Chapter 38

There was a blinding pain in me.

God, why did I do it?

I should've known that fighting a guy like that would be...

I opened my eyes with a grimace as agony that swelled through my head.

"Wha..."

Someone holding a rifle came into my sight. "Phew," she breathed. "There you are, finally awake."

I blinked. "How am I alive?" Didn't he... stab me in the face?

Sharla let out a breath. "Your heartbeat was non-existent, but somehow we brought you back."

The way she averted her eyes to something other then me made me think she was hiding something.

I was on my back. The room we had been captive in was the one we were in, with newly rebuilt windows.

"Ugh..." I couldn't rise. I felt too tired and had no willpower to do so.

"Don't even try. I'm sorry to say it, but... with the amount of injury you sustained, you should be dead."

I groaned. "Is that why I feel like a pile of crap right now?"

"In crude terms, I suppose so."

She had changed.

But what had...

"As well, there are going to be a massive scar on your face."

"Ugh... where... where's... Shulk... Dunban... Riki... and Melia?" I managed.

Sharla reloaded her gun with empty shells that could be probably filled with Ether for damaging and healing purposes.

"All of them are alive. Though barely, in Melia's and Riki's cases. Shulk and Dunban are relaxing in the sunlight outside, talking."

I looked around the room once more, and saw the heavily bandaged princess and Nopon, as bandaged as I was.

I sighed. "What happened... after I got thrown off?"

"We fought that Mechon," answered the sniper Overwatch totally didn't rip off. "Shulk got hurt pretty badly, and overexerted himself using the Monado, but we pulled through."

"Except for the Emperor."

I saw Shulk, the Monado II on his back as he walked in.

"Andrew, are you alright?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Somehow."

He let out a breath. "Alright, good." Shulk sighed. "What do we do now...? All of us are hurt pretty badly, and the Emperor is dead, and..."

Sharla shot healing Ether through the air. "Relax, Shulk. We're still alive. So we can keep fighting."

What happened? They all... I felt energy come into me. "Huh...?"

"I think you should go out in the sunshine," spoke Sharla. "You probably could do with fresh air."

I winced, rising. A yawn came out. "Ugh..."

"Ready?" asked Shulk, before he walked into the teleporter.

I grabbed my sword on the ground out of instinct.

"Hey, Andrew. Put that down. You're supposed to be recovering."

I looked at her. "Uh..." I shifted the familiar weight from hand to hand. "Um...c'mon, please?"

"No." She shot another round of Ether through the air. "You can comeback for it lat-hey!"

By the time she protested, I had already walked through the teleporter.

"Hm? Ah, Andrew." Dunban looked at me, sitting. "So you're awake once more."

"Uh... yeah," I replied. "Wait... where's Shulk?"

"Here." He yawned. "Huh... you sure look different with that long scar on your face, Andrew."

"Thanks," I deadpanned. I touched the right side of my face, under my eye, and felt a slightly rough, but mostly normal feeling line. "Is that it?"

"Yeah," replied Shulk. "But... Melia and Riki still haven't regained consciousness yet."

"How long has it been?" I asked.

"Two days," replied Dunban. "You recovered quite quickly, actually."

"Yay," I mumbled, as a wave of tiredness hit me. "Ugh..."

Shulk let out a grunt. "Fiora... she's alive..."

Oh yeah, I thought. He saw her again... "Yeah...?"

"We saw Fiora after almost defeating that Mechon," spoke Dunban. "It..." He swallowed.

I rolled my eyes, almost out of pure instinct. "Huh... so what happens next?"

"Still a little early for that," replied Shulk. "I wanna go after Fiora, but..." A slight pause and the very slight sound of teeth softly grinding together.

"We're all still beat up, and it's gonna take a while to recover," he continued.

"Got that right," I mumbled. "God, I hurt..."

"Go back inside," advised Dunban. "Get more rest."

"Sure..." I wandered back, into the teleporter.

Sharla looked up. "Set your sword down, please."

I did so, placing it on the table. "Ugh... I'm hungry," I mumbled.

"Wait... I have some dried jerky in this bag..." Out of an old-looking and very frequently used bag came the food.

"Thanks." I began to eat, looking out the window as I did so.

It was early afternoon, and the sun reflected off the waves in the nearby bodies of water, which then shone onto the many buildings in Alcamoth, mixing with the colours, of red, green, yellow, blue and the millions of colours in between.

It was beautiful.

"What are you smiling for?"

The sniper's words cut across my mind.

"Just thinking... the world really is a beautiful place, isn't it?" I spoke.

She looked out the window. "It sure is," she agreed, a small smile of her own coming onto her face.

Too bad the real world isn't anything near as nice... with global warming, and wars, and the problems of rising populations, and...

All of it is a massive mess.

A sigh came out.

"Oh? What are you sighing for, Andrew?" asked Shulk, walking in.

I looked at him. I felt something inside me stir.

"You know how they say violence is never the answer?" I asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Violence was what won wars, and peace, wasn't it?" I grunted. "The illusion of peace, anyway."

He paused, going into his thinking pose. "Yeah... yeah, that's right," he mused. "I... I never thought of it that way though..."

I wouldn't expect you to. "Well... just something to think about..."

That guy, Zulf... he can stop time.

If he's serving Zanza... that means Zanza is even stronger...

I didn't stand a chance against Zulf.

Maybe... maybe I should give up beating XenoBlade Chronicles.

"Andrew?"

I looked up. "Yeah?"

"You look like you're thinking too much," spoke Shulk. "You should relax while you can. As soon as we get all better, we're gonna set out for Valek Mountain.

"It's where Alvis has told me where we should go next."

We're going to meet Mumkhar again... and outside his suit, he's sure to be even faster, maybe even more lethal somehow...

How will I fight him, let alone Zulf or Zanza or Dickson?

"C'mon, Andrew. You should rest. Never know when they wake up, you know!" Shulk moved out with the teleporter.

I let out a groan as I lay down.

I'm going to be stuck in this world forever... assuming I don't get killed by swords or lasers or something...

There's no way to beat the odds this time...

It's impossible.

If one of the main characters HAVE to die, who would you want it to be?

Please give me your thoughts, by PM or reviews or otherwise.

I already know which party member is going to die next, so watch out for that... (No spoilers...)

Thanks for reading!