Chapter 11: Showdown on the Aeire
They had failed. The Venus Lighthouse glowed with the intensity of a sun, its beacon casting golden light over Isaac, Mia, Ivan, and Garet at the apex. A giant two headed dragon was all that remained of Saturos and Menardi after their initial defeat at the hands of the group of adepts. Refusing to give in, the two Proxians had lit the beacon and used the last of their psynergy to merge into a single entity: the dragon that was currently facing off against the party.
The fight had been tough so far and it was all Mia could do to hold her focus and attention on the group's status, keeping everyone safe from the deadly talons and psynergy the dragon employed. As the skirmish continued to drag out, exhaustion was becoming a very real concern.
This battle is a battle of attrition, Mia thought, casting another spell to protect Ivan from the fiery breath that came shooting over at him. As usual, Garet and Isaac were playing point and taking turns distracting the dragon while Ivan and either Garet of Isaac went on the offensive until it was time to switch. Mia shot off a blast of ice that impacted into the left head of the dragon, staggering it and making it roar. Due to the dragon's Mars affinity, Mia was weaving in as many of offensive spells as possible in the time between healing and protecting the group because of their increased effectiveness.
Lashing out with its tail, the dragon swept Garet off his feet and Isaac leapt to cover him so the red haired boy could stand up. The impact knocked Isaac back slightly as he blocked the next two swipes from the dragon's claws with his blade. Garet found his footing again while Isaac evaded a bite and stepped away.
Ivan continued to rain down thunderbolts on their foe from range, peppering the dragon's thick hide with electrical energy and whittling down its stamina over time. Mia drew her attention to Garet and cast a healing spell on him when a pointed talon managed to get a hold of his arm.
The whole fight was just a waiting game. The amount of psynergetic energy it would take to fuse and fight in a dragon form was immense and there was no way Saturos and Menardi could continue to fight like that for much longer. If the group could hold off and survive the merged dragon's brutal assault for long enough, they would win the battle by default.
That's the real trick though...Mia thought, quickly creating a watery shield around Isaac to lessen the damage from the Dragon's fiery breath. Everyone's noticeably exhausted and our reactions are getting slower. We can't afford to make even a single mistake in this battle. Mia dodged to the side as a long range torrent of fire came rushing at her location, singeing her robes slightly but causing no real harm.
A few quick slashes from Isaac spilled dark crimson blood on the stone floor, eliciting another roar from the Dragon as it took to the air. Twisting in midair, the dragon descended right back down to where Isaac stood and the blonde boy tried to dodge out of the way of the impact. Mia saw a claw swipe at him as the dragon landed with a burst of psynergetic light, rocking the very foundations of the lighthouse itself. As the wave of psynergy radiated out from the impact in a ring, every adept was blasted backward and into the ground.
Ears ringing from the shockwave, Mia slowly picked herself up as the other adepts did the same, trying to assess the condition of the group after the unexpected attack. The dragon seemed to be stunned as well and Mia couldn't help but to wonder if that blow was a last ditch effort to end the battle.
Glancing around the aerie, she found what she was looking for as she saw Isaac shakily get to his feet with a massive claw wound in his chest. Time seemed to slow down for her as the angle of her gaze was just perfect enough to catch the sight of him standing across the lighthouse with the harsh glare of the beacon behind him. Suddenly she knew without a doubt what she was seeing. This was it...this was the vision of the lighthouse Isaac mentioned. Him standing all alone with the light of the beacon...
In an instant that vision vanished. Mia saw Isaac slowly raise a hand and attempt to cast a cure spell that fizzled out before losing his balance and collapsing to the ground like a rag doll. Mia's eyes went wide and she heard her voice yell out. "NO!" she screamed as she scrambled to her feet, tunnel visioning on the fallen body of Isaac. There was a roar in the background, but she paid it no mind as Mia rushed to the Venus adept's side.
"Please be okay...please be okay..." Mia repeated as she gently placed a hand over Isaac's chest checking for breathing. The wound looked really bad and his blood was everywhere on his torso, making it hard to see the full extent of the damage. Mia felt nothing for a few moments and then an irregular and ragged breath caused his chest to rise ever so slightly. Mia immediately began to use her healing psynergy to attempt to stabilize the blonde boy before even bothering with the open wound.
"Please Isaac...you have to make it through this..." she pleaded as she worked, feeling a slight increase in the number of breaths he was taking and they began to become more regular as well. A tear fell from Mia's eye as she worked, banishing any thoughts of losing him to the dark corner of her mind.
"I can't lose you...you can't leave yet..." Mia said as Isaac began to stir slightly. She moved on to healing up the actual claw gash itself and Isaac's eyes opened for the slightest second, making Mia's heart skip a beat and filling her with hope. "Isaac!" she exclaimed as his eyes closed again and she continued to heal his injury.
Isaac opened his eyes once more and caught Mia's as they did. "Hey...Mia..." he managed to get out. "It...hurts..." he told her with the slightest hint of a smile on his face, still looking dazed. "Isaac...!" Mia got out as she wiped more tears from her eye and almost collapsed on top of him. "I thought...I thought you were going to..." she said, unable to hold back the tears.
"Mia...I..." Isaac started to say painfully wincing at the effort it took to speak. Mia quickly leaned in and placed a kiss directly on his lips, tears running down her face, stopping him from speaking.
When she leaned back from him she simply said, "Don't try to speak..." A surge of emotion welled up in Mia as she continued to administer medical attention and Isaac slipped back into unconsciousness while she worked with a blush on her face from the kiss. He's going to be okay though...I can heal him...he's alive... Mia thought with a sigh of relief.
Her attention finally returned to her surroundings somewhat as she continued to patch Isaac up and she noticed that the dragon was no more, lending credibility to the thought that what had injured Isaac so badly was a last ditch effort to win the battle. In its place a stunned Saturos and Menardi were barely standing upright near the light of the beacon. They must have run out of psynergy and couldn't keep it up...Mia realized. She saw the defeated pair topple over and fall silently into the beacon, disintegrating in its golden light. Looking back at Isaac, Mia finished healing him and with a relieved smile whispered, "Isaac...it's over. We beat them."
Ivan and Garet came over to check up on Isaac as well and after a few minutes of discussion on how to carry the blonde boy down from the lighthouse, Isaac's eyes finally opened once again. "Isaac!" Mia exclaimed when she noticed he was awake once again, feeling relieved once more before the embarrassment hit her. As Isaac glanced her way, Mia felt her face flush red, remembering the rush of emotion from her spontaneous kiss just minutes ago. Oh Mercury...what do I even say? I...I think I might have just kissed him...
"Ah..." Isaac said, sitting up slowly and taking in his surroundings. "I know I got injured...but what happened to the dragon...?" he questioned, looking a bit confused about events after being wounded.
Ivan shook his head. "It's gone. Saturos and Menardi are no more," he explained.
"You healed me?" Isaac asked, turning back to Mia who nodded in response, her face still a shade of pink. "Thank you," he replied simply with a smile at the cerulean haired girl. Garet offered a hand to help him up and Isaac took it, getting shakily to his feet before taking a single step and standing still. Mia watched with concern as he stabilized himself.
Before anything else happened, a voice called out from across the aerie. "You beat them?" it asked incredulously.
Looking over near the stairs leading down the lighthouse, the group saw Felix and Sheba standing there, surprised at the defeat of Saturos and Menardi.
"Yes, and it's over now," Isaac called out back to him.
Felix just shook his head. "You don't understand...I have to light the lighthouses anyway!" he replied.
Isaac yelled back. "Felix, stop all of this! Just come back home."
Again Felix shook his head. "Sorry Isaac...this is something I have to do. I'm no match for you right now, but the lighthouses must still be lit."
Isaac took a step forward toward Felix but suddenly the ground shook and the lighthouse violently split into four sections throwing him off balance along with everyone else. Mia quickly reached out and grabbed Isaac to prevent him from falling to the ground.
"Sheba! Grab my hand," Felix said from across the aerie to Sheba who was dangling from the edge of the lighthouse by her fingertips.
"I...can't Felix..." Sheba said back and to Mia's horror, the blonde girl's hand slipped and she fell off the side of the lighthouse.
"SHEBA! NO!" Felix screamed and he dove off the top off the lighthouse after her. For a moment there was nothing but stunned silence as the group tried to comprehend what just happened.
Did he just...jump...? Mia asked herself, still holding Isaac steady despite the shaking having stopped. Suddenly the split pieces of the lighthouse came back together with a crash and the aerie was intact once more.
Garet paced back and forth on the aerie and said no nobody in particular, "Felix you goddamned idiot!"
Mia felt Isaac break away from her and walked slowly to the edge of the lighthouse where Sheba and Felix had fallen. "Isaac..." Mia whispered as he left her side with a serious expression on his face. The blonde boy just looked out from the edge of the lighthouse in silence for a few moments before turning around to face the group.
"We should search for Jenna...and Felix," he said, receiving a nod of agreement from Garet and Ivan.
Mia was a bit more skeptical. "You were just pretty badly injured. I know searching for them is important, but you need to rest up too."
Isaac nodded. "True. You did a good job healing me though. It just feels a little bit sore. I can handle this for a little while at least," he explained.
Accepting his answer, Mia relented and the four made their way to the now working lighthouse elevator platforms to descend down and begin their search for Jenna, Felix, and Sheba. Searching the immediate vicinity of the lighthouse turned up nothing at all; not a single trace of Felix or Sheba was found.
"This means they're both still alive," Ivan pointed out to the group.
"That also means Felix is still going to try to light the lighthouses...so our journey isn't quite over," Isaac added as they expanded their search to try to find 3 missing adepts.
...
Later that night Mia found herself with Isaac at their inn room, getting ready for bed after a long and fruitless search for Jenna, Felix, and Sheba. It had been a crazy day from start to finish and it was only now at the end of it that she had time to think back on everything that happened.
Mia felt nervous and embarrassed because her thoughts kept coming back to Isaac's injury and the kiss she had given him in the heat of the moment. I can't believe that I actually did it...Mia blushed as she stole a glance over at the blonde adept on the other bed. But what does he think of it...? Mia wondered, surprised by his lack of reaction to what happened all day.
Mia touched her lips with a finger as if she could still feel the sensation of Isaac's lips against hers, turning her face a beet red color. I want to know what he thought about that...Mia thought. But...How can I even bring something like this up...? It's too embarrassing! Mia squeezed her eyes tightly shut in frustration before opening them again.
"What's up with you Mia?" Isaac asked her when she opened her eyes again. "You've been acting a little strange ever since we got back to town," he explained.
Mia blushed and glanced away quickly before looking back at him. "Um...you know..." she tried to say shyly. Oh Mercury...why is this so difficult? "Umm...do you maybe...remember when you got injured?" Mia managed to get out, hinting at what was bugging her.
Isaac seemed to be confused for a moment but he answered without hesitation. "Yes...I know the dragon caught me with a claw during that diving attack..." Isaac said, looking thoughtful.
Mia looked at Isaac incredulously. Does he really not know what I'm talking about...or...? She blushed a bit more and began to play with her robes in nervousness. "Do you umm...remember anything else...?" she added with butterflies in her stomach.
Isaac frowned. "Well...you were healing me...but..." He looked down to the ground and back up at her quickly. "I know I blacked out at some point, but I don't really know other than that..."
Mia felt her heart stop. He didn't...He doesn't remember it at all? She brought her finger back to her lips, wondering if she was the one imagining things. But it happened...I felt it...Could he have forgotten? Was he too delirious to realize what happened...? Mia's mind was racing a mile of a minute and it didn't get past Isaac.
"What is it Mia?" Isaac asked, concerned by her sudden silence.
"Nothing!" she replied quickly in a high pitched voice. He doesn't even know it happened, she realized. "It was nothing..." she added as her heart sank. My first kiss with him and he doesn't even remember...
Isaac frowned again. "It can't be nothing...Mia...what happened?" he tried asking again.
Oh Mercury...there's no way I could ever do that again...Mia knew, blushing once more and turning away from Isaac. "No...It's just that...I..." she broke off halfway through. I can't! I can't tell him... Mia turned to Isaac and gave him the best smile she could muster. If you don't remember...then that's fine. You don't have to remember... "No...really, nothing happened. I think you're just over thinking things..." she told him.
Isaac frowned. "I feel like I'm missing something...that I forgot something important..."
Mia blushed and waved her hands frantically denying the statement. "You must be imagining it," she tried to tell him. Ah...the embarrassment would kill me if he realizes it now...I can't let him know what happened...
Changing the subject, Mia said with a stutter, "A-Anyway...You need to rest up. I want your injury to heal up well..."
Barely making eye contact with Isaac to avoid further embarrassment, Mia moved over to Isaac's bed and pulled the blankets up and over his body to emphasize the point. "Get some sleep, okay?" she told the blonde boy, looking into his eyes for a brief second before he nodded with a smile.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Mia said with a smile back before heading over to her own bed.
As she tried to leave, Isaac reached out and caught her arm. "Thanks again Mia...for everything. I probably wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you," he said.
When he let go of her arm, Mia didn't move and replied with, "Don't speak like that...I don't want to think about a world without you...You're here now though and I don't want that to change." I love you Isaac...You already scared me once today, but you're still here. Even if you did forget the kiss I'm just happy that you're alive. There will be more days...more chances to tell you how I feel under better circumstances. Next time...next time I'll tell you properly...she promised blew out the light in the room to hide her blushing face and slipped into her own bed, calling out in the darkness, "Good night Isaac."
"Good Night Mia," came Isaac's reponse.