Chapter VII
Walking and Running
"I don't think the girl drags her feet enough," Menardi muttered sardonically.
Jenna ignored her, gasping for breath as she leaned against a tree. Saturos had driven them like dogs, determined to put Vale as far behind them as he could. The first few hours had been the hardest, as Saturos directed them down the rough forest terrain of Mt. Aleph. It had grown dark before they had finally made it to level ground. But then he had made them continue on for the rest of the night.
Finally, seeing how tired everyone was, he begrudgingly allowed them a moment's rest.
Jenna glanced at him, seeing his own chest rising and falling faster than he would want anyone to notice.
It had been dark out when they had finally cleared Mt. Aleph. Now, Jenna could see the sun just beginning to climb up from behind the horizon. Thinking back, she realised she and Isaac had passed through the doors into Sol Sanctum barely past noon.
She was so exhausted. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and rest. In her own bed, in her home. However…
Her eyes turned to her brother, who was sitting with crossed legs under another tree, his eyes on the ground. Sensing her gaze, he looked up, and Jenna found somewhere else to look before their eyes could meet.
She clenched her fist, her nails digging into the skin of her palm.
Kraden was then at her side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright, Jenna." Out of everyone there, he was the only person who showed no sign of fatigue. Even at such a time, Jenna couldn't help but wonder how a man his age had so much energy.
Menardi went over to Saturos' side. "Alex slipped off at some point," she said to him quietly.
"Slippery bastard. How long ago?"
"Not sure. I know he was there when we came down from the mountain."
"Hmph. Well, he knows where we're going. We'll meet him there."
And Jenna wondered, where was it they were going? At this point she had no illusions that Saturos would no longer need them and would set them free. He could have done that at any point on the way down the mountain.
She whispered to Kraden, "We need to escape."
Kraden didn't answer right away. His eyes grew narrow and thoughtful, studying Saturos and Menardi like they were one of his old books. He frowned behind his grey beard, and then slowly nodded.
"Do you have any ideas?"
"As of now, we can only wait until an opportunity presents itself," he answered quietly. After a moment of thought, he continued, "We cannot attempt to fight or run, especially with how tired we are now."
Menardi said to her partner, "We'll need new cloaks before we make it to the town."
"Yes," Saturos answered. "Felix!"
Jenna's brother rose to his feet and strode over to where Saturos and Menardi were.
"Go ahead to the town and buy new cloaks. Wait for us in the spot we spoke of earlier."
He nodded, and started away from them, towards the dirt road not far from where they rested.
"They can only be talking about Vault," Kraden said quietly. "Bilibin is too far to send Felix on his own. And it makes sense that they would go right to Vault to rest after robbing the sanctum."
"Do you think we could escape in Vault?"
"Possibly. We'll have to see how things play out. Right now it's just the two of them, but that other guy could come back at any time. We'll have to plan this just right."
At that moment, Saturos drew himself up.
"Let's go."
He cast them a distrusting look. Jenna suddenly felt a chill run down her back. She could see in his eyes - he knew they were up to something. Had he noticed their whispering? Or was he simply expecting they would try to escape, as anyone in their situation would?
Kraden was right. They would have to be careful. Something told her they weren't getting a second chance if they failed.
The sun shined bright in a sky with few clouds. It had been several hours since leaving Vale, and so far Isaac and Garet's journey was off to a good start.
It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago, a mountain had erupted.
It wouldn't be long before lunch time, but Isaac hadn't decided if they would be stopping or not. They had brought a little food with them, what small amount they could grab from their own homes without emptying their parents' pantries. It was enough to last a few days, which was good for now. They had a small purse of gold coins, which contained both of their savings combined. It wasn't much, and it wouldn't be enough to buy supplies for the rest of the journey, which meant they would need to make more along the way. Odd jobs in the towns ahead might be necessary.
"My feet already hurt," Garet complained.
"Better get used to it," Isaac said. "Something tells me this trip won't be short."
"Unless we catch up to Felix and them right away. Who knows, we could save Jenna and Kraden and the Stars and be on our way back before the week is through."
Isaac had considered that, but he really didn't think it would all be done so quickly.
"Even if we did manage to catch up with them, do you think we could face them now? You remember what happened when you tried to attack Saturos in the sanctum."
Garet frowned, probably still nursing a bruised ego from that. "That's true."
"We'll need to get a lot stronger if we're gonna beat those guys," Isaac said. "We'd better make sure we train while we're travelling. Catching up to them right away won't do us any good if they just kill us and take the Mars Star."
"Do you think we even could get that strong?" Garet asked. "Those two were inhumanly powerful. And that other guy - the blue-haired one - he had Psynergy that let him hover around and teleport. I've never even heard of Psynergy like that - who knows what else he can do? How can we match that?"
"I don't know, honestly," Isaac said. "But we have to try. For Jenna's sake, and for Weyard. We have time to get stronger."
That made him curious about something, but he wouldn't be able to check while walking. He stopped, and spotted a large tree not too far from the path. "Let's stop and have a quick meal."
They sat down under the tree, and Isaac took out some sandwiches and a few strips of jerky. Garet devoured the jerky while Isaac unfolded his large map, which covered the continent of Angara and some of northern Gondowan. He ran his finger over the lines representing roads, and said the names of towns quietly to himself.
The only towns that were close to Vale were Vault and Lunpa, but Lunpa was on the other side of some mountains.
"If I was them, I would have gone to Vault after fleeing from Vale," Isaac said aloud. "It's the closest town, and it's a good place to hide and rest."
"So that's where we're going?" Garet asked with a mouth full of sandwich.
"Yeah. While we're there, we can stock up on supplies and hopefully get some new weapons." As they were now, Isaac was armed with his old machete and Garet had his fists. There would be monsters on the road, so they would need some proper equipment.
"And what if we run into them in Vault?"
Isaac considered that. "If they're smart, they won't linger. Now that they have the Elemental Stars, they're going to make a beeline for the nearest Lighthouse."
"And which one is that?"
Isaac consulted the map again. "Only two of them are on this map. Mercury and Venus. Neither are very close to here. Mercury is pretty far north, next to some town called Imil. And Venus Lighthouse is even farther away, down south on the corner of Gondowan. So I'm guessing they'll be headed for Mercury."
Garet finished his sandwich, and wiped the corners of his mouth. "What exactly are these lighthouse places?"
"Kraden spoke of them a few times in his classes. If you'd ever paid attention, I'm sure you would remember. He said they were towers built in the Lost Age. There's one for each element, and they're scattered across Weyard. Apparently, at the top of each one is a aerie where one of the Elemental Stars can be thrown in, and doing so will undo the seal on that element. Doing this with all four will completely free Alchemy. So I guess they're like dams, holding back the flow of Alchemy's power."
"And these people want to undo these seals because they're after that power?"
"What other reason could they be doing this for? Unleashing Alchemy would bring nothing good to the world. Look at all the terrible things that just stealing the Stars have caused. Those two can't be after anything noble or good - not with how ruthless they are, or what they're willing to do."
Isaac had his sandwich in his hand, untouched. He gave it to Garet. He'd suddenly lost his appetite.
"I think the storm three years ago is proof enough of that," he added quietly.
It took the better part of a day to get from Vale to Vault on foot, Jenna knew. She'd never left Vale before, but her parents had a few times before she was born, and their accounts matched up with what she had heard from Kraden and others.
The day was in its later hours as the small town of Vault first came within view. The town was nothing in size compared to Vale, which itself was considered "sleepy" and "quaint" by travellers who had come from distant cities like Kalay and Tolbi. Nestled between two hills as it was, the village had little room to grow or expand, and thus it never had.
Normally, Jenna would have been very excited to see another town for the first time. But with the circumstances as they were, she could not enjoy herself.
The four of them stopped before drawing too close to the town.
"Felix should be waiting for us at the entrance to a cave north of the town," Saturos explained, clearly for Jenna and Kraden's sake, as he and Menardi would already know this. "Assuming he was able to accomplish even this meagre task. We'll find him, rest there for a few minutes, and then move on."
Jenna felt her heart sinking.
"We're not stopping for the night in Vault?" Kraden dared to ask.
"No," Saturos answered, surprisingly devoid of any irritation. He must have been expecting the questions. "I've changed my mind. We'll continue on until after sundown, and then make camp in the woods."
She and Kraden exchanged dismayed looks. She was so tired she felt she could sleep on her feet. Her legs and feet ached from the long day of walking, and they hadn't let her eat nearly enough to stave off the growling hunger in her stomach.
All she had wanted was a warm bed to sleep in and enough peace to try and forget for a few hours the horrible events that had overturned her life. Instead, she would be spending the night out in the cold, on the ground.
On her birthday.
She thought she would have been able to spend her birthday with Isaac and Garet and their friends and family. She'd expected a cake, a song, and a few nice presents. She wasn't heartbroken that she'd lost those things - she was heartbroken that she'd lost her home and everyone that she cared about.
Not since the boulder had she felt so alone.
Before she knew it, she was sobbing.
"Jenna…" Kraden said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
She wasn't looking up at Saturos or Menardi. She knew they would be furious with her. It wouldn't be long before Saturos barked at her to stop crying and keep moving, the way he'd barked at her all night long.
But the harsh words didn't come.
Finally, she looked up to see the two Proxians staring at her, waiting.
"If you're done weeping, I'm sure your brother is waiting patiently for us." Saturos' voice was hard and his eyes devoid of any sympathy. He turned and started off, and said, "I hope you aren't going to sob every night you don't get an inn room and a hot meal. It would make for a very long and tiresome trip."
Menardi watched her for just a moment longer before continuing on herself, saying nothing, but Jenna could have sworn she saw the slightest flicker of pity in her eyes.
Saturos led them over a series of hills, travelling around the town, but not coming close enough to it to see anything. Eventually they reached the top of a large hill not too far from a small wooden tower with a bell. As expected, Jenna's brother was waiting there by the entrance to a cave, carrying two folded brown cloaks.
Saturos took the cloaks from him without a word, and handed one to Menardi. They unfolded them, checked the sizes, and then wrapped them back up and put them away in their backpacks.
Jenna's brother watched them put away the cloaks with a frown, and asked, "Are we not going to Vault?"
Saturos explained to him the situation. Though her brother didn't ask the reason for the change of plans, he glanced briefly at his sister, and didn't look happy about the situation.
They continued on, a group of five again, and made their way down the hilly terrain, towards a large forest in the distance.
As they walked, Kraden drew near Jenna.
"I've thought about our situation," Kraden whispered to her. "All day, in fact. I've come to a few conclusions, and I think I have come up with the best course of action."
"You mean a plan to escape?"
"Yes."
Jenna's heart started pounding. She found herself smiling for the first time that day. There was hope. "What is it?"
"Firstly, I've considered how things back at Vale must have gone," Kraden said. "I'm sure Isaac and Garet got out of Sol Sanctum, and I'm sure they won't abandon you to these villains. Not only would they want to rescue you, as their friend, but the Elemental Stars are too dangerous to simply leave to these people. I have no doubt the elders will charge Isaac and Garet with their recovery."
"But why them?"
"Among other reasons, they are the most proficient fighters Vale has to offer these days, and they are at least partially responsible for the Stars being taken in the first place. But that's not important. What is important is that you haven't been forgotten or abandoned. I'm sure Isaac will be on his way to save you, if he isn't already."
"You keep saying 'you', Kraden," Jenna pointed out. "Isaac and Garet will want to save you, too."
He ignored that, continuing, "If Isaac left Vale this morning, then he wouldn't be too far behind. And I'm sure he would stop in Vault, as he would expect us to stop there."
"Exactly," Jenna replied. "That must be why Saturos decided not to stay in Vault."
"We might not be able to get away with how closely they watch us," Kraden said. "At least, not both of us."
Jenna blinked. "What are you saying?"
"I think they're counting on us trying to escape together," he explained. "They figure we wouldn't be able to get very far. And they're right - I'm old and I would slow you down. But if you go on your own-"
"No!" Jenna hissed, still trying to keep her voice down. "I can't leave you behind! I won't!"
"Better one of us get away than neither," Kraden insisted. "It's you I worry about. If you make a break for it at the right moment, you might be able to get back to Vault. Isaac will be there. You'd be safe, and away from these monsters."
"But what about you? You won't be safe…"
He shook his head. "I cannot let them go. Not while they have the Elemental Stars. There's only one thing they could be planning to do with them, and I pray I'm somehow wrong about that, because such a thing could threaten all of Weyard. No… it would threaten it. I, at least, must stay with them. I need to learn what I can about who they are, and what they're after.
"Jenna, while I want you to be safe and away from here, I still have need of you. You wouldn't be abandoning me at all, but helping me. Isaac and Garet will still need to stop them and take back the Stars. If you can find them, you could join them in this task. The three of you would have a far greater chance at success if you work together."
Jenna bit her lip, unsure what to say.
"They won't hurt me," Kraden reassured her. "I'm too old to risk the injury, and too valuable to their task. If they are going where I think they are, my knowledge as an Alchemy sage is invaluable to them. They have much to gain by holding you hostage, but they need me."
"You don't know that…"
"And my being with them gives me the opportunity to help Isaac's task," he continued. "I could leave clues for Isaac, and do what I can here and there to slow them down. But I can't take these risks while you're here. They cannot harm me, but they could hurt you to control me."
"That's not fair," Jenna said in a defeated voice. But she knew he was right. Perhaps not about all of it, but at least the last part. As long as she was there, Saturos could use her against Kraden. They couldn't count on her brother to protect her, nor expect it.
As long as she was there, she was a burden on Kraden's shoulders, and a chain holding him in place.
"Alright," she said. "When should I make a break for it?"
"I've thought about that, as well," Kraden said. "It won't be easy, but I have an idea."
Despite having checked his map several times, Isaac still wasn't sure if they were going in the right direction. He was sure the road they were on was the one that led right to Vault, but he felt they should have reached it by now. They had been walking since their short break midday, but they had yet to come across the small town.
Isaac was about to stop and take the map back out when he saw a caravan in the distance, stopped at a crossroad. Merchants, clearly. Isaac had seen a few come to Vale over the years, selling wares out of horse-drawn waggons just like the ones he saw now.
The waggons were stopped, and a small group of men were standing in a circle, looking over a map. They seemed to be arguing.
He and Garet exchanged looks, silently wondering if they should approach these men, or just go on their way. Isaac shrugged. There didn't seem to be any danger. They were just merchants. And it would give them an opportunity to ask where Vault was.
The three merchants didn't even notice them as they drew near.
"…absolute madness! We can't go east, not with our merchandise, at least. The waggons would never make it over those mountains-"
"What other option do we have? North would be even worse. You know how merchants are welcomed in Lunpa."
"West is out of the question! There's nothing in that direction but the mountain that caused all this chaos in the first place!"
Isaac wasn't sure if interrupting them was a good idea, but he did. "Um… excuse me?"
The three merchants stopped talking at once, and looked to him in shock.
"Er…" Isaac wasn't sure what to say.
"Ah, sorry young man," one of the merchants said. He was a somewhat overweight man with a fine moustache and expensive clothes. "We were so caught up in our discussion we didn't even hear you approaching. What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to ask how to get to Vault from here. Are we on the right road?"
The merchant let out a hearty laugh. "We actually just came from Vault. Just follow this road," he said, pointing, "and you'll make it there in about uh… two hours on foot, I suppose."
"That's good to hear," Isaac said.
The merchant offered his hand. "My name is Hammet. Merchant and lord of Kalay."
Isaac's eyes widened in surprise, but he thankfully remembered to shake the man's hand. "You're the lord of Kalay?"
"I am. Built the city from the ground up."
"I'm sorry, I've never heard of you. I have heard of Kalay, and met merchants from there when they stopped in my town. They always had great items."
Isaac wasn't certain, but he believed that the wooden bird he'd received years ago - which he was still carrying, he remembered - had been bought from a Kalay merchant.
Hammet frowned. "Where are you from?"
"Vale. Oh, I'm Isaac, by the way. And this is my friend, Garet."
Garet waved.
Hammet glanced at the other two merchants in surprise. Turning back to Isaac, he asked, "Are you fleeing from Mt. Aleph as well?"
"Not quite."
"You saw the eruption, I'm sure. Is the town all right? Was anyone hurt?"
"Vale's fine. The lava never reached the town."
"Thank the gods for that," Hammet said. "Vault was not so lucky. Flaming rocks fell from the sky. Most were no bigger than a fist, but a few were huge. One punched a hole in the roof of the inn, and another struck one of my waggons. Shattered it to pieces. Most of the items on it were utterly destroyed - I'm going to suffer a huge loss because of it."
"Wow," Isaac muttered. "I can't believe it. I'm sorry to hear that."
Isaac looked to Garet, who looked equally surprised. If the eruption had caused damage as far away as Vault, it must have really taken some great power from the Wise One to keep Vale safe.
"In addition to that, a band of thieves took advantage of the chaos to steal several valuable items in the town. I lost a few things, all of them valuable, but nothing I would miss. Except for one item, that is. I had to leave my servant behind to reclaim it, as we cannot afford to stay in this area any longer. Mt. Aleph could erupt again, for all we know."
"So you guys were just now trying to decide where to go?"
"That's right. The bridge south to Kalay was destroyed, so we have no way of getting home now. Going east or north are the only options right now."
"It has to be east," one of the merchants cut in. "I'd rather take the risk of navigating the waggons over the mountains than the risk of going to Lunpa."
"Even if we did make it over the mountains, what then?" Hammet asked his companion. "Do we stay in Bilibin until the bridge is repaired? Go even further east to Kolima? We'd still have to cross the mountains again to make it back to Kalay. We simply cannot make the journey through the Alpine region and the Lamakan Desert."
"What is the alternative?"
"You've heard the rumours about Dodonpa," Hammet said. "He's greedy - he won't pass a chance to make money. We'll sell what we have, and contract Dodonpa's people to repair the bridge. He'll make all the profit, but at least we'll be able to get home."
"Or he'll kidnap you and ransom money from Kalay," the other merchant replied.
"That's a possibility, but if the man has any sense he'll know the long-term repercussions of such an act." Hammet turned back to Isaac. "I apologise that you had to hear that. We have a difficult decision to make."
"I see that," Isaac said. "Well, we should get going. Thank you for pointing us in the right direction."
"Think nothing of it. When you make it to Vault you should stop and say hello to my servant Ivan. If you could help him in any way, I would reward you graciously."
They continued on, following the path Hammet had pointed out.
"That man's troubles are our fault," Isaac muttered as they walked.
"What makes you say that?" Garet asked.
"The eruption damaged his merchandise and got something really important to him stolen," Isaac muttered. "If it hadn't been for us, it would never have happened…"
"Yeah, and if your mom and dad hadn't met, you wouldn't have been born," Garet said. "Does that make it their fault you went to Sol Sanctum? Look man, you can't beat yourself up over every bad thing this ends up causing. You have enough on your plate as it is. 'When you make a decision, the things that happen afterwards are only your fault if you knew they were going to happen'. My grandpa said that once."
"But still-"
"No. You can't beat yourself up about this. We have a long way to go, and I don't want you to be mopey the whole way. Just focus on the task at hand. We may be responsible for the fate of the world, but that doesn't mean we have to fix every single problem in it."
Isaac grew silent.
They continued on for several minutes.
"That merchant said if we could help his servant he would reward us, right?" Garet asked suddenly. "We need money and supplies. We should see what we can do while we're in Vault."
"You just said we should focus on the task at hand and not try to fix every problem in the world."
"Yeah, but this is one situation where stopping to help someone could benefit us. It's for the quest, Isaac."
"But-"
"For the quest, Isaac."
"Garet, that's not-"
"For the quest."
Isaac sighed and shook his head.
The sun eventually set, and not too long after that, Saturos picked a spot in the forest and declared that was where they would camp for the night.
While the others were busy starting a fire and getting settled, Jenna went to the edge of the clearing, as far away from everyone else as she could manage. She threw down her things, made up the bed roll she'd been given, and lay down, facing away from the others.
Nobody said anything.
A few minutes later, a small fire was burning in the middle of the clearing, and the two Proxians were talking quietly with one another. Jenna could hear their voices, but not make out what they were saying. Kraden was sitting not too far from her, and Felix was by himself sitting against a tree somewhere else.
Jenna waited patiently.
Eventually, Kraden rose and walked over to where Felix was sitting. As per their plan, the sage was going to strike up a conversation with the boy.
Jenna waited several minutes more, listening to the faint sounds of the conversations between Saturos and Menardi, Kraden and Felix, and the flickering of the fire.
She turned over just enough to peek out at the clearing.
Saturos and Menardi were sitting at opposite ends of the fire, talking quietly with intense looks on their faces. Saturos had one of the mythril bags in his hand, and he was rolling around the Elemental Star within.
Over at another edge of the small clearing, Felix was talking similarly with Kraden. Her brother looked troubled. It was hard to tell, because Jenna had no desire to look at him very long.
In any case, nobody was watching her.
Jenna rose as quietly as she could and took several slow steps away from the camp, being very careful not to step on any twigs or leaves as she did.
Her excuse if she were caught was that she needed to empty her bladder. While she didn't think the Proxians would believe that, and Menardi would be sent to keep an eye on her, it would be better than being caught in the act with no reason for why she was sneaking away.
Thankfully, she didn't need it, as nobody seemed to notice her leaving.
She continued to move quietly until she was a good distance away from the clearing, and then her steps quickened. Her heart beating like a drum, she listened for the tell-tale shout that would mean Saturos had noticed her absence. But it didn't come, and eventually she was far enough away that she was able to break out into a run.
Though Jenna was still exhausted and her legs burned from a whole night and day of marching, she ran like the wind, excitement fuelling her steps.
She had gotten away!
The minutes passed, and Jenna did not stop for even a second to rest. Trees flew past her in a blur, and the forest gradually cleared out. Nobody was chasing her.
She wasn't sure how long she had been running when she saw Vault in the distance.
It was only then that she stopped to breathe for a moment.
While catching her breath, Jenna turned around and looked back at the forest.
Nobody had followed her.
With a smile on her face, Jenna took a few steps towards freedom before she froze in place.
A cerulean-haired figure stood before her.
"Going somewhere?" Alex asked.
They walked back in silence.
Jenna had considered trying to flee from Alex, but with his teleportation Psynergy, it would have been a waste of effort, and she was tired enough as it was. Trying to fight him would have been equally pointless - she had no weapons and she could tell his Psynergy was stronger than hers even from the little she'd seen him use it.
In the end, she had no choice but to bow her head in defeat and follow the Mercury Adept back to the camp.
After several minutes of silence, she suddenly asked him, "Why didn't you save them?"
"Hmm?"
"In the sanctum, when it was all crumbling apart. You have that Psynergy that lets you warp around. You could have saved Isaac and Garet with it."
Alex said nothing.
"You could have the Mars Star right then and there. And you wouldn't have needed to take us hostage. All this awfulness could have been avoided if you would have just saved them-"
"Indeed, I did not leave the Mars Star behind out of choice," Alex said. "I did consider saving your friends. But there were a number of factors stopping me from doing so. It is dangerous to warp where I cannot see, and I had no idea where they had gone. If they had fallen into the water, I definitely could not have saved them, as I cannot warp into or out of a solid or liquid body. And then there was the Wise One - I'm sure you didn't miss the amount of power that being had. Taking the time to rescue your friends would have given it more time to notice us."
"None of those are reasons why you didn't try," Jenna said contemptuously. "You just didn't want to risk your own neck."
"You'll believe whatever you will, of course," Alex said. He then smirked, and continued, "Though you're wrong about one thing. Saturos intended to take you and Kraden as hostages from the beginning. Maybe not you specifically, but someone Kraden cared for. It just happened to work out rather well."
So that meant that Kraden's theory was right after all, Jenna thought. They did need him, and they just wanted Jenna there to keep him in line.
They continued through the forest for a few moments more, the only sound being the leaves crunching under their feet, before Alex added, "But don't tell your brother that. He wouldn't like finding out that Saturos lied to him. And it would be so much easier for everyone if we all just got along."
Jenna wasn't sure what to make of that.
They were silent for the few minutes more that it took to make it back to the clearing. Jenna approached the small camp, and as she got close enough to see in the dim camp fire, she saw the other four waiting for them.
Her brother was standing, looking tense, while Saturos and Menardi stood with crossed arms and expressions of barely-contained rage. Kraden stood beside them, his head bowed. At the sound of their approach, he looked up, and Jenna nearly gasped at seeing a swelling wound in his forehead, and some dried blood running down his cheek.
It would seem he had been wrong about one thing.
Saturos approached her slowly, looking down at her with narrow eyes.
"I suspected you would run," he said. "Still, I was lenient with you. I gave you just enough rope to hang yourself. Menardi wanted to punish you for this, but I managed to talk her out of it. Be thankful for that."
Jenna dared to glance at Menardi. The woman stared at her with fire in her eyes, and her fingers ran over the dagger at her belt.
She must have been mistaken about the look of pity she'd thought she'd seen from Menardi earlier. The woman was as heartless as her partner, but at least he could control his fury.
"Still, we cannot take the risk of letting you get away again," Saturos continued, his voice cold. "Our mission is far too important for you to jeopardise it."
She noticed her brother was looking away, his fists clenched.
Saturos turned away from her. "Remember that I gave you a chance whenever you cry about how unfair this all is."
He walked away from her, and Menardi approached to take his place.
As she drew near, Jenna then saw the long, heavy silver chain wrapped in a coil around Menardi's arm.
It would seem she was getting a birthday present after all.
A/N: "The sun shined bright in a sky with few clouds."
While I was editing the chapter, I came across that line and couldn't stop laughing at the irony. For those who don't know, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII was recently announced as a DLC Character for Super Smash Bros 4. A lot of people, myself included, were really hoping that Isaac would get that spot (I've actually wanted him in smash since Melee). But alas, it was not to be. I can still play as Isaac in my modded version of Brawl, so I'm not that upset about it. I'm more disappointed in the lack of recognition and respect that Nintendo gives Golden Sun.
But enough of that. I should talk about the chapter.
I really liked how the Jenna scenes turned out. Initially they felt kinda pointless, but when revising the chapter I felt a strong sense of buildup to the moment at the end, with the chain. And also, I felt it was important to show that Jenna's not happy with being a captive, and that she would attempt to escape. In the game, we don't get to see her much during this period, so there's a lot of fun gaps to fill.
The Isaac parts were a bit more fillery, but I'm still pleased with how they turned out. I didn't want to have them simply arrive at Vault the chapter after they left, so I needed some material to cover the first day of the trip. I nearly wrote a monster encounter, but I changed my mind on that because it felt predictable and too "RPGish", if that makes sense. There will still be parts where monsters are encountered and fought, but I'd like our heroes to get some real weapons first :)
I've also started work on Bacorium Legacy II, the second part of my original fantasy series. It will be a very long time before it's done, as I'm going to work on it in addition to this story, but in the meanwhile I think I'll start posting the chapters of the first book over on fictionpress. If you enjoy this story and you like my writing style, you should head over to my fictionpress profile and follow me on there (a link can be found on my profile). Getting people to read a fanfic is easy, as these fandoms already have established audiences, but trying to plug an original story can be tough. I'd really appreciate anyone here checking Bacorium out (it's a good story, I promise).
Next Chapter: Ivan!