A/N: Once again, fresh off the press. Ignore any typos and continuity errors, I'll fix them later.
Chapter XII
Betrayal
The winds atop the Mercury aerie were cold and harsh, blowing around the Adepts with such a ferocity that they half-feared they could be pushed over the edge by their force. They shivered, and took their first few steps off the elevator that has brought them up, and immediately saw what they feared the most.
Saturos stood in the centre of the aerie, Menardi at his side; their black cloaks billowing in the wind. A few steps behind them stood Felix, Jenna, and Kraden, shivering and watching in silence as the Proxians waited…
For what? What were they waiting for? Why hadn't they lit the beacon yet?
"Who… are these people?" Mia said quietly, though there was no need to, as the wind was so loud that ever Isaac, who stood right beside her, strained to hear.
"The thieves," he answered. "The ones we've come to stop."
"I thought Alex was with them."
"He was before," Garet said. "Back in Sol Sanctum."
"We can figure out where he went later," Isaac said. "Right now we have a chance to stop them. They haven't noticed us yet. If we move quickly enough…"
The others nodded in understanding. Not wasting a moment more, they moved away from the elevator, walking in quick but cautious steps towards the group of five in the centre of the aerie.
On the floor at Saturos' feet, carved perfectly in the cerulean stones that made up the tower, was a large well-like hole, which reached down into the tower, farther than could be seen. Doubtless, this was the point where the Elemental Star was to be thrown inside, the act which would light the beacon.
Isaac heart was pounding in his chest. Just a few steps more… After these long, difficult months of travel, they were so close to ending it all. They just needed a few seconds more…
They were but a dozen or so steps away when Jenna turned her head just enough to catch sight of them. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she made a visible effort to contain herself; so as to not give them away.
Unfortunately, it was not enough. Her brother noticed her surprise, and followed her gaze to see what had caught her attention.
"Isaac!" shouted Felix.
Immediately, everyone was moving. Felix pushed Jenna back, standing between her and Isaac's group. Kraden stumbled backwards in shock. Weapons were drawn by everyone.
"Damn it!" Saturos cursed. He turned away from them, facing the well once more, and reaching within his cloak.
"Stop him!" Isaac shouted. "Don't let him light the beacon!"
They moved, their weapons in hand, ready to cut down Saturos before he could throw the Mercury Star into the well. But their approach was cut short by the wide swing of a large scythe. Menardi, who now stood before the others, barred their path. Isaac and his companions were forced to halt in their tracks to avoid being bisected by Menardi's blade.
And that was all the time Saturos needed.
One moment, they were watching in shocked disbelief as the small blue sphere of the Mercury Star left Saturos' hand and disappeared into the darkness of the well.
And then, a second later, they were binded by a pillar of light that shot out from within the lighthouse.
The tower shook, or perhaps the earth itself, and the Adepts grabbed one another's arms and shoulders to keep from being thrown aside.
They all watched in awe, their feud forgotten for the moment, as the light of alchemy reached out into the sky, parting clouds in its wake, and stretching on out of sight.
At long last, the beam of light faded, and the trembling stopped. A fainter light glowed from within the well, growing stronger as something floated up and out from within the lighthouse.
A massive, glowing sphere of blue energy, spinning and turning within itself. It emanated a powerful blue light, casting everything at the aerie in a faint blue hue.
And the Psynergetic energy that pulsed from it was incredible. More than Isaac had ever felt. Even the oppressive aura that the Proxians cast was dwarfed by it.
"The beacon of Mercury…" Kraden said, in a soft, awed voice. "I never thought I would live to see such a wonder…"
"No!" Mia cried out. "It can't be!"
Saturos finally turned away from the beacon and faced them. "Now that that's done with… We can talk."
As if waking from a daydream, Isaac and the others remembered the situation and quickly put some distance between themselves and the other group.
Menardi stepped back as well, relaxing the pose of her scythe, but not putting it away. Kraden returned to his feet, and Felix took a step away from Jenna, who looked to Isaac regretfully.
"Isaac, I'm sorry, I-"
"I'm happy to see you again, Jenna," he interrupted. "I've missed you. I'm glad to see you're okay."
She gave a small, sad smile.
"Jenna," Garet said. "They haven't hurt you, have they?"
She shook her head. "No. No, I just-"
"You shouldn't have followed us, Isaac," Felix said, his eyes cold and narrow. "They'll kill you for trying to stop us. You should have stayed in Vale."
Isaac answered only with a glare of his own.
"Don't be so certain, Felix," Saturos said, walking away from the beacon and standing at Menardi's side. "Things don't have to be that way. Now that Isaac and his friends are here, we can finish what we started in Sol Sanctum."
Addressing Isaac, he continued, "It is good that you escaped from Sol Sanctum's collapse. It would have been unfortunate for all if the Mars Star had been lost within the mountain. Recovering it would have been difficult.
"I see you picked up some new companions as well. You have grown stronger, I can see it in the way you carry yourself. Adventure suits you far better than life in a quiet village like Vale."
"Enough of this," Isaac said. "Give us back Jenna and Kraden."
"Of course, they can leave with you in peace," Saturos said. "All we ask is that you give us the Mars Star in exchange."
"We don't have it," Isaac said. "The elders of Vale decided it would be safer to keep it there."
"Hmm." Saturos exchanged a glance with Menardi. "Is that so? You had to have known that we didn't abduct your friends for the sake of travel company. Why would you think we took them, if not to use them as leverage? And you would come after us, without the very thing you know we want from you? While leaving that very item back at your home, surrounded only by your loved ones? Do not insult my intelligence."
"We could always just kill you and take the star," Menardi said, "if you're going to repay our generosity with lies."
Isaac bit his lip and clenched his fists.
"You call this generosity?!" Garet exclaimed. "You kidnapped them against their will! You're monsters!"
"We do not deny that," Menardi said, her lips curling into a wicked grin. "We are monsters unlike anything your nightmares could ever conjure up. And believe me, I would enjoy nothing more right now than to swing my scythe and separate your head from your shoulders. But we are not incapable of mercy. Consider this: we could have easily killed your friends once we were some distance away from Mt. Aleph, and hid their bodies in a ditch somewhere. You would have continued to chase us, unaware that they were dead. And when you caught up with us, we could just as easily have killed you. It would have made our trip a lot easier.
She beckoned to Felix, and said, "On that note, we could have killed him as well, when we found him three years ago in that river. You seem to think we're nothing but a bunch of mindless, bloodthirsty dogs, but how many lives have you watched us take?"
"You killed my father," Isaac said.
Saturos cocked an eyebrow. "When was this?"
"The storm you caused in Vale, when you failed to enter Sol Sanctum the first time. It sent a boulder falling from the mountain, and it struck my father and killed him. He was only trying to save lives that night, and he died for it."
Isaac pointed to Jenna, and said, "But that's nothing compared to what you took from her. She lost both of her parents, and her brother. And while it turns out that he didn't die after all, you can't go back in time and tell her that during the three years she was alone. When she couldn't sleep from all the nightmares she was having! And even if you could bring some comfort to her, you can't magically bring back the three lives you took that night."
Jenna bowed her head, and Felix looked to her, an unreadable expression on his face.
Saturos started to say, "Listen to me-"
But Isaac wasn't done yet. "You don't care who you hurt, as long as you can get what you want, right? And all you want is power. Well if you light the other lighthouses, you're going to get your power, and you're going to hurt a lot of people in the process. That's why we're here to stop you!"
Saturos' mouth was a tight, thin line, and his eyes were narrowed, burning red with barely-restrained fury. "You dumb boy. You think you know so damn much. You think you've got it all figured out, don't you?"
"Forget it, Saturos," Menardi told him. "We tried doing this that way once, remember? The wisest of them would not listen to us. What makes you think a child would? He's made up his mind already."
Saturos closed his eyes and drew in a long breath.
"I'll only make the offer one more time," Saturos said in a levelled voice. "Give us the Mars Star, and you can leave with Jenna and Kraden. Refuse, and we will take it from you."
"Isaac, wait."
Everyone turned to the unexpected voice joining in the conversation. Kraden walked towards them slowly, almost hesitantly.
"Kraden?" Isaac asked. "What is it?"
"Please, take his offer," Kraden urged him. "This… this is not worth losing your lives over. Please, just give him the Mars Star and leave with Jenna. I don't want to see any of you hurt."
"Kraden, what about the lighthouses? We can't see them lit. Alchemy's return could destroy Weyard."
"It may, and it may not," Kraden said. "We cannot know for sure, and it should not fall upon children to take that responsibility."
"We can't leave it up to them, they-"
"Kraden, aren't you coming with us?" Garet asked suddenly.
"What?"
"You said, 'leave with Jenna'. We came here for both of you."
The alchemy sage hesitated.
"Kraden…" Isaac said.
"I'm sorry, Isaac," Kraden said. "And you, Garet. This isn't how I wanted this all to go. But… I have come to a decision. I am not their prisoner anymore. I am with them willingly from this moment on. I want to see their journey through to the end."
"Kraden, no…" Garet said. "That can't be true…"
"I'm sorry, but it is." Kraden would not meet their eyes. He looked over to Felix, and their eyes met for a moment. "I had been considering it for some time, but it wasn't until I saw the Mercury beacon rise that I realised I could not deny it any longer. I have spent my entire life studying the wonders of alchemy, but I have never seen a single demonstration of its power… until now.
"I am an old man, and I don't know how many years I have left in me. Before I die, I want to see alchemy, in its truest form, returned to Weyard."
Kraden's gaze caught sight of Jenna for a moment. Tears ran down her cheeks, her eyes hurt and betrayed.
He looked down at the floor, ashamed.
Garet turned away, shaking with anger. Isaac only felt a sense of numbness. He wasn't shocked. Hurt, perhaps, but not shocked. Because he had seen this coming. He hadn't wanted to believe it, but he'd suspected it nonetheless.
The words of the conversation with the Great Healer echoes in his head…
"Kraden has been good to Vale, but his ideas were too progressive. As an alchemy sage, he might not be opposed to the idea of alchemy's return, in spite of the dangers it would pose. In fact, he may not be a captive of these people very long - he might become a willing accomplice."
"Kraden wouldn't do that! He wouldn't go along with the people who tricked us and kidnapped Jenna!"
"Do not be so certain. Kraden often spoke to us of the wonders of the Lost Age, as he no doubt did to you. His passion for such a dangerous force was what motivated us not to allow him too deep into Sol Sanctum. He was a friend to us all, but we couldn't be sure what he would do if he knew of the existence of the Elemental Stars."
Isaac had refused to believe it was possible when the healer had first suggested it. But as time passed, the idea grew more plausible to him.
Even now, knowing it was true, he still didn't want to believe it.
"Isaac?" Ivan said quietly. "Garet? What do we do?"
Isaac turned to Kraden. "You wanted me to give Saturos the star. You were going to wait until after I had handed it over to tell us this. You were using Jenna as a bargaining chip, just like they were."
Kraden flinched at the last sentence. "That's not-"
"Not the way you thought about it, but it was still the outcome you wanted, right?"
Kraden looked to the floor, and then nodded slowly.
"You're just as much a traitor as he is," he said, pointing to Felix.
"I… I suppose I am," Kraden said sadly. "Forgive me."
"Go back with the others," Saturos ordered.
Without complaint, Kraden walked back over to where Felix and Jenna were standing.
"Well?" Menardi asked. "Are you going to take the sage's advice and give us the star?"
"Like hell I am," Isaac spat. "We're taking Jenna, Kraden, and the remaining Elemental Stars back to Vale."
"As stubborn and single-minded as your elders, I see," Menardi said. She grinned. "Fine. I'll be more than happy to slaughter you in front of the girl." Her hands tightened on her scythe.
"No," Saturos said to her suddenly. "Menardi, you take the others and leave the lighthouse."
"What?" For the first time, Menardi looked confused. "Saturos, you want to face them by yourself?"
"We've wasted enough time here already. I can handle these four. Get out of here. I'll catch up."
"Very well. Be careful."
Menardi returned her scythe to her back and joined Felix, Jenna, and Kraden. "Time to go."
Jenna hesitated, looking to Isaac.
"What?" Menardi asked. "You want to make a break for it? Go run and hide behind your man? Try it and I'll cut you down before you take three steps."
Felix glared at her. "If you touch her…"
"You'll do what? Die with her?" Menardi scoffed. "Her safety was only guaranteed until we have the Mars Star. Which Saturos will have with him when he rejoins us, taken off the boy's corpse. We don't have any need of her anymore, so if she does not cooperate-"
"You'll need me at Venus Lighthouse," Felix interrupted. "And you know I won't help you if you lay a hand on her."
Menardi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "There are other Venus Adepts in the world."
Her hands moved back to the handle of her scythe, hovering over it, ready to draw in an instant. Likewise, Felix's hand waited anxiously over the sheathed sword at his hip. A few tense seconds passed.
"No need to fight over this," Jenna said, with a bright smile on her face. "I'll come along willingly."
"Oh? Is that right"
"Yeah. I have nothing to worry about. Because Isaac and Garet are going to defeat Saturos, and they'll follow us and take care of you, as well."
Menardi laughed. "We'll see about that. Come on, let's go."
The tension gone, Felix relaxed his hand. Menardi and Jenna walked over to the elevator, and Felix placed his hand on Kraden's shoulder.
"Let's go."
Kraden nodded, and they all boarded the elevator. Jenna, her eyes locked on Isaac, said a silent goodbye as the elevator descended, its ancient gears shifting, and they disappeared into the lighthouse's interior.
Isaac watched her go, turning back to Saturos only when she was gone.
"I'm surprised you didn't make a fuss over her leaving," Saturos said.
"I'll see her again," Isaac answered. "She knows that, too. We'll win here, and we'll catch up with them. You, on the other hand…"
"Pfeh! You're awfully confident," Saturos said with a smirk. "But the gap in our skills is too much for mere confidence to secure your victory. Even with four of you, you have no chance."
Thinking on that, Isaac turned back to his companions.
"I can't promise we're going to win this fight," he said to them. "I was only speaking for myself earlier, not all of us. If any of you want to leave…"
"I'm not going anywhere," Garet said. "I want to save Jenna just as much as you do. Maybe more."
"I doubt that," Isaac said, smiling in spite of the situation. He turned to Ivan. "What about you, Ivan? You haven't seen what this guy is capable of. His abilities are beyond anything we've ever faced. If you don't want to risk your life over this…"
"I came this far, didn't I?" he said. "I wouldn't leave you to face this guy on your own."
Isaac hadn't expected Ivan to leave, either. The boy had demonstrated surprising loyalty and bravery in their travels so far. But he had to make the offer anyway.
Still, there was one of them that he did not quite know yet. He turned to Mia, who had been silent since the sight of the beacon being lit. Her eyes were elsewhere. "…And you, Mia?"
She blinked at being addressed, seeming to wake from a trance. "Yes?"
"You're not involved in any of this. You don't need to be dragged into a conflict you have nothing to do with. You should leave, before we start to fight."
She shook her head. "No, Isaac. That isn't true. I am the last of the Mercury Clan, and protecting the lighthouse is my duty. Or rather, it was, until I failed at it several minutes ago. I followed you up here to stop these people from lighting the beacon. I was ready to fight the moment I entered the tower."
"You don't even have a weapon…"
"I am an Adept, armed with the powers of Mercury. I need no weapon."
Isaac hesitated. Standing there in a white robe, still devastated from failing in her duty, the healer looked frail and vulnerable. The idea of her joining in a fight with them, especially against someone as dangerous as Saturos…
"Are you really sure about that? This man is powerful, more so than any enemy we've ever faced. That lizard creature we fought earlier was a walk in the park compared to what we're about to go up against."
Mia smiled. "You seemed more confident a moment ago, when you were facing him."
"Well…"
"You hate them because they took your friend from you, right? Well, just now they took something from me. They took away my only duty in life; to protect the people of Imil and ensure the beacon of Mercury Lighthouse was never lit. I failed to keep the promise I made to my father, which I swore to him on his deathbed." Her eyes glistened under the blue light as she spoke of her father. "Can you really ask me to turn away now?"
Isaac nodded in acceptance. He had underestimated just how much this had meant to her. "No, I suppose I can't."
Turning back to Saturos, Isaac drew his sword from the sheath on his back. "Then there's nothing else to discuss. Now we fight."
Saturos scoffed. "So be it."
With no further pretence, Saturos attacked. He moved with the speed of lightning, drawing his blade from the sheath at his waist, and bringing it down upon Isaac.
Though Isaac reacted fast enough to block the strike with his own sword, the sheer force behind the swing was far more than he expected. The impact sent a painful shock wave through his arms, and sent him stumbling backwards. He was just barely able to keep his balance.
But Saturos was only getting started. A second attack came on the echoes of the first, and Isaac had only a fraction of a second to protect himself from it. This second stroke did not have the same sheer power behind it, so it did not send Isaac stumbling away, but the impact of the blades meeting was still intense. Saturos had more strength than an ordinary human should.
Garet came up on Saturos from the side, swinging his huge battleaxe at the Proxian's unguarded side. But Saturos was prepared. He turned in place without breaking the stride of his attacks on Isaac, blocking Garet's axe and sending its swing astray. The massive axe, swung at Garet's full strength, still had less force behind it than Saturos' sword.
The attacks continued, now directed at both Adepts. Even with his attention divided between them, Saturos still gave Isaac no relief, his attacks powerful and relentless.
It was less a battle and more an onslaught that Isaac was desperately trying to survive.
A lightning bolt came from somewhere, and struck Saturos full on the back. His only reaction was a slight flinch. The attacks continued, Saturos' flow uninterrupted by Ivan's attack.
Damn, Isaac thought. He had known Saturos was strong, but this was impossible. No human being was capable of this…
Garet let out a cry of pain as the very tip of Saturos' blade made it past his defences and slashed through the shoulder of his shirt, drawing blood.
"Garet, back off!" Isaac shouted. That axe of his was too slow to keep up with Saturos' swift sword swings. If he stayed in the fray, especially wounded…
"Over here, Garet!" Mia called out. Isaac could already feel her Psynergy gathering.
Garet retreated, moving quickly away from Saturos. Once more, Isaac was alone with him.
There was a flash of excitement in Saturos' eyes as he renewed his assault on Isaac. The rush of combat, without the fear of defeat being a possibility. Saturos was certain of his victory, and he was enjoying this, taking his time with them.
And Isaac didn't have much faith that he was wrong. He'd known that Saturos was powerful - he'd known that since the moment he'd first crossed path with the Proxians - but he'd expected them to at least have a chance.
From afar, Ivan tried another tactic. He gathered up his energy again and cast Halt, the Psynergy that had frozen the mauler earlier that day.
But Saturos was too fast for that. He easily sidestepped the invisible binds of Ivan's Psynergy, which tightened around empty air.
No, that move wouldn't work on an enemy like Saturos. If they could get him stuck in place long enough to bind him, Isaac could just attack him and end the fight there. He wasn't like the mauler, mindlessly attacking the first target in sight, or the lizard man, too dumb to evade a trap like ice on the floor. Saturos was too fast, too strong, too smart; tactics that worked on simple monsters wouldn't work on him. Ivan's support attacks were ineffective, Garet was too slow to match him, and Mia had no weapon. Only Isaac could match him in combat, and even then he was struggling not to take a hit. If he made even the briefest mistakes, and that sword made it past his defences…
Suddenly, he had an idea. It was risky, far too risky. But he needed a way to break Saturos' relentless attacks. If he tried nothing, he would lost sooner or later anyway.
"Ivan!" Isaac shouted. "Can you read my mind from over there?"
"Um, yeah I think so… But why would-"
"Just do it! I have a plan!"
Isaac felt Ivan's Psynergies focusing, and he concentrated enough to send out his own. During their travels, they had discovered that Ivan could read an Adept's thoughts from afar, as long as he could reach their Psynergies, unlike ordinary people, who he needed physical contact with. It was difficult to focus his thoughts on his plan while still locked in combat with Saturos, but he managed somehow. He had no other choice.
It worked. "Isaac, you can't! That's-"
"No time to discuss it, Ivan! Just do it!"
Saturos' eyes narrowed in suspicion. His attacks grew just the slightest bit slower and defencive, as he anticipated whatever it was Isaac was preparing.
When nothing immediately happened, Saturos continued his onslaught.
Isaac glanced to the others, and saw they were ready.
"Okay, now!"
He suddenly dropped his sword, and allowed Saturos' blade to plunge through the gaps in his armour, piercing the flesh of his side.
It hurt. Far more than anything else Isaac had ever felt in his life. He saw white, and heard himself choking out a pained cry. But he couldn't allow himself to focus on that; his friends lives depended on him. If he failed now, they would all die.
Saturos' eyes were wide with shock, and he tried to pull his blade back. But Isaac's hands were clasped hard around his wrists.
The Proxian drew his free hand back to punch Isaac, but at that moment Garet came up from behind him and put him in an armlock.
"Gah! What the-?!"
"Hurry, Ivan!" Garet shouted.
Saturos threw his head back, ramming Garet in the face with the back of his skull. Garet exclaimed in pain, and blood ran from his nose, but he did not release his hold.
Saturos' sword came free from Isaac's side, and he let out a gasp and fell to his knees. His hand covered the wound, but it did nothing to slow the flow of red blood.
And then Mia was there, at his side, her hands over his. Warm energy flowed from her, and he felt the wound slowly closing. Not enough to completely heal the damage, but enough to stop the bleeding and dull the pain, at least.
"Thank you," he managed.
"Of course," Mia answered with a warm smile.
At that moment, Saturos broke free of Garet's grip and pushed him backwards. The Proxian, now angry, drew back his blade to strike down the unarmed Garet…
And stopped in mid-swing.
Ivan stood now far away, his eyes shut tight in concentration. Saturos trembled within the binds. He tried to move, and found that he could, were it not for his arm, which was stuck in mid-air as though encased in concrete.
Ivan did not have the strength to hold Saturos with his Psynergy, but halting only his sword arm was possible.
Still, even that was not enough. It would only be a matter of moments before he broke free. Already, his shaking was growing stronger, threatening to shatter Ivan's binds on him.
And Saturos himself knew this well enough. "Do you really think something like this can disarm me?"
"Nope," Garet said with a smirk. "But this will!"
Garet tossed something into the air - Saturos' dagger, which Garet had swiped from his belt - and Mia moved to catch it. She ran to where Saturos stood, and drove the dagger into his arm. She then fled as quickly as she could, taking the dagger with her; just in time to get away before Ivan's hold broke.
Saturos' right arm dropped limp at his side, blood running down in red lines, and his sword clattered on the stones of the aerie. Mia had known just where to stab him to paralyse the limb, knowing more than any of them about human physiology.
Isaac had taken a gamble with that assumption, but thankfully he had been right; if Mia had just guessed where to stab him it may have still worked, but it may also have not.
Even so, the battle was no yet over. Saturos was disarmed, but not defeated.
"Clever," he said, his left hand holding his limp right. "You make up for your lack of skill by fighting smart. Still, a less-hesitant warrior would have simply taken that axe and lopped my arm right off. Even fighting for your lives, you're still holding back. And that is why someone like you cannot beat someone like me."
"I think we're doing pretty well, actually," Garet said, trying to wipe the blood from his bleeding nose with his sleeve, but succeeding only in smearing it.
"You think so," Saturos said, kneeling down and picking up his sword with his left hand. "And perhaps without the use of my right arm the playing field is more level. But we are still far from equal. You would not have entered into this fight in the first place if you had any sense. Now, rather than a quick death on my blade, you will die burning."
He shoved the sword back into its sheath, and reached up into the air above his head, his hand open. At once, the air around them was filled with the weight of Saturos' immense Psynergy. Flames appeared in his hands, spinning around in a orb that grew steadily larger and larger.
Isaac quickly drew himself back up to his feet, and grabbed his sword back up off the ground. Garet did the same, finding his axe. Ivan held his rod with both hands, and Mia still had the dagger taken from Saturos. They were as ready as they could be.
Saturos unleashed his attack, the massive swirling fireball breaking down into hundreds of smaller spheres, and exploding above him. The fireballs burst out in every direction, coming down over the aerie like a hailstorm of flame.
Isaac tried to move to dodge them, but the pain in his side was still there, and at his sudden movement, it struck him anew. He groaned through his clenched teeth, but he moved nonetheless, just barely managing to dodge the first fireball.
It struck the stone floor of the aerie and caused a small explosion in its wake, which Isaac was not expecting. The flames struck his lower half, setting his golden scarf and part of his clothes alight.
Immediately, a small splash of water hit him, distinguishing the fire.
"Don't worry, I got you," Mia said, as she ran to his side.
Another fireball was coming towards them. Mia quickly raised her hand and sent a spray of water towards it, extinguishing the fire before it could reach them.
As Mia continued to do this, Isaac glanced over the aerie, spotting Garet and Ivan dealing with the fiery rain in their own ways. Ivan had created a vortex of wind spinning around him, trapping each fireball that came near him and suffocating them in the vacuum.
Garet, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned by the fireballs. He was charging across the aerie towards Saturos, his axe held over his shoulder, undeterred by the small explosions of flame around him.
However, Garet came to an abrupt stop as a large wall of flame rose up around Saturos, guarding him on all sides.
The flame wall dissipated quickly, but Saturos wasted no time in replacing it with a beam of flame blasted at Garet from his hands. Garet countered this with the same Psynergy, and their fires clashed in the middle of the aerie, creating an intensely hot point of energy at the spot where they met.
The rain of fire finally ended. "Mia," Isaac said. "Can you use any Psynergy to attack Saturos? Do you have enough energy left?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I still have a lot, somehow. There isn't a lot I can do to attack, though."
"It doesn't matter, just do what you can. His Psynergy is all he has left. If we can wear him out, we'll win."
She nodded, and left Isaac's side to get close to Saturos.
He didn't need to tell Ivan what to do, as the boy was already blasting Saturos with lightning bolts left and right. Mia quickly joined in, firing ice crystals at him.
Saturos defended as best he could against the assault of Psynergy. Some of their attacks he was able to block, conjuring up small shields of fire to absorb the impacts. Others made it past his defences, not doing much damage, but slowing down his counterattacks. Save for Mia's ice crystals, which he visibly flinched at each time they hit him.
His Psynergies seemed to be growing weaker. The flame walls he created to defend were dissipating quicker and quicker. And his counterattacks seemed ineffective. Garet was not even attempting to dodge them anymore, and even Mia seemed not to be very bothered by the fireballs.
Saturos' expression had changed. The confidence of before was gone, replaced by the first signs of desperation.
This was it, Isaac thought. He held his sword tightly, and started to move towards Saturos as quickly as he could.
He knew he was losing now. Anger flashed across his features, and he gathered up as much Psynergy as he could, unleashing one last desperate attack.
The centre of the aerie exploded in a burst of flame and lava, as though a volcano had suddenly erupted at their feet. The attack was far stronger than they had expected, and Garet, Ivan, and Mia were all knocked off their feet, thrown back in the air by the sheer force of the explosion.
Isaac was far enough away that he was not hit so hard, but the impact still struck him and halted his approach. Concerned for his companions, he glanced around the aerie to ensure they were okay. None of them immediately got back up, but he could see them still moving.
Furious, he turned back to Saturos, who now was panting, visibly exhausted by that final attack.
In response, Isaac gathered up his Psynergy and unleashed an attack of his own. A huge mass of Psynergy appeared above him, taking the shape of a large sword, before flying through the air right towards Saturos. It moved so fast he had no chance to avoid it.
The blade pierced him right through the chest and exploded.
Saturos was thrown back from the impact of Isaac's attack. He struck the stone of the aerie, rolling as he fell, and coming to rest right at the edge of the beacon well. Had the impact been only slightly stronger, he would have fallen into it.
Isaac continued his approach. Saturos groaned, and painfully drew himself slowly up on shaky feet. When he saw Isaac drawing closer, he raised his hand once more to attack again.
A weak fireball formed for only a moment, flickering out before it could even leave his hand.
Ignoring the pain in his side, Isaac broke out into a run.
"Damn!" Saturos shouted. With his left hand he quickly drew his sword back out, but Isaac could already see the movements were clumsy and tired. Isaac brought his blade down with the same fury that Saturos had unleashed on him. He blocked the first stroke, and then the second, but it was a pale imitation of his earlier skill.
The third parry was the last Saturos could manage. Sweat ran down his face, and he strained for breath like a man who had climbed a mountain.
Isaac's sword was unhindered as it entered Saturos' shoulder. The Proxian warrior cried out in pain, and Isaac drew back the blade, and took a cautious step back.
Saturos collapsed to one knee, his sword falling to the stone floor with a loud clatter. He gasped, his breaths strained and burdened. He doubled over and coughed several times, each heavier than the last, and when he finally rose enough to face Isaac and the others, there was blood at the corners of his mouth.
"…c-can't be…" he managed to say.
"It's over," Isaac said, pointing his sword to Saturos.
"Never…!" shouted the Proxian. He grabbed his sword from the ground, and tried to pull himself back up to his feet, but he seemed to lack the strength to stand, and succeeded only in stumbling backwards back onto the ground. Using his sole good hand to prop himself up on the floor, Saturos glared at them, too proud to admit defeat.
But defeated he was. Somehow, against all odds, they had won.
"What do we do now?" Ivan asked. "He's beaten, but he's still alive. We have to do something about this."
Isaac considered the situation. He hadn't actually expected to reach this point. Had Saturos taken a mortal blow in the confusion of the battle and died there, that would have been one thing. A quick death in the heat of battle was easier to deal with afterwards.
But here, Saturos was a helpless prisoner. It wasn't quite so easy to execute someone when they were beaten and bloody, watching you from your feet.
Isaac looked down and met Saturos' gaze. His skin was faint and blue, covered in some parts with scales, and his eyes were yellow and slitted, not round like any ordinary person's were.
It was easy to think of Saturos as something less than human, he found. Just another monster to cut down, no different from the mauler or the lizard. He found himself a bit surprised at this realisation.
But Saturos was not a mindless beast. He'd done many terrible things, and cared nothing for the lived he destroyed in his quest for power. And yet, he had still attempted to reason with them several times. Were he truly bloodthirsty, he would have achieved his goal already.
Isaac wondered if Saturos would have spared them, had he won the fight instead.
No, he would not have. His offer to exchange Jenna for the Mars Star had been his mercy. When Isaac had denied that, he did not have a second chance for them. He'd been fighting to kill the entire time.
"Ivan's right, Isaac," Garet said. "If we let him go, he'll go back to the others. He'll recover, and we'll have to face them together next time."
"He won't take the chance twice," Ivan added.
Isaac looked back to his fallen enemy. Saturos' eyes glared back, silently urging Isaac to hurry up and make a decision.
"Isaac," Mia said in a hard voice. "If you aren't going to do it, then stand aside so I can."
Isaac looked back to the healer in surprise, but the look in her eyes assured that the words were no empty threat. The dagger in her hand, already gleaming red from Saturos' blood, was held firm, ready to be used again.
The idea of the gentle-seeming girl murdering a man in cold blood sent a shiver down Isaac's back. He shook his head, and said to her, "No. I'll do it."
"They deserve to pay for this," Mia insisted.
"Of course," Isaac answered, though in his heart he wasn't so sure.
The image of the bearded thief flashed in his mind's eye.
Isaac's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
He wasn't ready to do something like this; but he couldn't wait any longer. If he waited any longer, it would never happen. He would just have to deal with the guilt later.
Somehow.
He raised his sword, and brought it down in a stroke that would cut through Saturos' neck.
Abruptly, there was a flash of Psynergy, and Saturos was gone. Isaac's sword cut through empty air, and he stumbled a bit from the unexpected lack of resistance.
"What the-?!"
"Alex!"
Mia was looking to a spot on the aerie in the distance, as far away from the beacon as one could get. Saturos knelt there now, with Alex standing over him.
"Hello, everyone," Alex said, with a slight nod of his head.
"There you are," Isaac said. "I figured you had fled from the lighthouse after opening it, to avoid a confrontation with Mia. I guess you've been hiding somewhere this whole time, then."
"On the contrary, I just came here to check on things. I missed most of the fight, but I saw enough to get a good idea of your skills. You're improved quite a bit, but not enough to take any of us in a fair fight… even four-to-one."
Mia took a few steps towards him. "Alex, do you realise what you've done? You lit the beacon…"
"But of course. It's what I've been planning all this time to do. And I'll see the other three beacons lit as well, if I can."
"How could you?" The fury of before was gone, her voice now tinged with the pain of betrayal. "You broke the most sacred of our laws. You left me alone with no explanation for years, returning only to violate everything my father - your uncle - taught us as children! What evil possessed you to do this?!"
Alex shook his head. "I will not bother attempting to explain my motivations to you. You are too grieved to understand, no matter how I were to attempt it."
"Why don't you try it anyway?" Isaac challenged him. "I'm curious, too."
"I'm afraid I don't owe an explanation to Mia, you, or anyone else," Alex said. "If you are so determined to know what goes on in my head, you'll just have to settle for disappointment."
He looked down at the crouched Saturos. "Right now, my only concern is to recover my companion. The beacon is lit; my business here is done. I doubt I will ever return again."
"And what makes you think we're just going to let you leave?" Isaac asked, raising his blade up and pointing it at Alex.
"Not a wise course of action to take, friend," Alex said with a slight, amused smile. "I see your confident in your victory against Saturos. But do not let confidence become recklessness. With the Mercury beacon shining only metres away, you would have no chance against me."
"What do you mean by that?" Ivan asked.
"Do you think it was your own skills that let you defeat Saturos?" Alex asked. "They were not. Even together, the four of you combined are still less powerful than Saturos is alone. Did you not notice how quickly he grew tired in your battle, or how his Psynergetic attacks did not last very long on the battlefield before they dissipated away? The beacon's energy was a handicap on Saturos the entire time."
"My suspicions were right!" Ivan said. "So that would mean, as a Mercury Adept, your own Psynergy would be-"
"Enhanced, yes. In theory, I could draw upon a limitless amount of Psynergy at the moment."
Isaac turned to Garet. "Was the beacon affecting you at all?"
"Maybe a bit," Garet said after a moment of thought. "I was a little dizzy towards the end, but I did skip lunch to come here, so I thought that might have been why…"
"But the same should hold true for Mia, right?" Ivan continued. "She should have limitless Psynergy too."
"Indeed, but that would not give you much of an advantage against me," Alex answered. "She is a healer, after all. I am familiar with her abilities; I know what she can and can't do. What few combat Psynergies she could use would be useless another Mercury Adept. At best she could heal the wounds you took… were she able to treat them faster than I could inflict them."
Ivan was silent for a moment, considering. "You're right. The advantage is all yours." Turning to Isaac, he said, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I don't have the energy for another fight, anyway."
"What are you going to do next, then?" Mia asked.
"We will continue on our mission, of course," Alex said. "Our next stop is Venus Lighthouse, as you could probably guess, over in the northeast corner of Gondowan. And we will continue on past that, lighting the rest of the beacons, and returning alchemy to Weyard."
"Not without the Mars Star," Isaac said.
"No, but I'm sure you'll continue to follow us," Alex countered, his lips once more curled into that smug smile. "We have your Jenna still, and I know you haven't given up on her. And Mars Lighthouse is the last stop on our list, so we've got plenty of time to work something out."
Isaac clenched his fist tight, as though he were gripping Alex's throat. It was infuriating, but Ivan was right; there was nothing they could do. They had defeated Saturos in the battle, but they hadn't actually won in any way. Saturos' group still held all the cards.
"I believe that should be long enough," Alex said. "Saturos, are you recovered enough to walk?"
He'd been healing Saturos the whole time, Isaac realised. Slowly and carefully, so they wouldn't notice and try to stop him.
"I'll manage," Saturos growled, as he drew himself up with a groan.
"Very well, then we should get going. We don't want Menardi and the others to get too far ahead."
With another burst of Psynergy, Alex and Saturos disappeared. A moment later, they were standing over at the elevator, which had returned at some point during the battle.
"The next time our paths cross," Saturos called to them across the aerie, "the battle will not be weighted in your favour. You should train hard if you want to survive it!"
And then the elevator descended, taking them with it. Isaac watched them disappear into the lighthouse, nearly shaking with frustration at the futility of it all.
With just the four of them left now, it grew silent atop the aerie. Nobody spoke; they were all too tired and defeated, and there really wasn't anything to say.
Eventually, Isaac had to break the silence. "Mia, do you think you could heal everyone's wounds before we leave? Normally I'd just say we could do it back at town, but since there's the beacon right here giving you energy, we might as well, right? At least something good can come out of all this..."
Mia's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Of course! I'd completely forgotten!"
"Ah, I mean, no pressure on you or anything, you've already done so much…"
"No, not that!" she said. "The fountain at the lighthouse entrance! Now that the beacon is lit, the Hermes' Water should flow again. That can heal your wounds far better than I could!"
Isaac mentally slapped himself. He'd entirely forgotten that, too. That was a far better silver lining than his earlier suggestion. With the Hermes' Water, he could save Tret and the people of Kolima from death. That is, if they could make it back in time.
Mia ran past them, in the direction of the second elevator, the one they had rode up to the aerie. When she noticed they weren't following her, she stopped and waved for them to.
"C'mon let's go! I want to see this!"
They let out tired sighs and followed her.
Several minutes later, the four Adepts were standing before the lighthouse fountain, which had been empty only an hour or so before, but now flowed with sparkling blue water.
Isaac cupped his hands and took a drink. The water was as warm as soup, and as it ran down his throat he felt energy returning to him.
The day had been long and tiring, beginning with their travels in the morning, the mauler attack, the stiff back that he'd needed treated, racing after Mia to the lighthouse, fighting the lizard man, and finally the battle with Saturos. Isaac had felt dead on his feet by the end of it, and justifiably so.
But after drinking the Hermes' Water, he felt energy flowing back into him as though he had just woken from a comfortable sleep. The pain from the wound in his side vanished, as well as the lingering soreness in his back. And when he checked under his shirt, there was no scar to even suggest he'd just been stabbed. There wasn't even a bruise.
"Incredible…" he whispered.
"To think that things like this were common in the Lost Age," Ivan said at his side. "If we fail to stop them lighting the beacons, such miracles will become commonplace again."
"And the world will be thrown into chaos and war," Garet said. "Remember what the Wise One said, Isaac? This stuff is amazing, sure. But it's too dangerous for the world."
Isaac glanced at Mia, who stared at the fountain. Her cheeks were wet with recently shed tears.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"I'm not sure," she answered. "This is all so much to take in. Protecting the lighthouse and healing the people of Imil… well, that has been the only life I've ever known. And in a single afternoon, that life was taken from me by my own cousin and a group of people I know nothing about. I… I just don't know what to do now."
He frowned. There was one idea that had occurred to him, that he was sure Garet and Ivan had come up with as well. But he couldn't ask something like that of this girl, at least not while she was still reeling from all this.
Mia finally looked away from the fountain and smiled. "Forgive me. We should return to Imil. We can rest at my home."
"Wait, there's one last thing."
Isaac rummaged through his things until he found a glass bottle. He dipped it into the fountain and filled it with the sparkling blue water. He then placed it safely back into his backpack.
He hoped it would be enough to save Tret and Kolima, else this was all for nothing.
"That's all. Let's get going."
The four Adepts walked back to Imil in silence.
A/N: Whew, what an intense chapter. A lot happened here, so much that it feels like the actual fight with Saturos was an afterthought when it came to everything that went on before and after it. That being said, the fight was still the hardest part to write. Fight scenes are always the biggest challenge for me to put together; I want them to be exciting and fast and bloody, but I also want the characters to use their heads and succeed with clever tactics over sheer brute force. Striking a balance between these aspects can be challenging sometimes, and it certanly was here. In this chapter, Saturos is meant to be such a powerful opponent that you should get the impression that the heroes are only able to just barely survive against him. Things only start to turn in their tide once Saturos is no longer able to fight with his sword, and has to use Psynergy, which due to the Mercury beacon, wears him out very fast.
The implication is that if Isaac hadn't risked his own life on that crazy plan that disarmed Saturos, he would have beaten them. Isaac was the only one who could match Saturos in swordplay, and even then just barely. Garet's axe was too slow to keep up, Ivan only had a rod and no real combat experience, and Mia is a healer with no weapon. Thus, once Saturos had finally defeated and killed Isaac, the others would be more or less helpless against him. So Isaac had to take a huge risk to prevent that from happening.
I'd like to break down Isaac's strategy for doing this, in case anyone found it strange or hard to follow. The easiest way to do it is to go backwards. To paralyse Saturos' sword arm, Isaac needed Ivan to use Halt on it first, because he was too fast to do something like that while moving freely. But to successfully use Halt on him, Saturos had to be still long enough for Ivan to get a lock on him. This required Garet to grab him from behind. However, to do that, Isaac needed Saturos to be momentarily unable to strike at Garet while he approached. In Isaac's mind, the easiest way to do that would be to allow himself to take a minor wound, and use that opportunity to throw Saturos off-guard for a moment.
As Saturos is such a skilled fighter, they would only get one chance to do this. If he caught on, they would lose their opportunity, hence why the plan had to be communicated in secret. This is also why he needed everyone's help; he couldn't just let himself get stabbed, and then grab and use Saturos' dagger himself. Saturos would easily see what he was doing, and stop it.
It's exactly the sort of crazy plan that someone like Isaac would come up with in the heat of battle. There may have been safer - and possibly even easier - ways to accomplish what he was trying to do, but Isaac is the sort of person who would put all the risk on himself and do something very reckless to save his friends.
One big thing that many people have questioned about the games, and will probably question about this chapter, is why the Proxians don't just tell Isaac's group the truth about alchemy being sealed away, the truth about Prox, the truth about the parents surviving, etc. Rest assured that I have thought about this a good deal, and I have a very good explanation for it. Like many things in this story, it may not be 100% consistent with the plot of the games, but the elements of the story are still there, just with a bit of a new spin on them. There's a good reason why Felix hasn't said anything to Jenna about their parents yet. It will be revealed later in the story.
One example of playing with tropes from the games would be Kraden's 'betrayal' in this chapter. For those of you who found this to be out-of-character for him, or believe I was just trying to vilify him, remember that this decision is one he makes in the actual games, just off-screen. When we see Kraden at Mercury Lighthouse in the game, he is clearly still a prison, but by the time we get to Venus Lighthouse, he has changed his mind and is cooperating with his former captors. The same thing happens with Jenna. During the prologue of TLA, both Jenna and Kraden are left by themselves while Felix goes back to the lighthouse and Alex drives off the soldiers from Tolbi. They makes no effort to flee or get back to Isaac (Jenna only considers going to him to prevent a fight, not to escape with him), and once reunited with Felix and Sheba, they continue on their mission without complaint, even actively avoiding the people who were trying to save them.
It always bothered me that we were never shown what changed their minds. We eventually learn in Contigo, about 80% of the way through the game, that Jenna and Felix's parents are alive, and will be freed if they help light the beacons. However, up until that point, with the exception of a single throwaway line that is very easy to miss ("Our parents' lives depend on it!"), the player is never shown what caused them to eagerly go along with the mission. Figuring this out allowed me to explore an aspect of Kraden's character that is very rarely brought up.
It may seem like Isaac reacted harshly to this news, but you must remember that he has travelled over the better part of a continent with the intent to rescue Kraden, only to be told when he finally finds him not to bother. In his situation, I think I'd be pretty ticked off, too.
It'll be okay though. They'll figure it out eventually, and then everyone can be friends again.
Next Chapter: Saving Kolima!