Author's Note:

Ryu: Hello! *suddenly starts crying* They were SOOOO close too!

Rio: Yes, I know Ryu. Many readers almost got it... well the majority got half of it. So I'll give you all until Wednesday to get the other half and if you do I will give you two chapters on next Saturday. Sound fair? *many nods* Okay. Just remember that Felix and Picard are not the only characters... (even if they were the most important in chapter eight they share the spotlight in chapter nine... (hint hint)

Ryu: Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing and trying to get the answers! Enjoy the chapter (even if it is a bit late... *glares at Rio, Rio ignores glare*)



Fantasies of the Open Mind

Chapter Ten: The Legend of the Three and the Descendant


Leaving Lemuria would mark the return to normalcy for the adepts. Of course, normal for them includes an Venus adept (the leader of the group) who has social issues, a blue-haired Lemurian who Poseidon only knew how old he was, a way to curious and happy-go-lucky Jupiter Adept, and a Mars adept gone Dark with three familiars an a ghost... yes very normal.


Felix and Jenna surveyed the broken dock that had been hidden by a huge rock. It was like they were seeing the real Lemuria, the old true hart of Picard's home. Picard was quiet, looking at the runes. This was a side to his everlasting city that he had never seen, what Lemuria would look like if no one was still here, technically what Lemuria should look like by now. Of course when had the world followed logic anyway?

Sheba was the first to move, looking over near where there was a lot of grass growing. This in itself was a mystery as the rest of the area was covered only in a slight shimmer of grass, while in this corner there was shrubbery.

Jenna moved off towards the opposite area, heading towards where a pillar had fallen. All her familiars were back on the ship, making sure Kraden did mess it up... or that was what Nuitari had said, and Jenna had no clue where Saturos had gone off to. But something about this place was interesting. It felt... different somehow. Like the area where she had found the Tomegathericon.

Picard and Felix remained in the middle, just thinking. They were so lost that they failed to notice Sheba finally using Cyclone on the grass and a Mercury Djinni scurrying away from her towards them. Felix was the first to notice, catching sight of a statue of a maiden wobbling. He started to stare at it, wondering what would be causing that to happen? The statue looked solid enough...

Picard then noticed Felix staring at something. Looking in the same direction as Felix he also saw the wobbling statue. Frowning he walked over to the statue. Aware of Felix watching him, he pushed the statue over. The blue Djinni stared up at him with wide, innocent eyes. Then all of a sudden squirted water at him before scuttling away. Picard stood in shock as the water dripped down his face and hair. Felix walked up to him. Picard looked at Felix, Felix looked at Picard. Both adepts took off after the Djinni.

Jenna smiled as she saw the boys chasing after yet another Djinni, before turning back to what she had been looking at. There was a small inscription written on this fallen pillar. But it was covered over with dust and dirt. Scraping it off revealed writing, writing that Jenna could not read. But it was not just one type of writing, it was many. It looked as if the same inscription had been written over and over in different languages. She frowned, all of them were created before the modern language, she was certain.

"What's wrong?"

Jenna looked up to see Saturos leaning against an upright pillar, if you could call it leaning because he was a ghost.

Jenna explained about the writing and the older Mars adept frowned, walking over to where the pillar was.

"You're right. This is the same inscription, at least the two Proxian languages say the same thing." At Jenna's quizzical look Saturos explained. "Ancient Proxian was rewritten to form the language that we now use between Proxians. Both languages are on here."

"What does it say?" Jenna asked. She noticed Saturos's eyes darken as he spoke.

"Holy are thou, now buried here,

Holy on this ground so dear,

The First, the Great, the Last,

Let your bodies now lay to rest.

This ground on which we used to grow,

This Holy temple of which you know,

Watch over the Dark Mages that now you see,

Lunitari, Nuitari, and Solinari."

"You mean?"

"This must be the land on which the Dark Mages had a Sanctum to Hades. They would have buried the greatest of their kind in the alter of the Sanctum."

"Then where would the alter be?"

"I don't know." Saturos surveyed the ground. "You can't really see anything now, after all the years of erosion."

"Do you think we should mention this?"

"I don't' know Jenna. That is something you should decide."

Jenna sighed. Now she had another thing to think about. Maybe she should ask Felix how to meditate, it seemed to work for him.



But now back on the ship, of the four adepts, two were enjoying themselves, one was happily sitting in the crow's nest looking out at the ocean, and one was steering the ship. Felix was having a ball with his new Grind psyenergy, portraying the same fascination as a child would with a new toy. And Jenna, well Solinari was very happy and Jenna was enjoying her familiar's happiness.

It was the picture of contentment. Solinari was lounging on the dragon head of the ship, a smile gracing his translucent face. Lunitari materialized behind him, "Feeling better now?" she asked.

"Much." Solinari answered.

"Any bets on how long it takes the Lemurians to lock him up?" Jenna asked innocently.

Nuitari sniggered. "With the amount of power you channeled into that spell I bet he asks to be locked up!

"Yes, the spell would progress quickly because of the amount of power." Lunitari smirked. "I think you did all dark Mages proud Jenna."

"Then again we never doubted your ability." Solinari smirked, "I'm just happy that my form is going to haunt him for the rest of his pre-determined but very long life."

Saturos just shook his head. "And you're sure they're not from Prox?" he asked Jenna sarcastically. After all, this sort of revenge thing was a Proxian legend.


Felix looked at the disappearing corpse of the monster he had just killed. Thanks to the Grind psyenergy that he had been given they were now back on course towards the Jupiter Lighthouse, or at least they were as on course as Felix could keep them (which wasn't very on course at all). For some reason however the monsters on this side of the sea were much bigger than the monsters on the other side. Of course when Felix had something to think about, how did he think? He meditated. The problem was that people had been interrupting his meditation lately, not that he really minded. Felix wasn't one to get mad about little things, but it didn't give Felix time to think, and he wanted an hour or so to think right now. So he headed for the remote corner at the stern of the ship and sat down to think. First of all there was the strangeness of the monsters, that was the most interesting by far. But that wasn't the most pressing matter on hand right now.

"Hi Felix."

Felix opened his eyes to see that Jenna had sat down next to him. Well this worked with what he wanted to think about anyway.

"Felix, I have a problem."

Well that didn't help Felix in anyway, but brother instincts had kicked in and he asked, "What is it?" before he could stop himself.

"I have a topic of discussion that I want to bring up with some people but its a touchy subject."

Was Jenna being purposely vague? Felix had a feeling that he wasn't included in the "some people" that Jenna wanted to talk about but he still couldn't help wondering. However that would have to wait. "If it is important enough to you that you feel you must bring it up, then there isn't much you can do except bring it up."

Jenna nodded, satisfied with that answer.

"I have some questions of my own." Felix said before his sister could get up. "I want to know what's happened to you that you haven't told me."

"Do you mean the familiars? Or becoming a Dark Mage?" There was no way she was going to tell Felix anything about Saturos.


At the prow of the ship Nuitari's eyes narrowed. "This is interesting." he thought. "It seems as if my guarded has fallen in love. Too bad. She will have to give up Power for Love."

"It is her choice." Lunitari sensed what Nuitari was thinking. "It is no coincidence that we all gave up feeling love for power, Nuitari. She has already made her choice. She made it long before she had the Power."

"She might not have to give up Power." Nuitari smirked. "There is always a chance that she is Descended."

Solinari frowned. "But that Legend will never come to pass Nuitari. You yourself know that we were not buried together. The Lemurians would not have listened to our customs. The message would have come to late. Without our powers melded in the alter, Hades's Descended will never come into Power."

Nuitari shrugged. "I have waited long enough for the Descended. If anyone would be the child of Hades, it will be her. You saw the power of her Condemn spell, and she wasn't even that angry at the time."

"Calm yourself, brother. I meant no disrespect." Solinari murmured.

"Do you think it's wrong?" Lunitari asked.

"What?"

"Not telling her. The Legend of the Three and the Descendant is the most powerful spell there is. It would keep her from resurrecting anyone who would love her."

"She hasn't made any moves towards resurrection yet." Nuitari said gruffly. "If she does we will tell her."

"But what if she doesn't consult us?"

"She will have to. She will need all of us to resurrect the one she loves." Solinari answered Lunitari's question quietly. "If he is not effected by the curse."

The red mage nodded, then frowned. "Not effected. Every mortal would be effected when she became a Dark Mage."

"Ah, but he wasn't a mortal at all when she became a Dark Mage was he?" Nuitari murmured ironically.


Saturos's eyes narrowed. They were the Three? He, along with every Proxian, was taught the Legend of the Three and the Descendant at an early age, but was it possible for Jenna to be the Descendant of Hades? His Jenna? For once Saturos turned to the power of a greater being for help. He had not asked Aries for anything in his lifetime. He found that nothing could have changed his destiny. But hopefully Aries would intervene for Jenna's sake, and as well as his own.




Felix and Picard surveyed the village they had come to. Yes, it was a village, but they could not talk to any descendants of that village. It had been quite frustrating. Of course Jenna getting mad and actually lashing out at the inn keeper hadn't helped. Maybe that was what had caused the Chief of this village to hand them the Hover Jade. But they needed it. Felix had heard often that the Shaman's Rod was the key to getting through the Jupiter Lighthouse, and now it seemed that it was the bartering chip for a stone that was the real key to getting through the Lighthouse. Felix looked at Jenna, leaning against the mud wall of the inn. She had a dark look on her face, as if the next villager who walked past and looked at her with disdain would be sent on a one way trip to the seventh pit of the Underworld. Then Felix's mind started working. Jenna had gotten through the cave underneath the Great Goomba with Sheba's help and a psyenergy that they had not been given until much later. Felix's eyes widened slightly as he held his sister with a newfound respect. Walking over to the girl he too leaned against the wall.

"Having fun yet?" he asked

"Loads. I'm thinking of the easiest way to burn this mud-town off the face of the earth."

"It would be too bad if you did so. I mean all they are trying to keep from us is one little stone."

Jenna looked at Felix quizzically. "Yes... I suppose that's all we need to be amicable for..."

"So what if we made the trade- Shaman's Rod for Hover Jade?"

"But they would never let us do that."

"The mayor of Madra would not have let us walk out with the Cyclone chip without his consent either."

Jenna raised an eyebrow. A slow smile spread across her face. "Really? I thought he was quite generous when he didn't have a say in it."

Felix smiled. She had understood. "We'll be leaving tomorrow then."


"Hey Jenna can I come?" one of Jenna's fire Djinni piped up as Jenna was later getting ready to leave.

"No you may not."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you making a commotion."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to be heard."

"Why?"

"Because I am not doing something nice right now."

"Why?"

"Because sometimes it is necessary for the overall good to do minor evils."

"Huh?"

"Think about it Coal. I'm sure the answer will come to you." And with those words Jenna left all of her Djinn sitting on her bed in the ship. Needless to say, they were all confused. And when Jenna was confused there was one person she would go to.

Felix opened the door to his room and looked down quizzically at all of the Mars Djinn assembled there. He rubbed his right temple, he could already feel the headache coming on. "Oh, Venus." was all he said as they bounced into his room and he shut the door behind them.


Jenna crept along the shadows around the house of the Chief of Shaman Village. The lights were on inside so Jenna had decided to enter from downstairs. However she had run into a problem as it seemed to be "story time" for all the children of the house. Groaning inwardly, Jenna sat down in a hidden spot to wait it out.


"Poppa, tell us a story."

"Yes, a love story."

"Come on sis, we had one of those last night! Tells us a scary one Poppa. One will lots of fighting and betrayal and stuff."

"No, I don't want to hear that!"

"Sis, you're just scared."

"Am not! I just want to hear something else."

The rich laughter of the father filled the room. "How about I tell you a legend?"

"About the ancient times?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Poppa tell that story about the Dark Mages again."

So the Chief began his tale.


"This is the Legend of the Three and the Descendant. You see, before Hades had created the Dark Mages he had fallen in love with a girl named Persephone. But she would never love him back. It was only through a trick that she lived with him as his Queen for most of the year."


"That's during winter, right Poppa?"

"Quiet sis, let Poppa tell the story!"


"This made Hades grow bitter. When he created the Dark Mages he made the condition that they could be powerful, more powerful than all other Adepts, but they had to never love another being. Only one who was willing to love Power was worthy of Hades true power. But Hades saw that because the Dark Mages were human they would always choose love in the end. So he returned to his First Dark Mage. She had been the only mage never to fall in love so far, so he modified her, and because she had chosen Power over love he gave her unimaginable abilities. He then created from her blood, two other Dark Mages, but it took so long that the three who would have been brothers and sister if born together, were hundreds of years apart. But Hades was lonely, so lonely that even Power was not enough for him anymore. As all other Gods and Goddesses before him, he wanted the touch of another-"


"Aw, Poppa, that's mushy stuff!"

"Quiet!"


Hades asked for the help of Venus's son Cupid in melting the heart of his Queen, Persephone. Cupid was all too happy to help but there was one problem. Because Persephone was not meant to love Hades, their child, should they have one, would be cursed. Their child would have the looks of Persephone and the personality of Hades, but she would be born to a mortal family. From birth the child would be different from the rest of his/her family but because humans were ignorant, they would not notice the significance of the difference. However, should that child become a Dark Mage the worst part of the curse would come to pass. No mortal would love that child. Ever. Still Hades took that chance, but when he found that Persephone was pregnant and that the child would be born to a mortal family in five hundred years he began work on a counter curse. He sent the ghosts to the prongs of the Trident which Poseidon had shattered to wait for his descendant. He then sent word to his rapidly dwindling Dark Mages. He ordered them to move the bodies of his chosen Three to his altar and merge them with the stone of the alter itself. If the bodies of the Three whom he had changed to be the most powerful mortal mages were brought together on his alter in Lemuria, their combined magic would open the key to the power which she should have, the Power of a God born. But the message arrived too late. The last Dark Mage had been murdered and all of the Dark Mage temples burned to the ground."


There was a moment of silence and then. "But Poppa what would happen if the child had gotten the power of a God born?"

"I don't know for sure but I think that Hades realized that his child would be left without Power and without Love in a lonely world. He knew he could not change the hearts of us mortals once the curse was in place but he could give his child Power so his child would not be alone in the world. Now go to sleep. Your sister already is."

"I will. Goodnight Poppa."


Jenna frowned. Interesting story. Very interesting...


Author's Note:

Rio: Again thank you for the reviews, they are inspiring to me and they keep me motivated.

Ryu: I thought that the fact that UmbrielBluethorn would murder you in your sleep if you didn't update kept you motivated...

Rio: Heh heh... that too...


signed Rio the FlowerofBlackFire