Author's Notes: So, yeah, this chapter is only a little bit shorter than the last one and it only took me... A month. Sigh. Anyway, sorry for the long wait. Be sure to read and review, use constructive criticism, and use the links on my profile to follow me on Twitter and YouTube. I would like to thank MagicMissle and Epic Networks for reviewing.
Edit: As of 8/28/2012, I have updated the ending of this chapter and made it much better in my opinion. I've still not started on the next chapter, but next time will have Ivan catching up with Isaac and Garet.
The Bandits and the Mind-Reader
Isaac couldn't remember a night where he'd been so tired and yet so restless at the same time. Garet's entire family (along with the entire village) demanded to be filled in on what happened in Mt. Aleph. Any protestations had been immediately drowned out, and soon they'd relented, deciding it would be better to get the story over with then and there so they weren't held up the next day.
Lying awake in his bed fully clothed, he stared at the hole in the roof that hadn't been fixed yet, where the full moon shined down on him. When he'd come in to go to bed, his mother had already lain down, and didn't respond to him, not that he'd tried too hard to rouse her.
The teenager stood, looking up at the hole, and after a moment, he climbed back onto his bed, grabbing onto the beam and hoisted himself up out of the hole and onto the roof. Standing on the strong hay, Isaac stared more fully at the white moon, blue eyes glittering like the stars above. Perhaps it was the stress of the coming day, where he'd leave his friends, his mother and his village behind for an unknown amount of time, but he could swear he could almost see the eye of the Wise One staring down at him from the moon.
I'll be watching.
Isaac looked down from the moon, and turned, looking north towards Garet's house. Blinking, he walked to the apex of his roof, squinting through the darkness. That shock of spiked red hair was unmistakable. How Garet had gotten out of his house without waking anyone up (since there were no lights shining through the windows), Isaac didn't know. Garet was sitting with his feet hanging off the edge of the roof, his face buried in his hands.
Straightening up and balancing on his rooftop, he lifted his hand, a yellow glow surrounding his fingers, and a small, glowing rock appeared floating above his palm, illuminating the towheaded boy. After a moment, Garet looked up. Even from this distance, Isaac could see his friend blinking. Garet stood, lifting his own hand as a small flame appeared, glowing much brighter and throwing a bright, red light onto one half of his face. Isaac saw that the larger boy's face looked almost twisted in the shadows that cast upon it. In what expression, Isaac couldn't tell from that distance.
"We'll find them, Garet," whispered Isaac, and as if Garet heard him even from that distance, the two boys lowered their hands simultaneously, Isaac gripping the now solid stone in his hand, crushing it within his fingers, while Garet's flame was extinguished, and the darkness seemed to loom even more solidly than usual around them.
Isaac winced as the sun peeked through the hole in his roof, sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes. "Nngh…" With a sigh, he swung his feet over the side of his bed, fingers running through his hair. When did he come back down to go to bed? Was that interaction with Garet a dream?
Now that he was awake, he couldn't think of how that could have happened. However, it was only when he reached for his boots that he realized he wasn't wearing them, when he remembered vividly that he'd not taken them off when he'd laid down.
Isaac shook his head, pulling the boots on and standing up, adjusting his yellow scarf on his neck and stretching out his arms. Leaning back, he felt his spine pop in a few places, letting out a soft groan. Grabbing his short sword and the Mythril bag, he walked across the room, but froze when he felt something crunch under his boot. Looking down, he saw some small pebbles scattered across the floor, and he looked up, through the second hole in the roof and up at the blue sky.
With effort, he looked away from the hole and walked downstairs. Dora lay with her back to the stairs on the bed next to the window. There was a folded pile of shirts and trousers, a thick green traveling vest, a tote bag with a bedroll tied to it, and what looked like several loaves of bread wrapped in very large leaves to keep them fresh on the table in the middle of the room. He stuffed the clothes and bread into the bag, slipped his new vest on, and hefted it onto his shoulder, where it rested on his hip. With a small glance towards his mother, who hadn't stirred, he pushed his front door open, letting it swing closed behind him.
"Oh, Isaac," said a voice, and he turned. Garet's two sisters and Garet himself walked around the corner. Garet was wearing an identical, while much larger, traveling vest over his shirt. Isaac also noticed Garet had a backpack that was much larger than his was. The two boys' eyes met for a moment and Isaac knew Garet remembered what happened last night, too. The two younger girls flanking Garet didn't make any indication of noticing them.
"You two had better get down to the plaza," said Garet's youngest sister, smiling up at Isaac. The middle sister nodded.
"Yup. Everyone's down there now, waiting to see you two off," she said. Nodding, Isaac and Garet turned away from the house and started their slow trek down the stairs south to the plaza.
They were silent for the most part, until they reached the long stairs just before the plaza. "Your Psynergy's gotten better," said Garet, and Isaac paused, looking over his shoulder at the larger boy, who wasn't really smiling, but there was a small glint in his eye. "Pretty soon, I think you'll be able to summon bigger rocks to crush things." This time, a real grin stretched his lips.
Isaac smiled as well, and the two best friends continued downwards, where they could see the large Psynergy Stone in the middle of the plaza. A very large crowd of people stood before the gate to Vale, and soon Garet and Isaac were noticed, countless pairs of eyes looking in their direction as they stepped onto level ground. Garet's grandfather came up to meet them, holding out a rolled up scroll to Isaac, who took it.
"A map," explained the mayor, "to the closest town. It'll take about a night to reach it on foot." Everyone jumped as an explosion rocked the ground, and they looked up at the peak of Mt. Aleph.
"I imagine," said the Great Healer, "that the volcano will likely make smaller eruptions sporadically for a good while until this is over." The two old men heaved out low sighs, but the mayor recovered first, reaching into his vest and pulling out a pouch that clinked softly as he held it out to Isaac.
"I imagine you'll need some funds," he said. The boy blinked, looking into the pouch. Shining gold coins glinted up at him. "That's two-hundred gold coins."
"Mister Mayor, I can't-"
"You will," insisted the old man firmly, frowning down at Isaac. "You need it more than we do."
"You'll also need something else," said another voice, and everyone turned as the blacksmiths emerged from their shop. The older of the two was bald aside from the sides and back of his head and the black beard, while the younger had a full head of brown hair and a large mustache that curled slightly as he smiled. They were holding a large axe and a long sword, respectively. "Isaac," said the younger brother, holding out the sword. "My brother and I spent all night forging these for you. We know you were fond of the axe and sword in there, but we figured you'd like freshly-made steel."
"But-" Isaac stared at the sword. It was twice as long as the sword he already had, and a bit wider as well. "I can't-"
"Like the mayor said," interrupted the older of the two, holding out the axe to Garet, "you will." The axe wasn't double-sided, but it was almost as tall as Isaac, and made of iron. The handle was wrapped in leather for gripping. Garet accepted the new weapon, looking almost fit to hug it as he ran a large hand over the much larger blade. Isaac, setting his bag on the ground and removing his smaller sword, took the new blade, sliding it out of the sheath a few inches. It was made of steel, and felt heavy in his hands. As the boys looked around at the people standing before them, Isaac opened his mouth.
"Isaac, Garet!" called two more voices, and they turned, spotting Garet's sisters coming down the stairs. The smaller of the two was holding a length of green beads, and once she'd reached them, she held them out to him. "Auntie Dora told us to give this to you." Accepting the beads, he felt a lump form in this throat as he stared at them. "She didn't tell us what they did, just said they would be useful," said the little girl.
Isaac nodded, turning to a nearby tree, where a large, juicy apple hung down. Wrapping the Catch Beads around his hand, he lifted it and closed his eyes, blue rings forming around his body and a much larger, ghostly white hand reached out to grab the apple, where it fell into Isaac's outstretched hand. "Yeah," he said, his voice soft and almost hoarse. "They will be."
The smaller boy handed his old sword to the armorer, Garet opting to keep his short sword, mentioning that it might be good backup. The blacksmiths moved out of the boys' way as Isaac and Garet walked past. The Great Healer held out a bundle himself. "Great Healer," began Isaac, but the old man looked down at him, and his voice faded.
"I feel," said the Great Healer, placing the bundle of green herbs and white bandages in Isaac's hands, "that if your Psynergy is ever drained, these will be quite useful. Just place the herbs on any wounds, and wrap the bandages tightly around them."
Isaac stared around at everyone, his mouth slightly open. "Everyone, I…" Garet clapped him on the back, shouldering his new axe. "…Thank you."
"Think of these as early gifts for your birthday, Isaac," said the mayor, and Isaac blinked, staring at the old man. "You're seventeen next month, aren't you?" he asked, a wide smile playing across his lips. Garet let out a soft laugh, while Isaac merely smiled, and nodded.
They walked slowly through the crowd, toward the gate. When they reached it, there was a great shimmering behind them, and they turned. Everyone present, even the mayor and Garet's sisters, had lifted their hands, where they glowed in a mix of gold and red, some even forming stones or flames, some larger than others, showing the varying strength of all the Adepts present. The two boys stood staring at all of them, their own hands, as they had done last night, rising high over their heads as they did the same.
"All together now!" shouted the mayor.
"Farewell!" yelled everyone present, the sound echoing all around them as they all closed their hands, flames being snuffed out and pebbles falling onto the ground.
Isaac and Garet stood with their hands clenched into fists as they stared around at all the Adepts around them, both of them looking fit to burst into tears. They turned their backs on everyone, and slowly, they walked away, Isaac looking back once to see a golden light still shimmering high above the plaza, where he could see a little bit of his house.
He felt tears well up in his eyes as he turned away. "Bye, mum."
"Haah!"
Garet brought his axe down upon an enormous rat, slicing it in half. The blade of the axe sunk into the rich earth and he spun around in a small circle, sending a wave of fire over a swarm of bats that had been bearing down on him from behind, where they fell, black and charred with a high-pitched, simultaneous screech. Meanwhile, Isaac sent another rat high into the air with Quake, swinging his new sword around where it sliced through three green Slimes in turn. Unfortunately, a fourth slime landed on his back, and immediately, he felt something burn into his neck. "Garet!"
"On it!" called the larger boy, pitching a fireball at the green creature. There was a high-pitched squeal and a burst of heat upon Isaac's neck as the protuberant eyes of the green, slimy creature went glassy before it slid off to the ground. Isaac brought his boot onto the creature's eyes and it stopped moving. "Mars," groaned Garet, tugging his axe out of the ground and walking up to Isaac, clutching his arm. A rat had snuck up and sunk its teeth deep into his flesh, where it bled pretty freely. "You alright?" he asked.
"I'll live," grumbled Isaac, closing his eyes and placing a glowing hand on Garet's arm. The Mars Adept let out a soothed sigh, and once Isaac removed his hand, the deep wound had faded, leaving only a red stain on his sleeve. Once that was done, Isaac turned his Cure onto his own neck. "Nngh… Why were there bats out in broad daylight?" he asked as they resumed their walk south, stepping over the acidic slime that had managed to get a hit in.
"I dunno," said Garet, shrugging and shouldering his axe as his brown eyes scanned the way ahead. Isaac kept his senses sharp for movement this time, his natural abilities as a Venus Adept allowing him to feel the vibrations upon the earth of creatures getting too close. It was the only reason they hadn't received more injuries than they had. "I do know that it's bloody ridiculous for us to be barely two hours out Vale's gate and we get attacked, though," he added, rubbing the place where he'd been bitten, even though Isaac knew it didn't even tickle any more.
"I feel like my Psynergy's slowly getting stronger, though," mentioned Isaac. "I dunno, maybe you're right. Maybe I'll be able to summon larger rocks to chuck at things."
"Heh. That'd be nice." Garet nudged Isaac in the shoulder. "Maybe you'd be good with long range soon so I don't have to keep using my Psynergy to throw fireballs."
"I thought you liked chucking fireballs," teased Isaac, jabbing his taller friend in the ribs playfully with a smirk.
"That's not the point," grunted Garet, but he was smiling, giving Isaac a shove. They horsed around for a few more minutes until Isaac froze, halfway through sending another playful jab. He'd felt something. There wasn't a breeze or tremor upon the earth, he just felt some sort of power nearby. "What is it?" asked Garet softly, immediately becoming serious and gripping the handle of his axe.
"I dunno," replied Isaac, and the boys put their backs together. The odd, but very familiar power was getting stronger. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shimmer and he looked up, spotting something floating above their heads. "What in Venus' name…"
Garet looked up as well, forming a fireball in his hand and staring up at the thing above them as Isaac gripped the hilt of his sword over his shoulder. "Wait!" said a tiny, high-pitched voice. But it didn't sound in Isaac's ear. Instead, he heard it directly in his mind. The shimmering thing above them expanded and dropped to the ground. Their gazes followed it as it descended, and they could see it in more detail. It was a squat, pudgy creature with brown skin and a cream-colored belly. On its back was some brown spikes jutting out on either side of it like wings while on its head was a pair of fin-like ears. Its tail had a fin on the end of it, but the most striking thing the two of them noticed was the massive pair of solid blue eyes as it stared right at them. "You can see me?" it asked.
"Er," said Garet, keeping a fireball in his hand and looking to Isaac, who as well hadn't removed his hand from the hilt of his sword.
The tiny creature regarded Isaac for a few moments until blue rings formed around its body. Isaac clutched his head as something invaded his mind. It was very brief, and not really painful, but it was very surprising. "Oh! You're Adepts!" said the tiny brown creature, the border the stretched from one eye to the other and split where its nose would be and its cream belly curved upwards in what could only have been a pleased smile. "That's just what I needed!"
Isaac grimaced. "First things first," he said. "Who, and what, are you?"
"Oh!" it said again, a pink flush darkening its cheeks. "I haven't introduced myself! I'm Flint, a Venus Djinni!" Garet blinked, and finally snuffed out his flame.
"Wait, didn't the Great Healer say we should find these guys?" he asked.
Isaac, still a little upset about having his mind invaded, nodded. "Yeah, but… He didn't say what exactly they do… He left that out, interestingly enough."
Flint seemed to smile widely again, lifting up off the ground to rise to Isaac's eye level. "Well, first things first!" it squeaked. "Brace yourself!"
"Wait, what-" Isaac cut off as the Djinni sunk into the ground at his feet. There was a very brief pause, then a beam of golden light billowed out from under him. Garet blanched as Isaac's scarf began to billow, even though there wasn't a strong breeze. There was a very strong, very distinct energyrushing up from beneath him, and soon he felt his feet leave the ground, his back arching and his arms spreading wide. Garet stared, agape as his friend's eyes shone the same gold as the light that enveloped him. Smaller beams of light shot up all around him, forming a large, golden ring that came down, sinking into his forehead.
As soon as it started, it was done, and Isaac fell to the ground on his knees, supporting himself with one hand. There was a few moments of complete silence between then, Isaac being completely still with his back to Garet. "Isaac?" asked Garet timidly, reaching out to touch his friend's shoulder. Isaac's eyes were closed.
"I'm… Fine," said Isaac, sounding just as surprised as Garet, his blue eyes opening as he turned and looked up at the large boy. "What… What happened?"
I've Set with you! said Flint's voice in Isaac's mind again, and he jumped, placing a palm to his forehead. Oh! Sorry. One moment. Flint's small, shimmering form appeared before Isaac, and floated, looking slightly sheepish. "My apologies. I suppose an explanation would suffice, then."
"Be appreciated," grumbled Garet, a large hand placing itself upon his hip as he let his axe fall to the ground with a loud thunk.
"Right, well, Djinn are able to join with Adepts in order to increase their powers. What I'd done just a moment ago was Set with Isaac here," he began to explain. Isaac didn't bother asking how Flint knew his name. "And don't worry; it won't be like that every time I Set, just the first time."
Isaac looked down at his hands. "So, you're not… Set with me anymore?" he asked.
"Nope!" said Flint cheerfully. "I'm currently on Standby. When I'm like this, you can call upon me to deliver the wrath of Venus upon a foe! Any one Venus Djinn can do that. Of course, it leaves us exhausted and we'll need to rest within an Adept until we Set once more. If you have more than one Venus Djinn, you'll be able to combine the powers of Venus to deliver something even stronger."
"This is starting to get a bit long-winded," muttered Garet softly.
"Well, it's a bit of a long explanation!" snapped Flint, seeming to frown at the Mars Adept. "It's hard to shorten these things, you know!"
"Easy," said Isaac soothingly as Garet opened his mouth to retort. Both of them went silent. After a moment, Isaac turned back to Flint. "What kind of benefits can you give me if you're Set to me?" he asked.
"All kinds!" said Flint excitedly. "I can increase your physical strength, make your Psynergy more powerful, and even give you more stamina!" The tiny shimmering creature bounced happily.
"That does sound useful," conceded Isaac, tugging at his scarf thoughtfully.
"Oh, that's not all!" The Djinn was positively wriggling in the air. "Each Djinn can give the Adept they're Set to a very special ability. Mine is-" It cut off, turning around in the air as the bushes near by split, a pair of rotting hands pulling them apart. Its mouth hanging wide open, its skin falling apart, it shambled slowly towards them with arms outstretched and a low groan.
"What the hell?" demanded Garet as Flint zoomed into Isaac's chest, where his body glowed gold briefly.
Actually, let me show you. Isaac felt himself grip the hilt of his sword a bit tighter than he normally could as he drew it, letting out a long, low breath as he stared down the brown monster.
"Garet, stand back," said Isaac, his scarf billowing out behind him as his sword began to glow a brilliant gold. The larger boy's brown eyes widened as he stared, stepping back from Isaac. "Flint!" shouted Isaac, his voice almost echoing all around them, leaping high into air, higher than he'd ever jumped before, holding the shining blade over his head. Gravity took him down, his sword aimed at the zombie below. By sheer luck, it had stumbled backwards, but that didn't mean it was unharmed. Later in life, Garet would describe the impact as a large, golden explosion that nearly blinded him. And indeed, the undead monster was thrown backwards into large oak tree, leaves falling down on top of it as it sunk to the ground.
Isaac straightened up slowly as Flint reappeared, sitting upon Isaac's shoulder with a smug grin on its otherwise featureless face. "See?" Garet said nothing, merely gaped as his friend.
"Isaac…" The towheaded teenager turned, looking sheepish. "You did say there were more of you, right?" asked Garet, looking to Flint, who seemed to nod, though it was pretty much all head.
"Yup! One kind for each kind of Adept: Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter. I imagine you'll be looking forward to meeting a Mars Djinni," it said, smirking at Garet, who smirked unabashedly, but suddenly blanched.
"Look out!" he yelled, but too late. The zombie had gotten up while they were distracted, and sunk its rotten, blunt teeth into Isaac's shoulder. Garet threw a fireball and the monster released Isaac and stumbled back.
"Flint," gasped Isaac, clutching his bleeding arm. "You said something about summoning, right?" Flint said nothing, and floated into the air before Isaac. The boy felt a power rush past him again, billowing his scarf once more. As the zombie lunged, Isaac, feeling the words burst from his lips, yelled, "I summon Venus!" The result was immediate. Flint had flown into the ground at the zombie's feet, and with an explosion of the power of Venus, golden energy burst from beneath the zombie. Isaac and Garet shielded their eyes, and when everything was calm, the zombie had disappeared.
There was silence between the two boys for a long while as they stared at where the zombie had been moments before. "Well," said Garet, "now we have something for those pesky rats to chew on."
Isaac swung at Garet's shoulder, but winced, glancing at the place where the zombie had bitten him. "Venus, I hope that thing wasn't poisonous," he grumbled, placing a golden glowing hand on his shoulder. "You were right, Flint, Djinn are helpful." After a few moments, Isaac blinked. "Flint?"
"Isaac, he said Djinn needed rest after they summon, remember?" pointed out Garet, shouldering his axe once more. "Though he didn't say how long he needed to rest…"
"Well, he's earned a good rest, I think," said Isaac, smiling as they continued south. "Speaking of which…" Isaac looked up. The sun was starting to dip down. "We've got plenty of time until night, but I'll take first watch when we set up camp."
Both boys jumped as the zombie landed near where it had been launched by Isaac's summon, leaving an unusually large impact crater. It was still and quiet for a long while as the boys stared at it, though Garet brought down his axe upon the creature's neck "just to make absolutely sure this time".
The boys laid out their bedrolls a few hours later as the sun started dipping below a mountain range to the west. They had been walking east for a little while, dispatching various monsters here and there. According to the map they'd received from the mayor, they were only another day away from the next town. And as the Great Healer had said, they felt the unmistakable rumble underfoot of the mountain they'd left behind and loud crashes of massive stones landing meters away.
In the end, they'd decided to set up camp below some trees of some nearby woods. It wouldn't offer a whole lot of protection, but it was better than nothing. Isaac gathered fallen leaves and branches, Garet cutting them up with his axe to make them manageable and setting them in the circle of stones Isaac had found as well.
"Remember, Garet, make it relatively small. We don't want this wood to go up in smoke," informed Isaac, and Garet rolled his eyes.
"I know, mother." Pointing his palm at the pile of firewood, Garet shot a relatively small ball of flame at it, and a fire burst to life as if it'd been burning for hours. "I swear, you'd think I was about set my roof on fire."
"Again," added Isaac, receiving a punch to his shoulder as he laughed, pulling out a loaf of bread. "I'm impressed, though. You actually managed a small flame. All we've got for now is bread," he said, splitting one large loaf in half and handing it Garet, who shrugged.
"Better than nothing. I doubt a giant rat is really too edible." The boys sat in silence for a long time as stars began to twinkle through the leaves above them. "This is gonna take a long time, isn't it?" asked Garet softly, holding his half-eaten bread in his hand.
"I don't know," replied Isaac, taking a bite of his own bit of bread and staring deep into the flames. Garet had done the same, letting out a deep sigh. Isaac didn't know how long they simply sat into the night, but once Garet had finally laid down in his bedroll and rolled over, it was quite dark all around them.
You could have tried to comfort your friend, said a small voice in Isaac's mind. Flint emerged, dropping to the ground and staring up at Isaac with his solid blue eyes. "He likely doesn't want to admit it, but he's probably scared."
"Anything I could say wouldn't have given him peace of mind," said Isaac softly, glancing over his shoulder at Garet, who'd shifted ever so slightly in his bedroll, his sword and axe resting beside him. "And I couldn't bring myself to tell him we'll find Jenna and Kraden and be back in Vale before summer. Truth is, this journey won't be easy. For either of us. We both know it. And that's about all we know for sure." Isaac stared straight ahead into the trees without really seeing anything there, his hand pressed to the ground he sat on so that if anything did try to attack them, he'd feel it. "I don't want to lie to my best friend and give him false hope."
Flint was still staring at him, tilted slightly to one side as if thinking about what Isaac had said. "You're very noble, Isaac," said the small creature before Setting itself back within Isaac and going silent. Isaac knew Flint could have kept talking if it so wanted, but he was glad it hadn't.
A few hours later, he woke up Garet for his watch and curled up in his bedroll, soon falling asleep without talking to his friend.
The next morning came without much incident; The fire had died down to small embers and Isaac snuffed the rest of it out with a pile of dirt. Once they were both awake and had a small breakfast of fruit and bread, they resumed their trek east. "So, what does the map say?" asked Garet after a long walk of silence.
Isaac was poring over the unrolled parchment in his hands. "The next town should be over this hill coming up here," he said, pointing. It was a pretty large hill, to be sure, and it took them a good ten minutes to find level ground. Once they did, they looked down. "It doesn't say the name of the town, though, just that it's there." Isaac pointed, and sure enough, in the distance was a quaint little village. It was a fair bit smaller than Vale, but it had a good size to it, with natural cliff walls rising above the houses in the middle. A single house rested on the level ground near the northern side of the town, and from what they could see from their position high above, it looked a fair bit larger than the other houses and buildings within.
Once the two boys reached the foot of the hill, they paused as a convoy of four caravans exited the southern gate of the town. Isaac and Garet were too far away to hear anything said, but from the looks of it, the two men in the lead caravan were arguing. It was a brief argument, however, as two massive rocks landed meters away from the lead horse, the driver being forced to calm it down. Isaac and Garet turned, barely able to see the tip of Mt. Aleph in the far distance.
"I know that it's really dangerous and horrible," said Garet, "but that's really impressive that Mt. Aleph can lob giant rocks from that far away…" The two boys exchanged looks, Isaac shaking his head as the line of caravans rolled away, down south. "I wonder where they're going," added Garet, watching the caravans disappear into the distance as he and Isaac walked toward the town.
"Who knows." Isaac rolled his shoulders, grunting softly. "I imagine they think they're better off at least away from giant rocks falling on their heads. I'm just hoping this town is far enough away that-" Isaac paused again, spotting the caravans coming right back and rolling past them as they traveled up north instead. They got a good look at the leader. He was a tall man with red and yellow robes that looked quite expensive. The man also had a worried, apprehensive look on his face. "Strange… You think something is wrong down south?" he asked Garet, who shrugged. Finally, they reached the south gate and walked under a bridge that connected two parts of the cliffs.
Now that they were in it, Isaac could now see the town in more detail. There were a few houses out in the open, including an inn and a larger house up a staircase on the cliff that Isaac could only assume was the town mayor's abode. Set into the tall walls that hid most of the town from view were some doors with signs above them indicating an armory and general store. "We could probably get some supplies later," mentioned Isaac. "First, I think we'll need some directions to the first lighthouse…"
As they passed by the inn, they paused a few moments to listen to a pair of people talking near a ladder that lead to the roof. "…the Sanctum is missing its stature, and we won't get a delivery of hay until the eruptions have faded," a young man was saying, resting against the ladder with a deep frown. "We'll have a hole in the roof for a while."
"That's not good," muttered the woman next to him, frowning up at the edge of the roof. "I hope the eruptions fade soon, then…" Averting their gazes, Garet and Isaac walked on, toward the stairs that lead up to the mayor's house, both of them noticing a guy watching then with a narrowed gaze from the top of the cliff nearest the inn, where a small tree stood.
That's slightly suspicious, thought Isaac. The man above them wore decidedly odd clothes; Purple tunic with a white undershirt, dark violet trousers and a slightly brighter colored headband. The man fingered a short, thin blade on his hip as he averted his gaze once Isaac and Garet reached the mayor's front door.
Exchanging a brief glance, Garet set the bladed end of his axe onto the ground as Isaac reached up to knock on the door. A completely bald head, a single brown eye and a white mustache that was equal parts impressive and ridiculous greeted them through the gap in the door. "Yes?" asked a voice nervously, eyeing the weapons the teenagers held with definite nervousness
"Mr. Mayor," began Isaac, "I hope we're not bothering you, but my partner and I are travelers." The old man seemed to relax. Slightly. "We'd like any information you could give us towards our destination, if you could, sir."
The three stood still for a few more moments before the mayor's mustache bristled in a relieved smile and he stepped back, opening the door a little wider. "Wipe your feet," he instructed with a chuckle. "Oh," he added to Garet, "leave your axe at the door, please."
"Yes, sir," replied the large boy respectfully, doing as he was told once they were inside. The mayor's house was quite nice, Isaac thought. Like the rest of the town, it was still a bit quaint, though it was definitely in a bit of a state, to say the least. "What happened here?" asked Garet, a middle-aged woman looking up from sweeping some debris across the floor into a heap.
"Don't mind the mess," said the old man, trying to sound jovial, but Isaac could see the wizened face was slightly contorted in sadness. "I'm sure you've heard of the rocks falling from the sky…" The old man turned to a large table, sifting through a stack of papers. "Thankfully, no one was hurt… But, there have been disappearances for certain items…" The mayor had his back to them as he spoke, a pair of young children watching the teenagers curiously. Isaac and Garet smiled kindly to them. "My family urn… The Sanctum's statue… Anyway," the old man paused from his perusals to turn to them, looking sheepish, "pardon me, I'm looking for something but haven't asked what you need…" But Isaac wasn't paying any more attention as he noticed another young, blond boy step up, lean against the dining table and very nonchalantly lift a glowing hand and close a pair of purple eyes as a series of blue rings surrounded his body.
That's a Jupiter Adept! said Flint's voice in his mind, though it was drowned out as he once again felt something else invade his thoughts.
The shorter boy's violet eyes opened again as he stared up at Isaac. "Psynergy?" he asked. Garet was staring at the boy as well as the mayor looked between the three of them, apparently having not noticed the shimmering lights the boy had just given off, and was doing it all over again, eyes closing once more. "Isaac and Garet…"
"Oh, Ivan," said the mayor, seemingly oblivious to the boy once again invading Isaac's mind. "You've met the travelers." Ivan wasn't looking at the mayor. Instead, he continued to stare unblinkingly at Isaac with an almost reverent gaze as, for the third time, he closed his eyes to gaze into Isaac's mind again. Isaac backed out of Ivan's range, and the boy blinked. "Ivan's master had also been burgled," the mayor was saying, reaching out to pat Ivan on the shoulder as Isaac and Garet stared agape at the boy. "Master Hammet had his Rod stolen yesterday while the rocks fell." The mayor heaved a great sigh, turning to Garet. "Anyway, what did you need?" he asked.
"Er," said Garet, looking away from Ivan now. The smaller boy turned away from them and walked to the far corner of the house, looking a little downcast. "We're looking for any lighthouses nearby." The mayor twirled his mustache as he watched Ivan.
"I'll look through my records," said the mayor, turning to the papers again. "This may take a while, mind you."
"Fair enough, sir," said Isaac, who continued to watch Ivan. The smaller boy was sitting on his bed in the corner of the room. "Is it okay if we go talk to… Ivan, was it?"
"Oh, please do," said the mayor, looking over his shoulder at the boys with a smile that seemed to make his mustache curl even more. "Ivan doesn't have very many friends, and he's been so depressed ever since he got his master's Rod stolen. Perhaps you can cheer him up."
Garet raised an eyebrow at Isaac, who returned the look with a sheepish shrug, as they walked toward the back of the house. Now that Isaac was looking, he saw that Ivan was much smaller than either of them, wearing a brown tunic and a circlet on his head. There was also a green cape hanging on a hook on the wall beside the bed. The boys stepped up to Ivan, Isaac opening his mouth to speak. "You could tell when I was reading your mind, couldn't you?" asked Ivan, looking up at the two of them with his large purple eyes. Isaac closed his mouth, and nodded after a long moment. "Is this… Power really all that scary?" continued the small boy, his eyes now looking down at his hands with a frown.
"Well…" Isaac and Garet exchanged looks as Isaac reached for words. "Well, not really," said Isaac, and Ivan blinked, looking up again. Isaac's voice dropped into a quiet mutter. "I mean, I make pillars of earth pop out of the ground and Garet here chucks fireballs..." Ivan's eyes briefly met with Garet's, the larger boy seeming to refrain from blanching away from Ivan to keep from hurting the smaller boy's feelings. "I mean, being able to read someone's mind probably isn't that much more odd than… Look." Isaac held out a hand. "You look like you could use some help. Garet and I are kind of… Stuck here until we get the information we need."
"Yeah, you're… Looking for something, right?" asked Ivan, looking between the two of them again. Isaac couldn't help but notice that Ivan didn't seem to need to… Blink quite as often when he wasn't closing his eyes in order to read Isaac's mind. "I didn't get the entire story, but… I think you would prefer I stay out of the wrinkles of your mind for now." Ivan let his lips curl upwards in the first real smile Isaac saw the boy give as he looked at Isaac's gloved hand. "So are you… Offering to help me?"
"Yeah," said Garet, only slightly hesitantly, Isaac ignoring the glance his friend was giving him again. "The Mayor said something about your Master Hammet's… Uh, Rod?" he added, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, you heard that right," said Ivan, looking at his hands again. "Master Hammet left for Tolbi to the south, but he left me here to get his treasure, a staff called the Shaman's Rod. It's got some sort of old power to it. It's my fault it got taken, so it's my duty to my master to find it again." Ivan's unblinking gaze returned to Isaac's outstretched hand. "But I don't want to sound ungrateful to your offer to assist me, so…" Ivan grasped Isaac's hand and stood up, once again giving a small grin. "…Thank you."
"No problem, Ivan," said Isaac. "So, how do you know how to use Psynergy, out of curiosity?" he asked once Ivan had let go and was pulling on his cape.
"I've always been able to read minds, but this is the first time someone has caught me in the act," replied Ivan, blushing. "Are you sure… You're not uncomfortable with it?"
"Nah," said Garet, though Isaac could tell it wasn't completely true. Both of the other boys glanced at Garet, who scratched the back of his head again. "Okay, yeah, you have to admit, it's a little weird. My ability to pitch fireballs at giant rats notwithstanding." Ivan gazed at Garet for a few more moments, and the larger boy continued. "But, I can see how something like that would be really useful, though! I may not be the sharpest axe on the rack, but… Y'know, as long as you use it for good and not…"
"…Try to read your and Isaac's minds again?" asked Ivan, actually smiling again. "Believe me; I learned early on that some things are not meant to be learned through reading someone's mind." The small boy picked up a short walking stick, twirling it in his fingers briefly, and Isaac caught a look of a boy who wasn't quite as innocent as he ought to be. "I do try to keep out of the more secret corners of people's minds these days, only getting information I'd simply get through conversation. But, I think this will be okay," he continued, looking to Isaac and Garet again. "We're trying to find thieves, after all. Surely that's not as bad as just going around randomly reading people's minds." A small blush crept upwards from Ivan's neck to his cheeks.
Isaac and Garet actually exchanged a smile this time, and Garet reached out, clapping Ivan on the shoulder. The small boy nearly pitched forward onto his face. Isaac had a vivid recollection of Kraden from what seemed like so long ago, even though it was just a couple days.
"Surely, that would be acceptable!"
Letting out a tiny sigh, he shook his head. "Do you have any leads at the moment, Ivan?" asked Isaac as the smaller boy recovered.
"Well…" Ivan reached up, tugging on a lock of his hair on his forehead. "Maybe. There are some more travelers in the inn, who had been here when the rocks started falling, and haven't left yet."
"It's a start," mused Isaac, and the three boys turned, walking across the house to leave.
"Going out, Ivan?" asked the mayor, looking over his shoulder at them with a smile. "Don't be out too late; My daughter is making dumplings tonight."
"Thank you, sir," said Ivan as Garet grabbed his axe and left the house. Once again, the three of them got eyed by the strange purple-clad man on the top of the cliff, who was frowning. "That's one of them there," breathed Ivan to Isaac, who nodded. "For some reason, these guys tend to avoid me when I get close enough to read their minds."
"I can't imagine why," said Garet innocently, picking off a bit of dirt from his axe, only to get a punch to the shoulder for his troubles by Isaac.
"One thing you need to learn about us," said Isaac, patting Ivan on the head. "I'm the sensible one; Garet's the big lovable lug. Don't take him seriously unless we're in a fight."
"Do you think it'll come to that?" asked Ivan as they entered the inn, blinking up at Isaac, who let out a sigh.
"I don't know. If we confront these guys, they might try to attack us, but let's just try to be as sensible as possible here." Ivan talked to the woman behind the desk as Garet and Isaac set their weapons on a rack beside the door.
"Alright, the other two guys are upstairs," said Ivan, and the three walked up to the second floor. Like most inns, this one had a hallway that lead to two large rooms with multiple beds; One for men and the other for women. The ceiling was a bit low, with solid boards likely being extra help in keeping the rain from soaking the patrons if the hay roof didn't quite manage it. Peeking into the room, Ivan said, "Yeah, those are the guys. How are we gonna go about this?"
Isaac peeked over Ivan's shoulder, rubbing his chin. "We'll have to very casually and carefully block them from escaping the room and give Ivan time to read their minds." A man identical to the other who had watched them from on top of the cliff was talking to another, taller man. This guy was pale, with long brown hair, a yellow scarf like Isaac's, only shorter, and decidedly orange and brown attire, as opposed to the purple of varying shades of his comrades.
"How are we gonna do that?" asked Garet, peeking in over Isaac, who leaned back and frowned, closing his eyes as he thought, tugging on his scarf.
"Garet could block the doorway," suggested Ivan. "Of course, it'll only deter them briefly. We can't stop them from outright leaving if they so wanted."
"Hopefully that'll give you time to read their minds," muttered Isaac, who peeked into the room again. "Alright, hopefully that'll work. Here's what we'll do…"
A few moments later, Isaac and Ivan walked into the room. "Here you are," said Ivan, indicating the room at large to the two taller boys. The men already inside blanched at the sight of Ivan, though when Garet, looking quite tired, leaned against the frame of the doorway and put his foot on the other side, they stayed where they were, sitting on opposite beds.
Isaac distinctly heard the one clad in purple hiss, "They've got that weird kid with them!"
"Thanks, Ivan," said Isaac, walking to the bed opposite the apparent leader, sitting beside the other, who immediately moved to sit beside the taller of the two as Ivan turned to talk to Garet. The suspicious men seemed to relax as Ivan kept his distance. "Traveling can be hard sometimes," Isaac said wearily, pulling up a leg to rub his foot, smiling to the two men, who stiffened slightly.
"Yeah," said the leader slowly, narrowing his eyes at Isaac. Ivan was still talking to Garet in an undertone, the other man looking away from him to mirror his leader. "It can."
"What are you so nervous about?" asked Isaac, raising an eyebrow at the men before leaning forward to speak in an undertone. "Is it that kid?" Isaac jerked his head slightly toward Ivan. "Don't worry, he's a little creepy, but he's nice enough, though…" Isaac's voice dropped into a tiny whisper, the men leaning forward to hear him. "I swear, sometimes I think that kid can read my mind."
Again, the men relaxed, the leader even cracking a smile. As the three spoke, Ivan was facing Garet, who was still acting like a road-weary traveler, rubbing his knee. Isaac let out a loud laugh, causing the other two to laugh with him. "He'd better not have told that story about the rats that made a nest in my mum's dresser," muttered Garet. Isaac snickered, tugging his scarf off and rubbing his neck. "That's the signal; Go on."
Ivan crept up to the men's bed where they now had their backs to him. "…and the big things almost seemed to explode out of the drawer right onto his head," Isaac was saying, the men letting out amused laughter at the story. "You should have seen his face!" As Isaac imitated much flailing about and silent screaming, causing the men to nearly collapse in laughter, Ivan lifted a hand as blue rings surrounded his body. "What about you?" asked Isaac. "I hope you haven't gotten into anything as dangerous as that."
The men snickered, shaking their heads. "Nah, nothing quite that… Well, terrifying." The leader turned to send a sneer in Garet's direction, but blinked. "Wait, where's…" The other man jumped up.
"It's that freaky kid!" he exclaimed, and the leader jumped up as well.
"Just what are you tryin' to pull?" demanded the leader, turning from Ivan to Isaac and back again. Ivan was crouching, and after a few moments, he held up a golden coin.
"You dropped this," he said.
There was a few moments' uneasy silence before the tall man grabbed the coin out of Ivan's hand and the smaller boy turned away to walk back towards Garet. Isaac sat a little longer before slapping his forehead. "Oh, right. Garet, we should get to the general store and buy some herbs before we forget." Isaac stood up, tying his scarf back around his neck as Garet let out a groan.
"Really? I was just getting relaxed."
"Come on, there's that really cute girl there that seemed to like you when you walked past," said Isaac, taking Garet's shoulder and leading him out of the room, Ivan following behind. Isaac didn't look back at the men, but he had a sinking feeling that they hadn't been completely convinced.
Back outside, Garet and Isaac turned to Ivan. "Well?"
"It was them, alright," said Ivan, letting out a sigh. "They took a lot of things from the town, including the Shaman's Rod, and hid them all somewhere in the inn. I didn't get to see exactly where, though. They kinda… Found me out before I could get that…"
"Sorry," said Isaac.
"Don't worry about it. At least we know the vague area."
"Why can't we just tell the mayor?" asked Garet, shouldering his axe again.
"Because we don't have proof they did anything," said Isaac, twisting the end of his scarf in his hands.
"Yeah, we'll have to find where they hid the stuff," added Ivan tugging on a lock of his hair again, apparently deep in thought.
The three turned, spotting the woman at the bottom of the ladder that had been talking to the man about the roof. "Where is he?" she was saying with a frown. "If he's with that woman from the general store again…" The woman stalked off, and the three boys all looked at the ladder.
"Hey…" Isaac looked to Ivan. "Did you notice that the ceiling was a little low in the second floor?"
"Yeah…" Ivan glanced to Garet, who shrugged.
"A lot of ceilings are low for me," muttered the large teenager. "I didn't really…"
"Come on," said Isaac, pulling himself onto the ladder and climbing up to the roof. "Yeah, there's a big hole here. Big enough for Garet. Come on up!" By the time Ivan had dropped into the hole, none of them noticed that the suspicious man on the cliff had disappeared from his position.
"Wow," said Isaac, looking around. They were in what appeared to be an attic, with an inch of dust almost carpeting the floor under their feet. Isaac could see the thatched hay from the inside now, the vertical walls reaching up a few feet before turning into the diagonal ceiling. Unfortunately, the room they were currently in was empty, save for a large crate. "Hm," mused the Venus Adept, kneeling down and pressing his hand to the floor. "There's something else here."
"What?" asked Garet, straightening up and listening intently. "Hey, yeah, there's some sort of snuffling noise over here." The larger boy walked over to the crate, pressing his ear to it. "It sounds too big to be a rat, though."
Ivan stepped forward as well. "Do you think there's something behind it?" he asked.
"One way to find out," said Isaac, walking up to the crate himself. "Garet, help me-" But with a crack, Isaac's foot fell through the floor, Garet catching him and pulling him up before backpedaling away from the crate. "Okay." Ivan, Garet and Isaac stared at the hole that was now underfoot.
"Now what?" asked Ivan.
"Easy," said Isaac, rolling a shoulder and standing up again. Planting his feet solidly on the floor, he lifted a hand that began to give off a golden light, and blue rings surrounded his body. A much larger, white hand pressed against the crate, and after a few moments, he heaved, and the crate slid over, revealing a small doorway.
"Wow," said Ivan, blinking. "…I can't do that."
"Nah, it's mainly for Mars and Venus Adepts," said Isaac, hopping over the new hole in the floor. "Come on." Following Isaac's lead, they entered a new, larger room with many crates and barrels all around. "Wow, these guys were busy," he remarked. In one corner of the room, the young man they saw at the ladder earlier that day sat wriggling with a gag and ropes tied around his wrists and ankles. Garet immediately got to work in cutting him loose.
"Hey, this is some nice rope," he said, tucking the rope into his vest as Isaac pulled the man up to his feet.
The man rubbed the back of his head, wincing as he looked at the three teenagers. "What happened?" asked Ivan as Isaac looked around a bit more.
"I'd come up here to check the damage," the man explained, "and ended up in here. I'd always noticed the second floor's ceiling was a little low. I had no idea there was actually an attic up here." The man swayed, Isaac catching him around the shoulders. "Ugh… When I got in here… Somebody hit me from behind. I woke up here… Tied up, and…"
"Looks like we've been found out." Everyone froze, turning to the door, where three very familiar men walked in, the taller of them drawing a thin, curved blade. "Not bad for one of Hammet's whelps, brat," the leader said to Ivan. Isaac saw that the small boy had narrowed his eyes, and there was a definite spark in Ivan's eyes that Isaac hadn't seen before.
"I have to return the artifact you stole from him," said Ivan, taking a step forward.
"We're the least of Hammet's worries," said one of the twins to the leader's left, holding onto the hilt of his blade. "I saw him heading north, to Lunpa."
Ivan and the man Garet untied both took in deep gasps. "Lunpa?" demanded the man in Isaac's arms.
"What's wrong with Lunpa?" asked Garet, the grip on his axe tightening.
The other twin was grinning nastily, one hand stuck into the violet vest he wore. "That's the region named after the noble thief, Lunpa."
"Humble guy," muttered Isaac, blue eyes narrowing as he looked between the three men. He thought he might have imagined it, but it also appeared that the sword the leader was wielding almost seemed to glow a soft light.
The taller leader picked his fingernails carelessly with the tip of his sword. "His son Donpa carried on his legacy, but Dodonpa…" All three of the thieves smirked malevolently. "Rumors of his viciousness reaches even the edge of the world, I hear." Isaac lowered the dizzy man slowly to the ground, placing a glowing hand on his head as the leader of the thieves kept talking. "So, really, we're not so bad. If we give everything back, will you let us leave?"
Isaac blinked, straightening up again and staring at the leader, who adopted a smile that he no doubt intended to be friendly but instead came off as more malevolent than before. "Excuse me?" asked Isaac, and the thieves' smiles faded. "You stand here, in the middle of a pile of stuff you took from homes in the middle of a crisis, and you want to be let go?"
"Come on!" shouted the leader angrily. "Even if we give everyone their stuff back, it's still a crime?"
"…Yeah," said Garet, who was probably relishing in the chance to speak to someone as if they were slow.
The thieves' faces twisted in darkened grimaces, the leader's grip on his shimmering sword tightening. "Well, then…" The twins in purple behind him exchanged glances, the one with his hand in his tunic shifted ever so slightly. "…I guess we'll just have to keep you quiet," said the leader, his voice dropping into a deep growl.
The thief behind the leader pulled out something small, grey and round, lifting it high over his head. "Move!" yelled Isaac as the thief threw the object to the ground, where it exploded, and thick smoke filled the room. Isaac, Ivan and Garet coughed and choked. They were all blind to everything around them, a heavy thud indicating that Garet had tripped on something. Isaac felt his lungs burning and his eyes watering. Thundering footsteps were getting closer, so he lifted his sword up to block any attack that might come.
Suddenly, something blew past Isaac's hair, billowing his scarf out behind him. A whooshing noise filled the room and soon the thick smoke was pulled into a large cyclone and away from everyone present. Isaac, and everyone else, looked over to Ivan, who had raised his walking stick, his hands glowing with a violet light. Once the smoke was gone, the small boy's unblinking glare rested on the thief that had charged him after throwing the smoke bomb. A crackle of electricity arced across Ivan's fingers and he thrust his hand forward, a purple bolt colliding with the thief's stomach.
Breaking out of his brief trance, Isaac turned to the bandit leader, who hadn't recovered from the, well, shock of seeing Ivan's powers. Flint, get ready, thought Isaac, and he heard a noise of affirmation in his head. Not as powerful this time, okay? Just enough to break his sword.
Isaac rushed forward, his sword now giving of a bright gold light. The light caught the leader's eyes, and he lifted it to block Isaac's blow. "Flint!" yelled Isaac, his voice echoing unnaturally as he lifted his glowing blade over his head, and brought it down upon the thief's own sword. The thief was brought to his knees, and the two sharp lengths of steel clanged together with a sound like a thunderclap, but the leader's sword didn't break. Instead, the tall leader angled the sword so that Isaac's own blade deflected off and sunk into the wooden floor.
"That's an enchanted blade!" shouted Flint as he appeared, floating and shimmering in the air.
Garet, who had been doing his best to dodge and block his opponent and keep him at a distance with his superior ranger, brought down his axe upon the violet twin's sword as well, with better results than Isaac's attempt. Unfortunately, the broken blade whipped off to sink into the larger teenager's shoulder. "Aaagh!" cried Garet, stumbling back from the thief and dropping his axe. The thief, taking this opportunity to draw a shorter, but no less deadly dagger from his tunic, lunging at Garet, who simply used his uninjured arm to punch the thief in the nose to give him a chance to tug the blade out of his flesh.
The thief, his nose dripping with blood now, clutched his face with one hand, reaching into his tunic to pull out another weapon, but Garet, a dark grimace twisting his long face, formed a fireball in his hand and hurled it at the thief. The thief's tunic caught, and with a loud bang, the thief seemed to explode in a better-contained cloud of thick smoke, and he fell, coughing and spluttering. Garet, clutching his arm, stepped back, leaning against the wall with a pained groan. The broken blade had gone quite deep.
Since Isaac was preoccupied with the leader, he couldn't spare a moment to heal Garet, and he was less than useful right now due to his only offensive Psynergy was Quake, and the floor of the attic was only a few inches thick. Even less help was Flint, who had resigned himself to sitting pretty on Isaac's shoulder and shout at the thieves' leader as he and Isaac crossed swords. If the leader could actually hear Flint, he made no indication of it.
Meanwhile, Ivan was going a very good job in avoiding the other twin, who had recovered from being struck by lightning fairly quickly, due to his small size and being quite quick on his feet. Unfortunately, this meant he was spending much more time dodging without the chance to retaliate in any way. Finally, he found an opening, swinging his wooden staff around at the thief's head, but the man simply lifted his sword, the momentum of Ivan's swing making the stick get sliced cleanly in half, the top half bouncing off the thief's shoulder.
With a malevolent grin, the thief kicked Ivan hard in the stomach, sending the light boy falling back and landing at Garet's feet, winded. As the violet twin ran at Ivan with his sword raised, Ivan send another bolt, and thief backpedaled, a dark smoking burn on the wooden floor where he'd been just moments before. "Here," said Garet, drawing the short sword he'd gotten from home and handing it off to Ivan, whose need for something to defend himself was greater than Garet's.
Ivan climbed back to his feet, holding his new blade – rather awkwardly – and ran forward to clash with the thief again.
Isaac pushed the bandit leader away, a shallow cut seeping blood from under his left eye. The thieves' leader was panting, his grip upon his shimmering blade tightening. With a growl, the leader ran forward, Isaac preparing himself to defend against the attack, but suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light as the blade sliced through the air much more quickly than Isaac had expected, knocking his long sword out of his hand. The thief swung a second time, and it was only Isaac's new vest, which was much thicker than his undershirt, that kept him from being mortally wounded, though now there was a long, deep cut across his chest. The teenager fell heavily to the ground clutching at his chest with a gasp. With a triumphant yell, the thief raised his sword, intent on stabbing Isaac while he was down.
A ball of flame collided with the leader's arm, catching his sleeve on fire. The thief stumbled back from Isaac as Garet, despite his bleeding arm, pitched a second fireball, but this time the leader stumbled back, avoiding it just in time. Distracted by Garet, he wasn't able to see the third lightning bolt coming, where it slammed into his back, sending him falling flat onto his face. Isaac, pressing a glowing hand to his chest, took that moment to kick the shimmering blade out of the thief's hand.
The twin whose smoke bombs all exploded in his tunic due to Garet's fireball was climbing to his feet, but Garet, who had the air of having quite enough of this fight, pulled his leg back, kicking the thief in the chin like a ball and sending him flying back into the wall, where he slumped to the ground. Similarly, Ivan summoned another cyclone that spun the other twin around a few times before blowing him back to his brother.
Isaac, still healing himself, stared down at the thieves' leader, who gazed right back, reaching into his tunic. "You lost. Give up now," said Isaac. Not listening, the thief stood, drawing a dagger like his comrade had done and lunged at Isaac. The teenager gripped his hand into a fist as his eyes began to glow in a bright golden light. "I warned you." Flint, who had fallen off of Isaac, flew up into the air, its shimmering body spinning before sinking into the floor at the thief's feet. "Venus!" he yelled, his voice once again echoing.
The resulting explosion, though much weaker than it had been against the zombie the first time he'd used it, still blew the leader back, just like his comrades, where he slumped in between them, clutching himself with a pained, twisted expression. The twins, one of them still wheezing from inhaling so much smoke, stared terrified up at the three boys as they stepped forward, looking right back down at them. "They… G-got us," hacked the smoked thief, coughing violently afterwards.
The leader grunted painfully, grimacing as he clutched his ribs. By the way he was moving, Isaac guessed that a few were broken. "You did it!" said a voice behind the boys, and they jumped, having quite forgotten about the man who had been ambushed earlier. "I… I gotta get the mayor!" Without another word, the man ran out of the room, and a loud crash indicated he'd fallen through the hole in the room just outside. There was a few moments' silence, then, "I'm okay! I fell on a bed!"
"Ugh," grunted the leader again, "after all the trouble of stealing all this stuff…"
Isaac stepped over to Garet, pressing a glowing hand to his shoulder. Sneering at the man, Garet said, "Haven't you heard? Stealing is a crime!" Isaac rolled his blue eyes, turning to Ivan once he was done.
"You alright, Ivan?" he asked, the smaller boy picking up the shimmering blade the thief had, looking it over with that odd unblinking gaze he normally sported.
"Hmm?" he asked, turning his violet eyes on Isaac instead. "Oh, I'm fine. Just bruised."
"…told you we should've skipped town," the other twin was saying to the leader. "We were here too damn long!"
"Shut up!" shouted the leader, then he winced, curling his legs inwardly, clutching his ribs.
"So, what should we do with them?" asked Garet, rolling his shoulder and taking a moment to picking his axe back up, as well as receiving his sword from Ivan. "You keep it," he added, indicating the shimmering blade. "It'll probably serve you better than them."
Isaac's eyes fell upon the leader again, and after a moment, the boy kneeled down, reaching out to him. "Don't touch me!" he said, trying to put some distance between them.
"Hold still," Isaac said firmly, placing two glowing hands on the leader's sides. Bone almost audibly stitched back together, and the thief gasped softly, then relaxed, though only a little bit. "Your ribs are healed now, but only so they're not broken. I don't want you attacking us again."
With a look of deepest loathing, the leader turned sulkily away from Isaac as the boy straightened back up to his feet. "Since that's over," said Ivan, taking the time to remove the sheath from the leader's belt for his new weapon, possibly adding insult to injury, "I guess now's a good time to get Master Hammet's Rod and I'll be on my way." Ivan turned violet eyes onto Isaac again, his head tilting slightly to one side. "What will you two be doing?"
"We'll have to go after Felix and the others soon, if the mayor has his files in order," said Isaac, tuning to Garet, who nodded. Ivan stared for a moment longer, his blonde head tilting into the other direction. The small boy hesitated in lifting his hand, but his eyes closed as blue rings surrounded his body again, aiming a glowing palm at Isaac.
"Hold on a sec-" Garet reached out to place a hand on Ivan's shoulder, but cut himself off, blinking as Isaac felt Ivan invading his mind again. "What…?"
After a moment, Ivan stepped back, as did Isaac, though Garet simply blinked, staring down at his gloved hand before turning to Isaac. "I see…" The two boys turned to Ivan, who looked slowly between Isaac and Garet with his almost reverent gaze again before reaching up to tug on a lock of his hair again. "So much happened to you two…"
Garet turned and opened his mouth to say something to Isaac, but he was interrupted. "Watch your step, Mr. Mayor, there's a hole." The man they'd saved earlier emerged into the room, followed by the mayor, his mustache, and two large, heavyset men, one of whom holding some ropes in his hands.
The mayor's mustache bristled as he huffed angrily. "Horrible behavior!" he shouted. "Stealing during a crisis?"
"Hey, don't blame us!" yelled one of the twins, wincing as he sat up. "You're the ones who left your doors open! You were practically begging to get your – Ow!" One of the large men's feet "accidentally" dug into the thief's ribs.
"Oops," said the large man with a glinting smirk.
"You're going away for a very long time," said the Mayor, turning to the man who had the ropes, who nodded. The mayor turned to the three Adepts with a much kinder smile now. "Would you mind helping us tie them up?"
Once the thieves had been pulled to their feet, though their ankles and wrists tied in a way so that they could walk but couldn't run, they were all grumbling quite angrily. The leader's gaze fell upon Isaac. "You… I won't forget this! One day I'll run you through!" As the two large men started to push the thieves through the doorway – another loud crash indicating that one of the thieves had fallen through the hole – Isaac simply smiled.
"I'll be looking forward to it!" he called.
"Well," said the mayor, looking around at the three boys before glancing at the various crates around them. The man who had been tied up earlier was looking through everything. "What all has been found, Samson?"
"A lot of stuff," said Samson, pulling open a crate. "Oh!" he added, reaching in and pulling out a small, but very pretty urn. "Your urn, sir."
"Ah!" cried the mayor, running forward and taking the object. He held it in his arms like a child. "Oh, thank the goddesses…" Isaac, Garet and Ivan all just watched, waiting and listening.
As Samson opened another crate, his face twisted in an angered expression, lifting out a golden statue. "They stole from the Sanctum!" Isaac himself felt a strong twinge of anger ripple through himself at this.
"Oh, they'll most certainly be punished," muttered the mayor, a very dangerous glint flashing in his eye. It wasn't long until Samson had opened yet another crate, producing… A very normal-looking staff. It had a good length to it, and appeared to be expertly carved with what appeared to be a crescent on its side on the tip. Isaac was reminded of Jenna's broken staff, and he felt another strong emotion hit him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind for now. "Oh, Ivan. That's yours, isn't it?" asked the Mayor, turning to the boy, who nodded silently, walking over to Samson and accepting the staff.
Once Ivan walked back to the other two, Isaac got a chance to see the staff up close. While it didn't have anything particularly blatant about it, like the blade Ivan had taken from the thieves' leader, Isaac thought there was something about the Shaman's Rod he couldn't quite place. "You'll be able to return it to Hammet now, right?" asked Garet.
Ivan sighed. "I don't know if I'll be able to catch up to him before he reaches Lunpa. He's traveling on a caravan, after all. Not to mention Dodonpa won't miss an opportunity to take him…" The boy gripped the staff tightly, pulling a hard look upon his face and reaching up to tug on a lock of his hair that rested on his now shining forehead, still damp from the effort he'd gone through to fight the thief.
"I'm almost certain that he's been taken by now," said the mayor with a sad sigh, reaching out to place a wizened hand upon Ivan's shoulder. The boy looked up at the old man, who was still smiling kindly through his large white mustache. "But, you musn't get worked up. I'm also certain that Hammet is safe. Dodonpa will want a ransom from Kalay, so I imagine he'll keep your master safe from harm for now." The corners of Ivan's mouth twitched before curling slowly upwards.
"Thank you," said Ivan as the mayor turned to Isaac and Garet, who had been fairly quiet up to this point.
"You have my deepest gratitude," said the mayor, inclining his head to them. "I have the files you require, so before you go, come to my home and I'll give them to you." The mayor turned toward the doorway, though paused a moment, twirling his mustache again. "…And perhaps I could give you something else as well… Yes."
Once the mayor and Samson had left, Isaac and Garet turned to Ivan, whose thumb and forefinger had closed around the lock of his hair again, Ivan let out a soft sigh and opened his eyes, lifting his head to look up at the ceiling. "I wish we could help you," said Garet softly. "You look so depressed."
Ivan started, blinking and turning to Isaac and Garet again, as if he'd forgotten they were there. "I-I just want to help my master, that's all… Even if he's been kidnapped, I at least have to try and help him." Isaac nodded, smiling to the smaller boy. "But… I can't ask you to help me… You two have a… Important mission, right?"
Garet rubbed the middle of his forehead with a sigh. "Yeah… We have to find Felix and the others… Otherwise…"
"I saw, remember?" said Ivan, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry," he added, looking to Isaac, "my curiosity got the better of me, and I had to know before I left."
"So you'll be going now?" asked Isaac, waving off Ivan's apology with a shrug. His own curiosity had gotten the better of him more times than he could count, so he couldn't exactly talk much. Ivan nodded, extending his hand toward his new friend.
"Yes. Isaac, Garet. Thank you both. I suppose this is goodbye…" Isaac stared down at Ivan's hand, then shook his head, earning a rare blink from the smaller boy.
"Not goodbye," said Isaac, grasping Ivan's hand. "We'll see each other again sooner or later. Maybe once we're done with our mission, we can help you with yours, Ivan."
Ivan actually looked on the verge of tears, his bottom lip quivering slightly and he gulped, taking a deep breath to steady himself. Garet shouldered his axe, smiling. "Th-thank you," stammered Ivan, looking between the two much taller boys, reaching up to tug on a lock of his hair again. They stood in silence for a few moments, Isaac unable to think of what else to say. Luckily, Ivan heaved out a heavy sigh, looking up at them again and nodding, turning away and walking toward the doorway. "I'll never forget this town's hospitality… Or your kindness. I wish you the best."
And then Ivan was gone. Isaac and Garet stood in silence for a few moments longer before Garet rolled his shoulder. "Well, I guess we'd better get moving, then," said Garet.
Stepping through the front door of the mayor's house, Isaac and Garet looked around. The mayor had cleaned up a bit, though the table of files and papers was still quite cluttered. The dining table, however, had the mayor's family urn resting in the middle as a centerpiece. There were also two young children sitting at it, looking up at the two boys curiously. "My grandchildren had been playing outside when you were here earlier," said the mayor, holding a scroll in his hand. Isaac couldn't help but notice that the dining table had been set for five people. "I have some information on a lighthouse, though," he continued, opening the scroll. "There's a lighthouse up north, in the snowy region of Imil. It's a bit of a dangerous trek, however. You'll have to go through Goma Cavern, which is northeast of here, along the Goma Mountain Range, then go north from Bulibin, though it's still treacherous. It's autumn, you see. Summer is usually the best time for travel up there, but I doubt that will stop you two."
The mayor grinned, twirling his mustache. The mayor's daughter, a woman about the same age as Isaac's mother Dora, stepped forward, holding a small vial of golden liquid. "You two got back our urn, and everything else that was stolen," she said, bowing to them and holding out the vial. "Please take this. I imagine you'll need this more than we will."
Isaac stared agape at the golden liquid. "But… I can't accept that," he said. "You know how much those things are worth?"
The woman smiled, reaching out to take Isaac's hand and placed the vial firmly into his palm. "Just take it, please."
"What is that?" asked Garet, blinking at the tiny vial.
"Water of Life," said the mayor, leaning back slightly and nodding. "Like my daughter said, you'll likely put it to better use than we can, boys."
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" offered the woman, indicating the dumplings on the table. Though Garet's stomach grumbled audibly and Isaac felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, he shook his head.
"We have to get moving. Don't worry too much about us." He turned to the mayor, giving him a respectful bow. "Thank you, sir. We'll get moving and-" As he turned, however, the woman held a small bundle out to him. "…You're quick," he said.
"I have twins," she replied, indicating the children at the table. "Be sure to eat the dumplings soon," she added as Isaac and Garet turned to leave, the shorter of the two letting out a sigh.
Once they were outside, Isaac rubbed his eyes. "Counting it as an early birthday present for everything I get isn't gonna cut it for long, Garet, and you know that. I hate getting things for free."
"Come on, Isaac," said Garet, cuffing his friend around the shoulder. "We got the whole town their stuff back. I'd say we earned this stuff. We didn't get it for free."
Isaac looked over to his tall friend, and soon a small grin played across his face. "Yeah… You're right. Did that thief knock you in the head?" he teased. Garet shoved Isaac playfully, laughing.
"I'll knock you in the head and see how you like it," said the Mars adept as he and Isaac stepped through the town, Garet picking at the hole in his sleeve where the tip of the broken sword had cut through. "Hey, you know, we should probably get new vests before we leave."
Isaac looked down as his slashed vest, frowning. "...Yeah, that might be for the best. Hey, maybe we can get something a little better, too," said the Venus adept, and Garet nodded, the boys walking towards a door set into the cliff wall, where a sign hung above it sporting a picture of a sword and shield to indicate a smithy. Stepping inside, the boys looked around. It wasn't much different from the shop back at Vale: There were many weapons hanging on display behind two desks. In the back were a pair of furnaces, a large crate full of coal, and a pair of large hammers.
The men behind the desks looked up from their respective items, beaming at Isaac and Garet as they walked up. They were both quite bulky men, and looked to be brothers, both wearing a brown apron and a pair of overalls each. "There are the two heroes," said the taller of the two, who was bald save for a pair of mutton chops with connected mustache as he lifted a long sword, much like Isaac's own and set it on a pair of hooks on the wall.
Isaac felt his face begin to burn, and Garet patting him on the shoulder didn't help matters. "What can we do for you?" asked the younger man with a fuller head of hair and a bit of scruff on his chin, his green eyes twinkling as he polished a round, bronze shield.
"Uh, just a small thing," said Isaac, still blushing, as he pulled off his bag and set it down along with his sword so he could remove his vest, which had a long slash through the front. "Any chance that this could be repaired?" He set the green vest onto the desk and the armorer moved from his shield and looked it over.
"Hm," he mused. "Probably, but it'd probably just be cheaper to get a new one." The man indicated a rack near the door that had several sizes of traveling vests, all of different colors. Isaac and Garet moved over to the rack, the taller boy setting down his axe before running a hand over another shield, this one made of wood bordered with metal.
"Will you boys be heading out soon?" asked the weapon smith, who was watching them with a smile.
"Yes," replied Isaac, taking down a vest, this one the same green as his ruined one. "According to the mayor, we need to head up north-east, to Goma Cave."
"Are these shields all you have?" asked Garet, who turned from the rack, lifting the wooden shield.
"Yep," said the armorer, not looking up from the bronze shield he was polishing. "This is the only shield that isn't made of wood, but it was commissioned by one of the townsfolk." The shield was lifted and carried to a box, before the man looked back to Garet with a small, apologetic smile and a shrug. "Sorry. We've been low on materials for a few weeks, and that's not even accounting for the eruption." The men let out a heavy sigh as Isaac and Garet exchanged looks. "The bridge to the south was destroyed by rocks falling from the sky, and the trade route from the north has been closed until conditions improve."
"The traders have always been slow," huffed the weapon smith, before shaking his head. "Anyway, you gonna buy that?" he asked, pointing at the vest Isaac was holding. "Since you two helped the town, we can give you a half-off discount, so it's twenty-five gold. Though if you'd also like that shield, I can throw that in for twenty more."
"Thanks, but-" Isaac was interrupted by Garet nudging him with his elbow and smiling.
"It's not for free, so just take it." The taller boy winked at Isaac, who sighed. "Besides, you probably need the extra protection, heh."
"Might as well get yourself a shield, too," said Isaac as he picked up a shield for himself and carried it over to the desk.
As he reached into his pouch to start counting out coins, the armorer shook his head. "Nah, from what I can tell, he needs to use both hands for that axe of his. It wouldn't be as useful, then."
"Fair enough," muttered Isaac, shrugging and setting down forty-five coins before briefly pulling off his sword to change into his new vest. Once that was done, he slipped the strap of his sword back onto his back and slid the strap of the shield onto the hilt of his sword. "Thanks," said Isaac, and the men nodded before the two boys turned and left. "Guess it's time we headed north-east."
The mayor had been correct in that it had taken them nearly the entire rest of the day to reach the foot of the mountains. There were some cliffs, but what appeared to be paths wide enough for a caravan to travel along were built into it, all leading up to the mouth of a cave. A waterfall fed a river nearby. "Looks like this is it," said Garet, looking up at the mountains that loomed above them.
"Yeah," said Isaac, as they walked along the path. "This must be the trade route that's supposed to head to Vault from the north-east. I wonder why they're delayed." Once they'd reached the mouth, Isaac saw why. A large boulder, which he could only assume was the result of a landslide, rested in front of the mouth of the cave. Long, thick vines had grown and were holding it in place. "Hm."
The Venus adept lifted a hand, blue rings surrounding his body as, for the second time that day, a massive, ghostly white hand appeared, placing itself on the boulder. Isaac heaved, but unfortunately, the vines were much too strong. The boulder barely budged. "Having trouble?" asked Garet as the hand disappeared and Isaac rolled one of his shoulders.
"It's those vines," said Isaac.
"Let me try," said the Mars adept, his hand starting glow a bright red. Isaac stepped out of the way as the larger boy heaved a fireball at the vines, with underwhelming results. The vines, while slightly scorched, refused to catch fire. "Huh?"
"I guess the vines are taking water from the river," said Isaac, looking up at the darkening sky. "Ugh, it's too late to bother with this right now. Come on, let's set up camp for the night..."