Chapter Two
A Voyage into Nothingness
The cave was very dark and reeked faintly of sulfur. Bats squeaked sleepily overhead as they reunited in their groups, fleeing together from the rising sun. From somewhere within the cave, water dripped, causing a consistent splashing noise. Darkness and shadows fell around every corner, and silence pressed in upon the three travelers.
Saturos kept walking, Menardi and Felix ahead of him. Only now was he feeling the weight of his three passengers. He shifted. "Just how far in here is our ship?"
"Not much farther," Menardi replied. "Keep your armor on."
"I can't help it if these two are heavy," Saturos said. "Besides, we need to hurry. The mayor needs to know that everyone else is dead."
He said it so calmly, with such utter indifference, that Menardi wanted to yell, "They're dead, Saturos! They're not coming back, your only brother was among them, and we're lucky we weren't killed as well! If Karst had come, she would be dead now! And your cousin, Agatio! Our only memories were drowned and replaced by these three insolent fools and a naive young Venus Adept!"
But, as usual, Menardi kept her mouth shut.
Felix looked about, staring wildly at his surroundings. "How come I never found this?" he muttered.
"Because, technically, boy, this cave is outside of Vale. You were never allowed out, were you?" Felix shook his head, and Saturos continued. "Besides, it is well hidden. Only very strong men can push those branches away, and only Jupiter Adepts can use Psynergy to whisk away the obstacle in front of the opening. You, boy, are neither of the above."
"Quit calling me 'boy.' I have a name, you know," Felix said.
"And why should I call a nothing like you by your name?" Saturos asked.
Menardi shook her head. Now that the crisis had ended, Saturos was returning to his normal self: indifferent, crabby, and self-righteous.
What a relief! She had been getting worried about him.
"Anyway, boy," Saturos kept talking, "the only reason you're coming with us is because we need you to enter Venus Lighthouse. Otherwise, we would have left you there."
"Besides, we didn't want you running into town and spilling our little secret," Menardi added. She rounded a corner. "Here we are."
Felix followed and stopped. His jaw dropped as he stared up at the ship. It was at least ten times taller than Saturos, with a massive dragon's head looming out in the front of the ship. The dragon was made of polished steel, with red gems for its eyes and several rows of sharpened teeth. The mast towered into the top of the cave, its sails neatly tied up.
Menardi rummaged in her small back before pulling out a small black gem set in gold. "Get on the ship," she told Felix.
"It's huge!" he whispered.
"Get on!" she said again.
Felix shook himself out of his shock and rushed up the plank onto the ship. Saturos followed, walking into one cabin and emerging free of his previous burdens. Menardi was the last to come on deck, and she quickly vanished into the staircase that led to the bottom floor of the ship.
Felix leaned over the side of the ship, staring down into the surface of the water. "This river leads to the ocean?" he asked.
"No, boy, it leads to the moon," Saturos said with a sniff. "Yes, it leads to the ocean, and we're taking you to Prox from there. Prox will be your new home.Don't expect to see Vale again. Not as one of its citizens, at least. From now on, you are dead to them."
Felix pressed his lips together and leaned back. He turned and looked Saturos in the eyes, something even the bravest of men had trouble doing. "You're going to make me help you fire the beacons," he said, in more of a statement than a question.
"So you're smarter than you look," Saturos said. "Of course, you'll only be tagging along. Menardi and I will do all the fighting." The glanced away, his red eyes suddenly distant in thought. "That is, if we are allowed to continue on this quest. After this disaster, who can say?" He snickered for a moment. "They may even send my idiot cousin Agatio in my place. And Menardi's fiery sister Karst! Oh, by Mars, wouldn't that be rich?" He began to laugh harder.
Felix stared at him. "You mean you want to do this? They're not making you?"
Saturos' laugher abruptly died. "Yes," he said softly. "Didn't you hear? Prox is about to fall off the edge of Weyard."
"That's not what I meant," Felix said. "I meant, you volunteered to be the ones to do this? You and . . . Menelday? Anyway, you and her individually wanted to be the ones to light the beacons?" Saturos nodded, and Felix slightly tilted his head. "Why? Is it the glory?"
"It's because Menardi--that's the name you're searching for, by the way--and I are the two strongest warriors in all of Prox," Saturos replied. "True, Agatio and Karst come close, but we still feel obligated." He gestured to Felix as he leaned back against the mast. "You've heard the legends. Prox is a cursed land where no sun shines during the winter. And in Prox, it is always winter. The snows beat constantly down on your face. The wind wraps about you like a cold, wet blanket. And our people are"--he touched his cheek and blew a strand of hair from his face--"marked, so to speak. So none will make the mistake of associating with us."
He turned to the side of the ship and leaned on it, his cape billowing out behind him. "Do you know why the ancient Adepts sealed the power of Alchemy?" he asked.
"Wasn't it to end the war? The Sun War? They teach us about that in history at school," Felix said.
"Well, you normal humans actually do know something," Saturos said, not even glancing back at Felix. "Yes. It was to end the Sun War. Do you know why it was called the Sun War, boy? It was because the power that men fought over so much was called the Golden Sun." He turned back to face Felix, sweeping the air with one gauntleted hand. "The Golden Sun, the light of life in Weyard. You now call it the Stone of Sages. Eternal life, limitless power . . . ah, how men are corrupted by power! They fought, killing both innocents and soldiers, disgracing all they lived for. Prox, Lemuria, Angara, Hesperia; there is not one country that was not involved! Warriors from all over the world killed and fought! And everyone was an Adept then, so Psynergy was often used in horrid ways.
"At some point, one adept decided that it had to stop," Saturos continued. "He was a Mars Adept, and from the village of Prox, no less. He was marked' before his quest had even begun, to signify that he was one of legends. He was the first of our people to have odd-colored skin, hair, and eyes. It is said that he was the living image of fire itself--but I digress. He traveled the world, gathering other Adepts on his quest as he went, and together they sealed the lighthouses to end the war. Many of his companions were lost, and along with them went a large number of the world's Adepts. And the sin that the Fire Adept committed could not have been foreseen.
"So were our people, the people of Prox, cursed. The Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus Adepts within our village were stripped from us. Our one-beautiful land was transformed into a cold wasteland. The Mars Lighthouse itself froze over. And our passage to the rest of the world was sealed away by ice. As we adapted, the legendary warrior vanished, horrified by the suffering his actions had wrought. He unknowingly began the destruction of the world." Saturos pointed to one wall, where a very old map hung. "See that map? Look at it."
Felix walked over to the map and stared at it. It showed several continents bound together in a crescent moon shape, with one floating freely in the arc of the moon. He turned to Saturos. "What is this?" he asked.
Saturos' crimson eyes were narrowed and focused on the floor of the ship. "The world as it was during the time of the Golden Sun. The map next to it is the world as it is now."
Felix studied the two maps for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't believe this."
"Of course you don't," Saturos said as he stretched. "I myself hardly do. Regardless, that's the way it is. The continents have been shrinking for centuries. Lemuria has sealed itself away within a wall of mist, Prox is concealed by a veil of ice, deserts are taking over the lands of Angara and Gondowan, and Indra is tossed about by the waves of the sea. And from here on, things will only continue to get worse."
Menardi emerged from below decks. "The Orb's in place, Saturos."
"Then let's be off." Saturos turned slightly, and only now did he seem to truly notice that Felix was standing there. "You, boy, can go into one of the cabins and sleep. We have to maneuver down this river and through the rocks of the sea to find our way to Prox. Go to bed."
Felix obeyed, and Saturos walked up to the ship's wheel, taking it in one hand. Menardi climbed up to the crow's nest, reaching out and loosing the sails. Red emblems of flame were painted on the canvas.
"What were you two chatting about?" she asked as she climbed back down the mast.
"He asks too many questions," Saturos said. "I was explaining why we're doing this." He frowned at the river before him. "Get this thing going, Menardi!"
She jumped slightly and shook her head at him. "Calm down, would you? We'll be off in just a moment." Waves of white energy ran up and down her body. The ship gently broke away from the rocks of the grotto, and they headed downriver.
Light blinded him as he opened his eyes, and his forehead ached tremendously.
"Hold still, Kyle, I'm changing your bandages." Now Kyle's eyes snapped open, despite the brightness of the light. Felix was leaning over him, carefully unwrapping the cloth that circled Kyle's forehead like some sort of crown.
"Felix!" Kyle sat up, and groaned at the burning sensation that ran up and down his spine.
"I told you to hold still," Felix said, in the tone of voice often reserved for a parent talking to a naughty child. "I'm almost done with your head, and Menardi gave me some ointment to treat your burns."
"Menardi? You mean we're still with those Northern slime!" Kyle attempted to stand, but was pushed back down by Felix. "Felix, let me go! We can still escape!"
Felix finished with Kyle's bandages and walked to the other side of the cabin, where his parents laid. The fifteen year-old was wearing a shirt far too big for him, belted at his waist so it became a tunic. Dark brown patches of leather circled his wrists, and heavy, much-too-large black boots were on his feet. A heavy silver cloak wrapped around his thin shoulders, and his brown hair was greasy and untamed.
"Here we are," Felix said as he rummaged in the cupboard beside his parents' beds. "Flu medicine, cough stopper, fever relief, headache suppressant . . . burn ointment!" He pulled out a jar of putrid-looking yellow ointment and walked back over to Kyle. "Pull up your shirt."
"Didn't you hear me? Let's escape, Felix!"
"Pull up your shirt, Kyle, you're not going anywhere with those burns on your chest." Kyle obliged after a few moments of hesitation, and Felix smeared some of the greasy stuff on his older friend's chest. "Saturos's Pyroclasm was pretty potent," he said as he rubbed the ointment in, "but not enough to cripple you or anything."
Kyle winced. "Can't you be a little more gentle?"
"I'm done," Felix said, screwing the jar shut. Kyle dropped his shirt and stood up, running out of the cabin. Felix, his eyes wide, dropped the jar and followed. "Kyle!"
"Ah, so you're awake, are you?" Saturos asked from his position at the wheel. "How are you feeling?"
Kyle didn't reply, but he did leap over the edge of the ship and begin swimming for shore. Felix ran after him, leaning over the edge of the boat.
"Kyle, what are you doing? We're way too far out to sea, you'll never make it!" he yelled.
"Let him go," Menardi said. "If he wants to kill himself after all the hospitality we've shown him, that's his business."
"Kyle!" Felix yelled again. "You'll die!"
"Let me die then!" Kyle yelled back as he swam. A sudden wave caught him off guard, and he resurfaced hacking water from his lungs. "I have to let Isaac and Dora know that I'm all right!" He continued plowing his way through the icy depths of the Western Sea.
"You won't be all right if you keep swimming like that!" Felix yelled at him. When Kyle kept going, Felix bit his lip and glanced at Saturos and Menardi.
Saturos raised one eyebrow. "I can see the little gears in your head working, boy, and let me tell you, that's not a good idea."
Menardi crinkled her nose. "What could you possibly be thinking, Felix? If you jump in, you could both die! Better to only lose one."
"You won't save Kyle, and he'll die if you don't," Felix stated calmly. Saturos nodded. "But," Felix continued, "there's one big difference between me and Kyle."
"And that would be?" Menardi asked in half-curiosity.
Felix grinned at the two Mars Adepts before levering himself onto the side of the ship. "You need me," he said before leaping off the side and swimming after Kyle.
"Curse it all, he's right," Saturos groaned. "I'm turning the ship around, Menardi. Get the longboat ready."
"Aye, aye, captain," Menardi grumbled, giving Saturos a mock salute and walking to the side of the boat. She checked the ropes that held the single longboat steady, then, as Saturos turned the ship around, she climbed in and began to lower the boat to the ocean surface.
"I don't know what that idiot was thinking!" Saturos yelled. "With all those heavy clothes on, Felix will go under even quicker than Kyle!"
"I'm speeding us up," Menardi said as she began to glitter with white energy. The ship did pick up speed, and in almost no time, they had caught up to Felix and Kyle. Kyle was barely conscious, hacking up more water by the minute, and Felix was struggling to keep his head above water and he supported Kyle on his back.
Menardi leaned over and snatched Kyle from Felix's back, practically throwing the man onto the floor of the longboat. "You'd best vomit all that water up now, before you pass out," she told Kyle. As best as he could, he leaned over the side of the longboat and obliged. Felix grabbed the other edge of the longboat and heaved himself into it. He grinned as he sat down, his hair and cloak spilling water like pitchers.
"Well, it worked," Felix said between chattering teeth. "You saved him."
"For Mars' sake, boy, don't do that again!" Menardi said as she pulled one rope to bring the longboat back on level with the ship's deck. "You could have killed yourself!"
Felix gave her a shaky grin, his lips paler than they had been before and his fingers shaking. "I'm going to have to strip again, aren't I?" he said.
"What is it with you and water?" Menardi shook her head as she finished pulling the longboat up. "All a-deck that's going a-deck," she said. She climbed out and heaved the now-unconscious Kyle onto her shoulder, her face twisted into a scowl. "And now I've ruined another new dress! Great!" She headed off to the cabin where Kyle and Felix's parents were bunked.
Felix climbed out of the boat as well, and abruptly collapsed on the deck.