Revised (heavily) as of February 2010. I know I said something about updating after November, and uh, technically, it is after November, so. I'm sorry.

Updated (minimally) as of Oct. 2009. So, uh, finally coming back to this. Look, I don't wanna talk about my shame, let's just write this and pretend I never deserted for a year.

Warnings: Slash, femslash, and het. I'm here to offend your delicate sensibilities. Also: I defy the laws of physics here, so please, if the physics police come by, I was never here, mmkay?
Pairings: FelixIsaac in later chapters. (Other pairings eventually, but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.)
Rating: T, overall (mostly for language). G for this chapter.
Notes/Summary: Isaac & Felix switch places, so now the angst is turned around, and brother and sister are split! Oh my! Er, AU, anyone? Also, how much do I love that ginormous is a legitimate word? (A lot.)

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Prologue
Three Years Ago

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Felix sputtered, coughing up water and gasping for air, only to inhale more from the rain and river. He could no longer tell which was hitting his face. When he came up, he thought he could hear voices in the distance, but the roaring waters drowned them out; all the same, he was fairly positive it was his parents.

He fell under again after a particularly strong current threatened to sweep him away. Felix choked on water before heaving himself back toward the broken bridge post. He could not feel his fingers any longer, but the way he had his elbows hooked around the bridge post, hugging it for dear life, he didn't think he really needed to. Maybe he could work up the effort to be concerned about them later. Perhaps when he could breathe.

The waters didn't really calm but they were less raging long enough for Felix to spy a group of figures in front of a blurred mass that was (probably) his house. Felix could barely make out anything through the rain and splashing water, but there were definitely two blonds and two red-heads.

The people had come from behind his house, Felix thought, near those stairs the adults didn't like to see the boys and Jenna using because they were so high up and didn't have a rail. The colors of everyone's tunics were too bland; they faded into the murkiness that everything seemed to be covered with, making it appear as if each person merely consisted of his or her hair color. Dora was the exception. She wore her usual brightly-colored dress. Dora appeared to be a tropical bird from this distance, but maybe that was just the hysteria creeping into Felix's mind already.

Felix lost his grip for a moment again, sliding under just long enough to remind himself he needed to focus more on staying alive and less on all those exciting things around him. Felix coughed up more water. If there was one thing he had learned so far, it was that drowning was confusing. He had lost all sense of direction again. When he finally spotted his house across the river, he noticed that there was only one figure standing by it. Dora, he thought. She looked no less like an out-of-place bright bird than she had before.

The others must have gone for help, which meant the only thing Felix had to do was hold on. He heard thunder boom ominously over the roar of the river and the falling rain, and was reminded of his mother warning him not to go near water during a thunderstorm. Felix vowed to listen to her forever, no matter what she told him to do once he got out of this.

Felix could tell the exact moment everyone returned. Jenna leaned over the railing of the bridge above, and even while he could barely feel his arms for the chill of the rapids, Felix felt like jumping at her to pull her away from the dangerous edge.

Dora moved, apparently hearing Jenna's voice. To be fair, she wasn't up to her ears in water. Jenna mercifully moved off of the bridge, circling around to the bottom with a blond and a red-head behind her, not much taller than she was. Garet, maybe? And Isaac, too, Felix thought. He bobbed in the water, rolling with the waves. He still couldn't feel his arms. His fingers ached. A fourth figure appeared behind Jenna and her companions. Felix didn't know who that was; he didn't seem to have any defining features.

Suddenly, the waves became more erratic. Everything seemed to be shaking, except the people; they were scattering. Felix saw the shadow before he felt anything. One of the blond figures came flying at him. Felix barely had time to recognize Isaac's bright, sea-blue eyes before he was pulled with all the momentum of the leap. In that one instant, Isaac nearly dislocated both their shoulders, and managed to switch their places mid-air. Felix thought he felt a bit of psynergy course through him, but he was flying toward shore and had no time to think about that. Isaac went under just as a bigger shadow flew over him.

Isaac's effort wasn't enough to get Felix to shore, but Garet and Jenna managed to pull him onto the riverbank with the help of a ginormous wave. Felix scrambled in the mud, getting it under his fingernails and on his pants legs, trying to spin around. He finally managed to get a good look behind him. There was no one. The ruined bridge was gone. Isaac was gone. His parents were gone. His only family was standing next to him, in shock, as was Dora who had lost her whole family.

Felix wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to wake up, but he knew even a nightmare couldn't fabricate the feel of the mud seeping through his clothes. As if the rain and river hadn't been enough.

Dora came to her senses first. She had to shout to be heard over the roaring waters and rain, which seemed so much quieter now that they weren't trying to fill Felix's ears. "Go!" she screamed. "Get help before they all drown!"

The man who had come to help Felix couldn't move. He was twice Felix's height, ten times the muscle, and far more psynergy was in his body than in Felix's, and he couldn't move. Felix ran for the bridge, dodging Jenna and Garet and the stranger with the muscles and too much fear.

Garet came to his senses when he saw Felix run by, and followed as quickly as he could. Felix heard his footsteps, dull splashes on the grass and mud, wet thunks on the bridge, but he did not slow down.

On the way to the plaza, Felix heard a voice, rich and male. The sort of voice he could picture being a tall, dark stranger with too much money and large ambitions. "It's a miracle even the two of us were spared," the voice said. Felix stopped. The two of who? Spared? It was a storm, not an evil mastermind.

A female responded in a cold, calculating tone, "That switch… it must have been a trap…" Felix stopped moving. He could redirect Garet while he tried to take on these strangers. What were they doing, looting the town? At a time like this? Something had to be done.

"But to think it could conjure a storm this powerful!" The male replied, a mixture of awe and anger clouding his voice. Conjure a storm? Felix thought. It was settled, he would redirect Garet, and he would definitely destroy these two.

The woman continued, "…Another demonstration of the awesome powers of alchemy."

"Regardless, we must not fail the next time we challenge Sol Sanctum." Sol Sanctum? These strangers had gone inside? The sanctum was a sacred place! And these outsiders had defiled it, costing him his parents and best friend?

The woman's voice cut through Felix's thoughts, "Next time we shall certainly—" Next time? Felix thought angrily. Next time?

"Felix, wait up!" Garet yelled. Felix froze in his place. Those foreigners had definitely heard that. Felix spun, motioning for Garet to keep going, get help, save everyone.

The masculine voice was suddenly much, much closer. "You were eavesdropping just now… weren't you?" Felix could barely make out blue above him. It looked like the sky had cleared up in a single, man-shaped patch on the ledge directly above Felix. Felix jumped back, reaching for his pocket knife. He did not have his pocket knife. He chalked up one more thing these strangers had stolen from him.

Another figure appeared at the man's side, in yellow and pink. She had an elaborate headdress or long, water-resistant hair, Felix couldn't tell which; and she seemed to be even brighter than her partner.

"Felix… Felix, they look scary… Are you sure you should be talking to them?" Garet asked, backing away. Felix shivered in the rain, from more than just the cold.

The woman jumped down, landing in front of Felix and Garet. "You must forget everything you heard," she said, her voice betraying her glee. Felix could see the glint of her teeth flashing through the storm. Lightning flashed behind her.

The blue man followed, getting close enough for the boys to see the dangerous smirk crossing his features. "Don't worry," he grinned even wider, "We'll help you forget."

The boys never stood a chance.