Hey, guys! Hope you all had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or anything else that you might celebrate that I am unaware of. Mine was good as usual, except it was weird not having family over this year. Usually my family hosts the Christmas get together, but for whatever reason it wasn't so this year.
Thanks to AnriMia24, Mr0cheese, and Hanabro for reviewing! AnriMia, I can see where your frustration is coming from, so I'll get something cleared up before you attack Isaac and take away my cookies :P. He and Mia and Jenna's relationship won't be so straightforward as to have Isaac simply leave Mia to go back to Jenna. I don't want to say anymore for the sake of keeping the future a mystery, but hopefully it'll be unexpected (I dunno if it's much of a twist because I already know what happens) :). I think this chapter helps shed a bit of light on that subject, anyway, so stay positive!
As a quick musical note (haha punny because it's a note… and it's about music… I crack myself up) I was listening to some situation-related game songs while writing a certain section of this chapter. I won't say what happens, but at the line that starts out "Hey," he said after a while, "we should get going… I would recommend listening to Toberu mono from The Last Story and/or Shulk and Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles. Not to spoil anything for those of you who haven't played the games, but those are the songs that play in game when the best scenes happen (best in my opinion), so it seems appropriate :). Ah, life, why have you turned me into a hopeless romantic?
Disclaimer: GS isn't mine
Passion
"Dada, where's Miss Mia now?" asked Matthew.
Isaac frowned at his son, noting the curious looks of the two other children as well. Because none of them had ever met Mia, it seemed that they hoped to find out as much about her as possible through descriptions and storytelling.
"She's still in Imil, kids," Garet answered before Isaac could. Isaac smiled lightly at his friend, silently thanking him for preventing the sadder parts of his memories from taking hold of him. Garet nodded back to him, a deep understanding between the two men. They had both had their share of painful past relationships and didn't need to dwell on them now if they could help it.
"How come she isn't here?" asked Karis.
"You'll have to wait to find out," said Isaac, putting on a weak smile to hide his sadness.
Flint hopped over towards him and onto his lap. Directing his mental speech into only Isaac's mind, he spoke, "Master, you seem troubled. Perhaps you should take a break and continue this story another time. It has been quite a while that we've sat here listening, and you seem distressed. Are these happy memories affecting you in an opposing manner?"
"It's alright, Flint. I promised them that I would tell this story and I mean to do just that. On another note, you need to stop calling me Master; like I said in the story, we're friends, and friends don't need to speak to each other like that."
"Heh, it's no use. Some of us old djinn still can't get used to the informalities that you've allowed for us. Sorry if it bothers you, but I've had too many formal Masters in the past that I don't know how this works. It's surprising enough that even the younger djinn are used to it; after all, they were asleep for as long as the rest of us were when alchemy was sealed. Technically they had to act formally as well. I guess it's just the adaptive qualities of the newer generation."
Isaac chuckled and sent Flint to go sit with Matthew. They must have been wondering what Flint was saying in their private conversation anyway, so it was good to get back to the story. Still, Isaac's mood seemed lighter after hearing the words about 'younger' djinn from Flint. Despite being the newer generation of djinn, Isaac figured they'd still have to be at least a few hundred (or thousand) years old.
"Sorry, guys, Flint was just telling me a… a funny story from the past. Anyway, what were we talking about?"
"You were talking about boring love stuff with Miss Mia and a tree," said Tyrell, huffing and slumping down. While the latest fight sequence had scared him the most, his attitude towards the love and relationship aspects of the story was still pretty negative. He wanted to go play, even if he had to go by himself, but Karis was unwilling to let go of his hand for any reason.
Chuckling again, Isaac continued, "You may be bored, Tyrell, but you seem to be paying enough attention to know what's going on. Well, anyways, I spent quite some time in Imil…"
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"Get her these, Isaac! It would be perfect!"
"I agree, ice roses are one of Weyard's most romantic gifts."
Isaac had already been in Imil for a week, and he'd decided that it was time to make his relationship with Mia official. It wasn't like he had never asked a girl out before – in fact he'd done it quite often before his adventure, with a surprisingly high success rate – but Mia was different; she had a special place in his heart. His usual approach would be simply to ask girls on a date somewhere nice and that would usually spark a relationship, but those had all been little things. He wasn't even sure he'd consider them relationships. Isaac knew he had to approach Mia in a different way because he'd already done so many special things with her that officially asking her to be his girlfriend would have to be extra special. He'd decided the best thing to do would be to consult with the two people who knew her the best: Megan and Justin. Luckily for him, Mia had her healing duties to attend to today, so he had a free afternoon to spend with them.
"Justin, what would you know about romance? You're a thirteen-year-old boy who's never even had a girlfriend!"
"I love you too, Megan… And, hey, you're only twelve and you've never had a boyfriend, so what would you know about romance?"
"Uh, duh, I'm a girl! Girls know way more than boys do about romantic things!"
"Geez there's a couple like this in every village in Weyard," Isaac laughed as he stepped between the two bickering preadolescents. "Megan, you just said for yourself that these are romantic and all Justin did was agree. Justin, girls do know more about romance, trust me. Anyway, I think they're perfect too."
Isaac reached down to pluck some of the mysterious yet beautiful flowers growing in the frosty meadow that was a little ways from Mercury Lighthouse. The two young healers agreed that the best way to Mia's heart would be to give her something romantic because she had a real soft spot for those kinds of things. Since Imil was a rather bland town, they suggested that he search for a gift at the port. It turned out to be mostly a business-related port, so the few shops that were there didn't carry many gift type items. As they were heading back, Megan had gotten the idea to go to the meadow to find a gift.
"How do these manage to grow in a place like this?" asked Isaac.
They both shrugged; they were healers, not botanists. Isaac examined the flowers he was holding. He could instantly see why they were called ice roses; they resembled a rose that had petals made of ice. He wasn't even sure they were real flowers at first, but he was surprised to touch a soft, silky petal instead of the brittle ice he'd been expecting. The bulb was completely transparent, like ice, but not cold to the touch.
"These seem pretty common," he said, looking around at the many ice roses around him, "how come they're considered romantic if they're so typical?"
"Well, they're actually quite hard to find," said Megan matter-of-factly. "Maybe you just didn't notice, but we're nowhere near the main road between the lighthouse, port, or Imil. This meadow's actually hidden from view when you're at the entrance of the lighthouse. I only found it accidentally when I was going out to collect some Hermes' water. A gnome was chasing me so I ran and hid away behind a boulder. When I calmed down I looked around to see a whole bunch of these just growing around me."
"Oh, I guess Mia's seen them before then," he responded, head dropping a little in disappointment.
"Well, not exactly. I brought one back to test it for any medicinal purposes, but I wanted to keep them a secret. I had to show Mia, though, so I took a few petals off of it and showed them to her. I said a gnome dropped them and I hadn't seen anything like them before."
Isaac sighed in relief, happy to know that this would be a surprise for Mia. Taking a moment to pluck a few more, he smiled at his full bouquet of ice roses. They truly were beautiful, and the way the sun hit them was even more dazzling. He decided that the best time to give these to Mia would be once the moon was in the sky, giving the flowers a different lighting effect.
They were about to head back when something caught Isaac's attention. He turned his gaze towards it to see a cave opening off in the distance. He'd always had a weakness for adventure and exploration, so he thought it would be necessary to check out the unexplored cavern. "Have you guys ever seen that cave before?"
"How strange, I've been here a bunch of times before but I've never noticed that before," said Megan.
"I've never seen any maps that indicate there's supposed to be a cave over there. Perhaps it just appeared? Mia did say the land was changing," added Justin.
"C'mon, let's go check it out," Isaac said eagerly. "It'll be easy getting back. We just have to head in the direction of the lighthouse and then we can follow the path towards Imil."
The three of them took off towards their new discovery, excited to see what it was they'd found. Upon reaching the cave mouth, Isaac realized they hadn't brought a light source with them. Oddly, when he took one step into the cave, torches lining the walls lit up on their own, illuminating the pitch-black cavern. Smiling to his two young companions, he walked further into the cave.
Isaac hadn't seen something like this since his adventure, yet he was sure that he'd never been to this cave before. It was relatively small for a cave, and the floor and walls were lined with some sort of tile. It resembled a large symmetrical room of sorts. A few pillars formed what could best be described as a hall, and at the end of the hall was a staircase leading to some sort of altar. Without missing a beat, he ran up towards the peak of the altar to see what it was that was in this cave. He was expecting a summon tablet, for this room looked exactly like the other ones they'd found before that contained these hidden powers. However, when he reached the top he was met with a small wooden chest sitting in a slot in the wall. A stone engraving of the ancient language could be seen above, but he couldn't read it.
"Bane, I need your help," Isaac muttered quietly. A light flash emitted beside him to reveal the djinni he'd met at the Crossbone Isle.
"Yes, Master, I am here. What services do you require of me?" Bane asked him. Bane was oldest of all Venus djinn, making him the most knowledgeable of them as well; however, Isaac was completely unable to change his formal attitude because of this.
"I need you to translate this ancient script for me. I don't want to examine this chest until I know what this message, or warning, says."
"Very well, it will be done." The djinni took a moment to hover in front of the words, carefully examining them and mumbling what they said in the ancient language before turning back towards Isaac. "Interesting. Master, the box should be safe to open. The sign translates roughly to 'Ye who hath entered this cavern are commended, for this is one of few secret Caverns of the Gods hidden throughout Weyard. Thou hast found the fabled Cavern of Venus, Goddess of Love. Within this chest, thou shall find a gift left by her holiness for the adept whose heart is pure enough to find this sacred place. May you cherish it forever'. It is also signed by Hermes himself. Quite the stroke of luck finding this place, Master Isaac."
A wide grin spread itself across Isaac's face. Not only had he found a sacred Cavern of the Gods by accident, but the gift of Venus could potentially be something else he could give to Mia. What better way to express your feelings for someone than by giving them a gift from the Goddess of Love? Opening the chest, he looked confusedly at the two gems placed within. The chest was awfully large for the two small things it contained. Carefully reaching in to take them out, he examined them more closely in his hands. A gradual colour change occurred in the clear jewels as one began to turn a golden honey colour and the other a beautiful sea blue. He was confused by this change, but realized that they each seemed to form half a shape: a heart. Two gems put together to form a heart, each the colour of his and Mia's elements. What was this power? Could it sense whom his heart most desired? Isaac guessed that one jewel must represent the colour of his element and the elemental colour of the one his heart desired. Feeling satisfied with his reasoning, Isaac descended from the altar and left the cave with Megan and Justin. Once they stepped out of the cave, they were surprised to turn around and see that it had completely disappeared; only the snowy plains behind it remaining. Confused but satisfied with their discovery, the three adepts headed back towards Mercury Lighthouse.
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It had been quite an interesting day for Isaac, and he was glad that Mia's healing duties for the day were nearly finished. It wasn't quite sunset, and he was glad that the skies were clear on this specific day. Not quite sure how to pass the last few minutes that Mia would take; he started taking a walk around Imil. For no particular reason, he found himself strolling towards a small cemetery next to the sanctum. From what he could see, the headstones all had similar surnames. They must have been part of the Mercury clan: Mia's family. Megan and Justin's families. It must have been rough for all of them. I can't imagine what life would have been like without my parents. I'm glad they have each other. That traitor, Alex; how could he leave them alone like this? Abandoning Mia when she was sixteen to care for two children; I'm disgusted. He forced them to grow up too quickly. It's hard to believe someone as kind as Mia was cousins with someone as despicable as him.
"It's been fourteen years, yet it feels like they were here just yesterday."
Isaac jumped at the sudden voice from behind him. Quickly turning around, he faced a sad-looking Mia looking down at two of the graves to his right. These must be her parents. He slowly walked over to her and lightly squeezed her hand. He wasn't sure what to say right now, so he simply comforted her. She didn't cry or show any sign of tears; rather, she leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. She had clearly been to visit this cemetery many times, so it made sense to Isaac that she was not going to break down when coming here.
"Hey," he said after a while, "we should get going. I don't want you to feel sad all night. I have something special planned for you."
She looked up at him curiously and smiled, "Really? I didn't realize there was a special occasion tonight, but alright." Hand-in-hand, they left the cemetery and headed towards the north side of town.
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"Isaac, it's beautiful up here," said Mia. Isaac had spent part of his day finding the perfect place to give her the gifts he'd found for her. They sat at the top of the frozen waterfall on a couple of stumps; watching the orange glow of the setting sun.
"Yeah, it is. Mia, I… I found this place earlier because I wanted to find the perfect place to take you tonight."
"Thank you, Isaac, but whatever for? You never said what the occasion was."
"Well," he started, nerves beginning to get the better of him, "I-I just thought… well, I've been spending quite a bit of time with you lately… a-and I thought maybe…"
"Yes, Isaac?" she asked him when he stopped.
He didn't know what to say, the words getting caught in his throat, so he changed the subject slightly. "I got these for you." He pulled out the ice roses he'd hidden earlier from a hole beneath his stump, forgetting his plan to give them to her in the moonlight.
"Oh, Isaac," gasped Mia, clearly not expecting such a wonderful gift. "They're beautiful! Ice roses, the flowers of romance." She took a moment to sniff the sweet, cool fragrance they gave off. "I've never seen anything so lovely."
"I have, in fact I see something lovelier and more beautiful than these every day. How's that possible? Well, she's sitting right next to me."
Mia blushed and giggled a bit, leaning herself on him. "Thank you, Isaac. We've only been here for a short time, and tonight is already my favourite night we've spent together."
He smiled back at her. She looked dazzling in the light of the setting sun with the sparkling roses in her hands. "I… I had something to ask you, Mia."
"What is it, Isaac?"
Feeling more confident than he had before, he reached into his pocket to retrieve the jewels from the cavern. Sitting her up straight, he opened his palm to show them to her. This felt strangely like a marriage proposal, but it was only him asking her to officially be his girlfriend. He blushed at the thought.
"Mia, earlier I found the Cavern of Venus, Goddess of Love. It was one of the most surprising things that has ever happened to me, and inside I was given a gift from the Goddess herself. These two jewels represent my heart and the heart of the one I truly desire. As you can see, the gold gem is mine but the other one is much more special to me than the gold gem. It's because the blue colour… it represents-"
"Me," she finished his sentence quietly. In that one word she'd managed to sound extremely happy and surprised at the same time. She looked from the jewel up to Isaac, joyous tears filling her blue orbs.
"Yes, Mia. It's odd, this feels kind of like a marriage proposal, but I want you to have these. I'd like you to keep them as a gift from," he gulped, "your boyfriend."
She took a second to process the words, and he was afraid he'd screwed up; however, she quickly wrapped him in a tight hug and let out a happy sob she'd been holding back. "Of course I will, Isaac. I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for us to officially be a couple. You're the only one I think of nowadays."
He felt his heart leap as she said those words, and he tightly embraced her as well. Slightly loosening their grips, they looked into each other's deep blue eyes; both brimming with happy tears. He had done it; he'd finally shown her how he really felt for her. Time stopped in that moment as they stared into each other's eyes. Without a second thought, Isaac brought his hand up around the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. All the suppressed emotions, the planning for this moment, the feelings he'd hidden even from himself had all led up to this moment of pure happiness. He felt his stress melt away as their lips pressed together, locked in a moment of raw emotion. Isaac forgot the world around him, the life he had left behind, the pain he'd once been through; it all melted away from his mind. Nothing could possibly compare to this moment with the girl who constantly occupied his mind. The nervous butterflies had burst from his chest in a feeling of complete euphoria. What was pain? What was sadness? What was depression? He couldn't quite remember what it was like to be upset. There was nothing quite like the simple action of kissing the one you cared for, the one you loved, to make everything else seem trivial. He didn't need to know the answer to anything else in his life; he had Mia, the one who'd made everything right in his life.
He only wondered one thing: was she experiencing everything he was? He couldn't imagine how she could have been feeling any different. Sure, they had been acting like a couple but they were never really together. Mia's love seemed to overflow the hole that Jenna had left in his heart. He felt things for the Mercury adept that he'd never felt for anyone else before. His relationship with Jenna was silly, young, and nothing that he should be upset over. What he had with Mia was real, and he could feel it from the moment they had first held hands in Bilibin.
Isaac never wanted the kiss to end, but, alas, all good things must come to an end, and they eventually parted their lips to look lovingly into each other's eyes again. She had a passion that he'd never felt from another girl before. Jenna's passionate behaviour was nothing compared to Mia's. He loved the discrete way that Mia kept her feelings held back so not to disrupt a situation, but knew exactly how to release them when the moment was right.
"Wow," he said softly. It was all he could manage to say right then; he was stuck for any other words, so he simply repeated himself, "wow."
She giggled at his lack of vocabulary, but it seemed that she didn't really know what to say either. Gently caressing his hands she took the jewels and looked down at them. Isaac glanced down too to see them switch colours: gold to blue and blue to gold. This only helped confirm his theory that one represented the owner's heart and the other was the heart of the one they desired. He brought his gaze back up to her face while she still admired the gems in her hands. He lightly brushed some locks from her face before she looked back up at him.
"Mia," it seemed he'd regained his ability to speak, "you're the most incredible person I've ever met in my entire life. I can't believe it's taken me so long to say this but I lo-"
She put a finger to his lips as he was about to finish his sentence. Wrapping him in another tight squeeze she lovingly whispered in his ear, "You don't have to say it, Isaac. I know how you feel because I feel the same way for you. I'd rather you show me your love than tell me."
He chuckled a bit before pulling out of their hug to receive another kiss: instigated by Mia this time. He could get used to this feeling. That was when he decided to finish what he'd wanted to say to her. Hesitantly parting their lips, he spoke again.
"Mia, I have something else to tell you."
"Honestly, Isaac, I don't know how many good things I can handle in one night," she laughed.
He laughed as well before continuing, "Just don't tackle me over the waterfall in your joy, then. I realized when I wanted us to be together that I wanted this to be a serious relationship. I don't plan on hurting you and I definitely don't plan on leaving you; which is why I've decided that I'm going to get a job out here so I can buy a house. In short, I'm here to stay, Mia."
"Isaac," said Mia, starting to choke up.
"Yes, Mia?"
It seemed she was at a loss for words, continuously repeating his name slowly before pulling him into another kiss. Why hadn't he done this sooner? There was no one he cared more greatly for in all of Weyard, and he wished he'd done this so much earlier on. Why had he even bothered with Jenna? If he hadn't been so concentrated on saving her, he would have noticed the beautiful Mercury adept travelling with him for all that time.
The two new lovers sat atop the waterfall until late into the night. The glow of the sunset had set the scene and they hardly even noticed the change from dusk to moonlight over the village of Imil. Despite the blandness of the small town, Isaac and Mia could not have asked for a better place to start their new relationship with each other.
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"Eeeeeeew!" shouted Tyrell, "Too much kissing in this story!"
"Garet, sounds like your son doesn't like the romance genre too much" said Fever. "Funny how he still can't let go of this pretty little lady's hand. It almost looks like he's holding it back."
"I am not!" Tyrell screamed, noticeably loosening his grip on Karis's hand.
"Aw, come on, Fever, he's just gotta get in the right mood," Breeze said mischievously. He flew up onto Karis's shoulder and mentally whispered something so only she could hear. Gasping and giggling she nodded her head before Breeze flew back down to his Mars companion.
Before little Tyrell knew what was happening, Karis quickly gave him a big wet kiss on the lips and laughed with the djinn. The young Mars adept wiped his mouth and started spitting in an attempt to get all of Karis's 'girl germs' off of him. Matthew seemed too preoccupied with the jewel sitting in the locket to notice what was going on, but Garet let out a huge roar of laughter, and Isaac simply smirked and chuckled a bit. Noticing that his son had suddenly become interested in the jewel, Isaac picked up Matthew and sat him on his lap on the chair.
"Dada, is this the gem you gave to Miss Mia?"
"Yes, Matthew, as you can see it's still the same colours."
"But-but-but shouldn't the blue one be red? Mama isn't a blue!"
Isaac was afraid of this moment. This was the reason he'd been hesitant to tell the story. They hadn't really questioned anything up until this point, and for that Isaac had been grateful. Sighing, he turned Matthew on his lap to face him, "Look, Matthew, this story isn't going to be easy for you to understand. Your mother and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye anymore. I know you're confused right now, but I'll try to make it all make sense for you, okay?"
Matthew stared blankly at his father, still wondering why the blue jewel was not red. However, he was a patient boy, so he would wait until Isaac was able to explain it for him in the story. "Okay, Dada, I'll wait for you to tell us."
Isaac smiled and placed Matthew back on the couch next to Flint. Sitting back in his chair he looked over to the others who had somewhat changed their seating arrangement. Karis and Tyrell still sat hand-in-hand, but the djinn were now floating on the other side of Garet. It seemed that Tyrell had had enough of their antics for one story. Isaac shook his head before saying something to them.
"I've come to realize something after talking to Matthew. Tyrell, Karis, you two may, like Matthew, be confused by the next parts of the story I'm about to tell. You'll probably be wondering quite a bit, so I'll try to make this as easy for you to understand as I can, but it will probably confuse you anyway."
The two young adepts looked at each other and then back at Isaac, nodding to show they understood.
Glad that they were quick to respond, Isaac continued his story, "Okay, after we first kissed on that night, things were quickly starting to get better for me…"
And that is where I end this chapter. Oh man, that kissing scene was probably one of the more intense things I've ever tried to write. Trying to extract a crapload of feelings and emotions that are all happening at the same time is not the easiest task. However, I liked it. A lot. And listening to romantic game music at the same time could not have made writing that part any better.
Anyways, let me know how you liked (or disliked) this chapter. I'm sure the mudshippers will be over the moon, but I do also like hearing how you neutral non-mudshippers are feeling about this story. Obviously anti-mudshippers won't be happy, so it's hard to get an opinion out of them, but feedback is always appreciated as long as it's constructive.
R&R and check out my soundcloud!
-GengaJupite