Chapter 4: Rain

Thunder roared in the heavens above the forever burning town of Vale. The flames seemed to show a beacon on Weyward from above. It was the start of all this.

-Xavier, Son of Jenna and Isaac

Xavier felt the rumble under his feet, but didn't care. He felt the wind picking up, but he didn't care. His only family was in trouble, and he needed to get there. He wasn't afraid of the figure standing before him, even though his shaking body told otherwise. The man's laughter, though, sent a cold shiver down Xavier's spine. "Well, well! Such big words coming from a brat like you!" Saturos said.

Xavier answered with a slow draw of the Gaia Blade. Saturos's eyes flickered to the sword, then to the boy. In a flash Saturos whipped out his sword and struck hard at Xavier's face. It was because of his training that Xavier was able to roll out the way of the vicious sword. He stood up and faced the pale warrior, who licked the blood off the tip of his sword. Xavier noted that and reached across his face. He just realized the cut there. He growled at the sight of his own blood, confidence welling up inside him. He had to reach his mother, and that was it. Xavier rushed at the Mars clansman and begun a barrage of attacks that surprised Saturos. Saturos twisted and parried with haste and countered with his own attacks. Xavier noted that his attacks were slow and dodged each swipe with ease. A smile appeared across his face. This won't take long, he thought.

Bad choice.

Saturos's speed suddenly increased tenfold, forcing Xavier to be on the defensive. He clumsily tried to parry the blinding flashes that were Saturos's sword. He laughed when he saw Xavier trip over a rock and fall against the ground backwards. Xavier grunted and looked up in horror as he felt a cold tip on his neck. Saturos towered over him, his sword pressed against Xavier's neck, ready for the kill. He frowned. "Interesting. Pretty powerful for a brat. Too bad. You could've be quite an opponent."

He then raised the sword up high to strike. "Oh well, might as well finish you for wasting my time!"

Xavier stared with complete shock, unable to move for fear of death. He watched the sword fall closer towards his head. He couldn't move. He shut his eyes to await the final blow.

But the blow never came.

Xavier opened his eyes to see the Mars Adept's sword come away from his neck and rise towards a figure that stood beside him.

-

Crack.

The frozen wall of the Vale sanctuary broke under the impact of Ivan's body. He steadied himself as another Freeze Prism shot his way, forcing him to block each giant ice cluster. Cutting through the last one, he scanned the room to find Alex's cold eyes. He was nowhere to be found. Ivan was puzzled at first, and then a look of horror crossed his face. Above. He held his sword high just in time to intercept Alex's downward slice of his vicious Aqua Blade. Alex grunted with frustration as he continued to send a barrage of swipes and stabs at Ivan. Ivan barely kept up with the Golden Sun-powered adept. He realized that fighting him head on probably wasn't smart, considering that Sheba was not there to back him with continuous spells. Ivan then broke the continuous attacks with a Spark Plasma spell to Alex's chest, sending him back a few feet. Ivan felt a sting in his right shoulder and realized he'd just been cut, though nothing serious. Shrugging the pain off, he called for Kite. "Yes, Lord Ivan?" the odd looking djinn asked.

"You know what to do," Ivan said.

Just as Ivan finished he felt himself splitting in two, shivering afterwards because of the extreme odd feeling. He grinned as he looked upon the recovering Alex. Focus, he thought. The two illusions rushed in hard and fast at the recuperating Mercury Adept, setting Alex into a frenzy of defensive maneuvers around the unrelenting blades of Ivan and his copy. Alex cut across the Ivan on his left, running his sword through the copy and dissipating it instantly as he ran by and turned abruptly to take out the remaining Ivan. The true Ivan recognized this and instantly rolled to his right, barely dodging that cruel Aqua Blade of Alex's. He then quickly casted Spark Plasma, causing Alex to again dodge with the speed of a Jupiter djinni. Frustrated, Alex casted Ice Horn around Ivan, trapping him. Ivan smirked as his Swift Sword flared with Jupiter's might. In almost an instant the enormous spikes of ice that trapped Ivan became harmless little ice clusters, all cleanly sliced. "C'mon Alex," he said.

"That all you got after all these years?"

Ivan heard Alex's chuckle and frowned. "Ah little Ivan, perhaps you should worry about more than just yourself."

Ivan raised a brow in confusion. What does he…

It was during that instant of thought that Ivan had heard something that put utter horror in his eyes and turned him as pale as a ghost.

"Father, I came to help!"

His gaze snapped towards Roxas, who just entered the sanctuary. "No…"

Immediately Ivan heard Alex shoot past him towards Roxas, and followed with the essence of Jupiter itself. Roxas, though inexperienced, heard the oncoming attacker and casted Plasma on Alex. Alex laughed at the attack as it bounced off his blade and struck the frozen walls. Still not ready to stop, Roxas snapped out the Phaeton Blade and charged straight towards the still moving Alex. Alex smirked as he connected with Roxas' sword, forcing him back a few feet and into a wall. "W-what power," he grunted as he stood.

Ivan fired an onslaught of spells towards Alex, forcing him to turn his attention to him. "Get out of here, boy!" he exclaimed.

Hearing him but taking no heed, he rushed straight at Alex, attacking blindly.

That was Alex's cue.

First, he pushed Ivan into a wall and casted Ice Horn, entrapping Ivan yet again, but this time to a wall. Next, he swung around and struck Roxas squarely with Freeze Prism, sending him flying through the altar and into the wall behind it. Roxas clumsily stood to his feet as the Golden Sun-charged Adept edged closer, his cold, sapphire eyes bearing deeply into Roxas. His expression of triumph faltered for a moment as he gazed into those violet eyes of Roxas, and then returned when he thought of a very ingenious idea. "Tell me child, do you want power?"

Roxas looked confused.

Did he say power?

"Power?" he asked while lowering his sword.

A glint of horror crossed Ivan's face when he read his son's mind, and he struggled to get out of his prison. "Don't listen to him, son!" he yelled.

"Yes, power. Tell me child, do you wish to become the best?" Alex asked, his lips curling into a dark smile.

Roxas's sword dropped into his sheath. "Y-yes," he said to Ivan's dismay.

"Then come here, to me."

Roxas nodded his head and approached Alex slowly, trying not to stumble into the ground. When he stood before the Mercury Adept, Alex placed his hand onto his chest. Faeries floated around Roxas, tickling him with their wings. In an instant he felt as if he had never been hurt. All of his cuts and bruises were gone. "I have healed you completely, boy. Now if I bestow this power onto you, you will have to fulfill one desire of mine as well."

"I…no!" Roxas yelled while snapping out his sword and slicing Alex's hand.

"Graaggh!! Damn kid," he muttered as he faded away.

The ice prison that held Ivan had broken and dropped Ivan to his knees. Roxas ran over to help his father up. Ivan slapped his hand away. "What, boy, HAVE I TAUGHT YOU??" he screamed as he staggered to his feet.

-

Jenna was paralyzed by the explosion of pain that was in her abdomen. She slowly looked down with a look of confusion towards the blade's hilt that stuck out her stomach. Her eyes drifted towards Felix's, who stared directly into hers. She then noticed something; something odd. Felix's eyes were always warm and full of silent hope. But those eyes were cold and full of ambition. "Y-you're n-not my bro-brother," she managed to get out.

Felix froze, unable to move.

"F-Felix…would you…really…see the world…go…to chaos…all for a selfish…act!?"

He pulled his sword out and casted what little cure spell he had left on her wound. Slowly, she raised, and stared at her brother. He looked away.

"Go, now."

Jenna stared…confused. What?

Weakened, she took a step back, barely holding the sword up. "What a-are you…..doing?" she huffed.

Felix sheathed his sword, his face a look of brooding. "I know you understand what is going on…I know you understand that wound will kill you, soon. Get away from here, and tell your son.." he looked her in the eyes.

"The truth."

He turned and walked towards the entrance of Vale. "Soldiers move out! We've done our job here!" he bellowed.

Jenna looked down, partly in agony, partly in thought.

I knew this was to happen. Isaac…why were we lied to?

-

"Leave the boy, Saturos," said a female voice.

Xavier was in awe. Instantly he could tell that it was a woman. She looked about his mother's age (the young version of her!). Her hair looked as if it was yellow. She bore a crimson cloak around her neck. She also wore a crimson plate that covered her chest. She also bore a skirt that was cut off at the start of one of her legs to show some white and crimson leg mail. Around her neck was a golden amulet that showed the symbol of Mars on it. She had the same crimson red eyes as Saturos, but hers showed more kindness than hate. What Xavier also saw was the will to protect in there as well. What Xavier eyeballed though was the large scythe resting on the woman's back. Slowly he to stand behind her. "Move, Menardi! Can't you see what wrong this boy did me?"

"Saturos, he did nothing wrong! It is you who is in the wrong!"

An evil cackle came from his throat. "Really? Since when have you had any sympathy for these damn brats? Do you not remember what they did to us last time?"

"Saturos…"

"Enough, Menardi!! This is the second time you've done this! Get out of my way," he moved as quick as lightning towards the two. "Or I'll KILL YOU TOO!"

Down the blade came…just in time to intercept the devilish Mars blast that sent Saturos flying. In an instant the battered Fire Adept was flying off the cliff. Menardi cursed herself for using such a strong Mad Blast and rushed to the cliff. Then she remembered and turned towards the dumbstruck Xavier. "Something's about to happen, Xavier," she said as she turned back towards the cliff, sighing a relief when she saw a blue flash of light off the edge, signaling Saturos's retreat.

"What? How do you know my name?" he managed to get out.

She smiled and said, "Isaac told me."

That was the last thing she said before she disappeared herself in a blue light.

-

Her side throbbed with pain as Jenna made her way through the trees and to Ivan's home. The voice of her brother still rang in her head. "Tell him the truth!"

She replayed that thought over and over again. She was deep in thought as she saw Xavier rushing towards her. "Mother!"

"X-Xavier! Why are you not gone yet!?"

"I-I came for you Mo-" a hand snapped across his face.

"Idiot! You are to go, now! We can't keep…" Jenna suddenly fell to her knees in agonizing pain. She looked down and saw that her wound had reopened. Desperate to save his only family, Xavier grasped her and slowly helped her inside past the messy living room and into the secret area that housed the teleport circle. Jenna, though blurry-eyed, noticed the teleport jewel and an unconscious Sheba lying next to it, but she paid no heed. Too much pain sacked her side for her to even care. Xavier carefully placed her by Sheba and looked around. Neither Garet, Ivan, or Roxas were around. "Where is everybody?"

Jenna was silent at the mention of Garet. "Xavier…"

He turned to regard her, then stopped when hearing the commotion outside the door.

-

"What the hell did I do?" Roxas repeated as he continued to offer Ivan help, but was constantly forced away.

"I have nothing to say to one who desires power," Ivan said coldly, growling off every step towards the secret area in his messy home.

Roxas stopped for a moment. He's not telling me something.

Forcing the door open with wind (and nearly blowing it off its hinges) Ivan stepped into the room and looked directly at Sheba, who was lying unconscious. Sensing the blow, Roxas ducked fast as a small bolt ran straight over his head, blowing away any book behind him. Ivan then turned and tended to Sheba, who started stirring in his arms. "Are you alright, my love?" he asked her gently.

She smiled weakly at him. "When will this end?"

"Soon, my love."

He eased a kiss onto her forehead, set her down, picked up the teleport jewel and tossed it to Xavier. "You use it, I doubt I have the power to send us there."

Xavier looked to the stone and to the haggard Jupiter Adept. Managing a smirk, Ivan said, "Focus your psynergy into the stone and think of your destination. You…haven't been there before, have you?"

"No, but I've been to Imil, which is closest to Lemuria, or so I've heard."

"Very well. We go to Imil then. This circle can go anywhere."

"But what about Garet?"

Ivan fell silent. He couldn't possibly tell him that his mentor was dead. "He said he'd stay and find any survivors."

"But…"

"He said go on without him, now let us go!"

Xavier nodded reluctantly and started channeling psynergy through the jewel. The jewel itself pulsed with energy, glowing a bright blue. "Imil," Xavier said.

The circle of runes crackled and turned a bright gold under the Adepts' feet. Roxas, hearing a soft, alluring voice in his ear, turned to the burning living room. There he spotted his new master.

A female…a beautiful silver-haired maiden stood before him

He stepped out the circle and into the living room. Hearing the voices himself, Ivan quickly grasped towards Roxas, but was forced back by a bolt that struck him squarely in the face, knocking him on his back. Xavier heard the commotion and snapped his eyes around just in time to see Roxas disappear right before him. The last thing he heard was, "I will return. I will be the strongest…"

-

The flames were like a beacon to him on the mountain high above Vale. His cloak flapped in the fierce winds. Thunder rolled continuously over the small Town, but did nothing to calm the flames. Too late, he thought. A drop of rain fell onto his jet-black breastplate. His eyes drifted skyward. Soon the steady sound of rain echoed through the valley of Vale. "Are you crying, Weyward?" he asked. "Are you crying because you know what is to transpire soon?"

He stood there for many minutes as if waiting for an answer. He smiled to himself and turned to his female companion, who was watching him intently. "Are you ready?" she asked while futilely moving her golden hair from her face.

He grinned at the sight of this. "Lead on Menardi."

The two companions began their descent down the backside of the Eastern Mountains, his icy blue eyes drifting one last time to the once reborn and peaceful town of Vale.

Forgive me, Jenna.