A New Plan of Action

As they got on their horses and headed for Humphrey's Peak, Virginia felt that someone was out there in the shadows, watching her. A shiver went down her spine, were the Prophets spying on them now? Or was it Janus, just waiting for the right moment to make his move and attack them? She shook her head, she was just being silly. Paranoia was just going to get her in more trouble, she had to stay focused now.

Over a bridge they went, and then a little bit to the west. There, they were able to find the town of Humphrey's Peak, where Clive lived with his family. Everyone there seemed so happy, they were all like a little family of their own. Clive immediately lead them all to a house with a blue roof, his own nice home.

"Daddy!" exclaimed a blond child, "You've finally come home!" The girl's hazel eyes lit up with the excitement of seeing her father again. Virginia looked at her, she reminded her much of herself when she was a little girl. Always running to the door the second her father would return from work. And Clive was almost like her own father, lifting the child up into his arms, tickling her face, and hugging his daughter.

"Clive, you're back. I could tell it was you, no one else gets Kaitlyn so worked up. She only is this way when you come home from one of your trips. So, how did it go with that artifact you were bringing to the High Priestess of Baskar?" asked a woman with dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. She seemed almost as happy to see her husband as her daughter had. They seemed to be quite alike, the two ladies. Both of them severely missed Clive when he was out. Jet started to feel a bit jealous, he never had a family who did that for him. Even Virginia, all alone as she was, had once been part of something similar to this situation.

Clive told her, "Catherine, I need to look at some of my old research books. We have found a clue or two that may help us to finally restore Filgaia. There was a lab belonging to some scientists, maybe their methods could lead to the breakthrough I've been searching for all these years." He gave her a small smile.

Catherine looked at the team, and then back to her husband. "By the way Clive, who are all these people you brought with you? I never knew you had a team that you traveled with before. Did you just meet them recently?" Kaitlyn was already getting bored, and looking to find someone to play with. She tugged on Virginia's skirt, trying to get the female Drifter to play. But Virginia just patted her on the head, she was too busy at the moment to play anything. On any other given day, she probably would have told her yes.

"My name is Gallows," Gallows stated, "I'm from Baskar, grandson of the High Priestess herself. I left the colony in order to find my freedom, and just happened to meet up with these other guys while on the road. Now, we're all together, isn't that right?" He put an arm around Jet, who wasn't happy about all this.

"Get off of me you big lug! I don't need you choking me to death, I'm not built that strongly," the boy yelled. Ok, so he wasn't a weakling, but he was a little thin for such a strong warrior, and he was short to boot. Both Jet and Virginia measured the same height, and the only reason he was a little heavier was that he had stronger arms. Besides, Virginia's bones around the wings counted for nothing, they were hollow.

The girl said, "That's Jet, the one Gallows is fighting with, and my name is Virginia. It's really nice to meet you. This is a really nice place you've got, and it's so clean. When I was a kid, my mother had so much trouble keeping it from being a disaster area in general, and a war zone inside of my own bedroom. I was a little bit of a messy kid, and I had such a strong will that I didn't listen to my parents at some times."

Catherine went to get the books. "Kaitlyn, we should go and leave them alone so they can do their research. Your father will play with you later. In the meantime, you and I are going to go to the kitchen to get some work done. They need to eat too." She left the room, and her daughter followed not far behind.

* * *

"I think I might have found something," said Clive, "It says here that a hundred years ago, a team of seven Drifters managed to discover a ruin called Yggdrasil. Each one of them had a slight knowledge of the scientific world, and learned that the system could very well be used to save Filgaia. So they began to fix it up, and created a laboratory for themselves to use. The Yggdrasil Project, as it was called, lasted until ten years ago, when all seven members of the team disappeared. Of course, it wasn't the same team at all, whenever one person got too old, too sick, died, or they needed a different type of expertise, they would get a new person to replace that person. But they always used seven members, and seven only. That is why the team got the name, 'The Council of Seven'. It was said that they came very close before they vanished."

"I wonder, if these men are the same ones that are in the picture. The thing does look to be about ten years old, so it could very well be of the final council. But something else seems strange about it. I think the one third from the left in the front looks a lot like that Malik we saw before," Virginia told the others.

Jet thought, 'She's one slick girl, pretends it's just a new opinion, when really she has known all of this for awhile. I'm lucky she's on my side, she could out debate and out think me any day. I've always had a reliable partner to back me up in combat. Maybe that's why I'm getting these strange feelings now.'

Clive looked at the photo. "You're right Virginia. But he doesn't seem to have changed a bit over the last ten years. I don't know what's exactly going on, but these Prophets aren't people we should take lightly. If they can stop the aging process, who knows what else they can do. The woman looked young as well. And she very well knows it, probably that's the greatest joy she could ever have found with her beliefs."

"But the third guy, that Leehalt," Gallows told them, "He looked even uglier than anyone I'd ever met before. I think that guy must have been dirt old before he actually took whatever the other two got into."

"Well, I think we should get to investigating. There are two places of interest her in Humphrey's Peak. First, Gemstone Cave. We have to take the horses and hop over a chasm. Second, we can go to Fortune Gear, where the Luck Guardian lies. There, we might just run into those men again," Clive said.

Virginia asked, "What's Gemstone Cave? If it's a place where there's gems and treasure. . ."

Jet looked at her. "Then we can either get some cash for our journey, or run into that witch."

"You mean Maya?" asked Virginia, "We probably will. But I think we can use a little bit of a stock of Gella before we set out. For if we're going into battle, we'll need the supplies to heal ourselves. So that then settles it, we're going to start off by heading towards the Gemstone Cave, in order to get stocked up."

- - - -

Sky's Corner

Do you know where Teefa is? Working on some eerily disturbing crossover ideas. So I fill in again. Too much talking for my taste. I prefer action. But at least they got information down this time…