Chapter 5
Convergence
Nightfall had fallen over the city of Alcamoth. The bustling energy from the daytime businesses had started to die down as most of the citizens returned to their homes. It was during this rare moment of quiet that Melia found herself wandering across the road of Eternity Way, deep in thought over the events of that day.
Melia should have been feeling proud of herself. She had successfully completed the trial of the High Entia Tomb, and she was deemed a true successor to the throne by her forefathers. Tomorrow she'd officially be recognized as the crown princess, her father's successor. She should be heading towards the Imperial Palace with her head held high in success, but all she could focus on were her failures.
This was suppose to be a trial that she faced on her own, but if Shulk and the others hadn't arrived when they did, Melia had little doubt that she would have been slain by that mysterious assassin and her Telethia. An assassin that had been sent by her mother, the First Consort, if Alvis's report is to be believed. An assassin that was sent all because Yumea hated that a half-Homs, a trait Melia had no control over, was to become the next empress, a decision Melia had no hand in.
Is this how the rest of her life would be? Constant doubt of her worthiness to the throne. Multiple attempts on her life purely because of the blood coursing through her. If not even a member of her own family approved of her, how was she expected to win the goodwill of the entire country?
"Mother." Melia let out a shaky breath as she took a moment to compose herself. As future empress, Melia had to be strong for her people, no matter the cost. Feeling that she'd put off seeing her father long enough, Melia turned and began heading towards the direction of the Imperial Palace. She'd barely made it a few steps before she noticed a group of guards quickly approaching her.
"Princess Melia." The captain of the guards said as they reached her. They all gave her a small bow before the captain continued. "There's been a report of an intruder that has infiltrated Alcamoth. We're here to escort you back to the Imperial Palace at once."
"An intruder? In Alcamoth?" Melia's never heard of such a thing happening within her lifetime. "Do we have a description of them?"
"A female Homs is all we have to go by. She was first spotted in the medical wing, but has since been eluding the guards. The order came from the Ministry of Research. They believe she may be connected to the group that made an attempt on your life today." The captain said. He and the rest of the guards were highly on edge, keeping a close eye on their surroundings for an attack.
Something wasn't adding up. Melia knew that there were crucial pieces of information being left out. According to Alvis the group that had attacked both Shulk and herself earlier today were part of the Bionite Order. The Order's entire philosophy revolved around the superiority of pure-blooded High Entia. She did not believe they would ever rely on a Homs to carry out their plans.
However, with how badly her mother seems to want her dead she couldn't rule out anything at the moment. Even behind bars, the First Consort still held a lot of power, and Melia wouldn't put it past Yumea to have a backup plan at the ready after surviving her first assassination attempt.
The communication device attached to the captain's hip lit up as the voice of a distant guard began to speak up. "Intruder spotted. North of Melfica Road, upper level. Moving in to arrest – wait! She's gone! I've lost visual."
Everyone listened to the message with apt attention. When the captain turned to Melia, his expression appeared grave. "Princess. The intruder is dangerously close. We must get you to the palace at once."
Indeed, the intruder's last location would be just one floor above them, but the idea of running off to hide did not sit well with her. Assassin or not, Melia refused to sit back and allow others to handle this for her. Retrieving her spear from her waist, Melia rushed straight to the Melfica Road escalators.
"Princess Melia! Please wait!" Shouted her startled guards, but she paid them no mind. Her thoughts were focused purely on the upcoming battle.
Before she reached the escalators, a loud thud was heard several meters in-front of her, as if something had just fallen from the edge above. This confused her as she saw nothing fall and there wasn't anything before her that could have made that noise.
Choosing to ignore it for now, Melia continued her run towards the escalators… only to run head-first into… nothing?
"Ow!" shouted both Melia and a new voice that seemed to come out of thin air before her. Rubbing the growing bruise on her forehead, she looked up ahead only to once again see that there was no one there. At least at first. In an instant, the space before her began to shift. The light in front of her began to bend and refract into the shape of a person before revealing a girl sitting down before her, also treating a red bump on her head.
"Sorry… sorry… It's just… really hard… to run while… holding your breath." The girl breathed out through pained gasps of air.
The intruder? She clearly fit the description of a female Homs, but the rest of her appearance did not at all line up with what Melia was expecting. She was quite young. Barely a teenager if Melia had to guess. She was also covered in bandages with one hand around her waist as if to ease the pain there. All the while, she was heavily breathing in air. How was this the girl that the Ministry of Research was putting so much effort into capturing?
"Freeze!" Melia's security detail had finally caught up with her and quickly surrounded the girl, keeping their swords trained on her. The captain came up to Melia and helped her to her feet.
"Ah!" The girl screamed before pulling out a piece of paper from her back pocket. She slapped her hand against the strange symbol written onto the sheet before her body disappeared right before their eyes.
"What?"
"Where did she go?"
"She just vanished?"
"What trickery is this?"
The guards lowered their weapons as they began to scan the surrounding area for the intruder, but Melia knew better. This was likely the same trick she pulled just a moment ago, and if Melia can crash into her while she's cloaked like this, then she should also be able to immobilize her. Raising her spear high into the air, Melia gathered the surrounding ether energy into the bottom of her weapon before slamming it onto the floor.
"Shadow Stitch!"
Upon impact with the floor, a dark circle began to expand outward. Shadowy threads of pure ether rose up from within the circle, searching for any threats within the circumference to latch onto. Immediately, the black tendrils wrapped around the invisible form of the intruder. With a scream, the intruder reappeared again to show that the ether threads had woven around her legs, binding her to the floor.
"Well done Princess Melia." The captain said as the other guards quickly moved in to restrain the girl.
"Wait you're a princess? And you can use magic too! That's so cool. You're like Hecate after she was revealed to be the king's long lost daughter in Book 4!" The girl stated excitedly, seemingly forgetting the difficult situation she was in as she stared at Melia in amazement. Melia didn't understand just what she was talking about but waved it off for now, more interested in getting some answers. She raised her spear to the girl which seemed to regain her attention.
"Who are you! What are you doing sneaking around Alcamoth like this!" Melia demanded.
"Wait, please. I can explain!" The girl shouted as the guards had finished binding her hands together. "See, I was in this forest earlier and-"
The girl's words were cut-off as chains of ether flew in from behind her. The ether wrapped around her body, as well as over her mouth, preventing her from speaking further.
"Perfect. You've captured the intruder already." All eyes turned to see Minister Lorithia approaching the group, her ether chains keeping the girl from moving as her own personal security detail followed closely behind. "Excellent work Princess Melia. We'll take it from here."
As soon as the girl laid eyes on Lorithia she seemed to instantly go into a panic, pulling on her restraints with all her might. It was such a drastic change in demeanor that Melia knew that the girl must have had a run-in with Lorithia already, but this only added further to the confusion Melia was facing.
The fact that the Ministry of Research had been the one to report the news of the intruder was puzzling enough already – that's not part of their job description after all – but to see the head of the Ministry herself be personally involved in the intruder's capture was too big of a question to leave unanswered. Plus, she wasn't exactly subtle about gagging the intruder just as she was about to explain herself.
"Minister Lorithia. May I ask how you and your ministry got involved with this case? Generally issues involving Alcamoth security are handled by the Ministry of Investigation." Melia asked.
"I discovered a potential threat during my research in this part of the city. Time was of the essence so I thought it best to raise the alarm myself before relaying this information to the Ministry of Investigation," said Lorithia. Her explanation was quick, concise, and far too rehearsed for Melia's liking.
"Potential threat? You mean this injured child?" Melia said.
"Injured or not, she's still an intruder, and one that had used an unknown type of ether attack against my security detail when we tried to take her into custody. There are far too many unknowns going on with her. Right now, I only wish to work with the Ministry of Investigations to ensure there's no larger conspiracy behind this. Afterall, we certainly don't wish for a repeat of the High Entia Tomb."
Melia had to acknowledge that whatever technique that girl used earlier was unlike anything Melia had ever seen, and especially not from a Homs. They shouldn't be able to manipulate ether at all without some form of catalyst. Unless somehow that strange drawing she had with her was her catalyst? Even so she's never heard of an ether art that can completely shroud one from sight. Just how would this girl have discovered something like that?
However, Melia was not blind to Lorithia's clear attempt at manipulation. She was only using the attempt on Melia's life as a fear tactic to get her to accept Lorithia's explanation, but all that accomplished was making Melia more certain that she was being lied to. Especially considering how intentionally vague Lorithia's explanations have been about what she was doing here and how she found out about the girl.
Melia's decision was finalized when she looked back at the captured girl only to see a genuine look of terror on the girl's face. She kept her gaze squarely on Melia, her tear filled eyes seemingly pleading with Melia to listen to her. She furiously shook her head at nearly everything Lorithia had said. This girl had tried to explain herself at first and Melia was going to give her the chance.
"I wish to hear her side of the story." Melia said.
"Princess, that won't be necessary. You know that these criminals will say anything to avoid facing justice." Lorithia's objections were more nervous than usual, her normally collected tone starting to falter.
"I will decide that for myself. Now remove the gag from her mouth at once!" Melia demanded.
Lorithia was silent for several seconds and Melia thought she'd have to make her demands again, but eventually she did relent, dropping the ether chains that were keeping the girl silent.
"As you wish, Princess." Lorithia said in a tone that seemed clearly annoyed, but she did not try to interfere further.
"Thank you." The girl said, complete relief emanating from her, and Melia was certain her choice was correct.
"You're very welcome. May I ask for your name?" Melia asked.
"My name is Luz Noceda." The girl shared happily, looking far more relaxed now.
"Now Luz, may I ask what you are doing here?"
"… and so then I used my glyphs to escape my room while Dr. Saelin kept them busy. Which, by the way, what did you do to him anyway!" Luz directed that last question at Lorithia after finishing her explanation of how she got here.
Melia was speechless, as were all the other High Entia around. A third titan? A being without any ether? If what Luz had just said was true it would be the biggest discovery in all of history. Their very knowledge of the world as they know it would be forever changed.
Lorithia was the first to speak up again, and as Melia expected she went straight into damage control. "Dr. Saelin is unharmed and is merely being questioned right now." Turning to Melia, Lorithia continued, "Princess, you must understand that I was only acting in the best interests of Alcamoth after discovering-"
"Silence!" Melia's harsh tone cut off Lorithia mid-sentence, and even the other guards took a step back at this. "Regardless of your concerns, you made a clear effort to keep such a monumental discovery from the Emperor. You imprisoned an innocent man and attempted to have a child killed!
"You will release this doctor from your custody so that he may testify about today, and then you will provide a detailed explanation to the Emperor about why you felt the need to keep everything you found hidden from us. Until then, I do not wish to hear another one of your excuses. Do I make my self clear, Lorithia?"
Lorithia was fuming, and was no longer trying to hide it. "Of course, your highness," she seethed out before turning to one of her own personal guards and saying, "Have Dr. Saelin released and sent to the Emperor's Audience Chamber immediately."
"Yes, Minister Lorithia." The guard responded before leaving towards the holding cells.
"Luz. Would you be willing to talk to the Emperor about what you've just told me? He must be informed about your presence here." Melia asked.
"Um… okay, fine." Luz agreed though she seemed rather nervous about it. Melia couldn't exactly blame her. Her first impressions of their government could not have gone much worse.
"Do not worry. I assure you that my father will not inflict further harm to you." Melia said.
"I've heard that before, but I'll just have to trust you. Thanks. Wait, there's one more thing first!" Luz said, before looking at Lorithia with a hard glare. "What about my friends? I overheard you ordering their arrest too. Where are they?"
Of course there was still one more thing Lorithia was hiding. Melia said nothing, but instead gave her a look that she hoped made it clear that she wasn't going to believe a single excuse Lorithia tried to come up with.
Lorithia let out a long sigh which seemed to do little to actually calm her down if the large frown she was giving Luz was any indication. "I sent a squadron of High Entia soldiers to detain them at the Centre Gate. They should be arriving any second now."
"Oh man. That's not good." Luz said, attempting to grab her hair in worry before remembering that they were still tied together.
"I can go meet up with the guards and have them released immediately," said Lorithia. Luckily she's at least putting in the bare minimum to fix her mess now. That's better than nothing.
"No, I meant that's not good for you guys. Eda's not someone who'll just quietly let herself get arrested." Luz said.
"Luz. They're here for you are they not? Would they stand down if we brought you to them?" Melia asked, wishing to avoid further conflicts with these visitors from another world.
"Yes! Definitely. They're just worried about me. I've been gone all day." Luz said.
"Very well." Melia then turned to the guards and said, "Release her from her binds and help her move if she requires assistance. We must head towards the Centre Gate before the conflict there escalates into the city proper."
"Yes, your highness." The guards agreed.
At Melia's command, everyone headed off to Alcamoth's entrance, hopeful that they weren't too late to avoid a fight.
The moon was high above the skies of Eryth Sea. Under its glow, the built up ether in the air began to shimmer all around the night sky in a kaleidoscope of colors. It was at times like these that Shulk felt most peaceful. The young man wasn't the most outdoorsy person. He'd spent most of his time within his lab, studying and learning all he could about the legendary blade that he now carried. However, whenever he would dare to venture outside – usually at the behest of his guardian, Dickson – he'd always preferred being around nature. He'd never been a fan of crowds, preferring to avoid the crowded square of his hometown of Colony 9, and he was especially uneasy in a large bustling city like Alcamoth. But out here, he felt tranquil. It helped him gather his thoughts, without any distractions to worry about. Though it felt ironic to feel that way given his current company.
"Monsters stood no chance against the Heropon and his merry sidekicks! Did not land a single hit on Riki!" The Nopon celebrated on their way back from their mission. They'd just arrived at the Centre Gate of Alcamoth and were ready to get back to their suite and wind down.
"That's cause they were all focused on me! Some heropon you are, playing dead so they'd just ignore you." Reyn fired back, the large man flexing his sore shoulder after their fight.
"Riki just fight smartly. Wait for monsters to turn towards sidekicks, then, KAPOW!" Riki exclaimed, pulling out his trusty biter to emphasize his point.
"Easy for you to say when you don't have to take the hits yourself! And enough with the sidekicks already."
Shulk laughed at the two's bickering. Somehow, Reyn always finds a way to complain about something whenever Riki is with them. Of course, Riki always finds a way to annoy Reyn in someway, especially his insistence on calling them all his sidekicks. Whether he does this intentionally or not, Shulk is still not sure.
"All right. Break it up you two. The important thing is that no one was hurt, and we managed to fix the ether plant before anyone lost power."
"Yes! Shulk right. Great victory for all." Riki cheered. "Now we go home and eat victory feast. Riki so hungry."
"Finally we agree on something furball. I'm starving. Come on, let's go see what kind of room service these High Entia folks have."
Both Reyn and Riki took off running through the main teleporter that leads them to Alcamoth. Shulk smiled at their excitement, before running to catch up. He could honestly use a bite to eat as well.
The trio headed out of the main entrance teleporter and onto the streets of Alcamoth, but on their way back Shulk took notice of a squadron of Alcamoth guards as they walked passed them. The soldiers all piled through the entrance teleporter that took them back to the Centre Gate. Shulk found this strange. He was told that security in Alcamoth was tighter than usual, especially at night. That was why Shulk and his friends were asked with help in the situation at the Ether Plant to begin with.
Shulk then remembered his first meeting with the High Entia also involved a squadron of guards meeting up with them at the Centre Gate. Could the same thing be happening now? Shulk didn't exactly pay any mind to who else was standing around the Centre Gate before he entered Alcamoth, but he knew that the High Entia are far more worry about visitors than he was. Deciding to check it out he turned around and walked back towards the entrance of Alcamoth.
Stepping through the teleporter, he was met with the sight of the High Entia squad spread out before him, surrounding two women at the edge of the platform. Getting a better look at the women, Shulk was amazed to see they were the same ones that he'd seen in his altered vision earlier today. Their pointed ears may have been hidden but their appearance was distinct enough even without that detail.
"Minister Lorithia demands that you all be brought into custody immediately for suspicions against the throne." The head captain said.
"I knew it! King, Boots, get ready for a fight here," said the older woman. The two women each held a staff in hand, ready for battle against the surrounding guards. Were they actually enemies of Alcamoth? Shulk had assumed that they would be friendly considering that he saw them with him and the others on Prison Island in his vision. Well, them and that strange dog thing of theirs with the skull-head.
Said dog then stuck his head out of the older woman's hair just as Shulk was wondering where it was. "Really? I'm not ready! I haven't done my stretches yet." The dog talks? Shulk certainly wasn't expecting that, especially since the dog's mouth didn't move at all. The guards were understandably even less prepared for that sight, as they all jumped back.
"What is that thing!?" One of the guards yelled. With a yelp, the dog quickly brought his head back into the woman's long hair.
"Wait, please. We're not here to fight. We just want to see Luz. That's all." The younger girl said.
Luz? Was there a fourth person with this group? Shulk's vision only saw these three specifically.
"If that's all then stand down and come with us. This is your final warning." The captain said as the ring of guards closed in again.
"We're not going anywhere without Luz!" The woman roared, as her golden irises began to glow and her sclera turned pitch black. A bright yellow light erupted from her that engulfed everyone around. The light vanished quickly, but before Shulk's eyes could begin to readjust themselves he heard a frightened shout from the guards.
He realized why that was when he finally got another good look at the woman. The woman's already impressive height had increased even more while her entire form had grown more monstrous. Sharp claws and talons lined her hands and feet, her red dress seemed to have merged into her own body, and a massive pair of wings had sprouted from her back.
Without warning, she flew straight through the surrounding guards, barreling them all over as well as Shulk himself. The younger girl then raised her own staff in her hands and with a quick circular motion, created an enormous sludge-like monster that started pinning downed guards in place. Shulk rolled out of the way just before a wave of the purple ooze could trap him as well.
The remaining guards quickly rose to battle, weapons drawn as they charged at the visitors. Shulk was hesitant to fight, but he knew that he still had to defend himself. He's still not sure who these people are or what they want, but he had to get them to stop fighting first before they could be reasoned with.
Drawing the Monado from his back, the legendary sword came to life, the mechanical portions moving apart in order to allow the ether energy to form as a blade. With the Monado ready he jumped into the fray as well.
A/N: We finally get proper meetups between the XC and TOH crews, and of course I had to do the obligatory crossover story fight scene. It did feel inevitable though with Eda around.