Yes, another Alex-after-alchemy-after-Isaac fanfic, but with a difference. A small one, fankly I'd be amazed if you noticed it, it's only the basic plot of it. My first fic, so if you review, some healthy criticism will probably be in order, I can tell just reading through it theres some kinks, but I'm not sure how to undo them, so, anyway, on with the show!

Dark Secrets

Chapter One

He let out a groan as he tried to move his legs, but found he was unable to do so. Alex took consolation in the fact he could still move his head, and did so now, finding himself a few hundred feet below where he first was, as he could see the leaves on the trees clearly, as opposed to the field of green he saw when he first scaled the mountain. Looking down at his body, he immediately saw why he was unable to move. Psynergetic bonds held him fast, and knew instinctively that it would be impossible to break them at once, but instead began weaving his newly enhanced powers through them, loosening the bonds, until he could move his limbs, but not enough to get up.

"Ahh, I never though that being able to move would be one of the greatest things I ever felt." he said to no-one in particular. Looking upon his body again Alex noticed that the containers strapped to his side had come loose when the Wise One slammed him against the ground, and deduced they must have rolled off the mountain, having caught something red in the corner of his eye at edge of the flat he was imprisoned on, shortly after the Wise One had left him to die.

"Now, let's get these things off, I have some important business."

"Hey, Isaac, guess what I found near the ruins."

The two boys walked side by side through Vault, the smaller, blond one nodding politely at passers by. It had been four days since Vale had sank into the ground along with Mt. Aleph, and people were beginning to look through the ruins, after Felix and Kraden had assured everyone that the ground was safe to walk on.

"*sigh* what did you find Garet?"

"I said guess!"

"Fine, a dead body?"

"Nope."

"A meteorite"

"A what?

"Just tell me Garet."

"This!" The red-head exclaimed, brandishing a small red tube.

Isaac brow furrowed, worry plain on his face. "Umm, Garet," He said. "Do you know who that belongs to?"

"No, should I?"

"Yeah, it's Alex's. Thing is, what's it doing in Vale?"

"I dunno, should we ask Kraden?"

"Garet, what would Kraden be able to tell us? Hmm? No, what we need is a Jupiter Adept." Isaac said, already jogging off towards the centre of town and the Inn in which Ivan and Sheba were staying.

In the Inn, Ivan looked up from the book he was reading when he heard knocking at the door. Getting up from his bed, he walked to the door and opened it. He was greeted by the sight of a disturbed Venus Adept and an exhausted Mars Adept.

"Oh, Isaac, Garet, what do you want?"

Isaac groaned. "Lay off it, Ivan. You know what we want; I'm amazed you weren't standing next to the door looking very smug."

Ivan smiled sheepishly, looking at the floor as he cheeks went red. He had made it very well known throughout town how well his future-seeing ability was coming on.

"Well, there was a really good bit in my book, I didn't want to put it down."

"Whatever, we have a little bit of a problem."

"Ah yes, Garet found something, didn't he?" Ivan flashed with Psynergy briefly. "Wow, he found one of Alex's tubes! And I guess you want me to find out how it got here?"

"Ivan, we told you before, don't read our minds, we're bigger than you." Garet warned.

"Uhh, yes, yes you are. Sorry guys. Really. I mean it."

"Ignore him Ivan, can you find out how it got here?" Isaac said.

"'Course I can, I just Mind Read the object, since it has been in contact with an Adept, for presumably a long time, so Alex's Psynergy will have left a footprint, of sorts, on it. So a Mind Read will tell me what happened to it to become separated from Alex and the Psynergy."

"Thanks, now I can't remember Kay's birthday because of all that." Garet moaned.

"It's in 10 days, and how long will this take Ivan? Isaac questioned.

"Oh, not long, not long, about half an hour."

"Ok, me and Garet will be in town, he needs to get his sister a present, and we both need to get Jenna something for her birthday too, so if we're not here when you've finished, just check the shops." Isaac said.

"Haven't you guys looked in it yet? The tube I mean." Ivan asked.

"No, we haven't. He was always pretty secretive about why he did what he did, maybe we can find out." Garet said, reaching out to Ivan for the canister, only to see Ivan already opening it.

"Nothing in here but some coins and a map of Weyard." He said, turning the tube upside down, emptying the contents on the floor. "Wait, He's numbered the map, look." Ivan walked across to the desk in the corner of his room, and spread the map out.

"He's put one on Mt. Aleph, two on the Mercury Lighthouse, three on Venus Lighthouse, four on Jupiter Lighthouse, then five on Mt. Aleph again." Isaac said.

"That was our big adventure, all the lighthouses." Said Garet.

"No, not all of it, we went to Mars Lighthouse too, didn't we? So why did Alex go to Mt. Aleph instead?" Ivan asked.

"No idea, but I've got a feeling it has something to do with Alchemy. Looks like you were right Garet, we should go see Kraden." Isaac admitted.

"Finally, I'm right, I was starting to get sick of being wrong." Garet said loudly

Kraden was looking furtively around his one room cottage on the outskirts of Vault, desperately trying to find a Psynergy Stone for an experiment when a knock at the door drew him to attention.

"Who is it?" He called, hoping it wouldn't be Garet. His endless moaning and frankly, his denseness was beginning to annoy even Kraden, who had praised himself on his patience.

"Isaac and Garet,"

Kraden swore, and moved to the door, hoping that Garet had become mute in the twelve hours since he saw him last.

"Hello you two, "Kraden exclaimed as he opened the door, covering up his disappointment at Garet been there. "What do you need?"

"We need to know about Alchemy, particularly concerning Mt. Aleph." Isaac demanded.

"Well, it was the resting place of the Elemental Stars, as you know, and it is there that it is said the Golden Sun would rise when all four Lighthouses were lit, and the Stone of Sages would be created at Mt. Aleph's peak."

"Of course, the Stone of Sages! But what would Alex want with it?" Isaac commented, mostly to himself.

"Alex?" Kraden asked. "Didn't the Wise One say something about Alex at Mars Lighthouse?"

"I think so, my memory's a little hazy since he sicked a three-headed dragon that was actually my dad and Jenna's parents on us." Isaac shuddered at the memory of almost killing his own father.

"Well, I'm sure he did. Didn't he say Alex was at Mt. Aleph?"

"Yeah, but the Wise One took care of him didn't he? He told us that when we got home." Garet said, recalling seeing a giant one-eyed floating rock talking to them after they had found out that the residents of Vale had not perished with the town.

"Well, yes, but if Alex obtained the Stone of Sages, then he might actually be more powerful than the Wise One, but if that's the case we would be in considerable danger, but since it's been four days, and we've seen neither hide nor hair of Alex, I presume it's safe." Kraden said, walking around the room.

"So, it's okay? No danger or anything?" Garet asked.

"Oh yes, quite alright. Now, if you wouldn't mind leaving, I'm in the middle of an experiment, please leave." Kraden insisted, gently pushing the duo towards the door.

"OK, OK, sheesh, we're going." Isaac said, opening the door and walking out,

"Well, that's a load off my mind; the world is finally safe from evil people and the forces of nature. It's about lunch now, isn't it? I'm going to the Inn, you coming Isaac?" Garet asked.

"Yeah, might as well. We've had our weekly talk to Kraden, nothing else to do around here." Isaac said. The pair set off towards the Inn, and a steaming hot meal.

On Mt. Aleph, Alex was almost free of the Psynergetic bonds placed upon him. As he worked upon them, he cast his mind back over what happened. Looking back over his life, Alex found he was treated with distrust almost everywhere he went. He wished now he'd been more open with his goal, maybe it wouldn't have gotten him lying, trapped on top of a mountain half sank into the ground. Maybe trying to summon a storm on Vale and attacking the protector of Alchemy was taking his new powers a bit far too. Pulling himself out of his reverie, Alex looked down and found his bonds were gone. Lifting himself up on his arms, he fell back from exhaustion. Alex remembered that he had been a week without food or water, the sheer strength of his Psynergy had kept him alive so long. Casting his mind over his powers he found his warp ability and teleported to the first town that came to mind: Imil.

Alex reappeared outside the Inn, and immediately cried for help. The Innkeeper rushed out straight away, and, finding a blue haired man face down in the snow, picked him up and carried him inside. He sent his wife to get the local healers, Justin and Megan. The young boy and girl hurried straight to the Inn. Inside, they didn't recognise the man they were directed to, but remembered that Mia had often talked about another person with blue hair, after many people had inquired about hers.

"He seems in a bad state, but there's no injury, he just seems starved," Justin said.

"Could we ask you to look after him for a while, he should be up on his feet in about a week." Asked Megan.

"Oh, yes, of course. We'd better let him rest, I'm amazed he had the energy to get into town, let alone shout as loud as he did." The Innkeeper said, ushering everyone to the door, following them out.

A week later, Alex was indeed walking around, and feeling better about coming to Imil. The hospitality offered by the villagers was unmatched throughout Weyard, and he was soon on the mend. All the time he laid in bed, he plotted, searching through his memories, to find a way to get the last part of Alchemy from Isaac. He had managed to evade Justin and Megan's questions about his hair, and whether he knew Mia by saying he was travelling around the world, and was in fact from Osenia, where many people had blue hair. This satisfied the pair, and he announced his plans to leave. Just before he did, he paid a visit to the Sanctum, where Justin and Megan were.

"I have everything to thank you for, you saved my life, and I won't forget that anytime soon, thank you both so much. I only wish I had something to give you, but I lost everything coming through Bilibin Cave. Perhaps my travels will bring me back one day, and if they do, I will be bringing the love of my family with me. This town is lucky to have you, you know?" Alex trotted out these lies without regret, knowing he would never see them again, no matter what he said.

"Well, it's in our nature to help, we're healers. Don't worry about it." Megan said, blushing as she did. Justin nudged her and smiled. She looked at her feet, a little embarrassed Justin had found out about her fancying Alex.

"I'd better be off then, the world awaits!" Alex declared, promptly turning round and walking out of the Sanctum, and eventually the town. Looking back over his shoulder, Alex decided he had come far enough from Imil to warp away.

Reappearing next to Xian, he executed the plan he had formulated in Imil. Walking through the quiet town, he approached the dojo at the northern end of town. As he walked through the doors, he cast a spell upon everyone in the dojo, a disguise/mesmerising spell, one which would make him appear to be Isaac to everyone who noticed him. Knocking on the door immediately next to the entrance, he was confronted by a purple haired girl, surprise on her face. The surprise turned into a slow smile as she saw who it was.

"You came back!" Feizhi said, wrapping her arms around him. "You got my charm! Oh, Isaac, I'm so happy to see you. Father has been trying to get me to marry Hsu, but I told him no, Isaac will come back to me!"

"It's okay," Returning the hug. "I'm back now, but I can't stay, I have to see Master Hama, There's some things I need to discuss."

"Okay, I'll see you later then, I'll tell Father the good news!"

"Yes, you do that, I'll be back in about two or three hours." Alex turned and left the dojo, walking westward, towards Lama Temple.

Walking through the temple doors, Alex recast his disguise, and looked around the room, his gaze settling on the figure sat on the floor. The figure raised its head, as if knowing he was looking directly at it.

"Ahh, Isaac, you're here, I thought you would. But, no-one else? You came alone? I would have thought Ivan would have wanted to come, I am his sister after all."

"No, he couldn't make it, something to do with Sheba, I don't know." Alex circled the room, eventually stopping just behind Hama. He slowly pulled a knife from his belt, and held the hilt so the blade lay flat against his wrist. "I just needed to see you, after you helped us on our quest, and your predictions of the future were helpful too, and that's partly why I'm here, you have warned us of things before, and I just wanted to say thank you."

"Well, it was all to save the world, so there's no need to thank me; I did my bit, just as much as you Isaac."

Behind Hama, Alex lifted his arm to strike her down, when Hama's leg abruptly snapped back, sending him flying back to slam into the wall. Alex grunted in pain and surprise, his disguise gone and looked up to see Hama on her feet, charging at him. He quickly warped behind her and slashed at her back with his knife, but missed as she threw herself to the floor, and span her feet round, catching Alex's legs and knocking him over. She righted herself up to a crouching position and slammed her right hand into his chest, forcing him into the ground and driving the breath from his body. Hama stood up, hands on her hips, waiting for Alex to get up and have another go. After five minutes with Alex not moving, she started to turn to inspect the slightly smashed wall. Halfway through her turn Alex warped to his feet and froze Hama's feet to the floor with his Psynergy. He then used his power to push her, as he had the Wise One, but with her feet rooted to the floor, she couldn't slide backward, only bend at the ankles until they snapped. Alex unfroze her feet, and, picking her up by the shoulder with one hand, held his other hand out and froze the water in the air to form an ice spear, which he levelled at her throat. Just before he could force it through her flesh, Hama summoned all her strength and flung her right hand towards his neck. The blow connected with the nerve cluster at the base of his neck, and he crumpled to the floor, unconscious. No longer with her support, Hama also fell to the floor, her feet useless, and shouted for the monks outside to help her up and tend to her ankles.

"This man tried to kill me, his name is Alex. Take him to the Alpine Crossing and leave him there, some people might find him, and whatever they do with him is their choice." She said as the monks busied themselves around her, taking the smashed planks of wood, choosing lengths the right size and fixing them to her feet, so her bones would set in the right place. "Also, send a messenger to Vale, they might be in danger."

First chapter done, I think this will be a long one, so bear with me. And yes, Alex got owned by Hama, and yes, Hama did use her future telling to know what alex was gonna do at the start of the fight. Don't worry though, I'm about to start the main plot, probably next chapter. Don't forget to review!