Chapter Text
Eagerly watching events unfold from their vantage point as the avatars of Origin, Shulk, Rex and A silently watched the latest incarnation of Ouroboros confront the Moebius threat. With the assistance of the Queens of Keves and Agnus, the combined forces of every non-Moebius on Aionios, Z’s reign of terror at long last came to an end.
“They’ve done it.”
Smiling with pride, both swordfighters welcomed A’s proclamation.
“They really did, and we didn’t even have to step in this time,” said Shulk, especially pleased to have seen Ouroboros conquer their own demons to defeat their foe. He was certain that there would still be challenges ahead, but he saw the strength to overcome them.
Conversely, Rex was absolutely beaming. “Yeah! Sock it right to ‘im, Mio!”
“Quiet, you,” interjected A sternly. “We’re not quite yet done, I need to concentrate and ensure all goes according to plan and Origin recreates everything properly.”
“Aw, c’mon! Don’t be a spoilsport, A.”
“I’d rather not repeat this whole debacle, if it’s all the same to you.”
Defeated, Rex used what little he had learned in this formless void to call forth three frothing mugs filled with the finest ale that he could remember; or more accurately, his personal favourite. “Well… whaddya say, A? How’s a toast to the end of this damned place and for better times t’ come!”
“I’ll drink to that,” said Shulk, grabbing one of the mugs.
A didn’t even turn around to face them. “I’ll join you in your convivial libations after the task is done.”
“A’right, yer loss then,” said Rex, turning to his Aionios-long companion as he stared at the mug blankly. “Don’t worry ‘bout any speeches, Shulk. It’s jus’ us ‘ere.”
“Are you sure, Rex?” asked the blonde man. “It just doesn’t feel right to say something first.”
“Well, I’ll take care o’ that, then!” replied Rex with a conspiring smirk. In the background, A groaned as they didn’t need foresight to know what he was going to say next. “First rule o’ the Salvager’s Code! Swim like a fish, and drink like one too!”
Shulk raised his mug to salute his friend’s proud recital and drank deeply. After all, Aionios was over and all they had to do was get Origin to do its thing as they always meant to. In a few moments, they’d be back home.
With everything already in place and only seconds to go, what was the worst that could happen?
Thunder crashed, jolting Mio awake at the sudden loud noise. Her sensitive hearing, while an asset in most situations, did her no favours as the skies rumbled without end. Calming her nerves, she took the opportunity to look around and appraise the situation; her instincts telling her to be on guard as everything felt… unfamiliar.
She was in a small make-shift shelter of sticks and large leaves, barely surviving the battering of the storm outside. A small fire was burning in the center, with some of the local foliage being used to as something vaguely soft to lie down on. While she was used to camping outdoors and roughing it on Aionios, she wasn’t expecting to come into this new world in this state.
Wait. Aionios?
A moment of horrified clarity came to her mind. The Queens had told them they wouldn’t remember anything much once Origin activated, like a fading dream… but surely enough, she remembered everything. Well, not exactly. M’s memories felt too far gone to recall, apart from the few important her counterpart had shared with her when they first met. Nevertheless, Mio got the sense that she’s remembering far more than she should.
A small groan as another occupant of the shelter stirred caught her attention, causing Mio to look at whoever had been thrown into these with her. The woman appeared Agnian, wearing a crimson-purple skirt and waist binding with a white top. Her detached sleeves were layered, white on top of dark red. At second glance, it vaguely resembled an Off-Seer’s uniform. Her brown hair with bright red tips was done up in a ponytail, and she slept soundly despite the cold draft that was beginning to enter the makeshift structure.
“Hmm… I see you’re awake now. By any chance do you have any idea who she is, Mio?”
Jumping at the question, she turned to face the shelter’s third occupant.
“Alexandria? Why are you here?... and no, I don’t.”
The former Commander of Colony Iota idly played with her hair, still processing the whole situation. “My best guess right now is that Origin didn’t quite work out as intended, based on what the Queen told us. It sent us somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you where or why. And our ‘friend’ there seems… strangely familiar. I was hoping you’d know her, having been all over Aionios.”
Mio shook her head, she couldn’t recall the Off-Seer-like woman in any of her own memories nor the tattered remnants of M’s… but she did feel a sense of familiarity to her just the same. Her name was on the tip her tongue, she just knew it.
“Glimmer,” observed Alexandria, spotting the nametag on her armband. “Field Support Platoon, Colony Gamma. That was your Colony, correct? Are you sure you don’t know her?”
“She was never a part of Gamma, at least while I was there.” While it was the truth, Mio wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Nia told us that Origin stored all the data from previous lives of those in the City, I suppose the same could be said fer soldiers.”
“City… City…” pondered Alexandria, something surfacing from her memory. “Wait a moment! There was a statue of her there! She’s one of the Founders! House Rhodes, if I recall correctly; and that one was a soldier, somehow lived to be over eighty years old too.”
“Well, she’s looks like she’s in ‘er tenth term right now,” commented Mio. “We may have t’ do some explainin’ of the situation, but I’m guessin’ her memory might not cover her whole time with the City.”
“We won’t know until we ask, then?”
The sleeping Agnian stirred again, responding to the stimuli of the conversation. “Na’el… Linka… lemme sleep.” Without warning, a section of the walls was torn off by the wind outside, putting out the fire and exposing all three to the battering rain. At long last, the third occupant had been jolted awake.
“What the snuff is going on?! Where am I?! Who the spark are you?!”
“We have to find some shelter, quickly!” shouted Mio as she did her best to see though the sheets of rain that starting to come down around them. “Over there! There’s a buildin’ with a light on inside, Hopefully we can stay there until the storm passes!”
The third girl nodded reflexively, evidently deciding her questions could be answered after they were no longer getting drenched, and joined her newfound companions in a sprint towards the unknown structure.
Yawning brightly, Sena roused herself and prepared herself to start her new day in a new world. Wherever she was, it had to be better than Aionios! Maybe if she was lucky, she’d find Mimi again in no time! But first, she had to get Teach’s Regulation 500 Jerks in: a hundred squats, push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks and vee-sits each!
Opening up the tent, she was temporarily blinded by the light as the morning sun was just coming over the horizon. Well, she’d just face away from it, but she needed some distance away from the tent first. Taking a few steps forward into the bright light, shielding her eyes, her seventh pace met with nothing.
“Waaaaah!”
Tumbling over the edge, Sena fell face first into… something. Luckily it wasn’t a long drop, and she seemed to float in the stuff easily enough. She instinctively made the motion for treading water, which actually seemed to work surprisingly well, with having a bit less resistance. Whatever it was, it wasn’t water, as it wrapped around every crevasse of her body and made it all tingly.
“What… what is this stuff?” said Sena, thinking out loud. “It’s fluffy like… clouds? Clouds! Yippee! I’m swimming through the clouds!”
Doing her best overhand stroke, the young Agnian took off to play and frolic in this new sea of clouds for a few minutes before being accosted by someone who looked like a person from the City.
“’ave ya never seen the Cloud Sea, lass? Yer frolicikin’ through ‘em like a Hiln ‘untin’ for its breakfast!”
Pausing for a moment, Sena faced the man with a look of embarrassment. “No, I really haven’t!”
“Well, yeh’d best come back ‘ere. Even if yer a Blade, yeh can’t be in the ‘arbour once the ships start comin’ in!” he yelled out to her.
With a look of determination, Sena did her best breaststroke to come back to the pier she could see and helped herself out of the clouds. “Huh? I’m not even wet!”
“Ha! Yer definitely a newly awakened Blade, den! Still, most of ‘em already know about the Cloud Sea.”
“Me? A Blade? What are you talking about?” asked Sena indignantly, summoning forth her hammer. “This is a Blade! …wait, that’s different.”
The weapon which was called forth was not Sena’s usual armament, though certainly familiar in the general shape. The haft was seemingly made of woven metal, with a fiery blue ring around the base. Heavy, metallic white scales formed a pair of clamshell-like shapes around a burning blue orb.
While Sena didn’t immediately recognize the weapon, she instinctively knew it was hers – somehow, her Blade had been replaced by the weapon she used during her Interlink with Lanz. The weight was exactly what she was used to, feeling even more natural.
“Yeh called your weapon outta thin air, that makes you a Blade,” mused the dockworker. “… though I can’t say I’ve ever ‘eard of one not knowing what they were either. Where yeh from, lass?”
“Um… Aionios, I guess?” replied Sena, just as a realization started to sink in. “Uh… this is weird, I thought I wasn’t supposed to remember that.”
“Yer not makin’ any sense, lass!”
“Don’t worry, it’s just me! I’ll figure it out eventually!”
This was turning out to be quite the morning, though the dockworker. “Chipper, aren’t yeh? Where’s yer Driver?”
“Uh, I just kind of… washed up here,” said Sena, confused at the statement. “I wasn’t on a ship or anything.”
“… are yeh sure you’re alright, lass?”
Before she could answer the man, another voice approached them. “She’s just disoriented, I know her… somewhat. Hopefully that may be enough of an explanation?”
“Hmph, yer not doin’ that great yerself, lass,” replied the dockworker to the new arrival. “Though yeh seem t’ be a bit more on yer feet at least, I guess the two of yeh c’n find yer bearin’s together.”
Sena blinked, recognizing the woman in an Agnian uniform. She’d definitely seen her before, but she didn’t belong to Colony Gamma. Where had she seen her before?
“You’re…Sena? Right?” asked the Agnian, brushing some of the red dust off her robe. “I’m not sure you’d remember me, I was one of the captains at Iota.”
“One of Alex’ group, huh?” said Sena, doing her best to remember her. “I remember the big guy, Rhyza…” She noticed the woman slouch forward, the sense of loss heavy on her shoulders. “You miss him, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” replied the captain wistfully. “I can only hope he’s alright. It’s Chelle, by the way.”
“Chelle… right,” said Sena, trying her best to recall her past dealings with the woman. For whatever reason, she couldn’t help but place her in a cavern and far away any Colony. “Sorry, but I really don’t remember seeing you around Iota much.”
“Understandable, I spent most of my time managing the storage depot in Torus Hollow.”
“Ah-ha! That’s where I remember you from!”
Chelle shifted awkwardly, uncertain about their next steps. She didn’t know Sena that well as it was, but she was the only person she actually recognized; she missed both Rhyza’s steady hand and Dame Alex’ decisive leadership. Here, she had nothing to hold onto. “So… what do we do now? What exactly happened after Origin did it’s thing, Dame Alex said we weren’t supposed to remember anything afterwards.”
“Yeah, something’s not right…” pondered Sena. “I only hope Mimi and Lanzy are okay.”
Clearly some sort of alias for her companions, thought Chelle… but another matter was pressing. “You were able to call forth your Blade, right?”
“Uh… not exactly,” replied Sena, scratching the back of her head. “That’s my Interlink weapon, when I was joined with Lanz; it’s not my usual Blade. They’re pretty similar, though.”
“That’s peculiar, but I suspect there’s different rules to this world than Aionios.” Chelle crossed her arms pensively, betraying her frustration. “I can’t call mine.”
“Huh, really?”
“That’s ‘cause she’s a Blade, lass,” said the dockworker from earlier. “Ya know, somethin’ of a living weapon? Works with a Driver t’ make fer a stronger pair of fighters by manipulating ether. Fairly common for them to share the Blade’s weapon in battle, often with the Blade supplyin’ ether to the Driver.”
An idea flashed across Chelle’s mind.
“Sena… could I hold your Blade for a moment?” she asked.
Sena shrugged, seeing no harm in doing so. “Just be careful, it’s kinda heavy.”
Chelle grabbed the shaft tightly, focusing her thoughts on controlling the ether as she had many times before… and she felt the weapon respond. Contrary to Sena’s claim of the weapon’s weight, it felt fairly light in her hands… though she suspected the burning orb was hovering under its own power. She made a sweeping motion, sending a wave of blue fire over the Cloud Sea.
“Whoa! How’d you do that!” shouted Sena in disbelief. “That was amazing!”
“While I can’t summon my old staff, it seems your Blade works just fine as a substitute,” commented Chelle. “Though it seems the orb has gone out.”
Sena reached out for the weapon, curious. At her touch, the orb reignited… but it drained her somewhat, as if she’d just done a short sprint. “That’s odd… but it’s back to normal.”
“Well, even ya don’t remember it… I think ya might’ve found yer Driver!” said the dockworker. “I should mention there’s no free room an’ board ‘ere. You’ll need t’ work like everyone else. But as Driver an’ Blade, there’s always plenty of work fer ya.”
“Would you be able to direct us to where we can make ourselves useful?” asked Chelle, putting on a more welcoming demeanour. “We are still in a new to this place, any assistance you’d be able to provide would be most appreciated.”
The dockworker chuckled, thinking she sounded just like those stiff-types from around Hardhaigh Palace. “Sure, follow me.”
The sun shining in his eyes, Isurd groaned awake. The same stiffness in his tenth-term body as always, the same lethargy. Not ideal, but he was looking forward to a rest from the constant toil he had gone through for the past… wait, wasn’t he supposed to forget everything?
“Good morning, Commander,” said Taion, offering his former superior officer a cup of tea. “It seems things have gone awry with Origin.”
Taking a moment to gather himself, the former Commander of Colony Lambda accepted the drink jovially. “I must agree with your assessment, Taion. And please, just call me Isurd. I doubt I’d be running any Colony here… wherever this is.”
At first glance, they seemed to be on one of the various islands from the Candesia region, but they were certainly not in the Erythia Sea. Looking outward, he could see something unusual. Where there was once water, now there was…
“Clouds?”
“Indeed, Comm– my apologies, Isurd.” Even long after he had left Lambda, Isurd would always be Taion’s commanding officer. Despite arriving in a new world without a hierarchy to speak of, it was still going to be a hard habit to break. “It appears to be largely harmless to the touch, but it certainly is not drinkable.”
“Quite the strange world we’ve arrived in, Taion,” said Isurd, taking a long sip from the cup provided. “Have you managed to run into anyone else yet?”
The Agnian tactician fidgeted about, a nervous habit which Isurd was more than familiar with. It was usually best to let Taion compose himself instead of forcing the answer out of him. “About that, Comm–“
“Hmm… I see he’s awake now.”
The voice was unmistakable, one he hadn’t heard in years. Isurd spun around instantly, his gaze falling upon a young soldier in her early terms with crystalline hands and lavender hair.
“Nimue?”
“What the snuffing spark is up with that storm?!” shouted the ponytailed girl, clearly irritated at having been woken up suddenly only to have to run towards shelter. Taking a glance towards the other two, she summoned her weapon. Ready to defend herself, she glared at both of them.
“What do you want with me?”
“Easy there, Glimmer!” pleaded Mio, raising both of her hands. “We’re jus’… getting’ our bearings, right now.”
Alexandria just leaned against the wall and laughed. “Seems she’s a feisty one!”
Glimmer was not impressed herself, and pointed her Blade towards Mio’s throat. The Off-Seer didn’t even flinch. “How do you know my name?”
“It’s written on your name tag,” interjected Alexandria, dropping the bravado. “Though I imagine you’re a bit more disoriented than the two of us. Would you care to enlighten us to your situation? It would be easier to bring you up to speed if we knew where to start.”
“She’s not lyin’,” added Mio, her tone more diplomatic. “It seems we’re all not sure where we are. My name’s Mio, and this is Alexandria.”
Glimmer spun on her heel, facing the former commander of Colony Iota. “Alex? …is that you?”
Blinking a few times, Mio realized what was going on. “Oh dear, I wasn’t expectin’ tha’ situation.”
“Oooooooh… where are we?” whined Fiona as she pulled herself out of the… well, she hoped it was water. It felt slight… sticky. Looking up, she could see a strange jagged pattern of light slowly widening and closing in a rhythm. Almost as if it were… breathing?
A slow rush of air went past her, followed by the flow reversing. Perfectly in time with the rhythm of jagged pattern of the light.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! We’ve been eaten by a monster!”
“Fortunately, we’ve been swallowed whole,” interjected Juniper from a high vantage point, scouting around. “Though we are hardly the only ones here, there’s ample wildlife in the area.”
“I’ve seen those formations before,” rumbled a large male soldier, announcing his presence.
“Huh… have we met before, big guy?” asked Fiona, surprised to see this large stranger among them. She had the good fortune to have at least met Juniper when they accompanied Ouroboros through Colony Mu that one time, but she could say nothing of this mountain of a man other than he was Agnian like them. “Which Colony were you from?”
“… Iota.”
At least that was familiar. “I guess that’d make you one of Lexy’s gang, then?”
The man nodded in return, if somewhat reluctantly. “Captain Rhyza.” Looking at the other two, he quickly made an assessment before continuing. “You must be Commander Fiona of Mu… and you must be Commander Juniper of Tau.”
“Well informed, as expected from one of Iota's soldiers,” said Juniper carefully, their ears held flat to their head in a display of distrust. “You said you’ve seen the formations before, where? I have some suspicions, but Iota is rarely wrong.”
“Juni, please!” begged Fiona, sensing the tension in the air. “He’s stuck here the same as us!”
Tau’s Commander relaxed somewhat. “Sorry, this feels like unfamiliar territory. I don’t know what I can believe here, not even the creatures here are the same.”
Letting Juniper relax for a moment, Rhyza carefully observed the yawning chasm in the distance. It was actually an odd story one of the survey team had told them, not long after a trip spent exploring the Urayan Mountains, one he found a bit unbelievable at the time. They had entered one of the largest caverns in the mountains, described it as being shaped like a massive maw; they even took a photograph.
He reached for his temple instinctively, but there was no reaction from his Iris; none of the other information he’d normally have wasn’t present either, almost as if the Iris had been removed. No matter, he tried to focus on the memory of the photograph… and then it all fell into place.
“We’re inside the Urayan Mountains,” he stated, his tone even and cautious. “Only now, they’re moving.”
“The mountains are nothing more than inert stone, Captain,” replied Juniper tersely. “But I must admit, in retrospect, they did appear to be a large creature.”
“Juni… did we get eaten by a mountain range?”
Before anyone could fully comprehend their situation, another voice echoed down the cavern.
“Oi! Who are you mushes?! How you’d end up washed up ‘ere?!”
“Well, all I can say is that I’m glad I don’t remember getting my head cut off by a Ferron,” commented Alexandria, wielding sarcasm as a shield against the unfortunate implications and doing her best to not let her hand wander towards her own neck. “Still odd that they’d send Colony 0 after me in my third term… and I guess you as well, Glimmer.”
“You saved my life back then, Alex… I thought you were gone.” Glimmer’s voice trembled at the thought. “But how can you be here now?”
“Moebius – fer lack of a better term – ‘recycled’ soldiers,” explained Mio, calmly and carefully. “Everyone who died and became a husk was sent back to the Cradles in the Castle, an’ essentially regrown back in their first term an’ their memories wiped clean… or at least as close as they could manage.”
“That’s… a lot to process,” said Glimmer. “At least it isn’t as weird as Origin and Aionios being a recreation of two other worlds… that was weird.”
Alexandria raised her hand. “Okay, how does she know about Origin but not the whole recycling thing?”
“Who knows?” shrugged Mio. “Though tha’ probably confirms she doesn’t have ‘er full memories.”
“What are you two even talking about now?” demanded Glimmer, getting increasingly annoyed at being left out of the loop. Just like with Rex and the other before…
“Is this the part where she’s technically been dead for… well, at least nine-hundred years?” mused Alex playfully.
“WHAT?!!”
The icy wind howled outside, forcing the flap of her tent open and jolting Linka awake. The small fire lit inside for warmth, gone out as the blustery air forced its way inside and was beginning to tear the canvas away.
“What the hell?! Where am I?” she yelled at no one in particular, wondering why she was no longer in the near-tropical area around Candesia. Another strong gust of wind torn away the tent from its foundations, revealing herself to be in the middle of a snowbound landscape – and in the middle of a blizzard, no less. Her half-Blade biology, or maybe just her father’s genes according to the Boss, would help her survive for longer than most. But not that much longer.
“This isn’t good, I need to find shelter fast.”
“Mmmm…” muttered another voice nearby, soft and feminine. Another girl was inside the tattered tent, and a quick examination from Linka was able to determine she was an Agnian soldier with dark brown hair and vivid green eyes; her attire appeared almost ceremonial, not the protective armour she was used to seeing. “Who… are you? Are you from the City? Have you seen Mio?”
Linka bit her tongue. Asking about the City was not normal for soldiers, though it was possible she had joined up there before it was razed. Besides, this was hardly the time for questions. “The name’s Linka, and we need to move now, before we freeze to death out here!” Looking around, she couldn’t make out much through all the blowing snow… but there were some lights in the distance. “There! Hopefully we can find some shelter where those lights are coming from!”
“We need to find Mio!” begged the girl, desperation in her voice. “She’ll know what to do!”
“Can’t say I’ve seen her, but if we have any luck she’ll be making her way there!” replied Linka urgently. Circumstances were strange enough, but Linka could at least say she didn’t see this ‘Mio’ and couldn’t say one way or another if she was even here. It was an empty reassurance, she knew that much, but surviving had to be their first priority. “We can ask for her once we get there!”
The girl shivered, but nodded with a quiet confidence and they began their slow march toward the faint beacons in the distance. They huddled together for what little warmth they could keep between each other, for what little good it did in this storm. Despite her seeming frailty, the girl carried on through snow and wind.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name…” asked Linka, trying to keep this unsteady girl close to her.
“… Miyabi. My name’s Miyabi.”
Linka stopped for a moment, looking the girl in the eyes. That couldn’t be right, she couldn’t be… but it was right there, staring her in the face. She hadn’t seen those eyes in fifteen years, but she most definitely had seen them. Her train of thought was then interrupted by the wind howling harder once again. Gathering herself, she pushed on towards the settlement.
“Well, I guess I’ll have some explaining to do when we get there… but it’s good to see you again,” she said, surprised that she had the strength to smile right now.
“But… I’ve never met you, Linka,” said Miyabi, confused. “And I don’t think you’re old enough to have met one of my past lives.”
“… okay, you’ll have some explaining to do.”
“So… you’re saying Aionios is over?” asked Glimmer, somewhere between fear and elation. “And that you managed to take back control of Origin? I never did get to meet that Z guy, but I did put together that was head honcho for all of the Consuls.”
“That’s right,” said Mio, nodding happily. “It’s a long story, a really long story, but we did it. We even found the true Queen in the process!”
She shrugged at the revelation. “Hmm, part of the spiel I got from the group of weirdos that found me after my Flame Clock was busted was something about the ones we knew as soldiers being fakes… but that one guy, Rex, he seemed happy to talk about Queen Nia like she was an old friend.”
“Speaking of the Queen,” interjected Alexandria, her hand resting on her chin. “Origin was supposed to send us back to the world she was from, only without our memories of Aionios. Logically speaking, it’s plausible that the only mistake it made is the memories part; we’re probably somewhere on her world.”
“So you’re suggesting we go looking for ‘er, Alex?” enquired Mio. “She did say she had somethin’ t’ tell me after Origin did its thing, so I guess we should have arrived somewhere near where she is?”
Glimmer shifted uneasily at the thought. “Please tell me she’s less… cold. Than the one I met.”
Mio smiled reassuringly in return. “Considerin’ the one you met was a robot? Yeah, she definitely is. She’s kind, carin’–“
“– sarcastic, mischievous, and a very short temper.”
“Alex!” shouted Mio, her voice almost rising to a hiss. “She is not! You met her, you should know!”
“I wasn’t as… enamored with her as you are, Mio,” replied Alexandria calmly. “Though she certainly took a special interest in you, specifically. I can’t help but say that I felt a little jealous.”
“Well, hopefully we meet her in the next month,” added Glimmer. “I don’t have much time left before my Homecoming.”
“… wow, I’d forgotten how that felt. After becomin’ Moebius, it was so easy t’ forget about runnin’ out of time.
Barely time to react, Mio leap away from Glimmer who lunged at her with a fiery-tipped staff of sorts; the flames were intense, second only to Cammuravi’s legendary lance. Instinctively, she called forth her twin rings and moved to parry the blow. Quicker than both of them was Alexandria, who had called her sword and deflected Glimmer’s strike upwards.
“Dammit, Alex! She’s Moebius, the enemy!” snarled Glimmer, her words dripping with venom. “We need to take her out, now!”
“And I think you need to calm down,” replied Alexandria sternly, drawing on her bearing as the Commander of Colony Iota. “The situation’s complicated, but she’s with us. She helped us take Moebius down from the inside!”
“It’s the truth!” begged Mio. “I mean, I didn’t have much choice in the matter, either… but I did what I could t’ make things better! An’ once I could, I helped take down Z fer good!”
Even with the reassurances, the air was thick enough to cut with a Blade.
“Stand down, Glimmer,” insisted Alexandria, keeping her tone firm but not reprimanding. “You can trust me, right? Mio’s with us, and Moebius itself should be long gone by now.” Reluctantly, Glimmer dismissed her weapon and forced herself to breathe.
“Alex, jus’ thinkin’… would Homecomings even be a thing in this world?” asked Mio, more than happy to speak about anything else at the moment. “The Queen did say Moebius changed all the ‘rules’, maybe the ten-term limit was one of them?”
After an uneasy pause, Alexandria nodded in an agreement. “It would be easy enough to check, actually.” She turned to Glimmer, her eyes sharp. “Glimmer, where was your term mark?”
The ponytailed girl pointed to her upper arm “It’s on my right arm, just below the deltoid.”
“Well, it looks like it’s not longer there, Glimmer!” said Mio. “If it helps, mine was on my neck here. But it means you have more time fer us to find the Queen!”
“… damn. I forgot.” She shifted a bit uneasily as she recalled something of vital importance. “That guy I mentioned, Rex, he did… something. Gave me his ‘life’, somehow, before disappearing inside Origin. I… never really thought to check the mark afterwards.”
“Well, that would explain why the statue in the City said you lived to be eighty years old,” commented Alexandria, having spent more than a little amount of her time in the City scouring the records and inspecting the statues in the Memorial Hall. “So it’s quite possible that I’m the only one who still has a mark… and I’ll need some help checking it.”
“Huh? Somewhere you can’t see easily?” asked Mio, curious.
Glimmer developed a wry smile at the situation. “Assuming it’s in the same place as before… it’s on her left buttock.”
“That is private information!”
“Well, I guess tha’ would explain why you need some help takin’ a look at it!”
“Whatever, let’s just get this over with.”
His head throbbed.
Groaning as he sat himself up, Cammuravi found himself in a strange location. It was a surprising large room, well-lit as various runes glowed across the wall that were predominantly made of white stone. He felt lethargic, far more than usual here.
“Awake, I see.”
His head turning sharply, Cammuravi was surprised to see the room contained another occupant. He was Agnian, but of a particularly rare stock with a cerulean skin tone. Clearly in his tenth term, carrying himself with the air of humility and quiet strength… and barely contained viciousness. Verdant green eyes, white hair, and a dull gemstone on his right cheek.
“Sorry, have we met before?” he asked the stranger.
“Briefly, just before we found ourselves in this… predicament,” the man replied, every word carefully measured. “Though I suppose the rumours were true, if you do not remember our prior meetings. And you should have reached Homecoming before Aionios had concluded.”
“Rumours?”
The stranger smiled, as if amused by the stories. “It’s said you died fighting on the outskirts of Maktha Wildwood, though you were then found to be reborn and your age accelerated to your tenth term at Colony Omega. Based on the accounts from Ouroboros, you had no memory of your previous incarnation. Does any of that sound familiar?”
“Apart from the events at Maktha Wildwood, the rest appears to be correct,” confirmed Cammuravi. “Though I will admit the two Ferronises locked in battle did seem… familiar.” Strange memories, ones that felt like his own, had invaded his mind that day. His friends, the ones who brought him to the City, were evasive when he asked about them.
“Your own and that of Silvercoat Ethel of Keves, yes.”
Cammuravi leapt to his feet, calling forth his Blade. “Are you suggesting Ethel and I fought eachother?!” Noticing his hands empty, he became even more confused. "... my weapon? It’s…”
“You had no issue when you first awoke, Smouldering Cammuravi. But this gaol is not normal, the flow of ether here is stilled; the very stones are pulling it out of the air.” The stranger seemed keen to speak of that particular issue, but he continued his other explanation. “You and Silvercoat were rivals, the top commanders of Agnus and Keves respectively; I’m not surprised that other circumstances resulted in the two of you developing friendlier… ‘relations’. It wouldn’t have been the first time, either.”
“Not the first time?”
“Many soldiers were… burdened… with memories of their past incarnations. It typically manifested as dreams, nightmares,” explained the stranger. “But a select few possessed stronger recall, and were fully aware of Moebius’ tendency to reuse and recycle those under their command. Lady Ashera of Colony 11 being one of the most dramatic examples.” His head bowed, the man silently acknowledged his own past. “Myself being one of them, and carefully monitored by Consul G; a rare man of honour amongst Moebius’ ranks. You may call me… ‘Teach’, instructor and the former Commander of Colony Gamma.”
“Former?” asked Cammuravi. “And not your true name, I presume?”
“I would normally attribute my own memory recall to the circumstances I find myself in, but you still appear to retain your memories of Aionios,” explained Teach. “But I doubt we are there anymore, nor would my Colony exist. And yes, that would be the moniker I prefer to go by at this time.”
“Well met,” said Cammuravi, relaxing his stance. “You appeared eager to discuss our present circumstances, and I presume there’s a gap in my memories caused by whatever struck me in the head.”
Teach hung his head sadly. “My apologies, but it seemed apt to dispatch you before you engaged the guards in combat. To summarize, we awoke inside a simple tent and were set upon by an angry mob the moment we were seen. We fled the crowd, many of whom appeared to be destitute and smaller than even first-term soldiers.”
“Children, then?” interjected Cammuravi. “The City was keen to impose on me that I was to not harm them under any circumstances, not even accidentally.”
“I see, I do not recall encountering them before. Mio and Taion recommended I not go there for… reasons I’d rather not discuss,” said Teach. “Nevertheless, the guards responded to the disturbance, and your drew your weapon and insisted that you were to not be apprehended. Despite our attempts to reassure them, they were prepared strike us down. I was left with no option but to render you unconscious, if only to calm the situation. They appeared satisfied to throw us in here, though we are awaiting the judgment of a man they called ‘the Praetor’. And to be frank, I do not trust our chances.”
Crossing his arms, Cammuravi generally preferred to stand his ground. But the words of this ‘Teach’ rang true. “So you are suggesting we may need to plan an escape?”
“Most likely, though I am inclined to meet with this ‘Praetor’ before doing so,” said Teach as he scanned the walls. “While I expect he will meet us in this chamber, they are not likely to execute us here. This room would disable their weapons as much as our own; regardless of their intent, giving the impression that we are cooperating and the previous incident was just a misunderstanding may give us the modicum of freedom required when the time comes.”
“So now we wait to see our captor, and be prepared to run when the opportunity presents itself?”
“Correct.”
Trying her best to forget that moment of embarrassment, Alexandria called forth her cube and began idly flipping through the data. An old habit, but it helped calm her nerves. Usually. And maybe it could distract her from Glimmer already snoring away in the corner.
“You realize there’s probably no Collectopedia network here, right?” asked Mio, coming across as much more friendly than when she pulled down Alexandria’s tights while giggling like a first-termer. “…sorry, I guess I got a bit caught up in the moment earlier. But at least we know you’re not running out of time anymore!”
“It was far less urgent in my case, unlike the two of you,” replied Alexandria, her voice having an icy hard edge. “Guess I’ll never know what it’d be like, running so short on time. Or remember, at least; I suppose one of my previous lives could have almost made it.”
“… sorry, Alex. I don’t know why, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t.” said Mio, her tone despondent. “From what little memories I could recall when I was acting as M, your name was flagged as being a ‘special case’. I asked why, more than once, Y singled you out every life you had fer some kind of ‘experiment’. After the last time, I assigned E to Iota as a sort of… protest, I guess. Rather than one of the more responsible Consuls, I’m surprised no one noticed.”
“Well, if only I didn’t have an eternal reminder of Y on my head…” Her tone belying her discomfort over the subject. “In my first term, they dragged me to the Castle; Y grafted these horns to my head, and I still don’t know what they do.”
“They’re… attached? Really?” asked Mio, her voice quivering in horror. “I’m… so sorry, Alex. I thought they were a headdress or somethin’!”
“Let’s just say I’ve made due with making them look seamless with everything else I wear,” said Alexandria, letting herself smile a bit. “But you’re the first to guess they weren’t something I always had, though. It means more than you’d think.”
“Yeah… but if I’d know, I could’ve done somethin’.” While the regret still weighed on her, another thought crossed her mind. “Maybe… if we can find Queen Nia, she could do somethin’ about them? She’s a really good healer.”
“It’s worth asking.”
In the dim light of the building, Alexandria’s cube flashed momentarily and pinged.
“… um, Alex? What does tha’ mean?”
Pouring over the data flowing from the cube, her eyes raced back and forth as more data than she’s ever seen flashed by. “This… is different. I’ve picked up another network, and it’s massive! Far bigger than the Collectopedia network ever was! I can barely keep up with it!”
“Another… network?” pondered Mio, trying to determine what else could possibly be larger than the Collectopedia. There was one thing, maybe. “Is it possible you managed t’ tap into Origin?”
Alex shook her head. “No, this is something else” She frowned, unhappy as the numbers didn’t add up. “Say, Mio? Do you have any idea what ‘the Beanstalk’ is? Something Moebius was working on, maybe?”
“Nope, never heard of it.”
“Well, just based on the data, it makes Origin look tiny.”
“Riku, wakey-wakey!” shouted Nene, jostling her brother awake. “It start of day! Stop being sleepy-head like Dadapon and getty-up! Mamapon making special pollen orbs for brekkie!”
“Let Riku lie for two yonks, Nene…” groaned Riku, enjoying the warm bed which he had for so many… wait, that’s not right. He bolted upright in his bed, shocked as the truth crystalized for him. Riku had not slept in own bed since before Aionios! Why does Riku remember Aionios?! Riku should have only vague memory, not near-perfect recall of events!
“Huh? What wrong, Riku?” asked Nene, shocked at the sudden motion of her brother. “Riku have bad dream?”
Shaking himself fitfully, Riku noted that he was back in his childhood home within Frontier Village. He had more memories than he should, so he should be making use as his role as one of Origin’s chief designers to figure out what went wrong during the rebooting phase. “No, Riku okay. Just surprised after… waking… Nene, does Riku sound normal?”
“Nope!” replied Nene proudly. “Riku sounds just like Riku! Same as always!”
Nodding, he could only conclude that his ears had not deceived him and he was also back in his teenage body. There was much to find out, particularly what time he now found himself in. Hopefully not before time Bionis and Mechonis fell, which would greatly complicate matters. “Riku request moment of privacy, Nene.”
“Okie-dokie!” said Nene, rushing out and closing the door behind her.
Taking a deep breath, Riku knew there was only one thing to do.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo…….”
“If brotherpon is having moment of despair, should wait until voice turns deeper,” interjected Nene, peeking her head back in. “Yelling big no not sound right unless voice deep like orluga!”