"You may call yourself what you wish, or address yourself in title however you see fit," Felix said calmly. "We still need you." Divinity's eyes moved over him, and then around the whole of the circle, calculating and swift, soft and deadly.
"What is it that you require of me?" she asked silkily. Isaac loosened his scarf around his neck and spoke, and only then did the other seven note the extreme fatigue in his voice.
"You are Divinity, the personification of Justice in a single being. As an archangel you are unswayed by the temptations of this world and, to a lesser extent than we are, unaffected by the ebb and flow of Alchemy," he stated, and Divinity said nothing to reply but simply nodded to show her acknowledgment. Some of the others raised quizzical eyebrows at him, wondering how Isaac knew all this and where he learned it, but none of them rose their voices to interrupt him. "This land is now under the influence of the risen Golden Sun, the entity that consists of Alchemy at its purest, cleanest state.
"The Golden Sun, being of pure Alchemy, is attractive to all who see it. It gathered Psynergy from all Adepts worldwide, some who have never even been to Vale and never heard of us, and some still who had understood their powers, only to have them taken away, unexpectedly.
"When Mount Aleph erupted three years ago, it scattered Psynergy stones across the world. Some struck living beings, causing them to rise and become sentient." Ivan's eyes narrowed.
"Tret and Laurel," he mumbled softly, exemplifying Isaac's remarks. Indeed, the trees Tret and Laurel in Kolima Forest became sentient beings once struck by Psynergy stones after the eruption, becoming living, thinking plants whose only desire was for the welfare of their forest.
"Monster attacks increased as random animals were struck by Psynergy, their bodies becoming twisted into monsters. I..." his voice faltered. He looked away from Divinity for the first time since they summoned her and looked at his hands. "These hands have slain many of them.
"Some people were struck by Psynergy stones, too. Those that were hit displayed abilities in Psynergy, becoming some sort of Adepts, themselves." This time it was Mia's turn to understand.
"Feizhi," she whispered slowly, recalling the time they'd met on Silk Road and remembering how Master Hama mentioned that she'd passed Reveal onto her.
"The land became flooded with Psynergy," Isaac continued, apparently oblivious to the soft interruptions around him, "and people had to adapt to accept it. The Adepts loved their abilities, accepting it as a heaven-sent gift, and they went to work developing their powers, slowly but surely. The animals that had become monsters occasionally attacked towns and travelers, and the people that were not Adepts had to learn to fight properly in order to protect themselves.
"But for the new Adepts, that's a paradise that cannot exist. Just as Tret's heart became infected by his own rage, turning him to hatred and evil, many of the new Adepts found themselves becoming angry at one thing or another, and their hearts soured, as well. They became meaner, crueller and, not necessarily evil, but certainly darker in nature.
"And then," he sighed again, his voice sounding more and more resentful and depressed at the same time, "we had to interfere. To light the Elemental Lighthouse beacons and call forth the Golden Sun. And when it did, the world was not a paradise, as we could have hoped in our myopic little vision of the future. The Golden Sun rose and absorbed all Psynergy in the land, except for those of us who were too close to Elemental Flares.
"Adepts worldwide now had to live without their newfound gifts. It was like giving a baby a toy and then taking it away from him. None of them could handle it. So they whined and moaned for awhile, and then took it out on each other.
"For awhile, riots occurred in various cities. Unable to attain their Psynergetical power again, many of them settled for material wealth, that fleeting power. So massive amounts of thieves and plunderers, and murderers who couldn't steal what they wanted peacefully, came to be." Jenna stifled a small sob as best she could, with Garet's head down and him rubbing his hand across her shoulder for support. To live this story was bad enough, but to hear it again struck an entirely different chord. Isaac forced himself to retell it, hopefully for the last time.
"And then, some of the people in Vault started noticing the Golden Sun here, and some felt drawn by its Alchemical aura. And so, some came here, and as word spread, more former Adepts begging for their lost power flock here, desperate for another chance at what they once had. The Golden Sun won't give them their powers back, but they don't know that, and they won't listen to us when we try to tell them so.
"The thievery happens almost continually, the murders are rampant. We're killing ourselves," Isaac stated sadly, a note of guilt in his voice. "We need you, Divinity. We truly do."
To say the majestic archangel was touched would have been a downright lie. With no more than a blink, she asked levelly, "What is it you wish me to do?" Even Felix was taken back by her coldness, but he refrained from saying anything. He caught Picard's eye and the two shared a worried glance, but neither moved.
"Help us protect ourselves from... ourselves, really," Isaac concluded. "You are Justice. That is what the world needs right now." Divinity nodded her head smoothly and slowly took to the air, hovering above the Adepts so she could move to combat the felonies Isaac had spent so much time speaking of.
Suddenly, Mia called to her, "Wait!" The incarnation stopped and turned to look at her. "Let us go with you first, so you'll know what we need done." Garet stared at her, wide-eyed, as though expecting that it should be obvious that a being of pure Justice should know what to do in matters related to justice, but the summoned creature nodded her head and waited patiently for a leader.
Felix looked over at Isaac and noticed the bags under his eyes. He moved over and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're exhausted," he noted. "You're in no condition to fight right now. Go home and sleep, and come back out in the morning." Isaac looked at him with weary eyes. He opened his mouth to argue, but Felix cut him off. "Go, and don't come back until the sun is up." Isaac chuckled quietly.
"That damned sun is up," he said, gesturing at the Golden Sun. "That's why we're so screwed up in the first place." Felix, having no answer, left it at that. Isaac turned on his heel and started heading for home, Mia quickly turning and moving to walk alongside him.
"Just in case there's trouble," she said in passing to Picard.
"Sure," Picard replied, with a rare smile that the Adepts hadn't seen much of in passing weeks. The two followed a path north, into the city. Felix looked over at Divinity.
"Well, then," he said, trying to shift into his leader mode as smoothly as possible. "I guess we should head for the plaza." Ivan nodded and Sheba opened her mouth, but the sound of smashing and falling glass cut her off. The archangel craned her head in the direction of the sounds.
"That way, I assume?" she posed. Picard sighed deeply, and nodded slightly. That was enough for her to pick up on, and she flew off, silently into the night, in the direction of the plaza. The six Adepts followed her on foot, trying to hurry but just too tired to really quicken their pace.
- - - - -
"Are you okay, Isaac?" Mia asked quietly. Her voice seemed small and distant, but she seemed stronger now than she had a few moments ago, before the summoning. Isaac looked at her, his eyes a dull blue, not the bright, shining azure that she had fallen in love with months ago. Still, they were his, and she felt for him all the same.
"I don't know, Mia. I really don't," he replied, his voice rough and deep. Mia clasped onto his arm and walked closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Things will be better in the morning," she said with as much confidence as she could muster. "Divinity will take care of some things, and you'll be rested and refreshe-"
"Bull," Isaac said harshly. "We've been praying for 'rested and refreshed' for months now, and you know it never comes. We're just as tired after waking up as we are going to sleep because our dreams- our nightmares- are as fatiguing as real life." Tears stung at Mia's eyes, but she blinked them back.
"Please... believe," she said simply, craning her neck to look at him. Isaac glanced down into her eyes, and although they weren't as bright and clean as they were when they met, his heart still melted at seeing them, so he stopped walking and kissed her.
"I will," he said, starting to walk again. He broke off from Mia and turned left, across a bridge that broke off from the path. Mia blinked.
"Isaac... your home is this way," she said, gesturing forward along the path. Isaac stopped and looked at her, his gaze not meeting hers.
"I'm not going home right now," he replied. Mia sighed and lowered her gaze, but walked to keep up with him.
"You can't keep beating yourself up over this, Isaac," Mia said softly, the same words she'd repeated over and over for countless nights.
"I know, Mia... I know I can't," came the reply, as always.
"It's won't do you any good to visit his grave..."
- - - - -
A scream pierced the night air, coming just after a brilliant flash of white light that lit up the night sky, originating in the plaza. The six Adepts arrived there just in time to see a man, a thief, convulsing on the ground, rolling over and over, twitching violently, clawing at his head. Divinity stood over him, staring at him, a scowl over her soft expression, the first emotion they'd seen from her.
Garet was the first to approach, and by the time he'd walked over, the man was dead, unmoving. He looked around the plaza, and a chill feeling stuck in his heart. One, two, three... three more dead bodies, scattered in various parts of the plaza, laying in positions that clearly displayed a lingering, painful death, as they had just witnessed.
"What..." Picard said breathlessly. "What did you do?" he whispered. Divinity's acute archangel senses picked up on it.
"I sensed his mind. You used Jupiter powers, in part, to summon me, did you not?" she replied levelly, no regret or remorse in her voice. "I used that to probe his mind with a spell." Ivan recoiled, as did Sheba, scared at the damage inflicted, in part, by their Mind Read.
"Mind Read... doesn't do that!" Ivan exclaimed, shocked. Divinity's scowl lessened, and she regarded him with a mix of confusion and objectiveness.
"No, it doesn't. But a spell I possess does," she explained. "I simply use your ability to read his mind, and if he is guilty of any crimes, then in ultimate justice, he suffers for his own crimes in pain. The harsher the crime, the more he feels. In this case, his crimes were so many and so horrible that he died." Felix's fists were clenched, but he knew better than to pick a fight here.
"And what about him? And him?! And him?!" he cried, pointing at all the other slain men. Divinity shrugged her shoulders.
"They were guilty of transgressions of the law. They were punished."
"What was worthy of this?" Sheba asked quietly. Divinity looked at her curiously, as though the answer should be obvious.
"This one," she gestured to the man before them, "stole goods on four separate occasions. This would have been his fifth." They gaped at her.
"That's..." Jenna gasped. "Four thefts?! That's worth death?" Divinity shook her head.
"No, of course not," she answered. "He would have suffered fatal pain after one."
It was then the Adepts realized what they had summoned. An avatar of Justice that was not bogged down with compassion, with love and care. All she saw were things in black and white, no shades of grey in between, no special cases or 'what if' scenarios. One was either perfect in their soul and conscience, through their whole lives, having never broken a law or done harm to another...
...or one must die.