and she had just now confirmed it: mass amounts of emotion allowed her to unleash burst arts without needing to have a burst aura active. It was a trump card she'd have to be careful not to abuse, lest she grow too accustomed to the feeling and subsequently be unable to drum up enough emotion in the future.

Melia watched Riki bash the Telethia in the toe. Her successful Mind Blast already had her in a much better position than yesterday. It was time to fight it for real.