Author's Notes:

My chapters are going to start out pretty short, at least to start off. I'm pretty inexperienced at writing for an audience, though I've written plenty of poetry and stories before. Review, please, I want to know what I need to work on! I think this chapter might be a little heavy on dialogue, myself, but I'm not sure. Anyway, enjoy, I should have another chapter up within a week, probably within a couple days.

Chapter 1: Reunion

Felix sat in the front room of his and Sheba's home, humming a tune beneath his breath while he sharpened his blade. It had been a busy week, a busy month, in fact, and with all the harvesting and cooking and setting up, this was the first opportunity he'd had to tend to his weapons almost since the Eclipse had ended.

The first snowfall of the year had been less than a fortnight earlier, and as he could clearly hear through even the well insulated walls of the Proxian home, the children of the village were ecstatic. Felix was reminded of the way he had felt, his first winter in Prox...

He shook his head; there was no point thinking on such things. It would only bring back unhappy memories, of Saturos, of Alex, of Jenna, of his parents...

Sighing, Felix set his whetstone in its case and stood up, sheathing his blade in the scabbard hanging from a hook next to the door. He turned to go into the main room of the house, but halted at the sound of his son's voice outside the door. The Earth Adept smiled; Jason was shaping up into an excellent young man, and a fair fighter, as well. He might not be a match for his oldest sister yet, but Hela was an exceptional girl, and she also had a couple years on him. Give him time, and Jason would be a truly powerful Jupiter Adept, just like his mother before him.

A smile on his face, Felix opened the door for his children. There in the front, Jason spoke with Hela about something to do with the usually frozen river to the south of Prox. Behind them, Tela and Hela were keeping up a hushed conversation, casting furtive glances at the other two every other second.

It took Felix a moment to realize what was wrong with this picture. He frowned at first, and then, as the four, count them, four, people in front of him broke off their conversations, his eyes widened.

A voice he had not heard in thirty years rang out across his small front yard,

"Hello, Felix." His sister said, a cool edge to her words, "been a while."

The silence stretched in the small room. The air, which should have been warm due to the crackling fire which was a centerpiece of every Proxian home, was frigid with the cold look the older Fire Adept continued to send towards her brother.

Jason sighed; you'd think, after thirty years, she might be a bit happier to see him, he thought. His father looked about as happy to see Jenna as a rat might to see a cat. Which is a fitting metaphor, I guess, he thought, and then had to fight to suppress nervous giggles.

Beside him, Tela shifted uncomfortably. Jason could tell she wanted to leave, but was afraid that their father would snap at them if any of them moved to get up. He was right there with her. Hela, on the other hand, looked like if someone didn't start talking soon, she was going to start the conversation for them. Typical.

The longer they waited, the worse it was going to be. Finally, Jason had enough. He cleared his throat, "dad, can we go help the others with the feast?" He asked, tentatively.

The older Earth Adept frowned, and Jason was afraid he might have annoyed him, but Father nodded, "go ahead, I'm sure they could use some-"

Jenna cut him off, "Felix, no, they need to hear the news I bring, too."

Father glanced, irritated, at the Fire Adept, "fine, what message do you have for us?" He asked after a moment.

The woman almost smiled, then pulled a rolled up paper out of her bag, "this is from Isaac," she told them. She left it rolled, and stood to pass it to her brother, who opened it to reveal a map of Atteka Continent, before settling back against her chair. Jason figured she must be pretty tired from all that time spent on the road. He wondered how she'd even gotten here; did she have a ship? She must, to have navigated the ocean from the southern continents to here.

His attention returned to the present situation as his father spoke,

"What's the point of this, then?" He asked.

"Well, to start," she began, "as I'm sure you noticed, someone's enthusiasm for reawakening the old Alchemy machines got a bit out of hand." She nodded towards the south, "The Grave Eclipse, as it was called, destroyed much of the new prosperity in the south, though those who had been living in ancient cities, like Ayuthay and Belinsk were mostly fine. They are rebuilding, though, and it shouldn't be too long before things are back to normal." She smiled, "the Eclipse itself was dealt with by mine and Isaac's son, Matthew, along with Garet's son, Tyrell, Mia's son, Reif, Ivan's daughter, Karis, and several friends of theirs, several of whose parents we knew back in the day, actually. You remember Briggs' son, Eoleo? And Kushinada and Susa? Their daughter and that little rascal were among the group, as well." She paused, "that's beside the point, though, the Eclipse isn't the reason I'm here. The real reason is the Psynergy Vortexes."

As she continued, Jenna looked more and more worried, "Isaac fears the Mourning Moon is returning," she said.

Father sucked in a breath, then let it out after a moment. He frowned, "and so what is the point of coming here?" He asked, "I can't do much to help with that, I know less about the Vortexes than most do, since Prox has yet to be victim to even one." He shook his head, then nodded towards the map in his hand, "in fact, the last one I remember seeing was in Contigo, twenty years ago."

Jenna nodded, "yes, well, to be honest, Contigo's part of what this is about," she looked at Jason and his sisters, "Felix, who's their mother?"

Father looked away, a small frown coming to his face, "you knew her pretty well," he said, "I'm surprised you don't see her looks in Tela's face, or in Jason's hair," he said.

Jenna nodded, "Sheba, so I thought, and hoped, especially after talking with you three," she said, leaning forwards and nodding towards Jason.

Jason raised his hand (it seemed like the proper thing to do at the time). Tela snickered at this, but it got father's attention, and the older man turned to his son and raised one eyebrow.

Jason looked at Jenna, "so the Mourning Moon is rising again," he said, "and you needed our mother for what, exactly?"

"And why did we need to be here?" Tela put in.

Jenna leaned back once more, "well, I need your mother because we think she might be able to help us locate a certain lost civilization," she said. Then she addressed the younger girl, "and would you rather I had left you out of the loop?" She asked her. Tela shook her head.

At this point, Father cut in, "I'm guessing Anemos? It's on the map, here, I see." He frowned, "Why do you need to find Anemos? If you need the knowledge of an older civilization so badly, couldn't you just go to Lemuria and speak with Hydros?"

Jenna nodded, "and that's where the children come in," she said. "We need to be in too many places at once. I've contacted Piers, he is willing to go to Lemuria to speak with Hydros, even though he was exiled. But he needs you, because you're the only one who could really figure out the currents in the Sea of Time." She looked at the three young Adepts, "meanwhile, Sheba and I will look for Anemos."

Jason looked down as he heard his father choke on a breath, "there's a slight problem with that plan," he said, "namely that Sheba disappeared at the start of the Eclipse."

Jenna blinked, "disappeared? You don't mean those creatures-"

"No," father cut her off, " she was right in front of me when it happened. One moment she was watching the sky in horror, with the rest of us, the next-" he shook his head, "nothing. She was just... gone."

Jenna frowned, "that's... odd." She said. She was silent for a moment, then turned to look at the three children, "well, do any of your children follow after their mother in element?" She asked.

Jason nodded, "I'm a Jupiter Adept, Tela is a Venus Adept, and Hela is a Mars Adept," he said, pointing to each girl in turn.

Jenna smiled, "that's all we need, then," she said. She stood, "Jason will just have to come with me, instead."

Father stood as well, a scowl on his face, "absolutely not!" He snarled, "Jason is only sixteen! I won't have him gallivanting about Weyard on some mad mission like we did when we were kids!"

Jenna took a step back, "Felix, I need someone with the blood of Anemos in order to find the city," she said.

"Well, why not Ivan, or his daughter, what was her name, Kara."

"Karis, and they won't do, their blood is far too diluted. Only Sheba or Jason would do, and you know it."

The older man ran a hand through his hair, and looked over at his son. He seemed to be struggling with something, but eventually he stood straight and nodded, "give me some time to think on it," he said to the redhead. "Let's go to the Equinox Feast, we'll talk more after we've eaten."

For a moment it seemed Jenna was going to refuse, but then the moment passed, and she nodded, "alright," she told him.

Jason, Hela and Tela stayed seated for several moments after the adults had gone out. Tela spoke first,

"Are we going to sit here all night, or can I go eat?"

Jason poked her in the side, "were you even paying attention to all that?" He asked.

She shrugged, "sort of. It doesn't matter much, I know you'll tell me everything I really needed to know."

Jason hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, "are you sure you're older than me?" He asked, mostly rhetorically.

Tela frowned, "no, not really," she said, "I'm hungry, see you two there!" With that, the middle girl left, humming off-tune as she went.

Hela, who had been silent throughout, stood up abruptly, "come on, Jason, let's go."

Jason nodded, and the two siblings trailed out the door after the rest of their odd family.