Chapter Text
“You’re certain this is a good idea?”
“Yes, of course! It’d be nice for ‘em to meet each other, wouldn't it? B’sides, I’m sure it’s probably drivin’ em a bit crazy.”
Melia took a sip from her cup of tea as she leaned back in her chair. The sun’s rays peeked through the curtains of her bedroom in the imperial villa, the sky a beautiful fiery orange. The High Entian closed her eyes, considering the words of her close friend–Queen Nia–that echoed from her Iris’ speakers.
“...I suppose so… I’m simply concerned that it will bring up traumatic memories.”
“I’m worried about that too… I mean, it’s just a hunch, anyways. Mio could be havin’ dreams that are completely unrelated to Aionios.”
“I find that unlikely,” said Melia. “I feel as if it’s no coincidence that Mio’s nightmares and the reports of strange phenomena both began around the same time. And, from what Dunban has told me, it seems like Noah is having similar experiences.”
“Ah… I think Brighid might’ve mentioned somethin’ about Sena havin’ bad dreams too. So that means it’s not just Noah ‘n Mio.”
“So that must mean the other three are likely the same,” the High Entian Queen put a finger to her chin in contemplation, as Nia’s ears twitched on her Iris’ screen.
“ Hmm, well, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it in a few days. Rather get all of this stuff sorted. I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of it if we put our heads together.”
“Several heads, if you still plan on bringing your… entourage.”
“I sure do! Many hands make light work! ...Hopefully!”
—
“I’d say we’re in desperate need of a family vacation, eh?”
Mio was unsure of where her Da suddenly got this idea, when the previous conversation that circulated around the dinner table wasn't related at all . She glanced towards him, mouth full of armu steak, and her ears twitched forward in curiosity.
“There are better ways to bring up that topic, dear,” said Pyra. Ah, so there was a reason he brought that up , Mio thought. Subtlety was never Rex’s strong suit, after all. “But we have been discussing taking you two somewhere.” She looked at Mio and Glimmer.
“We were thinkin’... since your mums ‘n I are already goin’ to visit some old friends,” said Rex. “We’ve been thinkin’ of takin’ you two with us… And whoever ya wanna invite along.”
Mio nearly choked on her food, “wait, really?!”
Nia nodded, “it was my idea.”
“We’ve been almost everywhere on Alrest,” Mythra piped up. “So we thought we could all use a change of scenery.”
“Soo… whaddya think?”
Mio swallowed before speaking up, “I’ve always wanted to go! Can I bring Sena ‘n Taion?”
“You know they're always welcome.”
The young Gormotti bounced giddily in her seat. The rest of the conversation fell on deaf ears—all Mio could think about was telling her friends the good news. She quickly gobbled down the rest of her meal, cleared her plate, thanked her family for the food and was off to her room.
Not only was she going somewhere new, but there was also a chance that she'd find answers. Answers to the dreams and the many questions that rose in their wake. Though the chances may have been slim… Shared delusions exist, don't they? Then again, Mio didn't think Sena or Taion were delusional or anything like that. Sena said something about that once, when she expressed that she was afraid Mio and Taion were lying to her about the dreams to make her feel better. Mio understood where she came from—Sena’s self-doubt had a habit of swallowing her whole—but Mio insisted she would never lie about something so serious. Taion wouldn't either.
With no time wasted, she hastily called Sena and Taion on their shared chat. She sat down at her desk, propping her Iris up with a nearby pencil case. A few rings later, she got an answer.
“Heya Mimi! What’s up?” As always, Sena was the first to answer.
“I’ve got somethin’ I wanna tell you guys, but I wanna wait until Taion’s here,” Mio’s ears wiggled with excitement.
“He shouldn't be long, I hope. You know how he can be when he gets sucked into his painting. He was in the middle of it when I last spoke to him a few hours ago.”
“He's probably still at it, then. Could run over to his and-” Mio was interrupted by a ping on her Iris. Suddenly, Taion’s camera came on the screen, displayed next to Sena.
“Are you talking about me?” He crossed his arms and pushed up his glasses.
“Oh hey, you took my advice!”
“I wasn’t willing to find out what would happen if I didn't.”
“Okay, so!” Mio began. “Y’know how my Ma was supposed to be goin’ to Bionis in a few days for that… meeting thing or whatever?”
“Oh yeah! I think my mums were going with her.” Sena turned to Manana, who sat next to her and nodded.
“That right! Very important meeting with Queen Melly.” The pink nopon smiled.
“Well, she offered to take me and anyone I wanted to invite along… soooo…”
…There was a pause.
…Mio’s ears rang from Sena’s excited squeal blasting through the speakers of her Iris not a second later.
—
After enduring the hours-long trip by boat, Mio, her family, and her two best friends set foot on Bionis.
The plan was that Mio, her family and her friends would stay in Colony 9 for a few days before Mio’s family would leave for Alcamoth and she and her friends would be visiting the other settlements scattered across the continent. Sena managed to convince Taion to travel from Colony 9 to Colony 6 on foot—the hike was primarily uphill, which Taion pointed out, only for Sena to slap his knee and say he needed to “build up some muscle” (and when Taion turned to Mio to defend him, she smirked and said nothing).
They were greeted by Shulk, unsurprisingly. He and Rex supposedly knew each other well. As Rex, Nia and the Aegises spoke with Shulk, something else caught Mio’s eye. Something small and blue—
“ RIKU! ” Manana cheerfully exclaimed, making a mad dash towards a blue nopon. In no time, her wings were wrapped around him.
“Riku not think Manana would be so happy to see Riku,” the blue nopon—Riku—replied. Something about him felt… oddly familiar. She couldn’t pin down why.
“Nonsense! Manana always happy to see dearest friend Riku! Waited for long time to see again!”
“You never told me you had a friend from Bionis, Manana,” said Sena. Manana quickly turned around, one wing still wrapped around Riku’s shoulder.
“Manana and Riku been friends since–” The Nopon cut herself off suddenly, quickly glancing at her friend as if looking for approval. They just stared at each other for a few seconds, before Manana simply turned back towards the trio and said, “that not important! Important thing is friend Riku help Manana and friends get settled!”
Out of her peripheral vision, Mio could see that Sena and Taion were equally confused at the supposed telepathic communication that had just occurred between the Nopon. They were quickly snapped out of their stupor as Riku cleared his throat, addressing Mio and her companions.
“Name is Riku. Riku will be guidepon of sorts while friends stay in Colony. Ask questions and Riku will try best to answer.”
After saying goodbye to her family, Mio and her friends made their way to their quarters, guided by Riku, who’d made the arrangements himself apparently. As the group made their way across the Colony to the Residential District, Mio felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was met with Sena, who was squinting at Riku and Manana a few meters up front.
“Manana’s been acting a lil’ weird…” Said Sena, her voice hushed.
“Weird… how?” Mio asked.
“Like she knows something, but doesn’t want us to know.”
“Ah, I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed,” Taion joined in, whispering as well. “Whatever it is, we’ll find out.”
“...By force, or…?” Asked Mio.
“I’m not suggesting we interrogate her.”
“I dunno, it kinda sounded like you were.”
“Okay, no, we’re not interrogating her,” Sena interrupted. “We won’t need to. Manana’s kinda awful at keeping secrets. Just act like we haven’t noticed anything–”
“What friends noticing?”
The trio froze as Riku turned around to look at them disapprovingly, wings and arms crossed. Manana was still up ahead, her interest piqued by a small garden outside of one of the Residential District buildings.
“Nothing!” They all said, in perfect unison, which was definitely super convincing and totally didn’t make them look any more suspicious at all.
The remainder of the walk was relatively quiet–not that they had much farther to go. Riku handed each of them two sets of keys; one to get inside the building, and another to get inside the room they would stay in.
The hallway leading to their room was narrow and cramped. The floorboards were covered in old, muddy footprints that were far too old to be fully washed out. The building itself only had two rooms, and it looked as if the room further down the hallway—the one Mio assumed was reserved for them—hadn't been lived in for a while. The interior wasn't dirty by any means, though. Aside from the faded footprints (which definitely looked like there had been numerous attempts at scrubbing them out), the hall was well-kept, completely void of cobwebs and dirt. A painting of a landscape Mio didn't recognize hung on the wall between the two doors. It depicted a beach, palm trees casting shadows over two individuals who sat by a small pond. Behind them was a large metallic wall covered in overgrown vines.
“Riku live next door,” said the blue nopon as he stepped inside the room. “Riku is not home very much, but if friends need help, can ask roomiepons of Riku.”
“Riku never mention roomiepons?” Manana said to Riku, voice lowered as if to prevent her friends from hearing. Maybe Sena and Taion couldn’t hear… But Mio certainly could.
“Riku not see reason to,” he replied, hushed. “And Manana already know Riku’s roomiepons.”
“Oh, yes! Manana understand. Cannot wait to meet friends of Riku!”
Mio decided not to comment on the fact that she could hear the nopons’ hushed chatter. For now, she wanted to focus on getting settled into the room.
It took a while, but eventually the group managed to get everything settled with the help of Riku. It was still early in the afternoon, so Mio figured now might be a good time to explore the Colony. That, and she felt like she needed a bit of a breather–long travel days were never her favourite. She excused herself, and stepped outside to get some fresh air. She pretended to ignore the seemingly concerned look that Taion gave her.
—
Mio had a feeling this would happen.
As it turned out, Colony 9’s climate was hot and humid . As the afternoon progressed, the temperature only increased, and Mio had foolishly decided to go for a walk by herself. Of course, she ended up feeling lightheaded—she wasn't built for this heat—and took refuge under the shade of a tree near the bridge to the Residential District. She called her friends, asking them for some assistance, but they were a few ways away from the Colony, poking around Tephra Cave, so it'd be a while until they could get to her.
As she sat in wait for her friends, Mio looked up at the sky. The sun was ruthlessly shining, not a single cloud in the sky, and any moment her skin made contact with it, it felt as if she'd burn to a crisp (even if Taion had made extra sure that she'd put on enough sunscreen). Still, despite the unbearable heat, she found herself contemplating.
There was some hope in Mio that, maybe, on the off chance that her dreams held a sliver of truth, that she would find answers here. What kind of answers, she couldn't tell you—there weren't nearly enough fragments handed to her for her to piece anything together. The coherent events from the dreams only became so because she, Sena and Taion put their heads together to form some sort of conclusion, but even those were vague at best. All they'd managed to unravel were the following:
- There was a war between the people of Alrest and Bionis, for reasons Mio couldn't decipher.
- Half of their group was from Bionis, meaning that they were enemies at some point but weren't anymore.
- Everyone had the same tattoo that faded over time, and when it was grayed out completely, you would fade into motes of light.
- She knew that because it happened to her. She watched herself die, in a body that wasn't hers.
- There was another Mio.
- She watched that Mio die.
- That Mio was her, but wasn't her, and it was once her but not anymore.
- She watched herself die.
- She watched herself die.
Mio shook her head—she hadn't told her friends about the other Mio. She didn't know if they saw that Mio, too, or if they thought that Mio was her because technically it was. Mio had a dream about Taion helping her cut her hair, even though, in all of her dreams, her hair was short. Her hair was short, and the other Mio’s hair wasn't, and she saw the short-haired Mio die. She didn't remember how she became the other Mio, but she remembered the way her skin itched, in a body that should've felt familiar, but somehow felt entirely foreign.
It made her think, briefly, about Fiora, who awoke from death as a machine. Mio wondered what that could've felt like—it was still Fiora’s body, but how much of it was actually Fiora? How much of the other Mio was actually Mio ? The regeneration chamber gave Fiora her Homs body back, but it couldn't replace tan lines and freckles and childhood scars.
She wondered if Fiora, too, had dreams that made her feel as if her skin was not her own. She was given a second chance at life in a different body, one that functioned differently than the flesh and bones she once had. A second chance in a body that wasn't hers. Mio’s skin crawled at the thought—the concept wasn't as distant as she felt it should be. Something about Fiora’s story was eerily… familiar.
The sun never lessened in harshness as the grasshoppers chittered and the cicadas screamed.
—
Eunie swore it’d never been this hot this often in Colony 9. Sure, she’d been through the odd heat wave here and there, but lately it seemed that the temperatures just kept going up. Summers in the Colony, while hot, were never unbearably so up until now. Her shirt was practically sticking to her thanks to her sweat as she fanned herself with her wings. At the very least, she was able to find the herbs she'd set out to find in record time. Noah and Lanz were both struggling with sleep, admittedly Eunie was too, and there was a recipe in that weird tea recipe book that had somehow mysteriously snuck into her bookshelf after that night with the fireworks that was meant to help one fall asleep. It was far from the first time Eunie consulted this book, in fact, it was quite useful, and she managed to find herself a new hobby because of it.
Tired, sweaty and feeling quite gross, Eunie made her way down Tephra Hill with the herbs carefully stowed away in her bag. She spotted a figure at the bottom of the hill, sitting underneath a tree. She didn't remember anyone being there when she left… As she walked down the hill, she expected maybe Nikol to be sitting under the tree, likely forced outside by his mum.
What Eunie didn't expect was a Gormotti, who looked completely and utterly exhausted. Her ears were flat and she was practically slumped against the tree she sat under, taking shelter from the relentless death lasers of the sun. The poor thing looked seconds away from passing out due to heat exhaustion…
Eunie approached the tired girl, noticing how her ears twitched in her direction. The Gormotti lifted her head, tired eyes meeting Eunie’s concerned gaze. Her face was red, and beads of sweat were running down her temples.
“Y’alright there?” Eunie asked, even though the girl was definitely not alright. She squatted down to the girl's eye level. “You don't look so good.” Her hair was disheveled and it looked like she’d gotten a nasty sunburn on her neck. She's definitely gonna be feeling that tomorrow…
“‘s the heat,” the girl mumbled. “Never been good with it.”
“Oof… yeah,” Eunie sighed. She sat down next to the girl and leaned against the tree—the shade felt good, providing her some shelter from the heat of the sun. “I mean, we’ve had heat waves before, but nothin’ like this. I'm usually a-okay with hot weather, but this is unbearable !”
The girl’s ears perked up a bit as Eunie talked. “Is it usually hot here?” She asked.
“Eh, it gets pretty warm around this time of year but, like, it's not that bad. Long as you drink lots you'll be fine.”
“That was my first mistake, I guess,” the Gormotti smiled weakly. “Oh, I’m Mio, by the way.”
“Eunie’s the name,” Eunie enthusiastically shook Mio’s hand. Yet, she couldn't shake a strange feeling within her. Something bubbled in her chest as Mio spoke, her voice soft, warm, and soothing, like caring hands gently brushing her hair, careful to not touch the wings because—
No, now’s not the time to be thinking about those weird dreams! This Gormotti—Mio—needed help. Even though Eunie herself was feeling parched, it was clear that Mio desperately needed water. She took her canteen out of her bag and handed it to Mio.
“There ain't much left in there, but you look like you need it more than I do,” Eunie wasn't even done talking before Mio practically chugged what was left of her water. And it looked like it really helped too—her ears weren't flattened anymore, now twitching with newfound energy, and her expression was a bit less pained.
“That's much better!” Mio sighed with relief, handing the canteen to Eunie. “Thank you… My friends are on the way but I wasn't sure how much longer I could wait…”
“‘s not a problem,” Eunie replied. She allowed herself to relax against the trunk of the tree. Something about this—sitting underneath the shade of a tree next to Mio—felt natural. She felt relaxed in the presence of this complete stranger. It wasn't as if Eunie was on high alert or anything, she was the most lax between her, Noah and Lanz when it came to conversing with strangers. She remained vigilant, though, never letting her guard down completely. And yet, with Mio, it felt right to let go.
“Somethin’ wrong?” Mio asked. It took a moment for Eunie to realize she'd been staring at Mio this whole time. Dammit!
“Uh, no, you're good, sorry,” Eunie stammered. “Thinkin’ the heat’s startin’ to get t’me.” At least that was kind of true. “D’ya want me to stay with you ‘til your friends get here?” She asked, still concerned about Mio’s heat intolerance.
“Yeah…” Mio’s ears flattened, her gaze turning towards the ground. She fidgeted a little. “If, um, you don't mind, of course.”
“‘course I don’t mind! I used to be a medic, so I’m kinda used to, uh, stuff like this, yknow?”
“Oh really? What was that like?”
“A lot of work, and a whole lotta gross, but I guess I didn’t hate it? Oh, there was this one guy…”
Eunie told Mio of her time working as a medic apprentice, before she decided that she wasn’t really cut out for it. It did give her some great stories, and a lot of unwanted knowledge… The amount of things that get… Stuck … But her medical training made her a useful asset, even if she didn’t end up becoming a medic.
“Lotsa High Entia go on to be healers or somethin’ along those lines,” she explained. “‘Cause we can channel ether ‘n stuff naturally without usin’ rifles. And before you ask, no, we don’t shoot people to heal them.”
Mio seemed intrigued by what Eunie was saying, expressing amazement at how different life was on the Bionis. Apparently, this was her first time here! If she thought Colony 9 was crazy… Wait until she sees Alcamoth!
Mio’s ears twitched, and her head turned towards the dirt path leading to the Colony. “Oh, those are my friends!” She said, waving towards them.
As Mio’s three friends–two Homs-looking people (blades, maybe?) and a Nopon–got closer, Eunie’s heart stopped. Sure, the girl with hair that was on fire was certainly concerning, but her sight naturally gravitated towards the taller man standing next to her. And Eunie felt her stomach drop.
When his eyes met hers, it was as if time stood still. For a moment, the world was only Eunie and this boy—a boy with dark skin and glasses and curly hair that Eunie managed to convince herself wasn't real. But he was , and there he stood in front of her, eyes wide and mouth agape. Whatever Mio and Sena were saying fell completely on deaf ears.
“Uh… Hello?” The short, fire-headed girl—Sena—waved a hand in front of his face. Wait, what? How do I–? “Earth to Taion? Do I have to carry you too?”
Taion.
His name was Taion .
With Mio . And Sena . And Manana.
Eunie blinked a few times, stunned at the world-shattering realization that all four of these people were people she’d seen in her dreams and they were real and they were exactly the same as they were in her dreams—
“It’s… You…” Taion’s voice was breathless, “you're—!” Eunie could feel her hands beginning to tremble as a tsunami of emotions crashed into her. Relief, confusion, anxiety… She desperately wanted to say something but her voice caught in her throat. This made no sense, but somehow it did at the same time.
She stood, frozen, as if time itself grinded to a halt. For a moment, she felt a twinge of… nostalgia, as if she was reunited with a friend she hadn't seen in years. Despite being strangers, it felt like Eunie knew him, knew all four of them, her whole life.
She had to get Noah and Lanz.
“I—Uh…” Eunie stammered. In a last ditch effort to salvage the situation, she turned to Mio and said, “well it was nice talkin’ to ya. I’ve, uh, gotta go… places to do, things to… see?” Real smooth, Eunie. “P-Point is, I better head out. See you around, yeah? And you better stay hydrated!” Not even giving Mio a second to get a word in, Eunie turned around and promptly speed-walked to the Residential District.
As soon as she was confident that she was out of earshot, Eunie pulled out her Iris and called Noah, who she knew was at home with Lanz. She took a deep breath as the line rang.
“Eunie? Everything alright?” Noah answered. “You were gone a lot longer than you said you’d be.”
“You two, meet me at the bottom of Tephra Hill asap,” said Eunie. “You ain't gonna fuckin’ believe this.”
—-
“Attention, this is not a drill.
A spike in abnormal energy has been detected in Colony 9.
We believe that Ouroboros has reunited.
Investigate the disturbance. Take them out.
Remind them. The entire world will be their enemy.”