The Beacon overflowed energy. It exerted itself around the immediate area before bursting into a blinding red light. The energy travelled at rapid speed to the south east, over the ice-capped landscape. From the aerie of the Lighthouse, the intense red energy could be seen clashing with what seemed to be other colours in the sky. As the energies clashed violently, they seemed to be taking a more solidified form. As the spherical form reacted with violent spasms; waves of colour began pouring out of its centre in all directions. As a small star formed before his eyes, Felix realised his goal had been complete; the unleashing of Alchemy. Looking away from him to view the damage this battle had done, it wasn't long before I looked back and he was gone.
By the time I found him, he had the blood-drenched body of that Proxian girl, Karst her name was, in his arms. She looked as though she pulled him closer to whisper something in his ear. At the time I didn't know what was said. It should have dawned on me but alas, it's hard to understand someone you thought you knew. Her brute of a companion was also there. He looked in great pain. But there was nothing I could do for him. If his own lighthouse couldn't heal him, what could I do?
A few days pass. The Hero of Prox, as he would rather avoid being called, had prepared the few belongings he had left in the home he had once shared with both Karst and Menardi. I could see from outside the window that he had to cry. He had to release his emotions, to become the pitiful urchin he was when he first arrived in the harsh environment. What this would do to change his actions never once crossed my mind. I felt it showed nothing more than regret that he had to leave.
[i]I drop my sword somewhere between three and four floors above me. I run to them; to [b]her[/b]. "Karst!" I see her cough at the sound of her name. Will she be alright? Who cares? She's alive! I help her up so she's in a sitting position in my arms.
"Fe...lix?" Agatio asks, hoping I can help him. "Fe... I can't move my legs."
"The beacon should have healed you, it's healed my parents." It was then I noticed my clothes were slowly getting damper. And warmer... I look down. I look up again and notice Agatio was no longer bleeding, rather he was heavily scarred, particularly around his stomach. From where Piers, my closest friend through all this, who I could entrust my life with, had sliced through the Dragon form Agatio had been forced into. After this blow he transformed back into the form I see before me, coincidentally, I actually did a mirror of the move on the dragon that was opposite Agatio. When this form transformed back, everything around me went black. [b]'What? No! Please no! In Alchemy's sake please no!'[/b] Karst crumpled up into a heap, screaming in agony. [b]'What have I done?'[/b] I rush to her side, grabbing her hand.
"...So warm. I forgot how it felt to touch you." She whispered to me. "You have to light the Beacon. If not for Weyard, if not for Prox, then for me. Do what we couldn't. Save our people." Nobody could understand her Proxian except myself and Piers. He kept quiet. Whether this was for some unrequited love he had for her or if this was because he saw the pain and anguish in my eyes I don't know. Whether I'll ask him I don't know, most likely on my deathbed if he's still around instead of returning to that bastard land of Lemuria.
As I snap back into reality, I notice my clothing getting warmer. In this weather? How is that possible? It can't be the beacon, though the lighthouse has increased its temperature drastically, it's red walls almost hot enough to leave a minor imprint upon bare flesh. Her blood. It's the only thing capable of giving such a feeling, the warmth I feel is different. It's not only her blood, it's her life, her Psynergy, her soul. As I cradle her head, she has one more moment of clarity. "Stop crushing my head you idiot. I have to tell you something. Ever since that night before you left 4 months ago, I have secretly wanted you to be told to stay, so we would never worry that the other lighthouses, and instead even more work would come from Saturos and Menardi. If they had more time to focus on the Lighthouses, maybe Menardi and Saturos would have also come back with you. I want you to know, I don't blame you or your friends for their deaths, but the Wise One for making us fight like the dogs he wants us to be." She coughs again. Blood creeping out from the side of her mouth. "Felix, before I go; kiss me. I want to leave this world in the knowledge of what we could've been."
Agatio bursts into this conversation. "Karst, you won't die! Felix! Help her! She loves you! Help her!" I notice a tear dropping even from his sturdy face. Had her death affected so many people? Had [b]my[/b] actions caused this? I can't think about that now. I try casting a healing spell as I kiss her. As our lips meet, I feel the energy leave my body and enter Karst. Nothing happens. I pull away and see nothing. I try again, instead of nothing this time, all I receive is a small lapping of her blood.
"Heh, relax Felix, you know I'm not in the mood." She jokes. She then sighs. "It's time for me to go. Just know that I love you, and I will always be with you." With one final exhale I don't have Karst in my arms, I have a body, one more to join the untold millions more I have no doubt walked over to get to this moment. As I gently place her down on the ground, I turn around. Piers, Jenna, Sheba, my mother and father, everyone else.
They can see the tears streaming down my dirty, dusty face. I still have her blood on my lip. As I turn away, I lick it off of my lip. Had anyone seen it, they would think it my own, instead I have just performed the action of a desperate man trying to cling onto something that is gone. I convince myself it's ok. It was her blood, you've kissed her many times before, and it's nothing more than a part of her meant to be joyous about.
The Jupiter Adept with Isaac handed me my sword I dropped a while back. He turns away soon after, most possibly out of fear of what I might do to him. As I hold the sword made from Orichalcon, I turn away, and with one hand, swing and smash it down on the floor. I cause an impact crater around the end of the sword. Sunshine, the blacksmith from the Taopo region towards the south, told me the sword was near indestructible because of its material, to the point he had to have a special material brought to the town to make the flames so intense before he could even forge the material. He had obviously never encountered me in a state of grief.
As the dust cleared, I look at the crater, 4 foot of the blade lay on the floor, only three inches of the blade plus the hilt were in my hand. It later turned out I had cracked a bone in my hand. I ask Piers and the buffoon Garet to bring Agatio out. "There's been enough death caused here. He doesn't deserve to be left to rot in this hellish place."[/i]
As I recall, it was a very sombre day in Prox. By the time they had hoisted Agatio off of the floor, with his legs now dead weight, and had made it outside, it was dusk outside. Jenna had been left to pick up the literal pieces, taking the handle from Felix's hand and picking up the blade on the floor. Felix had carried Karst, after regaining self control, to Puelle's door. In mere moments Felix had gone from the stern and almighty leader, to an emotional wreck. If one had an evil nature, they could possibly delight at this sight, but a fool would attempt to attack him.
When asked upon to explain what happened, it was Agatio who spoke first. A Dragon he had said, thought long extinct but instead had been lurking the upper levels of the lighthouse, where nobody dared venture. "Had Felix not shattered his sword breaking through the Dragon's scales and into its heart, we would surely be facing oblivion still. He lit the beacon but the power the beacon gave was not enough to fully heal us, it merely hand Karst a few moments, myself, I cannot walk, I fear never again, but the cost that has come from lighting the Lighthouses, this is nothing. We have lost 3 of our most powerful warriors to deaths icy grip, and I can no longer fulfil my duties on the battle field. Our last capable fighter isn't even one of us. Felix is our hero, he is our saviour."
The boy from Vale looked around sharply at Agatio, the look could have pierced even the Wise One's exterior. Puelle stood up, the tall Proxian cracked his neck, the meeting with Felix, Agatio, and Isaac having lasted until sunrise.
"Felix..." He said, his scales well hidden under the regal cloak, "I would not ask this of anyone. The man to your left is decrepit and the man to your right, whilst this would be penance for what he has done to us, he has paid his debt by aiding you in lighting the Mars beacon. You do not have to remain here if you feel it will bring you misery from being away from your friends and family, we have already exposed you to that enough in the last three years. But if we need your aid in the future, will you and your family aid us until we have anyone capable of taking over the mantle that Saturos left behind as the Hero of Prox?" The mention of Saturos sends a chill through the room, even Puelle can sense something.
Felix felt he could never live up to his expectations. As much as Saturos entrusted minor tasks to Felix, it was only on his last day did he think he needed to train him better. Isaac looked tense, the man who caused the storm that tore his life apart, albeit for a period of 3 years, mentioned in the same breath as the word hero. But he knew now was not the place to mention it.
Reluctantly, Felix took the title. He was no hero, just another murderer. "I don't know how I can live up to the expectations of a country."
"You've just lived up to the expectations of the entire world Felix, if I thought you couldn't do it, I would not be here now." The Proxian elder reassured. "Now return to your rooms tonight, we have much to do to move forward now."
I followed Felix for hours in the snow, he opted to 'go for some air'. As I shadowed him, it was obvious where he was going. As dusk had turned to night, night had turned to dawn, and the rapid energy that the Lighthouse emitted had melted [i]some[/i] of the snow around it. "A new dawn Felix. What will you do now?" I said. But he didn't hear me.