Chapter 3: RIDICULOUS!
Ivan and Sheba had tried several times that day to find out Picard's age. All that they did find out was that he was partial to the color blue, liked his Djinni a great deal, thought about Lemuria and if it was returning to its former glory, and that he needed more socks.
Isaac was kept busy at home, commanding his army of Djinni and helping his mom and the inn keeper with the cooking. They obviously thought that the birthday of a guest merited a feast, and had set about making one. He was a bit afraid that he had misjudged when appointing the Mars Adepts to firework duty. He had heard several explosions from Garet's back yard, and he wasn't sure if they were accidents, tests, or if Jenna and Garet simply enjoyed the sound.
*Isaac! The Party site is almost finished!* Sheba's voice rang clear in his mind.
*Do you know Picard's age yet?* he asked.
*No.*
*Great. Well, the cake's all made, and my mom is wondering-*
"RIDICULOUS!"
The yell made him jump, nearly cut of his finger with the knife he had been using on vegetables, and lose contact with Sheba.
"What's ridiculous, Kraden?" Dora asked politely. She hadn't been overly fond of Kraden since she found out that technically he was responsible for her "baby boy" leaving on a quest that took him nearly two years. Isaac had given up on trying to explain that the lighthouses had NEEDED to be lit, and that Kraden had been partially responsible for the second Golden Age. She would probably never forgive him.
"Rebuilding this town, first of all," Kraden pointed out. "Trying to find out Picard's age, second of all."
"And why is that ridiculous?" the inn keeper's wife asked.
"Because! Sol Sanctum no longer needs to be guarded! The lighting of the lighthouses is done! Finished! There's nothing left to be protected!"
Everyone tuned him out on instinct, they had heard this argument several times before. When Kraden started going into elaborate theories involving complex equations on exactly why it was foolish to build a new Vale where the old Vale had been, Dora interrupted him.
"We meant the second one, Kraden."
"Oh, right," the scholar nodded sagely. "Picard is very old, and I, being a very old person just like him, realize that old people don't like to think about their age, they don't like to be reminded of it. It's just-"
"Alright, Kraden, we get the point," Isaac glared at the scholar. "You can get out of my house now."
"Isaac, that's no way to speak to the elderly," Dora chided him, but from the look on her face he could tell that she wanted him out of her house as soon as he possibly could be.
"That's right, Isaac, show some respect to your elders and betters," Kraden patted his shoulder. Isaac ground his teeth, but refrained from saying anything that would cause his mom to hit him. "Though, really, I'm not that old, Dora. Not when compared to someone like Lord Conservato..."
*Conservato...how I LOATHE the man,* Sheba, who was apparently still linked to Isaac and listening to the conversation through him, stated. *I say we get Picard a dart board with a picture of Conservato on it. Or, we could get him the REAL Conservato's head and he can throw darts at that.*
*I never thought you were this violent, Sheba,* Ivan replied. *But, that does sound like fun. Think you could make a fun little sketch?*
*Sure,* he could almost see Sheba's smirk. It rather scared him. *Now, you're going to have to make sure the old man doesn't go blabbing off to Picard what we've got planned.*
"Hey, Kraden, I wanted you to explain something to me," Isaac stood up and led the older man away from the kitchen.
"Oh, really, what is it?" Kraden asked.
"Well, you know that one time when you explained to us how if we dropped both Garet and the Jupiter Star into the Jupiter Lighthouse that they would fall at the same rate? I don't think I quite understand that..."
"Oh, it's really quite simple," Kraden was soon lost to his own explanations. Isaac nodded and made conversational noises, opening a door and leading the old man strait into a linen closet, closing it behind him and locking the door.
"Isaac, that wasn't very nice," Dora glared at him when he came back into the kitchen, Kraden's muffled yells following him.
His mother's lectures couldn't wipe the wide smile from his face. "I've been wanting to do that for years."
Ivan and Sheba had tried several times that day to find out Picard's age. All that they did find out was that he was partial to the color blue, liked his Djinni a great deal, thought about Lemuria and if it was returning to its former glory, and that he needed more socks.
Isaac was kept busy at home, commanding his army of Djinni and helping his mom and the inn keeper with the cooking. They obviously thought that the birthday of a guest merited a feast, and had set about making one. He was a bit afraid that he had misjudged when appointing the Mars Adepts to firework duty. He had heard several explosions from Garet's back yard, and he wasn't sure if they were accidents, tests, or if Jenna and Garet simply enjoyed the sound.
*Isaac! The Party site is almost finished!* Sheba's voice rang clear in his mind.
*Do you know Picard's age yet?* he asked.
*No.*
*Great. Well, the cake's all made, and my mom is wondering-*
"RIDICULOUS!"
The yell made him jump, nearly cut of his finger with the knife he had been using on vegetables, and lose contact with Sheba.
"What's ridiculous, Kraden?" Dora asked politely. She hadn't been overly fond of Kraden since she found out that technically he was responsible for her "baby boy" leaving on a quest that took him nearly two years. Isaac had given up on trying to explain that the lighthouses had NEEDED to be lit, and that Kraden had been partially responsible for the second Golden Age. She would probably never forgive him.
"Rebuilding this town, first of all," Kraden pointed out. "Trying to find out Picard's age, second of all."
"And why is that ridiculous?" the inn keeper's wife asked.
"Because! Sol Sanctum no longer needs to be guarded! The lighting of the lighthouses is done! Finished! There's nothing left to be protected!"
Everyone tuned him out on instinct, they had heard this argument several times before. When Kraden started going into elaborate theories involving complex equations on exactly why it was foolish to build a new Vale where the old Vale had been, Dora interrupted him.
"We meant the second one, Kraden."
"Oh, right," the scholar nodded sagely. "Picard is very old, and I, being a very old person just like him, realize that old people don't like to think about their age, they don't like to be reminded of it. It's just-"
"Alright, Kraden, we get the point," Isaac glared at the scholar. "You can get out of my house now."
"Isaac, that's no way to speak to the elderly," Dora chided him, but from the look on her face he could tell that she wanted him out of her house as soon as he possibly could be.
"That's right, Isaac, show some respect to your elders and betters," Kraden patted his shoulder. Isaac ground his teeth, but refrained from saying anything that would cause his mom to hit him. "Though, really, I'm not that old, Dora. Not when compared to someone like Lord Conservato..."
*Conservato...how I LOATHE the man,* Sheba, who was apparently still linked to Isaac and listening to the conversation through him, stated. *I say we get Picard a dart board with a picture of Conservato on it. Or, we could get him the REAL Conservato's head and he can throw darts at that.*
*I never thought you were this violent, Sheba,* Ivan replied. *But, that does sound like fun. Think you could make a fun little sketch?*
*Sure,* he could almost see Sheba's smirk. It rather scared him. *Now, you're going to have to make sure the old man doesn't go blabbing off to Picard what we've got planned.*
"Hey, Kraden, I wanted you to explain something to me," Isaac stood up and led the older man away from the kitchen.
"Oh, really, what is it?" Kraden asked.
"Well, you know that one time when you explained to us how if we dropped both Garet and the Jupiter Star into the Jupiter Lighthouse that they would fall at the same rate? I don't think I quite understand that..."
"Oh, it's really quite simple," Kraden was soon lost to his own explanations. Isaac nodded and made conversational noises, opening a door and leading the old man strait into a linen closet, closing it behind him and locking the door.
"Isaac, that wasn't very nice," Dora glared at him when he came back into the kitchen, Kraden's muffled yells following him.
His mother's lectures couldn't wipe the wide smile from his face. "I've been wanting to do that for years."