Chapter XI

Family Matters

Being a Mars Adept did not mean immunity to the cold, Jenna found. And the northern forests were so very, very cold.

They were two weeks out of Kolima, travelling along the northernmost edge of Angara. The green hills and farmlands were gone, replaced with snow and dead forests. The only signs of civilisation were the occasional fishing village by the sides of rivers, which they avoided.

On most days, Jenna could see the ocean in the distance. According to Alex, the seas in this region rarely froze over, even in winter, but farther to the north it was impossible to sail due to the thick ice. This was the region that Saturos and Menardi came from, he told her. A harsh place where only the strong survive. His own home, while by no means an easy place to live, was far less treacherous.

And that was the extent that he spoke of Imil.

All Jenna knew of Imil was that it was the northernmost settlement in Angara, and it stood at the foot of Mercury Lighthouse. It had been founded by the Mercury Clan, the ancient protectors of the lighthouse. Once a great and thriving people, the Mercury Clan now existed as only a small handful of people who carried the title in name only.

And this, she only knew because Kraden told her (which he had apparently taught in his lessons before, not that she could remember anything from those).

Still, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. Here was Alex, a powerful Mercury Adept, who had knowledge of Mercury Lighthouse and some desire to ignite its beacon. He came from a town that was the home of a secret clan of Adepts, whose mission was to keep the lighthouse from being lit.

There was something strangely familiar about that situation…

As they walked alone a road covered in knee-high snow, Jenna stole a glance at her brother. The bruise left on his cheek from before had faded to a mere echo, but it still served as a reminder of the incident from weeks before.

That he'd had the audacity to treat her that way, after what he had done - it told her that he bore no true remorse for his actions.

You're not ready yet. Perhaps in time, you'll understand…

There are more important things than you…

Jenna was not conceited to the point that she believed Weyard revolved around her. But still…

What was so much more important to him than her, that he would leave her alone for years without the knowledge that he lived, that he would betray their home and stay silent while his accomplices abducted her?

There had to be something more to lighting these beacons than what she knew. Something about it that no one was telling her; something beyond the mere promise of power that she was sure the two Proxians were after. No matter how far he might have fallen, Jenna couldn't believe that her brother would do all this just for power.

She stole another quick look at him. His eyes were resolute, determined. Before, she had mistaken his silence for a resignation similar to her own, but she was now doubting whether or not that were true.

There was something about the look in his eyes that bothered her.

She followed the direction of Felix's gaze, and saw what he was looking at: the faint outline of Mercury Lighthouse in the distance.

Of course. They were so close to the first milestone in this twisted journey of theirs, it was no wonder that it was on everyone's minds.

"So what's going to happen when we light the beacon?" Jenna asked, looking to Kraden.

The old sage frowned and looked down, not giving her an answer.

Alex provided one instead. "According to the ancient texts, we will toss the Mercury Star into the beacon, and a light will shine from it so bright that you can see it from the other side of Weyard. After that, powerful Mercury Psynergy will flow forth from the beacon into the world.

"But… as lighting the beacon isn't exactly something that has been done before, we really don't know for certain. We won't know until we do it."

He smiled, and then added, "We'll be the first in history to undertake this task. We're changing the world."

"More like destroying it," Jenna scoffed.

"That remains to be seen," Alex said.

"We're tampering with a force that was never meant to be tampered with," Jenna said. "Unleashing Alchemy may not destroy the world for certain, but what is there to gain by it?"

Alex said nothing, but he looked to the two Proxians ahead.

"They're after power," Jenna said. "You told me before, remember? Their society values power above all else. That's the only reason they're doing this… they couldn't care less about what happens to the world, as long as they can be the strongest in it."

Alex shrugged. "I cannot speak for them. I only know my own reasons for being here, which I do not wish to share at this time. Perhaps another day I will tell you."

Jenna scoffed.

Kraden then said, in his gentle voice, "There is a lot we do not understand about Alchemy. I have studied it my entire life, and my own knowledge of it is passing at best. It is hard to study something that no longer exists in the world."

"What are you saying?" Jenna asked, confused by the sudden return to the previous subject.

"Alex is right; we are about to witness an extraordinary event," he answered. "While unleashing Alchemy may spell the end for the world, the fact remains that we're doing something that no one else in history has. And the scholar in me cannot help but look forward to it."

Felix looked up from his introspective silence, and his eyes met Kraden's for a moment. Something unspoken passed between them.

They continued on in the direction of Imil, and Mercury Lighthouse.

"TAKE THAT!" Garet shouted as he let loose a stream of flame from his hands.

The fire engulfed the mauler above them, and the massive bear-like beast let out a roar of pain. It was engulfed in flames in mere seconds, transformed from a huge mass of claws and fur to a huge mass of claws, fur, and fire.

But it was still charging towards them, incinerated or not.

"Look out!" Isaac shouted.

The three Adepts scattered just in time as the mauler leapt down from the snow-covered bluff and tore into the ground with single-minded fury. Its claws ripped into the snow with such force that it sent a rain of snow and rocks flying around it.

Isaac landed some distance away, his fall cushioned by the snow. He pushed himself back up to his feet and drew the sword from his back. His reactions was getting faster now, he noticed.

The mauler turned towards Isaac, its eyes red and bloodthirsty. Garet's flames had been mostly put out by the mauler's landing and its savage attack at the ground where they had been standing. Now covered in burns from head-to-toe, the huge bear monster looked more angry than injured.

It started charging towards Isaac.

"Ivan!" Isaac shouted.

The young Jupiter Adept already knew what to do. Isaac felt the rush of Psynergy emanating from nearby, and he raised his sword, praying that Ivan would be fast enough.

He took a few steps back, preparing his own energy as the beast drew near.

The distance between them was closed far too quickly, and Isaac swore. With only one option left to him, he unleashed his Psynergy on the ground at his feet, sending himself flying backwards. The mauler charged right into the blast, swinging claws as huge as daggers at the space Isaac had been only a second before.

Isaac's airborne momentum ended when he collided with a tree.

He let out a pained cry and fell into the snow, feeling the bitter taste of blood in his mouth. For a moment, he feared his back had broken, but with relief he found his arms and legs could still move.

Still, the pain in his back was too great to climb to his feet. He looked up, seeing the mauler as best as he could through the snow in his face.

It was stopped in front of the hole Isaac had created with his explosion, its arms stuck in mid-swing. Though it twitched and struggled a bit, the mauler was stuck in place as though it was bound by a hundred ropes.

Ivan stood nearby, his eyes closed and strained as he fought a mental battle to keep the beast from breaking free.

"Garet, hurry!" Isaac shouted.

But it turned out to be unnecessary, as Garet was already running up to the monster, unbuckling the battleaxe on his back.

One bloody swing later, and the mauler was slain.

"Easy now, there you go," Garet said a moment later as he helped Isaac climb back to his feet. With how much pain his back was in, it took a few minutes just to stand back up.

"That damn thing came out of nowhere," Isaac groaned.

"I'm sorry, Isaac," Ivan said. "If I'd been faster, I could have bound it before it reached you."

Isaac waved his concerns away. As always, Ivan felt responsible for everything that went wrong.

"At least we're almost to Imil," Isaac said. "I'd hate to have to walk all day feeling like this."

The three Adepts looked to the distance, where Mercury Lighthouse stood high in the sky, dominating the horizon.

"It's still not lit," Garet observed.

"Which means we're not too late," Isaac said. "So we can't afford to waste time. Let's go."

After about an hour of slow, painful, and uncomfortable travel, the image of a small town began to appear in the distance. Isaac and company trudged their way through the heavy snow, eager to reach an inn and be out of the cold for the first time in at least a week.

Unsurprisingly, the streets of Imil were empty. The villagers appeared to be in their homes, sitting before fireplaces, judging by the many orange-glowing windows. Save for a single man who was for some reason doing squats, there wasn't a soul to be seen on the streets.

The Adepts approached the man and asked for directions.

"The inn's that way, and the sanctum's over there," he said, pointing in opposite directions for each. "I gotta say, you picked a bad time to come to Imil. The winter cold is going around, and just about everyone has it."

"So why are you out here doing squats then?" Garet asked.

"A full exercise regime is the best way to fight off illness!" the man declared with enthusiasm.

"I'm not sure it works like that…" Ivan muttered.

"Well a positive attitude helps a lot, too! All you need is to believe in yourself, and you can change the world!" the man said, showing far too much excitement than the subject warranted.

"For everyone's sakes, I hope that's true," Isaac said softly to himself. He turned to Garet and Ivan. "You guys go on ahead and get a room at the inn. I'll limp my way over to the sanctum and get my back taken care of."

"Are you sure?" Garet asked. "I can go with you, help you out if you need it. I'm sure Ivan can do the inn stuff on his own."

"No, it's okay. I kind of want some time by myself, actually."

Garet frowned, but he didn't push the issue. He nodded in the direction of the inn, and he and Ivan started off.

"See you in a bit," Ivan said, before disappearing around a turn.

Isaac said a quick word of thanks to the exercising man, and then headed off in the direction of the sanctum.

As he walked, he let out a tired sigh that had nothing to do with the pain in his back. He'd had trouble sleeping of late, the pressure of his task finally starting to weigh on him.

He had to stop the lighting of Mercury Lighthouse. It would mean the death of the people of Kolima, but not allowing it to be lit would be one step towards the end of the world. It was the lesser of two evils; the logical choice.

But no matter how much he reassured himself that it was the right thing to do, his conscience still tormented him for it.

Over his shoulder, the mighty tower of Mercury Lighthouse, now only a few miles away, stood as a reminder of what he now had to do. He'd avoided looking at it ever since it had first become visible on the horizon a few days ago.

It was surreal, how close they were now. It was strange to think that if they succeeded in stopping Saturos and Menardi here, the quest would be over and the world would be saved.

A plan would have been a good idea, but he couldn't think of one. Aside from standing in their way and demanding the return of the stars and their captives.

And when they refused, as he had no doubt they would?

Well of course they would fight.

Could the three of them stop Saturos and Menardi? Would they have to fight Felix and that other man as well? Would he have to kill them to stop them?

He wasn't sure he was prepared for that. The thief he'd accidentally killed in Vault still haunted his conscience, appearing in his nightmares from time to time.

Truth be told, he wasn't ready for any of this.

With a start, Isaac realised he'd arrived at the sanctum. He'd gotten so lost in his thoughts, he'd lost track of where he was. Something that had been happening quite a bit lately.

"There'll be time to think about these things later," he said to himself.

He pushed open the heavy double-doors of the sanctum, which gave a heavy groan at being disturbed. It was dark and cold inside the small stone temple, the only illumination being a few lit candles and a ray of sunlight from the opened doors.

"Er… hello?" Isaac called out.

There was a sound like glass breaking, followed by hurried footsteps. The back door swung open, and a pair of small children, a boy and a girl, came scurrying out.

"H-hello!" said the girl. "Welcome to Imil's sanctum. I'm Megan, and this is Justin. W-we'd be glad to help you with anything you need."

It sounded very rehearsed.

"Hi, I just have some pain in my back I was hoping you could take care of," Isaac told her with a polite smile.

"Certainly. If you could sit at one of these benches…"

As he sat and the two children ran their hands over his back, he made idle conversation with them.

"Are you two the only ones here?"

"No, we're just apprentices," the boy, Justin replied. "Mia is Imil's healer. We learn from her."

"Ah, I see." That made a bit more sense than two children. Still odd though. Usually these sanctums were occupied by bearded old men and bald monks. A girl and two kids was a interesting change.

"With the fever going around, Mia has been very busy tending to the ill," Megan said. "She goes from house to house, bringing medicine and treating them as much as she can. We watch over the sanctum while she's gone."

"Not a lot of people come in here, though-"

"Justin!"

Isaac couldn't help but smile.

"So I take it you don't get many travellers in Imil?"

"Tourists come by during the spring and summer to see Mercury Lighthouse," Justin said. "But during the winter, we don't see anyone."

"So nobody has come through lately?"

"No, just you."

"Are you looking for someone?" Megan asked with a curious tilt of her head.

"Just some friends of mine."

That was a good sign, then. The appearance of Felix's group in a small town like this, especially during the dead of winter, would have been sure to draw a lot of attention. There was a possibility that Isaac was actually ahead of them, which would give him the advantage when the time came for the confrontation.

The faint warmth of healing Psynergy faded away. "That should do it," Megan said. "Try standing up and see how you feel."

Isaac rose slowly to his feet, immediately noticing the absence of pain in his spine. He moved about a bit to test himself, and didn't even feel a pinch.

"Thanks, that's a lot better."

"That's good," Megan said with a smile. "I was a little worried, actually. Mia usually handles more advanced stuff like this. I guess we're getting better!"

Isaac chuckled, though he felt a little bit of retroactive concern.

He handed the two children a few coins for the service. "Well, I'd best get going. My companions are waiting at the inn. Thanks again."

Feeling a lot better, both physically and mentally, Isaac pushed open then sanctum doors and took an eager step outside…

…and charged face-first into a blue-haired girl in a white robe.

Mercury Lighthouse.

Jenna stared up at the tower in awe. It was a sight unlike anything she'd ever seen. The tower reached up high into the air, so high she could barely see the top. It was crafted out of hand-placed stones that were placed perfectly. Not a single sign of wear or decay showed on it, despite thousands of years of time having passed since it was built.

They stood at the entrance, greeted by a large fountain that was as dry as a bone. Just beyond that stood a large doorway that led into the lighthouse itself.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Alex said, her thoughts no doubt obvious from her expression. "It's tragic to think that the methods used to craft a tower like this were lost long ago."

"You grew up right beside the lighthouse, though," Jenna said. "I'm sure you're used to seeing it."

"On the contrary, access to Mercury Lighthouse is forbidden to anyone in the village," Alex said. "Even though there is no one left to enforce those laws, we were still expected to follow them. Old traditions die hard, and the Mercury clan took pride in how old its were."

Alex's eyes were somewhere else as he said this. Jenna searched his features, and saw just the slightest bit of tension in his usually stoic face. Whatever it was that had led him to betray his home, it had left a lot of bitterness to even threaten to crack the mask he wore.

"Try to take in the sights as we go through," Saturos urged them. "It'd be best if we took care of this as quickly as possible. In-and-out."

"What does the mighty Saturos have to be afraid of?" Jenna mocked.

Menardi, who stood beside her fellow Proxian, narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Watch yourself, girl. I'll cut that tongue of yours out if you don't learn how to hold it."

Jenna glanced at her brother, who stood some distance away, examining some runes with Kraden. With Felix around, she didn't believe a single threat Menardi made to her.

Still, she did not retort to this. No sense in pushing her luck, after all.

"Saturos' desire to be done with this quickly is not unjustified," Alex said. "This is, after all, the elemental lighthouse of Mercury, while he is an Adept of Mars. Do you feel it as well, Jenna? That slight sense of discomfort?"

Come to think of it, she had been feeling a bit uneasy since arriving at the lighthouse. She'd just written it off as a side effect of her brother's cooking.

"And there is another reason as well," Alex continued. "When I undo the barrier blocking entry to the lighthouse, I'm sure every Adept for miles is going to see it. And I know for a fact that there's at least on Adept in Imil who will be rushing here to stop us."

That only brought up more questions, but Jenna knew Alex well enough by now to know he wasn't going to say any more. He loved to drop little hints of things in conversation; just enough to get one curious. But when you tried to pry more out of him, he evaded giving an answer.

Especially when it came to himself.

"Exactly," Saturos said. "So once we're inside, we'll be racing against time. If we aren't fast enough, we will have to fight our way out. And while I have no doubt we can, our mission is too important to take such risks."

Saturos then shouted, "Felix!"

Jenna's brother came running to Saturos like a well-trained dog, with Kraden following right behind.

Saturos reached within his cloak, and then handed Felix two of the mythril bags. Felix took them and tucked them safely away on his person.

Jenna knew when not to ask questions, so she said nothing. But she still exchanged a glance with Kraden in reaction to this. He looked as baffled as her.

Up until now, Saturos had held onto those bags as though his life depended on them. He never even let Menardi hold them. To hand them to Felix of all people…

But it was only two of them. No doubt Saturos still had the Mercury Star on him.

"Let's go," he said curtly.

As they walked past the empty fountain, Jenna asked Alex, "So you've never actually been inside the lighthouse at all?"

"I have," he answered. "Not as a child, though. It took a while before anyone who could stop me had died. After that, my curiosity was just too much. But before then I had read many books on the lighthouses, and what I found inside wasn't far from what I expected."

"Is that what led you to be part of this mission?"

He gave an amused smile. "I suppose you'll see once we light that beacon."

As always, he deflected away from any questions about his thoughts and feelings.

Still, that told Jenna quite a bit. Alex had been forbidden from going inside Mercury Lighthouse his whole life, so that had only made his desire to do so all the stronger. Growing up with Garet, Jenna was familiar with the concept of the forbidden cookie jar; Garet had always found a way to break every rule, if only because he wanted to do the things he wasn't allowed to.

Had something similar driven her brother to betray Vale? The rules they had grown up with, to never climb Mt. Aleph or enter Sol Sanctum, were no different than Alex's.

It was clear enough that Felix was not a captive the same way she and Kraden were. So whatever it was, Felix had a reason to be helping them.

What lies had they filled his head with in the three years he had been their captive?

They stopped before the door, and Jenna could feel Psynergetic energy forming a barrier before it.

"You might want to shield your eyes," Alex advised them. His energy began to gather. "This is going to be bright."

"I'm so sorry!"

The impact having knocked them both off their feet, Isaac found himself on his back in the snow just outside the doorway of the sanctum.

He was, at the very least, thankful that he'd gotten his back healed up before this had happened. Otherwise he'd have been in a great deal of pain.

The girl was back on her feet and was kneeling at Isaac's side before he had even registered what had happened.

"No, no, I wasn't paying any attention…"

"Are you injured?" she asked, concerned. "If you are, please say so. I'm a healer."

Isaac blinked a few times until the world stopped spinning, and he took a second look at this girl.

She was beautiful, strikingly so, with long blue hair bound in a ponytail. She was dressed in several layers of heavy white robes. Her eyes, as blue as her hair, were wide with concern for the stranger she'd just bumped into.

"You're Mia, aren't you?" Isaac asked.

She blinked, caught off guard. "Er… yes. How did you know that?"

"I just met your apprentices."

"Oh, I see. Um… so, are you hurt, or…?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine." With a push and a small groan, Isaac climbed up to his feet.

"That's a relief," she said with a smile. "I'm sorry, I really wasn't paying any attention to where I was going."

"I guess neither of us were," Isaac said.

"You're a traveller? Did you just arrive in Imil?"

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, only a few minutes ago, actually."

"Ah, I see," Mia said. "I was going around town, tending to sick townsfolk. I saw two young men at the inn. I take they're friends of yours?"

"Yeah."

Mia frowned. "Well, I welcome you to Imil, though I must admit you picked a bad time to come here. There's a bad fever going around town at the moment."

"We won't be here long." Isaac glanced at Mercury Lighthouse in the distance. "We've only come to take care of something."

Mia followed the direction of his gaze, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You have business at the lighthouse?"

"I do," he said carefully.

Mia took a step away from him. "You should know that entry to Mercury Lighthouse is forbidden. Only we of the Mercury clan can enter anyway, as there is a seal blocking access."

Isaac gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I don't wish to enter the lighthouse. We're actually here to do the same thing as you; to keep some people from getting inside."

"You are?" Her suspicion wavered a bit, replaced with curiosity. "Who are you, exactly? You're not… an Adept, are you?"

"I am. My companions and I came from Vale, at the foot of Mt. Aleph."

Well, Ivan wasn't from Vale, but there was no need to get technical.

Mia's eyes grew wide. "Mt. Aleph! My father always told me there were other Adepts there!"

"If your duty is to protect Mercury Lighthouse, then it's good fortune that we ran into each other," Isaac said. "We can work together. Why don't you come back with me to the inn, and you can meet my companions? There's a lot we should discuss."

Mia hesitated. "Hmm. It isn't that I don't believe you, it's just…"

"Just what?"

She never got to answer. Just as she was opening her mouth to speak, a powerful blue light emanated from the direction of Mercury Lighthouse, and a wave of Psynergy passed over them both.

Isaac's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the beacon had just been lit, but when he turned to the tower, the light was gone.

"What was that?!" he asked.

"It can't be…" Mia said in disbelief. "Only I can… No… Alex?!"

Before Isaac could say another word, she took off running in the direction of Mercury Lighthouse.

"Wait!" he shouted after her, but she either didn't hear him, or didn't care.

"Damn it…" he whispered. He started after her, though she was already so far ahead of him that there was no chance he would catch up with her.

It had to be Felix's group. They had been ahead of him after all. They just hadn't stopped in Imil, or they had stayed hidden the whole time.

If Mia ran to the lighthouse by herself and confronted them, they'd kill her. Isaac had no doubt of that. There was no chance a healer would survive a battle alone against those two.

As he drew near the inn, the front door swung open and Garet and Ivan popped out.

"What in the world was that?!" Garet demanded.

"No time to explain!" Isaac shouted. "Come on!"

At Mercury Lighthouse's entrance, they were greeted by an empty fountain.

"The Hermes' Water," Ivan observed, short of breath from running. "Long since dried up."

"If we don't hurry, it'll be flowing again," Isaac said. "Along with the power of Mercury."

And yet, if he failed, at least Tret and the people of Kolima would live. There was a silver lining there.

No, he'd already made up his mind. He would think on it no more.

They could not fail.

"I don't see anyone out here," Garet said. "She must already be inside."

"We have to hurry or she's gonna get herself killed," Isaac said. "Come on."

Taking no time to rest, Isaac started up the stairs, with Garet and Ivan behind him.

"You're sure it's Felix and them?" Garet asked as they ran through the open doorway.

"She shouted, 'Alex!' as she ran off," Isaac said. "It's been a while, but wasn't Alex the name of that guy who was with Saturos and them back in Sol Sanctum?"

"The blue-haired guy who was floating around and teleporting and shit?" Garet said. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was Alex."

Isaac almost tripped as a realisation struck him, something that should have been obvious. "Ah!"

Garet and Ivan stopped behind him. "What is it?" Ivan asked.

"Mia has blue hair," he told them.

Garet blinked. "Why would that… Oh."

"Did anyone else in this town have blue hair?" Ivan asked.

"No one at the inn did," Garet said.

"That explains a few things," Isaac said. "But we can figure it out later. C'mon, we can't stop now!"

He started off again, and Garet grumbled something about not being able to catch his breath.

They ran through long corridors of slightly blue-tinted stone, with torches emanating flickering light from flames that never went out. Before long they found themselves going up stairs, and running alongside pools of water. Thankfully the path was mostly linear, so they didn't waste any time navigating.

Finally, they found Mia in a room with small waterfalls running down from the floor above, disappearing into steel grates.

"Mia!" Isaac shouted.

She stopped in mid-step, spinning around on heel to face them in surprise. "You followed me here?"

At that moment, a shape burst out of one of the waterfalls and moved towards Mia.

"Look out!"

She jumped out of the way, moving with surprising speed for someone wearing such heavy robes. Her attacker swung a blade and missed, and as it turned to face her, they got a good look at it.

It was a lizard that stood on two legs and at the height of a man. It held a axe in one hand, and wore several pieces of armour on its scaled body.

"What is that thing?" Garet exclaimed.

The lizard man was moving again, running towards Mia across the polished floor.

Mia's Psynergy surged, and she raised her hands and fired a stream of sharp icicles at the monster. A few missed, but most found their mark, piercing the beast's arms, legs, and chest. It let out a cry and stumbled, green blood dripping from its wounds.

But just as soon, it was moving again, now hissing in anger at being attacked. Mia started backing away, gathering up her Psynergy again, but the lizard man was quickly closing the distance.

Isaac drew his sword, and beside him, Garet took out his axe. Ivan stayed back, raising his Shaman's Rod and preparing his Psynergy.

A bolt of lightning struck the lizard man, knocking it back a bit and ending the momentum of its advance. It didn't do much damage, but it likely saved Mia's life, as she was able to put some more distance between herself and the monster in the meantime.

Isaac and Garet charged past her and met the beast face-on.

Isaac had a few seconds on Garet, so he reached the monster first. He swung his sword, but the lizard man moved with surprising agility, sidestepping the attack.

Caught off-guard by the sudden movement, Isaac didn't have time to react to its counterattack. He moved to parry the attack with his sword, but he wasn't quick enough. The lizard man's hand axe struck his side.

Thankfully, his armour prevented it from being a fatal blow. Still, the impact knocked the wind out of his lungs, and it was all he could do to stumble away from the beast.

He raised his sword, expecting the monster to advance on him, but it did not move. Looking down, he saw its feet stuck fast to the floor by ice.

Garet brought his axe down and the lizard man blocked the swing with its own blade.

This was his chance, Isaac realised. He forced himself back to his feet, despite the shortness in his breath.

Isaac swung his sword once more, this time with nothing to stop him. The steel cut right through the lizard man's arm, the monster letting out a scream of pain as green ichor sprayed out from the wound.

Freed from the parry, Garet drew back his axe, and then swung once more in a powerful blow. The heavy blade struck the lizard man's chest and buried deep into its ribs.

It fell to the floor, dead.

"Phew," Garet said. He turned to Isaac. "You alright?"

"Kill-stealer," Isaac muttered.

Mia and Ivan joined them a moment later.

"Thank you," Mia said gratefully. "I'm not sure I could have handled that creature on my own."

"Where's your weapon?" Garet asked.

"I didn't exactly have time to prepare," she said. "That light meant that someone is already in here, on their way up. I'm sorry but there isn't any time to waste. I have to go!"

She started to run off again.

"You're talking about Alex, right?" Isaac called after her.

She stopped once more, and turned back to him. "You know Alex?"

"He's not alone," Isaac told her. "There's others with him. Powerful warriors. You need our help."

Mia frowned. "How do you know this?"

"There's too much to explain," he said. "You're right, though. There isn't any time to waste. If we're going to stop them, we have to hurry. But you can't do it alone. We have to work together. All I ask is that you trust us."

Mia wasted only a few seconds to think about it.

"I trust you," she said with a smile. "Come on, the aerie isn't far. We have to hurry if we're going to stop them."

Mia led the way through the rest of the lighthouse.

A/N: I always remembered having lots of trouble with the maulers and the lizard man at this point in the game. I always wanted to get Mia before doing Kolima Forest, so I would take my underleveled party up north and struggle my way through until I got her. Was it worth it for a few extra lines of dialogue? No, probably not. But it made those two monsters stand out for me, thus leading to their inclusion in the story.

Ah, and Mia's apprentices. I actually had to look up their names. Or rather, Justin's name. Megan's name I remembered, as I had written a rather crazy scene with her in the Persistence of Loss, where she and Garet are at a pub and she smashes a bottle over Garet's head. It makes sense in context, I swear.

Speaking of apprentices, I'd like to point something out. In the game, one of the villagers says something about Alex being Mia's old apprentice. This is actually a mistranslation. Alex was Mia's father's apprentice. It's a little bit of misinformation that pops up from time to time in fanworks, and I'd like to do my little bit in clearing it up. It's not particularly egregious but it does have a bit of an influence on one's perception of Mia and Alex's dynamic. Of course there's a rich history of vastly different interpretations of those two, seeing as we didn't even know they were cousins until the release of Dark Dawn. It makes me wonder if people wrote fics shipping Luke and Leia before Return of the Jedi came out?

I originally planned to have more scenes of the exploration of Mercury Lighthouse, but I didn't want the chapter to run too long after how long the last one was. And as there wasn't really much interesting to cover aside from Mia using Ply to make the waterfall flow backwards, I didn't feel bad cutting it. I've seen some novelisations of games before that covered every single puzzle and room of every dungeon, and it really baffled me that anyone could actually enjoy reading that, much less writing it.

And besides, I'm sure everyone is more interested in getting to what happens next.
Next chapter: Dun-dun-dun-dun, DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN!

(that's supposed to be the first few notes of Saturos' battle theme, by the way)