Wings of Anemos

by HyrulianJedi

Generations ago, the Kings of Anemos took their people and fled the world, becoming little more than a myth. When myths come alive, however, Weyard's most recent heroes find themselves struggling to balance their own issues in this new world against the future of Weyard itself, learning the price some must pay to be heroes.

2. Decisions

Golden Sun: Wings of Anemos

Chapter 2 – Decisions

- \/\/ -

The clouds raced by overhead at impossible speeds, sending shadows surging across the ground like waves. Wind buffeted the long grass all around Ivan as he waded through the waist-high growth, his hands caressing it absently.

The wind called him forward, whispering his name as it ran past him. He glanced around in a daze, but saw nothing other than the endless sea of grass. His feet moved of their own accord, their actions nothing more than a mild distraction. Serenity claimed his mind and silenced his worries, leading him on and on.

The grass parted without warning and Ivan stepped into a small clearing. Glancing behind him, he could see his path clearly; the grass had not budged from where it had been displaced. When he reached out to try and touch it, though, he found his hand come up short. Walking towards it had no effect; he simply walked in place, never getting any closer.

His confusion lasted only moments. By the time he turned back toward the clearing, the oddity had been forgotten. The clearing itself lay empty, save for himself and two paths on the other side. As he approached them, he could see a person on either path, walking away.

On one walked Mia, her blue hair easily distinguishable from a distance. His mouth opened to call out to her when he recognized the person on the opposite path as himself. The words died in his mouth as he looked down, finding nothing where his body should have been.

Returning his gaze to the distant figures, Ivan watched as the sky suddenly blackened with clouds and crackled with lightning. As he looked on, the paths diverged more and more, until they lay on either side of him, instead of ahead.

Again the wind whipped up, swirling around him viciously. Again it spoke a single word, though it did not whisper this time. As Ivan turned his head from left to right, the wind roared in his ears, howling its only message.

"Choose!"

- \/\/ -

"Hey, Sheba! Sheba! Come here!"

The girl groaned as she turned around, practically dragging her feet across the floor. "What?"

Another girl, slightly younger than she, pointed at some markings on the wall. "What does this mean?"

Sheba looked at the wall and examined an engraving of birds at the top of the picture, people covering their heads at the bottom, and vertical lines between them. "...It means that people hundreds of years ago didn't like being pooped on by birds, either."

The other girl huffed and crossed her arms, causing Sheba to grin, but a soft knock on the head removed it just as quickly. Sheba turned around to find her instructor standing behind her, a disapproving frown on her face. "What have I told you about being sarcastic?"

"That every time I am, somewhere, a monster disembowels an annoying child?"

Thump.

"How about that it makes my head stronger?"

Miss Tamara sighed. "Sheba, is it so difficult to answer a question seriously?"

Placing her hands on her hips, Sheba said, "I was being serious. I have no idea what that picture means, and that's the best guess I have."

"You don't think it might have any historical or cultural significance?" she asked, staring pointedly at the girl.

"I prefer to think outside the box," Sheba replied, returning the gaze.

The woman stared at her for a few more moments, then shook her head. "Sheba, I brought you because I thought you'd be able to provide valuable insight for the other children about the lighthouse from your experience, maybe even explain some things the scholars don't know yet. Why are you being so troublesome?"

Sheba looked away. "I'm just in a bad mood today."

"Today? You've been like this since you returned home."

Throwing up her hands in frustration, Sheba turned back around. "You want a realistic explanation? Fine." Walking over to the drawing again, she slapped her hand one of the birds. "In my experience, birds are the representation of the wind, or the power of Jupiter. They show up in carvings in every lighthouse, but most prominently in Jupiter Lighthouse. The people of Contigo, descendants of the Jupiter Clan of Anemos, use many bird-themed designs to this day. Their leader is even titled Quetzalcoatl, after the mythical winged serpent."

Her hand moved to the people. "On the other hand, people represent the earth, Venus. Images of people, usually Adepts, feature in every lighthouse, but only in Venus are they absolutely everywhere. This is more difficult to prove, since humans can represent any element, not just Venus...but I'd bet that I'm right."

Finally, her hand circled over the lines between the two. "And this...is probably the Jupiter Clan beating the crap out of the Venus Clan. Jupiter and Venus hold an opposing relationship in Alchemy, so it's entirely likely the two clans were not very friendly. Add to that how we know Alchemy's seal was preceded by a great war, and the picture makes perfect sense – a warning for Venus Adepts to watch the skies for attacks by the enemy."

Stepping away, she crossed her arms again. "Or in simpler terms, telling people to watch out for bird crap." She turned around and walked out of the chamber without waiting for a response, emerging into the sunlight and immediately turning to the side. She heard footsteps behind her, but ignored them until she reached the elevator on the lighthouse's side. "I don't want company," she said, stepping up onto the platform.

As she reached for the controls, though, she heard the faintest of sniffles. Her curiosity forced her to glance back and she found her little brother standing there. "Oh...Javen. I didn't- Would you like to see the top of the lighthouse?"

Javen looked at the entrance, then back at his sister. "Didn't Miss Tamara say to stay with her?"

Sheba shook her head, holding out her hand. "Don't worry. I know more about this place than she does."

He nodded, taking her hand as she pulled him up, then stood him in the center. "Stay here. Don't go near the edges, and don't let go of my hand." She turned back to the controls and pressed a large, stone button. A click could be heard from within the machinery before the elevator rumbled once, then began to rise. Javen wobbled unsteadily for a moment, then grabbed hold of Sheba with his other hand until he found his balance.

As they rose, Sheba turned and looked out. Already she could see the ocean at the base of the cliff, the empty space where land had once been slowly becoming more natural to think of. There had been initial worries that the cliff would continue to collapse and plunge Venus Lighthouse into the sea, only further reinforced by the loss of most of the tunnels that led to the lighthouse proper, leaving the entrance sitting atop a sheer drop to the ocean below.

At Sheba's request, though, Felix examined the area with his Psynergy and confirmed for her that the lighthouse held a strong grip on its base. Upon hearing the report from Sheba, Lalivero immediately began construction on a series of wooden walkways along the cliff, not only allowing access to the lighthouse, but also reconnecting the road from Suhalla.

Most of the land around had been left unchanged, though. A new bridge had been constructed over the river leaving the Red Lake during the road restoration project. During her several visits to the lighthouse over the last year, the bridge had become one of her favorite points. Constructed just before the river became a great waterfall, it not only had a fantastic view of the ocean and cliffs but also of the furious rapids that passed beneath it. On some days, the mist rising up from the waterfall would even make a rainbow, a rare sight in Lalivero.

With a whir, the elevator slowed, then stopped with a light bump. Sheba picked up Javen as she walked along the floating pathway, only placing him down once she reached the solid aerie.

"Wow..." the boy whispered, shielding his eyes against Venus' bright light. The beacon swirled silently in the center of the aerie, casting a brilliant glow across it and tinting everything yellow.

Sheba glanced up at the beacon, also. The last time here, she had felt nothing from the sphere of pure Venus energy, but this time, she felt its touch on her mind, draining her power. Granted, the last time she had seen the beacon this close, she had little experience with Psynergy and little power to drain. Or perhaps it had been because she had been clinging to life, rather literally.

She pulled Javen over to a ledge, although one with a lower area; while heights did not bother her, she had no desire to repeat such a fall. Sitting down and dangling her legs over the edge, Sheba leaned back on her hands as she looked out.

"Why were you so angry?" Javen asked quietly.

Sheba looked at him for a moment, then smiled and placed her arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. "They were annoying me with their questions."

Javen looked down at the folded hands in his lap. "I'm sorry for asking them."

She shook her head, surprised. "No, Javen, you weren't annoying me." She thought for a moment. "I guess...it wasn't really the questions. I just haven't been feeling good lately. It put me in a bad mood."

"Are you sick?"

Smiling at the concern in his voice, she shook her head again. "No, not sick. I don't really know the word for it, but I miss my friends."

Javen pointed down to the base of the lighthouse. "Your friends are here, aren't they?"

"Not those ones. My other ones, from when I left. I'm angry I couldn't go visit them in Tolbi, too."

"Oh," Javen said. "So you're lonely?"

Sheba chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess that's a good word. I want to see them again."

Both sat in silence for a short while, before Javen said quietly, "You want to leave us again, don't you?"

Sheba looked over at him sharply, then pulled his head into her chest and kissed it. "Don't ever think that, Javen. I love you, and our parents, and I never want to leave you. But I love all my friends, too, and I want to be able to see them."

"But how can you be with them and with us?" he asked. "They don't live near here."

"Some of them do," she said. "But even if I leave, I will always come back. I promise."

Javen smiled. "I know."

Sheba raised an eyebrow. "You knew? Then why did you ask?"

"I was just testing you!" he said, giggling.

"Oh? Did I pass?"

"Yep!"

"Well, that's good," she said. "Otherwise, I might've had to do...this!" Pushing Javen onto his back, Sheba attacked his sides with her fingers, tickling him mercilessly. The boy squealed as he rolled around, trying in vain to bat away her hands. When she finally stopped, he fell limp against the aerie floor, gasping for air.

"No...fair..." he said between breaths.

"I don't need to be fair," she replied, poking him in the chest. "I'm your big sister. I do what I want."

Javen finally sat back up, his face flushed, and snuggled up next to Sheba. "I don't want you to leave again."

"It'll only be for a little while," she said. Looking out over the ocean, she pointed to the fog bank to the southeast. "Maybe you can come with me sometime. We could go out there, to Lemuria."

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a city," she said. "An island. A bunch of people live there, and they never get old. One of my friends used to live there."

Javen's mouth dropped open. "What? They never get old? Could we live there too?"

Smiling, Sheba said, "No, I don't think you'd like that. It's neat to visit, but staying there would get very boring. And there's almost no other kids for you to play with."

"Oh," he said, his face dropping. "What sort of people live there, then?"

"Old members of the Mercury Clan," she said. "Once, it used to be a great city that ruled the sea. After the big fight the clans had, though, the Mercury Clan mostly moved back there and made that fog to keep people out."

"What's their animal?" he asked suddenly.

"Um...what?"

"Their animal," he said again. "You said earlier Jupiter is birds and Venus is people, so what's Mercury?"

"Oh, that," she said, shaking her head. "You had me all confused. Mercury is represented by fish, since they control the sea. And Mars," she continued as Javen opened his mouth, "is represented by dragons."

His face lit up once more. "Wow, dragons? That's awesome! I wish I could see a dragon!"

Smiling slightly, Sheba shook her head again. "No, Javen, I don't think you do."

"Huh? Why not?"

As Sheba opened her mouth to respond, the back of her neck prickled suddenly. When her hand slid up to rub it, she noticed that the aerie had become much more yellow. Looking up to the sky, she saw that clouds had blotted out the sun and were rapidly spreading – much more rapidly than naturally possible.

"Javen, we need to go," she said quietly, trying not to scare him. Taking hold of his hand as she stood up, she walked him back to the edge of the aerie, then picked him up once more for the short trip to the elevator. As soon as they reached it, her hand snapped out and smashed the button, starting the mechanism.

She felt the wind rising as the elevator slowly began to move, whipping her hair around her face. The black shroud had spread across the entire sky around them now, the clouds still rolling across each other. She could feel the charge behind them growing, threatening to unleash itself on those caught nearby. Why did this elevator move so damn slow?

"Sheba, what's going on?" Javen asked with a whimper, clutching his sister's arm tightly.

"It's okay, Javen," she said, kneeling down and hugging him. "It's just a storm. We just need to get inside."

She did not need to read his mind to tell that he did not believe her; his trembling did that just as well. To be honest, she did not hold much confidence in her words, either, but she tried her hardest to believe them while telling them to Javen over and over on their trip down.

When the elevator finally stopped, Sheba pulled her brother off immediately as everything suddenly darkened, clouds enveloping the beacon entirely. She quickly made a beeline for the lighthouse entrance. "Let's get the oth-

A loud crack cut her off as a brilliant flash lit up the sky. Looking up, she saw lightning strike the lighthouse over and over. Immediately she felt her skin tingle again, her hair drifting towards the lighthouse. She pulled Javen to the ground and shouted at him to stay there, then ran inside.

Though normally she could feel a faint Venusian presence in the structure, now she could feel nothing but Jupiter's wrath flowing through the stones, as impossible as it sounded. All around her the energy surged, threatening to unleash at any moment.

Too soon, the moment came, though fortunately, not all at once. Lightning arced from the ceiling to one of the statues, causing the frightened children to scream. "Get out!" Sheba shouted, stepping aside from the doorway. "Get out and stay down!"

Stepping past the sudden rush of children and scholars, Sheba began gathering the latent energy from the lighthouse, pulling it towards her. It had the desired effect – the next bolt that dropped from the ceiling struck her outstretched hand. She directed the foreign energy through her own body, discharging it through her feet to the ground.

As she felt more and more lightning pound the lighthouse from above, though, she knew the growing charge would soon be too much for her. Glancing around quickly as she discharged another bolt and finding the chamber empty, she turned and ran back outside, finding everyone flattened on the wooden platform.

"Let's go!" she shouted at the mass of prone bodies. "To Suhalla Sanctum!"

Picking out Javen as everyone rose and making sure he was safe, Sheba began herding the group forward, away from the lighthouse. Suddenly, the air seemed to turn still as everyone's hair stood up. "Down!" Sheba shouted, holding her hand up again. With a flash that seared her eyes and a crack that rocked her head, the bolt of lightning coursed through her body. Unlike the smaller bolts inside the lighthouse, this one still shocked her entire right side as it traveled, leaving her gasping at the painfully numb sensation.

Her eyes burned; she could only see blurred shapes moving around her. One stopped and looked at her, mouthing something she could not hear, but she simply waved her hand forward. "I'm fine, keep going!"

Sight and sound slowly returned as they ran across the wooden walkways. Sheba could feel lightning dropping around them, though focused on the lighthouse, but all struck the ground above their heads. Briefly she considered holing everyone up on the walkways, but quickly discarded the idea. If the lightning overcame Venus Lighthouse's protection and destroyed part of the cliff, it would take the walkways with it. They needed to be on solid ground, with something over their heads. She hoped that all of the scholars who normally studied the lighthouse had escaped with them; an unpleasant end met any who were still in the lighthouse.

The walkway turned into stairs, climbing back up the cliff as it reached the river. Sheba followed everyone across the bridge, looking out over the ocean; no rainbow awaited her today. Once across the bridge, the cliffs of Suhalla Gate came into sight. Before they could run any further, though, another bolt flashed out and smashed into the cliff top, shattering the rock face. Boulders rained down onto the path below as everyone skidded to a halt.

"Sheba!" Miss Tamara shouted. "We can't go that way! We'll be crushed!"

The girl glanced around, chewing her lip. They could dig a trench on the lake beach, but it would take too long to make one the size they needed. The forest was dangerous, and she could smell the burning trees already, at any rate. The lighthouse was out of the question. The plains offered no protection besides her. The cliffs, both to Suhalla and to Lalivero, were too dangerous.

A slightly less dangerous answer came to her, and had she not known the terrible danger of the constant fluctuations in potential above her head, she never would have considered it. "Back to the bridge!" she shouted. "Get onto the banks of the river!"

Leading them backwards, she pointed down to the sloped banks, solid land that would let them lie below ground level and protect them from the lightning. "Don't touch the water," she said, motioning at the rapids. "It'll sweep you away. Hold on to someone else just in case."

Standing atop the banks as the others began to crawl down them, she glanced around them once more. Javen had linked hands with one of the scholars as they carefully slid down the slope. Before she could crouch down with the last of the people, though, she felt the charge in the air grow sharply. Raising a hand to intercept the bolt, the area around her suddenly became awash with yellow light as the clouds withdrew from Venus' beacon.

She was struck with a slightly nauseous feeling, her skin tingled briefly, and then everything suddenly went black.

- \/\/ -

Isaac watched Ivan patiently, the younger boy staring intently at what remained of a house after the roof collapsed – or more likely, exploded inward. The great bolts of lightning had decimated everything they touched, but a few lucky survivors had managed to avoid direct strikes, instead simply being pinned underneath the resulting debris.

Ivan blinked and looked at Isaac, shaking his head. Not this one, then.

"Let's go, Isaac," he heard Jenna say from behind him. "There might be someone in the next one."

"Yeah," he said softly. "Sure." Helping Ivan across a crater in the road, he moved back to Jenna's side and began walking again. A train of stragglers followed behind them, some pulled from destroyed buildings, some having been found alone in the streets.

"Where are we headed?" one woman asked.

"Probably nowhere," another muttered. "We'll probably just wind up getting robbed, if any of us actually have anything worth stealing."

"You'll be fine," Isaac said, looking back. "We're headed to an inn on the west side of town. There's others gathered there already."

Ivan looked back as well, then said quietly, "There's going to be trouble soon."

Jenna glanced over at him nervously. "A vision?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Just an educated guess. They're getting tense. Put some stressed strangers together and, well..."

Isaac watched the younger boy shake his head, then look up to the sky. He followed Ivan's gaze to the moon, rising in the afternoon sky. "See any change yet?"

"No," Ivan said. "Still normal. So far."

"You said the moon fell during the lightning storm in your dream though, right?" Jenna asked.

He looked at her bleakly. "Who said that would be the only one?"

Frowning, Jenna said, "But you said that the lightning started, and then the moon fell right after."

"Dreams don't need to make sense," he said. "A lot of times, what I see in my dreams just symbolizes what will happen. Usually, lightning represents danger, or sometimes power. I dreamt of a lightning storm on Mars Lighthouse the night before we climbed it."

"So you weren't expecting an actual lightning storm today," Isaac said thoughtfully. "What about Alex? Did you dream anything about him?"

Shaking his head, Ivan said, "Not specifically, no. I've had a sense of unease for almost a week now, and when he suddenly appeared, I thought he was the cause, but-"

A shout from behind cut him off. Isaac turned around to find a slender woman pointing a dagger at a much larger man, who had drawn his sword. Isaac instantly ran towards them. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" As they both looked at him, he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him away from the woman.

"Hey, wha-"

"Isaac!" A sharp gust of wind rushed past him, sending the woman stumbling to the side. Ivan stepped next to Isaac, pointing a finger at the woman.

"Ivan, what are you doing?" he asked, not releasing the man.

Keeping his eyes trained on the woman with the dagger, Ivan said, "He's not the aggressor, she is. He drew his sword to defend himself. When you pulled him aside, she lunged."

Isaac also looked at the woman, who had grudgingly resheathed her dagger, staring back at Ivan with a hateful expression. "Of course, you would defend him," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked. "Why would you even attack him?"

"Why?" she spat. "It was his kind that caused all this!"

Isaac just stared at her blankly. "Uh...I'm fairly certain he was not the one who did this to Tolbi."

"I never said it was, you idiot," she said, turning her gaze on Isaac. "I said it was his kind, the lightning Adepts. Your kind," she added, looking back at Ivan.

"Wait a second," Jenna said, stepping next to Ivan. "Are you seriously trying to kill him because it was Jupiter Psynergy that caused all this? A man who probably can't make more than static?"

The woman's eyes focused on Jenna, and this time, Isaac could see the uninhibited rage on her face and feel the unconscious Psynergy rolling off her in waves. Had she been an experienced Adept, he would have been very cautious. "My son is dead," she whispered furiously. "I watched as one of those terrible bolts struck him. There was nothing left but a scorch mark. Don't even begin to try and mock my pain."

Jenna's mouth opened for a moment, then shut again. "I'm...sorry. I didn't know."

"But what good will killing him do?" Isaac asked. "It's terrible that you lost someone, but killing him won't bring your son back."

"No," the woman said, straightening herself up. "It won't. But maybe it will prevent someone else from suffering the same tragedy in the future." As she turned around, a path cleared in front of her. "I'll find my own way. I refuse to be led to refuge by that freak. You should kill him before he does this somewhere else."

Ivan looked at the ground as Isaac shouted, "Hey! This isn't his fault!"

The woman ignored him, but when Isaac stepped forward to follow, Ivan grabbed his arm. "Isaac...please. Let her go. It doesn't bother me."

Frowning, Isaac looked back at him. "Yes it does. You're already feeling guilty. Stop it."

He shook his head, smiling up at him. "I'm fine, Isaac. Really. Come on, there's another house up here."

Isaac watched him move ahead, heading for a crater of a house. "It's because she called him a freak," Jenna said, looking at the boy also. "It's a sensitive word to him."

"It is?"

She nodded. "He didn't grow up in a community of Adepts, like we did. People found his powers strange. You've never wondered why he's so quiet and reserved?"

Isaac shrugged. "I never thought about it too much. Everyone's different, and he's never like that around us."

"That's because he's comfortable around us," she said.

"Then why did he never tell me about this?" Isaac asked, confused. "We've always been close. Or at least, I thought we were."

Jenna shook her head. "You are. It's just a different kind of close. He cares a lot more about what you think of him, that's all."

Isaac thought about that for a few moments as they started walking again, following Ivan. A different kind of close... It made sense. Garet had a different relationship with his brother than his father, but still loved them both equally. His mother's love for him was different from her love for his father, yet no less potent. How exactly did Ivan see him, then?

"Hey! Over here!"

Ivan's voice cut through his thoughts as the boy began waving frantically. Isaac ran forward, sliding to a stop beside his friend. "Did you find someone?"

The Jupiter Adept nodded, pointing at the rubble. "There's a little kid trapped in there, over on the left side." He hesitated for a moment. "Isaac...the building collapsed onto itself, so it's partially holding itself up. If you move something wrong..."

Isaac nodded. "Here, show me exactly where he is." Reaching out, he grabbed hold of Ivan's hand as both turned toward the rubble. Colors ran together, bleeding across the world before fading out, leaving the image of a small child in the building. He was not moving, simply lying on the ground, his arm at an odd angle underneath him. Isaac took the opportunity to glance at the structure itself, quickly seeing what Ivan had meant – the walls had fallen onto each other, making a small triangle around the child. To move one would drop the other. Tricky.

Releasing Ivan's hand, Isaac breathed a sigh of relief as the normal returned. Jupiter's revealing eye had always set him on edge, so he looked through it as infrequently as possible. Stepping forward, he placed his hands gingerly against the stone, using his own powers to see the building in a much more comfortable manner. He could feel the pressure now, the friction, the stresses, the gravity. It made so much more sense to him this way, instead of simply seeing the entire building at once with his eyes. This way, he saw it with his entire body, and he instantly knew what to do.

Closing his eyes, he reached out with Psynergy, not to sense, but to act. Holding out a single hand, Isaac sharply pulled down, as if jerking an invisible cord. Immediately the house collapsed, causing a cry of surprise from Ivan. Isaac ignored him though, concentrating. Slipping up here would kill the child in a much worse manner than simply being crushed.

Slowly, the ground at Isaac's feet began to pulse and crack, pushing outward until it finally broke. Inside the newly created hole lay the child, a boy slightly younger than Aaron. Jenna and Ivan approached as Isaac crouched down, gently pulling the boy into his arms.

"His arm is broken," Jenna said, eying it. "Ivan, find me a couple straight pieces of wood."

The boy obediently began searching as the two continued examining the child. "Hey, wait," Isaac said suddenly. "I met this kid on the way to the colosseum this morning. He recognized me."

"That's good," Jenna muttered distractedly, her fingers poking in a few areas. "Well, other than the broken arm and some minor things, he looks fine. Let's splint that before we go."

They waited another minute until Ivan returned with the wood. "Sorry," he said. "Are these good? I wanted to make sure the wood was solid enough."

Jenna took the pieces in hand and tried bending them, yielding only a slight curve. "These are fine, thanks." She slid her cape off and began tearing it into strips without hesitation, handing the sticks back to Ivan while she worked. Once satisfied, she had Ivan hold the sticks in place while she tied them to the boy's arm carefully.

Upon finishing, she lifted the injured arm up slightly to inspect her handiwork. "It'll do," she said finally. "We need to get him to a healer, though, so they can set the bone."

"Then let's keep heading to the inn," Isaac said, carefully shifting the boy into a more comfortable position for carrying. "There'll probably be one there."

- \/\/ -

"Brooke, we really need to be moving."

Felix did not respond to his companion, barely even hearing him. His senses were tuned towards the earth, reaching out with long, snaking fingers into the city of Tolbi. Everywhere around him, feet pounded the ground, some in furious haste, some in soft caution, some with apathetic regularity. Try as he might, though, he could not pick out Jenna's.

He sighed, opening his eyes again. This sort of Psynergy was more of Isaac's field, not Felix's. Give him a mountain and he'd move it, but he had no chance of picking out a single set of vibrations in a city full of panic.

The lightning had stopped, but the black clouds still rolled ominously overhead, blanketing the city in shadow. He could feel no more Psynergy in the air, but most of the city did not have his proficiency; the continued presence of the clouds meant future storms could occur at any moment. Though they had lessened significantly, shouts and cries still rang out across the unnaturally dark afternoon. Though he had not seen any yet, the smell of smoke drifted along the wind, visiting his nostrils from time to time.

"Brooke?"

"Quiet. Let him listen."

Felix looked back, the gladiator who had pulled him out of the arena waiting patiently. Garet stood to his side, shifting nervously, but his expression turned hopeful as Felix turned around. "Sorry, I can't read anything specific," the man said, shaking his head. "Most people seem to be headed to the west side of the city, though."

Temblin nodded. "Then we should follow."

Garet responded by stepping onto one of Tolbi's many roads, the gladiator and Felix following. From the general image the Venus Adept had seen, they had ran east after escaping the colosseum. He had seen Isaac grab hold of Jenna, dragging both her and Ivan from the arena, but a surge in the crowd separated him from them. He had picked a direction to go, not thinking until later to try and find them with Psynergy.

Felix sighed again. Isaac had meant well, he always did, but sometimes the boy rushed things too much. He doubted Jenna was in danger; Alex seemed to be hunting Isaac in particular, but had no intention of harming the others. He had neutralized Felix, Ivan, and Jenna with little effort, but in relatively painless ways.

Though...how had he done that? Felix knew the power of Venus well, recognizing gravity seize hold of him and wrench him down; he had used similar Psynergy before. But from Alex? How was that even possible? Was this the supposed power of the Golden Sun?

It still made no sense, though. Why would he be after Isaac? No one had even seen him since the Sun's dawn, not even the Valeans who had watched him stride past their warnings towards Mount Aleph. Personally, Felix had believed the self-centered pretty boy had been wiped from existence by the pure force of Alchemy, but evidently, he had been wrong.

A pity, Felix thought. He would have been more than happy to spend the rest of his life never again being involved in his...machinations.He shook his head once more. These thoughts were just leading him in circles, only serving to fuel his own frustration at the situation. Better to leave them until he had better company to discuss them with.

His eyes found Garet, plodding ahead at a steady pace. He had been silent since leaving the arena, a situation so unusual it unnerved Felix a bit. Garet never thought things through well, and strong emotions only made him blunder more blindly. Isaac had never blamed Garet for it, but Felix knew just how close he had come to killing all of them on Jupiter Lighthouse with his rash decisions.

Something stupid was coming, he knew. It was only a matter of time. With any luck, he could head it off before Garet could hurt himself or someone else.

A sudden laugh from a nearby house broke him out of his thoughts. Attention was needed, to be sure, but not exclusively. Dangerous mistakes were made like that, and enough danger had been endured for one day.

"Brooke, wait," he heard Temblin call from behind him. Felix turned around to find the gladiator looking at the house they had just walked by. "I heard voices inside."

Felix looked at the house, then back at Temblin. "So?"

"They were loud and raucous," he explained softly. "What sort of people would be finding pleasure on a day such as this?"

Glancing back at the house, Felix's eyes narrowed slightly, irritated at Temblin's testing attitude. It vanished as another laugh carried out from one of the shattered windows, though. "Burglars," he said shortly, now irritated with himself that he had not made the connection himself. A dangerous mistake.

Temblin nodded and began walking towards the house, but Felix's voice stopped him. "Wait. We have more pressing issues."

"I will not stand by and let these criminals take advantage of such a terrible tragedy like this," the gladiator said, locking his gaze with Felix's.

"Felix is right, Buford," Garet said, stopping and turning. "My brother is still out there. As much as I can't stand the thought of it either, I'm not stopping looking for him to deal with a bunch of lowlifes."

"And it's not a good idea to split up, either," Felix continued. "Believe me, I would like nothing more than to go and deliver some justice, but let's be honest – they aren't the ones responsible for this."

Temblin's eyes widened very slightly in response and Felix knew he had guessed right, so he pressed his opening. "Justice isn't what we need right now, safety is. Safety for us, and security for others."

The two Venus Adepts stared at each other for a long moment. Eventually, though, Temblin nodded. "I suppose you're right. I just...this whole thing makes me frustrated and want to fight something, but that blue-haired twit isn't around."

Garet snorted, moving forward again. "I like you, Buford, and your priorities."

Felix said nothing as he fell behind Garet, silently agreeing. A fist in Alex's face would improve his mood considerably, but that sentiment was no stranger to him.

"I take it you know that man, then," Temblin said.

"As well as anyone knows him, I suspect," Felix said. "That doesn't mean much, though."

"We already owe him good," Garet added. "This is just another favor to repay."

As loath as he was to admit it, Felix agreed with Garet again. The attack on Isaac had been one thing, but to unleash such hell on innocent people? It made no sense. He had deliberately avoided harming them, some of the most dangerous people around. What game was he playing, here?

He took a deep breath and stepped back from the picture. What were Alex's ultimate goals? Unknown, but they knew he wanted something that Isaac had. Did it matter? No, he decided. Not right now. Isaac would have the best idea. When they found him, they could talk it out and find the answer.

So motive remained a question mark. What about methods? He had attacked in broad daylight, in the middle of a tournament full of powerful warriors. Most would say it marked an overconfident fool, a category into which Alex certainly fell, but it also could have been an attempt to attack while Isaac was fatigued.

Surprise was obviously Alex's primary tactic, though. He'd disabled each of them in unexpected ways by utilizing Psynergy none of them had expected. When they met again, as Felix suspected would inevitably happen, the fight would be considerably less one-sided. Between each of them, they could easily counter his versatility.

And then it clicked. "He separated us," Felix said aloud.

Garet glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"Alex," Felix said. "This storm was designed to separate Isaac from the rest of us, at least partially. Whatever he wants from Isaac, he'd rather have him alone when he takes it. He counted on the chaos in the storm's aftermath to divide us."

Nodding, Garet said, "A risky gamble. Just the sort of thing that son of a-" He paused, flexing his hands and taking a deep breath. "-that he would do."

There had to be more to it, though, Felix thought. Why had Alex suddenly expressed such blatant disregard for the people around them? Something was missing, he realized. Something they did not yet know about Alex, perhaps. Or maybe it dealt with his unknown objective.

"Aaron!"

A sudden movement brought Felix's attention to Garet, who had suddenly broken into a sprint. Felix immediately dashed forward, following him as closely as he could, but Garet's initial burst had given him a solid head start. "Garet! Garet!"

The redhead ignored him, tearing down the street with a speed that belied his large frame, bounding along the rubble strewn about the road. Even clearing himself a path with his Psynergy, Felix found himself falling behind slightly.

Suddenly, Felix understood Garet's sudden burst of energy: ahead, in the distance, he caught a glimpse of a small head of red hair, hovering over a line of thick bushes. He could not tell if it was actually Garet's brother, not at this distance. Apparently Garet thought he could, though. He was hell-bent on running straight through to...

To...

"Garet, stop!" Felix shouted, but the warning came too late. Felix watched as Garet plunged through the bushes and vanish, the ground suddenly ending as it dropped into a canyon-like path through the center of the city.

Skidding to a halt, Felix thrust his mind into the ground, then forced it forward with a push of his hands. He felt his Psynergy smash through the cliff face, dragging with it a platform of rock. For one long second, Felix felt his heart leap into his throat as he felt nothing; he had missed. But then he felt Garet land on the outcropping, causing Felix to let out the breath he never realized he had held.

He started forward again at a light jog, reaching out with his mind to find the edge of the cliff. As he neared it, he realized how Garet had fallen – the bushes he had seen ringed the cliff's crest, disguising the drop.

Carefully picking his way through them, Felix glanced over the edge and found Garet lying on the stone ledge, looking up at him. The fall had not seemed to hinder his fervor, though. "Felix, hurry, send me up the other side."

The Venus Adept just stared at him for a few moments, then curled his hand. The ledge broke down into rocks, then pebbles, and finally sand as it flowed up the cliff, rolling over itself and carrying Garet back to the top.

When he arrived, Garet stepped off, brushing the sand away as he said, "Felix, I appreciate the help, but I need to get to the other side."

"No, you don't, Garet," Felix snapped. "You just ran yourself straight off the edge of a cliff. If I hadn't been here, you would have probably broken both your legs...at best."

Garet's mouth dropped open before he gestured behind him, glanced back also, then turned back to Felix. "I saw Aaron! He was over there! I need to get to him!"

"You only think you saw him," Felix said, his voice rising. "I saw the same thing – a distant flash of red hair. A lot of people have red hair."

"But I need to get over there!"

Felix shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "We're heading back to the palace. That's where the others will head to meet back up with us, too."

"You don't know that, Felix!" Garet shouted. "Just because that's what you would do doesn't mean everyone else will!"

"Fine," Felix snapped, "maybe they won't, but Kraden certainly will, and he and Iodem are the ones with your brother."

The comment earned a snort from Garet. "Oh, that's great. I certainly hope two old men can protect him."

"Kraden is more than capable of keeping them all out of danger," Felix said, turning around and motioning to the silently observing Temblin. "Let's get going."

"No."

The man stopped again. After a second, he turned around. "Garet, how likely do you really think it is that you'll just happen to run into your brother out here?"

Glaring at Felix, Garet said through clenched teeth, "It's better than doing nothing."

Felix threw his hands up. "Damn it, Garet, we're not doing nothing! We're going to the most likely place that your brother will head to! You have a far better chance of finding him by coming back!"

"I can't just leave him out there!" Garet said, sweeping his hand around him. "You saw the kind of people that disasters bring out!"

"And I suppose you think I'm perfectly fine with Jenna being out there?" Felix asked. "I don't like that any more than you like your brother being out there."

"But Jenna can defend herself," Garet said. "Aaron is just a little kid!"

"A little kid who slings some nasty fireballs," Felix said dryly, rubbing his shoulder in painful memory. "Need I remind you how much you've been teaching him?" Garet opened his mouth to respond, but Felix raised his hands. "Look, Garet, I'm trying to help you. You nearly got yourself killed, and for nothing. Come with me. Aaron will show up at the palace, if he isn't already there."

Garet looked at Felix doubtfully, then looked around him again, surveying the city. Eventually he returned his gaze to Felix. "Are you sure?"

Felix nodded. "I swear it."

Crossing his arms, Garet nodded. "I... I'm trusting you, Felix. Let's go."

As they turned and continued toward the west, Felix silently hoped that Kraden was not as aged as he made himself out to be.

- \/\/ -

"I like that one," Jenna said with a smile. "Where'd you learn it?"

"From this pirate," Tobias said. "He stopped by the inn and taught it to me. Mom told me I couldn't sing it, though."

Jenna laughed. "Moms are like that sometimes. We'll just keep it our little secret, though."

Tobias nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, she'd probably get real mad at me."

Ruffling his hair, Jenna asked, "How's your arm feeling?"

The boy looked down at his splinted arm, then back up at Jenna. "It's fine. It hurts a little, but Isaac made it feel a lot better."

"That's good," she said. "When we get to the inn, we'll have someone fix it completely, but make sure you thank Isaac before."

Nodding enthusiastically, he said, "I will." He remained silent for a moment, then added, "I wish I could have seen him at Colosso. I told him I'd be watching, too."

"Did you miss it?" Jenna asked.

Tobias sighed, nodding his head. "You have to be ten to watch from one of the stand-up areas. They said it was so that kids didn't get stepped on."

"Aw, that's too bad," Jenna said, giving him a quick hug. "If it makes you feel any better, there wasn't a whole lot to see. It all ended pretty fast."

"Too bad for mom, then," he said.

Jenna looked at him strangely. "Wait, your mom stayed to watch? Who brought you home?"

"No one. I'm not a little kid!"

"You walked home alone?" Jenna asked with a raised eyebrow. This kid could not have been older than seven. Was his mother really that irresponsible?

He nodded, not noticing her questioning expression. "I went back home, really sad I couldn't see Isaac, and then the storm came." A smile brightened his face. "But then I got to meet Isaac anyway."

"Yeah, things have a weird way of working out sometimes," she said, making a mental note to have words with Tobias' mother if she ran into her.

Irresponsible parents were one of Jenna's biggest pet peeves. Too many times she had seen children almost hurt or even killed due to a parent's negligence or poor decision. Being Jenna, she never let such a moment by without taking some time to chew on the parent's ear for a while. Some were apologetic, while some were indignant, and some simply started shouting back. She liked the last ones the best; she rarely lost shouting contests.

It was also one of the few times that Felix made no effort to stop or chastise her for losing her temper, either. He would never say anything at all about it, actually, and though he tended to be more lenient with her, Jenna knew that to be his approval. After all, he certainly never missed a chance to tell Garet off about anything, even the most minor incidents.

She giggled, remembering the time Felix had started shouting at Garet for climbing on their neighbor's roof, only for Garet to calmly explain that he had been helping their son down, who had climbed up and gotten himself stuck. Garet walked away with the purest expression of satisfaction, while Felix had refused to speak to anyone for the rest of the day; Garet earned himself three.

"Something funny?"

Looking up from the road, she saw Isaac returning from up ahead. "Just thinking about my brother and Garet."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "No further explanation necessary. How's your arm, Tobias?"

The boy grinned widely. "It's great! Thanks Isaac!"

Tobias' cheerfulness prompted a similar return from Isaac. "That's good. Listen, the inn is right up here, so we'll be there in just a minute. I'm going to go let everyone else know, too."

Jenna nodded, then looked past Isaac, finding a three-story building waiting for them. Hundreds of people surrounded it, many of them seemingly looking for loved ones. Jenna suddenly understood why so many had chosen to head west – none of the buildings seemed to have been damaged. She stood on her tiptoes to look around, for all the good it did, but could see no lightning strikes.

"Hey, that's my aunt's house!"

Jenna looked down at Tobias in surprise, then back at the inn. "Really? Your aunt runs that inn?"

He nodded. "We come visit her a lot."

Taking his hand, she said, "Well, come on then, let's go find her. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Following the crowd down to the inn, several people began breaking off to search the throngs outside. On the other side of the inn, Jenna could see a long line, heading at a table with several large pots in front of it. Many more passed the doors in favor of some food. Instead of joining them, Jenna stepped through the open doors to the inn, finding it much less crowded than she expected. Most people stayed outside to find others easier, she guessed.

She looked around as she made her way to the main counter, noting that most of the people inside sat alone at tables, staring at their glasses of water somberly. She tried not to think about what had brought them here. Behind the counter was an older woman, busy speaking to a younger one, about Jenna's age. She waited patiently for her turn as the woman tending the bar pointed to various places on a map, apparently giving directions.

The inn itself was certainly nice, Jenna noted. The hardwood floors looked like they had been polished recently, probably for Colosso. Beautiful red and yellow drapes adorned the windows, held back with gold cord. Three full stories...they never had any buildings this big back in Vale, and certainly not in Vault, although the city could probably use with more vertical buildings.

"Can I help you with something?"

Jenna looked at the woman again, finding the younger one stepping away. As she opened her mouth to respond, though, she heard Tobias shout excitedly, "Aunt Lina!"

The woman's hands flew to her mouth as she practically dove around the counter. "Tobias!" She stopped just short of pulling him into a tight embrace, pausing for a moment, then hugging him, carefully avoiding his broken arm.

Jenna assumed the woman must be his aunt, which was only reinforced when she stood up straight again and turned to her. "Did you bring him here?" she asked breathlessly, tears in her eyes.

Nodding, Jenna said, "We found him in a collapsed house near the center of town. We were able to get him out and patch him up a little bit, but he needs to get to a healer."

Lina rubbed at her eyes and nose. "Thank you, so very, very much." She turned back to Tobias. "Here, head back into the kitchen for a minute. Aunty will be there in a minute."

The boy nodded and did as he was told, allowing Lina to return her attention to Jenna. "I... I have no way to thank you enough for this."

Shaking her head, Jenna smiled. "We don't need any. Just keep doing what you're doing and helping everyone."

Lina looked back into the kitchen, then dropped her eyes to the floor. "His mother...my sister... She was at Colosso during the storm. She... She didn't..." The woman's hand moved to her trembling mouth as she fell silent.

Jenna could say nothing at first, struck speechless. "Are you sure?" she said after a minute, once Lina had recovered. "How can you know?"

"A friend," she said simply. "He was there, and he saw it. He said there was nothing left. When he stopped by her inn, to check on Tobias, he found it collapsed. When he told me, I thought... I thought they had both..."

The woman stopped as Jenna wrapped her arms around Lina, pulling the woman into a tight embrace. Lina stood still for a moment, then returned the hug, sobbing softly into Jenna's shoulder. The Mars Adept gently stroked her hair, whispering words of encouragement into her ear, though her own mind had gone numb. She remembered, in a rather detached manner, when her own aunt had held her in the same way, the night of Vale's terrible storm.

When she finally pulled back, Lina wiped at her eyes once more and smiled. "I'm sorry. You've done me such a great kindness and I don't even know your name."

"I'm...Jenna. Jenna Brooke," she said slowly.

She nodded, then looked around her, holding out her hands. "If there's anything you need, please let me know. We're forever in your debt for this."

Jenna nodded in return and thanked her, then turned around. The gravity of the woman's words were finally reaching her – Tobias had no idea his mother had been killed, or that he likely would have been killed too, had he been there. She felt tears rise to her own eyes as she saw the boy smile in her mind's eye once more, wondering when he would find out.

"Jenna? Are you okay?"

The girl looked to the side and found Ivan walking towards her, a concerned look on his face. She quickly wiped at her eyes and sniffed loudly, giving away what she had hoped to cover up a bit better. "I'll be alright," she said. "Just... Something just hit a little close to home, that's all." Sniffing again, she asked, "What about you? I haven't seen much of you since...since we pulled Tobias out. How are you doing?"

He shrugged in response. "I'm fine. I've just been doing some thinking."

Jenna looked at him closely, trying to read past that infuriating mask of indifference he wore so often. "Are you sure? You seemed a bit shaken up earlier."

Ivan looked away from Jenna, into the crowd of people. "It's not the first time I've been called names, Jenna. It stopped bothering me a long time ago."

"Don't lie to me, Ivan. I don't deserve that," she said, though she regretted the harshness of her words immediately. He didn't deserve that, either.

He did not respond for a long moment, simply staring off. Jenna knew it meant he was preparing a half-truth, but she had learned to take what she could from the boy. Eventually he said, "It bothers me sometimes just how ruthless people can be. It makes me wonder just why we're saving them." He sighed, then looked back at Jenna. "And then I see things like this, and I remember."

Smiling, Jenna pulled him in and hugged him close also. "Don't give up on people yet, Ivan. We can do some evil things, yeah, but we can do great things, too."

"I know," he mumbled quietly. "Sometimes I just forget that for a bit, though. I'm fine now, though." He pulled back and looked Jenna in the eyes. "Really, I am. There's more important things to be focused on right now."

She nodded. "You're right. Let's go find Isaac, then."

Ivan nodded his agreement and pointed to the side of the inn. "I saw him over there, talking to a few people."

Grabbing Ivan's hand to not lose him in the crowd, Jenna began squeezing through the thick crowd, glad that she had something to focus on now. It helped distract her mind from Tobias, who her thoughts kept trying to wander back to.

As they emerged from the dense portion of the crowd, Ivan moved ahead, taking the lead. "He was over here somewhere."

Jenna followed closely behind him, glancing around them as they walked, but it was Ivan who spotted him first. He was talking very animatedly with three older men, all of whom seemed to be listening very attentively. When he spotted the two approaching, he quickly excused himself to come to them.

"We're planning some scouting parties to go back into the city to find more missing or injured people," he said. "I'd like to get one sent out as quickly as possible, maybe go with it, too."

Jenna nodded her head in agreement, but to her surprise, Ivan shook his. "We can't, Isaac."

The Venus Adept looked at him, confused. "What do you mean? A lot of people out there need help, Ivan. Help we can provide."

"I know that," the boy said. "Believe me, I want to help them too, but we have more important issues to deal with."

"Are you talking about Alex? Because we don't-

Ivan cut him off. "I'm talking about the storm, Isaac."

"Well, that's what we're trying to help deal with right now," Jenna said.

Shaking his head, Ivan said, "No, we're dealing with the effects. What we need to deal with is the cause. That was no natural storm."

"Right," Isaac said slowly, "but we don't know where Alex could have gone. We can't follow him."

"We don't need to," the boy said. "Alex didn't cause the storm."

Isaac did not respond for a moment, so Jenna took the opportunity. "What do you mean? If he didn't, who did?"

"I don't know," Ivan admitted. "That's what we need to find out. Whoever did it is a very powerful Adept, and I think we're the only ones who can oppose that sort of skill."

"But what makes you think it wasn't Alex?" Isaac said. "The storm came right after he showed up. That'd be one incredible coincidence, don't you think?"

Ivan nodded. "It is. But think about it this way: why would Alex release his hold on us to make that storm? He had you, Isaac, and had disabled everyone else. Why bother making a storm that would use up so much energy, it would allow us to escape?"

Thinking back to the morning, Jenna nodded slowly. "Come to think of it, he did look pissed after the first bolt landed. Was...was he trying to stop the storm?"

"I think so," Ivan said. "I felt the enormous Jupiter presence suddenly appear, and then I felt it wavering at the same time his Psynergy holding me vanished.

"So Alex abandoned his plan to kill me in order to try and save Tolbi?" Isaac asked. "I don't buy it."

"Who said he was trying to kill you?" Ivan shook his head. "He seemed very intent on not harming any of us, past what it took to stop us. Why do that only to bombard the city with lightning?"

Isaac nodded slowly. "No, you're right, that doesn't make much sense..."

"And then there were my dreams," Ivan continued. "I dreamed of the lightning, accompanied by the moon crashing into Weyard, but nothing that could relate to Alex. I've been over all manner of symbolism from it, but nothing fits him. To me, that means whatever threat he poses is overshadowed entirely by the source of this storm."

"So you want to start trying to find this source, then," Isaac said. After a nod from the boy, he asked, "What about all the people here, though? They still need our help. We can't just abandon them."

"Others can help here," Ivan said. "We might be the only ones who can stop this from happening again."

"He's right," Jenna said quietly, looking at Isaac. "As much as I want to help Tolbi recover, I want to stop this from happening again."

Isaac placed his hands on his hips and looked around them. As he did, Jenna's eyes drifted up to the inn again. Through one of the windows, she could see a sobbing Tobias with his arms wrapped around his aunt. Jenna bit down on the inside of her cheek as Isaac made up his mind.

"You're right," he said at last. "Where should we begin, though?"

"By finding the others," Ivan said. "The only place we've all been together in Tolbi is Bab- I mean, Kraden's Palace, so I'm sure the others will head back there. We can meet them there and figure out what to do. Maybe Kraden has some ideas."

Isaac agreed, and while they were leaving, Jenna thought again of Tobias. Even though she couldn't have protected him from this loss, she thought, she would certainly protect him from any more. To lose one's family... If she could help it, no one would ever suffer such a fate.