Chapter 4

The hot autumn sun burned my back as I worked on the rain-damaged roof of my home. Early this morning, it had collapsed noisily, abruptly waking me out of bed. Ever since breakfast, I had been tending the huge hole alone since I did not want Mother to strain herself with the labour.

Besides, it was a good way to train my Psynergy.

"Isaac," Mother called from down below, "Are you done yet?"

Without moving from where I stood, I aligned a loose wooden beam parallel to the others with my power before tying it with rope using my hands. "Just about!" I responded. Next, I concentrated my Psynergy again and directed it to the pile of hay lying on the roof. The hay lifted off the surface and I moved it over the hole. I released my hold on the dead grass where it fell onto the wooden support beams. Then I packed the hay manually before tying it down. "There, all done," I breathed in triumph for having to fix our home for the first time.

I heard my mother climb up the ladder to check on me. With her blue eyes, she scanned the roof carefully while examining each area with her foot. "Why, you've done a fantastic job, Isaac," she praised with a smile. "You patched it up pretty good. Your father wouldn't have done it better."

Flinching, I hastily looked away from her smile and simply nodded.

Mother was quick to notice my behaviour and asked me what was wrong.

"It's nothing," I replied, shaking my head while still avoiding her gaze.

There was a pause. "It's about your father, isn't it?"

"No… Well, maybe… Yeah…"

In the corner of my eye, I saw her approach me. "I thought so," she quietly replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You, Garet and Jenna have been studying and training very hard on Psynergy. Is it because if you were stronger you could have made a difference?"

I nodded but did not look at her. "If I was stronger, Father would still be alive…" I shook from the bitter hate inside me; the hate I had for myself for being weak. "If only –"

"Isaac," Mother interrupted, placing her other hand on my other shoulder. "There was nothing you could've done… I felt helpless too… Everyday I had wished that there was something I could have done to prevent that boulder from…" She paused and let out a sigh. "I… didn't want to believe that Kyle was really gone. But, the past is the past, Isaac. There was nothing you or I could have done three years ago."

Slowly, I raised my head to look at her and saw tears forming in Mother's blue eyes. "Don't cry, mom. I'm sorry…" I apologized, having realized that I had been acting like a selfish jerk. I knew Mother had missed Father more than me but I had never shown her any support over the past years. "I'm sorry," I said again, embracing her in a hug.

She stifled a sob. "Isaac, I truly felt alone, but… I still have you," she exclaimed, pulling away to rest her hands over my shoulders once more. "You give me hope in life."

"Mom…" I was speechless at her words but I managed a small smile. I wanted to tell her that she gave me hope in my life too. If I had lost Mother on that day as well… I didn't know how I could manage.

She wiped her tears away and was about to say something else but someone interrupted.

"Excuse me, ma'am." It was Jenna. Mother was startled but moved aside for the girl to climb onto the roof. Garet was right behind her. When Jenna saw the state my mother was in, she quickly looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, did we intrude?"

Mother shook her head, dabbing at the last tears in her eyes. "Oh no! Oh no!" she said, giving the two a welcomed smile. "Hello, Jenna. Hello, Garet."

My friends returned her smile. "Good afternoon, ma'am," Jenna greeted then nodded at me. "Are you done yet?"

"Pretty much," I answered while looking at my craftsmanship I did on the roof.

"Oh? Where are you going today?" my mother inquired.

I grinned along with Garet while Jenna formed an exited smile. Today was the day that the three of us had waited for: The elders had finally given Kraden permission to enter Sol Sanctum. As students of the sage, we were allowed to come along with the elders accompanying us.

"We're going to Mt. Aleph with Master Kraden!" the redhead exclaimed. "Can you believe it, guys? We're finally going inside Sol Sanctum with permission. Not like last time when we had to sneak our way –"

"Garet!" I hissed just before he finished blurting out our secret. Taking a wary glance towards my mother, I saw her look puzzled at Garet. She raised an eyebrow and turned her eyes to me.

"Isaac, what is Garet talking about?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," I quickly answered, giving her an innocent smile. I peered over at my friends for support.

"Uh, yeah. It's nothing, ma'am," Jenna added with a laugh. "Garet's just joking around right, Garet?" She nudged the boy in the side with her elbow as she spoke.

Garet faked a cough and laughed along with Jenna. "Um, yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I mean, we didn't have to um… sneak our way into… uh… somewhere…." he trailed off.

I could have sworn my jaw had hit the ground as I stared dumbfounded at the older boy. Jenna glowered at the redhead and shook her head vigorously.

"Oops…" Garet mumbled before breaking into a nervous laugh.

"Isaac," Mother began, giving me a stern glare. "Did you –"

"We never really entered Sol Sanctum before, Mom. I swear!" I exclaimed.

She continued to watch me then sighed. "You kids and your games," she groaned. "Anyway, you three better get going or you'll be late. Isaac, we're going to discuss about this tonight, understand?"

Frowning, I managed to give her a nod. Sending Garet a death threat when he glanced over at me, I followed him down the ladder.

"Man, sorry about that," the redhead quickly apologized when we were a distance away from my house. "I didn't mean to say that…"

I continued to glare at him. "She's probably going to give me hell tonight," I muttered. "Thanks, Garet. Thanks."

"Yeah, way to go," Jenna added, shaking her head. "She's gonna go tell your parents about it too, most likely."

Garet's head snapped up. "No way… Do you think she would?" he frantically asked.

Smirking, I gave him a sideways look. "Of course, she would," I said teasingly. "I won't be the only one getting a lecture."

The redhead moaned in exasperation, slowing his pace. "Aw… I know Gramps will eat my head off if he knew."

Giggling, Jenna elbowed the boy and walked ahead. "Don't be a wuss," she told him, placing her hands on her hips. "You're a Mars Adept, for crying out loud. You shouldn't be afraid of getting in trouble."

Garet huffed and crossed his arms. "Easy for you to say," he grumbled, "You're lucky that… I mean, never mind…" He quickly stopped himself.

Jenna stared at him, a hint of sadness flashed over her eyes but it disappeared as fast as it had came. "Come on, why are you two just standing there? Let's go!" she said, running ahead.

I gave Garet a hard stare and he looked away. "I didn't mean to say that," he said softly.

"Well," I began, hating to see him look so upset. "What's said was said. Try not to blurt anything out for the rest of the day. Like how you broke Kraden's telescope and claimed that it was like that the first place."

"Hey! I did not break the stupid thing! It fell apart in my hand!"

"Hey, you guys!" Jenna came back, looking annoyed at us. "You coming or what? We're going to be late!"

I laughed at the redhead as we both ran to catch up to Jenna. "You tossed the thing to the ground. How is that 'falling apart' in your hand?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

The Mars Adept made an attempt to swat me over the head but I nimbly ducked. We joked around as we traversed to Kraden's cottage.

We were about to round a corner when I heard voices on the other side. Stopping naturally, (since the three of us loved to eavesdrop on villagers), I motioned my friends to pause and listen.

"This is useless," I heard a man spat. "They know little of Sol Sanctum's mysteries."

That voice... It sounded familiar…

'Sol Sanctum?' Jenna mouthed questioningly. She wanted to take a peek around the corner but I held her back and shook my head.

I silently gestured for both Garet and Jenna to stay quiet.

The man was speaking to another, "The elders of Vale must not permit anyone to enter it, not even Kraden."

"That old man…" came a woman's reply. "Can we use him?"

I felt a chill run down my spine. There was something very familiar with the situation we were in. Have I… Have I done this before? I pondered, furrowing my brow.

"We can use him," the man answered, bitterly. "He has more knowledge than us about Sol Sanctum."

The woman snorted. "But he's a stubborn fool!"

"Cunning as well…"

Garet leaned in close to me, "What are they talking about?" he whispered, dabbing a thumb at the corner.

I simply shrugged, intently listening to the ongoing conversation.

"We should force him to –" the woman was abruptly cut off.

"I hear someone…"

I froze. My friends did as well when we saw the two speakers appear in front of us. Their appearance was uncanny as well as intimidating. Fierce red eyes – eyes I had seen before in dreams – gleamed at us with vicious intent. A sense of evil shrouded the beings that stood before me… it was an evil I knew I had felt that day… This familiarity… These feelings were telling me something but I could not connect.

The man took a step forward, his expression stern and hostile. "What are you kids doing?" he snarled, baring his inhuman teeth.

I flinched back and noticed Jenna did the same. Garet, standing behind me remained transfixed at the unknown pair. None of us said a word.

"You were eavesdropping on us, weren't you?" the woman accused, crossing her arms.

I quickly shook my head.

She narrowed her eyes into piercing orbs before smirking. "Maybe I'll be nice and take your word on it." She then looked directly at me and said, "So Kraden was meeting with you…"

All I could do in response was nod. In truth, I was afraid of them. Fear was welling up inside me and I couldn't control it.

Jenna, (damn, was she brave…), gave a nervous reply, "We're meeting him right now…"

The man glared at her. "Is this meeting very important to you?"

"Well… it is…" I said, gathering the little courage I had to speak.

The man then stared at me. A sly smile formed over his pale lips. "Well, if it's that important then…" Surprisingly, he stepped aside, "Go…"

I blinked, momentarily shocked.

"Y-You're letting us go?" Jenna asked warily.

The woman seemed hesitant to release us. "Saturos," she named the man, "Are you sure we should let them go?"

Now known as Saturos, the man looked at her and grinned, "Menardi, we shouldn't delay these children any further," he told his partner. "I'm pretty sure their very important meeting with Kraden cannot wait."

The one named Menardi did not appear to be pleased by the other's decision but abided to his will and moved out of our way.

I hesitated to move but a shove from Garet got me walking cautiously pass the two watching strangers. The redhead let out a sigh of relief when we reached the stairs leading to Kraden's cottage.

"Man," he groaned, his expression seemed troubled. "There's something about those two that I can't quite put my finger on… Like… I know them from somewhere."

I snapped my head in his direction. "You have that feeling too?" I exclaimed, seeing him nod. Deep down, I was relieved that I was not the only one that had the strange feeling of déjà vu.

Jenna pursed her lip and gave both of us an odd look. "What're you guys talking about? I've never seen them in Vale before," she said, stating the obvious.

I rolled my eyes at her. "I don't know why you don't feel what we feel," I said with a snort.

She crossed her arms and gave me a sullen stare. "Must be male hormones," she shot back with a smirk.

"But, you know," Garet cut in before I could reply, "I don't know why, but it's really bothering me." He rubbed the back of his head. "It's making my scar hurt."

From hearing those last few words, I straightened up and frowned at him. The scar he spoke of was from a terrible wound he had gotten three years ago. It was from that time, when the two of us were found unconscious. I had a painful bump on my temple while Garet received a bloodied bruise to his head. No one had witnessed what had happened and neither of us could remember what had happened.

It appeared like we were attacked. Nearby monsters were blamed and had been quickly hunted down by the villagers the day after. But I knew – no, we both knew that mere Vermins or Bats could not have injured us severely.

So, the possible explanation was that someone had attacked us. Someone who was strong. Someone… who had a reason to subdue us.

Images of my dreams flashed before my eyes as I thought deeply into the mystery. Those eyes of red I had seen in my nightmares, I knew they belonged to those strange beings. The only possible conclusion was…

"Garet," I began, giving him a serious stare. "I think I know what happened."

His brown eyes widened while Jenna looked between us with confusion clearly on her face. "What? What are you talking about? Why do you always leave me out of everything?" she growled.

"Tell me later," the redhead quietly whispered before faking a smirk at the other Mars Adept. "It's nothing. It's about a prank we pulled a long time ago. We didn't know what happened with the result… so…"

Disappointed by his answer, Jenna shook her head and groaned before walking ahead. "Whatever," I heard her mumble.

At the top of the stairs, Kraden could clearly be seen pacing back and forth before his home. Obviously, he was deep in his pondering state again. Mumbling to himself, the Alchemy sage did not notice our arrival.

"Master Kraden!" Jenna called, waving at him to catch his attention. There was no response from the old man and Jenna groaned in annoyance. "Master Kraden!"

From the girl's loud outcry, the sage abruptly turned in her direction in surprise. "Jenna? Why… I didn't notice you have all arrived!" he said, looking apologetic. "Do forgive me."

"It's all right," I told him. "What did those two strangers want with you?" I asked, seeing the man flinch before creasing his brow in a deep frown.

"I don't know," he answered, shaking his head. "But they do know a lot about Sol Sanctum… More than the elders of Vale." Letting out a sigh, he stroked his grey beard in thought. "They had mentioned something about the elements," he continued. "Earth, fire, water and wind…"

I quirked an eyebrow at his explanation; confused at what Kraden was talking about. Glancing over at my friends, they both shrugged; obviously feeling the same way as I.

"They had spoken of Elemental Stars – four of them. Saying they are the key."

"Huh? Keys for what?" Garet asked, his expression bewildered.

Shaking his head, Kraden simply shrugged. "That, I do not know. But what I found strange was how they spoke of Sol Sanctum like they had actually been there. Is it not true that the elders must grant permission for anyone to enter?"

We nodded. "We've been told many times that the elders were the only ones who can permit anyone access to the sanctum," I said, having experiencing the elders' many lectures of why going to Mt. Aleph was forbidden.

"Indeed…" the sage replied.

Jenna gasped. "Do you think they did enter Sol Sanctum?" she questioned. "They could be thieves!"

"We should hurry and tell Gramps about them," Garet suggested. "If they are thieves, we can catch them before they get away!" He turned to run but Kraden hollered for him to stop.

"Wait!" The boy stumbled in his step and stopped immediately after. "To consider them thieves would be false," Kraden explained, causing the three of us to stare at him oddly. "If they were thieves, they would not have told me of these Elemental Stars."

"Well," I began, crossing my arms. "What should we do about it?"

A small smile formed over the Alchemy sage's lips. "We," he said, "are going to confirm this information they had given me."

"Huh?" "What?" "What do you mean by that?" the three of us asked at the same time.

The smile turned into a wide grin. Kraden adjusted his spectacles and looked at each of us. By the expression upon his face, I knew what the sage was talking about.

"You want to enter Sol Sanctum to look for those Elemental Stars?" I asked and he nodded.

"That'll be easy," Garet said, resting his hands on his hips. "You got permission from the elders –"

"However," Kraden interrupted, "The elders would have to accompany us. If we were to search for those Stars, we would have to be alone."

I blinked at the old man. "Are you saying that we should enter Sol Sanctum by ourselves?"

Again, the sage nodded. "Indeed. You are quite correct, Isaac!"

"What!" I cried in disbelief.

Jenna shook her head, "That's impossible…"

"Why would it be?"

"Well…" I murmured, "It's…"

"We're just going to confirm if those two had actually been to Sol Sanctum. I think that would be acceptable, right?"

Garet perked up. "I suppose," he said, grinning mischievously. "It's not like we'll be doing anything bad."

Jenna, following the boy's lead, nodded in return. "Yeah! We just gotta keep this a secret between us."

A grin of my own began to spread over my face when the decision was clear. "Then let's do it," I said. "Let's go to Sol Sanctum."

"Excellent!" Kraden exclaimed in joy. "Then it has been decided, my dear students. Our first journey to study the ancient secrets of Alchemy shall begin." He turned to me with a small smile. "Isaac, will you do the honour of leading the way?"

I nearly tripped over my own foot – (though it should have been impossible when I have barely even taken a step) – after he had said that. "Me? Lead?" I cried, gawking at the sage with wide-eyes.

Kraden simply nodded. "You have proven to be quite a leader amongst your friends, Isaac," he explained, his gentle smile never fading away. "You have aided them in their Psynergy training like a teacher at most times. Do you both not agree?"

Garet laughed and patted me hard on the back. "Master's right, man. If you hadn't shown us how to use Psynergy, we probably wouldn't be as strong as we are now."

"Agreed," said Jenna, punching me lightly on the shoulder. "You're kind of like a teacher to Garet and I, Isaac. So you should be the leader." She then quietly giggled. "Because you-know-who makes the worst decisions and is not qualified to be one."

There was a low growl from the redhead. "Who makes the worst decisions?"

I could only pout when the position of being leader was suddenly handed to me. "You gotta be kidding me…" I groaned, seeing my friends shake their head in belief.

"You're leader, Isaac," Jenna said again, giving me a sullen stare. "We've all agreed."

Ugh, no way! I wanted to say, but found no point in arguing. The female Mars Adept was giving me a look of surreal truth. If I disagreed, she would most likely unleash her fiery wrath upon me and torch my clothes off or something in that manner.

Rubbing my neck, I gave in. "All right… I'll be leader," I mumbled, receiving enlightened grins and smiles from everyone.

"Then let's be off! Oh, wait one moment!" Kraden ran inside his home and came back out shortly carrying a few small pouches.

"What are those for?" I asked, seeing the sage tie four of the bags to his belt.

"These are for if we stumble upon anything important… Now let's begin. Isaac, lead the way." He gestured me to start walking.

Taking a deep breath, I rolled my eyes and began to trek to the Healer's Sanctum. Careful not to seem suspicious to any of the villagers that passed us, we made good time in reaching the stone stairs before the Sanctum. The only hard part was avoiding the monks that often guarded the path to Mt. Aleph.

Laying low, I spotted only one of them, conversing with two of Vale's elders before the Sanctum's door. Those elders were most likely the ones we were supposed to meet. It was impossible to get by them… unless I had a distraction. But what could I use?

Glancing at Garet for an answer, the redhead only shrugged. Jenna then tapped me over the shoulder and pointed up at few small boulders over top the cliff side on the opposite side of the path to Mt. Aleph.

The boulders! Yes! They could be the distraction. Now, if I could get them to fall…

I flashed Jenna a grin of thanks before closing my eyes in concentration. Drawing out my Psynergy into my hand, I then slammed my palm into the ground to force the earth to tremble slightly; just enough to shake loose the large rocks above the cliff.

The monk and elders were first startled by the minor quake before jumping at the sounding of crashing stone. They all ran towards the fallen boulders while we took the opportunity to make a run for it.

Sprinting as fast as I could, I passed the tree and up the stairway that led to the mountain. I looked back, seeing that all of us had made it through. Heart pounding against my chest, I breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to run up the stairs with Jenna and Garet beside me. I didn't want to delay my excitement any longer; I skipped steps to reach the sacred entrance of Sol Sanctum.

"Wow…" was all I could muster at the amazing sight before my eyes. Four pure white statues of goddesses guarded the stone doors of the Sanctum. The peak of Mt. Aleph was too high to see as I craned my neck up from where I stood.

I heard a sound of awe from my friends behind me as well as Kraden's panting. Not able to contain my anxiety further, I ran up to the heavy stone doors and pushed them open… Never to realize that it was my first step to an epic journey.