"A Past Life of Noah and Mio" is back for a third arc! During the break, the Future Redeemed DLC released which unfortunately caused some details of this story to become inaccurate. Although the plot remains unchanged, multiple older chapters were updated to reflect Aionios' map as it appears at the beginning of Future Redeemed because this story takes place beforehand. These adjustments, plus writer's block during the planning of this arc, plus Zelda TOTK, are what caused the delay for which I apologize. If you haven't played the Future Redeemed DLC yet, there may be minor geographical spoilers ahead.

This story had begun in Noah's Colony 25 in Dannagh Desert and currently we're in Mio's Colony Rho on the Urayan Trail. These locations were selected because they were unused in the game's main storyline and I happened to really like them. They also caused our heroes' path in this story to differ slightly from what we all played in the game. Beginning the adventure in the Aetia region would've been too familiar as well.

So, where did we leave off? Mio had just killed her consul with the help of Noah and a contingent of City folks. No longer does she fear her homecoming, which means execution during this period of time. Still bound to their respective Flame Clocks, however, they now seek the City in hopes of living independently of Moebius' control.

Chapter 19 "Minimize the Risk"

Mio had never slept so well before. Not a single fragment of a nightmare had dared to interrupt her slumber following the defeat of her oppressive consul. Now awake, she turned her head to the side to spy Noah resting on the other bed in the officers' tent. The cat-eared Agnian knew that she had him to thank for not only her survival but also for helping her achieve a goal which she'd once given up. Although her bondage to her Flame Clock still lingered in her mind, Mio relished in what nonetheless felt like a new outlook on life.

"Mornin'…" the zephyr whispered the moment she noticed her travel partner stirring.

"Mmm…" Noah rubbed his eyes and stretched his legs, "good morning… Mio." Nothing further was said between them until he realized that she was still looking in his direction. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, of course." The tenth termer was unapologetic for staring, her expression practically beaming. Cognizant of her mood, Noah sat up and groggily returned her smile. The two soldiers once again fell into contented silence, finding each other's company to be enjoyable enough. Mio couldn't remember a time when she'd felt this way as she was soon making her way to his bedside. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Huh? Oh, sure…" Still sleepy, the pacifist was lethargic but nevertheless obliging to make room for her. Mio set herself down gently, sighing satisfactorily from his warmth now shawling her side. The conversation seemed to stall once more while the nearby Ferronis' hum slowly slipped into their consciousnesses.

"Hey, so… um…" her hushed voice almost slipped past his ear.

"Yes…?" he turned to face her, realizing that their shoulders were brushing together.

"I've got some things I need to say to you." There was a pensive look on Mio's face at this point. Still, Noah sat patiently while she prepared herself. "I'm sorry… for calling you a coward."

"When did you call me a coward?" This apology confounded him, despite being fully awake now.

"When we initially fought… er, met," she took them back to the conclusion of their first of two fights. "I called you a coward… to provoke you to kill me, finish me off."

"Oh," Noah resisted the urge to avert his gaze, "y-you don't need to apolo-"

"And I'm sorry for using you back then as well," his running mate pressed on. "I dragged you through sparks and ashes because I was… so selfish."

"You mean when you wanted to die by my Blade?" the swordfighter sought clarification.

"Yeah, I dumped all my misery on you, and yet you…" her voice thinned out before she promptly moved on. "Ahem, the other thing I wanted to say is thank you."

"Mio…" his own voice softened, having observed her expression change. "You already did so yesterday."

"I know, but you deserve to hear it from me again," Mio insisted, her hands loosely balled into fists on her lap. "Thank you, for changing my life… f-for the better." These words seemed to have been harder to say than she'd initially thought as evidenced by her stuttering. Suddenly overcome by emotion, her ears flattened while her sights sank to the floor. Before she could wipe what felt like oncoming tears, however, Mio felt Noah's lips press on the top of her head. The sensation was warm but strange, confounding if nothing else. "W-wha? What'd you do?"

"I-I don't know! I… uh…" Now it was Noah's turn to be flustered, feeling guilty and embarrassed by his actions. "I'm sorry, Mio. I stopped thinking and… it just happened, like… it was natural."

"Natural?" the moonblades-wielder watched his eyes dilate, much like hers were. "Where could you have learned… such a thing?"

"I witnessed Caren doing it to her partner Emmet," the ponytailed soldier recalled from their first encounter with City folks. "It seemed… nice somehow."

"It felt nice," she touched the spot where he'd administered the unconventional gesture. "I wasn't expecting it, though."

"I'm sorry," the ninth-termer's posture withered momentarily upon his second apology.

"It's alright," his running mate reassured him before she, too, started to slump. "C-could you, um, do it again?"

"Huh?" he looked at her curiously. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, now that I can expect it." Shifting to a more comfortable position, Mio closed her eyes and awaited Noah's yet-unlabeled maneuver. Both soldiers were marginally nervous until his lips were on her head like before. This time without the surprise, the cat-eared Agnian enjoyed a most pleasant feeling. "Mmm… I think… I could get used to this. You ought to experience it yourself."

"You mean… from you?" her travel partner blinked twice.

"Of course. Who else?" The zephyr suppressed a giggle, though she couldn't help but grin at him for asking. Eventually, he nodded his approval and prepared himself to receive what he'd twice given her. Instead of going for his head, however, Mio paid Noah back on his cheek which caught him off guard.

"You're right, it is nice," his fingers instinctively patted where she'd softly pecked him. "But I thought you were supposed to do it on the forehead."

"Your cheek was closer," she explained her reasoning, amused again by his reaction. "Guess we're even now."

"I wonder if it's a City custom," Noah slowly lowered his slightly shaky hand, "considering soldiers don't do it."

"I wonder if it has to be on the forehead," the tenth-termer continued to gaze at his face.

"Hmm?" the pacifist raised a brow at her contemplation. "Well, where else wou-"

"Goodest of mornings!" The flap covering the door blew open with the sudden arrival of Feriferi, the caretaking Nopon of Colony Rho.

"Feriferi," he identified their boisterous visitor immediately. "Ahem, good morning."

"Truth!" the green furball raised a wing. "Sun rise upwards and colony not in pieces!"

"That's very good to hear," Mio nodded before turning to Noah. "I guess nobody came to avenge my consul's death."

"Still, the new soldiers that she recruited ought to be prepared just in case," the swordfighter shared a stern look with her.

"And nothing prepares friends better than proper meal!" Feriferi butted in again, not wishing to forget why she'd come in the first place.

"Oh, right, you mean breakfast," the moonblades-wielder turned her attention to the more immediate matter at hand. "Docca's cooking for everybody now?"

"That correct. Accommodations already made." With no further delay, the female Nopon proceeded to the all-important menu. "Now then, tasty sausages and hotcakes order of morning. Plates already filling in canteen! Please to hurry like life depends!"

"If it's alright with you, I think I'd better have mine in here," Noah folded his hands while his posture wilted marginally. "I am a Kevesi on Agnian soil, after all."

"I'll bring you a plate," his running mate hopped into her boots and started to follow Feriferi outside.

"I appreciate that," a tentative smile formed on his face before his brows came back down. "In the meantime, I'll plan our next move."

"Right," she paused momentarily. "I'll help you with that as well when I return."

A few seconds later, Mio was gone from view. Noah's eyes remained on the canopy flap until her shadow from the morning light no longer darkened it. Left to his thoughts, the lone Kevesi crossed both his arms and his legs and eventually dropped his stare to the floor. His and Mio's new goal of reaching the City wasn't without its options, however, none of them seemed particularly safe to him. Before he knew it, Mio had returned with two plates of breakfast.

"That smells good," the ponytailed soldier happily accepted his meal. "Thanks."

"Of course," the equally hungry Agnian sat beside him. "So, did you get a chance to think?"

"I did, yes," the ninth-termer activated his Iris for a map before stuffing his mouth. "Mmm… the way I see it, we have three options."

"Alright," Mio did the same, eager to hear what he'd ruminated, "let's have 'em."

"Well, I'll start with the one that we considered yesterday with Verna and Malik." A simulated path formed on the outer continent on the map from the Urayan Trail to Swordmarch as per Noah's projection. "On foot, this is our quickest and simplest route. However, as you pointed out yesterday, it goes through Keves Castle territory which would be a problem for you."

"That's putting it mildly," her ears flattened as quickly as her brows lowered.

"Another option is to go through the Cent-Omnia region," the conversant Kevesi adjusted the simulated path accordingly, "but it's the most active warzone on Aionios."

"We need to steer clear of combat," the zephyr reminded him of what he'd previously cautioned, "especially since it'll just be the two of us."

"Right," the pacifist nodded before taking another bite. "Our third option is to hang around the Urayan Trail and hope to find a spare transport Levnis. Though, even if we do, our unauthorized movements in it would put a big target on us."

"Yeah…" Mio sighed into her partially eaten hotcake, "and we can't go back to Taion for help because Colony 18 is surely on high alert after… what happened."

"I did consider him, but you're right about that area being off-limits to us now." The younger of the two soldiers tapped his temple to deactivate his Iris while the older one continued to study the options. Their keenness to draw up a plan seemed to stagnate with each laborious exhale between them.

"So then… what'll we do?" Her simple question bespoke her slowly growing concernment.

"There's only one path that would involve just one of the two nations and therefore minimize the risk," her travel partner pointed in the air with his fork.

"You mean going through Keves Castle?" she turned to him, frowning. "It would certainly lower your risk."

"I'm at the same risk as you are," Noah's eyes swiftly zeroed in on hers, not wishing to leave her discouraged. "We're in this together. I'm not leaving your side, no matter what happens."

"That's… nice of you to say," the moonblades-wielder offered a temporary smirk, "but it's not a solution."

"Well, Malik suggested going under a disguise," he brought up their City ally's parlous idea.

"With what, though?" she glanced at the discarded, outer pieces of her outfit hanging on a chair. "We've got spare Agnian uniforms in storage but certainly not Kevesi ones."

"Perhaps Colony 5 has some," the swordfighter wondered aloud, pausing his meal to put some thought into this new brain wave. "I could pay them a visit and make an inquiry without mentioning your name and affiliation. They… probably wouldn't harm me, because of mine."

"True, but…" his running mate wasn't quite warming up to the idea.

"Yes?" he set his fork down two seconds after picking it up again.

"I've got a bad feeling that you'd be walking into a trap," Mio laid out her worry plainly, her free hand now gripping the edge of the bed.

"It's a risk for me, sure," the moderately confident Kevesi agreed, "but they won't know that I'm a defector."

"What if they find out?" her fretting for his safety was far from over. "Do you have an escape plan?"

"Hmm…" Upon finishing his breakfast, Noah set his plate aside and momentarily fell silent for a deep think. "I suppose… I don't have anything beyond running back out of their cave. Have you ever been inside?"

"No," the cat-eared Agnian shook her head, "but we've long suspected that they have an additional entry point somewhere on the other side of the mountain."

"Doesn't sound like something I can depend on using if I need to vacate immediately," the ponytailed soldier swallowed a groan as he rose to gather his belongings.

"Are you still going, then?" the zephyr promptly stood as well, no less worried than she was a minute prior.

"I think… it's a risk small enough to take," he finally settled on a decision, "even if I have to do it alone."

"Is there really no other way?" her hands came together just below her chin.

"None that I could see." With his boots snuggly on his feet and his jacket in hand, Noah rotated to find the most solemn look that she'd yet worn on her face today. "Would you rather I didn't go?"

"You can go, but just… be careful," Mio gave him her blessing along with her warning. "I'm trusting you on this."

"Thank you, Mio," he couldn't help but smile in spite of her frown, "and I'll be careful."

"Okay…" her hand raised near her temple, brows still furrowed. "Call me if things go awry… please."

"Yeah, I will." It heartened him to see how much she cared for his wellbeing, and he understood that it wasn't for selfish reasons, either. By this point in their partnership, the two deserters of the war had each other's best interests well in mind, with reaching the City as their new, shared goal. In the meantime, however, Noah had a colony to visit and necessary cargo he hoped to retrieve.

Precariously descending the short embankment on the other side of the officers' tent, the nomadic Kevesi returned to the Urayan Trail with his sights set on the diverging path into the mountain. The ground was scoured from yesterday's skirmishes with the Moebius, though Noah suspected that some of the marks closer to the cave entrance were from the colonies' prior battles.

The first thing that Noah noticed upon entering the tunnel was how tall, long and winding it appeared to be, its unpleasant atmosphere punctuated by an errant howl of wind and an unavoidable, dank odor. Koror vangs flying above grounded torches cast their erratic shadows on the cavernous walls as he passed cautiously below them. Aside from the occasionally visible footprints, there were no other signs of human life along the curious path which would soon be cut off by a seemingly misplaced, manmade wall.

"You there!" a muffled voice unexpectedly blared from the other side of a locked door. "State your name and colony!"

"O-oh… ahem…" the pacifist quickly recomposed himself from the startlement. "I'm Noah, from Colony 25."

"Colony 25?" A solid seven seconds passed before the door was opened by the owner of the voice, a sharpshooter with an unsteady grasp on their weapon. "Very well! Get in here before some rogue Agnians barge through!" With hardly a moment to peek first, Noah was grabbed by two of his fellow Kevesis who subsequently scanned the area and shut the door behind him.

"Whew!" The other soldier on guard, a heavy sword-wielder, wiped their brow in relief. "I think we're safe!"

"Safe? From wha-" Noah caught himself from asking the obvious. "Er, right, I wasn't followed."

"Good!" The first soldier caught their breath from their excitement. "There's been a lot of ruckus about, lately!"

"I'm afraid I don't quite know what you're talking about," the ponytailed visitor feigned ignorance, alternating wary glances between the two.

"You must not have been here yesterday," the second one assumed of Noah. "It was an outright brawl that roved past our entrance. Whole bunch of weirdly dressed people fighting one giant, hideous monster!"

"It wasn't just them," the sharpshooter's hands moved emphatically. "There was a Kevesi and an Agnian out there, too. I couldn't tell who the Kevesi was, but that Agnian sure looked a lot like Mio. Hard to miss her ears."

"Oh yeah," the heavy sword-wielder chimed in. "Mio's a menace! You gotta be careful about her!"

"Mio?" Noah froze upon hearing her name called, in a rancorous way no less.

"She's the zephyr from our rival Colony Rho," they informed him of what he already knew before resuming their berating of his partner. "That mudder's killed so many of our friends over the years. Our number one enemy for sure."

"I'm… sorry to hear that…" his words were chosen delicately.

"Don't worry about it, then," the first soldier on guard held out their palm. "You've come all this way from Colony 25 for a reason, yes?"

"Indeed," the guest Kevesi was glad to get back on topic. "My partner and I were on our way to Keves Castle when we were… ambushed."

"You need medical assistance?" they offered without hesitation. "We have a healer back at base."

"Oh, er, actually my partner needs a new uniform, a helmet, and a backpack," Noah began putting his plan into action, ever strategic with his phrasing. "Her current set won't do when we, uh, present ourselves at the castle grounds."

"Ah, I understand," the sharpshooter grinned, oblivious to their guest's intentions. "Those inspectors get fussy over the slightest wrinkle."

"I'll buzz you in, hang on," the second soldier on guard activated their Iris for a call, presumably to apprise the rest of the colony about Noah's request. "Oi, Lanz! You awake? We've got a visitor coming for a kit. Don't worry, he's one of ours."

"I appreciate this," the swordfighter maintained a straight face.

"Happy to help," the first soldier displayed a very brief salute. "Just stick to the path and you'll come to another gate like this. Someone will take you in from there."

"Got it," he turned about-face towards the rest of the cave. "Thank you."

It was a much longer trek than Noah had anticipated, but he was glad to have been permitted entry without any hassle at all. Further torches kept the path in focus for him while he navigated his way to the next, much larger gate. It wasn't long before he heard noises coming from the other side, appearing to be those of someone muttering to themselves.

"Thought I hit the right buttons…" this new voice sounded impatient, agitated, far from friendly. "Ah! Sparkin' finally!" The door slid open to reveal a tall, male soldier with two-toned gray skin and a scowl that could frighten a feris away.

"H-hello," Noah greeted his new host who practically towered over him.

"Are you the one who needs stuff?" the gruff fellow skipped straight to the point.

"Yes, sir," the pacifist nodded, taking quick notice of this soldier's petulant demeanor. "I-I'm sorry to be an inconvenience to you."

"Nah, man, it's fine," the taller Kevesi waved him off, realizing himself how he'd been acting. "I should've just blown a hole in the door instead of waste time with the number pad."

"I see…" his guest briefly observed his well-built physique.

"Right, then," the new host turned around and motioned with his head, "follow me." Passing through the wall, the path now appeared to be completely manmade and presented the two Kevesis with three hallways from which to choose.

"Do you know which way to go?" Noah felt compelled to ask as they approached the junction.

"Of course I do! I just walked through here to get you, didn't I?" The leading soldier started to head down the middle path, only to quickly change course to the left one. "Ahem, stick with me and you won't get lost."

"Sure thing," the patient follower opted not to question it further. "Your colony must be pretty far back here, huh?"

"You could say that," the two-toned boy kept his eyes forward, though he wasn't opposed to small talk. "So, uh, which colony are you from?"

"Colony 25," the ponytailed soldier answered, glad for no awkward silence. "It's in Dannagh Desert."

"You serious?" the taller Kevesi's voice bounced off the walls. "That's not even in this region!"

"Y-yeah…" Such exasperation reminded Noah to be mindful of what details to divulge. "My partner and I are on our way to the castle, and she needs new gear for the trip."

"Landed yourselves a fancy transfer, eh? Good for you." The host chuckled to himself in jealousy, from a misassumption no less. "I transferred here from Colony 16 last year. Since I'm a defender, the commander always keeps me in here on protection duties. Never actually get to fight some Agnians."

"You mean you personally have never tangled with Colony Rho?" his guest wondered as they turned the corner and started up a gradual flight of stairs.

"You got that right," the leading soldier spoke envyingly again. "I keep hearing about Mio, their untouchable zephyr. I'd love to challenge her myself, but I'm not exactly built for speed."

"Perhaps it's for the best," the pacifist swallowed hard at hearing another embittered mention of Mio. The path had several turns left in it, a couple of which were due to a massive tree growing through the structure.

"By the way, I don't think I ever got your name," the taller Kevesi peered over his shoulder after a brief lull in their chat.

"Ah, it's Noah," the shorter one snapped back to attention.

"Noah, huh? Well, you can call me Lanz." The two-toned soldier seemed friendlier now, having long forgotten about his prior agitation. "I'm calling the shots while the commander and everybody else are away."

"Away?" the curious visitor scanned ahead as the proper entrance of the colony came into view.

"Somewhere in the Cent-Omnia region. Consul sent 'em out there to fight other Agnians after Colony Rho snuffed it three weeks ago." Lanz took a moment to observe and silently critique Noah's unassuming stature. "Come to think of it, those mudders probably would've attacked you if they were still around."

"Y-yeah… maybe," the ponytailed soldier continued to roll with it.

"Anyway, we've nearly made it," the guiding defender stopped along the final stretch, prompting Noah to do the same. "Just to warn you, mate, don't mention Mio to anyone in the colony. They'll jump you for sure if you do."

"I-I see…" his tentative guest nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks for telling me."

With this in mind, Noah started wondering if Mio might've been right about him setting foot in a minefield. Despite it being a Kevesi base, his status as an outlaw made it just as precarious to him as would an Agnian one. All he had to do was obtain a disguise for her and leave without arousing suspicion. It was a simple plan, but now his head was flooded with doubts that he'd made the right first step towards their long journey to the City.