Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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Chapter Six (Over The Falls):
Felix opened his eyes slowly. Immediately, the pain set in. His head throbbed uncontrollably and his joints were all sore. No surprise. What did come as a surprise was how he was completely dry. You'd think that after plummeting down from the top of Gaia Falls, he'd be soaked and this ship would be underwater by now, but surprisingly, it wasn't. He sat up, his breathing labored. He took a look around to find that the others were scattered around the ship. Thankfully no one had falled overboard, otherwise, it would take a long time to find them. He got up shakily, falling over once, but getting it right the second time around. He leaned on the railing as he walked up to Kraden, the nearest person to him, who was lying on his stomach a few yards away. "Kraden." He shook the old scholar. "Wake up."
The wizened scholar's eyes fluttered open. He looked at Felix in shock. "W-we're alive!" The old man grinned but twisted his face in pain quickly afterward. "Wake the others. I'm gonna need a minute to recover from my fall." Felix nodded and started to walk off.
Isaac was sprawled on a crate that had moved against the railing. One of his arms was draped over and his head hung as the railing choked his neck. Felix grabbed Isaac's shoulders and held him upright, feeling his friend's neck crack a little. "Isaac." He nudged the Venus Adept. "Hey Isaac. You have to wake up." Isaac didn't wake. "Come on, Isaac! Wake up!" Felix ordered impatiently. He shook his friend until his eyes fluttered open with confusion.
"Sorry, Felix." Isaac apologized. "Just so tired. My body hurts all over." He grabbed the nearby railing and hoisted himself up. "Say… where are we?"
Felix shook his head. "Couldn't tell you. Let's go and wake the others." Isaac nodded and struggled to the nearest railing, while Felix hurried forward until he came upon Ivan. "Hey, Ivan." Ivan opened his eyes, confused at first, then panicked. His gaze met Felix's eyes and he settled.
Ivan put his hands on the wall he was sprawled against and used it to get himself up. He let go of the wall, testing his balance but quickly fell over again. Felix caught the young Jupiter Adept. "Thanks." Ivan said appreciatively. "Have the others woken up yet?"
"Yes." Isaac interrupted. Garet and Mia were with him. Garet was whining about his painful joints. Kraden, Piers, and Jenna were behind him, obviouslt shaken. "We're all fine." Isaac looked around carefully. "We just need to find out just where exactly we are."
"Well we know one thing is for certain." Kraden observed. Everyone looked quizically at him. "We know we're not in Weyard anymore." Everyone saddened at the mention of their home.
"Come on." Felix urged, trying to push out the vivid images of Vale flashing in his mind. "We've got to catch Alex."
"You know…" Garet joined in after giving up on his whining. "We wouldn't be here if we hadn't trusted that foul thief. I can't believe you trusted him, Felix." Felix looked down.
"Don't be stupid, Garet!" Jenna flared. "It's not Felix's fault he made a simple mistake. Why, how many have you made?"
"Calm down, Jenna." Isaac sighed. "Even if Dodonpa wasn't involved, fate would still have brought us here. Things happen for a reason."
"Are you implying that we're destined to be here?" Piers inquired.
"That would be quite possible," Kraden meditated, "After all, books over a thousand years old foretold of your lighting the lighthouses of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars one day."
"Oh please!" Garet rolled his eyes dramatically. "Those books are all lies! It could've been any four people!"
Kraden frowned and jumped up. "All lies, huh? Well those books taught you how to use psyenergy and without it, you probably wouldn't have survived your trip throughout Weyard. And I'd say those four books weren't lying, considering they've been able to predict the happenings of events that will occur in a thousand years!"
Garet stepped back, alarmed at the scholar's reaction. No one bothered to defend him, since it was partially Garet's fault of Kraden's explosion. However, Kraden's wrath ended quickly as the old man ran to the other side of the ship, then back to their side. He examined the ocean waters from afar, looking for any sign of land.
"Hey look! It's an island!" Kraden called out. Everyone looked at the direction Kraden was pointing.
"And not just any island!" Ivan spoke up, excited."
"That's Crossbone Isle!" Isaac gasped.
"Crossbone Isle?" Kraden was confused. "We never went to any Crossbone Isle." Everyone but Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia were now confused. They looked to Isaac, expecting an answer.
"You guys weren't with us when we went there." Isaac informed the others. "We went there as a side quest before entering Venus Lighthouse."
"Wait." Piers interrupted, "I thought you, Garet, Ivan, and Mia only traveled throughout Angara on foot." Felix, Jenna, and Kraden nodded, apparently thinking of the same thing.
"We did." Isaac answered. "But you could get to Crossbone Isle another way." He paused, watching the others grow more confused. "Through Suhalla Dessert." Everyone grew alarmed.
Jenna laughed sarcastically. "Oh, right. And a huge dinosaur that just happened to have wind controlling abilities accidentally sends you flying into the sky where you randomly fall at an island beyond Gaia Falls?"
"As a matter of fact…" Isaac said unnervingly, "that's exactly what happened. Right before exiting Suhalla Dessert, we discovered that there was an alternate path, one that was shown to us by hidden footprints of a Djinni in the sand. Using Ivan's Reveal, we were able to exploit the path and capture the Fire Djinni. It also led us to a cave that twisted to the east. It led us to an enormous tornado that was caused by a Tempest Lizard. Unfortunately, I was out of psyenergy at the time and before we knew it, we were catapaulted into the sky. We managed to arrive on the island in one piece, but since the monsters there are extremely tough and hard to beat… we stayed to train for our final battle with Saturos and Menardi."
"I'd say it came in handy." Felix commented. "I didn't think you had a chance against them, but you managed to take them down and their Dragon form."
"Yes." Isaac answered. "There, we discovered a monster called Deadbeard. He was even tougher than the Fusion Dragon. He was aboard an abandoned ghost vessel. I think it was one of the ships of Kalay that was lost in the Karagol."
"How did one of the ships of Kalay end up at Crossbone Isle from the Karagol?" Kraden asked curiously.
"I think there's an alternate way to get to Crossbone Isle that we haven't found yet. After all, we never really piloted a ship and explored there. Possibly, there's another Tempest Lizard that has made a home in one of the chunks of land that is near the shore." Isaac answered truthfully.
"That would make sense." Piers said. "In Lemuria, we have legends of these kinds of monsters. I have not actually heard of these monsters personally until now. I was beginning to doubt their existence as I had explored a majority of Weyard."
"True." Kraden agreed. "Maybe we could visit them one day, Piers, and explore the mystery for ourselves some day."
"Perhaps so, Kraden." Piers nodded, "I'm positive that King Hydros would like me to take you up on the offer. But our priorities come first and those are to save Weyard and this world. We must light the four remaining lighthouses."
Everyone nodded in agreement. "And to do that, we'd have to go to Anemos. That's where Luna's elemental stars are located."
"We also have to find Alex." Ivan advised. "He may be using us to achieve his own ends again."
"Oh, Ivan." Kraden shook his head, "I'm afraid there is no doubt in my mind that Alex is using us to achieve his own ends. But you are right, we must find him so that we may find out what his plans are."
"I have a vague idea." Felix joined in, "But I'm afraid we don't have anything too reliable. Our best bet is going to Anemos. As much as I would like to take Alex down first, I think it's wise to see to it that the lighthouses are lit first."
"So it's settled then?" Kraden asked, "We light the lighthouses until we find out about any sign of Alex." Everyone nodded. "Then it's agreed then. Next stop… The city in the sky of Anemos!"
