Chapter 18: Assembly

Time grows short.

The process has already begun. The pieces are all in place; the destruction and recreation of this world is imminent. And those who can defy it are not ready.

Still, there is hope. I observed from hiding as they defeated the first sentinel of truth, and it is entangled in my being to know the other three have also fulfilled their duties. The challengers continue upon their path. The future remains open.

Or so it would seem. But one of the challengers has yet to contest us. The assumption was that one of their number was simply resting or injured throughout every battle. Yet even now, as they disembark their craft a safe distance from where they believe the final sentinel of myself to be, they are only six strong.

Their seventh is missing.

And only all seven can set this world free.

We can only hope that our guesswork is correct, that their seventh is merely unable to face us, and simply aids from afar. But this does not bode well for combatting the nature of our doom. We are not monsters to be swept away or obstacles in their path, we are the gatekeepers of competence, to ensure that the greatest foe only ever fights those that will defeat him. To defeat a set of challengers will merely make him stronger and wiser against the next - he must get no such chance.

Approach, challengers.

Show me your strength and will to fight, or cease your resistance and fall as your eternal predecessors have.

But either way - do not lead the sentinels of truth wrong.

"Riki very t-"

"Tired, yeah yeah, we know," Reyn interrupted. "We're all tired an' hungry an' cold in this stupid weather, but if we gotta be out in the snowy night to find this thing, we gotta. Buck up."

"Shulk, are you absolutely sure that we can't just wait for better weather?" moped Sharla. "I almost want to overheat my rifle in this blizzard."

Shulk grimly stared ahead. "Every time I see the vision again, it's in this weather. And besides, you saw the clouds when we flew in, you know it'll be like this for another week or two."

There was no need to respond. Everyone knew that even if they could wait for a clear night, it might be too late by then. They had to try and find the last of the five beasts as soon as possible.

The challengers approach.

They are as they have always been. Inquisitive. Loyal. Caring. Selfless. Friendly. Passionate.

But where is Brazen?

Is this to be yet another incomplete ascension?

Must they fall before me and waste this most promising cycle?

...

No, perhaps not.

As they approach...I can feel the Brazen energy. It is of no living challenger, yet remains a part of their group. Something terrible has happened to one of their number, yet the seven somehow remain together in spirit.

Yes. Passionate is a tether, a faint yet true link between Brazen's life and afterlife. Only a god's intervention could form such a bond, for only six challengers to still host the seven souls.

For either god to perform this action is a sign that these challengers cannot be merely equal to any that came before.

I have faith.

It is time to begin the end.

"Do you dare challenge the universe itself?"

Melia shuddered as the infernal words rippled through her mind.

"It's here." Dunban was first to draw his weapon. "Get ready, everyone."

The others could also feel the terrifying speech, though not strongly enough to understand it as more than an unnatural chill. Melia had seen no need to tell them that each bore a different question - that would just be extra confusing when they needed to focus on fighting the impending beast.

Shulk squinted deeper into the darkness to find more darkness. "I haven't seen anything yet. What do you feel, Melia?"

It didn't take much effort for Melia's ethersense to detect the foe they had come here to defeat. "It is draconic in nature, as foreseen. Suitably large. Unsurprisingly the strongest so far. And it is watching us." She indicated the direction of the enemy, towards the centre of the area.

Reyn planted his foot in the snow. "Well come get us then, scaly! You ain't nothin'!"

A vision passed in front of Shulk, and he immediately panicked. "No, wait! We're not ready yet!"

It was too late. A huge dragon emerged from the dark sky and landed in front of the party, sending out a blast of snow from its impact point. It didn't attack yet - it was sizing them up.

Melia now saw why Shulk was terrified. The dragon's scales were emitting a foul ether attuned very similarly to the anti-ether concoction the Mechon had invented, only far more powerful. To try and attack the beast would jostle loose more than enough to instantly kill anything within arm's reach.

Shulk came to a similar conclusion. "I have to start by using Monado Purge, or it'll kill you if you touch it. While it's purged, we have to put on as many safety gems as we can. Then we can fight for real."

"Don't wait up." Sharla was the first to start going through the group's supplies for the protective gems.

Shulk nodded and started to focus the nullifying energies of Monado Purge. He then waited for the dragon to make the first move - there was no reason to start the fight before they were ready if it was going to keep standing there.

And stand there it did. It didn't budge as the party successfully fully equipped themselves with the various gems that would protect them from its lethal touch.

"Suspicious as hell," muttered Reyn. "Comes to meet us all impressive-like and just lets us get ready for 'im. Like he thinks he can beat us with an arm tied behind his back."

Shulk let go of the Purge, letting it fade away but not dropping his readiness. "It has the glyph for a reason. It's not weak or stupid."

Both sides waited.

Melia watched the beast's eyes. They were looking at each person in turn, for about three seconds each, presumably trying to judge who the biggest threat was.

Two Slobos became visible in the distance, but they quickly turned around and hurried away once they saw what was going on.

Sharla kept a solid grip on the safety of her rifle.

Dunban's fingers drummed along the hilt of the sword resting on his shoulder.

A snow roller tumbled across the landscape.

Reyn tried to crack his neck without visibly moving.

The dragon stared at Melia, at the place on her chest where Meyneth once was.

Riki had probably never held still for this long before.

The wind howled.

You have shown me your strength. You have displayed your courage. You have proven your will to defy the reality that awaits you.

There is nothing left for me to see, to do, to challenge. I am satisfied. The six who stand before me, and the seventh who shadows them in spirit, have proven their worth.

My duty as the final sentinel of truth is fulfilled.

The others have told me it is a curious thing, to die and be reborn in the next world. At long last I shall see it for myself.

I know it shall be in a better world than this one.

"Hammeeeeeerrr BEAT!"

Shulk woke very abruptly as Reyn walloped him with Riki. The Nopon bounced off and tumbled across the room.

"Wake up, sleeping ugly," teased Reyn. "It's already lunchtime."

Shulk sat up and rubbed his sore front. Looking around, he saw a bunch of blurs and wondered where his glasses were, before remembering he didn't wear glasses and he just had a bunch of crud in his eyes.

"I'm not hungry." He started cleaning his eyes.

"'Course you ain't. Eat anyway. Gotta get ready for tomorrow." Reyn left the room.

...oh, right. Shulk remembered why he was so tired - they'd been up late fighting a dragon. And tomorrow they were going to put its loot to use.

Riki was still there. He bounced up onto the end table. "Shulk need to eat."

"Yeah, I will." There was no point trying to argue against them. Shulk got up, stretched, and headed downstairs.

"Shulk is still in yesterday clothes." Riki followed along.

Shulk half-rolled his eyes, not wanting to be reminded that he'd passed out before changing into his pajamas. "I know, Riki. No one's going to care."

Still groggy, he reached the kitchen and pulled his box of Pastri-Pops out of the cupboard before registering that the rest of the party was already at the table eating.

Sharla pointed her fork at him while she swallowed. "You can't just have Pastri-Pops for lunch, Shulk."

Shulk mumbled a "whatever" as he cut open a wrapper, took out the pair of pastries, and sat down to munch.

Dunban had already finished, and had the five glyphs laid out on the table in front of him. Five stone slabs, each about the size of a chessboard, inscribed with a long string of text in a language no one could read. "They don't exactly look like keys to a portal, do they?" he mused.

Melia traced a finger along one of the engraved letters. The stone was unnaturally smooth and sharp. "There must be something embedded within them that acts as an ether conduit, completing a circuit when placed."

"Better not need to put 'em in the right order," Reyn said, mouth full of bologna. "Hopefully they're all the same, or we'll have to waste time shufflin' them around a lot. How many combos would that be?"

"Five-factorial," answered Shulk. "So...five, four, twenty, three-two-six, twenny-six...a hundred and twenty."

"Wow. Riki hope Shulk no have to try every number. Shulk be there all day!"

"That's why we've taken care to keep them in the order Shulk saw us fight them in," said Dunban. "It's the most likely answer."

The gang continued to lunch.

Riki was the next to finish. "Riki is off to pon with pons. Friends will see Riki again for dinner." Without waiting for a response, he left.

Reyn shook his head and stuffed the last of the bologna into his mouth. "Sometimes I wonder if even the Nopon know what they're saying."

"You would if you'd paid attention, Reyn," shot Sharla. "Riki said before lunch he was going to go fishing with his Colony 9 friends."

"...oh yeah, now I remember."

No one really believed Reyn.

Shulk finished his cup of milk and got up. "I'm off to the lab."

Sharla sighed at him. "Shulk, you need to relax, not do more work."

"That's how he relaxes, Sharla," said Dunban. "Let him go."

Sharla looked to be considering whether to argue for a moment, but decided to drop it.

Melia watched as Shulk hurried away. For a moment she considered following him - she felt an interest in watching him do whatever he did in the lab.

The next moment, she was already out of the house.

Shulk looked with confusion as he turned to see her catch up with him. "Do you need something Melia?"

"No."

"Oh." Pause. "Then why are you following me?"

"...I want to."

Shrug. "Okay."

The two walked in silence for a time.

After a bit, Shulk remembered something he had been planning to ask. But just as he was preparing to say it, he reconsidered - a walk in public was not the correct time for it.

Melia looked at him. "Were you going to say something?"

"Uhh, no, I was just..." He scrambled to find something else. "I was thinking about how weird that dragon was acting."

She nodded. "Of course. How very strange indeed, to simply allow us to prepare and then make the first move, despite its unique biology being most effective if no such chance were given." She considered what she had heard that the others had not. "Then again, I suppose their questions revealed an unexpected depth to their being."

"Questions?" Shulk looked very confused. "The monsters were asking you questions?"

"Yes. Not towards me in particular, I believe, but the group as a whole. They were fairly philosophical in nature: the first whether we understood our future, the Mechon whether we remembered our past, the Bunnia if we respected the downtrodden, the blizzard-wielder whether we could brave the elements, and the dragon if we dared challenge the universe itself. Is it almost as if they are not mere creatures, but some underforce of the world."

Shulk smirked. "Yet you didn't call them by their names."

Melia gave a slight huff. "I was under the impression you confused Blizzard Belgazas and Avalanche Abaasy with each other, and sought to be clear."

"No you're right, I do get those two mixed up."

The pair reached the lab. As usual, no one else was present.

Shulk sat at his desk, pulled a stack of scrap off the shelf, and started to tinker. "Are you...planning on doing anything? Or you just want to sit and watch?"

"I did not have a plan. I suppose I simply wished to observe." Melia looked down at the nearest part of the desk, upon which was an open notebook. "What's this?"

Shulk looked to see what she was talking about and then shrunk back a bit. "Oh. Uh, well, it's...um...well you know how I kind of...didn't know what to say when we got to Lorithia? I don't want that to happen when we get to Dickson, so I started planning some things to say."

"...I see." Melia glanced down the list of phrases. Most had parts scribbled out, while the rest were either incomplete or extremely cheesy. It was clear that Shulk hadn't mastered the art of the one-liner - either that or he was simply borrowing blindly from mainstream fiction. But as much as she knew she would cringe like a crumpled napkin if he were to say any of these things out loud, Dickson was his fight, and she shouldn't intervene if not asked to.

"They're not very good, are they."

The sudden comment was an unpleasant surprise. "I...was not going to say that."

"No, but you were thinking it." Shulk had a gloomy look on his face. "I want to be ready, but I'm just guessing what he's going to say. I...I thought I knew him, but..."

Melia thought it would be best to change the subject, so she looked further across the workbench. To her surprise, there was an incomplete ether staff propped up against the far side, with one side of the head carved but the other only roughed out. She stepped around to get a look at the rest of it, seeing that the handle and base were just blocks that had yet to be cut at all.

Shulk noticed what she was looking at. "Yeah, I'm learning how to make staves. Togeth in Colony 6 told me the basics. It's...well, this one will probably end up rubbish, but everyone starts at the bottom."

Melia put a hand on top of the staff and tried to get a sense of it. The core felt like one of the precious stones dipped in pure ether - emerald, or perhaps ruby. It was very small and weak, as to be expected, no reason to spend good materials on a beginner's work. The staff itself was carved of whiplarch, the softest of the nine viable staffwoods, and shaped like a simpler Popular Staff. She slid her thumb along one of the completed faces - its imperfections were so minor as to be only tangible, not visible.

"How often do you work with wood?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment. "Not so much anymore. I used to carve a lot, but then I started learning how to use metal instead and that felt a lot better. Mostly because it's more of an adding process, so it's easier to fix mistakes. If you make a mistake when carving, you're stuck with it."

Melia nodded and continued to inspect the staff. His skill is undiminished by disuse. If this completed section is anything to go by, the staff as a whole will be quite good, only tempered by its weak core.

"I'm still missing one important bit," Shulk continued. "Togeth was just an apprentice, so while he knows how to make the whole staff, he doesn't know how to add the...um, the way it grows and shrinks. I do know it's the last part so I don't have to worry about it yet. Hey, do you know anything about that?"

"I am not an expert, but I can provide a general overview of the procedure."

"That's good enough, at least I'll know what questions to ask around."

Melia considered for a moment where to begin. "At their most fundamental, telescopic materials have variable density along a polarised axis. This is achieved by using a mix of primarily dark ether to render the material's physical properties more malleable to modification."

"So...kind of like using heat to soften metal?"

"Very much so. Once the material is sufficiently inundated with the dark ether, it can be slowly compressed in one direction. Then, a light ether compound is used to dispel the dark ether and fasten the material in its new, compressed shape. The process is then reversed to return the material to its original form. Repeated application of the technique eventually allows the material to change between forms given the correct application of force."

"Interesting." Shulk visualised putting a long pole in a trough full of inky-black liquid. "I imagine it can be dangerous to work with so much dark ether."

"You are not wrong. But light ether is not inherently safe either. The task is fraught with risks that may not be evident at first glance. As with any craft, practice is key."

"So you can only make something change between two lengths?"

"It is possible to create a telescopic material with multiple potential lengths, but they must each be formed in turn, and attempting to place them too close together may result in the material losing its natural shape and dissolving. A continuous spectrum is impossible."

"What about making things longer? Not just shorter?"

Melia racked her mind for a moment to recall the answer. "No, telescopic materials are always initially crafted at their maximum length. They become brittle if extended beyond it."

Shulk thought about stretching out chewing gum. "That makes sense to me. The longer you pull it, the thinner it gets. What about squishing something in more than one direction?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, say I had a chair. Could I make the seat stretch sideways and well as forwards and backwards?"

Melia had never heard of this idea before. "That is beyond my knowledge. Given I have never heard of such a thing, I would presume not, and guess that it is only possible to polarise a material in one direction at a time."

Shulk nodded slowly. "I'm guessing this doesn't change how heavy it is."

"You are correct. A compressed object is simply that. Its mass does not magically disappear."

"All right, that gets me started." Shulk looked at the incomplete staff thoughtfully. "How much other stuff can I ask about your cool technology?"

Melia chuckled. "You can ask all you want. Whether I have any answers is another matter. And we wouldn't want you to be too distracted from tomorrow."

"Oh, right." He turned and frowned at the wall. "I hope this is the last time we think it's the last time. It's been..." He closed his eyes, poked his forehead, and started counting off on his other hand. "Four times. Four times we thought we were going off to the last fight. Tomorrow's the fifth. I just want this to be over."

"As do I."

After a few moments, Shulk snapped out of his gloominess and got back to tinkering. It wasn't clear to Melia exactly what he was doing, though the shape of some of the parts suggested it would have a cubic shape in the end. It was a strange feeling to simply sit and watch him work, without becoming bored or feeling obligated to converse.

Eventually Shulk decided that something funny must be going on. "Aren't you curious what I'm doing?"

The true answer was "yes", but Melia couldn't just say that. "I was not certain you were working towards a purpose, let alone one you wished to divulge. For all I knew you were simply...messing around."

"Well that would still be something I'm doing, right?"

"...I suppose."

"Here." Shulk reached back onto the shelf and pulled down a small metal cube, about five centimetres a side. "I'm seeing if I can make a bigger version of this."

Melia took the cube cautiously. It appeared to be eight smaller cubes stuck together, though she could feel them jiggling in place. It didn't seem to have a purpose.

"What is it?"

"I don't know really, just a twisty toy thing. A guy called Enro gave me the idea."

"Twisty?" She gently tried to spin the cube's two halves in opposite directions. She could feel the pieces clink together, like they wanted to move but weren't perfectly lined up. After some tweaking of each corner, she got the halves to separate and spin around each other. It was oddly hypnotic to spin the cube, to realign it to squareness and twist it across another axis several times, feeling the cubes hitch slightly as they moved through what was presumably a set of grooves in a central sphere.

Melia sat playing with the cube for several minutes. She suddenly realised she had been, and dropped it onto the table with a small gasp, pressing her trembling palms together.

Shulk immediately stopped what he was doing, hastily put his tools down, and turned towards her. "What's wrong?"

Melia didn't answer, instead keeping her eyes closed and hands together. The trembling lessened. Only when it almost vanished did she look at Shulk and reply.

"Forgive me, Shulk. I have been taught to sit still my entire life, and handling this object triggered a regression to my childhood fidgeting. I must collect and restore myself."

"What for?" Shulk had a good guess already, but decided to make her think about it anyway.

She didn't need to think about it. "It does not do for a member of the imperial family to appear distracted or uncaring, especially when the others around me are correctly rapt and attentive. It may be known to some that fidgeting can heighten attention rather than detract from it, but in the Audience Chamber, appearance is often more important than reality."

Shulk was about to correct and remind her that none of that mattered, but reconsidered. This was not the first time Melia had either forgotten or been in denial about the loss of Alcamoth; it was not hard to notice when she spoke about her family in the present tense like this. He could remind her, as part of teaching her she doesn't have to follow those rules any more, but that seemed like a bad idea right now.

"Yeah, okay," he tried. "But didn't you say something about having to be a different person in there? You don't have to be that person out here. You've got enough practice, you don't have to keep being the serious one when you don't need to."

Melia couldn't disagree, but also couldn't bring herself to agree. She rather thought that she had to try more than ever to keep her royal persona sharp, now that there was little avenue to exert it naturally. And truth be told, as much as she disliked forcing herself to sit still, she had equal disdain for letting her body just do what it wanted without her conscious orders.

Shulk thought over an idea for a moment before deciding he should just do it. "If you'd like something to do that isn't just fidgeting, you can help me with this." He placed a pencil on his open notebook.

"...Help you with your speech to Dickson?"

"Yeah. I actually haven't had any real ideas since the first day I tried. It's just...not coming to me."

Melia looked over the notebook again. There wasn't a whole lot that could feasibly be salvaged; any resulting work would be her writing alone. It felt wrong to be putting words in Shulk's mouth like that, especially when confronting Dickson was so personal to him.

"Shulk, I think you need to re-evaluate why you wish to have your lines pre-prepared. I don't think me doing it for you will have the desired effect. Perhaps you are unsure whether you knew him, but I am sure I never have."

Shulk thought about this for a few moments, his eyes wandering between the notebook and the blank desk around it. Melia was right; if she just did the whole thing like he was kind of hoping she would, it would be even more of a shot in the dark than his attempts (and might have too many fancy words in it). But at the same time, he hated the idea of going in unprepared and ad-libbing.

"...I still want some help," he finally said.

"We shall work together then," she replied.

Shulk sighed. He didn't want to have to voice any of the painful thoughts necessary to do this, but there was no alternative. "Yes."

Melia nodded and turned to a blank page. "So, to begin. Do you wish to grab the first word yourself, or allow him to take it?"

Re-entering the Bionis' heart was not practically difficult, with Melia's ship as the group's method of travel. But it was fairly mentally difficult, to return to the site of the battle with Lorithia, and expecting Dickson to follow suit in the near future.

"Here we go then." Shulk carefully lifted the pile of slabs off the deck and placed them on the ground next to the dim cloud of transporter energy. "Where are the gaps?"

Melia placed her foot in one of the places where the unseen energy was missing. "One gap is here. The rest are equidistant around the circumference. There is no difference between them."

Shulk nodded and carefully placed the first Veritas Glyph in the gap. The weak dark energy began to flow through the slab, causing the letters to glow black.

"Good sign," said Reyn. "Better than it blowing up at least."

Shulk paced around the outside of the portal to where the next gap was and filled it. Once he completed the circle, he quickly stood back.

Nothing happened. The dark energy swirled around all the slabs, but the portal did not open.

Sharla pointed at one of the glyphs. "This one's not evenly placed, it's too close to the one on the right."

Shulk took his weapon and reached out to prod the glyph, slowly pushing it into a more equal position.

Once the slab he was prodding got close to the right position, all five suddenly jumped into perfect equidistance and began to shake. The dark energy flowing through them sped up before swirling together and blossoming upwards, finally opening the portal.

There was no particular reaction to the portal opening; any feelings of relief that it was successful were opposed by the grim reality of having to face the next step.

Reyn broke the silence. "All at once, d'you reckon?"

"Yeah," Shulk answered. Not wanting to put it off any longer, he stepped forward, and the others all followed.

The transport was unlike any they had experienced before. High Entia transporters were fairly neutral, carrying the sensation of a featureless and intangible cyan light. Machina transporters had much more feeling to them, more like being surrounded by the warmth of satisfied orange sunbeams from all sides. But whatever this transporter was, it could not be more different - a feeling almost like cold wind and frigid clouds made solid, and a darkness full of an unnatural fear.

Melia immediately summoned a flare when the transport was finished, and was not surprised to see everyone else take a step or two towards it. The familiar warmth was a decent antidote to the chilling sensation.

Dunban was the first to look up at the towering structure in front of them. "We've returned to Prison Island."

"What?" Reyn looked around at the blank red clouds surrounding the area. "I thought the High Entia said it sunk into the sea?"

"Into some part of the Bionis, it would seem. Presumably its head." Melia could only guess; the only way into the head "naturally" was via the Spinal Spiral, which had been blocked at the neck for eons, so there was no way to be sure. But there was little else it could be.

"Why Prison Island?" Shulk looked to be thinking hard. "Why would he bring us here? What's his plan?"

"The sealed regions of Prison Island have long been a stronghold of ancient, otherworldly creatures," Melia explained. "Perhaps he means to use them as his protectors, to weaken us before we reach him. Or perhaps he simply enjoys the irony of this being where we first met Zanza."

Shulk nodded. He felt about as ready as he could ever be.