A.N: Hi guys. Thanks for your reviews! Love hearing from you my dedicated followers. I'm so sorry that I've kept you waiting so long. I've missed you too! I've been focusing on my original novel and we've been doing creative writing in English, both of which have given me writer's-block (I know - weird right?). You'll probably remember this but I'll tell you anyway. In the last chapter Jason did something awesome with rocks and vines to kill a big Gryphon. Have you guessed what it was? That is answered in this chapter. As the chapter title tells you this chapter has something to do with a vortex. Hope you like it! P.S. DQ9 fans, a good DQ9 fic is Celestial Secrets by Onesiepenguin (formerly known as Syrup). PSS I've made a new fic called Contest, at the moment it isn't too interesting but it will get more exciting. Links for both stories mentioned here will be below.

8. Vortex. Lucy

I grab Jason as he collapses. I check his psynergy reserves; they are totally depleted! He might as well of sat next to a vortex for an hour! I cast Ply several times and Tom uses Fresh Breeze, Carmen tries her best to use Aura but I can tell that healing isn't her strong point. We're all drained from the Gryphon battle. Jason shouted something before he did the rock-vine-boom-woosh thingby. He looked like a sort of God up there. His hair blowing and his eyes sparkling. And that cry sounded nothing like him! What did he do? He shouted something before he did it; "something Burst" or "Boom" or "Bang". We have to get him back to the city.
"Carmen, help Tom carry Jason." I order, dropping into my "commanding healer" role, as my Dad always puts it. Tom and Carmen pick Jason up and I rummage around in my pack for something. Found it! I grab the two poles and canvas sheet, then I tie the sheet around the poles to make a temporary stretcher, like I have done countless times before. I then grab a two harness-type-things and rush over to the horses. I fasten one harness to Wave and one to Khonsu. Then I balance then stretcher between the two horses and tie it onto the harness. Tom and Carmen see what I'm planning and lower Jason onto the stretcher. I make sure he's on properly and jump on Wave. Carmen mounts Ra but I stop Tom before he gets on Storm.
"Wait! Tom! I need you to ride Khonsu." I shout, he looks confused so I explain. "We have to make sure Jason doesn't fall off of the stretcher. When we go over bumps we'll need to tilt the stretcher slightly so that he doesn't fall. And even if he does, you can slow his descent with your psynergy." He nods his understanding and gets on Khonsu. He looks like a child on Khonsu, who is at least a head taller than Storm, his feet barely reach the stirrups. It's weirdly funny. Small little Tom sitting on massive Khonsu, his little feet raised just above the stirrups and his cloak covered in muck and Gryphon blood. Jason's stretcher behind him makes it look funnier and I have to suppress a smile when I see that he's sitting too far forward in the saddle. I shake my head and give him and Carmen the thumbs-up sign, then we set off towards town. Jason stays relatively still throughout the ride back to town and only falls off once, luckily, Tom manages to save him by creating a strong updraft to slow his fall to a minimum. We arrive back in no time. Carmen books us two rooms in the inn while me and Tom carry Jason inside, Tom making up a story that Jason had had "one too many drinks" when the innkeeper asked why he was unconscious. Tom is very clever! We lie Jason down on the bed and I grab a bottle of Khiren Water, tipping it down his throat. Then I drink a bottle myself and cast Ply several times. I check Jason's pulse. It seems relatively normal. I breath a sigh of relief and tell Thomas and Carmen that he is okay. They smile and we agree to take turns to watch him. Tom goes first so I can restore my psynergy resources. I go into my room and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I sleep peacefully until it is my turn to relieve Tom of his watch duty.

I've been watching for a few hours when Jason opens his eyes. I cast ply, even simple things like opening their eyes can be hard for an adept when they have little psynergy.
"How are you feeling?" I ask softly. He croaks something and I give him a drink of water. He smiles and speaks.
"Tired. Last I remember I shouted 'Venus Burst' and the Gryphon we were fighting got hit by rocks and stuff. I was floating?" He says. I nod.
"Yeah. Floating. You shouted 'Venus Burst'?" I ask. He nods. I frown.
"That power used seemed godlike. Do you maybe think that when you went into those ruins a spirit possessed you?" I ask, anything could've happened in there. Ruins with tablets are often haunted. He considered this for a moment.
"Dunno. Why not get a priest to check me?" He says. I nod. Then I run out and tell Carmen to fetch a priest. But five minutes later the priest says that there are no spirits in Jason, besides his own. I'm stumped, what could it be? Then it dawns on me, he had no psynergy. He shouted "Venus Burst". He shot rocks and vines at the gryphon and he's an Earth Adept. It all leads to one thing. Venus Burst is a psynergy, an immensely powerful psynergy. Jason may be one-of-a-kind with that psynergy. It can kill a fully grown Gryphon. This could be our ticket to getting rid of the Mourning Moon!
"Jason, do you think that Venus Burst was a psynergy?" I ask him. His eyes widen.
"Maybe! I could try it later. I'm sure that if I know what I'm doing and have full psynergy I can manage not to pass out." He says. I nod.
"Would you? Oh, thanks Jason. I think you may be one-of-a-kind. I've never seen anyone else use that psynergy." He smiles at this and I smile back. "Now, why don't you get some sleep and we'll set out for the cabin tomorrow." I say. Jason nods and closes his eyes.
"Why don't I take the next watch?" Carmen asks, I smile and nod. I stroll back to my room and fall asleep. Tomorrow, answers will be given.

The next day.

I wake feeling refreshed. I go downstairs into the Inn's mess hall to find Jason eating cereal with Carmen. He looks better.
"Ready for today?" I ask.
"Ready as I'll ever be." He replies. Tom walks in and grabs a slice of toast. I pass him the butter and he spreads it on both sides of the toast. It is a habit that I find weird but who am I to judge?
"What's the plan of action then?" He asks. I smile and unroll my map. I had discussed this plan with Jason when I woke up earlier to relieve Carmen of watch duty. Jason spoke first. "We set out in a hour taking our previous route towards the ruins." He begins, gesturing towards an area on the map. "Then we go through the ruins, which I hear have been cleared out and made safe. We then make our way to the Lumberjack Camp." Carmen and Tom nod, I continue the plan.
"Along the way we'll find a monster and Jason will test his Venus Burst." Jason grins when I mention this. The other two nod their heads and smile. "Great, let's set off in half an hour." I say "Then we will see what this Venus Burst thing is."

30 minutes later

We set off, keeping a cautious eye out for gryphons. Luckily, the only opposition that we came across was a group of Kobolds. When we finally get to the ruins to find that it is bustling with travellers. We eventually make our way through the crowd, we reach the exit area to find it deserted. We creep slowly through here, it seems wrong that there is no-one here. We almost reach the exit when we hear a woman's voice - strong and commanding.
"YOU!" It says, we all jump and turn around, Psynergy ready. "DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM THE SPIRIT OF THE ANCIENTS, KEEPER OF THEIR TEXTS." We see a light shining, when we turn to see it we find it shining in front of a large blue statue. "MASTER OF EARTH, APPROACH MY LIKENESS." Jason pales, he is the only 'Master of Earth' here, "I MEAN YOU NO HARM, I THAT SWEAR ON MY SACRED DUTY." Slowly, Jason walks towards the ginormous statue. He climbs a small ladder that leads to a platform, and stands on the statue's hands.
"I HAVE SEEN YOUR POWER, THROUGH THE EYES OF A BEAST, I TRUST THE SACRED WRITINGS OF THE ANCUENTS TO YOU. TOUCH MY FOREHEAD CHILD." It commands. Jason cautiously reaches his hand out and touches the shining forehead of the statue. Suddenly a stream of blue light zooms into Jason's head. His eyes open wide as the light goes in, when it stops he closes his eyes and falls backwards.
"Whirlwind!" Tom shouts. Jason is caught by a strong gust and gently lowered to the ground. He opens his eyes when he touches the floor.
"I WISH YOU WELL ON YOUR VOYAGE CHILDREN." The voice booms, now all is quiet again.
"What was that?" I ask.
"Ancient language." Jason says. "I can read glyphs. That's what the spirit was, guardian of the ancient language, like the kind you find on summon plates." We all nod in understanding. This may come in useful.
"Come on," Carmen says "Let's keep going."

We get out of the ruins and come across a gate, there are stairs leading up to a small shack, we climb them and find an old man in the hut, sleeping. Deciding not to wake him we operate the gate mechanism ourselves, making sure to take a gate pass so that we may always come and go as we please. We head out and find a nice open space, this is the moment, Jason will soon test his Venus Burst. Tom and Carmen lead the horses away while I prep Jason.
"Okay, now I've got some Psy Crystals here for you. Hold one in each hand while you cast Venus Burst. But first, drink some of this Khiren Water." Jason does as he is told and I run towards the others.
"Great, he's all prepped. Now we just need a target." Tom says. I kick myself in frustration. I had forgot a target! I get ready to go and tell Jason to stop and a small purple Djinni flies out into the clearing. Jason smiles and runs at it, he jumps and shouts.
"Venus Burst!" The Djinni is helpless as rocks and vines fly at it. I notice that Jason is still floating, only when the Djinni falls and turns into purple energy does he touch the floor. He stumbles as he hits the floor. He squeezes the Psy Crystals and they burst, but he regains balance. The purple energy floats towards Tom and he gains a new small companion.
"Feeling okay?" I ask Jason. He nods wearily. I smile and beckon the others over. Tom smiles and hugs Jason while Carmen just grins.
"Good job Jason!" Tom tells him. Jason nods and smiles, clearly exhausted.
"What is that new Djinni Tom?" Carmen enquires.
"It's called Energy and it restores, well, energy!" He laughs. I have a small eureka moment.
"Thomas, use Energy on Jason." Tom nods and a small breeze passes from him to Jason, who now looks more alert and ready.
"Thanks dude." Jason saHys, Tom just smiles as he re-sets Energy. We head off again.

After about 2 hours walk we arrive at the camp, with 3 new Djinni (Blast -Fire- Lupus -Earth- and Nile -water) and an interesting new summon - Zagan. We are welcomed by a woman who has a kind face and constant smile. It seems busier than Dad said it would be. I go towards a muscly lumberjack and enquire about the camp's population, stating that it is a small camp with many people walking around.
"There's been some strange stuff going on in the Mount Aleph area." He says. My heart drops the Moon must be bad if it is scaring people enough to flee the area. He continues. "Some people say that they can see a giant Vortex, where the cabin of those two Warriors of Vale is supposed to be. They also say that they haven't seen the warriors for months now. Which is scaring them even more as the warriors are great protectors of this area - the reason that we survived the Grave Eclipse. Personally I think that they're just being stupid. But that's my opinion. Anything else?"
"No thanks. That's all I wanted to know. Bye!" I say, then I head towards the Inn to report my findings to the others.

I go into the Inn to find Jason, Thomas and Carmen sitting at a table with two things in front of them. A book and a slip of paper.
"What's going on?" I ask as I plonk myself down on a seat. Jason looks up and fills me in.
"We found another Dawn Saga, and we got this message from Matt, it's in code, like the one I sent." I nod and take a look at the letter. It reads:

Hello cousins,

How are you? I've sent this letter to the camp so that when you get there you will receive it for definite. Hope your trip was okay. Our situation here isn't too good at the moment. Uncle and his friend are still away too. There has been a change of plans for the visit. You will now be meeting us by the training area. One of us will be there to bring you to the campsite.

See you there!

M.

I took this in, deciphering the code, I could tell that Tom had got it and Jason was managing but Carmen was seriously struggling to find the hidden meanings of the letter. I smiled at this, typical Mars adept. I eventually figure it out; Matthew had sent this letter to the Inn here, knowing that we would have to pass through here to get to the cabin. The Moon had worsened and Isaac and Garet still hadn't returned. We had to meet him, Tyrell or Karis by the Psynergy Training Grounds and they would take us to wherever they were staying until the Moon is destroyed. Carmen finally figures it out as I ams about to tell them about my findings.
"Yes! I understand!" She yelled.
"Shhhhhh!" We all rage. Carmen mumbles an apology and I finally get my chance to report the info. After I am done everyone is silent.
"So people have started to notice the absence of Isaac and Garet, and they notice the Moon too. This is bad." Thomas states. We all look at him.
"Thank you for stating the obvious Tom." Carmen says sarcastically. Tom blushes and makes faces at Carmen when she turns away. I supress a smile. Tom may be awkward but he is funny.
"Anyway." I say, determined to keep positive. "What's this Saga say?" Jason opens it and begins to read.

DAWN SAGA: VOLUME 2

Matthew, Tyrell and Karis set out to find the Roc Feather they needed to repair the Soarwing. They planned to meet up with the scholar of Alchemy Kraden who had adventured with their parents during the time that they quested to ignite the 4 elemental lighthouses. He would help them to get to Morgal and retrieve the feather. They head towards the refugee camp Patcher's Place. They get there and go into the main market place. But Matthew and Karis don't know about a grudge that Patcher, the mayor-like figure of the camp, holds against Tyrell. Tyrell had once nearly burned Patcher's market to the a crisp. Patcher walks over to the group and is enraged to find Tyrell there. He refuses to serve them. But eventually, after negotiating with Patcher and saying that Tyrell will keep his cool. He agrees to serve them. They then head up to the Psynergy Training Area, a challenge for people and children to test their psynergies by doing a series of challenges based upon the experiences of the Warriors of Vale. They do these challenges easily and gain the prize. A pass to get into the Konpa Ruins. They exit the refugee town and head towards the lumberjack camp lead by a man named Carver. They arrive at Carver's Camp to find a massive Psynergy Vortex in the middle of the Camp. A boy is hanging onto the edge of a broken bridge that lead to Bilibin which lead to Morgal. They save the boy and eventually the vortex shrinks, but they are then shocked by the news that the bridge, which was now broken, was the only direct way to get to Morgal. Suddenly another villager tells them that Kraden came along not so long ago, saw the wreckage of the bridge and told the villager that when a group of adept come by, to send them to the Konpa Ruins, the very ruins that they gained the pass to after completing the training grounds. They proceed towards the ruins and brave it's challenges. They find a book of ancient glyphs and eventually wander into a deeper part of the ruins, they go outside and find a secret chamber, in it is a crystal which allows Earth Adepts to use the Grip Psynergy! They take the treasure and find their way into the deepest part of the ruins. There they find a ginormous psynergy vortex, a mysterious machine, and the Scholar Kraden with his two apprentices, Reif and Nowell, Water Adepts and the children of Mia! They call out to Kraden who is pleased to see them. But then three mysterious scouts appear behind Matthew's team and attack them. The team fight off the scouts but in the confusion Reif is captured by two mysterious soldiers, who seem to be leading the scouts. They promise to drop off Reif at the North or South exit, forcing the group to split up! Kraden seems to know the voice of one, a blue-haired man in a mask. The soldiers exit the cave by elevator. Matthew's team and Kraden split up quickly, not wanting to leave Reif to the wolves. The team head towards the south exit, there they find one of the two soldiers, he seals the cave entrance meaning they cannot go back! Then he disappears. The team find Reif at the crossroads at the Southern exit. He agrees to help them get to Morgal. Saying that when travelling with Kraden they found a way to get there! Now with a new team member, the adepts continue with their quest!

I smile. These people must be a mixture of mad and strong. I am beginning to like these Sagas.
"Have you bought that?" I ask, Jason smiles and nods. I do a mental leap of joy as I can't wait for Tom and Jason to embarrass Matthew and his friends. It will be funny.
"Come on, let's get some rest." Jason says. "I want to get to the Cabin tomorrow." We all nod and head towards our quarters. We sleep long and well,

The Next Day

I wake feeling refreshed. I wake Carmen up and then knock on the boys' room door.
"Guys. Wakey wakey." I hear a groan, I sneeze and a thump. I can only imagine what has just happened. Jason opens the door in his pyjamas and fuzzy slippers on the wrong feet and I can see what has just happened; Tom, woke up, sneezed and fell out of his bunk. I laugh at the scene before me. Jason scowls at me and Tom simply groans. I smile sweetly and tell them that when they are ready me and Carmen will be in the Mess Hall. Jason scowls again and I grin cutely before walking back to my room. I'm starting to like those two!

We set out later - Jason and Tom still half asleep. Me and Carmen take the lead. We can see a small town when I hear a sudden crackling.
"Shhhhh!" I whisper. "Listen." The others are quiet and the crackling can be heard clearly. We all frown and decide to go and investigate.
We find the source.
A psynergy vortex.
And - guess who? - Ten Tuaparang soldiers.
We watch from a distance, Tom and Carmen create a cloud of steam to hide us. The soldiers fire bolts from their crossbows at the vortex, as they do this, the vortex enlarges. They get it very big and then we see a yellow dart being fired at the vortex from a place that we can't see. This shrinks the vortex. Did that happen? I ask myself. It must have. I think. The steam isn't too thick to distort vision for us. They seem happy and start walking away. Carmen mouths something to us; 3...2...1... Charge!
We charge.

We cast Psynergy like mad, burning them only to freeze them again. Tossing them into the sky to be shot down by rocks. Our Djinni go wild; Viridi, Striker, Spray and Vulcan in the lead. We are healed and the soldiers destroyed. It is done, they are dead and there are no others.
Or so we think.
Suddenly we feel a force whizz past us, we turn and see four Tuaps.
And a Werewolf.
I scream, Werewolves are my biggest fear. I panic and hit the nearest warrior on the head. This annoys him and he attacks me, I put my Ankh above my head and shout "Nereid!" The sea goddess wipes out the soldier with a wave. Tom summons Jupiter and Megara, Carmen summons Zagan and Jason Summons Ramses. The Wolf is the only one left. Jason shoots and it grabs the arrow. Then it throws it at me. It lands in my hand, I drop my Ankh and it charges. I close my eyes and hope that my death is quick. But there is no death. My eyes open and Tom is flying towards the Wolf, chasing it in fact - it is running. Tom is encased in purple light. He catches the Wolf and grabs it.
"JUPITER BOOM!" He roars - something that Tom does not do often. The Wolf is tossed into the air where it is struck by harsh lightning. It is then propelled to the floor. Getting repetitively slammed against the cold hard ground. It gets struck by lightning again and I realise that the power is coming from Tom, who is now on the floor, still shining bright. I watch in amazement as he raises his arms above his head, lightning gathers above him and he throws it at the Wolf. The Wolf is dead and cold, I felt its life being knocked out. Tom stops sparkling and stumbles forwards, using his staff to catch him and keep him upright. I rush over and hug him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I scream, then remembering his condition I let go of him. He is smiling and blushing. I blush too. Quickly I take a Psy Crystal out of my pack and give it to Tom, I cast Ply as well. He looks better and a realise that Jason and Carmen are inspecting the bodies of the soldiers. The Wolf reverts to human form and we see that it too was a Tuap. They are picking through a soldier's stuff when I stop them.
"You insensitive jerks! Have you no respect for the dead?" I shriek. They look up and blush.
"Lucy -" Jason begins, I interrupt him.
"I cannot believe that you are taking things from a dead man! I know they tried to kill us but they are still people!" I rage.
"Lucy! We are trying to find those yellow darts! You saw their effect on the vortex! Hush!" Carmen yells, I suddenly feel stupid and childish. Of course, that's what they're doing. Jason is an Earth Adept so he would have felt all of those lives snuffed out, not just the ones that radiated psynergy who were near him. Tom puts his hand on my shoulder, for comfort or to steady himself I am not sure, but I am glad of his calming presence.
"We will bury them. We just need to undo their evil first." He says soothingly. I nod. Mentally I make a vow to stop calling him awkward - he did save my life.

We eventually find all of the darts. Jason digs a large hole with psynergy and we place the bodies in there. He covers them up with dirt and we place a small stone shaped like a moon on the mound. I grab Carmen's hand and she squeezes it. I can't handle death, it opposes me - a healer. It seems wrong to let someone die when they can be saved. I shake my head, they were evil people who would have killed us and countless others if we hadn't killed them. It still seems wrong but this thought helps me cope a bit. I walk over to Tom.
"Hey Tom. You know that thing you did earlier, the Jupiter Boom thing?" I ask
"Yes I do. It gave me a crappy headache." He answers, holding his head as if remembering the pain. "You think it's a psynergy don't you Luce?" He says. I nod. It showed similarities with Venus Burst, and Tom felt better after he used a Psy Crystal. "I can confirm that theory for you now. I can feel it's power in the back of my mind, tempting me with its strength." I speak.
"You and Jason are both special, do you think it has anything to do with your heritage and environment?" He considers this. His parents are Felix and Sheba and he grew up by the Mars Lighthouse. It was totally possible. He shrugs.
"Who knows? Come on, those two seem ready." He says, I follow him to Jason and Carmen. They hand us both a quiver of about 20 darts.
"Okay guys, we've split these darts equally. On the count of three I want you to throw a dart at the vortex. Okay?" Jason explains, we both nod and face the vortex.
"One, two, three fire!" Carmen bellows. We each throw a dart and the vortex shrinks to about half of it's size. I do an air punch. It's working! We each throw two more darts and the vortex is gone. We all jump for joy.
"Yes!" Carmen exclaims. We now have a weapon against vortexes, and possibly the Mourning Moon.
"Come on guys." I say, heading towards Wave "If we leave now we might make it to Patcher's in time for supper!" We all get on our horses and go.

A.N: Extra long chapter for you! 4500 words not counting the Author's Note. I love this story. Again I apologise for keeping you waiting. Here are the comments;

Anonymous: Thanks for your compliments, I try my hardest. Lucy is my fave too.

Me: Lucy is my main comedy source, she also supplies emotion. She's weird. Spray is supposed to be cockney, Lucy is just plain funny. Dawn Saga was there. I try hard to make the story funny. You were kinda right about the Venus Burst thing. Is it okay that I took your spirit idea?

T and P: Thanks for the praise, the code was hard to work out but I managed, some more code here in this update for you. :) I don't like just using enter, it annoys me. Sorry!

Vampirewerewolf1: Viridi is Latin for green which is probably where they got it from. Jason is embarrassing Matt. I'm sure that the Dawn Warriors wouldn't want people to know that they kind of started the Eclipse.

Tutien99: X-Didn't review :'(-X (boo!)

Onesiepenguin/Syrupface (Whichever): I would love it if you used your review to comment on the story instead of using it to promote your story, which I will be doing. Then you wouldn't have to PM me your comment (can you call wanting Lucy to narrate a comment?) Either way
1) You got Lucy narrating
2) Use reviews for comments!
3) Comments are about the chapter, not who you want narrating the next chapter (you can add that but after the comments)

Like I just said. Please only review if you have a comment, not a want or promotion. You can only review once per chapter so use it wisely. By all means say that you want a hippo in the next comment or recommend a Beta Reader or Story but only afteryou comment.

Links:

Contest
s/9261906/1/Contest

Celestial Secrets
s/9187228/1/Celestial-Secrets

Bye! :)