Been a long while, huh? I'm really sorry about that. Life happened. As always, thanks for the reviews, adds, and everything else. If you're still here waiting for me to update, I appreciate you all for putting up with my tardiness. Please enjoy and I truly hope it doesn't take me this long ever again.

Dropping In

Chapter 8

"And here, you can stop here, Garet."

"Urgh… Hrnngh… Ah! Finally!"

The tall Valean sighed in relief as he let his body sag against the log he'd been pushing for well over ten minutes while following his best friend's instructions and directions. It wasn't easy at all. The log likely weighed twice his own weight. Coupled with the dirt he had to push it against, it was like walking through knee-deep water while pushing it. Not only that but they made a couple of mistakes and Garet had to push it another way to get the log back on track. Needless to say, he was glad it was over; he can rest and cool down from the exertion.

He sure hoped Ivan and Matthew were doing better.

"Whew, I'm beat. Can I sit here for the next forever and a half?" Garet asked as he fanned himself. It wasn't hot inside the Goma Cave, but he did break a sweat just a little. Isaac shook his head at his friend's antics, smiling just a bit.

"Yes, you can rest Garet. You earned it." Without further motivation, Garet did just that; he plopped right down, his back lying against the log. Isaac chuckled a little at that; he knew that moving the log in the current position, where the ledges from up on higher ground could meet together had to be exhaustive and tiring. By jumping from the ledge to the top of the log, one could cross over and get to the other side. If that creature was still up there hiding, they'd need to get up there. It was too bad they couldn't climb up there. Even if Isaac sat on Garet's shoulders or stood on top of them, he'd be a two feet shy from reaching the top. It was best to find another, much safer way to get around.

"You think that thing's still up there?" Garet asked and motioned his head towards the ledge where they'd last seen the blur disappear.

"Likely," Isaac replied.

"Can't you sense it with… you know?"

"Hmm, I could give it a try."

Isaac took a brief moment to concentrate his ability. He stood still like a tree with its roots burrowed deep into the ground beneath it. Stretching its wooden limbs underground, reaching for nutrients it needed to survive below the surface while its above surface limbs and leaves gathered sunlight to thrive. Further, his power stretched until it became a vast, wide window from him to sense and feel the presences of underground entities and above ground surface dwellers whose feet touched upon the soil. Finally, the tendrils of his Psynergy roots traveled upwards, crawling the high ledge until it crashed into something non-human, non-animal.

The little creature was a Mars Djinni. It squeaked as the Psynergy power, not quite likeminded, startled it and in a frightened fury, the Djinni repelled its inquisitive touch with a slap of its tail. It then rolled up and drew back further on the ledge once it felt it was safe.

For Isaac, it felt like he was slapped with a hot, branding iron. He flinched and jumped, startled himself by the repelling force the creature used. Definitely not a monster, a domesticated nor wild animal, that was for sure. He relaxed into his usual composure and shook his head. "It's still there," he confirmed to his friend, "It's what we think it is."

Garet nodded, glanced in the direction the obvious Djinni went and turned back to his friend. "We should go after it," he suggested. "It could very well have been when, you know, the whole thing back home happened." He wouldn't say it aloud what with that guy they helped still there. "And, I think it'll be a huge help in our journey, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it's sound," Isaac agreed, "I wonder. If we could collect them as we go, they should help us. Allowing us to use them in battle and giving us an advantage. They're also like us." The Earth Adept glanced back at the man still nursing his wound and then to Garet, "Let's go and try make friends with our guest up there."

"Good idea! Although, that means we'd be following Ivan and Matthew. Their path took them around that way, so who knows if there's a passage leading us to the critter?"

"Then, we'll follow their path. They've taken a long time and we ought to make sure they're alright."

Inclining in agreement, the pair of friends quickly retraced their steps back to the fork in the path and then traversed the same direction their other friends had gone. They quickly approached the fork in the pathways again and swiftly turned to bypass the small pool of water and the odd formation.

"Yeah! And, I kind of want one of my own. Flint just jumped right into our party without asking!"

Isaac chuckled a bit at that. To be fair, that's exactly what happened. After joining with them, Flint had been a boon in battles, making it easier for Isaac to crush monsters that crossed their paths. There were times when the Djinni would merge with Garet to help him out, too. All in all, he was a worthy investment despite his strange methods of getting them to accept him. Flint mostly stayed merged with Isaac as they were like-elements, so Garet wanting his "own" Djinni was perfectly acceptable.

Their next venture would be going down the staircase to the east, following the path down and into the next area. So far, they didn't encounter any monsters but that could change at any given time. Both warriors from Vale kept their hands close to their weapons just in case. The pathway closed in a short, narrow passageway which prompted them to go in one at a time. Soon, the path opened up again and there was a large, underground body of water—a lake, perhaps—with another side of the cave seemingly unreachable due to the distance.

"Wow," Garet mumbled, a little surprised by the scenery. He didn't think an underground cave would have something like this. Then again, this was his and Isaac's first time outside their village which didn't have these as far as he knew. Isaac stopped a moment to admire it as well. "This journey just keeps throwing more surprises at me, really!" The Fire Adept chuckled.

"Definitely," Isaac agreed, "Come on, there's a path going that way." He nudged his head westward.

"Right behind you."

Soon reaching the end of the path, Garet quickly pointed out that there was a small formation they could jump across and reach the other side, where another staircase leading up awaited them. Like earlier, they went one at a time and crossed safely. Still, no sign of monsters approaching them or anything. Had Ivan and Matthew defeated most of them along the way? It was pretty quiet with just the sounds of the water, their footsteps and the burning torches sporadically placed within the cave. It was strange but there wasn't much they could do—not like they'd want to purposefully disrupt any monsters and have them come at them.

Once ascending the staircase, the pair scanned their new surroundings and had varying degrees of surprise once more. A lot of cliffs and deep pits that lead to who knew where—likely the floor from below that they just left. It looked like some kind of puzzle, however, there wasn't one to be solved. The tricky pathway ended on the other side, but with nothing else of note. A dead end for sure.

"Isaac, look at this!" Garet exclaimed, pointing to what appeared to be smashed rubble. Following his friend, Isaac hurried and wondered what had grabbed Garet's attention. Inspecting the debris now that he was closer, he could see why. The leftover crumbles of dirt revealed to be a smashed log of sorts, things they had come across often in their journey so far. It could have been only one thing, or rather, person, that could have done this amount of damage.

"Matthew," both friends intoned at the same time.

"This is worrying. His Psynergy must have acted out again," Isaac said with a soft sigh. What was going on with his brother?

"Yeah, just like at the entrance. I wonder what's causing it?" Garet added. Truly, he didn't have any clue for the curious cause. Matthew was a bit of a mystery anyway; it was like he was still figuring the younger Earth Adept out with each passing day. As for Isaac, he wanted to know the answers to Garet's question, too. However, there wasn't anything they could do yet again about this. The only thing they could do was to move forward and hopefully catch up with them.

"As worrying as it is, we won't get any answers just by standing around and wondering all day," Isaac eventually spoke up again, "Let's… let's go; it looks like they aren't here and it's a dead end."

"Right," Garet said with a nod. When they carefully crossed over the pits again to resume going back down the staircase, he continued, "Hopefully Ivan and Matthew aren't too far ahead. That rubble looked pretty recent. It could have been his Move Psynergy that turned into something else again."

"Yeah."

"It's just one more thing added to our journey, Isaac. But, we should do one thing at a time, no matter what. Rushing along and trying to solve all of our problems, big or small, all at once won't help us. We just have to do what we can."

"You're right."

As they were leaving, the two spied what appeared to be an opened, old chest that had been recently unburied from its rest underneath its own pile of rubble. Whatever had been inside, it was gone. Either some thieves or perhaps the other two had nabbed it. Not that it made any difference whether or not that was true. What mattered was finding them as soon as possible to regroup. For one, so they could exit this place together and second, to grab that Fire Djinni.

"Where could they be, though? This seems like the only way through here. Unless we missed something along the way?"

"Likely, Isaac. Let's backtrack!"

The friends did so quickly and were returning to the area with the underground lake. Once there, the two began looking for another way around. There had to be another path somewhere that they likely missed out on while bypassing on the first trip.

"It was definitely a one-way trip here so far," Isaac pointed out. The narrowed path didn't appear to have any secrets to unearth. Going back the way they came would take a little more time than necessary. Honestly, where could they have gone to?

"Hey, look at that…" Garet nudged his head and began following where his eyes landed on. His best friend followed him in earnest, curious as to what he found this time. Hopefully some good news. "Looks like we missed this, Isaac! There's another crossway right here. We completely bypassed this because we were so focused on the stairs. And look at where it leads to." The Fire Adept quickly pointed the way with his index finger, smiling as they finally had another lead. It was a sure path to the other side of the apparently impassable lake.

Relief was what Isaac was feeling. He wasn't sure why he felt anxious but he was glad Garet was with him. He needed to be calmer, collected, levelheaded. Getting worked up wouldn't do anybody wonders. "Good job, Garet. You're right. That's probably me rushing ahead and dragging the both of us on a straight path," Isaac admitted a little bashfully.

"Hey no worries! That's why I'm here to help you! Now let's get going and catch up with the others and finally get me that Djinni!" Of course. They had a miniature objective on top of the main one. They had to find Ivan and Matthew, get to the Djinni somehow, and then leave this cave to get back on track with finding Felix's group. Isaac only hoped they slowed down a bit, but it was wishful thinking.

Quickly, they crossed over—one at a time again—and ran along the pathway for the next exit. It was still highly strange that monsters haven't attacked them whatsoever. What was going on? Usually they would get attacked five steps every other minute—or something like that, who really knew? The point was that the monsters weren't coming and it was sort of troubling. Monsters always attacked, so why weren't they? They didn't have many Sacred Feathers. Those things were unfortunately expensive and they were only used scarcely, such as when they were camping for the night. It warded off monsters for a long duration and it was just enough time to get in some sleep.

Regardless, the non-attacking monsters sub-issue notwithstanding, the pair carried on-

"Ivan! Quick, use your Ray Psynergy!"

Huh?!

"Was… Was that Matthew?" Garet wondered. Suddenly, Isaac's anxiety from earlier rushed to the front fold of his mind and he kicked himself into gear. Sure, it wasn't Matthew being in danger, but the fact that it sounded like his brother was danger… No, he had to get there, fast! His friend's calling of his name and following footsteps were like background noise to him as he ascended the stairs two at a time, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. Hang in there, Matthew, hang in there Ivan!

Soon as he got to the top of the staircase, Isaac had to quickly pivot backwards as a blast of fire Psynergy flew directly in front of him! Whoa, that was close-

"Isaac—oof!" Garet bumped into him from behind, the two stumbling through the open passageway and into the next area… which was the very same area they'd been in before, but now they were high above on the cliff! "Why did-?" Garet wouldn't get a chance to finish as another blast of fire Psynergy, which looked like Flare, was coming at them!

"Move!" Isaac shouted and the two quickly separated to dodge the oncoming attack!

Up ahead was Ivan and Matthew and it looked like they were battling that Djinni! "Isaac, hurry! We have to help them!" Garet exclaimed as he took out his sword and prepared to jump into the fray to help. Isaac wasted no time and followed, unsheathing his own.

Matthew

The next Flare Psynergy spell had almost singed Ivan, who thankfully dodged out of the way while Matthew prepared to take it down. Focusing, he rushed towards the Djinni to slash it, though didn't expect the creature to sense him so easily and evaded altogether. He'd have to use his other trick, and hopefully with some degree of discretion.

"We have you covered, Matt!" The future Adept heard Garet as said teenager rushed in and swung his sword to try and blindside the Djinni but missed as well. "Darn it, I almost had it! It's pretty fast!" There also went Matthew's options, too. Now he couldn't…

"Are you two alright?" Isaac asked as he approached a step after Garet's charge.

"We're fine, thank you," Ivan answered for the both of them. He was winded, surely, but he wasn't out for the count, "We just found this Djinni here on this ledge… and it suddenly attacked us when we got close."

More like it was attacking me, but oh well. Matthew thought. He could somewhat relax, but not entirely. The Djinni here was strange—not that finding it here was. The Sun Saga depicted the Warriors of Vale, or rather, just the three of them, had encountered a Mars Djinni here in the Goma Cave. It was assigned as Garet's first Djinni. That in and of itself wasn't a problem. What was, however, was the fact that this particular Djinni hadn't been here. Matthew vaguely remembered, but Garet certainly befriended a Djinni by the name of Forge here.

The Djinni that was here now was Shine, who would become Garet's closest friend in his future. The same Shine Djinni his mother and her allies would find on their journey. If Shine was here, then where was Forge? Did they somehow swap places? Or, was Forge somewhere else entirely? Matthew sincerely hoped that his presence hadn't screwed this up. Maybe it was a good thing Shine was here now? Garet could bond with him much quicker that way…

"Watch out!"

Cursing his distraction, Matthew quickly dodged, avoiding that Flare Psynergy again. Not like it would really hurt him, but he still had to be careful anyway. Now that they were all reunited, it looked like he would stick to being the healer again. It was fine, honestly. No matter how much he itched for the frontlines, he had to be the support. Plus, he still had to keep his strength in check and assist where possible. They had to improve and get stronger for the journey ahead. If he kept helping out too much, they'd rely on him a lot and it wouldn't bode well in the future. No—it was best to stay back.

Keeping his eye on the three, Matthew sent Potent Cure to Ivan as the Shine rammed into him with a strong attack, knocking the Wind Adept down while simultaneously dodging a blow from his father. So long as Shine was preoccupied with them, Matthew could keep his eye on the battle itself.

"Ray!" Ivan cast his Psynergy spell, hitting Shine while Garet whupped on him with a slash from his sword at the same time. Matthew silently nodded in approval; Garet's strength would help but his Psynergy spells wouldn't do much to a likeminded aligned Djinni.

"Spire!" Isaac cast his next, the earth-aligned Psynergy slamming into Shine from above as he couldn't dodge fast enough. With the three of them attacking from nearly all angles, it would be a tough battle for the Djinni to prevail. Running would have been an option for him had it not been for Matthew keeping his eyes peeled on it. No running allowed. Silently, he urged his merged Djinni to get ready and felt their full power align with his own.

A Whirlwind was cast, trapping Shine while both Vale-raised Adepts charged in for physical hits. The combined attacks struck, leaving the Djinni weak. He tried again with another Flare, but the trio were ready and evaded quickly. Matthew was about ready to end it there with a quick cast of his Growth Psynergy as Shine looked about ready to try and escape when Garet's next maneuver caught his eye.

"Oh no you don't! You're coming with me!" The Fire Adept yelled, dragging his sword along with him, "Taaaaaaaaake this!" With a battle roar, Garet slammed his blade down on the Djinni hard, knocking him down and creating a small crater. Oof, that one had to hurt. There was a moment of pregnant pause when all four sighed in relief for different reasons.

"We got him!" Garet hollered excitedly. After that cheer, his smile slowly turned into a frown as the other three came around, "But, uh, he's really hurt. I don't think he'll join us being banged up like this."

"Right, looks like that's my cue," Matthew intervened. He kneeled down and pressed a hand gently on the defeated Djinni. Once gathering the necessary Psynergy, carefully, he mumbled a quiet "Wish" to begin reenergizing the little sprite with healing power as well as the group. Blue light that felt like a gentle splash of water circulated around them. Soon, the sprite was able to get up, using his own power to levitate as with all Djinni are capable of doing.

"Huh, I actually got beaten by some human kids," Shine spoke and admired his small human entourage—if it could be called one. "I easily beat one of them earlier, but I guess that's what happens when four of them challenge you at one time. Anyway, my name's Shine."

"Yeah! We beat you fair and square! So, will you join us?" Garet quickly interjected excitedly, seemingly ignoring the sprite's name—but factoring it in quickly.

Shine, if he could, would have raised a brow at the inquiry. Instead, he tilted his head as he reiterated, "Join you?"

"Yeah! Flint did! Well, more like he bullied us to accept him."

"I did no such thing!" Said Earth Djinni unmerged from Isaac just to deny it. He looked as affronted as possible with his small body and face. "You two were begging me to join you!"

"Uh-uh! You threatened to eat all our snacks if we didn't let you!"

"Did you really, Flint?" The Mars Djinni interjected curiously.

"No way!" He said, then quickly added to his banter with Garet, "You must have me mixed up with another Djinni because I never said I would!"

"Now you're lying!"

"No I'm not!"

"Okay, enough!" Matthew snapped, getting both Djinni and Adept to immediately halt, as well as gaining quick attention from Ivan and Isaac. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Sorry for yelling, but this was getting out of hand. It shouldn't matter what really happened. All that matters now is that you're here and the issue is done and over with." Matthew was thoroughly irritated by the childish banter; honestly, they couldn't afford to be this way right now.

"Kid's right," Flint mumbled out after a silent moment, "Truce for the moment?"

Garet rubbed the back of his head in shame as he replied, "Yeah, fine. Truce."

Isaac was a little shocked by the random turn of events that transpired, and Ivan wisely stayed quiet. This whole situation was really awkward. Once the two recipients of Matthew's outburst quieted down, Isaac cleared his throat to hopefully placate the awkwardness, "Well, now that's taken care of…" He turned to the Mars Djinni, "Will you accept joining us on our adventure?"

The sprite, also having been relatively quiet, turned to him and tilted his head once more. "Well, you beat me, so I guess there's little choice. Besides, there's another of my kind with you guys. Suppose it won't be too lonely being around you all. Plus," he glanced at Flint and Garet, who were doing their best not to glare at each other despite agreeing to a truce, "These guys are hilarious anyway. Definitely won't get boring anytime soon with these two knuckleheads!"

"Hey!" Both Adept and Djinni shouted, both affronted.

"Take it as a compliment!"

"You're supposed to be on my side, not making fun of me!" Flint argued. Shine simply chuckled at his fellow kin's remark. Yes, it surely won't get so boring in the coming future, he could see it.

"Then, what are we waiting around for? Let's go on this adventure!" With a whirl of flaming energy, Shine twisted into the air sharply, manifesting into particles as he twirled around Garet, automatically choosing the Fire Adept naturally as his merger.

"Whoa…" Garet gasped, feeling the power of Shine merging with his own. It felt like he received a major boost in strength, feeling he could do anything. "So, this is what a Djinni's power feels like when it's mixed with your own."

"Yep," Isaac agreed with a smile. "We'll figure out what Shine's capable of in battle soon, I'm sure."

"Yeah, can't wait! Maybe the next Djinni is a Jupiter one! It's Ivan's turn to get one!"

With him in the spotlight again, said Wind Adept slightly blushed but composed himself quickly. He nodded in agreement; these Djinni, while small, appeared strong when in the hands of Adepts like themselves. He's seen what one could do fighting against it and Isaac was quite strong with Flint on his side. Perhaps Garet was right. Would they run into more of these creatures on throughout their journey? That reminded him…

"Yes, I hope so. If I can be honest? A part of me is a little envious. But I can wait until we come across another one," he said then turned to Matthew, "You have Djinni too, don't you?" Matthew blinked.

"Yeah, I do," he answered. Where was Ivan going with this, he wondered.

"It was faint, but I recalled feeling a power surging through me when we confronted those thieves back in Vault. I remembered it wasn't my doing nor the doing of Isaac or Garet. And now that I think about it, it wasn't yours either. So, that must have meant you used a Djinni then, correct?"

Ah. So that's where this was going. "You'd be correct. I used one when we were fighting those thieves, to be honest. He created a shield to protect you all when Isaac was critically hit." All eyes cast to the Earth Adept in question as they recalled that particular moment.

"Matthew saved me then, so it's in the past," Isaac reminded them, reflexively ghosting his hand over the part on his neck where it'd been slashed. He turned around and found another pathway leading to an ascending staircase they hadn't taken yet, "Let's get going. We need to get out of here and catch up. We've spent enough time in here as it is."

That was a good time as any to remind them of their self-imposed task. Quickly and quietly, the quad gathered themselves together and made their way to the next exit of the cave, following their de facto leader. Once they ascended the stairs, the next part led them into another narrowed path that forced them to go through one at a time again. It was a winding walkway for sure, with no encounters barring the one they had with Shine. With all four of them together again, they should have been attracting monsters especially—but it looked like they'd traverse in peace.

What was going on?

"Still no monsters in sight, I see," Isaac noted again as the squad kept walking, "Usually, I'd take this a bad sign."

"Well, maybe we're stronger now so they don't want to mess with us!" Garet exclaimed in cheer. He was sure fine with not having to deal with monsters coming up at the moment.

"Actually," Ivan chimed in. He had their undivided attention as they continued walking, "I believe that may be Matthew's doing. We actually ran out of Sacred Feathers earlier when we rested after a long while of battling monsters nonstop."

"Yeah, don't remind me on that Ivan," Matthew said. He never thought he'd ever have to use so many Sacred Feathers to keep monsters away from them in such a high amount before. It was outrageous—and since Ivan didn't have any for himself, it resulted in the use of his Psynergy alone. Thankfully, it didn't "explode" outwardly when he used it like he had with his Move Psynergy. "It's called 'Avoid' and it works wonders. Apparently, it worked too well." So well that monsters were repelled away, that was for sure.

He also wasn't going to mention he had previously used this Psynergy with Isaac and Garet much earlier on.

"It's definitely working alright," Garet added with a laugh. While he agreed with his best friend, Isaac was in thought. Was it consuming a large amount of Matthew's Psynergy to keep it in place? Was it potentially hurting him to use it? He needed answers.

"It's not draining your Psynergy to keep it in use, is it?" He decided to ask, putting his quickly placed theory to the test.

Matthew could see where Isaac was coming from and while it still warmed his heart his past father was caring, this wasn't the time for him to potentially mother-hen. "It consumed a bit when I cast it," he replied, "Doesn't take a lot of Psynergy to hold it together." Given that he was possibly one of, if not the, strongest Adept in the world at the moment, he had plenty of Psynergy to spare to uphold the Avoid Psynergy for a long time if he wanted. Bragging rights notwithstanding, of course.

Although, Matthew still needed to be extra careful to not undermine his father's worries, their abilities and to tread carefully around them. He still had to keep under wraps with his strength. Make them think he was their equal while protecting them as much as possible—within limits. Make them stronger so their battles in the future wouldn't be too troubling or challenging. If he was correct in his assumption of the past, then they'd be fighting those villains, Saturos and Menardi, at Mercury Lighthouse, where they'd meet Nowell and Rief's mother, Mia…

Well, he hoped it would be sooner than that.

For some reason, Matthew thought he was forgetting a bunch of details. But, they were simply details and shouldn't be too significant, right? The stories his parents and their friends told him and his friends were all he had to go by. His memory was pretty good, he reckoned, and with memories of the Sun Saga in his mind as well, he was basing this all on those together.

Sure, his presence here had made a big deal already, but if he could keep them on the right track, things should go well. Heck, he was hoping it would go better than it had in his timeline. Speaking of, the "right track", was it right for him to keep them to stopping those "villains" from lighting the lighthouses? They were actually doing Weyard a service by doing that. Unlocking the powers of the Lighthouses, which were seals needing to be broken to save the world. Maybe—maybe he could still nudge them in that direction? The problem was how could he do this without sounding or seeming suspicious?

This was harder than it looked.

"Finally, the exit!" Garet's voice brought him out of his thoughts, forcing him back to reality. Huh? Matthew looked up and noticed they were crossing a bridge and the actual exit of Goma Cave within sight. That… had gone far more smoother than he possibly thought.

If I had the Avoid Psynergy going the entire time since we stepped into this cave, would we have never encountered monsters? Matthew thought curiously. He knew he was incredibly strong all on his own and the Avoid Psynergy was powerful in its own right; it repelled monsters both weak and strong away from the Adepts. It was a blessing in his timeline and it was working too well here in this one. Besides, it was becoming counterproductive to his idea of getting them stronger. If they wanted to improve, they'd have to keep fighting.

A double-edged sword, but it'd be worth it. Matthew conceded he'd release the Psynergy when they left this place.

Moments later, the quad would do just that. Stepping out of the cave's mountainous exit, they would soon embrace the colors and scents of the outside world once more. The sky was darkening, meaning that night would soon fall and they would need to break for camp. How long had they been in there? A day or two? The trek inside the cave probably took hours.

"It's almost night," Ivan pointed out, "Should we stop for camp?"

"Good idea," Isaac agreed, "I'd rather we travel when we have adequate daylight. It's dangerous at night."

"Yeah, and I'm sure all of us are hungry, too," Garet added.

At that exact moment, four growls rumbled in near unison, two of them being louder than the rest. Isaac and Garet flushed in embarrassment together as they were the culprits of the louder stomach growls.

"I guess that answers that," Matthew chuckled quietly, "Let's find a stream nearby to clean up and get settled." Collectively agreeing to the ideas they shared, the group left the Goma Cave behind them in search of a stream, lake or for any body of water within eyesight. It was Ivan who found it first, coming across the closest river a few miles away from their latest adventuring.

Isaac and Garet agreed to wash first while Ivan and Matthew stayed behind set up the campsite. Since they were about to sleep, Matthew kept the Avoid Psynergy up. He had plans to stay up throughout the night again until he remembered Garet had covered for him earlier this morning from Isaac's fatherly wrath. That wouldn't be a good idea, Matthew thought to himself as he situated their tents and beddings together, He'll definitely oust me if he knew I wasn't sleeping, and it'd alert Dad of what I'm doing. But, they need the rest more than I do.

Not only that but the last encounter when he was in Vault—when he'd suddenly collapsed without meaning to. If he was being truly honest with himself, he'd rather not go through such a terrifying experience. If it hadn't been for Ivan inadvertently spooking him awake with his Mind Read, Matthew was sure he'd have been stuck inside that odd dream-void place. While he was afraid of Ivan finding out, Matthew came to the realization that he was grateful of the Wind Adept's unintentional intervention.

Sneaking a peek at the aforementioned, Matthew noted he was setting up the camp's fire and utensils, appearing in deep thought. There weren't any Psynergy being cast as far as Matthew could tell, so his independent woes were all on his own, thankfully. Still, it was far too quiet and Matthew was used to some kind of noise to distract him from everything.

"Not sure what's going to be on the menu tonight," Matthew decided to make conversation, "I'll think of something after our turn at the river." Ivan turned his head in Matthew's direction and quietly nodded.

"I see. If we need anything else, we'll likely have to hunt it down, correct?"

"Yeah. Sure I have enough for the time being though. Not like I wouldn't mind going out there. I was taught how to hunt if it ever came down to it."

"I admit that I'm not quite skilled at hunting. I've lived in Kalay since I was an infant, adopted by Master Hammet and his wife, Lady Layana."

Matthew recognized that Ivan had lived a pretty sheltered and pampered life in Kalay prior to his adventures with Isaac, Garet, and Mia. Hammet was the lord of the town, practically royalty in that regard. As Ivan—and now that he noticed it, his friend Karis—was a prince in his own right. Huh, when he thought about it that way, Hammet being captured by Dodonpa seemed far more diabolical. Not that having a hostage of any kind wasn't bad, all of them were downright terrible. Well, he wished he could do more for Hammet; he'd only met the man a couple times in his youth when his parents visited Ivan.

Anyway…

"Understandable. Don't worry, we'll show you how it's done sometime soon so you won't feel left out."

"Thank you, Matthew."

"Don't mention it. Now, I'm done setting up the tents. Want to go over what we could make tonight? I could use some second opinions."

At that, Ivan smiled a little and he inclined his head in agreement. "Certainly. This will be my first time learning how to cook. I would appreciate the instruction." Matthew collected the necessary items first and paced near Ivan and sitting down. There would be a lot to cover but for the time being, Matthew thought it best to start slow and work on the simpler and basic dishes first. A beginner at the kitchen, or in this case, at the campfire and cooking pot, needed nurturing instruction.

"Alright. We'll start tonight on making a beef stew. Just watch me go through the motions here first and then I'll let you have a go at it…"

Imil

Mia sighed as she finally sat down, using a nearby towel to wipe the sheen of sweat off her face. It was two days ago when Mr. Boyd found the mysterious young man bearing a striking resemblance to Alex into his house. Within those two days, Mia had been working on around the clock to cleansing the poison out of his system and treating his fever. They had managed to warm his body from the cold shock and she healed any of this physical wounds at the same time. He was much better than when he first arrived; now, all he needed was the adequate rest and he would be set.

During that time, Mia had stayed at Mr. Boyd's house. She knew Justin and Megan had likely wondered why she hadn't returned in the passing days, but there wasn't much she could do about that at the time being. She'd have to inform them by letter soon—or visit them herself when she had the time. With Mr. Boyd gone for the day to now gather supplies, she was left for their patient. The older man had been incredibly helpful with the care of said patient and she was grateful of his generosity in housing the young man.

Alex hadn't returned yet, either. Then again, he was usually gone for about three days when it was his turn to keep watch over the Lighthouse. Mia hoped he returned soon. She wanted to discuss this with him, a probable descendant of their clan lying here on Mr. Boyd's couch. For all she knew, he could be a long-lost cousin of theirs that had been trying to find a home and instead got lost and wounded. How awful.

Deep into her thoughts, Mia didn't see when the patient stirred for a second. He shifted minutely, trying to move his fingers slowly. His expression scrunched up as he attempted to open his eyes. They were heavy and he hadn't much strength in the first place. Groaning as his body was working overtime, he struggled to move any of his limbs but they failed to respond. Mildly panicking, he tried again; this time, he could roll one of his shoulders. Not the progress he was aiming for but it would have to do.

Of course, being nearby Mia happened to overhear the young man groan and she immediately stood and rushed to his aid. Was he in pain? She'd have to summon up her Ply Psynergy to assist him. In a hurry, she gently placed a hand over his head and noted he was warmer than before. She took the cloth over his forehead into the bowl of cold water on the table near her, rinsed a little and dabbed it over his face in gentle, slow, rubs. "You'll be fine," she murmured softly, hoping to ease whatever pain he may be in.

Before long, his eyes began to open. Slowly working out the sleep and heaviness that kept them down for a long while. Mia smiled, glad to know he was finally waking up. Although, she was decidedly shocked to discover, as his eyes eventually opened halfway, that she was looking into green eyes. Green weren't too uncommon, although not as common as blue or brown. The only pair of green eyes she knew belonged to her cousin. This young man had the same or nearly the same shade of green as Alex; maybe he was a closer cousin in relation from Alex's side of the family? She wasn't entirely sure, but she wouldn't put too much hope into it yet. Not until she had the full story.

Composing herself, Mia held one of his hands, gently caressing to get feeling back into them and began casting Ply. The Mercury Psynergy worked to heal and she hoped the young man would find solace in it. A contented sigh escaped him and she knew it was the right thing to do.

"You'll be alright," she continued soothing, "You're no longer in danger." The young man didn't respond and she wouldn't blame him. His body would be working to move again and he needed time to have it respond properly. A sweet silence would pass by as Mia fed the healing Psynergy into her patient.

"…Thank you," she heard him speak. It sounded weak and tired, but she knew that would change soon. He'd need water.

"You're welcome," she replied and slowly stopped the use of Ply for the time being, "I'll fetch you some water. You must be parched after your ordeal." She saw him nod as much as possible, too tired to answer vocally. That was normal. Mia quietly stood to head for the kitchen and pour the young man a cup of water from a drawn pitcher. She returned in record time to help him sip the water, being careful of where his healed injuries were. When he was finished, she set the cup on the table and stayed beside him.

"Where am I?" He asked once he got his bearings together. He still sounded faint and tired as he tried to look around. Things were slightly blurry to him.

"In Imil," Mia answered, "A man named Boyd found you not too long ago from here. We've been nursing you back to health since."

A pause before the next response, "Imil…?"

"Yes, that's right."

He was nodding off again, but he seemed persistent to try and get some answers. "…Is… Is there a woman named… Mia residing here, by chance?"

Huh? He was asking about her? Did that mean…? Was he truly one of their own? Another Mercury Clansmen? Was it possible he'd been trying to find his way here after learning about her? If that was true, then she couldn't let this chance slip away! After so long, they would finally have another family member.

"Yes. I am her."

The young man stared at her and she stared back, captured by his steady, green gaze against his weakened, tired state. He was breathing heavily and seemed to study her greatly. She slightly fidgeted under his scrutiny, hoping she lived up to whatever idealistic view he had of her or whatnot. Maybe he had been told of her abilities and likeness that he was trying to match them up in his mind. Soon, he smiled a small one.

"…I see. I'm glad… I was able to find you. After so long… After knowing the truth…" He was dozing off given he was lying back down.

Mia was definitely curious about what he meant about this knowing of the truth and how long he'd known it. She wanted answers to her questions as well, just as much as he wanted them, too. However, she'd let him rest, but first… "What's your name?" She asked, her voice quiet. The young man's eyes rolled back and he closed them, drifting back into slumber, but his smile never left his face as his lips moved and a breathy voice escaped them.

"Amiti."

See you guys in the next chapter.