I finally got the nerve to continue (no telling how long it'll last!)
Breeze: *taps foot*
Me: what? o__o;
--
Chapter 6- Mia's return.
"We should be almost halfway through," Mia said as she walked through a dark damp cavern. On each shoulder sat a couple of Mercury Djinn who decided to stay after their final battle. Dew was on her left and Fizz on her right. Hopping ahead of them, was a third Mercury Djinni who was emitting a bright blue light to illuminate the otherwise pitch black cave.
"Tonic could you please slow down?" Dew requested timidly.
"Oh, my bad," Tonic apologized as he stopped to allow Mia to catch up.
"Dew, why are you worried? It's not like we couldn't light the cave up ourselves if Tonic lost us somehow." Fizz commented.
"Uh, well… just the thought of us getting separated makes me nervous…" Dew mumbled just loud enough for Mia to hear.
"Dew you mustn't fret over…" she stopped as she caught something on the cave wall in the corner of her eye, "Tonic, stop here for a moment." The blue Djinni turned and hopped over to where Mia was to shed a bit more light. As the light engulfed the wall, what Mia had seen became clear.
It was writing.
The Adept put her hand to the inscriptions, and studied it carefully. The symbols were none she could recognize, as if it was some strange lost language. She turned and saw that nearly the entire wall on the other side of the tunnel was covered in them as well. The symbols ranged from what seemed to be words to strange pictures reminiscent of battle plans.
"Oh my… what does it say?" Dew asked nervously.
"Hmm, who would actually come down here and write all this?" Fizz asked. Mia seemed not to have heard her blue companions' questions as she walked along the walls looking at the writings. She stopped as she saw an illustration. It wasn't just any illustration; it was one of the Mercury lighthouse. Just below it, she saw another drawing. It was of a town with crudely drawn houses… and it was being attacked by little human-shaped drawings wielding fire.
Mia instantly grew uneasy. She sensed something was very wrong or was going to become wrong very soon.
"I think we better keep on our way," Mia suggested trying to keep cool. The Djinn looked at each other. They sensed Mia's unrest but opted not to say anything.
--
Within an hour or so, the quartet emerged from the damp cavern that divided the two regions in which Imil and Bilibin resided. From the get go, Mia felt the chill wind caress her pale skin and she closed her eyes and took a deep, refreshing breath. Before she had left home, she never thought she'd miss the cold winds of Imil so much. When she opened her eyes again, she could see the magnificent glow of Mercury lighthouse across the northern gulf of Angara. It was clear that its power was already being felt at such a distance by how the Mercury Djinn seemed to have become reenergized.
They'd be back in Imil within two or three days, pending on Jupiter's mood on the way. A passing snowstorm could slow one down considerably in this region. After a while, the three Djinn decided to remain within Mia's body to provide her extra endurance for the long trek. They all remained silent, but it had to be asked.
Mia, what seems to be the matter? Fizz asked, her voice echoing in Mia's head. The adept's anxiousness was bothering the blue beings, since they were deeply in tune with the emotions of their carrier. Mia's pace was also very brisk and she was already utilizing the extra energy the little elementals have been providing her to trudge through the snow.
"It was just those inscriptions back in the cave," she responded, "I just have a bad feeling."
Ah… I bet it's nothing but some of those weird gnome mages scribbling spells in the cave. You probably shouldn't worry! Tonic reassured her.
"Hm, you are probably right…" Mia slowed her paced, but quickly sped back up, "but the sooner we get there, the sooner I can be at ease."
As she walked through the snow covered forests she began thinking of Megan and Justin, the youngest of the four, well, three remaining Mercury adepts from Imil. It's been so long since she'd seen them, and they both sounded older when she spoke with them atop Mars lighthouse. It was mostly Justin, though, because she had heard his voice crack. At their ages children tend to grow quite a bit in such a short time.
Then she remembered the old couple who lived near the entrance. She was very close to them and also missed them dearly. Suddenly without any provocation, the image of a tall lad with spiky, red hair and a large goofy smile on his face flashed in her mind.
"Wow, I miss him already," she sighed. It had only been a little while since she had been in Vault. Garet tried his hardest to convince her not to go, but she ended up convincing him that she needed to see everyone in Imil again. She thought about how he would always tell her not to worry whenever things made her nervous, even though he'd tend to be more nervous than any of them.
Aw, Mia… Don't fret. You did promise Garet that you were going to return to Vault! Tonic blurted out.
Yes, that was right. She did promise, but the truth is she felt incredibly torn when she said this. At this point, she wished she could be in two places at once to put these feelings to rest.
--
After a day of walking through dense trees, Mia could see the edge of the forest.
"Finally, we are almost…" she stopped mid sentence as horror overcame her. She saw her beloved Imil… almost completely destroyed. Smoke was rising from several buildings and the front gate was strewn across places it obviously should not be.
"Damn…" Tonic said under his breath as he materialized on Mia's shoulder.
Mia darted through the thick snow, praying everyone was alright. It ran through her mind, how could this have happened? Who could have done this? Why have they done this? Then she remembered the writing and drawings in the cave. This was definitely related to what she saw.
She had finally entered the town. She stopped and gazed around, there was not a soul stirring. She began to sprint, but she heard a moan under some debris. Focusing on the mass of splinters and stone, her body flashed with Psynergy and the debris was lifted from its resting place to reveal a wounded man. Mia carefully pulled him from under the trash, trying to stay focused to keep it from falling back on top of them.
"There," she said panting and letting the wood and stone crash back down, "are you alright?" The man was breathing, but he did not answer. He was badly bruised and was covered in cuts. Mia brought both her hands to his chest, and focused once more, this time uttering something under her breath. Her hands emitted an angelic blue glow, and the man's wounds healed near instantly.
"Wh-what's happening… Mia!" he exclaimed as he came to. Mia recognized him as one of the watchmen. "Thank the gods you have returned!"
"Tell me what's happened?"
"I… I don't know exactly…" he said, putting a hand to his still aching head, "all I remember is standing watch with a couple other guards, then suddenly, a fireball flew out of nowhere, blasting that junk on top of me!" He looked at her apologetically. "That's all I remember… I don't even know how long I've been out…"
"I see…" Mia nodded. Before another word was said, the earth trembled beneath them and a puff of smoke rose around the base of the lighthouse. Whoever, or whatever, did this was definitely there. She stood up and took her Ankh from out of the strap used to carry it on her back. "Dew, Tonic, you two go with the guard and help anyone who needs it" she commanded as all the Djinni exited her body, "Fizz, come with me." The Djinni nodded and warped back into Mia, and she darted off in the direction of the lighthouse.
"Alright then, let's go help the injured," Tonic yelled, raising her clawed tail in the air. Dew nodded, but the guard just stared at them, wondering what the hell they were.
"Uhm, hello sir…" Dew greeted quietly.
"Hey, we don't bite, come on! We got people to tend to!" The man nodded to Tonic's statement, rose to his feet, and ran off with the elementals on his tail.
--
Mia was breathing heavily as she trudged through the white with Fizz on her shoulder and stopped as she came across the old couple's house… or what was left of it. It was completely obliterated.
"Oh no… no no no…" she panicked as she ran to the shambles, "Grandma! Grandpa!" she yelled, hoping one would answer from under the debris. It was silent. They both scanned the area, searching for any signs of life. Mia was about to yell out again, but Fizz cut her off.
"Mia, I don't sense anybody under there. Living or otherwise…"
Mia sighed. There still might be hope.
"Hey I heard something over here!" yelled a voice that sounded diminutive and obnoxious.
The duo froze as they heard it again coming from behind some still standing houses. Two small beings, nearly half the height of Mia herself, clad in blue with matching wizard caps ran into the open. They just stood there, instantly recognizing them as gnomes.
"Look! We missed one!" the other one blurted out as it pulled out a small staff tipped with a purple gem. "Let's finish this lass before we rejoin with the others!"
"There's more of them?" Fizz asked in disbelief, "oh gods, Tonic was right about the gnome thing…"
One of the gnomes began to glow as lightning erupted from his staff and traveled in Mia's direction. She jumped out of the way only to see fire from the other gnome blaze across the ground towards her! With a wave of her ankh, water blasted from the ground in front of her, engulfing the fire and covering the area in a blanket of steam.
"Oye! The lass must be an adept!" one yelled to its partner through the steam.
"Let's off her befo- Aaaagh!!" the other gnome yelped. The steam cleared quickly and the gnome's eyes widened as he saw his partner covered in ice, petrified with an expression of surprise on his face still.
"Dammit!" he yelled. He quickly turned around. In a flash of blue, he was struck upside the head with an ankh and sent hurdling towards the nearby wall. He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up to see the Mercury adept with her eyes closed and her arms raised. Above her was a large boulder of ice so transparent, the light was refracted into several rainbows. He was too captivated by its light to see the blue haired girl throw her arms forward, sending the boulder straight on top of him.
Crash!
--
Shrieks of fear echoed at the base of the lighthouse. The remaining people of Imil were huddled together in front of the entrance with the entire structure encircled by a myriad of cackling gnomes.
"Justin! We need another one!" cried a girl with pigtails.
"Alright!" replied a young blonde boy with glasses. He closed his eyes as Psynergy surged through him and a wall of ice rose between the people and the mass of gnome assailants.
"Bwehehehe," cackled one of the gnomes, "the lad still thinks his barriers of frozen water can stop us!" He and a few other gnomes simultaneously swung their staffs, firing lightning at the wall and shattering it instantly.
"I… can't keep this up…" Justin muttered as he fell to his knees. The girl concentrates, forming a large orb of water in front of her, and throws it forward at the gnomes at a high velocity. One of them simply tapped his staff on the ground and an orange light surrounding them blocked the water and dissipated it into nothing. "They're taking everything we're throwing at them, Megan!" The girl stepped back beside two spear wielding men, who were the last two guards still conscious.
"Come, brothers, let us finish off this dreary lot in one fell swoop!" The hundreds of gnomes all raised their staffs, combining their Psynergy. Fire began to swirl above them and formed a humongous orb of impending destruction, lighting up the entire sky.. "With this, we destroy the last of Lighthouse's defenses and claim it as our own!" The gnomes all cheered in unison, sure of their victory. The two Mercury adepts looked at the ball of fire in awe then closed their eyes, fearing what comes next.
"I wish Mia was here!" Megan screamed tears running down her cheeks. Suddenly, numerous blasts of blue light flew over the gnomes and straight through their massive ball of fire. The fire throbbed before bursting into nothingness.
"What sorcery is this!?" the gnomes yelled, turning towards where the blasts had come from. What they saw was a blue haired girl in thick robes carrying an ankh. A blue creature suddenly materialized on her shoulder as well.
"Mia!" the two young adepts yelled. It was silent for a few moments. Mia scanned her surroundings. The land clearly showed signs of battle with patches of burned land and melted snow with a few out of place shards of ice. The army of gnomes obviously stood out the most to her. One of them stepped forward.
"You dare challenge us?!" a cocky gnome yelled. He raised his arms and shrugged, encouraging the others to cheer him on, which they did. "You have no hope in matching the power of any one of us, let alone all of us" Mia narrowed her eyes at the gnome's audacity. Her hand trembled as she slowly raised it with the palm and fingers facing upwards.
Shing!
The gnomes jumped backwards as a spire of ice literally skewered their overly confident comrade from below and lifted his limp body high so that all of his kind could see it.
"Wow…" Justin uttered. Even with the power boost from being in such close proximity with the lighthouse, neither of the two apprentices could cast an attack as easily as Mia just did.
The mass of short beings began to mutter amongst one another then suddenly grew quiet. The sea of blue clad wizards parted, creating an aisle between them. An elderly looking gnome with a long white beard and a hunched back began walking down the aisle towards Mia with the aid of a crooked old staff. He stopped and looked at the ice spire that held the motionless gnome then turned towards the girl, who kept a serious and fearless expression.
"What is the meaning of this?" Mia began, "why have you attacked our home?"
"Ah… you see, dear child…" the old gnome said as he began to stroke his beard, "As the village that guards the Lighthouse of Mercury, it presents itself as an obstacle in our new quest for power and dominance over Weyard!" He raised his hands. "As such it must be eliminated." Mia grew angrier. Just a power hungry bunch of trash threatening the safety of innocents it seemed. Dealing with such was not what she wanted to do after her tiring journey.
"Really now… As far as I know, you gnomes have existed without such ambitions. What reason do you have to suddenly start this 'conquest?'" she asked, crossing her arms. The old gnome, whom Mia had discerned as the leader at this point, continued to stroke his beard.
"If you may not have noticed, but in months prior, we have seen the four lights converge in the sky and the Golden Sun take its form from the view of our mountain homes." He gestured toward the sky with his staff. "Our ancient prophecies have told that the rising of the Golden Sun marks the reawakening of alchemy…"
Mia's eyes widened. She turned to her Djinni companion, who was as deeply confused as she was. She turned back to the decrepit gnome, her curious look hinting at him to continue.
"It has been written, that our ancestors were a force to be reckoned with. We have once ruled many lands with our control over alchemy. But when alchemy was sealed away, our ancestors lost most of their magics… and our kind was forced to be associated with mere monsters and cave vermin."
"Mia… I don't like where this is going. I'm going to the aerie of the lighthouse." Fizz whispered.
"What, why?"
"I have a plan…" with that, the Mercury Djinni turned to a ball of light and floated straight towards the top of the lighthouse. The gnomes did not take notice of this, so Mia decided to continue with the old geezer.
"My companions and I have dealt with your kind before. Needless to say, they were easily cast aside." She said bluntly. The old gnome chuckled, which halfway sounded like coughing.
"Really now?" he mimicked Mia's earlier words. He tapped his staff on the ground, and the sky rumbled and darkened. She turned to the sky, and a blast of lightning shot from above her. She quickly dodged out the way, but the impact of the bolt with the ground caused an explosion that made her loose her balance. She shrieked as she rolled on the ground.
"Gnomes were never this powerful… how could the awakening of alchemy have increased their power so much in so little time?" Mia pondered as she rose to her feet, covered in cold, half-melted snow. The elderly gnome chuckled while his minions just stood and watched.
"I gather you are wondering how we could attain such strength when we were so… how you say… 'easily cast aside' not long ago?" he began to walk slowly. "Dear girl, when alchemy was unleashed, all of our ancient manuscripts, enchanted runes, and every magical knickknack and whatnot that we held on to from our ancestors regained their powers." He swung his staff and threw a quick fireball at Mia. She easily deflected it with her ankh and took a more battle ready position. It seemed he wanted to boast his strength as he lectured. "Instantly, we took the opportunity to relearn what we have once lost."
He tapped his staff on the ground again and the earth beneath Mia's feet began to tremble. She looked down and immediately noticed it bulging upwards and leapt backwards before a spout of lava erupted from the spot. As she landed she placed a hand on the ground and concentrated her own Psynergy, causing a wave of icicles to erupt beneath the gnome elder. Before he was impaled he vanished in a flash and appeared behind the adept. Startled, she tried to strike him with her ankh, but he teleported again to a farther position.
"This is but a fraction of our strength. With time, we and our brothers and sisters from all over Weyard will regain our strength, and take back what is rightfully ours!"
Mia was sweating bullets now. This old wizard was definitely powerful, and the fact he has more unlocked potential scared her. She turned back to her shambled village and a wave of guilt overcame her. Tears began to form in her eyes when she realized that what she did to save the world has led to the destruction of her home town.
"I have told you what you I feel you needed to know," the old gnome said, "now I must dispose of you so that we may continue our conquest of the lighthouse." He raised his staff and began chanting in an unknown language. Red light converged before him, then shot towards Mia! There was no way she could dodge a blast at that speed. She braced herself for the attack.
Before it reached her a massive beam of light shot from the aerie of the lighthouse and negated the red blast in a flash of radiant, blue light.
"What…what is the meaning of this!" the old gnome exclaimed, now looking exhausted from his constant spell casting. All eyes looked towards the aerie. Mia stared at the beacon for a few seconds before spotting another faint blue light that seemed to be siphoning Psynergy from the lighthouse.
"Fizz?" she muttered trying to focus more on the light. Suddenly, the faint glow fired another beam straight at the mass of gnomes. The creatures hollered as the beam struck the ground, causing it to explode in a mass of crystalline pillars. The elder gnome began chanting again, causing a barrier to appear over his minions, but the next beam simply shattered it as if it were nothing.
"Elder, elder! What do we do!" one of the gnomes yelped as the army began to panic. The beams kept coming and wiped out groups of them with ease.
"We…must… retreat… for now," he replied panting and barely able to stand, "the lighthouse and the elementals are on their side…" When he finally stood he chanted another spell, causing all gnomes who have not been destroyed already to teleport away. The townspeople cheered now that the gnome army was deterred.
"Mia!" her two apprentices called out to her as they ran. They both jumped to hug her, knocking her over on her back.
"Ooof! You guys are getting too big to be doing this at the same time!" she teased before hugging them back. The glow from the aerie lofted to Mia's side and reformed back into a Mercury Djinni. "Fizz that was amazing!"
"Y-yeah…" she huffed, "takes a lot out of me, though…" The Djinni looked truly exhausted.
"You can rest now," Mia smiled. The Djinni nodded, then faded away.
"Wait, Mia, is Fizz…" Megan asked as Fizzed vanished.
"No, she will be back. She's just recovering," Mia looked around and saw what the attack of gnomes had done to the people of Imil. "It seems we have a lot of recovering to do ourselves." Justin and Megan looked at the people as well and nodded. The blue haired adept sighed, now realizing she won't be seeing her friends for quite a while.
--
"And that's what went down," concluded Tonic.
"Dang… Intense," Breeze replied, shocked by the turn of events.
"Intense indeed…" Fizz added, nodding.
Breeze looked at the injured townspeople and grew even more depressed, so he decided to go back in the room with Mia. When he flew in, Mia had finished healing and the man was already exiting to rejoin his family.
"Phew, all the serious cases are done, now to make som-"
"You mean relax? They did tell you rest after this." Breeze interjected, plopping himself on her shoulder.
"Uh, heh, yes" she said, embarrassed that she was caught being a total workaholic again. "Anyway, what brings you to Imil anyhow, Breeze?" She sat on the edge of her bed, ready to listen. Breeze looked into her eyes. Even while exhausted, Mia was beautifully serene.
"Well, I was supposed to be going to Kaylay…"
"But you ended up… here?" she tilted her head curiously.
"Uhm, yes… apparently" he blushed.
"So… why did you need to go to Kaylay then?"
"To deliver this letter!" he fumbled in the pouch slung around him and pulled out a folded letter with his wings. Mia took it, unfolded it, and started reading:
--
Dear Master Hammet and Lady Layana
At the time of writing this, Ivan and I have safely arrived in Lalivero. Unfortunately, due to an unfortunate turn of events, Ivan has been injured and seems to have lost his memory. I am attempting to remedy the predicament, so the time we will return is still pending.
Sincerely, Sheba
P.S. About the creature this message (hopefully) arrived with, please send your reply with him, and if possible, point him in the right direction of Lalivero because quite frankly, said creature cannot navigate for beans.
--
"Ah… poor Ivan," Mia lamented, "but at least he is in good hands."
"What does she mean 'can't navigate for beans?!'" Breeze hollered, feeling insulted.
"You ended up here instead of Kaylay does say something…" Mia said bluntly.
"Hmph" the Djinni frowned. It was rather interesting, though. The letter said 'we will return…"
"Well, I think I may have map you can use to help you get to Kaylay. This letter is rather important, so you should leave tomorrow after you rest." Mia got up from the bed and began to search. Then she got an idea. "Breeze, can… I ask you for a favor?"
"Pending. What be this favor?" he asked rather obnoxiously, but Mia seemed unbothered.
"Well… I…" She looked away and put her hands behind her back, then blushed a bit, "I want you to deliver a letter to Garet on your way." The purple Djinni blinked.
"Um, sure thing…" When he said this, Mia's face lit up.
"Thank you!" she gave the Djinni a hug, grabbed paper and quill, and ran into her room. The Mercury Djinn hopped into the room and wondered why Mia had run off.
"Hey, what's going on?" Dew asked.
"Eh… the things I do for love…" Breeze sighed, falling over backwards onto his back.
--
Several hours into the night the Sanctum grew quiet. Families huddled to keep each other warm as mothers sang to their children to help them sleep. Justin and Megan opted to sleep on the church pews, just in case anyone needed them during the night. In Mia's candlelit room, the four Djinn slept huddled on top of each other in a collage of blues and purple at the foot of Mia's bed. As usual, Mia was not in it.
She was at her desk, and she had passed out from exhaustion and slept with her writing utensil in hand. She jerked awake when she heard a knock on the door.
"Huh," she glanced around, noticing her candle was already almost out of wax, "oh dear…c-come in" she said after realizing she had fallen asleep. Her door opened and a kindly old woman hobbled in with aid of her cane. "Oh, hello Grandma," Mia greeted.
"Hello Mia. I'm sorry to bother you at this hour," she apologized.
"No, not at all, Grandma." The woman was not her biological grandmother, nor was her husband Mia's grandfather. It was what she and her two apprentices had called them due to the fact the couple took them in after their parents had passed. Even when they decided to live at the Sanctum, the loving woman would bring them warm meals every day. Mia made sure to take extra care of them as they got on in years.
"Just coming to check up on you, child," she said, a smile appearing on her wrinkled face, "I'm disappointed to find you still up at this time. You cannot expect yourself to work all hours of the day," she said lovingly, even though Mia sensed a bit of scolding in the statement.
"Well, actually, I was sleeping a moment ago because I passed while writing a letter," Mia said embarrassed a little.
"See, that's not a good sign." The woman slowly walked to Mia's side. "So to whom are you sending this letter?"
"Ah well…" Mia looked at what she had done. The current letter had only a few lines, but her desk was littered with numerous balled up drafts that she had written prior. Her grandmother glanced at her workplace and smiled. "Just writing to a friend… a guy, back in Vault," Mia continued. The woman's face lit up with intrigue.
"Oh! Do tell me more of this lad," she pleaded as she took a seat in a chair not far from where she was standing, "he must be something special for you to need to start your message over that many times." Mia blushed.
"U-uhm well," she turned away to hide the heat in her face and saw the pile of Djinn on her bed. Fizz was sleeping on top, then suddenly rolled off and was snoozing on her own. She turned back to her current letter and gasped when she saw it was gone! She looked at the floor to see if it had fallen, but saw her grandmother with her reading spectacles on going through her letter! "No! I-I'm not done yet!"
"Mmhm…" the old woman hummed, "I didn't take you to be the type who'd lie in a letter," she chuckled. The blue haired adept dropped her head in shame. Busted. "What is with this 'I have decided to stay in Imil a while because my dear grandmother has broken her hip' nonsense?" she asked, tapping her hip lightly with her cane to show that it was still in good shape.
"Well, in my defense, I didn't want him to worry about me. Even though he's kind of big, he's a big softy," Mia said, closing her eyes. "I planned on telling him from the start, but knowing him, he'd worry his head off and rush up over here."
"That would be a bad thing?"
"No… but we have just completed our long journey, and I think my friends deserve some rest."
"Don't you think you deserve that same luxury?" Mia froze at her grandmother's question. "Well, anyway, which one is this 'Garet' that you are writing this letter to?" She attempted to change the subject when she reread the top of the letter.
"The tall, spiky redhead," Mia answered somewhat dreamily.
"Oh! I remember! That one had quite the caboose on him!"
"Grandma!" Mia exclaimed in shock.
"Hehehe, good night, child," she chuckled, returning Mia's letter and hugging her before hobbling out of the room. She stopped and turned around, "and for the love of Mercury, get some sleep."
"Geez… everyone is just on my case today…" she mumbled, returning to her letter.
--
Whoo~ hope you enjoyed! I don't have much to say except that I'm glad I got out of the rut I was in!
Breeze: NUUU Hardly any lines AGAIN? I bet you're totally gonna write me out of the story soon.
Me: Nooooo… The title's got your name, plus you're the comedic relief. We can't go on without you o3o
Breeze: suuuure whatever…