Only an hour after she'd been left in the Noctilum wilderness, it started to rain. At first, it was a simple drizzle — she could handle that— but within a matter of minutes, it became an intense downpour. Clutching her pack to her body, Melia raced across the open plain to the nearest grove of trees, a mile or so from her current position.
Thighs burning, lungs heaving, Melia sprinted, nearing the cover with each tread. This was a dreadful way to begin her thirty days in isolation. Her survival test to be deemed worthy of the High Entian throne.
Did she even want to be?
As she crossed into the forested region, the question echoed in her mind and Melia slowed to a jog, then a walk, and finally stalling to a stop, panting. Only a few droplets broke through the thick canopy to splash onto her head. Relieved, she attempted to catch her breath while scanning the area. Her bright eyes stopped on an alcove cut into the nearby hill — closer to a mountain, but it wasn't that large — and she made her way over.
It had never occurred to her that she would be considered to become the monarch of her people. She had imagined herself as her brother's advisor, and ideally a diplomat. But to be the one that decided the fate of her people, guided them every step of the way…
Melia wasn't sure she had the knowledge or confidence to lead.
Dropping to the ground, she released her pack and lay back against the mossy wall. She needed to make some sort of fire so she wouldn't catch a chill. But with the moisture in the air, all of the brush would no doubt be too damp to use as kindling.
The use of ether was an obvious solution. She could conjure a flame to keep her warm, however, her strength had still not returned since the battle with Goetia and overexertion would leave her vulnerable to any attack.
Shuddering, Melia pushed that memory away of the burning Ganglion leader. She didn't want to think about it. It was too…
No. She stopped and shoved it away. No more.
Sighing, she dug through her things and extracted her thermos. Happily, she opened it and drank the still hot tea. Over-preparation had its benefits, even if Tyrea often found her habit bothersome.
Downing a quarter of the drink, she put it away, in case she needed to warm herself later. Luckily, while the rainfall was strong, it wasn't cold. Simply wet. She watched the drizzle force its way through the tree cover, drenching the ground, and listened to the music of the rain. Although the circumstances were less than ideal, Melia enjoyed the moment.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Distracted from her moment of serenity, Melia dug back into her pack and pulled out her brand-new communicator. After her...outburst, she had taken the broken device to the engineers, murmured an excuse for its fragmented state, and they proceeded to give her a new unit. Of course, she felt guilty and was relieved that she was not required to explain in great detail what had occurred. Nonetheless, she made a promise to herself to never act in such a childish manner again.
On-screen, Melia saw there was a message from Kallian. She opened it.
Just checking in to see if you arrived alright?
Yes.
There was a definite strain on their relationship as a result due to their argument two evenings ago. Melia had meant to repair it thoroughly before she left but was too embarrassed to face her brother. He, on the other hand, thought it was best to give her the space to process their father's decree.
Melia didn't need space. She knew what she was: a tool for her father's plots and schemes. Before, she would've felt resigned and disappointed. Now, she was becoming increasingly frustrated.
Was it Tyrea's influence? Or...another's?
I know it won't be easy, but I have faith in you.
Thank you.
Tyrea has been asking about you.
Melia bit the inside of her cheek. There was no doubt in Melia's mind that Tyrea was hounding Kallian for information. Melia had evaded her sister, answering her messages in a laconic and unemotional style — Tyrea had even pointed it out that Melia sounded more reserved than usual and it was "weird". Tyrea's powers of perception were unparalleled.
I'll inform her tomorrow.
Alright. Take care of yourself. I'll check in tomorrow.
Is that not against father's command?
I think in this case father is too strict.
That made her smile.
Then until tomorrow.
Good luck, Melia.
Returning the device to her bag, Melia stared back out at the landscape. It was still raining, harder than before. Now it had managed to completely break through the canopy's surface and pour downward, saturating the smaller, trees, bushes, ground — everything in reach. She would not be traveling until the rain lessened.
In that case, what was she to do?
Write.
Hesitant, she plucked her journal and pen from her bag and opened it to the middle of the book. It had been a couple of months since she'd written anything. The last entry was dated the night when she saw the shooting star-like object streaking across the sky. Little did she know at the time that it was the Homs landing on Mira.
Homs.
Dunban.
She sighed. She had responded to his message after receiving a new communicator. Although still hurt, Melia had thanked him for the apology. Truthfully, she was pleased he had done so despite the medium of delivery. That did not change the fact that she realized a romance with him was ill-advised. It already proved to be a distraction from her duties and she was determined to keep their future relationship cordial and professional.
That was the rational excuse. Honestly, she was hesitant to be emotionally intimate with him once more.
A SCREECH tore through the sky. Her breath caught in her throat. An explosion of adrenaline rocked her body and she jumped out of the alcove into the rain eyes searching the gray sky. Was it…?
Melia took off at a run, dashing through the storm towards the end of the treeline. Upon crossing the threshold, her eyes snapped upward to see a giant creature flying overhead. It shrieked again, zooming towards the Roost, eventually disappearing in the shelter of the large tree's canopy.
"Ellison…"
Heart skipping a beat, her eyes held the spot where the Telethia disappeared. Where her brother disappeared.
"I don't have all of my research yet — some is still in the other pieces of the Lifehold — but I do have enough to begin building mimeosomes. Once the rest is recovered, which must be a top priority, I'll implement the particular code needed to download consciousness into the unit." Gadot explained to the BLADE leadership from his position at the front of the long conference table.
Dunban creased his lips into a line. His opinion on mimeosomes had not changed since Gadot first introduced the concept before Earth was destroyed. As far as he was concerned, mimeosomes were a slippery slope to artificial life and immortality — the stagnation of human civilization. To some, that sounded like heaven. For Dunban, it was unnatural.
"I'm all for it," Maurice said, slapping his hand on the desk with an idiotic grin.
Of course, he was. He wanted to live for fucking ever. That would be a nightmare.
"It'll be the best way to ensure our survival in the face of this Ganglion problem."
"It's a fair point," Elma responded, "But we need to see if we have the resources to manufacture these robotic bodies. We can't take away from mechanical parts that can be used to build weapons or new armor for the BLADE officers."
"We won't need all of that if we have artificial bodies." Maurice retorted.
"Just because we would have artificial bodies doesn't mean we'd be invincible," Irina shook her head. "We'd still have to repair them if they got damaged and if we didn't have the parts for them, what then?"
Maurice glared, though said nothing. Dunban smirked. Maybe he wouldn't have to say anything at all. Let the logistical problems take care of shooting the proposal down versus raising moral qualms, which not everyone agreed with.
"I can assure you that I can make this happen even with resource constraints," Gadot leered, leaning over the table to focus on Irina. "I'd be happy to walk you through it myself if you'd like."
Dunban curled a hand into a fist. How would Sharla react to this behavior if she knew?
"If I could get access to that information, then I could put together a proposal." Gadot stood straight, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
"No."
All eyes turned to Dunban.
"What's wrong with that?" Vera asked, tilting her head to the side.
His insides tensed. How was he going to explain it? Simply answering that he didn't trust Gadot would get him nowhere. He'd be dismissed. Most of his colleagues already knew how he felt about mimeosomes and Gadot.
He should've had an answer for this before he opened his mouth.
"Downloading that information off the main server makes it vulnerable to detection, to hacking. We don't know what capabilities the Ganglion may have." Dunban countered. He hoped it wasn't complete bullshit.
"Then I'll look at it on the server. You can even watch me." Gadot winked, then laughed.
"You don't have the clearance."
"You could grant me clearance. Or is this about something else?"
Dunban glared at Gadot, who sneered. He knew that he'd won the argument. Dunban couldn't let that happen. He had to block this in some way. But nothing came to mind.
"Dunban?" Elma asked, the hesitation in her voice unmistakable. Everyone — but Vera and Irina — knew the can of worms that was about to open.
So be it.
"The mimeosome project is a mistake." He declared, voice low.
"How you can say that? This is the perfect solution to our problems with the Ganglion!" Maurice snapped. "We won't be able to die, even if they try to kill us all."
"Perfect how? What happens if they do kill us all? No one will be able to download us into new bodies."
"Obviously we would plan for that. Failsafes or whatever?" Maurice waved his hands, gesturing to Gadot.
Gadot nodded. "We could install a program to download a few people into mimeosomes in a secure bunker in the event of something like that."
"Do you hear yourself? A backup? The mimeosome takes away our humanity." Dunban shot back.
"I'm not sure why you're concerned about that given we're on the brink of extinction."
Dunban clenched his jaw. His blood boiled. How was everyone so blind to this impending disaster? Were they all so blinded by the benefits of the short-term that they couldn't consider the long-term consequences?
Before he could respond, a RINGING filled the air. All eyes shot to the Polycom. Elma pressed the accept button.
"What's going on?"
"The team from Cauldros is back!" A voice rushed on the other side of the line, frantic.
"Send them up."
"No, they're at the infirmary."
Anxiety crept into Dunban's body, threatening to smother him.
"They've suffered numerous injuries."
"Alright, we're on our way." Elma ended the call and looked around the room.
Something was horribly wrong.
"They didn't know we were there." Lao recounted, eyes focused on his trembling hands, face smudged with dirt and tears. "We'd been able to mask our position, but they're technology...I know they would've detected us if they weren't distracted."
The BLADE leadership watched him, gathered in a semi-circle in a private room in the clinic, silent. Hanging on his every labored word.
"HB's team was led outside by one of the Prone guards. They were all chained and lined up. This large alien — he looked like a lizard or something — paced back and forth in front of them. We were too far away to hear what he was saying...but it didn't matter." Lao cut himself off, gritting his teeth and rolling his hands into fists. "They were shot. They're all dead."
Lao's words sank into Dunban, heavy and hard. A numbness wept over his entire body, shutting him down as he imagined the execution in his head. HB's team was combined with veterans and rookies. Even if they knew the risks going to Cauldros to investigate the geography, they hadn't deserved to die like this.
Dunban knew that the Ganglion were after them. But this felt different.
The Ganglion wanted to exterminate them.
Hot rage burst through the place in his heart he kept it imprisoned. It swarmed throughout him. Every cell of his body wanted to go to Cauldros and kill this lizard and any Prone soldiers. He wanted to destroy them. What he wouldn't give to kill the Ganglion right now.
"See? This is exactly why we need mimeosomes!" Maurice pointed an accusing finger at Dunban. "They wouldn't be dead if we had backups of their minds here."
Dunban's anger reared its head, but he pressed his lips into a thin line and did not reply. Maurice's logic was sound, but still Dunban could not — would not — agree that the mimeosome project was a good idea.
"That's not important right now. They have established a base in Cauldros," Elma stated, looking to Lao to confirm.
Lao merely nodded.
"What are we going to do?" Vera asked, her voice wavering.
No one spoke. Even if Dunban wanted to storm their base, he knew they didn't have the strength to do so. It would most likely get them killed. But if they did nothing, they were sitting ducks.
A shiver ran down Dunban's spine.
The Ganglion were coming. And they needed to find a way to survive.
So far Melia had survived two days in the wilderness without any incident. After the storm passed, she focused on finding more adequate shelter, foraging for food, and setting up a campsite with a rudimentary — yet effective — security system. Everything seemed simple, but the princess knew nothing was permanent and it would only be a matter of time until she found herself in a troublesome situation.
Melia hoped it wouldn't be one of life or death.
Today, the young woman was going to test the waters. Possibly. Her nerves coiled tightly as she made her way towards the Roost, armed with her wand. She hoped she wouldn't need to use it.
Her eyes scanning the sky, Melia searched for some indication that the Telethia was nearby. Her goal: to try and communicate with Ellison.
None of her family thought it was possible. Even Kallian, who she believed was the only one left that held out hope they could find a solution to turn Ellison back, couldn't believe that their brother was still conscious inside the beast. Melia was determined to prove them wrong.
Taking a deep breath, Melia raised her wand and closed her eyes. In her mind's eye, she focused on forming a lightning bolt. The energy grew, swelling inside of her, pulling at her body, sapping the strength from her cells.
Her stomach dropped out. She didn't have enough energy to do this.
But it was too late. Her eyes snapped open and the bolt of lightning exploded up into the sky from her wand.
A high-pitched SCREAM ripped through the air. She panted. Her heart skipped a beat. He was coming. He was coming and if he attacked her, she might not have enough power to stop him from hurting her. Or killing her.
Chills ran down her spine as a shadow blocked out the sun. Gazing upward, Melia followed the Telethia as it circled, no doubt studying her from its vantage point above. Then it rocketed downward, straight for her.
A scream lodged itself in her throat, attempting to escape, but the walls closed in on it. Eyes wide with horror, Melia's pulse quickened and she willed herself to dive out of the way as the Telethia plummeted towards her.
Rolling across the grass, she scurried to her feet once more, invisible needles stabbing her exhausted muscles. The Telethia had banked left and ascended into the sky again. It stopped twenty feet up in the air, waving its wings back and forth to maintain a fixed position and examined her.
Blood roared in her ears. Melia swallowed and called out, "Ellison! I know you're in there." The Telethia tilted its head to the side. Voice wavering, she continued, "Please. Fight against it!"
Silence. It watched her, flapping its wings in the air.
Her heart ached. He had to answer her. He had to be in there.
Melia opened her mouth to try again, but it screeched at her. She winced and involuntarily took a step backward. It screeched again, aggressive, leaning forward. Ready to attack.
Her blood ran cold. This was terrible. She needed to escape.
Backing away slowly, Melia held up her hands in a defensive position. But the Telethia squawked once more and opened its jaw wide. A ball of green ether appeared and began to grow in the void of its mouth.
Oh no.
Melia's chest tightened.
An explosion burst from the orb, aiming straight for her. Yelling, Melia stuck out her wand and threw up a shield. The purple field burst to life, just in time for the impact form the green fire. The field rippled as the green fire slammed into it. Straining against the attack, Melia screamed, feeling her body burn as she shoved against the attacking ether. Cracks appeared in her purple shield and she cried out, forcing her magic to hold fast. If she could just outlast the Telethia's barrage, maybe she would survive.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. But little by little the stream shrunk until finally the green fire blast all but disappeared. Still, the princess did not lower her shield. Panting, she kept it raised, sweat dripping down her forehead and into her eyes, waiting to see if there would be another attack.
The Telethia shook its head back and forth, snorting spirals of green ether fire. Then it stopped, frozen, and stared at her with its vacuous black eyes.
Her skin crawled under the gaze. She did not look away though everything in her body screamed at her to run.
Shrieking, the Telethia spun upward into the sky and flew towards the east, its body becoming smaller and smaller as it flew farther and farther away from her.
Relief poured through Melia. Tears dotted the sides of her eyes. She was alive. She had survived the encounter with Ellison. Dropping to her knees, she hugged her sides, wheezing. How could she have been so reckless? What if she had died? She wouldn't have the chance to see her family again...or Dunban.
But she couldn't leave Ellison. She couldn't give up on him.
Swaying from side to side, the young woman felt the last of her strength seep away. Her breathing became labored and vision blurry.
Unable to stay upright, Melia fell forward. And the world went dark.
"Dunban!"
He was leaving the shooting range after a long day of planning with the BLADE council (working on new security measures for NLA). He'd needed to exercise his anger since Lao's report two days ago and had finally found a moment to himself, which he'd immediately taken advantage of. The shooting session had gone better than expected; his left arm was finally cooperating. And he placated the anger that threatened to boil over (multiple times he'd snapped at Elma and the others, and almost once at Fiora, though he had successfully reigned it in at that point).
But the look on Fiora and Tyrea's faces swept all calm from him. Both of their expressions exhibited concern. There was only one reason why they would both be worried.
Melia.
Dunban had done his best to not think of the princess since she'd departed and responded to his message in a succinct manner. He knew that she was still disappointed with him (probably putting it mildly) and he thought it best to give her space. Despite his best efforts, his thoughts at the end of each day kept coming back to her. What she was doing. How she was. What was going on between her and the Emperor. He worried.
"What's going on?" He lowered his voice.
Fiora bit her lip and nudged Tyrea, crossed her arms over her chest, fingers digging into her upper arms. Swallowing, she finally answered, "Melia is missing."
Dunban froze. "What do you mean missing?"
"Five days ago, her father sent her to live in Noctilum alone." Her nostrils flared. Dunban blinked. Had he heard right?
"I know, I know. It's fucked up. Something about her needing to prove herself to be an heir to the throne." Tyrea spat.
"She's alone?"
"Yes. She only told me the day after she went out there. Obviously, I was really angry she didn't tell me beforehand but we've checked in each morning since." Tyrea breathed. "She didn't respond to me this morning. She hasn't responded to any of my messages."
And now it was evening.
"We think something happened to her," Fiora fidgeted with her hands.
"I already talked to Kallian. He said that her father will organize a search party in the morning if she still doesn't respond. But that's too late." Tyrea growled. "We have to go find her now."
Dunban's mind reeled. A variety of scenarios ran through his head: she'd been eaten by some beast, her communicator had died, she had been captured by the Ganglion.
He desperately hoped it was the second one.
"Dunban?" Fiora interrupted his thoughts.
Hesitating, he looked into her frightened eyes. He knew that he should alert official channels and then the BLADE leadership would decide if it was a safe venture or not — no doubt Maurice would drag it out even though they had already made an alliance with the High Entia. It would take too much time.
Every nerve in his body pulsated. The thought of Melia in the hands of the Ganglion terrified him. Images of execution ran through his mind as he recalled Lao's words. He couldn't allow that to happen to her. Not when there was so much left unsaid between them, so much that he still hoped would happen between them.
"We leave in an hour," he whispered. "Grab any...supplies you need." He eyed Tyrea, who nodded.
Then he strode away towards the armory, pulling out his communicator and messaging the rest of the team to be ready at the west gate within the hour — with the caveat they say nothing to anyone.
An hour later, Dunban and Reyn loaded the cruiser up with a variety of weaponry, Shulk, and Riki casually keeping watch for any passersby that took notice of their activities.
"How did you get all of this?" Fiora questioned, alarmed, watching Tyrea add to the stockpile.
"I logged it as a weapons test." He murmured.
"But they'll know…"
And he could get in a lot of trouble. House arrest. Imprisoned. The unsaid words hovered between them, but he shook his head.
"I'll deal with that when the time comes." He turned his attention toward the group. "There is a chance that we may run into the Ganglion or worse. And there is a chance that we could be found out by BLADE and punished. If you don't want to go, it's alright. Now's your chance."
No one moved. But Dunban saw the shadow of doubt pass through Sharla's eyes. He knew what she was thinking: they were disobeying direct orders. Sharla was a soldier. The chain of command was ingrained in her; the rules of the military her life's philosophy.
Sharla shook her head. "I can't go. But I hope you find her."
Dunban nodded. He was disappointed, but she had made her choice.
"Wait, seriously?" Reyn gaped.
"It's fine, Reyn." Dunban shut the trunk. "Let's go."
Startled and unnerved, the team piled into the cruiser. Something intangible broke within the team, Dunban could feel it. But he didn't have time to address it now. They needed to go before they were stopped. There was no time to waste. Melia didn't have time.
Shulk sped out of the docking bay into the Primoridan wilderness, the moon shining overhead to guide their way. Dunban gripped the side of the vehicle as they streaked across the plains, his mind spinning around, focused on Melia.
He hoped they would find her. He prayed they weren't too late.
He'd never forgive himself if they were.
