Well, it's been about a month since I updated this, so I figured I should get back with it :P. No reviews to respond to so I'll just get to it.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

Setting Out

"Isaac!" Mia cried, shaking her unconscious boyfriend in fear. "Isaac, please wake up!"

Just a few feet away, Fiora was doing the exact same thing. "Shulk! Shulk, snap out of it!"

While each party helped the leader of their respective world's group, Dunban and Felix both stepped towards the source of electricity that had knocked them out. The sheet had been slightly cast off from the hilt, and Dunban immediately recognized the neon blue glow of the blade's handle.

"It can't be…" he muttered, seemingly too shocked to move.

"What? What's wrong?" Felix asked, reaching to remove the sheet. Dunban was quick to grab Felix's wrist, however, and forced him away from the glowing sword.

"You can't touch it," Dunban stated flatly. "It answers only to Shulk, and it could easily kill you if you cannot handle the sheer power behind it."

"It doesn't look like Shulk could handle it either," said Felix, glancing back at both of the unconscious men on the ground. "What exactly are we looking at?"

"This here," Dunban began, using a metal rod to carefully toss the sheet aside, "is the Monado. The one true Monado."

All residents of Bionis gasped and shot their wide eyes towards the uncovered sword in the corner of the room. The Weyardians also looked, but did not comprehend what it was they were meant to be looking at. To them, it looked like nothing more than an intricate sword with a strange symbol glowing in a circular part of the blade.

"Er, not to sound stupid," said Garet, "but what's a Monado and why did it knock both of them out?"

Dunban glanced at both groups, figuring that it would be best if he explained. "The Monado is the weapon of gods that has the ability to manipulate ether. There were once three Monados, but two were lost with the corrupt god Zanza, and Shulk supposedly cast this one away when he made his own godly decree."

"Wait," Jenna interrupted, "are you saying that Shulk is… is a god?!"

"Not exactly," Dunban continued. "Shulk was the vessel for which Zanza used to reunite himself with the Monado. To him, Shulk was just an empty husk, but he proved to be much more than that. When the time came to face Zanza, Shulk summoned the true Monado and struck down Zanza, effectively becoming a god, himself, in the process. However, he didn't wish to be a god, and so he made a decree that the world would shape its own future without the use of gods or Monados. It gets a bit confusing to describe exactly what the Monado is, but rest assured the restoration of our world should have denied the very existence of this blade."

"That's… a lot to take in, and I'm not sure I completely understand," Felix stated, striking a thinker's pose. "Why would the blade be denied existence in this new world?"

"Ah, as I said, this is quite confusing to explain," Dunban mused. "The Monado, according to Shulk's description, is nothing more than a computer program floating around in a space station. It took on the personified form of a man we once knew as Alvis. When Shulk reset the world, Alvis also reverted to his original form and resorbed the three blades, one of which sits before you now. What doesn't make sense is that if the program is now just floating in space, how can the blade be here at all?"

Everyone cast him a confused expression, though the adepts seemed much more confused overall. Space stations? Computer programs? These were all things that they had never heard of before. How could something man-made exist in space? What was a computer? Was it one of these strange contraptions in this room they were in? Kraden would probably die from pure giddiness if he were here with them right now. However, none of them were very concerned with the idea of Kraden being here. Most were still trying to focus on Isaac and Shulk, who showed no signs of stirring from their unconsciousness. Mia attempted to heal both of them, but neither showed signs of change. Neither seemed hurt and both were breathing, but they would not wake no matter what anyone tried.

"Is it safe to stay here?" Mia asked, giving up on her attempt at healing both leaders. "I mean, with that thing here, we could be knocked out too, right?"

"I doubt it," Dunban answered flatly, carefully rewrapping the blade before lifting it himself. "If the Monado had so chosen to react on us, it would have done so at the same time it acted upon Shulk and Isaac."

"Then what do we do?" asked Sharla. "We can't just stay here, it could hit them again if they wake up!"

"Hmm," Dunban stopped to think. "You make a good point, but I don't feel like it's a smart move to leave it here without someone to keep an eye on it. I propose we go to Alcamoth. Since Alvis resided there in his human form, perhaps he has returned there once again."

"But," Garet interrupted, "what about our missing friends? We still have to find them!"

The adepts nodded in agreement, worried expressions on their faces as they pondered what could have happened to the youngest members of their group. Ivan and Sheba could easily take care of themselves, but this new world was likely not a very welcome place to them.

"Your worried, I get it," Reyn answered enthusiastically. "Hell, we spent most of our adventure just trying to look for Fiora! But that don't mean we're givin' up on findin' your friends. Dunban's right, though. We need help, and the sooner we get help, the sooner Shulk'll be able to find your friends. I'm sure Melia can help us, and if in doubt, we can always go see Riki."

"I suppose," Mia said sadly, looking down at Isaac to brush a hair from his face. "Where is this place we need to get to, and how long will it take to get there?"

"Alcamoth?" Dunban mused. "Mm, if Miqol is willing to take us on Junks, then it should only take us a couple hours at most."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the parties agreed to head on their path to the capital of Bionis. Reyn and Garet each carried their respective, unconscious party leaders as the group of ten quickly made their way to Junks.

(-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-)

"Riki, is this… your home?" Ivan asked, staring up in amazement at the gigantic treehouse structure.

"Not just Riki's home! This home for all nopon!" Riki cheered, waddling along the bridge that led to the main entrance.

Ivan was cautious with his steps. The wooden structures certainly seemed sturdy enough, but if they were only built to maintain the weight of these little furballs, well, he could easily go crashing through a weak floorboard or something. Thankfully he didn't, but the sight of the wooden stairways and bridges inside the enormous tree went dizzyingly high.

"What Ivan need from village?" Riki asked, stealing the Jupiter adept's attention from the tall structures.

"Huh? Oh, right, I was thinking that maybe some of my friends might be here," Ivan answered flatly. "But now that I see this village… it doesn't seem like the sort of place they might have ended up."

"Why Ivan say that?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly, but… it doesn't look like there are any people like me here. I figure they'd be easy to spot in a place filled with nopon, right?"

"Mm, maybe, but Riki think Ivan should talk to Dunga! Dunga nopon chief! He know if friends come here!"

"I guess that would be a good idea," Ivan responded, casting his gaze upwards. "So, uh, where do you think we can find Chief Dunga?"

"Heh, Ivan is afraid of heights?" Riki guffawed.

"Not really," he answered flatly. "My friends and I have been to enough high places that this tree seems relatively… well, I wouldn't say short, but it certainly seems climbable."

"Ha, good! Riki show you way to prophecy hut! Dunga go there when not at home. Home and prophecy hut at top of village!"

"Of course they are," Ivan muttered as the two began to ascend the steps.

The path led them along many rickety wooden bridges and platforms, and Ivan was extra careful to watch each step he took. Because these were designed for knee-high creatures, all the railings and such only reached up to about his shins. He was just glad that most of the bridges were right up next to the bark of the tree. He needed something to support himself on the shaky bridges, and only Jupiter knows if he would survive a fall from such a great height!

"Ivan, we no go that way," Riki said suddenly, pulling Ivan towards a bridge that crossed right over the centre of the tree. Ivan nervously looked down to see nopon dots scurrying around the bottom floor.

"Uh, Riki? I'm not sure if I feel okay walking over this bridge. Why can't we just take that one? I can see that both of these lead to the same platform anyway."

"Heh, Riki is embarrassed," Riki stated, flapping his wings so that he was at eye level with Ivan. "Riki's house up that way. Riki supposed to bring back food for wifeypon and littlepons. They always wanting food, but Riki finds Ivan lost and decides to help him instead of getting food."

Does everything associated with nopon have to end with 'pon'? Regardless, Ivan found himself rather surprised to hear that Riki was both a husband and father of supposedly more than one child.

"Uh, Riki," Ivan stuttered a bit, "if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"Heh, Riki no mind. Riki soon be forty-one years old! Have twelve littlepon to feed!"

Ivan was once again shocked by what Riki had said. Not only was this furball nearly three times as old as him, but he had twelve kids?! That certainly didn't seem like a fun life. Hopefully Sheba would only want one or two…

Now why that thought crossed his mind was a mystery, but he felt his cheeks burn at the notion that he and Sheba may someday wed and have children. Doing his best to hide the red from his face, he quickly responded to Riki.

"I understand. I guess I'm okay with going over this bridge."

Slowly and shakily, they crossed the treacherous bridge. Riki was sure to keep an eye on Ivan. If need be, he would be able to catch Ivan if he fell, but he very much hoped that it would not be necessary. Not only would it be quite difficult to pull Ivan up if he toppled over the bridge, but it would likely attract a lot of attention. It made sense that Oka and all of their children would see him back in the village with a stranger but no food. That was something he would like to avoid at all costs, so whenever Ivan looked as though he were about to stumble. Riki held out a wing to steady his companion.

After a stressful few minutes, the two of them had reached the other side and took a short break before ascending the next flight of steps. For the most part, it appeared that they were almost to the top and that the rest of the paths, save the final few would be right up against the wall.

"Do you really think Chief Dunga will know where my friends are?" Ivan asked as they made their way up past the chief's residence and towards the prophecy hut.

"Me no sure," Riki responded plainly. "But Dunga see prophecies. Maybe help Ivan to find people he looking for, yes?"

Shrugging in response, Ivan continued his slow ascent up the rickety bridge. When they finally reached the top, he noticed a small hut in the centre of a platform. Ivan made sure not to look down, out of fear that he might pass out and fall. Though this tree was nowhere near as tall as the lighthouses were, those had also had quite a bit more standing room, and generally the party had never walked too close to the edges.

"Riki," a voice proclaimed. It sounded much older and deeper than all the other nopon voices Ivan had heard since being in this strange world. "I see you have brought another hom-hom with you."

"Yeah, but this one not Shulk or friends! This friend different hom-hom!" Riki said cheerfully, lightly nudging Ivan forward.

"Uh, pleased to meet you, sir," Ivan said respectfully. "Riki here told me that you might be able to help me locate my friends."

"You've lost your friends you say?" he responded. Ivan was somewhat glad that the chief seemed not to speak in the form of broken speech that the other nopon did. "I cannot say if I will be able to find them, but your plight interests me. I have foreseen something that may be related to this."

Ivan cast Dunga a puzzled glance as the chief turned around and waddled back into his hut. Slowly pacing after him, he stopped just outside the doorway to see the nopon chief hum something incomprehensible while waving his arms around in a strange fashion. The lights from the entire frontier village appeared to flicker as Dunga's incantations became more aggressive and intense. Then, without warning, he stopped, the lights returned to normal, and he turned back around to face Ivan and Riki.

"Oh yes, you are most definitely related to these strange events," Dunga stated mysteriously.

Ivan shifted a bit uncomfortably as an eerie silence grew between them. "Uh, not to sound rude or anything, but what exactly is it that you're talking about?"

"Ah, so you are unaware," Dunga sighed, "I might have known. Well, it seems as though a rift has open in the fabrics of time and space. I am unsure as to why this has happened, but you and your companions were sent through the rift when it opened."

"That… would make sense as to why I don't understand anything here," Ivan said sadly, looking around at his surroundings. The idea that he had just world-jumped didn't seem to faze him with his growing worry.

"Yes, yes; however, there must be some reason you were all sent here," Dunga continued. "It would appear as though a great number of other strange occurrences have begun in our world as well. I cannot give the answers you seek unfortunately. You must take your search to Alcamoth. Riki, can I count on you to bring this man there?"

"Heehee, yeah! Heropon always help friends!" Riki shouted enthusiastically.

"Thank you for your help, sir," Ivan said gratefully to Dunga. "You've been of great assistance to me."

"Yes, now on with you! The time is nigh that you must be arriving in Alcamoth!" Dunga proclaimed. "Riki, take him to Empress Melia. All will make sense when you are there."

"Yay! Get to see Melly again!" Riki bounced excitedly. "Come, Ivan! We go to city of bird people!"

And with that, Ivan was rushed to the exit closest to the prophecy hut. Once outside, the two of them hurried up the staircase. Much to Ivan's joy, it was wider and much sturdier than any of the structures actually inside the tree. Once at the peak, Ivan was met with an odd sight: a lake atop the gigantic tree. Other than this lake, however, Ivan could see nothing else.

"Uh, why are we up here, Riki?" Ivan asked, thinking they had reached a dead end.

"Lake shoot us up into Eryth Sea!" Riki stated as if it were obvious.

Eryth Sea? Not only had Ivan never heard of such a place, but how could this lake possibly take them into the sea? It was clearly nowhere near any other bodies of water, being on top of a tree and all, and from the view he was getting, there didn't seem to be any large bodies of water around here at all!

"How exactly will we get to the sea from here? I didn't even see anything bigger than this lake around," Ivan asked Riki skeptically.

"Ivan ask too many questions!" Riki whined impatiently. "Eryth Sea up there!" he exclaimed as he pointed a wing up to the sky.

Now Ivan was even more confused. Was Riki… all there in the head? How could a sea be up in the sky? Surely even a strange world like this could not have a sea in the direction Riki was pointing!

While he mused away, Riki grabbed onto Ivan's wrist and dragged him to the edge of the pier. Nodding to the female nopon guide, Riki noticed Ivan's arm go limp as a great pillar of water shot upwards into the sky, seemingly going on forever. A sphere of water appeared near the bottom of the geyser.

"R-Riki? What's going on?" Ivan asked incredulously.

"We go to Eryth Seeeeaaaa!" Riki cheered, suddenly dragging Ivan into the sphere of water. Before he could react or do anything, Ivan found himself flying upwards with the geyser, straight into the sky…

(-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-)

"Are you sure it's alright for me to be here?" Sheba asked as she gazed around in amazement at the intricate interior of the palace.

"Of course it is alright," Melia responded, stopping on the lit platform and turning around to face Sheba. "You are my guest in this court; therefore you need not worry about intrusion."

"I-I guess," Sheba returned shakily. "I just… You seem awfully friendly towards a stranger who has no clue how she ended up here."

"I suppose I see no harm in treating you in a respectable manner," Melia soothed Sheba's concern away. "You do not seem threatening, and your abilities have certainly garnered my interest."

"A-Abilities? Oh, you mean my mind-reading," Sheba stuttered.

"Not only that, but you seemed rather undeterred by the powerful wind attack I used to free you from the hodes. You were neither hurt by my rather rash attack, nor were you surprised to see the conjuring of elementals from my hands!"

"I guess I just figured you were an adept or something. They're not very common, but I've seen enough in my day," Sheba answered flatly.

"An adept? I have certainly never heard of such a term. The ability to control ether is reserved for the high entia and, to a certain extent, the nopon races."

"…Sorry," Sheba responded after a pause, "but I really have no idea what any of that means. Adepts are people who can control psynergy, like me."

"You have elemental powers similar to mine?" Melia questioned.

"Well, sort of. You seem to be able to control an entire host of elements, but mine are specific to Jupiter."

"Jupiter?"

"Sorry, wind elements." It was going to take some time to getting used to people like her not understanding the terms.

"Perhaps… you could demonstrate some of these powers?" Melia said with uncertainty.

"Oh," Sheba said in slight surprise. "Er, I'd be happy to show you, but while we're inside this dome thing that your city is covered by, I can only use my mind abilities."

"Ah, of course," Melia answered understandingly, "let us make our way back outside. Then you may show me… oh drat!"

"What is it?"

"I appear to have misplaced my bracelet," Melia responded, calmly beginning to glance around at the floor. Her servants also began scouring the immediate area, but it appeared as though none were successful in their search.

"Is it important to you?" Sheba inquired patiently.

"Quite," Melia responded. "It was given to me by my father when I was a young girl. It is one of my last keepsakes to remember him by."

"Ah, give me a moment," Sheba said, much to Melia's confusion.

All eyes in the throne room fell on Sheba as she suddenly closed her eyes and emitted a light purple glow. A few gasps went around, but everyone else was silent as they all stared at the young Jupiter adept concentrating. In truth, Sheba didn't need them to be silent for her to use psynergy, but it was no problem with her if they decided not to speak.

Without a word, Sheba reopened her eyes, and the purple glow from her body faded away. She glanced left and right to reacquaint herself with her surroundings before stepping towards the exit from the audience chamber. Everyone present eyed her with confused looks as she stepped down a few stairs, bent down, and picked something up off of the ground.

"Is this the bracelet?" Sheba asked, returning to where Melia was standing and delicately holding out a simplistic yet elegant bracelet.

"Y-Yes," Melia stuttered, still in awe of what she had just witnessed. "How did you-"

"Just one of my mind abilities," Sheba answered before she could finish her question. "Now did you still want to see that demonstration of my elemental powers?"

"I… I…" Melia said in a dumbfounded manner. She wasn't usually one to lose her composure, but what she had just witnessed was quite incredible, even to someone like her who had seen nearly everything there was to see in this world. "Yes, let us be on our way."

"After you," Sheba giggled, following slightly behind Melia.

The two of them walked out to the underside of the city where a great number of transporters were. Though they had been the only two planning to take part in this, a few of Melia's retainers had also stealthily crept away from their posts to watch Sheba perform more of her abilities. Even the guards stationed outside kept a watch on the empress and her odd guest.

"So, you're sure this is alright?" Sheba inquired. "I… I don't want something to get destroyed or anything…"

"Sheba, it is fine," Melia reassured her. "As long as you do not concentrate your powers too close to any of the structures around here, it will be acceptable. There is a great number of open spaces around this area!"

"If you say so," Sheba responded, turning away from Melia and stepping towards the edge of the platform.

She could feel the eyes of all the strange, winged people on her as she gathered her thoughts. Oddly enough, she felt none of her psynergy draining away as she began to concentrate her mind on conjuring up a simple twister. Was it because this world had no psynergy? But wouldn't that force her to use hers sparingly? No, perhaps it was that 'ether' stuff Melia had mentioned. It seemed to be in limitless amounts around here. Whatever the reason, Sheba felt an enormous amount of power growing within her as she focused her mind. Then, in an instant, she unleashed all her built-up power, emitting a bright purple glow from her body.

"TEMPEST!" she cried, summoning forth a great tornado.

She nearly gasped at the sight before her. Sheba had never conjured up such a massive whirlwind of unending destruction, but there it was before her, wreaking havoc on the, thankfully, empty space below. The huge funnel cloud stretched all the way from the sky and swirled down to the waters below, rupturing the peaceful surface of the sea. She glanced back to see all her spectators with their jaws dropped open in amazement. Grinning she turned back to her destructive tornado and decided it had existed for long enough. However, she wasn't going to let it go down without a bang. Quickly summoning forth another stockpile of psynergy, she cried out to the heavens again.

"SPARK PLASMA!"

Countless bolts of pure electricity shot down and split the tornado in multiple areas. The whole land itself seemed to quake and shiver at the very touch of the electric blasts. With one final concentration, Sheba summoned forth a massive bolt that struck down the centre of the whirlwind and exploded the water beneath them into a boiling geyser of sorts. Feeling not the least bit tired, she chuckled a bit and turned to see the awestruck faces of her audience.

"Well," she said innocently, "what'd you think?"

It took nearly five minutes of amazed silence before Melia finally spoke up. "I… I am glad you are on our side, Sheba."

"Heh, after a display like that, I am too," said a boy's voice from one of the transporters. Sheba froze at the sound. Could it be possible? Was he really…

Slowly she turned around and nearly burst into tears at the sight that her eyes beheld.

"I had no idea you'd gotten so powerful, Sheba," he said, that lovable smirk on his face. "Then again, I haven't really had a chance to test out my own abilities."

She couldn't form a full sentence. All she could do was twitch her jaw as she attempted to say something to the boy in front of her. He was here; he was really, truly here! After what seemed like an eternity of trying to form a sentence while staring at his smirking face, she managed to stutter out a single name.

"I-Ivan?"

Boom, short chapter but things will probably start picking up once everyone gets together. This story isn't one of my main focuses right now, so that may be why it seems like I'm uninterested in it. I'll be clear that I'm not, I'm just more focused on my main stories, so this one kind of takes a back seat.

Anyway, please review! I know that this story gets a few readers every time I post a new chapter, so leave me your thoughts please! This story might get more attention from me if you guys review ;)

-GengaJupite