Chapter 12

They Grab You Once More

They ran down the halls, they didn't stop running until they reached the Lapis engraved into the stone floor. Gathering everyone in the center, Mia pulled out the small black crystal and looked at them all,

"Ready?" She asked, they stood there gasping for breath, each nodding in agreement. Mia readied her psynegry and threaded it through the stone to take them through to the other side.

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Mercury Lighthouse…

He'd never seen the Lighthouse dedicated to his own Element before. Mia had told him about it of course, but he'd never seen it, much less been inside it; if inside was really where he was.

It looked nothing like what Mia had described, not like what he'd seen from afar in Imil when they'd visited, it wasn't even like Jupiter of Mars Lighthouses, and even they had resembled each other some what. It was a large cavern reaching up hundreds, from where he stood perhaps thousands, of feet up. He had to strain his neck before he could see the top. Large majestic fountains decorated the ground, breath-taking water-falls cascading down the pearly smooth walls to collect in the cavern's inclined floor, only then to flow around as if creating small smooth sand-bars made of that same alabaster rock.

Not quite in the center, but pushed up against the far was slightly, as a towering Jade statue in the form of a woman in billowing robes. A placid expression carved along the lines of her face. She held her hands on front of her, a large Sphere suspended in the space between them. Water gushed from the top and spilled over the sides, seemingly endless amounts of water supplying the never ending cannels and streams around her. The entire space was bathed in ghostly blue light, far above them Piers could see nothing but pure blue light streaming down upon them.

Amidst the tranquility of the fountains, he could feel the power of Mercury's beacon shining down from up where he supposed was the Aerie. In this place he could almost forget the numb pain of the wounds in his stomach, forget the chill of the Bond around his neck.

"Up there, Boy, that's where you're going." Came that same sneering voice, as the solid ice doors, twenty feet tall slammed shut behind them. Piers glanced over his shoulder to give the man a haughty glare before following the direction one garnered finger was pointing.

Up under the sphere the statue held was another enclave in the stone where the water collected before over-flowing into the streams. Piers didn't know whether it had been built that way or was a result of hundreds of years of the icy waters pounding the smooth surface.

"Hurry-up now, lad, no time to waste," He said, almost dancing in anticipation. Piers didn't make a move towards the statue of the Water Goddess, he just stood there, "Feeling stubborn again are we? Well, it makes no difference to me boy." Piers cringed at the sudden tightness around his stomach, swaying slightly in pain as the wounds were forced open again by the other man. His vision blurred as he fell to his knees, he saw crimson as his blood seeped down onto the white stone beneath him.

Two pairs of strong arms forced him to his feet again and started dragging him towards the statue. The other man called for them to stop just before the enclave, giving Piers had a chance to re-claim his footing and stand up straight.

"Don't touch that water in the inner circle if you value your lives, you fools." The other man sneered, "Only the boy here will walk into the Goddess's embrace." Piers heard the other man take in a sharp breath, anger exploding through the Bond. One of the men turned at the sound, his back to Piers; the source of the anger revealed as Kite and Spring waved from where they sat in the back pockets.

"You—" Surprised, Piers was cut off as pain tore through him, tearing at his insides as he fell to the ground, Spring cried out in alarm and sped from the pocket as Kite summoned up a large whirl-wind to blow back the two startled men.

"Did you really think that there was any chance they could save your worthless hide, you pathetic little wretch?!" The man screamed in outrage, not lessening his grip with the Bond as he rushed forwards and forced Piers up by the neck, batting away Spring as if the Djinni were nothing.

"MEGGIDO!" There was a deafening crash behind them as the doors were shattered by Felix's attack, monumental chunks of ice flying through the air half-melted by the blow. Still over-come with agony, Piers found himself under the other man's control as he was turned to see his friends rushing in through the blasted door, Hydros, Lunpa and his uncle among them.

As they took in their surroundings, they all froze as they saw the man standing there, while he himself bled freely and fought not to scream.

Babi.

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"B-but you're dead!" Isaac shouted at a complete and utter loss as Mia and the other's stood staring at the man who was the cause of all this mayhem. The two Tolbian lackies were picking themselves up from where Kite had blasted them, Babi gave a sharp laugh, one hand still holding up a struggling Piers before the eighty-foot statue.

"And who told you that?" He asked, his clipped tone mocking Mia, it may not have made a difference, but she should have been able to recognize his voice in the caves. "Alex?" He taunted, "Did you ever question him at all? Did you really think I could be brought down by time so easily? You lot really are a bunch of fools to have believed that half-wit story!" Babi threw back his head in a bought of medicinal laughter.

Glancing around her companions briefly, Mia's eyes froze on Lunpa, Babi's old companion looked ready to burst. Rushing forwards before any the Adepts or even Babi could prepare, the old explorer tackled his former companion to the ground, sending Piers back and into the waters behind him.

"Why you sniveling, double-crossing, murdering, buck-toothed, balding, chicken-shit excuse for a man! I'll kill you, Babi, I swear I will!" He swore, each insult met with a powerful blow to the other man's face.

Garet shouted a warning as the two whom Babi had brought turned out to be Adepts, though they were poorly trained. They rushed forwards and attacked as about twelve more appeared around the cavern. Jenna's hands began to glow before a dragon-shaped plume of flame reared up and dove down on three of them. Isaac and Felix charged forwards as one as the lighthouse floor rumbled before the alabaster flooring was torn apart by savage earthen spires. Mia ran forwards ignoring fighting as she scrambled up the smooth rock, Leon and Hydros coming up behind her.

"Don't touch the water!" Hydros warned sharply as they came up to Piers, Mia looked down and noticed that it was glowing oddly, eddies seemed to have wrapped themselves around Piers' wrists and anywhere else he came in contact with the clear liquid. He was directly underneath the huge Orb the Goddess held, he held his head down, eyes staring at nothing as mass amounts of water spilling over and around him. Mia quickly noticed how the beads began to fall more thickly, forming a screen that seemed to be cutting Piers off from them, an odd power pulsing through the air around him.

"Piers? Piers, can you move?" She asked anxiously, worry creeping into her voice. Beside her, Leon looked back at the King anxiously.

"What's wrong with him, Majesty? What is this all supposed too do to him?" Hydros looked lost for a moment, searching old memories as Mia tried again to get Piers' attention,

"Piers," She said softly, "Piers, look at me, can you even hear me? Piers?" Mia looked back over her shoulder just in time to see Babi throw Lunpa off him.

Getting swiftly to his feet, Babi abruptly began kicking his old traveling partner where he lay fighting to get up. Leon followed her gaze and rose gingerly, just as Babi stopped for a moment to wipe away the blood from his split-lip, Leon rammed into him from the side, over-powering the frail man instantly,

"That power is mine!" Babi roared defiantly. "Destroy the Bond you fools! NOW!" Mia glanced around and spotted one of the men breaking away from where her friends were fighting, ducking down; the man grabbed for something unseen in the shallows. Mia felt her breath hitch as the Trident appeared in his hands. Mia was up in an instant and flung one hand out towards him,

"Ice Horn!" She cried, summoning her Psynergy. The stray air and raw power which hummed through the belly of the lighthouse condensed instantly in a sharp airborn spire which spiraled just in front of her opponent. The man fell screaming in surprise as the Trident slipped from his grasp and skirted away across the pale floor.

Mia whirled around as a loud rumbling filled the air; the men fighting froze, giving Ivan and Sheba a chance to attack with brilliant, harsh bolts of white lightning. With that done, they too stopped to stare as the Orb held between the statue's hands suddenly cracked. Hydros cursed under his breath suddenly as something dawned in his eyes,

"Get him out of there, now!" He yelled, Mia rushed back up as blue light spewed out from in between the pieces of the shattering Sphere. The ground below them heaved violently, large shards of rock flying out from the Orb. Mia winced as a small shard imbedded itself in her arm, but she ignored the pain as she and Hydros grabbed Piers' arms to pull him out.

He didn't budge no matter how hard they tried to get him away from the enclave. His hands cemented to the water and Mia knew he wasn't fighting them at all. The water began to bubble, though it gave off no heat. The last of the rock shell was rocketed away, leaving a condensed ball of pure Alchemy suspended in mid-air like the Mercury Beacon. Piers raised his head slowly to look at them.

"Let go, he's going to kill me." He said; his voice blank. Mia balked at Piers before noticing the intense pain in his eyes, and how they just stared blankly past her.

Mia opened her mouth to reply, but before she could form the words the broiling water around Piers instantly rocketed up into the Sphere of power above them. Mia tried to pull back as the water became a vortex around him, but the currents just wrapped themselves around her arms and enveloped her in iciness.

Panic filled her instantly, and she suddenly became aware that she was no-longer holding onto Piers' arm. What felt like a ribbon of water slipped around her throat and began to strangle her, she tried to reach up and fight whatever it was, but found her arms pinned to her sides by the same current. Opening her eyes, Mia saw only blue as she realized she was surrounded by water, her own element was killing her. Two hands gripped her shoulders, and she felt them shove her back roughly. Another pair of hands reached out and grabbed her, and she felt them pull her backwards.

Mia coughed violently in shock; she was lying on the ground in the same cavern as before, soaking from head to toe and shivering as she coughed the water out of her lungs. Hydros was leaning over her with one hand on her shoulder, she realized he was calling her name over and over. Mia sat up and stared at the column of water, through the veil she saw Piers thrashing against the current's grasp as it tried to throw him up into the sphere of Alchemy. But his motions were only half-hearted even as his golden eyes shone with stark terror.

"Piers," She breathed, Hydros' expression was pained as they watched, unable to help him.

"Stop him!" Felix cried out suddenly, Mia glanced over her shoulder; there was no time for her to do anything but gape as one of the men raised the Trident over his head and slashed at open air.

Everything was silent, and at first there was nothing; then suddenly the air exploded in a bright flash, momentarily blinding them all. In the midst of the intense light, Mia thought she could make out a chain stretching from where she could see Babi's outline, all the way to where Piers was suspended, the links shattered in the space between them both with the Trident hanging above the shards in mid-air.

The light seemed to collapse in on itself, forming a tight ball of energy before taking on a golden glow. Bursts of light, like from those small fire-sticks on Izumo gave off sharp cracks along the length of the once again hidden Bond, spreading quickly out from where the Trident clattered to the stone floor. Mia followed them with her eyes as the currents around Piers dissipated, leaving him floating in the un-natural column. His eyes widened again as they hit the water and his body gave a spasm of pain. Mia's fear spiked as a trickle of blood floated past his half-open lips, melding into the water as the current gained speed again and trapped his un-moving form once more.

Babi's chilling laughter echoed in her mind as the small golden orb behind her molded itself once more into a scroll and pen before fluttering down to rest on one of the lone islands. Piers' eyes seemed to gloss over as the paper settled on the white stone, the silvery pen rolling away.

Mia spun, rushing to her feet, she didn't see Felix and the others gaping in horror as Piers' apparently life-less body was thrust up toward the power that would surely kill him. She didn't see Babi force Leon off of him, a triumphant sneer pulling at his thin aged face; a sneer that faded quickly as he saw what she was running towards.

"Don't let her—" He was cut off as Garet rammed into him this time, slamming him into one of the ornate fountains and mangling the piping. Mia fell to her knees as she grabbed for the golden paper,

'When we get down there, do everything you can to keep them from breaking the Bond unless you're directly in-between them.' Isaac's voice fluttered through her mind as she scrambled for the pen, ignoring the pain in her arm from the shard. She didn't look up to see the gap between Piers closing swiftly.

'When they break it, it doesn't matter who it is, get to the Bond, cross out the name, and sign it as fast as you can, when that happens, everyone else focus on keeping the other person clear, ok?' The spines in the pen bit sharply and she almost dropped it in surprise. Two more men climbed up and started running towards her,

"Spark Plasma!" Ivan shouted, the electricity doubling in strength from where the two stood in ankle-deep water, Felix ran forwards to help Garet with Babi, murder in their eyes as the cavern shook move violently with each passing breath.

Mia's eyes scanned the flowery black words before she saw the Terms in blood. Ignoring the others she crossed out each line of the agreements, biting her lip against the sharp pain.

"Hurry, Mia!" Spring shrieked hysterically, Mia crossed out Babi's name and scribbled her own above it, her blood making the letters run in together,

"Piers!"

"NO!"