Ooook, I don't know how many people read my last chapter, but that's ok! I replaced the A/N with that, and I don't think it showed up as an update. Thaaaat's ok. At least I'm finally updating! Right? I hope i didn't lose too many ppl here.
Disclaimer: I do not own GS or HP
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"This all tastes so good!! I haven't had a meal like this in.." Jenna stopped, trying to count off the days in her head. Isaac was listening, while staring at a thick, orange substance that he noted all the other ... wizards ... were drinking. "... but this looks kinda weird. What is it?" Isaac quickly looked up to see that Jenna had posed the question that had been sitting in his mind for a while now.
"It's pumpking juice." Ron replied, taking a large gulp.
"... Pumpkin juice..?" Jenna repeated hesistantly.
Mia then threw both Jenna and Isaac a look that seemed to say, 'You better be polite and drink that before I make you!', all while smiling. Isaac marvelled at how she knew what he was thinking when he hadn't even said anything. He threw her a nervous smile back, and took a tentative sip, after seeing Ivan do the same. Jenna looked to him increduously. Probably seeing if I'll die anytime soon. Isaac thought. It wasn't that bad. He looked around the Great Hall trying to survey everything as Jenna began sniffing her drink. There were a lot of tables and numerous exits. It was spacious, and the long tables seemed grouped somehow. Brilliant chandeliers hung from the decorated roof top, and at the end of the hall, slightly suspended on what seemed to be a stage, was a lengthy table facing the rest of the room. He supposed it was for the teachers, but he couldn't be positive. His attention kept getting drawn to the constantly reappearing plates of food, causing Isaac to sigh. Garet would have loved it here...
"It's getting sort of late, we're going to go upstairs. You should all get some rest, tomorrow's the Feast and the Sorting." Isaac looked up to see Hermione speaking, and standing along with Harry and Ron.
"By getting rest, she means staying all night in the library... and school hasn't even started yet!" Ron said, whining slightly and earning a glare from Hermione. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"If you need any help in getting up to the rooms..." he offered.
"I think we'll be fine, thank you." Mia answered, smiling at the trio as they left.
Isaac sighed, and tried not to bury his face in his hands. It had been a long day... and he couldn't help but feel that by going to this school they were wasting a lot of valuable time which could be spent looking for and protecting the last lighthouse from being lit. Not to mention looking for Garet.
"Isaac." The Venus adept looked up, slightly startled, to see Felix. "The others are leaving." He stated, detached as always.
"Well then, we'd better follow them, shan't we?" Isaac said emotionlessly, looking away from the other adept's face. Like Hermione said, tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
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Alex looked down at his two newly repaired swords with satisfaction. He gave them an experimental twirl and smiled to himself, before his face became that of total concentration. He could have sworn he had felt something from the woods that he had left. He sighed to himself. It was probably Agatio and Karst.. who knew what they were doing now. Alex hoped they weren't looking for him, he did not have to explain himself to them for his actions at Jupiter Lighthouse. And, despite their power, they couldn't force him. Deciding that he had better go back and see what they wanted, if it was indeed the pair of Mars adepts, he turned back to the forest that was darkening slowly with the gradually setting sun.
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"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're lost and that we'll never find the others?" Garet asked, squinting in the sunset's light. ".. Guys?"
"It does seem somewhat futile that we should be walking pointlessly.. perhaps we should sit down and plan out where we're going?" Kraden suggested, feeling somewhat exhausted.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think that you two are just tired and looking for an excuse to stop and rest." Picard looked at them knowingly.
".. Noo, we wouldn't ever do that, would we Kraden?"
"Certainly not.." There was a long pause in which Picard and Sheba regarded the Mars adept and scholar from Vale.
"Ok! Well, you're a Lemurian, that has to count for something!" Garet defended, hands in the air.
"Sheba seems to be doing just fine."
"I think you're being racist against Mars adepts somehow, by forcing me to walk." Picard stared at Garet somewhat wide-eyed.
"How am I being racist towards Mars adepts?!" Picard asked increduously.
"Stop it, all of you. We'll stop when it gets dark." Sheba said, breaking up the argument.
"Aww man.. we're going to die out here." Garet whined, earning a glare from Sheba.
"Anyway, I think Kraden had a point in that we should figure out where we're going." Picard said, glancing at Sheba, who blinked in response.
"What? We already know where we're going."
"WHAT?!" The other three exclaimed. "And why weren't we informed of this?" Picard asked, gaping.
"Well, I thought it was obvious."
"So where is this obvious place we are going all-wise Jupiter adept?" Garet inquired, eyebrows raised while the others waited expectantly.
"Mars Lighthouse, of course."
"....." They stopped in silence, and Garet could swear he heard crickets chirping somewhere in the distance.
"It does seem reasonable.." Kraden ventured.
"What about Isaac and the others?!" Garet exclaimed, looking forlorn.
"We couldn't find them in Jupiter Lighthouse, and we have no leads onto where they might be. We can only assume that they would think we would keep going to the Mars Lighthouse, and hope they do the same." Sheba said.
"It makes sense..." Picard said hesistantly, looking towards the reluctant Mars adept.
"Fine..." Garet replied, sulking, and proceeded to trudge along. Sheba and Picard gave each other a knowing look, and started to follow Garet.
"... Hey, wait a minute! Weren't we going to stop and rest?!" Came Kraden's yell from behind.
"Kraden, we have to --"
"Well, well, well... look what we have here." The group suddenly stopped when a coarse voice broke through the peaceful silence of the forest.
"Looks like a few weak adepts who thought they could get away with messing with us." a second voice snorted.
Garet whipped out his axe, and held it out in front of him looking around for the source of the disturbance. Picard had also moved up, and Kraden had shuffled behind the three adepts.
"It's Karst and Agatio." Sheba said softly to the others, earning a subtle nod from Picard. Garet tensed.
"Come out and show yourself, you cowards!" he yelled to the wilderness, causing Sheba and Picard to flinch. Two sets of heavy feet landed on the soft earthy floor behind them, causing the group to spin around. Picard moved in front of Kraden.
"Agatio! Karst! What do you want?"
"Fool Lemurian, is the answer not obvious?" Karst answered, while Agatio smirked at them. "Where is the rest of your pathetic group?" She asked, cold eyes scanning the group, looking for Isaac's face.
"Isn't it obvious?" Garet quipped, repeating Karst's earlier remark with a smug smirk of his own. Karst's eyes flashed, and Agatio took a step towards them, growling. Garet braced the hilt of his axe with both hands.
"Oh dear.." Picard heard Kraden remark from behind him, before Garet charged for Karst. The female Mars adept jumped up over the offending weapon, and lashed out at Garet in an all out melee attack. As he barely blocked each hit, he found that he was slowly being pushed back.
Picard blinked out of his stupor as he saw an angry Agatio descending upon him. Picard nimbly jumped away from the attack. "Sheba! Protect Kraden!"
The Jupiter adept nodded, and backed away from the battle, watching anxiously.
Garet gasped for breath as he found himself knocked down onto the moist ground. Karst raised a dagger out of a sheath, thinking it more efficient than using fire on another Mars adept. Sheba was shouting warnings, and making her way over to their felled comrade as fast as she could while Picard found himself unable to get away from Agatio. Garet closed his eyes as Karst raised the glinting metal over her head, but quickly snapped them open as he heard a hiss of pure rage and didn't feel the blade descending into him. Sheba stopped dead in her tracks and Garet looked in shock as a brown gloved hand held a scaled wrist, belonging to a furious Karst, in place.
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Alex had been running through the hastening darkened forest when he had heard a shout. Slowing down, he stilled his breathing and listened for more sounds. There was silence, but a few moments later he heard yells and sounds of what could be a battle. He continued running, but with caution as to not alert the participants of his presence. Alex, finding the disturbance, stopped and jumped into a tree to survey the situation before him.
Agatio and Karst. It figured. But they were fighting against.. Garet, Sheba and the Lemurian, Picard. That Alex had not forseen, although he supposed that he should have guessed. He sighed from the branch, wondering what would be the best course of action.
"Sheba! Protect Kraden!"
"... Picard, to your left!"
"I can't use psyenergy, they're too close!"
"Above you!"
"GARET!"
Alex watched, alarmed, as forementioned adept fell on his back and Karst raised a blade, prepared to plunge it into him. He looked around, hoping someone could get to Garet in time. Sheba was trying to, but she was too far away.. the Lemurian was preoccupied. Alex closed his eyes for a moment, preparing himself. He then jumped out of his branch on which he has been observing them, and dashed out to grip Karst's wrist before she plummeted the dagger into the adept below her.
He felt Karst bristle and direct an enraged hiss at him.
"Hello Karst."
"You!!" She threw her dagger to her free hand, and swiped at the offending adept, furious. Alex dodged and let go of his grip on Karst. She lunged at him, in a rage, while the adept in front of her continued dodging her assaults. "You think you can play members of the Prox tribe for fools?!"
"I never said anything close to that."
"No, you never say anything that's on your mind!" She held out her hand and produced a fireball, shooting it at Alex while she spun around and threw the dagger towards a recovering Garet, who rolled out of the way just in time. Alex's eyes widened and he ducked the ball of fire, resulting in a tree behind him to be turned into ash.
"I thought we had a deal -- "
"A deal?! You forfeited our deal as soon as you helped THEM!" She spat, indicating to the rest of the adepts.
"It wasn't a part of our deal that I couldn't --"
"Listen! You will do as Agatio and I tell you to do!" Sheba and Garet watched as indignation and defiance flashed across Alex's face before it was replaced with his usual expressionless mask.
"It was in the best interest of our goal. You know I wouldn't help them otherwise." Alex's statement reached the ears of all those present, including a fighting Picard and Agatio, who had presently stopped and moved back to their respective sides.
"Oh? And how was going against us in the best interest of our goal?!" Karst demanded.
"Would you really want me to tell you in the presence of our enemies?" Was the cool reply.
"Karst, we'll deal with this scum later. After we take care of our current.. problem." He said, staring coldly at the adepts in front of them, namely Picard who had managed to give him a small, superficial cut with his blade.
Karst glared hard one more time at Alex before nodding towards her partner. The two gave each other a look, before Karst suddenly turned around and pushed Alex hard so he fell to the ground. She then spun around and charged at Sheba, who brought her staff out. Garet went to Sheba's aid, momentarily forgetting about their second enemy. Suddenly, Karst pulled away and wrapped her arms around Picard, holding him in place. Agatio then summoned a lethal fire attack, pointed at a distracted Picard. An attack possibly lethal to a Mercury adept anyway, Alex noted with wide eyes.
'So, Karst thought she could stop me by simply pushing me down. They are mistaken.. yet again.'
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Picard didn't know what had happened. First he and Agatio were fighting.. then there was an argument between that Mercury adept -- Alex -- and Karst. Agatio had backed off to stand beside the two forementioned adepts, so he in turn had moved back towards Garet and Sheba.
That's when things got confusing.. Karst had pushed what had seemed to be her comrade, then charged at Sheba. Lucky she's quick with her staff, Picard thought, and was even more relieved when Garet went to help her. Picard turned his eyes back to the second opponent, surprised when he saw Agatio summoning what looked to be some sort of fire attack, which lit up the now darkened woods. As he was preparing to jump to the side and dodge the attack, he felt strong scaled arms wrap around him and hold him in place. Karst! He thought in panic, and looked back to Agatio in time to see him releasing the psyenergy, which was heading straight for him. To his surprise and great confusion, the fire was blocked out of his vision for a moment by a blue glow. He was even more surprised when this glow took the shape of a person.. It was the Mercury adept from earlier! But.. why..?
Picard didn't have much time to ponder this turn in events, for not even a second later he was released from Karst's strong grip and suddenly felt an intense heat. He found himself propelled backwards along with the other adept in front of him. Picard landed sprawled over the ground, while was thrown backwards into a tree, stopping him. It was so hot.. Picard sat up, holding his head with one hand and coughing. What had just happened?
"I will KILL him! I will strangle him with my own hands! I'll give him a slow and tortuous death!! I swear it on my sister's grave!" A loud, absolutely enraged voice carried through Picard's ears and past the ringing sound that had made itself present.
"Karst, we will deal with this later. Look at him, whatever you do now he probably won't even feel after that attack. Now's our chance to gain some headway to the Lighthouse.. and back home. They'll spend enough time recovering, and we'll get them later when they least suspect it."
Karst glared at her partner, and then if possible, shot an even deadlier glare at the Mercury adept covered in ash a few feet away.
"... Remember, it's Isaac who killed Menardi. Not the pathetic Mercury adept. Besides, he might still prove useful." Agatio said, trying vainly to quell Karst's anger.
"Picard!!" The dazed Lemurian heard Sheba's voice, followed closely by Kraden and Garet's.
"Are you alright?" Kraden asked, and Picard looked up to three concerned faces. A sudden look of panic crossed his face.
"The Mercury adept! Is he alright?!" Picard sat up, a bit too abruptly for he felt a twinge of dizziness, and quickly scrambled towards the form lying still by a scorched tree.
"I hate to say it, but maybe it was for the best that Alex showed up when he did." Garet grumbled to Sheba.
"Maybe?" She asked him increduously.
Picard breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the adept's chest fall and rise. Why would an adept he barely knew, one whom the others all distrusted and Garet seemed to hate, one who appeared to be on their enemy's side.. why would he step in front of an attack meant for him? It made no sense..
Picard moved the unconcious adept's hair away from his ashened face, darkened with soot. He was aware of the others talking behind him, but he had the strangest feeling that he was sinking into the ground. Picard closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he could swear he saw green light surrounding both him and the Mercury adept. That wasn't a good thing, was it? Maybe that blow had hit him harder than he originally thought...
"Picard! Get out of there!" He turned his head at hearing Garet's panicked voice and face. Uh oh.. did that mean they could see it too? Before Picard could get to his feet or think up a reasonable explanation, he found himself drift into unconciousness and fade away from the panicking voices around him.
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Ok, I was going to make this chapter even longer, but I think it would do better split up. I think i've JUST made this story a loooot more complicated for me. Anyway, I hope there's ppl still out there reading this! I finally got back to Garet's group. I know the fighting scene was kinda dull, and i'm sorry!
Cya guys! R+R (as always)
Disclaimer: I do not own GS or HP
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"This all tastes so good!! I haven't had a meal like this in.." Jenna stopped, trying to count off the days in her head. Isaac was listening, while staring at a thick, orange substance that he noted all the other ... wizards ... were drinking. "... but this looks kinda weird. What is it?" Isaac quickly looked up to see that Jenna had posed the question that had been sitting in his mind for a while now.
"It's pumpking juice." Ron replied, taking a large gulp.
"... Pumpkin juice..?" Jenna repeated hesistantly.
Mia then threw both Jenna and Isaac a look that seemed to say, 'You better be polite and drink that before I make you!', all while smiling. Isaac marvelled at how she knew what he was thinking when he hadn't even said anything. He threw her a nervous smile back, and took a tentative sip, after seeing Ivan do the same. Jenna looked to him increduously. Probably seeing if I'll die anytime soon. Isaac thought. It wasn't that bad. He looked around the Great Hall trying to survey everything as Jenna began sniffing her drink. There were a lot of tables and numerous exits. It was spacious, and the long tables seemed grouped somehow. Brilliant chandeliers hung from the decorated roof top, and at the end of the hall, slightly suspended on what seemed to be a stage, was a lengthy table facing the rest of the room. He supposed it was for the teachers, but he couldn't be positive. His attention kept getting drawn to the constantly reappearing plates of food, causing Isaac to sigh. Garet would have loved it here...
"It's getting sort of late, we're going to go upstairs. You should all get some rest, tomorrow's the Feast and the Sorting." Isaac looked up to see Hermione speaking, and standing along with Harry and Ron.
"By getting rest, she means staying all night in the library... and school hasn't even started yet!" Ron said, whining slightly and earning a glare from Hermione. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"If you need any help in getting up to the rooms..." he offered.
"I think we'll be fine, thank you." Mia answered, smiling at the trio as they left.
Isaac sighed, and tried not to bury his face in his hands. It had been a long day... and he couldn't help but feel that by going to this school they were wasting a lot of valuable time which could be spent looking for and protecting the last lighthouse from being lit. Not to mention looking for Garet.
"Isaac." The Venus adept looked up, slightly startled, to see Felix. "The others are leaving." He stated, detached as always.
"Well then, we'd better follow them, shan't we?" Isaac said emotionlessly, looking away from the other adept's face. Like Hermione said, tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
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Alex looked down at his two newly repaired swords with satisfaction. He gave them an experimental twirl and smiled to himself, before his face became that of total concentration. He could have sworn he had felt something from the woods that he had left. He sighed to himself. It was probably Agatio and Karst.. who knew what they were doing now. Alex hoped they weren't looking for him, he did not have to explain himself to them for his actions at Jupiter Lighthouse. And, despite their power, they couldn't force him. Deciding that he had better go back and see what they wanted, if it was indeed the pair of Mars adepts, he turned back to the forest that was darkening slowly with the gradually setting sun.
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"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're lost and that we'll never find the others?" Garet asked, squinting in the sunset's light. ".. Guys?"
"It does seem somewhat futile that we should be walking pointlessly.. perhaps we should sit down and plan out where we're going?" Kraden suggested, feeling somewhat exhausted.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think that you two are just tired and looking for an excuse to stop and rest." Picard looked at them knowingly.
".. Noo, we wouldn't ever do that, would we Kraden?"
"Certainly not.." There was a long pause in which Picard and Sheba regarded the Mars adept and scholar from Vale.
"Ok! Well, you're a Lemurian, that has to count for something!" Garet defended, hands in the air.
"Sheba seems to be doing just fine."
"I think you're being racist against Mars adepts somehow, by forcing me to walk." Picard stared at Garet somewhat wide-eyed.
"How am I being racist towards Mars adepts?!" Picard asked increduously.
"Stop it, all of you. We'll stop when it gets dark." Sheba said, breaking up the argument.
"Aww man.. we're going to die out here." Garet whined, earning a glare from Sheba.
"Anyway, I think Kraden had a point in that we should figure out where we're going." Picard said, glancing at Sheba, who blinked in response.
"What? We already know where we're going."
"WHAT?!" The other three exclaimed. "And why weren't we informed of this?" Picard asked, gaping.
"Well, I thought it was obvious."
"So where is this obvious place we are going all-wise Jupiter adept?" Garet inquired, eyebrows raised while the others waited expectantly.
"Mars Lighthouse, of course."
"....." They stopped in silence, and Garet could swear he heard crickets chirping somewhere in the distance.
"It does seem reasonable.." Kraden ventured.
"What about Isaac and the others?!" Garet exclaimed, looking forlorn.
"We couldn't find them in Jupiter Lighthouse, and we have no leads onto where they might be. We can only assume that they would think we would keep going to the Mars Lighthouse, and hope they do the same." Sheba said.
"It makes sense..." Picard said hesistantly, looking towards the reluctant Mars adept.
"Fine..." Garet replied, sulking, and proceeded to trudge along. Sheba and Picard gave each other a knowing look, and started to follow Garet.
"... Hey, wait a minute! Weren't we going to stop and rest?!" Came Kraden's yell from behind.
"Kraden, we have to --"
"Well, well, well... look what we have here." The group suddenly stopped when a coarse voice broke through the peaceful silence of the forest.
"Looks like a few weak adepts who thought they could get away with messing with us." a second voice snorted.
Garet whipped out his axe, and held it out in front of him looking around for the source of the disturbance. Picard had also moved up, and Kraden had shuffled behind the three adepts.
"It's Karst and Agatio." Sheba said softly to the others, earning a subtle nod from Picard. Garet tensed.
"Come out and show yourself, you cowards!" he yelled to the wilderness, causing Sheba and Picard to flinch. Two sets of heavy feet landed on the soft earthy floor behind them, causing the group to spin around. Picard moved in front of Kraden.
"Agatio! Karst! What do you want?"
"Fool Lemurian, is the answer not obvious?" Karst answered, while Agatio smirked at them. "Where is the rest of your pathetic group?" She asked, cold eyes scanning the group, looking for Isaac's face.
"Isn't it obvious?" Garet quipped, repeating Karst's earlier remark with a smug smirk of his own. Karst's eyes flashed, and Agatio took a step towards them, growling. Garet braced the hilt of his axe with both hands.
"Oh dear.." Picard heard Kraden remark from behind him, before Garet charged for Karst. The female Mars adept jumped up over the offending weapon, and lashed out at Garet in an all out melee attack. As he barely blocked each hit, he found that he was slowly being pushed back.
Picard blinked out of his stupor as he saw an angry Agatio descending upon him. Picard nimbly jumped away from the attack. "Sheba! Protect Kraden!"
The Jupiter adept nodded, and backed away from the battle, watching anxiously.
Garet gasped for breath as he found himself knocked down onto the moist ground. Karst raised a dagger out of a sheath, thinking it more efficient than using fire on another Mars adept. Sheba was shouting warnings, and making her way over to their felled comrade as fast as she could while Picard found himself unable to get away from Agatio. Garet closed his eyes as Karst raised the glinting metal over her head, but quickly snapped them open as he heard a hiss of pure rage and didn't feel the blade descending into him. Sheba stopped dead in her tracks and Garet looked in shock as a brown gloved hand held a scaled wrist, belonging to a furious Karst, in place.
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Alex had been running through the hastening darkened forest when he had heard a shout. Slowing down, he stilled his breathing and listened for more sounds. There was silence, but a few moments later he heard yells and sounds of what could be a battle. He continued running, but with caution as to not alert the participants of his presence. Alex, finding the disturbance, stopped and jumped into a tree to survey the situation before him.
Agatio and Karst. It figured. But they were fighting against.. Garet, Sheba and the Lemurian, Picard. That Alex had not forseen, although he supposed that he should have guessed. He sighed from the branch, wondering what would be the best course of action.
"Sheba! Protect Kraden!"
"... Picard, to your left!"
"I can't use psyenergy, they're too close!"
"Above you!"
"GARET!"
Alex watched, alarmed, as forementioned adept fell on his back and Karst raised a blade, prepared to plunge it into him. He looked around, hoping someone could get to Garet in time. Sheba was trying to, but she was too far away.. the Lemurian was preoccupied. Alex closed his eyes for a moment, preparing himself. He then jumped out of his branch on which he has been observing them, and dashed out to grip Karst's wrist before she plummeted the dagger into the adept below her.
He felt Karst bristle and direct an enraged hiss at him.
"Hello Karst."
"You!!" She threw her dagger to her free hand, and swiped at the offending adept, furious. Alex dodged and let go of his grip on Karst. She lunged at him, in a rage, while the adept in front of her continued dodging her assaults. "You think you can play members of the Prox tribe for fools?!"
"I never said anything close to that."
"No, you never say anything that's on your mind!" She held out her hand and produced a fireball, shooting it at Alex while she spun around and threw the dagger towards a recovering Garet, who rolled out of the way just in time. Alex's eyes widened and he ducked the ball of fire, resulting in a tree behind him to be turned into ash.
"I thought we had a deal -- "
"A deal?! You forfeited our deal as soon as you helped THEM!" She spat, indicating to the rest of the adepts.
"It wasn't a part of our deal that I couldn't --"
"Listen! You will do as Agatio and I tell you to do!" Sheba and Garet watched as indignation and defiance flashed across Alex's face before it was replaced with his usual expressionless mask.
"It was in the best interest of our goal. You know I wouldn't help them otherwise." Alex's statement reached the ears of all those present, including a fighting Picard and Agatio, who had presently stopped and moved back to their respective sides.
"Oh? And how was going against us in the best interest of our goal?!" Karst demanded.
"Would you really want me to tell you in the presence of our enemies?" Was the cool reply.
"Karst, we'll deal with this scum later. After we take care of our current.. problem." He said, staring coldly at the adepts in front of them, namely Picard who had managed to give him a small, superficial cut with his blade.
Karst glared hard one more time at Alex before nodding towards her partner. The two gave each other a look, before Karst suddenly turned around and pushed Alex hard so he fell to the ground. She then spun around and charged at Sheba, who brought her staff out. Garet went to Sheba's aid, momentarily forgetting about their second enemy. Suddenly, Karst pulled away and wrapped her arms around Picard, holding him in place. Agatio then summoned a lethal fire attack, pointed at a distracted Picard. An attack possibly lethal to a Mercury adept anyway, Alex noted with wide eyes.
'So, Karst thought she could stop me by simply pushing me down. They are mistaken.. yet again.'
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Picard didn't know what had happened. First he and Agatio were fighting.. then there was an argument between that Mercury adept -- Alex -- and Karst. Agatio had backed off to stand beside the two forementioned adepts, so he in turn had moved back towards Garet and Sheba.
That's when things got confusing.. Karst had pushed what had seemed to be her comrade, then charged at Sheba. Lucky she's quick with her staff, Picard thought, and was even more relieved when Garet went to help her. Picard turned his eyes back to the second opponent, surprised when he saw Agatio summoning what looked to be some sort of fire attack, which lit up the now darkened woods. As he was preparing to jump to the side and dodge the attack, he felt strong scaled arms wrap around him and hold him in place. Karst! He thought in panic, and looked back to Agatio in time to see him releasing the psyenergy, which was heading straight for him. To his surprise and great confusion, the fire was blocked out of his vision for a moment by a blue glow. He was even more surprised when this glow took the shape of a person.. It was the Mercury adept from earlier! But.. why..?
Picard didn't have much time to ponder this turn in events, for not even a second later he was released from Karst's strong grip and suddenly felt an intense heat. He found himself propelled backwards along with the other adept in front of him. Picard landed sprawled over the ground, while was thrown backwards into a tree, stopping him. It was so hot.. Picard sat up, holding his head with one hand and coughing. What had just happened?
"I will KILL him! I will strangle him with my own hands! I'll give him a slow and tortuous death!! I swear it on my sister's grave!" A loud, absolutely enraged voice carried through Picard's ears and past the ringing sound that had made itself present.
"Karst, we will deal with this later. Look at him, whatever you do now he probably won't even feel after that attack. Now's our chance to gain some headway to the Lighthouse.. and back home. They'll spend enough time recovering, and we'll get them later when they least suspect it."
Karst glared at her partner, and then if possible, shot an even deadlier glare at the Mercury adept covered in ash a few feet away.
"... Remember, it's Isaac who killed Menardi. Not the pathetic Mercury adept. Besides, he might still prove useful." Agatio said, trying vainly to quell Karst's anger.
"Picard!!" The dazed Lemurian heard Sheba's voice, followed closely by Kraden and Garet's.
"Are you alright?" Kraden asked, and Picard looked up to three concerned faces. A sudden look of panic crossed his face.
"The Mercury adept! Is he alright?!" Picard sat up, a bit too abruptly for he felt a twinge of dizziness, and quickly scrambled towards the form lying still by a scorched tree.
"I hate to say it, but maybe it was for the best that Alex showed up when he did." Garet grumbled to Sheba.
"Maybe?" She asked him increduously.
Picard breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the adept's chest fall and rise. Why would an adept he barely knew, one whom the others all distrusted and Garet seemed to hate, one who appeared to be on their enemy's side.. why would he step in front of an attack meant for him? It made no sense..
Picard moved the unconcious adept's hair away from his ashened face, darkened with soot. He was aware of the others talking behind him, but he had the strangest feeling that he was sinking into the ground. Picard closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he could swear he saw green light surrounding both him and the Mercury adept. That wasn't a good thing, was it? Maybe that blow had hit him harder than he originally thought...
"Picard! Get out of there!" He turned his head at hearing Garet's panicked voice and face. Uh oh.. did that mean they could see it too? Before Picard could get to his feet or think up a reasonable explanation, he found himself drift into unconciousness and fade away from the panicking voices around him.
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Ok, I was going to make this chapter even longer, but I think it would do better split up. I think i've JUST made this story a loooot more complicated for me. Anyway, I hope there's ppl still out there reading this! I finally got back to Garet's group. I know the fighting scene was kinda dull, and i'm sorry!
Cya guys! R+R (as always)