Author's Note
Li: Hi again! Sorry this took so long. I was researching every last little thing I could find on Kingdom Hearts 2.
Roy: I had to drag her away from some website that had the opening trailer on it.
Li: Anyway, here I am with a chapter set in Lemuria! Yay for Piers! R&R, people!
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
Chapter Four: Lemuria
For three days, they sailed across the sea. During that time, they found out no more about Alerai and Aria then they had at the beginning. Tori made it his personal goal in life to make Aria smile again, and failed miserably. On the fourth day, they reached the entrance to the Sea of Time.
Navigating the swirling seas was a challenge. Jasmine and Tori were in the tower constantly, shouting directions to "Captain Saturan". Lief and Lehran were using their Psynergy to try and control the wild winds enough to keep Tori and Jasmine from being blown out of the tower. Alerai and Aria had been put on "keep stuff from getting washed away" duty, since they had no visible Psynergy. They were finally able to make it through to the calm center of the Sea of Time. In the glowing sunset, the city seemed to shine gold.
"If you want to go to the sun..." Lehran sang from where she stood. "Yepp must have gotten here at sundown." She was referring to the sailor from Yallam, Yepp, who had taught the children of Yallam his songs. The children had then gone on to teach them to Isaac, Felix, and their friends. The boat glided into the cave beneath the city. They stopped at a dock, getting off the boat and admiring the intricately carved columns and statues.
"Wow." Aria whispered to Alerai. "Whenever we're here, Lemuria is always beautiful. It's awe-inspiring every time."
"I know. And that's one reason why Alex can never find this place." Alerai responded. He glanced up as Tori called them all together.
"Okay." Tori said. "We're looking for a man called Piers. He knew our parents, so..." He trailed off, shrugging.
They started up the stairs. Lehran hung back, saying, "I'll be there in a second."
The others agreed, and continued inside. The two who usually guarded the door weren't there, a fact that Tori found odd.
Lehran watched them go, then went over to examine a column covered in beautiful carvings.
"Wow." she murmured. She turned, to go and look at some mosaics on the walls, but her foot slid on a damp patch. She'd been relatively close to the edge of the dock, and she slipped and fell off the side.
The first thought that passed through her mind was Living in a desert town is almost useless. I don't know how to swim!
She fought to get back to the surface, but just ended up floundering. She managed to get a little bit of air before going under again.
Just when she was positive she was going to drown, someone grabbed her around the waist and towed her to the surface. She was helped back onto the dock, and as she coughed up water, she sensed the person sitting beside her.
"Are you okay?" The voice was gentle, and genuinely concerned. She looked up into golden eyes and aquamarine hair. It wasn't that surprising, really. Considering what her parents had told her about the lost city, all Lemurians had blue hair.
"Yes..." she managed. The boy looked at her, taking in her long, wet, blonde hair, and her violet eyes, before jerking back with a yelp.
"Sheba?" he cried.
"No... Sheba's daughter..." Lehran still hadn't totally regained her wind.
"It's been that long...? Wow... I had no idea..."
Lehran looked up at the Lemurian boy. "Can you help me? My friends and I are looking for someone called Piers."
"Piers, huh?" The boy looked highly amused. "Well, look no farther, then!"
"Stop teasing." Lehran said. "You can't be Piers."
"Whyever not?" he asked politely, although mirth reflected in his golden eyes.
"You're not... nearly... old... enough..." Lehran trailed off as she realized what she was saying. Piers laughed.
"Let me guess. I only look like I'm about fifteen, right?" When Lehran nodded, Piers smiled broadly. "Yep. That's what I always told Sheba." He helped Lehran to her feet and said, "Come on. I'll show you around, and we can find your friends."
Lemuria was amazing. Lehran couldn't help admire how beautiful all the buildings were, and how incredible the view of the ocean was.
"Do you not have cities where you're from?" Piers asked.
"I'm from Contigo. Other than the Anemos Sanctum, it's mostly just little houses. There's nothing that's even close to being this grand." Lehran said.
"Oh. I remember Contigo. They had the best dice game there..." Piers said, reminiscing. They passed Lunpa"s Tower, which Piers pointed out. On a ledge down below, they spotted the others.
"I'm going to look for her!" Lief was yelling. "What if she got lost?"
"How do you think you'll find her, then? You'll end up lost yourself!" Saturan yelled back.
"How could I be lost? I've got such a great guide!" Lehran said, laughter in her voice. They all looked up, seeing her standing with her new Lemurian friend. "I found him. Guys, this is Piers."
"Nice to meet you all." Piers said, concealing amusement at the looks on their faces.
Tori recovered first. "Hi, umm... Piers... Uhhh... Wow."
"What?"
"It's just really incredible to meet someone that our parents knew when they were kids." Tori said.
"Let me guess." Piers said. "You're Isaac and Mia's son. Lehran and... you must be her brother, you're Sheba and Ivan's children... You're Garet and Jenna's daughter... Which makes you..." He paused, looking at Saturan, before saying, "Ah! Felix and Mariella's son."
"Yes. I'm Torian, Tori for short. That's Lehran and Leif, Jasmine, and Saturan." Tori explained.
"So Felix really did name his son after Saturos... Intriguing." Piers said. "So, why have all of you come here looking for me?"
"The Wise One says Alex is alive. He says that part of the Golden Sun's power was passed through Isaac to Tori." Jasmine said. "Dad wasn't happy at all. But the Wise One said that Alex would come looking for Tori, and the only... uhhh... grown-up who'd get to help would be you, if we could find you."
"And so you have. Of course, with someone like Alex, you can never trust his defeat to fate." Piers said. "I'll help you." He looked around, then said, "Who are those two? Back there?"
Alerai and Aria had been behind Saturan and Tori. They parted to reveal the siblings. "Alerai and his sister, Aria. They joined us after we saved them from pirates."
"Alerai? Aria? What are you doing here? Where have you been?" Piers asked them. Both siblings flinched.
"You know each other?" Lief asked. "What's going on?"
"Wish I knew." said Piers. He looked at the siblings. "You two have a lot to explain."
They went back to Piers' uncle's house. His uncle was out at the king's palace, so the house was empty. Piers made the siblings sit, and knelt in front of them.
"You two are safe here. You know that. Why did you not tell them about yourselves?" Piers asked. Alerai looked at the floor.
"Very few people know that we're Adepts. Even fewer know what kind. If he were to find out, after all these years..."
"He can't, not here." Piers assured him. "Lemuria is protected by magic much older than him. He cannot get in, even if he knew where it was." Piers wasn't sure who "he" was, but had heard the siblings speak of him many times; although never by name.
"Okay..." Alerai said hesitantly. "I am Alerai Sol, and my sister is Aria Luna. We are the only Sun and Moon Adepts in the world."
"Sun and Moon..." Tori said. "That explains the gold and silver hair."
"Where are you from?" Saturan asked.
"We don't know. We were left here on Weyard at the age of seven. Since then, we've wandered everywhere." Alerai went silent.
Aria picked up the tale. "There were people who were kind. Laurel, the tree spirit in Kolima Forest, was nice, and always welcomed us. Master Maha and Vincent of Garoh always gave us a place to stay. And all the people of Vault. And, of course, Piers gave us a home too. He was one of the few who knew what kind of Adepts we were."
Piers surprised them by saying something in Weyard's ancient tongue, the language spoken by the ancient Lemurians, as well as the Anemos. "Sey la micis ren'ye lyren veris. Veyou'ri Aenir." He waited a moment, then said, "What does Alex have to do with you?"
"How...?"
"'Tis an ancient form of Psynergy. Water power that allows for limited vision of a person's past. Answer the question, please."
"Seven years ago, we arrived on Weyard. Without even realizing, we made friends. But he was there too. Just a year later, he kidnapped us. He wanted to know what kind of Adepts we were, and he wanted to know who had the rest of the Golden Sun's power. We... I cannot explain how we knew, but we did. We refused to tell him. He would hurt us, torture us... All to make us talk. He would leave us underwater, coat us in ice, cut us with sharp icicles..." He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a long, pale scar down his arm. "He gave me this when I wouldn't let him hurt Aria. He slashed me instead. He was terrible. We were still allowed to roam, but he always knew how to find us, because he... sorta burned a mark into our skin. We... didn't tell you, Piers, or anyone else that we knew, because we were afraid he'd hurt you too." Alerai felt tears coming on.
"Where are the marks?" Piers asked gently. Alerai slid his shirt off his shoulder, revealing a twisting rune that looked as though it had indeed been burned on. It was faded away, almost. Alerai tugged his shirt back up.
"When Aria learned more powerful healing Psynergy, we discovered it could dispel them a bit. I've learned some too. Little by little, we're healing them. We can hide from Alex for longer now. But he always finds us, and always will, until the day they're truly gone." Alerai said. Aria was crying quietly. Piers pulled her into a hug, saying, "We won't let anything happen to you. Don't worry, Aria." He was silent a moment, before saying, "I knew someone was looking for you, but I didn't realize it was Alex, or that he could track you. If I had known that he tortured you like that, the other Saviors and I would have helped. We would have beaten him."
"Thank you... Piers..." Aria sniffed. "We have to beat Alex. He'll hurt Tori for his power too, if he finds him."
"We shouldn't have come with you." Alerai told Tori. "Alex will track us right to you. But we figured out that you were coming to Lemuria, and that is one place I cannot warp us to. We were selfish, and we've put you in danger because of it."
"No." Tori said. "Don't apologize. It's fine. We'll have to face him eventually. You're not making it any more dangerous than it already is."
"You mean that?" Alerai asked.
"Of course. We wouldn't just leave you."
"But if Alex found us all at once..."
"Then we'd deal with that when the time came." Tori insisted. Jasmine had been looking around, counting.
"There are eight of us. Just like our parents." she said.
"Yes." Piers agreed. "Eight seems to be the magic number. We just need a know-it-all scholar like Kraden, and we'll be ready to go. How is Kraden, by the way?"
"Master Kraden died two years ago." Saturan said. "He taught us all everything we know about Alchemy."
"Mmmm..." Piers said. "Rest in peace, my friend." The others nodded in agreement.
Piers told them that his uncle was going to be at the palace for a few days, and he could put them up at his house for that time. So the group spent a week in Lemuria, enjoying the calm, serene atmosphere. They played the lucky spring, and explored the lower caves of the city. They went to the ruins of Ancient Lemuria, where Piers showed them the crumbling buildings and ancient carvings. It was all that remained of the true shining city of legend.
Finally, the time came to leave the brilliant city. Like their parents before them, the group felt a strange reluctance to leave. The timeless nature of the lost city held an appeal that could be found nowhere else. But they knew they had to face Alex, and so left. That wasn't to say that they could never come back, but that was for another time.
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
Li: Yes, I killed Kraden! It's been eighteen years!
Roy: We got that part. At least you revealed more about Alerai and Aria.
Li: Yes. It's much more fun to write evil Alex than kind Alex. Isn't he wicked? Torturing children? I love writing villains!
Roy: (backing away) There was something else you wanted to mention...
Li: Oh, yes! I asked if anyone could guess where I got the name Lehran... Well, no one responded. It's from Fire Emblem: Path of Radience. Lehran's Medallion is the name of the Fire Emblem. But, I was playing through the chapter that explains about Lehran, and I noticed... Lehran is a GUY! (sob) But it sounds like a girl's name! Stupid heron princes and their stupid girly names...
Roy: Thankfully my name could never be mistaken for a girl's. Don't forget to review!
