The New Kid
Chapter 18
Phew! I finally got the review responses to chapters 16 and 17 on my site, and it only took 2 months to do it. n.n;
In muse news, Felix managed to escape his fangirls and made it back here in one piece muffled shouts can be heard from the other room. Isaac on the other hand was introduced to my friend's latest diabolical experiment: edible duct tape, or so it's called. Poor guy didn't see it coming.
Felix: ((throws the door open, struggling to escape random fangirls that are clinging to his legs and arms)) O.O For the love of Weyard, HELP ME! T-T
Er… Um… n.n; I'd better go help him. In the meantime, Jenna?
Jenna: ((busy playing Sims 2 and just holds up a sign)) "Disclaimer: insert witty disclaimer remark about Yuja not owning Golden Sun here"
x.x And I have run the spellcheck twice on this thing and read through it, so if there are any spelling errors or missing spaces, I swear it's the site and not my typing. Though that might not apply to any grammar errors...
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Isaac was running as hard as he could down a long hall. He didn't know why he was here, or why he was running. Heck, he couldn't even remember starting to run or how he had gotten here, but he was here and everything in him screamed that he run. The hall itself was narrow and plain white with an unknown light source, and there wasn't any sign of an exit. Almost like something you would expect to find in a sci-fi movie. Isaac thought he heard something behind him, a voice like dried-leaves, and almost tripped as he looked over his shoulder. Nothing was there. Though, when he looked back, it was to see a solid wooden door only a few feet ahead of him. Without time to stop, Isaac slammed into the door and, instead of coming to a halt, the door gave way and he stumbled into a dark room.
"About time you arrived, Isaac."
A light flickered on and Isaac shielded his eyes from the sudden change. He lowered his arm as his eyes adjusted. "Babi…"
Babi smiled smugly, one hand behind his back as he used the other to lean on his cane. "So first you kill your father and now you would doom your so-called friends. Why must children these days be so stubborn?"
"How do you know what happened back then?"
The old man wheezed slightly as he snickered. "Isn't it obvious? Maybe you aren't as clever as I gave you credit for." The familiar roar and wall of tumbling boulders rushed at the young Adept.
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Isaac's eyes snapped open with a gasp. He had missed something back then, he was almost certain of it now. He didn't have time to think on it though as two people in lab coats grabbed him and stood him up from the bed. As he was dragged roughly from the small chamber and his hands put back in a brace, Isaac's attention froze on the large wall screens. Windows of text and graphs were appearing and changing on one as the other scientists worked. What held his focus was the screen next to it where a close-up picture of Kyle Wood was displayed. The boy quickly scanned over the listed stats beside his father's image before it changed to his mother's information and he was taken from the room. Both parents had a D-O-B for date of birth, but only Kyle had a date beside the letters D-O-D.
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"My lord?" Iodem glanced uneasily to the three other servants in the room, then back to the withering man struggling to pull on an overcoat on his own.
"I'm old, Iodem, but I'm not dead yet. I can still put on a coat on my own." Babi coughed horribly again, pausing for air before finishing his task and hunching over his cane in front of the mirror. "What were the findings?" He fumbled to straighten the neck of his shirt.
Iodem hesitated before stepping forward with a three-ring binder open in hand. "It seems your theory was correct. If the boy continues to not cooperate, his Psynergy can be forced." Babi took away and scanned over the notes as Iodem continued. "It can… also be drained to strengthen the draught. But that would of course take away from him and consequently could be-"
Babi didn't look up when he spoke, flipping another page. "Did I say that I cared what the effects on the Adept would be?" He didn't wait for the other man to answer. "Of course that's only if he does not cooperate, which I'm sure he will do after this final meeting." Flipping the notebook closed and handing it back to Iodem, Babi took another sip of his draught and limped for the door with his cane.
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Picard sighed heavily in his chair, his forehead resting on a hand supported by his knee. Kraden had been called away to help in the main lab, leaving the Lemurian on his own in the alchemist's private lab. He was lost in thought within seconds and didn't hear the door open, then close and lock.
"Thinking doesn't accomplish as much as taking action, you know." Picard jumped up at the voice and turned to see Saturos smirking across the room. "Though, apparently it works nicely when someone might want to catch you by surprise."
Picard studied the blue tinted man coolly, not showing concern but not freely trusting him either. "Can I help you, Saturos?"
Saturos chuckled and shook his head, stepping more into the room and nearer to Picard. "That depends." He glanced around at the jar-covered walls when he said the next part. "I honestly thought you'd have the kid out of here by now."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't play dumb, Piers. It doesn't suit you." He looked back to the Lemurian, looking mildly amused at the surprised expression. "What? You didn't think Babi was the only one who knew your real name, did you? You give Proxians too little credit with your assumptions."
"What are you doing here?" Picard questioned, perhaps more forcibly than intended.
"The boy, Isaac; it was your job to protect him. That's what you were sent here from Lemuria to do, wasn't it? I just would've thought you'd put more effort into it. You didn't exactly do Alex any large favors, either."
"I did what I could."
"Did you?" Both men stood staring at each other in silence for a moment. "Pathetic. You're near immortal and yet you hang around here when you could practically leave whenever you pleased." Saturos turned away as though to leave.
"I seem to recall you staying here for similar reasons." Saturos stopped. "You may know about my given task, but I can venture a guess about yours. Prox counts on those boys as well, does it not?" The blue skinned man stayed silent. "How well did you guard Alex? You were the one to convince him to come here, after all. The day Isaac's father was killed, I stayed out of view until it was done. If any threat had been posed to the boy, I would have intervened without a second thought of my own being. Would you do the same if it happened to Menardi? Or Karst? Or your cousin Agatio?"
Saturos continued to not respond for a few more seconds. "In a heartbeat." He walked for the door. "As for Alex, what do you think would have happened if I had not brought him here as ordered?" Picard was alone again before he could respond.
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Isaac was once again standing defiantly quiet in the large training room. His hands were free at his sides. Near to the wall on his left and back stood Mia and Jenna, hands bound. To his right was Babi. In front was Iodem.
"Last chance, Isaac. I'm sure I've already made it clear that we can claim your Psynergy even without your assistance, so it's up to you now." Again the table had been set up, and everyone was waiting to see if Isaac would use his Psynergy on a small jar half filled with the Lemurian draught. "I also suggest you don't try our patience with this."
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Ivan dropped down from the air duct and quickly started working on the cell locks. "Wow, Garet. Think you could get some stronger locks on this thing?" He wiped some sweat from his forehead with a sleeve, the Psynergy draining bars having an effect on him.
"Oh, I don't know, Ivan. I was thinking I might try for an upgrade. Maybe the latest Fort Knox edition," Garet joked back sarcastically.
Felix stepped forward and had Ivan step aside. "Here, let me try." The older boy suddenly felt sick even before he touched the lock. "Anyone notice what the combination was?" He jumped when a hand came down on his shoulder, then sighed annoyed when he saw the owner. "Picard, if you're going to help, could you at least act serious instead of trying to scare us?"
"I just thought you might want to remember that the combination has not been entered on this lock since you arrived." Picard entered in the combo on the keypad and the cell clicked open. "Thank your electronics. Those with the right cards do not have to worry about so many numbers. Also means your friend here could not read their minds for the code."
Garet wasted no time getting out of the cell and across the hall from it. "Can we just get out of here? This place gives me the creeps and no telling what's happening to Isaac and the girls by now."
Picard raised a hand to keep him from leaving yet, smiling slightly. "Do not worry about them just yet. There are other things we have to take care of first. Follow me."
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Isaac could feel all of the gazes as though they were boring a hole into him, but his promise to Mia was still loud in his mind. "Why should I when it's so obvious you jerks are so scared of me anyways?" He stared directly at Iodem. "It's why you've had so much security around me and kept me too tired to fight back. Sorry, but I don't see any reason why I should help you." He glared at Babi. "And I especially don't want to help you."
Babi smiled much the way he had in Isaac's dream. "I only gave you the option to help willingly verses forcibly. Who said you'd have a choice in the long run? Besides, we're running out of people to use as motivation. Do you really want to find out what our methods are after that option is exhausted?"
"All you have left is your mother anyways, and, considering how your father has already been removed from the picture," added Iodem, "that means we only really have one family member to threaten anymore."
Anymore? Removed from the picture? Isaac glared back at the man. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Isaac could've sworn Iodem's smirk was almost a mirror image of Babi's. "You always were closest to your father. It seems like he was one of the few things that actually kept you together during those early years. Unfortunately for him, sacrifices sometimes have to be made."
Isaac's eyes went wide. "Sacrifices? You mean–?"
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Garet let out a long low whistle. "They don't miss much in this place, do they?" The escapee group had reached the main laboratory moments ago to find Sheba already at work. The screens were jumping from text to graph to image as quickly as she could search through the files. Meanwhile, the scientists that had been present were taking an unexpected nap, courtesy of Psynergy, against the far wall.
"I'm running searches for anything involving Isaac or those associated with him, including us," said Sheba like it was nothing as she continued her focus on the screens. "Babi's entire company is grounded on years of fraud, meaning the right leak of info would bring this place to its knees in no time flat. If we really want to be free of that-" she muttered a name word that made all the guys stare at her back as though she suddenly had a pair of neon wings "-then we can't leave any traces of us being involved for when the investigations begin."
One of the searches finished and the results appeared on the screen. "This looks like an interesting file." She opened the top file in the list and a window of text appeared in a size that would be readable by anyone with 20/20 vision half way across the large chamber.
Felix put his hands in his pockets as they all scanned the document. "So… that's what actually happened." He looked back to Picard. "That rock slide wasn't an accident. You knew about it, didn't you?" In a way, it wasn't a question.
The Lemurian nodded sadly. "Unfortunately, yes. I knew about the plans ahead of time and followed the team that was to complete the task. I was sent from Lemuria for the purpose of protecting the Adepts with the rare Psynergy. Until now, I have only been able to do so safely by watching from the side."
Garet clenched a fist. "What kind of excuse is that?"
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Iodem chuckled openly to himself. "Oh honestly, did you really think you had the ability to start a rock slide of that magnitude with a hillside that's been there for years on your own at that age?"
Isaac couldn't breathe. All those years? He had always blamed himself. He had always believed it to be his fault and now, after he had beat himself up over it for so long, now he was finding out the truth he had always overlooked. It was there the whole time…
The girls stared at Isaac in shocked disbelief. He had stopped moving and was staring at Iodem, a mix of emotions swirling inside of him. He lowered his head and stared at the ground, starting to tremble. After a long pause, Isaac managed to find some of his voice. "Y-You're lying. I-I was there. I saw it happen-"
"You saw a bunch of rocks tumbling across a hiking trail and into a stream. It never occurred to you to examine what was over the top of the hill. Of course, you were quite overcome with grief once it all started to sink in. It was almost unbelievable you even managed to get from that boulder you hid beside to the water's edge before collapsing. It's amazing, though, what five years can do to an aging man's strength. I doubt I could ever pull off a stunt like that again."
Isaac's fists started shaking with built up rage. "No. You won't do that again. I…" He lunged forward. "I won't let you!"
Iodem was taken completely by surprise. Isaac plowed into him with all his strength, knocking the man hard to the ground.
"Stop him!" Every guard in the room ran forward. "Master Iodem! Are you alright?" A wave of Psynergy knocked them all back. Isaac was standing over Iodem, the golden glow surrounding him in an almost blinding light though he seemed beyond noticing himself.
"I'm not your guinea pig, and neither is anyone else."
"Stop him! Stop him!" shouted Babi. "I don't care if you have to shoot him for it, just stop him before he destroys everything!"
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Sheba was typing as fast as she could, making sure to delete every record she could find. While she was busy with that, Felix and Garet were almost grilling Picard for knowing about the plan to take Isaac's dad out.
Garet glowered at him. "You're no better than the rest of those murderers."
"I assure you, it was my only option at the time."
"Like heck it was! Do you have any idea what it's done to Isaac since then-?"
"Garet, drop it."
Garet glared back at Felix. "Whose side are you on, Felix? This guy knew all about what was going to happen and did nothing!"
Felix rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen as Kyle's information appeared again. "Grow up already and quit biting the hand that feeds you. Or would you rather stay locked up back in your cell?" Garet stumbled over his words for a moment then fell into a sulking silence to the side, Ivan looking uncertainly between them all. Felix stood beside Sheba. "You're taking longer to delete this one."
The girl glanced over at him. "So you noticed." She looked back to the screen. "Interesting how everyone else only has a birthday, but Kyle is the only one in this system to have the letters D-O-D appear on his page."
"Well, what did you expect? His date of death must have been important here."
She shook her head. "Think again, Felix. Date of death does have the right initials, but there are other words that start with d."
Felix thought for a moment before it dawned on him. "Disappearance… They never found the body, did they?"
Another head shake. "Don't make it common knowledge, though. No point in giving Isaac false hopes." She deleted the record and the next appeared.
"Hey! That's Aaron! And Kay!" Garet almost knocked Felix over to see what Sheba was doing that his siblings were on the screen. "That stinking-" he said a name word similar to the one Sheba had already used "-going to get it if he thinks he can mess with my family too."
"It was part of the plan." Garet glared at Picard again as the Lemurian spoke. "If using all of you did not work, then Babi was going to go after your loved ones as well to force Isaac into compliance. Babi's ruthless when he wants something this badly."
Sheba started to say something but cut herself off as the building shook briefly and everyone glanced around as though the source was in the room. "I think we're reaching the climax of our stay. Let's not overdo our welcome."
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Whee! Another chapter down, so now the climax begins. And now poor Picard/Piers can start having his identity crisis in the story as well as in the muse world. P
I put the announcement on my homepage, but I'll go ahead and say it here too for those that don't check the site (XD can't blame them, it needs a ton of work done). Anyways, there will probably only be 3 or 4 more chapters after this one. 2 is a possibility, but not likely at this point. So, since I want to get everything taken care of before my mind goes Scramble on me again, and I'm at stuck points in the other stories, I'm probably going to focus mainly on this story for its remainder and put my other fics on the backburner for now. Sorry to anyone waiting on non-TNK updates in the meantime. n.n;;