A/N: And here we have it, another chapter, not as quickly as I intended. I've spent a while doing this… but, I dunno… its still doesn't seem quite right to me. Maybe I'm just being a bit overly self-critical, but there were some bits that just looked a little rushed. But it could be me.
Anyway, you may notice some slight changes to the storyline here, mostly just to make things more realistic. Nothing real major, though. The biggest of all only involves Hammet not going to Lunpa, but instead to Bilibin. I mean, come on! If you were a rich, powerful lord and merchant, and you couldn't get back to Kalay from Vault, do you a) go to the city of thieves, Lunpa, or b) go to the relatively safe city of Bilibin? Don't worry, he still gets kidnapped along the way by road raiders, so the plot line still works out, just slight minor changes.
Oh yeah, I know have a really big announcement to make regarding the story. Something I meant to mention least chapter, but of course, forgot, silly me. Some of you may have noticed, but only one reader mentioned it. The Djinn. I'm making a HUGE change here… and removing them from the story.
Why? Well, for me, basically they don't translate well to story format. I mean, it's just easier to write without them, than with them, for me. Personally, I think the story is better without them, but that's just me. Not that they aren't good in other fics, just this one it didn't work out for me. And some of them would be impossible to include because they are so out of the way. Besides, how many times do you read fics where they are mysteriously not mentioned, just don't exist? Lots, probably. But again, my opinions only.
Hopefully you don't mind the change. Keep on reading, and hopefully you'll like it. Or not. Your reviews will tell me (hint hint)
Yeah, enough of my rambling. Here's to those reviewers.
Spirit Seer: Thanks for all your praise! That makes me happy! Only ONE misspelled word? Cool, I'm getting better with my re-reading! I'm glad you like the length and detail, I plan to try and keep that up the whole way through. Thanks for reviewing!
J: Sorry, no Djinn, forgot to mention it. But I'm so glad you at least pointed it out, otherwise I would have forgotten to tell everyone in this chapter, lol!
GoldenSunGeek: I'm glad you liked the whole Felix scene, I worked hard on that! I want to throw in some more later on as well, in other chapters, so keep your eyes peeled! If you like reading that side of the story, check out "Through the Other Eyes" by jedigrl2001. Seriously, great fic from other POV. Also glad you also liked the Wolf battle, I wanted to put in something with some action. Hopefully the fight scene here is as good!(I think it's shorter though)
Favri the Fisher: I'm glad you also liked the monster battles, I try to make them good. Hopefully others are also as good. Good that you don't mind delays, 'coz life is sure to give me plenty!
Disclaimer: Note to readers: I.O.U 1 Disclaimer.
And, we're off!
CHAPTER FIVE
MYSTERIOUS POWERS
Vault was a large town, twice a large as Vale, with some houses having as many as two or three floors and supposedly populated by three times as many people. And that didn't count the various farming settlements scattered around the countryside.
The town itself was on top of a large hill, with a few steep cliff faces at some of the border edges of the town. Wooden palisade walls marked all the other borders, with a few gates placed in them to allow travellers to go in and out freely.
Isaac stood there impressed. He hadn't imagined something this big. And this was only a small farming town! He couldn't wait to see what some of the bigger cities looked like.
As they approached the city gates, a convoy of wagons came out pulled by a team of horses. Isaac recognized them as merchants, by their elaborate, expensive looking clothing.
"We can't stay another second in a place as dangerous as here!" A man who appeared to be the leader said, as though in reply to something someone had just said to him."We return to Kalay immediately."
Dangerous? Isaac wondered, What could be dangerous about Vault?
"Master Hammet," one of the merchants began to the leader, "I have just heard the news! The bridge to the south has been destroyed by a falling rock!"
Isaac knew exactly what that meant. During their two-day trip, Mount Aleph had been rather unstable, launching hot rocks and Psynergy stones into the air at irregular intervals. He hoped that that would subside in the future. It had been somewhat of a tense journey, although no immediate danger seemed to have threatened them apart from the wolves.
"What? The bridge? We can't cross the river to the south then, if this is true..." the man who Isaac took to be Hammet replied, "How are we going to get to Kalay now? Somehow, we need to get across the river, but I know well enough that the bridge was the only way. Hmm…"
"Master Hammet," the man started, sounding concerned, "What, with that unstable volcano to the north, do you think it's really a good idea to leave Ivan behind?"
"I agree." A third Merchant added, "After that little incident with the thieves, even I'm convinced that this place is too dangerous for us merchants. There's no point staying behind if our wares are stolen before we can make a profit."
"Indeed, Ivan is very much like a son to me…" Hammet replied, "However, he was supposed to be looking after my valued rod when it was stolen, so it is his responsibility to retrieve it. I'm sure his strange powers will help..."
"Strange powers?" the man asked, sounding confused.
Strange powers? That was interesting. Could he mean that this Ivan person, whoever he was, was an Adept? But Adepts supposedly only existed in Vale.
"I mean…" Hammet stammered, "He… he's a smart lad. Strange powers of ingenuity that one… a smart kid like him will be quite alright." That sounded to Isaac like an excuse, as though he were covering up some sort of secret.
Suddenly another rock fell from the sky and landed with a loud boom some distance from the town.
"This place is getting more dangerous!" Hammet cried, "It's only a matter of time till one of those rocks hits Vault! Let us leave, now!"
"But to where? Where can we go?" the man asked.
Hammet shook his head disappointedly.
"We have no choice. We must head to the east, make for the city of Bilibin."
"Excellent choice, Lord Hammet, there we can sell the rest of our wares, the take the long route to Kalay."
"But that road will take us dangerously close to Lunpa…" the third merchant moaned, "You've heard the rumours of bandits and road raiders… why, we could very well wind up imprisoned in Lunpa itself…"
They continued on their way and quickly passed out of earshot.
"What do you think that was all about?" Garet asked, "Whose Ivan and what strange powers were they talking about?"
"I don't know but I have a feeling I know what they might be…" Isaac replied.
"Do you think that their friend was an Adept?" Garet asked.
"I wouldn't have thought so." He replied, "I thought Adepts were only born in Vale. But after seeing Saturos and Menardi and their Alex friend… I don't know. Anyway, it doesn't matter; we have to find the nearest Inn and see if anyone has seen those two thieves and knows where they're going."
"Sounds like it's possible that there are more than two thieves in this area…" Garet mused, "We'll have to be more specific."
"Well, how many people are there that match Saturos and Menardi's description?" Isaac countered, "They look pretty unique, no matter where they go."
"Yeah, you're right. We'll ask around."
They started exploring the town looking for an Inn, seeing what Vault looked from the inside. The buildings seemed just like any that he would have expected to find in Vale, wooden walls, thatched roofing. But they were bigger. And there were more of them. People bustled the streets, more than he would have ever seen in Vale. And this was supposed to just be a simple, quiet town.
After asking directions from a few of the locals, they found the only Inn that was available in Vault.
They reached the Vault Inn, a small modest building, but still bigger than most of the nearby houses next to it. It seemed, some of the smaller rocks from Aleph had already affected Vault, there was a large burned out hole in the roof of the Inn. Isaac and Garet entered.
It was nicely furnished, with a few chairs and tables surrounding a fireplace in the common room. They met the Innkeeper, a round, friendly looking man and asked for a room.
"Fourteen coins for one night for the two of you." He said. Isaac handed over the money; it was a small portion of what they had, but it was still better than camping out.
"By the way, you might want to be careful about your stuff around here these days." The Innkeeper warned them, "Our establishment takes no responsibility for items stolen during your stay here."
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked, puzzled.
"Well, during that big impressive eruption recently," he explained, "everyone went outside to look at it, it was real awe inspiring, and they all left their doors and such open, they were so mesmerized by it. Round here, no ones worries about one another crossing each other."
Sounds like Vale. Isaac figured, Maybe the outside world isn't so dangerous after all.
"Anyway, some heartless individuals went on a big robbery spree and stole a whole lot of stuff. Horrible. Right in the middle of a disaster!"
"You mean this whole town's been robbed?" Garet exploded, "Did they find out who it was?"
"No, they didn't. But a lot of people have lost something. They even took the mayor's family urn and our Sanctum's golden statue. But worst of all, for me at least, they stole Master Hammett's special rod. It had a great deal of sentimental value to him. He was so angry that his servant, Ivan, who has to look after it, had lost it, that he ordered him to stay in Vault until he had found it again."
He finished with a sigh.
"Sadly, I don't think that he will be able to find it, or any of the other stuff that was lost. We can't find the thieves, so we'll just have to do without I suppose."
Ivan. That was the man that the merchant Hammett was talking about. The one with the supposed mysterious powers.
"I can't believe that!" Garet spat, "Stealing in the middle of a disaster?"
"Ah, we all feel the same way." The innkeeper reassured him, "But still, if I were you, I would keep an eye out."
"Well, thank you for the warning at least." Isaac said, "We'll keep an eye on our stuff."
"Hey, do you know if a couple of weird looking strangers stopped by here recently?" Garet asked, "Go by the names of Saturos and Menardi? They were travelling with others called Felix, Alex, Jenna and Kraden."
"I'm sorry, friend, but I can't talk about customers with others. Inn policy." Innkeeper smiled apologetically, "Customers like their privacy and we respect that. I'm sure you understand."
"Sure." Isaac nodded, secretly wishing that they would be able to find out something.
"But it might be in your best interest!" Garet pleaded, "I'll bet they were the ones who went out on that stealing spree!"
"That's impossible!" the Innkeeper replied, "They arrived the day after the eruption, and left the very next day!" Suddenly, he realized what he had just said, and spluttered, "I'm sorry, I mean… uh, you didn't hear any of that."
"Can you tell us where they went?" Garet pleaded quickly.
"No, I must politely ask you not to enquire further."
"I understand." Isaac nodded, stepping in before Garet said anything further, "Thanks for your time." Then he dragged his friend away before anything else was added. "I could have found out!" Garet insisted glumly.
"No, you couldn't." Isaac replied in a no nonsense tone.
They made their way to their room, a small cosy little place with two beds and a table next to the fireplace.
They dumped their stuff on the floor and had a look around.
"Hey, these beds are fairly comfy!" Garet said, immediately lying down on one.
"I'm sure they are," Isaac replied, "But right now, we have to find what happened with Saturos and Menardi."
"Hey, I want to see this Ivan kid and see what kind of powers he has." Garet told him, sounding more like an excited kid wanting to explore.
"Well, if we have time we might do it later." Isaac said, focusing on their quest at hand, sounding more like the mature adult in this situation. This whole quest was forcing him to grow up quickly.
They went down stairs again into the common room and Isaac told Garet to wait a moment while he had a word with one of the serving maids in the room. Maybe they'd be more talkative.
"Excuse me ma'am," He asked one, "but did you have a party of six travellers in here recently? Two, a man and a women, looked real strange, almost as they were inhuman, another a guy with long blue hair, a guy with long brown hair, an old man and a red haired girl." He finished, describing them.
The serving maid knew straight away whom he was talking about. You couldn't forget a bunch like that.
"Yes, they left only this morning, real early." She replied, "I remember one of the guys was real insistent on buying Master Hammett's special rod off him, but Hammett wouldn't part with it. Seems a bit suspicious that it went missing last night after that conversation. But the guards at the gate would have checked all their possessions on their way out, to make sure they didn't have any thing that had been stolen and they let them go so they must be innocent."
"Did they mention where they were going?" Isaac asked quickly.
"No, not that I heard of. Why do you want to know? They can't be the thieves, we're pretty sure that they're still in Vault. Did they take something of yours?"
"Well, uh… yeah." Isaac replied, "We need to get it back of them."
"Well, head on over to the Mayors house," she replied, going very in depth with her answer, "they got a list of all the stuff possessed by travellers leaving Vault, so people can see if any of their missing stuff has left town I presume. Even Hammett's servant, Ivan, is there, poor kid. Really wants his master's rod back. The mayor has kindly let him stay at his house until he finds it. If you go there, you might be able to find if that group still has your stuff, and maybe even where they are going."
"Thank you for your help," Isaac replied, "I'll go do that."
He found Garet over by the kitchen seeing what they were cooking for dinner. He never seems to stop thinking about food, Isaac thought to himself. The cook was telling the red haired boy that they hadn't decided, and would tell him later on when they started cooking.
"Come on, Garet." Isaac said. "Leave the poor cook alone."
"Where are we going, then?" Garet asked.
"To the mayor's office. While we're there, maybe we can see this Ivan, whoever he is."
"Yeah, he sounds like he might be an Adept or something." Garet replied. Isaac winced inwardly. At least no-one was around to have heard the comment. Garet needed to remember not to mention things about Psynergy or their quest out in the open.
"Be quiet about stuff like that you big idiot…" Isaac scolded quietly, with a slight smile, not really meaning the insult of course.
Dragging the big Mars Adept away from the kitchen, they quickly asked the Innkeeper where they could find the Mayor's house. He pointed them in the right direction, it wasn't to far away, and they could see it from the window where they were.
Making sure Garet was following and not side tracked by the smell of food from the kitchen, Isaac headed out the Inn and down the dirt path of Vault towards the mayor' house.
As they left the building, Isaac noticed that there was ladder up against the side of the Inn. A man stood atop the ladder looking down at a major hole in the roof, complaining to himself about having to repair it. Isaac knew from personal experience what that felt like.
Hopefully, they won't hit us in our sleep. He thought to himself.
They quickly reached the mayor's house, a larger, more impressive looking building atop one of the small hills in the town. They weren't any guards at the doors and they were free to enter. It seemed almost to be more of a town hall than a home. Inside there were a few people, some desperate looking citizens talking to armoured guards looking at papers, assumedly trying to find or report lost possessions stolen during the eruption. There were some official looking people standing around talking with other citizens and what appeared to be the mayor, an old, friendly looking man with a walking stick and wearing fine garments. He was talking with some blonde haired kid who was wearing purple and green robes with yellow embroidery.
"Oh okay, if that's the case I'll just wait a little while longer." The blonde kid said, before walking to a corner of the room to sit at a table next to a window overlooking the town. He had probably been talking with the man about lost possessions. These robberies must have been on a real large scale.
"You know, maybe we should have asked what Ivan looked like while we were at the Inn." Isaac mused to himself. They didn't even know who it was they were looking for.
"Well, it's too late now." Garet shrugged. Normally he was the one to forget things. "We'll just have to ask."
"Excuse me sir," Isaac said to the man who he thought to be the mayor, "You must be the mayor."
"Yes, that's me. How can I help you?" The mayor replied in a friendly voice.
"My name is Isaac and this is my friend Garet. We were just travelling through, and noticed that you seem to be suffering some troubled times lately." Isaac said trying to start conversation. It was always polite to introduce yourself to the mayor first.
"Oh yes," the mayor replied, "First the volcano erupting to the north and now these robberies. And there are still rocks coming down from the sky because of that eruption on Mount Aleph. You know, a very wealthy and important merchant came through here recently and had his valued rod stolen. He was a very important, respected man. Left his servant behind to find it for him. Poor Ivan, he's sitting over there," he gestured to the blonde kid sitting by the window, "not much he can do to help him I'm afraid."
Isaac looked at the kid, eager to talk with him to see if he really was an Adept. But it would have to wait. That maid had insinuated that it was Saturos who had stolen the rod, even though they hadn't found it on him. Isaac was curious about this and decided he'd better ask about it.
"Recently some stuff of ours was stolen from out of town by a bunch of thieves." Isaac started, "We heard they came through here, and wanted to have a look at the stuff they had."
"And what were their names?" the mayor asked. Isaac told him. The mayor called for a servant, spoke with him quickly. The servant left, then came back a short time later with a slip of parchment with ink writing upon it.
"Ah, here we go, let's see… food and weapons… the usual stuff. The only unique things in their possession were four coloured, expensive orbs. Lucky those didn't get stolen."
Four orbs? They had the Venus, Mercury and Jupiter Stars, but what was that fourth? Probably nothing worth worrying about.
"Did they have a rod on them?" Garet queried further.
"No, no rod. Why, you think they took Hammet's rod? Looking to earn yourselves a reward are you?" He smiled humorously.
"Uh, yeah, that's it." Isaac lied, not wanting to arouse any suspicion.
"Well, it's most likely with the same thieves who took everything else. If you want a real reward, try catching them." He chuckled slightly at the thought of these two kids doing such a deed. "If you really want to find the rod, try talking to Ivan over there."
"Okay, maybe we might do that." Isaac replied, "Just one last thing, does that paper say where the group headed off to?"
"No, sorry." The mayor shook his head, "Only that they left through the south gate."
"Okay then, thanks for your time anyway." Isaac replied, filing away that little piece of information. It could possibly prove useful later on.
Maybe, Isaac mused silently, Saturos and Menardi were the ones to destroy that bridge… to cover their tracks. Who knows?
They walked over to where Ivan was sitting. As soon as Isaac laid eyes on him, he could sense that Ivan was indeed an Adept. It was the same thing that he could sense from everyone else in Vale, although he'd never noticed it until he met the non-Adepts of Vault.
"Hey, kid, are you Ivan?" Garet asked in a friendly manner. Ivan looked up curiously.
"Yes." He answered meekly, somewhat shyly.
Before they could say a word more to him, his body suddenly began to glow with the bluish glow of Psynergy and he focused his eyes on them intently. Isaac and Garet were both a bit taken aback.
Are these the strange powers the boy possesses? Isaac wondered the same powers me and Garet have?
"You… know of my strange powers?" Ivan asked quietly after he ceased, "And you have them to? I'm sure that was what I could sense as soon as I saw you." He had a pleasant, young, friendly voice of someone who was still a kid. It was obvious just from talking to him that he was harmless.
"Yes, that is true." Isaac replied, thinking of his Psynergy power.
This kid has the power of Psynergy he thought, and yet he doesn't even realise what it is.
Ivan focused his power on them again.
"What? My power… it's called Psynergy? I had no idea!" Ivan said again after a brief pause, almost as though he had read Isaac's mind. Wait, but how else could he have known what he was thinking?
"How did you know that, did you read my mind?" Isaac asked a little shocked.
"Yes, it's a mysterious power that I've had since I was a child." Ivan replied, this time without using his Psynergy on Isaac, "Wow, we have so much in common! I can't believe this! I never thought I'd find someone else like me! Someone who even knows more about this than I do! You… you must be the only ones who can help me." He cleared his throat. "I have a severe problem; my Master Hammet's rod was stolen."
"Yeah, we heard all about that." Garet nodded.
"Our powers can help us, would you please help me get my Master Hammet's rod back?"
Isaac and Garet thought about it for a moment. This time Ivan didn't focus Psynergy on them, he obviously wasn't mind reading. An Adept outside of Vale! If he was an Adept, then of what element? Isaac couldn't think of any elemental Psynergy that allowed someone to mind read. No one in Vale had that ability. Then again, a lot of abilities had been forgotten since the Lost Age.
But Ivan was in trouble because of something that they'd done. It was their duty to rectify the situation that they had caused. And Isaac really wanted to learn more about this incredible Mind Read ability they had just witnessed.
"Sure we'll help." Isaac replied.
"We Adepts have got to help each other out, don't we?" Garet added.
"Thank you, with your help, I think we'll be able to recover the rod." He paused again for a moment. "What are your names?" He focused Psynergy on them again, "Isaac and Garet." Garet took a defensive step back.
"How on Weyard can you do that?"
"Your afraid of my power to read minds, aren't you?" Ivan asked sounding a little hurt. "Is it really… is my Mind Read so scary?"
Isaac and Garet both nodded without letting him Mind Read again.
"It's not exactly something that I've ever encountered before." Isaac told him cautiously. "I mean, I never even knew it was possible! This is incredible! But reading minds really does invade your privacy, you know?"
"I understand." Ivan sighed dejectedly. "Wait, I have an idea… maybe you won't be so afraid if you know what it's like." He grabbed Isaac's hand and linked his Psynergy with him somehow, then used his mind read on Garet.
Hey… Stop reading my mind, Ivan… I really don't like this… Garet's thoughts entered Isaac's head as Garet took another step back to vainly avoid the Ivan's power.
"Hey, would you mind asking the next time you do that?"
"So, Isaac, could you hear what Garet was thinking inside your head?" Ivan asked him.
"Yes, I could hear everything." Isaac replied.
"Just as I thought…" Ivan replied thoughtfully.
"What? You read my mind to Isaac?" Garet cried, a little insulted, "That's invasion of privacy, like you said! Leave my thoughts alone!"
"I guessed that I could help you read minds if we shared our Psynergy." Ivan told Isaac matter of factly. He seemed to be a very clever kid. "I'm not quite sure how I knew… it was just an instinctive thing, I guess."
"Hey, that's not fair!" Garet cried, "Why do you get to read my mind?"
"You're right," Ivan replied, "It's not fair to read one-way. Try it out on Isaac."
So Ivan and Garet linked their power and Ivan used Mind Read on Isaac.
Hey, is this Mind Read thing working? Isaac thought to himself, so they could hear.
"Whoa! I did it!" Garet exclaimed excited, "I read your mind, Isaac! That was unbelievable! Just imagine the things you could do with the power to read minds!"
"We can use this power to find the thieves!" Ivan suggested.
"Wait a second, wont people notice we're using Psynergy?" Garet asked.
"Yeah, that might make things a little difficult." Isaac added.
"Oh I see, you two can tell when I'm using Psynergy?" Ivan guessed.
"Of course we can." Garet replied.
"Why wouldn't we?" Isaac asked.
"Isaac, both you and Garet are Adepts." Ivan replied, "And so am I, it turns out. I'm guessing that's why you can tell when I'm reading your mind. I've noticed throughout my life that ordinary people can't see anything. There's nothing to worry about."
Of course. Isaac could never see nor sense the power of Psynergy as a kid until he began his Adept training. Not being able to see or sense Psynergy was always something that he had associated with as being a child. He'd forgotten that real people, out in the outside world, were unable to see such things.
"Don't worry, I won't read your minds against your will again." Ivan reassured them. "It's not fair, really, I guess. It really is a lot different when the other person knows what's happening!"
"How come you've never tried reading minds to find the thieves?" Garet asked, "That'd be the first thing that I'd do."
"Well, to be honest, I've never really had the courage to just walk up to people and just start asking about the recent robberies. Remember, I can only read the thoughts that are currently on your mind. And, because I have to be very close to read someone's mind. Besides, it is not easy to just walk up to some one, Mind Read, and walk off. I need someone to help, to talk to the person. But I hadn't met any one in Vault I could trust until you two."
"Well never fear, I'm not afraid of asking people a few questions!" Garet responded proudly.
"Well, where should we start?" Isaac asked.
"I've seen some suspicious looking characters around lately, who I think we should check out." Ivan told him, "I'm a lot more confident of confronting them with you two. You look like you know how to fight."
"Well, we've really only been in one battle before…" Isaac confessed.
"Hey, let's go check out the town anyway." Garet suggested. Together, the three Adepts left the house, to explore the town.
Suddenly, Isaac realised that they had been talking about reading minds and Psynergy out in the open carelessly, without thinking about being overheard. He voiced his concerns to the group.
"No one heard us." Ivan reassured them, "I was looking. I'm very paranoid about talking about my powers, so I naturally keep a close eye on the look out."
As they were walking down the slowly emptying streets of Vault, they found a man with unkempt, jet black hair, standing nearby who Ivan told them had been staying at the Inn when he was with Master Hammett. They were there that night the Rod went missing.
"I think we should have a look at what he's got to hide." Ivan suggested, "I always had my suspicions about him.
"Why not? He sure looks suspicious." Garet replied.
"Alright then, I'll walk up and start the conversation." Isaac told them, "Be ready to read his mind Ivan." Once again, he was being a bit of a leader here unintentionally. Well, someone had to organise things he supposed. Besides, there was no time now for apologising for giving orders.
Isaac casually strolled up to the man, still trying to think of what he would say, while Ivan and Garet followed behind. The man immediately began glowering at them.
"Excuse me..." Isaac began.
"What do you want?" The man suddenly snapped, "Are you going to accuse me of stealing stuff from the town too?"
He seemed very edgy, definitely a sure sign he could be guilty.
Isaac sensed Ivan focus Psynergy on the man, the kid lightly touching Isaac's back so that he could hear the man's thoughts as well.
What do they want? Surely they couldn't know... His voice echoed in their head ...that isn't Hammett's whelp there with them is it?
"No, we wouldn't think of that." Isaac replied, hoping his voice sounded smooth.
"Good, 'coz we didn't take nuthin', I swear it!" The man snapped back in reply.
Jeez, I think they might be suspicious of us, The man's thoughts echoed, me an' the boys oughta get ready to bail outta town soon...
"I gotta go..." He then muttered, and shouldered his way passed them, breaking Ivan's mind connection.
"Did you find anything out?" Garet asked, having not heard the man's thoughts.
Isaac nodded. "I'm pretty sure he and his friends are the ones." He replied.
"But we haven't got any actual proof." Ivan reminded him, "Nor do we know where they are hiding the stuff they've hidden, we need to learn more before we can act. Otherwise, it's just our word against theirs."
He had a good point. They needed to find out where the stuff was that they had gotten.
"I think it's time we headed for the Inn, to see what we can learn from his friends staying there." Garet suggested.
"Let's go then." Isaac declared, and they immediately made for the Inn down the street.
As they passed by the outside of the Inn, Isaac saw that the ladder was still leaning up against the wall, but the repair man seemed to be nowhere to be found. A woman who appeared to be one of the maids from the Inn was standing at the foot of the ladder, looking around and complaining about that 'lousy repair man already going on break'.
I can hardly blame the man for wanting to rest. I hated working on my roof back at home, and my mother never let me rest until it was finished!
They entered the Inn and began looking around the common room, for these 'shady characters' that Ivan had spoken of. Ivan looked around for the people he remembered. He found them again, sitting in the corner of the room, talking in hushed voices. They both had long black, unkempt hair and looked like real ruffian types. One of them noticed them coming.
"What do you want?" The one who had seen them asked rudely.
"Hey, they got that weird kid with them!" The other said, "The one that was with Hamett last night!"
"So? What do any of them want with us?"
"We just want to ask you boys if you know anything about the recent robberies around here?" Garet asked in a cocky tone of voice.
"We don't have to answer any of your questions!" The first one replied. They got up and left for their rooms.
"Hang on, you aren't going anywhere yet!" Garet stated, blocking there way in between two tables.
The first guy tried to get away and ran around Isaac, avoiding Garet, his partner did the same, but the other didn't quite get far enough away to avoid Ivan's Mind Read.
The two thieves immediately ran upstairs. A few moments later a door was hear slamming.
The three of them sat down at a table, knowing Ivan had done what he needed to do.
"Did you read his mind?" Isaac asked hopefully, making sure no one was near enough to hear. If they failed, mind reading might be even harder a second time.
"I got him!" Ivan grinned triumphantly.
"What did you find out?" Garet asked eagerly.
"It's them alright." Ivan replied, "They've taken everything that's gone missing, I think. They seem to be hiding it all in the Inn's attic."
"Why there?" Isaac questioned curiously.
"Must be abandoned." Ivan shrugged, "If no one goes up there anymore, then it would make an excellent hiding place."
"Okay then, so where would we find the door to this attic?" Garet asked. But Isaac had a brilliant idea.
"Garet, did you notice that hole in the roof when we came in?" Isaac asked, already knowing the answer, "We can just climb through there!"
"Well, now that you mention it, I did see something up there. I suppose that's our best shot."
"Well then, let's go have a look." Ivan suggested.
They left the Inn and looked up the ladder to see that the guy who was fixing the roof was still gone. The Inn maid had also left now.
"Must be still on break." Isaac thought aloud.
"Come on, I want to see if all the stuff really is up there!" Garet told them.
It was getting towards afternoon and there were less people on the streets now. There was no-one around who could have seen them. They climbed up while no one was looking and jumped down the hole. Inside they saw lots of boxes and chests up against the wall, mostly dusty, but a few new looking ones in one corner. Also there was that guy that they had seen before, now tied up with a gag in his mouth. Isaac quickly took his gag out and untied him. While he was doing that, Ivan and Garet immediately began searching the new looking chests.
"What happened?" he asked him.
The man groaned a bit before looking around and blinking a few times. It was obvious he had been knocked out and was just coming around.
"Uhnn… I came into this room while I was fixing the roof." He closed his eyes trying to remember. "Someone must have hit me from behind. When I came to, I was all tied up like this." He looked around a bit dazed.
"Strange…" he said, "I don't remember any new stuff being put up here recently."
"Looks like those kids have caught us out!" A familiar voice said. They all looked over to see the two thieves as well as the bigger older man they had seen by the mayor's house.
"You're pretty persistent for a servant boy, kid." The other thief said to Ivan.
"Why are you working to get all this stuff back?" The bigger guy asked. He seemed to be their boss or something. "What's it to you?"
"He's my master and father," Ivan told them, his quiet, childish voice now sounding very determined and serious, "And you took his Shaman's Rod. I'm here to get it back!"
"Doesn't matter, Hammet is going to get caught by a worse bunch of thieves than us!" one of them taunted, "I hear he fled to Bilibin after the eruption. We got some boys waiting along the road to rob anyone they come across. I'll bet they'll capture Hammet, and take him back to Lunpa with 'em."
"Did you say Lunpa!" The man behind them cried out. "You're thieves from Lunpa!"
"What kind of place is Lunpa?" Garet asked. Isaac wondered the same thing. He had heard some tales of the place, but they were all very old.
"None of yer business!" The boss snapped, "Let us go, and no one gets hurt!"
"No way." Isaac replied sternly. He wasn't going to be afraid of these men. His powers would protect him anyway, even if he was only very weak and not much trained.
"You thieves need to be thrown in jail." Garet added.
"You stole from my Master and now you need to pay." Ivan added, now clutching what must have been the Shaman's Rod that he found in one of the chests.
"We stole this stuff fair and square!" The boss's lackey protested, "It's ours now!"
"We'll just have to keep you quiet!" the other snarled, clutching his short sword by his side.
"And there's only one way to do that!" The boss exclaimed, "Get 'em boys!"
All three thieves drew their swords and got into fighting stances.
Isaac drew his sword and Garet got out his axe. This was going to be their first real battle against people.
Before anyone could make a move, the leader threw a round, pink thing at them.
"Here, have a sleep bomb!" He chuckled snidely.
The 'sleep bomb' exploded in a cloud of pink dust. Isaac felt himself get drowsy, but he held his breath and noticed the others do the same. He remained awake and alert enough until Ivan blew it all way with his Psynergy, using flows of air. Unfortunately, the man behind them had already fallen asleep.
Without waiting another second, Isaac launched himself at the leader and immediately got into some heavy sword fighting. Garet launched a huge bolt of flame at one of the thieves who managed to just barely avoid it. Ivan put out the flames with a gust of wind and said, "Garet, careful with your powers, we don't want to burn the Inn down!" before suddenly having to try and deflect a sword blow from the other thief with his rod.
It may have looked like it was made from twisted wood, but the rod resisted the blow like stone. Unfortunately, its wielder wasn't all that strong. The small boy fell to the ground under the blow and found himself stuck under the sharp blade of his enemy.
Meanwhile, Garet was in heavy combat with the other one. Dodging swings from the thief's sword and trying to swing his axe at him, the two just couldn't quite hit each other. Suddenly, a hard, wide swing from the thief's blade that missed hit the wall and became stuck. Garet filled his axe with power and slammed it down on the sword, completely bending it. The thief took it out only to discover it had now snapped in half. Looking up at Garet with horror, he realised he was defenceless.
The other thief, meanwhile, was about to execute Ivan with his sword when suddenly a huge gust of wind blew him real hard, right back off the boy and into the wall. But there weren't any windows around.
How did that happen? Isaac thought, but concentrated on deflecting blows from the bandit. He seemed unable to get in a good blow. Ivan got up and used his power to blow his adversary's sword right out of his hand, leaving him quite shocked.
Isaac wasn't doing to well against his foe. He was a much better swordsman and Isaac was growing weary. He decided to risk using his power. Filling the sword blade with power, he slammed the golden glowing blade against his enemy's sword as he made a swing at him. It all took a second and when the blades collided, the boss's sword shattered apart, bits flying completely out of the hands of its owner. The boss took a step back to his two companions. They were quite a troublesome trio they were up against.
Isaac thought carefully how they could deal with these enemies. He couldn't use any powerful Psynergy moves without risking damage to the Inn or killing his foes and neither could Garet. Suddenly a huge whirlwind picked up around the three thieves swirling them round and round until they all hit the wall with a deafening thud. Isaac looked to see that Ivan had created that.
"You must be a Jupiter Adept, I take it." Isaac said to him. Only they could control the power of the wind.
"A what? I don't know what you're talking about." Ivan replied. "And how did Garet make those flame? I want to learn to do that to."
Obviously Ivan hadn't learned about the four elements. There wasn't time to discuss it further though. They looked to they're defeated enemies and smiled. Isaac then woke guy who first entered the attic and he noticed their victory.
"How the heck did they do that!" one of the thieves asked himself in disbelief.
"There was no way they could have defeated us!" Garet boasted loudly, "We're just too powerful!"
"What are you people?" one of the other thieves groaned, as he lay on the floor, "That wasn't human!"
"Wow! You got them!" The repairman smiled, after waking up, as he noticed their victory. Lucky he hadn't seen they're powers, which would have been a bit hard to explain. The thieves had of course, but who would believe them? It would just sound like they were making excuses for their defeat.
"I'll get the mayor and tell him what's happened!" the repairman then declared, and he ran off out the door, up the ladder and out of the attic.
"After all the trouble we went to stealing this stuff…" The leader groaned.
"I told you!" one of them groaned to his companions on the ground, unable to move, "I told you we should have skipped town."
"Evil never prevails!" Garet declared loudly and boastfully. He was clearly very proud to have defeated some bad guys.
"I'm sure you thieves will get locked up for a long time." Isaac told them.
"Well, now that I've got Master Hammet's rod back, I'll be heading off to find him, see if he really did wind up in Lunpa." Ivan told his companions in a grave tone. "What will you two be doing?"
"I suppose we have to go after Saturos and the others." Isaac replied, "after we find out where they went at least."
A curious look swept Ivan's face and he started using his Mind Read on him again.
"He's reading your minds again!" Garet exclaimed uncomfortably, "Don't you want to stop him?"
"No, I don't have any secrets that I want to hide from him." Isaac replied calmly, with a shrug.
He left his mind open for whatever he was trying to learn, waiting a few seconds before Ivan ceased.
"I see…" Ivan said, "So that's what happened." He finished, obviously referring to their quest.
"Next time you want to know something," Isaac told him casually, "Just ask. I don't mind sharing things with those that I trust."
"Sorry," Ivan replied, "But Mind Read was quicker. If I focus carefully for a longer time, and your mind is open, I can actually find out a lot more than just what you're thinking."
"These are the thieves, mayor!" A familiar voice explained behind them.
In entered the repairman from before, they still didn't know his name, and the mayor with a few of the town guards, armoured men with short swords, the policeman in this situation. They must have been right nearby for them to have gotten there so quickly.
"So these are the thieves! What you did was horrid!" The mayor snapped looking at the defeated thieves lying on the ground, with a disgusted voice, "Stealing! In the middle of a disaster! Don't you have any morals!"
"Hey, it's your fault for being so careless! You left your doors open!" The boss thief replied, "You were practically begging us to-ouch! Hey!" He was suddenly interrupted by one of the guards starting to tie him up, 'accidentally' being a little too rough.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself!" The soldier smiled at the mayor, who made no move to reprimand him, given the situation.
"What should we do with them?" Another soldier asked.
"We're going to lock them up for a long, long time." The mayor said in complete control of the situation.
The soldiers had no trouble tying up the thieves, who had no strength left to resist even if they wanted to, and they picked them up of the ground and marched them out of the room. Before they left, the boss thief looked to Isaac and said, "Hey, you! Your name's Isaac, right? I won't forget this!" and then he was gone.
"Somehow, I think that was just an empty threat." Isaac nodded with a smile.
"Thanks for catching those awful thieves." The mayor told them, "You have our sincerest gratitude."
"It's okay, it was no problem." Isaac humbly replied.
"Those guys were easy to beat anyway!" Garet replied boastfully, which was a slight exaggeration.
"I couldn't have done it without my Master's rod." Ivan explained.
"Now, let's take a look at what they stole." The mayor said as he began investigating the chests.
He started sifting through one of them, with the soldiers investigating the others, when he produced a golden, precious looking urn from the chest.
"I've finally found my precious urn!" The mayor beamed.
One of the soldiers brought out a golden statue of some wise looking man that must have been very old.
"Hey, that belongs in the town sanctum!" He mayor cried out, "They stole the sanctum statue too! Those immoral monsters!"
"Well, it looks like Ivan managed to get Hammet's Shaman's Rod back at least!" one of the soldiers noticed.
"Ah, now you can go see your master again!" The mayor said to Ivan, "I hear he headed east to Bilibin. But there have been rumours that Dodonpa's men patrol the roads around there. I fear for Hammet's safety."
"I hope for the best." Ivan sighed, "But I'm not up for visiting Lunpa just yet. That place is way too dangerous. Tomorrow, I'll head for Bilibin, to see if Hammet's there. If not…" He didn't finish his grim statement.
The mayor turned to Ivan's two companions.
"Isaac and Garet, wasn't it?" He asked. They both nodded. "Thank you both. You have my deepest gratitude. I suppose you want to get going now. But before you leave town, please come and see me when we've finished with this mess here. I will have your reward ready."
They left the Inn attic and stood outside getting some fresh air. It sure had been stuffy in there.
"What a mess that was." Garet complained, "I'm glad that's all over. I don't intend on playing hero to every city we visit."
"I just want to see Master Hammet again." Ivan replied, "That's all. But it is going to be dangerous heading to Bilibin, I couldn't ask you two to help me; you have a very important mission, don't you?"
Isaac nodded.
"That's right I saw it in your mind." Ivan replied, "I had no idea the volcanoes eruption held such a secret!"
"We have to find Saturos and his gang, or else they will release a terrible power that could destroy Weyard." Isaac said.
"Well, we can still hang around for a bit." Ivan replied, "You guys are staying here the night aren't you? We can talk a bit more about things!"
"Yeah, that'd be good. I'd like to learn more about your powers!" Garet said.
"And I want to know about yours. Like how you made those flames!" Ivan replied.
"Let's go inside!" Isaac suggested before they got into the long story of how the elements worked, "It's almost dinner time and we can talk over that. I'll bet Garet's already starving!" he laughed.
They all entered the Inn ready to discuss the situation and become life long friends.
After dinner, in which Garet ate almost twice as much as Isaac did, and Ivan learned a bit about his incredible appetite, they settled down to talk. First they got to know each other a bit more. As it turned out Ivan was fifteen years old, older than he looked, and had lived with Master Hammet his whole life, having been adopted as a baby.
He had worked as his servant ever since he was only a baby, but he didn't mind, for Hammet was a father figure for him, and looked after him very well, as his expensive looking robes testified. Then they took a while to discuss with Ivan about the elements and how there were four Adept types, Earth (Venus), Wind (Jupiter), Fire (Mars) and Water (Mercury), explaining that Isaac was Venus, so he couldn't summon any decent attack without destroying the Inn or killing his foes, for that stone spire attack would've killed them for sure, and Garet was Mars, which is why he could create those flames. It was obvious now that Ivan was a Jupiter Adept by his control over the wind, but how he knew Mind Read was puzzling. No one in Vale had that ability, not even any of the Elders who were Jupiter Adepts. He claimed to have developed the ability as a kid and his powers had always been incredibly powerful. Perhaps Mind Read was a skill that had been lost after the Lost Age and Ivan had somehow rediscovered it, they all reasoned. The Elders did claim that the Jupiter Adepts of old once had strange, mysterious abilities that were incredibly useful more than they were powerful. So perhaps this was one of them. Eventually the topic turned to Lunpa, the city of thieves.
"What exactly is with this place?" Garet asked. "Why is it so dangerous now?"
Ivan explained that, approximately 150 years ago, Lunpa the Righteous Thief had founded a village along the edge of the mountain ranges that Vale also lived by. Isaac had heard stories before about Lunpa the Righteous Thief, who took from the rich and gave to the poor, helping many people on his travels. He was an incredibly famous legend, a hero.
After he founded the village, a great castle was carved into the mountain, all underground, making it a very formidable home. Eventually, Lunpa supposedly disappeared mysteriously and his son Donpa took over for many years after that, and they were all righteous thieves who helped keep the lands safe from evildoers. But when Dodonpa took over, several years ago, he started recruiting all the evil thieves that they were supposed to fight. Bandits, mercenaries and bounty hunters all filled the ranks of his newly formed Lunpa army. Even the thieves that had been in Lunpa before soon became evil.
Dodonpa had been harassing all the citizens of Lunpa, forcing them to obey his rule, conscripting their young men into his army and forcing the people to pay heavy taxes and hand over all valuable possessions.
The nearby cities, Vault, Bibilin and Kalay, had been vehemently opposed to Dodonpa's cruel reign, Kalay the most so.
The fact that this merchant, Hammet, Lord of Kalay was travelling the region made him a valuable target for kidnapping.
Isaac and Garet were very surprised to learn that Hammett was a leader, a lord, of a rich and powerful town. He apparently came under the guise of a merchant so as to avoid notice outside of his homeland, so he could sell goods and make the money he needed to remain ruler of Kalay.
And this left them discussing with Ivan how he was going to get to Bilibin if the roads were no longer safe. Isaac would have offered to help, but they had a far more important quest to lead for now. It was only if they were to head to Bilibin also that they could go with Ivan. That was when Garet got a good idea.
"Come with me for a second, Ivan." He said, getting up and moving towards the Innkeeper. Garet asked once more where Saturos had gone, and again was told that he couldn't say, but this time while Ivan was mind reading.
When he came back, they were both grinning proudly.
"Saturos and Menardi are headed for the Goma Mountain Ranges." Garet told Isaac, "Which is along the way to Bilibin. Looks like Ivan can come with us for a little while!"
Eventually, Ivan had to leave to spend his last night in Vault at the mayor's house where he was a guest and thanked them for their hospitality. They all agreed to meet the next morning at the town gates, before heading to Bilibin.
After a good nights sleep, Isaac and Garet were ready to leave on their journey. They'd stopped by the mayor's house to see him, although Ivan wasn't around for some reason, he'd left earlier to meet the thieves in their prison.
The mayor was most glad to see the people who had caught the thieves, and thanked them profusely.
He gave them a heavy purse filled with gold coins. "Spend it on something nice." He told them, "You deserve it for they way you helped us out!" Isaac gratefully accepted it, although most likely it would all be spent on their long quest. Then they left to meet Ivan.
Isaac and Garet were waiting at the town gates, which were no longer policed now that the thieves had been caught, for Ivan to arrive. He came hurrying down the street with his pack on his back and his mop of blonde hair not quite properly brushed just yet.
"Sorry I'm late." He said, "I had a few things to take care of before I left."
"That's okay, we were here early anyway." Isaac replied.
"You know, on my way here, I took the opportunity to visit those thieves in prison." He said, "I wanted to know why they would take something like my rod, when it has no real value. They wouldn't say, but I read their minds anyway. Apparently some guy named Saturos payed them to take it and give it to him in Bilibin. They were going to leave when things had calmed down in Vault. Even they didn't know why he wanted it so bad though." He finished explaining.
"So, he wanted that thing as well?" Garet asked, "Why the heck would he have wanted that?"
"Well, it doesn't matter now. I got it back and now I have to rescue my master." Ivan replied.
"Yes and we have to stop Saturos and his gang or else we'll all be in trouble" Isaac replied.
"But… I won't be going with you." Ivan told them sadly.
"Why not?" Garet asked.
"The mayor of Vault just received a message from Lunpa this morning by carrier pigeon. They captured Master Hammet and his group near the Goma Ranges. They're holding him ransom."
"They did!" Garet spat incredulously, "I can't believe that!"
"So what are you going to do now, Ivan?" Isaac asked feelings sorry for the kid.
"Well, I can't go back to Kalay just yet…" the servant replied slowly, "so I'm going to Lunpa."
"Really?" Garet asked, "Even though it's a city of thieves?"
"I can handle it!" Ivan insisted, "Since taking care of those three with you, I feel a lot more confident in my abilities now!"
"Well, if that's what you want, guess we can't say anything to change your mind." Isaac shrugged, "I think you'll be fine though. You're a better fighter than you look, I'll give you that."
"So, I suppose this is good-bye then?" Ivan said sounding a little sad to leave them.
"We'll miss you, Ivan." Garet grinned at his friend.
"I shall never forget this town's hospitality," He said looking back on Vault, "I wish you all the best."
With that they all said goodbye and Ivan left along the Lunpa Road heading northeast.
"Well, I suppose we'd better get moving to." Garet said. Isaac nodded and they began heading east, towards the Goma Mountain Ranges.
"I hope we see him again sometime." Isaac said, "He was a real good kid."
"Yes," Garet agreed, "Maybe someday we'll see him again."
A/N: And that's done. Hey, any Zelda fans out there? If so, may I recommend "Book One: The Missing Piece" by "Post and his Power". It's very good, well written, but doesn't receive the readership it deserves (a pet peeve of mine).
Yeah, back to me, the next chapter shouldn't take too long (computer reliability pending) so keep an eye out. Also, I should have a new One-shot out soon (title undecided thus far), so be on the look out. Add on to that, me and Cyan Light will soon release a new novel entitled "Shadow Wars", a story detailing the sealing of Alchemy, with some interesting twists. Keep an eye out for it, it's going to be a very good fic (I hope!).
Okay, enough promotionalism for one day. Just review… please?