Hope

Chapter 9: Mercury Clan's Plot

The night was passing far too slowly. Ivan had fallen asleep long ago, but I was still staring out the window. Unlike Weyard, this planet possessed two moons. Few stars were present, although there was one particularly bright star that had caught my eye. Perhaps it wasn't a star, and was a planet, instead. Maybe it was Weyard, for all I knew. This planet's constellations were completely different than my home world.

What would happen to Weyard, now that humans were gone? Would it be used by other creatures, like the Slates? Or would the animals and monsters remain the only inhabitants? The latter seemed unlikely, as it seemed like everyone was always searching for more living space. Perhaps a few humans had escaped the capture and massacre. Maybe they were beginning to pick up the ends of our old life. At least it was better than being slaves to the Slates. Then again, some people adapted to their new positions without a fight, like Isaac.

What of Isaac? Why had he not come? Maybe he'd been injured. What if he had been killed? Or perhaps he tried to sneak into the palace, and he was caught. I definitely should have talked with Saturos at the party. I had completely forgotten in all the strange events.

I couldn't believe that Alex was planning to kill every human. For crying out loud, what did we ever do to him? If it was just one single person who had ticked him off, you'd think Alex would go after them, not our entire race. Alex was pretty darn creepy; I'll bet that whoever made him mad had a just cause. Mia had mentioned that Alex provoked the war against Weyard. Was his goal to get rid of all humans, or was that just a cover-up in order for him to achieve the throne and Golden Sun? What the heck was the Golden Sun, anyway? What if the assassination plot against the King was really from Alex?

Poor Mia! I don't think she would agree to work for Alex. That meant it had to be Agatio who had poisoned the drinks, right? Then again, Mia had expressed some resentment towards her government. I couldn't believe that she would poison food, though. She seemed so kind-hearted, and could even be timid at times. Mia had mentioned that she was also a nurse, so obviously she was a healer, not a killer.

She also said she had worked for the King one-hundred years… That's sort of a scary thought. She looked to be my age. If Mia was over a hundred, and Piers looked older than her, how old was Piers? He had to be older than dust. Sort of a scary thought.

There were just too many questions and not enough answers. I sighed and let my eyes sink from the sky to the city. Most of the buildings were dark, but a few had their lights present. A sudden determination swept through my mind. I could find some of the answers to my questions. If Isaac was caught, then certainly he would be in the dungeon. Assuming, of course, that there was a dungeon. Although, I doubt they'd keep a dungeon in the palace of the King. One of the guards was bound to know. Garet… he was Isaac's friend, so surely he would know.

Maybe I could find Mia, too. Oh, wait… She only worked at the palace. She probably wouldn't be here at this time. At least I could check.

It wasn't like I was planning to sleep, anyway. With most of the guests gone, and the majority of Slates sleeping, I could walk around the palace easier than in broad daylight. What if I couldn't find Garet, or the guards refused to help me? No use worrying about it…

I sighed and pushed myself away from the windowsill. I knew it was a crazy to search for Isaac, but I wanted to assure myself that he wasn't locked up somewhere. Quietly I padded to the door, and opened it silently. Not a creak escaped from its hinges. Lightly shutting the door behind me, I was free to roam through the palace.

The air was crisp, and had the taste of outdoor air. There was a single guard stationed by one of the palace's exits. I headed towards the Slate's way. "Excuse me," I addressed him. "Could you please tell me where I can find the guard, Garet?"

The Slate jumped in surprise. I had the sneaking suspicion that he had been sleeping on his feet. "Huh? What?"

I repeated my question again. By this time the defender had become fully awake.

"Who the heck are you?" The Slate growled, and suddenly his hand reached out to grab my arm. "Why in the world would you look for someone at an hour like this?"

He pulled me in closer to the moonlight. Instinctively I resisted, but I had been surprised when he latched onto my arm, so I was easily dragged closer. My body was forced onto his chest. I flushed scarlet, and he seemed awkward at the position too, for he faltered for a split second.

"Ew!" I spat. "Let go of me, you pervert!" I wrenched my hand away from his grasp, and socked him in the face. The Slate staggered back a few steps, and blinked. "If you must know," I fumed quietly. "I wanted to ask him a few questions about a certain prisoner. As for who I am, I'm Jenna."

"Luh… Lady Jenna?" His golden eyes became wide. Absentmindedly, he rubbed at where I had hit him. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you at first. You're looking for Garet?"

Finally! I nodded my head.

"I think, uh, he's watching Mia's. She's not supposed to leave her new appointed rooms until the details of the assassination plot have been discovered." Mia! So she was here. Maybe I would be able to offer some comfort to her.

"So… where is that?" I pressed.

"It's down this hallway, the first room to your right," the Slate explained.

"Ah, thank you," I nodded my head. I was about to turn and leave, when a sudden question caught me. "If she is being held for possible murder, why would she be allowed in the same building as the king?"

"Well, the King isn't here right now… I'm not exactly supposed to say where he is. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Thank you for your help." I nodded my head once, before turning to follow the Slate's directions. "Sorry about hitting your face," I apologized while walking away.

I soon came to a long corridor. There was a dark figure slouched over the first door to my right. For a few seconds my heart began to beat faster, although exactly what I was nervous of, I didn't know. As quietly as I could, I worked my way towards where the figure was. When I was a fair distance away, I listened intently. Just barely, I could make out the steady breathing sounds of someone sleeping. As I got closer, I recognized the person as Garet.

His head was leaning against the doorframe, causing his hair to become disarrayed. Garet's left hand fell from his side to just barely touch the floor, while his right hand's fingertips rested on his sword. The sleeping guard's mouth was slightly open, and his chest rose and sunk steadily.

The fact that the man was in front of Mia's door perturbed me. If she had a guard exactly next to her door, that probably meant no one was supposed to go out, or in. Even though Garet was shirking his duty by sleeping, he was still a guard. Although I wanted to ask Garet about Isaac, I wanted to see Mia, too. It came to my mind that I should sneak in. The guard would never know; he was sleeping. Then again, it would be awfully hard to open the door without him falling over…

As if Garet had heard my thoughts, he readjusted slightly, so that his head was no longer on the doorframe, but the floor instead. At first I was afraid he would wake up, but soon enough I heard his steady breathing once again. I grinned slightly, and got as close to the door as I dared, before leaning over the guard's body in order to open the door.

The door opened with only a single squeak. Carefully, I stepped over the sleeping human, before standing in the doorway. As I closed the door behind me, I mentally sighed in relief. Even if I was caught later, at least Mia would still have some encouragement.

I glanced around the room, and was surprised when I recognized it. It was the same room that I had been preparing for the wedding. Mia was sleeping on the bed, so I quietly crept over, still wary of Garet.

Even though I had barely made an extra sound, Mia awoke quickly. "Who's there?" She whispered, her voice holding a little fear.

"It's me," I replied quietly.

"Jenna?" Mia asked incredulously.

"Yea," I nodded my head. "I just wanted to make sure that you were ok."

"I'm fine…" Mia lifted herself into a sitting position on the bed. "Does the guard know you're here?"

"No," I admitted. "He was sleeping."

"You shouldn't be here," Mia sighed. "They'll make you a suspect, too."

I was going to ask more about Mia's day, when a voice from the other side of the wall began to speak. "Well, well now… Sleeping on your job, I see," a sickeningly familiar voice said.

Mia and I exchanged worried glances. "You have to hide," Mia whispered, and brought me towards a closet. "Stay in there. Someone's going to enter."

I halfway walked, halfway was pushed into the closet. Mia closed it behind her. While we were doing this, we could hear Garet responding. "I uh… Guess I must have dozed off."

The closet had enough room so that I could move without hitting something. However, there were no places for me to hide. If someone opened the door, I would most undoubtedly be discovered. Silently I wondered if this would get me into more trouble. Sneaking into Mia's room was one thing, but sneaking and hiding was even worse.

"Sure," Alex's voice was almost completely muffled from my position, but I could still make out his words if I strained my ears. "Listen. I'm here for two reasons. The first is to show you this."

There was a long pause. In fact it was so long that I thought maybe Alex and Garet had left. "What's this?" Garet's voice sounded hoarse.

"Exactly what it looks like," Alex replied coolly.

There was another pause. When Garet spoke again, his voice held contained rage. "What gives you the right? And why are you showing this to me?"

"I just thought I would give you some time to prepare. You should thank me, actually…"

"Thank you?" Garet snapped unbelievably.

"As for my right, I thought that perhaps you should take my threats a bit more serious next time. But you know…" There was a faint clicking sound, as though Alex were taking a few steps. "This can be amended. All you have to do is apologize, and give me the Mars star."

"Forget it," Garet growled. "I've done nothing wrong. You won't get the Mars star. Even if I did everything you said, there's no way you'd kill this sentence."

"Perhaps. It depends on how cooperative the others are. This brings me to my second reason as to why I'm here. I need to see Mia."

"You ba-"

"Language," Alex chuckled disapprovingly. "Language, Garet."

"She isn't supposed to see anyone," Garet replied, more calm than what he had previously been.

"Surely you can make an exception for a vizier," Alex coaxed. "Or perhaps you would care for me to come up with something more creative than what I already have."

Garet must have grudgingly agreed, because the door opened and then closed. A single pair of footsteps entered. "Ah, I see you're already up," Alex seemed to take on a lighter tone.

"It was hard to sleep with you and Garet talking," Mia's tone held an icy edge. From the direction of her voice, I guessed she was probably sitting on the bed. "What brings you here?"

"Straight to the point, I see," Alex stated amusedly. "Why can't we be on friendly terms, Mia? We're the only members of the Mercury Clan, after all."

"That may be so, but you and I are as different as the elements," Mia was practically growling. It was strange to hear her so upset. "I'm sure that you didn't come here to be 'friendly.' I'll ask again. What brings you here, Alex?"

"Fine, then," Alex paused for a second. When he spoke, his voice was very low, and I could just barely hear him. "I'm here to let you know that only half of our bargain is complete. The King's still alive, Mia. Until he's dead, our… contract will not be fulfilled."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mia said defensively.

"No need to act so innocent," Alex chuckled slightly. "Don't worry. Garet can't hear us from here."

But I could. Was Alex speaking the truth? Was Mia the one who had been planning the assassination? And why would she even agree to help Alex? When I spoke to Mia about Alex, the female Slate became very distraught. Maybe that was the reason as to why she was so upset.

"Alex, you lied to me!" Mia suddenly whispered, but her became very high-pitched. "What was that all about with Garet?"

"Don't worry. The throne comes before the elemental stars. It's just an incentive for him. I would never lie to you, Mia…" Even if I didn't know Alex that well, I did understood that nothing he said could be trusted.

"If you do kill all those humans," Mia's voice returned to its normal volume. "Then I will expose you for the fraud that you are."

"Even though you would also be exposing yourself?" Alex sounded very surprised. "Chances are no one would believe you."

"I don't care!" Mia sobbed. "I don't care if I get killed in the process. Alex! You can't sentence an entire race. It's not ethical!"

"Hmph," Alex muttered. "It completely depends on how things go. I'm here to tell you that Karst is taking over your job. Mia, don't do anything stupid. Don't die for such worthless beings. Just stay out of my way."

Karst? Wasn't that the name of the warrior who defeated Felix? I felt myself burn in sudden anger. Was she in league with Alex?

The clicking of Alex's boots across the floor interrupted my thoughts. The door opened. When a minute had passed by and nothing happened, I tentatively opened the closet door. Mia was sitting on her bed, looking very thoughtful.

"Mia?" I asked quietly.

"Oh," she snapped out of her trance. "I'm sorry, Jenna…"

"What was Alex talking about?" I felt a sickening pang in my stomach. Mia never spoke of Alex fondly, yet if she was working for him… Why else would Alex say such things, especially about the King and elemental stars?

Blinking back a few tears, Mia held her breath. When she was forced to breathe, her body shook slightly. "I'm sorry." She stared into my eyes. Mia seemed to be silently debating about whether or not she should tell me the truth. "I'm the one who poisoned the food."

I blinked at Mia. "But… Why? All those people… you wanted them… me… us… dead?" It seemed so unlike her. I couldn't believe she was a murderer.

"No!" Her voice rose louder than what she had intended, and I winced. Garet was certain to come in now that he was awake. "But if the King is not killed," her voice became quieter. "Then all humans will die. I thought… If only one died, it would not be as bad as thousands."

"Mia," I shook my head. "If the King were to die, then wouldn't Ivan ascend to the throne?" Garet had not yet entered, and I wondered why he had not.

"There is… another," Mia hesitated. "Hamma is Ivan's elder sister. However, she has been missing since birth. As a result, everyone –including the King- refer to Ivan as the firstborn. This isn't entirely correct, however."

I frowned. "So Alex intends to find Ivan's missing sister?"

"Jenna," Mia stared directly into my eyes. "Alex has already found Hamma. She was never 'lost' to begin with."

"So then, he…?" My mind began to put the pieces together.

"Yes," the humanized Slate answered by unsaid question. "When the King is gone, Alex plans to introduce Hamma to the world. In exchange for being 'rescued' by Alex, Hamma will marry Alex. Thus, in this way, he would become the King."

"But why does Alex want the elemental stars?" Everything seemed to make sense, except that. If Alex had the throne, what more could he possibly want?

"The throne is not his true goal. What he really wants… is the Golden Sun."

"The Golden Sun?" I repeated. Ivan had mentioned it earlier. "Isn't that just a myth? And what would it do?"

"I thought it was just a myth, too," Mia admitted. "But Alex seems to think that it's real enough. I don't know what more it would give him. Maybe he wants more than this world… I've heard the Golden Sun can control the universe, but other than that, I know very little about it."

"Hm…" I mused. "Alex mentioned that he was going to use Karst. Agatio said that he was Karst's boyfriend. So does that mean they're both involved?"

"Probably. Karst knows Alex pretty well."

"Why does Alex want to destroy all humans then?"

"I wish I knew!" Mia sighed. "I think he just might be using it to threaten others in order to get the elemental stars. I had to give him the Mercury star, in order that he wouldn't sentence all the humans. But it doesn't look like he's keeping his word. He keeps asking me to do more things… Except for tonight, when he said that Karst was going to assassinate the King."

I suddenly hugged Mia. She was surprised for a second, before returning it. "Mia… You must tell someone about this. There has to be a way to save us humans without assassinating the King. Tomorrow, Ivan and I are going to talk to the King about Alex's sentence. I think it might be a good idea for the King to know this…"

"If only it was that simple!" Mia sighed in frustration. "Talking to the King is one thing. But telling him that his right-hand man is plotting his destruction is another. King Hammet probably wouldn't believe me, or you, about Alex." We released each other from our hug.

I felt awful about the entire situation. It seemed like no one would believe us. "But we must do something," I protested.

The door to Mia's room creaked slightly. Both of us looked to see who was there. Immediately I recognized Garet. It suddenly occurred to me that I had never heard the door close when Alex left the room.

For a few uncomfortable seconds, no one said anything. An overwhelming sense of fear was building in my chest. Mia and I were still staring at Garet, while he was staring at us. "How long have you been there?" I finally gathered the courage to ask.

"Since Alex left," Garet replied solemnly.

Plop! Mia fell backwards from her sitting position. Her head hit the pillow on her bed. She had fainted!

"Then you understand, right?" I asked, my words coming out faster than what I had intended. "You know why Mia did all those things. You know that it's really Alex and not her. She was trying to save us. You're human too, right?"

"Alex showed me that message about killing all the humans tonight. Yea, I'm human, too." He broke eye contact from me. "Lady Jenna. You don't have to concern yourself with such matters. No one would kill a princess such as yourself."

"I don't care!" I blurted out. My mind and heart raced at the same time. "If I live but every one of my people die, what would I gain from that? I won't just sit here and watch humans get massacred. Neither should you! No one should! Please," I calmed myself down slightly, and forced myself to speak slower. "Sir Garet. Don't just kill Mia, and let her take all the blame. She is not our enemy! We need to stop Alex. Please…"

"I have to think about this," Garet said, sounding incredibly uncertain.

I quickly sought for any reason that might convince Garet that Alex was truly the one he was after, not Mia. After a quick second, I remembered why I had originally wandered through the palace. "You're not just going to sit by while you and all other humans are killed, are you? What about your family and friends? What about Isaac? I bet he wouldn't just sit by if he knew about this!"

"Isaac?" Garet's eyes lifted to meet mine again. "How do you-"

"He is a wonderful friend who helped me understand the Slates' world better. I don't agree with everything he said, but he still helped a lot. Surely you are friend with him, too? You wouldn't just sit there as he was killed, right?" I pressed, hoping maybe Garet would agree.

"No, I wouldn't," Garet admitted, and I began to feel a rush of relief flood through my body.

"So then do something! Tell the King exactly what happened. Don't let Alex scare you so much."

Garet nodded his head. I could tell that he was beginning to feel a little bit better about the entire situation.

"Oh yes," I remembered, walking towards the door and the red-haired human. "I nearly forgot. I originally came here looking for you. I wanted to know if…" I paused, feeling slightly silly. "If… Isaac was perhaps thrown in jail? Or a dungeon? Or whatever it was that the Slates have here?"

"I don't think so," Garet looked very surprised. "That wallflower? Why would he be put in the dungeon? No, I'm pretty sure he isn't there."

"Alright," I nodded my head, feeling slightly better. "That's good."

Garet gestured beside him, where the palace's hall lay. "I'll take care of things here. It's late. Why don't you go back to your room?"

I nodded my head, grateful at his dismissal. It seemed as though I had convinced Garet and made him an ally. Hopefully, together with my other friends, we would be able to stop Alex.

I sighed, and prayed that things would work out for the best.

A/N: Argh, my word document doesn't work right on my father's computer. That means I will be unable to write Saturday and Sunday.

I am debating about whether I should make one large chapter for the final one, or make two chapters and have the second be more of an "ending" instead of part of the story's plot. I have no idea. But either way, it's still going to take the same amount of time to write it. Mkay.

Acknowledgments: Eh, see the other chapters if you haven't figured it out by now.

Chapter 8 Reviewer Acknowledgments:

Corycian Muse: Alex always seems to enjoy bringing bad news, doesn't he? Kraden is one smart cookie. He's good at finding stuff out. Thanks for your compliments!

Xanda: Wow thanks, I'm surprised you managed to read the chapter from your vacation. Alex is so lovely when he's evil, isn't he? I'm glad he didn't seem too OOC. Portuguese keyboard, huh? Sounds tough…