As Luck Would Have It
A/N: Here's a new idea—I thought I'd respond to your reviews before I started writing the actual chapter. Maybe it'll make some sort of…odd…little…difference…or something. Oh, and keep in mind, while this is supposed to follow the game storyline, there are noticeable differences from the game itself (for example, Isaac talks!) so there will be…noticeable story differences too. Not like you couldn't already tell…
Oh, and another note. There has been a bit of a rearranging of weapons. For those who are curious, by this chapter Isaac has the Arctic Blade, Garet a Broad Axe, Ivan the Blessed Ankh, Mia the Witch's Wand, and Zoe the Elven Rapier.
ACK! Some of the italics aren't catching. Because of this, I will from here on out denote mind-to-mind speaking, Jupiter Adept style, with …. For Djinni-to-adept thought, it's inverted. …. Thoughts to oneself use ~…~. Hopefully this will only be fore this chapter, as I will not extend italics again. The only permanent thing is adept-to-adept brackets.
VI: Mimics freaked me out too, before I figured out that in Weyard it's perfectly normal to have an ordinary treasure chest suddenly sprout legs and teeth and attack you.
Griffinkhan: Jupiter Lighthouse is like that with Mimics. Drives me crazy. And, I do get what you're saying, but mostly it's because I write when I'm in a good mood, and often the characteristics I give one character tend to leak over into the others…*shrugs* just the way it happens sometimes.
Alayea: I left that part out partially because I didn't quite have it in my head, but also because sometimes it's more fun to leave the readers to envision parts for themselves. So, for all of you, yes, that light was Isaac and Mia and Garet, but as to how they made it back to the temple…that's up to your imagining.
Alex: I got two rackets for Tristan. I'll use my sister's on Triad if I get his pizza.
Mare Serenitatis: No, actually Zoe's Flight is more like the barriers in Kolima Forest…they only come around when they're needed.
Jupiter Girl: Well no, Ivan doesn't get sick, but you gotta learn not to put those ideas in my head! The test will indeed be one quite…unexpected…
You see. With six reviews, I can answer each one. That's ok, but I'd rather have ten reviews and only answer one or two. ;)
Chapter Twenty-Two: Force of Habit
Isaac looked around with a sigh. Aside from the occasional spikes sticking out of the floor, this room was just like any other. "Watch your step," he warned, something that was moderately difficult after a few hours of cave exploration. Of course, as the violet blur that was Ivan sped by, Isaac wondered why he even bothered with warnings.
"Ivan, could you stop that for one second?" Garet asked in an annoyed tone. "I'm starting to see purple streaks without you even being in front of me. I might be forced to use violence."
Ivan answered, but his answer came out sounding a lot like 'bitismushfnorunitsefir,' which none of the Adepts could figure out, even when they replayed the words at a slower speed in their minds. He had just acquired Zephyr, a Jupiter Djinni, after a short battle, and the power of this particular Djinni appeared to be an increase in the already-inherent agility of Jupiter Adepts.
"The effects of speed on the already-very-fast," Garet said dryly. There was a violet flash, barely a hint of movement, and approximately a second later Garet frowned. "I think I've just been shin-kicked at the speed of sound."
"Youbetyouhave. IsaidthatitwastomuchfunrunningwithZephyr," Ivan said again, slower this time but still at an unusually rapid pace. His random dashes all over the place were wearing off as well.
"At least this time I know what you said," Zoe said, shaking her head. "Though I think we've found the perfect way to dry you off. Call on Zephyr. I guess it goes away eventually."
"It's nice to know that Djinni-induced ultraspeed wears off after a while," Mia observed. "Let's just hope the same isn't true for any of the useful Djinn."
"Zephyrisn'tuseful?" Ivan queried, stopping to stand in front of Isaac and Mia with an incredulous stare. "Ohright. YouonlygoinforthoseDjinnthatdoMercurythings." Somehow, in the midst of several letters that did not belong together without a pause between, Ivan managed to sound very mocking and put special, almost belittling emphasis on the word Mercury.
"Ivan, how much longer do you think that's going to last?" Isaac asked casually. They were approaching another door, the majority of them traveling at the normal speed, and Isaac was rolling a rather large, elliptic stone between his hands. He looked at it curiously, as he had done periodically over the past hour or so. It was a sort of transparent brownish-orange in color, with two opaque yellow lines running through it, starting at a top point and circling out and coming together at a bottom point.
"Like a cat's-eye marble," Zoe commented.
"Iwouldthinkonly-a-few-more minutes," Ivan said in response to Isaac's question, noticeably slowing with each word. His next sentence was at regular velocity, proof that he had overestimated the time. "Like a what, Zoe?"
"A cat's-eye marble. Only I've never seen an orange one before. It looks kind of…well, if I didn't know better, like a real eye."
"It's hard as a rock, though."
"It is a rock, is what I think," Garet said. "And the three of you are just paranoid from trying to fight Bone Fighters and Oozes while avoiding sharp floors."
"I won't say there isn't some truth in that," Zoe mused. "Plus Ivan looks like he's having some sort of…energy rush."
"Going superfast for even a little while is exhilarating! I'm not even tired out," he said, his grin widening as they walked through the door and into complete darkness.
"I've seen overdoses from Herbs and Antidotes that had that kind of effect," Mia muttered, and Zoe laughed. "Could we get some light? I don't want to run into any surprises."
"If I had a match," Garet began, and then remembered what he was, suddenly glad for the darkness as he blushed sheepishly.
"You're a living match," Ivan didn't fail to point out, and there was a sudden yelp and a momentary thud and a few minutes of scuffle, and then silence. "Alright, alright, I give. Someone just find the torch."
"I don't think there is one," Isaac said. His eyes had adjusted to the near-dark, for in fact there was a very dim light coming from some indiscernible source. Almost directly in front of him was a large statue of…
"A dragon?" Ivan asked, stepping closer and squinting at it.
"The dragon's flame illuminates the path of truth in darkness," Mia said again, remembering the words on the pedestal at the cave's entrance. "But it isn't alive…is it?"
"Hard as a rock," Ivan confirmed. "Definitely not living. At least, not anymore, if it even ever was."
"Hard as a rock?" Garet asked, recalling those words from moments before. He approached the dragon sculpture and squinted in much the same way Ivan had. Slowly, almost as though afraid it would spring to life any minute, Garet walked around to the other side. He spotted it almost instantly, even in the dim light. An empty eye socket.
"Isaac! Toss me that rock!"
"What for?" Isaac asked, but throw it anyway. Garet caught it, watching its slight glow and sparkle even in the almost nonexistent light, and held it up to the hole in the dragon. Squinting more than he'd believed possible, he lined up the stone with the hole and, with a considerable amount of strength, found that it fit.
"Hey…it's…it is an eye…" Garet said, trailing off as the dragon's open mouth began spewing fire, lighting up the room in that sort of constant, unflickering way that wasn't common of flames.
"Well…I don't exactly see what good that did us…" Zoe began, but at a loud sound, like a large rock being moved aside, she stopped. "Hm. Maybe it activated a light-sensitive door, or something. Is that even possible?"
"It might be," Ivan speculated. "Who knows, in this place?" The sound of shifting, grinding stone grew louder, echoing about the cavern and giving the Adepts considerable reason to cover their ears. Of course, what followed the grinding and rolling was much worse.
Instead of being a sculpture, the giant dragon seemed to have come alive, and it shut its mouth, extinguishing the flame. The room went dark again, and it seemed much darker than before, since the Adepts' eyes had grown used to the light again. The dragon towered about three times Garet's height, and it glared at them with two amber eyes.
These eyes were all that could really be seen in the near-darkness, so Garet wasn't noticeable as he slowly backed away, then turned to run for a nearby doorway. Of course, he didn't count on the dragon's tail, which followed him and slammed into his back, sending him through the door and crashing into the wall of the room behind it.
There came the words, each one punctuated by a small burst of orange flame.
"HE HAS COME!!!"
"He has?" Ivan asked dryly. "Should we meet him?"
"THE ONE IS HERE! HE MUST BE STOPPED!"
"Isaac," Mia asked suddenly, realizing that they might have very little time left for speaking. "Do you think…do you think the dragon is talking about you?"
"But I haven't done anything to it. It might mean Garet, or Ivan."
"Garet went flying through a wall, just now," Zoe said, having been able to just barely make out how he had ended up that way.
"Could you get to him?"
"I could try."
"Do it, then." Nodding, Zoe headed for the doorway Garet had disappeared through, leaving Isaac, Ivan and Mia facing the dragon.
"With our luck, it's weak to Mars Psynergy," Ivan remarked dryly. "But what the heck? Let's give it a try anyway." Raising the Blessed Ankh to point it at the dragon, he yawned, glad the others still couldn't see him.
"Until we figure out what can take this thing," Isaac said in a serious tone, "use your Djinn. The attacking ones, that is," he added, remembering Ivan's earlier fun at calling on Zephyr.
"Sure, Isaac. Gust!"
"Sleet!"
"Flint!" The dark cavern was lit at once by multicolored flashes as the three Djinn dove at the stone dragon. Neither Gust's wind bursts nor Sleet's ice barrage seemed to leave even a mark upon the beast's stone skin. Flint, however, dove at the dragon with considerable force and left a large crack in its stony hide. Something flickered in Isaac's mind, the remnants of an early conversation with the Venus Djinni, but he quickly focused again on the task at hand.
"Weak to Venus, is it?" Ivan asked.
"Looks like it," Isaac agreed. "Mia, can you—"
"Yes." Raising a hand, Mia cast Tundra, aiming at the crack in the rock, or at least where she had last seen it, for the Djinn light had faded seconds after the attacks had taken place. The dragon was now thoroughly agitated, and it lashed around with its great tail. The tail's razor-sharp tip sliced right by Ivan, tearing his shirt and scratching lightly across his stomach, and he breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that he hadn't been standing closer. The sigh became a yell when, seconds later, the tail crashed into Mia, sending her flying out into the air. Knocked unconscious, she had no idea that she was beginning the descent to the spike-covered floor below.
Isaac could guess what was going on, but didn't turn to look, partially because he knew better than to take his eyes off the dragon (or where he assumed the dragon was) and partially because he wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway, it being dark. He was remembering what Flint had told him, way back when they'd met just outside of Vale.
"A Djinni, huh? What is it you do, exactly?"
"Well, if you want to be formal about it, I strike a blow that can cleave stone. But really, I do like a good party now and then too."
With barely a thought, Isaac set Flint again, feeling his strength boost itself somewhat. Facing the dragon, or its approximate vicinity, and glancing to where he'd heard Ivan yell from, he opened his mouth to call on the Djinni again.
Then he ducked as the summoned spirit of Atalanta shot several Psynergy arrows directly through the space where, seconds ago, his head had been. Taking a moment to also dodge a random tail swipe, he shook off the adrenaline rush that came with nearly having an arrow through your skull, dodged a second tail swipe, and was blown into a nearby rock formation—his brain foggily recalled stalagmite—by a flap of the dragon's stone wings. Slowly, dazedly, he sank to the floor.
Ivan had seen, in the Psynergy light, Isaac dusking to get out of the way, but now all that was on his mind was the dragon's loud roaring, which it seemed to not only enjoy doing but enjoy doing in excess. He heard something behind him and in a flash whirled to look. Of course, he realized his mistake when not only couldn't he see what it was, he felt the monster's tail leave a deeper and much more painful scratch across his back. He heard the sound of moving stone again, and before he realized it found himself surrounded and lifted into the air by coils of rough, rocky dragon. Ivan knew what would come next. Such things usually started squeezing, after the surrounding and lifting, he decided. Might as well get it over with.
In a nearby room, Zoe had literally come face-to-face with a problem. There was a roughly Garet-sized hole in the wall, and also a pile of rocks on the other side of that hole that she didn't really want to contemplate. Garet himself was nowhere to be found, but in the middle of the room was a treasure chest.
"If it's a Mimic, it's going to wish it had hidden itself somewhere else," she said sourly, reaching out and pushing the lid open. Inside it appeared that there was nothing at all save empty air, until she saw the glint of something in the corner of the chest. She pulled it out, and found that she was holding a round object about the size of a strawberry.
"Orb of Force," said a voice in her ear, and Zoe yelped, spinning and finding no one behind her. "Psynergetic stone that lets its holder use Force Psynergy. It might help your friends out back there. Things can't be going well—the stone dragon is impervious to all but two things. One of them is Flint."
"The other, I suppose, is Force?" Zoe asked, now well aware that the voice belonged to Zap and that for once, in his own annoying way, he was being more of a help than a hindrance.
"Well no, the other one is water, in the form of years and decades of erosion, but Force couldn't hurt."
"Thanks a lot, Zap. I suppose you don't know where Garet is either?"
"No, but I am picking up that you have a good guess."
"Zap, if he's under those rocks…"
"How about one thing at a time. Go on—that dragon needs to be stopped."
"How do you propose I do that?"
"How did it start?" Zap asked slyly. Zoe paused mentally to consider this, though physically she kept on walking back the way she'd come. It was still pitch-dark, though she caught the last remnants of Atalanta's final arrow, and saw Isaac fly through the air and hit something.
It started…uh…it started…well you see…it started when I asked about that light-sensitive door. Garet put the rock in the eyehole and it started spitting fire…that's it! Zoe's thoughts whirled. "Zap! I have to get…that rock back!" The pause between her words came at the all-too-familiar sound of rock grinding against rock.
"Oh, very well done. I applaud. Now get to it!"
"How do I use one of these Psynergy rock things?" she asked, holding the Orb of Force out in an open palm. It seemed to flicker with golden light somewhere in its depths, but then stopped, though now Zoe felt as though instructions had been written across her mind on how exactly to call on Force Psynergy.
There was a strangled cry from the dragon's general direction. Ivan had predicted correctly when he had thought of it squeezing, and stone proved to be much less resilient than it had ever appeared, even as part of a living creature. He supposed that it was his Psynergy that kept him from breaking with the force of the squeeze, though he had to give the dragon credit for trying. As soon as he thought this, it squeezed harder, forcing the air from his lungs in a way he hoped he'd never have to experience again. A split second later his mind registered the fact that he'd rather be alive and experiencing that then dead, and then he blacked out.
Isaac had shaken himself back into coherence by then, and had no idea that Zoe had returned with the possible solution to their problem. He had, however, reached in his mind the same conclusion, that to either remove or destroy that darn rock would be the way to get out alive, and he raised his hand and pointed it at the glowing eye. On the other side of the dark cavern, Zoe did the same.
"Flint!"
"Force!"
At the sound of Isaac's voice, Zoe very nearly stopped mid-cast, and Isaac likewise paused for just a moment before going on with unleashing Flint. Nevertheless, both the Djinni and the Psynergy raced for the dragon's stone eye, and Zoe and Isaac ran forward, unknowingly narrowly missing the steep drop-off onto the spikes below, only to stop inches away from each other in front of where Force and Flint were converging.
There was a sound like shattering glass, and one like a giant rockslide. Shards of something rained down on Isaac and Zoe, who managed to avoid the sharp edges for the most part. There was, of course, still no light, though it was obvious the dragon was dead—or as dead as stone could get—and in fact it seemed darker without the dragon alive.
There was a groan and a soft thud as someone hit the ground. Now in total darkness, neither Isaac nor Zoe knew who it was. Zoe couldn't even be sure Zap still perched on her shoulder, though doubtless he'd disappeared as soon as the eye had shattered.
"Isaac?"
"Zoe?"
"So it's not you on the floor, then?"
"No, and I suppose it isn't you either."
"Right."
"Okay. And it isn't…Mia! Oh gods…"
"What? What happened to Mia?" Zoe asked anxiously.
"The stupid thing's tail slammed her over the edge and she fell, as far as I know. I was kind of too preoccupied to be watching."
"Isaac?"
"Yes?"
"That wasn't your voice, was it?"
"No, it wasn't his voice!" Ivan cried raspily. "It was mine!"
"Ivan!" Isaac and Zoe said together. Of course, finding each other in the darkness would be impossible, and they had as much of a chance of running into a wall or over the edge as they did of bumping into one another. Thus, both Zoe and Isaac chose that moment to sit down.
Zoe, said a voice in her mind, and for a moment she wondered if it wasn't Zap come back to bother her about making it light or some other such thing, but then she recognized Ivan's thought-voice.
Yes, Ivan?
Did you find out about Garet? Ivan asked almost nervously. The reply came as a set of images, not a set of words, and the images included finding the Orb of Force, casting it on the dragon, and seeing, through a large hole in the wall, a pile of rocks. Oh, no. You don't think he…
I chose not to think about it, actually. Right now, I do the same. We need to find a way to make it light in here. Or at least, not so dark.
We could always—
Always what? Zoe asked, wondering why Ivan had cut himself off so abruptly. Always what, Ivan?…Ivan?! "Ivan?" she asked aloud. There was no reply. "Isaac, I think this is a problem. Have you got anything flammable on you?"
"Nothing I really feel like parting with," Isaac said in a weak attempt at humor. "Besides, we don't have anything to light fire with. Garet's…somewhere…"
"I could Charge something."
"Don't you have to throw Charge Psynergy?"
"Who knows? I've only used it once."
"There's a point. Alright…what burns? I would say wood, but we haven't got that…"
"Plants. You're a Venus Adept, aren't you?"
"Yes. With rock-based Psynergy at the moment. None of that burns, even with a powerful blast."
"You made a vine grow once, outside of Bilibin Cave, by switching Djinn with Garet, remember? Could that work here?"
"It might," Isaac agreed, "but you haven't got any Mars Djinn."
"I have one Mercury and one Jupiter. Surely one of those has to give you something."
"A headache, if it's Zap," Isaac said with a grin, though he realized no one could see it. "Try Torrent…there's something about Jupiter Djinn that just unsettles me."
"Alright," Zoe said, closing her eyes. "Torrent!" She waited for the brief blue flash as the Djinni appeared. "Switch yourself to Isaac. Let him use your power."
"Alright." For a moment or two, faint blue light outlined Isaac's now-sitting form. When it faded, Isaac grinned again, a futile attempt at letting Zoe know that he had something in mind.
"There is new Psynergy here, but it isn't Growth. Er, if I knew where you were I'd probably tell you to take a few steps back. It's called Thorn, and I'm not thinking it's called that just for show."
"Do you always talk like this in the dark? I'm about a foot to your left—you were outlined a few seconds ago."
"Actually, I think I've hit my head on a stalagmite, so yes, I might be off a little. Thorn!" Dim greenish light showed that large, thorny vines had sprouted from the ground and were collecting in a sort of bush. Without another thought, Zoe cast Charge, but a small one, because she knew an explosion would be a bad thing right about now. The fire this produced was a welcoming orange glow, not to mention a bit of warmth in the suddenly chilly cave. Torrent returned to Zoe, who looked across the circle made by the fire at Isaac. He met her gaze with his own serious one.
Isaac then looked past Zoe, to Ivan, or at least the half of Ivan that was slumped over a giant, almost cylindrical stone. Isaac recognized this as part of the dragon's tail, and he quickly stood and walked that way, Zoe rising and following as soon as she figured out where he was going.
"No wonder he stopped answering," she half-whispered, realizing that there were still dangers in this cave that might be coming for them. Together, she and Isaac freed Ivan from the rocks and between the two of them brought him to where the fire was. Sitting on one side of him, Zoe looked across Ivan's unconscious form at Isaac. She didn't like the look on his face—it was a cross somewhere between afraid, concerned and angry. About to say something, she stopped when a sound in the darkness behind her echoed through the cavern.
She caught Isaac's gaze, this time questioning. She shook her head quickly. No, she did not know who or what it was. She did, however, recognize the fact that whatever it was, she was in the best shape to deal with it, and so quietly she stood and walked around to the wrong end of the circle of light provided by the small fire and faded into the darkness.
The light did seem to sort of dissipate, so the whole of the cavern was no longer black as a starless night, and Zoe could make out two forms sort of hovering just beyond the ring of actual light. Spirits, she thought, naming the enemy, and as quietly as she could she moved close enough to them to be able to aim. Raising a hand, she pointed two fingers. From them shot twin fireballs, small blasts of Charge Psynergy that each collided with one Spirit. There was a momentary pause, then the Spirits shrieked, coming at Zoe fiercely.
~For a couple of apparitions,~ Zoe thought grimly, ~they are surprisingly substantial.~ Fighting in the dark against enemies who didn't need sight to take down an opponent wasn't an ideal situation, but Zoe didn't see how she could improve upon it. Pulling the Elven Rapier from its sheath (upon Isaac's finding the Arctic Blade, there had been a brief rearranging of weapons), Zoe swung wildly, unable to see exactly what she was supposed to be swinging at. She did know, however, that her sword had weapon Psynergy—she just wished she knew how to use it on command.
"Torrent!" Figuring this her safest move, Zoe unleashed her Djinni, hoping that Torrent knew without being able to see exactly where an enemy was.
Isaac watched the majority of this with growing concern and only part of his mind. The other part was focused on the continuous, and rapidly tiring, use of Cure Psynergy. For a minute or two Zoe appeared to be winning. Isaac cried out as two other Spirits materialized behind her.
Zoe, said a calm voice in her mind. She really thought she could learn to abhor that voice.
Zap.
Use Force, Zoe. Bounce it off that rock to your right, Zap said urgently.
Use "the" Force, she mentally corrected almost automatically. She stopped, and it seemed that time stopped with her. There was a momentary sense of déjà vu, the sound of another person's voice saying those exact words, and a memory of blue, green and red lights spiraling in intricate patterns. Then time picked up where it left off and Zoe pointed at the rock Zap had mentioned.
"Force!" she cried, and a wave of colorless Psynergy, because that's what it was, struck the rock and rebounded at odd angles, taking out both the spirits in front of and behind her. A stray one bounced through a doorway and blasted apart a pile of rocks with a loud crash. A second leftover Force beam struck something on a side wall, and the room was suddenly flooded with light.
Isaac and Zoe gasped. Floating, it seemed, at about the level of the higher floor, was Mia. She was still unconscious, but she had not fallen to a very painful and messy death, and Isaac and Zoe recognized this as a good thing.
Garet opened his eyes and shook himself off. It felt like he'd just been buried in a giant rockslide. But that was absurd. Slowly, cautiously, he walked into the now brightly-lit room and looked at the others, who looked back at him with large grins, Zoe in particular.
Without much ceremony and with a lot of stiffness, Ivan found himself waking up. He sighed and opened his eyes, and with Isaac's help rose to a sitting position. He smiled when he saw Garet, and, for reasons unknown to anyone else, took a nice, deep breath and grinned all the wider, obviously enjoying himself. ~Jupiter Adepts,~ Isaac thought with a shake of his head.
"Thanks, Isaac," Ivan said. "How are we going to get Mia off of that…well, out of the air?"
"I'll go," Garet said, and he looked to be remarkably in one piece for someone who'd just been thrown through a wall and crushed under a few large boulders.
It was at about that time that Zoe collapsed.
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Vil: Well? You like it? Hmm? The next will come soon—school is over in almost exactly a month. Hope you enjoyed reading. Have questions? Leave a review! Or email me—phoenixbright@yahoo.com
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