Chapter 4_____Legends Old and New
Isaac stood on a jagged protrusion of rock jutting sharply out of the earth. He was high on the surface of Mt. Aleph. He inhaled deeply. He thought of many matters as he gazed out over the valley, seeing as far as a distant, hazy plain past the mountains where he knew their neighbors, Vault, made their home.
He mostly thought about his newest and biggest problem.
'I suppose that I could make the journey. I am definitely skilled enough, but what about Jenna?' Isaac remembered his little 'conversation' with himself. 'She is strong. I can't treat her like she constantly needs protection anymore.'
After another moment of careful consideration, Isaac made up his mind.
__
Zeran was sleeping in the inn. On the
outside, nobody would suspect that very important matters were moving through
his head.
'How do I get back!' Zeran said with irritation.
The figure before him remained silent. It appeared to be a man with demonic wings. At length he complied. 'First acquire the stones. Then you may return to Reia.'
'Stones?'
'You hold two already: the Tsunami and the Voltersage. Four gems remain, one of which lies within this world.'
Zeran remembered the sapphire and the topaz. 'They have names? What are they for?' He was gaining back his patience.
'They are great blades assigned to each of the Gachi. Each one holds the powers of the elements.'
'Elemental Blades...Who are the Gachi?'
'They were a team of six warriors sent to Reia, your home-planet, to rid it of evil. Upon their arrival, however, one of them broke away from the others and allowed himself to become corrupt and evil,' the figure informed.
'Each had an elemental blade, and each controlled their respective elements: Fire, Wind, Water, Ice, Earth, and Lightning. Once the bond between each of the Gachi and their powers was broken, the stones scattered about the dimensions.'
The dark figure continued, 'Aenerik, the warrior of water, was the one who broke the bond and became wicked. You were lucky to find his stone early, before he could. You found the Voltersage first. It was then that the remaining Gachi decided to help you gather the stones, and that is why I sent you through dimensions.'
'The Voltersage is the name of the sword, right?' This was slowly making some sense to Zeran.
'Yes,' the shadowy figure confirmed.
'What are the other stones' names?' Zeran questioned.
'The stone of water is the Tsunami. You hold now along with it the Voltersage, the stone of lightning. The Cinderone is the stone of fire, and the Glaciaga is the stone of ice. The power of wind is held in the Aerashi, and the same for earth in the Granaphel.'
Zeran scratched his head. 'Maybe you should tell me about the stones as I find them.'
'That sounds reasonable.' If Zeran could see the man's face through the darkness, he might have been smiling.
Zeran took a deep breath. 'Okay, I just have one more question. What does all this have to do with me?'
The dark figure answered. 'You are the one that the Gachi have chosen to destroy Aenerik. They couldn't have defeated him because the bond was broken and they became weak. Aenerik, on the other hand, having received the aid of another dark power, became stronger. Now you, with the stones, are the only one who can defeat him.'
'How come I can't give the stones back to the Gachi?'
'There are two reasons mainly. One is because Aenerik has, over time, hunted down and killed two of the others. Since our bond has already been broken, it can never be restored to its full power again; not without all six warriors. Even with that Aenerik himself is one of the Gachi, and he can never be allowed to use the Tsunami again.'
'...And the other reason?' Zeran inquired.
'I cannot tell you at this time. You must find the other gems. When you have found the stone in this world I can take you to the next dimension to find the others.'
Zeran remained silent.
'Your best chance is to follow Isaac on his quest. Just tell me when you are ready to leave after you have found the stone. Farewell.'
Everything faded away into darkness again, as if it wasn't already. And Zeran's vision was replaced by the ceiling of his inn-room. He groaned and brought his hands up to his face and over his forehead, pulling his hair back.
Zeran sat up and looked out the window. Then it hit him. 'Isaac's going on a quest?'
_____
Mia looked up and down the several displays of charms and other accessories at
the shop. She's thinking of getting
Isaac a sunstone amulet for his birthday.
She inspected it closely in her delicate hands. It was only two hundred gold coins to buy,
and she could definitely afford it, considering she still had some leftover
money from her travels.
"Do you have any gauntlets?" someone next to her asked the shopkeeper.
Mia turned her head and saw the young man Isaac rescued from the river two nights ago. "So how are you doing now?" she asked him.
"Huh?" Zeran turned his attention to her. "What do you mean?"
"Well since I'm the one who healed you after you had that unfortunate episode in the river, it's only my business to be concerned about your immediate health."
"Umm...you're Mia?"
"That's right." Mia beamed. "So, how are you feeling?"
"Never felt better. Thank you."
Mia smiled. "You're welcome. So what's your name?"
"Zeran. It's amazing that you could heal my leg like that."
Mia just blinked, looking puzzled. "You never heard of Psynergy?"
"Yeah, yesterday. Isaac told me about it. From where I come from we call it Magic, but no one could do healing spells as powerful as to heal wounds or mend broken bones."
"What do your healers do?" she asked.
"There are none. Potions and Elixirs can make wounds heal faster, but not instantly. Magic can be used similarly, but rarely. It's mostly just useful for vitalizing stamina and energy during battle."
"I'm sorry to hear that you don't have any healers," Mia sympathized.
"That's okay, we manage." Zeran reassured.
"Where do you come from, anyway?"
"Re-" Zeran paused. "Reia. It's a kingdom in the far west." He lied. 'Damn, I hope there even is a West on this continent. For all I know there could be nothing but ocean that way.'
"Oh, okay."
'Whew.'
"So what are you doing in Angara?"
"Buh." Zeran had to think fast. He scratched the back of his head. "Um, I don't remember."
"You don't remember," Mia said crossing her arms and raising one eyebrow.
"Yeah. You see I have amnesia, and I can't remember why I started this trip."
"You're lying." Mia said plainly. "Just tell me the truth. It's not like I'll tell anybody if you don't want me to."
"Sorry." Zeran hung his head. "You wouldn't believe me anyway."
"I can be the judge of that."
"Alright. I'm actually from another dimension, a planet called Reia. I was transported here to find an elemental stone."
Mia's ears perked up at the sound of those two words. "Stone?"
Zeran continued, "I'm not sure which one though."
Mia looked puzzled. "Which...?"
"I can't leave until I find it. The six of them are supposed to unite a Strength capable of destroying a powerful Evil."
Mia was now very interested in his story. 'The elemental stones? Six of them? Why is he only looking for one?' All sorts of questions circled in her head.
Zeran grew silent. He suddenly felt uncomfortable around this person. He felt he didn't want anything to do with other people. "Excuse me; I have to go," he said quickly before walking swiftly out of the shop.
"Hey wait!" She hurried after him and stopped right outside the doorway. She was too late. Zeran was already nowhere in sight.
'He's after the stones, or one of them-'
"Hey are you gonna pay for that!?" The shopkeeper's voice interrupted her thoughts.
Mia looked at the amulet in her hand, and turned back inside. "Sorry about that." She paid for the artifact, stuck it deep in her inside pocket, and left. She needed to talk to Isaac, and quick.
_____
Isaac looked up at the late noon sun and knocked on Jenna's door, which was
shortly opened by the young brown haired woman herself.
"Oh Isaac, hi."
"Hi Jenna. Listen I need to know when you'll be ready to go."
"Go?...Oh!" She lowered her voice. "You mean to find Felix?"
"Yeah. When can you be ready?"
"When are we leaving?" asked Jenna.
"That's exactly what I'm asking." Isaac smiled.
She laughed. "Well I can be ready just about anytime." She looked into the house behind her, then back at Isaac. "When will you?"
"Tomorrow morning. Early. Be packed and sleep in the living room. I'll come in and wake you up."
"Sounds good."
"Great then. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Isaac turned to leave.
"Bye."
"Bye." He started to walk away.
"Isaac," Jenna said quickly.
"Yes," he turned.
Jenna stood there for a second. "Thank you."
"No problem." Isaac smiled warmly. "See you tomorrow." With that he turned again and left.
__
Zeran sat against a large boulder lodged precariously in the center of a small
clearing. He thought about the journey
he was about to embark on.
His thoughts also dwelled on his growing problem. 'Why did I have to just leave like that?' Zeran felt the need to not trust anyone. 'That's been happening a lot lately. I wonder why...'
He thought more about this quest ahead of him, thinking hard about traveling around other people, especially with his problem. 'Maybe I should go with Isaac.'
At length he stood up and adjusted his equipment. After another moment of careful consideration, Zeran made up his mind.
_____
Author's notes:
(1) I actually figured out the history of the stones and why Zeran is searching for them! This story should be much easier to write now. Expect the next chapter soon.
(2) Zeran noticed his growing need to anti-socialize again. This was noted in the first chapter, but didn't show up very obviously in the second and third.
(3) When this chapter was released, I went back and revised the earlier chapters. For those who have already read this far: You do not need to go back and read them again, the changes aren't that important.
(4) If anyone's confused about the whole matter of the elemental stones Zeran was talking about, and that he was talking about there being six of them, GOOD! Mia was sure confused. That means I did my job right. Don't worry; the stones Zeran seeks are not the same as the Elemental Stars.
(5) The Notes on 'Turn the Page', as discussed in chapter three, will no longer be a separate entry on fanfiction.net. It will be added as an appendix to this one. It will always be the last chapter for reference.
Later,
~master