4. The Guardians

Mia was always the first one up in the mornings. She was an early-riser by nature, but there was more to it than that. She possessed an internal clock that made it next to impossible to sleep late. If she knew when she wanted to awake, she would do so no matter how tired she was. Because of this, it always fell to Mia to wake the boys. Isaac was a light sleeper--sometimes he would awaken just from the noise of Mia getting up. Ivan and Garet were more difficult. Ivan usually clung stubbornly to sleep as if reluctant to part from the sweetness of his dreams, and Garet ... well, Garet was just lazy.

Mia was so used to this ritual that she had risen and dressed completely before realizing she wasn't the only one awake. "Oh!" she gasped. "Ivan ... I didn't see you there!"

He appeared not to have noticed. He sat cross-legged on his bed, fully dressed and ready for travel. His blond hair spiked every which way, but he didn't bother to smooth it down as he usually did. Ivan only stared blankly into the distance, not moving at all. That was what had made him so difficult to see in the first place.

"How long have you been up?" Mia asked conversationally.

"I don't remember," said Ivan flatly.

Mia raised her eyebrows. "That's kind of strange, don't you think?"

"I don't feel like talking right now," Ivan said.

Blinking, Mia turned away to wake the others. She supposed it was natural for Ivan to be like this. Sometimes, Ivan sunk into strange depressions. He was highly self-conscious, she knew, and tended to blame himself for everything. She'd seen him like this before on several occasions, once after leaving Master Hama of Lama temple, and once before leaving the village of Toreau. Perhaps learning about his past had sparked this depression in him. Sometimes, she had found, it was best just to leave him alone--though that was easier said than done for someone like Garet.

Isaac's eyes popped open at the slightest touch of her hands, but she had to shake Garet for a full five minutes while he groaned and protested before he finally gave in. You would think with the future of Weyard on the line, he could at least get up on time, Mia thought.

When everyone was ready to travel, Isaac called Mia over to him. "What's with Ivan?" he said softly, with a worried glance at the younger boy, who still sat motionless and gazing on his bed.

"You know ..." Mia said with an apologetic shrug.

"Oh, this again," Garet said loudly, and Mia shot him a scolding look.

The group left Contigo a few minutes later, heading north towards the mountains and Jupiter Lighthouse. Just outside Contigo, plains stretched North, with long grass both beige and green rippling in the constant wind like water. At first, this endless breeze was comforting to Mia. But as they drew closer to the northern mountains, the wind grew colder. Having lived in the frozen town of Imil her entire life, Mia found this chilly breeze only slightly uncomfortable, but Isaac and Garet were shivering violently. Only Ivan seemed unaffected, quietly gazing toward the mountains ahead, thwarting any conversation aimed at him in his flat, dreamy voice. She could never remember him being this bad, and his mood made her very nervous.

They reached Jupiter Lighthouse at twilight, though Mia had an idea it was always twilight here. The plain ended abruptly, and a haphazard walkway of gray stone stretched upward toward the building. The Lighthouse was not at a high altitude, but the air seemed to thin as they neared. All grass had vanished, and huge cliffs dropped to either side of their path--down to the core of the earth, as far as Mia knew.

Set into a cleft between two massive cliffs, Jupiter Lighthouse towered above them, a giant finger of purple and silver stone. Windows and balconies jutted out of its sides seemingly at random, and statues of proud goddesses glared judgmentally down at them. The Lighthouse seemed to have been carved out of the mountain itself, though the job looked incomplete--the base curved out toward them, and one could imagine a similar curve behind, but the back of the tower disappeared into a face of solid stone. The huge door in front stood completely shut.

Staring up at the Lighthouse, Mia felt a foreboding she had felt at neither Mercury nor Venus. This was a land of malice, a land of ghosts, where humans were not supposed to stand. They were not supposed to be here. The wind whistled in the hollows of the cliffs, like the voices of the dead.

Garet seemed not to notice. "Finally, we're here! We sure went to a lot of trouble getting here ahead of Felix--and without the Shaman's rod!" He glanced forward at the Lighthouse with a puzzled expression. "How do we get in?"

Sighing, Mia gazed at the huge doors. "I'm not seeing any markings."

"That's right," came a girl's voice that sounded like the whispers of the wind. "The door is forever closed to ones such as yourselves."

Mia tensed. Beside her, she saw Isaac draw his sword, Garet bear his ax. Ivan raised his head at the sound of the voice.

Suddenly, Aria stepped out of the Lighthouse. That is, she stepped directly out of the purple stone which formed the tower's base. She smiled calmly at the group, and the strange slant of her violet eyes made her look oddly sadistic.

Reveal! Mia rationalized. There's a hidden door there, and we can see it as soon as Ivan uses Reveal!

"Seriously, lady," Garet said with annoyance. "We've come to far to let you shoo us off with words."

"That's right!" Mia agreed. "We will find a way inside, no matter what you say."

"Impossible," Aria said. "You stand on sacred ground, and must leave at once!" She turned to Ivan and smiled wider. "Isn't that right, my dear?"

"You must turn back," said Ivan.

Mia whirled to him, her eyes widening. "Ivan!" she gasped. "Are you okay?"

"We are fine," said Ivan.

"Isaac ..." Mia said uneasily. "Something is very strange here ..."

"We'll give you one more chance," Aria said pleasantly. "Leave here ... or die."

"Never," Isaac said, quietly but firmly.

Her Psynergy was instantaneous. "Wind Slash!" A series of blades formed of focused air and sound, hammering into Isaac. He screamed and was thrown backwards--only the protection of his own Psynergy kept him from being sliced to pieces. He thumped to the ground, groaning weakly.

Garet attacked. He leapt at Aria, fueled by rage, bringing the hilt of his ax down to knock her out. The hilt came down ... and passed directly through Aria's skull. There was no blood, no sound of breaking bone--the weapon passed through the girl as if she were made of mist.

Staggering backwards, Garet almost tripped over his feet. "G-guys ..." he said fearfully, "I think we've got a problem!"

"What is she?" Mia gasped.

Aria ignored all of this. She turned to Ivan. "It's time," she said to him. "Our time has come, the time of our destiny. Step forward, Ivan of Jupiter, and do the duty for which you were born!"

"The Lighthouse must be guarded," said Ivan.

As his friends gaped at him, Ivan stepped forward and took his place next to Aria. The two Jupiter Adepts stared at Isaac, Garet and Mia with their identical, gleaming violet eyes. They spoke together, the boy's voice and girl's voice overlapping and filling Mia with sinking horror.

"You must not enter," said Ivan and Aria. "The trespassers must die."

The message could not have been more clear; two Adepts stood between the travelers and Jupiter Lighthouse--Aria, and Ivan.

The chaos began.