Chapter 2: Decisions

The Hall of Mars, located in the base of the Lighthouse just outside Prox, was crowded with people. Felix glanced around the room at the other villagers, who even after all this time still seemed a little odd to him. Certainly he had seen people with brightly coloured hair before, but until he had met Saturos and Menardi all those years ago, he had never even heard of someone with brightly coloured skin.

Before the Golden Sun Event Prox had been a village of warriors and traders. The land was far too cold to farm on, and herds were only barely sustainable, especially in the later years, as the void drew closer and closer to the village. After Mars Lighthouse had been lit thirty years ago the Proxians had made a move towards the warming lands around it, hoping to grow their own food and keep warmer throughout the year. Of course, they knew next to nothing about farming, and so it had taken the arrival of Felix to really get them started.

The Earth Adept looked around the hall with a satisfied glint in his eye. It had taken almost thirty years, but these people who had once been starving in the cold had shaped up into better farmers than the ones back home, at least in his opinion. The feast was laid out on a central table, a true harvest meal, and the Proxians hadn't held back. The Fire Clan had a taste for spices, imported from southern Angara, which Felix could smell from all the way across the room.

A group of young minstrels, visiting from the continent of Angara to the south, played music from across Weyard, to the delight of children and adults alike. Most people were at their tables by now, though, working their way through the varied foods laid out in the centre.

Felix started as a sound rumbled up through his stomach, perhaps I ought to join them, he thought, and began working his way towards the table set aside for his family. He looked over at his sister, and a cloud passed over his mind; he did not like leaving things out about Sheba, but if Jenna knew where Sheba had gone...

He sighed as he sat down, thinking back to that day...

It had been just plain bad luck, and the whims of one overly excitable Earth Adept-in-training, that led them to be in range of the Eclipse on Summer Solstice.

Tela had gone off to the river on her own, presumably to practice separating out earth from mud, which was a skill Felix had mentioned earlier that day. Sheba had been feeling off all day, and finally had asked her husband to come with her to get their middle child. He'd gotten used to listening to her premonitions, since they were often right, and so off they had gone.

All had seemed well as they'd approached the bank, Tela even seemed to be making progress with the mud. Smiling at this, he'd turned to Sheba to find her looking south with an expression of horror.

It all seemed to happen in the space of a few seconds; one moment his wife stood beside him, the next she was pelting down the bank of the river towards their daughter, screaming at her to run. Tela looked up then and, seeing Sheba's look, turned towards the south as well. Looking up, Felix saw a great darkness making its way north, past the southern glacial mountains. At this point, he started running, too, his sword bared in his hand.

Then the darkness was upon them, and shapes seemed to form out of the cracks in the earth, monsters of hideous form blocking him from his family. As he cut his way through them, a difficult task for most, but nothing for a man as desperate and experienced as he, his mind registered flashes of lightning coming from the area where Tela had been. When he finally won through, it was to see a great fall of stone collapsing atop a truly gigantic fenrir. He caught Tela as she fell, exhausted from using all of her Psynergy, and turned, calling his wife's name.

The Wind Adept was staring up at the sky, her eyes wide. Felix turned his head up to see what had caught her eye, but it took a moment for his mind to register what he saw. It seemed to be a great, upside-down mountain floating in midair, tipped with a flashing purple light.

He took only a single step towards her when Sheba was encircled by a great cylinder of clouds which met the tip of the mountain above. A blast of air threw him back, causing him to collide with the rocky mound where the fenrir had fallen. Pressed up against the stones, he watched with horror through the swirling air as Sheba was lifted from the ground, shot up through the cloud tunnel and out of sight.

Afterwards, it occurred to him that the mountain was the exact size and shape of the crater which lay outside Contigo. The meaning of this was obvious to him, but he knew that he was needed in Prox, to help fight off the encroaching monsters, and especially to protect his children. And at any rate, Sheba would be safer among her own people than she would under the shadow of the Eclipse.

"You look like you could use something to drink," a voice penetrated his thoughts, bringing him back to the crowded hall. He blinked, registering a pale blue blur in front of his eyes and, turning, saw the similarly shaded face of Dantos, Hela's Psynergy master. The old man smiled kindly and handed Felix a full goblet, "don't drink it too fast," he said, "you know how strong our liquor is."

Felix smiled in return, "thank you, Dantos," he said, taking a sip of the icewater. He swallowed, and then shivered as the freezing liquid settled in his stomach. Dantos sat next to him and nodded to the woman seated across the table, "ah... Jenna, was it not? It's been a while."

The younger Fire Adept started, then nodded, "I'm surprised you remember me," she said, "thirty years is a long time."

Felix chuckled under his breath, "Dantos has a remarkable memory," he told his sister, "he's generally considered Prox's most learned man."

Jenna considered this for a moment before speaking, "would you happen to know anything about Anemos?" She asked.

Dantos frowned, "no, not particularly. I know quite a bit about the civilization that once existed in this area, though not as much as I would like to know. But my knowledge of the southern lands is rather paltry."

Jenna perked up at this, "there was an ancient civilization here?" She asked, interest glowing in her eyes.

Felix nodded, "didn't you notice the ruins on the road in?"

"No, I came straight from the river to the south."

Dantos cut in, "well, after this Lighthouse was lit, the tundra for miles around started melting," he said, "eventually some really extensive ruins were revealed. Of course, we haven't explored much of them, but they ring around the lighthouse about six miles out, and then there's a smaller ring right around it. That's where we're living right now, by the way."

Felix leaned back, leaving them to it; he didn't know all that much about the ruins, having stayed out of the studies into them as much as possible. He figured he'd had enough of the Ancients.

The food was excellent, and the music even better, but eventually people started getting sleepy, and the dragon statues seemed to get impatient. When he was younger, Jason had liked to imagine that after everyone left the hall, the dragons uncurled themselves from their perches and roamed the lighthouse freely. For all anyone knew, actually, they might do just that. The strange statues certainly seemed alive enough.

Hela had to carry their sister out of the hall, since Tela had gone to sleep about halfway through the third course, after stuffing herself so full Jason was surprised she hadn't thrown up. Jason trailed along behind her, admiring the glint of mage-light on the ruby eyes of the dragon statues. As he walked through the entrance hall, he heard whispers coming from above, and he quickly hid beneath one of the giant dragon heads.

"-but you must realise that something is happening, something big!" Jenna's voice echoed to his ears, and Jason quieted his breathing, hoping to hear better.

"Even more reason not to involve my children!" Father said, "I will not endanger them, Jenna. Especially not Jason, he's just too young for this-"

"Oh, come on, Felix, you know that's silly," Jenna said scornfully, "Ivan was only 15 when he joined Isaac. Sheba was 14 when she joined us! Jason is plenty old enough to make his own decisions." She stopped for a second, looking around, Jason thought, "and besides, there's even more on the line than we thought at first."

Father frowned, "how so?"

The Fire Adept lowered her voice, "Felix, Alex is alive."

Not a word was spoken for a few moments, then there was the sound of a fist hitting stone, and Jason peeked out to see his father leaning face-first against the wall.

"That's not possible," the words seemed to have been dragged out of the man's chest, "Alex died, he was pulled into the earth with mount Aleph..."

Jenna shook her head, "Kraden has seen him. So has Matthew, and the others who traveled with them."

A few more moments of silence, then, "what does he want? Does anyone know? He caused the eclipse, didn't he?"

Jenna nodded, "yes, he tricked Matthew's group into triggering the Alchemy Dynamo in Belinsk, which caused the Grave Eclipse. As for what he wants..." she shrugged, "when has anyone been able to discover what Alex wants?" She asked.

At this point, the two adults began walking towards Jason's hiding place. He pulled back under the dragon's head, and hoped neither looked more closely at it, as they would surely see him.

They paused right in front of the statue, then continued on, "Alright, Jenna," his father said, "I won't stop him from going, so long as his sisters go with you. Hela is a powerful Fire Adept, and Tela, while she might not look like much, is as good an Earth Adept as I was at her age."

"That's fine with me," Jenna said, "but why? Surely he can take care of himself."

"Better safe than sorry," the man said, "after all, he is the youngest, and he has had no one to train him since..." he trailed off.

Jason peeked out again in time to see Jenna pat her brother on the back, "alright, I get it," she said.

He nodded, and they left the lighthouse together.

A few moments later, Jason followed them out, his excitement building as he headed towards home.

Author's Notes:

Putting this at the bottom, now!

So I had a lot of classwork to do, so it took me a little longer than I thought it would. Thanks for the review, and yes, I am a Lighthouseshipper. I am planning on bringing Matthew and the other Second Genners in at some point, so I guess you'll have to wait and see what pairings I ship for them! Thanks again, hope you keep reading and reviewing!

Also, there's a reason this fic is rated T, but it probably won't really feel T-rated for a while. Events have yet to happen, so it'll probably be a couple chapters before it really gets rolling.

AN|2: Just finished my exams (woo, finally done High School!), so I should be able to get cracking on the next few chapters, now! Sorry it's taking so long, but I'm also moving to a new house, so it's been difficult to get anything done. Expect the next chapter in the next week, and I'll see if I can't make it way longer than these three, just as a treat, and to make up for my leave of absence.