Nehe, I know this isn't exactly accurate, but I still like it.

Chapter 4


A Bitter Awakening

Felix lay on his bed, gloveless fingers meshed together behind his head with one bootless foot flat against the mattress's thin blue covers. Dark earthen eyes staring up at the knots and lines of the wooden panels which made up the gently swaying ceiling, the entire room rocking back and forth slightly with the ship as it sailed. He was staring at it; but not exactly seeing the small details as his eyes looked inwards to delve into memories.

--Flashback--

Thunder crashed around them, lighting forking through the black roiling clouds above. Burning fingers of light, each crackling with untamable power, whipping down from the heavens too cause destruction and mayhem below. Rain, like knives slicing at them through the air, the winds drowned out all sounds, all but for the sudden roar of the mountain.

"Jenna!" He shouted; his voice drowned out by the incessant roar storm. Jenna didn't turn to face him as the rising waters lapped at the wooden board beneath her, her roan red hair quickly becoming soaked in the down pour. Looking back up the river, his mouth went dry as a raging torrent of water raced down towards them.

"Jenna!" The wind beat his voice back as the rain slapped him in the face. She noticed the wave coming at them now. She froze; crimson eyes wide as the boards that made up the small bridge they were on came loose from the nails that had kept them secure for years. She lost her footing and fell down on the crumbling bridge, her skirt of browns and reds sopping and sticking to her legs to slow her down as she scrambled to stand up.

"Jenna!" He didn't think. He sped forwards and grabbed her hand; he pulled her up and thrust her towards where Dora, Isaac's mother, stood in shock and horror. He could barely see anything not directly in front of him through the rain and darkness of the night.

But the water, he'd never known there was so much atop Mt. Aleph, it nearly crushed him as it slammed into his small form, carrying him away instantly. He glanced over at where his sister stood briefly, and it was like a snapshot in time. Tears were streaming down her face as they were both swept off, and down with the flood of water, stone, and debris.

He tumbled over and over again, ramming into rocks and tree-branches, being pulled under into the sea of mud. He opened his mouth to scream and felt only murky water and filth slide down his throat, gagging and coughing only made it worse. He flailed around uselessly, trying to find his sister in the torrent.

He broke the surface, and gasped for air, only just filling his lungs before he was pulled back under. He found his leg wedged in-between a boulder and what must have been a fallen log, the current suddenly jerking him another way. He screamed as the bone snapped, sending fire through him as the waters tried to freeze and drown him. Somehow, he made it to the surface again.

"Jenna!" he screamed again, fear over-ridding everything, fear and the need to find her. He reached out and grabbed something, a dry branch that sliced his palms, but it held; he didn't care about that small pain coupled with that in his leg, it held.

"Jenna!" He shouted again, hanging there as the water tugged at him, not letting up as small rocks brushed up against his shattered leg.

There was a snap, and the river gained a few feet. He looked back up at the branch he held, eyes widening in fear as he saw the roots giving way to the pull of the current. Panic pushed away everything, self preservation over-ridding all thought.

"Help me!" he screamed, his voice faltering, mud and grim splashed across his face. "Somebody help me! Please, somebody! Help!"

It snapped; everything seemed to slow down for a brief instant. He could see the small particles of earth flying away, felt the river bank shudder as he was pulled away. The trees seemed to reach out to him slightly, willing him to grab hold.

"Felix!"

He screamed again as he rammed into something hard that jarred his aching body. Tears streamed down his soaking, muddy face as he went under again, the river swallowing him whole.

"Felix! Wake up! It's just a dream!"

-------------------

My eyes snapped open, focusing instantly on my father's worried face; dark eyes a shade lighter than mine wide as his thinning sandy hair was plastered to his head. I realized then that I was drenched in cold sweat and was shivering violently. My mother was on the other side of the bed, the fingers of one hand curled up just below her bottom lip. Her red hair was down and somewhat messy, like she'd just gotten out of bed. Kyle, my friend Isaac's father, also stood looking worried near the foot of my bed, his normally messy hair looking as though he'd been running his hair through it repeatedly.

They all looked roused from sleep as Saturos, and two other Proxians I had never seen before came into my line of site. Saturos is a man with blue skin and white hair growing only from the center of his scalp. He's a tall man with dark, angry red eyes and green scale-like flecks of skin on his shoulders. Right then I couldn't see the scales though, since instead of battle armour he was wearing a brown work-shirt and plain black pants. An elderly woman with green skin was close to follow him though. She had red eyes as well, but they seem softer as she looked at me, a pair of pointed ears showing through under her graying hair which tied up in a loose bun. She had an apron wrapped around her, and from what I could see of her she looks rather small in size. There was also an old man with a long dark beard threaded with silver, again with green skin and pointed ears. He stood rather straight although he only came up to Saturos' shoulder, a thick old man with a grandfather's face. Saturos looked over the scene yawning as the woman mirrored the worry painted across his parents faces.

"What? Did he have another night mare?" Saturos asked in a whiny voice; I saw my mother's eye twitch as she sat up straight and rounded on him, mouth open to start berating him. Except…The Proxian woman, beat her to it.

"Saturos!" She shouted, swatting him in the back of the head without even taking a moment to think the action through. "You were raised to show a little more compassion young man! This poor boy has been through ten kinds of hell, and from the little I've heard tonight YOU were at the heart of most of it!" I blinked as I saw fire flaring up in the old woman's eyes as she continued to yell at and scold Saturos. Saturos, the burly Proxian warrior who had dragged the four of us over hundreds of miles of frozen wasteland and wilderness. Saturos who had helped unleash the boulder which had crush Vale. That one elderly woman was yelling at Saturos, for being rude…

"I will not have you berating this poor child while he remains here, Saturos! If you cannot act civil towards him, and his parents, then you can sleep at the Inn or at Menardi's! I raised you better then that! And I will not stand to have you tarnishing Prox's name with your, now very foul mouth!" The old woman looked about ready to start breathing fire at any moment now as she began ushering the warrior out and up the stairs.

I blinked a few more times at how meek the fighter looked as the frail woman began shouting up at him. After a moment more of hollering though, she calmed. The woman straightened her bun and smoothed the apron she wore this late as she walked back over to the bed. The old man sighed, but remained silent as I felt my dad rubbing my back reassuringly.

"Are you alright son?" he asked, I finally realized where we were as I looked up into my father's dark eyes. The pain from my dream had faded to a dull memory now; the fear that had coursed through me had died down. I nodded and bit my lip.

"It-it was the dock." I said quietly, looking down at where the blankets were still fisted in my hands, "I-I saw Jenna again…" The worry in both his parents faces faded, replaced by sadness.

My mother's eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around me. I was immediately swamped with guilt at making her cry, my father making his way around the bed to comfort her. She let go of me and clung to my father, shoulders shaking slightly as he stroked her back affectionately.

I heard Isaac's dad turn towards the Proxian man and mutter, 'Their daughter.' The man's confused look faded, becoming softer and sympathetic. He stepped forward and placed a hand on my father's shoulder. My dad glanced over at him, expression oddly soft as he saw the look in the other man's eyes.

"A great and terrible wrong has been done to you; and your people," the old man said softly, his voice raspy with age, his red eyes appearing very wise and comforting for some reason despite the odd tone of his skin. "Those who traveled to Vale did not handle the situation accordingly, we as a village are at fault, and you have our sympathy." He paused a moment, and I sensed my father tense slightly, the lines of his face becoming harder and more defined.

"But you will not let us return home." He said coldly, looking back at my mother who still had her arms around him, "Not even my son, to go back and tell our village that we still live. To learn if his sister or anyone in Vale remains."

He looked back at the Proxian, his eyes hard as he glared at him. I had never seen that look in my father's eyes before, so forbidding and almost hateful with its intensity, for a moment I felt almost afraid. My dad was not the kind of man to dish out hate at people he hardly knew. The Proxian bit his lip and stepped back slightly, the look in my father's eyes clear and the man paying full attention to it.

"You're outrage is understandable sir," The woman said, stepping up and placing a hand on my father's arm. "Prox does not expect you too see our reasons, when we have given you little in the way of an explanation." Kyle's eyes narrowed at her words, cold points of frozen china blue.

"Little? I'd say we haven't been told two words together as to why in the gods name you want the Lighthouses fired!" He spat, I flinched at the harshness of his voice, laced with malice and clear anger. Isaac's father was not one to raise his voice; he was always one to hear both sides of a disagreement and again, I was frightened by the harsh tone in his voice. It seemed the loss of his wife and son was too much for him to take, and still remain so level headed and soft spoken.

We were all bitter I realized; my father was filled with spite when he spoke to the old man. My mother refused to face either of them. Even I could not find it in my heart to feel any amount of gratitude towards them. Though even now, I lay in a warm bed instead of standing outside in the storm. If not for Saturos and Menardi, I wouldn't have been anywhere NEAR the storm.

'But then again,', I realized with a hint of guilt, 'there is also a good chance that they'd be dragging my body out of the mud now if not for them…'

"We will explain everything to you all, but not tonight. You are all tired, and in order to make you fully understand would require us to show you something far past the village." The woman said, softly, her voice both calm yet rushed at the same time, as if she could sense the ill feelings being focused on her and the old man. "My husband and I are more than willing to have you remain in our home. How long you remain is—"

"Something that is, as of yet, undetermined." The man interrupted, also sensing the tense feeling which invaded the room. "What has occurred brings none here any joy. But it is the way things are. How quickly you are able to grasp what is happening to our village, will determine the time you remain. And then, it will depend on how quickly you can act."

"How quickly "we" can act?" Kyle repeated in a low voice, his face looked shadowed as the Proxians nodded, as if he were an old brown wolf, stalking an injured fawn.

"The fate of our village and the Mars Clan rests on your shoulders." The woman said, still in that semi-frantic way. It slowly reminded me of the Mayour's wife in Vale, the one year there was a large dispute about incoming Vault goods. If not for her quick thinking, there had been rumours there would have been a large brawl…

"If the lighthouses are not fired, Prox shall be consumed by the void north of it. Before that happens, Mars Lighthouse will fall to it, and then there shall be nothing on Weyard that will be able to halt its destruction." She pursed her lips as she stopped speaking. I looked up at her; she seemed a kind enough old woman.

"Void?" I asked, voicing the question on all their minds. Both Proxians nodded.

"I am Prox's Elder," The man said, finally introducing himself. "In two days once you have all regained your strength, we shall take you north. And show you what the extinguishing of the Lighthouses has done to this corner of the world. Good night." With that he put one arm around his wife and guided her away towards the steps, she glanced back over her shoulder at me, but didn't say anything as they both disappeared up the stairs.

"Good night" Kyle muttered darkly under his breath, "What kind of fools are we to believe them? They act like we are guests in this house, but in reality we are nothing but hostages." I watched Isaac's father turn away and begin pacing muttering angrily under his breath. Again, reminding me of a grizzly old wolf, marching to catch a sent.

"If you dig deep enough, they do have good intentions." my dad said softly as my mother, who seemed to have regained some measure of control over herself; pulled away from him.

"How is firing the Lighthouses a show of good intention?" she asked him sternly, she sat on the edge of my bed and stroked my hand; a gesture seemingly more for her own comfort than mine. I didn't listen in on the rest of the conversation, finally taking in my surroundings.

It was a very spacious room, a basement; the floors were covered in thick warm rugs, with a few dull tapestries hanging from pegs on the walls to help insolate the space. There was a lamp near each of the large support beams coming down from above, the building's foundation. There was one small window off near what would be the front of the house, from what I could vaguely remember from earlier told me that there was a large snow-drift in the front, so the window was either above it, or gave us a nice view of snow.

The wall directly opposite me held various shelves and cases, all stocked full of winter preservatives and house-hold items. A few large quilts were either stuffed or folded neatly, along side jars of preserved goods. There were a few large casks in the back, dates and contents marked in chalk on the front. From me vantage point, I could guess that some were even as big as me. Chests, that most likely contained more winter supplies, were roughly bunched near the back and a few other odds and ends decorated the space. All in all, it very much resembled what there had always been in the attics in Vale.

Most of these things had been roughly shoved into corners I realized. There were a few bed-roles on the floor. My own sheets felt like they hadn't had much use recently, much less the bed. The fact that I had been put in fully clothed and that I was now damp all over not helping.

I stifled a yawn and felt my eyes becoming heavy again. Uncomfortable or no, after the past month, this was far softer than my bed had ever been in Vale. Ignoring the slight discomfort of the spare tunic Saturos had rounded up for me; I bent forwards and began tugging off the boots I still wore. Hostage keeper or not, from what I'd seen, Elder's wife was a kind woman, and I didn't want to get anymore dirt and grim on the bed than I could help.

My mother noticed me fumbling half-asleep with the straps on my boots, and pulled back the thick covers to help me. I felt a slight twinge of annoyance as she brushed away my sleep-deprived and still numb fingers to get at the small clasps. My pride forbade me to let her help me out of the scarves and various layers I wore though.

"There." My mother said softly as I sank back into the bed, eyes weighed down as she helped cover me in the thick quilts again. I rolled on to my side, a yawn cracking my jaw as I saw my father and Kyle talking quietly off near the window. I saw Isaac's father bend his head, hands coming up to cover his eyes, shoulders shaking silently as his friend comforted him.

'He's thinking about Isaac,' I thought as sleep rushed me, 'I hope they're okay, Isaac, his mother, Garet, Kay, everyone in Vale, I hope they're all okay…' My eyes drifted shut, blocking out the image of the other Venus-adept weeping. My mother left the bed, and I heard her soft foot-steps moving towards the two men.

'I hope Jenna's all right…'

--End Flashback--

"Felix, Felix, Felix, Felix, FELIX!" The Venus-adept shot upright in bed, smashing his forehead against Jenna's -who had been calling his name- and catapulting poor Echo -who had been leaning over him- into the wall. The memory of his worry and fear over her vanishing swiftly, as the anger and annoyance one can only feel towards a sibling flared up.

"Why the hell are you screaming in my ear like that?" Felix shouted, both of them cringing somewhat and holding their heads.

"I was trying to get your attention!" she snapped angrily, checking the palm of her hand to make sure there was no blood, wincing as the skin darkened slowly to show the beginnings of a bruis. Pouring, she cast Aura over them both, Felix feeling the sharp flashes of heat which almost seemed to hurt before fading away and taking the pain with it. "You were beginning to scare me!" She added, glowering at him as he eased himself back down at first before coming back up slowly to sit straight on the covers.

"Scare you?" He asked, his voice returning to its regular low mumble. From behind his dark bangs the adept had an amused look in his ebony eyes as he looked glanced at his sister. Jenna nodded and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yes, scare me!" She said sharply, "That and you were insulting me." Felix gave her an odd look as Jenna stuck her lower lip out childishly. He quickly grabbed a disoriented Petra, and covered his head with the small, half-asleep, Djinni as his sister's eye twitched.

"I've been standing here for almost twenty minutes and you wouldn't acknowledge me!" She shouted, Felix jumped slightly, keeping his mouth firmly shut. Older brother he may be, fool he was not.

"I didn't know you were there." Then again, perhaps he was a fool.

"Echo was bouncing around on your stomach! Are you telling me you didn't notice that?" She screeched; her hair resembling a cat's tail as maroon lengths it bristled in a show of her anger.

"Echo's the size of my fist…" Petra woke up completely and gave a yelp at the look on Jenna's face. Felix wasn't about to loose his current shield though, ignoring the spirit's squirming around between his gloved fingers. She flailed around franticly until Mud got up and promptly bit Felix on the arm, tiny fangs digging in just over his wrist where the leather was thinner; the swordsman not wearing any form of arm-band at the moment and so defiantly feeling it.

"Owowowow!" The Venus-Adept yelped, letting go of Petra, and flailing his arm around in an attempt to shake the other Djinni loose. "Mud! Mud stop it! Let go! Mud!" He shouted, Mud complied, dropping back down and snuggling contently back into the covers of his master's bed, leaving Felix to cradle his injured arm as he cast Cure. Jenna wrapped her arms around herself as she shook, fighting laughter. At her brother's forbidding glare, she fell to the floor kicking her feet and laughing. Felix took his chance.

His arm healed, the elder sibling tackled her, one hand going straight for her ribs while the other kept her down by grasping her wrist as she tried to fight back. Jenna froze for an instant as his gloved fingers brushed against her sides, shrieking with laughter as she started trying to kick him. After a moment of useless flailing her sides were throbbing as he continued to use his weight to his definite advantage.

"Now, now, Jenna," He cooed with an evil grin as she tried to get away from him, "It's been a while. Tell me, sister; do you still squeal like a little pig when some one tickles you under the arms?"

"Sheba! Mia! Help me!" She shrieked, wheezing slightly as she won a bit of support and started scrambling towards the door. Hand reaching out for the bras knob as he attacked again, this time; his fingers grazing the skin on the back of her neck. She fell forwards and curled herself up into a tight ball, giggling and trying to protect all her ticklish spots from him.

"Give up?" He asked with a big smile as he sat back on his heels, it was in this crouched position that she retaliated. She swung one leg out and swept his feet out from under him. As he fell she got up and her hands darted for the area around his neck and ear, pinching him slightly. She grinned manically as he froze instantly,

"Not a chance." She kept grinning as the more powerful Adept made no move to escape. Just as Garet cracked the door open and poked his head in.

"Everything alright in here?" the Mars-Adept said quietly, looking in on the scene. He saw Jenna flash a smile, and the dejected look on Felix's face and stepped in. "Mia sent me down to tell the two of you suppers ready, we're eating in the main cabin." He smirked down at Felix.

"Same old weakness." Garet sighed, shaking his head as Jenna released her brother. Felix got to his feet and moved away from her, one hand rubbing the back of his head to rid himself of the sensation, Echo hopping up onto his shoulder, bouncing around a bit with his claw-like feet before assuring himself he wouldn't plummet to the floor.

"You're finally letting me up?" The Venus Adept asked them as they walked out and down the hall, leaving the rest of Felix's Djinn half-asleep on his bed. Garet nodded, gesturing to Echo,

"Thank this one really," he said, "Echo came up to us a while ago and told us you knew all about Prox. So there's no point in keeping you cooped up, besides, there's too many chores without you up on deck." Garet smiled before he stopped and rounded on Felix, "No touching the wheel under any circumstances do you understand me? We're already in the Northern Ocean, and we are not about to have you ram the ship into an iceberg, just to get out of going." He scolded, shaking a finger at Felix who shied away from him, nodding. Garet nodded and glanced down at Jenna,

"You gonna show her that little trick with the ear?" he asked, Felix tensed, licking his lips nervously. Jenna turned and looked at him, smiling slightly,

"I think so, if she wants to know." Jenna grinned wider at the look on Felix's face, "I'm gonna kill Piers for not telling me who "She" is, but it's still fun to see you squirm some times Felix." They continued walking again, and Felix felt some of the tension ease out of his shoulders, not all of it though.

It would be a good long while before he would be at ease with the subject.

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Sunny: c.c That took me over four months to edit… -Grins sheepishly-