When I go crack ship, I go full crack ship.
Shrill gales of a long and fierce of winter swirled around Imil, threatening to engulf the village like never before.
Imil had been in the depths of a cruel winter when Isaac and his two traveling companions first stumbled into the village nearly thirty years ago, now. In the years since the Golden Sun event, each winter had been colder and more menacing than the last. Now it was as if that harsh pre-Alchemy winter was but a pleasant memory.
Isaac sat by a warm fire at the inn and looked out a window to the north and east. Mercury Lighthouse was still lit, and hopefully would remain lit until the end of time. Working in tandem with the lighthouses of Mars, Venus, and Jupiter, Mercury would rejuvenate the world. Locally, the lighthouse of water alchemy covered historic fishing areas in layers of ice and threatened to consume the village of Imil in snow each and every year.
"Hello, Isaac." Mia was at the door to the inn, covered in robes and scarves so that only her nose, eyes, and mouth were visible.
Isaac rose and nodded warmly. The innkeeper provided an oaken rack for Mia to hang her scarves on. The conversation began again when Mia looked presentable. "You have grown so much."
He had certainly become more rugged-looking over the years, Isaac thought. Gone was his youthful, energetic hair. He had even grown a patch of blonde stubble on his chin.
"It's been nearly ten years." Isaac said. "We've all aged, but we don't seem to be showing it near as much as we should."
Mia was far from the eighteen year old girl that had set off with Isaac's group from Mercury Lighthouse. Her blue hair had grown out until she had taken to wrapping and binding it all around her head and shoulders as was Imil's custom. Her features had grown more defined, but not older.
"Kraden says we will live for ages." Mia said with a smile.
"Kraden? Is he still here?" Isaac said.
Mia shook her head. "He left Mercury Lighthouse last week, just before the snows shut it off. I hear he's received escort back to Bilibin territory. "
"I see." Isaac nodded.
"He's such a great teacher. I do plan on letting my daughter work with him as an apprentice, when she is of age."
"Ah, Nowell. How is she?"
"She takes after her father." Mia was angled towards the door. "Come, let us leave. Garret should be waiting."
It was out into the streets of Imil. It had stopped snowing, but the bitter cold remained. The people of Imil had taken to digging tunnels through the snow for long walks. Isaac and Mia made use of one such tunnel on their way to the local temple.
The tight snow of the tunnel had an insulating effect. Mia did not have to keep her robes wrapped quite so tightly around her face. Isaac still felt chilled with not but a long-coat and a single scarf for protection.
"I see you still have that scarf." Mia nodded to a frayed yellow cloth around Isaac's neck.
"Yes." Isaac considered it a good luck charm; a token of their victory. "I plan on giving it to my son, when he is of age."
"Ah yes, Mathew. I haven't seen him since he was a newborn. You were with Jenna, right? Before…" Mia's voice dropped an octave. "the agreement?"
Isaac nodded, receding into one of his quiet moods. Mia blushed and sulked.
"Garet and Ivan arrived this morning." Mia said sheepishly. "I hope you had a safe journey here. It's so very perilous, traveling alone on the road from Bilibin."
Isaac nodded again. A fire adept escort was nearly mandatory for winter travels. Isaac himself almost died on the trip up; would have certainly died, were it not for a certain specific fire he'd felt burning in him ever since that day over a decade in the past.
A more mature, mustachioed Garet and an as-youthful-as-always Ivan awaited the pair in the sanctum, Mia's home.
"Isaac, Mia!" Garet hollered. "Mia, especially! How have you been holding up all alone out there? I say it's about time you lead the village down to Bilibin territory."
Ivan looked concerned. "He means well, Mia. Maybe. I and half of Kalay are glad to finally be rid of him, for the moment."
"I believe everyone is accounted for. Can we formally discuss the agreement?" Isaac asked.
The door swung open. A shivering and fiery Jenna stormed in like a sudden summer breeze.
"Let's!" Jenna screamed. It was her war cry. "This agreement needs an even number of partners! Two women and five guys is overkill for us. Plus it's just stupid, keeping one of us alone for a full year each switch."
Jenna was supposed to remain in Bilibin until the other pairs returned to warmer climes. Her appearance was unexpected, and an argument ensued. Mia set some tea, and when things settled down Jenna explained her position once more.
"On that I agree." Mia's face was contorted into a solemn frown. "It gets so very lonely here in the north."
Garet shrugged, ever cocky. "What can we do? Felix and Sheba have run off."
"Piers never did return that pigeon I sent." Ivan said in agreement.
"Garet shot down asking Kay to join in." Isaac reminded them.
"Indeed," Mia voice was back to a whisper. "A pity. I did enjoy her gardens so…"
"That's enough about my sister!" Garet said. "Look, anything more will complicate the agreement. Some of this may have worked back before the Mourning Moon. We've got kids to think about, now."
Isaac and Mia looked at each other. The old Garet would have never been so reasonable.
"What about pairings?" Ivan inquired. "Are we keeping to schedule?"
Isaac and Mia would retire to the cabin overlooking Mt. Aleph. Garet would travel the continent alone searching for clues involving the psyenergy vortexes that plagued Weyard every ten years. Ivan would govern Kalay with Jenna for this year.
Unfortunately, negotiations lasted the length of Imil's short winter days. Night was coming, and the old band of adventures could not begin their return journeys to Kalay to retrieve their young children from Ivan's merchant palace.
Adventuring can forge bonds unlike any other. These five adventurers kept the bonds strong through the years in every way possible…
Karis let out a groan. "No, no, no! It cannot be! It's not possible."
"It is too." Rief said. "this story was relayed to me by my sister, Nowell, who was about five at the time."
"What did she do, peek through a keyhole?" Karis asked. She never had gotten a good aura off of this Rief kid or his sister. Ever since that one time when Mia and her children came to her father's palace in Kalay for the year… wait. The implications only flustered Karis further. Her cheeks would never lose this hue.
"Exactly," Rief adjusted his glasses.
"Well, what happened next?" Karis's glare was succeeding in intimidating the younger Mercury adept.
"In Imil the cool winters mean it is customary for entire families to share sleeping furs."
The next yelp out of Karis was enough to frighten every hostile seabird in a hundred meter radius from their ship.
Tyrell and Mathew had been observing this altercation from a safe distance. Karis turned her glare upon them.
"Did we… miss something important in that story?" Tyrell asked.
Karis waddled over to Tyrell and delivered a slap that hurt worse than even the worst sting from a fiend of the Grave Eclipse.
Mathew stood there with a stupid smile on his face. Karis scowled at him. "Figures you're useless in a real crisis. Oh, Wise One preserve us! How did Tret miss this?"
Next on the hit list was Amiti. The prince was in a discussion about the morality of piracy with Eoleo. Enter Karis:
"Amiti, honey. C'here!" Karis yanked Amiti away from the pirate.
"I want you to go below decks and find Kraden. I want to know all the rules involving adept lineage. I mean all of them!"
"What if he doesn't want to share?" Amiti said, eyes narrow with fright.
"Then I will end him!" Karis bellowed.
Amiti limped off to find Kraden as Eoleo laughed heartily. At a soft whisper, the prince muttered "… and I thought I had daddy issues."
Mathew had proverbial storm clouds gathering around his head.
"Now you're just moping! Take charge, Matt!" Karis pleaded. She paced around the deck in a panic until Amiti returned.
"Kraden says that adepts usually inherit a majority of their psyenergy powers from a single parent. Personality and appearance wise, an adept can take after either parent. Traditionally, if parents became separated, lineage was claimed purely from the parent with whom the adept shared powers with."
Karis did some thinking. Her powers came from her father, Ivan. That was certain.
"Appearance and personality…" Tyrell looked first to Karis's hair - purple like a Jupiter adept, but straight and tied in a bow. Then there was her face, which shared many a similarity with Matthew. Karis could just tell that both her old friends were considering her lively, almost fiery personality.
"So, how long after this 'incident' was Karis born?" Tyrell tried to ask. Another slap from Karis sent him reeling.
"It can't be true! No!" Karis began to sob.
Sveta came on deck, still tired from an all-night shift at their ship's rudder the night before. Mathew's sour disposition was alleviated almost instantly.
"Whatever is this commotion about?" Sveta the beastwoman rubbed her eyes with a great furry claw.
"Well, we're certainly not discussing the prospects of our parents being in a giant, polyamorous relationship." Tyrell said and instantly regret it.
"Oh, so humans are known to practice this as well? Interesting." Sveta was eyeing someone. Karis just knew it was Mathew.
"You will suggest nothing!" Karis cried. One glare and the beastwoman princess knew Karis was ready to start a fight.
Slap was cast. Transformations were had. The mast was blown clear out into the water. A rivalry was fostered that would last until the Nakama reached Izumo, at which point the two women refocused their ire on Himi. The pair vowed never to mention any Polyamory again, theorized past or suggested future. In doing so, the women united against the newcomer, whom Karis and Sveta were convinced was out to steal Amiti and/or Matthew, respectively.
I can still write, yeah! I just need inspiration!
Remember, son: old shiping pairings never die; they just retreat to to regroup.