Thanks again to all the reviewers and readers who took the time to check out the last chapter. Long update time, right? Well, I apologize, and I promise I'll start trying to improve. I don't want to set an even worse precedent. :D
Also, to the reviewer who mentioned the continuity issues, et cetera - let me clarify the concept a bit more, because I'm very vague and that's bad. What I meant was that these, unless explicitly stated, aren't connected - so there's no continuity, per se, just a series of oneshots that happen to be part of the same piece of work. And I apologise for the confusing nature of my writing - as you can probably tell, I'm not very good. ;P
Garet (Platonic)
"Run!"
"But I-"
"Stop talking and run, damnit!"
A sigh, before Isaac turns and runs away. You can hear his footsteps echoing in the distance, down the corridors, and once the sound of boots hitting rock finally dies down, you relax, allowing yourself to draw breath.
Gulping down as much air as you can, you climb shakily to your feet, blood pooling where you had been sat moments ago. They are weak and uncertain beneath you, and the action threatens to pull you back down to the floor, but you refuse to fall again, not when those monsters are right there around the corner, just waiting for the opportunity to bite down on you and devour your little group afterwards. You curl your hand around the vial in your pocket (just in case) and wait.
Flinching when your legs wobble a little, you take a step forward and summon all your remaining strength. Fear rises in your throat when the sound of slobbering mouths and gnashing teeth turns the corner and reaches your ears, but you are proud, you are steadfast, and you set your face in grim determination as you raise your sword for what you are sure will be your final battle. You hope your bravado will last. Maybe you won't see it through, but it doesn't matter; Isaac and Jenna are safe, and that's all you care about right now.
The beasts take their time getting to you, and the wait is soul-crushing enough, but when they do, you are prepared, even if you falter for a moment, your eyes shocked by what they see. The monsters are hideous, foul black mandibles sprouting from twisted, fleshy faces, legs wriggling wildly as they strain to carry the weight of the scarred carapaces the creatures hide within. When they roar, a sheer, fathomless noise that speaks of all the horrors of hell, you know your fate is sealed. It is almost poetic; they hunger, and you are their meal.
The Fire Brand glows in your hands, and its comforting warmth revives your flagging confidence. You steel yourself one final time, and pray that your friends are all safe, even Ivan, much as the little gnat frustrates you.
Lost in your thoughts, counting down to your imminent death, you react to slowly to block the lunging bite of the first monster, and as you pull back, out of the range of its pincers, you are thrown off balance. The second dives at you, but this time you are prepared, dropping to the floor and rolling to the side, safely out of the way. The strain alone nearly defeats you, threatening to reopen the wound in your side that Isaac had used his Psynergy to close, but one of the beasts is too busy fighting with another to pay any attention to you, forcing you to make a choice. Your decision is swift, and you rush towards it, charging back into the fray before plunging your blade through its skull. Relief floods your thoughts as you watch it dissolve into nothingness, and for a moment your strength returns (maybe you shouldn't give things up for lost just yet).
Your relief is short-lived, however, as you feel numbness begin to spread through your left leg before pain shoots through you. Glancing down to the source you recall that the monster you killed had been fighting another one, and you chastise yourself as you raise your other leg to stomp on the creature's skull. Surprisingly, it shatters easily beneath your armored boot, and you add it to your tally with some joy.
The other four are none too pleased, skirting around you and growling as their pincers snap in your direction, but you growl just as viciously in response, and though it seems stupid, they shrink back, which fills you with smugness.
Then you remember that you've seen this all before, and your face falls just as the shadow falls over you. The surviving beasts scatter, leaving you there to, presumably, die, while you curse them for not bringing you along, even as lunch.
When you turn, to look at the monster behind you, the first thing into your head is that 'shocked' doesn't quite cover your reaction. The new monster before you is tall, easily twice your height, its large head scraping the roof of the tunnel you are trapped in, and easily thrice as thick. You recall that monsters like it, from the lizardman clan, are supposed to be very meek for all their intimidating appearances, but this one is nothing like what you've encountered elsewhere. The phrase "exception to the rule" jumps to mind, which knocks the wind out of you, literally (why me, you wonder).
Its scaly green skin shifts and gleams under the dim light of the sun shining in through the cracks in the cavern walls. Its limbs are long and muscular, forearms sprouting some sort of vestigial wings, hands curved into sharp claws that glint wickedly at you; the legs are worse, nearly as thick as your torso each, tapering off towards what should have been its feet, but instead were talons, pointy and big and dangerous-looking. Its face is the worst, when you finally pluck up the courage to settle your roaming gaze on it; fiercely bright red eyes sit angrily between a flate, curved, shiny forehead and a mouth filled with rows of the sharpest teeth you've ever seen, stuck in a permanent wide grin that makes you feel more terrified than reassured. When it roars, you very nearly void your bowels. It is utterly inhuman and utterly horrifying.
It raises its hackles, perhaps in a gesture of warning (with luck, it wants you off its territory, perhaps without violence – maybe it's more afraid of you than you are of it, like spiders or bees or flowers), and you take a step back, because you're an upstanding young gentleman, and if this fine fellow would like you to remove yourself from his property, who are you to argue?
Your back bumps into something behind you, and you drop your hands to brush across it. Scales. Fuck.
The realisation that you are prety and these are predators takes longer than you expect to come to you, but when it does, your reaction is immediate. You don't think you've ever moved as fast as you do then, throwing all your weight forward as you raise your sword and thrust it towards the hideous one in front, faster than the hideous one behind can do anything about it. It clangs harmlessly off the creature's armour-scales, leaving you weeping inside, because that's it, the game is up. You're done. Or at least, you think that way, until the monster starts jumping around like a maniac on fire.
Watching what happens next is strangely gratifying. The creature's scales sizzle a little, then they pop, before a series of explosions trails up its torso, around its body, until they arrive back where they started; the lizardman is left flaming and naked. Fire, you think, fire is good. Calling spells is useless, as you don't have the willpower left over to make any of them work, but the Brand is fire, and that's good enough, right?
You strike at the other one, but it manages to dodge, jumping back a few paces on its rippling legs before throwing a punch that is so strong it catches you off-guard right in the middle of your parry, knocking your sword clean out of your hands. It embeds itself in the wall, and you want to curse, you really do, but it probably wouldn't do you much good (offending the masters of the house further would just be childish), so you don't. You refuse to give up, but ultimately it doesn't matter, because that choice has just been made for you. Tears, anger, determination, none of it matters when you're dead, and you feel about as good as dead.
The nude lizardman has very little inclination to let you go free, you now realise, fiery eyes burning with a hate fueled by a pain you cannot comprehend and a hunger you can. The other one is just as livid, and far more intimidating, still invincible, and standing between you and your weapon, somehow grinning even more than before, as if it knows that it's over, that you've got nothing left, and even if you did you'd probably still be just as frightened and alone as you are now.
It takes a second longer than it should, but eventually you find your Djinn in your mind, and you reach out to them, power flowing through you from the tips of your hairs to the tips of your toes, a new and comforting fire burning at your fingertips. It's unfortunate, you think, that they are all Venus djinn; Earth isn't your element, even if you find yourself invigorated by it, and now you are left with what you are sure is nowhere near the level of power that you need. Judgment doesn't respond to you the way it responds to Isaac, and even if it did, why bother? Putting so many Djinn in such a vulnerable state for so long would be the end of you, even if Granite thinks you can do it, or Flower is desperate to protect you.
When you finally make the leap, the monster casually brushes you aside, the impact when you slam into the wall knocking the wind out of you. You find yourself with the back against the wall, and now you know it is over, with certainty, and the greatest irony is that you were the one who was supposed to be strongest, most likely to live, the only one with the power to deal with the traps that had threatened to consume the four of you so long ago.
You yield, if only for a moment, and the monsters raise their claws, finally ready to put an end to the games. You are pleased; nothing could be sweeter than not being trapped with no hope of rescue any longer. As the first fist swoops towards you, you thank yourself – not God, not the Wise One, not Alchemy, but your own damn self – for the fact that your friends are safe, before resigning yourself to your fate. You hope it'll be quick, even if you know it won't.
Eyes closed, you feel a slight breeze blow over you, practically through you (how is there a breeze this deep inside the cave?), only to pass seconds later. There is a short silence, time hanging still in the air, then a howl, but you haven't been cut to ribbons or eaten alive, so you crack an eye open and it's as if all your prayers have been answered.
The beast without scales is dead, bleeding heavily from several open wounds; your Fire Brand is carelessly sticking out of its skull, shattered bits of bone and brain matter decorating the walls and floor in your vision. The second is on its last legs, literally: its left leg is hanging uselessly, irreparably broken, while both its arms have been completely dismembered. It writhes around on the floor, hateful and angry, hissing, spitting, roaring at the warrior who stands tall over it, sword pointed at its throat.
When the killing blow comes, its death rattle is enough to fill you with both relief and dread. The warrior is cleaning off his sword, blood dripping from its point, with a frown of disgust plastered over his face. He turns to you, as others run to your side, allowing their healing spells to run through you and ease some of your pain; with your energy restored, for now, you stand and look the warrior in the eye, pride overtaking the fear that held you in place only seconds ago.
"Thank you," you say, though it is difficult to get the words out for more reasons than one, and the warrior's frown deepens for a moment, just long enough for you to see the worry on his face, before he breaks into a smile that relieves you as much as his assistance did earlier.
"Don't mention it," he says, "anything for family." and you know he means it, because the hand resting on your shoulder, if only shortly, is full of kindness, warmth, and meaning. It is more the hand of a brother than the hand of a hero.
He turns away, stalking down a dark passage, and you move to follow him, but Isaac stops you, shaking his head. In a flash your fear has returned, perhaps doubled knowing what lies ahead of him, but you seal it up inside, in the deepest parts of your heart, and leave with the others, though your mind wanders away from Jenna's attentions.
Later, Jenna is fawning over you, as she is wont to do. Her hands are comforting and loving as they glide over your bare skin, delicately tending to the many injuries you've suffered; healer's hands, more akin to Mia than to the Jenna you grew up with, though you can't say you don't like the feeling. Your mind is more preoccupied than that, though, mostly with the way they flit back and forth anxiously. You wonder why she is nervous.
"What's wrong?" you ask, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face. She is still radiantly, beautiful, easily moreso than the other girls, even frazzled as she is.
"Felix hasn't come back yet," she replies, eyes clouding over. A minute passes before you hesitantly take her into your arms, soothing her as best you can. Your wounds ache, but it's worth the pain: she tenses, then relaxes, clutching at you for comfort. "I'm so afraid," she says, teary-eyed, and you sympathise, though you cannot stop the swell of hatred you feel towards your 'fearless leader', so willing to put his sister's feelings in jeopardy. That subsides a little when she adds, "I was so terrified for you, Garet, I can't lose him too..."
The sound of Felix's name, shouted by two indistinct voices (you can't make who, but you assume it's Mia and Piers; with him it's always those two) draws Jenna away quickly, and you rise to your feet, intending to follow, but by the time you reach the door he is already there, standing in front of Jenna at the bottom of the stairs leading to the deck, Mia and Piers waiting impatiently behind him for his attention. You notice he looks heavily wounded, and Jenna is both relieved and concerned; you can guess why. What shocks you is when he pushes past Jenna (but not harshly, he's never harsh with his sister) and limps in your direction, with an almost triumphant look on his face, holding something obviously very important.
What he drops into your unexpectant hands, and you fumble clumsily with like the oaf you sometimes think you are, is a clear red gem that burns with an inner fire. You recognize it immediately, faster than anything else you've done today: it is, after all, what you went into the cave looking for, the very thing you'd wanted to give Jenna to make her eyes brighten the same way. It is a Firestone, a glittering, precious thing your mother told you would make any female Mars Adept the happiest girl in the world, and Jenna is, even after telling you not to bother, that it wasn't important, staring at it like it's the only thing that could ever possibly exist in her eyes.
"Why did you-"
"My sister loves you," is his response, simple, strong, and final. It's a Felix thing to say – answer a question with a statement that's only tangentially related, but it makes sense to you, and then you feel a volcano erupt in your cheeks, knowing you've turned redder than the damn stone, because Jenna herself hasn't told you that yet, and she's the same, red, red like fire, but God, she's beautiful, and the way she smiles so shyly and yet so openly at you confirms it. "That makes you family. Family is the most important thing," Felix continues, and you get the feeling that unlike most people, he means it.
You don't know what to say, so you say nothing, but the way Jenna pulls Felix into what must be the world's most constricting, most painful hug says more than you ever could, and you do the same, awkwardly hugging the man who's done more for you today than pretty much anyone outside your blood ever has (save Isaac and Jenna, though you feel like Felix has probably been watching over you three longer than anyone else). He smiles at you both, a rare, warm smile that tells you everything you need to know, that he'll always be there to save you both like he did today, and you smile back, because that's what you feel: a smile. A full-body smile that'll take over and never leave you if you don't stop looking at the family you're getting involved with. Mia sighs dreamily behind him and Piers looks pleased, but they don't matter, because Jenna snatches the bauble from you and holds it up to the light, eyeing it with a grin you can't believe any human could ever have, eyes sparkling with unabashed joy before she pulls you aside for the most passionate kiss you've ever shared. It's clearly enough for Felix, who politely averts his eyes until you're both finished, no longer smiling but still radiating contentment, then nods serenely at you before turning around and hobbling up the stairs, closely attended by two overly-touchy, obsessive Mercury Adepts.
You wonder inwardly if Felix intended to have you indebted to him for the rest of your mortal life as Jenna drags you in the direction of your room, then you thank him for the best gift you've ever been given to give to someone else. After all, you never thought you'd have an elder brother (you also wonder if you should apologise to Kay for thinking that).
Much, much later, Jenna ponders setting Felix and Kay up together, and you only think about it for a moment before you dismiss it; having your two overbearing siblings get married, on second thought, is a terrible idea.