Author's Note:
Hello and welcome to the second chapter. In this one, serious deviation occurs, and a pair of OCs are thrown into the mix. Thank you those who've shown their support so far and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
I own nothing.
Chapter 2
"Are you serious Garet!?"
"Do you think this is something I'd joke about!?"
Tyrell could hear the voices of his father and Isaac inside the cabin, and he sighed.
After he'd devoured the bandit's fireball and unleashed his instinctive attack, his dad had whisked him home the moment the shock had worn off. Both men were inside discussing it, though he doubted they'd come up with any sort of good explanation.
What he'd done wasn't psynergy, he was sure of it. It didn't feel like his mind was the force driving it, instead it seemed to derive from his instincts, his very core. His attack didn't require concentration or focus, all it needed was the desire to fight and nothing else, though he had no idea how he did it.
And that was before getting onto the whole 'eating fire' thing.
In all honesty, it wasn't quite like he 'ate' the fireball, it didn't have any sort of taste or require chewing. In fact, it was more like he 'absorbed' the flames, taking them into his body and converting them into power, something a normal Mars Adept couldn't do.
Movement near the base of the cliff the cabin was built upon caught his attention, sat on the cliff edge as he was, he could easily look down and saw a man stood there, staring up at him.
Then he was gone.
The following day found Tyrell and his father heading out from the cabin once more.
This time, Isaac and Matthew were accompanying them, and they were heading to Patcher's Place and then onto Carver's Camp. The plan was to bring Tyrell to Kraden, thinking that the old scholar might have some insight into his sudden, unheard of abilities. Isaac believed that it could be he'd somehow unlocked some form of ancient psynergy, previously inaccessible due to the Elemental Lighthouses. The world was still in the middle of rebirth after the release of Alchemy, so it was likely that new forms of psynergy would develop as part of that process. Tyrell and Matthew would join Kraden at Carver's Camp and continue on from there while Isaac and Garet would return to the cabin. Garet had initially been against that part of the plan but Isaac didn't want to leave Mount Aleph for too long, not while still trying to work out the effects of the Golden Sun. He'd eventually convinced his long-time friend by saying it was a prime time to give their kids a chance to go out and learn from the rest of the world, and that they'd be in good hands with Kraden.
And so, they started out the next day.
It was a bit of a trek from the cabin to Patcher's Place, coming off the plateau and along the path, but it was one they'd done many times before. Unusually, Tyrell and Garet were silent as they trekked, both each wrapped in their own thoughts, but Isaac eventually spoke.
"I wouldn't worry Tyrell. Kraden has studied Alchemy far longer than practically anyone else, I'm sure he'll find an answer to all of this."
He then frowned as he looked ahead, "What is that?"
Garet peered ahead, then gasped, "It looks like a dust storm, but how can you get a dust storm here?"
His friend raised his arms, "We can worry about how it happened later, its heading right for us and fast!" he glanced at his son, "Matthew, help me grow a shield of vines, quickly!"
Immediately, the young Venus Adept did as he was ordered, and soon a wall of vines locked in front of them. All four dived behind the shield, just before it hit.
But it wasn't enough.
The impact of the dust storm, ripped through the vines, tearing them apart, the winds pushed against them, flinging them all off their feet and separating them all. Tyrell thought he heard his father cry out, but it was lost in the clamour of the storm as he tumbled over and over, tossed by the wind. Somehow, he found and clung to an anchor point on the ground, body pressed to the earth as he held on for dear life.
Then he was grabbed from the ground.
Someone, or something, hauled him into their arms, somehow unfazed by the storm around them. For a moment, Tyrell thought his dad or Isaac had found him, but some instinct told him it wasn't so.
Before he could do anything about it, a light shone above him, and the storm faded as he slipped into unwilling slumber.
The comfort of a bed was the first thing he registered, warm sheets and a soft pillow trying to convince him that he'd just been dreaming.
He grunted and turned, finding a bright light obnoxiously foiling his attempts to return to sleep, and he heard the sound of an unfamiliar chuckle.
Snapping into full wakefulness, he shot upright, barely registering the unknown room he was in. Instead, he focused on the stranger, sat in a chair by his bed.
The man gazed at him with odd, golden eyes, that sat neatly beneath a mop of unruly, dark blue hair. He grinned at the teen, revealing a set of strangely pointed teeth and spoke in a polite voice.
"You're finally awake youngling, I was beginning to worry that Hera had overdone it with the sleep spell."
Tyrell was out of bed like a shot, aiming to surprise the man, but found himself grabbed, spun, and then flung back onto the bed with apparent ease. The stranger sighed, "Its no use trying to get past me, you haven't the strength for that, I can assure you."
The teen raised his arm, intending to give him a fireball to the face, but nothing happened, and the man sighed yet again, "I'm afraid that's no use either." He pointed to the boy's wrist, "That manacle prevents someone like you from using their powers."
Tyrell looked down and saw that there was indeed a manacle on his wrist.
"And no, you won't be able to remove it forcibly." The stranger continued, as if he'd read the young adept's thoughts.
"Well, unless you chop off your own hand."
A female voice joined the conversation, and all eyes fell upon the door. The man smiled, "Hera, you've finally decided to join us."
The woman, Hera, strode in through the door, idly tying her long black hair back into a bun, "Well, I felt that I should help keep an eye on…" Her silver eyes looked at Tyrell distastefully, "…it."
"Now that's rather rude don't you think?"
She fixed her gaze on her companion, "You know how I feel about this Phorcys, about that!"
She gestured at Tyrell, clearly indicating him as the 'that'. Normally, the boy would've exploded at this insult, but a chance to escape had attracted his attention. It seemed that Hera had left the door wide open when she'd entered, with his two kidnappers distracted, he could dive for the exit and run for it.
Surging forward, he did just that. Flinging himself at the potential escape route, he ducked around Hera and dived for the door, the beckoning opening was within reach when his arms were roughly grabbed, and he was hauled backwards by Hera. He fought and kicked the whole way, but the woman was uncannily strong, and he soon found himself bound to a chair. He snarled at her and she responded with a backhand to his face.
"Enough Hera!"
Phorcys' voice spoke commandingly, and the woman spun to face him, "This thing deserved it!"
"I'll decide what he does and does not deserve. I'm still in charge of this mission regardless of your birth status." His eyes narrowed, "In fact, that same status should mean you should treat others with far more respect. Now, wait outside. I shall speak with our guest alone."
There was a tense moment, as the two stood staring each other down, then Hera gave a huff and stalked out the door, slamming it behind her. Once she'd gone, Phorcys briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then focused on Tyrell.
"I apologise for that, Hera is dedicated to our cause, but she does often forget that who she's born to does not ultimately determine her position, especially when she lets her long-held bigotry take control." He leaned closer examining where she'd struck him, "Seems she didn't do any actual damage, you'll just have a rather fetching red mark for a short while."
Rather foolishly, Tyrell attempted to headbutt him, but the man easily dodged the clumsy attempt, "Now youngling, you're only making this harder for everyone with this attitude."
"You kidnapped me!" The teen practically yelled back.
Phorcys sat down in another chair, facing him, "Well, I won't deny that to be true, but I will say it certainly wasn't my preferred idea, and I'm definitely not fond of keeping you tied up." He leaned back wearily, "But you do insist on trying to fight or run from us."
"And what else did you expect me to do!?"
"To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect you to do anything else, I merely hoped I could explain the situation before you tried."
Tyrell snorted, but didn't answer, and Phorcys gazed at him steadily, "What if I told you that I could explain your odd psynergy and desire to eat fire."
"What! How do you know about that!?" Tyrell then fell silent, not wanting to give anything away.
Phorcys' stare didn't waver, "Simple, we've been keeping an eye on you for quite some time, ever since you were born in fact."
"What?"
"You are of great interest to my people Tyrell, you're something really quite unique in this world, and rather unprecedented at that."
He smiled.
"A half-dragon is quite unprecedented indeed."
PS-Yes, he is a half-dragon. As to how this can happen, that'll be explained next chapter along with some exposure on what Phorcys and Hera want. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.