Chapter 61

"What happened to you?" The shock was evident within Sharla's voice, to say nothing of the way her facial expression contorted upon seeing the four of us as we entered Junks. "You all look like you got into a big fight."

"That's exactly what happened," spoke Shulk as Sharla readied her rifle, firing some healing ether just above our heads. Within a few seconds I released a breath, feeling the ether wear at the fatigue and exhaustion permeating my body. "Thanks." Shulk breathed out, walking past the medic. "I'd better go see Linada and Fiora."

Riki, who had woken a short time ago, was conversing with Melia. Watching them, I didn't notice Sharla until she was beside me. "Hm?"

"Hot as always..." she spoke, cooling off her rifle, breathing out as heat rose from the weapon. "So, what happened out there?"

"...We got the Piezoelectric Unit, then ran into a guy," I replied. "He was tough, but against the four of us, we managed to take him down." Something feels... off, though, about that fight. If Virgil was stopping time... he could've just used his katana to project a slash out and slit our throats. Nice and simple, would've taken him a couple seconds at most. He could've finished us up and went home.

But he didn't do that... why?

"Something on your mind?" spoke Sharla.

"Yeah," I spoke. "Sorry, though... if it's fine with you, I just wanna mull it over a bit." Why didn't he kill us...

"Alright," she spoke. "I'll check up on Shulk, Fiora and Linada then, make sure everything's going well. You guys should rest a bit, or you can come up with me if you want."

"In that case..." A slight yawn came from Melia as she looked at Sharla and I. "I will rest for a brief time."

"Mm... Riki want to rest too," spoke the Nopon. "Me sleep with Melly."

"I'm gonna look around the village a little more, then," I spoke. Don't think I can sleep right now... never was good at taking naps. Sharla narrowed her eyes for a moment before nodding at me. I turned and walked out of Junks, hearing Sharla ascend the nearby stairway.

"Hunh..." The evening sun was falling, turning the sky a dying orange as night slowly came to be. Some things don't change, even when I'm somewhere else. I pursed my lips, moving along a walkway and coming to the entrance to the Machina Village. "Hm..."

I looked out over the landscape, seeing some wildlife flitter about. Some fish swam in the nearby water, some splashes coming outward, while Volffs drank at the water's edge.

Guess we'll kinda go along the Fallen Arm for a bit, and go after Egil... I released a breath, before drawing the katana from my pocket, testing its weight with both hands. Lighter then my sword... I unsheathed it, swinging the katana around a little bit. Wonder how to project slashes though... maybe it's like my gauntlets and I have to will it into existence? Well... I shrugged. Worth a try.

I lashed out with the katana, blinking as a thin white line came into being at the exact same angle as my cut. "Wow..." I sheathed the katana- and missed, lightly slicing along my hand. "Ouch!" I hissed, jerking the katana away. Actually looking at the sheath and the blade, I placed the katana back into its sheath, sensing the projected slash cut along the air.

"Phew..." I sucked at the thin cut along my hand. I'll probably have to practice this... or I could rely on my senses to help me out. Oh, but... if I get overloaded with ether or distracted with something else, then it's trouble... yeah, probably just oughta practice. I nodded to myself, sensing the blood flow gradually slow, and then stop entirely. "Hm..."

"There you are." I turned around, hearing Melia behind me. The princess took brisk steps towards me, face set in a very neutral expression.

"Melia," I spoke. "Thought you were resting?"

"I was going to," she spoke. "Hearing you say you would look around the village worried me, however."

"You really don't think I can be trusted alone, can you."

"Considering your penchant to get in dangerous situations if you're left alone... I'd just like to keep an eye on your back if possible."

I nodded. "Well, thanks." This time... I settled into a preparatory stance, settling my hand on the katana's handle. Cut out with the draw... I felt Melia's eyes set on me as I lashed out with the blade, before bringing it back to lightly glide the katana's edge along the sheath to gain a sense of its location, lifting it up as it neared my hand. Then... I breathed out as I managed to place it into the sheath without injury this time. "Alright."

"You know... compared to the rest of us, you're the only one who wields one than more type of weapon," spoke Melia. "Any particular reason for that?"

I shrugged. "Having more options is always good, right? 'Sides, if I get disarmed, then I'm not defenseless." I paused, lifting my hand from the katana and drawing the sword on my back. "Hm..." I placed the sword within my jacket, blinking as I saw it disappear into my clothing. "Hunh." I jumped up a couple times, breathing out. Wow... it doesn't even feel like it's weighing me down. What're these pockets, Kirby's stomach?

"Well, you should come back and rest up," spoke Melia, turning away back to the village. "We likely won't stay around the village for long, so rest will be crucial."

"I know." I put the katana into a pocket and drew the sword, placing it on my back. I stretched, cracking my knuckles. Feeling tired from that fight... should try to get some rest. I followed after the princess back into the village.

"Ah, there you are." Shulk looked at us as we soon approached Junks. "Linada said Fiora'll be fine, just that she'll need some time. So I was thinking we'd rest for awhile, and see Miqol after."

"That sounds good," spoke Melia. I nodded as we entered Junks, and moved into the rest room. Riki was already sleeping, and Melia came to lie beside him, a smile coming to her face as she wrapped her arms around him.

I set my blade against the wall like before, and placed the katana beside it, as well as removing the rings from my body. "Guess we'll probably be moving on soon," I spoke to Shulk, who set the Monado against the wall next to his bed in a similar fashion to me.

"Right," he spoke, sitting on the bed. "We might be here for a little while yet, though... we should probably see if some of the people here need some help with stuff, if we have time," spoke Shulk.

Wow, we might be doing quests? Better late than never, I guess. Huh. Y'know, come to think of it, we never even helped restore Colony 6, did we... "How do you think Colony 6 is going?" I spoke.

"I hope they're doing well," spoke Shulk. "We haven't had a chance to go and help with the rebuilding efforts... Juju and Otharon are there, though, so I think it should be fine."

"Mm." I nodded, lying down. "Well... guess all we can do is hope. Anyway... sweet dreams."

"Yeah, same to you," spoke Shulk, and quiet breathing and snores filled my hearing as the world slowly faded to darkness.

"Wake up, Andrew!" I winced as something grabbed onto my body and shook me. "It wakey wakey time!"

"Ugh...!" I opened my eyes to see Riki shaking me. "I'm up, I'm up..." I rubbed my eyes as the Nopon stopped shaking my body, sitting up from the bed. "Ngh..." I stretched, yawning before re-adjusting all my weapons. "Phew... huh?" Looking around the room, the only occupants were Riki and I. "Shoot... did I oversleep or somethin'?"

"Almost. Riki here to make sure Andrew not late to meet with everyone," spoke Riki, nodding at me.

"Thanks." I ruffled his head for a second, smiling. "Alright... guess we're meeting Miqol then, huh?" Riki nodded again at my words. "Sounds good. Okay."

Exiting the room, I dashed down the hall, the door opening to make way for Riki and I. Looking around, Melia, Sharla and Shulk were present along with Miqol. "Ah... morning. Sorry I'm late."

Miqol released a laugh. "That's quite alright. Seems like you slept well."

I cracked my fingers, clenching a fist to test my strength. "Mm... yeah. Thank you."

Shulk nodded at me. "Alright, erm, Miqol... I wanted to..." He glanced away from Miqol, seeming to mull over his words for a moment. "...to talk about your son."

"Have you made up your mind?" spoke Miqol, voice deepening with a tone of seriousness.

"Yes," replied Shulk, nodding. "We agree with that, in that Egil must be stopped. However... we cannot act right now."

"Oh?" Surprise came across Miqol's face. "Why's that?"

"Right... before we came here, we heard that on Bionis, there were plans to form an allied force," spoke Shulk. "Any day now, they'll be launching a coordinated attack on Mechonis. But it's too dangerous.

"Egil has made a weapon that could potentially kill us all," spoke Shulk.

"Ah... do you mean the green liquid that Mumkhar was utilizing?" spoke Sharla. "If I remember correctly... he said that it could decompose any being from Bionis."

Shulk nodded at Sharla's words. "We have to go back and warn them before it's too late."

The door opened from behind all of us, and we turned at the noise. A Homs walked in, a light smile on his face. "Well... if you want, you could ask me to do it," he spoke.

"Ah- Dickson?!" spoke Shulk, with Dickson taking steps closer toward us. I felt my body twitch as he passed by me. "Wait... what are you doing here? Actually..." Shulk breathed out. "I can't believe you found us."

"Why's that?" replied Dickson. "This place is directly below the fortress, y'know. If you fell from up there, I figured that this must've been where you came." He smirked. "And Bob's your uncle."

A chuckle came from the large Machina. "You're looking well, Dickson."

Dickson laughed in turn as he faced Miqol. "And I see that you're looking like your fine, usual self."

"Dickson... do you and Miqol know each other?" spoke Shulk.

"Eh, kinda," replied Dickson, shrugging.

"He scratches my back, and I scratch his," spoke Miqol, a smile on his face. "He tells us about what's happening in the outside world, and in return we gave him special technology and information."

"Oh... so this was where you got all that stuff from, and brought it back to the colony," spoke Shulk. "I was usually busy tinkering with it, but sometimes... I wondered where you got it from. A lot of it was stuff I had never seen." He nodded to himself. "It makes sense now."

"Heh, figured it was fine so long as it helped you out at the lab," spoke Dickson. "Guess the secret's out now though. Anyway..." He took a breath. "That weapon you were talking about. How dangerous it it?"

"I'm not quite sure why, but it disintegrates anything it touches," spoke Shulk. "But that effect only applies to living tissue from Bionis."

"Hunh... bet that would come in handy," mused Dickson, a short chuckle coming from him. "Anyway, for now, just make sure it doesn't touch ya." Be like Piccolo says and DODGE! "I'll make sure to come up with something to counter it. Leave it to me and I'll keep ya posted.

"Anyway, you lot ought to go and take care of that... 'Eagle' or whatever his name is. Do that, and the allied force might not even be needed at all."

"OK," replied Shulk, before casting his gaze on the ground and taking a deep breath. "Mm... let me think about it for a bit."

"Alright. Just come see me when you make up your mind," spoke Dickson. Shulk nodded, before moving out and exiting. I sensed him ascend the ramp up to where Fiora still lay. "The rest of you should probably think about this some as well," continued Dickson.

"Mm," spoke Melia, before exiting, with Riki and Sharla following. With my senses, I noted the three of them move into the rest room.

"Something bothering ya, Andrew?" spoke Dickson, looking at me. Looking back at him, I paused.

"Well..." He's not dumb. He won't try and kill me here. No way it won't be unseen or unheard... Zanza hasn't prepared himself from within Shulk, anyway. "Mind if I talk to you for a bit, Dickson?"

"Sure," he replied, following me out onto the deck of Junks, away from any prying eyes. "So? Got anything to say?"

I took a quick glance around, using my senses as well. No one around, close enough to see or hear... good. "You're being pretty amicable to someone you tried to kill last time," I spoke. "Kinda surprised, actually."

Dickson smirked. "Oh, don't you worry. Soon enough, you'll be begging for me to put you out of your misery."

I shrugged. "Sure. Anyway... things won't go as you want or expect, anyway."

"Oh?" he replied. "We'll see, then." He paused for a moment. "You ever try to tell Shulk what I tried to do to ya?"

"Nah. To him, you're a father figure. He wouldn't believe me for a second," I spoke. "You did help everyone by supplying them with Anti-Mechon weapons too, so... even though you probably did it to further your own agenda, you have helped us out. Everyone'll have to see you turn against us to believe it."

"Wiser than I thought," spoke Dickson. "Well, if that's all..."

"Yeah. See ya." I nodded, walking away from him and off of Junks. Hm... Shulk said we should try doing some quests if we had time, right? It is sorta strange to just walk up to someone and say hi though... huh. I'll probably leave it to Shulk...

I breathed out, looking up at the sky. Something far above flicked across my vision. Watching it, I followed as what looked like a bird moved along until it was gone, away from where my sight could see.

Being free, huh... pretty pretentious to think I deserve to be free.

"Looks like you're feeling better," I spoke, walking into the room to see Fiora standing on her two feet.

"Mm," she replied. "All thanks to you guys. Sorry for being a burden."

"Don't worry about it. We're all friends, and we help each other out," I spoke. "Anyway, don't push yourself too hard. I bet Shulk'll only blame himself if you collapse from strain or something."

"That sounds like him," spoke Fiora, a soft laugh escaping her. "Alright. Oh, and thank you, Linada." She turned to the Machina in the room with a slight bow.

"Yeah, thanks," I spoke. The doctor nodded in response, a smile tugging at her lips. "C'mon," I spoke to Fiora, sensing Shulk conversing with Dickson in the village. "Shulk'll be happy to see you up and about. We probably shouldn't keep him waiting." I paused, thinking for a second. "We probably ought to get everyone, too."

"Got it." Fiora slowly followed me as I descended down the nearby ramp, passing by the rest room. "Oh..."

Sensing Sharla, Melia and Riki lying on the beds inside, I gently knocked on the wall adjacent to the door, peering inside as it opened for me. Sharla was cleaning her rifle, which was disassembled into several components, while Melia seemed to be amusing Riki and herself with manipulation of her elementals.

"What is it?" spoke Sharla, looking up from her gun as I knocked.

"Erm... thank you, everyone," spoke Fiora, moving from behind me to enter the room. "All of you went to get the thing Linada needed to cure me, right? Thank you."

"Don't trouble yourself over it," spoke Melia, a small lightning elemental fizzling out as she placed her staff beside her.

"Riki happy that Fiora feel good now!" spoke the Nopon, flying for a brief moment.

"It's great that you're able to walk about," spoke Sharla, beginning to put her rifle back together. "I'm sure Shulk will be happy to see it."

"Mm... now that you're feeling better, we probably aren't going to stay around the village too much longer," I spoke. "Let's go see Shulk." The four of them nodded at my words, with Fiora moving out in front of me as we left Junks. Soon, we moved over to where Shulk conversed still with Dickson.

"...even if there's only a slim chance of winning," spoke Dickson as we neared him. "Hesitate for a second and you're done for."

"We won't let Shulk die!" spoke Fiora, suddenly breaking into a jog and moving forward. "Not ever!"

"Wha- Fiora?!" Shulk's gaze snapped from Dickson to the other blonde, and he walked over as we chased after Fiora. "Are you OK to be walking around?"

I zoned out Fiora's response, feeling a slight frown develop on my face as I cast my senses outward. Hm... the ether density is still super thick around Metal Face... maybe it's best that we leave it though... if Dunban's body is there, the weapon Metal Face used probably woulda decomposed him... ugh. I felt a shiver run down my spine. How pleasant.

My attention returned to the scene in front of me as Fiora stepped towards Dickson. "No matter where we go, or how difficult it gets, Shulk will always do the right thing," she spoke, voice resolute. "It doesn't matter how slim our chances are. Shulk will always stick to the right path."

I nudged Shulk, whose eyes moved to me. "You're lucky to have someone believe in you so wholeheartedly," I spoke.

Shulk's face shifted into a slight smile. "I know."

"Well, considering all that you lot have done so far... you seem pretty determined," mused Dickson.

"Right. Dickson, we're going to the Mechonis capital," declared Shulk. "About the allied force..."

"Heh... yeah, leave it to me," spoke Dickson, pumping a fist to his chest. "I won't let anything happen to the colony."

"Wait... ah!" Shulk's eyes widened. "Dickson, is Colony 9 alright?! And is the Colony 6 rebuilding efforts going well?!"

"Whoa, relax there, Shulk," replied Dickson. "Last I checked, both colonies were fine. Colony 9 is doing well, and Colony 6's rebuilding efforts are going slow and steady. What's the big worry?"

"Well... Metal Face said that Colony 9 was attacked by Mechon," spoke Shulk. "And recently I realized I don't know how Colony 6 has been going..."

"Colony 9's fine. No Mechon have attacked," spoke Dickson. "Looks like it was a big bluff by that faced Mechon. We won't let them get away with anything else."

Shulk breathed out. "That's a relief," he spoke. "Well... we should probably be heading out soon. The longer we wait, the more time Egil has to prepare against the attack of the allied force," he spoke.

"Right. I'll be making some preparations of my own here before I go back and warn the High Entia prince and everyone else," spoke Dickson. "Good luck, you lot." He waved lazily as he walked away.

"Phew... alright," spoke Shulk. "Then let's..."

"Are you going?" I felt myself jump slightly at Miqol's voice behind us; turning around, the old Machina sat there, eyes closed as always. I wasn't on alert, but geez, how the heck did he sneak up like that?

"Ah... yeah," spoke Shulk, nodding.

Miqol nodded in turn. "When you go to the capital, you may meet someone named Vanea."

"Vanea..." echoed Fiora, brow furrowing.

"Is she a Machina as well?" asked Shulk.

"She's my daughter," spoke Miqol. "She won't be far from Egil."

"Huh... so are they siblings?" spoke Sharla.

"You got it," replied Miqol. "She doesn't want to hurt Egil, but at the same time, she doesn't like what he's doing. She should be a big help to you young 'uns."

"Well... I'm not sure why'd she help us..." spoke Shulk, scratching his head. "But we'll try to find her when we get there."

"Mm... good luck," spoke Miqol, with one last nod.

Linada came out, approaching Fiora. "Fiora, don't forget that I have only made temporary repairs," she spoke. "You should be able to go out and fight, but take care not to overdo it. And if you experience any further system failure, please come back and see me as soon as you can."

"I will," spoke Fiora, bowing her head slightly to the Machina doctor. "Thank you."

"In the meantime, I'm hoping to find a way to restore your former body," spoke Linada. At her words, everyone else shifted, bodies moving with surprise.

"Is that possible?" spoke Fiora.

"Well... theoretically, using your genetic information, it may be possible to regenerate your missing organs," spoke Linada, voice becoming pensive. "Ah... sorry. It's not fair for me to give you hope. To be honest, the likelihood is very low. Though, if even the slightest bit of possibility exists, I vow to try."

"Ah... thank you, Linada!" spoke Fiora. "You've done so much for me, and yet..."

"Once again, like I told Andrew, don't worry about it," spoke Linada. "It is my duty as a doctor to help you."

"OK, then. Thank you once more," spoke Fiora, nodding. She turned to Shulk. "Alright, time to go, right?"

"Fiora... yeah," spoke Shulk. "Let's go."

"Just a moment, please," spoke Linada. "Shulk, here. Please take this."

"Hm...?" Shulk furrowed his brow as he accepted something Linada handed to him. "What is it?"

"From the base of Digit 2, there is a path that leads to the foot of the Mechonis," she spoke. "What I just gave you is the security key to the door that seals the path. For us in the village, we have little need for it. However, for you, it will be invaluable."

"We are in your debt, Linada," spoke Shulk.

"Shulk, Fiora, Andrew, all of you... please, take care on your journey," spoke Linada.

"We will," replied Shulk, with the rest of us echoing similar sentiments.

"Once again... Linada, thank you for everything," spoke Fiora.

"Yeah. We'll repay you someday... er, probably," I spoke.

Linada smiled softly. "Well, I look forward to it then. Stay safe."

"Right," spoke Shulk, turning around to lead us out of the village. "Alright, then... let's go, everyone," he spoke.

A soft cheer echoed from us as we exited, out to the world.

...Guess we aren't going for those quests after all?

"Hey, you ever ask the locals if they needed help with stuff?" I asked.

Shulk nodded in turn. "I had trouble sleeping, so I went out conversing with them. A few of them just ask us to destroy Mechon. Since the Mechon'll likely attack us anyway, it works out in our favor," he spoke.

I nodded. "Well, sounds good, then. All yours then, leader," I spoke.

Shulk nodded again, taking off at a light jog we all followed as we moved away to explore the vast world waiting for us to explore it.

Thank you for reading.