Thanks for reviews, favorites (if there's any) and follows! I appreciate them. Here's chapter 3. I altered a little bit of the thieves-scene, and I also apologize for Matt's possible out-of-character personality again.
Enjoy~
Dropping In
Chapter 3
Unfortunately for Matthew's earlier thoughts, their day had grown worse. The four Adepts hadn't even found a crumb of evidence throughout their search warrant of the humble Vault. "Looks like we didn't get very far in the search…" Isaac sighed as he sat down on his borrowed bed at the inn. The small group of Adepts had looked all around the village of Vault for the remainder of the day until the sun had fully set. The older teens had walked with Ivan back to the mayor's house where he was, unfortunately forced, to stay there until he recovered the missing items. Once he was safely there, the other three made their way back to the inn and into their shared room. Garet grumpily sat on his temporary bed, frowning at the obvious news his friend spoke.
"Those thieves could be anywhere with that stuff!"
"Garet… It's not simply 'stuff'. It's a family urn and a Shaman's Rod." Isaac corrected. "Hopefully by tomorrow, we'll find something. We'll have to keep trying."
"Yeah. If anything, proving Ivan's innocence is important." Garet added. Matthew, being silent while observing his past father and his best friend, had to chuckle just a little. Ivan's not the criminal here, Garet… But, we both know you mean well. He thought to himself, glad there wasn't a Jupiter Adept nearby to read his mind. "…I'm angry we didn't even get a hint or anything though!"
Isaac nodded in agreement, or was that sympathy? "Don't worry, Garet."
"It's kind of hard not to, Isaac. Man, first this crazy adventure to stopping Felix and his little group, Jenna and Kraden being kidnapped by them, and now this…" The Mars Adept sighed heavily, groaning in frustration. "I hope we find those thieves, whoever took that stuff soon so we can hurry up and catch up to Felix!" Both Venus Adepts noticed the light scowl Garet used when mentioning the other Vale citizen's name.
"…Try to sleep, Garet. Everything's going to be fine." The older blond of them assured as much as he could. Though, his friend was right. Things were piling up on them, and they're just more problems adding on the bigger issue. In fact, he prayed to the Wise One they would find the culprits or the items safely tomorrow. They really needed to catch up to Felix, as Garet said. Who knows how far they were now? The fiery redhead grumbled something else out though it fell on deaf ears as Isaac had tuned him out for a second. Felix…
The blond turned to his best friend who was pulling off his boots, belt, sword's sheath and gloves, setting them aside on the floor as neatly as he could—which was a rarity for Garet. He removed his large, orange tunic, only having on a simple white, short sleeve shirt underneath then proceeded to pull off his pants. He dug into his bag, pulling out a simple black shirt fit for his size and red shorts, putting those. Simple pajamas, but they'd do while on this journey. "Well, I'm going to sleep now. All this thinking is making my head hurt!" It's almost as bad as Kraden's lessons on math and Alchemy. He added in-thought. His bare hands ran through his wild mop of hair before settling back on his pillow, turning over so his back was facing the pair of blonds. Garet yawned a loud, stretching his stiff body a bit before relaxing.
"We'll figure this out or else I'm… raising… hell… yaaaaawwwn." Garet mumbled sleepily, trying to keep his brown eyes open. Really, he was tired from walking for days to get to Vault, then spending the rest of the daylight hours to search for things that were missing! Not that he didn't mind helping Ivan—he didn't, that poor kid. But being rushed into an adventure a few days back was down rightinfuriating. Nobody helped them; just a map, a large sack of gold coins, weapons, armor, and a healthy supply of food and items. Seriously, Dora was the only one who even provided them with a hint of assistance. Those priests weren't any help whatsoever! It was like they were trying to get rid of them! Just thinking about them made Garet's blood boil. Those fools just thrust them into this without too much a reason for rest or direction; just flat out rushed them out. At least his family didn't do that…
But, besides all that, something good did come out of this. They made two new friends, Ivan the Wind Adept, as he could perform wind-based Psynergy as well as reading people's minds. That would be useful later on. And then, before Ivan, they stumbled upon Matthew, literally. That kid looked just like Isaac and they had discovered they were brothers! What a lucky stroke for them! Maybe Matthew would be strong as them, maybe stronger. They hadn't seen him fight yet but that empowering energy flowing out of the other Earth Adept was no mistake. With this thought engraved in his mind, Garet yawned again and finally succumbed to the calling of sleep. His heavy eyelids bested him and soon he found his mind wandering in dreamland.
Isaac lightly chuckled at his friend's remark before he drifted off to sleep. Him "raising hell", however, was nothing short of a joke. That redhead's temper naturally flew out of control if he didn't get things done or if things frustrated him beyond the point of no return.
His pale-blue eyes found his near twin sibling on his bed, stretching his arms, back, and legs for any aches or the like. He couldn't believe things happened all in one day, either; Matthew appearing, telling him of his birth, and then of their relation with one another. It felt like a dream—a dream Isaac actually didn't want to wake up from. Being in the presence of Matthew felt right; it also felt reassuring, warm and safe. Perhaps this is what happens when being around a like-Adept. You feel that security and warmth they give because it's quite identical to your own; Isaac noticed he felt this way, though if not similar, when he was around Felix when they were younger. Ah, the other mysteries of Psynergy that has yet to be solved.
Really, what were the chances of meeting your brother out in the wild, and no less heading out on a strange adventure? Now that he thought about it, Matthew was acting a little weird earlier. Where Garet and he hadn't ever mentioned about those thieves, Felix and the Sol Sanctum, somehow, Matthew figured it out. Yes, they were chasing after them to recover the stolen—or rather, given reluctantly—Elemental Stars and return them to Sol Sanctum. However, Matthew's knowledge of the sanctum was the startling thing. Did their father mention anything of a sanctum to him when he was younger? That would be the only reason he could see as an answer. But, what about everything else he seemingly knew?
I'll have to think about this… Maybe ask him later. Isaac thought to himself.
It hadn't been a minute when he felt a tickling sensation crawl up his back. The slightly older Earth Adept blinked and recalled a similar feeling whenever the Djinni called Flint would emerge from his body. Ah, that's what. Isaac relaxed his body, exhaling a sigh and the golden yellow ball of energy escaped the surface of his body and formed into the brown colored Earth elemental Djinni they all knew. Well, he was sure Matthew didn't know him. Speaking of, aforesaid Adept was curiously glancing over to see what the light was and Isaac could have sworn he froze when his eyes met the Djinni's.
"Isaac! Is it finally time to sleep?" The chirpy Djinni squeaked softly, its huge, blue eyes finding its assigned warrior.
"Yeah, it is."
"Ooh, great! All that walking made me tired!"
Isaac shook his head. "You're just like Garet…"
"Tee-hee!" The Earth Djinni giggled as much as it could then settled on the bed. Just across from it, however, it found Matthew's similar, pale-blue shaded eyes that it knew on Isaac staring at it like it multiplied like rabbits. "Hm? Who's this? …Wait, you're Matthew!" The Venus-based creature chirped, causing the teen by name to visibly flinch. There was no doubt Isaac caught onto that.
"Sorry Matt. Flint's voice can be a bit high pitched." Isaac said, chuckling. "But, I'm not sure if you—"
"…A Djinni." Matthew mumbled, secretly wondering if he could use his own Djinn here in the past, but he was sure that the only awake occupants in the room didn't hear that. Unfortunately they did, oh bother.
"…W-wait. You know about Djinn?" Isaac asked with wide eyes fixated on his brother. Matthew barely stole a glance at him and nodded, fearful of the bombarding questions that would soon come after.
Instead of doing what Matthew was dreading, Isaac smiled. Wow, his little brother was quite knowledgeable. He knew about Djinn before they knew them, well, it seemed that way. But that was another strange thing; how did he? Djinn weren't ever around until the eruption of Mt. Aleph, which was apparently three years ago. Perhaps he encountered a few while journeying away from his homeland. Yes, that's the only other explanation to this oddity. Isaac glanced over to his lookalike sibling and couldn't help but chuckle again. Matthew was still a mystery he needed to solve.
Noticing someone was looking at him, Matthew looked up from where he had been so dutifully staring at—the floor—and found his past father nearly beaming at him. What was so exciting now? "I-Isaac?" He tried, and nearly stammered. Man, it was going to take a while to get used to that.
"Hm, yes?"
Now onto the topic at hand, the thoughts that he'd been piling up in his mind the moment they left Ivan's company. Seriously, being around a Wind Adept when trying to plot your way out of an unfamiliar, yet familiar, time period and hoping to not destroy the future's timeline from whence you came was never in his cup of tea. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Ivan was hanging around him more than he was to his father and Garet when they were together for that short amount of time. Of course, Matthew had a mental wall up every time Ivan imposed a question upon him—one question asking of his relation to Isaac, that wasn't anything new, really—and that he felt something familiar about him. Perfect in all its glory.
Okay…The situation: I've been warped—warped? No, somehow got here—thirty years into the past, just at the point my father and Garet were chasing after those villains. The problem: Figuring out how the hell I'm going to get out of this time period alive without Dad and the others knowing I'm from the future. I'll need a map… I can't stay with them any longer, and it's only been half a day at most.
"Matthew?"
Oh right, I started a small conversation with Dad. I know I told them I'd help them look for the missing urn and Ivan's rod—well, not his rod yet. But, I honestly need a map, no matter what Dad of this time says. I suppose after we help Ivan… and this will be so unlike me, but I'll have to slip out of their radar. Probably the evening we solve this mystery…"Sorry, I zoned out." Matthew partially lied—seriously, what's up with all these dang lies he's using?—and locked gazes with Isaac. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad I met you, and that…I'm very, truly sorry."
Nobody missed the fact Isaac's cheeks tinted a light shade of pink, even in their dimly lit room. "Ah… I'm glad we met too, Matthew. Really. After all the bad news lately, it's good to have something good in a small outcome of it all." The other Adept of Earth replied. "But, why are you apologizing?"
Matthew lowered his head and sighed. I'm sorry that I lied to you and that I'm going to leave you. I'm probably no better than those people who had thrown you and Garet into this journey. He silently answered, though more to himself. "…I don't know. I suppose I should. But, we should be getting some sleep now. We've a long way ahead of us, don't we?"
Brushing aside his brother's apology, Isaac smiled again. "Yeah, we do. Oh here," he parted ways with an extra set of simple white and blue colored shirt and soft, cotton pants, obviously pajamas, wrapped in fine wire like a package. Matthew looked up to him when he was tossed the wire-wrapped 'gift', catching it and stared at Isaac. "When you and Garet kept searching, I told Ivan you may not have any, so we purchased some for you." The older blond hurried out of his normal wear to slip on his own pajamas, a simple light orange shirt and black capris. "Anyway, I'll be going to sleep too. Good night, Matthew."
Watching Isaac and apparently Flint disappear under the bed sheets, Matthew closed his eyes and bowed his head, sighing deeply. "Good night," He whispered and in his thoughts, sadly added, Dad.
-x-x-x-
"What do you mean you don't know?" A forty-seven year old man, well going on forty-eight soon, asked. He stood at a moderately towering six feet and seven inches, had short, still spiked blond hair that had lost its golden luster since his youth and a well shaven but visible beard. His narrowed pale-blue eyes glared at the physician that was now hovering over a boy's body, who shared that same shade, it not a tad darker, than his own hair. The man in a white office coat, having dark, short hair and brownish-red eyes had scanned the younger blond in vain attempt, as he called it.
"I'm sorry sir… Your son is in a state of… Oh I can't say it…" The physician mumbled the last part softly. Oh, if his inkling of suspicion were to come out without a theory proving this, well, things would turn ugly.
"What? What are you talking about? If it is important, then tell me!"
The physician glanced towards the other man, sighing. "I can't confirm it, but it appears your son is in a type of coma."
"…Why?" This came to him as a shock, especially for this father. No, what could have caused his son to fall into this?
"Why? I am not so sure. But, there has been a Psynergy Seal placed on him as well as a Psy Drain. His ability with the alignment of earth has been depleted and now his body cannot function without it. I'm very sure you Adepts know this well enough." The dark-haired male explained, giving the other something to ponder on for taste. "Not only this, but it seems his body internally was tampered with. How I've sensed it with my own power, it appears as if his very soul left his body and—" He didn't finish as he was cut off by the other man's growl.
"What the hell happened? That's all I want to know. He was perfectly fine when he came home!"
"…Sir… I advise you to focus on removing the Psynergy Seal on your son's body and then allowing his body to absorb a plenty amount of like-elemental Psynergy healing spells. His body should replenish of its depletion." The physician deduced professionally while getting his things together. "Please send for me if there are any drastic changes. I apologize I cannot do any more than what I have. Other than what I've stated, your son is actually all right. Now then, I must be going." The man bowed politely as he made his way to the front door of the cabin. When the man was gone, the bearded male sighed deeply.
"Isaac…" Another's voice called to him, coming into the room. He had dark red hair, spiking upward like a broom's and had a matching, growing mustache. "Still nothing on his condition?"
"No, Garet." The one called Isaac responded, keeping careful eye on the boy in front of him, lying on the sofa in their cabin. It appeared as if there weren't any signs of immediate life present in him, but the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest indicated and betrayed that fact he was still in the realm of the living, and not dead. That was always a good sign. The only thing was that they couldn't wake him up from his 'coma'. "This is terrible…Had I known there was a Psynergy Vortex near the cabin…"
"It's not your fault, Isaac. We both hadn't known about it." Garet assured him, or tried. "Besides, you think this was that vortex that caused this?"
"The Psynergy Vortex drains the Psynergy of living things, Garet. We've researched this since we've established this very cabin here on the Goma Plateau ten years ago." Isaac said, looking grimly out the nearest window. "We Adepts are basically composed of the elements of Alchemy—which is the mother source of our Psynergy. We'd be fueling it with our own lives. The vortices absorb the elements and we Adepts are victims of its dangers because we can manipulate them at will. One reason we steer clear of them."
"I know, Isaac. We've studied them together along with Kraden." Garet told his childhood friend, sighing. "I have a feeling you'll be trying to use Revive on him, so I sent Karis and Tyrell to Patcher's to purchase a load of Psy Crystals for you. You'll need them." The blond lightly smiled at his best friend, thankful he planned ahead. Isaac stared at the near lifeless form of his son, noticing his skin complexion had grown a little paler since the physician left. He frowned; that apparently didn't seem like it should have happened. Was his son also sick? Regardless, Garet was right. He was going to use the energy of Revive to heal his son, or rather, call back his soul to the realm of the living—wherever it may be—once they removed the seal. It had to be within his body still.
Once Karis and Tyrell return, they would be busy. Very busy.
-x-x-x-
"This map of Weyard is one hundred and thirty coins, and this traveler's pack is two hundred and sixteen coins," the item shop keeper told an early riser—Matthew—who had graciously awakened before the sun rose. The teen had got up earlier than he normally would, quietly bathed and redressed into his clothes before heading out of the inn room. He was surprised Isaac hadn't woken up, Flint as well. That Djinni would spot him like a sheep within the wolf pack, but that was the Flint of the future—his future. Sighing to himself, Matthew brought the exact amount to pay for his own map, which was wrapped up, placed in a cylinder container and along with the dark auburn pack he purchased, they were given to him.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir." The young woman said with a low bow. "Please come by again!"
Oh I will, as soon as I get back home. He mentally noted. With a smile, he left the item shop, taking a deep breath of the fresh, crisp morning air. The sun hadn't risen just yet, but there were some people out to begin their chores of the day. The soldiers standing guard outside the village gates—both on the north and southern exits—exchanged shifts, new ones replacing the old ones as they went to get some rest. Matthew adjusted his new traveling pack over his left shoulder while he walked over to a convenient tree near the weapons shop, where he had purchased a different sword, a long sword, for himself, earlier. He opted out on using his main weapon for the time being. Leaning against the tree bark, he opened the container with the map, unraveled it and gaped.
Oh sh—! Matthew almost swore to himself, Weyard in the past is…is…nothing like the one I know! Wait, that was stupid. Of course it wouldn't be. He looked over the map again, eyes roving over the locations, the geographical details, outlined routes, everything. There were a few places he knew that he remembered, like Imil, where his friend Rief, his sister Nowell and their mother, his dad's friend, Mia, lived. When his eyes came across Bilibin, he nearly laughed. "I'd never expect a kingdom of its caliber from my time to have been a homely little village, ha-ha." He chuckled, still breath taken though. The utter thrill of exploring Weyard of thirty years was…it just set his heart on high spirits. Everything was so brand new to his eyes; it was like going on another adventure in a distant but familiar world.
As much as he wanted to get back into his time period, Matthew couldn't pass up on this once in a life time opportunity to explore the past Weyard. "Well, there's no rule saying I can't have fun while looking for a way back…" He mumbled to himself, continuing to scan the map, noting places down in his memory. The spiky blond took out a writing pen as his eyes never left the map's surface, drawing a circle around the places he would check out first, hoping they'd have some sort of clue for his predicament. He allowed a sigh to escape his mouth. "How the hell can I prove I am from the future anyway? And, who would really believe me? Seriously, time traveling? It's so unheard of—"
"Not entirely."
Matthew jumped in his spot and frantically turned around each way to try and find the source of the voice. In his mad panic, Matthew spun to the left and nearly bumped into—no, scratch that, he did bump into—a tall man, just about his dad's height, a couple inches taller than him though. The man was wearing a strange, dark green shirt with a silver hem down the center, and a faded black coat with elbow length sleeves, which cascaded until it stopped at his thighs. The edges of it were chipped away, as if it had been worn for wear for a long time. His arms were adorned in dark auburn-brown full gloves, faded as they were but still in decent shape. His pants were nearly black in color and his boots matched his gloves. A sword's sheath was strapped to his left hip and he kept his right hand upon its hilt dutifully. A strange, intricate mask was on his face, Matthew could tell, and he had dark brown hair, the bangs falling over his face—well the mask on his face—and fell down over his ears. The rest of his hair was abruptly cut off, possibly with a dagger or knife, and small portions of the top cow-licked a little. Its jagged edges were noticeable.
But, not just the appearance of this man was what caught Matthew off guard. His voice, regardless if it was being altered by the mask's influence, and that aura that emanated from him. It was…all too familiar!
"…Who… Who are you?" the teenager asked, stammering in the process, eyes wide with shuddering fear. "Did…did you hear all of that?"
The man seemingly sighed from behind the mask, ignoring the first question. "No. I only heard you say that time travel was unheard of." He answered, noticing Matthew relax just a bit—out of relief most likely. "While it's not unheard of, it's rather uncommon. The topic has been brought up several times; however, the method to achieve that has yet to be discovered." He looked away—or turned his head away—and focused on something else as he continued. "What are you trying to accomplish by time traveling anyway?"
Matthew slightly frowned, remaining rooted. This guy, no matter how familiar he sounded, wasn't to be trusted with sensitive information such as the real reason why he needed to figure out how to time travel. Heck, he can't even trust his past father with that information! Why did he seem so interested in a kid's curiosity? Ah well. "…I'm just curious, that's all." The Earth Adept replied, not entirely a lie. In all truth, if he figured out how to get back to his time, he could travel back and forth between then and now easily. Well, it was a large hope of his. "I mean, wouldn't it be pretty cool to see what the world is like in maybe, I don't know, thirty years in the future?"
If Matthew was some fool, he would have ignored or missed the response the masked man gave. But no, he saw it clearly. The guy clearly flinched. It was no joke, no turn of play, no charade. Matthew instantly read him off as suspicious to this. Deciding to egg on the brunet swordsman—he guessed—more, the Venus-element Adept spoke.
"So, thirty years…" He said as casually and honestly as he could sound, mocking curiosity as his eyes fell on the man again. "I wonder what it'll be like." He playfully tapped his chin and 'thought'. "Hopefully nothing that has to do with the continents shifting or like new races appearing. That'd be pretty neat though." Again, the man visibly shuddered or close to shuddering as he could get, when the spiky blond spoke about the 'future'.
"…Perhaps." The man finally responded, though his tone betrayed his own knowledge. "We won't know until we've lived it. And, as long as Alchemy remains sealed, the world shall wither…"
"Wait, huh?" Now that was new. Alchemy was sealed? Oh wait, that was in the Sun Saga, too. The lighthouses had to be lit in order for Alchemy to be released. And if he remembered correctly, that was entirely the opposite of what his father and Garet were sent out to do. This wasn't making much sense now, regardless of the books he read as a child. The Wise One wanted them to retrieve the Elemental Stars to return to Sol Sanctum. The full reason why was never, truly explained. Was it possible that some, important information was purposefully left out? Did the Warriors of Vale leave that tidbit out of the books? If that was the case, then why would they?
This isn't making sense to me anymore. Matthew pondered. If the Wise One sent them to return the Elemental Stars to Sol Sanctum, then they would haven't released Alchemy into the world? "Hey what does that me—" The blond looked up to find that the stranger was gone! What the hell! "Damn it. I had a question for him." He sighed, leaning against the tree again and partially zoned out. "As much as I remember, nobody knew what Alchemy was except a very select few. Well, at least, not here in the Angora continent for that matter. Everyone else was ignorant of the world's peril, or if they noticed, there was no way of knowing about the Lighthouses… Unless…" I'll have to ponder on this some more, obviously. Huh, there's more to this than I thought. Dad, you and everyone have a strange past.
Deciding to ponder this more, Matthew sat down, still leaned against the tree. He rolled up his map of Weyard, depositing it into his travel pack and tried to relax. All right let's see… He closed his eyes and…felt something pull at his heart. No, it wasn't really his heart, but it was more like tugging at his…soul? What? That was unusual. The next thing Matthew knew, his body felt unresponsive, as if whatever he felt was pulling his spirit away was gaining power.
What's…going on? Why does it feel I'm leaving my body? No, that can't be right. Something's calling it away, then? Ugh, what is this?!
-x-x-x-
"Where is he!?" Isaac half shouted as he and Garet left the inn approximately three hours later when the sun was actually up. The entire town of Vault was awake in the sense that all of its citizens were up and about. Of course, waking up to find that your sibling wasn't in his spot on the bed had to be as nerve-wrecking as a—well, nothing could compare to the level of nerves that were itching up inside Isaac. He was a mad panic when he got up, he was a mad panic when he bathed and dressed, and as far as Garet knew, he was still mad panicking as we speak. Ivan had been outside the mayor's house waiting when they came by to pick him up so they could resume their search, but seeing Isaac in his distress, it worried them.
"I can't believe he just…!"
"Isaac, calm down. I'm sure he's still here." Garet tried, but instantly backed off when his best friend whipped around so fast it would have made a tornado a laughing stock. His pale-blue eyes locked sternly with the brown ones of the Fire Adept's, which made aforementioned redhead shudder. Wow, he'd never seen his friend like this except when Jenna went missing a couple years back. That ended up in a small prank pulled by Felix and himself. "Someone had said they saw someone like him heading to the item shop, so let's go check there." Ivan suggested, putting a hand on the Earth Adept's shoulder for comfort.
"Yeah…I'm sorry. That was really stupid of me to get like that." The older blond admitted. "Very…out of character, I'll admit."
"That's okay. I'd be like that if one of my siblings just up and left too." Garet sympathized. After all, he did have two sisters and a brother for himself back in Vale.
As the three Adepts were heading for the Item Shop, an eerily familiar being was exiting out of the Weapons Shop. Isaac stopped, Ivan blinked and Garet growled angrily. "FELIX!" He shouted, noticing the mask on the man's face, recognizing it almost. The brown haired masked man from before stopped just shortly as the name was shouted, not making taking another inch forward. "Yeah, you stop right there, traitor!" Garet hollered again, running up to man. It didn't take long for Isaac to notice something was off about this guy though. Yeah, he bore a striking resemblance to their friend Felix, with that creepy mask and the hairstyle, and the way he carried his sword. But, the man's hair was too short to be Felix, and the fact he wasn't wearing a cape or with those other two people didn't go by unnoticed. Now that he had noticed, Jenna wasn't with him and neither was Kraden!
Realizing this, Isaac tried to intervene. "Wait, Garet! I don't think he's—!"
"Take this traitor!" The hotheaded Fire Adept roared as he launched a punch for the tall man that was supposedly his friend. The masked person easily dodged the oncoming punch, whipping around to catch it firmly in his hands. Growling, Garet launched his other fist towards his face, but that was stopped by the man's other hand. They stayed in a lockdown of glaring stares—the Fire Adept could barely make out the other man's dark colored eyes from behind the mask, but he knew he was glaring back. "Y-you! How could you let them take Jenna and Kraden!? Y-you traitor you! I can't believe you!" Garet tried to wrestle his hands free, the brunet with the mask silently watching his movements and prevented him from doing so. "Grr! W-when I get my hands free, I'm going to pound you so flat into the ground, you'll look like a pancake!"
"Garet! Stop! That's not Felix!" Isaac shouted as he ran up to them with Ivan, both blonds trying to separate the confrontation between them. After a minute of wrangling them both apart, Isaac stared at his angered friend. "That's not him."
"Yes it has to be! That mask and that hair! I know it all too well!" Garet growled under his breath, his thick brows furrowing into a V-shape on his face. "He wore it when we were—!"
"…I know but it can't be him. Jenna and the others aren't with him."
"It could be a trap!"
"It could but…"
"He is gone." Ivan spoke up as the two friends looked up. The purple-eyed mage was right; that strange guy had mysteriously given them the slip! This infuriated Garet even more of course. "He turned to leave after you two started talking." Ivan added. Where the heck did he go? Before the two Valeans had a chance to say anything else, the young Wind Adept pointed ahead, "Look who's over there." Isaac and Garet looked into the pointed direction Ivan had his index finger on and gasped.
Isaac was the first to open his mouth. "Matthew!"
Sitting underneath a tree, in a meditative position was the missing teen whom they had been searching for. However, he seemed to be dead to the world, unresponsive for whatever means. Did he fall asleep there? It didn't matter because the trio ran over there as quickly as they could. "Matt! Hey!" Garet shouted—still not forgetting that Felix-guy-whoever-he-was from earlier—kneeling down to the other Earth Adept's level, attempting to shake the teenager from whatever garnered his attention in his steady focus. When nothing came, not even a grunt nor a complaining whine—anything—the other three grew concerned, Isaac more than the other two.
"Matthew! Wake up!" Isaac called to him, also shaking him awake, or tried to.
Nothing.
"Perhaps he is just in a deep sleep." Ivan said calmly as possible, but he knew that wouldn't last long. He was growing over concerned for his new friend's health.
"Ivan."
"Yes, Isaac?"
"I want you to read his mind."
That came out of nowhere. "W-why for, Isaac? I thought we agreed that I'd only read minds when permission was given."
"…If he's just asleep, then you'll only read and see what he's dreaming about, right?" Isaac replied, his tone betraying that worry of his. Something just wasn't right here…
After a brief moment, Ivan nodded in understanding and knelt down to the brother of Isaac, putting his hand on Matthew's forehead. Rings of energy lit up around his body and continued that way as he closed his eyes to focus on his Psynergy to work through the mind of the Earth Adept. Ivan cringed however, as a strange, golden light seemed to respond to his Psynergy, flooding through his mind and eventually, around his body. The Wind Adept flinched back with a sharpened cry, startling both Isaac and Garet. As soon as he did, Matthew's eyes fluttered open, spotting the worried forms of his friends—and brother.
Instead of having a face that read "what's wrong" on Matthew's face, he stared, an expression full in deep worry at Ivan. Ivan's amethyst eyes only stared back in unidentified horror traced on his expression. Both dared not to say another word in fear of what one saw and what the other hoped the other didn't see yet.
I let my guard down…somehow. Ivan…tried reading my mind…Crap, did he see it?! Were Matthew's only thoughts now as they wildly tried to calm down only to burst back into more panic than ever.
What was that…? What did I see? What was that…power coming from? Ivan thought, sweat beading down his face.
"Um… What just?" Garet attempted to start.
"Oh, sorry…" Matthew finally realized what was going on and tried to relax, but knowing the potential of your secret was found out by the one person you were trying to avoid was horribly mortifying. "I-Ivan, are you okay?"
The Jupiter Adept slowly nodded, trying to recover his breath in the process. "Y…yes. Just stunned is all."
"Yeah, what happened there?" Garet inquired. "That was just really weird."
All four of them rose slowly to their feet, all confused in one way or another. Except Matthew; while he hid his true emotion under a veil of masking confusion, he was more so worried of what Ivan's Psynergy picked up on while he was in his state of…unconsciousness. This reminded him of that strangeness earlier, too. Why'd he suddenly conk out like that? Rather, something was pulling him into a weird void or something like that. It also felt as if someone had some stray keys and was trying to unlock a bolted door with several locks on it. It was weird, to say the least. But when he felt Ivan attempt to probe his mind with Mind Read, that's when he 'jerked' himself back into place and 'retook' control over his consciousness. Matthew hoped that he blocked Ivan out. But, with that look on the young mage Adept, it felt like he'd have some looming questions as soon as his mind adjusted to it.
Oh bother.
"Ah, I-I'm not entirely sure what it was…" Ivan partially lied. He honestly didn't want them to know something he knew—whatever that may be. He couldn't be sure of it just yet. Perhaps once this whole fiasco is over with, he'd examine it properly. That odd, strange feeling he got from Matthew and then what he saw for that short, brief moment when peering into his mind there had to be some sort of connection to the two. It wasn't coincidence that you feel you know someone and then that shows up. "I suppose when I have it…figured out I'll share." Ivan finished. Isaac and Garet seemed satisfied with the answer and both locked eyes on Matthew. Knowing what they were going to say, the guilty blond sighed.
"I'm sorry I caused you any worry. I just got up early. You were both still asleep, so I didn't want to wake you up. I bought a pack for myself, just in case." Matthew said, pointing to his newly acquired item to indicate the truth of his words—well, partial truth, but they didn't need to know that. Hopefully, Ivan didn't know that either.
"…All right, but promise you won't do that again. You had me scared to death." Isaac said after, a small frown etched on his face. Closing his eyes and knowing this was going to hurt him later on in the long run, Matt nodded.
"…I promise."
Garet grinned a little, ever glad the new pair of siblings resolved their issue. "Well, now that's over. I say we go check out the village some more until we run into some clues!"
"Right," Ivan agreed, as did the other two blonds. His thoughts will have to wait until later.
-x-x-x-
It was well past noontime when the four Adepts settled down beside a different tree to rest. Different people were allowed into the town, but none were allowed to exit. Possibly due to the fact that those sneaky—infuriating, as Garet labeled them comically—thieves hadn't been found yet. The sun was beating down normally on Weyard, though the four friends were underneath the tree for shading protection. "Ah man, we'll never find them at this rate. They could be anywhere but here by now!" Garet fired up his complaints again. "Ugh, this sucks!"
Isaac shook his head. "I don't think so," he started. "It was quite recent when it happened, so they should be here still."
"Have we Mind Read everyone, though?" Matthew asked, trying to keep the topic on the thieves, for their sakes.
"We have," Ivan spoke up next. "Nothing out of the ordinary unless you want to count that the townspeople are still upset over that earthquake yesterday."
"BOGUS!" Garet rumbled in complaint again. "If I even come across those thieves I'll—!"
Just as Garet blatantly expressed his new focus of rage, never mind the man that "seemed" like Felix, three people with long, black hair, wearing unusual outfits—well they appeared unusual since the entire population of Vault's citizens weren't wearing—and suspiciously headed for the Inn. Now, what were they up to? Come to think of it, they hadn't seen those three before. Newcomers to the village, perhaps? Only one way to find out! "Did anyone else just see three people walk by or was that just me?" Isaac asked his small group of friends.
"No, you're not the only one. I saw them too. They went towards the Inn." Ivan voiced his reply.
"They looked really suspicious to me!" Garet chimed in next. "We should go follow them!"
"Hmm…" Matthew pondered, though they all agreed to Garet's idea. They walked on over to the Inn, and as Isaac, Garet and Matthew headed inside, Ivan spotted something quite unusual. Why was a ladder suddenly just outside the Inn now? And did it lead to an attic of sorts? Hm, that's odd, given that nobody was standing outside there. Perhaps he'll mention it to the others soon. As the young Adept headed inside, Isaac was making conversation with the Innkeeper.
"Ah, yes, those three just checked in today," the Innkeeper provided, looking at the four boys. "You said you needed to speak with them?"
"Yes. We're helping the Mayor and Ivan here with missing item case." Isaac replied, nodding to the youngest Adept in their group.
"I see then," The bearded man said, giving the room number to the oldest blond Adept—really, since Matthew was just a shy year younger than his past father and Ivan was just around fourteen. Nodding thanks, the other three followed the de facto leader of their group up the stairs again and proceeded to the room two doors down from their own. "Shh…" Isaac said quietly as they all leaned against the door to listen in.
"I'm telling you, we're never going to get out of this village with those guards there." One voice said, having a rather adolescent, male voice.
"Not with all the stuff we have…" a second chipped in sadly, also sounding male around the same age as the first.
"This blows! I guess we're stuck here!" a third voice rambled angrily. "I knew we should have taken off when that Hammet guy was leaving!" The four Adepts outside the door exchanged looks and silent gasps with one another, still listening in.
"…This sucks." The first voice said again with a sigh.
The four backed off from the door quietly, walking back down the hall, though stayed close by. "What do you think they're talking about in there?" The only redhead inquired upon his friends.
"It most likely has something to do with Master Hammet, though." Ivan added, frowning. "They were saying something about leaving when he did, which was yesterday around noon."
"Well, then let's confront them about it. Maybe we can get Ivan to Mind Read them." Isaac concluded, the others agreeing. Gathering themselves up again, the quad of friends headed back to the door and the first Earth Adept knocked on it. The three in the room apparently 'froze' and gasped silently as much as they could, shuffling about until they seemed situated. The four Adepts gave each other suspicious glances, though they were aimed at the three inside the rented room. When the door never opened, nor had anyone asked who was at the door, they—as in Garet—decided to invite themselves in, quite rudely in the aforesaid Fire Adept's way.
The three black-haired young men were standing by the window, chatting secretly and barely glanced up to notice the intruders. Glaring at them for rudely entering uninvited, one of them spoke up. "And just what do you kids want?"
The apparent second thief pointedly glanced at the youngest Adept in the other's midst. "Hey wait… It looks like that weird kid is with them." The four Adepts blinked but had a feeling who they really meant; Ivan. "I can't stand him. Don't let him near me!" The third one added fearfully. When the four stepped forward, the three black-haired males backed off a distance. Well, that's awfully peculiar.
"Huh, they're acting pretty suspicious…" Matthew started.
"Something's not right…" Ivan added as well, narrowing his violet colored eyes at all three of them, too.
Garet blinked. "Wait, if they're running off, then we can't get Ivan to Mind Read them, huh?"
"Yeah, that's right, we can't." Isaac answered, frowning. Garet crossed his arms and pondered a bit.
"Well, isn't there a way we can like stop them from running off? Like, a way we can catch them?"
After the moment of Garet's words, Ivan's brain cranked up an idea. "That's a good idea, Garet." The Jupiter mage began, now whispering to the other three. "If you, Isaac and Matthew can corner one of them, I can Mind Read him."
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." The de facto leader of them said as he went over the small plan in his thoughts. "Actually, it just might work."
Ivan nodded, still in whisper. "Yes, I believe it will. Let's give it a try."
"Okay then," Garet smiled. "Isaac, you take the lead."
"Hey, what are those kids whispering about over there?" The four heard one of the dark-haired strangers ask his other two cohorts. When they voiced their answers is when Garet, Isaac and Matthew began to quietly move in on them. However, their quiet footwork and movements didn't go by unnoticed; the other three looked up and saw three of them advancing towards them! "Uh-oh, here they come! One-on-one! Do whatever it takes to get away from them like before! Scram!" The third male shouted to his two companions. They darted in different directions frantically, Garet going after one, Isaac with the second and Matthew with the last.
The room was turned into a wild goose chase, with Ivan blocking the door in case they tried escaping.
"I got one!" Garet beamed brightly, grinning from ear to ear. He had the man bound from behind, holding him in the air in a bear hug.
"Lemme go!" The black-haired man, the first one that had spoken before, yelled in panic.
"I…got the second one!" Matthew chirped after, having the man in a tight headlock.
"Ugh!"
"Well, well, I got the last one then." Isaac said, smirking as he also had the last one bound from behind, but rather than Garet's method, he simply held the man's wrists. Ivan nodded graciously at the good work of his friends, directing them to hold them. "Good. This won't take long so keep them held tight as possible." The young Adept added as he stepped towards the one Garet bound first.
"Aaagh! D-don't come any closer!" The suspicious man #1 (that's what they're going to be dubbed now, courtesy of Garet) bellowed as Ivan approached. The rings of Psynergy enveloped him as he concentrated, oblivious to the suspects but not to their captors.
"Wh-what is this!?" The first gawked.
"He closed his eyes! What's he doing!?" Suspicious man #2 gaped.
Ivan nodded after he finished and proceeded to the second one bound by Matthew, then lastly for the third held back by Isaac. They attempted to squirm free, but that proved futile. Ivan stepped back and the Adepts released their hostages. "Agh! What in the world just happened?" Suspicious man #3 wondered.
"N-no idea, but that was weird." Suspicious man #2 added, paling.
"…Let's get out of here." Suspicious man #1 said to his companions. They complied and hurried out, not bothering to look back to see if they were being pursued.
"What'd you learn, Ivan?" Isaac asked the young Adept once they gathered together in their small circle. From the expression of Ivan's face, one could say he learned quite a lot from them. In fact, his face appeared to be twisted from anger.
"They're the ones," Ivan reported. "They took other things besides the urn and the Rod, too. They've hidden it somewhere in the Inn, though. It looked like an attic." He concluded and tapped his chin. "And, I think I know where we can start looking. Come on." The young mage hurried out the room with his friends filing out after him in the same, quick pace he set. They somewhat thundered down the stairs, herding outside like lost sheep. Once being outside again, Ivan rounded them upon the ladder he had seen earlier.
"This," he began, "I saw this when we were coming here earlier. This ladder most likely leads to an attic or something like that above the Inn."
"Huh, that's awfully convenient. At least we won't have to search the entire Inn!" Garet grinned in triumph. They were finally getting somewhere!
"Okay. It's pretty much a straight path from here. I bet everything they've stolen is up there." Isaac concluded. "Let's go. There's no time to waste." Isaac grabbed one bar of the ladder and began climbing, followed by Garet and Ivan. However, the young blond paused when he noticed Matthew staring off into space.
"Matt?"
"Hm? Oh, sorry. Ivan. I just thought I saw something…" Man, I got distracted. I really shouldn't do that. Matthew replied then self scolded himself in-thought. He grabbed onto the ladder and followed up behind Ivan, noticing his 'brother' and Garet hurrying through a conveniently opened door to the right—after having climbed to the top. "Hey! Nobody's up here!" Garet huffed irritably. Ah, more Garet complaints.
"There's probably something up ahead," Isaac deduced, pointing to the open door across from them. He made sure Ivan and Matthew were with them—especially Matthew—and proceeded forward-
-only to be grabbed by his scarf's length and forced back abruptly! "M-Matt!? Why'd you do that for?" Garet asked, shocked. Isaac turned around to see his scarf released by his brother, wide-eyed. "Why'd you stop Isaac?"
"Unless you want him to fall into that pit that's right there…" Matthew pointed out firmly, a deep, straight frown etched on his face, "then yeah, let's allow him to go on ahead." His pale-blue eyes found Isaac's, sighing deeply. "Sorry for that, but that was close. We could have lost you…" Or worse, I would have lost you.
"Oh, t-thanks, Matt." Isaac praised gratefully, smiling a little. His brother returned the gesture and carefully, all four of them leapt over the strange pit, one by one. When they were over, they went through another entrance, however there were boxes blocking the way to the other side!
"Ah man, more obstacles!" Garet groaned in, yup you guessed right, more complaints.
"We can move them." Isaac said proudly. "Garet, would you like to do the honors?" The redhead by name nodded, smiling proudly. He had been personally training for this!
"Of course, stand back!" He gestured. They really didn't need to, but they gave him as much elbow room as possible. Summoning up his Psynergy, Garet held out his hands, the energy focused on the point of his palms and fingertips, drawing in the robust strength he garnered. With his psychic signal on the stacked crates, he carefully pushed them aside to the left with his mind's power. Once that was done successfully and the path was clear, Garet released the Psynergy and grinned. "There! All done, Garet-style of course!" He chirped proudly.
"Good work, Garet." Matthew smiled. However, before they even took a step forward Ivan beckoned them with the worry call of his voice.
"Look, someone's tied up over here!" Ivan pointed out to their right. Taking immediate notice, they worked their way to untying the poor man out of the thick rope that bound him up a smidgeon. "Are you all right? What happened?" The young mage Adept asked after the man was freed, carefully helping him up.
"Unn…Yeah." The man moaned in response, wincing as he tried to stretch his limbs. "I came into this loft while I was fixing the roof… But I found I couldn't get all the way to the back of the loft…
So I was looking into it when WHAM!" He made hand gestures a little as the Adepts listened to his story. "Someone whacked me in the head from behind! When I came to, I was all tied up. And then, that's when you four came along."
"I wonder who could have done this." Isaac mused to himself quietly, silently raging. He despised it when others took advantage of another, such as knocking someone out from behind like a coward. When the man, who they recognized to be the man that greeted them into the village yesterday, looked around, something appeared to be out of place. "Hey, I don't remember those boxes being there." He pointed to the crates neatly stacked together that had been recently pushed aside by Garet—though he hadn't known. The man went on ahead into the loft, followed by the four Adepts curiously.
The next room was pretty much bigger than the first two rooms they passed. There was a lot of crates stacked virtually everywhere. This didn't go by unnoticed by the Vault-native. "Hey, I don't remember these crates here, either. In fact, most of these I don't ever recall being here at all."
"Maybe all the stolen goods from the town are in these crates." Ivan deduced.
"Let's look around. Maybe we'll find what we're looking for in here." Isaac suggested. Everyone agreed and began splitting up. Garet walked towards the front of the crates stacked horizontally in front of them, Isaac behind the crates Garet was looking through, Ivan heading around the crates, the man from earlier checked the crates that were off to the leftmost corner of the loft and Matthew to the furthest right.
Where could it be? Ivan asked quietly, though only to himself as he carefully opened each crate, rummaging through them, one by one. I know it has to be here, somewhere. Please, please let it be.
"Hey, I found something!" Garet's voice announced, drawing in attention. Everyone looked up momentarily to see what caught the redhead's attention. "It looks like a…um…" He wondered, holding it up victoriously.
"Hey, that's the Mayor's family urn!" The brown-haired man said, gasping.
"That appears to be not all they took," Isaac added in. "This stuff here looks like it belongs inside a sanctum."
"I remember the chief priest there complaining about some of his items being taken as well. Those thieving curs!" He frowned when Isaac pointed out the crate's items inside. "I wonder what else they've stolen?"
Finding nothing interesting inside the crates he was searching through, Matthew paced towards Ivan, who resumed his cautious search of the Rod, and knelt down next to an unopened crate. "Let me help you, Ivan."
"Oh… Matthew. Thank you." The youngest blond sighed gratefully as he opened another crate. "I really hope we find it soon."
"I hope so, too." Matthew concluded, looking through the box he opened. Once he lifted its lid, he nearly gaped. It was a book, obviously, but its hard cover was an ethereal blue color, and the pages felt like silk—since when did…? No way. How'd I lose this? Matthew cringed in-thought. It was the Glyph Book! How had he lost it? No, was it perhaps stolen from him when he was unconscious yesterday? I don't have time to ponder this. I don't even remember losing it. I have to stop being so careless. He scolded himself, taking the book out of the crate and opening it to its first page. Yup, it was definitely his, or rather; it belonged to his time period—sort of. I'm almost surprised they didn't take Sol Blade—or perhaps they couldn't because it's locked in a special way. Oh well, score for him that way. He was also glad his wallet wasn't stolen. That would have been just as terrible.
Matthew quickly stashed his lost book into his bag and glanced over his shoulder to see what Ivan was up to. The Jupiter mage was in the process of opening another crate's lid. The future-swordsman looked over, hoping with his gut this was the Rod. Ivan, deep down, also was hoping this was it, too. They both held their breath as the lid slowly rose. Inside was a brown staff, which curved intricately at the top. It almost looked like a lollipop, just without the sugar and colors, from a distance. But, there was some form of power in the Rod that even Matthew could feel. "…Is that it, Ivan?"
"Y-yes, it is. This is it. Master Hammet's Rod." The boy by name replied slowly, taking the wooden-like staff from inside its captivity. "I finally found it."
"Looks like we've been found out!"
A familiar voice spooked them all into turning around to see the three black-haired men standing before the only way out of the loft. The four Adepts narrowed their eyes at the now-apparent thieves. "You're pretty persistent for one of Hammet's whelps, kid!" They filed towards the thieves, glaring.
"Why are you working so hard for Hammet? What's it to you?" Thief—Garet internally complained and named them after numbers—#1 asked, looking at Ivan.
"I have no reason to tell you why." The boy replied simply.
"Hmph! Well, anyway, if you haven't gotten the latest memo yet, Hammet's already been caught by a worse bunch of thieves than us!" Now this was news to their ears. The four Adepts including the other man exchanged worried looks before returning their attention on the thieves.
"What do you mean?!" Ivan demanded bluntly, something that may have gone out of character, but he wasn't caring at the moment. Master Hammet was more important than his changing attitude at the moment. Knowing they caught the boy's attention on them, the second thief continued.
"I heard Hammet fled to Lunpa after the eruption." He said with a sneering expression.
"D-did you say Lunpa!?" The Vault-native gaped.
"That's right!" Thief #1 replied, smirking. The four friends now had their eyes on the gaping man as his eyes widened at the news.
"Oh no! That's absolutely terrible." He said, voice shaking. "A man with Master Hammet's money shouldn't go anyway near Lunpa! At all!"
"What kind of place is Lunpa?" Garet asked.
"The town was named after its founder, Lunpa, the noble thief… That family of thieves remained noble even when his son, Donpa, took over." He explained, having garnered the attention of the Adepts.
Hm, I remember this. Ivan did tell us this part in his story. Hammet was captured by…What was his name? Dodon—uh. Matthew thought to himself, careful to not get carried away. For one, Ivan was right there, and could Mind Read at any given time. That wouldn't have boded well. "But Donpa's son, Dodonpa, is an evil thief." Thief #2 added, frowning a little. "The man has no morals. I've heard he's truly vicious." This also wasn't boding well, either.
"So you see, we're not so bad. How about it? Will you let us go?" Thief #3 asked as politely as he could.
Isaac glared dangerously at them again, making them take a step back. "No, we're not going to let you go, despite what you've told us."
"And why ever not?" Thief #1 glared back.
"You still stole things. Stealing's wrong!" Garet shot out.
"What? You mean, even if we return everything we stole and apologize, it's still a crime?"
Ivan nodded. "Of course it is. You committed a crime, now you must do the time."
Huffing, the three thieves laughed, gaining questionable expressions from the five opposing them. "You must be joking! We stole this stuff fair and square!"
"I think we're beyond the giggles of playing around." Matthew said, "Either you turn yourselves in or we'll do it."
"Hmph! Yeah right kid! We'll have to keep you all quiet! And the only way to do that is by knocking you guys out!" Thief #2 bellowed. "Let's get them!" The thieves brandished their knives, now charging for the Adepts. In this cramped up loft room? They must be serious! Isaac, Garet and Matthew drew their swords as Ivan whipped out his wooden staff.
The three sword users clashed with the three thieves; knife against sword, and blocked each other's attacks. Matthew griped internally. He knew he had to hold back or else… wait, why did he need to hold back again? Oh yeah, to hide his much earned strength he gained over his journey so he wouldn't become suspicious. Besides, Isaac, Garet and Ivan were a bit inexperienced to fighting other people. Just out of the corner of his eye, he could see his young father-dubbed-brother looking conflicted a little as he avoided inflicting serious damage on his opponent. Garet was faring just a bit better than his best friend, but that awareness that these three people were human lives obviously egged on him.
From behind them, Ivan was channeling Psynergy into a spell. Oh good, the sooner he does that the quicker this fight will be over and—
"Augh!"
Where did that voice come from? Matt and Garet spun around, noticing Isaac had tried to dodge a stabbing jab to his shoulder but instead, it cut a little of his throat! "Isaac!" Garet roared as he kicked down his opponent and rushed in to block his best friend's attacker. Matthew cringed as Garet left himself open! Crud. This wasn't good and rushing over to help them would leave him open. Don't think irrationally, Matt! Come on, think—oh! Keeping his attention on his own foe, Matthew quickly pushed him back and called something from within his body to respond. It responded all right—in the form of another Earth Djinni! Wow, his Djinn do work in the past after all.
"Chasm, help them out." Matthew commanded, the wide-mouthed Earth Djinni chirped as it hurried over to protect its Master's friends—or rather, his father and claimed uncle from harm. Just as the two thieves were advancing on Isaac and Garet, Chasm floated around them, stunning the four—even Ivan who noticed its presence—and wrapped them up in a defensive barrier.
"What the!" Thief #2 gaped.
"What was that?!" Thief #3 wondered.
"The hell?" Thief #1, distracted, also clued in.
"Ivan, hurry!" Matthew commanded next, the younger Adept snapping back to focus.
"R-Right!" With the focus of his staff, Ivan raised it as the Jupiter Psynergy seeped out of his mind's control, forming into a visible gale. "Whirlwind!" He chanted, the energy-made tornado capturing the thieves in its wake.
"Keep at it, Ivan." Matthew added as he hurried to his 'brother' and quickly summoned up his own Psynergy. Unlike the yellowish light that most Venus Adepts would have, Matt's Psynergy was bathed in a powerful, golden-white light. "Stay still, Da—Isaac," He caught himself, again. "Potent Cure," The lighted warmth of the energy swept from Matthew's mind, from his fingertips and wrapped around Isaac's injury, healing it completely—not even dried blood caked on his skin. It was good as new. Huh, I didn't know that would happen. Usually a little scar would be left behind when I healed. The future Adept wondered to himself, but decided not to care altogether. His dad being alive mattered to him more.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm…fine." Isaac replied slowly, rubbing his neck where he was cut.
"Good." Matthew stood up, watching as Ivan kept the thieves in place with his continued use of Whirlwind. Noticing a few beads of sweat were running down the young mage's face, Matthew put a hand on his shoulder, reminding himself of Ivan's Mind Read as well. "Let them go, Ivan. You've done great work." Allowing a sigh to escape his mouth, the smaller blond released the guilty upon the floor, letting his Psynergy return to normal and to catch his breath.
"Ugh."
"Ummph."
"Grrugh."
The three pilferers landed with loud thuds on the floor, groaning in pain as they were unceremoniously dropped from the strange attack. "…They…They got us…" Thief #1 said, looking worn out.
"We lost? Ugh…" Thief #2 grumbled.
"Wow! We won!" The man said, having watched some of the fight, but mostly stayed out of the way. "I'll go get the mayor!"
"No. We'll personally escort them out." Matthew said. "Tell the Mayor of what happened here and make sure he and the villagers go through here to obtain any other thing that's missing."
"Right…!" The man said with a nod to the order, heading out quickly.
"Finally, this is over. What a mess this was." Garet complained, yet again. "But, now…what if Hammet's really been captured by Lunpa?"
"We don't know for sure, but…" Ivan said as he regained his breath finally. "First, let's get these guys to the appropriate authorities."
"Sure!" The redheaded Adept chirped rather excitedly, producing a rope from who knows where. The other three Adepts weren't going to question where Garet obtained that. "Help me tie them up, guys."
-x-x-x-
"Wow, what a day!" Garet said with a long yawn. The group had just gotten back from speaking with the mayor, after turning in those thieves hours earlier. The mayor relayed to them about the news of Hammet's supposed capture, which didn't bode well with Ivan. The poor boy was persistent, of course. Having a glimpse of hope to saving Hammet was enough to keep going. He wouldn't give up there. Once the town's treasures were all returned and a small celebration after, thanking the four boys for their assistance, the village calmed down by nightfall and everyone returned to their homes for the night.
For the four boys, they got another room at the inn as thanks, this time, with four beds and two restrooms in it. What luck! "Thank you for helping me today." Ivan said as he sat on his bed. The sleeping arrangements were easy; Garet at the right most bed, closest to the wall, Ivan on the adjacent bed across from his, which was aligned near the windows, Isaac at the left most bed, closest to the door and Matthew at the bed vertically across from his, closest to the restrooms. In between each bed housed a desk and lamp, conveniently. All four were dressed in their pajamas for the night, their bags put away.
"You're welcome, Ivan. I'm glad you were able to recover the rod." Isaac said, smiling a little.
"But it is unfortunate about your Master Hammet though…" Garet added sadly.
"…Yes… but I know I can still save him. Tomorrow, I'll begin traveling to Lunpa."
"All by yourself?!" Isaac and Garet exclaimed in unison, eyes wide. Matthew, while he didn't voice it, just stared incredulously at Ivan. Karis' father was crazy if he was going to do that alone! If Isaac and Garet weren't going to volunteer, he would. Of course, they couldn't turn a blind eye on someone in need. They never did, and just being in their company for just a day and a half, well, it was obvious. "That's dangerous, Ivan!"
"I know, but I cannot ask you three to come with me. You two," he pointed at the Valeans, "have something important to do, and you," he pointed at Matthew last, "are going with them?" All three nodded to Ivan's response, knowing the reason he knew was because of his Mind Read from earlier. Really, it wasn't that hard.
"Yeah…we do. We have to catch up with Felix and the others…" Garet said, frowning. "Or else we'll be in trouble."
Or you won't, if you just leave those guys alone… Matthew added in-thought, though stayed tuned into the conversation silently. Now that he thought about it, he was still peeved that mystery guy from this morning pulled a ninja on him and vanished. Creepy guy, just who was that? It couldn't have been Felix, his uncle…Could it?
"Well, I wish you three the best then. We should get some sleep so that we can rise early tomorrow morning and set off." Ivan suggested.
"Yeah." Isaac agreed, along with Garet. "Well, we wish you good luck too, Ivan. Good night."
"Good night."
"'Night!"
The lights went out afterwards, and three of the four Adepts shuffled under the covers of their appropriate beds, the moon's rays giving some form of light through the windows. Matthew surely took his time to 'get into bed' though. He still had a plan to enact, but he needed to get in at least an hour of sleep before pulling through. He was getting on edge, namely because of the possibility that Ivan knows where he's from. And, if he ever starts asking questions while Isaac and Garet were there—what could he say? Reading something from someone's mind was a hundred percent correct. Matt was sure he couldn't find it in himself to face that truth—not yet. Lying his head on the pillow, Matthew stared up at the ceiling, adjusting to the silence in the room, for now. Garet would surely be snoring soon.
The peace, for what he thought would have been interrupted by the redhead five minutes ago was actually his dubbed brother, Isaac. The other blond had sat up in his bed, now looking at Matt. "Hey, Matt. Are you sleep?" He quietly asked. Aforesaid teen slowly rose from his bed, his similar shaded eyes glancing back. "No…not yet."
"Oh," Isaac rubbed the back of his head, chuckling softly. "That was kind of a stupid question to ask, hm?"
Matt smiled a little. "Yeah, it was."
"…Anyway, I didn't know you had a Djinni for yourself. Is that why you were familiar with Flint last night?"
Ah, that's why he wasn't sleep. More questions. "Yeah. That was Chasm, though. That's the one I used." He knew he had more but just naming off the rest of his Djinn would take too long and waking Garet and Ivan would be rude regardless if they were quiet. "Sorry I didn't say anything earlier. I didn't know you knew about them, too."
"It was quite recent when we met Flint though. It was a few days ago when we left Vale." Isaac provided truthfully. "They appeared around the same time Mt. Aleph erupted. So, who knows how many of these little guys are."
Probably over one hundred… Matthew mused to himself. "Maybe you'll meet more on your—er, our journey." That's right. He still had to make him believe he was going with them. "Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep, D—Isaac." Ugh, almost slipped up again! He really needed to get away from Isaac or else he'd seriously screw up somewhere. Such a troublesome situation he was in. Aforesaid blond nodded approvingly.
"Okay then, Matthew. Good night."
Both Earth Adepts shuffled under their blankets, trying to find that warmth they created with the sheets and bodies, and exhaled a sigh at almost the same time. Matthew hadn't closed his eyes all the way, still having a chilling feeling up his back. What if Ivan knows though…? Then again, he may've not seen what was truly in my mind. Maybe I blocked him out in time… I just hope that was what really happened. As much as I love Dad and Garet, I don't think I could…do that. He brushed a few of his bangs away and tucked his hand back under the blanket. I had a feeling this would become troublesome the moment I saw Dad. I honestly have to get away from him and fast. I'll slip up if I continue being around him.
Yes.
When the time is right. For now… Goodbye, Dad.
-x-x-x-
"Isaac, his body responded to the Psynergy but it suddenly returned to being unresponsive…" Garet informed his exhausted companion, who had been watching over the still form of his son. Hours earlier they had performed a Restore spell on the boy's body to begin unlocking the Psynergy Seal on him. Unlike the regular sealing spells, this one was encased in Dark Psynergy, an unfortunate courtesy of the Umbra Clan. "It had to be the Tuaparang that put this seal on him."
"…" Isaac dotted as he tried recovering his breath. "I… don't understand why they would…"
"We all absorbed some light from the Apollo Lens…" A girl with light green hair, purple eyes, dressed in a white tunic with gold lining the hems, Karis, replied, sitting beside her unconscious best friend. "But, Sveta and Matt had more in them as they climbed to activate the Lens itself." She held a cup of hot chocolate to her lips and sipped, having used almost all her energy to undoing the seal. It wasn't even all the way done; if she had to compare it to a combination lock she would have found the first number to the lock. She was tired, if not more exhausted than Isaac.
"Yeah… What if they thought he was a threat?" A boy with bright, beaming red hair, blue eyes, and wore a mustard yellow shirt and dark brown pants, Tyrell, wondered. He, too, sat beside the girl and his childhood friend.
Garet shook his head. "Who knows why they did, but we can't let them win."
Isaac sipped a cup of his tea before narrowing his pale-blue eyes upon the still form of his son. Thinking over the entire year that passed, he was beginning to feel regret, guilt even. If he hadn't sent them on their journey, this would have never happened. The Grave Eclipse would have been prevented, lives would have been saved, and maybe they would have been Soarwing-less, but it would have been ten times better than having his only son conflicted with this…this affliction. This seal could have been prevented! He didn't see his son off that day because he was afraid. Afraid if he looked back, he would have regretted it even more, in fear of never seeing him again…
But Matthew did come back, contrary to his subconscious belief. The boy had grown into a warrior, a young man that betrayed his true age.
Noticing the expression drawing on his friend's face, Garet placed a hand on the bearded man's left shoulder. "Isaac… It's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself."
"…It's hard not to, Garet…"
"He'll make it through this, Isaac. We have to keep trying." The older redhead glanced over to Karis, who caught his gaze. "Karis, whenever you're ready again, begin."
"In a few minutes, I can begin." The Wind Adept said softly, taking another few sips of her hot chocolate. Please Matthew, stay with us… I don't know what I'd do without you…
-x-x-x-
Crickets were chirping loudly while they sat upon the grass nearby, owls hooting while the moon's light brilliantly shone overhead, and the night's clouds hovering translucently in the sky above, just over the moon's vision. A lone teenager with spiky blond hair was slowly heading out of the village of Vault, but stopped quite suddenly when he felt someone approach him from the left. His pale-blue eyes found the person to be the masked man from this morning, strangely enough.
"Be at ease, I'm not here to harm you…"
"Then, what do you want?"
The man paused for a moment before speaking again. "Allow me to accompany you."
"…What, why? Why are you so interested in…?"
Just before the response, the man chuckled slightly. "You…both are a little gullible it's almost funny."
Now that didn't make any lick of sense. What was this guy talking about? He wasn't gullible! Adding to this, he had the nerve to be chuckling. Seriously, what was this guy's issue? "You're not making any sense to me."
"Of course not, Matthew. That's just how I am; you should know that by now." The man was now slowly lifting the mask off his face, to which Matthew was gaping at. Those soft, brown eyes were staring down at him, and a comfortable smile upon his face.
"…Y-you… B-But…"
"We can't waste time if we want to keep Isaac and Garet behind us, to never find out who were really are." The brunet said again as he glanced over to the still gaping blond. "We must make our way to Tolbi and cross the ocean… To find your solution, the answers to this 'time-travel' you wish to seek."
Ending it there.
Pretty sure you guys know who mystery man is. Anyway, leave a review if you like. Thanks!
Edited: 8/20/2015