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.

19. Queen's Fork

Golden Sun: Wings of Anemos

Chapter 19 – Queen's Fork

- \/\/ -

The sun set on the far side of Kalay. Ivan watched it drift down through the clouds, burning a deep red, as if angry to be drawn away from Weyard yet again. In the last instants before Sol dipped below the horizon, all manner of colors spanned the sky. It moved from the bright orange surrounding the day's end, almost hitting the entire spectrum of a rainbow as it cycled through to deep purple somewhere behind him.

It skipped green, unfortunately, a color that Ivan held close to his heart.

Even the trees had abandoned the color with the advent of winter so close. Warm colors decorated their branches now, painting the very quintessential image of autumn. He had watched them do the same the year before, from the same chair outside his home. He had watched as the leaves curled and died, their sources going into hibernation before the snows arrived. He had watched as green blossomed everywhere the following spring, the trees giving birth to new life.

He looked down. The young girl on his lap had fallen asleep. He could not be sure as to when, since she often sat in silence while they gazed out over the city. She leaned back against his chest, his arms curled around her waist, and moved little. Sometimes she would ask questions about the things she saw, while sometimes she would ask questions about whatever happened to cross her mind. Always questions, though, never comments. Ivan made a point to praise her curiosity at every opportunity, making her little face glow.

Several people still moved about the streets. Ivan watched them go, silently greeting the few that passed near enough. Most knew of his nightly habit by this point; they often asked how one so busy managed to spend so much time doing nothing. Always, he told them that he squeezed his schedule tight solely to make that time to sit with his daughter.

The wind drifted by, rustling the few leaves that had fallen. It walked them along the street and around the corner of another house, before dying down and allowing the ambiance of the city to return. Wheels clattered across cobblestones, indistinguishable voices carried across the air, and down by the docks, a bell rang across the bay several times.

He would not wake her, he decided. The mild weather would serve as their blanket during the night, if it came to that. Instead, he leaned his head down and planted a soft kiss atop the girl's head, whispering his love for her to the coming night.

- \/\/ -

"I want to talk to her."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Mia pinched at the bridge of her nose. She and Alex had returned less than ten minutes ago, yet already she could feel an argument brewing between him and Ivan. They might have reached some kind of peace lately, but it would take more than a truce to reconcile their radically different ways of thinking.

Alex wore the Mercurian sword at his hip, though Mia had noticed Ivan no longer carried Dullahan's blade. Had Garet taken it to the Docks with him? She did not mind; though she would never say it to him, the sword looked terribly out of place on the boy's back.

"Where is Kraden?" she asked, not opening her eyes. She really did not want to mediate between them again.

"In town," Ivan said. "He went to talk with people about some reconstruction that hadn't started yet."

Mia sighed. "Alright. If Atropos is telling the truth, then nothing bad will come of speaking with her, agreed?" The two nodded. "If she's lying, then she's biding her time for something, presumably Sheba, and could very well be attempting to fish for information. However, as annoying as he gets with it, Alex is quite skilled with his wordplay, similarly skilled in hiding his thoughts, and spectacularly skilled in deceit."

Alex frowned, but said nothing.

Ivan frowned as well. "I suppose you're right. I'd like to be there still, though."

"Of course," Alex said, bowing his head. "I am not trying to suggest an incompetency on your part, or subterfuge on mine, merely that we are different people, who think in different ways and notice different things."

"All three of us will go," Mia said firmly, then paused, glancing to the side. "Aisa, you don't mind waiting here?"

"Hmm?" The young woman turned away from the great map of Weyard that acted as a window. "Oh, no. So long as you aren't planning on hurting her, at least."

Alex shook his head. "I am not eager to pick a fight with another Anemian King."

Ivan led them from the study and down the hall, pausing outside of a closed door as the two guards stepped aside. "Are you sure?" When Alex nodded, Ivan pulled the door open and stood back, letting him pass through.

She followed Alex into the room without a word, Ivan close behind her. A blond woman lay in the room's sole bed, her head propped up by a pair of pillows. She held a book in her lap, and Mia felt the tension in her melting away. With the bandages that covered half her visible body, Mia would never have guessed her to be an Anemian King if she had not seen her in Anemos already.

Atropos glanced up at them as they entered, closing the book on her thumb. "The Mercurian. I have not yet had the chance to congratulate you on your victory over Clotho. An impressive feat, to be sure."

"I keep impressive company," Alex said, bowing slightly. "Clotho kept none."

"I admit, I have found your friends more capable than I first believed," the woman said, then shook her head. "It seems I've grown a bit too arrogant, as well. But, to imagine those who grew without Alchemy's light overcoming one such as him..."

"That is, of course, the ultimate end of all such tyrants," Alex said. "Clotho merely had the misfortune of encountering the rebels who would overthrow him rather early."

Atropos shifted in her bed, pushing herself to more of a sitting position, but stopped with a hiss of pain, her hand clutching at her side.

Alex stepped forward, gently pushing her arm aside. "Please, allow me to ex-"

The king's hand snapped up and, too late to respond, Mia noticed the pulse of Psynergy. Yellow light flashed across the short distance between her palm and Alex's body, but the man did not flinch away. He did not move at all. He's can't move! Mia realized.

Whether Ivan had reached the same conclusion or not, she could not say, but both of them moved towards the king together. She could see the fury in the boy's expression as his hand moved to his side, grasping the hilt of his sword.

Before he could draw it, however, Atropos' hand flicked out again. Wind picked Mia up with ease, hurling her into the corner of the room against the bookshelf. She smashed into the shelves, cracks snapping out only from the wood, fortunately, then collapsed down to the floor. A jug of something that smelled strongly of tea shattered against the floor alongside Ivan, knocked from the desk across the room as he landed in a similar fashion to her. Mia pushed herself to her feet, wincing at the twinge of pain in her back, keeping her eyes on Atropos.

The Anemian had risen from the bed and placed her other hand against Alex's forehead, brimming with Jupiter Psynergy once more. It did not flash and vanish as the previous spells had, but held together, a sign of a focused and concentrated effort.

"She's draining him!" Ivan shouted, pushing himself to his feet as well and charging at the king again. Her casual burst of wind met Ivan's arm, held out as if holding a shield, and though the gust stopped his forward motion, it did not lift him from the ground this time.

Atropos' gaze never left Alex, though a small noise of annoyance escaped her mouth. She kept one hand on Alex, the other pointed at Ivan. Wind howled through the small room, whipping at all the fabric inside it, but the main force was directed at Ivan, preventing him from advancing.

So Mia went instead.

She could not pull enough water from the air effectively; the amount she could draw would take precious time to freeze after condensing, time she did not have. Instead, she reached her mind to the spilled tea, pulling the water out so thoroughly that it left dried and withered herbs on the floor. It wound through the air like a streamer, circling behind Alex to strike at Atropos from Mia's own side. It solidified into a crystal stinger as it flew, lashed out as if from a manticore's tail.

Atropos flicked her gaze at the ice.

It melted instantly, falling to the ground as Mia felt her control over it shatter, vanishing as if she had dispelled it herself. She stared at the Anemian in confusion for a moment. The only means of doing that was to seal an Adept's Psynergy, which Mia had not felt, or to wrench control of the Psynergy with force. But Atropos had no sway over Mercury, so that could not-

Mia gasped.

Atropos smiled.

With a flick of the king's wrist, Alex launched into Mia, shoving her backwards into the wall. They missed the bookcase this time, to Mia's relief, though her head slammed against the wooden wall regardless, sending bright lights flashing across her vision. She slumped down once more, reflexively holding Alex to her body. She heard another loud thump from the other side of the room, followed by the woman's fading laughter, a high and tinkling sound that reminded Mia of holiday merriment.

She had no time to sit here like this, stunned. Mia closed her eyes, bringing Psynergy forth to try and calm the waves in her head. While she worked, she heard the call of a pair of guards from the hallway. The snap of lightning rang through the building, followed by two dull thuds, and then the front door opened and closed, leaving the palace in silence.

A silent fury rose inside Mia, clawing its way forward. This woman had been a guest, a patient here. Had this been her plan all along? She suspected so. She had deceived them all, taking advantage of their goodwill and decency as human beings to tear them apart. The anger ate away at the calm presence filling her mind, tearing away her concentration. Good enough. Mia opened her eyes and glanced around the room. Ivan sat against the side wall in a similar manner to her, his eyes unfocused from the hard impact as he tried to stand up again. Alex lay in her lap, limp and staring at nothing. "Alex!" He did not respond, so she slapped him once. "Alex!"

The man blinked and turned towards Mia. "It's gone. It's gone."

"I know," Mia said, then shifted him to her shoulder and pushed both of them to their feet. "Can you stand?" She let him go, not bothering to wait for an answer. He held himself up, so Mia crossed the room and pulled Ivan up. She pushed him flat against the wall, making him stand straight, then locked her eyes with his. She placed both hands on either side of his head, focusing her Psynergy. Ivan seemed to understand her intent and maintained the eye contact.

After a few seconds she stepped back and glanced at Alex. He still seemed slightly disoriented, but Mia had no knowledge of what kind of secondary effects such a drain might leave him with. Instead, she said firmly, "Follow me," and he obeyed.

She stepped into the hall, moving towards the front doors. The smell of burnt hair and roasted flesh filled the hallway, and a single glance told her checking the guards that had been thrown into the entrance hall would be a futile effort. Hurried footsteps echoed down the opposite hallway as Mia reached for the door, and she glanced over her shoulder as Aisa slid to a stop, looking at the dead guards in horror.

"What..." she started, trailing off.

"She wasn't waiting for Sheba, Aisa. She was waiting for Alex," Mia said. "Don't follow us."

Aisa glanced again at the guards, her face losing another shade of color. "I... Why?"

"Because we're going to kill your mother," Mia said as she pulled the door open, stepping through it.

Harsh sunlight, unhindered by clouds, blinded her for a few seconds. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from it, scanning the gardens out front for the Anemian. After a quick glance to her sides, as well as up, she moved towards the road at a jog. As she reached the crest of the hill, she could see Atropos' form a short distance down the road, walking at a leisurely pace. As soon as Mia spotted the woman, though, she stopped, turned around, and placed her hands on her hips, staring up the hill.

The calm arrogance unnerved Mia, forcing her to suppress a shiver. The cool, sure confidence she felt while speaking to Aisa vanished, replaced by doubt. There were three of them. How were they going to overcome someone who now had nigh-unlimited control over three of the four elements?

She pushed the uncertainty aside as she started down the hill, Alex and Ivan following behind her. As she approached the Anemian, she could see a small smile on her face, one that only served to reignite her fury.

"I was hoping you would follow," Atropos said, her smile growing. "You are quite a tenacious bunch. I find your determination fascinating."

"What do you plan on doing with it?" Mia asked, mostly to give herself time to settle her anger again.

"The Golden Sun? Whatever I please, of course. I'll have no need to bow to my dear king anymore. Anemos will be mine, and Weyard along with it." The woman glanced out over the town. "But first, I'd like to find this missing piece."

Of course. Just as Alex had done, Atropos would be after Isaac. In its fragmented form, the power she held only provided incredible levels of Psynergy, not the reality-changing abilities the Sun was rumored to possess. Would she be as gentle to Isaac as Alex had planned?

To Mia's horror, the Anemian turned back to her. "Isaac? That's the one who fought Clotho, is he not? Aha! I wondered why he had remained. I assumed him to be nothing more than a regular Venusian."

"That's impossible," Mia breathed. "I didn't feel a thing."

Atropos frowned. "Really, child, did you honestly expect to? The mind is my domain, my specialty...though I hardly need such expertise against you mortals."

"Then... Then everything you said was a lie?" Ivan said, stepping up beside Mia. "Everything you told me?"

"No, not at all. I spoke only the truth." The king tapped her chin for a moment. "Or rather, I spoke the truth until you mentioned your dream. A lie there was the only means of getting you to set aside that facet of distrust."

Ivan shook his head. "What do you mean, you never lied? You never mentioned anything about Alex! You said you wanted help stopping Lachesis."

Atropos nodded. "And that I did...but not from you. I wanted his daughter as leverage to depose him and take his place, initially, but the allure of Alchemy itself is far more attracting." She turned around and began walking down the hill once more.

"Where are you going?" Mia called.

"To the Karagol. That is where your friend went, did he not?"

The world twisted and bent around Mia. Everything resettled as she turned to face Atropos straight on, standing between her and the city. Water began to condense in the air around her. "You're not going near Isaac."

Atropos laughed again, a rich and full sound that Mia could not believe belonged to such a woman. "Your nobility breaks my heart, Imilian. I would like to destroy you, but I think I have more appropriate actions. Where are your allies in this defense, I wonder?"

"Behind you," Ivan called out, though he stopped a short distance away from Atropos, as had Alex. "We stand with Mia."

"Oh?" The Anemian did not turn to look at them, but narrowed her eyes at Mia, instead. "Are you sure about that?"

The silence that preceded Alex stepping forward was the loudest she had ever heard.

The man stopped behind Atropos, then dropped to one knee. "In exchange for a single request once you have obtained it...I will aid you in your desire for the Golden Sun, Your Highness."

"Alex!" Mia gasped. Surely he wouldn't? Surely he was just getting close, getting in range for a surprise attack? Surely this was a deception of some kind? Surely... Surely...

"She stands in our way," Atropos said. "If you would aid me, then move her."

He wouldn't. Mia knew Alex would never harm her. But as he stepped past the king, pulling that black book from its satchel, doubt blossomed in her mind. She knew how much Marie meant to him, and how much she meant to him, but...she had never seen those two compared. Alex had never needed to choose between Marie and Mia.

She felt cold, despite the warmth of Tolbi's winter.

Alex paused as he opened the book. "Mia... I know asking you to understand is pointless, so instead-"

"I will not move," she said, her voice cracking slightly. She took a deep breath to stabilize herself again.

He frowned, then glanced over his shoulder at Atropos for a moment. "Please, Mia. I don't want to-"

"Make your choice, Alex," she said quietly. "Me, or Marie. Weyard or Marie."

Atropos no longer existed. Ivan no longer existed. Tolbi no longer existed. Only she and Alex remained, alone on this road, facing two different directions. She hoped against hope that she held wrong information again, that his betrayal was merely her misunderstanding, but the hope flickered and died as Alex answered her question.

"That's too bad." Mia raised her hand, pointing the palm at Alex. Everything had gone cold now. "We already know what I choose between you and Weyard."

The water drifting around her froze as it launched forward.

She knew it would not reach him. One of his hands dropped to the pommel of the sword at his waist as the ice approaching him returned to water, splattering the ground at his feet. Mia doubted he even needed the sword's power; they had gone through similar trials, and held approximately the same power in Psynergy. At that distance, keeping control of it herself would be difficult, even without his opposition.

Alex held the black book up, reminding Mia of a preacher starting a sermon. Rather than throw words at her, however, she felt the pulse of Psynergy. An unsettling feeling accompanied it.

It's a tool, she remembered, one capable of any number of skills. He doesn't even need to use Mercury Psynergy.

Flames washed out from Alex, moving in a manner Mia had never seen. They rolled forward like a wave, bouncing from the ground and splashing forwards, then continuing towards her. She had seen molten rock do such things, as well as water, but not fire. It seemed impossible for it to act as water.

That impossibility did not keep her from trusting her eyes, however. She could not pull as much water from the air as she liked, but she slammed it into the incoming fire regardless. The two met in a clash of steam that Mia seized control of, spreading it out as she moved off the road, hoping to let the strange river of fire move past her.

As she retreated behind the white cover, she stopped using Psynergy to hide herself, while straining to sense anyone else's. Alex's Psynergy...something seemed strange about it. Despite generating fire, which gave off a blatant Mars aura to her senses, the casting itself had done no such thing. She merely felt the presence of Psynergy, yet found herself unable to determine the element. Could the book mask such a thing? Or did it transcend the elements?

Movement.

The fire punched through the steam, rolling over the grass with a bottomless hunger. She could feel the fires spreading more readily, now that it traveled over a flammable material, instead of the stone road. It switched directions, leaving the ground ablaze where it had washed over.

Alex was not bothering to find her, she realized. Why would he? He could simply set the entire field on fire and force her to reveal herself. Her rapidly thinning steam would leave her visible before long, but to create more, she would have to use Psynergy and give away her presence. The flaming river wound throughout the grass blindly still, but given long enough, it would find her. She could do nothing against Atropos with Alex after her.

Ivan, she thought. Don't die.

Turning as the sun's rays pierced through the dissipating steam, she dashed for the tree line behind her.

- \/\/ -

Atropos turned her eyes upon him.

Ivan could not move. He recognized that gaze, those vicious eyes that laughed at him. They sized him up in an instant, finding him nothing more than a child, a distraction fit only to toy with. Victory was not a question for those eyes, but a way of life.

These eyes did not hold flames in them, however. No, they held storms, and quakes, and blizzards. They held the power of the gods, and yet for all that power, they lacked that which he had failed against before.

It was as close to a sign as he could hope to get.

He drew his sword.

Atropos' smile stretched across her face. "Our little Jovian fancies himself a hero, does he? To be the one who single-handedly defeats a King of Anemos? Childish delusions are always so adorable."

"I am not a child," he said, though the knot in his stomach disagreed.

"You're all children to me," Atropos said, waving her hand. "Some people have reservations about killing children. I don't. Does that scare you? Does it make you want to run and hide under your bed?"

"Of course I want to," he said, wondering whether he would regret not carrying Dullahan's sword. "I'd be a fool not to be afraid right..." He trailed off, noticing Atropos frown as her eyes drifted past him. For a moment, he refused to follow her gaze, suspecting a trap, but his mind pointed out that whether or not his back was turned seemed irrelevant.

He found Aisa moving down the hill, halfway between jogging and walking. She had picked up a guard's sword and Ivan could see she had at least some training with the weapon.

Ivan moved to one side of the road as Aisa moved to the other, forming a triangle between the three. Her eyes flickered back and forth between Ivan and Atropos. "Mother... What's going on? You told me you were hiding from King Lachesis."

Atropos snorted. "Hiding from him? I would never bother with something so pointless. He might not have visions as frequently as I do, but they still happen. If I was not capable of standing against him directly, how could I call myself King? I expected these fools to believe such a tale, but not you, Aisa. How disappointing."

"Then... Then he never attacked you?" Aisa asked.

"Of course not," her mother said. "What would he have to gain from attacking me? He was certainly furious that I did not aid Clotho, but enough to attempt to kill the other living King? I thought I raised you to be more clever than this. Did you think I would not lie to you simply because I gave birth to you?"

Aisa lowered the sword, her empty hand balling into a fist. "You're my mother! You're not supposed to lie to me, to manipulate me! I trusted you! I came here out of concern for you!"

"How terrible it must be, little prince, realizing you are not the center of the universe," Atropos said, sighing through her nose. "Do you know how many daughters and sons I have raised? You knew yourself not to be my firstborn. He betrayed me long ago, as you seem intent on doing now."

"I'm not trying to betray you!" Aisa shouted. "This war is not necessary! Please, mother, stop this! We can help them, we can stop King Lachesis! Please, I beg you!"

Atropos casual smirk vanished, replaced by a sharp frown. "Beg? Beg? No one of such noble birth should be begging, like a common street urchin. Nor should one of such birth show such weak tender-heartedness. You are not fit to be a king, Aisa."

Aisa stared at the woman for a moment. "Then... Then I cast aside my noble birth, like Sheba has. If I must fight you to stop this, then I will fight. I will fight for Anemos and the future it deserves!"

A surge of Psynergy rolled outward from the younger woman, an unfocused wave that caught Ivan by surprise. He noticed no attack on Atropos; rather, he saw Jupiter's aura wreathed around Aisa, burning bright white along her skin. Surprise replaced the clear resolution that had covered the rest of her face, the woman evidently as confused as Ivan.

The halo of Jupiter energy flashed once, then pooled around her back. Two great, white wings unfolded from her body, spreading outward and flicking off the trace amounts of concentrated Psynergy that had formed them. The feathers shone in the morning sun, whiter than untouched snow.

The Wings of Anemos... Ivan thought to himself. He had caught a glimpse of them when they first met Clotho, but they had vanished only seconds later. They looked nothing like the Wings that had been affixed to the Kailani, of course, but he supposed such a difference was self-explanatory. This was the natural talent of the Anemoi, as organic to them as the draconian blood of the Proxians.

For her part, Aisa seemed to have understood what happened. Amazement replaced confusion as she glanced over her shoulder at the great wing. She reached back to touch it, ignoring the odd angle required as she stretched her arm.

"No, I don't believe I can allow this."

At the sound of her mother's voice, Aisa arched her back and fell to her hands and knees, sword clattering to the ground beside her. The lingering remnants of Jupiter energy flowed away from her through the air, moving towards Atropos' outstretched hand.

Ivan recognized the same draining technique she had performed on Alex. Lightning snapped along his blade as he lashed it out at the king, arcing it through the air, but a flick of her spare hand caused the bolt to rebound from an invisible barrier, the same kind Alex often used.

He did not understand; Aisa had no special powers for Atropos to steal. She had wings of her own. His mind felt numb as he watched the young woman gasp on the ground, a second bolt of lightning meeting the same fate as the first. Why was she doing this? Aisa's wings vanished, breaking into Psynergetic particles as they joined the river of power, flowing into the vast sea Atropos already occupied. Her aura vanished next.

Her color began to follow.

Her golden hair dimmed, as if clouds obscured the sun, but the sky remained clear. The healthy pale of her skin faded to a sickly gray, and though Ivan could not see her eyes, he suspected they had done the same.

Atropos was not stealing her power.

Atropos was stealing her life.

"Stop it!" he shouted, throwing more lightning at the Anemian, to no effect. "Stop it!" Ignored by the woman, he dashed towards her instead, moving his sword to the side to strike.

The king swung her other arm around, cloaking it in wind as she parried the blade aside. The force of the wind ripped it from Ivan's grip, hurling it to the side of the road. Before he could follow it, her hand snapped up and clamped down around his throat.

He felt the draining flow stop as she focused on him. Run, he thought at Aisa, the edges of his vision flashing white. Get away.

Before he fell into unconsciousness, Atropos' hand loosened and her face came into focus, looking at him. The blood rushed back into his head and made the world spin for a moment before stabilizing. He found her smiling.

"You're going to watch, serpent-spawn," she said. The cobblestones of the road parted as the earth beneath rose up, gripping Ivan a bit more loosely than Atropos had gripped his neck. Her fingers pushed on his cheek, pointing his face towards Aisa, who had not risen. "You're going to watch what happens to traitors."

"No," he muttered, his voice cracking. He tried to call his Psynergy, to use it to break free, but his head was still dizzy from the sudden changes in blood flow. He could not concentrate enough.

Atropos turned back to Aisa, raising her hand. The draining resumed, starting with the breath Aisa had recovered in the brief pause.

Ivan heard it leave her in a choking gasp, her body nearly collapsing to the ground again. Her arms shook with the effort of holding her herself up. Silver overtook her hair, in the same way most of the world lost its color when viewed through Jupiter's eye. Her skin cracked like the hard clay of a desert, gone too long without moisture.

Aisa raised her head slowly, mouthed the word 'mother', and crumbled into dust.

Ivan could not look away. He watched her clothes collapse onto the gray outline on the ground, its edges distorting in a gentle breeze that moved across the road. His mouth felt dry. He wanted to swallow, but could not. He wanted to scream, but could not. The only thing he could do was turn his head to Atropos.

The stone around him withdrew to the ground, letting the boy slump to his knees as he looked up at the king. A non-distracted part of him pointed out the pain of dropping to the cobblestones, but most of him failed to notice.

Atropos placed her hands on his cheeks, cradling them in her palms. "Such is the fate of traitors, child. Turn aside. Cast aside that traitorous blood and I will let you live. I will not kill your friend, either, not unless he seeks death by opposing me. Walk back up the road."

He did not answer at first, but turned his head to the side, looking towards the trees. The trees Mia and Alex had vanished into. The flames had begun to die on the grass, leaving great, black patches. He felt a faint pulse of Jupiter Psynergy, only noticeable because of the near silence in his mind.

"Ah... You're concerned about the girl." Atropos shook her head. "Your concern is well placed. I cannot risk the loss of such a useful ally. I will need to dispose of her." The corners of her mouth twitched up. "Would you go to her side? Would you rescue her? Of course, if you attack the man, you'll be opposing me, which you know the penalty for."

His mind had still not resumed normal operations. He tried to focus on Atropos, on his anger, on his fear, but felt his focus slip away each time. When he thought of Mia, killed by Alex, however, his mind held. "Will... Would you spare her, then?"

Atropos' smile widened. "If you go to her aid? She will get the same mercy Isaac will: if she leaves, and she shall live."

Ivan began to laugh.

A frown crossed the Anemian's face and she stepped back. "Do you find my offer amusing? I could simply kill you all, if you prefer."

"I dreamed of this," Ivan muttered, torn between bursting into laughter and tears. "That I would choose between myself and Mia."

But it was more than a choice between himself and Mia, wasn't it? Alex could kill Mia...and he would not stop there. Isaac and Piers would follow, and eventually, Lachesis as well. If he walked away, he knew they would win, in the end. He could save the world.

He just had to let Mia die.

Or he could convince her to leave. He could tell her that he would stop Alex, and that she needed to find the others, to let them know what happened. He could take her place. He could give his life for her.

He realized that he wanted to. For most of his life, he had questioned the concept of giving his life to protect someone, never sure he would ever be able to. Not until he had met his friends and grown to love them all had he realized, yes, he was not only capable of doing it, but willing. He would die for her, and in doing so, he would risk the world.

Countless lives weighed against one. The philosophical debate of the ages, reason versus emotion. Were the one not Mia, Ivan knew that he would side with the numbers. Were he not the required sacrifice otherwise, he knew that he would not have the question of his cowardice, either.

Mia discarded that reasoning, though. Had she not said that all those lives were each one? That when the question was not a straight trade, but only a possibility, every attempt should be made to save all?

Ivan closed his eyes. Why was he even thinking about it? He could never betray Mia like that, even with the world at stake. His choice was nothing but an illusion. Despite his dreams showing him two possible futures, only one could actually happen.

A vision does not dictate the necessary future, only a possible one.

Atropos' words rang through his head, ones that echoed Hama's own thoughts on dreams, but he saw no use in them. The dream had presented two possible outcomes; even if he could never bring himself to choose one of them, he could not deny its existence.

Although...most dreams did not show a choice. They showed him a situation, and the choice came about when he strove to avoid that situation, therefore invalidating the dream. Could he not do the same now? The dream showed him choosing his own life, by walking away, or choosing Mia's life, by going to her. Where could another choice even take place? If he did not go to Mia, Atropos would see her dead.

Unless Atropos never reached Mia. Ivan opened his eyes and frowned. Could Mia defeat Alex on her own? Ivan had no idea, but he found it far more plausible than the woman defeating both her former clansman and the Anemian King. How could he stop Atropos from attacking Mia, though? Short of killing her himself, he could...

Ivan hesitated. Numbers did not exist to measure such small chances. Not only did the woman hold centuries of experience in Jupiter Psynergy over him, she now held an equal power in Mercury and Venus. She outclassed him in every possible way. Attempting it was all but suicide.

Only a coward shies away for fear of failure, Mia whispered to him.

Ivan swallowed and mentally pulled his sword to his hand.

Atropos' eyebrows rose. "I'm not sure I understand your choice here, child."

"My name is Ivan," he said, returning to his feet. He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. "I will not run, nor will I allow you to harm Mia. I will fight you, Your Highness, and with the help of the gods, I will defeat you."

The woman stared at him incredulously for a long moment, then clapped her hands together as laughter filled the silence between them. "Well, this is quite a surprise. A bit overly dramatic, but I suppose that's unavoidable. I was expecting you to run to her side, to plead with her to save herself, that you would die in her place. I'd hoped you had enough courage in you to not simply flee, but this! You have exceeded my expectations. Well done!"

Ivan opened his mouth to retort, to tell her that he did not care, but he realized how foolish it would be. He would be wasting time by discussing anything further. Instead, he reached above Atropos with his mind, tearing a rift in the latent Jupiter energy there. It responded instantly to repair itself, snapping down at the woman in the form of lightning.

She raised a hand, channeling it through her own body into the ground without so much as a glance upward. The drawback of natural lightning, Ivan remembered; it struck with more power, but could be diverted more easily. Sheba had made use of that to save people when the Anemoi struck Venus Lighthouse, hadn't she?

"I hope you intend on bringing more to this fight than that, Ivan," Atropos said. She spread her arms to the side and her own wings unfolded from her back before snapping to full extension. They flapped twice, pushing her into the air, then spread wide and held her aloft, though Ivan did not see how. Was it an extension of the ability to hover? "But...this will be a bit boring, really. I'll kill you far too easily. Let's make things more interesting. Give chase, Ivan. Show me your courage!"

Ivan watched her turn in the air and soar off down the road, looking no different from a large bird after a few seconds. He sheathed his blade, then started down after her towards Tolbi.

- \/\/ -

Mia did not move.

Alex was close. She could hear the crunch of dead leaves beneath his boots, slow and methodical. She could not see him, but her mind provided an image of his eyes darting back and forth, scanning the woods for any disturbance, any abnormality. A quick, silent prayer went up to Coatlicue in thanks for never allowing him to learn much hunting and tracking.

She crouched behind a tree, Mercury wrapped around her to shroud her presence. The thick canopy gave her plenty of cover to hide in, despite the bright morning sun. Could that book enable him to find her, regardless? Mia doubted it. Certainly, allowing that river of fire to flow freely would dispel the shadows hiding her, but Alex seemed unwilling to set the entire forest ablaze to find her.

Was he... Was he not trying? Had he chased her away from Atropos, intending to let her escape?

No. She knew Alex to be a skilled actor, but she could see through his masks. She had seen the pain in his eyes, hidden behind the mask of calm determination - a mask tempered with truth. She grit her teeth together, forcing the thought from her head. He had made his choice.

What was he doing, then? She doubted he could find her through traditional means; he needed to force her from hiding. What else could that book do?

The leaves of the trees rustled alongside those that had abandoned their homes. When it paused, she realized that Alex no longer moved, though she knew he had not reached her location yet. She clenched her hands as she held her breath, trying to listen for any further movement from the man.

The breeze seemed determined to thwart her, however. It returned, whispering amongst the trees. It curled around her crouched form, sending the dead leaves scattering across the forest floor. One accustomed to sneaking would certainly use such an audible distraction to cover his movements.

Mia released the breath she had been holding slowly and silently. Audibly tracking him was no longer an option. Using the wind's noise as well, she inched forward, ensuring she stayed within the tree's shadow, and peered around the trunk.

Alex stood a short distance away, exactly where she had last heard him move. His eyes scanned the woods, though he made no motion in any direction. Was he simply watching for her, hoping to get lucky? No. Not Alex. Alex did not rely on luck. He would-

She gagged as she began her slow inhale, feeling her throat burn. Unable to refuse to breathe, however, she choked down a lungful of air as the fire spread into her chest, pain blossoming across it. She fell to her knees and one hand, the other clutching at her chest as her Psynergy dispelled. Something... Something toxic had invaded her. She shivered once, recognizing it and her growing headache as symptoms of a fever. What could possibly move so fast, however?

The wind rustled the leaves near her again.

Clever, she thought. He spread it on the wind. Her cloak of shadows, while up, maintained its own Psynergy signature invisible to other Adepts, but use of anything else would shatter the spell. It worked both ways; while hidden, she could not sense any Psynergy, either. He must have used something, knowing the toxins he released would force her to reveal herself, while the wind could not fail to reach her with it.

The crunch of leaves made her head turn, finding Alex approaching. His face still held the same pained, but determined, expression. He had not drawn the blade at his hip; he had no need. Mia knew as well as he how poor his sword skills were, and the blade did not need to be drawn to access its latent power.

She forced herself to stand, despite the tendrils of pain crawling into her legs and arms. Breaths came with difficulty, each one a ragged wheeze that sounded more appropriate on an old man. The pressure building behind her eyes would soon become unbearable. She could taste the toxic air still drifting, though Alex seemed unaffected by it. Why wouldn't he be?

There had to be a way out. Somewhere. She pulled her Psynergy into herself, holding the poisonous substance at bay for a moment, stalling the expansion of the pain to think. While Alex held that book, she could not match him in Psynergy; he could counter everything she could do, though she could not say the same for herself. Even without the book, the sword gave him a strong advantage. She could not hide, not without subjecting herself to more of this foul air. She could not even win in a purely physical struggle.

She chose the only course left to her. She ran.

Expelling her Psynergy outward, Mia spun in place as the world did the same. The spike in her head added a few more moments of dizziness to the trip, but even once her vision settled, she still saw only trees. Another flash of pain across her chest threatened to return the woman to her knees, but she locked them, forcing herself to stay up. The air here tasted clean, at least. She reached inside herself once more, this time focusing her Psynergy on expelling the toxins.

She bent at the waist as her body attempted to aid her in the simplest fashion, the contents of her stomach splattering to the forest floor. That would be useful if it was in my stomach, she thought bitterly, but used the post-vomit calm to push her purge further. She started to cough and wheeze again as the pain receded, retreating into the center of her chest and breaking the fever. Warmth returned to her senses as she pushed the infection out on her breath.

Alex appeared between a pair of trees.

Mia abandoned her self-purification as the world spun once more, resettling deeper in the forest. She teetered for a second before finding her balance again. Pain tapped at her head, the lingering remnants of the toxin continuing to assault whatever faculties they could reach.

Before she could resume her efforts to rid herself of it, however, Alex warped into view once more. Mia responded in kind, but instead of continuing further into the forest, she moved north, up the hill. After only a few seconds, Alex followed. Of course, she realized. The range isn't far enough to get out of sight. He just has to stay alert, and he can find me before I warp again. Nevertheless, she continued to jump through the woods, hoping to lose him. While warping lacked the long-lasting, if weak, scrambling of concentration that accompanied teleportation, it carried its own, immediate version, one much more potent. Each jump cost Mia a second in settling her mind to allow another jump, preventing any immediate Psynergy use.

When she landed in a flat, open area, she recognized that running was as useless as her other, discarded strategies. She glanced around, noting nothing of use in the field; it only held a number of lumpy rocks that rose to her ankles. What, then? What could she do? How did she fight someone so much stronger?

There will always be people stronger than you, Mia, but if you pay attention, you can always find ways to put yourself at an advantage.

Her father's words echoed in her head as clearly as if he had just whispered them in her ear. That was it. Alex's position of power came not from an inherent advantage, but from his tools. If she could remove those tools...

Alex arrived before Mia had time to prepare, but she already knew acting immediately was vital. She drew water from the air and froze it as it formed, launching a few pieces of ice at the book that Alex held. The man sensed the attack and raised his hand, but as Mia expected, nothing happened; he needed another second to recover from the warp. Ice left her control and impaled the book, sending a surge of elation through Mia. The feeling quickly faded. The ice had merely stuck into the book's thick cover.

A gloved hand brushed the chunks out of the leather, fury erupting on Alex's face, something Mia had never seen there before. "So, you're not even satisfied with resisting. Do you hate Marie so much that you must attempt to obliterate every potential means I have to bring her back? Will you not rest until I join her in the grave?"

Mia felt the earth tremble beneath her feet as the wind, natural this time, rustled the surrounding trees. "That's not what-"

"Shut up!" Alex shouted.

She stepped back. What was wrong with him? Even when discussing Marie, he never grew so emotional, never let himself lose control like that. Even if he had decided that Mia's life was worth trading for his sister's, even if it hurt him more than anything to make that choice, he would have maintained his composure. That was what Alex did.

The ground trembled once more, earth rippling as if something burrowed through it. Mia hopped to the side, but the churning soil turned aside before it would have reached her, snaking throughout the field. She watched it turn abruptly several times, following a path invisible to her own eyes, but leaving one similar to plowed earth in its wake. Several of the stones she saw before shifted and tumbled from their places. Mia's eyes settled on one close to her.

They were not just stones.

They were gravestones.

Mia's head snapped to Alex. "No! You can't!"

"I can," Alex said. "That's the idea."

Something grabbed Mia's boot. She kicked her foot out and stumbled backwards, drawing water from the air on reflex. The loosened soil made for poor footing, reminding her of the great sand dunes of Suhalla. The churning soil did not seem aimed at slowing her, however, but at hastening the true effect of Alex's spell.

A filthy hand, protruding up from the dirt, clawed about blindly, searching for purchase. It found some after a few seconds, and the pile shifted to reveal a similarly filthy skull. Flesh clung in pieces to the white bone beneath, maggots clinging to it in turn. The overwhelming odor of rotting flesh filled Mia's nostrils, nearly making her vomit all over again; only her familiarity with the stench maintained her composure.

As she backed away, she saw other corpses freeing themselves from their earthen prisons, always where Alex's spell had turned the soil. Had it simply loosened the ground, allowing them to pull themselves free, or had it been the cause of this sacrilege? Mia had no idea. It did not matter.

She pointed at the closest of the dead, the water around her combining into a single pool, then freezing as she moved it forward. Had she done the same initially, then perhaps that profane book would already be destroyed. Before the great spear of ice could touch the corpse, however, it simply melted, splashing it with water. Mia turned to Alex in frustration, finding him watching her from behind the walking dead. Why would he join the fight directly, after all? He never worked like that, if he could help it.

With that sword, however, he could remelt any ice she formed, so long as he remained close. The nearest corpse looked about aimlessly for a moment, but once its eyes settled on Mia, it lurched towards her. Much as she wanted to simply warp away, leaving them behind, she had no means of knowing if they would return to regular corpses. She had encountered such vagrant dead in her travels before and always found such abominations the most offensive. She could not leave them.

However, so long as she stood in this graveyard, Alex could simply call more to replace any that might fall. She swung her hand forward, drawing and launching a fresh batch of water, though she made no attempt to freeze it. Instead, she splashed it to the ground, turning the loose soil at the corpses' feet to a thick mud. Feet sank into the sludge like water, though removal proved far more difficult.

Mia turned and ran. Alex would draw the water out from the soil, but separating it would take precious seconds, time in which she could put distance between them. How could she destroy those things without Mercury? For Isaac, or Garet, or even Ivan, such a task would be simple, but Mia carried only a dagger, a weapon that she did not trust to be capable of felling the monsters. She glanced about as she ran, hoping to find a fallen branch, something she might use to simply bludgeon them, but the graveyard looked to be maintained well.

To the woods, then. She glanced over her shoulder and found the corpses in pursuit once more, Alex following close behind them. The monstrosities did not run, though they shambled at a speed consistent with a fast walk.

She reached the shadow of the trees once more, but even here, someone had cleared away any fallen branches. Would she have to move further into the forest again?

The rustling reached her ears again, eerily constant. Mia glanced up, but found the thick canopy above unmoving. What? Before she could pursue the line of thought any further, however, a new one appeared. She turned back, gauging the distance between herself and her attackers. Pausing for a moment to time it properly, she spun and slapped her hands against the trunk of the tree.

Mercury Psynergy poured from her hands without the common delays associated with condensing water from air. White stretched from Mia's hand as the energy coursed into the tree, freezing everything it touched. Faster, she thought, pushing aside her headache and focusing. The wave of white continued on, stretching not only around the wood, but through it.

At the first, echoing crack, she pulled away and sidestepped around the trunk. Alex heard it as well, halting while his corpses continued their mindless advance. Mia met his eyes as she reached up with her mind, nudging the trunk higher up.

The frozen segment exploded outward under the weight of the otherwise healthy tree, icy splinters pelting Mia and forcing her to shield her eyes. Her telekinetic push precluded the ponderous balancing act the tree would have otherwise undergone, choosing its direction for it. Alex vanished from sight, warping to safety as Mia expected he would, but his dead servants had no such sense of self-preservation. The upper half of the tree, thick branches stretching out wide, smashed down and buried all of them in a single, deafening crash.

I guess that still counts as a bludgeon, she thought. Even Alex's reappearance could not dampen the thrill of victory. The unmoving trees whispered as she stared at her former clansman. Despite her mind protesting, her heart refused to stay silent. "I defended you, Alex," she said. "When you joined us, I was the only one. You were manipulative, you were secretive, but I said you should stay. I said you would never hurt me!"

"Then perhaps you should have reconsidered placing yourself between me and Marie!" His face flared with fury as he shouted, his eyes wide and wild. "You never supported my quest, and I was fine with that! I'm not so weak as to require it! But you respected my decision and let me make it myself!"

Mia threw her hands out to the side. "That's because your decision never included the destruction or subjugation of the entire world, Alex!"

"It's still my choice to make."

"As it is mine to stop you."

Alex's expression settled back into the firm determination that seemed more suited to Felix. "Then prove your will greater than mine."

Ice formed from the air itself, a transition Mia still had difficulty performing under duress. She knew better than to try and control them, at least while Alex still held the sword, so she tried another technique she had learned from the man, one she took to more easily than deposition. She raised her hand, palm facing Alex, and the air shimmered briefly before her. His ice rebounded from the invisible barrier, not shattering as if striking a wall, but the very Psynergy itself being redirected. They scattered in various directions; she lacked the fine control necessary to control the angle of their reflection.

She still needed some manner of attacking if she wanted to stop him, some means of disarming him. If she could take hold of the sword, they might be evenly matched. How to get it, though? He was stronger than her in every manner.

But he had not been the only one to master different facets of Mercury.

Mia vanished.

Alex instantly swept his eyes across the landscape, searching for that flash of blue hair she suspected often gave her away, but after a moment, he stopped. The wind picked up again, blending in with the whispering Mia could already hear. With it came the toxins.

Mia had already taken her breath, sealing her body against the foul air that buffeted her face. Enough of the substance still harassed her that she had no desire to introduce more. She stood, unmoving, in the same spot she had vanished, waiting patiently for her moment.

When the leaves twisted along the ground, carried by a small vortex of wind, Mia struck. She dashed forward, using the leaves as cover to her noise and movement, sprinting towards Alex. For a moment, she had a horrifying image of impaling herself upon his blade as she approached, fooled into a sense of security.

She was not the fool. Her hand closed upon the hilt of the sword, Alex's own merely resting loosely on the pommel, and she spun past him, drawing it from the sheath as she moved. The direct contact shattered her cloak once more, but she continued to spin, her other hand finding the hilt as she swung it at Alex's back.

Though he might have fallen prey to her trick, his reflexes had not. He spun counter to her, raising his only defense between himself and his stolen blade.

The sword bit into the spine of the Tomegathericon, and for a moment, Mia's heart leapt.

The spine proved as durable as the cover, however. It stopped the blade solidly, though shallow enough that Mia pulled it free as she stepped back. Alex screamed something at her, words she could not make out through her awe.

An awareness of Mercury blossomed in her mind upon contact with the sword. She could feel the concentration of vapor in the air, intuitively knowing how much water she could form by drawing on it. Her Psynergetic senses stretched out further than they had ever gone previously, detecting sources of Mercury's power all around her, such as the well hidden underground and slightly to the left. Was this how Isaac always felt? How could he possibly stand to do anything without his own sword?

Alex's fury gave way to the flames, far too thick for Mia to defend against fully, even with the blade. She needed a better position. Rather than run, she vanished again, this time leaving the area, instead of just sight. She made no attempt to lose Alex, taking three jumps in a straight line.

Her final warp ended with her legs in water up to her knees.

She turned around as Alex appeared on the bank of the river, holding his tome cautiously. Turning the sword upside down, Mia planted the tip into the soft soil at her feet, the river's current sliding smoothly around the blade's edge. The river stretched perhaps only thirty feet at this point, comparatively narrow, but she needed nothing more. A small part of her shook its head, chastising her for needing the sword's power to recognize what she had heard in the background for some time now.

The remaining poison in her body vanished the moment she turned her attention towards it, the might of Mercury around her combining with the sword's fine control to make short work of the toxins. Was that how Alex had kept himself immune? Had he simply used the sword to continuously purge himself, preventing them from taking hold?

It did not matter. Water surged from Mia's feet in thick, airborne tendrils, all shooting towards Alex. Rather than warp away, as she expected him to do, allowing her to simply redirect the streams of water, he raised his hand.

A horrible sound filled the air as something blue and misty shot from it. It tore at Mia's ears as she dropped the water, raising her barrier once more, but the mist ignored it. It spread as it passed through, grinning at Mia in the shape of a skull, then enveloped her.

The woman gasped as her chest tightened and the world turned cold. Her knees buckled, plunging her into the water beside the standing sword, her locked elbows barely keeping her face above the surface. The sides of her vision turned gray as she looked up at Alex again. Images cascaded through her head, far too fast for her to individually comprehend, but her subconscious pieced several of them together on reflection.

She saw herself lying limply on the bank of the river, red water streaming away from her. She saw Alex pulling Mercury's blade from the hands of a charred skeleton, incinerated far beyond recognition. She saw herself slumped against a tree trunk, her face almost black, fingers still resting against her neck alongside the gouges they had ripped.

Her breathing grew shallow and rapid. Pain returned to her chest, deeper and less intense than the one induced by the toxins. Her arms trembled as they held her up, threatening to collapse if she released the lock of her elbows. The claws clenched around her heart twisted their grip further, pulling everything taut.

Mia tried to cry out, but found no voice with which to do so. Alex seemed to hear her regardless and stepped forward to the bank of the river, bending down onto one knee. "Mia..." he said softly. "I... Even now, I want to run to you, to give you my aid." He frowned, shaking his head. "But I cannot. Not completely. Let this be my final gift to you."

Psynergy pulsed from the man again, tuned through the black book. The overwhelming terror faded from Mia's mind, though her body remained unresponsive. The gray at the edge of her vision turned white, crystallizing inward in the same fashion that her frost had moved on the trunk of the tree.

After a moment she realized the white was not spreading across her sight, but her mind. Thoughts became fuzzier, harder to push through. What was Alex doing to her? She could not remember him doing anything of the sort before. Why was he not simply killing her?

The thought confused Mia. Why would Alex be killing her, anyway? He always worked so hard to never come into direct conflict with her, to avoid causing her harm. Marie, she thought. It was for Marie.

How had she forgotten that? Had Marie not factored into the other conflicts he had with her? Blinking her eyes rapidly, she tried to force away the cotton she felt filling her mind. What other conflicts? She knew they existed; why could she not think of one?

Imil came to mind, so she focused on her town. Had they conflicted there? Yes, Imil felt right. What had it been about? Something about her father? No, Alex held him in high regard. Something else with the clan? Yes, the clan, that was it. Who? She knew it wasn't about her father. Megan? No, not Megan, and not...

Not...

Why could she not remember the boy's name?

She flicked through a mental map of Imil, appearing at the boy's house. She could see him clearly, standing in the doorway and waving to her, but she could not pull his name up.

Frustrated, she turned to the house next door, drawing forth its resident as well, but found herself unable to recall his name, either. What was going on? She knew everyone in Imil. Not only had she lived there her entire life, she had visited every house for treatment at least once - some many times. A name would slip her mind every now and again, especially when exhausted, but never that of her own apprentice.

She jumped to other houses, finding their owners all nameless. As she moved, she realized their faces grew less distinct, as well. Why was she simply seeing Isaac's face on one? They bore similarities, she knew, but to have completely replaced his face with Isaac's?

Mia pulled away from Imil and out of her thoughts. She stared at Alex, willing her mind to focus, as she tried to pull his sister's face to her mind. His own face swam for a moment, teasing her, but the girl's face refused to appear.

What was her name?

My memories, she realized in horror. He's destroying my memories. If I can't remember why we're fighting, he has no need to kill me.

She clung to the thought of Megan, firmly fixing the girl in her mind, but even as she did, she felt other memories slipping through her fingers. She hopped to the thoughts of her friends, easily able to hold Isaac, Garet, and Ivan in her mind at once, but when she tried to return to her apprentice, she found the girl's name gone. What was Jenna's brother's name? Why did Piers look just like Alex?

Nothing stopped the empty whiteness from spreading. She could not possibly hold it all in her mind at once, not at the detail required to keep it from vanishing. It spread like a fog, enveloping everything but that which she faced directly. Would she soon find herself alone in the white? Would she even remember her own name?

Hopelessness settled in, filling the numb void the fear had left behind. Was this supposed to be preferable to death? Losing everything that bound her to friends and family? Losing everything that made her her?

She could not accept that. She pushed aside Megan, pushed aside Alex, pushed aside everyone she knew in favor of one, single, solid memory.

As everything turned white, Olaf Magnarsen stood before her.

Mia sat back onto her calves, staring up at her father. She took in his long, flowing hair, a standard for most Imilian men, though his did not smooth out as finely as Alex's. He wiggled his thick mustache at her, as if he had just told her an amusing joke. His enormous fur coat swept around his feet as he crossed his arms, watching her with eyes that never seemed to lose their sharpness, even on his deathbed.

"Father..." she whispered. "Help me..." She could not remember what she needed help with. "He's going to..." She could not remember who he was, or what he was going to do. "I have to..." She could not remember what she had to do.

Olaf watched her in silence. He had some advice for her, some piece of wisdom that would show her the way. He always did. She had inherited their town and clan far earlier than she had any right to, and only his advice kept her from screwing things up too badly. In her darkest moments, when she thought Imil would wither and die because of her failures, his voice cradled her, lifting her back to her feet and pointing her in the right direction.

But he never spoke to her from beyond that eternal veil. She merely took his words from memory, and now she remembered none of them.

Her father crouched before her, taking one of her hands in his own. Despite their enormous size, she had seen them work with such grace and precision, though none of the memories came to mind. He raised her hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the backs of her fingers, then let it go as he stood up. He smiled at her once more before turning and walking away.

Mia's hand remained outstretched, reaching for him as he stepped through the fog. "No..." It swallowed him, eating away at the details of his body and face until nothing remained, save a dark shadow. "Father..."

The figure paused, his outline barely visible. Mia watched, praying for him to return, trying to force him back herself, but found herself unable to recall his appearance. She stared after him, still reaching, and saw another outline step beside him. In contrast to her father, light outlined this smaller figure. It reached out to touch him and his form changed, turning to that of light as well. The two figures blended together into one as they stepped away together, vanishing into the fog.

"Father!"

Light burst from the point where he had vanished, shining so brilliantly that Mia found herself surprised at her ability to stare into it. Even with such radiance, she knew the light she saw could be so much brighter, bright enough to drown the sun itself.

A shout reached her ears.

The fog vanished.

Mia opened her eyes to find herself on the edge of the river again, her hand still outstretched, reaching for her father. Alex had backed away from her, covering his face with his arm and cursing wildly. She looked at him in confusion for a moment before a twinkling on her finger caught her eye.

Three tiny gemstones winked at her. The ring. The ring Alex had found in her father's storeroom, the one that produced light. She must have accidentally triggered it just before her memories were completely-

Her memories!

She scanned her mind quickly. Alex. Marie. Megan. Ivan. Garet. Isaac. They were there. As far as she could tell, they were all there. She had no idea if Alex's Psynergy had to finish to permanently remove her memories, or if it needed to be constantly maintained, or anything at all about it. Her memories had returned, and most importantly, she retained her most recent one.

Alex snarled something feral at her as he turned towards her, one hand shielding his eyes against another burst of light. He did not step into the water itself; the sword remained planted in the river's bottom, in arm's reach of Mia.

She reached out and grabbed hold of it, then warped. Alex's hand dropped and his eyes opened instantly, ready to scan for her new location, but he paused in confusion when he found Mia's palm mere inches from his face.

Mia had not forgotten her first lesson with the ring. Despite efforts to scale down the intensity of the light, the ring seemed not to respond, instead continuing to output the same, blinding flash. While using it unconsciously, however, her mind noticed something interesting: that flash was not of a fixed strength.

It was just the weakest possible.

Psynergy poured into the ring as she spun her hand around, while she turned her head, closed her eyes, and covered them with her other arm. Even so, the reflection of the light's flash from the water's surface, through all of her precautions, still made her cry out in pain.

It sounded weak and insignificant next to the howl that Alex unleashed. Every bird in the forest, or so it seemed to Mia, took flight at such a horrible sound. He stumbled away from her, one hand clutching at his face as he screamed in pain, the other still clinging to his book.

Mia raised the sword, stepping forward as Alex tripped in his haste, falling to the ground. Her grip tightened on the sword, suspecting Garet would cringe at her form, but she knew it mattered little. As she approached him, she lifted it up fully, preparing to drop it.

Staring at the man rolling on the ground, however, she found herself unable. Despite everything that had happened, she could not bring herself to kill Alex. Behind the screaming, raving man on the ground before her, she still saw the child she had grown up with, the one she supported through loss, the one who had done the same for her. She saw the man who had been willing to paint himself as a villain in order to spare and save her, the man who had woken her from a fatal sleep.

The sword lowered slowly beside Mia. She could not kill him, but she still needed to take the book from him.

Before she could move in for it, Alex's screams formed words. "I won't let you stop me, Mia! I call the Fulminous King! Dullahan Lycoris, fight for me!"

Mia stood in confusion for a moment. They had left Dullahan in the ancient sanctum, per his request, since any trip outside would force his spirit to pass on. He had stated he would remain until they stopped the remaining Anemoi, so that...

...So that they could call upon him in a moment of need.

Lightning snapped down from the clear, blue sky directly in front of Mia, hurling her away from Alex. The sword flew from her hand, spinning off into the thick brush. She landed in the grass on her side, feeling pain shoot up her ribs, but pushed herself back to her feet immediately.

Dullahan stood between her and Alex, his dark blue armor far more menacing when seen in the full light of day, especially when combined with his lack of head. He faced her for a moment, then turned towards Alex. "What is this? Why have you called?"

Alex lifted one hand, pointing in Mia's general direction; he evidently could not see her. "Destroy her!"

"She is not allied with the Anemoi."

"I don't care!" Alex shouted. "I want you to attack her!"

The armored man seemed to hesitate. "Your mind has been pushed by this book."

The book? The book was responsible for Alex's change in temperament? He found the book two days ago, though. Why had he not changed then? No, that doesn't matter right now! With a start Mia realized that, so long as Dullahan spoke the truth, severing the connection between Alex and the book could return him to his senses.

"You swore to answer our call! You never specified the terms! Honor your bargain!"

Dullahan remained motionless for a moment, then turned to Mia. "He is correct. I am bound to oppose you. I apologize for this." One great gauntlet rose, the palm facing her.

Mia immediately summoned a barrier once more, though she doubted it could withstand a strike of the former king's power. Only the pure, nigh-absolute power of Mercury's essence had stopped his son's beams of light.

Light did not strike her barrier, however, nor did lightning. Nothing did, even when Mia felt the obvious pulse of Psynergy from Dullahan. In the next instant, her barrier disappeared. Mia gasped as she felt her Psynergy vanish behind a wall, cut off from her mind entirely. She mentally pounded on it, trying to force through the seal, but to no avail.

Dullahan stepped backward, then bowed to Mia from one knee. "And now, I have fulfilled my agreement and expended all my energy left in this world. Farewell, children of Mercury. My own family is waiting."

The twilit armor stopped moving. A shadow that did not exist fell across it as a wind moved in from the river, bending the long grass as it curled around the kneeling figure.

"Payment for the crossing."

Mia turned to Alex as he dropped a coin to his feet, the other hand still firmly gripping the Tomegathericon. "I call you from across the Phlegethon, the Acheron, the Styx, the Cocytus, and the Lethe," he said, eyes closed. "Ferryman of the dead, I offer a lost soul up to guide you here." His eyes opened directly upon Mia. "Charon! I summon thee!"

The darkness that covered Dullahan's armor spread, covering everything Mia could see beneath an unnatural shadow. The babble of the river smoothed out into silence, replaced by the steady lapping of water at its edge, a sound more commonly associated with lakes. As she turned to look at it, she found fog rolling in once more, though this time, it existed outside of her mind. It moved across the water silently, but did not wash up on shore.

From deep within the fog, she heard a bell toll. The ring echoed, bound by the fog, slowly fading from her ears. Before it could completely vanish, it rang once more, only slightly louder.

She spun around. "Alex, what are you doing? The ferryman will take us both!"

"Not so long as I hold his book," Alex said, smiling beneath his sightless eyes as he returned to his feet.

"And do you think he will leave Marie?" she asked. "Do you think he would ever bring someone back across his river? You are toying with a god! He will not ever allow her to return!"

The smile vanished. "You have no right to speak of her! You've done everything in your power to ensure she stays dead!"

"You're alive, she's not!" Mia shouted. "Everything I've done, I've done for you, Alex! I can't save her, but I can still save you!"

She dashed towards him. He raised his hand, summoning the river of flames once more. It dropped to the grass between them, shooting straight for Mia.

The woman stopped, inhaling deeply, never having intended to reach Alex. She pulled her right arm back to her face, then thrust it forward in the strongest cross she could manage, twisting her foot and hips as Garet had showed her to add power. She exhaled sharply as her arm reached full extension.

The energy of her body poured out from her fist, ripping apart the flames as it moved through the air at an incredible speed. The force of her punch slammed into Alex's face, enhanced by the focused Chi. The man soared backward through the air from the blow, the Tomegathericon slipping from his fingers.

It landed in the flames.

Though the active movement of the flames ceased, the grass they had ignited continued to burn, as fire tended to do. Mia watched the pages curl and blacken. She heard feeble protests from Alex, but her strike had caught him completely unprepared; his disorientation made her suspect a minor concussion.

As the fire devoured the book, the tolling bell gradually disappeared, along with the strange shadow and the fog. They did not recede, instead fading from her senses, leaving only the shadow covering Dullahan's armor. Once all else had vanished entirely, the armor dissolved into mist, sinking into the grass and dispersing.

Then the sky turned red.

- \/\/ -

Tolbians stared at him as he jogged through the streets, one hand holding his sheathed sword still beside him. He ignored them. He would have liked to sprint after Atropos, but he knew how dangerous it would be to waste energy like that. Besides, he had no idea what she had planned in the city proper; running at full tilt could simply let him pass her by without notice.

She had not landed far in the city, he knew, having watched her, though she easily could have moved elsewhere. The thick crowds made searching difficult, as well, yet he could hardly do anything to disperse them.

Isaac... Garet... I should never have told you to leave. Thinking that Aisa's presence would protect him... Ivan felt sick at the irony. How had none of them suspected what Atropos had been after? Of course she knew about the Golden Sun. But to have drained it from him like that...Was that the secret to their immortality? Did they drain energy from people to sustain themselves? Stop it, he thought. Now isn't the time. Pay attention. She could be hiding anywhere.

As he rounded a corner onto a main street, though, he found her standing in its center, one hand on a hip, and...talking to a guard? She had removed her bandages, and while he could see none of her wounds, it certainly looked like her. Ivan quickly brought up Jupiter's eye to verify, finding the same multi-colored swirl he once saw belonging to Alex. As he dropped the extra eye, hers flicked over to him, then widened.

"That's him!" she shouted, pointing straight at Ivan. "He's the one attacking me!"

Ivan stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded, but when the guard turned to him, holding his spear a bit more tightly, he felt fury erupt from his stomach. "You... You..."

He stepped towards her, his hand moving towards his sword, but the guard stepped between them, leveling the spear. "That's enough, young man. What's going on?"

"He keeps saying I'm someone from Anemos," Atropos said, clutching at the guard's partner. "Please! He thinks I'm the one responsible for the attack two weeks ago! He means to kill me for it!"

"She's one of their kings!" Ivan shouted, drawing his sword anyway. "She's tricking you!"

The second guard stepped forward, dropping his spear in favor of his own sword. He moved to the side, forcing Ivan to move in order to avoid being flanked. "Drop the sword, boy. Now."

Behind them, Ivan saw Atropos turn and run, pushing aside the crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle. He stepped forward again, but the guards moved to meet him. He hesitated. He had no desire to hurt them, but Atropos had engineered a very convincing lie. How could he-

Light exploded in his vision as something smashed into the side of his head, sending him sprawling to the ground. Pain erupted in his sword-hand as another something crushed it into the ground. A boot, he realized, someone's stepping on it. His hand opened after a moment and he could hear his sword sliding across the ground away from him.

A pair of arms looped under his shoulders and hoisted him to his feet as the world began to settle once more. He turned his head and saw a crowd behind him, clapping for the man who had disarmed him and now held him up. Of course. Why would only the guards interfere?

The first guard raised his spear and stepped in close, grinning. "Kids like you shouldn't be playing with swords anyway."

Atropos' shining hair vanished into a sea of people.

The anger that had surfaced earlier, spawned by the absolute unfairness of the situation, filled Ivan now. Psynergy surged from him in a potent gust, picking up everyone around him and hurling them away. He saw the man that had subdued him rebound off the closed door of a building, while one of the guards smashed into a cart of pottery, shattering much of it.

They recovered quickly. The other guard picked himself up from the ground and immediately moved towards Ivan, his sword raised to strike. Ivan quickly glanced in the direction Atropos had ran, but no sign of her could be seen anymore, not from here. Could he push through all those people? Many of them had watched the exchange, and some would undoubtedly try to intercept him. He would never reach her like that.

Not that they could actually stop him. Even if most of them were Adepts now, he had experience and power. He could toss them aside as easily as he had done moments before, clearing a path with ease. He considered it for a moment, the urgency of the situation weighing on him. In the end, though, he decided to save that option for when he had no choices left to him.

He crouched down, then propelled himself into the air with another burst of wind, landing on the roof of the building beside him. Unbuckling his sword belt and letting it drop, the sheath now useless, he took off at a run along the rooftop, sailing into the air at its edge. He struck the next roof lightly, rolling over his shoulder and straight to his feet again. He moved to the edge, peering down into the street below, searching for that flash of bright gold.

There! Turning down another street!

Too wide for him to simply jump across, Ivan hopped back down to the street. The people below scattered as he did, having followed his movements across the rooftop, but before they could close in again, wind launched him to the opposite roof. Atropos proved easy to follow, though Ivan had no doubts that she knew where he was; blond hair was often drowned out by the sea of brown in Angara.

As he followed her, more and more heads turned upwards at him. Everyone she passed looked up to the roof, their eyes locking onto him. He glanced backward and found the street packed even more...and slowly flowing in the same direction as Atropos.

He clenched his jaw as he rolled onto the next roof, watching Atropos change direction again. Where was she headed? Was she simply running in random directions? No, he doubted that. While she might not have visited the city in recent centuries, she had seen it from the air, and had some idea of its layout. She had a goal in mind. But what?

When she turned again, doubling back on distance she had just covered, Ivan understood. The river of people thickened, no longer moving towards her, but all moving in the same direction. She was doing something to them all, stringing them all along, and gathering more with every street she touched. Did she intend to use them as shields against him? That made no sense; Atropos needed no shields. Was it simply to taunt him, then? To torture him with more painful decisions?

The buildings ended. Ivan skidded to a stop as Atropos ran into a wide open area; the Fountain Square, he realized. Atropos made for the fountain on the far side, and after a moment's consideration, Ivan leapt from the roof in pursuit. He had an idea, though one with no way of telling if it could even work.

He hit the ground running, the horde gathered by Atropos abandoning their general shuffle in favor of active pursuit. The sound of hundreds of feet pounding the stone echoed in the square, sounding eerily similar to a stampede. Ivan tuned out their shouts as he ran for Atropos, knowing that he would need to be close.

The king reached the fountain's rim and turned around, backing against it. Ivan had to admit, she certainly looked the part of a frightened woman. She cowered against the low wall, not bothering to move for the stairs on either side behind the fountain.

Ivan came to a stop several feet in front of her, but instead of attacking, he pushed his sleeves up to his shoulders, then held his bare arms out on each side.

The crowd caught up a few moments later, several hands grabbing him and jerking him back slightly. He winced as his arms were bent behind him and pinned against his back, but remained silent. The people pressed in tight around him, and he wondered how many had come along. Enough to fill the square? He could not tell, but he could see them overflowing into his vision, closing up the sides between himself and Atropos.

"Got you, twerp," one of the men behind him said, giving his arm another yank.

Atropos had partially abandoned her helpless persona, instead looking at Ivan carefully. Though he could not feel it at the moment, he knew she would be trying to read his mind, trying to piece together why he had simply given up like that, so Ivan filled his mind with something he knew would take effort to get rid of.

He called Karst.

Like a monster surfacing from the calm of a lake, her vicious grin appeared in his thoughts, free from the dark corner he usually imprisoned her memory within. He heard her cackling laugh, sending goosebumps over his arms and neck while the fear of certain death filled him once more, stripping away his breath.

Atropos frowned. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," Ivan said. Karst's eyes on him made it difficult to think straight. "I have only the truth."

"The truth!" Atropos laughed. "How dramatic. What is this truth? That I am one of these Anemoi?"

Ivan shook his head. "No. The truth is that I hate all of you."

The muttering and jeers from around him feel silent at his words. He had their interest. "I've lived my entire life being treated unfairly. I'm a Jupiter Adept. Even now, with all of you as Adepts, I'm still the outcast. I'm still the one people are scared of, even when there are far more terrifying Jupiter Adepts right in front of you. Why would here be any different?"

"Quit your whining," another man said.

"What, are you threatened by the words of a child?" Ivan snapped. "Kalay is full of people like you, people who feel threatened by things they don't understand. Even here, people wanted to kill me for being a Jupiter Adept, simply because of what one person did to the city. Times came when I wished I could kill them all. I thought about it today, about cutting you down to get to her, because she's the one that matters. If I can't stop her, you're all dead anyway."

"See?" Atropos said. "He wants to kill me for this delusion!"

The voices began to pick up again, but before they could, Ivan called over them, "But I didn't. I was angry at you all, but I wasn't going to attack you. Why bother fighting to defend you, then?" He turned back to Atropos. "That's not who I am. That's something she would do. Do you want to see? Truth is the domain of a Jupiter Adept. Shall I peer into her mind and show everyone the truth?"

The Anemian smiled at him, overlaying perfectly with the Proxian in his mind. "Look all you want," she said, stepping closer to him. "Show everyone what a freak you really are!"

Ivan closed his eyes, reaching out with his Psynergy and ignoring the silent mocking in his head. He stretched across the gap between the two, connecting his mind with Atropos'.

Images flashed into his head. He saw Atropos in Tolbi, staring up at the sky in horror as Clotho's attack rained down. He saw her helping move people into an inn, then passing out food to the others outside. He saw her browsing for fruits and vegetables before suddenly being accosted by himself, screaming wildly about saving the city.

He saw all of this, passed along to the crowd via their contact. Pressed as tightly as they were, legs, hands, and arms touched across the square, providing a conduit for Atropos' lies to flow. Ivan could feel her smug satisfaction leaking into them.

Ivan opened his own eyes long enough to see that smirk, then opened Jupiter's eye directly into Atropos' mind.

The images she projected did not so much vanish as were shoved aside by the new ones, incredibly vivid and bright. He saw her as a young child, looking out from the palace of Anemos over the city. He saw her atop a dark Jupiter Lighthouse, her hand outstretched while wind shoved a lone figure from the aerie. He saw the view of Weyard from the floating city, obscured by clouds. He saw her seated in her throne, looking down at a horrified Sheba. He saw her steal the last pieces of life from her own daughter.

Even more than glimpses of her life, though, he saw her. The charade of a helpless and frightened woman shattered as Jupiter's eye combined mind and body into a single image. Blood dripped from her fingers, staining the magnificent cloak she wore, the bird of Anemos emblazoned on each shoulder. Her smile made Ivan want to curl up and cry for the mother he never knew.

Atropos' image turned away from him, the smile fading as she reached her hand out toward a second Atropos. She stood far taller than normal, twice his height, three stacked crowns atop her head. A golden aura blazed out from her, everyone around her seeming monochrome in comparison, even under the eye of Jupiter. Unlike the other version of Atropos, this one ignored Ivan's presence entirely.

The contact broke and the vision faded. Atropos stared at him in surprise for a moment, then smiled. "That was...unexpected. I've never even tried that. Then again, I've never needed to."

Ivan felt the hands holding him loosen and he slipped free, his sleeves falling back into place. "You tricked all of us," he said. "From the very beginning, you were pushing our emotions, weren't you? Subtly bumping us so that we would trust you." A horrifying thought crossed his mind. "You got Alex, didn't you? You pushed him towards saving his sister."

The woman laughed. "He was pathetically easy. While I was syphoning him, the only thing he could think about was his dear sister. He might have sided with me even without my touch."

"He would never have done that," Ivan said, though a voice in his mind whispered doubts.

"Perhaps not," Atropos said. "It's pointless to argue of what might have been. Let's look to the future, instead! To Weyard's future, specifically."

"What, the one with only Anemians?" Ivan snapped.

Atropos frowned, waving her hand. "Don't be foolish. Genocide is counter-productive. I don't follow Lachesis' theory that limiting the world to a single culture will create peace. Humans merely chose to divide themselves by ability; take that away, and they will simply find another reason for division. Look at the world now, divided not by elemental affinity, but by location."

"And you plan to fix that, somehow?" Ivan asked, trying to ignore the truth in her words. Isn't that more or less what Piers has said? "Are you going to unite the world by giving them a common enemy?"

"In a manner of speaking." She leaned back against the fountain. "The Imilian was correct about Clotho: all tyrants will eventually succumb to those they oppress and their sympathizers. I do not aim to be a tyrant, however. I will be a god, the ruler of all of Weyard. War will be quickly and decisively ended by my own hand, because even armies falter before the might of unbound Alchemy." She pointed at Ivan. "And that is where you come in. I cannot possibly manage an entire world by myself. Control, yes, but ruling is so much more than control. I will need people capable of organization, leadership, oversight."

"And you want me." He did not bother to make it a question. For a woman who wanted to conquer the world, she certainly had her plans in order for maintaining her empire. Most conquerors in history spent so much effort on reaching their goals that once they succeeded, they had no idea how to sustain their power. An advantage of being immortal, he supposed.

Atropos smiled at him. "I need people I can trust, Ivan, people like myself."

Ivan's hands curled into fists while Karst laughed at him. "I'm nothing like you."

She shook her head, laughing quietly. "You sound so much like Sheba. You might not be as close to a king as she, but you still carry some royal blood in your veins."

Ivan paused. "I was born in Contigo. My family is from Contigo."

"Yes, but you are descended from my firstborn. You didn't think throwing him off Jupiter Lighthouse would kill him, did you?" she said. "Surely you know Jupiter's power better than that."

His mind whirred briefly, the crowd around them both forgotten. "That was Yegelos," he said at last. "Yegelos was your son, and he betrayed you when he extinguished the beacon. He's the reason you had to leave Weyard."

Atropos nodded, her lip curling up into a sneer. "One of them, yes. He betrayed me, stole our heritage, and tried to pass it to the commoners of his favored slums: the town you now call Contigo. You have his eyes, you know. I expect most of his descendants do."

Ivan reached for his sword, then remembered its loss on the street. "I hope you don't think you can manipulate me into showing you mercy."

"Mercy? One must be in a position of power to show mercy, Ivan." Atropos spread her arms along the fountain's rim. "You might have won our little game, but that's all it was: a game. You still cannot hope to overcome me."

Psynergy pulsed from her not in a wave, but a blast. The ground picked itself up and heaved like water, tossing people aside with ease. Ivan propelled himself into the air over the rippling stone. He pooled Jupiter Psynergy into his fist as he reached the apex of his jump, then arced down towards Atropos.

She slid to the side with unnatural speed, allowing him to smash his hand against the stone of the fountain. She moved away as he cradled his hand in agony, walking back towards the center of the square. The gathered crowd, most still on the ground, scrambled away from the woman, the tiny circle that had formed growing rapidly again. She laughed at them, flicking her hand out and knocking down some of the ones that had managed to rise with wind.

Ivan grit his teeth and glanced around. The neatly fitted stones of the square, once forming a ground far smoother and snug than regular cobblestones, lay scattered about from where they had ripped free. He could not change their shape, of course, but bricks were dangerous enough simply when thrown. He reached out telekinetically, picking several of them up. The first couple rose easily, but even with his experience, the next few continually added a strain to his mind. He could feel it tighten through his neck, like a rope pulled taut. After reaching the sixth, he knew better than to risk any more weight, so he threw them forward towards Atropos' back.

She likely sensed the pulses, he realized a moment later. Glancing back at him, she raised a single hand, and all six bricks stopped. The woman stepped back around them towards Ivan, running her hand along the hovering stones. Meeting his eyes as she reached the other side, her hand dropped. The stones resumed their motions, launching into the crowd with cries of pain. As he watched them fly, he recognized what she had done, and remembered an important discovery of his own. The snowball...

"You should watch your attacks more," Atropos chastised, several more stones lifting around her. More than Ivan could lift alone. "Collateral damage in a fight is a sign of a lack of discipline." Rather than simply launching them as Ivan had, however, she moved them together. Like pieces of wet clay, the stones melded together into a haphazard boulder, all corners, then launched at Ivan. He had no time to clear the rock with a simple leap.

He had spent a lot of time learning how to move around a fight quickly. Air pressure around him shifted violently, rising on one side and dropping to the other as he jumped. In addition to the sudden gale of wind that aided his sidewards movement, the vacuum opposite it dragged him, as well. He shot to the side nearly as fast as Atropos' boulder itself.

The maneuver left him no time for a competent landing. He tucked his chin into his chest as he landed on the loose, upturned bricks, feeling them dig into his side, back, arms, and legs as he bounced and rolled to a stop. Cautiously he stood up, moving everything quickly; nothing seemed broken, though he knew bruises would cover his body by the day's end. You have to live to get those bruises, Karst whispered to him.

His eyes traced the path of the melded stones, finding the rim of the fountain shattered where it had struck. Water poured out into the square, some of it sinking into the soil previously covered by the bricks, but the earth was too tightly packed to accept much of it. Water lapped at his boots as it spread across the ground, stretching out quickly. He looked up at Atropos, a smirk of his own stealing his face. "Not very disciplined, Your Highness."

She cocked her head to the side. "What makes you think that was collateral?"

Ivan paused for a moment too long, wondering about her words. The water at his feet launched up, along with the water nearby, spiraling around his chest and freezing, binding his arms. The ice was not thick, nor had fully encased him, but he lacked the physical strength and momentum to break free from even such a mediocre prison. After a moment of struggling, for which he was rewarded with another of Atropos' laughs, Ivan realized he did not need strength. He threw himself to the side , shattering the skeletal ribbons of ice enough to slide out of the remainder.

Ivan pushed himself back to his feet, but the throbbing pain in his shoulder collapsed his arm. To his surprise, a hand grabbed his arm, pulling him the remainder of the way. He glanced to his side as he rose and his jaw dropped. "Kraden?"

The old scholar moved his hand to Ivan's shoulder as he stepped forward, standing beside the boy. "You're a monster, Atropos."

Atropos cocked her head. "A monster? Are you certain? What do you think Clotho would be doing to this city in my place? Do you think he would simply walk through it, leaving it intact? Do you think Lachesis would let these commoners live, refusing his rule? I bring order to a world that will succumb to-"

"You are a cruel king," Kraden snapped.

Atropos seemed taken aback at the interruption, but smiled at him. "Lord Kraden, I know you're-"

"Don't interrupt me," he said. Ivan had never seen the man so angry. "You criticized Clotho for viewing the world as his toy, yet you do the same! Don't try and twist words to hide your intent. I saw who you are, just as everyone else did. You enjoy making people suffer. Why else would you drive the citizens of Tolbi to attack Ivan, instead of simply doing so yourself? His life is nothing more than a game to you! All of these peoples' lives are simply games!"

Atropos' jaw ground her teeth together. Raising her hand, she pointed a glowing finger at the man beside Ivan. "If you are so insistent on it, then I can certainly play a monster for you."

Ivan had little time to react before light surged from Atropos' fingertip, but he already had a plan in place. Not bothering to even turn and look at the man, Ivan threw his own Psynergy towards Kraden in a rough wave, negligent of the energy he expended in doing so.

The bolt of light struck the scholar full on.

Ivan exhaled slowly, then turned. Kraden stood completely still, his face locked into an expression of stubborn fury. No mark of the bolt of light marred him. Ivan released his mental grip on the man and time returned to him. Cheers erupted from around the square as Kraden thanked him wordlessly, though Ivan doubted they knew what had happened.

He could see them growing restless, pressing in once more. They needed no motivation from Atropos this time; Kraden had proven just as competent a leader as Babi, except significantly more amiable. The people loved him. They would not let this woman, this liar, attack him without coming to his defense.

If they did, they would be slaughtered with ease. "Kraden, you need to get everyone away," he muttered, stepping in front of him. "Get them somewhere safe."

"And what, leave you to fight Atropos alone? She's too strong, Ivan."

Ivan nodded. "Strong enough to likely kill everyone else in this square. I'm the only one who even has a chance."

"A chance?" Atropos laughed. "You might be a hundred times stronger than these people, Ivan, but you're still nothing to me."

The earth rose up, enveloping his boots in stone. He glanced down in surprise, tugging on them to try and escape, but the stone tightened, sealing his feet inside. He returned his gaze to Atropos, finding her raising a hand. "Go, Kraden! Please!"

Lightning snapped from her hand towards him. Ivan caught it with his own hand, channeling it down through the same side leg into the ground. Pain erupted inside his body as the bolt moved, feeling as if someone had drawn a red-hot poker along his skeleton. He gasped out as he tried to fall to his knees, but the stone prison on his feet held. He pitched forward at the waist instead, then pushed back up with his hands, wincing at the pain in his shoulder.

No sooner had he stood back up than lightning flashed once more. He reacted on instinct, passing it through the other side of his body. He could not stop the scream that his mouth released, though he wanted to deny the woman that pleasure.

He stayed down for a few moments longer than he needed. Kraden had returned to the crowd, pushing them back. Good. Ivan turned his thoughts to Atropos. His own lightning would be useless against her; even if she chose not to reflect it with that barrier, their difference in power ensured that discharging it through her own body would not even make her blink. Wind and sound, easily canceled out, were no better. In a straight fight like this, with no chance to position himself or distract her, she would always win.

He could not give in, though. Not to her. As he rose to his feet, he flung his hand out, hurling lightning at the woman. In the same motion, he grabbed up more fallen bricks with his mind, launching them behind the lightning.

Atropos raised two hands, and two separate Psynergy signatures pulsed from her. Mercury and Venus clamored for attention in his senses as the lightning rebounded away, while the stones stopped before touching her. As their eyes met amidst the floating bricks, Ivan realized why she had used Venus Psynergy, this time.

Immediately he called upon the Jupiter Psynergy she had neglected. Had he not been prepared for it, he never would have caught the first brick with his mind, halting it in midair. The second and third met similar fates, hovering only a few feet away.

Before he could duck and release them, however, something yellow darted between them, striking him in the chest. No new pain erupted anywhere, but all of his muscles instantly tensed, tightening so thoroughly that he could not move them.

Atropos moved closer, smiling. "This power is fantastic, even without Mars. I just have so much control."

Ivan waited for her to attack, maintaining his hold on the bricks. Despite the forced tension pulling at his entire body, he could feel the strain of his Psynergy as a growing discomfort in back of his neck.

"You seem to be having a much more difficult time," Atropos said. "Do you know why?"

He said nothing; the paralysis included his mouth. The discomfort had grown to a dull ache.

"You're a destroyer, Ivan, just like me. That's what Jupiter Psynergy is: destruction. We do not build. We do not heal. Our powers are geared for destruction." She watched his silent struggle for a moment. "You should not fear it so much. Destruction is a natural process of nature, just as death is of life. We destroy so that new creations might be born, stronger and sturdier than the previous."

Pain stabbed up into the back of his skull. Temporal Psynergy took incredible effort to maintain. Had Atropos continued to actively try to move the bricks, she would have added her own will to them and shattered Ivan's resistance in seconds. She had no need to, however.

"It's why you could never beat me, Ivan, even if our strength was matched," she said. "You simply don't understand your own powers."

His concentration snapped. The three bricks slammed into him at the same time, one in the stomach, one in his chest, while the third smashed into his face. The paralysis lifted at the time of impact, likely on Atropos' command, as he struggled to regain his breath. Blood sprayed from his nose and everything flashed white as he fell back, landing limply among the remaining stones. He had no idea how long he lay there, his mind struggling to focus on any single task through the pain and exhaustion.

Just as he resumed normal breathing, the air vanished again. Not from his lungs, this time, but entirely. He lay gasping on the ground, panic threatening to settle in as his head turned light once more. He tried pulling the air to him with Psynergy, but too much trauma clouded his mind.

The air returned in a great rush as his vision faded, washing over him like cool water on a summer day. He gulped it down greedily, relishing its sweet taste. A pair of gentle hands pulled him back up to a standing position, supporting him, while a familiar presence danced through his body, soothing everything it touched. Mia...

His vision cleared to show Atropos holding him up, smiling. "Aisa might have taken care of my injuries, but I still suffered a lot of pain getting myself here. I think you owe me a little bit more than this, Ivan." She released the front of his shirt and moved back a few steps, then pointed her hand at him. "Let's start from the top again, shall we?"

The stone around Ivan's feet dissolved to sand.

He had no strength to throw himself aside, so he simply allowed himself to collapse to the ground. Lightning snapped overhead, missing him, but Atropos had no time to try again.

"Get away from him, you bitch!"

Ivan rolled his head to the side in time to see Isaac nearly fly from the wall behind the fountain, the massive blade of Prox in his hands. Atropos flitted to the side, the sword missing her by inches. The ground shifted and pushed Isaac to the side to follow her, nullifying the sharp change in momentum, but her wings appeared once more and brought her airborne.

Isaac pulled one hand from the sword, its enormous blade dipping to rest on the ground as a result, and reached out in Atropos' direction. Ivan felt a powerful pulse of Venus Psynergy from Isaac, and the Anemian dropped slightly. An instant later her own pulse followed, restoring her height.

She took advantage of Isaac's surprised hesitation and darted towards him before Ivan could call out a warning. One hand closed around Isaac's sword arm, while the other closed around his throat. "Thank you for saving me the trouble," she said, smiling as she began to drain him.

A moment later, the pulses ceased. The smile dropped from Atropos' face. "Where is it?" she shouted. "Where is the Sun? What have you-"

A terrifying roar and a searing heat interrupted her, courtesy of the brilliant beam that carried her halfway across the square. Garet stepped down from the stairs beside the fountain as it faded, smirking. "Oops, sorry, did I forget to say something to ruin my surprise attack?" When his eyes spotted Ivan, the smirk faded, however. "Ivan!"

A shriek from the center of the square drew their attention. Garet's beam had not only smashed Atropos into the ground, but dragged her along it, leaving a small gouge in the disrupted stones. At the end of the scar, though, the king had returned to her feet, the simple clothes she wore burned and torn. Lightning crackled in the air around her. "You think what I did to him was bad? You'll be begging for death alongside him!"

Ivan tried to push himself back to his feet. They could do this, now. Between the three of them, they could find a way to stop her. And if Mia returned, too... Well, the four of them had fought worse things, hadn't they?

Before he could rise, Isaac passed him, both hands holding the golden blade to the side. "You're not touching him," Isaac snapped, planting his feet. "I won't let you! I will never let you!" He raised the sword above him and the steel shimmered once, then burst into a radiant, white light.

Ivan flinched back from the flash, a dull roar filling his ears. For a moment, he thought Garet had assaulted Atropos with another of his beams. No, he realized, that's not Garet. That's Isaac.

He opened his eyes, shielding them with his hand to block the sword and found Isaac's mouth open in one continuous scream. Some massive piece of Psynergy had formed around the sword, growing with every second. It already dwarfed the signature Ivan had felt from Atropos, who stood shielding her eyes as well. The crowd had all but cleared the square by now, but Ivan could see them watching still, hanging out from windows and rooftops, crowding the mouths of streets and alleys. Not even Kraden could stop that.

The light vanished from the Proxian blade and a horrible dread filled Ivan's stomach in the same instant. His gaze snapped towards Atropos, but he felt no Psynergy emanating from her; confusion and wariness covered her face instead.

And then, faintly, he felt it. An impossible distance away, he could sense a dim Mars presence. He knew how to gauge a rough length to such signatures, though; this one came from miles upon miles out. What could he possibly feel from so far away? Or rather, how unimaginably powerful must it be?

His eyes closed briefly, following the source, then turned upwards. In the center of the sky, far, far above them, he saw something amidst the sea of blue. It almost looked like a star, though even the brightest of those could not be seen alongside the midday sun. It glittered red, not white.

The dread gave way to horror, his stomach nearly turning over. Had Isaac summoned the Dragon Queen herself?

Atropos feels the same thing, Ivan realized, glancing over at her. She tore her eyes from the sky to look at him again, then pulled a smile together, licking her lips. "You should have simply run, Ivan."

In the next instant, her body vanished into a spray of loose waves of Psynergy, Garet's shouts following. Isaac's eyes remained fixed on her former location, his sword slowly lowering back to rest on the ground.

Ivan looked up, finding the star slightly brighter. "Help me up! We have to get out of here!"

"What is that thing?" Garet asked, turning his head up as well.

"Hurry up!" Ivan screamed, using the exertion to force himself to his feet. Every part of his body felt sore, some more than others, his head still pounding in pain, but he shoved it all aside and began to hobble to the opposite end of the square, where most of the people gathered. "Get me to them! Now!"

His urgency seemed to prompt the other two, who moved after him. They each scooped beneath one arm, picking him up and beginning to run. Ivan glanced up again, the red star even brighter. The sky around it had turned red, rapidly stretching across the remainder.

"We're not gonna make it!" Garet shouted. "Ivan, get us outta here!"

He turned forward as they moved across the center of the square, then felt for the star's location. He's right. We don't have enough time. "We have to!" he said aloud. He could see Kraden standing in the middle of the street, just off the square. "We have to get to them!"

Garet began to grunt as he sprinted, Isaac matching his speed, but he shook his head. "No way! Won't make it! Teleport! Now! Ivan! Do it!"

The boy cast one more glance up into the sky as the star resolved into a shimmering shape the size of the sun, and growing even more rapidly. When he turned forward again, he met Kraden's eyes. The scholar nodded once, then closed them.

Ivan screamed. The Mars presence blanketing over them all now nearly stifled his own Psynergy, so hard it was to focus through. Such concentration had always been his strong point, though. He linked the throbbing pain to fuel his Psynergy, using each pulse as timing to control his draw of energy.

He closed his eyes so he wouldn't see all the faces staring at him as they vanished.