Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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In her sorrow and moment of remembrance, Sheba failed to hear the others approach. Isaac had climbed up the last steps with his company. Sheba turned to look at them after a minute. Sheba could see Jenna being held by Isaac. "Felix, no… I can't bear the sorrow of losing you again," she was crying into Isaac's arms. Isaac was doing what he could in his confused state. Next to him was Kraden talking with Ivan, the young wind adept whom she had helped only minutes before. And then she looked back at Felix. Alex still had his hand over Felix's chest. Picard was pacing about, he was afraid that he would have to feel pain again of loosing a loved one. Mia, another Mercury Adept, was doing what she could to heal Felix, though Alex was telling her to move so that Felix could get to a Sanctum. Garet, the one who Sheba helped to get back onto the lighthouse and whose arm was in a sling, was looking at Felix with confusion and worry.

 Sheba rushed over to her beloved Felix's side, tears streaming down her face. She took his hand in hers and prayed to Venus that he would survive. She felt the events that caused this were because of Jupiter. She would not think of the element that had lied to her…

"Mia, please!" Alex was saying to the female Mercury Adept. "You can't do anything to heal him, he needs to get to a Sanctum Healer." He said calm as ever, but sternly. "And even then, I'm not sure…"

"All right…" Mia said, "Garet, pick him up."

"I don't know, I'll try," Garet said. He slowly grasped Felix's body and lifted him up, Garet's left arm was in a sling, making lifting his old friend a challenge. In the end, Garet couldn't support Felix with one arm, Alex had to support Felix with his free arm. Felix started coughing again, this time, more feeble… Blood erupted from his mouth again, getting Garet in the face.

His coughing attack made everyone stop that they were doing.

"Lets get him to a Sanctum!" Garet said as he walked to the elevator with Alex. Mia flowed closely, then Picard. Sheba followed, but not until she caught one last look at the beacon's light, and cursed at it!

Sheba was the last of the ten to get on the elevator. It began to descend. She brought herself close to Felix. "I'm sorry, Felix…" She said still sobbing. "I should have tried to stop them. I could have given you the time needed to heal Jenna, but I was foolish!" She let her head fall. "And now you're wounded and we can't do a thing about it. I'm sorry…" She let herself fall to the floor in tears. She had never felt so guilty for anything before in her entire life. Had she just done as she was told, those few seconds could have meant the difference between winning and loosing.

"S…S…Sheba…"

Sheba's head shot up, so did everyone else's from what they were doing. Felix was awake! Sheba sprung to her feet and looked into Felix's opened eyes.

"Felix…" she said. "I'm here, were going to help you."

Felix's eyes widened! He looked petrified at Garet, whose face was still coated with Felix's blood.

"Ugnh! Let go of me! Put me down!" Felix cried. He started to thrash his arms and legs around. Garet and Alex had to struggle to keep a hold of Felix, but in order to do so, Alex had to remove his hand from the stab. The horrid sucking sounds started again. Felix calmed down enough for Alex to cover the wound with his hand. Sheba stared into Felix's eyes, and Felix to hers. When he saw her he calmed down almost instantly.

"Don't worry Felix," she said, "I'm here, please just relax." She ran her hand through his hair. He shuddered slightly and his breathing slowed, but still quicker than normal. Karst was not kidding he was loosing air. If he did not get help soon, he would die…

After a minute had passed, the elevator had reached its destination. One by one the travelers got off. Alex and Garet got off last with Felix, which took even longer then the ride down because Felix started freaking out again when Sheba got down. She had to be constantly near him otherwise he would thrash about.

They went as fast as they could from the lighthouse, and with each passing moment, Felix breathed harder, his coughs more feeble, but he still spouted blood like a volcano. As they traveled, evening turned to night and it became impossible for them to continue without fighting some wild beast and endangering their lives more than need be. They stopped with a one and one half hours walk to Contigo. Garet set up a fire and Mia cooked a soup for them to eat, but no one was really hungry. Even though he thought Felix was his enemy, Isaac still worried about his old friend. They laid Felix down near the fire; he was without a shirt for almost an hour with cold winds blowing at his exposed skin, he was freezing. They covered him up with a blanket they had, but it was tattered and frayed and they had to keep Felix's wound protected from contaminants. Sheba willingly took the position. Alex showed her to keep a steady pressure on the opening, so air wouldn't flow in or out freely. Jenna had not spoken a word to anyone directly since he learned that her powers were useless to help her brother. Felix had been resting for about twenty minutes before he spoke again.

"W…Where am I? What's going on?" he asked madly. "What's happening? Wh-" He was cut off by his own coughing, he felt weak and it hurt to get his blood out of his lung. "Why am I coughing blood!? Am I going to die!? I am going to die…" he trailed off.

"Felix," Sheba said, her head over his, she was wiping his head with a damp cloth. "Just relax, please…"

"Felix…" Jenna finally spoke. "Felix, I…" Tears swelled in her eyes upon looking into Felix's blank eyes. "I…I can't take it!" She burst out into tears.  She buried her face into Felix's chest. The pain she expressed was felt by all those standing near. Jenna couldn't understand why Felix, a good soul and a loving person, had such bad things happen to him.

Felix's eyes rested on Sheba. "I am going to die…" He said solemnly.

"Don't talk like that Felix!" Sheba said quickly, "We're going to help you. We will heal you." Please don't die on me Felix…I love you…

Did Felix just hear that or was he just hallucinating? He couldn't tell. Everything was hazy to him. All he felt was pain from the stab and comfort by being able to see his sister and his Sheba near him.

"I hate to say it like that Mia, but you can feel it too…"

Mia was sitting over a pot with some soup boiling in it. She was conversing with Picard and Alex. She knew Felix's fate as they did, but she was not ready to admit it… She tried to get some out and taste it with her wooden spoon, but her hand shook so much, she couldn't get it pass the pot edge before it fell back into the mix. She became so frustrated that she threw the spoon into the pot and breathed heavily. This was the first time that her healing abilities had no effect at all on the person she tried to heal.

Alex, still as calm as ever, grabbed the spoon and tasted the soup for himself. "It's ready," he said. "Needs a little salt though." His tone hardly reflected his appearance.

"Alex, how are you so calm? Felix could die!" Picard said, getting angry.

Alex handed a bowl to Picard and filled it up. "We have done all that we could," he said not looking at his fellow Adept. "Worrying non stop would only get Felix and the others even more upset," he looked towards the two girls sitting near Felix and the boys standing a few feet away, "and if they loose hope for his survival, I guarantee that he will die. Give that to Jenna and have her feed Felix the broth, it should help him somewhat."

Picard did as he was told and told the others that the soup was ready. Not many wanted to eat. Isaac went over to Jenna and propped Felix up so he could eat. Felix had one more coughing attack and tried to eat. He sipped the broth eagerly, he needed nourishment and it washed the taste of blood from his mouth.

Isaac was having trouble understanding the whole situation. All he understood was that Felix was injured and if he died, he may never understand why Felix did what he did.

"Jenna?" Isaac asked cautiously. "Why are you lighting the lighthouses?"

Jenna stopped serving Felix. "As soon as he gets better, we will tell you everything." And she continued to give her brother the broth. Isaac asked no more questions.

"Kraden, what's going on?" Ivan asked the scholar.

"When Felix is healed or at a Sanctum, Ivan…" he said.

Garet stood near Felix. He could see Jenna was about ready to cry again, that Sheba was scared that Felix would die and that Isaac was just as confused as he was. Garet looked over to where the others who could eat were getting served. Mia's eyes seemed to glaze over and she did nothing… Alex was serving the soup. Garet wondered why Alex was so calm, for that matter, why was he even there and why did Jenna trust him?

Probably had no choice after Karst fled... he thought.

The thing that disturbed Garet the most was that Felix's condition wasn't getting better, it was clearly getting worse. He walked over to where Alex was sitting.

"Can't we just warp to Contigo and get to the Healer that way?" he asked the calm, blue haired male.

Alex looked up at the injured Mars Adept. "I used up all my Psynergy healing Felix before and after the fight with those two. I must rest for a while," He said. "And even if I was at full power, I could bring only myself that far. I could only take Felix so far… Probably at least within a thirty minutes run at best. And I also believe that Felix would not be able to control himself and thrash at me until we are both dead. Tomorrow, I will try to get Felix and Sheba there."

"Why just them?" Garet asked.

"Felix is emotionally attached to her, and she to him," Picard said, showing that he was eavesdropping. "Felix told me that he and Sheba are engaged."

Alex shook his head and a smile formed on his lips. "He finally mustered up the courage, huh… Good for him…"

Garet's eyes widened. "Y…You're serious!?" he asked.

"He will break her heart…" Alex's voice butted in. Picard and Garet looked at Alex strangely. "Picard, don't give me that look! You know as well as I, and Mia, do that if he survives this night, it'll be a miracle… Mercury Adepts can always tell the severity of injuries. He will loose a lot of blood, and his life will end…"

Picard and Garet were horrified. But Picard nodded his head in understanding. What Alex said was true, he could sense it, he just didn't want to believe it. Garet shook his head and ran over to Mia, to ask if what he heard was true. Mia gave him the answer, but not the one he wanted…

"I will turn in now," Alex said, "if he is still alive when I awake… I will take him to Contigo." Alex walked off a little ways and pulled a blanket over himself.

"Oh how I wish that you were wrong Alex…" Picard said.

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End chapter 4