Chapter 5

They Pull You Close

Garet followed Jenna up the ramp to the ship's deck, Shade whizzing by in a desperate search for Piers. Everyone's spirits had been crushed when they'd learned that Piers had been cast out of his home, but everything seemed to have gone from bad to worse as they had learned something even more important. 'Am I really the only one who sees that we were kept in the dark about all this by one of our own?' He thought angrily.

"Why the hell wouldn't he tell us all that!?" He snarled, his tone mirroring his frustration, waving his arms around to get his point across. Garet ignored the warning look from Isaac as the Mars-Adept continued his rant. "He fulfilled some prophecy about being the Mercury-Adept who gained the power of Aqua Rock, we all know that." He stopped where he was on the ramp. "So why the hell didn't he think to tell us the Lemurian version of it!?"

Garet stopped talking as he felt the others all giving him meaningful glares. Even Lunpa, Hydros and Leon, standing on the ramp behind him, seemed to have had enough.

"Probably for the same reason you won't shut up about it." Felix said sharply, just behind him. Jenna walking towards to him and glared straight up into his eyes.

"He probably didn't tell us because he didn't know that this would happen, Garet!" Garet gulped as the other Mars-adept's eyes flashed as she got ready to let him have a piece of her mind. "He was on his way home to try and figure out a way to keep things from happening and found his way blocked."

Garet put his hands in front of him and took a step back as she advanced. The three men behind him were forced back and had enough brains to just get off the ramp all together.

"I don't think he saw any reason to get us all worked up about this and get worried when he was almost positive that he'd find a way around things!

"If you were in his place, Garet with all that hanging over your head, would you have gone and gotten us all worried? If we had known about all this, Garet do you think that we would have let him out of our site for a moment because we were afraid for him?" Garet was backing up at a steady pace now, either unable to, or to wise, to attempt to get a word in edge-wise.

"NO I don't think you would! I think you would have done exactly the same thing as—" There was a loud splash as Garet ran out of ground to back up onto. Caught off-guard, he reached out and grabbed Jenna's hand, pulling them both in. Jenna thus receiving her second dunking of the day.

Garet thrashed around madly before coming back up to the surface. The frigid water cut right through his thick clothing. Shaking the water out of his eyes the burly adept swam towards the rope hanging down from the side of the pier. As Jenna started for the rope as well, he heard the cabin door open.

"Oh, it's just you guys" He heard Mia say, she sounded relived. "Where are Garet and Jenna?"

"Right here." He said, hoisting himself up and scrambling along the ground until he could get a decent grip with his boots.

"Me too." Jenna said, rather crisply. Garet prayed that she'd gotten most of what she'd wanted to say out and that she'd leave him alone now. They still had to tell Mia what they'd learned at the palace.

The others, including Hydros, Lunpa and Leon, had all made there way up on deck while Garet had been enjoying his little swim. Mia stood in the doorway, worry etched into her face. Hydros and Lunpa looked as impressive as ever as they stood on the deck of the moored ship. Leon though, looked almost frantic with worry. As Garet came up behind Jenna, both trailing water, he followed the Lemurain's gaze and found an answer for his unease.

Mia's sleeves were pushed up past the elbow, her hands stained with faint traces of blood. Felix and the others seemed to have noticed as well.

"What happened?" Felix asked, Mia looked away before speaking

"We were walking through the caves, we were almost insight of the ship when he stopped and the wounds just burst open again…" Mia pursed her lips as Leon went pale.

"H-he's just sleeping right? No dreams at all?" Mia gave him a questioning glance, not sure who he was, or why he had any real business asking. Kraden seemed to notice this and spoke up.

"Your highness, this is our ninth companion, Mia. Mia, these men are King Hydros, The explorer Lunpa, and Piers' uncle, Leon." Each man nodded as his name was called. Mia gave a small curtsy as Lunpa stepped forwards, his expression grim.

"Under different circumstances I would say it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Mia." He said gently.

"Now that you are all assembled, I would think it a good time to explain this matter more thoroughly." Hydros said, his commanding tone belittling any argument. The others all nodded in agreement as Leon spoke up.

"Do you think I would be permitted to see my nephew, Majesty?" Leon said anxiously. "The banishment states that he is forbidden to enter the walls, but since I am outside them…" The Lemurian licked his lips nervously, but Hydros merely nodded, and that same sense of guilt that the travelers had been seeing more and more of made its way across the Kings features.

"Of course you may. There is little you can offer in terms of an explanation that Lunpa and I cannot supply. The only objection could be given by, Miss Mia?" Garet saw Mia give a bit of a start at having a King ask her something, but she just nodded.

"Yes of course, he's sleeping now, last time he stayed like that for over three hours, but as long as you don't try to wake him, then there should be no problem." Mia gestured for Piers' uncle to follow her down into the cabin; Garet wasn't at all at ease with how she was acting. She looked frightened and almost helpless, Mia was not helpless, not the Mia he knew anyways.

The others all followed the two Mercury-Adepts down into the cabin. Lunpa spoke up as they walked into the lower part of the still rather shattered room.

"And here I had thought you were exaggerating about the damage." He exclaimed. "Yes, we'll need crews in here to fix up everything, what did you say about water leaking in the lower rooms? Yes, almost everything needs to be looked at, but it shouldn't take very long though, not long at all."

"Lunpa." Hydros said calmly. "Let's wait until Mia comes back and we get the more important things taken care of first shall we?" Isaac stood near the far wall while Ivan and Sheba grabbed chairs for Hydros and Lunpa, as well as for anyone else who there were enough for. Kraden eased himself on to the still mangled spare-bed as Jenna and Garet took two of the extra chairs. Felix was content to lean against the far wall with his arms crossed.

A few minutes later Mia appeared in the doorway to find everyone settled. Hydros and Lunpa had there chairs set up in the center of the room so that everyone could see them, and Mia took a spot between Jenna and Garet.

'Now it's time for some real answers.' Garet thought.

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Mia stared intently at the two men sitting in the center of the room. She was not looking at all like she had originally planned when she had heard that they were going to meet an ancient King in his Mythical city.

"As you all ought to know," Hydros said, his tone was soft but Mia could still sense the commanding air that surrounded the man. "The legend in Lumuria, is that the master of water shall be of Lemurian decent." Isaac and the others nodded slightly, apparently they had all been told this part, but Mia had missed the first explanation.

"But that legend does not end with that." He continued. "No, that is only a small part of a long and confusing prophecy. Forseen long before even I walked along the surface of Weyard. Long before any one ever thought about sealing Alchemy away.

"Straight from the old texts, it would take far too long to recite the entire thing in one sitting, as well as far to complex in how it is worded. But I can of course give you a more, how should I put it, a dry run, so to speak." Hydros nodded, seemingly unable to find a better way to put it.

"First and foremost, what you must all be made aware of is that Piers is in the center of this, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

"You already told us that back at the palace." Garet said, Mia nudged his arm slightly and he looked down surprised.

"Yes, but not all of you were there. Were you, Master Garet?" Lunpa said smiling slightly, Hydros cleared his throat as a sign that he wished to continue.

"Piers was actually made aware of this long before now." Mia noticed Garet's brow furrow slightly, "All the way back to before you four slew Poseidon."

"What?" Felix asked, his normally placid expression gone as he looked utterly confused by the statement. Kraden and Sheba seemed a bit lost as well.

"'The Master of Water shall be of Lemurain decent. A champion among others, as a quest unfolds to save the world. The King of the Sea shall fall to him, the Stone that Cry's will wane.

"'As the beasts each fall, he'll stand among his partners, the wielders and Masters of each Alchemy's star. Yet as the stars shine brightly, atop the spires, his powers too shall wane. The King of the sea shall rise again, if only to mark him true.

"'In a sleep of pain will soul be tried, as demons are unleashed. Yet if blood is pure and heart is true, the power then will be claimed. Two names upon the Golden Bond, two souls to merge as one. But if deceit lies in the heart of one, then tragedy issue. The Master will fall, in all his glory, his bloodline then will wither.

"'Corruption, Deceit, Lies, and hate, non these shall bid him die. But the hope of Love and all it's treasures, this will bid him end.'" Everyone was silent as Hydros stopped speaking.

"That is but a simple version of the prophecy. I myself have spent many centuries looking over the texts, and I have found those verses to be the most important."

"King of the Sea?" Ivan asked, "Is that referring to Poseidon? But Felix, Jenna Sheba and Piers all fought him together." Kraden nodded.

"Yes, Jenna and Sheba were badly wounded, but they still won as a team." Jenna glanced at the old scholar.

"But you didn't see the actual fight, Kraden." She said heatedly. "You were in here cowering under the table." Kraden seemed to puff up a bit at the insult, but Felix stepped in.

"We fought as a team, but Piers still struck the last blow. Technically he killed Poseidon." the Earth-Adept stated calmly.

"And 'The Rock that Cry's'?" Garet asked.

"Well that's obviously Aqua Rock." Mia said. "The 'Wielders and Master's of each Alchemy's star.' I'd guess that'd be all of us. We all fought together too save Weyard and we've found ourselves involved in more than one Prophecy before." Hydros nodded.

"Yet as the stars shine brightly, atop the spires, his powers too shall wane. The King of the sea shall rise again, if only to mark him true. What does that mean?" Isaac asked.

"Well, I suppose it means that when the Lighthouses are fired, Poseidon will rise again and mark… Piers? How would he do that?"

"It could have been that flash." Sheba supplied. "And the shoal, I could swear I saw a trident sitting on the rock in the center, and none of those things were there before, they just appeared when that storm blew up."

"The storm to is an enigma." Lunpa said. "There is no doubting its occurrence, but no one inside the city was even the slightest bit aware of it, nothing more than a little rain or strong winds." Hydros seemed to be taking all of what they were saying in as he sat mulling in his chair.

"The old texts say that the Master will be marked by the King of the Sea, and that this marking shall occur when the King returns to his throne, and 'His aura shall blind those fool enough to fight him.' or so the prophecy says anyways." Both men sighed

"How I wish that this case were like the others, and we could all breathe easier." Hydros said, rubbing his eyes with one hand

"This has happened before?" Kraden asked, the other all glanced at the king as he answered.

"Yes, since I was still a young man there have been three False-Masters, young men who left Lemuria and returned with wounds similar to Piers' own; breaking open at the slightest disturbance, swallowing any psynergy used on them in an attempt to heal. All three though were not the men foretold in the prophecy, Piers is."

"How can you be sure of that Majesty?" Isaac asked.

"I bet none of them fulfilled anything in the prophecy." Jenna said before Hydros or Lunpa were able to answer, Hydros nodded though.

"Yes, as soon as Piers and you three slew Poseidon, I was almost positive that he would be the one, hearing soon after of your conquest in Aqua Rock confirmed it"

"The prophecy is the main reason Lemurians are forbidden too leave the Sea of Time. How can one slay or be slain by Poseidon if one never ventures into his realm?" Lunpa asked,

"How can you gain the secret of Aqua rock if you never visit the Apojji Islands?" Isaac added, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"So you knew that they couldn't be this, Master of Water, because they were marked but didn't do anything else, right?" Sheba asked "It would have been too soon for the prophecy to be fulfilled anyways, the Lighthouses were only fired six months ago, unless it was done so before and simply went un-recorded."

"But King Hydros, weren't you the one who sent Piers to fire them in the first place?" Ivan asked, Hydros nodded yet again.

"Piers had concerns about what had happened out-side the city when he returned the last time. He told me about Aqua Rock, as well as Poseidon, and that he now traveled with a group with an Adept for every Element. He did not know what to think, but we surmised that it would be only best to see him back out, there was still the matter of Weyard dying to deal with first of course."

"But why did he keep everything from us?" Garet asked; Lunpa took over this question, cutting off Jenna who was getting a dangerous look in her eyes.

"Your friend here summed up most of his reasons, we know for a fact that your quest was far from easy. From what you have told us yourselves about Mars Lighthouse, I would doubt you'd have let him near the tower, let alone the Aerie. Knowing what kind of danger he was in, I would not be surprised if you would have tied him up and shoved him in a closet." Mia shook her head slightly, had she just missed something?

Piers was some prophesized Hero from Lemuria who would apparently tap into some great power. Mia's guess; that had something to do with Alchemy. It would only happen once he had conquered Aqua Rock, defeated Poseidon, fired the Lighthouses, had companions who represented Alchemy, and was marked by Poseidon who was already dead. But if Piers had completed all those things, why would they have been afraid for him?

Plus, there was also still that 'Golden Bond', and the 'merging of souls' that they hadn't even touched on yet.

"That makes no sense." Felix was saying; Mia shook her head again, still very confused.

"Apparently you're not the only one who is in the dark, Mia?" Lunpa said, nodding towards her, she put on a weak smile as she shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

"It seems I should have gone with you, why would we have been afraid for Piers before now?" She asked.

"I can answer that one." Garet said, "According to that Prophecy thingy, Piers would have been prone to sudden losses of strength leading up to Poseidon 'Marking' him or whatever."

"And since that could have occurred anytime leading up to Mars Lighthouse, we probably wouldn't have let him off the ship or fight anything stronger than a jelly-fish if he had told us." Jenna cut in, once again glaring at Garet. Mia ignored the two and started mulling things over in her mind.

"Something wrong?" Isaac asked, Mia looked at him before speaking,

"I don't remember him suddenly feeling weak or anything before the Lighthouse, but after we fought the Doom Dragon, he took the longest to recover, and he kept seeing me every now and then afterwards, asking about anything that helped restore energy."

"I remember him acting a little tired more than usual," Ivan said conversationally, "But I just though he was taking it easy since the quest was over, and we didn't have to go sailing all over Weyard worrying about how fast Gaia Falls was eroding or what was happening in Prox." Mia looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"That's what I thought too, but if I think about it… Do you remember when we took that trip back to the Kibimbo a few months back too see how Akafubu was doing as Witch Doctor?" The others nodded slightly, after Mars Lighthouse they'd spent the last few months re-visiting places all over Weyard.

"Yeah, I remember that," Sheba said with a small smile, "You and Akafubu kept getting into small arguments about the best way to set a bone, or to cure poison." Sheba giggled, the memory of the two esteemed Healers bickering the whole time playing over in her mind. Sheba stopped quickly as Mia smiled slightly and kept her eyes down.

"Well," she said, "One night after you all had gone to bed, he and I were talking and, well he mentioned something…"

--Flash Back--

The air hung heavily in the small hut, small burning incense-sticks hung from strings attached to the roof, giving the small space a musty sent and filling it with dull smoke. Mia sat cross-legged on a few woven mats strewn across the floor, the Witch Doctor Akafubu sat across from her smoking from a long pipe, his large head-dress hung from a peg on the reed-wall, his ceremonial robes folded next to him.

"That other Mercury-Adept you travel with," Akafubu said, "I remember him from my initiation ceremony, when I became Witch Doctor." The young man pulled deeply on the carved stem of the pipe, exhaling slowly, the thick wisps of smoke encircling his head before evening out into the heavily perfumed air.

"There is something troubling him. You know that, yes?" the last of the smoke brushed past Akafubu's lips as he spoke. Taking a date from the small tray set out beside her, Mia chewed and swallowed part of the wrinkled fruit before shaking her head

"No I didn't, what makes you say that?" She asked, Akafubu glanced down the whole in the floor, as if checking to make sure his father and the Wise Man where asleep before responding.

"His aura has changed," Akafubu said "All of theirs have, but his is the most noticeable. There is something focused on him, but I cannot tell what. It is taking power from him, draining him." Mia gave him a questioning glance.

"Are you sure?" She asked, "Piers' been a bit more relaxed recently, we all have. But I haven't noticed anything un-usual about him lately." Akafubu smirked knowingly,

"Yes, but I am a Witch Doctor, you are a mere Healer."

"You still seemed a little squeamish when that boy came to you with a dis-located shoulder you know." Mia shot back, she smiled as his eye twitched. Taking another deep breath from the pipe he said,

"At least I don't need Psynergy to heal my patients."

--End Flash Back--

"So Akafubu noticed something and you didn't think on it?" Isaac questioned, Mia sat up straighter in defense.

"Isaac, he'd been going on for hours about how you hadn't been sleeping well, that Garet didn't take well to high places, and that Jenna, Sheba and I ought to…" Mia cut herself off, her mouth a thin line. "Anyways," She continued sternly, "he was pointing things like that out the entire time we were there so, no, I didn't think on it."

"I would like to speak with this, 'Akafubu' one day if the chance ever arises," Hydros mused, "Even though it appears you did not get along very well, I would still like too speak with the young man able to sense the Mystics at work, months in advance. Quite the talent, I must say."

"Ok, so before this marking, he would be at risk of sudden weakness, what about now? Is it still the same or will it stop?" Sheba asked, she and Jenna still glancing over at Mia, both wanting to know what their friend had been about to say. Hydros and Lunpa both looked grim at the question.

"For each time Piers would have felt weak before, now the wounds will break open. They won't spill enough of his blood to kill him, but still too much for him to just bounce back from." Lunpa said; the old explorer looked hesitant before continuing, "None of you should attempt to heal him with psynergy. You will only do damage to yourselves, and most likely Piers as well." Lunpa looked as if he'd just bit a green lemon as he said it, but Hydros simply nodded in agreement.

"Why?" Felix asked,

"It's a vortex that draws in your psynergy." Mia said, "Like a whirlpool, you try to put in just a bit, but it ends up snaring you and taking everything it can." Lunpa nodded.

"I see you tried to help him." He said Mia nodded.

'Of course I tried to help him,' She thought 'I'm a Healer and he's my friend, I watched as all of my power was pulled in and nothing was working too help him. I would have been dragged in, I only managed to get away because he stopped me before I was pulled too deep.'

"What's the purpose of all this though?" Jenna asked. "All I've pieced together is something that sounds way to much like what the Wise One put us through." Hydros looked a tad tired at the relentless questions, but the King simply thought for a moment before speaking.

"What the prophecy is mainly about is that someone will claim the power of the Sea. One of Two names on the Golden Bond shall gain power over everything from the smallest trickle to the very Oceans of Weyard." The room was silent as Hydros finished.

"Wha…?" Garet said, taken aback.

"Piers could gain that kind of power?" Ivan said in awe "Shoot, I'd better stop making fun of him then…" Hydros nodded, his face still lined with worry.

"This is something many inside Lemuria would love to take from him, mostly those in the Senate." Lunpa said,

"That is, if they find out about it, right?" Felix said; both men from inside Lemuria nodded.

"We would like to keep this as quiet as humanly possible. We do not need people following you around constantly until your ship is repaired. Many like we have said; would give their right arm at the chance of such power. They are fools who know naught of what awaits Piers because of this."

"How could they take it from him? And what's this 'Golden Bond' You keep mentioning? Does it have something to do with Alchemy?" Kraden asked; Lunpa smacked himself in the side of the head.

"By Poseidon's wrath how could we have forgotten too explain that? The Bond is one of the most important parts!" He exclaimed, although with perhaps a bit to much flare. "Without it Piers will die without even a chance to prove his strength! By the Gods, men from Angara are not meant to live this long! It's addled my wits, I swear it has!"

"Calm down, Lunpa." Hydros said in a steady voice, "We have covered much in a short time. No one will think less of you for forgetting one part."

Garet's stomach chose then to growl, bringing the King's attention back to his audience. A small smile touched the ancient Lemurian's lips as Garet colored slightly, Isaac laughing slightly in against the wall until his stomach did the same.

"Eh, he he. It's been a long day?" The Venus-Adept tried lamely, forcing a smile despite all they'd just heard. Hydros nodded in agreement as he stood, Lunpa following in suite, the other's who had been sitting stood as well as Hydros addressed them.

"It has indeed been a long day for you all, and this is not something one should think on, on an empty stomach or with a weary mind. It will not be hard to slip back out here tomorrow night without the entire city's knowledge, there is a grand celebration then that Lunpa and I have but small parts to play." Lunpa began to make his way to the door leading down to the lower decks. Mia, realizing what he was after, spoke up.

"I'll get him; you stay up here, Master Lunpa." She said kindly as she stood up straight and walked towards the door, Lunpa nodded thanks and walked back to Hydros who stood talking with Kraden.

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Mia stiffed a yawn as she made her way down the steps, and walked along the lower decks to Piers' room. 'Gods it can't be that late, but I'm exhausted.' She thought as another yawn cracked her jaw. Fizz appeared on her shoulder,

"Well no duh you're exhausted." The Djinni piped up. "You've been up for hours and last night wasn't all that relaxing. So much has happened in the last two days I doubt if any one'll sleep well tonight."

"Were you listening to what was being said?" Mia asked Fizz nodded,

"Yep, all sixty-three of us listened to every word."

"Sixty-three?" Mia almost bit her tongue as she said it; Fizz just blinked and looked Mia in the eye. She knew for a fact that all of Piers' Djinn were all in the room with, when they'd gotten back to the ship they'd been hysterical. Fizz seemed to sense that it was just a slip so didn't bring it back up.

"Sounds like we have another job to do" The Djinni said; looking at down the hall as Piers' room came into view. "So much for your guys' vacation around Weyard, at least you all got to go home for a while before this came up." Mia nodded as she placed a hand on the door-knob.

"Sir?" She said softly as she cracked open the door, she saw Leon sitting next to the bed where Piers lay, the older Lemurian holding the hand of the younger. Mia was a bit caught off to see Piers look up as she came in, Leon turned around looking slightly surprised. He looked so odd without the headdress which was folded up on the stand next to his bed.

"King Hydros and Master Lunpa are waiting for you upstairs now." She was swamped with guilt as the words came out. "They're ready to make their way back inside the city." She bit her lower lip as both seemed saddened, Leon looked back at his nephew.

"Remember what I said now, and I'll be back tommorow if I can." He said. Piers smiled wearily,

"Don't worry about me, Uncle." He said, "I'm not in too much trouble yet." Leon still looked worried, as he walked past Mia though he pulled her a ways out into the hall to speak with her.

"I don't know how much they've been able to tell you yet," He said, "But please, I want to be kept informed of what's happening to him. Will you?" Mia nodded, forcing a smile.

"Of course I will, I'm still a Healer, I won't keep you in the dark." She said, Leon nodded nervously, the worry in his eyes lessened somewhat, but there was still to much left behind for her comfort. He ran one hand back through his hair, she noticed then that he was a very thin man, but not in the way Lunpa was, just long and sleek. Piers' uncle looked like he should've been fairly large, but his fingers were like reeds, the skin around his eyes pale and ashen as the blue from his hair was nothing more than a faint silver.

"Thank you," He said, with one last glance through the door at Piers, the Lemurian made his way down the hall, and back up to the main deck.

"If you keep biting your lip like that it'll come off." Piers warned, Mia picked up on the false cheer, but didn't bring it up. Looking at him she smiled slightly.

"Can I get you anything, Piers?" She asked, watching him chew the inside of his cheek as he thought.

"Well, some kind of psynergy that can get rid of these holes in me would be nice." He joked, Mia didn't think it very funny 'At least he isn't mopping like Garet always does when injured.' she thought.

"Hehe, how about getting one of them to talk to me again?" He said, gesturing around the room. Mia didn't know what he was referring to till she took a better look around, her eyebrows rose slightly as she saw all of his Djinn sitting around the room looking at him silently. "It's a bit un-nerving." He continued, she smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Gel said that if we moved around and bugged you too much you'd start bleeding again." One of them probably Fog said quietly. Mia felt her eye twitch,

"Gel's nothing but an over-reacting, worrier, you all know that." Piers said, seemingly relieved that the nine of them were no longer standing perfectly still, four of them had already re-set themselves to him, leaving only Sour, Fog, Spring, Shade and Chill still in the room.

"It's nice to know they care so much though." She said to him as Chill and Fog leapt up onto the bed, Piers shot her a light glare,

"Next time you're injured I'll tell all of yours to do the same. Then we'll see how nice it is." He said, Chill started jumping up and down on the foot of the bed,

"So it doesn't matter if we act the same around you, Piers?" He asked. "It won't make the wound break open again, will it?" Piers shook his head as Fog jumped up and grabbed onto his shoulder.

"It's random, it happens whenever it feels like it," Shade said, "That's what I always heard in the city." She said, Sour cocked his head to one side,

"You know it isn't really fair that you two got to live with him in Lemuria," The Djinni complained.

"Makes the rest of us feel like we don't know him…" Piers shook his head, not having liked the overly cautious attitude they'd adopted, but clearly liking this dejected mood even less.

"Not true, you two know something they don't." The Adept smiled as both perked up.

Mia felt a bit of surprise as she realized the guilt that had been over-whelming her before had pretty-much vanished. Her mood was much better now thanks to this light chatter Piers seemed to be encouraging.

'He's a lot like Felix and Isaac.' she thought, 'Just because he doesn't blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, doesn't mean he doesn't notice things or put them to good use.' Mia smiled as she interrupted Sour and Spring who seemed on the verge of an argument.

"I'll bring in some supper for you as soon as it's ready, the main thing that pulled Hydros' attention from the discussion was Garet's stomach making its discomfort known." She said, Piers laughed slightly.

"Garet is the only one I know who puts food before anything else." Piers said lightly, "But now that you mention it, I'm starving as well." Mia smiled and turned to leave, looking back over her shoulder she said,

"Don't get worked up though, when I bring in the food I'm coming in with bandages as well." She saw Piers cringe slightly but then laugh a bit as she closed the door. Mia sighed as she made her way back up to the cabin.

'Food, bandages, bed. Gods I could sleep for a month I'm so tired.' She thought as she climbed the steps. 'Maybe tomorrow when we hear the rest of this Prophecy things won't look so mixed up and hopeless.'

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