The Saturn Adept

(Complete with boring title, unoriginal plot, and painful Mary Sue x Isaac action!)

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A/N: There are no words that I can say to express my sorrow, regret, and remorse for my tardiness. I just hope you all are the type to forgive and forget and still continue reading.

I cringe whenever I see the Just In page for GS. Most of the time. AND I WON'T NAME ANY NAMES, but you get my drift. There are some that need their Author's Fanfic Writing License revoked. Now. Seriously.

Now on with the fic. Which shouldn't scar your eyes too badly.

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Jenna woke up from a perplexing dream, sweating and panting heavily. That girl she had run into – Alex's underling-turned-traitor, or such – had been in it, telling her in a very urgent voice to 'retrieve the imprisoned'... Jenna's mind hurt too much at the moment (The cynical mind being its usual snarky self and making things worse) to dwell much on that, and she simply stared up at the ceiling, trying to even out her breathing.

Once the blood quit roaring up in her head and she was no longer gasping for air, Jenna took notice of her environment. There was a soft pitter-pattering up above her (She wondered where, though, considering this wasn't your average home), and occasionally a soft creaking noise, probably of wood.

The door opened a bit, and Jenna, frightened, threw the covers over her head. Was she supposed to be asleep still? Was Xanaeya coming to finally do her in for good? With a katana? With a knife? With a –

"Jenna? Is that you?"

Jenna drew the covers down from her face slightly, surprised. "Sheba!"

The blonde girl blinked at her a few times. "Um, who else?"

Jenna sighed. "Well, there's Xanaeya and Isaac, and I wouldn't be surprised if that Elf is up and running around again..."

"Actually, they've all left."

Double-take. "What?"

"I said, they've all left. I think to go find someone or something to cure you – "

"Freedom!" Jenna screeched, throwing off the covers, and taking one bounding leap off the bed, then teetering backwards. Sheba ran to help her, but she had already flopped back onto the bed, groaning.

"Are you okay?"

"No," Jenna grumbled, one hand laid across her forehead. She grit her teeth in both frustration and pain. She had a chance to escape with her life, but then it turned out she wasn't feeling that well at all. Drat. "Do I look – "

"It'll pass." Sheba said firmly, tugging on her wrist. "I felt the same way when I woke up and tried to move around, and the more you do, the better you feel. Trust me."

"Right. Trust you."

"Jenna, you know how many times I've saved your behind during our travels, saving your dear brother much grief and agony."

"You did it for him," Jenna huffed. Sheba blushed for a moment, but didn't stop trying to wrench Jenna's wrist off. "Ow, ow! Quit that!"

"Hmph." Sheba glared at her for a moment, then released her wrist. Jenna gingerly held it, glaring back at her so-called friend. "Well, you wouldn't get up yourself..."

"That's no reason to go breaking my wrist," Jenna muttered, and slowly got to her feet. Sheba watched as she wobbled forward, making it to the dresser and clinging to it as her feet practically gave out underneath her.

"Come on, keep on moving!" Sheba coached from the sidelines as Jenna snarled at her and tried to get back on her feet. "To the door! Right, left, right, left!"

With Sheba's backseat-walking, Jenna managed to make it to the landing, but now the problem was how to get down the stairs without breaking my neck.

"No. Just no." Jenna clung to the landing's railing with a white-knuckled deathgrip as Sheba attempted to drag her downstairs. "NO! You can't make me go!"

"Jenna, let's be mature about this," Sheba hissed through grit teeth, trying to pull Jenna down the stairs (Though Jenna thought that, to be frank, the girl was trying to pull her arm out of its socket). "If you want to escape without Xanaeya torturing, mauling, or beheading you, we have to get out now!"

"Ooaaaooow!" was all Jenna wailed in response.

Sheba made a frustrated sound and let go of her friend's arm. Jenna immediately snapped her poor abused arm next to her chest, holding it protectively against her as she watched Sheba warily. "Okay, Jenna." Sheba breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. "If you want to save your hide, you'll get out yourself. I'm leaving."

Jenna stared as Sheba walked down the stairs, listening to her footsteps echo back to her, then eventually fade away.

"No! Don't leave me here by myself!" Jenna shouted, bounding down the stairs like a madwoman. "The Elf will come and get me!"

"See?" Sheba said in her I told you so voice, prying Jenna's fingers off of her shoulder before the Mars Adept could dislocate her arm. "No use staying here."

"I have to find Felix." Jenna said resolutely, poking her head around the corner before descending the next few steps gingerly, like a baby taking her first steps. "I have to."

"You know where he is?"

"Uh, no. I was hoping you could me help me change the location of his whereabouts from Unknown to Somewhere nearby and can be easily saved."

Sheba sighed and rubbed her forehead. "So, Jenna, you have no idea where your older brother might be..."

"Correct." Jenna answered with a curt nod before tiptoeing down the next few steps, wobbling, and then leaping out onto the next landing, as though expecting something or someone to launch itself at her. She glanced around cautiously through narrowed brown eyes, then scuttled down the next flight of stairs. "So you'll help."

"Considering I'm a Jupiter Adept, and since I'm working with you, I guess I have no choice..."

"What does that mean?" She shot Sheba a suspicious look over her shoulder, and Sheba quickly averted her eyes and swallowed with some difficulty.

"Er, nothing. Stop shuffling around like that and just get down the stairs already."

With some more pokes, prods, and insults from Sheba, the two girls managed to get down the stairs in one piece, more or less.

"So. What's the plan of escape?" Jenna inquired, raising one eyebrow as Sheba stopped behind her.

"Er."

"I'm assuming you have some masterful, flawless plan in that head of yours..."

"I was thinking we could go through the door?"

"Is that Plan A or Plan B?"

"Uh, Plan Number One?"

"Sounds great! Let's go." (1)

x x x x x

Karst lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling blankly and feeling quite helpless. In some nonexisting parallel dimension, she'd met this Sean guy, married him, and had Serena, and thanks to some "seam in time," she'd been deposited on Saturos' porch. Speaking of Saturos, when did he become so sweet and sugary and...

The female Proxian shuddered, clutching the blankets in fisted hands. If just that one girl can turn Saturos into a cookie-making, house-cleaning, apron-wearing diva, I don't even want to know what would happen if this girl were unleashed on the rest of Weyard...

Despite being known as quite the sinister villain, even Karst found the mere idea... appalling. Too cruel for words. Just downright evil.

Although, Serena was her daughter... If she could...

No. That's not what Menardi would do – if she were still right of mind – nor would that be what Saturos would, if this kid hadn't influenced him so much. That's just plain wrong. Detestable, they would both call it. Grrr.

The door burst open. Karst braced herself mentally. "Mommy!"

"...Hello, Serena." Karst said slowly and deliberately. The pink-haired girl smiled a most beatific smile and pounced onto the bed.

"Uncle Saturos sent me to wake you, but it looks like you already are! He's made some stew, and he says it'd be good for you, since you seem so weak." She said, continuing to smile. Karst had to look away from her angelic face (How could something so small be so very scary?) before the words sunk in. "Do you feel okay, Mommy? Do you have a fever? A stomachache? Cold feet? Anything?"

Well, she was feeling faint. But that was because of the kid. Did that still count? Hmm. But I have more chances of escape if I can actually walk around, so... Gulping down what little remained of her pride and good sense of mind, Karst feebly smiled and said as nicely as possible, "Some water would be nice." I have to get their guard down! But I can't do that when I feel like a sack of raw potatoes...

Serena squealed happily for something to do for her supposed mother, and raced off, bouncing. Karst let out her breath as soon as the wooden door clicked shut, shuddering. She had a good reason for being so afraid. And if they said she didn't, well, they'd never had to deal with something like the embodiment of... sugarysweetpinkhappiness that was Serena.

She needed Menardi's guidance right now. It was just the thing, though, that she was basically imprisoned within Saturos's house, and the Lapis was probably somewhere else. Oh, and, Katelyn. Not like that girl mattered. Despite what she'd said before, she'd probably be really happy to wake up to Saturos serving her good soup in an apron she could've sworn Menardi used to wear when she was a little kid.

Karst had bundled herself up in numerous blankets to disguise her disgusted-shivering as I'm-just-really-cold-shivering when Serena came back with the requested water.

x x x x x

Jenna stopped as soon as she took one step out into the freedom known as the Outside of Xanaeya's Home. She needed to find her brother. Thing was, where the heck was that little anxious bird?

"...Uh... Sheba? Did you happen to see any sparrows inside that tree?"

"...Sparrows? No, sorry. Why do you ask?"

"It's just... Oh, never mind. Are you sure you didn't?"

"Positive."

Jenna cursed quietly to herself and started to walk forward, thinking deeply about the possible locations of her brother. Being observant as she was, Sheba sped in front of her, noticed her narrowed eyes pointed at the emerald-colored blades of grass surrounding them, and decided it was safer if she led. Jenna was prone to walking into things when she was doing an uncharacteristically large amount of thinking, and she would likely set something on fire just to hide her embarrassment.

And the last thing they needed right now was a forest fire in Xanaeya's Oh-So-Speshuul Forest of Fairies and Sprites and other Whimsical Beings with Purple Sparkley Wings. (2) Sheba stifled a world-weary sigh and drew an obscenely long branch out of the way.

Unfortunately for Jenna, Sheba had a most-skewed sense of timing and let go of the branch, thinking Jenna had been close enough behind to avoid the backlash. Alas. Jenna was clotheslined most painfully, and she went down onto the leaf-strewn ground with a lady-like whump.

The first thought to come to the Lavileran's mind was I'm in for it now. The second was to flee while she had the chance, but Jenna seemed fairly spaced out and in no condition to go on a rampage. The girl could get lost without someone to follow, and Sheba knew the consequences later for leaving Jenna in an enchanted forest would be quite great. She crouched down, a bit hesitant. "Uh, Jenna?"

"What is that?" Jenna asked her in return, blinking at something past her shoulder.

Sheba turned, looking around for what could have possibly caught Jenna's attention. Jenna was sometimes the most easily amused one out of their group, but considering the current circumstances...

"What is what? I don't see anything, Jenna..."

"Over there," the Mars Adept stressed her words by suddenly leaning forward, grabbing Sheba's face between her hands and wrenching it to the right and a bit upwards. Sheba restrained a yowl of pain.

"...Oh..." Sheba muttered, her lips feeling rather smushed together. Iris, this girl honestly didn't know her strength. She wasn't sure what she was looking at, to be quite honest, but it looked intriguing enough to have caught the attention of a girl with a five-second attention span, granted there weren't any jewels, money, or other similarly-shiny things in the vicinity. "...What is it?"

"I think it's a birdcage." Jenna said firmly, finally letting go and standing abruptly. Sheba fell to the ground in her place, muttering about her face as the red-headed girl walked off a bit to do some more cage-watching. "...And there's a bird inside."

"That's normally the point..." Sheba grumbled, hauling herself up and checking her clothes for any stray crimson/gold/sunset orange leaves. (3) She moved over to where Jenna stood, scrutinizing the cage. "I think that's a sparrow."

"A sparrow?" Jenna suddenly went wild, and Sheba blinked once and then blinked again. She was not seeing Jenna attached to the trunk of the tree, trying to scramble up the edge.

"...Um, Jenna..." Sheba started slowly, raising one hand as though it would stop anything rather painful from happening in the foreseeable future. "Are you sure this is a... good idea?"

"You have any other ideas?" Jenna asked her with gritted teeth, one of her feet skidding a bit down the trunk of the tree. "Blast these trees for looking pretty and not much else!"

She was right, Sheba mused, looking around. Most were fairly skinny, with pale bark and multi-colored leaves. They all looked sort of... frail, too, now that she thought about it...

She looked up at the cage.

It was attached to a slim branch via hook. Hmm. If she could...

Sheba raised her hands, muttered a spell under her breath, and then swung outward.

The cage wriggled in the wind Sheba had conjured, and the bird inside squawked noisily as it swung precariously on the edge of the branch. It was still rocking back and forth as Jenna reached for the bottom of it...

It slid off the thin edge of the branch and went crashing down to the floor of the forest.

"Oh, good going, Sheba..." Jenna grumbled to her as she slid down the tree to the ground once more.

Sheba chuckled nervously and ran over to the cage, picking it up and presenting it to Jenna. "It doesn't look too bad..."

"Mars, I think you killed him..." Jenna whispered fervently as she opened the little door to the cage and scooping up the small brown bird inside. It lay on its back, feet in the air, completely still. "Mars, you killed him!"

Iris, Sheba was in for it now. But even with her stomach in frightful knots, she had to know... "But why is that bird of any importance?"

"This is Felix!" Jenna cried, eyes teary.

"That's Felix?" Sheba was very taken aback, and stared at the little sparrow in Jenna's cupped hands.

"Yes! It's Felix!"

Suddenly!

With a noise that could only be described as 'shimmery' and a bright yellow cloud of magic, Jenna found herself with a lapful of unconscious brother.

The two girls stared for a long while at the unconscious Venus Adept, then Jenna reached over and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck.

"Well, he's alive, at any rate..."

Sheba released a sigh of relief.

"...But now we have to get him back to Vale... Or somewhere else that's safe."

"Jenna, there's no way we can haul his dead weight even to Vale without some sort of help." Ah, yes, Sheba. Always the practical one. And perhaps the pessimist.

"Yeah, well..." Jenna trailed off, staring down thoughtfully at her brother. "...Let's wake him up!"

Oh Iris, thought Sheba, probably for the fifth time that day. "How, exactly?"

"Umm..."

Luckily, Fate happened to be on their side for at least that one day, and Felix suddenly sat straight up, staring ahead with wild, wide eyes, and he shouted, "Jenna! Sheba!" ...only Felix wasn't feeling that eloquent so soon after getting banged around in a cage, so it came out more like "Jennashiba!"

The two girls stared at him blankly. Really, they were glad he was awake now, which would make their progress much easier, but now he was going off and spouting random words that sounded vaguely Lemurian. (But neither of them were Lemurian, so neither could quite say, either.) Sheba was the first to speak. "Felix? Are you feeling okay?"

Felix turned his eyes on them, rather than the large tree in the distance. "...Sheba! ...Jenna!"

"...Yeah, whatever, bro..." Jenna mumbled, scooting out from under him and standing, then reaching down to help him up.

Needless to say, the boy was still rather disoriented. He reached for her outstretched hand, then retracted his hand, staring at it in awe. The girls exchanged looks.

"Were you... a bird for that long, Felix?" Sheba asked tentatively, blinking.

And suddenly, the two of them found themselves with a bundle of wailing, not-very-heroic-seeming-Felix.

x x x x x

Karst sipped at her stew, warily eyeing Saturos, who stood at the foot of her bed, hands clasped before him. She still couldn't really stomach the fact he was one of the best warriors Prox had ever had in its history, yet he was standing here... in a pink, frilly apron...

"So? How is it?" He asked her, actually smiling.

He only smiles when he gets to chop things that are still alive up into little pieces... Karst thought to herself, suppressing a shudder. And was it just her, or had his voice up a few notes? "It's... good..."

Well, at least that wasn't a lie. It was good. For Saturos's cooking, anyway.

"Really? You think so?" Saturos seemed only happier at her statement, practically bouncing with glee.

Must not stare, Karst thought, dutifully averting her eyes.

A thought occurred to her, then: "Say, where's Agatio?"

Saturos stopped bouncing, staring at her strangely. "Who's Agatio?" (4)

There are no gods, Karst said in bewilderment to herself.

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END CHAPTER TEN

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(1) – In times of emergency, just go with the flow.

(2) – Sparkley, sparkly. Ain't it all the same in Uber-Spehshuul Sue World?

(3) – FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PEOPLE, THEY ARE LEAVES. Leaf them alone. (I am ded from ze pun!)

(4) – Some Sue-writers hate Felix, especially if they haven't played the second game. But nearly all Sue-writers and even some good, upstanding GS fanfic writers are loath to write Agatio's name into anything. Hum de doo. (Myself included, so...)

Aaand there you have it, people, chapter ten. Aren'tcha proud of me?

...Yeah, I turned it out before this fic became totally obsolete.

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