Chapter 11: The Gabomba's Cavern & Jenna's Tale

Ignoring Felix's comment, Sheba started examining the strange patches of grass carefully. "Hmmm…" she muttered.

"What is it, Sheba?" Kraden asked.

"Felix, do you still have that strange chip the mayor of Madra gave you?" Sheba asked.

"Yeah." Felix said taking it out of his pocket. "Why?"

"Quickly, give it here!" Sheba snapped.

Although he was taken aback by Sheba's tone, Felix handed it to her. "Cyclone!" Sheba said suddenly.

Wind abruptly started to blow all around us. The patches of grass blew away to reveal a strange looking hole, which the five of us were forced through, due to the wind's power. All of us were sprawled out on the ground. "I knew it!" Sheba said, standing up triumphantly. "This is the legendary Cyclone Chip!"

"Cyclone Chip?" I said, getting up and brushing myself off.

"Yes." Sheba said. "I first heard about it while I was living in Lalivero. But, I never thought I'd be the one to wield it."

"But, what exactly is it?" Jenna asked.

"It's one of the many legendary objects that bestows Psynergy to any Adept that wields it." Sheba said.

"Hmmm." Jenna said, taking a peculiar-looking cube out of her pocket. "It's like this Pound Cube we found at Dehkan Plateau."

"Yeah." Felix said, taking a strange-looking bit out of his pocket. "And the Tremor Bit we found in the ruins underneath Madra."

"Plus the Lash Pebble we received at the Kandorean Temple." Kraden added.

"We mustn't forget the Scoop Gem we found in the Yampi Desert." Felix added.

"So, in other words, all these objects you found during your travels bestow certain kinds of Psynergy upon Adepts who wield it?" I asked.

"Correct." Kraden said. "They are believe by many to relics from the Lost Age of man."

"Strange," Jenna said. "I don't recall that being mentioned in our lessons at all, Kraden."

"Of course you don't, Jenna." Kraden said stiffly. "Both you and Isaac were busy passing notes to one another."

"Are you sure it wasn't the fact that Garet's snoring was drowning you out?" Jenna asked, turning red.

"Who's Garet?" I asked.

"He's another friend of ours." Jenna explained.

"Isn't he the one you told me that he was a little rash?" I asked.

"Yeah." Jenna said, a little surprised. "How did you know?"

"I guessed." I replied. "I don't mean to sound arrogant, but we Lemurians are known for our superb powers of deduction."

"That damn near puts the cleverness of Jupiter Adepts to shame." Sheba said, amazed.

"I guess you could put it that way." I said.

"How did hear rumors of the Cyclone Chip in Lalivero, Sheba?" Kraden asked.

"I merely heard some travelers at the inn discussing what they called 'magical objects' when I was young." Sheba explained. "I'm certain this was one of several they mentioned."

As we proceeded through the cavern. Sheba would occasionally use her new Psynergy spell to find objects hidden in the grass. As we neared the end of our trek, we were stopped by the voice of the Great Gabomba. "To prove that you are worthy of this power, blow away the patch of grass that lies before you…" the voice said.

"That sounds simple enough." Sheba said confidently. "Cyclone!"

The grass blew away, and a huge and ugly-looking plant burst out of the earth and attacked us! "Okay, this complicates things a little…" Sheba said, staring at the plant.

"Oh, my goodness!" Kraden said excitedly. "It's one of the legendary Mad Plants! I thought they all went extinct back in the Lost Age!"

"Kraden, this is no time for a lecture!" I said, drawing my sword. "We've got to defeat this thing!"

"That's right, Piers!" Felix said, drawing his sword. "Let's do this!"

Jenna and Sheba produced their staves seemingly out of thin air. At the same time, the Mad Plant lashed out with its tentacle-like vines. To my horror, the vines started wrapping themselves around Kraden. He managed to scream "Help!" before the vines started choking the life out of him.

I rushed to his aid and started hacking at the vines with my sword. Unfortunately, it didn't do any good, It seemed like every time I sliced off a vine, two more would appear to take its place. Suddenly, I had an idea. "Jenna!" I shouted.

"What, Piers?" Jenna said, trying to fend off a couple vines with her staff.

"Try to use your Psynergy on the vines that are trying to kill Kraden." I said.

"Gotcha." Jenna said. "Flare Wall!"

The powerful Fire Psynergy singed the vines around Kraden, and amazingly, didn't singe him at all. I quickly sliced the vines off of him. "Run as fast you can to get out of here!" I ordered.

Kraden didn't move. I assumed he was paralyzed with fear. "Piers is right, Kraden." Felix said. "Move!"

The Psynergy shot forth and shoved Kraden behind a rock, keeping him safely out of harm's way. "The creature must be weak against fiery attacks, Jenna." Felix said. "Quickly, use the strongest attack you have on it!"

Jenna nodded. "Serpent Fume!" she shouted. A huge pillar of flames shot up from Jenna into the air, and then came crashing down onto the Mad Plant.

I could've sworn I had heard a loud shriek coming from the plant, but I convinced myself it just was my imagination. Although badly burned and weakened by Jenna's powerful attack, the Mad Plant didn't look like it was even close to dying. Reacting quickly, Sheba stepped up and shouted "Tornado!"

Two enormous tornadoes appeared and literally ripped the Mad Plant to shreds. A few moments later, Kraden came out from behind the rock Felix shoved him behind, quivering and shaking. "I-is it over?" he asked.

"Yeah." Felix said.

"Good." Kraden said.

He quickly ran up to a piece of what was the Mad Plant. Picking it up, he started to examine it. Jenna walked up to him and said, "No, Kraden."

"I just want a sample for my research." Kraden said.

"No." Jenna said. "Knowing you, there's no telling what might happen if we let you have a sample of that thing."

"Oh come on, please." Kraden pleaded.

"No." Jenna said firmly.

It took an hour of Kraden's nagging until Jenna finally gave in. Kraden pocketed his "sample" of the Mad Plant, and everyone was happy. Jenna then proceeded to burn the rest of the Mad Plant to ashes because she said she "didn't want to take any chances".

We headed into the next cave, where we found another Great Gabomba statue. The room darkened and once again we heard the Great Gabomba's voice. "By reaching this place, you have proven your worth." it said.

At these words, a strange, black book appeared in the statue's hands. "However," the statue said. "I must make some conditions to our agreement."

"Conditions?" Kraden asked. "What kind of conditions?"

"You… must not mention this to Akafubu." the statue said.

"Why?" Felix asked.

"Because he will lose heart if he finds out what you have done." the statue explained. "And the people of Kibombo will have need of this ill-prepared ruler. If he does indeed manage to reach this place, I shall pass on this power to him, as I have done to you. Until then, I sleep. Fare thee well, successors to the witch doctor."

When the room brightened back up again, I noticed that Kraden was eyeing the book with very intense interest. "Good Sol…" Kraden said, astonished.

"What's the matter, Kraden?" Felix asked.

"Th-that book…" Kraden said.

"What about it?" I asked.

"It's the legendary Tomegathericon." Kraden said.

I looked at Felix. He was just as confused as I was. The same went for Jenna and Sheba. "The legendary what?" we said at the same time.

"The Tomegathericon is a legendary book of dark Psynergy used by Adepts of the Lost Age." Kraden explained.

"Wow." Jenna said, rolling her eyes. "Yet another artifact from the Lost Age."

"This is serious, Jenna." Kraden said. "There's no telling what kind of powers it possesses, so we have to extra careful when handling it."

"Tell you what, Kraden," Sheba said. "Since you probably want to examine it, and also the fact you're the only non-Adept in our group, why don't you carry it?"

"Good idea." Kraden said, taking the book from the statue's hands.

"We should get going." I said. "There's no telling how long we've been down here."

"There's only one problem, Piers." Sheba said. "How are we going to get out?"

"Yeah." Jenna agreed. "This place is like a maze."

"Don't worry, you two." Felix reassured them. "I'll use my Psynergy. But to do that, everyone must grab on to me."

Everyone grabbed onto Felix's clothes. Kraden took the longest because he was carrying the Tomegathericon. "Everybody ready?" Felix said.

"Ready." chorused Jenna and Sheba.

"I'm set, Felix." I said.

"Good to go, Felix." Kraden said, gripping the book tightly.

Felix nodded and muttered "Retreat."

Suddenly, I saw a bright white light and my whole body was filled with a strange tingling sensation. The sensation left as quickly as it came, and when the bright light went away, I found we were standing at the entrance to the Great Gabomba. "Wow." I said, rubbing my eyes because of all the bright light. "That was some Psynergy, Felix."

"Thanks." Felix said. "My dad taught it to me in case of an emergency."

"Like, what happened three years ago?" Jenna asked angrily. "You could've used your Psynergy then."

"My whole body was cold, wet and numb." Felix said defensively. "Do you think you'd be able to concentrate to use your Psynergy if you were in that kind of state?"

"Good point." Jenna said.

"Plus, I get the feeling I can only use this Psynergy in dungeons like that one." Felix said.

Just by listening to them, I ended up deeply confused by what Jenna and Felix's words. "Excuse me," I said. "But what in the world are you two talking about?"

"I'll explain later." Jenna muttered.

We headed back to the Kibombo inn to rest. That night, I lay on my bed, thinking about my mother again. But, now I had two things to worry about. One was the most obvious: her health. But the second manifested itself after Jenna kissed me, which was what my mother's reaction was going to be if she found out I had fallen in love with a non-Lemurian. Suddenly, someone knocking at the door shook me out of my deep thoughts. "Are you awake, Piers?" Jenna's voice said.

"You can come in, Jenna." I said.

She opened the door, came in and sat down in a chair across from my bed. "Are you okay?" Jenna said.

"Yes and no." I said flatly.

"What do you mean?" Jenna asked.

"Yes, because you've shown such kindness to me since we first met." I explained. "And no, because I'm still concerned about my mother."

"Hehe, thanks." Jenna said, blushing.

"Jenna, I…" I said.

"What?" she asked.

"Even though we barely know each other, I, uh…" I said.

"You, what?" Jenna asked.

"I, er… really like you." I said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I really like you, too, Piers." Jenna said.

"Really?" I said, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yeah." Jenna said, blushing again.

Suddenly, I just couldn't help myself: I embraced her and gave her a kiss on the lips. The kiss seemed to go on forever, and I felt like all the nerve endings in my body were on fire. When our lips parted, I suddenly felt overcome with embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry." I said to her. "I-I just couldn't help it. I-"

Jenna shushed me by putting her fingers on my lips. "It's all right, Piers." she whispered.

"I don't mean to interrupt a good moment we're having here, but what happened three years ago?" I said.

Jenna took in a deep breath and sat back down in the chair. I did the same, only with the bed. "It all began in our village, Vale, which sits at the base of Mt. Aleph." Jenna said. "You do know about Mt. Aleph, right?"

"Of course." I said. "The ruler of Lemuria, King Hydros, taught me about it. As well as Alchemy and the four elements."

"Good, that saves me time to explain." Jenna said, sighing. "Anyway, Vale was a quaint little village. It had all the makings of a place where you could live without a care in the world. That is until that fateful night three years ago."

"What happened?" I asked.

"A very powerful thunderstorm struck our village." Jenna explained. "It was a very unusual thunderstorm as well."

"How unusual?" I asked.

"It was a storm that struck only Mt. Aleph." Jenna said.

"What happened with Felix?" I asked.

"He got swept into the river." Jenna said. "He hanging on to a rock with all his strength. Isaac, Garet, and myself went looking for someone to help him at our parents' insistence,"

"Your parents couldn't do anything?" I asked.

"They had used up all their Psynergy, and we didn't know any, so the situation was really complicated. " Jenna explained. "We managed to find someone in the village plaza, but when we got back, it already too late."

"What happened?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"There was this huge boulder from Mt. Aleph the village elders tried to hold back to prevent it from destroying Vale." Jenna said. "Unfortunately, the boulder proved too much for them to handle. It came crashing down, and…"

Jenna's lips started to quiver. "It's all right, Jenna." I said, taking her hands in mine. "I'm here."

A couple of tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry." Jenna said. "It's still a little painful sometimes."

"I understand." I said, wiping the tears off her face.

"Thank you, Piers." Jenna said, sniffling. "Anyway, The boulder came crashing down into the river, sweeping away my parents, Felix, and Kyle, Isaac's father. For the next three years, I thought they were dead."

"Until you reunited with Felix." I said.

"Yeah." Jenna said. "That was months ago. He was with Saturos and Menardi at the time."

"Why was he with them?" I asked.

"Well, it turned out that our parents, Kyle, and Felix all survived the accident." Jenna said. "Felix told me the village where Saturos and Menardi are from told him to light the elemental lighthouses in exchange for their freedom. Saturos and Menardi were assigned to keep an eye on him."

"That explains a lot." I said. "You and Kraden were hostages, right?"

"At first." Jenna said. "But, we grew to be fairly good travel companions."

"Is there more?" I asked.

"I'm sure there is, but, I that Felix can explain it better." Jenna said. "It's getting late."

"Yeah." I said.

"Good night, Piers." Jenna said.

"Good night, Jenna." I said.

As I shut the door behind her, I mulled over everything Jenna had told me. It was a lot to take in, but I decided not to let it bother me as I laid down to sleep. I woke up early the next morning and went outside to view the sunrise. Surprisingly, Jenna was there, too. As I came up behind her, she swung around with staff in hand ready to hit me. I grabbed it just before it smashed into my face. "Piers…" Jenna said, putting her staff away. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." I said. "I have pretty sharp reflexes."

"I could see that." Jenna said.

"Come on," I said. "Everyone else is probably up."

And they were. Felix was paying the innkeeper, Sheba was yawning and stretching, and Kraden was trying hard to conceal the Tomegathericon in his cloak. After breakfast, we headed back to my ship and shoved off.