Seth hung miserably over the side of the their makeshift raft, almost literally drying up from the power of the high sun. It was easily 35 degrees Celsius out here in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of nowhere. The ocean spread out before them with absolutely no end in sight, and Seth was the one that was suffering the most. He hated the humidity, absolutely hated it. Every last bit of his tattered and torn clothing was drenched with sweat. He tried futilely to splash water onto his chest, to cool himself off, but it seemed to completely dry off a minute later, and then he was just as miserable as before.

"Land Ho." Zach called out suddenly. Seth jumped up to his feet, only to hit his head on the piece of driftwood that they had been using as a rudder. Seth fell back onto the deck of their small boat holding onto his head with his hands, he suddenly developed a headache, and he could feel the bruise already forming on top of his head.

Zach dropped the piece of wood to the floor, laughing maniacally.

"I got you soo goood." He crooned as he rolled across rough logs that made up the bottom of their boat. His movements upset the boat considerably, almost causing the already unsteady vessel to flounder in the still ocean waters.

Elizabeth picked up the offending rudder, and delivered swift payback to Zach's rear end. His mirth was cut short just as swiftly as it had started.

"Ow." He cried.

"Stop shaking the boat, Shorty. You're going to capsize us." She yelled. Everyone was starting to get a little cranky, the heat, and circumstances had been grinding on all of their nerves.

"Plus you shouldn't be lying to us. There is no land in sight." She muttered moodily.

"Well sorry princess." Zach said, sticking out his tongue at Elizabeth. She raised the rudder piece again, ready to smack him again.

"I wasn't lying though." He replied defensively, pointing his finger towards the north. Elizabeth suspiciously swung her gaze to follow his pointed finger, and dropped the rudder in shock when she found out that Zack wasn't lying.

"It's true." She cried in excitement. Seth popped himself up off of the deck, and grabbed the before piece of wood, and started to use it as a paddle to push them farther towards the island. Elizabeth and Zach grabbed the actual oars that they had fashioned, and began to join in the mad scramble towards the island.

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They soon found themselves on a wonderfully luscious tropical island about the size of a decent sized city. The beach they had landed on, seemed entirely abandoned, except for a number of birds pecking at the large amounts of coconuts that lay half buried in the sandy soil.

"Land, sweet, Land." Seth and Elizabeth cried, almost dancing in joy as their feet touched the sand. They pulled the boat as far up shore as they possibly could, before trying to go and explore the island.

After several miles of walking down the beach, they were wonderfully surprised when they spotted the top of a light tower appear off in the distance. Seth stopped for a second, allowing the other two to walk ahead of him a few paces.

"Do you hear thunder?" He asked to no one in general.

"Huh, what did you say?" Elizabeth asked, turning her head around to look back at Seth.

"Oh, it's probably nothing." Seth replied.

They continued their hike around a bend in the shoreline, soon finding the full view of their destination. The light tower stood atop the highest point on the other side of a small lagoon. Just below the majestic looking tower was what appeared to be the only break in the sand bar that sheltered the lagoon from some of the larger waves that crashed against the side of the island. Slightly inland, just above the broad beach at the back of the lagoon sat a sunny seaside village, with a few mid size ships anchored out in the deeper waters of the lagoon.

"Such a pretty little place." Elizabeth crooned. " I bet their food tastes fantastic."

"Is that the only thing you can think of?" Zach asked with a mischievous smile on his face. Seth quickly backhanded him across the back of the head, before the situation got worse.

"Hey." He muttered. Elizabeth ignored the two before breaking out in a run towards the village. Zach and Seth quickly followed after her, and they soon found themselves standing at the entrance to the village.

The sounds of chickens, people bartering over supplies, meth their ears as they entered in, and took stock of the quaint little place that over 600 people found home.

"Ho, new comer," came a voice from one of the stalls filled with delectable looking fruit, with an older fellow with shorts, and a funky looking hat.

"Ho, Old man with a beard." Zach called back with a smirk. Seth smacked him across the head.

"Sorry about that, he's a punk." Elizabeth said to the stall owner.

"Hey." Zach complained, glaring at Elizabeth and Seth. The old man just laughed.

"It's good to be young, now isn't it kid?" He said straight to Zach.

"Better than being an old woman like the one I get to travel with all the time." He said, nodding his head. This earned him another smack across the head from Elizabeth. The old man just started to laugh a little harder.

"It's good to see a bunch of young people like you with a sense of humor." He laughed. "Especially the runt." Zach's glare suddenly swiveled over to the old man.

"I'm not a runt." He muttered.

"As much of a runt as I've ever seen. " The old guy countered. Elizabeth's chuckle turned into a full body laugh at this. His eyes suddenly lit up as he took a good look at Elizabeth.

"Today's just full of surprises." He laughs, mirth clearly shown in his bright eyes. "Haven't seen a girl as beautiful as you for a good 40 years."

"Why thank you." Elizabeth said curtsying.

"Where you all from?" He said, the mirth never leaving his eyes.

"We just washed up actually." Seth replied. "Somehow got stranded on an island off in that direction." He said pointing towards the east, or at least where he thought east was. The old shoppe owner cocked his head.

"You got stranded on the mainland?" He asked. Now it was Zach's turn to laugh.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's always been bad with directions." Zach said between laughs.

"It sure sounds like it. Maybe if I got him a map it could help his sense of directions." The old man said.

"That wouldn't work either." Zach replied. "He'd just try to follow the contour lines like a trail and land us in a wolves den." This all was too much for the old man, and he doubled over laughing, with Zach soon following after him as Seth pounds him in the stomach.

"So worth it." Said Zach, laughing through the pain. After a minute of good laughter, the stall owner finally stood up, tears standing prominent in his eyes.

"It's been a long, long time since I've laughed this hard." He said, a note of sadness appearing in his voice.

"This place seems like paradise, why wouldn't you laugh?" Elizabeth asked.

"Haven't been able to due to the lighthouse situation." He said, the smile completely disappearing. "The mage that we had hired to run the lighthouse turned out to be a nasty pirate. He would wait until it got dark, or foggy, and then lure certain ships right into the sandbar on the other side of the lagoon. His team would then pop up and steal everything, and then destroy the ship." He seemed to get more depressed the longer he spoke. "The last ship that landed astray was mine own, and they took everything except for the fruits you see here."

"Why doesn't anybody do anything against him?" Seth asked.

"Nobody can touch him up in the light tower. Every time they try, he zaps them with his lightning magic. It got worse just yesterday when he decided to kidnap all of the young ladies on the island." The old man said.

"What's he going to do with them?" Elizabeth said, putting her hand over her mouth in shock.

"XXXXXXXX or XXXXX, whichever kind of person he is." He replied. Elizabeth blushed dramatically.

A large flash of light suddenly appeared above the village, followed by a resounding crash. The only ship in the harbor had been struck by a very large lightening bolt, which struck in two places. Once at the stern, severely damaging the rudder of the ship, and twice at the base of the mast. Loud cracking of timbers reverberated from the ship, and the mast falls over into the water. All of the crew appeared on deck, and scrambled frantically from one side to the other in panic. Their captain appeared on board, trying desperately to calm his struggling crew.

Boats suddenly appeared from the far side of the lagoon, and they quickly sailed over to the side of the large ship, and started to throw lines up the side of the ship. The pirates clambered on to deck, and quickly got to work, killing any of the crew that tried to fight back.

"We've got to do something." Elizabeth cried.

Seth was the first into motion, seeming to blur for a second, and then he was no longer standing next to the stall. He appeared several hundred feet away, when he accidently tripped over the fence on the outside of the village. He unceremoniously keeled over, face planting right into the sand. He looked down at his legs, and his fears were confirmed. Normally Seth had two braces on, providing a very substantial speed boost, which helped his magic abilities. He quickly got up, dusted himself off, and then blurred again, appearing on the beach right before the waves, mass waves of sand blowing around due to his speedy passage. One more blur, and he found himself hanging unsteadily off of the bowsprit. He quickly pulled himself up and over the railing, right in front one of the mangiest looking men he had ever seen.

The man pulled his hand back, clenched it into a fist, and then brought it forward. Seth deftly dodged out of the way, and then brought his braced shin into contact with the man's side. The pirate grunted in pain, and grabbed at his belt, quickly pulling a knife out.

Seth smartly jumped back away from the deranged pirate. He reached into his own pocket, and pulled out what seemed to look like a small disc. It's bright white color, and fantastic designs were mesmerizing in the bright sunlight.

The pirate saw none of this though, and lunged forward with his knife held firmly in his right hand, aiming straight for Seth's jugular. Seth calmly waited for him to get with in several inches of him, and then activated the disc with a slight twitch of his finger. A large magic circle suddenly appeared right between the two opponents, and a wave of white energy engulfed the mangy pirate. He flew back as if struck by a gigantic force, and collided with the railing. He slumped over unconscious, and dazed.

Seth pumped his fist in the air in victory, and then looked around for his next pirate. All he found were a bunch of unconscious and wounded. Not a pirate was in sight.

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Only after helping all of the hurt crewmen to shore, did Seth learn his mistake.

"Yeah, by the time you showed up on our ship, all of the pirates had mysteriously disappeared by then." Said one of the crewmen who they were helping to bandage up some of the cuts he had sustained from the attack.

"Then who was the mangy guy that attacked me when I got on board?" Seth asked.

"That would be our captain. Not the prettiest feller, but I w'ld trust me life in his hands any day." The crewman responded.

"Where'd the pirates go then?" Seth asked. "I got there as soon as I could."

"Right after you landed face down in the sand." Zach snickered. Seth ignored him, keeping his attention on the crewman.

"They dropped off the side of the ship with their desired cargo right as you climbed aboard. Then their boats just seemed to disappear in a fog that had appeared." He continued. " It's like magic was used."

"Lightning, fog…" Seth said talking to himself. Elizabeth met his gaze.

"Weather control magic?" She asked. Seth nodded.

"If it is, then it usually takes longer to cast a spell than normal." He replied.

"Your familiar with this magic?" The stall owner asked.

"I'm familiar with most magic. Weather control is actually an easier magic to learn, and control due to its longer cast time. It has some really good uses in commercial pursuits, especially when you're on the sea. Good weather, always good winds etc." Seth replied.

"How do we take him out?" The old timer asked.

"Weather Control takes a lot of focus, since you have to mix several elements together to get the desired effect. Rub some cloud magic together, and you get some very strong lightning without even having to cast a lightning spell." Seth replied. He then looked over at Elizabeth with a cunning smile. "We're going to distract him of course."

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Sarak Skyrfol lazily strolled down the seaside cliff line with no clear intention. He was the strongest mage to be found on this island, heck he was the only mage to be found on this island. Everything here was his, and any ship that dared to enter into the protected harbor belonged to him as well.

It really was a simple thing with his Weather magic. Cause a huge storm to pop up as soon as he saw a ship enter with in range of the island, and force the suckers into port. Mess with the winds at just the right time, and they would beach themselves on the sandbar on the outside of the lagoon. Strike them with a few lightning bolts, and then his crew moved in for the haul. Simple as that.

Sarak cursed the fact that as of now, there had yet to be any pretty girls on any of these ships. He had solaced his frustration in the bodies of the local island girls, but he wanted something more… classy. Something pure and fresh from the mainland, that he could spoil. His mouth curled up in a perverted smile, he had heard that there just might be one down in the village at this very moment. One of his lackeys had tipped him off that there was some really girl that had recently washed ashore; it was his time to dance.

He walked into the village, chuckling evilly to himself when he saw the people of the village run into their houses as fast as they possibly could. It felt great to be evil. As he strolled, he caught a glimpse of what he was looking for. A mainland beauty, a little roughed up from the sea voyage, but pure as snow. Her ragged hair formed a bright halo around her beautiful face, and Sarak started to salivate with excitement. He would enjoy himself tonight.

Sarak barged right up to the group, and grabbed the girls pretty little wrist. She jumped in surprise, and tried to pull her hand away, but he kept his hand firmly on her wrist.

"Let me go." She said, glaring at him.

"Not before you entertain me a little." He said, his creepy smile growing just a little bigger.

"Get off of her." A little runt said, punting Sarak's crotch with his boot. Sarak let go, and fell to the ground in pain. This little brat was going to pay.

As soon as Sarak could get up he started preparing his magic. He gathered all of the necessary moisture in the air around him, and then formed two separate circles. He rubbed them together in anticipation; this was going to hurt the little runt very badly.

"You're dead kid." He said, again his creepy smile taking over his face. A few seconds later the spell was almost complete, and all he needed was to activate the finished spell to launch the lightning and kill the kid. He moved his fingers and cried out his attack "Cloud Shock". He let the magic circle go, and waited for the two circles to collide.

A sudden blur crossed his vision, and the two spells disappeared. He frowned. Did the spells cancel out? He'd never seen this happen before. In frustration he started the casting process again, preparing for the attack. When he finished this spell, he let it loose again only to see the exact same thing happen. Both spells disappeared just as they had before.

"Wha…?" He said in confusion. Well if these spells wouldn't work, then he needed something a bit more powerful. He pulled in all latent storm energy from the surrounding area, and poured it all into two separate spells. He smiled when he noticed the runt, and the woman cowering in shock before the amount of raw power that he was gathering into his mighty hands. The spell climaxed, the spell circle grew to its apex, and….. It disappeared. Sarak looked down at his hands in shock, his confidence more than a little shaken. He had failed to cast the spell, but… how?

Another kid, about the same age as his prey, blurred into view, with a broad smile on his face.

"Where'd you come from?" Sarak commanded. The kid raised his hands, small circles held proudly in his hands.

"Oh, I've always been here." He replied. Sarak looked closer at the kid's hands, and his mouth dropped. The small circles in his hands were his very own spell circles.

"You little thief." Sarak growled, his anger skyrocketing. This time the kid wasn't going to be the only one to suffer. He started to cast another, but then fell over. A sudden wave of exhaustion had dropped over him; he had used up all of his mana in that last spell. He recovered before he could get captured, and ran away, tripping over himself as he frantically scrambled back up the cliff side. They were going to pay, and he had a whole crew of pirates that were going to lay waste to the entire town.

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"Woohoo." Zach cried, slapping Seth across the back. Seth cringed in pain, and nearly fell over.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked concerned.

"I lost my balance on that last one and landed in the fruit cart." Seth said wincing as he moved a little to the left, away from Zach.

"Oh, you poor thing." Elizabeth said.

"How come it's always you poor thing when he gets hurt?" Zach demanded of Elizabeth. She flatly ignored him.

"Sorry about your cart." Seth said, trying to bow in apology to the owner.

"As long as it helps to get rid of the bad guy, you can destroy my fruit as much as you like. Now we just have to deal with the pirates." He replied.

"Too easy." Seth said. "If you could help me over to the beach, I believe I could fix that problem." The old man picked Seth up without further comment and deposited him on his shoulder. They walked quickly down to the beach, and the stall owner deposited Seth gently on the beach.

Already they could see the small boats of the pirates coming out of the cave that was right below the tall lighthouse. They all stuck close together, ready to land on the beach as soon as possible, and attack the village en masse.

Seth let them come farther into the lagoon, until he knew that they were in earshot. He spotted Sarak in the middle boat, and yelled out to him.

"Hey Sarak. This is how you need to cast your spells." Seth said. He brought all 6 of the discs, and then activated them, pouring enough of his own mana into the spells to amplify them. He then let all six of them collide together.

A blast of wind quickly followed by one of the largest lightning bolts anyone present had ever seen shot from the writhing cloud mass that appeared right in front of Seth's outstretched fingers. The wave of storm energy collided with the boats, blowing up all but the middle boat. The boat that Sarak was in was flung skywards, and the ferocious wind picked it up and flew it out to sea for several miles. When it crashed, the boats planking groaned for a single second, before it buckled under the pressure. Leaving Sarak stranded far out at sea.

He floated out on the sea for several days before a Navy Freighter picked him up, and after a bit of due process, locked up in the brig for the crime of piracy on the high seas.

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The town was in an uproar; a huge celebration was being thrown for the hero that had saved their village from Sarak Skyfol. Large toasts, and delectable food followed the trio long into the night. After several hours of unprecedented partying, the only 4 not drunk were Elizabeth, Seth, Zach, and the old shoppe owner.

"How come y'all four aren't drunk?" He asked. The three of them all gave a knowing smile to each other.

"We actually prefer plain old grape juice." Zach replied. "That and we all get sick when we have fermented beverages."

"Oh, why's that?" He laughed.

"Religious reasons, plus our parents got together and cursed us. Our bodies naturally reject that kind of stuff." Elizabeth replied.

"Your tone of voice doesn't describe it as a curse." He pointed out.

"Curse or blessing, its just part of our lives at the moment." Seth noted. He nodded a few times, and then stared off into space for a full minute.

"But what do we do about the light house?" He asked. Silence filled the space as everybody considered the implications.

"You're not just a stall owner are you?" Seth pointed out shrewdly. The old man threw his hands up into the air.

"You got me. I'm Alex Tsorem actually. Mayor of this fine village." He replied. "When the pirates appeared I hid my identity so they couldn't hold me hostage or anything."

"Smart move, cowardly, but smart." Seth said.

A young girl came up to the table and flung herself onto the mayor's lap. "Papi" she cried happily. Alex laughed as he embraced his cute daughter.

"I'm so glad you're back." He cried, tears beginning to fall down his face.

"I think I have an idea." Seth said. He leaned over putting his face right in front of the young girls.

"You wanna help your daddy right?" Seth asked, the young girl appraised Seth for a second with a critical eye before nodding her head.

"Do you wanna learn some magic, so you can run the lighthouse, and fight any nasty pirates that could attack the village?" Seth asked. She thought about it very seriously for a little while before nodding again. Seth nodded back, and reached into a small circular pouch he had on his belt. He pulled out the same white spell circle that he had used on the ship captain earlier that day. He then shrunk the spell, down to the size of a small marble, and then applied a tutorial magic to it.

"Now open up your eye real big." He said. She blinked her eyes a few times, and then opened them up as big as she possibly could. He then placed the circle into the girl's right eye. A bright flash, and then everything went back to normal. The girl's right eye held the spell circle firmly in the iris, giving an odd effect to her eyes.

"Treat this power well, it can be either your greatest tool, or your greatest enemy." Seth said wisely.

"Thanks for this." Alex said. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

" New clothes, food, and a ride to the mainland." Seth said.

"That we can do boy, that we can do." Alex replied.