"Isaac, please hurry." The Mercury Djinni repeated.
For a moment, all Isaac and Jenna could do was stare at the Mercury Djinni. How could Piers; one their strongest members, have been defeated? After a minute of amazed silence, Isaac came to a decision. He sent each Djinni back to its owner with a new message: Get to Imil as fast as possible.
Lalivero, while safe now, is still in a panic, making it harder for Isaac and Jenna to move, but they eventually make it to Faran's house. They'd expected it to be full of angry town's people, but it was actually empty this time. They knocked on the door and a very stressed Faran answered. At the sight of them, his face adopted a nasty scowl. He doesn't invite them in, this time he orders them into his house and they enter tentatively.
"Do you know the damage you have caused in my town?" Faran demanded after locking his door. "The people are in a panic, part of the town is on fire, dozens covered in strange burns and who knows how many are dead!"
"Mayor, please," Jenna said, trying to calm Faran, "We actually saved your town from further destruction. If we hadn't been there to stop the Chemists-"
"The who?"
"The ones who attacked your town." Isaac said, "They're the ones responsible for the damage to your town, not us."
"I suppose that huge fireball was their doing too?"
"Well, no, that was us finished them off." Jenna said.
"Then you admit damaging my town?"
"It's not our fault!" Isaac shouted.
"Isn't it?" Faran yelled back, "Why do you think they attacked this place? By your story, it sounds like they ignored Lalivero and her citizens once they found you. You prevented further destruction of my town and for that I am grateful, but if you had not been here in the first place, this wouldn't have happened!"
"YOU CALLED US HERE!" Isaac roared.
"Never the less, I am holding you responsible for damages to Lalivero." Faran said, folding his arms.
"Send us the bill." Jenna said angrily. They made to leave, but Faran did not move.
"I'm afraid I can't let you leave. If I did that and had no one to hold accountable for these damages, the people would revolt."
"You have people to blame: The Chemists." Isaac said, forcing himself to be calm.
"Besides, do you really think you can stop us?" Jenna asked.
"A-Are you threatening me?" Faran stuttered.
"More of a warning." Jenna said, igniting a fire in her hand, "Our friends are in trouble and you are standing between us and helping them."
She held out her fiery hand and walked slowly towards Faran. He would either have to move to let them leave, or suffer serious burns. Jenna could see the conflict in his eyes, but he reluctantly decided to move unlock the door and move out of their way. He grudgingly watched them leave.
"We'll come back and sort this out once our friends are safe. Promise." Jenna said as the door closed again.
Still fuming, Isaac and Jenna make their way out of Lalivero and to their ship still docked in a nearby river. They climbed aboard and began the long trip up to Imil. Isaac was still recovering from his fight so Jenna took the helm and she pointed the ship North East and set off as fast as she could push the ship. With only her Psynergy to power the ship, it wouldn't be able to clear the mountains of Goma Range so they were going to have to go over the Morgall Woods then turn North West towards Imil. The trip was going to take at least two days.
Isaac sat behind Jenna with his back against the hull, watching her. She must've been extremely focused since she only moved with the rise and fall of the ship as it flew through the air. He felt the cool night air blowing through his hair and soon he was fast asleep. He dreamt of his friends, Piers and Mia. In his dreams, horrible things happened to them and Isaac was powerless to protect them. Each scenario his mind presented him was worse than the last until he finally dreamt they had fallen off a cliff.
Isaac woke with a start to find that the ship was falling, not Piers or Mia. The ship suddenly climbed again, regaining its altitude, but it was nowhere near as stable as it usually was. Isaac looked at Jenna and could see that she was clearly exhausted. He jumped to his feet and put his own hands on the Black Orb. Instantly the ship's flight stabilized with Isaac's added power and Jenna fell to her knees beside the helm.
"What's wrong with you?!" Isaac shouted, "You should've woken me up sooner!"
"I just…I just…" Jenna was so weak she couldn't even finish her sentence.
"You just wanted to save them?" Isaac guessed, "Fat load of good you'll do if you don't have any Psynergy."
Jenna nodded weakly and slumped to the side, deep asleep. Isaac muttered angrily to himself and tried to figure out where they were. He spotted a town and recognized it as Xion. He took the ship into a wide turn and pointed the ship North West. The sun was high in the sky so Isaac guessed they still had about a day of travel maybe a day and a half. He sighed and urged the ship to go faster.
The sun began to set again and still Isaac flew on. He was beginning to feel weak himself, but thankfully Jenna began to stir and after she stretched, she was awake and helping him fly. She apologized for being dumb and with a kiss, Isaac forgave her. With Jenna's added power, Isaac felt strong enough to stay at the helm and together they pushed the ship faster through the air. As they passed over Kolima Forest, the air grew colder. Isaac put his arm around Jenna; he often described her as a human furnace. Even with both of them flying the ship, Imil still didn't come into view until dawn the next morning.
As they approached, the damage became more obvious. Repairs were underway, but several buildings still had large holes in them and the harbor was full of scuttled ships. They landed their ship on a snow drift outside Imil and sprinted to the town. Imil was much smaller than Lalivero and Isaac and Jenna moved through the streets much easier. None of the town's people seemed to notice them since they were so busy with rebuilding their town. Isaac and Jenna rounded a corner and felt an earthquake shake the town. They expected panic, but no one seemed to care. Isaac was curious and placed his hand on the ground. His perception wasn't as good without Venus Lighthouse's power, but he could still sense seismic activity at the harbor.
Isaac and Jenna made their way there and found Felix helping move the ruined ships with his Psynergy. They called out to him and when they caught his eye, he ran up to meet them.
"You sure took your time." Felix said.
"Shut up, have you found them?" Isaac asked.
"No, even the Mercury Djinni couldn't find them." Felix said, indicating the Djinni on his shoulder. "I feel sorry for him; the rest of us already have as many as we can carry so he's just been floating around. I tried searching for the elements that the Chemists like to use and Echo found trace amounts leading off to the South West so we at least have a direction to start looking."
"Any idea what happened?"
"I talked to Meagan and Justin; Mia's students, and they told me everything. Seems like the Chemists attacked the town and its people. Mia and Piers fought and were defeated before being dragged away. They say they were dragged in the same direction of the elements that Echo was sensing."
"What are we waiting for then?" Jenna asked.
"For you guys to get here." A familiar voice said behind them, "You sure took your sweet time."
"Shut up, Garet, we were on the other side of the world." Isaac said, turning to his friend with a quick smile.
"You made considerably good time." Ivan said from behind Garet, "We only beat you by a day with my Soarwing."
"Of course, no one is faster than my Teleport Psynergy." Sheba said materializing next to Felix.
"Good, we're all here." Isaac said, "Let's go find our friends."
Piers awoke from to a throbbing headache. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he found that he was in a jail cell and he wasn't alone. Mia sat against a wall next to him, still unconscious. He tried to move, but a searing pain shot through his leg and with it, the memories came flooding back; the Chemists, Mia getting hurt and his own defeat. His hands instinctively moved to cradle the limb and he found that his arms were far heavier than normal. Heavy chains hung from shackles on his wrists and they secured him to the wall. He looked down at his leg and cast his Ply Psynergy. Nothing happened. Piers tried again, but still his leg sat, bent at a weird angle. He guessed that the chains and shackles had Psynergy seals built into them. Then he noticed one final thing: he had been stripped of all but his underwear.
Panic began to rise in Piers' chest as his leg began to ache more and more, but then he felt a soothing sensation flow through him. His Djinni Spritz appeared on his shoulder and its healing ability began working on Piers' leg. In no time it was as good as new and Piers got to his feet. He thanked the Djinni and told it to heal Mia as well. The Djinni jumped happily to the task and soon Mia looked completely healthy.
"What happened?" Mia asked as she slowly woke up.
"You were hit pretty hard." Piers said, "It's probably a good thing you're alive."
"What do you mean?" Mia said, but then her eyes flew open and tears flowed down her face, "I…I lost…Imil could be in flames right now…the Lighthouse could be in ruins…I'm a failure…as a Mercury Clan member and a citizen of Imil…"
"It's ok," Piers said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I sent one of my Djinni to Isaac before I was defeated. I'm sure they all came to Imil's rescue."
"That's not the point!" Mia wailed, "It's because I didn't have the forethought to do that that I'm a failure. You who isn't even of the Mercury Clan did a better job of carrying out my duty than me!"
"You still came to their rescue." Piers said weakly.
"And I was DEFEATED!" Mia cried, "I've f-f-failed in my duty, Piers…just leave me alone, you don't understand."
Piers decided it was better to just let Mia cry it out for now. He moved to the cell door; it was a plain piece of metal, no bars, just a small window at the top and a flap at the bottom. Piers tried to look out the tiny window, but the corridor outside was too dark for anything to be seen. He tried banging on the door, but all he got in response was a gruff voice telling him to be quiet. He returned his attention to the rest of the cell; nothing but bare rock which gave off a faint glow. There wasn't even a bed. Piers sighed and moved back to sit next to Mia. She was still sobbing uncontrollably, so Piers let her be.
It felt like hours later, they heard a rapping at the door and Mia's sobs were instantly silenced. The door was unlocked from the outside and none other than Valerie came strolling in. She was looking rather pleased with herself and gave Piers a smile he didn't like. She was no longer wearing the armor from their last encounter. Now she wore a tight, black leather dress that left little to the imagination and her long red hair flowed down her back in luxurious curls. In her arms she carried an assortment of items: a whip, some small knives, candles and what Piers guessed was some kind of oil. She set them down next to a wall and then stood in front of Piers and Mia, a smug smile on her face.
"Not so strong without your blasphemous powers, are you?"
"Why?" Mia said weakly, "Why did you attack my town? My people? They were completely innocent…why did you do that?
"What's the point in telling you?" Valerie said slowly, enjoying every moment.
"Tell me now!" Mia screamed, "Why Imil? Why Mercury Lighthouse?"
"Such fire. Rare for a Mercury Adept." Valerie purred. "Very well, I'll tell you. It is the teaching of our Lord; King Manhattan, that Alchemy is pure evil. Psynergy is a science and should only be used for the advancement of science. Your Psynergy is old, outdated, and archaic. Just as animals have evolved over the eons, so now will Psynergy. Alchemy will be forgotten and the new era of Chemistry will begin. We are nothing but messengers of this new age and as messengers, we must clear the path. For this to happen, all of you heathens must be removed. You say that the town's people are innocent? They all use Alchemy! For that fact alone they are evil!"
"You're wrong!" Mia yelled, "Very few in Imil are actual Mercury Adepts. Only myself and my two pupils are Adepts. You attacked normal humans that day. Have you no shame?"
"I…attacked innocent people?" Valerie said in mock horror, "They served their part in the end. Among the Chemists, you Warriors of Vale are held in very high esteem. After all you are the ones who bestowed our powers onto us when you lifted the seal that the Ancients put on Psynergy. Truth be told, we didn't mean any harm to the Lighthouses at all; without them, we'd lose our powers."
"You're insane!" Piers yelled, "If all of that is true, then why did you attack us and the Lighthouses?"
"To draw you out." Valerie said, another nasty grin curling across her lips, "We could never defeat all eight of you together, legend says even the Wise One could not stop you. So we decided to split you up and the easiest way to defeat you was to attack the Lighthouses and innocent people."
"And we took the bait…" Piers said.
"Like moths to a flame, wouldn't you say?" Valerie said with a giggle. "Now how about I begin to play with you?" Valerie stepped forward and gave Piers' leg a sharp kick. She expected him to scream in pain, but all he did was wince. She kicked him again and again, but still he showed very little sign of pain. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and she grabbed Piers' leg, feeling for the broken bone. Finding none she moved to Mia and grabbed her chin. She forced Mia to look her in the face and confusion and anger spread across Valerie's face. "How did you heal your wounds?"
Piers' just smiled at Valerie and she slapped him, cutting his cheek with her nails, "Just because you've sealed our Psynergy doesn't mean we're helpless." Piers smirked as his Djinni healed his wounds before Valerie's eyes. "We still have allies that don't rely on it. They aren't limited to healing either. For instance, I can seal your Psynergy."
Rime appeared on Piers' shoulder and with a glance, sealed Valerie's Psynergy. She looked furious and screamed for guards. Two quickly burst through the door, but Mia attacked with two Mercury Djinn of her own, easily dispatching them. Valerie turned back to the two Mercury Adepts, a new expression on her face: fear.
"I'll give you one last chance to free us." Piers said as one by one his Djinn appeared and began to hover around him in a protective circle.
"Y-You don't scare me!" Valerie said pulling a large chunk of sodium out from the inside of her dress, "I still had this ace up my sleeve."
"You think that's going to help you now?" Piers laughed, "Mercury Djinn don't attack with water when they're summoned."
With a twitch of his head Pier's Djinn launched themselves at Valerie. She tried to manipulate the Sodium in her hands, but with her Psynergy still sealed, it did nothing. The Djinn attacked and knocked the Sodium from her hands before pelting her with blows from all sides. One rammed into her gut, forcing her to bend doubled over while another rocketed upward into her chin. She spun around dazed, trying to swat the Djinn with her hands, but a final attack collided with her back and she fell to the ground at Piers' feet. He seized his chance and the next thing Valerie knew, the chains that bound Piers to the wall were wrapped around her neck.
"Free us now!" Piers roared right into Valerie's ear.
"Never." Valerie snarled.
Piers looked at Mia who nodded and attacked with her own Djinn. Mia took extreme care to not attack the same spot on Valerie twice, but rather than giving in, Valerie seemed to enjoy Mia's precision. Her anger began to boil over again and Mia lashed out savagely which only seemed to cause Valerie more delight. Piers yelled for Mia to stop and she only did so after getting one last strike in.
"This won't work on her," Piers said, "Masochist…they creep me out."
"What should we do then?" Mia said, loathing obvious in her voice.
"The whip might loosen my tongue." Valerie said, a yearning in her voice. "Or maybe hot candle wax."
"Shut up," Piers spat, tightening the chain around her neck, "Mia, go get one of those knives."
Her chains barely allowed it, but Mia crossed to Valerie's collection of items and picked out a knife. She moved back to Valerie and put the blade to her throat, but Valerie didn't even blink. Mia tried again at different parts of Valerie's body, but nothing seemed to phase her. In fact she only got more excited with every new location. Then Mia moved the blade to Valerie's hair and she finally got the reaction she was looking for.
"Don't you dare…" Valerie growled.
"Oh, what's that?" Mia said, mock worry in her voice, "We don't like to have our hair cut?"
"I swear to King Manhattan that you'll curse they day you were born if you touch a single hair on my head." Valerie said, a hysterical look in her eyes.
"Free us and take us to our gear and maybe I'll talk Mia out of giving you your worst hair day ever." Piers said, sharing a look with Mia.
Mia could see the gears turning in Valerie's head. Even if her Psynergy hadn't been sealed by Rime, the chains against her neck prevented her from using her power. She was utterly helpless. She sighed and came to a decision, "Look on the guards. One of them should have a key to your shackles."
Mia searched the guards and easily found a small brass key. She unlocked her own shackles first and put them on Valerie before freeing Piers.
"Well now what should we do?" Piers asked rubbing his sore wrists, "Should we take her with us?"
"We do need her to lead us to our gear." Mia said, casting a nasty look at Valerie.
"Yeah that's true." Piers said. He held his hand out towards the chain and a section of it instantly froze. He grabbed the chain on either side of the frozen section and yanked, snapping it easily. "We'll take her along with us."
Piers lead the way through the strong hold with Valerie behind him and Mia holding the chains and bringing up the rear. Valerie directed them through the halls and Piers was surprised at how few enemies they ran into. They actually didn't see any until they reached the last turn before the armory. Piers glanced around the corner and saw four guards posted around a door. He signaled for Mia to wait and marched around the corner.
Piers used his Pysergy to make a snowball and he chucked it at the nearest guard. All four yelled in surprise and turned to see Piers standing with another snowball in his hand. The guard that had been hit by the snowball chuckled held up his hand, telling his friends to leave it to him. The guard drew his sword and rushed Piers. He brought the sword up for a mighty blow, but Pier just waved his hand and a pillar of ice erupted from the floor. It struck the guard full in the stomach and Piers was more than sure that he'd broken a few ribs. He fell to the side moaning in pain and Piers took his sword from him, advancing down the hall at a walk. The remaining guards weren't as quick to attack and when Piers launched his own, they stood no chance. Piers lashed out with a combination of melee and Psynergy attacks and in less than a minute, the remaining guards lay in heaps on the ground.
Piers and Mia left Valerie tied to a heavy table in the center of the armory as they searched for their gear. Both easily find their clothes and weapons and quickly get dressed.
"Too bad," Piers laughed, as Mia pulled her shirt on over her head, "I was getting used to you being dressed liked that."
"D-Don't be stupid," Mia stuttered, blushing slightly, "Now what should we do with her?"
"You could just leave me here." Valerie said, "Not like I can do anything with my Psynergy sealed and these chains tethering me to the table."
"I have a different idea." Mia said evilly.
Ten minutes later, they left the armory with Valerie curing their names in anyway she could think of and Piers and Mia couldn't stop smiling. They had not only left her chained to the table, but had also tied her hair to the chandelier above the table. Piers and Mia made their way through the strong hold not caring if they ran into enemies and soon found their way to the main entrance. Oddly enough, no one stood guard and Piers and Mia slipped out through the thick, double, wooden doors.
They emerged into a clear day atop a mountain ridge. Snow came up to their knees and the wind nipped at their exposed skin, but Mia and Piers were happy to be free none the less. Mia took in her surroundings and guessed that they were in the mountains to the south west of Imil. They both sighed, it was going to be a long walk.
They set off toward a slope the lead down the mountain, but just as the ground began to point downward, a Mercury Djinni appeared at Piers' feet. It was the one that Piers had sent to Isaac! He scooped it up and Isaac's voice was clearly heard, "We're on our way to come get you. Sorry for taking so long."
As if on cue, Mia spotted the flying ship in the distance and in no time, it was hovering above them. They heard the crunching of snow and turned to find that Sheba had teleported down to them. She smiled at Mia and Piers and hugged them before teleporting back to the ship. Once there, Mia and Piers were hugged multiple times as they were reunited with their friends.
"So what happened?" Isaac asked once everyone has quieted down.
"Well I'm sure you know we got attacked, but then one of the Chemists, Valerie told us a bit about their plan." Piers explained how the Lighthouses had never been the targets, but the Warriors of Vale and every other Adept that used Alchemy.
"Well luckily we're all together now." Garet said, "They don't stand a chance now!"
As if in response to Garet, the fortress below them began to implode. Large chunks of rock plummeted down the face of the mountain, causing avalanches as they went. What didn't fall off the mountain remained in a large pile at the summit except for the middle which somehow had remained free of debris. In this clear spot stood a circle of Chemist around two figures. Even from this far away, Piers and Mia recognized Valerie, but the tall, bald, muscular man with her was a stranger. Valerie seemed truly terrified as the man's fingers wrapped around her slender neck and lifted her off her feet. He turned to the Warriors of Vale and his voice was heard over the wind.
"You should have ended her life when you had the chance." He said in a deep, wicked voice. "You would have eased her suffering slightly." At these words, the Warriors saw the man's Psynergy flow into his hands. The piece of leather around Valerie's neck that secured the upper part of her dress simply began to disappear. When there was no leather left, the dress fell away and was carried off by the wind. Now they could see as the man's Psynergy began to work on Valerie's naked body. Her already small neck began to flake away as if it her skin was made of sand. A horrible scream of pain erupted from her as the Psynergy began to eat away her shoulders and spread down her arms. There was no blood though, every part of her simply began to vanish. It didn't stop and neither did Valerie's scream as her body disintegrated into nothing. Even as her legs and abdominal cavity disappeared, no blood or viscera were spilt. The gruesome power continued until nothing was left but her head and the upper half of her torso. The man's Psynergy finally stopped and while still suffering, Valerie's screams reduced to mere whimpers.
"Now that they've seen my power, why don't you introduce me?" the man said to Valerie, "I left your lungs and vocal cords intact, surely you can do at least one thing right before you die?"
Tears streamed down Valerie's face and a genuine smile spread across her face as the man flung her body at the flying ship. Only now, as she was freed from the man's touch, did her blood begin to flow. She landed with a wet thud on the deck and she came to rest against one of the ship's masts. "Behold his power." She said weakly, "The power of…King Man…hattan."
With those words, Valerie's eyes lost their light and what little life she had left spilled out onto the deck.