Chapter 1

Alex found himself being shaken awake the next morning. "Alex, wake up," Sheba whispered excitedly in his ear. "You can already see Atteka. Come see the lighthouse with me!"

Alex rolled over, away from the young girl. He wasn't a morning person and he had planned to stay in bed until late afternoon. "Sheba, why must you pester me? Can't you ask Felix to do it?"

"But he didn't want to do it!" Sheba whined. "He said the currents are strong today and he can't afford to waste his attention or we may go straight past the inlet. Besides, no one else seems to care but me."

"Doesn't that tell you something?" Alex sighed tiredly and pulled the blankets over his head.

"Please, Alex?" She shook his shoulder gently.

He sighed again and sat up. "Fine, I'll be up as soon as I get dressed."

Sheba smiled cheerfully and left. Alex heard her boots clicking on the wooden floors as she walked up to the deck. Alex swung his feet over the edge of the bed, stepping into his shoes, placed conveniently at his bedside. Quickly pulling on his clothes and tunic and running his fingers through his hair, he walked up to the deck. He found Sheba leaning eagerly over the side, gazing intently at the landmass in front of them.

"Why's she so caught up in that thing?" Alex asked Felix who was at the wheel. "She's already been there once before."

Felix smiled and shrugged. Felix had been the only truly forgiving person on board when it came to Alex's so-called treachery when he tried to claim the power of the Golden Sun. As many times as the Earth Adept tried to explain the situation to his comrades, they seemed to turn a deaf ear to him. Although, lately, they had become a bit more tolerant of his presence. Instead of treating him with contempt, they became more passive, only accepting the fact that he existed. However, Jenna's hatred stayed strong.

"Why did Sheba ask you anyway? She told me she couldn't stand you," Felix said with a teasing grin.

"Well, obviously she enjoys my presence more." Alex told him, going along with his little game.

"And what evidence do you have of that?"

"Well, let's see, which of these combinations are elemental opposites, Mercury and Jupiter or Venus and Jupiter?" Alex said, using his hands to represent the weighing of both options. The hand that represented the latter of the two lowered while the other rose.

Felix shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. She likes me better and you know it."

Alex turned and began walking towards Sheba. "You keep thinking that, Felix. Maybe one day it'll come true."

He walked over to the side railing where Sheba was watching Jupiter Lighthouse with hopeful eyes, as if she expected something miraculous to happen. The great structure shot up from the land, it's light atop the beacon shining like a bright star in the early morning's soft, dim light. Alex leaned down next to her and watched her with a smile; her expression was truly amusing.

"It's beautiful," she said softly, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. "I want to go back there, and look at the beacon one last time."

Alex put his hands on her shoulders and began to turn her away from the lighthouse. The situation was no longer amusing to him, but disturbing. He hid it though, for he did not wish to frighten Sheba. "That's the psynergy coming from it's light. It'll draw you in if you aren't careful. You absorbed raw psynergy atop Mars Lighthouse from what I heard. This makes you more prone to fall under the beacon's spell."

Sheba looked up at him questioningly. "But, Piers and Jenna didn't feel that way. Felix said he detested looking at it."

"He doesn't like to look at it because his are the powers of Venus. Venus and Jupiter are polar opposites. Therefore, you would hate to look upon the light of Venus Lighthouse. Did you not feel yourself growing weaker when Saturos lit the beacon?"

Sheba looked thoughtful. "Yes, I did. I remember now. It felt like someone was pushing me away, that's part of the reason I fell from the aerie. My legs were weak and something was pushing me."

Felix had joined them now, his hair blowing in the sea breeze. "I felt the same way atop Jupiter Lighthouse. It's part of the reason I found myself unable to fight Agatio and Karst. It felt like the lighthouse was absorbing my psynergy.

Sheba smiled and left Alex's grip only to walk into Felix's embrace. Alex watched them with a grin, wondering if they noticed what he did between them.

"What are you smiling at?" Felix asked with a laugh.

"Oh, nothing." Alex answered with a wave of his hand. "What happened to the currents?"

"They died down." Felix said, ruffling Sheba's hair.

"Hey, Felix," Jenna asked, emerging from below deck, her hair out of her normal pony tail, falling over her shoulders in rich, auburn curls. "Do you think we could stop and visit Hamma – "She stopped when she saw Alex. "Oh, it's you." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, dear Jenna, it is I." Alex said, teasing her with a sweeping, flowing bow.

Jenna glowered at her brother, who was snickering softly. "Don't play games with me, Alex."

The blue-haired Water Adept looked up from his bow. "Games?" He said, innocently. "Why...whatever do you mean?"

"I think she wants you to play hide-and-seek with her. She always begged me to play that with her when we were little." Felix said, trying to keep a straight face.

Jenna growled in frustration, her face turning as red as her dress and stomped back below deck, tired of trying to get either of them to act serious.

Alex straightened up from his bow and watched her angry retreat. "What's wrong with her? She doesn't really want to play hide and seek, does she? Is she expecting me to go looking for her?"

Felix leaned over and whispered. "Maybe it's one of those monthly problems."

Alex grinned and Sheba elbowed the Venusian in the stomach. "Come on, stop making fun of her. You're her brother!"

"And I love her, but it's just so easy to annoy the hell out of her. After all, it's so damn funny."

Sheba shook her head. "You know she's gonna set you on fire tonight just to get back at you."

"Yeah, I know..." Felix gave a defeated sigh. "I guess I'll just hide behind Alex here."

"You most certainly will not!" Alex said, indignantly. "She'll barbeque me worse than you! God forbid that her fire psynergy should singe even a single strand of my beautiful hair."