Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shulk Narrating

I didn't know where I was or what was the time. Everything was darkness.

Suddenly, stars appeared above me, and I realized the floor was pure darkness as well.

Ah... so that's where I was.

It was the passage that me and my friends had to go through before fighting Zanza. The passage... of fate.

...What was I doing there? Everything seemed strange to me until a voice said my name calmly.

"Shulk."

...I knew that voice.

"Alvis?"

I was surprised. I never thought about what happened with him after I, I mean we, recreated the world.

"Shulk. I wanted to talk to you about something. A catastrophe will happen and I want you to stop it."

"What?! What's happening Alvis, tell me!"

"Straight to the point as always. I... had a vision about an unknown force with the power to... destroy the world."

"...And what did you see?"

"Destruction. A lot of it. I would be more specific but we don't have much time."

"Uh... And what do you want me to do?"

"You have to find an ally with the same power as you and join forces with him to destroy that mysterious force."

"An ally? Where can I find him?"

"I don't know. I saw him in a vision, fighting along your side. What I do know is that after you find him you will have to travel to the place you found me to recover your blade."

"My blade?" I knew what blade he was referring to. The Monado.
"I found the Monado on Valak Mountain. Is that where I have to go?."

"Yes. It is neccesary to defeat this mysterious being."

I had a lot of information to process, after all, just a year had passed since Zanza's defeat, I didn't know if I was ready for another adventure.

"But how are we even talking?"

I wanted to know what happened with Alvis and the Monado after the recreation of the world.

"Telepathy. We are connected, after all. However, my powers have been weakened, so I'm afraid I won't be able to talk to you again."

"Weakened? Why?"

Alvis always seemed very powerful to me, but that was when I realized his power came from a source, as everything in this world.

"I don't know, but I think you should ask me about more pressing matters right now."

"O-of course, well... How does this 'person' looks like? Do you know their name?"

"His name is..."

A light filled the room and didn't let Alvis finish his sentence.

"Alvis!? What's going on?"

The light filled my eyes and I woke up.
It was a dream. A very real dream. I knew that wasn't just my mind playing tricks. Alvis DID talk to me.

I looked around. My house was quiet and lonely, as always.

A new journey. I couldn't do it on my own.

However, most of my friends were very busy, so I had to select a few to travel with me. It could be very dangerous and I didn't want anyone to get hurt.

I considered my options.

Reyn was very strong. He wasn't as busy as the others and I knew I could count on his help.

Sharla was in Colony 6, helping in the organization of it and taking care of Juju. She was definitely not an option.

Dunban was very busy because he was in charge of many things in Colony 9. However, his power was absolutely impressive and I knew he was always ready for adventure. I would have to ask him later.

Some Machina and High Entia came to live to Colony 9. Melia was one of them, leading her species.
She went through a lot of things. I didn't want her to suffer more. However, I knew she could defend herself and this was an urgent matter. I would have to ask her as well.

Riki was in Frontier Village. After the world was recreated, a lot of places got scattered into this new world. Frontier Village and Makna Forest were conveniently positioned near Colony 9.
However, he had to take care of his children and his 'wifeypon'. I preferred not to bother him.

And Fiora... I knew she was strong, because she helped me to defeat Zanza but...
She didn't have a mechanical body anymore.
I didn't want to lose her again.

Fiora was out of the question.

I got out of my house, and suddenly a voice called out my name. It was Melia.

"Shulk!"

"Melia! Good morning! What's the matter?"

"Dunban requires your presence. He wants to talk to you about something related to Colony 9 on his house."

"Colony 9?"

I never helped in the organization of the colony after the recreation of the world before, so it seemed strange to me.

"Yes. He is waiting!"

Melia seemed rather excited.

"Ok, I'll go there."

It was the perfect oportunity to talk to him and Melia about 'that thing'.

Me and Melia went to Dunban's house and we encountered Fiora along the way.

"Hey Shulk!"

"Hello Fiora!"

"Where are you two heading?"

"To Dunban's house" Melia said.

She was smiling and I didn't know why.

"Can I go too? It's my house too, after all." Fiora asked.

"Well..."

I wanted to talk to Dunban and Melia about what Alvis told me and I knew that if Fiora was there she would offer to help me as well.

"I'm sorry, but Dunban said that only I could go." I lied.

"What? Then why is Melia with you?"

"Well... this..."

"I-It doesn't matter Fiora, you can come with us as well." Melia said.

"...Sure."

We went to Dunban's house together, though I could tell that Fiora was angry with me because of my lie.

I opened the door and what I saw surprised me a lot. Dunban was there, of course, but with him there were Riki, Sharla and Reyn, talking happily.

"Shulk! Guess what? Everyone is here!" Dunban said with a smile on his face.

"Everyone!"

I couldn't hide my happiness.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well..." Sharla said. "We knew you have been a little lonely in your home."

"And Fiora had great idea of bringing all friends here in Dundun's house to make happy reunion!" Riki said happily.

I looked at Fiora.

"Is... that true?"

"Yes. However, it seems you didn't want *me* to be here, huh?"

Fiora was still angry.

"I..."

Everyone was there and I knew it was the perfect time to do it. 

"I'm sorry to destroy the mood but there is something I must tell you. All of you."

I changed my mind. If this was as serious as Alvis said it was, I would need all the help possible.

"I had a dream."

Reyn looked at me worried.

"Everyone has dreams Shulk. Is somethin' wrong?"

I explained my dream to everyone, with every single detail.

"Well, that doesn't look like a very normal dream to me." Sharla concluded.

"So you say Alvis asked you to find someone to defeat a person that will bring chaos to this world?" Dunban said.

"Yes."

"This is not merely a dream, he talked to you while you were asleep!" Melia commented, surprised.

"That's why I need your help. I need you to help me face this new threat. I know some of you are busy and all, so..."

I looked at everyone expecting awkward faces of rejection. Why would they want to help me? They were busy, and this was just a dream from a boy who spends too much time on his head.

"Of course Riki help you!." Riki assured with a serious expression on his face.

"It wouldn't be of any other way!" Sharla said with a smile.

"Let's find that guy and smash him where it hurts the most!" Reyn exclaimed enthusiastically.

"You can count on me!" Melia assured.

"And on me as well!" Dunban said.

"You didn't want me to go, did you, Shulk?"

Everyone looked at Fiora.

"No, Fiora, that's not..."

I wanted to tell her she was wrong, but that's exactly the reason why I didn't want her to be there.

"You think that because I don't have a mechanical body anymore I can't take care of myself, don't you?"

"Fiora... you must understand Shulk, he saw you die!" Dunban exclaimed.

"Well, I saw HIM die too! I know you think I'm weak like this but I can fight just like you!" Fiora assured.

"She is right." Melia said with a serious expression on her face. "She's not as weak as you two think."

"So you hear me, Shulk! I'm coming too!" Fiora exclaimed.

"I-... Alright."

"I won't take no for an ans- Wait, what?!" Fiora was surprised with my answer.

"It's... ok, I'm not the leader. If you want to go with us, I won't stop you. You're strong. I know that well. So... let's do it together, Fiora."

"Shulk..." Fiora smiled to me.
"I won't dissapoint you, I promise!"

Dunban seemed pretty worried, but I was sure that he knew Fiora had the same strength he had.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Where do we have to go, Shulk?" Dunban asked to me.

"I... don't know. Alvis didn't manage to say that to me. However, I don't think he's too far. Visions show us fate, so I'm sure it won't be difficult to find him. He must be close, at least..."

"An ally with the same power as you... If he was from the Bionis or the Mechonis, we'd have at least heard of him. But we don't know anyone like that, do we?" Melia commented.

"Then where is ally?" Riki asked, confused.

"He must be... somewhere in the sea."

Everyone looked at me.

"In the sea? What do you mean?" Fiora asked.

"Not IN the sea, but in a place beyond these lands. It's just a feeling, but as I said, if the visions show us together, then maybe I should listen to my instinct for once."

"Well, should we go swimming there?" Reyn asked sarcastically.

"Flying. We can go there flying." Melia said.

"You're right! The only thing we have to do is find a vehicle that can take the seven of us across the sea!" Dunban said.

"Yes. I can take us in a special airship for the royalty of the High Entia. I call it 'the Passaro'." Melia said, with a shine on her eyes.

"Then let's organize everything and we'll go with Shulk to find that person and the Monado." Dunban said, looking at Sharla because she had to prepare as well.

"Sure. I have to organize too." I said to Dunban.

"Nice! This is going to be fun!" Reyn exclaimed with a smile.

Chapter Text

Rex Narrating

Everything went back to normal that day. The problem was that I considered an incredible event like that, 'normal'.

.........................................

My journey was over. We finally made it. Peace for... just one year.

One year. That was the time that passed before things went back to 'normal'.

After the destruction of the World Tree, we realized that The Architect ordered the titans to join together, forming a large mass of land. Fortunately, they were positioned in a such way that all the cities and important places didn't get destroyed.

So, when Gramps left us in the land, everyone had to decide what to do.

Attending their duties, Mòrag and Zeke went back to the territories of Mor Ardain and Tantal. Considering that we had land to live on now, I decided to stop living on Gramps; I wanted him to do all the things he couldn't do when he had to take care of me as I lived on top of him. Because of my decision, Zeke and Mòrag asked me to come to their nations, but I declined the offer. I knew they would be too busy doing political stuff, and I just wanted to relax.

That's why I decided to live in the territory of Gormott, specifically, in Torigoth, with Nia and Dromarch, that decided to live there as well, and Tora and Poppi, who lived there before. Gramps came by from time to time to check how I was doing, but he was away most of the time, exploring.

First we tried to live in Tora's house, but pretty soon we realized that it was too small for three drivers and four blades.
That's why, me, Pyra, Mythra, Nia and Dromarch decided to buy a house of our own. At first we thought of buying our own houses each one, but then we realized we didn't have as much money as we thought we had. We gathered our money and bought a big house, where everyone lived together.

It was awkward.

I sleeped in my own room, Pyra and Mythra shared theirs, same with Nia and Dromarch.
At first, it was strange to me. After all, I spent my entire life living on top of Gramps. But soon, everyone got used to it and it stopped being so uncomfortable.

The problem was the cash.

The Cloud Sea dissapeared. I didn't think about the consequences till' we tried to buy the house.
My way of earning money was gone!
What was I going to do?!

I decided to explore this new sea, made up of water. And it was worth it.

There were amazing creatures inside it. I hunted a few and asked Pyra if she could make something delicious out of it.

That was the best idea I had in a while.

The food she made was DELICIOUS. Nia came up with the great idea of making business out of it and BOOM! Soon we had our own restaurant.

I know what you're thinking.
Why was I using the legendary Aegis to make something like food?
But, everyone seemed fine with it, and we were making a lot of money out of it.

That's until the event that made my life "normal" again happened.

Pyra Narrating

It was a normal day in our normal lives.

And I loved it! Everything was going well, and I liked to cook a lot. However, I knew it couldn't be like that forever.

One day, while I was cooking the fishes, Mythra went to talk to me.

"Pyra, there's someone outside of the restaurant."

"A customer?" I asked.

"No, he is looking for the Egis and its Driver. I think he means the Aegis. Us." Mythra explained.

"I'll go talk to him."

A lot of time had passed since we thought of ourselves as the Aegis. We were just normal blades, living our normal lives.

I didn't want it to end so quickly.

The boy who was waiting to talk to us was blonde, with red clothes, blue eyes, and... batteries attached to his arms?
The guy looked strange, but he had a calm look on his eyes that made me less worried.

"Hello, who are you?" I asked.

"O-oh, Hi, I'm Shulk. I am looking for the.. the..." He didn't seem to know how to pronounce the name.

"The Aegis." I replied.

"Yes, the Aegis! Do you know him, or her, or it? I don't know what it is but we need its help."

I wanted to maintain our identities a secret until I knew Shulk's intentions but someone messed up my plans.

"I am the Aegis" Mythra said proudly. "Me and that red-head you are talking with. WE are the Aegis"

Shulk wasn't surprised.

"I figured it out. You look very strange compared to the other people in this town."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Mythra exclaimed, furiously.

"Hello!" Rex came near us and looked at Shulk with a smile. "How can we help you, sir?"

"Rex, tell this idiot to stop saying mean things about my clothes!" Mythra ordered.

"Err... what?" Rex asked, confused.

"Hello. I am looking for the Aegis and its Driver" Shulk said with a serious face.

Rex's expression changed in an instant. I knew he was enjoying our new life as much as I was doing. He didn't want any of us to go in a dangerous adventure again. However, if there was something wrong, I knew he wouldn't hesitate to help.

"What do you want?" Rex said with the same serious face Shulk was doing.
"I'm the Driver of the Aegis."

Shulk relaxed a bit.

"Phew, I was looking forward to talk to you!"

Mythra Narrating

The blonde guy explained to us why he was there. He was looking for a powerful 'ally' that would help him on his 'epic quest' to defeat a 'mysterious being'.

Honestly, it was all so vague that it sounded like bullshit to me.

Why would we want to help that guy? He came out of who-knows-where asking us to go into a dangerous mission where we could lose our lives? That didn't sound like my definition of 'pleasant'.

"I'm sorry, but we reject your offer." I stated. "Thank you, goodbye."

"What!? No! I really need your help, the world, no, the universe could be in danger!" Shulk assured. "Believe me, I would like to stay in my home as well, but I... well... you are the only ones who can help me do this!"

The dude sounded really desperate. Sad I didn't care.

"How do you even know we are that 'ally' you are talking about? All of this sounds very suspicious to me!" I commented, looking at him directly on the eyes.

"I don't know. I didn't see the vision I told you about. But the locals say you're incredibly powerful, and the catastrophe is near. You guys are my only hope."

"Why do you need our help?" I asked. "You look powerful enough."
No one would believe that guy even if he had proof.

"My dream said I would need your help."

"Oh, so you expect us to believe a dream. Nice."

Rex's eyes shined for a moment.

"I think I know the solution to this!" Rex said, proud of himself. "Let's solve this with a battle. In that way, we can test this guy's strength! If he's as powerful as us, which is a lot, it'd probably mean that he's telling the truth and that he really needs our help. After all, not *anyone* could be as strong as us."

"Excelent way of thinking." Shulk said with a smile.

"But..." Rex went back to that serious expression. "If you aren't as strong as you say you are, we won't help you."

"Don't worry, I am very confident in my abilities." Shulk said with a calm look in his eyes.

Confident? Confident!?

He was going to fight the Driver of the Aegis and he thought he could win? Oh my...

I was going to destroy him.

"By the way, sorry for Mythra's behavior. I think we should start again." Rex commented

EXCUSE ME!? MY BEHAVIOR!?

"Of course. My name is Shulk."

He moved his hand to shake Rex's.

"The name is Rex, I hope we can have a good battle!"

He shaked Shulk's hand and both of them smiled.

In that moment I gained an even greater desire to sweep the floor with his face.

Rex Narrating

We went to the middle of Gormott in a grass plain. A perfect place to fight.
There, we met Shulk's friends. I would have introduced us to them normally, but I knew that, if Shulk lost, I'd never see them again. I was very busy, so if Shulk managed to win against me, I would make the proper presentations.

"So we're going to fight on our own, right? Just you and me?" Shulk assumed.

"What? No! I can only show my true potential if I have Pyra and Mythra on my side! You can use two Blades as well."

"I only have one." Shulk said confused.

"...Then use them?"

I didn't know why Shulk looked so lost, almost like he had no idea of what a Blade was.

"Use them? We're talking about weapons, right?" Shulk said, even more confused.

"You don't know what a Blade is?" I asked.

Now *I* was confused.

"I'll explain it to you later, but for now, I need you to understand, the only way a Driver can fight is with Blades on their side." I explained.

"Then I can fight alongside my friends as well, no?" Shulk said, more confused than ever.

"If they aren't Blades, I think I would be in a lot of disadvantage. A Driver and his Blade fight like one."

"I think I get it." Shulk said, with still some confusion on his face. "Then I will fight you, Pyra and Mythra. Alone."

I was afraid he would be in a disadvantage, but I needed to be sure he was as strong as me. And by me, I meant, me, Pyra, and Mythra. In the battle, we were one. If he was as powerful as us then that meant I could trust him.

"Don't worry, you'll do well." I said, a bit ashamed of myself.

A blonde girl got near Shulk and asked him something with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you sure you want to fight on your own?" She asked, concerned

"Don't worry." Shulk responded. "If they are really the allies we are looking for, I have to beat them in their ways. Besides, considering what Rex said, the three of them count as one powerful being. I must defeat them to show them my power." Shulk said, with confidence.

"But you don't even have the Monado..."

"It's okay. I can do this."

That confidence... It scared me a bit.

Shulk held his weapon tightly. He was ready.

A nopon appeared near the battlefield.

"When Riki counts three, friends start fight!" The nopon exclaimed.

"One!"

I tried summoning the Aegis' sword. 

However, nothing happened.

I hadn't needed to fight until this moment, so I didn't even realize that perhaps my weapon was gone as well!

"Two!"

Pyra and Mythra looked at me worried.
They realized I couldn't manage to summon it.

Three!

(You Will Know Our Names starts playing)

Shulk started to run towards my direction. I knew he was going to give his all on the battle.

Just when he was about to hit me, Pyra blocked my front flank. However he jumped over her and ended up behind me.

"BACKSLASH!!!" Shulk screamed.

I got hit in the back and I went rolling on the ground a few meters.

My whole body hurt. However, I managed to stand up. Shulk was running in my direction again and Pyra and Mythra were too far from me. Shulk got where I was and his sword shined with a purple light.

"Even if it's not the true Monado, and just a replica, I'll still defeat you!" Shulk assured.

A symbol appeared in the circle that was positioned on the middle of his sword.

"MONADO... BUSTER!"

He jumped as high as he could, prepared to deliver the final blow.
I used all of my will to try to make appear the Aegis' sword.

And miraculously, it worked. Must have been the lack of practice.

Pyra's sword was in my left hand, and Mythra's sword was in the right one.

Shulk looked at me surprised.

"Two swords that came out of nowhere? Why didn't you use them before?" He asked, curious.

"I had my reasons." I said, hiding the fact that I couldn't make them appear.

It was time for the counterattack.

I attacked Shulk with my two swords. This was my first time doing Dual-Wielding with swords but I was fighting pretty well. Each sword was very heavy, but I managed to use both of them at the same time with agility.

Shulk was blocking all of my attacks so I decided to throw my sword to Pyra.

Both of us attacked Shulk at the same time and I managed to hit him on the leg.

Pyra threw me her sword and I decided to end the battle.

"ROLLING SMASH!!!" I said swinging both swords at the same time.

However, Shulk reacted fast.

"MONADO... SHIELD!"

After that words where spoken by Shulk a yellow light came out of his sword, making a shield that blocked my attack.

I lost balance and Shulk used that to his advantage.

His sword hit me in the chest, and I released a scream of pain. However, I wasn't defeated. I got up again.

"It's very nice to see that you don't give up." Shulk said with a smile.

"You fight pretty well, too!" I replied.

I thought of a strategy to defeat him.

Pyra and Mythra were behind me.
We didn't need words to know what to do.

I ran towards Shulk's direction as he studied my moves. However, it was a very nice feeling seeing his surprised face as I threw the swords in the air.

Both Pyra and Mythra grabbed the swords and did a special attack.

"FLAME... NOVA!" Pyra shouted as she threw flames to Shulk.

"RADIANT... PUNISHMENT!" Mythra screamed as she did a powerful attack made up of light.

"MONADO... SHIELD!" Shulk shouted, trying to defend himself from our attacks.

However, while all of that was still happening, I continued running in Shulk's direction.

The barrier that was protecting him broke after the attacks of Pyra and Mythra and they threw their swords to me.

I found Shulk unprepared for my attack but in a last desperation move he jumped as far as he could behind his position and shouted:

"MONADO PURGE!!!"

I didn't know what was the power of that attack, so I grabbed Shulk's wounded leg with my Anchor Shot, brought him in my direction and gave him a powerful slash on his body as a ball of concentrated ether hit me in the head.

Everything started to go dark, and I closed my eyes.

(Artist not found. All credits of the artwork used in this episode goes to them)

Chapter Text

Rex Narrating

I woke up. My body was very weak. I tried to move, but it hurt a lot.

"I can't heal you if you move so much!" Nia's voice said, complaining.

"Nia? What happened?" I asked.

The last thing I could remember was being hit by some kind of ether in the head. That light came from Shulk's attack. Did I lose the fight?

"Argh, both you and Shulk lost consciousness. Sharla is healing him and I am healing you." Nia explained to me.

"Sharla?" I didn't know who that was.
"So... it's a tie?" I asked.

"I guess so. But sheesh, this was a practice battle, no? You really beat the crap out of each other." Nia commented.

"Wait... What are you doing here?" I asked.

I didn't say anything to Nia or Tora about the battle. If I lost, I didn't want them to come with me. I just wished for a normal life for everyone.

"Well. I noticed you were missing, so me, Dromarch, Tora and Poppi went looking for you." Nia explained. "Why didn't you tell us that you were going to go on a quest to save the world?" Nia asked.

"I didn't want to bother you. I just want a normal life for you. For all of you." I responded.

Nia smiled.

"You don't have to worry about us so much. We are the same as you. If you are going to go in a journey, then I'll go too. All of us will go." Nia assured.

"Nia..."

Her words made me realize that I could count on them forever. But I knew that since long, long ago.

"Fine then, you and the rest of the gang are coming too. But I don't think Mòrag and Zeke will have time for that." I mentioned.

"Tell them that yourself" She said to me, smiling.

Mórag, Brighid, Dromarch, Pandoria, Zeke, Tora, Poppi, Pyra and Mythra came to where I was.

"You look stronger than before, Rex." Brighid said to me.

"Indeed. It's great to have the opportunity to travel alongside you once more." Mòrag said with a calm but happy voice.

"I see you haven't lost your touch, chum!" Zeke exclaimed with a big and awkward smile.

"But let's not lose our heads though, you still have much to learn from the Zekenator!" Pandoria commented.

"Tora and Poppi are happy to travel with Rex-Rex again!" Both of them said, excited.

"Me and my lady will serve you well" Dromarch assured with his natural chivalry.

I couldn't believe it. They were all there, saying they wanted to go with me!

"B-but...."

"Don't you see? Mòrag and Zeke made time in their schedules and came all the way here to help you! How will they protect Mor Ardain and Tantal if there is no place to protect?" Pyra pointed out.

"We told them you needed them and here they are. We are all here for you and all that crap." Mythra said without being able to contain a smile.

"Guys..." I was very happy. "Let's make some memories, then!" I replied with an optimistic smile.

"I see you are better now."

Shulk came near me, surprised to see all the people around me.

"Are theybwith you?" Shulk asked.

"Yeah, they are my friends" I said, smiling.

"So I guess that, because it's a tie, you won't want to come with me." Shulk commented, dissapointed.

"I never said that you had to win in order to make me come with you.. You are very strong, and you certainly proved that." I said while I saw how Shulk got excited. "In all honesty, considering you didn't use a Blade and that your weapon isn't even the true uhhh... Monado, was it called? I think I can safely say you are stronger than me, so I will gladly join forces with you."

"You flatter me. I see what you mean by Blade and Driver fighting as one though, and you seemed to be out of practice, so I'd say the result was fair. I'd love to fight with you again, with both of us using all of our power!"

Mythra coughed. "Sooooo, what's the plan?"

"I'll explain anything you need to know on the airship, but right now we need to hurry." Shulk assured.

We did the proper introductions as I promised and we went into Melia's ship.

Shulk Narrating

We finally convinced Rex and his friends to go with us. We were going to need their help to defeat the mysterious threat that Alvis mentioned.

In the way to Valak Mountain I explained all the things that happened to us to Rex's group. We used that time to know more about each other and about our worlds. It seemed like we lived in different realities before a certain breaking point that joined them together. I assumed that breaking point was my wish... for a world without gods.

"The Monado?" Nia said as I told them about my blade. "I think I've heard that name before."

"Now that you mention it, it sounds kind of familiar..." Rex commented.

How could they know the Monado? Weren't they from another world?

  ......................................

We arrived at Valak Mountain. The Passaro could not go beyond the point we landed on so we had to go on feet from there to Ose Tower.

"Wow, this place is pretty similar to good ol' Tantal!" Zeke commented, surprised.

"Tantal? Is that where you come from, Zeke?" I asked.

"Genbu, the titan, is our homeland. And Tantal is the city we live on." Pandoria said, proud. "It's very snowy, just like this place."

"I see."

I looked at our group.

"Are you all doing well? I think some of you might be a little cold." I said looking at the majority of Rex's group.

"Are you saying there is something wrong with our clothes again?!" Mythra exclaimed, angry.

"What!? N-no that's not what I meant!" I said, trying to cover the fact that I actually did find their clothes very weird. They showed... a lot of skin.

"Well, the majority of us are half-naked here, so no problem!" Zeke said, laughing.

I looked at our group. The truth was that Fiora, Reyn and Sharla didn't have very warm clothes either. And I didn't even want to talk about Riki.

"Maybe some of us should cover with warmer clothes." I suggested.

"That will not be a problem" Pyra said as she made appear a flame in her hand.

"Wow! That's amazing! How do you do that?" I asked, amazed.

"Weren't we going to go find that Monando thing?" Mythra pointed out, noticing my excitement.

"You are right, sorry." I said, a little embarrased. "It's called the Monado, though."

"Whatever, let's go." She replied.

The ones that were colder came near Pyra as me and Rex went to the front.

"So... how are ya doing?" Rex asked to me.

"Huh? Fine, I guess. Why?" I replied, curious.

"I think we just need to know more about each other, that's all." He explained. "Now that we are a team n' all."

"Yeah, that sounds good." I commented.

"So... how is your world? I explained everything about mine in the ship but you didn't tell me much about yours. There were only two, big titans?" Rex asked.

"Not exactly like the titans of your world. They were much bigger. Right now, we are on the Bionis' arm." I pointed out.

"Wow, that's incredible!" He said, genuinely fascinated.

"But you have to know that they are just normal, snowy mountains now. After we recreated the world, everything on the Bionis and the Mechonis transformed into normal lands."

"You recreated the world by defeating that Zanza guy, no?" Rex said.

I already told him almost everything about our journey.

"Yes, you are correct." I said.

"In our world, the titans forming a big land of mass we could live on was the work of The Architect. He used the power of the Conduit to do it. Very nice guy all things considered, lemme tell ya." Rex commented. "But what I don't know is how our worlds joined together. If there weren't any blades on the titans you lived on, not to mention the cloud sea, I think I can safely say that we come from different realities or something. There's not a single person in all of Alrest that doesn't know about them. Considering all the things we have been through, it's not a crazy possibility."

"The Architect was the god of your world, right?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah. But he wasn't a god before. He was a simple human. He told us he did a big mess and that resulted into him becoming a god. He made the world I love so much though, so I am grateful to him." Rex assured.

"A big mess?" An idea came to my mind. And it was possible considering what Rex told us about the Architect being split in half. "About him being split in half... what else do you know?" I asked.

If what I was thinking was correct, a lot of things could be explained.

"Well, he said his other half was in an alternate reality, and that it was soon to be destroyed. How, I don't know..."

It was what I was thinking.

"No way!" I said, surprised.

"What happened?" Rex asked.

"I think Zanza, the god of our world, is also The Architect." I explained.

"WHAAAAT!?" He said, shocked. "So that's where his other half went to!"

"That would make sense considering that our worlds are connected. The presence of Zanza and The Architect in each of our worlds made a connection, and when I remade my world it must have joined yours..."

"Now that I think about it, Klaus said that the third Aegis went with his other half. Do you know where it could be?" Rex asked.

"Hmmm..."

I started to think. What weapon did Zanza and Meyneth have with an incredible power and a person that controlled it?

"Maybe... just maybe... the Monado is the third Aegis." I commented.

"That sounds... damn possible! Do you know a Blade that controlled the Monado as his weapon or something?" He asked.

"I think I do. Alvis. He was the one that talked to me in my dream. He could use the Monado, too, and with great mastery. He said his power... was weakened."

"The Aegis used the Conduit's power! Maybe that is the reason why his power was weaker than before! The Conduit dissapeared!" Rex pointed out. "It's the same with Pyra and Mythra. They were stronger before, and they could even fuse in an even stronger form. They can't do that anymore."

"I guess we will just have to ask him when we find the Monado." I said, pretty convinced that our theory was correct.

We continued and we fought a lot of monsters along the way. I was impressed by the synchrony between Driver and Blade. They passed their weapon between each other and they fought like one. It was amazing.

We arrived at Ose Tower. My heart was pounding. Was I going to wield the Monado again? Where was Alvis? Was the Architect really Zanza?
So many questions raced through in my head. And I was going to discover the truth about everything.

We entered the tower. The Monado was laying there, waiting for me to take it.

"That weapon!" Rex exclaimed, surprised.

"It's Malos' weapon! Now I remember!" Nia said, shocked.

"Malos!? The one that wanted to destroy your world!?" I asked.

"Yes! Actually, I guess I should've noticed earlier." Rex commented. "When we were fighting, you used a lot of arts that Malos also used against us. But I was too focused on the battle to notice..."

"Malos was the Aegis. If that weapon looks *and* has the same name as Malos' that would mean there has to be a Blade that wielded it before." Pyra assured.

"And I think I know who that is." I stated.

I looked at the Monado. Everything was clear now. "I'm going to take it. Then we will find the truth."

I approached the Monado and I held its hilt. A light came out of it and shined on my eyes. The light was so strong that I had to close them. The next thing I knew was that I was in the same place of my dream. Zanza's World. Or, as Alvis called it, the Passage of Fate. He was standing in front of me, with a smile on his face.

"Hello, Shulk."

"Alvis..."

I was impressed, but I guess I didn't have to point *that* out.

"You will probably have some questions, and I will tell you everything. You deserve it." Alvis said.

"That would be great, yeah." I assured.

"What do you want to know?"

I organized my thoughts. This was the moment to discover the truth.

"You are... one of the Aegises, right, Alvis?" I asked to him.

"You are correct. The truth is that I am Ontos, or, as you know me, the Monado."

"Then... if you are a Blade, who is your Driver?"

"I guess the answer is obvious, no? You are my Driver, Shulk. The only one that is left, at least."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"I'll start from the beggining. There was a man that recreated the world. His name was Klaus. But you already knew that, didn't you? The thing is, before I manifested in this form, I was just mere data. I was... inserted in the Aegis' Core Crystal, thus making me alive."

"So... every Blade... they are just data?"

"I think all of us are data, even homs. I don't know if you believe that the people in this world have a soul, Shulk, but I can assure you there are no differences between you and me. Besides the fact that Blades come from a Core Crystal and that they reawaken and that..."

I interrupted Alvis. "Yeah, I think I get what you mean. But that still doesn't answer my question... what did you mean with, 'You are my only Driver left'?"

"I was getting to that. When Klaus used the power of the Conduit to recreate the world, my Core Crystal went with him to this 'new world'. There, he and Meyneth touched my Core, and this granted them unimaginable powers.
They became my... drivers."

"What!? Your drivers!?" I exclaimed.

"They used the power of The Conduit through me to create a new world. The Bionis and the Mechonis. Later, after a lot of time, you became Zanza's vessel. That was why you were able to wield the Monado. However, when he returned, you lost that power.
That was until you proved you were worthy of wielding the Monado as my Driver while you were fighting Zanza. Then, when Zanza and Meyneth died, you became... my only Driver."

There was a lot of information for me to process.

"But I didn't touch your Core Crystal." I pointed out.

"You are in part... Zanza. So it wasn't neccesary."

What he said frightened me a bit.

"Ok then, I think that's everything I need to know."

Based on his confirmation of him being Ontos, I was finally sure that the two halves of Klaus were Zanza and the Architect.

"Well then, shall I meet your new friends?"

"Yeah. Let's go." An idea came to my mind. "Hey! Wait a second!"

"Yes?" Alvis asked.

"Uh... Why do you care about this world now? You saw a vision, and you decided to let me know so I could find Rex, pick you up, and stop the disaster. Why? You being Zanza's disciple made me realize you weren't on any side."

"You made me see something that before I could not. I became a little more... human. Thanks to you."

"I wasn't expecting an answer like that... But I think I'm finally starting to understand you, Alvis. Anyways, I think it's time to go."

I smiled to Alvis.

"Yes. Let's meet the boy I saw in my vision." He said with confidence.

(Art by Orioto. All the credits for the artwork goes to him)

Chapter Text

Shulk Narrating

I opened my eyes. Suddenly, as I held the Monado, a light came out of it and Alvis manifested in front of me. He was exactly the same, but he had a red Core Crystal with the same shape as Pyra and Mythra's on his chest.

At the same time, the Monado started to acquire color, ending up looking like the True Monado, but with the colors of the other two.

"Your Monado has reached its physical form. You have finally awakened its true power." Alvis said to me.

"Its... true power?" I said, confused.

"Are you... Ontos?" Rex asked.

Right, I forgot everyone was there.

"That is correct, I am Alvis, or, as you know me, Ontos, the Aegis."

"Nice to meet ya!" Rex moved his hand to shake Alvis'.

"You are the boy I saw in my vision. Good job, Shulk." He said to me.

Rex looked at Alvis waiting for him to shake his hand.

"Awkward." Mythra commented. "Anyways, you must be powerful." Mythra said, interested in Alvis.

"I am. You must be Pneuma, no? I can... sense it. Your power, I mean." Alvis explained. "However, I feel like it is not complete."

"It's a long story." Mythra responded.

Suddenly, I felt a strange feeling in my body. A familiar feeling.

Dunban was lying in the snow, with a big wound on his chest. The ground was full of his own blood.
Fiora was there too. Her head looked as if it had been squeezed very hard, leaving multiple wounds.
A white knight, with his sword stained with blood, looked at me.

It was a vision.

"NO!" I screamed.

"Shulk, what's wrong!?" Reyn said to me, worried.

"I just... had a vision. On it, Dunban and Fiora were..." I didn't finish my sentence.

"What!? What do you mean, a vision?" Mòrag asked, concerned.

I explained my ability to see fragments from the future to Rex's group. I didn't have the time to tell the story of our journey with details to them, so I skipped some parts, such as the visions.

"I see. So, if we don't do something, Dunban and Fiora will die." Brighid observed.

"What should we do? Why would a guy we don't know kill me and Dunban?" Fiora asked.

"Maybe he is the person that caused the destruction I saw on my visions." Alvis theorized.

"It doesn't matter who it is, I won't let that happen." I assured. "The Passaro is waiting for us where we landed, so we are going to need to go there. We can't stay here, he could corner us easily."

"But if group stay here, vision would change, no?" Tora asked.

"Maybe. But it could be much worse. With enough preparation, and if we hurry up, we might be able to reach the Passaro before the vision happens." I responded. "We are going to need some of us to protect Dunban and Fiora. I will be one of them."

We organized everything. Me, Alvis, Reyn, Melia, Riki, Zeke, Pandoria, Nia and Dromarch would be in charge of the security of Fiora, and Rex, Mythra, Pyra, Tora, Poppi, Mòrag, Brighid and Sharla would be in charge of the security of Dunban.

We were close to the Passaro when a big blizzard appeared. It didn't even let us see five steps in front of ourselves.

"What is this?!" Nia exclaimed, worried "Should we return and wait for it to stop?"

"No! It's too dangerous!" I exclaimed. "We have to get on the Passaro!"

Suddenly, a shine passed through my eyes, blinding them for a few moments.
I knew where the brightness came from.

From the armor of the Knight.

(Drifting Souls starts playing)

"He's here!" I screamed, but I couldn't see or hear anyone other than Fiora, Dunban and Nia.

The Knight appeared in front of us.
I held the Monado with confidence.

"I don't know who you are, but you will not hurt Fiora!"

I ran to him and swung the Monado towards his chest. However, he blocked the attack with his sword and hit me with his shield, launching me through the air.

He ran owards me, grabbed me and threw me a lot of meters away. I managed to stand up, but I couldn't see him, because of the blizzard. Out of nowhere, I recieved a hit from his sword in my chest. I fell in the ground. Some of my blood was in the snow, and the White Knight was walking in my direction. I was going to die.
Suddenly, Nia appeared in front of me and started to heal me. She made a scimitar appear and pointed it to the Knight.

"You won't hurt my friends. Even if you do, I will heal their wounds."

"Look at you." the White Knight said, with a voice that sounded somewhat familiar to me. "An abominable creature, able to heal deadly wounds without any instrument. What kind of world is this...?"

He was going to attack Nia, but a sword pierced through an exposed part of his arm.

"Fool. You won't be able to win against us." Dunban stated with a serious look.

The knight took Dunban's sword out of his arm and gave a big punch to Nia, throwing her out of my sight. Then he proceeded to turn around and grab Dunban's neck.

"DUNBAN!!!" I screamed, trying to stand up.

"You are nothing but beings created by by a false god with abilities that can manipulate reality! Something like you can't be called human... so I shall end your existence without meaning!"

He pierced his big sword through Dunban's body, and then he let him fall on the snow. His blood was all over the ground, just as I saw on my vision.

"DUNBAN!!! NO!!!" Fiora screamed desperate as she appeared and jumped to the back of the White Knight.

"GET OFF ME!" The White Knight screamed as he shook.

Fiora hit the knight near his neck with one of her knives. At the same time, he grabbed her by the head.

"ARGH!!" the White Knight screamed in pain because of the wound in his neck  as he started to squeeze Fiora's head.

"FIORAAA!!!!" I screamed.

I managed to stand up, only to fall on the snow immediatly. I couldn't move my body. Was Nia's healing not enough...?

The White Knight threw her to the ground, as if she were nothing but a toy.
Then he started to walk towards me.

"Your blade... It will be mine... and then I will be able to destroy this world."

"You... will pay... for what you did..." I said, knowing that I was going to die.

Just then, he stopped moving. He screamed as he grabbed his neck.

"It seems... your friend did... some considerable damage to- ARGH!!" He screamed in pain and fell to the snow.

This was my opportunity. I crawled towards him and lit the light ray of the Monado. Just as I was going to stab him on the chest with it, he clenched his fist and disappeared.

What did just happen? It looked like he teleported far away as he clenched his fist... However, that wasn't the biggest of my concerns.

I wasn't able to protect them.... Both of them were going to die... because I wasn't strong enough. I failed again...

But miraculously, Nia appeared.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed. She started to heal me as she looked at me, worried.

"Shulk... I... I can heal them." She said.

"What!? Then, do it!" I hurried her.

"The thing is... I will only have time to heal one of them. The other will... die. I am able to heal mortal wounds and even revive the dead, but I have to be fully concentrated. I'm afraid I can't heal them both at the same time."

I panicked.

"Then when one of them dies, you revive them!" I said, trying to cover every possibility.

"If they are wounded *this bad* I can't do it. They have to be alive."

"N-no... I..."

"Shulk." Dunban said, with weakness on his voice.

"Dunban?! I..."

"Heal Fiora."

"What!? But then you will..."

"Time is running, Shulk. I know you want to help her as well, so do it. I have lived... long enough."

"Dunban..." I looked at Nia. She knew what to do. She went into Fiora's direction and she started to heal her.

"Yes... You... have taken the right choice... Shulk..." Dunban said, as he started to pass out.

"N-no Dunban, p-please!" I said, unable to contain the tears.

"I know... you will protect her. I know... you will love her as much as I do. Farewell, my dear... friend."

He closed his eyes.

"DUNBAAAAN!!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!"

Nia looked at the ground.

The blizzard started to fade away, and thanks to my scream, many came by. Between them was Sharla, Reyn, and Zeke.

"What!? What happened!?" Sharla asked.

"My vision... It came true... Dunban is..." I tried to say, without being able to finish the sentence.

"Impossible..." She ran towards Dunban and she checked his pulse. "He... he's still alive!"

"What?!" I said, confused but happy.

"But he needs to warm up. I can manage to heal him but I'm going to need you to search for Pyra or Brighid." She said to Reyn and Zeke, who were next to her.

"Alright...!" Reyn said, panicking a bit, as he started running, searching for them. 

"Zeke von Genbu, you've got this!" He said to himself as he ran away, worried.

And then we waited... We waited for what seemed like hours, when in truth they were just seconds. I looked at Dunban. They weren't gonna arrive in time... Dunban was dead, Dunban was dead, Dunban was... He...

I closed my eyes and let a few tears fall. But then, I heard Reyn.

"I found them!" He shouted, happily.

Pyra ran to where Dunban was and started to warm him up. Sharla started to apply her medicine... and Dunban started to breathe again. 

We managed to save them.

......................................................

After the blizzard ended, all of us reunited.
Dunban and Fiora didn't regain consciousness yet, but they were going to live.
Alvis came near my direction.

"It looks like that Knight definitely was that 'mysterious force that will bring chaos to this world', huh?" Alvis commented.

"Yes. He was very strong. I'm worried about where he will attack. He said he wanted to... destroy the world. In your visions, you didn't recognize any places?" I asked.

"Sadly, no." Alvis made a pause. "How interesting..."

"What happened?" I asked.

"I just had a vision. A city in ruins. A place full of sand."

"I don't know any place like that" I commented.

"It can't be!" Mòrag exclaimed. "I do! It's Mor Ardain!"

(Art by Kekai Kotaki. All credit for the artwork goes to them)

Chapter Text

Mòrag Narrating

We rushed as fast as we could to the Passaro. Mor Ardain was in danger.
I couldn't let that Knight hurt my country, my friends. I wouldn't allow that.

In the way an idea came to my mind.

"Nia, I think you should be careful."

"What do you mean?" Nia asked, worried.

"Well, according to what Shulk said, the White Knight wanted the power of the Monado, or, generally speaking, the power of the Aegis. To do that he needs to kill Shulk or Rex. However, he won't be able to do it if you are there to heal them. To heal us."

"And...?" Nia asked concerned.

"He saw your abilities. He called you a monster... that can heal wounds without any instruments...? The point is, he knows about your power, so maybe he's planning to attack you so you can't heal us. Then, his job will be much easier." I explained.

"I think you are expecting too much of him. What person does attack other nineteen on his own? I think he might be a little stupid, actually" Nia pointed out.

"Maybe. But if he really is the person from Alvis' dream... I'm afraid we aren't fighting someone 'stupid', Nia. Please be careful.

Rex got near us.

"I heard what you were talking about." Rex looked at Nia. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. To any of you guys."

"You guys are exaggerating. I'll be fine." Nia said, without fear.

We finnally arrived at the Passaro. Dunban and Fiora were better, so all of us went in it to Mor Ardain.

"I'm lucky to still be alive..." Dunban commented.

"I can't believe you told Shulk to let you die." Fiora said. "And you shouldn't have listened to him either!" She exclaimed, angry.

"I'm sorry... I just... didn't know what to do." Shulk said.

"I.... It's ok." Fiora assured. "I got a little worked up there... You shouldn't be burdened with so many hard decisions, Shulk. I'm just glad that we are all alive."

"So am I." Shulk assured, with a kind smile.

We arrived to Mor Ardain.

The capital, Alba Cavanich, was beautiful as always. I was very glad to come back, even if it was for a cause like this.

As we were walking to the palace to warn Niall about the White Knight, I observed how amazed Shulk was with our technology.

"Wow, these are very advanced weapons! I have never seen anything like this before..." Shulk said, excited.

"Errr, do you remember why we're here, no?" Nia said.

"O-of course, sorry. I got distracted because of all this incredible technology!"

"I'm glad you find it interesting, Shulk. One of Mor Ardain's biggest economical resources is the fabrication of advanced military weapons" Brighid pointed out.

"However, everything has been worse since the Cloud Sea disappeared. The other big economical resource was salvaging. Now that the Cloud Sea has disappeared, we can't do that anymore." I pointed out. "And we haven't had many reasons to sell weapons, neither, so we are stuck in a bad situation. I'm kind of happy about the latter, though."

"I feel ya, Mòrag. Even if I love my new job in this water sea, I miss salvaging. But hey, I can always find another way to help people." Rex said, melancholically. "At least we don't have to live on the titans anymore. Gramps can live his own life now."

Something that Rex said got my atention.

"Now that you mention it... why didn't Azurda come with us?" I asked.

"Oh well, I told him I was going to leave and he wanted to go with me. But he was too big, he was going to drag atention a lot. He understood." Rex responded.

"However, I can call him whenever we want to. Because I entered in contact with his Core, I can send energy to it. We accorded that it would be the signal that meant we were in a bad situation." Pyra explained.

"Why didn't ya do that when we were fighting the knight!?" Reyn asked.

"Sorry, I didn't know what was happening. Next time I'll be more careful, I promise."
Pyra assured.

"Well, we finnally arrived. Alba Cavanich's pride, Hardhaigh Palace." I commented as we stoof in front of the palace.

........... ...........................................

At the palace, all of us went to talk to the Emperor.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. Hello Aegeaon." Brighid greeted.

After our journey was over I returned Aegeaon to Your Majesty. The emperor would need protection, after all.

"Your Majesty, I'm honored to be in your presence. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you." I said.

"I'm glad to see you as well, Mòrag. Tell me, what is it that brought you and your friends with me?" Your Majesty asked.

"It's about the big menace that made me go with them to the distant lands" I explained. I needed to talk to the Emperor and rearrange my schedule to go with Shulk and company to those mountains. "He will come here, and attack Alba Cavanich"

"I see." Your Majesty said, worried but calm. "I'll evacuate the city. Can you and your comrades help me to defend the empire? Most of the military will be busy helping the civilians to escape." Your Majesty explained.

"We will do our best, Your Majesty, you can count on us. This empire will be saved." Melia assured.

It looked like she took this very personally.

"I'm sure you will defend it with all of your power. I would like to introduct myself to all of you, but that will be for later. Good luck." The Emperor said.

We went to the city. It was the time to fight against the Knight.

......................................................

Once in the city, we divided to cover all of it. Brighid and I were in the Nharil Central Plaza. If one of us saw the White Knight, they would call the others. The city was like a desert. All the people had already been evacuated. I was quite worried, after all, the empire was in danger.

(Incoming! starts playing)

Suddenly, a strange light appeared in front of me, and after that, the White Knight pointed his sword to me.
It was just like Shulk said. He could teleport himself.

"HE IS HERE, IN THE NHARIL CENTRAL PLAZA!" I shouted as loud as I could.

I looked at the Knight with fury.

"You shouldn't have messed with the Empire of Mor Ardain!" I said.

I held my whipswords with confidence.

"Azure II: Hellfire!" I said as I striked a horizontal slash to my enemy. However, he stopped it easily and proceded to attack me with his big sword. I managed to dodge it, only to see that he threw a lightbeam that came from his sword in my direction. Brighid blocked it and I threw the whipswords to her.

"Swirling Dragon!" she said as she attacked the White Knight multiple times. He blocked all of her attacks with his shield and then he used it to hit Brighid, launching her far away. I ran in her direction and took one of the whipswords.

"Let's do it, Brighid." I said to her.

"Of course, Lady Mòrag. He won't be able to stop this attack."

"AZURE III: SOULFIRE!" Both of us screamed while unleashing a wave of flaming attacks.

The White Knight advanced towards our direction, stopping our attack with his shield. However, I saw that his armor was quite damaged.

He swung his sword in Brighid's direction and he threw her a lot of meters away. I was alone in front of him.

"You creations shouldn't have messed with me." He said as he attacked me with his big sword in the head.

Rex. He appeared in front of me and blocked his attack with Nia's scimitar.

"Y-you won't... hurt my friends!" Rex said, using all of his strength to block the attack

Shulk, Zeke, Pandoria, Tora, Poppi, Sharla and Melia appeared, surrounding the White Knight.

"Are you ok, Mòrag?" Nia asked, as she started to heal me. It looked like she came with Rex. He heard my advice. He could leave Pyra and Mythra alone because they needed to kill *him* to use their power, after all.

"Yes, I'm fine. Let's defeat this bastard" I said as I stood up.

"You..." The White Knight said with rage. "You monsters won't come out of this alive!" He shouted as he hit the floor with his sword, starting a tremor around us.

"Everyone! Run as far as you can!" I shouted, as I ran away.

I watched Rex take Nia's arm. She had lost balance and fell to the ground thanks to the tremor.

"Nia! We need to get outta here!" Rex said.

Suddenly, the White Knight took her other arm, and started to struggle with Rex.

"LET HER GO!!!" Rex screamed, desperately.

"YOU WILL DIE!" The White Knight exclaimed, as the floor colapsed.

The three fell down through the hole that was formed by the Knight's strike, and disappeared in front of my eyes.

Because of my advice, both of them were...

Dead.

Nia Narrating

I opened my eyes. The last thing I could remember is that I formed a big mass of water that stopped our fall and launched us in different directions. I looked around. There was no sign of the White Knight or Rex. I was in a cave with a lot of crystals in it. I had never seen these type of crystals before. I stood up and walked a few steps. Then I saw Rex.

A giant rock was on top of Rex's body. He couldn't move.

(The Tomorrow with You starts playing)

"N-nia..." Rex said, weakly.

"R-rex!" I ran in his direction "D-don't worry, y-you will be ok..." I said, pretty worried. "Let me get this rock off you"

I tried to pull the rock off Rex.
"Hnnnngghhh... it's... too heavy..."

I tried again. It was useless.
"Damn... I can beat an Aegis but I can't destroy a rock!" I stared at the ground, ashamed of myself.

"Nia" Rex said calmly. "You have to go. The White Knight will arrive at any moment."

"W-what!? N-no! I won't leave you!" I exclaimed.

"Nia. Please. You have to go."

"No... I won't! I can't do it!"

"Nia. I don't want you to die. You have to live."

Suddenly, metallic noises sounded in the distance. Those were the sound of footsteps. The White Knight's footsteps.

"Nia, please!!!" Rex begged.

"I... can't. I'd rather die."

"They won't be able to beat him without your help!" Rex made a pause. "Nia. If you... if you love me, then you have to go."

I was shocked. In this moment? In this precise moment he was bringing it up again...?

"You don't understand, Rex. I can't live in a world without you! You gave me the courage to stand up and fight, instead of running away. It's thanks to you that I am happy today! You... you saved me... You heard my cries for help..."

"Do you remember when I had to go and let Pneuma die? It was the hardest thing I ever did. But I had to. For once... I gave up. I lived to make her happy. You have to do the same."

"N-no Rex, I..."

Tears started to flow from my eyes.
The footsteps were closer. Soon, the Knight would be right in front of us.

"Even you agreed that I had to leave her." Rex pointed out.

"Y-you... know why I just nodded and I didn't say anything back then? I knew. I knew that if I were to be in your situation, I wouldn't be able to do it. I can't leave you, Rex. It is selfish, I know that. But I can't."

"Nia... p-please, I beg you!" Rex said desperately.

"They'll beat him, they will manage to do it, Rex!. You were the reason I started to have faith in this world again. I can't live without you." I took his hand and closed my eyes, letting the tears run down my face. "I-I'm glad I met you, Rex"

"I'm... glad I met you as well, Nia." Rex said, knowing that he couldn't do anything to change my mind.

"Why are friends crying?" Poppi asked.

Poppi? Poppi!?

"Poppi!? What are you doing here!?" I asked, happy that we would survive to live another day.

"Poppi came down here to search for friends! And Poppi found them!" Poppi explained, happily.

"I'm glad you're here, Poppi. Can you get this rock off me?" Rex asked.

"Sure! Poppi will do it!"

Poppi started to move the rock. Rex was wounded, but it wasn't something that I couldn't heal.

"Thanks." Rex said.

Poppi looked down and took one of the bright crystals that were lying on the ground.

"Poppi had never seen this type of crystal before! She will treasure it forever!" Poppi said as she put it under her beret.

"Well, let's get outta here Poppi!" I said with a smile. "Oh, and Rex..."

I was embarrased. Now I realized that all the things I said were cheesy. Very cheesy.
"I'm sorry... can we forget what just happened?" I asked, ashamed.

"Sorry, but I won't forget it!" Rex said laughing. Suddenly, he started to be serious again. "But I appreciate that you wanted to be at my side, even if that meant dying."

"It was selfish, Rex, and I didn't have the courage to just... go. I'm sorry" I said.

"Everyone is different. That's the cool thing about this world, Nia." Rex said with a smile on his face.

"Are friends going or not?" Poppi said, kind of angry because we were ignoring her.

"Yeah, let's meet with everyone!" Rex and I said at the same time.

Each one grabbed one of her arms and we began to fly. We did it. Together.

(Artist not found. All the credit of the artwork goes to them)

Chapter Text

Rex Narrating

Hoo boy. After all that happened, I had a lot to process. But I needed to focus on the knight. Was everyone okay? My doubts were clear as soon as I saw the group when we got out of the hole. All of them were smiling, happy that we were okay.

"You had us worried, Rex!" Mythra said, relieved.

"I'm happy you came back." Pyra said, relieved as well.

"Are you okay?" Mòrag asked to me.

Her expression showed concern. She blamed herself for what happened.

"We are fine Mòrag, don't worry." I reassured her.

Mòrag hugged me and Nia. "I'm glad you are alive" She said with obvious relief in her voice.

That was awkward. But I liked it.

"What's that crystal Poppi brought with her?" Tora asked to his robotic friend.

"Poppi found a cool crystal on cave under Alba Cavanich!" Poppi explained. "It's very shiny!"

"Can I see it, Poppi?" Sharla asked.

"Sure. But remember that is property of Poppi." Poppi pointed out.

"This crystal..." Sharla observed. "It's an Ether Crystal! I didn't know you had these on Alrest!" Sharla said, surprised.

"Neither did we..." Brighid said, also surprised. "We have gone through Mor Ardain's underground multiple times in the past but we never saw any of those crystals."

Emperor Niall, came in our direction.

"Are all of you okay?" He asked.

"There was a problem before, but now it's solved. I hope you can repair this plaza, Your Majesty." Mòrag said, embarrased of the outcome of the battle. "It looks like the White Knight managed to escape." She pointed out.

"I see. That will be very difficult... Now that the Empire's economy has some problems, I'm afraid we won't be able to repair it as fast as I'd like to." The emperor commented.

I had an idea. What can I say, I'm very good with business.

"Niall- I mean Emperor! I would like to share my thoughts on something."

"What is it, Rex?" He asked.

"Well, we just found out that there is a big mass of Ether Crystals down there in the hole, just under this city."

Sharla understood what I was trying to say.

"I see... the Ether Crystals have a lot of interesting properties, like boost your strenght or your health... if you used them, your economical problems..."

"Are you suggesting that I should try to use these crystals and make them an economical resource for Mor Ardain?" The Emperor asked.

"I didn't want to offend you, Your Majesty" Sharla said embarrased. "These crystals have a big impact in our lands. I thought, that because you are from a different 'world', this could be very... profitable." Sharla explained.

"What!? I'm not offended!" Niall smiled. "It sounds like a great idea! I will make it one of Mor Ardain's biggest economical resources and it will help us to recover from the lost of the Cloud Sea. Thanks, young lady." Niall said, very excited.

"W-wow. T-thanks, Your Majesty" Sharla said, honored.

Yeah... I came with the idea but... Hmph, I guess that will be for another time. There were more important things to discuss.

"So... what should we do now?" I asked.
"Have you or Alvis had any visions?" I said to Shulk.

"No... So we can't know where the Knight will attack next..." Shulk observed.

"But, we can try to guess it!" Dunban pointed out.

All of us looked at him, stranged.

"What do you mean, Dunban?" Reyn asked, pretty confused.

"Well... all of you, start to think... why did the Knight attack Mor Ardain?" Dunban asked, trying to lead us to the answer he already knew.

"Hmmmm... I guess he attacked it because... it was one of the biggest military forces of the world." Mòrag guessed. "He wanted to destroy it before it was too late to do it"

"Exactly! So if we think of other important places from our worlds..." Dunban said without finishing the sentence.

"Then we could guess where the White Knight will attack!" Fiora said, following Dunban's idea.

"Let's see... I think Colony 9 is the most important place from our world, it's very influent and it has a lot of different people on it. Machinas, Nopon, High Entia, and obviously Homs. Even our military is advanced!" Shulk pointed out.

"Wow, for once I'm glad Colony 6 is still progressing and it's not so influent." Sharla commented.

"And in Alrest, besides Alba Cavanich, good old Tantal should be the one." Zeke said, proud. "It produces Core Chips. Those are fundamental for the blades' weapons, as it increases their power."

"So what should we do?" Nia asked. "We can't be in two places at the same time... and there is the possibility that he attacks Mor Ardain again!"

"I don't think so" Dunban said. "He shouldn't know we have the visions. So he must think we are here because it was the most logical place to attack. So following that logic, he will try to attack another place. Because he probably thinks we will try to defend Mor Ardain. I say we should split up. One group goes to Colony 9 and the other one to Tantal"

"Do you have a suggestion of how could the groups be conformed?" Mòrag asked.

Dunban thought carefully for a minute.

"I got it! Fiora, Nia, Dromarch, Rex, Pyra, Mythra, Tora, Poppi, Melia and I will go to Colony 9. Zeke, Pandoria, Mórag, Brighid, Reyn, Shulk, Alvis, Riki and Sharla will go to Tantal."

"The only problem that I have with that idea is that Mor Ardain will be left unprotected..." Brighid pointed out.

"And besides, we only have one ship to travel." Mòrag commented.

"Don't worry, Mòrag, Brighid. The White Knight knows that Mor Ardain has the biggest military forces in the world. If he tries to attack the empire, we will defend it until you arrive. The people won't return to the capital until it is the safe. As for the ship, I can get one for you." The Emperor said.

"Thanks a lot, Your Majesty. We will defeat this knight and with that, the peace shall return to Mor Ardain" Mòrag assured.

"Ok, then! Shall we proceed?" Zeke asked.

.....................................................

Zeke Narrating

We aboarded the Passaro and landed in Tantal's port. We were walking towards Theosoir to warn my old man about the Knight. I was confident that we could defeat him, even if we were only one half of the group.

Reyn, Riki and I were on the lead, and Pandoria, Sharla, Shulk, Mòrag and Brighid were having a great time talking. Alvis was with them, but he wasn't part of the conversation.. Poor guy, it looked like he didn't have a sense of humor at all.

"So, is Zeke princess of Tantal?" Riki asked to me, curious.

All of us stopped.

"What!? Do you know that when a male is the son of the king it is called 'a prince' no, Riki?" I asked while Pandoria and Sharla were trying to contain their laughs.

"Wait a minute... is Zeke a male!?" Riki said, surprised.

"What the...!?" I exclaimed in shock.

"Riki was just joking, Princess doesn't have to be mad with him."

"I am a Prince! If you want to talk to me with a nickname you can use Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos, just Zeke, or the most awesome one... THE ZEKENATOR." I replied, offended.

"Now that Riki thinks of it, Riki does not have name for Reyn... how about... Rockhead!. Princess and Rockhead, the couple of destruction!" Riki exclaimed excited.

"Oy, watch it, furball!" Both me and Reyn said at the same time.

"This is too much for me..." Mòrag said, laughing.

"Even I have to admit that it is funny" Alvis said, thoughtful.

I bent down and punched the cold snow on the floor, as a sign of my defeat. "It looks like the Zekenator has been defeated once again by his evil comrades." I said, embarrased.

"When will they learn to have respect...?" Reyn said, embarrased as well.

We continued our journey to Theosoir, embarrased and defeated.

......................................................

Reyn Narrating

We arrived at Theosoir and talked with Zeke's old man about the Knight. He said he would be careful and evacuate the city. We started to walk around it. Theosoir wasn't as big as Alba Cavanich, so we decided to stay together. Suddenly a man appeared, looking at Zeke desperate.

"Prince! I'm glad you came back! You are here to resolve the problem, no?" The man asked, with hope on his voice.

"What? What are you doing here? You should be evacuating!" Zeke pointed out.

"I know that, my prince, but this is the perfect time to find that assassin!" The man exclaimed.

"What are ya talking 'bout'?" I asked, confused.

"You don't know? There is an assassin on Theosoir! That murderer has killed at least ten people!" The man said, scared.

"An assassin!?" Zeke exclaimed, shocked. "I would love to help you but... there is another assassin we must get rid of." He explained. "Still. I can't just leave Tantal like this..."

"Zeke, we can do this. "I assured." If the Knight arrives, we'll know. As long as it doesn't involves goin' out of the city, it's okay."

If there was an assassin, we had to take care of the case.

"You're right. Tell me, good man, how we can help you?" Zeke asked to the man.

"Thanks, prince! My name is Timor. My girlfriend and I have been investigating the case. We deduced there might be proof of the assassin's doing on their house. Unfortunately, we can't know where it is... so that's when you enter. You have to examine the houses and look for proof."

"I don't know if it's legal to enter other people's houses while they are gone..." Sharla pointed out.

"I know it's bad. But you can decide what is legal and what is not, prince!" Timor assured.

"I shouldn't use my political powers for that. I'm sorry, but if there is another way we can help..." Zeke said.

"N-no, wait! Please, there is people dying!. My girlfriend's mother died because of that assassin! Just... enter while the people is gone, you only have to look for proof."

"I-... I don't know... It would be for a good cause but..." Zeke was confused, he didn't know what to do.

"We'll find another way to do it. That's not our style" I said to Timor.

"I... I understand. But please, help us in anyway you can." He said as he left.

"What should we do?" Mòrag asked. "We can't do anything ilegal but there is an assassin.... I don't blame you, Zeke, it is a hard choice to make."

I thought for a moment.

"We could talk to Timor's girlfriend... He said she was studying the case as well..." I pointed out.

"That's a great idea, Reyn. Come on, let's find out where she is!" Shulk exclaimed.

We looked for her for a while. After asking six girls that were evacuating if they were Timor's girlfriend, we finally found her.

"Yes I am." She responded. "My name is Eques Album, what brings you to me?"

"Weird name" I said. "We wondered if you knew something about the assassin's incident?" I asked.

"What? Sorry, I don't know anything about it. I don't know if you knew this, but the city is being evacuated" She said as she started to walk away. "Goodbye"

"What the hell?" I said, confused. "Shouldn't she know about the incident?"

"She is not walking towards one of the city's exits! I suggest we follow her." Zeke said, attentive.

We followed her in silence through the city until she entered in a house. I looked through the window. She lifted a board from the floor and entered the hole that was under it.

"This is very weird. We need to enter!" I said as I gave a big hit to the door, striking it down.

"We should have been careful! Now she knows we are here!" Shulk said, angry.

"Sorry..." I apologized.

We entered the hole. I couldn't see anything. Everything was dark. Suddenly, someone screamed and the lights went on.

Eques was pointing a knife to Sharla's throat. She had her caught, without being able to move. They were too far to do anything.

"Stay calm... now you are going to do as I say or I will cut your friend's throat" Eques warned.

"Let her go, murderer!" I exclaimed. I looked around. Photos of people, bags with... bodies inside?! This was the proof we were looking for.

"Why are you doing this!? Are you and Timor the assassins of Tantal!?" Zeke asked, furious.

"Timor? Hell no! Oh, you make me laugh. Do you imagine him doing something like this?"
Eques said with a smile on her face.

"So you are alone... that means... you killed your own mother?!" Mòrag asked shocked, remembering what Timor said about how the assassin killed his girlfriend's mother.

"What if I did?! She was a piece of shit!"

"Why did you kill all of these people!?" I asked.

"Who cares!? Stop asking!" She put the knife closer to Sharla's throat.

"Dammit! What do you want?!" I asked.

"I want you to put your weapons on the floor and crouch." She requested.

Alvis took the Monado in silence and then he looked at Eques carefully.

"Monado Armor" He said, calmly.

Eques realized that Alvis grabbed the Monado and she tried to cut Sharla's throat, only to do a small cut on her neck. After that, Sharla gave a big punch on her face, launching her on the ground. The knife flew out of Eques' hand and fell on the ground.

"I'm sorry Sharla, but I knew that if I did that, you would only recieve a small cut and be okay." Alvis apologized. "My Monado arts are a lot more powerful than Shulk's, but they last very little and consume a lot of my power." Alvis pointed out, with some tiredness on his voice.

"It's ok, I'm fine thanks to you." Sharla said as she pointed her gun to Eques. "Now you are going to explain your actions" Sharla warned.

"Dammit! I... I... I wanted to kill some people around here." She explained.

"But why? What are your reasons to do such an horrible thing?!" Mòrag asked, perplexed.

"If you really wanna know...

When I was younger, like twelve years old, I lived in Leftheria. There, I was in peace, I lived happy.
That was until some guys... kidnapped me. They took me to the house of that woman that you call 'my mother', and sold me to her like as if I was a mere object. I couldn't say anything, because if I tried to do it, that woman would find out.
I actually did it once and... she did find out. I learned to not do it NEVER again.

After all that happened, I finally was ready to do it.
To kill my 'mother' and the people that kidnapped me. However I had no idea to know who those kidnappers were, so... I killed every person I suspected of."

"What the heck!? You are mentally ill! Why you would kill innocent people only because you don't know who were your kidnappers!? You are worse than them!" Zeke said, furious.

"I'm not that stupid. I tried to make sure that those were the ones that kidnapped me. What else could I do? In a single moment, you are stripped off of all the things you know. Your home, your friends, your familiy. All of them just... gone. And you are alone in this new world. You are suffering. Do you know how hard it was for me to live with that kind of pain?
I had to do it. If the people that kidnapped me found out that I killed my mother and some of the kidnappers... I know they would kill me. I had to make sure that they wouldn't try to do that. By killing them. And I can assure you, there was NO WAY that I could have just escaped. They would've found out."

"But why were you investigating the case?" Pandoria asked, curious.

"I started an investigation with Timor for a lot of reasons. All the people were starting to be worried about the incidents, so I decided to do it to cover the proof, make the people less worried and to eliminate the suspicions about me. I was sure that the kidnappers would suspect me so I did it for that reason."

"And what about Timor? What was his use?" Shulk asked, confused.

"Do you think everything had a use? I just... liked Timor. I actually find him funny, nice and sweet. It was risky, but I knew he would never find out. He is just too dumb." Eques said, kind of sad.

"Timor was the one that made us start an investigation in this case. If you are going to be jailed in prison, is because of him." I said, happy that she was going to get the punishment she deserved.

"I just... don't care anymore. Deep down I knew that I could never see my family again. Go on, take me in. I'll go to prison."

"Couldn't Timor be your family?" Shulk asked. "I have no doubt that your life has been horrible, but you didn't need to become a murderer! Revenge is bad... It won't get you anywhere."

Eques stayed silent.

"Why you didn't just tell the king? Or to me? We would have punished those kidnappers!" Zeke said, confused.

"They would've killed me before the royalty could do anything about it. Besides, they are really well hidden. Almost nobody knows about them. The fucking kidnappers of Tantal."

Zeke thought for a moment.

"Pandoria, go tell the royal guards we have the assassin. Let's wait here until they arrive." Zeke said.

Zeke Narrating

The guards took Eques to prison. Nothing could justify what she did. I ordered the guards to tell my father about everything we learned in this lapse of time. Those kidnappers would get caught.

We left Eques' house. Still no sign of the White Knight. Suddenly, I saw Timor. It looked like he was looking for someone...
He was looking for Eques.

I couldn't think clearly. I needed help from my friends.

"What should I tell him? That his girlfriend is actually a murderer? He is too fragile. If I try to do something like that he will colapse!" I said, worried.

"I know he isn't the strong type, and according to what Eques said, he wouldn't kill a fly. But sometimes, you have to tell the truth, even if it's painful. That's what ya must do. You're the prince of Tantal, pal. You can do it." Reyn comforted me.

"Thank you, Reyn."

I was ready.

"Timor?" I asked.

"Prince! I'm sorry, but I haven't seen my girlfriend. When I evacuated, she was supposed to be waiting me in the Theospiti's Temple Ruins, but she wasn't there!" Timor exclaimed, worried.

"Timor... I'm sorry for telling you this, but your girlfriend... is the assassin." I said, confident.

"W-what? N-no, you must be making a mistake, she... she would never do that!" Timor exclaimed, shocked.

"She confessed, friend. I know it is hard, but you must be strong." I replied, trying to convince him.

"I... I know... it's just... too much to process... how could she!?"

"You can talk to her in prison. She had her motives. I hope you are ok, chum." I said to him, worried.

"I-I'm fine. Thank you. This was a problem that needed to be solved... and now it is. You are... all of you are the Heroes of Tantal."

"You flatter me chum. How does it sound, Zeke von Genbu, Hero of Tantal and Chaotic Bringer of Chaos!?" I asked, excited.

"Pretty bad, actually." He replied, with a forced laugh

"How could you, chum!?" I responded, defeated.

"Princess? Everything ok?" Riki asked.

"Yes, everything is ok... hey! So that princess crap is a thing now!?" I said, still defeated.

"It looks like everything is solved." Shulk commented.

Suddenly, my communicator started to vibrate. What communicator, you ask? Well, Tora created communicators to stay in touch after we defeated Malos. Mòrag and I had to go to our countries and fulfill our duties, after all. Taking advantage of the fact that this new group split into two halves, we were using them to communicate if something happened to each other.

It was Fiora. She looked worried.

"The White Knight's here! You have to come here quick!" She exclaimed.

"It looks like there is still job to do!" I exclaimed "We can take my old man's ship. With it, we should arrive at Colony 9 very soon. And when I say very soon, I mean *very* soon. On board of the Zekaro, my friends!"

(Art by FlockCall. All credits of the artwork go to them)

Chapter Text

Dunban Narrating

As Zeke's group went to Theosoir in the Passaro, Rex, Pyra, Mythra, Nia, Dromarch, Tora, Poppi, Fiora, Melia and I waited for one of Mor Ardain's ships to be ready and we went to Colony 9. These ships were considerably slower, so Zeke and the others would probably arrive much earlier at Tantal than we would do at the Colony. However, I didn't fear for my hometown. If the White Knight tried to attack the Colony, I would be there to defeat him. This time, he'd be the one that would end on the ground.

What a fool I was, thinking that it would be so easy.

......................................................

We landed on Colony 9. I was glad to see it again.

"This is your hometown, Fiora?" Pyra asked.

"Yes. I live in that house, with Dunban!" She pointed at our house.

"Well, we should go inside the colony and see how things are going without us." I suggested.

We walked a few steps and... screams began to be heard.

"What!? Everyone, let's go!" I said, worried. It couldn't be. I was sure everything was gonna be okay!

We ran as fast as we could to the place where the screams came from. It was the Central Plaza!

I observed how the Knight was about to stab his sword into a man that was in the floor, scared.

"Summon Bolt!" Melia said as she summoned a ball of lightning and shoot it to the Knight.

The attack hit the Knight and threw him away from the man.

"Get out of here, now!" I ordered the man.

He escaped as fast as he could.

"Fiora, go to Tantal and tell the others the Knight is here!" I said.

"It won't be neccesary. Remember that Tora gave us communicators to talk with them if we needed to. I'll do that." Fiora assured.

"Then we'll take care of the Knight. Go to a safe place." I said.

I didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

"Understood. Good luck." Fiora said as she ran away.

(Unfinished Battle starts playing)

I looked to the Knight with rage.

"I won't let you win! I'm Dunban, Hero of Colony 9! And this time, the victory will be MINE!" I said as I ran in the Knight's direction.

He stood up and pointed his big sword to me. I wasn't afraid. I blocked one of his attacks and Rex hit the Knight's arm with Mythra's sword. He fell on the ground, but just as I was going to hit him, he teleported away.

"Don't run, you coward!" I said as I tried to see where he was.

Tora ordered Poppi to fly around and look for the Knight. After minutes that felt like hours, she found him.

"Poppi localized the Knight! He is near Dunban's house!" Poppi exclaimed.

"Let's go!" I said.

We ran again. How were we supposed to beat him if he could just teleport to another place in the fraction of a second?

I saw the Knight destroying everything he could see. A few... corpses were lying on the ground.

"BASTARD!" I said as I ran towards him.

"Dunban! It's too dangerous!" Melia exclaimed. "We have to go together!"

I realized how reckless I was being. She was right.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked.

All of us advanced in his direction. Rex threw his sword to Pyra and he attacked the Knight with his other sword.

"Sword BASH!" He exclaimed.

"Flame... NOVA!" Pyra attacked.

The knight barely blocked the attacks with his shield, but there were Tora and Poppi, with the last one transformed in a more powerful version of herself.

"Poppi QTpi will defeat bad knight!" she exclaimed, angry.

Both of them started to battle. Poppi used her sword as a gun, but the knight blocked the bullets with his shield. Fortunately, I jumped and hit the knight with my katana on the head, making him fall on the ground. Afterwards, Poppi threw her sword at Tora.
"Speedy Sword!" He exclaimed as he hit the Knight on his back. He tried to teleport but I attacked him with my most powerful attack.

"BORN IN A WORLD OF STRIFES
AGAINST THE ODDS
WE CHOOSE TO FIGHT!

BLOSSOM... DANCE!"

The attack stopped him and then he fell on the ground, paralyzed. Was he... unconscious?

"Tora did it! Friends did it!"

Suddenly, with a quick slash, the Knight went right through Poppi's chest.

"POPPI!" Tora exclaimed.

Running as fast as they could, Shulk and company ran towards us. It looked like Fiora managed to contact them on time.

"MONADO SPEED!" Shulk exclaimed as he started to run faster.

The White Knight started to teleport, but Shulk jumped and managed to grab him. In a moment, both of them were gone.

"Shulk! No!" I exclaimed. It looked like he teleported far away with the Knight.

"What happened!?" Mòrag asked.

"Poppi is very damaged!" Tora exclaimed.

Poppi put her hand on Tora's face, like caressing him, and stopped moving.

"Is she dead?!" Mythra exclaimed, horrified.

"She took severe damage. Tora is gonna need to repair her with all his might... But she will live." Tora assured.

"Great to know. Then we need to focus on Shulk! He and the Knight disappeared out of nowhere! We need to find them!" Reyn said worried.

"Yes. Reyn is right. Now Tora and friends have to look for Shulk!" Tora exclaimed.

We were going to find him, no matter what.

Shulk Narrating

I teleported with the Knight. The next thing I knew was that I was in a place I had never seen before. A plain, totally empty. However, it wasn't far from Colony 9, because I could see the colony from where I was now. If I managed to resist, my friends would find me.

The Knight was looking at me. Or, at least, that's how it looked like, because I couldn't see his eyes with that helmet on his head.

"We are finally alone. Now, I can take over that sword and recreate this world." He exclaimed.

His reasons were still unclear for me. He talked with rage, but also with... pain?

"Whatever happened to you, I can find a way to help you. I promise." I said, trying to convince him. He didn't look like he was doing this for power, like Zanza or Dickson. He reminded me of... Egil.

"If I want to have my world back, I need you to let me destroy this one. And I know that you won't let me do that. The only way is to have a power that can destroy and recreate. And I've heard your sword has that ability." He replied.

"But why?! What is making you kill others?!" Shulk exclaimed.

"I need to draw your attention. You surely won't stand still as I destroy a place full of innocent people, right?"

"What...? Just... Let me help you... If you explain what's happening to me, then maybe I can find a way to help! A way to stop this madness!"

"A way to stop this madness... that's exactly what I'm trying to do. And would you still help me stop it, even if that means destroying this world and replacing it with one anew?"

He was right. I would never do that.

"Your silence tells me that I'm right. You don't want me to destroy your friends. Your world."

"Of course not! But we can find a way to..."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He interrupted me. "I'll do what I must. I don't want to kill you, but I have to. You are nothing but creations. You were never alive to begin with! There's no such a thing as 'innocents'. I'm the only human left in this world. I have to do it if I want my world back."

He wouldn't listen to me. There was only... one solution.

"I won't let you destroy the world I love!" I replied, confident.

"Hmph. You said you would do anything to help me... What can I say? You lied."

"You don't have to do this! We can live in peace!"

"It's too late... I've made my decision."

(Tragic Decision starts playing)

He attacked me quickly, throwing me far away. He proceeded to do a large jump towards me, trying to hit me with his sword. I blocked the attack with Monado Shield and then attacked him with Airslash. He staggered and I used that moment to my advantage.

"MONADO CYCLONE!"

The hit made him fall on the ground and I jumped towards him to hit him. However, he blocked my attack with his shield and he swung his sword towards my chest. He managed to hit me and I fell on the ground, defeated. The Knight pointed his sword towards my head and was prepared to deal the final blow.
After everything, this was how I would die? No. I couldn't let that happen. The Knight's sword was inches close to hit my head but I blocked it with the Monado. Our swords clashed. How was he so strong?

"You... I won't let you win! AAAAAAAGHHH!!!!" I exclaimed with rage, overpowering him and making his sword fly through the air. He was unarmed.

I attacked him multiple times, quickly, but he blocked each of my attacks with his shield. However, I could feel his fear. Fear of... dying.
I jumped really high and attacked him from above, but he put his shield over his head to stop the hit. However, I used the blow of my sword on his shield to propel myself into the air again. The Knight looked at me, on the air, perplexed.

"MONADO BUSTER!" I exclaimed, falling with the attack.

He tried to cover it with his shield, but it broke. I fell on the the ground and jumped towards him. I held the Monado with rage and hit him in the head. His helmet broke.

For a moment I felt as if everything was in slow motion. The pieces of his helmet flying in the air... His face, totally deformed, although with a glimpse of what was once a human. My own sword, the Monado, held with rage by a man with a desire to kill...

The Knight fell on the ground, unconscious. I was pointing the Monado to his heart. Just one hit, and everything would be over.
But... something deep inside me told me to stop. I remembered what happened with Egil. It was exactly the same thing. I was pointing the Monado to him, with rage. However, something inside me made me stop. My friends made me remember what was really important. But why? Why didn't I want to kill the Knight? He would destroy the world if I didn't stop him now! Now it was the time for me to make a decision. The future... was supposed to be decided by each person on this world. But now, I would have to decide for all of them.
Decide... not to kill him.

(Anger, Darkness of the Heart starts playing)

I stood up and looked at him. He had a reason to do everything he did. And I wanted to know it. I would stop him as many times as necessary. Until we... understood eachother. Maybe I took the wrong decision, but I didn't want to have the regret of not knowin

Suddenly, I heard people running. All of the group was in front of me.

"You defeated him, Shulk! Now! Deal the final blow!" Mòrag said.

"No... I won't." I replied, confident.g why he did what he did for the rest of my life. I was done taking away the life of those in pain. To save everyone's future... that's the duty of the wielder of the Monado.

"What!? Shulk?! Have you gone mad?! Killing this man is the reason we're here!" Zeke said to me, confused.

"I know. But I realized he's doing this for a reason. He reminds me of a person that I met in my journey, Egil. I've told you of him. The Knight wants to bring his world back, and to do that, he wants to kill me and use the power of the Monado to change the world."

"The Conduit has weakened my powers. I don't know if it's still possible to recreate the world." Alvis explained.

"He will try anything to do it. Maybe you alone don't have the power to do that. But with another Aegis' power..." I commented, looking at Pyra and Mythra.

"This man tried to destroy my country! He is a menace to this world and must be killed!" Mòrag exclaimed, angry.
She ran towards the Knight's direction and charged towards him with both of her whipswords. But before she could strike, the Knight grabbed them from the blade and started to teleport. I pushed Mórag before she and the Knight disappeared.

The Knight... was gone.

"Why did you do that!?" Mòrag said, angry. "Now he has escaped!"

I had never seen her like this before.

"This isn't like you, Mòrag!" Rex said to her.

"We came here to kill the Knight, Rex! The reason we're here is to do that! Even with the knowledge of what he could do, Shulk decided not to kill him. Do you seriously think that's the right thing to do!?" Mòrag asked, furious.

"I have faced a lot of enemies on the past, Mòrag. And if I had the opportunity to save them, to make them understand us, I would do it!" I explained.

"Do you think that man can understand you? The only thing you will do is get people killed!" Mòrag replied.

"Don't you remember, Mòrag? Jin, Malos... All of Torna! They had a reason to do what they did. We convinced Jin to stop. I showed him my answer. It's thanks to him that we could beat Amalthus. I don't know if Shulk took the right decision or if we can truly make the Knight understand. But the only thing I do know is that we have to try to know his reasons and then show him why we LOVE this world. Why it's a world worth fighting for!" Rex said.

"You are siding with Shulk now? We have to kill the Knight. If we don't do that he will destroy the world!" Mòrag replied. "He hasn't even tried to explain his motives to us at all! And why should he?! He's just a monster that won't attend to reason! He's our *enemy*!"

"This will sound arrogant, I'm sure it will." I said to her. "But... In *this* group, Mòrag, we don't just kill our enemy. We try to understand them. And save them. Sometimes, we had to kill our enemy, yes. But that's because they were corrupted with power. Egil, Jin, and now the Knight. All of them suffered. And what we all did was to stop them. Again and again. I am no leader to say what are this group's ideals though, so any of you is free to leave me on my own. But I won't... kill the Knight." I assured.

"You don't even know this guy... How can you say he's 'suffering' and that's he's 'redeemable' so easily...?"

"There was something about him that just didn't let me kill him... The same feeling I felt when I was about to kill Egil. I can't say for sure if I'm right or wrong. But I made my decision."

"Nonsense..." Mòrag said, angry, as she walked away. "If you won't do it then I'll kill the man myself. Let's go, everyone."

Nobody moved.

"...What? Not even one of you wants to kill him!? Dunban, he killed people from the colony!" Mòrag pointed out.

"I know. But I've learned to forgive others. Mumkhar killed my sister, but I didn't kill him. Egil killed a lot of people from the colony, he even controlled the Mechon... but I agreed in that we should live in peace with him and his kind. The Knight may try to kill more people, but we won't let that happen. He's a person. I can tell you that. And I want to know why he's doing what he's doing, too. Who knows, maybe we could help him." Dunban commented.

"What!?" Mòrag was confused. "Tora, he almost killed Poppi! Don't you want to take revenge!?"

"Tora knows that Knight is a bad person. But he can be saved, just like friends did with Jin. Friends have to try at least." Tora replied.

"We don't even know his reasons! And even if they are reasonable as his words have implied, he will kill more people if we don't stop him... Brighid. Not even you...?" Mòrag asked.

"Lady Mòrag. Don't you remember? The reason why we started traveling with Rex. He could have killed us. It's not like we needed to be saved or something. But he still didn't. He knew we had our reasons. The Aegis was a menace to Alrest, and we thought it could destroy the world. We wanted to destroy her. Even with that knowledge, Rex didn't kill us. Can't you see? This mentality... We have always been part of it." Brighid responded.

"I-..." Mòrag looked confused. "I just don't want anything to happen to anyone..."

"Don't worry Mòrag, we will stop him. We won't let him do any more harm." Nia said, confident.

"I... I still don't know how to feel about this. But I... I will keep helping you. I want to know if this decision of yours was right or wrong. And there's only one way to find out."

"It's okay, Mòrag, I understand." I comforted her. "Thanks, everyone. I didn't think all of you would agree with me." I said, smiling.

"You can count on us, Shulk" Rex said. "We are a team now."

"Yeah, I like how that sounds." I replied, happy.

"Well, how bout' we come back to Colony 9? There is still a lot of people that need our help there." Reyn pointed out.

"You are right. Let's go, then." Dunban responded.

"Before that. Did you noticed how the Knight looked like...?" Mythra said, kind of worried.

"You are right...!" Mòrag commented. "He looked like a Guldo!"

"A what?" I asked confused.

(Artist not found. All credits of the artwork go to him)

Chapter Text

Niall Narrating

3 days have passed since the attack in Colony 9. Mòrag informed me of the situation. The Knight tried to destroy the colony and then he almost killed Shulk. But Shulk decided that the Knight could be 'saved'. Mòrag explained the reasons to me and I understood the situation. They were going to need her help for more time than I expected. However, if they wanted to convince the Knight, our countries should be united. We needed to show him we were a world worth fighting for. The countries reunited with each other. After a whole year adapting to this new way of living, we were finally ready to see what was beyond the water sea. Our worlds were more similar than I expected. Nopon, humans (though they called themselves homs), and the source of all the power in the universe, the ether. All of that our worlds had in common. I'd have loved to start making bonds with the other countries but the Knight was our biggest preocupation. He wasn't such a big threat as of now, but if the visions of Alvis came true he could bring doom to the world.

All of our nations made some agreements.
Evacuation ships were ready in both Alrest's and Shulk's world's cities. In that way, if the Knight attacked, the people would be ready. The miltary was also ready to do anything we asked them to.
This time, nobody else would die.

Sharla Narrating

A lot happened since Shulk decided to 'save' the White Knight. Rex told us what a Guldo was, and that the Knight's face was a fusion of a human's face and a guldo's. One question raised in our thoughts. Why did he look like one?. They were the monsters that lived in Morytha, a city that people lived in before the recreation.

What happened that not only he managed to mantain his consciousness, but also made him manifest incredible powers?

Our group helped to fix the damage that the Knight caused to Colony 9. We were expecting him to attack somewhere, but three days passed and nothing happened.
Why was he taking so much time to attack? Was he planning something? Mòrag, having a bad feeling, talked with the Emperor of Mor Ardain. She explained our situation and then she asked him to tell the nations of Alrest and the Bionis and Mechonis to work together to defeat the Knight. Convincing the Knight would be a lot more difficult than killing him.
I was in agreement with what Shulk decided, but I was still worried. After all, the Knight destroyed Poppi. Even after these three days, Tora still couldn't fix her. He looked worried. Worried that he would never be able to repair her. If the Knight decided to attack, Tora was going to stay in Colony 9, fixing Poppi. He wasn't very powerful without her and if a Driver was without their Blade, their abilities in combat were less useful. We didn't want him to die. Who would fix Poppi if that happened?

I was also afraid that the Knight would attack Colony 6. Even if it seemed unlikely, there was still the possibility. However, the fact that Zeke's ship was a lot more faster than the Passaro helped me to relax a bit. If the Knight attacked any place, we would arrive there quickly.

I tried to stop focusing on my worries and start to continue my work. I was helping Dunban reparing the area near the Ether Lamp when a person came running as fast as he could. It was Juju.

"Sister! We need your help in the Colony!" He exclaimed, exhausted.

"Juju, what happened!?" I asked, worried.

"The Knight and some terrible monsters... they are attacking the Colony!" Juju explained.

My biggest fear came true. The Knight was attacking Colony 6.

.......... ............................................

We went flying to the Colony in Zeke's airship, 'the Zekaro'. In my opinion it was a name a bit... egocentric.

But that was not my main concern. The people I knew, the place I lived. All of it would be destroyed...!

"Don't worry Sharla, we will stop the Knight. This will be the time we convince him to stop." Shulk said, noticing the concerned expression on my face.

"Yes. We'll do it." I assured, in part for Shulk and in part for me.

We landed and I observed the chaos the Colony was in.

Flames everywhere, dead bodies on the ground. Houses destroyed and monsters on all the city. They looked exactly like the Knight's face. They were Guldos.
I looked at Shulk. His face... was of pure pain. He blamed himself for all these deaths. Because he didn't kill the Knight.

"Shulk, you need to focus" I said to him. "Your decision has already been made. Now we have to convince him to stop."

"Sharla... this was your people... I... was supposed to avoid this..."

Shulk looked hopeless.

"We can't go back now, Shulk." Mòrag assured. "We will stop him. Not with our blades, but with our words. We won't let another death happen."

Shulk was looking at the ground, ashamed. However, he held the Monado with confidence and looked at all of us.

"Everyone! Let's go." He said, confident.

(Engage The Enemy starts playing)

Everyone went to the front. There were corpses but not as many as I expected. It looked like the evacuation plan the Emperor organized saved lives. We wouldn't let more persons get killed.

The Knight was attacking a girl that was trying to escape. I shot him with a precise shoot in the head. He had a new helmet, that looked exactly like the last one. It blocked my attack, however, it got his attention.

"You..." He said. He clenched his fist, dissapearing.

A lot of Guldos surrounded us.

"How are they even here, and why are they folllowing the Knight's orders!?" Nia exclaimed, confused.

"That doesn't matter. This time, he managed to get an army of his own. And we have to defeat it!" Rex exclaimed.

I shot one on the head, but three appeared behind me, holding my arm.

"Let me go!" I exclaimed, desperate.

Reyn came running and smashed them, launching them away.

'You won't touch one single hair of hers!" Reyn exclaimed, angry.

I saw Otharon fighting with a lot of Guldos a little far from where we were. I managed to escape from the Guldos that were attacking us to help Otharon as the rest of the team attacked them. I ran towards him alone and helped him fight the monsters.

"Thanks, Sharla. Let's protect the Colony!"
Otharon said, confident.

Suddenly, the Knight manifested in front of our eyes.

"Even if I have to kill you one by one, I'll do it." The Knight assured.

"Why!? What have we done to you!?" I asked, furious.

"Nothing." The Knight assured. "But I want my world back. And you don't want me to achieve that. Our goals differ. For that, you must be die."

The Knight attacked us directly.

"Sharla, shoot that water container!" Otharon ordered.

"Understood!"

I shot the water container as Otharon ran towards the Knight. He got his attention by staying near him as the container started to go down.

"OTHARON! GET OUT OF THERE!" I exclaimed.

The Knight took Otharon and with his white sword he... he...

He cut him in half.

As that happened, the container fell on top of the Knight.

Rex Narrating

We were fighting the Guldos as we heard a rumble far away. A big water container fell a few steps away from where Sharla was. She was kneeling on the ground with tears on her face. I told the others I would check what was going on as I ran in her direction. Pyra and Mythra came with me.

"Sharla!? What happened!?" Pyra asked, worried.

"I- I... I came here to help Otharon but... but he.... The Knight-"

Sharla was interrupted by the Knight, who appeared in front of me.

"I'll take you with me!" The Knight said as he grabbed my head and started to teleport.

Pyra and Mythra took my hands and the four of us teleported.

I managed to get away from him. We still were in the Colony, but I couldn't see any Guldos or members of the group around.

The only one I could see was the Knight.

One thing got my attention. He had a new sword. It was smaller than the last one, but it was a lot longer. It was completely white, just as his armor.

"I see you have a new sword." I commented.

"That's none of your concern." He responded. "Soon, your Blades will be mine and with their power I will be able to recreate the world."

"Same ol' speech. You are starting to be repetitive." Mythra said. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but even if Rex dies, we don't. So I guess your plan has just been ruined. A shame, truly."

"Are you sure?" The Knight asked. "As far as I know, your power came from the Conduit's energy. And now the Conduit is gone. You may not be able resist without a Driver. You are weaker than before, after all. But you are still one of the strongest Blades out there. With your power combined with Ontos'... I'll be able to do it."

Mythra was surprised.

"How do you know all that stuff?" She asked, confused.

"We aren't here to talk about me. This time... I will be the one who will win the battle!" The Knight exclaimed.

(You Will Recall Our Names starts playing)

The Knight came toward us with an amazing speed. I wouldn't let him win. Pyra, Mythra and I started to run towards him as well. Our swords clashed. He dissapeared and teleported behind me.
However, Pyra blocked the attack. I used both of my swords to attack him relentlessly, but he used his shield, which was also new, to block my attacks. He grabbed me, but as he was going to stab me, I threw my sword to Mythra and she hit the Knight's leg, letting me go.

I procceded to slide, ending up behind the Knight, and used Sword Bash on his back. Then I used Rolling Smash as Mythra jumped and used Radiant Punishment. The Knight got thrown far away and I held my sword, confident.

"Why are you doing this?! I know your world dissapeared and I feel sorry for you, but this world is beautiful as well! You don't have to destroy it!" I exclaimed.

"I have to do it! It's the only way I can pay for my sins! The world that I lived in... It was horrible. But a simple action, one person with the will to do something would have changed the world to a better place! However... I was a fool... Instead of that, it was completely destroyed. There was people that I cared about there. And now I HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM! Are they like me? Somewhere in the world with unimaginable powers? Or are they like the rest of the people? Monsters without consciousness, following instincts just like animals...!? I want to bring my world back. And then, step by step, change it to a better place with the people that I cared for. If there is a small chance to have that back, I will do it!"

"Even if you become a monster in the process!?" I asked.

"Yes. I will probably never be the person I was before. But that's the price I have to pay. For what I did..." The Knight responded.

I looked at him. He just wanted to have his world back. If we could make him forgive himself for whatever he did... Everything would be over.

"I won't let that happen. We will change your mind. And if you don't want to listen... I'll beat the crap outta ya myself to make you do it!" I exclaimed.

"You are a funny man." The Knight said as he threw a lightbeam toward us.

"Pyra, let's do this!" I said as she came close to me and grabbed her sword.

"Yes! Let's show him why we love this world!"

We jumped, avoiding his attack and charged the power in our weapon.
We rushed directly towards him, using our most powerful attack.

"BURNING....... SWOOOOOOORD!!!!!" Pyra and I exclaimed together launching the Knight far away as we hit him in the chest.

Some parts of his armor were broken, but he managed to stand up.

"How I'm supposed to obtain your power if you're stronger than me!?" The Knight said, helplessly.

"Let's end this, Rex." Mythra said looking at me.

I nodded.

I grabbed her sword and we unleashed a flurry of light arrows.

"Sacred... ARROW!"

The Knight tried to teleport but the arrows were all over the place. He didn't have the time to do it. Trying to cover himself, he used his shield, but the arrows had a long area of attack. When the attack stopped, the Knight was barely standing.

"Please, you have to listen to us." I said, calmly. "There has to be another way. Another way you can... 'pay' for what you did."

"D-do... do you think I'm doing this because I want to pay for my sins?" The Knight asked. "I don't care about what will happen with me. I want my world BAAAACK!!!!"

He appeared in front of us in the blink of an eye and started to attack us relentlessly. Pyra and Mythra were trying to cover me with their shields but the power of the Knight was too strong. He broke our shields and threw our swords far away.

"You did well, boy... But it's over... I'll bring the mankind I despised so much back."

Suddenly, a titan came flying and struck the Knight, throwing him far away.

It was Gramps.

The White Knight narrating

All of my body was in pain. I couldn't believe it. I was so close to doing it...

Even so, I just beat them because they tried to convince me with their words instead of fighting. There was no way I could manage to do that again. I had to become stronger. But how? My new sword was more useful, yes, but they still defeated me with it. If there was a way to be stronger...

I thought. Of course there was one...! I observed the capacities of the monsters that I commanded. I just wanted an army to defeat the Aegises, and before I could realize, a lot of these monsters appeared in front of me, following every thought that came to my mind. Even if I knew that they were before humans, people with ambitions and goals, the only way I could win against Rex and Shulk's group was using them.

I had no idea of why they were following my orders, or why I was the only one that didn't end up like that, but my theory was that in a way, all of us wanted the same. Our old lives. And I didn't know how, but they sensed my thoughts and decided to follow me.

That or with my inhuman powers I could make them do whatever I wanted. Both theories were valid.

When I was looking at their abilities, I observed that they could absorb the ether, the source of the power in this strange world. Maybe... and just maybe... I could do the same thing. I clenched my fist and teleported away. Didn't Colony 6 have an Ether Crystal mine near it?

(Art by Ag+ atelieriji. All the credits of it go to them)

Chapter Text

Tora Narrating

Tora fixed Poppi. Realizing he couldn't fix her on his own, he called his daddypon. With his help, they managed to repair her. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

"Masterpon? What happened? How long Poppi was asleep?" She asked.

"Poppi is ok! Phew! Tora was worried that Poppi wouldn't wake up again. Tora explains to Poppi what happened." Tora said. "Five days have passed since Poppi was destroyed. Two days ago, group went to Colony 6, because Knight attacked it. Tora stayed here, in Colony 9, fixing Poppi." He explained.

"Are friends ok? They beat Knight?"

"Not exactly. But he hasn't attacked again since Rex-Rex defeated him in Colony 6. He sent letter to Tora, saying everything was fine." Tora explained.

Daddypon came close to Poppi to check her functions.

"Poppi? Can you transform back to your Alpha form? I've to check everything is working properly."

"Sure, professor Tatazo." Poppi said as she changed to her first form.

"Ok, it works. Now that Poppi is fine, Tora and Poppi should reunite with friends in Colony 6." Daddypon commented.

"Let's go!" Poppi exclaimed.

......................................................

Once Tora landed on Colony 6 in one of Colony 9's ships he reunited with friends. All of them were surprised and happy to see Tora and Poppi.

"Tora! You fixed Poppi!" Rex-Rex exclaimed.

"Affirmative." Poppi commented. "Poppi is 100% functional."

"What happened here?" Tora asked. He was very shocked because of all the destruction in Colony 6.

"The destruction here was bigger than in Colony 9" Sharla assured. "So repairing it will be more difficult. There were people hurt as well. And... victims. We'll help until the Knight attacks again."

Tora observed the group. Somehow, the most affected one was Shulk.

"Is Shulk ok? He looks very sad about something." Poppi observed. It seems she notice too.

"You are... very sensitive, Poppi. It's just... This time more people was killed. I'm not sure if what we are doing is right." Shulk commented.

"Knight almost destroyed Poppi too. But Tora thinks your decision is very noble, Shulk. Friends have to try until they convince Knight." Tora assured.

"Actually, I found out something." Rex-Rex commented. "I think I've got a really good idea of the Knight's intentions."

"Would you care to elaborate?" Melia asked.

"Well, we all know he wants power. In this case, mine's and Shulk's. With it, he wants to bring his old world back. I think this world was the same Klaus came from. Because we are from this 'new world' he think of us as creations. We were created, yes. But he doesn't think we are as human as he or his loved ones. He thought his old world was going in a dark path, but what happened wasn't cool for him. He wanted a change, not a complete destruction. Klaus caused that, so he wants to repair it. What we have to do is show him the beauty of this world. That's the only way we will change his mind." Rex-Rex explained.

"Wow, that was precise." Reyn commented. "But I bet he won't listen until we defeat him."

"All of this is new for him. I don't know too much about Klaus' world, but I think they were pretty focused on technology, from what I could tell. This might seem like magic to him." Shulk pointed out. "I just hope we can convince him soon. I don't want more deaths."

"We'll do it. Don't worry." Rex-Rex assured.

"Saying that won't make any difference..." Shulk commented.

Suddenly a person came running. It was the same one that warned group about the attack on Colony 6.

"Juju? What's wrong?" Sharla asked.

"The... the Ether Mines! The Knight and the Guldos have invaded all of it!" Juju exclaimed.

"What!? But why!?" She exclaimed, surprised.

"A Guldo can absorb Ether..." Mythra commented. "The Knight... he looked like a Guldo. If he has the same abilities as one of them then..."

"No way!" Pyra said, shocked. "He'll absorb the Ether of the crystals to become more powerful!?"

"We can't let that happen! If he manages to become stronger, we won't be able to defeat him!" Rex-Rex pointed out.

"I'll wait for you here." Gramps commented. "I'm too big to enter that mine."

Rex-Rex said in his letter that in the last moment, Gramps saved them, so Tora wasn't surprised to see him.

"I'm very glad you came here, Gramps." Rex-Rex assured.

"Well, if Pyra didn't send an alert to my Core Crystal I wouldn't have been able to do it." Gramps said.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Pyra exclaimed. "Now we have to beat the Knight!"

"Poppi is ready! This time, Knight will be the one that is defeated!" She assured.

Poppi Narrating

Poppi and friends ran to the cave as fast as they could. Soon, they were on the entrance. Sharla's brother told group that Knight was seen in one of the deeper parts of the mine, so friends had to walk a lot.

"Why didn't he just absorb one of the little crystals round' here?" Nia asked.

"One Ether Deposit is not enough" Dunban explained. "Soon the Ether is absorbed and you need to wait some time to let it recover. Besides, the Knight needed energy for the Guldos AND for himself. That's why he went looking for a big one."

"The biggest one was in one of the parts of the cave that was destroyed during our fight with Xord." Sharla commented. "We haven't been able to access that part since then, but I don't know if the Knight managed to do it."

"Friends will have to search in all of cave to find Knight. But they'll have to do it fast!" Poppi exclaimed.

"Yes, Poppi. We'll find him." Shulk assured.

After searching in a lot of places in cave, friends went to an entrance covered by a big rock.

"I knew since the start he would be here... The crystals are bigger and of a better quality. But the problem is we can't access." Sharla observed. "We have nothing to blow it up with precision. One failure and the mine could colapse."

"Poppi can help in this situation!" Poppi exclaimed as she changed to her QT form. "In this form, Poppi can release missiles that are very powerful! And don't worry, they are precise!"

"It's our best option. Thanks, Poppi" Melia said.

Poppi launched her missiles and the big rock was destroyed. The cave didn't collapse.

"Great work, Poppi!" Sharla exclaimed.

Friends continued. That part of the cave was a lot more destroyed than the last one, and it was full of debris. Poppi cleared the way as friends advanced.

"So... I was thinking and... well, how are we going to avoid that the Knight absorbs rther from other places?" Fiora asked. "I'm pretty sure we have seen other big Ether Deposits, like in Makna Forest or in Tephra Cave."

"Well, I have an idea." Dunban commented. "We have a lot of nations supporting us on this journey. At the end, they know we are the only ones that can defeat the Knight. With their help, we could find the biggest Ether Deposits and protect them, and if it's neccesary, destroy them. I know they are a lot, but we have a lot of people to our disposition, so I guess we could do it."

"I'll talk with the Emperor. And I'll also tell him to keep the Ether Crystals excavations in secret. As far as we know, there could be more crystals in Alrest, but the Knight doesn't have to find out." Mòrag said.

"Actually, I've realized they seem to be in the underground." Rex pointed out. "So if the Emperor keeps the crystals in Mor Ardain as a secret we wouldn't need people there. The Knight would only look here, on the Bionis.

"The problem is we can't stop him forever." Shulk commented. "The ether is the power source of this world. Soon or late, he'll find another way to absorb ether, and we'll have to stop him."

"Friends don't worry, heropon will stop Knight soon and they won't need to look out for crystals!" Riki exclaimed.

Sharla pointed with her finger to a big hole on the wall.

"That. That wasn't here before. I'm sure of it." Sharla observed.

"That was definitely the Knight's doing. Let's go!" Rex exclaimed.

Group came running and they arrived to a big room in cave. Crystals of all colors and sizes were in the walls. It was enough for the Knight to become more powerful than all group together!

Guldos were absorbing the crystals on the sides. And there was a big, REALLY BIG Ether Deposit in front of Knight. What really left Poppi thinking was the person on the left side of the Knight.

"Who are you?" Rex asked.

He looked very similar to Shulk, with an armor as white as the Knight's and the brown hair a little longer.

"I present to you my Blade, Telum." The Knight said.

"It can't be! He looks almost the same as Klaus!" Shulk exclaimed.

"What!?" The Knight exclaimed, surprised. "But how do you know-?"

"We won't let you win!" Rex assured. "This time, it will be different!"

"...I want to see that. Those who stand against my path... will be defeated." The Knight said, confident.

(Those Who Stand Against Our Path starts playing)

"Poppi! Transform yourself!" Masterpon exclaimed.

"Gotcha Masterpon!" Poppi said as she transfromed in Poppi QTpi.

"Let's go! BOOM-BOOM LASER!" Masterpon exclaimed as a big laser came out of our saber. However, the Knight reflected the attack with his shield and redirected it to Masterpon. Poppi grabbed him and managed to avoid the attack.

"Thanks Poppi! Let's continue!"

Rex and Shulk ran towards the Knight's direction and attacked him. However he avoided both attacks and grabbed Rex from the leg. Then he proceeded to launch him to the wall as Telum and Shulk were fighting.

"You don't have to obey him!" Shulk exclaimed.

"Neither I have to obey you." Telum responded giving a quick slash towards Shulk. It hit him on the cheek, making it bleed a bit. Telum was going to give the anoth blow with the Knight's sword to Shulk but Masterpon threw his weapon to Poppi and she used her propellers to block the attack on time.

"Noponic AXION!" Poppi exclaimed unleashing a flurry of attacks to Telum.

Telum blocked the attacks and clashed with Poppi's saber.

Shulk used that moment to hit him with the Monado, launching him far away. Both Shulk and Poppi looked at the Knight.

Mythra appeared behind the Knight and hit him on the back, making him kneel down. As that happened, Shulk and Poppi attacked the Knight at the same time. However he clenched his fist and dissapeared. Poppi looked around. The rest of the group were fighting with the Guldos, that were really strong because they absorbed the Ether. Suddenly the Knight appeared over Poppi and punched her. The hit launched her towards one of the crystals.
Telum reunited with the Knight and gave him his sword. The Knight hit Mythra as well and started a solo fight with Shulk. Poppi could see it. He really was stronger. She walked and reunited with Masterpon.

"We have to defeat him before he becomes stronger!" Poppi exclaimed.

"Then, let's give everything we got!" Tora agreed.

Poppi and Tora ran towards the Knight, that had defeated Shulk as well. He was on the ground, but Masterpon managed to stop the Knight's attack that was going to kill Shulk on time.

"Tora will handle it from here!"

He fought with the Knight and hit him in one of his legs, then he backed down and passed the saber to Poppi.

"Let's do it, Poppi!"

"Roger Roger! Take this! QUANTUM... JUDGEMENT!!!"

The Knight tried to block it but his shield got thrown away and he received all the attacks. Poppi finishing touch launched him to the wall and then he fell on the ground.
Telum tried to attack Poppi but she jumped and threw her sword at Masterpon.

"Swooshing Slash!" Masterpon exclaimed as he hit Telum, throwing him alongside the Knight.

"That was amazing, Tora, Poppi!" Shulk said, surprised.

"Hehe! That's the power of a true inventor!"

(Drifting Souls starts playing)

The Knight and Telum stood up.

"But how!?" Poppi exclaimed.

"The Ether gives me strength. As long as I have it, I am invincible." The Knight assured.

"It can't be... Poppi! Destroy the crystals!" Masterpon ordered.

"It'll be useless! The crystals can only be destroyed with an explosion of a big magnitude! One that would destroy the cave! Poppi's missiles would be useless! Sharla exclaimed

"That's our only way to win!" Dunban said.

"I'm not opossing to that idea, it's just that we don't have anything that could destroy them right now!" Sharla assured.

Poppi thought. They had something.

"Everyone! We have to get out of here!" Poppi exclaimed.

"What!? Does Poppi knows way to destroy crystals?" Masterpon said, confused.

"There is one... does Masterpon remember the self-destruction mode that-"

"NO! Poppi can't do that! If she does that, Tora will not be able to repair Poppi! Because there won't be a Poppi left to repair!" Masterpon exclaimed.

"Poppi knows that. But there isn't other way."

"No! T-there has to be another way... just that friends h-haven't found it yet!" Masterpon assured. "P-Please Poppi, Tora can't afford to lose you...!"

Poppi grabbed Masterpon as he tried to escape from her arms.

"POPPI!!! LET ME GO! OBEY YOUR MASTERPON!"

"I'm sorry. I want you to create another me. Even if it won't be exactly Poppi. Soon she'll start to be more human, and she will help you on your journey. Just as Poppi did."

"POPPI!! LET ME GO!!!!!"

The group looked at Poppi. All of them knew there wasn't another option. If they let the Knight with the crystals, he would become too powerful to be stopped. She had to do it.

"Thanks, Poppi." Shulk said, sad. "For everything."

Mythra was crying as she was running out of the cave.

"NO! YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE!" The Knight shouted, as he tried to follow them and kill them.

"POPPI!!!" My Masterpon exclaimed as I launched him with the group. Reyn grabbed him and ran with the group out of the cave.

"POOOOOOPPIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!"

Poppi started to fight with the Knight to buy time for them to escape.
However, they were too many. Poppi attacked them but she was in disadvantage. Soon, they had Poppi surrounded.

"I'm not just a robot" Poppi assured. "I'm more than that. Just as my friends were creations, I, too, was one. That doesn't make Poppi less human."

"S-shut up!" The Knight exclaimed as he cut my arm.

"Have you ever wondered... if you are a creation as well?" Poppi asked to the Knight.

He stabbed Poppi on the chest.

"You are nothing. Y-you are a creation. You are not ALIVE!" The Knight shout in denial. He pointed his sword to my head.

"Well. At least Poppi felt like she lived. Now... it's too late."

All memories of Poppi passed through her head. She had fun. She had sadness. She had feelings.

Poppi exploded destroying all of the cave.

Being alive. It was a fascinating experience that not many people actually... experienced.

(Art by gopnikRU. All the credits of it go to them)

Chapter Text

Shulk Narrating

(Main Theme (XC1) starts playing)

We came out of the cave.

I fell on the ground and let out a scream of impotence. I wasn't able to do anything! Poppi died, and it was my fault!
I had to ran like a coward because we didn't think of any other way to solve the problem. And everything because I wasn't able to kill him! I was one of the Aegises' Drivers and I still couldn't do anything!
I observed that a lot of our members were affected. Mythra was crying, Brighid too, and it was evident that the rest were sad as well.

"I should've killed him when I had the opportunity. He has done enough harm! I... I..."

"Shulk! Please, we have to be strong." Fiora said. "There has to be a way to-"

"No! Look at what happened! Everything's wrong! I wanted to do the right thing but now... now I don't know what is right!"

Reyn put Tora down, who came in my direction.

"Shulk doesn't have to worry." Tora said, sad. "His decision was right. Soon or late, you will be able to convince Knight."

I felt sad for him. I brought him in my journey, and look at what happened...

"Tora... I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to save her. No... it's not just that... Maybe he is a monster... Perhaps we should kill him... I..."

"That's enough!" Rex exclaimed. "It's my fault too. You don't have to blame only yourself."

"It was Tora's fault as well." Tora said. "But he can't do anything on this state. Tora will... return to his home. He needs to think."

"What!? No, Tora you have to stay!" I tried to convince him.

"He is right, Shulk. Without Poppi, it's a risk for him to be here." Dunban commented.

"Tora will be alright. He just needs... some time alone." Tora assured.

"I'm sorry Tora, I'm really sorry. We will stop him. I promise." I said as tears fell from my eyes.

"Tora feels sorry too. Tora... T-Tora will..."

Tora broke down crying, and he ran away.

Why did this happen?

All of us were sad for Poppi's death. I was supposed to cheer them up but... I didn't have the strength to do it.
I looked at my hands. I was unable to do anything. It didn't matter how hard I tried, there was no way to save them all.
I stood up. Even if it wasn't fair, I couldn't give up. We had to make Poppi's sacrifice worth it. So...

"We won't kill him. I can't say there won't be more deaths, but I swear right here and right now, that I'll do anything to avoid that. I understand if you don't want to continue after what happened. I thought just now that I didn't have the strength neccessary to do this. But here I am. We'll avenge her. Not by killing the Knight, but by sparing him. Will you help me?"

All of them looked at me.

"You will always be able to count on me, Shulk." Fiora assured.

"On me too. It doesn't matter what you're thinking, all of us are here for you." Rex smiled.

"When my father died, all I wanted to do was kill the ones that made that happen. But we forgave them. And we will do the same with the Knight." Melia affirmed.

"I... I'll help you as well. Poppi did that because she knew we could save him. I WON'T let any more deaths happen. I'll use all of my strength to avoid that!" Mythra assured.

"Even if I'm weaker, I can help as well. We probably have never encountered with such a hard decision but I choose to save him as well. We'll do it, together!" Pyra exclaimed.

"You know I'm with you, pal. Let's do this!" Reyn cheered me up.

"As the Special Inquisitor, I should be more careful about what I choose. But I know that this is the right decision. This will benefit the world. We will save the world, together." Mòrag said.

"I agree. This is something we all need to do together to win." Brighid commented.

"Riki hasn't helped much since start of journey. But after what happened to Poppi, he will fight thrice as harder to beat Knight! Riki is with you, Shulk!" Riki assured.

"Yeah champ, y'know, something I noticed was that people listen when they don't have other choice but to do it. That happened in Tantal with Eques, no? Let's beat him, and then change his mind!" Zeke exclaimed.

"My prince and I will help you! Eques was very similar to the Knight, lost in a world without people to love or care about. All that she wanted was revenge and then come back to her 'world'. But, with everyone's help, we stopped her from killing more people. Everyone is supporting you, Shulk! Let's stop the Knight just as we did with her!" Pandoria said.

"The difference this time compared to all the other people we confronted is that now, is that we couldn't stop him. But after all this happened, we will make sure to do it once for all!" Sharla exclaimed.

"You even forgave Mumkhar, the person that killed Fiora." Dunban commented. "If after that he wasn't killed, he could have killed us! You knew the risks, but you still tried to convince your enemies to stop! The same with Egil...
This time, we weren't able to stop our enemy after we made up our mind about what to do, and that costed some lifes. This is the first time that this happens. And the most bold thing you could do was to continue in this path you've chosen. We won't trade one life for another. So we will move forward... until we reach our goal!"

"I won't allow any more deaths." Nia assured. "With my healing powers, I will revive every person the Knight kills! I couldn't do anything for Poppi, but I won't let any of you get hurt!"

"Wisdom is something not everyone has. Master Shulk, only a good person with a kind soul would have chosen what you did. So you can rely on me and on my lady." Dromarch affirmed.

Alvis looked at me."The hardest decisions must be taken by the bravest of all. Some people could say you were afraid of killing someone, but I disagree. You have killed before, and you have done it to people you cared about. This is different. You see there might be a good person deep within the Knight, and you have tried everything to save that part of him. Some may consider that stupid, others wouldn't understand why you didn't kill him. But that just shows how much of a good person you are, Shulk. You can count on me. I have seen the disasters in my visions, but all of that will be avoided. We will convince him." Alvis said, confident.

All of them... All of them were supporting me. But why?

"Why... why are all of you doing this? Why there is no one that is disagreeing with me?" I asked, confused.

"We trust you, Shulk, that's why. Each one of us would have taken the same decision as you." Rex assured. "Well maybe Mòrag wouldn't have but you get why I mean. You don't have to do this alone. WE won't let more deaths happen. WE will stop the Knight. WE all have a goal in common, and WE'll do everything to achieve it. Together!"

"Rex... everyone..."

They were right.

"I... we... will stop him. Thank you guys, for everything." I said, grateful. 

"You know Shulk, this reminds me of when you didn't trust us back then in the Ether Mine." Reyn remembered. "But after you told us what happened everything went fine! You can count on us, pal!"

"Yeah. I knew that since a long time ago. It seems I forgot about it, huh?
...What we have to do now is find a way to communicate with our allies and tell them the locations of the Ether Deposits here in the Bionis. We can't let the Knight go near them." I said.

"That won't be necessary" Niall said as he approached us.

"Emperor Niall!?" Rex exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"It's nice to be here in person. As expected, you stopped the Knight once again. I was looking for you." Niall explained.

"For what? Has something happened in Mor Ardain?" Nia asked.

"No, that's not the case right now. I need you to come with me. Don't worry, I'll take care of the Ether Deposites in the Bionis. My soldiers will watch them and destroy them if necessary."

"But how do you know where they are?" Sharla asked.

"There are a lot of maps that indicate where they can be found. With some help of the people in your Colony, I'm sure we can find them." Niall responded.

"But why do you need us to go with you, Emperor?" Rex asked, confused.

"I'll inform you along the way. We can go in your ship, if you want. In that way, you won't need to come back here for it." Niall explained.

"Understood. Let's go, everyone!" Mòrag exclaimed.

......................................................

Fiora Narrating

We boarded Zeke's ship, the Zekaro, (what a dumb name) in direction to a place I never heard of before: 'Temperantia'.
Niall explained us in the way why he was bringing us there.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but we are in a hurry. I'm bringing you to Temperantia because you are going to be... judged."

"Judged? What do you mean?" Reyn asked.

"The... rulers of each country have reunited to question your decision, Shulk. They know that they don't have the power to stop him but they disagree with you. They think you should've killed the Knight.
You have to convince them, including me, of why your decision was right. If you do, you will count with all of their support.
I'm sorry, but I needed to tell them all the details while we were discussing the Knight's matter. That made them organize this 'judgement'.
Melia, Sharla, you are right now the most close of what we could call, 'the rulers of the High Entia and Colony 6'. So I'll need you to come with me when we land." Niall explained.

"We? But why? Are the ones in the Bionis participating in this judgement as well?" Melia asked.

"Yes. WE are the world now, so it's fair that everyone participates in this. You don't have to worry, Dunban. The representant of Colony 9 will be Vanea." Niall commented.

"She has helped a lot with the reconstruction. It's totally understandable." Dunban assured.

"Temperantia is the closest thing of what we could call a 'neutral land'. That's why the judgement will be celebrated there, in a building built up since the defeat of Malos to talk about international matters." Niall explained.

"I see. Since the destruction of Indol, you had to seek for a new place where you can talk about that stuff." Nia observed.

"You are right, Nia. We have made room for the representants of the Bionis too." Niall commented.

"We're arriving, Your Majesty!" A voice exclaimed from the pilot's cabin.

......................................................

We landed in front of a beautiful bulding that made contrast with how Temperantia looked like. It was completely white, made up of marmol. The entrance didn't have a door. It reminded me of a coliseum I saw in books once, but less big.
We entered and I saw how it was decorated in the interior.
Spiral staircases prepared for the governors of the countries extended to the top. I observed how Niall, Melia and Sharla ascended by them to then appear on small terraces each, which pointed to the center, where we were found. Each terrace had a name under it that indicated who was in that terrace. As an example, the one under Niall said: 'Niall Ardanach, Emperor of Mor Ardain'. Sharla and Melia didn't have a name under their terraces, but that was because Alrest didn't know about the Bionis until recently. I observed the other terraces. 'Raqura, Queen of Uraya', 'Eulogimenos Tantal, King of Tantal.'
All the rulers of Alrest AND the Bionis were there.

This was serious business.

While all of this happened, I observed the place where we were in as well. We were in the middle of the building, a place where you could see all the terraces and where the rulers could see us too. The floor was completely white, without a stain of dirt. Obviously, it was not a place planned for people, because it had no chairs or something to support. Probably the normal thing was that nobody was there, since usually the governors spoke to each other from the terraces, but because this was a 'judgement,' we were in the middle of everything, as if we had commited some crime.
The person that was on the terrace of the King of Tantal gave a step forward.

(The Decision starts playing)

"It seems all is ready. My name is Eulogimenos, I'm the King of Tantal and leader of the International Affairs Committee. I'm sorry for talking to you in these conditions, but we needed to ask you about your decision concerning the future of the world."

I looked at Shulk. He seemed surprisingly confident and calm, considering he was going to be judged about something he decided. All the pressure he put on himself was a reality now, and we had to prove why his decision to save the Knight was right.

"We are ready, Your Majesty." Shulk responded.

"Understood. I'll start saying why we brought you here.
Some of us consider that your decision was wrong and think that all of you should use your strength to kill the White Knight and end this once and for all. Your mission is to convince us of why your decision was right and then we will give you all of our support." The King of Tantal explained.

"And what happens if we don't convince you?" Reyn asked.

"You will have to kill the Knight instead of saving him, as that would be what is better for the world." Raqura explained.

I could already see she was part of thr group that doubted Shulk's decision.
But being honest, probably everyone doubted it, even Niall.
It was something that needed to be explained, as it could be confusing for the rulers of the world.

"We will prove why our decision was right, Your Majesty." I assured.

"I hope so." Raqura commented.

"Well, starting with this, I'll be the one that will ask the first question." Eulogimenos said. "Why did you decide to let the Knight live?"

"I always thought... killing without any reason was stupid. But the Knight had one. That did not excuse him for what he did, no. But it gave ME a reason to not kill him. He is lost in this world, and our duty is to save him, not to kill him." Shulk explained.

"And what gives you the right to take that decision for everyone in this world?" Raqura asked.

"I'm conscious that should've been decided for everyone, but that's why we are here, no?" Shulk commented "To decide."

Raqura stayed silent.

"Not matter what reasons he had, what he did was horrible. You knew that and you still forgave him?" Niall asked.

"We've encountered situations like those before, Your Emperor." I explained. "And even so, we managed to save the world making our enemies see our ideals and goals."

"But this time was different, no? What says that you will stop the Knight before more people die?" Eulogimenos asked.

"I can't be said for suresure. But we will do everything to do so. If we... if we show him the beauty of this world, he won't want to destroy it!" Shulk exclaimed.

"I see. But we are talking about the world now, what is best for it instead of what is best for the Knight. How does this benefit the world? Wouldn't it be much easier if we just killed him?" Raqura asked.

Shulk stayed silent. I looked at him. He didn't have an answer to that. He just thought that killing someone that was suffering was wrong, that's why he didn't do it.

"My brother Egil..." Vanea mentioned.

All of us looked at her, including the rulers.

"He was going to destroy the Bionis, but I begged to Shulk that he stopped him instead of killing him. I understood that what he was doing was wrong, but I knew him. He had a good side inside of him, that was covered by wishes of revenge. After everything, Shulk had to decide if he was going to kill the man that destroyed his colony, participated in the death of his best friend and wanted to destroy half of the world. But he didn't. He promised he would stop his blade as many times as necessary, because he knew he had the strength to do so. Maybe it didn't benefit the world, but it was a noble action, that only a hero would do." Vanea assured.

All of them stayed silent. But after a while, Eulogimenos broke it.

"We still have to see what is better for the world, as rulers. And if killing the Knight is the right thing to do..."

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Saving him will benefit the world!"

This time the attention was on me. It was our last chance.

"What the world has to search for is a better place to live in, no? If we kill him not only we will lose one of the most powerful potential allies in this world, no. That is not important compared to the main reason why killing him is wrong." I explained. "What example would we give to the world if we do so? Yeah, we would stop him and the world would be saved once again by the heroes. But we lose in a way too. Because if we do that, we wouldn't have the strength neccessary to show him this new world. We had the opportunity to help him, but instead we killed him. Because we were foolish enough to think there wasn't another option. Once, I was an enemy of this world. too. But here I am, alive, because one person decided to save me. That person... was Shulk."

All of them stayed silent again. But I was not going to let them decide for us.

"I want to show the world what is right and what is not. And killing someone that is lost, confused and suffering is NOT right. It's the easiest alternative, yes, and it will benefit the world. But is the right thing to do? What a hero, a ruler... a PERSON would do!?" I exclaimed.

The King of Tantal looked at me with determination

"Personally, I think a ruler has to make sacrifices for the greater good. However, your words will be taken into consideration. Now the Committee will make its decision. Wait here, please." The King said as he and the rest of the rulers dissapeared of their terraces to probably go discuss the matter to a common room that we couldn't see.

I looked at the ground, anxious. Did we convince them?

The group looked at me.

"You did it great, Fiora!" Shulk said as he took my hand, smiling. "Whatever they choose, I want to thank you. I couldn't have expressed it better."

"Thank you!" I said, grateful. His smile always made my efforts worth it.

"Yeah, that was incredible, Fiora!" Rex exclaimed.

All of them commented how well I explained our reasons in the 'judgement'. Honestly, I just said what it came out of my mind, and I thought it wasn't that much. But I was happy to be useful.

"It seems like bringing me with you was worth it, right, Shulk?" I asked.

"Completely." He responded, smiling again.

The rulers appeared in their terraces again.

"We have made a decision" Eulogimenos said. "As you explained your reasons with logic, we will give you one more chance to convince him to stop. If you don't, then you will have to stop him in... the other way."

"Thank you. All of you. I swear right now that we will stop him. We will show him why this world is one worth fighting for!" Shulk exclaimed.

"You can count will all of our support now. The next time you face him, I hope it will be the last." Raqura commented.

"It will be, Your Majesty." I assured.

......................................................

We came out of the building to talk about what we would do now. If it was going to be our last try, we would need all of our strength to do it.

"I mean... that judgement was fair enough. It's a fool's errand to keep letting him kill people while trying to make him stop, specially considering that he hasn't shown any signs of regret or hesitation. One more try before having to kill him sounds like a wise decision, that takes both morals and the greater good into account." Mórag commented.

"You're right. I want to save him, but we cannot be naive. This... will be our last chance." Shulk assured.

"The Knight is more powerful now, and there is the chance that he will become even stronger." Alvis commented. "What we need to do is find a way to become stronger."

"But how?" Mythra asked. "Now that the Conduit is gone, we are a lot less powerful than before! I don't know if we can even beat him like this."

"I have an idea. But... it could be dangerous." mythra commented.

"What is it, Mythra?" Shulk asked.

"Well, you told me you are more or less Zanza, no, Shulk?" Mythra asked.

"Well, I am my own person, but he was inside me for a while. Sometimes I think... there is still a part of Zanza on me." Shulk explained, thoughtful.

"Well, the thing is... Zanza was Klaus, right? We know that the Conduit dissapeared because Klaus died, and thanks to that we can conclude that it was connected to Klaus, somehow. If... if there is still a part of Klaus inside you then, maybe..."

"We can... bring the Conduit back?"

(Art by fortgalahad. All credits of it go to them)

Chapter Text

Rex Narrating

"I know that it could be dangerous, Shulk. The White Knight could find out about it and then use the Conduit's power to destroy the world. But it's also our only opportunity to defeat him." Mythra explained.

Shulk stared at the sky thoughtful. Even if it was risky, I thought the same as Mythra. We needed to do it.

"Our next encounter with the Knight will be the last one. We have to go with everything we've got! Let's do this!" Shulk exclaimed.

"But how will we do it?" Pyra asked.

"The place with the biggest conexion to the Architect was his 'room'. So I think going there will be a good idea. We have to try at least, right?" I commented.

"Yeah, let's go there." Mythra agreed.

"Isn't that place like, completely destroyed?" Sharla asked.

"Yes, but with some luck Klaus' room won't be... a bunch of debris." Nia replied.

"It's our best option!" Rex said optimistically. "Let's go!"

......................................................

We aboarded Zeke's ship and went in the direction of the World Tree's debris.
Meanwhile, I observed how noticeable it was the lack of Poppi and Tora's presences.

(Where we used to be starts playing)

I missed them. But I didn't have time to think about it. Poppi sacrificed herself so the Knight couldn't absorb the Ether's energy. And Tora returned to Torigoth, sad about her death. I wanted to comfort him but first we needed to defeat the Knight.

"Tora, Poppi. We'll defeat him. For both of you." I whispered for myself.

Mythra opened the door of the room I was in and she sat next to me.

"You are... thinking about them, aren't you?" She asked as she sat at my side.

"I... don't know if I'll be able to forgive the Knight someday." I commented. "But we have to do the right thing."

Mythra looked at the ground, hopelessly.

"Poppi... She didn't have to go through all of this. I.. I miss her... I miss her so much!" She said, on the verge of tears.

"Mythra..." I put my hands on her shoulders. "I know how you feel. I... I miss her too. But we need to be strong. The world is counting on us."

She hugged me as she let her tears fall.
"I-I just want to protect my friends! W-why do they have to die because of me!?"

"I know you've had it rough, but Poppi's death wasn't your fault! I know you are a good person, Mythra. Even if sometimes you are kind of rude, in the end, you are one of the sweetest and strongest people I've ever met. So please, don't cry. I don't think it fits you very well, either..." I said with a confident smile on my face as I wiped her tears.

"Why do you have to be so dumb!?" She smiled as her last tears fell. "Thank you, Rex. I don't know... what I'd do without you."

"Errr... Mythra? Are you feeling okay?" I said, stranged by her vulnerability.

"I try to be nice for once and you make fun of me. Next time, I won't bother!" She exclaimed, angry.

"No, no, it's okay! I like this! You opening up to me... You... you've grown a lot, honestly... I'm proud of you."

Mythra stared at me with hesitation. And then, she smiled.

"Rex... I..."

Suddenly, the ship stopped. Nia opened the door of the room we were in.

She stared at both of us for a moment. Then, she broke the silence.

"We are... um, ready to land. Am I... interrupting something?" She asked, first looking at me and then at Mythra.

"N-no. Let's go." Mythra said as she stood up.

"Alright." Nia said.

I looked at them, worried. Why was the enviroment so tense so suddenly? The truth was that I did know the reason, but I decided to ignore it and move on.

Shulk Narrating

We landed on the debris on the middle of the ocean. The World Tree was completely destroyed, but at least we were able to walk on the ruins until we found the Architect's room.
We entered in a hole that was in one of the structures and found ourselves on the middle of a destroyed city.

(The abandoned city starts playing)

"This place... it's Elysium!" Zeke exclaimed.

"I'm surprised it looks almost the same. You would think a structure that fell from the sky of this size would have been completely obliterated." Brighid commented.

"Well, it needed good resistance. It was the place the humans were going to live in..." Dromarch mentioned. "So I think it probably wasn't destroyed because they made sure it wouldn't if it fell from space."

"Are you sure it wasn't destroyed? This place looks horrible." Reyn observed.

"It was indeed surprising to see this after everything we went through." Mòrag commented. "I'm glad the titans formed a land where we could live in, because this wasteland... certainly isn't the promised land we thought it'd be."

"Is this place connected to the Architect's room?" Fiora asked.

"Yes. We have to go to that church over there." Pyra said as she pointed to the church with her finger.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sharla asked.

We walked towards the church, which was in ruins. My heart was beating really fast. I was very nervous. Soon, I would arrive to the Architect's room and then I'd try to bring the Conduit back to our world. All of this based on one fact.

I was, in part, Zanza.

I thought a lot about it, and even if I knew I was me, Zanza still made a difference in my life. Each time I remembered how Klaus looked like... it made realize how similar we were.

I tried to clear my mind. The only similar thing we shared was our aspect. My ideals, my goals... my mentality. I was a person completely different from him.

"Shulk? Are you ok?" Melia asked.

"Huh?"

"You looked really worried about something." Melia commented.

"It's nothing to worry about. Thanks for asking." I tried to change the subject.

I was me. Nobody else.

We entered in the church. There was an entrance blocked by a lot of rocks.

"Huh. It seems we can't pass." I mentioned as Alvis took the Monado from my hand.
"Hey! What the-"

He pointed with the Monado to the rocks and pronounced with his natural calm voice.

"Monado Eater."

All of the rocks exploded in the blink of an eye, clearing our path.

"Are you okay, Alvis? That attack was really powerful." I asked, noticing his tired face.

"Yes. I'll be better soon, so it is nothing to worry about." Alvis assured.

I observed the unfunctional mechanical stairs that went down into the darkness. I was ready.

We walked until we arrived to a strange room.

"It's here." Rex said. "The Architect's room."

Everything was completely destroyed. Some lights were on, but the mayority of them were shut down.
The floor was shining with a light blue as well.

"How is this even possible? Shouldn't the room be completely shutted down?" Mòrag commented, surprised. "The World Tree colapsed. There is no way that these mechanisms still work!"

"Maybe... maybe this light isn't a  mechanism. Maybe it is... Ether." I commented, analzying the area.

I looked at the center of the room. I started to feel weird. Something. Something was supposed to be there. I started to walk.

"Shulk? Where are you going?" Fiora asked.

I stopped. What was I doing? I tried to come back with them but my legs started to move by themselves.

I arrived at the middle of the room. I kneeled and then I stuck the Monado in the center. Energy. A lot of it was flowing through my body. Memories. Memories that weren't mine started to invade my mind. I could see everything clearly. Why Klaus did what he did. The Conduit, infinitely more powerful than I could've ever imagined. I started to scream.

"Shulk!"
My friends shouted my name.

I was in the middle of the space. And the Conduit was there, floating. I tried to reach it with my hand. I was going to touch it no matter what!

"Shulk!"
Their voices whispered in my head.

I touched the Conduit. A light came out of it and I started to breath again.
I was on the ground, confused.
What did just happen?

"Shulk! Shulk! Are you alright!?" Fiora asked, checking my condition.

Suddenly, I started to tremble. Another Shulk, made up of light, came out from my body. Me and Fiora stared at it, shocked. The other Shulk grabbed the Monado and pointed it to the sky. Out of nowhere, the Conduit manifested itself in the middle of the room. The other Shulk walked towards us and he handed me the Monado. I grabbed it and he looked at me. Then he smiled, and dissapeared.

I was completely shocked. Rex came close to us, with Pyra, Mythra and Alvis following him from behind.

[Music Stops]

"Woah... That was... something. But you did it! Let's use it to defeat the Knight!" Rex exclaimed.

"Yeah..." I assured, still shocked.

I stood up and walked to the Conduit. Rex did the same. Both of us looked at each other and then we proceeded to touch it.
I didn't feel anything in particular, however, I saw the effects of its powers.

Rex was envolved with a bright light and appeared with a new outfit.
"Cool! I missed this suit!" Rex commented, happy.

In the other side, Pyra and Mythra merged and formed a new blade, with green hair and a new outfit as well. This new blade made appear her sword, radiant with its blue light.

"Being one again feels really... weird" she commented.
"You must be Pneuma." Alvis said as he was envolved in a light as well.

His clothes were more... striking than the previous ones. Of a black color with red lines that highlighted, it was a really elegant and stylish outfit. His jacket was very similar to his previous one, and under it there was a white shirt. His trousers and shoes had the same 'black and res style' as well.

"Hmmm... these clothes are certainly very... suitable." Alvis commented. "We look, very similar, Shulk."

I looked at my clothes. They looked similar to my usual clothes, combining both red and black. The most important aspect was the Monado, that acquired the same color range as our clothes. A black Monado, with a red lightray.

"It comes in a complete set huh? New clothes for you and your blade, if you hurry up, we'll give you a discount with the same style for your sword as well!" I commented, sarcastically.

"Since when do you have a sense of humor, Shulk?" Reyn asked.

"Man, what a bunch of jokers!" I made fun of him, copying his accent.

Both of us laughed as the rest of the group observed us confused.

"Are you ok...?" Nia asked, concerned.

"Yeah. It's really great that we still can have some fun after everything we've went through. We are more powerful now. I think... I think we are ready." I said.

"The last battle, huh?" Dunban commented. "I can't wait."

"What was that thing, though...? The spirit that made appear the Conduit that resembled Shulk?" Riki asked.

"I don't know." I responded. "Maybe... That was the last of Klaus in me. Or perhaps... It was my desire to use the Conduit, manifested. I don't think we'll ever know... But that's okay." I assured, smiling. "I can't explain it, but I feel a great relief. I think... I can finally say that I am, and always have been, Shulk, from Colony 9."

Fiora smiled at me. "That's the person I fell in love with, after all. Shulk."

Rex came close to us as Pneuma untransformed, returning to be Pyra and Mythra.

"This has been a long journey. But I think we are ready now. How are you feeling, Shulk?" Rex asked.

"Confident. We've been through a lot, both good and bad, so I can't say that I'm happy yet... But I'm confident that we will win."

"That's the spirit!" Rex said as he put a big smile.

"I'm glad to be your blade, Rex." Pyra commented as she giggled.

"Me too." Mythra said, trying to hide her smile.

"What can I say? The eleventh rule of the Salvager's code says: If you train, you'll stay good. If you fail, keep up the mood!"

"They become worse each time..." Nia commented.

"You made me regret what I said literally ten seconds ago." Mythra commented, rolling up her eyes.

"Hey!" Rex protested.

"But Rex! You have to keep up the mood!" Nia said, laughing.

"Lady Melia!" A person shouted.

Melia, that was laughing as well, was really surprised to see a High Entia.

"What? How did you come here? What's going on?" Melia asked, worried.

"Princess Melia, we need your help!" The High Entia exclaimed.

"How urgent is it...? As your ruler, I have the need to listen to you, but right now we..."

"We don't know where the Knight is yet. I'm sure we can help him without worries." I assured.

"Shulk... thank you." Melia said grateful. Then she looked at the High Entia. "Well then, tell us your situation."

Chapter Text

Melia Narrating

The soldier explained the situation to us.

There was a lot of chaos without me in Colony 9.

My people tried to fix 'the situation' on their own but they couldn't do it.

"And what was exactly... The situation, if I may ask?" I asked.

"Colony 9 is becoming dangerous, Your Majesty. There aren't many High Entia, and we must ensure the safety of our species. We wondered if you knew any place where we could be safe until you stop the Knight." He explained.

"There aren't safe places. The Knight could attack anywhere." Shulk pointed out.

A place did come to my mind. But ignored that thought.

"Yes. We'll stop the Knight, don't worry. Until then you can stay in Colony 9." I replied.

"Lady Melia, I must object. Our species is in danger. Just imagine the urgency our people have that I had to come here to look for you." He pointed out.

"Since when are you worried about this?" I asked. "The High Entia aren't the only ones that are in danger! Everyone is!"

"We know that. But there are few of us in this world. You must look for the safety of your people. It's your duty as a princess." He said, confident.

"Y-you are no one to talk to me like that!" I exclaimed, angry. The burden of my duty and not being up to the expectations started making me anxious.

Shulk stared at me, calm.

"We don't know where the Knight is, Melia. I think we can help him for now. If we see any signal of the Knight then-"

"Since when are you the leader of the team, Shulk!?" I said, angry.

The look that Shulk gave me broke my heart.

"O-oh Shulk I... I'm sorry..." I apologized. "...You are right, we have time to help him. It's my duty... as the princess of the High Entia." I looked at the High Entia soldier that asked for our help. "I'm sorry. Of course I'll help you. Does anyone have any idea of where we could start searching for? It has to be a calm and safe place, suited for my people." I explained, waiting for someone to tell me an answer that wasn't the one I came up with.

"Sadly, not a single place fits those requirements, Melia. The Knight has probably made some research; It's very easy to know where are the villages and cities of our world." Mòrag responded. "However, we could search for a hidden land, one that the Knight would never find."

"...I guess I can't help it. I know the perfect place. A place supposed to be full of monsters that the Knight would never look into."

"What do you mean, Melia?" Rex asked.

"My city. The High Entia's capital. Alcamoth."

"What!?" Reyn exclaimed. "Melia, are you nuts!? The Telethia are like sand in a desert there! We could never kill them all! In fact, we already tried to, remember? But because at the end we didn't manage to do it, you and your people went to live in Colony 9."

"That time we didn't count with the strength of Rex's group" I pointed out. "And Shulk is stronger now, too. I am not asking you to help me. This is a matter of the High Entia. But if we can't take Alcamoth back I doubt we'll be able to win against the Knight."

Reyn stared at me for some seconds.

"Dammit, you can count on me." Reyn said, suddenly.

"With all of us, no, guys?" Rex asked.

"No objections." Nia said for the group.

"Thank you." I said. I looked at the High Entia soldier. "Go to Colony 9 and tell the others... that we are going to take back Alcamoth!"

......................................................

I was sitting on a room in the Zekaro, (A name as expected of a person that resembles Reyn as much as Zeke) thinking, when I noticed Shulk, approaching me.

"Oh, Shulk! I... Forgive me." I said as he approached me. "I let my emotions take control of me."

"Don't worry." He said. "I kind of understand why you reacted like that. I just wanted to check if you were okay."

"I'm just... not fit to be a ruler, Shulk." I commented. "I'm suppossed to always look for the safety of my people and yet... I can't bring myself to focus only on them. I'm concerned about everyone... And specially, about all of you. My dear friends."

"I personally think that a ruler who cares about everyone is fit to rule, Melia." Shulk replied. "You have to look for your people, yes, but I think that the fact that you care about the entire world so much makes you such a great person in my eyes."

"I'm just... not strong enough. If I'm being honest, Shulk, my main reason for not wanting to help him is that... I'm afraid of killing my people. The Telethia, who were before High Entia... I don't have the strength to end them!"

"You're one of the strongest people I know, Melia. Being able to resist all the loss that you have suffered... I can't imagine it."

"Hey Shulk!" Zeke exclaimed. "Come here for a second! You're good with this technological stuff no? I think something is broken here!"

"It seems I have to go. Just remember Melia, that we are a team. If you can't kill them, we can do the job too." He assured, smiling.

"Thank you, Shulk." I thanked back with a smile. "But I must do my best too."

"This is the Melia I know!" Shulk said.

"Are you coming or not?" Zeke asked.

"Okay, okay!"

As he left the room, Riki entered it.

"Melly is very brave for doing this. She will have to put to sleep a lot of her friends for the safeness of her people." Riki commented.

"Thank you, Riki. It is true that this will be painful for me. The Telethia were people before. Comrades, friends. But it's what I must do, as the ruler of the High Entia." I responded.

"Hope I'm not interrupting!" Nia, who also entered the room, said as she came close to us. "Melia... I... I am really sorry. I have heard your story and yet... you stood still. You continued looking to the future, unlike me. I just... ran and hid from everything. My story is nothing compared to yours."

"Oh, don't be like that..." I responded. "There is no need for us to compare our pasts. What we must do is look forward and follow our ideals."

"Wow, that's pretty inspiring." Nia commented. "But I don't think all my wishes can become a reality..."

"Nia is talking about Rex, no?!" Riki exclaimed very loud.

"Riki, shut up!" Nia said angry.

I giggled. "But he is right, or am I wrong?"

Nia looked at us with surprise. "But how do you know about it?"

"Well... Riki can sense feelings really easily." He said.

"And I was suspecting it since almost the start of our journey." I commented. "I know that feeling, trust me."

"Hmmm, so you liked Shulk, heh?" Nia assumed.

I stared at the floor. "Yeah, but all of us know how that ended. Shulk is with Fiora now, and the best thing I can do as their friend is to... try to leave my feelings apart."

"I feel the same." Nia commented "I don't want to interfere in Rex's relationship with Pyra and Mythra. That would be selfish from my part."

"But Cat-Friend's case is different." Riki said. "Let Riki tell story to friends of how he met Oka."

"That's your girlfriend?" Nia asked.

"WIFEYPON! RIKI IS AN ADULT! WHY PEOPLE CAN'T REMEMBER THAT!?" He made a pause. "Well, a long, long time ago a nopon called Riki live in Frontier Village-"

"Why is he narrating it as a fairy tale...?" Nia commented.

"DON'T INTERRUPT RIKI!" Riki exclaimed. "That nopon was very brave and cool, and he had everything he wanted.
But one day, he found something that could never belong to him.
It was Oka. She was pretty and cute nopon, and Riki fall in love with her instantly. But she was with someone. Another nopon called "Very Stupid Guy". Very Stupid Guy didn't deserve Oka, but Riki, being good nopon, did not mess in their relationship. Years passed and one day they broke up. Riki took the chance and he did big jump to lagoon, showing his braveness to Oka. They married, had a lot of kids and lived happily forever! The end."

"And the lesson is...?" I asked.

"THERE IS NO LESSON, RIKI JUST WANTED TO TELL LOVE STORY!" He exclaimed. "But also, the point, cat friend, is that she must not hide her feelings. Rex is not with Pyra or Mythra, and that's the difference comparing it to Melly's case. Fiora and Shulk knew eachother since they were kids. But Rex met with Nia, Pyra and Mythra almost at the same time. If Rex loves one of them, Nia must accept it. But for now, Nia don't have to think that trying to be with Rex is betrayal to Pyra and Mythra. He hasn't chosen anyone, hasn't he? Both of you are still young." Riki said, looking at both of us. "So if that special person don't love you back, there will always be the future with new adventures and new persons to meet."

"As expected of the Heropon." I commented, proud of him.

"I'll... consider what you said to me today. Thank you, Riki." Nia said.

"Hey!" Rex exclaimed. "What are you talking about? I heard my name and-"

"NOTHING!" I said, quickly. "In fact, I wanted to talk to you. We should discuss strategies with Shulk. The Telethias are dangerous enemies."

"Alright!" Rex said. Nia gave me a look of thanks.

......................................................

We got on the Zekaro and went to Alcamoth. I wanted to hide it, but my legs were trembling. The last time we went to the capital, I barely reunited the courage to kill the Telethias. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it now.

I tried to clear up my mind. I had done this before. With my friends' help, I was unbeatable.

"There are a lot of Telethia in Alcamoth. We have to stay together if we want to achieve the victory." Dunban commented. No

We landed in the middle of the capital. Sooner or later, a Telethia would attack.

(One Who Gets In Our Way starts playing)

The first one appeared and was going directly towards me.

"Let's check this power!" Shulk exclaimed as he lit the Monado's lightray.
He jumped and gave a slash in the Telethia's belly that made it fall on the ground, dead.

Another three Telethias attacked us at the same time.

"Quickly, inflict break on them!" Alvis exclaimed.

Nia used Butterfly Blade in one, Dunban Gale Slash and Electric Gutbuster on another one and Riki used Tantrum on the last one. Then, Shulk threw the Monado to Alvis.

"Monado... CYCLONE!" Alvis exclaimed, toppling the enemies.

The rest of us attacked the toppled Telethias.

"Damn, that was awesome, Alvis!" Rex commented.

Suddenly, another five telethias appeared.

"How many of them are there!?" Zeke exclaimed.

Out of nowhere, I felt something in my arm. Another Telethia grabbed me and took me with it to the sky.

"MELIA!" Shulk exclaimed.

The Telethia could have just let me fall to my death. but we went to the Sky Terrace, at the top of Alcamoth's palace.

It put me on the floor, and I looked at it.

"What...?" I asked more for myself than for the Telethia.

The Telethia stared at me, intensely.

Suddenly, a voice talked to me on my head.

"You... Princess Melia..."

I was shocked. The High Entias that transformed in the Telethias were still conscious!?

"You... do you understand me?" I asked.

This time, it wasn't just one voice that talked inside my head.

"It was..."
"It was..."
"It was..."

"YOUR FAUUUUUUUUUUUULT" All of them said at the same time.

My head hurt. My legs started to tremble. My heart was aching because of the pain I caused. My fears became true. Tears started to fell from my eyes.

"I-I'm sorry. I n-never wanted this to happen." The Telethia grabbed me again as my last tears fell. "As a princess, my duty was to protect you. And I failed."

The Telethia threw me and let me fall to my death.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Pneuma screamed as she grabbed me in the air and put me on the ground, safe.

The Telethia let out a scream of fury as it went flying directly towards us.
In the air, Rex jumped and cut it in half. He went in our direction.

"Melia, are you ok? If Pneuma wasn't there to rescue you..." Rex said.

(While I Think starts playing)

"This is all my fault! The Telethia are still conscious and they told me they were suffering because of me!" I said as I cried.

"It's not your fault, Melia, they must be messing with your mind!" Rex exclaimed.

A big scream sounded in the distance.

A giant Telethia, the biggest one that I had ever seen, started to fly towards us.

"Melia! Watch out!" Rex warned me.

The Telethia hit me with its wing and I got launched towards a wall, where I hit my head. The last thing I could recall was my body falling on the floor.

......................................................

I opened my eyes. Everything was white. Was I dead?

"Melia. I'm happy to see you again."

I looked behind me. It was Kallian.

"Brother!? But how....?"

He giggled.

"You know that I am not actually here. But you don't want to believe it, sister."

"I... don't care." I ran towards him and hugged him tight. "I don't care if you are real or not. But as long as I can see you again as I am doing now, it's enough for me." I started to cry again. "I miss you so much, brother."

"This isn't like you, Melia. When we were children, you always tried to avoid that other people saw your tears." Kallian reminded me.

"You are still the same... I-I just can't hold my feelings inside me anymore." I said, crying. "First I lost our father, then our people and the last one was you! Not even the one I loved returned my feelings! Why would I keep fighting, when there is no reason for me to do so!?" I exclaimed.

"Melia... you still have reasons to fight. Your people need you, your friends are waiting for you to come back. It's not the end of the world just because your life right now is not going in the way you would like it to be. Can you say for certain that in the future, you won't be happy?"

I thought about his words. He was right. After all the things I went through, I never gave up. If there is something my adventure with Shulk taught me, it's that the future was uncertain. There are endless possibilities, and the present was constantly changing, through my actions. I could shape the happy future I wanted to have.

Yet I still had doubts.

"...But what about my duties...? I don't know if I can kill all of them, Kallian. They were our people..."

"You must fulfill your duty. Not the duty of the ruler of the High Entia, but the duty of doing what is right for everyone... And what is right for you, too."

"Is it even possible to fulfill both...?" I asked.

"It is. It's just a matter of how you do it."

"How I do it... Tell me brother, how?"

"You know the answer deep within your heart. You are talking to none other than yourself right now, after all."

"...I'm going to kill the Telethia, who were my people before. But I'm also saving them by doing so. It's my duty to end their suffering... and my own suffering, too... Once and for all."

"It seems you have found your answer."

"Thank you, brother. You gave me the strength to continue. I won't dissapoint you." I assured.

"It was your own will that granted you this strength. But even if I am just a memory, you'll always be able to count on me, Melia. Keep us in your heart, and let that feeling give you the confidence you need."

"It seems I'll never be able to get rid of you even if I wanted to!" Melia giggled with tears on her eyes.

"Goodbye, sister."

"...Goodbye, brother."

......................................................

I stood up.

"Melia! You are ok!" Shulk exclaimed.

One last tear fell on the ground. I pointed my staff to the sky. Even if it was for just a moment, I felt peace of mind. The light that was within me awakened. The spell that required you to have perfect balance was released.

"Summon... LIGHT!" I exclaimed as a shining light came out of my staff iluminating all the city.

By one by one, the Telethias fell on the ground, dead.

"They are dying? What did you do, Melia?" Rex asked.

"I... saved them." I responded.

My people. Finally, I ended their suffering.

(Art by みちゃこ. All credits of it go to them.)

Chapter Text

The White Knight narrating

I arrived to the cave we were hiding in. Telus, my blade, was waiting me there with the hundreds of Guldos that were on our side.

"What took you so long?" He asked me.

"I had to check something." I didn't want to tell him that, considering the information I collected, Shulk and Rex's group would find us very soon. The situation didn't look bright for us.

"You look worried about something." Telum commented. "Oh! Let me guess! It has to do with where are we going to collect the ether?"

"You are right. We have to find a place where we can absorb ether without being noticed." I said. "In that way, we'll be powerful enough to beat them... I think. However-"

"You sure... talk a lot, huh buddy?" Telum commented.. "With all the things you said about 'oh no, I hate this world' you didn't even let me introduce myself to the enemies! That's like, the most important part!"

"Are you really on my side? I thought blades had the ideals of their drivers, no?" I commented.

"Oh, I do have them. But it's just that I wasn't in the spotlight at all!" He protested. "You really need to learn a lot of things about how this world works if you want to win. I'm happy that you synthonized with me, and I'm glad I'm this powerful thanks to your strength. But come on! Do you know that there is ether all over the place, no?" Telum pointed out.

"We can't absorb it." I said. "It seems it must be... condensed."

"Then why don't you just go and absorb the ether of a Titan's core crystal?" He asked. "There is nothing stopping you, y'know?"

"All the titan's core crystals are in everyone's sight. They will know about it and defeat us instantly." I commented.

"Damn, you sure did your research. As expected of you... Well, we could go to Torna!" Telum proposed. "With a bit of luck, the dead titan's core crystal will still have ether that we can absorb! And no one will be watching over something like Torna."

"Torna...?" I remembered the little I knew about it. "If I have investigated correctly, that Titan was under the Cloud Sea, taken down by the Aegis. And there is no Cloud Sea now." I pointed out.

"But we could try to find it! It's impossible that it just disappeared... Besides, it's our best opportunity, no?" Telum asked.

"Hmph. I guess you are right." I commented.

Mythra Narrating

After we ended with the Telethia in Alcamoth, the High Entia went to the city to hide from the Knight's destruction.
We decided to go back to Colony 9 to organize ourselves. After all, in that very moment, the White Knight could be absorbing ether and getting stronger. We needed to stop him before he became invincible.

Just when we were starting to guess where he could be, a strange person came towards us.

"There you are, Shulk, Fiora" The strange woman said.

"Linada! How are you? What's up?" Fiora asked.

"I wanted to help you to defeat the Knight and I just discovered how!" Linada said, with a shine on her eyes. "Remember when you were a Mechon, Fiora?"

"There's no way I could forget that..." Fiora said, thoughtful.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't want to bring bad memories." Linada apologized. "My point is, you aren't really strong in this form, right?"

"Well... actually, I guess you are right. I almost died, and my only utility for now has been talking..." Fiora realized.

"But what if you were to have the powers of your Mechon form again?" Linada pointed out.

"Are you suggesting...?" Shulk said. "NO! We can't do that!"

"Calm down... Of course I would never transform her in a Mechon again." Linada assured. "But there is a way. I can build her a suit, and in that way she will be able to attack properly."

"A suit...? That sounds great!" Fiora exclaimed.

"Sadly, if we want it to be as powerful as you were on that form, I will need your help." Linada mentioned. "There is a Mechon, called M-R3X-x-n14-CANON..."

"That surely is one hell of a name..." Nia commented.

"It is one of the strongest Mechon ever built, but it was never used because its destruction was masive." Linada explained. "It was built with Egil's best parts, so he tried to take them back as they weren't going be useful on that Mechon. However, it was programmed in a way that if anyone tried to harm it, it would attack that person. So Egil was never able to get the pieces back."

"Not even Egil...?" Shulk commented, surprised

"That mechon has now developed a strange self-consciousness. There was no way to shut it down, or beat it." Linada explained. "It was pure luck that Egil left a diary with all the details related to the M-R3X-N14 CANON. And when I was looking at its components... I saw it. The X core. A component powerful enough to recreate Fiora's powers on her Mechon form. The problem is..."

"That it's inside that Mechon, no?" I finished her sentence.

"That's right. I can do the work part, but you are the only ones powerful enough to defeat it." Linada said. "The rests of the Mechonis are near here, in the middle of the ocean. While many places were destroyed, the Central Factory didn't recieve too much damage, compared to the rest of Mechonis, at least. On that area, you will find the mechon in a closed hangar, number 134-B, that can only be unlocked with this key-card" Linada explained as she handed the key-card to Shulk.

"Err... maybe we should ask Fiora first?" I suggested. "How about it, Fiora?"

"It sounds great. I want to be of use to all of you, so I'll do it not matter what." She assured.

"Well, then it's all settled!" Rex said, eager. "To the Mechonis!"

......................................................

We went on the Zekaro (A name as stupid as Zeke himself) to the Mechonis. I wanted to test my abilities against that Mechon. Just because we could transform into Pneuma again didn't mean I wouldn't fight anymore.

When we landed, I observed the place.
It was totally destoyed. A lot of machines, broken and unfunctional, were on the ground, without any chances of ever moving again on their 'lives'. As for the Central Factory itself, it was totally in ruins, with debris everywhere.

"This place surely looks abandoned." I commented. "It's a pretty crazy fact that this was once a glorious factory."

"The Mechonis was made of non-organic components." Dunban explained. "When it was destroyed, its ruins went to the ocean. Though it is a miracle that this isn't under the sea. What you see right now, the destruction, is nothing compared of how it could be if the damage was actually serious."

"People lived in this place?" Pyra asked.

"Yeah. But it was abandoned years ago, when Egil started his dream of revenge." Shulk commented. "Now they, the Machina, live in Colony 9 or 6, with us. In fact, Linada was one of them."

"I see... so we aren't just protecting our people. All the species depend on us." I commented. "That's why we must be stronger, to finally defeat the Knight."

"If I'm right, the hangar Linada mentioned should be over here..." Melia observed.

I though about how the place should look like to find it faster. Big enough to hold a giant robot, and with the numbers 134-B on the front. Something told me that we weren't looking in the right place.

"Why wasn't she more specific?" I commented.

"It's probably pretty obvious for her. Using logic, I would say it IS near here." Pyra assured. "Look, in front of us is the hangar 127-A. There is an elevator to go to the floors A, B, C and D. Considering that on our left is the hangar 126-A and on our right is the hangar 128-A, I suggest we go to the floor B and then right."

"Wow. I'm impressed." I said, surprised. "Another thing that you are better than me at. Basic logic."

"Don't be like that, Mythra, you are pretty smart too." Pyra comforted me.

"Well, how about we follow her idea?" Rex commented, trying to change the subject.

We proceeded to go on the elevator to the 'floor B', then, after walking to the right, we arrived to the Hangar 134-B.

"Here it is..." Shulk said as he passed the key-card on the sensor and the door opened "I'll enter fi-..."

"Wait!" I interrupted him. "Let me enter first."

In our journey, Shulk had all the spotlight. He fought a lot of times with the Knight and took decisions for all of us. He was like a leader to us. And I wasn't ok with it.

I had nothing against Shulk. I respected him. But I wanted to shine a little too. It was childish? Yes. But I had a problem with that? No.

"Ok Mythra, you go first." Shulk said, smiling.

I mean... he was kind of irritating.

Pyra Narrating

Mythra went first. I was worried about her. It was obvious she wanted to do something useful to prove she was as strong as Shulk or Rex.
As she passed through the hangar's door, with me behind her, the door started to close. I ran towards Mythra, that was already inside the hangar and I managed to enter in before the door ended completely closed. The last thing I could hear was Rex's screams, shouting our names.

I looked at Mythra.

"What the heck just happened?" She asked, confused.

"The Mechon! It was the one that was closed the door!" I exclaimed.

"I know he is self-conscious and all that stuff but I don't think he is smart enough to do that..." Mythra pointed out.

(Mechanical Rhythm starts playing)

Suddenly, mechanical footsteps could be heard in the distance.

"What was that!?" I said, scared.

"This is the perfect opportunity. Don't worry, Pyra, because I, Mythra, will crush this bastard!" Mythra exclaimed as she pulled out her sword.

"Mythra, wait!" I exclaimed.

She ran towards the Mechon. It was incredibly big, with an humanoid form and knifes instead of hands. It started to shoot lasers to Mythra, but she reflected them with her shield.

"THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT!?" Mythra exclaimed as she jumped with sword in hand towards the Mechon's head.

The Mechon's red eyes started to sparkle.

"MYTHRA! HE IS GOING TO SHOOT LASERS FROM ITS EYES!" I exclaimed.

Mythra ignored me and went straight to its head.

Just as the robot was going to shoot, I jumped and protected her with my shield. However, the attack was too powerful and both of us were launched far away. I collided with a wall and fell to the floor.

Mythra stood up quickly
"C-come on!" She said, hurt. "Next time hit us harder!"

"Mythra, don't be so reckless!" I exclaimed.

"Reckless!?" She said, angry. "Of course I'm the reckless one, because you are always better than me at everything, no?!"

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, confused. "I just don't want you to get hurt!"

Mythra looked at me for some seconds.

"I'm sorry, it's just... DAMMIT! I am the Aegis and I can't even destroy a piece of metal!" She exclaimed, clearly frustrated about her lack of strength.

"WE are the Aegis, Mythra." I reminded her. "You don't need to prove you are stronger than anyone, because we are a team. We rely on others. We don't compete with them. If we want to beat that robot, we have to do it together!"

Mythra smiled.

"Geez, I guess I'm happy with myself now. I don't want to be like that, so cheesy." Mythra lended me her hand. "But you are right. Let's do it, together."

I took her hand.

Pneuma Narrating

I jumped towards the Mechon. Its eyes started to glow again. However, I was prepared. I fell on its arm, and as expected, he didn't shoot. I wasn't going to underestimate it again. That incredible mind that this mechon had was going to be its perdition.

The Mechon started to move itself, trying to make me fall, but I stabbed my sword on its arm, so I didn't got thrown away.

"GENESIS SABER!" I exclaimed as countless ether blades were created. I directed them directly towards the Mechon's eyes, destroying them in the process.

Now I was able to attack him without any fear.
I jumped back to the ground to prepare my final attack.

"You were a worthy opponent. But you had nothing to do against me!" I exclaimed. "INFINITE... BLADE!"

I attacked him in the head and cut through it with my sword.
The Mechon started to colapse and then it fell on the ground, defeated.

[Music stops]

The hangar's door opened, and Rex came running towards me.

"You beat it, Pneuma! You are incredible!"
Rex assured.

"WATCH OUT!" Alvis shouted as he ran with the Monado towards the Mechon.

"MONADO... SHIELD!" Alvis exclaimed as a big shield surrounded the Mechon.
Seconds later, it self-destructed, but the shield covered the explosion. Alvis saved us.

He fell on the ground, barely conscious.

"Alvis!" I ran towards him. "Are you ok?"

He opened his eyes.

"Yes." Alvis responded "A lot of power needs a lot of my energy, but I'm fine. That explosion was really strong. If I hadn't made that shield..."

"Well, we aren't dead, thanks to you!" Rex said, smiling.

I looked at the remains of the Mechon. Carefully, I disarmed it with the help of the group until we reached its core. Thankfully, it was intact.

"Perfect." Mòrag said. "Let's go. With the X core, Linada will be able to make a suit for Fiora."

I transformed back and we returned to Colony 9.

Fiora Narrating

We looked for Linada, until we found her in the lab of the Military District.
My suit was there.

"Wow! You made it really fast!" I said, impressed. "And it looks exactly like the other one!"

"What?" Linada said, confused. "I started to make it a lot of days ago. I just needed the X core to make it functional."

"Oh. Well, we have it for you." I said as I gave her the core.

"Great. Now, I'll make some adjustments and... done! Enjoy your Mechon Suit!" Linada exclaimed.

"Not only a healer but a really good inventor." Shulk commented. "Thank you, Linada."

I got in the suit. It was incredibly comfortable now that I had an organic body with it.

"Ha ha! I'm ready to fight!" I exclaimed.

Suddenly, a nopon entered in the room.

"Tora is glad that he found friends!" Tora said, happy. "Come on, follow Tora! He has surprise for you!"

(Art by トナミカンジ. All credits of it go to them.)

Chapter Text

Rex Narrating

Tora seemed pretty happy. I was surprised. Why did he come back with us? And what was the thing that he wanted to show us? Linada said she and some others (probably Niall and company) would search for the Knight's location, so we could go with Tora.

"Ehmm... Tora?" I asked. "Is it really that important? We need to find the Knight soon, before he obtains more power."

"Don't worry friends, the thing that Tora want to show you will give the upper hand to Rex-Rex and others!" Tora assured.

We went in the Zekaro (funny name, by the way, classic Zeke) to Torigoth, When we landed, I observed the place. The grass, the wind... all of it would be destroyed if we couldn't defeat the Knight. To protect places like these.. To protect the world, we needed to defeat him. In that moment, I realized how much was in risk. This wasn't just a minor battle. The outcome would determine the fate of the world.

"What are you thinking, Rex?" Shulk asked. "You look pretty worried."

"I just realized... how much everyone depends on us. We need to fulfill their expectations. So if we fail... we need to kill him... And I..." 

"Don't worry." Shulk said to me. "I trust Tora. After we see the thing he wants to show us, we'll go and defeat the Knight, once and for all."

"What are friends doing!?" Tora exclaimed. "Come with Tora!"

We went to Tora's house. Inside it, there were two nopon. Tora's dad, Tatazo, and Tora's gramps, Soosoo.

"Profesor Soosoo!? What are ya doing here?" I asked. "Last time we saw you, you gave us that cool Poppibuster, and then disappeared."

"Haha! I told you we would meet again. Where is Poppibuster?" He asked.

"Because we didn't need them, we told our blades that they were free to do whatever they want." Mòrag pointed out. "But because Poppibuster was controlled by Poppi... and Poppi is..." Mòrag didn't finish the sentence. "Most of our blades are helping people in need, and others are trying to live a peaceful life."

"How can I forget the settings of my own creations?" Soosoo laughed. "But you don't have to worry anymore, because Soosoo will show you... His latest creation! Alongside sonnypon, of course... Introducing... Violet!"

A beautiful robot, with purple hair appeared from the wardrobe, giving similar vibes to Poppi, but at the same time, being a completely different entity. She had metal protecting her arms and legs, with a purple undertone in her "armor". the same color as her hair, that was tied up in a ponytail. Her weapon blades on both sides, with a place in the middle to hold it. For what I saw, one side was like a sword and the other one like an axe, both of them made of pure ether.

"Tora made Violet to fight alongside friends. She... is not Poppi. She'll never be. But she's stronger, and she will be a valuable asset."

"Hello, friends... Violet will fight with all her strength against White Knight. She has heard a lot about Poppi, and... she won't replace her, but offer something new to the team instead."

"Welcome to Riki's team, Violet!" Riki exclaimed.

"Tora... are you okay with this? I thought you wouldn't be able to pick yourself up so soon..." Mythra commented, worried.

"Tora is still grieving... But he doesn't want to grieve even more of his friends. So he will fight."

"You're strong, Tora. Incredibly strong." Dunban assured.

"In an spiritual sense, I agree, but... Tora...? Do you think you will actually be able to hold that weapon?" Zeke asked. "It seems pretty heavy."

"Oh... Zeke don't have to worry... the weapon was already tested by Tora, and it was purposely made lighter so Tora could use it." Tora explained. "Not only that, but is more effective than the last weapon... Friends have to trust Tora, Violet is REALLY powerful... Now, now... are we ready to go take on that knight?!"

"Why don't we organize a dinner... where we can have some peace first? I know we have to deal with the Knight but... I think we need to relax before the batte. I believe that, if we rest now, we will be totally prepared to fight against him. And besides, Torigoth is a beautiful place. It'd be a waste to not stay here for a little bit longer."

"It sounds great, Fiora!" Shulk said holding her hand. "What do you guys think? Don't you want to relax a little?"

"No objections here." Mòrag said.

We started to prepare everything. Pyra and Fiora were cooking (Fortunately, I convinced Mythra to come with me) as the rest of us organized Tora's big table: a gift that Tora got from one of his neighbours, as he was very famous on Torigoth because he saved the world.

Soon, they had the dinner ready and all of us sat in the chairs. Pyra and Shulk sat next to me. I looked at the food and ate a little. It was delicious.

"Mmmm... this is sooo good, Pyra!" I said.

"Thanks. Fiora was of big help as well." She reminded me.

I looked at her and then I looked at Shulk, that was talking with Fiora. It was obvious that they loved each other, and they were really sure about their relationship...

"Rex?" Pyra said to me. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hmph, am I really that easy to read?" I commented. "Shulk asked the same to me earlier..."

"Because it was really noticeable that you were concerned about something... Rex, you can tell me anything, I'm your friend."

I looked at her. Sooner or later, I had to think about it. Pyra was always nice to me, and I knew I could trust her. When I first met her I thought... I was in love with her. But when Mythra appeared I was kind of confused. She got my attention too. I tried to establish my feelings but... it was useless. I knew I could only be with one, but I wasn't brave enough to choose one or another. And then Nia confessed to me. I didn't even think of her in that way, but then she did that and...

I tried to organize my feelings.

There were a lot of people in my life and I tried so hard to just pretend I didn't know anything about it... I wasn't able to think of a satisfactory answer to say to Nia, so I tried to avoid the subject and then talk about it with her later. But when I finally got the courage to try and talk, she brushed it off as if it wasn't important, telling me we should talk another day. The event in the mine under Alba Cavanich also left me thinking about how I felt about her...

As for Pyra and Mythra, even if we were living and working together in charge of a restorant in Torigoth, I never talked to them about my feelings. And the subject never came up again. Sometimes, I would catch one of them staring at me. But I just tried to pretend I didn't notice. In the moment I saw how happy Shulk and Fiora were together I realized... I couldn't continue with my little 'act' after all... If I did, I would end up hurting my friends.

I needed to decide. But how? I didn't want to break any of their hearts... I wanted our relationship to be the same, even after my decision. However, I knew that was impossible. Perhaps... they would all want to... No! What am I thinking!?

I need some advice.

"Pyra... when you love someone but there are other people that feel the same way about you and you don't want to hurt them... what would you do?" I asked.

Pyra looked at me, surprised.

"So that was it... Rex, you mustn't be afraid. That is what love is about. You will break hearts, yes. But with time, those hearts will be healed. The best thing you can do is to tell the person that you love about how you feel." Pyra assured.

I thought. If Pyra loved me, then why didn't she just tell me? Was she afraid of rejection? Or was I wrong and she never liked me in the first place? And what if... I just love more than one person? Our cases were different, and her answer left me even more insecure.
I tried to think of other things.

Our group was finally together, and the only thing I was doing was thinking about stuff that only included me and my life. I had to use that moment to talk with other people and make bonds. And that's what I did.

The rest of the night, I put my feelings apart and I talked with my friends. At the end, I was relaxed and ready to think about it again. And then I knew it. After the battle... After we convinced the Knight to stop... I would decide.

......................................................

In the middle of the night, we were preparing to come back to Colony 9.
Melia's new magic, Fiora's suit and now Violet. We were prepared to defeat the Knight. I was sure about it.

A person came walking towards us. It was Niall, the emperor of Mor Ardain.

"Nia- Your Majesty? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"We have found the Knight and his blade in the rests of Torna, absorbing the ether from the dead titan's core crystal. All our militaries forces are ready to fight. Come with me, and let's end this once and for all!"

(Art by 超凶の狄璐卡. All the credits of it go to them)

Chapter Text

Shulk Narrating

(To The Last Battle starts playing)

We went with the Emperor to Torna. Finally, it was the time for our last battle against the Knight. Everything would be decided there. We fought many times with him, and we didn't manage to stop him. However, now, we had the power of the Conduit on our side. If we didn't defeat him now, then we would never do it.

"Guys." I said, looking at the group. "What will happen next will determine the fate of the world. We can't afford to lose."

"We have come through a lot of obstacles lately." Rex mentioned. "But this is it. If we put all our strength into the battle, we WILL win."

"So, I believe I already know the answer but... can we count with all of you?" I asked.

"Do you think we would back down now?" Nia said, smiling.

"My lady is right. We will heal your wounds." Dromarch assured.

"It doesn't matter if we don't have the Conduit's power and that stuff." Reyn commented. "We can fight just as well as you."

"Let's finally end this nightmare!" Pyra exclaimed.

"Violet and Tora will show their value!" They assured.

"To protect my empire and my world." Mòrag said, confident.

"We will do our best" Brighid said as well.

"You don't have to worry about me, Shulk. I have proven to be pretty strong, haven't I?" Fiora pointed out. "At the start of this journey you didn't want me to go with you. Well, now I'll prove it was worth it bringing me here!"

"I am still a hero, Am I not?" Dunban commented, smiling. "I won't let my sister surpass me."

"As one of the Aegises, I swear on my blade that we will stop the Knight today!" Mythra exclaimed. "I'll be there to support you, Shulk. Or, maybe you'll be there to support *me*" She giggled.

"We have become much stronger. These powers will be enough to defeat him. I don't have proof to back my statement up, but I think that for once in my life I can assure something just out of my gut feeling." Alvis assured as he smiled, a surprising sight.

"The Knight has done horrible things. But it's our duty as the heroes of this world to stop him, not with our blades, but with our words." Sharla said, confident.

"As the official leader of the team I, Zeke von Genbu, Chaotic Bringer of Chaos and Hero of Tantal, often adressed as Zeke, and mostly known as The ZEKENATOR... will stop that Knight for good!" Zeke exclaimed, with a goofy smile on his last remark.

"Still an idiot, I see." Pandoria commented as she adjusted her glasses. "Don't worry guys, I'll keep an eye on him. I owe him a lot, after all."

"The heropon has familiy to protect! You can count on him for anything!" Riki assured.

"After so long, I'm really close to finally be in peace. I'll stop the Knight for all the people that are counting on me, and for myself as well!" Melia exclaimed.

"Then, let's do it!" Rex said. "This will be the decisive battle! I'll give everything I've got!"

"Concentrate, Rex." Mythra said sarcastically.

"I will prove to the world that I... No, that *we* took the right decision. You have been supporting me in my ups and downs, and I'm truly grateful for it." I assured. "With friends like you by my side, I won't lose, not in a million years."

"The Knight is in the area of the Core Crystal, absorbing its energy." Niall explained. "All the Guldos are in the surroundings, probably to avoid that you come directly to face the Knight. We can't attack from above, as the Guldos and the Knight can launch attacks that would destroy even our best ships. We will have to fight on land."

"Are you sure the Ardainan army will be enough to face the Guldos?" Brighid asked. "I know its limits and..."

"We will also count with the help of the people from both Alrest and the Bionis." Niall mentioned. "Colony 9, Colony 6, Uraya, Tantal... Frontier Village, too. All of them will be supporting us."

"Then we can't let them down." I said.

"The world against the Knight." Rex commented.

"We will soon be on Torna. I presume you have trained?." Niall asked.

"Yep." Mythra responded. "We have a lot of new tricks now!"

"We haven't been able to show it off in battle, but Melia, Fiora and Tora aren't the only ones with new arts." Rex assured.

"I have investigated the properties of the Titan's Core Crystals, and I think I have come with a really good plan to defeat the Knight without killing him." Niall commented. "Perhaps with those new abilities of yours, it will be easier to put the plan into action."

"We are all ears." I assured, eager to know the plan.

"Well, you know how we have ether running through our body, right?" Niall asked. "And how it makes us able to manipulate the ether around us for attacks or healing? Well... What if our body suffered from too much of that energy? That, my friends, it's called an Ether Overload..."

     ......................................................

We landed on the rests of Torna. The surface of a dead titan, floating in the endless sea. It was dawn. I could see the sun rising, giving an orange tone to our surroundings.
Our troops were all positioned in different places. It seemed like the Knight didn't know armies were surrounding him from everywhere. Or maybe he just didn't consider the others a threat. Either way, we had our plan. All of us, armies included, would attack at the same time, and then we would defeat the Knight, who was in front of the core of the titan.

"Torna seems to have changed quite a bit." Mythra commented. "Probably its destruction affected the body structure of the titan. Anyways, the good thing is that it seems we can reach the core without the need of entering through the interior."

"You sure remember it well, huh, Mythra..." Rex observed, with a sad face. "Don't worry, though. We'll make good use of your information."

"Stop pitying me, Rex. I am way past that now." Mythra assured, as she looked at the titan, thoughtful.

"If you say so..."

Suddenly, Nia waved his hand to a weird humanoid bird that was coming closer to us.

"Roc!?" Nia exclaimed. "What are ya doing here?"

A Blade that looked like an humanoid bird came in our direction.

"We came here to help ya, guys. After all of you left us to live our lifes, we were in debt with you. Now we will defeat the White Knight, together." Roc explained.

"Wait a moment... 'we'?" Mòrag asked.

We looked around. A lot of Blades were coming closer to us with smiles on their faces.

"REX!!!!" A deep voice exclaimed.

"Wulfric! How are ya, pal?" Rex asked.

"Better than ever. I have a place were I examine animals... I call it... a veterinary." Wulfric explained.

"That's awesome!" Zeke commented, smiling.

"Zekeeeeee!!!!"

"Oh no." Zeke said.

"You are here..." Theory commented.

"Our driver is here! Our driver is here!" Praxis celebrated. "How are you!!!??? How's Turters? And your fake Eye of Shining Justice? And..."

"I'm fine, thank you." Zeke said. "It's very... nice to see both of you again."

Little by little, a lot of blades came to meet with their drivers.

"Oh... I have to admit, I missed you, guys!" Nia said, looking at Ursula, Boreas, Floren, Kora, Electra, Crossete and Sheba

"I've missed the food you all gave me!" Boreas assured.

"WHERE IS PYRA!?" Crossete exclaimed.

"I'm glad to see you again." Mòrag said to her blades, Percival, Dagas, Newt, Vess, Adenine and Finch.

"Who were you again?" Finch asked. "Nah, I'm joking, is good to see ya, Marig.

Mòrag smiled.

"Haha! We will be unbeatable!" Zeke said to Dahlia, Kos-Mos, Azami, Perun, Kassandra, Vale, Agate, Praxis and Theory.

"Master... it seems you are still in good shape..." Kos-Mos commented.

"I've missed you so much, my beloved..." Azami whispered.

"Err, I............." Zeke didn't finish the sentence. "Why did I get all the weird ones?!"

"After all this time... I'm still your driver, am I not?" Rex said to Wulfric, Godfrey, Corvin, Gorg, Zenobia, Herald and Te-los.

"That Knight seems powerful!!!" Zenobia exclaimed. "Can I fight him alone, 1 v 1, no items, Final Destina-"

A robot came closer to talk to Rex

"Poppibuster is also here for your service." It assured.

"Poppibuster!"

"I will give you support as well, Rex." Azurda said.

"Gramps! You are here!" Rex exclaimed.

"We are fighting for the fate of the world." Azurda commented. "You are going to need all the help that you can have."

I was surprised.

"Wow... you sure have a lot of Blades..." I observed. "I'm really curious about their functions... maybe I could-"

"Shulk!" Nia said. "We don't have time for that!"

"O-oh, right..." I said, embarrased.

"I swear, this is the third time!" Nia complained.

"It was nice to see you, guys, but we can talk later... Now we have to stop the Knight!" Rex said with conviction.

"We will be supporting you!" Godfrey commented. "Go on and fight the White Knight with ALL. YOU. HAVE. GOT!!!!!!"

"Understood!" Rex said.

(Torna Battle Theme starts playing)

"Are you guys ready?" I asked.

"Ready?" Mythra said. "I'm ready as I'll ever be."

Niall came closer to us.

"We know the fact that you, the wielders of the Aegises, are the only ones capable of winning against the Knight, so we will clear your way towards him." Niall explained. "He is the one controlling the Guldos, so if you stop him then the victory will be ours. You already know the rest of the plan. Nia, we are counting on you as well."

"He looks so determined to bring his world back..." I commented. "I don't know if we will be able to convince him to stop..."

"And the world is counting on us. If we fail now, he will be too powerful to be stopped the next time we face him." Rex pointed out. "And we promised that if we didn't manage to convince him now, then we would..."

Rex didn't finish the sentence.

"C'mon guys, you should be saying things that motivate us to win, not that lower our morale..." Nia commented.

"Nia is right." Dunban said. "You are our leaders in the eyes of everyone. And on our eyes too."

"We are inspired to win because of YOUR determination to win." Melia assured.

"So what you should be saying instead...?" Fiora asked, smiling.

Rex and me looked at each other.

"You are right." I said. "Let's give everything we've got!"

"If I've come this far it's because of all of you. I won't let you down. I CAN'T let you down!" Rex exclaimed.

Niall gave the signal to all his troops

"CHAAAAAAAAARGE!" He exclaimed.

We ran towards the Guldos and as soon as they noticed us they ran towards us as well.

The decisive battle started.

I lit the Monado's light ray and pierced through a Guldo's chest. Then, I attacked the one I had behind me. Soon, there were more Guldos than allies around us. But I knew we could defeat them.

Rex ran and hit some with his Rolling Smash. Then, he passed his white sword to Mythra.

"I haven't used this attack for a while!" Mythra exclaimed. "For old times, you shall witness its reappearance! TWILIGHT STRIKER!"

A flurry of light-speed slashes went cutting through the Guldos.

"Alvis!" I shouted as I passed him the Monado. "Don't go at full power!"

"I'll try..." Alvis assured. "Monado... EATER!"

All the Guldos in front of us were blown far away, exploding in the air because of Alvis' powerful impact.

"Can you still fight?" I asked.

"Yes." Alvis responded. "Let's go!"

We continued as Azurda wiped out the Guldos with his attacks. He saw that some allies were in trouble, so he went to help them. He knew that we could fight on our own.

A group of stronger Guldos came in our direction.

"We've got this!" Reyn exclaimed.

He attacked one of them, but another one grabbed his arm. Sharla shot it in the head. Riki came running and used Behave, allowing us to fight the Guldos easily, as they were paralyzed.

"The heropon will provide support!" Riki said. "You continue to defeat Knight!"

"Protect us, heropon!" Rex commented, smiling.

We continued just to encounter another horde of Guldos coming.

"Summon... LIGHT" Melia shouted, destroying a lot of the Guldos that where in front of us.

"Thanks, Melia!" I said, grateful.

Even with Melia's attack, soon we were surrounded again.

"Dammit! They keep coming and coming!" Rex exclaimed. "But we can take care of them!"

Each one fought with a half. We were winning, but another round of Guldos came to surround us. Fiora came in our rescue.

"Guys! Drop on the floor!" Fiora shouted.

We did, and she released a powerful attack.

"Final... CROSS!!!!" Fiora exclaimed as a big ray destroyed the Guldos on our sight.

"Go on, quick!" Fiora exclaimed.

"Be careful..." I said, worried.

We continued. Soon we would be where the Knight was.

We localized Nia, struggling against some Guldos. We came in her rescue.

"You should be going to where the Knight is!" Nia exclaimed. "I can take care of myself."

"It didn't look like it." Rex commented.

"Well... if you insist... Let's do it!" Nia said, smiling.

Rex grabbed Nia's scimitar with one hand and Pyra's sword with another.

"Ready!?" Rex asked.

"Let's put an end to them!" Pyra said.

Pyra grabbed her sword as Rex held it and Nia did the same. Then, they jumped.

"NEXUS FORCE!" The three of them attacked, ending with the massive group that was attacking us.

"I will be more careful now Rex, but you need to go and defeat the Knight." Nia reminded us. "I'll be right behind you."

"I know." Rex said as continued on our way towards the core.

Three giant Guldos appeared.

"I have got this!" Dunban said, going directly towards one of them.

"BORN IN A WORLD OF STRIFES" Dunban said, slashing its face.
"AGAINST THE ODDS" He exclaimed as he cut its legs and jumped under the Guldo's belly.
"WE CHOOSE TO FIGHT." Dunban cut through its stomach, going through it and appearing in top of the Guldo. He was bathed in the blood of the monster.
"BLOSSOM DANCE" Dunban exclaimed, decapitating the monster's head with a powerful slash.

"MONADO BUSTER!" I screamed, attacking the second one and slashing my blade through its head.

"Let's do this Pyra!" Rex shouted.

"Understood!" She responded.

Both of them held the red sword.

"BURNING... SWOOOORD!" They attacked the Third Guldo, going through it and killing it.

"More come... I can beat them, continue!" Dunban assured.

We ran as some Guldos attacked us with ether beams from our sides.

Pandoria and Brighid blocked them with their shields. Zeke and Mòrag attacked the Guldos as their Blades protected us.

"ULTIMATE LIGHTNING FURY SLASH... MAX!" Zeke hit the floor with his attack, killing a lot of Guldos in the process.

"We've got this! Continue!" Mòrag shouted.

"Thank you, guys!" Rex exclaimed.

We could see the path that lead to the Core Crystal near us. But another horde appeared.

"Tora will take care of this one!" Tora shouted. "Violet, activate DEFINITIVE Attack Protocol!"

"Understood, Masterpon."

Violet passed the Axe-Sword to Tora, who went spinning in circles, smashing the Guldos on his way. With all his strength, he threw the heavy weapon to Violet.

"Iniciating Final Attack: Meteor Shower!"

Violet started to shine, and so did her weapon, that transformed into a cannon.

"FIRE!" Tora exclaimed.

Balls and balls of pure, concentrated ether fell towards the Guldos, killing them and leaving the way clear.

"Here comes more!" Tora shouted. "Friends go and convince that Knight for Tora!"

"I knew we could trust you!" I exclaimed as we ran away. "Good luck!"

"I don't like this. Our friends are risking everything to lead us towards the White Knight..." Rex observed.

"Then we must do our best as well!" I exclaimed, confident.

Another horde of Guldos, faster and bigger than the other ones ran towards us. We looked around. There was no backup this time.

"These ones are stronger than the others, Shulk." Rex assured.

"Then we must fight twice as hard!" I exclaimed.

I never felt so confident in my life. A feeling I never experienced before was growing inside me. A new symbol appeared on the Monado.

"LET'S GO! MONADO STORM!" I shouted, doing an attack similar to Mythra's, slashing everything on my sight at the speed of light.

"I WON'T HOLD BACK EITHER!" Rex exclaimed as he and Mythra held their white sword. "SACRED ARROW!"

A rain of light arrows fell from the sky, destroying groups of Guldos as if they were nothing.

We looked around. There were still many Guldos, but we got through them dodging and slashing.

We ran as fast as we were capable of.

"It's right there!" Rex shouted, looking at the path that lead to Torna's Core Crystal.

A REALLY giant Guldo appeared. A final obstacle on our path.

"We can take him down, can't we?" Rex said.

"Of course we can!" I exclaimed.

Both of us attacked the Guldo at the same time. I gave my sword to Alvis.
He jumped and slashed through one of its arms. Rex threw his swords to... me!?

"Go, Shulk!"

I slided under the guldo and cut through its legs, making it fall on the ground. Alvis threw the Monado to Rex, who jumped directly in the Guldo's head.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed as he pierced through its head, killing it.

The battle was over. But a greater one was going to begin very soon.

[Music stops]

Rex Narrating

We looked around. Only silence. The moment for us to fight a last time against the Knight finally arrived.

"This is the end." Pyra observed. "We have to convince him to stop. Should we wait for her or...?"

"No, the Knight could find out. She will arrive on time, I'm sure of it." I assured.

"... You know, looking back on the day Shulk came seeking for us... It was almost like destiny..." Mythra commented. "I guess sometimes fate has nice things reserved for us."

"And after that, you went to Ose Tower, looking for me." Alvis mentioned.

"I wonder who would win the battle know?" Shulk said to me, smiling. "You know. When we fought."

"You didn't have Alvis back then. Who knows what would've been the outcome with him by your side..." I commented.

"When we come back, let's fight again." Shulk proposed.

"I am looking forward to it!" I said, excited.

We slowly walked up towards the core.

The White Knight was waiting for us in front of the Core Crystal. He was looking at it, giving us his back. It was a really large place, perfect to fight. His Blade was at his side.

"I remember this place. Here is where I fought against Malos for the fate of Alrest..." Mythra observed. "We won the battle, but we lost everything as well... the people of Torna... Hugo... Milton.
They all died and I couldn't do anything to avoid it."

"You never told me about this... Hugo? Milton?" I had never heard those names before. "Mythra, you know you can count with me for anything."

"Yes. But now is not the time to talk about that. When we defeat the Knight, I will tell you everything. I promise." Mythra assured. "I won't let anything like that happen again. I'll embrace my past, but I'll carry on towards the future."

The Knight turned and observed us.

"Are you done with your little chat?" The Knight asked. "This will be a lot easier. I thought you would come with all your group, but it seems my Guldos did a really good job, didn't they? Now I just have to kill you, and use your powers."

"WE, both of us, have to kill them." His Blade reminded him. "I don't know if you remember me too well, we first met in the Ether Mines, my name is Telum." He said to us.

(Zanza the Divine starts playing)

"We can end this peacefully." I commented "There is no need to fight with us."

"Are you still trying to convince me?" The Knight asked. "You don't force these things, they just happen. Trust me, I have no intentions of changing. I will kill you, not because I hate you, but because it's the best thing for my world.
There is only one way I can do that, and it's with the power of the Conduit. And guess who are the ones that have that power."

"I know you miss your world, but you can't just destroy another one because you want it back! We are living beings too, just like you!" Shulk exclaimed.

"No. You are mere creations of a man who wished to be a god. You are not alive."

"Then what are the feelings that I am having right now?!" I exclaimed. "Sadness, fear, hope... Am I less human than you just because I was created, even considering that we can share the same feelings?!"

The Knight took a step back.

"Silence... you aren't going to get in my head. Maybe you are alive, maybe you don't have the fault of what happened. But if I want to bring my world back, there is only one option..." The Knight prepared his sword. "I'll do what I must."

"We won't hold back. For our future... we will fight!" Shulk exclaimed.

The Knight teleported behind us and gave a quick slash that Mythra and Pyra blocked with their shields.

"Telum! Now!" The Knight said as he teleported his sword to his Blade.

I turned back and managed to block Telum's attack. One more second, and he would've stabbed me on the chest.

"You move quick..." He said. "But not fast enough!"

The Knight threw an energy attack with his hand towards me, that send me flying away. Of course, not only he looked like a Guldo, but he had the powers of one as well, such as absorbing Ether and using it against his enemy.

"Rex!" Pyra exclaimed, worried.

I fell on the ground, really damaged. I tried to stand up.
The Knight teleported in front of me and drew a sword that he had attached to his hip.

"Pretty efficient, no?" He said as I was trying to move. "Using your Blade's weapon has advantages, but I never understood why you don't have one of your own. In that way... if your Blade is using their weapon..." The Knight prepared the final blow. "YOU CAN STILL ATTACK WITH YOURS!"

Alvis blocked the attack with the Monado. A blue aura was shining alongside him. He managed to get on time where I was using the Speed art, but he was very weak as a result of that.

"I was a complete different person before." Alvis said as he struggled against the Knight. "I wanted to see the human behavior, without getting involved in the conflicts that the humanity created. But something has changed..." The Knight started to make Alvis back down. "Now I'm in one side of the battle, fighting for what I believe is right. If I was-" He hardly resisted the Knight's strength. "If I was able to change my mind about this world, then you can, too!"

Alvis lost balance and the Knight attacked him with his sword. He knew it was impossible to block or avoid the attack, so he used Monado Armor, decreasing the damage. Even with it, the attack hit him pretty hard, making him fall on the ground, at my side.

He was going to hit Alvis again but I managed to stand up and stop the Knight's attack. As I struggled with one of my swords against him, I used the other one to land a hit on his chest.

"SWORD BASH!" I exclaimed, hitting the Knight.

Even with his armor protecting him, I blew him away, but he teleported in mid-air, appearing where Shulk was.

"That's a really bad strategy... leaving the ones without a weapon alone..." The Knight commented.

He was right. Alvis had the Monado and I had the Aegis' swords.

"Are you ok, Alvis? We have to help Shulk." I said.

"Yes..." He responded, evidently exhausted. "Let me... stand up." Using the Monado arts consumed a lot of his energy.

"Practice is everything." Shulk said as the Monado disappeared from Alvis' hand and reappeared on his. "You underestimated us."

"What!?" The Knight exclaimed, surprised. "But how!?"

"Did you really think the Master Drivers and their Blades wouldn't be able to do something like this?" Mythra said sarcastically as she made appear her sword. "We didn't just had fun while you were searchin' for Ether. We are stronger now. And we are going to take you down!"

Mythra attacked the Knight but he passed his sword to Telum, who clashed with her.

"Lightning Buster!" Mythra exclaimed, attacking Telum multiple times with a blade of light

"Divine Slash!" Telum shouted, using his sword to block the attacks and finishing with a powerful strike.

Mythra blocked the strike with her shield and threw her sword to me, who managed to get closer. I went directly against the Knight. I attacked him multiple times, but he avoided my hits easily. However, Shulk was behind him and took him by surprise.

"MONADO BUSTER" Shulk exclaimed as he jumped high and then fell towards the Knight with the Monado.

"It won't happen again!" The Knight assured as he, instead of protecting himself with his shield, jumped again to clash with Shulk.

Their swords hit eachother and the force of the impact made a powerful stream of wind. I stuck my sword on the floor so I wouldn't fly away. When both of them fell, I was waiting to intercept the Knight in the floor, but he used his shield to protect himself against my attack, and then he teleported.

"Where is he!?" I asked.

(After Despair and Hope starts playing)

The Knight appeared behind me prepared to stab me in the chest. But Shulk ran and intercepted the attack.

"SHULK!" I exclaimed

The Knight pierced through Shulk's chest and then let his body fall on the ground. A lot of his blood was on the floor. He was dying.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT" I shouted as I ran and attacked the Knight. He easily avoided the attack, grabbed my sword and threw it away.

"It's game over for you." The Knight said.

He stabbed me in the stomach and I cried in pain. I felt how life abandoned my body.

"You were worthy opponents." The Knight assured. "But I win this battle."

"Here we go." Pyra said as she grabbed Mythra's hand and fused into Pneuma.

"Huh!?" The Knight exclaimed confused.

Pneuma, that was fighting with Telum, blew him away in one single hit. Then she closed her eyes and a big blue aura started to shine on her. It was the same aura that Nia used to have. The power of healing.

The light covered the battlefield, and I felt how my body regained its strength. I grabbed the Knight's sword and pulled it out of my stomach.

"N-no! Impossible! But how?!" The Knight exclaimed, confused.

"There is a reason why she is called the Aegis." I said as I made appear Pneuma's sword. "What kind of definitive Blade would she be if she couldn't manipulate Ether particles to regenerate our bodies?"

Shulk stood up, prepared to fight. Alvis regained his strength as well.

"All your new abilities are pathetic." The Knight commented. "Maybe you have healed yourself, but Pneuma has used all of her energy. She won't be able to combat in a while. And when she regains her strength..." The Knight prepared himself to fight. "You will be already dead. Without drivers, Ontos and Pneuma won't be able to canalize the power of the Conduit! And the victory will be mine!"

"You don't know that." I assured. "Not even Pneuma herself fully understands how her powers work. What happens if things don't go as you planned? What happens if you can't use the Conduit to bring your world back?"

"I will find a way. You know that I will never give up!"

The Knight attacked me multiple times but I managed to block his hits. Shulk went from behind and used Backslash, breaking part of the Knight's armor. Both of us attacked him at the same time, but he teleported and appeared above. Shulk used Monado Shield and protected us from the Knight's attack, then he passed his sword to Alvis.

"MONADO STORM!"

Alvis ran and hit the Knight, making him go high in the air. Then, he proceeded to jump and attack him multiple times, faster than the blink of an eye. One last hit that sent the Knight really up, and Alvis charged a powerful attack. Just when he was going to deal the final blow, Telum intercepted the attack, reducing the damage that the Knight received. Both of them were blown away to the ground.

Telum fell on the floor. He wasn't moving. The attack left him unconscious. Even considering that Blades can regenerate themselves, it was going to take time for him, because the damage Alvis did was really considerable.

As for the Knight, his armor was completely broken. Blood was falling from the multiple wounds that the attack provoked. But he stood up, as if nothing happened. The look on his face was of pure determination. He wasn't going to give up.

"It's that all?!" The Knight exclaimed, laughing. "Ontos is supposed to have the most powerful attacks, but in return he loses his energy... If he couldn't kill me, then no one will!"

"I wasn't trying... to kill you. I contained... myself." Alvis said, completely tired. "We would have won if Telum... didn't intercept it."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" The Knight asked. "How could you have won with that attack if it wasn't going to kill me? You thought after being so damaged I would give up? That I would stop so I could listen to what you had to say?!"

"You know we aren't going to kill you." I said. "We will defeat you, and then you won't have any other option but to listen to us."

"I can teleport wherever I want, remember?" The Knight mentioned. "I just need to clench my fist; it doesn't matter how many wounds I have, I will be able to do it. Your plan is a total disaster."

"We will see about that." Shulk assured. "Alvis, go where Pneuma is. You can't fight in this state. You have to wait for her."

"Please be careful. The biggest problem with our plan is that we don't know if she is going to manage to get here." Alvis commented. "If she came with us, then I wouldn't be worried but..."

"It was too dangerous. The Knight could have spotted her. Don't worry, I know she will arrive on time." I assured.

"Ok. Good luck." Alvis said.

We noticed that while we were talking, the Knight didn't do anything.

"Are you done talking?" The Knight asked, ready to fight.

"Why didn't you...?"

"There is no time to question that. Maybe he still has got some feelings inside him."
Shulk theorized. "We have to save what we can."

"HAH!" Do you seriously think I care about 'the battle code'? Ontos couldn't move fast, because his energy was consumed by the attack he did, but that doesn't mean he couldn't hit me. Now that you told him to retreat, thinking that he wouldn't be useful here, I can kill you without fear." The Knight explained. "Without their Blades, Drivers are just normal people. You should have attacked me with all you've got when the battle started. Now that they can't fight, it's too late."

The Knight came towards us with an inhuman speed. It looked like, even if he was more vulnerable now, without his armor, he was a lot faster.

I ran as well and clashed my sword with the Knight. His power was overwhelming, but Shulk joined me. He wasn't going to win this battle.

The Knight teleported behind us and made a cut on my arm. I barely could see where he was.

"REX! WATCH OUT!" Shulk exclaimed.

The Knight appeared above me falling with his sword pointing to my head. I dodged the attack and threw my sword to the Knight, cutting one side of his face. His eyes were full of hate. I... saw those eyes before. The form of his face... his voice... an impossible idea came to my mind. He was...

The Knight teleported again and attacked me but I avoided the hit. He decided to go far from us and start to launch energy balls towards us. Me and Shulk ran where he was, avoiding his attacks, but the Knight hit the floor with his fist, sending an wind stream that blew us away. We fell on the ground and the Knight teleported again in front of us.

"ENOUGH!" The Knight exclaimed as he was going to pierce through my chest.

Pneuma blocked the attack with her sword.

"WHAT!?" The Knight exclaimed, surprised

"SIREN! Let's do this!"

A light ray came from the sky and it was going to hit the Knight, but he avoided the attack and, with an inhuman strength, he threw his other sword to where Siren was. A big explosion ocurred in the middle of space. He... DESTROYED Siren!?

"No way...! He threw his sword and somehow it hit Siren...!" Pneuma observed, shocked.

The Knight teleported and attacked Pneuma relentlessly.

"There is one thing even more surprising!" The Knight assured. "How are you fighting!? Seconds ago, you used all of your energy!"

Alvis made appear the Monado and hit the Knight with it, blowing him away. He rapidly stood up and prepared himself to stop any of our attacks.

"And Ontos too!? Impossible! How!?" The Knight said, totally confused.

"Maybe I helped just a little!" Nia responded, with a smile on her face.

"Impossible! You weren't here before!" The Knight assured.

"Oh, I needed to check if no one was dying down there." Nia explained, pointing down the stairs. "Fortunately, I managed to arrive here on time."

"Nia restored their power, so they could fight at full force." I commented. "It was too risky for her to be with us from the beggining, so our strategy was that she waited some time before she came to help."

"Did you really think we didn't have a plan?" Pneuma asked. "Now that you are weak, it's time to deal the final blow."

"I should've killed her when I had the chance!" The Knight exclaimed, angry. "Because of her, EVERYTHING HAS BEEN RUINED!"

"Too bad Rex and the others were there to protect me." Nia mentioned.

The Knight's eyes were full of... sadness. He realized it was almost impossible for him to win. But he was standing there, true to his ideals.

"Just let me have my world back..." The Knight said, hopeless. "LET ME HAVE IT BACK!"

He approached to us. His final attack.

Pneuma and Alvis blocked his hits easily. This time he couldn't defend himself. One hit after another, their swords attacked the Knight, then both of them grabbed him and kept attacking while they were on the air. However as all of that was happening, the Knight was smiling.

"TO YOU!" Pneuma and Alvis exclaimed, hitting the Knight and sending him to us.

We made appear our swords. The journey we did, the battles we fought... all of it was going to end there.

"X... BLADE!"

Doing a diagonal attack at the same time, we hit the Knight with all that we had, forming an X with our slash. The Knight was blown away to the Titan's Core Crystal, going through it and making a big explosion of ether.

......................................................

[Music stops]

The light that the explosion made didn't let me see anything for some moments. Little by little, I was able to see again. Nia, Shulk, Alvis, and Pneuma were standing by my side.

The Knight was standing as well, in front of us, with a smile on his face. He had a blue aura. All the Ether of the Core Crystal was inside him.

"IT'S OVER!" The Knight exclaimed. "THE ONLY THING YOU DID WAS MAKING ME MORE POWERFUL! NOW I'M INVINCIBLE!"

The Knight walked slowly towards us, but we weren't surprised when he colapsed because of all the energy on his body, falling on the ground.

We came closer to him. He tried to clench his fist but he couldn't move his body.

"Have you ever heard of an Ether Overload?" Shulk commented. "When an inmense quantity of Ether ingress in your body, your body can't process it and it things such as nerves and muscles stop functioning. The vital functions keep working, such as breathing, but you can't move any part of your body. Nia, would you?"

"Of course." She said.

Nia came closer to the Knight and used her healing powers. However, she didn't heal his wounds. Slowly the Knight was able to move his lips and eyes; the only thing Nia did was restore the nerves on them, so we could finally talk to him in peace.

"I was so close... How...? How did this happen? How did I lose?" The Knight asked more to himself than for us. "You had it all planned, no?"

"Most of it, yeah." I commented. "The Emperor of Mor Ardain, Niall, told us about the Ether Overload, and that we could use Torna's Core Crystal to paralyze you. He also had the idea about how Pneuma could use her healing powers on us and that Nia could restore our energy. Who knows what could have been the outcome of this battle if he didn't help us..."

"We would've attacked you with everything we had from the start, but we didn't know if your armor was going to break with the last hit. If your armor resisted, then maybe the Ether Overload wouldn't work. We had no idea of what would happen. It wasn't the time for taking risks." Pneuma explained

(Once We Part Ways starts playing)

"You didn't have to explain all that for me. I will soon be just a corpse." The Knight commented.

"How many times we have to tell you that we aren't going to kill you!" I said. "We just want you to stop!"

"That's the problem. I won't stop. If you heal my wounds, I will stand up again and fight." The Knight assured.

"Just look around you!" Shulk exclaimed. "What is so bad about this that you want it destroyed? You must understand... If my world suddenly dissapeared and everyone but me transformed into monsters I would be scared too. I would look for a solution. But I would never be able to kill others just because it's the best thing for me and my world! You were a threat for our entire planet, wishing to erase it and replace it with your old world, but I still decided not to kill you. I wasn't able to do it, even if that was the best thing for my world."

"You don't understand... What happened to my world... It was my fault." The Knight said, sad. "I killed billions, and transformed the rest into monsters. That's why is my duty to bring them back, no matter what."

"Your fault...?" I repeated his words, confused. "You are willing to destroy other world, just so you can have yours back. How is that any different? You would still kill billions, people with goals and family."

"I... don't care anymore..." The Knight said. "The only thing I wanted was to make of the world a better place... I never thought this would happen..."

"Is this world really that bad?" Shulk asked. "You explored different places, learning about the Blades and the Ether... you met different people, and how they acted in front of the chaos you made. Maybe... and just maybe... this was the world you were willing to create."

"But the price I had to pay for it..."

"Of course it wasn't worth the price." I assured. "But killing others so you can have your world back wouldn't be worth the price either. The best thing you can do for them is help to build a better world, step by step. So they can finally be in peace."

"A better world..." The Knight made a little smile. "The only thing I did was destroy. And now I just wanted to do it again. Perhaps it's the time to stop."

"You can help us. We will be there for you if you need it." I smiled. "I'm just really glad we finally did it."

Nia went to heal the Knight.

"Don't you think it's too soon? He could be decieving us." Alvis pointed out.

"Relationships are built with trust. So we should start from there." Shulk assured. "Don't you think that as well?"

He lend his hand to the Knight to help him stand up. I did the same.

As soon as he was able to, the Knight took our hands and stood up. However, he did something that we never expected. Or at least, something that we didn't want to expect.
The Knight took the Monado from Shulk.

"SHULK!" All of us exclaimed.

But the Knight did something even more unexpected. He stabbed himself with it, and fell on the ground again.

"Please... don't heal me." The Knight begged. "I know how hard you've tried to save me, but... I just can't live without them. You made me realize I was doing something awful and I was conscious of that, but then I understood that... I couldn't do it. Not like this. I'm... really sorry. For everything."

"Why!?" Shulk asked, shocked. "We were so close, why!?"

"I just can't imagine a world worth living without the ones I love in it. This was the other option. Instead of killing the people from your world, If I killed myself... then I would be able to see them again." The Knight laughed. "That is if there is a place where people go after they die!"

"You will see them again..." I assured.

"It's funny... after all, this world it's like the one I aimed to create. A new world... where people cared for each other and would die fighting for it." The Knight started to close his eyes. "Huh... I never told you my name, didn't I?"

We stared at him, sad for his tragic life.

"My name is..." The Knight made a pause. "No. My name was..."

"Klaus..."

Telum's Core Crystal fell on the ground.

Nia wanted to help Klaus, but I stopped her. He made a decision, and we had to respect it.

Shulk was completely shocked.

"The Knight... has always been Klaus!?" Shulk exclaimed, surprised. "How is this possible!?"

"I suspected it, but... I can't believe it... I don't understand." I said.

"If I'm not mistaken, Klaus was the Architect of Alrest, right?" Alvis commented. "He was the one who created our worlds, and he was split into two parts. My theory is that he was in fact divided into a benevolent part, including the good aspects of his personality, and a selfish part, that only wished to have more and more power. Those being the Architect and Zanza, respectively.
When both of them died, Klaus returned to his original form. And he wasn't like the other Guldos. He was conscious. 

He soon realized he destroyed his world and he wanted to bring it back at any cost. With his knowledge of the Conduit and the Aegises, he started his journey. He probably heard about the saviors of the world and their legendary weapons, capable of bending reality, so he went to look for them. Ose Tower, where the Monado was supposed to be. That's where our paths crossed for the first time. After that, he attacked different places multiple times, always failing. He tried again with his new army, on Colony 6, but he was defeated once more. Then is when he realized he had to be stronger. So he awakened a Blade and increased his powers using the Ether from the mines.

But he failed again.
He still wasn't strong enough, but all the places with Ether were at vigilance. Except Torna.
Absorbing the power of the Core Crystal, he became powerful enough to fight against us and almost win. But with everyone's help, we did it. Even if the outcome wasn't the desired, we saved the world. And Klaus can finally rest in peace."

"How do you know all that?" Pneuma asked, curious.

"Simple logic." Alvis replied, smiling.

"We should come back with everyone." I suggested. "If everything goes as planned, then the Guldos must have stopped atttacking."

"Yeah, let's go." Shulk said, still processing the information.

I grabbed Telum's Core Crystal and we went down the stairs. There weren't signs of any Guldos. After walking for some minutes, we arrived where the group was.

(One Last You starts playing)

All the Guldos were reunited together, looking at the sky. Pneuma unfused and Pyra asked to Fiora.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know..." Fiora responded. "It seems you won but... They started walking away from us as soon as you did it..."

"And they gathered here, looking at the sky..." Mòrag commented.

The Guldo's bodies began to shine. Soon, they started to disintegrate, and their particles ascended to the sky.

"What is happening?" Melia asked, confused.

"They can be in peace now..." Dunban commented. "It's beautiful."

I observed the Guldos, amazed. Soon the sky was full of these particles, ascending. There weren't any words to describe it.

I looked at Pyra and Mythra, and then at Nia. It was the time to do it.

(I'll make endings for the three of them. You can decide which one you choose, but it's a good idea to read them all.)

[Rex and Pyra]

"Pyra, can you come here for a moment?" I said, nervous.

"What's the matter, Rex?" Pyra asked.

"I... wanted to talk to you..."

"About what?"

"Well..." It was difficult for me to say it, but I had to. "I wanted to tell you how I felt..."

"What... do you mean?" Pyra asked, slightly blushing.

"Look... the first time we met, I didn't know anything about you." I said.

"I guess, that's what is supposed to happen when you first meet someone..." Pyra commented.

"Right... Sorry..." I said, pretty embarrased. "Well as I was saying, time passed and I started to look at you differently. You were always so kind with me, and I felt like you understood me pretty well. I wanted to know more about you, I wanted to be there with you."

"Rex..." Pyra wasn't able to say any words.

"I know, it's a weird moment to say it, but I couldn't continue like this anymore." I explained. "I told you... I had feelings for someone, but I didn't want to break the hearts of my other friends. Then you helped me realize that they wouldn't be sad for so long. Life is like that, and you can't always have what you want. As time passes, sooner or later, your wounds will disappear. That's why I am confessing how I feel to you right now. The person I want to be with... is you, Pyra. Just as you said, I love this world because... you are in it."

Pyra smiled as tears came out from her eyes.

"Oh Rex I... I love you too!" She exclaimed, happy. "I wanted to let you know, but I wasn't brave enough to do it. I was afraid you would reject me, because there were other people in your life..."

"You don't have to worry anymore. This is how I feel." I assured.

I noticed that Mythra and Nia came in our direction.

"Hey... I..." I didn't know what to say.

"We heard eveything and..." Mythra commented, without being able to finish the sentence.

"We understand." Nia assured. "All of us were conscious about each other's feelings for you. It was just a matter of time that you decided which one of us was going to be."

"We aren't mad." Mythra said. "We are sad, yes, but as you said, time will pass and will heal our wounds... just like it has always done."

"I can't believe it... I always thought you would hate me." I mentioned.

"You know who us, right?" Mythra asked. "You know that we would never do something like that to you!"

"Are you really sure about that?" I asked ironically.

"Hey! Watch it!" Mythra warned.

"We will leave you alone now." Nia made a pause and smiled. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you. For everything." I said, smiling as well.

"I think you deserve a tasty dinner tonight, Rex." Pyra suggested.

"Heck yeah! You are the best, Pyra!" I said, happy.

[Rex and Mythra]

"Mythra? Can I talk with you for a sec?" I asked, nervous.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well this may sound weird but I... Damn, I should've planned something to say..." I said to myself.

"What do you mean, Rex? You are acting really weird." Mythra commented, confused.

"Let's see... Mythra, when I first met you I thought you were... you know, a little mean." I said.

"Oh, that's what you wanted to say? You are so sweet, really." Mythra assured, sarcastically.

"No, that's not what I..! Look, I knew there was something more about it. You always had a sad look on your face, that reminded me of how I used to look when I was younger, wondering about my parents. As our journey continued, I learned more about yourself and the things that happened to you. I wanted to help you, but I didn't know how. You didn't let me get closer, so I could understand your feelings... But little by little, your started to trust people again."

"It was because of you." Mythra assured, looking at my eyes. "You made me realize that I wasn't going to hurt my friends again. That I shouldn't be scared anymore."

"I know you are still sad about what happened. That's why I want to know more about you, Mythra. I want to be there, I want to make you happy. I want the best for you, because I..." I made a pause, but I wasn't going to hold back. "I love you, Mythra."

Mythra's face was completely red. She was shocked because of what I said.

"I- You.. I mean, I can't...."

Mythra quickly came closer to me and hugged me.

"I never thought I would be the one...!" Mythra said, crying, without being able to contain her happiness. "I was always so mean to you, treating you like trash and calling you an idiot... I just don't understand. Pyra was completely better for you! She was nice to you since the start, always caring for you... heck, she was even better than me at cooking! Why me?! What did I do to deserve it?!"

"Mythra... you don't have to be so hard with yourself..." I assured, removing the tears from her face with my finger. "Pyra was nice since the start, yeah, but that doesn't mean you weren't nice as well... I was happy spending time with you, seeing you trying to cover your smile as I made a stupid joke, or being concerned about my safeness, but trying to hide it. You are a good person deep inside, Mythra. And I love every aspect of you. I love *you*"

"It's just that... I made Pyra with all the things that people wanted me to be in the past." Mythra said, trying to stop crying. "Nice, caring, concerned about people and good at cooking. She was just a better version of myself."

"Well, I think you are perfect in the way you are, Mythra." I assured. "I'll always be there for you."

Nia and Pyra came closer to us. It looked like they heard our conversation.

"Rex... so this is why you were so worried back in Torigoth... you didn't want us to feel bad about your decision..." Pyra observed.

"I'm really sorry, I just wanted all of you to be happy..." I apologized.

"Are you kidding me!?" Nia said, laughing. "Look at how happy Mythra is! Isn't that enough?"

"But you are sad, aren't you...?" I asked, looking at the ground.

"Well, yeah..." Pyra commented. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't have done this. This is the best for you and the one you love... it's even the best for us! If you kept silent about it, then we would have always had that feeling of... uncertainty, and trust me, it's horrible."

"Rex, look, we also want the best for you... so if you're happy with her... then we are happy too." Nia assured.

I remembered the little push that Nia did on me when Pyra and Mythra came back after the destruction of the World Tree. She always wanted the best for me.

"I'm honest when I say... Thank you... you are the best friends I could ever have." I said.

"Well, I guess we will be going." Pyra commented. "You are also the best friend we could have, Rex."

I smiled. I was a really lucky guy.

[Rex and Nia]

(Beyond the Sky starts playing)

"Nia... can you come here?" I asked, REALLY nervous.

"Sure...?" She said, curious.

My heart was pounding. I always said a lot of stupid things to her before. It was going to be hard to explain my actions.

"Maybe I should start from the beggining..." I commented. "You remember when we first met, in the Ancient Ship, no?"

"Of course I remember." Nia responded. "You told me about your dream. Y'know, wanting to reach Elysium for everyone... You were far too noble. In those times, I thought the type of person that you are didn't exist."

"What do you mean? You are just like me!" I assured. "You were that type of person!"

Nia was flattered.

"A-anyways, what did you want to tell me?" She asked.

"Right. In that moment, I realized I had something in common with you. I sensed that we could be really good friends." I explained. "Time passed, and we joined forces to reach Elysium. You were always teasing me about how I felt for Pyra and Mythra, but then you revealed you were a Blade and..."

"Are we going to talk about 'that'?" Nia asked, looking away. "Look, Rex, I... I don't know if I'm ready yet. Maybe we-"

"Nia." I said, interrupting her. "Just listen to me, please."

She was really uncomfortable, but she nodded and let me continue.

"You told me... you were in love in me."

"Just forget what I said Rex, it's not important." Nia assured.

"It is important for me. I told you something really stupid and I apologize for it. I should have let you know how I felt." I explained.

"I know you just didn't want to make me feel sad. And it's ok!" Nia assured. "I knew the answer before you even told me. I was prepared for it. I was just really confused at the moment, when you told me you loved me too. But what came next... How can someone be so dumb!" Nia said, giggling.

"I-I'm really sorry, Nia." I said, embarrased. "But I meant what I said back then."

"W-what do you mean?" Nia asked, nervous.

"Just what I said." I assured, confident. "Well, not including the 'and all you guys' part, but you understand. I... I love you, Nia."

Nia stared at me for some moments. She was completely shocked.

"I-is this real!?" Nia exclaimed, smiling. "I'd never thought that... I mean, I thought you loved Pyra! Or Mythra! They are the Aegis and I am... me!"

"You don't have to be so hard with yourself, Nia." I comforted her. "You are an awesome person, that's why I'm in love with you in the first place. When we first met, I knew there was something special about you, but I didn't know what it was. And when you confessed to me I realized... I was in love with you, Nia. I tried to talk to you but I couldn't do it because you always said you were busy..."

Pyra and Mythra came in our direction.

"So he chose you, huh?" Mythra commented.

"You knew Nia was in love with me as well?" I asked, confused.

"Who didn't?" Mythra commented. "But hey, we understand."

"It was going to happen sooner or later. And I'm glad you finally decided to do it, Rex." Pyra assured. "We are sad, yes, but that doesn't mean we'll be like that forever... you will always be able to count on us, for everything."

"I... you are seriously the best." I commented. "Whatever it happens, I want you to know that I will be always there for you, too."

"Well, have fun. You totally deserve it." Mythra said smiling as she and Pyra left us alone.

"Believe me, Rex, this is the BEST day of my life." Nia assured, with tears of happiness on her eyes. "Not only you confessed to me, but our relationship with Pyra and Mythra will be almost the same. I'm just... so glad..."

"This is the best day of my life too!" I commented. "I saved the world and got a cat wife. What else I could ask?"

"EXCUSE ME!? A CAT WIFE!?" Nia exclaimed.

"I-I'm sorry, I was joking, please don't kill me." I begged.

"Kill you? No, I liked your idea! Let's marry!" Nia said, happy.

"WAIT, WHAT!?" I exclaimed, shocked.

So I guess I was engaged now...

That makes me... happy.

[Rex AND ALL YOU GUYS]

"Pyra! Mythra! Nia! Come here!" I exclaimed, extremely nervous.

"What's up, Rex? You look horrible." Mythra commented.

"You see... I... Well... I know this might be terribly reckless of me, perhaps even immature, but... I will do it anyways. Because... I want to be honest with my feelings. And my feelings... belong to all of you. I love you, Pyra. I love you, Mythra... And I love you, too, Nia. I love all of you... not just platonically... Look, I've been trying to decide this... for a long time now... Which one of you I'd choose, I mean. But this is the conclusion I arrived to. Just because I love all of you doesn't mean that my feelings have any less value. I just... I just want everyone to be happy, but I know that things don't always go that way, so I..."

"Rex. It's fine. I... I'm okay with this." Pyra said, smiling.

"Yeah, I mean, me too..." Nia commented.

"Geez... was it THIS easy all this time? Why didn't we just do this in the first place?" Mythra said, annoyed.

"Uh... wait, what...?"

"I mean, if anyone can pull of a healthy polyamorous relationship, it's you Rex! When you say you love us all... I don't have a shred of doubt that you're saying with full sincerity." Pyra exclaimed. "You'd never hurt a fly, so I think... I think we should try to do it. It can work. I believe in us."

"Yeah... And I quite like these two as well, so I don't mind... sharing you with them..." Mythra said, somewhat embarrassed. 

"Honestly... I'm quite perplexed right now... I didn't even think you liked me as well..." Nia commented. "But I... As long as you love me, I think it's fine! And geez, the fact that my relationship with Pyra and Mythra will remain the same as well...! I'm just... really happy right now!"

Nia started sobbing, and Pyra and Mythra hugged her.

"Is this... really happening...? You all agreed to...?"

"Yup." Mythra nodded.

"But... you won't think I'm a pervert or anything?"

"We always knew you were. I've caught you staring, you know." Pyra assured, smiling.

"P-Pyra! Now's not the time for jokes!"

"Just be careful not to give us all three of us babies at the same time or anything!" Nia exclaimed, laughing while tears of happiness ran down her face.

"You've crossed the line now!" I exclaimed.

"No, but honestly... don't worry. If it was any other guy, perhaps I'd think he just wants to bang three hot chicks and he doesn't have the nerve to pick one... but it's you, Rex." Mythra said, smiling. "You'll take care of us. Just like you always do."

"I..."

I was extremely flustered... and yet...

Extremely happy.

I ran towards them... and hugged them all.

So it was that simple, huh...

"I see you are all having some fun!" Shulk commented.

"Sort of..." I said. "What's the matter?"

"I'm just glad that everything is over" Shulk said, looking at the sky with a smile on his face. "Even if things didn't go as planned, we saved the world, right?"

"Yeah... in a way, what Klaus did connected our worlds. It's impressive." I observed. "Each time he did a disaster it ended with him dying and making of the world a better place."

"And I would've never met you if this didn't happen." Shulk commented. "I don't know what will happen in the future but... I'm now sure that the world has people willing to fight for it. If another threat shows up, we will be there to stop it."

I looked at the sky as well.

"Klaus... wherever you are, I wish you good luck." I closed my eyes. "I hope you can find what you seek for, just as I did."

Shulk smiled.

"Let's meet again soon, ok?" Shulk proposed.

"We still need to have that fight, right?" I said, laughing.

......................................................

EPILOGUE

The world was saved, so the heroes decided it was time to go home.

Shulk went to Colony 9 and built a house, where he lived with Fiora. They married and were really happy together. Shulk investigated the different phenomena of the world and Fiora discovered that her true passion was cooking food for the Colony.

When Reyn decided that it was time to move on to Colony 6, he and Shulk made a last promise. They would always be best friends, not matter what. It wasn't a promise difficult to keep.
He and Sharla married, and helped in the reconstruction of the Colony. Otharon had a proper funeral as well.

Dunban stayed in Colony 9, helping in the teaching of the military forces. He gave his blessing to Shulk and Fiora, who were really embarrased of his behavior.

Melia and the High Entia went back to Alcamoth. She was a benevolent ruler, that always wanted the best for everyone. She stayed in contact with her friends, who were pleased of seeing her finally happy.

Riki lived with his family in Frontier Village. He was always remembered between the nopon as 'the Legendary Heropon who saved the world twice'. He was really proud about his long title.

Alvis started to write about his different adventures. He used to travel a lot, so he could always have stories to put on his books. He usually came back to see his friends, who were always happy to see him.

Rex, Nia, Pyra, Mythra and Dromarch continued with the restorant in Torigoth. They lived a calm life, but as soon they had the money they bought different houses, because it started to be really awkward to have Rex and his girlfriend telling each other cheesy things in front of everyone. All of them kept being friends forever.

Tora and his family decided to create and sell Artificial Blades. It was a really good business, because they served as company or helped in battle. Always remembering Poppi, he continued to move forward.

Mòrag and Brighid returned to Mor Ardain, where they watched over the safety of their country. The emperor, Niall, was always remembered as the righteous ruler. Mòrag and Brighid never stopped fighting for the glory of Mor Ardain. However, they never forgot their friends, and they used to visit them monthly.

Zeke and Pandoria were in charge of the safety of Tantal. Together with his father, the Bringer of Chaos made Tantal great again, and was beloved between his people. It was no secret that he had a relationship with his Blade.

The rest of the Blades from the Alrest's group continued living their respecting lives, but they never forgot what Rex and his friends did for them. As for Azurda, he enjoyed the rest of his life exploring the world as he never could. He used to visit Rex to see how he was.

All of them always met one specific day of the year, catching up on the events of their respective lives...

(Daily Life starts playing)

"Alvis!" Shulk said. "What are you writing?"

I closed the book.

"Oh, it's nothing. It will be my first book." I explained. "On it, I'll mention our adventures."

"Really?" Shulk asked, curious. "Can I see?"

"Of course."

Shulk started to read from the end and he instantly closed the book.

"Why is there an epilogue of our lives...?" Shulk asked, smiling.

"It's obviously my guess of what could happen. It is not like I can see the future of anything like that." I assured.

"Well... I came here looking for you. As you already know, Rex and I are going to fight. Will you join us?" Shulk asked.

"I'm your Blade, I'm not?" I pointed out. "Of course I will fight. Let's go."

We went outside and walked a bit. Rex was waiting to fight with us. The rest of the group was there as well.

"Pyra! Mythra!" Rex exclaimed.

They nodded and fused into Pneuma.

"I am ready, ARE YOU!?" Rex asked, excited.

"Of course I am! Let's see who is actually the strongest this time!" Shulk exclaimed as he lit the Monado's lightray.

"Hey, Shulk! Do you remember?" Reyn asked. "This was the place where I saved you from that Mechon. You know, before the attack on Colony 9 happened."

"Wow... that seems like ages ago..." Fiora observed. "You have become stronger, Shulk. Show them what you've got!"

"I won't dissapoint you!" Shulk assured.

I prepared myself to fight. I didn't know who would win, but both were going at full force.

"Let's do it!" Rex exclaimed.

Both of them jumped and clashed their blades with a smile on their faces.

THE END