Chapter 43

"Andrew."

I opened my eyes in the night, to see Shulk sitting near a campfire in the middle of the small camp everyone had made.

"You always recover fast," he noted. "Huh... anyway... do you mind if we do some talking?"

I groaned, managing to rise. "Ow... yeah, sure." I set my sword on the ground as I sat beside him. "So... what about?"

"A ton, but... let's start with how you knew Melia was coming with us."

"Uh..." I paused. "Did Alvis give you even a hint that I might know stuff?"

"Well... sort of," he replied.

"Like... really important stuff?" I paused. "Huh... did I ever tell you that?"

"Tell me what?"

"Alright..." I breathed out. "Where to start... huh... let's start with this.

"I knew Fiora was going to die."

He stared at me. "What?!"

"Uh... I knew that Fiora was going to die," I repeated.

Shulk blinked. "Are you saying... you knew Fiora was going to die?"

Uh-oh. I felt a disguised hatred rip out of him. "Don't freak out."

A growl came out of him. "You knew... and did nothing."

"I tried," I spoke, keeping my voice even. "You could see that."

He looked at me. "Yeah... I did. You tried, and so did Dunban and Reyn..." His brow furrowed.

"If you knew Fiora died..." A sigh and some of his anger swept away. "Did you know Reyn was gonna die too?"

"No. I had no knowledge of that fact," I spoke.

He looked at the sky. "OK... how did you know, then... about Fiora?"

"Alright... prepare yourself. This is going to get pretty damn crazy and unbelievable."

"Hey..." He gestured towards the environment. "There's probably, like, a massive lizard just waiting to eat us or something.

"And I can see the future, thanks to the Monado."

He paused, thinking. "Plus... that other form you assume."

"Yeah? Well, to you, this may be more unbelievable then all of those other things combined."

"Hit me."

I let out a sigh, looking upwards. "Your whole adventure... where I'm from... it's in a really dense... package, alright?

"And... I... looked it over with the help of another person."

Huh. Come to think of it, I would probably not know about Xenoblade, and thus not be here, if Chuggaaconroy didn't do them videos.

CURSE YOU, MR. YOUTUBER WITH OVER 1 MILLION SUBS!

I let out a breath. "Hunh."

"Wait... so you know how our adventure ends?" asked Shulk

Oh shit. Time to tread on very unsafe territory.

"Well... yeah. But it would be best if you didn't know."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't believe me and would maybe even try to kill me from painful truths you want to avoid."

"That... seems kinda overkill."

"Trust me, wielder of the Monado," I spoke. "As we go along, I will tell you what might just happen."

"So... info on a strict need-to-know basis?"

"Yeah, sure. And what I know might just be plain wrong..."

Shulk stood and stretched with a groan. "Because you're here, I bet."

I stared at him. "You are the densest person ever in one aspect, but stupid sharp in another."

If I think about it... the hell did Fiora see in him anyway? I wondered.

"Ha! Just like you!"

"Thank you," I murmured.

"Heh." He smiled. "Well... good we could talk like that."

Shulk closed his eyes. "I trust you to tell me the truth as we go along."

"Alright..."

He looked out towards the massive peaks. "We're going there, to Valek Mountain."

"Yeah..."

"Alright..." He yawned. "Do you mind taking over? If you want to."

"Sure." I adjusted my sword on my back.

He rose to start to walk away, when he paused.

"I do trust you, Andrew."

"Huh?"

He let out a long sigh. "Everyone here... they all trust you to help them out in the fights we have.

"So put some more trust in us too, hm?"

As I turned my head to look at him, he lay down near the rest of the group, getting out a sleeping bag from somewhere.

I looked at the flame.

"Trust, huh...?" I mused.

Is it a good idea to trust video game characters? I wondered.

They're...

"Hmmmmm..."

Maybe, I thought to myself. I guess...

And if I beat this game and that somehow gets met out, I'll never see them again... maybe?

I felt myself frown. That is optimistic of me. Surviving? What a joke.

When I'm in a world with massive machines and animals that are ready to kill me and all I have is this sword... seems ridiculous, actually.

I felt my frown vanish for a moment. Sounds like Final Fantasy actually...

I shook my head. "Uh... anyways...

"Trust, hm...?"

These people are not my friends. Trust is fine, but...

Friends would be putting it too far.

I shook my head and laughed.

I miss being young, I thought. I mean, if I trust the Xenoblade wiki, I'm still younger then all of them, but I feel old...

Stressful when you live in constant fear of life, knowing that a certain swordsman swears that I will be dead.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. Zulf...

I swallowed, feeling the stiffness, and for a moment I saw and felt the blood, the pain, the edge of metal inside my face.

I let out a long breath.

What if they saw me like this?

I laughed aloud, feeling myself smile.

"Keeping my powers in the real world... that'd be pretty cool," I spoke.

"I think...? Yeah, probably."

I let out a long sigh.

"I'm tired of fighting," I murmured. "It... was fun, still is fun, but..."

I don't want to die.

"Heh... ha ha ha..." I laughed once more.

A slight smile settled onto my face.

"And it always hurts... wondering if I'll survive the next stab or slash... exhausting, too..."

I frowned. Why am I talking to myself? What is wrong with me?

Wish I could talk to someone... one of them...

I closed my eyes and saw them in my mind. Playful smiles and laughter stood out in my mind.

I smiled again.

"So that's what I'm fighting for, huh...?"

I let my sword down from my back and focused on the world around me.

I sensed the sound whisper of the wind brush past violent, shaking leaves.

I felt the slight whine of some kind of large lion against its mate.

And the loud, distant footsteps of a dinosaur.

I opened my eyes.

"Bionis is much nicer then the real world.

"And yet I'm gonna fight it one of these days..."