A/N: Well, here's chapter 2. It's still kinda short, only about 2,000 words, but I'm working on making them longer.
Isaac: So will we play a part in this at all?
Me: A small one, yes.
Isaac: *grumbles* *holds up a sign reading 'He doesn't own GS or any characters, all of that is sole property of Camelot'*
Chapter 1: Running Away
It was night, and he was packing.
He hurriedly stuffed clothes and equipment into a bag, hoping to be far gone from his home by daybreak. He froze as a soft knock came at his door. He turned to see the soft flickering light of a candle shine from underneath the door.
"Felix?" Jenna's voice sounded through the door. Felix felt a tightness in his chest that could only be attributed to panic. Hastily, he kicked his bag and the loose equipment scattered about his room under his bed and opened the door.
His sister stood there, holding a candle and clad only in her nightgown. Her long red hair hung down to the middle of her back, and her brown bore the look of exhaustion.
"Hey," he whispered, "What are you doing out of bed?"
"I can't sleep."
He stepped to the side to let her in, and sat down next to her on his bed.
"Why can't you sleep?" He asked her, inwardly hoping she would leave soon.
"Isaac kicks in his sleep sometimes, and it keeps me up."
Felix laughed. Almost as soon as they had returned back to Vale, Jenna and Isaac had hooked up, and within a month's time, had stood at the altar together.
"What are you doing up?"
Felix shrugged, "just doing some thinking."
Jenna cocked her head to the side and frowned at him, "Felix, you worry me sometimes, you know that?"
It was Felix's turn to frown, "How so?"
"Ever since we got back, you've been quiet and moody, and other than when you're helping with the rebuild, you're off on your own, taking these long 'walks' that sometimes last days. What's going on?"
"It's nothing Jenna, I've just been doing some scouting for a good place to build a forge. One that will last in case another storm comes," he lied glibly.
"I have never seen you give so much as a second glance at smithery."
Felix knew that she didn't believe him, but he continued with the lie anyways, "I never had to. Now go to bed, it's late."
With a look that clearly stated she didn't believe him, she got off of his bed and walked out of the room, he waited until he heard her door close before he continued packing. He paused, however, when he found his old mask. It was made of wood, with green and brown paint on it. In reality, it was a simple mask, with two holes cut for the eyes and a hole for the mouth. He didn't know why, but he carefully placed it in the bag he was packing. As quietly as possible, he threw the bag over his shoulder and carried his sword and boots downstairs. Lightly, he twisted the latch in the door and opened, and quietly shut it behind him. Fearing he may have awoken someone, he quickly pulled on his boots and buckled them, threw the bag over his shoulder and, with sword in hand, sprinted off into the night.
It wasn't until he was atop a grassy hill that overlooked his hometown that he stopped, panting slightly from the heavy load in his bag.
He looked behind him at the town sprawled on a large grassy plain. At the northernmost area sat his house and the houses of his comrades. He wrapped his belt around his waist and clipped his sword on his lower back. With one last, long, look at his home, he turned and began heading westward.
The days passed by him with little event. The number of monsters had steadily decreased with the unleashing of Alchemy on the world. His Djinn afforded him little company, and he only used them on occasion to keep himself protected while he slept, or get him food. He was surprised when he topped the last mountain and found himself on the top of a large cliff that led down to the ocean. He stopped and stared out at the ocean, for the first time taking in the beauty of it.
"Funny, I didn't recognize beauty even though it stared me in the face," he started slightly at this, realizing how he wasn't talking about the ocean. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and began walking again; hoping that he could find a place to shield the noise created from using the Teleport Lapis.
Psynergy was strange like that, it was akin to firing a gun, in terms of use. Only adepts could 'hear' it being used, but when it was, they knew it. It became problematic for him and his friends, for when they were exploring a dungeon or lighthouse, the sound of them using Psynergy would attract monsters. The reason why he didn't use the Lapis immediately after he exited the town was that it would have awoken every adept in the town, and they would have had him before he could have built up enough energy to use it. So, while he understood that traveling for days and reaching the coast was overkill, he wasn't sure how far the sound of him activating the lapis would carry.
After about an hour of searching, he found a nice deep alcove in the cliff wall, and pressed himself tightly against the wall. Clutching the lapis in one hand, he closed his eyes and concentrated, drawing on the power of Venus beneath him. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he concentrated. Using Venus to power a Jupiter-based item was difficult, as neither element mixed well. Eventually, when he felt his power reach its peak, he concentrated on the Mars Lighthouse, and the frozen wastelands just south of it.
"Prox," he whispered, and released his energy, and himself. He felt himself be painlessly pulled apart, and moments later, pieced back together in a white wasteland. He dropped to his knees, panting.
"I need to exercise more," he gasped, clenching his eyes shut as the world spun. He felt a familiar, but different presence above him. He glanced up and saw that he was at the base of the Mars Lighthouse. He felt comforted by the presence of Mars, as the small part of him that was Mars and not Venus grow slightly at the presence of its master. He stood quickly and glanced behind him, and smiled when he saw that the rift was indeed healing itself. Instead of the lighthouse sitting just on the brink, there was about three miles of land stretching behind it.
---
It was evening of the third day when Karst finally forced herself out of bed. The sun was starting to sink in the south-western sky, turning it multiple shades of pink. She disrobed, dropping her clothes onto the floor in a pile. Shivering slightly at the cold that had invaded the house, she padded to the room next door, where a small tub sat with a faucet at the top. She grabbed the robe hanging from a hook near the door and wrapped it around her body, trying to stave off the cold while she filled the tub with water. She carefully placed a few small pieces of wood under the tub for lighting when the still semi-frozen water filled the tub.
When the water was properly heated and steaming, she slowly lowered herself into the water, letting out a small sigh as she relaxed. She reached over and grabbed a bar of soap, and started running it over her body. Baths weren't common in the north, especially during the winter months because any water pipelines they had froze in mid-fall. So, when she was finished washing herself, the water was much darker and less clear. She stood up and reached for her robe, but as she stepped out to grab it, the door swung open, and there stood Agatio.
She stood there motionless for a moment, unable to move due to shock. He moved first, covering his eyes and trying to apologize. "Wait, Karst, I didn't mean to wal-," she cut him off with a scream of rage and horror, and promptly slammed the door in his face.
"Get out!" she yelled, slamming a palm against the door.
"Wait, let me explain," she heard through the door, "I didn't mean to. I didn't even know you were in there."
"Just get out!" She screamed, punching the door. She heard a series of quick hurried steps down the hall, and the front door slamming. Sighing, she pulled the plug on the tub, watching as the now lukewarm water swirled down the drain.
"Goddammit," she muttered, wrapping the robe around her body and walking back to her room. She stopped when she saw a scarf hanging from her door, one that was made of thick, brown wool. She pulled it off of the latch, and sat down on her bed. She stared at it, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. A soft knock alerted her to the presence of someone else. She kept her eyes on the scarf however, and acknowledged him.
"It was his, wasn't it."
"Yeah," he said, taking a tentative step into the room, "My mum just found it in an old storage box." When she didn't reply, he took another few steps into the room, and sat down on the bed next to her. "You miss him, don't you."
"No," she stated flatly, "Why would I miss him? He was only here for a short time, and even then we were always fighting."
He chuckled, and she looked over at him with a questioning look on her face. "What's so funny?" she demanded, her temper rising.
"My mum thinks differently."
"I don't love him," she said firmly, trying to convince more herself than her friend, "And if all you came for was to bring me a useless memento to remind me of his stay here then you made a mistake, because I don't care." She stood up after that, grabbed her clothes and armor, then moved to the room across the hall to change. As she pulled her chainmail over her head, his voice came from beside the door.
"Karst... I'm worried about you. I can't make you talk about it so, if you ever need me, you know where I am."
She stood there motionless as his footsteps faded down the hall. She waited until she heard the door close before she crumpled to the ground, the scarf clutched tightly in her fist as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Dammit," she muttered again, clenching her eyes shut to stop the flow of tears, "Why do you do this to me? Why won't you come back and answer me! You promised!"
"Karst, I know you can't hear me, but..." Karst could barely make out his words, he seemed so far away, she was vaguely aware of his presence next to her.
"Don't die." He seemed even further away, and Karst couldn't feel him next to her.
"Don't die, I'll be back for you, I promise."
Anger and frustration coursed through her, building up until she found herself outside in full battle gear, with scythe in hand.
Karst stood at her doorway and watched as the sun set, the pink and purple skies turning the un melted snow around her a deep shade of blue.
She closed her door behind her, locked it, and then headed south, passing around the outskirts of Prox, trying to avoid contact with its inhabitants as much as possible.
She made it to the small harbor that had been rapidly expanding in the past 18 months, snuck past the guard, and climbed aboard her ship. She pulled out the black orb that she had kept in her travel bag since the end of her journey and unlocked the cabin door with it. As she entered the ship, she 'heard' the distinctive noise of someone using Psynergy. Judging from the amount of noise it made, it must have been a large spell.
Probably Agatio, she thought to herself as she climbed below decks, blowing something up in his mother's kitchen.
She stood in front of the pedestal that was supposed to house the orb she held in her hand.
"I hope you're ready," she said, clutching the orb till her knuckles turned white, "because I've got some questions, and you better have some damn good answers."
---
I know it was a little short, not as long as I had hoped, but definitely longer than the previous chapter, right? Also, revised!
Please R&R