NOTICE: You should know that this chapter is sort of a 'filler' chapter. Which means, I need to discuss this stuff, and it has to happen for the rest of the story to go on, but I really don't think its as important as the rest or has that much to do with the main plot. Its necessary, but I just couldn't fit it in with the other chapters. So chapter 7 is a filler chapter. Though you might like to know. There may be more of these in the future of this story, because believe me, I've planned out the majority of the story in a summary of the plot and there are a LOT more chapters to be written. That's a fact!
Disclaimer: Don't own it etc.
Golden Sun: The New Beginning
Chapter VII: To the point of anger
"…and you should go help your father today. He's working on building that shack to store all his tools and things in. Are you listening?"
Garet grunted his reply and his mother continued on about other things he had to do. He hadn't really paid much attention to her, which he knew he'd regret later when she was scolding him for it, but his mind was elsewhere and his eyelids were heavy with sleep from having stayed up far to late celebrating at the inn the night before. At the celebration he'd managed to keep his thoughts away from Alex and the threat, but that morning it was all he could ponder.
He hadn't spent much time thinking about it since Alex's visit, what with finishing Vale and all he was too busy. Really he'd only started to ponder what the future months held for them. In all honesty the idea of having to fight so soon after just finishing a journey that had taken them practically a year to complete was overwhelming. Sometimes, whenever he recalled the events of the adventure, he missed being out in the world, but one look at his warm home, comfy bed, family, and the newly restored town around him all desires for more traveling vanished from heart and mind.
Lazily he glanced out the window, grunting another reply to a question he hadn't even heard. He hadn't realized how short a time it had been since their journey's end. It had seemed longer when they were building, but now it wasn't so long ago anymore.
He spotted Isaac trekking along the path up past his house headed in the direction of the bridge. But he wasn't alone. Standing he rushed toward the door. "I'll do those things later, mother," he called over his shoulder, hardly hearing his mother's voice as she spoke.
"I wasn't talking to you anymore, Garet!" Her annoyed response came. She called his name again before he shut the door behind him. Jogging up the stairs and down the path he only slowed once he'd caught up to his childhood friend.
"Isaac!" he called, slowing to match his pace. He glanced at the brown-haired girl for a moment with inquisitive eyes. "Where are you going?" he asked, turning back to the blonde adept before him.
"Kraden's," Isaac replied, smiling warmly to greet his friend. "Escaping your mother's 'endless' list of chores?"
Garet snorted, refusing to acknowledge the accusation. It was true, but he didn't have to admit he neglected his chores from time to time. "So, who's this?" he asked, flashing a brief smile to the girl as he indicated her with his head.
"Oh, sorry," Isaac apologized, pausing. "That's right, you didn't meet her last night. Garet this is Felicia. Felicia I'd like—"
"Garet?" Felicia asked, her eyes lighting up as she turned her gaze on the tall, red head. "You're Garet?"
"Uh, yeah," Garet replied, casting a confused glance Isaac's way. The Venus adept only snickered knowing the reaction that answer would provoke from the young lady.
Felicia took a step forward, her green eyes sparkling as she probed him with her stare. She smiled, revealing her bottom teeth a good bit before she gasped in awe. "Garet the Courageous!" she breathed, reaching out to touch his sleeve as if she were touching something sacred.
Garet stared at her; his mouth gapped open as the words sunk in. "What?" he asked, his brow frowning with confusion. Isaac burst out laughing, making a motion to his friend's expression. "What are you laughing at?" Garet demanded. He pointed to Felicia who stood staring at him like a child would stare at a toy or piece of candy he desired. "And what is she talking about?"
Isaac chuckled. Clapping a hand on Garet's shoulder he held his hand out to Felicia like he were to present someone to a crowd. "We're famous! And Felicia is our number one fan."
Felicia stepped forward again invading what Garet considered 'personal space'. "It is a pleasure to meet you! I've heard all the tales of your greatness, but I never thought I'd actually get to see you, much less meet you!" she blurted out all in one breath. Garet stepped back as she continued. "You really are as tall as they say. Exactly how powerful are your flame attacks? Would you mind demonstrating for me? Are you as kind as they say? Do you really eat a lot?"
Garet blinked. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. He turned his bewildered gaze over to his friend who smiled broadly.
"Its shocking, isn't it?" Isaac asked. Garet nodded his reply, turning back to stare at the girl with curiosity and surprise. "Apparently our deeds that we performed along our journey didn't go without the praise of the people. It spread and now pretty much all of Weyard knows who we are and what we did."
"Well," Garet managed to say. It was rather shocking to hear. He had no idea that they were being talked about after they left all the places they'd visited. He didn't expect to become famous or earn a title while out traveling. "That's certainly… interesting." He scowled at his lack of a better word and then smiled strangely at Felicia. "Garet the Courageous?" he then inquired.
"Yes! You are known for your courage," Felicia explained. "It's said that you almost gave your life diving off a cliff in Jupiter Lighthouse to save a friend. And there are many other accounts of your courageous acts in battle as you stood loyally by your friend's sides no matter the circumstances. As a matter of fact—"
Isaac cleared his throat to gain her attention. He glanced at the fire adept's perplexed expression and then back at her. He gave a brief smile before turning and slowly resuming his walk to Kraden's house.
Felicia turned back to Garet. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Isaac warned me that some of you might be stunned by this news. I should have been more reserved."
" 'Some of us'?" Garet asked, turning to follow after Isaac.
Felicia matched his pace and walked beside of him. "Yes, the other six of your traveling companions earned titles as well," she replied. "I can tell you about them on the way if you'd like."
"Sure," Garet nodded. "Why not?"
Felicia explained the titles and reasons for getting them to the fire adept. He found the tales of his 'glory' particularly interesting and continued to ask her about more 'great deeds' she'd heard about him.
Isaac didn't have to endure it much longer though. The roof of Kraden's house soon came into view over the trees and a minute or so after they were ascending the stairs to the scholar's house.
Isaac knocked on the door. Garet and Felicia fell silent as they all three listened for a response on the other side and waited for the elderly man inside to open it. It was quiet for a while, but Kraden's muffled voice soon came over the noise of his footsteps as he called, "Coming!"
"Isaac! Garet, what a surprise!" the old man smiled broadly as he glanced between the two. He beckoned to them with one hand while straightening his spectacles with the other, saying, "Come in, come in!"
The lower room of Kraden's house was obviously 'decorated' for a scholar and his studies. A large table sat in the middle of the room, covered with an assortment of glasses, small, round containers, and many blank parchments that were used to jot down Kraden's notes on his experiments. Oddly colored liquids and awful smelling gasses arose from most of the containers, and a large pot, filled with one of the liquids hung on a hook over the fire in the hearth.
Over by the window sat a desk, piled up with stacks upon stacks of books, some laying open to certain pages and others sat up on their ends in a row to make room for the papers and scrolls scattered across the wood surface. The top of a quill pen sticking out of a pile of paper was the only proof that there was a pen there to begin with.
A ladder, rather than stairs, had been set up into a large, square whole cut in the ceiling that led to the living part of Kraden's home. There was a door closed over the whole to keep the smells and stench of experiments out of the bedroom.
The walls behind and to the right of the ladder were lined with bookshelves, crammed full of books. The only gaps between the colorful binders of the reading materials were the ones created by the absence of the books that had been taken over to the desk.
Kraden, who had moved while the three young adults surveyed their surroundings, stood by the table in the center of the room. He glanced over at Felicia long enough to look her over once. "Who might your friend be, hm?" he asked, eyeing a liquid through the clear glass container as he held it up to the light.
Isaac was about to introduce the eager young scholar when the hatch above the ladder opened. A skirted pair of legs began to descend as a female's voice called down ahead of them.
"Kraden!" the young lady said as she neared the bottom rung. "I got the container that—" The girl stepped onto the floor and turned, her eyes falling upon Felicia. She gasped in mid sentence, her eyes widening with surprise. Her mouth gaped open witha lack of words and her hand loosened on the glass container. It fell to the floor, shattering on contact.
"Kitty!" Kraden lightly scolded. "What's wrong with you, child? Have you greased your fingers today?"
The girl, now addressed as Kitty, stooped over to the mess of glass shards. "I'm terribly sorry, Kraden," she apologized, casting a strange glance up at Felicia from behind her bangs.
Kraden rushed across the room and squatted, assisting in the clean up of the mess. "Do be more careful child. I have a limited supply of these and I can't buy any more here in Vale." Kitty apologized again.
A young man climbed half way down the ladder and gazed down upon the shattered glass. "What happened?" he asked.
Kraden stood as the young man stepped off the ladder. "Oh, nothing too terrible," he explained with a laugh. He turned back to Isaac. "Now, I believe you were going to answer my question."
"You!" the young man exclaimed, stepping past the seasoned scholar to point his extended finger at Felicia. "What are you doing here?"
"Its nice to see you too, Kaiden," Felicia's cold response came.
Isaac exchanged a glance with Garet and shrugged. "You know each other?" he asked, motioning with his hand between the two.
"Yes," Felicia replied. "They studied in Tolbi with me."
"More like against you," Kitty corrected, straightening herself as she stood with the glass shards in hand.
"We are rivals," Felicia explained, noting thetwo famousadept's questioning glances. "The three of us, ever since we started our early careers, have been trying to out do, or in this case, out learn the other."
"Yes, well that's interesting," Kraden mused. He cleared his throat. "Isaac, Garet. These two young people are siblings, Kaiden and Kitty," he explained, indicating them respectively. "They came from Tolbi to study with me."
Felicia stepped forward with a smile and curtseyed, her full attention put on the old man. "My name is Felicia. I, too, am a scholar from Tolbi. Lord Iodem sent me continue my studies here, with you. He requests that you take me as an apprentice of sorts."
Kraden's gray, bushy eyebrows raised high on his forehead. "My, my, it would seem Lord Iodem expectsgreat thingsfrom me. Sending three young scholars to study with me is a great task put to rest on my shoulders, don't you agree?" He peered through his spectacles at the young female scholar opposite the room from him.
Felicia curtseyed again, bowing her head as she bent low to the ground and remained there as she spoke. "It would be my honor to study with the great scholar, Kraden, sir. I know it will be difficult to teach three young scholars, especially when two are the rivals of the other. But please, it would honor me and please my lord, Iodem."
"I'm sure it would!" Kraden exclaimed. He laughed, turning a wry smile to Garet and Isaac. "I don't know how I got to be so famous and popular with the scholars of today, but I find it all very overwhelming."
Isaac returned the smile, almost apologetically. "She arrived in Vale last night during the celebration," he explained, gesturing to Felicia. "I talked with her and she explained herself. I promised I bring her to meet you today."
Kraden nodded approvingly. "Good, you're a man of your word, truly," he commented. He looked at Kaiden and then his sister. "I hope I don't offend you by inviting your lifelong rival to study with me as well."
Kaiden glared at Felicia then exchanged a glance with his sister. Kitty reluctantly nodded once. "It is not our decision to make, Kraden," Kaiden reluctantly replied. He bowed his head in submission. "I will not try and prevent you from taking on another student, despite who they might be."
"That was mature," Felicia taunted, the venom of his last phrase evident to everyone. She smiled at him as obnoxiously as she could. "Kraden, I ask if you accept me?"
Kraden placed his hands behind his back and stood observing the girl's posture for a moment. He looked thoughtfully upon her then smiled a wide, bright smile. "Of course, I accept you as my student," he replied. Felicia smiled and curtseyed again, joyfully spilling out her thanks. "But I'm afraid I have no room for you to stay here. You'll have to live at the inn and walk here daily for your studies. If you do some odd jobs for me around the house, I'll pay you for them. That way you can afford to stay at the inn."
Felicia glared at the two sibling scholars who both grinned smugly and triumphantly at her. She bowed her head, her hands folded in front of her. "That is a sacrifice, for the time spent away from you is less time I can study," she began, her voice low with jealousy of the siblings. "But being granted the privilege to even study with you is a great privilege indeed. I will perform these tasks as you ask them of me."
"Good! Wonderful," Kraden said, clapping his hands together. He smiled at the five young adults surrounding him. "Well, I think its time we get to our studies."
Isaac bumped Garet with his elbow and ushered him toward the door. "We'll be on our way and leave you to do just that," he said with a smile.
"Of course!" Kraden smiled. He waved as they exited. "Goodbye. I'll see you at some point in the future."
Garet returned the wave and Isaac smiled with a nod as farewell before closing the door.
Kraden turned to each of the three scholars. "Shall we?" he asked, motioning toward the center table. The three moved to opposite sides, the siblings resuming their previously paused work and Felicia waiting patiently to receive her instructions while surveying the contents of the tabletop. Kraden glanced back and forth between the three and then sighed hopeful that he hadn't made a mistake pitting rivals together for the same studies.
Ivan stared up at the two-story house with a look of contemplation. He moved his gaze to the door in awe over the intricate design that the villagers had carved into it. It was beautiful! The villagers had spared no expense or labor when they re-built their hero's homes.
He was reluctant to knock on the door for fear of messing up the carved workmanship. It was a ridiculous fear, for he knew the only way to accomplish that would be to take a knife or other blade to it and hack away the design.
"Ivan!" Jenna's exclamation was one of surprise just as much as it was one of delight. She stepped to the side and motioned for him to enter her home. "Please, come in!"
Mia looked up from where she sat by the empty fireplace and smiled. "Ivan, what are you doing here?"
Ivan returned the smile. "I—well, nobody was home, so I decided to take a walk and find where you went," he explained, looking back over his shoulder as Jenna passed by it.
"Isaac and his parents weren't home?" Jenna questioned, glancing back to him as she walked.
He shook his head, casting his gaze over to the fire adept. "Isaac had promised to take Felicia to Kraden's today. His parents are out visiting some of their friends."
"Felicia?" Mia asked, looking for an answer from either Sheba or Jenna as she looked between the two.
Jenna nodded. "Yes, she said she was from Tolbi," she explained. "She was sent by Iodem, believe it or not, he rules Tolbi now. Anyway, he wanted her to study with Kraden."
"Yeah, and she thinks were famous," Sheba laughed from her seat in the floor. "Actually, we are famous according to her. She named all our titles and our 'great deeds' for over half the night." She giggled, her eyes glinting as she looked upon Jenna. "Jenna's title was funny."
Jenna glared at her with a threatening look that warned the young Jupiter adept not to say any more. "Well, it wasn't as bad as Sheba Windfall," she retorted. Sheba stuck her tongue out in reply.
"I'm famous?" Mia asked, baffled by the idea. She blinked as it settled in. She was famous, apparently, for the things she'd done along with the others on their journeys. "And I have a 'title'?"
Ivan smiled. "I'm afraid so. We all do," he replied. "I'm not sure I like the idea so much, but maybe our popularity will die down after a few years."
"But we're famous," Sheba exclaimed. "I never thought I'd be famous. Well, I suppose I was popular in Lalivero, but all of Weyard has heard something about me. It's a lot to take in, yes, but kind of spectacular if you consider the possibilities presented by it."
"I'm content to be just plain Jenna, thanks," Jenna giggled. It was amusing the watch the young girl marvel of her fame, something that none of them had ever dreamt of having.
"You won't find it so wonderful when people start invading your privacy," Mia said. "Most royalty are famous, or any ruler for that matter. They get so much attention that they could go crazy if they heard all the rumors spoken about them. Take Babi for example."
"He did have a lot of people talking about him, didn't he?" Ivan agreed. "Mostly about his long life and rumors behind it's coming to be, but nonetheless, he was 'famous' in a manner of speaking."
Sheba shrugged. "Who is there to swamp me with too much adoration though?" she asked, holding her hands out as if asking for the said hordes to be shown to her. "I'm in Vale, and I expect I be here a while longer. Our fame will probably die out by the time I leave."
"Felicia," Ivan reminded. He received a questioning glance from the other Jupiter adept. "Last night, when Isaac introduced you to her. She bombarded you with questions and wouldn't stop touching you. Its like she had to touch you to realize that you were real."
Sheba shivered at the memory. "That was a little creepy," she recalled, scrunching her nose at the smothering attention the scholar had bestowed upon her the previous night. "I guess there are more people like her out there, huh?"
Ivan nodded as Jenna voiced her agreement. "She was nice," Jenna said, "but very, very, very er—fond? —of us." She pondered the word 'fond' for a moment then shrugged. "I can't think of anything better without being cruel."
Mia shook her head as if trying to rid herself of the whole notion. "I agree with Jenna," she said. "I'll stick to being Mia without a title." She nodded and folded her hands as a sign that she had 'wiped her hands clean' of the matter and dismissed it.
"So, did you need anything, Ivan?" Sheba asked, dropping the previous subject to focus the conversation on something new.
Ivan grinned awkwardly at her, moving across the room to sit in the chair that Jenna was motioning him to. "Not really," he replied, doubt in his tone. He stared at the floor while the three girls exchanged confused glances of concern.
"Ivan," Mia said gently, reaching out to tap his leg and catching his attention. "Is something wrong? You said you came to find me, did you need to tell me something?"
"I'm tired, I guess," he replied with a sigh.
"We were out late," Jenna observed. "It was an awful chore having to caring Sheba's sleeping body back, too. I thought I'd collapse under her weight before I reached home."
Sheba glared at the fire adept, a flicker off annoyance in her eye. She stuck her tongue out snottily, unable to think of a come back at the moment.
"I don't think it's how late we stayed out," Ivan explained, trying to hide a yawn behind his hand. He blinked his tired eyes in attempt to ride them of the heavy feeling they'd had all morning. "I wasn't able to sleep much last night. I kept waking up."
"I thought I heard you moving around," Mia commented. "I figured I'd imagined it or was still dreaming since I was only half awake."
"Why couldn't you sleep?" Sheba asked, concerned. She scooted closer to his chair looking eager for his response.
"Sheba, have you had anymore visions?" he suddenly asked, raising his gaze to meet hers.
The other wind adept blinked, taken back by the sudden question. "Well—" she stumbled with her words, trying to gather up her thoughts to search them for any memories of another vision. "Not since last night, before Felicia arrived."
"You had another vision?" Mia gasped. "But you weren't asleep?"
Sheba shook her head. "No, I was awake for this one. I glimpsed Felicia's travels here," she explained. "It was another vision of past events, like the one I had of Alex."
"Oh it was awful!" Jenna exclaimed, squatting next to the small blonde girl. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and hugged her against her side. "It caused her so much pain! She was crying and whimpering and calling out Ivan's name!" She giggled, smiling down at the younger girl. "That part was actually kind of sweet, if you ignore the situation!"
Ivan felt his cheeks flush as Mia cast him a glance and gave a sly smile. He quickly averted his gaze to the floor.
"I didn't whimper!" Sheba objected defensively, her cheeks turning a bright red. "And the only reason I called out Ivan's name was because you or Isaac wouldn't have been able to help me!"
"So you didn't have any visions last night?" Ivan asked, regaining their attention.
Mia gave Jenna a look that requested the whole event be recounted to her later.
Sheba shook her head. "No, no more visions. The one about Felicia was the last I had," she repeated. Cocking her head to the side her brows narrowed over her green eyes. "Why do you ask?"
Ivan sighed. "I was curious," he replied.
"It was so sudden though," Jenna commented. "You were talking about being tired and then out of nowhere you asked that question. Are you sure nothings bothering you?"
Mia shifted her weight and leaned forward over her knees, resting her arms across her lap. "Ivan, why couldn't you sleep last night?" she repeated Sheba's earlier question. "What woke you up so much?"
"A dream," he answered. He met her gaze, moving his to Sheba and Jenna to meet theirs as well. Dropping his gaze he found himself staring at the floor again.
"What dream?" Mia sweetly coaxed. She found it odd that she had to encourage him to tell them so much. Normally he wasn't so reluctant to share what he was thinking, or explain his worries and troubles. Just from his expression she could tell that whatever it was really bothered him. It must have bothered him so much that he was unwilling to share it with others.
Ivan sighed once again, his eyes closing from the weight of sleep upon them. "I had a strange dream last night," he explained, forcing himself to open his eyes. He looked up at Mia. "I can't be certain, but I think my dream was about Hamma."
"Master Hamma?" Sheba gasped. "What about her? Is she okay? Was it a prophetic dream?"
Ivan nodded reluctantly. "I think, if I'm right, that my dream was a vision of the future," he replied. He shook his head. "I'd wake up disturbed by the dream. When I finally fell back asleep, I'd have the dream again. Each time the images I saw became more clear and vivid. I could see more detail, but I could only make out clearly one face: the face of my sister."
"What was your dream?" Jenna inquired, sitting next to Mia on the hearth.
"A man brought a woman in a prison carriage to a castle. I don't know where, but he took her around to a back gate. A second man came out to greet the carriage driver, and two more men accompanied him. The third and fourth men opened the carriage and pulled the woman out," he paused, the memory of the dream still fresh in his mind from having had it so many times the night before. Mia and Jenna listened intently, and Sheba reached up and touched his hand, encouraging him to continue. "I couldn't figure out why, but I recognized the woman. She was drugged or something, because she acted groggily. The men talked and she was drug into the gate, which was closed after the second man. I came to a conclusion this morning. I know now why I recognized the woman, why she was so familiar to me. I realized that it was Hamma."
Jenna gasped. "But if it's a prophetic dream—" her voice trailed off. She didn't have to finish that statement. Everyone knew what it meant.
"Oh, Ivan," Mia sympathized, reaching over to give his lower arm a squeeze. "I'm sorry."
"It hasn't happened yet," he said softly. He sighed again, allowing his chin to rest on his chest as he slouched down into the chair. His eyes closed involuntarily and he left them shut. "That dream haunted me all last night. And today, it still haunts me. I kept telling myself, trying to convince myself that it was only a dream created by my fears and worry over her lack of replies to my letters. But the more I tell myself that, it seems all the more not to be true."
Jenna scowled, biting her lower lip. She watched as Mia squatted next to Ivan's chair to wrap her arms around him and embrace him in a comforting way. If his dream was a vision of the future, then that meant Hamma was going to be imprisoned within the next few weeks, if not days. There was no way to tell how fare ahead he'd seen, just that what he'd seen was going to happen—like it or not.
"That's terrible," Sheba whispered. She lifted her gaze, which she'd lowered to the floor while Ivan was speaking. "To dream something about your own sister and know there's nothing you can do? I can't imagine." She shook her head; words failing her as the realization of Hamma's capture being inevitable.
"I only wish that I could see who took her, or when and where she was taken so I maybe could prevent it," Ivan added, a bitter tone to his voice. He opened his eyes, leaning forward to drop his head into his hands. "What am I supposed to do? I feel so worthless now, knowing my sister's future and not having any power to even try and stop it."
Mia hugged him tighter, leaning her head between his shoulders, as she stood up so she could wrap her arms around him better. "Ivan, I don't know what to say."
Ivan shook his head. "What is there to say?" he asked. It was an empty question that no one could answer, but one that any one of them would have given almost anything to answer. "I wonder if she's seen her future. Does she know her coming capture? The inevitable imprisonment that awaits her? If she does, how does she feel?" He heaved a frustrated sigh. "I wish I could help her. I wish I could be with her!"
The room fell silent as everyone let the terrible future of their friend sink in. Ivan remained still for the entirety of the extended silence. Mia only moved to straighten her self, keeping her back from cramping, but she stayed next to her friend with both hands on either of his shoulders as somewhat of a comfort. They all searched their minds for a solution, for something they could suggest to ease the anguished Jupiter adept of some of his worry. They tried in vain to come up with a way to help Master Hamma.
Jenna sighed after several quiet minutes passed, closing her eyes. She could think of nothing and had grown weary trying to. "Why," she began with a bitter tone, "do I feel that if Felix were here, he'd know what to do? He'd know what to say, how to say it, and how to make you feel better."
Ivan raised his head to find her sympathetic gaze upon him.
Sheba shifted on the floor. "And if he couldn't, Picard could," she added with a helpless sigh. "I don't know how old he is, but something tells me he's a lot older than even Kraden. And he's wise enough to solve our problems."
"Maybe Isaac and Garet could help?" Mia offered. Neither of the two men said to be such great problem solvers were present. Somebody else would have to substitute their place for now. She gave Ivan's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We'll talk to Isaac tonight, okay? In the morning, the three of us can go to Garet's house and explain it to him. Maybe with six minds thinking of a way to help we'll come up with something."
Ivan nodded very slowly. His gaze was distant as if fell back to the floor. He seemed to be looking at something beyond the wood surface as he held back tears of frustration.
Jenna stood, casting a glance to Sheba signaling for her to get up too. "Ivan, why don't you go home and get some sleep," she suggested. She looked at Mia who nodded andpulled up on his shoulder's to encourage him to stand alongside her. "Mia can go with you while Sheba and I will stay here and continue trying to come up with something."
Sheba went to the door and opened it as Mia guided the weary, grieved boy to it. She stopped to two and gave Ivan and brief hug. "It'll be okay, Ivan," she whispered sweetly to him. As she stepped back she gave him a reassuring smile and a lightly squeezed his upper arm. "You'll see. Hamma will be fine."
Jenna watched as the wind adept shut the door. She sighed and sank down into the chair. "What a mess," she muttered.
"Poor Ivan," Sheba commented as she returned to her seat. "I can't imagine how he feels. I myself fell awful."
"Not to mention helpless," Jenna added. She shook her head with another sigh. "Worthless is a better word."
Sheba hugged her knees against her chest, resting her chin upon them as she gaze thoughtfully up at the mantle piece. "I would have suggested that it was nothing more than a dream," she began softly, "but being a Jupiter adept myself I know better. What else could that have been other than a prophetic dream?"
"I just hope that we can some how prevent it," Jenna replied. After a brief pause she added, "And if we can't, let's hope Hamma can pull through until we find her."
The wind blew mercilessly, tearing her hair away from her face. She gritted her teeth, holding her arm in front of her face as a shield.
"Alex!" Karst growled, lashing out with her other arm at the unseen force that pushed against her. She cursed the open plain that they walked across and the bitter cold wind that furiously swept across it. "Alex! Stop ignoring me!" she roared angrily.
The mercury adept trudged against the wind ahead of her so easily his struggled seemed almost effortless. His blue hair lashed around in the wind, pulled every direction by the gale around them. He couldn't hear her over the wind; either that or he was ignoring her.
"Alex!" She called again, wishing vainly to be back in Prox. She hadn't missed the cruel weather of open plains or secluded stillness of mountains, nor had she desiredgo sailing on the choppy waves of endless blue ocean or traipsing through the scorching hot seas of sand in a forsaken desert again. She called to him again, this time her voice hoarse from yelling so much and so loudly and from the relentless winds whipping into her open mouth as she spoke.
Finally he turned his head back to her, the wind pushing his hair around his face. He paused briefly for her to catch up.
As she neared him she could finally see just how the wind was affecting him. His lips were dry and so cracked that the bled. His skin had taken a sever beating as well and his eyes were dryer than hers were.
"Why are we crossing this accursed plain?" she demanded.
He pulled his coat closer to his body for what little good it did protecting him from the harsh wind that tore right through the flesh and chilled to the bone. He glanced into the wind, blinking wildly in order to protect his eyes. "To get to the other side," he replied with a smile. As he smiled his lips cracked further, lines of crimson trickling from them.
Karst cringed for him, knowing how it had to hurt to have ones skin split like that. "What's on the other side?" she asked, deciding to humor him for now. Her tone was weary and exasperated.
"A town, hopefully one we will find answers in," he replied over the howling wind. He shook his head although the many directions the wind pulled his hair in made it hard to tell that his head was even moving. "I know its rough," he continued, seeming to know the next questions before she even asked them. "But I'm not going to teleport us both from town to town."
"Aren't you powerful enough?" Karst taunted, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
He cast her an agitated glance. "Its not that," he replied. "It has nothing to do with how powerful I am or if I can or can't do it. I can, and that's the truth, but I simply don't want to."
"Why? When you could avoid all of this," she asked, motioning at the invisible wind rushing past them. "And avoid all the pain it causes you're skin."
He stared at her for a while, his gaze long and hard, unwavering as his hair blew over his eyes. "I need not explain my actions, nor do I have to justify my decisions to you." He turned and resumed his course, pushing against the wind once again.
Karst followed after him, a low growl barely loud enough for her ears to hear rising from deep within his throat. Whatever his reason for walking all over Weyard, —again— was beyond her. But whatever compelled him to suffer the harsh treatment that they were suffering now, she decided, was madness. After all, he was insane, right?
A gust of wind caught her in the chest, so forceful that it shoved her backwards. She stumbled over a rock hidden under the grass of the plain and fell hard on her rear, the force of impact knocking the breath from her lungs. She muttered a curse under her breath as she regained it. Throwing her head back she shouted into the sky, "I hate this cursed land!"
Ahead of her Alex turned his gaze lazily over his shoulder in response to her outburst of frustration. A smirk crept across his cracked, bloodied lips as a feeling of satisfaction warmed him. Almost any amount of pain and suffering was worth it to see her struggling to the point of uncontrolled anger—almost.