Thanks everyone for the new stack of reviews to make me both very happy and fear for my bodily health. This one in particular struck me: "I love your way of stacking up plots then twisting them about and throwing them at the reader's face in a mangled heap."

Bar-Ohki, I couldn't have said it better myself! ^_^

*The Child of Jupiter?*

What Tristan brought them to was not so much a village but a cluster of maybe ten small buildings with a few people weaving in and about them. These buildings were little more than oversized thatched huts, lacking the sturdiness one would expect of human dwellings. He led them to one building off to the side, which was quite a bit nicer and larger than the rest.

"Please, make yourselves at home," Tristan said as he motioned them in.

The central sitting room he indicated was surprisingly plush, with a rich red carpet embroidered with golden thread and a soft couch and a few armchairs positioned around a low table. The six sat down and waited, wondering exactly what Tristan was going to reveal to them, if anything. Ivan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Nothing here seemed out of the ordinary, but he had a nervous, unsettling feeling rolling around in the pit of his stomach.

"As you can see, my village is very small," said Tristan. "It used to be much bigger, but the monsters have destroyed much of it. We've done what we could with the materials we have, but it has been hard. For every building we construct, it seems that two more are destroyed."

"Can't you use your Psynergy to protect this place?" Felix asked.

"We have tried, but many of us lack the training necessary to fend off these creatures. They always come in great numbers, like those birds you fought. I am perhaps the strongest Adept here and I certainly cannot handle a whole swarm on my own."

"I would think not," said Sheba. "Is everyone here a Jupiter Adept?"

"Yes," Tristan replied. "And we too were once in great number here, but many have fled due to the monsters or disappeared without a trace. We have tried time and again to find out what's going on, but we keep coming up with nothing. It's as if there's a wall blocking all of our abilities to read and foresee."

"How awful!" Sheba exclaimed. "I know how frustrating it is to not be able to pinpoint a problem. And I imagine it must be doubly worse with so many terrible things happening here!"

Tristan nodded. "We got one small ray of hope, however, when I foresaw the arrival of a group of powerful Adepts by sea, and with them, the missing Child of Jupiter. If my prediction is correct, you Sheba, are the answer to our prayers."

Sheba blushed and her friends looked at her quizzically. "'Child of Jupiter?'" Ivan questioned. "What are you talking about?"

"About fifteen years ago, there was a girl born in this village with such advanced Jupiter powers that she was declared to be spawned by the God Jupiter himself. But she was lost to us in a windstorm. Popular opinion is that Jupiter decided to bring her back to the heavens. Our sages could tell that she was still alive, though, and predicted that she would return to this village when we needed her the most. I cannot imagine a need greater than our current one."

"And you have reason to believe that Sheba is the Child of Jupiter?" Jenna asked.

"Yes. I can sense the power coursing through her. There is no doubt in my mind that she is the one."

"How ironic that the people of Lalivero also declared her a child of the gods," said Felix.

"Lalivero?" Tristan inquired. "Is that where you hail from, Sheba?"

"Yes. My adopted father Faran told me I fell from the sky and into his village one day. He raised me and the people there revered me as a child of the gods because of my unusual origins and powers. But I never imagined that there was a grain of truth in it."

Tristan smiled and took her hand. "Your coming here was fate, Sheba. This is your true home. I only wish I could welcome you back under better circumstances."

Sheba was very pink as she looked into Tristan's green eyes. Somehow, it felt right being in this small village with him. Some part of her that had always seemed lost suddenly felt at ease and in place, like a missing puzzle piece that had finally been found. She had truly come home. Every bone in her body knew it to be true.

"Tell us of these disappearances," said Picard. "You said that people from your village have just vanished without a trace?"

"Precisely," Tristan said. "The disappearances seem to happen completely at random—men, women, children, anyone can suddenly vanish. There's never a trace left except for perhaps an odd scrap of clothing or some such thing, and our search parties always come up empty handed. We can't even begin to imagine the cause of this phenomenon. All we know is that it's definitely evil."

"That helps us a lot," Garet grumbled. "You don't have any leads at all?"

"None, I'm afraid," said Tristan. "Our village elder was the most recent victim. He vanished yesterday afternoon. All we found was his staff."

Ivan looked at their new acquaintance carefully. "How exactly do you expect us to help you if you're not going to give us any information?"

"I do wish that I could. But I am thrilled to see the six of you here. If my vision is correct, Sheba will be able to find the source of these calamities."

"You're giving me too much credit," Sheba said. "I haven't had even a hint of a premonition since we landed, and all of the ones I've received in the past were too jumbled to fully discern. I think that I'm too young and inexperienced for such a task, Tristan."

"Nonsense!" Tristan declared. "You'll see. All you have to do is become accustomed to the energies of this land. This is your home, Sheba; your powers will be at their strongest here without question!"

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Garet asked. "We can't just sit on our butts and wait!"

"We can continue looking for leads," said Picard. "Any clues we can possibly unearth are better than nothing at all."

Felix agreed. "We will use the remaining daylight hours to keep checking the area for signs of Isaac and Mia."

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need," Tristan said. "It's the least I can do."

"Thank you," said Jenna.

"If the rest of you don't mind, I would like to stay here with Tristan while you search," Sheba said. "I'm anxious to learn more about this place."

"Of course," said Felix. "We'll be back before dark." He filed out with Jenna, Garet and Picard. Ivan, however, lingered in the doorway, frowning at how Tristan and Sheba were smiling at each other.

"May I tag along too?" he asked. "I'm curious to know more about this village and the Adepts living here."

"Ivan's a Jupiter Adept too," said Sheba. "And he doesn't know his true origins either. Do you think it's possible he's from this place as well?"

"No," Tristan answered quickly. "We've never lost any male children, and his power isn't great enough to be from our village."

Ivan forced himself to swallow his outrage at this statement. I'll show you strong! he thought. I'll blow you into next week if you make another crack like that! How dare this complete stranger be so rude and presumptuous!

"Ivan's very strong," Sheba insisted. "He's one of the strongest Adepts I've ever met."

"And yet he has never mastered something as simple as Spark Plasma," said Tristan.

"He will," Sheba said plainly. "People learn at different speeds, Tristan. I have full confidence in Ivan's abilities. I trust him with my life."

"Of course." Tristan sounded too condescending for Ivan's taste. "I suppose you may come along if you wish, though I don't understand why one would want to learn about a place entirely out of his league."

Electricity briefly crackled in Ivan's hands. He wanted to shock that smug grin right off of Tristan's face, but he held back for Sheba's sake. If this indeed was her true home, he didn't want to make things socially awkward for her. He trailed a bit behind the two of them as they walked around the small town, listening to Tristan prattle on about the former greatness of his clan and how devastating things had been for everyone. Sheba seemed to be dwelling on every word of his sob story, but Ivan wasn't buying it. There was something fishy about this whole situation, and the more he listened and observed, the surer he was that Tristan was hiding something.

Whatever this guy is up to, he's going to have to contend with me if he pulls anything, Ivan thought. I'll find out what his dirty little secret is somehow. You just wait Tristan. I have my eye on you.

"Are my real parents still here?" Sheba asked.

"Alas, no," Tristan replied. "They both died shortly after you were taken by the wind. Monster attacks happened even back then. It wasn't pretty—best you not hear all the details."

"If it's so dangerous here, why don't you relocate?" Ivan muttered. The other two didn't hear him.

"Maybe it's just as well. I've committed to helping the others on their quest. If I met my real parents, I might be too tempted to go back on my word and stay here."

"Would that be so bad?" Tristan inquired. "I know we don't have much, but with you here, we can rebuild our village to its original splendor, Sheba. It was truly magnificent—the lavish buildings, the paved streets, the elegant architecture and bustling market! It was a place worthy of Adepts like us!"

"I'm sure it was. I can almost envision it in my mind."

"After your quest, would you consider returning here to stay?"

Sheba thought a moment. "Well, I won't rule out the option." They both smiled. Ivan grumbled audibly, and again went unnoticed.

"There is something else you should probably know, Sheba," Tristan began.

"What's that?"

He faltered. "No…nevermind. It is not the right time for me to tell you. But I will, I promise. Perhaps after our current crisis has been dealt with."

"Oh. Then there's another reason for us to try to solve this problem. I can't stand the suspense!"

He is definitely up to something, Ivan thought more bitterly than ever. He resolved to keep a closer eye on Sheba from now on. It was apparent that whatever Tristan was up to, it revolved around her, and Ivan was not about to let anything bad happen to her.

************

Jenna couldn't sleep. The long day of searching had yielded absolutely no clues, and now the whole group had retired to Tristan's house. Jenna and Sheba were sharing the guestroom while the boys were sprawled about the living area. Maybe it was the fact that Isaac and Mia were still unaccounted for, or maybe it was because she was in an unfamiliar house, but whatever the reason, Jenna was wide awake and the others were all sound asleep. She could clearly hear Garet's snoring from the next room.

Deciding that perhaps a short walk around the house might help ease her anxiety, Jenna got up and tiptoed out the door. The night was clear and quiet with only the faint sound of chirping crickets in the distance. She circled the small building, yawning and wishing she weren't so restless.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. A shadowy figure was walking past the houses and towards the outskirts of town. Curious, Jenna followed after it, being extra careful to stay out of sight. The figure didn't move quickly, but it was being deliberate and clearly knew exactly where it was going. And as Jenna got closer to it, she realized that this person was carrying something. The sliver of moon in the sky cast just enough light for Jenna to catch a slight glimpse of blue.

Blue?

At first, Jenna thought her eyes had played a trick on her. She silently dashed forward to get a better look, and saw the same distinct shade of aquamarine reflected in the moonlight. It was Mia's hair! There was simply no doubt about it—this shadowy person was carrying Mia!

Heart pounding, Jenna kept pursuing the person, her mind racing in a combination of fear and elation. Mia wasn't at the bottom of the ocean after all, and with any luck the limp form in this person's arms was still alive. But what was this stranger doing with Mia? And where was she being taken?

The figure finally stopped before a sheer face of solid rock, which reached almost as high as the towering Mt. Aleph. Jenna hid behind a tree, and watched in amazement as the figure walked right into the cliff! It took a moment for her to absorb this. How could anyone walk through solid stone? It made absolutely no sense!

She walked right up to this cliff and stared at it, thinking for sure that she had imagined the whole thing. Tentatively, she touched the cliff and her hand disappeared right into it! She pulled her hand back out and then repeated.

It's an illusion! she thought. Her better judgment told her to go back and tell the others, but she didn't want to abandon Mia to whoever that person had been. Swallowing hard, Jenna walked into the cliff.

Inside was a vast open chamber lit with numerous torches. She took a few more steps forward, trying to take all of it in. Why would anyone hide a place like this inside of a mountain? And how had that illusion been created in the first place? She stood there, pondering, for several moments before deciding that she needed to go back to tell the others. But just as she turned to leave, something suddenly hit her on the back of the head and she fell into blackness.

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Yes, I know I'm evil. Yes, I know you want to kill me. And yes, I promise I'll update as soon as I can! ^_^