CHAPTER 9

It was a warm afternoon on the continent of Gondowan for Isaac, Mia, and the rest of the adepts as they stopped to take a break from all the traveling they had been doing recently. After finding the northern reaches walled off by a massive structure of ice, the group backtracked to the town of Loho where they found a cannon capable of blasting through it…if only it had something for ammunition. Therefore, the adepts were headed for "Magma Rock," to search for a so called "magma stone" that could be used to fire the cannon.

The secluded lakeside by the path was a pleasant surprise for the group of exhausted adepts and it didn't take long for Garet to suggest they rest at it for a little while. Garet, Jenna, Ivan, and Sheba wasted no time hopping into the lake to cool off and relax a bit. Felix and Piers watched from the shoreline while Isaac lay on the sand staring at the sky.

Mia was resting in the shade of a large tree while watching the rest of her friends. She watched Ivan push Garet into Jenna, who was floating peacefully on the surface of the water. Mia smiled as she watched Garet's anger at Ivan rapidly fade when Jenna started threatening him with her wrath for disturbing her. It's moments like this that I'm glad to have everyone as my friends Mia thought while absentmindedly twisting the ring on her finger. Mia sighed and leaned back against the tree, shutting her eyes. It's nice to get out of the heat, if only for a little bit. It'll be plenty hot inside Magma Rock I'm sure…

Isaac turned to take a look at Mia and saw her napping peacefully under the shade of a tree some twenty feet away. Isaac smiled. She must be really tired today, but she looks so cute while sleeping. Isaac felt a blush on his face and turned back to his other friends while shaking his head to get rid of the thought. Picking up a stick laying near him, Isaac began to doodle in the sand.

Eventually the time came to get moving again. Jenna, Garet, Sheba, and Ivan were dried off and got back in their traveling clothes. Isaac picked up his Gaia Blade and glanced over at Mia who was still resting against the tree. He shook his head with a smile. Still asleep are you Mia? I suppose I'll have to wake you up then…Isaac made his way over to Mia and knelt down next to her. He gently tapped her shoulder and said, "Hey…Mia."

Mia felt the tap on her shoulder and yawned as she awoke from her nap. Was I daydreaming about Isaac again…? Blinking her eyes, she looked ahead as Isaac's face came into view and she felt her face flush immediately. "Ah…I dozed off?" Mia asked to hide her embarrassment.

Isaac smiled at her. "You did. It's time to go now though. Sorry I had to wake you up," Isaac said.

Mia looked at him and returned his smile. "No problem. Thanks for waking me," she replied.

Isaac offered a hand and helped the blue haired girl stand up, but his hand brushed against the ring she was wearing as he did so. Looking at it, he recognized the aquamarine and bronze design immediately. She still wears that? Isaac wondered to himself. I'm glad she liked it so much.

Mia's voice cut into his thoughts. "Ah…Isaac?"

"Hmm?" Isaac responded, his gaze still on the ring.

"I can't pick up my stuff like this…" she said with an embarrassed tone.

Isaac did a double take when he realized he was still holding Mia's hand and immediately dropped it. Isaac blushed a deep red as he apologized. "Ah…I'm sorry Mia. I ummm….I was just distracted by your ring. I was surprised to see you still wearing it…"

Mia blushed a little deeper and she put her other hand over the ring as if she could hide it from him. Realizing her foolishness, she replied to Isaac. "Of course I still wear it," Mia told him, smiling shyly. "It's one of my favorite possessions," she added in a soft voice while avoiding Isaac's gaze.

Isaac didn't know how to respond to that, so he picked up Mia's mace and handed it to her before smiling and saying: "I'm glad you liked it so much."

Mia accepted her weapon from him and indicated the other adepts that had mercifully not seen anything that just happened between them. "Shall we join them then?" Mia asked Isaac.

Isaac nodded and they walked over to join their friends.

Magma Rock was just as hot as the adepts imagined. It had taken a little under an hour to travel to the rock from the lake they had stopped at earlier. After a grueling climb on the exterior, the group moved to the inside, solving puzzles and avoiding traps to advance closer and closer to the center of the rock.

We have to be nearly there, Mia thought as she triggered one of the nearby statues with her psynergy to open up the way ahead. She had already shed the heavy Imilian robes she usually wore in favor of the lightweight silk dress from Xian to try and keep cool. This heat is oppressive. Mia looked around at her friends to see how everyone else was doing. Jenna and Garet look fine, no surprises there. Being Mars adepts, they're a little better suited to this than the rest of us. Piers looks like he's struggling a bit. Ivan and Sheba don't look so great either. Looks like Isaac and Felix are keeping up decently though.

"Water?" Isaac asked Mia when he noticed she was slightly weary.

Mia looked up at him and accepted the cool drink from him and took a sip before handing it back. "Thanks Isaac," Mia said with a smile as they climbed up another set of steps and entered a new room.

This one was large with many statues along the edges. Garet poked his head around a corner and leapt backwards as a fireball rocketed past his face, crashing into the wall behind him. "Woah there! Be careful guys, there's no telling which statues are traps and I'm sure nobody wants to get incinerated," Garet warned everyone.

A statue across the way shot a fireball at Felix, who noticed it and intercepted it with a wall of stone before it could do any harm. Another one came racing at Ivan who deftly dodged out of the way, calling upon a Djinni to move faster. Piers narrowly avoided a fireball moving in his direction and shouted out to the rest of the adepts, "We've got to get out of this room!"

Mia raced towards the door along with everyone else but noticed a fireball headed for Isaac out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and drew upon her powers to create a wall of ice to protect him. The fireball hit her wall and dissipated, but Mia failed to notice there was now a fireball coming at her from behind.

With no time to spare, Isaac leapt into Mia and pinned her against the wall with his body as a fireball raced by them, scorching Isaac's back. Luckily he avoided most of the impact, though the fireball did leave a few burns. Mia felt Isaac take a step back from her and could see that a grimace of pain on his face. Taking control, Mia grabbed Isaac's hand and helped him the last 10 meters to the doorway and relative safety.

Once inside, they both collapsed to the ground with the other adepts. "You two all right?" Sheba asked them as they came through the door.

Mia nodded and replied, "I'm fine but I think Isaac got burned. Give me a minute and I'll heal him up."

Piers was breathing heavily but choked out, "I can't afford to be running around in a place like this where the air itself seems to burn your lungs." Felix and Sheba both nodded in agreement while gasping for breath.

Mia took a look at Isaac's back and saw that some of his clothing had been burned away and the skin underneath was an angry red color. This is worse than I thought…Mia realized. Being as gentle as she could, Mia laid her hands over the burned skin and channeled her psynergy to help it heal.

Isaac visibly relaxed as the healing powers mended his skin and he turned towards Mia slightly. "Thanks," he told her.

Mia just smiled. "Thanks for the save back there," she replied.

"No problem," Isaac just shrugged it off and stood up as the rest of the adepts finished catching their breath. The group continued to move through rooms until they finally found what they had come for: The molten rocks sitting in a pool of lava in the middle of the volcanic mountain.

Hopping over the lava pool, Garet picked out a rock with an extremely strong glow to it. "This is it guys!" he exclaimed.

Glad to be done with the endless rooms of lava and fire, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief as Garet and Jenna prepared the rock for transportation. It didn't take them long to get out of Magma Rock when they were finally ready to go.

The group was glad to be out of the smothering heat and on their way back to the ship; however it was getting dark so the adepts decided to set up camp shortly after leaving the place. After setting up their tents and heading to sleep, Isaac was left alone on watch with Mia, who decided she didn't feel like going to sleep just yet. The temperature was dropping rapidly and both adepts wore heavy clothes to keep away the cold.

As they talked to each other, Mia noticed that Isaac had something on his mind that was bugging him and pointed it out. Isaac just shrugged and learned back against the tree they were sitting under. "The end of our quest is actually in sight now you know," Isaac explained. "I guess I'm just wondering what happens next."

Mia looked at him for a moment before responding. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Isaac sighed and looked at the ground before replying. "Well…I guess I'm just wondering what everyone's going to do afterwards. I suppose I'll probably end up going back to Vale but…what about everyone else? Do you have any idea what you're going to do when this is all over Mia?"

That's not something I've really ever considered…Mia realized. "It's not really something I've thought about I think. I guess I never really thought that this whole adventure might end someday. I don't know what I'll do…" Mia told Isaac. Naturally I should return to Imil but…I don't want to have Isaac disappear from my life…"It would be sad if we all just went our separate ways. I'd miss you…and everyone else," she added hastily while blushing a slight pink color.

Isaac gave her a sad smile and said, "Yeah. I've made so many friends on this journey. I don't want to just part ways…" Mia offered a nod of understanding and the two fell into silence.

"Hey Mia…" Isaac said with an uncertain look.

"Hmm…?" Mia replied, turning to face him.

"Do you…Do you have to go back to Imil immediately when we finish lighting the beacons?" he asked her.

Mia thought about it for a minute. "No. Probably not," she said. "The Hermes Water should keep the town healthy and I did teach Justin and Megan well…"

"Mia. What would you say if I asked you to come visit Vale for a little while?" Isaac asked as he stared off in another direction, waiting for her to say something in response.

Mia's heartbeat quickened slightly as she realized what he was asking. Oh Isaac…I would love to… "I think it would be nice to see your hometown Isaac. I'd like to if it's not too much trouble," she said modestly.

Isaac scratched the back of his head in embarrassment but met her gaze and said, "Ah…it would be no trouble at all. It would be nice to have you around."

Mia blushed at his words and just said, "Yeah…After meeting all of you I'm not sure I could just go back to my old life again."

At this point the stars were beginning to come out and Mia looked up to admire them. Mia shifted herself slightly closer to Isaac and laid her head on his shoulder saying, "The stars are really pretty aren't they?"

Isaac was surprised by her action but certainly didn't mind. He put an arm around her and looked up at the stars as well.

"Yes, they are."