Updates for this chapter largely consist of getting the narrative to stay in the past tense after the first section. (My god, how did I let this slip by?)
I've had half of this written for weeks. Sorry for taking so long. /fail
Warnings: Bad foreshadowing.
Pairing(s): Blink-and-you'll-miss-it hints of Garet/Ivan. Slight nod to Isaac/Ivan.
Rating: G. Probably.
Notes: Much skipping around. Mostly filler.
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Misery Loves Company; Company Provides an Outlet for Misery's Friend Wrath.
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Inside the damp and short, but winding Goma Cave stand three adepts and two djinn. The Venus adept, the leader of the party, is healing the physically weaker Jupiter adept, while the Mars adept prepares a small fire to keep them warm as they rest nearby.
Somewhere in an infinitely distant parallel universe this had occurred before. In the same place and time a different Venus adept had healed this Jupiter adept using the same psynergy, though with greater skill, and a different romance had begun to blossom.
Here, though, Felix uses his cure ability on Ivan, while entirely different thoughts run through their heads. Ivan's intuition tells him that something about this scene is wrong. Somewhere along the line, someone had pushed the threads of fate a little too far, and something not meant to be had occurred.
The same threads of fate gently push these thoughts out of his mind so that nothing is discovered before its time. As payment, because nothing is without a price, they replace the thought with a stream of psynergy-silent telepathy, allowing a glimpse of Felix's thoughts without the messy getting noticed that naturally comes with using Ivan's mind read ability.
Felix's thoughts are largely a swirl of confusion; Ivan is used to hearing only the foremost thoughts on a person's mind, and this burst of telepathy is overloading him with every single thing running through Felix's mind. He sees a glimpse of a memory of Felix's meeting with Isaac several hours previous to Ivan's own arrival, which had ended with him clearing the ivy for Felix and Garet.
Ivan finally manages to catch the repeating stream of "Are we on the wrong side of this quest?" at the forefront of Felix's mind. "No," he replies aloud.
The flow of soft orange-brown baubles of psynergy cease as Ivan's wounds closed. Felix stops focusing on his companion's arm (the scar shall heal in a few days) to look at him in confusion. "What?"
"They kidnapped your sister and your…" Ivan pauses, at a loss for what exactly Isaac is to Felix, the burst of telepathy had only confused the issue more (he cannot figure out what Isaac is to Felix if Felix does not know, himself) he finishes with: "Isaac." Ivan hesitates again, unsure if he has said too much, then continues a bit meekly, "You can't be on the wrong side of this quest."
Felix's eyes narrow in suspicion, but he is not the sort to start a debate over what the perhaps-over-informed Jupiter adept has to say, so he brushes the comment off and walks to Garet's invitingly warm fire.
---
Isaac paced back and forth, his expression wrought with confusion and impatience; he moved at no less than double Kraden's usual speed. Jenna had had to run to keep up on the way back from the river, and Isaac had not spoken except to mutter the name of whatever psynergy he had used to raise and remove those platforms he had jumped away from. Isaac had seemed suspiciously hurried as he rushed Jenna back to camp, but she did not question it; he had probably just not wanted the Proxians to assume he had been trying to escape.
Though, Iris-only-knew what the hell he had actually been doing on the platforms. Jenna did not think he would leave her alone with the Proxians; if for no other reason than to not betray Garet and Felix's trust again by abandoning her to the same near-sociopathic freaks who had kidnapped her, but she could not imagine any reason for him to be out on the river.
The Proxians took no notice of their captives' absence, nor of the impatient and worried looks on the Valeans' faces. Saturos and Menardi seemed quite content to keep to themselves while they waited for Alex.
It was determined by everyone as a silent agreement that they would not have time to spend the night in Bilibin, even if Alex had to teleport them across the entirety of Goma Cave, which seemed like the likely solution to their problem.
On the other hand, if Alex did not return soon, it would not matter; Felix and Garet could arrive at the lighthouse long before the Proxians.
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The Mars djinni stared the party down. A large Venus djinni stood near the Venus adept; a tall, dark-haired youth with an aura meant to protect. Forge jumped back, then charged the group. There could be nothing gained from allying itself with weaklings.
It was a blessing for the party that the Mars djinni did not notice Sap; Forge conceded defeat when its life was drained by the enthusiastic djinni.
---
A resounding splash, like the sound of something heavy hitting the river, reached the Proxians and their hostages. The others must have opened a path. Tendrils of fear seemed to wrap around Saturos and Menardi's insides. If the others reach the lighthouse too soon – then, their instincts and pride as warriors of Prox kicked in; if the other group reached the lighthouse first, it just meant that they would have to be eliminated.
"That's Garet's psynergy!" Jenna exclaimed, standing up. The Proxians' mood had only deteriorated from what it had been before, and an outright declaration confirming their fears did not help matters.
"Don't get too excited. We don't have Alex; we cannot cross the river," Saturos pointed out grimly.
Isaac shook his head and stands as well. "I think I can get us across," he said. Jenna was surprised that he planned to reveal his new ability to their captors, but said nothing.
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The new djinni refused to speak; a fact that annoyed Garet to no end. Flint was finally forced to explain that a djinni did not speak the human tongue unless its leader was nearby. Garet seemed to suddenly notice the difference in size between Flint and the other djinn.
The party continued through Goma Cave without further incident.
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Alex appeared just as the Proxians and their hostages approached a large stump blocking further passage through Goma Cave. They could have turned around and taken the long way, but none of them were sure exactly how far away the Valeans were, with the exception of Jenna who could sense Garet's familiar psynergy signature in the nearby vicinity, and she had no intention of saying that her friends were nearby.
Instead she helped Saturos and Menardi to persuade Alex to teleport the party to the end of Goma Cave. One by one they all arrived outside of Bilibin. Alex was not as exhausted as he could have been, but he was not faring overly well, either.
They left him in Bilibin to catch up later. Alex departed muttering something about his hatred of all toddlers. Isaac could swear he heard something about a "baby whirlwind," but he couldn't be sure, and had found that it was more prudent to just not ask when Alex was in a foul mood.
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"How is Ivan doing?" Felix asked Garet as they exited Goma Cave, emerging into familiar sunshine and well-lit foreign grass at last. The party's youngest member talked to Garet more than Felix, who was quieter and more intimidating from Ivan's point of view, whereas Garet was oblivious, but outgoing and friendly.
Garet glanced at Ivan, who was beginning to fall behind. Flint had fallen back, as well, acting as a rear guard for the party. Felix glanced at them, as well, then answered his own query, "We'll see how he does next fight."
By the time Bilibin was within view, it was clear that a rest at the inn would be best.
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"Oh, gods it's cold!" Jenna exclaimed, wading through a shallow creek as the party made its way north. The Proxians frowned at the cool water, but said nothing. Isaac made his way upstream a few paces and drank a bit of the marginally-cleaner water. It was cool and refreshing, as only the sort of fresh water flowing from nearby snow-capped mountains could be.
"Jenna," Kraden said when she reached the center of the creek. "Let us see how good your concentration is. Whip up a nice flare."
She frowned, waving her hand. The flame was a pathetic excuse for one, and could do little more than light a pipe. Forests would laugh in its face rather than cower as they were burnt to ashes. Well. First the forests would make sure the pathetic excuse for a flame had not fallen on a conspicuously large pile of dry leaves. Then the forests would laugh at it.
"Scholar," Saturos interrupted menacingly, "now is not the time." Sunset approached as he urged the two Valeans to follow.
Kraden splashed forward in a motion of uncharacteristic defiance. "Any time is a good time for training," he argued. "If you want Jenna to be of any use it would be wise to let her train when the chance arises."
"She is a hostage, her only use is to stay alive," Menardi growled.
Jenna's eyes narrowed. She sat down as Isaac made his way back downstream to rejoin the rest of the group; once Jenna was thoroughly soaked from the chest down she conjured a bright serpent fume, resulting in a loud hissing sound and a lot of steam.
"Very good, Jenna!" Kraden said, clapping enthusiastically. "Your concentration is flawless. How about you two let Isaac and Jenna fight a few of the beasts so fond of attacking our group?"
Saturos sighed exasperatedly, but did not slow down. "We don't have that kind of time," he insisted. Menardi walked after him, and the Valeans soon followed suit.
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A/N: For anyone who's curious about my tendency to make Alex's teleport ability particularly strenuous and psynergy-consuming, while in-game the ability is only 2pp to teleport 8 people and up to 27 djinn, it's because he doesn't have the lapis. . Also, I think it would be a bit like cheating to let him have infinite teleporty power. It just seems to me like it would be much easier to teleport oneself without incident than others, especially someone like Jenna who would be entirely unfamiliar, and probably uncooperative, and therefore harder to concentrate on.
I dunno. It made sense in my head.