Sunlight and Shade
Disclaimer: I own what I own. Anything that you didn't find in your various GS and TLA games is mine. So there.
Chapter Five: Late Arrival
As slowly as he could manage, Ivan woke up. He didn't want to, and moreover, he didn't feel like he should be awake. He recalled all too vividly the events of the day before, if you could even call it a day in a place where the sun never rose, and knew that the villagers would need a rather large explanation. In Sheba's absence, such a duty would fall to Isaac, but he wasn't present either, so the explaining became Ivan's job.
Opening his eyes with a sigh that expressed much more resignation than he'd intended, Ivan sat up and stretched, wincing in preparation for the stab of pain that would come in his shoulder. Except none came. Suddenly fully awake, Ivan lowered his arms and stared blankly at his shoulder for a full ten seconds before pulling down on the sleeve and staring for yet another ten seconds in silent disbelief.
Nothing was there. Not a scratch, mark or even a scar. Ivan sat for a moment, puzzled. Certainly, it wasn't a dream—the fact that he remembered going to sleep in this bed testified to that. Not only that, but he could smell food cooking, and hunger quite easily became his dominant concern.
Rising and putting on clean clothes (he hadn't been going to inquire about where the ones from last night had gone—he was now dressed much like any of the villagers), he hurried down the stairs. Picard sat at a small table near a window, the food before him barely touched, his eyes focused on the darkness above and yet not focused at all.
Grabbing a plate of his own, Ivan joined the Lemurian. Watching him for a minute or two, Ivan finally shrugged and began to eat. Picard eventually picked up on the fact that he had company, and with a distant smile began to eat as well.
"Thanks," Ivan said, his thoughts catching up with him now that he wasn't so hungry. For some reason, great amounts of lost Psynergy had always left him ravenous.
"For?" Picard asked, raising a blue eyebrow inquisitively.
"You mean…it wasn't you?"
"I suppose not. Unless you mean that it is a thank you for yesterday. Still sorry about your shoulder, though. I think I've got plenty of Psynergy now—I could fix it."
"No, no, it's…it's alright…it's gone, is what I mean by alright…but then…oh, must have been Felix…have you seen him, by the way?" Ivan asked, each of his thoughts clambering over, under, and around one another in an attempt to beat their companions out of his mouth.
Picard opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and frowned. A familiar pensive look crossed his face for a moment, then he nodded quickly, as though to assure himself of some thought.
"Alright, if you say so Ivan, and no, I have not seen Felix. No doubt he is off completing some mutually beneficial endeavor."
"Either that or still asleep," Ivan speculated with a hint of sarcasm. Of course, that theory was put to rest as Felix strode in, in fact almost swaggered, a confident look on his face. "What's gotten into you?"
"We're going to fight this thing," Felix said determinedly, though he was smiling. It was an eerie sort of smile, a borderline evil smirk really, and Ivan wondered if perhaps Felix hadn't gone a bit mad and stayed up too late last night doing things that he wasn't usually known to do, things that involved amber-colored liquids and a handful of coins. But Ivan also thought Felix had much more sense than that.
"Today, you mean?" Picard asked, his mind obviously elsewhere yet again. Ivan and Felix frowned, looking at him. Momentarily both pondered what in the world could be taking up so much space in the Lemurian's mind, but neither Felix or Ivan chose to pursue that line of thinking, Felix because he couldn't find out anyway and Ivan because he could.
"Yes, today," Felix continued, an excited gleam in his eye. "I even have a map."
"A map? A MAP!" Ivan cried, standing up quickly and not even noticing the chair crash to the ground behind him. "Felix, have you gone crazy?! None of us have even half of our Psynergy back yet!"
"Actually, I don't have any at all," Felix admitted, rather embarrassed. "But the longer we wait, the more these people have to suffer."
"They'll suffer forever if we die fighting something big with less than a fully-charged Adept between us!"
"Then we'll be all the better for it!" Felix cried, jumping up as well, angry now. "At least then Jenna won't be lonely!" Realizing what he'd said, Felix stopped, mouth agape, and sat down slowly.
"Wait," said Ivan, whose brain felt like it had tried to come to a screeching halt and take off at the speed of sound at the same time. "You're worried about Jenna, is that it? You think she's…you think she's dead?"
"I'd like to think she wasn't…but she couldn't have lasted for long out on the ocean, and the three of us were brought here, so it stands to reason that she'd be here too unless…"
"Felix." At the sound and intonation of that word, both Felix and Ivan looked away from one another and at the owner of the voice. It was Picard's voice, and his next words fell in the same odd tone. "While it is possible that Jenna is dead, it is not probable, and I have extreme doubts that your sister, the most hotheaded female Mars Adept, when angry, which no doubt she is, since the downfall of Karst, and possibly even before that, would let the ocean beat her at anything. If I know her well enough, and by now I probably do, she's survived. Simply because we do not know where she is does not mean she did not make it somewhere."
"Picard?" Ivan asked after a long silence.
"Yes?"
"Would it kill you to use an apostrophe or two?"
"I don't know. I haven't tried," Picard said, laughing to himself.
"Well, when you put it that way…" Felix mumbled, trailing off. "We need to get our Psynergy back, then, and soon."
"I'm probably at halfway by now," Ivan said, and Picard nodded in agreement. Felix frowned.
"I still have nothing. It's bothering me…it feels like I didn't get enough sleep, only I know I did, but what I mean is a familiar part of my energy is missing and I haven't a clue as to where it went. And by the gods, Jenna's got the Psy Crystals. Someone tell me what day it is."
"Thursday," Ivan offered.
"The thirteenth," Picard added.
"Thought so," Felix said with a resigned sigh. "Now someone tell me where my Psynergy went."
"Beats me," Ivan said with a shrug. "When did it go?"
"I had some during the battle yesterday, and when I…when you…when…"
"Sentences are usually best when they express complete thoughts," Picard mused. "If not, we would all be walking around saying things like, "good oranges…morning…people," and, "if, then…how…that is, he…" and, "when I…when you…when…" and the like."
"When I 'woke up' after the battle yesterday, it was gone. Completely. Picard, did—"
"Do not question me, Felix," Picard said, his voice not threatening but suggesting that it was still a good idea to do as he asked. "I had limited resources. Before you ask, yes, I did finish, and yes, I am one hundred percent sure of that."
"Didn't know you could read minds," Ivan muttered.
"I can't. That one was predictable."
"That…that thing's attack must have drained my Psynergy…somehow…but I can't think of a way to get it back fast enough, if none's come back even by morning. Or what passes for morning here," Felix added with a glance outside. "What do you know?" he asked in muted surprise. "It's raining."
"Raining?" Picard asked, a bit more excited now.
"Is it a thunderstorm?" Ivan was equally as anticipatory.
"I don't know, I'm not out standing in it. But come on. Maybe the Elder knows how I can get my Psynergy back." Felix stood and walked to the door, holding it so Ivan and Picard could pass. None of them were wearing anything that would shelter them from the rain, and Ivan was dressed like he lived there, but neither of these facts seemed to bother them. Picard didn't mind rain, as long as it wasn't interfering with something more important he was doing, and the occasional flashes of lightning were enough to keep the rain itself off Ivan's mind.
Felix would have definitely preferred sun at that point, but didn't mind rain normally. In fact, the three of them were walking rather slowly towards the Elder's house.
"Did it occur to you that maybe, before we came, the Elder didn't know what Psynergy even was?" Ivan asked Felix.
"Yep."
"No branching thoughts from that, huh?"
"None whatsoever. If she doesn't know, I doubt anyone will. Anyone on this island, anyway."
"You have a point." By this time, they had reached the house, and Picard knocked on the door. Almost instantly it opened, and a familiar smiling face greeted them.
"Good morning, heroes of the village," Cura said, a humorous tone in her voice. "Come to join us for breakfast?"
"We've had that, actually," Felix said. "I was hoping I'd be able to speak to the Elder, if she has a minute."
"She has all the time in the world for the people who saved Yueivar," Cura responded in a serious tone. She opened the door wider and the three Adepts walked in. The Elder emerged from a back room and greeted them warmly, inviting them to sit down. Felix refused, and briefly explained the current problem. After a moment's pause, the Elder nodded, leading the Adepts into the room she had come out of.
"Back here," she said, "is something I found some seasons ago while walking down to the shoreline. I believe it may help you." She lifted a large purple stone, glittering and glimmering from the inside, and handed it to Felix. He took it, fairly certain of what it was, and was relieved when the stone flashed brightly for a few moments, then vanished, leaving he, Ivan and Picard with fully recharged Psynergy.
"Do you three still plan to challenge the monster today?" the Elder asked. They looked at each other. Picard and Ivan nodded, then looked at Felix. He was, in effect, their leader, after all. It was his decision.
"I guess so," Felix said after a while. "It can't be as bad as what we've faced before. And nothing will ever be as terrible as Air's Rock, anyway."
"Oh ha ha Felix," Ivan muttered.
"I do enjoy a good joke, yes."
"Have I ever told you the one about the Mars Adepts?" Picard asked on their way out the door. The rain was slowing, and Felix already had the map open, squinting in the near-darkness. However, at these words he looked back over his shoulder at Picard, and Ivan did the same.
"Yes. You have. Please, not again," Ivan said finally. Picard shrugged. "Rain must be getting to him," Ivan muttered. There wasn't enough light to read by except for the flashes of moments when lightning shot across the clouds, and in that short time Ivan had seen no trace of anything telling them which direction on this map was forward.
Seeing an unlit lantern hanging on a nearby post, Ivan supposed it couldn't hurt, and grabbed it as they walked by, lighting it with a tiny spark. Holding it above the map, thankful that the rain had stopped, Ivan squinted at the layout of the island.
"Where are we, Picard?" he asked absently.
"Standing in front of a lot of trees," the Lemurian replied.
"No, no, I mean which way are we facing?"
"I cannot tell you without a sun to go by."
"Rats. You're right. A lot of trees, huh? There're two spots like that."
"One of them we came through the other night."
"This isn't it," Felix said with certainty. "I would remember. So are we going the right way, then?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Ivan said grimly. He knew that none of them were looking forward to this. They didn't even know what they were walking into, though he alone of the three had actually, or so he had been told, been in the presence of this sun-stealing monster before. If he did remember anything, he speculated, his mind would have already made its best attempt to forget.
"Let's be off, then," Felix said, and the three of them nodded, heading into the dense forest with thoughts that would have preferred to remain unthought about what lay ahead.
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
Three hours passed, and the dense cloud cover lightened to steel-grey, which seemed quite bright to the villagers. The attitude in Yueivar was a tense one, for everyone knew the three boys who had just arrived had gone to try to rid the island of the monster for good. So Cura and her brothers were not expecting at all what happened as they drew water from the well that day.
A figure, cloaked against long-gone rain, hood up, walking very slowly and leaning on a staff, emerged from the trees and half-stumbled, half-ran down the gentle slope to the village. The figure ended up at the well, collapsing against the stone and breathing hard. Cura stepped back, startled, as the figure rose again, turned to her, and spoke in a very female voice.
"Might I have…some of…your water?"
"Of-of-of course, of course you can," Cura said, stammering in surprise. The girl pulled down her hood, revealing long reddish-brown hair tied back in a ponytail and eyes of the same hue. Handing her a small wooden bowl filled with water, Cura looked at her curiously.
"Thanks," the girl said, drinking every last drop of the water in one gulp. "Sorry. Can't drink the seawater, it's salty."
"That's alright. You…you came by boat?"
"Would have, if the boat was still in one piece. We wrecked in a storm."
"How did you…wait, I'm being silly. Come on, you have to sit down somewhere, at least." Cura privately chided herself for not thinking straight. Nodding slowly, the girl followed her and her brothers to the Elder's house, where the girl was given a chair before the fire and a drink.
"How did you get here?" Cura began again.
"Raft," answered the girl. "Paddled with this," she added, indicating her staff.
"Who are you, might be a good question," the Elder said.
"My name is Jenna," she said quietly.
"Jenna? But…there was a boy, one of the ones who went off…you're Felix's sister?" Cura asked anxiously. She seriously doubted that Jenna would like the idea of her brother going to face something dangerous.
"Yes. Why? Did he come here?" Jenna asked urgently. Quickly, the Elder explained to her the events of the past couple of days. Jenna sighed. "I have to go after them."
"You can't, though. You're exhausted." Before Cura could continue with the list, Jenna whispered something, and there was a brief red flash. With a smile, Jenna stood, grabbed her staff, and headed for the door.
"You don't know the way!" the Elder protested.
"Would you tell me?" Jenna asked, pausing with her hand on the doorknob. The Elder sighed resignedly.
"Yes. I will."
Moments later, with a determined look on her face, Jenna stood at the edge of a large stand of trees. Holding a lantern in one hand, she raised it to shoulder level and placed her other hand behind it.
"Blaze!" she cried, and the fire sprang up and surges forward, much larger than it had been before, burning a straight path through the trees and undergrowth. "Four Mars Adepts my left foot," she muttered, dropping the melted remains of the lantern as she headed down the path she had created at a full run, her way lit by the remnants of flames still burning occasionally on the remains of trees or bushes.
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
Ivan, Felix and Picard stood before a large opening in a cliff face. "I guess it goes down to the shoreline, at some point," Ivan said, "if that's how I got here."
"Supposedly some sort of…creature brought you to that cave, and then another one took you from there to the village. By water or not, I don't know," Felix added. "But we might as well go on inside."
"You really
think we're powerful enough for this?"
"We will have to be," Picard
said. "Or I know a Mercury Adept who will hunt us down and kill us for dying."
"You'd be talking about Mia, then?"
"That I would."
"She scares you?"
"Yes. Very much so."
"Me too."
"Both of you are stalling," Felix remarked. Picard and Ivan looked at him.
"Of course we are," Ivan said, as though it was the most natural thing to be doing in the world. "But we must sound idiotic. Come on then…let's go in."
Taking one last look at the dark world around them, the three Adepts headed into the mouth of the cavern. Felix paused for a moment, and wondered if he didn't hear a sound, far off in the direction they'd come…but no, he must have been imagining things.
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Vil: Hope you liked it. The next chapter is the very climactic part where they…oh, I'm not going to spoil it for you, silly!
Norli: Sad. Isaac's not in it. Very sad.
Kaede: It's still good though.
Avaria: Yep. IVAN! IVANIVANIVAN! Don't kill him, Vil.
Vil: Can't tell you what I'll do. But only Norli knows my ending, and she also knows what happens if she tells. *Evil cackle*
Norli: Does she ever scare you guys?
*Kaede and Ava nod*
Norli: Good. At least I'm not alone.
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