Chapter Text
Noah had felt music call to him before. Even wordless tunes painted pictures in his mind, as if he could not only hear, but see and feel the emotions behind the melody, the story woven by each note. But a song had never quite called to him like this before. A literal summons tugging him toward…something.
The haunting tune of a flute filled his ears, his mind, his entire being. He forgot the festivities of the queen’s anniversary. The town square faded away until only the music remained in his focus. A piercing blue light surrounded him. The music guided him on. He walked slowly forward as if in a trance. The world reformed around him.
He found himself in a forest filled with young trees. Tall green grass brushed against his legs. The flute song faded, replaced by a chorus of words that seemed to echo all around him.
"I’ll keep going while my flame still flickers"
"I’d like it…to be used a little longer. You’ll still be around after me"
"If this road I’ve walked…were to keep on going…I’d like to spend that time with my Noah."
"My hair…it’s gotten kind of long."
"I won’t let go. Not ever. I’ll always be with you. Our feelings…forever interlinked. Wherever we are…"
"I promise!"
From behind the trees appeared a young girl with long white hair, golden eyes, and pointed ears atop her head.
Her name came roaring into his mind and came to his lips as a whisper.
“Mio.”
Mio had been somewhere dark and cold, surrounded by metal, but kept warm in her mother’s embrace. Her sister Glimmer and brother Milton were held similarly close by their mothers Pyra and Mythra. The children’s father, Rex, paced about the metal room.
“Sit down, Rex,” Mio’s mother had told him. “There’s nothing more to be done now.”
“Nothing more to be done with what, Mum?” Mio asked. “Why are we here? What’s going on?”
“Nothing to worry you, dear,” Nia said, stroking her daughter’s hair. “There’s a storm passing through and this our shelter. It will pass quickly enough, then we’ll go home.”
Mio looked to her other mothers, gauging their reactions. Mythra stared off into the distance, mouth drawn into a frown. Pyra focused on comforting Glimmer. Mio’s parents had once reshaped the world. She had always thought them incapable of fear. But she saw it in their eyes, now. Miyabi cried into her mother’s shoulder. Milton tried to remain stoic despite his trembling. Mio swallowed and attempted to summon her own courage. She was the eldest of the three children and wanted to set a good example.
Something rocked the bunker, causing the metal to groan. The family of seven huddled together, the adults gathering to shield the children.
“It will be okay,” their father promised. “The storm will blow through quickly. In a few minutes, it will be like it never came.”
Mio closed her eyes and folded her ears flat against her head so she would not hear the terrible groan of the metal walls.
The world went dark and silent.
The silence lasted perhaps a moment, perhaps an eon, but eventually she opened her eyes.
“There now,” Nia said. “The storm has passed. We can go home now.” The queen of Agnus looked to the rest of her family. “Shall we?”
Nia began to summon the bright blue light that would teleport them back to Agnus Castle when Mio’s ears pricked. She heard a distant flute. It called to her.
She took off running.
Her parents called after her, but she did not hear them. The flute filled her mind.
Racing from the bunker, she emerged into an overwhelmingly large, open metal room. White metal surrounded the half of the chamber in which Mio found herself, the other half encased in black. Countless blue core crystals floated overhead like stars in the night sky. The walls pulsed with light and the scene around Mio changed, the metal chamber replaced with a forest.
The flute song pulled her forward through the trees until she stepped into a clearing. There she saw a young boy with black hair tied up with red thread. As her gazed locked with his blue eyes, the flute song faded and a rush of words echoed around her.
"If the world holds our lives back, I'll end it. Simple as that."
"I need you, Mio!"
"I'll protect you."
"Thank you. For sticking with me. Without you by my side, I never would have made it here."
"Still, even if we're worlds apart, I swear..."
"One day, I’ll come and see you. I promise!"
She found his name in her mind, as if she had known it a thousand years.
“Noah.”
“Mio!”
Nia, Rex, and the rest of the family chased after the girl.
Fast as a bunnit, that child! Nia thought.
The interior of Origin transformed into a forest as they ran.
What the bloody hell is this? Nia thought, making a mental note to ask Tora about this strange ability of Origin’s later.
They came into a clearing and saw Mio walking toward a young boy.
“Noah?” Nia said to herself, her memories of Aionios still fresh.
The two children’s hands drew close.
“Mio! Noah! Stop!”
The children turned toward the queen of Agnus at hearing their names.
“Stay where you are! Do not move any closer. You must stay where you are, understand?” Nia said, trying to keep her panic in check.
The looks of confusion on the children’s faces told her they did not, in fact, understand. They looked to one another, straining against the urge to pull together, like two magnets of opposite poles.
Another group came into the clearing from behind Noah.
“Melia!” Nia called, alerting the Kevesi queen to their presence. Trailing Melia were the scientists Nia knew from their video calls: the blond-haired Shulk and Fiora, the Machina Radzam, and the High Entia Tyrea and Teelan.
It took Melia only a moment to assess the situation. As always, the Kevesi queen maintained her calm composure.
“Noah,” Melia called. “Noah, I am Queen Melia. Please listen to me. Come toward us, please. It isn’t safe to remain where you are.”
“Q–Queen Melia?” the boy rasped, pressing a trembling hand to his forehead
“You have many questions, I’m sure,” Melia said, her voice kind and reassuring. “Please, join me and my friends over here and we can talk some more. Your friends, are they somewhere near as well?”
“My friends…” Realization dawned in Noah’s eyes. “I was with them…in the city square…and then I heard music, and I was here.”
“Please, Noah,” Melia said. “Come here and we can talk further. We can get you home. I’m sure your friends are worried about where you’ve gone.”
Mio flew into a panic. “No, Noah can’t go! You can’t go, Noah! You promised!”
“Mio, don’t take another step!” Nia warned. She ran toward her daughter intending to pull her away from the intersection of Origin herself if the girl would not budge.
“Noah!” Melia shouted, but too late.
The boy rushed toward Mio at seeing her distress. He crossed the intersection of Origin’s two halves and…
Nia ran faster, summoning ether to repel the destructive Fog she expected to spark between the children of two different worlds. But it never came.
Noah embraced Mio in a hug which the girl returned fiercely.
“Don’t cry, Mio,” Noah said. “I said I’d come and see you, right?”
“Are you alright?” Nia asked the children, crouching beside them. “Noah…you…you can cross over?”
“Hm? Queen…Nia. What do you mean by cross over?”
Tyrea’s voice ripped through the air. “Melia, what are you doing?!”
But the Kevesi queen did not heed her sister’s call. She crossed the intersection of Origin and dropped down beside the children, placing a hand on Noah’s shoulder.
“Well, now,” Radzam said. “This is an interesting development.”