Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.
A/N: I have rewritten major portions of this fic to improve the quality of writing, and I hope that those of you who reread this chapter will approve of the changes.
A/N: I have realized upon beginning to work on this fiction again and reading "The Angel and the Slayer" that my ideas and the plot line for this story mirror but are not the same, so I do not take credit for the ideas in this story being original. Also, I have decided to use some ideas from TheOneAndOnlyT's ideas, and while it may seem similar, I have made sure to change it so that it is how I envision the series. Finally, I would like to add that I will also have flashbacks to the past, interludes in between events and, I hope, a more complete picture in my story. I also plan to write more than just the first half of the series, so I will get into "The Lost Age," but take it from Isaac's perspective as opposed to Felix.
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Isaac placed his newly found Artic Blade away once they had exited the waterfall. Ever since the time he saw it, Garet had claimed the Orb of Force for himself, having liked the new ability it granted him. Isaac chuckled to himself as he remembered Garet rushing forward and claiming it before anyone even hopped across the water. Afterwards, he kept using it against the walls until Isaac told him to stop because Mia and Ivan were getting headaches with the constant pounding of psynergy.
Once they left, they visited Master Nyunpa and he explained the proper way to use the Orb, much to everyone's relief. After healing and recharging their psynergy using the small psynergy stone they found near the temple, the group left Fuchin Temple heading into the evil forest that Tret had warned them about...
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Chapter Two – Nightmare in Mogall Forest
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Garet concentrated at the hollow tree stump that Isaac pointed out to him. His fist glowed red as his fire psynergy was shaped by the Orb of Force he now carried. Talking a step forward, Garet punched out with his fist, "Force!" the red psynergy formed into a ghostly fist that shot forward and hit the stump, startling the ape that they were chasing into jumping our and running deeper into the forest.
"This is boring, always following an ape around," Garet complained as he stood up straight again and they followed the ape.
"Well, this is your fault for running into the forest blindly in the first place!" Ivan said. When they first entered, Garet had wanted to get out before nightfall, since he didn't like how the forest looked. After getting stuck going in circles and being lost for three days in the forest, the rest of the group had had enough and forced Garet to use the orb.
"On the bright side, I think we are getting out. The trees are less crowded together than before," Mia commented, always the peacemaker.
'Even though she isn't saying anything to anybody, she really didn't like this place either. I could tell by how she seemed more withdrawn than usual. She didn't seem to mind the Kolima forest, though Tret did say that this forest was evil,' Isaac thought as he continued walking besides the object of his thoughts. 'Actually, ever since that night we spent near the Bilibin Barricade she seemed more depressed than usual. I wonder what's bothering her..."
"Finally! The exit!" Garet and Ivan both cheered as they rushed past sole tree stump by the exit of the tunnel, Garet sending a force blast its way as he rushed by. Along the way, Garet had shot off many blasts just for fun, but with the excuse of seeing a monster or tree stump near the side of the path. Just as Mia and Isaac passed by the last stump, a loud thumping noise started coming from within the stump.
"It's probably just the last ape we scared off," Isaac said as he turned back around and began walking, that is until he heard a very loud crash and a deafening roar coming from behind him.
Quickly turning, Isaac saw their monster. 'Well... It's a bit bigger than the other ones...'
Mia quickly stood back with Isaac as the beast continued to roar, a few seconds later joined by Ivan and Garet.
"What the..?" Garet trailed off as he stared at the giant ape.
"Maybe we shouldn't have bothered all of those smaller ones?" Ivan asked as he too stared.
"It's too late for second guessing now, get ready," Isaac took command and unsheathed his arctic blade, pointing it at the monster who seemed to have finished roaring and was now poised to attack. "Here we go..."
The Killer Ape jumped forward and charged everyone while Isaac and Garet stepped forward to face the monster. Raising their weapons, they parried the ape's first strike while Ivan and Mia charged their weapons with psynergy. While Isaac and Garet attacked head on, Ivan and Mia snuck around behind the ape and raised their weapons.
"Tundra!" Mia called, swinging her Blessed Ankh towards the ape and freezing its legs in place.
Ivan followed up a few seconds later with an attack of his own, "Plasma!"
Much to everyone's dismay, the attack fizzled out when it hit the ape's hairy body.
'There goes our best psynergy attack,' Isaac thought while planning their next move. "Garet, try using your heat wave!" Isaac called as he swung his sword at the ape, wounding it slightly in the arm. Isaac forgot about the ape's other arm and was hit from behind, knocking the wind out of him.
The ape raised its hand to strike at Isaac again with his claws when Garet finished his quick charge of the attack, "Heat Wave!" he cried, sending a wave of fire out of his hand and engulfing the ape. The attack seemed very effective even though it was weaker since Garet didn't fully charge it, but both Isaac and Garet forgot one important thing when the smoke cleared.
"Uh guys? It's not frozen in pace anymore..." Ivan stated the obvious, regrouping with Isaac and Garet.
"Isaac? Are you okay?" Mia asked as she rushed over to the fallen warrior and knelt down, assessing his wounds.
"I... I'm okay," Isaac got out weakly, "Just a bit out of breath."
Mia smiled as she raised both of her hands, concentrating her psynergy into both, "Ply!" Again, Isaac felt the coolness of Mia's aura wash over and engulf him, relieving all of the pain and easing his breathing.
Meanwhile, Ivan and Garet were both taking turns hitting the ape with attacks of their own, covering for their other teammates. "Whirlwind!" Ivan called, pointing his wand at the ape and issuing a small tornado at the creature, blowing it back and giving Garet time to charge his psynergy.
"Flare!" Garet called, sending the weakest of his attacks at the ape. Ivan gawked at him as the ape brushed off the attack, even though it was weak against fire. Garet looked sheepishly at Ivan, "I'm tapped," he admitted, taking out his Axe. Ivan shook his head and concentrated another spell into his wand as the ape approached a little cautiously in fear of another fire attack.
"Impact!" Ivan called, casting the friendly spell on Garet, causing his aura to flare as his attack power increased. Charging forward, Garet swung the axe at the ape, who dodged the blow and jumped up into the surrounding trees before coming back down behind Garet.
"Look out!" Mia called as Garet dumbly turned to be met with the enraged ape's rapid attack. Using its claws filled with psynergetic power, the ape ransacked Garet until he fell to the ground, unmoving.
"Ivan, protect Mia!" Isaac called as he charged forward, swinging his blade at the ape and driving it back into an open field. Quickly infusing his blade with the power of Venus, he swung and slammed the blade into the ground, releasing the power into the earth itself, "Quake Sphere!" Suddenly, the ground all around the ape crumbled, preventing the ape from escaping as it tripped and fell. The attack continued, large rocks caused by the quake slammed into the ape while Isaac prepared for another attack. Isaac smiled while feeling his blade pulse in his palms, ready for a finishing blow. Looking at the howling ape in pity, Isaac raised his Artic Blade, "Blizzard!"
Large shards of ice flew out and hit the ape, cutting into its hide and causing the creature to howl in pain. When the earthquake finally stopped and the dust settled, the ape did not move again.
Ivan sat up for guard duty while Isaac slept and Mia tended Garet's wounds after the battle. Looking back at the dark shadow of the forest against the starry sky, Ivan recalled Isaac's show of power against the ape. 'So that's the new attack that he mastered, the quake sphere,' Ivan thought, shuddering. 'I haven't learned any new fighting attacks since plasma; my djinn are only teaching me supporting psynergy like impact and sleep... I wouldn't mind using sleep, but it only really works at night and the monsters have to stay still as the psynergy floats down on them...' Ivan sighed, wondering when he would be taught a newer attack psynergy. He had already asked them to teach him more, but they insisted that he was not yet ready and that he must learn to master his psynergy one step at a time.
Ivan turned to the tents when he head rustling inside one. A few seconds later, Mia lightly stepped outside.
"How's Garet doing?" Ivan asked, catching the water adept's attention.
"He should be fine now, he just needs some rest," she replied with a smile. "Are you okay as well?"
"Yeah, thanks," Ivan responded with a smile before returning his attention back to the forest, "Goodnight, Mia."
"Goodnight." Mia looked out at the woods for a bit before turning and heading back in the tent she shared with Isaac. Once inside she closed the flaps and relaxed in bed, letting the sound of Isaac's steady breathing lure her into sleep.
Mia stared up at the pitch black ceiling above her head, unable to make out any of the familiar shapes in the tent. Lying still, she tried to make out any familiar noises, but the silence was deafening. Getting up, she accidentally bumped her head against the tent's top, causing her head to dully throb. Ignoring the slight pain, she felt around blindly for the flaps leading her outside. Finding them after walking forward slowly, she sighed in relief and unzipped them, but the site that greeted her was not what she was expecting.
Mia saw the smoldering embers of the fire used to light the campsite slowly dieing, and Isaac lying down with his head on a log, seemingly asleep. Frowning at him for not taking their security to heart, she stepped forward and shook him slightly, expecting to wake him up. No matter how hard or long she shook him, however, he remained motionless. Mia tried to think of a logical explanation, 'Ivan just learned to use sleep, maybe he was just trying it out on Isaac,' she reasoned. Placing two fingers gently on his neck, she felt for a pulse. After not feeling anything for a short while, she slowly backed away, horrified. 'H-he's... He can't be... Not Isaac...'
Refusing to believe that Isaac was dead, Mia quickly turned away from the site and sprinted to the boy's tent to find Garet and Ivan. Opening the tent flap, she rushed inside, only to find the tent empty. Confused, Mia stepped back outside and called out, "Garet! Ivan!"
In the distance, she could hear sticks snapping as someone seemed to be running away from the camp. Desperate to find someone, Mia ran into the forest after the noise. After a while she reached a clearing where she saw Ivan fighting a giant ape with Garet on the ground. Running up to the two, she called out, "Ivan!"
The young wind adept turned to see Mia, but the ape took the chance and pouring psynergetic energy into its fingernails, ransacked Ivan into the ground. Mia stood frozen, unable to accept what had just happened. Just as she was about to rush forward to heal Ivan, the ape jumped in her way and easily knocked her away. Slowly getting up, Mia saw the ape approaching and quickly stood, blindly sprinting back into the woods.
'I have to get out, I have to find help!' Mia thought frantically as she sprinted away, the ape following her, seeming to laugh at her distress.
Deeper into the forest she ran, unable to figure out which was which in the darkness. Mia's legs finally gave out when she reached a large tree somewhere in the forest. Falling to her knees by the tree, Mia tried to slow her breathing and closed her eyes, listening for the sounds signaling the ape's approach. Mia sat still for minutes as she slowly recovered her breathing before finally standing up and trying to find the camp again. 'This is all probably just a bad dream,' she consoled herself as she spotted a familiar rock in the forest. 'Just a little more...'
Reaching the clearing of where they ad set up camp, Mia looked around to find nobody in the camp. Walking over to the tents, she looked in, hoping and praying that everyone was back inside and that this was only a dream, but nobody was inside. Walking back out of her and Isaac's tent, she froze and gasped. There before her stood Isaac, bruised and bloodied, completely different from when she had thought she had saw him before.
Walking towards her, Isaac's voice came out as a rasp, "You abandoned us... You left us to fight the ape alone, and now we are all dead."
"N-no..." she barely managed to whisper out, "I-I didn't k-know... I-if I knew that you w-were fighting the a-ape, I would have helped!"
"No, you wouldn't have, you are a useless coward. You cannot even fight and you failed your clan by sitting back and letting Alex light the beacon. You couldn't even stop your own pupil, how worthless are you?"
"B-but y-you said that i-it wasn't m-my f-fault... Y-you said that I w-wasn't a b-bad f-fighter... T-that Alex w-wasn't m-my f-fault..." Mia choked out, tears flowing from her eyes as Isaac closed in on her.
Isaac's blue eyes locked with hers, not showing the gentleness and kindness she used to always see in them, only showing malice towards her. "You actually believed those lies?" Isaac laughed a humorless laugh, "You really are stupid and worthless!"
"N-no... s-stop... p-please..." Mia coked out before fully collapsing to the ground in tears.
Isaac shook the sobbing girl as she lied, curled up in a ball, "Mia! Mia, wake up! It's just a dream!"
Slowly, Mia's eyes opened, meeting Isaac's. Upon seeing him, she immediately broke down again, mumbling apologies as she curled up tighter, refusing to look at him.
"Mia... Mia! Look at me!" Isaac said, holding onto the frightened girl's shoulders. Slowly she obeyed, looking slowly up, past his body and into his eyes, 'He's not injured?' Looking into his eyes, Mia once again saw the gentleness and kindness she knew so well, blanketed in concern. "It was only a dream, Mia... Everything's okay now, I won't let anything hurt you..."
Tears still falling, Mia jumped up and hugged Isaac, relief flooding through her. Isaac stood still in shock as she hugged him, but slowly and gently returned the gesture, trying to calm her down. Isaac said nothing, unable to think of anything to say that could help her as she slowly calmed down from the nightmare. 'Whatever it was really shook her...'
After Mia calmed down, she hastily broke away from Isaac. "I-I'm sorry, I was just b-being silly..." she said, blushing a bit. "I-I'll just go to bed now."
"Mia..." Isaac said slowly, causing the water adept to look back at him, "If you want someone to talk to about it, I'm here, okay?" he offered.
"T-thanks..." Mia smiled, remembering back about the nightmare, 'I can't tell him that I was dreaming about him...' Mia tried to give him a reassuring smile, but only partially succeeded as she turned back to her bed and pulled up the covers to go back to sleep.
Isaac sighed, but smiled back at her nonetheless. "I'll pull your shift tonight. You spent so much energy healing me and Garet, you need the rest."
"Thanks... Isaac." Mia said as the boy ducked out of the tent. 'Why did I have that dream, and why did it seem so real?' Mia wondered as she turned around in bed. The rest of the night, as with all of the other nights she had spent with the group since camping at the Bilibin Barricade, was spent sleeping restlessly. She was unable to fully fall asleep as the dream continued to haunt her, only this time the real Isaac was unable to save her.
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