Author's Notes: Every time I look back at it, I just realise how extensive this little writing project of mine has gotten. Life, both mine and that of others, has changed so much since the days when this was first published. When I started, The Lost Age was still a relatively fresh game. Who would have thought that we'd get a sequel years down the track, and that now it's been and gone and Project Psynergy remains? I certainly didn't, and I just had to take that moment to acknowledge it. It has its ups and downs, but I still very much love this story, even as I move on to other, greater writing projects.
So it is that I continue to write it, even when there are times that I really don't want to anymore. This chapter was something I damn near gave up on completely with, hence why it took so long, but now it's here and now it's done, just like the third Golden Sun game. Speaking of that game, I have a few things that I'll need to say about it and this story, but I'll save those for the closing comments. For now, excuse the months long delay as usual and enjoy your Project fix. This one goes out to everybody who ever wished Alex was a fightable boss...
PROJECT PSYNERGY
Chapter 20 – Antagonism
"Huh," said the port official non-chalantly as he glanced away from Isaac. "That happened fairly suddenly..."
Isaac didn't respond, he just continued to flick through the small pile of paperwork he'd been handed, signing where appropriate. Apparently, buying a boat and preparing it for immediate departure was not as simple and straight-forward as it was cracked up to be.
"I thought it was supposed to be clear skies all evening, but I guess not. You might want to change your mind about going for a cruise right now, sir."
Signing the last paper, Isaac finally looked up to see what the man was looking at. His eyes trailed over to the nearby window before his gaze stopped dead in its tracks. When he'd entered the harbour master's office just a few minutes ago, the completely clear skies made the fading colours of sunset on the horizon to the west quite beautiful to behold. Jenna had stayed outside to go get the boat ready and watch it all.
That was mere minutes ago. Now... it was dark. There was still the fading light of day present, but much of the sky was now obscured by a thick fog that had risen up out of nowhere.
Frowning, Isaac turned over the papers to the man and silently walked to the door, opening it up. As soon as he did so, the mist seemed to roll in through the gap like a wave of gelatin, passing around him silently and into the room. It almost seemed like it would offer resistance if he tried to walk through it.
"Hey, can you close the door for a second?" the official asked, shuffling the papers.
"Oh, sure." Isaac did as asked, quickly shutting out the white wave and moving back to the counter.
"Thanks. Alright then... now normally that'd be everything and I'd just turn the boat over to you and walk away, but..." the official glanced out the window again and hesitated, still unable to see through the veil. "I'm not sure that's wise to let you go out right this second. Too many chances for an accident in a fog this thick and this unexpected."
"But..." Isaac frowned, hastily trying to think of an in-character response to this. "Look... my girlfriend and I have really been looking forward to getting this boat and I don't know if we'd really be happy unless we got to take it out for a spin now. It'll just be short... we both know what we're doing. Please?"
The port official stared at him, so Isaac stared right back, looking as hopeful as he possibly could. Finally, the man sighed and waved his hand. "I'll need you to sign a waiver then, just to say that it's all your own fault in the event of an emergency. And then you'd better make it quick."
"Thank you so much. I won't let you down."
Hastily scrawling the necessary signature down on the waiver, Isaac grinned enthusiastically before slipping out the door. In truth, the entire thing had been a ruse: the boat they were "buying" was, in fact, Ivan's boat. As for how it was being sold, that was one thing he and Jenna had worked on until the early hours of the morning... they'd attempted to dig up the details Ivan used to secure a permanent spot at the harbour, but his tracks had been tricky to follow.
So they'd improvised. Now there were falsified records of past ownership of the boat, the owners who had just bought it, and various bank account details belonging to each. They'd effectively just moved money from one account to another without actually paying a cent, but it was a worthwhile deception to make sure that nobody paid their disappearance any heed. Of course, they were supposed to just be going on a short trip, so there might be some attention if they just vanished... but they'd be long gone by that point.
Stepping into the mist made Isaac realise just how unnecessary the entire affair had been, however. He couldn't even see his feet through it, it was so thick... had they know it was going to be like this, they could have slipped out without anyone even knowing they had been there. Such is life, he supposed.
Now, where was the boat...
He paused, trying to recall the layout of the docks properly. Alhafra had a fairly complex harbour system and despite the number of times he'd had to pass through here recently, Isaac had never once visited the harbour master's office. Once he had a vague recollection of where to go, he set out deeper into the mists.
He'd only walked a few steps when the air was punctuated by indistinct shouts, as well as the sound of wood breaking. Then there were more shouts... a woman's shouts.
Was that Jenna's voice he could hear?
Panic overcame Isaac's calm and he started sprinting forward, heading towards the sound. His sprinting was short-lived, however, as out of the mist came an iron gate to keep people off the pier. He skidded to a halt mere inches from the gate, hissing in frustration. Reaching out to his Psynergy, he shattered the iron lock and shoved the gate aside, moving at a slightly less hasty speed now. The mist continued to pool around him, denying him vision and muffling sounds in the distance as he made his way through the network of docks.
"There's no way this can be natural," Isaac muttered as he strained to see or hear anything further. But no matter which way he looked, there were only the faintest light or dark patches to indicate that the world hadn't suddenly dissolved into fog.
All he could do was struggle onward and hope that whatever was going on, Jenna could handle it...
…
The sun was starting to disappear behind the distant horizon. Jenna stood on the deck of Ivan's boat, glancing around to make sure that everything was aboard and most of the ropes had been untied. As soon as Isaac returned, they'd be away... but until then, she was free to watch the sunset.
Despite how impressive the display was, however, the vibrant colours across the sky only served to remind her of one thing... fire. That inevitably drew the connection to Psynergy... her Psynergy. Her own mysterious powers.
How had she gotten them? The djinni had said that she'd had these abilities for much of her life, either through her family or her place of birth, but she couldn't remember either of those. Had she used her powers before the incident with the Elementalists, in times before her amnesia had set in? If that was the case, was Isaac's situation similar? Where had he come from or who had he been related to to have a different set of abilities?
Questions, questions, and more questions. Jenna sighed. Ever since Project Psynergy had shown up in her life, it seemed like she had nothing but questions about everything that had happened. When were they going to find some answers? All she could do was stick close to Isaac and hope that the two of them could piece it all together.
Frowning, Jenna returned her attention to the sunset... only to realise that it had vanished. All around the boat, a dense bank of fog seemed to be building, sweeping across the docks rapidly and engulfing her in a sea of clouds just a few moments later.
She blinked, looking around for a moment. She was mere feet from the edge of the boat, yet now she couldn't even see beyond it to the pier they were moored at. Strange... fog was known to appear rapidly around Alhafra during the colder months, but never so fast and thick as to engulf her entire field of vision in seconds.
Something didn't feel right about this...
"You. Woman." The voice pierced through the fog from a short distance away, presumably the nearby dock, making Jenna tense up. It was a smooth voice, unerringly calm and extremely decisive as if the speaker was used to giving orders and having them obeyed. "Your disguise is flimsy – I know who you are and I know what you've done. If you wish to live, you will come with me and do exactly as I say. Get off the boat, now."
Jenna hesitated, her heart racing. They'd done everything they could to cover their tracks and alter their appearances somewhat... how had they been found? Had the Proxians tracked them?
Whoever it was, she remained still, hoping that they might have made some kind of mistake. Slowly, she moved her hand down to her pistol. It might not have been as potentially powerful as Psynergy, but it was something she was much more familiar with.
"I will not warn you again. Stop moving for your gun and get off the boat." There was a brief pause. "And don't think I don't know about your friend, either. If you don't cooperate, I will be sure to make both of your lives hell... but he will be the one to suffer first, because of you."
Now her heart was practically ripping itself from her chest. Whoever this person was, she couldn't imagine it was an idle threat. But that raised yet another question... how had he seen her move for the gun through the fog? Jenna could barely see two feet in front of her, so how could he? Was he just guessing?
She didn't want to submit to him... so all she could do was call his bluff. Her hand wrapped around her pistol handle and drew it as quietly as she could, raising it to the fog ever so slowly. She still couldn't see or hear anyone.
"Bad idea."
Something burst from the fog just ahead of her, too fast for Jenna to react to before it struck her gun hand. She cried out and dropped the weapon, gripping her hand and reeling back from the sudden burst of searing pain. Her uninjured hand wrapped around something that should not have been there... staring down, Jenna could see that something had buried itself in the back of her hand, piercing all the way through and erupting from her palm. It looked like a translucent blade, but as her hand started to go numb, she quickly realised that it was ice.
The pain was incredible, but somehow the shock seemed to wash any kind of hurt to the back of her mind. Now, Jenna was completely focused on only one thing... survival.
She had to defeat her assailant before he killed her. And to do that when she was disarmed...
Jenna snarled and thrust her uninjured hand forward. Instinct took over as she willed her powers to come forth, and the Psynergy responsed instantly, her arm erupting into flames that seemed to drive the mist away a short distance.
"What the...?" Her attacker's voice still sounded surprisingly calm, but it was edged with surprise. Better yet – Jenna now had a vague idea of which direction the voice was coming from.
Gritting her teeth and focusing harder, Jenna unleashed the pent up flame energy in a wave of fire before her, the Psynergy punching a hole through the mist straight towards the speaker. For a brief moment, she could have sworn that the flames had taken on the shape of a dragon.
The hole in the mist revealed her attacker for a split second before the fire struck him – a young man with long blue hair and a faintly confused expression. Then that glance was gone as the flames rolled over him, engulfing him utterly.
Something about the sight made Jenna hesitate, and she ceased the stream of fire instantly, the energy returning to pool in her open palm. Lowering her arm, she peered through the gap in the mist towards the flames that had come to rest on the dock.
As she did so, a pair of arms swept out of the flames, extinguishing them as they passed through it. Sheets of water seeemd to eject outwards from the man... then Jenna realised that he'd wrapped them around himself, like a shield. His lips curled into a smirk, and finally the true gravity of the situation dawned on her.
Psynergy. Not a Proxian... but using Psynergy. Water Psynergy.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
"That would be telling," he replied calmly, raising a hand. The water around him rose up into the air and separated into smaller globes, then the globes solidified and shifted into blades of ice... much like the one currently protruding from her hand.
This is going to suck.
He swept his arm forward and the blades moved with him, flying through the air one after the other towards her. Without really knowing what she was doing, Jenna replied by thrusting her own hand forward. The flames answered her mental demands and formed into a wall before her, just in time to absorb all the ice blades.
At least... absorb part of them. The barrier was strong enough to melt the ice to globes of water, but it wasn't enough to dissolve it entirely, so the water pierced her shield regardless in quick succession. And after passing through the barrier, the water temperature had risen considerably.
Jenna hissed as the first globe struck her outstretched arm, then another thudded into her stomach before a third struck her shoulder. The water was boiling hot, enough to sear her flesh through her clothes, and in moments the pain became unbearable.
Another struck her in the forehead, hard enough to disrupt her concentration, and Jenna could feel her hold on the shield waver. Out of desperation, she flung herself at the deck of the ship as the flame barrier went up in smoke, sending the remaining blasts of ice racing through the air just above her.
The momentary lapse in action seemed to trigger Jenna's awareness of the pain, and she had to fight to resist the urge to just stop and curl up into a little ball. She couldn't give up... couldn't let this person beat her... if nothing else, Isaac would make his way to the boat soon, so she'd have support in a matter of moments...
She glanced in the direction of the pier, noting that the mist was closing around her and obscuring her vision once more. She could still see the outline of the boat's edge, however, which was the only thing providing cover between her and the attacker. She still had no idea who this guy was or what he wanted with her, either...
"I just want you to know that I take great pleasure in hurting you," said the man again, eternally calm. "But that is not what I'm here to do unless I have to. You can't beat me at this, so just give it up. Come quietly and I won't hurt you any further."
Jenna raced through her mind for options. As she did so, she glanced at her injured hand, looking at the shard of ice that had pierced right through it. After a moment's consideration, she left the shard embedded... of all her injuries, that one was numb, at least. Then she started pulling herself across the floor of the boat, trying to keep as low as possible as she moved towards the cabin.
If she couldn't fight, she'd have to flee. She knew where the harbour master was... maybe she'd be able to get the boat moving and grab Isaac on the way past...
There was a loud crack as a huge chunk of ice fell from the mist above her and struck the edge of the boat merely inches from her face, punching through the wood and shattering the barrier as if it was made of paper. Despite herself, Jenna cried out and pulled back from it, moving even faster to get behind new cover. There was blood in her eye, now... a shard of wood must have sliced her forehead open.
"Why must you make this so hard on yourself? You can't pos-"
The voice was cut off by a sudden boom, accompanied by a bright flash. Jenna hesitated, but the voice didn't say anything more, so she rushed forward into the confines of the cabin, slamming the door shut behind her and staying low just in case.
Inside the boat, the mist was a lot thinner. Blinking a few times before keeping her bloodied eye closed, Jenna carefully moved forward to the helm. Ivan's boat was primarily driven from the floor above her, but the engine could still be managed from here in the event of emergencies. This qualified as an emergency, in her mind.
She brought the engine to life, but quickly realised that the boat was still moored to the pier... it wouldn't be able to go anywhere until she went back outside and untied it. And right now, there was no way she was doing that.
Instead, Jenna laid on the floor of the cabin, staring at the ceiling. She felt really weak and tired, all of a sudden... but more than that, she was ashamed. Yes, she wasn't familiar with her Psynergy, but she'd been beaten so easily! She needed to be better than this. How would she stop Project Psynergy if that was the best she could muster? How could she and Isaac hope to do anything?
Pushing the degrading thoughts out of her mind, Jenna forced herself to keep moving, heading to the cabin below the deck and clambering onto the corner of the seat there. She reached into a cabinet, retrieving a spare pistol that Ivan had pointed out to her during the last trip.
Then she waited. She couldn't fight him directly as she was, so the best she could do was catch him by surprise if he did pursue her... and hope that Isaac would be there to help soon.
...were those footsteps on the deck...?
Come on, Isaac...
…
"Maybe it's just me," Hama said, glancing up at the sky as the mist thickened around them, "but I think your vision is coming to pass, Feizhi."
"As much as I hate to think of the connotations of being able to see the future... I think I have to agree." Feizhi glanced around the docks, hissing in frustration. "How are we supposed to spot anything in this mist? The fight could be over by the time we get there..."
Garet said nothing. He just kept walking, trying as best as he could to make out anything amidst the fog. They'd spent the rest of the afternoon heading through the harbour, trying to get a good grasp of the layout and looking around for anything that might have suggested the presence of Jenna. So far, they hadn't seen anything, but the docks were fairly large. With the fog obscuring so much right now, something could slip through their net quite easily.
They had to find her, and quickly. It'd be great to have Jenna on their side, even if she didn't know all that much about what was going on. He'd never realised it before, but Garet sincerely missed the days of his childhood spent back in Vale with the others... yet life had just kept getting in the way of any of those memories, especially since the chaos of Project Psynergy had reared its ugly head.
Maybe, just maybe, there'd be a happy reunion at the end of all of this to make the whole experience not feel like a crazy dream...
"Hey, Garet, did you hear that?"
"Huh? No... hear what?" He glanced at Feizhi, then looked out around the docks, only to be confronted by mist yet again. Was it his imagination, or did it seem to be getting thicker by the minute?
"I heard it," Hama replied. "A woman shouting. Did you hear which way it came from?"
Feizhi shook her head. "It's too hard to tell in the fog..."
Hama glanced between them, then shrugged and held out her hands. "Then we'll just have to eliminate that from the equation. Take my hand, both of you."
Garet and Feizhi exchanged glances, but neither questioned her as they did as asked. Hama closed her eyes, steadying her breathing. Then the rings of energy began to move across her body... Psynergy.
And then, as soon as he blinked, the world around Garet had shifted. He could see the harbour with perfect clarity... the boats, docks, and occasional lost looking person had all been revealed as if the mist had lifted. Yet... it was still there. Somehow, he could still see it there, in a translucent sort of way... but it no longer impeded his vision, as if his eyes had begun to pierce through.
"I can see through it!" Feizhi exclaimed, her tone mimicking Garet's surprise. "How did you do that?"
"It's a little trick I was taught with Psynergy," Hama said, smiling. "Regardless of what you and anyone else may think of it, being an Adept doesn't just mean hurting people. It'll only last as long as you're holding my hand, thought."
Feizhi looked as though she was about to object, which her master interrupted. "The fog is still there, so if you feel in any way embarrassed by this, nobody but us can see it. Focus on what we're here for."
Garet rolled his eyes, then hesitated when Feizhi glared at him. Right, she could see that too...
"Fine. Let's get a move on, then." Feizhi stepped forward and the others followed, each of them trying to look for signs of any combat.
It was Garet who spotted it first, but he almost didn't realise it. Not too far away from them, on the next pier over, was a long-haired man looking over a boat. The scene would have been perfectly inconspicuous had he not spotted movement on the deck of the boat, but as soon as Garet paid any attention to it, it stopped.
As he watched, the man raised his hand. The image began to shimmer, then, as though Hama's ability was fading... but clarity was restored just in time to see a huge block of ice fly from the man's hand and crash into the deck.
"Hama! There!"
He pointed towards the man, prompting both women to look in that direction. Barely waiting to react, Hama released her grip on both of their hands and started calling her Psynergy again, thrusting her arm out towards him. Even as Garet's vision started to blur as the mist became opaque once more, he could see the lightning bolt arc from her arm and strike the man.
"Another Adept. Plus there's someone else on the boat... she looks hurt." Hama nodded. "I'll cover you from here, go now. Help her."
"Which way?" asked Feizhi, looking around once more. "I didn't see it clearly enough!"
"Come on." Garet took her by the arm and started running. Despite the white mist clouding his vision, he could still see the setting in his mind's eye. He moved as fast as he could to make sure Feizhi was keeping up, though she didn't seem to have any trouble keeping pace.
As they moved to the next dock, Garet noticed that the fog seemed to be dissipationg around them... as they neared their destination, he was suddenly able to see some distance through the thinning veil. Before him, pulling himself to his feet, was the long-haired man he'd seen use Psynergy moments before. He was reasonably well dressed and looked almost like a businessman, though he had the posture of a soldier. His features were vaguely reminiscient of a Lemurian... not at all what Garet would have exposed of someone involved with the Proxians.
The man stood, dusting his shirt off nonchalantly before turning to face them. He looked as casual as if they'd knocked on his door, rather than dropped a lightning bolt on his face. Slowly, his expression shifted a smirk.
"Ah... you two. I was wondering where you were hiding."
The pair exchanged glances.
"I'm sorry," Feizhi said, "have we met?"
"Not exactly." The man folded his arms and shrugged. "But I've heard your descriptions mentioned to me. You were at Madra and directly responsible for the international incident, unless I am mistaken. It makes sense that you'd be in Alhafra, now... not the safest or most sensible place in Weyard to hide, but if you're looking to continue making trouble, all the news centred on this city would definitely act as a beacon to you, would it not?"
He looked so smug that Garet simply wanted to walk over and punch his face in. But that wouldn't do... this man knew something about Project Psynergy, and he wanted to find out as much as he could.
Like, for example, how the hell he had managed to shrug off a lightning bolt. That question would have to wait, however.
"You're involved in Project Psynergy, aren't you?"
"Not so loud," the man answered, looking around for a moment. His smirk remained, though, which lead Garet to believe that he was being mocked. "But I suppose you could say that. What would you like me to tell you? The number of Adepts involved? The methods by which Psynergy is produced? The ultimate aims and intentions? The exact movements of operatives in all regards?"
Feizhi paused. "It would be kinda nice if you told us all that, yeah."
He laughed. "Well, it's not going to be that simple."
"It never is," Garet said with a faint sigh. "So are you actually going to cough up anything useful given that we have you outgunned, or do we have to do this the hard way? Because I'm curious why a Lemurian is helping out Prox."
"You're just children in the grand scheme of this, do you understand that?" He shook his head, glancing around as if trying to pierce the mist. "Children. All the clues are out there for you to piece together, but you're not even close to understanding it. Worse, you're so easily letting yourselves be manipulated."
Gritting his teeth, Garet flared his Psynergy and conjured a large fire in the palm of his hands, looking menacingly at the Lemurian. "Answer the damn question or I'll burn that smirk off your face."
"Going to fight me, then? Good. Had you dawdled any longer, I might have already killed your friend."
He grinned and snapped his fingers, pointing off to the side. The gesture forced the fog to part, unveiling the docks where they'd first approached from and letting them see Hama... who was on the ground, blue in the face, struggling to pull something from her neck.
Something that looked a lot like a rope made of solid mist.
"Hama!" Feizhi yelled, starting in that direction. She looked to be struggling to decide whether to run to her master, or stay... and that indecision let the Lemurian step towards them, flinging his hand at her to unleash a localised hailstorm that he'd conjured.
Garet wasn't caught off guard, however. He shoved Feizhi out of the way, standing in the path of the ice and thrusting his arms forward. A wave of flame roared into existence around him, flying forward and engulfing the hail as quickly as it was produced.
The flames reached his opponent, but were quickly extinguished by a wall of water that sprung up inches before him. In the distance, Garet could hear Hama gasp and cough... a sign that she wasn't being strangled anymore. Good. He'd broken his concentration.
There's three of us and one of you. Do you really think you can stop us all?
Pulled from her reverie, Feizhi snapped her attention back to the fight. Glancing at Garet once, she sprinted towards the Lemurian, taking a slightly rounded path at the edge of the docks so that she could position herself to one side of him. Taking the hint, Garet started running towards the other side to flank him, distracting his target by launching a series of rapid fireballs as he ran and placing himself between the man and the boat he'd been damaging.
The man was quick to react, raising a hand and flinging balls of conjured water in a wide spray towards Garet, striking him ineffectually but also nullifying each of the fireballs. He then span on his heel and, in the same motion, brought his leg up in a fast kick at Feizhi's midsection.
She struggled to react in time but narrowly deflected the blow with her hand, stepping in and swinging her free hand in a right hook to strike the Lemurian in the side of the head. He was fast to react, however... he shifted his head away from the blow, but he was still off balance from the kick and thus started to slip forward. He staggered and grabbed hold of Feizhi's shoulder... and then, in a blur of motion, he grabbed her by the neck, shifted his leg behind hers, and then twisted himself to drag Feizhi down.
Garet could barely see the manoeuvre, yet in a heartbeat Feizhi was lying on the ground, the Lemurian pinning her chest down with one knee. He swivelled around to glance at Garet, then flicked his hand forward. Before he could react, the mist between them thickened and seemed to grow solid.
This might be a serious challenge... just who the hell was this guy and why was he so good?
Adrenalin pumping through him, Garet tried to step forward, but he made contact with the mist and was suddenly unable to push through. Snarling, he raised his hands and unleashed another powerful wave of flame, which proved far more effective. The mist before him dissipated, but revealed only Feizhi... his opponent had vanished, and his companion was slowly forcing herself up, one hand clutching her stomach.
"Are you alright?" Garet asked, crouching beside her. "Where i-"
He wasn't even able to finish before Feizhi lunged forward and threw him aside, a split second before a huge chunk of ice sailed through the air where his head had been a moment ago. Both of them glanced at the fallen boulder for a moment before turning in the direction it had been thrown from.
The first thing Garet saw was the kick flying towards his head, which struck him solidly in the the cheek and flung him to the ground. Pain exploded in his mind, and his vision was suddenly nothing but stars and spinning fog. There was a tangy taste in his mouth... blood? Wouldn't surprise him given how strong the kick had been.
Fighting the sudden urge to sleep it off, Garet rolled over onto his side – he wasn't even sure how he'd gotten to his back in the first place – and saw the Lemurian locked into combat with Feizhi.
The young woman seemed utterly furious, launching into her opponent with a ferocity that was almost unnerving to Garet. She struck in rapid succession, constantly moving forward and pressing the assault as she rained punches, elbow strikes, knee strikes and all manner of other blows against the Lemurian. Despite his early dominance, now he was struggling to defend against it. Had Garet not been so rattled by the attack, he might have found Feizhi's martial arts display impressive.
It didn't continue forever. The man blocked a quick one-two punch with his hands before stepping forward and catching Feizhi underneath the chin with his elbow. He lashed out with a quick knee to her groin, before stepping back again. As Feizhi staggered and assumed a defensive posture, the Lemurian brought his hand down, and a rain of ice shards formed above her before dropping down like a sudden storm.
Feizhi reeled back, dropping to a crouch and raising a hand above her head to shield any further attacks. She was bleeding from several scratches on her head, chest, and arms, and looked as if the fight was already drained from her.
The sight was enough to make Garet come entirely back to his senses. Gritting his teeth, he shifted around from his prone position to face the Lemurian. If this went on for too much longer, they'd be too weak to fight back. It had to end here.
His opponent had used Psynergy in numerous interesting ways... ice, water, fog, all of these techniques could be traced backl to the one "element" of water. So far, Garet had only used his Psynergy to make flames, but even that had been adapted into a shield when he'd first started using them. But the Proxian he'd fought in Madra had used his abilities in other ways. There had to be more that Garet was capable of, something that wouldn't be nullified quite so easily.
Alright... let's see what else I can do...
He didn't stand, so as not to draw attention to himself, and brought his hands to his chest. Then, Garet fed as much Psynergy as he could into them. No flames appeared, but the area around him immediately started to heat up. Sweat formed on his forehead despite the cold temperature.
If fire didn't work, how about heat and force?
The Lemurian turned his attention to Garet just as Garet unleashed his Psynergy. From his hands emerged a beam of energy, hot enough to evaporate the fog instantly as it carved a path towards its target. The man didn't even have time to look shocked before the beam struck him in the chest.
There was a sound like a slab of meat being slammed against a wall, accompanied by a bright flash. The heat seemed to intensify for an instant before fading. And then the man was gone.
For a moment, Garet was overcome by horror. Had he just... disintegrated him? The horror abated instantly, however, at the sound of a splash as something large hit the water beneath the docks. So that was it...
Slowly, painfully, he pulled himself up into a sitting position. From there, he crawled the short distance to where Feizhi was lying on the pier, groaning quietly.
"Hey, you alright? Anything seriously injured?"
Feizhi coughed and moved to sit up, so Garet helped her up. Once there, she spat out blood and gave him a faint smile. "Only my pride. Did you get him?"
"I hit him with..." Garet paused, then frowned. "I hit him with something and knocked him off the pier. I don't know if he's done, though..."
There was a moment's hesitation, then they both stood at once and moved sluggishly towards the water's edge. This pier was only a foot above the water while the tide was high – like now – so anyone floating it in should have been visible even with the faint mist clinging to the surface.
But there was nobody there, living or otherwise. The Lemurian was gone.
Feizhi glanced at Garet, frowning. "You think we should jump in and check?"
Garet snorted. "Go in the water? With a guy using water based Psynergy? Sure, just let me file some insurance first..."
"Okay, okay, stupid question." She rolled her eyes, then sighed. "Who the hell was he, and why was he kicking our asses so thoroughly? This mystery just gets more and more complex..."
"I don't know." He leaned back and looked up at the sky, noting that the fog seemed to be thinning with every passing moment. Was the mist simply conjured by his Psynergy? That seemed excessively powerful... then again, Garet knew so little of his own Psynergy, let alone others. Who knew what Adepts were really capable of?
Feizhi sat down again, looking at the water as if plumbing the depths for a potential hidden foe. Absently, Garet sat beside her and glanced over her face. She had taken a hit or two... her lip was split, one of her cheeks was swelling slightly, and she'd likely have a black eye.
Even so... he held the glance long enough for Feizhi to notice, glancing back at him in return and smirking. "Yes?"
"Um... just making sure you're not too badly hurt." He could feel himself turning red, and he looked away. Already he knew what the implications of that glance would likely trigger in her mind, and his stomach started to twist itself at the mere thought of it.
Though... now Garet was starting to wonder if he even cared.
"You can relax, my hero." He had to keep from cringing as she said those words. "I'm fine... Hama's given me worse beatings than that one." She smiled again, then suddenly stood up and looked around. "Oh god, Hama! Is she okay?"
"Yeah, thanks so much for the concern," said a voice from behind them. They were both standing and facing the other way instantly, only to see a mildly irritated Hama eyeing them. She looked fine, though Garet could see bruises already forming at her neck, and her voice was slightly hoarse. "But I'm okay. He dropped me as soon as he started fighting you guys, and I was too stunned to really do anything more. I'm sorry."
How long was she standing there, watching us? I swear, she has some kind of perverse delight in watching me squirm around Feizhi...
"It's not your fault," Garet said, pushing the offending thoughts from his mind. "Just good to see that he didn't kill you. Have you ever seen an Adept like that?"
Hama frowned, shaking her head. "No. Admittedly... I never thought there were many Adepts aside from my Master and I, so I never had too much training beyond what I was capable of doing myself. But this one was strong... really strong. I don't know if I'd want to have to fight him alone."
"Imagine if there was a whole army like him," Feizhi said, rubbing her head. "This Psynergy stuff could easily wipe out cities."
"Hell, we think it already did. What about Imil?"
"Imil hasn't been wiped out yet," Hama pointed out. "If we move quickly, we can stop it and everywhere else from suffering such a fate. Especially if we're able to get useful insights into the future from Feizhi... remember, we wouldn't have encountered that man tonight if you hadn't had your vision."
Almost instinctively, Feizhi rubbed her headband. "We didn't get anything out of it except an asskicking, though!"
"Are you quite sure about that, Feizhi?"
Garet gasped. "Oh, right! In all the excitement, I didn't even think to check the boat..."
He turned and stepped up towards the edge of the dock, glancing over the boat. It was a fairly good-sized machine, and probably reasonably expensive... he wasn't too familiar with them, but he could tell that it was a comparatively newer design that was easily capable of extended ocean trips. Aside from the damage to the side of the deck where the Lemurian had blasted it with, it looked in great working order... the engine was even running right now, although it wasn't going anywhere. Why had it been attacked... or who was using it to warrant such an occurence? Those questions in mind, Garet stepped forward and placed a foot on the deck.
There was a click. It was a noise that Garet was becoming all too familiar with... the sound of an energy pistol being armed.
"Hands up, all of you. Don't take another step." The voice was not from the boat, but behind it.
Garet pulled his foot back onto the deck and turned, raising his hands as he did so. Hama and Feizhi had done the same. Through the lingering mist, he could spot a man standing there, long hair waving, his smirk plastered on his face yet again...
Then the mist shifted, and Garet could see that it wasn't the Lemurian at all. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but there was still a gun pointed at him, so he refrained.
Instead, he gasped when he realised who was speaking.
The man was about his age, although not as tall or broad in size, and his black hair was much less spikier despite being messy. He held the gun in one hand, aiming it at Garet but constantly looking back and forth between him and the two women. His face was hard... but more than that, it was familiar.
It was a face that, like Jenna's, Garet had spent so much of his childhood seeing. It was a face that, even if he hadn't seen it again, he would remember fondly on his deathbed as his first real best friend. It was a face that, despite the hostility, was instantly a welcome – if unexpected – sight.
"Isaac!" he said, disbelievingly. "You're here! I mean... holy crap, man, it's you! I..."
Isaac took a step forward, keeping the gun pointed directly at him. "Stop. Move away from the boat or I'll shoot you. I don't care how you know my name."
Hesitating somewhat, Garet still reluctantly did as he was told. More and more questions just floated to his mind, but he forced them all aside.
This was a chance he'd never expected to see. When Vale had been destroyed in the Mount Aleph eruption, the survivors had all separated and gone their own ways. Some had stayed to rebuild in the general vicinity or migrated to the nearby Vault region, but most had simply moved to other places in the world. Garet's family had taken the opportunity to move east like they'd always wanted, moving to Madra immediately. Isaac's family, as well as Jenna's, had moved elsewhere entirely... they'd all promised to keep in touch, but they'd both dropped off the face of the planet immediately.
He'd long since wondered what had become of them, and he'd always hoped to be reunited with them. Having a gun pointed at him by his former best friend was not what he had expected, but that was not going to deter him.
"Know your name? Isaac, it's me! It's Garet! We haven't seen each other in three years, but... come on! You have to remember me!"
The gun didn't budge, but Isaac's face gradually slipped from hard to confused. "No, I don't."
"I... we... come on, man! We spent fourteen years of our life growing up together in Vale! How the hell can you tell me you don't remember that? We were the best of friends! You've grown up a bit and changed your hair colour, it used to be blonde... but you still look like you! We went adventuring around Mount Aleph with Jenna and Felix, we'd go fishing down by the river, we'd swap crazy stories or just hang out and watch TV or-"
"SHUT UP!" Isaac roared, and Garet stopped. His former best friend's face was twisted into a look of utter confusion and shock, and he started to shake his head. "I... I don't remember. Any of it. Anything." He tapped his head with his free hand. "Amnesia."
"Amnesia? Oh god... what happened?"
He took a step forward, but Isaac jabbed the gun forward as if to ward him off. He looked about ready to snap. "Just don't move a goddamn inch or I will shoot you! Listen. I don't know who you are. I don't know why you're here. But you were about to board my ship and threaten my friend and so help me I will end your miserable life if you take another step! I... I..."
Garet stared at him, imploringly, but Isaac just shook his head and stepped forward again, barely feet away from him now.
"You... you seem familiar, I will say this much." Isaac looked pained, yet determination was evident in his expression. "But I remember nothing. Right now, I have too much to lose to put my trust in you, even if it might help me remember. Take your friends, stand back, and don't move an inch until this boat is long gone. Do you understand?"
Slowly, Garet nodded and moved back. Hama and Feizhi did the same, evidently confused but not about to interfere. As soon as they had moved a safe distance, Isaac boarded the deck of the boat and untied the moorings with one hand, keeping his pistol raised and ready to fire. Finally, with one last confused look at Garet, he disappeared inside.
The boat didn't leave immediately, but after what seemed like an eternity, it began to pull away from the dock. Merely seconds later, it disappeared into the night, lost from sight.
And with it went the first, and perhaps last, sliver of connection Garet had with his former friend.
"One of your friends from Vale?" Feizhi asked, moving beside him. "You mentioned Jenna... and he mentioned a friend on the boat... do you think that was her that we saw? Maybe that was why the Lemurian was after it... tracking her down after the television appearance to silence her."
He didn't answer. He just stared into the distance.
"...Garet...?"
Despite himself, Garet suddenly clutched onto Feizhi and buried his head in her shoulder, sobbing. She could do little except hold him back, petting his back soothingly.
…
Isaac was in a complete daze as he piloted the boat out of Alhafra and into the open ocean, setting a course for Imil. He'd barely been able to focus even when he found Jenna huddling in the cabin, burnt in several places and with a hole in her hand. He'd checked and helped her bandage her wounds before getting their boat underway, but his thoughts were very much elsewhere the entire time.
He listened with concern as Jenna related her brief confrontation with the mysterious assailant, but none of the people there when he'd arrived had matched that description. Jenna had been hiding away and hadn't heard anything until Isaac had stepped on deck minutes later, so the identity of all the people they'd encountered that night was uncertain.
The more Isaac listened, though, the more his thoughts shifted distractedly to the words spoken by the redheaded man.
It couldn't be helped. He'd lived without memories of his childhood for three years now, never getting so much as the slightest dream or errant thought that could tell him details of who he was. Never had he reacted to anything as much as he'd reacted to Garet's words... his reaction had been explosive, stemming more from uncertainty than for any of the admittedly large concern he had for Jenna's wellbeing at the time.
Finally, his thoughts reached critical mass.
"I have to go back there."
"What?" Jenna blinked from her perch on the nearby seats, eyeing him as if he'd just called her something offensive. "Isaac, that's crazy. Why?
"The people at the dock... only one of them spoke to me, but he knew who I was." Isaac paused. "Who I really am... I mean, before the amnesia."
"You're kidding." Jenna stood and moved up beside him, studying his features. "What happened?"
"He... he called himself Garet. He said we'd been friends in Vale growing up, but..." Isaac glanced at her, then set the boat to autopilot for the moment before moving her to the bench and sitting down with her. "He said your name, as well."
She stared at him, remaining silent for a few long seconds before finally speaking. "He... did he mention somebody called Felix?'
Now it was Isaac's turn to stare. "Yes... he did. How did you...?" He paused, rubbing his temples. "Felix is your brother, isn't he? You've mentioned having a brother before but you never mentioned his name."
"I wasn't even sure of it." Jenna shook her head before cuddling up against him, pursing her lips. "When we fought those Proxians in Alhafra... you know, when they brought the roof down on top of us?"
"Hard to forget," Isaac noted.
"I had a... a dream then, while I was unconscious. And then for the first time in all these years, I was able to see a glimpse of that lost brother's face... and hear his name. Felix. I wasn't sure what to think of it until you mentioned this..."
"I don't know what to think of any of it." He sighed exasperatedly. "But there's no way it can be a coincidence. This Garet guy... he knew my name, my hair colour, my hometown... if I wasn't so concerned about getting out of the city with you I would have spoken to him properly, tried to pump him for information. So... I want to go back."
Jenna was silent for a lot longer this time, though she cuddled against him closer as if seeking comfort. Isaac was only happy to provide it, putting his arms around her as they sat in silence for a time.
"My name is Jenna," she murmured, almost as though talking to herself. "I'm seventeen. I'm the youngest of two children... my older brother is Felix. And... we came from Vale." She paused, then looked at Isaac. "I was a bit of a tomboy, mostly because I grew up with two male friends... Isaac and Garet."
Isaac met her gaze, frowning slightly. "I guess that's what he was suggesting. Do you remember any of that, though?"
She hesitated. "I... I don't know. I don't remember any of it, specifically... but even when I say it out loud like that, I don't think I'm able to call it anything but the truth. It feels right. It feels honest. It feels like... me."
"Well... I guess that explains we seemed familiar to each other, doesn't it?"
"I guess it does." Jenna studied him quietly again for a few seconds before kissing him quickly. "Doesn't change my mind about anything, though. I love you because you're you, not because some Jenna I don't even remember had some kind of crush on you when she was thirteen."
"I guess that's a relief. I was kind of worried about that, for a moment."
Jenna started to laugh. Without even realising it, Isaac joined in her laughter, until together they were nearly in hysterics. When the whole world was going insane around them, he noted, it felt good just to let loose and laugh with a loved one like that. What else could they do?
When the laughter subsided, Jenna sighed faintly and slid out of his arms, moving to the boat's helm.
"Alright. I guess this is a tough choice, but we'd better make it now. Do we turn back and try and find this Garet guy, and maybe recover something of our memories? Or do we continue on our crazy vigilante mission against the Proxians?"
Isaac closed his eyes and contemplated for a few seconds. Despite the internal conflict of interest the question provided, the answer was forthcoming almost immediately.
"We already know what we need to do... we need to go to Imil. If nothing else, we need to see what we can do about Ivan. Once that's done... his name is Garet. I know what he looks like. It's a start. We can track him down again, meet up with him under better circumstances."
"That's what I think too," Jenna agreed. "As much as I'm curious... who I was in the past doesn't change who I am now. And right now..." She tapped the bandage around her head. "Jenna wants vengeance."
"Let's do it, then. To Imil!"
"To Ivan!"
…
His arms felt like lead by the time he swam the final distance to the beach and was able to stand up in the sand, but that was the least of Alex's concerns right now. Dragging himself out of the water, he staggered wearily up the beach to the wall of rocks that acted as the breaker between the waves and one of Alhafra's beachside suburbs, sitting down there and taking a moment to catch his breath. Thankfully, the sun had set by now, so he was unlikely to be seen or questioned by any of the locals.
In hindsight, that had probably been the worst damage control in the history of Weyard.
Alex's original intention had been to remove the two Adepts from chasing down Project Psynergy any further, either by killing them or abducting them and hopefully bringing them into the fold later. It didn't take a genius to see how badly that had gone.
They'd probably have left by now... he didn't wait around to see. He hadn't counted on those three being there, after all.
His discussion with Agatio back at Jupiter Lighthouse regarding the situation hadn't been completely thorough. He'd held back some information from his Proxian subordinate, if only because he took a certain perverse pleasure in being the only one who held all the cards. That information had been Saturos' full report on the Madra incident.
The entire thing had come about because there had been Adepts in the Madran police force. Adepts. Not only had they succeeded in securing the only Stage Two quality Jupiter strain currently in existence, but they had Adepts among them of both wind and fire elements that had been enough to repel Saturos and his men, destroying the Psynergy samples in the process.
And now, against all expectations, those very same rogue Adepts had made their way to Alhafra – no doubt following the siren song of the hacked television broadcast – and interrupted him before he could neutralise his targets. They weren't anything special on their own, he decided, but he'd been unable to keep his eye on all three of them at the same time... that had been his downfall, in the long run.
As if just now remembering the fight – specifically, the wound that had ended it – Alex attempted to unbutton his shirt, only to find that the buttons had melted into the cloth and flesh beneath. Wincing, he tore the shirt open forcefully, gritting his teeth against the fresh wave of pain. Blood began to seep from the nasty burn wound that rested just below his neck, a testament to just how painful Psynergy wounds could be. Thankfully, it wasn't too deep, and all that time spent in the saltwater would hopefully have cleaned it out.
Sighing, he shut out the pain and stood, wondering how to get to his hotel from here without attracting attention. He might just need to find another one.
Rogue Adepts were everywhere, now. He had no idea where they'd sprung up from... excluding Piers, he hadn't been responsible for any of them. Even the hacker girl had used Psynergy at him, and her partner clearly had the Venus strain, something that was currently unique to Felix amongst the Proxian forces. How had this come about?
The only thing he could possibly think of was a situation similar to his first encounter with Psynergy... people stumbling on the bacteria and gaining it that way. Or perhaps they had connections to the Ancients, somehow...
Who knew? Alex didn't, and for the time being it was irrelevant. He'd just have to inform the Proxians of the rogues, and hopefully have them be in a position to counter and defend against them as best as possible. As long as they weren't particularly numerous, Prox would still maintain the upper hand.
So. Mission failed... his targets had gotten away, and now he had more targets to chase down. Worse, he'd been identified as an Adept by some of these rogues, so much of his ability to go undercover had been potentially compromised. He'd probably have to return to Prox and leave the hunt to others, but for the time being he was still the only person in position to act on the situation.
It wasn't all bad, though. He'd had his first opportunity to test his Psynergy in actual combat, and it had worked reasonably well. Using the mist had been a very interesting and extremely successful idea – he'd been able to manipulate the water particles to make it seem like a one-way mirror, seeing his opponents even as they'd been unable to see him. Psynergy was extremely adaptable with a little creative thought.
And that wasn't the only success to come from this mission.
Alex reached into a pocket and pulled out a waterproof case, removing a PDA from it. A few button presses later, and a world map displayed itself on the screen. On it, in the water just out of Alhafra, was a blinking red dot.
Good. He smiled and put the device away. His time spent in the water hadn't been entirely for escape, after all... when it seemed like he needed to withdraw, he'd at least taken the liberty of planting a tracking device on the underside of the hacker's boat. They may have escaped him this time, but he'd know exactly where they were going and deal with them that way.
That would leave him with the remaining three that were still in Alhafra until other Proxian forces could arrive and investigate, which would not be for sometime until any traces of the media buzz surrounding them died down. He'd have to continue what he was doing and take care of them himself, something he didn't particularly mind doing.
After all... I have a score to settle. He glanced at his wound, smiling to himself.
…
Author's Notes: First things first: This chapter was going to have a couple of added scenes, but I honestly think it would have drawn too much away from what feels like one of the most climactic parts of the story to date, so I pushed them back. Sorry, Hinoa, that means your cameo will have to wait until the next chapter. You'll definitely be in it though, promise.
Right. So. Dark Dawn. Wasn't it just a great game? Some people complain a little bit about it feeling unfinished or not concluding enough, and I definitely see their reasoning, but I just couldn't help but enjoy the hell out of it. However, it has the potential to change Project Psynergy entirely if I choose to let it... which I have decided not to.
Project Psynergy is currently going to exclude Dark Dawn from its plot. There's a lot more I can do just with the first two games, and my interpretations of the original ones don't always translate perfectly to the sequel (even though Valeshipping is canon! I called it!). That doesn't mean I won't necessarily get around to writing, say, Project Eclipse in the future... but that is very much in the future. Project Psynergy will conclude without drawing any more than coincidental plot elements from Dark Dawn and will continue to operate in much the same fashion as it always has.
So yes. Said my piece, I'm done. I'll be back with another update when I can, so I hope you've enjoyed this one!