Sunlight and Shade

A/N: The largest chapter yet, I think, and by far the best. It will be, I promise. Spectacular. Get ready—we've got hours to go.

Griffinkhan: It does resemble Izumo, I'll say that. I wrote this before I'd ever heard of Izumo, though, so I can tell you I didn't copy them. Maybe I'll tell you why Ivan came, maybe I won't. You'll have to read to see, though, right? :)

Midnight C: I know, isn't Air's Rock a nightmare? It drove me more insane than usual trying to get through it! GRR! You're gonna love this chapter!

Ok, so it was just the two of you for chapter five. Wow. That's depressing. Alright…here we go!

Chapter Six: Darkness Personified

            After a few turns, it became apparent that what little light there was outside was not going to follow them very far into the cave. In fact, it was dark enough now that Felix almost walked into the wall at the next turn. Ivan had had the lantern for a while, but a stray draft had blown it out, sending them into complete darkness.

            "It sure is dark."

            "Yep."

            "I agree."

            Every so often, this same conversation would arise. Each time the echoes were louder and the Adepts felt more and more awkward breaking the silence. Finally Ivan could stand it no longer.

            "Do you know what we need?" he asked.

            "No. What?"

            "Some dramatic adventuring music." There was a sound that vaguely reminded him of someone rummaging through things in a pack. "Picard?"

            "Yes?"

            "That wasn't a signal for you to start playing music."

            "I know that. I was not about to begin. I do not wish to draw attention to ourselves."

            "Felix?"

            "Ivan."

            "Was that you, then?"

            "No."

            "Oh boy." Ivan paused. The others, not noticing him, kept on walking, until they heard Ivan whisper, "Stop."

            "What?" Felix asked, half-turning and remembering he couldn't see Ivan anyway. "Why?"

            "Because the last thing I said echoed far too much. We're in a larger room now. And I think I can make out your silhouettes. It's getting light again."

            "As light as it may ever get when the sun does not rise," Picard said, a note of sadness in his voice.

            "Light all the same. And rocks that large are scary enough, but I don't think it's even a rock."

            "What are you talking about?"

            "Behind you, Picard." Curious, the Lemurian turned around. He immediately took a step back. There was indeed something large and vaguely resembling a rock nearby, but he was close enough to realize it was warm. And alive.

            "This might be it, then," Felix whispered. "We're in luck. I think it's asleep."

            "Won't be for long, if we start attacking it."

            "I am still curious as to how something like this can keep the sun from rising," Picard said softly.

            "It doesn't, though. I think it's like the serpent the other day, when the ship wrecked. It doesn't take anything away—it just brings the dark clouds with it."

            "That brings me to another point," Picard continued. "Do either of you know how long we've been walking?"

            "Not really," Felix said. "About five hours to reach the entrance, and another three after that, maybe."

            "We're well into the afternoon, then," Ivan said. "I wonder how long it would take to fight this thing."

            "That depends on how powerful it is. And what it can do."

            "I think there is an opening behind it that leads to the beach," Picard said, walking around the monster as silently as a shadow. A moment later, his voice floated back to them. "Yes. It is open to the night. Of course…it may still be day. I cannot tell."

            "That's alright, Picard. As long as this thing keeps sleeping," Ivan said.

            "Cowardly this evening, aren't we?" Felix asked with a sly grin that went unseen.

            "I can't imagine that you want to get beaten up by something that takes darkness with it wherever it goes. Wait a second…you're not trying to die a valiant death as a hero, are you?" Felix hesitated to answer Ivan's query. "I thought so. I thought we agreed a long time ago that accepting death during battle was against the rules?"

            "I distinctly remember that, as well," Picard put in. Felix sighed.

            "Shall we just attack it, then, and hope for the best?" he asked sharply. Ivan shrugged, then remembered that it was still very dark, and added that he didn't know.

            "Let's prepare ourselves, at least," Picard said. "You know, put a few Djinn on standby so we can summon fast. It took us about eight hours to get here, you know, and we would not want to waste the opportunity."

            "Whose idea was the Djinn-crazy strategy, again?" Ivan asked as he did so.

            "Sheba's, I thought," said Felix.

            "Yes. So did I."

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

            "Have they gone in here, then?" Jenna asked aloud.

            "Don't know," replied a voice. Jenna would have jumped if she hadn't almost instantly recognized the voice of Tinder, one of her Djinn. That particular voice was one she usually appreciated. Every Djinni was quite a deal older than any of the Adepts, even Picard, but Tinder stood out as one of the eldest and easily one of the most helpful. Considering the options, anyway. For example, when Cannon chose to voice an opinion, it usually centered on destruction.

            "The Elder told me this was where they would be," Jenna said uncertainly. "I've been walking for a while, though. I mean…it could be…over by now."

            "Jenna."

            "Yes?"

            "Are you stalling?"

            "No! I'm trying to make a plan. I mean…there's something in there that might've…"

            "What do you suppose Spark and I are for?"

            "Neither of you will work if they're dead," Jenna said bluntly.

            "Go on. You know better than to think that they'd just up and die. You'd kill them for it, and they know it."

            "You do have a point. Besides, I owe Picard for telling that darn joke." Anger flared in Jenna's eyes. She had not spent a day and then some out at sea alone, paddling for her life, only to come this far and be beaten by something she hadn't even seen yet. "Do you remember when I said someone would pay?"

            "Vividly."

            "It's about to."

            "Oh good!" Cannon said, appearing in the air above Jenna's head. "Battle!"

            "Get back here, you demented, battle-crazed lunatic," said a testy voice. Jenna laughed. Fury, appropriately named, flashed into visibility near Cannon. "You're a nuisance, you know that?"

            "Yeah, yeah, get over it. At least I'm not angry all the time."

            "No, you just always have to be wrecking something," said Spark, also appearing. At this point Jenna gave up on arbitration and took a seat on a nearby rock, Tinder still perched on her shoulder. One by one, the remainder of her nine Djinn appeared, all of them rambling on about something she didn't even want to guess at.

            "Both of you stop it! That's childish!" scorned Shine.

            "Most definitely," Core agreed. "They're acting like bickering humans."

            "Jenna heard that, you know," said Char.

            "Core doesn't care," Cannon pointed out. "Now come on! I want to blast something!"

            "Shut up, you deranged maniac," muttered Fury.

            "What was that?" Reflux snapped, giving Fury the Mars-Djinni equivalent of an angry glare.

            "You heard me."

            "You wanna say that to my face, windbag?"

            "All right, that's it!!" yelled two commanding, equally annoyed voices. All the Djinn turned in midair to regard Jenna, eyes flaring, and Tinder, glowing a furious orange.

            "This has gone far enough," Jenna said in measured tones that weren't quite controlled. "We are going in there without any more arguments, in fact without a word from any of you unless I ask for it. Kindle, Char, Reflux, Core, you put yourselves on standby. Shine, stick around for a while—it looks dark in there."

            "Yes ma'am!" replied five voices in almost perfect chorus.

            "The rest of you go. Before I lose my temper." Instantly, every Djinni except Shine vanished. "I do like it when they listen. Those occasions are too rare. Come on, Shine. I need a light and I don't know if I can afford to use Psynergy on one of my own."

            Shine perched herself atop Jenna's head and, as quietly and quickly as possible, they entered the same cave that Felix, Ivan and Picard had entered hours ago.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

            "Are we ready?" Felix asked. Ivan and Picard nodded.

            There was a long, silent pause.

            "Well? Are we?" Felix demanded. Ivan and Picard looked at each other sheepishly.

            "Yes," they answered together.

            "We nodded," Ivan added, "but it's…you know…dark."

            "Yes, right. Straight-element summons, on three. We should have an advantage if we attack first." Felix raised a hand in preparation. "One."

            The rush of power that came with a powerful summons flooded all three of the Adepts, and it was with an adrenaline-high-induced grin that Felix continued.

            "Two."

            Light gathered in Ivan's hand, and Picard's soon after. It illuminated two determined, anticipatory faces. The moment Felix's hand was lit with a soft green, he gave the final word.

            "Three."

            "I summon Thor!"

            "I summon Boreas!"
            "I summon Judgment!" The three summons, one each of Jupiter, Mercury and Venus, descended upon the sleeping creature. Of course, Thor was the quickest, and the monster woke up equally as quickly. Its eyes seemed to give off a glow like that of a raging fire, and the cavern was lit nearly as bright as a sunny day. Felix watched with growing puzzlement as the second summon, Boreas, was deflected by some sort of barrier. Judgment got through, however, though it didn't seem to even cause the creature to flinch.

            "They barely scratched it!" Ivan exclaimed. He was angry now. In the reddish light he could see four claw-tipped feet and two curving horns. Some corner of his mind desperately wanted to run. He told that corner to shut up.

            Picard, on the other side of the beast, could see what the others could not, and he wasn't liking it much either. The monster had a long tail, the end of which was tipped by a razor-sharp scythe-like blade about as long as one of his arms. For what felt like the hundredth time he wished he could get his thoughts across to Ivan without Ivan having to speak in his mind first.

            Felix? What now? Ivan asked in Felix's mind.

            What? I don't know! Throw some Djinn at it, see what it does. We have to find its weakness. Upon hearing this, Ivan relayed the message to Picard. The Lemurian almost gave thanks on his knees for the chance to tell Ivan about the tail, but the Jupiter Adept had broken contact almost instantly. Picard cursed in Lemurian under his breath.

            "Echo! Steel!" Felix called, and two Djinn spirits sped out from him, one of them smashing into the monster twice with a hard double strike, and the other hitting only once with a sound like something wet. However, this succeeded in doing little more than turning the beast's furious, crimson gaze on Felix. It lashed out with one clawed foot and Felix jumped backwards, awkwardly off-balance, and barely missed being disemboweled by the creature. As it was, he was only scratched.

            "Squall! Gust!" Ivan's attacks did a bit more than Felix's, but not much. This thing was either very strong or had no elemental weakness. A clawed foot reached for Ivan too, but he was too fast and easily dodged out of the way. He wasn't fast enough, however, for the whip-like, bladed tail. It launched itself, slicing in a downward motion that sent the razor-fine edge along Ivan's forehead and down his arm. He fell back, narrowly missing being sliced in half by the second swing upwards.

            Picard, seeing this, tried a different approach. "Shade!" Three individual glowing blue barriers instantly surrounded the three Adepts—how long they would hold, he didn't know. That tail began smashing into his, and Picard decided he really didn't like where this was going. "Serac!" Knowing it wouldn't work like it usually did, Picard hoped that Serac's usual one-hit kill attack, which he didn't use much, would at least do something. It would have, had it not been stopped by the same kind of barrier that had stopped Boreas.

            "What's that about?" asked Felix. "Our Djinn got through."

            "I know. Maybe it has an elemental weakness to Mercury?" Picard frowned. The scythe tail was still banging away, and neither Picard nor Felix could get to Ivan from where they were. This is starting to look bad, Picard thought.

            "I couldn't tell you. Resistance to Venus, though. Come on, let's whack it with some Psynergy. Ivan, you first." Felix looked to the Jupiter Adept, or rather, to where he should have been standing, to find him sitting on the ground, one hand against his forehead and the other on the arm belonging to the first hand. "Ivan?"

            "…Felix." That one word was said slow enough and with enough of a lack of energy to make the Venus Adept in question truly frightened. Ivan did everything fast and very energetically. This was…so backwards.

            "Oh, not good," Picard muttered. Felix, struck for a flash of a second by an odd sense of déjà vu, shook it off and turned to the monster. He then immediately found a problem. With two Djinn on standby and two still recovering, there weren't enough to cast his most powerful Psynergy. He would have to settle for it's less powerful form.

            "Ragnarok!" A sword made of pure Venus Psynergy sliced into the monster, exploding outwards with considerable force before disappearing. This only appeared to make it angrier, and it now lowered its head and began to run at Felix. "Picard! Go!"

            Picard nodded, using the time to reach Ivan. Stepping through the barrier, he knelt beside the Jupiter Adept and spoke quietly.

            "Ivan, you have to move your hands."

            "Al…right…" Ivan said quietly, lowering both hands slowly. Picard saw the gashes from the scythe swipe and bit his lip. If this went on, he'd be out of Psynergy before he ever got the chance to attack.

            "Pure Ply," he said, and for a few moments the glow inside Shade's barrier brightened, and then dimmed again. "You alright, Ivan?"

            "How long can Shade last?" Ivan asked, slowly standing.

            "I do not know," Picard answered truthfully. Really, he thought Shade was putting up with it quite well already. In the usual lack of luck the Adepts had in these situations, the barrier flickered away and then vanished.

            "Wonderful," Felix muttered. Unprotected, regretting the decision not to bring Granite along instead of Iron, he drew his sword and ran forward.

            "I thought we decided on not dying for the cause," Ivan muttered. Picard, despite the situation, smiled.

            "I think Felix can handle it. Besides…this is a good chance. Diamond Berg!" A large chunk of ice materialized and rammed itself into the monster, becoming liquid for an instant and then freezing the thing in place. Picard leapt upon it, sword flashing as he moved faster than even Ivan's eye could follow.

            "Still the best," Ivan said with a slight nod. Raising a hand, he pointed it at the thawing creature. "Spark Plasma!" Being struck by a lightning barrage must not have been in the beast's plans either, because it seemed taken quite by surprise. For a fleeting moment, Ivan thought they had gained the upper hand.

            That moment was very fleeting, however, as a familiar sort of mystical glow, only in tones of deep crimson and bright fiery red, filled the cavern.

            "I really don't like this," Felix said, recognizing the glow for what it was. The monster had some sort of restorative Psynergy!

            "Same here," Ivan said. "It's just going to keep on healing itself."

            "You had to say that, did you?" Picard asked, looking rather pale.

            "Well…wait. Why?"

            "You are giving it ideas," Picard said bluntly. "Do not do that again."

            "Right."

            Felix was about to speak when the monster opened its mouth and let out a roar. Recalling this particular type of Psynergy casting from the day before, Felix knew he wasn't about to enjoy himself. But what came next was aimed solely at Picard.

            Flying from somewhere the Adepts didn't want to consider was a barrage of something small and glistening in the light. Glinting red. And sharp.

            Picard saw these missiles and dodged them as best he could. A few, however, became lodged in his leg, and he fell to one knee at the sudden onslaught of pain, burning like pure Mars fire itself. The Psynergy he had been about to throw at the creature went wild, striking the cavern ceiling and sending several rocks careening toward him. The pain in his leg faded from his mind as the stones slammed into his back like sledgehammers, forcing him even closer to the ground than he already was. But he did not collapse—to do so would have likely been fatal.

            Eventually the barrage of rocks stopped, and the fire in his leg flared again, worse this time than it had been at first. He felt strange, almost as though the world around him was slowing down, as Felix and Ivan, not noticing what had happened to him, as they were busy deflecting the scythe tail with their weapons, cast various powerful Psynergies. Even the triple swords of Odyssey seemed to be moving as though through thick mud. Dimly he realized that whatever had hit him had contained poison.

            There was little he could do about it now, he decided, or at least the majority of him did. A small corner of his mind had the presence to look down, to reach out a hand and with a gasp, pull several needlelike objects from the back of his leg, drop them, and with the same hand call upon the only Psynergy he could think of that would do any good.

            "Cure Poison," he whispered, but already the darkness was taking him. He fought it, fought to stay awake, or conscious at least, but eventually he collapsed on the stone floor of the cavern.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

            Jenna was getting closer, she could tell. There were sounds up ahead, and the slightest hint of a red-tinted light that offset Shine's brilliant yellow. Dimly, she realized that it must be very late at night now, about ten hours after noon. At home in Vale, it would be dark. Here, it was dark at noon, so there wasn't much to go by. Or so the Elder said, anyway.

            "Shine, can you make out what they're saying?" she asked quietly.

            "No. They aren't saying much, but there was that loud crash about an hour ago." Shine's words stayed with Jenna when, about five minutes later, Jenna came to the end of the tunnel. Or so it would seem. But the battle sounds beyond the pile of rocks blocking the way told her otherwise.

            "Can you blow it apart?" Shine asked.

            "I can try." Taking a step back, Jenna aimed her hand at the rock pile. "Burst!" Fragments of rocks flew in all directions, but more came down from above, and larger ones, further blocking her path.

            "Let's not try again," Shine suggested.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

            Had she known it, Jenna had just aided Felix and Ivan a great deal. The latter was currently blasting the monster with everything he could come up with, including some Crystal Powder he'd found in a pocket. He even drew on Felix's Psynergy and summoned Judgment again. But no matter what he did, the beast would retaliate with either a rain of poisonous needle spray or the glow of restoring power.

            Ivan, exhausted and out of Psynergy, fell to his knees. Felix looked from where he was with Picard over to him and cried out. The scythe tail was coming again, and Ivan was too beaten and battered already to be able to dodge out of the way.

            From inside the cavern, it seemed like an explosion. Rocks flew, and a particularly large one struck the creature full on in the head. Yet another knocked aside the scythe blade of the tail, so it got stuck in the ground beside Ivan. With a swift leap, Felix raised his sword and swung downward. The monster roared in outrage at its prime weapon being severed, and Felix grinned triumphantly.

            "How goes it?" Ivan gasped.

            "No luck," Felix said. "Even Potent Cure isn't working, and he isn't dead, so I can't try Revive. And only Jenna has any reviving Djinn…only Jenna…only…" A strange look came over Felix's face then. It was the look that accompanied the slow yet sudden realization of something that had happened coinciding with something else from the past.

            "Burst Psynergy," Ivan and Felix said together.

            "Ether!" Ivan called, and he felt his Psynergy return. "We can't help Picard. But we can start taking this thing down."

            "How?"

            "Easy. It's only still standing because it has restorative Psynergy, or something like it."

            "Yes," Felix said, prompting Ivan to continue.

            "So we block the Psynergy. Luff!" The Jupiter Djinni shot forward, wrapping the monster in a deep purple glow. The symbol of a Psyphon Seal, the seal that kept Psynergy from being usable, hovered in the air above it.

            "Let's take it down," Felix said with a grin.

            At about that time, Jenna climbed through a small hole in the rock and saw this scene. Her first instinct was to tackle Felix and either yell at him or hug him to death, but she decided not to do that. Instead, she ran forward, stopped just short of a large rock on the ground, and raised a hand.

            "I summon Meteor!" she yelled. Fiery stones rained on the monster, who finally seemed to be showing some weakness to something.

            "Jenna!" Felix cried happily.

            "Hey bro. How do you get yourself into these things?"

            "My dumb luck, I suppose. Listen, can you help Picard? He was hit with some poison…barb things. I think the only thing that would work would be one of your Djinn."

            "Um…sure, Felix," Jenna said, frowning. It wasn't like Felix to miss out on the description of an attack. Still, she ignored that for the moment, hurrying, with a momentary sudden stop to avoid swiping claws, to where Picard lay still, on the ground.

            "Tinder," Jenna whispered.

            "Yes?" asked that familiar voice. Tinder was once again perched on Jenna's shoulder. "Oh. You want me unleashed, then?"

            "Yes."

            "Alright." Tinder rose into the air and faded into multicolored feathery lights. These descended around Picard, and for a moment outshone the red glow from the monster's eyes. They faded, and Jenna felt Tinder now standing by.

            "Jenna! The Psyphon's wearing off!" Ivan called. Without another thought Jenna stood and ran, stopping beside Ivan and raising her staff high.

            "Every Psynergy you can think of," Felix whispered. The beast opened its mouth again, releasing more poison barbs.

            "Odyssey!"

            "Spark Plasma!"

            "Cannon!" Jenna knew the Djinni would be happy to be able to finally thrash something. However, the poison barbs broke through still, several of them stinging her in the shoulder. She stumbled back, good hand yanking the darts free, trying to stop the feeling of pure fire. Her vision began to blur as the world started to move in slow motion.

            She heard a voice behind her, and her vision cleared itself. Motion sped back up to its normal speed. She turned around to find Picard behind her.

            "I owed you," he said simply. He was now the only one of them unscathed by battle. Together he and Jenna joined Ivan and Felix again. For hours, the four of them unleashed every attack they could think of on the beast.

            Finally, nearing six in the morning, it ran out of the Psynergy to heal itself. It was barely standing now, but the Adepts were likewise.

            "Once…more," Felix said, voice raspy from calling out Psynergies all night. The others nodded tiredly.

            Ivan prepared to call on Storm Ray, the strongest thing he had enough Psynergy left for. A single bolt came before he fell on the spot, exhausted, battered and beaten.

            Felix unleashed Meld, and together he and Jenna swung their weapons, each one taking out one of the beast's red eyes. The cavern was suddenly dark again, and Picard could not see when the worn out bodies of brother and sister hit the ground.

            Raising a hand, Picard said, "Diamond Dust," in a whisper. He nearly collapsed as well, but knew he had to stay standing, had to see if it was enough.

            It was enough.

            There was a sudden silence, and then a violent explosion as the beast's body was destroyed. Picard was thrown with it, unable to resist, and he found himself on the beach, the water about three feet away, the tide receding.

            Before unconsciousness overtook him, Picard smiled. Coming over the ocean, for the first time in what felt like years, was the beautiful golden edge of the sun. For a moment it seemed that all time stopped, as the first light of the sun in so long reached Sinelsol Island, and reflected off of the shining, content eyes of one Lemurian Mercury Adept.

            Picard blinked once, savoring the moment. Then he knew no more.

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Vil: Wow. Just…wow. I have never…I think I even went one better than the dragon battle here. Wow. I surprised myself. I hope you all liked it. There's a chapter yet to come, so be ready. I know you want to review this…please?

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