Heh, last updated: June 17. Awkward, that was four months ago… Whatever, I have quite a few things going on, so I can't always find the time to write for this story, especially since it's one of my lesser projects anyway.
Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one
Unexpected Reunion
The adepts gazed in awe at the sight before them. Over their short time here, they had grown slightly accustomed to the futuristic machinery and such, but anyone would be amazed by a mechanical, floating city over a vast and beautiful sea. In fact, multiple islands floated around the general area, each one adding to the Weyardians' wonderment.
"We have arrived," Vanea said to the group of them once it was safe to exit the ship. "Shall we remain here until your return?"
"That would be appreciated," Dunban thanked her, allowing the others to disembark first. "We'll send a messenger by tonight to inform you whether or not we will be returning."
"Very well, until then," she bid him farewell, and the homs man followed his companions onto the soft sand of the beach.
"How does a city manage to float like that?" Garet voiced aloud, gazing upwards with his jaw agape.
"Heh, dunno, but it got me the first time too," Reyn chuckled, patting his doppelganger on the back.
Shulk walked slightly ahead of the group, discussing things with Isaac. The two of them were both very curious about the worlds they each came from, especially after what happened with the Monado back on the ship. No matter how he tried to reason it, Shulk knew that it couldn't be possible for anyone but him and Fiora to wield the weapon. After all, Zanza and Meyneth, the gods who had more or less created the weapons, had to use Shulk and Fiora's bodies to hone their abilities. It wouldn't make sense that Isaac could wield such a weapon if he had never housed a god within him. Unless…
"Isaac," Shulk questioned upon his realization, "there is something I've been wondering about."
"Go ahead," the Venus adept responded nonchalantly, shrugging as he awaited Shulk's question.
It seemed so strange a question to ask, but there would be no other way to go about it without asking directly. It wasn't just that, however, as Isaac had shown to have some sort of more phenomenal power over the Monado that none of the Bionis residents had ever seen.
"Well, the Monado," the engineer began, avoiding eye contact out of his slight embarrassment, "it's power can only be harnessed by those who have been directly affected by, well, gods."
"Okay," Isaac said, nodding as he took in this information.
Shulk exhaled a sharp breath, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. "It's just, I can't help but wonder…you aren't harnessing your own god, are you?"
Isaac blinked, slightly astonished by the implications of that question. He'd already heard the story of how Shulk once housed the Bionis' god, so it didn't surprise him to know that the young engineer could wield such a destructive weapon. However, he'd never come into contact with any god except for the Wise One, and the godly rock had never bestowed upon him any of its omnipotent powers.
"Not…that I'm aware of," Isaac responded slowly, scratching his shaggy hair. "I mean, I feel about as different as anyone would after an adventure like mine; I'm stronger, but not, like, god stronger."
"I see," Shulk sighed, slightly frustrated that none of these things seemed to explain why someone else could wield his blade.
"Sorry," the spiky-haired blond responded. "I'm not too sure what went back on the ship either. I've never felt such power from simply holding a weapon, and to be honest it scared me a bit."
At this, Shulk turned to look at Isaac. While it had certainly been an intense moment for the wielder, he didn't expect that Isaac would be fearful of the incredible power the Monado possessed. Then again, he had to take into account that the adepts were still in unfamiliar settings, so perhaps the shock of being here caused him to be a bit more cautious of everything.
"Oi, Shulk!" Reyn called from behind, causing the engineer to turn around. "Do ya remember which teleporter things take us to the city?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," he called back, turning towards the first teleporter only a short distance away.
Meanwhile, Mia and Jenna were hanging back a bit, following closely at the rear of the group. Both girls wore worried expressions on their faces, for the group had had no luck in finding three of their friends yet. Piers was not such a concern, as he was already capable of travelling and adventuring on his own, but the two Jupiter adepts were a different story. Not only were the two of them the youngest of the eight Weyardians, but they had also never travelled on their own for an extended period of time. To be suddenly thrust into a new world must have been terrifying for them, not to mention the fact that neither of the girls had any idea if they had ended up in the same area together.
"Do you think they'll be alright, Jenna?" Mia asked, a slight quiver in her voice.
"O-Of course!" Jenna answered as brightly as she could, though the unsure tone of her voice gave away how she really felt.
Mia sighed and looked ahead to the others of the group. Most of them were discussing something or other with another person, seeming almost carefree of their crisis. How could all of them be so calm and lighthearted at a time like this? Even if they managed to find a way back home, they couldn't do so until their friends were found!
Jenna, on the other hand, was having the opposite thoughts. She was more concerned about finding a way home. There was no doubt in her mind that they would run into their lost friends in due time, but finding a way home seemed to be a lost cause at this point. And to think that after all the work they'd done, it was for naught. They had rescued her parents and saved the world, but at what cost? Their lives in Weyard? Of course she was glad that they had saved it from inevitable destruction, but it seemed to be rather pointless if they would not even get to experience the world they had saved.
With both the front and rear of the travelling party feeling rather down, the group somewhat solemnly made their way towards the floating city of Alcamoth. Going from transporter to transporter, they were fortunate enough to avoid any monsters skulking about, not that the monsters were particularly interested in fighting with the outnumbering, not to mention much stronger, forces of the group of ten. Before long, they were already marching up the hall that led to the main interior of their destination.
Once inside, the adepts could hardly contain their amazement at the futuristic city. Not only was this place more technologically advanced than the other places they had visited, but even the people seemed to be more advanced, what with their metallic clothing and winged heads.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Dunban mused as they made their way towards the palace.
"Yeah," Shulk responded breathily. "I wonder how Melia's been doing."
"I'm sure she's been doing fine. Besides, it isn't like she's been gone from Colony 9 for a very long time."
Nodding in agreement, the two of them continued on their way in silence, only the quiet murmurs of the others behind them to provide any background noise.
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Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the presence of the other party's arrival, Sheba and Ivan lounged about in one of the seating domes on the upper level, an air of gaiety filling it from their ever-bubbling laughter. It hardly seemed the right thing for them to be doing, yet they were simply glad to be with one another. The dire need to get home or find their friends was not on their minds, as the only important thing was that they had found each other.
"Still," Ivan chuckled, continuing a conversation they were already in the midst of, "that was quite the impressive display back there. It's no surprise everyone's mouth dropped open at the sight."
Sheba blushed a bit, hoping to downplay his compliments. "Hehe, really, it wasn't that amazing…" Though she said this, even she had never known the extent of her power to be so destructive. And to think that she had not even felt the least bit tired after her miniature storm.
"Makes me wonder if this world…has some kind of enhancement on us," Ivan mused, though it was difficult to interpret what he meant.
"You think this world is here to make us more powerful?" Sheba inquired, trying to follow her companion's train of thought (or at least what she believed it to be).
Ivan scrunched his face a bit as he thought about it. "Er…not necessarily that that's the sole purpose of the world. I was thinking more along the lines of…we aren't meant to be in this world, so the laws of psynergy don't apply, which is why our powers would be so, well, incredible."
Sheba thought about it for a moment, bobbing her head as she contemplated his theory. It certainly wasn't impossible, but the idea of it was a bit much to wrap her head around. After all, she had never lived in a world where psynergy didn't exist, though it had taken fourteen years to find others like her.
Another thought occurred to her, so she perked her head up to grab Ivan's attention. "Hey, have you tested out any of your abilities? I mean, it'd make sense for you to be saying all this stuff if it happened to you too."
Ivan smirked, giving her that mischievous expression that seemed to give off an air of superiority because of his mighty one-year age gap on her. "Well, I didn't have to do anything like destroy the ecosystem of a sea to do it, but, yes, I have tested out my psynergy."
Sheba laughed and shoved him roughly, failing in her attempt to knock him off the bench. "Okay, Mr. Peaceful, then what did you test out?"
Chuckling and keeping a steady hold on the bench, Ivan gave her another mischievous smirk before explaining. "When we first got here, I was alone in some swamp or something. I figured the best thing for me to do would be to get somewhere high and use Reveal to see if I could spot anyone quickly. Turns out I didn't have to get up high, because my field of vision expanded across the entire area, anyway."
At this, Sheba's eyes widened in amazement. The power of Reveal was usually small, concentrating only on the contents of a chest right in front of them or the general area around them. The fact that Ivan could scout out an entire marsh seemed almost ridiculous, but she couldn't ignore that her own power would have sounded farfetched had Ivan not seen it for himself.
"Hey," she said suddenly, grabbing hold of his wrist. A noticeable blush crept onto the male Jupiter adepts face, but Sheba was a bit too absorbed in her idea to give a second thought to it. "Can I try something with you?"
"Th-that depends on what," Ivan chortled nervously, fidgeting with his cloak using his free hand.
"I wanna see if there's anything special about Mind Read," she said playfully, if not a bit devilishly.
Ivan was slightly taken aback. What could Mind Read possibly do to become enhanced? Read more than one mind at a time? That seemed like it would just cause him a headache. However, he saw no issue with it, assuming that they wouldn't accidentally take control of someone's mind in doing so.
Sheba cheered as Ivan gave a shrug and a nod to her request. Both Jupiter adepts then closed their eyes and began to glow a dim purple colour. As they focused their minds, it appeared as though the powers of Mind Read had been enhanced in a similar fashion to Reveal.
It was an odd feeling, to be sure. The two of them could literally feel their minds travelling around the city, darting into any mind they wanted and exiting without being noticed. At this rate, the citizens of Alcamoth could keep no secrets, and the wind users let go of their morals so they would not have to stop themselves from delving into the winged people's minds.
It wasn't until a certain gaggle of voices began to murmur above the buzz of other mental sounds that Sheba and Ivan both halted their random invasions of privacy. They had both picked up on the sound of familiar voices, and that could only mean one thing, since they knew no one in this world other than…
"Ivan!" Sheba bolted upright, breaking the concentration of both of them.
"Let's go!" he responded in just as lively a manner, not the least bit fazed by being thrown out of his mental state. Without another word, the two of them dashed off in the direction of the familiar voices: the palace.
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"Y'know, you'd think it'd be harder to go see Melia, since she's the empress an' all," Reyn mused while the group simply walked by the guards and into the transporter leading to the throne hall.
"Are you complaining?" Sharla teased him, elbowing the muscular redhead in the side.
"Funny, it wasn't all that hard for us to gain audiences with the palaces in our world either," Garet added once they were on the other end of the transporter.
"There was always a reason, though," Mia countered him. "We got into Babi's because we were the ones who rescued him, and Ivan has connections to Lord Hammet and Lady Layana."
"I guess we had our fair share of ease as well," Jenna jumped into the conversation. "Though, seeing Moapa and Akafubu did prove to be quite the challenge."
While most of the group continued to chatter on about all the palaces they'd had to enter during their respective adventures, Isaac and Shulk surged ahead. It was not as though the two of them did not wish to converse with their comrades, but with all the recent events, they were both in need of answers that would more likely be answered once they reached Melia. Shulk hoped dearly that Alvis would reappear now that the Monado had come back.
The footsteps of the group were amplified by the incredible acoustics of the ascension hall. Everyone gazed around at the sparkling interior, marveling at the spectacular metal structures formed in ways that would put the intricate Lighthouse designs of Weyard to shame. The idea of even attempting to shape metal in such a beautiful way was beyond the comprehension of the adepts.
"Melly, friends are here!" a small puff at the end of the hall squealed, bouncing high into the air as it chanted.
"Friends?" asked a girl who looked no older than them. As she turned to face the new arrivals, her face split into a wide grin upon noticing the familiar people kneeling before her.
"It's been a while, Melia," Dunban raised his head slightly to address her.
"Far too long, comrades," she spoke formally, but in a friendly manner. "This is certainly unexpected, though I am not surprised, given all else that has occurred today."
"That's a curious thing to say," Shulk mused, standing as the empress gestured for them to do so. "Has something happened?"
"Do not be alarmed, it is nothing that should cause unrest," Melia waved off his concerns. "If anything, I have been awe inspired on this day. Let us discuss that at a later time. Perhaps it would be best if you would introduced your companions."
Shulk and Dunban looked back towards their group, smiling sheepishly for not introducing the adepts sooner. As Shulk opened his mouth to speak, his attention was stolen by the sound of two out-of-breath people bounding out of the transporter and into the great hall.
"Is that…" Mia mumbled, though all of the adepts seemed too shocked to answer, their faces showing signs of complete disbelief.
"Guys," the two younger individuals panted, "we finally found you!"
"Well, I'll be," Dunban chuckled, earning looks from the Bionis residents who didn't seem to have caught on to the situation. "It seems that we've not only made it to Alcamoth as we'd hoped, but also stumbled upon the very people our new friends have been searching for."
"Ah, Sheba, did you sense them with your incredible powers?" Melia asked brightly, beaming at the unkempt teens trying to catch their breath in a manner that had never been seen in the royal palace.
"Yeah," she wheezed, unable to say much other than that. It seemed as though they had run as fast as their legs could carry them to make it here.
The other adepts, however, remained frozen in their shocked stances. None of them could believe this was real, that they had managed to find their friends, or rather their friends had found them. Not only was it a miraculous feat, given how enormous this world had proven to be, but the two of them had also managed to find each other, though they were likely just as surprised to see most of their friends all in one place as well.
Without warning, Jenna suddenly sprang forward, enveloping Sheba in one of the tightest embraces she could muster. Garet soon followed suit, imitating her action upon Ivan, and the rest of the adepts were quick to swarm their younger friends. Never had any of them imagined that a reunion could be so paradoxically heartwarming and sad, but the situation at hand could not have proven their thoughts any more incorrect. The babble of questions and voiced concerns drowned out any possibility of the psynergy users being able to understand one another.
Meanwhile, the other group smiled upon the happy reunion, also enjoying one of their own, albeit a much less dramatic one. The ascension hall was soon filled with the sound of happy, teary voices bubbling forth from the young bands of heroes. All had something to say, and none had the chance to listen as they bathed in the mirth of the moment.
Once the mood had settled down, however, Felix was the first to snap back to the situation at hand.
"You two didn't happen to see Piers as well, did you?" he asked, his happiness fading as he noticed the missing Mercury adept.
Both wind users glanced at each other as and turned back to the group, slight frowns on both their faces. "We assumed he was going to be with you."
"Damn," Felix muttered under his breath, though the others were just as worried. Piers could certainly handle himself, but there was no telling what sort of trouble he might find himself in in an unfamiliar world. Going from Lemuria to the rest of Weyard could not even compare to literally jumping across dimensions.
"It seems you have settled down," Melia regained their attention. "Perhaps now you could all fill me in on the situation?"
Quickly lining up, the adepts introduced themselves one by one. When they had all done so, they began explaining what they had come to conclude about their dire situation. Melia, Riki, Ivan, and Sheba gave mixed reactions, having been able to figure some of these things out on their own, but unable to piece it together as well as the larger group had.
"That does sound most troubling," Melia responded when the group finished. "Shulk, you also mentioned that you wished to speak to me about something."
"Yes," the engineer spoke up, gesturing for Isaac to step forward as well. "I'm not sure how to begin… I suppose I'll just show you this."
Melia gasped in surprise when Shulk unstrapped the wrapped blade from his back and untied the ropes that held the sheet together. She was not at all prepared for the glowing neon colour of the Monado to appear before her eyes once again.
"Impossible," she muttered breathlessly, looking upon the intricate blade with awe.
"I believed that to be the case as well," Shulk explained, grasping the blade by its handle and allowing the sheet to drop to the ground. "Initially, it would have seemed completely ridiculous to imagine the Monado to return, but there was something about the timing of it all, especially considering that this group from another world somehow managed to wind up here shortly after."
After a few moments of gazing with a dumbstruck expression, Melia collected herself and cleared her throat, peeling her eyes from the blade to make eye contact with Shulk. "You believe that there is some correlation between their appearance and the Monado?"
Shulk gave a short glance to Isaac, who nodded in silent understanding, before turning back towards the empress. "That alone was not enough evidence; however, something happened on the ship, and I could only come to the conclusion that there had to be some sort of connection between these two events."
"You guys might wanna stand back for this," Isaac said as Shulk turned towards him. Taking his word, each person took a few steps back, and the guards around the room even went into a defensive stance, unsure of what might happen.
With only a single nod, Shulk held up the Monado in front of Isaac. Though he could feel his heart start beating faster at the mere prospect of taking hold of the blade again, Isaac knew that they had to make their case to Empress Melia. Gulping down his fears and anxieties, Isaac drew a long breath and reached for the handle of the blade in Shulk's outstretched arms.
Just as before, an electrical surge of energy seemed to pass through the room, causing a strange wind to pick up as the lights flickered. Everyone except for the Venus adept and Monado wielder was thrown slightly off balance by the sheer force of energy encircling the room. Isaac made sure to hold strong to his stance, gripping onto the handle with ease. That same rush of energy shot up his arm and filled his body to the brim.
The others watched in awe as the 日 symbol appeared in the glass circle of the sword. Their amazed expressions were only amplified when the neon blue blade suddenly shone with a blinding golden light. The blade had seemingly gone through an entire transformation from merely touching the Venus adept's hand.
"Isaac!" Shulk called over the roar of wind. "Channel your power into the Monado to extract the blade!"
Nodding, Isaac swung the blade away from everyone and did as he was told. Focusing his earthen powers, he began to glow the same golden colour as the sword he was holding. With all this energy he possessed, he felt as though he was not expending any of his power. Everyone watched in amazement as the blade appeared to split apart down the centre. As it opened up, a beam of light extended to a great length before stopping, revealing the true blade of the Monado. It seemed to glow simultaneously of red, gold, blue, and purple, completely astounding everyone, especially those who had only seen the light blue colouring.
Realizing that he'd done enough, Isaac relaxed his power and allowed the Monado to retract its blade and return to its original state. Though he hadn't gotten the hang of it from only his encounter in the storage hold of Junks, it now seemed so simple to control the energy flow within the blade, and he smiled at the now-blue sword in his hand. Picking up the sheet, he quickly wrapped it up and handed it back to Shulk, who wasted no time in tying it back together.
"My word," Melia squeaked out. Even the incredible storm that Sheba had summoned could not compare to the sheer amount of energy she could feel whipping around the air. The wind had stopped and the lights were back to normal, but no one in the room felt that things were the same.
"So you see," Shulk began, trying to calm everyone from their shock, "we came here because we hoped to find someone with you."
"Someone…" Melia mumbled, slightly flapping her wings as if it helped her think. "I…have not met anyone new except for Sheba and her friends here. Unless of course…but you could not possibly mean-"
"Me?"
Everyone jumped at the new voice from the end of the hall. They all turned to see this new speaker. No one had heard or seen his entry, so he must have come in during the commotion with the Monado; however, he seemed rather indifferent to the situation, only a small smirk adorning his face.
Mumbles of "it cannot be" and "impossible" were the only sounds coming from the group staring at the newcomer. While the adepts had no idea of whom this person was, he exuded a familiar presence, though none could pinpoint someone that he reminded them of.
"Yes, I myself was having trouble believing I was here," he spoke without a hint of malice, "but the answers became clear when I was able to think it through with a clear head. Of course, there is only so much thinking that a computer can do."
Only Shulk managed to say anything in that moment, but it did nothing to ease the tension of the room. With a tensed breath, he spoke, uttering only a single word for the people in the hall to hear.
"Alvis…"
Gah, it's been so long since I wrote for this. I still know exactly where I want to take it and everything, but I have no idea when it'll get finished. It'd be excusable if I were writing long chapters, but this is a pretty light story for me. Sorry to the…two(?) of you I know are reading this, but updates are probably going to be sparse.
Anyway, just to give a little something to look forward to, next chapter, the group is gonna head off somewhere with Alvis (can't say where) and things are actually going to start happening! No more searching for friends (not counting Piers, for plot-related reasons), so it's all gonna come down to progressing the story! Yay! Count on some conflicts coming up!
Well, thanks for reading and please review!
-GengaJupite