Chapter XI:

The Water Adept lifted another book onto his desk, hoping that perhaps this would resolve some things for him. He had been searching for days, and now many books lay scattered all around his room at the Tolbi inn. After arriving from Lalivero, he had dedicated more time to his research, for if he were truly to go on this mission alone and unaided – he figured that he'd better move quickly.

He suspected that the Tuaparang if not anyone else already knew what he was up to - or at least, part of what he was trying to accomplish. Alex had simple motives, yet sometimes the patterns in which he worked were complicated – therefore confusing people. He figured he could drive away the Tuaparang for at least a little while, but he felt even without the pressure of the Tuaparang breathing down his neck he still had the disease to worry about.

If he could not solve this before it consumed to him…

Alex shook his head, resolving that it would not affect him before he could get his mystery solved. After all, he was probably the most powerful Adept alive. Being affected by the Stone of Sages, even if it didn't grant him entire "immortality and supreme powers", it did grant him some.

Alex rested his forehead in his palm, gazing deeply into the same star chart as he had done each time with his research. Somehow this chart was supposed to answer his questions, only he had little ideas as to how.

Alex smoothed out the chart with his free hand, observing all the shapes and patterns carefully. No, this wasn't a star chart as he first assumed; all of the marked points were not in the correct orbit to be stars. It signified something else… But he couldn't figure out what it was for the life of him. He'd been staring at it for months now, maybe longer, and still he had no clue as to what it signified and how it would help him to achieve his goal.

Even his power seemed to have its limits…

He figured there must be someone out there with the ability to translate it, or at least know what it meant.

"Kraden would know," Alex thought dully, although he knew that asking Kraden would be entirely out of the picture.

Even if Kraden did know, chances were that he wouldn't share the knowledge with him. He and Alex weren't exactly on the greatest of terms these days. Perhaps if he had fully explained the situation of the Psynergy Well to him as he had to Felix…

Alex scowled at the remembrance of Felix's stubborn reaction, and how he hadn't even consider what Alex was trying to say for a moment. True, Alex never usually told the truth, but there were occasions when he had, yet no one would still believe him.

He sighed aloud, running a hand absentmindedly through his aqua blue hair. He supposed he couldn't expect anything more for a man that's always dishonest.

Suddenly, Alex felt a sudden surge of wind hit the back of his neck and the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. He hardly needed to turn around to know that the sword drawn had been pointed at him, yet he did so anyway, to confront whoever it was that wished him harm.

He assumed it was his old alliance, the old Mars Adept from Harapa, wanting to smuggle any other gold or information that Alex had, or possibly Felix, coming back to negotiate his offer, or maybe it was even members of the Tuaparang, although he slightly doubted that one. He didn't think they'd be showing up in his hotel room that fast – though he certainly didn't expect to find the mirror image of himself glaring at him.

Alex did a double take, then relaxed somewhat as he studied the man. No, it was not a mirror image of himself as he had initially thought; in fact he saw many differences in the man that stood before him and himself. It was only his initial intake that caught him off-guard. There were many resemblances, however: the raised cheekbones, the sleek, slender build, the narrowness in the bridge of the nose, and of course the thick, luscious strands of aqua blue hair that Alex had become quite known for. It wasn't every day, after all, that you'd see a man with hair of that shade - unless of course you were in Lemuria. While Alex had initially noticed their similarities, he could also see many differences. Although the man was younger than himself, he was a great deal shorter, and probably wasn't going to be growing much more in the remaining time of his youth; his cheeks had a fullness to them that Alex's had never had – and the eyes. The emerald green eyes… He himself did not possess them, but he felt as though he had known them from somewhere…

"May I help you?" Alex asked calmly, eyeing the younger Water Adept that stood before him.

Amiti continued to glare at Alex, careful not to remove his green eyes from Alex's airy turquoise ones.

"To be honest, I'm afraid not," Amiti said in disgust.

Alex turned around in his chair slightly, glancing at the Verdant Sword pointed directly at him, the tip of its blade hovering only a few inches away from the back of his neck.

"Please, there's no need for that, my dear boy," said Alex, meeting Amiti's eyes once more. "I will not harm you. Just come do whatever it is that you have come to do and be on your way. I have some studying to attend to."

Amiti hesitated, and then shook his head.

"Then I'm afraid that my blade must remain where it is," Amiti replied solemnly. "For I am here for nothing more than to take your life."

Alex smirked. He was surprised by the boy's bravery; he thought surely he must not truly know whom he was challenging…

"Who are you?" he asked Amiti, resting an arm lazily on the back of his chair, as though no sword were being pointed at him whatsoever. "And do you really know who I am?"

"Yes, I do. You're Alex of the Tuaparang - we've met before, there is no way that I couldn't help recognizing your face, mask or not," said Amiti, gripping the hilt of his sword more firmly. "As for me, my name is Amiti, king of Ayuthay."

Ayuthay? The sound of the name traveled through Alex's mind subconsciously, reminiscing over a past when he'd traveled to the distant land many years ago, remembering some of the most glorious days of his life spent there, before snapping himself back together. He nodded, bowing his head slightly.

"And may I ask why it is that this King of Ayuthay wishes to behead me?" he asked facetiously.

"For the crimes that you have committed within my country," Amiti said thickly, still unsure of how much he wanted to tell Alex. He had thought about it much on the way there, and still didn't know if he ever really wanted Alex to know that he was his son.

And if he could live with it if he did.

"Crimes?" Alex asked with a laugh. "I've done no such thing. Your battle is with the Tuaparang, my young king. I've done nothing to Ayuthay, except perhaps to help them."

Alex's mind again drifted back to the days that he had been there. The dirt-poor kingdom, which dwelled in the middle of a barren desert. Devoid of all trades with other nations, the country in and of itself was dying. Had he not started their Alchemy Well when he had… Ayuthay as they knew it wouldn't exist. He honestly was surprised that it was ever able to turn around at all, despite the fact that he fixed their Alchemy Well.

Amiti eyed him sharply.

"You lied to the royal family about your intentions," he said sharply. "You lied about why you started the well. Your best interests weren't for its people-"

"But if I hadn't, Ayuthay wouldn't be alive," Alex interrupted.

"-But for your own dirty plans," Amiti finished, not removing his eyes from Alex's. "You wanted the Eclipse, and strangely you wanted to end it – for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom – But nonetheless, there's no taking back what you've done."

Alex shook his head.

"Alright, I'll be honest with you by saying that I hadn't been entirely straight with the former King of Ayuthay on my intents, but…" he stopped, realizing what he was saying: The former king. Paithos had ruled during his short stay in Ayuthay, and if this boy were king, than Paithos must've deceased, yet if he had…

"So, you are also a descendant of the Exathi, I presume?" Alex asked offhandedly. "I didn't realize that Paithos had an heir. A blood-related one, at that."

Amiti's eyes held uneasiness.

"I am," he replied, dropping his blade slightly without truly meaning to. "I am not a direct descendant of the great Paithos himself, but am his nephew –"

His nephew… These words stung Alex like the piercing of a knife. His mind began whirling at a furious pace that made him nearly fall to the floor. He suddenly recognized those green eyes, knowing where he had seen them before. He was furious with himself; why hadn't he realized it sooner? The eyes proved it. The full cheeks, the soft curved chin… This was without a doubt the princess of Ayuthay, Veriti's son. Alex then thought back on his first impression of the boy. His first intake had been that they boy was mirror of himself, yet Amiti was so different, why had he thought that? Then he realized…

And knew that Amiti must've realized too, for there would be no other reason for Amiti to begrudge him for something he had done in Ayuthay, save for that.

The color drained from his face as his eyes widened in surprise, studying Amiti more carefully. Yes, there was no other explanation for it: Amiti had to be his son. He had heard something about Ayuthay having some prince, yet he gave it no thought before.

And here he was, his very own son standing before him, wishing to claim his life.

Mixed emotions coursed through Alex. Frustration? Sympathy? Anger? Sadness? He wasn't quite sure how to react, or how to take this revelation. He never thought about what he'd do if he had a son before.

Alex held up a hand not long after recovering from the initial shock of it all.

"Please, sit down. I have some things to say to you. Put down your sword: if you're still intent on killing me after you hear what I have to say, you may do so. I won't stop you."

Amiti considered Alex's words momentarily, as he then lowered his weapon, his expression softening slightly.

Alex nodded.

"Thank you. Now please, sit," he said, gesturing to the bed.

Amiti moved a few books aside and did so. Alex watched him for a moment with an odd glint in his eye that Amiti couldn't quite discern. Was it possibly longing? Concern? Compassion?

Now that the sword had been removed from his neck, Alex turned his chair around to face Amiti directly.

"I think I know why you're here," he said quietly.

Amiti's eyes widened, surprised by Alex's humbled demeanor. Normally he was always so confident, so proud - yet as he spoke to him then, he seemed anything but.

"You do?" Amiti asked him.

Alex nodded, his eyes painfully avoiding the emerald green ones in which were identical to those of the woman he had once loved.

"You've come to discuss your father, haven't you?"

Amiti gripped the blankets firmly. So Alex had known. Yet, he still never came back... Sadness seemed to wash over Amiti's rage, feeling hot tears well in his eyes. He didn't know why it meant so much to him. After all, Alex was a heartless, deceitful person, yet it pained him to know that Alex simply didn't care… About him or his mother.

"I only recently found out," Amiti said thickly, restraining tears. "No one wanted to tell me."

Alex looked up sharply, their eyes meeting at last.

"What do you mean?"

"I was told ever since I was young that I - didn't have a father," Amiti faltered, feeling stupid even then as he stated his prior beliefs. It sounded unrealistic and unbelievable, yet strangely he had never questioned it before. "My mother had been believed to have divine powers, and had miraculously conceived me with her own abilities. It was only up until recently that my uncle told me she had fallen in love with the Adept that came and started our Well. He had left her with a child. I would presume that Adept… To be you."

A long silence emitted between the two, both lost for words.

"I –" Alex began, unsure of how to delicately put this. "Had no idea - that you even existed."

Amiti considered him for a moment.

"Then, if what you say is true, how did you know what I have come to discuss with you?"

Alex offered him a wry grin.

"Did it ever occur to you whom you look like?" he asked. "I know you've traveled with the children of the Warriors of Vale. Had no one pointed out to you that our resemblance is… uncanny?"

Amiti felt color rise into his cheeks, avoiding Alex's gaze entirely.

"No," he replied shortly. "I've never noticed."

The truth was that Amiti had noticed. He had noticed the first time he had ever met Alex. Amiti felt that deep down he had known the truth all along, but he had never truly wanted to admit it. He had known back when Tret said that he and Rief shared the same aura, but he didn't want to believe it could be so. He had known when Emperor Unan's advisor had accidentally mistaken Amiti for Alex. He had also known by the way Kraden chose to avoid the topic of Alex constantly, and had made the statement that he didn't wish to reveal who Arcanus truly was until it was all over, so no one would have a hard time trying to fight him. If it weren't Amiti, then who else would hesitate in killing the Mercury Clan's betrayer? Deep down, Amiti had known it all along, but chose to deny it. Now the truth had been thrust in front of him, there was no denying it anymore.

Both of them sat there silently, with neither one of them knowing what to tell the other. Alex wasn't sure whether he ought to be happy or miserable with the news that he had a son. He would've been happier had Amiti not wished to kill him as desperately as he did. He was also marked with the Warriors of Vale, therefore marking him as an opponent. An enemy.

Alex watched Amiti carefully with his soft, turquoise-blue eyes. Amiti seemed too innocent to truly be his enemy. Although he was associated with the other Adepts, that didn't entirely make him one of them. If he was as naïve as he appeared to be, then perhaps he had merely been coaxed into helping them…

And maybe he could be coaxed again. If only he could persuade Amiti to no longer wish to kill him…

"I'm… sorry," Alex said slowly, looking at Amiti seriously. "I suppose this must've come to you as a bit of a… shock."

"More," Amiti replied grimly, not meeting Alex's eye as he still continued to stare at the ground. "I had no idea that I even had a father, much less did I know that he was you. A criminal, a murderer, a con-artist-"

"Wait," Alex interjected, holding up a hand to silence him. "You never even gave me a chance to explain myself. Wouldn't you really care to know the truth about the things I did in Ayuthay, besides these made-up stories that your mind has invented? I'm amazed that you would be so prejudice against me, yet you've never really heard me speak or given me a chance to explain my actions."

Amiti nodded, waving a hand.

"Go on, then," he said with a challenging air. "Tell me - although I doubt that I can trust anything that you might say. You have a reputation of being dishonest."

Alex threw his head back, shaking his long, wispy aqua bangs from his face. His turquoise-blue eyes bore into Amiti's.

"It all started when I first came to Ayuthay," Alex began, for the first time re-alliterating what had actually gone on in Ayuthay, rather than simply reporting his success in starting the Alchemy Well as he had done with the Tuaparang. He thought he'd never utter those words, and now he found himself speaking them from his own lips to his son, one in which he thought he didn't have.

"It had been ten years after the Golden Sun, yet it left me weak. I had survived merely by chance, had Mia not come to help me-"

Amiti raised an eyebrow as he interrupted the older Mercury Adept.

"Mia helped you? I heard tell that she hated you."

Alex grinned slightly. It was something that he was surprised Amiti had managed to pick up on within his brief travels with the other Adepts.

"Yes, she did, oh sorry – does hate me. But yet, Mia is a good person. Her heart is too pure, perhaps too pure for her own good. With her being the way that she is, there was no way possible that she could merely let her blood relative die. As hard as it may be to imagine, considering the way we are with each other these days, there was a time when we were very close. One that I will not go into at the moment, for if I do we'll be here all day."

Amiti shifted around uneasily. He wasn't sure whether it wise on his part to hear what Alex had to say at all. He had always been taught to hear out the guilty party before convicting them, yet he felt this situation didn't necessary apply to those rules. Alex was known for manipulating people and spreading lies, did he really need to put himself subject to that before challenging him to a duel? Of course, Amiti had chosen to claim his life in a traditional matter within a sword fight: it was the only way that he'd feel satisfied by murdering the man that had betrayed his mother, and had brought destruction to Ayuthay – and all of Weyard.

Amiti's fingers trailed around the hilt of his sword. Even if he were to end his father's conversation then, would he be able to fight him? Amiti liked to believe that he could, but he wondered deep down if he'd be able to actually inflict harm upon him. After all, despite what the man had done, he was indeed his father, and the thought of shedding his own blood, regardless of how it managed to become that way…

A chill ran down Amiti's spine; he slowly began to think that he really should've continued to Morgal. Turning around and making his way to Lalivero just to find Alex had been a waste of time, considering he no longer felt the strength – or impetus - to fight him. He felt unsure, indecisive, uncertain; whereas Alex seemed to appear more shaken than Amiti had ever seen him, he was still calm, cool and collected. He knew he'd be the same way in a battle as well, if Alex even allowed it to get to that point. If he were truly a very skilled manipulator, they wouldn't even have to get so far as to draw weapons.

"Anyway," Alex said, ignoring Amiti's most recent input on his story. "Twenty years ago the travel to Ayuthay was rough, for you see, Ayuthay wasn't the luscious, prosperous country as it is today. It was torrid, and the heat scorching. Perhaps you've already noticed this for yourself, but we Water Adepts cannot tolerate the heat as well as other Adepts – or sadly, normal humans can. It is our one major weakness. If our temperature rises to a point of being far too high -"

"We die? Amiti asked, unable to contain himself as Alex had paused dramatically.

"No. No, it'd be a mercy if that were all we did. But no, we go into a state in which is called "the living death"."

Amiti cringed; he had heard stories about that. People reaching a certain point where they begin to lose their senses, and minds…

"Do they ever die once reaching that state? Is it very easy to have happen?" Amiti asked, concern creeping up into his tone.

Alex tilted his head ever so slightly, his arms lay relaxed on the armrests of his chair.

"No, you'd have to be in extreme temperatures for very long lengths of time. And unless you were traveling in a desert for hours on end, you could probably never reach that point. And yes, Water Adepts in this state do eventually die – but you see, we aren't exactly all "powerless" against such extreme temperatures. It's our body's way of coping, and surviving. We are forced into shutting down our minds, and other areas so that we can survive. Although tragically, it is irreversible once reaching the point of the living death, and eventually you do die out."

Alex could tell Amiti was getting quite disturbed by their conversation, so he therefore waved a hand carelessly, throwing aqua hair over his shoulder as he did so.

"Now, back to how I met Veriti. You see, it's not what you're thinking it was: I came to Ayuthay, started up the well for my own convenience, had a little fun toying around with their princess, and left. No, it was far from that, Amiti, and it most certainly wasn't that simple. There was much debate over my options, and to be entirely truthful, I do believe I chose the wrong one. You see, I had fallen unconscious in the desert near Ayuthay, and Veriti had saved me. It was from that point on that she had fondness for me."

"You shouldn't have let my mother fall for you," Amiti muttered through gritted teeth. "You should've just left, or told her the truth."

Alex eyed Amiti coolly, his gaze piercing with the powers of ice itself.

"Truth? You assume that I hadn't tried that already?"

Amiti blinked. The truth was, Amiti really knew nothing about what Alex had told Veriti, or how they ever ended up getting to the point they had. Amiti just knew that Alex left her, without explanation, and never came back.

Alex resumed speaking, leaning back slightly in his chair.

"I tried to tell her. I didn't tell her that I worked for the Tuaparang, or the fact that I hadn't restored their Well for their best interests, but I did try to warn her. I told her none of it was a good idea; I wasn't meant for her, and she wasn't meant for me. With her being the princess of Ayuthay, and with me having duties elsewhere, we simply could not be together. Our relationship could never work out. She didn't believe me, or take me seriously at any rate. Perhaps she did believe me, only she chose not to act upon her instincts.

"I didn't act upon them either. I allowed her to fall in love with me, but then, I allowed myself to fall in love with her in return. I don't know if you knew anything about my life before the Golden Sun, but during the years I sought it, and the years after I had obtained it, it was anything but blissful. I think having dinner in Ayuthay with their king was the first time I had ever had a peaceful, good meal with pleasant discussion since I first left Imil."

This somehow caught Amiti off-guard. He never contemplated Alex's journey into Ayuthay to have been so emotional for him. He somehow pictured something quite similar as to what Alex described Amiti's thoughts to be - Alex had many gifts and talents, Amiti began to wonder whether reading minds might be one of those as well.

"I had constantly been on the move. Plotting this thing after the next after the next. I had to constantly think up new lies I'd tell to this person, try to convince another of something else, and finally, lie to the only friend I really had just so I could get his help – and not to benefit him any. When I went to Ayuthay, I was appreciated for who I was. Not as the powerful Adept as I had been appreciated by everywhere else in the world, but as a person. Veriti had already befriended me long before she knew I was even an Adept. Let me tell you now, Amiti, that I have received many, many offers from women during my travels before, but most all of them knew of my abilities and who I was. They had no interest in me. Your mother, Veriti, was different.

"After fixing the Alchemy Well, which took me surprisingly longer than I had expected, I decided to stay in Ayuthay for a short while. Did the Tuaparang approve of it? No. I lied and said I was having difficulties in starting the Well. Did they deserve for me to lie to them? Yes. Do I regret it? Maybe a little, but not for the reasons you would think.

"By this point, I had well fallen in love with your mother, yet I was furious with myself for doing so. I couldn't be with her - I had other things I had to do. Yet I found myself being selfish and allowing it all to happen. Eventually I got up the guts to tell her that I couldn't stay, that I would have to leave, and that I could not be with her. As you can imagine, things only escalated from there.

"I made some terribly wrong decisions while in Ayuthay, ones that I can never hope to make right now. But well, as we all live, we all learn as well. May I have learned something from what I had been through, and perhaps even though I cannot make it up to her, I can make it up to you."

Alex looked over at Amiti expectantly, though the young Mercury Adept remained silent, processing all of what Alex had said slowly. It all stung him terribly. He slowly began to feel guilty thinking that Alex was so horrible. The thought never occurred to him that perhaps the blame had more to do with his mother's choices rather than Alex's. Perhaps Alex really had tried to shove Veriti away, but found that he couldn't. Amiti felt hot tears begin to well in his eyes, and just hoped he'd be able to control them before they spilled down his cheeks. That would've just been all too humiliating for the young king to handle.

"What was it, if I may ask, that you would've chosen differently if you had the option to do so? Would you not have gotten so… involved?" Amiti asked, unable to bring himself to say what he truly meant. Meaning would Alex have done everything in the world to prevent his existence had he known what the outcome would've been?

"No," Alex said quietly, his eyes drifting to the floor, and Amiti wondered for a moment if he hadn't caught a glimpse of tears shimmering in them. "I have no regrets on our relationship. If I could've chosen differently, I wouldn't have left."

He slowly brought his gaze up to meet Amiti's, both pairs of eyes brimmed with tears. Alex blinked them away, offering Amiti a warm smile.

"I know what you must think of me, and how you must feel. And honestly, I don't blame you. I'd be very upset too if I were in your position. But please think for a moment how everyone else in the situation felt. Your mother, myself… Looking back on everything, I see now that what I did was wrong, but when you're young and naïve and are presented with the situation, you fail to see those things. Perhaps you know what I mean. Have you not been presented with a situation, and looking back on it from a different point of view had wished you'd done something differently?"

Amiti nodded, not needing to necessarily recall a particular event. "All too well."

Alex nodded. "So you must understand some of what I mean. Anyway, I figure that you must hate me, and although I have said all of this, you probably still do. I cannot change the image you have of me from your own mind, but I can hope to at least explain some of it. I never knew that I had a son. I had only learned that Veriti was dead some years ago, and therefore didn't bother even going back to Ayuthay. I had, yes, heard about you before, but I didn't know in what relation you were to Paithos. Perhaps I had heard you were his nephew, perhaps not. But I had very little knowledge to go by in the matter, and just never thought much of it. Anyway, I'll understand if you would still like to finish me. In fact, I will not stop you from doing so. But apart of me really hopes that - although this is quite an unreality - that maybe somehow, you'd allow me to make up all of our lost time."

Amiti considered him for a moment, uncertainty seizing his entire demeanor.

"What do you mean?" he asked, as ridiculous as the question might've sounded, he wanted to clarify Alex's intentions.

"I mean that I would like to get to know my only son, Amiti. I would like to be there for him, to support him… Being king at only twenty years old couldn't be easy, I'm sure."

"Oh, you've no idea," Amiti thought bitterly, but didn't declare this aloud.

Mixed emotions stirred within him. Secretly, this was exactly what he had always longed for once finding his father. He hoped to find a man that was truly sincere, that wanted to know him, to care for him. Someone that he could confide in - one that would understand him. That was long before he knew Alex was his father, and since he had known that, everything in his perspective about his father had changed.

Could he have a relationship with his father? Did he want to? How could he really accept Alex's word as the truth? After all, he had no proof to back any of it up. Although he did seem sincere, he could've been lying. Alex was notorious for that.

"You'd want to—?" Amiti asked after a long silence.

Alex briefly looked into Amiti's eyes and nodded.

"I would," he said firmly. "That is, if you would allow me to be apart of your life."

Amiti suddenly hated himself for being there. He wished that he had just gone to Morgal like he had promised the Chancellor that he would. He wished that he wasn't being confronted with this new situation of dealing with his father. For as prepared as he thought himself to be, he found that he really was not. If Alex were indeed lying to him, Amiti could not detect it, and Alex would have to have been much craftier than Amiti gave him credit for.

Which knowing Alex, was quite a possibility…

Everything Alex had told him had seemed to be legit enough. It all made sense to him. Could Alex truly feel remorse? Was he not as bad as he initially had thought? He knew that this was probably one of those points where he'd have to make a choice between what was right and what he desired - but truth be told, he couldn't decipher between the two anymore.

Alex stood up and crossed the room towards Amiti. For a moment their eyes locked, both attempting to read the other without neither one truly having the ability to mind read. Faster than Amiti could realize it happening, he found himself in a tight embrace with his father.

And for one brief moment for the first time since the Eclipse ended, he actually felt like everything would be alright.

Author's Note:

Whew! This chapter was longer than I had expected it to be! I imagined it'd have some length to it but didn't picture that I'd actually have to cut out parts of this chapter to get it to fit! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it.

And just so you know, I haven't gone entirely mad and made Alex a softie ;D You'll see!