Chapter 10: Palpitation

With assent that everyone was ready, Melia tapped a button on the touchscreen of her ship and stepped off.

Five seconds later, the vessel took off and dove beneath Agniratha, tracing a series of Erythscript "j"s through the sky as it returned to its hangar in Alcamoth. Within minutes, the allied force would begin its assault on Mechonis.

"The Second Battle of Sword Valley," Dunban mused. "We never thought there would be another, much less one without the Monado."

Shulk nodded. "It's too bad that the Machina couldn't figure out how to replicate it in time, but we couldn't wait much longer."

"Let's get going then," Reyn said. "Give Egil his chance, or give him the beatdown."

The party approached the Shrine Transporter, its opposite end faintly visible in the distance. There was a sense of confidence among them - that no matter what was about to happen, it would be a big step towards bringing peace to the world.

The feeling was interrupted pretty quickly.

"Look out!" Shulk grabbed the Monado and deflected an energy shot from above.

Jade Face appeared from overhead and landed in front of the transporter. The message was clear - they'd have to fight him to get through.

"It's him! Gadolt!" Sharla was the only one to not draw her weapon as the battle lines were drawn.

Gadolt didn't step out of the cockpit this time. "You are too skilled with the Monado. You cannot be permitted to live."

Sharla continued to step in front of the others. "Gadolt, stop! Why are you fighting us?! Remember who you are!"

Reyn pulled her back. "Get off it! We don't have time for this. If this guy don't feel like playing nice, too bad."

The fight began. It wasn't clear at first, but it didn't really seem like Gadolt was trying all that hard - he was keeping up his defences, but wasn't launching many attacks, and those he did fire were often glancing blows that were easily healed up. It felt like something was amiss.

Riki was the first to vocalise the feeling. "Something not right, Riki feels. Big green Mechon easy-peasy to swooshdodge."

"Now that you mention it, I agree," Dunban replied. "He's fighting us to a stalemate."

"That's because he's still in there somewhere!" Sharla continued to fire healing rounds into the others, making no attacks of her own.

"Absurd!" Gadolt continued to fire back. "There is no previous to my being. It is perfect in body and mind, as Egil intended, so his will may be done."

Reyn looked around and noticed something. "Oh yeah? Explain all those marks on the floor around Sharla then, you're makin' a big show of it but haven't landed a scratch on 'er! Ain't you supposed to be a crack shot? Or did that pile of junk you call a body mess up your aim?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Gadolt fired an array of beams. Yet even though they hit their targets square in the chest, they didn't really hurt all that much, and it was obvious once the smoke cleared that Sharla was again completely unscathed.

"You're right, Reyn!" Shulk was the first to get back to this feet. "He's missing Sharla on purpose!"

"Then we ain't got nothin' to worry about!" Reyn wiped off some sweat and charged back in.

As the others fought, Melia remained mostly idle, allowing her elementals to boost them while keeping herself from being seen as a threat. She didn't actively participate much in the battles against the Mechon on Mechonis; she was still using the Imperial Staff after all, as opposed to an anti-Mechon weapon like the others, and she was far more useful as a support asset in general than an attacker. Aside from judicious burst arts and well-placed Starlight Kicks, she left the heavy lifting to everyone else.

But with the realisation that Gadolt wasn't putting his all into the fight, she felt an odd sensation start to emanate from Meyneth's chestplate. It seemed like a strange combination of hunger and bloodlust - a stark departure from the melancholy sadness from last time they had fought Jade Face.

What am I supposed to do with this feeling? Melia tried to shut off the battle ambience to listen deeper. Clearly Meyneth wishes me to change my strategy to be more offensive, but to what end? What is her true objective?

The strange hunger slowly grew. It didn't take too long to recognise what it wanted: ether, and lots of it. The bloodlust was probably a hint towards what Meyneth planned to do with it: some sort of large-scale attack. It felt a bit odd for Meyneth to look towards offence rather than defence, but she surely had a reason - perhaps she had spotted a weakness that couldn't be communicated to the others without allowing the enemy to protect it. Melia's own Spear Break was similar - no one else was able to follow up on it - so it was certainly a possibility.

If ether is all that you need, that shall be no trouble. Already not far from a burst aura, Melia fired off some elementals to get over the hump. Each one only made the hunger and bloodlust stronger, which while contrary to her expectations wasn't surprising enough to feel like changing her mind. She continued to shoot.

Dunban was the first to notice that Melia was making it harder for him and Reyn to keep Gadolt's attention. "Melia, do not overstep your role!"

Melia didn't really hear the advice. She'd already discharged more than enough elementals for her burst aura to reach critical mass, but it still merely hovered on the brink, and could feel its energy being drained as she left it alone. It was already hard enough for her to resist firing the last elemental every time the empowering aura was close to completion, so when combined with the ever-strengthening desire that Meyneth had, trying to cross the finish line became outright addicting.

"Melly quiet down! Too much aggro!" Riki joined in the fight to try and keep the enemy distracted, hopping on its head and smacking it repeatedly, but the giant Mechon continued to turn towards what he had now decided was his primary threat.

Melia was now panting heavily, fanning her staff back and forth like a tennis player volleying at the net, firing bolts with every swing. She felt so close, why wasn't it working, it has to be any moment now-

Gadolt backhanded her. She hadn't been paying a speck of attention to where he was, just what direction she had to shoot in, so she had no idea he had simply walked up into melee range and smacked her body across the way. Satisfied for now, he went back to face the other five, blocking them off from her.

Stunned out of her mindless attacking, Melia shook her head and looked over herself. She had been launched a fair distance away and slid at least thirty metres across the hard metal ground. Her whole right side was in considerable pain from the huge metal hand, something felt wrong with her right wrist and lung, and her left wing was absolutely screaming from presumably having landed on it and bending it funny. It would take more than a blunt smack and tumble to damage her top-quality High Entia clothing, but even if she wasn't bleeding on the outside she likely was on the inside. She had a headache composed of both throbbing and slithering, but it was just discomfort, not a concussion. Overall, not that great, but she would probably be fine once Sharla finished cooling off her rifle and could get a clean shot.

But once she was done with the self-evaluation, the emotion returned in full force. The hunger for ether and the enrapturing burst aura. The bloodlust the goddess demanded. The indignance and disrespect of being tossed away so easily by an unarmed strike.

The unbridled hatred of all Egil had done.

Melia wasn't aware that she had stood up, and it was apparently a fairly bad idea, since her right knee didn't want to support any weight. But she had done it anyway and was now focusing all her rage upon Jade Face.

With the help of the strong emotion, it only took one more bolt to push her over the edge, unleashing the polychromatic burst aura all over her body, dulling the pain but not masking it completely. She could feel the chestplate drawing in more and more of the self-sustaining energy field, emitting a strong red glow as it charged up.

Gadolt looked to see what had attacked him from behind, but appeared to decide it wasn't worth his time and turned back towards the five he was keeping occupied.

Sharla had finished cooling down her rifle and had found a line of sight around the huge Mechon, preparing to give Melia a much-needed dose of healing.

Melia used Reflection, deflecting the healing round back where it came from. She didn't know why she did it, and didn't even remember attempting to use the art. But she somehow knew it had to be done - she had to be hot, angry, and adrenalised for whatever was about to happen, and being healed would put a damper on all that.

She could see the edges of her vision turning red and blurry, hopefully from the chestplate and not from blood.

"YOU HAVE CROSSED ME FOR THE FINAL TIME!"

Melia thrust out her chest to release a huge blast of red energy. Four waves of brilliant crimson streamers snaked through the air towards the enemy.

Gadolt turned when he heard the one-liner, so the attack didn't strike from behind, but it didn't matter. The red energy blasted Jade Face with enough power to knock loose several smaller components as he fell to one knee, clearly with no intent to continue fighting.

Having generated and lost so much ether in such a short time, far more than a typical burst aura or burst art, Melia felt quite lightheaded. She attempted to stand normally but forgot about her weak knee and collapsed, hyperextending her elbow trying to break her fall.

There was a small explosion, knocking Gadolt and a few loose parts out of Jade Face.

"Gadolt!" Sharla immediately ran up to him, with Reyn and Dunban following.

"Melia!" Shulk decided to dash towards Melia instead, with Riki giving chase.

Relieved, Melia rested her head back on the ground and closed her eyes. Whatever Meyneth had done brought the battle to a swift end. Now they could heal and rest, and within ten minutes or so they would be ready for Egil once more.

Of course, with nothing else to occupy her mind, the pain from her injuries jumped to the forefront. She managed to lift an aqua above her head before it became too much, clutching her right side and beginning to rock back and forth in agony. It had been quite a while since she'd been hurt this bad.

"I'm here!" From the sound of it, Shulk had skidded to a clumsy stop and was bending down.

Melia expected Shulk to give her a Light Heal while waiting for Riki to catch up and supply more substantial aid. In an attempt to straighten herself out for more optimal healing, she wrenched her left hand off her right side.

She never would have expected Shulk to grab the hand and squeeze it between his.

Shocked by the turn of events, Melia's tear-blurred eyes flew open to see Shulk's face staring directly into hers. Its focus gone, her aqua dropped from the air and splashed into an inert puddle on the ground.

"It's okay, Melia, I'm here. Riki's just a few seconds away, he'll heal you. Don't move anything, just stay put. I've got you."

Melia had no response. No one had ever clutched her hand like this before, as if she was dying and had to be anchored to avoid slipping away. It was honestly terrifying. She hadn't been hurt that bad...had she?

Riki's panting approached. "Melly stay still, Heropon fix you up."

The cool breeze of You Can Do It flowed by, its healing ether working its way into Melia's body. It couldn't reverse all of the damage at once, and another dose would be needed, but most of the pain faded.

Melia attempted to remove her hand from Shulk's grasp so she could get a handle on how well she had recovered so far, but he squeezed it even harder. She wanted him to let go, but how could she do that in a way that didn't make her seem ungrateful for his...moral support? There wasn't much other way to describe it, as unnecessary as it was.

Shulk quickly nodded at Riki but immediately locked onto Melia's eyes again. "Don't do that to us, Melia. We need you. I don't care what Meyneth thinks she's helping with, we need to at least know about it before you go off and make it happen. You're not invincible. We're a team."

Melia took a deep breath, testing her lungs. They felt okay. "I apologise, Shulk. I was under the impression that Meyneth's plan of attack would be spoiled were it to be shared and thus overheard by the enemy, but seeing its ultimate results shows I was in error. And I was mislead into how much effort I had to exert to achieve it."

She attempted to free her hand again so she could at least sit up, but Shulk clutched it tighter than ever.

"I need you to promise me you won't do that again," he said, his stare unwavering. "Don't ever just go off and do your own thing on us while we're trying to fight. Okay?"

"...You have my word." She didn't see any way of getting out of it. Not that it was a poor idea, of course, and she didn't really want to use the massive attack again without further insight from Meyneth as to what it was all about. But it felt like an uncharacteristically overbearing thing for Shulk to demand.

"Okay." Shulk cautiously pulled Melia into a sitting position and finally let go of her hand.

"Melly be ready for second go." Riki used his healing art once more, restoring both Shulk and Melia to full health.

"Thank you, Riki." Melia carefully stood up, testing all her parts. The pain was just a memory now - though it would assuredly be back later.

Riki began hopping back towards the others. "Now come back to other friends."

Shulk nodded and followed. Melia did the same, though a bit laggier, caressing her squeezed hand.

Why was Shulk so oddly fearful for her in the aftermath of the battle? Why did he insist she promise not to act without warning again? Even given his recent tendencies of not wanting to be separated from her in order to protect Meyneth, this was quite a large step up in intensity. She tried to find some intuition or memory that could hold an answer.

Of course. It's Fiora. It's always Fiora. I recall Shulk saying she died doing a solo desperation attack on a Face Mechon. Of course he would be so affected to see another friend attempting the same. As much as it irks me, I cannot blame him in the slightest.

As they arrived at the scene of the battle, Dunban and Reyn were standing up, while Sharla was helping Gadolt sit up against the inert Jade Face.

Dunban updated them. "He's going to be fine. He's regained his memories and wants us to move on without him."

"Good to hear." Shulk didn't approach Gadolt too much, but enough to imply that he wanted to listen to anything he had to say.

Gadolt looked between Sharla and Shulk for a moment before speaking to Shulk. "I don't know any secrets of Egil's to help you out. I've stalled you for long enough. Just go and put an end to what he's doing."

"We will."

It felt awkward to simply walk away from the exhausted Gadolt towards the Shrine Transporter, but he waved them off and sat back.

There wasn't anything for the party to discuss amongst themselves. While they were going to let Shulk have his talk with Egil, no one else believed it could change anything. They expected a fight to end the war.

It was almost surreal to see Egil standing before the giant effigy of Meyneth, looking stoic and resolute. A frustrated Vanea faced him, though once she realised they had company, she retreated to the side.

"So you have finally arrived," Egil began. "Heir to the Monado."

Shulk nodded and began his speech. He believed he understood the history of the world and why Egil wanted to fight the Bionis. But how would attacking its people, none of whom had any connection to the ancient battle, accomplish anything aside from simply destroying the peace that both sides wanted?

Egil appeared bemused that Shulk didn't want to fight, but nevertheless explained his views. He was fighting the Bionis by attacking the life it needed to later reawaken. The nature of that life was beneath him - he would do whatever it took to save the Mechonis from any further conflict.

Melia tried hard not to zone out during the exchange. It was quite difficult to pay attention when inundated with Meyneth's feelings - her sadness at the state of the world, disappointment over Egil's actions, and pre-existing knowledge of Egil's rationale.

Eventually, Egil ended the discussion. "Your words are useless. It is only strength that can prevail!"

"Then we will speak with our strength!" Shulk drew his weapon, prompting the others to follow. "Egil, leader of Mechonis! The lives of the Machina and the lives of all that lives on Bionis are one and the same. We won't stop. Not until you realise that!"

As expected, Egil was not foolish enough to fight alone. No sooner had the battle begun than the party found several Mechon approaching from all sides, some of which seemed to have appeared out of thin air. The unexpected part was that Egil fought unarmed, channelling damaging ether through his bare hands. There was a sense that he was toying with them, planning to wear them down before unleashing Yaldabaoth, when the true battle would begin.

It was a protracted fight. Melia and Sharla didn't have any trouble shooting Egil as he hid behind the scores of Mechon, but the other four had to fight off the horde to simply stay alive, much less attack their leader. Yet while it was a long battle, it never felt like a losing one - as the ups and downs passed by, the Mechon slowly thinned.

Egil grimaced as he took another shot and looked around, seeing that only two Mechon remained. He was running out of energy to quickly summon more. The gang from Bionis was outlasting him.

While his friends took care of the remaining Mechon, Shulk saw his opening and leaped at Egil, embedding the Monado in his shoulder.

"Mmpf." Egil seemed more incredulous than perturbed. "How could this happen even with the Apocrypha?"

"You know, Egil. You know the reason." Shulk wasn't sure whether he knew himself, but it was the first response that came to mind.

"The power of the will to protect your own?" Egil looked across the others. "Is that what you refer to? And what of you, Vanea? You would side with those of Bionis and attack me? You have forfeited your right to exist!"

Vanea's face stiffened. "All of us Machina have had enough of your fighting, brother. We side with those who wish to see it end."

"So the few remaining members of my people have now betrayed me." Egil frowned. "Interesting."

"You speak of betrayal?" Vanea shouted. "You killed Face Nemesis, Meyneth's vessel! You are the traitor!"

There was a twitch in Egil's stoic face. "I disposed of a Face Mechon that disobeyed my orders. Lady Meyneth would not be such a fool, nor would any Machina she would trust to host her soul. I care not for your lies."

"If you seek proof, look no farther than the poor soul Lady Meyneth was forced to subjugate for her base survival!" Vanea pointed at Melia.

Melia had been hoping for her connection to Meyneth to slip under the radar, but she wasn't surprised it had to be revealed. She took a step forward, indicating that she was not denying it.

Egil scowled, appearing more annoyed than anything. He first lowered his gaze towards Shulk's.

"Your blade...It did not cut deep enough," he hissed.

With that, he pushed both Shulk and his weapon away with one shove. He then addressed Melia. "So...You, a creature from Bionis, claim to host the soul of Lady Meyneth? After her supposed decision to defy me? I must say, I am impressed by the audacity of such a claim. But surely Lady Meyneth would not subject herself to such a miserable existence, were it even possible for the soul of one titan to inhabit a mortal body of another. I seek no proof of your baseless claim, but rather an apology for it!"

Melia felt a memory rising up from Meyneth. While waiting for it to finish playing in her mind, she put a hand on her chin in pretend thought. Once she had seen it all, she spoke.

"On the evening of August 18th, in what you call year 6 B.Z., you were watching the annual meteor shower alongside your family at the Meyneth Shrine. Your great-grandfather, Lxezor, called it the most majestic meteor shower in over fifty thousand years. Your mother, Elirash, believed it was a sign that the next child to be born would be uniquely blessed. And your hidden soulmate, Mephita, wished upon it to herald a fulfilling life together with you."

Egil's stone face was broken; for just a few moments, he was left slack-jawed and close to quivering. But he recomposed himself quickly, appearing angrier than ever before. "You will not fool me with falsified, secondhand retellings of my sister's memories!" The anger faded slightly, replaced with focus. "I see you are High Entia. Of course, you would play the role of deceiver. And your impressive skill with ether... The Bionis selected you personally to accompany this group to face me, that much I am certain of. But I am no fool. I know your power. I saw it devour the very loved ones you spoke of. And I will not let it rise again."

The ground rumbled as Yaldabaoth rose from below, coming to land behind Egil. Shulk's group prepared for the next fight.

Egil turned to look up at his creation. "Permit me to apologise for calling you bugs just now. You proved to be a worthy adversary after all, Shulk."

He leaped into the air, landing in the piloting chamber of the huge Mechon, which closed up around him.

"And you, deceiver." The machine's first movement was to point at Melia. "You who would impersonate our goddess to obtain my mercy. Perhaps I shall choose you to be the first to die!"

The party wasted no time throwing their first few attacks at Yaldabaoth. But it was evident that it had been significantly upgraded since their confrontation at Galahad Fortress; its armour felt tougher than ever, barely moving when struck. The first impression was that this battle would take a while.

It quickly became clear that they would not last that long. Egil's first attack was a tail bash that Shulk blocked but still knocked him askew, and a follow-up shot of ether to the chest put him down on the ground with ease. Unperturbed by the attacks coming at him, he systematically targeted one person at a time with an overwhelming assortment of pain until they collapsed. Whenever someone would try to get up, he would refocus his attention on them until they went back down. It was only a few minutes before all six were splayed out across the ground, too beaten to stand.

Melia had been the first to stay down. It felt like if she were to roll over off her front, about half her body parts would be left behind. The pain was so extreme that it almost looped back around to dull, blocking out almost all sound from the massacre. She couldn't even keep her grip on the Imperial Staff, which like all truly matching staves was normally supernaturally bound to remain in its master's possession. It was when she sensed that no more ether was being churned in the vicinity that she knew it was over.

So this is where I die.

Meyneth will have to find a new host once again. If Vanea is not nearby enough, the only choice shall be Egil - and that may very well be what ends his madness, to be shown the truth of what he has done in the most certain terms. We saw his honest reaction upon hearing of the story the past, however fleeting - he is not irredeemable when faced with the truth. We failed to stop him, but he can still stop himself.

How long has it been since one of the imperial family has been killed on the battlefield? Father was the first to die in true combat in many eons; it can only be even longer than that. His funeral was as grandiose as the occasion was terrible, mourning his passing yet celebrating his grand honour. If it is indeed my death that helps bring peace to both titans, Brother will spare no expense at making my own funeral the most glorious in history. I suspect he will lobby to make it a permanent holiday, that or my birthday. And he will take his rightful place on the throne instead of me...though to be the only member of the family is a horror I would wish on no one.

Where shall I reside in the sky? Near the zenith alongside the other great royals felled in battle? Or further down, closer to the top latitude of the zodiac? There's no way I could fall to the inner zodiac, let alone below - to be named crown princess as a half-blood, with Brother to contest me, is likely of too much import.

The world is dimming. Go on then, end it. I'm ready. I welcome it. Take me with honour.

I can't wait to see Mother and Father again.

The introspection was interrupted by another memory of Meyneth's. Egil was front and centre, with her physical state making it impossible to distinguish anything or anyone else.

"You say I have nothing to lose? That simply proves you do not understand. I have something to save."

"Prepare to die, Shulk." Egil's voice from the present cut through all. "No...Zanza!"

Melia twitched.

...no, that won't do.

That won't do at all.

Melia grasped all the unseen ether that had been slowly seeping out of her and rolled it back up into herself, taking a deep breath that felt like inhaling sand. It wasn't just Egil who had something to save - or rather, someone to save. To simply lay there and allow her friends to be killed would be worse than eternity as a star in the hells below the horizon.

"I won't let you kill Shulk!"

There was an explosion of energy, painfully lifting Melia into a sitting position. Bright red streamers flowed out of the chestplate and encircled Yaldabaoth, forcing a pause in its attack.

"You... That light..." Egil's voice seemed shaken. "So it is true? You are willing to subject yourself to the humiliation of living as a High Entia to prevent me from achieving my dream? Lady Meyneth?"

Melia felt no hint of how to respond, presumably because Meyneth was busy generating the red ether waves that were both restraining Yaldabaoth's attack and providing a slight measure of recovery for her and the others. She would have to guess. "Your "dream" has escalated far beyond reasonable boundaries. You have alienated the very people you seek to save. But if you can accept the lengths your goddess is willing to extend to in order to stop you, you can still change your course."

"Silence!" The energy in Yaldabaoth's hand brightened. "I waited for the day of awakening and the new world it would bring, and this is my reward? To see my goddess captured by a girl of my sworn enemy, who claims she has betrayed me and all her fallen worshippers?"

"That's...not at all the case! She-"

"I do not care!" Egil turned away. "No matter which of you spoke those words, it is proof enough that Meyneth is a traitor! And gods can never exist alongside mortals!"

Melia was tempted to respond with a "why not?", but it didn't feel like anything she could say would make a positive difference now. Instead, she decided to focus on the red ether she was emitting, to see if she could target it better.

It didn't matter. Egil slammed Yaldabaoth's glowing hand into the ground, unleashing a blinding light everywhere and cancelling Meyneth's attack. But strangely, it didn't appear to do anything. The light faded to merely reveal that the golden Mechon had vanished.

Or at least, it didn't appear to do anything at first. As the leftover energy cleared, the floor began to shake.

Shulk stumbled to his feet. "We have to get out of here! The whole city's gonna explode!"

"Whuh?" Reyn looked around to see that several buildings in the distance were sparking. "Where're we supposed to go?"

"Anywhere! As far away as we can get!"

"We get down into the factory then!" Dunban was the first to start running back towards the transporter they came from.

Melia didn't move; she was busy lying on the ground wishing she could sleep for a few days straight. Meyneth's power may have relieved the rest of the group from exhaustion, but it was mostly at the expense of her own physical energy. She could feel that a lot of power was building up in the distant Central Tower for no apparent reason, and the Imperial Staff was magically glued to her hands once more, but that wouldn't help her find an iota of muscle strength.

"Melly move move move!" Riki grabbed her arm and started pulling.

"...I...cannot..." Melia tried to lift herself but slipped and fell back down. "...I have no...no force to..."

"Then Heropon helps!" Riki scooped up Melia with all four arms and started chasing down the rest of the party.

Melia felt like she was being carried by a pentagonal unicycle. Riki had enough trouble moving in a straight line by himself; while he had no difficulty with the extra weight, he was putting speed before care, and having no power to correct her own balance made the trip quite frightening.

It wasn't hard to catch up with the others. Gadolt had gone missing, and Reyn and Sharla had stopped for a moment to argue something about it. Shulk, Dunban, and Vanea were further ahead but not impossibly so; it didn't take much time for all to meet up again.

There was a massive explosion of energy behind them. No one dared to turn and look at it.

The road ahead began to light up as the shockwave advanced. The exit was still so far away.

Suddenly, a large figure stepped into the group's wake, blocking off the shockwave. It was Jade Face.

"Gadolt!" Sharla was the first to stop and turn; the others couldn't help but do the same.

"I'm glad...I'm on time." Gadolt held his Mechon still as it became ravaged by the energy. "I've fulfilled...my promise...Live...Sharla..."

The bloom became too much to look at; everyone closed their eyes or looked away, trying to get back into gear.

Melia suddenly became aware that there was a rather significant crack in the floor about three metres behind them, and that it would be a good idea for someone to jam something such as a sword into it. But everyone had already passed it, and there was no way she could communicate it quickly enough. She'd have to do it herself.

Scraping the barrel to find enough energy, she threw her staff into the air and mentally propelled it downwards. Its head landed right in the largest part of the crack, where it stood mostly vertically.

Some part of Jade Face flew into the staff's handle, forcing it to jut further into the crack.

There was a huge creak followed by a massive snap as the entire floor segment broke and fell. Everyone reflexively screamed as they started falling.

Still being gripped by Riki, Melia started to feel energy flow back into her from Meyneth's chestplate. Clearly it was her idea to break the flooring; there was no other way to get away from the shockwave quickly enough.

She spotted the Imperial Staff tumbling away in the distance and held out her hand, willing it to return to her. It quickly stopped spinning and closed in, revealing that it had a piece of Jade Face lodged on. Or perhaps it was Gadolt's handheld weapon; it looked a bit too small to have been attached to the Mechon itself.

With the immediate problem of escaping Agniratha solved, the next pressing issue was dealing with the group's current plummet. They could feasibly continue all the way down to the Fallen Arm, but this would take a very long time and be counterproductive to continuing the chase on Egil. The Mechonis' pose, with its chin suspended over the sea, made it all but impossible to aim back towards any entrance to its interiors.

After a few minutes of thinking about it, Melia had an idea. Or rather, Meyneth passed her an idea.

"Riki, you may let go of me."

Riki couldn't hear the suggestion over the rushing wind. He continued to keep hold with two arms while skydiving with the other two.

Melia started to wiggle about. It took a bit, but Riki eventually understood that she wanted out, and carefully released her while trying not to make any huge aerodynamic changes.

Now free, she did as Meyneth suggested, forming a power pose in the air as if she were standing up to someone and visualising a large bubble around the falling group.

Meyneth's chestplate began glowing. After a few seconds, a red sphere of energy appeared around the party, quickly slowing them down to a stop midair. Everyone was magically reoriented vertically.

"What's happening?" Sharla looked around in confusion.

Reyn's looking around was much more of a full-body experience. "It's like we're floating in mid-air!"

"It is Lady Meyneth." Vanea was the first to see what was really going on. "She has been through so much today, yet still finds the power to rescue us once more."

Melia nodded. "Yes. I still cannot sense her true thoughts, but...she is remembering Gadolt. Continuously replaying the image of him appearing in the explosion's path, blocking it from us for long enough for her to act. Without his sacrifice, we would not have survived."

"But now what?" asked Shulk. "How are we going to find Egil now?"

Melia looked up towards the Mechonis' head, to the location of what Meyneth was visualising as a giant exoskeleton suitable for a large Face Mechon to wear. She could feel massive conduits of ether within the titan shuddering to their open positions, allowing the substance to flow through them for the first time in eons.

"I don't think finding him is the hard part."

The world shook as a great grinding and creaking filled the air, like nails on a chalkboard amplified to terrifying levels. Destructive tsunamis flowed out from the Mechonis' feet as they shifted ever so slightly, obliterating the fragile footbridge across the waters.

"Shulk!" Egil's voice was projected across the sky as if he were standing right before them, though it was unlikely to carry far enough to be heard by the battle in Sword Valley. "Do you hear it? The awakening of the Mechonis!"

The Mechonis began to move. Without delay, it began to reach up its reconstructed left arm, aiming to grasp its sword.

"This is my pain. The pain of my people echoing through the millennia."

Distant explosions dotted the arm as it passed through the airships participating in the battle below. It took the sword and began pulling.

"Fall to your deaths! Worthless insects!"

"Stop this!" Shulk yelled. He didn't particularly care if Egil could hear him, he just wanted to yell. "Kallian and the others are still on the sword! Our friends are going to die! Stop!"

Melia was less concerned. The allied force had Alvis; there was no possible way he wouldn't foresee the Mechonis awakening and get out enough warning to save most of them. But more importantly, she was starting to run out of energy again. It wasn't easy to keep the antigravity bubble afloat.

"We're going to fall soon. In seconds, actually." She could probably keep it running for another minute or so, but she'd rather not end up too exhausted to move a muscle again. It was better to choose when it would go down.

"I think that's okay," Dunban responded, squinting down towards the Fallen Arm. "Something's coming for us."

Indeed, some sort of large ship was flying up from below, levelling out to begin positioning itself below the party.

"Then that's it." Melia let go of her grip on the bubble. It immediately disappeared and everyone started falling again.

Almost instantly, they landed on the deck of the incoming ship. It wasn't a soft landing, but at least it meant they wouldn't be falling for the rest of the day.

"Oohargh, couldn't give us a softer landing?" Reyn was the first to stand back up.

"Now, now." The voice was Miqol's, and was followed by short laughter. "Just getting here was a close enough call."

Shulk looked up to see Alvis hanging behind Miqol. "Alvis, of course."

Alvis nodded. "Yes. You are aboard Junks, the Machina ship."

Linada was also present. "He was the one who informed us you were in danger. It is good we found you in time."

Relieved, Shulk found a joke. "Were in danger, or would be in danger?"

Alvis shrugged. "Arguably, the difference is of little importance."

Something flew overhead, dropping another person down on the deck.

"Ah, look who it is." Dickson made a show of pushing Reyn out of the way and lunged forward to muss Shulk's hair. "Ain't dead yet I see."

Melia consciously took a few steps away from the two as the others approached for greetings. Dickson's sudden appearance felt like death itself had dove in from the sky, and immediately forced her to recall the strange dream from last night where he had shot Shulk. It was an impressive way of ruining the feeling of a successful escape.

It didn't take long for Junks to get back to the Hidden Village. The ship was estimated as a bit slower than Melia's, but unlike her small and unarmed eight-seat craft, it had the bulk to take enemy fire and would therefore be a better idea for returning the group to Mechonis later.

Once the ship had settled, Shulk asked the burning question. "Alvis, what happened to the allied force?"

"I informed His Highness of the possibility that the Mechonis would awaken," Alvis answered. "His Highness is wise. He will have acted to minimise casualties."

"That's good."

"But what do we do now?" responded Dunban. "At this rate, that blasted Egil's gonna destroy Bionis."

"There is still time," Melia said, once again being fed knowledge by Meyneth. "The Mechonis has been idle for eons, and it is being forced to move by foreign ether from the Bionis. Egil must wait for it to fully adapt to both this and his means of controlling it. If we can get to the core of the Mechonis, we can still stop him."

Vanea pointed at a schematic of the Mechonis on one of the surrounding screens. "On the back of the Mechonis is a huge cooling duct. We should be small enough to enter the control core section via the duct's heat transfer conduits."

The party agreed and began to make plans. While they needed some time to reset and recuperate, they would head to the core as soon as possible.

Melia sat alone in the main room of the abandoned house the party had been using, head on the table and half-asleep. The group had all split up to do whatever they each needed to do to prepare for departure in the next half-hour, and what she needed was some undisturbed rest.

Of course, "undisturbed" was completely unrealistic. There was a constant hubbub outside from both nature and the Machina reacting to the Mechonis' sudden awakening. The Mechonis itself could be heard, casting quiet but piercing whines and groans over the world as it moved.

And really, the "rest" part was never going to happen either. Her mind was too active, unable to stop focusing on one thing - how Shulk left her when they had to run from Agniratha. He'd spent the better part of the last month being obsessively protective of her, and gone out of his way to secure her after the fight with Jade Face, but when the worst actually came down he left her behind. Not just her, but Meyneth as well. And even knowing that Egil had not yet been defeated. He left them both behind and just saved himself.

She considered confronting him about it. Would getting an answer be worth the strife it could certainly cause? Did she even want to know the answer?

The decision was taken out of her hands as Shulk walked into the room. "Ah, there you are, Melia. I've been making sure that everyone's all ready for whatever's next. How are you doing?"

"...Fine."

"Okay, so how are you actually doing?"

Fine, be that way. Melia sat up and turned to face him. "I watched you leave me to die when the Mechonis capital was falling apart. How do you think I am doing?"

Shulk looked confused for a moment before realising what she meant. He immediately curled up a bit and started bumbling, clearly some degree of scared. "Uh, well, um...I don't...er, is...I mean...no, I- Okay." He shook his head to try and clear it.

Melia wasn't surprised he was unable to answer. She kind of regretted putting it so harshly, but there was no turning back. It was a life-or-death matter, after all - there wasn't much reason to be anything but painfully blunt. She was about to turn away in disgust when he finally responded.

"I knew you weren't going to die. I would've gotten a vision if you were, if any of us were."

Hmmmm. Melia put a fist on her chin to show she was considering the answer. The latter part of that is likely true. But I don't believe you would have thought of it in the moment. And we already know you don't get visions for everything.

Shulk slumped. "Look, I don't have a better answer. Everyone makes bad decisions in a panic. We've all done it."

Melia didn't react. The honesty was nice, but it didn't change the reality, and the attempt to soften it with the final comment felt insincere. She certainly didn't think anyone else had made a poor decision equal to abandoning one of their own in the face of certain doom.

"...Whatever. You just want to be left alone." Shulk didn't wait for a response before shuffling out.

That's the end of that. He gave me his side of the story, and he knows he made the wrong decision. There is no need to dwell on it any further.

Telling herself to stop thinking about it had no effect, of course. Instead, it just advanced the thought process a stage or two, towards the conclusion she had been hoping to avoid considering - for him to make such a mistake was fairly concrete proof that last night's dinner had failed to set any feelings for her in him. It was a painful realisation, a sign that where she hoped for minor success and expected somewhat less, she instead got complete and utter failure.

A nexus of pain and chaos approached the room.

Oh will you stay away from me.

Dickson poked his head through the door for a moment before walking the rest of himself in. "Ah, was wonderin' who Shulk was talking to in here. You still good with this whole shebang, princess?"

Melia took a deep breath to cancel the first few words that came to mind. "I am fine."

"Good to hear it. I appreciate a royal who actually does something. The prince is the same way, looks like a sissy, but he's got guts."

Are you here for something useful, or just to chat me up?

Dickson looked in the general direction Shulk had gone for a moment. "Gonna be honest with ya, princess. I'm not all too confident in Shulk right now. He's too soft, thinking he can make Egil just step down somehow. But you're a tough little bird. Kallian's gone on about it. I can see it in your eye. So I come to ask ya a favour. Think you can finish the job if Shulk wimps out?"

Melia's first instinct was to just walk somewhere else, to flat-out ignore the question and go find someone else to hang around until Dickson would stop bothering her. But perhaps against her better judgement, she instead countered. "What makes you believe I am any more willing to kill than the others?"

"It ain't about the killing." Dickson paused to let the distant Mechonis finish a particularly long and loud creak. "It's about knowin' who would and wouldn't do the right thing. Reyn, Dunban, Sharla, none of them'd kill Egil if Shulk told 'em not to. They all think he'd be doing the right thing. But you're smarter than that. You wouldn't follow Shulk blindly. You can do what you have to do, even if you don't want to."

You sound like Father. In fact I feel somewhat offended how uncanny it is.

"So how 'bout it then? Can we trust you to end it if Shulk doesn't?"

The thing Melia hated the most about the situation is that Dickson had a legitimate point. What if Egil truly was irredeemable? Shulk probably wouldn't admit it until it was too late, and no one else would be willing to preempt him. It felt a lot like the events at Prison Island - she had been the only one to question Shulk's freeing of Zanza, a decision that still had yet to be fully resolved as good or bad. And of the party outside Shulk, she was probably the only one who was capable of killing Egil before anyone else could react - Reyn, Dunban, and Riki would have to get into melee range first, while Sharla felt like the least likely to make the choice.

She decided that the best thing to do would be to say whatever felt necessary just to get rid of Dickson, so the topic of conversation would die. "You can trust me to make the correct decision."

Dickson shook his head in disappointment. "Guess I was wrong about you then. Too non-committal, hedging your bets. You'll be dead while you're still thinking about what's "right", instead of just doin' it."

Melia couldn't help but defend herself. "There is a great deal of difference between making a heated decision in the moment and considering it in the quiet ahead of time."

"That is true." Dickson scratched his chin. "Still, it ain't exactly reassuring. We only got one more chance, and I'd hate to see it go pear-shaped because of some indecision. You just keep that in mind, princess."

He stood up and was about to leave, but paused and looked at Meyneth's chestplate. "By the way, I'm still in the market for that piece of yours. If you haven't figured it any secrets it has yet, I'll gladly take it off your hands. Might be a bit late for it to help with Egil, but hey could be worth a go."

Melia didn't want to reveal anything about the chestplate, but figured a bit of truth might help get rid of the badgering. "The device has ingrained itself into my body. Even if I wished to part with it, I currently cannot."

"Is that so? I see." Dickson nodded slowly and looked to be thinking about something for a moment. "Well, let me know if that changes. I'll be waiting." He finally left.

Melia lowered her head back onto the table with relief at the irritating Homs' departure. She added a new reason to look forward to all of this being over: she'd never have to see Dickson again.