A/N: Quick enough update for ya'all? I couldn't leave you all hanging like that for too long. So here it is! First of:
Spirit Seer: Thank you! Ah, silly me to miss mistakes like that. There are probably just the odd couple in here still, even after I looked. I'm a hopeless spell checker.
Corycian Muse: No, you haven't reviewed before, but I don't mind. I'm glad you like the characterisations, that's always an important part of any author's work. Glad you like it!
Fan knight: Thank you! I will!
GoldenSunGeek: Hehe, yes, I did have to do it. Hope this was soon enough for ya!
Spacejoe: Yes, I do need to check for mistakes, that last chapter I just sort of got lazy and thought "screw it, it's good enough as it is, I'm sure there aren't too many mistakes in it." (yeah, I know, NOT very good author attitude to have). I'm as old as you are now? Cool!
Kd7sov: Another person who loves my characterisations! That's good. Always important, those characterisations. Vowed not to request updates? That's okay, I've vowed never to stop updates until it's finished, so you need not worry!
SpasticDjinn: I remember you too! Yes, hurry up with Golden Boys! Hmm… So, technically, if you weren't too evil to give full marks, I would have gotten 10 / 10? Bwahaha! I am so great! Ah well, thanks for reviewing!
Okay, is that everyone? Excellent. It seems that I'm doing a fairly good job by everyone. Remember, if there's something you feel I could do better, just tell me! Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Now, a lot of the dialogue is very similar to the game, but only because I replayed this scene, and the words got stuck in my head when rewriting, but hopefully its nothing that anyone will complain about. There was one major change though. Anyone remember WHY Saturos first kidnapped Jenna? So Isaac would give the Mars Star to get her back. BUT, at no point on Mercury (or even Venus) does Satty say "give us the star and we'll give you the girl." Plothole here, you think? Stupid Camelot. So I HAD to put in something here about that, it only makes sense. Anyway, I'll shut up now so you can read.
CHAPTER NINE
CONFRONTATION ATOP MERCURY
They stood by the stairs leading up to the ramp, staring at the giant, blue pulsing orb of power that was the Mercury Lighthouse beacon.
"It… it can't be!" Mia stammered in shock. "The beacon can't be lit without the Mercury Star…" Isaac turned to her.
"Saturos and Menardi stole the Elemental Stars from Sol Sanctum." he informed her. She seemed to recognize that name. "They're planning to release Alchemy on the world and use it for themselves."
"Sol Sanctum…" she repeated softly. "Are you healers from Sol Sanctum?" Isaac shook his head.
"We come from Mount Aleph, but we're not healers." Garet told her. "We came from a village called Vale to recover the three Elemental Stars." She seemed to recognize that name, too.
"Did you say Vale?" she asked in surprise. Isaac nodded.
"Our village was there to protect Sol Sanctum, but the Stars were stolen." Isaac replied. "We failed to protect them." Mia sighed dejectedly at this.
"That sounds just like my Clan…" she murmured, "I have failed in the one duty placed upon me… this is terrible." She strode up the stairs to the aerie, exposed for all around to see, as she gazed at the orb of pulsing blue power, like an accusation of her failure. Isaac went to comfort her. He knew her hurt at having failed to prevent the catastrophe. The wave of Mercury's power washed over him like a flood, he felt as though his soul was being washed away in water, but he withstood its power, impervious.
Beside the beacon were honorific statues, as though the beacon were some sort of god-like deity. Below the orb, was a large hole, a shaft to the heart of the Lighthouse. The beacon floated just above it, its bottom edge slightly below the floor, so they could see nothing behind it.
Ivan and Garet followed him up, the four Adepts staring at the sheer force of Water Psynergy unleashed before them. A piece of Alchemy was almost upon the world. Saturos, Menardi, Felix and Alex were one step closer to their dreams of unstoppable, ultimate power. Then a familiar voice called out to them, distracting them from their thoughts.
"Isaac! Garet!" It was Jenna! There she was standing on a platform above a shaft, away and below the aerie, opposite where they had come from. Isaac's heart leapt for joy. She was safe! They could still save her! Beside her stood Kraden, looking equally surprised to see them.
Standing guard over the two of them were Felix and Menardi. They were clearly just about to leave. Where Saturos and Alex were, he didn't know. Felix stared at them as though he couldn't believe that they were still alive. Brushing aside his green cloak, he gripped his sword at his side tightly, glaring at them from beneath his shoulder length brown locks.
"Isaac! What are you doing here?" he asked in shock. Isaac stared back at Felix's brown eyes coolly with his blue eyes and said nothing. He couldn't lose his cool now, not with Jenna so close. Somehow, Jenna needed to be rescued from her deceitful, lying, thieving brother.
"Those kids are still alive?" Menardi asked aloud with a look of surprise on her face, her tone of voice hinting that she was impressed. She was wearing the same red dress as in Sol Sanctum, her scythe held in her left hand, waist-length blonde hairs swaying in the wind. "You came all this way to save these two?"
"That's right!" Isaac replied, tensing for action. "She's coming with me! And Kraden to, he's not being used by you anymore!" His voice sounded so much stronger now. He was a great deal stronger since last they met. Jenna smiled when she realised she was being rescued, but was unable to make any move. That smile, it made Isaac's heart melt. He would gladly fight to save her. And then he'd tell her what he should have told her a long time ago, he would tell her how he really felt.
"That's not all." Garet added. "We're taking back the Elemental Stars!" Of course, how could he forget those! He still carried the Mars Star at his side in its Mythril bag, now they had to retrieve the remaining two.
"So, you've come to stop us?" She glared at them with baleful red eyes, "Then we have no choice…" she breathed as she gripped her scythe tightly in both her hands. "We have to take care of them now." she said to Felix, as though apologizing in advance for it. "Before they can do any harm!"
Felix looked to his sister and Menardi for a moment, almost as if hesitating, the looked to Isaac, and drew his sword, standing next to his companion.
"Menardi… wait!" A deep, familiar sounding voice called out from the side, behind the beacon. Saturos strode out from behind the blue sphere into Isaac's view and stood before his party, between them and the stairs that led down to the platform where Menardi and Felix were. He stood there calmly, staring into Isaac's blue eyes, with his dangerous red eyes, hand resting lightly on the sword that hung at his side.
"Oh, Saturos, they want to…" Menardi began.
"I heard everything." he interrupted. "I know." Isaac glared back at him with hatred. This was the man responsible for his father's death, for hurting Jenna and kidnapping her. Kidnapping an innocent Alchemy Sage to use his knowledge for his own ends. To have Alchemy for his own. And now he stood before them, a barrier between him and the Elemental Stars. Between him and Jenna.
"I must say, you were extremely lucky to have survived the eruption of Mount Aleph." he stated, face focused, expressionless. He looked them each in the eye, as though trying to reach through to them. "This isn't your fight. You don't need to do this. If you try and stop us from unleashing Alchemy, you're only damning yourselves and all of Weyard."
"Forget it, Saturos; you can't intimidate us with your threats." Garet challenged aggressively.
"You must have endured so much to get here." Saturos replied, staring at them intently with fiery red eyes, trying another way to dissuade them. "Throwing everything you have into this quest that you know so little about. You don't understand what you mean to do by fighting me. Do you really want to throw your lives away?"
"I'll do what I have to, Saturos." Isaac replied sternly, meeting his intent red gaze levelly. "But there is nothing that you can say or do to make me listen to you, to let you unleash Alchemy. I'll fight you to the death if I have to, and my friends will help me." Saturos sighed, and gripped his sword hilt.
"Fine. If that is your wish, then prepare to have it granted." He unsheathed his sword, and held it before him like a warrior who was perfectly in tune with his weapon, and knew precisely how to handle it. Isaac drew his blade from across his back, and felt Garet and Ivan prepare themselves likewise. Only Mia remained still, she still held her golden staff steadily, crystal orb glowing blue, as though in prelude to the power she planned to unleash.
"Saturos." Menardi called out from the platform. "You're not… are you going to fight them alone?"
"Menardi," Saturos replied, not looking away from the four Adepts, "We can't leave the hostages alone now, can we?"
"Yes… that's true…"
"Besides," he added as an afterthought, "They weren't any match for us before, and can't be one now, no matter what they've been through. We'll see how far their powers have developed." He was fighting them alone? This was great; one against four had to give them an advantage, no matter how powerful he was. With one Adept for each of the four elements, Saturos had to have a disadvantage somewhere!
"Are you sure about this, Saturos?" she asked cautiously, eyeing the four of them, gripping her long handled scythe, body tensed as though it would only take a word for her to join Saturos' side. Felix stood there uncertainly, as though unsure wether to look after the hostages and obey Saturos, or go to help him in battle.
"Yes." Saturos called out over his shoulder. "Now, Isaac… we don't need to fight. How about we make a deal. You give us the Mars Star, and we give you back your girl and this whole mess will be sorted out. You don't need to waste your time on your vain quest. What do you say?"
For a moment, Isaac almost felt like giving in. But only for a moment. Now that it came to it, he wasn't about to surrender so easily. "Never." The Earth Adept replied icily.
"Here's a better deal…" Garet offered. "You give us back Jenna, Kraden and the Elemental Stars, and we won't hurt you… what do you say to that?"
Saturos sighed. "Ship of fools…" he muttered, then in a louder voice, "Well, then. I'll just have to deal with you myself."
"Saturos, let me-" Menardi began.
"Leave us!" Saturos commanded sharply in reply. "Head for the next Lighthouse-now!" Menardi nodded in obedience, and turned to leave, bumping into Jenna who was just getting up to leave.
"Isaac's come to save me now." Jenna told the taller, more intimidating looking woman levelly. "I'm not going to be your hostage anymore. I'm leaving." She turned to run to the staircase to reach her friends, but Menardi stopped her.
"Come back here, child…" she growled as she dragged the young woman back with one hand. Jenna threw Menardi's hand off and glared at her, her body beginning to glow with Psynergy. Isaac would have moved to help her, but Saturos stood in his way like an indomitable force. Surely, she wouldn't…?
Menardi overpowered Jenna so easily in Sol Sanctum, with hardly an effort; she needed their help to escape. And they couldn't help her without going through Saturos.
"Do you mean to defy me?" Menardi spat, raising her scythe, long blade pointed at Jenna, causing her to step back and cease her focus of Psynergy. Felix rushed to place a hand on Menardi's shoulder, warning her against doing anything.
"Menardi, please…"
Menardi lowered her scythe, but not her gaze.
"I should teach you a lesson, girl, but…" She didn't finish what she was saying, instead turning to face her Earth Adept companion.
"Felix, I'd get your sister to obey me," she warned icily, "if you hope to keep her from harm." Felix tried to calm his sister with a reassuring hand, but she snatched herself back, glaring at them both with hatred.
"Jenna, please…" he pleaded with her, "Just do as she says for now." Jenna shook her head, looking into Felix's eyes, unable to believe he would willingly side against her.
"Felix…" she groaned, voice tinged with pain. Kraden moved to calm and reassure her.
"It's alright, Jenna." The old scholar said in a kind, wizened old voice. Felix turned to face them with what Isaac thought almost looked like regret in his eyes.
"They shouldn't have come after us…" he said only just loud enough for Isaac to hear.
"I'm sorry, Isaac, Garet…" Jenna moaned, apologetic at not being able to help them.
"I'm counting on you!" Menardi called out to Saturos.
"Isaac! Garet!" Kraden called out. "Don't die!" Then Menardi, with a flick of her Psynergy, hit a switch, and with a jerk and a grind, the platform began to move. It was lowering itself down. The platform headed for the base of the Lighthouse, taking itself and its passengers out beyond Isaac's view. Jenna-!
But it was too late, they were gone. Isaac wanted to chase after her, but she was beyond his reach.
"If you wish to save them, you'll have to beat me, first!" Saturos challenged. But Mia raised her staff, and stared him in the eye.
"No! Get back!" she demanded with a chill in her voice. Garet placed a hand on her shoulder, pulled her back with his powerful, broad arms.
"What's the matter?" Saturos asked, surprised at Garet's reluctance to let her challenge him. He seemed to be just buying time for his companions to get away.
"Saturos is extremely powerful." Garet warned Mia, before she could snap at him. "I could sense it when I faced him." It was true. Isaac could sense Saturos' extreme Psynergy potential within him whenever he laid eyes upon him. It had lost none of it's potency since that day, three years ago, when Isaac first saw him, and felt first hand what he could do with that awesome power. Saturos stood there now, waiting for them to make the first move.
"We have to be very careful when fighting him…" Ivan mused.
"He's right," Isaac added, "His strength overwhelms any one of us. But he is one; there are four of us, of all four elements. Our power adds up. We can match his strength."
"Match me?" Saturos exclaimed in disbelief. "Pah! You think you can match me!"
"Yes." Isaac replied steadily, eyes focused on his enemy, tensed body gripping his sword. "You can't beat all of us, and we'll make sure of it." Saturos shook his head.
"You overestimate you chances." He glared at every one of them. "I'll give you one last chance to back down. Don't destroy yourselves doing this. Weyard does not need you to do this. If only you would listen to me as to why…"
"Forget it." Garet interrupted. "We know better. The Elders of Vale have told us the truth. We're not letting you get away with this."
"I may have failed my Clan in my duty," Mia said icily. "But I will not fail in giving vengeance upon those who have violated the sacred Lighthouse."
"The teachings of Vale come from the Wise One himself." Isaac added. "I won't let the task he set us become a failure."
"Fine then…" Saturos sighed. "I'll just teach you all a lesson!" Then he raised his sword and started towards them, only to stop, lower his sword as thought it's weight were too much, and clutch his side in pain, an expression of surprise and pain on his face.
"What's going?" Mia asked quizzically. "Why is he hesitating?"
Indeed, Saturos turned as though in pain, to look at the beacon of Mercury Lighthouse behind him.
"What's this!" the warrior asked himself in shocked exclamation. "The light of Mercury… no!" He turned to face them, raising his sword once more. "I must finish this quickly…" he breathed, as though it hurt to say it. "Come on fools!" And then he lunged at them as the battle began.
Garet threw a huge ball of fire at him, enveloping him in flames, but Saturos shrugged of the effect with his Psynergy as though it were nothing. Ivan raised his Shaman's Rod, forming a powerful whirlwind around Saturos, but he stood there impervious, it's effect lacking. Then he made his move.
Saturos raised his hand and huge balls of fire formed of searing flames were scattered by the wind around the aerie, hurling themselves at the four Adepts. Garet fell back, trying to block the flames with his double-edged axe, trying to destroy others with his Fire Psynergy, but still took several serious burns.
Isaac raised his hand and, flowing with Psynergy, a glowing golden sphere formed about him, a mighty earthen barrier, protecting him from Saturos' powerful fiery blasts.
Mia tried to blast the multitudes of fireballs with blast of Water Psynergy, trying to protect herself and Ivan, who was next to her, from the searing flames. But she was quickly overcome, and Ivan had to drop his whirlwind attack, and fall back with her as they were driven back, the two Adepts battling to defend themselves against the fiery onslaught with their respective Psynergies and staffs.
Mia formed a powerful water barrier around them, dissipating the balls of flame. As soon as Saturos ceased his attack, Isaac dissipated his protective barrier and lunged at him with his sword. Saturos seemed to have exhausted himself with his initial attack, but quickly regained his composure, as he parried Isaac's attacks. Isaac summoned all his skills and experience as he tried to pierce Saturos' defence in an all out assault.
But Saturos was too good; he was completely superior to Isaac's sword fighting skills in every way. He drove Isaac to a defensive position slashing and stabbing; it took all of Isaac's ability to stay alive.
Parry, block, and dodge. He couldn't keep this up for long. If only he could gain a moment to focus a Psynergy attack. Saturos took the opportunity instead. During the sword fight he wore a pained expression, as though it hurt to exert this much effort. Suddenly, he launched a powerful fireball right into Isaac's chest, seemingly without a moment to focus his mind, sending Isaac sprawling on his back on the aerie. His chest plate armour had saved his life, but the blow had still winded him, severely bruising his ribs, and the armour burned with an intense heat.
Raising his head, he saw that Ivan had taken the opportunity of them being apart to launch a bolt of lightning, scoring a direct hit, driving the powerful warrior to his knees. Ivan raised his Elven Rapier and charged at Saturos, but he had delayed just slightly too long.
Saturos slammed his larger, heavier blade into Ivan's smaller, lighter one as it came down, sending it flying away. Saturos threw the young boy aside with his Psynergy, and rising to his feet, prepared for a powerful attack. Raising his free hand, flames crackled along his body and gathered in his open palm forming a powerful fireball.
But he was interrupted as Garet's fireball slammed into his back, although it seemed to have little effect. Garet then rushed at him with his axe upraised, ready for a crushing blow. But his previous assault had gained Saturos' attention. Moving strangely sluggish, in contrast to his previous effort, Saturos turned and deflected Garet's blow with a powerful sword parry.
As Garet stumbled past him, Saturos unleashed his powerful fireball right into his back, encasing him in flames. Isaac got up and looked in horror, but Garet was okay, his Fire Psynergy had saved him. Just at the last minute, Isaac thought he had glimpsed a fiery red shield protect him, but how could he have summoned it in time?
Isaac moved, sword in hand, to face Saturos again, but Mia was ahead of him. She unleashed a wave of sharp icicles into him, some shattering upon his armour, others piercing his skin, causing streaks of blood to streak down his blue scaly skin. What sort of species was Saturos?
Glaring at her, Saturos raised his blade above his head, preparing to strike. As it came down, Mia raised her staff, flowing with Psynergy, and Saturos' blade struck the blue glowing orb embedded in the head of the staff. There was a brilliant white flash for a fraction of a second, and when it faded, Isaac saw that Saturos' heavy blade had recoiled form the blow, and it was now covered in a thick layer of ice, holding it to his hand, and making it unwieldy.
Before he could react, Mia placed the head of her staff on the ground and suddenly Saturos found that his feet had been iced to the blue stone floor. Looking down in shock at his feet, Mia suddenly blinded him with a sleet of frost to the eyes. He growled with pain and shock and Mia smiled at the victory. She must have used a great deal of power in the assault.
But she was too slow. Seizing hold of her wrist in a powerful grip, Saturos sent a wave of fire down Mia's arm, causing her to scream in pain. Saturos ceased his Psynergy and threw her aside.
"No! Mia!" Isaac screamed. He raced to see if she was okay. But already she was healing herself with her Psynergy. He couldn't help her, mixing in his lacking healing abilities with hers. She was a healer. She knew what to do.
Looking over, Isaac saw that Saturos was glowing with Psynergy as he enveloped himself in flames, melting the ice. Garet got up from next to him, but Saturos was quick to parry the axe blow. The then focused the fire about his body into his hand, and sprayed it at Garet, sending the Mars Adept across the floor. Surely Garet couldn't have survived an attack of that calibre?
"You monster!" Isaac called out to Saturos. As the powerful warrior turned to face him, Isaac raised his hand and released a powerful, brilliant white bolt of Venus Psynergy. The Ragnarok lanced through the air like a pointed sword, striking Saturos with such power and speed that he had no time to react. It exploded in a blinding blast, sending hundred of sparks of glowing power around it, and threw Saturos across the aerie, severely hurting him.
Isaac rushed to where Garet was to check on him. He lay on his back, breathing heavily. He wasn't badly burned. Of course, his Fire Psynergy had protected him. You couldn't fight fire with fire.
"Are you alright?" Isaac asked. Garet attempted a smile.
"I'm fine." he replied with an effort. "But Isaac… my Psynergy. It's not strong enough. Something's dampening it. I can't wield it properly. I could barely defend myself with it." What the heck was doing that? But Isaac chose not to think about it then.
"Don't worry, Garet." he reassured the Fire Adept. "You'll be fine. I'll take care of Saturos." Looking over, he saw that Saturos was engaging Ivan. For some reason, he was using no Psynergy, instead swinging his powerful blade at the short Jupiter Adept. Ivan held him off with gusts of powerful wind, and swirling whirlwinds. But he was weakening. He couldn't hold of the powerful warrior forever. Isaac noticed Mia come over, and kneel beside Garet. Her arm was perfectly healed.
"I'll take care of Garet." She told him, "Just go and fight." Isaac nodded without a word, and got up, raising his sword to fighting position. She had used a great deal of Psynergy fighting and healing herself. Healing Garet would further deeply drain her. She might end up exhausting her Psynergy ability if she chose to fight afterwards.
But maybe, by healing them, she could help win the battle. He saw Ivan was nearly going down. Isaac threw himself into the fight against Saturos.
The watcher stared as he saw the young Wind Adept go down under Saturos' fiery Psynergy. He felt the power of Mercury Lighthouse beacon flow through him, but he payed it no mind. He could see clearly through the powerful blue orb, even if they couldn't.
So Saturos could still wield his Psynergy. That was good. He wasn't beaten then. He would not have to step out and aid him. Which was well, for Mia was out there. He did not wish to see her. She would not be glad to see him, if she were to put the pieces together. And she would, she was a smart young girl. Which was why he wished for her to come to no harm. But she was anyway.
The Fire Adept she was healing got up, fully healed. That would have severely exhausted her strength, but he knew he needn't aid her. The same reason his power needed no aid now. He could not bear to reveal himself to her. She would not understand. He feared she never would.
He watched as she began her healing process again on the young Wind Adept that Saturos had nearly felled. He was heavily engaged with the Venus Adept now. Even as the burly Mars Adept raced to aid him, he saw Saturos begin to overpower the blonde-haired Earth Elemental.
He had recovered some of his strength now, he would win. The kid suffered a severe blow to the shoulder, a fireball to the chest, he fell to his back.
But if Saturos won, surely that meant Mia… but then, of course, with her friends, she could just do it. Then he would have no choice. It was inevitable. He would have to reveal himself soon.
He watched calmly as the red-head fought Saturos with fire. It was no use, of course. He would have to decide that duel with his axe. And Saturos would win against that. Slowly, the muscled warrior was worn down.
But already, Hammet's servant joined the fray. But his Psynergy must be near exhausted. And he couldn't defeat him physically, no way. Not with that puny sword he held.
Mia was now healing the blonde kid from Vale. The one Jenna referred to as Isaac. But it was easier to think of them without the names. More impersonal.
But Mia… he watched her work her magic on him. That boy… truly a great warrior. Not strong enough to defeat Saturos, yet he showed great potential. They all did, even Mia, but the Venus Adept… truly the greater warrior. He did not wish to meet him in battle someday. But if he still held the Mars Star…but maybe he didn't, how else had he and his friend escaped from Sol Sanctum, the erupting Mount Aleph and even the Wise One's wrath, unless maybe they placed it back? But… they showed remarkable ingenuity following them to here, so maybe? There was no way to know for sure, unless…
The blonde servant kid was thrown aside, his weapons scattering beside him. The sword and rod. But the rod caught his eye. Could it be… it was! How had the kid come to get it from those thieves? Surely his powers weren't such before?
But there was no doubt about it. It was the Shaman's Rod. But it had another name. It was also know as the Rod of Hesperia. If Saturos defeated them all, he could take it. They needed it. And the Mars Star to, if the kid still held it.
With two down, Mia and the Earth Adept rose to face Saturos. He couldn't let Mia be… but then, she would not. He knew why. But if Saturos were defeated, and he could be, he did not think he could finish them off to obtain Rod and Star. Did they even know the Rod's purpose? Best not to mention it. The kid servant would not let go of it, he could be sure of that. But the Star. Did they have it? Only one simple way to find out. And he knew how to gauge the truth of the answer. And how to escape with Saturos in tow if necessary.
Saturos raised his blade to fight. He was not fully suppressed. Flames grew in his hand. If he did win, he would have to step in to prevent anything happening to Mia. But whichever way; Saturos had to escape, so they could all light the Lighthouses. Far too much depended on Saturos' success in lighting the Lighthouses.
Isaac stood alongside Mia. She must have exhausted her Psynergy ability now.
"Quick, get out of they way!" he told her. "You just healed all four of us; you won't be able to fight. You won't have any Psynergy left!" How she could summon enough power to have healed not only all of them, but so fully was beyond Isaac.
"It's okay, I'm fine." she replied. "I can still help!"
"Don't try and be brave!" he responded. "Just try and help Ivan and Garet get out of harms way; I'll try and finish of this murderer." Without waiting for her reply, Isaac went after Saturos.
Saturos looked weary now, showing heavily his signs of battle, but still standing strong. His armour was heavily dented in many places; there were cuts, bruises and smears of blood over him. His silvery blue hair was in disarray. But he still looked at Isaac with focused, determined, red eyes.
Isaac hurled another blast of that powerful, white Ragnarok power at his enemy. It exploded in a powerful flash, sending white glowing sparks to float through the air like particles before fading, scattering in every direction.
Isaac ran through the white haze, sword raised, quickly. So far Saturos had only used a small part of his total power that he was capable of wielding. He had sensed so much power from within him before, but now he could only sense him hold a small amount. Saturos should have been capable of unleashing so much more, yet he had only hit them with a small amount of that potential. Isaac and the others were getting weak; they had almost used up their total Psynergy supply. If they just tried to annihilate each other with Psynergy alone, then he knew Saturos would inevitably overwhelm them. He had to get in close, and strike him down with his sword.
As Isaac came through, he saw Saturos get up, holding his powerful weapon ready to defend. Isaac immediately swung at him, as the two started dancing with their blades; Isaac went into an all out offensive, forcing Saturos into defensive forms.
Saturos was the better swordsmen, but he was weakened, injured in battle, slower. Isaac, after being healed by Mia, was as fast as he had been at the start of the fight. If Saturos was to hard pressed physically in battle, he couldn't work up any Psynergy. This gave Isaac a slight advantage. Of course, it worked the other way; Isaac couldn't use his Psynergy to aid himself, although he didn't have much left anyway.
From out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Mia healing Garet with Psynergy. Impossible! She must have none left! Isaac ducked a swing at his head, trying to stab back, only grazing Saturos' side.
Garet staggered up, while Mia began helping Ivan recover. Isaac parried another blow, tried to strike, but hit only empty air, and dodged another blow, getting a deep cut in his arm in the process.
Ignoring the pain, Isaac raised his blade above him to strike, but as Saturos parried, he kicked him, causing Isaac to fall and land on his backside, sword clattering down beside him.
Saturos stood above him, but did not strike. He was looking side to side. On either side were Garet and Ivan, ready to fight. How could Mia have summoned the power to heal them? But neither Garet nor Ivan was capable of wielding very much more Psynergy. Isaac knew that they were near the bottom of the limits to their abilities. Mia stood behind him seemingly recovering form her exertion.
"Let's go, Ivan!" Garet called out, and together, the two came at Saturos from either side. With a visible exertion, Saturos raised a wall of fire between him and Ivan then turned and threw Garet's axe blow aside to the ground. Then he raised his sword, bringing a large gash to Garet's large arm. If only he had to strength to summon an assault, but his power was weakened.
While Saturos was doing this, Isaac hurriedly healed himself with the power of his Venus Psynergy, casting Cure. Saturos threw Garet aside with a fireball, but it failed to reach through to his skin. Then he turned to face Ivan.
While he had his back turned, Ivan had dissipated the firewall with his Wind Psynergy, and then came at Saturos with his Elven Rapier. Saturos knocked the blow aside with his heavier weapon. Only his Shaman's Rod protected him from Saturos' fireball. But Ivan had brought Isaac enough time to get up and attack.
As Ivan was flung back, Isaac lunged and jumped at Saturos, sword raised above his head. Saturos raised his own blade to block it. But it was a feint. As his right hand brought the sword down, his left hand came up and, not giving Saturos a moment to react, Isaac unleashed a full strength Ragnarok right into his chest.
As Saturos flew back through the air, and Isaac knew he had delivered a powerful blow, he saw Mia get up to raise her golden staff, behind Saturos. Isaac had put all his force into that attack. Suddenly, with shocking speed, an icicle formed at the end of Mia's staff on the orb, and launched itself with high velocity at Saturos. I slammed into his back, shattering and breaking his flight, causing him to fall back down to the ground. Only that thick armour had saved him from being skewered.
He landed heavily with a grunt, but staggered up again, still ready to fight. Mia strode up to him, staff ready for battle. No way could she be ready to do this, her Psynergy had to be exhausted by now!
But still, her body shone with a Psynergetic glow, her staff's crystal orb glowed, and she prepared for battle. Saturos tried to encase her in a flare, but she just raised her hand and dissipated the flames with water that was just formed form out of thin air with her Psynergy. Then she unleashed a hail of small, thin, sharp icicles from her hand, pounding into Saturos, piercing his skin and denting his armour. Saturos seared away the ice with a blast of fire, then quick as lightning, raised his sword and brought it down. But Mia was quicker. She raised her staff, and the sword again collided with the orb, only bare inches form her face. Quickly, Mia bore her Psynergy into the sword, covering it in ice and freezing it to his hand. Saturos immediately stepped back and continued to try and keep some distance between the two, as he began channelling Psynergy into the ice.
As he did so, Mia unleashed a blue beam form her staffs orb, and Saturos found his feet frozen to the ground. Confident she had him in a weakened position; Saturos hurled a fireball at her, flinging her back.
But her seemingly unending Psynergy again saved her, she was not injured! Isaac got up to fight Saturos, but the powerful warrior was already aware of him. Raising his hand, a ring of fire formed itself from out of the stonework around him. If he tried to pass through that, he could be incinerated.
Confident Isaac was no longer a threat, Saturos turned back to melting the ice at his feet, which quickly gave way, allowing the warrior to walk again. He then began working on his arm. Looking around, Isaac thought the fire around him seemed weaker than before just slightly, as though it had been watered down.
Quickly deciding he couldn't allow Saturos to continue, Isaac unleashed another Ragnarok right into his back, sending the man sprawling. Isaac looked around and noticed the ring of fire was indeed a bit weaker. But only a bit. Saturos stood up to find Mia coming towards him again. She stabbed her glowing crystal orb at him, but he grabbed it in his free hand, holding her back physically, channelling huge amounts of Fire Psynergy through his hand, cancelling out the effects of her freezing. The result caused a thick steam of steam to emanate from their point of contact. The two were evenly matched. But surely Saturos could have summoned more power than that? And surely Mia should be completely drained by now? She would have to have been at full strength to be doing what she was doing now for any considerable length of time. Then he noticed Garet and Ivan get up from either side of him. They weren't quite down yet.
Filling himself with his dwindling supply of Psynergy, Isaac surrounded himself with a golden, glowing, transparent dome, and stepped through the flames unaffected. Dispersing the Venus barrier so as to not waste the rest of his power, Isaac prepared to fight.
They had him surrounded. But Garet was in no condition to fight, especially with his power suppressed. Nonetheless, Garet raised his axe and shouted, "I'm not done yet, you fool!"
Saturos glared at the nearly defeated Mars Adept, as if considering how to finally finish him off. This provided an ample distraction, as while Saturos had his back turned; Ivan summoned the last of his Psynergy, unleashing a powerful bolt of liquid blue lightning right into his back.
Crippled, Saturos sank to his knees, but didn't give in to Mia's power, keeping it at bay steadily. Then Isaac noticed something that made his blood run cold. Saturos' sword. The ice around the blade had thawed. That's what Saturos had been doing with the rest of his power, freeing his sword!
But Mia hadn't noticed, couldn't have noticed. Psynergy summoning required focusing of the mind, with all her Psynergy, and thus mind, focused on counter-attacking Saturos' power, she was virtually unaware of anything else.
Saturos raised his blade back, slowly got to his feet, and prepare to pierce her heart. Not knowing what else to do, Isaac leapt at him, channelling the last of his Psynergy into his sword blade, making it glow white, and stabbed at Saturos.
The armour should have deflected it, but the Psynergy charged blade passed through it like a hot knife through butter. The thrust pushed him back, away from Mia, and pierced his belly. Isaac pulled his blade out, and let it return to normal, its end was covered in blood.
Saturos coughed up blood, hand clasped to his mortal would, and his other uselessly frozen to the sword hilt. He stared at Isaac in amazed disbelief and wonder, and then sank to his knees. He coughed up some more blood, and then collapsed uselessly before them on the ground, defeated, and barely breathing. They had beaten him!
"Isaac, we got him!" Garet cheered. Isaac let out a sigh of relief. Saturos was defeated. They were the better warriors. The others gathered around Isaac, leaving Saturos' beaten body lying on the blue stone floor of the Lighthouse aerie, between them and the unbelievable power of the pulsing blue orb of Mercury Beacon. That power seemed to wash over and through them like a torrent of water. Isaac gazed at the enormous ball of Water Psynergy.
"I can't believe that Mercury Lighthouse held such great power…" the choked voice of Saturos reached Isaac's ears. He was staring at it, from his vantage point on the ground, head turned to one side. And all four of them had ensured that he would never wield that power for himself. "…if only my Psynergy had been at its full power..." he continued to murmur.
"What are you taking about?" Isaac asked. Saturos didn't respond.
"Saturos," Ivan began, "You said you were weakened, what did you mean?"
Silence. Then, "I… I meant nothing." he stammered, trying to cover himself.
"I shall tell you what he means…" A familiar sounding voice told them.
"That voice!" Mia exclaimed. "Is that you…?" Isaac looked over to the beacon, and from behind it stepped a familiar looking man, with shoulder length blue-coloured hair and blue clothing. He stepped over Saturos' body, and stood before them calmly, staring at them with his calm, blue eyes.
"Alex!" Mia exclaimed, shock in her eyes, unable to believe it was him. Could he be?
"It's been a while, Mia." Alex stated simply, nodding his head. This was Mia's partner, and fellow Clan member. They both had blue hair, and eyes. Mia could barely conceal her hurt at his betrayal. She strode forward slowly, to speak with him.
"Alex, do you realise what you've done?" she asked softly, slowly, voice cold as ice. Alex merely gave a slight half-smile.
"Of course…" he replied calmly, deftly. "I have freed a great power of this world that has long been sealed away." He turned to gaze at the awesome power radiating from the liquid blue orb floating behind him. "Mercury, the power of Water…" he murmured with awe and wonder in his voice. "What a mighty force." Mia brought him back.
"Alex, you…" She began, her voice quivering with rage or hurt, or both, Isaac couldn't tell. "Are you mad!" Alex turned to face her again; a slight hint of amusement on his lips then shook his head lightly.
"No, Mia…" he replied smoothly. "Don't you understand?" He gestured with his hands to the Lighthouse around them. "The Lighthouse granted you great power during your battle with Saturos." Could he be telling the truth? Mia sighed and gave a slight nod of acceptance.
"It's true," she began, her voice smoothed over now. "I could use my power without ever depleting it." Alex gave a slight smile of victory.
"Don't you see?" he asked her. "The Mercury Lighthouse supplied you with limitless Psynergy."
"You and I are both members of Mercury Clan…" he replied smoothly. "Masters of Water Psynergy. This power is our right… and it will give us so much." Mia said nothing at this, eyes glazed over in a mixture of rage, shock and hurt. There was a brief silence.
"Tell me, Alex," Ivan began, "Why wasn't Saturos able to use his full power?"
"Ah, yes…" Alex exclaimed, reminded of his original purpose, speaking nonchalantly as though discussing the weather. "I shall explain it all. Saturos is aligned with Mars, the Clan of Fire." Isaac had already figured that out, Saturos had fought with flames. "Fire and Water are opposing elements." Alex placed a fist in his open palm to emphasis his point. "His full power was bound by the Water Psynergy of the Lighthouse."
Well, that made sense, Isaac figured. Even he could feel Mercury's enormous power.
"Didn't Saturos know that?" Mia asked suddenly, with a look to the defeated warrior lying behind Alex. Alex nodded.
"Of course he knew." he stated simply. "However, he failed to appreciate the full extent of the enormous power of this Lighthouse." He turned to stare once more at the enormous ball of energy behind him. "As did I…"
Garet folded his broad arms across his chest. "Is that why we were able to defeat Saturos?" he asked the calm Alex. Alex turned to face them again, and then shook his head.
"No, there is more to it." he casually informed them. "I stood by watching you battle from afar…"
"You were watching us?" Ivan exclaimed, interrupting.
"Yet you didn't even try to help your friend." Isaac added, disgust in his voice. "Just let him go down while you watched." Alex nodded.
"Yes. I did not help Saturos, because I was certain he would win." He shook his head. "But I was wrong… you have become such great fighters in a short time."
Then, suddenly, Saturos began to stir, and got back up on one knee, his other hand supporting him.
"Impossible!" Isaac breathed in shock.
"Saturos can't be up again!" Ivan exclaimed in mutual surprise, "We beat him!"
"Me? Beaten? Never!" Saturos replied as Alex helped him up, throwing Saturos' arms over his shoulder, to help him stand, "I lost to this Lighthouse, not to you!" Alex gave a smile of victory.
"I was merely stalling you until Saturos had recovered his strength." he told them simply.
"You were just buying time?" Mia shrieked with anger. "That's not fair, Alex!" Garet raised his large axe, gripping the handle tightly.
"I'm not letting Saturos escape!"
"And neither will I!" Isaac added coldly. Saturos had killed his father! The two moved towards Alex, but the Water Adept fixed them with a cold glare from his blue eyes that made them stop.
"And just what are you going to do?" he asked them mockingly. "Will you finish him off?" Isaac tightened his grip on his sword grimly.
"Yes, if we have to. But I won't let Saturos get away with the crimes he has committed. I won't let him seize the ultimate power of Alchemy." Alex stared at him calmly.
"If that is the case, you will have to fight me, as well." He looked at each of them coldly in turn, although he seemed to avoid Mia's gaze. "I've seen how you fight. You cannot hope to win." And then as an afterthought, he added, "And I doubt you are the type to 'finish' anyone off!" Isaac sighed. The man had a point. He wasn't sure if he could bring himself to willingly end another's life in cold blood, no matter how evil they were. Was there any real sense of justice in murdering a murderer?
"Of course, you are welcome to believe whatever you want." Saturos spoke from Alex's side where he hung, coughing a bit more from his injury. Then Alex summoned his Psynergy and a white glow enveloped him and Saturos, and they vanished from view. Isaac turned his head just in time to see the duo rematerialize upon the lower platform, at the foot of the stairs to the aerie, near where the elevator platform Menardi and Felix had escaped on was.
"Damn, he did that warp thing again…" Garet muttered.
"No, it's impossible." Mia said, her voice filled with disbelief. "No one can teleport. Even Alex didn't have this kind of power before." She looked directly at Alex challengingly. "What's happened to you? You didn't used to be like this, the last time we met, I used to think that I knew you. But, you've changed, Alex…"
"Ah, well… I can't stay the same Alex you knew forever…" he replied enigmatically. Then, with the sound of grating stone, the elevator platform rose back to where it had been before, minus the previous occupants.
"Well, it seems that my ride has returned while we were speaking." he informed nonchalantly. "And so, I bid you adieu." He warped again, enveloped in white light, then dematerialised and rematerialized atop the elevator platform.
"Isaac, Saturos still has the Elemental Stars!" Ivan suddenly exclaimed.
"That's right! We can't let them leave now!" Garet added.
"Oh? And you want to take the Elemental Stars from Saturos?" Alex asked, raising a blue eyebrow, his voice suddenly sounding stronger, more challenging.
"Yes, that's right!" Isaac replied, "You're not leaving until we get them back. The Wise One himself has commanded it!"
"Ha! Too bad!" Saturos laughed. "Menardi has them. You'll have to ask her!" Then he coughed up some more of his blood at the effort of laughing.
"That reminds me…" Alex began. "Do you still have the Mars Star?" Did he really expect an honest answer?
"No," Isaac lied. "We lost it in the eruption of Mount Aleph."
"Are you telling the truth?" he asked, raising a doubtful blue eyebrow. "Well, I shall believe you for now. I suppose you'll be willing to pursue us for the Elemental Stars?" Was there anything they could do to stop them? No, they were in no condition to stop Alex.
"Yes, we will follow you. This isn't over yet." Isaac replied coldly. Alex merely smiled an innocuous half-smile.
"I look forward to it." he stated simply. "I shall see you soon, then. Good-bye."
"Don't look forward to our next battle." Saturos warned them. Then, with a flick of Psynergy, Alex brought the platform into motion, and they sunk down out of sight.
"They're gone…" Ivan sighed dejectedly.
"Shoot… we couldn't even save Jenna." Isaac moaned. He had failed her. That hurt more than his failure to retrieve the Elemental Stars. Mia seemed on the verge of tears.
"I don't deserve to be a part of the mercury Clan…" she moaned sorrowfully. "We couldn't stop them from lighting the beacon. I've failed my Clan, failed in my duty…" Isaac sighed and his heart wrenched, as he watched a tear slide down her cheek. But Ivan refused to let his spirit down.
"That's not true!" he exclaimed with heartfelt enthusiasm. "We can still beat them, right, Isaac?"
"Of course! We're still strong yet! Saturos does not yet hold Alchemy!" Garet agreed.
"That's right!" Ivan replied at his support, and then turned to Mia to comfort her, "All we need to do is stop them from lighting all the Lighthouses! The beacon of Mercury has been lit, but we'll stop them next time."
"Yes, we can still redeem you Clan's failure." Isaac added. "We can still have our revenge. We'll rescue our two friends."
"That's right." Garet added, "We can save Jenna at the next Lighthouse."
"Yes. We won't let Alex get away with this…"Mia spoke determinedly, as she got up, wiped away her tears and got a cold, focused look in her blue eyes. "Let's go after them, right now!" she exclaimed, and then moved to go down the stairs, stopping only when she realized the three males weren't following her. Turning, she asked, "What's the matter? We should hurry!"
"We?" Garet asked, "Mia, are you coming with us?"
"You want to aid us in our quest to save Weyard?" Isaac asked hopefully.
"But the people of Imil need you, Mia!" Ivan reminded her.
"It's okay." she reassured the young Wind Adept. "'The fountain shall be filled as long as light fills the Lighthouse.' That's an old saying. The fountain at the foot of the lighthouse will be run over with healing waters now." She looked out over the edge of the Lighthouse, into the mist. "I have mixed feelings about leaving, but Imil will be fine as long as the fountain continues to flow with the Water of Hermes. We should hurry if we're going to follow them."
"Come on, let's go, then." Isaac told them. "We can rest back at Imil." Descending down the stairs, they took the elevator platform back down, headed for Imil.
Four heroes to save Weyard.
(insert heroic music here) And the four of them are off! What mystical, wild adventures await our new heroes? Oh, wait, we already know… that's what sucks about novelisations… readers already know the meat of the story. That's why I look forward to writing an original story in the future. Especially my Zelda fic. But that's a long way off (and it isn't even ready to be written in my head yet.) so I'll just shut up and let you review.
(begin shameless plug) If you haven't already, go read "Final Showdown", and leave a review. (end shameless plug)
Now, on to something completely irrelevant. If your not a Star Wars fan, then skip this, and review. REJOICE! REVENGE OF THE SITH IS AWESOME! It easily dethrones "Empire Strikes back" as best star wars film ever. Even those who didn't like the first two prequels will be hard pressed NOT to like this one. I won't spoil anything, but let us suffice to say the movie rocks, and Darths transformation is realised very well… if a little disturbing as well, even for me. I saw it twice in one day! Do not miss it, if you know what's good for you. Anyway, I'll shut up about it now, because this isn't the Star Wars section, and Authors Notes are not meant for movie reviews.