Dawn and Twilight
A/N: Meeep! Here's another one! Really quick, I know, but I felt like being nice and giving you this one fast. Plus I have deadlines to meet and by forgetting the last chapter I've had to speed these up too. So here ya go!
First off…the general consensus is that Garet will either fail miserably as leader or else shouldn't have ever been one. What, does the idea scare you? (Scares me too, don't worry.)
Griffinkhan: There's a few lines in here dealing with that. You had a really good point there. And if I ever mentioned Conservato being involved, it was a slip of my fingers. He won't be directly involved in anything. Whatever he was involved in…well, it'd have happened long ago. And in that case, you should be glad you won't be seeing Kraden for a very long while.
Void: In a word…no.
Midnight: Yes, classic isn't it? Might even call it a weakness…if that's possible. *laughing* Ah well. Let's hope he survives as leader.
Elena: A bunch of Venus and Jupiter Adepts, actually. Just one Mercury. There used to be all kinds…but I'll save that for the chapter it's actually in. And get Akiko over here and tell her to review!
Now off to reading, all of you. Since I was so nice and all.
Chapter Four: Immediate Action
"Garet is the new leader of the Pajaros Tribe," Iasa said, and the other members of the tribe nodded. The Adepts looked at one another, quite at a loss.
"Kraden said it was a village," Mia commented, recovering first and looking at Iasa curiously. "What's happened?"
"Long ago, it was a village," said one of the Jupiter Adepts, a rather elderly one, as he stepped forward. "Before my father's time, and my father was alive to see the last days of…well, he lived long. Back then, Pajaros was a thriving town, trading with several other cities, even far-off ones like Izumo and large ones like Contigo and Kibombo."
"Kibombo isn't large," Sheba protested.
"Perhaps not anymore," the old man conceded.
"Who are you, anyway?" Garet asked, rising and ignoring two glares of almost equal intensity from two annoyed Mercury Adepts.
"I am Jaldo, legend-teller of the Pajaros," he said, bowing as low as he could in front of Garet. "I hold all the tales and myths of old in my mind."
"An outsider such as this cannot be made leader of the Pajaros!" protested another man. This one was younger, brash-looking, and had coal-black eyes and fire-red hair. "The title should fall to the first who can kill this murderer!"
"Korain!" said Iasa sharply. "Do not speak hastily. There are many of you, it is true, who know not what a Mars Adept can do for the Pajaros people. With his help, and that of his friends, we could become a village again."
"Do we wish to? We have survived well as a wandering people thus far," the man called Korain argued.
"And what makes you think we would help?" Isaac asked rather angrily. "Your people attacked us, after all."
"You are decent people," said the man who had spoken ill of Kraden before.
"How can you know this, Dulo?" asked Korain heatedly.
"Because when they discovered that Riali lived still, they used the last of their power to help her, and to try to keep her alive," said Dulo, using tones that were meant to hammer the point home. "If they were not good people they would have left her to die. And both times they fought, it was we who attacked first, without provocation."
"You read my mind," Garet said, though it wasn't an accusation, merely a statement of fact.
"I did. I apologize, but any other Jupiter Adept who does so will see that what I say is truth."
"Alright, so we'll help you," Sheba said, kneeling to pack her things away. "Do we get something in return?"
"There is nothing to give. The Pajaros are not a…not a wealthy people. We have only what we need," Dulo said apologetically.
"Perhaps Jaldo could provide information on the past of Pajaros Village?" Mia asked. The sagely man nodded.
"Why do you want this information?" Korain asked.
"I told you why we are here," said Isaac. "We need to know if this is the place of Sheba's origin."
"Come with us back to the Pajaros camp," said Dulo, smiling as the remainder of the small group of Pajaros people stood. "We have food there, and water…and a place where our new leader can rest."
"Garet, don't you dare say you don't need to rest," Mia snapped, and Garet cringed. He was beginning to have second thoughts about whether or not Jenna was the only female who inspired terror in him.
"You," Iasa said, motioning to a cluster of people, "go retrieve the rest of our warriors."
"They're not dead, then?" asked Isaac almost pleadingly.
"It's doubtful," Iasa said with a small smile on her face. There was an audible sigh of relief from all four Adepts.
One of the Pajaros lifted the girl-Slayer—Riali, thought Garet, still not quite getting the idea that he was actually leading a people—and Iasa and Jaldo led the Adepts back to where the Pajaros tribe was currently stationed. There were several tents and one or two hut-like structures, and a central fire that was nothing but cool embers now.
"For you, I will search the ancient scrolls of our people," said Jaldo, beginning to walk toward a large cave. He stopped, looked back over his shoulder, and finally settled his eyes on Isaac. "What information am I looking for?"
"Was there ever a child that was taken from or just disappeared from Pajaros?" Isaac asked, and Jaldo nodded thoughtfully.
"I will look. Be aware that it may take several days."
"We'll wait," Sheba said. Isaac had to laugh when he heard her mutter quietly, "That's more time before we have to go get Kraden back."
"I wonder if it's struck Garet yet that he can't be their leader. We're leaving as soon as we find out whether or not Sheba was born here," Mia whispered, and Isaac nodded, conveying as much to Garet, who was sitting quite comfortably near the fire.
"I…he's right," Garet said, turning to Iasa. "I can't be your leader. We leave in a few days' time, whenever Jaldo finishes whatever it is he has to do, and I can't stay. I have a duty to my friends…and to…er…well, my family…stop muttering about her, Sheba," he added, and Sheba laughed quietly.
"You see? He defeats our ruler and will leave us leaderless and defenseless in only a few short days," said Korain angrily. "We should throw them out now, if we do not kill them for the murder of our people first!" Korain drew his weapon, a sword only a bit longer than those of the previous leader, and started towards Garet.
"You want a fight?" Garet asked in a challenging tone, bringing up his own sword with one hand.
"No, he doesn't," said Iasa firmly. "And neither do you."
"I thought I was your leader," Garet protested.
"Temporarily, as you have pointed out," said Iasa, a hint of a smile—a smile that grew more familiar by the moment—forming on her face. "And whether you are leader or not, you'll listen to what I'm telling you or your Mercury Adept friend will force you to."
"She's right," Sheba said, and what made it worse for Garet was that he knew she was right, on both counts. He wasn't up for a fight, and Mia would forcefully stop one if it started.
Garet, Iasa, Dulo, Isaac, Sheba and Mia sat together around a makeshift table about an hour later, sharing both a meal and some interesting conversation.
"Turns out we were supposed to follow the doors with blue markings above them," said Isaac, smiling at the memory. "Your esteemed new leader walked into the next room and abruptly fell down a flight of stairs."
"Two flights," Garet amended, grinning. "And proud of it."
"Perhaps one could call it graceful," Mia said, and Garet's mouth fell open in shock. Mia quickly finished. "If one were a blind man in dark glasses at midnight on a new moon."
"Thank you for your compliment," Garet said dryly.
"Anytime."
"Alright, Iasa," said Isaac, his voice taking on the rock-calm Venus tone that meant he was ready for serious discussing. "You've been pretty good about the idea that once we find out about Sheba, we leave, and Garet comes along with us. Why?"
"I am certain the role of leader of the Pajaros can be easily filled by any of our men or women," she said, in effect answering the question and yet giving no answer at all.
"You don't trust outsiders, that much is plain," said Sheba. "Well, some of you don't, at any rate."
"Korain is angry because our previous leader, Milas, was his brother," Dulo said, shaking his head. "Korain expected to fill that position once his brother either died in battle or was killed by Korain himself."
"Very interesting line of ascension around here."
"Before Milas, leaders were elected. When he killed the ruler before him, this became accepted by some of the more…aggressive members of the Pajaros," said Iasa. "It was the idea, so I am told, of the man who preceded Milas to train our Venus Adepts, few though they were, as warriors that would fight the evil creatures that sometimes showed themselves around this forest."
"That was long before the eruption of Mount Aleph," said Isaac doubtfully. "There were evil monsters even then?"
"Mount Aleph? What is that?"
"Large volcanic mountain. Erupted and blasted Psynergetically-charged stones everywhere. Corrupted normal animals and such into savage beasts looking to kill."
"Not to mention made a couple of talking trees really angry," Garet added.
"You will never stop with those trees, will you?" Mia asked exasperatedly.
"No, I don't think I will."
"I don't think you will either. I think you are Garet," said Isaac, attempting to make a joke. The others just stared at him. "Why do I get the feeling that if Ivan were here, he would have made that exact same line hilarious?"
"It's in the inflection, I think," said Garet thoughtfully. "Inflection, timing, and understanding of punch line."
"I'll keep it in mind. Now back to the leader business. You look like there's something else you want to say, Dulo," said Isaac, turning to the man.
"Two things, actually. One is that the majority of us would very much like to have a village again, if only a small one, just a place to call permanent home. I'm afraid Milas and some of his followers wiped out the Hesperia Settlement southwest of here."
"We noticed," said Garet. "And the second thing?"
"We are…having trouble with beasts that come down from the mountains that protect Shaman Village. They are large and seem made of stone. Our Venus and Jupiter Adepts have tried quite hard to keep them at bay, another reason for being constantly on the move. As it is, we've only provided more work for Iasa, Samin and Baili to do, in addition to the ordinary things."
"They sound like some form of Golem," said Isaac, closing his eyes in thought. "What color are they?"
"A pink that makes one wonder about whether or not the Universe has a sense of humor," said Iasa.
"Grand Golems, then," said Isaac, frowning. "Those are quite strong. They were a challenge, when we fought them in Venus Lighthouse. Doubtless these are no less of one."
"Our warriors have been able to hold them off, thus far," said Dulo. "This task, however, gets more difficult by the day."
"They attack every day?" Sheba, who had spoken little up to this point, seemed suddenly quite concerned.
"Just about," Dulo admitted. "That is why you found a group of our warriors where you did. We are ready to move again, as soon as we find a usable place."
The four Adepts looked at each other. There were a few moments of silent conversation, courtesy of Sheba's linking their minds together, in which they decided that yes, it was possible, most likely, to get rid of this threat. With a bit of luck.
Garet was about to tell Dulo and Iasa that the four of them would gladly help get rid of the large pest problem, but he was stopped by a noise that resembled the honking that came from a flight of geese.
"The warning signal," said Dulo forebodingly. "Another attack is coming."
"You have a warning system?" Mia asked conversationally.
"A good one too. They won't be here for about an hour yet, and we've got time to prepare."
The Adepts nodded, having regained the majority of their Psynergy and all of their enthusiasm. The four of them began to follow Dulo through the trees, but Mia stopped when she saw Iasa heading the other way.
"And where are you going?" she asked sharply. Iasa turned around.
"To meet Samin and Baili, of course," Iasa replied, as though this was nothing out of the ordinary.
"You're not going to help fight these things off?"
"I'm near useless in a fight," Iasa admitted, glancing at the ground. "My attack Psynergy never got farther than Prism and Ice. I'd be of no use."
"That's what you think," said Mia. Up until now, Mia had been quite put off that, when she had needed Psynergy most, she hadn't been able to use any, but Iasa had just come 'waltzing up' and been at full power. "Everyone can be useful," Mia continued, reaching out and grabbing the girl's sleeve.
"What? I…I can't…" Iasa protested, but Mia pulled her along, stopping by her pack and digging around until she produced a mace.
"Knew I had one, somewhere," Mia said in a satisfied tone, handing it to Iasa. "Here. If one of them gets too close, use it."
"Do you not get it?" Iasa practically screamed. "I cannot battle! My Psynergy is not strong enough; I would be nothing more than a hindrance!"
"Do you not get it?" Mia countered. "Certainly, you've got about a hundred each of Jupiter and Venus out there, plus Garet, and myself, but Venus Adepts just aren't going to hold against Grand Golems, and not even all of your Jupiter Adepts together can take down such large numbers."
"This has nothing yet to do with how I can help," Iasa mumbled, though she had caught on quite quickly. Indeed, Mia had at first thought Iasa was afraid to join the fight, or had perhaps thought she was too important to risk, but now she wasn't so sure.
"Of course it does, and you know it. We have an hour, or just under. Stay towards the back if you want," Mia continued as they caught up to the others. "If you see anything you can help with, then do so."
"I hear the sound of the admiral of a one-woman army," whispered Isaac. Garet smiled, and Sheba tried her best to smother giggles.
"Dulo!" called out a voice. The Adepts stopped, looking up into the trees. A small girl with short violet hair was waving frantically. "They're moving faster than we thought! And there are more of them! Over a thousand!"
"A thousand," Garet whispered, and Isaac whistled.
"That is all they have in those mountains. Just over one thousand," said Iasa quietly. "If we can take them today, we are free of the problem for good." Iasa looked down at the mace in her hands, swinging it cautiously.
"Alright, Iasa," said Mia, facing the other Mercury Adept sternly, arms folded, face serious. "What is the real reason you don't want to fight? Because you're not arrogant, though I doubted it at first, and you're certainly not frightened."
Iasa seemed reluctant to speak. Isaac looked at her, nodded to himself, and spoke for her.
"I know what it is," he said. The others looked at him curiously. "She's never purposely harmed a living being before, much less killed one, monster or no."
"How…how did you…know?" Iasa looked at Isaac with gratitude in her eyes.
"He's perceptive, for someone who likes rocks," said Sheba. "I see something familiar and bright pink. And I'd rather not."
"If we get split up," said Garet, "send a Psynergy blast into the air or something, if anything goes wrong."
Maybe you should give him a chance at leader more often, Isaac thought to himself.
No, don't, Sheba's thought-voice cautioned.
Do you always listen in?
I've had a…a vision about this one. Something is going to happen, and soon, that will scare Garet from the position of leader for a very long time.
What is it?
I don't know. I got the sense that I was there for it, and yet I wasn't there. But dream-visions are seldom logical.
You know, your dreams don't usually scare me. Now, if Ivan started having prophetic dreams, it would frighten me enough that I might stay inside until it had stopped happening. But for some reason that information doesn't comfort me.
You're a lot more talkative in your mind than you are out loud, Sheba thought, giving Isaac the mental equivalent of a sly grin.
Well, usually in here no one can hear me be a fool, Isaac pointed out. Sheba was about to reply, but the next several minutes went by very quickly and her comeback was lost forever to the depths of her mind.
Grand Golems are, first of all, a shade of pink that puts one in mind of a watermelon crossed with an eraser made of bubble gum. It had been a theory with the Adepts for some time that the stranger an enemy's color was, the more powerful it must be, or else birds of flame would be various reds, oranges and yellows, monkeys would be fur-colored and not blue, and a Kraken would resemble a water creature, at least in hue. This held, of course, with the Grand Golems.
Isaac was personally very familiar with the Truncheon Fist attack that seemed to be the Grand Golem default, and he found himself not loving or even mildly welcoming the prospect of facing it again, multiplied by a thousand.
The massive pink wave struck the gathered Adepts and, to their apparent horror (though it's hard to discern emotion on the faces of rock-beasts), did not get much farther before being pelted with variations of the Plasma attack. Sheba and perhaps two others were good enough to be able to use Spark Plasma; many of the others had Shine Plasma as their most powerful attack, and there were a select few that had never passed Plasma itself.
"Inferno!" Garet cried, raising a hand. Giant balls of flame rose around him, slamming into a group of the Grand Golems and felling them where they stood. The nearest fighters turned and stared.
"Excuse us," one said after a brief pause. Garet recognized her as Riali, the girl they'd taken with them when they'd found she was still living. "We have never seen a Mars Adept before. Most of us…most of them…don't even know what one is."
"How can you not?" Garet questioned. "Jupiter Adepts know everything!"
"They can't know something that is beyond their experience. Only three of our Jupiter Adepts have the power of prophecy, and even they did not see the four of you arriving."
No Jupiter Adept here could have factored in Kraden, is why, Garet heard Scorch grumble. I'm starting to be really glad we left him in Champa.
That is why Isaac's the leader, said Torch, and not the boy here.
Take your conversation elsewhere, Garet's mind growled menacingly. The Djinn instantly complied, their voices vanishing from thought.
Still, the monsters greatly outnumbered the Adepts, and they began to push through. Garet found himself and two others surrounded by four of the behemoths, and called on Coal, making it easier for them to dodge the pink beasts' swinging fists.
Smiling savagely, he reached inside himself for a power that he rarely attempted, because of its destructive qualities, and also because it was too easy for him to lose control of it.
"Liquefier!" he yelled, throwing both arms skyward. The two Adepts trapped with him watched as he appeared to be consumed by white-hot flames, which arced into the sky and came down on a cluster of the Grand Golems with lethal accuracy, destroying them and sending smaller light blasts in all directions.
Isaac, from where he was with Sheba and a bunch of Jupiter Adepts, saw some of this and smiled despite himself. "I love it when I'm inspired," he muttered, and Sheba stared at him.
"Odyssey!" he said, but before the first Psynergetic sword could take shape and begin the attack, an enormous pink fist slammed into him, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him sprawling. Another of the beasts kicked as he neared it, and Isaac found himself flying in the other direction now, and only doing it semi-consciously.
"Whirlwind!" Sheba cried, having watched in horror as Isaac was tossed around like some sort of human ball and finally coming to herself and doing something about it. The winds were not designed to attack one of the monsters; rather, they caught Isaac and pulled him gently to the ground.
Jupiter Adepts may not be dual-focused, Sheba thought with a mental grin, but we sure do our jobs well. Of course, she wasn't actually smiling. Indeed, she was quite angry, and made a point of letting them know it with another round of Spark Plasma.
Mia found herself preoccupied on a number of levels. Out of the corner of her eye, she was watching Iasa, whose attacks, while spirited, lacked the power to even scratch the Grand Golems. With the remainder of that eye she was watching said Golems, shooting Ice Missiles and Glaciers at them as the need arose. It's the Jupiter Adepts that will be most effective here, she noted.
And with the rest of her vision, she saw Isaac thrown about, and pulled back to the ground by a spiraling wind. She let out a scream, partly from shock and partly from anger. Her next thoughts, were they in actual words and not a series of growls and snarls, roughly translated to, "How dare they."
The battle went on for about an hour before it became apparent that the Adepts had gained the upper hand. With the odds in their favor, the Pajaros people attacked even more vehemently, despite weariness and lack of Psynergy.
"Pyroclasm!" Garet called, sending five Grand Golems flying, ignoring the continued stares from a few of the nearby Pajaros.
Mia launched yet another Ice Missile, watching with satisfaction as it took down three of the monsters. Behind her, Iasa gasped. She had never seen such a battle before, on such a grand scale and with so many working together.
Isaac, his Psynergy virtually useless against Venus-resistant Grand Golems, chose to bring the fury of the Sol Blade down upon any who got near him. And it was working, too.
Sheba spotted them first. The last little cluster of them, all that remained of the great Grand Golem attacking force. Not only did she spot them, she targeted them, and this made a world of difference. "Spark Plasma!" she yelled, and the remainder of the threat fell with her words.
There were a few moments of stunned silence. About one hundred fifty Adepts all looked at one another, eyes wide, smiles forming ever so slowly. Then, as one, the Pajaros people let out a victory cry. Several of them hoisted Garet (a feat indeed) onto their shoulders, despite their exhaustion.
"It is because of our brave leader that we achieve victory this day!" one of them called, and the others yelled back as the entirety of the tribe made its way slowly back to where they were camped.
This left Mia, Sheba and Isaac virtually alone. Mia hurried to where Isaac and Sheba were, both of them on the ground, though for very different reasons.
"Who made him leader?" Isaac mumbled, blinking slowly. Sheba remained carefully silent. With a sigh that fell between resignation and relief, Mia slipped one of Isaac's arms over her shoulder and stood. Sheba looked at them, at a loss. Four inches wasn't much, usually, but here it sure seemed like it.
"Just half an inch and you'll catch Ivan," Mia said consolingly.
"I can catch him without growing. He runs slow," Sheba offered halfheartedly, smiling. Mia smiled back, and, at about the same pace as the Pajaros tribe, the three Adepts walked (in theory, at least) back to the tribe's current residence.
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Well…they won. In their own way. Next chapter, Garet (and Isaac, when he wakes up) has a proposition for the people of Pajaros. Hope they like it. Does anyone know what happens to a person who gets really cold? …Doesn't matter if y'do or not, come to think of it…especially since I've written all the chapters already. *evil maniacal laughter*
Button must be pushed. Maybe I'll be real nice and post the next chapter by…let's say…Friday. But that's only if you review!