She wakes up at around the same time Jenna does, because Jenna had placed her boots next to her bed the night before and then tripped over them immediately upon getting up. Sheba sits up blearily and rubs her eyes, wondering to herself if such an important day could really have such a domestic start. As she gets dressed, she decides that it doesn't matter how the day starts, as long as it ends well.
She and Jenna meet with the boys and Kraden in the hallway of the inn. Felix speaks up, voice scratchy with sleep, as he pulls on his gloves. "Do we have any money left?"
"Give us some credit," Jenna says. "We broke even."
Felix raises an eyebrow. "I'm impressed. Those places are usually rigged so you have one big win, and then lose it all real fast."
"Oh, it was rigged," Sheba says. "I know a fixed game when I see one. But living in Tolbi taught me how to swing things my way."
"But not enough, huh," Felix says, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile.
"I didn't want to cause suspicion or they'd kick us out," she scoffs. "It's just lucky for them they didn't have any card games. I'm really good at card games, I would've run them out of business."
"I'd be good at them too if I could read the minds of the other players," Piers says, no doubt remembering a game of blackjack he'd witnessed her playing with some hapless tourists in Apojii. (They'd needed healing supplies, and Piers's boat had sprung a leak, and…)
She giggles. "I'm just using my resources!"
The idle chatter continues for the duration of the hour's walk, as the sun slowly climbs above the horizon. The lighthouse looms above them, and just looking at it, combined with the wind at their backs, makes Sheba feel as though it's drawing her inside. She can't decide if that's ominous or comforting.
The closer they get to the lighthouse, the grass and flowers on the ground start to die out, leaving a fairly obvious radius of brown, cracked earth. Sheba wonders if it has something do to with the elements—maybe all the seeds had been blown away before they'd even had a chance to sprout? She pauses, tilting her head back to try and see the top from where the five of them stand, nearly at the base of the monument.
"You okay?" Jenna asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answers, waving her hand noncommittally and moving ahead to walk up the short set of stairs and into the lighthouse. She's sure that Jenna can see through her, but doesn't say anything.
An old, bronze door sits immediately in front of them upon entering the lighthouse. It looks like it has no intentions of moving, and even when Felix makes a few attempts with Psynergy it still refuses to budge.
"I wonder if this means someone's ahead of us," Jenna muses.
"Unlike the rest of you, I actually did ask around yesterday," Kraden says with a hint of smugness in his tone. "No one in Contigo recognized anyone with Isaac's description in the past few days. So if anyone is ahead of us, it would have to be Agatio and Karst, since I doubt they would have made a stop in town."
"And Alex," Sheba says, glaring at the door in front of them.
"They won't get far without this," Felix reminds them, holding up the mythril bag containing the Jupiter Star. "Even if they make it all the way up to the aerie, they'd just have to sit there and wait for us."
"I say we take our sweet time, then," Jenna says, crossing her arms under her chest. "That'll show 'em."
"Now hold on," Piers says, but he's laughing a little. "We may still be first. There's another pathway up here, see? I'm betting there's a way to get past this door through there."
Felix nods. "You're probably right. If there's one thing we've learned it's that going the long way around is usually the right way. Any 'shortcuts' just turn out to be dead ends."
The hallway that Piers had discovered does indeed lead them around the massive door and into the rest of the lighthouse, where the puzzles only grow more difficult as they progress. It becomes a sort of race to see who can come up with the solution first—Sheba's reminded of the Ankhol Ruins, where they'd fallen into a similar pattern.
It's a stark contrast to the atmosphere of Venus Lighthouse, where the tension in the air had been so thick it choked her. She'd been paralyzed by fear, moving on autopilot and speaking only when spoken to, usually with monosyllabic answers. At the time, Felix had been an anomaly to her, because while he looked intimidating with his dark eyes and tall build, there was clearly more to him than was on the surface.
"I'm told you can read minds," he'd said, and his quiet husky voice had surprised her. She'd only nodded in response, and he held out his hand to her. "Read mine."
Shaking, she'd placed her hand on top of his, stepped into his mind and learned everything about him in mere moments. Guilt had hit her like a punch to the gut, and it had taken her a moment to realize it was his emotions she was feeling, not her own. His thoughts rang out in her mind, completely unrestrained, unlike when she'd tried to read the minds of any of her other captors.
My parents, my friends, my sister, Kraden, and now there's you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I swear on my life I will get you home when all this is over.
She'd only read his mind once or twice since then. Knowing that Saturos, Menardi, and Alex could see when she was doing it made her a little self-conscious and she worried that they might question her. So it had simply become habit to trust Felix instead of reading his mind to confirm his honesty. She saw the kindness in his eyes, the softness that shone through when he looked at his sister, and began to wonder why she'd ever doubted him. Most surprising of all, though, was the revelation that when this was all over, she didn't want to go home.
And it wasn't like Lalivero was home, anyway. It only held that title for her because it was the place where she was raised.
A scream, a female voice, jerks her out of her memories, and Sheba has a brief moment of panic before she realizes it wasn't Jenna.
"It's Isaac and the others," Kraden says, looking only a little surprised. The other four had apparently been caught in some sort of trap. A pretty, blue-haired girl and a redheaded boy that Sheba very vaguely remembers from Venus Lighthouse are both stranded on a small ledge below a bridge they'd passed by earlier, that raised and lowered with the press of a button. Karst and Agatio make their appearance and, after some of their customary posturing, engage themselves in a fight with the only two left standing—Isaac and Ivan.
"Looks like they did make it here, after all," Felix says. Sheba can't tell from his tone exactly how he feels about that, but she guesses it's not great.
"And it looks like we're going to have to be friends now," Kraden muses.
"They came all this way just to try and stop us..." Jenna says, eyes fixed above them to where Isaac is fighting for his life. Sheba can feel exactly how torn up Jenna is watching this—she doesn't want to engage, and yet this is her childhood friend... So Sheba makes the decision for her, locking eyes with Felix.
"They need our help."
There's only the barest hint of hesitation from Felix—she sees the worries and the fears flash across his face—and then his eyes harden, and he nods and takes off at a sprint. Jenna's right at his side, and they both nearly collide with Alex when he materializes out of nowhere in front of them.
Jenna's sword is immediately out of its sheath and pointed toward the Mercury Adept's chest. "Stay out of our way, Alex. Don't test me right now."
He ignores her, brushing an errant strand of hair out of his face. "On your way to light the beacon, Felix?"
"Eventually, yes," Felix says, hand on the hilt of his own sword. "But we've got more pressing needs right now."
Alex takes a step towards them, and Sheba and Piers both reach for their weapons as well. "Come now, why the hostility?" He looks Felix straight in the eyes, ignoring the rest of them. "We both know you'd regret it if you left them. Allow me to help."
Sheba isn't sure how to feel as the healing light of Mercury envelops her. What game is Alex playing this time? What reason would he have to help? Karst and Agatio had clearly been expecting him to help them in cornering Isaac's party, but for some reason he'd bowed out. Why, why, why?
"There you go. Consider it a gift."
A bright burst of pain flashes through Sheba's mind and is gone just as quickly.
Alex steps aside and they get outside just in time to see Ivan collapse, and Isaac, hampered by his concern for the Jupiter Adept, quickly follows.
Jenna has the same steely look in her eyes as Felix. "They're not going to kill Isaac," she says quietly, fiercely, and follows her brother to face their enemies.
The rest of it flies by in a blur. Isaac volunteers the Mars Star, Karst and Agatio leave for the aerie, and Felix follows. Luckily, Piers insists on coming with, otherwise Sheba's certain that Felix would have gone alone.
As soon as they're gone, Jenna drops to her knees and pulls Isaac's head into her lap, pressing her hands to his chest and pouring all the Aura Psynergy she can into him. Kraden had taken it upon himself to tend to Ivan, so Sheba to decides to help out the other two. She walks to the break in the walkway and peers over. At some point, their healer had fixed Garet's arm enough that he could pull himself up, and he was currently trying to convince her that if they could just get a better grip on the stones of the lighthouse, they could climb back up the wall.
"Excuse me," Sheba calls down, and they both look up, startled. "Can you two back up to the far edge of that platform? I'm going to help, but I need more room to get to you."
They do, looking mystified. She reaches into her pocket for the Hover Jade, rubbing her fingers against the smooth stone, and steps off the edge of the walkway. There's a brief moment of panic from the other Adepts, but she floats safely to their tiny ledge and smiles.
"Do you normally do dangerous things like that without any warning?" Garet grouses at her, and she laughs.
"You wanna try?" She holds out the Hover Jade to him. "Just channel your Psynergy into this."
"Sorry, Sheba," the Mercury adept suddenly speaks up, "but I think I should go up there first. Isaac and Ivan are going to need my help."
Garet nods. "Mia's right, I can wait. She already fixed me up, see?" He flexes his arm in demonstration.
"Okay," Sheba says, "I'm going to go up with you so I can come back and get Garet. Just put your hand on top of mine and we can channel into it that way."
Mia nods, and the rush of Mercury Psynergy reminds her of Alex's—there's a chilly prickle to it, like the first breath of air after walking outside in winter. The second their feet hit the upper ledge, Mia's back to business. "I'm sorry, Jenna, I need you to move. Isaac's probably got some serious internal injuries that I'm not sure you can fix."
"Oh! I'm... I'm sorry. I'll help Ivan, then," she says, and her tone is matter-of-fact but Sheba can see the hurt on her face. She turns away before Jenna can see her watching, then Hovers back down to Garet on the lower ledge, where he's waiting patiently.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she says, and then holds her free hand out. "We've never really been properly introduced. I'm Sheba."
He grins, and when he shakes her hand his is so big that it completely envelops hers. "Garet. I should tell you, I'm really not that great with heights..."
"Well then, I guess the decision is yours. Do you want to climb up the bricks and probably fall to your death, or do you want to float for ten seconds to get back up there, and probably die a different way later on?" She holds out the Hover Jade expectantly, and he laughs out loud.
"I gotta say, you're different than I expected you to be."
"Good," she says. "I like to keep people on their toes."
They do eventually make it back up to the upper ledge, and not a moment too soon, as the building suddenly begins to shake underneath their feet. Sheba braces herself against the outer wall of the lighthouse, closing her eyes and waiting for the rush she's sure is coming.
It doesn't come. Nothing happens. The tremors subside and she's left standing there, mind a whirlwind of unanswered questions.
"Is it over?" she says to Jenna, who's still kneeling on the ground next to a much less beaten-looking, but still unconscious, Ivan. "They did it?"
"Yeah, it's done," Jenna says, sitting back on her heels. "And I have a splitting headache."
Sheba offers her one of the Psy crystals she had stashed away. Jenna takes it wordlessly, then stands up to stretch and walk away a bit, putting some distance between herself and the others.
"So now what?" Sheba asks, and Jenna shrugs, spinning on her heel.
"I'm not sure. I guess we wait for them to come back." Jenna's looking past her, eyes fixed instead on Mia, who's none-too-gently chastising Isaac for his recklessness in battle as she finishes healing him. He's awake and talking, but he hasn't stood up yet.
"Jenna, look at me," Sheba says, giving her shoulder a little shove. "You're freaking out about Isaac, aren't you?"
"He's hurt. I'm not a good enough healer to—"
"I mean, to be fair, I don't think you're a healer, period," Sheba says bluntly, and Jenna really does look at her, in the eyes this time.
"Sheba, what the hell?"
Maybe it's her disappointment with the lighthouse, maybe it's something else. She's not sure what it is, but she's not feeling particularly patient right now. "You're not! You're a fighter. It doesn't mean you can't also heal, but it's never gonna be what you're the best at."
"That's not what I need to hear right now!
"I wasn't done, either," Sheba says. "You did what you were capable of, and it was enough. If you hadn't been there, he might not have lived long enough for Mia to get to him and finish the job. Her telling you to move wasn't her telling you that you weren't good enough, it was just her saying you should let her do what she's good at."
Jenna looks for a moment like she's going to snap back, but, wonder of wonders, she finally sighs and glances away. "Yeah, you're right...I know. I'm reading too much into it. It's just kinda always been something I struggled with, you know? Fire doesn't do much but hurt."
"You can kill weeds with fire," Sheba says. "And volcanic ash helps plants grow better."
"Where do you come up with this stuff?" Jenna says, smiling in spite of herself.
"Read it in a book once," Sheba answers, shrugging. The book had been an absolutely bone-dry boring non-fiction book about gardening various types of plants she'd never heard of, and probably would never see. But she'd read the thing at least twice out of sheer boredom while being held in Babi's palace.
Suddenly, Ivan stirs behind them. They both hurry to him, Jenna getting to him first and grabbing his shoulders to help him stand, and then lean against the wall of the lighthouse. "How long was I out?" he mumbles, barely audible, but Jenna freezes and looks sort of above his shoulder at the purple stones, trying to calculate the passage of time.
"That earthquake was a while ago, wasn't it? Ten, fifteen minutes?"
Sheba glances up like it'll help, even though the only thing she sees are more purple stones and the clouds above them. "I think you're right. But we're pretty close to the aerie here, it can't have taken them more than a couple minutes to get there and back..."
"Something's wrong," Jenna says abruptly, touching Ivan's shoulder once more to make sure he's steady against the wall before stepping away. "I'm going up there."
"Are you sure?" Sheba grabs her hand to stop her, but Jenna squeezes her hand once and lets go.
"You're the one who said I'm a fighter. I have a bad feeling that's what they need me for right now." And with that she takes off running for the aerie, leaving Sheba alone with the others.
She leans against the wall next to Ivan and slides down to sit, wrapping her arms around her bent knees and staring out at Weyard stretched before her. It would be a stunning view, if she wasn't so preoccupied. The lighting of the beacon doesn't seem to have caused much damage to the surrounding area, or at least not as much as Venus had. But she does feel colder as the wind sweeps past her, and she can feel power flowing through her like a conduit from where she touches the glowing purple stones of the lighthouse.
She glances over to where Mia seems to have finished fixing up Isaac, and the two of them are talking animatedly with Kraden and Garet. To her surprise, Ivan joins her sitting against the wall—she'd fully expected him to join his teammates. He looks about her age, with a small frame and slender hands. They even have matching blond hair. He grins at her.
"Hi," he says. "I'm Ivan."
"Sheba," she says automatically, and he laughs.
"Yeah, I know who you are."
"Did you feel anything when the beacon was lit?" Sheba says suddenly, and he blinks at her.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, no. But when we were at Mercury Lighthouse, Mia said she could use her Psynergy more freely without getting tired. So I think the same thing is happening here. You can feel it, can't you?"
"Yeah," Sheba says. "I thought it was just the adrenaline at first."
"Well, that's probably part of it." He shrugs. "You know, I thought you'd be different."
"Garet said the same thing," Sheba says. "I'm not sure what it is you're all expecting of me."
Ivan reaches out a hand to set it on her arm, and she feels him sparking into her mind before she can stop him. It's strange—outright bizarre, really—feeling it the other way around. She sets that aside for the moment and returns the favor, using the physical connection that Ivan had already made to step into his mind as well.
This is kind of neat, he thinks, and grins at her.
Yeah, and now we can talk without anyone hearing us. I'm serious, did you feel anything different?
He narrows his eyes. Not at all. What were you thinking would happen?
I don't know. Some kind of revelation. She intentionally lets it slip, just a faint whisper in the back of her mind, that she thinks she's connected to Anemos. Ivan nods.
Well if it's any consolation, I think you feel different. Inside your head, I mean. You've got an aura I've never really felt before.
Should I be insulted?
Only if you want to be. He shrugs. I feel like talking like this should be weird, but it's not. It just feels normal.
Yeah, I know. Especially because we were supposed to be enemies, up until about an hour ago.
Does Felix hate us all?
He thinks you hate him.
We talked with a woman at a place called Lama Temple—a feeling of confusion flashes through Ivan's mind—and she said he carries a burden she wouldn't wish on anyone. We're still trying to figure out exactly what that means, but I think the others are more sympathetic now than they were. Especially after he jumped. She sees his vision of that day, briefly—Felix diving, head-first, from the top of Venus Lighthouse, and feels the lurch of horror that Ivan had felt when he realized he'd just watched a man leap to, presumably, his death.
Felix carries…a burden? Even Sheba isn't sure exactly what that means, and she's been inside Felix's head. I have some ideas, but nothing too detailed. Sorry I'm not much help.
It's fine. We can ask him ourselves.
Her thoughts wander to Felix for a moment, and then, abruptly, she realizes Jenna still hasn't come back either. I'm sorry. I have to go.
He blinks at her in surprise and speaks aloud. "Wait, but Sheba—"
"You guys can catch up with Kraden, okay?" She scrambles to her feet and runs, sprinting up the stairs. Her vision from Shaman Village flashes through her head—Karst's scythe slicing down on Jenna—and it pushes her to go faster, until she arrives at the aerie and hears the distinctive sound of metal on metal. A fight.
She swings around the corner just in time to see her vision coming true, and without a second thought she lunges forward, hand outstretched, and what she meant to be a Spark Plasma spell has suddenly exploded beyond the normal reaches of her power. Thunder roars overhead, and a bright streak of lighting cracks from the sky like a whip, striking Karst dead-on.
As it begins to rain, coming down in sheets, immediately soaking them all to the skin, Sheba can't quite believe it—she's never caused an actual storm from one of her attacks before. Jenna uses the distraction to back away from Karst and catch her breath.
"You came," she says, and she sounds exhausted, but Sheba can hear the relief in her voice too.
"Isaac and the others are safe," Sheba says. "I thought something must have gone wrong," she begins, and then she gets a good look at Felix's face and falters.
There's blood streaked across his nose, and his eyes are dark and fierce even with the reflection of the beacon in them. His body language is tight, angry, and it hits her suddenly why she's so terrified of him—he's exhibiting the exact same mannerisms as Agatio, and she remembers similar postures from Saturos as well. The look on his face is that of someone ready to make a killing blow.
Jenna doesn't seem to notice her hesitation, and tosses her a small smile. "Gotta say I'm not too thrilled about fighting like this, but I'm glad you're here."
Sheba nods, eyes still focused on Felix. "Yeah, I..."
"Agatio, we're rapidly being outnumbered," Karst says, and her partner shakes his head.
"It's not as though we can stop now," he says. "We have to keep fighting." He moves to strike at Felix again, but Felix somehow hears it over the noise of the storm and whirls to block it. The clang of their weapons makes Sheba's ears ring. She's fought before, even in fights to the death, but somehow, something about this seems sharper, harsher. Too real.
Sheba inhales deeply, once, and then charges in herself, deciding to join Jenna in fighting Karst.
Sheba isn't entirely sure how long they'd been fighting before she'd arrived, but the rest of the battle goes by quicker than she expected. The storm she'd created slowly eases and stops, but she doesn't feel any weaker. So she takes full advantage of her augmented power, and soon Karst collapses. Sheba knows that neither she nor Jenna have it in them to actually kill her, so they both step away, keeping a careful eye on her as they join Felix and Piers against Agatio.
The other Proxian is clearly tougher, but alone, it's not by much. Agatio falls after a well-placed blow by Piers, but even after it's clear that Agatio's completely down for the count, Felix moves as though he intends to strike again. She hears Piers speaking to him in a low, even voice, placing a hand on his arm, but can't pick up any words. Jenna goes to join them, and Sheba has no choice but to follow hesitantly behind.
"What should we do with them?" Sheba asks, and her voice shakes but she doesn't quite have the presence of mind to be embarrassed by it.
"Finish us," Agatio rasps. He coughs, and spits up blood.
"But think...what happens to your parents if neither we nor Saturos and Menardi return?" Karst says from where she lies several feet away. Sheba isn't sure when she regained consciousness, but she's glad it wasn't soon enough to make the fight last even longer.
Jenna scoffs. "Are you saying your people will kill our parents if you don't come back? Doubtful."
"Then quit standing around and do it," Agatio says. His eyes are locked on Felix. "You're of Prox, aren't you?"
And Felix, still with that black look in his eyes, takes another step forward to plant his boot on Agatio's chest, and raises his sword. Nausea rolls over Sheba in waves, and she feels as though gravity is physically dragging her down and pinning her in place. In her haze, she wonders if it's Felix, even in spite of the complete lack of evidence that he's using Psynergy at all.
Sheba remembers Felix soaked to his thighs in seawater, taking a bowl of milk to a forlorn white dog on a tsunami-wrecked island. He'd taken one look at the tiny turtle they got in return and said, "I know exactly what this little guy needs."
She can't reconcile the image in her head with the one in front of her eyes.
"No, Felix! Don't!" It's Alex's voice, as he races up the stairs to meet them. Sheba can't even bring herself to be surprised by his sudden appearances anymore. At least he'd walked in this time, like a normal person. "Don't you understand? If you kill them here, if Karst is not bluffing, everything you've done up until now will have been for nothing. Isaac will suffer the same fate you do."
It's like all the life drains out of Felix in the space of a breath. He lowers his sword and steps away, and Sheba thinks she can see his shoulders shaking. Alex steps into the space Felix had occupied, and they watch as he heals first Agatio, and then Karst.
"Alex, what are you doing? Are you going to make us fight them again!?" Jenna asks, looking for all the world like she's actually ready to do so. Sheba still feels like she might throw up.
"Look at them, they can barely stand. They're in no shape for another fight."
"You'd better not be expecting a big thank you for this, Alex," Karst says.
"I would never ask for your gratitude," Alex says, and he's not smiling, but his voice sounds smug anyway. "However, we should be going before the others arrive."
"And how are you planning on avoiding them on your way down?" Jenna asks, gesturing to the fairly obvious exits to the aerie below the stairs.
Alex shrugs. "Now that the lighthouse has been lit, the elevators should be fully operational again." He warps himself and the two Proxians to stand on one of the far towers, and the platform begins to swiftly drop downward.
Right on cue, Sheba can hear the voices of Isaac and his friends as they near the aerie. She forces herself to turn around in time to see them arrive, thankfully looking much better than the last time she'd seen them. The joviality they have doesn't last long, though, once they spot the blood smeared across the stones of the aerie.
"What happened here?" Garet says, immediately on the offensive. "And where'd those other two go?"
Piers jerks a thumb over his shoulder to where the lift is just returning. "They took off. With Alex, unfortunately."
"We want to know what's going on, Felix," Isaac says, and with that look in his eyes, bright and determined, Sheba can see why Jenna is so taken with him.
"It's not quite that easy," Kraden says, raising his hands in a placating manner. "There are a number of...extenuating circumstances."
"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Garet challenges. Felix looks away, and Garet starts up the stairs, reaching for the handle of his axe.
Ivan—bless him, Sheba's starting to appreciate him more and more by the minute—grabs the back of Garet's shirt to yank him backward, then runs halfway up the stairs to place himself between the two groups. "Stop it, guys. It's obvious none of us are in shape for another fight right now."
"Ivan?" Isaac says, looking questioningly—but not angrily, Sheba notes—at his friend.
"I'm just saying we should go back to Contigo and sort things out there. No weapons."
"That's a sound plan, Ivan. I fully agree," says Kraden.
Felix, however, is backing away and shaking his head. "I'm sorry, no—"
"Felix!" Jenna says sharply, but her voice breaks on the end. "He's right, it's time we explained ourselves."
"But Jenna—"
"We're going." She turns to Isaac, and attempts a smile. "I'm sorry. We'll be there, I promise. I... I hope you can still trust me."
Isaac doesn't return the smile, but he does meet her eyes. "I never stopped trusting you, Jenna." He spins on his heel and leads his small group to the elevator, pausing before stepping on to turn back and look at Felix again. "We'll be expecting you there, Felix. You owe us an explanation."
The elevator descends, leaving the five of them standing on the aerie watching it go.
After a pause, Jenna turns to Felix and slaps him clear across the face. "How could you," she says, and her voice is high-pitched again in the way it gets when she's going to start crying. Before even giving him a chance to explain, she turns and runs for the elevator that Alex's group had taken before, which had returned while they were talking. Felix simply stands there, staring at the ground, hand pressed to his face where she'd hit him. Sheba half expects him to heal himself, but he doesn't.
Sheba's eyes dart back and forth between the two siblings and then, sending a brief look of apology towards Felix, takes off after Jenna. "Hey, wait!"
Jenna pauses and allows her to catch up, and then keeps walking once she has, stepping on to the elevator and waiting.
"He's just upset," Sheba attempts, and Jenna shakes her head.
"No, he's stubborn." Felix, Piers and Kraden reach the elevator then, and she sets her jaw and turns away, making it obvious she's not going to say anything else on the subject.
The walk back to Contigo is nearly silent, a far cry from the casual chatter and jokes of the walk that morning. Piers jogs ahead to get rooms at the inn for them, and Sheba wishes she could go with him just for the sake of avoiding the tension in the air between the Valean siblings. When they reach the edge of town, though, Piers is already heading back their way, shaking his head.
"They only had one room available, the rest were full up," he says. "I reserved it, but..."
"Let's stay in the ship," Felix says abruptly, and starts to leave, but Jenna grabs his arm. If the way he winces is any indication, she's digging her fingers in more sharply than she needs to.
"No. We're not leaving town. If you get back on the ship you're going to leave without talking to them, and I won't let you do that."
"I can't have more people getting involved," he says tersely, and Jenna shakes her head, those tears that Sheba had seen starting on Jupiter Lighthouse finally spilling over.
"They're already involved, Felix! They saw you die, remember? And Mom and Dad with you. Who do you think was there to pick up the pieces of me when that happened, huh?" Felix just looks at her, and she continues. "Them. Isaac and Garet treated me like a person, instead of a fragile little doll like the rest of Vale. It's because of them that I—"
"That you hated me?" Felix bursts out, and Sheba jumps. She's never heard his voice reach that volume before. "Jenna, for the entire first month after Mount Aleph, you barely spoke to me, and you never looked at me if you didn't have to. You didn't believe me when I told you about our parents until Kraden, for whatever reason, decided to vouch for me. You thought Saturos and Menardi brainwashed me or something, remember?"
"Can you blame me?! You never seemed the happiest with me there, either!"
"Because I didn't want you involved! I was supposed to be the villain, Jenna!"
"Yeah, well you definitely acted like one. Would it have killed you to treat me like your sister instead of more baggage to cart around?"
"I couldn't! If I let you get close to me again, you'd just be disappointed when I—"
"Oh, here you go again," Jenna snaps, "putting words in my mouth like you know what's best for me. Yeah, it hurt, Felix, I'm not going to lie to you and say it didn't. But I forgave you for that because I love you. You're the only brother I have and I didn't want to lose you twice!"
"I'm sorry," Felix says, voice breaking. "Okay? I'm sorry."
Jenna looks just as shocked as Sheba feels, but her anger's clearly gone, and she reaches up to pull her brother into a hug. He leans his head against her shoulder, having to tilt his neck at what looks like a slightly uncomfortable angle to do so, and she rises up on her toes in an attempt to help. "Hey... It's okay, Felix. We're gonna make it out of this."
Sheba looks at Piers, who shakes his head and gives a little shrug. Kraden doesn't seem fazed, but Sheba and Piers aren't quite sure how to contribute, or if they're even needed. Sheba's known from the beginning, since the first time she ever read his mind, how emotional Felix is inside his own head. He feels deeply, whether that feeling is compassion or sadness or anger. But she's never seen him let it all out like he had today.
Eventually, Felix's shoulders stop shaking and he pulls away from Jenna, straightening up and rubbing the back of his hand over his red eyes. He meets Sheba's eyes and attempts a smile.
"I'm okay."
She nods once, doubtfully, and finally says, "I think we should all get to bed."
"In our single inn room," Jenna says, and Piers shrugs apologetically.
"It was that or the ground outside."
It turns out they did get lucky with their room in a way, because there are two beds instead of just the one they were expecting, which would've been given to Kraden. Felix and Piers insist on Jenna and Sheba taking the remaining bed, and Sheba's own resistance to do so is just for appearances. The mattress looks thin and ragged but it's better than sleeping on the floor, and she's glad for it. She's fairly certain Jenna feels the same way.
Sheba had forgotten, though, that Jenna's increased body heat is nearly unbearable in close quarters. The heat keeps her awake longer than she's happy with, and before she knows it she's already lost control of her thoughts. The same worries from before Jupiter Lighthouse are still there, but multiplied several times over now that her only obvious path to an answer has failed.
With a frustrated sigh, she stands up and takes the two steps across the room to where Felix is lying on the floor. She crouches down next to his head and just looks at him for a moment, not really sure what she's looking for.
He opens his eyes. Of course he hadn't been asleep, Felix never falls asleep that quickly, and she knows it. She still jumps back a little in surprise.
"What're you doing," he says in a low voice, and she shrugs helplessly.
"I don't know. Worrying."
"About what?" he asks, pushing himself up and sitting cross-legged in front of her.
She sighs. "You really scared me today, you know."
He looks genuinely confused. "What? When?"
"During the fight," she says. "You were really going to kill them."
"It's a Proxian thing, they'd have no honor if they went home after a loss," he says, and she shakes her head.
"That doesn't make it okay."
"Sheba, please, don't..."
"I was so scared, Felix. Please promise me you'll never get like that again."
"I can't."
"Felix—"
"Keep it down," he hisses, and then looks at the floor. Eventually, he says, "They were going to take you with them."
"What?"
"They saw no use for Piers and I anymore. They were prepared to kill us, and Jenna. All the better for them, really, because then we wouldn't be going to Prox for our parents. But you..." He swallows. "Karst said they still could use you."
Sheba's heard similar things before, so it doesn't come as a surprise. The mind reading and the premonitions mean that everyone wants her on their side, whether she wants to be there or not, and that's even without the Jupiter Adept wind powers. But she still shudders.
"And I couldn't let that happen to you again," Felix says. "I said I'd protect you."
"You did protect me," she begins, but he interrupts her again.
"It's never enough. It's one thing or the other with you, I swear, you're either fainting out of the blue or someone's trying to hurt you." He shakes his head. "I said I'd get you home, but I didn't think it would be this hard."
"That's okay," she says quietly, and he makes a questioning noise. "I don't want to go back to Lalivero anyway. Lalivero's not home." She rests her chin on her bent knees and looks past him, out the window. "I don't know where my home is."
He laughs a little, but there's no humor in it. "I know how that feels... I can't go back to Prox, and they probably won't take me back in Vale. But I have nowhere else."
"So we're both of us homeless," she says quietly, and he just nods, then turns to follow her gaze out the window, out at the stars.
"What are you looking for?" he asks, but she doesn't answer at first, biting her lip and trying to figure out how to phrase it.
"You know, Felix," she says, and he answers with a soft hum. "I thought I was going to find answers at the lighthouse, by traveling with you all. Or—or learn something about my past. But I didn't get any of that." Out of the corner of her eye, he turns slightly to look at her in surprise.
"That's why you came with us."
"Yeah. I wanted to find my home." She shrugs a little. "I learned about the lighthouses when I was little—you remember, Lalivero is so close to Venus Lighthouse—but Jupiter called to me. I thought for sure I must have some ties to it. And then we came here, and there's all this talk about Anemos, and an ancient civilization in the sky..."
"It was Ancient Anemosian you were speaking when you fainted, wasn't it," he says, and she nods. No sense faking it anymore.
"Yeah. There's ruins in town here, with writing that I could read without even trying. So I thought that if we could just light the beacon..." She drops her head, hiding her face. "But we did, and nothing. No answers."
"I'm sorry." She glances back at him, and he's looking at her, but she can tell by his expression that he's not sure what she wants to hear.
"It's not your fault. I just... I'm gonna go back to bed."
He nods, and only after she's walked back across the room to lie next to Jenna does she realize he hadn't touched her at all during the entire conversation. And as confusing as those touches had been, she had started to expect them. They were like his way of saying "it's okay."
She eventually does fall asleep, but doesn't feel rested in the morning at all.