Author's Note:
Read the other two author's notes to get the warnings and disclaimers and stuff.
Ryu: Hi! ^.^
Rio the flowerofblackfire: Ryu, you can't just say "hi" to people who don't know you.
Ryu: ^.^
Rio: *sighs* Yes, well. This *points to Ryu* is Ryu. He is...well he has been called many things, the voice in my head, my sprite, my muse, my hikari (for any Yu-Gi-Oh fans out there). He is a spirit but that's about all I can tell you in terms of titles. He looks exactly like Ryou Bakura from Yu-Gi-Oh except that his hair is not only white but translucent as well. Oh, and he is always on a sugar high and seems to like defying the laws of Physics.
Ryu: ^.^ Rio, you forgot to tell them about you! *hyperness*
Rio: Oh yes. "Rio" is my nickname. I sign stuff with my full name Rio the flowerofblackfire but in my Author's Notes, after all of the warnings and stuff are taken care of I just refer to myself as Rio.
Ryu: ^.^ ^.^ ^.^ ^.^
Rio: right... -_-; Oh, and an important note! Because of the invention of a thing called School which then invented a thing called Homework which then invented a thing called No Time, I will (hopefully) be updating on Saturdays (for me in the East Coast of the US). I say hopefully because I will try my hardest but sometimes things get in the way. If I cannot update on Saturday I will post the chapter by Wednesday of the next week. Also this, the third chapter, is this week's updation so I will be updating next Saturday and not this Saturday (unless a thing called Free Time shows up) Again for people who are calendar challenged like me the next updating day would be September 27.
Ryu: ^.^ Enjoy Chapter Three! ^.^ *thinking very hard* Or I guess you could not enjoy...I mean there is that nasty cliffie thing at the end... ^.^ Oh well, what can ya do?
Fantasies: I see dead people
"Are you sure this is where you got it from?"
"For the last time Sheba, yes I'm sure and be quiet!"
Both girls crept across the lower rooms of the mayor's house in Madra, leaving behind the glittering Cyclone Chip in its box on the hearth. Sheba looked back at it longingly, an action which didn't go unnoticed by Jenna.
"You'll get it back in a matter of hours, Sheba, you read the mayor's son's mind. You know he's going to give it to us."
"I know, but...we had a connection. I felt it."
"We?" climbing out of the window Jenna turned to help the younger Adept out of the window.
"The Cyclone Chip! A bond was formed between us."
Jenna shook her head as they headed down the quiet street. It was a few hours after midnight and the only light was provided by the full moon. "First of all She, of course you felt something when you used it, you both stem from the same source of Psyenergy! Second of all, its an inanimate object!"
"Oh, be quiet Jenna, you take everything to literally." Sheba said defensibly. "And you know I hate that nickname."
Jenna opened the door to the inn, a scowl flitting across her features. "First of all She, I do not take everything literally. Second of all be quiet, you'll wake someone up."
"Already did." A male voice cut in. Both girls turned around to see Picard lounging on one of the chairs in the back of the room. Getting up from the chair he walked over to the girls. Leaning on one of the support beams for the room he grinned, "So do you mind telling me where you were so I can make up a proper story to tell that overprotective brother of yours?"
Jenna turned to Sheba, "I'll take care of this. You get to bed."
Nodding the Jupiter Adept walked towards the bedrooms, sending a small smile Jenna's way. The other girl didn't return it, although Sheba knew that she had seen it. But then again, Sheba thought, that was just the way Jenna was.
Jenna turned to Picard who was still grinning. "Why don't you make something up. We'll just agree to it in the morning."
"You're leaving me to my poetic imagination?" Picard asked and Jenna winced. "Felix would never believe it. "
Jenna sat down one one of the chairs surrounding a table. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, many things. I would like to know where you were and why you took Sheba with you. I would like to know what spell you used to die your hair when Mars Adepts can't cast the illusion spells of a Jupiter Adept. And I would like to know why Felix never strings together more than two words and a shrug together at a time." Picard said all of this very seriously watching Jenna with narrowed eyes.
"If you stick your neck out that far I am liable to cut your head off, Picard. I took Sheba to the hill outside of Madra to look at constellations. And you can tell my brother that if he wants to know about my life he can ask me himself. Why do you care about Felix anyway?" Jenna asked, annoyance changing into suspicion.
Picard shifted uneasily. "That really is not something you should be worried about." Walking towards the door he paused. "I'll tell Felix you're excuse. He'll be waking up soon anyway. I doubt he'll believe it though."
"Felix hates to wake up early." Jenna's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she followed Picard through the hall towards the doors to the bedrooms.
"Oh I didn't say it was voluntary." Picard grinned, stopping outside of the room he and Felix shared. A muffled thud was heard from inside, then some cursing. Jenna raised an eyebrow and Picard just shook his head smiling.
Jenna shrugged as she opened the door to the room Sheba and she shared and walked in, leaving Picard in the hall.
Picard's smile disappeared when he turned away from the Mars Adept. Was she even truly a Mars Adept? She used fire attacks but he didn't remember "Fiery Abyss" as one of the normal Mars Adept attacks. Not that he had met any Mars Adepts, but the Library in Lemuria was extensive. He opened the door to his and Felix's room and was met with the familiar sight of Felix sprawled on the floor, cursing the floorboards to the lowest pit of the underworld.
The Earth Adept looked up as Picard came in. Instantly the look of hatred he had been using on the poor floorboards changed into one of concern. By now Picard knew all of Felix's looks, this was the one that said in plain terms, "Tell me what they said or I will find out some other way".
"They didn't say." Picard walked over to his bed, pealing off his shirt and sitting down facing Felix.
"Excuse?"
"Oh they gave one, but if Jenna had really taken Sheba to the cemetery outside of town than I would have found them when I looked for them."
Felix frowned, mind racing. Momentarily he forgot Picard's presence as he retreated into the furthest reaches of his mind.
Picard watched with a smile as the Adept unconsciously pulled his legs into a child's sitting position, a familiar one to all who knew Felix. "Thinking anything interesting?"
Felix snapped out of his concentration with a jerk. He shrugged. At this Picard rolled his eyes. Felix never said anything. In the short time that he had known Felix, the Earth Adept had said a total of ten words and three half sentences. Why was Picard counting? Well that was an obvious question. Picard was falling for the Adept, falling fast and hard. In all of his years alive he had never met anyone like Felix, nor anyone remotely like Felix. He admitting that he had not been out of Lemuria for more than a month, but still Felix stirred some protective string inside Picard. It was now an unspoken goal of Picard's to get Felix to open up to him, say maybe a paragraph to him. Although as he looked at the Adept who was now firmly in a thinking state, Picard couldn't help thinking that that would be an impossible task.
Felix still sat thinking on the floor, not noticing when Picard turned off the oil lamp. his eyes were closed anyway, less distractions meant more thinking. And Jenna required a lot of thinking. She was in trouble, that much Felix was certain.
Felix had lived for most of his life with Menardi and Saturos, two of the most powerful Mars Adepts from Prox. In fact the only other Mars Adept that he knew was not from Prox was Jenna. But Jenna's attacks were not in any way similar to the attacks used by either Saturos or Menardi. For one thing, the fire from his comrade's' (if you could call them comrades) attacks was pure fire while Jenna's fire was tinged with black flames.
And then there was this sudden black fascination. Although as a big brother he did not approve of the attire she had started acquiring after the Mercury Lighthouse, he had let it go because she seemed to be enjoying herself. But this fascination was now close to scaring him, the hair was the latest change. And that in itself made no seance because the only one capable of changing the color of anyone's hair would be Sheba, and Sheba hadn't done anything to Jenna's hair.
Jenna''s attitude had changed completely. She was now distant, sarcastic, and secretive. Somehow she had even figured out how to block Sheba's mind read. One of the first things Felix had done was ask Sheba to read her mind to see what was the matter. Sheba had almost succeeded but, in the way Sheba had explained it, Jenna had sensed what she had been doing and blocked Sheba out of her mind. With this new bit of information, Felix had gone to Kraden. In truth he would have rather talked to a Mars Adept on the matter but every Mars Adept he could talk to was dead so Kraden was the only one other than himself who might be able to figure out this problem with Jenna.
The two of them had figured out that the only Adept capable of doing the things which Jenna seemed to be able to do would be a Dark Mage. But Kraden had dismissed that thought saying that the last Dark Mage had been killed by their own power decades ago. In fact the death was so brutal that the power of the Dark Mage was hunted down and destroyed. There had been rumors of a book, the Tomegathericon, which was the only way left to become a Dark Mage, but Jenna didn't like to read. Or, Felix corrected himself, she hadn't seemed interested in reading about the different types of Psyenergy before.
Yes, Kraden had dismissed the notion, but Felix wasn't so sure, now more than ever. His sister would need watching. Maybe he could ask Picard to keep an eye on her because it would be too obvious if he did so.
Breaking out of his trance Felix noticed that the sun was just coming up and groaned. He had not been able to get enough sleep for a few weeks now. That same dream had been plaguing his dreams every night and he always ended up rolling off the narrow beds which the inns provided. Heck, even Picard had noticed, Felix had mumbled something about getting to know the floor when the Lemurian had mentioned it. And even after all of that he still didn't know who he was dreaming of. Allowing himself a childish moment, Felix pointed out to whatever God might be listening that it just wasn't fair.
Getting back into bed for the few hours which remained for sleeping he resisted the urge to sigh. Yes, Felix was used to the problems of a traumatic life style, he thrived on it, but by Venus, this was becoming to much to think about.
Felix wasn't the only one who was thinking that night. Jenna had given herself a brilliant idea when she had made up the story about going to the graveyard outside of Madra. Making sure that Sheba was asleep, Jenna picked up her leather boots crept out of the bedroom and down the hall of the inn.
Once outside she slipped on the boots that would have made to much noise on the hardwood floors, she set off for the graveyard.
As a child Jenna had never been particularly fond of graveyards. She knew all to well the stories of Hades and how ghosts got to the Underworld and the river Styx. She knew that you needed to give the ferryman a coin in order to have him row your spirit across the river and to the gates of Hades. This was why everyone was buried with a coin underneath their tongue so that they could take the easy way into the Underworld. She knew that if you did not have a coin for the ferryman than your spirit/ghost/soul would have to search on its own for the pauper's entrance to the Underworld. The people of Gondowan were strange though, when it came to religion. They didn't know of the Gods and instead worshiped things, like the Great Gomba. And what was it really? A spirit that couldn't find its way to Hades because its people were ignorant and buried it in a statue full of gears! Going by this example she figured that the people of Madra would do the same type of thing and forget to bury their dead with a coin. That would mean that the spirits would be back in their graves by now getting ready to rest for another night when they would resume looking for the pauper's entrance to Hades.
The minute she stepped into the graveyard she saw a flash of white. This she was getting used to, seeing the flashes of ghosts whenever her eyes were not focused on anything in particular. Apparently, whenever she didn't try to see ghosts, she could.
Stepping into the middle of the graveyard she deliberately stared at the ground in front of her and slightly crossed her eyes, causing the mortal world to become unfocused. And there they were. Hundreds of people must have been buried here and their graves forgotten. And this was just on the hill. Spirits streamed out of the only opening to the Madra Catacombs and it looked like they weren't going to stop any time soon.
In fact all of the spirits were curious, all wanting to see this new Dark Mage with whom they could communicate.
It took Jenna only a few minutes to master looking at the ghosts through unfocused eyes. After blinking and having to start over again three times she realized that it had to be natural and that if one didn't think about it, the who process wasn't that hard.
There was a circle of ghosts around her now, there must have been thousands, and they all stood in curious attention, whispering to their neighbors about this newcomer who smelled of mortal flesh but had the aura of one of their own.
A little ghost, who must have been only five years or so when she died, was the first to walk towards Jenna. In her hands she clutched a ghostly teddy-bear, it must have been buried with her. She looked up at the living girl closely before she whispered. "Can you breathe?"
Jenna was surprised at that question but answered truthfully, "Yes, I can breathe."
The girl's face brightened a little. "Are you a Dark Mage? 'Cus Mommy used to tell stories about alotta Dark Mages who would come and visit. But they don't come anymore." the little girl looked downcast at the last fact that she relayed to Jenna, holding her teddy closer as if it was a life line.
"Why don't they come anymore?" Jenna asked, frowning. First of all, she hadn't think there were any other Dark Mages, or at least they had never been mentioned in conversation between any Adepts that she had heard.
"Your kind, miss" one of the older ghosts, apparently the little girl's mother, came through the crowd and picked the little child up in her arms. "Your kind hunted down the Dark Mages when one of them was destroyed by their own magic."
"Destroyed by their own magic?" Jenna asked. Now she was confused. There was no historical recording of a massacre of Dark Mages, or else Kraden would have mentioned it.
"He tried to tamper with a power he had no place using, miss" another ghost spoke, the collective becoming less afraid of the living girl.
"He tried to bring one of us back." the little girl whispered to Jenna.
"He tried to raise the dead." Jenna repeated, as if she just couldn't understand it.
"Yes, he tried to use the power of Hades to bring back the dead and in doing so overtaxed his powers and they destroyed him from the inside out, in the most gruesome death Adepts had ever seen." a new voice said from behind Jenna. This voice she knew, yes she knew it very well.
A.N.
Ryu: In the next episode of DragonBallZ...
Rio: -_-; Try again Ryu
Ryu: ^.^ Upcoming in Fantasies:
Jenna looked at the blue haired man who stared right back at her with a level expression. "And why should I trust you?" She started to walk past him when his voice stopped her.
"Because I can tell you what Kraden and Felix won't."
Ryu: Rio...who is the blue haired man? I mean in there are at least three people with blue hair.
Rio:And your point?
Ryu: ^.^ Who is he?
Rio: *shrugs* I don't know. Maybe some of the readers will figure it out.
Ryu: ^.^ Thank you to all Reviewers for Reviewing the second chapter!
Rio the flowerofblackfire