A/N:

Well…that's odd. Last night I had a dream that I found a present from Jade on my desk at work. It was an orange. It actually had a tag on it that that said From: Jade. So it got me wondering…why an orange? I mean, I like oranges. Maybe Jade is just pleased that I've arranged for him to get laid on a regular basis. Or maybe he's telling me that there aren't enough oranges in this story. Which baffles me because I never knew he was that fond of them. So (much like the "Psych" pineapple) I have decided to give oranges a small cameo from now on, just to keep him happy. Because if he's able to influence my dreams, I want him happy. I don't want to spend every night dreaming that I'm wandering around my old high school in my underwear.

Chapter 12

"Really, Nephry, all this fuss isn't necessary. I can assure you that no matter what he may have told you, I do provide adequately for the child. We feed him every few days, rinse him off when he starts to reek, that sort of thing." Jade eyed a stack of packages in the corner, wondering if there was a shop in Keterburg his sister hadn't raided in anticipation of meeting her young nephew. "What else does a boy need?"

"I'd be more convinced." Nephry shot back at her brother "If you bothered to get him a haircut. He's about to trip over those bangs."

"Well, pardon me. I have had other things on my mind lately. In my mind lately, to be blunt. I'm more concerned with keeping his head attached to his body. He's not always cooperative in that regard."

Near the window, Wilbert II and Willy were busy comparing notes on their young charges.

"At least yours is toilet-trained." Wilbert II was complaining. "Simply because I am capable of changing diapers doesn't mean that's what Master Saphir intended for me to be doing."

"Mine is insolent and rebellious, however. Yours isn't strong enough to throw things with enough force to cause damage. Mine threw an orange at me yesterday. It was most distressing."

"You know, Saphir should mass-market those things." Nephry sipped her tea. "I honestly don't know how we'd get by without Wilbert II. Doesn't that sound horrible, that I depend on a robot to nanny my son? But he's marvelous, and Michael is crazy about him."

"I've suggested that to him, but he wasn't interested. He says they would be 'wasted' on other children. Yours and mine fall into a different category with him, apparently. He'd do just about anything Vilo asked of him, and that's somewhat disturbing."

"Well, I think it's sweet. It's good for Vilo to have an adult in his life that he can just relax and have fun with."

"Excuse me, but I happen to be extremely spontaneous and fun-loving. However, someone has to actually parent the boy. If Saphir had his way they'd both be flying all over the city causing mayhem."

"Hey, check this out!" Vilo appeared in the doorway, holding Michael in his arms. "Say it, Michael. Go on."

"Vilo." The baby giggled and patted his cousin on the cheek.

"Isn't that neat? We should get one too."

Jade stared at his son. "That had better be a joke."

"Why? It'd be neat to have a little brother."

"You do realize we are missing a rather crucial ingredient for that recipe…"

"We could use that artificial womb Saphir made."

"We could but we won't." Jade was firm. "Did Saphir put you up to this?"

"No, but I bet he'd think it was a good idea." Vilo grumbled, bouncing Michael a little bit, making the baby laugh again.

"Sulfur!" Michael agreed.

"Yeah, Michael. Let's go find Sulfur." Turning his back on his completely unreasonable parent, the boy left with his cousin in tow.

"Perhaps Master Vilo would like a puppy instead." Willy suggested helpfully.

"Perhaps Willy would enjoy swimming lessons."

"Hey, Jade." Guy poked his head through the door. "I'm back and I found something interesting."

The young man had been out exploring the area around the city most of the day, more for the feeling that someone was actually doing something than for any other reason. He was holding a small monitoring device now, and looked excited.

"There's some kind of weird readings coming from Nebilim's Crag. Under it, actually. I looked around for a way to go deeper and couldn't find one, but there's definitely something going on under there."

"Lẽtum?"

"I don't think so, not directly anyway. It's the 4th Fonon, but the best I can describe is that it seems to be being…sucked in. It's like someone is pulling it all down under ground. There's also a small increase in the 5th Fonon, which would explain the melting snow. Not as much as I expected, but some. I've never seen anything like this."

"Well, I suppose we should go check it out in more detail then."

"Take Saphir." Nephry urged. "Please. I'm not up to babysitting him again; he nearly wore out my floor last time, and he already feels unappreciated. Besides, his theory about this Cantabile appears to have been right on the money. He's always seen things the rest of us miss."

Jade hesitated, and then nodded. "I suppose that's not a bad idea. I have a feeling he'll just follow us anyway if we try and go without him. I wish he had some way of defending himself, but there's no help for it."

I'd feel better if none of you went along. It's me Lẽtum has taken such a delight in, after all. Still, I can't do this alone, as much as I could wish it otherwise.

He found Saphir, Vilo and Michael in Michael's bedroom. The baby was stumbling around on his newly-useful legs, going back and forth between the boy and the man as they cheered him on.

I hope Vilo doesn't bring up his desire for a sibling in front of Saphir. I really can't handle both of them nagging me about the issue. An infant is the last thing we need. I got lucky once, it seems. I never would have willingly created a child; I've always been afraid of exactly what kind of offspring I'd produce. Vilo actually turned out to be human; I might not be so fortunate the next time. Especially now with this 8th Fonist business going on; a little me, as I was then, with the ability to curse anyone he doesn't like with a painful death? Compared to that, Vilo's short fuse seems almost laughable.

Besides, he thought watching them now, he felt vulnerable enough where they were concerned. He really had no desire to tear his heart into yet another piece and leave it to fend for itself.

"Mama!" Michael had spotted him and went toddling over, and Jade picked him up with a sigh of resignation.

"No, Michael." Vilo stood up. "Not Mama. Uncle Jade. Can you say Jade?"

"Dade?" Michael tilted his head at his uncle.

"No, Jade."

"Jaaade."

"Well, I'll be. You fixed him. Excellent. I was starting to get a complex."

"He likes me." Vilo reached over and took Michael's hand. "Don't you, Michael?"

Jade handed the baby back to his cousin, and explained to Saphir what Guy had noted in Nebilim's Crag. "I want you along on this."

"Of course you do. Took you long enough to realize it."

"I want to go too." Vilo chimed in.

"That is not even worth considering."

"But Dad, I'm a 7th Fonist. I'm just as good as Tear, and I bet you're taking her along."

"You are not as good as Tear. She can use more than the 7th Fonon, for one thing. You don't have those abilities. In addition, Tear is seven years older than you are and a highly seasoned fighter."

"So am I."

"You're a child."

"Anise was only two years older than I am now, and you always took her along."

Jade tried to control his temper. "Her parents didn't happen to object to her putting her life in danger. You happen to have one that objects very strongly to the thought. Anise is also a highly skilled Fonist, with offensive as well as defensive skills."

Vilo automatically looked at Saphir for back-up, but the other man was nodding his head. "I agree, Vilo. There's no telling what's down there, and you're better off staying here where it's safe."

"You're supposed to be my friend, Saphir."

"I am your friend, stupid. That's why I don't approve of you putting yourself in jeopardy."

"I lived my whole life in jeopardy." Vilo's voice was calm, but his eyes were flashing. "You know what kind of people I lived near? You know how many friends I had that just…vanished? Wanna guess what happened to them? They almost got me too, but I got away. I always got away. You think anything in Nebilim's Crag is going to be worse than that?"

"The fact that you lived like that sickens me. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself. Heaven knows you remind me of that enough." Jade ground out the words through clenched teeth. "But it took me eleven years to find out about you, and I will not risk losing you now."

"But it's okay for me to risk losing you? I told you before, I don't have anyone else."

In his arms, Michael began to fuss. "It's okay, Michael. I'm not mad at you." He jostled the baby. "Don't cry."

"Alright Vilo, let's try this. This area is thick with creatures called wendigos. If you were to meet one, how would you take it down?"

"If it's really big, then I can probably move a lot faster. I'd run up and stab it."

"Interesting theory. It might work too if the wendigo didn't happen to have an extremely thick coat of hair, an even thicker hide, and a layer of fat underneath all of that. It takes almost brute-force strength to stab one; your dagger would bounce right off of it. You might, if you're lucky, draw some blood, but I think you'd only serve to irritate it."

"So I could just stay in the back and heal the rest of you when you need it."

"What if we're attacked from behind? We depend on our healers to be able to get themselves out of sticky situations. We're taking Saphir against my better judgment: more than half of my mind is going to be focused on protecting him. I'm not going to have anything left over to worry about protecting you as well. In addition to not putting you in danger, I am not about to put what we're trying to accomplish in jeopardy either just to satisfy your bruised ego."

Jade braced, waiting for the explosion to come, but to his surprise Vilo stayed calm.

"Someday, I'll be able to fight next to you." The boy finally said. "If I can't use other Fonons I'll build machines like Saphir used to. You won't always be able to leave me behind."

"Actually, after this entire thing is done I intend to take an early retirement. I'm resigning my commission."

"What?" Saphir was shocked. "Jade…"

"I've thought about it, and I'm getting far too old for this sort of thing. I've got other priorities now. As Vilo pointed out, I am his only father. I can't simply go running off into danger whenever it suits me."

"You'll be bored to tears in a week." Saphir smiled at him. "And worse, you'll be wandering around the house looking for something to do, getting in my way, and picking on me just to amuse yourself."

"If you're trying to talk me out of this decision, it's backfiring. That sounds highly enjoyable."

"Dad, I don't want you to give up something you like just for me."

"I'm not, actually. I was thinking about it before you even showed up to dismantle my home. This just seems to be as good of a time as any."

"Great. You can figure out how to give me that…"

"No."

"That what?" Saphir asked suspiciously.

"Never you mind."

*****************************

To no one's surprise, it only Saphir a few moments to locate the hidden release for the floor beneath Nebilim's Crag. He graciously allowed them to precede him down the stone stairwell, staying close to Jade's side.

In the lantern light, the shadows moved and danced around them, and Jade felt a rare burst of claustrophobia. It reminded him too much of Ortion. It was also hot down here; he was soaked in sweat within minutes, and desperately wanted a shower.

As they had anticipated, the hidden grotto was a den for various monsters. However, given the natural darkness of the area a good many of them were either blind or eyeless altogether. In one sense, it made them easier to dispatch. On another, it reminded Jade uncomfortably of Cantabile.

Saphir had proved so far fairly agile at staying out of the way, and had twice saved them from possible injury by spotting several well-hidden trap-levers. He seemed, oddly enough, to be enjoying himself, and was taking advantage of the silence to quiz Guy about various Fontech issues.

He also seemed to be enjoying the fact that Natalia kept shooting him odd looks and staying as far away from him as possible. Jade had filled him in on their conversation, and it was all he could do to restrain himself from further educating her on certain matters.

A man needed a little fun, after all.

The long passageway finally ended in a cavernous antechamber that was almost unbearably warm. The lantern showed the floor pitted by two matched craters. As they moved forward, suddenly the air was split by a wail. "Help her. Please…"

"Help who?" Tear ran to the pit. "Who…it's Ifrit."

"Release me. Release me before it's too late. Save her."

He was living brightness in the pit, so much that it burned her eyes, but the voice was all too human. "Celsius. My Celsius. He's killing her."

The 4th Fonon was unique in that those who could use it had two entities to draw from. For simple water spells Undine lent her powers. For the more difficult Artes involving freezing, Celsius was utilized.

"He imprisoned us together like this. We're too close: I'm more powerful than she is…I'm destroying her. Undine…trying to help. She's feeding her from her own energy, otherwise she'd be gone by now."

Jade peered into the second pit, at the pale, limp form lying on the bottom in a crumpled heap. "What do you need us to do?"

"Unchain me. She can't leave as long as I'm here."

Saphir had moved next to Tear. "Just one problem. How are we supposed to get close enough to do that?" Jade joined them.

"I'll ask Undine for help. She'll cool me long enough for you to undo my bonds. She won't be able to do it for long. You'll have to hurry."

Jade nodded, but Saphir put a hand on his arm. "Let me do it. You never were very good at picking a lock."

The man hesitated, and then nodded reluctantly. Below them, Ifrit cried out in pain, and the heat from the pit faded. "Now. Go."

Saphir lowed himself into the pit and darted over to the first of the chains binding Ifrit to the bottom. His fingers moved quickly over the lock, and it fell to onto the floor A moment later, the other lock joined it.

There was a rush of heat that nearly seared his lungs, and a fiery ball shot out of the pit straight toward the ceiling of the cavern. It seemed to dissolve when it reached the top into a thousand tiny flames, which passed easily through the stone.

"You could have at least said thank you!" Saphir yelled after it.

"Are you alright?" Jade called down at him.

"A bit singed, but otherwise in tact. Get me out of here."

Jade leaned over and extended his hand, pulling his lover out of the pit. The others had surrounded the second pit. "Well done."

"Told you you needed me." Saphir was smug.

"Never doubted it."

There was a rush, this time of cold, and Celsius rose slowly from the depths. "He's gone…"

"Will you be alright now?" Anise asked. "He was really worried about you."

"I'll recover, in time." The voice was like ice cracking, and it was sad. So sad Anise wanted to sink to her knees and begin sobbing. "As long as he stays away. He came to see me. He knew…he knew the dangers. Lẽtum trapped him here…"

The cavern was growing colder by the minute. "I suggest we return to the surface. There's nothing left here for us to do."

"But there has to be something we can do for them, Jade." Anise protested. "He loves her. Isn't there a way…"

"There is no way." Celsius shook her head. "By our very nature we destroy each other. He knows. He usually accepts. Sometimes he forgets… go. I'll use my abilities to return you to the surface."

Next to her, Anise felt Florian's hand enclose hers. "Come on. She's right."

A circle appeared around the small group, and Anise had only one last glimpse of the spirit as she stared up to the ceiling where Ifrit had vanished. Of a single, frozen tear falling from her eye, and shattering against the stone floor into diamond shards.