Chapter 5

The heavy, stone doors leading to the sanctum were easy to push open. A rush of wind blew by me before settling into a cool breeze.

Eyes gleaming with awe and anticipation, Kraden sniffed the damp air that blew from inside and walked in.

I couldn't deny how I felt; I was brimming with excitement for having to finally enter the forbidden sanctum. I glanced over at my friends who grinned from ear to ear as they followed Kraden's path.

Inside was not what I had expected; a room filled with shallow, clear blue water was the first astonishing thing about the sanctum. Stone tiles served as stepping stones to cross the pool and Kraden was already halfway across. I quickly followed suit and hopped on the tiles to catch up to the elder man. We came to another entrance and entered once all of us were together.

Within, stone walls, a brilliant shade of dark blue, appeared clean and flawless like the sanctum had never been entered before. For years, perhaps centuries, Mt. Aleph was inaccessible to anyone in Vale or outsiders.

The only way in was to be an elder, of course. Another possible way was to have a strong purpose to enter by negotiating and years of trust in Kraden's case. But for us, another way in was to sneak inside with stealth. (Which this time, actually worked.)

The Alchemy sage breathed deeply at the scent of the sanctum's ancient air. "Magnificent..." he exhaled, examining the carved stone of the walls with his hands. "Every stone in this temple shines with archaic beauty. Come, we must hurry deeper inside!" He ran swiftly ahead much like a child overcome with joy to enter a playground.

"Master Kraden, slow down!" I called, seeing how he practically left us in the dust. He turned around a corner and a sudden cry was heard. "What?" I rushed to see what happened to the old man and saw him backed into a wall by a mere flying Bat. The creature noticed my presence and flew off in fright.

"My, that little beast startled me," the sage exclaimed, brushing loose strands of his grey hair out of his face.

"Are you all right?" I asked, checking him over to make sure he wasn't injured.

He lightly brushed me off. "I'm fine, Isaac. Just a little surprised."

Jenna and Garet caught up to us. "What happened?" they both asked at once.

"There are monsters around," I told them, receiving shocked looks.

Kraden shook his head, slightly confused. "I didn't think there would be monsters roaming about in this sanctum. You children must be careful from now on. We might not know what we could run into…"

I gave the sage an assuring grin. "Don't worry. A few Bats and Mushrooms wouldn't be able to harm us," I replied as I turned to the other boy and smirked.

Garet rested his hands on his hips and straightened up. "Monsters, eh? I'd like to try fighting them," he said, searching around the area.

Jenna snorted at him. "You don't have a weapon," she plainly shot back.

Waving a finger, Garet gave her a sullen stare. "Psynergy, Jenna. Psynergy. Let's see who can roast the most monsters in here!" he challenged.

The other Mars Adept crossed her arm and raised an eyebrow before finally forming a grin. "You're on!"

"Hold it! Hold it!" Kraden cut in on their fun. "You two certainly must be careful in here! I don't want any harm to come to this sanctum. Understand? If there are signs of damage, the elders would know that we've been in here on our own!"

The two nodded, still grinning with anticipation. "We know. We know," Jenna told him, "We'll be careful. We'll make sure to only hit the monsters." She elbowed the older boy. "Right, Garet?"

Rolling his eyes, Garet rested his hands behind his head. "Yeah. Yeah. I won't burn anything unnecessary."

Exhaling a breath of relief, Kraden gave them a nod. "Good," he said before turning to me. "Isaac, you as well. I don't want you to use your Psynergy in here."

Disappointment fell over me. "Why not?" I asked, frowning at the old man.

"Because your powers could disrupt the structure of the sanctum! Mild earthquakes could easily destroy the stone walls and you know you wouldn't want that. Correct?"

I mentally cursed at the disadvantage I had. "Yeah…" I mumbled, pouting at the floor.

"Oh, that's too bad, man," Garet patted me on the back. "Just stay behind me and Jenna and we'll take care of things!"

Growling, I shot him a glare which was returned with a grin. I couldn't help but feel jealous at the two Mars Adepts.

When Jenna had found out that she could wield fire Psynergy, she was slightly disappointed for she wanted the power of Venus to create life with her hands.

"I want to grow flowers like you can do, Isaac," she had said.

I gave Jenna a silent smile as I followed behind her through the long corridor of the sanctum. The girl before me once envied my power but had grown to love her own after learning what she could do. (Such as threatening me at a higher level whenever I made her mad. Onc time she almost burned my entire shirt off when I dumped a pail of freezing water over her head as a joke.)

Possessing the power of fire, she had accepted her heritage as a Mars Adept.

After Garet discovered that he, as well, was a Mars Adept after accidentally igniting my boots on fire, he took pledge to train with Jenna all the time to master their fire Psynergy together.

Although he was a Mars Adept, Garet was different from Jenna. The redhead had the ability to move objects without touch; which was a trait of Venus Adepts. 'Through heredity, the boy had gained the power from his grandfather,' Kraden had explained.

"Look! There's another one!" I heard Garet cry when a fifth squealing Vermin appeared.

Both Mars Adepts began to chase the poor critter through the maze-like complex that we had discovered behind a hidden entrance. Kraden's predicament had proven true when we assumingly ran into a dead end of the sanctum.

So there were secret chambers within Sol Sanctum and we had discovered them…

Sighing, I watched my two friends cast fireballs at the running Vermin. Jenna's ball of flame struck the rat first; igniting the little creature into a burning mass. Garet's fireball then knocked it down where it remained unmoving.

It was cruel when I thought about it. Seeing the charred bodies of our enemies was quite unnerving and it left a sick feeling in my stomach.

"Yeah! That's three to two, Garet!" Jenna boasted, giving the redhead a playful punch in the shoulder.

Grumbling, the boy waved her away. "Bah! I'll get the next one," he told her as he searched the area for more monsters.

"Over there!" A pair of Bats were spotted.

I sighed again. Why couldn't I have any fun?

-0-

The sense of nostalgia had been on my mind in the past three years. But now, as I stood atop a high ledge overlooking the village of Vale, I could not help but feel out of place.

Why? It was most likely that I was forced to come back accompanied not with my parents, but with them. Held against their will, my mother and father were to remain back in Prox in order to keep me in line on my mission. Despite the brutal conditions that were set, I was determined to not only complete the mission for my parents, but for all of Weyard as well.

Frowning slightly, I watched the four figures walking below; the ones we were to follow. From afar I could not see their faces, but I knew who they all were.

Jenna… I sighed in thought. My sister… She was left all alone.

Was she sad? Did she cry?

I wanted to run up to her and show her that I was alive. But no – I had to keep my emotions inside if I were to complete our mission.

"Stay focused, Felix," Saturos ordered, giving me a sideways look. Arms crossed, he was watching my expression the entire time while we waited for the group below to leave. "Remember what we came here for."

"Understood," was all I said to the man as I turned back to the village. Deep down, I wanted to protest against the two Proxian warriors but if I did, I would endanger not only my own life, but many others. I obeyed Saturos's orders and tried to clear my head of complicating thoughts.

However, one thing that kept lingering in my mind was the fact that I was back home but could not enjoy the feeling of it.

I heard Saturos smirk when the four people disappeared from our sight. "It's time to move," he announced, turning around to the other Proxian. He immediately looked irritated. "Where's Alex?"

Menardi shrugged her shoulders and exhaled a sigh in annoyance. "Beats me," she said as she gathered her belongings. "That fool always disappears. He'll eventually show up."

As if on cue, the aforementioned young man appeared before us out of thin air, (like always). Alex did not seem fazed by the hard glares he was receiving from the two warriors but instead appeared not to notice. "I apologize for being late," he simply told them in his nonchalant tone.

His manner infuriated Menardi. "Where have you been?" she growled.

Saturos quickly interjected Alex's response. "Not now," he hissed. "The children are on their way. We should as well."

Smirking slightly, Alex stepped aside for Saturos to lead the way. As she passed, Menardi shot the aqua-haired boy a glare of annoyance.

Without saying a word, I followed right after her; ignoring the Mercury Adept's calm yet unnerving eyes.

"Felix," I heard him address me from behind; "This is your hometown, isn't it?"

I grimaced at the question and silently nodded.

"I see… Quite a nice little village."

Taking a careful glance back, I noticed his expression was that of admiration. Alex had struck me as a mysterious enigma ever since he decided to join our mission. He never spoke of his origins so much was unknown about him. One thing I did know was that Alex possessed powers that were unimaginable…

The Mercury Adept's Psynergy was incredible. The reason Saturos and Menardi had allowed him to join us was because of his unique powers such as teleportation and levitation. I had never seen such skills before! And his strength overly surpassed my own… perhaps even both Saturos and Menardi's…

However, he never portrayed his full power whenever engaged in combat with monsters. Unlike the Proxians who totally obliterated their enemies (either big or small) with explosive flames, Alex had always conserved his Psynergy to a minimal.

Although Alex had been traveling with us for some time now, I couldn't help but be suspicious of his antics. Why would he offer to help us? What would it gain him?

There had to be reason. I could sense that he wasn't someone who would simply help another person in need.

He noticed my staring and gave me a little smirk. "Something the matter?" he asked.

I quickly looked away. "No, nothing," I answered and ran off to catch up to Menardi for she had gone far ahead of us.

We ran down the same path as the previous group as swiftly and carefully as possible. Crossing the familiar bridge that led to the old stone steps of the Healer's Sanctum, we momentarily paused to scout for any villagers nearby.

Miraculously, there was none and at the top of the stairs, the monks and elders were far in the corner; far enough to not notice our presence. I almost hesitated to follow Menardi when I recognized who the villagers were.

Nostalgia was overcoming me again… I breathed deeply as I ran up the stairs that I had never stepped foot on until now. Memories of my past childhood kept flashing in my head. I could remember the time when I once tried to enter Mt. Aleph with Jenna…

Yeah, that was fun… I was rather disappointed that Isaac's plan never worked that day. But now, three years later, I was walking through the open entrance of Sol Sanctum.

The old feeling of excitement ran through me as I followed Saturos's lead. Bewildered by the complexity of the ancient sanctum, I was simply awed at the entire layout. Pools of water, mazy corridors, a few weak monsters… The thought of how much fun I could have had in the sanctum as a child plagued me.

For a brief moment, all the stress that filled me up completely vanished as I skipped on stone tiles surrounded by water and ran through long corridors filled with smoking carcasses of monsters that I could assume was the doing of the previous group.

After a short while, Saturos slowed to a stop before a corner and quickly gestured the rest of us to be quiet. Panting, I held my breath to listen, hearing voices around the bend.

"Look at the floor! The symbol of Sol changed to Luna!" The voice sounded aged, obviously it was Kraden speaking.

"But why?" someone asked; a young man.

I carefully peeked over Saturos's shoulder to gain a better look of the group. Inwardly, I smiled.

My dear sister had grown a few inches taller as did her hair. Seeing her made me happy. I truly missed her as did Mother and Father.

Beside her stood two familiar friends; Isaac and Garet. Both of them had gotten quite taller and seemed much more mature. (Actually, just Isaac; Garet did not seem to understand what the one named Kraden was talking about.)

Isaac… I gave my old friend a quiet smile. Your father is alive.

We listened and watched in silence as the secret of Sol Sanctum unfolded in the room before us.

"Surely… there must be something in this room," Kraden conjured. The figure of the old man paced the glowing room. It appeared as if moonlight was shining above it. In the centre of the floor was a beam of light coming from the symbol of Luna. The beam pointed directly to the wall.

The four of them examined the wall and to my surprise, the beam of light distorted the stone to create what I could assume was a portal.

Saturos grinned, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "I was right," he said, "They have solved the secrets of Sol Sanctum."

"Hey! That's pretty cool!" Garet blurted out loud.

"This… This must be it!" Kraden exclaimed through his excitement. "Isaac, let's go!"

The blond boy looked hesitant. "What? Go in there?" he asked skeptically.

The old man was ushering him towards the new portal. "Yes! Yes! Jump in!"

"Are you sure –" Isaac was shoved in before he could finish. Disappearing in a flash of white, the boy was gone.

"Isaac!" both Jenna and Garet cried at once.

Before either of them could say another word, Kraden himself leapt into the portal and vanished.

I saw Jenna shaking her head in disbelief. "Oh jeez…" she groaned, throwing her arms in the air. "Should we follow them?"

The red-haired boy shrugged. "Seems like a good idea…" he answered, walking closer to the mysterious entrance. "We should check to see if they're okay."

"I don't know, Garet…"

"Come on. What're you afraid of?" the boy asked in a teasing manner.

My sister crossed her arms and stomped her foot. "I'm not afraid of anything!" she retorted then jumped in the portal in haste to prove her words.

Laughing to himself, the boy soon followed.

With the room empty, we came out of hiding to examine the portal ourselves.

Menardi snorted at the sight of it. "How did those brats figure this out when we could not?" she spat, obviously furious.

The other Proxian shot her a look. "Don't get overworked over it," he told her sternly. "We finally came this far so let's take this opportunity."

"W-Wait," I stammered nervously, stopping the man from stepping into the distorted wall. "Shouldn't we wait for a little while?"

I felt three pairs of eyes stare at me as I avoided everyone's gaze and instead looked at the shimmering glow coming from Luna.

"Why should we wait?" Saturos questioned, a hint of impatience in his tone. It had always been difficult to go against either Proxian's word of order. They were stubborn and aggressive in every way that I was afraid to even talk to them face-to-face.

This time, however, I wanted to speak of personal matters. Slowly, I raised my head to look at Saturos's intense stare. "Jenn – Those people," I quickly corrected. "I don't want you to harm any of them."

There was an awkward silence. The Mars Adept slightly narrowed his eyes. "So be it," he responded casually. "There will be no harm if they follow our orders."

"That's –"

"That's what I'll only agree to, boy," he growled before disappearing in the portal.

Menardi followed without saying a word while Alex and I remained in the tranquil chamber. I wanted to enter but I couldn't… I was afraid of confronting my sister and old friends.

If they saw me, how would they react? Did they believe I was dead for the past few years?

Hesitating, I let out a discomforted sigh.

Alex gestured towards the portal. "Are you scared of what you'll see?" he asked, raising an eyebrow when he saw I did not make a move. "Or, are you afraid of whom you'll meet?"

I frowned at the Mercury Adept's uncanny ability to notice what was bothering me. "The latter," I quietly answered.

Smirking that familiar smirk, he pointed at my shawl. "Why not cover your face if you don't want to be noticed by your old companions?"

I grasped my cloak, wondering if using it could work… "How did you know?" I inquired his knack of uncovering my fear.

"Hmm?" Alex raised his brow.

Sighing mentally, I quickly shook my head. "Never mind." I didn't want to pry into the details or waste anymore time.

Wrapping the loose cloth around my head, I made sure to cover my entire forehead and partly my eyes so Jenna wouldn't be able to recognize me right away. I heard Alex let out a short chuckle.

"My, you look ridiculous," he said frankly and I snorted at him. "But it might do. Go in and see what's happening."

I immediately suspected something of the other Adept. "You're coming too, aren't you?"

He nodded. "Of course. Why? Do you want me to go first?"

"Err –"

"Then all right then." Alex turned around and vanished into the portal without my answer.

I was a little surprised but soon regained my posture. I took one last glance around the now empty room, trying to calm my shaking nerves. On the other side, Jenna, Isaac and Garet were waiting…

I had to confront them… Not to show them I was alive and well, but to gain the Elemental Stars to complete my mission. Taking a slow, deep breath, I jumped into the portal.

Instantly, I felt myself float in the air. It was rather relaxing and calming before I suddenly just stopped. I was back on solid ground. There was a gentle breeze and the air smelled like an open sea.

Where am I?

I was bewildered by the sight; the sky was as black as night but I could clearly see like it was light as day. A vast body of water surrounded the entire area like an ocean.

There, in front of me, was my sister with her back turned towards me.

"What will you do with us once you've collected the stars?" she asked, visibly terrified at the two Proxian warriors before her.

The old man standing beside her, shook his head. "They'll probably get rid of us…" he murmured.

"No, they will not," I spoke up, making sure that Saturos would keep his promise. That made everyone turn to look at me. "They promised to leave you alone, right?" I gave the Proxian a stern glare, which most likely went unnoticed since half my face was covered.

Saturos exhaled in frustration. "Well, they have to cooperate in order for me to keep that promise," he snapped.

"They'll be safe if they hand over the Elemental Stars," Menardi added, shooting a scowl at me.

I just nodded to agree with her statement.

"Good," she commented. Saturos then returned his direction back over the water. Out in the distance were tall stone pillars and small miniature islands of rock. Standing on one of those stone islands was Isaac and Garet.

"You heard us," Saturos yelled over at them. "If you wish to save your friends, give us the Elemental Stars!"

"You do accept our terms, yes?" asked Menardi, fingering her scythe weapon in her hands.

I glowered at the wicked blade she carried around with her. She had always threatened me with that whenever I did something not to her liking… such as losing to her when sparring. (Ugh... Having a scythe swing mere millimeters away from your face all the time was not fun.)

Isaac did not look too happy with the choice he had been given. Neither would I if I were in his place… The boy simply nodded his head in agreement, but the old man protested.

"Isaac! You can't let them have the Elemental Stars!" Kraden called out. Infuriated, Saturos pulled out his sword and brought it close to Kraden's face. The elder man quickly backed away, eyeing the blade with fear.

"Do you dare deny us, boys?" Saturos questioned. "You want your friends to be safe, don't you?" He then swung his sword directly at Jenna but stopped it abruptly in front of her frightened face.

I cringed. Anger began to well inside of me…

Saturos laughed at Jenna's terrified jerk. My sister drew a sharp breath and glared bravely at the Proxian. The man stepped closer to Jenna and slowly brought the edge of the sword to her neck.

"Stop that, Saturos! We aren't here to hurt anyone!" I growled, taking a step forward. His treatment with Jenna was uncalled for! The bastard did not have to threaten my sister in such a way.

"Felix," Saturos sighed, amused at my outcry. "I'm just making sure that they'll give us the Stars. If they don't want them hurt then they'll have to give us them." He sneered and backed away.

"F-Felix?" Jenna gasped, abruptly turning around to look at me.

"Felix!" I heard Isaac and Garet cry out as well.

I frowned but nodded. "Yeah… it's me." I slowly untied my cloak and revealed my face to them all. Jenna gawked at me with confusion and sadness on her face… I quickly looked away. I couldn't bear to meet her auburn eyes.

"Felix…" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "It can't be… Y-You…"

"Jenna… I'm sorry," was all I could say. I wanted to say more; like how much I had missed her, how much I had wanted to come home, how much I had…

I wanted to tell her everything.

"But how?" she questioned, a sob evident in her tone.

I lifted my head, seeing tears streak down her gentle face. "It… was a miracle that I survived that day," I told her softly.

"We are the ones who saved him," Saturos added, smirking at my helplessness.

"We saw him in the river, unconscious, as we passed," Menardi explained, cocking her head at me.

I nodded. "I've been with them ever since. I've experienced a lot." During the time I've spent in Prox, I had learned many, many things: Swordsmanship, Psynergy, Alchemy… and death. Over the years, I was trained to fight by the warriors that protected Prox and the use of Psynergy from my father. As well, the elders taught me great knowledge of the four elements and the devastating effects of Alchemy or lack thereof.

I had grown over those three years and now I was on an important mission.

Only I can do it, Jenna…

"Why, br-brother?" my sister cried, "I was left all alone…"

I deeply frowned at her. "Jenna…" I breathed, holding the urge to run up and comfort her. "I'm sorry…"

"I thought you were dead…" She looked at the floor to avoid my gaze.

I flinched at the statement, but continued to watch my sister cry.

"Enough of this," Saturos snarled between us. "Save your teary reunion for later."

I didn't respond. I kept my eyes on Jenna.

"The Stars come first. Surely this would be acceptable, would it not, Kraden?" Menardi questioned. "Felix would never let any harm come to you or his sister. Now hurry and give us those Stars!"

I heard Isaac and Garet whispering to each other from far away. I didn't care what they were discussing; I only paid attention to my sister. She had stopped crying but dared not to meet my eyes.

"All right, we'll hand over the Stars," Garet called out in defeat. I noticed the redhead jump from the stone island to a stone pillar, carrying a few bags. Suddenly, the air before him shimmered with Psynergy and a familiar Mercury Adept appeared. (Alex's sudden appearance made me ponder where he was after I arrived.)

Having someone to appear out of thin air right in front of him, Garet let out a loud cry of surprise.

Laughing slightly, Alex calmly reached out his hand and offered to take the stars from the boy.

"You're late, Alex," said Saturos, impatiently. It was strange how Alex had a knack for arriving whenever he was needed most. "He's one of our companions, give him the Stars," Saturos continued.

Garet hesitated but gave the bags to Alex after a brief moment. The Mercury Adept then simply levitated off the ground, (receiving looks and gasps of awe and surprise from those who had never seen his power), once he had obtained the bags. (I could only assume that Mercury Adepts were the only ones capable of such powers.)

"Hmm? You have yet to retrieve the last star," Alex announced, counting the bags. "You should hurry and get the last one." He then headed to our direction but Garet's angry outburst stopped him.

"Wait! You want us to get the last Star? Why the hell can't you damn guys do it!" Garet exclaimed, furiously. "You also promised to let Jenna and Kraden go once we gave you those Stars. Now let them go!"

Saturos laughed at him. "We promised to let them go when we have all the Stars!" he pointed out.

"Hurry up! We don't have all day!" Menardi chimed in, tapping her foot impatiently.

Growling, Garet slowly nodded in agreement and headed back towards Isaac.

Jenna remained silent while Kraden looked over at her with pity and sorrow. He placed his hand on her shoulder, possibly to assure her. But she did not respond. All eyes were on the two boys as they leapt between stone pillars to reach the far lone isle of the red glowing star.

The last key to saving Weyard was taken from its safety and into Isaac's hands. Carefully, the boy placed it into a bag and abruptly turned around to head back. Before taking the first step, the ground began to tremble, catching all of us off guard.

Loud cracking sounds could be heard as steam began to erupt from the water's floor. In a blink of an eye, the entire body of water vanished and in its place was dried up ground; cracked and glowing from gushing lava!

The entire chamber was breaking apart! Rocks began to fall from the unseen ceiling and most of the stone pillars that occupied the surrounding area had collapsed to rubble. The temperature had quickly risen from the immense heat of the oozing lava.

I began to panic. In fact, everyone was panicking.

"Wh-What's happening?" Menardi shrieked, keeping her balance from the shaking ground.

Saturos had an expression I had never seen on him before; the sign of fear. "Not again!" he cried.

I could remember Menardi telling me how they had failed to enter the true Sol Sanctum and had instead triggered at trap which turned out to be the terrible storm three years ago.

Was all this another trap?

I ignored the thought of it when the rumbling and shaking got worse. I immediately snapped my attention to getting everyone out of here.

Alex appeared frightened, which was rare to see. "Without the energy of the Elemental Stars, the chamber is collapsing!" he cried.

"This must be the power of Alchemy!" Kraden exclaimed.

The shaking abruptly stopped as it had started. I slowly breathed a sigh of relief as I regained my composure.

"It's… It's over… But what was that?" Menardi questioned.

"What is that!" Jenna suddenly cried out, causing everyone to either jump or flinch. She pointed towards something that was floating in the air that I did not notice during the chaos. It looked like a giant floating rock with an eye. A monster, perhaps?

Everyone was silent, except for Isaac and Garet who were talking far away. Finally, Kraden spoke up, "It must be… The Wise One!"

We all seemed puzzled by Kraden's exclamation with the exception of Alex who appeared anxious at the sight of the creature.

"Such power! Incredible!" he cried, sensing the enormous amount of energy emanating from The Wise One.

It was… amazing. The creature's power most likely surpassed all of our strengths put together by tenfold.

The Wise One was gathering energy inside the chamber and into itself, increasing its power even more.

"Wow…" Jenna whispered in both awe and fright. All her previous sadness had dissipated.

"It must be the guardian of the Elemental Stars!" Saturos proclaimed, stepping away from the creature.

"I think we should get out of here," I suggested, seeing how dangerous it was if we were to anger the Wise One. (And stealing the Elemental Stars would probably cause the being to be angry with each and every one of us…) I was trembling uncontrollably from fear of what might happen if we lingered any longer.

"But we can't," Menardi protested, "We need the Mars Star!"

Alex shook his head, agreeing with me. "We don't have time," he said, shaking his head. "We must get out of here as fast as we can."

Menardi looked desperately at Saturos who also shook his head. "We'll have to get it another day, Menardi. Let's get out of here before things get more complicated."

"What about Isaac and Garet? You can't leave them behind!" Jenna wailed, frantically pointing at the two stranded youths.

The two were trapped on the tiny isle of the where the Mars Star resided. The pillars that had once led to the lone rock had been destroyed from the earthquake and lava. There was no way they could safely cross over to the portal…

I didn't want to leave them – I didn't want to abandon them. They would… die.

"Forget about them!" Saturos snarled, turning to the portal. "They'll never make it out in time."

"No!" Jenna and Kraden cried out. Tears welled in my sister's eyes as she looked onwards at her dear friends – our dear friends.

"Saturos, they may survive this…" Menardi warned the other warrior.

"It's possible…" Saturos snorted, eyeing the Wise One cautiously. He then turned to my sister. "Let's take these two as hostages so if they survive, they'll have to trade us the Mars Star for these two."

"But what about our promise?" I asked angrily. Jenna was not supposed to be involved with our mission!

"We never thought that this would happen. We can't really keep our promise now," Saturos snapped. "We won't hurt them, Felix. We'll just have to take them with us for… negotiating purposes."

I furrowed my brow in anger. We were supposed to go in and get out with the Elemental Stars; not take any hostages. Especially not taking Jenna as one…

"Please, leave Jenna out of this. Just take me instead!" begged the old man.

Saturos shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Even you cannot save the girl. Only them." He pointed to the Isaac and Garet. The boys were watching us helplessly by the statue of the Goddess of Mars.

"If they trade us the Mars Star for her then she'll be safe but until then, she stays with us," Saturos continued.

Menardi looked at me and said, "If we leave her here, she'll certainly die. You don't want that to happen, right?"

I silently cursed under my breath. The woman was right; if we did not take Kraden and Jenna along, they might not survive. And the last Star… If Isaac and Garet could somehow escape then we could exchange the Mars Star for Kraden and Jenna.

Argh! I didn't want Jenna to be used like this.

The ground began to rumble again. Lava violently spewed out of the cracks, causing the chamber to start filling with molten rock

"We need to get out of here. We should discuss this later, Felix," Alex informed.

Jenna glanced over at me desperately. "Felix…" she whispered.

Grief crossed over her features as she cried quietly at the thought of losing her two close friends.

"Please, can we go now?" Alex urgently asked.

I quickly nodded my head while keeping my gaze locked on Jenna's.

I'm sorry, Jenna. I'm sorry... I wanted to say. But the words would not form in my mouth.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me. "Let's go!" I screamed, biting back the feeling of guilt for taking my only sister along against her will and… abandoning my old friends to their possible death.

Saturos was first to leave, followed by Kraden then Menardi.

"Isaac! Garet!" Jenna cried as I dragged her to the exit. "Don't die!" I took one last look at the two, feeling utterly horrible to leave them.

My friends, I silently prayed. Please live!

I leapt into the mystical portal and felt the unbearable heat from the lava fade away.