The Great St. Valentine's Day Fiasco
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It's here at last! The end of the romance/humor hybrid that was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but ended up getting finished closer to Christmas. Will Ivan get the girl? Will Mia get back to her sense? Will Picard wake up? Will Felix get his just rewards (although some might argue he already has)? And what's with the Djinn? Read on to find out!
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Saturday
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Ivan heard Sheba humming an indistinct tune to herself as she prepared breakfast. Stumbling down the stairs, he rubbed sleep out of his eyes before turning to face Sheba. Right. Now or never.
"Hey… Sheba…" Ivan began. Sheba looked up from the pot for a moment.
"Yes?" She asked pleasantly.
Ivan sighed. "Look, there's, uh, something I need to… tell you…
Sheba nodded. "Okay… so… what is it?"
Ivan ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Well, you see… I don't really know how to say this, but… I… love you."
Silence.
Ivan ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I-uh, I understand if you don't return my feelings, but, uh, well… it's… it's been killing me for so long I can't even remember… I, well, I just needed to say it, so…"
Sheba was still staring at him with that same indecipherable expression on her face. Indecipherable. Not good.
Ivan gulped. "Please say something?" He squeaked.
He was prepared for many outcomes. He was prepared for Sheba to fall over laughing. He was prepared for her to blink and ask Ivan if he was serious about this. He was prepared for her to kick him out of the house and to scream at him never to darken her doorway again. He was also prepared, Sol willing, for the one-in-a-million (by his calculations, anyway) chance that she would reply "What a coincidence!"
What he was most definitely not prepared for was for her to tackle him to the floor and give him his first kiss (and by default the longest, even though it'd be a pretty damn good contender anyway.)
When it was finally over and Ivan and Sheba were busy gasping for air, it was then that Sheba replied, "I love you too."
Then Ivan woke up.
He lay there for a few minutes staring stupidly at the ceiling before slowly stumbling out of bed. As he yawned, he headed for the door.
"Reality." He mumbled to himself. "What a gyp."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Okay, name the seven wonders of the world."
"Lessee… the four Lighthouses count as one, right?"
"Yes, as does the four Rocks."
"Well then, there's Gaia's Rift, the Contigo Crater, um…, Lemuria, uh…, oh! Tundaria Tower, and uh…, um…… Oh, shoot!"
Jenna sighed. "Anemos, the Moon City, remember?"
"Oh! Yeah!" Garet grinned sheepishly. "I always forget that one! Wonder why?"
"Maybe you just can't store more than six items of any common topic in your thick skull." Jenna shot back.
"Guys? Can we stop playing around and get back on topic?" Isaac said snappily. He was not in a good mood. The majority of last night had been spent thinking up plans to turn Ivan and Sheba into a serious couple within one day. And when the most plausible of them involved lots and lots of duct tape, you knew there was trouble.
"Aw, you're just cranky that your wife is currently in love with an eighteen year-old midget." Garet shot back.
"Ooh, burn." Jenna snorted
A Spire hurled from Isaac's outstretched arm reminded the Mars Adept that this was a subject best not broached at the time being.
Then again, they were all slightly cranky at the fact that despite all their best efforts, Sheba seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that the male Jupiter Adept of the group was currently pining for her.
There was a collective sigh from the group. Which was abruptly broken by a yell from Felix from the second story. Followed by a long series of heated shouts.
"Well, how was I supposed to know that you were awake?"
"Might it be the fact that I was moving?" Came the testy reply. Isaac blinked and glanced upwards. Was Picard up?
"I thought it was rigor mortis or something!"
"Rigor mortis?! That's for deceased individuals! Are you trying to jinx me or something?" Definitely Picard. Isaac took the stairs two at a time and entered the room where they had rather unceremoniously dumped Picard's body like a sack of potatoes onto… well, several sacks of potatoes. Picard was definitely up and moving, and Felix was currently drenched and arguing vehemently with the Lemurian.
"Glad you're up." Isaac began.
Picard blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. Then, turning to regard Isaac, he asked curiously, "What day is it?"
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Breath sighed as she shoved another bolt into place on the support strut. Behind her, Gust was flitting around, offering encouragement and reminding them of the 10- hour deadline they had.
She glanced up, noting Spark and Geode balancing several cans of paint on their heads. "Ahoy, there!" Spark called cheerfully. "We got the extra paint you wanted!"
Breath nodded. "Pass it to Serac. He's in charge of artwork." With a sigh, he turned back to his work, ignoring the squeals in the distance as a snowball with what looked suspiciously like a Mars Djinni's tail sticking out rolled down Mt. Aleph. Hail was in a bad mood today.
Meanwhile, the Wise One was plotting. The Wise One did not plot on a regular basis. Plotting was for lessers. Lesser being sat around fretting over the best way to resolve a situation. The Wise One went out and did it.
However, owing to the fact that he (it?) had been securely wedged into a crack in Mt. Aleph owing to a bunch of irate djinn who had wished him to stop interfering, he was currently immobile. Not to mention one of them had started singing until all of his psynergy had been drained. Which was rather detrimental to his ability to move around or affect his surroundings, considering his lack of limbs.
Which left him with little to do other than plot the downfall of 72 little rat-sized buggers who were essentially embodiments of the elements, but to blazes with that he was going to hunt down each and every last one of them and slowly burn them into a crisp, except for the Mars Djinn, 'cuz they didn't really get affected by burning so maybe he'd just squash them or something, and then he'd have revenge, sweet revenge, mwahahahahahahaha……
Uh, yeah.
Between you and me, I think the Wise One's getting to be a little cracked.
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Sheba flung open the doors of her cupboard, staring up and down at the rows of clothes hanging in there. With a sigh, she closed the door and flopped onto her bed.
She, like every other person living in Vale, had been excited by the prospect of going to the Valentine's Day dance. What was currently holding her attention, however, was he fact that she had discovered a rather serious shortage of available dresses for her to wear. And dances generally had "nice-looking attire" built into them by default. Unless it was a frat party or something.
In any case, this meant that she was left with nine hours, thirty minutes to find a dress for the dance. Make that nine hours, twenty-nine minutes.
Well, no sense lying around worrying about it. With a groan, Sheba hopped out of bed and set off to find a suitable set of clothing for the ball.
Elsewhere in the house, a young man entertained problems of a different, but no less pressing, nature. Ivan grumbled to himself as he rapidly sifted through the bags he had carried here when Sheba had agreed to grant him lodging AKA asylum. Where on Weyard is it? Ivan thought irritably. Never mind the fact that he wasn't going to get Sheba to love him, the least he could do was to give her a present. Which he had thoughtfully purchased sometime in September last year. Unfortunately for him, he had neglected to keep in his mind where exactly he had shoved it and was now engaged in trying to find it before the ball started.
"Nope… nope… ah! No wait, that's my toothbrush…, no…"
The process might have gone slightly faster had he remembered what the item was.
Meanwhile, the dog stared at the mess with confused eyes, before picking up a fist-sized item and carrying it off.
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Felix was sitting on a chair.
You might think that there was nothing particularly special about sitting on a chair, and frankly, there wasn't. What however, was of note was the fact that he was currently surrounded by four adepts, all glowering at him.
Then Isaac sighed and began to speak. "Alright Felix, we've put it to a vote, and we'll allow you to attend the Valentine Day's ball, on the condition that you don't try anything funny with Ivan or Sheba.
"And if I don't agree?"
Garet smiled. "Then Jenna and I get to use you as target practice."
Felix snarled something under his breath before nodding.
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Fury hopped over several connecting wires to Cannon, who had more or less finished grabbing all the boxes of explosive stuff and dumped them all over the mountaintop.
"Hey, Fur!" Cannon greeted him energetically. We've got all the stuff! So do we blow it now?"
"Stop calling me by that disgusting name!" Fury snapped. "And of course we don't explode them now! We wait until the party, where it'll have the most impact!"
"Oh… so… what do we do now, then?"
"We wait." Came the response. Fury flopped down next to a crate and closed his eyes. Not that djinn needed sleep, mind you, but after spending so long with the humans he had picked quite a bit of their mannerisms.
"…"
"…"
"… Fury?"
"What?"
"You ever wonder how so many explosives ended up under the mountain anyway?"
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Tucked away deep in the house of Garet's father was a single sheet of paper. On it were inscribed the words 'Contingency plan for protection of Sol Sanctum.' Also drawn on was a large star-shaped symbol that looked vaguely like an explosion. One might also note that there was an arrow pointing towards the star-shaped drawing that said "Boom!".
That might go a long way in explaining the explosives. Or it might have been a random plot point slapped together by the author in three seconds.
The world may never know.
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It was a normal day in Vale, Kay reflected. Other than the people were getting ready for the ball, the majority of the townsfolk were doing what they during their normal everyday lives.
Tough luck that she had been picked to be part of the group that was responsible for setting up the tents and stalls. With a sigh, she grabbed several planks of wood and walked over to the nearest booth. If she remembered the plans correctly, this would be a food stall when this ball started.
Sometimes she really wondered why the Elders didn't just elect to build a furshlugging hall and be done with it. During the reconstruction, she had suggested as much, but nooooooo, the plaza was traditional, the plaza was adequate, etc, etc. In any case, the psynergy stone needed to bless a couple (how a glowing rock managed to "bless" a pair of people was completely beyond her), and thus the St. Valentine's Day ball was to be held in the plaza.
Kay mumbled several profanities under her breath as she bent another nail. Mars, what was with the materials the elders chose? Grumbling, she tossed the bent nail aside and was about to snag another one when a wild shout distracted her, and everyone else nearby.
Turning, she was just in time to see Ivan chasing a dog across the plaza, screaming obscenities more-or-less nonstop. As the pair neared the stand, she could make out what the blonde-haired midget shouting.
"You give that back RIGHT NOW!! Or else I'll string you up with your own tail when I catch you! Do you hear me?! Come back HERE!"
As Ivan said the last word, he lunged for the dog. However, in an amazing display of agility, it managed to backflip completely over the irate Jupiter Adept, sending Ivan hurtling straight into the booth.
The booth.
The booth that was meant to be a food-and-drinks stand for the ball.
The booth that had taken Kay five hours to set up.
The booth that now resembled a huge pile of dry wood, all ready to be tossed into a campfire.
The booth Ivan had just wrecked.
The booth Kay had poured her sweat and blood (owing to bad aim with a hammer) into.
That booth.
Slowly, oh, so slowly, Kay clenched her hands. A vein on her forehead began to throb.
"Oh, Ivan dear…" Kay said in a fake syrupy-sweet voice.
A board shifted and the blonde haired adept sat up, rubbing his head. "Stupid dog." He muttered. Then he looked up and noticed Kay staring down at him, one handing reflexively clutching and relaxing her hold on a hammer. "Er…" Ivan began. Experiences with Jenna dictated that when a female Mars adept was behaving in this manner, it was generally a good idea to put a fair bit of distance between you and her. This was even more so when she happened to be staring at you.
This little nugget of information in mind, Ivan rapidly got to his feet and started running.
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He peered with timeworn eyes at the scene before him. A young blonde with violet eyes was currently sprinting through Vale, arms flailing and mouth wide open in a continuous scream. Behind him charged an enraged red-haired girl, yelling a long stream of invective and swinging a hammer wildly. Keeping pace with the two of them was an Alsatian, who looked as if it were ready to bark in support of the blonde kid were it not for a strange object it clutched firmly in it's jaw.
He shook his head and turned to his partner. "Sure are a lot of weirdoes running around lately."
"A-yup."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Sheba was this close to tearing her hair out in frustration. All the clothes shops in Vale were selling dresses. This was standard. They were all relatively cheap, as was also standard. Alas, the third part of the standard was that they all sucked. Big time.
Seriously, who in their right mind would wear a dress that was not only garish pink, but covered with polka-dots as well? 'The height of fashion', the salesman had said. She really, really dreaded seeing the depths of it, then.
Sheba sighed, and trudged wearily back to the house. As she opened the front door, Ivan ran through it screaming like a man possessed. A second later, Kay rebounded into the wall, and then stalked off swearing at Ivan in five different languages. Another second later, the Alsatian loped through the door, clutching a strange object firmly between it's jaws.
The emerald-eyed Jupiter adept blinked, shook her head, and silently resolved never to eat the 'magic' brownies again. Ever.
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"Do I really have to dress up now?" Garet whined as Jenna tied a noose on his neck. Or at least it felt like a noose to Garet. He would never, for the life of him, understand just why the long snake-shaped piece of cloth was considered such an important thing for formal occasions.
"Yes." Jenna replied snappishly. "It is stylish, not to mention dignified."
"And which of the two words look like they apply to me?"
"Forget it, Garet dear. You're not wiggling out of this one."
"Aw, nuts." Garet moaned. Well, he consoled himself, at least I don't have it half as bad as Isaac…
-------------
"Do you think Ivan-chan will like my new dress?" Mia asked as she looked at herself in the mirror with a sapphire gown. Behind her, on the bed, Isaac rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he'll be quite surprised, Mia."
"Oh! That's good." Mia grinned.
Isaac shook his head and stood. This was getting absolutely ridiculous. After the ball he was going to have to find Kraden and ask him anything he knew about reversing the effects of whatever Ivan had done.
This was more or less a last-case scenario since Kraden had established early on that every single encounter was going to be a painful and life-draining experience. Emphasis on life-draining. After Kraden read that talking to plants could help them grow, he had single-handedly wiped out half the orchards to the south of Vale. Isaac shuddered. But, in the name of love (or stupidity), he was going to have do something suicidal and incredibly dumb for the sake of his wife.
Isaac blinked as the weirdest feeling of déjà vu came over him.
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"Gotcha!" Ivan howled in victory as he lunged forward, finally pinning the berserk dog to the floor. Reaching over, he pried the gift from the dog's mouth with a firm tug.
"At last!" Ivan crowed. Grinning, he opened his fist to reveal… a rock. An ordinary, plain rock. One without any distinct markings or characterizations whatsoever. Definitely not what he had been planning on giving Sheba for the party.
Meanwhile, the Alsatian, deathly confused about the whole thing, whined as it stared at it's new master. Whatever for did he feel such an urgent desire to seize that stone he had picked up earlier on?
"Oh, shut up." Ivan muttered as he suppressed an urge to scream.
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I can't believe I was assigned to welcome foreigners… Picard thought to himself as he stood by the gateway to Vale, mouth stretched so tight he felt his skin was about to tear.
This was more or less necessary procedure, though. The Valentine's Day ball in Vale was known far and wide throughout Angara, and since psynergy had been released to the world, Vale had decided to open it's doors to the general public.
Which led to thousands of scholars rushing over to study the Adepts, observing their daily lives, trying to ascertain if it was hereditary or created from ingesting something in the water.
While everyone had been pretty annoyed at the scientists, they had drawn the line at doing gland examinations, and thus, they had diplomatically convinced the scientists to leave by assuring them that if they didn't, the Venus Adepts would cause the ground to open up and swallow them.
The scientists had rapidly departed after that.
But tales about how fabulous and wonderful the St. Valentine's Day parties in Vale were had spread, and on these days, people all over the continent showed up.
Which would have been a logistical nightmare had anyone bothered with records or anything like that.
"Hello, a very good afternoon to you, sir, welcome to Vale…" Picard had been doing this for over an hour now and he was currently not in the best of moods. "Hello, a very good afternoon to you, ma'am, welcome to Vale. Hope you enjoy the ball…"
Aaron stood beside him, doing the exact same thing, only with far more gusto. Picard would never be able to figure out how the little brat could be so freakin' cheerful after one straight hour of monotony. "Hello, good afternoon, sir, welcome to Vale…"
Well, at least he had it better than Kay. She was currently rebuilding her booth after something had knocked it down (Picard wasn't around to see who had done it, but rumours pointed to an undersized Jupiter Adept), and she looked mad enough to kill.
Then it happened.
"Hello, a very good afternoon to you, ma'a- Feizhi?!" Picard gaped as the lavender-haired girl stared around the town with slightly awed eyes.
"Yes, it's me." Feizhi smiled. "Um… Piker, was it?"
"…Picard." He corrected. Then he shook his head. "Uh… what are you doing here?"
"To attend the St. Valentine's Day ball, of course!" She replied, giving him an odd look.
"What? St. Valentine's Day? Oh, right. Right. Yes. Good." Not good, Picard thought. If he remembered anything from her last encounter, it was that she was seriously obsessed with Isaac. Then again, it had been three years. Maybe she had forgotten-
"By the way, how's Isaac getting along." Ah, bleep. Picard thought. Opening his mouth, he stammered out, "I-Isaac, huh? Well, hehe, it's kind of a funny story…"
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"She's supposed to be his wife?" Feizhi asked with a raised eyebrow, giving her, on the whole, a decidedly skeptical look. Not that Picard could blame her. Mia was currently not acknowledging anything anyone said unless it pertained to Ivan in some way.
"Uh, well… yeah. Sorta." Picard replied. "Look, why don't I buy you cup of coffee or something and I can explain this properly to you. Okay?"
Pausing one last time to shoot another look at Mia, whom Isaac was currently trying to restrain from running off towards where she believed Ivan to be (which was more or less a random direction since no one knew where on Weyard the kid had been recently) with several strong coils of rope, Feizhi nodded and set off after Picard.
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"It is time…" He started.
"After three long years… it is time. The time for our fury to be unleashed. For you to know… that all those years of mockery was not forgotten. We have returned… we shall repay every insult we were dealt tenfold. And you will tremble and despair… for we are strong."
"Checkmate." Haze sighed as she sat back. "Y'know, Core, if you'd spent less time trying to create intimidating speeches and actually thinking about what moves you make, maybe you wouldn't suck at chess quite so much. We've been playing for what? Three years now? And you've lost every single game."
"Oh, shut up." Core snapped, feeling sorry for himself. Unfortunately, he was distracted from sinking into a nice warm bog of self-pity by the call of Breath.
"There you two are! Come on! It's almost done! We need all the help we can get! Especially Mars djinn! Hurry up."
"Coming, coming…" Haze laughed as she shot through the air. An instant later, Core followed, a red orb of Mars energy his source of levitation. A few more hours, and then, finally, finally, it would be done, and it would be shown that all their hard work would not be put to waste, that they truly were worthy. And at last, he would receive the reward he so richly deserved…
"Core?" Haze broke in. "You're in your 'dramatic speech' mode again."
"… … Shut up."
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Sheba shoved aside another pile of books as she sifted through her attic, poring over every nook and cranny in a desperate search for a decent dress. So far she had searched her bedroom, then the guest room, then the kitchen.
She refused to enter the bathroom on grounds that if she did do that, she'd be on an entirely new level of desperate. And she didn't want that.
In any case, she had a contingency dress. It was good enough to wear to the party, except for the fact that it was in a color she utterly detested. Oh, well. From the looks of things, she would have to end up wearing it anyway, so-
Hang on… Sheba thought as she pulled at a strange package tucked away in a corner of the room. It was just the right size for a dress, too. Hardly daring to hope, she opened the box…
And gasped at the sight of quite possibly the most beautiful gown she had ever seen. She wasn't sure what material it was, but it was smooth as silk and shimmered, even in the dim light of the attic. As she hugged to her chest, she grinned to herself as she envisioned herself appearing at the party in that.
And Ivan would see her in it.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Several things in life you just don't do. This includes leaping off cliffs, sticking around in a burning building, fighting kids made of rubber (definitely a no-no) and asking Garet to be in charge of the fireworks.
However, due to a massive (and we do mean massive) clerical error, the pointy-haired Mars Adept was in charge of the gunpowder-based entertainment for the Valentine's Day ball. At least Felix was helping. (Ostensibly)
Garet grinned as he dumped a huge pile of brightly coloured fireworks onto the already humongous pile in front of him. Grinning, he lifted his arm into the air in a symbol of victory. "Yes! It's perfect!"
"For an arsonist, sure." Felix mumbled as he picked up a orange coloured sparkler. Flipping it over, he read the warning label. "Must be certified firefighter in order to utilize." He mused. "… Does that mean he fights against fire or that he uses fire to fight?"
Glancing up, he saw Garet staggering under the weight of yet another humongous pile of fireworks. "Given circumstances, I hope it's the latter…"
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"Knock knock."
"Go away."
The door opened and Isaac walked into the room, shaking his head as he stared at the prone form of Ivan. "Come on. Even if you haven't got Sheba to love you, you can still enjoy the ball."
"While staring at her."
"You can still enjoy the food."
"While getting torn up inside that she doesn't love me."
"You can just relax there."
"And angst about her."
"… You know what? Screw this." Isaac snapped. Raising his hand, he gestured to the wooden bed. Instantly, vines and creepers began sprouting over the frame, shooting over the mattress.
Which was extremely helpful in getting a certain Jupiter Adept out of bed, even if not out of his funk. But whaddya gonna do?
Isaac walked over and placed a comforting arm on Ivan's shoulder. No, that does not mean they are gay (in either sense of the word), people (and I utilize the term loosely).
"C'mon, snap out of it." Isaac urged. "Even if you don't feel happy, the least you can do is show up."
"Mmmrgrrfpht."
"Do it or I will personally invite Mia over."
"You are a cruel man to use your own wife as bargaining power."
"It pays the bills. Now hurry up and get changed. It starts in an hour."
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"Almost done, Breath." Gust reported cheerfully. He had good reason to be cheerful. The project that had taken him a whole week to finish was going to be finished in a couple of hours, and then they would-
He was interrupted as Flint's head popped out of the ground. "Supports look about right. I figure it'll hold."
Squall fluttered down. "The rest of the Jupiter Djinn are standing by for your signal."
A fireball flew down to smash into Flint's face, knocking him back. "Whoops, sorry." Scorch apologized as he walked over. "I was trying to hit Squall."
"Ooh…" Flint moaned as he sat up. "Anyone get the number of that fireball that hit me?" Then he blinked. "Ah! I can't feel my nose! I can't feel my nose!"
"Do you even have a nose?" Breath queried.
"… Come to think of it…"
"Anyway," Scorch began. "The Mars Djinn are all in place for illumination duties, something which, might I add, they will do infinitely better job of than the Jupiter Djinn."
"Was that an insult, flame-face?" Squall snarled.
"On you it's a compliment, fan-head!"
"Fan-head?! You take that back or-"
"Or what? You'll huff and puff and-"
"Break it up. Now." Flint said. And when Flint said something, you did it. No questions asked. Squall and Scorch backed off, although they were still trading nasty looks at each other.
"Right, anyway…" Flint continued. "If the reports are to be believed, we're almost done. All we need is-"
"Me. And I'm here." Fizz stated calmly as she hopped down from a rocky outcropping. "The Mercury Djinn have completed all tasks assigned to them."
Djinn have no mouths, but Breath managed to smile anyway. "Good. Now all we need to do is wait." She turned to look at the party gathering below. It was going to be a magical night indeed…
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Garet sighed and leaned back, loosening his tie. "We're supposed to ignite the fireworks only after the blessing has been passed, right?"
"Yes, which leaves me plenty of time to angst about Sheba."
"Can it, you're not right for her anyway."
"Whaddya mean by that?"
"Well, I don't really think she'd prefer a… stalker kind of boyfriend, y'know?"
"No. I don't."
"Just trust me. Bad idea."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Jenna stepped out of the house, whistling as she headed to the plaza. As she began her walk towards the Ball, she saw Picard practically fall over himself in his bid to jump into his formal wear.
As he recovered his balance, he staggered to his feet and muttered something about hanging himself with that 'idiotic tie'.
Jenna merely chuckled and shook her head.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Isaac stepped out the house, looking particularly stunning in his regal tuxedo. This effect was somewhat ruined by Mia attempting to break free from him and go off in search of her Ivan-chan.
No matter. Somehow managing to restrain her, Isaac sighed and began the journey to the plaza.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Ivan emerged from the doorway, looking like the cute little Jupier Adept we all know and love. Just, uh, you know, ignore that last part. Anyway, as he sighed, he turned to pat the dog on the head.
"Wish me luck." He muttered. Then he turned, and began making his way to the plaza, where the St. Valentine's Day ball awaited.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Ivan? Ivan?" Sheba peered into the room, only to find that it was empty. "Oh, well." She murmured. "I guess I'll still find him at the ball."
Ducking her head out, she headed for the doorway of the house, a smile on her lips.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
It was the perfect kind of ball. It had dancing, beautiful music, delicious food, people ready to enjoy themselves, and so much more.
Ivan should have been enjoying himself.
But he wasn't. Instead he was decked out on a chair at the side, feeling lousy, and watching his friends have the time of their lives.
At least Sheba wasn't around. Or maybe that was a bad thing. Ivan desperately wanted to see her, of course. But he had no clue, none whatsoever, as to what he was actually supposed to say to her. After Felix's stunt with Jenna yesterday, he wasn't sure how to deal with her.
With a sigh, he turned to watch the other members of the party enjoying themselves. Well, with any luck he'd get through this unscathed… mentally or otherwise.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Garet twisted and turned through the crowd as he balanced a tray groaning under the weight of a veritable mountain of food. Felix sighed as he watched the antics of his friend.
"Remember, you've got to be ready to go light the 'works at a moment's notice. So don't go getting all distracted by the smorgasbord you've collected for yourself."
"Wkmpf nmmph ssmppff mff mff." Garet replied, which translated roughly into "The Blessing doesn't start for two hours, clodbrains."
"I know, I know. We need to be prepared, is all."
Swallowing his current mouthful, Garet leaned back and sighed. "If only Ivan and Sheba were the ones chosen today, it'd be perfect." Opening an eye, he glared at Felix. " 'Course, if a certain ponytailed Venus Adept hadn't decided to stick his big mug into things…"
"I find it highly discriminatory that you choose me as a convenient scapegoat. Have you considered the fact that Ivan and Sheba were never really meant to be together?"
"Sure, and Saturos was a man given to cool, rational debates over the best course of action."
Felix muttered something under his breath and settled down to nap. The Ball didn't really hold much interest to him.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Picard took a long swallow from his glass of alcohol. After replenishing their stocks from Tuesday, Vale and Vault were more than ready to give the best they had for the St. Valentine Day's ball.
The fact that Master Hammet had sent over a couple dozen crates of specially-aged wines from Tolbi didn't hurt either.
As he walked past the crowds milling around, he spotted a familiar face sitting at the sidelines, smiling and watching the action. Shrugging, he made his way across.
"Master Hama?" Picard asked. She looked up startled. "Oh, it's Picard, isn't it?"
"Yes. You haven't changed much since I last saw you. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know." She smiled slightly as she gestured. "Feizhi wanted to come, but her father wouldn't allow her to go alone, and well, letters were sent, and somehow I ended up tagging along."
"Ah. Then you didn't really have an agenda in mind when you arrived."
"Not really. I prefer to keep to myself, most of the time."
"Well then, perhaps you'd care to join me for a dance?"
Hama smiled. "Why, I think I'd enjoy that very much."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Jenna skirted around the edge of the main dance area towards Ivan, who was sitting on the sidelines, looking more or less dejected.
"Why so blue?" She asked as she sidled up next to him.
"As if you don't know."
Jenna shook her head and clapped Ivan on the back. "Ivan have you ever heard this saying? 'Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it never gets you anywhere."
"Hey, Jenna, have you ever heard this saying? 'If all you need to inspire you is a clichéd phrase, you have no idea what real problems are.'"
"Oh, sure. Be snide. I was only trying to help."
Ivan sank his head even lower. "I don't want your help."
"No, but I can tell you need it."
"… Okay, so what should I do, O great auburn-haired one?"
"For starters." Jenna got to her feet and hoisted Ivan up as well. "Stop moping. And try to enjoy yourself. Even if you can't find anyone to dance the night away with, try to mingle. Don't look as if you're next to listen to Kraden debate Alchemy theory. That just makes people feel uncomfortable. Now go." She gave Ivan a small shove.
"Alright, alright." Ivan grumbled as he stumbled forward. Then, as if considering an afterthought, he turned back. "Jenna?"
"Hnn?"
Ivan smiled. "Thanks."
The Mars Adept grinned. "Anytime."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Fury?"
" 'Bout time you started calling me right." The elder Mars Djinni grumbled to Cannon "Well?"
"We're, uh, we're ready."
Fury sniggered. If you didn't know what it was, you would have found it sounded vaguely like a rat sneezing. But it was djinni sniggering. Trust me.
It was time. And soon the name of Fury would go down in history.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Breath watched as a tiny purple streak headed straight for her from the sky. As it fell, it coalesced into the instantly recognizable form of Gust.
Well, recognizable if you were a fellow Djinni or you spent a large amount of time among them. To a random outsider it would looked like an oversized purple rat. But I digress.
"Almost." He said as soon as he touched down. "She's almost there."
Breath turned to the others. "I want every djinn on maximum alert! It's almost done! Look sharp, guys!"
Instantly, several dozen flashes of colour indicated the djinn zipping off to their respective positions. No one wanted to fail.
After all, this was in the best interests of several of their Adept friends.
Or to be more precise, a pair.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Ivan blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes. Then he blinked again.
The reason for his befuddlement was immediately clear to anyone who knew intimate things about his personal history. Which was somewhere around the number of two (mostly Isaac and Sheba). Thus, I guess it isn't really right to lump it under 'immediately clear' after all. Oh, well.
In any case, Sheba was standing slightly to the side, near a booth, laughing gaily. While she looked absolutely breathtaking, that wasn't really the reason why he was dumbfounded.
She was wearing a beautiful gown, in hues of shimmering amethyst that practically glowed. To Ivan it was perfect. The perfect dress for the girl he loved.
However, while getting close, it was still not the reason for Ivan's shock.
The true reason was that he suddenly remembered what his Valentine Day's gift to Sheba had been. It had been wonderful. It had been perfect. He had been absolutely thrilled to find it because it suited her perfectly and he just knew she would love it.
His Valentine's Day gift had been the dress Sheba was now wearing.
Ivan rubbed his eyes once more, just to ascertain the little devils weren't playing tricks with him. Nope. Still wearing the dress.
The certainty of this fact caused Ivan to very rapidly degenerate into a mental state that we contemporary types commonly refer to as 'nuclear meltdown'.
Which didn't really make for a pretty picture. Trust me.
Gulping, Ivan wheeled around, ready to head to the opposite site of the plaza.
Only to face his friends (well, five of them anyway. Mia was currently tied to a deckchair to prevent her running off) all staring at him expectantly.
Isaac with his yellow scarf, still on even with his formal wear, and his quiet, confident smile.
Garet with his big grin, his arms folded, and a 'what are you waiting for?' expression.
Jenna with her sympathetic eyes, silently urging him on.
Picard, with his sister standing beside, both looking at Ivan with steadfast expectation in their faces.
Even Felix, sitting on a side bench, staring at him out of the corner of his eye, as if daring Ivan to muff this one.
Ivan swallowed hard. He appreciated their support, he really did, but it just… wasn't… enough. He couldn't face Sheba. He just couldn't.
His legs moved. Slowly. Jerkily. He took one step forward. Away from Sheba.
The smile vanished from Isaac's face. Then, he, too, stepped forward.
And raised his arm, his hand clenched into a fist.
An instant later, Garet did likewise.
Then Jenna. Then Picard.
Then Garet nudged Felix, who rolled his eyes, stood, and raised a clenched fist too.
Ivan stood staring, as a memory long buried wormed it's way free
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Ivan! " Isaac called to the Jupiter Adept. "Can you stand?"
He wasn't sure if he wanted to. Every part of his body hurt. Every nerve, every sinew burned in agony. Courtesy of a direct hit from the Doom Dragon, of course.
Slowly, his hand reached for the Tisiphone Edge, lying on the cold rock of the aerie. Slowly, trembling, his hand reached out, every muscle silently screaming in protest, until the sword pointed straight up into the frigid night sky.
"Ivan!" Isaac's voice again. "Don't push yourself! We can deal-"
"No." Ivan whispered. "I can fight. I don't care how tough it is, how powerful it is. I won't give up. As long… as long as I can lift my sword, and hold it high, I can fight. And I won't… ever…give up.
No matter what. Ivan stood, staring at the ground, as he tried to rein in his tears. He wasn't very successful by any standards.
Then, turning, he headed towards Sheba.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"…" Isaac stared at the retreating form of the Jupiter Adept. "You go, Ivan." He grinned.
"Twenty gold says he screws this one up." Felix opined.
Jenna walked over and slapped her brother in the face.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Sheba?" Ivan queried. At the sound of his voice, Sheba turned. "Yes?"
"C-could I, uh, talk to you in private?" Ivan asked sheepishly.
Sheba blinked at this request. "Why, sure. Is there… anything wrong?"
"Huh? Oh! Oh, no. Not at all!" Ivan babbled, then mentally slapped himself. "Uh, this way, please…"
As he led Sheba to a more- or- less secluded area, Ivan attempted to manually review just what he was going to say. Too bad someone had decided to set everything Ivan had in his mind to 'erase' or 'access denied'.
As he mentally fumbled for the words that he was going to say, Sheba continued looking at him with a slightly puzzled smile.
Ivan cleared his throat. Then he did it again. Then a third time. Had his suit always been this warm. Opening, his mouth, Ivan began, "Well.."
"Actually…" Sheba began shyly. Ivan blinked. "Uh, you have something to tell me too?" He asked. Flushing slightly, she nodded, eyes downcast.
"Well, er, then, why don't you go first?" He asked.
"What? Oh, no! You should go first. You asked me, after all."
"No, no." Ivan insisted. "It can wait. What do you have to tell me?"
"No, you go first. Please."
"But-" Ivan shook his head. This was getting nowhere. Screwing his eyes shut, he said a two-second prayer to any higher being out there that happened to be listening. Then opening his mouth, he said the three words that had always seemed so difficult to utter, and yet came out of his mouth so easily.
"I love you.", Ivan and Sheba said at the exact same time. Then their eyes flew open and their hands flew to their mouths, as they realized what had just happened.
"Whoa." Isaac muttered from his vantage point in a bush. "Talk about serendipity."
"Down, you idiot!" Jenna hissed as she pulled him back into a crouching position. "You want to get us discovered?"
Ivan and Sheba, however, were in a world of their own right then.
"Did you just say… what I thought I heard you say?" Ivan questioned, not trusting his own ears.
Sheba, by then red as a beetroot, nodded, eyes transfixed on her shoes. "A- and, what you said, was it true? Do you… really love me?"
Ivan said nothing for a few minutes as he stared deep into her emerald eyes, as he remembered what it had been like all those years ago when he had first laid eyes on her in Babi's palace, and then their journey through the wilds, her laughter, her wide, beautiful smile…
"I do." He whispered, just loud enough for Sheba to hear. "I love you. With all of my heart."
Sheba raised an arm to wipe away the tears of joy brimming in her eyes. "Oh, Ivan." She murmured.
They stood this way for over a minute, both locked in their joy at this sudden revelation, that the affection they had felt for each other was truly requited, and a sudden exhilarating rush of nervousness.
Then Ivan, scratching his head, asked sheepishly. "Would it, uh, lower my credibility any if I kissed you right now?"
Sheba chuckled. "Let me think." Then, reaching over, she pulled him close, their lips meeting and bringing forth a new surge of joy and sensation. "Nope." She whispered into his ear as she pulled away from the kiss.
Then their eyes widened again, as a violet aura sprung up around them both, the energy dancing and merging with each other's until a distant observer might see only a single being standing there in the night, shining with the purest light of Jupiter.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"The psynergy stone!" Someone shouted. "It's glowing!"
Instantly every head was turned to the center of the plaza, where the purple crystal pulsed and glowed with psynergetical brilliance, signifying that the blessing had been passed, that a couple would never be sundered as long as they lived and their love remained true.
As heads turned and people desperately searched, Garet nudged Felix. "Toldja."
"Yeah, yeah." Felix grumbled. Then, upon hearing a match strike, he turned to see Garet putting a flame to a long line of string that connect all the fireworks to a single fuse.
"You idiot!" Felix howled. "You don't release them all at once!"
"Relax." Garet assured Felix over the hissing sound as the fire wound it's way through the rope. "It's aimed at Mt. Aleph."
Felix could only shake his head as he watched the fireworks ignite with a thunderous roar.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"What was that?" Ivan asked as he saw what appeared to be an enormous flaming cloud flew through the air, screaming on a course straight to Mt. Aleph. An instant before the cloud impacted, it burst into a brilliantly coloured array of lights and flames.
And Ivan and Sheba's jaws dropped as they saw what was on the mount.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Gust ol' buddy?"
"Yeah, Breath?"
"I think we did good."
"We did indeed."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
On the surface of Mt. Aleph was a gigantic signboard, recently erected, and large enough to be seen even from the plaza.
On it was a huge painted sign, with black lettering that inked out the words 'Ivan N Sheba 4ever!'
Sheba stared at the sign for a few moments, willing herself not to laugh out loud. Ivan, meanwhile, seemed more embarrassed than anything else. "That is so like them." He muttered.
Then the top half of the mountain exploded.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Fury had calculated that the sound from the explosion would reach the plaza. That was correct. He had calculated that the explosion would draw the attention of practically everyone there. That was also correct. He had also calculated that none of the rocks would be heavy enough to make it's way to the plaza and thus hurt people. This was, fortunately, also correct.
What he had not calculated was the Wise One's weight. It was more than light enough to make it's way to the plaza, as it was currently doing.
It also happened to be screaming something about vengeance being brought on the djinn, but that was beside the point.
The point was that it was headed towards a deckchair in which a particular Mercury Adept was tied to.
"MIA!" Isaac yelled as the Wise One impacted the ground, throwing up clods of dust and soil. As he ran over to the deckchair, he resolved to find a way to hurt the Wise One. Badly.
Rolling over the currently unconscious bulk, he gave a gasp of relief as he noted that his wife was dusty, coughing, but very much alive.
"What in the world?" She managed, before struggling out of the crater. As soon as she was out of the crater, Isaac tackled her. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"Uh… thanks." Mia coughed again as she slumped onto another chair nearby. Just then, Ivan and Sheba came running up, followed closely by Picard, Felix, and Garet, all cradling several very groggy djinn in their hands.
Upon noticing their arrival, Mia glanced up, which caused Ivan to tense noticeably (and with good reason.) She smiled weakly. "Hi."
Everyone blinked. Then Isaac pointed to Ivan and said, "Uh, Mia? This is Ivan."
"Well, yes, I can see that…"
"And you, uh, don't feel like glomping or chasing him?"
Mia lifted an eyebrow. "Why would I want to? I mean, sure, he's a little easier on the eyes than some people I could mention, but-" Then she gasped, and was on her feet in an instant. "Ivan!"
Ivan tensed up again and prepared to get his legs in high gear, but as it turned out, it wasn't necessary. Mia was merely pointing, not chasing. "That aura!"
Then everyone noticed what was earlier so apparent. Ivan and Sheba, standing side by side, had a purple glow about them that merged seamlessly with the other. Sheba nodded sheepishly. "I know. It was like this a few minutes ago, but I don't-"
"Don't you get it?" Mia squealed. "It means you've been chosen! You're the ones who've received the blessing, sillies!"
Ivan was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that everyone around him was cheering and clapping for them both. As the two lovers turned red as tomatoes and stared at the ground, Gust and Breath, newly arrived from Fury Explosive airlines, stared at each other with pride.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
Felix sighed. So Ivan's got Sheba now. Draining his glass, he slammed the mug back onto the table and sighed. And I'm left with jack. Sighing again, he signaled for the server to bring him another mug of ale. Oh, well. I guess SOMEONE out there has to be right for me. Just wasn't Sheba. Have to keep looking.
Feizhi sighed. "I can't believe I came all the way here just to find Isaac's already married. Oh, well. Must be fated for them or something. Guess I'm just destined to be a lonely soul, after all…"
Felix lifted his head, and he caught sight of a young girl with violet hair at the other end of the table, muttering to herself.
Feizhi glanced up in time to see a dark-haired youth looking at her curiously. The wind blew through the plaza, whipping his hair around his face, partially obscuring his eyes.
Felix returned to his drink. What a loser.
Feizhi sniffed. Now that is a total wreck. Who'd ever want someone like him?
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Oh, look. I think the aura's worn off." Sheba said softly as they stood in the doorway of her house.
"So it has."
She stood, gazing deep into his eyes. Why hadn't she realized before? It had always been there, on the edge of her consciousness, a deep affection for Ivan. And now it was brought to the forefront, as it had slowly been doing so for the past week, leaving no doubt in her mind.
This was the man she loved. Ivan, and no one else, was the one she wanted to spend her life with.
Just then, the dog appeared in the doorway, whining at the two of them expectantly. Ivan chuckled and leaned down to pat it's head. "Settle down, Ananda. We're back."
"Ananda?" Sheba asked playfully.
"It just sounds right." Ivan replied.
"Well then." Sheba gestured. "Shall we?"
"… Does that mean I get to sleep in the same bed as you tonight? Hey- Ow!" Ivan yelped as Sheba bonked him on the head.
"Idiot." She smirked.
As she was about to turn and enter the house, Ivan suddenly grabbed her hand. "No, wait. Come here."
"Ivan, what-" was all she managed before he led her through the maze of stairs and passages through Vale, a playful grin etched on his face. Suddenly, he stopped and pointed. "Here."
Sheba's mouth hung open as she stared at the grassy area, at the tallest point of Vale. A single tree stood in the space. "Do you remember?" Ivan asked. "When we first returned to Vale? This was the tallest point in the village, the place where the wind blew strongest. On dry nights that I couldn't sleep I'd come out here to watch the stars. They were beautiful." Then he smiled. "C'mon."
Sheba followed Ivan, still protesting mildly. "Ivan, I don't think-"
"Shhh." He grinned as he lay down on the grass, arms folded behind his head to support it. "Just try it."
Hesitantly, Sheba smoothed a patch of grass next to Ivan and lay down next to him. He was right, she had to admit. The stars were beautiful. And lying down here, next to him, wasn't half-bad either.
"There's Procne." Ivan said in a dreamy voice. "He always was my favourite constellation as a kid."
Sheba smiled. "Mine too. When I could see him. He usually didn't show over Lalivero"
Lying there, staring at the infinite darkness above them, Sheba felt herself slowly drifting off to sleep. She murmured sleepily to herself, and moved closer to Ivan, before falling into a deep slumber.
Ivan blinked at the unexpected contact. Then slowly, so as not to wake her up, he rolled her onto her side, his arms wrapped around her torso. Then, a smile on his face, he drifted off to sleep himself.
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
"Wait, you mean I chased after Ivan for the whole week? The poor guy!" Mia exclaimed.
"Don't feel too bad." Isaac consoled her. "He doesn't blame you."
"That's some comfort, I guess." Mia grinned. "Hey, what's up over there?" Garet, Jenna, and Picard could be seen standing at the entrance to Sol Sanctum, staring at something off to the side.
Hurrying over, they were greeted by Jenna's call of "Over here." Walking to her side, Mia gasped at the sight.
Directly below them lay a grassy cliff, a single tree providing shelter. To the side, lay Ivan and Sheba, embracing each other in their sleep.
"They are such a cute couple." Jenna smiled.
"So they ended up together after all…" Picard grinned. "Actually, I'm not that surprised."
"So, Mia." Isaac chuckled to the night air. "Everything turned out pretty well after all."
"Don't you just love a happy ending?" Garet grinned.
"Love 'em. Absolutely love 'em."
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return – Some guy whose name I cannot be bother to remember
(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)
So, it's finally over. Thanks to all readers and reviewers. Thank you for your support.
So, what's next, I hear you ask? Well, I'll finish Sands, of course.
Then… I suppose I'll try my hand at a sequel. After all, Ivan and Sheba have got to get married sometime, ne?
Heh, but until then, ciao!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. And maybe not even that.