The shuttle raced through the skies, slicing the white clouds as it tore through towards the shore. As they neared the beach, Dunban looked out the left window and at the ground below. A wave of nausea overcame him and he sat back, closing his eyes. The Homs, situated in the co-pilot seat next to Tyrea, felt adrenaline electrify his entire body. His veins pumped blood twice as fast as their normal rate, making him dizzy. Air travel was something he was still getting used to, despite the frequency the High Entia and the Machina used it. He imagined that soon the Homs colonies and Frontier Village would adopt the technology as well. Nonetheless, sharp turns and straight dives still twisted his stomach and made his heart jump out of his chest. He hoped that he would overcome this weakness soon. But for now, it mattered not. He had more important things to worry about than physical discomfort.
Exhaling, the man opened his eyes and asked, "Do you see her?"
"No. She's not appearing on any of the scanners." Tyrea responded. Dunban eyed a black screen planted in the center of the silver dashboard in the cockpit. Two concentric yellow arcs appeared against the black screen. Tyrea had explained that if Melia were to appear, she would be represented as a red dot on the screen. Currently, there was nothing on the screen, but a blue dot appeared to the right.
Dunban watched as another shuttle sweep into view on the right as Tyrea pulled the shuttle to the left and began circling the area.
"Dunban? Are you there?" Fiora's voice crackled through the intercom on the silver dashboard.
Dunban pressed the blue communication button on the dashboard directly in front of him. "Yes. Are the others with you?"
"Yeah. And I picked up the crystals."
"Good." Dunban paused, then continued. "How much of a head start do we have on the Royal Guard?"
"Not much. They were boarding their shuttles as we took off."
"No one questioned where you were going?"
"Nope. James and Elrich covered for us."
That was good. That meant they were not considered threats to the Royal Guard. At least, not just yet.
"Alright. We don't have much time. Circle around the opposite direction. We have yet to see her."
The line went dead. If he were correct, certain preparations and protocols needed to be abided by before the Royal Guard could take off, which meant more time for him to find Melia. At least, Dunban hoped so.
Tyrea continued to circle the area, her mouth set in a thin line. He didn't feel much like talking either. His nerves were on edge; he imagined hers were as well. They maintained silence as she flew over the area, her eyes darting from the picturesque view to the radar panel. But there was no change. No red dot appeared onscreen.
Dunban felt his shoulders sag. He hadn't even realized he held them tense against his body as a surge of relief passed through his shoulders.
More minutes passed and the scene remained unchanged. Nothing out of place. No sign of the target. The shuttle hummed as it continued its course. Eventually, the Homs Entia veered the aircraft back to their original position, meeting the second shuttle in the air.
"Anything?" Tyrea demanded.
"No. We didn't see her." Shulk responded.
A shiver of worry climbed up Dunban's spine. Where could she be? Perhaps she had sensed the danger and gone into hiding. That was the best case scenario.
Tyrea let go of the communication button and slumped back into her seat. She crossed her arms over her chest and rested her head against the chair, shutting her eyes. "This is useless."
Dunban turned his head sharply. "What are you talking about?"
"We're not going to find her before they do."
"We will."
"How can you be so sure?" She snapped.
"We defeated Zanza. We'll find a way to save Melia."
His voice did not waver, but inside he did not feel so sure. He was questioning if they would succeed. The doubting voices in his mind were growing louder and louder, beginning to overpower those of optimism.
"She was as good as dead when she fell off the cliff."
"You know that's not true."
Tyrea opened her eyes and stared at him, her blank expression enough to communicate her thoughts. "What do you think we can actually do? If we find her, then what do we do? Tie her down and hide her? We tried that and it didn't work. And if we don't find her before they do? It's over. Either way, it's over."
"We are not giving up."
Tyrea shook her head. He eyed her, feeling the anger threatening to boil over in his stomach rise to the brim. But the man paused, examining the young woman that sat next to him. Dunban could see it in slightest frown on her lips and the tiniest droop in her eyes.
"Now is not the time to be selfish, Tyrea." He responded, calm.
"What did you say?"
"I know what you're doing."
"I'm not doing anything, Dunban. I'm just saying what no one will admit."
"That may be true. But that's not why you're saying these things now. You don't want it to hurt if we can't save her."
Tyrea averted her gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"She's the only family you have left."
"She's not even my real sister."
"That doesn't matter. You know it doesn't."
Silence fell between them. He knew why she was pushing herself away, building a wall around her heart. After all, she'd lost her mother to the Telethia curse as well.
But they couldn't wait any longer. They had to move.
"Let's go, Tyrea."
Uncrossing her arms, she turned back to face him, her expression once more a picture of stoicism. "Where?" It wasn't defiant, just an inquiry. It seemed that, for now, she was willing to work with him.
Dunban leaned forward and pressed the call button. "Head to the ether pocket. Maybe we'll find her there."
"Copy that." Shulk responded, his voice sounding through the speaker in the silver dashboard.
Without waiting another second, Tyrea turned the shuttle to the right and gunned the engines. Dunban felt his stomach crunch in on itself but said nothing, taking a deep breath in and tightening the rest of his muscles. The Homs concentrated on the objective, pushing out all instinctual fears: find Melia before the Royal Guard. Transform her back to herself.
But Tyrea had only echoed a question he'd had as they'd first flown into the sky: how on earth were they going to get her in a position where they could shoot anti-ether crystals at her? ATt he moment, it seemed near impossible.
They zoomed through the air, heading straight for the ether pocket. Resting his eyes on the horizon, Dunban moved his eyes back and forth between the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of the large, metallic creature. Panic rose within him. What if Tyrea was right? What if they didn't find her in time?
A scratchy noise flooded through the speaker. Dunban winced. A harsh voice said: "We've spotted the monster. It's in the Highlands. All units close in, circle formation."
His chest tightened.
"Shit." Tyrea fiddled with a few of the buttons on the dashboard, her fingers racing and clicking, small lights brightening upon her touch.
"Is that the Royal Guard?"
"Yeah. I tapped their frequency when we took off." Tyrea said then pressed the blue communication button. "Shulk, head to the Highlands. They found her there."
"Roger."
With a jerk of her hand, the shuttle pivoted to the left and the aircraft raced forward. As the shuttle advanced, its speed increasing with each inch, Dunban gripped the armrest and grit his teeth. The vibrations ran up his spine, jolting his nerves to life. It was not a pleasant sensation, and his pulse quickened. Swallowing, Dunban focused his attention ahead, trying to ignore the hammering of his heart.
As they approached, six green dots appeared on the radar, surrounding one large red dot. Dunban felt his breath hitch in his throat. They were close; only some miles away from her. Dots appeared in front of them, materializing into shapes as the aircraft flew closer. In the distance, the man could see the shine of silver and a green figure towering in the air. Melia was fenced in by the Royal Guard on all sides. Yellow spears of light flew towards the green figure and a wave of Telethia arrows met them in mid-flight, exploding them into nothingness.
The battle had started.
Another wave of yellow missiles shot out of cannons and aimed for the Telethia. This time, she released a wave of green electricity from her arms: a shock wave. It electrified the yellow missiles, exploding them in the air. Undeterred, the shuttles began to dart across the Telethia, firing shots as they passed over and under, side by side. Coming at all directions, there was no chance Melia would be able to avoid all of them. The Telethia span in the air, dodging two shots to her right side, though another landed on her left leg. The Telethia roared and whipped around, flinging out an arrow, shooting down one of the shuttles circling her on the lower right. It spiraled, falling down through the sky, disappearing beneath the clouds.
Dunban watched as Tyrea guided their shuttle to the outer rim of the battle, cautiously observing the unfolding scene. He saw Melia take another missile to her right side, and a river of green blood slithered down her leg.
"We have to get in there." Dunban said.
"Hold your horses. Let's see if we can make them go away first." Tyrea sneered; the man saw a plan forming in her mind. He was happy for her to take the lead.
"Identify yourselves!"
Dunban's head snapped to the communicator as Tyrea pressed down on the button. "This is shuttle 20719. Uh...I've got the Homs hero here."
The Homs raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"This is a battle. We don't need bystanders getting hurt!"
"He and his friends fought Telethia before and succeeded. Let them take care of this."
"We don't need you getting in the way. Turn around. That's an order!"
The line went dead.
"How rude. Lucky for me, I don't take orders."
A bellow filled the atmosphere, sound waves jostling the aircraft up and down. His stomach crumpled into a ball but his eyes flew towards the Telethia. The sound was painful; a cry of anguish. A cold wash of horror drenched his insides. There was a hole the size of an ether lamp burnt clean through her left wing.
"No!"
The Telethia plunged downward towards the earth. Tyrea dove the aircraft. Dunban's body tensed and the Homs lost all sense of balance. He clenched his jaw watching the creature plummet, hoping, willing that she would stop her lethal fall. His eyes watched as a burst of green energy poured over the wound and her body slowed its fall. He could see the hole was slowly closing, and the Telethia stopped descending through the sky, floating now. A surge of relief tumbled through Dunban. Soon the hole had completely disappeared, but she wavered in the air; the blow had weakened her.
The radar panel beeped loudly and Dunban's eyes flew to it: the green dots descended on their position, the other blue dot not far behind the fleet. Melia flapped her wings and turned away, ascending once more into the sky and speeding across the Highlands. Tyrea shot after the Telethia, the engines of their shuttle roaring in Dunban's ears as they continued their pursuit.
A beam of light shot past them, aiming directly for the Telethia. It landed with immense accuracy, hitting Melia in her right side. She groaned, faltered, but continued her flight.
"Stand down! This is your last chance Shuttle 20719."
"As if." Tyrea muttered and blasted the engines.
The terrain of the highlands began to thin, replaced by rolling hills and deep canyons. The metallic green of the Telethia's skin began to blend with the greenery of the grass-covered open plain, though her purple wings would continue to give her away. She charged downward, racing along the canyon floor. Tyrea followed, keeping a short distance between the shuttle and the creature. Behind, they could hear sounds of more shots fired, this time at them.
"Shit."
Tyrea jerked the shuttle to the right, narrowly missing a bullet to their left wing. Expletives flew off her tongue, but Dunban didn't remained silent. His chest was tight; it was hard to breathe.
"If they want to play, we'll play." She growled. Removing her left hand from the steering wheel, she reached across the dashboard to a set of yellow buttons at the top right. A smirk covered her lips. "Here we go." She pressed two of the buttons in earnest.
The shuttle rattled back and forth. Dunban watched as two orange dots emerged from their ship and hit one of the green dots. The green dot flickered and disappeared.
"Bullseye!"
"We shouldn't be shooting at them."
"They shot first. Besides, I just knocked out one of their engines. They'll land, call for an evac, and be fine."
"That's not the point, Tyrea. How are we going to explain going after the Telethia and attacking the Royal Guard?"
Tyrea didn't respond. But she didn't have time to. The Telethia took a sharp turn upward; Tyrea abruptly jerked the steering wheel upward, the shuttle just grazing the canyon wall as it turned to the sky. They emerged from the underground tunnel, following the Telethia skyward. Then the Telethia returned to a horizontal position, flying parallel to the ground across the open plain once more. Tyrea followed her example to Dunban's relief.
An imperial shuttle appeared on the radar, just above them. As they zoomed forward, the second blue dot appeared just to their left to Dunban's surprise. It was Shulk and the others. They must've outmaneuvered the imperial shuttles to change their position from the back of the group to the front.
In front of them, the Telethia wavered in its flight. Dunban knew the injuries were getting to be too much for her to ignore. She was slowing down, unable to keep up the chase for much longer.
"We have to get rid of them now." Dunban said.
Melia led them over a deep canyon, her wings flapping erratically in the air. Dunban looked down: the bottom was barely visible. It had to be hundreds of thousands of miles. A fall to the foundation would most definitely obliterate a shuttle. Eyes darting ahead, Dunban saw the canyon wall was still some several hundred of feet away.
Two safety belts crossed over his already safety-restrained chest and lap. Alarmed, he looked at the pilot. "Tyrea, what is this?"
"Extra cautiousness."
"What are you doing?"
"You said not to give up. This is me not giving up." She flipped up a square-shaped glass cap and a red lever rose out of the space. Tyrea slammed down the communicator. "Shulk. Get everyone to buckle up."
"Roger."
The young woman maintained the course, streaking through the air after Melia above the deep valley, the Royal Guard hot on their tail. Dunban felt the butterflies in his stomach. This was the critical point. They had to throw off the Royal Guard here, or it was all over.
Up ahead, Melia howled as she reached the canyon wall, the clifftop turning into a flat plain of grass once more. With one heaving sigh, she propelled herself forward, and crashed to the ground, sliding through the grass before coming to a full stop. A clear target for the Royal Guard.
"Shulk, do not stop. I repeat, do not stop no matter what. Keep the shuttle moving forward."
Dunban swore under his breath. He knew he would not like what was about to happen.
"3...2...1."
Tyrea pulled down on the red lever.
A pulse ripped through the air, bouncing the aircraft. Then everything went black. All lights shut off; the engines went silent. The electricity was gone.
Gravity kicked in. They were in free fall.
Dunban's stomach fell out and he grabbed the arm rest as the shuttle fell forward just over the canyon wall, careening straight into the ground, ripping through the grass towards the fallen Telethia. They had just barely made it across the canyon cliff.
The sound of metal crashing into metal reverberated into his ears. His body was thrown forward, and the safety belts cut into his skin. The shuttle pitched forward again, sliding a few more feet. A breath of relief escaped Dunban and he looked at the radar screen. The second blue dot was directly behind theirs. Shulk and the others had made it.
Something else. There were no more green dots on the screen. The Royal Guard shuttles were gone.
A wail rang out, splitting the air. Dunban was out of his seat and running through the cabin in the next second. He heard the ramp descend and ran down it, jumping onto the ground and rushing towards the fallen Telethia. The creature wheezed and struggled to stand as he closed the distance between them. A burst of ether balls flew through the air at him, but he easily dodged each, undeterred.
"Melia. Melia." He called out, trying to reach her. He slowed his run to a jog, and then a walk, and approached slowly, holding his hand out in a gesture of peace. Over and over again he called to her, his voice soothing. As he neared her, she reined backward. But it was too much for the creature. She slumped to the ground, unable to rise, whimpering.
He was now inches from her. Carefully, Dunban knelt down and laid his hand on the creature's neck, feeling the strong pulse underneath his palm. The scales felt slick under his skin, and warmth that emanated from them into the wrinkles of his palm. A burning smell reached his nose and his eyes glazed down the Telethia's body to her leg. There were scorch marks along the hip to the foot and green blood poured from the gash left by one of the High Entia missiles.
His heart twisted in his chest as the Telethia moaned again, writhing on the ground. More green blood pooled underneath the creature from a wound on her back. He could only imagine the pain she was experiencing. Dunban wished he could take her pain from her. Suck it into his body so she felt nothing but relief.
"What do we do now?" Fiora said, appearing at his side with Tyrea, Shulk, Sharla, and Reyn.
"We change her back." Dunban responded, not taking his gaze from the Telethia.
"With the ether rifle and crystals? We don't know if it'll work." Sharla said.
"We don't have a choice."
"We need to think this through, Dunban. Don't be rash."
"We can't argue about this. We don't have time."
"Exactly. She could die if we're wrong."
"And she could die if we don't do anything. She could die if the Royal Guard sends more men to finish the job."
Before Sharla could respond, Dunban rose and grabbed the ether rifle from her and motioned for Fiora, who wore a messenger bag around her body. Hesitant, she walked toward him, knowing what he wanted. She opened the bag, and pulled out a medium sized crystal. As she met his eyes, Dunban could see a sympathy within those blue depths.
He looked from the crystal to the Telethia. Bella had guessed that a medium crystal would be a reasonable option. But the Telethia was large. Larger than Bella may have anticipated. It could take more than the power a medium crystal had within it to change her back. However, she was injured. Green ether blood seeped from her side wound and the injured wing spasmed as it attempted to flutter in the wind. The wounds alone could mean she needed less ether to change her back.
He had little idea of what to choose. But he knew they needed to make a decision now.
"How many had Melia needed when we found her in Makna forest?" He asked Sharla.
"Four. Four water crystals: three small and one large."
"And how many small crystals to medium crystals?"
"If you want me to guess, I'd say three. But four medium to large."
Melia's human form was a quarter of the size of the Telethia lying on the ground in front of him, maybe even smaller. It had taken a medium crystal and a large crystal to restore her from the brink of death before: how could he translate that to her current form in addition to the transformation?
He closed his eyes and ran through numbers in his head.
"Give me five large crystals, and four medium crystals." He would quadruple the amount it needed to save her life and add an extra layer of ether that would hopefully add to the transformation.
"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Fiora asked, a slight tremor in her voice.
"What's your reasoning?" Sharla demanded.
"Just do it." Tyrea interceded.
No one spoke. Passing his eyes over the group, Dunban loaded the crystals into the ether rifle. As he slid the last one it the slot, he shot a glance at Tyrea. She hesitated and nodded, and he saw the flicker of fear in her eyes. His own body coursed with fear. Could he actually do this? Could he take this chance?
Swallowing, the Homs turned back to face the injured creature. It whined at the sight of the rifle.
He walked towards it and raised the weapon up high, pointing in the sky just about Melia's body. He hesitated, his finger tapping on the trigger, trembling.
Forgive me, Melia.
And he pulled the trigger once, twice, thrice, and finally one last time.
The crystals flew and exploded in the air, purple energy raining down upon the Telethia like snowflakes. As they fell, they disappeared as soon as they hit her skin. She shrieked, the shrill sound piercing Dunban's ears. The Telethia's body convulsed, jerking this way and that. The sounds of anguish filled the air and the Telethia clawed at the sky and the air around it. The wails sent tremors through his body and Dunban jumped backward as Melia rolled around on the ground. The shrieks continued as the purple energy seeped into her body; the spasms grew more pronounced with each passing second.
What had just he done? Would she survive? Or had he condemned her to death?
Slowly, her body began to glow neon blue. It shimmered under the sunlight, like the glow of the ether lamps in the night. The Telethia began to shrink, and was soon enveloped in a bright white light. Blinded, Dunban shut his eyes, feeling the sting on his eyes. The screams disappeared. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The white light, still impenetrable by the human eyes, had shrunk, growing smaller and smaller. Then, it stopped.
He hoped against hope.
Slowly, the light began to fade, evaporating into nothingness, revealing what lay underneath its halo. Finally, the light disappeared.
The Telethia was gone. And in its place, curled into a fetal position, was a naked High Entian.
Melia.
Dunban rushed to her, ripping the cloak off his back and wrapping it around her, averting his eyes as best he could. Even in the uncertain state, he would not compromise her modesty. Simultaneously, Tyrea checked Melia's vital signs. Gently, he touched her cheek with his fingertips. Her skin was cold. His body filled with dread.
Please.
He shut his eyes and he clasped one of Melia's hands in his own. The seconds dragged on as he waited Tyrea's prognosis.
"She's alive. Her pulse is weak. We need to get her back to the city."
Alive. Melia was alive.
"Reyn! Carry her to the shuttle." Dunban barked.
"Aye aye!"
Reyn rushed over and picked up Melia, holding her in his muscular arms. As they rushed to the shuttle, Dunban felt a smile of gratitude spread over his mouth. His heart soared, elated. He wanted to laugh, shout. His body was overwhelmed with joy. It had worked. Whatever combination of ether he had chosen had worked. Melia was back, alive and safe.
And that was all that mattered.