Chapter 16: A New Beginning
– Two Months Later –
The cool sea breeze was one of the things Mia found enjoyable about calm and clear days out on the ocean. The distinctive smell of saltwater was a reminder of the summer beaches back in Imil, where the ice was melted and crystal clear water calmly lapped against the shoreline at the edge of town. There was much beauty to behold in the scenery up north, and Mia felt a pang of regret that it wasn't something she had been able to show her friends due to the circumstances of their quest.
Thinking back to simpler times in her hometown still brought a smile to the cerulean haired girl's face as she stood at the railing of the Lemurian ship the adepts had borrowed from Babi, observing the gentle waves breaking against the hull.
The sun peeked through the wisps of clouds far above, shining down onto the vessel in all its radiance. It was a breathtaking ship to behold that was clearly assembled by skilled craftsmen, but after spending the last couple months traveling in search of Felix, Jenna, and Sheba, Mia was growing more accustomed to her new surroundings.
As it turned out, Isaac had been right about the survival of Felix and Sheba on the fateful day at the Venus Lighthouse. The pair had apparently ended up washed out to sea along with Jenna and Alex and somehow ended up all the way out on the southern continent of Indra. Confirmation of their survival had finally come for Isaac and his friends after some of the locals from the town of Daila mentioned seeing a group matching Felix's shortly after the tidal wave that washed through their town as a result of the earthquake at the Venus Lighthouse, but it seemed Alex was now traveling separately from them.
Although Isaac had shared what he saw with his fellow adepts, none of them really knew if they should believe it or not due to the incredulity of the tale. Even Isaac himself was questioning what he saw, and so there was a collective sigh of relief to find out all three of the other adepts were in fact alive.
Their survival also complicated things though. Nobody had forgotten that just before Felix dove off the top of the lighthouse to try to save Sheba, he was talking about how he was going to continue walking in the steps of Saturos and Menardi by lighting the remaining lighthouses. Even though he was no longer being threatened, Felix made clear he was still adamant in his resolve to do so.
With the logical next step being the Jupiter Lighthouse on the other side of the world, Felix had to find a ship or some other method of transportation to travel the long distance to the Great Western Sea. That had led Isaac, Mia, Garet, and Ivan on another goose chase from port town to port town in search of their fellow adepts, following the trail of inquiries Felix was making with the locals on that subject.
Unfortunately for the residents of these coastal towns, but fortunately for Isaac and friends, the tidal wave from the lighting of the Venus Lighthouse had destroyed many of the boats the locals used in their daily lives, leaving Felix's party landlocked for a time.
That had recently changed however, with Felix somehow acquiring a ship and escaping out to sea after almost two months of searching, putting a new sense of urgency into the need to find him.
Upon hearing this news, the concerned adepts chasing after Felix had to sit down and discuss what to do. With the situation changed, they all unanimously agreed that the best chance of protecting the Jupiter Lighthouse was going to be beating Felix and his group there.
It was for this reason that Mia and her friends were sailing in the direction of the Great Western Sea. Having lived in Imil her whole life, Mia knew very little about what lay past the western or southern edges of Angara.
The last couple months had afforded more of a relaxed atmosphere among the group with longer swaths of downtime traveling from place to place in search of Felix, and Mia found herself learning much about the coastal regions of Indra and Osenia during this time, including the fact that Indra had once been a lot farther north before the tidal wave from the lighthouse actually shifted the position of the entire continent down to the south along with Felix and his friends. While it was harrowing to see the devastation wrought by the lighting of the Venus Lighthouse on some of the local towns, the relatively peaceful days had been a nice change of pace from the constant combat and traveling that had been their only companion for so long.
Mia felt it was a shame that the pressing need to rush to the Jupiter Lighthouse would prevent her from having the same opportunity to learn more about the peoples and cultures inhabiting the western reaches of Weyard, but it was unavoidable for the time being.
"I'll visit these places properly someday when this is all over…" Mia mused, supporting herself against the railing of the ship with her arms.
"Mind if I come with?" Isaac interjected with a grin, walking up to where Mia was standing.
"Ah!" Mia exclaimed with surprise, not having noticed the blonde boy while she was looking out at the sea.
Isaac laughed at her reaction and turned around to casually lean back against the railing of the ship before looking over at Mia again.
The unexpected visitor brought a smile to Mia's face as she let Isaac get comfortable before replying. "Of course you can come," she finally answered.
In truth, the idea of another trip with Isaac under less strenuous circumstances was an exciting prospect, and Mia felt her heart beating slightly faster upon processing the meaning of his blonde boy's presence had been a constant throughout their journey so far, however that too had shifted somewhat in the last couple months on the ship thanks to each adept having their own rooms for the first time.
All the nights spent in tents on the road together made Mia accustomed to being around Isaac, and she had even had trouble sleeping the first few nights on the ship when that circumstance changed. It was something she missed dearly, especially given the feelings Mia knew she had developed for the blonde boy up to this point.
It seemed like everything in her life had become so complicated recently, and Mia's thoughts about Isaac were no exception.
I love you.
Three words left unsaid by her…but not by another.
That three simple words could cause Mia such conflicting emotions wasn't something she had thought possible before the events of the Venus Lighthouse. In the following days spent recovering from her back injury, Mia had plenty of time with nothing to distract her from replaying Jenna's final message to Isaac over and over in her mind.
There had been more than one melancholy night out on the deck of the ship these past two months as a result, attempting to reconcile those haunting words. It didn't help that Isaac was as stoic as usual, not ever acknowledging what Jenna said in front of anyone or clarifying the way he felt about it. It was almost like there was an unspoken agreement not to mention it or else some invisible tension would be broken.
Mia felt her own feelings were stuck in limbo as a result - Ever present, yet unworthy of expression. The shadow of doubt that gripped Mia's heart was perhaps more painful than the wound she had suffered from the twin headed dragon on that fateful day.
That was what made spending time together with Isaac all the sweeter though. It was moments like this, side by side on the sea that could still bring a genuine smile to the Mercury adept's face as her troubles melted away in the presence of her companion.
Mia hadn't noticed it, but as thoughts of the last lighthouse returned, her gaze had moved back to the sea and was lost in the gentle waves once more.
"Weyard to Mia!" Isaac interrupted her thoughts, waving a hand near her face to catch her attention.
Seeing that he finally had Mia's attention again, Isaac turned around to face the sea with her. "Are you all right? You seemed to be spacing out a bit there," he commented, looking over the waves himself as if he could divine Mia's thoughts from what she was staring at. "It's not your injury is it?" Isaac asked, taking a guess while giving her an out at the same time if she didn't want to discuss what was on her mind.
"No, no," Mia replied quickly, not wanting to make the blonde boy worry.
"Ah…okay," Isaac answered when she didn't elaborate further. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "It took you longer than I thought to recover, so I wasn't sure," he explained with a caring smile.
Mia felt a faint blush creep into her face at those words. Her wound was never truly as bad as Isaac believed, and Mia's guilty conscience drudged up memories of making it sound a bit worse than it was in a bid for Isaac's attention during the days following the Venus Lighthouse. Though it was certainly a deceptive tactic, it was also an effective one. She felt a bit bad about it now as she had caused Isaac needless worry over her condition, but the combination of Jenna's confession and the changes in traveling conditions had overwhelmed Mia and led her to seek out Isaac's presence in the only way she could think of at the time.
"Seriously, I'm fully healed now," Mia answered, demonstrating the range of motion of her arms and flexibility of her back to prevent Isaac's misconception from continuing any longer.
"I was just thinking about everything that's happened," Mia added truthfully, without specifying exactly what she was remembering.
Isaac nodded with a more solemn expression on his face before staring back out at the sea himself. "Yeah…I can understand that," he replied.
It was Isaac's turn to be pensive for a moment, clearly replaying events in his mind as the pair stood there, though Mia felt they were likely different than her own thoughts.
"Even now, I'm still trying to process it I think," Isaac stated. "I'm not sure everything that happened has fully hit me yet."
Mia glanced over to read Isaac's expression, but couldn't make much out of it.
"Yeah…" she replied. "It really doesn't feel real at all. I thought it was going to be over after the Venus Lighthouse," Mia added.
Isaac frowned. "I just don't get it," he confided. "Why would Felix still want to light the lighthouses with Saturos and Menardi gone?"
Mia didn't have any better answer to that question and shook her head. "I can't pretend to know Felix's motivations better than you," she replied. "After all, you did grow up together before he disappeared right?"
"That's the thing!" Isaac exclaimed, looking over at Mia to gauge her reaction to what he was going to say. "I did know Felix quite well back then, which is why I'm confused."
Isaac shook his head again. "The Felix I knew wouldn't act like this without a reason, but I just can't figure out what it could possibly be."
Staring out across the sea, Isaac let a moment of silence fall between them. Mia didn't interrupt though, and waited patiently for Isaac to finish the rest of his thoughts.
"It was easy to paint Saturos and Menardi as the villains," Isaac finally said. "You can look at everything they did and clearly see they were evil," he explained. "They involved so many innocents in their plans and in their attempts to keep us from catching up…"
"Sheba…" Mia stated simply, recalling the most recent example that came to mind.
"Exactly," Isaac answered. "Not to mention when they blocked the land route around the Kargol Sea, the rockslide near the Lama Temple, or when they pushed those Kolima residents that had been turned into trees into the river and forced us to save them…"
Isaac shifted his weight and looked back towards Mia. "That's why I can't forgive them, you know?" he asked, seeking validation from the Mercury adept next to him.
Mia nodded. "There's no excuse for any of those actions I think," she answered.
Isaac nodded his acknowledgement of Mia's thought on the matter. "The thing is…Felix isn't doing any of that though," the blonde boy said. "You've seen it yourself these past two months…All these towns devastated by the tidal wave…" Isaac shook his head. "You know Saturos and Menardi would have taken advantage of the situation or made things worse to achieve their goals, but Felix is out here helping these people…"
It was true. Mia had seen it with her own eyes. Wherever they inquired after Felix, Jenna, and Sheba, the townsfolk would react positively, or remember them by some helpful deed they had performed.
"I just can't see Felix as a bad person," Isaac summed up. "That's why none of this makes any sense," he said, indicating the ship they were on that was bearing them day by day towards the Jupiter Lighthouse.
"I've painted Saturos and Menardi in a negative light since the beginning, and now that they're gone, it's hard for me to reconcile with the fact Felix still wants to light the lighthouses," Isaac said, shaking his head again and looking down. "There must be SOME reason for it…" the Venus adept stated, flicking a tiny pebble that was resting on the railing of the ship off into the waves below. "I keep telling myself that anyway."
Mia was at a loss on how to comfort the blonde boy, but placed a gentle hand on Isaac's shoulder after a moment of hesitation. The sound of waves accompanied Isaac's silence as he allowed Mia's hand to rest there before speaking again.
"Do you remember what Menardi was saying after we beat them in dragon form?" Isaac directly asked Mia when he turned back toward her.
Mia dropped her hand as she thought back to the aftermath of their fight with a furrowed brow. "Something about saving their people if I recall correctly," Mia replied. "I didn't understand how that was relevant to anything though," she added, before Isaac spoke again.
"Me either," Isaac admitted. "My mind wasn't really on what she was saying at the time, what with everyone's injuries and being exhausted from that battle," the Venus adept explained.
Mia looked thoughtful as she tried to recall the exact words Menardi spoke before falling into the Venus beacon.
"Well, I've had more time to consider them now," Isaac stated. "Looking back, it's almost like she was implying the lighthouses had to be lit to save her people…whomever they are," he said, explaining his interpretation.
"The Mercury Lighthouse's waters…" Mia muttered softly as the word 'save' resonated in her mind and brought back memories of the start of her journey.
It was but one example, however upon the lighting of the Mercury beacon, the waters of the lighthouse provided Imil with protection from illness and disease. For a brief moment in time Mia considered the Mercury Lighthouse being lit a good thing after witnessing the effects of the healing water firsthand. That went against every tennant of the Mercury Clan though, and their primary responsibility to prevent the beacon from being ignited. The guilt of that one thought was strong, and so Mia had buried it away almost completely as a result, just to have it resurface once again in the present.
"Exactly," Isaac stated. The blonde boy hesitated again, opening his mouth to speak and closing it again as if he couldn't decide if he should continue or not. Not wanting to leave the rest of his thoughts unsaid, he ended up lending his voice to them a moment later.
"What if…." Isaac trailed off again before finding the resolve to speak. "What if Menardi believes the rest of the lighthouses might have some similar effect?" he asked rhetorically.
"Even still…" Mia trailed off.
"Yeah, it doesn't excuse anything she or Saturos did, but it does make me wonder about their motivations for lighting the beacons," Isaac explained. "We never did really know or question why they were so set on lighting them in the first place," he added.
That statement led to more silence as both adepts stared out across the sea together in the realization that they had never cared to find out that piece of the puzzle.
"Not to say I believe it necessarily, but as a possibility it makes some sense and might explain the way Felix was acting as well," Isaac finally said. "If they thought it would help people…"
Mia nodded in agreement. "That would fit in with the way you see Felix," she replied matter of factly. "Even I wavered a bit after seeing the immediate benefits of lighting the Mercury Beacon," Mia admitted. "That said, what about the effects of lighting the Venus Lighthouse? I can't see anything beneficial in all that devastation," she pointed out.
"Well, that's why I'm not fully buying into it," Isaac answered. "I suppose you can call the new land routes between Gondowan, Indra, and Osenia a 'benefit' of sorts, but the earthquake, tidal wave, and general devastation not so much," the Venus adept listed out. "The benefits certainly aren't even close to the destruction wrought by the lighthouse of course," Isaac added to clarify his agreement with Mia's statement.
"Such a disparity between Mercury and Venus…" Mia mused.
Isaac just nodded and found himself absentmindedly tapping his fingers against the railing of the ship as he thought about it.
"It does make me wonder what would happen if the Jupiter Lighthouse was lit though," Mia voiced as she watched the blonde boy tap away.
Isaac's finger paused mid tap. "I sincerely hope we don't have to find out," he replied quickly.
"Well, I hope not either, but that's why we're trying to beat them there," Mia answered.
"We will," Isaac stated with confidence. "We'll catch them, and we'll ascertain the truth of all this. I want to hear why Felix thinks it's so important from his own mouth so I can eliminate my doubts…one way or another."
Mia nodded. "That's probably the only way to set this all to rest," she agreed.
With thoughts of that inevitable confrontation on their minds, silence fell once again between the pair of adepts. Mia and Isaac stood next to each other as they both played out what a confrontation with the others might look like in their head.
Isaac glanced over at Mia after a minute or two and gave the Mercury adept a quick smile.
"Nevermind all that though," the blonde boy said, trying to break the serious mood they had fallen into. "It wasn't my intention to come over here and get all philosophical about things," Isaac explained with a bit of a laugh.
Mia caught on to the mood shift and smiled back. "Oh? What was your intention in coming over here then?" she teased.
Isaac's smile widened. "What? Can't I just come spend some time with someone whose company I enjoy?" he asked.
Mia was happy with that response, but continued to play along and downplayed her reply. "Hmm…well I suppose that's acceptable," she said, the expression on her face doing a poor job of hiding her actual thoughts.
Isaac laughed. "It makes me happy to hear my presence is 'acceptable' to you at least," he stated.
"Okay, okay…" Mia spoke up again. "It might make me just a little bit happy," she admitted.
Isaac just shook his head in response and looked back out to sea, a smile still plastered on his face. "You finally admit it…" he teased.
Mia crossed her arms and gave the blonde boy a subtle eye roll that he didn't see. "Don't give me that…you already knew I enjoy spending time with you," she replied. "It's not like I was just putting up with you all day every day when we were on land after all," Mia added.
"Fair enough," Isaac replied, before turning back to look in Mia's direction. He smiled again as his gaze landed on the Mercury adept beside him. "It's not like I was only putting up with you either," he said in response.
Mia felt her breath catch for a moment at the unexpected addition, and didn't have an immediate reply for the blonde boy.
Isaac shrugged. "I do sort of miss those days though," he continued after a moment. "Even though this is more normal by anyone's definition, it still feels to me like we're distant now in comparison," Isaac said.
He just came out and said it! Mia was bewildered by Isaac's very matter of fact substantiation of her own feelings.
Isaac tried to read Mia's face to determine how she felt about the situation he was describing, but was having a hard time doing so due to her surprise.
"I…uh…" Mia hesitated, trying to come up with a reply to prevent the awkward silence that would otherwise come. "I've sort of felt that way too," Mia said to confirm her own perspective on what Isaac was experiencing. "I enjoyed all those days together…even if there was always a lot happening," she admitted.
Isaac seemed happy about Mia's answer and had a smile on his face as he looked away again for a moment. "Sorry about that," he apologized suddenly, much to Mia's surprise. "I should have been making more of an effort to prevent that from happening," Isaac admitted to her, referencing the increased distance between the pair over the last couple months.
It took a moment, but after getting over the unexpectedness of the sudden apology, Mia smiled and shook her head. "Come now…it's not your fault Isaac," she replied, reaching out with one hand to give Isaac a comforting touch on his arm. "If anything, I bear at least as much responsibility as you," the cerulean haired girl stated with a caring smile.
Mia's hand lingered for a moment before Isaac reached across with his own free hand to cover the one Mia had resting on the blonde boy's arm. There was a kind expression on Isaac's face as he held her hand in place, and Mia found herself getting lost in Isaac's deep blue eyes.
She hadn't noticed how close they were standing together before, but with a single step forward from Isaac, Mia felt her heart start to beat faster. Isaac's arms wrapped around Mia and she could feel his hands on her back as the blonde boy drew her into an impromptu hug.
The heat from Isaac's cheek against her face was a blissful sensation to the Mercury adept, and she allowed herself to melt into his embrace as weeks of longing surged forth in a flood of emotion.
Isaac…I love you.
Then it was all gone. It was those words again. Those cursed words Mia's mind could not forget no matter how hard she tried. The one chilling moment etched into her memory that brought Mia's world crashing down and her senses back to a different reality.
She suddenly froze in Isaac's arms. It wasn't a conscious choice, but rather an automatic reaction from her body as Mia recoiled from the reality of Jenna's confession. Her feelings were one thing, but there was no hiding the sudden physical reaction.
Isaac felt Mia stiffen up and immediately released his arms to take a step back and look at the adept in front of him. Isaac's arms hovered awkwardly around Mia's sides, but not touching her at all. Something about her felt wrong to him. Mia's body posture made her look so small and delicate all of a sudden.
"Mia…?" Isaac started to say, worried that he had done something to upset her.
Mia's involuntary reaction wasn't something Isaac could understand. To Isaac, that was a reaction to the hug itself - a reaction to his embrace. She didn't want to hear the hesitation in Isaac's voice though. Intentional or not, Mia realized she had hurt him, and she found that she hated herself for it.
Isaac took a step back and lowered his hands to his sides, seeing that Mia was avoiding his gaze."I'm sorry Mia…I…I don't know what came over me," he tried to explain, afraid that he had done irreparable damage to their relationship.
Isaac's thoughts lingered on the time spent apart since being on the ship as well as the distance that seemed to gradually be building up between himself and the Mercury adept, kicking himself internally for losing himself in the heat of an all too rare moment in recent days.
"No…Isaac…" Mia tried to speak up, but was struggling to find the right thing to say. "It's not like that…" she tried to explain as she looked into Isaac's eyes in a desperate bid for understanding.
Isaac's face broke Mia's heart. The blonde boy's expression betrayed confusion, hesitation, and hurt. Mia could feel the tears welling up as the weight of the wound she just caused became plain to see.
"I shouldn't have done that…" Isaac said, not able to understand anything more than what was visible in front of him - a Mia that was uncomfortable from his hug and in tears.
Mia's words would not be enough to fix the inadvertent rift that had just been formed. It wasn't often that she found herself touched by the cold hand of helplessness, but in this moment its icy grip took hold of Mia's loudly beating heart.
She wanted to say more, to explain fully, but she couldn't. It would betray all the secret feelings she held for the blonde boy, and as a result Mia's voice just wouldn't come.
Her suffering was different than Isaac's though. Mia's tears were like a dagger to the heart for the Venus adept as he watched the cerulean haired girl's eyes water up in front of him. While she wasn't actually crying, it certainly seemed like Mia was poised to do so at any moment.
Seeing this, Isaac backed off another step. "Mia…" he said. "I'm so sorry…" he repeated, an apology being the only thing he could think of to try to mend what had just happened.
Mia brought a sleeve up to her eyes to dry them off before actual tears could start to fall. With her words failing her, Mia had no idea what to do. She wanted to escape, to rewind the clock on the situation at hand and redo the past couple minutes of her life.
Unfortunately that was impossible. What was done, was done. The Mercury adept did the only thing she could think of. She stepped forward and almost crashed into Isaac, burying her face into his chest as she hugged him, holding onto the blonde boy like her life depended on it.
An absolutely bewildered Isaac was at a complete loss. Mia was squeezing him tightly as if she was afraid to let go, while hiding her face in his shirt. Isaac instinctively felt his hand moving to return the hug, but knowing what had just happened, his arms froze in hesitation.
Mia could feel nothing but the beating of Isaac's heart as she held the embrace, willing him to understand it was all a mistake, a misunderstanding. She longed to feel Isaac's caring arms around her again just like it was mere minutes ago. Mia wanted to return to the happy moment they had shared oh so briefly.
It never came though. It felt like minutes that she had held this embrace, and Mia could finally take no more.
"I'm so sorry," she voiced shakily into Isaac's chest, apologizing for the undue pain she accidentally caused.
Without waiting another moment, the Mercury adept untangled herself from Isaac and took off towards the interior of the ship to get away from everything.
What seemed like minutes to Mia was only second in actuality though. Isaac felt her embrace, heard her words, and couldn't react fast enough in his surprise before Mia was gone. He wanted to call out to her, to run after her, but his hesitation was like an anchor and sunk the final chance he had to try to fix things.
The crushing defeat hit Isaac hard as the last wisps of cerulean hair vanished into the interior of the ship. He reached out to the railing for support while raising his other hand to his head and grabbed a fistful of hair in frustration.
"What did I just do?" Isaac muttered to himself, eyes glued on the passageway where Mia had just disappeared.
The spectacle had attracted the attention of Ivan and Garet even before Mia decided to run off, but now that she had, the pair of adepts were concerned enough to intervene. Walking up where Isaac was standing, Garet frowned at the expression on his friend's face.
"Aren't you going to go after her?" Garet asked as he approached Isaac.
"I…can't" Isaac replied in a frustrated tone, becoming aware of the presence of his friends once the Mars adept spoke.
That didn't work for Garet though. "What the hell do you mean you can't?" he asked, raising his voice slightly.
Ivan just looked between Isaac and where Mia had run off to and shook his head. "What happened anyway?" he interjected, having seen the end, but found himself wanting to understand the whole situation better.
"I…I think I screwed up," Isaac explained, though that didn't do much of anything except make it clear why he wasn't immediately running after Mia.
"You better have a very good explanation if you're telling me that Mia ran off crying because you did something," Garet warned before finally releasing all his aggressive tension with a sigh. "I can't imagine a world in which you would intentionally hurt Mia, but still…" he trailed off, clearly worried about the Mercury adept and expecting Isaac to fill in the gaps.
Ivan stayed silent to encourage Isaac to talk.
"I…hugged her," Isaac said, taking a moment to look at both his fellow adepts in the eyes to try to read their reaction.
"Huh?" was Ivan's puzzled response once Isaac's words finally registered.
"That's it?!" Garet exclaimed in confusion.
Isaac shook his head. "She reacted to it poorly," he added. "She froze up as soon as I did it and looked pretty upset about it…" Isaac slowly elaborated.
Garet just stared at the blonde boy dumbfounded while Ivan looked on incredulously.
"Wait, seriously? A hug?" Ivan asked as Isaac fell silent.
"Really. I didn't mean to hurt her," Isaac added, trying to be clear he didn't have any ill intentions.
He needn't have bothered though. Ill intentions were just about the last thing on Ivan and Garet's minds after hearing the cause of everything that had just happened.
Ivan found himself needing to stifle a laugh at how silly this situation had truly turned out to be. It was tough to do, but it wouldn't be appropriate to laugh at a situation one of his good friends was so concerned over.
Finally recovering from his surprise, Garet piped up again.
"For how perceptive and confident you usually are, you're pretty hopeless when it comes to things like this," Garet told Isaac while shaking his head in disappointment.
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked, confused as to why the redhead had a hint of a smile on his face while saying that.
"I'm saying you can be really stupid sometimes," Garet answered with a sigh, poking Isaac in the chest with his finger.
"I think I get it," Ivan interjected, looking over at the Mars adept to make sure they were on the same page.
"Good," Garet replied to Ivan. "I would hate to have Mia worrying about things longer than she already has, but I really need to talk some sense into this buffoon," he said, glancing back over towards Isaac.
Isaac just stood there bewildered as Ivan finally couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a bit of a laugh.
"In that case I'll go check on her," Ivan stated, before shaking his head one last time at Isaac and departing.
Mia was in her room, lying on her bed wrapped up in a blanket from head to toe. The hair ribbon she normally wore lay dangling off a nightstand near the bed, and Mia's normally neat hair looked as if she had been rolling around on the bed more than once. She felt like hiding away from the world right now in an attempt to pretend everything was okay, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Mia tensed up, but ignored the knocking, hoping the person would give up and leave her alone with her thoughts. That wish was dashed rather quickly though when Ivan's voice came through the door.
"Mia? I know you're in there," the Jupiter adept called out. "Can I come talk to you?" he asked.
Mia rolled over on her bed to face the door and sighed. "If I said no, you'd come in anyway right?" she replied. She couldn't see Ivan's smile through the door, but definitely heard his answer.
"Yeah. Probably," Ivan confirmed.
"You might as well then…" Mia relented, not moving from her position on the bed.
Ivan took that as his cue and entered Mia's room, closing the door gently behind him. The blonde boy walked over and sat on the edge of Mia's bed, next to where her feet were wrapped up in her blanket.
"Looks cozy," Ivan commented in an attempt to improve Mia's mood ever so slightly.
"Mmm…it's not bad," Mia commented, humoring Ivan's attempt to cheer her up.
Ivan waited for a moment to see if Mia would say anything on her own accord, but when she didn't, he decided to speak up.
"I think you know why I'm here right?" Ivan asked directly, looking over at the Mercury adept.
"Yeah," Mia replied, unable to deny it.
"You want to talk about it?" Ivan asked a follow up question. He didn't wait for an answer though. "I know you probably don't," Ivan stated, answering his own inquiry. "That said, I can't stand to see the two of you like this, and I know we are all worried about you right now," he said, watching Mia's gaze until she finally met his own. "Including Isaac," Ivan made a point to add once he was sure Mia was paying direct attention.
This triggered Mia to look out at the floorboards with a downcast expression. "No…he won't be worried about me right now," she asserted. "I didn't mean to do it but I hurt him…" Mia explained, trailing off as she couldn't get herself to say any more.
"Mia, I want to help you," Ivan pushed back. "This all seems like a great big misunderstanding, but won't you tell me what happened?" he asked.
"It is a misunderstanding," Mia answered honestly. "He's going to look at me differently now though," she said, expressing her worry to the blonde boy sitting nearby.
Ivan smiled and shook his head. "He won't Mia. I'm sure of it," he answered.
"How do you know that?" Mia asked in response.
Ivan looked the cerulean haired girl in the eye, but only replied with another question.
"Mia, you're in love with Isaac right?" he asked.
The question caught her off guard.
"Ye-" Mia started answering automatically, before her brain caught up with what was actually being said and she shut her mouth, her face turning a brilliant shade of scarlet.
"Haha…" Ivan laughed at Mia's reaction. "I already knew that of course, but it's nice to hear it directly from you," Ivan said.
"You already knew?" Mia asked incredulously, looking at Ivan's grin with embarrassment. Ivan just nodded an affirmative but otherwise didn't reply. Mia covered her face with the blanket and mumbled another question through it. "How long?" she asked the Jupiter adept.
"I've known for a while now," Ivan answered truthfully. "I only suspected it at first, but honestly it was pretty obvious with any real observation," he explained.
Mia groaned, but uncovered her face. "Am I really that much of an open book?" she asked Ivan, still embarrassed by her confession.
Ivan laughed again. "Pretty much, yeah," he answered, not sugar coating it. "No Jupiter powers required. Honest to god," he added.
"Ahhh…" Mia sighed, bringing her hands up to the side of her head and messing up her hair even further in the process. "I can't believe it…" she said.
Ivan just sat watching her for a moment, enjoying the change in mood from the brooding Mia just minutes ago.
"Wait," Mia spoke up, suddenly sitting up in the bed as she realized something. "If it's that easy to tell…does Isaac know?" the Mercury adept asked, anxious about the possible answer.
That question brought out a heavy sigh from Ivan as he brought his hand up to his forehead in shame for his blonde friend. "Fortunately for you, or maybe unfortunately - I'm not sure which - Isaac seems to be completely oblivious to your feelings too," Ivan answered.
Mia let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in relief. "Are you sure?" she pressed.
Ivan nodded. "Let me put it this way. He's as oblivious about your feelings as you were about me knowing them," he answered.
That seemed to satisfy Mia. "Clueless then," she commented, nodding in satisfaction.
Ivan let out another laugh, and this time Mia cracked a smile at her own self deprecating humor. The blonde boy hadn't forgotten what he had really come here to address though.
"You seem to be in a better mood now at least," Ivan commented, steering the conversation back into the direction it was supposed to go.
"I appreciate that," Mia commented with a genuine smile, understanding that Ivan was doing his best to cheer her up.
Ivan nodded to acknowledge her thanks. "So how about what just happened now with Isaac?" the blonde boy asked, trying to get more information about his true objective. "I think I get the gist of it from what I saw and what Isaac was saying but…" he trailed off to let Mia speak.
Mia's smile faded rather quickly, but she no longer looked despondent laying in bed as if she'd given up. "Well you already know how I feel, so I suppose there's no harm in telling you," she said. "You have to promise not to tell anyone what I say though," Mia added pointedly.
"I promise," Ivan replied solemnly.
"You seriously promise?" Mia inquired again, squinting her eyes at Ivan to determine if he was telling the truth.
"Mia, I might be a jokester and prankster at times, but you know I can be deadly serious when I need to be. I would never betray your trust like that," Ivan said.
Mia paused for half a second then nodded in understanding and respect.
Ivan stayed silent so as to not interrupt and let Mia collect her thoughts.
"It…all happened quite fast," Mia started to say. "I was talking with Isaac…you know, about our journey and how things have changed over the last few months," she paused and looked at Ivan again before continuing. "He…well, he embraced me when I wasn't expecting it," Mia explained.
"It uh…made me happy," Mia said as she blushed again, not used to saying these kinds of things out loud to another person.
To Ivan's credit, he kept a completely straight face, not wanting to discourage Mia from speaking her mind due to embarassment.
"The problem is that when he hugged me, I froze up. Like completely rigid," Mia shook her head. "I knew Isaac was going to notice, and he did. He immediately took a step back and pulled his arms away too," she continued to explain as Ivan showed the hint of a frown while listening to her words.
"I'm…Im afraid that I hurt him," Mia confessed. "He thinks that I freaked out when he hugged me…" she paused to take a breath.
Ivan nodded. "I want to clarify something, but I'd rather hear the rest of what happened first," he interjected.
Mia nodded back. "Of course," she replied. It took a few more breaths before she was ready to continue. "I wanted to let him know that wasn't how I actually felt. I…tried. I tried to say something, but I kept seeing the hurt in his eyes and it scared me."
Mia shook her head. "I didn't know what to do. I tried to hug him back at the end to show him it wasn't like that, but he didn't reciprocate it…and…" Mia could feel the tears starting to well back up.
Not wanting to see Mia cry over it again, Ivan cut it off there. "That's okay Mia. That's enough. It's after that when you came down here right?" he asked to conclude Mia's story for her.
Mia nodded while drying off her eyes with her sleeve.
"It's okay," Ivan repeated, waiting for Mia to calm down again. "It's all just a misunderstanding right?" Ivan asked, trying to help Mia recognize it wasn't as bad as it felt.
Mia nodded again. "Yeah…" she replied weakly.
"It's going to be okay," Ivan reassured her. "Misunderstandings happen all the time and can be cleared up, no problem," he added for Mia's benefit.
Mia sniffed once, but her eyes had dried up quickly and she nodded in agreement, trying to bring her confidence back up a bit.
"What do you think made you freeze when he hugged you though?" Ivan asked. Before she could answer, he attempted to lighten the mood a bit more. "That can't be the first time he's done that right?" Ivan added quickly. "I mean, that time when we got split up in the desert and you were alone with him…surely…"
"Ivan!" Mia exclaimed in protest even though the blonde boy was right on the money with his remark.
Ivan just gave her a grin. The teasing worked though, and provided Mia a quick distraction to prevent her from spiraling right back into a negative mood again.
"The reason I froze up…" Mia repeated Ivan's question as she pushed his teasing aside for now. "Well that was…" she stopped again and looked over to Ivan who was patiently waiting for her answer.
Mia sighed. "I keep thinking about what Jenna said back at the Venus Lighthouse," Mia finally admitted.
"I knew it," Ivan commented as soon as he heard the answer. "We really should have all talked about that sooner," he said, shaking his head.
"I can't keep it out of my mind," Mia added, shaking her head slowly in disappointment at herself. "Jenna's known Isaac for so much longer…it almost makes me feel like my feelings are invalid," she confessed.
"Mia…" Ivan said slowly, feeling awful for his friend.
"I know Isaac cares deeply about Jenna too," Mia continued. "He tried to hide how much it worried him that she was being held hostage, but I could tell it was something constantly on his mind…"
Ivan wanted to interject before Mia could keep going, but he couldn't think of anything appropriate to say fast enough. "What if…" Mia started speaking again. "What if Isaac loves Jenna too?" she finally asked the question that Ivan didn't want to hear her say. "What right do I have to get in the way of that?" Mia asked, leaving her final thought lingering in the air.
Ivan had no answers for the Mercury adept and so held his silence as Mia fell quiet as well.
The two adepts sat there for almost a full minute before Ivan finally had something he could say.
"This has been constantly on your mind these last couple months hasn't it?" Ivan first wanted to confirm.
Mia nodded an affirmative.
"Oh Mia…" Ivan said with a shake of his head. "That must have been rough for you. Those are heavy thoughts you have, and having to deal with them on your own…not having anyone to confide in this entire time…" Ivan almost felt like he wanted to weap for Mia and the ordeal she had been putting herself through.
"I'm…used to it now," Mia replied with a weary smile.
"I can see that," Ivan answered truthfully. "Those are devastating thoughts considering how you feel, and yet I don't see the hint of a tear," he pointed out.
Mia's smile betrayed a hint of pain as she responded. "Those tears have been long since spent," she answered honestly.
"And the reason for your tears today is because of the way you felt you made Isaac feel…not actually because of Jenna or her relationship with Isaac, right?" Ivan asked.
Mia nodded again to confirm he was right.
Ivan sighed. "Well…first thing first I suppose," he said. "Today was just a misunderstanding Mia. I personally don't think Isaac was actually hurt by what happened. I think he was worried about you and I think he had the same concerns about hurting you by accident as well," Ivan stated.
"Quite frankly, what happened was a surprise to all of us I think - Isaac included," Ivan continued. "Garet was out there talking to Isaac as well when I left, and I think this little incident can be cleaned up quite easily. Do you know the best way to clear it up?" he asked Mia.
Mia considered it for a second, but shook her head. "I'm…not certain," she replied.
"Tell the truth," Ivan said simply. "Share your thoughts…your concerns…Communicate with each other and tell Isaac how you really feel," he explained.
Mia opened her mouth to object, but Ivan quickly held up his hand to stop her.
"I know that's not easy," Ivan told the cerulean haired girl. "Maybe you can't do that just yet. If you aren't ready, you aren't ready, but that doesn't mean you can't still take the first step by clearing up the misunderstanding with Isaac when you have a clearer head," he advised.
Mia's objection stopped there and instead of replying immediately she considered what Ivan was proposing first. "I…I can do that I think," Mia confirmed finally with a nod.
"Good," Ivan answered. "I know you can do it too," he encouraged.
"As for these thoughts you've been struggling with thanks to Jenna's confession…" Ivan started saying. "I know you normally confide in Isaac, though clearly these worries aren't something you've been able to come right out and say to him for obvious reasons," Ivan pointed out the problem at hand.
"You can't keep going on like this though," Ivan continued to say. "I can only imagine the amount of stress it's been putting on you these last couple months," he said with a shake of his head.
"Do you feel any better now that you've voiced those concerns though?" Ivan asked the Mercury adept.
Mia thought it over briefly, but had to admit she did. "Yes…" she said finally. "I felt like I was drowning and those thoughts were eating me up inside night after night," Mia admitted. "I was losing sleep over it, and I know there's not much going on now but…" she trailed off.
"It does feel like some of the weight has been lifted now that it's not just me alone with my thoughts," Mia said with a smile.
Ivan was happy with that. "I may not be able to eliminate your concerns or banish your fears, but I want you to know that if you have these kinds of thoughts bothering you that you don't want to bring up to Isaac, I can always lend an ear as well," he offered.
"That's…" Mia felt overwhelmed by her friend's concern for her wellbeing. "That really means a lot to me," she said.
"I can be serious sometimes after all," Ivan replied with a smile.
"Ivan…thank you," Mia said simply, giving the blonde boy a smile of appreciation. "I'm glad I talked to you."
"That's what friends are for Mia," Ivan answered seriously before reverting to his more casual demeanor. "I'm just glad you didn't turn me away at the door," he added quickly afterward with a grin.
Mia laughed, betraying her much better mood after discussing everything that had been worrying her. "Me too," she admitted to humor Ivan.
"Well…I suppose that counts as a job well done?" Ivan asked rhetorically.
Mia decided to answer anyway. "Very well done, I'd say," she replied.
Ivan smiled in response. "I'll take the compliment," he said. "I think it's time I go check on the other two and see what progress has been made on that end though," Ivan added as he finally stood up from the edge of the bed and turned back to face Mia.
"Don't forget to make up with Isaac when you have a chance, and don't spend too long brooding in here. I wasn't the only one worried about you after all," Ivan added with a wink.
Mia laughed. "I won't," she promised. As she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she sighed. "I think I'll have to spend some time fixing this mess first though," Mia said, pointing to the disaster that was her hair.
Ivan just shrugged. "Hey you never know, maybe Isaac would like it better that way," he teased. "Messy, just as he likes his own," Ivan voiced.
Mia laughed. "I'm going to have to deal with comments like this more often now aren't I?" she asked.
"Yeah, probably." Ivan admitted with a grin. "Speaking of which…"
"Have you tried to kiss Isaac yet?" the blonde boy asked suddenly to see if he could catch Mia off guard again.
"IVAN! Get out!" Mia yelled, throwing a pillow at him as she blushed bright pink.
Ivan just laughed and picked up the fallen pillow before tossing it back to her and walking out the door with a wave.
Despite Ivan's offer to lend an ear, Mia would die before she spoke a single word of the fact Ivan's question reminded her of a certain cave back in the Suhalla Desert.
Mia had to admit that was a much better memory than the Venus Lighthouse as she snuggled back into bed and put off fixing her hair for a bit longer.
