"Judgment," Isaac yelled as the Djinn took the form of the great Gaia warrior. They struck at full force, finally defeating the Doom Dragon.
The figures of three people could be seen through the ashes.
"Mom, dad…!" Isaac heard Jenna whisper.
And Isaac woke up.
The thought still haunts him, what almost happened that day. The pain that had resulted from his last attack.
Isaac half smiled, trying to remind himself that everything had turned out fine.
He finished changing and went to meet Garet.
"Flint," Isaac called. All of his Djinn followed Flint for reasons unknown to him. Isaac figured that they'd tell him if he asked but for now he preferred to say one name as opposed to seven.
In the past year Vale had been rebuilt. To an extent anyway. There wasn't an inn yet and the shops were no more than tents and tables. But they were working on it. Half of Vale was actually staying in Vault to the south. They'd be back once more houses had been built.
The mayor's house had been rebuilt first. Garet had stayed behind in Vault till more of the town had been built, and all of his friends were in Vale.
Why Mia hadn't gone bask to Imil, and Sheba to Lalivero, still puzzles Isaac. He figured if they wanted him to know they would have told him by now, and he didn't want to be rude by asking.
Mia ran past uttering a quick "Hi" then kept going. Isaac watched her long blue hair flow gracefully behind her. He had grown to like her as more than a friend recently. He hadn't noticed how beautiful Mia was, but when you're fighting to save the world, it's not the kind of thing you notice.
Isaac saw Garet waiting for him and left. This was a first. Him, Isaac being late and Garet being early!
Garet smiled in triumph. "You're late!"
Isaac smiled back. "My mind was on something else."
"Your girlfriend?" Garet snickered.
"Here comes yours," Isaac said ad Jenna stormed up to them.
She wasn't actually his girlfriend, but it was fun to joke about. Not in front of Jenna, of course. Her fiery temper went off enough without their help, even though everyone knew that Garet liked her.
Garet took a step back. "Whatever it is I didn't do it!" He exclaimed.
Jenna glared at him. "Does it look like I'm angry at you?" She demanded.
"Yes actually," Garet answered slowly.
She let out an exasperated groan and stormed off.
Isaac almost laughed. "What was that all about?" He asked, Garet still cowering a few steps behind him.
"Do we really want to find out?" Garet answered. Jenna had been angry with him one too many times.
This time Isaac did laugh. "No I guess not. But we should better start training or she will be angry at us tonight," he pointed out, remembering that they were celebrating one year of the lighthouses being lit.
Even though they had lit the lighthouses, they still had to train. Some people were not happy with the fact that they lit the lighthouses and Saturos and Menardi hadn't given Felix, Jenna and Kraden very good reputations. But the training was mostly for fun now. They hadn't been attacked or accused of something in a while and besides, nothing would ever be as strong as the Doom Dragon, or the Fusion Dragon for that matter.
Normally, their Djinn wouldn't come for their trainings. One or two elemental creatures could keep monsters in this area away better than five Sacred Feathers. Eventually, though, the monsters had learned to stay away from the Adepts as well, so it really didn't matter anymore.
They saw Sheba waiting at the gate for someone.
"Hi, Sheba!" Garet shouted, running up to her.
"Um… Hi," said Sheba, her glance shifting between him and the woods behind her. "You seem awfully excited, considering you see me every day."
"I know, I'm just in a good mood today."
"Nah, he's just happy that Jenna's not mad at him," Isaac inserted.
"Oh," Sheba giggled a little, her gaze still shifting back to the forest.
"Is something wrong?" Isaac asked. "You seem distracted."
"Um…No…" Said Sheba, suddenly becoming very interested in something on the ground." Aren't you two going to train?"
"Now you're trying to get rid of us," Garet stated bluntly. "Something must be wrong."
"I said it's nothing!" Sheba snapped turning the other way.
Garet looked slightly taken aback. Isaac put his hand on her shoulder. "Ivan's not back yet, is he?" He asked, thinking of the only reason she'd be waiting by the gate.
"He said he'd be back by now…" Sheba answered slowly, tears coming to her eyes.
"Sheba, it's not the first time he's been late," Garet pointed out.
"I know that," she snapped.
"I'm just saying that maybe something came up and he had to stay longer." Ivan had left to visit his sister in Contigo about two weeks ago.
"He hasn't been three days late before," Sheba said, looking the other way.
"Sheba, I'm sure he's fine," Isaac said reassuringly.
"I hope you're right…"