Chapter 13: Destiny

Junks was already halfway out of the Mechonis before Reyn got Shulk to the medical lab.

"Have at 'im, docs." He carefully put Shulk on a bed and stepped away.

Linada gave Shulk a quick go-over. "He doesn't seem in any difficulty aside from simply being unconscious. What happened?"

"That's a little hard to explain," Dunban said. "I don't think we truly understand it. But what we saw was a powerful being escape his body."

"After he was shot," added Sharla. "But it was a nothing shot, we had it healed in a minute, that's not the problem."

"Then I'm not sure I have any help to provide." Linada looked at some of the more detailed scans. "There's nothing wrong with him physically. He has ether deficiency, yes, but we don't have the right supplies here to cure it in a Homs. And while we can't be sure it's the only problem at this stage, it is the only one we can find at the moment."

"But you can keep it from getting worse, right?" asked Reyn.

Linada nodded. "Of course. We can't say anything about his recovery right now, but he will live."

Melia, standing a little further back than the others, didn't share their relief. The lack of ether in Shulk's body was so stark and extreme he felt as lifeless as the reflection in a mirror. She'd seen three family members die in the last fifty years - mother, aunt, and father - and Shulk felt just as empty as they did mere moments after death. The fact that he was still breathing didn't do anything to make her feel better - rather, it made him seem unnaturally undead.

"Now, what happened to you, Melia?" Linada had moved her attention to her. "I see that Lady Meyneth has left you behind, and left quite a mess in her wake."

Melia scowled as she looked down at her torn-up chest. "Indeed. She had to vacate my body too quickly to do so without inflicting these ether burns."

"Ether burns." Linada turned away to search through a few drawers. "I believe...hm...perhaps...no, I'm afraid I don't have anything to treat organic burns."

"I wouldn't expect so. That's why we've already requested Miqol take us to Alcamoth, where the top doctors will be able to treat us."

"A good instinct."

There was a great rumbling and grinding from outside, followed by a huge crash from above. The titans were fighting once more.

Dunban hurried towards the exit. "Let's get to the bridge, we'll be able to see what's going on from there."

Most of the party followed Dunban out of the medical lab. But Melia stayed put, remaining motionless.

Riki turned around. "Why Melly scared about Shulk? Linada say Shulk fine, so no need to worrywart."

"Don't you feel it, Riki? The emptiness within him?"

"Only thing Riki feels is Melly's scaredy-ness." Riki hopped up onto the nearest table. "Riki knows how it feel to stand near deep friend when they in hospital. More than one of Riki's littlepon find way to make rest of family worry as bad as if chief say no food today. But one thing Riki learn is that there no need to worry if doctor does not worry. Doctor is life expert on life. Why question expert?"

Normally, Riki's tales and advice would calm Melia down or make her laugh. But this time, all she could do was sigh. "As correct as you may be, this is no ordinary situation."

"True, true." Riki floated back down to the floor. "If Melly feels better staying here while friends watch outside, that her choice."

Melia didn't budge as Riki hurried away to catch up with the others. She didn't particularly want to know what was going on outside between the titans at the moment - she'd had quite enough of the world being turned on its head for one day.

Linada cautiously edged into her vision. "Would you like a seat?"

"No thank you." It was an automatic, thoughtless response.

"I will leave you be then." Linada retreated to the far part of the room, away from both Melia and Shulk, and started working on something.

Half of Melia wanted to approach Shulk, to get as close as possible to see if she could feel the tiniest spark of life in his body. But the other half wanted to remain firmly at a distance, to remain unsure instead of risking confirming the opposite. It was mercifully difficult to do much deep thinking; massive blasts of noise continued to rain down from outside as the blindingly bright ether of the Bionis' Monado swirled across the sky.

Then it became quiet. The Monado began to fade. Someone screamed something from the direction of the bridge.

The Mechonis is defeated, Melia presumed. Junks is likely too small a target for the Bionis itself, so we will be safe for now. Zanza will have to deploy conventional measures to attack us furth...

Something was fighting out of the back of her mind. It took a few moments to reach clarity, but once it did, the realisation was instant.

Telethia. That's what he'll do, just as he attacked Agniratha in the beginning, send scores of Telethia at his enemy. That would explain the green light we saw atop the Bionis' head. Panic suddenly set in. I must warn the others. Alcamoth is no longer an easy safe haven - it is his first target.

Melia ran out of the medical lab, considering what to do now. On one hand, the allied force was likely still stationed at the Valak Mountain retreat point, so the city was mostly defenceless. On the other hand, perhaps Alcamoth was still the best option to dock in terms of medical attention, and the force was unprepared for Telethia in any case.

She slowed down as she approached the main deck, sensing something strange approaching from outside. Stopping and turning to focus on it, she felt a huge mob of little children flying through the air towards Junks.

They're here. They've already chased us down. Telethia had effectively the same ether signature as a young High Entia, which was what allowed them to slip though Alcamoth's defences so easily during the occasional times they escaped the Bionis' interior. It was easy enough to minimise the weird disconnect when actively fighting one, but to sense a large crowd of them in this way was very jarring, especially without yet seeing them.

The rest of the party dashed through the corridor below towards the deck outside. Reyn turned to climb upwards, but when he saw Melia he instead waved her to follow and continued on his way.

I hope no one has any delusion we can withstand these Telethia by ourselves. Melia followed, more panicked than ever. The party had enough trouble with the two Telethia from before, and that was with Shulk's help.

The group exited onto the deck. The green cloud that formed the Telethia horde was already quite close and appeared to have at least a hundred members of varying subspecies - many of the smaller bipedal variants, but a fair amount of the larger varieties.

Melia's immediate instinct was that they were dead, plain and simple. She never feared the Mechon much, what with her skillset being very effective against them, and while the various Faces did bring a few near-death experiences, there was always the sense that they were beatable. But a single Telethia took the entire resources of the party of six to simply contest on even terms. Sure, their battle prowess had grown a fair bit since the last one, but without Shulk's visions and Monado Purge to cover the downtime between Melia's Mind Blasts, it probably didn't even matter. And unlike Egil, who appeared to have a flair for drama and respect for his opponents in battle, Telethia were mindless beasts that could not be reasoned with. They did appear reasonably tamed, approaching in an orderly fashion instead of a chaotic mess, but defeating their leader wouldn't do much to lessen their threat.

She thought of one bit of hope - Junks' main weapon. Telethia fresh out of the Bionis wouldn't have any experience reading the minds of Machina, and past anecdotal evidence suggested they were poor at connecting pilot thoughts to vessel movements, so it stood to reason they wouldn't have much defence against the powerful ether laser. The limiting factor would probably be its recharge rate, which she didn't know. The question was whether Miqol would think about firing on the Telethia by himself, or whether someone would have to go suggest it to him.

One of the larger Telethia, snake-like in shape, broke out of the group and sped towards the ship, rising up from underneath.

Look who it is. It wasn't hard for Melia to sense that Dickson was riding the incoming Telethia just before he appeared over the deck and jumped down. Come to gloat some more, have you?

"You're not getting away!" Despite the fresh scar from earlier, Dickson had a massive slimy grin on his face. "It's all over, you know. Why don't you just keep things orderly and return to the Bionis, nice and easy-like?"

"That's enough!" Dunban yelled. "What's happened to you?! You were like a father to Shulk!"

"Don't let Zanza control you, Dickson!" Sharla called. "Wake up!"

Dickson's smile faded into a tired snarl. "You can quit your bellyaching. This is who I am. Who I've always been, for longer than any of you lot have ever known!"

"And for not much longer." Melia extended the Imperial Staff and tried to shut out the surrounding Telethia from her mind. "For if there is only one more thing we can do in this life, it is to toss you down into the endless sea below!"

"I'd like to see you try, princess!" He jumped back up onto the Telethia. "You'll need to get by the cavalry here first!"

Melia reached deep into her soul to try and drum up enough fury and vengeance to fire a Mind Blast without first having to build up a burst aura. But she didn't quite get there; the driving emotions were too hampered by worry over Shulk's condition and anxiety over the scores of Telethia coming to kill them. It would have to be done the hard way, by building up the aura from scratch as fast as possible without making herself a target.

The ensuing battle went poorly. As Melia expected, the party simply didn't have the resources to hold off a large Telethia long enough for her to do her job. The creature bashed and battered the group around Junks' deck with little effective resistance, with Dickson taunting them the whole time.

"You waste of space!" He amused himself by intentionally missing potshots at the floor around Dunban. "Gave all your heroism to Shulk, eh, stupid beast? Got tired of doing it all yourself? It wasn't all by yourself, of course. I was such a grand buddy of yours, wasn't I? Got you out of the tight spots when you really needed it, joined you in the victory parties afterward. Weren't they great?"

Dunban pounded his weapon on the floor, struggling to stand. "I'll kill you!"

"Come and get me then!" Dickson mockingly beckoned him.

A pattern of lights emerged from the sky above. Melia immediately recognised them as grouped in a military formation - at least some of the allied force were approaching.

Just as some of the others began to notice, the incoming group opened fire, scattering a bevy of ether lasers across the Telethia.

"What?!" Dickson's mount took a hit, but it didn't seem too affected. "Who was that? Show yourself!"

The squadron reached skirmish range and held position. Kallian was plainly visible at the bridge of the foremost Havres.

"Melia, are you all right?" he called.

"Brother!" It was hard to think of what else to reply with. There was so much that needed to be said, yet it felt like there was no time for any of it.

Reyn took over. "Kallian! Dickson works for the Bionis! He shot Shulk with his back turned!"

Kallian's face couldn't really be seen at this distance, but he was clearly perturbed. "Is this true?!"

Melia turned towards Dickson, the re-statement of his deeds simmering her anger once more. She could feel some hope welling back up again - the Havres had taken out a few Telethia in the initial volley, and she knew that was with their lesser weaponry.

Kallian didn't need any more of an answer; he could see the purpose in her movement. He turned himself towards Dickson as well. "So, Dickson, you side with the enemy as readily as he shows himself? Prepare for your defeat."

Dickson appeared playfully unconcerned. "Big talk from someone who should know he's already lost. Didn't you ever pay attention to what your daddy told you? Or did he not get to that in time?"

"Your mocking serves no purpose." Kallian motioned the order to open fire.

Nothing happened. Melia could sense all the Havres charging a huge amount of ether, but none of them were shooting. The gunners were clearly confused, tapping away at their control panels looking for the problem. Dickson laughed at them.

Kallian knew that so many ships having the same problem all at once was no coincidence. He angrily looked to the conspicuous occupant of the vessel on his immediate right. "Would you mind not standing idle and diagnose this issue, Lorithia?"

Lorithia ignored him and chuckled. "Oh, Your Highness, always the clever one. Presuming that this is an issue, and not in fact a designed eventuality."

"You will carry out your orders, Minister Nekudiora, or I will have you removed from office!"

"Oh! Oh, I'm so hurt." A laugh made it clear she wasn't at all sincere. "Your family is so charming to play with, but all things must come to an end."

A green energy began to flow out of Lorithia's Havres, before quickly spreading to all of them.

The hope Melia had instantly vanished. She could tell this was the same ether energy Zanza had tried to use on her to no effect, and he'd implied that her being half-blooded was the only reason it didn't cause her to turn against her friends. But now it was being used on some of the most skilled warriors of the empire, most if not all of them pure-blooded. Her instinct was that civil war was about to break out, followed by the Telethia picking apart the survivors.

Kallian hesitated for only a moment. "Ram her!"

The pilot attempted to comply, but the steering wheel came off in his hands, turning into a viscous green fluid that began spreading up his arms. The same was happening to the other Havres trying to take action.

"Awaken, my darling pets!" Lorithia struck a pose to amuse herself further.

Huge green bubbles started to blossom across the High Entia ships, consuming the screaming people they happened to touch. Some survived long enough to become partially visible again, before mercifully disappearing once more. Some of the vessels transformed faster than others, their hard construction replaced with ethereal flesh and flowing wings.

Kallian threw his rapier at Lorithia, but he was too busy trying to swim out of the mutation bubbles to get enough arm on it, and it sailed into the sea far below. He growled and grimaced as he slowly lost ground.

Melia wanted to yell something, anything at Lorithia, but couldn't find any words. Other people were saying things around her but they were being filtered out. So much had happened in only the past hour - fighting Egil, Dickson's traitorousness, fighting Zanza, losing Meyneth, worrying over Shulk - that now watching her brother get absorbed into an angry cloud of ether by another traitor was simply overloading her mind.

It was Kallian's first scream of actual pain that finally snapped her to action.

"You disloyal whelp! Release him!"

Lorithia smiled and moved with extreme exaggeration. "You misunderstand, child. We can't release someone of their destiny. I simply accelerated it. Why waste any more time?"

Melia thought about simply firing a bolt at her, but the surrounding active transformations were producing so much interference that aiming it across the distance would be like trying to push a rope. Firing a miss into the sky would do nothing productive.

"It's simple, really," Dickson half-snickered, revelling in finally revealing a lifelong secret. "Lord Zanza created the High Entia as an easy way to rid the Bionis of any annoying life forms when it's time for its rebirth. Their bodies contain a gene that, when the time comes, transforms them into Telethia."

"I'm not inclined to believe a further word out of your toxic gob." She replied quickly without really thinking about what Dickson had said.

Dickson shrugged. "You don't 'ave to believe me, it's the truth either way. Why else d'ya think Lord Zanza gave it a shot on you? Be the ultimate irony really, to have the rest of Shulk's buddies taken out by his fresh girlfriend. But no, half-breeds aren't good enough to see the light. Guess you'll just be joining your Homs mates in bein' crushed by 'em!"

"What? No, that's...it can't..." Melia trailed off as the meaning of the words began to sink in and many thoughts began to connect. High Entia turning into Telethia. Telethia having the ether signatures of High Entia children. Zanza thinking he could take her into his army. The green light enveloping the Bionis' head. The ancient monstrous statues on Prison Island. The imperial ban on DNA sequencing research. Half-bloods being immune. Her being selected over Kallian to take the throne. It being said that the Monado coming to Alcamoth could signal the end of the High Entia. The ancestral simulation expecting her as the last to rule the High Entia.

Most of the transformations were done now. The fleet of Havres was now a group of Telethia - significantly larger and bulkier Telethia than any in the original attacking force.

"I think she gets it now," Dickson chuckled, the slimy grin returning. "Gets just how every step of this whole kit 'n' kaboodle was planned by Lord Zanza. Yeah, some brainy emperors figured out that half-breeds didn't count, but it's too late. You're all dead as a doornail, and your dear old brother'll be doin' the honours."

Kallian howled in pain as only his head and torso remained unfused to the rest of the transformed Havres.

"Brother! Hold on! I'll figure out some way to save you!" Half-formed thoughts of ether physics ran through Melia's mind. Would water's healing properties decelerate or accelerate the transformation? No, ice was a more likely candidate to slow it down. Then add some earth for memory, dark for reversal...then water to get the reversion and healing process going faster? It was going to be quite a complex resonance with strict timing requirements, and that didn't even consider figuring out the necessary proportions. How much would be needed to counter a state-of-the-art vehicle's reserves?

"...No, Melia..." Kallian's face twitched as green lines crawled across it. "It was always too late for me. I've known for years. It was why Father and I always pushed you so hard...to ready you for what we hoped would never come to pass in our living memory..."

"Awww," mocked Lorithia. "Such a touching story."

Kallian grimaced, his twitching now spreading to the Telethia's other body parts. "...but...But now! Now you must carry out our wishes to the end! The future of what remains of us and everyone is in your hands...yours and Shulk's!"

The huge Telethia slowly started to turn around and emit a new light.

"What?!" Lorithia gasped. "How?!"

Now mostly in control of the body he had been fused into, Kallian faced and sped towards Lorithia. "You thought you could turn me against my family? Not while I have a shred of myself remaining, you scum!"

Dickson tried to move his Telethia to attack or at least block the incoming mass.

It was impossible to tell from Junks exactly what transpired next, aside from a huge bloom of light and ether blocking out most of the Telethia mob.

The bottom suddenly dropped out of Melia's stomach. Up until now, Kallian's familiar ether signature had still been vaguely recognisable despite his mutated state. But in the moment of the energy release, it simply vanished.

"BROTHEEEEeeeEeEEeeEERRRRrrRRrRRrrrrrrrrr!" It was a mindless scream, accompanied by a pointless reach.

Junks started moving, leaving the scene behind.

Melia lost a few minutes. One moment she was staring and flailing at the ether explosion, and the next she was sitting idle, calm, and alone back in the Junks medical lab. Upon realising she'd skipped some time, she filled it in by presuming she'd been persuaded back inside by the others, and probably requested to be left alone.

She looked down at her gloves. They were sopping wet. I've been crying, apparently. Pathetic. Brother's death was a sacrifice to save us all and kill the traitors; it deserves to be lauded, not anguished.

She looked back up and was reminded that Shulk's empty body was present.

...Today is the worst day in the history of the world.

The next several minutes were spent in surprisingly continuous mental silence.

After a bit, Dunban silently appeared at the door. He clearly didn't want to enter without permission.

Melia looked towards him, but after a moment's thought cynically turned back away. "I suppose you're here to offer your perspective on losing a sibling."

"You've got me figured out, Melia." Dunban didn't move, not assuming the statement was an invitation.

Melia considered whether she wanted to hear it right now - she didn't want to talk about it, but she also didn't want to not talk about it. Eventually she caved, waving Dunban inside and sitting on her hands to hide her damp gloves.

Dunban walked in and sat on the empty operating table across from Melia. "I can't pretend I know exactly how you feel right now. But I can offer my experience." He paused to await a response; getting none, he continued. "Did Shulk ever tell you how Fiora died?"

"He did." It was quite a while ago now, so she didn't remember all the details, but it was enough. "She fought the Mechon and Metal Face in the attack on Colony 9."

"That's right." Dunban stared into the distance, straight-faced. "I'd spent the better part of my life protecting her. From Mechon, from bullies, even from herself at times. Then it all vanished in an instant. It was the most awful feeling imaginable. But it awakened something within Shulk. Not a day had passed before he set off to avenge her. Had none of it happened...as bleak as things may seem right now, it would have been far worse."

"Shulk did tell me similar," Melia replied. "He didn't think so at first, but he realised that Fiora's sacrifice was both the best and the worst thing to happen to him."

Dunban nodded. "I can see that. I could say something similar, actually. While it provided me the spark to live and fight again after spending a year bedridden, there will always be a hole in me where a younger sister belongs."

"But that is where we differ. Fiora was the younger."

"Indeed. It's clear that Kallian was your mentor and shield as much as I tried to be Fiora's. I can only guess how it feels to be on the other side." Something occurred to him. "How old was he?"

"He is a hundred and fifty-one." Melia did some quick math. "Which in Homs years, equates to about thirty-three and a half."

"That's about what I expected." Dunban looked up to think. "The few times we spoke, I always had the sense he was greatly torn between doing what was best for you, or doing what he felt was right. I've grappled with that decision myself many times."

Melia thought back to when she first met Dunban in Makna Forest. It'd taken less then five minutes for him to cement the impression he was either an older brother or a father, with a calm, experienced, and unflappable attitude she'd much likened to Kallian's. She wondered if she had given off any similar hints of her own sibling status.

Dunban suddenly changed the topic. "What do you believe about death?"

It felt like both a strange and an appropriate question. "Most High Entia believe in asterism. Departed souls rest as stars in the sky and watch over the living before eventually earning the choice to reincarnate. One's worth in life ordains their place in the sky, with the greatest at the zenith and the most despicable far below the horizon, and only by slowly rising through the fixed constellations can rebirth be achieved."

"Ah, but what do you believe?"

"I...I'm not sure anymore." Melia began to fidget slightly, leaning back and forth. "We presuppose much of the gods of the universe - the two titans themselves, the twin sisters of order and justice, the six elemental sages, and several other lesser deities. But if Zanza and Meyneth are the only two, as Zanza claims, everything we believe is false."

"Not necessarily," assured Dunban. "Your beliefs might remain true regardless of who we have for gods. And Zanza has shown himself to be quite self-indulgent. Perhaps he simply ignores the presence of gods he views as lesser than him - which is to say, all of them."

"Perhaps." Melia cast her mind around all the major deities of all belief systems she was aware of, seeing if any of them had a resemblance to Zanza or Meyneth. No obvious candidates jumped out at her.

Dunban also looked to be thinking about something deep, but snapped out of it. "I'll tell you what I believe. I believe Kallian and Fiora are still out there somewhere, watching us and wishing they could help."

Melia couldn't think of an appropriate response before blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "And what about Shulk?"

"Shulk's not finished yet." Dunban's answer was instant and confident. "If there's anything I'm certain of in these uncertain times, it is that."

"I wish I could share your conviction." Melia gloomily looked over at the occupied far table, half-hoping to find that Shulk had even just rustled a bit, despite knowing she'd have sensed it already if so.

"Did you ever doubt Kallian's conviction?"

"You are not him."

"No, of course not. Nor could I ever hope to be." Dunban debated whether to continue the thought. "But if you need someone to be, I can try."

It wasn't hard for Melia to understand what he meant: if she needed an older brother figure, Dunban was available. She considered for a few moments how to respond.

"I appreciate your offer of support, Dunban. But...I don't think I'm ready for it right now." There was a pause while she figured out how to explain why.

Dunban didn't need the reasoning. "I understand." He stood up and started walking out. "We'll be meeting with Otharon once we reach Colony 6. I expect we'll need your input on whatever we discuss."

Melia nodded slowly. "Very well."

There was no further talking as Dunban left the room.

So we've changed course to Colony 6 then? Makes sense; it is higher and more fortified than Colony 9, and likely to be the next target of the Telethia strikes.

But what next? Zanza is likely to have hidden himself somewhere within the Bionis, probably in the chest or head. How are we to find him? He may think himself invincible, but to advertise his whereabouts would be quite foolish...unless he has foreseen himself defeating us, in which case he will surely do so. Actually, that's a point of interest - as long as he remains hidden, we know he does not feel confident in challenging us, as to even draw and retreat would be a huge mark on his psyche.

That in itself is curious. If Zanza is so convinced in his superiority, why not simply teleport aboard Junks and thrash us immediately? I suppose he may be busy mobilising the Telethia, but why not choose to deal with us personally first? Surely he must realise we are his biggest threat.

The floor twitched a bit as Junks began slowing. Melia waited for it to stop completely before slowly standing up and starting towards the bridge. She wanted to remain alone for a whole lot longer, but that was flatly impossible - she had a job to do.

The bridge was crowded; the rest of the party, Miqol, Otharon, Alvis, and Dunga were all present. Discussion was already in progress.

"...can't do a thing about it," Dunban was saying.

"Yeah," Reyn answered, more subdued than usual. "Can't much leave the only titan in the world. We're stuck with him."

Otharon turned towards Melia. "Good to see you, Princess. We're busy gathering up all the refugees we can find from Alcamoth and bringing them here to Colony 6, if they haven't already settled themselves elsewhere. But we have to know - should we be worried about them? Might they become what we fear?"

It was of course difficult to be presented with such a direct question, especially as it showed how much had been shared without her in the room. But even now, Melia managed to keep her emotions repressed behind a neutral expression. "No. Zanza personally attempted to turn me and failed. All those who survived are part Homs like me - I am confident they too will not succumb to the curse."

"And what about those that already did?" asked Sharla.

Melia thought the subtext was obvious. "It is too late for those who have been transformed. The least we can do is free their tormented souls from their mutated bodies."

"Give 'em a fight, you mean." It looked like Reyn was trying to psych himself up. "Give 'em revenge for Shulk. For everyone that yellow ugly's killed."

Alvis stepped into the conversation. "But then what?"

"What'd'you mean, then what?"

"What do you expect your resistance to achieve? It is Zanza's will that we return to the body from whence we came. Whether we die of old age or in battle, we all eventually return to the Bionis. We cannot escape this fate. Am I wrong?"

Reyn rolled his eyes and looked to the side. "Just 'cos he said something don't make him right. You weren't there when Melia showed him he ain't as all-powerful as he thinks, gave him a good fight alone without our help. We won't just sit here and let him get us."

"But what does it accomplish, when your fate is to die either way?" Alvis wasn't looking at the person he was speaking to, but rather towards the centre of the group as a whole. It was somewhat eerie, as if he wasn't quite listening.

"Zanza may be our creator," said Dunban, "but that does not afford him the right to end our lives on a whim."

"But that is the thinking of a Homs. He is a god. Such morals cannot apply to gods."

It was unusual to see Alvis continue a discussion to this degree; normally he would simply ensure his opinion was understood and then remain silent. Melia felt this so strange that she considered asking why he appeared so committed to playing devil's advocate. On the other hand, she also felt like trying to scuttle the topic entirely before it damaged morale too much.

"What're you playing at?" Reyn spat. "Who says gods get to make our decisions for us?"

"The god does, if that is what he wishes."

Dunban was starting to look annoyed. "If you think we'll just wait here for Zanza to pick us off, you are sorely mistaken."

"He does not need to," Alvis continued. "He may simply wait until we die. To Zanza, the outcome is the same. Your decision to fight or not fight is immaterial."

Melia had enough. "Seer, do you still recognise my authority?"

Alvis didn't blink. "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Good." She pointed at the door. "Then I order you to shut up or get out."

There was a stunned silence in the room; Alvis himself didn't appear blindsided by the uncharacteristic demand, but everyone else sure did.

Alvis milked the silence for as long as he could before making a disappointed nod and leaving the room.

"Whose side does he think he's on," grumbled Reyn. "Tryin' to-"

"That's enough, Reyn," Melia interrupted. "Do we not have actually important matters to discuss?"

"That's right," Otharon said. "If we expect the colony to be attacked by Telethia, we'll need a plan. And you're the expert on the creatures, Princess."

"...please, just call me Melia." It was an awkward thing to say, but it felt necessary to try and keep her position from later becoming exposed outside the inner circle. "I would not consider myself an expert on Telethia, but we do have some practical experience with them, and I myself have done some theoretical research. The most effective defence against a Telethia is distance, the ability to attack them before they can reach telepathic range. Artillery and other long-range armaments will be critical in defending the colony. But when we inevitably meet on the ground, the correct strategy is teamwork, to group so many minds close together as to present a challenge in deciphering them. I also suspect that vehicles pose them difficulty if they are sufficiently removed from bipedal anatomy, though this is an untested theory."

Dunga spoke up. "Is there anything special we Nopon can do?"

"Not in particular. As far as we can tell, Telethia do not much distinguish the species of their assailants."

"Good to know," said Otharon. "It's time to start spreading the word. Let's get ready."

Most people took this as a signal the discussion was over; they began to file out of the bridge. Melia waited until about half of the people were gone before she turned for the exit.

"Ah, Melia!" Miqol called. "One more moment, if you please."

Melia reluctantly turned back as the remaining people left. "Yes?"

"I thought you'd want to know that I've got a Replica Monado in the final step of manufacturing. I was going to tell Shulk when it's done, but under the circumstances, maybe you should just bring it to him tomorrow."

"...I see. Very well." I suppose a Shulk without a weapon is no better than a Shulk without life.

Miqol nodded. "That's all I wanted. Have a good night."

Melia left with haste, intending to go out into Colony 6 to find food.

She had already made half the journey towards the medical lab before she realised she was going the wrong way. No, you blind cretin, stop it. Stop wanting to sit around Shulk's corpse for no purpose. Go eat. Frustrated with herself, she turned around and stormed outside.

The mood outside was tense. Many convoys were delivering survivors from upper Bionis, most of whom seemed aware that the colony was not necessarily safe. The commercial district was beginning to pack up for the evening as well as in anticipation of the looming invasion. Remaining members of the allied force were preparing themselves.

Suddenly hungry, and with most options already closed, Melia resigned herself to one of the few fast-food chains that had expanded from Alcamoth to Colony 6. She stepped into whatever the nearest one happened to be - a McPonald's.

As expected, the joint was mostly empty. Only two Homs were sitting at the tables, and it looked like only two employees were present - a Nopon and a High Entia.

The High Entia stepped up to the counter and turned on his register. "Hi, can I take your order?"

Melia froze. The cashier was the first High Entia she'd seen up close since the Telethia event, and he had about the same build as Kallian. A rush of fear and panic coursed through her - despite his round ears signifying his half-blooded nature, some part of her mind still expected him to morph and mutate any second.

"...um, hello?"

"Oh I'm sorry." Melia shook her head and rubbed her eyes, not knowing what to think. "My...mind was elsewhere." She wearily looked up at the menu, wondering how many times in the past few hours this man had been imagined as a Telethia. "I'd like the fish fillet combo, with thinchips and grape juice."

The Nopon in the back immediately jumped into action.

The High Entia totaled the food. "That will be 36G."

Melia silently paid, intentionally being a bit slow about it to minimise the time spent doing nothing while waiting. But it was a fruitless endeavour, and still ended up spending two minutes anxiously pacing around. Why she was anxious about it, as opposed to simply impatient from hunger, wasn't clear.

"Here fish meal for bird lady." The Nopon placed the filled tray on the counter.

"Thank you." Melia took the food and went to sit in the most distant corner, trying to tone down or at least understand the anxious jitters that were starting to build up.

After a few minutes of eating, she figured it out. Everyone was gone now. Aside from the few who were outside the city at the time, everyone she'd ever known had either turned into a Telethia or been killed by those who did. Teachers, musicians, tailors, cooks, guards, everyone. It was such a huge event that it was hard to even understand what it truly meant for the majority of Alcamoth's huge population being converted into extremely dangerous monsters.

It wasn't just the people being gone, either - the city itself was pretty much gone too. There might be an opportunity to sneak in and collect a useful item or two, multiplied by the number of daring individuals with ships and a goal, but that was about it - the marvel of engineering had been transformed from a fortress of sanctuary into a veritable Telethia hive.

The reality of being homeless wouldn't truly sink in yet, but it was all too easy to think about. She'd probably never return to the palace again, let alone sleep in her own bed. She'd be stuck wearing her current clothes for the next few days at least, if not weeks. Without a supply of resources from above, she'd be eating these low-grade dinners for years before a true high-class culture could take hold below the Bionis' waist.

She had nothing to do with her life without an empire to rule.

At least Shulk is still here.

...I just treated Shulk as not presumed dead for the first time. Why is that? What caused my belief to change?

It must be because of acknowledging the utter destruction of everything I know. I'm desperate to find something to hang onto, anything from before the...the event that still exists.

Still jittering and wholly preoccupied, Melia reached for the remaining grape juice but bumped it and sent the capped cup tumbling. It hit the floor and spit out a medicine dose's worth of juice down her leg.

Bugger. Melia quickly replaced the mercifully mostly-empty cup on the table and started dabbing a napkin across the wet fabric. The juice would wash out easily, but she'd have to wait until tomorrow to do so, having no way to dry it without the sun. She didn't need the additional frustration; she felt even more anxious than before at knowing that something as trivial as a juice spill was a serious inconvenience on her new life.

It was hard to finish the meal as the same terrible thoughts and memories kept playing over and over again. If she weren't in public, she definitely would have attacked something in frustration by now. A tiny part of the back of her mind didn't tire at suggesting the entire day could have all been a dream, but she knew better - her dreamcatcher might be weak, but there was no way it would allow such a detailed and complex nightmare to pass completely unopposed.

An eternity later, the food was gone and Melia was half-walking half-jogging back to Junks. Any opinion that hanging around Shulk was a waste of time was pushed aside by the need to not be alone right now.

But then why do I not care about joining any of the others instead? she considered. If all I need is to have a friend right now, I have an array of more reciprocal options.

She saw Reyn and Riki in the distance but ignored them, continuing to rush into Junks.

It must be because...Shulk is the most important. Because he also needs help.

Because...he needs he as much as I need him. That is what he said all those many hours ago, is it not?

Melia pushed into the medical lab at much higher speed than she thought she was going. The first thing she saw was quite unusual: Linada was placing a pillow onto one of the beds, which was also covered in blankets.

Linada didn't appear surprised by Melia's sudden entrance, but instead met eyes and smiled. "Good evening, Melia. As you can see, I've been expecting you."

Melia was sufficiently confused to not respond immediately, instead staring at the made bed.

"Sharla warned me that you might want to spend the night here," Linada continued, "and I can understand why, so we fetched some extra bedding for you. I'll leave you be and return in the morning. Goodnight."

The Machina doctor left the room and closed the door, followed by a click as the lock spun into position.

Melia didn't know what to make of the gesture. She did feel grateful that she could have a few hours without being bothered by anyone she didn't want to see, but to an extent it also felt like she should be so bothered like it or not, in case someone had insight she didn't want to but needed to hear.

She could feel an emptiness. A lot of the Junks personnel were currently out in the colony, leaving the ship largely powered down. Compared to earlier, it was almost as if the lights had been turned out - each individual's ether signature stood out a lot more in the void.

And there was a new one.

It was very faint, so much so that it was hard to even tell what species it belonged to. But it seemed close, and wasn't moving.

Melia had a pretty obvious guess as to what it was, but decided to be thorough about it before getting too excited, so she started slowly wandering around the room. As the evidence built up, she drifted towards the lone occupied bed, almost trying to make no disturbance.

Arriving at his side, it was undeniably clear: Shulk was alive, his ether slowly but surely returning to him from seemingly nowhere.

Melia's relief was so strong that her instinct was to flop across Shulk's body like a throw rug. In fact, the only way she could stop herself from doing so was to immediately cut power to her legs, sending her collapsing to the floor instead.

I can't believe myself. I'm the empress of Alcamoth, not some floozy defined by her boyfriend. Perhaps I need stability after today, but fawning over Shulk is not the answer.

She tried to let the relief override the frustration, which was a bit easier than expected. Shulk was alive, and while he might not wake up for another few hours, he'd be back to help fight off the eventual Telethia attack. It was hard to say how much help he could provide without the Monado's visions, but anything would be better than him pretending to be dead.

Unfortunately, thinking about Shulk waking up instantly led to Melia realising how tired she was. And for good reason - in the past twenty-four hours, she'd probably burned more calories than an entire week this time last year. And that didn't even consider how much ether she'd produced. It wasn't even close to bedtime, yet she felt like completely leaving the world until lunch the next day.

Melia shuffled over to the made bed and clambered inside the blankets, trying not to think about the dozens of ways the universe had changed, and wondering whether she hoped that Shulk would wake up first. At least he was definitively still alive - otherwise, with nothing else left to live for, there wouldn't be much reason for her to ever wake up again.