Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will.
Chapter VII
- Unexpected Encounter -
The journey to Kalay was uneventful, but as it was among one of Adrian's firsts, the two-day trek seemed to particularly drag as the boy walked and walked without any sign of a town. To make matters worse, he knew that there wouldn't be any signs of civilization for a long while since his father had mentioned that they were going to have to make camp midway. But by midnight when Isaac finally said they could make camp, Adrian didn't care how long they had been walking anymore. He simply just found the closest tree and patch of grass and fell asleep exhausted.
He awoke to his uncle badgering him to get up. His body still weak and tired indicated to him that he had been given a poor excuse for a good night's rest. Sure enough, the sun had not risen yet and Adrian guessed that he had only rested for six hours max. But despite his rampant groans and complaints, they were on the road again soon to arrive at Kalay later that day.
The thrill that Adrian had felt when they first departed New Vale's gates was slowly beginning to wane as the sun reached it's uppermost position in the sky and Kalay was nowhere to be seen. He was sick of walking and if a monster or something didn't show up soon, he just knew he would die of boredom. But as dusk approached so did Kalay and the party soon found themselves finally at the doors of the town inn.
"Finally," Adrian remarked quite annoyed with adventuring by now.
"I'm looking forward to a full night's rest myself," Jenna said stretching her arms with a yawn.
Once Isaac gave the innkeeper eight copper doubloons the four immediately made their way toward their room.
"Should we visit your friend Hammet before we head for the boat tomorrow?" Jenna asked addressing Isaac having heard only stories of the man from Isaac's quest with Ivan, Garet, and Mia.
"The innkeeper told me he's out on business," he answered her. "He won't be back till later tomorrow."
"And we'll be well on our way across the Karagol Sea by then," Felix finished. Adrian who had flopped himself on one of the beds jumped up with a start.
"We'll be going on a boat tomorrow?" he questioned excitedly.
"Yes," Isaac said dryly. "I would prefer the northern land passage but a ship will give us a speedier and more direct route to Tolbi."
"Do you think we should reserve our tickets for tomorrow?" Jenna asked. "Collosso is next month and the die-hard fans are probably booking cabins by now. Waiting till tomorrow could prove to be a mistake."
"Jenna's right," Felix said. "Anyway, I for one would like to be on the water again. We do have a long ocean journey ahead of us and this short trip would most certainly prepare our stomachs for the sea. More importantly we can't afford to miss the boat and waste time walking the northern route."
Listening to the two advocating for reservations left Isaac no choice but to agree. So he headed to Kalay docks to book the morning departure while everybody else slept in anticipation for the upcoming morning, Adrian more than the others of course.
Their anticipation the next morning was bolstered by the atmosphere in which the vessel greeted them. Dozens of excited travelers stood in line waiting for the captain to lower the boarding ramp while they chatted pleasantly with one other. Adrian could not help but hearing some of the conversations circulating among the passengers. One group of men talked intensely on the finer points of swordplay while a distant group of women shot disapproving glances at them. One of the women motioned cautiously for the rest of them to come closer.
"Harold even plans to enter the Trials this year!" she said with a tone of utmost disgust as the rest of the women nodded their heads in agreement. "'Tis a barbaric event if you ask me but maybe if I'm lucky, Harold might get 'is legs chopped of in the process and realize his place is at home with his wife and children as a father and not as some feather-brained warrior bloke."
The ladies giggled as the woman continued. "If it wasn't for that bloody raffle Kalay started, Harold wouldn't of even thought about going to Collosso in the first place. Alas, 'tis a sad thing when fortune finally smiles on you and it ends up doing more bad than good."
"A raffle?" Adrian questioned to himself and then to Isaac.
"Yes, a raffle," he confirmed. "Just one of those signs that a city is flourishing."
"How?" Adrian asked not seeing the connection.
"As you know, Master Hammet is a wealthy merchant so he can afford spontaneous gifts to the town residents," Isaac said gazing at the sea beyond the dock. "A ticket to Collosso is probably nothing to him, but to his subjects his gesture displays an interest in keeping a pleasant vibrancy in the town."
"And if you haven't noticed already," Felix said pointing to the groups of laughing men and women, "Kalay has some of the most jovial and boisterous people around."
"It's not just by chance either," Jenna chimed in. "Hammet has worked hard to make the lives of his subjects comfortable yet still engaging. He's a genuinely good ruler."
With their words said about Hammet, Adrian turned back to face the boarding ramp but before he could, he noticed two strange figures approaching the dock. One was massive and muscular with fiery red hair while the other stood significantly leaner and instead had light purple hair. Adrian gave them a quick double take but returned his attention to the boarding ramp that was finally being lowered. Isaac saw the two approaching and immediately recognized them for the warriors he had met on his last voyage across the Karagol almost thirteen years ago. He could not remember their names for the life of him so he decided not to address them. To his relief the two strode past him without even giving him a glance as they headed to the harbormaster in front of the boat. Adrian watched as his father's eyes followed the two men up the line of people and then gestured a thumb and a finger pointing to them and his ear. Isaac opened his mouth and was about to scold his son for wanting to eavesdrop intentionally, but he realized that he was curious himself. Isaac gave an almost undetectable nod as Adrian smiled mischievously and turned to get closer to the three men.
"Look for the last time we don't need you anymore!" the harbormaster snapped.
"But we've protected this vessel for thirteen years!" the man with fiery red hair said pleadingly.
Unlike his companion, the light purple-haired man was calm and was staring at the harbormaster with an emotionless expression.
"And we appreciate your dedication greatly but your services are no longer needed!"
"Appreciate our dedication?!" the muscular man roared. "We have risked our necks to fight off the Karagol's monsters to make sure this ship gets for here to Tolbi time after time again!"
"Calm down Ouranos," the purple-haired man said speaking for the first time. "Our friend is quite right. Our services are no longer needed."
Ouranos raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"As you know Ouranos, monsters have not attacked any outgoing and incoming ships here on the Karagol for two years. Correct?"
The big man hesitated and then nodded his head uneasily.
"Do you remember what happened two years ago Ouranos?" his companion asked.
The large man thought for a moment and then answered excitedly. "Yeah, yeah. I remember Sean. We killed that enormous Kraken! It was almost as big as the ship it was. And..."
"Thank you Ouranos, that will do. You remember that incident, don't you Gern," Sean asked coolly addressing the harbormaster. He slowly nodded but prepared to fire a frustrated rebuttal.
"And do you remember Ouranos," he said quickly preventing Gern from interrupting his thoughts, "the monster attack after we defeated that Kraken?"
Ouranos thought long and hard but a blank face was all that emanated from him. "That's funny," he said confused. "I don't remember any more after that."
"Exactly," Sean remarked in a very placid tone. "I think it's safe to assume Gern that we were directly responsible for stopping monster attacks on the Karagol Sea after we killed that giant Kraken."
Gern had no answer to this so Sean kept on talking. "Me and Ouranos here," he said putting an accent on his companion's name, "don't think it's fair that after all our services to this town and your vessel, we are simply cast out like unwanted junk. Me and Ouranos are still capable of killing any monster or anything that gets in our way with relative ease."
Adrian then understood what Sean was doing. By saying his companion's name so frequently and at the latter part of his speech so menacingly, he was slowly but surely invoking fear in Gern for the massive Ouranos. Gern was already showing signs of uneasiness as Ouranos began to grin at him maliciously while indiscreetly flexing his massive muscles.
"Look Sean," the harbormaster said with an almost trembling voice, "money isn't as plentiful as it used to and with the city lowering our funding we have to make certain decisions to ensure the continuation of our service. Personnel cuts is just one of those precautionary decisions we had to make, starting with the unneeded positions. I'm sorry gentlemen."
Gern began to turn away, his eyes on Ouranos the entire motion.
"Gern!" Sean shouted.
He slowly turned around bearing a face of growing dread.
"You can at least grant us one last complimentary trip to Tolbi, can't you?"
Gern stared at Sean and then nodded his once. "Yes, yes of course. But you and Ouranos must stay on deck because all the cabins are full."
Sean nodded and bowed his head slightly. Ouranos simply gave a satisfied grunt.
The passengers began to board the ship as Adrian returned to Isaac's side to relay the conversation.
"Low on funding?" Isaac said aghast. "That's impossible."
"That's what the harbor master said," Adrian assured him.
"What's impossible?" Jenna asked Felix trailing.
"Apparently Kalay is low on funds and had to lay off a couple warriors who had been working for the ship service."
"I thought Hammet was one of the wealthiest merchants around," Felix said raising an eyebrow.
"He is....," Isaac replied quickly. "Or he was...oh I don't know."
"Isaac," Jenna said putting a consoling hand on to her husband's shoulder, "we really don't have time to worry about this."
"I know, I know," he said slightly dumbfounded. "We have to save the world first and blah blah blah blah blah."
"Actually," she said picking up her pack, "we need to get on the ship first because we are the only ones still standing on the dock."
Adrian looked around and sure enough Jenna was right. He also noticed that the harbormaster was throwing dirty looks at his parents as he urgently pointed to the boarding ramp. Jenna shot Isaac a smile.
"Well then," Isaac said smiling back. "First thing's first."
The four boarded the ship and before they could even reach their cabin, the ship was already in motion. The vessel was considerably bigger than Isaac had remembered it from his last voyage, this ship consisting of three levels compared to the earlier model which only had two. Adrian walked along the corridors of the middle deck past each of the passenger cabins and headed toward the stair well leading the bottom most level of the ship. A burly sailor stood guard in front of the entrance and crossed his arms as Adrian approached.
"Unless you want to help row the ship," the sailor said mockingly, "you are not allowed beyond this point."
Adrian who was feeling rather mischievous at the time decided to continue the conversation further.
"Actually," he replied sarcastically, "that's exactly what I'm here for. So if you could so kindly step aside I'll get right to..."
"Ah get lost kid," the sailor interrupted angrily.
Adrian turned back around as he tried desperately to contain his laughter. Thwarted from exploring the lower rowing levels, he decided instead to go up top for some fresh air. The ship was at full speed now as the sails picked up a westward gaze increasing their velocity by almost two fold. Adrian could not think of a better feeling then what he was experiencing now; the wind, the water, and the destination in which they were heading all molding together to form an intoxicating excitement flowing freely within his body.
An hour later the ship traveled at a normal rowing pace since the wind had long since died down. People had come and gone all hoping for a glimpse of land only to retreat back into their cabins. Adrian didn't mind too much that he couldn't see anything but water in every direction, but he was starting to get a little annoyed with the constant rocking and swaying. A passenger near Adrian was apparently in mutual agreement with him because he would occasionally throw his head over the railing and vomit. Adrian gave a slight chuckle and began thinking about when he would attempt to work with the Venus Parchment his brother had given to him. But then he saw it.
A small figure was steadily growing larger across the horizon at a frightening pace. Adrian felt his stomach lurch as fear flooded through him. In an instant he ran toward the stairs and headed toward his parents and Felix's cabin. As he reached the middle deck he could hear a loud shout echo from behind him.
"Monster! All passengers to their cabins and all available personnel to the deck! Monster!"
Before Adrian could reach the door his parents and Felix were already running out. Felix had his Sol Blade unsheathed, Jenna clutched her staff, while Isaac stood with his sword still tucked securely in his scabbard.
"Stay here Adrian," Isaac ordered.
"No way!" he replied angrily. "That thing looked huge and this ship will need all the help it can get!
"I don't have time for this," Isaac muttered under his breath as he grabbed Adrian by the shirt and threw him on one of the cabin beds. "Adrian, I'm serious. You will stay here or you will remain in this cabin for the rest of the voyage."
"But...," Adrian began, but Isaac had already slammed the door behind him.
The three ran to the deck to be met by a handful of awestruck sailors along with Ouranos and Sean each brandishing their own weapon. Each and every one of their gazes was pointing west where an enormous figure towered over them. Felix and Jenna looked at each other and then back to the monster. The figure was half submerged under water yet it still managed to rival the perch upon the crow's nest almost fifty feet above the ship. It's skin was of the color of human flesh, and it's head stared back at the people of the ship with piercing aqua blue eyes. The face was covered in white hair and in the monster's muscular hands was a massive golden trident. The figure moved forward and its dorsal fins were exposed propelling it forward.
"Poseidon," Felix gravely said in recognition of the monster.
"But...," Jenna said in a weak voice, "didn't we...isn't it..."
"Yes," Felix simply answered.
Isaac looked perturbed and probed each of the two's faces for information. "Okay, what's going on here," he said frustrated. But before either one of them could explain, a booming voice sounded resonating with anger and strength.
"FELIX!"
"I guess I'll soon find out," Isaac said finally unsheathing his sword from his scabbard.
"I am Poseidon, spirit guardian of the seas and foremost the protector of the ancient Lemurian race. Ever since our last encounter, Felix I have sworn to hunt you down to make you pay for the misfortune you have so foolishly bestowed on my people. By forging the evil weapon of the three towers and using it against me you have stripped me of my immortality thus hindering my ability to protect Lemuria. Never have my people had to deal with plundering pirates and foreign peoples trying to instill their culture into ours. Not until you came along. And only by good fortune alone were you able to escape my wrath in the Sea of Time. If you were not accompanied by one of the revered race I have sworn to protect and were sailing any other ship besides the one your friend was binded to, I would have without second thought sent your ship along with it's passengers to the bottom of sea. But you no longer have this advantage and I no longer possess the sanity to contain my vengeance. Prepare to die Felix, and do so with the knowledge that you were responsible for all who die with you today."
Felix and Isaac had about a split second to react to Poseidon's first attack. An extremely fast gush of water emanated from Poseidon's palm aimed directly at the lower hull. Felix and Isaac responded by simultaneously combining their efforts to create a gravity shield to buffer the water away from the ship. The water blast was indeed powerful, but in the end could not match the combined psynergy of the two adepts.
"I think it's safe to say we were provoked to use force," Isaac remarked candidly.
Felix nodded his head in agreement.
"What can I do?" Jenna asked.
"Save your energy just in case we need healing," Isaac told her. "Me and Felix should be able to take care of him."
Felix didn't share Isaac's confidence because last time he and his party faced Poseidon they were only able to defeat him exclusively because of the mystic Trident, a weapon which had become the weapon of choice for Picard far away in Lemuria. All they could do was try, and if what Poseidon said about his lost immortality was true, they might have a chance.
"Let's give him some spires before he can make another attack!" Felix shouted.
Isaac complied and immediately large earthen shards materialized from their hands flying straight for their adversary's bare chest. Poseidon swung his trident with terrifying finesse and shattered all the spires with a few powerful swings.
"Our spires were to big of a target!" Isaac yelled to his companion.
"Then let's give him a lot more of the smaller ones!"
Again their earthen volley targeted the exposed chest but like before, Poseidon gracefully shattered all the sharp spires with his swinging trident.
"Our earth psynergy is too concentrated!" Isaac said angrily. "He's blocking everything we throw at him."
"My turn," Jenna said pushing aside the two men. Fire psynergy was indeed unconcentrated and could not be blocked by Poseidon's current method of defense. But when Jenna shot a large jet of flame toward Poseidon, he lowered his trident and the water all around him encased him in a sphere of liquid. The fire dissipated harmlessly on the shield and when the sphere subsided, Poseidon's menacing gaze was revealed staring maliciously at the three adepts.
"Alright everybody," Isaac shouted. "Attack Poseidon at every part of his body. Fire and spires combined this time!"
Just as ordered, spires and flames erupted from each of the adepts and flew randomly toward Poseidon in all directions. The water sphere Poseidon had used to deflect Jenna's attack again formed but this time crystallized into a thick sphere of solid ice. The spires from Isaac and Felix bounced harmlessly off the ice into pieces while Jenna's flames hopelessly tried to eat away the icy barrier. After a minute of this, the three adepts halted their psynergy assaults to see Poseidon's shield virtually unscathed.
"We have to keep trying!" Jenna said pleadingly.
"There's not much else we can do."
"There's just too few of us," whispered Felix.
Poseidon's shield of ice was beginning to steadily glow a blinding white. The sailors on deck were panicking and frightened screams could be heard below from the passenger cabins. The two warriors Sean and Ouranos walked up to the three adepts and stood motionless next to them.
"What is that thing," Sean asked coolly.
Felix was the first to answer. "A spirit gone bad."
"Can it be killed?"
"Of course, but not by the sword from this distance."
"But your sorcery can kill it," Sean said looking directly into Felix's eyes.
Felix returned his gaze suspiciously. "If we could land a hit without him blocking it, yes."
The next sequence of events happened so suddenly that none of the adepts truly realized what was happening beyond their reflexes. The icy sphere, which had been glowing and flashing a blinding light, had exploded into millions of razor sharp ice shards with a deafening crack. Each and every one of the flying particles conjoined and traveled in a deadly stream seemingly depicting a flying serpent. An instant later the shards collided with the mast and plowed through the captain's navigation chamber on the top deck leaving nothing but a heap of shredded wood. Not losing momentum from the collisions, the ice serpent changed its direction and targeted the three adepts including Sean and Ouranos. Jenna fired a jet of flame while Isaac and Felix again manipulated gravity to put some distance between them and the serpent. But to their horror, the ice particles slowly broke free of the gravity shield while at the same time dodging the jets of flame. The serpent was again advancing menacingly on the adepts. Isaac grabbed Jenna's hand and gave her a longing look, wishing that he could have had more time to tell her everything she meant to him and more. And when all seemed lost, Sean stepped in front of the adepts and summoned a mighty gale that caught the serpent and sent in spinning away from the ship. A second gale seemingly much larger than the first then caught the serpent yet this time flinging it directly at Poseidon. The ice particles and the gale hit the spirit guardian square on the chest and sent Poseidon to his back roaring in pain. Felix, Jenna, and Isaac looked at the purple-haired warrior in amazement only be met with a quizzical shrug.
"You're an adept?" Isaac asked dumbfounded.
"Just a recent development I assure you," Sean answered dryly.
Another roar sounded and Poseidon was again at full height.
"THIS ENDS NOW!" he cried as he charged at the ship with his trident lowered.
"He's going to rip the ship to shreds with that thing!" Jenna screamed.
"Everyone attack!" Isaac ordered. Spires, lightning, and flame barraged Poseidon unmercifully but he kept on charging. Bruised and charred flesh covered their assailant's chest but the crazed spirit did not falter. Poseidon edged closer and closer until the snarl on his lip could be seen clearly by the four adepts. Felix readied his sword along with Isaac closely followed by the massive Ouranos and the mysterious Sean. They were prepared to meet Poseidon head on if he got close enough. Unless they killed him now, he would hang around to insure the deaths of all the passengers after he inevitably collided with the vessel.
"Steady," Isaac said trying to contain his fear. "He's almost in jumping distance...ready..."
An instant before Isaac could give the order to meet certain death, a dragonhead appeared out of nowhere and collided furiously with Poseidon's side knocking him well away from the ship. Massive wings revealed themselves to the adepts and to all of their surprise; the Wind Chaser reeled around the ship and headed majestically toward Poseidon. Before Poseidon could regain his composure from the Wind Chaser's ram, hundreds and hundreds of ice shards materialized from the deck of the ship all hitting home all over Poseidon's body. The spirit roared in pain and confusion as he stole one horrified glance at the new enemy while blood flowed freely down his chest. Standing side by side on the deck of the Wind Chaser stood almost a dozen Lemurians all ready to let loose another volley. Among the twelve Lemurians stood one man in the middle brandishing a mighty trident, the Trident of which instilled fear in all of the beings of the ocean. Horror, fear and anger struck him like a hammer and in agony, Poseidon let out one last roar of disdain. He then turned his back on the people that had betrayed him, the people that had once been his own, the people that he loved dearly. He retreated below the surface and sank in despair. The blue-haired man would pay. Vengeance was all he truly had now. Felix would pay. And by vengeance would it keep him.