Chapter 3

The entire back end of the school was on fire when Mia broke free of the tree line. Without a second thought, she cast glacier, smothering the flames in ice. She banished the crust of frozen water and looked frantically around the clearing. "Garet? GARET?!"
She stepped closer, almost hesitantly, then noticed Isaac.
The Venus Adept was unconscious, his clothes smoking feebily. Mia kneeled next to him and cast Pure Ply. Isaac's eyes opened, but he still looked dazed. He reached one hand towards her face, as if trying to discern whether she was really there or not. "M-Mia?"
"I'm here," she answered him softly. "You shouldn't move."
He smiled faintly, and slipped back into unconsciousness. Mia slipped out of her vest and folded it into a pillow, placing it under his head with care. She removed Isaac's cloak, now scorched and tattered, and tucked it around his shoulders.
Then she rose to find Garet.
The porch was a mess. The roof had collapsed, littering the area with burned shingles and charred wood. Panicking, Mia began to shift the wood with her hands.
*I wish Ivan was here,* she couldn't help thinking. *He could find Garet in less than a minute.*
"Ivan?" she yelled, hoping that he would answer her despite her harsh words. "Ivan! I need your help!"
There was no answer, not even the birds were singing. Aside from her own struggles, everything was completely silent.
Which must have attracted one of Isaac's guards.
She didn't hear him until the edge of a blade pressed into the soft tissue of her throat. She stiffened, trying not to scream.
"What have you done?" a voice as cold and hard as the metal next to her skin asked.
"I found Isaac like this and healed him," she replied, trying to keep her panic and tears at bay. "I'm trying to find my friend, Garet. The roof must have fallen on top of him."
The sword was taken away, and the guard kneeled next to her. "If that is the truth, then I will help you, Healer."

***

Ivan rubbed his eyes dry. *This is no time to be crying. Mia needs my help, and so does Garet, friend or not.*
He pushed himself away from the tree he had been leaning against and stumbled towards the school, feeling oddly drained. It had been a long time since he had cried, and it seemed to have taken everything out of him.
"Mia!" he yelled hoarsely when he reached the clearing.
One of Isaac's guards leapt to his feet, standing almost protectively in front of the Mercury adept. Ivan almost laughed. The man didn't seem to realize that the girl he was protecting was capable of killing him with a thought.
"No!" Mia put a restraining hand on the man's arm when he went for his sword. "He's a friend! Ivan, I need your help! I can't find Garet, I think he's."
"Right," Ivan nodded and closed his eyes.
He was outside of himself, in a world composed of light and shadow. He could "see" everything around him the subtle emerald glow of the trees, the golden luminescence that was Isaac, the halo of bright azure halo that was Mia, and the roughly human shaped gentle radiance of mahogany that was the guard.
*Oh, Garet, please be alright, please be alright*
*What is he doing? I'm not sure if we can trust him*
*Night darkness confusion when did everything become so dark? Momma? Poppa?*
Ivan shivered at Isaac's dreams, moving ahead quickly, used energy swirling around him in lavender waves.
The porch was pitch black. He bypassed beams of burned and broken wood with ease, until he found a flame of crimson Garet. It was dimmed, but there was no mistaking the Fire Adept, or the fact that he was still alive.
"*Mia, he's under the roof,*" he "said", a tendril of Psynergy reaching out to touch her. He almost recoiled before he had fully conveyed the message. Mia's anxiety and fear had hit him upon contact like a physical blow. "*He's unconscious, and wounded, but he's alive.*"
He sensed her understanding and began to return when something else jerked at his attention.
It was Isaac. The Venus Adept's dreams had become more violent, more disturbing than before. Vapors of hate, fear, anger, and pain were spreading from him like snakes of black smoke. Ivan ventured closer, and was pulled in.
It was chaos. A melee of shadows, faces, and blood. Ivan let loose a silent scream that nobody heard.
And then it was gone. Ivan couldn't move, couldn't think for a moment, before he was awake, in his own body, shivering. He fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself, feeling as if he was going to cry again.
"Ivan! Are you alright?"
"I-I-I'm fine," he winced, his shaking voice didn't sound convincing, even to him. "G-Garet he's."
He was shaking too much and couldn't finish. Mia ran to his side, looking worried. "What about Garet? Is he alright?"
Ivan only sat down completely and pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.
"Ivan, where is he?" Mia's hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his reverie.
"I-I'll use lift," he stood, and nearly collapsed. Mia moved to support him, and the guard looked scared.
"Ivan? What happened? What's wrong? You were out of it for so long what were you doing?"
"It's nothing," this time, Ivan managed to keep his voice from shaking. He pushed Mia's helping hands away from him. "I'm fine."
He moved towards the porch, remember Garet's position, and lifted one hand. Rings of Psynergy came at his call, the wood shuddered, then rose, glowing faintly with power.
Garet wasn't looking too good. He was lying face down, but Ivan could tell from where he was standing that he was badly hurt. Many of his bones were sticking out at odd angles, and a pool of blood had gathered beneath them. He heard Mia gasp behind him.
"Get him," Ivan ordered her through gritted teeth. "I don't know how long I can hold this."
Mia obliged, as did Isaac's guard, though the latter was some what reluctant to run under the falling wood. Together they pulled out the injured Mars Adept from the wreckage.
Ivan let the wood drop once they were out of the way. It took much more out of him then he thought possible. He watched Mia cast Pure Ply groggily. The blue and white light pulled the broken bones back into their original position. The cuts on his face and torso closed up, and his bruises faded away.
"He's going to be fine," Mia turned to him, tears of gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you, Ivan."
He managed to nod in response before his legs gave out beneath him, and the world became a void of nothing.

***

Mia entered the clearing where she had left Jenna and Felix. Jenna appeared to be in near hysterics, and Felix was doing his best to calm her down.
"Felix, Jenna," she said softly. They both looked up in alarm, then relaxed slightly when they realized who it was. "It's safe now, we can go back to the school."
"O-okay," Jenna nodded, drying stray tears with her sleeve. Felix nodded and got to his feet, pulling his sister with him.
They made their way back to the school, to find Garet and Ivan fully conscious, and a heavily guarded Alex. The Mercury Adept was covered with blood, a tear in his shirt dangerously close to his heart. He looked up and waved cheerfully, however, a smile on his face.
"Alex!" Jenna jogged the rest of the way to him, ignoring Isaac's guards, who looked very unsure as to what they were supposed to do. She kneeled in front of him, checking for a wound. "Alex, what happened?"
"I got hit by an arrow, no big deal," Alex shrugged. He sighed at Jenna's panicked look and fresh bout of tears. "Jenna," he took her hands in his own. "I'm fine. I'm a Mercury Adept, remember?"
"B-but you could have died and and" she buried her face into the shoulder that wasn't splattered with blood and started sobbing. Alex looked a bit surprised, then carefully encircled his arms around her back.
"I'm alright, I'm alright," he said soothingly. "Don't worry about me."
"Garet, Ivan!" Mia ignored Alex and Jenna, and addressed the other two Adepts. "Are you two alright?"
"We're fine," Garet answered for both of them, accepting her hand up. "A good night's sleep would make both of us feel better, but as of now, we're fine."
"I'm glad to hear it," Mia smiled. "How's Isaac?"
"He hasn't woken up yet," Ivan answered her this time, and she helped him gain his feet. "His breathing and pulse rate are regular, he just needs some more rest."

***

The first thing he was aware of was the warm sunlight on his face.
The second thing was a pounding head ache.
Isaac opened his eyes slowly, staring up at the mottled blue and white dome of the sky for several minutes, or hours, he couldn't really tell. Somewhere above him a bird was singing, the song blending with the whisper of the wind through the trees.
*It's so peaceful,* he closed his eyes again, breathing in the rich, earthy scent of the grass beneath him. *All I want all I've ever wanted.*
His thoughts were cut short by a hint of smoke in the air, and the muttering of soft voices. Isaac sat up.
And couldn't believe what he was seeing for a moment.
The entire back half of the school was a charred ruin. The porch he had played on as a child was now a pile of rubble. The back wall was burned, a gaping hole where the door used to be The nearby trees were badly scorched and singed, and the moving stone that was still standing where he remembered it to have been was blackened and cracked.
A couple of yards away the other Adepts were conversing quietly with his guards, one of which had a very badly burn cloak. Three of the Adepts he didn't know.
"Master Isaac!" one of the guards, he had never bothered to learn their names, noticed his movements. The others turned as one.
Trying not to curse, Isaac managed to push himself to his feet. Trying to keep his head from spinning, he walked over to where they were standing.
"Still wanna try to recruit us?" Garet asked, grinning obnoxiously.
"Shut up," he growled.
"War is an evil thing," Ivan stated softly. Ivan noticed that he looked rather pale. "No one should be forced to take place in one."
"Uh huh, this coming from the guy that enjoys hurting anyone weaker," Garet gave Ivan a disbelieving look.
"And tortures small, furry animals," one of the newer Adepts, a boy maybe a year or two older than him, added. Isaac decided right away that he liked him.
"I do NOT," Ivan gave the blue haired boy a look that could have melted solid steel. "And I admit, I was a little brat, but I NEVER hurt ANYONE."

"Just psychologically damaged us," another of the new Adepts, an older boy with long brown hair pointed out. "Admit it, Ivan, you're a sadistic, evil brat and you know it."
Isaac made note that the list of people he liked was growing.
"I'm not sadistic!" Ivan protested.
"Oh, but you admit that your evil," Garet smirked.
"Garet!"
"Hey, we're just kidding," Garet clapped the younger boy on the shoulder. "We needed SOMEONE to make our lives miserable."
"And our lives were SO happy to begin with, right?" the brown haired girl rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, they were pretty good," Isaac said, quietly. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"I'm Jenna," the brown haired girl broke the silence, introducing herself. "This is my brother, Felix."
The brown haired boy nodded.
"And I'm Alex," the blue haired boy grinned, holding out one hand. Isaac shook it, allowing himself a small smile. "Nice ta meet ya, Isaac."
"You freak, his guards almost killed you," Mia glared at him.
"Anyone could have made that mistake," Alex waved it off.
"Oh, you were the boy in the tree," Isaac noted the dried blood spattering Alex's tunic and vest. "I apologize."
"Don't worry about it. I'm a Mercury Adept. What's the point if I don't heal something every once in a while?" Alex asked.
"Alex, the point of Mercury Adepts IS to heal, but we like to avoid it when we can-" Mia began.
"Because if we're healing it means that someone had to suffer before we could," Alex finished for her, rehearsing the lecture as if he had heard the same thing over and over.
"We should go inside," Mia ignored him. "Ivan and Garet are tired, and I'm sure Isaac feels the same way."
Isaac nodded, the headache had only gotten worse the longer he stood up, and all he could really concentrate on was the hope of a nice, soft bed. He numbly followed Mia into the remains of the school, not even looking back to see if anyone else followed.

***

"What's up, Felix?" Jenna asked, looking at her brother with concern.
Felix didn't look at her. He seemed to be surveying the damage of the porch. "Alex, do you think you could wash the wood off?"
"No problem," Alex grinned. He put his hands together, and a faint blue light surrounded them. When he separated them, a sphere of water had gathered between them, connected to his finger tips by thin strings of arctic Psynergy.
He coaxed it, using the orb of aqua in his hands to direct a larger force. The flood washed away the roof, and destroyed anything that couldn't be removed. Alex, pale and shaking visibly despite the warm summer air, let the sphere drop. It splashed into a small puddle on the grass, glittering in the sun.
Felix had to throw out an arm to keep Alex from following the sphere.
"I-I'm alright," Alex protested, looking up at him. Felix nearly let him fall. He was as white as a sheet, and his eyes were a pale, ice blue.
"I'm sorry, Alex," he whispered. "I shouldn't have-"
"N-no, I-I'm fine," the Mercury Adept repeated, obviously lying. "I-I'm just so cold."
"Jenna, help him inside," Felix ordered her. Jenna nodded and took Alex's weight on herself. She hooked one arm around his back, supporting him completely, and began walking slowly to the front of the school. "I can do the rest from here."
"Whatever you say, Felix," Jenna whispered.
Felix waited until they were gone before he went to work. With the wave of one hand, and a brief flare of Psynergy, he made the wood come back to life. It healed itself, the supports rooting into the ground. The wall rippled, becoming ridged and scarred looking, but whole. The trunks of slender trees rose up at even intervals around the porch, their branches bursting from their tops and creating an intertwined canopy of leaves and boughs for a roof. As a final touch, Felix dropped a curtain of ivy over the doorway. Remembering his sister's love for flowers, he allowed a few deep purple stars to bloom.
Satisfied, Felix climbed onto the porch, pulled aside the draping ivy, and walked inside.

***


Isaac woke up in a room he recognized all too well.
*My old room,* he smiled sleepily. He had been to eager to have his face hit the pillow to notice ANYTHING the night before. He sat up, holding the soft cotton sheets in his hands, looking around at the honey colored tones of the wooden interior, lit up by the light through the window. *Nothing's changed,* he marveled. *Everything's exactly the same but.*
He looked down to his left wrist. Nothing was there but a tan line.
*I didn't lose it, did I?*
He looked frantically, and found the object he was searching for right on the nightstand next to his bed.
It was a bracelet. A ring of thick gold, with inscriptions of an ancient tongue etched all along the outside. It was his only sign of his rank, of his role in the army. Without it, he was simply another student in the school. He unclasped it and secured it on his left wrist, not wanting to let it out of his sight.
"Never lose it, Isaac," Feh had warned him. "Without it you're no one."
That done, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, blinking owlishly. After a moment's hesitation, he crossed the room and kneeled in front of his bureau and pulled out one of the drawers.
His old clothes, untouched and unfaded, were all folded neatly within the drawer's confines.
Isaac's eyes began to sting as he opened each drawer. Not a sock had been removed, not a bauble hidden amidst the folds disturbed.
The tears that had been gathering at the corners of his eyes were released when he opened the top drawer.
There, atop clothing that had fit him at the age of eight, was a vest that would fit him now. Leaves were embroidered along the green trim in gold, the thick brown cloth of the vest was of the highest quality.
"So I was missed, after all," he whispered, drying his tears with the sleeve of the pajamas Felix had borrowed him. When he did so, the bracelet brushed against his cheek, cold and hard, almost as a reminder.
"Isaac?" Mia's voice came from the other side of the door, followed by a tentative knock. "Can I come in?"
He closed the drawer and moved back towards his bed. "Yeah, go ahead."
The Mercury Adept entered the room, fully dressed, ad bundle of cloth under her arm and a pair of boots in one hand. "Oh, good, Felix's pajamas DID fit you."
"More or less," Isaac shrugged.
"Well, these aren't as nice as your uniform, but you need something," she handed him the bundle, which turned out to be an old tunic and pair of breeches that had apparently at one time belonged to Felix. "And these are Garet's old boots. They should fit."
She waited patiently while Isaac sat on the bed and pulled on the boots. "Perfect."
"I know they're kind of scuffed and worn," she apologized quickly.
"But they're broken in and incredibly comfortable," he smiled. "I always liked hand-me-downs better than new clothes."
"Alright," Mia looked significantly happier than he had seen her so far. "I'll let you get dressed."
Isaac was very quick to do so the moment she closed the door. The old training clothes felt soft against his skin after wearing starched and pressed uniforms fo so long. His gaze strayed to the vest as he knotted his belt. *Who would put that much work into something like this for ME of all people? No one has EVER done something like this for me.*
He picked up the vest, holding it out in front of him. The sunlight from the window reflected off of the gold, causing the leaves to shimmer.
*Who?* he wondered, slipping into the vest. *And why?*
Deciding not to worry about it, he tugged on Garet's old boots, and left the room.
Mia was waiting for him. She gasped when she saw him. "You found it!"
"Wha-?"
She took the two remaining steps between them, holding the loose ends of the vest with her fingers. "This vest Hama, Jenna and I made it in case you ever came back."
"I found it in my drawer," Isaac took a step back. "Th-thank you."
"It's it's almost like you never left."
Isaac stiffened. *All I want all I've ever wanted.*
"Isaac?" Mia put one hand on his arm. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he grinned weakly, trying to keep the fact that he was shaking out of his voice. "I was thinking about what I'm going to do next. The general of the Angoran Armies can't stay in a school for forever."
"Th-then I suppose you'll have to leave," Mia said softly, sounding as if she was close to crying.
*All I want, all I've ever wanted.*
"No," he loosened the bracelet, the one token that named him leader of the Angoran Armies. "Don't lose it, Isaac," Feh's words echoed in his mind, but he ignored them.
The gold band clattered on the floor.
*Is peace.*

***

"Master Hama?"
Hama stood and turned. The violet haired girl standing in the temple's entrance caused her to smile. "Feizhi, what are you doing here?"
"My father is coming," Feizhi explained. "I wanted to warn you."
"I already knew he was coming," Hama sighed. "The reason, however, has not been revealed to me yet."
"Isaac disappeared," Feizhi lowered he head. "My father thinks you had something to do with it."
"Then it was in the area of the school," Hama whispered. "Thank you, Feizhi, will you come with me? I must go back."
The girl nodded her head in agreement.

***

"But Master Isaac-"
Isaac held up one hand, and his guard's-no, Nathan's-protests fell silent. "That's not who I am anymore."
"But Isaac this will not help Angora," Nathan told him. They were standing on the steps that lead to the front door of the school, and Isaac had just broken the news that he wished to remain at the school.
"You'd be surprised," Isaac held out his one symbol of power. Nathan took it, looking dumbfounded. "Give it to someone who wants it. It's rather pretty, Feizhi might like it."
"Isaac-"
"No," he shook his head. "I just want to live my life in peace right here. Is that too much to ask?"
Nathan put one hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? There's no turning back from this decision."
"I'm sure," Isaac said, and he meant it. "Coming here helped me remember who I am, helped me remember that I'm not someone who only knows war and bloodshed."
Nathan gave him an appraising look. "What should I tell Master Feh?"
"I don't care," Isaac shook his head. "I'm through."
"Then I guess this is goodbye," Nathan grinned, signaling to his three companions, who had been saddling the horses in the front yard. They mounted their own horses and trotted up, leading the fourth. "I hope you are satisfied with where this life takes you."
"Oh, believe me, I will," Isaac returned the grin. Nathan mounted his horse. "Take care of yourself, Nathan and thank you."
"Goodbye, Isaac."
With the wave of one hand, Nathan wheeled his horse around and cantered down the path. The other guards yelled goodbyes over their shoulders before they disappeared among the trees.
"You really think this is the right choice?" Ivan asked him from the doorway.
Isaac turned to him. "I know it is."
Only later did he find out that all four guards were executed for hs desertion.