A/N: Actually this is a shorter chapter. Oh well. This one basically
covers the two games and jumps straight past them. And I've heard that
Vale gets destroyed in Lost Age, but...um, not here. Kay? Read and review
now!
Ch 5 - Lighthouse Troubles
"But Isaac, we can't leave! Not right now!" Garet cried passionately. "He'll be back in two weeks!"
"We can't afford to wait!" Isaac shot back, eyes blazing with blue fire. "You heard what the Wise One said, every moment counts! Anyway, you know as well as I do that Gohan would kill us if he knew what happened with Jenna and Felix!"
It was the night after the fateful events that, in the normal run of things, had set off the journey across the world. Gohan was scheduled to return in two weeks from his year of wanderings and all had been happily anticipating it...that is, until Felix reappeared along with three evil people calling themselves Saturos, Menardi, and Alex, and kidnapped both Jenna and the scholar Kraden. With a pang of guilt and sadness, Isaac recalled the look on Jenna's face when she realized what was going to happen.
"Isaac," Garet's agitated voice brought him back to the present. "If we wait, Gohan could help us. I know he would, if only he knew-"
"Do you honestly think he'd believe us?" Isaac answered somewhat bitterly. "I mean, we both know he and Felix were best friends. Why would he believe us about someone he thinks is dead, someone who he trusted about everyone else?"
Garet stared at him, disbelief in his eyes. "But Isaac...someone still has to explain to him!"
"Let the Great Healer do it, or your dad. Either way, we should be long gone by the time he gets back."
Garet hesitated, then nodded slowly. "All right. I guess. Maybe we can save Jenna faster if we leave tomorrow."
Isaac stood up from the table and headed for the door. "We will." Before he went back to his own house he added, "Don't worry so much, Garet. We can't afford to wait, but maybe if we work fast enough we can stop them before Gohan comes back."
"I doubt it," the Mars Adept muttered under his breath. Isaac did not hear him.
The next day, the two best friends set off on their grand adventure. The hours turned to days, the days to weeks, and the weeks to months, but there was no sign of Gohan or the adepts who were saving the world. It seemed all had dropped off the face of Wayard.
After about two weeks, a blue light to the north indicated the lighting of the ice-covered Mercury Lighthouse up in winter-locked Imil. Almost two months later, a tannish light in the south proved that now powerful Venus Lighthouse was adorned by the Elemental Star's beacon. But even now, none returned to their home of Vale.
~ One year after the lighting of Mars Lighthouse, when Kraden has realized that there is another lighthouse, the elusive, extremely powerful Sol Lighthouse... ~
"Another one?" Picard's deep, slightly gruff voice rang out in the silence of Kraden's cottage.
"Another one," the now ancient scholar replied. He pulled at his beard, a sign of anxiety, then pulled out a global view of Wayard. "This one is said to be on Wayard's opposite side, the Dark Regions. This covers the other half of this planet, and is full of dangerous, powerful creatures which tend to rip any mortals unlucky enough to meet them to pieces."
"Thanks for the visual," Garet grumbled.
Isaac grinned and signaled for his best friend to mind his tongue, then nodded to Kraden to continue. Isaac was no longer able to speak, because during the final battle atop the Mars Lighthouse, Karst had managed to slash at his throat. It hadn't killed him, but it had basically ended his speech. Now he did most everything by gestures or mind-melds with Ivan.
Kraden nodded and picked up an ancient-looking scroll. He opened it carefully, then held it up for the gathered adepts to see. "This scroll describes the lighthouse itself," he explained. "It talks about a structure similar to that of the other lighthouses, but also a mysterious animal which has 'unparalleled power'. On top of that, it says that in order to enter the lighthouse, not only do you need a Sol Adept, but the consent of the Chosen One."
" 'The Chosen One'?" Jenna asked, glancing at the others to see if they understood. "What does that mean?"
Kraden smiled patiently. "According to the legends, long ago there were five Elemental Stars. But because its power so surpassed the other Stars, the Sol Star was taken away from the hidden sanctuary of Sol Sanctum and hidden in the body of a single person. When that person dies, the Star goes to the next chosen. It is an endless cycle which shall only stop when the Sol Lighthouse has been lit. However, it is extremely hard to guess who is the Chosen One, because it changes so often. One generation it could belong to a calm and beautiful Mercury Adept, and the next it go to a fiery and ugly Mars Adept."
"So does the protector have to be an Adept?" Ivan asked to forestall the flash of anger in Garet's eyes.
"Yes. A Sol Adept."
"Didn't you just say that it could belong to Mars and Mercury Adepts as well?" Picard demanded.
"Perhaps I should clarify. Although a Sol Adept can do spells in all four, his or her strength could be any one. The Adept could be a strong Mercury dealer, or perhaps Mars, or Jupiter, or even Venus. It's simply a matter of what they start with."
Felix stood up and paced the length of the room. "So not only do you want us to face unheard of dangers and lands to find a lighthouse which could possibly be fable, but you also want us to find a damn-near extinct adeptional alignment and hope that person has the Sol Star?"
"That's about it, yeah. So will you accept?"
"I wouldn't," a new voice from the front of the cottage said suddenly. Everyone glanced around and saw a young man, with spiky raven hair, black eyes, and robes spun from some blue and black material. But Jenna, along with anyone else who had been in Vale five years ago, knew exactly who it was.
"GOHAN?!"
A/N: Yup, he disappeared and reappeared during the same chapter. Read and review please!
Ch 5 - Lighthouse Troubles
"But Isaac, we can't leave! Not right now!" Garet cried passionately. "He'll be back in two weeks!"
"We can't afford to wait!" Isaac shot back, eyes blazing with blue fire. "You heard what the Wise One said, every moment counts! Anyway, you know as well as I do that Gohan would kill us if he knew what happened with Jenna and Felix!"
It was the night after the fateful events that, in the normal run of things, had set off the journey across the world. Gohan was scheduled to return in two weeks from his year of wanderings and all had been happily anticipating it...that is, until Felix reappeared along with three evil people calling themselves Saturos, Menardi, and Alex, and kidnapped both Jenna and the scholar Kraden. With a pang of guilt and sadness, Isaac recalled the look on Jenna's face when she realized what was going to happen.
"Isaac," Garet's agitated voice brought him back to the present. "If we wait, Gohan could help us. I know he would, if only he knew-"
"Do you honestly think he'd believe us?" Isaac answered somewhat bitterly. "I mean, we both know he and Felix were best friends. Why would he believe us about someone he thinks is dead, someone who he trusted about everyone else?"
Garet stared at him, disbelief in his eyes. "But Isaac...someone still has to explain to him!"
"Let the Great Healer do it, or your dad. Either way, we should be long gone by the time he gets back."
Garet hesitated, then nodded slowly. "All right. I guess. Maybe we can save Jenna faster if we leave tomorrow."
Isaac stood up from the table and headed for the door. "We will." Before he went back to his own house he added, "Don't worry so much, Garet. We can't afford to wait, but maybe if we work fast enough we can stop them before Gohan comes back."
"I doubt it," the Mars Adept muttered under his breath. Isaac did not hear him.
The next day, the two best friends set off on their grand adventure. The hours turned to days, the days to weeks, and the weeks to months, but there was no sign of Gohan or the adepts who were saving the world. It seemed all had dropped off the face of Wayard.
After about two weeks, a blue light to the north indicated the lighting of the ice-covered Mercury Lighthouse up in winter-locked Imil. Almost two months later, a tannish light in the south proved that now powerful Venus Lighthouse was adorned by the Elemental Star's beacon. But even now, none returned to their home of Vale.
~ One year after the lighting of Mars Lighthouse, when Kraden has realized that there is another lighthouse, the elusive, extremely powerful Sol Lighthouse... ~
"Another one?" Picard's deep, slightly gruff voice rang out in the silence of Kraden's cottage.
"Another one," the now ancient scholar replied. He pulled at his beard, a sign of anxiety, then pulled out a global view of Wayard. "This one is said to be on Wayard's opposite side, the Dark Regions. This covers the other half of this planet, and is full of dangerous, powerful creatures which tend to rip any mortals unlucky enough to meet them to pieces."
"Thanks for the visual," Garet grumbled.
Isaac grinned and signaled for his best friend to mind his tongue, then nodded to Kraden to continue. Isaac was no longer able to speak, because during the final battle atop the Mars Lighthouse, Karst had managed to slash at his throat. It hadn't killed him, but it had basically ended his speech. Now he did most everything by gestures or mind-melds with Ivan.
Kraden nodded and picked up an ancient-looking scroll. He opened it carefully, then held it up for the gathered adepts to see. "This scroll describes the lighthouse itself," he explained. "It talks about a structure similar to that of the other lighthouses, but also a mysterious animal which has 'unparalleled power'. On top of that, it says that in order to enter the lighthouse, not only do you need a Sol Adept, but the consent of the Chosen One."
" 'The Chosen One'?" Jenna asked, glancing at the others to see if they understood. "What does that mean?"
Kraden smiled patiently. "According to the legends, long ago there were five Elemental Stars. But because its power so surpassed the other Stars, the Sol Star was taken away from the hidden sanctuary of Sol Sanctum and hidden in the body of a single person. When that person dies, the Star goes to the next chosen. It is an endless cycle which shall only stop when the Sol Lighthouse has been lit. However, it is extremely hard to guess who is the Chosen One, because it changes so often. One generation it could belong to a calm and beautiful Mercury Adept, and the next it go to a fiery and ugly Mars Adept."
"So does the protector have to be an Adept?" Ivan asked to forestall the flash of anger in Garet's eyes.
"Yes. A Sol Adept."
"Didn't you just say that it could belong to Mars and Mercury Adepts as well?" Picard demanded.
"Perhaps I should clarify. Although a Sol Adept can do spells in all four, his or her strength could be any one. The Adept could be a strong Mercury dealer, or perhaps Mars, or Jupiter, or even Venus. It's simply a matter of what they start with."
Felix stood up and paced the length of the room. "So not only do you want us to face unheard of dangers and lands to find a lighthouse which could possibly be fable, but you also want us to find a damn-near extinct adeptional alignment and hope that person has the Sol Star?"
"That's about it, yeah. So will you accept?"
"I wouldn't," a new voice from the front of the cottage said suddenly. Everyone glanced around and saw a young man, with spiky raven hair, black eyes, and robes spun from some blue and black material. But Jenna, along with anyone else who had been in Vale five years ago, knew exactly who it was.
"GOHAN?!"
A/N: Yup, he disappeared and reappeared during the same chapter. Read and review please!
