Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 46 - Zanza

Zanza was alone in the empty void of space, stars and asteroids whirling around him as he stood, suspended in the air with his eyes closed. In each hand he held a Monado, one of which red and sinister looking, the other large and with two separate blades. The two weapons were glowing with a soft light, giving Zanza a vision of what was to come in the future. The Telethia overrun the Colonies, killing everyone within them, the Bionis fully reawakens, just as Shulk arrives with his band of friends. They hold up their weapons to attack him, when he lifts up his Monado and slices with it, blinding the group in a flash of light and- The vision suddenly cut off and Zanza opened his eyes, a surge of irritation rising from a pit in his stomach. "Why?" He growled. "Why can I not see any further? Now that I posses both Monados, I should be at once with the passage of fate. Why does the vision end here?" He sighed in annoyance, before two sharp pricks of pain in his side made him turn around. "So Dickson has passed. Lorithia too. How can this be? Are Telethia growing weak? How could they be defeated by such worthless mortals?!" He clicked his tongue in annoyance before Meyneth's voice rose in his mind for what seemed like the thousandth time since he had gotten here. "This world belongs to you all. Create a world with no need for gods." "A world that has no need for gods?" Zanza scoffed. "There is no world without a god. This world...belongs to me!" He raised his Monado and sliced it through the air, sending a shockwave of power rippling over his body as it began to morph and change. * * * Shulk sucked in a sharp breath. He was standing in the same place where, not too long ago, he was sitting, ready to give up on everything he had ever accomplished. "Where are we?" Reyn's voice cut through the silence like butter, and Shulk snapped his attention onto the red-haired man, who was standing with his arms and legs spread awkwardly, his entire body tense. "What happen?" Riki whimpered. "It night time! Is Riki have bad dream?" "Look down," Fiora breathed. "Look at all the stars!" "We're not on Bionis anymore," Shulk crossed his arms, following Fiora's gaze. "There's no land or sea either." "Well, there's no sense in just sitting around here," Dunban said. "We have to find Zanza." "Right," Sharla slowly relaxed her body. "Let's get moving. He can't be too far off now." Everyone else nodded in agreement and they started walking along the long winding path, past planets and asteroids that collided on occasions, sending debris sailing past them. As they walked, the asteroids faded, and Shulk found himself staring in awe as they passed by shadowing shapes and figures that looked exactly like enemies and people that they had fought previously. Shulk felt a few shivers go up his spine as he walked past an almost exact replica of Metal Face and a Telethia. They kept walking. Sharla let out a soft squeak as they walked past a wispy, ghost version of Jade Face. She avoided it as it stared at her as she passed, her lower lip trembling. They strode past Xord, and several other enemies before coming across a large planet that was filled with to the brim with what looked like water. Small white wispy shapes flitted across the top of it and Fiora took in a sharp breath. "It's beautiful." "Is that a ball of water?" Shulk frowned in confusion. "So, you have finally made it, Shulk." A voice echoed around them and Shulk began looking around, recognizing the voice. "It's you!" "What is it, Shulk?" Fiora looked at him, concern lacing her words. Shulk didn't answer her, just kept looking around for the source of Alvis's voice. "I cannot wait to see which path you choose. Let us meet again after you have made your choice." The group was suddenly blinded by a flash of light, and Shulk threw his hands in front of his face to shield them from the light. When it faded, they were staring up at a strange figure whose features were mostly obscured by two pairs of wings crossed over it's body, one dark and mechanical, the other white and regal-looking. As the light faded, the figure uncrossed its wings, revealing a strange looking figure with a white helmet and matching armor, holding a Monado in each hand. Red lines criss-crossed throughout the body and it stared impressively down at them, smirking. "Welcome, Shulk," It spoke and Shulk stiffened in surprise. "That voice…" He breathed. "It's Zanza!" "But he looks different," Fiora frowned. "I had planned to use the body obtained from Shulk as a vessel in which to dwell for the next millennium," Zanza agreed. "However, I came to possess a great and unexpected power." Zanza raised the Monado in his left hand, smirking. "Meyneth's Monado," Shulk breathed. "Correct," Zanza nodded. "In addition to my own Manado, which you kept safe for me, I was also able to obtain a second which holds the power of creation. Now I posses all I desire." He raised Meyneth's Monado and sliced through the air lazily, sending a shockwave of power towards the group, forcing them backwards. Shulk growled and drew his Replica Monado, as everyone else took the hint and unsheathed their weapons as well. "There is no longer any need for the life of Bionis," Zanza continued. "I must thank you indeed, Shulk. You were of more use to me than any of my disciples. Now that I have the Monados, I can forgive you your...betrayal." "Ha!" Reyn scoffed, jumping in front of Shulk with one of his arms outstretched protectively. "You gonna give him a reward?" "Precisely," Zanza nodded. "I will have him serve as my new disciple. You will be granted eternal life and unimaginable strength. Death will be but a fleeting afterthought." "Are you so arrogant to believe that the High Entia, no, all life on Bionis, are nothing but your playthings?!" Melia demanded stepping in front of Reyn with her staff pointed upwards at Zanza. "Playthings?" "Yes!" Melia stomped her foot. "You don't know how it feels to have slain my brethren after they had transformed into Telethia!" "What are you talking about?" Zanza sounded exasperated. "A Teletia is a High Entia's true form. I did not transform them, I returned them. The Telethia are mere cells from my body. I conferred intelligence upon them on a mistaken whim, creating a primitive life form - the High Entia. They enjoyed a brief existence as sentient beings. For that, they should be grateful." Dunban stepped forwards as well, huffing. "So this is the arrogance of a creator," He said. "As I planned, the life of Bionis existed simply to serve as my vessels and my food," Zanza ignored Dunban. "Bionis is nothing more than an accumulation of their corpses and life energy." "But though you feign omnipotence, the High Entia still confined you to Prison Island!" Dunban countered. "That is how limited you are." "Confined me?" Zanza asked, amused. "I was merely...resting there for awhile. I was wounded in the battle with Meyneth's vessel. I simply awaited the day when a new vessel, shown to me in a vision, would be born." "Until...I was born…" Shulk felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Precisely," Zanza nodded. "I intended to inhabit your body and once again do battle with Meyneth. However, I had no idea that I would defeat her so...easily." "Meyneth," Fiora whispered sadly. Ared blur moved past her face and suddenly, Zanza's monado was sitting inches from Shulk's nose. "You did a great deed in granting me a new Monado," Zanza murmured. "I will gladly take you as my new disciple, Shulk." "Never!"" Shulk said viciously, raising his sword and pointing it towards Zanza, the tip of its glowing blue blade grazing the god's cheek. I don't wanna be your vessel or your disciple! I just want to live my life as a Homs! In a world without you!" "That is most regrettable," Zanza seemed genuinely disappointed. "You could have entrusted all to me and attained peace. But perhaps the vision of mortals will ever remain...limited. Using one's power to change the world. That is a right possessed only by gods." "Is that why you laid waste to Mechonis?" Shulk's hand was quivering with anger. "Of course," Zanza said. "Along with the beings called Machina, who followed Meyneth. They had evolved and become insolent under her protection." Reyn scoffed loudly. "So you're saying us Homs are next in line, eh?" "You are correct," Zanza confirmed. "You yourselves have proven that Homs are a dangerous species. How...unfortunate. I had a desire for friendship. But granting intelligence to the lives I created was a mistake. A god should not long for friendship." Shulk, who had become increasingly angrier through Zanza's monologue, suddenly lashed out. "You're wrong!" He shouted, slamming his Replica Monado into Zanza's and throwing it away from his face and up into the air. Zanza looked vaguely surprised as he let his arm drop back to his side. "Meyneth chose to exist alongside us! She grew to consider us her friends. You should have accepted that. But...what you were hoping for was not friendship! You wanted worthless slaves! Our lives as food!" "Just as I suspected," Zanza's grip tightened on his Monados. "It appears that I was mistaken to grant free will. However, all will soon be over! The Telethia will exterminate all life on Bionis! I will then create a new world! Just as I have done many times before!" "We will not allow it!" Shulk said, getting in a battle stance and Holding the Replica Monado up to his chest, his grip tight on the handle. "We cannot! We will stop you!" He released a cry, shooting forwards, followed by the rest of his friends, all of them wanting a piece of Zanza. Shulk spun around, ducking beneath a double blow of Zanza's blade, hardly paying attention to what the others were doing as he lunged forwards, aiming a blow towards Zanza's middle. Halfway there, his vision went white. Shulk was going to aim at his middle, but Zanza was going to parry and slice at Shulk, who would just barely dart out of the way, but would fail to dodge and ether blast that would toss him backwards. Returning to reality, Shulk shook off the distorted feeling that came with the sudden vision. He feinted at Zanza's middle, and just as his vision showed, Zanza attempted at a parry, but at the last minute Shulk whirled out of the way, landing a strike to Zanza's right wing and making the god scream in pain. He shot off an ether attack which Shulk rolled out of the way of. "You mere vessels dare to oppose the will of a god?!" Zanza growled, folding in his wing and holding it with the hand the held Meyenth's Monado. "Then I shall obliterate everything with my unimaginable power!" He rose into the air and raised the Monados, clashing them together. Ether particles began to swirl around him and his body began to morph and change When the ether particles faded, Zanza had now changed into a half-Telethia half-Homs looking creature. The wings had vanished and were replaced with two enormous arms, one much like the Mechonis's arm and the other like the Bionis's. "Now!" Zanza roared. "Behold , the true form of a united world!" Shulk wasted no time in resuming his attack, crawling on top of Zanza's right arm and sprinting up it, leaving deep gashes up the arm as he ran, until Zanza forced him to roll off by slashing at him with Meyneth's Monado. THe visionary fell from the arm, the sword barely missing him and slicing off a tuft of his blonde hair. Shulk hit the ground on his feet, crouching slightly as he then pushed off from the ground, running to attack Zanza's middle again. However, as a sudden vision warned him not to do this, as Zanza was going to land a fatal blow to him by running him through with his Monado, he suddenly changed course, beginning to run laps around the god until landing a deep blow to his back, overlapping another cut that someone else had already made. Zanza's eyes widened as he watched Shulk's sudden change in motion as he suddenly understood. Shulk was seeing the future. Like he had when Zanza was using the boy's body as a vessel. The god's lip curled in anger as Shulk rejoined the others in front of Zanza and they worked together to slash and hack at the god, Shulk calling out warnings every so often of things to come. "How?!" Zanza demanded suddenly, jumping away from the visionary as he and Fiora rushed towards him, their weapons at the ready. "How can you have visions?! You no longer posses the Monado!" "I don't know," Shulk replied, almost too calmly as he ducked underneath Meyneth's Monado and Fiora slammed her blades against it to stop it.. "It comes from the bottom of my heart." The two of them leapt into the air and spun around, clashing with Meyneth's Monado again and pushing it away. Fiora went behind the god as Shulk slammed his sword against Zanza's monado, neatly flipping over and landing on top of it. "It shows me my enemy. It reveals the future I must change." He shot forwards, attempting a strike, but one of Zanza's smaller arms protected himself from the blow, and Shulk jumped away, backflipping and hitting the ground with his knees slightly bent. Zanza growled and slashed down at Shulk when Fiora was suddenly there, landing and knocking away the blade, her expression tight. "The future we see is not set in stone," She said, straightening up. "There are infinite possibilities based on the paths we chose. You should be well aware of this notion. For that is how you have always existed!" "That is a right for gods, and gods only!" Zanza sliced at her but she jumped nimbly out of the way. "Why should we care?!" Shulk demanded, coming in from behind the god and sinking the replica Monado into his skin. Zanza screeched in pain and threw Shulk into the air. "What's important isn't whether you can see the future or not! It's the will to make a choice, and the strength to seize your destiny. Our time has come! Our destiny is our own!" Still in midair, Shulk raised his Replica Monado, and Fiora's chest piece began to glow with a bright red ether light, colliding with the sword. Similar things happened to Reyn's driver, Sharla's rifle, Dunban's katana, Riki's biter, and Melia's staff, enveloping Shulk in a bright cocoon of ether energy. Then, Shulk hit the ground in a crouched position and Zanza took in a sharp breath. "Can it be…?" He breathed. "A Monado?!" In Shulk's hand, he held a brand new weapon. It was blue in color and practically transparent, but Shulk gripped it so tightly his knuckles were turning white, adrenaline flowing through him. "It is not only you that has the right," Fiora said, "Every living thing has the freedom to chose the path they walk! And that is the future!" Shulk stood up, holding the Monado in both hands as he glared at Zanza. "A third Monado has appeared," The god murmured, before his expression suddenly turned angry. "How can this have happened?! You are mere mortals!" Shulk didn't respond, only raced forwards with his new weapon in hand. He sliced upwards, digging into the god's flesh before darting away as a vision warned him of what would happen if he stayed there for too long. He watched as Dunban began working together with Melia, the two combining elementals and pure steel as the two raced forwards together, sinking their weapons deep into the god, Melia unleashing several elementals at once from her staff. Riki bounced around, with Sharla, the two working together to both heal the group whenever they were injured, but also landing strikes when needed. Riki bounced up and whacked Zanza over the head as Sharla reloaded her almost over-heating rifle and took aim, shooting directly into the god's head, but accidentally missing and the bullet sank into his shoulder instead. Zanza screamed and turned around to knock the two aside, when Fiora came in out of nowhere, stopping Zanza's Monados as they came in for a deadly strike. She was like a one man army on her own, pushing forwards until she was close enough to Zanza to deal serious damage. That left Shulk and Reyn. The two boys worked in almost perfect unison, each knowing what the other was going to do next. Reyn blocked when Shulk needed it and Shulk parried Zanza's blows when Reyn was still recovering from blocking one on his own. The two attacked together until Shulk began to notice wispy golden ether particles beginning to seep from Zanza's body and the god slumped over, completely exhausted. Everyone regrouped as Zanza clutched at his chest, obviously pained. "How?" His breathing was labored. "The...The power of a god cannot be overcome…!" "Zanza," A voice suddenly echoed from what seemed like everywhere around them. "This is the providence of the world. Even gods are merely beings restricted to the limited power provided by providence. That power, although great, is not unlimited." The three Monados began to glow gently, a thin line connecting each of them in a triangle shape. "Alvis?!" Zanza spoke the voice's name angrily. "How dare you disobey me?!" "I am Monado," Alvis said calmly. "I was here at the beginning. And I will proclaim the end." "But that...that's impossible!" Zanza roared. "Shulk, it's time for you to choose," Alvis now addressed the visionary, who was staring dumbstruck at his Monado. "Does this world belong to Zanza? Or does it belong to you?" Shaken out of his stupor, Shulk's grip tightened on his Monado. "That is something...I decided long ago!" Shulk raised the Monado and began cried out, power filling his entire being and flooding into the sword, which turned golden. He spun the sword around in his hand, so the circle near the hilt was looking at Zanza, a new symbol in it. "That symbol!" Zanza gasped. "Today, we use our power to fell a god," Shulk let his Monado rest at his side. "And then seize or destiny!" He gritted his teeth and sprinted forwards, leaping high into the air and raising the sword and bringing it down on top of Zanza's head. The blade cut through him like he was made of butter. Shulk hit the ground as the god begin to split apart and dissolve into tiny golden ether particles. "All that I am is fading," Zanza gasped. "The memory of a god's existence, born into the chaos of creation. It is...vanishing." Shulk's vision suddenly went white and everything went quiet around him. He suddenly felt himself floating,his feet no longer connected to something solid. Then, his vision cleared. He was staring at the planet they had seen just before Zanza had appeared and pulled them into a different area to battle him. But this time there were green masses of land adorning it, instead of just water, along with a space station that was now currently orbiting the planet. "Where am I?" His voice echoed around him, and he was startled when a voice answered him. "This is my home," Alvis responded, and Shulk jumped, looking beside him to see nothing more than a mass of green ether, talking in Alvis's voice. He blinked. "Your home?" He repeated. Alvis didn't respond, and seemed to be waiting for something. Shulk turned his head back towards the space station, when a voice suddenly echoed from it and into Shulk's mind. "Let's begin the experiment!" "Whose voice was that?" Shulk asked, alarmed. "It is Zanza," Alvis replied. "Before he became a god. When he was simply a man of flesh and blood." "No!" A second voice cried as Shulk narrowed his eyes at the space station. Suddenly he was inside it, staring at a man with blonde hair, wearing a labcoat and a huge grin stood at a control d. A woman stormed up to him, her expression terse. "The results have not been confirmed! It's too dangerous!" "And that voice," Shulk realized. "It's Meyneth!" He watched as Meyneth took Zanza's arm and pulled it away from the buttons. "Ridiculous!" Zanza scoffed, continuing to type with his other hand. "It's perfectly safe." Meyneth put her hands on Zanza's chest, stepping in front of him and almost pushing him away when Zanza grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. "We are about to bear witness to the birth of a universe!" He told her, letting Meyneth drop to the floor. She hit the ground as Zanza turned back to the control board. "Today, mankind moves one step closer to the divine!" "Stop! Klaus!" Meyneth's cry was lost on deaf ears as Zanza ignored her and slammed his hands down on a button. Shulk was whisked away from the scene as he watched as a large light exploded from within the station and spun around on a line the space station was currently revolving on. Upon its second orbit, the planet was suddenly swallowed up by a strange silver substance and it slowly closed in on itself until in an enormous explosion, an enormous sea grew forth and washed around Shulk's ankles and grew until there was nothing but water in every direction. "It was simple curiosity," Alvis said as Shulk pushed himself upwards, landing on top of the water. "The curiosity of a single man that destroyed the universe and created a new one. A new universe, your world, was born." The sea began to quiver as two enormous Titans rose out from underneath the water, one mechanical and black and one white and made of what seemed to be flesh. "And so, two gods came into existence. Zanza and Meyneth were lonely, so they created life in their image." "And that was how we were born," Shulk breathed. "As the world advanced to each further stage, it was inherited by generations of different life forms," Alvis continued. "But over time, awareness of Zanza faded. Zanza feared this. In order to escape his own annihilation, he wished for a world in a perpetual cycle of destruction and recreation." "Bionis being filled with life, and the Telethia coming to wipe it out." Shulk guessed. "It was all the will of Zanza." "It was," Alvis agreed. "But the truth of the matter is that he longed for friendship." Shulk gasped as the two Titans suddenly began to fight each other, digging their swords into any piece of flesh they could find. "His future and our future," Shulk said. "It might have been possible for them to coexist." "Correct," Alvis said. "However, that time has passed." Shulk glanced up and his eyes widened as he saw the Bionis, standing alone with his back arched and a low rumble escaping from its throat, as if it were screaming in pain. Bits of rock and plants were beginning to tumble from its body and into the endless ocean below. "The old god was defeated by the new god that he himself created. "New god?!" Shulk's blue eyes went wide. "Yes," Alvis said. "That is why I appeared before you, Shulk." Shulk turned around to face the green speck floating behind him and frowned. "Alvis, what are you?" "I am the administrative computer of a phase transition experiment facility," Alvis said at once. "But that will mean little to you. To you, I am a machine. That is my original form." "Alvis," Shulk questioned softly. "This world is stagnant," Alvis said. "It has expired. Therefore, I will ask you, it's new god, what is your wish? Will you allow the world to continue to stagnate, or will you allow it to evolve to the next level? The choice is yours to make." Shulk stared down at the water beneath his feet, lost in thought. A sudden sense of overwhelming stress and hopelessness overcame him. "I don't know?" He said, spinning around to face Alvis. "All I wanted to do was stop Zanza having his way, that's all! I can't be a god!" "Too right!" A familiar voice echoed from behind Shulk and suddenly Reyn appeared, slinging an arm over Shulk's shoulders, grinning "You're great 'n all, but there's no way you're a god!" The red-haired man joked. Shulk smiled weakly and looked around as he was surrounded by familiar faces, all of them smiling back at him. "Everyone!" "Look, don't worry Shulk," Fiora told him. "None of us want to be gods anyway. And I don't really know what the future holds, but we just want to live our life as it comes." "Eating grub, sleeping, laughing, crying," Reyn listed off, counting on his fingers before making a face. "Sometimes arguing. Sounds alright!" "Yes he's right.," Sharla agreed. "And being with the ones we love. That's enough." "Even so, we change little by little," Melia pointed out. "Every day is a little different from the last. We do not know what the future will hold." "More fun not knowing!" Riki said, bouncing up and down beside Melia. "Riki want to have fun!" "Life's little surprises are what makes it great," Fiora said, making Shulk snap his attention back onto her. "We don't know what's going to happen. It's worrying sometimes, but it's also exciting. Don't you think?" "Yeah," Dunban agreed. "Isn't that called progress? Aren't we all just continually evolving? I'm not sure we need a more dramatic change than that." Shulk wa silent for a moment before allowing a smile to creep over his face. "Yeah," He agreed. "You're right. Little by little. Each day as it comes. That's how we should live. That's our world." Shulk was suddenly standing back down in his crouched position, the True Monado back in his hand and the battlefield Zanza had sucked them into surrounding him. He straightened up, looking around and seeing his friends behind him, all of them bearing injuries from the fight. "Forgive my presumptuousness," Alvis said suddenly, and Shulk looked up. The same green light was circling above him, Zanza and Meyneth's Monados on either side of it with the tip of the blades touching. There was a third gap, waiting to be filled with something else. "But I recreated their personalities from your consciousness." "Alvis…" Shulk shook his head, slightly amused as the others looked confused. "It sounds like you don't think I can make my own decisions. I'm supposed to be the god." "Apologies," Alvis said. "However, I have good reason. This world has little time remaining if left in this state. Have you made your decision? The choice is yours, Creator. Tell me your decision for the future of this world." Shulk stood there for a moment, thinking before turning around and looking up at the Monados circling above him. "I won't decide," He said firmly. "The future should be decided by each and every person in the world. And so what I...no..what we wish for is…" He smiled and tossed his Monado upwards into the air. "A world with no gods!" The True Monado collided with the other three, completing the triangle of Monados. All at once, it seemed like they were absorbed by each other as a bright light washed over the group and spilled out of the Bionis's eyes. The world began to shift and change, the light that had been thrown out of the space station so long ago being suddenly sucked in and creating thousands upon thousands of worlds. And thus, the universe was recreated.