I've never worked on two different stories at once. So far it doesn't seem to be getting too complicated for me but then again, I'm not in the midst of writing my senior thesis either! (Shudders) I'll worry about that hurdle when I come to it, I guess.
*Raging Waves*
The following morning, Ivan stood out on deck watching the sunrise and feeling a bit leery. Whatever was waiting for them was powerful and likely to be unfriendly knowing their luck with this sort of thing. Of course, it might be friendly after all. It was impossible to tell for certain, and that was his biggest concern.
I'm not even sure it's human, he thought. Argh! Why can't I pinpoint this thing? Am I a Jupiter Adept or aren't I?
"Ivan? What are you doing up this early?"
Ivan whirled to face the owner of the voice. Usually, he could feel the approach of another mind but he'd been too wrapped up in his thoughts and was caught off guard. "Morning, Captain," he greeted cheerfully. "Just watching the sunrise."
"I see," said Isaac. "Any particular reason why?"
For all his lacking of anything related to Jupiter Psynergy, Isaac always had an acute awareness of everything around him, and that included his friends. Ivan had always marveled at this trait, since he'd yet to encounter anyone else who possessed it as strongly. Sometimes it was annoying the way little ever slipped past their leader's vigilant eye.
"Sheba and I both sense that something is waiting for us," Ivan confessed. "But neither of us is sure if this thing is friend, foe, or something else altogether."
"And the fact that you can't tell for sure is even more upsetting, right?"
"Yes."
Isaac paused a moment as if to take it all in. Any premonition was something to take seriously, and if this one had been felt by both of the Jupiter Adepts on board, that was all the more reason to be concerned. But there was no sense in getting worked up into a frenzy. "I wouldn't worry too much, Ivan. We haven't encountered anything we couldn't handle yet. If you do learn anything more, be sure to tell me, won't you?"
"Of course." Ivan resumed trying to focus on the impending unknown force. The more he analyzed it, the more he thought it had something to do with Sheba. But how? And why?
How does Sheba fit into this puzzle? he wondered. It better not be anything bad. Sheba was, after all, the only other young Jupiter Adept he'd ever met. She was something of a mirror to him and now that he'd met her, he didn't want to go back to being without that mirror. He'd felt a connection to her the moment he'd first seen her back when Babi had had her imprisoned in Tolbi. It was if he'd known her all of his life, maybe even before that if such a thing were possible.
The others were up and walking around deck now, heralding the beginning of another day in their journey. Picard, probably the best seaman among them, was manning the Black Orb, and the prow of the ship cut a foamy V shape into the turquoise ocean. Ivan inhaled the salty scent and let the wind surround him in an odd yet comforting embrace. To feel this wind was to truly feel alive.
The simplest pleasures are always the most pure, aren't they? Sheba said to his mind.
"Don't startle me like that!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry. I didn't realize how absorbed you were with the wind. Or is it something else?"
"Only that weird feeling you and I have both been having. Nothing more, nothing less."
Sheba nodded. "It's amazing how when we start to think we're at the pinnacle of our Adept powers, something like this comes along to humble us."
Ivan studied her a moment, wondering if he should tell her the other feeling he was getting. "Sheba, I know you said you don't remember your life before you came to Lalivero, but do you think it's possible the thing we sense is about you?"
"Me? Why would you think that?"
"I…don't know. I just get this feeling that whatever is waiting for us has something to do with you."
"Is that so?" Her eyes glowed purple for a moment. "Well that's not what I'm getting from the winds. They seem to be telling me it has something to do with you."
Now Ivan was really stumped. This didn't make any sense whatsoever. And what could possibly be waiting for him in Hesperia? Unless…
"Master Hammet said you came from a village of Jupiter Adepts, correct?"
"Yes," Ivan replied. "But we've been all over the world and we've yet to find such a place. I'm beginning to think I'll never find out about my true origins." He sounded a little sad at this.
"Then you and I are much the same," Sheba said kindly. "Perhaps what we're really seeking in this world is not a past, but a future."
Ivan colored. He could feel an odd sensation radiating off of her, one that he'd felt a few times before but never got accustomed to. Was she trying to tell him something? Or was she hiding something from him and it seeped out in this sensation?
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Nothing, nothing."
"Your lies flow freely in your mental energies, Ivan. You should know better than to hide things from a fellow mind reader." She was smiling in a way that was as equally confusing as the sensation she was emitting.
"Sorry. I have some things to tend to. We'll talk later, Sheba." And he hurried off.
Was it something I said? Sheba wondered. He's been acting so weird around me lately…
"Where's Ivan off to in such a hurry?" Mia asked.
"I only wish I knew," Sheba replied. "Mia, have you noticed anything different about him lately?"
"Surely you'd be able to tell that better than I. You're the mind reader."
"Even the powers of Jupiter are limited," said Sheba. "There are some things that still escape me now and then, and Ivan is definitely one of them. One minute we're talking normally and everything's fine, and then he runs off or says something that seems completely out of his character."
Mia smiled. "Perhaps the reason you can't make sense of it is because it's not a matter of the mind at all."
"What so you mean by that?"
But Mia didn't answer and walked off towards the bridge. Sheba stared after her, more puzzled than ever. What else is there besides the mind? The mind is everything—the curator of memories, emotions, and actions. How could this not be a matter of the mind?
Something smacked against the bottom of the boat, jarring the deck enough to knock everyone over. "Good morning indeed!" Garet exclaimed indignantly. "What the hell was that?"
The boat shook again, as if a series of sporadic earthquakes had taken over the vessel. "Jenna!" Felix called up to the crow's nest. "Can you see anything from up there?"
Jenna shielded her eyes from the sun. "Nothing. Just the usual blue ocean—oh my…"
"What?" Garet asked. "What is it?"
She pointed towards the stern, and something was bubbling to the surface. Judging by the foam and the radius of the bubbles, it was something big. And a few moments later, the head of an enormous blue-black serpent rose up out of the water. It flashed a set of gleaming yellowed teeth and pulled itself further out of the water, revealing huge claws and a portion of a snake-like body so huge that most of it remained hidden beneath the blue surface. The eight Adepts stood in a semi-circle at the back of the ship, wide-eyed in a sense of awe and loathing.
"Looks like we have company," Garet quipped.
"If I'd known it was coming, I would've made an extra large pot of fish stew," Picard added.
"It figures something like this would happen," said Felix. "I knew things had been going too smoothly."
Sheba and Ivan looked at each other knowingly, believing that the obstacle they'd sensed had finally reared its large and ugly head. The sound of ringing steel resounded briefly as Isaac, Garet, Felix, and Picard drew their swords. "Be careful with your Psynergy, guys," Isaac said. "We can't afford to do any damage to the ship."
Nods passed around the warriors. The sea serpent gnashed its gigantic teeth a few times and made some sort of stifled roar in its throat. It slowly raised one of its huge claw-hands and brought it down in a low and deadly pass over the deck. Fortunately, the group scattered in time to avoid the swipe.
"Try some of this, big boy!" Jenna exclaimed. A spiral of flame flew out of the end of her staff, scorching the claw. But the serpent shook it off and glared back down at her, narrowing its big yellow eyes.
"I thought all water-based monsters were vulnerable to fire?" Garet said in confusion.
"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps it's not water-based?" Isaac inquired.
"But it lives in the ocean!" said Garet.
"Yes, but that doesn't automatically make it a water-based monster," Picard said.
The serpent opened up its mouth and exhaled a jet of blue fire. Quickly, Mia and Picard called up swirls of water to cancel the flames before they incinerated the ship. For several moments, two streams of blue energy were fighting back and forth for control, creating a swath of thick steam in the process. Then two bolts of electricity hit the serpent and it reared back in pain. Mia stumbled a bit, relieved to have a moment to recover from countering the fire. Picard steadied her, beads of sweat dripping down his face.
"It didn't like that," Sheba said. "I think it's vulnerable to Jupiter powers."
"Then you guys know what to do," said Felix. "Get to it!"
"We'll try to keep it distracted so you guys can nail it good," Garet added.
Ivan and Sheba nodded and worked their way to one of the higher decks for better attack positions. Balls of fire, golden swords of light, and shards of ice began pummeling the creature on all sides. The huge claw made another pass over the deck in an effort to sweep the annoying gnats into the sea. Garet reached out and stabbed the appendage with his sword. In return, the serpent flailed its claw wildly, sending Garet crashing into Jenna and Picard, the three of them ending up in a confused and slightly dazed heap at one end of the stern.
"You guys OK?" Isaac called.
"Yes," Garet returned. "Lucky for me I landed on something soft."
"That would be me, you big oaf!" Jenna scowled. "Now get off of me before you crush my ribs!"
"Sorry," said Garet as he helped her up.
"Well at least you weren't at the bottom of the pile," Picard said wearily. The claw whooshed overhead again. "Watch out!"
"Ragnarok!" Felix and Isaac shouted together. Two glowing swords of golden light plunged into the serpent's arm. It turned and exhaled more blue fire towards them. Mia called up more water to counter, the flames almost engulfing her and another thick shield of steam forming around the stern.
"Picard!" she cried.
The Lemurian rushed to her aid. Above it all, Ivan and Sheba lifted their staves and prepared to unleash the best Jupiter Psynergy they had.
"Spark Plasma!" Sheba called. A torrent of purple lightening crackled down from the sky in a blinding flash. Ivan looked on with a bit of jealousy. That was the one spell he'd yet to master and she could do it perfectly with nary a thought. He sighed to himself and settled for the less impressive Destruct Ray, knowing that gale force winds would probably do more harm than good.
The serpent roared in a combination of pain and anger. The boat shook violently as it was hit repeatedly from beneath the water, upsetting everyone's balance. Ivan struggled to his feet and cast Shine Plasma. This only angered the serpent more and intensified the tremors. At the bow, an enormous scaly tail emerged from the ocean and started to coil itself around the ship.
"Isaac!" Sheba shouted, seeing the new threat. "It's going to try to pull us under!"
"Nail it again!" Isaac called back. "We'll deal with the other end!"
So both Ivan and Sheba called down more of their mighty electric bolts. Isaac, Garet, Jenna and Felix ran to the front of the boat and started attacking the tail furiously before it succeeded in either capsizing the vessel or dragging it to the bottom of the sea. At the stern, the serpent continued swiping at Mia and Picard, following with the occasional breath of blue flame. At one point, the deck actually did catch fire, but it was quickly extinguished before any serious damage was done. Mia stumbled to her knees, panting heavily.
"Hang in there, Lady Mia," said Picard, though he too sounded quite exhausted.
"I'm trying," she said. "Healing I can handle, but the attack spells take much more out of me."
He helped her up just as their enemy exhaled more fire.
"I'm almost spent," said Sheba. "Four rounds of Spark Plasma isn't good for me."
An odor of burnt scales was wafting through the air, no doubt from Jenna trying to roast the offending tail. "I've got one idea," Ivan said, trying to shake off the lightheadedness that often accompanied heavy Psynergy use. "I sent out four of my Djinn. I don't think I can handle summoning Thor on my own, but I'll bet we can do it together, Sheba. That is, if you think you're up for it."
"It's better than drowning," she replied. "Let's do it."
They joined their hands and a column of purple light enveloped them as the four Jupiter Djinn flew up around them and into the clouds. The sky darkened, and then a ray of purple light traced a familiar design above them. With a crack of thunder and a flash of lightening, the spirit of Thor descended from the heavens and blasted the serpent with thousands of volts of electricity. It was there for only a moment, but it was enough to make the beast wretch and howl with pain. It flailed violently, contorted, and then finally crashed back into the ocean. A small tidal wave washed across the ship, sending all of the Adepts crashing into the rails. The boat rocked, lurched, and was dropped from the top of a huge wave, but it didn't capsize. And then all was still and quiet.
"It's over," Jenna sighed in relief.
"As if that monster stood a chance against us!" Garet declared.
"Nice work, you two," Felix said to Ivan and Sheba as they came onto the main deck.
"Thank you," Ivan and Sheba replied together.
Isaac wrung out the end of his scarf, thoroughly soaked. "Is everyone OK?"
"Just a little wet," said Picard. "Nothing I can't handle."
"Speak for yourself!" Jenna and Garet cried.
"Where's Mia?" Isaac asked. "Wasn't she fighting with you, Picard?"
Picard looked around. "She was. Where'd she get to?"
"Mia?" the others called.
Isaac walked towards the stern, thinking that perhaps the impact of the wave might've stunned her. But she wasn't in sight. "Mia?" he questioned. He walked closer to the rail and spotted something shiny out of the corner of his eye. And floating in the ocean below him was Mia's Crystal Rod.
-------------------------------------------------
(Whistling nonchalantly) Cliffhanger? What's that? I have no idea what you're talking about… ^_^