Sunlight and Shade
A/N: At long last, we reach the end of the story. Or is it just another beginning??
Midnight: You're jealous? Of me? *blushes* Is Picard alright, I wonder? You'll have to read for that one. And go check my other updates, you!
Village Idiot: thank you for your compliments. Now drag Triad over to read it too.
Alex: You just watch me.
Griffinkhan: We all have certain scenes and story bits that we're not good at. Pity that my stories somehow always end up including my weakest one.
Jupiter Girl: Everyone's saying "wow". I like that. Keep on saying wow!
Alright, alright. On to the reading. Prepare to be surprised.
Chapter Seven: Golden Sun
There were voices. Not many, in fact only two. And they were speaking quietly, as if someone nearby was asleep and they did not want to wake this person. They were also getting closer, it seemed, or at least getting slightly louder.
"How is he?" asked one of the voices.
"As good as can be expected, I should think," said the second voice, sounding both older and younger at the same time. "Took quite a beating from that…" There was a pause as though this voice didn't know quite what to call this thing.
"Tartarian isn't an enemy to be taken lightly," said the first voice. "Quite truthfully, I am amazed that these four survived. Amazed, also, that the girl caught up to the others. Three arrived, and yet four will return."
The second voice mumbled something beyond hearing, though the owner of the first voice obviously could hear it. "Only three?" it asked, in surprised tones. "There are four here. We found two on the beach, this one and that one, and those two in a pile of rubble. Apparently there was quite an explosion."
"Yes, but he…"
He could hear all this. He knew he could. The voices were even familiar, to an extent. He couldn't place faces or names with them, but then he couldn't seem to come awake enough to do anything but listen.
"Three days, and still nothing," the second voice was saying. "He doesn't stand a chance." The voice sighed. "We need a miracle."
"We've already had one," said the first voice. "I see no reason not to have another."
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
Jenna sat atop the only cliff in Yueivar, looking out over what she could see of Sinelsol Island. The sun was high, for it was noon, and Jenna still didn't entirely believe that the sun had ever stopped rising. One thing's for sure, she thought, wiping a hand across her forehead, it sure is hotter without the clouds.
"Warm, isn't it?" asked a voice behind her. Jenna looked behind her and quickly stood. "No need to stand," Cura said, and as Jenna sat back down, Cura sat beside her. "How are you, Jenna?"
"I'm alright. It is warm here, though. I suppose it should be, this being summer."
"You know that's not what I meant when I asked."
"I'm sorry," Jenna said, looking at the ground. "I did know. But…it just sounded too much like the way he would ask, you know? I'm used to it meaning two things and just…choosing which. It'd annoy him, sometimes, but we always laughed at it. It kept us sane, when we were on that boat for days at a time."
"It's a wonder you stayed sane, indeed, if you traveled with Ivan," Cura said with a small smile.
"Thankfully no," Jenna said fervently. "We had another Jupiter Adept with us, a girl named Sheba. She was…calmer than Ivan. And less perpetually high."
"So answer my question."
"The answer's the same. Once I got my Psynergy back, earlier this morning, I just got rid of everything. Everything that was left, that is. You aren't so bad at it yourself."
"Not good enough, though," Cura said, this time looking down dejectedly herself. "You'd think, for being one of the only Adepts on this Island, not counting the four…er…not counting you guys, that I'd at least have gotten the hang of it by now."
"Sometimes you sound like a normal kid," Jenna said quietly. "Less like the adult you're treated as, I mean. Everyone here respects everything you say and do. That's a lot of respect for a kid not even my age yet. They understand if you're not perfect. None of them are, either, and I don't see them going around and saving the lives of strangers who just washed ashore one day."
"Only two of them washed. Ivan was carried, and you brought yourself. Picard and Felix…" Cura had to stop. It was too hard to go on with that sentence. Already, that day she'd gone to the beach with her brothers seemed like years ago.
"The sun really stopped rising?" Jenna asked in a desperate attempt to divert the subject. She didn't want to dwell on it either.
"Oh yes. In
fact the day you came was the lightest one yet…I wonder if it was some ironic
joke, our lightest day being the one when darkness was defeated. That reminds
me. By the time you got to this village, you were half…you were exhausted. But
when you left, it was as though you'd just woken up. How?"
"I used my Psynergy. Some
variant on Aura, I guess. Some of it still hasn't come back all the way," she
added, reflexively rubbing her head. "I guess there was some kind of
explosion?"
"It looked like that, when we got there," Cura confirmed. "Everything was all strewn about, rocks and trees and things. And you. You and Ivan were in what was left of the cave, and Picard and your brother…" She stopped again, and swallowed hard. "We…they were on the beach. When we found Picard…he was facing the rising sun, and he was smiling."
"He saw it, then," Jenna said quietly. "The trip back won't be the same…"
"Either of you hungry?" asked a voice. Both girls stood and turned to find Ivan standing there. "There's lunch down at the Inn, if you want it," he added. Jenna and Cura nodded, and Jenna smirked. This girl and I are of like mind, she thought.
The two of them followed Ivan down the gently sloping side of the cliff, and Jenna was the first to notice something. "Ivan, you're not limping anymore."
"Not my fault," Ivan said, seeming surprised at the revelation himself. "I don't have the Psynergy for it. It's been six days since we fought that thing, and I don't have the Psynergy for anything stronger than Whirlwind. Not that I could…am I babbling?"
"Yes," Cura said, turning to Jenna with a look that said, 'is he always like this?' Jenna nodded solemnly.
"So, basically, I didn't fix it. Care to tell me which of you did? And I'll assume that the shoulder thing was your fix, Cura. Felix was out of Psynergy and Picard come out and said he hadn't done it." Ivan's words seemed to echo off the cliff until they were deafening, but really did nothing of the kind. "Oh. Sorry, Jenna."
"That's alright. And I suspect it was my doing. I used Cool Aura earlier and—"
"That's it!" Cura said suddenly, a sudden cheer in her voice. "That's it, Jenna!"
"Whoa, wait, hold on," Jenna said, mentally adding, Shut up, Ivan, at his laughter at her 'usual line.' "What's it?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong. Aura Psynergies affect all Adepts in your range when you use it, yes?"
"Assuming they're…alive," Jenna said slowly, as what Cura was thinking began to dawn on her as well. "Is it important?" she asked innocently, aware of Ivan's ignorance on the idea.
"It might just be. Come on!" Cura broke into a run, and Ivan followed close behind with a call to Zephyr, grabbing Jenna's shirt so that she'd be pulled along as well.
"Ivan!" Jenna yelped, knowing that any more than one word per sentence would be unintelligible due to the rapid speech that accompanied Zephyr's speed boost. "Stop!"
"Whatwhy?" Ivan asked, but stopped nonetheless. They waited a few moments for Cura to catch up, for they had passed her, and her expression was somewhere halfway between relief and a glare when she stopped to catch her breath.
"Remind me never to race you," she said with a grin. Walking now, but walking quickly, the three of them reached the Elder's house, where Picard and Felix currently were.
"Likely Picard has less Psynergy than you do, Ivan. He's been…busy." Cura opened the door quietly, pulling off her shoes as the other Adepts did likewise. They followed her up the stairs, silent as shadows, and she softly knocked on a closed door.
The reply was a tired-sounding, "Come in," and Cura opened the door. She didn't need to tell them that Felix barely stood a chance. They already knew.
The first thing Jenna saw was Picard standing by the window, leaning casually against the wall and staring at the blue sky with an ecstatic grin. The second thing she saw scared her. The bed where Felix had been stood empty, and neatly made, too.
The third thing nearly gave her a heart attack. Felix, looking no worse than he had back on the ship where everything started, was standing on the other side of the room, smiling with more real emotion than the Adepts had seen him display since Gaia Rock. Jenna, tears falling in happiness, ran to her brother and hugged him as tight as she ever had.
"Felix, I'm going to kill you!" she muttered, though it was obvious she didn't mean it. He hugged her back, still grinning, and Picard and Ivan just stared.
"Lemurian," Ivan finally said in measured tones.
"Contigan," Picard replied just as evenly.
"You knew?"
"Since early morning. I felt it too, you know."
"And you didn't tell us?"
"Well it wasn't as though he looked then like he does now!" Picard said in an offended tone. "I had something to do with that too. Jenna just gave him a starting point."
"And for some reason Spark and Tinder wouldn't work," Jenna was saying, still rather hysterical but much calmer than she'd been moments ago. "I can't believe it, Felix. Everyone thought…we all thought you would die."
"What, and let you three try to figure out how to get home without me? Hardly." Felix's grin let them know he was quite definitely joking. "So, anyone hungry?"
"Great minds do think alike," Ivan said, ignoring the expected query as to what that had to do with either him or Felix. Jenna and Felix, Cura following close behind, walked out of the room. Ivan began to follow as well, but turned back to look at Picard, who was still grinning up at the perfect summer sky.
"Picard, the air and sky are supposed to be my fascinations, not yours. Besides, we have to think of a way to get back to Gondowan, and you're the sailor. Mariner. Wait, what are you now? How many of your Djinn are set?" Picard finally turned his gaze from the window and looked at Ivan.
"You are mad," Picard said, shaking his head and smiling.
"Good. It'll rub off on the rest of you. Now come on, Lemurian, let's get lunch."
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
"There aren't any boats here," the Elder said. She had joined Cura and the Adepts for lunch, and they were now discussing exactly how the four were ever going to leave Sinelsol.
"This could complicate things," Picard said, a phrase that struck a chord of familiarity in Jenna's mind and, by the Mercury Adept's raised eyebrow, was meant to do just that.
"Ever one for stating the obvious, weren't you?" Jenna asked in mock sarcasm.
"You could have just said something," Picard reiterated.
"I did. You denied any such idea. So I proved by example."
"Right. You also proved that one should never attempt such without Psynergy."
"Well, you know, that's twice you owe me."
"Only once. I repaid one last week, with that…what did you call it?" Picard asked the Elder, who was obviously quite amused by this discussion.
"Tartarian. The essence of darkness, ruled by and ruling eternal fire. But that problem is no longer a problem," the Elder added. "What is a problem is getting you four home, with no way to send a message because we have no boat, and therefore no way to send you."
"A message? I can do that," Ivan said. "I can reach Sheba with my…wait. She's too far away to contact with what little Psynergy I have. She might be too far even if I was at full power."
"Send a Djinni," Felix suggested. "One that used to be Sheba's might have an easier time finding her."
"Right. Ether!" The Jupiter Djinni appeared in the air. "First, unleash yourself on our dear Lemurian friend there—"
"Why me?" Picard asked.
"Because you get grumpy when you've got no Psynergy. And then go find Sheba, and tell her to tell Isaac to bring the boat here, and that you'll lead them. Can you do that?"
"Sure, why not?" Ether said. The flash of violet as she unleashed, then the purple streak as she rushed from the building, took barely two seconds total to happen.
"I suppose," Jenna said, a mischievous glint in her eye, "that we'll all just have to wait patiently for their return." At this, she, Picard, Felix, Cura and the Elder laughed heartily. Ivan, looking around at them, failed to see the joke. Something else, though, he did pick up on.
"I should have seen it before," he said in surprised tones.
"Seen what?" Felix asked.
"I'm surrounded."
"By?"
"You people," Ivan said, motioning to everyone gathered. "You…healers."
"Secondary profession only," Jenna said, raising her hands in surrender.
"Not me, boy," the Elder said. "I'm a Jupiter Adept."
"We're not sure what I am, really," Cura said reflectively. "I'd like to think Mars, though. I despise cold."
"We could always switch around the Djinn until you were satisfied, Ivan," Picard suggested.
"No. Just…no. The last time we did that, Jenna ended up with all three stages of Ply, Sheba was summoning plants from the ground, Garet was using Frost—"
"He had the Frost Gem," Jenna pointed out.
"—and I had some odd name that really just wasn't me. Chaos King or some such."
"Chaos Lord," Felix corrected.
"Right, that." Something else hit Ivan quite suddenly. "By the god of thunder. It was Kraden."
"What was?"
"That troublesome old man who caused this problem. It had to be Kraden. When I see him again…well, let's just say I've got plans."
"Oh, Ivan, behave," Jenna said. "At least you didn't grow up living in his village."
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
The Adepts spent about another week on Sinelsol Island. Much of Felix's time was spent rebuilding some of the houses that had been knocked down by the giant Chimera monster in that battle so long ago.
Ivan spent his days either atop the cliff just standing in the steady breeze or in the Elder's library, reading various things that he thought might be useful.
Picard supervised the beginning of the construction of a ship, helping when he needed to. The people of Yueivar were hard workers, though, and seldom required his assistance.
Jenna and Cura spent most days helping Felix and the villagers, but when there was free time, they swapped stories. Sinelsol wasn't that boring of a place, and Cura was always happy to hear about any of the Adepts' adventures or numerous mishaps. Jenna was in the middle of one such story when they arrived.
"And we went into Magma Rock, which I loved mostly for the fire element being present everywhere but also just because it's fun to watch Felix and Isaac be wary for once in their lives, and Garet walks in, mentions the intense heat, and falls down a flight of stairs."
"Two flights," said a voice behind her. Jenna turned, and smiled. "Hello, Jenna."
"Hey Garet. You survived whatever it was you four were doing, huh?"
"We had more fun than you did."
"Doubtful," Picard said, leading the other Adepts to where Jenna, Garet and Cura were. "You have no idea of all the fun we have had here."
"I might," Sheba said, looking up at Felix. "With your permission," she added, and Felix nodded. Sheba used Mind Read, and a long string of images entered her mind, each one surprising her more than the last. She used her Psynergy on Ivan, Jenna and Picard as well. Grinning, she shared these thoughts with Isaac, Garet and Mia.
"And I missed all the fun?" Isaac asked with a laugh. "Felix, you get killed more often than I do."
"Am I dead?"
"No. But I've never…well, ok, but that was only once."
"Once my left foot," Mia said. "It was several times. More than Garet could count on both hands."
"Never more than ten," Garet said, shaking his head. "Five, maybe, but no more."
"I wonder if it eventually becomes a permanent residence?" Ivan asked. Ether appeared then, shaking what passed for her head.
"You eight are as bad as us, and we number seventy-two," she said condescendingly. "Act your species."
"What do you expect?" asked Bane's voice from somewhere near Isaac. "They're only human, after all."
That day, with Picard's boat sufficiently restocked for the trip back, and Isaac saying that it was a good thing Picard hadn't taken his winged ship to Lemuria or it would have wrecked, and Picard arguing that Lemurian-made ships weren't nearly as dangerous as that one from Lalivero, the Adepts were ready to go.
"Promise you'll visit. We might get giant monsters again and we need Adepts who can take them out," Cura said with a wink.
"You might be able to do that on your own, you know," Felix said.
"Just don't throw any more weapons at people on your side," Ivan added with a smile.
"Goodbye then," Cura said, and the Elder nodded, smiling wide.
"You know," Picard said in a calm voice, "in Lemuria, we do not have a true word for goodbye. The closest I can come is 'until next we meet.'"
"Until next we meet, then," Cura said, and all eight Adepts nodded. Isaac placed his hand on the wheel and the ship began to move, slowly at first and then faster, as bit by bit the Adepts left Sinelsol Island behind.
"We'll be back there," Sheba said. "Somehow I just know it."
"It'd be a crime not to go back," Garet said. "They've got great food."
"Nice breezes," Ivan added.
"Caves, and mountains," Felix put in.
Eventually every Adept except two engaged in this conversation. Isaac stood at the wheel, every bit the confident leader he'd been since the beginning, and Picard leaned against the side rail, staring up at the sky.
"Something interesting up there?" Isaac asked.
"Are you familiar with the phrase, 'you never know what you have until you lose it'?" Picard asked distantly.
"I am."
"It is truth. We were without
the sun for, at most, four days, and I have known rain clouds to hover for
longer and yet never felt such a loss as I did on Sinelsol Island. So yes,
Isaac, there is something very interesting up there."
"And that is?" Isaac asked with a hint of a grin.
"Our golden sun," Picard replied, smiling for all he was worth.
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Vil: All's well that ends happy, I suppose. So? Should there be a return trip in the Adepts' future? (the FAR future—ALWHI's got to finish sometime.) Review with comments and questions and whatever else!!
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