I release all rights and characters to their respective owners.
A little bit of housekeeping before the story continues in earnest:
I apologize for the long delay. As you will find, Isaac and Co. do not appear in this chapter. I wanted to at the very least update so that everyone would know I hadn't scrapped the story completely. I was merely having an epic duel with writer's block. Isaac's next sequence should be relatively easy to write, so expect it posted soon.
I would also like to take this time to vigorously thank Camelot and Nintendo for making a new game! At long last, the wait is over!
Tundra
Chapter 6: Visions of Angels
Mia did not sleep well. Visions of the Mercury beacon, Alex's sudden betrayal, Saturos and Merandi, and Hama's prophecy haunted her sleep. She awoke well before Felix, after a particularly vivid dream of the yet unseen pinnacle of Mars lighthouse, breathing heavily.
She had shaken off Felix's cloak through the night, and shivered as the cold wind brushed past her exposed forearms.
Felix stirred beside her. She noticed how closely they had been sleeping, and the butterflies in her stomach took off. She had fallen asleep on his chest, she realized, and the butterflies leapt again. She took a deep breath of the frosty air, and smiled despite their situation. Bleak as their outlook was at the moment, she was happy for the comfort.
Mia did feel that, perhaps, it was wrong to look at Felix in this light, because of her friendship with Jenna, because he was the leader, because…
But she wanted him dearly. Over the past few days, she had come to rely on his quiet strength and compassion to keep her from falling into despair. He was her lifeline, and she would have it no other way. She wanted him to be close to her, to keep her warm, to share in each other's comfort. She pulled his cloak back on top of her and nuzzled back up against Felix, drifting off to pleasant dreams, beautiful dreams.
Felix happened to be in the middle of his own dream. He ran across the plains of snow to the north of Prox, searching for Mars Lighthouse. It had moved elsewhere for some reason, and despite his frantic search, he could not find it. He fell down on his knees in the snow, utterly defeated. The world around him fell out of focus as the extent of his failure dawned on him.
Then, out of the sky, a beam of searingly bright light appeared, and hit the ground with an earth-shattering crash. A figure adorned in white stepped forth from the radiant cloak.
Felix was struck dumb with majesty. Every inch of the creature was arresting, alluring, a picture of perfection. It was feminine, with long, white hair, slender arms, and had the grace to make angels jealous. Her entire body shone brighter than the beacons.
She approached Felix, who, although trembling, did not back away. She held out her hand, picked him up from the snow, and with the slightest tug, pulled Felix along with her.
For a very long time, they walked through seemingly identical snowdrifts, though the feminine creature seemed to have a purposeful direction. She said nothing, only held Felix's hand as he followed her through the barren snowfield. Then, when they came to the summit of another small hill, a huge tower of red steel loomed before them. Felix's heart jumped for joy. The snowfall slowed, and then halted, as Felix tried to spot his friends on the top.
"FELIX!" came a voice from the aerie.
It was Mia. Felix tried to shout back, but the response was only another call of his name.
"FELIX!" she cried out.
He started to sprint into the tower, only to remember the mysterious individual (or was it a spirit?) who had been his guide through the snow. He turned around to thank her for bringing him back to his friends, back to Mia, but all Felix saw was the back of her blinding white robes losing their brilliance, and fading into the snow.
"FELIX!"
He heard Mia's clear voice again, and he sprinted into the lighthouse. Then, to his amazement, Mia met him at the bottom.
"Mia…" he whispered.
Their faces drew closer together, and Mia put her hand around his back as she tugged him closer to her. Felix felt his heart begin to race, as sensations unfathomable flew through his body.
"Felix," Mia said again. "Felix…"
The young man awoke then, and Mia's face was almost as close to him as it had been in his dream. His heartbeat had not yet slowed.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, as she drew her face back. "You finally woke up!"
Felix felt a stab of disappointment somewhere inside his ribs. He would have preferred to finish that dream.
"Good morning, Mia."
He shook his head to wake himself.
"I see you're up and moving around more. How are you feeling?" he inquired.
"Much better, thanks to you," she, with a hinting smile playing around the ends of her lips. Felix felt himself melt as he looked at those fair lips...
"Oh, well," stuttered Felix, growing slightly red around the ears, "of course."
He shifted his body in an attempt to recover himself.
"How is your wound?" he asked.
"It feels better, but I haven't looked. I don't trust my fingers to open it back up. Could you help?"
Felix obliged, kneeling down at her side. Once again, he examined her wound with delicacy and tenderness that amazed her. It was in such stark contrast with the powerful and demonstrative person he was in battle – that there could be so many parts of one person only made Felix more desirable.
Felix then pulled her shirt back down, announcing that all was well. He excused himself, saying he was leaving to get firewood and food, and left the hut with his Sand Psynergy. Mia was left to her thoughts, wondering if she should tell him how she felt, and what the consequences would be in either case.
Felix returned about an hour later, with more firewood, and this time a green bird that was about half as tall as his Sol Blade, which hit the ground with a thud as he rematerialized from the sand buried deep within the ground.
"This should last us a while," stated Felix, with a hint of satisfied smugness.
"Wow," gaped Mia. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
"Want to eat some of it?" she probed, raising her eyebrows.
"I thought you weren't going to ask," Felix replied.
They cleaned it as best they could, and then held the legs over the fire to cook.
"How did you find anything alive up here?" asked Mia, as she turned her phoenix leg over atop the flames.
"I don't know. I just went back to the place where I found the eggs, and instead I found this walking around. It looks like it's just a child. It got me on the arm pretty good, though."
He rolled his sleeve back to reveal the healed remains of a slice through his left tricep.
"Oh!" exclaimed Mia. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Felix asserted, with a tone that hinted at exasperation but yet almost sounded like he was teasing.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it doesn't even hurt."
"I can still help make sure it doesn't get infected, here..."
Felix felt the Psynergy course through his body, cleansing it of any toxins.
"That power always amazes me," he said. "It's so much more potent than mine."
"That's one of the oldest Psynergies of my clan. The creatures around Imil are quite poisonous. The old stories say that my clan is one of the remnants of the great civilizations of the former age, and that they passed down the last remnants of our arts."
"That sounds interesting," said Felix. "Can I hear the whole story?"
"Sure," said Mia.
She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and began to spin her tale with the ease of a person who has told a story many times before.
"Long ago, before the power of Ply was sealed away, my clan had long mastered the arts of healing the body. Our clan was widespread, strong, and prosperous. Then, wars broke out across the land. Unspeakable hurt befell the people, most of them innocents. The wisest of Weyard's leaders convened, and, seeing no other alternative before them, sealed away the power of Alchemy. Even the most powerful Adepts were left with a fraction of their former strength.
Years passed, and many of the greatest healers of Imil fell into death. Our people, all of whom had once been Adepts to some degree, slowly lost their power, until it only remained with a select few. My clan.
For generations since then, there have been two healers, one male, one female. It is the way of things, and it was, until … Alex left with Menardi and Saturos, an unbroken heritage. We try to pass on what we can from master to student, but with each generation, more and more knowledge is lost, and forever unobtainable, unless we break the seal. Doing so goes against our greatest tradition, but yet I know in my heart I must."
She paused.
"Felix, everything used to be simple," sighed Mia. "It was not easy to survive in Imil, but it was simple. I think I prefer that. No, I know I prefer that."
Her words struck a chord in Felix. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to be close to someone, but now that he had, he couldn't believe the depth of his understanding for how Mia felt. After all, Felix had not had a simple life since he awoke to the sight of Menardi and Saturos, after they had rescued him from the river. He had deceived his friends and family, allowing them to believe that he had died. He had nothing but empathy for Mia.
"Yeah," said Felix. He gazed off into space, wondering where his friends were, confident that he would soon hear their voices calling out across the snowswept plains.
Mia found her thoughts in the same place. She did not, however, feel the confidence that Felix exuded quite so keenly. Harrowing visions of death on the ice came bursting forth with startling ferocity. She imagined the fire going out, after several weeks of waiting on the frozen ice. Her imagination dragged her away, telling her that her friends were all at the bottom of the sea, lain to waste by the storm.
"Mia," Felix said gently, as he shook her by the shoulder.
Mia looked up from the bottom of her shirt, which had collected a small puddle of tears.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not strong like you, Felix. Where are they? I can't help thinking that they aren't coming, that our ship is at the bottom of the ocean, that we're going to die here. I don't want to die yet."
"It won't be much longer," Felix said. "Whatever is keeping them is important. They won't abandon us out here. I know they're alive. I know it."
Mia shifted her gaze to the ground, wanting to believe him. She sat next to him silently, trying to purge the images of her companions forever lost to the ocean. Try as she might, they would not cease. Eventually, she stood up in their hut, and began to try to walk around after her long stint of motionlessness.
"Mia?" inquired Felix.
"I can't stand sitting here anymore," she growled. "I have to move. I'll go crazy if I don't."
She walked four hesitant steps from one side of their hut to the other, Felix behind her the whole way, waiting to catch her if she were to fall. She touched the wall at the end of her trek, and plopped back down.
"Ah," she said, as she struggled to catch her breath.
"We can go outside if you want to," said Felix. "It will be easier that way."
Mia concentrated on two more deep breaths before nodding to Felix in reply. He used his Psynergy to take them outside, and they spent the remainder of the afternoon walking and eating the occasional portion of the bird. Afternoon came and went, and soon Mia began to wear out.
"Let's go back inside, Felix," she said. "I've done about all I can."
He brought them back into the hut, and Mia sat down delicately. As Felix prepared their dinner, he assessed their situation.
They had enough food for about three more days, if they were careful, and enough wood to last for a month. However, the cold was quickly becoming a problem. Jupiter's intensified powers would make it impossible to reach Prox before too much longer, and that was assuming they still had a ship. He scowled in discontent, refusing to concede his waking hours, as well as his sleep, to his nightmares. His nightmares…
Why did Mia play a role in every single dream of his? Perhaps it was the cold getting to his head, but Felix wondered if he could possibly be falling in… He couldn't say the word. To admit it would be to act on it. Yet still, each time he thought of her, he felt the addition of a great weight in his chest, and yet at the same time, a similar burden was lifted. It was a compelling feeling, one that begged to be released. Let me go, it seemed to say. Let me be free. I DESIRE it.
Felix couldn't take it any longer. He had to tell Mia, lest the power of this emotion were to crush him.
"Mia," he began…
