Rest In Peace Little One
This story is dedicated to our family cat, Kitty, who died on August 24, 2003 at age 12. He was a wonderful pet and there isn't a single cat out there more loving than Kitty was. May he always be remembered and live on in our hearts. I love you, Kitty.
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Tears developed in Isaac's eyes, threatening to plummet down his cheeks like brackish rivers. He blinked them back quickly; summoning what little strength he had to keep strong. 'How ironic,' he thought bitterly, 'that I have great physical and mental strength, yet when it comes to losing something, I am but a feeble child.' He cursed himself a hundred, a thousand, a million times for the death of the being that was his responsibility. Luna smiled from above, and sent the Winds whispering extenuating statements of sympathy to the Adept. Twisted by his depression, the mourning Venus Adept instead saw Luna grin wickedly and heard the Winds spit foul accusations at him. The imagined spit transformed into rain as water descended from the sky and heavy clouds gradually crept across Luna's radiant face. Each sphere felt like acid to Isaac.
He sniffed a few times and finished the inscription on the Psynergy Stone, stopping from time to time to wipe rain and tears from his cheek. Visions of the friend he'd never see again ghosted through Isaac's mind.
~*~
"Yes! We finally did it!" Garet cried triumphantly while wiping blood off his Excalibur. "We showed that creep!" He grinned broadly.
"Yeah, and he sure showed us, too." Jenna smiled weakly and sprinkled the Water of Life on Ivan and any other comatose Adepts. "That was a lot to go through for just a Summon. In fact, we would've been a lot better off without wasting all that time."
Sheba sat up nearby, dazed. "Is... Have... Have we defeated it?" Her long lashes closed gently as she clutched her head in her hands, feeling as if a massive sledgehammer crushed every bone in her body.
"Yes, yes we have," answered a golden haired young man absently. He was kneeling beside the familiar stone tablet that contained Iris, the most powerful Summon in all of Weyard. A few chirps resounded through the open, stone room. Isaac ran his finger gently over the piping creature's head, meeting its sapphire eyes with his own. "What's wrong, Flint?" he whispered to the djinni uneasily.
The noisy little beast twittered, "I don't feel so good.. Dullahan did something to me." Its wings twitched as it rolled around Isaac's gloved hand energetically. Geode darted out of Isaac's hair and tackled Flint below, squeaking threats of world domination. With a concerned frown plastered across his face, he pocketed both djinn and shuffled to the rest of the group. The Mars Adepts were arguing heatedly (((A/N: Sorry for the pun.))), their faces just about as red as Garet's hair.
"Let's just get out of here," Picard interrupted, ever the pacifist. "No point in quarrelling when we're already here and defeated Dullahan."
Jenna shot Garet a lethal glare and stomped over to the tablet irately. "Get your stupid Summon, then."
Everyone automatically shifted their gaze to Felix, the new leader of seven rowdy Adepts excluding himself. He stepped forward despite the obvious limp in his gait and placed both bloodied hands on the rock. Closing his eyes, the young man reveled silently in the charge of Psynergy the stone emitted and through barely slit eyelids watched the foreign letters careen through the room like swallows. The alien words were accompanied by fervent, boisterous winds that whipped Felix into the air and held him there as the ancient language flowed into his mind, body, to the very core of his soul. As he was lowered and the wrathful storm was allayed, Jenna and Mia began to situate their djinn in standby, preparing for the Summon.
Isaac observed Jenna in amazement, wondering where each of the nine tiny things came from; it was like an endless flow of Mars djinn. And while he wondered this he was reminded that he had an equal number as her as five Venus Djinn peeked out of his hair. After a short struggle in his pocket, two more erupted from his tunic, one from his scarf, and one from the sheath of his Sol Blade. They all crowded onto his shoulders, murmuring amongst themselves.
"Why doesn't he use us for a Summon?" squeaked Mold dejectedly.
"Quiet, quiet!" peeped a disgruntled Quartz as it climbed over Ground to get a better view. "I want to see Iris!"
Flint nudged itself between Isaac's neck and shoulder, sighing a long, shrill sigh. Isaac swatted the other djinn away and they reformed in his ears and hair. Then he gently lifted his first djinni and cradled it in his hand, leaning against his Sol Blade and waiting for the Summon to be unleashed.
Eventually, the team of Mia, Jenna, Felix, and Ivan encountered an enemy. Mia and Jenna grinned at each other with eager anticipation and summoned Iris from the heavens. Their djinn flew into the sky and formed into the illustrious Goddess of the Rainbows. In her glorious splendor, she rose magnificently, taking the wretched mortal monsters with her to the clouds. She was a stunning sight for all the Adepts, from the long violet hair tumbling down her back to the ornate and decorative garments that adorned her. But by far the most beautiful view to behold was the Goddess's face. And for a moment, all eight of them imagined a small playing on Iris's lovely features. She soon was beyond their sight, but the telltale rainbow climbing into space allowed them to follow her to the sun. Vanishing into great fiery orb, ringing laughter gushed to Weyard as the pitiful monsters plummeted away from the celestial legends.
The red aura of Iris faded into the bodies of the stunned Adepts and surrounded them with sparkling healing. Then, they found themselves back in Dullahan's lair once regaining rational thought. In an almost comical way, the Mars and Mercury djinn fluttered back to their masters to rest. Jenna couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity of it all: First they battle an incredibly strong and ugly giant named Dullahan, then they watch a real Goddess in action, and are rewarded with the sight of tiny djinn flitting through the air.
Flint cheeped at Isaac, looking as pale as little Venus djinn can look. Still in shock, Isaac ran his hand vacantly over the djinn and exchanged looks of awe with Garet.
"Wow," was the first utterance to be heard in the cave. "Just... wow," Sheba repeated. Several Adepts nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well," Garet said, finally coming to his senses, "I'd say that that battle was very worth the time." He sent a sidelong glance at Jenna, almost challenging her.
But all Jenna could do was shake her head.
After recovering completely, the group huddled around Felix and Isaac as they cast Retreat together. Then the befuddled warriors were again forced to cast another spell. Jenna squeezed the teleport lapis and cast Teleport, and they dissolved away into Contigo.
As the group spent more and more time battling, summoning, and constantly traveling, Flint's health became worse. Its once vibrant tan skin turned to a wan yellow and its mystifying sky blue eyes were shrouded in a watery green. It spent less time in Isaac's hair and more time perching on his shoulder, very unusual behavior for djinn. Isaac's distress grew with each shade of light yellow the djinn turned. He cast Cure Well and Potent Cure for the creature on a regular basis, hoping that Psynergy could alleviate its pain. With no avail from the Psynergy, Isaac finally decided to confront the other Adepts with his problem.
So, one night around a Psynergy-produced fire, Isaac notified them of Flint's condition. He held out the ailing djinni for them to inspect, explaining his constant attempts to heal it.
"We've never had this problem before..." Ivan said with a frown.
Sheba narrowed her eyes, "Why would this come up now, then?"
Isaac shook his head and shrugged, watching Flint anxiously. "I don't know."
Mia stretched out her arms and scooped the Venus djinni from Isaac's hands to her lap. "Why is for later. Healing comes now." She passed her milky white fingers lightly over its head to calm it down, and then cast a simple Ply. Gazing into the filmy poignant eyes of Flint, Mia knew that the Ply spells probably wouldn't work if they didn't now. But she cast Ply Well, Pure Ply, Wish, Wish Well, Pure Wish, and even Cure Poison anyways, hoping that one of them would restore the lively bouncing to the creature.
Felix, Jenna, and Picard took their turns also, casting a wide variety of Psynergy spells on Flint, from Cure to Aura to Ply to Restore. Still, nothing worked. Then they resorted to items such as Herbs, Nuts, Vials, Potions, Mist Potions, etc. and in spite of everything no progress was made. Next, more djinn appeared and used their healing powers to try curing Flint. But their endeavors were still denied and the creature only grew paler.
Trying to keep disappointment out of her voice, Mia asked tenderly, "Flint, when did this begin?"
It nestled into Mia's dress exhaustedly and chirped, "Anemos Sanctum."
"Do you know what happened to make you sick?"
"Yes."
The Adepts swapped expressions of surprise. "What was it, then?" Picard asked straightforwardly.
"Dullahan." The djinni's eyes closed wearily.
Bane, Crystal, and Ground scampered out of Isaac's scarf and rested on his arm, seeming more or less sane for once. "Dullahan hates us," Crystal cheeped unhappily. "He hates djinn. He wants us all to die."
Chiming on a happier note, Ground and Bane twittered together, "But we have Isaac to protect us!" They giggled together merrily, appearing to be unaware of Flint's demise.
"Why?" Felix questioned.
With a dark glare of hatred, the Crystal answered, "Why do you think that you need all of us to enter Anemos Sanctum?"
"Long ago," Bane interrupted with a few peeps, "before the time of Sol Sanctum, we lived in Anemos Sanctum as a clan of djinn. We resided in the Sanctum with the people of Anemos peacefully, disturbed by no one.
"Then, one day a powerful warrior called Dullahan visited the Sanctum, demanding shelter from the harsh winds of Jupiter Lighthouse. The priests of Anemos, taken aback at his rudeness, accepted anyways and gave him refuge in the back section of the Sanctum. For weeks we never heard from him, but strange incantations and crackling echoed through our Sanctum's halls.
"And suddenly he attacked us in our slumber near the priests. He cast a spell called 'Djinn Storm' and kidnapped Mist, Balm, Shade, Rime, Forge, Torch, Char, Reflux, Fugue, Fever, Ember, Cannon, and Fury. Then, Dullahan shouted the cursed name of Charon, the God of Destruction, Iris's counterpart. And before we knew it the God was before us... his crooked, bony fingers and evil, toothy grin were enveloping us." Bane shuddered, huddling under Crystal.
Ground continued the tale, warbling, "He set a curse on us and banished us for a hundred years, until the making of Sol Sanctum. We never found out why Dullahan hated us... But I suspect its because we were stronger than he was." Bane twittered from under Crystal. "He was an evil man, and extracted some of our power during the spells of the curse. He could summon the Wicked One without us, a feat never accomplished by mortal men. Then again, he was no longer mortal..." Ground trailed off.
Crystal added, "Dullahan had used our power to make himself immortal. He could not die by natural causes. From what we gathered in Sol Sanctum, the priests at our Sanctum managed to seal him away with the power of Anemos before he killed them... There was only one survivor." The djinn looked directly at Ivan. "The priestess of Anemos. She also sealed herself away, not to awaken until several hundred years later. When she did stir, she ventured into Contigo, finding that her home and husband in the city of Anemos had been swept off the face of Weyard. Then she settled in Contigo, remarried, and bore two children: a daughter and a son."
"You got off track!" Ground chirped and tackled Crystal. Suddenly, another djinni popped out of Isaac's clothes and landed on the three tumbling around below.
Vine poked its head up, squeaking its protests. Displeased, the djinni narrowed its wide cerulean eyes. "How this all affects Flint is that when Dullahan created the curse, he told us that he put in a special bit for naming his successor. We think that it has something to do with his death, not actually succession. So if he wants to deal a blow to us... When he's killed—"
"—One of you are killed," Isaac finished, staring at Flint with obvious pain.
Flint barely lifted its head, comprehending half of what it heard. Rolling its eyes feverishly, the Venus djinni whimpered at Mia. She bit her lip in disbelief, unable to say or do anything to comfort her friend or his djinni. A geyser of vomit emerged from the creature and yesterday's berry dinner greeted Mia's dress.
Giggles burst into the air from the general directions of Isaac's djinn as they crowded around Mia to tend to Flint. In a ceremonial looking fashion, they carried their ill comrade away. Soon Mia's lap was swarming with Mercury djinn that were squirting water all over the regurgitated food. The Mercury Adept wrinkled her nose in disgust, but followed Flint with her eyes. "Excuse me," she murmured and left for fortunately placed spring nearby.
Isaac saw nothing. No hyperactive Venus djinn, no vomit, no Mia. Just Flint... The first friend outside of Vale he'd made. So long ago... It seemed so far away, that day it all began. The day he and Garet began their long trek across the world only to find out that "saving" it would only bring about its destruction. And Flint had been there all through it, from Kolima to Lalivero to Prox.
A small tap on his shoulder aroused Isaac from his reminiscences. "Isaac? Are you okay?" Jenna's worried voice cut through his mind. "Isaac?"
"Yes." He was unfazed, his eyes remaining focused on something that the rest of the Adepts could not see. "Can we do anything to prevent...?"
Sap yawned, crawling out of Isaac's hair. In a high-pitched voice, the Venus djinn said sleepily, "If you can bring back Dullahan, Flint won't die. The curse specifically said that if Dullahan dies, one of us dies. So if he's still alive, Flint will be too."
"How are we supposed to bring that guy back to life?" Garet asked, perplexed.
"Don't ask me," the djinni returned and retreated back to the forest of Isaac's hair.
The group was silent for a moment, and then Garet's voice was heard once again. "Well, at least there won't be as many djinn droppings in your scarf..."
Jenna sent an excruciating kick at Garet and the other Adepts glared daggers at him as he tumbled backwards with a countenance of surprise and agony. Abruptly, Isaac stood up and left.
"Now look what you did!" Sheba cried. "Poor Isaac... How would you like it if Forge was going to die?"
"I wouldn't be able to summon Iris..." Another sharp kick crippled his other leg. "Ooooowww!" he howled. The unhappy group got up and headed off to Picard's ship, leaving the wincing Mars Adept alone. Isaac and Mia eventually returned to the ship, as did Garet.
"Isaac..." chirped Flint's weak voice. "Isaac..."
"What?" The Venus Adept sat up suddenly, hands flashing to the Venus djinni.
"Isaac, I want to say thank you." A small light of contentment twinkled in the creature's glazed eyes. "Thank you for bringing me back together with my friends and thank you for showing me the world. Because," it said with a cough, "you're my world. And I thank you for that, my friend. My Adept..." Salty liquid rolled down pasty hued skin. "I feel as if I've known you all my life. Which is saying a lot," it chuckled. "I've been alive for thousands of years! But at least I can end my life by the side of someone who adores me as much as I adore them. Thank you."
Isaac felt his cheeks also become wet, as he said frantically, "No! We're going to save you. We just have to revive Dullahan!"
Flint closed its eyes. "If Dullahan is revived, then the world shall not perish by men or erosion, but by a fanatical warrior bent on world destruction." Its eyes became narrow slits. "What's more, there is no way to give him a new lease of life. Or to me."
"But.. How can you throw all this away? Are you just going to give up?" he choked out.
"...Yes." Flint emerald eyes shone with sudden brightness. A feeling of melancholy wrenched the tiny being's heart as it watched the strong warrior above yield to emotion and cry. "I gave up, but Isaac, promise me you'll never give up."
"I prooomisssse..." he sobbed.
The Venus djinni bounded onto Isaac's shoulder, trying to console him with nudges of love, but eventually collapsed in the crook of his neck. "I'm glad I came with you yesterday, pleased to be with you today, and would willingly do it all over again tomorrow."
Isaac wept with his miniature friend long into the night, and finally drifted to dreamland after many hours. Flint followed into slumber just seconds later. And didn't wake up.
~*~
Isaac stared at the inscription on the Psynergy stone that acted as a gravestone. The group used Teleport to arrive in Vale at night because the Venus Adept had requested a grave behind Vale's Psynergy stone. In the quiet of the night, the Adepts whispered a heartfelt eulogy and buried the tiny creature.
Isaac stayed behind when the rest of them retired to Vale's Inn. The inscription had taken well over two hours to complete, but it was worth it. "I promise, Flint." Then he reread the stone's words for the hundredth time, voice quavering. "Rest in peace, little one."
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T-T Just like Kitty. It was so sudden; no one knew what to do when Kitty was sick. There wasn't anything we could do to help him. Then... He just died. I love you Kitty, so go to Kitty heaven...