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Chapter 3

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Her aquamarine hair flowed in the gentle breeze that passed by, and the wind ruffled through the tents, making some of them flap softly. She shivered when it picked up, but not just because it was cold… she was also nervous.

She walked around the tents, looking for Isaac's tent… She wanted to see him, to tell him of her feelings… Since she first met him and his friends, she liked how he looked, she thought he was cute with his hair like that… and yet… once he spoke… he seemed so powerful, in control of things… She was a little concerned that Alex was doing something evil at the Mercury Lighthouse… but this new boy's image was in her mind and making her miniscule fighting abilities even harder to perform, even on that weak guardian lizard… Then he and his friends showed up and killed the lizard, then she ran forward because she was so nervous about him and a duty to uphold… He was so strong, and handsome… and then he came and helped her again…  She was amazed he would have followed her in… 

Once they all got to the aerie, she was shocked twice. First being that Alex really did betray her clan by relighting the Mercury Lighthouse, and the other that there was a girl that they were looking for… a girl named Jenna… She almost fainted then and there. This girl might have had feelings for this boy she enjoyed seeing the entire way up the lighthouse. Her first feeling was wiped away when she thought that it may have been the other boy, Garet, with them she liked, she said both of their names… So… maybe…

As time went on, it seemed that it was Garet who was smitten with her, though both of them talked about her… She felt… ignored…  She ended up remaining quiet unless attention was directed in something that made her curious, like Babi's intentions for finding Lemuria. She also spoke to correct Garet when he messed up when speaking. Yet even so, she still liked looking at him…

Then she fell off the Jupiter Lighthouse and she was afraid that Garet had strong feelings for her… She didn't want that, she liked them both… But Isaac… he was there, trying to give her some confidence as his best friend's life hung in the balance…

Now here she was… walking in the area just outside of Vault, the wind blowing, she was waiting for the opportunity to tell him her feelings… She had to tell Isaac. If she didn't, she feared that he would leave her for some one else. All she could do was pray that he did not find anyone, that is, until she spoke to him, but after that, it would be his decision. She just had to wait until his mother would leave him alone for longer than 2 seconds.

She sighed, "It will probably take her a while to be done with him… So until then, I will be staying out here…" She looked into the clear night, the moon waxing, almost full. It illuminated the ground around her so well that she could see the individual blades of grass almost as if it were day. "… I wonder…" She looked down and turned her head towards a clearing,  "What does he really like that I can give him… hmmm…his element is Venus… and Venus is Earth, so… Ah ha! I got it!" She almost glided over the grass as she made hardly a sound as she walked. She was heading for the clearing. She saw some flowers… All she had to do was pass the time till Dora was finished with Isaac, then she would talk to him. Just a minute here should be enough. She wouldn't take to long in getting him some flowers, just a minute… no longer… She would be back in time… she hoped…

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"…and when I call you, you are to come to me the second you hear me, NO EXCEPTIONS!"

For the past several minutes, Isaac had just been lectured by Dora for the twenty-third time since he got back from Prox, and those last two words, "NO EXCEPTIONS," he heard that for the sixtieth time since he returned. This time, it was about him not coming when he was called, not that he hadn't heard it BEFORE he left home, but now, Dora was somehow more worried than before about everything.

"…And as your mother, I demand you to go to bed when I say you must, and I say you go to bed after I brush your hair!"

Urrrgghh… This time Isaac did not fight it. He was cornered in a tent without any, and his mother was in a bad mood, there was no escape. "Ow…..ow…..ow…. Cut it out!" he tried to stop her at times, but she would not stop until either his hair was not standing up, or she broke the brush, in which case she would grab a new one that hurt more. Eventually she stopped, and when Isaac saw the brush, he thought he went bald. There was so much hair on it.

And a few minutes later she left and he was getting into his sleeping area, when the flap ruffled again.

"Isaac?"

It was Jenna.

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He was humming to himself inspecting the box he was holding. Garet had spent a lot of time examining the rare piece he bought. He was confident that he would tell her that very night, but before that Garet needed to give something similar to what he held in his hand now to Felix. It was only right that he should, he felt that if he was going to take her from Felix, he may as well give something in return.

Garet's only real fear was that Isaac would be in search of her heart when he showed her his love. So he decided early on to give Isaac and Felix their gifts to achieve the same happiness he would get after he had his love.

Not paying attention to what was happening, Garet didn't notice that Ivan was walking towards him.

"Garet?" Ivan asked, "Have you seen Hamma?"

"Hmmm hmmm hmmm." Garet was oblivious, only looking at the closed box in his hands. This made Ivan curious, so he used his psynergy and started to read Garet's mind.

Big mistake.

Garet snapped out of his trance as soon as could feel Ivan entering his mind. "IVAN!" Garet whirled around, "What are you doing!"

Ivan jumped when Garet yelled and he bolted. He read little, but he knew who was on Garet's mind.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE CRAP!"

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"I'm in here, come in."

She entered with her head bowed. "Isaac," She said sounding depressed. "I can't find Felix and I need some company… Would you mind if I stayed here for a bit?"

Isaac blushed slightly. "Uh, sure but… Where's Felix? And I was about to go to bed, couldn't you talk with Garet?" She was getting uncomfortably close to him and he ended up sitting on the ground with his back at the opposite flap.

She kneeled next to him and leaned over on him. "I don't know where Felix is and Garet is occupied with something… I just want to be with one of my closest friends, please Isaac…" She draped her arm around his waist and she closed her eyes resting her head on his shoulder.

Isaac was getting very uncomfortable. This was about the closest Jenna was to him since they all thought her family died. Now here she was… wanting comfort yet again… yet not because of something sad, but because she just didn't like being alone… Not that I can blame her. He thought. The past year or so was a huge burden on her, she was not built for the kind of pressure she had. Being kidnapped, knowing her parent's lives were at stake, always running, and worst yet, watching her friends get hurt from her being taken…

Isaac rubbed her back. "Ok, I'll be here for you… just relax…" he spoke in a soothing voice that made Jenna smile.

"Thank you…"

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She walked back to him… she had to let him know… She gathered what she assumed would be enough, just two flowers. One yellowish, and one that was blue and just ending its bloom. She had this night planned out in her head, but she was still nervous.

What if he rejected her love?

No… Isaac is king hearted to just ignore her…

She swallowed her fears and headed for his tent. However… She was cut off by a running Ivan.

"GARET'S GOING TO KILL ME!!! HELP!" he yelled and scampered off.

Not a second passed when Garet, running at least three times faster than normal and charging his psynergy at the same time, came by and cut her off as well.

"Ivan, come here and I will make your torture quick!" he said.

Sighing, Mia felt that she could put off her confessions to Isaac long enough to prevent Garet from endangering Ivan's, as well as others', life. She put her flowers in her shirt and ran off after Garet.

She didn't have long to run, Ivan kept hurling random plasma shots that never hit any tents, but came close to Garet and made him slow down. She would have been hit too, but she yelled at Ivan to be careful.

Garet however, lost all consideration for the citizens of Vault and Vale, he lobbed fireballs that barely missed the tents. Occasionally, he would catch the corner of a tent on fire, but Mia was there to quickly put it out.

Eventually Garet backed Ivan into a tree and Ivan didn't want to risk hurting anyone other than Garet so he didn't use any Psynergy. Garet looked like a red Agatio with his fists almost on fire, ready to attack Ivan if he moved.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CRAZY BASTARD!!!"

"STOP RUNNING AWAY AND I WON'T KILL YOU! JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU SAW YOU CREEP!"

Mia finally caught up to Garet having just put out a tree that went ablaze. She was getting VERY irritated. Garet was making her waste her time. She grabbed a hold of Garet as he raised his arm to cast another spell. "Garet! Stop this!" she said, trying her best to sound calm.

"THIS little creep read my mind when I was thinking of some VERY personal thoughts, he must pay!"

"How was I to know Garet!?" Ivan shouted back.

"Both of you be quiet!!" She said. "Everyone in the village will hear!" she pointed to the tents nearest them. She looked at the one she was pointing at and found that it was Isaac's. They just ran in one big circle around a specific section and she didn't notice. She looked back at Garet. "Now just leave it alone, Ivan won't tell anyone about what he read, won't you Ivan?" She looked at him with a piercing stare.

Not wanting to fight anymore, and wanting to keep Mia happy, Ivan agreed and Mia abruptly turned on a heel and walked off.

"Jeez, what's with her?" Garet asked.

"I dunno…" Ivan said.

Garet looked at Ivan, "Tell no one of what you saw or I will have you as target practice!"

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The night was growing ever colder, as was his body. Time and time again he tried his best to move, but as he did so, so did the ledge. Once he had enough psynergy to warp once more, he would and recover. But until then, if he moved anymore he was at a high risk to make the ledge crumble, and if that happened, he would surely die and there would be no telling what would happened to her.

Wait… no… Alex knew what would happen… Darliam would destroy her mind… and she would live the rest of her life in agony that none could help with. It was that thought that led him to do everything bad he had done and he wanted to keep her safe, she was all that was left. Not to mention his promise to his mother…

Alex decided to try and sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, images of the past ran through his eyes. It kept him awake and he couldn't stand it… So he waited. Alex knew the one who contacted him was on their way here, and he also knew that this person was bringing aid, but the aid that was coming is what scared him.

He gave out one last call for help. Tonight is my last… hurry please… I will die without aid… After that he was drained, he breathed heavily. Only a little longer to wait, or so he hoped, he had no idea what would happen if they couldn't find him. He only hoped that they would be speaking loudly…

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"…Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Oh… er… I mean it…"

"Uh huh…"

They had spent a good deal of time looking for Hamma's "Item" that she left when she was last in Vale. The only problem was that it got quite dark and became hard to see anything, but Hamma knew Reveal, as did Sheba, if there was something there, they could find it.

Felix, however, was growing curious. Hamma said it wouldn't take to long, yet he could have walked to and from Vault in the time she spent looking for whatever it was she wanted after they arrived at Mt. Aleph. Felix had plenty of time to think about their conversation they had just after they arrived at Mt. Aleph.

"What are you looking for? A book? A necklace?"

"Neither."

"Is it something big? As big as me? As big as Sheba?

"As big as you, Felix."

"Is it a rare blanket? A pack with some important items?"

"No, Felix."

"Then what are we looking for?"

She wouldn't say.

Felix was going to ask further, but Sheba bayed him to stop. So he, understanding that Sheba probably knew more than he did, kept quiet. All it was to him was just like playing a kids game, guessing a specific object or person, it annoyed him, but Sheba wanted to come along and he rarely left her side.

Picard was just as bored as Felix was. They did nothing; they had no psynergy to use to find anything… well, except Felix's Scoop Gem, but Hamma said looking under the ground would do no good. So, the two non-Jupiterians just kept their eyes open when a new Reveal spell was cast, which happened quite often.

Felix sighed. "I hope this doesn't take too much longer," he mumbled to himself. "We need to work some more tomorrow."

Without another word, they continued their search.

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Soon after Jenna asked to sit with Isaac she fell asleep in his arms, and Isaac, not wanting to wake her up, held her there for a while. He spent a lot of the time contemplating his feelings still and looking at Jenna's face occasionally, which threw off his thinking process entirely. At times he wanted to wake her up and tell her he loved her… but he caught himself because he felt that was going about it in the wrong manner… He had to make a definite decision soon though…

He watched Jenna sleep. She was a feisty one… but he liked her as a close friend… but he didn't know if he should push himself on her to see if she loved him or not… he wasn't even sure if he loved anyone…

She stirred in her sleep. Isaac thought of something. If he talked in his sleep about his feelings, maybe Jenna would too. He thought about the consequences if his voice woke her up, but he was willing to risk it.

He leaned down a little and whispered, "Jenna, who do you love?"

She was motionless.

He asked again, a little louder, "Jenna, do you love Isaac?"

She moaned a little and her garnet hair fell over her eyes as she turned her head and muttered something inaudible…

Isaac bent closer and repeated his question.

This time she said something he could hear. "….nnngggghhh….. I…I love…." She said more, but he heard something outside and footsteps that drowned out Jenna and made him stop…

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She was regaining her composure, Mia wanted to look her best for Isaac. She noticed that her cape was tilted a little so she adjusted it a little. Her hair was a little ruffled from running and she didn't know what to do with it, so she put it all into a pony tail at first, then changed her mind and let it all just fall across her shoulders… then she went back and put it all in a tail again, she wanted to tell Isaac her secrets, not to scare him to death. Once her hair was in order, she took a look at herself. She wore the same dress she wore for working, which matched everything else she had so it didn't bother her…

She thought she was all set, yet something nagged her. She pulled the flowers out of her shirt and made them look nice. She pondered her dilemma for a minute or so, when she thought that it might be good if she "showed off" her woman-ness to him. She pulled her collar lower and ripped it a little, exposing a little, but not a lot, she only wanted his eyes on her…  Building up her courage on her new look, she stepped onward to his tent.

Don't panic… She told herself. Keep your voice steady, and you'll do fine.

She was three tents from him now… Remember this morning how he reacted, you saw him… He would have taken you there had there been no one…

Two tents… Deep breaths, you can do this. "Hello Isaac. There's something that I've been wanting to tell you…" Yeah, that sounds good. He'll listen…

One more tent and she would be in front of his. Keep breathing, you can do this. And present the flowers first… or not… just keep calm and he'll fall for you. You love him, he must return those feelings after this morning…

She was in front of his tent. Here goes nothing…She took another step and stopped abruptly. Isaac was talking… to whom? Mia looked around. Dora was a ways off talking with Kyle and Kraden some ways off. She knew it couldn't be Garet or Ivan because she just handled them. And it definitely couldn't be Hamma, Picard, Felix or Sheba, they left a while ago. That only left…

"Jenna."

Hesitating, Mia opened the flap some and peeked in. Her eyes widened in shock. From her angle, Isaac was bent over Jenna, holding her a little too close. His lips were mere inches from hers and she had her eyes closed. Mia looked away. She fought back the notion of running in and demanding what was happening. Instead she stood there and tried to not yell, scream, or cry. Mia looked back in. Jenna's eyes were closed. But… Isaac was pulling away and Jenna… she…. she was smiling!

Mia's mouth hung open… and a silent tear fell from her face. She whispered to herself. "Isaac… no…" She dropped the flowers, threw the flap and ran. She didn't care where, as long as it put distance between her and Isaac. Her meaning of living, of continuing on, was just crushed in her shattered heart.

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"What? Huh? Who was that?" Isaac called out cautiously, not wanting to wake Jenna. … Hearing nothing, he looked back at Jenna and decided to take her to her tent to sleep the rest of the night. He picked her up and took her to the next tent over.

He entered and found that Felix hadn't returned yet. Isaac set Jenna on her sleeping pad and covered her with a blanket. She sighed and turned her head away from him. Isaac stroked her hair and she sighed deeply. He got up and went to the flap to leave, but turned and smiled at her.

He walked out into the night, it was getting quite late now, and he needed sleep. He walked back to his tent and went in. something caught his eye and he went back out again and looked at the ground. There were two flowers. One of them was blue, the other yellowish. The blue one's pedals were crushed and the yellow one's stem was bent. He picked up the blue one.

"What are those doing here?" He asked aloud. Isaac looked around. He considered who could have sent these, or who had them, but there was no one in site that he thought could have picked them. He looked at the flowers. "I think I'll put these near my pad, add a little decoration." He went inside his tent with both flowers and planted them outside the opposite flap of his tent, away from other eyes. After that he secured the flaps of his tent and went under his blanket to fall asleep almost the second he closed his eyes.

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Felix's patience had just about reached its end. Picard had just told Felix a long and story of one event in Lemuria that was, like the town after a few days, boring as hell. Sheba was getting annoyed too, but she was actually doing something unlike Felix. Hamma had said it wouldn't take long and it was almost the next day's earliest hours. Worst yet, she still wouldn't tell them what she was looking for.

Felix had had enough, "Hamma!" He yelled, "What the hell are you looking for anyway?" his voice echoed through the area. " I am almost completely certain that we have gone completely around Aleph! Just what are you looking for? If it is a material item below Aleph when it crumbled, It's GONE! WE WON'T FIND IT!"

Hamma turned to face him when he yelled, and after he was spouting his mouth off she grew afraid and backed into the wall that Aleph's old peak once was. "F-Felix..." she managed to say when he was done, "I'm sorry to have done this to you, taken your time. But if our search remains fruitless for just a it longer, then we'll go back."

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! I DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION NOW" Felix spent a few minutes of ranting and raving, but Hamma tried to keep her cool.

"Just please listen"

"NO! EXPLAIN NOW!"

Felix was beyond help, he summoned his psynergy and heaved rocks right at the mountain wall next to Hamma and caused a minor earthquake.

Then it happened.

There were some small rocks that fell after the dust settled, then a loud rumble. When they looked up, they saw a large slab of rock sliding down the almost vertical slope. Getting out of the way, Hamma, Sheba, Felix and Picard watched as it crumbled when it struck the base, sending some figure sprawling and a lot of dust into the dark night. No one could see a thing.

Felix was especially impaired because he had his eyes open when the dust flew in his face. Picard was the only one who could rinse his eyes out and Sheba and Hamma had reveal. Felix scratched at his face while the dust settled. Hamma and Sheba closed their eyes in time and now they could use reval. Felix heard gasping.

"What is it? I can't see."

"Here," Picard came up to him, "hold your head up."

Felix obeyed and Picard ran some water down his face, clearing his eyes of dust. Sheba was muttering something. She was talking to Hamma. "What is the meaning of this? H-How did-?"

"I can explain! Please listen!"

Felix could now see a little and got the two women to stop talking for a second and show him what they were talking about. Picard couldn't tell what was happening either.

Sheba pointed to something in the setting dust, Felix couldn't see what it was. Sighing Sheba cast reveal again and pointed to the figure on the ground.

"She made us come here for HIM!"

Felix's eyes widened. Before him, was Alex.

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WHEEE!!! I finally finished it!

Sheba – O.O I find Alex?

Alex  - PLEASE don't hurt me! *is in chains and being dragged behind Sheba*

… Truly I pity you…

Alex – I THOUGHT I WAS YOUR FAVORITE!!!

…Which is why I must do this to you.

Alex – WHY!?

Because if you're my favorite character on GS then you can stand up to anything I throw at you… and I say… *snaps fingers* you need more motivation.

*Feizhi comes in* Feizhi - someone called?

*Points to Alex* He LIKES you, Likes you…

Feizhi - ^0^ *tackles Alex and carries him off*

Alex – I HATE YOU!!!!!

Sheba – Hey! He's mine!!! *follows*

Now that that's taken care of (I hope), REVIEW TIME!!!

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Mikaa – Tacky? I thought I was doing something to challenge myself, huh, go figure… Garet is overly attacked I'll admit, but come on, look at him! He begs to be bashed, as does the midget! … Felix told Mia, MOSTLY because of a) but also because of the fact that he wanted to make Isaac embarrassed. And you would talk too if that situation came up! … New pairing? Far from it. It's been done, but will I do it? … Maybe… Thanks for reviewing!!!

ChibiDjinn – Wheee now # 4!!! Short that it was, as was your review! ^_^;; But I don't mind! Thanks!

Ame Amamizu – Thanks for the wish, and thanks for the review (I also got my license recently! YAY!!!)

Total Katastrophe – True, nothing much, but I felt I needed to get it out quick, unlike this one x_x which took about a month to update… Thanks for reviewin'

Crazyguy982003 – Her will be explained if you don't already know. And Kay is Garet's sister's accepted name (if not her given one, I'm not really sure.). It's time we poke fun at someone OTHER than Ivan and Garet, so why not Isaac? And what do you think of Hamma here? I really like torturing the blue haired male… it's fun. Thanks!

Alex, Ruler of Weyard – a new face, hi! I'll respond to all reviews here. 1)Well, I like Alex and the way he acts in the games seems to be too calm… And ONE of those pairings is right, I do need to work on it… but the way I plan to carry it out, FF.net wouldn't allow it to stay. 2) I think your review of ch 3 sums this up.3) You have no faith in me do you? Of course I don't update very frequently! I am a busy man! When I get time and am in the mood I write, but the two often don't go hand in hand with me!!! ALRIGHT? Good, and thanks for reviewing… and as for Shattered Dreams vs. Second Chances, SD came out first, check the update dates…

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Well all is well, that chapter ends well… I think… I need sleep right about now… and then I need to work on this again. And Forbidden Love… and Shattered Dreams' final chapter/sequel… … May as well finish this then work on FL… or I could… oh… you're still here… shoo…  I'm thinking…

Alex - *pops his head out of a door* REVIEW OR THEY'LL TEAR ME APPART!!!

Sheba – SCILENCE!!! *pulls him back in*

Feizhi – You ran, tsk tsk tsk, You're in for a rough night NOW!!! *whip crack*

Alex – AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Ah, to be in love… You heard Alex! Hop to it!

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Please?