Nopon Village - Meddy

Meddy was still troubled by the news Top Man had given her. The Monado… it's the Homs' only hope to survive, isn't it? Does Egil truly want to wipe out an entire race? Several races? These fuzzy spherical creatures - Nopon, right? They're just as sentient as the Homs.

She's so lost in thought she doesn't notice the Nopon child nibbling on her finger.

"...Meddy!" Rock snaps his fingers in her face, breaking her train of thought.

"O-oh!" She stumbles back a bit, and the Nopon child runs back into the large tree before them. "What is it?"

"We've gotta meet with the Nopon chief. All of us. The rest of the group's already inside, I waited out here for you." He leans back on the outside of the tree making up their village. "You seemed pretty distracted. What's up?"

"It's what Top Man had said, how Egil's wanting the Monado. He's slaughtering Homs left and right, and he's been close to getting it before. What would he do if he did get it? What's his goal with the sword, and how would Top Man be persuaded to join him? I've just got so many questions, and I can't get answers to any of them."

Rock simply sighs, getting up and resting a hand on her shoulder. "I wish I could answer. But Top Man's been one to make rash decisions, so we can't trust he's making the right one. And from what we've seen, it seems like he's in the wrong. Now come on." He promptly turns around, motioning for Meddy to follow. "We've got to get moving. Shulk's at the top of the building with Melia, the other three are heading that way now."

Nopon Village - Shulk

Something had been eating at Melia. He could tell just from looking at her.

"Melia," He begins. "You're welcome to come with us."

Melia, however, doesn't respond, simply hanging her head low as Shulk presses on. "Is it true? Were you alone in the forest?"

"That thing must be stopped by my hand," she replies. "It is my pledge to those who had died."

All of a sudden, Shulk hears a voice in his head. Alvis. Didn't he say something about the Telethia…? Wounded…

By a girl!

"Wounded by a girl… You don't mean you're going to fight the Telethia!?"

This gets Melia's attention! She turns to Shulk with a shocked look on her face. "How do you know of the Telethia!?"

"When I went to collect the Ether Crystals, some Telethia attacked me. I managed to destroy them and get away."

"You defeated Telethia? Wh-Who are you?"

Shulk explains his connections with the Monado, and the battle with the Telethia (although he's sure to omit Alvis. With how Reyn reacted, he's sure she wouldn't believe him).

"The Monado… so that sword can…" Melia seems almost in awe of the sword's potential, but Shulk's quick to reply.

"To tell the truth, they were only the Telethia's spawn. Someone told me that the primary Telethia is healing somewhere in the forest." With that out of the way, he can finally press on. "It was you, wasn't it? You hurt the Telethia."

"... The Telethia escaped from our homeland, and I am tasked with killing it. It cannot remain free. For the sake of my people, and the Nopon, it must be stopped."

"Melia… We can help you defeat it, if you'd like."

"Out of pity?"

"No!"

"Then what?"

"It's just… I… I want…"

"Speak, Shulk, or I will be forced to summon the Nopon Chief to interpret for me."

"I would like to help."

"What could you possibly gain from helping me?"

Shulk sighs a bit before explaining. "I saw it. On top of a black tower, you and I were fighting together, against that faced Mechon. I also saw you fighting a huge Telethia."

Melia scoffs a bit, incredulously. However, Reyn approaches the Balcony with the rest of the party as she does so, so the scoff is simply met with a chuckle. "It threw me the first time 'n' all."

"Forgive me, Shulk, but what are you talking about?"

With Shulk speechless, Reyn decides to explain. "Shulk can see visions of the future."

This time, it's Melia's turn to laugh. "Visions of the future? And you expect me to believe this rubbish?"

"Believe what you want, lady," he replies, giving a look to Sharla. "That's what I tell all the non-believers."
"That'd be me, then." Sharla

In any case, the only reason we got so far was because of Shulk's visions. If Shulk says he saw you in a vision, you're important to whatever happens next. And if you're tough enough to fight a Faced Mechon, you're alright in my book."

Dunban smirks, nodding in response. "You've got my vote. A lady shouldn't go into the battlefield unaccompanied."

"Excuse me!" Melia huffs. "I am quite capable of dispatching this beast alone. I do not require help of any kind!"

"My dear!" The Nopon Chief, Dunga, joins the conversation, much to Melia's dismay. "I apologise, but I could not help overhearing. Their offer sounds quite reasonable. The danger extends much further than our small dwelling. Makna itself is at risk. And we shall provide you with the finest warrior of our clan."

"Chief Dunga, I…" Melia begins to protest, but the chief cuts her off.

"No need for thanks, my dear. He is the equal, if not the better, of the Hom Hom!"

"You do know we're listening, right?" Reyn laughs.

"The chosen Nopon Hero will await you below. I shall go ahead and prepare him, if you will excuse me."

"A Nopon hero?" Reyn scoffs. "This I have to see!"

This is met with Shulk brushing his arm. "Don't be like that, let's give him a chance."

"Are you sure about that, Shulk?" Meddy asks. "From what I've seen, these creatures aren't exactly fighters."

The Homs simply nods as they head down to the base of the tree, where Chief Dunga awaits.

"May I present, this year's Legendary Heropon, Riki!"

A ball of fur leaps down from the top of the village, falling squarely on Reyn's face, bouncing onto Melia's arms as she bounces him back up like a volleyball. Shulk follow suit, but as Reyn wipes his face of Nopon fur, he jumps into the air, preparing to spike the Heropon.

Unfortunately for him, Meddy grabs him out of the air, putting her arms around him like one would a stuffed animal. The momentum of Reyn's spike carries him forward, and he falls off the edge of the platform into the water below, earning an eruption of laughter from the Nopon crowd. He pulls himself back onto the platform, shaking his head violently to get the water out as Meddy sets their new friend down.

"New Hom Hom Friends!" he cries. "Meet this year's Legendary Heropon, Riki! Riki live to serve!"

"A Nopon hero, you say?" Dunban mutters. "Not sure where you'll come in handy, but the more, the merrier. Now, Shulk. Are these Telethia really as dangerous as you say?"

"Yes, they're lightning quick, and they can read your mind!"

"A mind reading giant bird?" He puts a hand to his chin. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"I can see their movements with the Monado, but even that's not enough to get the better of them."
"And we're going against the daddy version. No one blink for a second."

Nopon Village - Melia

Chief Dunga was kind enough to give the group lodging for the night, so they would be well rested for the battle ahead. Rock and Meddy, however, stayed up overnight to keep watch, as well as see where exactly the Telethia went. Melia, however, gratefully went to sleep, almost immediately after they were shown to their beds, with Riki joining her, hopping into her arms like a teddy bear.

Midnight passes, but Melia is woken up suddenly by something on her side. She pushes herself up, but she can't see anything in the darkness. She moves one of her hands away from Riki, and places it on where she feels the pressure. Almost immediately, she takes her hand back. That is most definitely a Homs hand! She attempts to whack it away with her arm, but when her arm makes contact with the Homs, she's filled with a jolt of pain, as if she had collided with metal. However, the hand moves away, and a feminine voice is heard in the darkness, eyes suddenly glowing. "Scan complete…" it says. "Now for the Nopon…"

"Excuse me, who are you!?" Melia exclaims, causing some of the others to stir in their sleep. The eyes suddenly look downward to Melia. "Oh! Hey, Melia. It's me, Meddy."

"What were you doing!? You scared the life out of me!"

Meddy simply giggles. "I wouldn't say that, you're still alive, aren't you? That's what the scans show, anyway."

"Scans…?"

"I'm a medical assistance robot, I'm here to help Sharla heal you all when you're down. But I didn't come programmed with Nopon and your biology. So I scanned you while you were asleep. It'd be horrible if we messed up on a medicinal treatment that your body may reject." Her fingertips glow, and a small hologram of a skeleton appears in her palm. "Your body structure is different from the Homs, it seems. I don't think that's a genetic defect. I've never even seen your race on the Bionis until now, what species are you?"

Melia can hardly believe her eyes. She hadn't heard much of Meddy, she seemed to be in her own little world most of the time. This had come completely out of left field. She had almost missed the question, but she snaps back into the swing of things. "Oh, um… High Entia."

"Alright, thank you." Meddy closes her eyes for a second, before opening them back up. "Now, if you could pass me Riki?"

Melia pushes herself into a sitting position, letting Meddy lay a hand on Riki's head. After a few minutes, the scan is complete. "And there. And now we're done. Have a nice night!"

And with that, she leaves just as quickly as she came, leaving Melia to wonder just what is going on in her head…