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.

10. A Glimpse Inside the Vault

Golden Sun: Wings of Anemos

Chapter 10 – A Glimpse Inside the Vault

- \/\/ -

"Heir to the Serpent Throne."

Ivan's eyes opened to the unfamiliar stone roof of his sister's house, moonlight filtering in through the window. The voice had been scarce more than a whisper, the words of the wind as it pushed at the curtains. With it came the smell of freshly picked corn, the husk peeled away to reveal the golden kernels beneath.

He knew the voice called to him, though. After a moment he sat up on his bed, pausing in the darkness as he waited to see if it would speak again. When it did not, he rose to his feet, silently moving to the door in his bedclothes. His bare feet padded down the hallway to the front door, carrying him through it without a sound.

The city lay as silent as his movements, save for the breeze that always rolled down the mountains from the lighthouse. The boy glanced around him as he walked in the direction that felt right, but saw no one else. Every window he passed was dark, the only light coming from the moon and stars.

When he reached the center of the city, he found a green-haired man waiting for him. His heart jumped and the world around him blurred suddenly, but the man made a gentle hushing sound, his eyes on Ivan. The surroundings came back into focus as the boy calmed down, realizing the man was not Clotho. The brilliant green hair only fell to his neck, for one, and his face held the lines of age.

Ivan stopped across the main square from him, watching the man with a surprising lack of fear or worry. He could not help but admire the deep blue armor the man wore, encasing him in the color of the twilit sky. "Why me?" he asked simply.

"I request your help," the man said, his voice ringing out into the night air, entering Ivan's head like a gentle melody. Only when the man spoke again did Ivan realize his mouth never moved. "Find me here. Free me here. Let me right my wrongs."

"Free you from what?" Ivan asked.

The armored man locked his eyes with the boy's, the full moon behind him framing his head. Instead of an answer, an unnatural chill seized Ivan, making him shiver uncontrollably. The moon and stars dimmed, flickered, then extinguished entirely, plunging the city into an icy darkness.

And then, as the denizens of darkness are wont to do, something stirred.

- \/\/ -

Though the worst of winter had already passed northern Angara, snow still drifted across it in mild flurries, painting the land white. After a week or two, the sun would return and return the world to its normal splendor, but when the quintet arrived outside Vault, they were greeted by a blinding blanket of glittering crystal.

Jenna groaned loudly, complaining about their terrible timing. She stomped her foot in the snow a few times and hurled some flames, venting her anger directly at the source, though rather ineffectively. Ivan smiled, laughing at Jenna's antics, but his expression revealed his disappointment with the weather. Aaron cheered, rejoicing at the sight of snow in an echo of every other young child in Vault.

Mia simply felt relieved. Such small amounts of snow could be found in Imil until late spring most years, giving the residents only four months of respite before returning in early autumn. Many Imilians found snow to be dreary and boring, a sentiment she could understand when one lived in snow for so long. She, however, still appreciated the beauty fire and ice created together, despite the dangers that sunset brought to the north.

Here, though... Such scant snow, and the air barely cold enough to keep water frozen... It was nice. All the awe snow inspired, yet with none of the worst threats. "I like this climate," she said. "I might need to move here someday."

"Oh? Planning your future out already?" Alex asked, glancing sideways at her.

She shook her head. "Weren't you the one who taught me the benefits of having plans?"

"And second plans," he said. "And third, and sometimes fourth and fifth, too. You can never be too careful, really."

Mia looked away, his words bringing up thoughts that were doing well enough just under the surface of her mind. An awkward silence fell between them as they continued to walk through the shallow snow, punctuated only by the random shouts of excitement from Aaron ahead of them. Jenna's responses came slightly more quietly, while Ivan's could barely be heard at all.

"I suppose that was rather tactless, coming from me," Alex muttered. "I apologize."

She glanced over at him sharply, finding him looking straight ahead, his typical blank expression on his face. "Are you reading my mind?"

The man sighed, shaking his head. "Why does everyone seem to think that? I read people. I don't need to read minds. I understand what a distasteful act it is."

"I'm sorry," Mia said softly, looking away again.

"Don't be," Alex said, shaking his head again. "I..." He paused and frowned. "Never mind. You're planning on leaving Imil, though?"

Mia hesitated, stopping herself from immediately sidestepping the question. She disliked lying directly, but found half-truths and distractions perfectly acceptable alternatives. "Not yet," she said. "It's become easier with the fountain, but it only helps with disease. I'm trying to train more people up, perhaps to try and rebuild the Mercury Clan."

"How are the children coming along with it?" Alex asked.

"Very well," Mia said with a nod. "Megan is weak on her diagnoses, but she has incredible bedside manner. I've seen her reduce patients from hysteria to normal conversation in mere minutes." The woman frowned. "Though she can't seem to give me an accurate list of the properties of elderberries. She'll learn it, and then a week later she'll forget one, or give me one that's not right. It's getting a bit frustrating, actually."

Alex chuckled quietly. "I cannot fault her there. I could never recite medicinal properties very well. What about Justin?"

Mia lightly scoffed. "Even more infuriating than her. No matter how much I tell him otherwise, his first response to most things is to use Psynergy, just to see if it helps." She smiled slightly, altering the pitch of her voice. "'It can't hurt to try, and it could save time.' Justin, she's sick because she's pregnant. '...Oh.'"

The smile remained steady on Alex's face. "All of us go through a phase of that, sooner or later. I'm sure it will pass."

"If it doesn't, I'm going to-"

"Guys, come on, I can see the gate!"

Mia looked up again to see Aaron suddenly take off running, Jenna and Ivan immediately taking off to follow him, shouting at him to slow down. The woman groaned, not feeling particularly up to running the remainder of the distance.

"Allow me, please," Alex said, holding out his hand. Mia glanced at it hesitantly for a second, then took hold. Instantly she felt the world around her waver, her eyes practically spinning in their sockets. In the next moment, everything suddenly collapsed into her, then expanded back out.

She glanced around in confusion, wondering what happened, when she realized that the others were now running towards her. "What...I don't..."

"You were once asked whether or not you could warp," Alex said, and realization dawned on Mia about what had happened. "You said then it was impossible for you. Tell me, Mia, do you still think that?"

She remembered the setting perfectly: the aerie of Mercury Lighthouse, the only time she had seen Alex between his initial vanishing and his return four days ago. The conversation, however, was just a vague memory, like remnants of a dream triggered by a stray thought hours after waking.

The meeting had been before the dawning of the Golden Sun, though, before Alex gained his other elements. At the time, he had merely been a Mercury Adept. And had she not seen King Hydros do the exact same thing while fighting Clotho? "No," she said slowly. "You must have found a way while you were gone, something that we never thought of."

"Yes and no," he said, holding up a shimmering white stone. "This is the Warp Pearl. While I initially used it to warp, I eventually learned that I really had no use for it, since the warp is among a Mercury Adept's many birthrights." He reached over and gently grabbed Mia's hand, pressing the stone into it. "Please, use it for now, until you feel comfortable without it."

His hand departed, leaving behind the pearl. She held it up to her eyes, watching the light dance across the milky edge. The whisper that all alchemy tools gave off touched her mind, asking for her Psynergy. She looked up at Alex questioningly and received a nod in return, so she grabbed his hand and answered the tool's call.

The world around her shimmered like the edge of the pearl, before stretching in towards her again, every source of light extending an impossibly long distance, or so it seemed. In the next moment, everything settled, and she found herself and Alex still some distance away from Vault's gate. She turned around and found the others even further away, then looked back at Alex in confusion. "Why didn't it work all the way?" she asked.

"It has a limited range," he said, shrugging. "I'm not sure why, or the specifics of how it works, since it seems different from Jupiter's teleportation, which has no range. However, also unlike teleportation, there are no consequences for using it, save the standard use of Psynergy. Warp away, if you so desire."

Mia glanced at the jewel again, then towards the gate. "So if I wanted to, I could essentially 'hop' to where I want to go?"

Alex nodded. "You can travel across a continent in a matter of hours. Oceans remain impassible, however."

"I understand," Mia said, then frowned thoughtfully. "Though, couldn't you simply create some ice, warp to that, and repeat across the water? Like a series of stepping stones."

"Hmm... An interesting idea," Alex said, tapping his chin. "In theory it would be possible, but you run a great risk of exhausting yourself before you get there due to the double use of Psynergy. Running out on land is a hindrance, but running out in the middle of the ocean..." He spread his arms and Mia nodded, understanding his implication.

"Besides," he continued, "teleportation is far more useful for travel, at least for everything but short distances. Such continued casting will leave you exhausted if you are going a significant distance."

"And recovery from excessive Psynergy use will take a full night's sleep at best," Mia said, nodding. "Whereas the teleportation sickness only requires about four hours." She wrinkled her nose. "Though that short time is still irritating."

A smirk came over Alex's face. "Come now, you mean to say you don't enjoy the constant feeling of being mere moments away from vomiting?"

Sighing, Mia said, "Alex...every time I think you're different from before, you go and remind me that you're still that same, sarcastic boy I grew up with." Now she turned to him. "Or is it all an act? A trick to get my defenses down?"

Alex frowned and looked away. "If you want the truth...then yes, in some ways, it is an act. I've been deliberately trying to make you remember those years, but not to try and trick you. I..." He trailed off, crossing his arms. "I know you don't really believe me, and you're probably sick of hearing that I never wanted to hurt you, so I won't bother. I believed...perhaps if I reminded you of how things used to be, if I tried to return to those ways, we might be able to repair our relationship."

Mia said nothing, musing over her response as they walked along some distance ahead of the others. Ivan and Jenna had each glanced back frequently before, and she knew they likely found the warping suspicious, but neither made any attempt to interrupt them or linger protectively around her. She was glad of that, honestly; while she knew both were concerned for her safety, she had begun to find them slightly stifling. She imagined nobles who had constant bodyguards felt much the same way.

"A relationship is not something that can be fixed, like a broken chair," she said at last, though gently. "It's more like a plant, alive and ever-growing. Trust is the soil the relationship grows from, and you uprooted ours and let it die. That relationship, like a plant, can never be returned to life."

Alex made a light scoff, sounding identical to the crunches their boots made in the snow. "If only I believed that... What would you suggest, then? How can we handle this?"

Mia shrugged. "In the same manner you deal with anything that has died: we start over. I can never forget what you did to us, and I'll likely never forgive you, either. That doesn't mean we can't move past it, though."

"I see..." The man held out his hand to her. "In that case, my name is Alex. Pleased to meet you, miss."

She raised an eyebrow, staring at him for a moment, then shook her head, smiling. "I am glad to see you didn't lose your sense of humor, though. My father would be furious."

Alex smiled and shook his head as well. "I won't deny that he helped shape me. I am certainly far more solemn these days, though that may simply have been caused by a lack of good company."

"Did you not like the Proxians?" she asked.

The man frowned, seemingly more to himself. "It wasn't that I disliked them, per say... They were good people, if a bit brutish at times, ones who circumstances forced into a hard situation. I don't fault them for not being perfect. We just...never had much to talk about together, other than the mission."

A long pause entered the conversation, before Mia finally said something that surprised her. "You could have brought me, you know."

Alex held his gaze steadily forward. "...I didn't think you would have joined us. You were devoted to the Clan so heavily. You never held that constant questioning attitude I did, the seed that drives all rebellions."

"Maybe not," Mia said quietly, "but I did trust you. If you had come to me, told me what was happening... I would have protested, I would have called you a liar, I would have screamed, but in the end, I would have believed you. You were always smarter than me, more observant about the world. While I could see the 'what', you saw the 'why' and 'how'."

Alex sighed. "I suppose our options our always clearer in hindsight. Nevertheless, it wouldn't do to dwell on missed opportunities. I made my choice, and my mistake, and the consequences are mine to bear. Instead, I will need to ensure I never make the same mistake again."

Mia nodded. "Good. I'm happy to hear that. And with that said..." She stopped and turned to him, forcing him to do the same. "Why exactly is the Golden Sun so important to you?"

In a rare display, Mia briefly saw Alex's eyes widen the slightest amount, accompanied by the faint whisper of the smallest intake of breath. She would not have noticed either one had she not been specifically looking for a reaction, and even then, they were almost hidden by the glare of the fading sunlight on the snow and the gentle breeze that drifted lazily past them.

A moment later his face was a mask once more, the response quickly stifled by the man's strong self-discipline. When he opened his mouth to speak, however, Mia cut him off. "Alex Ambrosen, you had better not be preparing to lie to me," she said firmly. "I may not read people as well as you, but I still know it means something to you, something you don't want to tell me."

The man glanced away. "It's not that. It's just...a sensitive matter to me."

"Alex, I've known you all of my life," Mia said gently, placing a hand on his arm. "There are few things sensitive to you that are not also sensitive to me."

He looked back at her, then dropped his eyes to the ground again. "I want... The Golden Sun is power, Mia. The ultimate power. Unlimited power. And as I told you earlier, I never want to make the same mistakes twice."

Mia looked at him for a moment, confused, and then his words suddenly clicked into place in her mind. "Oh gods. This is about Marie, isn't it?"

Alex said nothing in response, simply continuing to stare at the snow beneath his boots, occasionally allowing his eyes to drift to the sides. Mia stood in front of him in silence, the full storm of emotion around Marie's death crashing into her once more, for the first time in years.

"Mia, is something wrong?"

She turned away from Alex, finding herself fighting tears from the corners of her eyes. Ivan was walking towards them, Jenna and Aaron a short distance behind him. Evidently he had become concerned about their sudden stop. "No," she said, shaking her head. "We're fine. Just talking about a few things that needed talked about."

Ivan nodded, still frowning, but before he could speak, Alex said, "As much as I enjoy standing around in the snow, night is continuing to fall, and I suggest we find ourselves inside the city walls before that happens."

"Can't you just warp us the rest of the way?" Ivan asked.

Alex shook his head. "It only allows for a single passenger. It's not complex enough to deal with more."

"Then we should get walking," Mia said, tilting her head in the direction of Vault. "It should only be another twenty minutes or so."

As they resumed walking, Mia tried to slip thoughts of Marie back under a layer of consciousness, allowing the thoughts to be present without having to bear the full brunt of emotions. It made her feel cold and cruel, thinking about the girl that way. She idly wondered if that was how Alex always felt.

- \/\/ -

"Mom, I can't eat any more!"

Jenna pushed herself back from the table, firmly shaking her head. Her mother pushed a plate of roast beef towards her, firmly staring at the girl.

Throwing back her head, Jenna groaned and said, "I'm serious, if I eat anything else, I'll explode!" She emphasized her point by thrusting her stomach out as far as possible and thumping it with one hand. "It's delicious, mom, it really is, but I feel so fat right now. Give some more to Ivan, he needs to put on some weight."

"What?" Ivan asked flatly, staring across the table at her, but his steady glare crumbled as Laura turned her attention on him, piling roast beef, red peppers, and browned onions onto his plate.

Jenna grinned at the dismay on his face, knowing the boy would never waste food he had been given. "Sorry Ivan, better you than me." She stood up and stretched, feeling her stomach groan with the effort. Any threat she made involving explosions was only ever half a joke, at most.

She glanced down the length of the table, marveling at how many people they had managed to fit at it. She had made a point of sitting Ivan across from her, knowing that he would otherwise have retreated to one end of the table and spent the night in silence. Now, at least, he had spoken and gotten somewhat comfortable with her parents.

To her left sat Kay, who had quickly discovered a great joy in tormenting Ivan, much to the boy's embarrassment. Jenna had tried to get him to relax by telling him to think of Kay as Garet, but with breasts. Unfortunately, the comment only served to make Ivan slink deeper into his chair.

Aaron sat next to his sister, while their parents and grandparents endlessly fussed over him. As Kraden had predicted, his return, as well as Jenna's, and the news of the others' safety, had been met with much relief and celebrating. For his part, all of the frightening things the boy had experienced seemed to have completed their transition to exciting, in hindsight. His tale of the post-Colosso trek across Tolbi was filled with awe and adventure.

Alex and Mia sat at the end of the table beyond the Williams, politely joining in the conversation once a suitable amount of coddling had passed. Alex had surprised Jenna with how amiable he seemed to everyone, causing an uproar with a pair of stories he told earlier in the night. Jenna had watched Ivan frown, feeling the same, but said nothing about it.

Down on her right extended her entire family, save her brother, of course. Her parents, grandparents, and aunt had spent all dinner fighting for attention and details about what had happened. Questions about Felix were raised quietly, and with frequent glances towards the other end of the table, but the elder Williams' focus rested entirely on his grandson.

Dora and Kyle had come as well, glad to hear both of Isaac's success at getting into Colosso, as well as his well-being through the events that followed. They remained quiet through most of the dinner, showing interest in the discussions, but adding little themselves. Jenna figured they were probably just a bit disappointed their son had not been able to come back yet, either.

The families had played a fantastic collective audience when Jenna told of what had happened so far. Her father voiced his disbelief when she spoke of Clotho, smiling gently at her exaggerations, but his smile faded when the other three all explained with straight faces that, no, nothing Jenna had said was an exaggeration. In fact, if anything, she hadn't done him justice. Jenna frowned at Alex for the last comment, but the man simply shrugged apologetically.

"Ugh," she said, pushing her chair back in. "I need to get some air. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Her mother gestured up at her with the serving fork. "Don't be out there too long. I don't want you getting sick."

Jenna rolled her eyes as she turned around, saying, "Yes, mother." She stepped outside quickly, closing the door as the cool air curled its fingers into the opening, trying to pull itself inside. It settled instead for wrapping around the young woman, snaking down her limbs towards her body, the true prize. As it flicked out its misty tongue towards her, however, it met a swift death as Jenna flared her Psynergy, wrapping herself in a shimmering cloak of warmth.

She frowned, crossing her arms as she walked away from the house, leaving the sounds of casual conversation and clatter of plates and mugs behind, finding the streets of Vault pleasantly silent. The chill in the air and time of night kept them mostly empty, as well; only twice did she pass someone on the streets, exchanging nothing more than a polite greeting in the darkness.

Their own dinner had run late, she realized as she walked. Glancing through the windows of other houses, she found few still eating. Many had already doused their candles for the night, their houses as silent as the streets. Jenna found herself envying them slightly.

Not for their families. She loved her family, and would never think of wanting another. More, perhaps, but not at the cost of her current relatives. She did not envy their warm houses, either, though she felt that she could be justified in doing so. Despite having fought to the ends of Weyard to save the world, she had been rewarded with the destruction of both houses she called home, forcing them to adopt their cramped quarters in Vault. Their living arrangements could be better, she supposed, but it was nothing to envy another over. Nor did she envy their full bellies, though that was for far less selfless reasons, she thought wryly, rubbing her own stomach.

No, she realized, her envy stemmed from their carelessness. The most they had to concern themselves with was their own well-being, taking care of themselves and those they cared for. When night fell, they could crawl into their beds, satisfied with their work for the day and sleep comfortably, knowing that dawn would bring another day of similar events.

It was not something she blamed them for. Felix had often explained to her when they were younger that those gifted with power had a responsibility to use it for those who were not. She had disagreed then, thinking that so long as their power wasn't used in unsavory ways, it should be their choice whether or not to use it.

An idealistic viewpoint, she had come to realize, one that could only work in an ideal world. She never thought their journey had changed her significantly, that she had more or less remained the same person she had always been, but every so often she would come across these minor epiphanies, these small glimpses into her own mind and realize that it had changed her in the same way a blacksmith tempered steel – the overall shape had been left unchanged, but small, minute changes had been introduced, hopefully to make the piece better.

And now she had compared herself to a sword. Jenna shook her head. Garet would never let her hear the end of that one, if he knew. But she found the comparison apt. Her power lay in combat, so to the people of Weyard, she really was a sword. Hers was the point that could pierce the heavens...or at least the Anemoi.

She looked away from the stars above, finding herself on the bridge at the southern edge of town. She glanced around briefly in confusion, not remembering having walked there, then realized she had no idea where she had walked.

Sighing, Jenna leaned on the wooden railing, feeling a slight breeze toss her ponytail around.

"Still feeling poorly?"

She spun around instantly, drawing her cloak of heat into her hand in preparation to attack, but when she found Alex standing opposite her on the bridge, she slowly let it return. "Alex, what the hell are you doing? Where did you come from?"

The man spread his arms and bowed his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't want others to see me and get the wrong idea, so I concealed myself."

Jenna scoffed. "So I get the wrong idea instead. Are you following me?"

Alex nodded, then shrugged. "You weren't looking well when you left, so I decided to follow you and make sure everything was alright."

"Oh, I see." Jenna leaned back against the railing, putting her elbows up on the wood. "You're lying through your teeth."

To her surprise, he smiled, mimicking her position. "Only partially. While I did want to make sure you were alright, I had mostly just become tired of putting on such a charade for your family."

Jenna's eyes narrowed slightly and she felt her jaw tighten. "Charade? If you're trying to pull something over on them, I swear to the gods, you'll be rewriting the definition of pain."

"It's nothing you need to worry about," he said, shaking his head. "I just wanted to put them at ease, so they don't worry about you more. Putting on a friendly air also stops them from growing suspicious of me, since I hardly need any more of that."

Jenna frowned, but relaxed. If it came to it, her own family would believe her about the man, regardless of his impression, and the Williams would react rather harshly to the truth of his involvement in the restoration of Alchemy. She was actually a bit surprised that none of those present had seen him just prior to the Golden Sun's dawn; several Valeans had reported seeing him approach Mt. Aleph, but apparently, their families had been elsewhere.

"Is everything you do like that?" she asked suddenly after a minute of silence. When Alex simply gave her a confused look, she elaborated. "Half righteous, half self-serving. Everything you do seems to be for the general good, but you always gain something out of it, too."

He shrugged again. "Is there something wrong with everyone walking away ahead? It doesn't always have to be a choice between myself and others."

"You say that, but I can't help but wonder if half of the explanations are just covers," she said.

Raising an eyebrow, Alex asked, "Oh? Then which half is the cover, I wonder? Am I a greedy man, hiding behind a mask of generosity, or a benevolent saint cowering under a shroud of indifference?"

Jenna snorted, then smiled. "It's a tough choice, but I'm going with the greedy one."

Alex did not smile. "I was being facetious," he said, his casual mocking tone absent, replaced with a firmness Jenna thought odd in the man. "The world is not so easily divided into two categories, Jenna. Few things are so clear cut to the extremes. Forget that at your own peril."

She frowned, looking up at the stars. "Why would I think you cared if my family was worried?" she said after a long moment. "I mean, sure, you've proven you can be trusted, to an extent, but you've never shown that you care about anyone by yourself." She paused for a moment. "And maybe, maybe Mia."

"Nothing that I say will convince you otherwise," Alex said, his normal tone returned. "I see no reason to waste breath trying. You'll still think me up to something."

Shrugging, Jenna said, "My curiosity has been aroused. And I've always been one for a good story."

Alex stared at her for a long moment, his face as still as the stars, and Jenna began to wonder if she should have kept the remark to herself. What would happen if she actually made Alex mad? Would he attack her? What could she even do if he did?

He surprised her by laughing suddenly. "I've always admired your bite. You know no fear, and it gives you power."

She shook her head, looking away again. "I know fear, and it terrifies me," she said quietly.

They lapsed into silence for another long moment. A dog barked twice somewhere in the town, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing, and then the silence resumed. As Jenna was about to excuse herself, though, Alex spoke. "Family matters are important to me, even if they aren't my own."

Jenna turned back to him and found him facing out towards the town, his back to her. "I would not wish distress over family members on anyone, least of all for those I consider allies."

"Where is your family?" Jenna asked slowly after a pause, suspicions forming in her mind.

"All dead," Alex replied in his calm voice. "Not at once, but each one, individually. First my mother, then my father, and finally my sister."

"Oh gods," Jenna whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. "Alex... I'm so sorry... I didn't know..."

"Of course you didn't," the man said easily. "I've never told you. Mia could have, I suppose, but I doubt the subject ever came up. Why would the family of the great betrayer matter?" he asked wryly. Jenna could almost see the sarcastic smirk on his face, even with his back turned.

She opened her mouth to apologize, then closed it again, realizing she had no idea what to say. Now, mixed in amongst the distrust and suspicion swam sympathy and remorse. She found herself wanting to walk over to the man and give him a hug, the only answer she could think of giving.

A sudden thought froze Jenna cold. "Alex...if you're lying to me right now..." she said slowly, not bothering to hide the emotion in her voice.

He looked back at her, surprise on his face, replaced with a gentle smile after a moment. "No, I'm not lying. I have nothing to prove my words, of course, but lying about something like this would be foolish. A quick word with Mia would uncover it effortlessly. She knows it all."

Jenna stepped forward to the other side of the bridge, settling on the railing beside Alex and looking over Vault. "Why did you tell me this, Alex?"

"I don't intend for it to be a secret," he said with a shrug. "And it's the answer to your question, after all. Family means a great deal to me, as it does to you. Now you know why."

"How do you know that?" she asked, more curious than sharp.

He smiled again. "I've spent many months with you and your brother, Jenna. I've seen the way you act around him, as well as how you act when he does things that place him in danger. I saw the way you greeted your family this evening, the uncharacteristic tenderness in your eyes during dinner, if not your voice." His mouth curved into a frown. "Or have I misread you?"

The young woman shook her head. "No, you're right. They're the most important thing in the world to me." She seized up suddenly, glancing at the man out of the corner of her eye. Why in the gods' names had she said that? She might as well have told him exactly how to completely destroy her, if he wished.

He made no indication of any such plans, of course, nor any sign that her words had any effect past that of casual conversation. But then again, she supposed he wouldn't. The man held himself on such a tight leash that simply thinking about it often made it difficult for Jenna to breathe.

"I'm heading back," she said after a moment, stepping away from the railing. "Are you coming?"

He shook his head. "I'm finding the cool air rather refreshing. I'll be out here for a short while, I imagine."

Jenna nodded, feeling the familiar wall of apathy towards the man reforming between them, brick by brick. When she turned to leave, however, she could not help but feel that a few bricks were missing.

- \/\/ -

"So. Let me see if I am understanding you correctly."

Alex crossed his arms across the table from Ivan, the room lit by candles. The sun had just rose, but it would take another two hours before it dawned atop Vault's walls, leaving the town in a pit of shadow. Mia sat at one side of the table, frowning as she looked between the two. Jenna had not woken; Ivan did not want to risk her wrath by forcing that issue.

Ivan had woken early, as he typically did, the memories of the dream fresh in his head. He had been surprised to find Alex and Mia up already, but decided to speak with them immediately, in case the details began to fade. The only other person to rise so far had been Aaron, who greeted them briefly before running out the door. Mia had stared after him in confusion until Ivan told her that he was following Garet's guidance in training himself.

"He's too young for that," Mia had said, shaking her head. "He shouldn't be worrying about such things yet."

"Better to learn too early, than too late," Alex said quietly, and neither Mia nor Ivan could disagree.

Now the man stood up, pushing the chair back beneath the table, and began to pace, a deep frown on his face. "You believe we should go to Contigo, a mere stone's throw away from Anemos itself, find this man, who is Anemian, by the way, free him from whatever is inhibiting or imprisoning him, and let him 'right his wrongs.' Do I even need to point out that the Anemoi see everyone but themselves as a wrong?"

"We don't know he's Anemian," Ivan said quietly.

Alex threw up his hands. "Yes, because green hair occurs in so many other parts of the world. Tell me, how many green-haired people have you met?"

"Lemurians have green hair," Mia said, looking over at him with a frown.

"Lemurians have blue-green hair, significantly different from the Anemian solid green." Alex glanced over at Ivan again. "Which was it? The green of Lemuria or of Anemos?"

Ivan's eyes turned away slightly and he paused before he realized he didn't want to actually answer the question. Answering would be letting Alex win. "I'm telling you, I didn't have a bad feeling about him," he said firmly. "He didn't make me afraid or nervous at all."

"Yes, that's terribly difficult to achieve," Alex said, then caught and held Ivan's eyes with his own.

A chilling hand suddenly wrapped around the boy's heart, making his blood run cold and his spine turn to ice. He fought down shivers as a wave of terror rolled over his body, nearly earning a whimper from him.

In the next moment, the fear was gone, replaced by a gentle, soothing warmth that spread from his heart, across his chest, down his arms and legs, and all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. It rested there for a moment, tingling lightly, making every muscle in his body relax.

His stomach then clenched tightly around a ball of iron that formed inside, wrenching his innards about. His breathing sped up as his chest heaved, tears forming unexpectedly in the corners of his eyes. He sniffed once, fighting to keep his burning eyes from spilling.

Finally his chest tightened up, flames igniting inside and burning away all else. Fury flooded his mind, turning the edges of his vision red as his hands balled into fists uncontrollably. Unlike the other sudden emotional shifts, however, Ivan knew this one to be his own. "What are you doing to me?" he shouted, standing up as well.

Alex's piercing gaze lessened, but he maintained the eye contact. "Demonstrating the subtleties of Jupiter Psynergy that you have either forgotten or simply never learned. My control of it is powerful, but crude, as I'm sure you noticed. I've had few opportunities to practice that particular facet."

"That doesn't give you the right to practice on me!" Ivan said, slamming his hands on the table.

"Ivan, please!" Mia whispered sternly, frowning. "You'll wake the others."

"It was not practice, but a demonstration," Alex said calmly. "Those were my own rather hamhanded attempts at forcing a major emotion on you. They were blunt, nothing even resembling subtle, but I still could rapidly shift how you felt." He leaned over the table, mirroring Ivan. "Now imagine what someone who has been doing it for hundreds of years can do. Imagine how precisely and perfectly they can manipulate your emotions, touching them so softly that you never even notice their hands deep inside your own mind."

Ivan continued to stare at Alex for a few seconds, then turned around. "This wasn't an actual meeting, though. It was a dream, and it was definitely a vision. My visions don't lie to me."

Alex snorted. "Yes, you've expressed that belief a number of times now. I give up reasoning with you. You'll refuse to trust the man who fights alongside you, but willingly and blindly trust a random enemy who appears to you in a dream. You're being nothing more than an idiotic, petulant child."

Ivan spun back around, his hair lifting into the air ever so slightly. "Don't call me that!"

"Which part? Idiotic, petulant, or a child?" Alex placed his hands on his hips. "Or was it simply the order you take offense to? Would I do better calling you a petulant, childish idiot?"

"Alex!" Mia snapped, glaring at him. "That is enough! Both of you need to sit down and grow up!"

Ivan turned to her and found the normally calm woman's face stern. When she turned to him, he quickly fell back into his chair. "Mia, I-"

Mia made a silencing motion with her hand and Ivan shut his mouth. "The two of you have been getting absolutely unbearable. You've done nothing but snap at each other every chance you get, and it's doing nothing but irritating the rest of us."

"Ivan," she said, turning to him. He cringed back slightly from her expression, feeling like a child being yelled at by his mother. "You need to recognize that our enemies have all of the same powers that you do, as well as some you don't know about, and they can manipulate them far better than you. It is absolutely possible that they have found a way to infiltrate and influence dreams."

She turned to the other end of the table, where Alex sat looking down at the table, not meeting Mia's eyes. "Alex. Alex," she repeated, forcing him to look at her. "Like it or not, you are functioning as part of a group right now. You do not have the right to criticize and insult others simply because you disagree with them. We cannot work together if you are driving wedges between yourself and everyone else."

Her eyes swung back to Ivan. "You need to remember the same. If there is a disagreement in how you two believe we should proceed, you do not shout about it like chil- like an old married couple. If you can't come to an agreement reasonably, then we'll all get together and talk about it and come up with a solution together."

"And you," she said, turning once again. "You need to remember that a person's mind is off-limits without permission. Invading someone's mind is a terrible breach of privacy. Even with how much Ivan distrusts you, he has never invaded your mind. Such a thing is unthinkable among allies. Since Jupiter Psynergy is still fairly new to you, consider this your warning."

Ivan frowned on the inside, careful to maintain his face neutral. The privacy of Alex's mind had not been saved by something so slight as taboo. Only the knowledge that Alex could detect his Psynergy and change his thoughts to whatever he felt kept Ivan from attempting it; he knew it would be seen as an act of aggression. Despite Mia's words, he expected the same thought was running through Alex's head. The man knew how people worked, for sure.

"Now," she said, sitting back down at the table, "let's discuss this like reasonable people. Regardless of the cause, Ivan, you've had a dream about a man asking you for help. It's safe to assume the dream is some form of message. I also believe it safe to assume the man is Anemian. Do you agree, Ivan?"

He swallowed once, then nodded, remaining silent.

Mia nodded in response. "Alright. Now, this fact is important, but not defining. We have met one Anemian, not counting Sheba. However, I also remember a time when we met a pair of Proxians, and then spent the next few months imagining their people as greedy, warlike, brutes. I will not make that same mistake again. Clotho is Anemian, but he is not Anemos. There may well be people there who disagree with his policies."

"You're suggesting that if we go, we may find an ally inside Anemos?" Alex asked calmly.

"I am," Mia said. "He might even be needing help from our enemies. Think about how powerful Clotho was, and how useful it would be to have someone like him on our side."

Alex frowned, tapping his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "I will agree," he said after a long moment, "that it is possible this dream could be about an ally. However, it stands an equal likelihood of being a trap. The question, then, seems to be if the chance of gaining a powerful ally outweighs the chance of those who go to Contigo being captured, hurt, or killed."

He raised an eyebrow at Mia, turning the statement into a question. She merely shrugged. "I don't know. At the very least, though, I think we could look into it. Cautiously, of course."

Alex nodded. "Caution will be imperative. Personally, I would rather keep my cards safe than gamble them all on the chance of gaining one."

"But there's also the man himself to consider," Ivan said softly, carefully keeping his voice low and unthreatening. "If it's not a trap, then he needs help, and that message came specifically to me."

"Not to be contrary, but our goal is to stop the Anemoi genocide on Weyard," Alex said, looking over at him. "We are trying to save thousands of thousands of people. Even assuming this is genuine, do we risk the success of that mission to save one man from within the enemy's borders?"

Ivan frowned, looking down. Alex had sound logic in that argument. It was emotional, impulsive, and risky, with far too much on the line to deal with things carelessly. They held the future of Weyard in their hands; if they fell, so did Weyard as they knew it.

Before he could say anything, though, Mia surprised him. "Those thousands of thousands of people are each one man, one woman, one child," she said. "Their lives are worth no more or less than this man's. Our goal is to save people from the Anemoi. Leaving one in their clutches like this undermines the entire purpose of our fight."

Alex stared at her for a few seconds in silence. Right before he began to speak, Ivan suddenly realized that the man had actually been surprised as well. "Mia, choices have to be made between saving one person and saving several all the time. You know this. It's a fundamental part of our profession."

"And this is not one of those situations," Mia said firmly. "It's not a choice between saving him and saving the world, it's only possibly a choice between them. If we do it right, we can save him with no issues. Perhaps we can even strike at the Anemoi when we do, and further both goals."

"But if we fail..."

"'Only a coward shies away for fear of failure,' Alex. If we fail at any point, we lose. One more opportunity isn't really a concern."

Alex looked down at the table, then back up at Mia with a small smile. "Your father's wisdom is still teaching us lessons, I suppose. I'm assuming I'm being out-voted?"

Mia shrugged. "I still need to speak with Jenna about it, but unless she has a strong opposition to it, which I don't expect, then yes. We'll be heading to Contigo."

"Understood," Alex said, standing up. "I suggest waiting for a bit, however. I would like some time to think of the best way to go about our business, as well as search around town for anything we might use. If we must enter the beast's maw, I would prefer a strong stick to brace it open."

Ivan watched him leave in silence, leaning on the table, but could find nothing to say to Mia that didn't sound empty. He realized how difficult the situation must be for her, seeing both of them like that. Their current argument really didn't matter; the words were just another costume they donned for their battle. Between the lines, behind their eyes, everything came back to Ivan's vision of the three of them, in the middle of a city, surrounded by the dead.

Her new friend who swears she'll come to harm from her old friend who swears he won't let it come to pass. Both people she trusted deeply to protect her. How could she possibly take sides in that?

She couldn't. Ivan knew it, just as he knew she was right, even if she hadn't said it: he was being a child, throwing a tantrum because someone told him he was wrong. Loosing his frustration like that did no good, nor did it help make Mia believe him.

He had to watch as someone he didn't like threatened the life of someone he cared for deeply. She had to watch as two people she cared for deeply threatened each other. It would be like watching Isaac and Garet at each other's throats, he realized, only able to divert their wrath from each other by using his own relationship to distract them temporarily.

A pair of arms gently wrapped around him, pulling him back into a warm body behind him. "Mia..."

She shushed him quietly, the puff of warm breath tickling his ear before she leaned her head against his. He could feel her heartbeat faintly tapping on his back and her soft breathing rolling across the back of his neck. The feelings emptied his mind and thoughts of Alex vanished, leaving behind a silent content.

He reached up to softly touch her hand, then turned around on impulse and wrapped his arms around her as well, burying his chin into her shoulder. They held each other for a full minute in silence before pulling apart slowly.

"I'm sorry, Mia," Ivan said quietly, looking down again. "I haven't been thinking about how difficult this is for you."

"Even if you haven't, everything that you've done, you've done thinking of me, and I do appreciate that, Ivan, I really do." She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the forehead. "Never forget that, please."

He expected himself to start blushing furiously, for the situation to take a quick turn for the awkward, but in a rather detached fashion he noticed that nothing of the sort happened. Ironic, he thought wryly, remembering what had happened when Hama had done the same. He hadn't been able to look her in the eye for almost a week. That spoke volumes about how close he was to his sister, he supposed.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you like that," Mia continued. "I just... I care for both of you too much to see you like that." She sighed. "We're all a bit strung out, I guess. I feel like we can't settle in one spot for any period of time. We keep needing to move, and there's no sensible progression to it."

Ivan nodded silently. They had planned on returning to Tolbi on the following day, then wait for Kraden to get word back on finding a ship for them. Now, though, they would need to leave today, rushing along towards danger with barely enough time to consider whether it was even a good idea.

He hoped beyond hope that simple danger was the worst that awaited them.