Brothers in Arms

Colony 6 had been turned into a fortress.

From what Melia had heard, it had been akin to a fortress before the mechon had attacked as well. But in the time that reconstruction had begun, the inhabitants had not left out the need for defences, and now, driven by the ranks of the allied force and the nature of the world they now lived in, Colony 6 had embraced the mentality of those under siege. Mobile artillery was set up within the colony's centre, as well as its perimeter. Homs riflemen manned the walls and swordsmen the gates, while nopon hilns and high entia Havres patrolled the skies. In a sense, Colony 6 had become a new Alcamoth – highly defended, insular, and cut off from the outside world. Only now it was done by three races instead of three, and in the certainty that the world wanted them dead rather than the mere precaution of taking action against an enemy.

It was impressive, and yet desperate. And looking at the faces of those around her, Melia knew that she wasn't the only one who realized how desperate the situation was. The Bionis itself had turned against its people. Their world and its god wanted the world's children dead, so that the world itself could live. That in itself was reason to despair. But she suspected that more than a few of them could appreciate the more insidious danger facing them – the nature of a siege itself. She had read a thing or two about siege tactics in her hundred-plus years, and knew that settling in for a siege only worked if you could outlast your attacker. But she saw no reason to believe that Colony 6 could outlast the Bionis itself. And there was no illusion that the telethia were indeed attacking, and attacking in a coordinated manner at that. Even without Dickson or Alvis to guide them, the beasts moved with as much precision as volfs stalking larger prey. Only these volfs could fly, were far more deadly, and many of whom were once her former people.

"Lady Melia?"

She turned towards the voice. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she'd barely noticed where she was headed, let alone who she'd been passing. She hadn't expected a machina of all people to approach her.

"Vanea?"

"We are leaving for the heart of Bionis soon. I thought you should know."

"Bionis?" Melia paused – just saying the word sounded dirty. "Ah yes, of course. Yes. Yes, I shall be there."

The conversation should have ended there. She wanted to end it there, because ending the conversation would allow her to remain in her own thoughts awhile longer.

"You are troubled."

But either Vanea could not see that, or refused to let her dwell in such thoughts. But she nonetheless resigned herself to play along.

"Yes."

No use in lying now. Bionis, and the tranquillity it had once provided, had been based on a lie. The impregnability and self-assured confidence of her people had been a lie. The world was ending, and the lies were ending with it.

"Your people will be safe," Vanea assured her. "I must admit I am not as familiar with homs colony design as your other companions, but-"

"My people," Melia began, bitterness creeping into her voice, "are broken one way or another. Even if by some miracle we prevail, our city is gone. The heart of our culture is gone. There are some who speak of our entire species being gone, as the majority now consist of…" She paused, fighting the urge to say 'half-breeds,' the words foreign to her lips. "Of those like myself."

"One's culture and history lost," Vanea said, a sad smile on her lips. "As a machina, I can understand."

"I…" Melia paused. Vanea towered above her, yet for a moment, they spoke eye to eye. "Yes. I can understand."

"I'm glad," Vanea said, her smile still on her lips. The smile just as ephemeral as ever. "I would like to think that as the end nears, we may all understand one another."

"I'm sure the others understand you adequately," Melia said. "The world may even understand Egil at times, and-"

Vanea's eyes sparked. Deep within her mechanical soul, something stirred, and Melia felt like kicking herself. Egil. Already the world seemed to have forgotten him. Zanza was now the threat. In a way, he had always been the threat. Egil had fallen to the wayside, and it hadn't even occurred to her how history would judge Miquol's son if by some miracle history could continue for much longer.

"I'm sorry," Melia said. "I understand that your wounds must cut deep."

Vanea laughed bitterly. "Some wounds cut deeper than any blade." Another laugh, another wound. "But I am fine. We all face annihilation. I can't afford to mourn the dead while so many have yet to die."

"That is noble of you."

"And I suppose that you can understand more than many what it is like to have your thoughts occupied by one man, as opposed to many."

Kalian, Melia thought, fighting to keep her posture as straight as possible. Her brother, now her enemy. Just as Egil had become Vanea's enemy, though Kalian's had not been through choice. "Yes," she said. "Kalian…even now, he occupies my-"

"Oh," Vanea said, looking embarrassed. "I…yes, Kalian. Yes, of course. I'm so sorry Melia. What happened to your brother and people was-"

"'My thoughts occupied by one man,'" Melia repeated, interrupting Vanea. "Who did you think I was thinking of?"

"Melia-"

"Clearly you did not think I was thinking of my brother," the high entia princess interrupted. "So speak. Who did-"

"Shulk, of course."

The world was ending. Melia's world ended just a bit sooner with that statement.

"Melia-"

She wanted to hit Vanea for daring to say such a thing. She wanted to kick herself for still being caught up with such nonsense when the world was nearing its end, and her people's legacy had ended even earlier than that. She wanted to both find a ditch to hide in, or a telethia to put her out of her misery then and there. So much that she missed most of what Vanea was saying.

"…but Linada, well, she saw that look in your eyes," Vanea continued. "As you looked over him before chasing after Fiora. Gossip travels even among machina."

Missed most of what she was saying, but not all.

"And-"

"Shulk is…" Melia interrupted Vanea, but faltered as she struggled to find the right words. "Shulk is…"

A battle for another time? A lost battle? Should I jest that true love does not reveal itself until the end of the story? Or-

No more lies.

The words hit hard, unspoken as they were. And Melia would hold true to them.

"We have both lost brothers," Melia said. If she could not lie, she would avoid the subject entirely. "Our peoples have both been shattered by Zanza's machinations. And in less than an hour's time, fate notwithstanding, we shall be on our way to the heart of the Bionis. High entia, machina, nopon, homs." She extended a hand. "I shall be glad to have you there, Vanea. As ally, and if I may say so, friend."

The words were formal. Far more than they needed to be. But Vanea didn't seem to mind them, nor how blatantly the heir of the high entia had changed the subject. Instead, she took Melia's hand and shook it.

"Brothers in arms, we who have both lost brothers of our own," Vanea said. "It is my pleasure, Lady Melia."

Pleasure. Melia smiled, glancing towards the sky. Even as the end loomed, even as Zanza's rebirth need, the ability to gain pleasure from the most simple of interactions was one the children of Bionis and Mechonis still possessed.

She supposed she could call that a victory of sorts.

A/N

So, by the time I wrote this during my playthrough (after the destruction of Mechonis but before entering Bionis), I had the not so profound revelation that the universe hates Melia. Broken culture, species threatened with extinction, lost every member of her family, doesn't get the guy at the end, etc. Having since got further since that point, I can only conclude that said assessment was absolutely correct. Anyway, probably the last Xenoblade oneshot I'll write before I actually complete the game (not doing 100% though, so there's plenty of potential ideas in the future), so, um, yeah.