Chapter 21:

Things suddenly began to seem ten times more complicated than they had been out on the dance floor in the crowded great hall, whilst being surrounded by hundreds of people under the heat of the many torches gleaming down on them. Now, all of those things seemed irrelevant and distant as they considered the new dilemma that they were faced with. They had counted on everything being easy once they had broken into the treasury, but now they found themselves faced with an even greater problem – for their decision would be the one that would change all of the events that were taking place that night, and the events that were yet to come.

Amiti felt his mouth go dry, as he attempted to run his fingers through his hair out of habit as he normally did when something stressed him. Though he found that he was unable to accomplish this upon reaching his headdress; which he greatly felt like throwing at the moment. Karis's gaze met the floor, and he could tell that the Jupiter Adept had no suggestions for him either. They had hit a brick wall, and that wall wasn't going to budge for them.

"Are you sure it's quite that heavy?" Amiti confirmed with the sentry, the normally serene tone of the mercury adept being replaced with anxiety. The sentry merely laughed, until pain seared through him and he ceased, rubbing his side ruefully.

"I'm certain of it," he replied shortly. "I could go and show you if you'd like –"

"No, that's quite alright," Amiti replied quickly, thinking he'd feel even more ill by seeing it. "I have – no use for it now."

"Well, good!" the sentry said in exasperation, while eyeing the Water Adept critically. "Then you can heal me and be on your way."

Amiti hesitated as he watched the sentry guard crippled in pain. Unless he healed him, the guard wouldn't be up and at his post again for weeks, perhaps a month – and it was all because of them. Originally when he'd promised to heal him, he'd considered the fact that they would already have what they needed, and that he'd simply be correcting the wrong that he'd done. But now, everything had changed. The tablet couldn't be brought with them, that much was for certain. But even so, Amiti had given his word to the sentry, and now he had to keep it; tablet or not.

"Wait –" Karis said abruptly, raising her hand to stop him as Amiti knelt down beside the sentry, preparing himself to heal him. Amiti brought his green eyes up to hers, and instantly felt relief wash over him by the reassured strength within her. Her stature, her demeanor, her eyes; everything held confidence and assurance – just like her personality did.

"There's only one thing we can do," she said bitterly, "though I know it won't be easy."

"If you've come up with a plan, then you're far better than me," Amiti admitted. "For I couldn't think up anything."

Karis nodded solemnly, turning her gaze to the sentry.

"One of us is going to have to go find Matthew and bring him here."

Amiti blinked, watching the Wind Adept curiously – for surely he had heard her wrong.

"Bring Matthew-?" said Amiti uncertainly, shaking his head. "But Karis, that would seem nearly impossible. That was the entire purpose of us disguising as dancers: in order to insure us breaking into the treasury with ease. Bringing Matthew here would be defeating the whole purpose."

"Yes, but now we're in. So we're past all of that, don't you see?" Karis said with a sigh. "I know, it will definitely complicate things… But there's nothing else we can do, besides leave the tablet. And if we leave without reading it – well, we'll never be able to progress."

Amiti turned away from her, though he knew that she was right; unless they could read that tablet, there was no ending the pandemic. For if they didn't discover the location of the stones, they'd still be free of the Tuaparang's grasp, yes, but would continue to wander about aimlessly as they had before. If the pandemic wasn't brought to an abrupt halt, in the end each and every last one of the adepts would die – something that they simply couldn't allow to happen while they were still living.

"Okay," Amiti said as he drew in a breath shakily, "I think I should go and find him. You stay here with the sentry."

Karis nodded, watching Amiti concernedly as her violet eyes darkened with an expression that Amiti scarcely ever saw within her – fear.

"Just be careful, Amiti. Remember that you're unarmed."

"Unless I'm drained of my psynergy, I will not be." He offered her a small smile, one that came out to be more of a grimace. "I'll come back as quickly as I can."

"Wait, hold on – you're forgetting something," the sentry grunted, causing both of them to turn to face him.

"Yes, what is it?" Amiti asked, his green eyes searching over the sentry carefully, not expecting what the sentry had to say next.

"You said you'd heal me! So do it, boy!" he barked, glaring up at Amiti with such malice that Amiti had hardly ever seen anywhere before, not even from his chancellor back home in Ayuthay that seemed to hate him.

"I did promise to heal you, and I will –" said Amiti, as he turned to Karis expectantly, as though wishing for her to confirm his decision. "But you will have to wait until I return. For as much as I would like to trust you, there is no telling what you might do once I heal you."

The sentry looked as though he wanted to kill Amiti, and had he been in full strength he might've. Instead all that he could do was glare at him with cold, menacing eyes.

"Liars never get far in life," he muttered spitefully.

Amiti looked pained by this, as thoughts of his father ran through his mind: was he merely playing as low as Alex did? Was he merely using words to get what he wanted? He hoped not, but felt that this wasn't the time or place to be scrutinizing that.

"I didn't lie to you," he said smoothly. "I will heal you the moment that I return. I had thought I could take the tablet, but seeing to the fact that I cannot –"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you tell the green haired lady; you're bringing Matthew – whatever that means."

"Yes,"

"And then you'll heal me?"

"You have my word."

"You said that the first time."

Amiti shook his head, attempting to clear it from the confusion that the sentry was putting him in as he rose, turning his gaze towards Karis once more.

"You know where to go?" she asked him seriously, as he felt her grasp his hand tightly. Amiti nodded.

"I'm fairly certain. I just need to head to the west wing, correct?"

"Yes, I think that would work – They've been over there for some time now, so you'll probably run into them on their way out with Kraden if all went well."

A silence emitted between them briefly as they both watched the other; each filled with uncertainty. They both hated the shift in plans, and knew things would only become more complicated – and not to mention risky – as they continued to alter it from the original. Amiti gave Karis's hand a tight squeeze before releasing it, taking a few steps away from her, his eyes still unmoved from hers.

"I'll return quickly," he promised.

Karis gave him a small smile and then nodded.

"Be careful,"

Amiti turned and quickly left the treasury, failing to look back over his shoulder even once as he did so. He really wasn't certain how he'd manage to sneak over to the entrance of the west wing, nor had he really given any consideration as to what he would do once he did, but all of those things really didn't seem to matter – as he was now just making it up as he went along.

~(*)~

Silence echoed throughout the dimly lit hall as Alex scanned it for any signs of movement. After detecting none, he carefully turned the knob to the room before him and slipped inside, while hoping and praying that no one would be awaiting him once he entered.

The room he stepped into was pitch black. Heavy draperies concealed any lighting to be had from the starry night sky. Alex fumbled around the darkened room until his hand ran across the smooth wood of a dresser, searching for a candle, or match, or anything he could use to see with. It was at that very rare moment that he greatly wished he were a fire adept – though he assumed this would be the last time he'd ever wish this, for normally he had nothing to quarrel about with his mercury psynergy.

Alex scowled after searching around for several minutes, finding nothing to light the room with. He moved over towards the window and pulled back the thick, heavy curtains, revealing a bay window and a lit-up night sky. The moonlight bathed the room in a silvery light, casting a ray of light in the center of the room in the spot from which the moonlight shone. Alex's eyes darted across the room, being able to make it out fully now that he had light to survey it in, as he chose where he'd begin his search; the High Empyror's bedside table certainly seemed to be a very good place.

Without a moment's delay, Alex rushed over to the inn table, thrusting the drawer open mercilessly as he pulled out the contents by the handful. He carelessly laid everything on the floor, save for any piece of paper that he managed to find: he scanned each and every one of those quite carefully before discarding them. Once he'd completed without finding what he was looking for, he shoved everything back into place, and then made his way to the dresser drawers that stood behind him. He wasn't entirely certain that the High Empyror would keep the item in which he was searching for in his own personal quarters, but at this point, he was running out of ideas – and more essentially, time.

Like a madman, Alex dashed around this way and that, pulling out drawers and dumping out files as he searched for the one sheet of paper that he desperately wanted to find. With all of the noise that he stirred up, it was quite amazing that he hadn't attracted any guards to his presence just yet – only Alex wasn't that worried about them; he did after all have the ability to teleport out of there if things began to look nasty.

After several moments of rigorous searching, Alex sighed and stood upright, running his hands through his hair. Where could he have placed it? Surely he wouldn't be dense enough to leave it in his office? Not that Alex would've been entirely surprised if he had. While the High Empyror seemed to be all wise, he was really anything but that. Alex had outsmarted him so far, if only he could find that paper, then everything would be fine…

Alex growled lowly in frustration, his turquoise eyes continued to scan every corner of the room that he'd possibly missed. His fingers ran absentmindedly to his pocket, as he then pulled out a glossy stone the size of his palm, carved into a half-moon shape that held many ridges and raises. His turquoise eyes glistened as the moonlight reflected against them, while he stared longingly into the stone.

"I'm this close," he breathed, his eyes unblinkingly fixed on the half-moon shaped stone that rested in his hand. "If only I could find the last piece to the Eraoul…"

He turned his head in the direction of the wardrobe – But no, he thought subconsciously as he made his way over to it. Who would hide something so significant in with a pile of clothes? Then again, the High Empyror was also a man of many surprises, not unlike Alex, so he supposed that anything could be possible. It was only unlikely…

It was then that the trunk alongside the mirror caught his attention: why hadn't he noticed it before? Alex briskly strode over to it, bending down low so that his aqua blue hair swept against its lid, as he traced a hand along the carvings of the wooden box. His fingers flitted over the silver lock as he contemplated it for a moment. How did he want to break it…

Effortlessly, Alex snapped his fingers as the metal between the lock and the hook snapped, allowing Alex to cast it aside carelessly and search through the contents inside. He raised the lid, and smiled to himself at the first thing he saw. Lying atop a pile of miscellaneous items rested the Eraoul: a thin, old piece of paper that Alex had been searching all over for. It wasn't unlike the worn piece of paper that he possessed himself, yet this piece seemed quite significant to him.

Alex pocketed the paper and rose, surveying the room one last time before throwing his cloak around him and teleporting, leaving the room just as neat as it had been when he'd arrived; save for the broken lock on the chest. Let them wonder, Alex thought. Let them attempt to figure out who broke into the High Empyror's room that night, and contemplate what they intend to do with the item that the said thief stole. Any thoughts that the High Empyror could've conjured wouldn't result in being useful, for never would anyone know of his presence there that night.

For after all, Alex was Alex, and he could get away with anything.

Or at least, almost anything…

~(*)~

The door creaked as Matthew peered inside the darkened room. Unlike their cell down in the prisons that they had been held captive in, this room held one window lining the ceiling - though any thoughts of escape through it would've been futile, for their distance from the ground was at such an extreme altitude that there would be no hopes of a happy landing.

Matthew pulled the door open a bit further, allowing himself inside the room, the planks of the wooden floor creaking under his feet. Tyrell made to follow him, and quickly shut the door behind him. A rustling noise in the corner of the room caught Matthew's attention immediately, as he shot a hand down to the hilt of his sword, readying himself to draw it at any given moment. His eyes darted over to find Kraden, sitting in a rocking chair in one of the corners of the room; his twinkling blue eyes watched them bemusedly.

"Why, hello," Kraden said cheerfully. "Does your Empyror require my services?"

Matthew and Tyrell shot one another a glance before Matthew shook his head.

"No, Kraden. It's us – It's me, Matthew."

Kraden leaned forward and squinted in the darkness, as though attempting to make the two of them out despite their suits of armor.

"Really? Is that you?" he inquired, rising from his chair as he slowly made his way over to them. "How very interesting! How did you escape from your prison cell?"

"It sure wasn't easy-" Tyrell began loudly, though Matthew nudged him in the ribs to silence him. "Ouch – Matthew, there's other ways to get me to stop talking than just elbowing me all the time."

"Sorry," Matthew muttered in Tyrell's direction, as he then turned to face the scholar. "Alex helped us escape."

Kraden blinked in surprise.

"Alex?" he blurted out. "How very interesting indeed…"

"Kraden, did you bring us to the Zenith Isle to find the tablet?" Matthew asked him breathlessly, as he knew they were all rather pressed for time.

"Yes, I was hoping it would be here; though it was only a matter of theory, really. Did Alex tell you that it was here, I wonder?"

"Well, yeah he did," replied Matthew. "He planned all of this out, but why does it matter?"

Kraden shook his head as he rose from his chair.

"Never mind that now, Matthew. Now is not the place nor time to discuss it. So… Where are the others?" he asked him.

"Well, to our knowledge Rief, Alex and this slave dancer lady are waiting in an airship for us-" Tyrell explained, counting all of the members of their party off on his fingers.

"Slave dancer?" Kraden interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"Later," was all Matthew responded.

"-And Karis and Amiti are out in the great hall, performing as Gondowan dancers." Tyrell continued.

"What? But why?"

""Long story," Matthew said shortly, "but we needed someone to sneak into the treasury so that we could steal the tablet, and they were the only two that could do the job for us."

"Steal the tablet?"

"Yeah, so that we could translate it," Matthew said, and since Kraden still continued to stare at him dumbfounded upon this, he continued to explain further, "because apparently I'm the only one that can read the ancient text that it's written in."

"No, no, my dear boy," Kraden said, shaking his head frantically. "Amiti and Karis have no hopes of stealing the tablet – it is enormous! It cannot be lifted!"

Matthew's heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be so, could it? After all, they had planned this all out so strategically, so carefully… And Alex had clearly stated that it would be light enough to transport –

"Alex said that we'd be able to take it!" Tyrell said furiously, clenching his hands tightly into fists. "The big liar!"

"No, I doubt that he knew," Kraden replied calmly, resting his hands on Tyrell's armored shoulders. "Like I mentioned before: I'm surprised by all of the things that Alex does know."

Matthew turned away from the two of them, still being unable to fully register that they couldn't take the tablet. He could picture Amiti and Karis's faces, and how hard they had been practicing all afternoon and well into the evening for that dance. That night, they had to perform in front of all of those people, and now it was all in vain – they couldn't take the tablet. Everything they had done and had been trying to do was lost. Matthew swallowed the knot in his throat painfully as he willed himself to turn back to Tyrell and Kraden, and for the first time that evening he was thankful for the helmet to mask his expression.

"What do you think they'll do once they find out they can't lift the tablet?" Matthew asked, attempting to keep his voice steady.

"I don't know," said Kraden. "But I'd suggest that we head over there now and see if we can get you in there."

Tyrell chuckled softly, causing Matthew and Kraden to shoot him a glance.

"I don't know what you find about this funny," Matthew sneered, as he continued to glare at the Mars Adept to his left.

"Nothing, really," Tyrell replied, lifting his head to meet Matthew's eye. "It's just I was thinking… We're doing exactly what Alex didn't want us to."

"This is out of Alex's hands now," Kraden replied lowly, walking softly across the room to the door. "He didn't plan for this to happen. We must now do what we can."

Matthew considered Kraden for a moment before nodding, as he turned to follow Kraden out the door.

"Alex was concerned that we'd attract too much attention if we went in disguised as guards," Matthew informed him.

"Oh, I think we'll manage," Kraden said, as a smile slowly curved the corners of his mouth. "A few Tuaparang soldiers have never stopped the two of you before, have they?"

"Nah, we can take 'em," Tyrell said, flexing a muscle. "Right Matthew?"

Matthew hesitated, thinking Kraden and Tyrell were making a bit too light of the situation at hand, but instead of expressing this, he merely nodded.

"Good, then let's be on our way. I'm certainly tired of this old room they've kept me in." Kraden turned the doorknob and allowed himself out into the hall beyond. Tyrell followed Kraden first, and then at last came Matthew.

Moonlight from the windows above bathed Matthew's face as the Venus Adept carefully peered around the hall. No soldiers – that was definitely a good thing. Matthew only hoped that their luck could hold out until they were good and out of there.

Kraden allowed Matthew and Tyrell to take the lead, taking into consideration that the two probably knew their way around better than he did. Slowly and silently, the three made their way back in the same direction that Tyrell and Matthew had come: back through the dark stairways and passed the many halls until at last they reached the first floor of the west wing, where Matthew stopped dead in his tracks upon reaching the last step.

"Huh? Why'd you stop-" Tyrell began, but fell short upon setting his gaze on the room beyond, his eyes widening at what he saw.

The room was filled with not one, or two, but at least a dozen Tuaparang soldiers, all of them fully armed and prepared for battle.

"The noise came from somewhere up there," one of them said, gesturing towards the staircase without looking in its direction. "It sounded as if someone were jumping up and down or something."

Matthew felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach – it never occurred to him how possibly noisy his Mother Gaia attack had been when he'd relinquished it on the guard up in the tower – how foolish.

"Well, Kornor was supposed to be on watch, so if anything really did take place up there…" another replied vaguely, as though not really interested in inspecting the place.

"Hey, look!"

Matthew had no time to hide or react when almost all of the heads of soldiers turned to face them at the stairs. One of them raised their spear.

"What were you two doing up there?" the soldier with the spear asked suspiciously. "No one was supposed to be up there except Kornor, who was patrolling the eighth floor."

"We – uh," Matthew said, turning towards Tyrell desperately for advice. "We're supposed to take… Kraden."

"Oh, really?" the soldier said in a cocky tone. "Where to?"

"These are no soldiers of ours," one said in a deep tone, as he went over to the adepts in meaningful strides. "I'm willing to guess they're the ones who stole our armor. What do you think, Storomir?"

Tyrell gulped beside Matthew, as he recognized the voice of the soldier that stood before them: It was indeed the two soldiers that they had attacked for their armor. But how did they regain consciousness so quickly, Tyrell wondered furiously.

The soldier's partner went up to them, and even though his expression was unreadable due to his headgear, it was quite easy to presume that a triumphant grin was imprinted on the man's face, gauging from his tone.

"I'll say," he replied, nodding. "What do you suppose we do with them?"

"What we do to all intruders, of course." The other said, drawing his sword from its sheath.

Matthew had wanted to trip Tyrell, and after a few moments he really wished he had as Tyrell bounded out towards the two Tuaparang soldiers, his sword held out in front of him as he shot out. "Oh, yeah? Well, I'll teach you - you Tuaparang scum!"

"Tyrell!" Matthew hissed, only it was too late – the soldiers had already begun opening fire upon them.

Tyrell didn't show any mercy for the soldiers this time though. Without thinking twice, the Mars Adept cast Carpet Bomb on the surrounding soldiers: a massive psynergy attack consisting of the very flames of hell itself. It wasn't entirely easy for Tyrell to cast, and Matthew knew that it must've taken nearly half of his psynergy to do it. Flames came down in streaks from the ceiling, almost reminiscent to lightning coming down from the sky. They bore down upon the soldiers, as fire swelled around them in sheets, coming closer and closer in contact with them. The room was filled with the soldiers' screams of agony, as another soldier at that very same moment used a blast of his own dark psynergy, shooting Tyrell back by yards across the smooth stone floor.

Matthew took a step forward, releasing psynergy of his own. Quite similarly to the way in which his Mother Gaia attack coursed through his enemies, his stone spire came crashing down on them. First in smaller stones, then came larger boulders. Some broke apart as they came crashing down on them, sending large fragments of rock flying across the room, and Matthew quite literally had to duck to avoid being hit by them himself as rocks ricochet off the walls towards him. Though the rocks had bore down on the soldiers, it didn't seem to halt their progress in the least – weakened they ultimately were, but they still seemed to have an inner strength to them that Matthew couldn't help but wonder at.

At that point, Tyrell had regained his footing, only this time he withdrew his sword rather than attempt to use his psynergy: he wanted to save what remained of that in case he really had a dire need for it. One of the Tuaparang soldiers shot some kind of attack that Matthew was unfamiliar with at Tyrell, causing Tyrell's body to jerk violently as he cried out in pain. Against Matthew's own vows to himself to conserve the remainders of his psynergy, he unleashed his Odyssey attack. From out of the nowhere, four swords from multiple directions struck Tyrell's attacker dead in his tracks as one final, larger blade came smashing down from above – and that was the end of him. Matthew let out a sigh, as he rushed over towards Tyrell to offer him a hand up. He accepted it, and slowly rose from the floor, his legs barely able to support him.

"Damn, these guys are good," Tyrell muttered. "When do you think they'll decide to quit?"

At that very moment, before Matthew had the opportunity to answer, another wave of dark psynergy washed over them, knocking the wind out of the two adepts as they went crashing to the floor. Matthew rolled up to his feet quickly to meet the blade of a soldier bearing down on him. The fight pursued for a short while, until the soldier seemed to lose interest and instead cast out another psynergy attack: the same one that another soldier had used on Tyrell only moments before. The pain dulled Matthew's senses as he vaguely felt his body hit the stone floor once more. The pain began to throb through his head, and then quickly crept down through his body as if he'd suddenly jumped into a pool of ice-cold water. Just when he thought the pain began to let up it only intensified. He could hear the battle still being drawn out around him, yet it seemed so surreal and faraway. The sound of someone crying out could be heard, and for one brief moment he thought it was possibly the sound of his own voice, yet he didn't think that he was shouting. As Matthew attempted to focus in on the soldier that stood before him, his vision slowly grew blurry as he fell backward – rendering it impossible for him to sit upright any longer.

The only thought that continued to run through his mind at that moment was that they failed – they failed much more than themselves for that matter. They'd failed Isaac and Garet, they'd failed all of the Adepts throughout Weyard - they'd even failed all of Weyard entirely, from a certain doom that was bound to come now that they wouldn't be alive to stop it.

Matthew heard a dull thud beside him, though he couldn't collect his thoughts to glance over to see who or what it was: he felt as though he no longer had any control over his bodily functions – all of it seemed so far off.

It was then, just as Matthew was well certain that he was going to die there, in the middle of the floor on the Zenith Isle, that a misty chill ran through the air. At first it wasn't entirely noticeable, but after several moments the temperate within the room dropped by at least 50 degrees and Matthew could see his breath forming in the air. The Tuaparang soldier broke his psynergy attack from Matthew, as he turned to find the source of the sudden freeze the room was under. Quicker than the soldier could react, ice shards began pouring down upon them, each piece being as sharp as razors. The soldier let out a howl as he leapt away from Matthew, attempting to get away from the ice that came pelting down on him. However, the ice didn't cease, and Matthew felt someone tugging at his shoulders, attempting to pull him from his position on the floor.

"No –" Matthew managed to moan, as he struggled to pull away from the person's grasp. "No – use."

"Come, Matthew," a familiar voice said calmly, though Matthew couldn't make out from where "I need to get you out of the way before I-"

"Let me," another voice said, this time he recognized it to belong to Tyrell.

Matthew opened his eyes as he noticed a red blur cross his line of vision before he was abruptly lifted and carried across the opposite side of the room. He was glad that at least Tyrell was better off than he was – perhaps Weyard still had hope just yet.

He felt himself hit the ground once more, as Tyrell gently leaned him back against the wall.

"Amiti and I are gonna try to fight these goons real quick," Tyrell reassured his friend. "So hang in there, we'll come fix you up when we get a sec."

Matthew tried to respond but couldn't find his voice, and instead merely nodded. He felt Tyrell loosen his grip on his shoulder, and he fought viciously to not fall over. After a moment, he then felt a pair of hands grasp his shoulders and pull him back against the wall, and he recognized the old, soft voice of Kraden when he was spoken to: "Matthew, you'll be alright. It was just a rough dose of dark psynergy. But you'll be fine. Just try to relax and remain focused."

To Matthew, to try to relax and remain focused seemed like two opposing things to one another, though he didn't have the mental capacity to argue. He merely nodded, and slumped back against the wall, wondering how long it would take until he finally died.

Slowly, the sounds of battle ceased as Matthew felt sudden waves of heat and cold sweep through the air periodically. At long last, Tyrell made his way over to Matthew, dropping to his knees before him.

"Matthew, Matthew! Wake up, Matt!" Tyrell said desperately, taking a hold of Matthew's arm and shaking it violently. "You're going to be alright, don't leave us!"

Matthew cracked his eyes open to make out Tyrell standing before him, his soldier's helmet cast aside, so that now he could make out Tyrell's panicked expression as he watched his friend. He then noticed someone behind Tyrell, as he made his way around the Fire Adept to get closer to Matthew.

During Matthew's unconscious state, someone must've removed his helmet, for he found it to be gone as the other man ran a hand across Matthew's face, and then rested it at the back of his neck. Before Matthew knew what was happening, he recognized the cool sensation of Ply working through his body, and knew instantly that this had to be Amiti; despite the fact that he couldn't make out his face. The Ply penetrated through his skin and coursed through his every muscle, as he felt mobility return to them. Slowly, his vision cleared, and he was able to make out the mercury adept before him, dressed as a Gondowan slave dancer.

"Amiti," Matthew began, breaking the Mercury Adept's concentration as the Ply abruptly stopped pouring into him. "Amiti, what are you doing here-?"

"I came to find you," Amiti replied quietly. "Now, please don't speak: I'm not through healing you yet-"

"I'm fine, there's no need to heal me further."

Amiti considered Matthew hesitantly for a moment, but obeyed – after all, he still had the sentry to heal back in the treasury.

"You really had good timing," said Tyrell behind Amiti's back, though Amiti didn't turn to face him. "If you hadn't come along, we were gonna be toast."

"I'm very glad that I did, then." Amiti paused, as he then lifted his head to meet Matthew's eye. "Are you alright now?"

"Yeah," Matthew said slowly, rotating his wrist to check himself out. "As good as new – or almost."

Amiti nodded, then urgently turned towards Tyrell.

"I'm sorry, but there's no time. The festival is about to end, and we found a major dilemma in trying to steal the tablet-"

"We already know," said Tyrell bitterly. "Kraden's told us; you guys can't lift the tablet, can you?"

Amiti's eyes widened in surprise at the Fire Adept momentarily, then his expression relaxed once more.

"Yes, it's unmovable."

"Then, we must bring Matthew to it," said Kraden reassuringly, stepping out from behind Matthew.

Tyrell stepped forward to offer Matthew a hand up, which Matthew accepted gratefully. Although he felt much better than he previously had, he still found himself to be quite weak as his legs shook under his weight and he fought to keep his balance. Amiti offered a hand out to steady him, though Matthew declined it.

"Lead the way," Matthew said wearily to the Water Adept, who simply nodded in response.

As they began to weave their way out of the room through clusters of fallen soldiers, they heard a clock chime midnight – signaling the end of the festival.

And that was bad news. Very bad indeed…

Author's Note:

You'll probably find there to be very little dialogue within the chapter, not that I prefer it that way; normally I'm notorious for heavy dialogue chapters. I hope I'm not boring everyone to death with the Zenith Isle already! They're leaving it next chapter though and never coming back, I promise ;) Then, we're on our way to discover the mysteries of the pandemic and the Psynergy Well again!

You'll also be finding out some pretty interesting things with a few characters shortly here…

CreationsGoneAwry: Oh! One thing I forgot to clarify in my PM: Most all of the Tuaparang soldiers possess psynergy – only they are of the dark element. The guard that Matthew and Tyrell had attacked had stated that no soldier of theirs had psynergy of the regular elements (fire, water, earth, wind). And since the Tuaparang troops are powered-up by the abundance of dark psynergy surrounding the Isle, they are a great threat to them. So, in essence yes, the psy grenade was quite necessary :D