Dreams, Past and Present
Alex sighed. He put down his cup of coffee, got up out of his chair, walking over to the somewhat dirty window of the inn, and stared through it into the distance. Looking past the desolation of what used to be a beautiful village in the mountains, he glimpsed the peak of what was once a mountain sanctuary, built to honor the sun and moon, Sol and Luna. It was still glowing with the awesome power that had bathed it just a few short months ago.
Sitting back down, he noticed his coffee was cold. Annoyed, he sent a sharp burst of power flickering through it. As he was a Mercury Adept, he had complete control over water and its many forms, but the Golden Sun had given him control of its temperature and other properties.
That didn't erase the pain though. He winced as pain flared up his back in a blazing line. The Wise One's attack may have been a bit overdone. Casting Ply, he noted wearily that, yet again, it had little effect. Draining his cup, he walked over to the innkeeper and tossed a medium-sized bag of coins on the table. "Thank you for your hospitality, sir. I found this inn to be very comforting," said Alex as he walked out. The innkeeper began counting the coins, and suddenly yelled, "Sir, you've overpaid me….by over a hundred coins!"
"Keep it. You need it more than I do."
In the ruins of Vale, a few hours later.
A blue-haired man walked among the rubble of the once-tranquil village. He stopped suddenly and bent down. He picked up a shining object from the dirt. It was a coin. Bouncing it deftly on his palm, he walked on. His destination was not clear, even to himself. He just felt drawn to the place of his "rebirth," as it were. He was not alone. Another blue-haired individual joined him on his walk, her cerulean robes fluttering slightly in the breeze
"Troubles, Alex? Is it your back again?" Mia asked him.
"Yes, but that's not everything." His answer came out shorter than he intended it to sound.
"Have you tried-"
"Yes, Mia, I've tried the Water! It had no effect!" Calming down, he said, "I'm sorry, I'm just tired of it all. The mental fog, the pain…but most of all, I miss sleeping through the night."
Mia started. This was new to her. "…Alex? What do you mean?"
Damn. He hadn't meant it to come out at this time.
"I-It's nothing."
Not surprisingly, she didn't believe him, and she didn't leave it alone.
"Alex, answer me. What is it?"
"…"
"Alex, answer me."
A few minutes later, Alex stood up and started walking away. Mia got up to try to follow, but as her gloved hand was about to touch his shoulder, he disappeared in a flash of light. Not for the first time was Mia annoyed by his vast array of powers.
As she made to sit back down, she noticed a steaming cup next to her. She smiled. But she was sometimes pleased by them, she reflected, as she sipped the hot cocoa.
Later
Loud explosions rocked the tiny village as Garet finished off the last of the annoying little squirrels that had terrorized Mikasalla for the last five minutes or so. He grinned, and for the heck of it, blasted a trench all the way around the village. Isaac stepped out of the inn, blearily rubbing his eyes and grumbled at Garet's newfound heroic impulses. Every town from Dalia to even Garoh had received a top of the line defense system or something since the Golden Sun rose. Madra was thrilled, since during Felix's journey they had been terrorized by pirates, the Kibombo, and possibly some other group. Dalia had asked for a seawall and had ended up with two mountains, one to the north and one to the west. Alhafra got a great little seaport (the old mayor was gone, run out of town by Briggs and his crew, amid wild cheering from the townspeople). Isaac had helped rebuild their homes, and also gave them a real seawall, not two Mount Everests. And Garoh had been thrilled to receive its gate, while Maha loved the new cave.
But Mikasalla?
Well, they needed tourists. And a lava moat would do the trick.
They also needed sleep. As Garet guessed when a shoe hit him in the side of his head.
Near Champa
Felix strode down the gangplank onto shore and headed towards the cliffside seafaring village. Briggs had sent him a messenger pigeon telling him about the Alhafra ousting, which Felix was glad to hear, but then he mentioned that the food supply had started to run a bit low. While the jewels Briggs had found were enough to last for years, as the newly elected mayor of Champa, he felt that he had to prepare for the future. The soil was still awful, and fish were still scarce, so he had asked for help.
A loud thump echoed behind Felix as Piers jumped out of the ship, crushing another Aqua Jelly that was attempting to board the craft. "My ship, my rules. Lemurians do not like monsters on their ships," Piers had said to Felix, after the first few dozen violent jellyfish slayings. Felix didn't turn around. Instead, he knelt just outside Champa, peeled off his gauntlets, and dug his hands into the dirt. "Quake," he murmured, and the ground responded. He cut off the flow of Psynergy after a few seconds, judging the soil to be loosened up enough.
Piers looked on with some interest. He had seen Felix in battle, a sight sometimes more terrifying than the monsters they were fighting, and had observed a certain tranquility absorb the Adept, but had never seen him this calm.
After a minute of small spells, Felix stood up again, brushing the dirt off his pants and hands, then fitted his gloves back on. "Your turn," he said to Piers as he headed into Champa to talk to Briggs. Piers noticed that Champa had changed a bit since he had last seen it – the cliffs were now a bit more accessible and there were more houses. Felix didn't bother with the entrance to the caves at the base of the cliffs, instead molding the stone of the cliffs into stairs that he walked up as he made them, then disappeared after he stepped off.
Piers turned back to the soil, closed his eyes and released some of his power. Opening his eyes, he marshaled the loose Psynergy into a small rainstorm that covered about an eighth of a mile square near Champa. Then he turned round and walked to the beach, wading into the surf.
The seawater was warm. Too warm, he realized. That was why the fish weren't there; the heat killed them off. This was going to take a bit of power. Summoning all the Psynergy he had, he pushed it out in the form of a massive Megacool that radiated out from the beach on the seafloor. He pushed more, making it reach as far as possible, passing the Angaran Islet, and reaching almost to the Sea of Time before he tapped out of power. He stumbled backwards as the massive loss of Psynergy took its toll, but managed to right himself. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a Psy Crystal and grasped it firmly before it disappeared. Finished, he turned around and headed towards Champa.
Inside Sol Sanctum, in the remains of the Elemental Stars chamber
A flash of light lit up the pitch darkness of the ruined chamber as Alex warped into reality once more. He let loose some of his power to light up the ruins, and surveyed the wreckage of the once-placid inner sanctum.
"Back again, Alex?"
Alex turned towards the source of the voice, startled by the presence of another being in the inaccessible cave. A huge eye, dimly lit by Alex's spell, shone in the darkness. Alex poured more power into his spell until it lit the whole chamber, revealing the Wise One.
"Must you gloat so? Have I not paid for my sins?" Alex asked softly. "My motives were impure, but my actions have saved the world. As opposed to yours, which caused the deaths of hundreds."
"You would do well to remember who you are talking to, Alex. Should I remind you?" rumbled the guardian.
"You would do well to reflect upon your own actions. If one thing had gone amiss, three lives would be gone, and three heroes would have been permanently scarred and crippled in reward for saving the world."
The chamber shook as the Wise One roared. "Do not presume to know my motives! Do not think that you can judge me! You wished to subjugate the whole of Weyard to your will! I punished you accordingly!"
"And? What purpose has it served? You say you cannot interfere in the affairs of mankind, yet you meddled with Isaac and Garet, with Saturos and Menardi, with Karst and Agatio, with Felix, Jenna, and Isaac's parents. With mine, too. I will not deny that in my case it shaped me for better, but what about theirs? Why do you not tell them the truth of what is to come if you interfere so much already?"
The Wise One's eye glinted dangerously. "You tread on ever thinner ice, Alex. Even a master of water must know to respect the dangers of his own element."
"I know respect. And I do not respect you."
And with a flash of light, he was gone.
Lalivero
The Laliverans looked on in awe as Sheba and Ivan sparred psynergetically. Ivan would call down massive thunderbolts from the sky, and Sheba would deflect them with barely a flick of her wrist. The reverse was also true. They seemed demigods to the Laliverans.
Ivan threw another bolt of plasma at Sheba. She dodged it easily, then grinned as she wreathed her hands with electricity and made a vertical slash with her palms, following her opponent's movements across the sky. A corresponding blade of pure voltage erupted from her, heading for Ivan. He tossed a small tornado out, rolling up the blade like string, then let it dissipate. They both laughed; neither could make any headway. So they descended to the earth and walked towards Faran's house.
"We've never seen anything like that! That was incredible, you two." Faran walked out of the house, congratulating them both. Since the rise of the Golden Sun, quite a few natural disasters had occurred as the world woke up and fed off the elemental energy once more. The Laliverans in particular had been badly affected – the quake from Venus's activation had left the town in shambles, and the recent disasters had been devastating. So Ivan decided to stay with Sheba in Lalivero to help ward off any storms that would plague the small town. The display of power they had just thrown off was to help with morale; many of the townsfolk were grumbling and cursing the lighting of the Lighthouses.
Since the Golden Sun rose, the Adepts had gained significant new Psynergetic capabilities. The refreshing of the planet's energy fed their own, so their abilities, already augmented by the djinn, were now nearly godlike in scope. Ivan could turn back a massive hurricane single-handedly, while Sheba focused more on land storms.
Sheba smiled. "Thank you, Father."
Ivan blushed a bit.
At that moment, a townsperson ran over and yelled out, "Sea storm! Help us! It's headed this way!"
Sheba turned to Ivan. "Shall I?"
"Be my guest," he replied.
They followed the panicked woman to the coastal cliff overlooking the Sea of Time. A massive hurricane – no, two – no…
No less than six huge storms were heading towards the mainland.
Sheba grinned. "Ah, a challenge." She shot off into the air, closely followed by Ivan. They landed on one of the newly upheaved islands off the coast and turned towards the storms.
Ivan waved his hand and one crashed into another. The two storms apparently had opposite rotations, because both fell apart. He waved at another one, and plasma blasted it apart. He smiled and turned toward Sheba but the grin quickly faded when he noticed something was wrong.
She couldn't even produce a spark.
"I-Ivan…something's wrong… I-I can't feel my Psynergy."
Ok, I've been away for quite a while. Well...I'M BACK BITCHES!...as Vegeta would say in DBZ Abridged. :) Anyway, I'm getting readers in China and Spain?! Wow. :) Don't forget that little review button!