Chapter II:
Shulk and I walk into the Military District, and right there and then we're greeted by the welcoming shouting of a drill sergeant.
"You idiots! What the hell are you playing at?!" A man with a handlebar moustache, and who is even taller than Reyn shouts.
"Uh-oh, the colonel's gonna explode." Shulk says to me.
"Wow, he has a temper." I reply.
"Crashing the mobile artillery into a house?!" He says exclaims a glare to one of the soldiers. "How long have you been in the force?" The colonel continues.
"Sorry, sir. I-it's just that we were trying to go as fast as we could, like you ordered..." One of the soldiers stammers.
"But it's impossible to get back to the Military District in only 40 seconds." The other soldier says, apparently trying to be brave.
"I don't want ANY excuses!" Champions don't whine, they win!"
"Yes, sir"
"You're a disgrace to the uniform! Are you forgetting the shame you brought on this force during joint manoeuvres with Colony 6?! Stick your back into it maggots! Move it!"
"Yes, sir."
"Get the artillery back to the Military District, double time! Then I want a million press-ups from both of you! And you better not stop until your biceps explode!"
"Colonel. We can't move the artillery." One of the soldiers coughs up.
"What? You'd give a damn good reason why!"
"Sir! The impact of the crash damaged the ether conduction cable! The ether fuel proceeded to leak out and now the cylinder is empty!" The other soldier says.
"Well, change the cylinder then! Can't you even do something as simple as that?!"
"The auxiliary cylinders have all been used up. It'll be three days until more come in, Sir."
"I told you two to keep a stock of fuel in reserve!"
"Sorry, Sir..."
"You're nothing but slackers!"
The both of us wince when the Colonel punched one of them in the face, and then nudged the other.
"Wow. The men are all going to be dead before they see action if this keeps up." Shulk whispers to me.
"Yes, I've never seen any colonel who has hit his men like that." I respond.
We walk to into the Military Lab, where I see another Nopon. He asks us if we are to collect some materials, and we of course say yes. The Military Lab is a very small room with a lot of metal. It also has one table, and on it is a man with long hair, with a red bandanna perched on his head. If he had an eyepatch, I actually would think he would be a pirate. Apparently, though, Shulk and he are friends, actually scratch that, they more act like father and son.
"All right, Shulk. How are you? Who's this guy?"
"Dickson! When did you get back to Colony 9? This guy is Augustine, and he apparently has lost his memory and does not know where he's from." Shulk greets jovially.
"Amnesiac. That isn't good."
"Yeah, the only memory that I have is staying in my room, but I don't remember the date nor do I remember where." I replies.
"Anyway, when did you get back to Colony 9?" Shulk inquire.
"Just now. I see that you are very busy with the research." Dickson replies, smiling.
"Research? Do you think I could join? Maybe it can reignite my memory, as one of the other things that I remember is that I was an engineer. I probably did a lot of research back when I was an engineer."
"Hmm. If you are an amnesiac, then how do you remember a lot of the technicalities of research?" Dickson wonders.
"I think I'll be able to remember well enough." I reply.
"Hope ya can read all this and understand it." Dickson chortled, picking up a large stack of papers with drawings. I take a quick peak at them and see that it is of the sword that is in the middle of the room.
"That's the Monado, correct?" I ask, looking at it with awe.
The Monado is a red sword that looks two-handed. It looks incredibly heavy and cumbersome, unlike a rapier. Why would anyone ever use a sword like that? It looks incredibly cumbersome, and it looks weird. The rapier is a very-
"Yes, that is the Monado. I can activate it, even though no one can control it." Shulk answered.
"Yes, if anyone other than Dunban were able to control the Monado, we could easily surpass any military force in the world." Dickson said, reading the paper. "Talking about the Monado, what are these hidden functions that you mention?"
"It's still only conjecture, but it's starting to look like the Monado might be something far more significant than just a weapon for defeating Mechon." Shulk answer.
"What's the evidence." Dickson and I ask.
"You can't have any scientific discoveries without evidence." I add.
"Well, seems like someone wrote a lot of papers." Shulk dead pan.
"Ha ha." Dickson and I chortle.
"The evidence is in the symbol that appears in the centre when it's activated. Now, when someone activates the Monado, there is a piece of glass in the little circle. That is made from multilayered glass. The symbol appears on the top layer, and each layer is constructed differently."
"So it's possible that other symbols could appear on different layers?" Dickson asked.
I look interested at the man, because something was not right about him. He just seems to be concealing a lot of his knowledge, with his face. Why is he scrunching up his eyes? This is an interesting development.
"Which means..." Shulk continues
"The Monado might conceal even more power." Dickson leans in, and he does a big reveal moment like in those really bad mystery movies that show you the obvious.
"If we could just unlock the Monado's power..." Shulk answered. "Dunban..." he thought aloud.
"Who is this Dunban?" I inquire.
"Only the greatest fighter in all of the colonies." Dickson answered with a smile. "He fought beside me at Sword Valley. There is no way you could have stopped that beast. Do you want me to tell you all about him?"
"Yeah, Dunban's pretty awesome. I feel sad that he lost all his movement in his right arm. That is because of the Monado, one year earlier." Shulk said, sadly.
"That sword conceals a lot of power to stop a beast." I laugh.
"Yes, he's also one of the funniest men out there." Dickson says.
"I would love to meet him." I reply.
"And the best swordsman in the colony. Only two people have ever matched him. You, and one of his other friends." Shulk says "with his other friends" sadly, like one of them has died. "Oh, Augustine, you should schedule a match-up with him. I've seen how you fight and it is incredibly interesting. The way you just dance with the blade. I would love to see who has the better style." He looks up at me interested. "Anyway, I should see you, Dickson, later. Augustine, do you want to go to Outlook Park with me?"
"Of course. See you later Dickson."
"See you two later too, I'll tell you the story of Dunban and Sword Valley once I get these supplies dropped off."
The two of us walk out when I ask him, "So, how do you get money in this place?"
"Oh, money. We call it gold here, but some of the Nopon insist on saying, 'More money for me!' in their incredibly high voice.'" We both laugh at this statement. "Anyway, remember the people who ask you to do all the things like kill Verdant Bluchal, or kill Evil Rhangrot? Those people, for their thanks, drop money off at the lab. I use it to buy my supplies whenever I go hunting."
"Talking about supplies, can we go to the Commercial District to go and buy my arrows? I am right out of them, or more like, I haven't got any of them in the first place."
"Okay, let's drop by the Commercial District and get your arrows."
The two of us walk by the Commercial District, watching out for one of the stalls where they sell weapons. The two of us go there, and ask for twenty arrows. The man says that we can have all of his arrows for free, as no one uses bows in Colony 9. People either use ether rifles, swords, or drivers.
"What are drivers?" I question, as I have never seen a driver in my life before.
"Ever see a Defence Force Soldier?"
I nod my head.
"Drivers are those shields that they strap on their right arms." The man answers.
"Reyn has one, if we are to see him again, but I have a feeling that he's probably on punishment duty today after saving us in the scrap yard."
Thank him for saving our arses, I think.
The two of us walk into the rest of the Colony, where the Residential District is, and Shulk shows me around. He says that he does not have a house in the Residential District, as he either sleeps in the lab or Dickson's house. He also points me around the places in the Colony.
"Do you see that place, up on the hill? That's Outlook Park, it's the only park in the colony, only problem is that the anti-air batteries don't have the angles to hit debris that are falling over that area. To the right of it, up that hill is Tephra Cave. Inside there is the Mag Mell Ruins, which I am sure Reyn would spend a lifetime talking to you about. He loves it there. Behind the bridge, to the right of the Military District" He pulls out a map and points, "is called Agora Shore. Don't go there unless you have a death wish. There are a lot of crazy monsters there."
"Sounds like a nice place." I say, sarcastically.
"Okay, let's walk to Outlook Park, where the best view in the Colony is."
The two of us trek through the Residential District, and through the bridge that connects Colony 9 to the shore where Tephra Hill is. We take a right at the fork, and walk up the hundred or so steps to the top of Outlook Park.
"Wow, I love the view." I say.
"Yes, it's a pretty nice view, if I would say myself." Shulk replies.
He sits down on one of the benches and beckons me.
"So, I'm to tell you more about the Monado because you asked if you could do research on it too. It is the only sword that can damage the Mechon armour, and is also the sword of the Bionis."
"You mean, the little sword that is in the lab was wielded by the thing we live on?"
"Yes, it must have a secret, that's why Dunban was able to destroy so many Mechon, and the reason why he lost the use of his right arm."
Suddenly a woman, or should I say girl, of about 18 years comes through. She has blonde hair and green eyes, and has a fairly high-pitched voice. I turn around.
"Shulk!" the woman shouts, fairly excited to see him. Apparently she also has a pack of food with her.
Does Shulk already have a wife?, I think to myself.
"Fiora!" Shulk replies.
She comes down, sits right next to him and hands him a sandwich.
"So, who's this?" she asks, flashing her eyes at me.
"Oh, he's Augustine. He's someone I found in the Mechon Scrapyard. He also is helping me with the Monado research."
Shulk chews the sandwich that Fiora gave him.
"This is great! It tastes to good!"
"Really?"
"It's amazing!"
"Oh, Shulk, you say that every day."
I laugh extremely hard, as she glares at me. I silence almost immediately, while Shulk starts to laugh too.
"Anyway, it's delicious every day, but today it's amazing."
"Thank goodness." She sighs, "I used some special herbs and spices today, so if you said it was just the same as usual, I'd know for sure you had no sense of taste." Fiora continues.
Wow, she acts just like my girlfriend. Except, my girlfriend probably would have kissed me if she saw me right now, then again, she always looks for excuses to do that, I think.
"The breeze feels so good." Fiora comments.
How much shall I bet Shulk that today is going to be jinxed? I think, and laughing in my head because of my comment.
"Yes, I've forgotten what it feels like because I have never thought that it could be so quiet here." Shulk agreed.
"You're spending too much time with Reyn. You're getting used to all of the noise he makes." Fiora added.
"Yes, it is fairly quiet here too." I added.
"I hope that every day will be like this. It is so peaceful." Fiora said, sighing.
When this happened, there is a siren that rang.
"Strange. There hasn't been much falling lately." Fiora said, slightly nervous.
"What is that siren for?" I ask.
"It is the debris siren, I'll explain it to you, and the other sirens, when we go back to the Colony. The Anti-Aircraft Battery is not able to protect you if you stand in Outlook Park. It does not have the angle to cover Outlook Park. Only the Colony, and a little bit of the surrounding area." Shulk replies.
"So, now that we're going back to Colony 9, wanna kill some skeeters?" I ask, to keep the group's spirit up.
"Okay, there are some new knives I would love to get." Fiora replied.
After killing two skeeters, where Fiora shows her tricks, we head back to the Military District.
"So, Fiora, where did you learn how to fight like that?" I ask.
"The three of us; Shulk, Reyn, and I were all taught by Dunban, who's my older brother." Fiora answered.
So Dunban is the mentor of the three of them, I can't wait to meet him. He sounds interesting, and I can't wait to find out that story that Dickson is going to tell when we get back. The three of us then walk into the Military District.
"Shulk, I wonder what the Colonel is doing again." Fiora said.
"I hope that the Colonel doesn't make everyone do his press-up challenge." Shulk dead-panned.
"I wonder what that is?" I ask sarcastically.
"Oh, it's the challenge where you do press-ups until your biceps explode!" He said the last phrase with quotes.
The three of us laugh as Shulk tells us what happens when we walked through the first time, as he recounts what happened when we went through the Military District earlier that morning.
"Say, what time did you find me in the Mechon Scrapyard?" I ask, with a my finger on my mouth in a thinking pose.
"Oh, about 6:00. That's the earliest that I've ever gone to the Scrapyard."
"Well Shulk, you always go to the scrapyard anyway." Fiora teased.
The three of us laugh until we go to the Military District, where Reyn is holding the Monado.
"Reyn! What are you doing here?! Put the Monado down!"
"Shulk?! Don't worry I'm just..."
Right when he says that phrase, the Monado glows blue, and then the front part slits, where a blue light goes out of the blade, like a lightsabre from Star Wars. Wow, a real lightsabre, I never thought I would ever see this in my life. This is so awesome!
Apparently, while having the thought, Reyn is trashing the entirety of the lab. He seems like he is being led by the Monado, while Fiora hides behind one of the metal pieces of equipment. Reyn, unsuccessfully does his best to control the sword, but it leads around, like a dance partner. Suddenly, Reyn turns on to me, and I try to dodge, but the sword hits me on the leg. It bounces off, but cuts me very slightly. It rebounds, and cuts through the metal piece that Fiora is hiding behind, and bounces off of her, which makes Reyn lose his grip and drop the Monado to the floor.
"Augustine, the Monado can't cut Homs..." Shulk said, his eyes narrowing. "Anyway, Fiora, Augustine, are both of you okay?"
"I'm fine." Fiora says.
"Um, I'm bleeding right here." I deadpan.
Shulk gets me a band-aid while he berates Reyn.
"What were you thinking, Reyn?!"
"Sorry. I came to ask you a favour. But you weren't here, and I saw the Monado and..."
I put the band-aid on, and stopped the bleeding
"I know I'm here a lot, but even I need some fresh air sometimes." Shulk says. "Is your body still feeing numb?" Shulk says, eyes narrowing. "We have to be very careful with the Monado, it is not a toy."
"I know man. I just wanted to touch it, I didn't know that it would do that. Sorry, but is it really true that the Monado can't cut people?"
"Well, I thought that it can't cut people, until Augustine here got cut, but it's weird how it bounced off Fiora. The pattern in that circle...or maybe it is a symbol."
Shulk then picks up the Monado to put it back on the centrepiece in the middle of the room. "You think that's a symbol?"
"Well, if I you can increase the number of symbols, I should..."
"I'm sure that's very clever, but why are you more concerned about a machine than me?" Fiora advances on Shulk, eyeing him.
"I just said the reason..."
"Well, can you explain why Augustine got help?" Fiora advances on Shulk again.
Shulk backs up and accidentally bangs the Monado on the centrepiece, and activates like the last time. I pass out immediately.
What is happening?
"Faber est suae quisque fortunae!" a male disjointed voice says. In the foreground a person is wielding a driver against a huge machine.
"No, CHRISTINE!" a voice, that sounds mysteriously like mine says, while in the background, a man all lord like, appears with a thin sword.
"… until I scrap each and every one of you!" a woman shouts, while a woman with a rifle shoots in slow motion.
"NO!" a voice that strangely sounds like Shulk shouts.
Suddenly, I wake up from my torpor, or stupor, or whatever the medical term is for passing out is.
"Are either of you two hurt?" Fiora asked, concerned with the both of us.
"No, we're okay. Reyn, when you held the Monado, did you see anything?"
"Y'know… like a blue blade made out of light appeared, same as it did now."
"I mean, did you have a feeling, like time had stopped, and you see a bunch of people that you have never met before, and here voices, and..." my voice trails off, uncertain of what to think about this. I wonder if these people think I am crazy, as I get found in a scrapyard, the only things I remember are my name, snapshots of where I come from, a woman, and-
"Exactly. I saw that too." Shulk says, interrupting my thoughts.
"That's strange. Maybe it's another Monado thing." Fiora adds.
"Who knows, and who cares? I mean, who cares if a sword is that good if that's what happens when you hold it… Looks like Dunban's the only one who can use it." Reyn finally remark.
"Anyway, no matter how interesting of a phenomenon this is, we're both fine. To be honest, this has happened a few times before when I was researching the Monado. And, I've researched the Monado for a very long time." Shulk replies.
"I don't know what's happening, but since Shulk is the foremost expert on the sword, then I should be inclined to agree with him." I add.
"So, Reyn, what did you want to ask me about?" Shulk asks Reyn in a friendly tone.
"Oh yeah, Old Square-tache, has gone and put me on punishment duty. Fancy tagging along?"
"Punishment? The colonel was pretty angry today, did he hit you?"
"Well, whether he hit me is neither here nor there, really… Although actually he did end up hitting me. And that ain't all. He made me do a thousand squats and sit-ups."
"Whoa, nasty"
"Sucks for you, man." I add.
"Anyway, I have to go to the Mag Mell Ruins and back."
"So you have to go and collect the ether cylinders."
"That's the one Shulk! They're the things that power the mobile artillery. It looks like the damage has been repaired, but it can't move without ether, and the fuelling station is right out of ether."
"That's the big thing that crashed in the Residential District." Fiora chirps.
"Okay, I'll go with you." Shulk decides.
"Me too, but I first want Dickson to tell his story about the Battle of Sword Valley." I say.
"We'll see him on the way, Augustine."
"Hold on. The Mag Mell ruins are in Tephra cave, right? I heard that there's a Mell Lizard nest there. I couldn't take it if anything happened to Shulk. He's delicate – not like you, Reyn, or Augustine, hearing about his earlier exploits." Fiora said, concernedly.
"What are you on about?" Reyn asks.
"We'll be fine." I say.
"But..." Fiora squeaks.
"Okay, I got it. I'll make you a promise. Shulk won't even get a scratch." Reyn says, smiling.
"A promise doesn't mean much coming from you!" Fiora says heatedly.
Oh, roasted BOY!. Apparently my immature nineteen-year old mind thinks on the spot, as Fiora walks out and stands by the door to come into the lab.
"She don't trust me at all." Reyn says, sullenly.
"Nah, she doesn't mean it." replies Shulk with a smile.
"Let's see if Dickson can talk about the Battle of Sword Valley." I say.
After asking Fiora if she would come, the three of us meet Dickson at the entrance to the Military District.
"So, boys. You know half of the story, but you want to hear the real story?" The three of us nod our heads excitedly.
It was a desolate field on the sword of the Mechonis. Hundreds of Mechon were attacking our right flank. I heard the soldiers screaming retreat as the new wave moved up. It was a sight that I hope you three will never see, as soldiers who tripped and fell were promptly kill-no eaten by the Mechon. Dunban, Mumkhar, and I, the last of the rear guard needed to get up to the killing ground so that we could turn back the tide of the Mechon.
"They're advancing down our weak right flank. For a bunch of soulless machines, they seem to know a thing or two. But we'll see." Dunban said.
The three of us then hid behind a vehicle, a broken mobile artillery. It's still there to this day.
"Dunban! We've been given the order to retreat! We're pulling back the line to Colony 6. That's where we'll set up the last line of defence." I said, trying to talk sense into the man.
"Yeah. That's a good idea. Any more time spent hanging around here and we're done for." He replies with a smirk.
"Count me in! We've gotta get outta here." Mumkhar replies.
Mumkhar was never a loyal man, but he was a friend, and friends never give up on friends, until this day.
"Or we can stay and fight?" Dunban replies to both of us, with a grin.
"What?!" Mumkhar shouts, slightly enraged.
"We may die if we take a stand here, but staying gives us the chance to change our destinies. Remember, we have the Monado." Dunban said, while he took up his sword. "With this, the future is ours for the taking."
"Stupid beast! Your body can't take any more of the Monado. I can tell by just looking at you." I say.
"Getting short sighted in your old age, Dickson? I'm fine, don't worry, I'm still in control."
"I should have known I couldn't talk sense into a beast. Let's do this. I'm going with you! You'll need someone to drag your corpse home."
"As long as you think you've still got the strength in you, old man!"
"Oi, you two! We've been ordered to pull back! I'm leaving!" Mumkhar pipes up.
"Well you're coming with us! What would we do without those?" Dunban answers, wryly.
Mumkhar was one of the best fighters in the colony. He could also wield the Monado, but over the sword he preferred his steel claws.
As the enemy's second wave arrived, we jumped over the Mobile Artillery.
"It's now or never, Dunban! Let's show them what we've got. We'll give them a warm Homs welcome!"
Dunban activated his sword and turned on the feature that was able to make our swords damage Mechon. He destroyed many Mechon with his "dancing blade" style of movement. He literally, touched the Mechon with one part of the Monado, severing that part, then ran to another one, where he literally slid on the ground, and was able to take another one out. He did this to at least twenty more Mechon, until the two of us caught up with him, and then promptly saw another wave.
"You've got to be kidding!" Mumkhar breathed.
"It's their main force, looks like the Mechon are hell-bent on taking us out." I reply.
"Dickson, Mumkhar. Let's do this!" Dunban responds.
He enchanted our blades, as we tore through at least a hundred Mechon, with Dunban having the most kills. I then hear an out cry, where Dunban is on a pile of at least thirty Mechon.
"Dunban!"
I threw myself on him, taking the him, and then fought the Mechon that attacked us both.
"I ain't going down that easily! Dunban! You all right?!" I ask, concerned.
"What does it look like? I'm still good to go." Dunban replies.
I helped him to get out of the line of fire from the Mechon, but while that was happening, I saw Mumkhar, our friend, our comrade-in-arms, our- words do not describe the treachery he displayed on that day.
"Sorry, brothers! Hate to drop this on you, but it's the Monado they're after. So have fun keeping 'em occupied for me! I'm getting the hell out of here." He says, with a grin.
"Mumkhar, you dirty..." I reply.
"Don't worry. I'll organise your funerals! Well, see ya boys!"
"Wait!"
He ran off, and I never have seen him again. The low-down son of a bitch. But, I've forgiven him, anyway he paid for his treachery with his life, and he also was one of my friends.
"If this is a joke, it ain't funny. Looks like this is it. At least we know our luck can't get any worse from here." I say.
Dunban then got to his feet, and activated the Monado.
"Dunban, what are you playing at?"
"Dickson, take care of the survivors!"
"Vile Mechon! If you think the Homs, the people of Bionis, are just waiting for you to pick us off… You are sorely mistaken!"
Then the greatest, most picturesque scene that I have ever seen happened. Dunban charged, no one in tow against three fortress units, and more then two hundred Mechon. He charged, and took down all of them, but in his time after he took down the fortress unit, it seemed like he got hundreds of shocks down his body. I ran after him, and saw him in the hole that he created.
"I...name this...Monado Wound." He managed to gasp out.
"Wow! Pretty awesome! He was able to wound the Mechonis with the Monado?" I ask.
"Yes, he almost died for it, but without his sacrifice, we would not be standing here today talking about it." Dickson answered.
"You never told us about Dunban and the Monado wound." Reyn say.
"Ask him about it after you guys go to the Mag Mell Ruins and get the ether cylinders."
"Oy, how do you know about the ether cylinders?" Reyn asks, incredibly annoyed.
"Well, Fiora told me, but Colonel Vangarre told me before that. I laughed and said, 'Sounds like Reyn to help Shulk!' The colonel actually laughed, but he said that all AWOL needed to be punished, but he let you off the hook easier when I told him that."
"Anyway, we're off to get some ether cylinders." I say.
"Yes, we're off" Shulk says.
Guest: Are you French in any way? No, I'm not. I'm actually Filipino-Italian, except I can't speak any Italian in any way.
Anyway, follow, favourite, and post reviews. I love them! Also, the flashback is from Dickson's perspective.
