1+1=1

by Secret_Artistry

Summary:

The intersection was coincidentally set to occur at the anniversary of Zanza's defeat and the fall of the World Tree. Everything seems to have gone smoothly, but Shulk, Melia, Rex, and Nia are all acting rather strange

Basically just a post-canon XenoBlade 3 fic

Chapter 1: Festival Blues

Notes:

Alright, I'm doing it. I'm finally writing a multi-chapter fic. I've had this idea for a while, but couldn't decide where I wanted to start it. At one point planned to start right after XenoBlade 1 & 2 and summarize everything leading up to the intersection buuuuut, that sounded like a bit much, though there is another idea from that that might become its own thing. Anyways, enjoy watching these weirdos wonder why their protagonists are acting so weird

Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos, had a bad feeling about this. He had told himself it was just nerves about the whole Origin thing, and that’s pretty much what Pandoria had said as well when he had brought it up to her in the evening a few days prior.

Now here he was, at the anniversary festival of Neo Alrest. Each year, the festival was held in a different nation, from Mor Ardain to Uraya to Tantal to Leftheria, where they were now. Leftheria had easily changed the most over the sixteen years since the World Tree fell, having become home to a fair amount of Gormotti citizens after Nia became none other than the Leftherian queen, mostly since Rex didn’t want to be the king.

Speaking of Nia, she had just finished the official festival speech, which Zeke did not look forwards to having to do next year when the festival came to Tantal. This year, however, there was a new event added into the festival schedule that was set to commence in a few minutes. Apparently, someone had proposed a small children’s concert of some sort, featuring a few local children, not the least of which were the young princesses Mio and Glimmer, whom Zeke had been told were very talented musicians.

He was currently standing next to the bearer of that piece of info, the giant of a man who Zeke could scarcely believe used to the be the pint-sized fountain of optimism who warmed the Architect’s despairing soul. Granted, Rex was still a fountain of optimism, but his new look still felt a bit uncanny at times, though Zeke would never say that out loud. Rex excitedly bragging about his daughters' flute and lute skills however, that felt like Rex.

Still, as the two of them chatted while waiting for the performance to start, Zeke found himself unable to concentrate on the conversation. The bad feeling was positively gnawing at him, like a very small and angry Rodonya.

“Hey, Rex” said Zeke, completely interrupting Rex talking about how his salvaging business was doing. Zeke felt bad for both not paying attention and interrupting, but he simply couldn’t concentrate.

“What’s up?” asked Rex, who must’ve noticed Zeke’s mood, because he instantly went into what Zeke and Pandoria jokingly called his “dad mode” which he went into whenever he saw someone in trouble, regardless of age or relation to to him. On the bright side, Zeke knew he now had Rex’s undivided attention until either the concert began or someone in Rex’s immediate family got his attention but still, it felt a mite weird to Zeke to have someone ten years younger than him acting fatherly towards him. Oh well, better than listening to one of his “disappointed dad-style lectures” which Zeke had never been subjected to. Nope. Never. Not even once. Okay maybe a few times, but come on, even Mòrag had gotten one at some point.

“Well it’s just…I dunno” said Zeke, trying to find the right words “I guess I’ve been feeling a wee bit antsy is all. What with the whole…you know” Zeke waved in hands vaguely in the distance where Origin probably was. He hadn’t exactly paid attention to where it was in relation to Fonsett’s main square, and it was likely shrouded in darkness at this time of night anyways.

“Mm” said Rex, stroking his beard “Well, one way or another, we won’t have to worry tomorrow.”

“Well don’t you sound pessimistic” said Zeke. He meant to sound teasing, but the words just came out a bit flat.

“What can I say” said Rex “It’s the truth, like it or not. I guess I’m feelin’ a bit antsy myself.”

“I suppose you are right though, chum” said Zeke “Either it’ll be over and done with, or, well, over and done with.”

“Which means” said Rex with a grin “That we’d better enjoy this party.”

“Can’t say no to that” laughed Zeke. Yet even that bit of banter could not drive away the horrible sense of apprehension that seemed to have lodged itself into Zeke’s very soul. Zeke watched as the kids in the little band started to go up on stage. Zeke didn’t make it out to Leftheria as often as he’d like thanks to at-home obligations, so the only kids on stage he recognized were Mio, Glimmer, and another Gormotti girl whose name escaped him at the moment. He’d have to ask Linka later.

Speaking of Linka, Zeke spotted his daughter standing off to the side. She’d been tasked with helping Mythra watch the kids: Mio, the other Gormotti (her name started with an M too, right?), Glimmer, Rex’s other child Milton, Mòrag and Brighid’s daughter Sena, and a boy named Taion who Zeke hadn’t met before who was apparently a friend of Mio’s through school. Taion had been thoroughly unimpressed with Zeke’s Bringer of Chaos bit, usually a hit among the kids but hey, you can’t win’em all.

For no reason at all, looking over in Linka and Mythra’s direction set off alarm bells in Zeke’s head. He looked over to where Pandoria had sat down with Mòrag and Brighid as they all waited on Nia, Niall, and Raqura to return from the balcony Nia had given her speech on (Zeke should’ve been with them, but it was hardly his fault he and his family had arrived late due to their titan ship malfunctioning). Pandora looked over at him in concern, his distress likely obvious through their affinity link, still present even after the Driver-Blade system barely existed anymore. Zeke gave a small smile and wave, and Pandoria smiled back before returning to her conversation with the Flamebringer and Jewel of Mor Ardain. Zeke spotted Aegaeon, Dromarch, and another blade Zeke didn’t recognize exiting the palace, which was a good sign, though it would probably be a minute or two before the rulers themselves made it out.

The band was setting up on stage, and everything just seemed to feel worse. Glimmer took her lute out of its case, and Zeke saw Mythra look around, looking worried. Another child fiddled with their harp while their parent helped them, and Zeke saw Linka crouch down next to Sena, Taion, and Milton, the younger kids seeming distressed. Another child inspected their trumpet, and Zeke saw Mòrag uncross and recross her legs again, a clear sign of some nervousness. Mio and…Miyabi, that was it, gave their flutes one last clean, and Zeke heard Rex let out a deep and shaky sigh.

The feeling of apprehension grew ever further, the air seeming to grow cold around Zeke, as though everything was slowing down.

That’s when Zeke realized.

Everything really was slowing down. He and Pandoria might be the only ones even noticing it due to Pandoria’s abilities granting him heightened speed, but it was happening. Something was definitely wrong. Three final, short, thoughts flashed through his now panicking mind.

Pandoria.

Linka.

He had to protect them.

Suddenly, the feeling vanished. Everything seemed to come into a sharp, clear focus. The awful feeling of apprehension vanished, and Zeke felt a powerful sense of calm. Rex was right, there was no reason to worry, Origin was going to work just fine, they and their friends in the other world were going to be A-OK. Everything would work out just as planned. Zeke turned to Rex, wanting to say something to make up for his interruption earlier, and froze.
Rex was standing perfectly still, looking completely stunned. Then music began to play. It was Mio, completely unprompted, somehow Zeke knew it was her and not Miyabi. And to Zeke’s utter shock, Rex began to cry. As though he hadn’t heard his daughter play in a thousand years.

---

Tyrea had felt uneasy all night. Something about the ether in the air just felt off to her in a way she couldn’t describe. She knew ether held a connection to all beings of the Bionis, though she had never understood it as well as Melia seemed to, but tonight everything seemed alive in some sense of unease. Tyrea hardly had to guess the source. Somewhere out there, hidden in the darkness of night, was Origin, their own half termed “Keves” to distinguish it from Neo Alrest’s “Agnus”. Melia had ended her anniversary speech around fifteen minutes ago, and was now donning something more comfortable to go visit her friends in, while Tyrea waited to accompany her.

Tyrea tapped her foot impatiently. Technically, she didn’t have to escort Melia down, and Tyrea did have her own family waiting for her, but she wasn’t about to let Melia walk down by herself and likely agonize over whether she’d done her speech correctly or not. Besides, if something really was going wrong, Melia held the key to Keves. If Tyrea wanted to protect everyone during the merge, there was no better place to start then protecting Melia, as much as another part of her brain had begun screaming at her to go find Rozeal and Eunie.

Suddenly, a commotion from inside the dressing room caught Tyrea’s attention. She heard Melia’s attendants shout in surprise, and only instincts formed from too many years of combat training saved Tyrea from getting hit by the door Melia threw open. Tyrea had just enough time to notice Melia was missing a shoe before the queen began to dash down the hallway like her life depended upon it.

Tyrea bolted after her. If there was any indication something was happening, Melia running faster than Tyrea had ever seen her move was it. Ether swirled around them, and to her horror, Tyrea could feel the same sense of nausea that being around a fogbeast had set off in her during her time on the Bionis’ Shoulder. The intersection could only be seconds away.

She had to find her family.

Rozeal.

Eunie.

Melia.

If only there was just a bit more ti-

Then Melia tripped and Tyrea instinctively moved to catch her. For a moment, it almost looked as though Melia had passed out, and yet Tyrea knew she was fine. Melia was okay, Tyrea was okay, everyone was okay. The fog was gone and Origin would succeed. Then Tyrea looked down and saw Melia smiling up at her with tears in her eyes.

---

Emperor Niall and Queen Raqura accompanied Queen Nia down from the proclamation balcony. Zeke had been too late to accompany them, but all three knew he wouldn’t have wanted to be there anyways, not that they blamed him. Besides, the important diplomatic affairs had been left until tomorrow. After all, if things went wrong, they wouldn’t exactly need to hold the conference anyways.

“I just want to say” said Nia “In case this doesn’t work out, it has been an honor working with you both.”

“Indeed” agreed Raqura solemnly “The world owes you and yours a great debt. The honor is ours as well”

“Likewise” said Niall. The debt he in particular owed Nia hardly needed to be mentioned.

The three continued walking in silence and unease, down what felt like the longest hall of Niall’s life. He could have sworn the castle had been smaller the last time he had visited Leftheria. Perhaps he was just anxious about Mòrag and her family. He knew Raqura and Nia would also want to see their families at least once before the intersection occurred.

Suddenly, Nia stopped dead, then began to run as fast as her dress would let her. Niall and Raqura hardly needed to ask what the matter was, and all thoughts of decorum vanished as the other monarchs took off after her.

Not now.

At least let him say goodbye to his sister.

Why was there never enough ti-

Suddenly, Nia skidded to a stop, nearly slamming into a wall as the hallway turned to the right. As Niall and Raqura came to a stop behind her, they watched as Nia straightened up and placed a hand on the wall in front of her. Then she turned to look out a nearby window.

“Ah, right” said Nia quietly, as though speaking to herself “it was the festival, wasn’t it?”

“Nia?” said Niall. The Leftherian queen jumped in surprise and stared at Niall and Raqura in shock.

“Bloody he-” Nia slapped a hand over her mouth “My apologies. Er…could you remind me where we were-”

Then the flute began to play, and a wave of emotion passed over the queen’s face before she took off running to the courtyard once more.

“Perhaps we should stay behind a little bit” said Raqua.

“My thoughts exactly” said Nial.

Both of them knew Nia wouldn’t want them to see her cry.

---

Dunban had never felt so clearheaded. He had been feeling utterly miserable the past few days leading up to the anniversary of Zanza’s defeat, and he could tell the sentiment was shared by the others, even if they were better at hiding it than he was these days. Even Riki had seemed less peppy than usual.

Yet now it was as though something had just clicked into place. Everything, from his head to his mechanical arm Shulk and Riku had made for him felt better than they had in weeks, as though Dunban had gained something he’d never known was missing. He felt Vanea squeeze his good hand and turned to look at her with a smile, noticing that she too looked far less stressed then she had the past few days.

“Shulk?” he heard Fiora say “Are you alright?”

Dunban turned towards his sister and brother-in-law to see something startling. Shulk was looking down at his hands, opening and closing his right hand in a way that Dunban knew all too well. Shulk tilted his head and suddenly shook his head before lifting a hand to his hair.

Then Shulk began to laugh. Louder and happier than any of them had heard from him in a long time. It was then that everyone knew what had happened, but it was Shulk who threw back his head and let out a joyous shout of

“IT WOOOOOOORKED!!!”

Notes:

We love and appreciate happy Shulk in this house

Fun fact, I completely forgot Glimmer played an instrument when I first wrote this chapter, so I had to rewrite that part today right before posting this. If you're wondering where her mom is, don't worry, she'll show up next chapter, as will some other characters who weren't mentioned. Everyone gets a turn in the POV chair don't worry

Also full disclaimer, I've already written three chapters of this. I'll get the other ones up in a couple of days probably, I wasn't even planning on putting this out today, and may come back and make edits. Maybe. Don't count on it. I'm still not 100% sure where I'm taking this story or how it'll end. Thanks for reading!

edit 12/25/2024: made minor edits

Chapter 2: Origin's Success

Notes:

I lied, Pyra is not in this chapter, her section is in Chapter 3, I got my notes mixed up. Sorry. Anyways, this is out a bit later than intended, but I realized I forgot Dromarch existed and had to edit him in a few places so his inclusion may feel a bit awkward here. Chapter 1 has also been edited a bit. Anyways, enjoy my inability to write about technology!

Tora would never admit it, but there was a very small part of him wishing he had gone to the Anniversary party with the others. However he knew he would have felt nothing but guilt if he left Poppi here at such a critical moment. Poppi was required to stay in Origin: Agnus in order to interface with the Ontos core situated within Origin: Keves. With the loss of the Conduit, neither Pyra nor Mythra could properly connect into the cobbled together Trinity Pseudoprocessor designed to interface between the two worlds.

“Whatcha worryin’ about, fuzzball?” said a voice Tora was still not quite used to hearing. Shortly after the creation of Neo Alrest, Mythra had brought up the idea of investigating the ruins of Morytha and the World Tree. While the expeditions would become grand productions later on, the first had consisted of Rex, Tora, Zeke, and their associated blades riding out to their former world on Gramps’ back. On their first foray, they made a shocking find: Mikhail, the last surviving member of Torna on the verge of a very painful death.

Now here the former terrorist stood, a valuable part of the Origin construction team. Even if he was only here as a part of his ongoing community service, he had put all of his effort into the project, and through the process had even begun to make up with Tora and his family, despite all Torna had put them through. Somedays, it was almost hard to believe the blade eater had been part of an operation forcing Tora’s father to build an army of artificial blades. Almost.

“Tora not worry” lied Tora. Everyone seemed worried these days, and who could blame them? Mikhail sat beside Tora and slouched over.

“You’re doing better than me then” sighed Mikhail.

“Maybe Tora worried a bit…” admitted the nopon. While he’d liked the idea of being Origin’s chief engineer, it was an immense task, even with as much help as he’d had, from his family, to various blades and citizens from all over Alrest.

“Do you think they’re worried too?” asked Mikhail.

“Rex-Rex and others put on brave faces, but probably” said Tora, hoping his friends were enjoying the festivities and not thinking about the intersection at all, even though they all undoubtedly were.

“Oh” said Mikhail “I was talking about Bionis.”

“Ah” said Tora. Tora and Mikhail were among the few people in Neo Alrest who’d had a chance to speak to the other world, alongside Rex, the Aegises, Nia, Zeke, Pandoria, Niall, and Raqura. The Bionis had even fewer representatives, consisting of their empress Melia, chief engineer Shulk, another engineering expert named Miqol who seemed to be a V.I.P. of some sort, and one of Shulk’s assistants, a nopon named Riku whom Shulk had referred to as a brother. Mikhail had only made a call once, when Tora and everyone else with clearance had been pulled away from Origin to attend Rex, Pyra, Mythra, and Nia’s wedding. Shulk later reported that Mikhail had been quite professional, and would never have guessed he had a criminal record had Mikhail not told him.

“Shulk always seem a bit worried to Tora, and Miqol very good at putting on happy face. Melia and Riku harder to read” replied Tora.

“I wonder…” said Mikhail.

“Wonder what?” asked Tora.

“If they…” Mikhail trailed off. It had been a while since Tora had seen Mikhail like this, but knew that Mikhail was thinking of his old comrades.

“Perhaps could have found hope in other world?” said Tora.

“Akhos would have been fascinated by it all” said Mikhail, his voice getting shaky “Patroka too, though she never would have…”

“Malos get to meet brotherpon” said Tora, who still couldn’t believe the mystery of the missing third Aegis Core had been so quickly solved. Mikhail nodded.

“They all should’ve gotten to see this” said Mikhail, and Tora patted him with a wing.
Metallic footsteps got the two engineer’s attention, and they turned around to see Lila, who was one of the few beings still currently stationed on Origin at this critical hour.

“Readings indicate intersection is imminent” spoke the artificial blade.

“Many thanks, Lila” said Tora, as he and Mikhail got up to go oversee the final stages of the project. Tora could hardly believe that over a decade’s worth of work was about to come to an end. Everything had been set into position, all they had to do now was to watch and make sure nothing went sideways at this last crucial moment.

Tora and Mikhail walked back with Lila into the Agnian nucleus where Professors Tatazo and Soosoo, as well as Poppibuster were supervising the final few processes. One wall held a large door, behind which Tora knew was Poppi, interfacing with Ontos in a language not even the hyperintelligent Poppibuster could comprehend. Nobody spoke, there wasn’t much more to say.

The silence was deafening. Then Poppibuster spoke.

“Unknown readings detected.”
Tora’s blood ran cold. Everyone in the room began frantically digging through every part of Origin’s operating system. Despite the terror everyone must be feeling, nobody panicked.

There simply wasn’t time.

Suddenly, every single reading in the entirety of Origin’s systems changed into something unrecognizable, then stabilized instantly, which was good, because that would absolutely have sent everyone into a panic.

“Um…” said Mikhail “do you feel that?”

“If Mikhail mean change in Ether, then yes” responded Poppibuster.

“Lila feel it as well” responded Lila.

Tora looked back at his monitor and nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Meh-meh! Everyone look!” shouted Tora, prompting everyone to look at their own monitors.

“Holy shit” said Mikhail.

Tatazo and Soosoo stared at their monitors wide-eyed.

Even Poppibuster could only stare at the current status report in shock.

Then the door to the central chamber opened. Everyone turned to look at Poppi, whose expression was frighteningly neutral.

“Poppi?” said Tora.

Then Poppi ran over, threw her arms around Tora, and started bawling.

---

Pandoria would never had called herself an avid enjoyer of music. That was much more Zeke’s thing. However, when Mio suddenly began to play her flute while the rest of the children’s concert was setting up, she had to admit that she’d never heard anything quite like it. She’d heard the princess’ parents brag about it, yet there was something about it that not even such high praise could have prepared Pandoria for. Despite it being just one instrument, it felt as though two melodies were being brought together in a resonant harmony. It wasn’t like the resonance between driver and blade, or even the unusual case between her and Zeke, no, this was something deeper, something from the soul, melting away the feelings of doubt Pandoria and many others had felt in the days leading up to this night.

Then it was over. Mio lowered her flute and opened her eyes. She looked confused, as though even she could hardly believed she’d played it. Before Pandoria had a chance to wonder if there was any deeper meaning behind the young girl’s expression, something else distracted her.

“Rex?” spoke the voice Pandoria knew best, the concern in Zeke’s voice instantly attracting her attention. She looked over at where the two men had been standing and let out a small gasp.

Tears were rolling down Rex’s face, and he had a look in his eyes that Pandoria had seen in refugees from sunken Titans. Rex blinked. Then he blinked again, and brought a hand up to his face covering his left eye, as though mimicking Zeke.

Speaking of, the Tantalese king had placed a hand on Rex’s shoulder.

“Are you alright mate?”

Rex turned to Zeke in an almost dreamlike fashion. A moment later, the salvager’s face lit up.

“ZEKE!!”

Pandoria was as fond of Rex as the rest of them, but she was quite okay with her prince being on the receiving end of the bone-crushing hug Rex launched into without warning. Rex then started talking a mile a minute, but before Pandoria had a chance to hear, there was another distraction, as Mio let out a delighted shout of her own.

“Mum! You’re here!”

Sure enough, Nia had finally made it down from where she’d been speaking from. Oddly, Niall and Raqura were nowhere to be seen; Pandora hoped they weren’t mad about the Tantalese royals’ tardiness.

Mio rushed over to her mother and threw her arms around her.

“Did you hear me playing, Mum?”

Nia responded by promptly bursting into tears.

---

To call Mòrag floored would be an understatement. After possibly crushing Zeke’s ribs, Rex dashed over to the kids, picked up half of them at once and spun them around, laughing like a madman. Now Nia, in front of everyone, was crying her eyes out while embracing her now very confused daughter who, along with Dromarch, was attempting to comfort the young queen.

Mòrag had known the festival this year would be a night to remember, considering the imminent intersection, but for the first time since looking down at Alrest from the First Low Orbit Station, she found herself completely and utterly at a loss.

“REX!!”

“NIA!!”

Mòrag could do nothing but watch in stunned silence as the couple practically slammed into each other and exchanged a kiss that Mòrag was sure might have brought a blush to Zeke and Pandoria’s faces. Suddenly the two of them both spotted Mythra, who Mòrag noticed appeared slightly dazed for some reason. The Aegis then gave a start as Rex and Nia both shouted her name and wrapped her in a veritable storm of affection.

“H-hey!” shouted Mythra, her face glowing bright red “Go do that to Pyra or something!”

The expression on Rex’s face somehow got even happier.

“Pyra! PYRA!!”

As Rex began to race off towards the kitchen where Pyra had been supervising the preparation of post-concert fare, Nia called after him.

“Wait for me, Rex!”

In one fluid motion, Rex spun around, whisked Nia into his arms bridal style and raced off towards the palace kitchens.
In the flabbergasted silence that followed, Mythra spoke up.

“Um…I’ll go…keep an eye on them.”

That said, the light Aegis hurried after her husband and wife, still blushing furiously.

“You know” began a familiar voice. Mòrag turned to see both her brother Niall and Queen, and firmly began hoping the two had only just arrived. Mòrag may or may not have been trying to uphold the image that her friend group was somewhat normal in front of her brother, and a part of her wanted to vanish from the scene.

“I think” continued Niall “it is safe to say that Origin has succeeded.”

Mòrag could only hope that their counterparts were handling this slightly more professionally.

---

Fiora had always known Shulk wasn’t a very touchy-feely sort of person. It had taken the two of them a while to work out general boundaries when they were dating, and while Fiora would still catch herself wanting to surprise Shulk with a hug every now and again despite his inevitable discomfort at the idea, they had ultimately made things work out, and while their relationship may have been low on physical intimacy, it was not low on love.

That said, she couldn’t say she had any complaints about her husband suddenly tackling her with a hug. Okay, maybe it was a tiny bit startling. And slightly painful. They were also on the ground now, which would get awkward real fast, but Fiora couldn’t care less and hugged Shulk back. Shulk quickly seemed to realize the impropriety of their position, blushed, and rolled off of her.

Now lying on his back, Shulk began to laugh again. Fiora had missed his laugh, and had hated watching him grow more and more tired as he sleeplessly worked on Origin, with efforts of dragging him away ceasing after he quite literally sleepwalked back one night.

Now though, he sounded positively giddy with excitement. Origin had succeeded. The only one who could truly confirm that was Melia, yet somehow everyone already knew, even if Shulk hadn’t shouted that it had moments ago.

“You alright, pal?” asked Reyn, who was now standing over Shulk, looking down at his friend with a concerned expression.

“Hey Reyn” said Shulk, as though they’d merely ran into each other while running errands “Did you know that you have an extremely capable daughter?”

“Um…thanks?” said Reyn, scratching his head in confusion. As if Shulk’s words had summoned her, Panacea started shouting from where she’d been watching the children.

“Noah? Noah, where are you?”

“Noah?”

Shulk shot upright, looking around in a panic. Fiora stood up as well, her eyes searching along with everyone else’s through the crowd for Dunban and Vanea’s adopted son. She saw Panacea with Lanz, Eunie, Nikol, and another boy Fiora didn’t recognize, but Noah’s familiar ponytail was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh” said Shulk “What was I…sorry…”

“Are you sure you’re alright, Shulk?” asked Sharla.

“I-well” Shulk stammered “Let’s find Noah first” Shulk thought for a second “Actually, no, I think Dunban and Vanea should be the ones to find him.”

“What are you talking about?” Fiora asked her husband. Even if Shulk had his reasons, it would be better if everyone pitched in to look for Noah. Fiora was starting to get the feeling that something else was going on.

“I second that.”

Everyone turned to see Melia and Tyrea entering the viewing box they’d watched Melia give her speech from. Melia seemed to be practically glowing with serenity, even if she was missing a shoe, and Fiora didn’t think she’d ever seen Tyrea look so at peace.

“This is only a hunch” said Melia “but you may need only follow the music.”

---

Vanea and Dunban left the viewing box, Melia’s cryptic words fresh in their minds. Lanz, Eunie, and Joran all said Noah had been with them when the clock struck, but they hadn’t kept track of him since. There were three paths leading away from the fountain the kids had all come from, but neither Vanea nor Dunban could fathom which one Noah might have taken or why. Of their children, Lanz was far more likely to run off, and the two were about to choose the path leading over to where Riki’s family had situated themselves, thinking Noah might have gone back the way the children had come from when Vanea heard it.

“I don’t believe it” she said quietly.

“Do you hear something?” asked Dunban.

“Flute. Very faint” replied Vanea “I think it’s coming from over there.”

The couple set off under the archway Vanea indicated. The flute continued to play, on the far edge of what Vanea’s machina senses could pick up as the two made their way through a number of side streets, through neighborhoods constructed through the reconstruction efforts both of them had helped lead.

“Who would be playing music down here?” mused Dunban aloud “No festivities were set down here as far as I was aware.”

“Hush” said Vanea “I can barely hear it as is.”

Dunban complied, and Vanea was left with the music and her thoughts. The music practically seemed to draw her along, and Vanea wondered how Melia could have possibly known about it. It was also quite the coincidence. Noah had recently expressed interest in playing an instrument after attending a concert at his school performed by some upperclassmen. Vanea distinctly remembered the standout part of the performance being a young man playing the flute and wondered if there was some bizarre cosmic connection. Gone were Meyneth and Zanza, yet their lives were still bound by some sort of fate, of that Vanea was certain.

On the topic of Zanza, Vanea thought back to Shulk’s outburst and strange behavior. Shulk acting surprised at the presence of his arm hardly brought back good memories for her, and she was certain Dunban felt worse. Vanea recalled how she had felt moments before Shulk had started acting off, the feeling of terrible foreboding, as though something far worse than annihilation was about to be visited upon them. Had something happened? Were Shulk and Melia the only ones who could remember? The thought saddened Vanea. Those two had endured far too much hardship over their lives, some of which she herself had been complicit in. More trials for them to suffer hardly seemed fair. Most of all, she worried about Noah, and the brief moment of panic in Shulk’s voice when Panacea reported Noah’s disappearance.

Then as fate would have it, she spotted Noah as the last note of the flute faded away in the wind. Noah turned around, seeming to have heard his parents approaching him. He blinked, and suddenly looked around, as though he hadn’t even realized where he was. Noah looked up at the two of them, and looked so guilty Vanea almost didn’t have the heart to chastise him. She rushed over and knelt down in front of Noah to scold him.

“Don’t you ever do that again.”

“...sorry” mumbled Noah. Vanea believed him, her feelings telling her that his wandering had been due to something greater than a mere child’s whim.

“What on Bionis?” Vanea heard her husband say softly. Standing up, Vanea saw Dunban looking out into the sea. Following his gaze, she noticed something she hadn’t seen before, so focused she had been on finding Noah. And yet, how could she have missed this?

Notes:

Surprise! Mikhail's alive. There was originally more exposition about him, but a lot was cut to avoid veering off-focus in that first section, and I may go into all my headcanons about that later on.

The mental picture of Rex snapping out of Aionios and giving Zeke a big hug was the idea that inspired this fic, so I'm glad I got to write it out.

This chapter went through a bunch of editing, mainly because Pandoria and Vanea's sections were originally written from Mòrag and Dunban's perspectives respectively, before I remembered that Dunban already got a section in Ch. 1, and I already had Mòrag in a different part of this chapter, so if those sections seem awkward, that's probably why. I also put in a last-minute explanation of where Riki was, because I was so focused on the other characters. (Can you tell I don't have any beta readers?)

Thank you for all the kudos and kind comments!

Update 6 / 28 / 2023: As of now, I'm putting this on hiatus. I hate to do this, but I've just run out of ideas and a direction to take this fic in. This was very much a stream-of-consciousness thing, and that is not my strong suit. I'm not saying I'm never coming back to this, but I have other ideas that I think I can make better stories out of, and other stories I want to tell. Right now, this just doesn't feel like a good use of my time. Once again, thank you for all the kind comments, this was way better received than I thought it would be, and I hope you'll at least take a glance at any future fics I put out.

edit: 12/25/2024: made minor edits

Chapter 3: One World

Notes:

Merry Holidays! This chapter was actually mostly written before I put this on hiatus, and was completed a while ago, but I didn't post it because I wasn't sure how to continue after it. However, none of my other fics were going anywhere this month, so I'm making this a Christmas present for my readers, since this is one of my most popular fics and I felt really belt about putting it on hiatus. That said, I think this will be the end of the fic, so I hope you enjoy.

Pyra felt as though she’d just been dunked in cold water.  She patted her hair, but no, not wet.  She blinked and looked around her at the rest of the kitchen staff.  Nothing looked different, but something still felt off.

“Are you okay, Pyra?” spoke up Crossette, who was technically the head chef these days, but Pyra would still supervise on occasion, especially for an event as important as this.

“...Yeah” said Pyra “I’m sorry, did…something happen?”

“I don’t know” said Crossette “I just looked over and you looked a bit…stunned, I guess?”

“Well, thanks for looking out for me” said Pyra with a smile.

“No problem!” shouted Crossette, reminding Pyra of younger days when the blade girl was always trying to emulate her.  Formerly another one of Rex’s blades, Crossette had become an independent being, just like all blades after the Conduit’s disappearance, though affinity bonds would remain for as long as the driver still lived.  Blades could still be awakened, but it was likely that once the last Core Crystals were activated, that would be the end of it.  That said, with the rise of blade marriages, Core Crystals would be around for generations to come, though the newer generation’s control over ether was much different than the days of Drviers and Blades.

Speaking of Rex, she suddenly heard loud footsteps in the corridor, and Pyra could think of only one person bold enough to crash through the palace like a one-man Ardun stampede.

Seconds later, the door into the kitchen crashed open and Rex and Nia burst through.

“PYRA!!”

The next instant, Pyra found herself cocooned in unprompted affection as her husband and wife smothered her in two big hugs and several kisses.  In almost any other circumstance, Pyra would happily have welcomed such affection.  However.

“You cannot just barge in here like that!” said Pyra.  She didn’t like using her Aegis-granted strength to push people around, but she was not about to have Rex and Nia start knocking kitchen supplies and foodstuffs over like a couple of drunken Pippitos (don’t ask).  Unfortunately, Rex still managed to stumble back into a counter and knocked a mixing bowl onto the floor with an earsplitting clang.

However, this did seem to knock Rex and Nia out of whatever hyperactive state they seemed to have gotten into, so maybe the ringing in Pyra’s ears would be worth it.  The royal duo also looked rather guilty, and now Pyra felt guilty.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you” said Pyra, helping her husband up and pulling him into a hug.

“It’s all right” said Rex, and Pyra looked up, surprised by the tone in his voice.  He looked shockingly tired, as though he hadn’t slept in weeks.  Pyra looked over at Nia, who was looking at the two of them, clearly wanting in on the hug.  It was a look Pyra remembered from the very early days of their four-way relationship, when Nia still felt awkward about getting in between Rex, Pyra, and Mythra.  Pyra hadn’t seen Nia look that way in a long time, and did what she’d always done back then, beckoning Nia over to join the hug.  Nia practically collapsed onto the two of them with an exhausted sigh.  Pyra also somewhat noticed that everyone else had left the kitchen.  She’d have to thank Crossette for that later.

“Got you too, huh?” came the sound of Mythra’s voice.

“What happened?” asked Pyra.

“Dunno” said Mythra “Did you get a weird feeling a little while ago?”

“Like getting dunked in water?”

“Oh great” said Mythra, who certainly didn’t need to explain the sudden annoyance in her voice to Pyra.  The last time the two of them had been synchronized about something, it had been due to early attempts at communication from the Bionis powered by Ontos.  Clearly, something out of the ordinary must have happened.

“Well, since we’re all still here, I guess it worked then?” Pyra asked Nia.  Nia responded with a tired nod.

“From the way they were acting, you’d have thought we’d all died and come back to life in front of them” said Mythra.

“Well, the two of us do have some experience with that” joked Pyra, earning herself a very small poke on the head from Rex.

“Okay, Mythra” said Pyra again, shifting her partners before she collapsed under their combined weight “I think you’re going to have to help me carry these two to bed, they seem like they’re about to pass out.”

Mythra rolled her eyes, but didn’t hesitate to help.

 

---

 

As much as Reyn loved his best friend, he would be the first to admit he still didn’t fully understand the guy.  As far as he was concerned, Shulk and him were simply two different kinds of people, and there was nothing wrong with that.  Right now however, he was feeling more confused than he had in years.  Don’t get him wrong, he was overjoyed to see Shulk looking happy for the first time in what felt like forever, but he was definitely also acting pretty weird.  As much as Reyn appreciated a good word about his daughter, Shulk’s compliment to her had come out of nowhere.  Construction on Origin had started only a few years after Panacea was born, and as far as Reyn was aware, Shulk had barely ever even seen Panacea once the project had begun.  Sure Shulk was a nice guy, but Reyn knew full well that Shulk wasn’t the sort of person to give praise without reason.  Then Melia had come down, and was now being equally strange.

“Are you both alright?” Reyn heard Sharla say, his wife’s voice snapping him out of his thoughts “You both look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”

Shulk laughed again.

“Sharla, I don’t even know how to describe what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks.  Or years, or moments, or…”

Shulk sat down again, and Reyn could see exactly what Sharla was talking about.  Shulk somehow looked worse than the last time Reyn had seen him working on Origin.  Yet there was a sense of relief present on his friend as well.

Melia yawned, causing everyone to look over at her.

“Apologies” spoke the empress “It has been a rough…” her expression soured a bit “…this is going to be a nightmare to explain.”

“You’re telling me” said Shulk.

“Hey, don’t worry about it” said Reyn.  Sure, he might be confused, but he’d be damned if he was going to force any friend of his to do something that made them uncomfortable “You can tell us when you’re good and ready.”

“I don’t know” said Shulk with a smile “This whole being cryptic thing’s starting to grow on me.  I’m starting to think Alvis was doing it for fun.”

“Oh really” said Reyn jokingly “Am I gonna have to toss you in the drink to get you back to normal?”

“That might be a bit difficult” came the sound of Dunban’s voice.  Everyone turned to see Dunban and Vanea, now accompanied by Noah “The sea’s a bit occupied right now.”

“Eh, Shulk’s not that big” said Reyn “Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Perhaps we should all take a stroll down to the coast” suggested Melia.

“You can go without me” said Shulk “I’m going to go collapse in the first bed I find.”

“What, and miss the surprise?” said Reyn.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea of what it is” said Shulk, turning his head towards Melia “Make sure you get some sleep too Melia.  I get that you might not want to right now, but I can’t imagine you’re feeling much better than I do right now.”

A shadow briefly passed over Melia’s face, but was gone before Reyn could question it.

“Anyways” said Shulk, getting up from his seat “Good night to all of you, I will be sleeping in tomorrow” he began to walk off, and Fiora got up to follow him.

“Fiora?  You don’t have to come with me” said Shulk “Trust me, you’re going to want to see this.”

“Then I’ll see it tomorrow” said Fiora, turning back to the others “Sharla?  Reyn?  Would you mind watching Nikol for the night?  I’ll tell him to stick with Panacea before Shulk and I head home.”

“No problem” said Sharla.

“Thank you” said Fiora “You all better not spoil the surprise for me now, okay?”

“You got it” said Reyn.

 

---

 

Brighid was currently holding her daughter on her lap, and was feeling about as confused as Sena looked.

“Mama” said Sena “why was the queen crying?”

“I don’t know.  A lot’s happened the past few days.  I’ve seen people cry because they were very tired before.”

“Like mum?” asked Sena.  Oh dear, Mòrag would be embarassed to know Sena had caught her crying after one too many self-imposed overtimes.  Brighid could still vividly remember the disappointed lecture Mòrag had gotten from Rex after Sena had apparently been found crying to Mio about missing her mum due to Mòrag being away at work so frequently.

“Maybe” Brighid replied “I can ask her later.  Right now, I think it’s about time for bed.”

All around her, people seemed to be getting ready to leave.  Mòrag was exchanging a few words with Niall and Raqura, perhaps learning more of what had happened to Nia.  It seemed the concert had been unofficially postponed.  A shame, Brighid knew Mòrag had been looking forward to it.  Still, Mio’s impromptu flute performance had been a nice surprise, in spite of the confusion that had followed it.  The look on Rex’s face before Zeke had gotten his attention had chilled Brighid to her core.  She had found it eerily similar to the look of soldiers who hadn’t seen their homes in years.

Mòrag finished her conversation and walked back over to Brighid and Sena.

“Did they know anything?”

“They said Nia took off running, then stopped, acted as though she’d forgotten they were there, then looked as though she was about to cry, so they stayed behind to let her get it out her system.”

“How considerate” said Brighid.  It was nice seeing the leaders of the world getting along so well, though she wished it would have taken less than the threat of annihilation to unite the peoples of Neo Alrest.

“Oh, are we cancelling the concert?” Brighid heard Pyra’s voice say.  She turned to spot Pyra and Mythra exiting the castle together, minus Rex and Nia.

“Where are-?” began Dromarch, who looked up from where he had been waiting for Mio and Miyabi to pack their things.

“Out like lights” said Mythra “They ran into the kitchen, knocked some stuff over, and passed out.  We put’em in bed.”

“Well, this ought to be one hell of a story” groaned Zeke “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’ve had enough excitement for today.”

Three simultaneous pinging noises ensured that Zeke was still as unlucky as ever.  The communication devices given to the rulers of the world to connect them directly to Origin’s crew had all just gone off.  Zeke instantly pulled his out and activated the hologram.  However, instead of Tora’s image being projected onto the ground in from of everyone as per usual, there stood Mikhail.

“Mikhail” Mòrag positively growled.  She still hadn’t warmed up to the ex-Torna member all these years later, and Brighid didn’t blame her in the slightest “what is the meaning of this?”

“Well, uh, Tora’s a bit occupied and something crazy just-”

“If you would just let me explain” spoke a voice no one present recognized.

“Who’s that?” asked Zeke, suspicion entering his tone.

“Hey, let me just-” Mikhail’s head turned to the side as he argued with the mystery person.

“You are worse than Matth-”

“This’ll be way easier if I-”

Mikahil was then unceremoniously shoved aside and a new figure stepped into view.  Someone in light armor with long hair stared out at them, the nature of the hologram making it impossible to make out any colors.

“Greetings, I am A” spoke the figure “Allow me to be the first to welcome you all into your rejoined world.”

A’s hair then shifted to reveal an earring, the shape of which no one could mistake, and which helped drive A’s words home to everyone watching.

Brighid heard Mythra emit a small noise and turned in time to see Pyra catch her as the light Aegis fainted.

 

---

 

Riki, Oka, their littlepon (aside from Shulk, who had taken up Riki’s adoption offer after Zanza’s defeat until he could get a place of his own that wasn’t Dickson’s), and grandkidpon had gathered in a spot separate from the others during Melia’s speech so as to not overcrowd the viewing box.

After the speech, Panacea and the other children she was watching had stopped by to say hello before heading off to spot the fireworks.  Riki and Oka had been busy gathering the littlepon together when the clock struck.  Curiously, Riku, who had been acting strange the whole day, seemed to suddenly snap out of his mood at the moment the clock struck, and seemed a bit confused, before apologizing in his usual sincere manner, saying he wasn’t sure why he’d been feeling so bad.  Riki also recalled feeling a bit funny when the clock struck, though he’d attributed it to some bad food.  However, as soon as Riki saw his friends walk over as a group, away from the fireworks, he knew something was up.

His attention immediately snapped to Melia and the fact that she clearly needed rest.  It was all Riki could do to stop himself from telling her to take a nap.  Shulk may have been the only one to join his family, but Riki thought of the other six people he had journeyed with across the old world as his littlepon, and would do his best to watch over them whenever he wasn’t at home, which was rare these days considering he’d become a stay-at-home father when Oka became the nopon representative for Reconstruction after Zanza’s defeat.  However, Riki did not want to hurt Melia’s pride, so any conversation about good sleeping habits would have to be saved for a less public moment.

“Where friends off to?” asked Riki “Fireworks in other direction.”

“Some kinda surprise” answered Reyn “Wanna check it out?”

“Ooh, Riki love surprises!” shouted the nopon.  Despite his excitement, he still turned to get Oka’s opinion.  Surprise or no, he wasn’t just going to leave his wife alone with the kids.  However, before Oka could weigh in, Melia spoke up.

“You are all welcome to join us” said the queen “The surprise will hardly remain secret for long.”

“No time like the present, eh!” said Reyn.

While Riki was sure Reyn meant well, he also couldn’t help but notice the pained look that flashed across Melia’s face at Reyn’s words.  Yet another thing to ask about later.

The now enlarged group began to walk in the direction of the coastline.  Nene and Kino both tried to get Melia to tell them about the surprise, backed up by various littlepon of all races, but Melia simply smiled.

Looking around, Riki realized they were missing some people.

“Where Shulk and Fiora?” Riki asked the closest person to him, which turned out to be Dunban.

“Shulk said he wanted to go to bed early.  Nikol’s going to stay with Reyn and Sharla.”

Something in Dunban’s voice told Riki that this information was entirely surface-level.

“Dundun not telling Riki something.”

“Only because I don’t think I know the full story myself.  Did you feel anything strange when the clock struck, Riki?”

“Riki thought was just bad food.  Now Riki not so sure.”

“Neither am I” said Dunban “Though I suspect Shulk and Melia went on yet another adventure without us.”

“At least Kino and Nene not stow away again” Riki half-joked.  He’d been worried sick when the two of them had vanished after Shulk and Melia had left to go survey Alcamoth all those years ago.  Some days he found it hard to believe that Kino and Nene now had littlepon of their own.

“Speaking of those two, I’m surprised you’re not right there with them trying to get the secret out of Melia.”

“Melly look tired enough” said Riki.

“Shulk looked much the same” said Dunban solemnly “though now that I think about it, he said something odd about the matter.  Like he didn’t think she’d want to go to sleep again.”

“Shulk one to talk” said Riki, getting a chuckle out of Dunban.

“Don’t be rude” said the swordsman.

“Riki apologize tomorrow.”

“All that aside, it probably couldn’t hurt for you to go talk to her” said Dunban “she tends to be more open with you.”

“Riki was saving that for later.  Melly need sleep first.”

“Right now” countered Dunban “I think she might need someone to see this with her.”

“...Does Dundun know what surprise is?” Riki asked suspiciously.

“I know all sorts of things” said Dunban mysteriously “You never know when you might need to bribe a nopon with some gossip.”

“Ooooh, Riki have to have talk with Dundun later too” said Riki in false annoyance before walking over towards Melia.

The various companions and littlepons had given up pestering Melia, and were now quietly chatting together as Riki fell into step beside Melia, who gave him a small smile and continued onwards.  The two walked at the head of the small parade in silence down to the shore.

As they walked, Riki noticed something strange.  His more spiritual senses were kicking in, the ones that had detected the traces of Zanza’s presence in Ose Tower and also heard Kallian’s final words to Melia.  However, this felt much different.  Conversations about Origin and its purpose drifted through his mind.  In fact, drift seemed like a pretty good word to describe his current feeling, as though they were moving through some strange current altogether different from the ever-present ether flow that Riki’s consciousness barely ever registered anymore.  Riki looked up towards the source, and thusly saw the surprise in a unique way.

There, up in the sky, barely visible in the darkness, were Keves and Agnus, the two halves of Origin, joined together.  Riki followed the chorus of shocked gasps and stared out over the railing overlooking the coast with everyone else, spying something new on the horizon.

Riki pulled himself up onto the railing, a feat not as easy as it used to be, and took in the new coastline mirroring that of the fallen Bionis.  A world he’d only heard about in short conversations from Shulk and Riku.  Riki could only stare in awe at the world he never thought he’d get to see, hearing comments from those around him.

Melia stood silently and looked out across the ocean, her expression fixed in a way that Riki knew quite well was meant to appear natural, yet likely wasn’t.

“Good job Melly” said Riki, placing a comforting wing on her shoulder.

Melia pulled him into a hug and began to qiuetly cry, and for a moment, he was back in the heart of the Bionis, comforting the young girl who had just heard her brother’s final words, all those years ago.

Notes:

Bit of a melancholy ending, but I had the idea for that last paragraph and it would not let me go. Sorry once again for cutting this fic short, but I think this is a good place to end it for now while I get back to working on other fics (Confronting Their Pasts has blown up?? When did that happen??)

Once again, Merry Holidays!!

quick add-on: I realize Mythra fainting after the A reveal seems a bit random. I had planned for her to have a moment later on where she reflected upon why that was such a shock to her and it just didn't make it in. Sorry if that felt ooc