Chapter 5
Meetings

Karst gave a start and bolted upright on the bed. Glancing around nervously as she touched her face, trying to rub away the remains of her now dry and crusted tears. There was a blanket of brown wool draped over her, and the door was closed. But she'd fallen asleep uncovered, and had left the door open. She bit off a curse as she scrambled off the bed, her anger finally sparking like it did normally.

'Agatio.'

She stalked out of the room and down the hall while running one hand through her tangled red hair. She never slept in that room, never. She and Menardi had shared it after their parents had died, but after Menardi had died a few months back… She just never slept in that room.

Karst pulled open the door to the small room she had claimed as her own. A far smaller bed was up in the corner, a small pit with a dead fire on the other side. There was a fire in each room of every house in Prox, all the chimneys connected in the attic before letting the smoke escape out into the cold arctic winds. She walked over to the beaten dresser that held a chipped ceramic basin, and funneled a small sliver of her Psynergy into the water, heating it so she could scrub her face with her hands; muttering obscene comments about her "friend" all the while.

'Why the hell do I get so damn upset whenever someone mentions ,him' She thought angrily as she dried her face on a discarded shirt and moved back to the other room, not wanting an answer, but receiving one just the same.

'Well, there could be the never ending guilt, the regret, the feeling that you betrayed him and he did nothing, plus that lovely fact that you almost killed him.' Karst paused as she straightened the covers and folded the blanket that had been laid over her. 'Oh let's not forget the look on his face when you turned on him at Jupiter Lighthouse. Hmm, and what about how you trusted him, then found yourself jumping to the conclusion that he helped kill your sister?'

Karst clenched her fists, willing the small voice in her mind to silence. She stood there shaking, not in grief or from fighting back tears, but instead to keep from killing the first thing that dared move in the large home. Her rage successfully beating back any sense of self-loathing as she moved purposely towards the front of the house, snatching her scythe off a hook on the wall as she went. She didn't need a cloak as she strode out into the blizzard, her furry expanding her aura so that nothing more than warm water ever touched her skin.

She moved to the large wood-pile near the side of the house. Most people saved chopping wood for young hunters to build up their strength; that was all their warriors were really, just skilled hunters. Anyone who needed more wood, if there was no one in need of training, simply sent quick flashes of Psynergy through the log to cut out what they needed.

Karst just took her scythe and began hacking at the pieces she set up. After only a few minutes the snow at her feet was littered with wood-chips and small stacks of fire-wood. The thin cotton shirt she'd been wearing the day before slowly becoming damp with sweat along her back and under her arms, the light cloth ruffling loosely in the wind while her brown wool leggings faired a bit better. Bending down, she retrieved the pieces and strode back to the house to stoke up all of the fires to keep the home warm. Finding no other chores around her, Karst sought out anything else to keep her mind from drifting.

Knowing right off the bat that she wouldn't find anything that could keep her busy in the village, -given that everyone was securely indoors- Karst dressed more warmly and threw on her cloak before tossing a few rations and a potion from her travels into her small pack. The need to take out her returning anger on something other than a hunk of wood driving her out into the storm, north in the general direction of Mars Lighthouse, and, she realized later; the Void.

Smaller now, yes, it had retreated slightly in the past months, they'd set markers along the line it had been. In spring there were plans to quarry stone from the mountains, and build something more permanent for future generations; they didn't know how they'd do it though, no one in living memory could recall ever having cut stone or worked it in any way, but they would. Those pockets of emptiness had shrunken and closed mere weeks after the final beacon as well, so Karst didn't need to keep an eye out for an un-ending drop.

The howl of the winds and the solid crunch of the snow and ice under her boots seemed to whisk her away. Under the light of the Mars beacon, Karst's mind drifted back to the first time she had come face-to-face, with what was now the cause of so much hurt.

--Flashback--

I ran as quickly as I could over the thin path of snow, glancing over my shoulder to see Agatio slip and fall on a hidden patch of ice. Letting out a yelp as his feet flew out from under him and he hit the ground hard, tripping up Saturos who had been trailing us both, who was then laughed at by Menardi who was walking along behind us all. I skidded to a halt, grinned widely and taking a large bite out of the warm role I'd swiped from Saturos when the hunter had been ogling at one of the village women. For the opportunity though I'd need to thank my sister later.

"That's not normal bread!" He shouted, having fallen onto Agaito made the cry come out like a wheeze or even a small squeal. He looked to Menardi for support but she just snorted at him in amusment before he turned back to me "It's Power bread! Give it back, Karst!" There was a sharp crack as the incoming handle of a scythe connected with the back of his silvery head.

"Power Bread that I found, Saturos." Menardi said as she continued to walk past the three of us and up the path towards the Elder's house. "You're strong enough, besides, it's already gone." She laughed back at them as I grinned and fell in step with her. Looking back I saw Agatio's full grin and the bemused look on Saturos's face before the two of them scrambled up from where they sat on the ice.

"She's supposed to still be sick though! How can she eat that fast?" Saturos shouted, at the same time Agatio called out to me saying: "Way to go! You might beat me at eating someday!" Menardi just laughed again as the party continued through the snow. The day was clear and the sun shown down brightly. As the large house came into view, Menardi caught me off-guard as she grabbed me by one pointed ear.

"Now remember, Karst." She said firmly as I squirmed against her hold, settling down to meet my sister's crimson eyes with my own,

"Yeah, yeah, I know;" I said rolling my eyes; I was fifteen, why was I still treated like a small child? "Don't stare at them, don't make jokes about them, don't pick fights with them, don't insult them, and don't ask them stupid questions." I counted off the points on my fingers as I repeated the 'rules'. Menardi nodded, eyes flickering to the scythe at my waste, I glanced down as well, I took a breath and recited the last condition, still feeling like a fool.

"'And do not, under any circumstances lest you want me to blast your sorry ass to Tundaria, fight any monsters we meet along the way, and stay the hell away from the Void.'" Menardi nodded and looked like she was going to let go, then her crimson eyes narrowed and she glared at me.

"Where did you get a mouth like that?" She asked pointedly, I quickly jabbed my gloved thumb behind me, not about to let Menardi tear a strip off me for something that wasn't really my fault.

"Agatio." Menardi glanced at the other young apprentice; Agatio balking as he threw one arm at the last member of our party. Saturos gave a jolt and held both hands up, taking a hesitant step backwards.

"If you must know where; that drunk in Vault- and my aunt!" He blurted out in a rush, grinning sheepishly and giving an uneasy laugh while taking another half-step backwards.

"What aunt?" Menardi glared at him in a meaningful way as I silently stuck my tongue out at him; bringing one hand up to gently tug at my eye and rub in the fact that he'd just been busted. He gave me a very meaningful look with both eyes widening substancially, drawing Menardi's attention back towards me an instant before my hands were away from my face.

A few more minutes of shouting, running, and having various cloaks set on fire, we reached our destination.

As we came to the steps leading up to the Elder's house, the door burst open and the his wife, Marci, rushed out with a tray and warm drinks. Ale for Saturos and Menardi; and a warm, creamy drink for Agaito and I -since she seemed to think that we two were still far too young for what our tutors drank. I didn't mind it though; whatever came from the Elder's wife was always far too good to pass up.

"You all come inside and warm up for a bit while they finish getting ready." She said warmly as she ushered us inside the warm home. She eyed Agatio and I a moment before turning back to Saturos and Menardi. "They're not going with you, are they?" she asked, so quietly that I could barely make out her words. Saturos glanced at Menardi; it had been her idea for me to come along, that automatically included Agatio. Menardi just nodded,

"Ma, we discussed this last night, didn't we?" Saturos moaned, taking a large gulp of his drink before speaking again in a hushed tone, "They're starting their training this spring; Karst is already competent with her scythe, they need to visit the Rift sooner or later. Besides," Saturos finally lowered his voice again, making it impossible for me to hear without coming closer. Burying my face in my mug, I edged over to the two of them silently, so's not to attract attention.

The two broke away though as the Elder came up the stairs; followed closely by a man with golden hair and blue eyes, behind him was another man with dark brown hair and dark eyes. Another young man, -I guessed him to be about mine and Agatio's age- came up, dark, almost black, eyes taking in the room's occupants before resting on his feet, brown shaggy hair obscuring his features. The last to come up was a middle-aged woman with reddish brown hair, obviously a Mars-Adept by how she held herself and walked towards the others. All four were bundled up tightly; this was due in part to some of the clothing wearing through in places, creating the need for more.

The adults all began talking to one another, but I didn't care to hear whatever the Elder was saying. And Agatio seemed more concerned about the scarf he kept tugging at anyways.

I fought the urge to stare out-right at them all, Menardi's threats the only things keeping me from walking up to the boy just to see if he'd covered his head in mud to get his hair that color. He seemed to feel me staring at him though, no matter that I tried to conceal it. He glanced away from the conversation and at me, eyes looking over how my lower arms were uncovered, as well as how my skin was red as opposed to his own white.

The way his eyes paused on the scales on my neck, I'd removed my scarf without really thinking and revealed one or two of them along the sides of my neck. What? There wasn't anything wrong with my skin, damn it! I felt my anger flare and glared at him, finally realizing why Menardi had told me not to stare as I absently brought one hand up to brush against the back of my neck without thinking. Jerk. Agatio didn't seem to mind the odd looks though; his eyes were as wide as saucers as he looked the other boy up and down.

"All right then, if you are ready." The Elder said, startling the three of us, the boy's mother came over and swatted him in the back of the head as she caught him staring at Agatio and I. Saturos paused and tapped Agatio on the shoulder as the rest of the adults moved out the door, I not needing any encouragement as I placed my empty mug on a table where the others had set theirs, and sped out.

Agatio just kept on staring as the boy walked past him though. He paused as my lack-whit friend tilted his head to stare at him.

"Uh..." The boy muttered uncertainly, Saturos glanced back, he opened his mouth to call Agatio's name, but was too late.

"Hey, your eyes look like mud." Agatio said, for all the world like it was nothing. Saturos smacked himself in the head as he balled his fist and lookedready to thump Agatio, -while I took a step back and prepared to laugh.

"So?" The boy asked quietly, making Saturos pause, "What's so bad about my having dark eyes, when you have blue skin?" Agatio looked spell-bound for a moment as he stared off at nothing, mouth forming to word 'oh'. The boy blinked a few times as a huge grin broke out across Agatio's face.

"You never seen some one with Blue skin?" He asked, tilting his head to the side like some sort of bird, his pale blue hair falling gently to the side despite his black headband keeping it out of his face.

"You never seen some one with Brown eyes?" The boy countered, smiling under his scarves, albeit just barely.

"Uh… No, I don't think so…" Agatio admitted, still smiling. I smirked watching Agatio make a fool of himself, and looked back out just past the door and saw all the adults had paused as well to watch their little conversation. "You ever see some one with red skin?" Agatio asked him, oblivious to the attention.

"Outside Prox?" the boy asked, when Agatio nodded, he shook his head no. "I've seen Mars-Adepts, but not like you guys." He added, bringing one mittened hand up and tugging down on the thick blue cloth over his mouth, his face looked a bit red already from the heat, not that I could blame him, he looked like he was baking.

"Ahem." The Elder interrupted as Agatio opened his mouth with another question. Agatio gave a start then glanced at the adults, gulping when he saw the look on Saturos' face.

"It is good to see you both getting along." The Elder said, "But if you could continue this conversation as we make our way north, it would be much appreciated." Both boys looked slightly nervous and I couldn't help but giggle slightly as the party began to move out. Thankfully, it didn't look like it was going to snow today, not for a while at least. We set out with Saturos and Menardi in front, the Elder walking with the three other adults in a small cluster which would shift slightly as we moved along, they would sometimes be talking to one another, but for the most part simply trudged along while the three of us took up the rear.

Once beyond the snow barricades of the town, the landscape was relatively flat; a few copse's of trees and brown shrubs occasionally coming into view, and every now and then the terrain would be a bit hilly. I could look across the snowfields and from the west, south, to east, I could see for miles and miles in every direction, but, whenever I looked to the north, it was always… dark…

Despite what the Elder had said about talking as we moved north, the three of us didn't seem to have the breath to spare for asking, or answering, questions as we made our way north. We stopped every now and then, even though Menardi and Saturos seemed like they could go on forever, and the people from Vale seemed almost used to being forced across long distances quickly. The Elder wasn't as spry though, and required a pause every half mile or so. This was very good for Agatio and I; seeing as how we could only for three quarters cross country without a break.

We'd been out for about two hours when the Elder made us stop once more; we'd just finished going around a large mountain, far north of the village. Agatio and I had been this far north before, but the mountain was as far as we'd ever been able to travel before we'd get too tired for the return trip to Prox. I knew what was beyond this point; from here one could see the top of Mars Lighhouse, just a bit more, and one could see the Void. Not the dull grayness which was always along the northern edge of the sky, but the edge of the real darkness.

The Elder stood and called for the people of Vale to come with him; that included the boy whose mother and father watched him like a pair of hawks. I remembered Menardi mentioning the family had lost a daughter, so I felt like commending him for taking the extra attention without loosing his mind. I took a long gulp from the skin Menardi had handed me before walking off with the others. Stopping it and setting it on the rock I sat on. My legs felt numb from the long trek, but I ignored it as I stood up and walked to where Agatio had thrown himself down on the frozen ground, seemingly asleep.

"Oi," I said, nudging my friend with the toe of my boot. "Come on, you're not dead yet." I urged.

"Whaddya want Karst?" he mumbled, "Leave me to my misery, I cannot go another inch." I smiled, finding it funny since he looked rather pathetic lying flat on his back, eyes half-open and staring at the sky.

"You don't have to go another inch. Just another five miles 'till we get to the Void." I said with a laugh as he groaned. Poor Agatio, well, he could use a bit of exercise anyways, he was getting chubby around the middle again. I prodded his ribs for emphasis on that, watching him roll over in the snow with a gentle groan.

"Not funny Karst." He said, finally making himself sit up while still on the ground, bringing one gloved hand up against his stomach where I'd nudged him, "I'm hungry, you got any more of that bread you swiped?"

"Nope, all gone." I replied, tapping one finger against my bottom lip thoughtfully and crouching down next to him, "What do you think of that guy?" I asked quietly, watching as Agatio blinked,

"What guy?" I gave him a hard look, the dull glaze over his crimson gaze quickly vanishing, recognition filling them shortly enough. "Oh, that guy." He shrugged slightly, clearly without much of an opinion as of yet. "I dunno, never seen a person with brown eyes before." I just rolled my eyes at the bulk of his answer, of course he'd narrow things down to eye, skin, or hair colour…

"Yes, we are all fully aware that you have never seen a person with dark eyes Agatio, you only said so about five times before we left." I sighed softly as he stuck his tongue out at me, feeling inclined to roll my eyes again to show how little I thought of the statement. "Menardi said he, his dad, and that other guy are Venus-Adepts, what do you think they can do?" I asked him, Agatio just shrugged again.

"Dunno." He replied bluntly, lifting one hand to rub through his hair, brushing away some of the snow. I raised my hand as well as a warning, ready to smack him if he said anything along the lines of 'I never seen a Venus-Adept before'

"Did you get his name?" I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly as Agatio simply gave me a bored look in response.

"You were standing right there, did you hear him tell me his name?" He questioned dully, and this time it's his turn to roll his eyes at me, stretching his shoulders at the same time., "I never—" he was cut off as my hand connected abruptly with his head.

"Come on," I said, getting to my feet, Agatio scrambled up beside me, shaking off bits of snow from his pants and cloak at the same time..

"Where're we goin'?" He called absently as I moved away from where we had stopped to rest. I looked over my shoulder and gave him another hard look, he really isn't that bright sometimes.

"Imil, wanna come?" I said, mocking him slightly as I add a bit of sincerity to my voice.. Agatio blinked a few times, gesturing vaguely to the south and east. Honestly, if I had had enough control with my Psynergy, I would have toasted him right where he stood.

"To where the others are, you big oaf. Now, you comin' or not?" I replied sharply. He needed no more encouragement than that, forgetting his earlier complaints as he scrambled a bit to catch up to me a I began walking through the small hilly area we'd stopped and spread ourselves out over.

The two of us walked together a short ways through the spars thicket we had stopped in. Quietly coming to a rise atop which the rest of the groups stood, looking out at the top of Mars-Lighthouse, just able to make out the Void that marked the edge of the world.

The four people of Vale stood silently, staring out at the bleak darkness off in the distance. The husband and wife stood right next to each other, and under the various layers of jackets and gloves the pair were garbed in, I could see their hands clasped between them as if to offer comfort, the wife with her hand on the boy's shoulder as if to keep him closer to her. She didn't look frightened, just, unsure, very unsure. The second man was off to the side a bit apart from the other three, his face appearing carved from stone as he watched the gray line across the horizon beyond the rod of crimson. I moved up to stand near my sister; Menardi glanced down at us both, while Saturos and his parents stood closer to the Valeans.

"Got tired of waiting?" She asked quietly, smiling down at me even as she also looked a bit unsure at the moment. I nodded and looked at the Elder who was speaking, a bit of wind having picked up since we stopped, but that was only to be expected, his voice still carried full over the winds though.

"It is not much of a sight from here." He was saying, the man with the more wild tan hair glanced at him, the other three still watching the gray. Their attention was pulled away from it though as the same man spoke up unexpectedly.

"You say that this, Rift, has been expanding since the Lighthouses were extinguished, how can we believe something like that?" He asked, his voice hard and carrying just as well as the Elder's, he seemed unfazed by the few flecks of snow which crossed by in a second gust of wind. The air slowly calmed again though, we weren't that close yet for two much unpredictability

"You shall see, of course, we wouldn't be freezing ourselves out here if there weren't a purpose behind it." The Elder cracked a warm smile despite his reference to the cold.

"Is everyone ready to continue?" Saturos called out, the Valians nodded one by one and turned to step down from the rise, ready to continue on up to Mars-Lighthouse. The woman let her hand fall from her son's shoulder, allowing her husband to lead her a short ways before she began walking with more purpose again; she eyed the lighthouse the entire time though. The boy remained there for a moment longer though; he turned and saw me and Agatio watching him, and looked back out across the snow fields, rubbing his covered hands as he did so.

"Is it always so cold this far north?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit hushed now, and a bit quiet as well as the wind seemed to steal away some of his breath. I was slightly startled though, not having expected him to speak; I almost nodded until I realized he was still facing north, his eyes still on the Lighthouse even though I could remember being told he was a Venus Adept. Well, Venus and Mars are aligned similarly, so I guess it makes sense.

"Always, it's pretty warm for late winter today. We're luck for a break in the storms." Agatio broke in, well, it wasn't really breaking since the question had been directed to the both of us. The boy seemed to come out of his stupor turning to face us again with a variety of emotions moving behind his eyes. I couldn't really tell what any of it was though, his gaze being angled down towards the snow, and the second hand boots on his feet. It was like he was having a hard time connecting with what was being said to him.

"And this, Void, it really does expand? It really is a threat?" He asked, again, his voice still, not meeting our eyes. I felt something flare inside me, he'd hit a nerve without knowing it. "Caused… by Alchemy…"

"Yes, it is." I said curtly, "I lost both my parents to it." I turned on my heel and strode down the way the others had gone, missing any kind of sympathy the boy might have thrown at me, not like I wanted that sort of thing anyways.

"Don't worry about Karst." I heard Agatio say as my boots began crunching on half-broken snow again, "She gets touchy about the Rift, you would to. When we get there you'll understand. Neither of us has ever seen it up-close either. What's your name anyways?" they were walking along the path a short ways behind me. I would have sped up, but I was curious about his name. Menardi had given me a guess, I wasn't about to make a fool out of myself if it was wrong.

"Uh, it's Felix." He said quietly, at first I wasn't sure if that was exactly what he'd said, but when Agatio spoke next he voiced it much louder, allowing me to hear it over the more noticeable stomping of boots on snow as the whole group was moving again.

"Felix, eh? Cool name, I'm Agatio, and she's Karst." Agatio replied openly, I could almost see a smile spread across his face as he spoke. There was a pause between the two for a few moments, and for a while I thought that was the end of the conversation given that we were moving, but then Felix spoke up again.

"Agatio," He said quietly, making me roll my eyes slightly as I began to slow slightly in order to hear, didn't he ever speak up? "You… remind me of a friend of mine back in Vale." Well, that was certainly unexpected; Agatio, thankfully, wasn't dense enough to let that comment slide away, never to be heard of again.

"Really? Who?" He replied, sounding a bit more interested than need be for the situation, Felix just gave a small laugh though,

"His name's Garet," Felix answered, and I tilted my head to the side slightly as we continued to trudge ahead, another gust of wind coming across the wide expanse of white around us, the Lighthouse slowly becoming taller in the distance. "You look and act a lot like him, and you're both Mars-Adepts."

"There are Mars-Adepts in Vale?" Agatio replied dumbly, "I thought you said you'd never seen some one like us." I rolled my eyes at this, stumbling a bit over a larger chunk of snow but recovering easily enough, what was his mother supposed to be? Mercurian?

"I said I'd never seen anyone with blue or red skin before, Agatio. I never said anything about Mars-Adepts, my mother's one, my sister—" Felix abruptly fell silent then. I slowed my steps before coming to a stop, walking a step or two more and glancing over my shoulder, I saw him looking straight down at the snow, his shoulders suddenly seemed to be slumped over, noticeable even under all the layers of clothing he wore, as if someone had just dumped a huge weight on his shoulders. Agatio cocked his head to one side to look at him, for once he actually seemed to know what was going on.

"What about your sister?" I asked, almost biting my tongue as Felix looked up. His face was blank despite his sudden stop, his steps suddenly just dragging across the snowy ground as he started moving again. As both he and Agatio moved closer, I fell in step with them, watching curiously as Felix looked off to the side for a moment,

"I-We don't know if she survived the storm." He said quietly, his voice having gone softer still from earlier, his eyes still angled down as he trudged along, picking up the pace a bit as he seemed to notice the distance growing between ourselves and the others up ahead. "I was pulled out of the river by Saturos and Menardi, I'm not sure if she was swept away with me or not."

"Pulled out of the river? How did you get in?" Agatio asked, I was just as keen to listen, having had heard part of the story from Menardi. But that rendition had been vague, and after that one out-burst, my sister refused to talk about Vale. Felix seemed a bit hesitant though, and I opened my mouth to finally say something as he paused again, seeming to fight for the right words.

"Are you three coming or not?" Menardi shouted, startling us from the conversation. We looked across the field following the tracks left by the rest of the group to notice them a great deal farther ahead than I'd thought they'd been. Menardi and the others were just standing there waiting for us, Felix's parents both watching him closely as we hurried to re-join them. As we moved out again, I took my place next to Menardi who moved into the back, Agatio with Saturos and the Elder in the front now leading us. Felix walked in the middle with one parent on either side, the other man whom I'd heard called Kyle behind the three of them.

The short conversation quickly drifted from my mind, replaced with the sudden awe of Mars-Lighthouse as it drew closer. I noticed though, how the closer we came, the more those from Vale tried to shrink back from it. If they cringed at the thought of the Lighthouse, so I couldn't imagine their reaction to the Void.

--End Flashback--

Karst stood on the same rise she remembered, looking out at the Mars Beacon shining brightly atop the Aerie. She ran her gloved fingers over the blade of her scythe. Anger; even after her trek across the icy landscape, still flaring up inside of her as there was a low growl behind her.

"I'm in one hell of a mood you worthless little cretin," she muttered under her breath. Turning slowly, feeding Spynergy into her scythe, ready as the large, sluggish creature started to grow out of the snow drift behind her. It's large, flat head and two misshapen arms formed form the slush and ice under her, it's body including no legs and simply a long, thick base which moved across the ground. It brought it's two large hammer-like arms up, beginning to swing them widely as it advanced, trying to crush her skull under it's forceful blows. Karst didn't even flinch at it's slow advance.

"Fine then."

I. Am. Writing.

AGAIN!

Praise me!

Yeah, T'was a raccoon the first time I posted this chapter, now it's a Gollum, live it.