Author's Notes: New story already (I don't usually do this; I try to completely finish a story I'm working on before working on the next one, but I made an exception here). I found this in the list of prompts on "The Junks' Forum":
FIRE – Write a story about one of Melia's flare spells gone wrong...
And thus I decided to present an alternative take on the important Telethia battle in Makna Forest, right after the group meets Riki. My apologies in advance for any contradictions to canon you might find. After all, this is definitely not meant as a serious piece, as you'll soon find out.
So, now that that's out of the way, enjoy!
This was it. Finally, the chance for Melia Antiqua to earn the respect and trust of her people. The chance to prove that she would be worthy not only of being a member of the Royal Family, but of being a strong contender for ruler of Alcamoth, should the need for such a thing ever arise.
Face to face with the mighty Telethia, but now with a group of warriors that also included several diverse Homs and an excessively chatty Nopon, she now felt confident in her ability to battle this monstrosity. In fact she felt she could fight every oversized creature the Bionis could ever hope to unleash upon her and her newfound party.
And then the creature roared, making her feel foolish for ever thinking such a thing.
"Everyone, let's go!" The one called Shulk raised his sword, the "Monado", in the air with one hand. His rallying cry pulled Melia back to reality as she readied her staff, preparing to focus the surrounding Ether into powerful weapons as she had been taught to do since she was a child.
One after the other, she called forth the Elementals in her mental arsenal and deftly attacked her foe with them. "Summon Bolt! Summon Wind! Summon Aqua!" Always hailed as the most skilled user of the Ether Arts in all of Alcamoth (partially due to the opportunities presented to her as the princess, she could only assume), Melia felt a competitive urge, the need to visibly surpass the fighting abilities of her companions. "Water, the source of all life! Manifest yourselves! Metal Bolt!"
"Whoa, check out Melia!" exclaimed Reyn, the larger one that Melia still had not fully warmed up to and wasn't sure if she would be able to in the foreseeable future.
"Ha! They shall witness my true power, then!" she thought, feeling a mixture of pride and Ether energy taking form within her.
She could see the Telethia reeling, weakening, trying its best to attack the opponents that had surrounded it on all sides. It wouldn't be long now before it fell to their collective might.
"Now!" Melia shouted, preparing to unleash her latest spell. The fire burned not only in the air around her, but in her eyes as well. She would bring down this vile creature. She would avenge her fallen High Entia brethren. She would prove herself worthy of love and admiration. "Star searing FLAMES OF ABSOLUTION!" Almost more than Melia can handle, a gigantic fireball went flying from her staff. Within milliseconds, it would engulf the Telethia in flames...
...Except that it missed entirely.
"What?" Mouth agape, Melia wondered how she could possibly miss such an easy target. Confusion turned to absolute horror, however, when she realized what she did manage to hit.
"AAAAIIIIEEEE! Riki on fire! Riki on fire!"
Riki the Heropon couldn't have stated a more obvious fact. Melia's blazing shot had brushed against his upright, wispy hair, causing him to run around in circles screaming nonsensically about how he would soon become a Toastypon without some help.
"Hey! Will someone put out the roasted marshmallow already?" Reyn grunted as he deflected the Telethia's attacks. As if drawing power from its amusement of the Nopon's predicament, the Telethia became more aggressive as it fought back primarily against Reyn, Shulk, and Dunban.
"Er, ah...Summon Aqua?" Melia said timidly. A few sparks flew out of the end of her staff, but definitely not enough to douse the flames that were traveling down Riki's hair and spitting embers wherever he ran. It was a good thing he did not venture outside the field of battle; with as panicked as he was, there was little doubt in Melia's mind that Riki could burn down half of Makna Forest this way. Melia tried casting the spell once again, but with the same result. "What in Bionis' name is going on here?"
"Eek! Melly hurry, or everything else soon be burninating like Riki!" the Heropon shouted as he flailed his arms.
Melia swore she could feel the proverbial light bulb heating up her forehead. Or perhaps it was just the residual effects of the Ether-related catastrophe she caused. Either way she knew now what to do. "Riki! Run TOWARDS the Telethia!"
"Closer? Are you sure about that, Melia?" Shulk questioned as he focused his energy into unleashing one of the Monado's many functions, designed to counter the Telethia's mind-reading abilities.
"Of course I'm sure!" Melia shouted over the chaos ensuing all around her. "Riki, go! Now is not the time to be cowardly!"
"R-Riki not cowardly! Riki brave Heropon!" Riki ran towards his opponent in his own strange, bouncing, waddling way (though much faster than usual). The Telethia, apparently not noticing the Nopon flambé dashing towards it, reared up on its hind legs and came down seconds later. It shot back up on two legs with a screech when its underside met with burning Heropon hair.
"Now, die!" Dunban, the oldest and most combat experienced of the Homs shouted, as he thrust his sword into the Telethia's chest. Nobody had to be told twice to unleash their most powerful techniques on the vulnerable beast, just as Riki escaped between its hind legs. With one massive blast of Ether energy from Melia ("Where was all this when I needed it thirty seconds ago?" she had thought to herself), the Telethia fell, soundly defeated and completely motionless.
It wasn't too much longer before Melia regained her ability to douse Riki and the surrounding area, his hair and some skin on his scalp the only casualties of this battle. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow as gently as she could.
Riki's hair had thinned significantly, and most of it had been charred an ugly black. He let out a high pitched whine as he looked at his reflection in a nearby pond.
"Riki..." Melia approached him carefully. "I am truly sorry, Riki. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Melly..." Riki said, sounding like he was on the verge of bursting into tears.
"But we're all extremely proud of you! You fought valiantly," she continued, kneeling down and rubbing his back.
"Really? Riki tried so hard! Melly see?" He bounced slightly as he spoke.
"Of course, you sweet thing! Who's a brave boy?" She patted him on the head, but stopped immediately when he let out a yelp. "Oh dear, I'm sorry!"
Riki smiled and hopped up, flapping his giant wing-like ears. "Melly make Riki happy!"
"Oi! You do remember its Melia's fault your hair is black now, right?" Reyn said as he sauntered towards them. Melia looked down in embarrassment.
"And smelly Orluga sidekick did nothing to help his Heropon," Riki retorted as he stuck his tongue out.
"H-Hey, I already told you, I'm not gonna be a sidekick to a talking volleyball!"
Riki and Melia giggled at the overreacting Reyn. Though the others weren't yet aware, she was now genuinely excited to show them the way to Prison Island. It was time to go home, and hopefully improve her accuracy along the way.
Author's Notes: Just when I think I can't possibly write something dumber than the last thing, I churn out something like this...Oh well, at some point I stopped caring about that and just wanted to make it as outrageous as possible. Sorry for any OOC-ness, hopefully it doesn't offend. Reviews are welcome, as always, though!