Summary: It's been two years since the events of the Grave Eclipse, and Weyard is rebuilding again. To commemorate the anniversary of the revival of Passaj's Alchemy Forge, Amiti has invited his friends to Ayuthay. When an interesting set of events brings Karis early, Ayuthay's young king is forced to evaluate his friendship. Amiti/Karis

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: If you haven't played the game, but don't mind spoilers, I've included footnotes on Dark Dawn stuff so you're not too lost. If I missed something, ask me a question and I'll explain it in the next chapter. The spoilers in this chapter aren't really drastic, but next chapter will have a huge one.

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A Different Kind of Storm

CHAPTER 1

King of Ayuthay

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The gravestone felt cool to the touch. Amiti's fingers brushed across the stone likeness of his uncle, unconsciously picking up and wiping off any trace of the morning dew coalesced into a larger string of water, following his fingers and falling to the ground at his direction. Psynergy had become almost second nature to him over the years, where in the past it had been something alien, something that marked him as blessed, but different from the rest of Ayuthay's Exathi [1] descendants. He stared up at his uncle's face, the carved stone figure staring back at him. It was hard to believe that it had already been two years since he had finally come home and had been informed by a grieving adviser that he was now the king of Ayuthay. It had felt like much less time, but then again, he had been busy.

Would you be proud of me, Uncle? he wanted to ask. He had done as he promised, had returned as a stronger and wiser son of Ayuthay, even though he had learned some things on his journey that he could have gone without knowing. But he had returned too late. He would never know...Would you be proud of what I've done in your name?

Sveta [2] would be coming soon. She had offered once before to speak to his uncle on his behalf, but he refused. Why would he want to disturb his uncle's rest? Paithos [3] was finally at peace.

He sighed. He couldn't remain here forever. There were things to do. There was always things to do. Even after two years, Ayuthay hadn't finished rebuilding. But at least his people were safe, which was more than he could say about the other cities in Ei-Jei. [4] He lowered his head in respect for his uncle, then stepped away from the tombstone.

"Amiti!" called a small voice. "Amiti!"

Amiti looked up. Nobody in Ayuthay called him by his given name so freely anymore. No human, at least. He glanced down at the Mercury Djinni that stopped directly in front of him. She seemed out of breath, or at least, as out of breath as a Djinni could be.

"What is it, Serac?" he asked.

"The guards pulled someone out of Lake Barai!" said Serac, hopping impatiently from one foot to another. "It's Karis!"

Amiti's eyes widened. In a split second, he was running down the hall, pausing just long enough to extend a hand out to the Mercury Djinni so that Serac could set herself. There was a flash of blue light as Serac leaped and shot into him, and Amiti could feel her presence at the back of his mind, taking a moment to spread herself out before settling in with his other Djinn. He always kept at least a few of them set.

Left...he heard Serac say. He nodded out of habit-if he wanted her to, she could hear his thoughts-and turned sharply, skidding around the corner and rushing out the palace door into the sunlight. The boatman had pulled up in front of the palace, a limp figure in his arms. Amiti froze, seeing a spot of green. A handful of guards stood around the boatman in a loose half-circle. All of them looked up when they saw him. Some of them quickly offered bows.

"Your Majesty," said one of them, the highest ranking official. "We heard a splash. The boatman went out to investigate, and he found Lady Karis." Amiti walked over to them, taking quick but measured steps, even though all the color had drained from his face. His eyes flicked over Karis to the boat behind them, where two other guards were carefully unloading a second figure. This one was an older man-he looked as if he was in his late twenties or early thirties. His hair was blond, and there were dark spots in his clothing that he assumed was blood. He had seen enough blood and enough death that he quickly suppressed the feeling of revulsion, looking up at the guards. He saw concern in their faces. They recognized Karis, but of course they would. All of Matthew's former party was welcome in Ayuthay.

"Take them to the infirmary," he said. He glanced back at Karis and quickly looked away. Her face was pale and drawn, and she groaned in pain. "Quickly."

He spun on his heel, his blue-green hair falling behind him like a curtain as he led the way himself. The guards followed, resting Karis and her companion on the nearest available beds. Ayuthay's infirmary had been underground ever since the Grave Eclipse. The original building had been destroyed by Kaocho, and the underground building had become so well known for being the infirmary that Amiti saw no reason to change it. At the very least, in case of an attack, the sick and wounded were already safe. The healers that weren't already with patients swarmed quickly, recognizing injuries better than the guards could. Amiti remained at the rear of the party, forgotten for just that instant. Here, in the infirmary, the healers were kings, and the kings knew better than to disagree.

Finally, one of the healers, an older man, looked up and recognized him. "My lord," he said.

Amiti took that as his signal to approach. He denied his most basic instinct-to immediately go to his friend and comrade and pour all of his Psynergy into her. "Which of them needs assistance more?" he asked.

"Lady Karis's injuries are bad, but they aren't-yet-life threatening," said the healer. "Her companion, however..."

Amiti nodded, walking over to the man. The healers immediately withdrew, hovering around him. They were extremely skilled at their craft, but they weren't Adepts, and although Amiti didn't have their skill, he did have something they didn't. Psynergy. Particularly, Mercury Psynergy. He looked down at the man below him. His jaw was clenched in pain, and his skin had adopted the pasty color of someone who had lost too much blood. There wasn't much time. He closed his eyes, gathering his powers inward. They came at once like a roaring tide, washing over him and setting his skin tingling with the force of it. Light surrounded him-he could see it even through closed eyes, even though he knew that no one else could. He held his breath and the power with it, and then exhaled slowly, setting it free.

"Ply..." he whispered, more out of habit than anything else.

The power, Ply in its purest form, left him and rushed into the man. In that instant, Amiti was aware of everything that was wrong with him. He saw the man better than he could have with his eyes. He could feel the broken bones, could feel the blood, could feel his labored breathing and his struggling heart. In an instant, he reached out with his power, his consciousness expanded so that he could deal with it as he grabbed bones and knit them together, restored blood to the body, pushed skin back into its rightful place and coaxed new skin to grow. When his power began to ebb, he quickly pushed on it again and it fell on the man as if it were a wave-a second consecutive casting. He could see the similarities to Karis-the same slight figure, the same nose, the same curve of the jaw. He could feel the Psynergy inside him-a tempest, a cutting wind, restrained and held back by the finest control. To his knowledge, Ply's Venus equivalent-Cure-could not produce the same level of knowledge.

It was why Ply was revered as a gift from the gods.

He withdrew when his power ebbed a third time, finding nothing else to fix. He swayed unsteadily on his feet, and the healer behind him quickly caught him. She was an experienced hand with these kind of healings. Another one held a cup of water up to him and he drank gratefully, looking down at the man.

Ivan, the legendary Warrior of Vale. Karis's father.

The healer's hands on him were unsteady. Amiti turned his head and looked at her, before nodding and heading over to Karis. The healers quickly busied with cleaning Ivan up. He let them, resting one hand on the headboard of the bed to steady himself as he looked down at her. The healers watched him with concern in their eyes, but they didn't tell him to stop. They knew he wouldn't have heeded it if they did.

He summoned the same power to course through him again and cast Ply.

Karis was easier. He had healed her before-many times before-and was on familiar ground. He instinctively sought out her injuries, pushing her bones back into place, repairing where he could and alleviating pain with what he couldn't fix. It only took two castings to bring Karis back from the brink, and he allowed himself to be led to a chair when it was finished. He collapsed into it and leaned back, taking a deep breath as he felt his strength return to him. Within the hour, Ivan and Karis had been cleaned. Any injuries not covered by Amiti's healing had been bandaged, and their clothes had been replaced by the white gowns given to the patients at the infirmary. The healers drew the curtains around their beds for privacy, before turning to their king.

"Leave," said Amiti with a tired but dismissive wave of his hand. He took in a breath. "Please."

They waited a few moments with a few awkward shuffling before they left, leaving Amiti alone.

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Notes:

[1] Exathi - Ancient craftsmen who possessed no Psynergy, but were so good at their crafts that they were considered equal to the Jenei (Ancient Adepts) and were on good terms with them. The descendants of the Exathi live in Ayuthay where they practice stonecarving and in Passaj where they practice metalworking.

[2] Sveta - Beastman Jupiter Adept who is also the princess of Morgal. Has the ability to read minds, including the minds of the dead.

[3] Paithos - Amiti's uncle. King of Ayuthay in the game, and was seriously injured during the Grave Eclipse. Reading the minds of the people around him revealed that nobody was sure he would last until Amiti returned.

[4] Ei-Jei - Southern region of the game that seems to correspond to Southeast Asia. Ei-Jei includes the cities/countries (?) of Ayuthay, Harapa, Passaj, Champa, and Kaocho.