Chapter 20: Transition

The blinding light quickly faded, revealing that the world had undergone a drastic shift in character. Rather than a black sky with stars and strange orbs, it seemed like the interior of a swirling vortex, flashing fiery colours as if inside a burning tube.

Melia sensed that in terms of ether, nothing had happened; this world was about as unnervingly empty as the last. She surmised it was simply another phase of illusions. There was one large point of ether, though, and it was slowly descending towards them.

"Welcome, Shulk."

It was pretty clear that the new arrival was Zanza, given the glowing halos and two Monados. But he seemed to have put on a strange suit of armour - it looked like it was made of rock, the helmet was shaped like the Bionis' head, and its two wings were asymmetrical, one made of Telethia flesh and the other composed of Mechon parts.

Melia noticed that sticking out of Zanza's feet were what looked like pizza cutters. It suddenly became much more difficult to take his appearance seriously.

"Zanza," Shulk simply said.

"I am impressed you have managed to reach me," Zanza began. "It is...unusual for my vessels to retain such strength after I have departed them. For you to be strong enough to defeat my disciples, is proof enough that you were of more use than any of them."

Shulk's brow furrowed. "More use?"

"Correct. It is from your actions that I have been able to obtain what has eluded me for innumerable time, what I have been seeking since the creation of creation - the other Monado. Now, I am whole, and this world has fulfilled its purpose. Evidently, you were of more use to me than any of my disciples. Now that I have the Monados, I can...forgive you your betrayal."

"Pah!" scoffed Reyn. "You gonna give him a reward?"

"Precisely," Zanza answered without skipping a beat. "In demonstrating his power over my other disciples, he has proven his worth to replace them. Eternal life and unimaginable strength will be his to command. Death will be but a fleeting afterthought."

Melia considered interrupting, but chose not to. She was curious how far Zanza would go with this offer before Shulk inevitably struck it down. She was also somewhat distracted by being close to Meyneth's Monado for the first time since it had been stolen; she could feel a yearning to take it again.

Dunban stepped forward. "You granted your disciples these powers only for them to still lose. You were confined to Prison Island by the High Entia and your disciples never helped you. Your true power seems weak."

"The short-sightedness of mortals." Zanza shook his head. "I was wounded in the battle with Meyneth's vessel. I could not be certain of victory were I to show myself again too early. So I...allowed myself to be captured so I could rest. I saw no need to order my disciples to help me. I simply awaited the day when a new vessel, revealed to me in a vision, would be born."

Melia had been taught much on how to read people and spot dishonesty, but it was obvious even without it that Zanza did not actually "allow" himself to be captured. Of course he would spin events to make himself seem invincible and downplay the efforts of those who opposed him.

"Until...I was born?" Shulk was trying to remember something said at Mechonis Core, something about why Zanza picked him out of anyone else. He had a feeling it contradicted this new claim but couldn't put his finger on it, partly because his memories of the time were not very clear.

"Precisely. I intended to inhabit your body and once again do battle with Meyneth. However, I had no idea that I would defeat her so...easily."

"Easily?" Melia spoke up. "You only defeated Meyneth because she willed it. She chose her manner of dying and allowed you to carry it out."

"That is of no consequence."

Zanza lashed out his Monado and brought it to a halt just in front of Shulk's face. Shulk was the only one who didn't flinch from it.

"You did a great deed in granting me a new Monado. I will gladly take you as my new disciple, Shulk."

"Never!" Shulk wasted no time, answering immediately. "I'm free from being a vessel, and I'm not going back to be a disciple!" He took his own weapon and pointed it back at Zanza's face.

Zanza's smirk did not budge. This was not unexpected. "I knew you would refuse at first. Fear of the unknown has turned away many potential followers over my existence. That is why I am offering discipleship to not only you, but also your lover."

"What?!" Shulk's sword arm faltered, drooping ever so slightly. He turned to look at Melia; she looked mildly disgusted.

"I recognise your desire for companionship," Zanza continued. "I myself am not so different. I am not so foolish to ignore that you are further along this road than I. It is expected that you would not easily give up what you already have, simply to start again from the beginning. So, I offer my discipleship to the both of you. Under my guidance, you will stand beside each other not for a couple dozen years, but for eternity."

Shulk had to admit that this was a tempting offer. For a moment, he considered the idea of the two of them accepting the offered power, using it to overthrow Zanza later, and keeping the strength and immortality afterward. Together, they'd certainly be capable of it.

Zanza noted the lack of instant response and nodded. "You see? I am no merciless tyrant. I would grant you what you deserve. And you." He turned to Melia. "You would be restored to your true nature and unlock your full potential, and granted the ability to transform as you wish in order to continue your relationship. Your power and influence would be immeasurable, and you would rule your subjects forevermore."

Melia was surprised at how much Zanza was willing to offer just to get them on his side. Part of her wanted to work him over, to barter and haggle, just to see how far he was willing to go. But she instead decided to not waste any more time.

"You think I would agree to be transformed into a Telethia? To join the brethren we were forced to slay so we could protect those who remained? To take what my family has spent eons working towards and throw it all away? All for a personal and selfish existence under your foot?"

"Of course. You should feel honoured that I am offering you the opportunity to return to your original form while retaining the sentience and freedom I granted the High Entia."

Melia gave Shulk a sideways look that she hoped got across the idea of "listen to this blowhard's posturing". She wasn't going to bother further dignifying his offer with a response of her own.

Shulk took the gesture as "get a load of this guy", emitted one chuckle, and went back to glaring at Zanza. "We'll never serve as your disciples, no matter what you pay us! We just want to live our our lives in a world without you!"

Zanza's smirk faded. "That is most regrettable. You could have entrusted all to me and attained peace. But perhaps the vision of mortals will ever remain...limited."

"We had attained peace, if you cared to notice," Melia interrupted. "Twice in fact, once quite recently and once long in the past. And both times, you were the cause of it breaking apart, by attacking Mechonis."

"Of course." Zanza spoke as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "The Machina had been allowed to evolve and become insolent. And now, the Homs are following a similar path. Using one's power to change the world is a right possessed only by gods. What a shame. I had a desire for friendship. But granting intelligence to the lives I created was a mistake. A god should not long for friendship."

"You're wrong!" Shulk pushed Zanza's sword away. "Meyneth earned our friendship by treating us as equals! You're not looking for friendship, you're looking for servants, slaves, food!"

Zanza began to slowly back off. "How disappointing. It appears that I was mistaken to grant free will. However, this does not matter. The Telethia will exterminate all life on Bionis. I will then once again create a new world, and continue the cycle as it has always been!"

"No you won't!" Shulk yelled. "We're going to stop you!"

Alvis watched as the battle unfolded. It would not be long now.

He had been waiting for a long time. It was difficult to express how long; not because he didn't know, but because he simply had no way to present such inordinately large numbers in a manner that the human mind could comprehend. He could express the number of cycles, but this would undermine the number of years, which was arguably the more important measure. And this only counted the "real" time, not the even further years of the many simulations of the future, done so he could direct the world towards one of the extremely few futures where Zanza could lose, let alone the even fewer where he would.

Even then, his plan was nearly undone. It had been hard enough to get the seven undestined souls to live at the same time, so for one of them to die early due to an unexpected decision almost broke the future he had been setting up. But he was nothing if not ready for the unexpected. His backup plans had backup plans, and if things went too far off the rails, he could reset the universe to the start of its current cycle - an action of extreme last resort because it was possible for the gods and the undestined souls to notice, which if they did would certainly make things much more difficult afterward.

Suffice to say, Alvis was filled with an apprehension of seeing his untold eons of effort culminate in success. He had no doubt that Shulk would vanquish Zanza. He did not even need to look into the future to see it; he could simply tell from his wealth of experience with them.

He began to make the final preparations for what he knew Shulk would choose to do.

The battle held even. Zanza had taken a new form, a grotesque mishmash of the Bionis and Mechonis, and begun to unleash power of forms yet unseen. But even as the battlefield spun through a kaleidoscope of colours, the party held strong, and Shulk's visions continued to stymie any attempts at ending the fight prematurely.

"How?" Zanza growled, frustrated that this was not over long ago. "How can you have visions?! You no longer possess the Monado!"

"It doesn't matter," Shulk said, fighting off Zanza's attacks. "I just feel it. It shows me what will happen, so that I can change it."

"That is a right for gods and gods only!"

Zanza tried to strike Shulk with a scissors slash, but became distracted as Melia shot him in the back of the head with a bolt.

"Your opinion of rights is invalid!" she called. "As long as a being has a will and a choice, their future is their own to decide!"

Shulk waited for Zanza to predictably turn to face Melia so he could jump and cut him in the back.

"This is not an opinion!" replied Zanza as he spun around. "It is the way of the world!"

Shulk made his leap. "Why should we care?"

He didn't land his slash quite where he wanted, more in the shoulder than the back, so Zanza was able to push him off rather easily. But the way he did it let Shulk catch a good amount of air, so he flipped around a bit while he continued.

"This is our world as much as yours. Your will doesn't matter to us. We have the strength to seize our own destiny! Our time has come. Our destiny is our own!"

Somehow, he knew what he had to do. He thought about all the times his friends had helped him change the future. But not the times they did so for Zanza's plan to get them to Mechonis - the times they did so for improving everyone else's lives. Stopping Giorgio from collapsing, getting King Squeeze off Leopold, saving Dabidabi from crashing, outing the kingpin Bana. He could feel the community and friendship much like a chain attack, but with something extra he couldn't place, so he focused on it. After what felt like quite a while but was probably just a second or two, he figured it out.

He focused the mysterious energy into his replica Monado, pulling directly from its strongest sources - his friends.

There was a commotion below as blue beams of light burst from the fighters' weapons. Dunban struggled to hold his sword steady. Sharla removed her rifle's ammo canister entirely. Reyn pushed against the beam, thinking that he probably should for some reason. Riki flapped around in panic, his biter somehow not budging like a bird's head.

Melia could feel the torrent of ether flow out from her heart and through her staff, both alien and familiar at the same time. Once she recognised it, it was obvious what she had to do - but it was enough of a challenge to stay composed and upright after focusing the power of one Monado. Could she control or even survive two at once?

Well, she had to try. For Shulk.

She pried one hand off her staff and placed it on her chest where Meyneth's chestplate once sat, gathering as much energy into it as she could without interfering with the opposite energy pouring out the other direction. She'd been careful to ration what remained of the goddess's power after the events in Mechonis' core, but now was the time to spend it all.

Melia threw her hand out towards Shulk. A beam of red energy flowed out, almost identical in composition to all the blue beams. With its addition to the confluence, the light around Shulk glowed white.

Shulk felt the weight of the replica Monado shift around in his hands. He couldn't see it through the glare, but it suddenly felt a bit lighter and more balanced, and the handle was a lot more comfortable to hold. It was almost like he'd been used to handling it for years.

Melia wobbled as the last of Meyneth's power left her, but managed to avoid collapsing. It felt oddly hollow to have none of it left.

The energy and lights faded, and Shulk fell back down to the "ground", all eyes on him.

"Can it be?" gasped Zanza. "A Monado?!"

Shulk didn't look down at what he was holding. He could just picture it in his mind - a complex helical pattern that would be an incredible accomplishment to carve or machine by hand, shining his favourite colour in a material whose translucence showed off its pristine lack of imperfections, surrounding the signature round hole that had been in practically every one of his dreams. It was perhaps the most perfect weapon he could hold.

"A third Monado has appeared," Zanza muttered to himself. "How can this have happened?! You are mere mortals!"

Riki took advantage of Zanza being distracted to whack him in what might be a leg. This caused the fight to resume.

Shulk did not immediately join in the combat; he was busy being somewhat overwhelmed by what he had done. But after a few moments, he came to his senses and focused on one of the Guardians that had appeared. With a single strike, his Monado cut the summoned being in two, dissolving it into nothingness.

Zanza watched the minion vanish. "What?!"

"Gettem Shulk!" called Riki.

Now determined, Shulk turned on the second Guardian, which was currently dueling Dunban. He ran up to it and also destroyed it in one blow.

Dunban looked shocked for a moment, but quickly nodded and turned towards Zanza.

Zanza growled and summoned another four minions, but it simply delayed the inevitable. As Shulk killed the first, Sharla and Melia put one to sleep each, and Reyn took the attention of the last. This gave Shulk all the time in the world to simply walk up to each one and dispatch it without effort.

"How?" yelled Zanza, clearly baffled. "The power of a god cannot be overcome!"

"[~- Zanza. -~]"

Shulk had been walking up to Zanza, but hearing Alvis made him pause. It would be prudent to listen before doing anything else.

The three Monados began to light up and trace beams of light between each other.

"[~- This is the providence of the world. Even gods are merely beings restricted to the limited power determined by providence. That power, although great, is not unlimited. -~]"

Melia could not hear Alvis. But she could sense that something had changed; a faint wisp of ether had arisen from the blank emptiness of the background, at a point somewhere above Zanza.

"Alvis!" yelled Zanza. "How dare you disobey me!"

"[~- I am Monado. I was here at the beginning. And I will proclaim the end. -~]"

"But that...that's impossible!"

"[~- Shulk, it is time for you to choose. Does this world belong to Zanza? Or does it belong to you? -~]"

Shulk answered immediately. "That is something we decided long ago!"

He held up his new sword and screamed his energy into it. He'd need the blade to be a bit longer to get through all of Zanza's thick ugly body. Once he noticed something appear in the circular hole, he knew it was enough.

"Th...That symbol!" Zanza stammered.

Shulk flipped the weapon around so the new symbol faced his enemy.

"Today, we use our power to fell a god, and then seize our destiny!"

He yelled, ran forward, jumped, and slashed. The impact was hard, but the blade cut, and soon he was running a glowing rift down the centre of Zanza.

The character of the churning background colours shifted, becoming more chaotic. Both it and the cut though Zanza began to glow brightly.

"All that I am is fading," the defeated being muttered. "The memory of a god's existence, born from the chaos of creation. It is...vanishing."

The light once again became blinding, and the world vanished from view.

When Melia next opened her eyes, she was standing in midair above and in front of the Bionis' head. The titan's pose had changed - it was now rearing backwards as if in pain, several large chunks of landscape crumbling off its body. As a result, it was likely that she was situated in Alcamoth's original position. Aside from the unchanged Fallen Arm and the ruins of Mechonis, there was nothing else visible across the endless sea.

The world had a dreamlike quality, though what exactly was hard to grasp. Something felt off about it, aside from the standing in midair, but no finger could be put on it. In any case, it didn't seem likely that the Bionis had moved in reality - this was some sort of fabrication, and wherever she or the others were they'd all wake up shortly. Her first guess was that everyone was having the same dream, and currently stationed near their hometown or birthplace.

Before Melia could come to any more conclusions about the strange half-world, she heard a distant voice. It wasn't a familiar voice, and its words weren't discernible, but it did seem to be repeating a few short words. After a few moments it could be pinpointed as coming from above, from the sunset sky with stars beginning to show.

For a moment, Melia considered that a dead person was trying to speak with her. It made a good deal of sense - a voice coming from the stars in a dream world was pretty standard fare in fiction. But were that to happen, she expected it to be someone she knew, not a stranger. Then again, perhaps she didn't really want to see a deceased family member right now - that would be quite the mood whiplash from having just freed the world of Zanza.

The voice slowly increased in volume, but not much in clarity. Its location in the sky became easier to locate - very close to the zenith, no more than a few arcdegrees towards the horizon. According to classical asterism, this meant it was either a soul very close to reincarnation, or one of the most valourous and honourable to have ever lived.

Melia figured she might as well try to speak back. "Hello?" With no nearby objects in any direction, it felt unnervingly hollow.

After a pause, the voice suddenly became crystal clear.

"Melia!"

One of the brightest unfixed stars fell from the sky, turning into a meteor of blazing yellow with a glowing green halo. It only took a few seconds to reach a point in front of Melia and explode into a burst of energy. She naturally recoiled from the blast, but it had no effect on her, and so looked back at what emerged from it.

There was a Homs standing where the meteor had landed: a young woman about her height with short blonde hair, a white top with disconnected sleeves, and a brown skirt/socks/boots combination. It was hard to tell whether the Homs was real flesh, a butter-tinted spirit, or an emerald-tinted hologram - she seemed to be slipping between all three.

Melia's first reaction was confusion over why, as far as she could tell, a random Homs had decided to cross the plane of life and death to speak to her. But after a few seconds, she realised that this was no stranger - she'd seen that face exactly once before, while falling from Galahad Fortress, inside the destroyed Face Nemesis.

"...Fiora?"

Fiora nodded and broke into a wide smile. "Yup, it's me! I'm so glad to finally meet you, kind of."

Melia didn't know what to say. It was very surreal to be speaking to someone who had not only been dead for a while, but whose knowledge and instincts had been partially grafted into her own mind.

"I know this is weird," Fiora continued. "It's weird to me too, to be doing something other than...well, being dead. But I couldn't just keep watching anymore, especially after what you and the others just did. I had to come down and do more than just be a bug in your head, and I'm grateful I was allowed to."

"Allowed to?" Melia let out the question without much thought. "By whom?"

"I don't know. I just wanted it, and it happened." A shrug. "I might be dead, but that doesn't mean I have any answers."

Melia considered asking what it was like to die, but given how Fiora was ended rather violently - potentially twice, depending on interpretation - she decided she didn't want to hear it. Instead, she asked the next most prominent question. "You must know Shulk would greatly appreciate seeing you again. Why did you choose to visit me instead?"

Fiora let out a slow chuckle that was both funny and sad. "Don't be silly. Shulk's moved on, you know it more than anyone. I don't need to be digging up old ghosts just as he's won. But I did have to actually meet you, to settle down whatever little bit of me's in your mind."

"I see. Could you then fully elaborate on what you gifted me? So far I have only discovered your cooking instincts; all other external thoughts I received were from Meyneth."

"That's about it actually. I could have given you a lot more - memories of Colony 9, of Dunban's exploits, of Shulk and Reyn being goofs. But I didn't want to change who you are, I wanted you to discover Shulk and the others in your own way. I mean, it would just be too weird for Shulk to know bits of me are in your head, right? And for you to know things about him that you shouldn't? But I had to keep my cooking skills alive somehow, or he'd never eat proper again."

Melia felt that the focus on Shulk's perception of her was somewhat awkward. "You speak as if you knew that Shulk would come to me in your absence."

"Well, I...I kinda did." Fiora shrugged again. "I'd only seen you three or four times when I had to decide, but it was pretty clear to me that Shulk was missing someone, and it wouldn't be long before he had to find a replacement. Even if he didn't realise any of it. I remember watching you fall from the broken bridge into the Mechon fortress depths, just before you fought Egil. Shulk had the Monado in something slowing him down, he could pick any one person to grab, and he chose you."

Melia opened her mouth for a moment to refute - she remembered that, and Shulk only grabbed her because no one else was in arm's reach - but thought better of it. This was a time to listen, not debate. Instead, she selected a different question to ask.

"So when you were part of Face Nemesis, you were still alive?"

"Yes, I was. Alive, but I couldn't do anything, only watch. It was hard, waiting for something to happen so Meyneth could decide to let me use my body again. But I had to let her. I didn't know what she was thinking, but I could tell that what she wanted to do was important. Are...will you tell Shulk that? And Dunban and Reyn? I think it would make them feel better about watching my body do the things it did, making it look like I was ignoring them, or didn't remember anything."

"Perhaps, but not now. Shulk believes you died in Colony 9, and it was only your commandeered body he saw, not you. I believe Dunban and Reyn hold similar viewpoints. To say otherwise would only complicate matters."

"Well, as long as you consider it for later." Fiora looked around at the starry sky, seemingly uncertain about something. "Well, I guess this might be goodbye. Something's about to change, and I don't know if I'll be able to keep watching."

"Is there...anything you wish me to do?"

"Uh...well..." It looked like she was trying to think quickly. "Tell Dunban he can divide up my stuff between all of you, he'll do it right. And if you need a place to sleep for a while, you can keep using my bed, it's no big deal. And...if Reyn ever has kids, he's not allowed to name any of them after me, that's not for him. And...um...well, I want to tell Shulk I miss him, but...that's not right. I mean, I've been watching him this whole time, and well, I've already said he's moved on and doesn't really need to hear it. So...maybe wait for him to be ready."

Melia nodded. The sky seemed to be brightening somewhat unnaturally, so her time in this dreamworld might be ending.

Suddenly she had a thought. "Fiora, could you also do something for me?"

Fiora looked confused about what she could possibly do, but nodded back. "I can try."

"Can you..."

Melia unwittingly paused. What exactly did she want to say? How much could be said without losing its meaning if not relayed exactly? How could she explain things to a Homs that had only met her people as a puppet and a spirit? And how much could she say before the quickly-brightening sky became blinding, and her time here expired?

"If you see my family, tell them...I forgive them. For everything."

The world turned white yet again. But this time, after a few seconds, it cut to black.

This was far from the first time Melia had found herself in a black void, but it was by far the scariest. Aside from the complete lack of ether, she couldn't feel any part of her body, and couldn't tell if she could move anything. She tried to take some deep breaths to calm herself, but not even that was possible. She could only exist.

It was far too harrowing to simply exist with no anything for an appreciable length of time. Her first thought was that by destroying Zanza they had somehow erased the universe from reality, but this was clearly not aligned with Shulk's and Alvis' behaviour. Did she die in the transition from her interaction with Fiora, and this was her afterlife? That didn't make any sense either, unless the entire thing was a fabrication in the first place. Maybe her body was off being a Telethia somewhere while she was stuck in its inner mind. That she had conceptualised of such a nonsensical situation was an unwanted sign that she had entirely too much time to think in this state. She needed out.

After what was probably a few minutes, she could sense something. A point of something at a great distance had appeared and was expanding rapidly in all directions. She wondered how she could perceive "distance" and "all directions" given her current situation.

The expanding wave crashed over her.

Melia would have gasped if that were possible at the moment.

She could see everything. Dozens of scientific tables glowed in the dark. Hundreds upon hundreds of mathematical equations glittered in the void. Thousands of diagrams of physical processes, both macro and micro, floated in the midst. Uncountable reams of what looked to be computer code scrolled by. Reality itself stood open before her.

And then it was all gone. Visible for only a few seconds, vanished in the blink of an eye.

Melia suddenly became aware that she had a body, and it was currently collapsing to the ground.

"uughkf."

"Melia?" It was Shulk's voice. "Are you okay?"

"...On the whole." She blinked a few times before looking around. All six of the party had appeared in a nondescript field of grass. The others were equally baffled but all still standing; she was the only one who had fallen down.

"Here." Shulk stooped and held out his hand. Melia took it without a word and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"So where are we now then?" Sharla was trying to find a familiar landmark. "I don't recognise this place at all."

Dunban glanced around. "It certainly is unfamiliar territory. Grassy hills, a forest to one side, some water to the other side, and strange mountains beyond that water. And no part of the Bionis is in sight."

"So we're...on one of the shoulders then?" deduced Reyn. "But then we oughta still see the Bionis' head to one side, yeah?"

Shulk pictured the Bionis' head in his mind. "And even if we were on top of the head, we'd see the horn somewhere. There's no flat land anywhere that we'd see nothing at all."

"Riki is spooked. Too much flatland, not enough Bionis. All no make sense."

Melia gazed at the strange mountains beyond the water and formed a suspicion, but chose to take it one step at a time. "If we cannot be anywhere on the Bionis, or anywhere that can see the Bionis, it must follow that either we are nowhere near the Bionis, or the Bionis itself is missing."

"That's it." Shulk thought he had it figured out, and also looked at the all-too-familiar mountains. "That's the Bionis over there. It's collapsed."

The others all turned to look at the distant formation.

Reyn squinted. "That...does kinda look like the Bionis, eh? But then where does that leave us? We're on some bit that's flaked off or something?"

"We're too far away for that," muttered Dunban. "This has to be an entirely new piece of land."

Melia sensed the arrival of a newcomer - Alvis had walked up behind the group, presumably having waited for them to all face the same direction. She chose to wait for someone else to notice.

Instead, Alvis spoke to them.

"Welcome...to the world you fought for."

Everyone turned around. Shulk didn't seem surprised to see Alvis, but the others did.

"It is no paradise," he continued, before anyone else could speak. "There will be death, pain, and suffering. But there will be no gods ordaining this for their own benefit or amusement. It will simply be the way of things."

"I have designed this world in order to minimise the disruption to your way of life. Your daily routines will not be much different than those a year ago. Every settlement will be mostly unchanged, even if the landscape between them is unfamiliar. Your agriculture, livestock, mining, and such will carry on with ease. The remains of the Bionis will be visible in the distance, to soothe those who are not prepared to live in a world entirely without the titans. And perhaps I will share further gifts in the future, as your societies become attuned to the new ways."

"But there will be many things you and your fellows will be confused and scared about. The sun will keep to the same time, but rise from the east horizon and set in the west. The moon will follow, but with an irregularity unique to its monthly phases. The seasons of the year will host familiar but stronger extremes of weather. The seas will be vast but finite, and if one sails in any direction they will encounter new land eventually. The world itself will be a sphere, hung in the cosmos by the same forces that keep us affixed to its surface."

"You may ask, why is this world so different than the one you know? Why not instead simply create a new Bionis, one without the soul of Zanza supporting it? It is because Zanza wished for your world to be limited. He created the endless sea so you could not escape him or expand beyond him, and the rules of the world were stressed to support this. It was not only easier, but safer and more natural to recreate the world which I am most innately familiar with - that of my home."

"And so this is what you wished for, Shulk. This new world is boundless. It is home to not only you, but many forms of life. I can see it. In this world, all life will walk towards the future hand in hand."

With a glitter in his eye, Alvis faded into nothingness.

Reyn laughed and shook his head. "Always thought that guy wasn't playing with the same deck we are."

"No, he is," Shulk answered. "He just knows everyone's cards."

"Who is he then?" asked Sharla. "You seem to know something we don't."

Shulk tried to come up with a way to explain it. "Well, uhm, he's...it's like...he's the actual god. Maybe even above that. He knows and controls everything, because...he's the machine that runs the world. He called himself a...a computer, that's the word he used."

Melia was the only one who knew the concept. "Alvis is a computer? And he controls the universe? Does that...make this an artificial reality?"

The question was met with blank stares.

"Sorry," she walked it back. "It's...something I've seen in science fiction novels many a time. There's no cause for alarm." Well, it was a little disturbing, but what did it mean for reality to be "natural" or "artificial", anyway? That was a philosophical question far beyond what she needed to know. In any case, it would explain all the math and code she'd glimpsed earlier.

"What did he mean that our settlements are mostly unchanged?" Dunban wondered. "I can't imagine the ruins of the Bionis are very habitable anymore."

"I think I know," Shulk said. "Come on, let's get up one of these hills."

The party walked south, parallel to the coastline. It took only a few minutes to reach the top of the nearest hill and see what was on the other side.

Reyn grinned. "Now that's a sight for sore eyes."

Colony 9 sat in the distance, visibly battered by presumably Telethia attacks, but mostly still intact. The landscape around it was eerily similar to how they remembered it, just part of a coastline rather than inside a divot. A lone Bunnit spotted the group and bolted away.

"They'll need our help rebuilding," said Sharla. "Them and Colony 6, wherever it is."

Shulk pointed toward Tephra Hill. "It looks like the path to Tephra Cave is the same as ever. Should be easy enough to send some Nopon traders to map it out. They're probably thinking about doing the same to find us."

"Riki cannot wait to see looks on faces of Ponspectors. Whole new big flatland for mapping? Huge uptick in Ponspector business!"

"First we have to tell them we won," Dunban said. "They won't be going anywhere until it's certain the fight is over."

So far, it hadn't really sunk in for Melia that they had won, that they had successfully defeated their enemies and no new one had appeared. But hearing Dunban say it helped solidify it in her mind.

"Yes. We won." She paused for a moment. "But I suppose our adventure isn't quite over, is it?"

Shulk didn't understand why he had the impulse to do something cheesy, but he didn't consider ignoring it. "Everything's an adventure with you, Melia."

"What is that supposed to mean?"