Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 35 - Agniratha

When Shulk could see next, he was standing in a small square-shaped room. Vanea was waiting for them at the entrance to Agniratha, and when they stepped off of the Factory Transporter, Vanea moved aside and Shulk caught his first glimpse of the Mechonis Capital. It was in ruins. Decaying houses and building stood on a large platform made of smaller pathways stood suspended in midair. The first thing Shulk noticed was a huge spire-like building, which seemed to be the only thing in the city that was intact and functioning. "So this is the Mechonis Capital," Shulk expected more machinery and more Machina. Not a desolate city without any signs of living things. "Yes," Vanea agreed. "Agniratha. The heart of the Machina civilization." "It looks so desolate," Sharla said sadly. "Like there are no signs of anyone living here," Melia nodded. "It truly is a soulless city," Dunban said to himself. "Here bad place," Riki grumbled, and began walking back towards the factory transporter. "Riki want to go." "Hold it!" Reyn grabbed onto the Nopon and dragged him back as he glanced around the huge structures around him. "So the Machina built this whole city? Not too shabby." "It looks like the buildings have been here for a very long time," Shulk ran his hand over the nearest house and the wood nearly crumbled away at his touch. "Look, Shulk!" Riki, who had escaped Reyn's grasp, was pointing towards a huge mass lying on the ground, unmoving. "Dinobeast! Dinobeast eat city!" "A Dinobeast?" Reyn's jaw dropped. "Here?!" "But how?" Shulk demanded. "It is a Telethia," Melia ran towards it. Everyone followed her lead and gathered around the frozen creature. "It looks like...it's stone," Sharla commented. "Why would there be a Telethia in a place like this?" Asked Melia. She was circling the Telethia, her eyes narrowed. "The fossilized Telethia are what remains of the beasts that attacked the capital in the ancient battle," Vanea explained. "Why did the Telethia attack your city?" Sharla asked, looking confused. "Wasn't the ancient battle only between the Bionis and the Mechonis themselves?" "The answer to your question can be answered in that tower," Vanea pointed to the huge spiral-like building Shulk had first noticed. "The Data Center. It is better that you see with your own eyes. Only then will you truly understand what happened between the Bionis and the Mechonis." She lead the way to the tower, and hardly anyone spoke. When they did, their words faded into silence as they walked across a bridge. Shulk could see the several large metal slabs that was the Mechonis' chin. That would mean that Agniratha was located in the Mechonis' face. Shulk entered the Data Center and spend most of his time admiring the machines that seemed to be humming to themselves and each other. Talking about Mechon with excess power, Telethia that needed to be analyzed, and how Agniratha must be restored to it's former glory. They went silent as the group passed, and burst into talk again when they had gone. Vanea pressed a call button on an elevator, and since it was small, the group had to go up in threes and fours. Shulk, Reyn, Vanea, and Sharla were in the first group, and as they rode upwards, Shulk found himself getting dizzier as the ground got farther away. When the elevator stopped, her had to close his eyes from the sudden head rush that came from getting off it. Finally, when Fiora, Dunban, Melia, and Riki joined them, did they approach the door at the opposite end of the hallway. The soft hum of Machinery met Shulk's ears as he entered, and he glanced around. The same machines that were in Linada's laboratory were in here as well, and there were screens that constantly spewed out information. A glass window was covered by a metal sheet, but when that sheet was gone, it most likely gave a view of the entire city. "Looks like the power's up and running," Shulk remarked, glancing around. Fiora suddenly took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes tightly. Melia looked over at her, concerned. "Fiora," She said. "What's the matter?" The half-Machina half-Homs girl reopened her eyes, but this time, they weren't green. They were red. "Everyone, follow me," She said, and started towards the central machine. She stood in the middle of the circle of light and placed her hands on the handles that were floating in midair. Instantly, the central machine began to glow, and a holographic model of Agniratha suddenly appeared. "What is that?!" Reyn demanded. Shulk stepped forwards and reached out to touch the model, but was shocked when his hand passed through it. "It looks like it's here, but it's just an image!" Shulk breathed. "No way," Reyn rolled his eyes and tried to pat the image as well, but failed as his hands passed right through it. "Whoa...You're right!" "These are memories of a time long forgotten," Fiora spoke, her voice mingled with that of another person's. "Fiora!" Shulk felt himself beginning to fear for the girl's safety, and started towards her. Dunban caught onto his wrist and shook his head. "They were left behind by the Machina," Fiora continued, her voice fading, and being replaced by another, whose voice was soft and kind, just like when she was controlling Face Nemesis. "Before they abandoned this place so that others may know their story." "Her voice sounds like…" Shulk's eyes widened. "In ancient times," Fiora began the tale, and the image shifted to show the Bionis and the Mechonis. However, they were standing side by side, hand in hand. "When the Bionis and the Mechonis came into existence, I was born as well. Just as the Bionis had a soul, I came to exist in this world as the soul of the Mechonis." The image shifted again to show Agniratha in it's former glory with fresh buildings and swarming with Machina. "I created my children on Mechonis, and acquired this body," Fiora said. "They called themselves Machina and Mechonis was transformed into a world brimming with life. The Machina gave rise to an advanced civilization and built this great city." "This city?" Sharla's jaw dropped. "Can't believe it used to be so lively," Reyn couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the hologram. "They lived their lives in peace and harmony," Fiora closed her eyes. "The gentle Machina worshipped me. Life also flourished on Bionis." The picture changed to a holographic image of different places on Bionis, with arduns drinking from a watering hole, volffs digging in the ground, and birds of all species soaring over a waterfall. "The Machina generously shared the fruits of their civilization with the peoples of Bionis," Fiora continued and they were suddenly looking at Machina giving something to a giant and a High Entia man. "They believed their two worlds would grow hand in hand. Then…" Fiora looked away as the image changed to Machina talking to each other, a small one beside them. They suddenly looked up as a bright light washed over them, vaporizing the trio instantly. "A terrible fate descended on them from above." The image zoomed out to show the Bionis driving a sword of light into the Mechonis' face. "Is that...the Monado?" Dunban gasped. "But why?" Shulk asked. "Why would the Bionis…?" "Wielding the sword of light, the Bionis attempted to destroy the Machina," Fiora said darkly. The hologram shifted to show Machin fleeing from the light as high winds blew them into the sky, and dropped them to their deaths. A survivor of the winds glanced back and saw a huge green cloud in the distance, that gradually began to take form into a monster with green scaly skin and lights flickering on it's wings. "Are those...Telethia?!" Melia demanded, her voice choked. "I tried to save the Machina, and confronted the Bionis," Fiora said. "And so, I confronted Zanza." "Z-Zanza?" Shulk repeated. His eyes were glued to the image as it showed the Bionis and the Mechonis battling each other, parrying their blades and trying to kill the other. The Bionis raised the Monado above it's head and came down for another blow to the Mechonis' head. However, the other titan retaliated by grabbing onto the Monado and forcing it away from it. The Mechonis swung its sword in a wide arc, which the Bionis parried with an unnatural speed. "The battle waged on and on," Fiora said. "Even as our life forces depleted, Zanza and I continued to fight." She let the others watch the battle between the two titans for a moment longer, and spoke again. "However, it did at last come to an end." The Bionis swung down towards the Mechonis and sliced off it's arm, which plummeted and fell into the great sea below. Then, the Bionis raised the Monado above it's head, but the Mechonis anticipated this and threw out it's sword, slamming it fatally into it's side. The Monado came down and sank into the Mechonis' shoulder, slicing into it's neck. The Bionis lurched forwards, as if in pain, and attempted to grab onto the sword to pull it out. However, it was too weak and ended up just simply grabbed onto it. It other arm, the one that held the Monado, rested down at it's side. The Monado shrank until it was a small glowing orb, then it flickered and vanished. The Bionis' eyes died as well, and it stopped moving. The Mechonis did likewise. The scene shifted to show a giant, howling in pain. Despite there being no sound, Shulk saw Melia wince. "The giant…" Then, Shulk saw the very same giant, forced into a kneeling position and it's wrists shackled in tight bonds. "This is when Zanza was imprisoned!" He realized. "Taking advantage to my final blow to the Bionis, it's beings took Zanza, and sealed him firmly away," Fiora said. "However, the battle with Zanza had greatly consumed my life force. I warned the surviving Machina that the Bionis had not yet been destroyed, and that one day he would be released." Shulk gasped. "I'm the one…" He stammered. "Who released him!" "I then entered a long and deep slumber," Fiora finished. "In preparation for Zanza's inevitable reawakening." She closed her eyes and reopened them. They were no longer red, but her original green. At first, there was silence. Even after the holographic image disappeared, no one wanted to speak about what they had just witnessed. It wasn't what they had expected when Vanea told them they would learn the history of Mechonis. "It's all clear to me," Fiora spoke at last, and Shulk was relieved to find it was her regular one. "What you wanted to do. Stop the battle between the Bionis and the Mechonis." "Fiora," Shulk took her hand and smiled. "I see now. It was her inside you." "Yes," Vanea nodded, and Fiora turned to face her, letting go of Shulk's hand in the process. "Lady Meyneth desired a body in which she could be free. And after you were captured by Egil's Mechon, it was I who transferred her soul into your body." "But why did it have to be my body?" Fiora approached Vanea. "Because…" Vanea pursed her lips, as if wondering how she should answer. "You are close to Shulk. The Heir to the Monado." They headed out of the Data Center fifteen minutes later, all of them still shocked at what they had just learned. "It was all because of our world, because of Bionis, that this city was devastated," Fiora said. "Now I understand why Egil would want to stop the Bionis from reawakening," Shulk agreed. "I get it too," Reyn said skeptically. "But how's killing any of us gonna solve his problem?" "Precisely," Dunban nodded. "What happened to the Machina was a tragedy, but we cannot forgive the Mechon attack on Bionis." "What worries me is the Monado that the Bionis used," Melia said thoughtfully. "It's no different from how the legends describe, but still…" "It must hold a deadly power," Shulk said, suddenly finding it hard to swallow. "But you have used it wisely, Shulk," Dunban pointed out. "It has not overwhelmed you, as it did me." "He's right," Reyn said. "If you hadn't been using the Monado, we wouldn't have lasted five minutes." "But it was Zanza who bestowed this sword upon me," Shulk protested. "However, it is not Zanza who wields the Monado," Vanea told him. "It is you, Shulk. That is also the reason why Meyneth chose Fiora as a vessel. So that the tragedy of he who wields the Monado would not be repeated." "'The tragedy of he who wields the Monado?'" "Shulk...Believe!" Vanea insisted. "Believe in the path you have chosen and those who walk it with you. Meyneth once said this of the Monado: 'The Monado is not simply a unique weapon. It is the light within each and every person in this world." "Light?" Shulk repeated. "What do you mean?" "It is the light of life!" Vanea explained. "The will to survive no matter what. Perhaps Lady Meyneth was drawn to your light." She turned around and pointed to the edge of the city. "Beyond there lies the Meyneth Shrine. Egil will be there. Is it still your intention to defeat Egil? That has not changed?" "We understand the history of Mechonis now," Shulk said. "If he is willing to listen, we'll try and reason with him. If not…" "I understand," Vanea said. "Then, if that is your decision, so be it. I will go and try to persuade Egil one last time, but I am prepared for his refusal." She turned and walked away, melting into golden light and disappearing. "Vanea…" Fiora whispered. "I know she said she'll try and persuade him, but she didn't sound confident," Sharla said. "We have to go after her," Shulk agreed. "But how do we get to the shrine from here?" Asked Reyn. "Up ahead is a transporter leading to the shrine," Fiora said at once. "But it's inactive. We need to trigger the verification devices to activate it. We'll find one at the top of each of the four pillars. If we trigger them all, we can use the transporter." Riki gaped at her. "How Fiora know that?" "Meyneth's memories," Fiora answered. "She tells me these things." "Do you know how to trigger them?" Shulk asked, meaning her memories. "Maybe my body itself is the key," Fiora shrugged. "Okay," Shulk smiled. "Then let's get searching." Everyone else agreed, and they began their way to the Meyneth Shrine.