Chapter 29: Conjoin

In the weeks since Shulk had admitted that he was here to stay, Melia's house had slowly shifted to become their house. Lab tutoring had changed from a scheduled block of time into an open "whenever it feels right". The basement was now just as full with Shulk's projects as Melia's. The couch was a couch at all times. The Homs tape adapter was plugged in permanently. The Sun's Tear and Moon's Tear sat beside each other on the middle of the mantelpiece, casting their prismatic glow not just across the room, but out the windows and across the snow and ice outside.

The biggest changes were in the bedroom. While there was still some awkwardness, the two had mostly adapted to sleeping in the same bed, using the same bathroom, and sharing space in the closet and dresser. Perhaps most importantly in both of their minds, they had yet to walk in on the other changing.

Of course, Shulk still kept a thing or two in the Colony 9 lab. It was annoying now that there was enough snow on the ground that it had to be shovelled, but there were some things he had to keep a complete secret. Melia suspected one of these was something extravegent for her upcoming birthday, so she did not pry.

Shulk was carefully double-checking some woodworking designs when there was a knock on the lab door. He went over to open it.

"Alvis?!"

Alvis chuckled. "Always so surprised to see me, Shulk."

"Well, kind of." Shulk let him in. "You vanish for months, then pop back up the moment I need you. I mean, I get it, but it's still weird."

Alvis was carrying two things: a box and a book. He handed the box to Shulk, who opened it and peered inside.

It was the pieces of some sort of handcraft. A slightly-rusted metal ring, tied up in an array of frayed strings, with a bunch of loose gems.

"What's this?"

"It is the remains of a dreamcatcher," Alvis explained. "It was gifted to Melia by her father on her twentieth birthday. I believe she has used it almost every night in Alcamoth since."

Shulk looked up. "You want me to fix this for her and give it back."

Alvis inclined his head and shrugged. "It is one of many options. You may remake it and re-gift it. You may hand it over as-is and give her the opportunity to repair it herself. You may use it as inspiration to craft a new one of your own making. Or you may discard it if you believe it would not be appreciated. The choice is yours."

"Hmmm." Shulk counted up the gems in the box - eleven. "Well, I'll need to find out if anything's missing first. And if there is, that might be a problem. You know all this cold weather? A lot of the good mining spots turned into ice-type deposits. We're short on other elements right now, especially earth."

"I have taken the liberty of reading ahead." Alvis held up the book, now seen to be a High Entia book about dream interpretation, and opened it to the section on how to make a dreamcatcher. "The function of a dreamcatcher is threefold. The web within the ring, for collecting the dreams, is filled with triangular gems representing the letters of the protector's name. The strings hanging down from the ring, for distributing the dreams, are tied with round gems representing the letters of the owner's name. And within the centre, a single gem of high rank, to focus the energies and power the mechanism."

Shulk took the book and started to skim through. "We've got all five round gems. There's six triangular gems...who'd you say gave this to her?"

"Her father, Sorean."

"Okay, that's all of those then. I don't see the centre gem. For best results, it...should...be..." Shulk read the section more carefully. "It should be the owner's birthstone. Which for her, is February. Earth."

Alvis' face changed to one that exemplified the word "welp".

Shulk shook his head with the look of "of course it's like that".

"May I suggest," Alvis said, "focusing your efforts on underground deposits. They will be less affected by the seasons."

"Yeah, maybe." Shulk flipped a couple pages as an idea formed in his mind. "Hey, do you know if it's, um, rude to change a dreamcatcher's protector? Doesn't seem to say in here."

"It would be highly unusual. Enough so that no standard opinion of the matter exists."

Shulk nodded in thought as he looked at the details of the webbing gems. If he wanted to change the name from "Sorean" to "Shulk", it would be pretty simple: he would only need to not use the triangular earth gem. But the remainder would then have to be placed in a completely different arrangement. Given the web needed to be re-strung from scratch regardless, it would probably be about the same amount of effort either way.

"Well, thanks, Alvis. This is just what I was looking for."

Alvis nodded. "Are you interested in how I acquired it?"

Shulk chuckled. "I know who you are. You probably just took it out from behind your back five minutes ago. How else would you get it, spend a few hours swimming down in the ocean where Alcamoth probably is?"

Alvis chuckled back, but didn't elaborate. "You are welcome." With that, he left.

So...what to do? Shulk picked up one of the round gems and started to rub a smudge off it. I'm definitely making this a birthday present, but how?

Shulk blocked out some time a few days later to go searching in a cave system known to previously have a good concentration of earth crystal deposits. It was on his list, so he would've gotten to it eventually, but Alvis' advice prompted him to move it up to the top. He asked Reyn and Riki if they wanted to join him for some mining, and they both quickly agreed.

The cave in question was part of what was still called Tephra Cave. In the new world, its tunnels covered a wider and more sprawling area rather than a taller shape, and as a result were much easier to get lost in for people used to the old paths. The main route between Colony 9 and Colony 6 was reasonably straight and populated by known landmarks, but the rest was a maze of mystery that the Ponspectors had only recently started to make real headway through.

Luckily, the cavern Shulk was heading for was not far off the beaten path. Turn west at the Spring of Grief, follow the tunnel through the Toothy Wicket (a passage full of stalactites and stalagmites named by Riki), and turn left to enter the Nuoa Path.

"Here we are," said Reyn as they entered the hollow. "And man it don't look good, does it?"

Nuoa Path was full of ether crystal deposits. But many of them were still dark from the last supply run, and many of those that weren't were ice-coloured.

"No surprise to Riki. Chilly cold even in here."

Shulk kept walking. "We've been avoiding the very far side until now, to avoid over-mining. I think it's time to at least check it."

The other two nodded and followed as Shulk led the way through the cavern. After some twists and a blind turn, the reached the very back, a dead end. The deposits were fresh here, but only one of them was orange, and it was the smallest of the lot. Ether lamps had yet to be installed this far back, so aside from the glow of the crystals, it was quite dark.

Reyn went up to the lone earth deposit and put his hand on it. "This is really it, huh?"

"Looks like it." Shulk drummed his fingers on the pickaxe he was carrying. "I'd really hate to take the last one, it might make it even worse later."

"You and me both."

"Wait." Riki was looking around, almost sniffing the air. "Riki feels more."

"Hm?" Shulk looked at him as he started to wander. "You can sense something?"

"Riki feels it. Big, big point of earth ether. Nearby somewhere. But where?" He spun around as if he lost the trail. "Riki's senses not as good as Melly's."

Shulk fished through his pocket for his ether compass. He didn't think he'd need to use it in a cave where everything was laid out for them, but he trusted Riki's intuition. He held it up and waited for the earth needle to stop.

It stopped very quickly, pointing at the wall next to the visible earth deposit. He suddenly got excited - ether compass needles didn't stop that quickly if the source wasn't both near and large.

"We need to open up this wall."

Reyn looked down at the compass. "That way? Hang on a tick..."

He unfolded the Ponspectors' map of the cave. After a bit of fumbling, the trio located their current position, at the tail end of Nuoa Path. Were its sharpest corners smoothed out, it drew out a somewhat semi-circular shape.

"So if this is right..." Shulk tapped his finger where the compass was leading them - directly in the middle of the incomplete circle, like a hand was holding it.

"Riki hope wall not too thick. That lots of way for Hom Hom to dig to middle."

"Maybe we don't need to." Reyn had started to move along the dark wall, pressing his hands into it. "What if there's a cave-in somewhere? They didn't light the place up too well, maybe we can find a bunch of rocks blocking a hole."

"Good thinking." Shulk started to do the same in the other direction.

A few minutes passed of feeling about in the darkness. At the outer corner of the last bend of the tunnel, Reyn thought he found something.

"This wall seems pretty rough." He felt around the surface for a bit more. "Yeah this isn't solid rock like the rest of it. Where's the pick?"

"Here." Shulk handed it over.

Reyn got to work. Using a combination of the pickaxe and his gunlance, it didn't take long to get a boulder moving, causing gravel to spill out of a newly-revealed hole. A dim orange light filtered through.

"Awwwww yeah." He dug with a new motivation.

"Riki be sure to get Ponspectors in to update maps."

Shortly, the opening was wide enough to comfortably fit through. The trio headed in to find a thin, curved tunnel strewn with loose rubble. The orange glow got stronger as they proceeded, the tunnel wrapping around until it pointed in the expected direction.

Then, at the endpoint, it opened up into an unusually warm cave about the size of a house. A couple dozen crystal deposits dotted the walls and ceiling, with every element in equal measure. But the real surprise was in the middle: an earth deposit that took up half the place's diameter and almost all of its height, bright enough that it was almost painful to look at after having spent time used to the cave's darkness.

The group just stared at the arrangement for a few moments.

"I...I think..." Shulk shook his head to clear it. "I think we have to get a door installed where we found the entrance. To stop the cold air from coming in here. As soon as we can."

"You got that right." Reyn stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. "But for now, we got a haul."

He looked over the big deposit to find a good place to start mining. After selecting a nodule, he took the pickaxe and gave it a cautious but firm swing.

Instead of a solid clank, the nodule was completely sawed off, and vanished when it hit the ground.

Shulk glared at him. "Reyn, you know-"

"I didn't do it! It just...I dunno, it just fell apart by itself. Go on, you try." Reyn stepped back and held out the pickaxe.

"Fine." Shulk stepped up and took the tool. You have to be careful with this stuff. He picked a point and gently tapped it, not to actually get started but to hear the sound and so get a feel for the crystal. You can't just-

The deposit practically dissolved; a chunk almost a metre wide where he'd tapped it crumbled to dust. Reyn pointed at it, as if to say "see?".

"...Okay, yes, something is very weird here."

Riki scratched his head. "What we do?"

"There's gotta still be something usable in there, right?" Reyn walked around to the other side. "It's glowin' too well. It can't all be bad."

"Riki agree. Real ether crystal in here somewhere. Just gotta find."

Shulk pressed part of the formation with his hand. He could feel it crumbling under the pressure.

"Might as well try," he said.

"Wah-cha!" Riki leapt at the deposit and started literally punching its lights out, spraying glittery powder across the cave.

The trio proceeded to work their way through the massive ether crystal. Shulk used the pickaxe, Reyn used his weapon, and Riki used his bare hands. Shulk hoped that Riki wouldn't be the first to find a hard chunk.

It took over five minutes, reducing the deposit to almost a tenth of its original size, before they hit paydirt.

"Oi!" Reyn recoiled as his weapon bounced off something hard.

The other two stopped and looked; they were close enough now around the shrinking deposit that they didn't have to gather.

The revealed hard centre of the formation didn't look any different than a typical ether crystal, aside from glowing much brighter now that it had been exposed.

"That's something, all right." Shulk started to clean around the edges. "Let's get it out."

It took no time at all for the group to extract the hardened chunk from the rest. It was about the size of the shield on Reyn's weapon, and felt denser than expected.

"Very pretty crystal." Riki patted and rubbed it.

Shulk nodded. "Still, we shouldn't just leave it at that. There's more around here. I hope they're normal."

Shulk's instinct had been correct. While the large crystal was the jewel of the haul, the rest of the deposits in the cave yielded more typical results, enough to replenish their resources for now. Being careful not to over-mine the deposits so they could regenerate more easily, the trio took their loot back to Colony 9.

There was a fair bit of chaos as people realised a load of crystals was coming in to alleviate the shortage. By the time it was over, Reyn and Riki had gone off their own ways, and Shulk was left on his own to sort and store the rest. He didn't mind, he liked the process and liked to do it alone.

As he was finishing up, Sharla entered the lab.

"Sounds like you got a good haul," she said.

"Yeah." Shulk placed the last small crystal into a bin. "We found a completely new cave in the system. We kind of blocked up the entrance again a bit, so hopefully not too much cold air will get in before they put a door in."

Sharla walked up to the workbench, where the oddly dense chunk was sitting. "What's this then? I can tell it's different just by looking."

"No idea. The whole deposit collapsed while we tried to mine it, and it was just sitting in the middle. Never seen anything like it before."

"You want to cook it?"

"I mean..." Shulk looked over at it and frowned. "I've already taken some pictures and measurements. It's too large and too dense to get any useful readings of the inside. There's not really anything else we can do with it. Why, do you need some gems?"

"No, I just came here to see what all the fuss was about." Sharla cautiously rapped her knuckles on the crystal chunk. "But if you want a partner, I'm game."

It was possible to craft gems alone, but it could be fairly tricky compared to having a second person to help. Shulk decided that for something as strange as this chunk, it would be better to have the support. "Okay."

It took some doing to get the irregularly-shaped chunk into the lab's gem furnace.

Sharla bent down and turned on the heat. "Let's get started."

The pair waited for the crystal to melt so they could start the crafting process. Given how oddly dense it felt, they expected it to take a bit longer than usual.

Instead, the crystal started to change almost immediately. "Melt" didn't feel like the proper word, but it was hard to figure a better one - it seemed like it was folding and collapsing into itself while retaining its shine and hardness. And was it getting brighter?

Both Shulk and Sharla watched through the window in confusion as the crystal continued to shrink. Eventually, it was small enough to disappear from view entirely - presumably it had fallen into one of the receptacles at the bottom.

"I...guess it's done?" Sharla turned off the furnace, put on the mitts, and pulled out the collecting pan.

Sitting in one of the receptacles was a gem, much smaller than the mould, fully-formed but still hot. Shulk carefully reached in with the tongs and placed it on the cooling sheet.

Sharla pulled a face. "It's so tiny! What happened?!"

"I don't know," Shulk mumbled. "Everything about it is weird."

"It won't fit in a standard slot. Can you even use it for anything?"

"Could always make a custom casing for it." He gently poked it with the tongs; its unnaturally powerful sparkle danced around the room. "Maybe just make it a decoration."

"A decoration?" Sharla thought about it for a second, but shook her head. "Put it on a ring maybe, but even then, it'd be so easy to lose. Especially if some critter likes how shiny it is."

Shulk let the idea pass through his mind for a moment before realising an important question. "What rank is it, anyway? It's a lot brighter and shinier than any gem I've ever seen. I think I can even feel it a bit without having to touch it."

Sharla leaned down for a closer look. "Yeah, it's better than anything we've ever made. Could be a seven. I've never seen one before, but I know they're out there. Usually only expert crafters can make one, but that was a weird chunk we put in. Maybe it was like...ultra-high quality or something."

"Seven, huh?" He reached in with his finger, but felt it was still too hot before touching it. "I'll get an expert to look at it. They'll know. If it's that rare, I'll definitely do something fancy with it."

"For Melia, you mean?"

Shulk glared at her as she smirked, but only for a moment. "Maybe, maybe not." Yeah, it was the idea that had passed through his mind, but it was far from a done deal. The rank and nature of the gem would help decide that.

Sharla crossed her arms as the smirk grew. "What, you aren't sure whether to give your girlfriend a ring with a super-rare gem on it?" She then softened up. "I'm only joking. I know you want to understand it first."

"Yeah." Shulk started to write down what had happened next to his notes on the original crystal. "We've only had it for a few minutes. We don't know anything about it. It might not even be stable. But we'll get it figured out."

"I'll leave you to it then. Just let me know when you need her measurements." She gave an exaggerated wink and left the lab.

Shulk shook his head in mild exasperation as he kept writing. He wouldn't need Sharla's help - he helped Melia make a simple band for herself last week, so he already had the proper size. He just had to decide whether that's what he wanted to do with the strange gem.