Author's Note: Whoa. Here it is. The big 50. 50 chapters! That's quite a lot. Sometimes I think I have too much free time. This is the end of the current storyline also, I didn't want to drag it out and make it any crappier than my writing already is, so I ended it. But it was pretty much at its end anyway. It's a little longer than most, though not as long as yesterdays. I guess that makes it a special '50 chapters' edition or something.

Oh, and thanks Dark Axem for the congratulations! I'm still worried about university, even though I know lots of people love it, since it'll be me pretty much starting a new life in a new city I've only ever been to once for an interview and so on. But I'm sure I'll adapt eventually. And I'll try to keep writing, but I very much doubt I'll be able to do it anywhere near as frequently as once a day!

I don't leave for university until the 26th September anyway, so I have plenty of time to finish this story at least, and maybe even do another shorter one.

CHAPTER 50

SAVE

"Wait!" Jeren cried after Olose.
"What is it? We're kind of short on time here." Olose said quickly.

"I know who's behind this. His name is Jacob. It has to be him." Jeren told him.

"Get explaining, and fast!" Olose snapped, looking at the now visible orange lava rocketing towards the town.

"He's a protestor. For male rights. He said he wanted to help me get married so that I could support his protests with the status of being a married man. I mean, I was all for it. It makes sense. We aren't really treated like equals." Jeren explained.

"Time is lacking here. Get to the point." Olose was clearly worried.

"Well, I realised that a wedding is the only ceremony where every huntress, every female, is ordered to be recalled to the town. If that lava flow hits now, the entire mithran race will be destroyed. Leaving only Jacob and any males he felt to protect."

"What?" Trevia screamed. "That-"

"The mithra in Windurst will survive, but this entire place will be eliminated." Nadia said thoughtfully.

"Dammit!" Olose cursed. "If he managed to cause the volcano to erupt then he's powerful. Right. We go with the same plan! I'll handle Jacob! Nadia, Jeren, get back to the boat and get me Phabz. Then get back here and help evacuate the town. You might need to get some boats over from the Destiny. If it comes to that, then we're already dead, so get the hell out of here. Now, move it!"

Olose and Trevia quickly darted through the jungle, leaping over trees and stones. They could already feel the heat approaching them.

"Captain?" Trevia cried. "What arrrre we going to do?"

"I'm working on it!" Olose called back. "Where the hell is Phabrizoe?"
"His ice powers won't keep that lava at bay for long." Trevia observed.

"It might buy us some time. We need to get up the mountain and stop the lava flow." Olose decided.

"How arrre we going to do that?" Trevia cried.

"Maybe this Jacob guy can stop it." Olose mused.

"This isn't a time for maybes!" Trevia screamed. "The whole town is about to be destroyed!"

"It's our only shot." Olose explained.

"Captain!" Phabrizoe ran to Olose's side. "What's going on?"
"That dammed volcano has erupted!" Olose told him. "We need to stop the lava flow before it wipes out the whole of Kazham."

"Stop it? But how?" Phabrizoe cried.

"Ice." Olose answered. "Start casting!"

"I can't cast magic that powerful!" Phabirzoe screamed. "That lava flow will utterly wipe us out."

"Wait. You can cast a water spell, right?" Olose guessed.

"Yeah." Phabrizoe answered. "But that's nowhere near powerful enough."

"Doesn't a water spell work by summoning the water, then you manipulating it into an attack?" Olose asked.

"Yes, but that's not going to help." Phabrizoe muttered.

"Then can't you manipulate water?" Olose asked, pointing to the sea.

"Never heard of it being done before." Phabrizoe told him. "But there's a first time for everything. My ability to cast will fade fast, you won't have long."

"We'll be quick." Olose told him. "C'mon!" He gestured to Trevia and the two ran through the jungle. Phabrizoe turned around, heading back towards the sea.

Trevia and Olose could feel the burning heat approaching them. An orange glow filled the jungle. Trees were collapsing and burning before them.

"We didn't think this thrrrrough." Trevia decided. "How are we supposed to get past the lava?"

"Tree tops! Go!" Olose quickly scaled the nearest tree.

"But they're burning!" Trevia protested, following him. Olose paused, looking out across the flowing lava.
"This isn't going to work." He decided, perched on the tree top. He turned to Trevia, looking at her. She had a sword and shield strapped to her back that she had picked up off of a fallen guard. Olose looked at his chain and smiled.

Phabrizoe ran down to the sea, and looked at it. He gulped. Manipulating the elements was different from normal casting. He had no idea how he was going to do it. He began to concentrate, trying to feel the magical energies around him. The water began to bubble.

"Come on." He said to himself through gritted teeth. "Come on!" The water suddenly erupted like a volcano of its own and Phabrizoe directed the gushing water over his head as it flew through the air.

"This is never going to work!" Trevia commented sceptically.

"It's that, or see Kazham be destroyed." Olose replied.

"Oh, I hate you sometimes." She grumbled. Olose jumped onto the shield like a surfboard, and Trevia got on next to him. He swung the chain and spun it out to the nearest tree. He began to pull on the chain, pulling the shield closer to it. The shield shot across the lava like a boat, the metal getting hotter and hotter. "Ow! Ow!" Trevia whined in a surprisingly childish way.

"Get on my back!" Olose ordered.

"What?" Trevia asked in surprise, wincing as her feet burnt.

"I can regenerate. You can't! On my back! Now!" Trevia did so without a second thought. They reached the tree and Olose threw the chain so that it wrapped around the next one, little more than a burning husk. He pulled himself towards it, and the burning shield skied across the lava.

Steam rocketed up as the spraying water splashed against the lava. Phabrizoe was sweating from the effort of manipulating that much water and the heat. But he couldn't give in. He knew he couldn't. He refocused his power and doubled the amount of water he was calling from the sea. The lava flow began to dry up, turning to crust. More lava continued to splash against it as it kept coming, seeping up over the wall of now cooled lava. Phabrizoe gulped. This wasn't going to be easy.

Jacob let out a triumphant laugh deep within the overflowing Ifrit's Cauldron, safe on overlooking rocks.

"Yes! Burn! BURN!" He roared, a small and elite group of male followers that had pledged themselves to him by his side. "We are no longer the pathetic repressed souls you made us! Today we strike out!"

"You fool." Commented the mysterious figure beside him. "He is coming. You failed to kill him!" The figure had already spotted Olose and Trevia approaching them on their shield mechanism.

"I will finish him this time, rest assured." Growled Jacob.

"No. You have failed." The figure stated. "I gave you everything. All you had to do was kill Olose Sampson. You failed. Until we meet again." The figure turned and left, much to Jacob's surprise.

"Bah! What does he know?" Grumbled Jacob. "Attack! Destroy him!" Jacob ordered his followers.

Jacob's male mithra followers ran down the rocks, coming to the edge of the lava. They began to fire arrows which painfully thudded into Olose.

"Trevs!" He cried. "Deal with them!"

"With what? I don't have a bow!" She replied frantically from Olose's back.

"Think of something!" Olose yelled. Trevia shrugged, hurling her sword expertly. It spun in circles like a disk, approaching the feet of the mithra. It slashed into them and many toppled into the lava. Only two remained. She grinned.

"How was that?" She asked. Another arrow thudded into Olose.

"Not bad." He winced. "How about this?" He threw the chain, and it wrapped around one of the mithra. He pulled it and watched as the poor victim fell into the lava. He lifted the chain out and spun it once more, spraying lava over the last victim who plummeted to his doom.

"Nice. Now what?" Trevia cried.

"Hold on tight!" Olose ordered. He crouched, and jumped, knocking the shield away. His mighty leg muscles gave him enough power to be propelled through the air in a most unnatural looking way. He landed on the rocks with a stumble, his feet practically on fire. "We are never doing that again!" He growled, his shoes entirely burnt off and his feet little more than bone. Skin quickly regenerated over them and he sighed as it did so.

"I agrrrrree." Trevia panted.

"Now come on, we have a town to save!" Olose gestured up the rocky path. Trevia sighed and followed.

Jacob stood with his arms out, the lava erupting around him.

"Jacob!" Olose bellowed through the heat. Jacob turned slowly.

"Ah. The legendary Olose Sampson. I'm glad you could make it. There's something so impersonal about you dieing so far below." He blasted a flow of lava at Olose and he dove aside, the lava harmlessly splashing down the rocks. Trevia was safely stood to the side. "My friend wanted to see you die. He wanted to kill you. A pathetic lack of vision. He helped me achieve everything here just so that you would die."
"That explains the silver sword and the change in Trevia's scent." Olose commented to himself. Trevia sniffed herself curiously. "But who? Who was your friend?"
"He had no name and needed no name. Know that only he assisted me in my triumph! My triumph over Kazham and over the pathetic females that oppressed me so!"

"You're scheme is over." Olose spat. "You're friends are already dead. We saw to that. You're all that left."

"It doesn't matter. I am free!" Jacob roared.

"Not for long! Stop this!" Olose warned.

"No! Never!" Jacob cried in return. "Kazham will burn. I sense your pathetic black mage friend, trying to stop the lava flow. He is inexperienced and weak compared to me. I can manipulate the elements to perfection, as you're seeing now. He'll tire, and die, and my lava flow will crush him."

"Jacob!" Trevia growled, stepping forwards. "I have a scorrrrre to settle with you! You stole my memorrrries, and almost stole my life."

"Silence woman. You have no power over me. Not anymore." Jacob laughed.

"What's the matter? Scarrred of me?" Trevia taunted. Jacob lowered his arms.

"Fear you? Never!" Jacob laughed.

"Prove it." Trevia began to walk around him, pacing.

"What are you doing?" Olose asked. Trevia ignored him.

"Jacob. I challenge you to a duel." She said calmly. "My skill against yours. Stop the lava flow, and we'll fight."

"Stop it?" Jacob asked curiously.

"Yes. Then, if you are victorious, you can begin it again, and finish off Kazham. If you loose, then you will be dead." She smirked slightly. "Male versus female. Of course, I understand if you aren't up for the challenge."

"You're unarmed. You will be no match." Jacob scoffed.

"I don't need a weapon!" Trevia shot back.

"Very well. I accept." The lava around the two noticeably stopped flowing.

"Stand back Olose." Trevia told her captain.
"What are you doing?" He whispered. "I'm immortal, I can take this guy. You can't."

"Show a little confidence." Trevia sighed.

"Ready?" Jacob laughed.

"Ready." Trevia answered, and the two shot at each other.

Phabrizoe instantly felt the strain release as the lava flow began to yield. This was his chance. He could stop it. He redoubled his efforts, sending more water at the flowing lava, cooling it into a wall. Using the water, no longer having to worry about the lava flow constantly being renewed, he made a blockade of cooled lava that redirected the lava that was still flowing around Kazham and into the water. Without the flow being renewed, he knew it would expire in time. Phabrizoe collapsed from exhaustion as soon as he finished his work.

Trevia screamed as a lightning bolt hit her and she flew back across the rocks, crashing down just on the edge. She got up angrily.

"You're no match for a powerful black mage." Jacob cackled.

"We'll see." Growled Trevia. She went to leap at him again and he blasted a fireball. She had predicted this however, and shifted her weight to the left, allowing the fireball to sail past her perfectly. She grabbed a rock and threw it at Jacob, distracting him long enough for her to run in on the attack. Her ninja training paid off and she was in on the offensive quickly. She struck him to the jaw and he fell backwards. She jumped as he was falling and kicked him, hard. He crashed down on the rocks. Trevia ran in, but the rocks before her erupted as he cast a stone spell. She fell backwards as he scrambled up and hurled a lightning bolt. She ducked under it just in time and dove at him again. She tackled him and quickly struck him to the nose, shattering it. She launched a strike into one of his arms, hitting it hard enough to disable it for a moment and then hit him with her plan across the face. He was stunned at her speed and sprawled in pain. Trevia hauled him up and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled back to the edge of the rocks, losing his balance.

"No." He managed to mumble.

"I win." She grinned.

"I was going to free us all." He spluttered, before falling into the flames. Trevia turned away as she heard his deafening gurgled scream. Olose managed a smile.

"Way to go, Trevs." He told her. "Remind me to never piss you off."

"Will do Captain." Trevia laughed. "Now, how are we going to get down?" Olose's face fell.

It was a week later when the Destiny II had finally departed from Kazham, the clean up operations being over and Olose and his crew being thanked in general. Jeren was slumped on the deck, looking the waves crash by as Trevia approached him.

"You alright?" She asked softly.

"Yeah. Fine." He sighed. "I was just thinking about you. Urm, the other you."

"We'rrrre one and the same." Trevia told him with a smile.

"No. The other you was scared, innocent and sweet. But she was so afraid that you'd replace her, that you would destroy her." Jeren explained. "And I guess that happened. I guess I failed to protect her."

"No you didn't. She's still herrrre. Inside me." Trevia explained. "She always was. She's just the base for what the rest of my life was built on."

"If she's in there, what does she think of me now?" Jeren asked with a shrug.

"She's mad at you. Very mad." Trevia answered, almost playfully. "For causing this whole mess. But at the same time she's really grateful. She's really thankful you helped her through it." Trevia let out a long awkward pause. "I'm really thankful you helped me through it."
"What happens now?" Jeren sighed.

"Well, Olose let you join the crew. That means we wait until we get a job." Trevia explained. "You neverrrrr know, perrrrhaps with some time together, we'll grow closerrrr, and one day we'll-"

"Trevia. There's no need to lie. If you don't feel what I do, then tell me." Trevia stayed quiet. "Well?" She still remained silent. "You gonna tell me?"

"What, do you want me to lie?" She asked. Jeren's face suddenly exploded into a smile. "Hey! Don't get ahead of yourrrrself. I'm a little confused. I'm- urm, not good with emotions."

"I noticed." Laughed Jeren. "You can have all the time you want, I'll wait." He paused, looking out to the sea. "You know, I've never left Kazham. Can't wait to see the rest of the world."

"It's not that interrrrresting." Trevia laughed. "But there's this great bar in Seblina."

"If that's not worth leaving Kazham for, I don't know what is." Jeren joked, prompting Trevia to emit a slight giggle. She quickly straightened her features again, trying to appear stoic and serious. She failed.

Arcadia walked up behind Olose and placed a hand on his shoulder. He was at the wheel, but watching Jeren and Trevia.

"Sweet, is it not?" Arcadia said lightly.

"Yeah. They'll probably settle down and have a family." Olose observed. "They'll be lots of little Trevia's running around soon. Scary thought." Arcadia laughed, wrapping her arms around Olose.

"I think I shall stay at home next time we go anywhere." She decided.

"Didn't make much of a honeymoon, I have to admit." Olose shrugged. "I promise. When we get back to the mainland, we'll go somewhere nice. Wherever you choose!"

"Home." Arcadia laughed wearingly. "I want a rest. Besides, I shall be with you." Olose smiled.

"And I'll be with you. Nowhere better to be." He grinned.

"Olose. I have some news." She sighed. "Some frightening and wonderful news." Olose face for a moment lit up. He saw where this was going. "I talked to the Doctor in Kazham."

"You did?" Olose asked excitedly.

"Yes. And I'm pregnant." She finished. Olose beamed a smile like none Arcadia had seen.

"That's wonderful!" He cried, and Arcadia truly believed him. "Amazing!" He laughed. "I'm going to be a father! We'll have our own baby son!"

"Daughter." Arcadia corrected.

"Well, we'll see." Olose laughed. Arcadia's face suddenly fell more serious. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Our child with your blood." She commented weakly. "Do you think she'll-"

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Olose smiled. "Besides, I'm a werewolf, and can control myself. Even if our child was born a werewolf, I could train him over the years to resist the transformation, so that when it kicks in, he'll be fine."

"I hope so. I hope she will be alright." Olose laughed slightly at the constant pronoun changing. "I am sure she will be. With you for a father, how can any harm come to her?"

"I swear to Altana, none will ever come to my child." Olose told Arcadia.

"Exactly." Arcadia said softly, falling into Olose's arms.

The Destiny II cruised off into the night.

Author's Note: Sorry for the crappy romantic dialogue at the end, I'm still really bad at that. And for Jacob's stereotypical villain dialogue, I know there's a lot of bad guys who speak like that, so I understand people can get fed up with it.

As for Arcadia being pregnant, that's obviously going to become a plot issue. And their arguing over gender is just supposed to be playful, but is mainly because I didn't want to refer to a baby as 'it', so had them bicker over what gender the child will be.

Anyway. This means a new storyline starts tomorrow. Which should be interesting. It's actually kind of the beginning of the end. Probably only about ten chapters or so left, which is a bit of a shame, but I kind of feel this story should be wrapped up soon.