Chapter 10

Knife in the Dark

'And he was like, 'Woooaaa,' and I was like 'WOOOO!' and then she was all like, 'WwWwWaAoOoOo…''

'Aww, when WE went it was all like; 'Dude, possessed squids SUCK.''

'I like cheese…'

'Yeah! Cheese rocks! Felix, can we have some CHEESE, please?'

Felix grimaced slightly, saying nothing as he merely adjusted how he was laying on his small cabin bed. He'd already tried, un-successfully, to get the Djinn to go and carry out their conversation in someone else's head, but now he had admitted defeat. And he was currently at the mercy of the yammerings of the seventy-odd elemental spirits in his skull.

Before the unleashing of Alchemy, it had been routine for them to stay in compact groups of their own elements, and then to remain only around an Adept of that same nature. Now however, they felt compelled to merge into just one person out of their circle of eight, and drive that one person completely out of their own mind. Felix felt a bit ill with all of the different energies each individual Djinni brought into his mind.

He didn't trust himself to cast any form of psynergy now either. He felt as though he could cause bamboo to appear, ice to rain from the sky, and have a volcano erupt right after striking something with lightning all at once. It was an icky feeling. And that was also the reason why he was laying on his bed with a damp cloth over his eyes. After three solid hours, his head was throbbing viciously.

"I'm not allowed up on deck, remember?" He mumbled dryly, reaching up with one gloveless hand to make sure the cloth was still damp and wouldn't fall as he shifted a bit more on the bed. "Besides, I don't think we have any cheese on board…" This of course was met only by a chorus of whines and complains from the miniature spirits. Their keening wails causing Felix to grit his teeth in subtle pain.

"But, I think Garet might have some cheese," He mentioned with a sly undertone added to his words. "Why not ask him?" His thoughts were silent as he completed the sentence with, 'And leave me the hell alone…'

'I heard that!' One squealing voice proclaimed, the Djinni's voice grinding against Felix's fraying nerves like nails across slate.

"You heard nothing, Echo, now get out!" He snapped right back, more than a little fed up with being trapped in his room for the past two days, with only the Djinn for constant company. His head was pounding and that of course could only add to the ill state he'd been putting himself in for the past few days, merely due to anxiety. If anyone should have been running around asking for random types of food it should have been him, damn it!

Felix pressed his right hand down on the cloth over his eyes as he replayed that last thought over once or twice more in his mind. He then proceeded to groan gently and give his aching head a few light smacks to rid his inner eye of the ghostly image of that big red cow they'd come across who'd thought his scarf was some sort of green vegetable and—

'I fear for my sanity at times…' He thought in a slightly hopeless manner.

'Sometimes? Everytime you remember catching Jenna kissing—'

"SHUT UP!" He shouted suddenly, in a bad mood anyways because of the past few weeks, and not needing to hear about one of his friends thinking those things about his sister!

The next few minutes were mainly taken up by Felix's attempts to throttle the fifty-something Djinn in the tiny cabin as a number of high-pitched voices rung out in taunting ways to bring up some other such event simply to get him riled up. This running around led to him accidentally stepping onto Cannon's tail. Little more needed be said. The bedding was slightly scorched though, and a thin film of black coated the rest of the walls and floor for quiet some time afterwards/

After healing the harsh burns on his arms, legs, face, and everywhere else there was skin. Felix somehow managed to shoo all the Djinn out of his cabin, and collapsed once again in an unruly heap on the bed. His head was throbbing far more vividly than before, but he felt somewhat pleased with having rid himself of the numerous voices.

'I think I need to work only social skills a tad more…'

--Flashback—

'Last one.' I thought to myself, a bit dizzy as I tried to focus on the last pillar in front of me. Ten pillars, ten god-damn, three-ton pillars. And I had to move them all up against the rock face in an hour's time or suffer the consequences which could be anything from performing exercises to laboring around the village. Neither option appealing to me.

At least there was satisfaction in knowing that the one who had accompanied Karst, Saturos and I up the mountain had dropped-out of training a few months back. Only about three weeks after our little expedition to the summit, he had turned in his training sword and a few other items to Saturos.

However, before that he had gone and decided to beat the living daylights out of me when no one had been around. Since I had been sick at the time, he did so with reasonable success. I ignored something my father said about being the bigger man or some such and ended up giving him a split lip and a broken jaw the next time around. I hadn't seen much of him since then, thankfully.

'Move,' I focused on the last pillar, willing the world around me to bend as my mind took hold of the pillar like a hand, and then slowly pushed the final column of stone into place against the hill atop which the Elder's home rested.

"There." I breathed tiredly, leaning against the rock for a few minutes, waiting to earn back a bit of my spent energy. "That was the last exercise of the day, I'm done now…"

At least the amount of exercises per-day had decreased. Now I normally only had two or three practices instead of a whopping five or six to attend to and complete. The small smile that had crept up my face soon faltered with that thought however.

My lessons over the past three years had always been changing. At first I'd trained with everybody else, except for when they learned about their Psynergy, at which point my father and Master Kyle would take over. Over time I'd bee kept with everyone else, but also had a variety of other exercises to do on the side. Those normally left me exhausted and very sore at the end as well. Then they, or rather, Saturos and Menardi, pulled me out of those other classes all together, except for the ones on combat, and weapons.

When I was tutored separately, the work load had been staggering. But in recent months I had noticed that either I was becoming a lot better at what they gave me, or they were simply giving less. Lessons would start later, end sooner. After realizing this, I'd begun to feel relieved, until I accidentally over-heard the two of them discussing me…

I closed my eyes, trying to forget what I'd heard. The two hadn't known I was there, or they would have had me running laps for eavesdropping on them. Instead I'd stood there and heard everything. They wanted me ready for the Lighthouses…

My stomach still turned to ice whenever someone brought it up, especially the trip to Vale. I was thankful that Karst and Agatio, if they ever spoke about it, did so when I wasn't around. My mouth turned to sand whenever I heard the name 'Vale' now. I wanted to go home so badly, it was killing me inside, and I knew it did the same to my parents and Master Kyle as well. But, damn it, even though I was being given the chance to return… I couldn't… I could not take the chance of running into someone I knew… I just couldn't do it…

I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard snow crunching under boots. It was late spring, but for some reason there was still a thin layer of ice and snow everywhere. I glanced up; expecting to see Menardi or Saturos, but it wasn't them.

For a moment I didn't know who there were. There were two of them, and I knew that they were both Proxian, everything about their appearance screamed Prox. Pointed ears, oddly colored skin, the red eyes of Mars adepts, they were defiantly from the village.

I couldn't remember seeing much of them though, not even enough to put a name to them. Granted, there weren't too many people in Prox I knew by first-name, but still. There were only a bit older than my seventeen years, somewhere from twenty to twenty five, I wasn't sure.

One stood a good head taller than his companion, although granted, his friend was stocky and all around short, not to mention a bit overweight. The larger one had a rather round face, his companion's was narrow, almost made him look as though he thought himself a higher being. They both had darker skin, like Pullue, or the Elder. And they of course had those piercing red eyes which I'd come to associate with the locals of Prox.

Unfortunately for me however, they both also looked like the sort of people you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley. So, why were they looking at me as if that was where we were?

"Are you looking for the Elder?" I asked, a bit surprised that my voice didn't shake, or, that if it did I couldn't tell. "He and his wife ought to be at the Chief's house, chances are they'll be there for a few hours." The two paused a ways in front of me, the fat one tilting his head to one side as the taller one spoke.

"I don't think he remembers us, does he, friend?" The taller one smirked, glancing down at his partner, who was suddenly grinning in a way that made me uncomfortable.

"No," the other replied in a silken tone, still grinning at me, "I don't think he does remember, Richard." I felt the hairs on the back of my head stand straight. I knew those voices, and they put everything on high alert.

The taller one, Richard, seemed to notice how I tensed. That small smirk growing slightly as something dangerous seemed to come alive in his crimson gaze.

"We never had a chance to formally introduce ourselves, did we now?" He asked; he was on me before I knew what was happening. One hand closed around my neck, cutting off my air as I was rammed up against the pillar I had been leaning on. I tried to pry his fingers from my throat, but only heard him and his companion chuckling softly.

"As you may, or may not, already know, my name is Richard. And my friend here, the one with the knife? His name is Markus." Panic flared slightly at the word knife, but I shoved it away as I'd been told, trying to reach out for my psynergy. It was harder to beat back the panic again as I found my powers had been depleted from the exercise, all I could manage was the smallest tremor, so weak, even I could barely feel it.

"You see, almost two years ago- I'm sorry this took so long to get back to you- you interrupted something very important between Markus, myself, and someone else. The end result was quite a few unanswered questions, my friend Markus here taking a slight tumble, and yours truly taking a cold dip. You may have forgotten this event, but we most certainly have not."

Richard was chuckling all the while as he spoke to me, watching me gag against the rock wall. My heart was pounding in my ears so loudly I could barely hear his actual words. I tried to reach out to the earth, but I couldn't even manage the minor feat I had before.

"Allow me." Markus said lightly.

If I'd had the breath to, I would have screamed. White-hot needles assaulted my mind as I tried to grab hold of my power, they warm feel of the earth was sealed away from me for the first time in my life. The numbing, burning cold of the snow and the wind, it was nothing compared to this bone deep chill which closed my lungs and paralyzed my limbs. The stone at my back went cold, more so than the snow at my feet could have ever hoped to achieve, the iciness simply cutting through the thick cloak on my back.

"Oh, would you look at that…"Markus cooed in a sickly sweet voice as I gave a final spasm against the rock, my body revolting against what was happening. "Poor boy's never had his element sealed before. I don't think he likes that very much, do you, Richard?" If there was a reply, I didn't hear it, my vision blurred before I simply started blacking out and refocusing. I couldn't breathe. I said the first thing that came to mind and could be uttered in my last gagging whisper.

"S-Sol Sanctum." I coughed, I couldn't tell if they heard me, I was shaking uncontrollably; my heart was like a drum in my ears. "S…Saturos and Me…Menardi… they'll die… without… me…" Somehow, despite it all, I know that they heard me, but it didn't matter.

There was a slice of fire across my stomach, shortly followed by something more concentrated around my shoulder. Again, I didn't have the breath to scream. My vision was completely black, everything suddenly cold as I heard one of those chilling voices again.

"Then they'll just have to find a… replacement."

Everything stopped.

"How is he?"

"...He lost quite a bit of blood. It was fortunate that we arrived back when we did. Or he would surly be dead."

"You didn't answer her question."

"Alex."

"...He is resting."

"Will he be alright?"

"…"

"I get one more pause out of you and I'll carve you a new mouth."

"Saturos!"

"What?"

"He is recovering, as I have said. If he remains stable then he should make a full recovery..."

"And?"

"…"

"I'm gonna HURT you now!"

"Sa-tur-os!"

"...I'll stop..."

"It would be best if we left him for the moment, allow him some time to sleep off some of the drugs."

"Hrmph, yeah, I have to go help Menardi and the others tear up the village looking for whoever did this, and—hey! Karst the Blue-Haired-Freak just said—"

"I beg your pardon? Blue-haired-what?"

The rest of the conversation floated away, as there was a soft sound of foot-steps coming closer. I couldn't open my eyes to see who it was; I was too drained, every slight movement causing a dull pain in me. I was completely helpless as my head felt packed with wool.

Dimly though, I was able to run a mental check over myself. I was lying on my back; there were tight wrappings around my right shoulder as well as my stomach, something against my skin feeling oddly cold despite the warm blankets over me. By my guess I was in my own bed, down in the basement of the Elder's home.

Something warm slipped into the hand I had out-side the covers, it took me a moment to recognize it as another hand. I cracked one eye open, hating how hard it was. My vision swam for a few moments; candlelight blurring through layers of brown and black, flashes of blue and red occasionally flashing through the combination. Slowly however, it began to calm down until I was able to make out the face of whoever was next to me. I wasn't to surprised to see Karst kneeling at the side of the bed holding my hand, but seeing her tears clinging to her eyelashes was something else.

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but my mouth felt like sand paper, and my mind just couldn't make my body move. She didn't notice that I was awake,

"I'm so sorry, Felix..." she said quietly, "This is all my fault." I tried to shake my head a bit, but when I tried to make the muscles in my neck move, I felt a dull throb in my shoulder that made me wince slightly. I couldn't try again, my eye-lids being weighed down by something I couldn't fight.

I managed to gently squeeze her hand though. Karst tensed as I did so, proving that she had thought I was unconscious. I noticed the slight murmuring in the back-ground had come to a halt. But my eyes drifted shut before I could make out who was there. I could still hear their voices though as a few people came closer.

"Do you know who did this Karst?" It sounded like Marci, and for a moment I wondered where my mother must be. But it was too much to think on, and all I could get myself to do this time was squeeze her hand again, Karst returned the gesture.

"I-I don't know their names." Karst replied in a fey voice. "But I know their faces." How strange it was, to hear her speak like that.

"What did they do to you?" I didn't know this voice, but the owner made himself known as he seemed to come closer to where I was. His aura was icy and stuck out painfully against the warm ones of Karst and the others. Karst froze, and I felt a stab of sympathy for my friend.

"M-me?" Karst repeated, the way she stuttered giving herself away. She'd kept this hidden for almost two years now; it looked like she was now in a position where she'd have to tell. I felt a bit of anger as I was still limited to simply holding her hand.

"Yes, you." The other voice repeated, the words clipped, tone, harsh. "I can sense it in your aura. I felt it earlier, you became much more... withdrawn once you learned of this attack. You have hardly spoken two words together. You know what happened, and why it happened."

'Leave her the hell alone.' I thought bitterly, 'You don't have to badger her like that.' I heard foot-steps coming down the steps.

"Are you suggesting Karst had something to do with this?" There was a dangerous edge in Menardi's voice as she directed the question at the other speaker.

"I did not say that. If I implied it, it was a mistake on my part." Came the calm reply.

'Well you did imply it, so now that Menardi's here, I'd stay smart and clam up.' I thought aggravatedly, completely forgetting that I didn't know who this person was, or what they might have done for me so far. My head spun as I tried to clear it, and I noticed how Karst's hand was shaking in mine, a sign of how nervous she was at this point. I felt a pang of guilt at what was happening, but it didn't keep me from what I tried next.

"I… I saw it..." I said hoarsely, forcing the words out, I felt a flash of pain across my stomach, and sucked in a sharp breath. Karst completely froze, she tried to let go of my hand, but I only tightened my hold on her wrist. I ignored the light pain in my other shoulder as I moved slightly. Pitiful as my grip was at the moment, she stayed.

"Saw what?" Menardi repeated, confused "Saw what? Karst, what's he talking about?" I felt the tremors running through her as she gripped my hand tightly; I ignored the dizziness, and forced my eyes open all the way. The world spun and the light from a small candle hurt my eyes, forcing me to close them again, receiving nothing but pain for my trouble.

"I-I wasn't able to-I mean, they tried-no..." When Karst tried to pull away from me again, I didn't stop her, partially because of the pain in her voice, but also because it was taking too much of a toll on me. Though I couldn't tell why something so simple hurt so much.

I could tell she backed away from the edge of the bed slightly as her aura seemed to fade a bit. My head began to spin for no reason; I tensed slightly because of this, and aggravated my shoulder. I clenched my teeth at the pain, both my wounds beginning to throb more painfully the more I tried to fight it.

"Will you stop that?" that other voice asked crisply, I heard the person walk away from the bed, where there was the sound of mixing and stirring before his cold aura returned.

"I'm taking you home Karst." Menardi said. I felt her aura pass by the bed, and move to where Karst had backed away. "I want to talk to you about all this. And we don't need the Valians and everyone else wandering the village blindly, if you can give a description." There was something in her tone of voice that belittled any argument from Karst as I heard the two of them move towards the stairs.

"Are you sure it wise the two of you leave?" This came from the Elder, another person I hadn't know was in the room. His voice coming from a side of the room far from the stairs, meaning he hadn't just arrived. "These people are dangerous, and apparently merciless. Alex himself has specified that they intended for Felix to bleed to death slowly. Are you sure the both of you would be safe?"

"He's got a point Menardi." Saturos seconded, I heard Menardi make an annoyed sound, she didn't seem to like being doubted.

"I'm not about to let Karst out of my sight for an instant." She said shortly "If either of those bastards come prowling around our home, I'll blast them all the way to Mt. Aleph. We'll be fine."

"Very well." The Elder replied, I heard the scraping of boots as Menardi and Karst left. I noticed the person with the cold aura standing by the side of the bed, though I was a bit pre-occupied with the pain that was growing steadily.

"You're to tense." He said flatly, I knew he was talking to me. "Relax a bit, being tense like that pulls at the wrappings. It took me to long to make those charms for you to go and ruin them by squirming." The air seemed to cool down noticeably, and I jumped as fingers like ice gripped my chin. "I said relax. You're just going to break the wounds open again. And then where will you be? You'll be in more pain, and in more danger. Drink."

I didn't know what he meant by the last order, until a glass lip was placed against my mouth. The man tipped it back, and what felt like pure ice slid down my throat. I almost gagged as it took on a sharp, bitter taste, and caused me to shiver as it seemed to freeze on the way down. The bottle was quickly removed, and the man pulled back.

"What's that stuff you keep giving him?" Saturos asked, if I hadn't been concerned with the ice running through me, I might have wondered why Saturos was still here. Hadn't he said he had to go help search?

"Hermes Water." Was the simple response, "Or, something like it. True Hermes Water dried up once Mercury Beacon was doused. This is the next best thing. I have also mixed in a few herbs that ought to put him back to sleep, and help to remove the curse upon him."

"Curse?" Marci asked, as if she had read my mind. "What do you mean Alex?" I felt what little strength I had begin to slip away, but I was unwilling to experience more pain, so I did not fight it.

"The dagger used was cursed, it in turn, cursed him." He, Alex, replied, "Psynergy, for the moment, cannot help the wounds. The Great Healer in your village ought to be able to remove it. But until then this shall both weaken it, and, as I have said, help the wounds."

I thought I heard a few more people come down the steps into the room, and they spoke to each other for a while. It sounded like introductions were being made, but I didn't hear any more of the conversation, the herbs in the sham Hermes Water blocking everything out.

In only a few short minutes, I was dead asleep.

--End Flashback--

'That incident has nothing to do with people skills Felix.'

Felix gave a startled yelp and fell of the bed, Echo peered over the edge to see his master rubbing the back of his head as he sat up.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, glaring up at the Djinni. Echo smiled, it was weird. Venus and Jupiter Djinn seemed to be the only one's with mouths. Unless you counted that little beak-thing Mars Djinn had. He jumped down and landed on Felix's head, bending over to look into his eyes. Making the Spirit get the feeling that he would fall off-

"I'm slipping!!! Owf!"

-and he did.

"I couldn't grab your hair." Echo said simply,

"You don't have hands." Was the flat reply.

"Exactly." Felix rolled his eyes as Echo gave a toothy grin. Again, weird, he didn't remember having teeth until the Lighthouses were fired. Maybe it had something to do with Alchemy?

"What did you mean? What incident?" Felix questioned, looking down at the small spirit as he sat up and crossed his legs on the floor. Echo sit—uh, squatting? Err... just in front of him. Echo flicked his bat-ears, letting Felix think about it.

It took a moment, then the Venus Adept's eyes widened considerably.

"You've been spying!?" He shouted, Echo's grin just getting broader as he saw the fire surging up in Felix's eyes. His master, using his size to loom over the Djinni menacingly.

Only a Venus-Adept with the blood of Mars flowing through his veins, or vice-versa, could ever manage to make magma shoot up when they were mad. But since Jenna did that all the time, it wasn't as cool to watch unless it was Felix. Echo leapt up as Felix lunged at him,

"I'm gonna get you for this one, Echo!!" He roared, Echo thought he felt the ship shake a bit. "Any one of you tell anyone and I swear! The next comet has your name on it!!" Echo let out a giggle as he shot towards the door, Felix hot on his heels. Felix forgot one very important thing with this action.

Everything in the world is made of the four elements. Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. There is a good deal more solid earth in a human than a Djinni. Thus djinn can pass through walls-

"Goddamn it, Echo!!"

-And people can't.