Or I don't know. One of the two. Yeah. That's it.
Anywho, I wasnt' going to post this until I had enough names to make a
choice on what the new name should be. To answer some questions, I
really don't like the name, but if you do, tell me so. Otherwise I won't
write Chapter 10 until I have enough new titles. On with the story.
Chapter 9
Once the Jupiter Adept left in his charge was unconscious, Garet
couldn't turn away from Isaac.
The Venus Adept was looking paler by the minute. The glow that
had started at his eyes had encircled him and Alex's body, a single shaft
of the light rising towards the ceiling. He looked almost unearthly,
like he had died with Alex.
*He isn't dead. He isn't going to die, and Alex will be fine,*
Garet told himself firmly. *He has to be, they all have to be.*
"Garet, are you okay?" a gentle hand descended upon his arm like a
dove. He looked over at Mia. The Mercury Adept was looking at him,
concern in her deep blue eyes.
"You shouldn't be worried about me," he muttered. "Worry about
Isaac and Alex."
"But-"
"Mia, don't talk to me," he nearly snapped. She continued to
look at him for a moment, her eyes full of hurt, before slowly turning
away, her hand leaving his arm. He thought about apologizing, but
decided against it.
It would be better if he just drove her away.
*I lost control,* he thought dimly. He couldn't bare to look at
Isaac again, so he looked at his hands. Large hands, callused by years
of training with staff and sword, weather beaten, nails chewed down
unevenly. He clenched those hands, watching the chewed upon nails create
crescent shaped imprints in the skin of his palms, digging deeper, then
finally drawing blood.
He was completely enthralled with the sight, red rubies gathering
in the cracks of his hands, becoming streams that slid from his palms and
dripped onto the floor, splashing in miniscule red pools. Pools that
were far too similar to the ones that lay at intervals around the room,
despite the difference in size. Red blood, red like his element, Mars.
*Mars, God of War,* he thought numbly, still watching the blood
slide over his palms. *Mars, the element of fire. Fire, the element
that fascinates mortal man.*
Somehow, then, he knew. He simply knew the elements, better than
he knew himself.
Venus, Goddess of Love, the element of Earth. Venus Adepts had
the ability to control the Earth, and heal, as the earth could. And
Isaac, despite years being taught to show no compassion, no mercy, no
love, felt all of these things so strongly still.
Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, the element of Water.
Healing was an attribute given to all Mercury Adepts. And calmness like
a quiet, undisturbed pool. Deep, like the oceans, and sometimes
unpredictable.
Jupiter, God of Thunder, the element of Wind. Reading minds and
controlling the very composition of the weather was what Jupiter Adepts
were capable of, among many other things.
Mars, God of War, element of Fire. Nothing good came from fire,
only death and destruction, and it was all that a Mars Adept was capable
of. Death. For centuries fire had been associated with Hell, the spirit
prison in the bowels of the earth where eternal torture was merited out
to those unworthy of the purity and love of Heaven.
*And I, so closely linked to my element, I am the one that
tortures.* he clenched his fists still harder, and the rivers of crimson
overflowed. *Mars, the element of Hell I can only hurt the people I care
about the most.*
He heard a soft groan, and turned swiftly, unclenching his hands.
He felt the almost tickling sensation of blood running down his fingers,
but ignored it.
Felix was sitting up, hold his head with one hand, the other
attempting to stem the flow of blood from his nose.
"What happened?" he asked, looking around dazedly. Either his
own loss of consciousness of Sheba's had broken the spell. "What, how did
I get down here?"
That was when he began to panic. "Where's that girl?"
"Over here," Garet jerked his head to indicate Sheba's limp form,
guarded jealously by Picard. The Mercury Adept had done little after the
battle that had taken place with Felix. He seemed to be in utter shock
still.
"Let me fix that," Mia walked towards him, pushing his hand away
from his nose. It made Garet wince, Felix's nose was slightly to one
side, bruises blooming over his eyes. When Isaac aimed to break
someone's nose, he didn't mess around. "This might hurt," Mia was
warning Felix. A complete understatement, she took hold of his nose and
jerked it back into place before casting Ply. Felix let out a yell that
could have arisen the dead. Garet almost had half a mind to turn and see
if Alex had done just that, but stopped himself, nearly retching up what
he had eaten for breakfast. He didn't know where the thought had come
from, but it made him sick.
"You're not kidding," Felix muttered when Mia was done with him.
But his nose was in the right place, he wasn't bleeding, and the dark
circles around his eyes had faded away. He looked around Mia, and his
eyes widened in horror.
He had seen Isaac and Alex.
"Wh-what?" he whispered. "What's going on?"
Mia bowed her head, obviously unable to answer. No one else
seemed very willing to, so Garet did. "Alex is dead," he said flatly,
trying not to let his own words hit home too hard. He had to believe
that Isaac could bring him back. He HAD to. "Isaac is casting Revive."
Felix looked like he had been hit by a ton of bricks. He went
pale, and brought one hand to the side of his head.
"I...I remember...I...I..." he stuttered, staring at nothing, absently
pulling on his hair. "I...I killed him. I killed him..."
He curled his knees up, folded his arms over his knees and buried
his face into them. From his shaking shoulders, Garet guessed that he
was crying.
He half expected a reassuring word from Mia, or Jenna, or
somebody. Anybody. He knew he couldn't say anything, something seemed
to be caught in his throat.
Everyone was just as speechless as he was.
************
He could see again.
After an endless sea of the dead, even the site of Alex's corpse
was a relief. He stared at it for a moment, before realizing that a
shaft of pure light was lighting gently on the Mercury Adept, right over
the wound
But there was no wound. The gash in his chest had closed up
completely, leaving only the tear in his shirt and the blood congealing
on the ground around him to testify that it had been there at all. What
looked like feathers of the light were drifting down gently from the
ceiling. He watched them idly, wondering what they were, until they
lighted gently on the body, melting to become one with it.
Life returned to Alex's eyes in an instant, just before they
closed. He coughed feebly before he was able to breath in sharp,
shuddering gasps.
"Isaac?" he muttered.
Everything hit Isaac at once. Before Alex had said his name, he
wasn't sure if he even remembered it.
"It worked," he smiled, glad that he was already kneeling when he
sat back. He felt dizzy, disoriented, and tired. So very tired.
"ALEX!" Jenna shrieked, hugging the Mercury Adept tightly around
the neck. Alex's eyes widened, and he patted Jenna's head a little
awkwardly. "Hi Jenna."
Isaac looked around. Sheba was slumped against the wall, Picard
standing over her, looking at Alex with relief. Felix was awake, his
arms wrapped around his knees that he had drawn to his chest, staring at
Alex in utter disbelief. Mia was crying silently. Feizhi was sitting
next to her, something of the terror she had experienced still in her
eyes, but she was smiling. Ivan looked like a load had been taken off
his shoulders and was shouting something, he wasn't sure what. And
Garet.
Garet was staring at him, his expression unreadable, his hands
covered in blood.
Isaac wasn't sure if he wanted to know whose it was.
"Isaac," Alex said slowly. Isaac turned to face him. Jenna had
released him, and was also looking at him worriedly. "You, you brought me
back."
"I guess I did," he replied softly, not sure what to say. It
wasn't every day that you brought someone back from the dead.
"Thank you," Alex smiled, but his eyes remained haunted.
*Of course, I probably look the same way,* Isaac reminded
himself. *We just saw things that no mortal should every see.*
"Are you alright?" Jenna reached around Alex to put one hand on
his shoulder. They hadn't known each other very long at all, but Isaac
had found himself rather attached to the Mars Adept despite everything.
"Yeah," he returned the smile Alex was giving him. "I think I
am."
"You," Garet had turned to Picard, hate in his eyes. "Why are
you here?"
"I'm following orders," Picard replied softly.
"You're a Lemurian," Ivan said. "What are you doing in Angora,
and why are you working for Feh?"
Picard looked at him with golden eyes, as if estimating how much
he could trust the Jupiter Adept before answering. "I want to be free.
I owe a life debt, and until it's paid, I can't go home."
*******************
Picard had never witnessed a death until that moment.
The closest he had come to the cold grip of mortality was when
the elders of his clan climbed into boats that would carry them to the
life beyond.
He had heard of very few deaths by accident, mostly the injured
were healed before such tragedy could occur. If the accident killed the
unfortunate soul, the body was never seen by civilians.
He had been told once that when someone died, it was as if they
were merely asleep.
That was something that he didn't believe in anymore. When the
Mercury Adept. Alex had died, he had known. It wasn't from the wound he
had received, it was that he simply knew. Whatever the body was, it
wasn't a person anymore. Only an empty, broken shell.
He hadn't liked that. He hadn't liked it at all. And when Felix
had awoken, and seen his deeds with his own eyes.
"A life debt?" Ivan, the Jupiter Adept, gave him a curious look.
How could they be so calm? One of their number had just died. He had
returned, yes, but he had died.
"Feh saved me from one of your prisons," Picard answered, looking
at the floor so that he did not have to look at any of them. "There is
little love for Lemurians or Adepts of any kind left in the world. I
only want to be free, and Sheba only wants revenge for the people that
tried to kill her."
"If I come with you," Isaac said, slowly. "You have to leave
them alone."
Picard could only stare at him.
"You'll be free, she'll have her revenge," Isaac explained. "I
don't want any more death here, do you?"
"N-no," the Lemurian answered shakily, unable to meet the Venus
Adept's eyes. "I don't. If you come quietly, we'll leave them alone."
"Alright," Isaac tried to stand, but he quickly found himself on
his knees. He looked up at Picard anyway, his eyes full of haunted
shadows. "Then I'll go with you."
***************
Alright, now you all think I'm insane. Well, I'm going to tell you where
a lot of the ideas for this chapter came from. First off, I was reading
Triad Orion's fic, Trails of Destiny. Go. Read it. Now. It's very
good, and he'd better update or I'll sic an angry Garet on him. It was
in Chapter 18 where he mentioned something about the Mars Lighthouse. If
you read it, you'll find out what. ^_^ It gave me an idea, and I stuck
with it.
The second is I've listened to "Hero" off of the Spiderman soundtrack one
too many times.
Well, review and stuff, it makes me happy! I love all of you people who
review! ^_^
Anywho, I wasnt' going to post this until I had enough names to make a
choice on what the new name should be. To answer some questions, I
really don't like the name, but if you do, tell me so. Otherwise I won't
write Chapter 10 until I have enough new titles. On with the story.
Chapter 9
Once the Jupiter Adept left in his charge was unconscious, Garet
couldn't turn away from Isaac.
The Venus Adept was looking paler by the minute. The glow that
had started at his eyes had encircled him and Alex's body, a single shaft
of the light rising towards the ceiling. He looked almost unearthly,
like he had died with Alex.
*He isn't dead. He isn't going to die, and Alex will be fine,*
Garet told himself firmly. *He has to be, they all have to be.*
"Garet, are you okay?" a gentle hand descended upon his arm like a
dove. He looked over at Mia. The Mercury Adept was looking at him,
concern in her deep blue eyes.
"You shouldn't be worried about me," he muttered. "Worry about
Isaac and Alex."
"But-"
"Mia, don't talk to me," he nearly snapped. She continued to
look at him for a moment, her eyes full of hurt, before slowly turning
away, her hand leaving his arm. He thought about apologizing, but
decided against it.
It would be better if he just drove her away.
*I lost control,* he thought dimly. He couldn't bare to look at
Isaac again, so he looked at his hands. Large hands, callused by years
of training with staff and sword, weather beaten, nails chewed down
unevenly. He clenched those hands, watching the chewed upon nails create
crescent shaped imprints in the skin of his palms, digging deeper, then
finally drawing blood.
He was completely enthralled with the sight, red rubies gathering
in the cracks of his hands, becoming streams that slid from his palms and
dripped onto the floor, splashing in miniscule red pools. Pools that
were far too similar to the ones that lay at intervals around the room,
despite the difference in size. Red blood, red like his element, Mars.
*Mars, God of War,* he thought numbly, still watching the blood
slide over his palms. *Mars, the element of fire. Fire, the element
that fascinates mortal man.*
Somehow, then, he knew. He simply knew the elements, better than
he knew himself.
Venus, Goddess of Love, the element of Earth. Venus Adepts had
the ability to control the Earth, and heal, as the earth could. And
Isaac, despite years being taught to show no compassion, no mercy, no
love, felt all of these things so strongly still.
Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, the element of Water.
Healing was an attribute given to all Mercury Adepts. And calmness like
a quiet, undisturbed pool. Deep, like the oceans, and sometimes
unpredictable.
Jupiter, God of Thunder, the element of Wind. Reading minds and
controlling the very composition of the weather was what Jupiter Adepts
were capable of, among many other things.
Mars, God of War, element of Fire. Nothing good came from fire,
only death and destruction, and it was all that a Mars Adept was capable
of. Death. For centuries fire had been associated with Hell, the spirit
prison in the bowels of the earth where eternal torture was merited out
to those unworthy of the purity and love of Heaven.
*And I, so closely linked to my element, I am the one that
tortures.* he clenched his fists still harder, and the rivers of crimson
overflowed. *Mars, the element of Hell I can only hurt the people I care
about the most.*
He heard a soft groan, and turned swiftly, unclenching his hands.
He felt the almost tickling sensation of blood running down his fingers,
but ignored it.
Felix was sitting up, hold his head with one hand, the other
attempting to stem the flow of blood from his nose.
"What happened?" he asked, looking around dazedly. Either his
own loss of consciousness of Sheba's had broken the spell. "What, how did
I get down here?"
That was when he began to panic. "Where's that girl?"
"Over here," Garet jerked his head to indicate Sheba's limp form,
guarded jealously by Picard. The Mercury Adept had done little after the
battle that had taken place with Felix. He seemed to be in utter shock
still.
"Let me fix that," Mia walked towards him, pushing his hand away
from his nose. It made Garet wince, Felix's nose was slightly to one
side, bruises blooming over his eyes. When Isaac aimed to break
someone's nose, he didn't mess around. "This might hurt," Mia was
warning Felix. A complete understatement, she took hold of his nose and
jerked it back into place before casting Ply. Felix let out a yell that
could have arisen the dead. Garet almost had half a mind to turn and see
if Alex had done just that, but stopped himself, nearly retching up what
he had eaten for breakfast. He didn't know where the thought had come
from, but it made him sick.
"You're not kidding," Felix muttered when Mia was done with him.
But his nose was in the right place, he wasn't bleeding, and the dark
circles around his eyes had faded away. He looked around Mia, and his
eyes widened in horror.
He had seen Isaac and Alex.
"Wh-what?" he whispered. "What's going on?"
Mia bowed her head, obviously unable to answer. No one else
seemed very willing to, so Garet did. "Alex is dead," he said flatly,
trying not to let his own words hit home too hard. He had to believe
that Isaac could bring him back. He HAD to. "Isaac is casting Revive."
Felix looked like he had been hit by a ton of bricks. He went
pale, and brought one hand to the side of his head.
"I...I remember...I...I..." he stuttered, staring at nothing, absently
pulling on his hair. "I...I killed him. I killed him..."
He curled his knees up, folded his arms over his knees and buried
his face into them. From his shaking shoulders, Garet guessed that he
was crying.
He half expected a reassuring word from Mia, or Jenna, or
somebody. Anybody. He knew he couldn't say anything, something seemed
to be caught in his throat.
Everyone was just as speechless as he was.
************
He could see again.
After an endless sea of the dead, even the site of Alex's corpse
was a relief. He stared at it for a moment, before realizing that a
shaft of pure light was lighting gently on the Mercury Adept, right over
the wound
But there was no wound. The gash in his chest had closed up
completely, leaving only the tear in his shirt and the blood congealing
on the ground around him to testify that it had been there at all. What
looked like feathers of the light were drifting down gently from the
ceiling. He watched them idly, wondering what they were, until they
lighted gently on the body, melting to become one with it.
Life returned to Alex's eyes in an instant, just before they
closed. He coughed feebly before he was able to breath in sharp,
shuddering gasps.
"Isaac?" he muttered.
Everything hit Isaac at once. Before Alex had said his name, he
wasn't sure if he even remembered it.
"It worked," he smiled, glad that he was already kneeling when he
sat back. He felt dizzy, disoriented, and tired. So very tired.
"ALEX!" Jenna shrieked, hugging the Mercury Adept tightly around
the neck. Alex's eyes widened, and he patted Jenna's head a little
awkwardly. "Hi Jenna."
Isaac looked around. Sheba was slumped against the wall, Picard
standing over her, looking at Alex with relief. Felix was awake, his
arms wrapped around his knees that he had drawn to his chest, staring at
Alex in utter disbelief. Mia was crying silently. Feizhi was sitting
next to her, something of the terror she had experienced still in her
eyes, but she was smiling. Ivan looked like a load had been taken off
his shoulders and was shouting something, he wasn't sure what. And
Garet.
Garet was staring at him, his expression unreadable, his hands
covered in blood.
Isaac wasn't sure if he wanted to know whose it was.
"Isaac," Alex said slowly. Isaac turned to face him. Jenna had
released him, and was also looking at him worriedly. "You, you brought me
back."
"I guess I did," he replied softly, not sure what to say. It
wasn't every day that you brought someone back from the dead.
"Thank you," Alex smiled, but his eyes remained haunted.
*Of course, I probably look the same way,* Isaac reminded
himself. *We just saw things that no mortal should every see.*
"Are you alright?" Jenna reached around Alex to put one hand on
his shoulder. They hadn't known each other very long at all, but Isaac
had found himself rather attached to the Mars Adept despite everything.
"Yeah," he returned the smile Alex was giving him. "I think I
am."
"You," Garet had turned to Picard, hate in his eyes. "Why are
you here?"
"I'm following orders," Picard replied softly.
"You're a Lemurian," Ivan said. "What are you doing in Angora,
and why are you working for Feh?"
Picard looked at him with golden eyes, as if estimating how much
he could trust the Jupiter Adept before answering. "I want to be free.
I owe a life debt, and until it's paid, I can't go home."
*******************
Picard had never witnessed a death until that moment.
The closest he had come to the cold grip of mortality was when
the elders of his clan climbed into boats that would carry them to the
life beyond.
He had heard of very few deaths by accident, mostly the injured
were healed before such tragedy could occur. If the accident killed the
unfortunate soul, the body was never seen by civilians.
He had been told once that when someone died, it was as if they
were merely asleep.
That was something that he didn't believe in anymore. When the
Mercury Adept. Alex had died, he had known. It wasn't from the wound he
had received, it was that he simply knew. Whatever the body was, it
wasn't a person anymore. Only an empty, broken shell.
He hadn't liked that. He hadn't liked it at all. And when Felix
had awoken, and seen his deeds with his own eyes.
"A life debt?" Ivan, the Jupiter Adept, gave him a curious look.
How could they be so calm? One of their number had just died. He had
returned, yes, but he had died.
"Feh saved me from one of your prisons," Picard answered, looking
at the floor so that he did not have to look at any of them. "There is
little love for Lemurians or Adepts of any kind left in the world. I
only want to be free, and Sheba only wants revenge for the people that
tried to kill her."
"If I come with you," Isaac said, slowly. "You have to leave
them alone."
Picard could only stare at him.
"You'll be free, she'll have her revenge," Isaac explained. "I
don't want any more death here, do you?"
"N-no," the Lemurian answered shakily, unable to meet the Venus
Adept's eyes. "I don't. If you come quietly, we'll leave them alone."
"Alright," Isaac tried to stand, but he quickly found himself on
his knees. He looked up at Picard anyway, his eyes full of haunted
shadows. "Then I'll go with you."
***************
Alright, now you all think I'm insane. Well, I'm going to tell you where
a lot of the ideas for this chapter came from. First off, I was reading
Triad Orion's fic, Trails of Destiny. Go. Read it. Now. It's very
good, and he'd better update or I'll sic an angry Garet on him. It was
in Chapter 18 where he mentioned something about the Mars Lighthouse. If
you read it, you'll find out what. ^_^ It gave me an idea, and I stuck
with it.
The second is I've listened to "Hero" off of the Spiderman soundtrack one
too many times.
Well, review and stuff, it makes me happy! I love all of you people who
review! ^_^