Yo! It's me, SirGecko, back with chapter 6: the revised version. Here, I made some more adjustments to everything, hopefully to make it a little less lame.
Now, this is a long chapter, over ten pages. So, you've got your fair share of reading time.
I think that's it. Onto chapter 6!
Chapter 6: Plans for Disaster
Back on board the ship, not much was done. Due to Isaac's near-death, he had slept almost 24 hours straight. He woke up for about five minutes, only to find a thick white bandage wrapped around his head. He then dropped off again, his exhaustion catching up to him.
Mia rarely left Isaac's bedside except to eat. She did very little of that in itself. Her shock of both falling into the pit and nearly losing Isaac to Agatio's Rising Dragon was getting to her, but her responses were different from that of Isaac's. Sure, she was tired, but mostly, her devotion to her's and Isaac's relationship just increased.
However, Mia wasn't the only one who was worried about Isaac. Garet and Ivan also came to Isaac's cabin frequently, wishing him well, and asking Mia whether he had moved since they last saw him. Garet noticed that she responded and acted quite normally, though he didn't understand why she sat next to Isaac's bed watching him sleep all day.
"It's just pointless," he muttered to Ivan. "I thought she hated my snoring, but Isaac's will stir monsters in the Mars lighthouse all the way from here."
"Oh, stop being so melodramatic," said Ivan.
Mia heard Garet as well. "It's called devotion," she snapped.
"Call it what you want. I call it an obsession," retorted Garet. "What do you think he's gonna do? Wake up and fall overboard?"
Mia was so furious with Garet's insensitivity that she couldn't even think of a response to this. She was shaking her head hopelessly, and her face was getting red. Garet finally got a clue and decided it was best not to press the subject.
Ivan suddenly heard a loud groan. Isaac was awake, which was good. He had seen Mia reaching slowly for Garet's chair, probably to tamper with it.
"Isaac! Finally, you're awake!" said Garet, smiling. This completely distracted Mia, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ugh, I feel like crap," muttered Isaac, wincing as he tried to sit up.
"You look like it too," said Garet. Mia and Ivan glared at him. Ivan then spoke up.
"Well, are you feeling any better? Things have been really slow around here without your guidance," he said. "How's your head?"
"Fine," said Isaac. "I don't feel a thing there. It's just my whole body that hurts now." He then took off the bandages around his head. There apparently was no lump there anymore, but the red stain on his bandages told him that there had been one there.
"Well that's good," said Mia, sounding relieved.
"What about our course? Monsters? Problems with the ship?" Isaac asked weakly.
"Relax Isaac, everything is okay," said Mia soothingly. "Solaris and Lunora have had sympathy on all of us. They taken over for now, and have managed things quite well."
"Okay. Just as long as someone knows what's going on." Isaac then changed the subject. "How long have I been asleep since the last time I woke up?"
"Just over a day," replied Mia.
Isaac whistled in slight surprise, and leaned back onto his pillows. He then turned over onto one side so he could better face his fellow Adepts. The result was immense pain all up and down his body. He winced, teeth gritted.
"Does that hurt?" asked Garet.
"No Garet, it's the best feeling I've ever had," snapped Isaac sarcastically. Mia giggled.
"Well, I suppose we'd better leave you in peace," said Ivan. "You need sleep."
"Yeah, don't sweat it," said Garet. "You'll be up and about in no time." With that, he got up, and walked out of Isaac's cabin. Ivan followed after him.
Now that everyone was gone and Isaac was awake, Mia lay down next to Isaac. She grinned at him and asked, "So, have you had any good dreams?"
Isaac thought for a minute. "Well, it wasn't necessarily a good dream, but there was this one I had while I was unconscious on top of the Jupiter Lighthouse . . ."
*******
"Well, that's that. We're due on course, and I've fixed all the problems with the ship."
Solaris's voice carried across the ship to Lunora, who was checking a map. She look disturbed as she scanned it. She was pointing to things and muttering. Then, she saw Solaris's shadow standing over her. He was curious in what she was doing.
"Is something the matter?" he asked concernedly.
"No," she replied distantly.
"Don't give me that," said Solaris seriously. "I know that there's something bothering you."
Lunora decided to not hide it for any longer, for she would have to mention it sometime anyway. "Oh, alright. The weather patterns have changed for the worse. I can sense it."
"So?" asked Solaris. "Is that a problem?"
"Yes, it's a problem!" Lunora said, rather shrilly. "These new weather patterns are going to bring very fierce wind and snow to Tundaria. This combination means that it's going to be extremely cold on Tundaria, even worse than is normal. It's going to be deadly!"
"I see now," said Solaris slowly. "The weather is going to make it even more difficult for us to get to the Luna Lighthouse."
"It's going to be more than just difficult. It's going to be unbearable," said Lunora unhappily.
"Well-" Solaris started, but he was interrupted by the door leading down to the cabins opening with a bang. Ivan came barreling through the doorway, and raced up to them, out of breath and looking anxious.
"G-guys," he wheezed. "We've got a problem. The weather in Tundaria-"
"You sensed it too?" asked Lunora sounding both impressed and depressed.
"We've got to tell Isaac," said Ivan. "He has to hold a meeting about this. About how we are going to proceed. I'll go tell him." He ran back to the door that led below-decks and disappeared through it, slamming the door behind him.
Lunora stared after him for a minute, then giggled slightly. "He's really cute," she said. "He never misses anything."
Solaris didn't respond. He knew that Ivan was 16 years old. He had heard Isaac talking about how it was a year later, and Ivan was 15 when he joined them. So, he wondered, what could possibly attract a beautiful 21 year-old woman such as Lunora to a 16-year old kid?
*******
"And so this huge, dark shadow comes barreling straight at me, scared the Holy Hell out of me!"
Isaac was telling Mia about his dream with a wealth of detail. He was toying with Mia's long, shiny blue hair as he spoke. Mia listened intently, enjoying her hair being played with.
Isaac continued, "So I dive to the floor, and the shadow barely misses me. Then-"
Isaac's cabin door burst open, startling both Isaac and Mia. Ivan rushed into the room, out of breath and looking anxious.
"Isaac, we've got to hold a meeting tonight at dinner," he gasped. "We have a problem with . . ." He stopped as he saw Isaac toying with Mia's hair. Hoping Isaac and Mia didn't notice his pause, he continued. "We have a problem with the weather patterns. They have changed for the worse, big time. None are going to affect our course, but the biggest one is settling itself right over Tundaria. Wind and snow are going to be very high, and we could well freeze to death."
Isaac went pale. So did Mia. "Uh . . . Ivan," said Isaac uncertainly, "how are we supposed to survive?"
"That's what I'd hoped we'd discuss at the meeting you should hold tonight. Lunora knows about it too. Hopefully, she'll know more about all this once dinner rolls around."
"Well, thanks Ivan, for letting me know," said Isaac in a worried tone.
"Yup," Ivan acknowledged. He hurried out of the room.
"So," said Isaac, turning to Mia. "What do you want to do?"
"Why are you asking me?" she asked quizzically.
Isaac grinned and laid his hands on her hips. "You're the good cook on this ship, not me. So, whenever you feel like making dinner, I'll hold the meeting."
Mia grinned too. "Well, I'd like to hear about the rest of your dream first."
"Okay," said Isaac happily. So he continues. "So, the reaper shadow turns around and comes at me again, and I knew that this time, it wouldn't miss me . . ."
*******
Two hours later, Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Mia, Solaris, and Lunora were all seated around the tiny dining table, which was laden with a huge platter of sandwiches, plates, and silverware. After everyone was settled in, Isaac stood up.
"It's a good thing Mia made sandwiches," he started, smiling briefly at her, "for I have something very important to discuss with you all, and if she had made a hot dinner, it would be stone cold by-"
"Get to the damn point! I'm hungry!" snapped Garet.
"Darn straight, my good man," agreed Ivan.
"Alright, alright!" Isaac said irritably. He hated being rushed by Garet's stomach.
Isaac cleared his throat. "Ahem. It has been brought to my attention by Ivan," he nodded briefly at Ivan, "that some nasty weather awaits us on Tundaria. This weather is going to bring extremely cold weather. Wind and snow is going to make things unbearably cold, even deadly cold. So, what we need to figure out tonight is: how are we going to survive the trip to and from the lighthouse?"
Lunora stood up too. "I could waste time telling you why this is occurring, but that is not an option until we figure out how to survive."
"It won't be much colder, will it? Our armor should be able to handle it," Garet said.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Lunora gravely. "We're not talking about a 5-10 degree change. We're talking about a 30-50 degree change, and the temperature there is already a few degrees below freezing, and that's during the summer."
Everyone sat, pondering this latest bit of news. It sounded like things were not going to be easy. Then, Ivan remembered something.
"When me and Garet were organizing Solaris's and Lunora's cabin, I noticed that there were some heavy blankets in a corner. Do you remember what I'm talking about?" he asked Solaris.
"Now that I think about it, I do remember," said Solaris. "But, I also noticed that there were only enough blankets for five of us. One of us will have to go without, or have to share."
"I can go without," said Mia. "Since I'm a Mercury Adept, I will be able to withstand the cold better than anyone else."
Isaac looked reluctant about this, but he didn't say anything.
"Okay then," said Lunora, sounding businesslike. "We've got that done and out of the way. Since those blankets are pretty thick, we needn't worry about freezing to death. But, that does not mean frostbite is still an issue. This means that you have to be extra-careful about your face."
"How, though?" asked Garet. "We have blankets to cover our bodies, gloves to cover our hands, and thick boots to protect our feet. How are we supposed to protect our face?"
"How indeed?" muttered Isaac to himself.
"Maybe . . ." started Solaris, "since those blankets are fairly large, we could cut holes in them for the eyes, nose, mouth, and arms. Even if we drape them over our heads, there should still be enough room left to cover our legs."
"That is a good idea," said Isaac slowly.
"Yeah, but-"
"Shut it, Ivan. If you have a better plan, I'd love to hear it," said Isaac. When Ivan remained silent for a moment, Isaac cleared his throat and continued, "Well, I think we've got everything all worked out. Meeting adjourned. Now, let's all dig into some of these delicious sandwiches!"
*******
The next day on board the ship passed without much event, unless you count Garet falling overboard. Even though not many people were pleased, they found it all extremely funny. Especially Solaris, who laughed so hard, he couldn't stand up.
Garet had pigged out as usual at dinner the previous night, the night which Isaac held the meeting. He scarfed down the top three sandwiches on the platter in 15 minutes. Usually, Garet had a cast-iron stomach, considering how much and how fast he ate. But, there was something about these sandwiches that affected him and only him.
Garet felt a little woozy the morning of the day he fell overboard, so he went to see Mia. Seeing as how she was still a little bad-tempered with him from yesterday in Isaac's room, she didn't cure his queasiness, and instead suggested that he should go up onto the deck to get some fresh air.
Well, normally this would have worked, but for poor Garet, it just made things a helluva lot worse. His queasiness escalated into dizziness, and finally, delusion. He walked to the edge of the ship, and began to hurl.
Since, to the rest of the group, this was a disgusting bodily function, everyone averted their eves from Garet, and tried to block the retching sounds. But, about after a minute, everyone heard a loud splash.
At the time, everyone thought that it was just a fish jumping and splashing back into the water. The group didn't hear anyone gagging anymore, so they looked back to see if Garet was alright, and discovered that Garet wasn't there.
Isaac heard the splashing off the side of the ship, and the gurgling yells, and the realization dawned on him. His best, and clumsy, friend Garet had fallen overboard!
He stood there for a split second. 'Dammit! I guess I'm gonna have to help him out.' he thought sourly. By this time everyone was laughing loudly. Isaac wasn't though, because he knew what he needed to do. With a deep breath, he jumped headfirst off the ship.
"Isaac!" yelled Mia. She wiped her eyes, which were blurred with tears of laughter.
Isaac did not hear her. He was already swimming towards Garet, who was flailing around a good 20 feet from the ship.
Mia ran towards the aft part of the ship, where Isaac's Djinn had left the rope ladder a couple of days ago. She grabbed it of the deck and ran back to where Isaac had jumped ship. She saw that Isaac was already helping Garet swim back. Mia lowered the ladder over the side of the ship, and then she waited.
After a couple of minutes, she saw a tug on the ladder. She peered over the side and saw Garet climbing up the ladder. About a minute later, his head popped over the top of the railing. He climbed over the rails, and collapsed on the deck, soaking and exhausted.
Then Isaac climbed over the side of the ship, not exhausted but still soaking wet. Water was dripping from his now sodden hair. After he climbed over the ship, he stared, looking at Garet, hands on his hips. Garet stood up slowly at the look that Isaac was giving him. It was half-annoyance, half-exasperation.
"Well, I hope you're happy, dammit," he snapped. "That's what you get for pigging out last night. Hopefully this will be one of the few lessons that will sink into your abnormally thick skull." After he said all this, his expression softened. "You're okay, right?" Garet nodded.
Isaac smiled. "That's good. Now go and get yourself dried off before you catch a cold."
*******
After Garet was dried off, which took a considerably long time, Solaris and Lunora announced that they would arrive in Tundaria in approximately two hours. The rest of the group had already guessed this, as it was getting remarkably cold already.
Isaac then announced over lunch that they should all start getting ready for the two most dangerous things the would encounter: the cold, and monsters. After lunch, all went into their respective cabins.
Isaac was bustling around his cabin, getting ready to go. His armor and Gaia Blade lay on his bed, gleaming because of their recent shining. He was now putting potions, food, and spare gloves into his backpack. All of a sudden, he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," said Isaac.
The door opened and Solaris stepped into the room. "Sorry to bother you, Isaac."
"No problem," said Isaac briskly. "So, what's up?"
"Oh! Uh . . . here's your blanket," said Solaris. He handed Isaac a large, heavy brown blanket. "We didn't cut holes in it, since we didn't know how big your face is," said Solaris, grinning. Isaac grinned back.
"Thanks, Solaris," said Isaac. "I'll take care of that."
Solaris nodded and went out the door, shutting it behind him.
Isaac then set about making a 'face mask' in his blanket. It took a long time, because he was extra-careful not to rip the blanket to shreds in the process of cutting out the holes with his Gaia Blade. Once he finally had it done, he tried it on.
Everything fit perfectly. After about a minute, it became blistering hot under the blanket. This pretty well convinced Isaac that it would have to be really damn cold if he felt chilly under this blanket.
Isaac then noticed a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. It took him awhile to realize what it was. Then, after a few minutes of thought, he did.
Mia had said that she would go without a blanket because she was a Mercury Adept, and could withstand the cold better. Isaac knew that what she had said was true. But, he didn't, and never had, trusted the weather for any reason. Making up his mind, he left his cabin.
*******
Crystal rod? Check.
Potions and herbs? Check.
Backpack and necessities? Check.
Mia looked around her cabin, making sure she had everything she needed for the hike to the Luna Lighthouse. She was just gathering everything up when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she said.
The door opened with a slight creak, and Isaac stepped into her room.
"Hi, Isaac," said Mia, smiling. Isaac smiled back.
"Could you do me a favor?" he asked.
"Sure," said Mia, putting down the potion bottle he was holding.
Isaac drew out the blanket he had received. At this, an utterly confused expression spread itself over Mia's face. Isaac threw the blanket over her head.
"I'm going to feel where your eves, nose, and mouth are, so I can cut out holes in the blanket for you," he said simply. Mia nodded.
He positioned the blanket so that his face settings were directly behind where he was going to make Mia's face settings. He found her eyes and nose soon enough. Mia gave him a small kiss through the blanket as his hand found her mouth. Isaac smiled to himself. Remembering where all these things were, he took the blanket off. Some of Mia's sleek blue hair clung to the blanket as it was pulled off, and it make a crackling sound.
"Well, that's that," he said. He drew out his Gaia blade.
It was tough work cutting holes in a thick blanket with a long sword like the Gaia Blade. But after awhile, the work was finally finished.
"Okay, try it on," said Isaac. Mia took the blanket from him and threw it over her head. She found her face settings, and positioned them correctly. It was a perfect fit. "Ha!" said Isaac happily as he pulled the blanket off Mia's head again. "I'm getting quite good at this."
"Isaac, you didn't have to-"
"Yes I damn well did," said Isaac firmly. "I almost lost you once, and I'm certainly not going to let that happen again."
Mia gave Isaac a glowing look, and then put her arms around him. Isaac looked quite surprised at this, but decided to go along with the flow. The blanket dropped from his left hand as he put it behind Mia's head, while he put the other on her back. Needless to say, it was quite the hug.
They stood there for quite some time, not moving. After another few long, enjoyable minutes, they heard a bell sound.
"All couples on deck!" bellowed Garet. Shouts of laughter could be heard from above soon after that.
Isaac and Mia quickly broke apart, blushing furiously, even though there was no one in the room. Isaac looked up at the ceiling with a furious and embarrassed expression on his face.
"Damn him!" shouted Isaac suddenly. "He never quits, even under a serious situation like this!"
"Maybe I should poison dinner again," said Mia slyly.
"What?!"
"He was being a jerk just before you woke up from your long sleep, so I decided to get back at him. So, what better way than through his gluttonous tendencies? Anyway, I knew that Garet would be the first one to take sandwiches from the platter. So, I made sure the ones I poisoned were on top!"
"You clever girl," said Isaac playfully, kissing her on the nose. Then, his expression suddenly hardened. "Please wait here. I have a score to even up with Garet."
Isaac walked as calmly as he could out of his cabin. He was embarrassed and rather annoyed. It was true that he and Mia were together, but Garet didn't need to proclaim it in such a fashion. Soon, he emerged on deck, and walked over to where Garet was, oblivious to everyone else watching him.
"Hello, Garet," said Isaac, in a falsely cheerful voice.
"H-hey, Isaac," said Garet nervously. Isaac continued to wear that fake smile. "What?" asked Garet.
"Well, you seem to be enjoying having fun at my expense," said Isaac. His smile disappeared instantly, and then he grabbed a fistful of Garet's outer wear. "Now, do you have any last words before I kill you?"
"Heh-heh . . . uh . . ."
"Let's get one thing straight," said Isaac. "If you ever say anything like that again, I will Odyssey you so hard that you will land through the roof of your house back in Vale. Now, is that in any way unclear?"
"Not at all," said Garet, both seriously and nervously. "It's crystal clear."
"Good," said Isaac, releasing his grip slightly on Garet. After a minute of glaring at him, he started to cool off. He couldn't be pissed off at his childhood friend for long, no matter what pranks or jokes he pulled.
After he started to feel less furious, he released his grip entirely on Garet, and looked around. He started to notice the cold in the air, and the wind starting to blow. He turned to Lunora.
"Where are we?" he asked her.
"We're just coming up on Tundaria," she said, looking slightly wary of him.
"Isaac, you might want to go get Mia, because we need to talk about the path we're gonna take to get to the Luna lighthouse, once we hit land."
Isaac nodded and disappeared down the stairs. Lunora stared after him.
"What's the matter, Lunora?" asked Ivan, noticing the expression of unease on her face.
"Well, Isaac's behavior surprised me, sort of," she said slowly. "I thought he was an even, mild-mannered type of person."
"Oh, don't worry about him," cut in Garet. "When he gets like that, he's only angry until he says why, and gets his point across. He's just fine now." Then, he shuddered slightly. "However, when he said he'd Odyssey me, he meant it. Anyway, he's just fine."
"Oh, okay then," said Lunora, sounding happier.
"Dang, it's getting really cold out here now," said Ivan.
"And no wonder," remarked Solaris. "I see Tundaria."
Just then, the door opened, and Isaac and Mia came up on deck, with their blankets and other necessities tucked under their arms.
"Now that we are all here," called Solaris, "we can cast our attention on Tundaria, off in the distance there."
Solaris waved his hand off to the left of himself. The rest of the group saw a massive, snow-white continent off in the distance. And, judging by the streaks they saw in the sky above Tundaria, and the dark gray they saw that it was getting a humongous blizzard.
"The air will get colder and colder as we reach Tundaria. Anyway, I wanted, or rather, Lunora wanted to explain to you the route that we will take to get to the Luna Lighthouse," explained Solaris.
"I was born here," started Lunora. "I know the terrain here like you know your ship. Therefore, this is the best route I know of to take."
She drew out a large, folded map of Tundaria. They noticed that it was a very long continent. There seemed to be no signs of life on it except for a symbol for a tower that the northernmost peninsula of Tundaria.
"This is the most modern map of Tundaria I possess, explained Lunora. "Due to concealment after the War of the Adepts, this map does not have the Luna Lighthouse or my hometown indicated on it, so I'll have to draw them," she said with some bitterness in her voice.
She took out a quill, and drew where her town and the lighthouse were. Her hometown was nestled against the south side and the western portion of the mountain range that they were going to have to cross somehow. The lighthouse was right next to the edge of Gaia Falls.
"As you can see, the lighthouse is very close to the edge," said Lunora. "Very lucky it isn't fifty feet further south. The rest of the group nodded silently.
"Now, this is the path we'll take," said Lunora.
She took the quill and drew a line through the map. It went south into the mountains. Then, on the other side, it turned West and headed into her hometown. From there, it forked south-southeast and to the Luna Lighthouse. Lunora blew slightly on the map; snow was starting to fall on it.
"I should describe our path in more detail . . .erm, how do I explain this . . .okay. From where we land, we'll travel southeast to the cave in the mountains. There, we can get some rest and build a fire for the duration of our stay. Once we're ready to proceed from there, we'll head west along the base of the mountain range until we come to my hometown, Tundris. There, we can restock any lost or left behind possessions and equipment. From there, we rest until nightfall. Finally, we proceed to the Luna Lighthouse."
"That sounds quite easy," said Mia.
"It does, doesn't it?" said Lunora, smiling faintly. The route we take makes it easy for us to get to the Luna Lighthouse. However, the weather is not going to make it easy for us to get there."
"W-what if t-t-the c-cave is c-covered b-by snow?" shivered Garet. Being a Mars Adept, he was the first to notice the power and effects of the extreme cold. Isaac murmured words of agreement.
"I though of that too," said Solaris. "If Lunora agrees, we can take the mountain pass just east of the cave if the cave itself is blocked."
"If it comes to that . . .we'll have to take that pass . . .yes," replied Lunora.
"Well, if that is all, we had better check for any stuff we left behind," said Isaac. "It's getting rather c-cold."
Everyone agreed with this pronouncement, especially Garet. He practically flew downstairs to his cabin to get his two most important items: his blanket, and his food.
***************************
Yep, you can't forget that, can you?
Okay, that's it for now. Review, or you'll need plastic surgery.