CHAPTER 10

The frigid air of the Northern Wastes was colder than anyone thought possible. Isaac's breath was visible as a white cloud as the group of adepts walked through the town of Prox. At first, Isaac's group was worried about how they would be received due to the fact they had fought and killed Saturos and Menardi, two of the town's heroes, but Felix's endorsement was enough to convince the town Isaac was on their side.

The snow fell in never ending sheets and it was all the townspeople could do to keep the walkways clear enough to walk through. Life here seems harsh…Isaac thought as he watched the few Proxians they saw go about their business in fur coats and heavy clothes. I can see why they were forced to light the lighthouses. If it gets any colder up here the entire place would probably just freeze over.

Felix led them to a man name Puelle and another man called only "The Elder of Prox" and explained to the party that together those two people are in charge of the town. The two elders welcomed the adepts and explained the current situation to them. Agatio and Karst went to light the lighthouse but it's taking longer than expected. They've been gone for a few days now and the town is starting to worry about what happened. Felix explained to the elders that the group of adepts are headed for the lighthouse as well to ensure the beacon gets lit. Puelle was delighted to hear that they had come to help light the beacon and made sure to warn the group that the lighthouse was about a day's journey through the thick snow out in the wilds.

Unfortunately the adepts would have to camp out near the lighthouse because it would be impossible to reach it and scale it in a single day. It certainly wasn't an ideal situation, but they just didn't have any other option. Without time to waste, everyone picked up some last minute supplies from the villagers in Prox before heading out into the frozen lands of the north.

…

Later that evening, the group of adepts found themselves trudging through knee deep snow, slowly making progress towards the Mars Lighthouse looming in the distance. They had left Prox behind hours ago and though the actual distance of the lighthouse was not very far, the inhospitable, snowy terrain brought their pace to a crawl.

Who thought walking could be this exhausting? Mia wondered as she focused on minimizing the distance her foot sank into the snow with each step. As she looked around, it was clear that the rest of her friends were just as tired and that the group would have to stop soon. It didn't help that the sun was already beginning to dip down below the horizon, limiting their already short range of vision. Mia could feel the wind cutting through her heavy robes with its chilling touch. The relentless fog of white snow caused the exposed skin on her face to turn a slightly reddish color. With the temperature dropping quickly, the group needed to find a place to set up camp soon. I didn't think that the temperature could drop any lower, but it's going down quite quickly, Mia mused.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Isaac pointed out a grouping of trees not far from the base of the lighthouse. "That looks like a decent place to set up camp," he said. "We don't want to be too close to the lighthouse and have to worry about the creatures inside, but the trees will provide us with at least a little shelter from the snow and wind." Felix agreed that it was a sound idea and the adepts began to set up tents in what little shelter the trees provided them.

"No watches tonight," Felix said as everyone was working. "We haven't seen a single monster in this entire place and we're not close enough to the lighthouse for anything to come out and attack us. Let's all just stay as warm as possible and get as much sleep as we can for tomorrow." The weary adepts nodded at his words and went back to fixing up their camp.

After finishing with the tents just as darkness hit, all the adepts huddled inside them and tried to sleep off the exhaustion of the day. However, sleep did not come easily to Isaac or Mia as they fought against the cold.

These heavy robes only help so much, Mia thought, pulling her blanket tighter around herself. She looked over to see how Isaac was doing just to see him staring back at her with a frown.

"Too cold Mia?" he asked with concern, holding out a blanket for her to take.

Mia smiled. That's sweet of him, but I know he needs it just as much as I do. "Thanks Isaac, but I'll be fine. You need to keep yourself warm too," she replied.

"Honestly I'm more worried about you Mia," Isaac said as he moved closer to her and draped the blanket over her shoulders. Mia was touched by his blunt honesty and the extent to which he obviously cared for her as he wrapped the blanket around her, causing her to blush slightly. Isaac looked at her with concern and placed a gentle hand on Mia's forehead. "Your face is quite red and you feel extremely cold, all you sure you're all right Mia?" he asked.

Mia's face flushed further at the contact and she didn't answer until Isaac retracted his hand. "Ah…I'm all right…" Mia managed to get out as she turned to face Isaac. She took the blanket he had given her and leaned forward to wrap it around him, causing her face to come within inches of his as she did so. All I'd have to do is lean forward a little further to kiss him…she thought absentmindedly. As soon as Mia acknowledged the thought, she leaned back with a dark red blush on her face and looked away in embarrassment.

When she looked back to Isaac, Mia noticed he was sitting quite still with a pink coloration on his cheeks while observing her hesitantly. After a few seconds Isaac leaned forward and wrapped Mia in a hug, pulling her closer to him. Mia could feel the heat from his body as she allowed herself to relax in Isaac's arms. She gave a content sigh as she lay her head against his shoulder and let him hold her, unable to think of what she could say to let Isaac know how much that one simple gesture meant to her.

That's not true, Mia knew. There are many things I want to say to him. I want him to know how much I enjoy being with him, how much I care for him, and how much I want to continue to be with him. I want him to know that I love him…but those words just don't describe all of my feelings for him.

Mia smiled as she realized that Isaac had been gently running his hand through her hair in a gesture of comfort without her noticing. Oh Isaac…every moment of being with you brings me joy and every time you touch me, I can feel my heart pounding…even if it's only to cast a heal or help me in some other way. I wish I knew what he thinks of me…I know he considers me a close friend at least, but is it possible that he sees me as something more? I want to know…I want to tell him how I feel about him, but I can't. Why is it so hard…

Isaac smiled at the girl in his arms and broke her thought process when he spoke. "Hey Mia, you look like you have something on your mind," he said.

Mia looked up at the blonde boy with a content smile and replied with a half-truth. "I did. I decided I'm definitely going to go back to Vale with you when this is all over. I couldn't even imagine parting ways after all we've been through together." Mia gently placed one of her hands over one of Isaac's and held it there to gauge his reaction.

Isaac didn't mind this one bit and gave her a caring smile to say it was all right. "I'm so happy that you're going to visit Vale Mia. I would have missed you far too much if you had to head for Imil immediately," he told her.

Isaac sighed and let his gaze wander to the entrance of the tent. We still have to get through this final test before any of that can happen of course, Isaac knew. I know we've always prevailed but I can't help but to wonder how difficult this last lighthouse will be. I have to protect Mia at all costs because I know I can't possibly live without her. She means too much to me to take chances.

"Now you look like you have something on your mind Isaac," Mia said with a teasing smile.

Isaac shrugged as he looked back at the girl he loved and admired the soft azure hair and sparkling blue eyes that he liked so much. Isaac was so mesmerized by Mia that he spoke without realizing what he was saying. "I was just thinking about how beautiful you are…" he said in a soft tone of voice.

Mia was shocked at what she heard and it took a moment to fully register in her mind. Isaac just…he thinks…that I'm…?

Isaac, perhaps sensing that Mia was just as embarrassed as he was, took a deep breath. It's now or never. I don't care if she has feelings for me or not, I have to let her know how I feel about her. I don't care if it could put our whole quest in jeopardy… if only slightly. I have to let her know what she means to me…

Isaac's face was totally serious and Mia could see a small twinge of fear in his eye and could not pinpoint where it was coming from. She shifted to get a better look at Isaac as he spoke again.

"Mia. You're amazing you know," Isaac said.

Mia looked back at him, both pleased and confused. On one hand, hearing Isaac say something like that about her was a dream come true, but she also had no idea what prompted him to say it.

Isaac explained further: "Mia, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met. You're also the nicest, kindest person I know and just being with you comforts me because you always know what to say to cheer me up or boost my confidence."

Mia's eyes grew wide as she listened to what he was saying and what it really meant to her. Searching Isaac's eyes and expression she found only a sense of sincerity. Could it be…? Mia caught herself thinking.

Isaac gave her a sad smile before finishing the thought. "All those extra watches we spent together was because I love being with you. Even if this whole journey was a catastrophic failure it would all still have been worth it because I met you. Basically, I think you're perfect. You're like an angel to me." Isaac broke eye contact with Mia for the first time since pouring out his feelings and sighed. "I know you're probably shocked at me telling you all this, but I figured that before this is all over I had to let you know how deeply I care about you. Even if you think this is weird or whatever I had to tell you…"

Isaac was right. Mia was completely shocked and she was having trouble finding her voice, so she did the only sensible thing and leaned in to brush her lips gently against his, silencing any remaining doubts Isaac had about telling her his feelings.

If Mia was shocked, then the kiss completely shattered Isaac's world. That was just about the last thing he expected. As Mia's lips left his, Isaac let himself fall backward onto the ground, just lying there for a few moments. "So it's like that then?" Isaac asked her as he turned to the side to regard Mia.

"Mmhmm," Mia said with a blush. The mercury adept laying at his side giggled before saying, "You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that…"

It was Isaac's turn to flush pink as he reached out and pulled Mia into another close embrace, kissing her softly on the cheek as he did so. "I wish I knew earlier," he said with a wistful smile.

Mia just answered him by snuggling up close to him and laying her arms on top of his as if to make sure they weren't going anywhere. She let out a small yawn that Isaac picked up on and he smiled, gently moving some of the pretty azure hair he adored out of her face.

Both the adepts were exhausted and Isaac knew Mia needed to get some rest too. "Sleep well Mia," he whispered softly in her ear, still holding her in his embrace.

"I don't think I'll have any problem with that," Mia murmured back happily before closing her eyes. As she felt herself drifting off to sleep, she let one more conscious thought through her head.

Isaac…now that I know how you feel about me…

I think I can be your angel.

I never actually planned to have either person confess their feelings in this chapter originally, but I think it just fit in so well with the flow of my writing when I was writing it that I had to have it happen then. No need to worry about that though, this isn't the end of the story quite yet. I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for what could be the final chapter and a possible epilogue sometime in the future. I guess you will just have to read and find out =)

How did you all like this (very important!) chapter? Leave me a comment and let me know!