Shining In The Darkness
A Tale of Sol and Luna
Chapter Two: Halfway 'Round TheWorld
"We're going to need more information than that, I think," said Isaac.
"What's so important about a seal?" asked Mia. "It might keep you out, but you could still find it."
Kraden looked at them gravely. "If the Sol Lighthouse were on Wayard's surface, we would have found it centuries ago. Or someone would have. As it is," Kraden explained, "the tower's location is better hidden than that. So alchemists are forced to use other methods." He looked at the Adepts around the room, then down at the floor and sighed. "Follow me."
Picard swung his legs over his head, then back down and flipped out of the chair with a sort of lever motion. Ivan and Sheba made their way down from the crossbeams, and the Adepts entered the most secret part of all Vale. More people had seen Sol Sanctum than Kraden's workshop.
The wooden door was nothing impressive, at least not on the outside. The inner side of it was plated with iron and rather badly scorched. Around the rest of the room were tables and shelves, and about a half-dozen experiments seemed to be half-finished and lying on the tables.
"Breathe on nothing," Kraden warned them darkly. "Try not to look too hard at that one, either."
"Which one?" asked Ivan.
"If I told you you'd look at it. The one that matters right now is this device," Kraden told them.
"What are all of these?" asked Jenna.
"Inventions of mine in the study of Alchemy," Kraden replied. "I have yet to do anything with true Sol Psynergy, but combining all the elements can get some impressive effects."
"Oyah," said Felix, remembering the power of the Summons tablets that united the powers of different elements. Those spirits had saved them more than once.
"Here," said Kraden, gesturing at the construction. "Stone brackets and a clay bowl filled with pure water, kept in motion by this fan-"
"I particularly like the logo 'Xian, Silk Capital of the World'," Picard commented.
"What?" asked Kraden.
"No one ever wonders what the kanji mean," the Mercury Adept muttered.
"And lit with these two torches," Kraden finished meaningfully. "With a Psynergy stone to give it power, this will seek out anything and everything in the world. My own method for searching for the Sol Lighthouse. But I've never been able to hunt it down."
"Hunt it down?" repeated Garet, disbelieving. "With a bowl of water?"
Kraden shook his head and pulled a small purple crystal out of a deep pocket. He placed it on the top of the hinged post that clasped the end of the open fan. Immediately the fan started waving, just slightly but building in force, and the surface of the water began to ripple and slosh. The glow of the two torches in their stone brackets flared up brighter, and lights began to dance on the surface. It was almost hypnotic…
The ripples wavered, but they were obviously being shaped. It was a tower, standing tall and shining out like a beacon…
And then it drew them in deeper, and it was more than just ripples on the water. The lights dancing in the water touched their minds, and they saw it as clearly as if it were right in front of them. The Sol Lighthouse was like a monolith, stretching into the sky until it seemed as though it would touch the stars above. It was impossible to tell what it was made of, but its sides were white and gold, untouched by time or weather, and perfectly reflective.
Its doors were flung open, and only they were marked. Marked is one way of putting it; they were charred, broken, and misshapen, half fallen off. Through the doors a hall extended, going onward until the light faded and it was claimed by pure shadow.
If one could drag their eyes away from the great tower, they could see the land around it was barren and grey, with only occasional rocks sticking out of the ground. It was flat, and stretched out all the way to the horizon. Probably further.
Suddenly a light flashed from the Lighthouse's top. The Adepts looked up at it, and it pulsed again, bright as the sun. When their eyes cleared again, they were still within Kraden's workshop.
"I think I see what you mean," said Jenna.
"That was a rush," Isaac gasped.
"Does it always do that?" asked Mia.
"No," said Kraden, gravely. "No, only once before have I been drawn in by the Mirror."
Felix considered this with a degree of uncertainty. "It wouldn't happen to be the Mirror of anyone in particular, would it?"
"Mirrors are the symbol of Sol, as branches represent Venus and water jars are for Mercury," Sheba explained. "If this is anyone's mirror, is would be for the Sol Spirit."
When no one said anything for a moment, Ivan leaned over to Sheba and said "That was a little creepy."
"I just don't get it. I try, but it comes out all mystical," Sheba said, annoyed at herself. She looked at Ivan. "There, you see? I can do it when I'm talking to you. You make it easy."
"What were you saying, Kraden?" asked Ivan, before anyone had time to make a comment.
"Once before, when Sol Sanctum's seal was first broken, the Mirror drew me in. That was how I was able to warn the elders before the Boulder fell- I saw what was happening almost before it happened," Kraden replied.
"And we all know how that went," said Isaac meaningfully. Felix looked away from the others.
"So we need to get to Sol Lighthouse," said Jenna.
"And stop whoever's broken in from whatever they're trying to do," Mia added.
"Sounds like fun. Someone who can defeat Sol Psynergy, oh yes, great person to be enemies with," Garet muttered. "Okay, where is it?"
"That's the reason no one's ever found it on the surface of Wayard," said Kraden. "It's not on the surface of Wayard."
"Oh, let me guess, let me guess," said Ivan. "From the ground around it, and sheer ironic force, it's on the moon."
"Thankfully we're not listening to half-pint's advice," said Picard, ruffling Ivan's hair in the way he knew would most aggravate. "Although if we were dealing with someone who liked a good joke, he'd probably be right."
"Okay smart-aleck," said Ivan, escaping the Lemurian's reach, "where is it?"
"It's underneath the planet," he replied simply.
See the world called Wayard as it soars through space. A discworld, nearly flat and roughly circular. The upper side is a bright world of forests, plains, mountains, and a vast ocean. But when the sun sets it goes below the world, and that place is all the things the upper is not, because all things must have an opposite. It is barren and dusty; the soil doesn't have enough nutrients to support plant life.
And, if you keep in mind that down is always toward the ground, the land slopes upward, to the very centre, where a lighthouse stands. The Lighthouse of Sol.
"I still like my answer, but Picard seems to know what he's talking about," said Ivan.
"I was just listening to how Kraden said 'not on the surface of Wayard'," he explained. "No one says it like that unless they think they're about to be clever."
"No one should look your age and have your knowledge," Kraden growled. "He's right, though. You'll need to go underneath. Straight to the edge of the world, then right over and under."
"And I suppose we'll just conveniently stick to the bottom, will we?" asked Garet, slightly sarcastically.
"I don't see why not," Kraden replied.
"I'd rather not risk an eternal plummet into the depths of space over 'I don't see why not'. On the other hand, being us, there's a good chance it'll all work out in our favour, isn't there?"
Jenna put her hand on Garet's shoulder. "Now you're getting the hang of it."
"Okay, good, but honestly Kraden," asked Isaac. "How long do we have, and how long will it take to get there?"
"For you, if you used every advantage you have, only a few days. As for how long you have, well, that depends more on who found their way in."
"Perfect," said Lycoris, looking around. Her dark hair swirled elegantly as she spun, face upturned as though she was bathing in the light that shone from all directions. "Too easy, in the end."
"Only for us," said Orian. "Only for those who are worthy to stand in such a place. Those who know the greatest secrets of the nature of the world. And we worked long for our wisdom."
"You're too serious," Lycoris admonished him. "Not that just anyone could waltz in here. You're right, of course. Only we are worthy of entry."
Orian glared at her, eyes narrowing seriously. "Only we have gained it so far. That is not the same as saying that no one else ever shall."
"There's no one else like you, or like me, in the entire world, Orian. We are unique. And superior. Now the power that we have worked for, all that we deserve, shall be ours," Lycoris stated, and moved on. Orian watched her go, shifted haughtily in his perfect white robes, and followed.
"This is the best plan you've got, is it?" asked Isaac.
"Your fear of water is not my problem," said Picard, throwing the gangplank into position. "And this isn't true Lemurian make, but they've got the idea, so we might as well use it. Besides, what's faster than a ship?"
"Well, there's always- hey, I don't have a fear of water," Isaac retorted.
"Did I say you did?" asked Picard, totally innocent.
"Yes!"
"Come on, Ivan!" said Garet, hauling a trunk onboard. "We want to get there fast!"
"Then why are we weighing it down with huge boxes apparently filled with bricks?" demanded Ivan, straining under the weight. Sheba coughed politely and lifted it off him with Carry Psynergy. "Oh. Right."
"Just wait, soon enough we'll be taking this stuff on foot. Well, some of it," Picard told them.
"How much of this is necessary supplies and how much is just an excuse to restock your boat, Picard?" asked Felix, joking and yet serious at the same time.
"That depends on how much we'll need to reach Sol Lighthouse," Picard replied.
"So, about half, then."
"Ready for our part?" asked Garet.
"So ready," Jenna replied. "I haven't been properly worn out in weeks."
"Where, exactly, does Kraden get his mythril from, anyway? I mean, I'm glad to be carrying Psynergy Stones with us, but the fact that he's taken the time to weave sacks out of metal is strange," Mia commented, slinging them over her shoulder.
"Is that it?" called Picard from the bow of the ship.
"Just a second!" Isaac reached out with his hands, and then with his mind, grabbing the last crate and flinging it towards himself. It arced through the air and technically he caught it, although the momentum pulled him over backwards and pinned his arms to the deck. "That's it!"
Picard's Black Orb flashed and, slowly first, the ship slipped away from the almost-new Vault Trading Docks and onto the river. It moved by a power that had never quite been made clear to most of them, except that it was a very old Psynergy, and Picard was a master of it.
The voyage down the rivers was uneventful, and seemed almost anticlimactic. But they had already said good bye to the people of Vale, and none of them liked to leave the village if at all possible. Now it was just the path ahead, waiting to be blazed. After an hour or two, they reached open water, and then the real blazing started.
"Okay, I don't think we're likely to set any forest fires at this range. Do it!" commanded Picard.
"Someone will have to teach him how to be a sensitive captain someday," said Garet, getting up.
Jenna didn't answer, except when she raised both hands over the stern of the boat and called out "Dragon Fume!" Garet did the same, casting Heat Wave Psynergy. Trailing twin streaks of fire, the ship rocketed out west across the ocean. Toward the edge of the world.
[Notes] Apologies to anyone who actually cares enough to have been kept waiting, but this is pretty fast for someone like me. Anyway, all reviews are welcome, good or bad or critical (by the way, Miss Black Dragon, I admit you may have a point in your second case but I assure you the first one was just fine…). The third will be up in, well, probably just as long as this one took. And of course, credit goes to Vilya for playing muse and everything else.