"Garet, wake up! Wake up, Garet!" A voice sounded, rocking Garet's body.
Garet was sleeping like a stone and almost refused to open his eyes.
"Garet, it's important!" He recognized this voice as his older sister's.
"Aww, Sis, I didn't crush your flowers, leave me alone."
"Garet! It's about Isaac!"
"What?!" Garet shouted, springing fully awake. "What's going on?"
"Dora passed away yesterday while you were at work! I just heard about it and the funeral is happening in 45 minutes!"
"WHAT?! So that's why Isaac was so distracted yesterday! He knew his mother had taken a sharp decline, but didn't stay home!"
"Knowing Dora, she forced him to go to work instead of staying home. She knew she wasn't going to last the day, so she sent Isaac away to try to get his mind off of her." Garet's grandmother said, walking to his bedside.
"How's Isaac? Is he okay?"
"No one's seen him all day. Jenna claimed she spotted him near Kraden's cottage, but he hasn't shown his face in public all day!" His sister replied.
"Oh, no." Garet shot out of his bedding and pulled on his tunic quickly. He charged outside in a rush, searching every cranny of the town for his friend. He was nowhere to be found. He checked the blacksmith, the armorsmith, the innkeeper, the various shopkeepers, Kraden's cottage, the old mill, the barns, Jenna's home, the Sanctuary, the town square, the nearby lake, the cliffs, and the big hill just outside of town. Garet's limbs began to ache as he had searched the whole of the village in less than half an hour, still not finding hide nor hair of Isaac. Finally, he decided to give up and go home, but he stopped by Isaac's house in a test. After knocking lightly on the front door, Garet pulled open the door and stepped inside.
Isaac's house was quite large, with solid wood floors. The walls were covered in a plaster-like substance that was a ghost white, the color of which opened the rooms up and allowed more light in. There were rugs here and there on the floors, a stone fireplace burning, the occasional painting on the walls. Garet marched into Isaac's parents' room. The sheets on both beds had remained unstirred, as if no one had slept in them for months. The room felt very homey, with the warmth of the fireplace and the various niceties in the room, ranging from a couple of plants to an oak coat rack. Not seeing any sign of life, Garet walked up the flight of wooden stairs to Isaac's room. The room was small, but not crowded. Isaac's bed lay much like those of his deceased parents, and most of the books on his bookcase looked as though they had a thick layer of dust growing on their surfaces. Confused, Garet opened Isaac's stand out closet. All of Isaac's tunics and clothes were neatly hung awaiting to be worn by the lad. Garet closed the closet doors, not knowing what he had been thinking. Garet then spotted Isaac's black trunk, which he again opened. All of Isaac's adventuring gear was neatly in place. His Dragon Scale armor was folded nicely and stacked on top of his Earth Shield, and his Gaia Sword lay across that. His sack of items lie next to the handle of his magical blade, untouched as well. It was clear Isaac hadn't opened this trunk since he returned from the Jupiter Lighthouse. Garet sighed, and shut the lid on Isaac's trunk. He left the room and descended down the stairs to the main room, where he walked outside.
Garet paused for a moment, trying to think where his friend could be. He had looked everywhere in Vale for him, but was at a loss on how to find him now. He looked left and right, looking down the path near his house, but was he remained at his quandary. Then, as he was about to leave, he felt some hay fall on his head. Brushing it out of his thick red hair, Garet looked to the roof, where something was obviously up there. He walked to the side of his house that faced away from the path and noticed a ladder leading to the roof. Seizing the moment, Garet leapt onto the ladder and clambered up to the roof. Peering over the horizon of the roof, he saw his missing friend messing with something on the roof.
"Isaac?" Garet asked, out of sheer surprise. His friend turned his head and looked directly at him.
"Hey, Garet." Isaac said, returning to what he was doing. Garet pulled himself to the roof and carefully walked over to him.
"What are you doing, Isaac?"
"Mending the roof." Isaac replied, quietly.
"Why?"
"I promised mother last week I'd do it today." He sniffed, obviously holding back his tears.
"You've always been a man of your word, Isaac." Garet replied, sympathetically. There was a long silence, save for the rustling of fresh hay that Isaac stamped down into the roof.
"It's funny, Garet." Isaac said. "If I hadn't have gotten a job, I might have been able to save her."
"Isaac. . ." Garet returned, thinking about how Jenna told him time and again not to bring up this subject. "There's nothing you could've done. Your mother was so sick, there was nothing anyone could do. I don't even think Mia would've been able to help her, my friend. You know you did everything you could."
"I know Garet." Isaac moaned. "I just wish I could've done more." He shook his head. For once in a long time, Garet was right. He did everything in his power to help his mother. Garet was right about another thing too. Mia, the healer that saved his life countless times, probably couldn't help his mother; even as a Mercury Adept, she could only do so much. Isaac cursed his own healing Psynergy for only effecting physical wounds and not illnesses. He might've been able to help her if it did work.
"I know, bro. You did more than everything for her, and I don't think she'd want you to take it this harshly. You're blaming yourself."
"If we had never gone into the Sol Sanctum, this never would've happened!"
"If we didn't go into the Sol Sanctum, Saturos and Merandi would've lit all four lighthouses and it would've been the end of the world." Garet corrected. Isaac turned to argue, but his friend's point was right on the mark. "Your mother's funeral will be going on shortly. You should go. I'll go with you, if it will make you feel better."
"Thanks, Garet. Come on, we don't have much time." Isaac returned, still saddened, but less so than earlier. The two friends walked up to the Sanctum, where they were greeted by the head healer, and several of his monks. Each gave their condolences before the ceremony, and Isaac thanked them properly each time. The ceremony was not long-winded, but Isaac's mind was so clouded, most of the funeral became a blur to him. However, the ceremony had many of the citizens of Vale in attendance, and the eulogies of the head healer and his monks were beautiful and well-spoken. From what Isaac could clearly gather, he was thankful so many people remembered her in such a good way, the way she really was. After the funeral, the coffin containing Dora's body was buried in a grave next to a stone in remembrance of her husband, Kyle. After which, each in attendance to the funeral gave their apologies and condolences to Isaac, whom by now was almost sick with sadness. After most had departed, the warrior hero of days past stood and stared at both of his parents' grave markers. He remained motionless for nearly a half an hour, and the only ones left in the graveyard by that time was Garet, Jenna, Felix, and himself. Finally, he turned away from the headstones and walked towards his friends.
"I know it's hard, Isaac. Please don't beat yourself up like this." Jenna told him. "I haven't seen you this bad for years." She remorsefully spoke to him.
"Isaac, you know we'll always be there if you need us. Just come over to our place if you ever need to talk." Felix said to his childhood friend in his normal, calm, voice. Garet glanced at Felix for a moment, realizing Felix had just put into words what he had wished to earlier that same day.
"Felix is right. We'll be there for you whenever you need anything, bro."
"Thanks, guys." Isaac said, mournfully. "I really appreciate that, you know. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'd like to be alone now." He pushed past his friends, bearing on his own dwelling. The path from the graveyard seemed to stretch thousands of miles, a never-ending path of sorrow, confusion, and depression. It was only moments before Isaac disappeared from his friends' line of sight.
"I'm worried about him." Jenna said, plainly.
"We should be, but not so much we can't move through our own lives. I don't intend to sound insensitive, but we should leave him to his own devices for awhile." Felix quietly returned. "He'll be in mourning for a long time, but he'll eventually begin to recover with time. Our job is to make sure he does recover, but now, we should honor his desire to be alone with his thoughts."
"Should I visit him in the morning, Felix, or do you think that's a bad idea?" Jenna asked her older brother.
"No, you shouldn't. If anyone should see him in the morning, it should be Garet."
"Why Garet?" Jenna asked questioningly.
"Because, despite how close friends you and Isaac are, Garet might as well be a brother to Isaac, and he'd be more likely to talk with him."
"I suppose you're right, Felix. Garet, make sure you got all of that in your thick skull, got it?"
"Consider it done." Garet replied, smiling. "And I'm not a bonehead, Jenna!"
*************************
Isaac tossed and turned in his feather bed. He hadn't slept a wink all that night, and the sleep he had gotten the night before had been restless and uncomfortably light. It had been an untold number of hours since the funeral, and Isaac went to bed immediately afterward. Finally realizing the futility of his struggle, he sat straight up and wide awake. Thoughts of his mother and father flooded his mind; every memory he could conceive of his family flowed through his mind, flashing before his eyes. Isaac swallowed hard, trying to hold back his depression. Isaac stood and stared out at the night sky, the stars twinkling their mystical light in the darkness above. There were no candles or torches lit in all of Vale; it must've been very late.
Isaac lit a dip candle with a match and checked his 24 hour-hourglass. It was a little less than half full; about midnight. He sat back on his bed, the dip candle still burning on his nightstand. Pulling a book from off his nightstand, he tried to read. His thoughts remained too clouded to concentrate on the book, so he quickly set the book back. He returned to the window, gazing at the stars above Mt. Aleph. The mountain reminded him of his adventuring days, his numerous adventures with Garet, Ivan, and Mia. He missed Ivan and Mia deeply; both were very close friends. He thought about the times when Garet, Ivan, and himself captured the thieves in Vault, when they and Mia wandered through the Mercury Lighthouse not far from the town of Imil, the time they played at the fountains of Tolbi, his victory at the Colosso tournament, the defeat of Saturos and Merandi at the Venus Lighthouse, countless mishaps at sea, retrieving the Draught of Life for Babi, and finally defeating Alex at the Jupiter Lighthouse.
Those had been the days; he and his friends explored the world together, all for one, and one for all. The four wanders depended on each other to survive and win the endless battles encountered on the way to their destiny.
Then it hit him. While stopping all four Lighthouses from being lit was no doubt part of his destiny, he determined that being a blacksmith in his hometown was not the way his life was supposed to be. He loved his hometown of Vale, but there were too many memories here. These memories would plague him until the day he died, and he figured the best way to avoid this was to keep his mind occupied with other thoughts; thoughts set on his adventure. Present and future, not the past; this is what he determined he should keep his mind focused on. This left him but one course of action: leave Vale and start adventuring on his own. He quickly picked up his dip candle and moved over to his pine writing desk and pulled a piece of paper from the drawer in desk. He picked up his feather pen and dipped it into the inkwell sitting at the top of his table. He scribbled a message on the paper, and changed his clothes.
Moving quickly, he popped open the trunk he hadn't touched for six months, dragging his Gaia Sword out, dropping it on the floor. He removed his Dragon Scale armor, unfolded it, and slipped it on; it still fit like the day he found it. The golden scales of the armor had protected him from just about everything. Next, he pulled his tunic over the light armor and slipped his traveling gauntlets on over his hands. He then grabbed for his Earth Shield in the bottom of his trunk. He slipped the shield over his left arm, then pawed for his bag of traveling items. The bag was mystical; it could magically hold just about anything while having near unlimited space. He emptied the bag's contents to the floor to inspect what he had. Several herbs and nuts fell from the bag, as well as a couple of rings, elixir bottles, Psy Crystals, and vials of healing potion. Other treasures included a set of Catch Beads, the Halt Gem, the Cloak Ball, a Douse Drop, a Frost Jewel, a Carry Stone, the Orb of Force, and the Lifting Gem. Finally, a small metal bag plopped to the ground next to the other things. Isaac immediately recognized it as the mithril bag containing the Mars Star. Isaac turned back to the message on his desk. Taking the feather pen in hand again, he scribbled more onto the note. After he concluded, he took the bag and stuffed it under his mattress. He turned to the items on the floor and summed them all up. Stuffing the items back into the bag, he strapped the tiny bag to his belt. Next, he picked up his trusty blade, and slung it over his back. Finally, he removed his favorite scarf from his bedpost and wrapped it around his neck, completing the look of the hero who had traveled most of the continent less than a year before.
Now he turned his eyes on the note he had written hastily. Picking it up and proofreading it one last time, he left the message on his pillow, then he proceeded to snuff the dip candle. His work now complete, he marched down the stairs and opened his front door quietly. After closing it, Isaac walked covertly down the deserted streets trying to stay in the shadows. As he crept along, he came across Garet's darkened house and sighed. He wanted to bring Garet with him on this journey, but he determined that this was his mission alone. He pressed on and passed all of his favorite places along the way: The baker's, the armorsmith's, the inn, and the blacksmith. He paused as he passed another cottage; the one belonging to Jenna and Felix. He wanted to say goodbye to his other friends, but he knew he couldn't. Isaac sighed once again and headed for the arch that signified the town limits. He stepped through it, turned back to gaze upon his beloved hometown one last time, and then he ran off into the night, seeking his fate.
"Aww, Sis, I didn't crush your flowers, leave me alone."
"Garet! It's about Isaac!"
"What?!" Garet shouted, springing fully awake. "What's going on?"
"Dora passed away yesterday while you were at work! I just heard about it and the funeral is happening in 45 minutes!"
"WHAT?! So that's why Isaac was so distracted yesterday! He knew his mother had taken a sharp decline, but didn't stay home!"
"Knowing Dora, she forced him to go to work instead of staying home. She knew she wasn't going to last the day, so she sent Isaac away to try to get his mind off of her." Garet's grandmother said, walking to his bedside.
"How's Isaac? Is he okay?"
"No one's seen him all day. Jenna claimed she spotted him near Kraden's cottage, but he hasn't shown his face in public all day!" His sister replied.
"Oh, no." Garet shot out of his bedding and pulled on his tunic quickly. He charged outside in a rush, searching every cranny of the town for his friend. He was nowhere to be found. He checked the blacksmith, the armorsmith, the innkeeper, the various shopkeepers, Kraden's cottage, the old mill, the barns, Jenna's home, the Sanctuary, the town square, the nearby lake, the cliffs, and the big hill just outside of town. Garet's limbs began to ache as he had searched the whole of the village in less than half an hour, still not finding hide nor hair of Isaac. Finally, he decided to give up and go home, but he stopped by Isaac's house in a test. After knocking lightly on the front door, Garet pulled open the door and stepped inside.
Isaac's house was quite large, with solid wood floors. The walls were covered in a plaster-like substance that was a ghost white, the color of which opened the rooms up and allowed more light in. There were rugs here and there on the floors, a stone fireplace burning, the occasional painting on the walls. Garet marched into Isaac's parents' room. The sheets on both beds had remained unstirred, as if no one had slept in them for months. The room felt very homey, with the warmth of the fireplace and the various niceties in the room, ranging from a couple of plants to an oak coat rack. Not seeing any sign of life, Garet walked up the flight of wooden stairs to Isaac's room. The room was small, but not crowded. Isaac's bed lay much like those of his deceased parents, and most of the books on his bookcase looked as though they had a thick layer of dust growing on their surfaces. Confused, Garet opened Isaac's stand out closet. All of Isaac's tunics and clothes were neatly hung awaiting to be worn by the lad. Garet closed the closet doors, not knowing what he had been thinking. Garet then spotted Isaac's black trunk, which he again opened. All of Isaac's adventuring gear was neatly in place. His Dragon Scale armor was folded nicely and stacked on top of his Earth Shield, and his Gaia Sword lay across that. His sack of items lie next to the handle of his magical blade, untouched as well. It was clear Isaac hadn't opened this trunk since he returned from the Jupiter Lighthouse. Garet sighed, and shut the lid on Isaac's trunk. He left the room and descended down the stairs to the main room, where he walked outside.
Garet paused for a moment, trying to think where his friend could be. He had looked everywhere in Vale for him, but was at a loss on how to find him now. He looked left and right, looking down the path near his house, but was he remained at his quandary. Then, as he was about to leave, he felt some hay fall on his head. Brushing it out of his thick red hair, Garet looked to the roof, where something was obviously up there. He walked to the side of his house that faced away from the path and noticed a ladder leading to the roof. Seizing the moment, Garet leapt onto the ladder and clambered up to the roof. Peering over the horizon of the roof, he saw his missing friend messing with something on the roof.
"Isaac?" Garet asked, out of sheer surprise. His friend turned his head and looked directly at him.
"Hey, Garet." Isaac said, returning to what he was doing. Garet pulled himself to the roof and carefully walked over to him.
"What are you doing, Isaac?"
"Mending the roof." Isaac replied, quietly.
"Why?"
"I promised mother last week I'd do it today." He sniffed, obviously holding back his tears.
"You've always been a man of your word, Isaac." Garet replied, sympathetically. There was a long silence, save for the rustling of fresh hay that Isaac stamped down into the roof.
"It's funny, Garet." Isaac said. "If I hadn't have gotten a job, I might have been able to save her."
"Isaac. . ." Garet returned, thinking about how Jenna told him time and again not to bring up this subject. "There's nothing you could've done. Your mother was so sick, there was nothing anyone could do. I don't even think Mia would've been able to help her, my friend. You know you did everything you could."
"I know Garet." Isaac moaned. "I just wish I could've done more." He shook his head. For once in a long time, Garet was right. He did everything in his power to help his mother. Garet was right about another thing too. Mia, the healer that saved his life countless times, probably couldn't help his mother; even as a Mercury Adept, she could only do so much. Isaac cursed his own healing Psynergy for only effecting physical wounds and not illnesses. He might've been able to help her if it did work.
"I know, bro. You did more than everything for her, and I don't think she'd want you to take it this harshly. You're blaming yourself."
"If we had never gone into the Sol Sanctum, this never would've happened!"
"If we didn't go into the Sol Sanctum, Saturos and Merandi would've lit all four lighthouses and it would've been the end of the world." Garet corrected. Isaac turned to argue, but his friend's point was right on the mark. "Your mother's funeral will be going on shortly. You should go. I'll go with you, if it will make you feel better."
"Thanks, Garet. Come on, we don't have much time." Isaac returned, still saddened, but less so than earlier. The two friends walked up to the Sanctum, where they were greeted by the head healer, and several of his monks. Each gave their condolences before the ceremony, and Isaac thanked them properly each time. The ceremony was not long-winded, but Isaac's mind was so clouded, most of the funeral became a blur to him. However, the ceremony had many of the citizens of Vale in attendance, and the eulogies of the head healer and his monks were beautiful and well-spoken. From what Isaac could clearly gather, he was thankful so many people remembered her in such a good way, the way she really was. After the funeral, the coffin containing Dora's body was buried in a grave next to a stone in remembrance of her husband, Kyle. After which, each in attendance to the funeral gave their apologies and condolences to Isaac, whom by now was almost sick with sadness. After most had departed, the warrior hero of days past stood and stared at both of his parents' grave markers. He remained motionless for nearly a half an hour, and the only ones left in the graveyard by that time was Garet, Jenna, Felix, and himself. Finally, he turned away from the headstones and walked towards his friends.
"I know it's hard, Isaac. Please don't beat yourself up like this." Jenna told him. "I haven't seen you this bad for years." She remorsefully spoke to him.
"Isaac, you know we'll always be there if you need us. Just come over to our place if you ever need to talk." Felix said to his childhood friend in his normal, calm, voice. Garet glanced at Felix for a moment, realizing Felix had just put into words what he had wished to earlier that same day.
"Felix is right. We'll be there for you whenever you need anything, bro."
"Thanks, guys." Isaac said, mournfully. "I really appreciate that, you know. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'd like to be alone now." He pushed past his friends, bearing on his own dwelling. The path from the graveyard seemed to stretch thousands of miles, a never-ending path of sorrow, confusion, and depression. It was only moments before Isaac disappeared from his friends' line of sight.
"I'm worried about him." Jenna said, plainly.
"We should be, but not so much we can't move through our own lives. I don't intend to sound insensitive, but we should leave him to his own devices for awhile." Felix quietly returned. "He'll be in mourning for a long time, but he'll eventually begin to recover with time. Our job is to make sure he does recover, but now, we should honor his desire to be alone with his thoughts."
"Should I visit him in the morning, Felix, or do you think that's a bad idea?" Jenna asked her older brother.
"No, you shouldn't. If anyone should see him in the morning, it should be Garet."
"Why Garet?" Jenna asked questioningly.
"Because, despite how close friends you and Isaac are, Garet might as well be a brother to Isaac, and he'd be more likely to talk with him."
"I suppose you're right, Felix. Garet, make sure you got all of that in your thick skull, got it?"
"Consider it done." Garet replied, smiling. "And I'm not a bonehead, Jenna!"
*************************
Isaac tossed and turned in his feather bed. He hadn't slept a wink all that night, and the sleep he had gotten the night before had been restless and uncomfortably light. It had been an untold number of hours since the funeral, and Isaac went to bed immediately afterward. Finally realizing the futility of his struggle, he sat straight up and wide awake. Thoughts of his mother and father flooded his mind; every memory he could conceive of his family flowed through his mind, flashing before his eyes. Isaac swallowed hard, trying to hold back his depression. Isaac stood and stared out at the night sky, the stars twinkling their mystical light in the darkness above. There were no candles or torches lit in all of Vale; it must've been very late.
Isaac lit a dip candle with a match and checked his 24 hour-hourglass. It was a little less than half full; about midnight. He sat back on his bed, the dip candle still burning on his nightstand. Pulling a book from off his nightstand, he tried to read. His thoughts remained too clouded to concentrate on the book, so he quickly set the book back. He returned to the window, gazing at the stars above Mt. Aleph. The mountain reminded him of his adventuring days, his numerous adventures with Garet, Ivan, and Mia. He missed Ivan and Mia deeply; both were very close friends. He thought about the times when Garet, Ivan, and himself captured the thieves in Vault, when they and Mia wandered through the Mercury Lighthouse not far from the town of Imil, the time they played at the fountains of Tolbi, his victory at the Colosso tournament, the defeat of Saturos and Merandi at the Venus Lighthouse, countless mishaps at sea, retrieving the Draught of Life for Babi, and finally defeating Alex at the Jupiter Lighthouse.
Those had been the days; he and his friends explored the world together, all for one, and one for all. The four wanders depended on each other to survive and win the endless battles encountered on the way to their destiny.
Then it hit him. While stopping all four Lighthouses from being lit was no doubt part of his destiny, he determined that being a blacksmith in his hometown was not the way his life was supposed to be. He loved his hometown of Vale, but there were too many memories here. These memories would plague him until the day he died, and he figured the best way to avoid this was to keep his mind occupied with other thoughts; thoughts set on his adventure. Present and future, not the past; this is what he determined he should keep his mind focused on. This left him but one course of action: leave Vale and start adventuring on his own. He quickly picked up his dip candle and moved over to his pine writing desk and pulled a piece of paper from the drawer in desk. He picked up his feather pen and dipped it into the inkwell sitting at the top of his table. He scribbled a message on the paper, and changed his clothes.
Moving quickly, he popped open the trunk he hadn't touched for six months, dragging his Gaia Sword out, dropping it on the floor. He removed his Dragon Scale armor, unfolded it, and slipped it on; it still fit like the day he found it. The golden scales of the armor had protected him from just about everything. Next, he pulled his tunic over the light armor and slipped his traveling gauntlets on over his hands. He then grabbed for his Earth Shield in the bottom of his trunk. He slipped the shield over his left arm, then pawed for his bag of traveling items. The bag was mystical; it could magically hold just about anything while having near unlimited space. He emptied the bag's contents to the floor to inspect what he had. Several herbs and nuts fell from the bag, as well as a couple of rings, elixir bottles, Psy Crystals, and vials of healing potion. Other treasures included a set of Catch Beads, the Halt Gem, the Cloak Ball, a Douse Drop, a Frost Jewel, a Carry Stone, the Orb of Force, and the Lifting Gem. Finally, a small metal bag plopped to the ground next to the other things. Isaac immediately recognized it as the mithril bag containing the Mars Star. Isaac turned back to the message on his desk. Taking the feather pen in hand again, he scribbled more onto the note. After he concluded, he took the bag and stuffed it under his mattress. He turned to the items on the floor and summed them all up. Stuffing the items back into the bag, he strapped the tiny bag to his belt. Next, he picked up his trusty blade, and slung it over his back. Finally, he removed his favorite scarf from his bedpost and wrapped it around his neck, completing the look of the hero who had traveled most of the continent less than a year before.
Now he turned his eyes on the note he had written hastily. Picking it up and proofreading it one last time, he left the message on his pillow, then he proceeded to snuff the dip candle. His work now complete, he marched down the stairs and opened his front door quietly. After closing it, Isaac walked covertly down the deserted streets trying to stay in the shadows. As he crept along, he came across Garet's darkened house and sighed. He wanted to bring Garet with him on this journey, but he determined that this was his mission alone. He pressed on and passed all of his favorite places along the way: The baker's, the armorsmith's, the inn, and the blacksmith. He paused as he passed another cottage; the one belonging to Jenna and Felix. He wanted to say goodbye to his other friends, but he knew he couldn't. Isaac sighed once again and headed for the arch that signified the town limits. He stepped through it, turned back to gaze upon his beloved hometown one last time, and then he ran off into the night, seeking his fate.