Chapter 12: Purpose

Shulk had tried one last time to sway Egil, to convince him that they could live together again without the two titans having to fight once more. But Egil did not care. He remained convinced that Meyneth or whoever was claiming to be her was no god to him or to anyone, and that nothing but destroying the Bionis and all life on it could restore peace.

So they fought. Six warriors from Bionis against one man and the technological horrors he had constructed.

It was a long battle. Yaldabaoth was substantially hampered by the Mechonis-controlling shell it sat in, making it unable to move or attack effectively, but it made up for it by an unending stream of Mechon summoned as if from nowhere. And while it lacked in offensive power, its defences were even more potent; the group's most devastating attacks would clean out the Mechon and allow a clear path to their leader, but do unimpressive damage to him directly. As the battle raged, Mechonis itself stood silent and ready, showing no hint of the fight in its head to the Bionis' armies standing in uneasy anticipation across the sea.

It was only when Egil feared he may actually lose that he decided to prepare to end it, readying all the Mechonis' power for an attack that would cleave the Bionis in two. But such a world-changing action could not possibly slip beneath the notice of Shulk's visions, granting his party all the time they needed to damage the nearby energy-focusing devices and cause them to trigger a feedback surge that stunned every Mechon in the vicinity, including Yaldabaoth.

Shulk didn't miss his chance. With no opposition in his way, he hopped up onto Yaldabaoth's chassis and sliced its head off, leaving Egil sticking out somewhat comically.

"How could this happen?!" Egil seemed upset with himself more than anything.

Shulk stood with the Monado held high, ready to come down.

Do it! A voice in Shulk's head urged him on. Kill him! Killll him!

That voice... Shulk thought. It's the piece of Zanza giving me advice again. Has it been this loud before?

Strike him down!

"...yes." Shulk was only dimly aware he was muttering aloud. "I'll kill him. A hundred, thousand times."

Yes! Finish him! End it! It is what you want!

"It is. I'll kill him. For everything he's done. For Fiora. For the Emperor. For the Bionis!" He willed the Monado to shine even brighter.

The memory of another voice appeared in his head. You must find your Monado. Are you ready? It was Alvis'. Had he ever said that exact phrase before?

His mind was suddenly filled with other memories, all playing over and through each other at the same time. Otharon readied to sacrifice himself to Xord. Mumkhar taunted over whether it was okay to kill a Homs to beat the Mechon. Miqol wanted Egil to be killed. Sharla declared her absolute hatred for the mechanical foes. Vanea discussed Egil's original motivations.

Everything was eclipsed by a far more recent memory - that of Melia from no more than an hour ago.

"I believe that Egil is doing the wrong thing for the right reason...if we can indeed find such an action, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is blinded by revenge..."

"...blinded by revenge..."

"This..." Shulk wobbled, no longer sure of himself. "No! I don't want this!"

The Monado came down as if by itself. Shulk had to exert a fair bit of will to stop it mere centimetres from Egil's head.

There was a long pause.

Shulk eventually deactivated the Monado and sat down on Yaldabaoth's collar.

"What?" Egil seemed even more incredulous than when he was defeated. "Why would you simply give up in your moment of triumph?"

"There's no triumph here."

"No triumph? You had me at your mercy, ready to end it and save your world. Were you not fighting for this all along?"

"...Not for this. Not for killing you. That would..." Shulk found it hard to continue. "That would make me just as blind to reason as you are."

"Reason? If you do not kill me now, you and your entire people will be destroyed. Is there no reason to preventing that?"

"I don't need to kill you to prevent that. I just need to...keep stopping you from doing it, over and over again if I have to. Until...we understand each other."

Egil looked down in thought for a moment and turned his head away. He appeared at least somewhat moved.

Melia felt a great burst of relief come from Meyneth. She must believe this is a turning point for Egil.

After a moment, Egil laid out his thoughts. "Once, our two worlds existed in peace, the races of both living together in the spirit of co-operation. There was no reason to believe we would not continue to grow together for eternity. None, expect for the Monado. The Monado refused to permit the existence of the Mechonis. Or rather, the existence of anything but itself. And one day, my friend Arglas came upon it, and it took control of him. Becoming Zanza, he directed his sword at Mechonis, breaking the established harmony simply because he wanted to."

Shulk had a question. "So...the Monado causes people to turn into Zanza?"

"The Monado is Zanza. Zanza is the Monado. The two are one and the same. He uses it to inhabit beings of Bionis in order to perpetuate his own existence. But...you appear to be different."

"I do? How?"

"I can see it." Egil looked up at Shulk. "You were tempted, that much is clear. But you still retained your sense of self, did not let yourself become overtaken by his soul in the heat of the moment. Perhaps...you can break the curse of Zanza." He then looked down at Melia. "And was that not precisely our wish? Lady Meyneth?"

The relief Melia felt was now also her own. Not only did Egil now accept she had possession of Meyneth, he seemed to believe in the goddess again. She felt a nod was appropriate.

"I don't know about a curse," Shulk said sheepishly. "But I can offer you what you want: for us to live in peace again."

Melia suddenly felt something trigger in her mind. She turned to see Vanea and Dickson standing exactly where she somehow expected them to be.

This...this is just like the strange dream from last night. She turned to face forward again, relief replaced by anxiety. Was it really going to happen? ...no. Dickson has no motive to shoot Shulk, especially in our moment of victory. Shoot Egil perhaps, given his stated distrust of letting him live, but that's a very difficult angle to attempt. What if he aims for Egil but misses? That could explain Shulk being hit, but he didn't seem perturbed at all by it.

Egil answered. "Again? I see. Yes, you're right." He started to get up.

Melia turned to face Dickson again. He already had his Sabre raised, pointing towards the two atop Yaldabaoth - it was impossible to tell who exactly he was aiming at. She had enough time to stop or at least hinder him - but would her taking action be the cause of him hitting Shulk by mistake?

Before she could decide what to do about it, he caught her eye and huffed. Then he fired.

Shulk spasmed and clutched his chest, looking back at about the same time as everyone else.

"You shouldn't have done that, little brat." There was no hint of error or regret. He'd hit his intended target.

Shulk started to fall. Egil caught him in Yaldabaoth's free hand and lowered him to the floor as Sharla rushed to him.

Melia had two options. She could go help Sharla with Shulk, or she could help the others exact revenge on Dickson. She quickly decided that she could get revenge later but might have to help Shulk immediately, so she hurried over to him and Sharla.

"Dickson, why?" Dunban hollered.

"Are you completely insane, you old coot?" Reyn agreed.

Dickson rubbed his head as he wearily stepped forward. "Don't you kids ever shut up? I'm just doing my job. As always."

"This doesn't make any sense," Sharla muttered as Melia arrived, trying to keep Shulk's twitching torso still. "Went right at his heart but there's no more bleeding than a heavy nosebleed, and there's no exit wound. No sign of lung trouble or anything, there's nothing to heal but some tissue damage. But he's still going crazy."

Egil appeared to realise something. "It's...It's you!"

"Yeh, it's me," Dickson drawled, half amused and half disinterested. "Good on you to remember. Been too long, eh?"

"Here." Melia summoned an aqua into her staff and lowered it close to Shulk's torso. The injury vanished very quickly, but Shulk continued to have intensifying spasms as his ether signature morphed through dozens of intricate patterns. Sharla was right - this didn't look remotely like a gunshot wound. Something else was going on.

"How could you know each other?" Dunban demanded.

"He is Zanza's...disciple," Egil spat in disgust. "He-"

"Ah, shut it you old rust bucket," Dickson interrupted. "You're old news now. Now, it's finally time for Lord Zanza's return!"

Shulk's vibrating body started to glow. As it brightened, he also began floating.

Melia felt a need to get away from Shulk before something bad happened. She really didn't want to, but it would be foolish to ignore such an instinct, so she backed away quickly yet carefully. Sharla took the unspoken advice and did the same.

The energy quickly reached a tipping point and released a shockwave that would probably have hurt a fair bit if they were still too close. Even at the distance they had retreated to, they were both knocked to the floor.

Egil raised Yaldabaoth's hand, charging an ether attack with newfound vigour. "Zanza! I won't let you do this!" He threw the energy ball at Shulk's floating body.

Shulk appeared to be standing up now, though he was clearly still unconscious. As Egil's attack approached, his arm lifted up to meet it, absorbing and re-firing an amplified energy ball back at its creator.

"Brother!" Vanea shouted as Yaldabaoth collapsed down to the floor below.

The light around Shulk was blinding now. It almost looked like he was both standing still and wobbling back and forth at the same time.

The ether around Shulk was roiling, twisting, being torn asunder and reforming all at once. Melia looked away from the painful brightness, but couldn't shut her ethersense off from the violent turbulence. It was both pleasantly hypnotic and profoundly disturbing, as if his very matter was being ripped apart and realigned.

Suddenly there were two Shulks. One of them was still glowing brightly and had taken hold of the Monado, while a second fell out of the light and crumpled to the floor.

Melia gasped. Up until now she didn't fear much for Shulk's survival; the gunshot wound was too minimal to be troubling, and while the whole glowing and floating business was frightening, it didn't seem exactly life-threatening. But now it was very hard to feel the difference between Shulk's fallen body and the inert metal floor around him. The new being was bright enough to somewhat wash out her ethersense, but there was still no question that if Shulk was not dead, it would take a miracle for him to stay that way.

Egil scowled. "So this is the supposed true Zanza."

"Do not be surprised." As he began to float upwards and sprout aesthetic glowing appendages, Zanza spoke as if he was surrounded by idiots. "Everything in this world is dictated by the passage of fate. As all that exists is interconnected, time can flow only towards the inevitable. That is the vision of which I, the Monado, am the origin. That which will be, will be. This was all predestined. Ever since I came to reside within Shulk."

"You mean, at Prison Island?" asked Sharla.

"Close, but no cigar." Dickson puffed his own cigar. "That was just Zanza's body the High Entia locked up in Prison Island. They took his soul, the Monado, and threw it in that tower in the mountains. Apparently they couldn't keep him tied down without splitting him up. So all we needed to do to set him free was reunite the two."

"So..." Dunban thought for a second. "When Shulk brought the Monado to Zanza at Prison Island-"

"Bingo. In his own castle, despite the king's men, Zanza was put back together again." A self-amused chuckle at the rhyme. "He had to spend a bit recovering from the whole thing, of course, but I'd say he's right on time. I love it when a plan comes together."

"Plan?" questioned Dunban. "How long-"

"Stop talking and start thinking, you might get somewhere." Dickson smirked and continued just as it looked like a response was coming. "You think it was just coincidence I decided to wander off for a jaunt in the mountains fourteen years ago? You think those Homs at the ruins were there by accident? You think it was a miracle that the one kid survived for me to bring back?"

"You planned all this when you found Shulk?"

"Jackpot. In fact, there never was anyone called Shulk to begin with!"

Melia was idly sitting on the ground, her focus more on Shulk than the discussion around her, willing herself to sense any sort of activity from his body that would indicate he was still alive. It almost felt like there was something, the tiniest flicker of a hint, but it was so weak it could just be an insect or something.

"My soul existed inside the Monado," Zanza continued. "It was fated that I be released. It was shown to me in a vision. At last the time finally came. And then..."

"A bunch of Homs showed up to the tower," Dickson went on. "They freed the Monado, which ended Zanza's slumber. He sucked the lives from them so he could live, even Shulk."

"What?" blurted Reyn. "Shulk was already dead?! How'd that explain him walkin' around for the last fourteen years then?"

"You grew up with an empty shell. He appeared to live because I became his life force. That is until he had matured as my new vessel and become worthy of wielding the Monado, allowing me to truly awaken and finally return."

"Lord Zanza might be the soul of the Bionis, but he still needs a living body. Just like Meyneth over there." Dickson tapped his cigar in Melia's direction.

...He knows. Melia immediately thought back to the fight against the Apocrypha Generator - she did speak Meyneth's name aloud in the discussion afterward. And by my own blunder, no less. Unless he suspected it all along, and that is why he was interested in the chestpiece to begin with.

"But why Shulk?" Sharla asked. "How many others were at the tower, and the child was picked?"

"There was no particular reason," Zanza claimed. "Shulk merely happened to be there at the time."

"There it is," Dickson said as he wandered forward. "Anybody would've done, 's'long as they could swing a sword around."

Melia didn't buy it. Given how important each member of this party was to the overall effort against the Mechon, it was hard to believe any of this could have happened in a remotely similar way had he selected to inhabit someone else. If he could indeed see the future, he definitely had a reason for selecting Shulk.

"So...the way Shulk could use the Monado..." Dunban started.

"And those visions he kept getting to save us!" Reyn added.

"All because of Lord Zanza." Dickson tossed his cigar down next to Shulk. "He sees the passage of fate. He knows what's going to happen. So he led you right to where he wanted it all to go. The destruction of Colony 9, the death of that pompous old High Entia fool, and that grunt Gadolt's miserable demise. All of it!"

Up until now, Melia was simply distraught over the terrible events that had just transpired, primarily hoping that Shulk would be okay and assuming the next challenge would be to fight their new foes. But with this last statement, her focus snapped from Shulk's body to Dickson's ugly mug.

Dickson was already a traitor. He'd been trusted by the group from Colony 9 for their entire lives, and by most others who had met him along the way, only for him to reveal that he'd had a hidden agenda against them the entire time. That by itself was bad enough to deserve him an eternity in the lowest hells.

But he wasn't stopping there. He was not only gloating about his efforts, but putting in extra effort to make it personal, bragging about how Zanza orchestrated deaths close to the people present. And he wasn't just bringing it up to laugh about it - he was revelling in it, to try and rile them up and get under their skin. He enjoyed the casual disregard for other peoples' lives, property, and loved ones.

Perhaps he thought no one would have the guts to call him out on it, or that Shulk lying motionless would ruin everyone's morale. But he was a traitor enjoying his reveal, and there was no greater injustice than to simply allow him to gloat.

Melia leapt to her feet and dashed forward in one motion, her thoughts moving faster than her legs. All the times the others had reaffirmed to her their decades-long trust in Dickson flooded to mind, countered by the revelation that he had been planning to shoot Shulk since the day they had met. Fattening him up for slaughter by helping him in the lab with the Monado. Providing the group with anti-Mechon weapons to help them reach Egil. Representing Colony 9 in the allied force to ensure he knew the timeline of their approach, and get access to a Havres so he could join them at the right moment.

She pulled her arms back. There was no word in Common to convey what she truly thought of him, so she settled for the first thing that came to mind.

"You evil knob!"

Dickson raised his weapon, but while he managed to knock Melia down to the ground with its blunt side, it was too slow to stop the tip of the Imperial Staff from ripping across his face. A huge bloody scar opened up from under his eye to across his nose and over his cheek.

"Nnnneeergh." He clutched his face with his free hand, which glowed with a faint purple energy.

Melia stood up and shook a few drops of blood off the untarnishable staff. "Traitors are not welcome in my world."

"Your world?" Zanza laughed. "This world is of my creation. And in it, it is beings like you who are the traitors - especially you yourself."

Dickson shook his head and took his hand off his face. The scar across his face was no longer bleeding, but remained a stark new feature.

"You're damn lucky I have an agreement, princess," he growled, "or you'd be just as dead as your buddy Shulk right now."

"An agreement?" Melia's mind moved at lightning speed. "You've forged a pact with another traitor over who gets to kill each one of us."

"Ah, not far from the truth, nice and perceptive of you. Pity it won't help you figure who it is before it's too late."

Melia motioned to the others to approach. "It is not too late. We will combat you and Zanza, and upon defeating you render your threat moot."

The rest of the party started to climb out of their disbelief and gear back up for battle.

Zanza appeared unconcerned. "You have no hope of defeating me. Even were it not for the fact I am a god, I have an army."

"We have a Shulk."

Dickson rolled his eyes, scowling. "Pfeh. You had a Shulk."

"That is immaterial." Melia continued to stare straight ahead at their new adversaries. "Whether he survives this ordeal or not, it is thanks to him that we all stand here today, prepared to fight you or anyone who threatens our existence."

The ghost of a smirk crawled across Zanza's face. "How will your friends have time for me, if they are too busy fighting you?"

He raised his free hand like a conductor demanding more volume. A fluidic cloud of pure ether rose up from the ground and swirled tightly around Melia. The others were frightened, but knew it wasn't safe to try and intervene.

Melia lost all contact with the outside world; her eyes, ears, and ethersense were all blocked out by the turbulent green substance. But it was actually quite comfortable - it felt warm and cozy, like settling into bed with extra blankets on a cool night. Furthermore, she could feel the ether seeping through her, loosening her tightnesses and recharging her spirit. After a bit, she felt quite reinvigorated and newly full of energy, perhaps more so than any time in recent memory. Zanza was obviously trying to inflict some sort of pain or torture upon her, but it was clearly backfiring.

After a full minute, Zanza's smirk turned into a scowl as he dropped his hand, vanishing the ether and revealing Melia to be just the same as before, only covered in a latent glow.

"Worthless half-breeds," he muttered. "I am forced to admit disappointment; your raw ether attenuation would render you the greatest individual in my entire army. But no matter. If you will not join me, I will eliminate you."

"Bit rude of you," fired Reyn. "You've already got your own body again, what d'you need to kill us for?"

"All life that is born from me must be returned to me eventually to complete the cycle. For me to continue my existence as before, then all must be restored to its former order."

"And guess what that means?" Dickson scoffed. "He's gotta kill everything that exists so he can start it all back up again. An endless cycle."

"First we must eliminate my greatest obstacle. You, Meyneth. The Mechonis!"

Zanza made the Monado glow. It wasn't clear what it was doing for a moment, but then there was a great noise from the east.

"Is..." Sharla was the first to turn and look. "The Bionis is moving!"

It was true. The Bionis was stretching out its arms and back, eyes glowing.

"Nonono!" Riki blubbered and fumbled. "B-Bionis spill sea all over village! N-Not g-good at all!"

"No, Riki, everything shall be fine," Melia half-muttered. There was no reason to get into the complex details of the Bionis' skeletal ether right now - just the assurance that most areas of the titan wouldn't feel more than a moderate earthquake was enough.

"I've been waiting." Egil was suddenly roused from idleness. "Waiting for this day, Zanza!"

Mechonis followed Yaldabaoth and brought its sword towards the Bionis. It blocked the strike with its arm without much apparent effort.

"Stop, Brother!" Vanea cried. "You cannot succeed! You're too weak!"

"I don't care. If I eliminate Zanza, my life's purpose is complete. As long as he lives, there can be no peace for us, of either world!"

The glow around Zanza intensified for a moment. "Then you shall cease to exist, by the wrath of my blade!"

There was a flash, knocking back Yaldabaoth somewhat. But more importantly, it caused the Monado to transform into a much thicker sword, symmetrical and covered in spindles at various angles. As its blue light formed an energy blade around the spindles, a similar light began to grow out of the Bionis' right hand.

"You think you know anything of wrath?!" Egil brought his sword towards Zanza, the Mechonis matching his exact motion.

Both Monados blocked the incoming blades. As they clashed, cracks began to form in the metallic swords.

"What?!" Egil was at a loss as to whether he should push back or give ground.

Zanza didn't let him choose. "It's finished!" He sliced clean through the now-broken swords.

There was a blinding flash of light as the Bionis' blade tore through the Mechonis' head, cutting Yaldabaoth in half and exposing the core to open air.

Melia felt a wave of nausea as the titan's Monado passed by. It was far enough away when first summoned to not be much more than a bright spot to her ethersense, but for the unimaginably powerful object to pass so close by was sickeningly overbearing.

"No! Brother!" Vanea ran towards where Egil was falling.

"Why?!" Reyn hollered. "Egil 'n' Shulk had made peace!"

Zanza turned slowly and lazily. "Meaningless sentiment."

"How could you do this?!" yelled Sharla.

"It is from me that all life is born." A sphere of yellow energy surrounded the party, full of a stormy ambience. "It lives only for me. And it shall be returned!"

Zanza raised his Monado, the Bionis doing the same.

The situation seemed quite bleak. Everyone was trapped in the energy sphere, siphoning away their ability to escape it.

Meyneth's chestplate began to glow. Melia tried to ignore the world crashing down around her and strained to figure out whatever she had to do for it.

It felt like...she had to reach in and pull something out.

Following her instinct, Melia closed her eyes and reached towards the chestplate. Instead of touching its metal face, she could feel something that was more like a handle.

The next action was taken without thought. Dropping the Imperial Staff, she took the handle within her with both hands and pulled something out before jumping towards Zanza, using it to block the attack he was dropping down on them.

There was a huge clash, unleashing a massive blast of light and sound. The trapping sphere, already with a gash down the middle from Melia's quick exit, was completely blown away. Melia remained hanging in the air, pushing against Zanza's Monado through nothing but sheer force of will.

"So you have finally unleashed your Monado," Zanza mused, to himself more than the person facing him. "And there was me thinking you would die with dignity."

Melia finally opened her eyes to have a look at what she was using to hold off the evil god.

It was clearly an ether staff. Turquoise with magenta detailing and bathed in a soft red glow, the bulky head featured the same inverted triangle as the chestplate itself, bracketed by two grey sides coming to a point at the top with three extra points jutted outwards and forwards, resembling a shrunken-down version of the Mechonis' sword. The handle was hexagonal and beveled, capped at the bottom with a trident-like feature. It felt composed of a dense and solid metal, yet seemed just as light as the Imperial Staff now sitting abandoned on the ground.

Now that she had Meyneth's weapon in hand, her feelings came through much stronger and more detailed. They were complex and emotional, and difficult to understand given everything else that was going on in the two minds at the moment. But it was clear that Meyneth wanted something to be said.

"Meyneth has realised that she has no right to control the futures of those she has created. You would do well to learn the same." She pushed off the contact with Zanza, forcing herself back down to the floor.

Zanza let himself float down to equal footing. "I trust no words from your foul mouth. They are as meaningless as the life you led. Only a god's words are worthy of my attention."

Melia considered whether it was worth attempting to say anything more if Zanza was just going to ignore anything that Meyneth had to filter through someone else. She decided she might as well finish the thought. "If you truly believe that your life is greater than that of everyone else's, then she will do everything in our power to resist you. We will fight for the futures of all in this world!"

Her first move was to summon an earth elemental for defending against the new Monado's surely devastating attacks. But as she concentrated on the feeling necessary to do so, she could feel Meyneth's staff interfering, directing her earthly energy into doing something else. After completing the summoning, she looked up to find not an orange cube of protection above her, but a sandstorm swirling around her.

Melia found the development quite curious, but decided to work with it - she didn't need to continually focus her mind on keeping the sandstorm active like she did a proper elemental, so she could freely summon more without limit. Next she focused on ice, trying to do it as usual but expecting something different to happen. A hail of icy pellets joined the sandstorm, forming a large cloud of detritus that would surely cause significant damage to anything that tried to get close.

Zanza's body language made it clear he was originally going to dash in for a quick strike, but seeing the swirl of sharp particles gave him pause. Presumably he was unfamiliar with what was going on and wished to observe before making a better decision.

The pattern continued. Quickly moving through her elementals, Melia brought forth a swirling updraft of wind beneath herself, not only making her lighter on her feet but pushing the radius of her swirling protection outwards. Adding water to the mix produced a comfortable spray of droplets both cool and warm to the touch, dry enough to not be a distraction but wet enough to produce a continuous healing effect. A flare set the head of the staff alight, and finally a bolt of lightning charged the entire staff with electricity. Instead of producing six team-boosting elementals, the staff had redirected the energy into six personal beneficial auras - which would certainly be more useful for the upcoming one-on-one fight.

Zanza remained at a distance, not yet sure how to initiate against his opponent's new defences.

"Not so confident in a fair fight, then?" Melia tried a few experimental staff swings, the head leaving a spiralling trail of flame through the air. "Your bluster does not impress me. Speak with your actions, not your inflated claims of self-importance. If you truly were a god, why have you not already destroyed me?"

"Cease your questions!" Zanza snarled and turned the Monado over in his hand. "If it is obliteration you seek, then I shall deliver!"

He finally leapt into action, taking a large jumping slash. Melia stepped aside as little as was safe to ensure he passed through as much of her storm of particles as possible, before countering with a quick staff jab. The attack's connection triggered an electrical discharge on contact, freezing both parties in place for a split second while also sending a surge through Zanza's body. She managed to get another two hits in before Zanza could parry one, the recoil sending both twisting backward.

There's got to be more I can do with this staff than just physical combat. Melia made a prodding motion into the air, which fired a bolt of lightning straight forward. She tried it again but instead got a beam of light that pierced through what it struck, and a third attempt resulted in a slow-moving glob of darkness energy that appeared to be formed of fluidic tendrils. I don't have time to be learning how this staff works, I need consistency.

Zanza cut the darkness blob out of the air as it approached and stepped back into melee range, performing a series of attacks. Melia didn't have much problem blocking them, but couldn't find an opening to counter-attack. She didn't mind too much, as the constant electrical discharges as the weapons clashed seemed to only be damaging her opponent, and the storms around her would eventually force Zanza to do something else.

After about a minute of being battered by the auras, Zanza retreated to reconsider his strategy, raising the yellow hexagons of Monado Shield around himself.

Melia couldn't help but scoff. "Some god you are if you can't even remember how your own Monado functions." She swung the staff upwards, forming a crescent of fire that went straight through the barrier and exploded. If this staff keeps my elementals inaccessible, I don't have a talent art for Monado Shield to block. Unless it provides one?

Zanza scowled and made his own upwards slice, creating a green crescent of energy that soared towards his enemy.

Melia recognised the attack as Monado Purge, which she knew was unavoidable. She swiped her staff downwards at the same angle to try and parry it.

But while the action successfully blocked the projectile and spared her from injury, it didn't stop its primary effect from triggering. A faint green cloud burst out of the point of contact and quickly wrapped around her. In an instant, all the elemental effects that had surrounded her had dissipated to nothing.

Melia suddenly felt like she was wearing several thick coats on the hottest summer day. All the ether that had been flowing freely through the elemental auras was now trapped in her body, rolling and churning at high pressure trying to escape the seal. Her vision and balance both quickly began to deteriorate.

Desperately seeking an outlet, she mindlessly tried to summon a bolt. It wouldn't have worked anyway, but at least it would have given a tolerable focus to her inner turmoil - yet Meyneth's staff kept trying to convert it into an aura, only making the feeling worse. She stumbled sideways and fell down, head spinning like mad. If only she had even one elemental already active, she could discharge it and convert at least some of the energy into part of her burst aura, which due to familiarity was significantly more tolerable when restrained. But as things stood, she had no recourse.

Zanza stood still and laughed, clearly playing with his food. "This is your chosen emissary, Meyneth? A mortal from my realm who clearly cannot handle the power of a god?"

"I...I..." Melia retched but held back her upset stomach. She knew Monado Purge wouldn't last forever - she just had to hold out until it faded. Appealing to Zanza's apparent desire to gloat and string things along was her best chance. "I don't...need...a goddess's power...to resist you!"

"Silence, girl! I want to hear Meyneth herself admit defeat. Or can she not even do that in her pitiful state?"

Melia felt a fuzzy thought float by her dizzy vision. She strained to focus on it, seeing a dim shape with a staff making a sort of fanning motion. The movement repeated itself a few times - it felt like Meyneth was trying to tell her something.

"We...shall do...no such thing!" Melia swung Meyneth's staff overhead as if she were trying to cast off a blanket. A gleaming white energy flowed out of its head and swirled around her, casting off the suffocating sealing ether and forming a faint bubble. She recognised the ether as very similar to that of Sharla's Cure Bullet - her guess was that she'd found the staff's talent art, and it was some sort of cleanser. Feeling much better, she stood back up and prepared to start fighting once more.

Zanza didn't waste any more time in approaching to continue his attack, not giving his opponent any time to set up. Melia didn't have much trouble defending, but being without any time to generate her offensive tools meant it was all she could do. She knew she'd be the first one to tire if this continued - something had to change.

Unfortunately, she didn't get to decide what to change. Zanza crouched down and unleashed a huge uppercut slice, launching her a significant distance straight up into the air.

Melia reoriented herself upright and attempted to resummon the red antigravity bubble from when they had fallen from Agniratha. Instead, her body started to glow with the same faint aura of the staff, which had the same effect of halting her movement in midair. It felt about the same as when she first pulled out the staff and was floating with weapons clashed - she figured it must grant a limited degree of hovering abilities.

Zanza quickly gave chase, flying directly at her with Monado extended. Melia blocked it but was sent reeling in the opposite direction a significant distance before she was able to reassert control over her aerial movement.

"This is it?" he chided. "How can you call yourself a god when your vessel is this inept at handling your powers?" He chased again and attacked a few more times, knocking her about with little resistance. Eventually he knocked her towards the back wall of the core and pinned her against it.

"And you talk of sharing this world with me?!"

Rapidly losing patience with his attitude, Melia awkwardly bent her arm around to pop him in the head with the staff. "Don't touch me, heathen. Crawl back into the netherworld from whence you came, and leave us be."

Zanza glanced down far below to where all the others were standing. "So that's why. The dead boy is important to you."

"Important?!" Something Reyn once said jumped into Melia's mind, and she grabbed it. "Shulk is more than important. He's the reason we're here. Have you been willfully ignoring the world around you the entire time you were cowering within him?"

"The Homs are nothing but bacteria clinging to my body!"

"Bacteria are a critical asset to the livelihood of all known organisms. You admitted yourself that your survival is dependent on us! We are living beings as much as you are. No god would be so ignorant of reality to claim otherwise."

"And who decides that? A god. Because only a god may decide." Zanza leaned in closer; the similarity between his face and Shulk's was disturbing. "This world only needs one god, Meyneth."

"Tell me when you find him then." Melia spit in his face.

Zanza angrily picked Melia off the wall and threw her down to the floor like a meteor. She stopped her momentum before crashing into Shulk's body and decided to slop floating.

"Face me like a god," Zanza shouted from above, raising the Monado. "If not, then say goodbye to your putrid friends!"

A huge cross of energy appeared in the sky and began swiftly descending.

Melia could feel Meyneth's desire to block the incoming attack, so she stood ready and prepared to use Reflection, assuming it would be powered up just as it had against Jade Face.

Instead, she suddenly developed a massive headache.

What are you-

Time suddenly slowed to a near standstill. The entire world was coated in a dull red haze, making everything seem monochromatic and lifeless.

Not knowing how long this would last, Melia battled the headache and remained ready to defend against the still slowly-advancing attack. Presumably Meyneth was doing something new - how many tricks did she have left?

"Melia." Meyneth's voice, louder and clearer than ever, spoke out of nowhere into the dead silence of the near-frozen world. "This is where I must leave you. Take what remains of my power - I have no more need of it. I have faith you and your friends will end our cycle of suffering."

Before Melia could truly parse the words, the universe was replaced with pain. Searing, tearing, all-encompassing pain. As if the ether all around suddenly grew chainsaw teeth and drilling thorns, as if an entire titan's worth of matter was squeezing her body from all sides, as if every fibre of reality were escalated to absolute hot and wrapped airtight around and through every piece of her.

The rest of the party saw a highly conflicting sight - an unfamiliar Machina woman wearing a dress appeared out of Melia's body and obstructed Zanza's attack, causing it to stop in midair in front of her, while Melia dropped to the floor and uncontrollably flailed about, screaming louder than anyone had ever heard a person scream.

Meyneth waited about five seconds for Melia's screaming to taper off before speaking. "This is what I wish. This world belongs to you all. Create a world...with no need for gods."

There was a flash of light. Meyneth vanished, along with the attack Zanza had launched. Only her ether staff remained, slowly tumbling through the air.

Egil attempted to catch the falling staff, but before it reached Yaldabaoth's extended hand, it flew back upwards towards Zanza. As he caught it, it instantly transformed into a full-sized sword of similar features and colour that greatly resembled the Mechonis'.

Zanza looked at the second Monado with glee and greed. "This is the passage of fate!" He floated upwards and vanished.

Sharla dashed forward and kneeled down beside Melia. "Melia, are you all right? What happened?"

Breathing heavily, Melia slowly took her hand off her chest to inspect it. The triangular patch of skin that had housed Meyneth's chestplate was seared and blistered by a huge amount of ether energy, marking a large chunk of flesh that looked like a very severe sunburn. It was not permanent damage, but if left untreated it would take several days if not weeks to fully heal. There had been no such issues when Meyneth left her yesterday evening - she must have had to depart too quickly to give herself a clean exit.

She rubbed her neck to check her other affected area. Aside from a miniscule dimple in the back that could very well be imagined, there were no other symptoms of Meyneth's hasty parting.

"I am all right," she responded. "The pain does not linger." She slowly got to her feet, disgusted at the current state of her chest - High Entia didn't sunburn, so to have such a large and severe case of a similar ailment was appalling, and while she disliked her own body and appearance she hated them being torn up even more.

"Look!" Dunban pointed across the sea towards the Bionis' head, where a large plume of ethereal light was shining up from somewhere in Eryth Sea. "What's happening now?"

There were some explosions around the core, presumably from chaotic feedback of the Mechonis' damaged systems.

Melia looked towards the inner edge to see that Vanea was perched there, probably talking with Egil down below, her words muted at this distance by the surrounding explosions. She decided to approach.

"...can't win!" Vanea was saying. "If you don't come with us-"

"I'm not finished yet," Egil interrupted. "I have to be prepared to face the Monado again. Lady Meyneth entrusted me to."

"Brother, don't say that!"

Melia reached forward to put a hand on Vanea's shoulder, eliciting a look of surprise.

"He has made his decision," she said. "We are in no position to question it."

Vanea looked to Egil and then back again, before opening her mouth to argue.

Melia cut her off. "Older brothers are a stubborn species, and this one has proven himself to be quite resourceful in his determination. Would you rather work with him, or try yet again to work against him?"

There was no response from Vanea.

Instead, Egil answered. "Go now! Do not let the last glimmer of hope be extinguished - you must ensure that Shulk survives!"

Melia turned to see that Reyn had picked up Shulk and was carrying him towards the transporter, where the others were also converging towards. The flurry of recent events had mostly pushed Shulk's condition out of her mind - seeing him limp and etherless yanked her back to a painful reality where in all likelihood he was already dead.

Dunban waved for them to join. "We have to get back to Junks while we still can!"

Melia started to follow. She wanted to try and keep her mind busy, so she formed a quick plan of what to do next - ask Miqol if he could send Junks to Alcamoth so she could have her chest treated, and have Shulk looked at as well. Then perhaps the next step could be-

She looked around in sudden realisation that something was amiss.

Where did Dickson go? I don't recall seeing him present as I battled Zanza - how long ago did he leave? Surely not long enough to have taken Junks away without us, and Miqol would surely not accept him claiming to be the only survivor.

As the group hurried back from where they came, Melia's thoughts continued to focus.

...Dickson. The traitor. Betraying everyone he's ever known on both worlds for a false god. Killing his own adopted son and gloating about it. Worming his way into the allied force to carry out his plans.

Death is too good for him. He will simply fall to the hells below the horizon without repercussions from those he has wronged. No; first we must make him suffer. Him, Zanza, and whoever the other traitor is. If there even is only one other.

That scar on his face is only the beginning.