Author's Note: This update assumes the following—that Nia travelled with the party during Chapter 7 prior to their first invasion of Origin (whilst gathering the specific Origin shards needed for Samon's ship), and that the events of the snippet regarding Melia's post-game content being in the main plot (mainly, due to ether depletion, she had to be evacuated from Origin by Ouroboros, after which her quest missions would have gone on as normal) also occurred. In essence, there would have been a 'second' (and final) invasion of Origin.
Also, this is a double update! Make sure to check Chapter 16 before reading this one!
xxxx
There was only so much time in the world to do everything.
For those who had a limit of ten years bred into them by Moebius's artificial cycle of rebirth, it was a far more poignant reality.
Numerous heroes currently in command of friendly Colonies had a matter of months to live, if that. Those resurrected at the peak of their life by Consul Y's new process...had even less time. Thus it was, that Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz, and Sena decided they could no longer wait to strike.
With their military strength at its greatest extent, Ouroboros and their allies convened in the City for one last strategy meeting...and to enjoy each other's company, knowing that it was quite possible that some of their number would not survive the final assault on Origin.
This story...is not about that merry gathering.
Instead, we turn to two Queens, who are busy with matters of their own.
xxxx
/Time: Chapter 7, after the completion of Melia's Ascension Quest, prior to Ouroboros's Final Invasion of Origin/
/Lavi Sandbar, Erythia Sea, Cadensia Region/
Melia Antiqua had briefly considered attending the celebratory events in the City.
But only briefly: she had already visited the City not long before, and given the people her encouragement and royal blessing for the endeavors to come. There was a certain sense of decorum with her station, and she doubted the festivities would rise to that level of dignity. (In fact, she expected there to be a great deal of rabble-rousing.) Besides, she needed to be sober and steely-eyed for the resumption of the attack on Origin; a party would not help with that.
But assisting her fellow monarch with a personal favor? That, she had no issue with.
Thus it was, that the Queens of Keves and Agnus moved past squads of armed Gulkins, all seeming to cower away from the ether roiling off of their forms. Their eyes were focused on a particularly large Gulkin, sitting upon an old yet ornate stone monument that evoked the image of a throne.
"Squaw!" screeched the feathered bruiser, his body bearing some relatively young scars. "Hooman with kat ears and hooman with bird ears! Why you kum to Hero's ground?!"
Nia stepped forward, speaking with authority. "You are trespassing on ground that was decreed forbidden ages ago by Agnus." Looking around, she added, "Where are the bodies of the soldiers that were supposed to guard this place?"
"Kat Lady know old story? Gulkins take pretty stone rooins long ago! Strongest of bird fighters klaim title of Hero! Nasty hoomans try to sneak in, get punished! Bodies thrown to sea for gyaarks to feast! Way of life for long time!" Tapping his talons angrily against the stone, the Gulkin squawked, "Six hoomans kum through, try to fight Hero. But they only distraktion for two sneaksy Nopon that stole old treasure! Then they run away, make mokkery of Hero!"
"...I see," said Nia with a level of forced calm. "Then there's no further reason for you to be here. I kindly request that you leave."
"You have heard the word of the Queen of Agnus," remarked Melia, lightly resting the butt of her staff on the ground. "Depart with your gullery of Gulkins and roost elsewhere. If you do so, Her Majesty will ignore the slights committed against her soldiers, and let the sins of your forefathers remain just that."
'Hero' quacked furiously. "Hoomans always mad! This place Gulkins' by right of konquest!"
"...then a compromise," relented Nia, her ears beginning to twitch. "I only request that I be allowed to spend the night at these ruins. Come tomorrow, we will trouble you no further."
"I highly suggest you accept Her Highness's proposition," remarked Melia. "It should satisfy both parties."
"Here Hero's answer!" Reaching for his great bow, Hero charged forward with a mighty war cry.
Both Nia and Melia — silently sighing out of frustration — gripped their respective weapons. The Anima Sword and Elemental Staff sang with light, and they let their ether flow.
xx
/Five Minutes Later/
The nearby Gulkins, all but petrified by the light show that had commenced upon their leader's perch of choice, cried out of panic as a smoking, moaning pile of feathers and flesh rolled down the stairs. They looked upon the two interlopers — the Cat Lady holding a curved scimitar while two other swords floated behind her; the Bird Lady's form exuding ethereal wings of pure energy — and knew fear.
"Take your leader and get out," hissed Nia.
The Gulkins grabbed Hero's groaning body and fled in a flurry of feathers and shrieks.
xx
Melia watched the bipedal birds depart, listening intently as Nia muttered, "Damned Moebius." Looking at her fellow Queen, the Gormotti Flesh Eater elaborated, "Before I went into hiding...there was a squadron of guards dedicated to preserving these ruins, to keep them safe from interlopers. Someone had to have rescinded those orders while I was asleep."
"From Moebius's standpoint, it would only have been logical. Why devote soldiers to protect a past that has no more meaning, in their eyes?" remarked Melia.
"I bet they used my face to make that change too, the damned blighters," snarled Nia, no longer interested in keeping up pretenses. Turning back towards the ancient stone ruin, she murmured, "The Place of Heroes Past...that's what it's labelled as on all of our maps."
"The resting place of an old friend? The remnant of a tomb, or mausoleum?" inquired Melia.
Shaking her head, Nia answered, "Not quite." Stepping around the stone monument, now bearing an empty chest, she explained, "It was the resting place of a certain sword; the third sword, for Pyra and Mythra's combined form. Her name was Pneuma."
It felt strange, after being imprisoned for so long, to hear Nia speak of her family out in the open; it probably felt just as weird for Nia to actually say the names aloud, to someone who knew of the Old Worlds. "Even after all this time, the ways in which your world operated sound bizarre."
Nia smiled sadly, brushing at her Core Crystal. "And if I didn't know Poppi, I'd say the existence of 'machine people' would be the stuff of wild stories."
The two Queens quietly sat down at the top of the steps, looking out over the rest of Lavi Sandbar and Erythia Sea. Melia's eyes wandered from north to south, gazing solemnly at the distant Castle of Agnus; staring intently at the swirling red and black vortex hiding Origin from sight; and finally, looking forlornly at the distant form of the Great Sword, the blade of the Mechonis.
Finally, Melia asked, "What was the reason you requested my aid?"
"...this is an important place to me," admitted Nia. "And even if you weren't a part of my world, the fact that you remember is enough. Because...I dread the possibility of failure. That all of our efforts this time will amount to nothing. That for fear of this world coming to an end...the Endless Now will look all too alluring for some."
"It is a temptation everyone must struggle with. I think that is why Noah and the others are having a night of festivities in the City," observed Melia, relishing the quiet breeze of the sea, and the familiar scent that evoked memories of Eryth. "If they lose, it matters not if the world ends...but if they win, then the world they know will still come to an end." Such was the world engineered by Z: by keeping Origin in a perpetual stasis — lest it finally reactivate and complete its task — he ensured that the defeat of Moebius would necessarily result in the end of Aionios. "A wretched trap, to entice people to let the status quo continue...no matter how horrible it is."
"Even if it hurts...the status quo can be comfortable. Because stepping into the unknown, without fear...that can be terrifying." With a melancholy expression on her face, Nia shifted power to her Core Crystal; water consolidated and took shape behind them, acting out a memory that still echoed with force and emotion. "I came here...to remind myself of that."
Melia looked over her shoulder, looking as the water took form: one was obviously Nia, albeit somewhat younger, less lean; the other was of a boy on the threshold to manhood, who could only be Rex; the rest were shapeless phantoms. Clearly, the focus was on Nia and Rex; through the medium of the ether, Melia could hear Nia's memory as she remembered it.
"I am burdened no longer! Not by my past, not by Jin," passionately said Nia's echo. "I am finally free!" Rex's response was somewhat muffled; perhaps those words (ones of confusion, perchance?) didn't quite stick in comparison to what would come after? "I'm no longer afraid. This is who I am, Rex! What's the point in living if I have to hide?" With hands upon those of Rex's echo, Nia's phantom said, "Thank you for helping me see. I love you, Rex!"
"...wha-?!" dumbly repeated the watery specter.
Melia's entire body cringed at the response. "He seemed...rather surprised."
Nia laughed, unable to suppress a quiet hiccup. "Y-Yeah...I just had to say what I felt. That's all I thought about...showin' my gratitude." As her memory continued to play out — a clone of water, slicing through nameless phantoms with a long blade — the Queen added, "If I didn't speak, it would have made the whole show a bit...pointless.." As she spoke, Nia's phantasm collapsed, surrounded by shapeless water; Rex's echo suddenly leapt in, slicing away at the memory of old enemies. "...but Rex still managed to surprise me."
"Rex..." breathed Nia's copy.
"Nia," said Rex's echo, turning back to face her. "I love you too!"
Melia blinked.
"Huh?" dumbly repeated Nia's specter, an ironic echo of Rex's own dumbfoundedness.
"I love you...and all you guys!" (Melia sucked in a pained breath through her teeth.) "So...let's do this, together!"
Nia laughed in tandem with her memory. "That's just like you! It's all I could ask for." Rising to her feet, Nia's echo held out her sword, letting Rex's copy grab hold. "Let's give 'em hell!"
As the water finally drooped to the ground, Melia dryly asked, "I think you may have overwhelmed the poor boy."
"...he was just a boy, back then," admitted Queen Nia, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. "With an adult's mentality towards finances, to be fair...but a child, in many other ways. He grew a lot, during our journey...we all did. And I liked the man he was becoming in front of me."
Arching an eyebrow, Melia couldn't help but wonder. "Given the family you've spoken of...perhaps his words were more literal than you believed, at the time?"
"I asked him, years later. He said...he was still figuring things out. And not just in matters of the heart." Nia impulsively giggled, unable to stop the tears from flowing now. "To find out he was still willing? That Pyra and Mythra were more than fine with it, because it made me happy? I could barely believe it! And..." Furiously wiping at her eyes, Nia had finally begun blubbering. "B-Bloody hell...was never any good at bein' the regal type..."
"Even with your lessons from the late Lord of Echell?" Melia asked, knowing of Nia's history: a Blade bonded to a sickly girl, the daughter of a Gormotti lord who had gone to painful lengths to try and save his family, to the point of falling from high society into destitution.
"Agh, even then. The fact I came to be a Queen is bloody weird as is." (But the story of how Nia ascended to royalty was a story for another time.) "All this high-falutin' nonsense...Niall would have been better suited for it. So would Raqura, or even that dunderhead Zeke..."
"You do a grave disservice to yourself," reassured Melia. "In the face of such harrowing circumstances, you have performed far more admirably than I." Were it not for my capture, Z would not have solidified his control over the world. Much of the suffering that everyone has endured...is because of me. Yet another burden upon her shoulders: one she would carry with all her strength.
"...after so long, I'm so close to seeing my family again," whispered Nia, her shoulders shuddering with grief. "But I see Mio, charging into battle, and the fear of failure claws its way back, no matter how much I try to fight it, and I hate it...!"
What a wretched state of being, to present such a strong face at all times. Melia did not deny that Nia lacked a regal bearing, even if she personally believed her to be a fine woman in her own right; the demeanor demanded of a ruler required much, and was not for everyone. Regardless of how she had gotten there, Nia was nonetheless recognized as a Queen; her sense of duty (or perhaps her stubbornness) had kept her going. As such, the burdens of her heart were not for the people to witness or carry.
Without her loved ones, how horrid had the burden become upon Nia's shoulders?
As Nia continued sobbing, Melia thought back, to the words she still carried in her heart...
xxxx
No matter how long Melia lived, and no matter how much failure she had endured to get this far...the words of Sorean Antiqua would always remain.
On the loss of the men under her command: "We will grieve for them, but it could not have been avoided. It was their duty and honor to fight beside you. They were all aware of your limits: keep those feelings of frustration close to you. It will help you to remember the debt you owe to those that have fallen."
On her triumph within the High Entia Tomb, even though it had required the aid of her friends: "Kallian has informed me of what happened. There is no reason to doubt your legitimacy to the throne."
On what was shared with Shulk during their private meeting, relayed to her after the fact at a much later time: "She is a lucky girl, to have met such unselfish people. In the times to come, a ruler will need support from individuals like you." In like manner: "I ask this not as Sorean Antiqua, but as a father. I do not demand that you act as Melia's protector. But I would be honored if you would be her friend. This is my humble request."
On his final lesson to her, during his final moments: "Melia, the hope of our people...you must not cry." Despite her protests, he nonetheless remained strong: "To become the hope of the High Entia is a fate that you choose for yourself. As long as you remember this, it is certain that you will be worthy of that name. But remember this also: it is not because you are the hope of the High Entia that I love you...it is because I love you, that I wish for you to become that hope." With his last breath: "Melia. Cry for as long as you must...but when...your tears...are dry..."
Even now, the ideal of her father resided within.
xxxx
...and resolved to live up to those lofty standards once more. "If you require a shoulder to cry on, then you have mine, Queen Nia."
"D-Don't be stupid," she impulsively replied. "Y-You've already got t-too many burdens to be worryin' about me..."
"You are my friend, Nia," insisted Melia, speaking with the authority of one who had been raised in a household of royal lineage and the consequent expectations. "A ruler is nothing without their people...yet without friends to help carry the load, our burdens would be insurmountable. Even if we hail from different worlds, I am glad to have met you...so your tears are not a burden, and never will be."
As if given permission, Nia embraced from the side, sobbing into her shoulder: it was a moment of weakness that a Queen could ill afford. Who else could understand, but another one of equal standing? Until all things were restored, there was no one on Aionios who could understand Nia like Melia could...and vice-versa. (Even if, in the grand scheme of things, Nia had not always been so subtle with her questions about how a proper Queen should behave.)
Before long, the tears went dry, and Nia finally sat up. "...thanks."
"You are most welcome." With the bout of sadness and melancholy finally passed, Melia asked, "It occurs to me that I have not heard many stories about your journey. Nothing beyond the big picture, at least." It was no surprise: with the focus primarily being on building Origin, to stop their worlds' mutual annihilation...and then, within the Endless Now, their seemingly unending war against Moebius...there had been little time, to speak of lighthearted matters. Tonight would perhaps be the last moment available to them. "Perhaps about this 'Zeke'? You haven't spoken of him in any great detail."
Nia, seemingly grateful for the segue, grinned toothily. "Ah, you don't wanna hear about a dunderhead like that, would ya?"
"I lived with 'Reyn Time'. I'm sure I'll manage."
"...Reyn Time?" repeated Nia.
"Perhaps I should explain..."
And so two Queens — bonded together by fate, by their royal station, and by mutual loneliness carried over from worlds which no longer existed except in memory (and oh, how greatly they hoped for those worlds to once more come to be, in the future yet unwritten...!) — passed the night away, speaking of fond memories and basking in the warmth they contained.
For tomorrow, they would once more return to their posts at the Castles; the moment Ouroboros commenced its final battle with Z, they would use their power — fully recovered at long last — to sunder the hold of the Flame Clocks over their people.
Tomorrow...would be a new day. This, they swore.
xxxx
Author's Note: Fun fact—some of the words used to describe a group of gulls are 'colony', 'squabble', 'flotilla', 'scavenging', and 'gullery'. So a 'flotilla of Gulkins', a 'gullery of Gulkins', and so forth.
