Matt Dovey
As the dawn broke across the eastern sky, the light exploding out across the world, Fina sat up from the bed she had been sleeping in in Captain Dyne's house, next to Vyse's bed. She felt weary, her muscles aching with tiredness and her head aching with stress. She had been worrying all night about what had happened the night before... Seeing something fly out of the vortex, so close to where Soltis had been sunk... It could be anything, another creation of the Silver Civilisation that she did not know of, another dark heart of evil in the glory of this world... But as she looked across at Vyse, all her aches drained from her, mind and body. For once he looked at rest, peaceful, his features relaxed and lost in the calmness of sleep... She smiled as she looked at him, absently brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. She stayed sat on the edge of her bed for some time, enjoying the calm of daybreak and the sight of Vyse. She knew she loved him very much as a friend, and respected him very much as a Captain, but she still didn't know quite how far that love went, and she didn't want to risk the balance of things now for something she wasn't even sure she wanted. She shook her head, scattering her thoughts and causing the few hairs to fall forward of her ear again. Brushing it back once more, she stood up and quietly padded over to the edge of the room, where her clothes hung against the wall. Although she moved without haste, she was quickly dressed, leaving her veil off. She decided to carry her shoes, so that she wouldn't wake Vyse or the rest of the family as she left. She moved over to the ladder almost silently, her bare feet sinking slightly into the rugs that covered the wooden floorboards. She negotiated the ladder easily, her time on a pirate ship having taught her to climb in difficult conditions, and one-handed whilst holding a pair of shoes was no problem to her now. She swiftly moved to the door and out the house, not having to worry about creaking floorboards whilst on the ground floor. As she stood at the door, she slipped her shoes on, and closed the door quietly behind her. Taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air, she smiled as she let the calm quietness of the dawn surround and embrace her. Walking across the dew-covered grass, her footprints staying in the ground behind her, she made her way up to the ramp, and from there up the ladder to Lookout Isle again. She sat on the bench rather than the grass, not wishing to dampen her clothes or stain them. The trace from the vortex was still visible, though not as strong as the night before; there had not been much of a wind to blow it away overnight. She could feel malevolence emanating from trail, even though it was no more than a memory of what had gone before. She shuddered at the thought of what could have left it, all her overnight worries flooding back.
"Morning Aika," greeted Vyse from the breakfast table as Aika walked through his front door, not bothering to knock. She flashed a grin back at him, then looked around the room.
"Where's Fina?"
Vyse swallowed another mouthful of his mother's porridge. "Just upstairs," he answered, already lifting another spoonful to his mouth. Smiling at Vyse again, Aika quickly climbed up the ladder, swinging over the top and landing softly on the floorboards. She saw Fina sat on the edge of her bed, quiet and pensive.
"You ok, Fina?" she asked as she walked over and sat next to her.
Fina looked up, smiling. "Yes, fine, thank you very much."
Aika looked at her, not moving, and Fina looked away, slightly uncomfortable. "Fina, we've known each other long enough now, you don't have to pretend you're ok."
Fina kept her head down, looking at the ground, then sighed. "I'm just worried about what we saw... that trail, it was so close to where Soltis sunk, and I'm afraid that it might be something else created by one of my descendants... I didn't get much sleep at all last night because I was so worried." She looked at Aika again, biting her bottom lip through embarrassment.
"Oh Fina..." said Aika as she embraced the Silvite, "it's ok! We'll go out and check it this morning, it might be nothing!"
"But it might be something..." said Fina quietly.
Aika stayed quiet, and hung her head for a moment. Then she looked up again, smiling. "But it might be nothing! C'mon, let's get downstairs and bug Vyse!" She grabbed Fina's hand and dragged her up off the bed. Fina couldn't help but be infected by Aika's enthusiasm, and just managed to grab her veil off her bed before she was pulled downstairs.
The breakfast table had been cleared and was being used as a planning table, the little planning that needed doing. Vyse was stood looking over a map of Mid Ocean that lay on the table, and Aika and Fina were seated at the sides of the table.
"That's where Shrine Island is, and The Vortex is just south of it... if we assume that whatever came out did come out of there, that should be where we start looking. I don't know what we'll find, but we might find something. Besides, it's pretty much on the way home anyway, and if we go that far north then we might just run into some more Black Pirates as we go back over Nasr," he grinned. "I've just got some more stuff to sort out with Dad, then we can get going!"
The trio met up again by the docking island, Briggs for once being occupied elsewhere on the island. "Let's get going," smiled Vyse as he walked up the ramp towards Aika and Fina. Boarding the small boat they used to come ashore in, they made their way back to the Drachma, informing the rest of the small crew that they were on board again, before resuming their positions in the bridge. Vyse held the wheel, and they set off towards Shrine Island.
Shrine Island was soon in sight, the Drachma being a fast ship, despite (or perhaps because of) it's small size. The atmosphere on the bridge was, despite Aika's best attempts to cheer it up, one of tense expectation and worry. Aika and Fina came forward to stand by Vyse at the wheel as they came closer to The Vortex, when Fina suddenly took a sharp intake of breath, as if in pain, and clasped her hands to her chest, where a faint silver light was beginning to glow through. Vyse and Aika stood in horror as the Silver Moon Crystal in Fina's chest glowed ever brighter, before coming out of her skin without breaking it. Fina's face was drawn and stretched, then screwed up and wound in agony, her breathing shallow and rapid as she clenched her teeth against the pain. Her mouth opened wide in a scream, which died down as she swayed and fell to the floor, fainting from the pain. Vyse dived to catch her as Aika grabbed hold of the wheel he had let go.
"Aika, get her below decks now, and do not leave her... I'm taking us straight back home, we'll have to look back here some other time!"
Vyse took the Drachma above cloud level to avoid any trouble. He flew the ship straight north-east as fast as he could, waiting until he had sight of the Island at the End of the Rainbow before dropping below cloud level and heading due North. As the ship pulled close to Crescent Isle, Don took over the helm so that Vyse could go and help Aika with Fina. Don guided the ship into the port with practised ease, Brabham engaging the clamps to keep the ship in position. Almost as soon as the ship had stopped, Vyse was making his way down the ramp rapidly, the still-limp Fina held close in his arms. He sent Aika to tell Ilchymis briefly what had happened to Fina, and to bring him to Fina's room as quickly as possible. He then went straight to her room himself, and lay Fina down on her bed gently. Even though she was unconscious, her face was still lined with pain, containing none of its usual radiance and light. He was still looking at her face, worry scrawled on his own, when Aika and Ilchymis entered, both looking equally as concerned. Ilchymis hurried over to the bed, shuffling Vyse out of the way. He lay his cheek against her mouth, and his hand on her forehead. He stayed still for a moment, then frowned. He sat up and reached into a pocket, pulling out a flannel, then retrieved a bottle from the depths of another pocket. Twisting the lid off with the flannel, he began to pour the contents onto the flannel.
"What's that?" asked Vyse, his words coming out in a rush of concern.
Ilchymis looked up at him. "It's water, Vyse. I find it best to carry a bottle with me wherever I go, it always comes in useful."
"Oh," was all Vyse could say as Ilchymis put the flannel to Fina's head.
"Now out, all of you, she needs rest and I somehow doubt that you two will help that by being in here," said Ilchymis as he rose, putting the empty bottle back in his pocket. He left the room, Aika following. Vyse lingered momentarily, looking at Fina's sleeping form.
"We'll look after you, don't worry Fina." With that, he turned and softly closed the door behind him.
Ilchymis remained quiet, deep in concentration, resting on his right hand with his elbow leaning on the table up in the meeting room. Vyse had just told him all of what had happened in Mid Ocean, and watched Ilchymis now, hoping he had some theory about what had happened. Ilchymis began to sketch on a piece of paper absent-mindedly with a pencil, rough doodles that had no real form.
"You say that the last time, and indeed only previous time, that this happened, was when Ramirez used his Silver Moon Crystal, correct?"
Vyse nodded slowly. "Yes, when he took off his glove and exposed his crystal."
"Then that would suggest that it would be the presence of a lot of Silver power that would trigger this," mused Ilchymis, as much to himself as to Vyse. He began to draw a map of the world very roughly, sketching in names back-to-front, a common skill of left-handed people. "Near The Vortex... Soltis... Silver Moon..." he muttered quietly. He looked up at Vyse suddenly, his piercing blue eyes engaging Vyse. "Can you remember the theory I once aired about Deep Sky?"
Vyse's face went blank as he tried to drag up the memory. "I... think so, but I'm not sure."
"When we first discovered that Valua were making forays into Deep Sky, I developed a theory on why the pressure in Deep Sky is so great. When the Rains of Destruction were first called down, many moonstones missed the lands; then as now, much of the world was empty sky. These stones that did not strike land will have plunged down into Deep Sky, and gathered on the surface we now know exists down there. Over the course of the years many more moonstones have fallen, with similar effect. Also, since Soltis was sunk after the Rains of Destruction, many Silver Moonstones have fallen down into Deep Sky with hardly any land in the way to stop them. My theory was that all these moonstones would create a strong pull of gravity, creating the pressure." Vyse nodded mutely, remembering Ilchymis' original explanation now. "If we extrapolate this hypothesis, we can suggest that this gravity has also acted upon the fallen moonstones." He threw away the top piece of paper he had been sketching on, and began to hurriedly draw several small circles on a fresh piece. "If we say that these moonstones here," he indicated his sketch, "are all pulling on one another, they would over time be drawn together." With a few flurries of movement from his left hand he drafted in a few arrows. "With the sheer volume of moonstones in Deep Sky, this pull would be immense, and the moonstones would be pulled together, gradually moulding into one over many generations." His sketch became that of one, larger shape within a few deft flicks of the pencil. "Over time, this single moonstone would also become more pure."
"How?" interrupted Vyse, concentration still written across his face.
"Previous studies by Valua had shown that the flecks of moondust in moonstone, the particles that contained the rawer power, were more dense than the moonrock the dust is locked inside in moonstones. Therefore, under the extreme gravity and pressure that applies in Deep Sky, these moondust particles will be physically drawn to each other. They will collect in the centre of the moonstone as the outer layers of moonrock flake off - other studies have shown that it is the moondust that holds the stones together." He looked up at Vyse to ensure the Captain was following. Vyse was staring at the sketches, so Ilchymis returned to his theory. "This is essentially a natural form of the distillation process done by the ancient civilisations; these pure moonstones will have a power approaching, if not equivalent to, the Moon Crystals." Vyse's head looked up suddenly at this, his eyes wide and attentive. "If what you described to me is true... whatever left Deep Sky could have done so on these pure moonstones, possibly as a food of some sort. In that case, all that left Deep Sky was a creature and you have little to worry about. However, it could still be dangerous, or something else entirely, so do not be complacent. Either way, the use of these pure moonstones would have left a massive amount of residual Silver energy, and it is that that caused Fina to react in that way; all she needs then is time to recover."
Vyse nodded slowly, thinking.
"I think you have done very well for understanding that, Vyse. There are many who would not have understood it as easily as you have appeared to."
"Don't expect to hear me going around explaining it in-depth to anyone else, though," smiled Vyse, "I'm not as clever as you make me out to be."
"You underestimate yourself sometimes, Vyse. But that should not be any reason for you to take this matter lightly; it could still be more than an animal that escaped Deep Sky. These pure moonstones, like their normal brethren, could still be used as fuel."
Well this one got up quicker than the last chapter :)
I wasn't originally planning to end it here, but it had gotten long enough already, plus I've been working on it for around six hours now, lol. Course, this means the next chapter will be up fairly soon as well ;)
Sorry for it being so science heavy, but these things need to be explained, and this should be the worst of it (I think). Incidentally - Ilchymis' theory about the pressure in Deep Sky IS from the game - get Ilchymis in your crew, then talk to him on the Delphinus at some point before the last battle, I think. The whole extrapolation about pure moonstones is all mine though.
· I know that started looking romantic near the start, apologies for that... I've got no plans for this fic to involve any romance at all, it just seemed appropriate that Fina would be thinking SOMETHING at the start there, plus it gave a nice chance to explain away any immediate relationships. But as I only ever plan each chapter as I have to write it and have no real overall plot yet, just an ending I'm working towards (bad style, I know -_-;;), something might happen yet. But please don't start making requests, I'll only do it if it seems natural, so :þ to you all.
· Also, Ilchymis being left-handed is fanon, not canon, I think anyway. As far as I know I just made it up, I certainly can't recall any mention of it in the game. He just strikes me as a left-handed person in his approach to life, I'm probably being influenced by the Terry Pratchett novel The Last Hero, it wouldn't surprise me. Feel free to have him as left handed in your stories as well, I just thought I'd point out it's not a definite thing.
Till next time...
#~~Matt