Mind's Eye finally has a chapter three! Y'all are gonna have to forgive me for waiting so long, I've been making a game on RM2K, and any RM2K user out there knows how long that can take, especially if they want original sprites for their games and they can't exactly make them too well. ^_^_^ Anyways, here's the chapter, and thank you for being patient. (wow, even Akiko hasn't yelled at me yet).
~***~
It was cold for the lower regions of Angara. He didn't like it too much. Even someone like him had gotten used to the warm temperatures of Altin summers. Walking on, the school came into view. The oriental look intrigued him a little, and his features started to brighten a little bit. Then he saw the monks. That would mean he'd have some company. A small, weak smile creased his face. "So, are you going to tell me my name yet?" he asked.
"You're impossible, my friend," she replied. They walked quietly into the school, the man taking the sights in like a child in a candy store, and Hama telepathically calling three monks of the Venus, Mars, and Mercury elements into the new building they had put together for the purpose of training when it rained out their outside practices.
The three monks walked into the building. The Venus monk, Felix, looked nice enough, but something was apparently on his mind. There is indeed, Master Hama said to his mind. The Mars monk, Garet, seemed to be open and friendly, but kind of... The word is 'airheaded', my friend, she said again. And the Mercury monk, Picard? Open enough, but he seemed to be hiding something.
"Alright, my friend. Now that we have arrived, it is time for you to unleash your element. Felix, I want you to test him first," she said. Felix walked up in surprisingly confident stride.
"Close your eyes. I am about to use a psynergy. Once it's over, I'm going to ask you to tell me what you saw. Please remember what it is you saw," he said. The man closed his eyes, and Felix unleashed Gaia in his mind, so that only a scene of it would be relayed to the man. "Now, what did you see?" he asked.
"You, holding your hands up and glowing," he said.
"Did you see a large sphere of golden light in my hands?" asked Felix.
"No," replied the man.
"Well then, your element is not Venus. Picard, come on up here and test him," said Felix.
Picard walked up with a slight smile, apparently his means of greeting people. He placed his hands on the man's shoulders. "Again, close your eyes. I will unleash a psynergy, and you will tell me what kinds of energy flows you feel. Do not worry, as describing it will be easy if you are of my element," said Picard. The man again closed his eyes as Picard, surprisingly, set Shade to the man. "Open your eyes and tell me what you feel," he said.
"A presence in my mind. I would think...a small, blue creature..." said the man.
"Does it feel natural to have it there?" asked Picard. The man nodded. Picard didn't waste any time. He pulled a rock from his pocket and threw it at the man. Suddenly, the man glowed blue and the rock disintegrated into dust on contact. "Good, good. You handled that very well. Come on out, Shade," he said.
The blue creature that had been resting in the man's mind appeared on his shoulder, then bounced over to Picard. "Good girl," he said. "Now, it's rather obvious that your element is Mercury, so I will be your instructor. As for the rock, if you hadn't blocked it, Shade would have unleashed herself to make a defensive shield for you. To be honest, I expected her to. And besides, the fact that it felt natural for her to be there made all the difference anyways. I just wanted to test you further and see if it was possible. Hama, you were right about him. He's definitely gonna be strong. You'll be bunking with me and Felix, my friend. Come on," he said, as the two of them exited the room.
"Master, are you sure that he's the one Destiny proclaimed would save Weyard? I've been getting...disturbing letters from Kay. Bandit raids on Vale have been increasing in number and force, and a few of the bandits have attempted rape. Monsters have been getting WAY too close to the town. What's worse, a pack of Zombies made an attempt on the Mayor's life. Can he handle this?" asked Felix.
"He could handle the bandits without psynergy. They don't have anything to do with Destiny's proclamation. That is just ill fortune. The monsters, however? He'll need his psynergy for that. The shield he made was a rather hard type to use, much less master. Picard only mastered it last week. Rain Barrier, I think he calls it. Knowing Picard, they'll probably start with that. Once he knows some decent attack psynergies such as Ice Prism and Supercool, and a good strong Avoid, we'll be good to go," she replied.
"If you say so..." said Felix.
The training began the next day. "Prism!" yelled Picard. The huge ball of ice crashed down from the air into Felix's Gaia shield. True to Picard's power, Felix was pushed back a foot. "Now, my friend, raise your right hand. Focus on the image of the psynergy and cry out its name. We'll cover targeting first. Look at Felix. He gives off a Venus aura. Do you sense it yet?" he asked.
"I do," he said.
"Good. Now that you can see his aura, you can send psynergy his way. In the same way, the psynergy he unleashes will share his aura. Felix, now I will need you to cast Gaia, but don't use it as an attack. I'll need you to solidify it into a rock," he said.
"I'll try. Here goes," he said, as he unleashed Gaia. Slowly but steadily, he allowed the psynergetic light to rise. After it was about a foot off the ground, he focused intently on mountains, pebbles, anything stone he could think of. All of the sudden, the light became a hard stone and crashed to the ground leaving a small indentation in the ground. "It worked."
"Thank you, Felix. Now, focus. That rock has the same aura as Felix. Do you understand now?" asked Picard.
"Y-yes...I do. What do I do next?" asked the man.
"As I said at first, raise your right hand and focus on the Prism psynergy I just used. Got the image in your mind? Good. Now focus on the aura coming from the rock. With both images in your mind, use Prism. Don't be afraid. I promise you can do it," said Picard.
The man repeated Picard's gestures. "Okay...here goes..." he said, as he began to focus on the images. As they began to blend together in his mind, a ball of ice similar in shape to Picard's began to form in the air. The more they ran together, the larger the ball got, until it was nearly the size of Picard's. "Prism!!!" he cried out. The ball crashed into the rock, making a rather large indentation, considering it was his first try. Picard looked at him with great pride.
"Good job. Now it's time for lunch. Let's go get leave from Master Hama to go hunt some wild monsters. They taste very good, and are quite nutritious as well. You'll enjoy it. Just have an open mind. I'll take a sword. You should take a lance for now. See how you like it," he said. They walked to the shrine conversing about psynergy and Shade. The man learned that there were more tactics to using psynergies, such as using Djinni to remember skills for quick use. He also learned that Shade was a Djinni, and that she, along with all other Djinni, had special effects when used properly. Shade's effect was a defensive shield. The two finally reached the shrine.
"Master Hama, considering it's an hour to lunch, would it be alright if we go hunting for some food? Call it an exercise in weapon usage," said Picard, with a grin spreading across his face.
Master Hama found herself supressing a laugh as well. //Exercise in weapon usage? Ha! They're just hungry.// "Picard, I'm a mind reader. One would think you'd have learned by now. Let's stick our new student with a sword as well, shall we? He wouldn't look right with a lance." Picard looked at her for a second, studying her features to see if she was giving them permission. "...Yes, Picard. That means you can go. Catch me something, too," she said, with a note of finality, and finally dismissed them to hunt.
"Picard? Tell me, what did I do yesterday? That one thing where I made the shield," asked the man.
"The shield? That's actually a skill I only recently mastered myself. I call it Rain Barrier. When we get back to the school, we'll do some work on that. After lunch, of course," Picard replied. Then, a Mad Mole appeared. "Stay calm, my friend. He isn't very powerful, but he's also not as weak as he seems. I want you to go after him with your sword. On my mark, you will go on the offensive. 3...2...1...now!" he whispered.
The man drew his sword as ordered, and charged headlong at the mole. He swung left, and hit the mole with the flat of the blade by accident. Instead of killing it, he gave it a small bruise and left himself open to attack. The mole saw its chance and took it, swiping at his sides with its sharp claws. The man was knocked back by the attack, but quickly got back into the fight. After a few rounds of slashing and swiping, the mole jumped up at the man, preparing to swipe his head off his neck. The man fortunately avoided his intended fate, but recieved a deep gash to his neck all the same. The shock of the pain caused him to swing his sword as a reflex, cutting the mole in half. He rose to his feet shakily, and resheathed his sword. "Why in Sol's name did you make me fight a monster like that?! I nearly got killed!!!" he said, angrily yet weakly.
"Shade, come on out, girl," he said. The djinni again left the man and appeared in Picard's hand. "My friend, you need to have some faith in me. While we're out here, I'm going to teach you how to heal. Focus your mind on a wound, preferrably the one on your neck. Now, focus on an image of it as if it were healed. Once the psynergy awakens in you, the word is Ply. Try it."
He did as he was told. The feeling of the images blurring and blending in his mind came to him again, and his hands began to glow with healing light. He slightly cupped his right hand and instinctively brought it within an inch of his neck. "Ply," he said. The wound began to close slowly until the pain was gone and the bleeding stopped.
"A basic attack, and a basic healing psynergy. Hama said I could tell you when this happened," said Picard.
"Does this mean...?" asked the man.
"Yes. Good job, Alex."
~***~
\/\/00-|-Z0|2!!! He has a name!!! SCORE!!! And now everybody who wants to know can quit pelting me with "It's Isaac or Garet! It's Isaac or Garet! I know I'm right!" ...Okay, there wasn't exactly pelting, but this'll teach you never to second-guess an Amayagi. I hope. Or maybe not, that works too. Take care, and happy New Year!!!