[Avari is sitting in a chair by the air conditioner somewhere on the East Coast of the U.S., eating pocky, and typing on a laptop.] Okay, I lied. My dad let me use his laptop, so I got to update this before I get home!
--Reader Responses--
wind-adept-aly: Yeah, there've been several stories about elemental kingdoms and the like, but mine will be different! I swear!
ice-phoenix-chan: Computers make life so easy! Yeah, some people might have problems with the pairings that turn up, but as long as no one complains…I'm fine.
Master of Reality: There's so much stuff going on at the same time that I had to note down the entire story before I could make any sense of what I was going to write. I'm glad you think the characters are portrayed well; I'm not so sure about this chapter…
Daidairo: Sorry about the Jenna/Piers pairing, but the people sort of…ended up together. Yeah, Felix/Sheba is really cute!
Inferno-Hero: Yeah, Fire Adepts are cool, but I think I'd rather be a Jupiter Adept. Psychic powers are awesome!
Berserker1: Thanks! Wow, you like Three Kingdoms! [is awed]
Favri the Fisher: Uh… [doesn't know other languages…] Well, no, they're not reincarnations…exactly. The dates don't have anything to do with the game—just think of this as an alternate universe fic for not; it'll make things easier. You'll just have to form your own idea when the epilogue comes around (which won't be for a long time, sorry). Whoops! I screwed up the Eastern/Western Sea thing… I'll fix that as soon as I have time… Thanks!
--End Response Section--
Disclaimer: Avari owns nothing. Get the picture?
Chapter Four
Watching the Winds / Developments
They are gone. They left last night, when no one would be able to stop them. There is no turning back now. We have set these events in motion, and there is no stopping them.
Four years ago, when the young Jupiter Adept came to us with a warning, I did not believe her. How could the lighthouses, the long-forgotten relics of the ancient past, be any key to peace between the kingdoms?
Though my mind was skeptical, my heart told me otherwise. She spoke truth, the same truths that have been recorded in the records of the Proxans for centuries. It only remained for me to piece together the clues and reveal the one possible escape for our doomed world.
Even with the puzzle solved, the chance that this plan will succeed is small. Even within our own city, rivalry and competition forms rifts, larger that the one that lies just ten miles out of Prox, near the Mars Lighthouse.
But we must try. For the sake of every innocent person who has been caught up in this struggle. For the warrior souls who fight on, ignorant of every viewpoint but the one they have been raised on since childhood. And especially for the unnamed Jupiter Adept, who gave her life for the future.
Everything now relies on five young warriors traveling south.
May Mars go with them.
—From the records of Puelle, warrior chieftain and record-keeper of Prox, 587 A.S.
About four hours' sailing out from Prox, a ship's prow cut through the calm waters of the Western Sea.
Saturos removed his red-glowing hand from the black crystal and wiped his forehead. "Whew, that really takes a lot out of you." After nearly four hours of channeling his Psynergy through the strange conducting orb in order to steer the ship, he was feeling significantly drained.
"Saturos, can I take a turn?" Garet asked.
Karst grinned and held up a blazing fist. "You'll have to get past me first, Garet!"
"Oh, come on, Karst. That's not fair!"
"Yeah, you always get to do everything! Give one of us a chance!" teased Agatio.
"You want to fight me for it, Agatio?"
Garet grabbed the crystal from its pedestal. The ship shuddered to a halt.
"You three—"
"Oh, no you don't!" Agatio snatched at the orb but Garet dodged him.
"Stop it!"
"Flare!" Karst sent a small plume of flame blasting at Garet, who ducked but dropped the orb. The black sphere rolled across the floor, stopping at Menardi's feet. She picked it up and gave them a stern look. "Enough! Garet, Karst, Agatio, you're going to have to get along."
"But, Menardi—"
"We were just—"
"We weren't serious!"
Menardi glared at them. "I don't care. We don't have time to waste on you three."
"Puelle trusts you even though you're only seventeen," said Saturos. "Prove to him and to us that you're mature enough to handle something like this."
The three Adepts looked down and muttered embarrassed apologies.
"Now, about steering the ship, you'll each have four hour shifts, and Saturos and I will have six hours shifts. That way you'll all get a turn, and we'll have time to recover our Psynergy in between shifts. Okay?"
The three nodded, not wanting to spark Menardi's temper further. Menardi walked back to the pedestal and placed the orb back where it belonged.
"Agatio, you've got the first shift."
Agatio nodded and laid his hand on the orb. The other four trooped up the stairs as the orb glowed red and the ship began to move again.
Up on deck, Menardi turned to her younger sister, who was heading off with Garet. "Karst, I need to speak with you."
Garet moved away from Karst, seeing the severe look on Menardi's face. He wandered up towards the prow of the ship, leaving Karst and Menardi alone.
Menardi sighed heavily and gave her sister a sad smile. "Karst, I know it's hard, believe me, but you need to keep an eye on your temper."
"What are you—"
Menardi silenced her sister with a look. "You may or may not have been joking around back there, but I need you to stay in control of your emotions. You've always been a bit hot-tempered"—Karst blushed—"but now is not the time. We are diplomats now. One outburst from you in front of one of the kingdom rulers will ruin the whole mission. We need to show the other clans that we are serious and sincere. Leave the talking to Saturos and me."
The younger Adept sighed. She didn't want to admit it, but Menardi was right. She couldn't jeopardize this expedition. "All right."
Menardi reached over and gave her sister a hug. "Thanks, Karst. It'll get easier, trust me. I was just like you when I was your age."
"You still are!"
Menardi smiled.
"…But you've gotten better since you and Saturos…"
"Karst, what is that supposed to—"
The younger girl was already gone, scrambling up to the crow's nest to join Garet.
Saturos came up behind the annoyed Mars Adept. "What was that about?"
"Nothing."
"Keeping secrets from me?"
Menardi smiled, her slight anger fading. "Never."
Saturos leaned against the railing, seemingly oblivious to Menardi's mood swing.
"Stop worrying about it, Saturos," Menardi said sharply, noting his grim expression. "We've got a long sail ahead of us; just enjoy it."
He said nothing, keeping his eyes on the small waves that slapped against the side of the ship.
"Saturos!"
"…What?"
Her expression softened. "Look, it'll all turn out okay in the end. They'll understand soon enough, so stop fussing. Lighten up."
To take the edge off her comment, she reached up and kissed him gently.
Saturos smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around her, gazing south towards the still-distant continents of Angara and Gondowan.
Karst and Garet were up in the crow's nest, looking out over the horizon. The sun was just rising, its ascent dying the sky various shades of orange, red, and pink.
"It's beautiful, isn't it," murmured Karst, gazing out at the horizon, where sea met sky.
Garet looked at his friend, a bit unnerved by her calm demeanor. Karst was never this poetic. "Uh…sure, I guess."
"It'll be really amazing, won't it? Going to see new lands…"
Garet gulped. He had only seen Karst this excited and happy on two occasions: when she had learned Dragon Fume, and when she had received a warrior's scythe as a present from Menardi. Karst was not like other girls.
"…more Adepts…"
She's lost it, Garet decided.
"…other kingdoms…"
Garet eyed his friend nervously. Maybe she had a fever…
"…meet some good-looking guys…"
"What?" Garet yelped.
Karst grinned. "Just checking to see if you were listening!"
Garet groaned. It was going to be a long voyage…
The solitary ship sailed south.
A cool autumn breeze blew over the city of Tolbi, through the streets and up the hill to where the palace sat, looking over the subjects of the Venus Kingdom. The gentle wind stirred the hair of the two Venus Adepts who stood together on a balcony, talking quietly.
"…Uzume, I don't know… I don't trust her."
You do, but you don't know why. You're worried. She smiled to herself. "Relax, Felix. Trust me, if you can't trust her."
"But she…"
"She knows the position she's in. She knows she has to help us, but she doesn't want to betray her clan. She'll help us, though, and willingly."
"She'll have to face the truth soon enough, but can we really trust her with something as important as this? She's so young! Does she really comprehend the magnitude of this war?"
"She understands more than you give her credit for, Felix. Give her some time. She's more intelligent than you realize. She'll come to see our way soon enough."
"And what if—"
"Felix? Lady Uzume?"
The two Venus Adepts turned to see Sheba come up behind them.
"Hello, Sheba." Uzume smiled at the young Jupiter Adept.
Sheba ignored Uzume's gesture of kindness, her small face serious. "Something's changed. The Mercurians have learned of the attack Hama is planning for the seventeenth of November. I think"—she wrinkled her forehead in concentration—"they're planning something… Attacking us...or maybe…" She trailed off and her eyes clouded over.
Uzume paled. "Isaac…." She shared a worried look with Felix. "Thank you, Sheba."
"No, there's more." Sheba's eyes focused again on the two Venus Adepts. "Hama's changed her plans… She was planning to strike earlier than the ambush date, but now she knows that we know…so…she's going to…attack…"
Sheba's eyes glowed purple again, then returned to their normal green. "I'm sorry! I just can't understand what I'm seeing!" she burst out in frustration.
"It's okay, Sheba," said Uzume soothingly. "You've done your best and you've already provided us with a great deal of information."
Sheba nodded, still upset, and turned to go.
"Felix, I need to speak with my commander, so why don't you accompany Sheba to the city? She hasn't been out to Tolbi yet."
Felix would rather remain with Uzume and meet with the commander, but Sheba's eyes lit up eagerly at the thought of getting out of the palace. Somewhat reluctantly, he left Uzume on the balcony and followed Sheba back into the palace.
The two descended to the main floor and went outside to the grounds. Felix nodded politely at the two sentries as they passed through the front gate.
Outside the walls, a stone-paved path led through the woods that surrounded the palace and descended the hill, heading for the center of Tolbi. The two Adepts walked in an awkward silence.
"Sheba?"
"Mmm?"
"Uh...I don't mean to be rude or anything…" Felix looked so awkward that Sheba nearly laughed for the first time in several days.
"Just spit it out, Felix."
"…Why are you helping us? I mean, you belong to the Jupiter Clan, and this is the Venus Kingdom. Why do anything that might give us an advantage?"
The amusement in Sheba's eyes dimmed as pondered the one question that she herself didn't even know the answer to.
"I'm…I'm supposed to be here…" Sheba's voice unconsciously took on the quiet, deeper timbre of a prophesier. "I knew this would happen…but I didn't tell anyone, not even Ivan. I was destined"—she spat the word out bitterly—"to get captured. And now I have to live with what comes after."
Felix almost smiled, but he caught the wry smile on her lips. She was struggling against homesickness, against the temptation to run back to Lalivero, and she was failing.
Ivan, Feizhi…
I don't know why I'm destined to be here, but something is calling to me…
Please forgive me… I'm betraying my whole clan, the only family I've ever had.
"Someday, this will all be over…" He wasn't sure if he was reassuring her or himself.
Sheba looked up at him sharply, any hint of vulnerability gone from her expression. "Felix, do you really think that this war is ever going to end?"
"If we work together to unite the kingdoms, then we can unite Weyard!"
Sheba smiled sadly. "Felix, your ideals are nice and all, but this war is never going to be over. No kingdom will ever admit that maybe the others might have some claim to power, and allow everyone to be equal. No one on this god-forsaken planet is ever going to settle for anything less than ultimate power."
"Sheba, if you don't have any hope, nothing will ever get accomplished!"
"But even with foolish hopes, no one will unite the kingdoms! Not even Babi did, and he had the best chance out of any of us."
Felix shook his head. It was sad, really, how a girl so young could be so cynical. "You have to believe, Sheba."
"Yeah, believe that we're all going to get annihilated when this war turns into the Armageddon."
"Hmph." With that, Felix reverted back to his normal reticent self as the two Adepts made their way down the stone path, down the hill toward the busy streets of Tolbi.
The same bright sun shone over the island empire of Lemuria. Time had worn away at the ancient city, but it was still as beautiful as ever. The capital of the Mercury Kingdom was situated on a hill on the lonely isle in the center of the Sea of Time. The paved streets circled around the hill, forming several levels on which houses and other buildings were found. On the summit of the hill was the palace of King Hydros and the building that housed the Senate of Lemuria.
Jenna and Picard sat on a crumbling stone wall by a spring on the second level. The small spring was walled in with stone where it bubbled up from its source. A gray stone dragon head was carved above the spring. It seemed to have been a fountain at one time, but no water flowed from the mouth of the dragon. Despite the reputed age of the fountain, it seemed to be in very good condition.
"Picard, what's so important about this fountain, anyway?"
The city of Lemuria had always been a peaceful place, especially in the time before the sealing of Alchemy. Now, even in the midst of war, the citizens of Lemuria still went about their lives with an unhurried, leisurely way.
"Well, it was responsible for the long life of Lemurians."
It's almost a feeling that makes you want to go to sleep, Jenna had decided. It's as if time is passing very, very slowly…
"You mean by drinking this water, a person can live for centuries?"
It had been only two days since Jenna had woken up on the sandy coast of Lemuria, but already she was feeling the effects of the quiet, subdued ambience of the tranquil city. The desire to return home had vanished, replaced by only a wistful wish to see her family again.
"Well, it used to be that way…"
It's not like I'm missing anything, Jenna told herself constantly. They'd only send me away if I came back home. And I'd much rather be here than in Prox…
But Jenna was already falling under the spell of the serene island…
"So what happened?"
Picard looked around nervously. The only people nearby were about five or six Lemurians who were casually going about their daily tasks. One woman paused by the fountain and filled a bucket with the crystal clear water.
Seeing no one suspicious nearby, Picard whispered, "The spring flowed with the water of life up until the reign of Emperor Babi…"
"What, he stole—"
"Picard!"
Jenna jumped.
"Oh, damn," Picard whispered. Sitting beside him, Jenna could feel the Mercury Adept tense up.
A tall man with dark gray-blue hair and a white robe with a purple stole was coming down the steps to the fountain. He smiled at Jenna, but she noted that his eyes remained as cold as ice.
"Lord Conservato, what brings you here?" said Picard, his voice calmly polite.
"Why, nothing more than the assembling of the Senate, of course!" Conservato's manner became stern, his face settling into a subtle scowl. "You're needed at the Senate House, boy. Important matters to discuss." He coughed, seeming unwilling to elaborate on the subject in front of Jenna.
"What—you're in the Senate?"
Picard winced.
Jenna felt mortified. Here she was, talking to him like he was a regular person… "I thought you were just…"
"No, really, it's not important…"
Jenna scowled at him.
Lord Conservato cleared his throat. Picard flinched, then looked sideways at Jenna.
She sighed. "It's okay," she assured him. "I'll be fine by myself."
Picard nodded but didn't seem much relieved. Jenna waved goodbye to him as he and Conservato headed up towards the palace and the Senate House.
"Isaac?" Mia's voice called, muffled by the extra foot of snow that had fallen during the day. She peered out the door of the small healers' house, squinting to see in the darkening twilight. "Isaac, where—oh, there you are."
Isaac was standing outside in the snow, leaning against a tree.
He's looking southwards again, though Mia sadly. "Isaac?"
Isaac looked around and spotted her. Standing on the doorstep dressed only in a light robe, with the snow falling around her, Mia looked like an angel of winter. The light from inside the house flooded through the doorway behind her, creating a glowing aura around her body. Her blue hair gleamed in the golden glow…
"Isaac!"
"Uh, sorry, what?"
Mia glared at him. "Would you stop spacing out? We just got another casualty!"
Isaac sighed quietly, feeling a bit guilty. Immediately after his arrival three days ago, there had been an outbreak of skirmishes between Jupiter and Mercury. The healers in Lemuria had their hands full, so nearly twenty injured fighters—those needing long-term care—had been sent on the fastest ships from areas near Lalivero all the way to Imil.
"Coming." He brushed a few loose flakes of snow off his clothes and followed Mia inside.
The large room down the hallway on the ground floor—which would normally have been a general sitting room in a typical Imilian house—was being used as an infirmary. Ten small cots were crowded into the room. There another ten beds in the back room. Two of the upstairs bedrooms were empty and could be used for patients, but after that, the small house would be completely full. The problem was that transportation was expensive and all of these patients needed long-term treatment. None of them would be returning to Lemuria soon.
In the last empty bed in the former living room, a young man lay. The three other Mercurian healers—Alex, and two others, a man and a woman—stood by the bed, watching the injured soldier carefully.
The young woman turned. "Oh, you're here, Mia!"
Mia gave her a tired smile. "Is it bad, Niniel?"
The girl nodded. "He just arrived off the ship. So now, along with a broken leg, he's got seasickness as well."
The young man, who was about the same age as Niniel, snorted. "It shouldn't have been this bad, though. Those shipboard healers didn't even think to check his condition. He got banged around a bit on the trip here. The bone's probably been splintered by now."
Mia sighed. "Well, that's why he's here, Keth—for long-term care. But you're right, they need to be more careful with the casualties. Lemuria can't afford any more soldiers out-of-action."
"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to heal," said Alex.
Isaac, tuning out their conversation, was examining the young soldier. As he was only a possessor of Water Psynergy and not a true Adept, he did not have the blue hair that distinguished Mercury Adepts from others. He had brown hair and a pale face, made paler by the fact that he had fainted from the pain.
Well, thought Isaac, it'll be easier to heal him when he's not awake and screaming.
"You ready?" Niniel asked him.
"Yeah."
The five Adepts gathered around the cot. Keth carefully grasped the broken leg, which extended at an angle off the bed.
"Ready!"
Keth straightened the leg with a firm grip, lining the lower half of the broken bone up with its counterpart. The unconscious man moaned as Keth held the leg firmly in place.
The five healers all concentrated, reaching inside themselves for the appropriate healing Psynergy.
Isaac, as always, noted the golden glow of his Cure against the blue-white glows of the other healers' Psynergy. But after a few moments, he ignored the distinction. All of them were too immersed in the challenge of fixing the splintered bone together through Psynergy instead of using splints and bandages.
Glowing light wrapped around the man's leg. Though still out cold, the man flinched and tried to move, forcing Keth to tighten his hold. Underneath the man's flesh, splinters of bone were joining together as the leg straightened to regain its natural position.
With a sigh of relief, Isaac straightened. Even partial healings such as this one took a lot out of the healers. They hadn't healed the leg completely, of course; there were too many patients and not enough healers in Imil for that. But they had mended the leg enough for it to complete the healing process naturally. The young patient would certainly have enough time to recover; there would be no funding for ships to return to Lemuria and the war until the Senate agreed on it. That meant the long-term casualties would be stuck in Lemuria for six months to a year, depending on how stubborn the lords were being.
Well, thought Isaac, maybe now I can spend some time with Mia.
He really wanted to get to know the compassionate Mercury Adept better, but with all the casualties coming in from the south, along with a few healing jobs in Imil itself, none of the healers had had much free time to spare. They were kept busy every waking hour, and also some hours when Isaac would have liked to be asleep.
But such is the life of a healer on the edge of a battlefield.
Just walk up and speak to her, Isaac told himself. It can't be that hard…
"Uh, Mia?"
The young healer turned and smiled at him. "Yes?"
"Uh…"
"Mia, we need you right away! There's just been another outbreak of that disease: three Imilians are infected. We need to suppress it before anyone else is infected."
Mia sighed. "Right away, Keth," she said to the male healer who stood by the door of the infirmary, waiting for her. "I'll see you later," she said to Isaac, and rushed out the door.
Such is the life of a healer…
"…And we learned that Mercury is planning an attack on the Venusian armies, scheduled for a week from tonight, Master Hama."
"Thank you, Mila."
Hama waved her hand, dismissing her top spy—the leader of the small organization of Jupiterian spies that Hama used. Ivan and Sheba had been top agents, but Sheba was being held captive by the Venus Clan, and Ivan had refused any missions without his partner.
"If Mercury attacks Venus," Hama mused, speaking half to herself and half to her young assistant, the Jupiter Adept Feizhi, "then the best time to launch an attack would be… I suppose we could attack both of them at once, while they're busy fighting each other. That way we get the maximum chance of victory with a minimum of casualties."
"Yes, Master Hama," agreed Feizhi meekly. She was best friends with Ivan and Sheba, but she felt awkward taking Sheba's place as Hama's assistant and advisor.
"But maybe if we—" Hama stopped abruptly. Her eyes glowed violet. Feizhi watched her ruler she stiffened, swayed, and then stopped, the vision releasing her.
"Master Hama?"
Hama seemed to be muttering to herself. "Why is he so rash? Why can't he just accept fact?"
"Master Hama?"
Hama looked up and seemed a bit surprised to see her young assistant. "Oh, Feizhi!" She blinked a few times and seemed to come to her senses. "I have a task for you to do, Feizhi…"
Ivan dug through his drawers, searching out anything that would be useful for what he was about to do. Wrapped in a cloth, he found his three daggers—the ones he and Sheba had used when they— He stopped that thought. Dwelling on the past would not help anything.
Quickly, Ivan clipped one dagger to his belt and slid the other two into his leather boots. Then he slipped some dried meat and a water bottle into his backpack. He was just checking his room to make sure everything appeared normal, when there was a knock on the door.
He stuffed the pack under his bed. "Come in."
Feizhi opened the door and poked her head in. "Whatcha doing, Ivan?"
"Oh, it's you, Feizhi." Ivan had never been less happy to see his best friend. Why now?
Feizhi looked at him sternly. "Why now?" Ivan winced. "Ivan, if you're going to try to run away, don't try it in a place full of Jupiter Adepts."
"What do you—"
"Don't play stupid, Ivan," she said sharply. "You and I both know, whether you're going to admit it or not, that you were going to leave and go after Sheba."
"You've got no—"
"Honestly, Ivan, when a Jupiter Adept won't believe other Jupiter Adepts, we're all doomed. You of all people should know truth when you hear it."
"But—"
"Ivan, Hama knows how you feel. But what you're trying to do right now is the one thing she can't allow you to do at this time. If you got caught…" She shook her head. "And even if you rescued Sheba, it would create tension with Venus that we just can't deal with right now. You could endanger the outcome of this whole war! And if the Venusians found out that someone was trying to rescue Sheba…"
Ivan forgot all about denying his plans. "Feizhi, sometimes you have to understand that there are some things more important than this god-cursed war!"
Feizhi smiled sadly. "I know, Ivan, I know. That's why we can't let you go."
Ivan sat in silence, glaring at her, but she returned his defiant stare with a wistful smile.
At last, Ivan got tired of glaring. Feizhi knew it, and she turned to go. "I'll see you in the morning, Ivan."
When she had closed the door behind her, Ivan threw his pack into a corner. In a sudden fit of rage, he tore off his daggers and hurled them onto the floor.
Then, suddenly exhausted, he sank onto the bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.
In the small town of Suhalla, a place often scoured by the deadly tornadoes of the nearby desert, the elder had received a message from Lalivero—war was building. It was time to fight. The best fighters were to be sent to join the main Laliveran forces near the Gondowan crossing.
"Phil, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Phil Timrin, a newly married man in his late twenties, was one of the forty men from the small village who was skilled enough in the use of Psynergy to go off to war. The provincial villagers, however, were unaware that that small accomplishment would not keep them alive.
Phil prided himself on being the second-best Psynergist—a non-Adept—in his company. But even he was ignorant of the dangers that awaited him as he headed off to the battlefield for the first time in his short and innocent life.
"I'll be fine, honey," he said, kissing his young wife on the cheek. She smiled through her tears and handed him his sword, which had been passed down from his grandfather and was notched and weathered with age. He sheathed the blade and buckled it onto his belt. Psynergy was the primary weapon of battle in this age, but having other weapons increased one's chance of survival.
Then he walked proudly off to join the other thirty-nine men who stood in the center of the town square. In front of them stood the elder of Suhalla.
The crowd—composed of all the inhabitants of Suhalla—quieted as the elder raised his arms.
"Be strong, my warriors. Fight bravely. Come back to us safe." He dropped his arms and, as one, the forty soldiers marched off into the sunset to meet their fate.
Where has that muse got to?
[Meanwhile, deep in the subways of Washington D.C.]:
Felix: What is a 'dollar'? [holds out 10 gold coins to ticket person]
Ticket Person: …Is that real gold? [faints]
Felix: …Must have been something he ate… [sees another victim—I mean tourist] Hello! [smiles in a very friendly way] Do you know which of these newfangled caravans goes to Vale?
Tourist: Uh… [edges away nervously while wondering which mental institution needs to up their security]
…I hope he's not bothering anyone…
Oh, well. Review, and I'll give you some pocky!