A/N: Hey everyone! I finished sooner than I thought! Great news, Mia fans! You can quit throwing things at me! Mia's finally making her appearance in this chapter. (Finally, ne?) Enjoy!
Chapter 13
Imil village was in my sight as we passed through a thicket of pine trees and shrubs. Grinning, I sped up my pace, following the footsteps of previous wanderers. Obviously Saturos's and them.
"We made it!" I told my friends who were right behind me. A smile spread across both their faces as they saw Imil with their very own eyes. In the distance, there was a dim outline of a tall tower.
"Alright! I don't think I can last any longer in this weather…" said Garet as he rushed towards Imil. "Man, I'm so hungry!"
I smirked at him, following right behind. Ivan let out a short laugh. "Garet, there's no need to rush! You ate most of our rationings last night," he giggled.
"I'm hungry and I'm freezing!" he sang happily.
I was hungry and cold too.
The weather today wasn't as bad as yesterday's. There wasn't any wind and the sun was partially up, which was good. I didn't want the snow to reflect the sun into our eyes.
Once at the entrance gates, a man, wearing thick winter clothing with a shovel, spotted and hurried to us. "Good gracious! What are you boys doing travelling in the middle of the cold season?!" he cried. "Hurry inside and warm up!" He gestured towards the first house to our left. We shuffled inside with him right behind us.
I tried to protest but it was no use.
An old lady let out a cry of surprise as we came in. "Marlene, Joseph, these young travellers need to warm up! They've been wandering the snowy plains in such little protection!" the man explained to the old lady.
"Oh dear," she cried, "Please, come in! I'll make some hot tea to warm you boys up!" She hurried to the black iron stove with a warm fire already burning inside and took out a kettle.
An elderly man, who laid in a bed, tiredly turned his head to look at us. He gave us a weary smile and coughed a welcome, "Hello, boys. Please, make yourselves at home! (Cough)!"
"Um… It's alright, you don't have to go through any trouble for us!" Garet said nervously as the old lady grabbed some mugs out of her cupboards. "We were heading for the inn, so we don't need anything, thank you!"
Ivan and I nodded in agreement. "Nonsense," the old lady replied, taking some small, thin clothed bags and placing them into the mugs. Then she scooped water from a bucket into the kettle and set it on the stove. "You children are frozen to the bone! What were you thinking when you passed through the snow? Coming unprepared in those thin layers of clothing. My, my!" She shook her head.
The man who shuffled us in the house nodded to the lady and the old man then to us. "I'm off to shovelling again. Please be careful, boys," he told us as he closed the door behind him.
"We will, thank you," Ivan said politely. He then nervously turned back to the kind old lady.
"It's nice to have visitors once in a while," said the lady. She placed some spoons into each mug and waited for the water to boil. "But you boys have arrived in a bad time. There's an epidemic spreading around the village and almost everyone has fallen ill, just like my poor Joseph!" She approached the old man who coughed and smiled at her.
"Don't worry about me too much, dear," he said in a dry, raspy voice. "Take care of the (cough)! (Cough)! (Cough)!…boys first! (Cough)!"
I don't want to catch the cold he has… Each cough sounded horrible and fatal as the poor old man drew in a sharp breath each time.
"Joseph!" the lady cried out in alarm, worry spreading over her features. "It's getting worse… We need Mia here quickly!"
Joseph stopped coughing for a moment, "No, no, Marlene. She's too busy with the other (cough) villagers. Let her come see me when she has time! (Cough, cough, cough)!"
"Nonsense, Joseph! You need her help or it could get worse!" she cried, stroking the his hair and pecking a kiss on his forehead. "I'm going to bring her here to see you, okay?"
"Wait," Garet interrupted them. "We can go look for the person you're looking for, since you're already helping us…"
"I agree, ma'am," I said, nodding my head. "Let us handle this."
Marlene gave us a warm smile. "Oh, alright. I guess it's better for young lads like you to be wandering out in the cold than an old bag of bones like me," she said.
I gave her a smile and nodded. "Don't worry, we'll get uh… Mia, right?" I asked.
She nodded. "She should be in the healing sanctum that is across the frozen river. Follow the path north, and you'll see a bridge to cross the river. Then go south and you'll see the sanctum," she explained. "Please, hurry. Your tea will get cold!"
I grinned. "We will. Thank you, ma'am." I told her. Then to my friends, "Ready to go?"
They both nodded, with Garet looking grumpy as ever. "I hate the cold…" he muttered.
I rolled my eyes at him and opened the door where we felt a sudden rush of cold air in our faces. I shivered once more.
To my right I saw the river, frozen solid. It looked like you could walk on it, but that would be a dumb idea. We went north, following a freshly shovelled path, past the inn which was right beside the old lady's house.
Jeez… we could've just went in there…
The man from before was shovelling the light snow off the path by some shops that were made into the side of the cliffs. When he saw us approach, he raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing back outside so soon?!" he cried, as he started to shuffle us back towards the house.
"Hey!" I said, "We're heading towards the healing sanctum. That old man, Joseph is getting worse with that cold he has, so we need to find a person named Mia." When I finished, he stopped and rubbed his covered head.
"Is that so? Then you should hurry. Across the bridge and go south, it's in the side of the small hill you will see," he pointed over the small ledge with a tree and over the river.
"Thanks," we all said and continued following the path which was now covered in snow because the man didn't shovel it yet.
Once on the bridge, Forge let out a cry as he hopped onto Garet's shoulder. "Djinn alert!" he cried.
Garet grabbed him so no one noticed him. "Hey, what are you doing?! Don't pop out when we're in a village!" he hissed at the Mars Djinn who only glared.
"Baka!" Forge squealed. "I sense a Djinn nearby. Over there to be exact!" he looked over to the frozen waterfall.
The waterfall was a beautiful sight to see. It was all frozen from top to bottom, forming a wondrous ice sheet that covered the side of the cliff. There was a small opening at the base of the waterfall, revealing a hole that possibly lead to a cave…
I looked down at the frozen river, trying to see how thick the ice was. It did look quite thick… maybe able to support our weight.
"Bah, I'm not going down there," Garet told his Djinn who glowered back at him. "You go get him yourself."
"If this is how you treat us, then you don't deserve to have my power, baka!" Forge screamed back at him. "Get your bu-"
Garet shook the Djinn in his hands, making Forge even more furious as the little creature began to growl. Garet then gave him a wary stare. "Quit screaming already. If you put it that way, then I guess we'll have to go down there… Right, Isaac?" he said, giving me an irritated look.
I shrugged. "I guess so… Let's go down and climb over the fence," I groaned.
"Uh, guys," Ivan spoke up as we began to descend over the short, snow covered, wooden fence and onto the ice, carefully tested the ice's strength with my foot. "Shouldn't we get help first?" he asked Garet and I who were already walking, or more like slipping, easily across the slick surface of ice that was really solid to hold both of us.
"Oh yeah," I said, remembering why I was out here in the first place and not in the inn. "You go ahead, Ivan. Garet and I will get the Djinn and we'll meet you back at that house we were at."
He nodded and continued south, while Garet and I started to slip-slide on the ice towards the small opening which we could squeeze through.
Behind the frozen wall was a small beautifully illuminated cave covered in ice. Light reflected off the smooth surfaces of the ice making a cool-lighted blue cave. It was also warm inside, just like inside the dome.
Forge, Granite, and Flint emerged from their hiding spots and looked around. "Hello?" Forge yelled, making his voice echo around us. "Keh! Show yourself, baka!"
"DON'T CALL ME BAKA!!!"
A little flaming ball came flying at Garet and knocked Forge off of his perch on Garet's shoulder. The little flaming ball turned out to be another Mars Djinn that looked exactly like Forge, just like how Flint and Granite look the same.
The Mars Djinn pounded Forge as it jumped continuously onto the other arrogant Djinn. "How many times did I tell you to stop calling me that?!" it screeched in a higher pitch tone than Forge. Must be a girl…
Forge, who was being stomped on, yelped out in pain. "Ow! Ouch! Agh! Quit it! Fever! Stop! Gomenaisai! Gomennaisai!"
Fever, the new Mars Djinn stopped jumping, but remained standing on top of Forge who didn't look so good. "You do know that I don't always understand your foreign tongue!" she screeched angrily.
"I said I was sorry!" Forge shrieked at back at her.
"Sorry?! Hmph!" Then she noticed all of us watching her and blinked. "Oh… Uh… Hello there! Flint! Granite! You're okay!" she cried happily jumping towards me. Both Venus Djinn hopped down to greet their friend.
"You did a good job of pounding your brother into a pulp," Flint said gleefully. A little grin spread across his little face.
Forge got up, outraged and hissing mad. "You didn't have to do that, Fever-chan!"
Fever glared at him and stuck out her tongue. "You deserve it for calling me baka, baka!" she spat. Then she raised her brow and looked at Garet and I. "What are you doing with these humans?" she asked her friends.
Garet rolled his eyes. "Well, it's so obvious. They're joining us in our quest to save the world from total destruction," he said, irritated from the cold.
I rolled my eyes. "Something like that," I told her. Fever cocked her head to the side and grinned.
"Great! I'll join too. You," she addressed Garet, "A Mars Adept, huh? That's ever better! I am Fever, Mars Djinn of Spirit, and I will be honoured to-"
"Nani?! No challenge?!" Forge interrupted her. Fever bared her teeth and charged at him, head butting the other Mars Djinn and knocking him to the cold ground. "Ow…" he winced.
"As I was saying," Fever continued, "I will be honoured to join you on your quest, sword wielder, Garet."
Garet looked more thrilled than irritated now as he grinned and nodded. "Fever, I'll be honoured as well! Hop into my bag so no one can see you outside," he said as he picked up Forge's battered body. "Wow, Forge, your sister's really aggressive. Reminds me of Kaylina. We always argued over things!"
I let out a short laugh. "It was because you kept killing her flowers," I reminded him as he started to laugh too.
"Oh yeah…" he said.
Once back outside, Ivan was waiting for us by the fence by himself. "You guys! She wasn't there! But the children working inside said she was heading towards the old couple's home. Should we go check?" he asked as we climbed over the fence.
I shrugged, Garet nodded. "Of course we go!" said Garet as he lead the way. "I'm not going to miss out on our tea!"
"As well," Ivan added. "We should check to see if they're okay too."
So we went back towards the old couple's home finding that indeed, there was the person we were looking for, gently holding Joseph's frail hand in hers. She closed her aqua blue eyes and began to glow a light blue aura. The light surrounded her body and the old man, that's when I realized what she was doing; she was using a form of healing Psynergy; Psynergy, I have never seen before.
Garet elbowed my arm. "She's using Psynergy!" he whispered in my ear.
I nodded. "She's an Adept…" I whispered back.
When the light subsided, she gave Joseph a gentle smile. "How are you feeling, Joseph?" she said sweetly in a gentle and almost… heavenly-like voice.
It surprised me when the old man rushed out of bed, fully refreshed and healthy. He did a little hop and laughed heartily. "Mia, my dear! I feel good as new! (Cough)!"
The girl let out a laugh as she tried to settle the old man down. "Please, sir! You're not fully healed yet. Lie down and get some rest," she told him.
"Mia, thank you for your help! I don't know how the village would last without you," Marlene assured her.
Mia smiled and nodded, "Don't mention it! You should get some rest too, Marlene!"
Joseph settled back into bed, noticing us three standing in the room. "Boys! I'm sorry for the trouble… Mia had arrived on her own and now I'm better!" he said kindly.
Mia, the girl with the amazingly beautiful aqua-blue eyes and long light blue hair and a kind, gentle and beautiful face… (I said beautiful twice…) looked over at us and blinked. She wore thick, warm winter robes that were light blue and white. She had a silver hair clip that tied her hair up in a ponytail. In her hand, she carried a silver staff with an angelic symbol on top.
She was gorgeous. I had to stop myself from gawking at her. I just gave her a smile as she looked at me.
"Who are you?" she kindly asked, carefully keeping her eyes on mine.
"Travellers," I burst out, trying to stay calm. I was getting nervous… I always did when around girls I don't know…
"I know you're travellers," she said awkwardly.
"Oh…" I stuttered, "Well, I'm Is-"
I was suddenly cut off when a flash of blue light shone through the window, catching all of our attention. Mia was the only one who knew what happened… "That light!" she cried in shock, "The lighthouse… It can't be! Alex and I are the only ones… No… Alex!"
She ran past us and out the door in a hurry, looking really worried. "Did she say 'lighthouse'?" Garet pondered.
"The Mercury Lighthouse!" I cried out, realizing that the tower that I saw was a lighthouse. "Come on! She also said Alex's name, that means-"
"Trouble…" Garet hissed. "Jenna and Kraden must be there!"
"Let's go!" I ran out the door but was suddenly stopped by Marlene's cry of protest.
"Wait! Don't forget your tea!" she called out.
Garet perked happily up. "Tea!" he cried, dragging us back inside.
We drank as fast as we could, but it was impossible because it was too hot! I ended up burning my tongue…
We thanked the couple and rushed back outside into the cold and followed the distant figure of Mia.
At the entrance of the lighthouse, it felt a little warmer around the tall structure as we crossed the unfrozen, chasm of crystal clear water. Actually, the whole base of the lighthouse was surrounded in water…
"Wow…" I said in awe. The lighthouse was incredibly tall, reaching at least twenty, or thirty houses high. It was made out of beautiful aqua-blue stone… the same aqua-blue as Mia's eyes… that were looking right at me right now…
She furrowed her brow. "Someone is here…" she whispered, kind of in a trance. Her eyes lazily averted away from mine and she looked up towards the top. "Don't you hear it, too?"
I raised my brow at her, shaking my head.
She looked disappointed. "You don't? Well, I can…" she said softly. "Alex and I are the only ones who can enter this lighthouse. The Mercury Lighthouse."
She then headed for the entrance, which was blocked by an old statue of a warrior in armour. "This statue… It's blocking my way." she said.
When I came up beside her, I noticed that the ground was heavily damaged between us and the statue. So there was no way to go up and push it aside, unless…
"I'll handle it," I told her as I stood facing the statue. I concentrated on summoning my Psynergy, making it wrap around the statue. Then controlling my energy with my hand, I moved it aside, revealing behind it a glowing blue force field.
Mia looked a little surprised at me. "You did that?" she asked me.
"Yup," I told her. She gave me a thoughtful smile.
"I saw a ghostly force pushing it. You have some kind of power?" she asked.
Garet scratched his head. "You could see our Psynergy?" he asked.
"Psynergy? Is that what you call that power?" she wondered.
We all nodded. "You were using Psynergy when you healed that old man," Ivan told her. "I wonder… what kind of Psynergy is it? We have never seen it before. Your healing powers are different from Isaac's." He pointed at me.
"My Psynergy? It's a special power, handed down to members of the Mercury Clan," she explained, "from generation to generation."
Mercury Clan? She's a Mercury Adept, duh!
She gave us a little smile. "That power is called Ply, generated through meditation," she told us, but then she looked sadly at her hands. "It used to be stronger…"
"Mercury Clan, huh?" Garet thought out loud, rubbing his chin. "You know it sounds like the people of Vale," he said to me. "They are the sworn protectors of a special power, just like us!"
I nodded, looking back at Mia who looked disturbed. "I have to go… I must find whoever entered the lighthouse," she said softly. She then jumped over the gap and placed a hand on the blue, glowing doorway. She closed her eyes and a light blue aura surrounded her once more as she used the power, Ply, on the force field. In an instant, the door stopped glowing and she went inside…
I smirked at Garet and Ivan. "This is it, guys. Let's show Saturos and Menardi what we're made of," I assured them.
Garet grinned. "You sure their names aren't Saterus and Melody?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes at him. "I have no idea anymore. You got me confused with their names," I told him.
Ivan laughed. "I'm sure it's Saturos and Menardi. You kept correcting Garet on it, Isaac."
I shrugged. "Heh. Why not ask them, Garet? I'm sure they'll say their names for you to remember correctly," I grinned.
I jumped over the crevice and went inside the warm lighthouse. I spotted Mia up ahead, and a giant green lizard.
Mia swerved left and right, trying to get past it, but the lizard followed her every move. It hissed and flicked it's black tongue out at her. In it's hand it carried a little hatchet, ready to take Mia down. It swung, but Mia jumped back and it missed. "What's a monster doing in the lighthouse?" she cried.
I drew my sword and charged at it. Garet and Ivan were right behind me. Three against one seemed fair when fighting a overgrown lizard, right? I swung and managed to cut it's weapon arm as it tried to dodge my attack.
A flash of purple lightning struck it's entire body, making it drop it's weapon. The lizard hissed madly at us and clawed at me, but I blocked it with my sword. Garet rushed into it, driving his sword into the lizard's chest…
It fell over and disappeared in a puff of black smoke…
What the? The monster wasn't real?
Mia ran up ahead. "Thank you!" she cried as she went into the next room.
I followed but lost sight of her as I rushed into the new room. It was amazing… A large pool of water was in the centre and a large statue of goddess lay before us in the centre of the far wall that had two entrances. The goddess had her hands laid out in front of her, with the palms open. On her chest was a glowing purple jewel that emanated some sort of energy that I could feel in the air.
There was a stone pedestal with an inscription written on it; "He who honours the heart of the goddess shall stand at the centre of all, like a swan in the centre of a rippling pond."
I read out the inscription, thinking what it means. Well, in the centre of the pool, there was a single stone tile with an 'X' like symbol on it …
Maybe we have to stand there… We'll do that later.
"So much water…" Garet muttered. "I hate water."
"Live with it," I told him as we headed to the left entrance. More pools of water laid in the next room, and the next. Definitely lots of water in here. We were surrounded in flowing water and there was an entrance just a stone tile away. This tile, had the same 'X' pattern as the one before. I jumped on it and jumped across, in front of the stairway, as did Ivan. Garet hesitated.
"I hate water…" he repeated and took a careful hop and another, smirking as he accomplished jumping over his fear of water.
We climbed up the steps and saw Mia in the next room, glowering at a statue in front of her. "The path is blocked again," she told us.
I grinned. "Leave it to me," I said and approached the light blue statue of a goddess. I performed another 'Move' spell and pulled the statue into the huge hole before me, making it a stepping stone for us to walk on.
Mia smiled happily at me. "Thank you for helping again," she said. "But, why are you here? Do you have some business with the lighthouse, too?"
"Yeah," I told her, "We have some serious things to deal with that involves saving the world."
She raised her brow at me as I grinned sheepishly. "Save the world?" she asked.
Garet nodded. "It's a long story!" he grinned along with me.
"Is that so…" Mia rolled her eyes and laughed. "Well, whatever. I do need your help to pass through any other blocked passageways. The Mercury Clan are the only ones permitted to enter this place." She looked suspiciously at us but then smiled. "But, I sense something special about you. I feel that I can trust you! Please, let me join you for now."
I nodded and grinned. "Of course, you're welcome to join us!" I said happily. I saw Garet give me a look in the corner of my eye.
Mia smiled. "Thank you. As you probably already know, my name is Mia."
"I'm Isaac. This is Garet and this is Ivan," I introduced my friends who each nodded.
"Finally! I couldn't wait any longer!" came a voice from behind Mia. A little blue creature with a crab-claw-like tail hopped onto her shoulder.
That triggered the other Djinn to hop out to greet their friend. "Fizz!" they all cried, happily squealing with joy.
"Where have you been all this time? All you Mercury Djinns left Sol Sanctum after the Elemental Stars were sealed!" Flint cried.
Fizz giggled. "We didn't want to be cooped up in there for much longer so we decided to follow the seas. We all got separated from a terrible storm one day. I ended up on the shores of Imil…"
Mia carefully watched each of our Djinn. "Interesting," she said. "You have Djinn as well!"
"Yeah, and we just recently found another one," Garet told her.
Fever grinned and introduced herself. "That would be me! I'm Fever, nice to meet you all!"
After a short introduction of each Djinn to Mia, we continued climbing the lighthouse. There was a spectacular room with falling waterfalls that flowed through the grating on the floor, keeping the room below us, flooded.
There were damaged areas as well. Large chunks of stone were broken off from the ground and walls, making it a mess. We encountered numerous water-type monsters like jellyfish, and blue slime creatures. They didn't bother us too much. Then there was a group of lizard men blocking our way to the next room. They didn't stand a chance against our combined strength. Mia froze them in place and we shattered them to pieces making them disappear in black smoke just like every other monster.
"These monsters," Ivan said. "Why do their bodies disappear?"
I shrugged. "I think they're not real. Just made out of some sort of magic or something," I said.
"That could be true…" Ivan replied.
In the next room, there was a huge cool in the middle, and that's all. No doorways or stairs, just a hole.
"Uh… Did we go the wrong way?" Garet asked.
Mia shook her head. "No… I'm pretty sure we went the right way. There's no where else to go, but down this hole, I suppose."
I tried to see what was at the bottom, but it was too dark.
Garet and Ivan looked at me, followed by Mia. "What?" I asked, feeling uneasy.
Garet pointed at the hole. "Leaders first," he grinned evilly.
I glared at him and sighed. "I hate you," I told him as I prepared to jump. "Jump five seconds after me."
I took a deep breath and jumped into the hole. At the bottom was a pool of water and a stone tile which I landed roughly on.
Wait a minute… This room looks familiar.
Behind me was the goddess statue from earlier before, with her hands out open. And I stood on the one single tile, surrounded by water, nowhere to go…
"Oh sh-, Garet! Don't ju-" I tried to warn him, but I was too late as I saw his boots smack into my face, making me and him fall over into the pool of water with a big splash.
I felt disoriented when I sank under, feeling someone desperately grabbing at my legs as I tried to resurface. With the water stinging my eyes, I saw Garet's terrified face. Garet was scared! I have to help him, or he'll drown!
I desperately pried his strong grip off of my leg, and grabbed his flailing arms. But he acted on his own and clung closely to my body like a frightened child, preventing me to move my arms. But I tried anyways. I kicked as hard as I could, breaking the surface just enough to gulp in air, but I sank again. I got one arm free, and used it to paddle to the ledge, while kicking with my legs. Garet's weight however, kept me submerged underwater and I was running out of air! My lungs burned for air, and I was getting defeated by Garet's greater size and strength…
Suddenly, another pair of hands grabbed Garet and I and pulled us to the ledge. Ivan, with all his strength, helped me hold onto the ledge, and with his help, we got Garet out of the water.
Garet was wide-eyed with shock and fear. He trembled and laid on the ground, gasping for breath. I climbed out and slumped beside him, coughing and gasping for air too.
"Garet?" I choked after catching my breath, "You okay?"
He didn't answer, he kept shivering with his eyes tightly closed.
"Garet. It's alright! Come on. You're safe!" I told him in a soothing voice. I gently shook his shoulder. "Snap out of it, Garet!"
His red eyes snapped open, confused and fearful. I bent down to meet face to face with him so he could keep his eyes focused on mine. "Garet, it's me, Isaac. Remember?" I said softly.
No answer. He continued to stare at me, terrified.
"What's going on?" came Mia's voice from behind me. Ivan explained the situation to her, while I tried to get Garet's senses back to reality.
"Garet, it's your buddy, Isaac. Try to remember! You're not in water, you're here with me," I said softly, "You're safe, Garet! You're with us! Ivan and Mia! And don't forget the Djinn!"
He blinked once, then twice, while keeping his eyes on mine. "Isaac?" he whispered. He coughed once, drawing in deep breaths.
"Garet, it's okay. You're safe now," I told him, helping him sit up. He leaned against the stone wall.
He groaned and rubbed his head. "Jeezes… I… I freaked out…" he muttered under his breath. He shook his head vigorously, flinging water from his hair in all directions.
"It's alright," I said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Garet drew in another deep breath. "Isaac… I'm sorry," he whispered, staring hard at the ground. "I didn't… mean to attack you…"
"Garet, it's alright," I said again. I knew Garet's greatest fear was drowning, and he had just experienced it first hand… poor guy.
Garet disliked water throughout his life. Crossing the bridges back in Vale were impossible tasks for him. When he was little, he needed to be carried by his father to cross the river, or he'll never make it. He would, instead, cling onto dear life onto someone's leg. But as he grew, he got used to crossing the bridge as he so often used it. But deep water was still his highest fear. That's why he never joined Jenna, Felix, and I when we went swimming near the port of Jenna's old house.
Garet shook his head again. "No… I totally lost it. I'm really sorry…"
"Garet," I said in a hard tone. "Look at me."
He didn't listen.
"Garet. It wasn't your fault! Really, it isn't! It's not your fault you're afraid of drowning," I assured him, grabbing his shoulders. "Come on! Look at me!"
Slowly, he met my eyes. "It's alright. It happens… Don't let that get to you, Garet. What happens comes naturally, so don't blame it on yourself!" I yelled at him, trying to get him to listen. I gave him a truthful look.
He blinked. A small smile creeping up on his face. "Thanks… Isaac. Thanks!" He then pointed to my face, "You're nose is bleeding."
"Huh?" I touched under my sore nose, and looked at my wet, soggy glove, finding a dark stain.
Great… my nose is bleeding. Must've been from Garet's boot…
"I'll take care of that!" Mia offered, kneeling in front of me.
I shook my head. "It's alright, I can heal myself," I told her, but she didn't refuse to help.
"No, let me take care of this," she said as she removed her white glove and gently placing her warm hand on my face. I felt all warm and relaxed as the little pain I felt on my face faded away. When she was down, she examined my face and smiled. "All better! Except you still have blood all over your face."
I touched my face, feeling no pain. I grinned and kneeled beside the pool and splashed my face with water, not caring if I got wet because I already was.
But then I realized that Mia wasn't dripping wet like the three of us. Ivan was first to notice. "Mia? How did you get over the water?" he asked.
Mia pointed to the now glowing stone 'X' tile that glowed just like the jewel on the goddess statue. "I heard a voice coming from the statue telling me the words from the inscription on that pedestal. It made me wonder what it meant… But then, I heard someone call out to me, telling me to 'unseal' a power with mine," she told us. "I cast Ply on the goddess's jewel and that transferred my energy into that stone tile. That stone tile… it gave me a power to walk on water."
"Walk on water?" Garet asked uneasily.
Mia nodded. "Watch…" she said. She took a step out onto the surface of the water with her foot making a small ripple. Then she took another step, now fully on top of the clear liquid. She gave us a smile. "See? I can walk on wa-"
She suddenly fell into the water, making a splash.
"Mia!" I cried, about to jump in after her, but stopped when I saw her come up.
She flushed with embarrassment. "I guess the power only lasts for a little while," she giggled. She wringed her clothes to get rid of excess water.
I laughed. "Heh. Now we can walk on water! I remember seeing another tile in that flooded room with the stairway. Let's go there. We can explore deeper into the lighthouse now," I smirked.
Garet frowned, however. "I'm gonna stay here…" he muttered.
"Don't worry, Garet. We'll help you walk across," Ivan assured him, patting Garet's arm. "We won't let you fall."
Mia nodded. "I'll help you across, Garet. Just hold my hand when we do, okay?" she kindly said.
Garet slightly blushed as he nervously smiled at her.
"Yeah, you can hold Mia's hand," I teased him, grinning sheepishly.
"Hey! Uh… well… I guess I could do that…" he grinned back.
I smirked. "Okay, everyone. Let's get going, we got a world to save!"
Mia laughed, Garet grinned, and Ivan smiled as the four of us, all soaked from head to toe, continued onward through the Mercury Lighthouse.
A/N: Ah! Finished another chapter! I'm not going to go through too much detail of how they get through the lighthouse in the next chapter. It'll be too long! Now I'll be working on my other story! I'll update as soon as I can! Bye bye, for now! Don't forget to review!