Chapter XXVI

Castaways


Felix returned slowly to the waking world, to the sound of the wind, of ocean waves, and of concerned voices around him. As the words came into focus, he was able to discern who they belonged to...

"-might still be out there somewhere!"

That was Kraden.

"I don't know. It doesn't seem likely, at least not at this point."

Oh, great. Alex.

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

Jenna.

Felix stirred, letting out a soft groan as he pushed his sore and weary body to move. At once, the voices stopped as the recipients noticed he was awake.

"Felix!" Jenna cried out.

He opened his eyes just in time to see her rushing to grab him in a big hug.

A few moments later, he was sitting up against a tree, with Kraden squatting opposite of Jenna at his side. Alex stood aloof a few paces away. And much to Felix's relief, Sheba was lying in the shade of another tree, still asleep.

The land they were on was, as far as he could tell, a small floating island. His exhausted, addled brain struggled for a second to reason why he had woken on a floating island when they were suposed to meet at Idejima.

That wondering was enough to send memories flooding back to him.

"The lighthouse...!" He tried to stand up, only to find his weary muscles refusing to move.

"Take it easy, okay?" Jenna urged him.

"Venus Lighthouse," Felix muttered, holding his aching head. "The beacon...?"

"It was lit, we saw it," Kraden answered.

Felix let out a sigh, relieved ever so slightly. Though he had also seen it, everything at the aerie had been so chaotic that he hadn't been entirely sure it wasn't just a hallucination.

"I guess this is Idejima, then?" Felix asked with a frown, glancing around at the pitiful mass of land drifting on the waves. "Or what's left of it, at least."

"The beacon had a very violent reaction," Kraden explained. "In the ensuing earthquakes, Idejima was torn to pieces. We were lucky to make it here."

"Very lucky indeed, if you fell from the lighthouse," Alex pointed out. "I take it you ended up in the ocean some time after the beacon was lit, and you tried to swim to Idejima?"

Felix nodded. It was hard to remember a lot of it, but flashes came back to him: hitting the water, grabbing Sheba, and swimming for what felt like days. An eternity of panicked desperation, of struggling to keep both himself and the unconscious girl above the surface, even as the ocean bore its might upon them.

"I saw the land breaking apart," Felix said. "I tried to swim to it, but it was moving away too fast. I think I ended up passing out."

"I saw you both unconscious, drifting some distance away," Alex explained. "I altered the current a bit to pull you here. I will admit, It was more difficult a task than I expected, so you're welcome."

"Were Isaac and Garet okay in all this?" Jenna asked him.

"Yeah," said Felix, grimacing at the memory. "Last I saw them anyway. Who knows what happened when the lighthouse started shaking?"

"Well, don't act too hopeful," Jenna remarked under her breath.

"What about Saturos and Menardi?" Alex asked.

After a moment, Felix hesitantly answered. "They're dead. Isaac killed them."

The others paused in shocked silence. Evidently, this was not the answer they had been expecting.

"Isaac's group defeated them in battle?" Kraden guessed.

"They fell in combat, but Isaac himself killed Menardi in cold blood," Felix said darkly. "Maybe Saturos as well, but I'm not sure."

Jenna looked pale. "You're... sure he killed Menardi?"

Felix nodded. "They were fighting, and she fell before him. He had her dagger. Then he just... did it."

He noticed Alex, who wore a very rare revealing expression. His eyes were wide, the lines at the edges of his lips tight.

Jenna looked away, conflicted. After a moment, she said, "I don't know how to feel about that. On one hand, good riddance; I hated her guts, and I won't miss her for a minute. But also... I can't imagine Isaac doing something like that. Even after what I told her, I never thought he would actually..."

"Isaac and his companions have become powerful warriors," Felix said to her. "We can't face them. They'll stop at nothing to keep us from lighting the lighthouses."

Jenna returned a concerned frown.

"Felix, why don't you start from the beginning?" Alex suggested. "I can't help but feel that there was a lot that happened up there."

Felix nodded.

He started the story with his arrival at the aerie, and his confrontation with Saturos and Menardi, though he left a few of the more personal parts of the conversation out. Then he moved on to Isaac's group arriving, what Saturos said about the elders of Vale, the growing abyss of Mars Lighthouse, and his offer of an exchange of stars.

"When that happened, I panicked," Felix said, lowering his eyes in shame. "I don't know if the offer was genuine, or just one of Saturos' tricks. But I knew if Isaac got the Venus Star, the beacon would never be lit, so I had to act. I did the only thing I could think of."

Jenna asked, "And that was?"

"I antagonised Isaac," Felix answered. "I told him something I knew would enrage him: that Saturos' offer to return you was a empty gesture, because you didn't want to go back to Vale; that you wanted to go with me and finish the quest."

Jenna bit her lip, looking away and considering. Kraden let out a heavy sigh.

"Poor boy," said Kraden. "First I betrayed his trust at Mercury Lighthouse. And now this..."

"Well," Jenna said. "It wasn't a lie, at least. I am with you now."

"You are?" Felix asked.

Jenna nodded, looking back at him, determined. "I made up my mind the moment you got back. We're gonna get our parents back, together."

Felix couldn't help but smile.

He then noticed Alex was still watching them, a strange and unreadable expression on his face. The moment their eyes met, Alex looked away.

"In any case," Felix continued. "It worked. Isaac got angry, he attacked me, and chaos broke out. Saturos told me to leave with Sheba while they fought Isaac's group. I went to leave, but..."

"You went back," Jenna finished for him.

"I didn't trust them after that," Felix said. "I couldn't leave this to them, but I also didn't want to send Sheba off on her own. So we lingered in the shadows by the elevator and watched. The battle was... unlike anything I'd ever seen. But eventually Isaac's group won."

Felix knew he would never forget those moments. Menardi on the aerie floor, Isaac bringing down her dagger to pierce her heart. Saturos, mortally wounded, having given up fighting, and crawling over to her body to kiss her goodbye.

"Menardi had the chance to light the beacon, but she chose instead to torment Isaac," he continued. "And she paid for that with her life. Isaac hadn't grabbed the Venus Star yet, and earlier he had dropped his sword and it had been knocked close to where I was. So I took my chance."

He told them the rest of it, Isaac's sword letting loose some sort of Psynergetic attack, the beacon lighting from Menardi's body falling into the well, Sheba clinging to the edge of the aerie as the earthquakes shook, and finally...

"Wait a moment," Kraden said, his eyes wide. "I had assumed you two were knocked off the lighthouse together. You jumped off after her?"

Felix didn't know what to say to that, so he simply nodded.

"How very brave of you," said Alex, his tone hard to distinguish if it was genuine or sarcastic.

"It wasn't bravery," Felix countered. "I was terrified. I just... I couldn't just let her die."

He looked over at the tree across from them, where Sheba was still sleeping, breathing in steady rhythmic breaths.

"She was an innocent who had no business being dragged into all this," Felix said. "Whether she was an Adept or not; it doesn't matter. She's a kid, and she didn't deserve this."

"The question now," said Kraden, "is what we do about her now that she's here on this island with us."

Felix realised that both Jenna and Kraden were looking to him for an answer. One that he didn't have.

"I don't know yet," he told them.

"Well," said Alex. "I might have an answer to part of that. Come look at this."

They rose, Felix needing some help from Jenna, and walked to where Alex was standing at the edge of the island.

In the distance, they could see the shape of green land on the horizon, decorated by forests and mountains.

"Land!" Jenna exclaimed, beaming.

"Not just any land, but a continent!" said Kraden.

"There's only one problem," Alex said, pointing out at the ocean. "Look at the way we're drifting. We'll pass by the northern edge."

"He's right," Jenna said, following the direction Alex was indicating. "What can we do?"

Felix considered. Though it was hard to judge exactly, there was surely several kilometres of ocean between them and the mainland. Even if the tide was nonexistent, and there was no danger of them being swept away with the island anyway, they didn't have the strength to swim so far.

"Alex could you use your Psynergy to change the direction of the tide?" Kraden asked. "Just enough to get us moving towards it?"

"If only," Alex said, grimacing. "It's one thing to move two people over water, but an entire mass of land would require a force far beyond anything I have."

"Maybe we could make a boat," Jenna suggested. "Felix, there's some trees here. Could you use your Psynergy to craft the wood into-"

They were cut off by the sound of a terrified scream.

"Sheba!" Felix exclaimed.

Running back to where they had been, they found Sheba, finally awake and on her feet, stepping slowly backwards in terror.

It did not take long to see what she was scared of.

The waves on the horizon were growing bigger, and in the distance, there was a single wave that was

"A tidal wave!" Kraden shouted.

"Get back!" Alex shouted. "We must take cover, or the force of it will kill us all!"

"How?!" Jenna screamed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but there isn't exactly much on this island to-"

"Just go!" Alex told her, uncharacteristically worried. "Get to the other side of the island!"

Felix rushed to Sheba's side. "Come on," he told her.

She looked to him, worried and panicked, but nodded.

As they ran to the far end of the island, Alex remained at the forefront. His Psynergy surged, and as smaller waves rose and struck at the edge of the island he froze them in place, quickly gathering the solidified ice together to form a wall.

The others found the best shelter they could: a large oak tree close to the southern edge of the island. As they crouched down and gathered close, the roaring noise of the wave grew louder.

Jenna glanced around the tree. Alex was still freezing water in place to form his barrier, and the tidal wave was nearly upon them.

"Come on!" she shouted to him, but he either could not hear over the wind and roaring waves, or did not care.

Alex's ice wall was several times the height of a house now, but it was dwarfed by the tidal wave. The island itself was now being carried up over the rest of the waves.

"Brace yourselves!" Kraden shouted.

Felix did what he could, forming thick vines from the ground below them to tether them against the tree. He hoped it would be enough.

The wave came crashing down. Alex's wall held for only a few seconds, before it shattered and the entire island was flooded.


Felix woke once again, this time to a gentle voice calling his name, and pushing gently by his shoulder.

He blinked, greeted by the sight of a round head of blonde hair against a bright blue sky.

"Felix!" said Sheba. "I'm so glad you're awake!"

He felt like he was going to be sick. Sitting up, he felt his stomach turning, but he held it back, and let the sensation pass.

"I think the tidal wave knocked us over to the continent," Sheba said awkwardly. "Guess we got lucky, huh?"

"Yeah, it looks like it," he said.

He got up slowly, scooping and throwing several handfuls of mud off his person.

Sheba waited without saying anything, though she bounced anxiously on her heels.

"Are you hurt?" Felix asked her.

"I don't think so," she said, looking down at her mud-stained robes. "You?"

Felix waved his arms, and stretched his legs. All four limbs were attached, and seemed to be in working order.

"I think I'll be okay," he told her, to which she smiled.

Felix looked around. Wherever they were, it was no longer a floating island at sea. The ocean was at their backs now, some kilometres away, while the terrain before them stretched on to the end of the horizon. This had to be the continent that they had been passing north of, before the tidal wave struck.

Not much was left of the land that had once been Idejima. A few trees were shattered here and them, many in pieces, and others overturned with their trunks out and buried in wet dirt.

"Have you seen any of the others?" Felix asked.

"Just you," Sheba said.

"Let's go look for them. They can't be far."

He hoped the others had been as lucky as the two of them. His worries were soon relieved when he saw Jenna cresting a hill moments later.

"Felix!" she exclaimed running to him.

After a quick hug, Jenna pulled away and looked back nervously in the direction she had come from.

"I need your help," she said, before running back up the hill.

Jenna led them to a large pile of mud, where they saw Kraden's head sticking out of the top.

Sheba paled at the sight. "He was decapitated..."

"Why I never!" Kraden's head huffed.

"He's just buried in the mud," Jenna explained. "Felix, do you think you could get him out?"

"Yeah," Felix said. "Kraden, try not to move."

Felix concentrated, his Psynergy flowing out into the thick pile of mud in front of him. He pushed the mud in two directions, causing it to flow apart and free the trapped sage within.

When he was done, he noticed Sheba was watching him with a strange look on her face; to which she quickly looked away.

"Thank you, Felix," Kraden said, brushing mud from his clothes. "This has certainly been an eventful day in all the worst ways."

"Still want to see the wonders of Alchemy?" Jenna teased.

"Of course! It will take more than a mud bath to dissuade me!"

"Now we're just missing one," Felix said. "Has anyone seen Alex?"

"I looked around for a while," Jenna said, frowning. "I didn't see him anywhere."

"Me neither," Sheba added.

They grew quiet. The same thing was on all of their minds: Alex has been right at the front of that tidal wave when it hit, creating the ice wall that had likely saved their lives.

"Let's split up and search the immediate area," Felix suggested. "Maybe we can find him."

They searched for some time, but despite their best efforts, there was no sign of Alex. After regrouping, they had a quick discussion of what to do next.

With the day growing late, and all of them horribly exhausted after everything that had happened, they decided to head for a village down the road that Jenna had spotted while looking. With a rest, and a warm meal, they could decide what to do next.

As they walked, Felix considered how different it now was. They had lost three members of their group, gained another, and now everyone was looking to him for leadership.

He had never expected this when he had set out from Prox on this quest; Saturos had always been the leader of their group, an unstoppable juggernaut who kept them on track no matter what. It had seemed impossible that they would ever need to go on without him there to drive them.

Now that it fell to him, he didn't know how to do it. Even when they were children, it had been Isaac who had taken charge of their group, always knowing what to say and do, never doubting his actions. But Felix was so full of doubts at every turn; how could he fill either of their shoes?

The sun had just set when they reached the village, Daila. They found a village in disarray; despite the hour the townspeople were out in the streets, carrying water with buckets and cleaning debris.

"It looks like the tidal wave hit them pretty badly," said Kraden.

"I just hope the inn is still intact," Jenna said, grimacing.

They made their way through the town, getting a closer look at the damage as they passed. It would seem that, while the hills around the village had helped to shield them enough that no buildings had been destroyed, the streets were filled with pools of sea water.

They passed by a woman who was making her way through the street on limped steps, glancing every which way. She noticed them heading in her direction, and she stopped as they drew close.

"Excuse me," she said. "You're travellers, right? Have you seen two young boys around? Short brown hair, both about this tall?" She indicated with her hand a height around half of Felix's.

"I don't believe we have," Kraden replied. He looked to the others and they all shook their heads.

"I swear if those boys were at the shrine again when the tidal wave hit..." Her angry tone could not fully mask her worry. Remembering them, she said, "Thank you," and then continued down the street, soldiering on in spite of her clearly injured leg.

Felix frowned, watching her go for a moment, as she stopped someone else, before he continued on.

Before too long they found the town's sole inn, which by some mercy of the gods appeared mostly spared save for some wet floors. The innkeeper, perhaps being a bit shocked that any travellers had arrived at such a time, gave them a room at a low price.

They went upstairs, where Felix and Kraden waited in the hallway while the girls changed into clean clothes. Eventually, after what felt to Felix like way too much time just to get dressed, the girls emerged.

"Okay, you can go now," Jenna told them.

Sheba said nothing, looking around at the building with a very strange, uncomfortable anxiety. Felix gave her a concerned look, but she did not meet his eyes. Surely she understood that she was not a captive any more?

Not much later, the group of four were sitting around a table, with bowls of rice and freshly-fried shrimp. The food was delicious, but they were all so hungry they would have happily devoured rocks at that point.

"I asked the innkeeper about baths," said Kraden. "Unfortunately, those will have to wait. Because of the tidal wave, the village's well is flooded with fetid sea brine, and they will need to conserve anything drinkable in the near future, per the mayor's orders."

"That's terrible," Jenna said, struggling to pick up a clump of rice with some chopsticks that she was not used to using. "Are these people going to be okay?"

"People who live in places like this make it because they're resourceful," Kraden answered. "I'm sure they'll find a way to get through it."

Felix picked at his food, his appetite having somehow taken leave despite the considerable time since he'd last had a meal.

"Yeah," Jenna answered. "We have our own challenges to worry about."

"That reminds me," Felix said. "Jenna, do you still have the Jupiter Star on you?"

Jenna blinked in surprise, dropping her utensils and reaching for the bag at her waist that she carried her small effects in. Moments later, she withdrew a fist-sized mythril pouch, which she handed to her brother.

Felix opened the silky bag and drew out the small violet orb within. It seemed to fill the air with a slight glow, and a hum that was either too low or too high to be entirely heard by their ears, but nonetheless drew the attention of all.

"Looks good," Felix said casually, returning it to its bag, at which everyone seemed to let out a held breath.

Sheba watched with a slight frown, but said nothing.

"Jupiter Lighthouse will be our next stop, in that case," said Kraden, his tone serious even as he stuffed his face with rice. "It lies far to the west of Angara, on a continent called Atteka. The scholars of Tolbi called the Western Sea 'Weyard's frontier', and with good reason. Very little is know about it, or its sister continent Hesperia. Its mountains are treacherous to climb, and the people who live there there do not readily welcome outsiders."

"I thought you said you never studied geography," Jenna teased.

"I studied Alchemy," Kraden responded earnestly, "and I at least know where the four lighthouses are, even if I could never find my way there myself."

"And where are we now?" asked Jenna. "We don't even know which continent this even is."

"I... think this is Indra," said Sheba. "This village is called Daila, right? I remember travellers from Indra who stopped at Lalivero talking about it."

"Very astute," Kraden said, nodding to her respectfully. "That would make sense, given we had not travelled very far from Gondowan when the tidal wave struck."

"So we'll have to sail to reach Jupiter Lighthouse," Jenna said.

"Yeah," Felix said. "That's what I've been thinking about."

The others looked to him, frowning.

"I noticed you were deep in thought," Jenna said. "Tell us, what is it? What's the bad news?"

"We need a boat," Felix explained. "Saturos and Menardi had a plan in place for one after Venus Lighthouse, but that clearly didn't work out."

"Was that why we were meeting at Idejima Peninsula?" Kraden asked.

Felix nodded. "Some other Proxians were supposed to bring a boat with them. The beacon was to be a signal for them, but they never showed. And even if they did..."

He trailed off, and set down his chopsticks.

"Yeah," Jenna muttered.

"Their backup plan was to steal one in Lalivero," Felix continued. "We can't get back there now, and even if we could, thanks to Isaac our faces are on wanted notices all over Gondowan.'

"And speaking of Isaac, his group will be looking for us. They might assume Sheba and I died, but he's not going to go back to Vale without you."

Jenna frowned.

"And now that Isaac is buddies with Lord Babi, he will certainly have resources to use to come after us. Including a boat of his own. So if he does find us, we're in trouble. He can follow us anywhere we go. And after this tidal wave, finding a boat is going to be even harder than it would have been before, much less managing to get it."

They all grew quiet, taking this in.

Nearly a minute passed in silence before Sheba suddenly spoke. "So... where do we look first?"

"We?" Felix repeated, turning to her.

"Well... yeah. Who else?" the small girl managed.

"Sheba, don't you want to get back home?" Jenna asked her. "After everything that happened, don't you want to see your family again?"

"I mean you said yourself we can't go back there, right? So I might as well help out."

Felix stared at her in silence. Nervous anxiety was painted across her face. There was clearly something she wasn't saying.

Jenna said, "Even so, once we have a boat I'm sure we can find a way to get you back. We could drop you off somewhere nearby, or arrange for you to-"

"What if I don't want to go back?!" Sheba shouted.

At once, she knew she had gone too far, and she shrank back into her seat.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's okay," Jenna said softly. "Why don't you want to go back?"

Sheba hesitated. "I'm tired of being treated like some kind of... thing. Faran and the others, they loved me. And I love them. But they think I'm some kind of... holy relic or something. And then Babi took me hostage, and then Saturos and Menardi, and-"

"We're not like them," Felix told her. "I promise you."

Sheba nodded, the edges of her mouth tight. "My whole life I've been treated this way because of my powers. And then I meet you, and you have the same abilities, and it's just a normal thing for you guys. And, well... even though these past few days have been crazy, it's nice to finally feel like a normal person, you know?"

Jenna smiled. "Sheba, I already consider you a friend, even after this short time. I want you to make your own decisions. But this quest we're on isn't going to be easy. It's going to be dangerous; people have already died because of it."

"I know," she insisted.

"You could die," Jenna insisted. "You might have to make tough choices, and end up doing things you'll regret for the rest of your life. Are you prepared for that? Think carefully about this: I didn't have a choice, but you do."

"Hey, I was kidnapped too!" Sheba insisted. "Look, it's not just about not wanting to go home. I get that there's a lot at stake here. The lighthouses need to be lit, you guys want to save your parents. I know you guys could use my help, okay?"

Jenna narrowed her eyes.

"Sheba," said Felix, "how do you know about our parents?"

The small girl's face went pale.

"Look, I uh..." she scrambled. "Okay, fine! I was listening to you talk on the island!

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "You were pretending to be asleep?"

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping! I-I just..."

"You weren't sure if you could trust us?" asked Kraden.

She lowered her eyes.

The sage gave a warm, comforting smile through his bushy beard. "Given the circumstances, I'm sure none of us blame you."

"Yeah, after everything up on top of the lighthouse, I wasn't sure," Sheba said, unsteadily, before looking up at Felix with a smile. "But after Felix mentioned that he jumped off the lighthouse to rescue me, my mind was made up."

Felix looked away from her, and sighed.

"I can't deny that we'll need your help at Jupiter Lighthouse," Felix said. "It puts us in an awkward position. But I told you we aren't like Saturos, and I meant it. You're not our prisoner. So if you decide at any point that you no longer want to be a part of this, even if it's outside the gates of Jupiter Lighthouse itself, then I'll turn around and take you home, or wherever you want to go."

"Thank you," Sheba said smiling.

"That settles it," Kraden said, clasping his hands together. "All four of us are in this together. Back on the previous topic, if we need to find a boat, I think the best we can do now is check the coastal towns of Indra and hope for the best."

Felix nodded, as did the others. There wasn't much else they could do now, anyway.

Jenna added, "As for Isaac and his friends, all we can do is try to keep ahead of them. I don't like it, and I wish we could all just talk it out, but there's too much at stake to risk."

After what happened at Venus Lighthouse, I doubt Isaac wants to hear anything I have to say.

"Let's finish eating and get some rest, then," Kraden suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Sheba said, grinning.

Jenna smiled too, but when she looked to her brother, it faltered.

"What is it?" she asked him.

He glanced at the window at the edge of the room. "It's nothing."


The sounds of the villagers working outside the inn's walls faded with the light of the sun, and night took the village. Before long, only the sound of insects chittering filled the air.

Jenna turned under the thin sheets of her bed, shivering. While the air of the day had been thickly warm, the night was bitter cold. She struggled to fall asleep in spite of her fatigue, a feeling she was unhappily used to by now.

So much had happened in the past day, and it was only now that she felt she could begin to process any of it.

Felix had last seen Isaac and his friends at the top of the lighthouse before the beacon was lit. She hoped they were okay. It ate at her, not knowing what had happened after everything went to hell.

What would she do if Felix was right, and Isaac did go after them? A confrontation was bound to happen eventually; Isaac did have the Mars Star after all, and they would need that for the final lighthouse.

Felix seemed to think Isaac would stop at nothing to keep them from lighting the lighthouses. Would he even kill them if he had to? Jenna couldn't imagine Isaac killing anyone, and yet he had killed Menardi. Felix had witnessed what happened at Venus Lighthouse, and Jenna hadn't. Perhaps the journey, and the pressure of thinking he had to save the world, had changed Isaac.

It had certainly changed Jenna. A year ago she would have never considered using Alchemy to revive her parents, much less lighting the lighthouses and risking the peace of the world to do so.

She wished so much that things could have been different. She didn't want anyone else to die. She was tired of the fighting, the bloodshed, and the uncertainty of what would happen to the people she loved.

Her thoughts turned to Alex. Somewhat to her surprise, she found herself hoping that he was okay too. It was true that he was a self-righteous snake who got on her nerves every time he spoke, but he didn't seem to be a terrible person. He'd treated her well - certainly better than the Proxians - and in his own way he had pushed her to be stronger. Thinking about him in the past tense, that he had genuinely sacrificed himself to save them, well, she just didn't know how to feel about that.

Jenna heard the shuffling of sheets being moved, and she rolled in her bed to see Felix drawing himself up.

"Felix?" she said under her breath, hoping not to wake Kraden or Sheba. "What is it?"

"Can't sleep," he told her. He opened his bag on the ground and pulled out his vest, pulling it on over his cotton shirt. "I'm going to go for a walk to clear my head."

"Hey, I'll go with you," Jenna offered, starting to rise. "I could use it too."

Felix looked like he was about to tell her not to, but he just frowned, and then nodded.

The two siblings made their way outside, greeted by the crisp cold air. Daila was a different sight without the villagers going around with buckets and mops working to clean the salty water swamping the streets. They had made some visible progress through the day, but the village was still in a sorry state, and it would be days, perhaps even weeks, before it was all cleaned up.

Felix said nothing as they walked, and Jenna considered what to say, if anything, to break the silence. There were countless things she could ask about, yet nothing felt right.

They rounded a corner, and Jenna jumped slightly at the sound of an owl taking flight from a nearby roof. Felix looked to her, and she averted her gaze in embarrassment.

Continuing on, they eventually found their way to the intersection of streets that marked the village's heart. As was common with many towns. a community bulletin board stood near the well, where the inhabitants could post requests and offers. As they drew near it, Jenna saw that all the postings had been torn away in the wake of the tidal wave, or were so damaged by the water that they were illegible.

All, save for one.

The note had a crude, hastily-drawn sketch of two similar-looking youths. The text beneath read: Two missing boys, Riki and Tavi. Last seen at the village gate the morning before the wave.

Below that were contact details for anyone with information about them.

"That woman we saw," Jenna said, turning to her brother, "the one who was limping. She never found those boys she was looking for."

Felix stared at the sketch on the flyer with a grim frown.

"Why haven't the villagers formed a party to go look for them?" Jenna asked.

"Who knows?" Felix answered. "Maybe they were too busy dealing with cleaning up the village? Or maybe they did, and couldn't find them?"

Jenna looked back at the note, unsure what to say.

"I have an idea," Felix said suddenly, turning back the way they had come.

Jenna followed him to the inn, where he told her to wait outside while he got something. A minute later, Felix emerged with a three-folded sheet of parchment.

"The woman mentioned they might have been playing at a shrine," Felix said, his eyes on the paper. "It's not far; less than a mile from the town. We can be there and back well before sunrise."

"What is that?" Jenna asked.

"A map of the area," he explained. "The innkeeper was selling them, probably for travellers who didn't know their way around. I noticed them when we arrived."

Jenna frowned, but didn't say anything. She knew they had no gold to pay for that. They had spent the little the had on the inn rooms and supplies for the journey ahead.

"And what makes you think the villagers didn't already check there?" Jenna asked, unconvinced.

"Well for one, it says on here that the shrine is only to be observed from outside," Felix explained. "It is forbidden for any to enter, except for 'holy men'."

"So even if they did send a search party, they wouldn't have checked inside."

"Exactly," Felix said. He watched her, waiting for an answer.

Jenna considered. "Alright. Like you said, it isn't far. We can check. It's not like this will be the first time you've broken into a sacred temple."

She knew if she said no, he would just leave her and go by himself.


The Shrine of the Sea God was an impressive sight: it was built into the side of the rocky hills, reaching up into the heights of the hill's peak, where it culminated in a tower that reminded Jenna of the lighthouses.

Atop the double-door entrance was a relief carved into the rock, depicting a being who could only be the sea god in question. His bottom half was the scale-and-fin-covered tail of a fish, while his top was of a man; muscular and thickly-bearded, wearing a kingly crown and holding high a three-pronged spear. The rest of a relief showed a crowd of people in supplication, behind them bearing a massive trove of riches in tribute. There were high waves behind the depicted god, but he seemed to be shielding the people from the sea's wrath.

Or, as Jenna considered it more, he was the one bringing the wrath of the sea on them.

As the two siblings drew closer to the shrine's entrance, it quickly became clear why the boys would not have been able to return home. One of the nearby hills had evidently been struck by the tidal wave, leaving a trail of large rocks that had rolled down. One such boulder had come to rest at the entrance of the shrine, completely blocking the doors.

Jenna followed Felix to the entrance, where he stopped before the boulder. He listened closely with his ear against it, before turning back to her.

"They're in there," he confirmed. "I can hear their voices echoing inside."

"That's great!" Jenna beamed. "We can use your Psynergy to move this rock and then take them back home."

"Hang on," Felix said, considering. After a while he said, "No, not like that. Follow me."

To her surprise, Felix led her away from the shrine's entrance, up the hill to the scattered boulders. Felix stepped behind one of the rocks, and Jenna followed, patiently waiting for an explanation.

He then concentrated on the entrance, and Jenna watched as a slight glow emanated from him. The signature ghostly white hand of Venus Adept movement Psynergy appeared several metres away. Felix mimed with his gloved hands, pushing at the air in front of him, and the Psynergy hand mimicked that, pushing at the boulder, which gave way. The fragile rock collapsed under the pressure, and several smaller pieces tumbled down the hill, crashing against other rocks, and filling the hills with echoing cracking sounds.

The hand vanished in particles of energy, and Felix let out a breath.

"Now what?" Jenna asked.

"We wait here," Felix answered.

Some minutes later, two small figures, each with a mop of dirty brown hair, emerged from the shrine's entrance. They looked around in confusion, no doubt wondering what had happened to the boulder that had trapped them there. After a short conversation, they took off at a jog back in the direction of the village.

"They know the way back," Felix said. "They'll be fine now."

"What was the point of this?" Jenna asked. "Hiding back here, I mean."

Felix drew himself up, brushing dirt off his legs. "Think about it. If we just rescued them, they would rush back home and tell everyone about it. News travels fast in small towns like that. Soon, everyone would know about the two teenage travellers who went to the shrine and somehow managed to move a boulder that a dozen grown men couldn't have. They'd also realize that Sheba and Kraden were part of our group. And then, if Isaac and his team should pass through here, say, looking for you..."

"I get it," said Jenna, sighing. "Then Isaac knows we were here, he knows where we're going next, and he knows we're all together."

"We have to be careful where we go, and what we do," Felix said. "We can't draw too much attention to ourselves. If Isaac catches us, that could be the end of the mission right there. We can't take him and his friends in a fight."

Jenna turned on her heel, kicking at a small stone in the grass, and watching it as it tumbled down the hill. "And here I was thinking that without Saturos and Menardi around any more I could relax and actually enjoy the journey."

"We'll have to train on the road," Felix told her. "As much as we can afford to. Without the Proxians, we'll have to protect ourselves. There will be monsters out there. And if nothing else, we'll have to be strong enough to at least escape from Isaac's group, should it end up coming to a fight. We can't take any chances."

Jenna turned back to him. "Why help these boys at all then? Why take the risk?"

Felix looked back at her. "You know why."

Jenna smirked, and her brother couldn't help but return one himself.

"Seeing you use that Psynergy just now reminded me of Isaac's dad using the same one to rescue you," she said softly. "It's weird, but that seemed so incredible back then, even if all he was doing was pushing a log."

"I'll have to tell you about Venus Lighthouse later," Felix said. "What I saw there was... like nothing I could have imagined. Leave it to those two to go out with a bang, right?"

The two siblings grew quiet for a moment, staring up at the moon high in the sky.

"Let's get back," Felix said. "I think I'm ready to get some sleep now."

"Yeah," Jenna agreed. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day: the start of our adventure. Properly, anyway."

They walked back together, in a different kind of silence. Though there was still a lot weighing on Jenna's mind, a lot to worry about and a lot that could still end very badly, things didn't seem quite so bad now.


A/N: After taking a few months off to recover from some IRL stuff and outline the remaining chapters, I'm here we are with the first proper chapter of TLA! Let's get into it :)

I had Felix wake up on the drifting island before Sheba (reverse of the original) so that he could talk with the others to establish some of his thoughts about what happened at the lighthouse. When proofreading the previous chapter I was worried that his actions might have come across as irrational or random, and while there was a deliberate element of acting hastily and making poor choices, I wanted to use this scene to clarify some of his reasoning.

It is later revealed that Sheba was only pretending to be asleep, in order to listen in on the conversation. This is foreshadowed a few times in small ways (like her conveniently knowing about the continent despite seeming to have woken up after they spotted it). This shows that, even though Felix saved her, she still doesn't really know these people and wants to know more about who they are and what they're after.

On that note I also moved the discussion of her motives for joining the quest to Daila, because it felt more natural that everyone would want to go rest a bit before figuring out their next moves, and it helps avoid the exposition overload this first part of the game is so infamous for.

Alex seeming to sacrifice himself for the others by making a wall of ice to block the tidal wave is an addition to the in-game story element of him vanishing after they arrive in Indra. In-game, he is simply gone after everyone else wakes up, and it always struck me as odd that they seem to just assume he left on his own rather than the more likely explanation that he died or ended up somewhere else. While we know he's fine, I wanted to give the characters a reason to make a more charitable assumption for why he disappeared, both to explain why they don't look very hard for him, and to provide more of a sting when they find out that he did indeed just leave them there.

I avoided discussion of the continent of Indra being moved by the tidal wave from east of Gondowan to being wedged between it and Osenia. I'm not a geologist, but I don't think its very realistic that an entire continent (even a small one) could be moved by a single tidal wave, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that :P In any case, I'm going to once again play fast and loose with the layout of the world and have the current location of Indra just be where it always has been (at least in the last few centuries, as the continents did drift apart as we see in Lemuria).

I skipped Kandorean Temple because, like many of the locations visited in the first half of the Lost Age, it has no direct story relevance and exists only to be a starter dungeon and introduce gameplay mechanics. I did include the Shrine of the Sea God at the end, as it is revisited later as part of the trident quest, and its associated lore does foreshadow some things.

It also provides a great showcase of Felix's character, and the inherent conflict between his goals and his actions. Contrasting the two party leaders, Isaac carries a lot of guilt from every consequence of his actions, even the most indirect ones. Meanwhile Felix, despite seeing directly the harm his actions have caused, has resigned himself to his role as a villain and is willing to leave people to fend for themselves, staying focused on his own goals. He knows the state of the village of Daila is a direct result of his actions, but while Isaac would have felt guilty about that, Felix is able to just mentally accept that things like this are going to happen and he can't let that stop him. And yet, even with all that in mind, he cannot ignore when innocent children are in danger.

Felix also steals the map he uses to find the shrine, which is something Isaac would have never done. Not to mention the unspoken implication that, should they later find a boat they can use, they might have to steal it from its proper owner in order to complete the quest. Felix might not be like Saturos, but he's not a boy scout either.

It always bothered me how different Felix feels between the two games. in TBS, he talks like a cartoon villain at times, but then when he becomes the player character he's suddenly indistinguishable from Isaac, stopping in every town and helping people along the way. This is my way of showing that, while they definitely have things in common, he and Isaac are different people with different priorities guiding their actions.

Anyway, that's about all I have to say on this one. If you enjoyed the chapter, please take a moment to leave a comment. I don't make any money from my writing so those little notifications are the only thing I really get back from this, and it really does help motivate me to continue.

Next chapter: Madra Mania!