Chapter Three

Isaac swung his sword as hard as he could, and Alex raised his blade. Their weapons clashed and Alex cast Isaac aside, sending his foe tumbling into the raging waters.

"You cannot stop me in my own environment!" Alex yelled, walking toward Isaac, the water billowing around him, fleeing as if it were afraid of his terrible power. 'I have been through too much to fall now!"

Isaac broke the surface, gasping for air, the water rising higher and higher. He saw Alex walking toward him, and he felt fear within him. He had felt anxious ever since his former party members had moved away from New Vale to their old homes that something horrible would happen…and it had.

Alex broke out in a full out run, and he lunged forth with his blade. Isaac managed to hurl himself through the rushing waters to dodge the swing. Alex stabbed out again, catching Isaac in the right arm, drawing blood. Isaac wildly thrashed through the waters, swinging his blade wildly without success. Alex held out his arm and cast Spire, crashing down a giant rock into the water and smashing Isaac hard. Isaac was throttled about, blood now streaming from his mouth, and he was in bad shape, starting to drift in and out of consciousness.

Alex laughed cruelly. Finally, the time had come. His foe was on the ropes. With just one swift move his pain and suffering would finally be over.

Alex thrust out his arm, casting Glacier, and so all of the waters covering Vale turned to ice. Isaac was trapped, unable to move, frozen among the ice. Alex climbed on top of the twelve foot layer of ice and walked slowly up to Isaac. Only Isaac's head was not encased in ice, having been above the surface of the rushing water.

"It saddens me that my life was ruined by such a pathetic boy," Alex said. "But I will put you out of your misery and end mine in the process."

Alex slowly raised his sword into the air. He pointed the blade down, and he could already feel it, the end of the end…pouring all of his malice, all of his hatred, all of his rage, every single emotion that had welled up within him…

He swung his blade down as hard as he could.

Just as he swung down, Alex suddenly became overcome with paralysis. He froze in his steps, his blade just short of Isaac's head. He lost his grip and his sword clattered to the ice. He stumbled back, and he felt as if some force was pulling at his heart…pulling at his being…

Alex clutched the sides of his head and reared back his head, letting out a loud cry. He lost complete control of his Psynergy, and the ice fell away, turning back to water, and the water faded, the river returning to normal. Soon, all traces of the flood were gone, and Alex fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Isaac slowly rose to his feet, battered but okay.

"Alex…" Isaac said. "What made you stop? Why did you come here?'

Alex swung his fist and struck Isaac in the stomach, sending Isaac reeling. Alex then stole away, fleeing to the shadows, fleeing the village, and he was gone.

Isaac recovered from the blow. "Dammit!" he said. "I should have killed him when I had the chance! That man is dangerous!"

Garet limped over to Isaac. "You're all right?" asked Isaac.

Garet grinned. "Yeah. What happened back there, anyway?"

"Well…Alex is back," said Isaac darkly. "And I think he wants vengeance on me for some reason…I don't know why."

It then dawned on Isaac at that moment. When Alex had used Earth Psynergy…he had said something about Felix…

"Where is Felix?" Isaac demanded. He looked around frantically, but then was overcome with grief when he saw Felix's corpse lying not far from his house, fresh blood still lying around it.

"No…" moaned Isaac, walking over to the body of his fallen comrade. "Felix…"

Isaac knelt down and placed his hand on Felix's face, shutting Felix's eyes with his fingers. "You were a brave friend…" said Isaac softly, tears streaming down his face. "You died…protecting us…you did not deserve this fate. He was not after you…"

"Isaac…" Garet said thoughtfully.

Isaac clenched his fist until the knuckles beneath his brown leather glove where white. "It was Alex," he said furiously. "Next time I see him…I'LL KILL HIM!"

Jenna opened her door. "What all happened out here?" she asked. She spotted Garet and Isaac by Felix's corpse, and slowly she walked toward them. "What happened to Felix? Isaac, tell me what happened to Felix! TELL ME!"

Isaac's face was downcast. "Alex attacked Vale," he explained simply. "And…Felix died fighting him."

Jenna fell to her knees at her brother's body, the tears wetting her face. She fell flat out on the ground, face downward, and she cried uncontrollably. She was shaking from the sadness that overwhelmed her.

"Jenna…" said Isaac, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She sat up, her face blotched red. "Didn't you do anything?" she demanded. "Didn't you try to stop Alex?"

"We came too late," explained Garet. "There was nothing we could do. Alex attacked us and almost killed Isaac as well, but he just fled for some reason."

"So he's still out there?" inquired Jenna.

Isaac nodded grimly. "And he took Felix's Djinn with him, so now he can use Earth Psynergy," he said. "But why did he flee? It seemed like something overtook him…"

"We should go after him," Jenna suggested. "I want to end that miserable thief's life right now."

"Yeah, but we don't know where he went," Garet pointed out. "Maybe...he's after Djinn! And maybe he wants Djinn of each element!"

"Then he'll have to come here," Isaac said. "Because you two are the only two Adepts with Mars Djinn…"

"But he might want to come back with more power," Garet suggested. "Maybe he wants to get Wind Psynergy first, so he would need Jupiter Djinn."

"Vault is just south of here," Isaac said. "So…Ivan may be in serious trouble!"

"Then we'll pack our things," Garet said flatly. "We'll head him off at the pass. Alex's power craze ends today! Come on, guys, let's finish what we started!"

"In memory of my brother," Jenna said icily.

Alex leaned up against a tree, gasping for breath. He felt a horrid pain in his chest, and he could barely stand. He was at the outskirts of Vale, not having gotten far after attacking Isaac. "Damn that boy," he hissed. "Why can't I just be free of that wretched child? Again he ruins my life!"

He then fell silent, trying to control his breathing, and he heard Isaac, Garet and Jenna conversing by Felix's fallen body. "They're right," he said with a sadistic smile, completely crazedwith anger. "If I gather Djinn of each element…I can gain the power of new Psynergy! And if I obtain Jupiter Djinn from that little boy in Vault…I will have enough power to strip those two of their Mars Djinn! With the power of all four elements, I can unleash Alchemy within myself, a vessel of complete and unquestioned might! I will no longer need the Golden Sun! I WILL BE THE GOLDEN SUN!"