Chapter 14: Inevitable Confrontation
The ancient halls of the Venus Lighthouse had finally hummed to life again after many long ages of laying dormant since the sealing of alchemy, betraying the presence of adepts within. Each room seemed to contain more traps and puzzles to solve that would block the way for anyone without a good grasp of psynergy.
The sound of flowing sand permeated the air, providing a slight background noise to the otherwise silent passageways. In many ways the Venus Lighthouse was much like the Mercury one, though both had their differences as well. Just like how the waterfalls in the Mercury Lighthouse hid secret rooms, the same was true here, but with sand falling in an endless stream instead of water.
Mia and the other adepts had already discovered a few such rooms and passages leading deeper into the heart of the lighthouse complex. Navigating around inside an elemental lighthouse was truly the only way to appreciate the immense scale of the building. There were so many paths to take that it would be hard to explore them all without getting lost.
As the group of adepts made their way through the myriad of passageways, they methodically cleared out each room and checked for options to proceed forward, choosing what seemed the most likely path ahead.
In addition to the puzzles to solve, there were also what looked like rivers of sand flowing quickly from place to place that served as a method of getting from one part of the lighthouse to the other. Isaac was the first to discover the design intent behind the streams of sand when they came across a sand stream clearly leading to a door the group couldn't reach previously.
At first he had just intended to test the sand stream out to see how deep it was, but it was many times more powerful than expected, almost as if the sand was empowered by psynergy. Isaac ended up getting swiftly caught up and swept across to the other side, but in doing so learned it was supposed to be a transportation method of sorts.
The others were hesitant at first, but had fully embraced the unusual way of getting around by the time they got deeper into the lighthouse.
Entering another room, the group of adepts was met with another stream of sand, but this time they couldn't see where it went. Large walls blocked vision of what was ahead and even after poking a head into the sand filled passage, all that could be seen was corners in both directions where the sand was coming from and leading to.
Each adept looked for themselves and got a sense for what the situation was.
"It could be a trap," Ivan cautioned after his turn to inspect the passage.
"It's the only way forward though," Garet argued, not wanting to believe it was another dead end.
Mia nodded in agreement. "As we make progress, the puzzles and traps are becoming more complicated. It makes sense that this is the right way if you look at it in that light," she said.
Isaac stepped forward for another look at the flowing sand stream disappearing around the corner. "Well…There's only one way to find out," he stated, indicating his intent to test it and see what happens. "There's sand feeding back this way too so I think it might be running in a circle or something," he explained.
The other three hesitated, thinking it was still too dangerous to attempt. Mia stepped forward and grabbed Isaac's arm, afraid the blonde boy was just going to jump in and see where it took him.
"Just because it might be the right way to go doesn't make it not dangerous," Mia said, not wanting Isaac to just dive in.
Isaac turned back with a smile and said, "Don't worry, I'm not going into it blind." Mia relaxed her grip on Isaac's arm and gave him his freedom back. Isaac pulled off his empty sword scabbard hanging from his back and said, "I'm going to test it first."
Stepping up to the sandy river, Isaac placed the scabbard on the rushing sands and let go, watching as it was swiftly carried off around the corner. Waiting in anticipation, the blonde boy watched the sand coming towards him from the opposite direction.
It took half a minute or so, but eventually the scabbard did indeed come back to Isaac, bouncing off the walls as it tumbled around in the sand. Deftly scooping it up, Isaac grinned and showed it to his companions.
Isaac noted a few scratches from the scabbard bouncing off the walls, but it was otherwise none the worse for wear. "Looks like it'll be okay," he commented, satisfied with the result of his experiment.
The other three acknowledged that proof of the sand flowing in a circle was reassuring and that it was probably okay to see where it leads.
"I'll let you know how it is," Isaac stated, volunteering himself for the job. The Venus adept gave his companions one more smile before jumping into the fast flowing sand and getting pushed around the corner.
Mia instinctively sucked in her breath as Isaac disappeared from view, still somewhat worried despite the blonde boy's successful test. Every second felt longer than it should be as she watched and waited.
Nobody else spoke either, and other than some nervous fidgeting, there wasn't anything else going on.
After what felt like an eternity to Mia, Isaac popped back up around the corner and grabbed onto the wall to stop himself from being dragged around a second time. Upon seeing the blonde boy safe and sound, Mia let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in relief.
Garet stepped forward to help Isaac escape the circular sand stream and get back onto solid ground.
"Whew! The flow of sand is really strong," Isaac said, taking some deep breaths from the exertion.
After catching his breath, Isaac explained his findings. "It's like a maze in there!" he exclaimed, describing the different branching paths the sand flowed into and how he could barely manage to steer into certain ones. "They all seem to lead back to this one point though so you can't get totally lost at least," he added to indicate the danger level was pretty low and it was really just another puzzle to be solved.
"I saw something interesting in there that I'm going to try to get to though," Isaac said, preparing to go back into the stream of sand.
"Don't overdo it," Mia called out as the blonde boy jumped back in, not really sure what she was even warning him about. It was likely just lingering nerves from the first time Isaac had tried it out.
"I won't!" Isaac's voice floated back to her as he once again rounded the corner.
Ivan just shook his head, amused by the situation. Garet seemed to also want to try it out now though and was making his way toward the sandy entrance.
Meanwhile Isaac was focused on his memory of what he saw and used the walls to help push him down the path he wanted to take. With a quick right and left turn in the maze, the Venus adept spotted what he was looking for again.
Isaac reached out his hands and grabbed onto the corner of the wall, struggling to pull himself out of the sand and into the small room he had passed by the first time. The bright red and glinting mental trim of a treasure chest lay just inside, encouraging Isaac to make it into the room.
The strong flow of the sand was determined to make it difficult for him, but Isaac's struggles eventually resulted in success and he was able to lay on the floor of the room for a minute to catch his breath.
Once sufficiently recovered, the Venus adept made his way over to see what it was he had discovered, inspecting the chest to make sure it was okay to open it. Satisfied, Isaac opened the long chest and sucked in his breath as what lay inside.
Staring back at him was a large sword with a brilliant polished golden handle. The polished blade reflected Isaac's visage back at him as he admired the craftsmanship of the weapon. Small vine-like designs wrapped around the hilt and were etched into the base of the blade as well, giving it a very earthy vibe. The blade also had an inscription in an ancient text Isaac couldn't read, presumably the name of the weapon.
Isaac reached out carefully and picked up the sword with a delicate grip. The weight and balance of the blade felt good, with the grip fitting comfortably in his hand. What surprised Isaac though was the power he felt from the sword itself. It was clearly a Venus aligned weapon and was exuding a faint aura of Venus power that amplified in potency as Isaac called upon his psynergy.
It was nearly a perfect weapon for Isaac, but the moment of wonder was broken as Garet came tumbling noisily past the entrance to the room.
"Isaac, we found the way!" Garet shouted back to him, catching a glimpse of the blonde boy as he passed by the room Isaac was in.
Garet's call out to Isaac reminded Isaac of where he was and what they had been doing. Though he was engrossed in admiring the sword, Isaac knew that he couldn't afford any time to test it out any further. The chest included a scabbard for the blade as well and Isaac grabbed it to sheath the sword, taking the blade with him back toward the sand maze.
Checking to make sure nobody else was coming, Isaac stepped back into the stream and was whisked away again, being pulled along by the force of the sand. After a few more turns he could see Ivan and Garet watching for him.
"There he is, grab him!" Ivan called out, letting Garet get up close to grab onto Isaac at another doorway leading away from the far side of the sand maze from where they had started.
Garet reached out and managed to grab Isaac's arm, just like before. With quick reactions Isaac reached out as well and managed to hold onto the wall to prevent himself from sliding any farther, but most of his body had already passed the exit Garet and Ivan were standing at, making it difficult to try to pull him out.
This was the scene that greeted Mia as she rounded the corner, having followed Garet's path through the maze. Her surprised expression mirrored Isaac's as she scrambled to avoid the oncoming collision.
"Oh shit!" Garet muttered as he put a lot of effort into pulling Isaac out of the way.
Unfortunately Isaac had the exact opposite idea and had let go to allow the sand to take him around in a circle again.
The result was Mia having no way to try to stop her movement causing her to crash into Isaac, sending both adepts tumbling into the raging sand as Garet was forced to let go before he was dragged in as well.
Knocked over, Isaac reached out for Mia and between the two of them they managed to stabilize themselves in a sitting position temporarily, legs covered by the sand as they moved along the maze once more.
Spotting a patch of ground they could get to without sand covering it, Isaac pointed it out.
"There," he stated simply, directing Mia's attention towards it so the two adepts could try to land on it.
Using the wall, the pair pushed off towards the landing and managed to roll onto the small clear patch of floor, breathing heavily from the ordeal.
Mia lay with her back on the ground staring up at the ceiling and catching her breath. "Sorry," she managed to get out between breaths, apologizing for knocking Isaac into the maze again.
Isaac just laughed at the absurdity of the situation instead of replying, but choked himself up as he was still recovering.
This reaction caused Mia to laugh as well until she too was out of air and wheezing, trying to catch up on oxygen.
The two adepts turned their heads toward each other and were able to share a smile with humorous expressions on their faces.
Eventually Isaac recovered enough and pulled himself up off the floor to the point he could support himself with his hands and knees while recovering the last of his breath.
"Are you hurt at all?" he asked, raising his head to look at Mia, who opted to stay on her back until her breathing finally slowed and returned to normal.
"I don't think so," she replied. "How about you?"
"Just some minor scrapes," Isaac answered, calling upon his psynergy to heal himself before moving on to Mia.
Isaac leaned over Mia and fixed her up as well, before moving to a sitting position next to the cerulean haired girl.
Mia was feeling fine again but continued lying on the floor for a bit, just absorbing what had happened.
"This was not the way I saw today going," Mia said with a laugh, sitting up as well after a few moments.
"Me either," Isaac answered with a smile of his own.
The pair took turns standing up, using each other for support on the narrow patch of sandless floor.
Mia bushed as much sand as she could off her robes before looking back up and meeting Isaac's face. The blonde boy was looking directly at her with his previous smile still lingering, and Mia could feel Isaac's deep blue eyes looking directly into her own.
The image of a morning in the Suhalla desert where she had almost kissed Isaac popped up suddenly in Mia's mind. Caught off guard by the eye contact and close quarters, Mia blushed and turned away, quickly trying to force her head back to their present situation.
"I suppose we'll have to go through the sand again…" Mia said, slightly shaken up by her sudden recollection.
"Ah! Yes that's true," came Isaac's reply as he also turned to look anywhere else but at Mia.
When Mia tentatively turned back, she saw a clearly flustered Isaac brushing the sand from his clothes. There were some patches of sand on his shoulders and back that he clearly couldn't see and Mia reached out to start brushing it off of him.
"You have some sand here too," Mia explained, keeping an even voice.
"Thanks!" Isaac replied, hiding his embarrassment as well.
As Mia moved her hand across Isaac's shoulders and back, she paused and let it linger on the back of Isaac's shoulder blade. Her hand stayed there unmoving for a few seconds until she could tell Isaac had stopped brushing off sand.
She wasn't quite sure what made her do it, but Mia moved her hand down Isaac's back and around his waist as she stepped forward and brought her other arm around the other way in a hug from behind the blonde boy. Pressing her cheek up against the top of Isaac's back, Mia held the hug, unmoving for several seconds.
"Mia?" Came Isaac's inquisitive voice, confused by the sudden display of affection.
Mia didn't have an answer for him and so she said and did nothing except stand there holding him in an embrace.
When she didn't reply, Isaac gently reached down to unwrap Mia's hands from his waist. Mia didn't resist and let Isaac turn around to face her.
Instead of repeating his question or trying to understand what she was doing as Mia expected, Isaac just pulled her back into a hug of his own.
Feeling Isaac's arm around her own waist and the other one gently resting against the back of her head, Mia accepted his hug and allowed her face to rest against Isaac's shoulder.
It was Mia's turn to be surprised, but it was a surprise that brought happiness and contentment. Knowing the moment wouldn't last forever, Mia spoke up to take advantage of it.
"Hey Isaac…?" Mia said, getting his attention.
"Hmm?" He replied.
Mia hesitated, but went through with what she was thinking about.
"After all of…this…" she said, indicating everything around them in the Venus Lighthouse. "I have something I want to tell you once we're done here…" she trailed off.
Usually this would be the point where Isaac would interject and ask what was wrong or push for some sort of explanation, but this time he didn't.
"Sure," he answered simply, giving Mia a smile before swiftly kissing her forehead as they pulled apart.
Did he just- Mia nearly gasped in surprise.
If she wasn't completely flustered before, Mia certainly was now. It had happened so fast that it almost didn't seem real. Mia had to resist the urge to bring her hand up to her forehead where Isaac's lips had been moments ago.
The Venus adept was already looking around at the sand streams flowing past them when Mia came back to her senses and he almost nonchalantly brushed off the events of the past minute or so by pointing out the path that would hopefully lead them around back to where Garet and Ivan were presumably waiting.
"Shall we get going?" Isaac asked to see if Mia was ready to go back through the sand maze.
Still in a state of surprise, Mia nodded anyway.
"Together then?" Isaac asked, holding out a hand to Mia.
She took it and the pair stepped into the sand stream once more, this time helping each other stay balanced as they were whisked through the maze.
Once they passed the original entrance they had come from, it wasn't difficult to get back to the path that should take them towards the exit Garet had discovered.
"I can try to jump out of the way first when we get there," Mia said, knowing it would be easier for Garet to help her out than Isaac.
Isaac nodded his agreement. "Now that I know where the exit is I think I can stop myself before going too far past and hold on for a bit as you get out of here," he said, preparing for the exit that was coming up.
Rounding the last corner, Isaac dropped Mia's hand and got ready to brace himself as Mia pushed off of the wall for some momentum, and with Garet's help managed to get out of the sand fairly quickly.
True to his word, Isaac grabbed onto the corner of the exit and as soon as Mia was out, both her and Garet turned around to pull Isaac out as two people helping it was much easier and Isaac managed to climb out into a sitting position on the stone floor.
Mia also paused to catch her breath again, but at least everyone had managed to make it through the maze.
Ivan had a sharp eye and quickly noticed the object strapped to Isaac's back. "Is that what I think it is?" Ivan asked, helping Isaac to his feet in the process.
The older blonde boy grinned as Mia and Garet also took an interest in what Isaac had found.
"You like my new sword?" Isaac said, drawing it out of its sheath to show the others.
"Is that what you were doing in that other room?" Garet asked, admiring the quality craftsmanship that went into the blade.
Isaac nodded in the affirmative and Garet copied Isaac's nod to indicate his approval as the blonde boy resheathed the sword.
"Lucky," Garet commented.
"At least you won't need to borrow my mace now," Mia joked, her mind focused back on the mission, and not what had just occurred between her and Isaac.
Isaac laughed, understanding he was indeed quite lucky to have found something so suitable in his hour of need. "I would have made do, but nothing quite beats the feeling of a good sword in my hand," the Venus adept stated.
There was a general sense of relief among the four now that their true fighting strength had been restored. There was no way any of them could predict how a fight with a weaponless Isaac would play out, and that sense of unease had been slowly growing the closer they were to the Venus Lighthouse. It was as if all of that had been washed away, leaving everyone in a generally positive mood despite the desperate chase to prevent the beacon from being lit coming down to what looked like mere minutes.
Having recovered from the sand maze, it was time for the group to keep moving. The door that had taken so much effort to reach led into a new hallway that they had not encountered before. Flowing waterfalls of sand greeted the adepts, interspaced by arches along the side of the hall.
This same phenomena existed in previous rooms as well as in the Mercury Lighthouse with flowing water, so it wasn't hard to determine what to do next. Each person picked a section and searched beyond the sand to see where the hidden door would be in this case.
It turned out Isaac was the lucky one and he discovered the next passageway, while the others just got a dead end instead.
The puzzles ahead didn't prove to be too much of a challenge either, being solved quickly by a combination of wit and force. The group's experience in similar sorts of puzzles and situations from a myriad of locations throughout their travels came in handy and helped them quickly make their way through the lighthouse.
Eventually a final door led to an open air room with a marble platform situated in the middle of it. It looked like a dead end if not for the fact that the platform was floating in mid air, suspended by the power of psynergy.
Isaac held out an arm to caution anyone from getting too close as they slowly approached the platform to inspect it.
The open air room and the floating platform were both completely new features, but nothing else about the room was remarkable in any way. Looking up, the adepts could see the sky outside as well as a short walkway to the top platform of the lighthouse, though their perspective from down below prevented them from seeing anything happening on it.
"This will probably take us to the summit," Isaac surmised, sharing his thoughts with everyone else. "Shall we see if the platform will take us there so we can wait for Saturos and Menardi up there?" he asked.
Garet was eager to go. "Let's do it," he said, stepping right up to the edge of the platform.
Ivan took one last look around the room they were in to make sure they didn't miss anything else before nodding his agreement. "It seems to be the obvious next step," he added.
Mia smiled. "Let's prevent this beacon from being lit," she stated, moving up with Isaac to the edge of the platform.
As one, each adept stepped onto the platform and waited as it hummed with a dim while light. Mia felt a small jolt as the platform began to move, and instinctively reached out to Isaac for support. Slowly they rose out of the room they were in and up towards one of the main elevators flanking the lighthouse that were inoperable with the beacon unlit.
Settling into place next to the main elevator platform, Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia all disembarked before watching the smaller platform they had just taken slowly descend back to where it had come from.
Mia could feel her heart beating faster as she stood with the others, the summit of the Lighthouse in plain view, a short walk away. The beacon was unlit, but there was movement and voices coming from the top of the lighthouse.
"Isn't that…?" Ivan asked, identifying two of the figures quickly.
"Saturos and Menardi," Garet stated, saying their names with a touch of malice in his voice now that they were finally in front of him.
"Felix…" Isaac said, identifying one of the remaining people on the summit.
"Alex and Jenna too…" Mia added.
"Then that must be Sheba then," Ivan said, looking over at the last person none of them recognized. Sheba looked to be fairly young, with blonde hair, but they couldn't make out much more from this distance.
The raised voices of Felix, Saturos, and Menardi carried across the aerie though.
"It sounds like some sort of argument over Sheba," Garet said, picking up on bits and pieces that were intelligible from where the four adepts stood.
"It seems that Felix and the other two have some sort of disagreement on how to handle Sheba," Isaac said, trying to add some context to the conversation.
"This is the perfect chance to prevent them lighting the beacon then," Garet urged, placing a hand on his weapon as he prepared to confront the two villains they had chased all this way.
The other three nodded. It was the best opportunity they were going to get.
"Try to approach quietly and get in between them and the beacon," Isaac instructed as they started to move towards a confrontation that was in the making for months.
Mia couldn't help feeling nervous as she put one foot in front of the other, heading across the path to the top and up the stairs to where the unlit beacon resided.
Seeing the four adepts as they came into view, surprise registered on the faces of Sheba and Felix, with the latter pausing in the middle of his sentence.
"Isaac…" Felix said, prompting not only Saturos and Menardi to turn around, but also Alex and Jenna to look over and see what was going on.
Alex's gaze paused on Mia briefly as he looked over the adepts assembled before them, but he made no comment or any other sign of recognition beyond that.
Jenna spoke out though. "Isaac!" she called out before looking over the other three with him. "And Garet too…"
Saturos interrupted Jenna's reunion with a laugh. "So, you've come to stop us?" he asked, looking over the group of four that had managed to position themselves between him and the lighthouse beacon.
"Look what your defiance has brought us!" Menardi hissed at Felix, confirming that they had indeed been having some sort of conflict.
Felix shook his head. "I am simply here to ensure Sheba's safety," he stated, staring back at Menardi coolly.
"And giving them a chance to catch up," Menardi added, indicating Isaac and his friends with her hand. "Perhaps this was your plan all along to team up with your old buddies to take us on," she spat.
"As if I would!" Felix retorted, anger showing on his face at the insinuation.
"Enough!" Saturos yelled with a frown, shutting up the argument that the four new arrivals were making no effort to interrupt.
"Felix isn't going to betray us," Saturos said with confidence. "We will deal with his insubordination later, but what matters now is these four."
Alex finally spoke up. "I will take Jenna and Felix ahead to clear a path to the ship if needed. I trust you will handle things here?" he asked Saturos.
Felix frowned, but stayed quiet as Saturos answered.
"Hah! Who do you think you're talking to? Without the power of the Mercury beacon dampening my power, these whelps don't stand a chance," Saturos replied.
"Who are you calling a whelp?" Garet frowned, breaking the silence on their side.
As both Saturos and Menardi turned fully to face them, Isaac also spoke up. "We won't permit you to hurt any of them, or to light the beacon," he stated.
The other three next to him nodded in agreement and felt their hands drifting towards their weapons in case they would be needed.
That shift did not go unnoticed.
"Oh! So it's a fight you want then?" Saturos asked, reaching for his own weapon as well.
"If you have a death wish, we would be glad to grant it!" Menardi added.
"We will be taking our leave then," Alex spoke up, gesturing for Jenna and Felix to follow him before a battle could break out. "Come on Felix," he ordered when he noticed the brown haired adept wasn't moving.
Felix shook his head. "If there's a fight, Sheba needs to leave too for her own safety," he said defiantly.
"After everything you just said, do you honestly believe we would let you go with Sheba?" Menardi asked incredulously. "I think not."
"Sheba will remain here," Saturos stated. "As…insurance," he added.
Felix's face contorted with anger. "Then I will remain as well to protect her," he said.
"You've seen us fight," Saturos replied. "Do you honestly think we can't protect her?"
Felix shook his head. "It's not that…it's just best to be safe," he answered.
"We don't need you to tell us what's best!" Menardi stated. "Stay then. But the second you attempt anything, I will end your life faster than you can blink," she threatened.
Alex shrugged. "That's that then. Looks like it's just us two for now," he told Jenna.
"I want to stay as well!" Jenna told the Mercury adept after knowing that her brother Felix would be staying behind.
Alex just shook his head, "Come now Jenna, we can't have that. Not with your feelings being what they are," he stated.
To everyone's surprise, Felix agreed. "Jenna, please…Go ahead with Alex for now. It's not safe here," he explained his reasoning.
"The boy can yet see some reason," Saturos commented.
"Alex! Why are you doing this?" Mia called out to her former colleague instead of listening to Felix or Jenna..
Alex just gave Mia a shake of his head. "Sorry Mia, but I have my reasons," he said cryptically, not giving Mia the chance to follow up with him any further.
"Jenna!" Garet yelled out as Alex took Jenna's arm and started to pull her away from the summit of the lighthouse.
Jenna's gaze shifted back to her childhood friends. "Garet! Issac!" she called out, worried for them. "Don't die!," she yelled back.
Isaac's face hardened into a frown. "Don't worry, we'll take care of this," he promised, calling back to Jenna as she and Alex stepped onto a similar platform that had taken Isaac and his friends to the summit.
The platform began to descend, and Jenna yelled out one last time. "Issac! I...Issac, I love you!" she suddenly burst out before vanishing completely into the lighthouse below.
The confession was so out of place that Jenna's words stunned everyone present for a second before anyone could recover their senses.
Garet and Isaac were the two that knew her best and looked completely frozen in place with shocked expressions, while Mia felt her heart instantly drop in her chest.
Jenna…loves Isaac? Mia's mind raced, trying to digest some of the last words she had wanted to hear.
Really not wanting to, Mia slowly turned her head to see Isaac's reaction and was met with an odd combination of surprise, worry, and determination.
In contrast, Garet had a pained expression of acceptance that he couldn't hide from his best friend as Isaac turned to see his reaction to Jenna's words. Isaac also glanced over at Mia briefly and looked like he wanted to say something to them both, but never had the chance.
Menardi's laugh rang out across the lighthouse. "Touching," she mocked, reminding everyone of the current situation.
Garet's frustration and anger boiled over in that moment and he responded by drawing his sword. "We'll save Jenna," he stated coolly.
"Yes…" Isaac agreed, also drawing his new sword and holding it ready for battle.
Ivan and Mia followed suit with their own weapons, facing off against Saturos and Menardi.
Saturos drew his massive blade and held it to his side. "How do you intend to save her…when you can't even save yourselves?" he asked, confident in his own victory.
"Enough! Let's end this!" Garet yelled, taking the first step to signify the start of the battle.
"Regret your actions and die!" Menardi yelled back, calling upon her psynergy to open with a massive wall of flame she sent Garet's way.
Whether it was pure adrenaline, anger, or a combination of both, Garet completely ignored it, bursting through the wall of flame, and bringing his sword smashing down to where Menardi was standing.
The recklessness and ferocity of Garet's attack surprised the other Mars adept, but Menardi was saved by another blade intercepting Garet's and pushing him back as Saturos joined in. The impact of metal on metal rang out across the summit as Garet backed down, singed and with smoking clothes.
The fire wall superheated the air around the other three adepts, preventing them from moving to assist for a second as none of them were crazy enough to jump through a wall of fire.
The heavy feeling in Mia's heart from moments earlier was quickly buried deep inside as the danger of the situation commanded her full attention. Despite being somewhat resistant to fire as a Mars adept himself, Mia recognized Garet's stunt was still completely mad, and quickly moved to assist with healing.
As the firestorm abated, Ivan and Isaac rushed forward to assist, Ivan increasing his speed drastically with Jupiter psynergy. The young adept was a blur as he rushed toward Menardi, bringing his sword around to strike at her side.
Menardi had recovered though and adopted a serious attitude after the near miss with Garet's attack. She managed to swing her scythe around just in time to deflect Ivan's blow away from herself.
Isaac went after Saturos too, a bit slower at first as he got used to the new sword, but increasing in strength and speed as he began to pour Venus energy into the blade.
Menardi forced Ivan to jump backward with a sweep of her scythe, pushing the blonde boy towards where Mia was tending to Garet's burns. Following up just as quickly, Menardi raised a hand glowing with ruby red light, calling into existence blossoming explosions that burst directly on top of Ivan and Mia.
Knocked across the platform, Ivan tucked into a roll to absorb some of the impact, ears ringing from the attack.
Mia wasn't as lucky, having been distracted by healing Garet. She was thrown into a nearby statue by the force of the attack, collapsing to the floor with the wind knocked out of her as she tried to recover her breath.
Menardi's spell didn't come for free though as Isaac spotted his opening, disengaging from Saturos and sending shards of sharp rock hurtling toward the enemy spellcaster. Hit by some of the spires of stone, Menardi retreated slightly, calling upon her own powers to mend a few of her wounds.
"What? You thought you were the only ones who could use healing psynergy?" Menardi called out, seeing the surprise on the faces of her foes. "How arrogant!"
Isaac retreated backward to assist Mia who had taken the brunt of the fiery explosion, while Garet took over crossing blades with Saturos.
Ivan recovered quickly and began casting his own spell in Menardi's direction, wind whipping up around him as he sent a blast of concentrated air racing toward her in an attempt to knock her off the lighthouse.
Menardi reacted quickly though and conjured an elemental barrier to help absorb the force of the winds. While it would in no way stop the impact of Ivan's attack, it did help to resist the effects. She was knocked back several paces, but was able to re-balance before coming anywhere close to the edge of the lighthouse.
Garet had combined a string of sword attacks with explosive blast psynergy to keep Saturos on the defensive for a short time, but Saturos found an opportunity to counterattack, and did so with a massive fire spell that chased after Garet. Huge pillars of fire appeared beneath his feet and exploded upwards in a column of flame, engulfing every step Garet took as he did his best to stay ahead of it.
Having been revitalized by Isaac's healing spells, Mia had drawn in enough breath to stand back up and call on the power of ice to freeze Saturos' hand. As his hand was encased in Mia's ice, the pyroclasm Saturos was creating came to an end and provided Garet a reprieve from dodging the flames.
Isaac also called upon his psynergy, this time slamming his hand against the ground and causing the very stones beneath their feet to warp and shake, making it difficult for Saturos or Menardi to maneuver.
While they were off balance, Isaac and Mia rushed in to contend with Menardi, who was trying to prepare another large psynergy spell after recovering from Isaac's attack. Seeing the two adepts closing in with sword and mace in hand, Menardi wisely canceled her psynergy spell and prepared her scythe to meet them head on.
Each adept imbued their weapon with psynergy in their own way - Isaac increasing the density of his sword with Venus power, Mia repeating the ice spike trick she had used in the Suhalla Desert, and Menardi creating a wickedly sharp edge on her scythe with an impact spell.
The clash was deafening and rung out loudly in the open air as each adept tried to land a hit on the other, Menardi doing her best to contend with the two foes at once.
Ivan switched targets and this time sent bolts of lightning at Saturos, who took them head on, staggering back from the impact. The crackle of electricity surrounded Saturos as he fell to his knee, using his sword as a support.
Garet closed in, seeing an opportunity, but Saturos completely flipped the script on him by gathering an immense amount of Mars energy in himself and letting it burst out as Garet got close.
The resulting explosion of power blasted Garet back from the immediate vicinity and shot massive fireballs out into the sky in all directions before they changed course and boomeranged back towards Saturos' enemies.
Menardi coordinated with the attack by swinging her scythe around Isaac's side, forcing the blonde boy to throw his sword over his back and block the incoming scythe behind him. In doing so, the curvature of the scythe was able to extend beyond where Isaac had blocked it and dig into one of his shoulders, causing a bloody gash to open up.
In pain and trying not to allow for any worse injury, Isaac gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tightly to prevent his foe's weapon from digging in any deeper.
Seeing the injury Isaac had sustained after she had backed away to deal with the incoming fireballs, Mia changed tactics to provide relief to the Venus adept as quickly as possible. Throwing convention out the window, she launched a surprise attack in the literal sense by hurling her psynergy infused mace directly at Menardi in retaliation.
Clearly being assaulted by a flying weapon was not within the range of predictions Menardi had made about the next few seconds, and she was hit head on with the sickening crunching sound of broken ribs. Mia's mace rebounded on a slightly different trajectory, crashing into one of the statues lining the area and breaking off a stone leg before coming to rest.
Even if there had been time for Menardi to dodge, doing so would have been a fatal mistake as she would have had to abandon her weapon to do so in time. Without a weapon to protect herself in a two versus four scenario, Menardi knew she would be quickly overwhelmed by superior numbers.
Isaac collapsed to the floor, splattering the stones below with his blood as he called upon psynergy to help mend the wound. Mia had no time to help him though thanks to the fireballs Saturos had summoned being on their way back to the platform everyone was standing on.
Ivan had already gone to work, using the power of his Jupiter psynergy to blow powerful gusts of wind to knock some of the fireballs off course, causing the first few to impact on the side of the lighthouse. The resulting rumbling and shaking from the force of the impact was reminiscent of Isaac's quake spell from earlier in the encounter.
As another fireball that was deflected by Ivan's wind passed by, it tore through a second statue lining the summit, causing it to explode into sharp shards of molten rock that rained down the side of the lighthouse to the ground below.
Mia also contributed to avoiding the final few fireballs making their way back, sniping them out of the sky with powerful jets of water psynergy to douse the flames and accomplish much the same effect Ivan used to redirect a lot of Saturos' attack himself.
Despite the best efforts of the two though, some still managed to get through and bathed the summit in explosive fire energies, leaving scorch marks, and in some cases cracked stone and miniature craters behind.
Knowing Isaac had no way to defend himself, Mia had intentionally focused on the fireballs heading toward his position, but did so at the expense of her own. The blasts singed her hair and clothing, causing minor burns as she did her best to avoid the impact zones, but it was still quite painful.
Trusting Garet and Ivan who had managed to avoid the brunt of the damage, Mia followed suit with Isaac and entered recovery mode, focusing on healing the wounds she had received. She still wanted to check out Isaac's injury too since it had been bleeding quite heavily, but it wouldn't do to ignore her own and risk her injuries potentially getting worse.
Fortunately, the blow Mia had dealt to Menardi appeared to be a severe one, and the once arrogant fire adept was having trouble catching her breath.
Saturos was similarly injured in Ivan's lightning attack, but he was much more easily able to shrug it off and rise up to meet Garet in sword to sword combat once again.
The top of the Venus Lighthouse looked like an apocalyptic scene mid battle, with rubble from statues and the stone floor itself strewn across the summit, as well as impact craters and scorch marks littering the ground.
Seeing Ivan turn toward her, Menardi let out a fierce snarl in between wheezing breaths, twirling her scythe around as she took the initiative to attack despite her weakened state. Like a dervish, the Mars adept rushed at Ivan, her scythe spinning blindingly fast as Menardi jumped in circles trying to catch the blonde boy in a maelstrom of sweeping strikes.
Ivan responded in kind by going all out with his sword, using his powers to increase his speed to the max. Lightning crackled along the blade of his weapon and sparks rained down wherever he met Menardi's blows head on.
Though injured, Isaac managed to get back up and shrug it off as Mia arrived to cast a more powerful healing spell on his shoulder. Beneath Mia's healing touch, the torn flesh and muscle mended quickly, restoring the arm's range of motion.
"Thanks," Isaac said quickly in appreciation, inspecting Mia's own injuries and determining that she had healed them adequately for the time being. He picked up his sword and glanced at both Ivan and Garet to get a handle on the updated combat situation.
Ivan was more than holding his own against the onslaught from Menardi and Garet seemed to be in the more precarious position. The redhead was being pushed back by Saturos' powerful blows despite being the physically strongest among his friends. Making his decision, Isaac ran over to help Garet.
Upon seeing the Venus adept coming his way, Saturos turned up the ferocity of his attacks, not holding anything back. The sudden increase in tempo caught Garet off guard as he struggled to keep up with the combination of speed and power behind each blow.
Saturos started to recklessly burn through his psynergy, creating explosions of Mars power with every strike to further push Garet off balance. Sword awash in flame, Saturos jumped into the air with his blade held high, before crashing down in an explosion of fire and debris caught up in the blast.
While not hit directly, the debris posed a hazard as well, and Garet could feel rubble and stone impact against his legs, arm, and torso. Grunting from the brunt force of the flying objects, Garet retaliated by slashing directly through the side of Saturos' right leg in a spurt of blood before Isaac took over.
Mia meanwhile had begun to circle around the side of the conflict between Ivan and Menardi in an attempt to retrieve her mace laying on the opposite side of the summit. As she did, she kept her eye out for opportunities to support her younger friend.
Ivan had the situation under control for the moment, but that didn't mean Mia couldn't help. Conjuring shards of sharp ice, she let them lose towards Menardi, more to serve as a distraction than an actual attack.
Despite having her hands full with Ivan, an injured Menardi couldn't just ignore the incoming threat and called upon her psynergy to blast some of the shards out of the sky while altering the path of her scythe to deal with the rest. Mia's attack disintegrated before her eyes, but provided the opening Ivan was looking for.
The Jupiter adept wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity, pressing his advantage and finding a weak point in Menardi's defenses.
With a few more quick thrusts, Ivan's crackling blade finally ran Menardi clean through. The resulting electrical discharge stunned the Mars adept, her scythe clattering to the floor as she froze in place with blood soaked metal protruding from the side of her back.
The sound of Menardi's dropped weapon seemed to overpower any others in the moment, commanding the attention of all to witness Ivan withdraw his blade from Menardi's body, allowing her to fall to the stones below in shocked silence.
Even as blood began to pool from the wound in Menardi's abdomen, her hate filled eyes betrayed her determination to continue fighting. Her body couldn't though. Attempting to call upon her psynergy only resulted in a flicker of flame in her hand before it died out.
"Menardi!" Saturos yelled out, breaking the silence and forcing Isaac and Garet farther back with an explosion of psynergy centered on himself. Dropping his weapon to the side, Saturos put everything he had left into a single spell.
"Watch out!" Isaac warned the others as heat waves began to distort the air around Saturos like a mesmerizing illusion.
The calm and in control demeanor Saturos had always maintained up until now finally cracked, revealing a feral grin as he unleashed a massive burst of psynergy. Fireballs raced out in all directions at astonishing speeds, far beyond the power level of the similar attack he had utilized earlier. Eyes closed, Saturos was intently focused on pouring as much power into his psynergy as possible.
Immediately everyone switched their focus to defending against the imminent threat they posed. Grabbing her mace and diving out of the way of the first explosion, Mia repeated what had worked for her earlier and conjured jets of water to douse some of the flaming balls coming their way. Ivan redirected them away with gusts of wind as best he could, and Garet called upon his Mars psynergy to send his own flaming spheres crashing into Saturos' attack to knock them off target.
Despite the attack being more powerful, each of the three managed to be fairly successful at dodging out of the way of the few that did get through their defenses.
Isaac was less lucky however. As the closest adept to Saturos, he was also the easiest to target so Isaac had more fireballs coming at him than anyone else. The ones coming his way lagged slightly behind the rest however since Saturos had focused on the adepts closer to Menardi first. While they were still at range Isaac was able to call his own psynergy to smother a few of the incoming flames, but as the remainder continued speeding toward him, he instead raised his sword.
Closing his eyes for the briefest of moments, Isaac channeled raw Venus psynergy into his sword. The weapon glowed brightly with golden light as it reacted to the earthen element and absorbed the power Isaac fed it.
Stepping forward, Isaac slashed at the first fireball just before it hit him, causing it to burst apart with flame brushing past his sides, but not burning the blonde boy. Twisting his sword around and reversing the direction, Isaac brought the blade back up to meet the second fireball, achieving a similar effect.
The third met the same end as Isaac spun horizontally, whipping his sword around in a circle to the other side of his body.
Four… Mia counted silently, captivated as another fireball disintegrated under Isaac's onslaught.
Five…
Six…
With no more fireballs incoming, the seventh strike was Isaac's sword driving home into Saturos' unguarded shoulder, cleaving through him until getting caught on one of his bones. The grievous injury made Saturos stagger backwards towards where Menardi was laying in a slowly expanding pool of her own blood.
Weaponless, Saturos supported himself on his knees with his one good arm, staring his defeat in the face and breathing heavily.
The inhuman feat just witnessed caused it to take a second before Isaac's friends could all regroup with him. Wary of any attempted retaliation, they stood a few paces back from the defeated Saturos and Menardi that were left barely able to move.
The battle had been intense and it took a few more moments for it to sink in that it was over.
"We did it…" Garet finally said. "We beat them!"
"All right…" Mia sighed in relief. "Sheba, let's get you away from here," she called out to the bonde adept standing off to the side by Felix.
To everyone's surprise, Felix stepped forward in front of Sheba and shook his head.
"Felix…why?" Isaac asked, understanding his fellow Venus adept's intent to not let her go.
"I cannot give up Sheba," Felix replied simply and without explaination, inciting Garet.
"Why?!" Garet demanded, repeating Isaac's question. "We just saved you!" Garet indicated the fallen Saturos and Menardi. "They can no longer hold anyone captive to force your cooperation anymore," he added.
Felix shook his head again. "I…never asked you to help us," he replied.
"You aren't one of them, so why are you doing this?" Mia asked.
Isaac looked on silently with a complicated expression of sorrow on his face, realizing their old friend may not have been as innocent in everything as he had originally assumed.
Felix hesitated for a moment. "The four beacons must still be lit…" he finally answered, to the surprise of everyone.
"You're going to light the beacons?!" Ivan exclaimed in disbelief. "But that's ridiculous…" he voiced for the group.
"I knew you would say that…but I'm still going to do it anyway!" Felix retorted, raising his voice with them for the first time.
Garet's face went dark and he adjusted his grip on his sword, raising his guard again. "If Felix means to light the beacons…that makes him our enemy right?" He asked his traveling companions.
Everyone went silent, realizing where that line of thinking was headed. Understanding that Garet and Isaac were the ones that knew Felix best, and that Garet had made clear where he stood on the subject, the eyes of Mia and Ivan were on Isaac to see what he would say.
Coming to a decision, Isaac slowly nodded. "If he insists on lighting the beacons…then yes, he is our enemy…" Isaac confirmed.
Felix didn't seem fazed by the proclamation however. "Do what you will Isaac…but if you try to stop me, I will fight you," he said.
With those words lingering in the air, all went silent save the calm breeze that did nothing to betray the war zone that had existed in this place only minutes earlier.
"I…hope you don't think you've finished us off…" came a raspy voice close to the ground, interrupting the conversation between Felix and the others.
To everyone's surprise it was Saturos who had spoken. The severely injured Mars adept struggled to his feet, assisted by using his sword as a cane after painfully crawling over to retrieve it just out of reach from where he had fallen.
Mia shook her head. "You may not be finished, but you can barely stand," she commented, not wanting to see any further bloodshed.
"Right now…yes…" Menardi managed to get out, coughing up blood. She paused to try to get enough breath to continue.
"But…we'll be back on our feet…as soon as we do…THIS!" she yelled out with her remaining breath.
Everyone's attention was focused on her, but nothing happened for a few moments until Saturos tossed a small object towards the hole for the lighthouse beacon. It bounced off the edge of the hole and dropped inside.
Catching up to what was going on, Ivan spoke. "Oh no, was that the elemental star?" he asked.
Saturos' grin was the only answer anyone needed. "Did you ever wonder…why we were shifting this direction while fighting?" he asked rhetorically.
In all of the chaos, Saturos and Menardi had somehow managed to reposition themselves closer to the beacon where they were no longer cut off by Isaac and his friends.
"That's a dirty trick!" Garet exclaimed, as Menardi managed to pull herself from the floor to a kneeling position, clutching her bleeding wound.
"Hah!" Menardi tried to let out a laugh, but just coughed up more blood instead. "Not only…did we manage to light the lighthouse…it will also…restore…our psynergy…" she struggled to say between labored breaths.
"Why would the Venus beacon restore their power? Aren't they Mars adepts?" Ivan asked. The others were unsure as well, but didn't have to wait long to find out the answer.
Saturos pulled another object out of his clothing. "Because of these," he stated, holding the object in his hand as a loud rumbling sound could be heard below.
The star-shaped object was instantly recognizable to both Isaac and Mia, who immediately had a bad feeling about what was coming upon seeing it. Having used a psy stone herself so recently, Mia would not have forgotten how it looked so quickly, nor what effect it had on her psynergy.
Isaac watched as Menardi also pulled out a psy crystal and gripped it tightly in her hand. He was mulling over Saturos' words in his mind.
"...Some," Isaac mused, mumbling just loudly enough for everyone to hear. "...Meaning you have more of them don't you?" Isaac asked in a louder voice, readying his sword.
A chill ran down Mia's spine at those words, but neither Saturos nor Menardi had any time to answer Isaac's question. With a violent shaking motion, a massive beam of light shot out of the lighthouse beacon reaching far up into the heavens.
An orb of pure Venus energy began to form on the summit, just above the hole Saturos had thrown the elemental star into. It was a violent storm, swirling around randomly as it slowly coalesced into the physical manifestation of pure psynergy.
"Look!" Mia yelled out amid the noise and light, pointing at the psy crystals in Saturos and Menardi's hands.
The psynergy stones inside were positively glowing, and excess emissions of Venus energy from the beacon formation were being absorbed by the stones. Not only that, but it was clear that both Saturos and Menardi were now holding several psy crystals between them, all of them reacting to the environment around them.
Drawing upon the power contained within, Saturos and Menardi didn't slowly drain the crystals, but instead consumed their energy as fast as humanly possible. Both of them were standing now, injuries starting to fade away as their bodies overflowed with psynergy leaked ruby red particles of light that quickly winked out of existence. Saturos and Menardi began to glow with a blinding white light as the psynergy trapped within their bodies could no longer be contained or effectively released.
"Not good!" Ivan yelled.
"Stop them!" Isaac called out too as he charged forward with his sword ready to cut Saturos and Menardi down. He didn't get far, as he crashed into a wall of pure psynergy that blocked his way, preventing him from getting within more than a few paces of his foes.
"Ha ha ha!" Menardi laughed maniacally. "It's too late to run!" she exclaimed, holding her hand out toward Saturos.
"Now bear witness to the true strength of the Fire Clan of the North!" Saturos yelled, reaching out to touch Menardi's already outstretched hand.
Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia had no time to wonder what the Fire Clan of the North even was.
At the point Saturos and Menardi's fingers touched, the bright glowing light expanded outward, blinding everyone with its intensity. The line between Saturos and Menardi's bodies faded as they began to merge together, twisting and contorting into an amalgamation of strange forms, still glowing as the mass of light grew larger and larger.
Isaac and his companions all instinctively took a step back while Felix and Sheba retreated further away on the far side of the lighthouse to watch the spectacle unfold.
With an ear piercing roar that was sure to echo across the city nearby, the psynergetic light surrounding the form of Saturos and Menardi exploded in all directions, leaving behind a colossal two-headed dragon in its wake.
Baring its teeth and unfurling its long wingspan, the dragon's sinister appearance was magnified as it snarled at the assembled adepts.
Weapons drawn, and with the Venus Lighthouse beacon slowly forming in the background, Isaac and his allies prepared once more for battle.
As it turned out, Garet was wrong about the battle being over.
There was still a fight to be had.
...
Sorry for the necessary filler chapter last time. The story sort of needed it to make things fit together and not jump around too much. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it!
You will notice that I am switching up the actions, words, and sometimes presence of some of the characters from what they do/say in the games in order to make my narritive more cohesive, while trying to stay true to the overall story and major plot points of the game at the same time. These dialouge heavy in game scenes are difficult to write without either dropping the themes of my story to shoehorn in game text, or changing/dropping certain dialogue from the games that would detract from the scene being portrayed here.
I hope everyone understands and continues to enjoy the story!
